Please remember that there is no "right" way to receive. (I dont direct this at you, I mean it to everyone on all sides.). Click herefor a handout that can be placed in your bulletin for your parishioner. Communion received on the tongue and while kneeling. 896. If one is right handed the left hand should rest upon the right. But to us our Lord has given both . 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? What some call discipleship, others evangelizationnew or whatever, or some speak of discernment and application of spiritual gifts. Timothy O'Malley, Copyright 2023 [3] Augustine, Answer to Petilian 2.23.53and Against Parmenian 2.7.13. OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF. Pakistan, 29 October 1976 The liturgical assembly of the baptized that comes together for the celebration of the Eucharist is a witness to, a manifestation of, the pilgrim Church. To that which you are you respond Amen (yes, it is true!) and by responding to it you assent to it. For Catholics: As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. Church Life Journal [23], The great and divine Apostle Paul with loud voice calls man created in the image of God, the body and temple of Christ. ), Pray Tell: An open forum on faith in South Texas. Receiving the Host in the Hand | Franciscan Media Phillip Schaff and Henry Wace in NPNF Second Series, 14 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1900). The manner of receiving holy Communion - Catholic News Agency St. 5. Pray Tell here documents two statements of the Congregation for Divine Worship issued under Pope Paul VI. 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). 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. Is the Catholic Church ever going to bring back communion wine? Battered Gargoyles & The Human Future - Rod Dreher's Diary Finally, ensuring the application of liturgical law is above all the responsibility of the bishop and only indirectly the religious superior. 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. 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. Whatever one thinks about the practice today and its reemergence after Vatican II, it is important that our conversation be grounded in an accurate picture of the history of this practice. It is also difficult to ensure that the person who receives Communion effectively consumes the host. 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. Receiving the host in one's hand has been an option in the United States since the bishops authorized this in May 1977 and the Holy See confirmed it. Aaron, this describes what the countries are to do where Communion in the hand was being practiced. With your hand hollowed, receive the Body of Christ and answer '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. Part 4. [17] See Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 7.9.4. On November 14, 1996, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops approved the following guidelines on the reception of Communion. The new manner of giving communion must not be imposed in a way that would exclude the traditional practice. 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. Pope Benedict XVI 1927-2022 tribute page and access to resources here. Indonesia, 27 March 1971 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. 96). If one is left-handed this is reversed. 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. But is the impression they give generally correct? In this he shows a great fear, and since the hand that is stretched out holds a higher rank, it is the one that is extended for receiving the body of the King, and the other hand bears and brings its sister hand, while not thinking that it is playing the role of a servant, as it is equal with it in honour, on account of the bread of the King, which is also borne by it. 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? As for decades of poor or heterodox catechesis on the Sacraments, it seems more likely that catechesis has never been better, more Scripture-based, and more soundly theological. The question has been asked for a long time since the Church has often allowed both methods of reception. Since Christ is really, substantially, sacramentally present but not physically, being OC over crumbs is not devotion. [11] Council of Constantinople in Trullo, canon 101. I suspect that Christ can cope with particles that get dropped but the care we show, or the lack of care, is what counts. A passage from St. Cyril of Jerusalem is used to persuade Catholics that Communion in the hand is an ancient practice legitimately restored after Vatican II. Today, both manners of receiving Communion are worthy and licit. The communicant may choose whether to receive the Body of Christ in the hand or on the tongue. The Eucharist fulfills this call: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? St. I have celebrated Mass in places where there is no Communion in the hand and yet have observed some people approach the Eucharist in a slovenly and distracted manner with nary a trace of reverence in sight. The Council of Saragossa (380): Excommunicated anyone who dared continue . Some scholars claim that this part of the Mystical Catechesis is not originally from St. Cyril but a later interpolation into the text. It is not solely the result of some weird medieval form of reverence. 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. 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.". 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. The way you put it, it doesnt sound obsessive-compulsive but salutary. It was designed: 1. 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. A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist: "You're talking to someone who has only owned a smartphone for a yearI resisted," he said. To signify, seal, and apply to believers all the benefits of the new covenant. North Africa,October 15 1969 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. [21] Theodore of Mopsuestia, catech. 95% of parishes shrinking, seminaries empty, young people disengaged: it will happen in Africa and Asia too when the culture of the secular West overwhelms the Third World. The problem of lack of reverence stems not from the manner of receiving Communion but from the lack of faith, awe, and gratitude before this great mystery. Take a step or two to the side to make way for the next communicant, then receive our Lord. But one should not by his own judgment abstain from or return to communion, as he pleases. Whatever procedure is adopted, care must be taken not to allow particles of the Eucharistic bread to fall or be scattered. [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. 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. 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. Communion in the hand vs. Communion on the tongue | Crux The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 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. Bishops who have been permitted to introduce the new rite of communion are asked to send a report to the congregation, six months hence, on the outcome. But such as, instead of their hands, make vessels of gold or other materials for the reception of the divine gift, and by these receive the immaculate communion, we by no means allow to come, as preferring inanimate and inferior matter to the image of God.[24]. 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. While we have the option of receiving holy Communion either on the tongue or on the hand, we must always be mindful of receiving our Lord respectfully. 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. Paul VI had a measure of it in 1974, and we hav emostly missed the wisdom of Evangelii Nuntiandi. What if we were passionate about all that? (Catholic Encyclopedia: Genuflexion) One said: When [the practice was] introduced in the U.S. Cyril of Jerusalem was quoted make your hands a throne for the King, take and eat.Is anyone denying the quote?, Concerning Communion in the hand, please consult the Mystical Catechesis of St. Cyril of Jerusalem for a description of the practice around A.D. 345. Obviously, for better or worse, the NLM has an agenda. It is simply reading too much into this practice, and it is not correct to support something one favors by denigrating another practice. Here in India Communion is distributed both on tongue and in hand. If Communion is received in the hand, the hands should first of all be clean. The two ways of receiving communion can without question take place during the same liturgical service. Yet even here, the experts sometimes forgot the unrepeatable reality of original circumstances so that restoration is never quite the same. Paul W. Harkins ACW 31 (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1963). I dont think reception in the hand is destroying the Church like what some prominent leaders in the Church have implied, but this practice has still had wide ranging [and not entirely positive] ramifications in the Church over the last half century, far beyond the obvious choice of the individual communicant. This blog is not associated with Pray Tell: An open forum on faith in South Texas. We are the Body of Christ, moving forward to receive the Christ who makes us one with himself and with one another. The people administering the sacrament are asked to use hand sanitizer immediately before. Fire came down and consumed the sacrifices of Elijah It is not clear as to how widespread it was or if it was a regular practice. And to demonstrate reverence and. 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. Bolivia, October 15 1969 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. 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.. The divine coal is a common image of the Eucharist in Syrian theology. 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. 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. 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? 4. 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. [9] Theodore of Mopsuestia, Catechetical Homilies 6. Indeed, it can be dangerous for contagion. [] 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. [27] John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instruction, 12.15-16, trans. The list obviously is not complete, for this article says that Germany and France both received permission from the Holy See on the same day in 1969: Many pathogens are transmitted through the hands. Alphonse Mingana (Gorgias Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2009 [1933]). To lessen our evil inclinations. The Council was a start, but we have allowed ourselves to get sidetracked in silly and divisive banter. It is advisable, therefore, that the rite be introduced gradually and in the beginning within small, better prepared groups and in favorable settings.