The Carelessness Of The Church

[Goetian]

Good old medieval witches could never have dreamed of a situation like that of the modern USA. Sacrilege is easier than it has ever been before.

This is going to shock and offend a lot of you, but you need to know the truth if you want to do anything about it. I used to steal hosts for blasphemous purposes. Not only that, but I taught aspiring Satanists, bitter anti-Catholics and a surprising number of bored and curious atheists how to do the same, and instructed them on the various methods of host procurement. I can say that the following methods work for the vast majority of American churches, which is utterly appalling considering how easily they could be prevented.

You good Catholics have Vatican II and relaxed attitudes towards the laity to thank for almost all the desecrations that go on today.

With the introduction of communion in the hand, hosts could be pocketed easily for the first time. It doesn't require a great deal of skill to go through the line, pretend to recieve the host, and palm it. Due to its ease, this is certainly the most common and practical way to obtain a host. Yet before Vatican II, it would have been impossible: reception was only on the tongue, and special care was taken to ensure that the host touched nothing but what was consecrated. Where is that reverence now? Did reformers not consider that the old ways may have served a purpose beyond the aesthetic and actually protected the Lord from desecration?

But perhaps one lacks the courage to palm the host and risk being caught. No matter, since thanks to bad Catholics who leave Mass early, it is possible to place the host on the tongue and walk directly from the communion line to the parking lot. That is not nearly enough time for it to be very damaged by saliva, and so I always recommended this method to the timid, for it poses no chance of discovery. This is by far the best (and safest) method for obtaining hosts for personal use. If only priests were stricter and condemned such Judas-like behavior in their homilies, the timid would be discouraged and a great deal of sacrilege prevented.

The simplest way of obtaining a host is also the most bold: take it from the Tabernacle. The key is always in the sacristy after Mass, and no matter if there are people -- take it in plain sight and act like you've done nothing out of the ordinary. Approach the Tabernacle (again, no matter if there are people), and you have access to all the hosts you like. This may shock some of you. How could a method so bold possibly work? I'll tell you: legions of Eucharistic ministers. There are so many of them in most parishes that, if you steal the Tabernacle key in plain sight, people will assume you are a Eucharistic minister! This is clearly ridiculous. Eucharistic ministers should be kept to a very few, well-known faces (if they're even judged necessary!)

The underlying thread here is, of course, an astounding lack of reverence for the Eucharist.

When I read about the pre-Vatican II norms for dealing with a dropped host, I am floored by the due reverence you show your God. Compare then to now, and it becomes obvious why so many modern Catholics do not even believe in the real presence: it does not appear as such! The words of consecration may not have changed, but the outward show is reduced to a mere level above the reverence Protestants show for their symbolic meal. People are allowed to walk out of the single most important event in a Catholic's life, showing intense disrespect for the Lord, without hearing a word spoken against their behaviour.

But the most appalling practice in modern churches, to me, is the hordes of Eucharistic ministers. The problem stems from the all-too-common error that, as a layperson, unless you're performing some kind of active duty in your parish, you're dead weight. And who doesn't want to be authorized to distribute Jesus? These people would do well to learn that every single member of the Body of Christ is called to a be a priest, prophet, and king. When the Eucharistic ministers are numerous enough that anyone can walk in and impersonate one to the point of stealing hosts, something is terribly, terribly wrong. It demeans the position as well: a Eucharistic minister should be a respected, revered, and highly reserved position -- when it is necessary.

Now, some of you may ask -- why should the Church bother guarding the Eucharist at all? After all, those who would do it harm are hurting only themselves, and the Church cannot be expected to become defensive and change its ways to protect against sacrilege. That is a concession. This would be a valid point, if protecting the Eucharist meant hirings guards, locking Church doors, or instituting massive liturgical reforms. Yet every safeguard I have mentioned was [i]already in place[/i] fifty years ago! They have been removed [i]since[/i] then, and Christ Himself has been paying for that mistake. The only thing truly necessary to protect against sacrilege is a proper reverence for the Eucharist.

I do not say this out of some twisted, schismatic desire. I do not say this to look "traditional" and righteous in the face of a perfectly valid ecumenical council. I am outside the Church, and so it is of no concern to me whether or not guitars are a suitable instrument for sacred music or why the feast of St. So-and-So got bumped to the following Sunday. I'm not a part of these internal squabbles. I am saying this out of concern for the person of Jesus Christ, based on personal experience with the means by which sacrilege is accomplished.

Abolish, or at least limit, communion in the hand. Cultivate respect for the Mass amongst parishioners. Restore the title of Eucharistic minister to something reserved and respected. Return things to the way they were not so long ago, and sacrilege will almost disappear.

Christ will thank you for it.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

May [url="http://www.catholic-forum.com/SAINTS/saintb91.htm"]Blessed Bartholomew Longo[/url] pray for you.

[goldenchild17]

Very good post. Definitely something people should think about.

[beatty07]

That's quite a post.

I'll be a priest after May, and I had planned on being more careful to make sure the Eucharist was being consumed, not palmed... but if someone wants to walk out with it in his mouth - egad. How do you protect against that?

We Catholics get a lot of stupid criticism from outside - all the more reason to be grateful for legitimate criticism like yours. Thanks.

[cathoholic_anonymous]

Goetian, do you believe in the Real Presence? Just curious.

Our chaplaincy does have some measures in place to protect the host. We have to have Eucharistic ministers as now there is only one priest and it would take ages for him to dispense the hosts to the entire congregation on a Sunday morning. (Thank God for so many enthusiastic young Catholics in Cambridge. ) But two of the ministers are habit-wearing religious sisters (easy enough to recognise) and the others are student volunteers who are formally commissioned in front of the congregation during termtime, so nobody could get away with removing the hosts from the chapel. There is also a lock on the chapel door, and you have to know a code to get in and so reach the Tabernacle. As Mass is held in the hall next door, the chapel being too small, no stranger would be able to get to the Blessed Sacrament. The Tabernacle key is always well-looked after by Sister Pauline, one of the nuns.

Beatty, you could make it clear in your first homily that you disapprove of people leaving straight after Communion and talk about the reverence that Jesus deserves. Station a parishioner by the door to prove your point. It would make people think twice about going early...

I've often worried about people palming the hosts, though. I recently read an article about a Muslim man in Indonesia who stole the host to try and 'prove' to his Catholic girlfriend that it wasn't Jesus. He cut it...and it bled. He converted to Catholicism.

[Goetian]

[quote name='beatty07' post='1113580' date='Nov 7 2006, 10:09 AM']
I'll be a priest after May, and I had planned on being more careful to make sure the Eucharist was being consumed, not palmed... but if someone wants to walk out with it in his mouth - egad. How do you protect against that?
[/quote]

And for the love of God -- literally -- keep the Eucharistic ministers to one or two. My favorite method, personally, was impersonating a Eucharistic minister. It's riskier, so it gives you a bit of a rush; you don't have to sit through the Mass like with the other two methods; you get to violate the sacred space of the sanctuary and Tabernacle; and most importantly you can grab multiple hosts. So I can tell you it really does work, despite how unbelievable it may sound.

To protect against people walking out with it in their mouths, just crack down on leaving Mass after communion. I know of parishes that have stopped it entirely, though I'm not sure on the specifics of how they accomplished that. I do know, however, that I instructed a friend on how to steal hosts, and she insisted on using this method because she was nervous. When she got to Mass, however, to her surprise NO ONE left early! Not a soul. This was the only church within an hour's drive, so she is unable to desecrate any hosts, simply because that church does not condone leaving early.

[quote]Goetian, do you believe in the Real Presence? Just curious.[/quote]

I most certainly do. There would be no point in going through all this trouble for a mere symbol.

That's why I've never experienced any Eucharistic miracles. I knew EXACTLY what I was doing.

Edited November 7, 2006 by Goetian

[Thy Geekdom Come]

This thread is closed.