Pick your own host?

[Phemie]

In our parish the hosts are put out before Mass in a container covered by a pall. The hosts are not left there all the time.

 

[Horton]

No, neither have I, and I’m very glad I never have. I must be one of those people that DJJG (post #5) criticizes for being “overly germ conscious.” I wouldn’t want to swallow a host that had been left out in the doorway to gather dust and attract insects, not to mention for people to sneeze on.

On the other hand, I have no objection at all to being handed a host that’s spent a few days in the tabernacle, rather than a newly consecrated one. Does the consecration carry a “valid until” date? I don’t think so.

They aren’t “left in the doorway”. The sacristan for each service sets out a bowl with tongs along with a ciborium at each entry into the sanctuary, not the outside door. Once Mass has started the ushers gather them, add some hosts if necessary, and set them up to be brought forward at the appropriate time.

I’ve never seen anyone sneeze in the bowl with the hosts nor have I ever seen anyone use their hands.

 

[coffee_kat]

I’ve seen this before in Europe. Maybe it’s so that the priest doesn’t end up with too many left over hosts? I’m curious now too, I wonder why some churches do this?

 

[DJJG]

No, neither have I, and I’m very glad I never have. I must be one of those people that DJJG (post #5) criticizes for being “overly germ conscious"

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Actually I was just stating how people were at the time. You think handling the host with bare hands is bad you should have been in school in the ,60’s; we received our immunizations in school; the dental hygienist would dip the cotton ball in alcohol and swab our arm and then the Dr. would pick up a syringe, from the pile, give us our shot, then put it in another pile, then the nurse would REFILL THE USED SYRINGE and put it back in the filled pile. The syringes and needles were cleaned and needles sharpened at the end of the day. Disposable syringes did not exist yet.

---

 

[MSSheBear]

At the parish I attend regularly the unconsecrated hosts were at one time set out in a dish for attenders to place into the dish that was brought up to the altar. This was for Daily Mass. Quite often the priest would have to go to the Tabernacle for two or three extra Hosts. Then one spring during the annual flu emergency this practice changed and a few unconsecrated hosts were placed in the dish that is brought up to the altar.

Now we have a new priest and he only consecrates one host and the rest are taken from the Tabernacle unless I am not paying attention and once again things have changed.

I don’t worry about germs that much since I work with children.

 

[BartholomewB]

BartholomewB;13185698:

No, neither have I, and I’m very glad I never have. I must be one of those people that DJJG (post #5) criticizes for being “overly germ conscious"

---

Actually I was just stating how people were at the time. You think handling the host with bare hands is bad you should have been in school in the ,60’s; we received our immunizations in school; the dental hygienist would dip the cotton ball in alcohol and swab our arm and then the Dr. would pick up a syringe, from the pile, give us our shot, then put it in another pile, then the nurse would REFILL THE USED SYRINGE and put it back in the filled pile. The syringes and needles were cleaned and needles sharpened at the end of the day. Disposable syringes did not exist yet.

---

Well, no, I wasn’t in school in the sixties. I was in school in the forties and fifties. Disposable syringes only came in with the Aids epidemic,didn’t they?

 

[Aran_Houlihan]

I have never seen that. In my parish the alter breads are roughly how many parishioners will attend mass. They also make sure that there isn’t to many hosts or to less in the tabernacle

 

[SMHW]

I’ve mainly seen this at smaller parishes or for Masses at chapels. It’s also common when Mass is offered at a location other than in a Catholic church (such as an interdenominational chapel or a school auditorium.) I probably saw it more back in the 70s and early 80s.

 

[DJJG]

DJJG;13185917:

Well, no, I wasn’t in school in the sixties. I was in school in the forties and fifties. Disposable syringes only came in with the Aids epidemic,didn’t they?

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No, I’m a nurse, they came out in the late sixties, but not popular until the late seventies. Medics and hospitals began using gloves routinely in the mid to late eighties d/t increased incidence of hepatitis not because of AIDS.

I’m surprised by all the reports of churches still having the dish of hosts, in the back, to put into the ciborium, I haven’t seen it being done since the mid seventies.***

 

[pianistclare]

No, neither have I, and I’m very glad I never have. I must be one of those people that DJJG (post #5) criticizes for being “overly germ conscious.” I wouldn’t want to swallow a host that had been left out in the doorway to gather dust and attract insects, not to mention for people to sneeze on.

On the other hand, I have no objection at all to being handed a host that’s spent a few days in the tabernacle, rather than a newly consecrated one. Does the consecration carry a “valid until” date? I don’t think so.

It’s better to have the hosts consecrated at the Mass being offered. That’s what the Church intends. Overages are primarily for the sick and homebound. Even at daily Mass, Father doesn’t use the ones in the Tabernacle.
How dirty is your parish, LOL?
Remember, someone, (a Deacon, or a Sacristan) doesn’t use gloves or tongs to grab them out of the plastic box them come in to place them in the ciborium. If you’re looking for sterility, that ship has sailed.
Once it has become the Body of Christ, I personally don’t believe it carries cooties anymore.

I’m sure this practice started in places where perhaps there were many school children
(one can’t really tell who has made their First Communion yet, who may not even be Catholic at a school Mass, or who might have been made to eat breakfast before school.
It makes for less overage, and a closer “guesstimation”.

 

[Elizium23]

Once it has become the Body of Christ, I personally don’t believe it carries cooties anymore.

This is a common heresy held by people trying to be pious but misunderstanding the doctrine of the Real Presence.

 

[Phemie]

BartholomewB;13185698:

No, neither have I, and I’m very glad I never have. I must be one of those people that DJJG (post #5) criticizes for being “overly germ conscious"

---

Actually I was just stating how people were at the time. You think handling the host with bare hands is bad you should have been in school in the ,60’s; we received our immunizations in school; the dental hygienist would dip the cotton ball in alcohol and swab our arm and then the Dr. would pick up a syringe, from the pile, give us our shot, then put it in another pile, then the nurse would REFILL THE USED SYRINGE and put it back in the filled pile. The syringes and needles were cleaned and needles sharpened at the end of the day. Disposable syringes did not exist yet.

---

The needles would have been changed between patients, even if the syringe wasn’t. Er, the “dental hygienist” assisted with immunizations??

 

[z_0101]

Now we have a new priest and he only consecrates one host and the rest are taken from the Tabernacle unless I am not paying attention and once again things have changed.

Are you sure? The consecration of the Hosts must be done during the Mass. So either there are extras from another Mass reserved in the Tabernacle or maybe you missed the others sitting on the alter waiting to be consecrated?

 

[Phemie]

Are you sure? The consecration of the Hosts must be done during the Mass. So either there are extras from another Mass reserved in the Tabernacle or maybe you missed the others sitting on the alter waiting to be consecrated?

He must consecrate ONE. At daily Mass in our parish he only consecrates the large celebrant host. He gives Communion from the Hosts in the Tabernacle.

Many fewer people came to Good Friday service than we had expected so we ended up having way too many Hosts in the Tabernacle. Fr. only consecrated the celebrant’s host for a few Masses after that.

 

[Phemie]

DJJG;13185917:

Well, no, I wasn’t in school in the sixties. I was in school in the forties and fifties. Disposable syringes only came in with the Aids epidemic,didn’t they?

We were using disposable syringes when I was doing my nursing in 1973 but I remember my aunt using a glass syringe and reusable needles to give my grandfather his insulin in the late 50s.

One thing that changed drastically with the AIDS epidemic, though, is gloving. When I trained you weren’t allowed to glove to clean a patient who had soiled him/herself. It was considered showing a lack of respect for the person. So they could be covered in feces from buttock to mid back or to knees but you still went in bare handed and cleaned them. The only exceptions were those patients with Hepatitis or other blood-borne illnesses who were on precautions.

That came to a screeching halt with AIDS. Now you glove any time you’re going to be in contact with bodily fluids.

 

[MSSheBear]

Are you sure? The consecration of the Hosts must be done during the Mass. So either there are extras from another Mass reserved in the Tabernacle or maybe you missed the others sitting on the alter waiting to be consecrated?

No, Father only consecrated one. The attenders received hosts from the ciborium. I actually asked on this forum if this was okay because it surprised me. We had twenty attenders at the early morning Mass. The Daily Mass is later now, the chapel is packed, and I don’t attend as frequently so I am not sure if he is still doing this.

 

[otjm]

Our local Trappist abbey does this (puts out unconsecrated hosts and a pair of tongs). They are not a parish, although they gave up long ago telling people to attend their (the attendees) regular parish, and there are some who are there for every Sunday Mass.

Whatever; at least they are in Mass.

And I would not characterize the Trappists as a bunch inclined to dance around their own May Pole.

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

No, Father only consecrated one. The attenders received hosts from the ciborium. I actually asked on this forum if this was okay because it surprised me. We had twenty attenders at the early morning Mass. The Daily Mass is later now, the chapel is packed, and I don’t attend as frequently so I am not sure if he is still doing this.

Sounds like a reasonable strategy to deal with an excess of Hosts consecrated during the weekend Masses.

 

[garn9173]

I’ve attended Mass at two different parishes in El Paso, TX in the last few months and in both churches, there was a large bowl of unconsecrated hosts sitting near the entry with a pair of tongs and a ciborium. The procedure is for people who are planning to receive communion to choose a host from the large bowl and add it to the ciborium. I assume this is so that the priest does not consecrate too many hosts for a particular Mass.

I was taken aback. If the usher hadn’t pointed it out to me, I wouldn’t have known about it and would have received, thus (I assume) shorting a parishioner who had put a host in the ciborium for themselves.

Has anyone else seen this?

This practice is done at the parish my Mom & Step-dad attend.

 

[Horton]

At the parish I attend regularly the unconsecrated hosts were at one time set out in a dish for attenders to place into the dish that was brought up to the altar. This was for Daily Mass. Quite often the priest would have to go to the Tabernacle for two or three extra Hosts. Then one spring during the annual flu emergency this practice changed and a few unconsecrated hosts were placed in the dish that is brought up to the altar.

Now we have a new priest and he only consecrates one host and the rest are taken from the Tabernacle unless I am not paying attention and once again things have changed.

I don’t worry about germs that much since I work with children.

When do the hosts placed in the tabernacle get consecrated then? There isn’t a reason to place non-consecrated hosts in the tabernacle as they remain just hosts.