How much wine must be used at Mass?

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Yes, mustum can be used, with permission. Not all liturgical requirements appear in canon law …
 
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So, uh, yeah — you’re wrong. Would be curious to know why you’re apparently unable to discuss this reasonably without resorting to your unfortunate tone.
 
po18guy said:
Ask Father.
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Okay, since you ask, when it comes to how much wine to put in the chalice I guesstimate! 😁 It just comes down to common sense really based on how many people are at mass and also not filling the chalice to full so as to avoid spillage.

As far as the water goes, as @Fauken has pointed out, in more pedantic (or precise depending on your perspective) times, a spoon used to be used to measure the water in order to avoid using too much. Again, this isn’t supposed to be difficult - I tilt the cruet and pour a little bit of water into the chalice; it’d be impossible to use too much without really really really trying… hard!
 
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DIERM said:
There ya go…theology is the study of the Church, not the Law…not even Fr. Z’s theology.
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Uh. Fr. Z was in reference to the scruple spoon. The part about Jesus no longer being present when the accidents of bread and wine are gone is not. That is Catholic teaching.
 
JulianN said:
And it would be diluted far past the required 12-18% alcohol level.
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Huh?

Wine yeast conks out at about 12%; naturally fermented line doesn’t go higher than that. 18% only happens when you fortify, whether by distilling the same wine and adding it back (a good port, for example) or adding whatever was cheap to distill (popskull fortified wine).
 
18 is the upper allowed limit—likely to ensure fortification does not occur.
 
It’s rare to hit 13 without fortification. You don’t even approach 18 without fortifying . . . the yeast die from the alcohol long before that point.
 
Not disagreeing—just speculating as to the rationale for the 12-18 number.
 
po18guy said:
The G.I.R.M. most likely has guidance on this issue.
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Minimal - the GIRM does occasionally allow priests to think for themselves 😛

Here’s what the GIRM says:
  1. After this, as the minister presents the cruets, the priest stands at the side of the altar and pours wine and a little water into the chalice, saying quietly, Per huius aquae (By the mystery of this water) .
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A similar instruction for mass with a deacon appears at 178.
 
When they were in prison many priests celebrated mass with a thimble full of wine.
 
Thanks so much to everyone who answered, I’m pretty clear on my questions now!
As a side note, I always forget how many passive-aggressive and rude people exist on forums… Strange. But such is life, I guess! 🙂
 
I think the answer is enough so the priest doesn’t get drunk. A thimble?
 
I would say enough so that when water is added it doesn’t cease to be valid matter and Fr. can receive Communion. A teaspooonful with a drop of water would be enough to allow for the priest’s Communion. Nobody else has to receive.
 
CatholicRules said:
I think the answer is enough so the priest doesn’t get drunk. A thimble?
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IN all seriousness, that would seem unlikely, given Jewish practice at Seder meals.

I recall being shocked years ago, until I thought about it, when a priest commented that of course the Apostles had trouble staying awake, as “they’d all had about five cups.”

I’m in no way advocating priestly or other insobriety, but it would seem off to suggest that non-intoxication was a necessity.

hawk
 
No matter how much or how little wine we put out, one of our priests always uses half of it. If we ever needed to split the atom, all we’d need to do is put out one atom of wine. (Yes OK chemistry students, I know.)
 
dochawk said:
Wine yeast conks out at about 12%; naturally fermented line doesn’t go higher than that. 18% only happens when you fortify
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Actually, that’s not true. Google “wine yeast alcohol tolerance”. Some strains are able to tolerate 18%. (And, if you try really hard, you can get there by careful attention to your must – at least, that’s what they do in high-gravity mead recipes. YMMV with grapes, though…)
CatholicRules said:
I think the answer is enough so the priest doesn’t get drunk. A thimble?
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No, that’s not the rationale.

I remember reading something a number of years ago that reported on a situation in (Communist) Eastern Europe: with the strict DUI laws in the country – and given the low numbers of priests, considering the persecution of the Church by the Communists – priests had to drive to a number of churches on Sundays in order to celebrate Mass. They were getting pulled over by the police and arrested for DUI, so laypeople began driving them from church to church, so that they could celebrate Mass without getting arrested. They weren’t drunk, mind you… but the “no tolerance” laws in effect defined them as such.
 
sealabeag said:
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?
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I’ve seen a priest literally dump the entire decanter in the chalice, filling it almost to the brim.

I’ve also seen a priest put in a tablespoon or so, since it was a Daily Mass and only three people were there.
 
sealabeag said:
how much wine must be used by a priest at Mass?
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At a parish I used to attend, a while back, one of the EMHCs was fond of complaining to the priests that they didn’t use enough wine to have sufficient quantities of the Precious Blood for “everyone”.

One priest replied to him, “yes, you’re right! We can reserve the hosts, but we can’t do so with the Precious Blood – we have to consume all of the Precious Blood! So naturally, I’ll consecrate somewhat less, rather than more, than I expect will be consumed by the congregation!”
 
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