What to Do If You Find or Drop a Consecrated Host

The Holy Eucharist is not merely blessed bread or a symbol reminding us of Jesus.

After the consecration at Mass, what appears to our senses as bread is truly Jesus Christ—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

The Catechism teaches:

"The body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ... is truly, really, and substantially contained." — CCC 1374

And Christ is present whole and entire even under the smallest part of the consecrated species.

That is why Catholics must treat every consecrated Host with extraordinary reverence.

Never Throw Away the Eucharist

A consecrated Host must never be treated like ordinary food or waste.

It must never simply be thrown into the garbage, flushed down a toilet, washed down an ordinary sink, or knowingly abandoned somewhere.

Deliberately throwing away the consecrated species or taking or retaining them for a sacrilegious purpose is such a serious offense that Canon Law attaches the penalty of automatic excommunication to it (Canon 1382 §1).

Why such seriousness?

Because of Who the Eucharist is.

Jesus said:

"This is my body, which is given for you." — Luke 22:19

If we truly believe those words, our treatment of the Eucharist must reflect that belief.

What If a Host Falls During Communion?

The Church gives a simple instruction:

"If a host or any particle should fall, it is to be picked up reverently." — General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 280

If a Host falls while you are receiving Communion, do not panic. It must simply be recovered reverently.