I have said it before and I will write it again now. If nothing else changes in the manner in which the majority of Catholic priests and thus parishes celebrate the Ordinary Form of the Mass, there is one change that would enhance the mystery and reverence, in fact not enhance, but lead to a recovery of it, is kneeling for Holy Communion even if the option of receiving in the hand is maintained. I will opine though, that if a return to kneeling and receiving on the tongue would occur, a great stride forward in the magisterium of Pope Benedict’s renewal in continuity, would take place.
I place kneeling for Holy Communion above ad orientem in this renewal in continuity.
Here is a good synopsis of a new book that is out, must reading for bishops and priests to include the Bishop of Rome:
Book Review: The Holy Bread of Eternal Life by Professor Peter Kwasniewski
I must say how genuinely impressed I was with reading The Holy Bread
10 comments:
Father McDonald,
I know you are a realist and will appreciate this article by Eric Sammons which is quite sobering:
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/will-catholics-ever-return-to-mass
Thank you for posting this about Dr. Kwasniewski's book, a true liturgical scholar.
The entire Communion in the Hand debacle is not only wrong, it is EMBARRASSING as a Catholic to witness it. It is infuriating to look at First Communicants who get this horrible practice inculcated into them. And it is nauseating to look at the body language of some people who receive in the hand--it varies from indifferent casualness to feminist gestures of "empowerment"--and in almost every case is utterly bereft of humility or reverence. But hey, that's what our "pastoral" bishops want, isn't it?
So chew on this: The next time you rise up out of your pew to receive Holy Communion, think about what you are about to do. Unless you are in a church that exclusively offers the Traditional Rite, YOU ARE GOING TO WALK ON THE BODY OF CHRIST. Because unless everyone receives on the tongue with an altar boy holding a paten under their chins, particles of the Body of Christ fall to the floor and we all walk on them. Novus Ordo parishes are Christ-trampling grounds and most of us don't have the option of going elsewhere (thanks to all you "open-minded" pastors who have stomped on Summorum Pontificum--and you WILL answer for it).
Thanks Cardinal Bernardin. Now that you're gone, your horns are all-too-visible.
"...think about what you are about to do."
We are about to recieve a gift, the gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus offered to God for our salvation and shared with us for our sanctification and the sanctification of the whole world.
"YOU ARE GOING TO WALK ON THE BODY OF CHRIST"
No, you're not. That which is not recognizable as bread is not the Body of Christ. No, it's not. It is no more the Body of Christ than the consecrated wine which constantly evaporates from the chalice, which is not recognizable wine, is the Blood of Christ.
Invisible fragments of the consecrated host of wine are not the Body and Blood of Jesus.
From the New Theological Movement:
"Still, we must emphasize that some persons fall into serious confusion on this point. Because every particle of the consecrated Host is surely Jesus, they think that even every microscopic particle which falls from the Host is also Jesus – but in this, they err.
A piece of the Host which is visible to the human eye (under usual conditions and without assistance) as what appears to be a piece of bread, is surely Jesus. However, those particles which are so small as to be invisible to the human eye, or to be indistinguishable from a particle of dust – these cannot any longer be the Eucharist.
The Church teaches that the Eucharistic Presence remains “as long as the Eucharist species subsist”. This means that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, so long as the Eucharist retains the accidental properties of bread and wine. Hence, if a Host is dissolved in water (as is done when the Host has become putrefied, as through vomiting after the reception of Communion), upon being dissolved it is not longer the Eucharist. Likewise, the Precious Blood, when the Chalice is purified with water (and wine), is no longer the Eucharist.
The same must hold true for those particles which are so small as to be unrecognizable as “bread”. If the fragment is so small as to appear to be dust or a speck of some other substance, rather than a “crumb” of bread, it can no longer be the Eucharist. Likewise, those microscopic particles which fall from the Host are not the Eucharist, since they clearly do not retain the appearance of bread.
Excessive scrupulosity about such things will only cause the true faith to be ridiculed. Indeed, in this case, the words of the Catechism of the Council of Trent are most helpful. Warning priests to dissuade the people from a vain curiosity into such mysteries, the Roman Catechism states:
“No less of caution should be observed by pastors in explaining the mysterious manner in which the body of our Lord is contained whole and entire under the least particle of the bread. Indeed, discussions of this kind should scarcely ever be entered upon.
“Should Christian charity, however, require a departure from this rule, the pastor should remember first of all to prepare and fortify his hearers by reminding them that no word shall be impossible with God.”
A of Faith, I know you are responding to TM, however, the greater problem with Communion in the hand while standing and on the move is how some, not all, receive in a somewhat careless or haphazard way, especially children. It is proven now, that many walk off with the Host not knowing what it is. They take the Host home, leave in the pew,a pocket or on the floor. I have found many Hosts on the floor under pews and in hymnals and missalettes and many parishioners over the years have told me that they have seen people walk off with the Host.
Scrupulosity should be avoided but sometimes there are not microscopic particles left on the hands or the floor, but larger particles that are visible to the eye. I have seen children dust off their hands once they received.
At the same time, there are stories of priest in the EF Mass prior to Vatican II and I suspect today, who scrape the corporal cloth to remove any particles of the Host from it not realizing they are scraping cotton off the corporal not particle of Holy Communion. That would be a bit of an obsession.
Hosts were stolen when communion was "administered" only on the tongue.
Children scraped the host that became stuck to the roofs of their mouths with their fingers, and heaven knows what happened after that.
There will ALWAYS be possible abuses, but you can't make good policy based on worst-case scenarios.
...but you can't make good policy based on worst-case scenarios.
Thank God you agree with me about the mask mandate. You can't make good policy based on worst-case scenarios. So many people agree with you that they don't wear masks in protest about exactly that!!!....but you can't make good policy based on worst-case scenarios.
No, I don't agree with you on the mask mandate. I always LAUGH at the inanity of your "You agree with me" assertions. They only show the weakness of your positions and your incapacity to reason.
You fell for it as I knew you would since my irony is to show you that you are wrong. You have to take into account worst-case scenarios in both examples. But you are cafeteria oriented and thus illogical.
“Analogy” of “faith” - seriously? You are deluded. Period.
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