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Gluten-free hosts


Era Might

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I was just checking out the website for a local shrine where I may go tommorow, and they say they have gluten-free hosts, if people want to request it. I thought this sounded phishy, and found this from an EWTN article:

[quote]Thus one can understand why the Church pays such very great attention to the elements of the sacraments in spite of at times appearing excessively attentive to details such as alcohol and gluten levels.

The Holy See has declared that some gluten is necessary for the substance to be considered as true bread. And thus a gluten-free wafer, in spite of its external resemblance, is no longer bread and thus is incapable of becoming the Body of Christ.

The sacraments are far too important to risk performing them invalidly.[/quote]

Anyone have anymore information on this matter? Should I contact my Archbishop?

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If you can't have gluten, couldn't you just receive the Blood instead of the Body? Since Christ is fully present in both...

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I did read about this several months ago in a case wherein a family requested to have a young girl be served gluten-free wafers, and it was denied them for the reason that it couldn't be considered bread.

I have a family friend who's extremely allergic to wheat, and so he can only partake of a small portion of the Host at a time. It's really sad, because he's perhaps the most devout laity I know.

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[quote name='jiyoung' date='Mar 1 2006, 02:02 AM']If you can't have gluten, couldn't you just receive the Blood instead of the Body? Since Christ is fully present in both...
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I would assume so.

I found this official document from the then-Cardinal Ratzinger:

[url="http://www.adoremus.org/CDF_Lowgluten-mustum2003.html"]http://www.adoremus.org/CDF_Lowgluten-mustum2003.html[/url]

He writes:

[quote]1. Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist.

2. Low-gluten hosts (partially gluten-free) are valid matter, provided they contain a sufficient amount of gluten to obtain the confection of bread without the addition of foreign materials and without the use of procedures that would alter the nature of bread.[/quote]

So if these are really gluten-free, then the shrine is giving out invalid hosts.

The shrine is phishy in other ways, too. For example, it has a Gay/Lesbian/Trangendered "spirituality" group. I hope the fullness of Church teaching is presented there.

:(

Edited by Era Might
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DemonSlayer

Drinking the Blood is considered the same as eating the Body; since they contain both flesh and blood.

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The Franciscan Shrine on Arch Street in Boston.

[url="http://www.saintanthonyshrine.com/home.htm"]http://www.saintanthonyshrine.com/home.htm[/url]

They have confessions for like 10 hours every day. But this stuff...I don't know. Scares me.

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Anastasia13

[quote name='Snarf' date='Feb 28 2006, 11:04 PM']I did read about this several months ago in a case wherein a family requested to have a young girl be served gluten-free wafers, and it was denied them for the reason that it couldn't be considered bread.

I have a family friend who's extremely allergic to wheat, and so he can only partake of a small portion of the Host at a time.  It's really sad, because he's perhaps the most devout laity I know.
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Why should that matter if they bread is supposed to transform anyway?

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It has to ORIGINALLY be bread in a strict sense for the transubstantiation to be valid. That's like saying, "Who cares if you turn Spam into Corpus Christi if it ends up being Corpus Christi in the end anyways?" It's a strict equation, bread begets the body of Christ.

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[quote name='Light and Truth' date='Mar 1 2006, 02:36 AM']Why should that matter if they bread is supposed to transform anyway?
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It must be bread in the first place.

The Church can't transubstantiate anything other than bread (eg, pretzels). No gluten, in effect, makes it no longer bread.

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photosynthesis

[quote name='Light and Truth' date='Mar 1 2006, 02:36 AM']Why should that matter if they bread is supposed to transform anyway?
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because if it doesn't have gluten in it, then the church does not define it as bread.

the Catholic Church wants the Eucharistic sacrifice to replicate the Last Supper as recorded in the Bible.

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photosynthesis

[quote name='Era Might' date='Mar 1 2006, 02:40 AM']It must be bread in the first place.

The Church can't transubstantiate anything other than bread (eg, pretzels). No gluten, in effect, makes it no longer bread.
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mmmm..... pretzels

:eat:

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[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Mar 1 2006, 02:41 AM']mmmm.....  pretzels 

:eat:
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tsk tsk

The time for fasting has come.

..and of course, my mother is making chili for dinner tommorow. :annoyed:

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photosynthesis

could you ask her to make vegetarian chilli?

and pretzels are actually a Lenten food: They are made with flour, salt and water, no eggs or fat. they are supposed to symbolize arms folded in prayer

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