Take it in the hand -
Or don’t take it at all.
Rather steady rumor has it the Vatican is reviewing the practice of Communion in the hand. For some priests, as well as faithful, how one received communion was a sort of litmus test as to whether one was liberal or conservative - in other terms, pre-Vatican II or not. We’ve all heard stories of people being refused communion because they desired to receive on the tongue while kneeling. In one case locally, the priest actually threw the host at the communicant forcing her to catch it.
Remnant and Wanderer newspaper readers, as well as traditional Catholics everywhere, have read stories for years on how the practice of communion in the hand was introduced illegally shortly after the Council. The custom becomes so wide spread “reformers” claimed it “sensus fidei” and therefore legitimate, and Rome reluctantly permitted it. However, if anyone dared object to liturgists, bishops and priests, they were usually deemed traditionalist radicals, or God-forbid, pre-Vatican II. In addition, it seemed as if the Vatican didn’t care, since we never heard anything to contradict the modernists.
Until now, praise God! Cardinal Ranjith, Secretary for the Congregation of Divine Worship, has determined the practice will be reviewed by the Vatican and possibly reversed. The post-Vatican II prelate is quoted as saying:
The Vatican wants the host “placed directly into the mouths of the faithful so they don’t touch it (with their hands)… because many don’t even realize they are receiving Christ and do this with scant concentration and respect,” Ranjith said.
The distribution of communion on the hands of those attending mass has been widespread since the so-called Vatican II Council - a series of reforms introduced in the 1960s aimed at making church celebrations more accessible to the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics.
But according to Ranjith the practice was “illegally and hastily introduced by certain elements of the Church immediately after the Council”.
“Some people keep hosts with them as a sort of souvenir, others sell them while in some cases the hosts have been taken away to be used in blasphemous Satanic rituals,” he said.
Ranjith said the measures to bring back “dignity and decorum” to mass celebrations were in line with Pope Benedict XVI’s wishes, but he did not specify when they would be introduced, nor if they would be issues as an order or a set of guidelines. - Entire story here.
