The Mode of Dispensing the Holy Eucharist

The mode or rite of distributing the Holy Eucharist is set forth in the Roman Missal¹ and in the Roman Ritual.² Specifically, note:

1. The Most Holy Eucharist is to be given under the species of bread alone (canon 852); from this, as is taught sufficiently commonly, one cannot depart even for giving Viaticum (St. Alphonsus, VI, 245).

2. A priest of the Latin rite should distribute Communion with unleavened bread; a priest of an Eastern rite, with leavened bread, even to faithful of another rite. But where necessity urges and no priest of a different rite is present, it is permitted for an Eastern priest who uses leavened bread to minister the Eucharist in unleavened bread, and conversely for a Latin or an Eastern priest who uses unleavened bread to minister in leavened bread; but each must preserve his own rite of ministering (canon 851, §§ 1 and 2). Necessity urges sufficiently if on that day the faithful person could not receive Communion without grave inconvenience unless the priest gave him the species of another rite (cf. canon 866, § 1). Therefore it is required that a priest of the other rite be lacking and unable to be approached, and that the present priest be unable to consecrate bread of his own rite.

3. Sacred vestments and a light must be used, and the prayers assigned in the Ritual must be recited.³ Now it would be a grave sin to omit every sacred vestment. It is venial to use only a stole or only a surplice, or to minister without a light, or to omit the preceding and following prayers. Nevertheless it would be permitted to minister Communion without a sacred vestment and without a light both in a case of necessity and for another truly grave cause, for example if someone sacrilegiously received Viaticum and it must again be carried secretly and clandestinely; likewise in houses where something prevents the inhabitants from suspecting that Communion is being brought (St. Alphonsus, VI, 241).⁴

Not only one who distributes Communion within Mass, but also one who distributes it immediately before or immediately after, can do this in the vestments of Mass; this also holds of a Mass for the dead.⁵

4. The Holy Eucharist must be distributed with the thumb and index finger of the right hand. Nevertheless, it would be permitted to offer it with other fingers if otherwise the people or the dying person would be deprived of Communion. Any just cause does not seem to suffice, since the index finger and thumb are deputed by the rite of the Church for this ministry. But if danger of contagion is feared, the sacred species can be placed in a vessel or in a spoon with a little water, and thus brought to the mouth of the sick person. If the sick person, because of dryness of the mouth, cannot swallow the host, either let the species be given in the mode explained, or after Communion has been taken let a draught of wine or a very small drink of cold, fresh, and, if possible, icy water be given to the sick person (St. Alphonsus, VI, 244, 288).

5. It is not permitted to give "several Eucharistic forms or particles, nor larger ones, but the customary ones."⁶ Nevertheless, if a sufficient number of consecrated hosts is lacking, it is permitted to divide small hosts,⁷ but at most into two or three parts, unless there is a special reason for dividing even into more parts, for example if the priest rarely comes somewhere. Likewise, if someone otherwise would have to wait too long, it is permitted to remove a particle from the host of the Mass (St. Alphonsus, VI, 245).

¹ Order for Celebrating Mass, title X, n. 6.

² Title IV, chapter 2.

³ The Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, 16 March 1929 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1929, p. 638), prescribed that besides the linen cloth extended before those communicating, a paten made of silver or gilded metal is to be used.

⁴ Cf. Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, 9 December 1822 (Collectanea, n. 778).

⁵ S.R.C., 19 December 1829, n. 2672, ad 2; 23 July 1868, n. 3177.

⁶ Decree of Innocent XI, 12 February 1679.

⁷ S.R.C., 16 March 1833, n. 2704, ad 1.

294. Principles. - I. Besides jurisdiction ¹, it is required that the Minister be free from every excommunication, interdict, and suspension from Sacred things; for otherwise he would sin gravely and contract irregularity.

¹ We have already observed above, in the note to n. 289, that the custom has prevailed that any priest celebrating Mass in any church can minister the Eucharist to those asking.

II. It is required that the Minister be in the state of grace, because the most august and most holy Body of Christ ought not to be handled by impure hands. Hence the Priest sins as often as, being guilty of mortal sin, he distributes Communion, although probably he does not commit as many sins as there are persons communicating in the same distribution of the Eucharist. - St. Ligorius, n. 30 and following. - Nevertheless very grave Theologians, for example Lugo, De Sacramentis, disp. 8, n. 155, and others cited by St. Ligorius, lib. 6, n. 35, excuse from grave sin.

III. It is required that the Minister distribute the Eucharist by the customary rite of the Church. Hence, generally speaking, the administration of this Sacrament must be omitted when it cannot be done in the manner prescribed by the Roman Ritual or by the custom of the place. - See St. Ligorius, n. 241 and following.

295. Resolves. - 1. The Minister of the Eucharist must treat this most august Sacrament with great reverence, in whose presence the venerating Powers tremble and the whole heavenly Court suppliantly adores. But it is not enough that the Priest touch the holy Eucharist worthily and devoutly and minister it to the faithful; for if he is the Parish Priest, or his assistant, it belongs to him to take care that it be preserved in an honorable place, or in a becoming tabernacle. A notable omission of the care due for this can easily become mortal. - Elbel, n. 76. - St. Ligorius, Homo apostolicus, n. 81, and all others.

2. The Eucharist is not to be ministered except with a becoming habit, that is, with stole, surplice, and light.

3. According to the common opinion, he sins gravely who outside a case of necessity distributes Communion without any sacred vestment, because this is very indecent and against a grave precept of the Church. - St. Ligorius, n. 241. - Yet if only the stole is omitted, it seems to several and grave Theologians to be only venial, which seems sufficiently probable. - St. Ligorius, ibid.

4. It is reputed only venial to minister the Eucharist without light, or without the usual confession, Confiteor, etc., having been said beforehand. - Thus commonly with St. Ligorius, n. 241. - Similarly, it is held only venial to transfer the Eucharist without sacred vestments from place to place, for example from one altar to another. - Reuter, n. 168. - Mazzotta.

296. Questions. - QUESTION 1. Whether a Priest laboring under infirmity in thumb and index finger can minister the Eucharist with other fingers?

Resp. It seems it must be denied, at least more probably, a case of most grave necessity being excluded ². - Thus St. Ligorius, n. 244. - The reason is that although the whole hand is consecrated, nevertheless the index finger and thumb by the rite of the Church are specially destined for exercising this office.

² Here a most grave necessity seems to be required a little too severely. On this matter La Croix (lib. 6, p. 1, n. 480) writes thus: It is probable that a priest licitly distributes Communion with the latter fingers, if he cannot with the first because of gout of the hand or another impediment, as Toletus, Arriaga, Leander, and others with Gobat have it.... Because although only the first fingers are anointed, nevertheless the whole hand seems consecrated; hence Gobat infers that a priest who without cause touched the host with the last fingers would sin only venially.

QUESTION 2. What must be done if the Host falls to the ground?

Resp. The place into which the holy Host has fallen must immediately be covered with some clean thing and afterwards washed. If it falls onto the cloth or little linen cloth by which the hands of the communicant are covered, the place must be marked and afterwards washed in the same way. Thus the Rubric, which nevertheless according to the common opinion does not oblige under grave obligation; yet it would oblige gravely to wash the place into which the sacred species of wine had fallen, since it is imbibed; nevertheless there is no need to burn them ³. - St. Ligorius, n. 250. - Lacroix, n. 484.

³ Those last words: There is no need to burn them, although taken from St. Alphonsus (lib. 6, n. 250), do not cease to be obscure. For to what does the word them refer? Therefore more clearly in La Croix (lib. 6, p. 1, n. 484), whom St. Alphonsus alleges here: Pasqualigus adds that there is no need to burn that into which the sacred blood has fallen, but that it is enough to wash it.

QUESTION 3. What must be done if the Host falls onto the face, beard, or garments of the communicant?

Resp. In the aforesaid cases purification is to be omitted, because it is better to avoid the astonishment, disturbance, or offense of the people than to observe the Rubric, which obliges only under light obligation. - St. Ligorius, n. 250, and others commonly.

QUESTION 4. What must be done if the Host falls into the bosom or within the garments of a woman?

Resp. The woman herself must extract the Host and hand it to the Priest, from whom afterwards she is to receive it into her mouth. - Thus Benedict XIV, On the Sacrifice of the Mass, sect. 2, n. 176. But the fingers of the woman are to be washed, and the ablution is to be thrown into the sacrarium. If the woman cannot easily extract the Host there, let her withdraw apart, for example into some chapel, or into the sacristy, etc.

297. • QUESTION 5. At what hour can Communion be dispensed?

Resp. Regularly it must be ministered at the hours at which it is permitted to celebrate Mass either from custom or from a special Indult. But commonly with St. Ligorius it is taught that it can be ministered at any hour of the day, except, however, the last part of the day, that is, toward night. The reason is that no prohibition exists concerning this matter. St. Ligorius, lib. VI, n. 259. - Nor does the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites given in the month of December 1816 stand in the way, permitting the administration of Communion from the time to the time in which Masses are celebrated in any Church on a day of great concourse. For that Decree is not exclusive, since the Sacred Congregation gave a response according to the petition, in which the matter was precisely about a day of great concourse for gaining a plenary Indulgence or Jubilee.

Here it must be added that, from a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites in the year 1641, Communion is not to be given in the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord which is celebrated at midnight. In St. Ligorius, ibid. Nevertheless the faculty of permitting this is sometimes conceded by privilege; and very recently it was conceded to some Bishops of France by this law, that no danger of scandal be present.

298. • QUESTION 6. Whether Communion can be given outside Mass?

Resp. Generally speaking, it is to be given, as far as can be done, after the Communion of the Priest. Thus from the Roman Ritual ⁴. Yet from received usage Communion can easily be given before or after Mass, or even at any other time at which Mass can be celebrated, as was said above. Indeed, where there is a great influx of communicants, it is expedient to defer Communion until the Sacrifice has been completed, lest those who are present at Mass be detained in Church longer than is fitting and be affected with weariness. Communion outside Mass is very easily to be conceded to the sick, children, old persons, and all those who, because of weakness of stomach, cannot prolong the fast ⁵. Thus St. Ligorius, n. 249, with others commonly after Benedict XIV, On the Sacrifice of the Mass, sect. 2, n. 162. - Indeed because of present custom there now exists no precept of giving Communion only within Mass. - Thus Billuart, diss. 7, art. 4. - Nay rather, it must be held as certain that because of the custom which has prevailed everywhere, and which cannot be abrogated by Parish Priests, there exists no precept by force of which Communion must be distributed only within Mass. - Thus the Sacred Congregation of Rites, December 7, 1844, in Januensis.

⁴ The Roman Ritual does not treat of Communion to be ministered generally, but of Communion to be distributed by a priest celebrating Mass. And to this alone pertain those words: But the Communion of the people within Mass ought to be done immediately after the Communion of the celebrating priest (unless sometimes for a reasonable cause it is to be done after Mass), since the prayers which are said in Mass after Communion pertain not only to the priest, but also to other communicants. For otherwise the same Ritual prescribes in the prior place the manner which is to be observed outside Mass in imparting Communion.

⁵ Add also those, and these are almost all, who, pressed by domestic cares or business, unless they are dispatched as quickly as possible, would often be forced to be deprived of the sacred table.

299. • QUESTION 7. Whether Communion can be given with black vestments immediately before or after a Mass of the dead ⁶?

⁶ In the preceding edition of the year 1866 we observed that the Rev. Fr. Aloysius Marchesi, Priest of the Congregation of the Mission and Consultor of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, very recently wrote an excellent Commentary on the argument of this and of the following question; in which, after the Decrees of the Sacred Congregation which are circulated had been brought forward and weighed with equal judgment and diligence, he judged that one must conclude: It is not against the rite, in Masses of the dead with black vestments, to minister Sacred Communion to the faithful, even from preconsecrated particles, by extracting the pyx from the repository. Communion can also be ministered in black vestments immediately after a Mass of the dead; but when grave necessity is given (I would think, when otherwise the faithful would be forced to lack sacred Communion) even immediately before the same Mass; yet in each case the blessing is to be omitted. But Masses of the dead are altogether to be celebrated in black vestments, so that violet cannot be used unless in the case in which, on November 2, the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist is exposed for the public adoration of the faithful for the solemn prayer of the Forty Hours; but that the Sacred Congregation of Rites again responded to these things: Deferred.

Finally, on July 23 in the year 1868, Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius IX confirmed the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued on June 27 of the same year, by which an end is imposed on these questions. This Decree indeed we are pleased to transcribe here, and the more willingly because it also exhibits a certain history of the whole controversy. It is as follows.

After the more recent liturgical laws enacted by the Supreme Pontiffs Pius V, Clement VIII, Paul V, and Urban VIII, a grave controversy blazed up among Doctors and Rubricists: "Whether in Masses of the dead the tabernacle can be opened for refreshing the Faithful with Eucharistic bread." The Sacred Congregation of Rites, asked the first time, in one of Albenga, July 24, 1863, responded to the fourth: "It is not against the rite to minister Communion in a Requiem Mass, or after it with black vestments, the blessing being omitted, if it is administered after Mass." But the controversy not yet being composed, the Sacred Congregation of Rites from time to time gave responses in particular cases, without ever coming to a general Decree. Meanwhile, from the opinions of some Doctors, both the opinion spread that the holy Eucharist could be ministered to the faithful only with particles consecrated in the Mass for the dead, and in some places the custom prevailed of celebrating Masses of the dead in violet vestments, so that not only within Mass, but also before or after the same, satisfaction might be given to the piety of the faithful desiring to be refreshed by the sacred Eucharist. Wherefore, Bishops especially very often asking the Sacred Congregation of Rites to establish by a general Decree what must be done in this matter, the same Sacred Congregation on April 12 of the year 1823, in one of Palermo, declared that this grave question should be considered particularly and officially. This again obtained in the year 1837, in one of Modena, where to the third doubt: "Whether the custom which still endures of communicating in Masses of the dead with preconsecrated particles can be permitted, or etc.," the response was: Deferred, and let the rescript in the case of Palermo, April 12, 1823, be observed. Nevertheless, because of the circumstances of times and things, this special inquiry of this difficult business was delayed even to our age; since in the meeting gathered on September 16 of the year 1865, when there was a question concerning the use of violet color in Masses of the dead at an altar where the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist is preserved, the response was given for the third time: "Deferred, and let it be proposed again together with another doubt, whether a Priest can open the ciborium for communicating the faithful with black vestments." Finally, with new prayers of sacred Prelates intervening on March 3 of the year 1866, in the Ordinary Assembly of the Sacred Congregation of Rites a Doubt was proposed, together with the opinion which another of the Consultors opened from office: "Whether a priest can open the ciborium for communicating the faithful in black vestments?" But the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinal Fathers responded: Deferred, and let another Consultor write, and also the Assessor, all things bearing on the matter being resumed; with regard especially to opportunity. These opinions having been printed and communicated, both of the Most Reverend Assessor and of another specially deputed from the Masters of Apostolic Ceremonies, the Sacred Congregation of Rites was assembled in Ordinary Meeting on this day at the Vatican; where the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Nicholas Clarelli-Paracciani, in the place and stead of the absent Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinal Constantine Patrizi, Prefect, proposed the same Doubt, and the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinal Fathers set over the protection of sacred Rites, the matter having been maturely and accurately weighed also as to opportunity, responded: Affirmatively, or that in Masses of the dead, with black vestments, Sacred Communion can be ministered to the faithful, even from preconsecrated particles, by extracting the pyx from the tabernacle. Likewise Communion can be ministered in black vestments immediately after a Mass of the dead; but when reasonable cause being given, also immediately before the same Mass; yet in each case the blessing is to be omitted. But Masses of the dead are altogether to be celebrated in black vestments, so that violet cannot be used unless in the case in which, on November 2, the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist is exposed for the public adoration of the faithful for the solemn Prayer of the Forty Hours, as was guarded in the Decree of this Sacred Congregation on September 16 of the year 1801. And thus they decreed, and commanded that it be observed everywhere, if it should please Our Most Holy Lord, on June 27, 1868.

Then, a faithful report concerning the premises having been made by me, the Secretary, to Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius IX, His Holiness approved and confirmed the Decree of the Sacred Congregation on July 23 of the same year.

Resp. 1. It can be given after Mass if the Priest has not yet departed from the altar at which he celebrated; but then he does not give the blessing to those who communicated. - Thus from the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites confirmed by Our Most Holy Lord Pius IX, July 23, 1868.

Resp. 2. According to the same Decree, Communion can also be given before Mass if there is a reasonable cause, yet the blessing being omitted. But a reasonable cause is never lacking if there are some who then ask for Communion. For very often it happens that among those asking there are certain persons who otherwise would either depart without Communion, or, by staying longer, would necessarily undergo no light inconvenience either in domestic matters or in conducting business.

QUESTION 8. Whether Communion can be given with black vestments WITHIN a Mass OF REQUIEM?

Resp. The answer is affirmative, both if Communion is given with Hosts alone consecrated in the same Mass, and if it is given from preconsecrated ones which are preserved in the tabernacle. Thus the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites cited above.

300. • QUESTION 9. Whether Communion can be given with violet vestments, even before or after Mass?

Resp. This question could long be controverted, especially because of the Response which was reported of the Sacred Congregation of Rites in the cause of Orihuela (mistakenly in St. Alphonsus, lib. 6, n. 249, dub. 2, it is read Pritana) in the year 1670. But the aforesaid Decree of the Sacred Congregation also removed this doubt, by which it is established that in Masses of the dead violet vestments cannot be used, except in some Church on November 2, if the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is exposed for public adoration of the faithful for the solemn Prayer of the Forty Hours.

301. • QUESTION 10. How is Communion to be ministered outside Mass?

Resp. 1. If Communion is to be ministered immediately before or after Mass, one must act as in the Mass itself; but the priest, having returned to the altar, can say: O sacrum convivium, etc.; then he says: Domine exaudi, etc. - Dominus vobiscum, etc., with the Prayer for the time; finally, his fingers having been washed, and the sacred ciborium having been placed back in the tabernacle, he blesses those who communicated with the formula: The blessing of Almighty God, Father, etc., as in the Roman Ritual.

Resp. 2. If it is to be distributed at another time: 1. according to the Roman Ritual, two candles are to be lit. Yet if time presses and two candles cannot easily be lit, one will suffice. 2. The Priest, his hands washed, vested in surplice and stole of the color fitting the Office of that day, ministers, as above, and, having returned to the altar, proceeds with the rest, as above; then he gives the blessing with the right hand, but not with the pyx, except over the sick. But the versicles Domine exaudi, etc., Dominus vobiscum, etc., with the proper Prayer, are of precept. Sacred Congregation of Rites, September 24, 1842. - But prayers of this sort seem to have to be said in a voice at least moderately raised, since response is to be made to them by the minister.

302. • QUESTION 11. What must be done if a minister is lacking for the Priest: can a man about to communicate, or a woman, supply?

Resp. 1. Certainly any person about to communicate, if he is a man, can serve the Priest; or even the Priest himself can supply, by saying the Confiteor and responding Amen.

Resp. 2. A woman cannot supply, unless she is a Nun, who according to received custom answers within the cloister; then therefore the Priest himself must perform all things. Nor may you say that in necessity a woman can answer Mass, provided she stands at a distance; for in Mass the Priest alone could not answer all things. - Thus commonly. - Bouvier, On the Eucharist, c. 4, art. 2. - Gousset, n. 212.

QUESTION 12. Whether several particles, or one larger particle for the sake of devotion, etc., can be given to one communicant?

Resp. No. For this was expressly prohibited by a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, approved by Innocent XI on February 12, 1679. But the words of the Decree, in Benedict XIV, are these: Let Bishops, Parish Priests, or Confessors admonish that several Eucharistic forms or particles are not to be given to anyone, nor larger ones, but the customary ones.

303. • QUESTION 13. Whether particles can be broken if they are lacking; and what must be done if some remain over, and there is no tabernacle in which they may be placed?

Resp. to the first: The answer is affirmative from the common opinion and general practice, provided that a just cause is present, for example if another Mass is lacking or the faithful cannot wait. Indeed, when it had been requested from the Sacred Congregation of Rites whether the Rule of the Parisian Ritual expressed thus can be followed entirely: If, when Communion is to be given, a sufficient number of Hosts has not been found, some Hosts can be divided into several particles which are distributed to individuals, the Sacred Congregation responded: Let the custom be observed of dividing consecrated ones, if necessity is present. March 16, 1833, in Veronensis. Nevertheless the Priest must then divide the Hosts only into two or at most three parts, because otherwise Communion could scarcely be given with due reverence. - Lacroix, n. 508.

Resp. to the second: They are to be consumed by the celebrant before the ablutions, if this can easily be done. Otherwise they would have to be carried to the nearest tabernacle with the customary rite; nor is it to be committed that several Hosts be ministered to the faithful. - See below, n. 315.

QUESTION 14. Whether, when smaller Hosts are lacking, a Priest can take away a part of the larger Host to be consumed by himself, in order to communicate the faithful?

Resp. 1. The answer is affirmative in the case of Viaticum to be carried to one dying, by reason of urgent necessity. - Thus all. - 2. The answer is affirmative also if there would be one or another faithful person about to communicate who otherwise would have to wait for Communion not without inconvenience. - Thus commonly with St. Ligorius, n. 217.

1539. The prescribed order regards both the due place, and the time, and the rite; concerning this, these things are to be held:

I. With respect to place. The Most Holy Eucharist can be dispensed to the faithful in all churches or public oratories, but not in private oratories, unless by express permission of the Ordinary.¹⁴ It can also be dispensed in a private house, if a sick person is to be communicated.

1540. II. With respect to time. The dispensation of the Most Holy Eucharist is permitted: 1. on any day whatever, except in time of local Interdict (cf. n. 1308, 2), and, unless Viaticum is in question, in the time from the reposition of the Most Holy Sacrament on Thursday of Greater Week until the end of the solemn Mass on Holy Saturday;¹⁵ and also within this Mass, where custom flourishes. Thus S. R. C., September 23, 1837, in Brundusina.¹⁶

2. It is permitted at any hour of the day; but it is not permitted when it has now begun to grow dark or become much evening, unless a just cause is present. But at an untimely hour of night, that is, when many hours of the night have already elapsed, it is never licit, unless Viaticum must be carried in necessity.¹⁷ Yet in Communities where the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved in the domestic chapel, it can be ministered even during the time of night, when a just cause is present, for example if some sick person cannot prolong the fast.

It is asked: Whether it is licit to dispense Communion in the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord which is celebrated AT MIDNIGHT?

Resp. Negatively, unless from special privilege.¹⁸ This was conceded to some Bishops of France under this law, that no danger of scandal be present.¹⁹

1541. III. With respect to rite: 1. Communion, as far as can be done, is to be offered within Mass, namely after the Communion of the celebrant himself. The Roman Ritual brings forward the reason for this matter, saying: "since the prayers which are said after Communion look not only to the priest, but also to the others communicating."²⁰ Moreover, from a reasonable cause, it is to be offered also outside Mass, for example if those about to receive Holy Communion cannot conveniently wait, or if many are to communicate, lest those who do not communicate be affected by weariness. And in many places the usage has already prevailed of ministering Communion indifferently either within or outside Mass.²¹

2. A priest about to minister the Most Holy Eucharist should be vested in sacred vestments, namely outside Mass in surplice, or alb, and stole of a color suitable to the Office of that day; a deacon, if he ministers, should wear this transversely. Let candles burn, let the general confession be premised, and let the accustomed prayers be said, as is prescribed in the Ritual.

On these matters let it be noted: 1. If necessity demands it, Communion can be given by a priest vested in Mass vestments, who has celebrated or is about to celebrate Mass at another altar. Thus S. R. C., March 12, 1836, in Trident.²²

2. In offering sacred Communion, the priest must use only the thumb and index finger; for, although the whole hand is consecrated, nevertheless the thumb and index finger alone, from the rite of the Church, are deputed for this ministry. Yet authors commonly except a case of extreme or most grave necessity²³ (cf. n. 1544, q. 3 and 4).

3. If a minister serving the priest is lacking, the one about to communicate himself, if he is a man, can respond; but a woman indeed cannot do this, unless she is a nun within the cloister. Therefore let the priest supply, saying the Confiteor, responding Amen, etc.

4. In the Communion of Nuns, Misereatur, Ecce Agnus, etc., are to be said facing the Nuns, not facing the people. But the priest ought to descend and return by the front steps of the altar, not by the side steps.²⁴ The practice received among Nuns of making the renewal of vows immediately before Communion is licit. S. R. C., September 12, 1857, in Taurinen.²⁵

5. Communion is first to be ministered to the serving ministers, not by reason of preeminence, but of ministry (S. R. C., July 13, 1658).²⁶

6. "According to the present discipline it is never licit, without dispensation of the Pontiff, even for furnishing Viaticum, to administer the Eucharist under each species, or in the species of wine alone; for the precept of Viaticum does not oblige when it cannot be received according to the rite of the Church."²⁷ It is similarly prohibited TO GIVE the one communicating several particles or one larger one: from Decree of the S. C. C., February 12, 1679.²⁸

7. Communion having been given outside Mass, "the priest, having returned to the altar, will be able to say: O sacrum convivium, etc.; soon he says: Domine exaudi, etc.; Dominus vobiscum, etc."; then the Prayer Deus qui nobis, etc., with the whole conclusion. In Paschal time the prayer Spiritum nobis, etc., is said with the shorter conclusion. After these things, the fingers having been washed, and the sacred Ciborium having been replaced in the tabernacle, let him bless with the hand, not with the pyx, unless after Viaticum, those who have communicated, with the formula: Benedictio Dei omnipotentis Patris, etc. Thus from the Roman Ritual, and from the Response of the S. R. C., September 24, 1842.²⁹

1542. Questions. Q. 1. What sin is it to OMIT the ceremonies prescribed in ministering Communion?

Resp. "To minister the Eucharist without light and the usual confession is commonly reputed only venial. But to minister without stole and surplice, authors commonly judge to be mortal from its kind; yet, only the stole having been omitted, it seems to several to be only venial. But to carry the Eucharist to another altar without sacred vestments, they commonly say, does not exceed venial sin."³⁰

Q. 2. Whether Holy Communion can be given WITH BLACK VESTMENTS or in Masses of the dead?

Resp. There was formerly a great controversy concerning this matter; but at present the case is finished; for on June 27, 1868, a general Decree was issued by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, and confirmed by Pius IX on July 23, by which it was declared: "That in Masses of the dead, with black vestments, sacred Communion can be ministered to the faithful, even from preconsecrated particles, by drawing the pyx from the tabernacle. Likewise, Communion can be ministered in black vestments immediately after a Mass of the dead; and, a reasonable cause having been given, immediately also before the same Mass; yet in each case the blessing is to be omitted. But Masses of the dead are altogether to be celebrated in black vestments; so that violet ones cannot be employed, except in the case in which, on November 2, the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist is publicly exposed to the adoration of the faithful for the solemn Prayer of Forty Hours, as was provided in the Decree of this Sacred Congregation on September 16, 1801."³¹

Q. 3. What is to be done if SACRED PARTICLES for the Communion of the people are not found in sufficient number?

Resp. Let the custom be observed of dividing consecrated particles into smaller parts;³² yet not so small that they cannot be given honorably.³³

Q. 4. What is to be done in the case in which a host FALLS?

Resp. "First the place is to be covered, and afterwards washed, as the Rubrics prescribe; yet these do not oblige under grave obligation, and thus ordinarily the washing of a garment or beard can be omitted, to avoid disturbance of the people. But the place where the species of wine fall must always be washed, since they are imbibed, even if there is no need to burn them. If the host falls upon the breasts of a woman, the priest himself must not remove it, but the woman herself should draw it away with the hand and replace it in the ciborium."³⁴ Likewise, if it falls within the cloister of Nuns. But the fingers of the woman should be washed, and the ablution thrown into the sacrarium. If the woman cannot easily take the host there, let her withdraw separately, for example into some chapel, or into the sacristy, etc.³⁵

Q. 5. What is to be done if FRAGMENTS of hosts are found?

Resp. The Rubric of the Missal responds to this question in this manner: "If he notices after the consumption of the Body and Blood, or even after the ablution, that some consecrated relics have been left, let him consume them, whether they are small or large, because they pertain to the same Sacrifice." And this not only immediately after Mass, as is common, but also if the priest is in the sacristy, yet still clothed in the sacred vestments. It was said, still clothed; for if the priest has now taken off the sacred vestments, then the relics either are to be replaced in the tabernacle, if it is present, or are to be reserved for another priest about to celebrate on the same morning; otherwise, they are to be consumed by the same one who celebrated.¹

But if those fragments are relics of another Sacrifice, it is not licit to consume them, unless danger of irreverence is present; because the Rubric permits a priest who is not fasting only to consume relics which pertain to the same Sacrifice, since they complete it.²

Q. 6. What if an entire PARTICLE is found?

Resp. "But if an entire consecrated host has been left, he [the priest] should replace it in the tabernacle with the others; if this cannot be done, he should leave it, decently covered on the altar upon the corporal, for the following priest about to celebrate there, to be consumed together with the other which he is about to consecrate; or if neither of these things can be done, he should preserve it decently in the chalice itself or on the paten, until either it is replaced in the tabernacle, or consumed by another; but if he has no way in which it can be preserved honorably, he himself can consume it."³ Particles found outside the corporal, in doubt whether they are consecrated, are to be consumed after the ablution, and better with the same ablution.⁴

Note. If a layman finds a particle or fragment of a host, let him warn a priest as soon as possible, who will act according to the things said above. But if a priest cannot be had, let the fragment be reverently collected by the layman himself in paper or a clean linen cloth, by means of a small pin, and be placed within a corporal or in a decent vessel, until a priest arrives.⁵

1291. Principles. - I. Besides jurisdiction (cf. n. 1287. IV.), it is required that the Minister be free from every excommunication, interdict, and suspension from Sacred Orders; for otherwise he would sin gravely and contract irregularity.

II. It is required that the Minister be in the state of grace, because the most august and most holy Body of Christ ought not to be handled by impure hands. Hence the priest sins as often as, guilty of mortal sin and not contrite, he distributes Communion, although probably he does not commit as many sins as there are persons communicating in the same distribution of the Eucharist.¹ - Cf. n. 219.

III. It is required that the Minister distribute the Eucharist according to the rite customary in the Church. Hence, generally speaking, the administration of this Sacrament is to be omitted when it cannot be done in the manner prescribed by the Roman Ritual or by the custom of the place.²

1292. Resolves. - 1° The Eucharist is not to be ministered except with decent habit, that is, with stole, surplice, and light.

2° According to the common sentence, he sins gravely who, outside the case of necessity, distributes Communion without any sacred vestment; because this is very indecent and contrary to a grave precept of the Church.³ - If, however, only the stole is omitted, it seems to several and grave Theologians to be only venial, which seems sufficiently probable.⁴

3° It is reputed only venial to minister the Eucharist without light, or without the usual confession premised, the Confiteor, etc.⁵ - Similarly it is held only venial to transfer the Eucharist without sacred vestments from place to place, e.g. from one altar to another. - Reuter,⁶ Mazzotta.

1293. Questions. - Query 1° Can a priest laboring under an infirmity in the thumb and forefinger minister the Eucharist with other fingers?⁷

Resp. It seems one must deny, at least more probably, excluding the case of gravest necessity.⁷ - The reason is because, although the whole hand is consecrated, nevertheless the forefinger and thumb from the rite of the Church are specially destined for exercising this office.

Query 2° What must be done if the Host falls to the ground?

Resp. The place onto which the holy Host fell is immediately to be covered with some clean thing, and afterwards washed. If it falls onto the cloth, or small linen, with which the hands of the communicant are covered, the place is to be marked and afterwards washed in like manner. Thus the Rubric, which nevertheless, according to the common sentence, does not oblige under grave sin; nevertheless it would oblige gravely to wash the place onto which the sacred species of wine had fallen, since this is absorbed; yet there is no need to burn them, i.e. the object onto which they fell.¹

Query 3° What must be done if the Host falls onto the face, beard, or garments of the communicant?

Resp. In the aforesaid cases purification is to be omitted; because it is better to avoid wonder, disturbance, or offense of the people, than to observe the Rubric, which obliges only under light sin.²

Query 4° What must be done if the Host falls into the bosom or within the garments of a woman?

Resp. The woman herself must draw out the Host, and she herself must bring it to her mouth with her own hands. Thus Benedict XIV.³ But the fingers of the woman are to be washed, and the ablution is to be cast into the piscina. If the woman cannot easily draw out the Host there, let her withdraw apart, e.g. into some chapel, or into the sacristy, etc.

1294. Query 5° At what hour can Communion be distributed?

Resp. Regularly it ought to be ministered at the hours at which Mass, whether from custom or from a particular Indult, may be celebrated. But commonly with St. Alphonsus it is taught that it can be ministered at any hour of the day, except nevertheless the extreme part of the day, i.e. toward night. The reason is because there exists no prohibition concerning this matter.⁴ Nor does there stand in the way the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites given in Dec. 1816, permitting the administration of Communion from time to time at which Masses are celebrated in any church on a day of great concourse. For that Decree is not exclusive, since the Sacred Congregation gave the response according to the petition, in which there was question precisely of a day of great concourse for gaining a plenary Indulgence or Jubilee.

It must be added here that, from a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of the year 1641, Communion is not to be given (unless by force of privilege) in the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord, which is celebrated at midnight. At St. Alphonsus,⁵ and at Gardellini n. 1319.

Query 6° At what time and place can Communion not be given?

Resp. to the 1st. In the time of local interdict, and in the time from the reposition of the Most Holy Sacrament on Thursday of the Greater Week until the solemn Mass on Holy Saturday, within which, as today is certain, all the faithful are permitted to receive the Sacred Eucharist.¹

Resp. to the 2nd. Outside Churches or public oratories. But in private ones it can be given by license of the Bishop,² and, among us, wherever Mass is celebrated.

But at the altar on which the Most Holy Sacrament is exposed, it is not to be distributed (S. R. C. 12 Nov. 1831), unless because of the lack of another altar (S. R. C. 26 Sept. 1868).

1295. Query 7° Can Communion be given outside Mass?

Resp. It is to be given, generally speaking, insofar as it can be done, after the Communion of the Priest. Thus from the Roman Ritual. Yet by received usage Communion can easily be given before or after Mass, or even at any other time at which, as was said above (n. 1294. q. 5°), it can be ministered. Indeed, where there is a great influx of communicants, it is expedient to defer Communion until the Sacrifice has been completed, lest those who assist at Mass be detained in Church longer than is fitting and be affected with tedium. - Nay rather, it must be held as certain that, on account of the custom which has prevailed everywhere, and which cannot be abrogated by Pastors, there exists no precept by force of which Communion must be distributed only within Mass. - Thus the Sacred Congregation of Rites.³

Query 8° Can Communion be given with black vestments immediately before or after Masses of the dead?

Resp. 1° After Mass it can be given, if the priest has not yet withdrawn from the altar on which he celebrated; but then he does not give the blessing to those who have communicated. - Thus from the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites confirmed by Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius IX, 23 July 1868.

Resp. 2° According to the same Decree, Communion can also be given before Mass, if a reasonable cause is present, the blessing nevertheless being omitted. But a reasonable cause is never lacking if some then ask Communion. For very often it happens that among those asking some are present who otherwise either would depart without Communion, or, by remaining longer, would necessarily undergo no light inconvenience, whether in domestic matters or in business to be transacted.

Query 9° Can Communion be given with black vestments within a Mass of Requiem?

Resp. Affirmatively, both if Communion is given with only Hosts consecrated in the same Mass, and if it is given from preconsecrated Hosts which are reserved in the tabernacle. Thus the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites cited above.

1296. Query 10° Can Communion be given with violet vestments, even before or after Masses of the dead?

Resp. On this question there could long be controversy, especially on account of a Response which was reported from the Sacred Congregation of Rites in the year 1670. But now there is no doubt, after the aforesaid decree of the Sacred Congregation, by which it is established that in Masses of the dead violet vestments cannot be used unless in some Church, on November 2. The Eucharistic Sacrament is publicly exposed for the solemn Prayer of Forty Hours.

Query 11° How is Communion to be ministered outside Mass?

Resp. 1° If Communion is to be ministered immediately before or after Mass, it must be done as in Mass itself; but the priest, standing at the altar, can say: O sacred banquet, etc. Vers. Bread, etc. (in Paschal time is added: Alleluia); then he says: Lord, hear, etc., The Lord be with you, etc., with the Prayer: O God, who, etc. (in Paschal time: Pour forth upon us, etc.); finally, with his fingers washed and the Sacred Ciborium replaced in the tabernacle, he blesses those who communicated with the formula: The blessing of almighty God, Father, etc. - Roman Ritual and Sacred Congregation of Rites, 24 Sept. 1842.⁶ p. 417.

Resp. 2° If it is distributed at another time, two candles are to be lit according to the Roman Ritual. But if time urges and two candles cannot easily be lit, one will suffice; 2° the priest, with hands washed, vested in surplice and stole of the color suitable to the Office of that day, ministers, as above, and having returned to the altar he proceeds with the remainder as above; finally he gives the blessing with the hand raised, but not with the pyx, except over the sick.

But the versicles Lord, hear, etc., The Lord be with you, etc., with the proper Prayer, according to some, as connected with the antiphon O Sacred, etc., can be omitted; according to others they are of precept, as is the antiphon itself.¹ - But such prayers seem to be said with a voice at least moderately raised, since they must be answered by the minister. (z) p. 417.

1297. Query 12° What must be done if the minister is lacking for the priest: can a man about to communicate, or a woman, supply?

Resp. 1° Certainly any man about to communicate, if he is a man, can serve the priest; or even the priest himself can supply, by saying the Confiteor and answering Amen.

Resp. 2° A woman cannot supply, unless she is a Nun who, according to received custom, answers within the cloister; then the priest himself must by himself perform everything. Nor do you say that in necessity a woman can respond at Mass, provided she stands at a distance; for in Mass the priest alone can answer everything. - Thus commonly, Bouvier,² Gousset.³

Query 13° Can several particles be given to one communicant, or one larger one by cutting it, etc.?

Resp. Negatively. For this was expressly prohibited by a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, approved by Innocent XI on 12 February 1679. The words, as Benedict XIV³ reports, are these: "Bishops, Pastors, or confessors should warn that several forms of the Eucharist, or particles, are to be handed to no one, nor larger ones, but the customary ones."

Query 14° Can particles be broken if they are deficient; and what must be done if there is no tabernacle in which they can be replaced?

Resp. to the 1st. Affirmatively, from the common sentence and general practice, provided there is a just cause, e.g. if Masses or the faithful cannot wait. Indeed, when the question had been proposed to the Sacred Congregation of Rites, "Whether it is safe to follow the Rule of the Parisian Ritual, thus expressed: If, when Communion is to be given, a sufficient number of Hosts has not been found, can some Host be divided into several particles, which are distributed to individuals?" the Sacred Congregation responded: "Let the custom of dividing consecrated ones be observed, if necessity is present." On 16 March 1833, n. 4707. Nevertheless the priest then must divide Hosts only into two or at most three parts, because otherwise Communion could scarcely be given with due reverence. - Lacroix.¹ Cf. what was said n. 1282. 5°.

Resp. to the 2nd. They are to be consumed by the celebrant before the ablutions, if this can easily be done. Otherwise they would have to be carried to the nearest tabernacle with the customary rite; and it must not be done that several Hosts be ministered to the faithful.

Query 15° For communicating the faithful, when smaller Hosts are lacking, can the priest detach a part of the larger one to be consumed by himself?

Resp. 1° Affirmatively in the case of carrying Viaticum to one dying, by reason of urgent necessity. - Thus all. - 2° Affirmatively also if one or another of the faithful were about to communicate, who otherwise would have to wait for Communion not without inconvenience.² Cf. what was said n. 1282. 5°.

I say. Any Pastor, or priest having care of souls, is held by justice to administer the Eucharist to his subjects not only at Easter and in death, but also as often as they reasonably ask, with the cause of a legitimate impediment, however, excluded. But other priests are held only in a case of necessity or of death, and when the Pastor is lacking. The reason of the first is that it belongs to the Pastor by quasi-contract to provide not only that the faithful fulfill the precepts, but also that they not lack the supports which greatly benefit spiritual progress. But the reason of the second is that other priests are held only from charity. - Cf. St. Alphonsus, Hom. Ap., n. 8.¹

¹ Cf. Addenda, p. 1088, n. 10.

You Will Resolve. 1st. The Pastor sins as often as he denies administering the Eucharist, whether by himself or through another, to those reasonably asking for it; but the sin does not exceed venial if this is done rarely and there is not grave scandal or grave sorrow of the one asking. The reason is that then neither grave injury nor grave damage is inflicted, and if damage is present, it can easily be repaired.

2nd. A Pastor is not held to administer the Eucharist to the dying with danger to his life, for example, in time of plague, because it is not an absolutely necessary sacrament. A fortiori other priests not having care of souls are not held to this. - Cf. St. Alphonsus, n. 233.