How did early Catholics receive the Body and Blood of Christ?

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I think if I ever became a priest I wouldn’t give communion on the hand at all /…/
It is not within the competence of the priest to refuse to give Communion in the hand to a communicant who wishes to receive according to that method.

The priest has a serious obligation to submit, in complete docility, to what is established by the successors to the apostles. He is ordained as a subordinate co-worker with the Order of Bishops. He must be prepared to set aside his personal preferences in order to carry out the will of his superiors.
 
Cardinal Ratzinger (prior to being Pope Benedict XVI) notes that it was the practice of the Early Church to receive in the hand.

He notes in God and the World: “It was done in the early Church” (pg 410)

And in another work

“…we know that until the ninth century Communion was received in the hand, standing.”

Cardinal Ratzinger “God Is Near Us” Ignatius Press Pg 70 2001

I also recall but have not found it at the moment-- that he gave an answer as Pope in a Q & A session with Priests that was similar…

He certainly knows of what he speaks.
 
Did they receive on the hand? Is receiving on the hand that modern?

Did they partake of the chalice?
Depends on what exactly you mean by “Early”

The FIRST Catholics received under both species; a practice that was later abrogated for fear of possible sacrileges. This policy lasted for centuries and was reverted too in the POST Vatican II period.
 
This is not correct at all. He is required by law to do so, provided the person is not prohibited by law from receiving.

*Can. 912 Any baptized person not prohibited by law can and must be admitted to holy communion.

Can. 918 It is highly recommended that the faithful receive holy communion during the eucharistic celebration itself. It is to be administered outside the Mass, however, to those who request it for a just cause, with the liturgical rites being observed.*
THANK YOU!

Correct !

GBY
 
It is not within the competence of the priest to refuse to give Communion in the hand to a communicant who wishes to receive according to that method.

The priest has a serious obligation to submit, in complete docility, to what is established by the successors to the apostles. He is ordained as a subordinate co-worker with the Order of Bishops. He must be prepared to set aside his personal preferences in order to carry out the will of his superiors.
it is pretty interesting that most African conferences do not have communion on the hand and their churches are usually free of these long arguments.
 
[BIBLEDRB][/BIBLEDRB]
This is not correct at all. He is required by law to do so, provided the person is not prohibited by law from receiving.

*Can. 912 Any baptized person not prohibited by law can and must be admitted to holy communion.

Can. 918 It is highly recommended that the faithful receive holy communion during the eucharistic celebration itself. It is to be administered outside the Mass, however, to those who request it for a just cause, with the liturgical rites being observed.*
I’ve attended a Mass where the priest did not give Holy Communion to the faithful.

It was essentially a private Mass that the priest was celebrating with another priest, and a seminarian (and a couple of others) and we happened to turn up as just before it started.

As this was part of a large day of celebrations where at a later event the bishop would be saying Mass, the priest said that due to that fact he would rather not distribute Communion at this Mass and asked us if that was OK. Which of course we said it was.

The priest in question is, in my opinion, one of the most reverent priests I have ever see say Mass.
 
[BIBLEDRB][/BIBLEDRB]

I’ve attended a Mass where the priest did not give Holy Communion to the faithful.

It was essentially a private Mass that the priest was celebrating with another priest, and a seminarian (and a couple of others) and we happened to turn up as just before it started.

As this was part of a large day of celebrations where at a later event the bishop would be saying Mass, the priest said that due to that fact he would rather not distribute Communion at this Mass and asked us if that was OK. Which of course we said it was.

The priest in question is, in my opinion, one of the most reverent priests I have ever see say Mass.
He had a serious obligation to make the sacrament available to you, as the canon makes clear. The law besides provided for you to receive twice since you would be assisting at the later Mass as well as the earlier one.

The mindset demonstrated is a regrettable one. What he would “rather” do is immaterial.

It has happened, rarely, where a group arrives to an altar where I am offering Mass after the offertory.

If I am at an altar where I do not have access to the reserved Sacrament, it may be impossible to accommodate them, if the number of communicants exceeds by more than twice the Hosts I have consecrated. I do not mind to divide the Hosts in half but fractioning them further becomes ever increasingly problematic.
 
Did they receive on the hand? Is receiving on the hand that modern?

Did they partake of the chalice?
sub utraque = under both

From the first to the twelfth century

It may be stated as a general fact, that down to the twelfth century, in the West as well as in the East, public Communion in the churches was ordinarily administered and received under both kinds. That such was the practice in Apostolic times is implied in 1 Corinthians 11:28 (see above), nor does the abbreviated reference to the “breaking of bread” in the Acts of the Apostles (ii, 46) prove anything to the contrary. The witness to the same effect for the sub-Apostolic and subsequent ages are too numerous, and the fact itself too clearly beyond dispute, to require that the evidence should be cited here. But side by side with the regular liturgical usage of Communion sub utraque, there existed from the earlist times the custom of communicating in certain cases under one kind alone. This custom is exemplified * (1) in the not infrequent practice of private domestic Communion, portion of the Eucharistic bread being brought by the faithful to their homes and there reserved for this purpose; * (2) in the Communion of the sick, which was usually administered under the species of bread alone; * (3) in the Communion of children which was usually given, even in the churches, under the species of wine alone, but sometimes under the species of bread alone; * (4) in the Communion under the species of bread alone at the Mass of the Presanctified, and as an optional practice, in some churches on ordinary occasions. To these examples may be added * (5) the practice of the intinctio panis, i.e. the dipping of the consecrated bread in the Precious Blood and its administration per modum cibi.

Toner, P. (1908). Communion under Both Kinds. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. newadvent.org/cathen/04175a.htm
 
He had a serious obligation to make the sacrament available to you, as the canon makes clear. The law besides provided for you to receive twice since you would be assisting at the later Mass as well as the earlier one.

The mindset demonstrated is a regrettable one. What he would “rather” do is immaterial.
To be fair to the priest I think he actually said, “Would we mind if …”, rather than, “I would rather…” and I think that if we had said, “Actually we would like to receive Communion” then he would have given us Communion. So I think then that he wasn’t in breach of Canon Law, as I am fairly sure we would not have been denied if we had then presented ourselves for Communion.

As for the receiving Communion twice in a day, I always assumed that it was in exceptional circumstances.
 
it is pretty interesting that most African conferences do not have communion on the hand and their churches are usually free of these long arguments.
There is an inherent danger in comparing what goes on in one country with another, and that is that cultural differences are not taken into account.

I have no clue as to whether or not CITH may not be allowed due to cultural differences in Africa; but I do know that there have been more than isolated instances that there have been difficulties within the Church in Africa due to long held memories of colonialism. additionally, it is my understanding that there have been culturally based additions to the Mass in some parts of Africa, c.f The Constitution On The Sacred Liturgy, 337-40.

If your comment is meant to be a sly reference to people who do not like CITH in the US, I would only suggest that the greater majority of people who attend Mass regularly do not argue for it, as it is allowed; it is a small minority who don’t like it who continue to argue; and given they have the right to receive COTT, one has to wonder why they continue to “kick against the traces”
 
My archdiocese certainly permits communion in the hand but my pastor will absolutely NOT give anyone communion in the hand.
If such is true, the priest should be reported to the archdiocese so that action maybe taken against him.
 
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