Source: H. Th. Bruns, ea., Canones Apostolorum et
Conciliorum saeculorum , Berlin 1839, reprint, Turin, 1959, vol. 2, pp.
268-269.
“It has been reported to us that priests after saying
Mass while they themselves consume the Divine Mysteries, hand over the chalice
of the Lord to women who have made offerings for their Masses, or to some lay
persons who cannot discern the Body of the Lord . . . .
The piety of the faithful understands how contrary all
this is to every ecclesiastical religion. Therefore we enjoin on all priests
that no one in future presumes to act in this manner, but that the priest
himself consumes the Eucharist with reverence and then hands it to the deacon
or subdeacon who minister at the altar for distribution . . . . . "
"A priest should not put the holy Eucharist into the
hands of any lay person or woman, but only into their mouths . . . . . If any
one will transgress this, because he despises almighty God and dishonours what
belongs to God, let him be removed from [service at] the
altar.”
