Please be sure to check out Mount Carmel Bloggers, Inc.. You may recognize some of the contributers. It is the offical blog for the Year of Authentic Liturgical Renewal in the Roman Liturgy, for 2007
It was there that I found the following article.
Just a side note: I may have mentioned in the past that I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and must receive in my hand. However, when I am not scheduled, I receive on the tongue. You will read in the article about fragments of the Sacred Host.
I remember my mom once telling us that a fragment of the Sacred Host is much like when happens to a mirror when it breaks...even the smallest piece of the mirror will still reflects a person's entire reflection. Food for thought. My mom also shared with me something that happened at the Children's Mass yesterday. A girl went up to Communion. The Host fell from her hand onto the floor. She left it there and went back on the Communion line to receive again. The first chance my mom got, she went over the the principal, a sister, and asked her if she had seen the Host. Sister told my mom is had consumed it.
With apologies to the bloggers at Mt. Carmel, I am posting the article in its entirety because I couldn't find a direct link to it:
I believe that renewal must begin by giving due respect and reverence to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It's only when Our Lord is in the center of our lives, will all things fall back in place.
I am not sure whether faithful Catholics as well as Church authorities are aware about the problem (or rather danger) of receiving communion on the hand.
A FSSP seminarian brought this matter to my attention last year and I decided to check it out for myself. Thus, over the course of the past two weeks, I received communion on my hand. The results were shocking! 5 out of the 14 times I received communion on my hand, I noticed sacred fragments of the consecrated host left behind. I
consumed the fragments by licking my palm.
The truth is that many people do not realize this grave matter and simply rub their palms together or on their clothing after the reception of our Lord’s sacred body. I’m sure that they cannot be held accountable for sacrilege. However, we should respond by rectifying this problem. If we do not do something, our Eucharistic Lord will continue to be trampled on each day at mass.
One dogma of the Church comes immediately to mind when examining the reception of the Sacred Host on hand:
The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the
consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1377) [Note 205: Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1641.]
Therefore, very great reverence, respect and care is to be taken of these fragments. Since this is the case, why would we multiply immensely the number of persons who are handling the Sacred Host?
Also, St. Augustine tells us that:
“Each receives Christ the Lord, and He is entire in each portion. He is not diminished by being given to many, but gives Himself whole and entire to each.... the body of our Lord is contained whole and entire under the least particle of the bread."
If this is so, what about the Fragments that are being left on the
hands of the faithful? Very great reverence, respect and care are to be taken of these fragments.
The sure way to solve this problem is to encourage every Catholic to receive communion on the tongue. Pope Paul VI tells us in Memoriale Domini that this method of reception is also more conducive to faith,
reverence and humility, affirming that, "This method, on the tongue, must be retained”. So, we can see that the Second Vatican II Council never abolished communion on tongue.
To this must be added three points:
The increased danger of dropping the Sacred Host on the ground,
The increased ease of stealing the Body of the Lord for superstitious or horrible purposes.
Perhaps the decline in the belief of the Real Presence could be attributed to the less reverent way Communion is now distributed.
The Eucharist is Core to our Faith.
Let us give it the reverence it deserves.
8 comments:
Good points...BUT if you want to receive on your tongue, then open your mouth! As an EMHC, nothing is worse than when the person barely sticks their tongue out or opens their mouth, forcing me to reach inside their mouth to place Jesus. And then I touch their tongue or teeth or...ewww! GROSS! What am I supposed to do with that mouth spew then? Wipe my hand on my pants and proceed, pick up Jesus with the spittle on my finger and give that part of Jesus to the next communicant?!
It's happened too many times for this not to be an issue...
It's about proper catechesis while receiving either way...changes need to be addressed in both modes.
My 2 cents,
Tracy
Tracy,
I understand your concern, but at the same time I have noticed that it seems some Extroidinary Ministers are so afraid of germs that they barely place the Host inside the person's mouth, which is bad too. I think each side has some work to do! God Bless!
I remember a priest lecturing us about opening our mouths wider. I hate to admit that it was me he was lecturing during Communion. He actually gave me Communion and then lectured me. He then stopped the Mass to tell everyone the same thing. Very embarassing. I was being careful not to open my mouth too wide because another priest had lectured against those who stick their tongues way out.
What I find troubling are a few who don't know how to receive on the hand. One person picks up the Consecrated Host in between her two fingers...like pinching it and instead of saying Amen, always says "Thank You". Any suggestions on how to deal with that one? None of the other EMHC's have said anything.
PBXVI, I agree with you there.
You said: I may have mentioned in the past that I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and must receive in my hand. However, when I am not scheduled, I receive on the tongue. You will read in the article about fragments of the Sacred Host.
The same is true for me! However, I'm beginning to doubt that I should serve as an EMHC for the above reason - I never want to touch the Eucharist before Ordination.
As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote:
"Out of reverence towards this sacrament, nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest's hands, for touching this sacrament. Hence it is not lawful for anyone else to touch it except from necessity, for instance, if it were to fall upon the ground, or else in some other case of urgency" (Summa Theologica, III, Q. 82, Art. 3).
I agree that in the hand is often irreverant. There are more than a few we have noticed doing the Jesus "Scoop and Gulp" or chewing on Jesus like bubblegum. But some of us are very diligent about ensuring that every small piece of Jesus is consumed.
If someone does not say Amen to me, I look at them and sometimes encourage them to say, "Amen".
This is the difficult part of being an EM. I am really conflicted about being up there at all as a woman. I love serving in the ministry, but I wish more men would step forward.
That being said, I think that until the priests are willing to "call ppl out" then it's rather difficult for a OLP (Ordinary Lay Person) to do much more, kwim?
Our parish has bigger issues anyway, like the priest not realizing we were reading from the wrong year at daily mass until I pointed it out yesterday. *SIGH*
I would just want to point out, that ANYONE can receive on the tongue. They also are allowed to receive kneeling even if the other people stand.
Some preists may try to deny someone communion if they wish to receive on the tongue (sad but true), and that matter must be reported to the bishop.
Mama Says
I don't get it....."I may have mentioned in the past that I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and must receive in my hand. However, when I am not scheduled, I receive on the tongue. You will read in the article about fragments of the Sacred Host."
Why as an Extraordinary Minister must you receive in the hand??? At my parish which I consider liberal in various ways, some of the ministers still receive on the tongue. I think it would be good to be an example to the congregation and show that this is not "snack time". (Although I am not saying its in anyway wrong to receive in the hand.) I just don't understand, is your parish forcing Extraordinary ministers to receive in the hand? I think it must be that the Priest hands you all Communion and after he has received, you all do? *sigh*, that used to be the way it was done at my parish, but praise be to God that is over! God Bless!
MB: Thanks for the food for thought.
LOL Tracy. At least you are on the ball.
Mama and PB: Yes, that is true. I guess I should clarify, because every EMHC receives in the hand, I do too. We have not been told not too to receive on the tongue.
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