There is only one way to treat a sacred vessel (I am thinking ahead here of the final stages of what is becoming the Ramsgate Benedictine Scandal) where it has been subject to sacriligious use.
Archbishop Sheen gave the example of a chalice that had been sold and subsequently used as a cocktail 'glass' or beer cup in a night club.
According to the great man one must take the cup and return it to the furnace, melting it down so that the sin of its desecration would be cleansed by fire, just as you might, in a case of emergency, apply a red hot iron to an infected wound.
Then and only then, it can be recast and shaped and annealed so that it returns with its old substance but cleansed and in a new form.
And, then, of course, it must be consecrated anew by a Bishop.
Would someone please tell the Benedictines of Chilworth that please?
Archbishop Sheen gave the example of a chalice that had been sold and subsequently used as a cocktail 'glass' or beer cup in a night club.
According to the great man one must take the cup and return it to the furnace, melting it down so that the sin of its desecration would be cleansed by fire, just as you might, in a case of emergency, apply a red hot iron to an infected wound.
Then and only then, it can be recast and shaped and annealed so that it returns with its old substance but cleansed and in a new form.
And, then, of course, it must be consecrated anew by a Bishop.
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| Picture: Fr Z |
Would someone please tell the Benedictines of Chilworth that please?
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