Still amusing, but it’s an old story.

2 Comments

1. Darren says:

   5 January 2012 at 1:20 PM

   We had a priest at my parish who was an Episcopalian priest who converted and became a Catholic priest. He explained it was many hours in a Catholic church, praying before the Blessed Sacrament that led him to his conversion. One specific event that led to his change was his observation of a fellow Episcopalian priest who took the leftover “communion” from one of their services and tossed them to the birds outside.
2. JeffTL says:

   5 January 2012 at 5:24 PM

   Darren, I can assure you that giving the Eucharist to animals — wild or domestic — is not standard Episcopalian practice. The tradition of longest standing in the Anglican Communion seems to be reverent consumption, presumably as acceptable common ground between those who would reserve it like Catholics and those who would throw it away like Presbyterians; this goes back at least to the 1662 English Prayer Book, with the intent seeming to exist prior. In recent years, however, reservation in aumbries and tabernacles has slowly become the norm in most places, since this makes it a lot easier for deacons and lay people to take communion to the sick.

   Certainly, most Episcopalians would be shocked and scandalized to witness the Eucharist being fed to birds or dogs. Father gets seconds and/or it goes in the box.

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