From a reader:
Today I was at daily mass at a local parish. At communion, a lady came forward with a napkin and held it out to the priest who was distributing communion. He proceeded to place three or four (consecrated!) hosts on the napkin, and the lady put the napkin containing the hosts in her pocket. She went back to her seat to do who knows what with the hosts.
That is pretty bad.
The document Redemptionis Sacramentum speaks about sacred vessels.
117. Sacred vessels for containing the Body and Blood of the Lord must be made in strict conformity with the norms of tradition and of the liturgical books. The Bishops’ Conferences have the faculty to decide whether it is appropriate, once their decisions have been given the recognitio by the Apostolic See, for sacred vessels to be made of other solid materials as well. It is strictly required, however, that such materials be truly noble in the common estimation within a given region, so that honour will be given to the Lord by their use, and all risk of diminishing the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species in the eyes of the faithful will be avoided. Reprobated, [!] therefore, is any practice of using for the celebration of Mass common vessels, or others lacking in quality, or devoid of all artistic merit or which are mere containers, as also other vessels made from glass, earthenware, clay, or other materials that break easily. This norm is to be applied even as regards metals and other materials that easily rust or deteriorate.
A napkin is not going to crack or rust. But particles will adhere to the fibers. Furthermore, a Host is too easily broken or crushed that way.
This is entirely unacceptable.
Alert the pastor of the parish about what you saw. If that was the pastor of the parish, then alert the local bishop about what you saw. If the practice persists, send copies of your correspondence to the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome.
Since we are not in a Soviet Gulag or one of Pres. Obama’s future Reeducation Camps, we don’t yet need to smuggle Communion from the incarcerated priests around to fellow “patients”.
