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Communion in the hand a sacrilege?
by David Martin
 

“Communion in the hand has not been, and will not be accepted by Heaven. This is a sacrilege in the eyes of the Eternal Father."
 Our Lady, June 30, 1984

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“This [practice] was brought about to desecrate My Son, to take from Him the truth of His divine nature. It was a sinister plan from the depths of hell to remove the knowledge of the divinity of My Son from among you."
 Our Lady, February 10, 1978

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Only the consecrated fingers and
hands of the representative
of Christ shall bring this gift
to mankind!"
 St. Theresa, October 2, 1975

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“It is the will of My Son that only man—not woman—shall give His Body to the multitudes. Only a man, a priest, legally ordained, a true descendant of Peter, must bring My Son's Body to the multitudes."
 Our Lady, November 20, 1979

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             WITH THE CRISIS IN THE CHURCH ever intensifying, clergy have failed to acknowledge that at the very crux of the problem is the practice of receiving Communion in the hand. This is a protestant practice that was introduced after Vatican II to encourage the idea of the Church being a "common priesthood," which of course was Luther's idea.
          However, the faithful have no authorization from On High to touch the Host as if they were priests, regardless of what is allowed today as common law. That is, they are not consecrated to handle or administer the Blessed Sacrament, so that if they do, a sacrilege is committed.
          This in turn brings on spiritual repercussions and draws the plague of the devil upon the church, so that what is fostered is not only impurity of thought and action (evidenced by all the abuse and display of indecency in church), but casual and heretical notions about the Sacrament and the Holy Sacrifice (e.g. the Eucharist is holy bread, the Mass is a meal, the Mass is a community gathering, etc). If Catholics today no longer believe that the Eucharist is the Creator Himself in person, it is because of this diabolical practice that has cheapened their religion and nurtured this apostate mentality.
          Communion in the hand caters to human pride and warps our conception of Jesus Christ. It serves no other purpose than to nourish a disbelief and contempt for Christ in the Eucharist. It promotes personal uncleanness and fosters the general mentality of transgressing into forbidden realms (touching that which we ought not), which also calls to mind the transgression of Eve when she rose up in her pride and partook of the forbidden fruit.
          However, the author of both is the devil who is given great strength to work among us in the Church through this practice. Satan's objective is to destroy the monarchical concept of the Church where Christ is no longer seen as the King of kings reigning within His palace. The aim of progressives is to cast mockery upon His divinity where He is seen instead as a mere man who had brothers and sisters, and Communion in the hand has been the major tool in their hands wherewith to advance this heresy.
          The faithful would do well to consider the conduct of Moses when he approached the burning bush in the mount. The Lord ordered him to put off his sandals because he was on holy ground. And "Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God." (Exodus 3:6) And to think that this was only a manifestation of God's presence, not an actual physical presence.
          With how much greater reverence must we approach the altar where the Creator Himself dwells day and night in full Body and Spirit? Shall we mock Him and do a little dance for Him (guitar Mass) and then stick our dirty hands out and try to make the Lord of Hosts our pet wafer? God forbid!
          Thanks to Communion in the hand, members of satanic cults are now given easy access to come into the Church and take the Host so that they bring it back to their covens where it is abused and brutalized in the ritualistic Black Mass to satan. They crush the Host under their shoes as a mockery to the living God, and we assist it with our casual practice? Among themselves the satanists declare that Communion in the hand is the greatest thing that ever happened to them, and we do nothing to stop it?
          It is for this and other reasons that the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, is attempting at this time to reverse this practice, which means that the bishops should not resist his designs. The pope does not want the faithful receiving Communion in their hand nor does he want them standing to receive. According to Vatican liturgist Monsignor Guido Marini, the pope is trying to set the stage for the entire church as to the proper norm for receiving Communion, for which reason communicants at his papal Masses are now asked to kneel and receive on the tongue.

“Kneeling highlights the truth of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, helps the devotion of the faithful, and introduces the sense of mystery more easily,” Marini told L’Osservatore Romano on June 26, 2008.

          This is confirmed by Pope Benedict himself: “We Christians kneel before the Blessed Sacrament because, therein, we know and believe to be the presence of the One True God.” (May 22, 2008) The pope offered the following as the single greatest remedy against the New Order of pride which presently predominates in the Church:

“Kneeling in adoration before the Eucharist is the most valid and radical remedy against the idolatries of yesterday and today”—Benedict XVI, May 22, 2008

           The pope’s initiative is in accord with the Church’s 2000 year tradition and is being done in order to foster a renewed love and respect for the Eucharist which presently is being mocked and treated with contempt. The various trends and innovations since Vatican II (guitar liturgy, altar girls, lay ministers, Communion in the hand) have worked together to destroy our regard for the Eucharist, thus advancing the spiritual death of the Church. After all, the Eucharist is the very life and heartbeat of the Mystical Body around which the entire Church must revolve.
           Kneeling directly coincides then with the Church’s centuries old ordinance that only the consecrated hands of a priest touch the Body of Christ in Holy Communion. “To priests alone has been given power to consecrate and administer to the faithful, the Holy Eucharist.” (Council of Trent) This teaching is beautifully expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica:
“Because out of reverence towards this Sacrament, nothing touches it, but what  is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest’s hands, for touching this Sacrament.”
          It is for reason that Pope Paul VI in his May 1969 pastoral letter to the world’s bishops reaffirmed the Church’s teaching on the reception of Communion, stating: “This method on the tongue must be retained.” (Memoriale Domini) This came in response to the bishops of Holland who started Communion in the hand in defiance of the centuries old decree from the Council of Rouen (650 A.D.) where this practice was condemned. “Do not put the Eucharist in the hands of any lay person, but only in their mouths.” To date this age old prohibition has never been legally overturned.

                                        

          Today Communion in the hand is carried on illicitly as a “common law” practice and has become a major tool of the enemy to destroy the Faith throughout the world. This practice has served no other purpose than to nurture contempt for Christ in the sacred mysteries. It is no wonder St. Basil referred to Communion in the hand as “a grave fault.”
           That is to say, Communion in the hand is not tied to Catholic Tradition. This practice was first introduced to the Church by the heretical Arians of the Third Century as a means of expressing their belief that Christ was not divine. Unfortunately, it has served to express the same in our time and has been at the very heart of the present heresy and desecration that is rampant throughout the universal Church. If we have ‘abuse’ problems today it is because we're abusing the sacrament—it’s backfiring on us!
           Hence, the Holy Father is doing his part to try to purge the Church of abuse and we as members of Christ are called upon to assist him. His designs for the reception of Communion are nicely reflected in a statement by Cardinal Canizares Llovera, the prefect for the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, speaking to Life Site News on July 22, 2009: “It is the mission of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments to work to promote Pope Benedict’s emphasis on the traditional practices of liturgy, such as reception of Communion on the tongue while kneeling.”
           The pope’s plan to have the faithful receive in the traditional manner is not a mandate, but bishops and clergy are nonetheless bound to follow his lead. Unfortunately, the practice of kneeling for Communion is discouraged in many dioceses and in some cases is even banned, though the faithful are not required to honor this.
           In an interview in December, 2008, Cardinal Llovera spoke concerning the best way to receive the Eucharist: “What does it mean to receive Communion in the mouth? What does it mean to kneel before the Most Holy Sacrament? What does it mean to kneel during the Consecration at Mass? It means adoration, it means recognizing the real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; it means respect and an attitude of faith of a man who prostrates before God because he knows that everything comes from Him... That is why it is not the same to place in the hand, and to receive communion in any fashion than doing it in a respectful way; it is not the same to receive communion kneeling or standing up, because all these signs indicate a profound meaning.”
           Hence, today's crisis revolves around the Church’s failure to recognize the Divine Presence of Jesus Christ in the tabernacle, this being the end fruit of reform. And whereas the single greatest remedy is to universally restore the high altar where the Mass is again said facing the tabernacle (ad orientum), the next best thing is to return to our knees before the Holy Eucharist. Without this basic humility before the Eucharist our efforts at restoration are vain. The most orthodox thing that one can do is to abase himself before God in the Eucharist, without which there is no orthodoxy. For those who would approach the Eucharist in a casual, nonchalant manner, let them consider the warning of St. Paul in Holy Scripture:
“Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord... For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:27, 28)


David Martin is the moderator for St. Michael's worldwide radio program. He is the SMWA organizer for Los Angeles, Calif., where he resides. David, who is a former concert pianist, has been a devotee since 1979.
     
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