Protocol if wasp in chalice

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Digitnomy

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What is the appropriate course of action if a wasp should happen to fall or land in the chalice before, during, or after consecration?

Obviously the paten is there to prevent exactly this, but the paten is not in place 100% of the time.
 
In my experience wasps don’t like alcohol. A passing clumsy moth is more likely, although not very.
 
Anyway, if there are any wasps still active at this time of year they are typically very docile.

You could probably pick the wasp up with your fingers and still not get stung.
 
Wasps do like the sweetness of wine. If you drink it in a pub garden they hover around. The wine should be covered with the pall as much as possible especially in summer. I don’t know the protocol I must admit, I’d guess getting it out but the people might be concerned if the wine is fit to drink, after consecration this matters…before not cos you could just throw it away and replace it with fresh wine. I am sure a priest knows, worse case scenario it would be disposed of in the special sink. Though it seems a waste but your priest knows best. Best bet is to try not let it happen in the first place hence not going away with palls.
 
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The chalice is almost always covered. Either by the priest or the EMHC bearing it. In those moments when it is not, the priest or deacon can see what is happening and shoo the wasp away. The rubrics are written in anticipation that conditions might including these kinds of problems.

If a wasp did get in to the consecrated wine, it’s still the precious blood. They’d either pick it out and consume precious blood as usual or take it to the sacristy and dispose of it appropriately.
 
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Yes, in my parish in the summer the care for covering and “protecting” the chalice with the Most Holy Blood increases. So much that it’s noticeable 😁 There’s really no bugs in the winter, so our priests “relaxe”
I’m sure. I can only imagine what they had to do during mass in, say, medieval Europe when hygiene and cleanliness were major problems especially in population centers like Rome.
 
Now that I think about it, I never saw a bug in our church during summer. 😮 And the doors remain open during the DL because all the people who want to assist don’t fit in the church.
There is also the clear possibility that a wasp simply would not going swimming into our Lord’s blood. Not having rational souls animals are often more faithful than us, being Creation that just bows to God and not one that is picking up on Him, like we do, with our free will.
 
 
I thought about a scorpion, but that seemed much less likely.

Knowing the basics of how say a fruit fly is dealt with, I was curious about a situation that was more dangerous to handle, where simply gulping it down would be unwise.
 
Not a pall, but the aer and two smaller veils cover the gifts at the end of the Proskomidia (Rite of Preparation) and the priest and/or deacon carries the gifts during the Great Entrance.

During Presanctified, the priest processes with Our Lord and adores Him (and we do prostrations too).
 
Any chance that, while the appearance of wasp would remain, the insect would be transubstianted into something less aggressive - like, say, a fly?
 
I always thought that wasps , being evil incarnate, would be evaporated into nothingness on contact with God.
 
If it only falls into it, which is bad enough, but were a wasp were to buzz around anyone whilst distributing the Precious Blood, I’d think they’d be trying best not to go into a panic and spill it. Or if someone were stung in the process…not trying to be funny, but that would be terribly awful on all accounts.
 
This happened at a mass I attended recently. It was a fly. The priest offered the cup to the altar boy. The look on the boy’s face with panic, was priceless. (“Do I drink the bug!?) Looked at father, then the cup, then back at father again. THEN father looked in. He placed that cup back on the altar, and used the other. The wine was poured into the special sink afterwards. I did ask the priest if that was a liturgical abuse allowing the fly to have communion. He liked the obvious joke.
Similar thing with flies in the baptismal font. They were scooped out. I asked if the flies were catholic now, he said no. My response, “Oh yes, the baptism wasn’t the proper trinitarian form, I understand.” He liked that too.
Dominus vobiscum
 
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We are not to give medical advice on CAF so I won’t comment further.
I will say if any stinging or biting creature lands in a drink or in food, even if fished out, the potential is there for its arsenal to be left behind and that can pose a great health risk.
 
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Just pick it out – and be STUNG? Common sense? We’re talking WASP, here, not some harmless butterfly.
 
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