THEOLOGICAL REASONS for receiving Holy Communion on the tongue b y F R . S E R A F I N O M . L A N Z E T TA
The following talk was given at Voice of the Family’s online conference “Love and reverence due to Our Lord”, held on 16 July 2020.
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lthough it might seem of secondary importance how we receive Holy Communion at Mass, it is, in fact, central to our faith. The traditional way is kneeling and on the tongue, which emphasises the importance of adoration before receiving Our Lord. However, we also know that in the very first centuries Holy Communion was also distributed to the faithful in the hand. For example, St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the 4th century speaks of the importance of adoration before receiving Our Lord directly in the hand. We don’t know how widespread this practice was, but we do know that very soon the Church adopted the universal practise of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue while adoring Our Lord kneeling, and this remains the universal law of the Church. We also know that there is an indult given to distribute Holy Communion in the hand of the faith-
ful. This permission came with the instruction Memoriale Domini in 1969, however, we have to always keep in mind that this is an indult – a permission – which can never become the grounds to impose this practice on the faithful. After the lockdown, ordered because of the coronavirus, we are eager to resume public Masses in our churches and it may seem that the safest way to receive Holy Communion is in the hand. And therefore, people must receive Holy Communion in the hand. However, the universal law of the Church remains the same and an indult remains only an indult. To clarify this point, I would like to quote Memoriale Domini, the instruction on the manner of distributing Holy Communion. While this instruction gave the possibility to distribute Holy Communion in the hand, it also reminds us of the importance of keeping the traditional manner of receiving Our Lord because, a change in discipline involves a danger of undermining, little by little, the doctrine of the Church about the Most Holy Sacrament. Memoriale Domini of 1969 states: “This [traditional] method of distributing Holy Communion must be retained, taking the present situation of the Church in the entire world into account, not merely because it has many centuries of tradition behind it but especially because it expresses the faithful’s reverence for the Eucharist.”
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