Can Roman Catholics receive communion in Maronite Church?

[couponfit]

Actually, the custom is not a handshake. The person passing the peace holds his/her hands together in the “prayer position” and the recipient puts both hand over, thus taking the peace. And yes, the peace is passed to the nearest person so, for example, if you’re sitting at the end of a row, you would receive the peace from the deacon/server/usher and then pass it to the person next to you who, in turn, passes it to the next, etc.

Sorry if that description is a bit lacking, but it’s the best I can do remotely. Best to watch and follow. BTW, the same custom is employed by the Chaldean and Syriac Churches. I’m not sure about the Armenians or Alexandrenes.

Yes you have to consider the tone of the mass! In the Roman Catholic Church today, in say America, the priest faces the people across the altar. That’s still new since the 1960’s or so. The imagery it’s intended to create is a fathering around the Lord’s table here and now. The sign of peace, which is also Vatican II, in the Roman Catholic Church is part of that imagery because God’s is present amongst us we simply pass recognition from one congregant nearby to another. The intent is the same in Maronite Church. This is not a moment to make friends, nor is it a true handshake of friendship, but the recognition of each other as being the children of God and being worthy of God’s gift of Grace.

In the Maronite Church, and from what I understand all the Eastern Churches, the imagery is that the priest is leading the people to the Heavenly Liturgy in God’s Kingdom. If practiced in the particular eastern church, during the sign of peace, the priest who leads the congregation to heave receives and passes the grace to the Deacon, or Alter Servers, or a few congregants who in turn pass it throughout the church. The exact manner in which it is passed is more customary than doctrinal. The Discipline is to pass the grace, the custom is how it is passed.