Papal Straw?

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janeway529

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I saw this picture of Pope Paul VI online, but I don’t know what the significance behind using a straw for the chalice is? :confused:

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The picture is from an unfamiliar angle, but it does look like Paul VI. He appears to be wearing the fanon on his shoulders, which only a pope can wear. As I recall, it is - or was - the privilege of the pope to receive the Precious Blood through a golden straw at a Pontifical Solemn Mass. I believe the custom has fallen out of use.
 
If I remember correctly its called a fistula (not to be confused with the medical term). In papal masses the Pope would consume a small amount of the precious blood using a thin golden tube and then the deacon and sub deacon would consume the remainder from the chalice. I have never seen anything about how its use came about.
 
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