Communion with clean hands

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collegeathlete

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Hello,

The USCCB says that if we are receiving Communion in the hand, our hands are supposed to be clean. What does it mean to have clean hands? Does that mean using hand sanitizer before receiving, or just making sure they don’t look like there’s a lot of dirt on them? Our tongues are often just as dirty as our hands.

🙂
 
You are funny!

Spiritually you need to have “clean hands” meaning that you are not burdened by sin.

Physically you just need to have clean hands without dirt on them. 🙂

If you are giving communion to people at mass as a Eucharistic Minister and it is flu season, you should use hand sanitizer.
 
But, at the end of the day, receiving Holy Communion is the most important part! You could be living on the streets and be filthy and still have Holy Communion! God welcomes everyone.
 
collegeathlete said:
Hello,

The USCCB says that if we are receiving Communion in the hand, our hands are supposed to be clean. What does it mean to have clean hands? Does that mean using hand sanitizer before receiving, or just making sure they don’t look like there’s a lot of dirt on them? Our tongues are often just as dirty as our hands.

🙂
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If I told you that you needed “clean hands” to do any of the following, would you have to ask what I meant by “clean hands”:
  • cook dinner/handle food for yourself or other people
  • handle delicate, white table linens so as not to smudge them or get them dirty
  • hold a newborn baby
  • greet a dignitary or respected person with a handshake
All of these are merely human to human interactions. And yet, you know what clean hands are and why they would be important in each situation. Do you really not know what clean hands means when handling the Eucharist?
 
Just receive on the tongue, but consider washing your teeth beforehand out of devotion!
 
Just don’t have dirt or filth on your hands. Focus on macroscopic impurities only, I doubt bacteria would be considered unclean since bacteria are literally everywhere, even on the Host.
 
Hey, we made it to post #6 before someone advised COTT. I sin more with my mouth via what I say instead of with my hands…but I’m an old lady and not a teenage boy, so my hands are cleaner in regards to sinning versus my mouth. That’s why I receive in the hand.
 
collegeathlete said:
Hello,

The USCCB says that if we are receiving Communion in the hand, our hands are supposed to be clean. What does it mean to have clean hands? Does that mean using hand sanitizer before receiving, or just making sure they don’t look like there’s a lot of dirt on them? Our tongues are often just as dirty as our hands.

🙂
Click to expand...
Unless your pastor has directed otherwise, you have the choice of receiving Communion on the tongue.
 
LightBound said:
Hey, we made it to post #6 before someone advised COTT. I sin more with my mouth via what I say instead of with my hands…but I’m an old lady and not a teenage boy, so my hands are cleaner in regards to sinning versus my mouth. That’s why I receive in the hand.
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But the Eucharist you’ve received in your hands goes into your mouth. Our whole body receives Christ: not just our hands or mouth.👍
 
LightBound said:
Hey, we made it to post #6 before someone advised COTT. I sin more with my mouth via what I say instead of with my hands…but I’m an old lady and not a teenage boy, so my hands are cleaner in regards to sinning versus my mouth. That’s why I receive in the hand.
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Sinning with a part of your body doesn’t make it “unclean”. Besides, sin arises from the heart. As 808Catholic already said, you put the Host in your mouth anyway, so reception in the hand would actually be exposing the Host to two parts of your body that you sin with (assuming you sin with your hands) instead of just one if you received on the tongue.
 
Confiteor_Deo said:
Sinning with a part of your body doesn’t make it “unclean”. Besides, sin arises from the heart. As 808Catholic already said, you put the Host in your mouth anyway, so reception in the hand would actually be exposing the Host to two parts of your body that you sin with (assuming you sin with your hands) instead of just one if you received on the tongue.
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:rolleyes: Sigh, yes, I know that. I’m just tired of the whole COTH vs CITT debate and who thinks what is holier and more pious. It’s just as bad as the whole EF vs OF debate. The comment was made tongue in cheek because of the ad nauseum discussions on here.
 
Teabag said:
But, at the end of the day, receiving Holy Communion is the most important part! You could be living on the streets and be filthy and still have Holy Communion! God welcomes everyone.
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Yes, but they wouldn’t be permitted to receive communion in the hand if their hands are dirty. They would have to receive on the tongue to avoid profanation.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
Yes, but they wouldn’t be permitted to receive communion in the hand if their hands are dirty. They would have to receive on the tongue to avoid profanation.
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I’m not sure this is realistic.

Picture the scene. Person holds out hands to receive. Priest/EHMC spots state of hands. They appear dirty, but is the priest/minister going to challenge the person and run the risk of the discolouration being the result of random skin pigmentation? Or even just staining from some chemical. The Communion line is not the place for accusations or arguments.

I don’t think so. Actual mud might be different, but I can’t believe that happens very often.
 
paperwight66 said:
I’m not sure this is realistic.

Picture the scene. Person holds out hands to receive. Priest/EHMC spots state of hands. They appear dirty, but is the priest/minister going to challenge the person and run the risk of the discolouration being the result of random skin pigmentation? Or even just staining from some chemical. The Communion line is not the place for accusations or arguments.

I don’t think so. Actual mud might be different, but I can’t believe that happens very often.
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There is no challenge. If the hands are dirty the person distributing communion does not place the host in the person’s hand. They are told to stick out their tongue and the host is placed on the tongue. It’s the same for those who can’t receive with both hands. If the EMHC doesn’t have enough moral courage to avoid profaning the Eucharist, then they aren’t qualified to be an EMHC.

Our priest will not distribute communion to anyone with a tongue piercing. They are sent away to remove it and come back to receive.
 
808Catholic said:
Unless your pastor has directed otherwise, you have the choice of receiving Communion on the tongue.
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I don’t believe the pastor can forbid it. Some bishops have tried to prohibit it during outbreaks of disease, but even that has met with some criticism from canon lawyers.
 
I wouldn’t think that Our Lord would be too upset about a dirty pair of hands receiving him! Remember, he put his hands on lepers etc!! He loves all!
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
the EMHC doesn’t have enough moral courage to avoid profaning the Eucharist, then they aren’t qualified to be an EMHC.
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But that’s my point. You are asking the EMHC to judge whether any profaning will take place. How exactly can this judgment be reached in the second or so that the EMHC has sight of the hands before a decision has to be made?
The hands could be disrespectfully dirty, or they could be discoloured for another reason, with no disrespect intended. Imagine if that were you, and the EMHC stopped the line, and accused you of profaning the Eucharist?
Anyway, it is not the EMHC’s job to judge. We are told during training that we cannot refuse Holy Communion to anyone, and that the Communion line is not the place for arguments,
It isn’t a question of moral courage.
 
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