Sacrilege is at an all-time high, yet use of the Sacrament of Confession is at an all-time low. And to demonstrate reverence and. 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. Interestingly, during the Middle Ages, the reception of Holy Communion was restricted to "on the tongue" because of abuses. Mingle and flow into the palms of his disciples![22]. The people administering the sacrament are asked to use hand sanitizer immediately before. 7. We have no nets to cast deeply. 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. Bishop Athanasius Schneider argued along the same lines at the end of February. Communion in the hand is allowed in the United States by decision of the American Bishops. Because, he says, one should choose the days on which one lives with more purity and self-control in order to approach so great a sacrament worthily. Leo P. McCauley FotC 64 (Catholic University of America Press: Washington, DC, 2000 [1970]). Japan, 27 June 1970 In North Africa (including Egypt) the practice is mentioned by Tertullian,[1] Cyprian,[2] Augustine,[3] Cyril of Alexandria,[4] and John Climacus. | Irondale, AL 35210 |. This is more a question of moral theology than of liturgy. Shapiro picked up an abused-looking iPhone from his desk. Roland Teske (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2001). 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. Eccl., VII, ix). With your hand hollowed, receive the Body of Christ and answer Amen. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. 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. Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university. 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 Council was a start, but we have allowed ourselves to get sidetracked in silly and divisive banter. For some, however, the singing of this hymn is perceived as an intrusion on their own prayer, their private thanksgiving after Communion. 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. [2] 2 Accept Communion in a state of grace. Q. 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. 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. A Pastoral Guide to Receiving Communion - Crisis Magazine Phillip Schaff (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889). 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 . 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. 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. For you hear the words, the Body of Christ and respond Amen. Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true (St. Augustine, Sermon 272: PL 38, 1247). 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. Maybe this is due to decades of poor or heterodox catechesis on the Sacraments. Ireland, 4 September 1976 Do we accept an experience of the Real Presence only when the externals and the lingo of 1950 are seen and heard? OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF. (or: Which Heresy Will You Give Up for Lent? Timothy O'Malley, Copyright 2023 [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. It is not clear as to how widespread it was or if it was a regular practice. 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. http://www.kathpedia.com/index.php?title=Handkommunion. How should this evidence be brought to bear on the modern conversation? [11] In East Syria (what we would now call the Middle East) we have evidence from Ephrem the Syrian[12] and Narsai. I am a daily witness at the Basilique du Sacr-Cur de Montmartre (Paris).. My three hypotheses were less well researched opinions on my part, theyre not (that last one was a joke on Cdl Sarahs comments, sorry if that wasnt clear), but simply launchpoints in an honest discussion on the impact of Pope Pauls Indult, and the circumstances surrounding it, whether or not they hold any real merit. 1996, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 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. The rite of communion in the hand must not be put into practice indiscriminately. Greg., Dial., I, III, c. iii). If Your Hand/Hands are Impeded . Receiving Communion The Sacrament of Holy Communion (also known as The Lord's Supper or Eucharist) has been precious and life-giving to Christians for 2,000 years. 1. Thanks for this, Dennis. It is not appropriate to reach out with the fingers and take the host from the person distributing. Some scholars claim that this part of the Mystical Catechesis is not originally from St. Cyril but a later interpolation into the text. From these documents, we can deduce the following points. Cardinals Thorne (Peru) and Caffarra (Bologna) have banned Communion in the hand, citing reasons of abuse and disrespect. 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. The showing of tooth and claw by some traditional-leaning Catholics is a scandal that discourages neighbors, and puts a very ugly face on the Body for others to view. Is the Catholic Church ever going to bring back communion wine? The following norms must, therefore, be respected. The Church in Europe struggled mightilyand some might say in futilityagainst centuries of violence, sect on sect, nation vs nation. The rite of communion in the hand must not be put into practice indiscriminately. Its just BREAD!!. Has the Holy Eucharist any other effect? But is the impression they give generally correct? The left hand is extended, with the right hand under the left in support (left handed persons may wish to . The way you put it, it doesnt sound obsessive-compulsive but salutary. Paul W. Harkins ACW 31 (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1963). 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. St. The [Seraph] did not hold it, and [Isaiah] did not eat it
The option offered to the faithful of receiving the Eucharistic bread in their hand and putting it into their own mouth must not turn out to be the occasion for regarding it as ordinary bread or as just another religious article. http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2014/03/truth-about-communion-in-hand-while.html#.Wpa2wdIUnGg. If, however, Communion is given under both kinds, the rite prescribed in nos. The Holy Eucharist remits venial sins by disposing us to perform acts of love and contrition. It is simply reading too much into this practice, and it is not correct to support something one favors by denigrating another practice. What if we were passionate about all that? 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. I mean WHAT SPECIFIC REASONS were given for requesting it in the first place? 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. And having hollowed your palm, receive the Body of Christ, saying over it, Amen. 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. Confess it and move on. . The most ancient practice of distributing Holy Communion was, with all probability, to give Communion to the faithful in the palm of the hand. My simple point is that the individual ways our Church evolves over history have a significant impact on its life thereafter, often in ways we dont expect. 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. The manner of receiving holy Communion - Catholic News Agency After stipulating the historical practice of Communion in the hand, Memoriale Domini: defends the development of discipline that led to Communion on the tongue As seen above, the U.S. bishops were not among the first to permit Communion in the hand. 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? These considerations can perhaps help balance our perspective (whether in favor or against the practice of communion in the hand), and alert us to the fact that reverence is a complex phenomenon that, of course, does involve postures of the body, but most importantly, the attitude of the heart. Since the question involves human attitudes, this mode of communion is bound up with the perceptiveness and preparation of the one receiving. 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]. [3] Augustine, Answer to Petilian 2.23.53and Against Parmenian 2.7.13. That said, there are dimensions to this discussion that I think are both valuable and havent been given much screen time overall. Communion on the Tongue is an Apostolic Tradition, and - Catholic365 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. Particularly in regard to this way of receiving communion, experience suggests certain matters requiring careful attention. 2023 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 915). Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS) TOP 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. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for one hour. The author seems to think that liturgical reforms should consist of only what an ecumenical council prescribed. Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), 2 October 1971 Therefore I stand by what I wrote in the original: In this context I think it is fair to say that the present practice of Communion in the hand is not a simple restoration of a historical custom but rather introduced a new practice in new circumstances which, while it has some historical justification, is essentially motivated by current pastoral concerns in some parts of the world.. Zambia, 11 March 1974 Jamaica, 12 March 1970 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 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. 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.