Communion wafers

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ZuzuBailey

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I just found out I have celiac disease and the Communion wafers are not allowed. I also dont drink the wine because I have a problem with drinking that cup after 100 people.

So what do I do?
 
Discuss it with your pastor &/or sit in the first pew so that you’re the first one to receive communion from the chalice.
 
Talk to your pastor first, and if there is a problem with receiving from the main chalice (due to the particle that the priest breaks off and places in it) then ask if he may consecrate (separately) a small chalice of the Precious Blood for you. Our parish priest does this for a woman in our parish. She comes up AFTER everyone else has received and the priest goes to the altar and gets the small chalice for her. No disruption, no break in the flow of communicants.

Of course, you have to be sure to let the priest know ahead of time that you’ll be receiving at a particular Mass. Communication is the key here!
 
ZuzuBailey said:
I just found out I have celiac disease and the Communion wafers are not allowed. I also dont drink the wine because I have a problem with drinking that cup after 100 people.

So what do I do?
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First remember that a Catholic is not required to receive Holy Communion at every Mass they attend. They are required to attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day but are not required to receive Holy Communion every time they attend. A Catholic is required if possible to receive Holy Communion once a year during the Easter season. Again this is “If Possible”. I would suggest that you speak with your pastor and see if he can obtain a Low Gluten Host that is approved by the Vatican and have it available specifically for you at a specific Mass. This Host can be placed in a special Pyx during the consecration so that it does not come into conatct with any other Hosts. He may also be able to have you sit in a special place and be the first person to receive from the Chalice so that there is no wheat gluten in the chalice.
 
catholicceliacs.org/Options.html

Take a look at that - it discusses the gluten free option for hosts approved for Catholics. Talk to your pastor about getting a supply of them… Perhaps you can print that out and show it to him if he is not familiar. The consecration of a small amount of the Eucharist under the form of wine in a chalice intended just for you seems like a good idea also.
 
ASimpleSinner said:
catholicceliacs.org/Options.html

Take a look at that - it discusses the gluten free option for hosts approved for Catholics. Talk to your pastor about getting a supply of them… Perhaps you can print that out and show it to him if he is not familiar. The consecration of a small amount of the Eucharist under the form of wine in a chalice intended just for you seems like a good idea also.
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A “GLUTEN FREE” Host is invalid matter for the Catholic Eucharist.
 
Make it a point to arrive at mass early enough to sit in the front.
Easily solved!
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
A “GLUTEN FREE” Host is invalid matter for the Catholic Eucharist.
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Please read the link. The host are not really gluton free but have less than .01% gluton. We have 2 young children in our parish who have celiac disease. They receive these hosts. Our priest and bishop both agree that they are valid matter.
 
Phemie said:
That was my first reaction and was going to type that but then I googled it and found this from the USCCB:

usccb.org/liturgy/innews/1103.shtml

which essentially says that you don’t consider the amount in one single host but on the entire batch and that, based on this, these hosts are valid matter.
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Right only low gluten hosts are valid matter. You have to be clear on this because there are actual gluten-free types out there which would be invalid matter for catholics.

From your link-

**
**A. The use of gluten-free hosts and mustum
**
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  1. Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist.
  2. Low-gluten hosts (partially gluten-free) are valid matter, provided they contain a sufficient amount of gluten to obtain the confection of bread without the addition of foreign materials and without the use of procedures that would alter the nature of bread**.
ZuZuBailey,

You have some options here. It depends upon the severity of your allergy and what symptoms you can stand. Read the link that Phemie gave. Some choices-You can recieve once a year or slightly more often, you can recieve a small piece instead of a whole host, you can ask your priest to order the low gluten hosts, you can recieve from the cup (you may just have to get over your phobia about that, or ask to recieve first since their can be gluten in lipstick which you should avoid). If you choose special hosts or if you need to receive from a special cup you will need to make arrangements prior to every Mass you want to recieve at.
 
Seatuck said:
Right only low gluten hosts are valid matter. You have to be clear on this because there are actual gluten-free types out there which would be invalid matter for catholics.
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The problem is that these hosts are being marketed as ‘gluten-free’. That makes it difficult to distinguish between the so-called ‘gluten-free’ hosts that ARE valid matter and those that are in fact free of gluten and therefore invalid matter.
 
Lance said:
Please read the link. The host are not really gluton free but have less than .01% gluton. We have 2 young children in our parish who have celiac disease. They receive these hosts. Our priest and bishop both agree that they are valid matter.
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Just to clarify. There are gluten free hosts sold out there. Lutherants and others can use them. Catholics cannot use them. We can only use the low gluten hosts approved by the Bishop’s. That is what Br. Rich is saying.
 
Phemie said:
The problem is that these hosts are being marketed as ‘gluten-free’. That makes it difficult to distinguish between the so-called ‘gluten-free’ hosts that ARE valid matter and those that are in fact free of gluten and therefore invalid matter.
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The approved hosts which only come from one manufacturer in this country are marketed as Low Gluten. Again from your link which you so thoughtfully provide for us-
This product is the only true, low-gluten altar bread known to the Secretariat and approved for use at Mass in the United States. The contact information for ordering such hosts from the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration is as follows:
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Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
Altar Breads Department
31970 State Highway P
Clyde, Missouri 64432
Phone:1-800-223-2772
e-mail: altarbreads@benedictinesisters.org
Sr. Rita, OSB, Manager
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Of course that is in the US. I don’t know what the Canadian Bishop’s allow.
 
Seatuck said:
Of course that is in the US. I don’t know what the Canadian Bishop’s allow.
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I have seen no pronouncements on the topic.

You have to wonder though at the stretch of the imagination required to believe that mixing starch with water gives you bread.
 
Seatuck said:
I have to say that the typical host doesn’t look, taste or feel much like bread either. Yet that is what we call it.
Here’s an article with a picture.

catholickey.org/index.php3?article_id=2858&gif=news.gif&issue=20040409&mode=view
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The question is, if you mix starch and water in large quantities will you end up with bread, particularly starch that contains 0.001% gluten? If you mix flour and water you get bread, it doesn’t matter how thin you make it before you cook it.
 
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Seatuck:
I have to say that the typical host doesn’t look, taste or feel much like bread either. Yet that is what we call it.
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My sister used to say that it’s easier to believe it’s Jesus than to believe it’s bread!

John
 
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