Their gestures and postures should be observed in common with all the faithful. Others maintain that it was never a Catholic custom, but if Communion in the hand was practiced in some limited way in the early Church, it was institutionalized and made widespread by the Arians as a sign of their disbelief in the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, while this process is going on, the faithful recite the "Lamb of God," after which they kneel in adoration. If one is going to acknowledge the tabernacle at all, then the genuflection is the proper gesture. To do so would be a clear sign of weak and vacillating leadership. @Ward If they're not allowed to touch the Host, why should they be allowed to break It? Now, does this mean 5 minutes or 45 minutes unduly prolonged? Another reader asks about GIRM No. for Modernism Saint Thomas clearly teaches that it belongs to the priest and only to the priest to touch and administer the Sacred Host, that only that which is consecrated (the hands of the priest) should touch the Consecrated (the Sacred Host). We cannot even feed ourselves without Christs help, and the action of Communion in the traditional manner demonstrates this in a very vivid manner.. Through Thine Institution of the Most Holy Eucharist, Deliver us, O Jesus. This article was printed in The Fatima Crusader, Issue 74 (Summer 2003) and in Catholic Family News (September 1995 Issue). A similar statement can be found in General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), 162. He or she opens the door, then genuflects in adoration, and retrieves the container(s) of hosts and leaves the door open, exposing the presence of Jesus. A: There are several points in your question, which I will try to address in order. I do not see the reason for these changes. But now, lay people administering the Blessed Sacrament is an ordinary sight in the average. The bigger the cast, the better, and the gripping drama of the Mass became an amateur show. An illustration can be given by the story of the Canadian bishops response to, rightly reaffirmed the Churchs teaching against contraception. It depends on who interprets it. Matthew Plese is a traditional Catholic convert, and Dominican tertiary living in Chicago. In his letter Domincae Cenae of February 24, 1980, the Pope restated the Churchs teaching that to touch the sacred species and to administer them with their own hands is a privilege of the ordained. But, for whatever reason, this 1980 document contained no threat of penalty to any layman, priest or bishop who ignored the Popes plea. Q: After the consecration, the Eucharistic minister proceeds to the tabernacle to obtain the consecrated Hosts needed to feed the faithful. Controversy surrounds the claim that Communion in the hand was practiced in the early Church. Is it a sacrilege to take communion in hand? Throughout the centuries, our fathers have told us about our Faith and about the Blessed Sacrament. Second, because the priest is the appointed intermediary between God and the people, hence as it belongs to him to offer the peoples gifts to God, so it belongs to him to deliver the consecrated gifts to the people. The practice of the laity touching the Eucharist with their hands should never be encouraged unless grave necessity (e.g., preventing Eucharistic desecration) requires it. Under what conditions does the Catholic Church explicitly call the laity extraordinary ministers? Our fathers told us this because it was the truth. Or its a position that the proud and pompous in the parish lust after, thereby showing themselves incapable of recognizing a false and petty prestige. Receiving Communion whilst kneeling means that the faithful line up in a row before the sanctuary, and thus have time to prepare themselves for this most sacred of events: coming into spiritual and substantial union with Christ Himself. As a result, the Pontifical Commission officially ruled that when Ordinary Ministers (bishops, priests) are present at the Eucharist, whether celebrating or not, and are in sufficient number and are not prevented from doing so by other ministries, the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist are not allowed to distribute Communion either to themselves or to the Faithful.. And though these practices have been introduced under the guise of being an authentic liturgical development mandated by Vatican II, the truth is Communion in the hand. It had not yet started in the United States. Our fathers told us these things not just for the sake of handing down a venerable but groundless tradition, they have told us these things through word and example to show fidelity to the Catholic Faith and reverence toward the Blessed Sacrament. He, Teresa Farris-Dacar is a Traditional Catholic from birth and a, Fatima Perspectives #1227 Sixteen years ago, during the deceptively misnamed Pedophile Summit in Rome, which really involved homosexual, Written by Miriam Gruner Our small Fatima Center team has started to arrive in Ireland for the World, Atheism in legislation, indifference in matters of religion, and the pernicious maxims which go under the name of, The Syllabus of Errors[1] published by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1864, listed the following statement as, Get notified of the latest news from the Fatima Center, Basics of the Catholic Faith: Catechism Series, This has a historical basis at least as far back as the order of Pope St. Soter, around 170 AD, Special Report: The Truth about Communion in the Hand, The Pedophile Scandal, Part II: Francis Hides the Ball, Now More Than Ever, The Church And The Family Need The Message of Fatima, Why Catholics Cant Celebrate Bastille Day, Catholics Must Believe More Than Just Dogmatic Pronouncements. When it is his turn, the priest says the prayer: May the body of Our Lord Jesus Christ keep your soul until life everlasting. There are some that claim that it was practiced up until the 6th Century and even cite a passage of St. Cyril to substantiate this assertion. The communicant simply needs to expose his tongue, and his side of the proceedings is complete. ", Having received this response, the BCL Newsletter commented: "In the implementation of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, therefore, posture should not be regulated so rigidly as to forbid individual communicants from kneeling or sitting when returning from having received Holy Communion" (p. 26). How often have we heard even our Church leaders lament that we have lost the sense of the sacred. This is one of the most astounding statements a Churchman can utter as if it were some sort of mystery. And we know that the hands of a priest are consecrated for this purpose, but the hands of laymen are . Why do complex numbers lend themselves to rotation? should be washed and . The mindless behavior of this superficially trained laity brings to the sanctuary a pomposity that is both embarrassing and saddening to watch.. But, for whatever reason, this 1980 document contained no threat of penalty to any layman, priest or bishop who ignored the Popes plea. It is found in the celebration of the Old Latin Tridentine Mass where profound reverence for the Blessed Sacrament is deeply ingrained into every moment of the Liturgy, and where Communion in the hand and Eucharistic Ministers are still looked upon in horror with Catholic eyes, and are clearly recognized as the out-of-place, sacrilegious, non-Catholic practices that they are. rev2023.7.7.43526. I witnessed this happening and I didn't think they had the right to do it. And in instructions of this nature, lack of precision gives rise to wide interpretation, and wide interpretation gives rise to the establishment of an abuse under the appearance of fidelity to Church regulations. Quite to the contrary, anyone who was raised in the pre-Vatican II Church will distinctly remember being taught that it was sacrilegious for anyone but the priest to touch the Sacred Host. 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. (ST, III, Q.82, Art. Even the most ordinary parents are smart enough not to give their children the option to accept or reject parental commands. Book or a story about a group of people who had become immortal, and traced it back to a wagon train they had all been on. English equivalent for the Arabic saying: "A hungry man can't enjoy the beauty of the sunset", My manager warned me about absences on short notice, Non-definability of graph 3-colorability in first-order logic. He knows of many interesting Catholic laws. Such statements cover the Novus Ordo Mass and not the Tridentine Mass, which never permits Communion in the hand. As further stated in Instruction on Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priests: Extraordinary ministers may distribute Holy Communion at Eucharistic celebrations only when there are no ordained ministers present or when those ordained ministers present at a liturgical celebration are truly unable to distribute Holy Communion (99). 162, states: "(If) there is a very large number of communicants, the priest may call upon extraordinary ministers to assist him, e.g., duly instituted acolytes or even other faithful who have been deputed for this purpose. So, whether they realized it or not, the bishops sabotaged their own pastoral letter, by giving a simultaneous red light and green light to rejection of the Papal Encyclical. Third, because out of reverence for this Sacrament, nothing touches It but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priests hands for touching this Sacrament. The Pope then promulgated the May 28, 1969 Instruction Memoriale Domine. Not only was Communion in the hand started in disobedience, it was perpetuated by deceit. ROME, 17 FEB. 2004 (ZENIT). Communion on the tongue in no way detracts from the dignity of the communicant. In summary, the letters (which can be found in Michael Davies, ) stated that Rome has received many complaints of abuses regarding Extraordinary Ministers. As in the pre-Vatican II era, the priest today could easily distribute Holy Communion to a large congregation. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. But the bishops, rather than do their duty and condemn the abuse, tolerated it. They figured that if they ignored Memoriale Domine and defied the liturgical law of the Church, this rebellion would not only be tolerated, but eventually legalized. So, if words mean anything, as Michael Davies pointed out, an extraordinary minister should be an extraordinary sight. 2, Art. III, Q. Michael E. Rodrguez was born in 1970, in the border city of El, Diocese St. Catharines, Ontario, currently in Chippewa, Ontario. Michael E. Rodrguez was born in 1970, in the border city of El, Diocese St. Catharines, Ontario, currently in Chippewa, Ontario. The Sacraments are the most precious gems the Church possesses, and the Holy Eucharist is the greatest of all the Sacraments. This document does not grant some revolutionary indult for any and every parish to permit lay-people to administer Communion; it authorizes the use of extraordinary ministers in cases of genuine necessity , which are listed as: The Instruction stipulates that: Since these faculties are granted only for the spiritual good of the Faithful and for cases of genuine necessity, priests are to remember that they are not thereby excused from the task of distributing the Eucharist to the Faithful who legitimately request it, and especially from taking and giving it to the sick.. This has a historical basis at least as far back as the order of Pope St. Soter, around 170 AD. Christianity Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for committed Christians, experts in Christianity and those interested in learning more. Todays Eucharistic Ministers actually operate in defiance of, Though there is no hard proof that the loose wording of, was done on purpose, there is ample proof that the ambiguity in the Vatican II documents was deliberate. It was a recognizably anti-Catholic practice rooted in disbelief in the real Presence of Christ and the priesthood. The mindless behavior of this superficially trained laity brings to the sanctuary a pomposity that is both embarrassing and saddening to watch., Lay people giving out Holy Communion during Mass was rightly considered an unthinkable act of sacrilege and irreverence only 35 years ago, and for centuries preceding.
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