Unless there is a sense of discipleship rooted in baptism. The recent survey asking Catholics about Holy Communion indicates that 70% DO NOT BELIEVE that Holy Communion is the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus. Permission for administering Communion in the hand was granted by the Holy See to the United States on June 17, 1977 and has since become almost the universal norm in the Ordinary Form. Members of the Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Polish National Catholic Church are urged to respect the discipline of their own Churches. Australia, 26 September 1975 Their decisions should be sent to Rome to receive the necessary confirmation, []. The document does not have numbered paragraphs to cite, but youll find it a few paragraphs after the tabulation of votes collected from bishops. Pope Benedict was asked why he chose to distribute Communion only to those kneeling and on the tongue and he responded, because it highlights "the truth of the real presence [of Christ] in the Eucharist, helps the devotion . The symptoms are myriadI certainly would assent to much of what you cite. And having hollowed your palm, receive the Body of Christ, saying over it, Amen. Care must also be taken that the communicants have clean hands and that their comportment is becoming and in keeping with the practices of the different peoples. For it is a deed fraught with destruction to take the tongue which serve such awesome mysteries, which has become purpled with a blood so precious, which has become a sword of gold and to change its course to abuse, insolence and ribald jests. My overarching point in all this (as someone who receives comfortably in both manners) is that I dont think common concerns with reception in the hand have been treated with adequate seriousness by many its defenders. Pope Paul Vl calls attention to the purpose of the InstructionMemoriale Dominiof 29 May 1969, on retaining the traditional practice in use. [21] Theodore of Mopsuestia, catech. 5.21, trans. He said that he had checked with the then Apostolic Delegation and had been assured that the pope was giving the boy a rosary. 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. The elements were placed in the hands (not in the mouth) of each communicant by the clergy who were present, or, according to Justin, by the deacons alone, amid singing of psalms by the congregation (Psalm 34), with the words: The body of Christ; The blood of Christ, the cup of life; to each of which the recipient responded Amen. (eminent Church historian Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church: Ante-Nicene Christianity: A.D. 100-325 [Vol. 896. It preserves us from mortal sin by exciting us to greater fervor and strengthening us against temptation. 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. A situation that, in the US certainly, was not necessarily governed by external uniformity (given the varieties of ethnic piety and cultural practices). Since the question involves human attitudes, this mode of communion is bound up with the perceptiveness and preparation of the one receiving. Communion received on the tongue and while kneeling. 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. Elizabeth Klein is an Assistant Professor of Theology at the, The Abandoned: Toward a Christocentric Phenomenology of Prayer, The Conclusion of Karl Rahner's Dissertation on the Origin of the Church from the Side Wound of the Crucified Christ. The following norms must, therefore, be respected. While we cannot admit them to Holy Communion, we ask them to offer their prayers for the peace and the unity of the human family. I quite deliberately eschewed entering the historical argument as it would have digressed from the main point of that article. O Solomon, the thing which the Lord of your father Reverence can be good if it opens us to God & neighbor and makes us more loving. 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. R. E. Heine FotC 21 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1982). 2023 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. If one is receiving in the hand the following is normative: upon approaching the minister of the Host extend the hands in the middle of the chest. The people administering the sacrament are asked to use hand sanitizer immediately before. 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.. 6, trans. 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. More people have received Communion in the past century. The condition is the complete avoidance of any cause for the faithful to be shocked and any danger of irreverence toward the Eucharist. 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. 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 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. Whatever procedure is adopted, care must be taken not to allow particles of the Eucharistic bread to fall or be scattered. [18] Moreover, an early illuminated gospel, the Rosanno Gospels, depicts the last supper as a communion line, where the disciples receive in cupped hands while bowed. In order to be properly disposed to . To commemorate the death of Christ: "This do in remembrance of me." 2. However, when they receive Communion standing, it is recommended that the faithful make appropriate reverence, according to the norms established, before receiving the Sacrament. Care must also be taken that the communicants have clean hands and that their comportment is becoming and in keeping with the practices of the different peoples. The two ways of receiving communion can without question take place during the same liturgical service. This article has been selected from the ZENIT Daily Dispatch Innovative Media, Inc. ZENIT International News Agency Via della Stazione di Ottavia, 95 00165 Rome, Italywww.zenit.org, To subscribe http://www.zenit.org/english/subscribe.html or email: english-request@zenit.org with SUBSCRIBE in the "subject" field, Provided Courtesy of: Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Road Irondale, AL 35210www.ewtn.com, HOME - EWTNews - FAITH - TELEVISION - RADIO - LIBRARY - MULTIMEDIAWHAT'S NEW - GENERAL - RELIGIOUS CATALOGUE - PILGRIMAGES - ESPAOL, EWTN | 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Communion in the hand is allowed in the United States by decision of the American Bishops. The Communion Procession is an action of the Body of Christ. The Eucharist fulfills this call: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The faithful should consume the host before returning to their place; the ministers part will be brought out by use of the usual formulary, The body of Christ, to which the communicant replies: Amen. It also happens, on occasion, that the free choice of those who prefer to continue the practice of receiving the Eucharist on the tongue is not taken into account in those places where the distribution of Communion in the hand has been authorized. Or is there more context that is missing? What is the proper way of receiving Communion in the hand? My country is not on this list but holy communion is the norm. Have reverence for the honor which God has bestowed upon it, and do not lead it down to the vileness of sin.[27]. Finally, to the end that their coming to this heavenly table may be completely worthy and fruitful, the faithful should be instructed on its benefits and effects, for both the individual and society, so that their familial relationship to the Father who gives us our daily bread, may reflect the highest reverence for him, nurture love, and lead to a living bond with Christ, in whose flesh and blood we share. For this is what it is to receive unworthily: if one receives at that time when he ought to be doing penance. Jamaica, 12 March 1970 I used the wordnecessarilyas an equivalent to in and of itself. There is no inherent reason why Communion in the hand is less reverent. Who holds the wind in the palm of his hand? The most ancient practice of distributing Holy Communion was, with all probability, to give Communion to the faithful in the palm of the hand. It is also difficult to ensure that the person who receives Communion effectively consumes the host. [1] This RCIA Process is the way in which you are prepared to be formally received by the Church; this is necessary before you can take Communion. It is a matter of particular seriousness that in places where the new practice is lawfully permitted every one of the faithful have the option of receiving communion on the tongue and even when other persons are receiving communion in the hand. In each of the Eucharistic Prayers, though the petition is worded in slightly different ways, God is asked to send his Holy Spirit to make us one body, one spirit in Christ; the General Instruction admonishes the faithful that "they are to form one body, whether in hearing the Word of God, or in taking part in the prayers and in the singing" (no. A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession. The way we communicate the Gospel message is almost as important as the Gospel itself. I would like to remind people to indicate clearly how they wish to receive. On November 14, 1996, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops approved the following guidelines on the reception of Communion. Basil the Great, 330-379 stated, "The right to receive Holy Communion in the hand is permitted only in times of persecution." This statement may very well have been made in response to St. Cyril of Jerusalem in 348. 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. If, however, Communion is given under both kinds, the rite prescribed in nos. Other way round, it was in the hand and changed to the tongue circa 900 in the west. Whether to receive Communion in the hand or on the tongue are liturgical disciplines, not dogmas. When the communion is distributed under both kinds, it is never permitted to place in the hands of the communicants hosts which have first been placed in the Blood of the Lord. Middle Africa, 3 February 1970 In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible (canon 916). Q. So Indian Bishop conference have not got any Indult for communion in hand? What if our reception made us all more loving of one another, whatever our views on how to receive? But as time passed it became the practice to receive Communion directly on the tongue in order to assure that the Host was received reverently. They would find many more areas we all need to work on than just their main focus. can. We have no nets to cast deeply. Some of the online advocates of kneeling/tongue seem to focus only on adoration of the Real Presence and now a cardinal has said that those who receive standing in the hand most Catholics by far! On reverence for the Eucharist and belief in the Real Presence among Catholic laity has greatly declined I dont think this has ever been proven. 51 (Feb), pg 62). They probably never foresaw its subsequent, and occasionally chaotic, development in some parts of the Church. It is simply reading too much into this practice, and it is not correct to support something one favors by denigrating another practice. [27] John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instruction, 12.15-16, trans. The infamous coffee cup masses Dorothy Day describes in her book may have had good intentions behind them, but the way they appeared to trivialize the Holy Sacrifice of the mass lent no dignity to the then new Pauline mass. Maybe this is due to decades of poor or heterodox catechesis on the Sacraments. If one is right handed the left hand should rest upon the right. 6. The host will then be laid in the palm of the left hand and then taken by the right hand to the mouth. 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. 6. Communion received on the tongue and while kneeling. are on the side of Lucifer. 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. It is difficult for some of us to embrace this emphasis on Mass as the action of a community rather than an individual act of my own faith and piety, but it is important that we make every effort to do so. Our procession should move with dignity; our bearing should be that of those who know they have been redeemed by Christ and are coming to receive their God! 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.