Q: Father, this has been a topic at our parish Worship committee meetings.
Should consecrated hosts that were not distributed by EMHCs during the Mass be returned to the altar to be re-packed into a ciborium by the deacon or priest and then taken to the tabernacle; or can those undistributed consecrated hosts be returned directly to the tabernacle and placed in the ciborium there?
Thanks in advance.
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A: GIRM 163 just says that he either consumes the hosts at the altar or carries them to the place designated for reservation. It doesn’t say where to combine the remaining hosts.
On Sundays I generally combine the hosts remaining after communion into a single ciborium at the altar because there’s more room there to do it with care. On weekdays I consume the few we have left and do not use the tabernacle.