Why is this done?

[rudytoo72]

I keep asking this question and haven’t gotten an answer. So I will ask again. Under what circumstances would a priest receive communion multiple times in one mass? I have seen a priest do this and was wondering why it would be so. I have seen him just kind of casually pop them into his mouth. Can anyone tell me why this might be done?

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Perhaps at the time of purifying the vessels, when he has only one or two Hosts left, as an alternative to returning them to the Tabernacle?

 

[Cristiano]

I keep asking this question and haven’t gotten an answer. So I will ask again. Under what circumstances would a priest receive communion multiple times in one mass? I have seen a priest do this and was wondering why it would be so. I have seen him just kind of casually pop them into his mouth. Can anyone tell me why this might be done?

A priest cannot receive communion multiple times during the same mass. He may consume more pieces of the Body of Christ during the same mass, nothing wrong with that. It is not multiple communion, and I would doubt that he would do so casually. It is possible that he consumed Hosts that fell on the floor or broken pieces that otherwise would not have been distributed.

 

[Evan]

When I bring communion to the homebound, if I have too many, there are times when I will consume multiple hosts or have some of the communicants receive multiple hosts. I do this out of necessity. The Church is locked by the time I return.

I have also seen our priest do the same. He will offer mass at the retirement home and have surplus hosts after the service. Then consume the remainder. This is a respectful way to treat the body of Christ instead of returning suplus hosts to a tabernacle.

 

[rudytoo72]

I have seen a priest consume mulitple hosts, which had not fallen or whatever. Just kinda “snacking” on them and that’s why I asked. I had never seen anything like that before. I have seen this priest do it many times

 

[rudytoo72]

I am willing to accept that there might be a perfectly logical explanation for this. That’s why I asked. I had not seen it done that way anywhere else. It is not a case of an extra host or two. He will put lots of them away, but just kind of eats them throughout communion.

 

[zab]

A priest cannot receive communion multiple times during the same mass. He may consume more pieces of the Body of Christ during the same mass, nothing wrong with that. It is not multiple communion, and I would doubt that he would do so casually. It is possible that he consumed Hosts that fell on the floor or broken pieces that otherwise would not have been distributed.

I would agree with the possibilities that you mentioned here. I have not seen this often, but I have seen a priest consume some Hosts that I assumed were broken when he was placing the ciborium back into the tabernacle after Communion.

When I am the sacristan, I make sure that I do not put any broken wafers into the ciboria. I count them individually while some sacristans do an estimated pour. Pulling out the broken ones helps to eliminate the need to consume pieces of consecrated Hosts.

 

[zab]

I am willing to accept that there might be a perfectly logical explanation for this. That’s why I asked. I had not seen it done that way anywhere else. It is not a case of an extra host or two. He will put lots of them away, but just kind of eats them throughout communion.

Hmmm, That does sound strange. But if there were a lot of broken pieces in his ciborium, it would be better for him to consume them later, in my opinion.

 

[EvelynEVF]

Snacking throughout Communion sounds weird. I did once see our deacon, after Mass, standing in front of the tabernacle with a ciborium, practically snarfing. I asked him what he was doing, and he said that they came from another local parish, and were awfully stale and he wouldn’t want to offer them to anyone else, so he chose to consume them. It was quite a sight

 

[mystified]

I’ve had priests, mostly military chaplains, consume and sometimes have others nearby consume one or two “leftover” cosecrated hosts rather than put them in the tabernacle or necessitate transporting them. Always in an efficient but reverent manner.