It's important they consider how their communities should celebrate Holy Week because of the danger of spreading coronavirus, the letter says.

The Congregation emphasised the probability of regional differences in the bishops' decisions. Some regions may be able to hold more traditional Easter services, while others will not.

"We are still facing the drama of the COVID-19 pandemic which has brought many changes, even to our normal way of celebrating the liturgy," the letter says.

"The norms and directives contained in the liturgical books, drawn up with normal times in view, are not entirely applicable in exceptional moments of crisis such as these."

The letter notes that the measures put in place last year to allow for simplified celebrations of Holy Week remain valid for 2021's Easter services.

Last year, the Congregation told the bishops to comply with any local health measures. They were permitted to celebrate Holy Week without the presence of the faithful.

It also suggested that bishops celebrate Holy Thursday without the washing of the feet and Good Friday without the kissing of the cross.

The letter does suggest a new development in this year's arrangements however: that bishops encourage people unable to physically come to services to take part through livestreams or media coverage.

Catholics and Christians around the world Feb. 17 began Lent, the 40-day season in preparation of Easter, with the celebration of Ash Wednesday.

On Ash Wednesday Pope Francis marked the start of Lent with a small service in St. Peter's Basilica. In his homily, the pope called the season leading to Easter "a humble descent both inwards and towards others."

"It is about realizing that salvation is not an ascent to glory, but a descent in love," said the pontiff. "It is about becoming little."

Source

• NCR Online
• Image: DW

The holy day of prayer and fasting is one of the highest contact observances on the liturgical calendar. It takes place on 17 February this year.

Many churches mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent with clergy marking the sign of the cross on congregants' foreheads with ashes. The ashes are remnants from the burning of palm fronds from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations.

The practice presents a problem when health experts fighting COVID-19 have advised people to avoid touching their faces or coming close to others.

Ahead of the beginning of Lent, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a note detailing how Catholic priests are to distribute ashes. It says:

• The priest blesses the ashes and sprinkles them with holy water in silence.
• He then addresses those present, reciting once the formula found in the Roman Missal. He says "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".
• The priest then "cleanses his hands and puts on a face mask. He will distribute ashes to those who come to him. Or, if appropriate, he goes to those who are standing in their places."
• He then sprinkles the ashes on each person's head "without saying anything."

The Pope's Ash Wednesday plans have also been impacted.

Pope Francis will celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. This is in place of making the traditional walk from the Church of St. Anselm to the Basilica of Santa Sabina on Rome's Aventine Hill.

Because of ongoing concerns about drawing a crowd and the potential that could have for spreading the coronavirus, the Mass and distribution of ashes will take place with a congregation of about 100 people at the Altar of the Chair.

In the UK, the Church in England and Wales is preparing to celebrate Ash Wednesday under unprecedented circumstances. Catholics are being urged to stay at home and bless one another with the sign of the cross to mark the beginning of Lent.

Speaking to churchgoers in London, where the South African variant of the coronavirus has been detected in several boroughs, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said: "My suggestion is this: celebrate Ash Wednesday at home, with your family, in the household or ‘support bubble' of which you are a part."

The Rev. Stacy Gahlman-Schroeder of Norway Grove Memorial Lutheran Church in DeForest, Wisconsin, plans to stand in the church parking lot throughout the day, dipping disposable Q-tips into the ashes, rather than her finger, or offering a blessing, if it's preferred.

Sources

Vatican News

The Tablet

Religion News

America Magazine

That's why the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments sent out its recent letter to Bishops about the bread and wine used for the Eucharist.

The letter notes that "until recently it was certain religious communities who took care of baking the bread and making the wine for the celebration of the Eucharist." With a much wider variety of suppliers, the letter reminds bishops that they should take responsibility for assuring that these norms are followed.

The letter does not change any of the existing rules about valid materials for the celebration of Mass. Cardinal Sarah's letter is almost entirely made up of quotes from previous documents.

An earlier letter sent out in 2003 from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, noting documents from the 1980s and '90s, recalled that from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, noting documents from the 1980s and '90s, recalled that "Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist."

"What I think the Vatican mean - and should be saying - is that the Eucharistic host must not be ‘wheat free' - i.e. made from rice or potato starch," says Alex Gazzola.

He is a journalist and author with almost 20 years' experience who specialises in food hypersensitivities, coeliac disease and gut disorders.

"Gluten needn't - and shouldn't - come into it. There is no such thing as ‘partially gluten free' anyway, because the state of gluten-free-ness is binary - it either is or it isn't. It cannot be in between," he says.

Their ‘low gluten' is what we understand as ‘gluten free' - so there's no problem.

Existing "gluten free" hosts do contain some gluten but the are low enough to be approved by the Celiac Support Association in the USA which has some of the most stringent guidelines available on what celiacs can safely consume.

Source

• America Magazine
• Catholic News Agency
• Allergy Insight
• Image: Amazon

Furthermore, the bread "must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition".

Bread made from products other than pure wheat is not allowed.

"Even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament," the letter says.

The wine "... must be natural, from the fruit of the grape, pure and incorrupt, not mixed with other substances ... well conserved and has not soured".

Paul Mooney, who is the winemaker from the Mission Estate which produces most of New Zealand's altar wine, says New Zealand wine regulations allow sugar to be added, during the process. As altar wine may not have any added substances, it is kept apart from the main vintage and a different process is used to make it.

Mooney says the process ensures it is palatable by allowing its natural sugars sweeten it.

The letter about the standards of bread and wine is from Cardinal Robert Sarah, who is the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

He wrote the letter at Pope Francis's request.

The letter targets the bishops because their role involves being the "principal dispenser of the mysteries of God, moderator, promoter and guardian of the liturgical life in the Church". This includes providing for all that is required for celebrating the Lord's Supper.

Until relatively recently religious communities catered for the Lord's Supper. Nowadays though, it's possible to go to the supermarket or an online shop to buy the necessities.

To make sure all the bishops are on track with what's required, Sarah's letter offers assistance by recapping the existing regulations and offering some practical suggestions.

These suggestions include the ordinaries:

• guaranteeing the Eucharistic matter through special certification
• reminding priests ... of their responsibility to verify those who provide the bread and wine for the celebration and the worthiness of the material
• providing information to the producers of the bread and wine and reminding them of the absolute respect that is due to the norms.

Source

• Radio NZ
• Vatican Radio
• Image: RCLB Sacraments