Communion on the tongue

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Hello,
This comes from www.desertvoice.org

Father Robert Altier is a Roman Catholic priest in the archdiocese of Saint Paul-Minneapolis at the Church of Saint Agnes. It’s a little dated, but the message holds true today.

Communion in the Hand

Monday September 10, 2001 Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (Colossians 1:24-2:3) Gospel (St. Luke 6:6-11)

Part I
'In the first reading today Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Colossians, talks about how, in Christ, is hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This is because He is almighty God; He is the Creator of the universe; He is the Savior of the world; He is God, absolute and perfect. Saint Paul says at the beginning of the reading that he makes up in his flesh for what is lacking in the suffering of Christ, for the sake of Christ’s body, the Church.

In Christ, now, there is no suffering, but only in the Mystical Body. But there is one place, which I would like to address this morning, where I believe that Our Lord is truly grieved. I want to challenge you in that area: That is, the manner by which we receive Holy Communion. The Church is very clear in Her documents that she desires that we would receive Holy Communion on the tongue and not in the hand. The bishops of America, as well as a few other countries in the world, have allowed Communion in the hand as a dispensation. But the Church is very, very clear that She does not want us receiving Communion in the hand.

Let me explain a little as to why. First of all, to receive is something that is passive. The priest takes Holy Communion because the priest is the one who offers the Victim in sacrifice. Therefore, the one who offers the Victim must also take part in that Victim. But the people of God are to receive Holy Communion. To take the Host from your hand and put It into your
own mouth is to take Communion, not to receive Communion; and so it is an active thing, not a passive thing. The Lord desires to give Himself to you as a gift, not to be taken by you. We need to be very careful that we do not lose the symbolism of what is happening in the Blessed Sacrament.

Also, if you will notice, during Mass after the Consecration, my fingers remain together because of the particles of the Host that are there. When we take Holy Communion in the hand, there are particles of Our Lord that are on our hands and on our fingers. That is why, after Communion, the priest will purify his fingers - because of the particles of the Host. But how often the people of God, after receiving Holy Communion, simply brush the particles
onto the ground and walk on Our Lord. Or they put their hands in their pockets, and Our Lord is right there on their clothing. The abuses that this opens them up to are very grave. Not that anyone is intentionally doing that, but I think it is something that we need to consider exceedingly carefully.

What I always tell people is that you can look forward to the Day of Judgment and ask yourself how you intend to approach Our Lord, because He is your Judge. The same Lord you approach in Holy Communion is the same One you will approach on the Day of Judgment. Do you assume that you will put your hand out to Our Blessed Lord on the Day of Judgment? Is your view of
judgment that you will shake Our Lord’s hand and tell Him how wonderful it is to see Him? Or is your view that you will do great reverence to Our Blessed Lord? My view is that I will be flat on my face - not shaking His hand.

We do not put out our hand to God. Scripture says that God holds us in the palm of His hand. We should not be holding God in the palm of ours. He created us; He made us in His image and likeness. He is the Creator; we are the creature. We must approach Him with the greatest reverence, the greatest respect.
 
Part II

If we simply look at the fruit that has been borne by Holy Communion being taken in the hand, it is not good: the loss of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, the familiarity. Thankfully it is not happening here, but go to most churches and ask yourself if you see people praying before Mass or if they are chatting, goofing around, and talking. We have lost the reverence for the Real Presence because Jesus is just “our buddy” when we put our hand out to Him; He is not our God when we do that. So we need to be very careful.

But beyond that, we can look also at what has happened spiritually to the people of God. Since we have been receiving Communion in the hand, we have lost sight of the idea of going to Confession, of our own sinfulness, of the reverence we must have for Our Lord. We have made Communion so easy a thing and so nonchalant a thing that people have lost that sense of reverence, of awe, and of respect in the Presence of Our Lord.

I challenge you to think very seriously about this issue. The bishops, like I say, have allowed it; it is not a sin if you receive Holy Communion in the hand. In some places in the early Church they did that; Saint Justin talks about it. But the Church stopped it because of the abuses against the Blessed Sacrament that were occurring. I ask you to really pray about that. Look at Jesus in the Eucharist and ask yourself, “Do I really, truly believe that this is God? That this is my Creator and my Redeemer? How, then, do I desire to approach Him?” I really believe, if you pray that through, that there is only one conclusion to which you can come.

Then, I beg you, do not remain silent about it. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Bring that word to others because all those good people out there, I do not think that they are willfully trying to do anything that would grieve Our Lord; they are doing what they have been told to do. But again, look at what has happened in the last forty years of this particular practice and ask yourself if the fruit it has borne has been good. Obviously, you love Our Lord: You are here at daily Mass; you are here every morning. The love
of Our Lord is evident in you. Bring that love of Jesus out from here. The love that is in your heart, proclaim it to others and ask them in the same way to consider their actions toward Our Lord. Let us bring the reverence to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament back so that we can give Him fitting worship and praise because He is God, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are contained.’
  • This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.
 
The Church hasn’t made it clear that she doesn’t want us to rec. in the hand, otherwise should she have forbidden it. She’s allowed it where it was requested. It isn’t irreverent, HH Pope John Paul II made it clear that when he issued a caution against abuse, it wasn’t refering to people who received in the hand devoutly and reverently, thus admiting the possiblility of that it can be done that way. The Church has given us the liberty where this indult runs to decide for ourselves outside of a TLM or a Mass where intinction is used. The Church, as has been pointed out in this thread and others (ad nauseum) evidently isn’t worried about the particular abuse that lead to communion on the tongue, so maybe those who prefer to rec. on the tongue should mind their own patch and allow those of us who do wish to receive in the hand to mind ours, in the liberty given us by the Church. This priest may be a good man, but he is trying to constrain the consciences of people where the Church, in the legitimate exercise of Her authority, has granted liberty. AND he is disingenous in his assertion that we are “taking” Communion if we rec. by hand. We’ve received it from the priest.

If you don’t want to rec. by hand, then don’t.

If you don’t want to rec. by hand, then don’t.

If you don’t want to rec. by hand, then DON’T!
 
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super64:
Let me explain a little as to why. First of all, to receive is something that is passive. The priest takes Holy Communion because the priest is the one who offers the Victim in sacrifice. Therefore, the one who offers the Victim must also take part in that Victim. But the people of God are to receive Holy Communion. To take the Host from your hand and put It into your
own mouth is to take Communion, not to receive Communion; and so it is an active thing, not a passive thing. The Lord desires to give Himself to you as a gift, not to be taken by you. We need to be very careful that we do not lose the symbolism of what is happening in the Blessed Sacrament. QUOTE]

If I can echoe what someone else said earlier, the Lord said, “Take and eat.” Not wanting to have a lay people tough the Host puts a division between the clergy and the laity that I find troubling. Our priest are ultimately no more worthy that the rest of the body.

Kendy
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jebojora:
Right after Pope John Paul II died the Host showed up on Ebay that he had consecrated. Now that could have never happened if we could only receive on the tongue.
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Yes, it could have. One could simply not chew.

Where the Church has approved reception of the Host in the hand, that practice is acceptable. No one but the Church can say otherwise. If one doesn’t want to receive in the hand, fine. Reception on the tongue is still permitted. Regardless of manner of reception, one’s time in Mass is spent examining one’s own conscience and in prayer rather than examining and condemning the actions of others.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
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super64:
But beyond that, we can look also at what has happened spiritually to the people of God. Since we have been receiving Communion in the hand, we have lost sight of the idea of going to Confession, of our own sinfulness, of the reverence we must have for Our Lord. We have made Communion so easy a thing and so nonchalant a thing that people have lost that sense of reverence, of awe, and of respect in the Presence of Our Lord. .
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Correlation is not cause :).
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super64:
I challenge you to think very seriously about this issue. The bishops, like I say, have allowed it; it is not a sin if you receive Holy Communion in the hand. In some places in the early Church they did that; Saint Justin talks about it. But the Church stopped it because of the abuses against the Blessed Sacrament that were occurring. I ask you to really pray about that. Look at Jesus in the Eucharist and ask yourself, “Do I really, truly believe that this is God? That this is my Creator and my Redeemer? How, then, do I desire to approach Him?” I really believe, if you pray that through, that there is only one conclusion to which you can come.
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I want to approach Him reverently and affectionately. Jesus is my Lord and redeemer, but he is also my buddy 😃 .

Kendy
 
I personally feel receiving communion on the tongue is better. I receive it that way all the time. However, I’m really not offended by receiving communion in the hand AS LONG AS IT IS DONE PROPERLY. I think that is the problem that I see in many parishes. The congregation is not properly cathechized. I think its the priests fault for that. I am offended when people come up to receive it with one hand extended only, then attempt to pick up the Host with their tongue. Sorta like licking it up. I am offended by people coming up with filthy, dirty hands; kids and adults alike. I am offended by people taking our Lord from the priest or EMHC and walking away as if they have just received a chip or a cookie and want to just see how long they can make it last. I have seen kids just take a bite out of the Host and walk away. I am offended by people with chewing gum in their mouths while receiving Our Lord. We received communion on the tongue at our parish because it is done by intinction. Our priest was shocked once when this guy goes to communion and opens his mouth and he had several objects piercing his tongue. Our priest talked with this guy after mass. He didnt show up again. I feel less abuse can happen if communion is distributed by intinction. That way people get both species and its not that easy to take it out of the mouth and place it between pages of the missalette.
My understanding is that communion on the tongue is the norm, but with the option of receiving it on the hand. However, show me one parish where first communion children are taught to received it on the tongue first with the option of receiving in it in the hand (other than in my parish). In another parish that I help out at times, this friend of mine was asked to teach first communion. The priest agreed with her about teaching children to receive Our Lord on the tongue. He wants the parents to be taught again regarding the Eucharist as he has seen a lack of reverence and understanding of the Eucharist. He wants both parents to be at all the classes each week. Almost making it mandatory that they be there. If that cant, they must get the childs godparents or a substitute to be there. I will be re-teaching the parents. I will need your prayers. This priest was just assigned this parish a few months ago and he knows it needs plenty of re-evangelization. Some people that left are now coming back to help because they like the orthodoxy of this priest.
 
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Kendy:
Some people seem really offended by others receiving communion on the hand. Why? Why does it matter?

Kendy
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Kendy,

Officially, the rule nowadays is that communion is to be received on the tongue under ordinary circumstances, with reception in the hand being the exception. I am mildly offended by what I see as a contravention of this rule. If the Church changed the rule I would not be offended by the practice any longer.
  • Liberian
 
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Liberian:
Kendy,

Officially, the rule nowadays is that communion is to be received on the tongue under ordinary circumstances, with reception in the hand being the exception. I am mildly offended by what I see as a contravention of this rule. If the Church changed the rule I would not be offended by the practice any longer.
  • Liberian
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It’s not a rule, it’s a norm. If an indult for an exception from the norm exists, that means you have the Holy See’s permission, it’s consent, it’s “okay”. Thus, there is no contravention of a rule. There is nothing to be offended over. If people don’t want to receive in the hand, they don’t have to do so.
 
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steveandersen:
He also said, “Take this and eat” I don’t know what the sense is in Aramaic or Greek but in English that suggests being handed something.
I’m not expert but for some reason I never envisioned the Apostles at the Last Supper all sitting there mouths agape.

I imagine that they held out their hands.

IIRC During the consecration I’ve heard the words “…gave it to His Apostles…” as well as “…handed it to His Disciples…”

as for only a preist handling a sacrifice what is the difference between hand or tounge? :confused:
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They may have taken the communion in their hands but the apostals were all bishops of the first church, and Peter the pope so in a sense they were priests so they were allowed to touch the scared host.
 
I always take communion on the tounge and I am 15 years old at the moment. Ever since I started reading into my faith, priests hands are scared and are allowed to handle the host, but I am not worthy. Although I am the only person in my parish to get up and go to recieve it in such a way I feel much better when I recieve it on the tounge more happy if you will. Many in my church who go to communion and have it in the hand were not even baptised in the Roman Catholic church. I am personally disgusted with the state of my church, and in my utmost opinion I think we should return to the Latin, tridintine mass as told by Pope John paul the second, but the bishops of the world told him where to go with that suggestion didn’t they. I pray that one day, we will all make the devil very unhappy and thousands will raise into heaven instead of the 2 or 3 in the thousands who die.
 
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LabradorGirl:
Many in my church who go to communion and have it in the hand were not even baptised in the Roman Catholic church.
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You are aware that baptisms outside of the Roman Catholic Church can be valid aren’t you? For one the ‘Roman’ or Latin lung of the Church is not the only valid part of the Church. There are Eastern Churches in communion with Rome also. For that matter I was baptised by a Southern Baptist preacher and then was received into the Holy Roman Catholic Church. I’m just as much Catholic as someone that was baptised as an infant by a Catholic priest!

As for receiving communion. I prefer to receive on my tongue. Why? Because it is the long standing tradition of the Latin rite of which I am a part of. I’m not offended by folks who receive in their hand but I think it is time to go back to on the tongue only, with all the abuses that seem to be taking place. I will receive in the hand some times; especially if I’m ill The paster at my parish seems to always end up touching my lips or tongue with his hand so I don’t want to spread my germs to others.

My parish also does not share the cup at communion. I’m in support of this for the very reason that I fear something happening to the blood of Christ if it is shared by everyone.
 
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LabradorGirl:
They may have taken the communion in their hands but the apostals were all bishops of the first church, and Peter the pope so in a sense they were priests so they were allowed to touch the scared host.
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That is an absolutely specious argument. "In the hand was the normative manner of reception in the Apostolic and Patristic Church.
 
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steveandersen:
He also said, “Take this and eat” I don’t know what the sense is in Aramaic or Greek but in English that suggests being handed something.
I’m not expert but for some reason I never envisioned the Apostles at the Last Supper all sitting there mouths agape.

I imagine that they held out their hands.

IIRC During the consecration I’ve heard the words “…gave it to His Apostles…” as well as “…handed it to His Disciples…”

as for only a preist handling a sacrifice what is the difference between hand or tounge? :confused:
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I didn’t have a chance to read all through these posts but I wanted to include something here, if it hasn’t been said already.

My parish monsignor had included in the bulletin a few months ago, a write-up about receiving in the hand. It was taken from some ecclesiastical document in our Diocese - but I’m not certain though. In it is states that receiving in the hand is the correct way of receiving Holy Communion, since Jesus handed the bread and wine to His Apostles and did not place the bread on their tongues individually. It stated that receiving on the tongue came about almost a thousand years later when the faithful started to believe they were not “worthy” to hold the Lord in their hands. This “practice” of receiving on the tongue spread like wildfire throughout the world having the faithful believing they could not and should not touch the Body of Christ.

Hence, the correct way to receive Holy Communion is in the hand.

I have the document at home and will write word for word what it says tomorrow if I can remember.

God Bless!
 
I reverently received in my hand for years, until the day I visibly saw a small particle remain on my hand. It suddenly struck me that the same thing could have happened almost countless times before without my even noticing it. Not desiring to have the need to lick my palm and fingers after receiving communion for the rest of my life, and more importanly not wanting to have any part in the desecration of my Lord’s body, I have received on the tongue ever since. It catches some EMHCs off-guard sometimes, but it has never been a problem.

The biggest thing it grants me is peace of mind that I am not allowing my Lord to fall to the ground and be stepped on or vacuumed up with ordinary dirt.

Peace,
javelin
 
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CindyGia:
I didn’t have a chance to read all through these posts but I wanted to include something here, if it hasn’t been said already.

My parish monsignor had included in the bulletin a few months ago, a write-up about receiving in the hand. It was taken from some ecclesiastical document in our Diocese - but I’m not certain though. In it is states that receiving in the hand is the correct way of receiving Holy Communion, since Jesus handed the bread and wine to His Apostles and did not place the bread on their tongues individually. It stated that receiving on the tongue came about almost a thousand years later when the faithful started to believe they were not “worthy” to hold the Lord in their hands. This “practice” of receiving on the tongue spread like wildfire throughout the world having the faithful believing they could not and should not touch the Body of Christ.

Hence, the correct way to receive Holy Communion is in the hand.

I have the document at home and will write word for word what it says tomorrow if I can remember.

God Bless!
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Now I would be suspicious of someone that said that in the hand was the correct way. That just isn’t true. It isn’t the wrong way, obviously since we’re allowed to do it. But that doesn’t make it ‘the correct way’. On the tongue is also a correct way. There is nothing wrong, in my opinion, in there being two possible & correct ways of receiving.
 
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javelin:
I reverently received in my hand for years, until the day I visibly saw a small particle remain on my hand. It suddenly struck me that the same thing could have happened almost countless times before without my even noticing it. Not desiring to have the need to lick my palm and fingers after receiving communion for the rest of my life, and more importanly not wanting to have any part in the desecration of my Lord’s body, I have received on the tongue ever since. It catches some EMHCs off-guard sometimes, but it has never been a problem.

The biggest thing it grants me is peace of mind that I am not allowing my Lord to fall to the ground and be stepped on or vacuumed up with ordinary dirt.

Peace,
javelin
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**That makes for a wonderful argument against Monsignor who claims that receiving in the hand is the only, and correct way of receiving.

I too, just last week, having received in the hand, placed the Precious Body on my tongue, and was immediately aware that a crumb still lay in my palm. In front of many of the congregation, I resorted to licking my palm - but believe that in the midst of the motion of lifting my hand back to my mouth, lost the particle of our Lords Precious Body to the floor!

According to a priest at another parish, I had asked a question some time ago regarding the correct procedure in disposing of the Precious Blood which spilt on my garment. I was told to simply wash it in the washing machine! In fact, Fr. commanded I wash it in the washing machine - claiming that God has billions of Angels watching His Precious Body and Blood and that none of it could ever be lost or desecrated! (I was wondering about all those people who steal the Eucharist and do sacriligious things to it)…

Knowing that I should be obedient to the church and wash the garment in the washing machine - I concluded to not washing it at all. I will eventually soak the garment in a small tub and take the water to the church grounds (one evening) and pour the Precious Blood into the ground. I believe that is the correct way of disposing of the Precious Blood and not washing it in the washing machine.

**
 
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LabradorGirl:
They may have taken the communion in their hands but the apostals were all bishops of the first church, and Peter the pope so in a sense they were priests so they were allowed to touch the scared host.
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and Cleopas and his friend?
weren’t they also handed the bread?
were they also preists or bishops?
 
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CindyGia:
I will eventually soak the garment in a small tub and take the water to the church grounds (one evening) and pour the Precious Blood into the ground. I believe that is the correct way of disposing of the Precious Blood and not washing it in the washing machine.
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It doesn’t have to be church grounds. If you have a garden, pick a spot in your garden where people do not walk. It just has to go onto the earth.

Of course, if you live on the 29th floor of a Manhattan apartment building, taking it to the Church garden (if there is one) would be the way to go.
 
+JMJ+

I would suggest taking the garment to the sacristan of your church and explain to him/her what had happened,and ask them to wash and purify the garment.They know exactly what to do.
 
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