Have you, as an EMHC, had this happen?

[twosweetgirls]

When you delivered the Blessed Sacrament to someone and they spit it out?

This happened just on Sunday, when I went to the nursing home to deliver Holy Communion to the residents there. In the Memory Wing (where dementia and Alzheimer’s residents are) there was one parishioner who was difficult to “read” regarding her fitness (for lack of a better word) to receive the Blessed Sacrament. When I made the Sign of the Cross and started the Lord’s Prayer, she was saying it with me, so I determined that she was mentally present to receive Holy Communion. But when I placed the Host on her tongue, she made a face and pushed it out with her tongue, gave a yawn and promptly fell asleep.

I tell you, I immediately picked up Jesus in the Sacrament, asked the nurse for a baggie and took it back to the parish, where my priest instructed me to take it home and bury it someplace safe (where it couldn’t be dug up) in my yard. I buried the Host next to the Blessed Mother statue in my Mary Garden.

Has this, or something like it, happened to you? (And please, I know from reading here that there’s considerable polarizing opinions of the need for EMHCs, so this isn’t the thread for that, otay?).

 

[Chuy]

When you delivered the Blessed Sacrament to someone and they spit it out?

This happened just on Sunday, when I went to the nursing home to deliver Holy Communion to the residents there. In the Memory Wing (where dementia and Alzheimer’s residents are) there was one parishioner who was difficult to “read” regarding her fitness (for lack of a better word) to receive the Blessed Sacrament. When I made the Sign of the Cross and started the Lord’s Prayer, she was saying it with me, so I determined that she was mentally present to receive Holy Communion. But when I placed the Host on her tongue, she made a face and pushed it out with her tongue, gave a yawn and promptly fell asleep.

I tell you, I immediately picked up Jesus in the Sacrament, asked the nurse for a baggie and took it back to the parish, where my priest instructed me to take it home and bury it someplace safe (where it couldn’t be dug up) in my yard. I buried the Host next to the Blessed Mother statue in my Mary Garden.

Has this, or something like it, happened to you? (And please, I know from reading here that there’s considerable polarizing opinions of the need for EMHCs, so this isn’t the thread for that, otay?).

Yes it has happened. The host should be completely dissolved in a glass of water, and that water (plus the water from a rinsing of the glass) then poured down a sacrarium or on the ground where no one walks.

 

[Claire_from_DE]

Yes it has happened. The host should be completely dissolved in a glass of water, and that water (plus the water from a rinsing of the glass) then poured down a sacrarium or on the ground where no one walks.

Agreed. The priest was way wrong in what he told you!

 

[twosweetgirls]

My priest was wrong?? Now I feel really bad! Should I go back to my garden and see if He is still buried? We’ve had some pretty decent rainfall in the last several days, so I doubt I’d find anything. Holy cow, I feel awful now.

 

[theistgal]

My priest was wrong?? Now I feel really bad! Should I go back to my garden and see if He is still buried? We’ve had some pretty decent rainfall in the last several days, so I doubt I’d find anything. Holy cow, I feel awful now.

Ah, don’t feel bad - sounds like the Lord sent the rainfall to take care of the dissolving part for you.

Don’t sweat it, sweetie - you did what you thought was right based on what you were told by your priest. If it happens again, you’ll know better. But your intentions were good and you were doing a good thing by bringing Christ to this elderly lady.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Has this, or something like it, happened to you?

Yes, several times. I think it happens occasionally to all of us who regularly bring Communion to nursing homes. Sometimes a person appears to indicate the desire to receive Communion, then either spits it out, falls asleep, has trouble swallowing, etc. You make the best judgment you can in each situation, and if the person doesn’t swallow the Host you take care of it as reverently as possible (as you attempted to do).

Sometimes I wonder whether I’m “fit” for the job, whether God wants me to continue doing it. I pray about it frequently and have asked the advice of a trusted priest. For now, my fear of making a “mistake” is outweighed by the fact that if I weren’t doing this, some of my brothers and sisters in Christ would almost never have the opportunity to receive Him.

 

[fender5467]

You did nothing wrong.
Your priest was not incorrect in instructing you to bury the host;
that is an appropriate way of disposing of the Blessed Sacrament; the other options would be consuming it or dissolving it in water.

M

 

[Chuy]

You did nothing wrong.
Your priest was not incorrect in instructing you to bury the host;
that is an appropriate way of disposing of the Blessed Sacrament; the other options would be consuming it or dissolving it in water.

M

No way…

While I seriously doubt the priest gave intentionally bad advice, it’s never OK to bury a host…

It’s truly wrong to come onto a forum and give that sort of advice. It might lead others to do the wrong thing.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

When you delivered the Blessed Sacrament to someone and they spit it out?

This happened just on Sunday, when I went to the nursing home to deliver Holy Communion to the residents there. In the Memory Wing (where dementia and Alzheimer’s residents are) there was one parishioner who was difficult to “read” regarding her fitness (for lack of a better word) to receive the Blessed Sacrament. When I made the Sign of the Cross and started the Lord’s Prayer, she was saying it with me, so I determined that she was mentally present to receive Holy Communion. But when I placed the Host on her tongue, she made a face and pushed it out with her tongue, gave a yawn and promptly fell asleep.

I tell you, I immediately picked up Jesus in the Sacrament, asked the nurse for a baggie and took it back to the parish, where my priest instructed me to take it home and bury it someplace safe (where it couldn’t be dug up) in my yard. I buried the Host next to the Blessed Mother statue in my Mary Garden.

Has this, or something like it, happened to you? (And please, I know from reading here that there’s considerable polarizing opinions of the need for EMHCs, so this isn’t the thread for that, otay?).

Yes, it has happened. I simply pick it up, use gloves if necessary, place the Host in the zip-lock bag that you always carry with you, put some water in the bag. take it back to the church or home and then add more water to the bag once there. seal the bag and let it sit until it is dissolved, then pour the water into the ground out of the way. Rinse the bag out and pour that water into the ground, toss the bag. Put another new one in the case with your pyx.