Is the Eucharist suppose to be CHEWED at mass?

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I have always been taught, as have my parents, that you are NOT to chew the Eucharist, but to put it on your tongue and let it disolve. Yet I have noticed the Deacon, and the Bishop at a recent mass chewing the Eucharist and it honestly made me sick to my stomach to watch.

Help!!!
 
Catholic Tom:
I have always been taught, as have my parents, that you are NOT to chew the Eucharist, but to put it on your tongue and let it disolve. Yet I have noticed the Deacon, and the Bishop at a recent mass chewing the Eucharist and it honestly made me sick to my stomach to watch.

Help!!!
I think it’s improper to exagerate the chewing action which some seem to do.
 
Greetings

Jesus said, “take and eat”, the priest says the same thing. That means chew. I would hope you would show common manners and not smack your lips. Simply chew and swallow and remember you are in public.
 
Some of these factory made hosts that they buy now are thick and foamy and don’t dissolve away like the nun made ones did years ago. Some chewing required.
 
I can’t explain then why I was always taught otherwise, as was my parents…and the deacon at my church, really has a lot of facial expression as he chews and is very animated…he isn’t sloppy, but it seems exaggerated enough that I can’t bear to see it…
 
I’m a convert, so I didn’t grow up with the “no chew” rule. However, I don’t usually need to after receiving the wine, and I certainly don’t smack my lips…

I heard Scott Hahn once discussing John 6:54-58, and he explained that one of the Greek works used for eat was literally translated as “gnaw”. That said, I guess an argument could be made that chewing is completely aok.

God Bless,

Robert.

PS Don’t pray out loud with your mouth full?
 
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rlg94086:
PS Don’t pray out loud with your mouth full?
lol Robert, that was funny…you take the wine at mass? I wish our parish would give us the wine also.
 
Catholic Tom:
I can’t explain then why I was always taught otherwise, as was my parents…and the deacon at my church, really has a lot of facial expression as he chews and is very animated…he isn’t sloppy, but it seems exaggerated enough that I can’t bear to see it…
When I think back to some of the things my husband was taught by his mom and family (all pure Italians) and some of the things nuns taught my sons, I want to laugh.

Chewing the Holy Eucharist was one of them. My son was chewing when an old nun told him God would make him choke on it.

Another nun, a teacher told the class that if one of them swung a rosary around their head and then died before going to Confession, they would go to hell.

I probably would not enjoy going to dinner with your Deacon.
 
I prefer not to chew. If the blood is available, it’s perfect for softening and washing down the host! 🙂
 
I am no expert, but I believe that in the past, it was not acceptable to chew the body, because by chewing it, you broke it, and you cannot break the body of Christ…I believe Fulton Sheen wrote something on how to properly consume the Eucharist and it didn’t involve chewing…then later someone wrote it was acceptable to slightly chew it…I don’t know I am confused…maybe it is the 2 hours of sleep I got last night…SOMEONE HELP ME.
 
When we made our First Communion we were told not to chew. Really the host should not come in contact with the teeth. It should be allowed to dissolve as much as possible and if it sticks to the roof of your mouth it shouldbe rolled off with the tongue and swallowed.

Chewing it with your teeth leaves room for parts of the host to become stuck to the teeth or between the teeth and that leaves room for the host to touch something profane.

It boils down to a realisation of just what the Sacred Host actually is.
Rev. George Searle (a Catholic priest) who wrote How To Become A Catholic also has the “imprimatur and nihil obstat” (a certification that the given work has been inspected and there is nothing contrary to faith or good morals), so when he gave instructions on the eating of the Eucharist, he had the approval of the archbishop. Deharbe’s Catechism, No.1, 273 agrees with Searle:

“Do not keep the Sacred Host [God] in your mouth until it is quite dissolved; but let it moisten a little upon your tongue, and then swallow it.”

It is the belief that every particle of the host, no matter how small, contains the “whole and entire Christ”:

“…for Christ, whole and entire, exists under the species of bread, and under each particle of that species”
(Council of Trent, Sess.xiii, cap.3). Therefore if you chewed Jesus, you would divide the bread in your mouth into several pieces, each one containing the “whole and entire Christ”.
 
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Fergal:
When we made our First Communion we were told not to chew. Really the host should not come in contact with the teeth. It should be allowed to dissolve as much as possible and if it sticks to the roof of your mouth it shouldbe rolled off with the tongue and swallowed.
I was told as a young child to not chew but to let it dissolve. My mom simply told me you do not want to bite Jesus. But then as an adult, I was told by a priest that it was okay to chew. I was told that you need to consume pretty quickly after receiving so chewing helped to speed it up. Plus, once I became pregnant the first time (have have now been either pregnant or nursing for five years) I stopped receiving the wine which did help dissolve the host.

I agree with the poster that mentioned the different types of hosts and how easily they dissolve.

Basically, I usually chew very little, if at all, unless it is the really thick, difficult to dissolve hosts.
 
Please folk be more careful with your terminology – you are not partaking of wine at Communion.

At Communion you receive the Most Sacred Body and the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord and Saviour.
 
Catholic Tom:
I have always been taught, as have my parents, that you are NOT to chew the Eucharist, but to put it on your tongue and let it disolve. Yet I have noticed the Deacon, and the Bishop at a recent mass chewing the Eucharist and it honestly made me sick to my stomach to watch.

Help!!!
Jesus: “Eat (literally “gnaw”) my flesh.” No worries. 😉
 
Catholic Tom:
lol Robert, that was funny…you take the wine at mass? I wish our parish would give us the wine also.
My parish offers all the faithful the Blood of Christ. The wine and cheese is for after Mass!
 
Either method is acceptable. Jesus said take and eat . He used a word that means to gnaw. He said he would give us real food. You may eat it like real food. Communion is a somewhat personal experience. If slowly dissolving and savoring the eucharist adds to the personal experience of communion to you then it is a good and pius practice. One of the reasons the priest could never do that is very shortly after recieving he is offering and saying “Body of Christ”. It is important that Jesus is completely gone from the mouth so as not to be spit out when speaking.
 
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wannabee:
Please folk be more careful with your terminology – you are not partaking of wine at Communion.

At Communion you receive the Most Sacred Body and the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord and Saviour.
Easy there tiger, don’t nit pick, of course we get what it really is but the appearance is wine.
 
Jesus is present in the Host as long as the appearance of bread remains. If you let the Host dissolve completely, there is no longer the appearance of bread, so Jesus is no longer present. Best just to soften up the Host, then swallow, if chewing offends you.

Betsy
 
Catholic Tom:
I have always been taught, as have my parents, that you are NOT to chew the Eucharist, but to put it on your tongue and let it disolve. Yet I have noticed the Deacon, and the Bishop at a recent mass chewing the Eucharist and it honestly made me sick to my stomach to watch.

Help!!!
The Hosts is the Body of Christ, hence it is not chewed as if a cookie. It is to be dissolved in the mouth, plus one whole hour before Mass, one is not to drink or eat anything but WATER, unless one is elderly, or sick.
 
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