What is the best or proper way to receive Holy Communion?
Catechism Meditation:
At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ’s Body and Blood. Faithful to the Lord’s command the Church continues to do, in his memory and until his glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion.” ―No. 1333
REFLECTION: Each time we obey his command to “Do this in memory of me,” Jesus comes whole and entire—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—and he brings us into communion with the divine. It is the most solemn time of the Mass. We get up, quietly file into the aisle, and slowly approach the altar to receive the Host.
There are two approved ways of receiving Holy Communion. The traditional and preferred method is the reception of the Host on the tongue—either standing or kneeling. For over a thousand years, the faithful of the Roman Rite only received Communion on the tongue while kneeling. However, in 1969 Pope Paul VI allowed an exception: individual bishops can give permission to their people to receive Communion in the hand if it does not lead to any loss of reverence. For the first few centuries of the Church, it was common practice for men to receive Holy Communion on the hand, and women to receive on their hand covered with a veil. But as time passed it became the practice to receive Communion directly on the tongue in order to assure that the Host was received reverently. This was the law of the Church for almost 14 centuries, and is still the general norm today.
There are many reasons for not receiving on the hand. For example, someone could drop the Host or walk off with our Eucharistic Lord either accidently or nefariously. Also, consider the risk of having particles of the Host—each of which are also truly the Body of Christ—remain on your hand after you receive. It is a fact of human nature that the more you handle an object, no matter how precious it is, the more likely it is that you will take it for granted and forget its value—and this is often the case with the Body of Christ. In this same line, the Host is no ordinary food, and receiving on the tongue—rather than handling it as we do most food—is a dramatic reminder of this. But if you do take Communion in the hand, ask yourself: do I do it in a way that expresses and protects my belief in the Real Presence?
What is the “best” or “proper” way to receive Holy Communion—in the hand or on the tongue? Whichever way you choose to receive the Host, be sure to do so reverently.
PRAYER. My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to reverently receive You into my soul.
Timeless Wisdom Quote:
“The Eucharist is the sacrament of charity or love because it is the re-enactment of the perfect act of love of Christ; namely, His death on the Cross and the giving of Himself to us in Holy Communion.” ― Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen