Eucharist crumbs on the floor - Conscience problem Help!

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Hello people.

Today I went to Mass in an Eastern Parish. The Eucharist fell on the ground while I was on the line. In the end of the Mass, while people were leaving the Church, I saw a very small crumb of bread of the floor, right on the place where the Eucharist has fallen. I thought it could be a crumb of the Eucharist (but it could also be a crumb of the holy bread distributed after the Mass). So I took it with my fingers and ate it. I think I did the right thing, because people could have steped on. I also licked my fingers and I could not see any visible particle of the Eucharist on my finger. After that, although I could not see any particle on my fingers, I took a plastic cup and, washed my fingers inside it, drank the water and then washed the cup and drank the watter three times. After this I threw the plastic cup away.

And now I am suffering reallly a lot because I am feeling terrified. I am really afraid now of having thown Jesus away! What should I do? I did not see any bread particle on my fingers. I am really scrupulous. Sorry for my bad english, it is not my mother language.
 
You are feeling the way Satan wants you to feel, imo
I think you done right. I believe Jesus can unconsecrate a
particle of the Eucharist in some circumstances.
 
You did the right thing. As to washing your fingers etc, think about it, priests don’t even do this, let alone wash them, drink the water and worry about a plastic cup that contained the water.

You did the right thing by being vigilant and picking up the fragment of Our Lord from the floor and consuming him. Well done.
 
As to your question, i believe this was an Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy. Their Eucharistic practices are different than Latin Rite. Ask Doc Hawk.
 
Eastern praxis has “antidoron”, blessed bread, and perhaps wine, distributed after communion. In some, this is weekly, and serves the purpose of cleansing the mouth, while in others, it is only on occasion.

Antidoron is offered to all (or just Christian whether in communion or not?), and is not the Eucharist.

Traditionally (and today in some parishes/churches, at least where the priest hasn’t been to the emergency room to have his finger reattached while preparing the bread [seriously; mine has!]), the bread is baked (by the priest himself for some churches, by a parishioner for others), and the “lamb” is the upper piece with symbols either pressed in with a stamp or from the pan(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) . [from http://exploringorthodoxy.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-make-prosphera-orthodox-holy.html]

The lamb is removed and used for the Eucharist, and the balance of the loaf is blessed and prepared for distribution as antidoron.
Generally only the enumerated particles (for various saints and orders) are actually consecrated , with the excepting being Ruthenian practice, which consecrates all bread to be used. Whether consecrated or not, the rest are added to the cup, and Communion is dropped into the mouth with a small spoon (except for the Melkites, where the priest instincts strips of bread).

Anyway, if it was the antidoron, it was “only” blessed, and no more tragic than any other blessed object. If the Eucharist, yes, treat a large enough piece to find respectfully, consuming if possible, and returning to the earth (perhaps in an outside planter).

We probably catch about one a month during communion in my Ruthenian parish. If we don’t catch it, I try to drop a purificatory over it for the priest to handle later (although I was once given it back twice by people trying to be helpful 🤯:roll_eyes: . . .

If you used the best idea that came to you, and did it respectfully, you certainly handled the situation properly.

hawk
hawk
 
vitep said:
Today I went to Mass in an Eastern Parish. The Eucharist fell on the ground while I was on the line. In the end of the Mass, while people were leaving the Church, I saw a very small crumb of bread of the floor, right on the place where the Eucharist has fallen. I thought it could be a crumb of the Eucharist (but it could also be a crumb of the holy bread distributed after the Mass). So I took it with my fingers and ate it. I think I did the right thing, because people could have steped on. I also licked my fingers and I could not see any visible particle of the Eucharist on my finger. After that, although I could not see any particle on my fingers, I took a plastic cup and, washed my fingers inside it, drank the water and then washed the cup and drank the watter three times. After this I threw the plastic cup away.

And now I am suffering reallly a lot because I am feeling terrified. I am really afraid now of having thown Jesus away! What should I do? I did not see any bread particle on my fingers. I am really scrupulous. Sorry for my bad english, it is not my mother languag
Click to expand...
You did GOOD and you did it RIGHT!

God Bless you,
Patrcik
 
I think you did your best ,please be at peace about it now .God bless.
 
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Read advice related to scrupulosity and distress about any possible tiny minute invisible fragments is to entrust them to the angels.
 
Thank you people for all your answers, but last Sunday something similar happened again.
The new bishof came to visit us and looks like he also saw some crumbs on the floor after distributing the eucharist. He talked to the priest and the acolyte picked then up from the floor. However, after the Mass I still saw some crumbs on the region. I picked then up but near to then there was a region of the floor, where the eucharist was being given, full of some white partciples. It could have been the Eucharist, but I was not sure… I do not know how often the priest cleans the floor, there was a mass on the day before and the blessed bread (antirodon) was being distributed to the people. I do not know what happened to me, but I only had a inner impulse to ignore these particles… and this is what I did. At the moment I thought it would be really okay to do so, but since yesterday I am having some serious conscience problems about it.

I know that CIC 1367 actually excommunicates people who commits every act of desecration or agaisnt the Eucharist. I was always aware of this law and its punishments, but at the moment I was picking the particples up, this law did not come into my mind. I am also not sure of what I’ve done fits into the CIC 1367. I really could not imagine that at this moment I could be commiting a crime against the Church.

And now I can not stop thinking about it. I have really some grave conscience problems on being excommunicated now. Is it possible to be accidentaly excommunicated? Should I worry?
 
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vitep said:
Is it possible to be accidentaly excommunicated?
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No. You are not excommunicated.

You are having severe problems with scruples about this. Please talk to the Priest about this next time you are in Church. Stop posting here. There is nothing we can do and your need for reassurance is going to make your problem worse. Trust me on this.
 
Are you Eastern Catholic? I’m confused… You’re attending an Eastern liturgy but citing CIC which doesn’t apply to Eastern Catholics. You definitely need to seek the guidance of a priest.
 
The OP needs to seek help from a priest and maybe a counselor for severe scruples.

To everyone else, please stop responding. Let us keep our friend in our prayers.

-Fr ACEGC
 
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