St Thomas on Priest's consecrated hands?

[Don_Ruggero]

So, are the priest’s hands still consecrated?

In the Rite of Ordination of a Priest, after the conferring of the Sacrament of Order through the laying on hands and the prayer (which constitutes respectively the matter and form of the sacrament), the hands of the newly ordained priest are anointed by the ordaining prelate with the sacred chrism. As one text well relates both the event and its significance:
Anointing of Hands:
The bishop now anoints the palms of each of the new priests. As he does so, he is to say: “The Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit, guard and preserve you, that you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifices to God.” This anointing is a symbol of the anointing with the Holy Spirit which took place through the imposition of hands and the prayer of ordination. It also symbolizes the priest’s distinctive participation in Christ’s priesthood by the sacrifice he will offer with his hands.

 

[twf]

Its not a matter of the Church trumping St. Thomas or a matter of mere opinion versus Church teaching. This was a matter of Church discipline. That discipline has been relaxed by the Church in most (or all?) countries. Even in the quote in the OP, note that St. Thomas allows that the laity may touch the Host in case of necessity…this demonstrates that St. Thomas was aware that it is not intrinsically evil for laity to touch the Host - it was simply contrary to the ecclesiastical law of his day.

 

[otjm]

Hi,

Can someone help me?
St Thomas wrote

Source This section is written in article 3

Why does the Church allow people to receive directly on their hands if nothing should touch the Host except for what’s consecrated?

Because St Thomas was a theologian, not a pope. He did not make a decree on the matter. He made a theological comment.

St Thomas was one of the greatest theologians of the Church; and he was wrong in some matters. That does not make him wrong in all, or even in many; but one needs to keep the perspective that the Church, through the Magisterium, determines the Faith; theologians remark and explain the Faith.

 

[commenter]

It was an ancient tradition

Saint Cyril:

“When thou goest to receive communion go not with thy wrists extended, nor with thy fingers separated, but placing thy left hand as a throne for thy right, which is to receive so great a King, and in the hollow of the palm receive the body of Christ, saying, Amen.” (Catechesis mystagogica V, xxi-xxii, Migne Patrologia Graeca 33)

The problem I have with that quote is that it is used so often to make rather sweeping conclusions about the early Church. If it really was a tradition wouldnt there be number of references? Was he talking about practce in one parish or the whole Church? What about the centuries between his time and the 1960s? We know the Catholics on after his time were deeply devoted to tradition and. were aware of the eatly church fathers. What traditions were THEY responding to when they placed the host on the tongue?

 

[otjm]

The problem I have with that quote is that it is used so often to make rather sweeping conclusions about the early Church. If it really was a tradition wouldnt there be number of references? Was he talking about practce in one parish or the whole Church? What about the centuries between his time and the 1960s? We know the Catholics on after his time were deeply devoted to tradition and. were aware of the eatly church fathers. What traditions were THEY responding to when they placed the host on the tongue?

There is ample evidence that the early Church spoke about Communion in the hand; I ahve neither the time nor the inclination to dig it out; and Communion in the hand lasted for a number of centuries.

According to Brother JR, the Franciscans, some time after 1200, received permission to receive in the hand, and that, according to him continued on.

As Don Ruggero noted, a priest’s hands are anointed. That is not the only time hands are anointed; it is also done during the Sacrament of the Sick, as I have had that done several times when facing surgery.

There have been numerous threads on Communion in the hand; and some of them have more references to early Church practice of Communion in the hand; you might want to look at those threads.