Practical questions about the Eucharist

[AvailableName]

Suppose after Mass that there some leftover concentrated Hosts. What happens to them? Oa a Host falls to the floor and the Priest retrieves it. What happens to that Host? Mundane questions, I know… but I have always wondered about them. Thanks.

 

[andrewstx]

“Left over” hosts are placed in the tabernacle to be distributed later. In most cases dropped hosts are consumed. But if one falls in a mess it is placed in water until it dissolves and then poured into the sacrarium.

 

[otjm]

In parishes, usually the remaining Hosts are in a ciborium, which is placed in the tabernacle.

On occasion I go to Mass at our nearby Trappist abbey on a Sunday. There, the remaining Hosts are consumed by the monks. Before Mass, those who wish to receive will place an unconsecrated host on a tray, which is brought up after the homily; the monks have one or two large hosts which are thicker than a normal host, and those are cubed and primarily received by the monks. After Communion, there may be a few consecrated Hosts as noted and are distributed to several monks and consumed.

They have a tabernacle, and will keep a minimum number of consecrated Hosts in it should some be needed outside Mass, but they retain only a minimum, so those left over after Communion are not put into the tabernacle, but rather consumed.

 

[Shiranui117]

Suppose after Mass that there some leftover concentrated Hosts. What happens to them? Oa a Host falls to the floor and the Priest retrieves it. What happens to that Host? Mundane questions, I know… but I have always wondered about them. Thanks.

I know in Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, when the Body falls on the drop cloth that we use to prevent it from hitting the floor, the priest will quickly retrieve it and consume it himself. In addition, a cloth would be placed over the spot where the Body hit the ground so people don’t end up stepping on any particles or Blood that would still be on the ground. And the altar servers or the deacon or whoever would grab some holy water and wash the spot down ASAP. I would imagine it’s the same in the Roman Catholic Church.