Communion in the Hand

[Sirach2]

Good heavens, we have so many topics going in this thread it is getting hard to follow!

 

[zenith15]

Ok so then, if Christ Himself, when He instituted the eucharist, did not insist His apostles receive on the tongue, nor make any remarks that they should do such in the future when He was instructing them to “keep doing this”, and since Christ Himself did not seem worried that a tiny grain might drop to the floor or that “unconsecrated” hands might touch Him, it seems like perhaps there is room to wonder if this is more of a man made worry than one Christ intended?

 

[Mrs_Sally]

The apostles were priests and bishops. How they received during the last supper has little bearing on how lay folk should receive.

However, since our current bishops here in the USA have told us we are allowed to receive either way, but CITH is the norm here, and Rome is OK with it, personally I think we should all move on to a different topic!

 

[Mike30]

In my Parish, it takes up to 16 EMCH’s per weekend Mass to distribute Communion. In your perfect world, please explain how Communion would be distributed in my Parish, which is a “in the round church”.

Per weekend, per Mass which?

 

[ProVobis]

The apostles were priests and bishops. How they received during the last supper has little bearing on how lay folk should receive.

However, since our current bishops here in the USA have told us we are allowed to receive either way, but CITH is the norm here, and Rome is OK with it, personally I think we should all move on to a different topic!

But that’s the point. If the bishops choose to, they can vote it down with one vote more than a third of the bishops. The last I heard Rome requires a 2/3rd vote to keep CITH as an option in a particular country.

 

[SuperTrad]

There are no EMHCs in the latin mass - so there you go. Wish granted.

Icons are different from altar rails. So losing the railings does not equal iconoclasm.

They shouldn’t be used in the new mass either. How did priests manage without them in the old days? I can think of 4 reasons: 1. COTT, kneeling is quicker to administer 2. They were out of the question because they would have been seen as sacriligeous 3. People were prepared to wait a bit longer at mass. They thought it was not to be hurried. 4. There were more deacons and priests to administer because there were more vocations **.​

Altar rails separate the rest of the church from the ‘sanctuary’, the sacred area. They most certainly are a symbol, an icon. I’ve seen people in there on business which was quite mundane; there was no physical barrier and thus, no psychological barrier to going up there.​

(** The ‘vocations crisis’ becomes self-fulfilling when only a certain type of priest is wanted and he is being reduced to the role of a mere presider and social worker. Who will give up marriage and a well-paying career for that?)

 

[Sirach2]

But that’s the point. If the bishops choose to, they can vote it down with one vote more than a third of the bishops. The last I heard Rome requires a 2/3rd vote to keep CITH as an option in a particular country.

Do you really believe this will happen, PV? I read this article today from EWTN, since there were so many opinions being bantered about here.

Communion-in-the-hand is approved by the Holy See as an option for the United States, and for many other countries, including Italy. The following are the relevant parts of the documents governing this permission.

1. Bishops allowing introduction of the new way of receiving communion are requested to send to this Congregation after six months a report on the result of its concession."

The publication was issued May 29, 1969, and I assume these reports were submitted as the CDW requested, and permission was never withdrawn in all these years. These are the countries that were authorized as per the letter. Possibly more have been added since then.

South Africa, 3 February 1970
Canada, 12 February 1970
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), 2 October 1971
Zambia, 11 March 1974
New Zealand, 24 April 1974
Australia, 26 September 1975
England and Wales, 6 March 1976
Papua and New Guinea, 28 April 1976
Ireland, 4 September 1976
Pakistan, 29 October 1976
United States, 17 June 1977
Scotland, 7 July 1977
Malaysia and Singapore, 3 October 1977

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

If CITH bothers you…then don’t do it…receive COTT. It’s about what is in your heart…not the outward appearance.

I go to daily Mass at a parish that is supposed to be a little more traditional…and yet there is one priest there who distributes communion like he is handing out poker chips…can’t figure out what is so much more reverent there… Being able to “distribute” quicker will make it more reverent? I’m not really sure how.

We all should remember who it is we are receiving and concentrate on HIM rather then who distributed it and how others are receiving.

 

[severus68]

I’m not sure what that Moderator’s post has to do with what I posted.

I remain perplexed as to how God is better worshipped by letting lay-people handle Christ The King, especially in a time of rebellion against all authority.

Catholics need to realise that all the changes since the 70’s are not new. The Protestants have already tried them.

One hears about the older form. You go to one. You notice it’s quiet. The priest, dressed in fine vestments processes in with his MC and servers, also vested. The choir starts singing ‘Asperges Me’ … People kneel to receive the King, in a neat row.

It’s all there, ready to be used, when the children get tired of moving around the furniture.

So the Pope ( and previous Popes) is a child moving around things?

 

[severus68]

Ever so often, someone from one of the radical traditionalist websites comes here and says almost this same thing word for word, posts the same links and makes the same arguments.

And as an Extraordinary Minister, I fall into getting aggrivated about it every time.

-Tim-

Thought so. They want to show us the “truth”, theirs at least.

 

[curlycool89]

I very much doubt the Franciscans let lay people handle the Body Of Christ, prior to 1970.

Like St. Tarcisius, an acolyte (a non-ordained person, and definitely did not have consecrated hands) from the 3rd century who was martyred while bringing the Eucharist to those in prison.

So yes, we even have a saint who’s job as a lay person was to bring the Eucharist to people, which inevitably involved touching it. You’re argument is contradictory to this position, and because Rome is behind this position your argument is invalid.

Br JR, ah, but he can hold the host at your eye level, thus encouraging you to receive COTT, especially in case he senses whether you are undecided. And if you do decide to receive in the hand, he can make CITH look like an inconvenience. No words necessary, especially if it’s a fast moving line. Just pointing out the mechanics.

I don’t know where you’re going to Mass, but holding the host at eye level while saying “Body of Christ” is not unknown, nor is it odd for the minister to then give the person CITH.

I’m not sure what that Moderator’s post has to do with what I posted.

I remain perplexed as to how God is better worshipped by letting lay-people handle Christ The King, especially in a time of rebellion against all authority.

Catholics need to realise that all the changes since the 70’s are not new. The Protestants have already tried them.

One hears about the older form. You go to one. You notice it’s quiet. The priest, dressed in fine vestments processes in with his MC and servers, also vested. The choir starts singing ‘Asperges Me’ … People kneel to receive the King, in a neat row.

It’s all there, ready to be used, when the children get tired of moving around the furniture.

Since all you’ve really talked about is the externals, are you sure that you’re not just worshiping externals?

 

[ProVobis]

Do you really believe this will happen, PV?

Maybe not by this Pope or maybe not even within our lifetimes but the Church has done it before. In fact hadn’t two councils already condemned the practice?

 

[ProVobis]

Since all you’ve really talked about is the externals, are you sure that you’re not just worshiping externals?

Well, good luck in preaching substance here when asserting rights seems to be more important.

 

[universityprof]

Stick your tongue out. That is the correct way to do it - our blessed Lord’s body is too sacred to touch our unconsecrated hands (unless absolutely necessary).

Otherwise, perhaps look for an Eastern Catholic church nearby? Though things may be different in the states, I attend Maronite mass in Australia, and almost everyone receives the Eucharist on the tongue.

It may differ depending on where you reside. For example, in the state where i live the Eucharist is almost always given in hand and not the tongue. In fact, come to think of it, I have rarely seen it given on the tongue.

 

[ProVobis]

I don’t know where you’re going to Mass, but holding the host at eye level while saying “Body of Christ” is not unknown, nor is it odd for the minister to then give the person CITH.

Where I go I either hear “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen.” or “El Cuerpo de Cristo” where half the people don’t even go to communion. Of those who do, I think most take COTT.

 

[Kevin812]

Re that “other Catholic Forum” … you do not know the history or problems that exist there, including a scandal with the owner(s). So maybe it’s best to accept that some know what they are talking about.

Actually you are (still) wrong and giving scandal.

To the topic. After a zillion posts we may safely agree:

OF (NO) = COTT or CITH

EF (TLM) = COTT

Both are generally fine with the Church.

Next topic please.

 

[agnes_therese]

Try to understand: CITH makes no sense except in time of repression or in very special circumstances.

Try to understand – the Church allows it. Rome has spoken.

 

[zenith15]

The apostles were priests and bishops. How they received during the last supper has little bearing on how lay folk should receive.

However, since our current bishops here in the USA have told us we are allowed to receive either way, but CITH is the norm here, and Rome is OK with it, personally I think we should all move on to a different topic!

Were the apostles “priests and bishops” at the time of the Last Supper? And even if they were, what indication or proof do we have that they practiced communion kneeling on the tongue for followers of Christ from the moment they began meeting as a Church? I just think getting so “stuck” on things like this that we argue back and forth endlessly over it cannot be what Jesus intended.

 

[JReducation]

Why do people feel the need to campaign against CITH? The Church has allowed it. End of story. We have not been asked for our opinions. No one at the Vatican cares about our opinions. We have the choice to use either CITH or COTT.

Unless you’re a member of a religious order, no one can mandate that you do one or the other. Even in religious orders, very few superiors involve themselves in such small matters. There are more important issues than how one receives Holy Communion, provided that it’s done within the law

It seems that there is a group of people out there who either has too much time on its hands and should probably spend some hours volunteering at one of my emergency pregnancy centers where they will see real evil unfolding: infanticide, abortion, rape, incest, human trafficking, child prostitution and more.

Or I could invite you to the hospital where our brothers serve. You can do battle with doctors and family members who want to put grandma’ to sleep as if she were the family dog.

Maybe, you want to spend a day with us under a bridge with a homeless person who is too mentally ill to accept shelter, because his paranoia won’t let him move from under that bridge. You look at him and you see Christ naked, hungry and sick. So, you take off your habit, tear it into large panels to offer them as blankets on a cold night and then walk home with nothing on but a pair of shorts, sandals and a t-shirt, when the temperature is 40 degrees. But you smile, because Christ is wrapped in your habit.

The next time you meet Him in the Eucharist, you look at Him and He looks at you and you say, “Haven’t we met before?” Then you both smile.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

 

[Saints_Alive]

So you respect the OF and accept it as valid and just another form of the same rite?

Boy oh boy. I feel like I walked in the wrong door of the an Inquisition now

Here is a thread I started.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=732056
There is a 10pm Mass on Sunday that is prayed by candlelight. It’s in the Ordinary Form and as simple as it is, I find it as inviting and spiritually nourishing as the local diocesan EF. Some Sundays I assist both Masses.

Not sure how much orthodox I can get.