What to do if Blood of Christ spills on carpet

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DMITRIYL

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I was recently talking to a friend about the Code of Canon Law and we got to talking about the actions which are to be taken regarding treatment of the Sacred Species. If the Blood of Christ were to spill on a carpet at church what would be the proper course of action?
 
Cut a square out of the carpet where the spill happened and burn the carpet.
 
don’t have carpet in a church :D.

I know it could happen anyway but this is one good reason not to have carpet in a church, it is easy to soak up wine from a marble floor it is different when it is carpet.
 
catholictiger said:
don’t have carpet in a church :D.

I know it could happen anyway but this is one good reason not to have carpet in a church, it is easy to soak up wine from a marble floor it is different when it is carpet.
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Carpeting in churches was a big thing back in the 60’s and 70’s. I’m not really sure why, though.

My church was built in the early 60’s, and it had carpeting. Then, when it was renovated in 2004, our pastor at the time had it stripped from the building, and now we have ceramic floors.

I don’t see why people thought that carpeting in Catholic churches was a novel idea. The only redeeming quality would be that you can’t hear peoples’ noisy heels.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Carpeting in churches was a big thing back in the 60’s and 70’s. I’m not really sure why, though.

My church was built in the early 60’s, and it had carpeting. Then, when it was renovated in 2004, our pastor at the time had it stripped from the building, and now we have ceramic floors.

I don’t see why people thought that carpeting in Catholic churches was a novel idea. The only redeeming quality would be that you can’t hear peoples’ noisy heels.
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Carpet was just “in” then. I seem to recall the church I was raised in had a carpeted sanctuary as well, and those renovations would have been done to remove the high altar and have a free standing one put in around 1970 I guess. Not sure what it bad before that. Then the new church that came later had all marble flooring throughout, something I wasn’t impressed with as a young altar server kneeling on the steps!

Come to think of it my current church also has a carpeted sanctuary though they have a rug before the altar, as I’ve seen in other parishes as well. I was surprised when I had a chance to check out the old church on the property (built in the late 40s/early 50s) and found the sanctuary to be tiled, though being the color it was I doubt it was original.

Personally I still love carpet. I want a deep blue shag carpet in the with matching walls. 😛
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Carpeting in churches was a big thing back in the 60’s and 70’s. I’m not really sure why, though.

My church was built in the early 60’s, and it had carpeting. Then, when it was renovated in 2004, our pastor at the time had it stripped from the building, and now we have ceramic floors.

I don’t see why people thought that carpeting in Catholic churches was a novel idea. The only redeeming quality would be that you can’t hear peoples’ noisy heels.
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Carpet was just “in” then, though I agree it’s no good in a church. I seem to recall the church I was raised in had a carpeted sanctuary as well, and those renovations would have been done to remove the high altar and have a free standing one put in around 1970 I guess. Not sure what it bad before that. Then the new church that came later had all marble flooring throughout, something I wasn’t impressed with as a young altar server kneeling on the steps!

Come to think of it my current church also has a carpeted sanctuary though they have a rug before the altar, as I’ve seen in other parishes as well. I was surprised when I had a chance to check out the old church on the property (built in the late 40s/early 50s) and found the sanctuary to be tiled, though being the color it was I doubt it was original.

Personally I still love carpet. I want a deep blue shag carpet with matching walls. 😛 It used to be so popular the house I grew up in had it in one of the bathrooms. A relative I had even had carpet in the kitchen!
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Carpeting in churches was a big thing back in the 60’s and 70’s. I’m not really sure why, though.
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Maybe it was for warmth? Fashion trends aside, carpeting is warmer than tiles. Maybe they thought it would save them on heating costs.

I’m happy this subject came up. I’ve wondered here and there but never asked what happens if the Body or Blood is spilled. I can just imagine the horror some poor server feels when that happens.
 
The correct action to take is to dilute the Precious Blood with water until it no longer has the appearance of wine. Jesus is no longer present when the appearance of wine is gone and the spill can then be cleaned like any other spill.

Cutting up the carpet, burning the carpet and other radical solutions are not needed.

-Tim-
 
It’s a strong argument against the distribution of the chalice by lay ministers. I’ve seen the chalice dropped and it is horrific to witness. With the chalice being passed between so many people, accidents will happen. I once saw an elderly EMHC who was literally shaking slightly the entire communion time. I was praying there wouldn’t be an accident.
 
MJJean said:
Maybe it was for warmth? Fashion trends aside, carpeting is warmer than tiles. Maybe they thought it would save them on heating costs.

I’m happy this subject came up. I’ve wondered here and there but never asked what happens if the Body or Blood is spilled. I can just imagine the horror some poor server feels when that happens.
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Maybe. The church is relatively small, so I don’t know how much it would really save them.
 
twf said:
It’s a strong argument against the distribution of the chalice by lay ministers. I’ve seen the chalice dropped and it is horrific to witness. With the chalice being passed between so many people, accidents will happen. I once saw an elderly EMHC who was literally shaking slightly the entire communion time. I was praying there wouldn’t be an accident.
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This is true, but the chalice runs the risk of being dropped by any one, whether it be lay person or priest.
 
Burning the carpet where The Spill occured Is NOT the right thing to do.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Carpeting in churches was a big thing back in the 60’s and 70’s. I’m not really sure why, though.

My church was built in the early 60’s, and it had carpeting. Then, when it was renovated in 2004, our pastor at the time had it stripped from the building, and now we have ceramic floors.

I don’t see why people thought that carpeting in Catholic churches was a novel idea. The only redeeming quality would be that you can’t hear peoples’ noisy heels.
Click to expand...
Carpeting was “in” everywhere. I’ve seen carpeted bathrooms from that era in older houses.
 
Seraphim73 said:
Cut a square out of the carpet where the spill happened and burn the carpet.
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My parish church has tile floor where the Blessed Sacrament is likely to be carried, but there is carpeting in some other places. Furthermore, we almost never distribute Holy Communion under the species of wine, so the OP’s scenario is highly unlikely in my parish. But, I will say this about our carpeting: it is composed of specially-designed squares between 12" and 24" in size, and the adhesive used, according to our pastor, allows them to stay in place when walked on, but to be easily plucked out for repair (or burning…) should the need arise.

But I agree that carpeting is less than ideal, and should never be used inside a church building. I am a choir member, and I understand all too well what happens when you start putting soft surfaces inside a building - you destroy its acoustic properties by dampening echoes.
 
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