Christmas Communion

Coming soon to your home!

A pyx is not only a great Scrabble word, but an object that will be hand delivered to every home in the parish this month.. It’s a small container for holding the reserved Sacrament when bringing Communion to people in hospital or in their homes. From Dec 12th through the 20th, look for a gift bag dropped off at door; it will contain the pyx with reserved Sacrament, a service leaflet for the Christmas services, and the formal Christmas Letter and greeting we normally send each year.

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Home Communion Reflections from Philip Carr-Jones on Vimeo.

Special Note: Are you Gluten-Free?
Let us know in advance if you prefer to receive Gluten-Free host.
Please email  eva@churchholyspirit.org 

From the earliest centuries of the Church, given the many plagues and persecutions, there have been many ways to deliver Communion to the faithful. On Maundy Thursday, the day we celebrate the institution of the Lord’s Supper during Holy Week, it was the custom of area Bishops to provide blessed bread to all parish clergy so that every church celebrated that evening from the same loaf. Monks and hermits living in prayerful isolation would come into a village to receive a month’s worth of Sacrament to take with them as they went back into the wilderness. So in this historic fashion we are distributing the consecrated host to everyone ahead of our Christmas services.

Since it is very likely our services on Christmas will be remote, given the surge in our plague, we are planning for you to participate at home where you are. Every pyx will be broken pieces of whole larger concelebration wafers, as a sign that we are all one Body. We will ensure enough of the host is available and you may feel free to break it up even further given your local circumstance. Additionally, enough consecrated Sacrament will be supplied, so that throughout the 12 Days of Christmas, you may choose to regularly receive Holy Communion. Instructions with additional prayers are provided in each gift bag. Going forward, we will invite you for the remainder of the pandemic to drive into the parking lot at the church to collect more at scheduled times- though it will also be provided during the house blessings [see article page 14. We expect you will store your pyx in the special place where you pray or keep holy things in your home.

Drivers Requested: We have 15 routes set up for house blessings during the Epiphany season and proposed delivering the Christmas gifts along those same routes. We need 15 drivers, with helpers if available. You will be offered a route – more than one if you have the time. Distribution should take place between December 12th and 20th. It takes up to a few hours for each route. Please send a note to the church if you are willing (social distancing and masks apply, of course).