What to do if the Host disappears?

Yesterday I was in conversation with friends about De defectibus. There is a section in the front of the older versions of the Missale Romanum indicating which defects might make Mass invalid or illicit and/or how to correct them, etc.

In one place, the priest is instructed about what to do if, by some rare circumstance, he might lose the Host after consecration but before he has the chance to consume it properly.

Remember: For there to be the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the priest must consume both the Host and the Precious Blood.

In the 1962 Missale Romanum we see (and thanks to my interlocutor for sending me snaps from the Missale):

15_10_06_De_defectibus_03

 

What do we see here?

The priest is told what to do if the Host gets away from him either because wind blows it away (it happens), or it is snatched by some critter (it happens) and he can’t get it back.

That is in the 1962 version.

But what about earlier versions, such as pre-1955?

15_10_06_De_defectibus_02

 

This version talks about if they Host disappears for any reason, such as wind or critter, or… if by a miracle!

Say, for example, the Host simply vanishes.  What to do?  What if it were to suddenly ascend into the air an hover where the priest couldn’t reach it?  What it it were to miraculously float across the church or chapel and present itself as Communion to some saintly person?

What’s a priest to do?

Well, Fathers.  If that happens while you are saying Mass, you are to consecrate another Holy beginning from the Qui pridie.  Simple.

Also, this underscores the importance of the integrity of that whole “unit” of texts and gestures leading up to the words of consecration.

 

 

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