Communion Protocol

[Chica]

At Mass two weeks ago, our assistant pastor said that Pope Benedict XVI now only offers the communion wafer on the tongue. He does not put in your hand. Our priest said that this is the way we should do it. He said during the 1970’s it became popular to receive the host in our outstretched hand, but that it has always been the rule that we should not touch the host with our hands and should only receive it on our tongue.

Any thoughts or info?

Chica

 

[japhy]

At Mass two weeks ago, our assistant pastor said that Pope Benedict XVI now only offers the communion wafer on the tongue. He does not put in your hand. Our priest said that this is the way we should do it. He said during the 1970’s it became popular to receive the host in our outstretched hand, but that it has always been the rule that we should not touch the host with our hands and should only receive it on our tongue.

I recommend reading Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s short book Dominus Est! (“It is the Lord!”) on the traditional manner of receiving Communion on the tongue.

The norm in the Roman Rite is to receive on the tongue; special permission (known as an “indult”) is needed to receive in the hand. This indult has been given to many countries around the world, so in those countries, the faithful have the option of receiving in the hand. There are some countries where receiving in the hand is not permitted, but receiving on the tongue is always permitted.

The practice of Communion in the hand certainly existed for a time in the early Church, but in the Roman Rite, that practice was replaced by receiving on the tongue. It was not until the middle of the 20th century that bishops and priests encouraged it (without permission!) and eventually, after Vatican II, the Church began to give the “indult” to certain countries. A few things should be made clear about this.

1. 
   *]Communion in the hand was promoted locally in disobedience to the liturgical regulations of the Church, and sometimes it was promoted over and above receiving on the tongue (that is, people were sometimes told they could no longer receive on the tongue, but had to receive in the hand).
   *]Vatican II did not say anything about receiving Communion in the hand at all. It was not Vatican II which changed this discipline.
   *]The “indult” permission for Communion in the hand was intended only for those places where it had become nearly impossible to stop the practice of Communion in the hand. It was not meant to be given to countries so that they could start the practice.
   
   I suggest you read the document Memoriale Domini from the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship (1969) about this matter.
   
   I used to receive on the hand, but I stopped a couple years ago, and now I almost exclusively receive on the tongue.