Care of purificators

[lmallardi]

Is there any proceedure for the care of purificators once used in the mass? I have found that purificators with Precious Blood on them are heaped in a pile and stuffed in a bag or milk crate to await cleaning. I don’t feel this is a reverent way to care for the purificators once the Precious Blood is on them. Should they not be rinsed when the vessels are washed after the mass? Should the Precious Blood not receive the same degree of care and reverence that the Eucharist receives?

 

[enanneman]

My experience is that purificators are soaked in water, which allows the precious blood to lose its essense, then they are safe to be cleaned in the normal fashion, such as in a washing machine. Perhaps the purificators you see have already been soaked and thus no longer contain the precious blood?

 

[Dr.Colossus]

The purificators are used to wipe the rim of the chalice after each communicant receives the Precious Blood. There is a certain percentage of consecrated wine that must be in a mixture for it to still contain Jesus Christ. I don’t remember it offhand, but I know it’s quite a bit more than 50%. Since the communicant places his or her lips on the rim, it would seem to me that there would be more saliva than consecrated wine at this point, and therefore would not be the Precious Blood by the time the purificator is used. In addition, any wine that was on the purificator would evaporate by the time the Mass was over, leaving only the accident of some discoloring.