Cleanliness and Communion

[OrangeOwl]

Sometime ago, I was reading threads with people arguing back and forth on whether to receive communion on the hand or on the tongue. One of the main arguments for COTT was the possible dirtiness of the person’s hands.

**If a person receives COTH when he has dirty or unclean hands, is that considered sacrilege or some other serious sin? **

I know the simple answer is just for the person to wash his hands before he goes to mass or receive COTT, but my brain has complicated the situation too much for it to be that easy. What if that person touches other dirty things accidentally before communion or washes his hands improperly? What about shaking hands with other people during mass and making their hands dirty before they go to communion?

Do germs on your hands really matter? If they do, what’s the threshold?

 

[Boulder257]

I think you arfe probably over-complicating the situation. Theoretically our hands always have some level of dirt, germs, etc. Our hands are to be a throne for our lord. Theoretically we want to keep a clean throne. But, we shouldn’t become overly concerned about it. This is missing the major point and probably focusing on the wrong thing.

Worry about the cleanness of your heart more so than your hands. And, if it bothers you that much, just receive on the tongue. Having said that, you want to worry about germs, just think about the tongue…yuck!

God Bless.

 

[Bezant]

Sometime ago, I was reading threads with people arguing back and forth on whether to receive communion on the hand or on the tongue. One of the main arguments for COTT was the possible dirtiness of the person’s hands.

**If a person receives COTH when he has dirty or unclean hands, is that considered sacrilege or some other serious sin? **

I know the simple answer is just for the person to wash his hands before he goes to mass or receive COTT, but my brain has complicated the situation too much for it to be that easy. What if that person touches other dirty things accidentally before communion or washes his hands improperly? What about shaking hands with other people during mass and making their hands dirty before they go to communion?

Do germs on your hands really matter? If they do, what’s the threshold?

That’s a good question.

Catholicism doesn’t have much of a concept of a ritual sin, IMO, and it’s definitely not serious. Sure, eating a couple drumsticks on Good Friday five minutes before taking the Eucharist is bad, but if done deliberately, it seems that the actual sin is rejecting Church authority on the Eucharistic fast / Lenten abstention (belief).

C.O.T.T. isn’t necessarily clean if the priest’s hands aren’t clean (I know he washes his hands in water before the consecration, but that’s a ritual wash).

However, I prefer COTT to COTH, both because my hands may not necessarily be clean and I don’t want to get sick, and because of an incident several years ago. A man in our parish dropped the Host, and the priest got angry when he refused to eat it.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I would suggest the spiritual dirtiness, participation in sin, is more important that the physical dirtiness. In that respect, the tongue is far dirtier than the hands. See James 3:1-12

…7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue–a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so…