"Chewing the Eucharist is like torturing Jesus"?

[pnewton]

I think there is no teaching on anything so mundane. If we look to St. Thomas we find the teaching that the accidents remain as they are, that is bread. Chewable bread. It is only the substance that changes which is not capable of feeling pain in the form of bread.

 

[october_baby]

I swallow the host with the aid of the blood…

 

[maryjk]

Since most of us who were taught this were trained by nuns in the 1960s and prior to that by several decades, you can be assured that the biological solution has pretty much taken place.

While this was certainly a pious example of what was often called “nun theology”, it was meant well to promote reverence for the Eucharist. I honestly think that thinking this was a damage to our credibility is a bit of a stretch. Most of us came away from this “teaching” unscathed, and can look back at it with humor. You might want to lighten up, just a little.

I prefer to think of it as one of the many stories that was passed down through our “family”, one that make us chuckle about the “good old days” (which weren’t really that good). If this the best that something can come up with to bash Catholicism, they really don’t have much to work with!

I received 1st Communion in the 70’s. I was taught to chew.

So by that time, at least, we had moved on.

 

[GangGreen]

I just brake it into smaller pieces with my tongue against the top of my mouth then let my saliva moisten it and swallow. I don’t like to chew it.

 

[BVMFatima]

The Coptic Rite uses leavened bread in large chunks. There is NO way to swallow the Eucharist without chewing.

very true

 

[odile53]

In the late 1960’s the churches in New York started using thicker and larger hosts, sometimes made of whole wheat. You’d probably choke if you attempted to swallow them whole. At that time the Sisters told us to chew them. Prior to that, the hosts were considerably smaller and thinner, and would usually dissolve in your mouth before you got back to your pew, assuming you weren’t sitting in the first few pews.

In those earlier days, the Sisters told us all sorts of sometimes crazy things to impress on us the need for reverence in receiving the Eucharist: I vaguely recall from my First Communion class being told that if we chewed the Host, it would bleed in our mouths!

Some of this stuff is actually downright funny nowadays, and I don’t think too many of us were traumatized by hearing such things. When you get a group of boomers who recall some of the pre VII things and some of these apocryphal “nun theology” statements, you’re likely to be party to a real session of absolute hilarity. And by the way, I don’t consider myself a “liberal” Catholic. Jesus Himself didn’t break and distribute a wafer the thickness of printer paper at the Last Supper–He blessed and broke a big old loaf of unleavened bread and distributed that when He instituted the Eucharist in the first place!

 

[Eric_Olsen]

then why does the priest break it in half before eating it, and break a fraction to put into the wine

A lapsed Catholic (now protestant) who argues online against the Catholic faith said this today…

Were people ever really required to swallow the host whole?
I’ve heard some talk about this teaching before. My question is, what was the extent of this teaching in the Church? Was it widespread, official teaching or false teaching? Widely practiced, or not at all?

I understand the word “eat” translated from “trogane” actually means to ‘gnaw’, so I think we are instructed by our Lord to chew or ‘gnaw’ on His flesh in the Blessed Sacrament.

 

[Vico]

Priests words in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Byzantine Catholic).

Broken and distributed is the Lamb of God, broken yet not divided, ever eaten yet never consumed, but sanctifying those who partake thereof.

 

[Dennis35]

I must admit I have not been going to church regularly…I have started to go again for my peace of mind and to teach my children,
One of the first things I noticed on my return was seeing people receiving communion and walking back to there pew CHEWING THE HOST like they were at a barbecue
A few more weeks and watchin to be sure I was seeing what I was seeing and sure as the sun comes up EVERYBODY WAS CHEWING even the priest!!
I dont know when they changed the “rules”, but I have since received and I could no way chew the “BODY OF CHRIST”…as much as I tried to…
I cant say I remember but when I went to “school” on Saturdays growing up I cant remember anyone chewing coming back from the alter…
Well I got it off my chest…Man have the times a changed

 

[Zekariya]

I must admit I have not been going to church regularly…I have started to go again for my peace of mind and to teach my children,
One of the first things I noticed on my return was seeing people receiving communion and walking back to there pew CHEWING THE HOST like they were at a barbecue
A few more weeks and watchin to be sure I was seeing what I was seeing and sure as the sun comes up EVERYBODY WAS CHEWING even the priest!!
I dont know when they changed the “rules”, but I have since received and I could no way chew the “BODY OF CHRIST”…as much as I tried to…
I cant say I remember but when I went to “school” on Saturdays growing up I cant remember anyone chewing coming back from the alter…
Well I got it off my chest…Man have the times a changed

John 6:53 Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.

Are you suggesting that we drink Christ’s Body? I eat the Body of Christ myself.

 

[Mariem2]

I was taught in the 1950’s not to chew the sacred host. The reason given was that particles might stick in our teeth. The real reason was to teach us the privilege of receiving Communion and respect for the Body of Christ. The host always stuck to the roof of my mouth which meant doing all sorts of contortions with my tongue to dislodge it, roll the edges and then swallow…all that whilst trying to make sure it didn’t touch my teeth. I’m breaking out in a sweat remembering those days.

In latter years, I had been receiving from the chalice because of a gluten intolerance but recently have reverted to receiving the host due to issues about handling the chalice. I still can’t bring myself to chew the host but reading this thread I suppose I had better do so in future.

I’m sure that Jesus never meant for Communion to be such a trial but, we humans being prone to irreverence, I suppose the rules and regulations are necessary.

 

[zab]

In the late 1960’s the churches in New York started using thicker and larger hosts, sometimes made of whole wheat. You’d probably choke if you attempted to swallow them whole. At that time the Sisters told us to chew them. Prior to that, the hosts were considerably smaller and thinner, and would usually dissolve in your mouth before you got back to your pew, assuming you weren’t sitting in the first few pews.

In those earlier days, the Sisters told us all sorts of sometimes crazy things to impress on us the need for reverence in receiving the Eucharist: I vaguely recall from my First Communion class being told that if we chewed the Host, it would bleed in our mouths!

Some of this stuff is actually downright funny nowadays, and I don’t think too many of us were traumatized by hearing such things. When you get a group of boomers who recall some of the pre VII things and some of these apocryphal “nun theology” statements, you’re likely to be party to a real session of absolute hilarity. And by the way, I don’t consider myself a “liberal” Catholic. Jesus Himself didn’t break and distribute a wafer the thickness of printer paper at the Last Supper–He blessed and broke a big old loaf of unleavened bread and distributed that when He instituted the Eucharist in the first place!

Sounds more like something out of “Late Nite Catechism”. I guess I was fortunate to have nuns that taught us respect, not nonsense.

 

[Phil_Marinus]

This topic just shows how diverse our interpretations can be on a simple subject…

let alone a whole Bible…

 

[JRKH]

I must admit I have not been going to church regularly…I have started to go again for my peace of mind and to teach my children,
One of the first things I noticed on my return was seeing people receiving communion and walking back to there pew CHEWING THE HOST like they were at a barbecue
A few more weeks and watchin to be sure I was seeing what I was seeing and sure as the sun comes up EVERYBODY WAS CHEWING even the priest!!
I dont know when they changed the “rules”, but I have since received and I could no way chew the “BODY OF CHRIST”…as much as I tried to…
I cant say I remember but when I went to “school” on Saturdays growing up I cant remember anyone chewing coming back from the alter…
Well I got it off my chest…Man have the times a changed

Dennis,
Welcome back - and welcome to the boards too.
As I said earlier…I too was taught as a child not to chew the host, but then we used a different type of host back in those days. Those little “white bread” hosts would just melt away so easily. The host’s used today don’t do that as quickly. Also, maybe it’s just me, but I think the host’s today are a bit larger…

Jesus said “eat” and my understanding of the Greek word used there is that it actually means to “gnaw” or “chew”. That helped me a lot.

Lastly - as to the priest - he always has chewed the host. For him, even with the “softer host” it is a practical matter due to the large host used at the Altar.

Peace
James

 

[ajecphotos]

I always let it dissolve on my tongue before swallowing. Just the act of putting it in your mouth and swallowing is ‘Eating’ it. You don’t ‘have’ to chew it.

 

[centurionguard]

Humbily I’ve always taken the Blessed Sacrament into my mouth and let it dissolve enough before swallowing.

As a former full time sacristan who was responsible for maintaining a sufficient supply of unconsecrated whole wheat hosts on a monthly basis and ordering an larger quantity of host for Holy Week and during Christmas. The larger bulk of the supply was kept in a tempurture controlled very cold fridge to maintain freshness.

Obviously; some host would get semi-stale from time to time, which were still used for Masses. I’m thinking most Catholics have consumed consecrated hosts from time to time that were more brittle and harder to dissolve with our saliva, and had to be slightly chewed or broken with the tongue to enable swallowing.

None of this is torturing Jesus hidden in the physical aspect of the host itself.
Most certainly the unleavened bread used in the First Mass by Jesus during the Last Supper with His Apostles was far heavier in consistancy.

In Fraternal Peace
Chris

 

[Vico]

I was taught in the 1950’s not to chew the sacred host. The reason given was that particles might stick in our teeth. The real reason was to teach us the privilege of receiving Communion and respect for the Body of Christ. The host always stuck to the roof of my mouth which meant doing all sorts of contortions with my tongue to dislodge it, roll the edges and then swallow…all that whilst trying to make sure it didn’t touch my teeth. I’m breaking out in a sweat remembering those days.

In latter years, I had been receiving from the chalice because of a gluten intolerance but recently have reverted to receiving the host due to issues about handling the chalice. I still can’t bring myself to chew the host but reading this thread I suppose I had better do so in future.

I’m sure that Jesus never meant for Communion to be such a trial but, we humans being prone to irreverence, I suppose the rules and regulations are necessary.

I was taught two from the Baltimore Catechism. In No. 4 Lesson 22 the anwwer to Q. 250 has this:
“But where does the priest get Holy Communion for them if he himself took all he consecrated? He opens the tabernacle, and there, in a large, beautiful vessel he has small Hosts. He consecrates a large number of these small hosts sometimes while he is consecrating the larger one for himself. When they are consecrated, he places them in the tabernacle, where they are kept with the sanctuary lamp burning before them, till at the different Masses they have all been given out to the people. Then he consecrates others at the next Mass, and does as before. The size of the Host does not make the slightest difference, as Our Lord is present whole and entire in the smallest particle of the Host. A little piece that you could scarcely see would be the body of Our Lord. However, the particle that is given to the people is about the size of a twenty-five-cent piece, so that they can swallow it before it melts. In receiving Holy Communion you must never let it entirely dissolve in your mouth, for if you do not swallow it you will not receive Holy Communion at all.”

In No. 3 the Answer to Q 915 has this:
Q. 915. What should we be particular about when receiving Holy Communion?
A. When receiving Holy Communion we should be particular:
(1) About the respectful manner in which we approach and return from the altar;
(2) About our personal appearance, especially neatness and cleanliness;
(3) About raising our head, opening our mouth and putting forth the tongue in the proper manner;
(4) About swallowing the Sacred Host;
(5) About removing it carefully with the tongue, in case it should stick to the mouth, but never with the finger under any circumstances.

 

[larsont7]

I also prefer to swallow the Sacred Host without chewing, not because of “torturing Jesus”, but because I have a tendency to get food stuck in my teeth, and I wouldn’t want Our Lord lingering in my mouth for that long. I also wouldn’t want to start unconsciously picking at my teeth if it felt like something was stuck in there. If I let my saliva moisten the Host enough before swallowing, I don’t have that fear.

The only exception is if I am receiving Holy Communion and I receive a very large Host and would likely choke if I didn’t chew.

 

[JohnTomHoc]

In contrast to this, I was startled while working for the parish gift shop when a charismatic informed me that you HAD to drink from the chalice to receive Christ because Christ’s blood reached one sooner through drinking than through consuming the host (which she didn’t call “the host”).

Once again, following the introduction of Paul VI’s rite, suddenly chewing became de rigeur as a proof that one wasn’t ‘holding onto old Catholic things’.

It’s certain that the unleavened bread that Jesus consecrated had to be chewed, but to assume that we have to do so is to assume what Pius XII condemned as false archaism in liturgical reasoning.

 

[Zekariya]

In contrast to this, I was startled while working for the parish gift shop when a charismatic informed me that you HAD to drink from the chalice to receive Christ because Christ’s blood reached one sooner through drinking than through consuming the host (which she didn’t call “the host”).

Once again, following the introduction of Paul VI’s rite, suddenly chewing became de rigeur as a proof that one wasn’t ‘holding onto old Catholic things’.

That would be old Latin Catholic things. In some Eastern Catholic Churches, since we use leavened bread, one must chew or you can’t swallow. I chew with my front teeth so that Christ’s Body doesn’t get stuck in my back teeth (molars).