Weird thing happened at Mass tonight!

[awalt]

I am out of town on business, and I got a chance to go to a local Church for the 5:30 PM Mass.

It was a very good service - even rang the bells when the Priest held up the Body and Blood of Christ - like when I was a kid!

Anyway the weird thing - the two Altar Servers were women. Right before the Priest started to hand out the Communion, he pulled a few Hosts out, put them in a little container that looked like one of the medecine pill containers but it was metal/brass and the diameter size to hold Host(s), the one Altar Server clicked it shut, and dropped it in her robe pocket.

What was that all about?

 

[Defensor_Fidei]

awalt:

I am out of town on business, and I got a chance to go to a local Church for the 5:30 PM Mass.

It was a very good service - even rang the bells when the Priest held up the Body and Blood of Christ - like when I was a kid!

Anyway the weird thing - the two Altar Servers were women. Right before the Priest started to hand out the Communion, he pulled a few Hosts out, put them in a little container that looked like one of the medecine pill containers but it was metal/brass and the diameter size to hold Host(s), the one Altar Server clicked it shut, and dropped it in her robe pocket.

What was that all about?

It’s called a pyx and I get one from the priest when I take communion to the sick. Most pyxs can hold several and some can hold even more. I have been thinking about buying one with the Knights of Columbus symbol.

-Ted

 

[tmore35]

Good morning,

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this question. People on other forums ask it as well. What always surprises me is that it is ccnsidered “wierd”.

Since the days of Christianity the Eucharist has been taken to the sick and those unable to attend Mass. Eucharistic Ministers are trained and authorised not only to distribute the Eucharistic at Mass, but also to those who are sick at home or in hospitals.

The pyx is used to carry the host safely and securely. Afterall, it must be consecrated. Many times the EM will take the hosts directly from the tabernacle after Mass. Sometimes the EM will place the pyx on the altar before Mass, the priest will fill it with unconcencrated hosts and consecrate them with the rest of the hosts. The EM will retrieve it after Mass is finished. In my parish the EMs bring their pyxs to the priest after communion is distributed to those in the pews, before the hosts are replaced in the tabernacle, and after a special blessing they leave to take the Eucharist to the sick.

There is really nothing wierd about it. It is just that it is done differently at individual parishes.

Pax et Bonum!

 

[awalt]

Ah! Thanks for clearing this up. Sorry for the term “weird”, I really meant “unusual” as I hadn’t ever remembered seeing it. But thanks to your explanation, I now remember that frequently at my regular Church, the lay people that give out the Eucharist place something small on the altar before Mass - I bet they are also pyx and are filled at some point, because they probably amdinister to the sick. I’ll keep an eye out for that one when I am next in my own Church,

Thanks for the explanation!

 

[Exporter]

As far as I know this is true.

It happened in the Phillipine Islands when the Japanese attacked in 1941.

My friend during the Korean War had a brother who was a Priest in the Phillipine Is.in 1941, when the Japanese bombed it. The priest was on a bicycle on the way to deliver the Eucharist ( in a pyx) to someone. A bomb fell near the Priest and when they found him, the pyx was in his hand and the Host was in his mouth - the Priest was dead. There may be a few explanations as to how the Host got to his mouth.