Question about unconsecrated Hosts left out in the open

[Feedmysheep]

A quick question that popped up:

I’ve visited nine different parishes. One of them- and only one- routinely had a basket of unconsecrated hosts outside of the sanctuary. People going in to Mass would take a host with a pair of tongs, and place it in another dish, assumably so there would be enough hosts consecrated during Mass for everyone to receive.

It just strikes me as odd that I’ve only ever seen this in one parish. Is this normal, and my limited exposure to other parishes has kept me sheltered?

No biggie, I was just wondering about it- why only at one parish, and what do the other parishes do to ensure all who wish to can receive?

 

[Eilish_Maura]

A quick question that popped up:

I’ve visited nine different parishes. One of them- and only one- routinely had a basket of unconsecrated hosts outside of the sanctuary. People going in to Mass would take a host with a pair of tongs, and place it in another dish, assumably so there would be enough hosts consecrated during Mass for everyone to receive.

It just strikes me as odd that I’ve only ever seen this in one parish. Is this normal, and my limited exposure to other parishes has kept me sheltered?

No biggie, I was just wondering about it- why only at one parish, and what do the other parishes do to ensure all who wish to can receive?

The occasional parish use this method to manage having enough hosts consecrated during the Mass. Other parishes may have some sense of average numbers needed and most have some reserved sacrament as well.

 

[Phemie]

We used to do that at my parish but we found that if we depended on it often there wouldn’t be enough hosts since people had forgotten to put one in. The sacristan then became quite good at estimating how many people would be at Mass so we consecrate just enough. We use a large, large host which the priest can break into fewer or more pieces depending on what he sees is the need.

 

[CatholicCid]

This is done at daily Mass, along with the Priest asking if anyone has forgotten to add a Host. The numbers can vary day to day, so I think this is somewhat practical.
As for Weekend Masses, I’ve never seen this done.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

A quick question that popped up:

I’ve visited nine different parishes. One of them- and only one- routinely had a basket of unconsecrated hosts outside of the sanctuary. People going in to Mass would take a host with a pair of tongs, and place it in another dish, assumably so there would be enough hosts consecrated during Mass for everyone to receive.

It just strikes me as odd that I’ve only ever seen this in one parish. Is this normal, and my limited exposure to other parishes has kept me sheltered?

No biggie, I was just wondering about it- why only at one parish, and what do the other parishes do to ensure all who wish to can receive?

It is possible also that the parish may not have a resident priest and so does not use the tabernacle.

 

[Nechasin]

This was done at my grandmother’s parish due to the variance in the number of visitors. It is a fond memory I have at that parish. Sometimes there would lots of people and sometimes not.