St John Chrysostom says that the hand that touches the sacred flesh of Jesus Christ, and the tongue that is purpled with His Divine Blood, should be purer than the rays of the sun.
"Who," St Augustine exclaims, "shall be so wicked and daring as to touch the most Holy Sacrament with polluted hands!"
"Because 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." - ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica
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10 comments:
Re-post this in all caps!
Communion in the hand isn't the usage of the Catholic church--rather, it's an indult, a permission, that was requested to "sanate" or clean up an abuse. Cardinal Krol was wroth when the JIFC voted to request it. It should be cancelled and priests should have the guts to deny communion in the hand.
My fav part of the extraordinary rite is that I can recieve kneeling.
Amen.
Back before we removed the tabernacle from the center of the church, and tore out the communion rails, and started receiving Communion in the hand, I wonder how often we saw the following occurrences that I have heard priests address with the congregation twice in the last three years:
-- Hosts on the floor
-- Hosts smashed between the pages of missalettes
-- Hosts in garbage cans
Not to mention, the following behaviors that now seem to be commonplace, at least in churches I have attended in this diocese:
-- Skimpy dress
-- Constant yakking and noise in church (I once had to ask a couple of ushers to put a lid on it during Mass)
-- Overall irreverence
All I can say is, it's God's Church; and it's going to take God to fix it.
I had this discussion with a parish priest who favors Communion in the hand. I quoted St. Thomas Aquinas in that brilliant passage about the Host touching only what is consecrated.
He replied by saying that, if Christ came into the room at that moment, probably everyone would get up and hug him. Then he asked how touching the Host was any different. He said that not wanting to touch the Body of Christ showed the lack of a personal relationship with God.
The point is this: one must maintain a personal relationship with God. However, at the same time, one must still treat Him with the utmost respect. Communion on the tongue shows humility and leaves less room for the possibility of accidents and irreverence towards the Body of Christ.
AquinaSavio - that priest sounds like a Charismatic Protestant! I'm pretty sure that the sacred reverence surrounding the presence of Jesus in any room would demand prostration on the floor, not a group hug.
Couple of quick comments:
1) I admit having Communion both on the toungue and on the hands. To me it seems that some Eucharistic ministers are a bit uncomfortable giving the consecrated Host in the tongue. I haven't had any problems, but I've seen them place it in the tongues of others.
2) I don't mean to digress, but I love St. John Chrysostom. I'm searching for a CD with a choir that did justice to Rachmaninov's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
Sorry, but I love sacred music.
Tom
Redneck,
We are blessed to have a communion rail in our N.O. parish! Our prior pastor sought, and received, permission from our Bishop Emeritus to reinstall it.
Our current pastor will say his first TML this coming Monday in St. Louis and has requested prayer. He spent a week this past summer in NE training, and I'm pretty sure he has been practicing at least once daily since. We will have our first TLM, a sung Requiem Mass at our parish by a visiting priest (chaplain to the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles http://www.benedictinesofmary.blogspot.com/ ) on the Feast of All Souls. Our pastor hopes to begin offering TLM on a regular basis starting with the first Sunday of Advent.
We are blessed that our parish is/was already set up for the TLM. Many parishes around the country just aren't equipped and things like maniples cost money (which parishioners are giving and future parishioners have pledged).
Feisty,
Isn't it a shame that your priest had to get permission from the Bishop to "re-install" the communion rail?
But thanks be to God that you now have it, its rare in a Novus Ordo Church.
Dave
Well, we've disagreed on MANY things, PG. However, I will give him credit since he's trying to get perpetual adoration going.
But I should ask him why we aren't allowed to run up to the monstrance, hug it, and dance around it, etc...
"I'm pretty sure that the sacred reverence surrounding the presence of Jesus in any room would demand prostration on the floor, not a group hug."
Good answer. That priest's thoughts about hugging Jesus stem from the teaching that is pounded into our heads, Jesus is our buddy and pal.
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