Free Republic

One of the sweetest ladies I know asked me a question the other day that had been bothering her for a very long time. It was one of those questions that you don’t exactly know how to ask—much less, who to ask.“I’ve been noticing something at daily Mass,” she began very timidly, as sweet older ladies do. “And it only happens at daily Mass,” she explained, “when we drink from the priest’s chalice.”“I know Father doesn’t mean to, and I don’t blame him. I’m sure it’s only an accident, you see.” She hesitated getting to her main point.“There’s always a...

Swine flu has spurred the Church of England to revive a rule drawn up more than 450 years ago when bubonic plague swept the land. As concern mounts about the spread of the virus, which has killed at least 29 people in the UK, some Anglican churches have begun to allow “intinction” or dipping bread in communion wine rather than sharing the chalice, while others have stopped offering wine altogether. The practices are permitted under the 1547 Sacrament Act, introduced after the plague, which requires both bread and wine to be given “except necessity otherwise require”. In London’s Southwark diocese...