Is Receiving a Blessing During Communion a Sin

[FAH]

I knew that Rome had said blessings shouldn’t be given in the communion line but at Mass today I was not worthy to receive Our Lords Body and Blood so instead I crossed my arms for a blessing. As the CDWDS said this should not be done, and I knew that, have I committed a mortal sin?

The matter was grave, it disobeyed Church teaching.
I knew that the CDWDS said this shouldn’t be done.
No one forced me into receiving a blessing although Father said you could receive a blessing if you wanted.

If this is a sin how would you describe it in the confessional?

Yours in Christ

FAH

 

[puzzleannie]

I knew that Rome had said blessings shouldn’t be given in the communion line but at Mass t

FAH

how do you know this?

there is not any teaching on it at all. nobody came out with a Papal Bull forbidding the practice if that is what you are asking. It simply is not part of Mass, not in the rubrics (the directions for what to do during Mass).

Even if a priest did offer you a blessing or invited people to come forward, however, that his his decision, and has no bearing on you. Even if it was forbidden–which it is not-- and he did it anyhow, it would not in any way shape or form be a sin for you to accept a blessing.

there are plenty of real sins to worry about without making up new ones. stick to the 10 commandments, precepts of the Church, and beatitudes.

 

[FAH]

how do you know this?

I found this on another post released by The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

In a similar way, for others who are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in accord with the norm of law, the Church’s discipline has already made clear that they should not approach Holy Communion nor receive a blessing. This would include non-Catholics and those envisaged in can. 915 (i.e., those under the penalty of excommunication or interdict, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin).

 

[Love_Divine]

For future reference, if you’re not properly disposed to recieve communion, rather than going forward, to receive a “blessing” (let’s not forget EMHCs can’t actually give blessings), you should stay behind and make a Spiritual Communion. You get a blessing at the end of Mass when the priest blesses the entire congregation.

 

[Guillaumus]

In our parish the children who have not yet recieved their First Communion still step up to the priest instead of recieving the host, they cross their arms on their chests and the priest makes the sign of the cross on their foreheads.

I don’t see why this could be wrong.

 

[NewsTheMan]

In our parish the children who have not yet recieved their First Communion still step up to the priest instead of recieving the host, they cross their arms on their chests and the priest makes the sign of the cross on their foreheads.

I don’t see why this could be wrong.

Because they are in the line for Communion… despite [knowingly] not being adequately prepared or disposed to take Communion. Getting a blessing instead is also, IMO, a rather irreverent thing to do. It’s like saying “Well I’ll give you this anyway”.

Picture this:

In line at McDonalds. You get up to the cashier/server. You tell them you have no money or intention of buying… so they give you a picture of a burger.

Bit odd, no?

 

[rabbysmom]

Because they are in the line for Communion… despite [knowingly] not being adequately prepared or disposed to take Communion. Getting a blessing instead is also, IMO, a rather irreverent thing to do. It’s like saying “Well I’ll give you this anyway”.

Picture this:

In line at McDonalds. You get up to the cashier/server. You tell them you have no money or intention of buying… so they give you a picture of a burger.

Bit odd, no?

I like this analogy! It makes sense and solidifies the reason I stay and do spritual communion.

 

[1ke]

how do you know this?

there is not any teaching on it at all. nobody came out with a Papal Bull forbidding the practice if that is what you are asking. It simply is not part of Mass, not in the rubrics (the directions for what to do during Mass).

Actually, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments did address this back on November 22, 2008. And, they are an authoritative body on the matter. The document is protocol number, No. 930/08/L. Here is what the CDWDS wrote:

1. The liturgical blessing of the Holy Mass is properly given to each and to all at the conclusion of the Mass, just a few moments subsequent to the distribution of Holy Communion.
2. Lay people, within the context of Holy Mass, are unable to confer blessings. These blessings, rather, are the competence of the priest (cf. Ecclesia de Mysterio, Notitiae 34 (15 Aug. 1997), art. 6, § 2; Canon 1169, § 2; and Roman Ritual De Benedictionibus (1985), n. 18).
3. Furthermore, the laying on of a hand or hands — which has its own sacramental significance, inappropriate here — by those distributing Holy Communion, in substitution for its reception, is to be explicitly discouraged.
4. The Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio n. 84, “forbids any pastor, for whatever reason to pretext even of a pastoral nature, to perform ceremonies of any kind for divorced people who remarry”. To be feared is that any form of blessing in substitution for communion would give the impression that the divorced and remarried have been returned, in some sense, to the status of Catholics in good standing.
5. In a similar way, for others who are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in accord with the norm of law, the Church’s discipline has already made clear that they should not approach Holy Communion nor receive a blessing. This would include non-Catholics and those envisaged in can. 915 (i.e., those under the penalty of excommunication or interdict, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin).

 

[zab]

I knew that Rome had said blessings shouldn’t be given in the communion line but at Mass today I was not worthy to receive Our Lords Body and Blood so instead I crossed my arms for a blessing. As the CDWDS said this should not be done, and I knew that, have I committed a mortal sin?

The matter was grave, it disobeyed Church teaching.
I knew that the CDWDS said this shouldn’t be done.
No one forced me into receiving a blessing although Father said you could receive a blessing if you wanted.

If this is a sin how would you describe it in the confessional?

Yours in Christ

FAH

You would say that you knowingly and willfully disregarded the Church’s instruction by approaching in the Communion line when you were not properly disposed.

 

[FAH]

You would say that you knowingly and willfully disregarded the Church’s instruction by approaching in the Communion line when you were not properly disposed.

So this is a sin of disobedience towards the Church?

 

[puzzleannie]

I found this on another post released by The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

and nowhere in that statement does it suggest that approaching for a blessing is a sin.

 

[zab]

So this is a sin of disobedience towards the Church?

My response to your initial post was based on the information that you provided. Not everyone who approaches the Communion line for a blessing is guilty of any sin. However, you wrote that you were aware that the CDWDS said it should not be done. And you believed that it was a grave matter and you did it anyway. Your post came across as your wanting to know what you should say in the confessional. I was only trying to help you formulate the words.

 

[Guillaumus]

I remember as a child when I had not done my First Communion I was sad that I couldn’t get a host like my parents and all the others. The priest gave me an unconsacrated host every Sunday after the Mass was finished. Aaah, memories…

 

[FAH]

My response to your initial post was based on the information that you provided. Not everyone who approaches the Communion line for a blessing is guilty of any sin. However, you wrote that you were aware that the CDWDS said it should not be done. And you believed that it was a grave matter and you did it anyway. Your post came across as your wanting to know what you should say in the confessional. I was only trying to help you formulate the words.

Thank you for that but I really wanted to know if my action was sinful but I’m quite sure sure it wasn’t.

Many Thanks

FAH

 

[st_felicity]

Actually, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments did address this back on November 22, 2008. And, they are an authoritative body on the matter. The document is protocol number, No. 930/08/L. Here is what the CDWDS wrote:

1. The liturgical blessing of the Holy Mass is properly given to each and to all at the conclusion of the Mass, just a few moments subsequent to the distribution of Holy Communion.
2. Lay people, within the context of Holy Mass, are unable to confer blessings. These blessings, rather, are the competence of the priest (cf. Ecclesia de Mysterio, Notitiae 34 (15 Aug. 1997), art. 6, § 2; Canon 1169, § 2; and Roman Ritual De Benedictionibus (1985), n. 18).
3. Furthermore, the laying on of a hand or hands — which has its own sacramental significance, inappropriate here — by those distributing Holy Communion, in substitution for its reception, is to be explicitly discouraged.
4. The Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio n. 84, “forbids any pastor, for whatever reason to pretext even of a pastoral nature, to perform ceremonies of any kind for divorced people who remarry”. To be feared is that any form of blessing in substitution for communion would give the impression that the divorced and remarried have been returned, in some sense, to the status of Catholics in good standing.
5. In a similar way, for others who are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in accord with the norm of law, the Church’s discipline has already made clear that they should not approach Holy Communion nor receive a blessing. This would include non-Catholics and those envisaged in can. 915 (i.e., those under the penalty of excommunication or interdict, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin).

Okay…so, in ignorance of this, and since it was practiced at my church by my pastor, I told our RCIA participants that they could go up in line to receive a blessing in anticipation of receiving their first Holy Communion. Have I done something wrong?

Confusion is such a scandal in the Church!

 

[novusCatholic]

This is all news to me!

When I first began to attend Mass (as a Protestant considering Catholicism), I was told that I could join the communion line with my arms crossed and receive a blessing by the priest. Our RCIA class was encouraged to do so as well.

Being blessed by a priest was a new experience for me, and it felt very special. I looked forward to it. During Holy Communion, I would bow in reverence, and then as I stepped forward to receive the blessing, I would often glance down at the Body of Christ in the priest’s hands. I felt graced to be close to it, and these experiences built a deep desire in me for the Eucharist.

 

[puzzleannie]

please read the instruction carefully, it is an instruction to priests, and it tells priests what to do and what not to do in this matter. There is no sin on the part of those in the congregation in approaching expecting a blessing, moreover there is no sin on the part of a catechist ignorant of the rule who passed on and encouraged what had become standard practice in his parish.

The laity do not dream this stuff up. Anything we are doing that we ought not to be doing–hand holding and all the rest–we are doing because at some point, in some parish, by some priest, we were instructed to do so.

 

[st_felicity]

please read the instruction carefully, it is an instruction to priests, and it tells priests what to do and what not to do in this matter. There is no sin on the part of those in the congregation in approaching expecting a blessing, moreover there is no sin on the part of a catechist ignorant of the rule who passed on and encouraged what had become standard practice in his parish.

This was my last RCIA for a while–my family need me more–but if I were to resume, I would probably discuss the issue with my priest, and then instruct as he wished in obedience–however, if I believed that was in error, I would inform the Catechumens of the rule and let them decide to approach or not.

What about my babies? I have little ones who are too young to receive, but look like they might be around the appropriate age. They are still to young to sit alone in the pew so they come up with me with their arms crossed. What else can they do? I think that is entirely appropriate as an indicator they are not to be offered the Body or Blood.

 

[TheMc]

I knew that Rome had said blessings shouldn’t be given in the communion line but at Mass today I was not worthy to receive Our Lords Body and Blood so instead I crossed my arms for a blessing. As the CDWDS said this should not be done, and I knew that, have I committed a mortal sin?

The matter was grave, it disobeyed Church teaching.
I knew that the CDWDS said this shouldn’t be done.
No one forced me into receiving a blessing although Father said you could receive a blessing if you wanted.

Despite what some say, the holy father, exercising his authority through the CDWDS office, has said that blessings should not be given or received during communion, but it appears you already know that.

It would certainly not be a mortal sin to receive a blessing at communion, but we should always keep our reverence and obedience around the Eucharist at it’s highest. Give yourself a pat on the back for not blowing this off as nothing.

That being said, I think your best option would have been to stay in your pew and pray.

If this is a sin how would you describe it in the confessional?

Since many priests believe there’s nothing wrong with this, I would purposely be vague, as not to be confrontational in the confessional. Maybe say something like:

I was not reverent during Mass the other day

How does that sound?