Crossed Arms in Holy Communion line

[Pro_Domina]

that’s interesting in our diocese we stand and remain standing till after communion is finished. The Bishop ordered this years ago. This seem incompatible with what you are saying.

Well that is certainly not a pious order, and I believe he has no authority to order such an absurd thing. In fact it is quite the opposite. Almost all writers and saints recommend doing the thanksgiving prayer kneeled. And even more, that it be at least 10 minutes ( the time it takes the Real Presence to cease to be).

Now someone also said that no one should never judge anybody.
Well, there is a difference between rash judgement and judgement. A well founded suspicion might sometimes necessary for the very persons spiritual protection. If I am in a position to correct others and I see a good person being to close to a suspicious person, assuming I have very good reasons and proof, it might even be a duty on my part, like as if I were the Master of Novices in a religious community.

 

[BSHoop96]

I have pet peeves also but i have come to realize the more I focus on them and what others are doing the less i focus on trying to be like Jesus. During the sex scandal it occurred to me that i was in the wrong group but i looked around and realized the Church is Holy in spite of some some flawed people in Her.

I know what you mean. I pray not to be judgmental about them. I, however, never thought the Church was the wrong group during the sex scandal. I think some things weren’t handled correctly but that’s different. You can’t throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak.

 

[BSHoop96]

Now someone also said that no one should never judge anybody.
Well, there is a difference between rash judgement and judgement. A well founded suspicion might sometimes necessary for the very persons spiritual protection. If I am in a position to correct others and I see a good person being to close to a suspicious person, assuming I have very good reasons and proof, it might even be a duty on my part, like as if I were the Master of Novices in a religious community.

I was the one that made that statement. I am referring to judging someone on why they were not going to communion. That is nobody’s business. Each individual needs to be in their own head at that moment. Not looking around to see who is or isn’t receiving.

 

[BSHoop96]

Well that is certainly not a pious order, and I believe he has no authority to order such an absurd thing. In fact it is quite the opposite. Almost all writers and saints recommend doing the thanksgiving prayer kneeled. And even more, that it be at least 10 minutes ( the time it takes the Real Presence to cease to be).

I think we are talking about after Communion and you are talking about during the Eucharistic prayer?? As another poster said after Communion there is no official sit or stand and I believe the Bishop does have the authority to ask his flock to do one or the other for unity.

 

[pnewton]

“May the Lord bless you always”

Sounds exactly like a blessing to me.

People other than priests are allowed to pray. There is not harm in asking any such petition of God. It is not the same thing as a priestly blessing. If one considers it as the same, then one must acknowledge that anyone can give a blessing to anyone at anytime. It is just a matter of semantics.

I have decided that I do not object to the practice, nor do I consider it to be an abuse. The reason is that the blessing given is quietly done between the priest and the person, and not part of the liturgy per se. If this is an abuse, then one would have to consider asking an altar server to adjust the air conditioning an abuse.

On the other hand, I respect the priests that prefer to give a blessing to all at the end and not to increase communion time a minute or so for extra blessings.

 

[Lepanto]

People other than priests are allowed to pray. There is not harm in asking any such petition of God. It is not the same thing as a priestly blessing. If one considers it as the same, then one must acknowledge that anyone can give a blessing to anyone at anytime. It is just a matter of semantics.

I have decided that I do not object to the practice, nor do I consider it to be an abuse. The reason is that the blessing given is quietly done between the priest and the person, and not part of the liturgy per se. If this is an abuse, then one would have to consider asking an altar server to adjust the air conditioning an abuse.

On the other hand, I respect the priests that prefer to give a blessing to all at the end and not to increase communion time a minute or so for extra blessings.

With all respect, I think you are missing two key points:

1. The communion line blessings are NOT part of the liturgy. They are an illicit intrusion and therefore an abuse.
2. The priest has no choice (not a matter of preference) but to bless the congregation at the end of Mass. That IS part of the liturgy.

And as others have mentioned, if anybody wants a personal blessing, that’s part of why priests stand outside/in vestibule after Mass. It’s not just for them to greet and shake hands.

 

[EmBee]

Wow, I’m glad I found this thread. Before becoming Catholic, I was encouraged to go up for a blessing during Communion by friends/famiy and the RCIA leaders …

When adults receive Communion while holding babies or with small children at my parish, the children are not given a verbal blessing, rather the sign of the cross is made with a thumb on their forehead - is that incorrect as well?

–

 

[mullenpm]

I do not object if the priest makes the sign of the cross on the forehead of a baby or very small child who accompanies its parent in the Communion line; but I do object to adults arriving with arms crossed in lieu of receiving the Holy Eucharist.

:grouphug:

 

[Lepanto]

Wow, I’m glad I found this thread. Before becoming Catholic, I was encouraged to go up for a blessing during Communion by friends/famiy and the RCIA leaders …

When adults receive Communion while holding babies or with small children at my parish, the children are not given a verbal blessing, rather the sign of the cross is made with a thumb on their forehead - is that incorrect as well?

–

At the risk of sounding like a child-hating ogre, yes, it is incorrect. That’s one of the problems with liturgical abuses. One abuse just spawns another…and before you know it they become entrenched and expected.

If you go back even one generation, you would not have seen these abuses. Communion lines were for communion and they should remain that way.

If you desire a personal blessing, which is a wonderful thing, ask the priest at the end of Mass. I’m sure he’d be delighted.

 

[EmBee]

At the risk of sounding like a child-hating ogre, yes, it is incorrect. That’s one of the problems with liturgical abuses. One abuse just spawns another…and before you know it they become entrenched and expected.

If you go back even one generation, you would not have seen these abuses. Communion lines were for communion and they should remain that way.

If you desire a personal blessing, which is a wonderful thing, ask the priest at the end of Mass. I’m sure he’d be delighted.

Thanks for the clarification!

–

 

[Pro_Domina]

As for the bishop having the authority to order that you stand…

Not in this case.

Read General Instruction of the Roman Missal numer 43.

nccbuscc.org/liturgy/current/GIRM.pdf

This has all the adaptation already.

Anyhow,
tell me what cannonical penalty will you be subject to for doing what all saints did after they recieved Holy Communion?

An ipso facto frown?

 

[pnewton]

Wow, I’m glad I found this thread. Before becoming Catholic, I was encouraged to go up for a blessing during Communion by friends/famiy and the RCIA leaders …

When adults receive Communion while holding babies or with small children at my parish, the children are not given a verbal blessing, rather the sign of the cross is made with a thumb on their forehead - is that incorrect as well?

I think it would be good to go and read Matthew 23 and understand what the weightier matters of faith are. Talk to your priest. He has more authority than those of us here. Unlike others, I do not see any violation of the GIRM in anything that happens as an aside to the Mass, no more than adjusting the AC or the sound system.

What sounds more like WWJD, blessing a child or chastizing the one who blesses a child?

 

[FrCorey]

Arms crossed in a certain way means they want a blessing in some orthodox traditions.

 

[a_cermak]

As a non-Catholic who is married to a gentleman from a Catholic home, I have frequently found myself in the situation of going up for a blessing at special occasion masses. For instance, at my mother-in-law’s funeral and memorial masses (one was RC, one was an Old Roman Catholic), rather than draw attention to myself, I went up and crossed my arms. In fact, the priests, in both cases, announced that was the appropriate thing to do if one wasn’t disposed to receive Communion (and obviously I wasn’t). The same went for the various family weddings I’ve attended.

The blessings differ, depending on who’s saying them. The RC priest blessed me in Jesus’ name (no, I didn’t throw a tantrum, it’s his faith and it didn’t hurt me! I mean sure, the burns from the holy water took a while to heal, but … <joke, I’m kidding>); whereas my brother-in-law (who is an Old Roman Catholic cleric) always blesses me from Psalms. Of course, he knows me, and the other priest doesn’t.

 

[BSHoop96]

As a non-Catholic who is married to a gentleman from a Catholic home, I have frequently found myself in the situation of going up for a blessing at special occasion masses. For instance, at my mother-in-law’s funeral and memorial masses (one was RC, one was an Old Roman Catholic), rather than draw attention to myself, I went up and crossed my arms. In fact, the priests, in both cases, announced that was the appropriate thing to do if one wasn’t disposed to receive Communion (and obviously I wasn’t). The same went for the various family weddings I’ve attended.

The blessings differ, depending on who’s saying them. The RC priest blessed me in Jesus’ name (no, I didn’t throw a tantrum, it’s his faith and it didn’t hurt me! I mean sure, the burns from the holy water took a while to heal, but … <joke, I’m kidding>); whereas my brother-in-law (who is an Old Roman Catholic cleric) always blesses me from Psalms. Of course, he knows me, and the other priest doesn’t.

I guess my problem with this is that you shouldn’t feel that you are calling attention to yourself by remaining in your seat. There are many varied reasons why one might do that at any given time. Being a non-Catholic you had a perfectly good reason. I commend you for taking the Jesus blessing in the spirit in which it was given though. I admire people who don’t take offense when none was intended.

 

[Aramis]

Arms crossed in a certain way means they want a blessing in some orthodox traditions.

Sorry, Father, but generally, just the opposite… Arms crossed across the chest, hands to opposite shoulders, is the normative for communicants in all of the Orthodox I’ve seen, both in person (OCA-RO, Antiochian Orthodox) and on video.

Non-communicants seldom go forward. Then again, lacking pews makes it easier for this, too.

Same as with Byzantine Catholics.

 

[KJS]

Oh dear, I went up the last few times I’ve been at Mass with my arms crossed (considering converting, so no Communion).

Guess I won’t make that mistake again, now will I?

 

[ProVobis]

Why do you not go to Mass to receive the Holy Eucharist? That is the main part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Actually, the Mass becomes valid when the priest consumes the Body and Blood of Christ. That no one else receives the Body and Blood of Christ does not make it an invalid Mass. I have been to Masses where no Communion is distributed. Mostly side altar Masses though.

 

[mullenpm]

Let’s stop nit-picking here.

I could not understand why a person would continuously go to Holy Mass and go with the expectation that they WOULD NOT go to Holy Communion.

I started this thread and I wish I had the opportunity to stop it.

 

[Lepanto]

Let’s stop nit-picking here.

I could not understand why a person would continuously go to Holy Mass and go with the expectation that they WOULD NOT go to Holy Communion.

I started this thread and I wish I had the opportunity to stop it.

Catholics are required to attend Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of obligation, unless there is serious reason (e.g., grave illness) per Canon Law and the Precepts of the Church.

However, also per Canon Law, Catholics are required to receive communion ONLY ONE time per year, and that’s around Easter time. (This is commonly known as the “Easter Duty”.) This goes all the way back to Canon 21, the Omnis utriusque sexus from Lateran Council IV of 1215.

Moreover, Catholics are bound to refrain from receiving communion unless they believe themselves to be free from mortal sin. In such a case, they are to make a spiritual communion (cf. an earlier post) from their pew.