When is the precious blood no longer blood?

[ucb4ume]

Father spilled precious blood on the Altar (just a dots worth), he blotted up what he could with the purificator and now it is dried up. He is concerned about it and asked me to come and spot clean the altar cloth for him. It is linen and I know from washing it in the past that when you wet it it shrivels up, sorta speak, and needs pressing…
I seem to recall that in Redemptois Sacramentum somehting of this was mentioned. Does anyone recall this? Does the precious blood cease to be Jesus after it dries up? I hope someone can reply tonight as I need to go in tomorrow and do something.

 

[jbebeau]

It is always heartening to hear about a priest being attentive to this and ensuring that the Precious Blood, even if spilled, to shown proper care and reverence.

Yes, it ceases to be the Precious Blood once it has dried, as the “form” which is the wine is no longer present. However it is still necessary to demonstrate proper care.

 

[ucb4ume]

Thank you very much for this reply.

I am still hunting the Vatican website etc to find somewhere where there is some instruction on this. I will keep checking back to this forum in case someone finds it before I do. When I ceased to be a member of the liturgy committee many years ago, I threw away all my resources. (bad idea, lesson learned) i did find this.

120.] Let Pastors take care that the linens for the sacred table, especially those which will receive the sacred species, are always kept clean and that they are washed in the traditional way. It is praiseworthy for this to be done by pouring the water from the first washing, done by hand, into the church’s sacrarium or into the ground in a suitable place. After this a second washing can be done in the usual way.120.] Let Pastors take care that the linens for the sacred table, especially those which will receive the sacred species, are always kept clean and that they are washed in the traditional way. It is praiseworthy for this to be done by pouring the water from the first washing, done by hand, into the church’s sacrarium or into the ground in a suitable place. After this a second washing can be done in the usual way.

 

[thistle]

Father spilled precious blood on the Altar (just a dots worth), he blotted up what he could with the purificator and now it is dried up. He is concerned about it and asked me to come and spot clean the altar cloth for him. It is linen and I know from washing it in the past that when you wet it it shrivels up, sorta speak, and needs pressing…
I seem to recall that in Redemptois Sacramentum somehting of this was mentioned. Does anyone recall this? Does the precious blood cease to be Jesus after it dries up? I hope someone can reply tonight as I need to go in tomorrow and do something.

Actually it is not the precious blood. It is the precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus.

 

[Hudsonite]

Actually it is not the precious blood. It is the precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus.

oh my gosh Do you honestly think that UC doesnt know that. After all wasn’t this the person that this priest went to in the first place to help him out and clean it up?

Anyway, to ucb4ume (like that name by the way, interesting!)
I was going to comment that the other day, Father K told me that he or his brother had spilled either wine or precious blood, he wasn’t sure and he didn’t even know when it happened. He was a bit puzzled. A friend and i stayed after Mass and simply put a container under the Altar cloth and pured water on it and waited for it to wash through. We than found an iron in the basement and ironed it dry (of course we put towels under it). It looked good enough to last another week or so! We than poured the water outside into the ground. So even if your not sure if it still is the Blood, oops, the body blood soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[porthos11]

Actually it is not the precious blood. It is the precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus.

Aw come on!

We know that the Holy Eucharist under the species of wine is indeed called the Precious Blood, and we all know what it is!

Anyway, the Real Presence remains while the appearance of wine persists. I’m not sure whether dried “wine” still contains the Real Presence.

Anyway, the procedure is pretty standard. Soak up the spot on both the altar cloth and purificator in pure water until it has completely come off, after which, pour the water into the sacrarium. Repeat washing it in pure water until the stain is removed, all the time pouring the used water into the sacrarium.

After that, you can launder the cloths in the usual manner.