“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him…”
During the Communion Rite at Mass, just before Holy Communion, communicants pray, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”[1] The last word we pray before approaching the Lord is “healed”. We are the sick man in the presence of the Divine Physician.
We must prepare our soul so that we can have a correct and holy disposition when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist. It helps to ask ourselves a few questions. “What does the poor man do at the rich man’s door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a limpid stream? What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love.”[2]
What a blessing that God does not simply remain distant as the Being we adore, love and to Whom we pray. Rather, through His mercy He enables us to receive the One we adore, love and to Whom we speak.
“Indeed, we do not merely receive something in the Eucharist. It is the encounter and unification of persons; the person, however, who comes to meet us and desires to unite himself to us is the Son of God. Such unification can only be brought about by means of adoration. Receiving the Eucharist means adoring the One whom we receive.”[3]
Our body (gestures, posture, etc.) reflects our belief, adoration, hope and love in the Person of Jesus Christ. Since we are body and soul, we must prepare both our body and our soul to receive Jesus. The Church gives us norms on how to receive Jesus. These norms are found the General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM].
The Universal Norm reads:
The priest then takes the paten or ciborium and goes to the communicants, who, as a rule, approach in a procession. The faithful are not permitted to take up the consecrated bread or the sacred chalice themselves, and still less hand them on to one another. The faithful may communicate either standing or kneeling, as established by the Conference of Bishops. However, when they communicate standing, it is recommended that they make an appropriate gesture of reverence, to be laid down in the same norms, before receiving the Sacrament.[4]
The United States Norm reads:
The priest then takes the paten or ciborium and goes to the communicants, who, as a rule, approach in a procession. The faithful are not permitted to take the consecrated bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them from one to another. The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm. When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister. The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand, at the discretion of each communicant. When Holy Communion is received under both kinds, the sign of reverence is also made before receiving the Precious Blood.[5]
It is important to note here that in the United States reception of Holy Communion in the hand it is done so with permission. No permission is needed for reception of the Eucharist on the tongue. The universal norm and preference of the Church is reception of the Eucharist on the tongue. Redemptionis Sacramentum states that the faithful always have “Option A”, to receive on the tongue, but that “Option B”, to receive in the hand must be done with permission or privilege, granted by the competent church authority.
Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops’ Conference with the recognition of the Apostolic See has given permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her. However, special care should be taken to ensure that the host is consumed by the communicant in the presence of the minister, so that no one goes away carrying the Eucharistic species in his hand. If there is a risk of profanation, then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to the faithful.[6]
When was the United States given permission to receive on the tongue?
"The Congregation of the Sacraments and Divine Worship permitted the U.S. Bishops’ Conference to authorize reception of Communion in the hand on July 25, 1977, provided the local bishop implements the practice in his diocese. Once implemented the option to receive Communion either in the hand or on the tongue always remains with the communicant."[7]
Search: Appendix E for a brief history of reception of the Eucharist.
What should one consider before receiving the Eucharist on the hand?
First, find out if the diocese or country has been given an indult to receive the Eucharist on the hand. The United States of America has been given this indult.
Second, there should be a continuity between the care taken by the priest who has touched the Sacred Host and the care taken by a communicate who receives on the hand.
"The Ablution Cup, filled with water, is typically a small bowl-like container, located near the tabernacle. After the distribution of Holy Communion, the minister of Holy Communion, namely the priest and the deacon, returns the Ciborium to the tabernacle, dips his thumb and index into the water held by the ablution cup, wipes his fingers on the purificator, and returns to the sacristy."[8]
The communicants do not have access to the ablution cup or a proper way to clean their hands after communion, so they must look for particles of the host, remembering that even the tiniest particle or crumb is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Great care must be taken to then receive each particle with the tongue since this is the only form of purification that can be taken by the communicate. The Church has given detailed instructions on the care of the linens which will catch any loose or fallen particle of the Sacred Host.
"Let Pastors take care that the linens for the sacred table, especially those which will receive the sacred species, are always kept clean and that they are washed in the traditional way. It is praiseworthy for this to be done by pouring the water from the first washing, done by hand, into the church’s sacrarium or into the ground in a suitable place. After this a second washing can be done in the usual way. "[9]
Third, communicants who receive on the hand should be able to make sure their hands are clean before receiving. The priest has the advantage of having water present at the altar and will wash his hands during the presentation and preparation of the gifts. At about the same time the priest at the altar is getting ready to wash his hands in order to handle the sacred host, the communicants in the pew will be placing cash or checks in the offertory collection, will be offering the sign of the peace and will be touching the pews and the hymnal and/or missal prior to receiving the Eucharist, and they have no way to wash their hands.
If great care is given and rubrics are in place to assure that the priest, deacon and ministers can care for the Sacraments, there should be continuity, the same standard for communicants who receive on the hand, for it is the same Lord for both.
Why is receiving on the tongue the universal preference of the Church? “The motivation for this practice is two-fold: a) first, to avoid, as much as possible, the dropping of Eucharistic particles; b) second, to increase among the faithful devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.”[10]
"The host and any particle of the host, no matter how small, are the full Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord. One of the roles of the Church is to safeguard the Sacraments, which have been entrusted to her by Christ. There have been many abuses reported too frequently. Hosts, that have been thought to be consecrated, have been found in pews, on the floor, or even in songbooks. History has taught how Satanists have sought to obtain the consecrated Host in order to desecrate it, show dishonor and hatred for Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in so called 'black masses.' We cannot be too careful in the matter of divine worship, and the adoration that is due the Most Blessed Sacrament. To receive the consecrated Host in the state of mortal sin, or to show lack of reverence, adoration and respect for the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the consecrated Host, or to place it in such places mentioned here or to leave Church with it on one’s person but not consumed, is a serious sin of sacrilege. To handle or receive the Sacred Host without proper reverence and adoration is not only disrespectful; it is the serious sin of sacrilege. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, [now Blessed Mother Teresa] seeing the irreverence and abuses, which has crept into the liturgy, felt it was due to Communion in the hand…Thus, I urge readers to reverently receive Our Divine Lord in Holy Communion on the tongue as the safest manner to protect the reverence we owe to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ who comes to us in the Eucharistic Banquet."[11]
Saint Thomas Aquinas writes, “Lord Jesus, Good Pelican, wash me clean with your blood, One drop of which can free the entire world of all its sins.”[12] The image of the pelican that picks off its own flesh and blood to feed to its young has a long tradition in sacred art. We are the young, which express humility and complete surrender as we receive Our Lord. The Eucharist is the greatest gift we can be given, because it is the gift of Jesus Himself. We receive gifts, we do not take gifts. Receiving on the tongue in posture is more receptive, in that we do not take the Eucharist and place in our own mouth, but rather simply receive.
Saint Thomas Aquinas also refers to the practice of receiving Holy Communion only on the tongue. He affirms that touching the Body of the Lord is proper only to the ordained priest…Therefore, for various reasons, among which the Angelic Doctor cites respect for the Sacrament, he writes: “. . . 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 Theologiae, III, 82, 3).[13]
Bishop Athanasius Schneider on Communion
Communicants have never communicated themselves. In other words, never have communicates been allowed to take the host from the priest or touch the host with their fingers. In the early Church when reception in the hand was the norm communicants did not touch the host with their fingers. Communicants lowered their neck and head toward the Blessed Sacrament and sticking out their tongue received the Blessed Sacrament. Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider discussing Communion in the Hand with Fr. Mitch Pacwa on EWTN Live. He talks about the history of Communion.
Communion Kneeling and on the Tongue
Cardinal Arinze explains what the Church prefers and what the Church allows. The document to which he refers is Redemptionis Sacramentum (On certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist).[14]