Ateneo suspends Masses over ‘ostiya’ fiasco
‘We must be guided by the value of being ‘Contemplatives in Action,’ which calls us to reflect deeply on our actions and their impact on others, and to discern the most appropriate course of action.’
Ateneo de Manila University Senior High School has temporarily suspended the celebration of Mass on the campus after one of its students was found to have used the Communion bread in a food review tweet.
The administration of the school called the action of the student, purportedly done as a joke, “sacrilegious.”
“We are suspending our Masses in the Ateneo de Manila Senior High School and will resume after we do the Rite of Reparation for the Profanation of the Holy Eucharist,” AdMU SHS chaplain Fr. Braulio Dahunan said in a letter.
Dahunan defined Reparation as “making amends for the offense committed” through prayers, penance, and charity work, while Atonement refers to pleading for forgiveness for the committed act and vowing not to repeat the mistake.
The tweet in question was a “food review” by a certain @feignedflowers who described the taste and texture of the communion bread. The student described the bread as “not soggy, with a satisfying crunch.”
Colloquially known as “ostiya” or host, it is taken by parishioners during the Communion rite, before the conclusion of the Mass.
The student said that the Communion bread was taken during a Mass on 17 March. Communion has been adopted from Jesus Christ’s last supper with the disciples.
The tweet has already been taken down, as well as the account. However, screenshots of the tweet have continued to circulate on social media.
Dahunan urged the AdMU SHS community to reflect on the actions committed by one of its students and vowed to instill “Ignatian values” amid the process of Reparation and Atonement.
“We must be guided by the value of being ‘Contemplatives in Action,’ which calls us to reflect deeply on our actions and their impact on others, and to discern the most appropriate course of action,” he said.