Communion in the hand...END IT!

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Communion in the hand is completely banned by the Church in many places. How can those people derive the same graces you do? Is God discriminating with His graces?
That is not correct! CITH is not allowed by the particular Bishop in his own jurisdiction. It is his prerogative to allow it.

Are you implying that the Church or the Bishops can limit God’s capability to distribute grace? Yes, God is discriminating with his graces. He grants them only to whom wishes to receive them.
 
I believe they are.

And the only deacon whom I receive from wears a humeral veil when carrying the ciborium. How about you?
I really support COTT and that is my preferred way to receive; however your showmanship of piety in these posts does not appear to be righteous. It gives the impression of an holier than thou attitude, and it does not convene the sense of charity and clarity that we need to use to counsel our brothers in Christ. I am not saying that you are not pious I do not know you, it just does not come out that way in your posts.
 
Communion in the hand is completely banned by the Church in many places. How can those people derive the same graces you do?
And in other places it is completely allowed. How can people NOT derive the same graces from something which is permitted for them?
 
Communion in the hand is completely banned by the Church in many places. How can those people derive the same graces you do? Is God discriminating with His graces?
Well, it is not banned in Rome. i just watched hundreds of people receiving CITH from Priests and Deacons. Pope Benedict did not look particularly pained. He didn’t look like he was “just tolerating” the practice.

True, those who received from him, did receive on the tongue. But, he is the Head Honcho, so he could put an end to the practice of CITH at any time, if he so desired.

So, until and if he does that, you are very wrong to imply that people do not derive the same graces.
 
Just because Rome or the Pope hasn’t made a statement or ruling against a particular abuse or a particular heretic or a particular group of heretics (for whatever reason there may be, i.e. fear of upsetting the masses, etc.), doesn’t mean that it still isn’t an abuse…as a matter of fact indifference to it is much graver than the actual problem…and that is why one can reasonably get upset with Rome sometimes, because they are indifferent to a lot of problems in The Church today…unless it something dealing with more conservative or traditionalists people and/or groups…then the de facto response is “excommunicate them, and you can not have any interactions with them or you formally participating and supporting schism” Then in the same breathe we are led to believe ecumenism with the protestants and the real schismatics is something we should strive for…why not go to a Baptist Church on Sunday…it is ecumenism…go receive sacraments in the Orthodox Church…no big deal.
Well, it is not banned in Rome. i just watched hundreds of people receiving CITH from Priests and Deacons. Pope Benedict did not look particularly pained. He didn’t look like he was “just tolerating” the practice.

True, those who received from him, did receive on the tongue. But, he is the Head Honcho, so he could put an end to the practice of CITH at any time, if he so desired.

So, until and if he does that, you are very wrong to imply that people do not derive the same graces.
 
Just because Rome or the Pope hasn’t made a statement or ruling against a particular abuse or a particular heretic or a particular group of heretics (for whatever reason there may be, i.e. fear of upsetting the masses, etc.), doesn’t mean that it still isn’t an abuse…as a matter of fact indifference to it is much graver than the actual problem…and that is why one can reasonably get upset with Rome sometimes, because they are indifferent to a lot of problems in The Church today…unless it something dealing with more conservative or traditionalists people and/or groups…then the de facto response is “excommunicate them, and you can not have any interactions with them or you formally participating and supporting schism” Then in the same breathe we are led to believe ecumenism with the protestants and the real schismatics is something we should strive for…why not go to a Baptist Church on Sunday…it is ecumenism…go receive sacraments in the Orthodox Church…no big deal.
The difference being, that the Pope has the charism of the Holy Spirit to determine if a certain action is indeed an abuse.

You don’t.

He is not a wimp. He has upset plenty of people.
 
A deacon’s hands are not anointed or consecrated in the diaconal ordination rite. He is, however, an ordinary minister of Holy Communion by virtue of his ordination.

Mal : Precisely and it is one of the Last of the Rites of the Diaconate prior to becoming a Priest.

Excerpt from Dietrich von Hildebrand :

There can be no doubt that Communion in the hand is an expression of the trend towards desacralization in the Church in general and irreverence in approaching the Eucharist in particular. The ineffable mystery of the bodily presence of Christ in the consecrated host calls for a deeply reverent attitude. (To take the Body of Christ in our unanointed hands—just as if it were a mere piece of bread is something in itself deeply irreverent and detrimental for our faith.) Dealing with this unfathomable mystery as if we were merely dealing with nothing but another piece of bread, something we naturally do every day with mere bread, makes the act of faith in the real bodily presence of Christ more difficult. Such behavior toward the consecrated host slowly corrodes our faith in the bodily presence and fosters the idea that it is only a symbol of Christ. To claim that taking the bread in our hands increases the sense of the reality of the bread is an absurd argument. The reality of the bread is not what matters—that is also visible for any atheist. But the fact that the host is in reality the Body of Christ—the fact that transubstantiation has taken place—this is the theme which must be stressed.

Arguments for Communion in the hand based upon the fact that this practice can be found among the early Christians is not really valid. They overlook the dangers and the inadequacy of re-introducing the practice today. Pope Pius XII spoke in very clear and unmistakable terms against the idea that one could re-introduce today customs from the times of the catacombs. Certainly we should try to renew in the souls of Catholics today the spirit, fervor, and heroic devotion found in the faith of the early Christians and the many martyrs from among their ranks. But simply adopting their customs is something else again; customs can assume a completely new function today, and we cannot and should not simply try to re-introduce them.

In the days of the catacombs the danger of desacralization and irreverence which threatens today was not present. The contrast between the saeculum [secular] and the holy Church was constantly in the minds of Christians. Thus a custom which was not danger in those times can constitute a grave pastoral danger in our day.

Consider how St. Francis regarded the extraordinary dignity of the priest which consists exactly in the fact that he is allowed to touch the Body of Christ with his anointed hands. St. Francis said: “If I were to meet at the same time a saint from heaven and a poor priest, I would first show my respect to the priest and quickly kiss his hand, and then I would say: ‘O wait, St. Lawrence, for the hands of this man touch the Word of Life and possess a good far surpasses everything that is human.’”

Someone may say: but did not St. Tarcisius distribute Communion though he was no priest? Surely no one was scandalized because he touched the consecrated host with his hands. And in an emergency, a layman is today allowed to give Communion to others.

But this exception for emergency cases is not something which implies a lack of respect for the holy Body of Christ. It is a privilege justified by emergency—which should be accepted with trembling heart (and should remain a privilege, reserved only for an emergency).
 
A deacon’s hands are not anointed or consecrated in the diaconal ordination rite. He is, however, an ordinary minister of Holy Communion by virtue of his ordination.

Mal : Precisely and it is one of the Last of the Rites of the Diaconate prior to becoming a Priest.

Excerpt from Dietrich von Hildebrand :

There can be no doubt that Communion in the hand is an expression of the trend towards desacralization in the Church in general and irreverence in approaching the Eucharist in particular. The ineffable mystery of the bodily presence of Christ in the consecrated host calls for a deeply reverent attitude. (To take the Body of Christ in our unanointed hands—just as if it were a mere piece of bread is something in itself deeply irreverent and detrimental for our faith.) Dealing with this unfathomable mystery as if we were merely dealing with nothing but another piece of bread, something we naturally do every day with mere bread, makes the act of faith in the real bodily presence of Christ more difficult. Such behavior toward the consecrated host slowly corrodes our faith in the bodily presence and fosters the idea that it is only a symbol of Christ. To claim that taking the bread in our hands increases the sense of the reality of the bread is an absurd argument. The reality of the bread is not what matters—that is also visible for any atheist. But the fact that the host is in reality the Body of Christ—the fact that transubstantiation has taken place—this is the theme which must be stressed.

Arguments for Communion in the hand based upon the fact that this practice can be found among the early Christians is not really valid. They overlook the dangers and the inadequacy of re-introducing the practice today. Pope Pius XII spoke in very clear and unmistakable terms against the idea that one could re-introduce today customs from the times of the catacombs. Certainly we should try to renew in the souls of Catholics today the spirit, fervor, and heroic devotion found in the faith of the early Christians and the many martyrs from among their ranks. But simply adopting their customs is something else again; customs can assume a completely new function today, and we cannot and should not simply try to re-introduce them.

In the days of the catacombs the danger of desacralization and irreverence which threatens today was not present. The contrast between the saeculum [secular] and the holy Church was constantly in the minds of Christians. Thus a custom which was not danger in those times can constitute a grave pastoral danger in our day.

Consider how St. Francis regarded the extraordinary dignity of the priest which consists exactly in the fact that he is allowed to touch the Body of Christ with his anointed hands. St. Francis said: “If I were to meet at the same time a saint from heaven and a poor priest, I would first show my respect to the priest and quickly kiss his hand, and then I would say: ‘O wait, St. Lawrence, for the hands of this man touch the Word of Life and possess a good far surpasses everything that is human.’”

Someone may say: but did not St. Tarcisius distribute Communion though he was no priest? Surely no one was scandalized because he touched the consecrated host with his hands. And in an emergency, a layman is today allowed to give Communion to others.

But this exception for emergency cases is not something which implies a lack of respect for the holy Body of Christ. It is a privilege justified by emergency—which should be accepted with trembling heart (and should remain a privilege, reserved only for an emergency).
You can quote from now till doomsday, doesn’t matter.

At this time, Pope BenedictXVI is the Supreme Pontiff. For faithful Catholics, his words and those of the Magisterium are the final determinate.

END OF STORY
 
I can only give my own personal testimony which I know will upset some. I have never received Communion in the hand - always on the tongue since 1958 when I made my First Communion. I was an altar boy for several years before Vatican II and I can personally attest that I have seen with my own two eyes particles upon the paten which used to be placed under the necks of communicants. In my mother’s day, communicants placed their hands under the communion rail cloth as an extra line of defense.

CITH is an indult. The norm throughout most of Western European history (see Bishop Basil? I am making it clear that it is Western European history) was on the tongue. What was good enough for all the ancestors that I have been able to run down in my family’s genealogy is good enough for me.
 
You have no idea for the charism of papal infallibility means…I can tell by your attitude, I will end up becoming uncharitable trying to explain it to you and I do not want to do that on Ash Wednesday.
The difference being, that the Pope has the charism of the Holy Spirit to determine if a certain action is indeed an abuse.

You don’t.

He is not a wimp. He has upset plenty of people.
 
A deacon’s hands are not anointed or consecrated in the diaconal ordination rite. He is, however, an ordinary minister of Holy Communion by virtue of his ordination.

Mal : Precisely and it is one of the Last of the Rites of the Diaconate prior to becoming a Priest. QUOTE

I raised the question about a Deacon’s hands not being anointed as are a priest’s, to point out the error in emphasising that only a priest’s anointed hands can touch the Blessed Sacrament. Clearly, a Deacon’s hands can, even if not so anointed.

Your second point overlooks the fact that a Permanent Deacon stays just as that - a Permanent Deacon. He is, however, just as much a Deacon as is someone preparing to be a priest.
 
Unless it is infallibly defined, it is very well possible that it is wrong. Do you understand that? Do you understand that The Pope and all the men in the Magisterium are just that…MEN capable of error and even sinning. It is possible for them to be wrong in their judgement…it is also possible for them to be indifferent to an ongoing abuse, like I alluded to earlier…now if it is a matter of faith and morals or infallibly defined, I will not argue with it…but if it isn’t, we are not bound to follow it with blind obedience. Do you understand the difference? I have seen your type, you want to prove just how Catholic you are, so you blindly accept everything that comes out of Rome as The Gospel…
You can quote from now till doomsday, doesn’t matter.

At this time, Pope BenedictXVI is the Supreme Pontiff. For faithful Catholics, his words and those of the Magisterium are the final determinate.

END OF STORY
 
You have no idea for the charism of papal infallibility means…I can tell by your attitude, I will end up becoming uncharitable trying to explain it to you and I do not want to do that on Ash Wednesday.
Who said anything about the charism of papal infallibility?

I did not.

Don’t you think the Holy Spirit gives the Pope special graces to guide the church?

You may be uncharitable, if you choose. I welcome it on this Ash Wednesday as a special penance for being a “papist”.
 
Yes, he is given special graces to guide the Church…he is the successor to a Papal Office…an office in which unless he is exercising the Charism of Papal Infallibility, then he is TOTALLY capable of being fallible in his execution of said duties as Pope…doesn’t seem like your “papist” argument is very Catholic at all…Like I said, you don’t understand what you were talking about (I am not trying to be uncharitable, just truthful)…because unless there is some new doctrine I have never been taught regarding the pope that claims he is flawless and sinless and incapable of error at all times…then unless he is speaking Ex Cathedra, he is capable of making mistakes just like the rest of us. Please enlighten me if I am wrong. I wish you all the love and grace this Lenten Season…I hope you have not taken any of my comments the wrong way…I mean no disrespect.
Who said anything about the charism of papal infallibility?

I did not.

Don’t you think the Holy Spirit gives the Pope special graces to guide the church?

You may be uncharitable, if you choose. I welcome it on this Ash Wednesday as a special penance for being a “papist”.
 
No, actually I am a Catholic…but unlike some, I am a Catholic that actually knows and understands what The Church teaches…

That comment is a defense of my position and in no way directed to you or any other member of this forum…but I like how you have labeled me with a term that is usually reserved for Sede’s…thanks for the insult…if you ever read any of my post you would realize I am an ardent defender of The Pope, but unlike some people, I don’t deify him…I actually realize he is a human capable of error. God Bless
I have seen your type also. It is called “more Catholic than the Pope”.
 
I raised the question about a Deacon’s hands not being anointed as are a priest’s, to point out the error in emphasising that only a priest’s anointed hands can touch the Blessed Sacrament. Clearly, a Deacon’s hands can, even if not so anointed.

Mal and Others pointed out the Teachings of POPE Leo I the Great - Pope Gregory the Great - St Basil - St Thomas Aquinas - St Francis of Assisi - and even Recently Pope Paul the VI

Communion in the hand was never a universal custom or practice in the history of the Church. Popes St. Sixtus (115-165 A.D.) and St. Euchtyian (275-283 A.D.) both forbade the faithful from receiving communion in the hand; St. Basil (330-379 A.D.) permitted this practice only in times of persecution; St Leo the Great teaches, “one receives in the mouth what one believes by faith.” Eventually, communion in the hand was forbidden universally because, as Pope Paul VI states, “with the passage of time as the truth of the eucharistic mystery, its power, and Christ’s presence in it were more deeply understood the usage adopted was that the minister himself placed the particle of the consecrated bread on the tongue of the communicant” [Memoriale Domini, 8]. If Catholics did not believe in the Real Presence, then to argue over which mode was more reverent would be superfluous and ridiculous.

In 1965, Cardinal Suenans, Archbishop of Belgium, introduced the practice of receiving communion in the hand to his diocese. Pope Paul VI addressed this flagrant act of disobedience in 1969 with the release of his encyclical Memoriale Domini. Pope Paul VI explains in his encyclical why communion on the tongue is the norm of the Church and enumerates the many dangers attached to receiving communion in the hand. Communion on the tongue is the preferred norm of the Church because it “more effectively ensures that communion is distributed with the required reverence, decorum, and dignity; that there is less danger of disrespect for the Eucharistic elements…[and so] caution is exercised which the Church has always counseled regarding the particles of the consecrated bread”[11].

In addition to Pope Paul VI’s concern for the safety of the Eucharistic elements, by receiving communion directly on the tongue one also recognizes and gives reverence to the consecrated hands of the priests (“because out of reverence towards this sacrament, nothing touches it but what is consecrated”[Aquinas, S.T.,VIII,Q.82, Art.13]).

Your second point overlooks the fact that a Permanent Deacon stays just as that - a Permanent Deacon. He is, however, just as much a Deacon as is someone preparing to be a priest.

Mal: My second point does no such thing. If a Minister of the Church provides the Holy Eucharist on the Tongue of the Communicant having recieved his Office by The Sacrament of HOLY ORDERS itself then he does so by Sacrament. A Layperson touching the Sacred Host can not make the same claim nor claim the same ability can they?
 
Just because the Church sanctions a practice does not mean that it is good. Witness the loss of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. This is a direct result of communion in the hand. I know. I lived through it. And if you happen to go to a parish that this isn’t so, for every parish like yours there are dozens that aren’t. I have witnessed sacrileges in the local parish Church here that have made me sick for days.
 
Thank the Lord there is someone else here that realizes this!!! This is a point I have been trying to make with some Catholic robots who blindly feel that everything that happens in The Catholic Church is infallible as if Christ did it Himself…
Just because the Church sanctions a practice does not mean that it is good. Witness the loss of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. This is a direct result of communion in the hand. I know. I lived through it. And if you happen to go to a parish that this isn’t so, for every parish like yours there are dozens that aren’t. I have witnessed sacrileges in the local parish Church here that have made me sick for days.
 
<<< I have seen your type also. It is called “more Catholic than the Pope”. >>>>>

Mal: Although this was directed at Michael - it remains an “attitude” of many in the Church who have decided to be judgemental of those who take a theological stand. To say that he is “more Catholic than the Pope” or to make the Statement that "Because Benedict has not opposed it and he is the Pope the Case is Closed " serves only to illustrate a fundamental ignorance of the Catholic Religion. Simply because something has been tolerated - that doesnt make it right either. Clearly the misinformation being spread that the normal method for recieving the Blessed Sacrament was by hand in the Ancient Church is erroneous. Do your due dilligence. You will find that this is not the case. Secondly - great Modern Theologians have expressed the concern that the DOGMA of the Real Presence is under assault TODAY. That J akin expresssed that only 30 % of modern Catholics believe in the Dogma of the Real Presence and that Dietrich Von Hildebrand - Respected by none other than Benedict himself - had predicted this would occur with the Advent of the Practise.

I find it disengenouous that these same proponents of CITH ignore these pertinent facts - seemingly care more for their own convenience than for the salvation of their neighbors soul and out of a spirit of pride - refuse to humble themselves at the communion rail.

Perhaps if we all took a deep breath and understood the problem presented by the lack of reverence for the Real Presence and what that means today - we could all look forward to Climbing Mass Attendance - more Vocations - a Spiritual rebirth within the Church - and a return to the Faith by those who err in their non belief of This Dogma. A lot is as stake that seemingly isnt being addressed.

The Blessed Sacrament is exactly that. Its high time all Catholics understood it.

Pax
 
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