What should be done in this Communion emergency scenario?

[TBolt1000T]

Let’s say that a priest is saying Mass, and for what ever reason, he finds out that not enough Hosts get consecrated. He opens the tabernacle, and finds that there are very fiew Hosts in there. Between the Hosts that were consecrated at the Mass, and the ones in the tabernacle, there are definitely not enough to serve the congregation, even if they are broken. According to Canon Law and the rubrics, what should be done in this situation, so that the congregation gets served Communion?Are the rules different on this in the EF than the OF? Thanks.

 

[puzzleannie]

He will use broken hosts, and the precious blood until it runs out… some people will not receive communion in the species of consecrated bread on that day. Since the priest has already received there is no problem except some momentary disappointment, and better planning next time.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

He will use broken hosts, and the precious blood until it runs out… some people will not receive communion in the species of consecrated bread on that day. Since the priest has already received there is no problem except some momentary disappointment, and better planning next time.

Right. In this scenario, it is unfortunate that not everybody will have a chance to receive that day, but sometimes things happen. Those who ‘don’t get served’ can make a spiritual act of communion and offer it up.

 

[TBolt1000T]

Right. In this scenario, it is unfortunate that not everybody will have a chance to receive that day, but sometimes things happen. Those who ‘don’t get served’ can make a spiritual act of communion and offer it up.

If this cinario happened because of the altar servers not doing what they were supposed to do, then would there be any penalties for the servers?

 

[Cat]

If this cinario happened because of the altar servers not doing what they were supposed to do, then would there be any penalties for the servers?

?

How exactly would the altar servers “not do what they were supposed to do?”

What do the altar servers have to do with Communion, unless you mean that they drop the entire container of unconsecrated hosts after the priest hands it to them? And if that happened, it would be an accident and certainly there would be no penalty. (The embarrassment would be penalty enough, IMO.)

 

[Love_Divine]

?

How exactly would the altar servers “not do what they were supposed to do?”

What do the altar servers have to do with Communion, unless you mean that they drop the entire container of unconsecrated hosts after the priest hands it to them? And if that happened, it would be an accident and certainly there would be no penalty. (The embarrassment would be penalty enough, IMO.)

If you’ve ever seen an altar boy count congregants before Mass, he’s not doing it for the priest’s Mass Attendence statistical report. He’s doing it so there’s enough hosts to consecrate without having too many left over. This is a common occurence in smaller parishes where there are fewer congregants.

 

[TBolt1000T]

If you’ve ever seen an altar boy count congregants before Mass, he’s not doing it for the priest’s Mass Attendence statistical report. He’s doing it so there’s enough hosts to consecrate without having too many left over. This is a common occurence in smaller parishes where there are fewer congregants.

That’s right. I would think that it could also be true in an EF Mass cinario where a larger parish has a bunch of OF Masses, then one EF, and the EF’s attendance is smaller compared to the OF Masses. If a bunch of stragglers come in at the very last minute, or just after Mass starts, it could be theoretically possible that not enough unconsecrated Hosts are in the container to be consecrated. If I were an altar server, and I knew that a bunch of people consistently came in at the last minute, I would make sure that there were also enough Hosts for them.

 

[Love_Divine]

This post just reminded me of something really tacky that happened at Mass once many years ago. Prior to the consecration, the priest noticed there weren’t enough hosts, so he got the acolyte to grab another package (Yes, package).

He tried to open the cellophane package, but he couldn’t get it to open, (Meanwhile, the mic on the altar was picking up all the crackling noises from the cellophane) so he used more force. He managed to get the package open, but unconsecrated host flew everywhere on the altar.

 

[TheMc]

hhh

 

[TBolt1000T]

This post just reminded me of something really tacky that happened at Mass once many years ago. Prior to the consecration, the priest noticed there weren’t enough hosts, so he got the acolyte to grab another package (Yes, package).

He tried to open the cellophane package, but he couldn’t get it to open, (Meanwhile, the mic on the altar was picking up all the crackling noises from the cellophane) so he used more force. He managed to get the package open, but unconsecrated host flew everywhere on the altar.

That had to be embarrassing for the priest, to say the least. At least it didn’t happen with consecrated Hosts…

 

[Love_Divine]

That had to be embarrassing for the priest, to say the least. At least it didn’t happen with consecrated Hosts…

He was pretty red in the face.

I can empathize with him now. Many times have I sent change flying when trying to “crack open” another roll of change for the cash register. Usually this happens when I’m trying to be “extra smooth”