Host dropped during Communion

[david80]

When I went to mass yesterday, the Eucharistic minister dropped the host into my hand and when they did that it fell onto the floor. This has never happened to me in my life, the Eucharistic minister did nothing, and I found it disrespectful that it had happened so I picked it up thinking they would have. I picked it up, they still did nothing, so I took it. I feel this was wrong and that the host should have been taken to the priest afterwards and a new one given to me.

Was this my fault? What should I have done?

 

[paperwight66]

When I went to mass yesterday, the Eucharistic minister dropped the host into my hand and when they did that it fell onto the floor. This has never happened to me in my life, the Eucharistic minister did nothing, and I found it disrespectful that it had happened so I picked it up thinking they would have. I picked it up, they still did nothing, so I took it. I feel this was wrong and that the host should have been taken to the priest afterwards and a new one given to me.

Was this my fault? What should I have done?

Why do you think that the Host should have been taken to the priest, and a new one given to you? For reasons of hygiene?

If I had been the EMHC, I would have acted the same i.e. not tried to pick the Host up. Firstly, because of the danger of spilling the Hosts I still had, and secondly, for fear of clashing heads.

The question of whose fault it might have been isn’t relevant. Everyone, communicant and EMHC does his or her best to make Holy Communion reverent. But accidents happen.

 

[dconklin]

When I was trained as an EMHC I was told to pick-up the dropped host, hold it under the ciborium and continue. After my duties were done I was to consume the dropped host while returning to the altar.

 

[Gem]

It was an accident. The EMHC shouldn’t have ignored the host though. You did right by consuming it - either you or the EMHC has to.

 

[jtodisco]

At my former parish I was an EMHC and this happened to me once. I was so mortified that I had just dropped the Holy Eucharist I was handing to a communicant that I, without much thought, dropped down immediately and picked it up giving it to the communicant. He didn’t look too happy with me for giving him a Communion Host that had fallen on the ground, and afterward I felt a little bad thinking perhaps I should have kept that one to consume myself and given him another Host. However, he received it so I suppose he couldn’t have been that upset. Still, it is awful to be in this situation. I still feel bad when I think about how a moment’s carelessness led to me inadvertantly being disrespectful to the Lord.

 

[grasscutter]

I really feel for anyone this has happened to. Being pretty clumsy, I often worry about this.

Had I been the one receiving, I would dropped to the floor, picked it up and frantically searched for any crumbs. All the while saying I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…

 

[centurionguard]

When I went to mass yesterday, the Eucharistic minister dropped the host into my hand and when they did that it fell onto the floor. This has never happened to me in my life, the Eucharistic minister did nothing, and I found it disrespectful that it had happened so I picked it up thinking they would have. I picked it up, they still did nothing, so I took it. I feel this was wrong and that the host should have been taken to the priest afterwards and a new one given to me.

Was this my fault? What should I have done?

No it was ((“Not”)) of any of your deliberate fault. Accidents happen. And I might have done the same by consuming the fallen consecrated host in your position if the EMHC had done nothing about it.

Normally though as per custom the EMHC after being notified of the accidental incident would remove or cover the fallen consecrated host with a purificator so as not to have the host trampled upon until holy communion was finished being distributed to the faithful.

 

[paperwight66]

No it was ((“Not”)) of any of your deliberate fault. Accidents happen. And I might have done the same by consuming the fallen consecrated host in your position if the EMHC had done nothing about it.

Normally though as per custom the EMHC after being notified of the accidental incident would remove or cover the fallen consecrated host with a purificator so as not to have the host trampled upon until holy communion was finished being distributed to the faithful.

In our training we were told the opposite. To leave it to the communicant to pick up, for the reasons given earlier, or if they didn’t, to pick it up ourselves. Covering it with a purificator sounds very dangerous, as would subsequent people in the queue who hadn’t witnessed what had happened see it and know to avoid it? IME, they are focussed on moving forward, getting ready to receive, not looking at the floor.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Giving communion should be stopped and the Host should be picked up.

It should be put aside and the priest will take care of disposing of it later. What will happen will be that it would be put in water until dissolved and no longer has the appearance of bread. Then the water will be poured down the sacrarium or if there is not, into the earth.

 

[servantofall]

I have had this happen while serving as an EMHC and I did what I was trained to do. I stopped, picked up the host, held it under the ciborium, gave the communicant another host, and consumed the fallen one on my way back to the alter.

 

[centurionguard]

In our training we were told the opposite. To leave it to the communicant to pick up, for the reasons given earlier, or if they didn’t, to pick it up ourselves. Covering it with a purificator sounds very dangerous, as would subsequent people in the queue who hadn’t witnessed what had happened see it and know to avoid it? IME, they are focussed on moving forward, getting ready to receive, not looking at the floor.

Every diocese likely has its own protocol when accidents like this arise.
But to me the protocol should be uniform with all dioceses in these instances.

I see absolutely no circumstances of leaving a consecrated host exposed on the dirty floor at no instance. Bad enough that a consecrated host falls to the floor by accident.

In the Traditional Latin Mass alter boys used hand-held Patens under the chin of communicants receiving the Holy Eucharist on their tongues to overt such accidents.

Why the majority of Catholic Churches disposed of communion patens to tarnish away in church museums as superfluous non-essentials is anyone’s guess.