Is it acceptable for a priest for wash his hands after Communion?

[lak611]

My mother just went to her new parish for the first time yesterday. The priest did something unusual. In addition to washing his hands during the Offertory (which is proper and always required), he repeated the handwashing after he was finished distributing Communion. My mother said the altar girl poured water over the priest’s hands and he dried them with a towel, just like what is done during the Offertory. She has never seen this done at any other Mass, nor have I. Is this problematic?

 

[scylla]

Are the people unusually dirty and smelly in that parish. Maybe they gross him out and make him feel so dirty that he needs to clean up after getting so close to the people?

I am pretty sure this is not acceptable,

Scylla

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

My mother just went to her new parish for the first time yesterday. The priest did something unusual. In addition to washing his hands during the Offertory (which is proper and always required), he repeated the handwashing after he was finished distributing Communion. My mother said the altar girl poured water over the priest’s hands and he dried them with a towel, just like what is done during the Offertory. She has never seen this done at any other Mass, nor have I. Is this problematic?

There used to be a small bowl near the tabernacle. After the priest finished with Holy Communion he would keep the thumb and finger together that handled the Body of Christ. He would rinse these fingers in this small bowl to remove any possible particles of the Host that might have stuck there. With so many people distributing Holy Communion they should all do this after distributing.

 

[lak611]

Are the people unusually dirty and smelly in that parish. Maybe they gross him out and make him feel so dirty that he needs to clean up after getting so close to the people?

I am pretty sure this is not acceptable,

Scylla

No, the parishioners are not dirty. They are well-groomed and dress nicer than the people from my mom’s old parish.

 

[lak611]

There used to be a small bowl near the tabernacle. After the priest finished with Holy Communion he would keep the thumb and finger together that handled the Body of Christ. He would rinse these fingers in this small bowl to remove any possible particles of the Host that might have stuck there. With so many people distributing Holy Communion they should all do this after distributing.

He did not use a special bowl. He used the same dish that was used for handwashing during the Offertory. Only the priest did the handwashing after Communion, not the deacon or the EMHC’s. The priest did not wash only his thumb and index finger. The altar girl poured the water over both of his hands.

 

[Thursday1]

I know a Ruthenian Priest who does this. As long as the water is poured down the sacraium after Mass, I think this is fine. It is better that he wash his hands than just wipe them I think.

Yours in Christ,
Thursday

 

[John_Lilburne]

Washing hands is permitted, even required if necessary.

From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :
“278. Whenever a fragment of the host adheres to his fingers, especially after the fraction or the Communion of the faithful, the priest is to wipe his fingers over the paten or, if necessary, wash them.”

Similar instructions are in the Ceremonial of Bishop:
“166 When the bishop returns to the chair after the communion, he puts on the skullcap and, if need be, washes his hands.”

Because the priest or bishop does the fraction, breaking the consecrated host, it could be argued that he has a greater need for this than the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion who distribute the Body of Christ. On the other hand, if he needs to wash them because of the fraction, he should do so after the fraction.

It seems best to me to have a bowl that the Extraordinary Ministers can use, if they think they need to, as well as for the priest or bishop.

 

[MusicMan]

Aren’t we being a bit too nitpicky here?

 

[First_of_9]

Always in TLM. Water only was poured over thumb and index fingers of each had, using the chalice as receptical. The water was then drunk by priest as part of after-communion purification.

 

[scylla]

Are the people unusually dirty and smelly in that parish. Maybe they gross him out and make him feel so dirty that he needs to clean up after getting so close to the people?

I am pretty sure this is not acceptable,

Scylla

I stand corrected, sorry.

Scylla

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

He did not use a special bowl. He used the same dish that was used for handwashing during the Offertory. Only the priest did the handwashing after Communion, not the deacon or the EMHC’s. The priest did not wash only his thumb and index finger. The altar girl poured the water over both of his hands.

I’m just offering this as a possible basis.

 

[Ad_Deum]

Priests do wash their hands before consecration, and repeats it after distribution of communion but only the fingers are washed by wine and water on the chalice not on the lavabo. The reason: he washes his fingers so the host particles won’t go anywhere but in the chalice; then he’ll drink it and clean the vessels.

Pax
Laudater Jesus Christo
Instaurare omnia in Christo

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Priests do wash their hands before consecration, and repeats it after distribution of communion but only the fingers are washed by wine and water on the chalice not on the lavabo. The reason: he washes his fingers so the host particles won’t go anywhere but in the chalice; then he’ll drink it and clean the vessels.

Pax
Laudater Jesus Christo
Instaurare omnia in Christo

The interesting point brought up by this is. If the priest does this why do not all those who distributed Holy Communion also do this.

 

[Philothea53]

A ZENIT DAILY DISPATCH
Purifying Vessels Away From the Altar
ROME, 25 JAN. 2005 (ZENIT)
Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University.

Follow-up: Purifying Vessels Away From the Altar [02-08-2005]
“Then, standing at the altar or at the credence table, he purifies the paten or ciborium over the chalice then purifies the chalice…” This is usually done by placing the paten over the chalice at an angle so that the tiny fragments fall into it. If necessary, this process may be helped by moving the particles with the corner of a folded purificator or with the thumb, which in turn is rubbed over the chalice to loosen any particles that may have adhered. **If necessary, especially in hot and humid climes, the fingers may also be purified with water. **

ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zlitur66.htm

 

[Ad_Deum]

The interesting point brought up by this is. If the priest does this why do not all those who distributed Holy Communion also do this.

That is the irony Lay Ministers supposedly not been created in the first place, in my opinion, because it deviated the authentic rubrics of the Mass that only “ordained ministers” can touch the host and distribute communion.

But

in this case they should wash their hands in the sacristy sink before and after if they have one, and that particular sink goes right to the soil not on the sewer.

Pax
Laudater Jesus Christo
Instaurare omnia in Christo

 

[quiet52]

That is the irony Lay Ministers supposedly not been created in the first place, in my opinion, because it deviated the authentic rubrics of the Mass that only “ordained ministers” can touch the host and distribute communion.

From the very first days of the Church, lay people brought Holy Communion to prisoners and the sick. From what I undestand, tabernacles weren’t even used for the reserved hosts, because until Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, masses were necessarily conducted in secret, in many areas.

Remember St. Tarcisius? He was a 12-year-old boy who, on his way to bring the Eucharist to prisoners, was clubbed and stoned to death by pagans for defending the Host. He is known as the boy martyr of the Holy Eucharist.

 

[mgrfin]

My mother just went to her new parish for the first time yesterday. The priest did something unusual. In addition to washing his hands during the Offertory (which is proper and always required), he repeated the handwashing after he was finished distributing Communion. My mother said the altar girl poured water over the priest’s hands and he dried them with a towel, just like what is done during the Offertory. She has never seen this done at any other Mass, nor have I. Is this problematic?

If he felt his hands were dirty he could take time out to wash them. Some people are terribly afraid of germs, and he may have been afraid he picked up something during the distriubution of Communion - he could have washed them then.

But it sounds like a ritual washing which is not going to kill an awful lot of germs.

Then he could be what we used to call "overly scrupulous’, a priest who adds all sorts of strange things because he overly sensitive.

I remember a priest who was on a ‘sick’ call, and dropped the host on the bed of the sick person. When the pastor came to open the tabernacle for Benediction that night, he found the person’s bed sheet. That is over-scrupulosity.

The rubrics do not allow addition of these things without a serious reason.