The Mode of Carrying the Holy Eucharist to the Sick

On Carrying the Sacred Eucharist to the Sick

“The Superior General of the Order of St. John of God humbly petitioned the Sacred Congregation of Rites that it deign to resolve the following doubts concerning the manner, in force in the hospitals of his Order, of carrying Holy Communion within Mass to the sick, namely: 1. After the Confiteor, Misereatur, Ecce Agnus, and Domine non sum dignus have been recited at the altar, can it be permitted that the priest carry Holy Communion in the ciborium without a humeral veil to the sick, accompanied at least by two persons carrying candles, and with an umbrella also employed if it can be done, especially if the sick are distant from the altar? 2. Can Holy Communion be carried in the aforesaid manner not only throughout the whole hospital, or at the part behind the altar, but also in certain rooms from which, although the altar cannot be seen, the voice of the priest celebrating is nevertheless heard? 3. Can it be permitted that, in place of the priest carrying the Most Holy Eucharist to the sick, another person, even a layman, recite the prayers?—Response. To the first and second: There is nothing to prevent it, provided, however, that in carrying the Most Holy Sacrament an umbrella is employed without exception. To the third: There is nothing to prevent those present from reciting certain prayers while the Sacred Eucharist is being distributed.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 7 February 1874, Order of St. John of God.

“Is it lawful for one celebrating in a private or religious house to carry Holy Communion before the purification, for the sake of devotion and not by way of Viaticum, to a sick person staying in the same house, although it is necessary to ascend to the upper part of the house and to pass through another corridor?—Response. It is not lawful, according to the decree in the case of Florence, 19 December 1829, response to 1; but if necessity presses, let it be done after Mass has been completed.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 7 December 1844, Genoa.

“During the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the administration of Viaticum, especially in hospitals, is it lawful to withdraw from the altar as far as the bed of the sick, meanwhile reciting the psalm Miserere, as is customarily done outside Mass?—Response. Negative as regards the psalm Miserere. Moreover, it is to be noted that if the celebrant, for the administration of Viaticum within Mass, loses the altar from his sight, this administration is not lawful.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 12 December 1829, Florence, response to 1.

In carrying the Most Holy Sacrament, women cannot precede, carry the umbrella and torches, or ring the small bells. “If women wish to carry lights, let them follow the priest.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 11 December 1903.

On the Distribution of the Holy Eucharist in a Sordid Place and without the Due Ceremonies

“To the sick who are near death, of whatever condition they may be, even though they dwell in a sordid and vile place or hut, let the Viaticum of the Most Holy Eucharist be carried, since with God there is no acceptance of persons, and for our salvation He shrank neither from the stable nor from the ignominy of the Cross.” Alexander VII, Constitution Sacrosancti, 18 January 1658.

“...As soon as the Sacred Congregation learned that, in certain dioceses of that region, the custom, or rather abuse, had gained strength whereby priests carried the Most Holy Sacrament with them from morning until evening solely because they might perhaps encounter some sick person, it judged that the Metropolitans were to be written to, so that it might declare that custom to be wholly abhorrent to the practice of the Church.... Issue such decrees by which the carrying of the Most Holy Sacrament is restricted only to urgent causes and to the actual exercise of priestly ministry....” Instruction of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 25 February 1853.

“But where the violence and iniquity of the Turks prevails, let the priest always keep his stole covered by his own clothing; let him enclose the ciborium in a small bag or burse, suspend it from his neck by cords, and place it within his bosom; and let him never proceed alone, but be accompanied by at least one of the faithful if a cleric is lacking.” Benedict XIV, Constitution Inter omnigenas, 2 February 1744.

“Sacred Viaticum can be carried to the sick without a stole in a case of necessity.” Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 20 September 1739, for China.

“...1. Whether it can be lawful for the missionaries of these regions to administer the Most Holy Sacrament to the sick secretly and without a light and stole when it cannot be administered otherwise? ... 2. Whether the Apostolic Vicar can permit the missionaries to carry and administer the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist to Christians ... detained in prisons? ... It could easily be administered to them without danger of contempt for the Most Holy Eucharist if it were lawful to administer it without surplice and stole.—Response. To the first: Affirmative, for it concerns a faculty already granted by the Supreme Pontiffs. To the second: Affirmative, and as regards those detained for a time, insofar as they request it, yet at the judgment and prudence of the Apostolic Vicar.” Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 9 December 1822 and 5 July 1854.

“Can it be permitted, in this time of persecution, that confessors of the faith condemned to death because of the faith, and to whom the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist is brought in prison, may secretly receive it in their own hands and secretly communicate themselves, lest the priest communicating them in the ordinary manner be recognized and apprehended?—Response. Affirmative, provided that so great a Sacrament is exposed to no irreverence or other danger.” Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 21 July 1841.

“Whenever the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist can respectively be carried to the sick either publicly or secretly, it is to be carried. But if, either because of the prohibition of the magistrates or for another cause, danger of sacrilege and irreverence is feared, let celebration be permitted in a more nearly situated fitting place, and, if no fitting place is available, in the house of the sick person itself, provided that a fitting place is likewise available there.” Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 14 December 1668; C. 709, 718.

“A Pastor is not to be reproved who carries Holy Viaticum to a sick person on Friday in Parasceve, provided that privately and in a low, indeed in the lowest, voice he recites the customary psalms along the public ways, even if he says Gloria Patri, etc.; because in such a circumstance an action of this kind has nothing in common with the functions of the Church on this day. And it is to be considered that he carries it with a white stole and cope, when on the aforesaid Friday the color of the vestments is black for the functions of the Church. Therefore, if he carries it privately because of some necessity, he is not to be reproved if he dismisses the people without a blessing on Friday in Parasceve, because it ought not to be replaced in the public church.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 15 May 1745, Lucca.

“In carrying the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist for administering Sacred Viaticum publicly to the sick, but without a canopy, the abuse is not to be tolerated whereby the Pastor or minister proceeds along the way with his head covered, while the faithful nevertheless walk with heads uncovered.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 31 August 1872, Toledo, response to 2.

“In view of the circumstances (the greatest difficulty of the places), the Sacred Congregation of Rites committed it to the Most Reverend Bishop that, according to his judgment and prudence, he may grant that the Pastor and administrators of this kind, in these circumstances, may carry Sacred Viaticum while riding and with the head covered by a hat, accompanied by at least one man, if it can be done, carrying a lighted lantern.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 23 May 1846, Bisignano.

“It is lawful to carry Viaticum without any pomp and in an almost private manner whenever it is to be administered to sick persons dwelling very far from the parish church and it is necessary to pass through pathless, distant, and inaccessible places; and let the prescriptions of the Roman Ritual be observed, and let the decree in the one case of Bisignano, 23 May 1846, be given.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 12 January 1878, Templen, response to 7.

“Whether the rule of the Parisian Ritual expressed thus can safely be followed: If, when Communion is to be given, a sufficient number of hosts has not been found, can some hosts be divided into several particles which are to be distributed to the individuals?—Response. Let the custom of dividing the consecrated hosts be observed if necessity is present.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 16 March 1833, Verona, response to 1.

“Let Bishops, Pastors, or confessors admonish that no one is to be given several Eucharistic forms or particles, nor larger ones, but only the customary ones.” Sacred Congregation of the Council, 12 February 1679.

“The carrying of the Most Holy Sacrament outside a church is not permitted except on the solemn occasion of a procession on the feast and throughout the octave of Corpus Christi, and likewise on the occasion of the sick and of the Forty Hours’ Prayer according to the decrees of the sacred canons; and in the aforesaid cases the clergy with a cross must always take part.” Sacred Congregation of Rites, 12 June 1638, Sulmona.

Gury-Ballerini, Compendium of Moral Theology (8th ed., 1884)

Jean-Pierre Gury, S.J.; notes by Antonio Ballerini, S.J. — 26 passages

Vol. II, Treatise On the Eucharist, First Part. On the Euchari…, Ch. III, Article IV. On the Manner of Ministering the Eucharist to the Sick

The Roman Ritual establishes the following. - I. Let the Parish Priest forewarn that the room of the sick person be cleaned, and that in it a table be prepared, covered with a clean linen cloth, on which the Most Holy Sacrament may be decently placed. Let lights be prepared, two small vessels, one with wine to be handed to the sick person after Communion, that he may more easily swallow the holy Host, the other with water for washing the fingers of the Priest; besides, a clean linen cloth to be placed before the breast of the one communicating. Often a vessel of holy water is added, whenever it is not customary for it to be carried with the Most Holy Sacrament. Often also wine is not used.

II. The Eucharist must be carried from the Church to the private homes of the sick in becoming habit, a clean veil being placed over it, manifestly and honorably, with all reverence, always with a light and with a little bell continually rung going before. But the Priest, vested in surplice and stole, and having first placed on each shoulder a becoming oblong veil, should receive with both hands the vessel with the Most Holy Sacrament, to be carried before his breast, and then should enter under the baldachin or umbrella, if it can be had, and should proceed with head uncovered. But while going he says the Miserere and other Psalms, and on returning Praise the Lord from the heavens and other Psalms and Hymns; but these are only of counsel.

III. When the Priest has arrived at the house of the sick person, let him say: Peace to this house. Resp.: And to all dwelling in it. Then, the Most Holy Sacrament having been placed upon the table, he adores it; he sprinkles the sick person and the room with holy water, saying: Thou shalt sprinkle me, etc., and the other prayers placed in the Roman Ritual. Afterwards, the sick person having been questioned and exhorted, he presents the Most Holy Eucharist according to custom. But if Viaticum is in question, he does not say: The Body of the Lord, etc.; but: Receive, brother, the Viaticum of the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, etc., as in the Ritual.

IV. When death is imminent, most of the prayers, or even all, are omitted. The Priest, his fingers having been washed and the prayers completed, if particles remain, blesses the sick person with the ciborium, saying nothing. From the Roman Ritual, the ablutions must be given to the sick person. - The Priest, having returned to the Church, the ciborium having been placed upon the altar, recites the verse and prayer concerning the Most Holy Sacrament.

Questions. - QUESTION 1. Whether the Eucharist can be carried to the sick at night?

Resp. No. For this is expressly prohibited, except in a case of necessity. For thus the Roman Ritual: But this Sacrament ought not to be carried at night, unless necessity urges. But when necessity urges, it must be carried at any hour of the night, but without noise and without the sound of the bell. But the cited words of the Ritual do not regard Communities which preserve the Most Holy Eucharist in a domestic Chapel, because the danger of irreverence, on account of which the law was made, is then absent.

QUESTION 2. Whether the Eucharist can be carried to the sick secretly?

Resp. No, generally speaking. This is clear from the Roman Ritual, where it is said: This holy Sacrament must be carried manifestly and honorably. Yet certain circumstances are excepted, for example places of heretics, where it cannot be carried manifestly. Likewise sometimes even in places of Catholics, if otherwise the holy Viaticum cannot be carried to the sick person without some inconvenience. Yet this ought not be done without the license of the Bishop, where he can be consulted.

- QUESTION 3. Whether a Priest, when necessity urges, can minister Viaticum without any sacred vestment?

Resp. The answer is affirmative. The reason is that it is not to be presumed that the Church, which is so benign a mother, wished those rites to be observed in the administration of Viaticum to the detriment of the dying. For the Sacraments were instituted primarily for the salvation of souls. - St. Ligorius, n. 241.

QUESTION 4. Whether, when necessity urges, it is permitted to run in carrying Viaticum?

Resp. The answer is affirmative, probably. The reason is that the urgent necessity of carrying Viaticum to a dying person can excuse from greater decorum in walking. - Thus St. Ligorius, n. 242. - Lacroix.

QUESTION 5. Whether it is permitted in time of plague to present the Eucharist by means of some instrument?

Resp. The answer is affirmative, probably, because so great a necessity seems to excuse from the customary rite of the Church. - St. Ligorius, n. 244.

- QUESTION 6. Whether it is permitted to carry the Eucharist with the head covered on the journey?

Resp. No, on account of the reverence due to the Sacrament. Therefore in carrying the Most Holy Sacrament to the sick, whether this is done by day or by night, neither under the pretext of any infirmity nor under another pretext can a biretta or even a small skullcap be used. - Sacred Congregation of Rites, March 5, 1633; January 23, 1695; January 23, 1700.

Wherefore a Priest laboring under catarrh or another infirmity must abstain from carrying the Most Holy Sacrament, or commit that office to another, or nevertheless proceed with uncovered head, unless the use of the skullcap has been granted to him by indult. - Sacred Congregation of Rites, May 23, 1846. Yet the use of the skullcap is not conceded with so much difficulty on a journey, although less within a city or town. According to several, the Bishop can concede license of carrying a skullcap on a journey; but the faculty of using a skullcap through the city or town is of apostolic right. - De Herdt, Practice of Sacred Liturgy, tom. 1, part 1, n. 50. The Holy See conceded dispensation from that law for the diocese of Cologne, especially in winter weather. November 3, 1862. - See Analecta Iuris Pontif., 53rd delivery, November and December 1862.

St. Ligorius, Homo apostolicus, tr. 15, n. 12, has these things: Pasqualigus says, probably, that the Bishop can dispense that Viaticum be carried with a skullcap on the head, when one must proceed far and through villages.

QUESTION 7. Whether a Priest can carry the Holy Eucharist sitting on a horse?

Resp. The answer is affirmative if it must be carried to a sick person far distant, or through an arduous journey, or if there is danger in delay. But the horse must be gentle, so that danger of fall and irreverence is absent. But it is never permitted to give the pyx to a layman to be carried, however much the priest is fatigued; but then he must carry it in a burse suspended from the neck. This is clear from the Roman Ritual on the Eucharist, and also from the decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. And previously: That Viaticum, because of distance of places, difficulty of journeys, and roughness of roads, may be carried by the Parish Priest riding, the Sacred Congregation of Rites grants, yet with the consent of the Bishop. January 23, 1740, in Laudensis. - See St. Ligorius, n. 242, 243.

- QUESTION 8. Whether the Eucharist can be carried several times to the sick who are not fasting, or by way of Viaticum?

Resp. The answer is affirmative, and not only if a new danger of death recurs, but also if the same danger endures. - Thus the common and true opinion, says St. Ligorius, n. 285. It is confirmed by the authority of Benedict XIV, who in De Syn., lib. 7, c. 12, testifies that no Theologian of any name denies this opinion; and he adds, ibid., n. 5: Let the Bishop intimate to Parish Priests that Viaticum can and ought to be administered again and a third time in the same infirmity, especially if the sick person asks; and if he wishes, let him decree a penalty against Parish Priests who refuse to carry the Eucharist again and a third time to sick persons devoutly asking, under false pretexts.

QUESTION 9. Whether the Eucharist can frequently be carried to those lying sick?

Resp. The answer is affirmative per se. Yet this depends on circumstances, namely on their particular dispositions and on the greater or lesser frequency with which they previously approached the Eucharistic table ¹. The Parish Priest must, as far as lies in him, exhort the sick to frequent Communion. - Gousset, n. 235.

¹ That someone, while he enjoyed good health, was accustomed to approach the Most Holy Eucharist less frequently would not indeed be a sufficient reason why more frequent Communion should seem to be denied to him when sick, if indeed he desires it.

QUESTION 10. What must a Priest do if, arriving at the sick person with the Most Holy Sacrament and hearing his confession, he finds him indisposed?

Resp. First the Confessor must strive, as best he can, to bring the penitent to better fruit. If the matter does not succeed, and for example the sick person does not promise either to break off the proximate occasion of sin, or to make grave and certainly owed restitution, he certainly cannot be absolved. But what about Communion? The penitent must earnestly be induced, after the confession has been completed, to declare publicly that he does not yet wish to receive the Holy Eucharist. But if he makes this declaration, the difficulty now vanishes; for it is clear that the Eucharist is not to be ministered to him. But if he refuses to declare this, and wishes to communicate, the Eucharist must be ministered to him, although indisposed, namely in order to preserve intact the seal of confession. - Gousset, n. 237, and others.

Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis

Dominic M. Prümmer, O.P. — 1 passage

Vol. III, Pt. II, Tr. IV, Sect. I, Ch. V, Article II. On the Distribution of the Eucharist

n. 224.

224. 7. The Eucharist is to be carried to the sick openly and honorably, as the Roman Ritual, tit. 4, c. 4, prescribes, unless a just and reasonable cause counsels otherwise.²³⁷ With regard to the words "unless a just and reasonable cause is present," the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments declared that the judge of a just and reasonable cause is the Ordinary, but he is admonished "that, through rules too narrowly predetermined or general rules commanding public carrying, or through a reservation made to himself of granting permission in individual cases to carry the Sacrament of the Eucharist privately, sick persons not be impeded from the consolation even of daily Communion" (Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, January 5, 1928: Acta Ap. Sed. XX, 81). Thus a bishop can permit the Holy Eucharist to be carried in a concealed manner to those sick faithful who wish to receive Communion several times for the sake of devotion (Benedict XIV, decree Inter omnigenas, February 2, 1744). "The priest shall always have the stole covered by his own garments; he shall enclose the pyx in a small bag or burse, which, suspended from his neck by cords, he shall place in his breast; and he shall never proceed alone, but shall be accompanied at least by a faithful person when a cleric is lacking" (Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, December 23, 1912).²³⁸ For the rest, diocesan statutes are to be observed.

When the Eucharist is carried publicly to the house of a sick person, the priest must be vested in a surplice and stole and proceed with his head uncovered. Nevertheless, by an Apostolic indult it is not rarely permitted that the priest proceed with his head covered if the inclemency of the weather so requires. Thus, for example, on November 13, 1862, the Congregation of Rites gave the priests of Cologne permission "to proceed, especially in wintry weather, with the head covered by a woolen cap which, when necessity requires, can be of such size that it also covers the ears."²³⁹ In a case of necessity, namely, if danger to health is greatly feared (whether from the heat of the sun or from cold) and permission cannot be sought from the bishop, a priest, by employing epikeia, can carry the Eucharist to a sick person with his head covered, provided, however, that scandal is forestalled. Nothing prevents a priest carrying the Eucharist from wearing a wig (commonly Perücke) or even an artificial covering against rain or snow.²⁴⁰ For it would be more irreverent if the sacred vestments and the vessel itself containing the Holy Eucharist were made wet by rain or snow. For a reasonable cause, for example, because of the length of the journey, it is lawful to carry the Eucharist publicly while seated in some carriage or even on a horse, if danger of irreverence is absent. But it is not becoming that the Eucharist be carried while seated on a two-wheeled machine (commonly a velocipede), unless a grave necessity is present.

²³⁷ Code of Canon Law, c. 847.

²³⁸ Acta Ap. Sed. IV, 725.

²³⁹ A similar privilege was granted for the Diocese of Orihuela (Alicante in Spain) on April 22, 1871 (Decr. auth., n. 3246).

²⁴⁰ Commonly Regenschirm (umbrella), parapluie (umbrella), ombrello (umbrella), umbrella.

Marc, Institutiones Morales

Clement Marc, C.SS.R. — 2 passages

Vol. II, Part Third: On the Sacrame…, Tr. IV, Diss. I, Ch. II, Art. III, § 2. On the Order to Be Observed in Administering Sacred Viaticum

n. ¶1543.

From the ROMAN RITUAL we note the following:

With respect to the obligation of ministering. "1. Viaticum of the most sacred Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ is to be procured for the sick at the opportune time with the highest zeal and diligence, lest perhaps it happen that they die deprived of so great a good by the negligence of the pastor... 2. Let the pastor exhort the sick person that he receive Holy Communion, even if he is not gravely sick, or danger of death is not imminent, especially if the solemnity of some feast suggests this, nor will he himself refuse to minister it... 3. But he will minister it as Viaticum when it is probable that he will not be able to receive it any more... 4. But let it not be carried to someone only for adoration, or for showing it, under the pretext of devotion or of any matter." Thus the Ritual.
With respect to the manner of carrying it. Let the pastor warn beforehand that in the room of the sick person all things be rightly arranged according to the prescriptions of the Ritual. Let lights be prepared, and a small vessel with water, with which the fingers are to be washed. Besides, let a clean linen cloth be placed before the breast of the one communicating, and other things for the adornment of the place, according to the ability of each.

Moreover, the Most Holy Eucharist is to be carried from the church to the private houses of the sick, in decent habit, with a clean veil laid over it, manifestly and honorably before the breast, with all reverence and fear, always with a light preceding. But the priest, clothed in surplice and stole of white color, and having first placed a decent oblong veil from each shoulder, should take the vessel with the Sacrament with both hands, and then go beneath the baldachin or umbrella, if it can be had, and proceed with uncovered head. Going, he says the Miserere, and other Psalms and Canticles; returning, Laudate Dominum de coelis, and other Psalms and Hymns; but these are only by way of counsel.

With respect to the rite of ministering. Let the prayers be recited, and let the rest be observed, as is prescribed in the Roman Ritual. According to the diversity of circumstances, let the return be solemn or private.

n. ¶1544.

Questions. Q. 1. Whether sometimes the Eucharist can be carried SECRETLY to the sick?

Resp. With the license of the Bishop this is licit in places of heretics, and also of Catholics, if it cannot be carried otherwise without proximate danger of irreverence.⁶ Concerning the manner of carrying the Eucharist secretly, these things are had in the Supplement to the Roman Ritual: "Where the force and wickedness of the Turks prevails, let the priest always have the stole covered by his own garments; let him hide the pyx in a small sack or burse, which, hung from his neck by little cords, he should place in his bosom; and let him never proceed alone, but let him be accompanied by at least one faithful person, in defect of a cleric." - From the Constitution of Benedict XIV, Inter omnigenas, § 25.

Q. 2. Whether it is licit for a priest carrying the Eucharist, in a case of NECESSITY, to run, ride, or proceed with covered head?

Resp. 1. To run in necessity probably is not against the reverence due; whence, when necessity urges, it will be licit.⁷ 2. It is licit to ride on a gentle horse, so that there is no danger of falling, if indeed a longer or more difficult journey must be undertaken; but it is never licit to give the pyx to be carried to a layman, however tired the priest may be, in which case the burse should rather be suspended from the neck.⁸ 3. It is licit sometimes, from Apostolic Indult, to go with covered head, nor is this conceded with great difficulty, on account of weather or infirmity; wherefore, when necessity urges, it could even be presumed. The Bishop can also probably dispense that Viaticum be carried with a hat on the head, when one must proceed for a long time through villas and villages.⁹

Q. 3. Whether it is licit, in a case of necessity, to minister Viaticum without LIGHT and SACRED VESTMENTS?

Resp. Affirmatively, according to the more common and sufficiently probable opinion. "The reason is that it is not reasonably presumed that Christ, who instituted this Sacrament for the help of souls, and the Church, which is a kindly mother, wished the dying to be deprived of so great a good, lest the prescribed ceremonies be omitted."¹⁰

Q. 4. Whether it is licit, in time of plague, to offer the Eucharist with some INSTRUMENT?

Resp. Affirmatively and probably, for example with the particle placed in a spoon, as far as can be done, of silver, with wine or water; for necessity seems a sufficient cause why it is licit to depart from the usual rite of the Church. And similarly it can be offered with a spoon to a sick person who, because of dryness of mouth, would be unable to swallow the host.¹¹

Q. 5. Whether a priest ministering Viaticum can sometimes omit those words prescribed in the Ritual, RECEIVE VIATICUM, etc., substituting the common formula: THE BODY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, etc.?

Resp. Affirmatively and probably, in the case in which the sick person is judged likely to receive Viaticum with great sadness of soul; for the precept of pronouncing those words induces only a light obligation, from which any just cause well excuses, such as excessive disturbance of the sick person.¹²

Q. 6. What is to be done if the sick person VOMITS the host received?

Resp. If the sacred species appear, they must be carefully collected in a clean vessel, carried to the church, and kept in a safe and well-closed place, until they are altogether corrupted, so that they can be cast into the sacrarium without irreverence. - If they cannot be discerned, as being altogether mixed with filth, the mouth of the sick person is indeed to be wiped; but whatever was rejected should be collected with tow; then, the tow having been burned, the ashes are to be cast into the sacrarium.¹³

Konings, Theologia Moralis

Anthony Konings, C.SS.R. — 2 passages

Vol. II, TREATISE ON THE EUCHARIST, FIRST PART: ON THE EUCHARI…, Ch. III, ARTICLE IV: ON THE MANNER OF MINISTERING THE EUCHARIST TO THE SICK

n. ¶1298.

1298. The Roman Ritual Establishes The Following. - I. Let the Pastor admonish that the sick person's room be cleansed, and in it a table be prepared covered with a clean cloth, on which the Most Holy Sacrament may decently be set down. Let two candles at least be prepared, two small vessels, one with wine, the other with water, so that either may serve the priest for washing the fingers, and the sick person for swallowing the Sacred Host after Communion (therefore it suffices to prepare either one); besides, a clean linen is to be placed before the breast of the communicant. Often a vessel of holy water is added, as often as it is not accustomed to be carried with the Most Holy Sacrament.

II. The Eucharist must be carried from the Church to the private homes of the sick with decent habit, a clean veil placed over it, manifestly and honorably, with all reverence, always with light and with a little bell being continually rung before it. But the priest, vested in surplice and stole, and first having placed from both shoulders a becoming oblong veil, should receive with both hands the vessel with the Most Holy Sacrament, to be carried before the breast, and then should go under the baldachin, or umbrella, if it can be had, and proceed with uncovered head. But in going he says the Miserere and other Psalms, and in returning Praise the Lord from the heavens, and other Psalms and Hymns, but these are only of counsel.

III. The priest, entering the room of the sick person, says: Peace be to this house, Resp.: And to all dwelling in it. Then he adores the Most Holy Sacrament placed upon the table; he sprinkles the sick person and the room with holy water, saying: Thou shalt sprinkle me, etc., and the other prayers placed in the Roman Ritual. Afterwards, the sick person having been questioned and exhorted, he gives the Most Holy Eucharist in the usual manner. But if there is question of Viaticum, he does not say: The Body of the Lord, etc.; but: Receive, brother, the viaticum of the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, etc., as in the Ritual. (y) p. 401.

IV. When death is imminent, most of the prayers, or even all, are omitted. The priest, with fingers washed, and the prayers completed, if particles remain, blesses the sick person with the ciborium, saying nothing. From the Roman Ritual the ablutions must be given to the sick person, but if he is unwilling or unable to take them, they are cast into the fire in the sick person's own house, or, which is more fitting, into the Sacrarium. (x) p. 401. - The priest, having returned to the Church, with the ciborium placed upon the altar, recites the versicle and prayer concerning the Most Holy Sacrament, and with the Sacrament makes the Sign of the Cross over the people, saying nothing.

n. ¶1299.

1299. Questions. - Query 1° Can the Eucharist be carried to the sick at night?

Resp. Negatively. For this is expressly prohibited, except in a case of necessity. For thus the Roman Ritual: "But at night this Sacrament must not be carried, unless necessity urges." But when necessity urges, it is to be carried at any hour of the night; but without noise and sound of the little bell. But the cited words of the Ritual do not regard Communities which reserve the Most Holy Eucharist in a domestic Chapel, because the danger of irreverence, on account of which the law was passed, is then absent.

Query 2° Can the Eucharist be carried to the sick secretly?

Resp. Negatively, generally speaking. It is established from the Roman Ritual, where it is said: "This Holy Sacrament must be carried manifestly and honorably." Nevertheless some circumstances are excepted, e.g. places of heretics, where it cannot be carried manifestly. Likewise sometimes even in Catholic places, if otherwise Holy Viaticum (but not Communion from devotion²) cannot be carried to the sick person without some inconvenience, for example because impious relatives absolutely do not wish any religious ceremony to be celebrated in their house, although they tolerate that the priest approach the sick person. Nevertheless this must not be done without license of the Bishop, where he can be consulted.

Query 3° Can a priest, when necessity urges, minister Viaticum without any sacred vestment?

Resp. Affirmatively. The reason is because it is not to be presumed that the Church, which is so benign a mother, wished those rites to be observed in the administration of Viaticum with detriment to the dying. For the Sacraments have been instituted primarily for the salvation of souls.²

Query 4° When necessity urges, in carrying Viaticum is it lawful to run?

Resp. Affirmatively, probably. The reason is because urgent necessity of carrying Viaticum to one dying can excuse from greater decency in walking.³

Query 5° Is it lawful in time of plague to offer the Eucharist by some instrument, for instance in a spoon, on a paten, or in another clean vessel?

Resp. Affirmatively, not improbably, because so great a necessity seems to excuse from the customary rite of the Church.⁴

Query 6° Is it lawful to carry the Eucharist with the head covered on the way?

Resp. Negatively, on account of the reverence due to the Sacrament, except nevertheless in the singular case of necessity - of a brief infirmity, not however a lasting one - and provided that another priest cannot be had. - Likewise if a legitimate custom on account of a most grave cause, e.g. on account of excessively cold air, prevails somewhere. Therefore in carrying the Most Holy Sacrament to the sick, whether this is done by day or by night, neither on the pretext of any infirmity nor on any other pretext can the biretta or even a small cap be used.¹

Wherefore a priest laboring under a cold or another infirmity must abstain from carrying the Most Holy Sacrament, or commit that office to another, or nevertheless proceed with uncovered head, unless the use of the little cap has been granted to him.² Yet the use of the little cap is not granted with so much difficulty on a journey; with more difficulty within a city or town. According to several, the Bishop can grant license of carrying a little cap on a journey; but the faculty of using a little cap through a city or town is of Apostolic right.³ The Holy See granted a dispensation from that law for the diocese of Cologne, especially in winter weather, on 3 Nov. 1862. - St. Alphonsus has this: "Pasqual probably says that the Bishop can dispense that Viaticum be carried with a little cap on the head, when one must proceed far and through villages."⁴

Query 7° Can a priest carry the Holy Eucharist riding on a horse?

Resp. Affirmatively, if it must be carried to a sick person far distant, or through a difficult road, or if there is danger in delay. But the horse must be gentle, so that danger of falling and irreverence is absent. But it is never lawful to give the pyx to be carried by a layman, however much the priest may be tired; but then he must carry it in a burse hung from the neck. It is established from the Roman Ritual on the Eucharist, and also from a decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. And beforehand, "that Viaticum, on account of distance of places, difficulty of journeys, roughness of roads, can be carried by the Pastor while riding," the Sacred Congregation of Rites "grants," nevertheless with the consent of the Bishop.⁶

Query 8° Can the Eucharist be carried several times to the sick who are not fasting, or by way of Viaticum?

Resp. Affirmatively, and not only if a new danger of death recurs, but also if the same one perseveres. - Thus the common and true sentence, says St. Alphonsus.⁷ It is confirmed by the authority of Benedict XIV, who, in the work On the Synod,⁸ testifies that no Theologian of any name denies this sentence; and he adds,¹ "The Bishop should suggest to Pastors that Viaticum can and ought to be administered again and a third time in the same infirmity, especially if the sick person requests it; and, if he wishes, he should decree a penalty against Pastors who decline to carry the Eucharist again and a third time to sick persons devoutly asking, under false pretexts." But Communion in this case, according to Scavini,² is to be given with the usual formula: May the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ preserve, etc. "Likewise in this case," says de Herdt,³ "Have mercy and Indulgence are said in the plural: your, your sins."

Query 9° Can the Eucharist be carried frequently to the bedridden?

Resp. Affirmatively, of itself. Nevertheless this depends on the circumstances, namely on their particular disposition and necessity. Indeed, not improbably, "a sick person accustomed to communicate more often from devotion" will be able "already on another day immediately after Viaticum ... to receive Communion not fasting. And Pal. and Arm. and Dic. apud Croix admit this on individual days, and Tamb. thinks it probable."⁴ The Pastor must, as far as it is in him, exhort the sick to frequent Communion. - Gousset.⁵

Query 10° What must a priest do if, coming to a sick person with the Most Holy Sacrament, and hearing his Confession, he finds him indisposed?

Resp. First of all the confessor must labor, as best he can, to bring the penitent to better fruit. If the matter does not succeed, and e.g. the sick person does not promise either to break off the proximate occasion of sin, or to make a grave and certainly owed restitution, he surely cannot be absolved. But what of Communion? The penitent must be earnestly induced that, the Confession having been completed, he declare publicly that he does not yet wish to receive the Holy Eucharist. But if he gives this declaration, the difficulty now vanishes; for it is clear that the Eucharist is not to be ministered to him. But if he refuses to declare this, and wishes to communicate, the Eucharist must be ministered to him, although he is indisposed, or an agreement must be made with him that you say over him "The Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ," etc., without offering the Body.⁶

Merkelbach, Summa Theologiae Moralis

Benedict Henry Merkelbach, O.P. — 36 passages

Vol. III, Special Moral Theology: On…, Treatise: On the Most Holy…, Section B: On the Eucharis…, Second Part: On the Precep…, Appendix: On the Rites, Ceremonies, and Other Precepts to Be Observed in the Celebration and Dispensation of the Eucharist

392. On the rite of dispensing holy communion. - A. As to time. 1° As to the day. According to can. 867:

"On all days it is licit to distribute the most holy Eucharist." But the things which follow in this canon no longer have force insofar as the decree Maxima Redemptionis of the S. C. of Rites, of Nov. 16, 1955, together with the Instruction annexed to it, contradicts them. According to these, one must now say:

a) On Friday in the Passion and Death of the Lord it is licit to distribute the most holy Eucharist to the faithful, but only during the solemn afternoon liturgical action. To the sick, however, who are in danger of death, also at another hour.

b) On Thursday in the Supper of the Lord, holy Communion is to be distributed to the faithful only in the evening Mass or immediately after. Likewise on Holy Saturday only during the solemnities of the Masses of the Vigil or immediately after. The sick who are constituted in danger of death are excepted, however.

During the solemnities of Masses seems to be understood of the distribution which is connected with Mass and takes place after the communion of the priest; nevertheless some interpret this as after the singing of the Gloria; - immediately after Mass, i.e., without an interval after the celebration. Hence it is illicit to distribute holy Communion in a chapel where Mass is not celebrated, or in a church before Mass or a little after; and for doing otherwise not any cause whatever, although reasonable in itself, suffices, but perhaps grave inconvenience does.

As to the Eucharistic fast to be observed by those who on Thursday celebrate or communicate at the evening solemnities, or who on the day of Parasceve during the afternoon liturgical offices approach the Sacred Synaxis, the things established in the Motu Proprio Sacram Communionem, of March 19, 1957, are to be observed (cf. above n. 281). The Eucharistic fast is to be observed from three hours before the beginning of Mass for celebrating priests, before the communion of the Mass for the faithful. Nevertheless let them remember that the ecclesiastical fast is prolonged up to the hour of midnight.

2° As to the hour.

a. As regards the distribution of communion in the forenoon hours, the canon determines that communion can be distributed only at the hours at which the celebration of Mass is permitted (can. 867, 4). This by ecclesiastical law is henceforth from one hour before dawn up to one hour after midday, since can. 821 [the printed text has 812] has not been abrogated.

b) As regards the distribution of holy Communion in the afternoon hours, the indult conceded in the Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus, number 15, has force. The faithful can freely approach the sacred table during the evening Mass and immediately before or immediately after. Moreover, a decree of the Congregation of the Holy Office concedes to Ordinaries of places the faculty of permitting the distribution of holy Communion in the afternoon hours (from at least the sixteenth hour) on the occasion of any religious ceremony whatever (as adoration of the most holy Sacrament, holy hour, etc.) if no afternoon Mass is celebrated there (C. S. O., March 21, 1960).

c) Besides, there can occur a reasonable cause of asking for and distributing holy Communion outside the hours assigned above under a. and b., because the clause "unless another reasonable cause should suggest otherwise" of canon 867, § 4 ("Holy communion is to be distributed only at those hours at which the sacrifice of the Mass can be offered, unless another reasonable cause should suggest otherwise") has not been formally abrogated. Nevertheless it can be applied more rarely, since, with the law of the Eucharistic fast mitigated, a reasonable cause will occur with greater difficulty. Moreover, the indults brought forward above tend to this, that they may foster assistance at the sacrifice of the Mass. This end would be frustrated if, without a proportionately grave cause, holy Communion were distributed at any hour to any petitioners whatever. In this way provision is also made lest pastors of souls be hindered by frequent petitions of the faithful from being able to satisfy the necessities of present-day apostolate.

d) Sacred Viaticum can be ministered at any hour of the day and night, at night however only when there is urgent necessity.

B. As to place, according to can. 869:

"Holy Communion can be distributed wherever it is licit to celebrate Mass, even in a private oratory, unless the Ordinary of the place, for just causes, has prohibited it in particular cases."

Hence a license of celebrating outside a church or oratory, conceded from an apostolic indult or from the faculty of the Ordinary according to the norm of can. 822, by the law itself also of itself imports the faculty of distributing holy Communion there, although in fact Mass is not said; as Damen interprets, Th. M., II, n. 129.

Nevertheless: 1° "It is not licit for a celebrating priest to distribute the Eucharist within Mass to faithful who are so distant that he loses sight of the altar" can. 868.

2° Holy Communion cannot be carried outside the church to a private house except for communicating the sick person; whence it cannot at the same time be ministered to other healthy persons on the way, or in the house of the sick person, unless in an extraordinary case permission has been obtained from the Ordinary by way of an act, or an apostolic indult has been obtained (S. C. Sacr., Jan. 5, 1928).

3° Holy Communion cannot be ministered at an altar where the most holy Sacrament is solemnly exposed, without necessity or grave cause or from a special indult (S. C. R., May 11, 1878, ad 1; and April 17, 1919).

C. As to the mode of ministering, according to can. 733, a priest ought accurately to observe the rites and ceremonies which are prescribed in the ritual books approved by the Church; and indeed each one according to his own rite (cf. can. 851, § 2).

The distribution of the Eucharist can be connected with Mass or not connected, and then take place in the place where the most holy Sacrament is, or outside, if it must be carried to the sick.

1° Within Mass it can take place with the vestments of the Mass; and, if the priest celebrates privately (but not if he sings a sung or conventual Mass), also immediately before and immediately after, even at another altar; this also holds for a Mass for the dead, but then the blessing of the people at the end is to be omitted.

2° Outside Mass, the priest should be vested in surplice and stole of the color fitting the office (violet on the day of the commemoration of the departed), or even uniformly of white color; but the deacon should wear the stole transversely. Two candles should be lit, the general confession should be said beforehand, and the customary prayers should be said, as is prescribed in the Ritual, tit. 4, c. 2.

Here it is especially to be noted that, after communion has been given, having returned to the altar, he ought to say: O sacrum convivium... with the verse: Panem de coelo (adding alleluia to each during Paschal time and the Octave of Corpus Christi, unless he ministers in black vestments), then Domine exaudi orationem..., Dominus vobiscum..., and the prayer: Deus qui nobis (in Paschal time: Spiritum nobis...) with the longer conclusion. And the blessing is given with the hand, with the formula: Benedictio Dei omnipotentis...; this is also to be observed by a deacon.

3° Holy Communion is to be carried to the sick publicly unless a just and reasonable cause suggests otherwise (can. 847), and to judge concerning this does not pertain, as certain authors used to say, to the priest, but to the Ordinary of the place alone (S. C. de Sacr., Jan. 5, 1928). If it is carried publicly, the priest should be vested in surplice and stole, and all things which are prescribed by the Ritual, tit. 4, c. 4, n. 29, are to be observed; but if it is carried privately, the Ritual admonishes: "The priest should always have at least the stole covered by his own garments; in a small bag or burse let him place the pyx, which, suspended by cords from the neck, he should place in his breast; and let him never proceed alone, but let him be accompanied by at least one faithful person, in defect of a cleric. But when he has arrived at the room of the sick person, let the priest also put on the surplice with the stole if he had not put it on before." The prayers are to be said invariably, no account being taken of Paschal time.

It is a sin to omit the prescribed prayers and ceremonies: to minister without sacred vestments is grave; the omission of the stole alone, and perhaps of the surplice alone with the stole preserved, unless scandal is present, does not certainly exceed venial; likewise to omit the rest.

Let it be noted: a) In necessity, if it cannot be done otherwise, it is licit to minister Viaticum without vestments and without light (S. C. P. F., Dec. 9, 1822).

b) The Eucharist ought to be carried publicly with uncovered head (Rit., tit. 4, c. 4, n. 12); nevertheless the bishop, on account of cold, or inclemency of the air, or infirmity, can dispense in this matter, not indeed for cities, but if in the countryside the sacrament must be carried for a long time; whence in a case of necessity permission can be presumed from epikeia.

c) The Eucharist is to be ministered with the thumb and index finger of the right hand. To minister with other fingers is not licit except from grave necessity, when the priest cannot use the customary fingers and another priest is lacking; to offer the sacrament with an instrument, for example with the particle placed in a spoon with wine or water, seems licit if the sick person suffers from plague, or otherwise could not swallow the host (n. 285).

d) A deacon ministering should wear the stole transversely, should observe all the other things which are indicated in the Ritual, even the rite of blessing the sick person with the most holy Sacrament, and this also after the return in the church (can. 1274, § 2).

Observation. - In a case of urgent necessity it seems licit to carry Viaticum while running, provided that it is necessary, the running is not too hasty, and great scandal of the multitude is lacking. Likewise it is licit to carry holy Communion on horseback, on account of storm, distance, a more difficult journey, and danger in delay, provided that the horse is tame, so that danger of a fall and irreverence is absent. In these cases the sacrament is carried in a burse suspended from the neck (Rit., tit. 4, c. 4, n. 13). In similar circumstances it is licit to use the railway or an electric vehicle. A fortiori it is licit in a carriage or vehicle, even an automobile; this of itself contributes nothing to irreverence, but rather to reverence for the sacrament, provided that the priest wears the sacred vestments. To use a bicycle or velocipede as an ordinary means of carrying the most holy Eucharist, even privately, is illicit; for Viaticum it can be tolerated if the place is rather remote, necessity urgent, and no other means is had, but only with scandal removed (S. C. de Sacr., June 13, 1919).

D. As to defects occurring: 1° If sacred particles sufficient for the number of communicants are not found, they can be divided into smaller parts, as is customary; but not into parts that are too small.

2° If a host falls, or a fragment of it, the place is to be covered and afterward washed, and the washing is to be put into the sacrarium (Missal, de def., tit. 10, n. 15). This, however, does not oblige under grave obligation, and therefore can be omitted if it would provoke the wonder of the people too much, as if the face or beard or garment were washed. - But if the sacrament has fallen upon the bare breast of a woman or within her garments, she herself, not the priest, should seek it and with her own hands place it back in the ciborium or put it into her own mouth; and if she cannot easily find it, let her withdraw apart into a chapel or sacristy; and afterward, if it can easily be done, let her wash her fingers and let the washing be thrown into the sacrarium. - But if the host has fallen into the enclosure of nuns, let the priest enter the enclosure. - But if a very small fragment is known to have fallen only by the priest, and it cannot easily be found without disturbance of the people, let the matter be committed to the providence of God.

If through negligence something of the Blood of Christ has fallen, if indeed upon the ground or upon a board, let it be licked with the tongue, and let the place itself be scraped as much as is sufficient, and let the scraping be burned, but the ash thrown into the sacrarium. If it has fallen upon the stone of the altar, let the priest absorb the drop, and let the place be well washed and the washing put into the sacrarium. If it has fallen upon the altar linen or only upon the corporal itself, let the linens be washed three times where the Blood fell, with a chalice placed beneath, and let the water of the washing be thrown into the sacrarium; and likewise this is to be done if it has fallen upon the priestly vestments or upon a cloth or carpet laid under the feet (de def., tit. 10, n. 12).

From these things, one also obliges under grave obligation, namely, that the linen be washed, and the place scraped or at least washed, in the case in which the species of wine are absorbed.

3° When remains or fragments of the host are found after the reception of the Body and Blood, the priest should receive them even after the ablution (de def., tit. 7, n. 2), as was said n. 283. But if they pertain to another sacrifice, or if an entire host is found after the ablution, they are to be placed in the tabernacle; and if this cannot be done, they are to be left on the altar upon the corporal, to be received in the following sacrifice; but if they cannot be preserved decently, the priest can receive them lest the sacrament be exposed to irreverence (de def., tit. 7, n. 3).

4° In the case in which the Eucharist is vomited: "if the species appear whole, they are to be received reverently unless nausea occurs: for then the consecrated species are to be carefully separated, and placed in some sacred place (for example, in a vessel with water), until they are corrupted and thrown into the sacrarium. But if the species do not appear, the vomit is to be burned (with tow or other material) and the ashes sent into the sacrarium" (de def., tit. 10, n. 14).