Mass in Zero-G?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Thursday1
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Thursday1

Guest
Hey all,
I believe eventually, humans will not just live on Earth, our desire for exploration is too strong. So, thinking on this, I discovered that saying Mass in a zero-G environment could be tricky.
I have been trying to come up with a way that a vessel for the precious blood could be self-contained, and think I have found one. It just raises one major question:
Does the Priest’s breath have to be able to touch the wine for transubstantiation to occur? If not, then I think I have figured the problem out, if so, then I have more designing to do.

Yes, I am serious in proposing this. No, I did not forget to take my medication.

Yours in Christ,
Thursday

P.S
If the Triditine Mass were going to be said in space, which direction is East?
 
As soon as you leave the planet, there is no east. No west, north, or south either. All those are relative to the Earth and it’s rotation. There’s no up, or down either. In fact, even on Earth up and down are relative. What is up at the North Pole is down at the South Pole.

A Mass in space would be pared down to it’s most essential elements, which would make it very meaningful indeed, as that is all you have left.

Regarding transubstantiation, all that is needed is the proper form, matter, and intention of the priest. The priest’s breath is not part of the form or matter. So, the answer to your question is No, the priest’s breath does not have to touch the wine for transubstantiation to occur.
 
Thursday1 said:
Hey all,
I believe eventually, humans will not just live on Earth, our desire for exploration is too strong. So, thinking on this, I discovered that saying Mass in a zero-G environment could be tricky.
I have been trying to come up with a way that a vessel for the precious blood could be self-contained, and think I have found one. It just raises one major question:
Does the Priest’s breath have to be able to touch the wine for transubstantiation to occur? If not, then I think I have figured the problem out, if so, then I have more designing to do.

Yes, I am serious in proposing this. No, I did not forget to take my medication.

Yours in Christ,
Thursday

P.S
If the Triditine Mass were going to be said in space, which direction is East?
Click to expand...
You would simply seal the wine in the same type of pouch they use today in space. The elements can be Consecrated in sealed containers.

The biggest problem is what to do with the empty containers afterwards, how to purify them properly. I would suppose that you could flush them with water through a fill port of some kind and then drink the water.
 
Well, that makes it simpler. I am hesitant to use the containers that are already used for the reasons Br. Rich gave. I think a much better container could be a cylindrical tube like one that had 1 or 2 drops of water in one end, and a small amount of wine in the other end. Maybe make it so that a snap and shake would mix the two, like a glow stick. A small valve straw at one end could be used when it was necessary to consume it.
Purifying could be done several ways. There could be a device that forces water into the tube, the water could then be consumed. For purifying the crumbs of the host, it seems that a small vacuum into a water solution would work. The water could then be consumed or ejected into space (I think that would be the equivalent of a sacrarium.) (Though, on long voyages fluid conservation might require that it be consumed)
I also thought of the new LED flickering candles, Velcro for keeping vestments from floating up, and little magnetic patens to keep hosts from floating away, ect.

As for east in space, that was purely tongue in cheek.

Yours in Christ,
Thursday
 
Thursday1 said:
Hey all,
I believe eventually, humans will not just live on Earth, our desire for exploration is too strong. So, thinking on this, I discovered that saying Mass in a zero-G environment could be tricky.
I have been trying to come up with a way that a vessel for the precious blood could be self-contained, and think I have found one. It just raises one major question:
Does the Priest’s breath have to be able to touch the wine for transubstantiation to occur? If not, then I think I have figured the problem out, if so, then I have more designing to do.

**Yes, I am serious in proposing this. No, I did not forget to take my medication. **

Yours in Christ,
Thursday

P.S
If the Triditine Mass were going to be said in space, which direction is East?
Click to expand...
I think if God wanted us to leave earth, he would have made spaceships grow on trees.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
You would simply seal the wine in the same type of pouch they use today in space. The elements can be Consecrated in sealed containers.

The biggest problem is what to do with the empty containers afterwards, how to purify them properly. I would suppose that you could flush them with water through a fill port of some kind and then drink the water.
Click to expand...
Are not the vessels to be made of precious materials?
 
Aramis said:
Are not the vessels to be made of precious materials?
Click to expand...
I suppose they would have to change that requirement for space travel. There are today many parishes that do not use precious metal or gold lined ciboriums and chalices.
 
My then 7 year old (now almost 9) was having a hard time figuring out if he wanted to be a priest or an astronaut. I mentioned that he could be both, as they might need chaplains in space ( as well as possibly being the first bishop of Lunar Colony)

So we went through all the various issues that might arise, and this was one.

After some research, we came to the same conculsion as Br. Rich, that wine can be validly consecrated in foil packets. There is also no reason why the packets cannot be gold foil lined.

We also experimented with purifying a juice box, just to see if it can be done. It can. 👍

We also found that the Diocese of Houston, being home to NASA, has oversight of the space program, so he would have to incardnate there 😉

The last remaining major issue is coming up with air tight sandals for the monks in the monastery in his Lunar diocese. 🤷 (We’ve already got a space suit design that should fit over the nun’s habits)
 
By the time we get serious about space exploration, zero-G Mass will probably not be necessary. Zero G is not healthy for astronauts and other humans for extended periods of time. Space stations will have artificial gravity provided by rotation. Artificial gravity could even be provided for spaceships making very long trips (e.g. years). (Note, for example, the artificial gravity provided the astronauts in the 1968 movie 2001 A Space Odyssey.)
 
Brendan said:
We also found that the Diocese of Houston, being home to NASA, has oversight of the space program, so he would have to incardnate there 😉
Click to expand...
NASA has oversight of the federal space program. What if it were a private mission?
40.png
Brendan:
The last remaining major issue is coming up with air tight sandals for the monks in the monastery in his Lunar diocese.
Click to expand...
What about the discalced orders?:eek:
40.png
Thursday1:
Does the Priest’s breath have to be able to touch the wine for transubstantiation to occur?
Click to expand...
Although others have pointed out that this is not required, I think that a way to achieve this would be to use a small screen to cover the wine. The wine might escape through the holes if poured in gravity, but without gravity the surface tension of the wine adhering to the screen would probably prevent it from escaping.

Alternatively, a very thick, viscous wine could be used which would stay stuck to the chalice. Might be tricky to brew such a batch of wine, but I think it’d be licit so long as it could fairly be called wine rather than alcoholic grape jello.
 
Oh can you imagine the Consecration? It would be gloriously magnificent! The priest could hold up the Host, and then for a minute after saying the Consecration, let it float up there and gaze upon it with the most utter devotion.

Seriously we should explore space, and then colonize it like the Spaniards did to Latin America so long ago. We could even have Catholic knights with their own x-wings to guard the realms of outer space!

Haha I’m getting carried away…:rolleyes:
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
I suppose they would have to change that requirement for space travel. There are today many parishes that do not use precious metal or gold lined ciboriums and chalices.
Click to expand...
that does not make it right though, now does it?
 
So, I’ve been thinking this over even more, and I might have discovered another snag. When a Priest performs the fragmentation in 1G, any crumbs fall to the paten below, however in 0G, they would float away.
The fragmentation also raises problems for a self-contained chalice. Is there any rule that the piece of host must come from the main host? How about expanding on my glowstick inspired idea, and having a crumb of bread isolated behind a thin membrane much like the water was. At the fragmentation, the Priest can break the main host, but also break the membrane between the liquid and the crumb, allowing them to mingle.
And while I’m on the subject of crumbs, I think they will be a problem. It might work better if those present only received the blood, as that can be contained, as opposed to loose hosts, which might float away.
I think we will continue to have 0G space missions for many years to come, as all the current gravity producing systems tend to cause massive nausea in even the most experienced astronauts/cosmonauts. We might see sections that will allow for gravity, but they would not be spots where you would want to spend any longer than you have to due to the motion sickness.

hmmm, I wonder if a new Eucharistic prayer will be written for “off planet” masses?

Yours in Christ,
Thursday
 
chicago said:
This would give new meaning to the “heavenly host”.
Click to expand...
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Seriously, NASA is talking about a manned mission to Mars around 2020, and since I love the Mars trilogy of Kim Stanley Robinson, this is a good question. Mars itself has about 1/3 the gravity of earth, so this isn’t really a problem except in 0g space. NASA seems to cover most of their satellites with gold foil, so surely they could line the inside of special liturgical vessels with it. In such a case, I’d be inclined to consecrate only a tiny amount of the Precious Blood and use the host to soak it up in a form of intinction. The old fashioned “melt in your mouth” hosts don’t crumble as easily as the large modern “pizza” hosts or the thick, chewy ones that suck all the moisture from your mouth. Distribution could be done by a disc gun (sorry!).
 
If we were going to have mass in Zero-G, I think that, aside from finding a way to appropriately contain the Precious Blood, I would be a little concerned about several other things-

First, I think that “East” in space could be interpreted as facing toward the sun, and west is facing away from the sun. North and south are harder to come up with a norm for, but my suggestion for facing south is just look toward the part of the spaceship where the penguins are stowed.

how would we kneel? staying in place in zero g is hard enough without maintaining a specific pose,

Baptismal fonts would be difficult to manage.

Aspergillum would need some reconsidering, too.

It would finally be unacceptable for people to put their arms up in the air during responsorials and other prayers. That motion would throw them into a spin and send them off across the room, which would be a bit of a distraction.

On the other side, people might try to hold hands even more during mass just to stay in place.

However, if we decided to strap ourselves into pews with seatbelts rather than hold hands, then liturgical dance, thankfully, would be all but impossible.

The person playing the bongo drums at the zero-G teen mass would have to bolt them into something solid, because otherwise the drums would go careening off across the room. Maybe bongo drums at mass would be a thing of the past in zero G?
 
Oscarthecat said:
The person playing the bongo drums at the zero-G teen mass would have to bolt them into something solid, because otherwise the drums would go careening off across the room. Maybe bongo drums at mass would be a thing of the past in zero G?
Click to expand...
Remember, we’re talking about ADVANCED civilization here, not some 1960’s throwback. Bongos might have a use outside in providing thrust, though.
 
If you had a bar to put your legs under, you could kneel and stay in place. Then you could sit on the bar for a pew, and stand up by putting your feel under the bar.

Since shuttles already use bars for handholds, sleeping, etc, this wouldn’t be too much of a stress. The church space could double as a meeting room. (You could decorate the church space.) Tabernacle could reside in a little cabinet next to the wall (appropriately decorated).
 
Mintaka said:
Tabernacle could reside in a little cabinet next to the wall (appropriately decorated).
Click to expand...
Since the rubrics call for it to have specific shapes (The most common being Tent, Miniature Church, and Dove), it’s yet another “exception.”

Also note: I mentioned Materials, and most of the persons read it instead as metals. (I object to clay pottery, but have no quibble with fine crystal.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top