Reaction to wine/blood

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Alcohol and I don’t mix, and I try to stay away from the stuff for many reasons. I will cook with red/white wine, and have taste tested a few to see what I prefer to use to cook with. After being confirmed last a week ago, Saturday, I finally took the plunge and consumed some of the Precious Blood (despite my aversion to sharing the cup, at least I was second only to the server).

Anyway, it lit up my ulcers like nothing I’ve had before. Even taste testing bourbon didn’t have the same effect. Communion wine served in other denominations also has not had that effect. Is “fortified” wine used to help curtail biological critters, or is there a biocide added to it?
 
There is no obligation to take the wine during communion. It is your choice, I believe.
 
Wine used for Holy Communion must be pure wine with no added ingredients.

You are not required to receive from the cup, and we receive a tiny sip, not a “drink” or gulp. Maybe you received on an empty stomach and that caused ulcers to irritate?
 
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I would suggest you don’t partake of the Blessed Sacrament under the species of wine. Consume only the consecrated host. The entire Jesus is present under both species, so you are not missing out on anything except the bad reaction.

Some people (not necessarily you) are under the misconception that the wine shouldn’t affect them because it becomes the blood of Jesus after the words of consecration. They don’t realize that God maintains the power and act of the substance of bread and wine via its accidents, but without the substance of bread and wine actually being present. After the consecration, the entire Jesus is present in the host. Nothing of the bread and wine remain.
 
It could be you have some allergy to a naturally-occurring ingredient in the particular wine that parish uses. Have you received the Blood of Christ at another parish? Otherwise, you might have to skip the line for the Blood. There is no obligation to receive both. Actually, you only have to receive one of them once during the Easter season.
 
I didn’t know that there was a variation across parishes. I figured that the Church simply ordered the entirety of a region’s output and was done with it, hence why I asked.

Thanks for the heads up on the variations across parishes. Now, I wonder if they are getting their stuff from local North Dakota vineyards.

I shall partake of the Eucharist with the species of bread and avoid the wine 🙂
 
Even in the parish, different pastors may prefer different vineyards.
 
Each parish chooses and purchases it’s wine individually. The only condition is that is has to be pure grape wine, red or white. Our last priest purchased the wine in a box at the grocery store.
 
There’s also a possibility that it’s nothing more than the nocebo effect. It sounds like you were already anticipating something bad either from your past interactions with alcohol or from the hesitance of having to drink from a shared chalice. This anticipation could have caused the psychosomatic manifestation of your symptoms despite there being no real physical cause.

You say that generally speaking you can’t tolerate alcohol, but that taking taste-test sized sips of wine and even bourbon don’t upset your stomach. Bourbon definitely has more alcohol by volume than even the strongest wine so I doubt it’s alcohol content causing your issues unless you’re taking large gulps or otherwise chuggin from the chalice.

It’s not very likely to be due to germs since there isn’t enough incubation time between your reception and you noticing symptoms. It takes a few days at least to start noticing anything unless the chalice or wine itself was contaminated a long time before and the microorganisms on/in them had time to fester, in which case you wouldn’t be the only person in that parish noticing symptoms. Indeed it would appear much like a case of food poisoning where multiple people suddenly get sick all at the same time after a shared meal.

It could possibly be something particular to the winery or grape varietal. To test against nocebo perhaps you can ask the sacristan what kind of wine is used, buy some yourself, and take a fresh sip. See what it does.
 
Horton said:
Each parish chooses and purchases it’s wine individually. The only condition is that is has to be pure grape wine, red or white. Our last priest purchased the wine in a box at the grocery store.
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Careful with those . . . look closely . . . many don’t even use the word “wine” on the box–because they’re mostly fermented pear juice!

Also, you can have a fortified wine made only from itself–part is distilled to remove water,and returned to the rest.
 
Not psycho-somatic. I’ve taste-tested far stouter stuff. I usually experience irritation, but nothing like what I got with this. That’s why I asked if maybe there are additives, or perhaps the local priest got some Thunderbird 😛 Nearest reaction I got was some prescription cough syrup when I had pneumonia in October… I think you could have diluted that stuff with Jack Daniels.

Guessing too might be from pain meds for my arthritis that can cause digestive system hell.
 
That particular priest was very careful about it. He actually called the winery to make sure it was pure grape wine.
 
dochawk said:
Also, you can have a fortified wine made only from itself–part is distilled to remove water,and returned to the rest.
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If any priest wants to use brandy or grappa for the Mass… oy! 😦
 
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OP There might also be different kinds of wine used in the parish. We have people donate wine they have bought in monasteries they have visited as well as the kind we buy in the “alcohol bottle shop”. So far, I have tasted only one that I would call good tasting, a few that are almost drinkable and lots that are more like poison.
 
Gorgias said:
If any priest wants to use brandy or grappa for the Mass… oy! 😦
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I was thinking more of port than those. A good port is made only from its underlying wine–and has a much longer shelf life once opened.

It’s tough to beat a box with a bladder for protecting the unused wine, though (but there’s only a couple of non-junk wines sold this way. I bought a box of such when I was visiting my daughter–without noticing that it was from chile [they’re tasty, but the histamines make my head explode over a single glass 😱])
 
I just plan on avoiding the wine all together 🙂

I’m guessing that the worst tasting of today’s communion wines would have been a delicacy back in Jesus’ day.
 
Seeksadvice said:
I’m guessing that the worst tasting of today’s communion wines would have been a delicacy back in Jesus’ day.
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Other than the wine at one particular wedding at Cana. I’m betting that that one was pretty good… 😉
 
Wine doesn’t sit well with me either, although I do fine with beer and liquor. My parish now only gives communion under one species, but if I’m at a parish where they do both, I just take a very tiny sip.
 
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