My Grandma's Priest Gave Them "holy Wafers" To Take Home?

[ToJesusMyHeart]

So, the scariest thing just happened to me. I got home for Easter weekend from college, and my mom gives me all sorts of stuff from my grandparents, some scapulars, a Bible, a old-time Catechism, and then she goes...."And look at this. You'll never believe it!" 

 

Then she showed me a paper packet and pulled out from it a large rectangle host. It has engraved into it an image of the Holy Family at the Christmas manger. She said, "It's a host! Nanny's priest gave them out!" And I just stood there like ........  :shocking:..........and I said "Wait...what? Is this host consecrated?" And my mom said "Yeah, I think so!" And I said, "No, it can't be. They can't do that. It can't be. This isn't Jesus...is this Jesus? They can't give Jesus away like that....this can't be Jesus!"  :ohno: And my mom just kind of stood there, not knowing what to say. 

 

She thinks it has been consecrated, but I can't imagine a parish priest would give away consecrated hosts to the parishioners in little paper baggies.

 

The paper baggies have font on them. The priest apparently handed these host-wafer-things out at Christmas time. It says on the paper baggie that the host came in, "Glory to God in the highest. Peace on Earth to people of good will."

 

And then on the back, it says "A legacy from the past: Wigilia/Stedry Vecer/Kucios--The Vigil of Christmas Eve. Begun millenniums ago in Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, this Christmas Eve ritual continues wherever the blessed Oplatek--the Christmas Wafer--is shared. An opening carol may be sung. With the sign of the cross, we gather now to say the ancient canticle reserved for this day.... We share the holy wafers. through this sharing we are God bound to forgive each other all the wrongs, real and imagined, which have been committed through the year...and promise never to return to them. Only then do we have a valid sharing of the holy wafers. As Christ forgives us, we we forgive each other. Then Bethlehem, the House of Bread, where the True Bread from heaven was born, is born from above, among us, in us. For this reason the Christmas Wafer is called the "Bread of /Unifying Love."

 

Then it instructs, "The holy wafers are now shared with all present, each breaking a piece from the other. Exchange may include the traditional, "I wish you much health, happiness, and good fortune, and after this life an eternal crown in heaven." 

 

It says at the very bottom of the paper baggie, "Christmas Wafers produced exclusively in Poland. Father Krysa's A Polish Christmas Eve is available."

 

I'm sorry for the long story, but I figured you might need to know the details to give me the answer I need: It is possible that this "holy Christmas wafer" is actually a validly consecrated host....that the Body of Christ is sitting on my bedroom dresser? Obviously this is crucial...because if this host is actually Jesus...then we have a huge problem. I don't think it is....but if it is, what on Earth do I do? Take it to the parish and tell the priest? Consume Him? Worship Him? 

 

Is it the Body of Christ or just a piece of bread?

 

Thank you.

[cappie]

Oplatki are thin wafers, similar to Communion hosts, which measure 5 1/2in. x 2 3/4in. The wafers have four beautiful Christmas images stamped into them. The images include the Nativity, the Star of Bethlehem, or the Holy Family. Each set of wafers comes in an envelope with the Oplatki tradition printed on the back.

 

In Lithuania the wafers are part of the Kucios meal and can be called by many names, including: plotkele, paplotelis, or plokstainelis. Depending on where the family is from they may even say kaledaitis. Slovaks call the wafers oblatky. In America the tradition is often called Christmas Wafers.

 

Just before the Christmas Eve meal (in Polish called Wigilia) the entire family will gather around the table with the Oplatki.  Generally the eldest member of the family will begin the ritual by breaking off a piece of the wafer and passing it to another family member with a blessing. This blessing can simply consist of what you desire for your loved one in the upcoming year - whether it be good health, success, or happiness. The wafer is passes from person to person until all have had a piece and all have been given blessings. The purpose of this act is primarily to express ones unconditional love and forgiveness for each member of his or her family.

 

The tradition of the Oplatki originated in Poland during Early Christian times.  This Christmas Custom began with a simple white wafer, baked from flour and water.  The wafers are wonderfully designed to display Christmas images, such as the Nativity. The Tradition is popular throughout eastern Europe, including Lithuania and Slovakia.

 

They are not the consecrated Body of Christ