Paul W. Harkins ACW 31 (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1963). [10] See John Damascene, On the Orthodox Faith, 4.13. It must be presumed that a priest has sufficient formation in moral principles so as to exclude an erroneous conscience in such matters. St. As a scholar of the early Church, I was surprised to learn that the practice of communion in the hand is such a hotly debated topic; it came to my attention during the early days of the pandemic, when many dioceses required communicants to receive in this way. O Solomon, the thing which the Lord of your father
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. The guidelines recommend against serving Communion until gatherings of more than 50 people are allowed. 843 1; cf. The option must not turn out to be the occasion for regarding it as ordinary bread or as just another religious article., I feel this is a underrated point in recent discussions on the reception of Holy Communion, both here on PT and elsewhere. 160-161; English translation here) Its just BREAD!!. [25] Origen of Alexandria, homily in Ex. The author claims that Communion in the hand could only be authorized in countries where it was an established practice but doesnt give a citation. 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. Ruff, I think we both agree that internal reverence is the most important aspect of this discussion (and therefore the ways each manner serves that) and I know many reverent people who do both. On the part of both the minister and the recipient, whenever the host is placed in the hand of a communicant there must be careful concern and caution, especially about particles that might fall from the hosts. Now we feel our affluence threatened, and the Gospel gives no comfort on that front. The missal of 1570 eliminated almost all sequences and moved the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar to the beginning of the Order of Mass though the Council of Trent never said a word about either. . Because those vessels are made so for our sakes. Guidelines for Receiving Holy Communion. 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. The history of the liturgy, however, makes clear that rather early on a . This is precisely why there are occasions when pastoral prudence can lead to suspend the permission. If a priest has great personal difficulty due to deeply and sincerely held views regarding this practice, he can always petition the bishop for a personal exemption or a permission to not apply this permission to his parish. In this ordinance Christ ratifies his promises to his people, and they on their part solemnly consecrate themselves to him and to his entire service. in Eph 3, trans. They partake not of Him that is in them, they perceive Him not. One could have perfect adoration of Real Presence in humble posture and, at least in theory, miss the point of Communion. I think that settles it. [5] In Jerusalem, we have the mystagogical catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem (or perhaps of his successor, John). Djibouti, 6 March 1970 It is simply reading too much into this practice, and it is not correct to support something one favors by denigrating another practice. A: The answer to this question is somewhat complex. . 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. 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. Instead, this option must increase in them a consciousness of the dignity of the members of Christs Mystical Body, into which they are incorporated by baptism and by the grace of the Eucharist. 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. 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. Monaco, 31 October 1969 Phillip Schaff (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889). awr. If Communion is received in the hand, the hands should first of all be clean. Under the moral aspect will be considered, in reference to Holy Communion: necessity; subject; dispositions. 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. What if our way of calling our fellow Christians to a higher way were based on loving example and not polemics? In defending his push to give Communion to grave sinners, McElroy reiterated his belief that conscience has the "privileged place" over doctrine in decision-making and suggested that it can . 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. Q: When the bishop in a diocese allows the faithful to receive Communion in the hand or on the tongue, can a priest, who objects on the grounds of conscience, refuse to give the faithful holy Communion in the hand? Look how military inspectors demand very high standards of care when inspecting barracks for cleanliness. 4. In the case of communion under both kinds by way of intinction, it is never permitted to place on the hand of the communicant the host that has been dipped in the Lords blood. Paraguay, 27 September 1971 This practice has been requested by individual episcopal conferences and has received approval from the Apostolic See. Our worship ought to create common unity under Christ, not destroy it. 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. The host will then be laid in the palm of the left hand and then taken by the right hand to the mouth. Therefore, it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ's faithful solely on the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing" (Redemptionis Sacramentum, no. Churches are closing, priests are dying off, masses young people are dropping their faith, and the Church is slowly slipping into obscurity in its own homeland. Luxembourg, October 15 1969 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. All of us are only grasping a hint of it. October 13, 2022. I beg to differ. [19] This list is by no means exhaustive, and it would be tedious to cite all of these references as a catalog, but let us turn to a few of them to see what the Fathers have to say about the meaning of this practice. 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. This was the law of the Church for almost 14 centuries, and is still the general norm today. Click herefor a handout that can be placed in your bulletin for your parishioner. So when received unworthily, it is not only useless, but it is harmful to oneself (a lifestyle of sin continues), our neighbors (increase of violence, arson, looting, murders), and society in general (take a look at the condition of our country), and is extremely offensive to God (hence the wide-spread suffering). It is also difficult to ensure that the person who receives Communion effectively consumes the host. The person distributing Communion says audibly to each person approaching, "The Body of Christ." Nor did the Vatican interpret it that way, near as I can tell. Im not aware of that limitation and would like to see proper documentation. [16] Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 4.24. All the rites which use leavened bread are reverent but not obsessive. Im skeptical of the claim that collecting absentee ballots for bishops conference votes is unlawful. Cyril of Jerusalem [c. 313-386], Catechetical Lectures, 23:21-22) Several more but no room here. They would find many more areas we all need to work on than just their main focus. Indeed, it can be dangerous for contagion. ), Pray Tell: An open forum on faith in South Texas. 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. Or is there more context that is missing? awr. cites vote tallies to defend a claim that a large majority (longe plurimos) of bishops not only oppose introducing Communion in the hand but consider it tum sensui tum spirituali cultui [] offensioni I think the Holy Spirit was nudging people closer to the problem, which was already in evidence decades before the Council. 3. 5. As further documentation,Pray Tell provides this excerpt from the 2002General Instruction of the Roman Missal in Latin and English on the reception of Communion. The way we communicate the Gospel message is almost as important as the Gospel itself. 1. The two ways of receiving communion can without question take place during the same liturgical service. 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. Q. I am a daily witness at the Basilique du Sacr-Cur de Montmartre (Paris).. St. 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. As with all historical practices, one must examine the context and circumstances which are usually not repeatable.. [13] In the far-flung regions of the empireGaul (modern-day France and Spain) we have the witness of Caesarius of Arles[14] and the council of Auxerre,[15] and in England, we have the Venerable Bede. 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. FYI, the announcement that approval for Communion in the Hand was given (in 1969) to Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, and Chad appeared in Notitiae in v. 6 (1969), no. 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. St. Still, while not the direction eventually taken, I believe restriction to be the more natural reading of the Vaticans intent at that moment in time. However, cases of a deplorable lack of respect towards the Eucharistic species have been reported, cases which are imputable not only to the individuals guilty of such behavior but also to the pastors of the church who have not been vigilant enough regarding the attitude of the faithful towards the Eucharist. Japan, 27 June 1970 This is more a question of moral theology than of liturgy. Has done
[27] John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instruction, 12.15-16, trans. 21. We would also do well to teach, as the Fathers do, that reverence is not only about proper reception of the Eucharist, but also about living the kind of life to which the Eucharist commits us. 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? My sense is that if theres something demonic in all this it is the Galatians moment in which many Catholics find themselves, especially those on the traditional side. As soon as the communicant receives the host, he or she consumes the whole of it. Pope Paul Vl calls attention to the purpose of the InstructionMemoriale Dominiof 29 May 1969, on retaining the traditional practice in use. Father, as to the limitation on what regions might request this indult, Memoriale Domini stipulated that Where a contrary usage, that of placing holy communion on the hand, prevails, the Holy See [] lays on those conferences the task of weighing carefully whatever special circumstances may exist there []. On the one hand, I think this evidence precludes describing communion in the hand as intrinsically irreverent. In the light of the above, we can come to the heart of the matter as to whether a priest may invoke the question of conscience in order to refuse to distribute Communion in the hand. The congregation returned to this issue in the instructionImmensae Caritatis,January 29, 1973: AAS 65 (1973) 264-271; Notitiae 9 (1973) 157-164: Part 4. Sacrilege is at an all-time high, yet use of the Sacrament of Confession is at an all-time low. 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. Even if we presume the authenticity of the text we still do not know how long the practice lasted, whether leavened or unleavened bread was used and whether the practice was exclusive to the Church of Jerusalem. Holt Orders cannot sustain the Church, no matter how much traditionalists preach priests are of the utmost importance. First, Chrysostom in one of his Homilies on Ephesians: What, do you not see the holy vessels so thoroughly cleansed all over, so resplendent? As seen above, the U.S. bishops were not among the first to permit Communion in the hand. And having hollowed your palm, receive the Body of Christ, saying over it, Amen. We should weigh very well the matters in which we appeal to conscience. OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF. When we move in procession, particularly the procession to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Communion, we are a sign, a symbol of that pilgrim Church "on the way.". divine life. Communion in the hand is no more hygienic than Communion in the mouth. So then after having carefully hallowed your eyes by the touch of the Holy Body, partake of it; giving heed lest you lose any portion thereof; for whatever you lose, is evidently a loss to you as it were from one of your own members. We are the Body of Christ, moving forward to receive the Christ who makes us one with himself and with one another. [6] Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Catecheses 5.13. Devotion and reverence toward the Eucharist in the case of communion in the hand. A situation that, in the US certainly, was not necessarily governed by external uniformity (given the varieties of ethnic piety and cultural practices). This is the quote that is always used: " make your left hand a throne for the right, as for that which is to receive a King. Has the Holy Eucharist any other effect? 86). In the United States, the body of Bishops has determined that "[t]he norm is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling"and that a bow is the act of reverence made by those receiving (no. Particularly in regard to this way of receiving communion, experience suggests certain matters requiring careful attention. Unless there is a sense of discipleship rooted in baptism. A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist: But "the sign of communion is more complete when given under both kinds, since in that form the sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more clearly." This is the usual form of receiving communion in the Eastern rites. Basil the Great considered Communion in the hand so irregular that he did not hesitate to consider it a grave fault. Eccl., VII, ix). [20] Cyril of Jerusalem, myst. It seems appropriate to conclude this reflection on the Communion Procession and the reception of Communion with a quotation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. What's at Stake in the Debates Swirling Around Eucharistic Coherence. On the part of both the minister and the recipient, whenever the host is placed in the hand of a communicant there must be careful concern and caution, especially about particles that might fall from the hosts. If Your Hand/Hands are Impeded . If he is a religious priest, what actions can a legitimate superior take as regards the member who denies Communion in the hand? 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. If one is left-handed this is reversed. 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. 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. Why? The oldest reference to the Eucharist in the New Testament occurs in chapters 11 and 12 of the First Letter to the Corinthians, which has no reference to receiving Holy Communion on the tongue. Communion in the hand was officially permitted in the United States in 1977, following an indult that is, special permission given by the Congregation for Divine Sacraments in 1969. Communion on the tongue is recommended and considered the most consonant way to receive the Eucharist, while Communion on the hand is permitted, provided that certain precautions are observed, such as checking to see if any fragments of the Host remain on the palm of the hand. For real reception of the Blessed Eucharist it is required that the sacred species be received into the stomach. That the conference had voted twice but failed to approve the practice and then only won the third vote by gathering absentee votes which is the article claims was unlawful? Obviously, for better or worse, the NLM has an agenda. A Journal of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, by Elizabeth Klein With regard to the second, we have many early witnesses including Paul (see 1 Cor 11:27) and the Didache (seechapter 14). Jamaica, 12 March 1970 For you believe, and correctly, that you are answerable if anything falls from there by neglect.[25]. Maybe this is part of a grand conspiracy by Satan to destroy the Church (ok, probably not that). If, however, Communion is given under both kinds, the rite prescribed in nos. As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. A perception such as this is a dreadfully inaccurate and impoverished understanding of what is a significant religious action. 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. The problem is a lack of intentionality across the board, starting with the laity. 160). Henry Percival and ed. Dear Patrick, 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.. Germany, 6 June 1969 We also welcome to this celebration those who do not share our faith in Jesus Christ. 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. I would like to remind people to indicate clearly how they wish to receive. 6, trans. 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.. Most often when speaking of reverence, however, the Fathers emphasize two main things: 1) that every precaution should be taken lest the Eucharist fall to the ground and 2) that communicants should be from serious sin and quarrels with other Christians. Have reverence for the honor which God has bestowed upon it, and do not lead it down to the vileness of sin.[27]. In fact, each time we move forward together to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, we join the countless ranks of all the baptized who have gone before us, our loved ones, the canonized and uncanonized saints down through the ages, who at their time in history formed a part of this mighty stream of believers. Of note for the modern debate, both John Chrysostom and the Council of Constantinople in Trullo argue that human beings, made in the image of God and capable of communing with him, are more worthy to touch the Eucharist than vessels of gold and silver. Over the years I have read a multitude of opinions for and against, and occasionally perceived false arguments. Thanks for this, Dennis. The Holy Eucharist remits venial sins by disposing us to perform acts of love and contrition. 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. Fr. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite. The communicant should audibly respond, "Amen," indicating by that response his or her belief that this small wafer of bread, the wine in this chalice are in reality the body and blood of Christ the Lord. 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. Several readers pointed out that I made no mention of a text of St. Cyril when mentioning the historical foundations of the practice.
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