How much wine must be used at Mass?

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Slightly odd question, but I have a reason for asking - how much wine must be used by a priest at Mass? Is there a rule about this? For example, is a teaspoon the minimum, a tablespoon, etc.?
And secondly, what what is the highest ratio of water to wine for the sacrament to be valid?

This might all sound a little pedantic or legalistic, however like I said I have a reason for asking.

Thanks!
 
There is no minimum amount of wine mandated by the rubrics, nor is there a stated maximum ratio of water to wine.
 
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I would think that if the amount of water exceeds 50%, it would no longer be valid matter.
 
Enough for the celebrant to consume, I think (it’s my understanding that while the laity aren’t required to consume the Precious Blood, the priest is). As for the water content, the majority of the substance needs to be recognizable as wine, not water.
 
It seems that in the absence of concrete measures required (at least x ml of wine, no more than x amount of water to wine), common sense should prevail when it comes to the amount of wine used and the amount of water added to the wine.
 
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And so the answer has been given. Your reason for asking certainly may be private (fine) but it may also help us provide a better answer.

For instance, if you’re concerned about a potential candidate for the priesthood who may be struggling with alcoholism, well, there are different approaches to answering this question then.
 
Thom18 said:
As for the water content, the majority of the substance needs to be recognizable as wine, not water
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And, again, what is the basis for this conclusion…if a drop of blood is mixed with a gallon of water, is the blood still present…especially the blood of Christ?
 
Thanks for the answer guys. It’s interesting to me that there’s no hard and fast rule regarding a minimum amount of wine or a maximum water to wine ration. I did read somewhere it’s just a “drop” of water to the wine, so I suppose the larger/smaller the amount of wine the larger/smaller the drop?
 
It’s a drop, regardless of quantity of wine. There is no rule governing the volume of the drop.
 
DIERM said:
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Pitcairn17:
I would think that if the amount of water exceeds 50%, it would no longer be valid matter.
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What ever would you base this on, besides “I would think”? ???
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I would base this on the common-sense conclusion that liquid which is 75% water isn’t “wine.” Since you’ve displayed some attitude on this point, prove me wrong.
 
DIERM said:
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Thom18:
As for the water content, the majority of the substance needs to be recognizable as wine, not water
Click to expand...
And, again, what is the basis for this conclusion…if a drop of blood is mixed with a gallon of water, is the blood still present…especially the blood of Christ?
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Yes, but not everyone is receiving the Blood, now are they?
 
DIERM said:
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Thom18:
As for the water content, the majority of the substance needs to be recognizable as wine, not water
Click to expand...
And, again, what is the basis for this conclusion…if a drop of blood is mixed with a gallon of water, is the blood still present…especially the blood of Christ?
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And again, Church teaching is that if a particle is too small to be recognized as “bread,” the Eucharistic presence is not there. By extension of the same logic, a drop of the Precious Blood in a gallon of water is clearly not recognizable as the consecrated Species of wine. Again, prove me wrong.
 
To point out just how little, note that in the Soviet gulag, a single grape hidden away from a meal and a hidden scrap of bread sufficed . . .
 
For both species, the appearance of bread and wine must remain for them to be the body and blood of Christ. So a drop of wine in a gallon of water would not meet that criterion. And it would be diluted far past the required 12-18% alcohol level.
 
JulianN said:
And it would be diluted far past the required 12-18% alcohol level.
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Where do you get this “requirement” for 12-18%? Alcohol level is not a requirement in Canon Law, but this seems another example of “common sense”…there are plenty of wines outside both ends of your specification that are still wine, but really, is there a no codified alcohol level required by the Church…the amount of water in the Canon Code, does say “a small amount” of water is added, so yes a drop in a gallon might be a bad example, but the alcohol level argument is without merit…natural fermentation is the only requirement, and in certain circumstances mustum (minimally fermented wine, which would have a very low alcohol level) is permitted.
 
DIERM said:
Church law is specific and never by extension…so, uh, yeah, you’re wrong
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Actually he’s not. This isn’t a matter of Church law, but theology. This is in fact a very real concern, a tiny spoon used to apparently be because of it. Fr. Z discusses it here:


If the bread and wine both equally contain the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, what sense does it make to say that the Body ceases to be present when a particle no longer looks like bread, but a molecule continues to be the Blood despite not looking like wine?
DIERM said:
Where do you get this “requirement” for 12-18%? Alcohol level is not a requirement in Canon Law
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Here’s a nice long post over the requirements for altar wine.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur255.htm

The alcohol level is apparently not to exceed 18%.
 
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