[Frdsdx26]

Holy Communion dripped on my daughters dress while she was receiving. Does the dress need to be burned? Do I wash it and dispose of the water in the garden?

Also, what do I do if she spits/throws up soon after receiving Holy Communion?

Also, how long after Receiving can we give her a pacifier?

Thanks,

[Sarah Armstrong]

Holy Communion dripped on my daughters dress while she was receiving. Does the dress need to be burned? Do I wash it and dispose of the water in the garden?

Also, what do I do if she spits/throws up soon after receiving Holy Communion?

Also, how long after Receiving can we give her a pacifier?

Thanks,

You should give the dress to your priest and have it burned.

Talk to your priest about the spitting up and about the pacifier.

[seatlyled]

Is the wine from the Common Cup (in the Wedding Ceremony) the same??? Because I have not been really on earth , I just remembered that the wine from the Common Cup was spilled during our ceremony. I know that Holy Communion is incomparable, however is the wine blessed for the wedding ceremony? And is there any thing special we should have done while cleaning the wine that fell on us from the Common Cup? Although we had surrendered all control and were in the mercy of God and others ... because as all know one hand is holding each other's during the ceremony and one hand was holding the candle... my mother in law, thank God, -cleaned my chest and my husband's neck- with a tissue which I have no idea where it ended up.

P.S You would not believe it but not even a microscopic drop stained our outer white clothes (my gown and my husband's shirt). Thank God because we would be stained the entire day and in the pictures forever! Although I was too much in the seventh heaven to be concerned that day!

[kylsq0Ln]

Nina asked:

Is the wine from the Common Cup (in the Wedding Ceremony) the same??? No the wine in the common cup is blessed but not consecrated as the Blood of Christ.


Therefore if the wine spills it would need to be cleaned up from whatever it spilled onto in an appropriate way. eg the cloth used to wipe it up burned in an appropriate way afterwards; or the stained spot washed clean and the water from this poured onto some area that people do not walk on. This is what we do with our post-Baptismal water: pour it into an area in front of our church that is like a flower garden that no one ever walks on.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Gooracouppy]

Nina asked:



No the wine in the common cup is blessed but not consecrated as the Blood of Christ.


Therefore if the wine spills it would need to be cleaned up from whatever it spilled onto in an appropriate way. eg the cloth used to wipe it up burned in an appropriate way afterwards; or the stained spot washed clean and the water from this poured onto some area that people do not walk on. This is what we do with our post-Baptismal water: pour it into an area in front of our church that is like a flower garden that no one ever walks on.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

Now it is too late... and I did not know this... and my mother in law is not Orthodox so she did not know it either and I do not know what happened to the paper tissue she used to clean our skin.

Is it a sin? Should I confess this? Or is there anything to undo it?

[MontyP@thon]

Is it a sin? Should I confess this? Or is there anything to undo it?

I think that it is not a "sin" in and of itself, however, it might be profitable for you to confess inattention and carelessness in relation to blessed items. Inattention to spiritual things is a very pervasive condition which affects all of us in many aspects of our lives and this is just one of those things. In time, with some effort, you will be able to develop and encourage a greater attentiveness. In the meantime, whenever it comes to your attention, confess this sin, whether it is inattentiveness in prayer, in the services, with holy things, or just a lapse in the awareness of God's continual presence wth us.

Fr David Moser

[mbaueee]

I read an account somewhere, i think "Mountain of Silence" where a visitor to the Holy Mountain causes a spill of the Holy Gifts. It splattered on his shirt, one shoe and the floor. The monks grabbed him and held him still. One monk scoured the floor for any particle of anything that might be the Eucharist and ate it...any particle of dirt or debris in that area as well. They took his shirt and shoe and then spread alcohol over the spill spot on the stone floor and set it afire.

In another incident I heard about a child spit some out onto a carpeted floor. A monk standing nearby fell to his knees and sucked as much as he could out of the carpet. The place where it fell was then cut out and burned.

[Natashasuw]

...The place where it fell was then cut out and burned.

It is the custom in many churches (including mine) to have a small rug that is brought out at the time of the distribution of the Gifts to the people. It is put just in front of the priest and so when people come to receive, they stand on the rug and if, God forbid, there is any accident or spill, it falls on the rug which then can be taken out separately and dealt with appropriately without burning the floor or cutting the carpet.

Fr David Moser

[anaisdannyxys]

Thank you dear Father Raphael and Father David.

Your posts helped me so much. And I will confess this carelessness and other inattentiveness I have. I never thought about confessing not being attentive.

Thank you again and your blessings!

[cabonuserollyo]

This thread makes me wonder about the napkin that we wipe our lips on after receiving Holy Communion. It almost always ends up with stains after Liturgy. Surely it needs to be washed and not burned? But should I have poured the water in a special place after taking it home to launder it?
Mary Ann

[Lafclaria]

This thread makes me wonder about the napkin that we wipe our lips on after receiving Holy Communion. It almost always ends up with stains after Liturgy. Surely it needs to be washed and not burned? But should I have poured the water in a special place after taking it home to launder it?
Mary Ann

As a general rule the priest himself is the one who takes care of such things. The cloths are usually red so as not to show stains. If it needs washing, the cloth should be spot rinsed in hot water over a chalice in which the water then collects. That water is consumed by the priest in the same manner as when he cleanses the chalice after the liturgy (if there is a deacon this would fall under his general responsibilty). I have been told by elder priests that it is safe to use a mild soap in this process - all the way up to woolite - as these soaps can still be consumed without danger. If the cloth is too dirty to clean in this manner, it must be burnt and the ashes buried. These cloths should never be "laundered"

Fr David Moser

[malishka1025]

Hello all, I am so suprised by some of the comments only because in my experience we had a priest, may God give rest to his soul, who, poor thing, had a young child who was very very roudy and he spilled the communion onto the floor.

The priest, in front of the entire congregation, began to cry and he bent down on his hands and knees and LICKED it off the floor!!!

The very next day he had a heart-attack and died ... apparantly the stress of what had happened and his remoursefullness made him die ....

[isopsmypovA]

Please forgive my ignorance and seeming irreverence...

I know it's a big deal, that it is literal Body and Blood, and that blessed things should be very much paid attention to... But everything on here, to be honest, sounds ridiculous and even Pharisaical. People are majorly fretting over having spilled a bit of wine on a dress years ago and forgetting to burn it?? A priest worried himself, literally, to death, from spilled Communion?? Eating vomit??

Can anyone explain this, please? Of all of them, I can understand eating spit up the best, as it is literal Body and Blood, though I still find it..... very strange. But such worrying over accidents seems ridiculous. Our God is a merciful God. He is not out to get us and to see what little things He can hold against us for slipping up on...

[9enackivegliva]

Please forgive my ignorance and seeming irreverence...

Not at all, dear Justin! I once heard a 5 part lecture series by Mother Molania, who is in the US. It really covered Orthodoxy in a simplistic and very good way. Many of us look at the actions and decisions of people in the Church or the Church as "JURIDICAL" (as she put it) but in essence if we considered all of our discussions and actions as "MEDICINAL" we see the same glass of water differently.

The priest did not have a heart-attack for FEAR of God's wrath ... he worried himself to death because of the great love he had for God -so much so, that the love overflowed in his action to "lick the communion of the floor". This to me is a beautiful action ... this priest had so much love and so much respect for the body and blood of CHRIST it GRIEVED him to see it on the floor - it is more precious than Gold and jems ... and the more precious something is the more we honour it and treat it with the utmost delicacy! HENCE, his action was humility ... humility is the ultimate RED CARPET treatment and he laid it out for God in front of an entire congregation.

What an act of what it means to be Orthodox! many who remember this consider and remember this action and wonder ...would we do the same? Would we treat the Body and the Blood of Christ with such love and such humility as to use our very own tongues to lick it off a dirty floor???

[escolubtessen]

Talking of attention to and respect for sacred things, my wife's spiritual father says we should not, for example, put our spectacles on top of the Holy Bible and certainly not put it on the floor.

[reiseebup]

Actually on top of what Andreas said not only that, but to not put non spiritual literature on top of it as well.

To Vasilliki about the priest licking up the spilt Communion, i think St Symeon the Theologian advises this in his book about the priesthood, I was half expecting a priest to do this once when i was in attendance not that i wanted to humiliate the poor guy just wanted to know if they followed such practice.

[zilsolley3]

Please forgive my ignorance and seeming irreverence...

I know it's a big deal, that it is literal Body and Blood, and that blessed things should be very much paid attention to... But everything on here, to be honest, sounds ridiculous and even Pharisaical. People are majorly fretting over having spilled a bit of wine on a dress years ago and forgetting to burn it?? A priest worried himself, literally, to death, from spilled Communion?? Eating vomit??

Can anyone explain this, please? Of all of them, I can understand eating spit up the best, as it is literal Body and Blood, though I still find it..... very strange. But such worrying over accidents seems ridiculous. Our God is a merciful God. He is not out to get us and to see what little things He can hold against us for slipping up on...

There are no words to describe the reverence and care with which the clergy are taught concerning the Body & Blood of Christ. Even the Cup spilling onto the Altar is considered serious. This is common training for the clergy from their very first moments of serving.

Thus they are taught to do all in their power to prevent the Gifts from spilling especially onto the floor. Infants and small children who 'roll around' in their mother's arms are the greatest concern here. The priest takes great care that the child doesn't accidently strike the Cup- which would be dreadful.

This is why many churches have rugs or carpets on the amvon area where the people receive communion- if the Body & Blood were to fall onto the floor then the area where they did so could then be burnt. The priest however would also consume whatever of the gifts he could from what had spilled. This is very common and also proper practice. This also explains why the priest would be seen licking up the gifts- perhaps also there was no rug or carpet.

In any case when the Gifts are dropped or spilled this is considered to be very serious. Clergy naturally feel themselves to blame for allowing such a thing to occur. This is why up until recently it was very common for the priest or deacon to be given a penance for doing so. And most any clergy would at least confess such a thing nowadays.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[spiveker]

As an acolyte, it is my responsibility to hold the napkin under the chin of all who receive as Fr. administers the Holy gifts. This itself catches anything that might spill most times the wine. Occassionally a particle will drop onto the napkin and I have to point this out to him to scoop it back up. Fr. is always concerned about squirmy and fussy babies/children especially those that would rather be run over by a truck than take communion and let you know it. He advises the parent hold the child like a car seat facing forward and grab as many hands and feet as the parent and the 2 acolytes can under the napkin. Sometimes it just does not work though and the child will not receive despite our best efforts.

Of course those that do usually need to be "cleaned up" with the napkin as alot runs down their chins. Also my job. Over time, they come to accept the gifts offered. At some point, mom or dad will give up if the child will not receive. Fr. never does until the parent says stop.

Paul