Which hand to take communion with

[choy]

The question has been answered near the bottom of the first page. The instruction from Rome is that the host be placed in the left hand and taken to the mouth in the right hand.

Peace
James

funny you’re telling me that because i was the one who provided that answer

and that doesn’t mean this thread should be turned into another COTT vs CITH thread. there’s nothing COTT related in this thread and people who feel the urge to make a COTT statement should respect the OP and his question

 

[Love_Divine]

funny you’re telling me that because i was the one who provided that answer

and that doesn’t mean this thread should be turned into another COTT vs CITH thread. there’s nothing COTT related in this thread and people who feel the urge to make a COTT statement should respect the OP and his question

Thanks. I’m a she btw.

I’ll make one final comment about COTT and this whole reverence thing. Just because someone takes COTT instead of in the hand doesn’t automatically make the person receiving it more reverent. It’s what the person feels on the inside. It’s like apologizing. Anyone can mutter the words, “I’m sorry” and still not mean it. Someone who goes to communion because that’s what they’re supposed to do at that moment and decides to stick out their tongue for communion to appease the person giving it is no more reverent than when they were taking it by hand.

If the Pope requires it be taken orally, well then, “when in Rome, do what the Romans do.”

 

[Newbie2]

The question has been answered near the bottom of the first page. The instruction from Rome is that the host be placed in the left hand and taken to the mouth in the right hand.

Peace
James

Is that in a document somewhere?

 

[ProVobis]

It’s what the person feels on the inside.

Like in touchy-feely?

 

[Love_Divine]

Like in touchy-feely?

I mean as in how that person feels towards going for communion.

When I was getting all my sacraments, it was because that’s what’s expected of the parents to do, and as kids we’re expected to obey our parents. For a lot of people my age, they’re Catholic and,( assuming they) go to church and go to communion because that’s what they’re supposed to do. If you don’t have the reverence for what it actually is, and you just go through the motions because that’s what you’re supposed to do, it doesn’t matter how you receive it. You’re no more reverent than the person who truly believes, but takes it in the hands.

Does that make sense?

 

[choy]

Is that in a document somewhere?

i read a document once and i was trying to google it, but when you type “communion in the hand” on google, all you get are never ending COTT vs CITH debates

 

[Newbie2]

Reason I’m asking is that I’ve never heard this before:

“The instruction from Rome is that the host be placed in the left hand and taken to the mouth in the right hand.”

and am a wee bit skeptical.

 

[JRKH]

Reason I’m asking is that I’ve never heard this before:

“The instruction from Rome is that the host be placed in the left hand and taken to the mouth in the right hand.”

and am a wee bit skeptical.

Since someone mentioned that receiving this was was by indult, perhaps this is where it would be found.

Peace
James

 

[Sunloyhimmon]

Communion is done in the same general fashion everywhere in the world. The person will either receive it on their tongue or in their hands. In some very traditional places, people will kneel down at a rail before the altar, and then the priest will place it on their tongue. If they’re receiving it in their hands, then content matters more than form. They still teach it the way you described, but I’ve seen people receive it with the right hand on top of the left or with both hands cupped together.
Parental Control Software

 

[phoenixrrt62]

Communion is done in the same general fashion everywhere in the world. The person will either receive it on their tongue or in their hands. In some very traditional places, people will kneel down at a rail before the altar, and then the priest will place it on their tongue. If they’re receiving it in their hands, then content matters more than form. They still teach it the way you described, but I’ve seen people receive it with the right hand on top of the left or with both hands cupped together.
Parental Control Software

I thought that was done of a matter of course? except you had a choice of getting it in your hand or your tongue…

wow. it’s been a really long time since I’ve been to a mass. I should go to one just to see what I’m missing…

 

[Newbie2]

Since someone mentioned that receiving this was was by indult, perhaps this is where it would be found.

Peace
James

Anyone know where we might find this information? Benedictgal, were are you when we need you?

 

[JRKH]

Anyone know where we might find this information? Benedictgal, were are you when we need you?

I ran a search on the “Ask an Apologist” Forum and came up with THIS THREAD

The links in the answer seem to be quite good and lead to additional sources that might answer the question once and for all.

Peace
James

 

[Newbie2]

I ran a search on the “Ask an Apologist” Forum and came up with THIS THREAD

The links in the answer seem to be quite good and lead to additional sources that might answer the question once and for all.

Peace
James

Nope.

Nothing to either support or refute the notion:

** “The instruction from Rome is that the host be placed in the left hand and taken to the mouth in the right hand.”**

when taking COTH.

 

[choy]

Nope.

Nothing to either support or refute the notion:

** “The instruction from Rome is that the host be placed in the left hand and taken to the mouth in the right hand.”**

when taking COTH.

And St. Cyril of Jerusalem (+386): “When you approach, take care not to do so with your hand stretched out and your fingers open or apart, but rather place your left hand as a throne beneath your right, as befits one who is about to receive his King … Then receive him, taking every care that nothing is lost. If you let any part fall, it would be as if you had lost a part of your own members” (Cat. Myst. V, 21-22; PG 33, 1, 124-5).

cormacburke.or.ke/node/328

I’m still looking for the modern instruction that teaches the opposite, right beneath the left

 

[jilly4ski]

but rather place your left hand as a throne beneath your right, as befits one who is about to receive his King

I’m still looking for the modern instruction that teaches the opposite, right beneath the left

The “modern” instruction teaching the opposite? I was taught left hand under right. I thought that was the norm for receiving the CITH.

 

[Newbie2]

And St. Cyril of Jerusalem (+386): “When you approach, take care not to do so with your hand stretched out and your fingers open or apart, but rather place your left hand as a throne beneath your right, as befits one who is about to receive his King … Then receive him, taking every care that nothing is lost. If you let any part fall, it would be as if you had lost a part of your own members” (Cat. Myst. V, 21-22; PG 33, 1, 124-5).

cormacburke.or.ke/node/328

I’m still looking for the modern instruction that teaches the opposite, right beneath the left

Thanks, Choy.

I’d be interested if there were any mandates from Rome. I still am questioning whether or not a directive which specifies which hand one is to receive exists and if it is a guidline or a rule.

It seems to me that St. Cyril’s instructions are a little clumsy, assuming that the communicant is right handed, when one is taking a modern host. I realize this may be overanalyzing the subject at hand, but it’s near impossible if not very difficult to receive in one’s right hand (assuming one is right handed) and manipulate the host to place it in one’s mouth. One would think that one would have to use their left hand to take the host out of the right and place it in one’s mouth.

I suspect that either Cyril was left handed or, more likely, the ancient host was more breadlike and subject to fragmenting. In such a case one might receive in the right hand, then place the bread/host in their mouth with an open hand, in order to get all the fragments in, not pick it up with the fingers which is how we manage the modern host.

 

[JRKH]

Yes I do think that the subject is being overanalized.
I’ve seen many forms of accepting the host, right over left, left over right, hands cupped, even one handed (when the recipiant has something in the other hand such as a cane or a baby). I’ve also seen many reverent and irreverent receptions (judging by the appearance of reverence (bowing) when approaching and how one signs themselves after receiving)

In the end, God alone knows if one recieves worthily or not. The left or right and matters little, except to the person

Personally I resolved all of these issues by receiving on the tongue. I’ve never been refused (that is not permitted) and I feel that I am receiving in the most reverential way possible.

For those who prefer the hand I can only suggest, since we don’t seem to be able to give a clear instruction from Rome, that you do so in, what to you seems, the safest, and most reverential way possible.
Then give praise to God for His glorious gift to you.

Peace
James

 

[jilly4ski]

The “modern” instruction teaching the opposite? I was taught left hand under right. I thought that was the norm for receiving the CITH.

oops my bad, apparently I can’t tell my right from left hand this morning.

 

[crazzeto]

At the very least in the Diosese of Raleigh it’s Left over Right, use right hand to receive in the hand, or on the toung is another option (which I prefer anyway).

 

[choy]

Thanks, Choy.

I’d be interested if there were any mandates from Rome. I still am questioning whether or not a directive which specifies which hand one is to receive exists and if it is a guidline or a rule.

It seems to me that St. Cyril’s instructions are a little clumsy, assuming that the communicant is right handed, when one is taking a modern host. I realize this may be overanalyzing the subject at hand, but it’s near impossible if not very difficult to receive in one’s right hand (assuming one is right handed) and manipulate the host to place it in one’s mouth. One would think that one would have to use their left hand to take the host out of the right and place it in one’s mouth.

I suspect that either Cyril was left handed or, more likely, the ancient host was more breadlike and subject to fragmenting. In such a case one might receive in the right hand, then place the bread/host in their mouth with an open hand, in order to get all the fragments in, not pick it up with the fingers which is how we manage the modern host.

i believe the ancient way was to keep the host in the right hand and bow down and receive from the right

i should have book marked the page i was reading in the past. i know i have posted a link on one of the numerous CITH vs COTT threads here at CAF but it has been a while back and its hard to find it from my previous posts.