Do you kneel to receive communion at the OF mass?

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I do - what the majority do - in the hand -
A old guy, before mass last week, was telling me about kneeling -
or AT LEAST - receive the Eucharist on the tongue -
I guess the POPE - was giving out communion -
and wouldn’t give to the nuns who held out their hands -

But back to kneeling - out of 100 believers, I see two do that homage -
I feel people don’t do this gesture , possibly because it’d delay mass. Make it longer.
Time conscience believers would get angry. Esp. if they drank coffee before mass.
People are always in a rush.
Padre Pio - said some long masses - caused anger !
Would of LOVED to attend one of those world record services.
 
I only kneel if a Communion rail is being used at that particular Mass. There is a parish in my city that almost always uses the Communion rail.

It was a big deal to me to start receiving on the tongue at my home parish. I started doing it during my last year of college, a very Catholic college where it was common, but when visiting my parents at my rural home parish, I was a little self-conscious. But no one batted an eye, and thankfully my dad, who is a deacon, is often the one distributing Communion on the side we sit, and he doesn’t care lol. One of my brothers has started kneeling and receiving on the tongue, and he’s got it down to one swift movement down and up. I’m about 7 months pregnant, so I think that if I tried to kneel without a rail in front of me at this point, getting back up would not be a pretty sight. 😳 😜
 
I wouldn’t bother thinking about what others would think of you 🙂
Our church put up kneelers for Lent and night keep them up. I am rather clumsy so I never knelt without them and with them, I honestly should have taken advantage of it but I always felt like I might trip or kneel down too fast or something.
I’ve almost been kicked by someone in front of me who knelt without the kneelers so I’d advise you to be aware of the surroundings or perhaps go to the back of the line.
 
I kneel down to receive the Eucharist even though I’m a newly converted Catholic. I was received by the church last night. 💓😁😀😂😂😂
 
No! I wouldn’t be able to get up! SIGH
I bow my head and make a sign of the cross.
In Christ’s Love
Tweedlealice
 
I say get at it! I was nervous at first too, but i did it and everything went fine! Been doing it ever since
 
I politely disagree,Cardinal Sarah has simply said it’s good to kneel recieving, that doesn’t mean doing it standing is bad
 
I’ve been receiving the Eucharist kneeling at OF mass for a few months now; the only person who has tripped over me is my 2.5-year-old daughter because she tries to imitate me doing it if she walks up with me 😂 So she walks up with daddy in front of me now.

My best advice is to either go as close to first as possible (first two rows or so) or at the end while you get used to the flow of it. I was very worried I would disrupt the flow of things when I first started, so I ‘practiced’ by going last at daily mass (and wearing flats). After a few times it felt very natural and I was able to do so with practically no interruption to the flow of the communion line.
 
Yes, but I attend a diocesan parish that is extremely conservative liturgically. Many parishoners receive kneeling, and the priest administers the Eucharist at the altar rail.
 
misstherese said:
I confess I’m way too nervous to kneel to receive communion at the OF mass. For those who do, is there anything I should know before I try? Everyone has known me since birth at the church I go to. I was a bit too casual about the Faith for most of my life and I don’t want to seem odd or confuse anyone.

Do you go last in line? Or has anyone tripped over you? lol that would be my worst nightmare.
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I miss going up to the communion rail to receive communion!!! There is one church in the town where I live where parishioners can still go up to the communion rail for communion, all other parishes you bow and then receive the Holy Eucharist. I receive it on my tongue because I like the feeling that Jesus is giving me Holy Communion. I have seen others walk up to the priest, kneel, get up and receive communion and it doesn’t bother me at all. I can kneel but now I have a hard time getting up so I haven’t started kneeling to receive yet. I love this post!!
 
I do I was brought up receiving at the communion rail. I prefer taking the host from there if I can . I still receive on the tongue but I was also taught to receive in the hand but prefer taking the host on my tongue. Being a new covert to the Catholic faith.
 
You should definitely kneel for the offertory of the Mass and before and after Communion. It shows greater respect for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It doesn’t matter if it’s different then what you normally do, just do it for Christ.
 
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Receiving on the tongue is the way to show true respect to the holy Eucharist, as receiving in the hand loses particles of the Host.
 
BridgetN said:
Receiving on the tongue is the way to show true respect to the holy Eucharist, as receiving in the hand loses particles of the Host.
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You do know that if any particles are lost (debateable in itself) , the Real Presence ceases if they are too small to be recognised as bread? On the other hand, if the particles are large, this is a problem which should have been tackled years ago in the parish concerned, by changing their supplier to one which provided less breakable altar-breads.
 
paperwight said:
You do know that if any particles are lost (debatable in itself) , the Real Presence ceases if they are too small to be recognized as bread
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I disagree. How could the Real Presence cease to exist if the particles are to small to be seen as bread? The Church has taught that the Eucharistic particles(no matter how small) are completely Christ’s body. I don’t understand how anything could be different. After all, why else is the priest super careful in cleaning his hands and the patent after distribution? Because he doesn’t want to lose any particles of the Host. No matter how small.
 
That’s if it cannot be seen by the naked eye. There’s a video on YouTube where this person takes unconsecrated hosts and puts it in his hand (just like at mass) and removes it. Clear and visible white particles were left. I’ll try to find the video.

Edit: found it

 
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Thanks for sharing this video. It’s very interesting. I abhor the idea of communion in the hand because no matter how careful one is, there’s still too great a risk of profanation. I have never received communion in the hand. And I never will.
 
If I was to go mega Holy, I would prostrate myself before the Eucharist …but alas, my Priest would have a few words with me no doubt…
 
BridgetN said:
I disagree. How could the Real Presence cease to exist if the particles are to small to be seen as bread? The Church has taught that the Eucharistic particles(no matter how small) are completely Christ’s body. I don’t understand how anything could be different. After all, why else is the priest super careful in cleaning his hands and the patent after distribution? Because he doesn’t want to lose any particles of the Host. No matter how small.
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I don’t think that’s quite true. Here is an explanation from a priest based on Church teaching:
“The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.” (CCC 1377; cf. Council of Trent, Session XIII, Canon III)

http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.ca/2012/07/fragments-of-eucharistic-species.html
“The Church teaches that the Eucharistic Presence remains ‘as long as the Eucharist species subsist’. This means that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, so long as the Eucharist retains the accidental properties of bread and wine. Hence, if a Host is dissolved in water (as is done when the Host has become putrefied, as through vomiting after the reception of Communion), upon being dissolved it is not longer the Eucharist… The same must hold true for those particles which are so small as to be unrecognizable as ‘bread’. If the fragment is so small as to appear to be dust or a speck of some other substance, rather than a ‘crumb’ of bread, it can no longer be the Eucharist. Likewise, those microscopic particles which fall from the Host are not the Eucharist, since they clearly do not retain the appearance of bread.”

So crumbs are not the same as specks that look like dust. Even when communion is distributed on the tongue, you will lose some specks of the host in the air. Some may be left on the priest’s finger and fall to the floor before he is able to wash his hands.

I agree that if it can be seen by the naked eye and still looks like bread, then it would still be the Eucharist. But that is why we are taught to check our hands. Personally I have been receiving more now in my hand because I am afraid of the risk of the Host being dropped when I receive on my tongue. I am clumsy…
 
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