Is Communion on the tongue more reverent?

[jjen009]

I am a convert of a few years’ standing now. I have seen all the stuff back and forth about receiving the host on the tongue versus in the hand. I have seen quotes from the Church that seem to indicate receiving on the tongue is preferable. I have seen many statements that the reason is that it is more reverent. I am almost embarrassed to say that, for the life of me, I cannot see why it is more reverent. I am so grateful to God for giving me the privilege of being a Catholic. I so love the Eucharist. I go to Mass daily. I bow before receiving. I have at times gone through periods of some weeks of receiving on the tongue. But I went back to receiving in the hand, because I just could not see why the one would be more reverent than the other.

Can someone give me some clarification here? I am not asking what the Church says about it. I gather some say it is preferable to receive on the tongue, but licit to receive in the hand. But I am asking for something that might help me make sense out of it.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Receiving Communion on the tongue is the universal norm in the Latin church for receiving the Eucharist. Some countries have been given a dispensation by Rome to allow people to choose to receive Communion in the hand. In those countries, people may choose to receive on the tongue or in the hand (unless Communion is offered by intinction, in which case Communion must be received on the tongue). In countries that do not have the dispensation, Communion must be received on the tongue. For example, a few years ago when I went on pilgrimage to Israel, we had to receive Communion on the tongue because Israel did not, to that date, have the dispensation for Communion in the hand.

A primary reason many believe that Communion on the tongue is more reverent is because it limits the amount of “handling” of the Eucharist. In the days when only priests distributed Communion, only the consecrated hands of the priest touched the Eucharist. Limiting the “handling” of the Eucharist also helps to protect the Eucharist from the possibility of theft and subsequent sacrilege. Stories have cropped up on the Internet in recent years of consecrated hosts being offered for sale. While Communion on the tongue doesn’t entirely protect the Eucharist from such outrages, it does cut down on the opportunities for such abuses to occur.

Receiving the Eucharist in the hand is a practice the Church allows in limited fashion; and, where allowed, is a legitimate option for communicants. Communion on the tongue is the universal norm of the Latin rite, and thus should not be denied to any communicant who prefers to receive in that fashion even where Communion in the hand is allowed.