Saint Faustina and Communion in the hand

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I’ve recently been doing a defense of the Divine Mercy devotion according to St. Faustina. I think I did a pretty decent job but I have one question. There is a specific Jesus where the Sacred Host fell into Faustina’s hands and she reports that Jesus Said, “I wish to rest in your hands, not only your heart.” What do you make of this? Is there something mystical behind this? I just consider the Eucharistic miracles where Our Lord was suspended in the air to not be touched.
 
The whole diary is mystical. It would be wrong to read through her writings in a very literal way.

The diary makes no encouragement or discouragement concerning reception of communion in the hand or on the tongue.

Lastly, for clarity, would you mind giving the exact quotation and paragraph number in the diary?
 
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“When the priest approached me again, I raised the host for him to put back into the chalice, because when I had first received Jesus I could not speak before consuming the host, and so could not tell him that the other host had fallen. But while I was holding the host in my hand, I felt such a power of love that for the rest of the day I could neither eat nor come to my senses. I heard these words from the host: I desired to rest in your hands, not only in your heart.” pg.89
 

Here is paragraph 160 from the diary:​

160 +The crusade day,[54] which is the fifth of the month, happened to fall on the First Friday of the month. This was my day for keeping watch before the Lord Jesus. It was my duty to
make amends to the Lord for all offenses and acts of disrespect and to pray that, on this day,
no sacrilege be committed. This day, my spirit was set aflame with special love for the
Eucharist. It seemed to me that I was transformed into a blazing fire. When I was about to
receive Holy Communion, a second Host fell onto the priest’s sleeve, and I did not know
which host I was to receive. After I had hesitated for a moment, the priest made an
impatient gesture with his hand to tell me I should receive the Host. When I took the Host he
gave me, the other one fell onto my hands. The priest went along the altar rail to distribute
Communion, and I held the Lord Jesus in my hands all that time. When the priest
approached me again, I raised the Host for him to put it back into the chalice, because when
I had first received Jesus I could not speak before consuming the Host, and so could not tell
him that the other had fallen. But while I was holding the Host in my hand, I felt such a
power of love that for the rest of the day I could neither eat nor come to my senses. I heard
these words from the Host: I desired to rest in your hands, not only in your heart. And
at that moment I saw the little Jesus. But when the priest approached, I saw once again only
the Host.
 
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Well, to me I would say St. Faustina’s vision or ecstasy was quite real in one sense. It truly is the Divine Child Jesus she was holding in her hands as that is what the Eucharist consist of.

Jesus always related to Faustina in a very intimate and humble manner to show her how loving and humble he truly was towards her while at the same time being Her God.

However, reading this would tend to make one think and perhaps rightly so, there is nothing wrong with receiving Jesus in the hand.

But in my opinion, that is not necessarily the message that Jesus was trying to convey.

Jesus comes to us in a very humble and loving manner in the Eucharist just as he did in the Incarnation as the Divine Child, a totally dependent and helpless baby in the arms of the Blessed Virgin.
 
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As the other poster said, this passage is mystical and not about liturgical practices. After all, Our Lord inspired the Holy Fathers to prohibit communion in the hand for a millennium. It was the Protestant Reformers who revived communion in the hand to weaken belief in the Real Presence.
 
Even thought the diary is abstract, it has a use in supporting the perfectly legitimate Church practice of receiving Communion in hand… which has been a practice in the Church dating way, way back.
 
godisgood77 said:
Even thought the diary is abstract, it has a use in supporting the perfectly legitimate Church practice of receiving Communion in hand… which has been a practice in the Church dating way, way back
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I participated in a thread about this issue and proved that it’s an abuse with questionable historical pedigree. I swore never to touch the topic again because loads of people became extremely upset. However the truth is out there for anybody who wants to research the topic. You can start with the recent comments by the top liturgy expert for the Vatican, Cardinal Sarah.
 
“Not only in your heart but in your hand”
What does this mean? Does this mean to do physical works of Mercy? Does it mean to write more the experiences of the heart?

I do not know if it is clear to us, but it may have been exceptionally clear to her.
 
Thanks Saxum… hope you are able to rest easy on the subject.

I’ll stick with the Church.
 
godisgood77 said:
Thanks Saxum… hope you are able to rest easy on the subject.

I’ll stick with the Church.
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Thanks mate. You too. I rest easy because I do the default method: communion on the tongue. That said, we’re all free to take advantage of the legal exception and take communion in the hand.
 
Saxum said:
I rest easy because I do the default method: communion on the tongue.
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Terrific… I too rest easy because I am 100% in accord with the Church receiving with my hands positioned as a throne.

See very easy for two Catholics to have different views on an external posture, but be fully in line with the Church… and both equally so
 
Saxum said:
As the other poster said, this passage is mystical and not about liturgical practices. After all, Our Lord inspired the Holy Fathers to prohibit communion in the hand for a millennium. It was the Protestant Reformers who revived communion in the hand to weaken belief in the Real Presence.
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No issue that the passage is not about liturgical practices, which it seems to be. Gleaning from the narration, it nevertheless tells us that the Saint did hold the host in her hand and Jesus was allowing it. The host which we receive during Holy Communion.

Your second comment - how did you come up with the prohibition of Communion in the hand was inspired by the Lord and later, Communion in the hand was by the Protestant Reformers?

God bless.
 
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Reuben_J said:
Your second comment - how did you come up with the prohibition of Communion in the hand was inspired by the Lord and later, Communion in the hand was by the Protestant Reformers?
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The liturgy developed organically in response to a deeper understanding of the Faith. Communion in the hand was prohibited out of reverence for Our Lord. The Protestant reformers revived the practice to show their disbelief in the Real Presence. Pope Pius XII in Mediator Dei condemned the idea that the liturgy should revive ancient practices. Furthermore, communion in the hand within the Catholic Church was revived in disobedience to the Vatican. The Vatican was unsuccessful in its attempts to stop the abuse and reluctantly permitted an indult i.e. a special exception to the law allowing communion in the hand. Sadly, the exception to the rule has become the norm in most places.
 
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I’m guessing that it was the first and perhaps only time Saint Faustina touched a consecrated host.

With a strong faith in the Real Presence, it would seem easy to imagine her reaction.
 
Everything you say can be backed up by documentation.


“The Holy Father … does not consider it opportune that the sacred Particle be distributed in the hand and later consumed in different manners by the faithful, and therefore, he vehemently exhorts [that] the Conference offer the opportune resolutions so that the traditional manner of communicating be restored throughout the world.” (Pope Paul VI in a October 12, 1965 letter of the “Consilium” to Bernard Cardinal Alfrink, Archbishop of Utrecht, Netherlands)
 
Sr. Faustina passed on long before communion in the hand was reintroduced. The usual standard of communion on the tongue wasn’t being questioned by the people, it wasn’t a matter of debate at least with non-academics.

I don’t think her visions had anything to do with proper communion protocol at all.
 
Augustinian said:
I don’t think her visions had anything to do with proper communion protocol at all.
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Maybe not but Catholics with liturgical amnesia think it confirms their preferred communion protocol. The weight of history is against them so they look for anything that supports the unfortunate novelty that is communion in the hand.
 
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