[Mrs. Don-o]

I had a surgical operation two years ago, after which I could not eat solids for a couple of weeks. I received Communion from the chalice only, and I was informed this has been always been done for people whose medical condition wouldn't permit receiving the sacred Host (not just people with celiac disease), even during the long historic periods when laypeople did not customarily receive from the chalice.

There's also the difficulty of people who cannot or should not drink alcohol, even in tiny quantities. This is addressed by the use of "mustum," which is what vinters call freshly expressed, natural, untreated (that is to say, not pasteurized) grape juice.

I was reading the account of a priest, Walter Ciszak, who was confined in Soviet prisons and labor camps for 20+ years. Other prisoners smuggled him handfuls of raisins, which he soaked in water and then squeezed out the juice: this he used for saying Mass.

Ciszek is a man worth knowing.

[James C. Bennett]

Thanks!

[Tax-chick]

Fr. Ciszek was a great man. I hope he’s been praying for me, because I’ve asked!

Raisins are also what the World War II POWs used to make bootleg distilled alcohol ... not potatoes, as shown in the movie of “The Great Escape.”