Priest acting oddly with low gluten host (for coeliac) wwyd?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jessie
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jessie

Guest
Hello, this is my first post here. I’m excited to join a catholic community, and hope you can help me!

I have coeliac disease. There is a church opposite my work which has mass one morning a week. I asked the priest if it would be possible to receive LG host. He offered to get them. Now, when I attend, he asked me to knock on the sacristy door so he would know I would be there and need the special host, and that I should come last to communion.

Anyway, every week, he gives the communion to the other people (saying the Body of Christ) , then for me he says nothing, offers me my host which is in a little vessel, and I just have to pick it up myself and take it. He doesn’t say anything to me. It feels weird and hurtful. Like he doesn’t believe it’s the Real Presence? And then this week, I get to the front, and although I knocked at the sacristy and greeted him as per request, he didn’t have a host for me, then sort of half offered me a normal host, so I felt awful basically rejecting Christ, then had to shuffle off back to me seat empty.

Do I continue even going to this mass? I am not sure what to do. I feel embarrassed and hurt. I don’t want to be different or have any fuss. I would just love to receive the Savannen same as anyone else. I wish the church would get to grips with coeliac disease, it’s a constant nightmare. At least I can honestly say I never take the eucharistic for granted, I have so many problems receiving, it’s a rarity for me.
 
This priest should accommodate you. Tell him what you said here. On another note, dont assume he doesnt believe in the Real Presence.
 
Last edited:
We use pyx for low gluten hosts to prevent cross contamination. I can’t very well give regular Communion to eveyone, then touch a low gluten host without it coming into contact with residue from my hands. For some, that could be a serious issue.

As far as the priest not saying the Body of Christ, I think you need just to speak with him. I don’t think I would read any disbelief into his actions.

And finally, so they ran out of hosts. It happens. Maybe he had a funeral or wedding Mass where there where people who needed them, and more were used tham normal.

Please, talk to your priest. Don’t let a misunderstanding or miscommunication steal your peace.
 
Last edited:
Sorry, to be clear, I am sure he does for everyone else, it’s just that he doesn’t give me my host, nor does he say ‘The Body of Christ’. Just to me. So he is treating me radically differently. I’ve never seen or experienced a priest giving the host without a word. In fact he doesn’t even give it to me, I have to pick it up myself. So it feels disdainful, and like he doesn’t believe my LG host is real.
 
Cross contamimation!

Please, talk to your priest, no one here can answer your questions, as we were not there with you.
 
Search the other threads for how other persons who need low gluten diet do.
 
I’m sorry you are experiencing hardship. There are a number of people at my parish with Celiac—so much so that the celebrating priest always has low gluten hosts in a special compartment of his ciborium at every Mass. Those with Celiac know to go in this same Communion line and gesture to the priest to receive the low gluten host.

Do you think it’s possible you are misreading the priest’s non-verbal cues? Maybe he is just thrown by doing something different and doesn’t realize he isn’t saying “The Body of Christ” to you? I’m just trying to think of some possible explanations, as it seems odd for him to single you out like that deliberately.
 
Jessie said:
In fact he doesn’t even give it to me, I have to pick it up myself. So it feels disdainful, and like he doesn’t believe my LG host is real.
Click to expand...
I would guess he is doing this out of concern for you because he doesn’t want to cross-contaminate your host. It’s not really liturgically proper to have you self-communicate, but I’m sure he’s doing it for the right reasons.

If that’s not necessary for him to do, I would let him know. For the people I know with Celiac’s, any cross-contamination is so minimal that it’s not an issue for the priest to switch back and forth. But maybe the sensitivity level is different for different people.
 
I
“CilladeRoma said:
Cross contamimation!

.
Click to expand...

This is certainly a factor, I’m sure. Or if it isn’t being borne in mind, it should be. I’m an EMHC and always offer the pyx, rather than risk cross contamination. which could have serious consequences. Why take the risk?
I’ve also tried tipping the Host out into the person’s hand, but stopped doing that in case the Host fell.
 
At my church there’s a separate chalice for gluten free people that only has the Blood of Christ in it and not the Body.
 
They will make accommodations for these people utilizing low gluten hosts or the Precious Blood. I’ve seen it done and this person should speak with their Priest ASAP.
 
Yes. My sister has celiac, she has to worry about cross contamination. Some things in my home, even if they seem perfectly clean could cross contaminate, toasters, strainers, non stick cookware.

Hers is so severe she can barely tolerate low gluten host, so she can’t receive at every mass.
 
I saw three people with coeliac and the padre consecrated their hosts together and for ease of communion time, they came up all at once. The padre said body of christ like to everybody else. Nobody sel communicated. Talk to the padre and educate him. I asked the people about this disease and thaye were very forthcoming and informative
 
I’m pretty sure that the reason he isn’t saying anything is because you are technically communing yourself, which is not normally allowed for lay-people, but may be necessary in this case. This is probably how he interprets the rubrics of what he should do. The time he did not have one was probably because he found out that there were no more left after you knocked, or maybe he forgot between this time and mass. I wouldn’t let it worry me at all. The best thing to know for sure would be to try to talk to the priest of this mass.
 
Dear everyone who replied, thank you all so much. I do find it difficult to read people /situations.

Thanks to your (name removed by moderator)ut, I dared speak to the priest after mass today, which I definitely otherwise would not have done.

So hopefully next week, I will get to receive Holy Communion in the normal way.
 
I’m glad to hear you spoke with the priest and seem satisfied with how it turned out. 👍
 
CCHcolonel said:
Isn’t celiacs a lot like lactose intolerance? Shouldn’t you be able to just eat a regular host and deal with an upset tummy for little bit? Or does such a small amount really cause that big of an issue?
Click to expand...
Celiac is way beyond “having an upset tummy for a little while”. People can become very seriously ill.
It’s not very charitable of you to minimize a person’s medical condition in this way.

It actually causes damage to your small intestine, so if this person is going to Mass frequently over a period of years, the damage would build up.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top