This trend must stop: the EMHC hand sanitizing procession

[tafan2]

I feel for you. Based on several things you have posted, it sounds like you guys are 15 or 20 years behind us in the “reform of the reform”, and based on current events I would guess you might not get a chance to catch up.
Benediction a new thing? So until the late 70s, in my hometown, holy hour with benediction was well attended every Thursday evening at 6. Went off the college and then got a job around here and did not see another benediction until '93, when we started attending a parish that had it every first Friday after the school morning mass. Now it is common in all of the parishes around here. I go to a benediction at least once a month.

After daily mass, at your parish, is the prayer to St Michael recited by the congregation? For a while (back in the 90s and early 00s), I considered that a tell-tale as to the state of a parish. Now, every parish I go to daily mass at, it occurs. But one pastor told me it used to be really discouraged by the diocese.

 

[tafan2]

Hand sanitizer, carpet, choirs, inappropriate fashions, sizes and shapes of objects - ah, so what? With my eyes closed, I can sense the log in my eyes and forget about the splinter in the eyes of others.

That’s good for you. But realize, some of us need the sensory (name removed by moderator)ut to lift our spirit to the heavens. And when the liturgy, the architecture of the building, the religious artwork are all in sync; even the little details we never thing about it play a part in the whole. Its important. Beauty plays an important role in the spiritual lives of many of us. We need to be lifted to heaven.

 

[po18guy]

Indeed, beauty is an integral part of the Christian faith. But I just see so much moaning and groaning and carping about things that will not matter in eternity. Artwork, stained glass windows, architecture all contribute. But, does a blind person thereby suffer? The primary beauty is our Lord, no?

 

[bobperk]

You are very correct. To say that architecture, smells, etc. isn’t important just is not true. God provided very detailed instructions as to how the Ark of the Covenant and Tabernacle should be constructed in the Book of Exodus.

 

[PetraG]

I have been an EMHC and I detest hand sanitizer. It takes a good-sized dollop (check the label of the product you’re using) and about 30 full seconds of rubbing to actually reduce the number of microbes on your hands. If you aren’t applying enough and you aren’t rubbing your hands until they dry, you’re not doing it right.

Are You Properly Applying Hand Sanitizer? Probably Not.

Apply to hand sanitizer to hands, rub quickly on hands, 99.9 percent of germs gone, right?

b4brands.com

Less than that is just for show and frankly is likely to accomplish nothing except maybe attack the metal coating on the sacred vessel, brass handrails, and so on (a problem at one parish I used to attend). I think coating your hands with chemical solvent immediately prior to touching something someone else is going to consume is just nasty.
Oh, and if hand santizer isn’t alcohol-based, don’t bother:

https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html

My “modest proposal” is that if the laity is needed to help distribute Holy Communion, those who agree to help wash their hands well with soap and water (which is more effective, according to the CDC) prior to Mass and then refrain from holding or shaking anyone else’s hands before they distribute Holy Communion. Yes: I mean no hand-holding during the Our Father and no touching anybody during the Sign of Peace.

PS Unrelated Public Service Announcement: NEVER use hand santizer when you may have chemicals on your hands that you do not want drawn through your skin and into your body.

This is why plain alcohol gels and bleach or Lysol for the home are the best choices (we have an immune compromised family member, we had to go to class about this stuff!)

In the absence of someone very young, very old, or otherwise immunosuppressed in the household, it seems increasingly likely that the best way to go is to keep your home sanitary but not super-sanitized. The latter could actually increase the fraction of microbes in your home that are resistant to common sanitizing agents.

 

[tafan2]

Agreed that we shouldn’t be moaning and groaning and carping about these things. But many if them will very much matter in heaven, it will just always be done correctly.

And yes, the primary beauty is our Lord. But the idea that nothing else matters leads to an extreme minimalism, or worse yet, it leads to apathy about beauty in our churches, our liturgy. "Who cares if we sing Kum By Ya, it’s the Eucharist that matters. ".

 

[po18guy]

101 years ago in 1918, 500 million were infected with the Spanish flu and between 50-100 million died. That is equivalent to 16,667 September 11 (9/11) attacks.

9/11 level deaths simultaneously in almost 17,000 cities worldwide. Stop for a moment and think about that.

There were far fewer immune suppressed then than there are now. Far fewer aged. The more vaccines we produce, the “smarter” flu viruses we breed. I, for one, am glad to see the measures taken to reduce transmissible disease.

The next such outbreak, due to exponentially increased travel and migration, will certainly be at least as bad - most likely much worse. This is something worth pondering in our current state of good health.

 

[Convert3]

Unless you have asthma.

 

[Cruciferi]

I used a Natural Sulfur based soap for awhile. It did wonders for my acne.

 

[Cruciferi]

The next such outbreak, due to exponentially increased travel and migration, will certainly be at least as bad - most likely much worse. This is something worth pondering in our current state of good health.

Let us all Pray that Smallpox never appears again

 

[PeterT]

In my parish the Purell ritual is a part of Mass. It has been years since I have smelled incense. But every week the stench of alcohol and the pageantry of the cleansing of the EMHCs hands is a large part of the liturgy.

So sad.

What’s sad is those who claim that they can smell the “stench” of the sanitizer like Purell. Purell (and almost all other regular hand sanitizers) are basically unscented. The alcoholic scent from the gel is extremely minimal to be practically nonexistent.

I do agree that it can indeed be distracting to watch EMHCs rub there hands while they’re standing right behind the altar. It would be a best practice not to go behind the altar to receive Holy Communion until AFTER they have finished sanitizing their hands. But to say that one can smell it from the pews (or while receiving Holy Communion) is frankly baloney.

At the church I attend the priests and all the EMHCs use hand sanitizer and I can never smell of whiff of it when I receive Holy Communion.

 

[Cruciferi]

The alcoholic scent from the gel is extremely minimal to be practically nonexistent.

I use it everyday at work and can’t smell it for more than a minute. I can’t imagine smelling it from 60ft away.

 

[JimG]

In my former parish, EMHC’s do not enter the sanctuary to receive communion. They stand near the altar rail. The priest brings them communion; then hands them a ciborium to distribute communion.

 

[ELCore]

Can anybody point me to any study in a medical journal that has concluded that specific individual(s) have contracted specific disease(s) by way of, and only by way of, receiving Holy Communion from a minister who had not “sanitized” his hands before distributing the sacrament? No theories, hypotheses, or speculations, please. Thank you.

 

[PetraG]

101 years ago in 1918, 500 million were infected with the Spanish flu and between 50-100 million died . That is equivalent to 16,667 September 11 (9/11) attacks .

9/11 level deaths simultaneously in almost 17,000 cities worldwide. Stop for a moment and think about that.

There were far fewer immune suppressed then than there are now. Far fewer aged. The more vaccines we produce, the “smarter” flu viruses we breed. I, for one, am glad to see the measures taken to reduce transmissible disease.

The next such outbreak, due to exponentially increased travel and migration, will certainly be at least as bad - most likely much worse. This is something worth pondering in our current state of good health.

There is evidence that over-use of anti-microbial agents could be breeding microbes that are resistant to anti-microbial agents.

I use it everyday at work and can’t smell it for more than a minute. I can’t imagine smelling it from 60ft away.

Yes, well, you didn’t get the kind that the parish got for free for “some reason.” It is very scented. (Having said that, I think the scent is mostly noxious to the EMsHC, not those receiving Holy Communion.)

Can anybody point me to any study in a medical journal that has concluded that specific individual(s) have contracted specific disease(s) by way of, and only by way of, receiving Holy Communion from a minister who had not “sanitized” his hands before distributing the sacrament? No theories, hypotheses, or speculations, please. Thank you.

The truth is that the CDC couldn’t find evidence that people who regularly receive Holy Communion from a common cup contract communicable diseases at a higher rate than regular church-goers who do not. If there is a difference, it is very small (probably because people who have something communicable are charitable enough to stay at a distance).

 

[po18guy]

I do not particularly want to provide myself as evidence, as it may very well be fatal to me. As it is, I am staring at one month or more of pneumonia, as that is simply how long viral infections last in my weakened immune system.

And remember that most infections are viral and bacteria/antibiotics are not involved.

For the record, I have received the cup maybe once or twice since my transplant in 2015. Yet, I have contracted Rhinovirus at least twice, Human MetaPneumo Virus (HMPV) once, Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (HRSV) once, Human ParaInfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV-3) right now and there have been several which were never identified. This, while I live a pretty much hermit-like existence.

For the record, there are about 3,300 different viruses which have been medically and scientifically described. There are millions - millions - of viruses which remain unknown and their influence on the human body is also unknown.

Our existence is indeed fragile and in accordance with the grace of God.

 

[twf]

What do Orthodox / Eastern Catholics with asthma do? Sincere question, as you simply don’t have Liturgy without incense in the Eastern tradition…

 

[Convert3]

No idea. My asthma is relatively mild and the times incense is used does bother me, even though I use medication daily.

 

[Hoosier-Daddy]

I’m not sure the brand to be honest. But the alcohol stench is indeed strong. I mean really strong. And it sure is not baloney. It is weird that you would assert that having no idea where I attend Mass.

 

[PetraG]

I’m not sure the brand to be honest. But the alcohol stench is indeed strong. I mean really strong. And it sure is not baloney. It is weird that you would assert that having no idea where I attend Mass.

A parish I used to attend got this hand sanitizer that I think they bought by the 55 gallon drum–or else someone who bought a huge amount only to find they couldn’t tolerate it donated it. It was so dreadful; far worse than any I’ve ever encountered anywhere else.