There is a movement to return to the traditional way of receiving the Holy Eucharist: kneeling and on the tongue. This was the manner of reception by our Catholic ancestors for centuries. If the devil had convened a council to plot a way to destroy belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, that diabolical council would have invented communion in the hand.
We carefully handle that which is valuable: a Brinks truck with armed guards delivers cash to a business, a gloved curator handles old manuscripts at any given museum, poker chips in Vegas are watched by security guards on the casino floor and from ceiling cameras, we do not give our credit cards to strangers, we are not “free” to enter the White House without being invited and vetted, and the Holy Eucharist is only handled by priests and ordained deacons.
Wait.
That is the way the Eucharist used to be handled.
Now that we have witnessed fifty plus years of Eucharistic profanation by communion in the hand, and the proliferation of the very ordinary extraordinary ministers of communion, may we see a return to the way it had been for centuries, and which showed the world that the Church recognized the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist: a gift and treasure of inestimable value.
God has loved us in giving us His Son.
His Son loved us so much that He wished to remain with us on our journey on Earth. May we return the favor by treating him with the dignity and respect due to Him. From a dusty old book we see reflected in the writings of a glorious saint that which the Church and the people once believed:
“Eternal Wisdom, on the one hand, wished to prove his love for man by dying in his place in order to save him, but on the other hand, he could not bear the thought of leaving him. So he devised a marvelous way of dying and living at the same time, and of abiding with man until the end of time. So, in order fully to satisfy his love, he instituted the sacrament of Holy Eucharist and went to the extent of changing and overturning nature itself. He does not conceal himself under a sparkling diamond or some other precious stone, because he does not want to abide with man in an ostentatious manner. But he hides himself under the appearance of a small piece of bread – man’s ordinary nourishment – so that when received he might enter the heart of man and there take his delight. Ardenter amantium hoc est – Those who love ardently act in this way. ‘O eternal Wisdom,’ says a saint, ‘O God who is truly lavish with himself in his desire to be with man.'” St. Louis de Montfort, Love of Eternal Wisdom
The real presence of Christ dwells in your local Roman Catholic Church.
This is very mysterious.
Jesus Christ is really present.
Gerald Moultrie summed up this mystery when he wrote:
Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descending
Comes our homage to demand.
King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.
Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
Comes the powers of hell to vanquish
As the darkness clears away.
At His feet the six winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
May we show our gratitude for so great a gift in the manner in which we receive it, in the manner taught to our ancestors by their ancestors: kneeling and on the tongue.
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For study:
- Cardinal Sarah speaks on communion in the hand: Cardinal Sarah on communion in the hand.
- Bishop A. Schneider speaks: Bishop Schneider on Holy Communion
