"Their hands, simply put, are not ordained."
Hand Communion promotes the erroneous assertion that the Host is a precious little piece of bread, that one can simply snap up. Hand Communion could not be banned like a revolution... [ read article >> ]
He is following the example of Pope Benedict XVI in this and is intending to support the "reform of the reform"... [ read article >> ]
The police were called 'to intervene and restore calm to a faithful Pastor in Acquaviva Platani, Don Francesco Novara, had refused delivery of the Host in his hand... [ read article >> ]
Again a year or two after being elected to lead the Catholic Church, His holiness Pope Benedict XVI invited people who received from him at papal Masses, to kneel and receive communion on the tongue... [ read article >> ]
Professor Hull argues (among many, many other things) that the use of (un)extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and the reception of Communion in the hand, are two of the gravest abuses of the post-conciliar times... [ read article >> ]
In his address to the Conference he spoke of the lack of faith in many parts of the Church itself, a lack of faith in the objective presence of the Lord in the Holy Eucharist... [ read article >> ]
I know I am not a theologian, nor a bishop, nor a priest; but I cannot help but notice that Communion in the hand is growing in countries where belief in the Real Presence, including belief that the Host is the ENTIRE BODY, BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, is on the decline... [ read article >> ]
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?... [ read article >> ]
I want to thank all of you who have recently started receiving Holy Communion on the tongue, not to mention those of you who already had been... [ read article >> ]
QUESTION: Are EMHCs allowed to open the Tabernacle and distribute Consecrated Hosts when no priest or deacon is present? [ read article >> ]
In response to rogue European bishops who had allowed communion-in-the-hand without permission, Pope Paul VI polled bishops worldwide. He wanted to discern whether other bishops wished to open the door to communion-in-the-hand... [ read article >> ]
During my last year in the seminary, I deliberately stopped receiving Holy Communion in the hand, and began receiving on the tongue. It was awkward at first and I was particularly anxious about dropping the Host, since I no longer had the "control"... [ read article >> ]
Yesterday at Mass, my husband noticed that on the floor of our pew, by our feet, was a quarter of an unconsumed Host. He picked it up and consumed it... [ read article >> ]
The recent post entitled "Five Tips for Receiving the Communion on the Tongue" received a over 9,000 visits in its first day up and many more after that. I never imagined that this single topic would generate so much interest on the internet. [ read article >> ]
What makes a Deacon an “ordinary” minister of the Eucharist? Is it simply that he is ordained? I tried to ask our local Deacon, and was expecting a more theological treatment, but maybe I was expecting too much. I wanted to be able to explain to our entourage of EMHC’s that what they did was different than what the Deacon does/represents. Why isn’t the Deacon simply a glorified EMHC with a title? [ read article >> ]
Five tips on receiving the Holy Eucharist on your tongue:
I encourage parishioners to give prayerful consideration to following Pope Benedict XVI’s lead by receiving Holy Communion on the tongue in the New Year. [ read article >> ]
In a June 25 interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the Papal Master of Ceremonies Msgr. Guido Marini caught the attention of the Catholic world when he announced that henceforth Pope Benedict would distribute Holy Communion only on the tongue to people who are kneeling. [ read article >> ]
The history of Communion in the hand is often presented in certain quarters as follows: From the Last Supper on, Holy Communion was, as the norm, continually given in the hand. So it was during the age of the martyrs. And it continued... [read more >>]
Bruno Volpe, of Petrus, has interviewed Msgr. Albert Malcom Ranjith, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments... [ read article >> ]
EVER SINCE the post-Vatican II revolution began, the liturgical change that faithful Catholics regarded as most horrifying was communion in the hand. It overthrew everything — everything — we had been taught to believe about the ineffable holiness of the Real Presence and the sacred character of the priesthood... [ read article >> ]
Mysterium Fidei, the bulletin of religious information edited in Brussels by Alfredo Denoyelle, has published a study on tradition in relation to the manner in which the faithful receive Holy Communion... [ read article >> ]
Although it may seem a little strange, there is a definite battle being waged within the Catholic Church. It is the same "culture war" being waged by secular moderns against those who uphold traditional morality, it is pro-life vs. pro-choice. But within the Catholic Church the same battle is fought along liturgical lines, and the publication in the Vatican newspaper of an article calling for Catholics to receive Holy Communion kneeling and on the... [ read article >> ]
"...when the faithful themselves receive Communion, they receive It kneeling at the altar rail, and directly onto their tongue. This is very significant. Receiving Communion whilst kneeling means that the faithful line up in a row before the sanctuary, and thus have time to prepare themselves for this most sacred of events: [ read article >> ]
Libreria Editrice Vaticana has published a book, Dominus Est by Bishop Athansius Schnedier, where that Bishop analyzes the question of communion received kneeling and on the tongue.
Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith has written the forward to this book, and an unofficial translation follows:
In the Book of Revelation, St. John tells how he... [ read article >> ]
Has the practice of Communion in the hand really strengthened and clarified our faith in the Real Presence? [ read article >> ]
Communion in the hand has played a part in making the priesthood less important in the eyes of many of the faithful.
Do you look at something you have seen hundreds of times and really see it for the first time? Perhaps it is a bush that has been dormant all winter and all of a sudden it's ablaze with color, or a child who you have known for years all of a sudden is an adolescent. Very often we need someone to point these things out to us or we will never see then with our mind's eye. [ read article >> ]
Here are some patristic and historical considerations on our theme, as well as an additional aspect. [ read article >> ]
This response by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments was sent to us by Father Paul McDonald, of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Diocese of Saint Catherines in Ontario, Canada. The response appeared in Notitiae (April 1999), the official publication of the CDW, regarding the reception of Communion... [read more >>]
When discerning rather to receive Holy Communion in the tongue or in the hand its always best to discern the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It much more simple than one would imagine especially when discerning something with a 40+ year track record... [read more >>]
The time has come to begin to do everything we reasonably and licitly can to discourage the practice of Communion-in-the-Hand. In fact, the time is long past that we started doing this. It is much better to receive Holy Communion in the traditional manner, than it is to receive the Sacred Host into our hands. In Canada and the United States, it is true, that one may receive “on the hand”, with due precautions, but it is better to receive on the tongue. Here are twelve reasons why. [ read article >> ]
There can be no doubt that Communion in the hand is an expression of the trend towards desacralization in the Church in general and irreverence in approaching the Eucharist in particular. [ read article >> ]
"We were at concelebrated Mass with the Holy Father, and we were absolutely forbidden to give Communion in the hands. [ read article >> ]
Decline and abolition [of Communion in the hand]
Communion by hand stayed in use for nearly nine centuries. Already earlier it had begun to grow less common when reservation of the Blessed Eucharist became limited to churches and administration of the Sacrament restricted to priests and deacons. It lost favor when the doctrine of the Real Presence was doubted or denied by... [ read article >> ]
Dear CIEL friends,
It is, as always, a great joy to be with you again on the occasion of your Annual Congress. This year you have chosen the theme of The Sacred. It seems to me that that is of the highest importance. [ read article >> ]
"Although the Church recognizes legitimate change, it nonetheless considers that 'the temerity and daring of those who introduce novel liturgical practices, or call for the revival of obsolete rites out of harmony with prevailing laws and rubrics, deserve severe reproof'. We must keep in mind that reversing the course of a development and returning to a previous phase, is not a development but rather a corruption. [ read article >> ]
The Protestant Reformers were particularly sensitive concerning the symbolism of liturgical ceremonies, and particular attention was therefore paid to eliminating anything which could perpetuate belief in a sacrificing priesthood possessing powers denied to the laity or in the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament. In his 1549 Communion Service, Cranmer allowed the Sacrament to be placed on the tongue of the communicant by the minister. This was severely criticized by Martin Bucer, who demanded that Communion should be given in the hand. Cranmer complied and changed the rubric for his 1552 Prayer Book, to bring it into line with Protestant practice on the Continent. The reasons Bucer gives for insisting on this change are quite... [ read article >> ]
If you are among the many who have wondered over the past decade just how the practice of communion-in-the-hand originated and for what reasons, the following provides a concise history as well as a brief look into what has resulted from the...[ read article >> ]
