Communion on the tongue

[Cat]

I prefer receiving on the tongue. This is my reasoning for it. We are all sinners. Who are we to receive the Lord with the very hands we sin with? I’m not saying it is wrong to receive with their hands, nor am I trying to sway anyone’s opinion or preference. Simply stating why I choose to receive on the tongue.

I sin a whole lot more with my tongue than with my hands. I honestly can’t think of any sins that I commit with my hands.

I’m wondering if this argument of “sinful hands not worthy to receive Holy Communion” was created to apply to teenaged boys? I’m serious about this question. The “M” sin is is the one sin, other than theft and murder, that I can think of that is committed with the hands. So many other sins are sins of the mind or the mouth. I guess that the various addictive sins could be either hand or tongue, but in many cases, the mouth is involved (smoking, drinking, drugs, overeating, etc.) Gambling could be arguably a sin of the hands, but many folks don’t consider gambling a sin unless it is addictive, and there are many who don’t consider addictions sinful, but disabilities.

Hmmm…

But aren’t our sins entirely forgiven by the Sacrament of Reconciliation? So I don’t think that sinful hands or sinful tongue/mouth applies to Holy Communion, because we are made pure by confession. I really don’t get this argument, and that’s why I’m wondering if it came about because of teenaged boys who often struggle with the besetting sin of masturbation.

I usually receive on my tongue because we have a number of “traditionalist” Catholics in our parish (I’m not sure why they attend our parish instead of attending the TLM parish a few miles away), and I think that it is charitable of me to try not to offend them. Receiving on the tongue is such a simple little gesture that takes virtually no effort on my part, and yet it pleases them and helps them to get more out of the OF Mass.

OTOH, I never wear dresses, ever, because of my orthopedic shoes. And I play the piano for Mass, and only play the organ for preludes and postludes (because I’m not good enough yet to play for the hymns.) So I probably offend them anyway! But at least they see me receiving Holy Communion on my tongue, so hopefully that makes up, in their eyes, for my other shortcomings.

I receive on my hand when the priest, deacon, or EMHC is shorter than me, or appears to have limited range of motion. An EMHC dropped the Host once when I received on my tongue, and ever since then, I have been nervous about receiving on my tongue unless the priest, deacon, or EMHC is taller than me and appears alert and mobile with their hands and arms.

Oh, well, my heart is in the right place!

 

[Tigg]

Thanks, everyone, for the how-to advice. I used to be soooo scared of going up to receive in the hand - I would get in line, and in my head I would scream, "What am I doing here? I don’t know what to do and then there will be crumbs!

You got that right…

youtube.com/watch?v=BiUqDa_Gzj0

 

[mangy_dog]

I have decided that I would rather receive communion on the tongue rather than in the hand; I don’t like touching the host (it seems rude, even though the discipline has changed so that it is no longer considered a sin). Is there a “proper” way to do this? How do I hold my hands? What do I do with my tongue and face (I think that I accidentally made a “demon-face” the first time I tried )? I already figured out that I don’t open my mouth until after the priest says “receive” and I say “Amen”.

whoa, whoa…receive??? How about, " the body of Christ" followed by “Amen”.?

Be that as it may,

I recieve on my knees, palms together, fingers extended and joined. I then wait for the priest to say, " the body of Christ"… I say, “Amen”- I close my eyes and stick out my tongue.

Keeping the eyes open tends to anticipate the movements of the priest and this sometimes brings about accidents of closing your mouth too soon or reaching with your tongue and other things.
Eyes closed is best. When the priest has placed the Host on your tongue, take your time, bring the Host in and close your mouth. Open your eyes and continue on your way.

 

[BcuzISaidSo]

I sin a whole lot more with my tongue than my hands

This.

 

[acarlson]

If I am receiving communion from a priest, I’ll receive on the tongue; with an EMHC, I receive on the hand. I was trained how to give communion on the tongue as an EMHC and I do not have a problem with it. But from what I’ve heard, that’s not always the case! As my EMHC instructor (a religious brother) said, “try to make it the last awkward as possible.”

If you’re going to start receiving on the tongue regularly, eventually the priest/deacon should get to know your preference. I still “struggle” a bit with how to hold my hands, but I try to make it as obvious as possible to the priest that I do not intend to receive with my hands.

And, to the quote, “I sin a whole lot more with my tongue than my hands,” so true.

 

[Elizium23]

It could also be argued, that since the Eucharist is medicine for venial sins and preservation from future mortal sin, that your [body part] needs the Eucharist much more than your [other body part]. Isn’t it wonderful that we consume the Eucharist and let Him permeate our digestive system, our bloodstream, and all the body’s cells ultimately?

 

[superamazingman]

I sin a whole lot more with my tongue than with my hands.

This.

I sin a whole lot more with my hands than with my left earlobe. Your point is…

Anyways, the Eucharist hits your tongue anyways, so that whole thing kinda falls apart, unless you have evolved hands that bypass your mouth during eating.

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

I sin a whole lot more with my hands than with my left earlobe. Your point is…

Anyways, the Eucharist hits your tongue anyways, so that whole thing kinda falls apart, unless you have evolved hands that bypass your mouth during eating.

I think that was in response to someone who said it was wrong for our hands that sin to touch the Eucharist…that logic kinda falls apart as a whole lot of people also sin with their tongue.

 

[Stylites]

It could also be argued, that since the Eucharist is medicine for venial sins and preservation from future mortal sin, that your [body part] needs the Eucharist much more than your [other body part]. Isn’t it wonderful that we consume the Eucharist and let Him permeate our digestive system, our bloodstream, and all the body’s cells ultimately?

Well, the Real Presence disappears as soon as the Holy Eucharist loses its appearance of bread. Rather than absorbing God into our bodies, our souls are being absorbed into Him. Certainly any remnant of the vehicle of such a miracle is more than welcome to permeate our bodies, though.

 

[OraLabora]

I think that was in response to someone who said it was wrong for our hands that sin to touch the Eucharist…that logic kinda falls apart as a whole lot of people also sin with their tongue.

Actually we sin with our brain. It doesn’t matter what tool the brain chooses to do evil, it’s still evil and the mind did it; the Host is going into a person who says “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you…”. Tongue or hand, both are tainted by the choices the mind makes. It therefore makes little difference which way one receives, which is a personal choice. I prefer in the hand, but that’s just me.

If we want to avoid the Host contacting a body part that hasn’t commited sin on behalf of the mind, we should never receive at all! The point of receiving is to receive Grace. He died for our sins, not to limit His gift for the impeccable, of which a grand total of zero humans have been since He ascended into Heaven.

 

[mangy_dog]

If I am receiving communion from a priest, I’ll receive on the tongue; with an EMHC, I receive on the hand. I was trained how to give communion on the tongue as an EMHC and I do not have a problem with it. But from what I’ve heard, that’s not always the case! As my EMHC instructor (a religious brother) said, “try to make it the last awkward as possible.”

If you’re going to start receiving on the tongue regularly, eventually the priest/deacon should get to know your preference. I still “struggle” a bit with how to hold my hands, but I try to make it as obvious as possible to the priest that I do not intend to receive with my hands.

And, to the quote, “I sin a whole lot more with my tongue than my hands,” so true.

I recieve on the tongue from a priest, a deacon or as a last resort, from a male eucharistic minister.
This, for reasons of tradition and not for any physical contact reasoning.

 

[TimothyH]

As if we never sin with our tongues: never lie, never gossip, never complain, never say words in anger, never curse or swear, never fritter away our time in idle and mindless chatter, never reveled in gluttony. As if our hands never bless ourselves or hold prayer books for the eyes to see, never caress or comfort or help or greet others with.

The tongue and the hand are merely appendages of the heart.

I said, “I will watch my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue
(Psalm 39:2)

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. (Matthew 15:17-18)

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no human being can tame the tongue – a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. (James 3:7-10)

We sin more with the tounge than with the hand.

-Tim-

 

[superamazingman]

We sin more with the tounge than with the hand.

By that logic, I’m sure you sin more with your hand and tongue combined than you do with your tongue, since when you receive in the hand, all you’re doing is putting it on your hand and your tongue. Seriously: can we put aside all these petty points “in favor” of COTH?

 

[Nicea325]

I have decided that I would rather receive communion on the tongue rather than in the hand; I don’t like touching the host (it seems rude, even though the discipline has changed so that it is no longer considered a sin). Is there a “proper” way to do this? How do I hold my hands? What do I do with my tongue and face (I think that I accidentally made a “demon-face” the first time I tried )? I already figured out that I don’t open my mouth until after the priest says “receive” and I say “Amen”.

I do receive at times in the hand or mouth. Many tell me: It is rude to touch the host with your hands.

Really? Well your tongue touches the Host,so how is it more valid?

 

[TimothyH]

By that logic, I’m sure you sin more with your hand and tongue combined than you do with your tongue, since when you receive in the hand, all you’re doing is putting it on your hand and your tongue. Seriously: can we put aside all these petty points “in favor” of COTH?

Scripture is not petty.

I never stated I was in favor of recieving in the hand. I am in favor of recieving in a state of grace. Other than that, how anyone wants to recieve is between them and God.

-Tim-

 

[jam070406]

I prefer to receive our Lord on the tongue because it displays an act of reverence and humility. Not only that, the last time I received in the hand the EMHC so forcefully crammed it in my hand that the edge fractured into crumbs. I had to lick my hand and was anxious after whether I got all the crumbs.

 

[BcuzISaidSo]

I sin a whole lot more with my hands than with my left earlobe. Your point is…

Anyways, the Eucharist hits your tongue anyways, so that whole thing kinda falls apart, unless you have evolved hands that bypass your mouth during eating.

Why the attitude? I was simply agreeing that the arguement of cott being better because we sin with our hands falls apart when you consider how hurtful/sinful our words can be. I see no difference. Use the approved method you are most comfortable with.

 

[arkwright]

I have decided that I would rather receive communion on the tongue rather than in the hand;.

If that is your preference then go ahead .

To receive the Eucharist directly on to the tongue or on one’s hand to be placed in the mouth is a choice we have .

What matters is that whichever way we choose we conduct ourselves with reverence and do not regard ourselves as somehow superior than those who choose the alternative way .

 

[OraLabora]

I prefer to receive our Lord on the tongue because it displays an act of reverence and humility.

“Displays”: the word is the problem. Displaying humility and reverence is meaningless.

Being humble and reverent, is what matters. TimothyH is right, what counts is receiving in a state of grace. That implies humility. Display is just window dressing.

I don’t mean to suggest that you aren’t humble or reverent when you display it, but what I mean to say is that inner disposition is far more important than outer display and we should focus more on inner conversion than outer display.

 

[jam070406]

“Displays”: the word is the problem. Displaying humility and reverence is meaningless.

Being humble and reverent, is what matters. TimothyH is right, what counts is receiving in a state of grace. That implies humility. Display is just window dressing.

I don’t mean to suggest that you aren’t humble or reverent when you display it, but what I mean to say is that inner disposition is far more important than outer display and we should focus more on inner conversion than outer display.

Of course you jump on the word “display” as if those that receive are putting on show for others. Because this, in your Christian charity, is what you typically think of people that prefer receiving on the tongue, I take it.
Frankly I’m tired of that argument used to beat down Traditionals.
I would be concerned that my display of reverence is pleasing to the Lord, not you. Sorry.
Quite frankly you stating that displaying humility and reverence is meaningless is not only wrong, it’s extremely insulting.
Being humble and reverent and in a state of grace should go without saying.
I don’t view it as either/or.