Receiving the Precious Blood

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I have a disease which causes my mouth to bleed at times. It was getting to the point that it would start bleeding quite a bit during the Mass when the priest was Consecrating the bread and wine. I told my priest about this and he instructed me to not drink from the Cup which I understand. However, since then I have a lot of difficulty going to Mass, I’ve stopped going to daily Mass because I get so sad about it. I always looked forward to Communion, especially the Blood because in spite of not being able to drink alcohol (it makes my mouth burn really bad) it was the only few moments out of the day where my mouth felt so soothed and I felt strength. I know that we receive both species under one but I can’t seem to come to terms with this. I am so sad about it. Personally, I don’t believe that people can get anything dirty from the Blood of Christ. I do not have a communicable disease, this is autoimmune. When I had a bone marrow transplant I was told by doctors to not drink after anyone but I took from the Cup and it helped heal me all the quicker. If anyone can explain how I can come to terms with this I would really be grateful. I keep trying to talk myself into going back to daily Mass, but for now, it’s just too sad.
 
Even though you say you already know that you receive the Fullness of the Sacrament with either Species alone, I don’t think you really believe it and I’m not sure what to say to help you. I suggest that you spend some time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament contemplating the Mystery of the Eucharist, in particular the Substance of what you are receiving rather than the outward form of either bread or wine. I pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten you and ease your heart about this.

Here is a short article which you might find interesting.
catholicherald.com/saunders/98ws/ws980625.htm
The Nestorians, an heretical group arising in the early 400s and who denied the mystery of the incarnation, stated that the Sacred Host contained only the Body of Christ and the Precious Blood only His Blood. In their logic, one only validly received the sacrament when receiving both species. Here lies the danger when someone focuses on the imagery of the reception rather than on the substance of what is being received. The Nestorians were condemned at the Council of Ephesus (431).
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From the Council of Constance when reception of the Blood was reserved to the clergy alone due to scandal, abuses and heresies:

mb-soft.com/believe/txs/constanc.htm
SESSION 13 - 15 June 1415
[Condemnation of communion under both kinds, recently revived among the Bohemians by Jakoubek of Stribro]
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In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father and Son and holy Spirit, Amen. Moreover, just as this custom was sensibly introduced in order to avoid various dangers and scandals, so with similar or even greater reason was it possible to introduce and sensibly observe the custom that, although this sacrament was received by the faithful under both kinds in the early church, nevertheless later it was received under both kinds only by those confecting it, and by the laity only under the form of bread. For it should be very firmly believed, and in no way doubted, that the whole body and blood of Christ are truly contained under both the form of bread and the form of wine. Therefore, since this custom was introduced for good reasons by the church and holy fathers, and has been observed for a very long time, it should be held as a law which nobody may repudiate or alter at will without the church’s permission.
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Is it possible the priest would let you receive by intinction? That is, he, the priest, would dip the host into the precious blood. You would receive on the tongue. Or perhaps he could put a small amount of wine in a separate chalice (before the consecration) so you wouldn’t be drinking from the same cup. If you usually go to daily mass you could at least ask about this. Talk to the priest after mass or make an appointment with him.

Even though you know you don’t have anything contagious, since you are bleeding, this could be a danger to someone. When I have a cold I don’t receive from the cup because I wouldn’t want to risk someone else getting sick.
 
I agree with Linda Marie.

I was about to offer a practical suggestion that you be the last to receive from the cup and consume all that is left. But if medically you should not be drinking alcohol (or Blood with the physical properties of alcohol), you would be taking a big risk that there is a lot of Blood left in the cup.

Anyways (as well as if a separate cup is prepared), it would be unfair to ask the priest, deacon or instituted acolyte who purifies the cup after communion to have to consume the water which has been mixed with the Blood since it might also have your blood. Pouring the water with the remnants of the Precious Blood out or even down the sacrarium (special sink) is not a legitimate option (even if unfortunately it is common practice in many parishes).

This particular disease may not be contagious, but it is possible that you have (or will have) some other disease that is contagious and you do not know you have it. It’s not a matter of “getting anything dirty from the Blood of Christ”. Fluids and other matter added to the Precious Blood do not become the Precious Blood. If a piece of broken glass were to fall into the cup, it would still tear up your throat.

And frankly, the idea of drinking someone else’s blood (other than Our Lord’s) is less than appealing.
 
My dear Friend, I understand how painful any disturbances regarding Communion are. I know it does throw one, but dear Friend please do not let it keep you away. Jesus comes fully under either species.

I too have an autoimmune illness that affects my reception of Communion but that prevents me from receiving the wheaten host. I know how ironic it is for a daily Mass goer like you to be unable to recive the same as others. If I am in an unfamiliar parish where the Precious Blood isn’t offered, or at a funeral, I know what it is like fighting back tears and feeling excluded. So I do understand. I have the added burden, which I find a burden, that if I put a small low gluten host in my carefully labelled pyx, then I feel I’m inconveniencing priests. My own priest have got over forgetting to bring it with them, but when I visit my sons down south, the dear priest almost always forgets. I don’t like it being an issue.

However, as I said, I do understand that somehow it hurts.
These kinds of genetic autoimmune illnesses pose no threat to anyone, only our own immune systems. However you told your priest and he view things in a certain way that I guess many would, especially if they don’t understand genetic autoimmune illnesses. I am very careful to wipe the chalice with a different part of the purifier when I have offered the chalice to anyone during Mass. I am a Eucharistic minister, because any human mouth isn’t the most germfree place in the world, so I can understand others’ hesitation .

I struggled a lot over ‘being a nuisance’ to priests, in that they have to give me special consideration. And it is also something one has to deal with when to the mystification of anyone else, I have to bypass priests as they hold the precious Body to go straight to the chalice when I don’t have a pyx on the altar. Because you don’t feel comfortable asking priest you don’t know, to remeember, and make the effort. So I reckon I’m worse off than you maybe, as a lot of people choose not to drink from the chalice and don’t inconvenience anyone.

**What does matter, dear Friend, that there is the best Friend in the universe waiting for you at daily Mass…and missing you sometimes. What, and how we receive means little next to WHO we receive. So back on the horse dear Friend and go to Him again in daily Mass. It is He who matters It is he, not bread, not wine, whom you receive. Cheer up, dear Friend. You’re not alone.
**

A big hug, Trishie the Celiac (or Coeliac) 🙂
 
You know, when I had a bone marrow transplant I couldn’t leave the house without a mask, I couldn’t drink out of any container that was already opened including milk, I had to buy single serving everything. I wore my mask to church but I lifted and drank from the Cup at Communion. I guess I have been fooling myself for my entire life. I always considered what was in that cup to be the Blood of my Lord, not wine, not bacteria laden liquid etc. I followed people who coughed and hacked, tobacco chewing people etc. I’m a nurse and know all too well what lives in the mouths of children. But in my head, I could not see how anything unclean could be compatible with the Blood of Christ. Once that wine was Consecrated, to me, it was no longer dirty and no longer wine. Drinking after others when my blood counts were critically low never caused me illness. In fact, as I drank His Blood I sensed my own blood grow. I appreciate what everyone has said. I understand the fear people have. But I can be certain that drinking from a can out of a soda machine, or most resterant glasses can be, at times much more dangerous. Unike a child I don’t spit into the cup. But, the thing is that not being able to drink isn’t as painful to me as the knowledge that I have been so wrong my entire life about what exactly the Blood of Christ really is…wine. That is what is the most painful. Because, if it really were the Blood of Christ, this would not be an issue. How stupid am I? 😊 Thank you all for giving me some answers. I will continue to try to go back to daily Mass and get rid of my self pity. I do love Him more than I feel sorry for myself…I know I can get through this. Thanks.
 
Pray for the grace to accept whatever you have to accept, unite your feelings to the Cross of Jesus and offer it up, and know that no matter what Jesus loves and accepts you. God Bless.
 
That is just a feeling you should overcome. The host is enough, you don´t need to drink the blood and the fact that you quitted daily Mass because of that is a proof that you are acting according to your whims.
 
Dear friend, it is truly the Blood of Jesus that your drink. It retains the accidents of wine, but it is the Lord’s Blood. The issue isn’t with that, and I’m sure you are very careful and there is only a perceived problem. I believe you are very careful. Your problem possibly carries fewer germs than another with the beginning of colds or flu. However I’ve never known of any problem in the parishes I’ve belonged to. Faith no doubt has a part in this.
**The problem is with the chalice itself. The chalice is a utensil that can retain germs if not carefully wiped. **

Never doubt that you were always right, that you were receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus. Trishie
 
To be sad because you are partaking of the body of Christ and not the blood is kind of ludacris. I went to mass today, a new church I have never attended before, they had the body and for the first time in my life, the blood as well. Honestly, I’m not liking the sanitation element at all, so I’ll only partake of the blood on rare occassions. I remember many years ago I attended a lutheren service, they used fruit juice in little paper cups, I think that should be the way to go, at least the paper cup element strictly for sanitation purposes, but would have to consult with church authority to make that kind of a suggestion.
 
Brian_Millar said:
To be sad because you are partaking of the body of Christ and not the blood is kind of ludacris.
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That’s untrue anyway - the Host contains within itself Jesus whole and entire - body, blood, Soul and Divinity. As does the Chalice.

Put it this way ik - have you ever eaten a steak that didn’t have at least a little bit of juices still in it? Those juices ARE the blood of that animal (sometimes mixed with other things to make a sauce of some kind). Think of the Host in that way - that it contains both the flesh and blood because it’s literally impossible to separate the Flesh from the Blood of Our Lord - and just offer your feelings, which are genuine but wrong, to Our Lord.

And your assertion that people can’t get sick from the Blood is wrong. It retains ALL the physical properties of wine, although not actually being wine. So yes, you can get drunk if you have bucketloads, and yes you can catch diseases from it, or from the chalice. Similarly with the bread - celiacs wouldn’t have problems receiving the Host if it didn’t retain the properties of bread - but they certainly do, no matter how much faith they have that its substance is no longer bread.
 
LilyM said:
That’s untrue anyway - the Host contains within itself Jesus whole and entire - body, blood, Soul and Divinity. As does the Chalice.

Put it this way ik - have you ever eaten a steak that didn’t have at least a little bit of juices still in it? Those juices ARE the blood of that animal (sometimes mixed with other things to make a sauce of some kind). Think of the Host in that way - that it contains both the flesh and blood because it’s literally impossible to separate the Flesh from the Blood of Our Lord - and just offer your feelings, which are genuine but wrong, to Our Lord.

And your assertion that people can’t get sick from the Blood is wrong. It retains ALL the physical properties of wine, although not actually being wine. So yes, you can get drunk if you have bucketloads, and yes you can catch diseases from it, or from the chalice. Similarly with the bread - celiacs wouldn’t have problems receiving the Host if it didn’t retain the properties of bread - but they certainly do, no matter how much faith they have that its substance is no longer bread.
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This is NOT a BBQ!
 
Claire_from_DE said:
Is it possible the priest would let you receive by intinction? That is, he, the priest, would dip the host into the precious blood. You would receive on the tongue. Or perhaps he could put a small amount of wine in a separate chalice (before the consecration) so you wouldn’t be drinking from the same cup. If you usually go to daily mass you could at least ask about this. Talk to the priest after mass or make an appointment with him.

Even though you know you don’t have anything contagious, since you are bleeding, this could be a danger to someone. When I have a cold I don’t receive from the cup because I wouldn’t want to risk someone else getting sick.
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Good suggestion…intinction isn’t the norm, but this isn’t a normal situation!

As well, even though you may not be contageous, others may THINK you might be, which might cause them not to drink from the cup.

Another option is to see if the priest can arrange for you to be the last one in line to drink from the cup?
Brian_Millar said:
To be sad because you are partaking of the body of Christ and not the blood is kind of ludacris. I went to mass today, a new church I have never attended before, they had the body and for the first time in my life, the blood as well. Honestly, I’m not liking the sanitation element at all, so I’ll only partake of the blood on rare occassions. I remember many years ago I attended a lutheren service, they used fruit juice in little paper cups, I think that should be the way to go, at least the paper cup element strictly for sanitation purposes, but would have to consult with church authority to make that kind of a suggestion.
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A Lutheran church not using wine?? :hmmm: Unusual.

Anyway, there’s a couple of issues with using little cups, or even little “shot glasses”, as we used to use in the Lutheran Church where I grew up.
  1. There is an element of unity, drinking of the same cup that is lost with individual cups or shot glasses.
  2. Since we as Catholics believe in the real presence, increasing the numbers of cups; pouring, etc. creates issues of spillage, not to mention post-communion of the vessels would be a nightmare.
Throwing away little paper cups with drops of consecrated wine is not consistant with respect for the real presence, in which we believe, but which Lutherans have a different understanding.
 
OP. If your mouth bleeds, then do not, DO NOT, receive from the Chalice. No one, except the priest, needs to receive from the Chalice.

You are probably leaving at least a tiny amount of your blood in the Chalice after receiving. Others would be horrified if they knew. Think of the other people.

You receive Jesus, body and blood, soul and Divinity, by receiving either the Host or the from the Chalice.

We must always overcome personal sentiment and do what is right. Why would you be sad not to receive from the Chalice? You are not missing anything by not receiving.
 
It kind of amazes me at how upset some people become over this. Don’t worry I am not drinking from the cup…I do care about others. I love Jesus more today than yesterday. Yes, I have confusion but my confusion will in no way harm others. I can’t grasp “eating” the Blood of Christ nor “drinking” the Body. Jesus’ Blood purifies, it washes away sin, so too can it wash away disease. The Blood of Christ is pure and so purifies what It touches and all who consume from the Cup. In the very beginning of the Church people received both from the Host and the Cup but only to prevent scandel did they stop with the Blood to the public. I do believe I receive both under one species, it’s only that those moments after receiving the Blood did the pain in my mouth leave me and it was soothing to me. But again, do not worry, I accept yet one more suffering to offer up for priests. I will be going to daily Mass beginning tomorrow. I am no longer feeling sorry for myself and the tears of Jesus will strengthen me. I will pass by the cup as I have been only to protect all of those who don’t believe in the purification of the Blood. I am obedient to the Church above all else so please do not worry about me harming anyone in my parish, they are safe from me. Thank you.
 
lkopteros said:
I will pass by the cup as I have been only to protect all of those who don’t believe in the purification of the Blood. I
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Unfortunately, you have the wrong idea here. To make it clearer - would you think that if poison was mixed with the Precious Blood that it would be safe for the priest or any of the congregation to drink it? No, it wouldn’t. They would be poisoned! Neither would the level of alcohol in the accidents of the wine be able to protect against the poison.

The purification of the Blood of Christ is for your soul.
 
If poison was put into the cup with the Precious Blood I would most definitely drink from it. Jesus would protect me and besides, poison does not mix with the Blood of Christ.
 
lkopteros said:
If poison was put into the cup with the Precious Blood I would most definitely drink from it. Jesus would protect me and besides, poison does not mix with the Blood of Christ.
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I take it you are joking, some people here might not think that way so be careful with making a statement like that.

I’m going to ask my priest if we can get permission to simply dip the body into the blood for sanitation purposes.
 
lkopteros said:
If poison was put into the cup with the Precious Blood I would most definitely drink from it. Jesus would protect me and besides, poison does not mix with the Blood of Christ.
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Really? Tell that to the many celiacs who’ve gotten sick from receiving the Host. It didn’t protect them, it won’t protect you, not physically at any rate.

The Eucharist is not a magic charm against illness or poison - after all, it may very well be God’s plan for you to die from precisely that poison or that illness, and His will as to when and how we die will not be denied.

The Eucharist is a means of ETERNAL life, not physical protection. To say otherwise - to say you can’t suffer physical ill effects from it - is the grossest superstition. Whatever happened to ‘thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the test’ - seems to me that’s precisely what you’d be doing if you acted on such beliefs.

Not to mention totally illogical - after all, to take your argument to its proper conclusion, surely it should protect you from physical death as well, if it protects you from poison and other physical harms. Why wouldn’t it? Yet it doesn’t.
 
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