What to do if the Host falls to the floor?

[brotherhrolf]

I sent a PM to Father. Let’s see if he’ll answer this question definitively for us.

 

[pumpkinbeast]

I receive in the hand, and once when I had just touched the host to my tounge, I must have moved my hand away too fast, and it fell. I quickly picked it back up and consumed it. My face was quite red, but Jesus was safe. ^^ My guess is that when Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, He knew that occasionally we would make a mistake, and His Body or Blood would fall…

As for receiving in the hand, it has been approved by the Church, I don’t see much difference between a hand and a mouth, when you think about it. I’ve heard that our mouths are actually dirtier than our hands. What is so profane about our hands? The way you receive it doesn’t matter so much as your attitude when it comes to reverence. People who are irreverent receiving in the hand could be just as irreverent receiving on the tounge. Receiving on the hand done properly is very reverent. If you feel you can be more reverent receiving on the tounge, great, but it doesn’t make a difference to me either way. I’ll do whatever most people are doing in the church, and do my best to be reverent either way.

 

[brotherhrolf]

Let’s wait to see if Father answers and what he has to say. I’m 55 and I have never received in the hand. I’m hard-wired from childhood about this. As well as patens, there was a second line of “defense”, the Communion rail cloth. Accidents with the Eucharist were few and far between back then. Altar boys had the patens right under your neck. If the Eucharist fell, it fell on the paten and Father retrieved it. If it fell from the paten it fell on the Communion rail cloth.

Look, I know it’s hard to believe. You have no frame of reference for it…it’s simply what has happened. But when I was catechized as a child, I would not (still don’t) “profane the body of Our Lord” with my hands - it is what I was taught. This is not a judgment about you or about what happens now. It is a simple statement of fact - and I know I’m not the only one who does it. I would think most anyone born in 1958 or before might feel the same way.

 

[Maureen_Fiore]

Let’s wait to see if Father answers and what he has to say. I’m 55 and I have never received in the hand. I’m hard-wired from childhood about this. As well as patens, there was a second line of “defense”, the Communion rail cloth. Accidents with the Eucharist were few and far between back then. Altar boys had the patens right under your neck. If the Eucharist fell, it fell on the paten and Father retrieved it. If it fell from the paten it fell on the Communion rail cloth.

Look, I know it’s hard to believe. You have no frame of reference for it…it’s simply what has happened. But when I was catechized as a child, I would not (still don’t) “profane the body of Our Lord” with my hands - it is what I was taught. This is not a judgment about you or about what happens now. It is a simple statement of fact - and I know I’m not the only one who does it. I would think most anyone born in 1958 or before might feel the same way.

Well, I was born in the early sixties and I feel the same way as you. I was taught to receive Jesus with reverence and on the tongue with patens. I know people who have changed their way of receiving the Host and are older than me. Sometimes I feel like a minority in my church because many of the parishoners receive in the hand. My own children receive in the hand because that is the way they were taught. I don’t disagree with this method but I feel that many of these accidents would never happen if we were taught to receive one way, on the tongue.

 

[Fidelia]

When i had my first Communion, our teacher wanted everyone using their hands. They were very strict teaching us which hand on top, consume right away, etc. I still do the same. This past Sunday, I accidently received with my right hand on top (it’s supposed to be on the bottom, so you use it to place the Host in your mouth- dominant hand-- less likely to drop) and I was thought oh shoot - wrong hand! I carefully put it into my left hand (I was afraid to just pick it up this once with my left hand) and then put it in my mouth with my right. But anyway back to my initial statement, yea, a student actually asked about receiving in your mouth (maybe his parents do or something) and the teacher didn’t say it was wrong, but wanted all of us using our hands.

 

[Shae]

What to do if the Host falls to the floor? Pick it up and consume it, my husband did this, no hestitation, no doubt.

shae

 

[maryjk]

As far as I know, there was a time when if anything was spilled or dropped, the carpet would be taken out and burned after communion and if the host was dropped it would be consumed by the priest. I haven’t seen this happen so far in my short time as being exposed to the Church though, so I’m assuming it’s no longer the usual method… although I don’t know what else you would do if you spilled the blood of Christ on the carpet

Has anyone else every heard of this?

I have heard a story from when my Mom was young. The priest had come to her house so she could receive; she was very ill at the time. He dropped the Host. He picked it up, consumed it. And with a clean bag in the vac, ran it over the spot, then took the bag. This would have been in the late 40’s or early 50’s.

But I have never heard that they would pull up the carpet and burn it.

 

[brotherhrolf]

Let’s wait to see if Father Serpa answers. Lord knows we need an answer to this.

 

[Denae]

When i had my first Communion, our teacher wanted everyone using their hands. They were very strict teaching us which hand on top, consume right away, etc. I still do the same. This past Sunday, I accidently received with my right hand on top (it’s supposed to be on the bottom, so you use it to place the Host in your mouth- dominant hand-- less likely to drop) and I was thought oh shoot - wrong hand! I carefully put it into my left hand (I was afraid to just pick it up this once with my left hand) and then put it in my mouth with my right. But anyway back to my initial statement, yea, a student actually asked about receiving in your mouth (maybe his parents do or something) and the teacher didn’t say it was wrong, but wanted all of us using our hands.

what if your right hand is not your dominant one? I’m just asking, I still recieve left hand on top even though I’m left handed…well technicly, I’m even handed. I do seperate things with seperate hands but I can’t do them with both. IE write with left, eat with right, but I can’t write with my right and eat with my left. But I digress.

~Denae~

 

[wjp984]

Does anyone know what the proper protocol is if you accidentally drop your Host when receiving communion?

This happened to me years ago. I usually take communion by hand rather than mouth. I was carrying my infant when I went up for communion. As the Eucharistic Minister (not a Priest) placed the Host in my hand, something happened so that our hands were no longer aligned and the Host slipped off my fingers and on to the floor.

I didn’t know what to do, and apparently neither did the Eucharistic Minister. I looked down and fortunately it did not roll away like a coin, but it was by my feet. I looked up at the Eucharistic Minister, and we both just looked at each other, he didn’t say any words of instruction to me. So I picked it up, place it in my mouth and went about my way.

So what do you do? And what if it did roll and someone, Lord forbid, inadvertently steps on it? It was one of my most embarrasing moments. Hope no one ever has to experience this, but please give advice so that we know what to do if it does.

I saw this happen just recently. The priest offered to exchange it but the person said it was fine and received it.

 

[Fidelia]

what if your right hand is not your dominant one? I’m just asking, I still recieve left hand on top even though I’m left handed…well technicly, I’m even handed. I do seperate things with seperate hands but I can’t do them with both. IE write with left, eat with right, but I can’t write with my right and eat with my left. But I digress.

~Denae~

My dad is left handed. I should ask him how he was taught. I don’t remember if he might have told me. But he does different things with different hands a bit like you.
The way the teachers came across, it seemed it would follow that if you were left handed you would do the opposite, so that your dominant-less-likely-to-drop hand is the one doing the ‘handling’. But no one asked. I guess no one was left handed.

 

[leaner]

My dad is left handed. I should ask him how he was taught. I don’t remember if he might have told me. But he does different things with different hands a bit like you.
The way the teachers came across, it seemed it would follow that if you were left handed you would do the opposite, so that your dominant-less-likely-to-drop hand is the one doing the ‘handling’. But no one asked. I guess no one was left handed.

Or maybe they didn’t want to admit they were left-handed? I have heard tales of nuns trying to convince lefties to use their right hand b/c the left was some sort of indicator of sin or some such nonsense…my MIL tells many many (maaannnny) tales from her childhood in cath. school; of course, if she didn’t have those stories, she’d have to come up with some other reason for not practicing… but I digress…

 

[Fidelia]

Or maybe they didn’t want to admit they were left-handed? I have heard tales of nuns trying to convince lefties to use their right hand b/c the left was some sort of indicator of sin or some such nonsense…my MIL tells many many (maaannnny) tales from her childhood in cath. school; of course, if she didn’t have those stories, she’d have to come up with some other reason for not practicing… but I digress…

I have heard of that too. There was never any mention of left handed= bad though. The idea had probably faded out. I did not go to Catholic school. I went to public school and Catechism at my parish. I don’t recall my dad saying they tried to change him being left handed though. And he went to Catholic school. I think it was grade-school.

 

[maryjk]

Or maybe they didn’t want to admit they were left-handed? I have heard tales of nuns trying to convince lefties to use their right hand b/c the left was some sort of indicator of sin or some such nonsense…my MIL tells many many (maaannnny) tales from her childhood in cath. school; of course, if she didn’t have those stories, she’d have to come up with some other reason for not practicing… but I digress…

It wasn’t just Catholic schools. My sister was born in 1964, left handed, and the public schools tried to force her to be right handed.

That worked until my parents found out and stopped it.

 

[Fidelia]

It wasn’t just Catholic schools. My sister was born in 1964, left handed, and the public schools tried to force her to be right handed.

That worked until my parents found out and stopped it.

oh wow. i didn’t know that. I should ask my dad. he was born in '52.