GIRM and use of Communion Paten

[FrDavid96]

We have them at our parish, but a lot of the altar boys/girls have not been trained on what to do with them.

Here’s a question–I know that when the person received on the tongue, the paten is supposed to be placed under the chin, but where is it supposed to go when the person receives in the hand?

Actually, the proper place to put the paten is not necessarily beneath the hand, but it should always be beneath the Host, from the moment the priest lifts the Host from the ciborium, the paten should be under the Host, and the altar boy should follow the Host, placing it under the hand or chin of the communicant until the Host is taken into the mouth.

 

[jkarp]

At a parish for which I used to work, the sacristan and myself got in a fair amount of trouble because we instructed the altar servers in the use of the communion paten during a training class. We weren’t telling them they had to use it but that they may be called upon to do so and should know what it is and how to use it.