During Mass in the Roman
Rite of the Catholic Church
you may have noticed that
the priest will break a small part of
the consecrated host and drop it into
the chalice of consecrated wine. It is a
silent ritual, one that is easily missed
as it happens so quickly.
While it is a very brief action, the
symbolism behind it is profound.
According to Nikolaus Gihr in the
book The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
the action of placing a small particle
of the host into the chalice has roots
in the Early Church and a custom
that was meant to signify unity with
the pope and local bishop.
Participation in the same Holy
Sacrifice was regarded as a sign and
pledge of ecclesiastical Commun-
ion; mutually to prove and main-
tain this, Popes and bishops sent to
other bishops, or priests too, parts of
Consecrated Hosts, which the recip-
ients dropped into the chalice and
consumed …This custom existed in
Rome until about the ninth centu-
ry. There the Pope on Sundays and
feast-days sent to those priests who
had charge of Divine service at the
churches within the city, the Eucharist
as a symbol of communion with the
ecclesiastical Head, and as a sign that
they were empowered to celebrate.
It was a visible and concrete remind-
er that they were united to the pope
and bishops each time they celebrated
the Mass.
Furthermore, another aspect of
this ritual was to signify the unity of
the celebration of Mass, which is a
re-presentation of the one sacrifice of
Jesus on the cross. Catholics believe
that Jesus is not sacrificed again
and again at each Mass, but that the
Eucharist is a mystical participation
in the one sacrifice that occurred on
Mount Calvary.
Formerly the usage was somewhat
different. As the Hosts were much
larger, one of these three parts was
subdivided into several particles and
used differently, that is, distributed to
those present, or sent to the absent, or
put into the chalice at the next sacrifi-
cial celebration…A particle previ-
ously consecrated was preserved and
united to the Precious Blood at the
following Sacrifice, to represent, in all
probability, the continual succession
of the Sacrifice, as well as the unity of
the last with the present celebration.
For this reason it is believed by his-
torians that for a few centuries there
were two particles in the chalice, one
from the pope/bishop and another
from a previous celebration.
The symbolism of this act also
points to the unity of the body and
blood of Jesus in the host, as both the
host and consecrated wine contain
the whole presence of Jesus, body,
blood, soul and divinity.
It is a reminder that each action of
the priest at Mass is rooted in nearly
2,000 years of history and tradition
and is very deliberate, meant to teach
us many profound spiritual truths.
