What do you do if you drop God on the floor?
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    http://www.the-pope.com/dedefect.html

    This happened at our church tonight, and I had to find out what to do as I urged the priest to tend to his priestly duties after Mass.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    I will never forget the priest dropping the Host during my first ever communion in a Latin church. I thought at the time, "OK God. So it's going to be like this if I hang around Latins?" LOL.
    Thanked by 1francis
  • FidemInFidebusFidemInFidebus
    Posts: 611
    Wow! They've got instructions for priests dying or becoming sick during Mass, and just about every other imaginable scenario!
    I remember someone dropping holy water during my uncle's funeral Mass...I was only 7 when he died, but the sound of glass shattering on a marble floor was unforgettable.
  • bonniebede
    Posts: 756
    It always make me think what circumstances made it necessary to put certain things in canon law / liturgical rubrics. Like the law which says you can't marry someone if you have killed their spouse to make them available.
    Thanked by 2Adam Wood francis
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    Crazy, isn't it? I wonder how many of those old "laws" are still in effect. I haven't read up on any of this, so it is a legitimate question.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,694
    I think it is probably still good wisdom to not kill someone to marry their spouse.
    Thanked by 5Adam Wood francis bonniebede Ben janetgorbitz
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Though I do appreciate cleverness and humor, a lot, I must say that I found the title of the thread somewhat disconcerting.
    It's quite simple, pick up the sacrament and consume it.
    It wasn't too long ago a parishioner walked up to me and a friend (an EMHC) with a consecrated Host the lady'd found on the asphalt parking lot. The lady was very consternated. My friend asked for it immediately and without thought or delay consumed it. That's faith, that's God.
    Thanked by 1francis
  • FidemInFidebusFidemInFidebus
    Posts: 611
    @Bonnie: I was thinking the same thing, especially with what to do if there is a flood or the church is going to collapse. :-O These things must have been an issue more than once to be included in the laws!
    Thanked by 1bonniebede
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    melo:

    Sorry about the 'disconcerting' title of the thread. It was the first thing that popped into my mind. It is a bit humorous I guess, very much unlike the actual situation when you find yourself in it. From the moment Jesus fell off the altar (actually the host rolled off... straight off the front... ugh!) I couldn't think of anything else but that spot on the floor until it was purified after Mass.
    Thanked by 1melofluent
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    I think it is worthwhile to remember that no one can do actual violence to God. Desecration and sacrilege are sinful because of the harm done to the person who perpetrates them. God is not so fragile or precious.
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    kill someone to marry their spouse

    Must be an Italian thing?
    Thanked by 3CharlesW Ben ZacPB189
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    I thought killing someone to marry their spouse was a King David thing.
    Thanked by 2chonak bonniebede
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,152
    Back to the OP, when this has happened at my church, the priest put a purifircator over it until the end of
    Thanked by 1francis
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    I've been working on training all our servers to have the purificator ready on the credence table for host drops (one happens every few weeks). It's something all servers, at least more senior servers and MCs, should know.

    At least at my parish, where I train all the servers, we try to have two servers (in addition to the celebrant who distributes and the paten bearer) watching during communion for dropped hosts, as well as people walking away with hosts. One stands just in front of the sedilia, and the other stands on the opposite side.

    De Defectibus is very a useful document...
    Thanked by 2JonLaird francis
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    We have stolen hosts here. You really got to watch that closely.
  • FidemInFidebusFidemInFidebus
    Posts: 611
    Curious: what does a purificator look like??
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,152
    It's a white cloth.
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    A purificator is the cloth that is most commonly used to wipe the lip of the chalice after the priest consumes the precious blood.
  • FidemInFidebusFidemInFidebus
    Posts: 611
    Ok, just wondered thank you!
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,916
    What do I do?

    image
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    Once when I had to assist with the distribution of communion, I had to chase someone down, almost to the main doors of the church, because they were walking off with the blessed sacrament still in their hands. We were trained to watch communicants actually consume the host.
    Thanked by 1veromary
  • Caleferink
    Posts: 429
    At our parish, our ushers are trained to watch for that as well as those who distribute Communion.

    As an aside, when my uncle was ordained to the permanent diaconate a couple of years ago along with 8 other men, one of his fellow ordinands tripped down the stairs of the sanctuary and spilled the chalice full of the Precious Blood all over another ordinand's dalmatic.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    That must be what Isaiah 9:5 is talking about...
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