fice to be incomplete, or whether he
receives neither the body nor the blood.

Obj. 5: Further, it sometimes happens that the priest cannot remember
having said the words of consecration, or other words which are
uttered in the celebration of this sacrament. In this case he seems
to sin, whether he repeats the words over the same matter, which
words possibly he has said before, or whether he uses bread and wine
which are not consecrated, as if they were consecrated.

Obj. 6: Further, it sometimes comes to pass owing to the cold that
the host will slip from the priest's hands into the chalice, either
before or after the breaking. In this case then the priest will not
be able to comply with the Church's rite, either as to the breaking,
or else as to this, that only a third part is put into the chalice.

Obj. 7: Further, sometimes, too, it happens, owing to the priest's
want of care, that Christ's blood is spilled, or that he vomits the
sacrament received, or that the consecrated hosts are kept so long
that they become corrupt, or that they are nibbled by mice, or lost
in any manner whatsoever; in which cases it does not seem possible
for due reverence to be shown towards this sacrament, as the Church's
ordinances require. It does not seem then that such defects or
dangers can be met by keeping to the Church's statutes.

_On the contrary,_ Just as God does not command an impossibility, so
neither does the Church.

_I answer that,_ Dangers or defects happening to this sacrament can
be met in two ways: first, by preventing any such mishaps from
occurring: secondly, by dealing with them in such a way, that what
may have happened amiss is put right, either by employing a remedy,
or at least by repentance on his part who has acted negligently
regarding this sacrament.

Reply Obj. 1: If the priest be stricken by death or grave sickness
before the consecration of our Lord's body and blood, there is no
need for it to be completed by another. But if this happens after the
consecration is begun, for instance, when the body has been
consecrated and before the consecration of the blood, or even after
both have been consecrated, then the celebration of the mass ought to
be finished by someone else. Hence, as is laid down (Decretal vii, q.
1), we read the following decree of the (Seventh) Council of Toledo:
"We consider it to be fitting that when the sacred mysteries are
consecrated by priests during the time of mass, if any sick