What happens when the Communion host is dropped?

[jdc241]

I attended Mass on Saturday evening and during Communion a person dropped the host. What is the procedure to follow when this happens? I also wanted to know which is the proper way to receive the Eucharist: Should you have it put in your hand or have the priest put it directly into your mouth?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

jdc241:

I attended Mass on Saturday evening and during Communion a person dropped the host. What is the procedure to follow when this happens?

If the priest, deacon, or extraordinary minister notices that a host has been dropped, they will handle the situation. If they do not notice, then a communicant should discreetly bring it to their attention so that the host can be properly cared for.

jdc241:

I also wanted to know which is the proper way to receive the Eucharist: Should you have it put in your hand or have the priest put it directly into your mouth?

The universal norm is for reception on the tongue. If a particular country has a dispensation to allow reception in the hand, as does the United States, then ordinarily it is the communicant’s choice whether he will receive on the tongue or in the hand. Only if Communion is offered by intinction – i.e., the host has been dipped by the ordinary or extraordinary minister into the precious blood – must a communicant receive on the tongue.