Sacrilege is at an all-time high, yet use of the Sacrament of Confession is at an all-time low. Catholics use birth control, get divorced and fornicate at the same rate as society in general, with the sin of using birth control rarely confessed. My simple point is that the individual ways our Church evolves over history have a significant impact on its life thereafter, often in ways we dont expect. Others claim that in the context of the discourse St. Cyril was referring to the clergy and not to the faithful. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite. [15] See the council of Auxerre, canon 36 (it directs women not to receive on their bare hands, but with their hand covered by a cloth). A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist: As to the way to carry out the new rite: one possible model is the traditional usage, which expresses the ministerial functions, by having the priest or deacon place the host in the hand of the communicant. Whatever procedure is adopted, care must be taken not to allow particles of the Eucharistic bread to fall or be scattered. Fire consumed the offering Councils establish principles (and rarely go into specific points) and then leave it to a commission to carry out the detailed work after the Council. Ive updated the post. Consider that you not only receive this gift in your hand, but that you also bring it up to your mouth, and keep your tongue clean of all disgraceful and outrageous words, blasphemy, perjury and all other sins of this sort. We owe the Lord as much attention to detail. The Reception of Holy Communion at Mass | USCCB Elizabeth Klein is an Assistant Professor of Theology at the, The Abandoned: Toward a Christocentric Phenomenology of Prayer, The Conclusion of Karl Rahner's Dissertation on the Origin of the Church from the Side Wound of the Crucified Christ. Alphonse Mingana (Gorgias Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2009 [1933]). Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS) TOP Space doesn't allow all the details, but the propaganda in the 1970s that was used to sell Communion in the hand to a trusting, vulnerable people was a campaign of calculated half-truths that didn't tell the whole story. How should this evidence be brought to bear on the modern conversation? My overarching point in all this (as someone who receives comfortably in both manners) is that I dont think common concerns with reception in the hand have been treated with adequate seriousness by many its defenders. If our reader had said that he believed that Communion in the hand was more prone to dangers of accidents and profanation, I would accept the argument. Roland Teske (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2001). To be honest, I dont really belong to either camp on this, and like you, I think the polarization on this issue is doing more harm than good. From a hygienic point of view, the hand carries a huge amount of bacteria. After stipulating the historical practice of Communion in the hand, Memoriale Domini: defends the development of discipline that led to Communion on the tongue [22] Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Faith 10, trans. On the other hand, this mode of communion is not anywhere associated with lay involvement or accessibility, nor is it thought to de-emphasize the role of the priest. When receiving in the hand, the communicant should be guided by the words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem . First, Cyril: Coming up to receive, therefore, do not approach with your wrists extended or your fingers splayed, but making your left hand a throne for the right (for it is about to receive a King) and cupping your palm, so receive the Body of Christ; and answer: "Amen." [20] Here is what Theodore says: 47), and says of the Communion Chant that "its purpose [is] to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the 'communitarian' character of the procession to receive the Eucharist" (no. enough bread and wine are made ready for the communication of the faithful at each Mass.45 As a general rule, Holy Communion is given from hosts . However, he should not refuse to administer Communion to those faithful desirous of availing themselves of a legitimate authorization. 5.21, trans. However, when they receive Communion standing, it is recommended that the faithful make appropriate reverence, according to the norms established, before receiving the Sacrament. [13] In the far-flung regions of the empireGaul (modern-day France and Spain) we have the witness of Caesarius of Arles[14] and the council of Auxerre,[15] and in England, we have the Venerable Bede. Blog Staff and Editorial Advisory Committee, http://www.kathpedia.com/index.php?title=Handkommunion, http://www.cultodivino.va/content/cultodivino/it/rivista-notitiae/indici-annate.html, From the Wires: U.S. Catholic Priests Are Increasingly Conservative as Faithful Grow More Liberal, Yale Organ Week: Now Accepting Applications, The North American Academy of Liturgy, 2023, New Open-Access, Ecumenical Journal Powered by the University of Vienna, Is the Eucharistic Revival a Liturgical Revival (Part 2), What Did Jesus Know? The author seems to think that liturgical reforms should consist of only what an ecumenical council prescribed. The manner of receiving holy Communion - Catholic News Agency Have reverence for the honor which God has bestowed upon it, and do not lead it down to the vileness of sin.[27]. The symptoms are myriadI certainly would assent to much of what you cite. Confess it and move on. Yet even here, the experts sometimes forgot the unrepeatable reality of original circumstances so that restoration is never quite the same. When one receives from the chalice, the same proclamation is made by the person distributing Communion and the Communicant again responds, "Amen." But is the impression they give generally correct? Your email address will not be published. In this he shows a great fear, and since the hand that is stretched out holds a higher rank, it is the one that is extended for receiving the body of the King, and the other hand bears and brings its sister hand, while not thinking that it is playing the role of a servant, as it is equal with it in honour, on account of the bread of the King, which is also borne by it. University of Notre Dame, McGrath Institute for Church Life The Controversy of Communion in the Hand Catholic Insight So then after having carefully hallowed your eyes by the touch of the Holy Body, partake of it; 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. Bolivia, October 15 1969 It is also difficult to ensure that the person who receives Communion effectively consumes the host. This is in no way meant to refer to those who, receiving the Lord Jesus in the hand, do so with profound reverence and devotion, in those countries where this practice has been authorized.. Its just BREAD!!. For example, there is ample evidence that the exchange of peace between the people was practiced well into the Middle Ages in several European countries. Maybe this is due to decades of poor or heterodox catechesis on the Sacraments. Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), 2 October 1971 Indeed, it can be dangerous for contagion. Finally, to the end that their coming to this heavenly table may be completely worthy and fruitful, the faithful should be instructed on its benefits and effects, for both the individual and society, so that their familial relationship to the Father who gives us our daily bread, may reflect the highest reverence for him, nurture love, and lead to a living bond with Christ, in whose flesh and blood we share. [3] Augustine, Answer to Petilian 2.23.53and Against Parmenian 2.7.13. The Proper Way to Receive Holy Communion - Shrub Oak, NY Greg., Dial., I, III, c. iii). Library : Holy Communion in the Hand? | Catholic Culture Catechesis has been virtually non-existent or flat-out heretical for the last 50 years. The condition is the complete avoidance of any cause for the faithful to be shocked and any danger of irreverence toward the Eucharist. Take this from someone who receives in the hand sometimes, I would never do it if I thought it was enabling Lucifer to corrupt my soul. [25] Origen of Alexandria, homily in Ex. There are particles, and there are particles. 284-287 is to be followed.. The causes are myriad and often interconnected. The communicant replies, Amen, and receives the Sacrament either on the tongue or, where this is allowed, in the hand, the choice lying with the communicant. The option offered to the faithful of receiving the Eucharistic bread in their hand and putting it into their own mouth must not turn out to be the occasion for regarding it as ordinary bread or as just another religious article. in Eph 3, trans. In light of some genuinely moving testimonies on the merits of reception in the hand, we cannot ignore that reverence for the Eucharist and belief in the Real Presence among Catholic laity has greatly declined since around the time in which this practice reenterred the Roman Rite after a millennium of absence. He said that he had checked with the then Apostolic Delegation and had been assured that the pope was giving the boy a rosary. And why so? Instead this option must increase in them a consciousness of the dignity of the members of Christs Mystical Body, into which they are incorporated by baptism and by the grace of the Eucharist. So the authors claim that he is exactly Vatican II is doubtful. awr. Henry Percival and ed. Look how military inspectors demand very high standards of care when inspecting barracks for cleanliness. What if our reception made us all more loving of one another, whatever our views on how to receive? Rather maddeningly, it is the Anglicans who in the West have retained the practice as described by St. Cyril, while contemporary Latin-rite Catholics tend to consume the Host as if it were a potato chip., From the historical point of view, we can say that there is strong evidence that the practice existed in early centuries in some areas of the Church. His blood now flows through our veins. James Shapiro, a literature prof at Columbia, says the situation is catastrophic: One reason was the way of the world. The faithful must be taught that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and that therefore the worship of latria or adoration belonging to God is owed to Christ present in this sacrament. Hence any baptized Catholic who is not prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion. However, cases of a deplorable lack of respect towards the Eucharistic species have been reported, cases which are imputable not only to the individuals guilty of such behavior but also to the pastors of the church who have not been vigilant enough regarding the attitude of the faithful towards the Eucharist. The author claims that Communion in the hand could only be authorized in countries where it was an established practice but doesnt give a citation. [18] See Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 6.43.18. This norm is supported by an Instruction by the Holy See regarding the Eucharist: "In distributing Holy Communion it is to be remembered that 'sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who seek them in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them'(Code of Canon Law, can. It is not clear as to how widespread it was or if it was a regular practice. From the point of view of liturgical law, the relevant documents are the following.
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