What if a celiac cannot consume wine?

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thereseozi

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I know celiac patients are unable to consume gluten but what if you’re a celiac patient who can’t consume alcohol either? What is a Catholic celiac patient to do if they are unable to consume the consecrated bread and wine? How do they live out their Catholic commitment (i.e., the obligation to receive holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter season)?
 
If the reason the celiac patient cannot consume the precious blood is for fear that particles of the host may be in the cup, and cannot tolerate the low-gluten hosts made available for use by celiacs, the priest may consecrate separately a small portion of the wine specifically for the celiac. The patient should talk to his pastor to arrange for such an accommodation.

If, however, the celiac cannot consume wine for reasons unrelated to his celiac condition (e.g., allergy to wine, addiction), and if the celiac cannot even tolerate *mustum *(a type of wine with minimal alcohol, for which a bishop can grant permission to use), then the celiac will have to forego receiving Communion. He may instead make a spiritual communion through personal prayer for unity with Christ and the assembled congregation. The duty to receive Communion once per year may be dispensed if the person has a medical condition(s) that does not allow him to receive under either species.

Not being able to receive Communion at all is a difficult sacrifice, but the person unable to do so can unite his suffering to Christ’s suffering on the cross, through which God may grant grace to him and to others. Perhaps such a person might offer up his suffering that his fellow Catholics might arrive at a deeper appreciation of the great gift they are given in the Eucharist and that they might no longer take that gift for granted.

Recommended reading:

Forfeiting Their Birthright by Rosalind Moss
I Would Feed You with the Finest of Wheat by David P. Lang
A Short Introduction to Holy Communion and Celiac Sprue Disease by the USCCB Committee on the Liturgy
 
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