My young children usually are blessed by the priest or Bishop when I go up to receive Communion. Why do they get in line with me if they aren’t going to receive? Because it would not be appropriate to leave them alone in the pew unattended…Instead of us guessing why people do it, it’s probably best if we ask the people who do go to receive a blessing why they do it. We can suppose a rationale for it, but all the supposing in the world won’t change reality.
There’s also recent video footage of Pope Benedict giving a blessing to a young boy during the Communion procession, at St. Peter’s in Rome on November 3, 2011. A father came up for Communion holding his son in his arms; the father knelt on the prie-dieu to receive Communion on the tongue, and the pope first gave Communion to the father and then (without instigation) traced the sign of the cross on (or just over) the boy’s forehead.
Rome has come out against it.In the UK, it is explicitly encouraged by the Bishops, so it can’t be inherently wrong. Another poster contacted the Board of bishops when this subject arose before, and was assured that Rome knew about it and hadn’t raised any objection…
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
A copy can be found here
- 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).
Exactly. 2008.That letter was dated Nov 2008.
There is nothing wrong with feeling a separation whereby one can feel a longing to fully participate in the sacraments of the Church. The response to the private letter should not be totally disregarded. But I think the whole speculation of the origin and rationale is much ado about nothing.Exactly. 2008.
The Archbishops and Bishops of my country encourage it, as they say Holy Communion should not be a time of hurt and separation. They have also said that Rome knows and doesn’t have a problem with it.
So I will take what they say over a private letter of four years ago.
Good point. I guess I should have just posted a question to that effect in the Liturgy & Sacraments forum.Instead of us guessing why people do it, it’s probably best if we ask the people who do go to receive a blessing why they do it. We can suppose a rationale for it, but all the supposing in the world won’t change reality.
Oh my. That website asserts the practice was popularized by none other than Dale Fushek.Actually, the practice should not be encouraged and it goes against the rubics of the Catholic mass.
Here’s a link that explains it better: catholicdoors.com/faq/qu389.htm
I don’t think it started as an “everyone should get something” mindset so much as it helps to prevent nonCatholics and others who shouldn’t receive from receiving.The giving of blessings to non-communicants in the communion line is a fairly widespread and well-known liturgical abuse. How did it get started, and what is the rationale behind it? Does it stem, for example, from the idea that everyone should “get” something, like a party favor or an attendance prize at a children’s birthday party?
Well, by the same token, the bishops should not “politicize” the Eucharist, but we have pro-abortion politicians receiving it on the evening news. (That spin on the issue is, of course, the rhetoric of the Left, designed to silence the opposition.)Exactly. 2008.
The Archbishops and Bishops of my country encourage it, as they say Holy Communion should not be a time of hurt and separation. They have also said that Rome knows and doesn’t have a problem with it.
So I will take what they say over a private letter of four years ago.
The Church does not run like an American form of laws and rules. The Church rarely sees things as either/or. The Church always wants to uphold the letter of the law as the law and what should be done, however She also realizes that practical realities on the ground sometimes lead to something different. So while the Vatican will uphold the letter of the law when asked about it, its not going to go out of its way to squelch something that’s not that big of a deal.The Archbishops and Bishops of my country encourage it, as they say Holy Communion should not be a time of hurt and separation. They have also said that Rome knows and doesn’t have a problem with it.
So I will take what they say over a private letter of four years ago.
Inquiring into why we do what we do at mass is edifying enough that entire books have been written on the subject.But I think the whole speculation of the origin and rationale is much ado about nothing.
The question can in as a private letter, but the Vatican chose to publish it as an official decree.Exactly. 2008.
The Archbishops and Bishops of my country encourage it, as they say Holy Communion should not be a time of hurt and separation. They have also said that Rome knows and doesn’t have a problem with it.
So I will take what they say over a private letter of four years ago.
Yes, but it is still an element of the Virtue of Obedience to obey, is it not. Should we not expect our priests and bishops to practice Virtue?The Church does not run like an American form of laws and rules. The Church rarely sees things as either/or. The Church always wants to uphold the letter of the law as the law and what should be done, however She also realizes that practical realities on the ground sometimes lead to something different. So while the Vatican will uphold the letter of the law when asked about it, its not going to go out of its way to squelch something that’s not that big of a deal.
I think that is rather arrogant as there are numerous very good reasons for the blessing (which allows everyone to participate in that part of the mass), such as not wanting to leave a child alone in the pew or if the person has celiac disease and there is no wine or acceptable hosts.I think this is rooted in the feeling of having to “get” something at Mass, almost an extension of consumerism-entitlement feelings. I believe that is the impetus.
But that is why the Church created Spiritual CommunionsI think that is rather arrogant as there are numerous very good reasons for the blessing (which allows everyone to participate in that part of the mass), such as not wanting to leave a child alone in the pew or if the person has celiac disease and there is no wine or acceptable hosts.
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You
Read more: ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/blsac4.htm#ixzz1rktXLMTyAmen
-Pope John Paul II - Ecclesia de EucharistiaIn the Eucharist, “unlike any other sacrament, the mystery [of communion] is so perfect that it brings us to the heights of every good thing: Here is the ultimate goal of every human desire, because here we attain God and God joins himself to us in the most perfect union.” Precisely for this reason it is good to cultivate in our hearts a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. This was the origin of the practice of “spiritual communion,” which has happily been established in the Church for centuries and recommended by saints who were masters of the spiritual life. St. Teresa of Jesus wrote: "When you do not receive communion and you do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion, which is a most beneficial practice; by it the love of God will be greatly impressed on you
This rationale is coming up a lot. I tend to think it is the real reason. People in affluent western democracies, as I mentioned above, seem to have an almost childish abhorrence of being excluded or being subject to differential treatment, even if only symbolically; if this is the case, then I predict the practice will not be seen in other parts of the world.…(which allows everyone to participate in that part of the mass)…
What happened to the parent that just takes their children with them in the communion line and the child stands aside while the parent is receiving the Eucharist? That’s what takes place in our parish. When did it become a practice for them to expect a blessing too? What happened to just sitting in the pew as we are instructed to do when we can not receive the Eucharist for whatever reason?I think that is rather arrogant as there are numerous very good reasons for the blessing (which allows everyone to participate in that part of the mass), such as not wanting to leave a child alone in the pew or if the person has celiac disease and there is no wine or acceptable hosts.
The Vatican doesn’t see it as obedience v. disobedience. Instead the Vatican sees it as the ideal v. the practical.Yes, but it is still an element of the Virtue of Obedience to obey, is it not. Should we not expect our priests and bishops to practice Virtue?
Once again, that’s a false dichotomy. Someone who goes 56mph in a 55mph zone isn’t considered a criminal nor do the police waste their time pulling them over and ticketing them.How would they teach this virtue, except by example? Or should we expect them to simply not teach it, nor to expect it in others?
“How did it get started, and what is the rationale behind it? Does it stem, for example, from the idea that everyone should “get” something, like a party favor or an attendance prize at a children’s birthday party?”Good point. I guess I should have just posted a question to that effect in the Liturgy & Sacraments forum.
This is not entirely true, what about those who are small children? Those who are working as hard as they can to join? It’s not my fault I was raised Protestant, and that RCIA is a lengthy process - I didn’t do something to automatically self-excommunicate myself. Not everyone who cannot receive can’t do it because of something that they have done purposefully.Any hurt and separation, as I understand it, is 100% the responsibility of the prospective communicant, as is always the case with acts of automatic self-excommunication. But a rationale based on avoiding a time of hurt and separation implies the practice arose out of an emotional sense of entitlement.