7 rules for receiving communion in the hand

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. 160-161; English translation here) All rights reserved. St. Cyril of Jerusalem in 348 gave this instruction to his congregation:When you approach Holy Communion, make the left hand into a throne for the right, which will receive the King. So they reintroduced the practice of Communion in the hand (it had been originally introduced as a widespread practice by the Arian heretics of the Fourth Century to deny that Jesus is God). In the early Church, the faithful stood when receiving into their hands the consecrated particle can hardly be questioned. St. Dionysius of Alexandria [d. 265], writing to one of the popes of his time, speaks emphatically of one who has stood by the table and has extended his hand to receive the Holy Food (Eusebius [263-339], Hist. Here in India Communion is distributed both on tongue and in hand. University of Notre Dame, McGrath Institute for Church Life Ever since the InstructionMemoriale Dominithree years ago, some of the conferences of bishops have been requesting the Apostolic See for the faculty to allow ministers distributing communion to place the eucharistic bread in the hand of the faithful. Holt Orders cannot sustain the Church, no matter how much traditionalists preach priests are of the utmost importance. The guidelines, which are to be included in missalettes and other participation aids published in the United States, seek to remind all those who may attend Catholic liturgies of the present discipline of the Church with regard to the sharing of Eucharistic Communion. Finally, ensuring the application of liturgical law is above all the responsibility of the bishop and only indirectly the religious superior. For some, however, the singing of this hymn is perceived as an intrusion on their own prayer, their private thanksgiving after Communion. Hard to believe that Catechesis has never been better if that fundamental is misunderstood. This was the law of the Church for almost 14 centuries, and is still the general norm today. SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENTS, InstructionImmensae caritatis, on facilitating reception of Communion in certain circumstances, 29 January 1973: AAS 65 (1973) 264-271; Not 9 (1973) 157-164. Communion received on the tongue and while kneeling. 6, trans. We pray that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit in this Eucharist will draw us closer to one another and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us. 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. It must also increase their faith in the sublime reality of the Lords body and blood, which they touch with their hand. It is advisable, therefore, that the rite be introduced gradually and in the beginning within small, better-prepared groups and in favorable settings. Maybe this is due to its similarity to practices in most Protestant churches, many of which (Anglicans and Lutherans notwithstanding) fundamentally dont believe in a sacramental Communion substance. 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. St. Please remember that there is no "right" way to receive. St. Will you not then much more carefully keep watch, that not a crumb fall from youSt. I similarly think Cardinal Sarahs frankly ridiculous comments about Lucifer are draining credibility from his cause (one that I admittedly align with sometimes), even if some of his proposals are good ones. Under the moral aspect will be considered, in reference to Holy Communion: necessity; subject; dispositions. 2. The two ways of receiving communion can without question take place during the same liturgical service. The Netherlands, 18 September 1969 Upper Volta and Niger, 20 February 1970 The General Instruction asks each country's Conference of Bishops to determine the posture to be used for the reception of Communion and the act of reverence to be made by each person as he or she receives Communion. Germany, 6 June 1969 Since the question involves human attitudes, this mode of communion is bound up with the perceptiveness and preparation of the one receiving. This is in no way meant to refer to those who, receiving the Lord Jesus in the hand, do so with profound reverence and devotion, in those countries where this practice has been authorized.. There is so much to Communion. Timothy O'Malley, Copyright 2023 It is simply reading too much into this practice, and it is not correct to support something one favors by denigrating another practice. Other way round, it was in the hand and changed to the tongue circa 900 in the west. It is standard procedure so I wonder what the basis of this accusation is. Jeffrey T. Wickes FotC 130 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2015). 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. 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. What a Priest Might Do If He Wants to Avoid It. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently. COVID-19 Additional Questions for Catholic Schools, COVID-19 Finance FAQ for Catholic Schools, COVID-19 Personnel FAQ for Catholic Schools, COVID-19 Remote Learning FAQ for Catholic Schools, COVID-19 International Students FAQ for Catholic Schools, Forming a New Prayer and Intercessory Team at Your Parish, Resources for Existing Intercessory Prayer Teams, Mooney Real Estate Holding Company and Parish Incorporations, Stewards for Tomorrow/Archdiocese of Detroit Endowment Foundation. As to the way to carry out the new rite: one possible model is the traditional usage, which expresses the ministerial functions, by having the priest or deacon place the host in the hand of the communicant. Please take responsibility for the lies, the bile, and the sinful stuff. From a hygienic point of view, the hand carries a huge amount of bacteria. Particularly in regard to this way of receiving communion, experience suggests certain matters requiring careful attention. Liturgical Press | School of Theology Seminary | Saint John's Abbey | Comments Policy | Contact Us We welcome our fellow Christians to this celebration of the Eucharist as our brothers and sisters. It preserves us from mortal sin by exciting us to greater fervor and strengthening us against temptation. The sad fact that in recent years hosts consecrated by a Pope have been offered for sale on the Internet further motivates this precautionary measure. Receiving communion in the hand was the common practice of the Church in both East and West for the first 800 years of Christianity, and it was certainly considered reverent by the Fathers. For tell me, if any one gave you grains of gold, would you not hold them with all carefulness, being on your guard against losing any of them, and suffering loss? I do make the point that reverence, while important, is not the only or most important aspect of Communion. Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion. awr. Was changing the mode reception of Communion one of them? Now we feel our affluence threatened, and the Gospel gives no comfort on that front. R. E. Heine FotC 21 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1982). These views are sometimes strongly held. Copyright PrayTellBlog.com Phillip Schaff (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889). The Eucharist fulfills this call: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? Permission for administering Communion in the hand was granted by the Holy See to the following countries and regions under Pope Paul VI:[UPDATED 3-2-18], Belgium, 31 May 1969 [10] See John Damascene, On the Orthodox Faith, 4.13. [2] 2 Accept Communion in a state of grace. St. Dear Patrick, The new manner of giving communion must not be imposed in a way that would exclude the traditional practice. I beg to differ. Yet even here, the experts sometimes forgot the unrepeatable reality of original circumstances so that restoration is never quite the same. Space doesn't allow all the details, but the propaganda in the 1970s that was used to sell Communion in the hand to a trusting, vulnerable people was a campaign of calculated half-truths that didn't tell the whole story. But there is more to the story. Cardinals Thorne (Peru) and Caffarra (Bologna) have banned Communion in the hand, citing reasons of abuse and disrespect. I dont mean how did it come about. If one is left-handed this is reversed. 161. 21. The restorers of the rite probably had the beautiful simplicity and symbolism of the medieval rite in mind but did not take the changed circumstances sufficiently into account. The following norms must therefore be respected. How should this evidence be brought to bear on the modern conversation? The way you put it, it doesnt sound obsessive-compulsive but salutary. It also rules out arguing for an intrinsic link between a rejection of the true presence and communion in the handthe Fathers, on the whole, speak of Christs presence in the Eucharist in highly realistic terms and also received on the hand. This action by Christ's body, the Church assembled for the Eucharist, is manifested and supported by the Communion Chant, a hymn in praise of Christ sung by the united voices of those who believe in him and share his life. Zambia, 11 March 1974 First, Chrysostom in one of his Homilies on Ephesians: What, do you not see the holy vessels so thoroughly cleansed all over, so resplendent? The faithful must be taught that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and that therefore the worship of latria or adoration belonging to God is owed to Christ present in this sacrament. Yugoslavia, 1971 Fast forward to 2004, when The Congregation for Divine Worship in its new Instruction named Redemptionis Sacramentum, stated: "Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand the sacred host is to be administered . I would like to remind people to indicate clearly how they wish to receive. 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. 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. A Journal of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, by Elizabeth Klein The life of Christ, the Holy Spirit, animates each of us individually, and all of us corporately and guides us together in our efforts to become one in Christ. What's at Stake in the Debates Swirling Around Eucharistic Coherence. I suspect that Christ can cope with particles that get dropped but the care we show, or the lack of care, is what counts. It was proved that belief in the Real Presence is abysmal. Monaco, 31 October 1969 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. 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. Ever since the InstructionMemoriale Dominithree years ago, some of the conferences of bishops have been requesting the Apostolic See for the faculty to allow ministers distributing communion to place the eucharistic bread in the hand of the faithful. I am from India. At the same time he has taken into account the reasons given to support your request and the outcome of the vote taken on this matter. A perception such as this is a dreadfully inaccurate and impoverished understanding of what is a significant religious action. The rite of communion in the hand must not be put into practice indiscriminately. 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. For example, there is ample evidence that the exchange of peace between the people was practiced well into the Middle Ages in several European countries. It is reported that a bishop shouted out, On the tongue or in the hand?. 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. But whatever the case, it is the Pope who decides to authorize it for countries, and it is indisputable that he did so. Interestingly, during the Middle Ages, the reception of Holy Communion was restricted to "on the tongue" because of abuses. Those who receive Communion may receive either in the hand or on the tongue, and the decision should be that of the individual receiving, not of the person distributing Communion. Some may choose to receive the Lord on the tongue while others choose to receive in the hand. In approaching therefore, come not with your wrists extended, or your fingers spread; but make your left hand a throne for the right, as for that which is to receive a King. It is therefore difficult in the context of this present letter not to mention the sad phenomena previously referred to. 5. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal takes this hymn very seriously, mandating that it should begin at the Communion of the priest and extend until the last person has received Communion. This helps explain why this line of thought isnt gaining much traction except on the right fringe. By this symbolic action, their denial would be clear to all. With your hand hollowed, receive the Body of Christ and answer 'Amen'. 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. Roland Teske (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2001). Papua and New Guinea, 28 April 1976 [5] John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent 28. As seen above, the U.S. bishops were not among the first to permit Communion in the hand. Pope Benedict XVI 1927-2022 tribute page and access to resources here. 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 any danger or hint of danger of profaning the Eucharist. Communion in the hand is no more hygienic than Communion in the mouth. It may well be the case that the sudden change in practice after Vatican II decreased devotion towards the Eucharist and belief in the true presence, and it may well be the case that there were bad actors who in fact desired this result. On the other hand, this mode of communion is not anywhere associated with lay involvement or accessibility, nor is it thought to de-emphasize the role of the priest. It should be noted that it is never permissible for a person to dip the host he or she has received into the chalice. [] It is not permitted for the faithful to take the consecrated Bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them on from one to another among themselves. Hence any baptized Catholic who is not prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion. The US might have been little-touched by the scorched earth of world war, and perhaps our feel-good stance astride the planet delayed the decay somewhat. [11] In East Syria (what we would now call the Middle East) we have evidence from Ephrem the Syrian[12] and Narsai. Cyril of Jerusalem and Theodore of Mopsuestia liken the practice to that of receiving a king, and both of them note the method of reception was in joined hands (also described in other sources as hands in the form of a cross). From this brief historical survey, however, we know that this need not be the case, and we can look to the Fathers for a pious example as we seek to foster reverence towards the Eucharist in the liturgy today. 6. In this way, the practice of Communion in the hand is different from other liturgical elements restored after centuries of disuse, such as the prayer of the faithful and the exchange of peace. When one receives from the chalice, the same proclamation is made by the person distributing Communion and the Communicant again responds, "Amen." I happen to accept the role of darkness within the Church, but it strikes me as being perpetrated all too often by those who style themselves the most faithful or loyal to God. 895. Their attitude of reverence must measure up to what they are doing. All of us are only grasping a hint of it. Thanks for this, Dennis. [11] Council of Constantinople in Trullo, canon 101. To be honest, I dont really belong to either camp on this, and like you, I think the polarization on this issue is doing more harm than good. This norm is supported by an Instruction by the Holy See regarding the Eucharist: "In distributing Holy Communion it is to be remembered that 'sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who seek them in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them'(Code of Canon Law, can. Their attitude of reverence must measure up to what they are doing. It is clear that this mode of reception was considered reverent and was to be carried out in a reverent manner. [23] John Chrysostom, hom. He can freely share with the faithful his reasons for preferring to adhere to the traditional practice and encourage the faithful to continue doing so. Some scholars claim that this part of the Mystical Catechesis is not originally from St. Cyril but a later interpolation into the text. Djibouti, 6 March 1970 4. Take this from someone who receives in the hand sometimes, I would never do it if I thought it was enabling Lucifer to corrupt my soul. 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 North Africa (including Egypt) the practice is mentioned by Tertullian,[1] Cyprian,[2] Augustine,[3] Cyril of Alexandria,[4] and John Climacus. If we follow the example of the Fathers, we will prioritize practices that prevent the dropping of the Eucharist and catechizing communicants not to receive in a state of mortal sin. Blog Staff and Editorial Advisory Committee, http://www.kathpedia.com/index.php?title=Handkommunion, http://www.cultodivino.va/content/cultodivino/it/rivista-notitiae/indici-annate.html, From the Wires: U.S. Catholic Priests Are Increasingly Conservative as Faithful Grow More Liberal, Yale Organ Week: Now Accepting Applications, The North American Academy of Liturgy, 2023, New Open-Access, Ecumenical Journal Powered by the University of Vienna, Is the Eucharistic Revival a Liturgical Revival (Part 2), What Did Jesus Know?

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