What to do when the Precious Blood is spilt

by Michael Shackleton · April 10, 2012

At a Mass at which Communion was given under both kinds, a fair amount of the Precious Blood was spilt on the floor. An extraordinary minister of Communion wiped it up with a cloth. After Mass I asked what she had done with the cloth soaked in the blood of Christ. She said she had put it in with the washing. When I reminded her it was the Precious Blood, she told me to mind my own business. How would theologians view this matter?

The bread and wine consecrated at Mass become the Body and Blood of Christ. This is a mysterious change and it is not a visible one. The Church traditionally calls this change �transubstantiation� because the substance of the bread and wine at Mass become the substance of the Body and Blood of Our Lord. This substantial change takes place, leaving the external appearances intact.

For this reason, the Church takes a very serious stand on how ministers handle the eucharistic bread and wine. Extraordinary ministers of Communion are schooled in this and are trained to appreciate that what they handle is not bread and wine but the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It is surprising, then, that a minister would wipe up spilled Precious Blood with a purificator or other cloth and then consign it in its saturated state to the laundry basket.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says: �If any Precious Blood is spilled, the area where the spill occurred should be washed with water and this water should then be poured into the sacrarium in the sacristy� (280). The sacrarium is a basin with a drain that goes directly into the earth.

It is usual when mopping up any spillage on the floor, to absorb some of it with a cloth and squeeze the cloth out into a bucket. This continues until the floor is clean, even if a damp spot remains, and water is then rubbed over it to clean it even more thoroughly.

It is the same in the case you mention. The liquid and water are squeezed into the bucket and the result is poured down the sacrarium. The cloth used for this purpose must be washed in water until there is no sign of the stain, and the water poured into the sacrarium. The cloth may only then be put into the laundry basket.