Thought I'd share... just got this in an email, it has some really good points to consider. I have always felt the same way that once taught to receive Our Lord on the tongue, it felt so much less reverent to receive any other way, some how just didn't seem right to me... I personally hope we go back to this older practice as there would be less chances of desecration and disrespect... just sayin http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2011/02/24/communion-on-the-hand-or-on-the-tongue/ Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s book argues for reverence for the Eucharist and concentrates the mind wonderfully By Francis Phillips on Thursday, 24 February 2011 Communion on the hand or on the tongue? This is a question I had not thought about until recently: is it more reverent to receive Holy Communion standing and in the hand or kneeling and on the tongue? The reason I pose it is because I have just come across a most moving and scholarly little book that makes a powerful plea for the latter mode of reception. It is called Dominus Est – It is the Lord! by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who was the auxiliary bishop of Karaganda, Kazakhstan and is now the auxiliary of the Kazak capital Astana in Central Asia. (I add these geographical details because until I read the book I had not heard of Karaganda and although I had heard of Kazakhstan I had only the vaguest idea of its whereabouts.) It is available from Gracewing for £5. 99. I guess that my question is a polarising one: on the one side are almost all the faithful who attend the Novus Ordo Mass; and on the other is the eloquent, passionate and often learned minority who attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form. I have friends in both camps but my own practice is to worship in our local parish church in the Ordinary Form. At the same time, I have always knelt to receive Communion on the tongue. Why? Because I could see no good reason to change the practice I had been taught as a child. Reading Bishop Schneider makes me think that perhaps I was also clinging to the idea of a reverence that I did not think I would feel if I changed my custom. It so happens that I have rarely attended Mass where there have not been altar rails or at least a place to kneel and the priests I know have always made it clear that parishioners are free to choose either mode of reception. Yet reading this book has concentrated the mind wonderfully, so much so that there now seems only one answer to the question I posed at the beginning of the blog. Bishop Schneider does not provide liturgical arguments in favour of the Extraordinary Form of Mass (though I suspect he is sympathetic to it); he simply asks, what is the reverence that is due to God at the supreme moment of our Communion with Him, and how do we properly show it? He begins with an affecting personal history: the story of three ‘Eucharistic women’, his mother, his great-aunt and a parishioner, all of who taught him by their example of “extraordinary love, care and the greatest reverence possible.” The Schneider family, along with other German Catholics, were exiled after the war to central Asia. There they struggled to live their Catholic Faith, far from a priest, parish or church. A visiting priest once allowed the Bishop’s mother to have a consecrated Host to give to her dying mother; for this she wore new white gloves, held the Host with tweezers and burnt the envelope in which it had been kept. His great-aunt was allowed to retain a Host to display secretly for an hour’s adoration on the nine first Fridays of each month before reverently consuming it. The lady parishioner travelled several hundred miles every year to receive a pyx containing consecrated Hosts, which she would distribute on Sundays in her hidden ‘parish’ for 30 years. In the second part of the book, the Bishop provides scholarly references to the Church Fathers and the saints concerning reception of Our Lord kneeling and on the tongue. He includes a quotation from Fr Faber while still an Anglican, deeply impressed by the sight of the Pope in the Church of St John Lateran in 1843, as he “descended from his throne and knelt at the foot of the altar…a scene more touching than I had ever seen before.” The book’s preface is written by Bishop Malcolm Ranjith, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. He writes: “It is now 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 document, Sacrosanctum Consilium.” Bishop Schneider himself concludes: “The Church must be reformed, starting with the Eucharist!” There you have it; and I am at last able to give reasons for clinging to an old habit other than an inchoate sense that it was appropriate.
I had a real struggle with this a few years back when I discovered that several visionaries were saying that Our Lady had told them that that it is wrong to take Communion on the hand because of possible desecration and disrespect. My mother and father were very Traditional ,Tirdentine Catholics and never took it on the tongue. Anyway I started taking it on the tongue myself but found it very difficult and awkward because it was so long since I had recieved it this way. So I went to Our Lady in prayer and asked for light on what I should be doing. I think prayerfully my answer was in simplicity and simply to do what the Church directed. If the day ever came when the Church stopped recieving communion on the hand well I should stop too. But until that day came I should feel fre to act as our Shepherds directed. So thats what I did and do. but your post made me feel a little guilty so this morning I took it on the tonge again. :lol: :lol: But again I felt awkward and difficult doing thsi so I'l lgo back to my own prayerfull urging has indicated and as the Church allows. I can't say I can always find easy answers o nthis, but so long as the Church permits a certain course my conscience is really fairly free.
Check it out, check it out, check it out! Being a convert I was never able to receive at an altar rail until this last trip to Rome and it was to me "as it should be". This is very encouraging. I can't help thinking that with the turmoil in the world, in the hearts of God's people, that the repercussions are felt in the Church and changes are implemented to sooth that disturbance. Cardinal Canizares calls for Communion on tongue, kneeling RSSFacebookJuly 28, 2011 The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship has strongly endorsed the practice of receiving Communion on the tongue, while kneeling. Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera told the Catholic News Agency that the traditional posture is a "sign of adoration that needs to be recovered." When Catholics receive Communion while standing, they should show their reverence with a bow, the Spanish cardinal said; but in practice few people do that. He said: "I think the entire Church needs to receive Communion while kneeling." Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window. Spanish cardinal recommends that Catholics receive Communion on the tongue (CNA) Spanish cardinal recommends that Catholics receive Communion on the tongue Lima, Peru, Jul 28, 2011 / 01:56 pm (CNA).- Spanish Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera recently recommended that Catholics receive Communion on the tongue, while kneeling. “It is to simply know that we are before God himself and that He came to us and that we are undeserving,” the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said in an interview with CNA during his visit to Lima, Peru. The cardinal’s remarks came in response to a question on whether Catholics should receive Communion in the hand or on the tongue. He recommended that Catholics “receive Communion on the tongue and while kneeling.” Receiving Communion in this way, the cardinal continued, “is the sign of adoration that needs to be recovered. I think the entire Church needs to receive Communion while kneeling.” “In fact,” he added, “if one receives while standing, a genuflection or profound bow should be made, and this is not happening.” “If we trivialize Communion, we trivialize everything, and we cannot lose a moment as important as that of receiving Communion, of recognizing the real presence of Christ there, of the God who is the love above all loves, as we sing in a hymn in Spanish.” In response to a question about the liturgical abuses that often occur, Cardinal Canizares said they must be “corrected, especially through proper formation: formation for seminarians, for priests, for catechists, for all the Christian faithful.” Such a formation should ensure that liturgical celebrations take place “in accord with the demands and dignity of the celebration, in accord with the norms of the Church, which is the only way we can authentically celebrate the Eucharist,” he added. “Bishops have a unique responsibility” in the task of liturgical formation and the correction of abuses, the cardinal said, “and we must not fail to fulfill it, because everything we do to ensure that the Eucharist is celebrated properly will ensure proper participation in the Eucharist.
Several visionaries have also caled for Communion on the tounge, kneeling. One of the main reasons for this, they cite is irrverance and also desecration of the hos tby Satanists who find it easier to stal on the hand. I would prefer it on the tongue too as it doesn't encourag as much respect as by hand. I had a lot of angst about this, and find it difficult to take by tongue though I have tried. Firstly in that it is such a long time since I took it that wat I feel awkward and uncomfortable doing it and of course if you take it kneeling as well ,with no altar rail and everyone else standing you become a bit of an exhibition and stand out... So I prayed about it and asked advice and felt an inner assurance that as long as the Church allowed it I could take it on the tongue with no scruples. Eventually I believe the Church will go back to altar rails and taking it on the tongue and may God hasten the day. I would also like to go back to the Tridentine Mass. The Holy Father tried to make it more available but round here it is very rare. Our Orthodox sisters and brothers claim we have dumbed down the Liturgy, I agree. It has become too much a vehichle for the personality of the priest rather than a stand alone Liturgy, also its not as prayerful. Also Eucharisitc Ministers are being used when they are not needed as have Mass Readers, I notice often these become a kind of elite clique in some Churches....change for change sakes was never a good idea....
After reading Maria Simma "GET US OUT OF HERE" I started an investigation regarding receiving on the tongue. She said in her book that it was how we should receive. At the time, we had in our parish, very liberal Irish priests ( no offense please) in our parish and I was hard pressed to find any body to support my thoughts on it and I consulted any one who would speak with me on the matter. I finally concluded that that was what God really wanted and I've chosen to receive on the tongue since. I'm so glad I did. At first, of course, there was great discomfort at first, as it was physically awkward, and I was taught in RCIA that the hand was the preferred method. Oh big lies! The peace and joy that attached itself to my new method was completely unexpected. I would love to see Latin return to the mass especially after understanding that the demons hate Latin (expressed openly during exorcisms and they would like nothing more than to have it far from them).
Did I mention that during the invocation of the secular franciscan candidate at the Poor Claire Nuns monastary, we received communion at the cummunion rail...and of course on the tongue too! I honestly can't remember ever receiving communion at a rail, kneeling and waiting with several others along a large rail for the priest to come to me with the eucharist...it was absolutely the best thing ever! Why oh why did they stop doing this?
I have always received on the tongue. My husband also and 2 of my 3 children receive on the tongue. I have always felt a great reluctance to receive in the hand. I was asked once by my parish to become a eucaristic minister and I refused as I felt that doing this would in some way change my attitude to the Eucharist and make me in some way less respectful This is not a judgement on anyone else as the church allows it but for me I dont think it would be helpful to my faith and my veneration of the mystery. Mary
I also remember in the monastery the Abbot, who was then chairman of the Irish Liturgy Commitee sayingthat we should always have imitated the Orthodox in recieving Christ in both species the Body and the Blood. I always love this. I can understand that when there were huge crowds going to CHurch this might have been hard but now that numbers are reduced.... The reason the Abbot said we should always recieve under both species was a simple one, its becuase Jesus at the Last SUpper gave the Apostles under both species. If there was no point to the Sacred Blood then why would He have inaugarated it? I think the Orthodox could teach us in this as in many things to do with the Liturgy. Though I have to say a three or four hour Mass would be difficult. :lol: We can learn a lot from them , they can learn a lot from us. Padre Pio of course famously never said the Novus Ordo Mass but always stuck to the Latin until the day he died. He never criticised the Church for the introduction of the New RIte but he never siad it either, which, in my opnion was point taken enough.
Our churches nearly always offer both species, and it is so sought after that usually the wine runs out before everyone has had it who wants it. We share from a cup, and it is only wiped and turned. I and my husband always take both whenever it is offered. I hear arguements against it for the reasons of spreading germs, the very same reason I hear against receiving the host on the tongue. If I know I am sick I will not take the cup out of courtesy to others. The priest of course has to drink whatever wine is left from the cups, and I think some priests have an aversion to this. It is sad that they don't have at least as much faith in God as the congregation who accepts the blood in this way. I even have seen in other churches we have visited (not ours at home) where they stopped giving the sign of peace as a handshake during cold and flu season! Oh please. Sad we are so afraid of human contact sometimes, priests included. If kneeling were initiated in our church, I would do it. If our priest asked me to begin doing it to set an example, I would. As of this last year I bow. A while ago we had a mission priest give us a three-day talk and this was part of the subject. He basically asked us to start doing something, if only a small bow, before the Eucharist. Want to know how many are doing it now? TWO, me and my husband. It is all I have noticed so far anyway. We keep doing it though, in hopes that a few others will "catch on". As for hand vs tongue, I was taught from my first communion to receive it by the hand, though we were actually taught both ways at that time, as the transition was just happening then so some priests had not adopted it yet. As a child, for me, by hand seemed easier, as we are not supposed to ever let a host drop, it seemed better to have control of it in my hand, so I could be sure it would not drop from my tongue, which to this day still worries me! Isn't that crazy? I think our teachers instilled this fear in me back then, as they were very much promoting receiving in the hand back then. My husband, a couple years before me, learned on the tongue and to this day loves to receive it that way when he sees that a priest is offering it. I also do this now, but I feel apprehensive still, to this day, afraid it will drop off. Since almost no one uses the little plates anymore (or the rail) there is nowhere for it to go but on the floor. As much as I understand the need for more reverence in receiving communion, I do not see the problem with receiving in the hand. Especially as long as eucharistic ministers are allowed to touch it, why not us? Also, Jesus handed the transformed bread to his desciples, and I am sure that the early Masses did it in this way also. Communion rails are great, kneeling before the Eucharist is wonderful, receiving on the tongue is terrific, but I honestly do not feel at all less reverent of it when I receive it in my hand. I get to "behold" it there for a second or two, and it becomes my responsibility then, a great gift placed in my care for a few moments. That is the way I have always felt about it. I could give that up though, whatever the church decides. But I think that if given the choice, I will always be more comfortable receiving in the hand.
Padre Pio said that the Angels are tasked with picking up the praticles of the host that fall to the ground. I believe this, what other way would God do it? I always recall the black gentleman I used to watch in London England who used to quietly go into ecstasy when he recieved the host. He tired to cover it up, but I noticed, he was like an angel. :shock:
MomsCalling, I was taught to receive in the hand as well. I've only taken Communion on the tongue a few times in my whole life. I didn't feel any more reverant at those times, just awkward.
I just found out a new thing today, that a church in Rockford, IL (down the road from me) does the latin Mass exclusively at every celebration, and has Mass every weekday at 6:30 am AND 12:05 pm! To make it possible for working people to attend! That has been a disappointment about 7 or 8 am Mass. If you start work at 7:30 as so many people do (and if I get this new job, that is when I will start work), you are shut out. Also, they have confession EVERY WEEKDAY at 11:25 am! But also LATIN! That is the big thing! Tomorrow I was going to go to Marytown to participate in the Aug. 2 Portiuncula Plenary Indulgence. However, I have felt a little under the weather today (flu-like symptoms, I hope it was just something I ate) and the 2 hour trip there and back seems a bit daunting if I'm feeling bad. Plus, because confession isn't until the evening, I would not be home until 10 pm. I don't know if I will feel up to that tomorrow. So, thanks to the knowledge of this new church I have come up with a Plan B. I am going to go to the Latin church in Rockford (St. Marys) for confession and then Mass in the late morning. This is better anyway because if I go to the late Mass I will get to have confession before the Eucharist. Also, this church has a Lourdes Grotto replica on its grounds. I can't believe I knew nothing about this church until yesterday! Then to complete my indulgence fulfillment, I will go to one of the three Franciscan close by churches also sometime tomorrow and there profess my faith and do the required prayers: Sacramental Confession to be in God's Grace Participation in the Holy Mass and Eucharist Visit to a Franciscan Church, followed by the Profession of Faith Say the Our Father A Prayer for the Pope I understand that a Franciscan church is not necessary for this indulgence anymore, but it just seems better to visit one if possible, and there are three I can get to easily tomorrow. Why none of them are doing anything special for this Franciscan day bothers me though. None of them are hearing confessions tomorrow, and none are having a later Mass than their normal 7 or 8 am Mass. But I am excited about attending a latin Mass, I have NEVER attended one before! So, even if I don't get to Marytown, I can have a really holy day of prayer. Then I can be home at a reasonable time in the afternoon in case I still do not feel too well. God is showing me these things, I think, to tell me I don't have to travel for hours to make a pilgrimage, that I can make one right in my own back yard (or in the next town over...though there is something special about making a pilgrimage or a retreat, its like you are making an extra effort). Well, we'll will see what tomorrow brings...I wonder if I will be moved to receive communion on the tongue there? Maybe they will have a communion rail!
Went to the St. Mary Oratory for Confession and noon Latin Mass. Boy did they have a communion rail! Ran the whole length of the front of the church. We received communion at it on the tongue of course. This latin Mass was my first, but it was so hot today that the priest shortened the Mass considerably, announcing at the beginning his intention to do so. With his back turned to us, I could barely make out anything he was saying which made it almost impossible to follow along. He didn't wear a microphone and in that big church his voice was lost. Only a small number attended, and almost nobody actually participated with responses or anything. They had English-Latin missals there, and I brought an old 1960 latin Mass missal I got on ebay just for this reason. The two missals were identical in content! That made me happy, to know this had not been changed over the years. Though the Mass was not what I was hoping for, it was still a latin Mass, and I was glad I went. I want to go to a Sunday Mass (when the weather is also more comfortable so the priest does not shorten it). After the Mass, I met a lovely old woman while looking for the grotto. She was visiting from Virginia, but had grown up there and went to this church years ago. She was there alone today. After a few minutes of conversation, she found herself telling me that many years ago she experienced an Ecstacy in this church in front of the statue of our Lady. She then began to cry, she had never told anyone in her family this because they would think she was nuts. I responded by saying how wonderful it was, and told her that Mary must have been calling her for something. Then she told me that in her teens she wanted badly to become a Poor Clare, but her mother reacted so negatively and strongly against it that she let it drop and never picked it up again. Instead she joined the military and spent many years away from the USA. Now here she was, and I guess I was there for her to tell her story to. We found the Grotto together, and walked in on a small group praying the rosary there. It was an incredible place, it was actually a small chapel. We joined in the Rosary and when it was over, she said goodbye and then she was gone. I said some private prayers and when I was finished, I found myself completely alone in this grotto-cave with Mary and many saints' statues! After the Grotto, I still wanted to find a Franciscan Church to profess my faith in and pray for the Pope. Then I realized what I needed to do...I went to the Poor Clare Nuns Monistary. Too bad the woman (she said her name was Mary, by the way) had to leave, she would have liked to go too I'm sure. Anyway, they happily allowed me to use the Chapel, and I was there all alone, in the darkened chapel for almost an hour. I didn't want to leave. I said a Franciscan Crown Rosary, and prayed, and just took it all in, and thanked God for this beautiful day that I so didn't deserve, this pilgrimage at home...what a wonderful afternoon.
I noticed no mention of the messages from Jesus and Mary in "private revelation" Some interesting thoughts from these: From a book of interviews with Maria Simma German Mystic who often saw, spoke to and suffered for souls in purgatory. Published 1993 by Nicky Eltz. Page 68 : Maria, have any Bishops appeared to you? Oh yes, several. An Italian and an American whose names I did not find out appeared to me. Then a soul informed me about a German Cardinal who was quite near to us here. The German and the Italian must remain in Purgatory until Communion in the hand is forbidden in their Diocese and the American must remain there until it is forbidden in the entire USA and Communion on the tongue is reinstated. Later on I asked to find out the names of the other two but again no names were given. On Page 53 she is very disparaging of Eucharistic ministers. Maria's testimony is held in high regard. Recent messages allegedly received by Lorena in Mexico are scathing of Communion in the hand. Mary says to Enoch in Argentina (17 March 2021): “the body and Blood of My son, you must give it in your mouth and preferably on your knees, maintaining due respect for His Divinity. Giving Communion in the hand to his flock is an affront to My Son.” In the Messages received by Valentina in Sydney the Lord repeatedly tells her He does not want Eucharistic ministers [and no women on the sanctuary (eg 31 Mar 2021]. On the 26th October 2019 He asserts, “Only Anointed Hands should touch the Holy Eucharist. … In days of old, even the priests and bishops trembled when they would hold Me…” Nothing here is a foundation of dogma but it certainly "rings true."
So it was prior to Vatican II. Though everything a Deacon performs on the parish level is delegated to him by the Pastor, it is only subsequent to Vatican II that the ordained Deacon can distribute Holy Communion. He couldn't prior to the Council because a Deacon, though ordained by the Bishop, did not, and still does not have anointed hands. Of course, deacons assisting in the TLM still do not distribute Holy Communion during the Sacred Liturgy. Safe in the company of the Two Hearts!
