Sickness and The Liturgy

[Podo2004]

Hello,
Im trying to find out something about why people dont drink from the cup when they are sick . When you drink the cup, it is the blood of Christ and you can’t give away germs to the blood of Christ. Any other’s thoughts on this? Please feel free to share them…

Podo

 

[alyssa]

But the accidents of the wine remain. Germs can always get of the lip of the cup, even if it’s wiped, as well…

 

[_veritas]

I love St. Thomas, and as he has said (and the Church has approved) the consecration of the wine into the Blood changes the substance of the wine to Blood, but does not change the accidents. The “accidents” of a thing include everything that we see/feel/sense – whatever we see about a thing is its accidental properties. This includes the properties of the thing that allows it to kill or not kill germs, or the properties that some people are allergic too.

This is why people who are allergic to wheat can become sick if they eat a consecrated Host (even though it is the Body of Christ, the accidents of wheat remain, and they are still allergic to it).

This is also why people may potentially spread their germs by drinking Blood from the cup – the accidents of the wine still remain, and those accidents may kill most germs but probably not all of them. Plus, the rim of the chalice doesn’t exactly contain any magical anti-bacterial properties (and wiping with a purificator over and over again doesn’t really work magic either).

It’s the Blood of Christ, yes, but all the accidents and properties of the wheat bread or grape wine remain – including all the natural effects thereof.

Now, while I do not partake of the Blood myself when I am sick, I am not afraid to drink from the cup myself, even if I do see other people drinking from it who look sick. However, I refrain from doing so when I am sick out of respect for those who might not be comfortable with that. Personally, I am not afraid of getting sick when partaking of the Blood.

+veritas+

 

[Annunciata]

I don’t go to mass if im sick …

 

[puzzleannie]

am required to attend 4-5 Masses each weekend, so unless I am literally unable to move, or in the helplessly juicy coughing sneezing phase, or have reason to believe I might be contagious, I go, but I still don’t shake hands, stand or sit away from people, and don’t receive from the cup. If I am in that hacking cough phase at the end of a cold, I don’t receive communion at all because it can trigger a gag reflex.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Well, Podo, all I can say is that the bishop in MY diocese (Burlington) has announced that from Sunday October 31, 2004, to Easter Sunday of 2005, we will NOT receive from the chalice, NOR will we engage in physical contact at the “sign of peace”, because of the lack of flu vaccines and the potential for catastrophic illness.

(I do have to say that there’s still quite a lot of physical contact at the sign of peace, mostly from the “ministers” group–i.e., the “choir”, the greeters, readers, EMHCs–which is not only annoying but disrespectful to the bishop and priest, and somewhat from small family groups, which I don’t find disrespectful at all as they have to live with each other before and after mass as well as during). However, the former group is seldom if ever compliant to the “hierarchy”, as they, being more “involved” in the production of the mass, “know better” than we sheep in the pews, whose only real function is to gasp admiringly at their singing, reading, and physical presence as quasi-priests. (Sorry if it sounds too snarky and naturally there are exeptions to the rule with some people being genuinely there for God’s service instead of their own glory–but this is a small town with people with whom I’ve been familiar for some 30 years, and I’ve witnessed a lot of “me-ism” and factions and agenda builders. Haven’t most of us 40-somethings been all too aware of the fractionalization of much of our Catholic teaching and liturgy in the past 30 years?)

 

[Nettie]

I don’t drink from the chalice AT ALL, since when I receive the Host I am receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. It’s unnecessary to proceed to the chalice after receiving the Host.

 

[khkhk]

Nettie:

I don’t drink from the chalice AT ALL, since when I receive the Host I am receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. It’s unnecessary to proceed to the chalice after receiving the Host.

That’s what I think and do to… Besides the fact of Mono (or how ever you spell it…) and I can’t afford to get sick…I help out around my place a lot, and when I get sick, it can be real quick, (like two days) or it can be long and nasty with fevers…(shudder)…