For the Catholics....

[suzie]

At our church (catholic) our priest puts the crumbs in his chalice which stays at the altar and is used only by him. The wine he offers to everyone else is served in a different chalice. My priest was supposed to order the gluten free hosts, it's been 2 weeks so far it hasn't come in. At communion time, my priest gave me permission only to drink the wine and not take the bread.

[Purrsnikitty]

Suzie, that's probably a good idea; but I hate to give him anything else to think about. He has a hard enough time remembering to pick up the chalice without the crumbs. We've been using two and I had hoped to get away from that, since I am the one who will get fussed at when someone from the Bishop's staff visits.

Ours did arrive, but have not worked as well as I'd hoped. They are quite small - only slightly larger than the size they offer for the congregation - and difficult to break evenly. Sr. Lynn from the Benedictines says they won't make a larger one unless the demand increases or they find a quicker, easier way. Unfortunately, this makes sense - while it's a ministry for them, it's also a business and those decisions have to be made with the head as well as the heart.
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"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

[maryjk]

[Purrsnikitty]

Welcome, Mary and best of luck next Tuesday.
_________________
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

[Fidissimus]

Quick question, has anyone taken the low-gluten host? Did you feel okay afterwards? What did you do about cc? Did it sit in the offering dish with the other hosts? I was thinking of ordering some from the sisters but wondering about protocol? Thoughts?
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Cheers!
Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/

[kb9oyo]

Our congregation uses the GF hosts for the celiacs. I am from an Episcopal church. The deacon's wife has CD, and she located the source and when I was diagnosed, the next time I came up for Communion, that is what he offered me! I suspect that the best protocol would be to talk to the person on your Altar Guild who does the ordering for the supplies. The way that we make it work on the Altar is to have the GF wafers in a separate glass bowl that is placed on the corporal and they are included in the blessing of all of the hosts. When the Priest comes by with the hosts, he knows to offer me the one from the bowl. Since we have been between Priests since our Rector retired this summer, the Deacons and the Acholytes have had to work overtime to remind the "Priest of the Week" which host to offer me. It doesn't hurt to make them your friends!

Good Luck!
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Sue Beyer

[Purrsnikitty]

Beginning this past Sunday, yes, I did receive a piece of the low-gluten Presider's Host. I didn't have any ill effects - my usual response to gluten is a yucky, upset tummy, a migraine, and if I get enough, the D begins (fortunately, that hasn't happened in a while.) I felt fine on Sunday.

In my Episcopal parish, I'm the celiac AND the deacon, so I have a little bit more control because I set the Table, but it doesn't last long. I kept the low-gluten Presider's Host off the paten with the other hosts pretty successfully; but he plopped the broken pieces right back on the paten with the wheat ones (groan)

Our church permits gluten free bread at the Altar, but so far I've found nothing available in the Presider's size.

I guess it will take a while to train my dear priest and the Bishop might even reassign me before that happens. He has come a long way, I must admit - when I was first diagnosed, he told me my doctor didn't know anything and was just guessing.
_________________
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

[Fidissimus]

The Priest's sister is Celiac (but lives in a different town and so doesn't attend our church with any regularity). So you'd think he'd be a little sympathetic to the situation. But I have a feeling she's a pretty lax celiac because when I spoke to him about it he seemed pretty blase about the whole thing. I get so sick... it just makes me nervous all the way around. I would be horrified if he dropped the presiders host (or crumbs) on to the GF host. Then what?! Oi. Sigh. Maybe can I bring it with me and hold it in my lap while everything's being blessed? Wouldn't that count? It's in the same room?!
_________________
Cheers!
Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/

[diamondheart]

Have you seen this website?

http://www.catholicceliacs.org/Keeping.html

And this one...

http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=370

I thought I remember somewhere reading where there was a church that had a line for the Eucharist for celiacs. I think it must have been a church in Europe somewhere.

Claire
(recovering Catholic)

[Fidissimus]

Thanks Diamondheart,
I'd seen the latter but not the former. Interesting - confirms a bit of what I'd heard or suspected. Thanks for sharing.
_________________
Cheers!
Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/

[John]

[jayhawkmom]

I'm just shakin' my head over here, wondering why people have to say "recovering" Catholic. And, thank you John for not interjecting any negativity into my question, despite your obvious desire to.

Jenn - I have yet to breach the topic with my priest, but once this year ends... and I am *back* on the right track, I'll be presenting him with my findings. I've mentioned before, I teach sacramental prep, and will begin preparing my 2nd graders for their first communion. I'm sure that the topic of why Mrs. K doesn't receive communion WILL come up. So, I'm going to be ready for it.

I'm also going to "make tracks" for Celiacs and get the ball rolling in our own parish. I don't yet know how...but I'm going to be ready for when my own daughter makes her first communion. =)

[John]

[jayhawkmom]

John,

I work at my church - in the Religious Education office, as well as teach 2nd grade. I've already spoken about this, ad nauseum, with our DRE. The low gluten hosts are already in use in our Archdiocese. So, it really is just a matter of taking it up with our Priest. And, he's a wonderful man so I really don't anticipate any "trouble." I certainly don't anticipate being asked to leave the church or anything.

I fully understand the reasons WHY wheat is necessary in the host. Papal infallibility relates only to doctrine, not humanity. The sadness is that JPII probably would have had a soft spot for Celiacs... not so sure about Pope Palpitine - as dh calls him. (wow... I'm going to burn in hell for that one, LOL!!!)

Regardless, the low gluten hosts are approved - as is receiving only the Cup. I want my daughter to have both options and to receive her first holy communion with her class (in 3 years) in the same manner as everyone else. =)

[Purrsnikitty]