Communion On The Tongue

[Resurrexi]

St. Cyril of Jerusalem seems to have taught it:

"[P]artake of it [the Holy Body]; giving heed lest you lose any portion thereof ; for whatever you lose, is evidently a loss to you as it were from one of your own members. For tell me, if any one gave you grains of gold, would you not hold them with all carefulness, being on your guard against losing any of them, and suffering loss? Will you not then much more carefully keep watch, that not a crumb fall from you of what is more precious than gold and precious stones?"
(St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 23)

Edited January 19, 2009 by Resurrexi

[tinytherese]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1754806' date='Jan 18 2009, 09:59 PM']Except at Communion, it's better to give more tongue...


I know you're laughin'... and you feel bad about it [/quote]

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Resurrexi' post='1754817' date='Jan 18 2009, 11:13 PM']St. Cyril of Jerusalem seems to have taught it:

"[P]artake of it [the Holy Body]; giving heed lest you lose any portion thereof ; for whatever you lose, is evidently a loss to you as it were from one of your own members. For tell me, if any one gave you grains of gold, would you not hold them with all carefulness, being on your guard against losing any of them, and suffering loss? Will you not then much more carefully keep watch, that not a crumb fall from you of what is more precious than gold and precious stones?"
(St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 23)[/quote]

Whether or not he is correct here, being a saint doesn't mean he was always right. In fact, every saint was definitely wrong at times

There's a healthy balance between carelessness and scrupulosity that we should aim for in all things, and above all everything we do should pour forth from repentant and contrite hearts sincerely seeking holiness and virtue. A person with that kind of heart will not receive Communion carelessly.

Edited January 19, 2009 by LouisvilleFan

[MithLuin]

I don't think hosts used today have 'crumbs.' If I were given a chunk of bread for communion, of course I would be very careful not to lose crumbs of it. But examining your hands for tiny particles...where and when are we instructed to do that?

Eucharistic ministers are instructed:
[quote]If the Eucharistic bread or some particle of it falls, it should be picked up reverently by the minister. The consecrated bread may be consumed or completely dissolved in water before being poured down the sacrarium. [url="http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/girm/lit4.shtml"]USCCB[/url][/quote]

If you see a host (or portion of a host) fall to the ground, then yes, you should not ignore it. Likewise, you should be very careful not to drop the host.

[quote]Holy Communion under the form of bread is offered to the communicant with the words "The Body of Christ." The communicant may choose whether to receive the Body of Christ in the hand or on the tongue. When receiving in the hand, the communicant should be guided by the words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem: "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 the King. Then receive him, taking care that nothing is lost." [url="http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/current/norms.shtml"]Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion Under Both Kinds for the Dioceses of the United States of America[/url][/quote]

But I have never received any instruction to carefully inspect my hands, nor have I observed others doing this.

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1754825' date='Jan 18 2009, 10:24 PM']Whether or not he is correct here, being a saint doesn't mean he was always right. In fact, every saint was definitely wrong at times [/quote]

I would think that his opinion as a Saint, as well as a Father and Doctor of the Church, is more valuable on the matter than yours is.

[quote name='MithLuin' post='1754829' date='Jan 18 2009, 10:32 PM']But I have never received any instruction to carefully inspect my hands, nor have I observed others doing this.[/quote]

I have. One of the priests of my (ordinary form) parish instructed those who receive Communion in the hand to inspect their hands for Particles of the Blessed Sacrament if they do so during a homily on Corpus Christi, though I was already aware that one should do so.

[Brigid]

[quote name='MithLuin' post='1754829' date='Jan 18 2009, 10:32 PM']I don't think hosts used today have 'crumbs.' If I were given a chunk of bread for communion, of course I would be very careful not to lose crumbs of it. But examining your hands for tiny particles...where and when are we instructed to do that?

Eucharistic ministers are instructed:


If you see a host (or portion of a host) fall to the ground, then yes, you should not ignore it. Likewise, you should be very careful not to drop the host.



But I have never received any instruction to carefully inspect my hands, nor have I observed others doing this.[/quote]
there ARE 'crumbs' on hosts today, they're just really little.

my dad inspects his hands every time after he receives Communion and has done that for years. I remember being little and watching him after we got back in the pew and wondering why he would stare at his hands when he kneeled back down. on occasion he would bring his hand up to his mouth as if he was kissing it. I now understand that when he did that, it meant he found a particle from the host on his hands. though I didn't understand it when I was little, now I find it incredible that my dad has such a deep love and respect for the Eucharist - that he wouldn't want even a crumb to fall to the ground.

[Roamin'Catholic]

Follow Pope Benedict's lead: he only gives out communion on the tongue while the communicant is kneeling. You are not allowed to recieve communion from Pope Benedict in the hand.
This is not done by accident, but is very intentional. All priest and and extraordinary ministers should mimic the Holy Father in this respect.
Also, the reception of communion in the hand is allowed through one of the most egrigious of loop holes, and is supposed to be the exception, not the rule when it comes to receiving communion. (Unfortunately, it has become the rule and not the exception.)
If you've had your tongue surgically removed then perhaps it is appropriate to receive in ones hands.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Resurrexi' post='1754847' date='Jan 18 2009, 11:45 PM']I would think that his opinion as a Saint, as well as a Father and Doctor of the Church, is more valuable on the matter than yours is. [/quote]

Well, it may be valuable and worthy of consideration in the context of when he lived and the culture of Church and society at that time and who his audience was. Advice intended for monks and nuns is usually not practical for husbands and wives. Still, saints are sinners before they get to heaven and sometimes they were wrong.

On the matter we're discussion, I'm not saying its wrong to inspect your hands after receiving Communion. I'm disagreeing with the logic of quoting a saint to "prove" one's position. Why not quote current Church teaching on the matter? Have any bishops or cardinals written on it? What does the Congregation for Divine Worship say?

In my opinion, it's very easy to become scrupulous in things like this. It's one thing if you inspect your hands out of a deep and sincere love for Christ. I agree that's very admirable and beautiful, but the beauty of it is the tenderness and love that are being given to Christ. To hold up that practice and say all laypeople need to do the same thing is stripping the action from the very heart of what makes it an admirable and beautiful devotion. Then it becomes empty and vain, and God doesn't look kindly on that kind of worship.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Roamin'Catholic' post='1755165' date='Jan 19 2009, 11:05 AM']Also, the reception of communion in the hand is allowed through one of the most egrigious of loop holes, and is supposed to be the exception, not the rule when it comes to receiving communion.[/quote]

On the other hand (pardon the pun), Desmond has said how the Church tried for nearly a century before Vatican II to encourage more frequent reception of the Eucharist among the faithful. In working towards that goal, the allowance of Communion in the hand did exactly what it needed to do. Of course, there have been other problems, and now people go to Confession like they used to receive Communion. But that's how things go... from one extreme to the other.

Edited January 19, 2009 by LouisvilleFan

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1755178' date='Jan 19 2009, 11:31 AM']On the other hand (pardon the pun), Desmond has mentioned how the Church tried for nearly a centry before Vatican II to encourage more frequent reception of the Eucharist among the faithful. In working towards that goal, the allowance of Communion in the hand did exactly what it needed to do. Of course, there have been other problems, and now people go to Confession like they used to receive Communion. But that's how things go... from one extreme to the other.[/quote]
Exactly. Each age seems to be a mirror opposite of the last. Do you think we could actually ready to go back to orthodoxy?????

[MithLuin]

Receiving communion on the tongue is certainly very appropriate, especially if it can be done without dropping the host.

But receiving in the hand is also very much licit. To suggest that it is only appropriate if there is something wrong with your tongue is, quite simply -- wrong.

The 'loophole' you speak of was leaving it up to the discretion of the local bishops. Those in the US opted for communion on either the tongue or in the hand to be appropriate. If the US bishops decide to follow the lead of the pope, then yes, perhaps communion on the tongue will be the only appropriate way of receiving in the future. But that isn't the situation now. Allowing both species to be available is also something that was left up to the discretion of the local bishops. Or perhaps you'd rather the precious blood not be available at 'normal' masses?


To reiterate, receiving on the tongue is perfectly acceptable and appropriate, as long is it is done in a reverent way (ie, regularly dropping the host would be....bad).

Receiving on the hand is [i]also acceptable[/i], again, as long as appropriate reverence is shown. Inspecting the hands is fine, though again, I don't see this as...necessary. I mean, sure, who doesn't look at their hands when bringing the host to your mouth?

[Roamin'Catholic]

[quote name='MithLuin' post='1755182' date='Jan 19 2009, 11:37 AM']The 'loophole' you speak of was leaving it up to the discretion of the local bishops. Those in the US opted for communion on either the tongue or in the hand to be appropriate.[/quote]

Lets take a look at the instruction 'Memoriale Domini' that was published in 1969, which allows for this "loophole".

After recalling the development of the reception of Communion on the tongue as a fruit of "a deepening understanding of the truth of the Eucharistic mystery, of its power and of the presence of Christ in it", the Instruction declares that "this method of distributing Holy Communion must be retained... not merely because it has many centuries of tradition behind it, but especially because it expresses the faithful's reverence for the Eucharist.

"The custom does not detract in any way from the personal dignity of those who approach this great sacrament: it is part of that preparation that is needed for the most fruitful reception of the Body of the Lord," it said.

It also warned: "A change in a matter of such moment, based on a most ancient and venerable tradition, does not merely affect discipline. It carries certain dangers with it which may arise from the new manner of administering Holy Communion: the danger of a loss of reverence for the august sacrament of the altar, of profanation, of adulterating the true doctrine."

And it published a survey of the world's bishops, which led it to conclude: "The vast majority of bishops believe that the present discipline should not be changed, and that if it were, the change would be offensive to the sentiments and the spiritual culture of these bishops and of many of the faithful."

For this reason it reported: "The Holy Father has decided not to change the existing way of administering Holy Communion to the faithful." So, given that Communion in the hand is now practically universal and younger generations know practically nothing else, what happened?

A "loophole" existed. The Instruction contained the provision for bishops' conferences to make a decision to allow Communion in the hand in places where "contrary usage... prevails". And over the coming decade or so this loophole was exploited.

Today, the Instruction's warnings about loss of reverence for, belief in and even the profanation of the Blessed Sacrament have - sadly - been vindicated. It is time to look again at the question of Communion in the hand.

There is, of course, no question that - as Memoriale Domini itself attests - it is "true that ancient usage once allowed the faithful to take this divine food in their hands and to place it in their mouths themselves".

This fact was much flaunted throughout the 1970s, together with talk about receiving Holy Communion as mature adults, and not as children. We were encouraged to return to the primitive purity of early Church practice as we emerged from centuries of supposedly corrupt accretion in the way we worshipped.

However, in our egalitarian excitement we ignored the sober facts that, the "organic development" of the practice of receiving Communion on the tongue is nothing other than "a fruit of the spirituality and Eucharistic devotion stemming from the times of the Fathers of the Church", and that the exclusion of kneeling for Holy Communion was a feature of the Protestant theological revolt of both Calvin and Zwingli.

Indeed, no less a scholar than Klaus Gamber points out that the reception of Communion in the hand "was in fact abandoned... from the fifth or sixth century onwards".

The Church as she proceeds through time accrues wisdom. Her Sacred Liturgy, developed in tradition, is a privileged repository of the same. All but the most partisan liturgists today recognise that many of the hasty decisions taken in respect of liturgical reform and practice in the Sixties and Seventies were infected by an antiquarianism that was at best naïve and at worst unbalanced. It is time to reconsider some if not many of those decisions and to take decisive steps to correct them where necessary. Communion in the hand is one such.

Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, a true prophet of the liturgical reform of Benedict XVI, writes in the preface to the new book Dominus Est: "I think it is time to evaluate carefully the practice of Communion in the hand and, if necessary, to abandon what was never actually called for in the Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium nor by the Council Fathers but was... 'accepted' after it was introduced as an abuse in some countries."


That receiving communion on the tongue only will provoke backlash is unfortunate, for the practice it advocates is a practice of love and of humility, one from which no one who truly adores Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament ought to recoil.

But perhaps today some controversy is necessary. Future generations, though, may well wonder why we took so long to realise that it is, indeed, the Lord, and once again to behave accordingly.

This is 2009. Benedict XVI is the Pope. The Holy Father has himself already reformed the manner of reception of Holy Communion at the Masses he celebrates. Let us follow his example. It accords with the teaching of Pope Paul VI.

Edited January 19, 2009 by Roamin'Catholic

[walburga]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1754806' date='Jan 18 2009, 09:59 PM']Except at Communion, it's better to give more tongue...[/quote]


That's a bit gross...and I didn't laugh.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1755179' date='Jan 19 2009, 11:32 AM']Exactly. Each age seems to be a mirror opposite of the last. Do you think we could actually ready to go back to orthodoxy????? [/quote]

When was the last time true orthodoxy prevailed? By that, I mean a heart-felt devotion to orthodoxy among laypeople, and not just the appearances of it that have plagued most of Western Catholicism since at least the Industrial Revolution?

[quote name='Roamin'Catholic' post='1755191' date='Jan 19 2009, 12:07 PM']Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, a true prophet of the liturgical reform of Benedict XVI, writes in the preface to the new book Dominus Est: "I think it is time to evaluate carefully the practice of Communion in the hand and, if necessary, to abandon what was never actually called for in the Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium nor by the Council Fathers but was... 'accepted' after it was introduced as an abuse in some countries."[/quote]

I'm sure he's right. That doesn't mean anything will happen soon, though. It's taken most of our lifetimes just to get a revised English Missal approved.

[quote name='Roamin'Catholic' post='1755191' date='Jan 19 2009, 12:07 PM']That receiving communion on the tongue only will provoke backlash is unfortunate, for the practice it advocates is a practice of love and of humility, one from which no one who truly adores Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament ought to recoil.[/quote]

Part of the reason there would be so much rebellion is the confusion that results from our bishops permitting something and then taking it back a few decades later. This is what some parishes in Louisville are complaining about. The archbishop is requiring kneelers in all parishes and a lot of people simply don't understand why they were allowed to worship without kneelers only three decades ago, allowed to build churches and install pews without kneelers, and now there's an about face. It leaves a lot of people dumbfounded, and we are talking about the kind of Catholics who aren't all that trusting of their bishops to begin with. So instead of building up what little trust remains, even that is damaged.

But at the end of the day, it's the bishops' call. I say this just to show that there are other considerations they need to keep in mind. These decisions are never as simple as we make them with our narrowly-focused agendas.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='walburga' post='1755211' date='Jan 19 2009, 12:41 PM'][quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1754806' date='Jan 18 2009, 09:59 PM']
Except at Communion, it's better to give more tongue...[/quote]


That's a bit gross...and I didn't laugh.
[/quote]

It's true though... you gotta stick that tongue out Mike Jaegger style if you don't want the host to fall.

I'm exaggerating, obviously, but doing it right just about feels that way when you're not used it.

Edited January 19, 2009 by LouisvilleFan