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Purchasing And Eating Unconsecrated Altar Bread


Resurrexi

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Is it sinful to purchase and eat unconsecrated altar bread (I think it would be incorrect to refer to it as a host since it will never been consecrated)? I know that the Eastern Rites do this after their Divine Liturgies, but is it sinful for a Latin Rite Catholic to buy altar bread and eat it becuase they like the taste?

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No. There is nothing in Canon Law or Ecclessial Law as far as I know that would prohibit this.

If you pretended to be a priest and pretended to say a mass with the bread, that would be evil. But it would not be evil to have the bread.

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theodoric.nowak

[quote name='Theoketos' post='1168739' date='Jan 18 2007, 12:10 AM']
If you pretended to be a priest and pretended to say a mass with the bread, that would be evil. But it would not be evil to have the bread.
[/quote]

Many Pols celebrate Christmas Eve by sharing blessed, but unconsecrated, wafers (though it may be in sheet form, too - it's called 'oplatek') The nuns at the convent near the monestary which I frequent also generate part of their revenue by selling leftover pieces of wafer. It's not sinful...

As for pretending to say Mass being evil? I've heard of quite a few children that will be given unconsecrated wafers by priests and will "play Mass" with their siblings... I'm not so sure if this is sinful - all of the children that I met that did this were inspiringly faithful. If there is no ill intention, it would seem to be a good way to foster vocations...

I VAGULY recall someone telling me that it is sinful to repeat the words of consecration in a manner similar to that of a priest, but I have never seen anything that evidences this - I stand to be informed!

Peace and happy eating!

[quote name='Theoketos' post='1168739' date='Jan 18 2007, 12:10 AM']
If you pretended to be a priest and pretended to say a mass with the bread, that would be evil. But it would not be evil to have the bread.
[/quote]

Many Pols celebrate Christmas Eve by sharing blessed, but unconsecrated, wafers (though it may be in sheet form, too - it's called 'oplatek') The nuns at the convent near the monestary which I frequent also generate part of their revenue by selling leftover pieces of wafer. It's not sinful...

As for pretending to say Mass being evil? I've heard of quite a few children that will be given unconsecrated wafers by priests and will "play Mass" with their siblings... I'm not so sure if this is sinful - all of the children that I met that did this were inspiringly faithful. If there is no ill intention, it would seem to be a good way to foster vocations...

I VAGULY recall someone telling me that it is sinful to repeat the words of consecration in a manner similar to that of a priest, but I have never seen anything that evidences this - I stand to be informed!

Peace and happy eating!

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Whenever I go to a grocery store in Quebec I'm tempted to buy some.

It's hilarious... a bag of white wafers with holes punched out of them.

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[quote name='Laborare' post='1168749' date='Jan 18 2007, 05:28 AM']
Many Pols celebrate Christmas Eve by sharing blessed, but unconsecrated, wafers (though it may be in sheet form, too - it's called 'oplatek')
[/quote]

This is popular in Italy on multiple occasions as well, although I don't know if it's a recently invented custom or really old. The first time I saw it I was not happy, because it reminded me very much of protestant communion services. However, there may be more to the story than I'm aware of.

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Thy Geekdom Come

In general, I think it could be considered disrespectful, since it's using something as profane that is meant to be set aside for sacred purposes. However, in the cases pointed out above, it seems some unconsecrated hosts are specifically set aside for other purposes and customs, which I think is different than walking into the sacristy, reaching into the container, and just eating them.

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Birgitta Noel

[quote name='morostheos' post='1169182' date='Jan 18 2007, 02:53 PM']
This is popular in Italy on multiple occasions as well, although I don't know if it's a recently invented custom or really old. The first time I saw it I was not happy, because it reminded me very much of protestant communion services. However, there may be more to the story than I'm aware of.
[/quote]

It's a centuries old Polish tradition, check it: [url="http://www.polishnews.com/fulltext/christmas/oplatek.shtml"]http://www.polishnews.com/fulltext/christmas/oplatek.shtml[/url] ^_^

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Proud2BCatholic139

Well, no, because it is not blessed and also I had to do it by practicing to be a EM for lifeline Mass.

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VeniteAdoremus

[quote name='Laborare' post='1168749' date='Jan 18 2007, 05:28 AM']

As for pretending to say Mass being evil? I've heard of quite a few children that will be given unconsecrated wafers by priests and will "play Mass" with their siblings... I'm not so sure if this is sinful - all of the children that I met that did this were inspiringly faithful. If there is no ill intention, it would seem to be a good way to foster vocations...

I VAGULY recall someone telling me that it is sinful to repeat the words of consecration in a manner similar to that of a priest, but I have never seen anything that evidences this - I stand to be informed!

[/quote]

It's not inherently evil. Making others believe that it is a true Mass is, however. And no-one will think that when it's young children "playing Mass" (I know a priest who has a tiny "altar" made for this purpose in his collection, including child-sized albs and whatnot... I think it's very cute :) .)

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[quote name='God Conquers' post='1168770' date='Jan 17 2007, 11:53 PM']
Whenever I go to a grocery store in Quebec I'm tempted to buy some.

It's hilarious... a bag of white wafers with holes punched out of them.
[/quote]

Yeah, [i]Host Pieces[/i]. I remember reading a newspaper article about that, from Montreal. In the story one elderly woman was quoted as saying, with nostalgia, "I enjoy them. It reminds me of the Mass."

Full of nostalgia for their former faith, those old Quebecors, yet so unwilling to actually re-connect with it.

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VeniteAdoremus

I don't believe my dad eats the stale ones... but he does use the plastic lidded tubes that the Altar hosts are shipped in for all kinds of stuff, like storing pens :) It looks quite funny, a bunch of pens sticking out of a tube with a big sticker saying "Altar Bread".

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When I was a sacristan I always consumed the broken/deformed/stale altar breads instead of throwing them away, so that no one would worry that there were consecrated Hosts in the garbage if they found them ;)

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