When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. (And) Jesus said to her, Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servers, Do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, Fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter. So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now. Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. -The 2nd Luminous Mystery

Shaking the Corporal into the Sacrarium


Question from JF on 10/6/2007:

Dear Fr. Gantley, I am a sacristan at my Church. We have been directed to shake the Corporal into the sacrarium. I told the head sacristan that we should not do that. She said that the pastor wanted us to do it. I told her I would not. Last Sunday, one of the sacristans told me to shake the Corporal into the sink again, and I told her we could not do that. The pastor came into the sacristy at that time, and I told her that he could shake the Corporal, but I would not. He shouted that the sacrarium was given to us by, "Holy Mother Church" for this specific purpose. The other sacristan shook the corporal into the sink. Later, my daughter told me that there were pieces of the Host in the sink. They weren't large pieces, just fragments, but clearly visible and identifiable as pieces of the Host. I covered them with water until I finished cleaning the chalices and ciboria, then I poured all the water that I used to clean the vessals into the sacrarium. The pieces of the Host went down the drain. However, there were still pieces of a Host dried onto the sink - from another Mass I guess. Paragraph 107 of Redemptionis Sacramentum strictly forbids discarding the Sacred Species into the sacrarium. What should I do? Our pastor is not very approachable. Please help in any way you can. Thank you very much.

Faithfully in Christ, JF

Answer by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on 10/7/2007:

I would suggest looking at the corporal to see if there are any identifiable pieces. If so, consume them. Then it would be Ok to shake the corporal into the sacrarium as directed along with lots of running water.

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