Doing the Dishes The Mass is a meal. It is the wedding feast of the Lamb. And After Holy Communion, you’ll see the priest and/or deacon cleansing much greater purpose for this ritual. You see, Catholics believe that the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus. It is precious beyond any earthly thing. So unlike an earthly meal where any excess food or drink may be tossed out, every bit of the Body and Blood of Christ must be consumed or reverently put back in the tabernacle. Before using a small cloth called a purificator to wipe the vessels clean, the priest or deacon will first consume any of the Precious Blood that is left in the chalice. They will also look for even the smallest crumb in the ciboria, on the patens and even on the altar cloth. If they find any, they consume them right away. Then each vessel is washed with water, which the priest then drinks. Only then are the vessels wiped clean and put away for the next Mass. 61 just like a meal at your house, the dishes need to be done after the meal. the vessels that were used for the distribution of Holy Communion. While this is done partly for sanitary reasons, there is a Why does the priest take care of this task? If you had a meal at your house, you would never dream of letting the guests do the dishes, right? A good host takes care of that. So it is in God’s house! Notes
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