- Matter of The Blessed Sacrament Controversy - I
- Matter of The Blessed Sacrament Controversy - II
- Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, 1929 - Decree On The Blessed Sacrament
- Matter of The Blessed Sacrament Controversy - III
- Of Lundahl's Attack Against Pope Michael
- Of Lundahl's Attack Against Pope Michael - II
Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2002 07:15:41 -0600
To: "Prakash Joao Maskaren" <[email protected]>
From: "Pope Michael" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Varia
At 06:51 AM 12/8/2002 +0000, you wrote:
Your Holiness,
I had received these messages from Hans-Georg Lundahl re. the Wheat controversy. The posting was garbled and so did not make sense to me. However, I have reformatted the text, and now I can understand what he is saying.
Basically, my response would be that your impugned statement was and is not an infallible or even magisterial statement, but from the text itself, it is very evidently merely a private opinion, and as such, it cannot be shown to destroy your papal claim. However, I await your response. (I have now received and read your response. I will post it on my yahoo group).
You judge correctly, I did not intend to make any definitive statement, merely an observation. I think the matter needs more research and consideration. Until that time, when the Mass is restored, I shall heed the advice of the Decree I sent across and make my own hosts and wine. The wine has been made and is in the cellar; I hope to plant grapes next year, so that I can make wine here without having to travel 100 miles to a vineyard, where I pick. (They crush and press under my supervision; I do the rest) I have a grain grinder and wheat stockpiled. I hope to be able to get wheat growing here as well.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Pope Michael
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 07:41:55 -0600
To: "Hans Georg Lundahl" <[email protected]>
From: "Pope Michael" <[email protected]>
Subject: Flour controversy
CC: [email protected]
Dear Hans,
You have made some quantum leaps here. First of all you have not produced absolute proof that sifted wheat flour is what is required for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. You have not proven that this is the common practice of the Church. We want to see an official Church document, not just a footnote from an edition of the Summa.
We would like to see articles on grinding the flour from Ecclesiastical publications. (None of the copies We have address this matter, although We have a good one on making the wine from the time of Prohibition in the United States.) And so to conclude that We are against the common practice of the Church, when Our method would fulfill the requirements of bread made from flour and water and unleavened, as required by the Code of Canon Law as well as Divine Law, is an improper conclusion.
(Unleavened is Ecclesiastical Law for the West, not Divine Law.)
Finally, We have not ruled out sifting, but reserve judgment, pending finding the Ecclesiastical Documents on the subject. What We consider as doubtful is the processing done here in the Untied States, which produces a white substance, but also one that has been completely stripped of everything but the white in the middle, and so refined that even bugs can't live on it. Then, it is enriched, which means that additions have been made. There are several cases, where additions have been declared as invalidating. (I think these are on the website.)
Is it heresy to have a private opinion, concerning the flour sold in the United States being invalid for the celebration of Mass? It cannot be, when it can be demonstrated from reading the ingredients label that additions have been made, which has been determined to be invalidating in the past. Maybe the additions are not sufficient to invalidate, but this opinion cannot be followed in practice, since we must be certain, as the contrary has been condemned by Blessed Pope Innocent XI.
What we have here is a small problem, which is blown out of proportion, but which should teach us all something. The first thing, is that we must adhere to the doctrines of the Faith, as presented by the Church. We should then look into the matter, when smaller questions, and come up with every possible source on the subject.
We await proof that sifting is the common practice of the Church from the Church's official documents. Until such time, We rest on the authority of the Church:
Canon 815 states: The bread (for the Sacrifice of the Mass) must be pure wheat bread and recently made, so that there shall be no danger of corruption. The wine must be natural wine of the grape, and incorrupt.
Now, in order to be sure of the genuine matter of the bread and wine which is absolutely required in consecrating so great a Sacrament, it will certainly be better, unless the priest have both of these substances made at home, to obtain them from persons who are very expert in them and who actually grind the wheat or press the wine from the grapes; and who, besides, being above all suspicion, can safely certify that they have absolutely without any fraud, made the hosts from wheat alone, and pressed the wine from grapes alone. (From the Instruction, 26 March, 1929, of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments.)
Pope Michael