Spitting Up the Eucharist

[OrangeOwl]

I still can’t believe this actually happened.

I woke up this morning, felt something in my mouth, and spit it out on the floor. I’m sitting there in bed, and it suddenly occurs to me that I just spit out part of the eucharist from evening mass the night before (it was the last thing I had eaten).

I look around the floor for what I spit out, and I think I something that looks bread-like and – out of a panic – swallow it.

I feel like an insane person for asking this, but do I need to wash the floor or something? I was reading about how you are supposed to clean the floor after you spill wine and I was wondering if I have to do something similar (as there may be pieces of eucharist in the spit on the floor).

I can’t believe I am asking this question. I am this close to just letting it go and forgetting about it. But I’m afraid it’s going to bug me all day when I really need to focus on work. Peace of mind, please?

 

[Joannm]

I doubt what you spit up was the Eucharist. Once it loses the appearance of bread it is no longer the Eucharist. Given the fact that it dissolves in water within a few minutes, with the acids in the stomach within 15 minutes or less the host is dissolved. Given many hours passed I wouldn’t worry one bit.

 

[anodos]

“With respect to the presence of Christ, most theologians would hold that, although the host externally remains intact for several days, the real presence would cease as soon as the host is fully soaked with water as from that moment the species is no longer exclusively that of bread.”

From this site:
ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur83.htm

 

[NeedImprovement]

I still can’t believe this actually happened.

I feel like an insane person for asking this, but do I need to wash the floor or something? I was reading about how you are supposed to clean the floor after you spill wine and I was wondering if I have to do something similar (as there may be pieces of eucharist in the spit on the floor).

If it would help you to sleep better, you could use any type of cloth (wet and absorbent might be easier) , carefully wipe the area and then proceed to wash the cloth as if it were a purificator . The most conventional way is to soak the cloth in water . While it is soaking you could give it a squeeze or two or swish it around a little (10-15 minutes of soaking is usually adequate) . Then pour the water into the ground or on to the ground . If that isn’t feasible, pourig the water into the earth of a potted plant is fine. Then just proceed to launder the cloth in the normal fashion.

I don’t think you should feel like an insane person for asking that question. Your reasoning is sound - the same reason why we are supposed to take care washing purificators :

“… there may be pieces of eucharist in …”

And your actions mirror the recommendations from anodos’ linked article.

 

[jimrob]

This isn’t a specific answer to the position you found yourself in.

Here is what you do if someone spits out the host. You pick up the host and place it in a glass of water. After about ten minutes the host will have dispersed completely in the water and it should go to earth - either via the piscina or pour it on the garden. The floor should be dabbed (not wiped) with a moistened purificator which should then be added to the rest of the altar linen for washing in the prescribed manner. And you should purify your hands in the usual way.

I’ve only known this to happen once. We now keep a glass of water to hand just in case.

 

[Bookcat]

Contact your parish…

 

[paperwight66]

Contact your parish…

Why?

 

[anodos]

This isn’t a specific answer to the position you found yourself in.

Here is what you do if someone spits out the host. You pick up the host and place it in a glass of water. After about ten minutes the host will have dispersed completely in the water and it should go to earth - either via the piscina or pour it on the garden. The floor should be dabbed (not wiped) with a moistened purificator which should then be added to the rest of the altar linen for washing in the prescribed manner. And you should purify your hands in the usual way.

I’ve only known this to happen once. We now keep a glass of water to hand just in case.

In the OP’s situation, the host had been soaking in their mouth all night long. Wouldn’t this have accomplished the same thing as dispersing in water?

 

[NeedImprovement]

From anodos’ linked article in post # 4 :
EWTN ; ZENIT ; When a Consecrated Host Falls:

… Nor is there any indication about dissolving the host. I would say that, if the host remains clean, then either the minister or the communicant should consume it directly.

The process of dissolving the host in water may be used in special conditions if a host had been seriously soiled. Once the host is dissolved, the water may be poured directly upon the earth or down the sacrarium — the special sacristy sink that leads to the earth, not to a drain.

What the OP did (if I understood the initial post properly) - consuming the Host, is also licit . One of the Chaplains I served under in my long-term/palliative care apostolate did that fairly regularly when a consecrated Host came out of someone’s mouth . It isn’t for the faint of heart , and a person would never be asked to go beyond their own personal point of natural repugnance . But it is an act of respect for Who is present in the Host and it pretty well eliminates …
EWTN ; ZENIT ; When a Consecrated Host Falls:

…any danger or appearance of a host being discarded or profaned.

Similarly, one could also consume the water the Host had been dissolving in.

 

[promethius]

You…picked it up off the floor…and re-ate it?

That was my thought… I’m wondering if we’ve just been trolled.

As to the OP’s post, however, food is digested, even for meats, such that it leaves the stomach within 3-4 hours. If someone attends an evening mass, wakes up the next morning (more than 4 hours later) and vomits, there is NOTHING of the host left in the material from the stomach, and CERTAINLY there is no Eucharist (the host having lost all sense of the species of bread). One does NOT need to consume their own vomit!

 

[NeedImprovement]

I was wondering whether it could have simply been awkward wording of the question , which had me wondering further whether the Host may have been stuck to the palate during the night . It happens frequently with several patients in my apostolate (I don’t know about overnight - but several hours for sure), and in these cases, the Host can remain relatively dry. Some people also suffer from a lack of saliva … which
Critical Reviews in oral Biology and Medicine ;IADR ; SAGE Publications:

“can be caused by several circumstances, including aging (in medicated individuals), disease (Sjogren’s syndrome), radiotherapy of the headneck region, and/or certain medications”

It is interesting to note that one of the things of which human saliva is composed, is an enzyme called amylase , which helps in the digestion of starches. One definition describes amylase’s function as catalyzing the hydrolysis of starch to sugar to produce carbohydrate derivatives.

From a spiritual perspective, I find it of equal interest to note the words of St. Faustina Kowalska from her Diary - Divine Mercy in My Soul :
Divine Mercy in My Soul ; Diary ; St. Faustina:

1302

September 29, [1937]. Today, I have come to understand many of God’s mysteries. I have come to know that Holy Communion remains in me until the next Holy Communion. A vivid and clearly felt presence of God continues in my soul. The awareness of this plunges me into deep recollection, without the slightest effort on my part. My heart is a living tabernacle in which the living Host is reserved. I have never sought God in some far-off place, but within myself. It is in the depths of my own being that I commune with my God.

 

[Vico]

…
From a spiritual perspective, I find it of equal interest to note the words of St. Faustina Kowalska from her Diary - Divine Mercy in My Soul :
…
I have come to know that Holy Communion remains in me until the next Holy Communion.
…

That is so very important. We know that the signs dissolve, but that the sacramental grace and actual graces from the sacrament remain forever or until we choose serious sin.

 

[OrangeOwl]

I was wondering whether it could have simply been awkward wording of the question , which had me wondering further whether the Host may have been stuck to the palate during the night . It happens frequently with several patients in my apostolate (I don’t know about overnight - but several hours for sure), and in these cases, the Host can remain relatively dry.

This.

I’m not sure how it could’ve been read that I ate my own vomit (to me, the word “spit” made it pretty clear), but no…

All I wanted to know was whether I had to clean the floor after it fell on the ground.

Boy am I glad this forum is anonymous.

 

[MissBorgia]

This.

I’m not sure how it could’ve been read that I ate my own vomit (to me, the word “spit” made it pretty clear), but no…

All I wanted to know was whether I had to clean the floor after it fell on the ground.

Boy am I glad this forum is anonymous.

Jesus has very very very big shoulders, and knows your heart inside and out, and knows your intentions. Clean up as prescribed above and dont beat yourself up over it

 

[Catholic90]

This.

I’m not sure how it could’ve been read that I ate my own vomit (to me, the word “spit” made it pretty clear), but no…

All I wanted to know was whether I had to clean the floor after it fell on the ground.

Boy am I glad this forum is anonymous.

I think because your title says, “spitting up”, which generally means vomiting. When a baby is said to “spit up”, it means the contents of the stomach have been regurgitated.

My question is…do you often spit on your floor?

 

[Baelor]

This.

I’m not sure how it could’ve been read that I ate my own vomit (to me, the word “spit” made it pretty clear), but no…

All I wanted to know was whether I had to clean the floor after it fell on the ground.

Boy am I glad this forum is anonymous.

I think you have gotten good advice, and your concern is certainly reverent.

“Spit up” = vomit; this usage is standard; that is probably the source of the confusion.

 

[OrangeOwl]

I think because your title says, “spitting up”, which generally means vomiting. When a baby is said to “spit up”, it means the contents of the stomach have been regurgitated.

My question is…do you often spit on your floor?

Ah-ha. I should have said “spit out” instead of “spit up.” I need to be a little more careful with my prepositions. I’m generally not around babies, so I wasn’t aware of the distinction.

And no, it’s not something that I generally do. I had just woken up and my initial thought (as I was a little groggy) was that it was a tonsil stone, which I absolutely hate swallowing and wanted to get it out of my mouth right away (as the taste/smell is absolutely wretched).