receiving communion on the tongue

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As an EMHC I have also seen abuses in receiving on the tongue. The most frequent is people opening their mouth and then biting down on the host instead of letting me place it on their tongue. The chance of the host breaking and falling is far greater than when it is placed on the hand. Also there are those people who slurp the host from the fingers of the minister (this really grosses me out but there is nothing I can do about it except pick of the next host with spit on my fingers - not very sanitary). I too have seen someone take it out of their mouth. Granted this was a kid who had received on the tongue, but I am sure some adults could do it as well.
 
Joannm said:
As an EMHC I have also seen abuses in receiving on the tongue. The most frequent is people opening their mouth and then biting down on the host instead of letting me place it on their tongue. The chance of the host breaking and falling is far greater than when it is placed on the hand. Also there are those people who slurp the host from the fingers of the minister (this really grosses me out but there is nothing I can do about it except pick of the next host with spit on my fingers - not very sanitary). I too have seen someone take it out of their mouth. Granted this was a kid who had received on the tongue, but I am sure some adults could do it as well.
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One of the practices we used to have when you received communion on the tongue while kneeling an altar boy accompanied the priest and placed (I think it was called a paten? I cannot remember for sure) under the communicant’s chin just in case any part of the consecrated host fell out from the mouth.
 
georgewithfaith said:
One of the practices we used to have when you received communion on the tongue while kneeling an altar boy accompanied the priest and placed (I think it was called a paten? I cannot remember for sure) under the communicant’s chin just in case any part of the consecrated host fell out from the mouth.
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yes, it was a paten.
 
I grown up in the world were everyone received the Holy Communion to tongue. There was a paten hold by the server in case the host would fall out, but that happened very rarely. Naturaly there were abuses, sometimes one took the host out of his mouth , and put to the prayer book, but this is only proof that no form has magical power against abuses.

I believe the resolution is education. To teach people how to receive on tongue, also to teach people frequently how to receive with reverence in any method.

Also to teach extraordinary Eucharistic ministers how to distribute the communion on tongue.
 
laszlo said:
I grown up in the world were everyone received the Holy Communion to tongue. There was a paten hold by the server in case the host would fall out, but that happened very rarely. Naturaly there were abuses, sometimes one took the host out of his mouth , and put to the prayer book, but this is only proof that no form has magical power against abuses.

I believe the resolution is education. To teach people how to receive on tongue, also to teach people frequently how to receive with reverence in any method.

Also to teach extraordinary Eucharistic ministers how to distribute the communion on tongue.
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Good thoughts.

I’m not quite sure what “gets it” in the OP means.
 
If you look at some of the old books of rubrics - I have one from 1925 there are a whole list of rubrics for dealing with placing the Host on the tongue correctly and even what to do if you were to touch the tongue of a communicant by mistake.

But you have to go looking for these 🙂
 
I was taught in R.C.I.C. to receive only in the hand but once heard a priest deliver a homily lameting the disrespect he had observed the abuses he’d observed. He was so emotionally overwrought by his observences, he seemed to almost cry.
After that, I began receiving only on the tongue and only from the priest.
 
catsrus said:
I was taught in R.C.I.C. to receive only in the hand but once heard a priest deliver a homily lameting the disrespect he had observed the abuses he’d observed. He was so emotionally overwrought by his observences, he seemed to almost cry.
After that, I began receiving only on the tongue and only from the priest.
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wow…some of us don’t have the luxury of receiving only from a priest…lucky you…:rolleyes:
 
paperwight66 said:
You surely don’t believe that Holy Communion is somehow better when given by a priest?
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No, but since the priest at Mass is in persona Christi, we not only recieve Christ Himself, but recieve it from the hands of Christ Himself. It’s as close to how the Apostles recieved Him as we can humanly get.
 
paperwight66 said:
You surely don’t believe that Holy Communion is somehow better when given by a priest?
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Nope…it was sarcasim…I’m not feeling well today.

I just know that some parishes are lucky to have one priest period…

I prefer to concentrate on WHO I’m receiving…not from WHOM I am receiving…
 
paperwight66 said:
You surely don’t believe that Holy Communion is somehow better when given by a priest?
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Or a deacon. But in the sense that it doesn’t give the perception that the laity is passing Holy Communion around.
 
Frankly, quite a few extraordinary ministers haven’t got a clue how to distribute Communion on the tongue.
I realize that it is harder for the shorter EMHCs (as well as the short padres) to do without a Communion rail, but it wasn’t my call to wreckovate our church back in the late '60s.
 
I really want to receive communion on the tongue and have but I’m starting to get paranoid lately because it’s making me stand out of place. It’s as if no-one at my parish gets communion on the tongue and it feels odd to me but I feel as if I give more respect to Jesus and not people.
 
dfp42 said:
I really want to receive communion on the tongue and have but I’m starting to get paranoid lately because it’s making me stand out of place. It’s as if no-one at my parish gets communion on the tongue and it feels odd to me but I feel as if I give more respect to Jesus and not people.
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There is no right or wrong when it comes to receiving on the tongue or in the hand if its allowed in your diocese. But it is wrong if you let other people dictate which way you receive. The Church gave us 2 choices, its up to use to choose, not someone else. Do what you think is right and don’t worry about what other people may think. As long as you are not violating any rule of the Church then you are fine.
 
ConstantineTG said:
There is no right or wrong when it comes to receiving on the tongue or in the hand if its allowed in your diocese. But it is wrong if you let other people dictate which way you receive. The Church gave us 2 choices, its up to use to choose, not someone else. Do what you think is right and don’t worry about what other people may think. As long as you are not violating any rule of the Church then you are fine.
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Thank you
 
I’m from Latvia and reading this I feel that we here are probably lucky that we never even started receiving in hand - so this kind of confusions don’t take place.
And almost always we kneel (are there communion rails in church or not), except some special youth masses where communion is distibuted when people come by one to standing priest and also then receives standing (but on tongue anyway! :)), although some want to kneel even in this case.
Perhaps this is because we have had Soviet period when religion was not allowed to be openly practiced (got away from those nightmares only since 1990s…), so church traditions stayed somewhat ‘conservated’. It looks sometimes it is quite ok 🙂
Just wanted to share experience from another end of world, as I see most people here are from America.
And it is also very interesting to read how same religion is practiced in other places - so thank you all for sharing experiences! 😉
 
Brendan said:
No, but since the priest at Mass is in persona Christi, we not only recieve Christ Himself, but recieve it from the hands of Christ Himself. It’s as close to how the Apostles recieved Him as we can humanly get.
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This is awfully close to saying that receiving from a priest is better, more holy, etc. than from a Deacon or EMHC, no?
 
Newbie2 said:
This is awfully close to saying that receiving from a priest is better, more holy, etc. than from a Deacon or EMHC, no?
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Tell me, if you were in a Communion line, and the choices of people you could recieve Holy Communion from were from Christ Himself, or from me as an EMHC, should I take offense if you went into Christ’s ‘line’ :cool:
 
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