Changes at church because of the H1N1 virus

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Last Sunday our pastor informed us that, because of the flu epidemic, we would temporarily discontinue having the congregation drink from the Communion cup, and the holy water would be removed from the font at the entrance. Has your parish done anything like this?
 
Tenebrae said:
Last Sunday our pastor informed us that, because of the flu epidemic, we would temporarily discontinue having the congregation drink from the Communion cup, and the holy water would be removed from the font at the entrance. Has your parish done anything like this?
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my parish still offers the chalice and has holy water in the fonts. the parish I grew up in still has the holy water but does not offer the chalice. I don’t drink from the chalice anyway so it doesn’t bother me
 
In my diocese the general rules are no chalice communion and no shaking of hands during the sign of peace. The withdrawal of holy water is also suggested. The bishop also hinted in a magazine interview that communion in the hand is better, so communion on the tongue has been banned by my parish priest for the time being. There are a few who refrain from receiving communion because of this (however, the chaplains have no problems giving communion on the tongue).
 
No one except the Holy Father has the authority to outright ban reception on the tongue. I would hope that those in any parish where the Bishop or Pastor has discouraged the practice would talk with their Pastor about H1N1 and reception on the tongue to ensure that they are able to continue to receive Holy Communion on the tongue as is their right.

If your Pastor has outright banned it, then those who wish to receive on the tongue need to talk to Father.

As far as banning the chalice, removing holy water, and so forth, I understand the need to protect the Faithful, but it also, IMHO, diminishes our faith. If Christ is TRULY present in the elements of the wine, and it truly has become his most Precious Blood, then it would be rendered incapable of spreading disease.
 
Here is a link to what is going into effect this weekend for the Diocese of Portland.
• Priests will announce that if parishioners are at risk for complications because of chronic health issues or compromised health (i.e., if you have lung disease or are susceptible to infections, etc.), or if you already have any type of cold or flu-like symptoms, you are asked to stay home, both for your well-being and that of others. When individuals are ill, they are not bound by the Sunday Mass obligation. Encouraging people who are at risk to stay away from large church gatherings is an extra step intended to maintain their health.
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• The distribution of the shared consecrated wine for the faithful is suspended, with the exception of those who must receive from the cup due to medical reasons (i.e., Celiac disease).
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• The faithful will be urged, but not required, to receive Holy Communion in the hand rather than on the tongue. All ministers of Holy Communion are advised to distribute the consecrated hosts with care, being cautious not to touch the tongue or the hand of the communicant.
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• All ministers of holy Communion must sanitize their hands before and after distributing Holy Communion.
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• Breaking with custom, parishioners should not to shake hands during the Sign of Peace and will be encouraged to offer a verbal greeting, smile or bow of the head. Hospitality ministers should also not shake hands, but rather offer verbal greetings. They will be strongly encouraged to sanitize their hands prior to and after exercising their particular ministry.
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• Parishioners should not hold hands during the Our Father.
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• Sponges, sometimes found in holy water fonts, should not be used.
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• Prayers of the Faithful will include prayers for those stricken with the flu or other serious illness, for those who care for the sick, and for the community at large.
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You can go to the link for the complete story.
 
In my diocese one must receive communion only in hand. The chalice is still being offered as there is strong evidence (from the CDC and other sources) that the antiseptic properties of the Precious Blood combined with a metal vessel are effective in containing the spread of viri.
 
MusicMan said:
**No one except the Holy Father has the authority to outright ban reception on the tongue. ** I would hope that those in any parish where the Bishop or Pastor has discouraged the practice would talk with their Pastor about H1N1 and reception on the tongue to ensure that they are able to continue to receive Holy Communion on the tongue as is their right.

If your Pastor has outright banned it, then those who wish to receive on the tongue need to talk to Father.

As far as banning the chalice, removing holy water, and so forth, I understand the need to protect the Faithful, but it also, IMHO, diminishes our faith. If Christ is TRULY present in the elements of the wine, and it truly has become his most Precious Blood, then it would be rendered incapable of spreading disease.
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That’s simply not true. My bishop has banned COT until further notice. Individual bishops have a great deal more authority than many peoples’ reading of different Church documents would suggest to them. This is particularly true with exigent circumstances like the current H1N1 (inter)national emergency.

While I can find a great many pundits saying that bishops cannot limit communion to CIH, I have yet to see a single bishop (sitting or retired) make such a statement (even those who are not limiting communion to CIH) or the USCCB or the Holy See.
 
After a quick inspection of the GIRM and the Norms for Reception and Distribution of Holy Communion, they actually seem to indicate that the Bishop has no authority to legislate whether one receives in the hand or on the tongue. These documents specify that it is at the discretion of the Communicant.

Since I am not one typically in favor of the exclusivity of one or the other method, I would appreciate it if someone who is typically ardently in favor of Communion on the tongue only would cite a source for me.
 
There is no documentation of any Bishop banning reception on the tongue.

If you have an official document from a Bishop, post the link. If you do not, then, it is safe to say you or someone at your Parish has misunderstood your Bishop’s guidelines.
 
I am concerned about the Eucharistic Ministers having clean hands!
 
As the secular media is FAMOUS for miscommunicating the Church and her Bishops, I’ll hold onto this grain of salt until there is something published from a Bishop.

Advising CITH is way different than banning COT.
 
I am really bummed because I looked on our Parish website and have found the same thing. Wonder what they are going to do for regular flu since it kills 30,000 people annually and so far we have less than 1000 H1N1 deaths. Hmm, they must be doing something drastic!

I really cannot wait until this flu hysteria passes.
 
One of the people in the Lutheran church choir I accompany is a reporter for the local paper, and there is a Lutheran seminary near by. There is some Halloween tradition involving the seminary’s statue of Martin Luther and a pumpkin.

The person covering this year’s story on the tradition asked my reporter friend what the significance of the statue was. Did “that guy” found the seminary? was one of the questions. My friend was pretty upset at the fellow’s ignorance, even referring to him as a “dumb Episcopalian.”

So, yeah, you can count on the secular media to screw things up, especially if they’re not raised in that faith tradition.

And in this day and age when many Catholics don’t receive on the tongue, even Catholic reporters could easily misconstrue “I am discouraging Communion on the tongue,” as “Communion on the tongue will be forbidden.”
 
In our Diocese the reception from the chalice has been suspended and there is no shaking of hands for the Sign of Peace.

Nothing said about receiving Communion on the tongue and lots of people continue to receive that way.

We also have bottles of antiseptic hand wash for the EMHCs to use before distributing Communion.
 
At our church, nothing has changed. 🤷

We still have the Chalice, Communion on the tongue and sad to say, hand holding during the Lord’s Prayer.

Last time I asked Father about it, he said, unless something drastic happens, nothing will change.
 
We have changed nothing but have asked parishioners to use common sense and if they have a cold or are sick. We also told people if they are sick they SHOULD stay home and they are not sinning if they miss mass.
 
In our parish, there are now bottles of hand sanitizer all over, and the altar servers and EMHCs (when we have the latter, they are few) are required to wash immediately before serving. Other than that there have been no mandatory changes.

Our parish rarely offers the Chalice and Father has simply advised people who don’t feel well to not shake hands at the Sign of Peace, and to consider receiving Communion in the hand. We still have holy water and at least half the congregation still receives on the tongue (unusual, I know!). This is all in line with what the Bishop has said - he hasn’t made anything mandatory except maybe the hand sanitizer.

We are not a holding-hands-during-the-Our-Father parish. (Most other parishes in the area do hold hands, always offer the Chalice, and most people receive in the hand. The FSSP community is an exception of course.)
 
I’d really like to know how CITH is any safer then COT. For years I received in the hand EMHC, Deacons, and Priest had a habit of touching my hand, for the past six years it has only been COT and not once has the Priest or Deacon touched my tongue. What about an EMHC, Deacon, or Priest touching children or adults to “bless them” then not cleaning their hands before continuing to give communion? For that matter why not restrict the distribution of communion to only Deacons or Priest, it would seem the fewer hands you have touching other people or touching something that will be ingested the less chance you would have of spreading the flu.

I would be interested in a study that looked at the spread of the flu among those who attend a FSSP parish and the spread of the flu among other parishes.

There seems to be a bit of hypocrisy in these decisions on what to restrict and what not to restrict. Is it possible that some Bishops and Priest are using this crisis to hold back those more traditional Catholics?
 
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