Communion in the hand

As I recently promised in a previous article, here are my thoughts on the issue of Communion in the hand.

Like the valid practice of female altar servers, Communion in the hand is also a valid practice that far-right-wing Catholic conservatives claim will bring all kinds of immoral doom and gloom to the Church! Their main argument against Communion in the hand is that it’ll lead to decreased reverence in the reception of Holy Communion. Nothing could be further from the truth! If there’s a decreased reverence in the reception of Holy Communion, it’s because of a lack of catechesis among the faithful, not on how the Host is received by the Communicant.

When I was preparing to receive First Holy Communion in 1970, we were taught that under no circumstances were we to touch the Host; that only the priest could touch the Host because their hands were blessed! The nuns who taught us had us believing that the skies would open up with the wrath and anger of God in the form of fire and brimstone if we ever dared touched the Host!

A few years later (sometime in the early-mid 70’s) I overheard a conversation between my grandparents and friends of theirs who had recently visited Canada. The discussion was about the Church in Canada allowing Communion in the hand, something that was totally foreign to them as Americans. I remember asking myself why they can touch the Host in Canada, but we couldn’t.

Fast forward to the spring/summer of 1977. Sometime in this time period, I remember reading in our local diocesan newspaper of the decision by the Vatican to allow the practice of Communion in the hand in the Unites States, after the U.S. Bishops Conference made the request to allow this practice. I remember reading that it was already allowed in countries like Canada, Mexico, and England.

The guidelines for implementing this practice included;

-local Bishops would allow the practice in their dioceses only at their discretion.

-in dioceses where it was going to be allowed, it was going to be the choice of the Communicant whether they would receive the Host in the hand or on the tongue.

-there must be some kind of sufficient catechesis for the Laity on how to receive the Host in the hand. In my diocese, this was primarily done during Homilies at Mass, and through the diocesan newspaper with articles, pictures, and drawings on how to form your hands to receive the Host, for example.

-Communion distributed under the form of both Bread and Wine through Intinction would continue to be on the tongue only.

Different dioceses implemented this practice at different times over the next several months. My own diocese implemented this practice starting with the First Sunday of Advent in 1977. As a teenager at the time, I readily accepted this practice, even though I had it pounded into my head seven years earlier that touching the Host was an almost unforgivable sin! But since the Pope decreed the practice to be lawful, I accepted it. With rare exceptions (such as receiving by Intinction) I’ve received Communion in the hand ever since.

Have there been abuses since the Vatican approved the practice? Unfortunately, and sadly, there have been. In the summer of 2014, I witnessed an older lady (in her 60’s or 70’s) one morning at Mass who received the Host in the hand right before me. As I was walking back to my pew after consuming my own Host, I happened to notice this lady walking back to her pew with her hands cupped together. When she sat back in her pew, she uncupped her hands and consumed the Host that she had carried back to her pew, as opposed to consuming it immediately upon receiving it. I was shocked, and not a whole lot shocks me anymore. As hard as it was to do so, I knew I had a moral obligation to inform my parish priest. I sent him an email informing him of what I had witnessed. I also said that this was probably a one-time isolated incident, but once was too much! My concern at the time was what if a child preparing for First Holy Communion had witnessed this? The pastor emailed me back and thanked me for letting him know, and that he was going to address this issue right before Communion the following Sunday, which he did. After Mass, he personally thanked me again for bringing this issue to his attention.

I’ve also experienced Communion using bread made with invalid matter! I was involved with a retreat program for young adults in my diocese when I was in my early 20’s. An older lady involved with the program would bake a loaf of bread to be used at Communion time during our retreat Masses, which was broken into pieces at the Fraction Rite. Though it was unleavened, the bread can best be described as thick, heavy, and had a sweet taste to it; definitely not the valid matter of water and wheat flour that’s prescribed by Church law! Though I’m sure it was prepared and baked with lots of prayerful tender loving care, it’s composition was such that I’m sure there were plenty of particles not consumed; the smallest particles may have even unknowingly hit the floor.

Now for my opinions on this issue.

As I said, I’ve been receiving Communion in the hand since the practice was allowed in the US in 1977. As a result, I’ve always ensured I come to Mass with clean hands, even if it was Mass during field training when I was in the Army.

There are those who’ll say that it’s not possible to receive Communion in the hand reverently; I disagree! It starts with faithful catechists teaching children preparing for First Holy Communion how to receive the Host in the hand in a reverent manner, if they choose to receive in the hand. In my case, when approaching the priest or EME, I’ll make a slight bow before I receive the Host, and I know many others do so as well. I step to the side, and immediately consume the Host before I walk back to my pew in a prayerful manner.

If my Bishop were to decree that Communion in the hand was no longer going to be allowed in his diocese (and he has the right to do that!), and receiving Communion was going to be on the tongue only, I’d be ok with that. If the Bishop also decreed that all parishes bring back altar rails to kneel at during Communion, I’d be ok with that also! Of course, decisions like these would obviously cause an uproar among the faithful, and I don’t know of any Bishop who wants to go down those roads without strong and valid reasons for doing so.

To those who insist on receiving on the tongue only and look down upon those of us who receive it in the hand, please recognize the fact that how the Body of Christ is received is not as important as the attitude (hopefully a reverent one!) a Communicant comes to Communion with. It’s Jesus Himself in the Form of Bread we are privileged to receive; quibbling about the manner of validly receiving the Host as decreed by lawful Church authorities is really in poor taste. However, if you see legitimate abuses regarding the practice of Communion in the hand, definitely tell your parish priest! It might be a one-time isolated incident, but I wouldn’t take any chances!