Dear Parishioners, Instructions from the Chancelry (continued )
Distribution of Holy Communion Outside of Mass by an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion 2025
b. Where it is the practice for an extraordinary minister to the sick to present a pyx in the communion line in order to receive a host to bring to the homebound, that practice is to end no later than June 30, 2025.
c. It is the responsibility of the minister to make sure that the pyx being used closes securely and is in good condition. (Often, the pyx is carried in a pouch hung from the neck of the minister.) The minister will also make sure to bring the text of the rite to be used.
d. When communion is distributed to an individual at home or to a group in an institution, those responsible should prepare a decent table covered with a white cloth whenever possible. In addition, a lighted candle can be prepared if possible (unless oxygen is in use). (See Holy Communion Outside of Mass no.19, Pastoral care of the sick no. 74.)
e. In case of the distribution of holy communion to several persons in succession in a hospital, nursing home, or other institution, the rite found in “Communion in a Hospital or Institution,” in Pastoral Care of the Sick nos. 92- 96 is used. The introductory rite takes place once in the first room and the concluding rite takes place once in the last room. When circumstances permit, the Our Father is prayed in each room. The invitation to communion is said in each room.
f. After the distribution of Holy Communion to the sick, if any hosts remain, the extraordinary minister is to do the following:
i. Return the surplus hosts to the tabernacle in the church if possible.
ii. Consume the hosts which remain when the last person visited receives Holy Communion if necessary.
iii. Under no circumstances extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion reserve the Blessed Sacrament in their homes for any period of time.
iv. The pyx is purified periodically by wiping with a purificator any fragments into the ciborium in the tabernacle or into a vessel of water which is poured into the sacrarium or consumed by the minister.