Receiving in the hand due to illness

  • Thread starter Thread starter Catholic_farmer
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Catholic_farmer

Guest
So, I have been receiving on the tongue since I became Catholic last year. I thought I kind of sorted out all scenarios, but I’d like some opinions, please.

In the interest of avoiding getting anyone sick, I pass on the chalice if I have a cold. Now, I have step throat. Should I receive in the hand, just today, in consideration for the priest? I always consider my hands not worthy or not clean enough, but I don’t want to be inconsiderate either.

I don’t favor one method or another on principal and don’t pay attention to what anyone else is doing. I just kind of decided for myself that receiving on the tongue was right for me and went with it.

We’re going to late mass so, hopefully, there will be time to read a few responses before we go.

Thank you, in advance.
 
You’re not obligated to receive communion at every Mass. Personally, I wouldn’t receive in the hand. FWIW: Communion in the hand isn’t even an option in the EF. Despite being extremely high risk for transferring radiation onto people through bodily fluid and prolonged close proximity, my priest still distributed communion to me during Mass. He just made sure not to touch my tongue.
 
Hands are full of germs; so are missallettes, pews, pew backs, doorknobs, car doors, hand railings and all the other countless things people touch before and during Mass.

Receiving in the hand as a way of avoiding germs really doesn’t make any sense. Since it’s your preference to receive on the tongue, I would say do it that way. Just be careful to receive properly. As a priest I have this to say: “hold still!” I wish I could say that at Communion time. Don’t move around when the priest is placing the Host. Just open your mouth and extend your tongue. If you do that, there’s less chance of spreading germs than there is by receiving in the hand.

Don’t let people tell you that receiving in the hand is somehow more sanitary. It’s simply not true. That’s just an excuse that people make up because they want to discourage Communion on the tongue.

I have a lot of experience giving Communion on the tongue. A lot. I assure anyone that if Communion on the tongue is received properly there is no contact between the Communicant’s tongue and the priest’s fingers.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
You’re not obligated to receive communion at every Mass. Personally, I wouldn’t receive in the hand. FWIW: Communion in the hand isn’t even an option in the EF. Despite being extremely high risk for transferring radiation onto people through bodily fluid and prolonged close proximity, my priest still distributed communion to me during Mass. He just made sure not to touch my tongue.
Click to expand...
Excuse me, but “radiation?”
 
I’ve done the tongue for 10 months and I don’t think I’ve ever had somebody actually touch my tongue. It’s not like they grab my tongue by the tip and reel it out and place the Host on it like a bun on a baking pan. They just place him on the front of the tongue.

The frequency of hygienic questions at Mass confuses me a little bit. The sanctuary is a public place. Like any public place, it has billions of germs coating it like icing. It’s almost beside the point to worry about the diminutive possibility of a Eucharistic minister touching your tongue.

Eat your fruits & vegetables. If you go to the bathroom, wash your hands. Refrain from licking the door handles when entering the sanctuary. Chances of catching sickness = highly reduced.
 
Catholic_farmer said:
So, I have been receiving on the tongue since I became Catholic last year. I thought I kind of sorted out all scenarios, but I’d like some opinions, please.

In the interest of avoiding getting anyone sick, I pass on the chalice if I have a cold. Now, I have step throat. Should I receive in the hand, just today, in consideration for the priest? I always consider my hands not worthy or not clean enough, but I don’t want to be inconsiderate either.

I don’t favor one method or another on principal and don’t pay attention to what anyone else is doing. I just kind of decided for myself that receiving on the tongue was right for me and went with it.

We’re going to late mass so, hopefully, there will be time to read a few responses before we go.

Thank you, in advance.
Click to expand...
If you have strep throat, why are you going to Mass today? It’s very contagious and you are putting others at risk. Stay home, take the antibiotics your practitioner prescribed, rest, and get well.
 
Strep is nasty business. If I had strep I’d stay home as a courtesy to others.
 
pensmama87 said:
Strep is nasty business. If I had strep I’d stay home as a courtesy to others.
Click to expand...
Yes. Strep is contagious, anything you touch within the church could potentially spread it to children, babies, elderly and immuno-compromised. Stay home.
 
pensmama87 said:
Strep is nasty business. If I had strep I’d stay home as a courtesy to others.
Click to expand...
This. If you are contagious to the extent that you have to think about how to receive Communion, you are probably too contagious to go to Mass.
 
You should not go to Mass until you have been on antibiotics for 48 hours. That was the requirement for hospital personnel to stay home from work when I was working. Strep is extremely contagious and dangerous. Stay home.
 
Thank you, FrDavid. That was a very helpful perspective.

Thank you to everyone else for their thoughts. I am under the care of a doctor, thank you.
 
CB_Catholic said:
You should not go to Mass until you have been on antibiotics for 48 hours. That was the requirement for hospital personnel to stay home from work when I was working. Strep is extremely contagious and dangerous. Stay home.
Click to expand...
That sounds like good advice!
 
As a microbiologist, I agree with everyone else who says that people diagnosed with Strep throat should STAY HOME!!!

A lot of people don’t realize that Strep throat is more than just a really bad sore throat.

Infection with Beta Strep Group A can lead to more severe sequelae, including rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis. (Rheumatic fever wrecks the heart, glomerulonephritis wrecks the kidneys–both really bad!).

If a prize were given to bacteria for “Best Pathogen”, Beta Strep A would definitely be a major contender (along with MRSA, C.diff, and KPCs).

Stay home.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top