From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
What should one do if the chalice containing the precious blood is dropped as it is passed to the communicant.
I hope that this is theoretical, only. As a seminarian I once saw this happen and people just blithely tramped around through the Precious Blood, though there were several priests present. It was winter, so there was soon a horrible mix of mud and footprints everywhere…. BRRRRR!
This can be complicated by the scourge of carpeting in churches.
The first thing to do is stop everything. Have the servers, or someone, go to the sacristy to fetch purificators and a bowl, which can then be used carefully both to mark the area where the Precious Blood spilled and also to start soaking up what can be soaked up. Use lots of purificators if necessary. Father (or deacons or real acolytes) ideally does this himself.
Stopping everything for the clean up could be a teaching moment for the entire congregation. Perhaps a super brief fervorino about adoring the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament so profaned.
A next step would be to begin cleansing the area by using water. Cleanse and soak up. Repeat.
Thereafter, the priest should thoroughly rinse all the purificators in water and the rinsing water should all go down either the sacrarium or be poured on the ground. The purificators can then be laundered as usual or, if they are shot because of the process, burned.
REMINDER: The Precious Blood Itself may not be poured into the sacrarium. That could incur an excommunication. Make sure that plenty of water is used so that the Precious Blood be so diluted that the substance is broken.
Finally, in that place, Communion also with the Precious Blood should be ended. Period.
The fact of the spilling of the Precious Blood demonstrates that there is danger of profanation of the Eucharist in that place.
The CDW’s 2004 instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum states – and this may not be ignored:
[101.] In order for Holy Communion under both kinds to be administered to the lay members of Christ’s faithful, due consideration should be given to the circumstances, as judged first of all by the diocesan Bishop. It is to be completely excluded where even a small danger exists of the sacred species being profaned. …
Finally, the training of the people who help with Communion must be accessed.
It is nearly impossible to imagine that a person would do this on purpose. However, it could happen from carelessness because of lack of good training or good formation on precisely what … who… is being handled and why.
I would avoid jumping all over the person who did the spilling, for that certainly was a mistake. That person would probably be truly mortified, so go easily.
And, apart from the training of the “ministers”, there is the problem of the care that the communicants themselves may or may not show. Watching people receive Communion of the Host directly in the hand hasn’t filled me with great confidence that vast numbers of our faithful have truly absorbed the importance of the moment. To permit that such carelessness be unleashed upon a vessel of the Precious Blood is … a harrowing thought.
There are a few occasions wherein it may be appropriate to have Communion under both kinds (e.g., a newly wedded couple during their nuptial Mass, 1st Communion, solemn religious profession). In those situations the greatest care must be taken. However, it seems to me that, since we are strong – or ought to be – in our Catholic Faith and understanding that both the Body and Blood of the Lord are truly present in the individual Host, Communion under both kinds is not a prudent practice on anything like the scale of a congregation.
