Receiving Communion in the hand

Practical difficulties

• "It was performed in the early Church". This is true. However, the early Christians had incredible faith, so handling the Blessed Sacrament for them was not so dangerous as they lived out the faith from day to day not knowing whether tomorrow they would be attending the catecombs for Mass or the Roman theatre for the lion's dinner. Eventually, it was considered as an abuse by the 6th century, and outlawed in the 9th century, when the doctrine of the Eucharist developed to its full glory. To increase respect and reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, the touching of the sacred species was minimised to that of only the priest himself (who acts in persona Christi when administering the Sacraments). Moreover, the Holy Spirit guides the Church into all truth, in doctrine, morality and practice. If it has been considered as an abuse for 1200 years, then where has the Holy Spirit been?
  
  
• "It was stopped because people were abusing the Blessed Sacrament". An essential truth in this present time is that human nature does not change. Our surroundings change, our tools, attitudes and opinions may change, but the inner nature of man remains as corrupt and fallen as and when Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden. Therefore, if an abuse was recognised in the early centuries of the Church as an inevitable consequence of the practice, then it is as real today. This is not simply speculation, it is very apparent at your average Catholic Sunday Mass where the Blessed Sacrament is treated in a very disturbing manner from week to week.
  
  
• "Christ gave the disciples communion in the hand". Firstly, it does not say this in any of the Gospel accounts. However, if we presume He did, then secondly, the disciples were really Catholic bishops at that time ("do this in remembrance of me", talking only to the apostles) and therefore have different privileges from us. Moreover, as in the first point, the understanding of the immense gift that our Lord left us only became truly apparent in later times, especially when the doctrines of the Real Presence and transubstantiation were formally defined.
  
  
• "The Eastern rite Catholics and Orthodox Christians receive Communion in the hand" This is totally false. Eastern rite Catholics and Orthodox Christians share a tradition in which blessed bread is passed around at the end of Mass, which they eat using their hands. But this is only blessed bread, it is not consecrated. The Blessed Sacrament, being consecrated, is received from a spoon after it has been dipped into the Chalice; it is certainly not received in the hand.
  
  
• "Our hands becomes like thrones for the King of Kings" Yes, one could say this, but the Blessed Sacrament is meant to be consumed, not handled or given a throne in any sense. Christ said that "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53) - i.e. the eating of His Flesh and the drinking of His Blood is the primary action, everything else is a means to this end and should not distract from it.
  
  
• "We reflect the inner belief that we are temples of the Holy Spirit". The dwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, as promised by Christ: "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23). This is a spiritual dwelling, we become ever more united with Christ through our inner sanctification - and through Him, the Holy Trinity itself makes His home in you. However, this also means you must be - more than ever - humble partakers in the divine banquet of the Eucharist, offering our utmost reverence and adoration for the sacred species that are our Lord Himself. Becoming a home for the Holy Trinity means that our respect for the Blessed Sacrament should increase; a casual familiarity should not take its place.
  
  

• In the sacred Host, Christ is under the appearance of bread, and since this bread is made out of flour, it inevitably crumbles when we touch it. Once the Host has been consumed, some of it is left in the palms of the hands, and on the fingers, of the communicant, especially in hot weather. The hands can be cleaned with the tongue afterwards (which raises the question of why the Host was not originally received directly on the tongue), but this introduces more dangers of what is already in the mouth falling out. Accidents do happen when receiving communion on the tongue, but these are accidents (and would be usually caught by the paten), leaving traces of it on the hands is unavoidable.
  
  
• When visiting museums, valuable things carry a "do not touch" notice. There is nothing more valuable than the Blessed Sacrament in the entire universe, so don't touch It!
  
  
• By touching the Blessed Sacrament we are blurring the line between lay and clergy (e.g. Extraordinary Ministers of Communion), a distinction always upheld by the Catholic Church, especially in response to the Protestant heresy which does not believe in a sacramental priesthood. Receiving only from a priest indicates clearly that the priesthood itself, and also the Blessed Sacrament, is something very special.
  
  
• The Paten is usually left unused within most Masses these days. When they were used for people receiving Communion on the tongue, it was noticed that many particles of the Blessed Sacrament were usually left on it. These days, one can only assume that these particles are left on the hands of the communicants or fall to the floor, mingled in with dust, sweat and God knows what!
  
  
• Receiving Communion standing and in the hand seems to be somewhat more dignified that kneeling before the Sacrament and receiving It on the tongue. However, we are asked to defeat our pride, to be humble and reverential before God, substantially present in the most Holy Sacrament of the altar.
  
  
• Reverting back to earlier practices of the Church denies the guidance of the Holy Spirit when the practice was outlawed. As Pope Pius XII says "The desire to restore everything indiscriminately to its ancient condition is neither wise nor praiseworthy" (Mediator Dei).
  
  
• Having to use one's hands in receiving Communion further dispels any atmosphere of mediation that you might have built up in prepartion for this most important act of faith. In other words, the more physical activity that we have to employ to perform an action, the mental and spiritual activity are inevitably suppressed. The traditional practice involved little more than opening one's mouth to receive Communion, allowing the communicant to preserve a spiritual silence over the whole proceedings. The new practice involves endless shuffling, responding and handling to drive any spiritually inclined person mad!

Last modified 13th December, by David Joyce.