Consuming “extra” consecrated hosts usually is done when there is no tabernacle in which to reserve the “leftovers.” The priest usually consumes the extra hosts, but he can also give them to the deacon, EMHCs, or altar servers if there are too many for him to consume by himself. If this is a regular problem though, the pastor should either seek to recalculate how many hosts will be needed or obtain a tabernacle to reserve the extras. In making calculations of how many hosts to consecrate, generally it is better to slightly underestimate than to wildly overestimate. If ministers of Communion are running out of hosts, they can always start breaking the remainder of the hosts into pieces to have enough for all of the communicants.
