St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

In our "Questions to the clergy" slot, John will try to answer any query you throw at him, without hesitation, deviation or repetition...

Spilled wine at communion?

Q. What should happen to wine which accidentally spills on the carpet during Holy Communion?

A. I remember something like this the first time I helped with communion in my first curacy: I collided with someone else in the sanctuary, and spilled it all down my surplice.

Behind this deceptively little question is a much bigger one - what happens to the bread and wine at communion? When Jesus shared the last supper with his disciples, he said “this is my body” and “this is my blood”. We don’t know exactly how his words were understood in the very early days of the Christian Church, but by medieval times the church believed that when the priest celebrated communion and said these words, the bread and wine became Christ’s body and blood. This was called “transubstantiation” (= a change in the substance of the bread and wine). Accordingly, you couldn’t just throw the bread and wine away after the service - they had to be disposed of in a reverent and seemly way, usually by being eaten. (In the case of a spillage, I think the carpet or surplice would be burnt!)

However, the Protestants at the Reformation said transubstantiation was a wrong and misleading idea. Here are four reasons:

i) The bread and wine at the Last Supper couldn’t have actually become Jesus’ body and blood (because Jesus was still alive at that point), so Jesus must have meant “This means my body/blood”. (In the same way, if I hold up a postage stamp and say “this is the Queen”, you will know I mean “this is a picture of the Queen” rather than “this actually is the Queen”.)

ii) St Paul says people can eat and drink without it really being the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:20 & 29), so the bread and wine can’t literally become Jesus’ body and blood.

iii) Belief in transubstantiation had made people superstitious in that they had become more worried about the bread and wine than about following Jesus’ teachings.

iv) Communion is in any case a fellowship meal rather than a re-enactment of a sacrifice, and so it is quite legitimate to dispose of surplus food at the end of it just the same way as you would wash up after giving a dinner-party.

The writers of the Prayer Book didn’t say (iv) above quite so baldly! They said, roughly speaking, that the bread and wine ought to be treated in a way which reminds people that they are symbols of Jesus - but we shouldn’t be superstitious about them. In the case of a spillage I think laundry and carpet-cleaning are the right course of action.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. August 2000, Page 8.
Home Page. Index of articles. Questions: index, Confidentialities, Yeast at HC, Jerusalem, Spilled wine, Multifaith. In this issue: (August 2000) Vicar's Letter, A small world, Healing, David, Question.	In our "Questions to the clergy" slot, John will try to answer any query you throw at him, without hesitation, deviation or repetition... Spilled wine at communion? Q. What should happen to wine which accidentally spills on the carpet during Holy Communion? A. I remember something like this the first time I helped with communion in my first curacy: I collided with someone else in the sanctuary, and spilled it all down my surplice. Behind this deceptively little question is a much bigger one - what happens to the bread and wine at communion? When Jesus shared the last supper with his disciples, he said “this is my body” and “this is my blood”. We don’t know exactly how his words were understood in the very early days of the Christian Church, but by medieval times the church believed that when the priest celebrated communion and said these words, the bread and wine became Christ’s body and blood. This was called “transubstantiation” (= a change in the substance of the bread and wine). Accordingly, you couldn’t just throw the bread and wine away after the service - they had to be disposed of in a reverent and seemly way, usually by being eaten. (In the case of a spillage, I think the carpet or surplice would be burnt!) However, the Protestants at the Reformation said transubstantiation was a wrong and misleading idea. Here are four reasons: i) The bread and wine at the Last Supper couldn’t have actually become Jesus’ body and blood (because Jesus was still alive at that point), so Jesus must have meant “This means my body/blood”. (In the same way, if I hold up a postage stamp and say “this is the Queen”, you will know I mean “this is a picture of the Queen” rather than “this actually is the Queen”.) ii) St Paul says people can eat and drink without it really being the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:20 & 29), so the bread and wine can’t literally become Jesus’ body and blood. iii) Belief in transubstantiation had made people superstitious in that they had become more worried about the bread and wine than about following Jesus’ teachings. iv) Communion is in any case a fellowship meal rather than a re-enactment of a sacrifice, and so it is quite legitimate to dispose of surplus food at the end of it just the same way as you would wash up after giving a dinner-party. The writers of the Prayer Book didn’t say (iv) above quite so baldly! They said, roughly speaking, that the bread and wine ought to be treated in a way which reminds people that they are symbols of Jesus - but we shouldn’t be superstitious about them. In the case of a spillage I think laundry and carpet-cleaning are the right course of action. John Hartley
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