Danger of Diluting the Wine
Date: December 17, 2022
Author: Fr. Edward McNamara, LC
Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and sacramental theology and director of the Sacerdos Institute at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum university.
Question: While exercising my ministry as a supply priest, I have noticed several occasions that sacristans are overly cautious about filling the cruet with the wine to be consecrated during Mass. This presents the real possibility that the priest or deacon may inadvertently dilute the wine with more than a few drops of water. In this case, the wine loses its character of being wine, and becomes more like wine-flavored water. This would seem to invalidate the consecration. This practice seems somewhat widespread. -- K.M., Burbank, California
Answer: I suppose that the phenomenon that our correspondent observes is that the sacristans place the bare minimum quantity of wine in the cruets for eventual consecration. One wonders why, of all places, this difficulty should arise in a wine-producing state such as California.
In such cases, the sacristan might be following clear instructions from the parish priest. This could be for several legitimate reasons, ranging from personal to pastoral. For example, some priests must celebrate Masses in more than one parish and thus limit the amount of wine consecrated so as not to run afoul of the civil limitations on blood alcohol levels while driving.
One practical solution is that the visiting priest checks the situation before vesting and asks the sacristan to add a little more wine to the cruet. While many priests are parsimonious with the amount of wine used for Mass, some are more inclined to be disciples of St. Philip Neri, who, according to legend, filled the chalice to the brim so as to fulfill the prayer of the Anima Christi, “Blood of Christ inebriate me.”
The question regarding adding too much water to the wine addresses an authentic potential difficulty. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says:
“142. After this, as the minister presents the cruets, the Priest stands at the side of the altar and pours wine and a little water into the chalice, saying quietly, Per huius aquae (By the mystery of this water). He returns to the middle of the altar and with both hands raises the chalice a little, and says quietly, Benedictus es, Domine (Blessed are you, Lord God). Then he places the chalice on the corporal and, if appropriate, covers it with a pall.”
The indication is a little water. While there is no exact measurement involved it is clearly just a few drops.
If a priest were to add more water than wine to the chalice, then, effectively, this would invalidate the matter of the sacrament.
St. Pius V. (1566-1572) wrote in his decree “On Defects that May Occur in the Celebration of Mass”:
“IV - Defect of wine
“11. If the wine has become mere vinegar, or is completely bad, or if it has been made from sour or unripe grapes, or if so much water has been mixed with it that the wine is adulterated, there is no Sacrament.”
Indeed, to avoid this danger, some churches, above all in Spain and Germany, historically made use of a “scruple spoon” to measure out the required minimum amount of water. Although this was not found in the rubrics, St. Pius V allowed the practice to continue where it existed. The scruple was originally a small unit of measurement similar to a pebble. Later it was applied to the spiritual malady of excessive attention to tiny imperfections and today often refers to people who have or lack moral integrity.
While it is not necessary to adopt such measures today, it is very important for priests to exercise care in adding a little water to the wine in the chalice and that the amount of wine be sufficient to remove any doubt.
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