(I dont direct this at you, I mean it to everyone on all sides.). Councils establish principles (and rarely go into specific points) and then leave it to a commission to carry out the detailed work after the Council. The Netherlands, 18 September 1969 From the historical point of view, we can say that there is strong evidence that the practice existed in early centuries in some areas of the Church. Hence any baptized Catholic who is not prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion. All the rites which use leavened bread are reverent but not obsessive. However, since it is a permission, it does not generate an absolute right, and the pastors can rescind the permission, either generally or in particular circumstances if objective motives exist for doing so. Never receive Holy Communion in the hand when your hands are impeded; e.g., carrying a cane or some other walking-assistance device, carrying a child in your arms, carrying a purse, have a tissue or handkerchief in your hand, have a cast on your hand, etc. And why so? All our lives we who believe in Christ are moving in time toward that moment when we will be taken by death from this world and enter into the joy of the Lord in the eternal Kingdom he has prepared for us. As with all historical practices, one must examine the context and circumstances which are usually not repeatable. On this point, I will leave you with a beautiful exhortation from the Golden Tongue: Think of what you receive in your hand and never lift it to strike another and never disgrace with the sin of assault the hand that has been honored with so great a gift. The Holy See has made it abundantly clear that both manners of reception of Communion - on the tongue and in the hand - are permitted, that Communion should be received reverently, and that the manner of reception should not become an occasion of division in the church. However, it was a brief exchange with ones immediate neighbors and at a time when men and women occupied separate aisles in the church. In light of some genuinely moving testimonies on the merits of reception in the hand, we cannot ignore that reverence for the Eucharist and belief in the Real Presence among Catholic laity has greatly declined since around the time in which this practice reenterred the Roman Rite after a millennium of absence. The Pope grants that throughout the territory of your conference, each bishop may, according to his prudent judgment and conscience, authorize in his diocese the introduction of the new rite for giving communion. in Eph 3, trans. It is a matter of particular seriousness that in places where the new practice is lawfully permitted every one of the faithful has the option of receiving communion on the tongue and even when other persons are receiving communion in the hand. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church (330-379): "The right to receive Holy Communion in the hand is permitted only in times of persecution.". Papua and New Guinea, 28 April 1976 Another will say the opposite; he says, On the contrary, if the wound of sin and the attack of the disease is in fact so great that such medicines need to be postponed, one ought to be removed from the altar by the authority of the bishop in order to do penance, and one ought to be reconciled by the same authority. Todd, yes, the Church as a whole is growing thanks to the great efforts of missionaries in Africa and Asia (many are now coming back here), and yes, more people are receiving the Sacraments now than ever. Pope Paul Vl calls attention to the purpose of the InstructionMemoriale Dominiof 29 May 1969, on retaining the traditional practice in use. 47), and says of the Communion Chant that "its purpose [is] to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the 'communitarian' character of the procession to receive the Eucharist" (no. These need to be taken seriously if one wants to effectively engage in these discussions with the likes of Cardinal Sarah and others. The Controversy of Communion in the Hand Catholic Insight http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2014/03/truth-about-communion-in-hand-while.html#.Wpa2wdIUnGg. With regard to the first precept, Origen of Alexandria cautions, You who are accustomed to take part in divine mysteries know, when you receive the body of the Lord, how you protect it with all caution and veneration lest any small part fall from it, lest anything of the consecrated gift be lost. It preserves us from mortal sin by exciting us to greater fervor and strengthening us against temptation. Think of what you receive in your hand and keep it clean of all greed and theft. So whats missing? A letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship to presidents of bishops conferences on May 29, 1969: AAS 61 (1969) 546-547; Notitiae 5 (1969) 351-353: In reply to the request of your conference of bishops regarding permission to give communion by placing the host on the hand of the faithful, I wish to communicate the following. R. E. Heine FotC 21 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1982). In an even more elevated tone, Ephrem the Syrian, in a stunning passage, invites the Christian communicant to feel awe at what is placed in his or her hand, since even the Seraph did not take the divine coal with his hand, nor did the prophet Isaiah eat it (see: Isa 6:6). [16] Liturgical evidence from Rome is always sparser than one would like, but Eusebius preserves a mention of communion in the hand in a letter written from Dionysius of Alexandria to Sixtus I, bishop of Rome,[17] and in a letter of Cornelius, bishop of Rome. New Zealand, 24 April 1974 "You're talking to someone who has only owned a smartphone for a yearI resisted," he said. Has the Holy Eucharist any other effect? There are particles, and there are particles. Guidelines for Receiving Holy Communion - Catholic News Agency If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord; it is your sacrament that you receive. Excelling, therefore, every sensible creature, he who by the saving Passion has attained to the celestial dignity, eating and drinking Christ, is fitted in all respects for eternal life, sanctifying his soul and body by the participation of divine grace. The problem is a lack of intentionality across the board, starting with the laity. Many pathogens are transmitted through the hands. awr. In order to be properly disposed to . The usage of communion in the hand must be accompanied by relevant instruction or catechesis on Catholic teaching regarding Christs real and permanent presence under the eucharistic elements and the proper reverence toward this sacrament. 4. Per The Baltimore Catechism: Because those vessels are made so for our sakes. France, 6 June 1969 Communion on the Tongue is an Apostolic Tradition, and - Catholic365 91). 1. (Catholic Encyclopedia: Genuflexion) This catechesis must succeed in excluding any suggestion that in the mind of the Church there is a lessening of faith in the Eucharistic presence and in excluding as well as any danger or hint of danger of profaning the Eucharist. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCBs) mission is to encounter the mercy of Christ and to accompany His people with joy. Above all, it is necessary to have the introduction of the rite preceded by an effective catechesis so that the people will clearly understand the meaning of receiving in the hand and will practice it with the reverence owed to the sacrament. Personally, I think that when a priest with the care of souls holds the view that Communion on the tongue is preferable to the alternative practice, then the best thing he can do is inform the faithful of the bishops permission. Under the moral aspect will be considered, in reference to Holy Communion: necessity; subject; dispositions. After stipulating the historical practice of Communion in the hand, Memoriale Domini: defends the development of discipline that led to Communion on the tongue Fire and Spirit, contrary to nature 4. The rationale for Communion on the hands being an ancient practice is from St. Cyril of Jerusalem. Abuse. Blasphemy. Communion in the hand? Catholic Insight Since Christ is really, substantially, sacramentally present but not physically, being OC over crumbs is not devotion. If our reader had said that he believed that Communion in the hand was more prone to dangers of accidents and profanation, I would accept the argument. Church Life Journal Finally, the fact that the Communion Procession is a profoundly religious action tells us something about the way in which we should participate in this procession. I make no judgment about who is guilty of this- I dont know most of the people by far and am in no position to judge. In 1980 St. John Paul II wrote in the apostolic letterDominicae Cenae: In some countries, the practice of receiving Communion in the hand has been introduced. The large numbers of faithful and the general hustle and bustle at the moment of communion make it quite easy for a host to fall to the ground. For real reception of the Blessed Eucharist it is required that the sacred species be received into the stomach. 1996, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Follow-up: Objecting to Communion in the Hand (10-16-2018), Pursuant to my reflections on Communion in the hand (October 2), a reader from France claimed that It is totally justified to claim that Communion in the hand is necessarily less reverent or inevitably leads to abuses. As soon as the communicant receives the host, he or she consumes the whole of it. 21. The manner of receiving holy Communion - Catholic News Agency The Truth About Communion in the Hand | The Fatima Center Interestingly, during the Middle Ages, the reception of Holy Communion was restricted to "on the tongue" because of abuses. The communicant replies, Amen, and receives the Sacrament either on the tongue or, where this is allowed, in the hand, the choice lying with the communicant. The practice of communion on the tongue with the use of patens in the West, and in both kinds on a spoon with a drop cloth in the East, moreover, are natural developments from the concern of the Early Church to prevent Eucharistic mishaps. With regard to the second, we have many early witnesses including Paul (see 1 Cor 11:27) and the Didache (seechapter 14).