The most ancient practice of distributing Holy Communion was, with all probability, to give Communion to the faithful in the palm of the hand. [1] This RCIA Process is the way in which you are prepared to be formally received by the Church; this is necessary before you can take Communion. Receiving Communion The Sacrament of Holy Communion (also known as The Lord's Supper or Eucharist) has been precious and life-giving to Christians for 2,000 years. Aaron, 3. James Shapiro, a literature prof at Columbia, says the situation is catastrophic: One reason was the way of the world. Australia, 26 September 1975 St. Cyril of Jerusalem in 348 gave this instruction to his congregation:When you approach Holy Communion, make the left hand into a throne for the right, which will receive the King. Jesus wants to use our hands, which have now become His hands, to help those in need. Hence, my theory is that the wide granting of the indult exceeded its initially intended scope as continued prompting from advisors and larger-than-anticipated requests from conferences overcame the popes reluctance. [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). The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says the following: 160. Because those vessels are made so for our sakes. Reverence can be good if it opens us to God & neighbor and makes us more loving. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for one hour. The way you put it, it doesnt sound obsessive-compulsive but salutary. Mingle and flow into the palms of his disciples![22]. The host will then be laid in the palm of the left hand and then taken by the right hand to the mouth. The Communion Procession is an action of the Body of Christ. What if our way of calling our fellow Christians to a higher way were based on loving example and not polemics? Ireland, 4 September 1976 The restorers of the rite probably had the beautiful simplicity and symbolism of the medieval rite in mind but did not take the changed circumstances sufficiently into account. Guidelines for the Reception of Communion | USCCB Indonesia, 27 March 1971 Since practices vary from one church to another, we hope these guidelines help you feel more at home. I happen to accept the role of darkness within the Church, but it strikes me as being perpetrated all too often by those who style themselves the most faithful or loyal to God. Does anyone have an explanation for why France, Germany, and the Low Countries were not quickly regularized once the opportunity was available? [6] Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Catecheses 5.13. I think youre right that, without an explicitly limiting clause, there is no canonically binding restriction to those countries, and that the subsequent granting of dispensation ultimately belied such restriction. I suspect that Christ can cope with particles that get dropped but the care we show, or the lack of care, is what counts. What if we were passionate about all that? For real reception of the Blessed Eucharist it is required that the sacred species be received into the stomach. 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. Your fire, O, Our Lord we have eaten in your offering (Catholic Encyclopedia: Genuflexion) 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.. October 13, 2022. I dont think reception in the hand is destroying the Church like what some prominent leaders in the Church have implied, but this practice has still had wide ranging [and not entirely positive] ramifications in the Church over the last half century, far beyond the obvious choice of the individual communicant. Aaron, this describes what the countries are to do where Communion in the hand was being practiced. Or is there more context that is missing? 2023 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. I am from India. The Holy See has made it abundantly clear that both manners of reception of Communion on the tongue and in the hand are permitted, that Communion should be received reverently, and that the manner of reception should not become an occasion of division in the church. The congregation returned to this issue in the instructionImmensae Caritatis,January 29, 1973: AAS 65 (1973) 264-271; Notitiae 9 (1973) 157-164: Part 4. Even if we presume the authenticity of the text we still do not know how long the practice lasted, whether leavened or unleavened bread was used and whether the practice was exclusive to the Church of Jerusalem. That rhetorical flow and its further implicit objections (i.e., take care lest XYZ) *could* be a setup for a generous grant of indults, but given the overall negative tone I dont think it accidental or inconsequential that the prospect of permission is only mentioned in these cases where contrary practice already prevails. The Holy Eucharist remits venial sins by disposing us to perform acts of love and contrition. 160). 95% of parishes shrinking, seminaries empty, young people disengaged: it will happen in Africa and Asia too when the culture of the secular West overwhelms the Third World. Guidelines for Receiving Holy Communion - Catholic News Agency For some, however, the singing of this hymn is perceived as an intrusion on their own prayer, their private thanksgiving after Communion. The Pope grants that throughout the territory of your conference, each bishop may, according to his prudent judgment and conscience, authorize in his diocese the introduction of the new rite for giving communion. [18] Moreover, an early illuminated gospel, the Rosanno Gospels, depicts the last supper as a communion line, where the disciples receive in cupped hands while bowed. Some advocates of communion on the tongue, at least online, seem guilty of thinking that (however much more virtuous than I they probably are in their lives). It is not appropriate to reach out with the fingers and take the host from the person distributing. 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. And to demonstrate reverence and. A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist: 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. His blood now flows through our veins. But we doyes, verily. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite. If one is left-handed this is reversed. Per The Baltimore Catechism: PDF Instructions on Receiving Holy Communion with Proper Reverence Nowhere in this article did I see what the CHURCH says about Holy Communion, only the writers opinion. The author seems to think that liturgical reforms should consist of only what an ecumenical council prescribed. The very idea of people regularly receiving Communion (and even receiving Communion as part of the liturgy to the Eucharist itself) were relatively new ideas at the time of the Council. Communion on the tongue is recommended and considered the most consonant way to receive the Eucharist, while Communion on the hand is permitted, provided that certain precautions are observed, such as checking to see if any fragments of the Host remain on the palm of the hand. 7. For example, although Communion in the hand is generally permitted at the Vatican, in recent years ministers administrating Communion at large at papal Masses have been enjoined to distribute Communion only on the tongue. Communion in the hand vs. Communion on the tongue | Crux 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? When receiving Communion in the hand can be sinful - LifeSite The wind has left our sails and many of us are adrift on uncertain seas. Receiving communion in the hand was the common practice of the Church in both East and West for the first 800 years of Christianity, and it was certainly considered reverent by the Fathers. Bishop Athanasius Schneider argued along the same lines at the end of February. In this ordinance Christ ratifies his promises to his people, and they on their part solemnly consecrate themselves to him and to his entire service. From this brief historical survey, however, we know that this need not be the case, and we can look to the Fathers for a pious example as we seek to foster reverence towards the Eucharist in the liturgy today. My three hypotheses were less well researched opinions on my part, theyre not (that last one was a joke on Cdl Sarahs comments, sorry if that wasnt clear), but simply launchpoints in an honest discussion on the impact of Pope Pauls Indult, and the circumstances surrounding it, whether or not they hold any real merit. 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: And some who do have lost their strength or nerve. We would also do well to teach, as the Fathers do, that reverence is not only about proper reception of the Eucharist, but also about living the kind of life to which the Eucharist commits us. That said, there are dimensions to this discussion that I think are both valuable and havent been given much screen time overall. [11] Council of Constantinople in Trullo, canon 101. Jeffrey T. Wickes FotC 130 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2015).