Restore Communion On The Tongue Only

Many thanks to our signatories ...

2012-03-01T13:39:00.004-08:00

On 19th March, the solemnity of the St Joseph, husband of Mary, we will be taking the petition down, removing double entries and sending the petition to the Holy Father. We thank those who signed the petition and we each will offer Mass for your intentions.

If you are able to make a final effort to increase our numbers by sending the petition address to your friends on your email list it would be nice to reach 5,000.

Peace to you all!

Taking care of Our Lord.

2012-02-24T22:11:00.001-08:00

Some time ago a lay person from another Parish noticed someone walking away with the Sacred Host in his hands. She told the Priest at the earliest opportunity but his reply was, "I wouldn't worry too much about it, Jesus can take care of himself. " I am sure we would all have many thoughts and reactions to a comment like this; However I eventually found myself thinking of Mary and Joseph looking after the child Jesus. Could you ever imagine them deciding that there was no need for them to look after Jesus very carefully because after all he was the eternal Son of God and could take care of Himself ! Just as Mary and Joseph were charged by God the Father with the responsibility of taking care of His Son in His human nature, so too the Church is charged with responsibility for the safe custody and care that is due to the Eucharistic Jesus. Moreover just as Mary and Joseph fulfilled their role with such attentive love, devotion and respect, so too the Church is called to do the same.

It is worthwhile reminding ourselves at this point of the teaching of the Church as expressed by Pope Paul VI in his 'Credo of the people of God' (No.25) - "the reality itself, independently of our mind, the bread and wine cease to exist after the consecration, so that it is the adorable Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus that from then on are really before us". From this point it is only the outward appearance to the senses of the bread and wine that remain.

Yes, very many catholics do have this faith and many of them receive communion in the hand with devotion and care, however at this point in the history of the Church many do not, and others present themselves for communion in the hand with little or no faith or knowledge of who it is they are receiving. Is it not then best to restore communion on the tongue as the normative practice so as to eliminate as far as possible the profanation of the 'adorable' Body and Blood of the Lord ? Is it good enough to say we can tolerate Jesus being mistreated and abused in His Eucharistic Body sometimes ( and it is happening more and more) in order to keep our preference for communion in the hand? When you love someone devotedly you don't ever want to see them treated with any disrespect and we are speaking here of Jesus Christ who loves us and gave Himself for us on the cross; He who is the second person of the most Holy Trinity who became Man to save us from eternal death. Great is the Mystery of our faith !

The holy father decided that in the Vatican communion can only be received on the tongue so as to safeguard the sacredness of the Blessed Sacrament. We could perhaps ask the holy father to at least allow other Pastors to to make this same decision if they too believe it necessary in fulfilling their duty of care towards the Blessed Sacrament.

For the sake of the weak ...

2012-02-06T21:31:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine has been in a small parish group for many years. I asked her why she kept going and she replied that it was for others. She said that her preference would be to spend her time some other way but that the lonely people who attended the group needed someone to be there to welcome them.

St Paul did not eat meat sacrificed to idols for the same reason and encouraged other Christians to do the same - for others.

There is no 'in principle' reason for not having Communion on the hand. It is for the sake of the weak, for the sake of those who are not as well catechised, not as attentive, not as strong in their belief in the real presence; for the sake of the children, that we propose it should be given only on the tongue!

Dominus Est

2012-02-06T21:07:00.001-08:00

Dominus Est ~ It is the Lord!
By Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider, ORC
Based on his experience of Eucharistic devotion under Communist persecution, Bishop Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of Karaganda, Kazakhstan and member of the Order of the Holy Cross, bears witness to the loss of reverence for the Real Presence in the Western world and makes concrete suggestions for the renewal of Eucharistic faith and devotion in our times.
"I have read the whole book with delight. It is excellent." ~ Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship
"Now more than ever, it is necessary to help the faithful renew a living faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species in order to strengthen the life of the Church herself." ~ from the preface by Most Rev. Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship

AVAILABLE HERE

A Worldwide Response !

2012-02-04T22:59:00.000-08:00

It amazes me the number of countries all over the world that are represented in our petition to the Holy Father. Catholics from so many diverse nations have responded. However it must be said that the numbers signing to this point have been below expectations. Please encourage others who have a deep love and devotion to the real and substantial presence of the Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist to consider signing this petition and to advertise it on their blogs. Of course Catholics from non English speaking countries may wish to begin their own petition which would be a particularly welcome outcome of our own initiative here.

In certain circles online this petition has caused controversy. This is understandable if you have as your starting point a theology of the Eucharist that centres more on celebrating Jesus' presence in our community, rather than Jesus' initiative in giving Himself completely to us in His Eucharistic presence and sacrifice. The heart of the Holy Eucharist is forever new, for it is the utter self giving of Jesus in Love beyond all telling for our Salvation and He is risen ! It is this Communion with Jesus at Mass that forges Communion among us as the the Body of Christ the Church . This Communion is the source and fountainhead from whence all Christian community and service flow.

We are therefore completely dependent on Jesus as the source of our salvation and for our Communion with Him and each other in Christian love and community, moreover we know He is both truly God as well as truly man. On better understanding these truths it will seem more than natural to want to receive Jesus in holy Communion humbly on the tongue to express these realities of faith. Furthermore as this faith will tend to lead us to this practice, the practice if made normative would help to reinforce and build this faith. We could also add something here about kneeling but we will leave that discussion for another time.

Thanks

2012-01-25T03:18:00.000-08:00

One Thousand Signatures tonight! Well done, and thank you all!

We will be leaving the blog up for a while yet .. to give as many as possible a chance to sign.

Peace.

From Bishop Schneider to Andrew Rabel

2012-01-24T04:56:00.000-08:00

Thank you very much for this courageous and saint petition. I have signed wholeheartedly. Please congratulate on my behalf the two good priests who started the petition. May God bless this petition and grant the success for the major glory of the Eucharistic Lord.

In Domino

+ Athanasius Schneider,

Auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary

Astana, Kazakhstan

Bishop Schneider has written a book called 'Dominus Est' which covers the topic of Holy Communion in the hand or on the tongue.

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura

2012-01-18T15:31:00.000-08:00

Bishop Athanasius Schneider - Signatory 412

2012-01-18T14:07:00.000-08:00

Support coming from high places ...

2012-01-17T23:24:00.000-08:00

With reference to the article A Little Background Andrew Rabel received the following:

Dear Mr Rabel,

Excellent write-up on receiving Holy Communion on the tongue rather than in the hand.

God bless you abundantly.

+ Francis Card. Arinze.

Cardinal Francis Arinze was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, from 2002 until 2008.

15 How is the Church Renewed?

2012-01-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

The following comes from Pope Benedict's book Light of the World, Ignatius Press

I am not opposed in principle to communion in the hand; I have both administered and received communion in this way myself. The idea behind my current practice of having people kneel to receive communion on the tongue was to send a signal and to underscore the real presence with an exclamation point. One very important reason is that there is a great danger of superficiality precisely in the kinds of mass events we hold at Saint Peter's, both in the Basilica and in the Square. I have heard of people who, after receiving communion, stick the Host in their wallet to take home as a kind of souvenir. In this context, where people think that everyone is just automatically supposed to receive communion - everyone else is going up, so I will, too - I wanted to send a clear signal. I wanted it to be clear: Something quite special is going on here! He is here, the One before whom we fall on our knees! Pay attention! This is not just some social ritual in which we can take part if we want to. Chapter 15 - How is the Church Renewed? p. 156.

One could almost base a new wording for the petition to the Holy Father on these words above, explaining that what the Holy Father found it necessary to do in Rome so many priests would like to be able to do in their own parishes but, at present, can't.

A little background

2012-01-16T02:08:00.000-08:00

Communion on the hand has been allowed by many countries in the world, with the permission of the Holy See. (In Australia it started on Pentecost Sunday 1976, for instance). The Church says that if one chooses to receive Holy Communion in this manner to receive Our Lord in a reverent manner following the exhortation of St Cyril of Jerusalem, "When you approach, do not extend your hands with palms upwards and fingers apart, but make your left hand a throne for your right hand to receive the King of Kings".

The problem has been that these days, this is the exception rather than the rule, and fragments of hosts (occasionally even the whole ones) turn up in other places, instead of being consumed. In addition to this, surveys have been done throughout the world which indicate that most Catholics have more of a Protestant conception of the Eucharist (in that they see this just as a symbol) instead of its reality as the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of Jesus Christ. Poor catecheses in both classes and homilies is very much responsible for this, but it has been reinforced by cavalier attitudes towards the Holy Eucharist.

Restoring the older discipline will go a long way towards solving these issues, if this is what the Church decides. Should anyone think the petition is imprudent or lacking in respect towards the current directives of the Holy See, it is worth reminding us of this precept from the Code of Canon Law, "In accord with the knowledge, competence and pre-eminence which they possess, the Christian faithful have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard to the integrity of faith and morals and reverence towards their pastors, and for consideration for the common good and dignity of persons." (Canon 212:3)

Communion in the hand remains an option throughout the Latin Church presently, and one must respect the right of persons who choose to partake of this privilege, with the proper dispositions.

With the petition you will find that you can leave a comment. My favourite one is by my friend Michael Hichborn of the American Life League (who I met in 2009 at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington DC to be interviewed by Raymond Arroyo on EWTN), a big issue in this American presidential election year.

"Amen! Restoration of the Culture of Life MUST begin with TOTAL respect and reverence for Christ in the Eucharist [the Bread of Life] !"

God bless

Andrew Rabel

Some considerations

2012-01-15T23:11:00.000-08:00

The question of how Holy Communion is distributed is not exactly a hot topic among my friends and acquaintances, and most are puzzled when I tell them that Fr Andrew and I have started a petition to ask the Holy Father to rescind the permission to receive Holy Communion in the hand.

However, and obviously, it is for me a crucial issue of the contemporary Church and my disquiet about giving Communion in the hand is entirely borne out of my daily experience. All too often I find myself saying: This is wrong – this is too open to abuse – there must be a better way.

Of course, the better way was discarded some decades ago and the history of the process by which Communion in the hand crept onto the scene is not altogether edifying. But let's not go there.

But let me first state categorically that I adhere totally to the present discipline of the Church which offers communicants a choice to receive either on the hand or on the tongue. I never refuse either, not even those who wish to receive kneeling. In fact, on the question of adherence to the norms of the Church I find myself aghast at stories from laity who have been denied, sometimes with extreme rudeness and offensiveness, their right to receive on the tongue, or their right to receive whilst kneeling.

There are a number of objections I have to Communion in the hand and but let me begin with just three:-

It does not adequately protect the Sacred Host.

With Communion on the hand the reverent can be reverent, the indifferent can be indifferent, the careless can be careless, and the abusive can be abusive.

One would not place a priceless artwork into the hands of an individual and just assume that all due care would be taken. No! Serious safeguards would be implemented.

The very action of placing the Sacred Host on the hands of a communicant invites routine.

There are any number of bodily actions we perform so often every day without thinking that they wear a kind of 'neuron track' into our brains: waving goodbye, shaking hands, pointing a finger, and receiving and placing something into another's hand.

It is very difficult to ask someone to use an habitual action in a sacred way.

Standing, or preferably kneeling, before a priest and extending our tongue is hardly a routine action. It is something we do only in church and it causes the communicant immediately to enter into a consciousness of the sacred. Communion on the tongue is itself a little catechesis.

A parishioner said to me once that So-and-so gives out Communion like he is handing out lollies. Even priests (and extraordinary ministers) can succumb to the routine.

Communion on the hand is strangely catechesis resistant.

After all the years of this practice there is still a disturbing number of people who have no idea how to receive reverently; all has become routine in the worst sense of the word and the variety of idiosyncratic ways of receiving is endless.

Then, of course, there are those many who turn away from the priest and wander off to their seats to (hopefully) consume somewhere along the way.

First post

2012-01-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

We are convinced of the great spiritual harm inflicted on the Catholic faithful by the practice of Communion received on the hand. We are asking the Holy Father to personally intervene to restore once again the normative practice of reception of Holy Communion on the tongue alone.

We beseech the Holy Father in our petition to decisively act in this way to 'confirm the brethren' in the authentic Catholic Faith and practice of the ages.

The Council of Trent solemnly teaches that 'The faithful of Christ venerates this most holy Sacrament with the worship of 'latria' which is due to the one true God'. This has since been reaffirmed by the Church on many occasions, even for example, during the implementation phase of the Second Vatican Council in 'Eucharistiae Sacramentum' 1967.

Receiving Holy Communion on the tongue emphasises humble dependence and vulnerability before God who gives himself to us in the person of his Son as spiritual food in the sacred Host. We can think perhaps of the dependence of the very elderly or small infants being fed directly into their mouths. Are we not even more dependent on God for the undeserved gift of His grace and saving presence of His Son in the holy Eucharist?

Holy Communion received in the hand can unintentionally communicate a sense that what I have lined up to receive and what has subsequently been given over into my hands is now ipso facto in my possession as mine. It is now in my control like a piece of candy or a coin or token of some kind. The authentic Catholic response on the other hand is to cry out from the heart 'Domine non sum dignus..... Lord I am not worthy....'

This blog has been established to compliment the accompanying online petition to the Holy Father. We would like to provide a resource for Catholics to share their insights and experience of Communion in the hand and on the tongue. This may help us all understand better why one practice is so often harmful to the Eucharistic faith of Catholic people while the other tends to deepen our experience of Jesus' divinity and abundant mercy towards us in the Blessed Sacrament.