Can the lay faithful take the Host home?

[coeyannie]

At Mass this morning, a woman took the Host in her hand, broke a little piece off, put that in her mouth, drank from the Cup, and when she got to her seat, she took a gold pix from her purse and put the rest of the Host in the pix. I assume she was taking it home with her to her husband or someone. I have seen other people take the pix to Holy Communion, receive themselves, and then the Priest or the Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion puts the Host in the pix. (This was done at a different church). Do I have reason to think that she is doing this on her own? The parish is pretty orthodox, I just can’t believe that is the protocol.

 

[Peggy_Frye]

I recommend you notify the pastor immediately of this problem. This is a serious abuse.

*Redemptionis Sacramentum *

[132.] No one may carry the Most Holy Eucharist to his or her home, or to any other place contrary to the norm of law. It should also be borne in mind that removing or retaining the consecrated species for a sacrilegious purpose or casting them away are graviora delicta, the absolution of which is reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[225]

[133.] A Priest or Deacon, or an extraordinary minister who takes the Most Holy Eucharist when an ordained minister is absent or impeded in order to administer it as Communion for a sick person, should go insofar as possible directly from the place where the Sacrament is reserved to the sick person’s home, leaving aside any profane business so that any danger of profanation may be avoided and the greatest reverence for the Body of Christ may be ensured. Furthermore the Rite for the administration of Communion to the sick, as prescribed in the Roman Ritual, is always to be used.[226]