Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Catholic Living in the Modern World => Topic started by: HeidtXtreme on April 23, 2025, 11:43:36 PM
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The question is as above: can Catholics chew the Eucharist when receiving Our Lord? I’ve been wondering about it lately and have seen several things against it, but from what I could find it’s never really been discussed on Cathinfo.
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The question is as above: can Catholics chew the Eucharist when receiving Our Lord? I’ve been wondering about it lately and have seen several things against it, but from what I could find it’s never really been discussed on Cathinfo.
Accípite, et manducáte ex hoc omnes.
Literal Translation: Take of this all you and chew [in the manner of an animal].
In past times, the custom arose in many places for the laity not to chew the Eucharist in order to avoid any potential profanation. One merely would have the host dissolve on the tongue and then swallow. This was possible since hosts were very thin. With the more recent change in style for altar breads, making the hosts thicker, one must chew the host in order to swallow it.
Yes, it is permissible to chew the Eucharist.
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Accípite, et manducáte ex hoc omnes.
Literal Translation: Take of this all you and chew [in the manner of an animal].
In past times, the custom arose in many places for the laity not to chew the Eucharist in order to avoid any potential profanation. One merely would have the host dissolve on the tongue and then swallow. This was possible since hosts were very thin. With the more recent change in style for altar breads, making the hosts thicker, one must chew the host in order to swallow it.
Yes, it is permissible to chew the Eucharist.
This is a key part of the apologetic against Prots and other who claim that Our Lord's Flesh is to be consumed only symbolically ... since that word would not have been used for symbolic consumption.
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The question is as above: can Catholics chew the Eucharist when receiving Our Lord? I’ve been wondering about it lately and have seen several things against it, but from what I could find it’s never really been discussed on Cathinfo.
I'm not going to say others shouldn't do it, but I don't, myself, I let It soften a bit on my tongue, then press It against the roof of my mouth and swallow It. I have issues with dry mouth and find it difficult to swallow the Host whole.
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I was taught as a little girl to never masticate the Holy Host- and I never did.
I guess for a child it would seem you are doing more violence to Jesus by "chewing" and it was more respectful to (and supported the belief of) His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament to not treat Him like a piece of (common) food.
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Because of a physical condition I have I must chew or I would choke.
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It is a requirement to actually eat the Holy Eucharist in order to validly receive the Sacrament. There is nothing wrong with reverently chewing the Host.
In fact, if one were to let the Host to dissolve completely before swallowing, some moral theologians say that the Sacrament is not received.
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The explanation about et manducáte was very interesting. I received my First Holy Communion in May of 1959. During our preparation by the women religious of our parochial school we were taught to swallow the host intact, though one may let it soften, but not to chew, and avoid having it get stuck on the roof of the mouth. We would practice first with a piece of saltine cracker, then with unconsecrated hosts. My personal concern about myself chewing would be having particles of the Sacred Host getting stuck between my teeth (if I anticipate eating out, I dare not leave home without dental floss). One time I attended a Divine Liturgy at a Russian Byzantine Catholic Church (not Ruthenian). Those that received Holy Communion would afterwards go to a side table and consume a small "shot glass" of unconcentrated wine. I was told that this was a Russian custom. It may be a part of other cultural traditions but was told that one of the purposes was to "rinse the mouth" (for lack of a better expression) of the Blessed Sacrament so that it was fully consumed.
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So it is my understanding from the responses that both chewing and letting the Eucharist soften before swallowing is allowed?
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I was taught as a little girl to never masticate the Holy Host- and I never did.
I guess for a child it would seem you are doing more violence to Jesus by "chewing" and it was more respectful to (and supported the belief of) His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament to not treat Him like a piece of (common) food.
Exactly! When I was a child the Host was pure white, paper thin and started to melt the moment it hit your tongue.
Today, the Host is off white/beige, thick and much harder, and takes forever to get it to melt.
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It is a requirement to actually eat the Holy Eucharist in order to validly receive the Sacrament. There is nothing wrong with reverently chewing the Host.
In fact, if one were to let the Host to dissolve completely before swallowing, some moral theologians say that the Sacrament is not received.
For that reason, I am careful not to let the Host dissolve any more than cannot be avoided.
If possible, I try to wait about 15 minutes before consuming any water.
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The explanation about et manducáte was very interesting. I received my First Holy Communion in May of 1959. During our preparation by the women religious of our parochial school we were taught to swallow the host intact, though one may let it soften, but not to chew, and avoid having it get stuck on the roof of the mouth. We would practice first with a piece of saltine cracker, then with unconsecrated hosts. My personal concern about myself chewing would be having particles of the Sacred Host getting stuck between my teeth (if I anticipate eating out, I dare not leave home without dental floss). One time I attended a Divine Liturgy at a Russian Byzantine Catholic Church (not Ruthenian). Those that received Holy Communion would afterwards go to a side table and consume a small "shot glass" of unconcentrated wine. I was told that this was a Russian custom. It may be a part of other cultural traditions but was told that one of the purposes was to "rinse the mouth" (for lack of a better expression) of the Blessed Sacrament so that it was fully consumed.
I assisted at a Ukrainian (Eastern Rite) Divine Liturgy recently, and their Eucharistic bread (prosphora) was very solid. However, it was somewhat softened from being commingled with the Precious Blood, as is the Eastern practice, and I was able to swallow It almost entirely whole. I have found the Eastern Rite Eucharist on other occasions to be kind of crumbly, not unlike a small cube of cornbread. This one was different.
When I was preparing my son for his First Holy Communion several years ago, we "practiced" with plain white bread that I pressed into a thin sheet and then cut out "hosts" using a small medicine bottle. It wasn't exactly the same as a Eucharistic host but it was the closest thing.
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In fact, if one were to let the Host to dissolve completely before swallowing, some moral theologians say that the Sacrament is not received.
Yeah, and I would agree ... except that the Blessed Sacrament would have to be COMPLETELY dissolved, to the point that you wouldn't be able to see any of it left ... and it would likely have to stay in your mouth a very long time for that to happen.
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I doubt there would be much risk of missing out on the sacrament, but I do wonder sometimes how long He is actually present for if water or saliva are enough to sufficiently change the accidents. When does His presence cease? [now talking about bread] Is wet bread still bread? How much does bread truly dissolve? If it doesn't ever dissolve in water, but remains soggy, I would be inclined to call it soggy bread. If wet/soggy bread is sufficient corruption of bread to no longer call it bread, then there is a concern there, and it would seem more prudent to receive the Precious Blood, or perhaps more fittingly both combined as the Easterns do.
This from a 1910 edition of Catholic Belief and Practice. I only remembered the part about avoiding teeth.
(https://i.imgur.com/pxavjam.png)
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You don’t have to let it dissolve completely- just soften a bit and then swallow. It’s very doable for me . Sometimes it sticks to your palette but it eventually gets unstuck .
Never has been a problem .
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From "Catholic Practice at Church and at Home" 1899 Page 73
"Do not chew the Sacred Host like common food."
After receiving, we are quite conscious of the Sacred Host to show It reverence, but as we've been chewing food for many years there may be the tendency after a while to unconsciously be less reverent.
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I would like to add that, without any chewing, trying to directly swallow the Eucharist causes much of it to get stuck to the top of my mouth (my palate) from which it most be (gracelessly) removed by my tongue (or another implement) scraping it off.
Some of you may imagine that a failure to consume the Blessed Sacrament without any special motion is a sure sign of disbelief, but on the contrary I think many of us want to participate but are prevent by timezones and other factors from doing so.
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From "Catholic Practice at Church and at Home" 1899 Page 73
"Do not chew the Sacred Host like common food."
After receiving, we are quite conscious of the Sacred Host to show It reverence, but as we've been chewing food for many years there may be the tendency after a while to unconsciously be less reverent.
Referring to the Blessed Sacrament as "It" rather than "Him"!
Can you be any more irreverent?
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Referring to the Blessed Sacrament as "It" rather than "Him"!
Can you be any more irreverent?
Words spoken by Jesus to St Margaret Mary Alacoque :
” Behold this Heart , that has loved men so much , that IT has spared nothing , even to exhausting and consuming ITSELF to testify to them IT’s love”
( All the “It’s” are capitalized)
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You don’t have to let it dissolve completely- just soften a bit and then swallow. It’s very doable for me . Sometimes it sticks to your palette but it eventually gets unstuck .
Never has been a problem .
That is precisely what I do.
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Words spoken by Jesus to St Margaret Mary Alacoque :
” Behold this Heart , that has loved men so much , that IT has spared nothing , even to exhausting and consuming ITSELF to testify to them IT’s love”
( All the “It’s” are capitalized)
Do not quote private revelation to me ever as agrumentative evidence unless the revelation itself is the topic of discussion.
Appeals to private revelation are weak and dubious.
And you clearly failed to see that I was being sarcastic in my statement about "It" vs. "Him" because a claim had been made that elevated personal piety and opinion to the level of some universal disciplinary law.
:facepalm:
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Do not quote private revelation to me ever as agrumentative evidence unless the revelation itself is the topic of discussion.
Appeals to private revelation are weak and dubious.
And you clearly failed to see that I was being sarcastic in my statement about "It" vs. "Him" because a claim had been made that elevated personal piety and opinion to the level of some universal disciplinary law.
:facepalm:
Some private revelations are a bit weightier than others , but sorry if you find my appeal to the language of Sacred Heart potentially dubious. Not my intent.
I was just trying to compare the use of the term "it" as appropriate subject terminology for an entity or persons.
Hard to see your sarcastic humor through all of the intense anger.
Next time I will look more intently.
Again- apologies.
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Hard to see your sarcastic humor through all of the intense anger.
John 13:34-35
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John 13:34-35
And also with you
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It is a requirement to actually eat the Holy Eucharist in order to validly receive the Sacrament. There is nothing wrong with reverently chewing the Host.
In fact, if one were to let the Host to dissolve completely before swallowing, some moral theologians say that the Sacrament is not received.
This.
Please, people, don't go down that road of VAINLY ATTEMPTING to put yourself in Our Lord's shoes and wonder "what would you have people do, if you were being received in Holy Communion?"
IT IS TOO INCOMPREHENSIBLE. God is too far above us on this one.
Just stand in awe of this Most Blessed Sacrament that man would have NEVER dared ask for -- it had to be the idea of Jesus Himself, born from His great love for us.
There are many things about God which we cannot understand, especially in this life!
Anything touching on "God's perspective during Holy Communion" certainly has to be one of them!