Blood of Christ in Alternative Vessel

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jvickers

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Hi,
Quick question - is it acceptable to receive the Blood of Christ in an vessel alternative to the chalice? Can anyone point to Cannon Law or USCCB rulings that indicate this is not allowed?

My wife is seeking to receive the Blood of Christ in a vessel other than the chalice due to health reasons. She has an immune disorder that affects one in three million people and is extremely susceptible to infection.

Yes, I know that receiving the one species of the Eucharist is sufficient. I was just wondering about the alternative delivery of the Blood of Christ during Mass.

TIA
 
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My home parish uses glass cups instead of chalices which I find bad because glass easily breaks. And I believe it must be gold or silver.

The host has both the body and blood in it equally so if the wine can’t be taken, the host is just as good
 
Alternative delivery how, precisely? The Church has multiple options, but I’m not sure I know what you’re seeking. Could she not receive from a small chalice prepared only for her? That might not be many priests’ preference simply for logistical reasons, but I’ve seen it done on rare occasion when the person’s condition warranted.
GospelOfMatthew said:
My home parish uses glass cups instead of chalices which I find bad because glass easily breaks. And I believe it must be gold or silver.
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You’re right that glass is a no-no. It must be indestructible material (so far as that’s a thing), but gold/silver not required. Many parishes use pewter with proper plating to prevent the chemical interactions between the alcohol and the metal.
 
Unless the parish has only one chalice in its inventory, it should not be too difficult to come up with a second chalice that would allow her to receive the Precious Blood.

Even our small parish has a travel kit that contains a very small chalice that could be used for that reason.
 
This might be more help to you, a parish I go to occasionally, when it was flu season they did not have people drink out of the chalices. Instead they had little individual cups, kind of like Dixie cups so that people can receive without risking infection or illness
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
This might be more help to you, a parish I go to occasionally, when it was flu season they did not have people drink out of the chalices. Instead they had little individual cups, kind of like Dixie cups so that people can receive without risking infection or illness
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How did they manage about purifying them all?
 
Somebody please correct me, but isn’t that totally against the rubrics for distribution of the Precious Blood?
 
Pitcairn17 said:
Somebody please correct me, but isn’t that totally against the rubrics for distribution of the Precious Blood?
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I thought so, too. GospelofMatthew, are you sure this was a (Roman) Catholic church?

I would have thought that a Catholic parish was more likely just to stop the chalice, rather than have individual cups.
 
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This is something I already indicated in my original post.
jvickers said:
Yes, I know that receiving the one species of the Eucharist is sufficient
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It is a very specific question I have. If you don’t know the answer, then I completely understand. It appears you are attempting to close down a perfectly viable thread:
c1949 said:
There is nothing to see here. move on.
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This seems in bad form. If you do not like the thread, you need not participate.

Thanks.
 
Yeah this was a Roman Catholic parish, it’s a very good catholic parish also, very traditional. I was surprised myself. But they only did it a couple times because the flu outbreak was really bad and people wanted the blood.

But since the blood is also equally in the host, it doesn’t make sense
 
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I’m pretty sure it’s not allowed to be honest but from what I heard they got specifical dispensation from the Bishop to do this. The pastor is a very traditional priest, he wouldn’t do this without the approval first
 
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I don’t believe they were thrown away, they were collected and washed. They were small like the size of Dixie cups but were glass. Not saying it’s fine, but I believe they had special dispensation
 
The priest could conscrate a separate cup for your wife to avoid passing germs. You’d have to speak with him to make arrangements.
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
I don’t believe they were thrown away, they were collected and washed. They were small like the size of Dixie cups but were glass. Not saying it’s fine, but I believe they had special dispensation
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There’s more to purifying the vessels than simply washing them. First any remaining Precious Blood is consumed. Then water is added to the cup and that water is fully consumed. Finally the cup can be washed. Can you imagine doing that for hundreds of small cups? And since lay people aren’t allowed to purify the vessels, it would be up to the priest to do this over and over and over until all the cups had been purified. I can’t even imagine.
 
Well, there could be deacon(s) helping., but still … not a good practice. Our parish just suspends the cup during flu season.
 
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