Communion in the hand is a sacrilege.
Each Communion in the hand brings more.
"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, and must not be continued, for you only add to your punishment when you continue on in the ways that have been found to be unpleasing to the Eternal Father."
- The Bayside Prophecies
Our Lady of the Roses, June 30, 1984
THIS SACRAMENT OF LOVE
In year 700 a priest in Lanciano, Italy doubted the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. One day at his Mass at the words of consecration the Host turned into Flesh and the wine turned into Blood. Millions of people from then until now, come from all over the world come to see this Miraculous Host and Blood.
In 1970, the Vatican ordered a thorough investigation with the latest scientific medical equipment and the most illustrious professors in the medical field.
The investigation showed the Host had turned into living flesh, into a very fine slice through the center of a human heart, as though it had just been expertly cut by a surgeon’s scalpel. It tested as living Heart tissue and living Blood even though this miracle happened 1270 years ago.
Jesus truly gives His Love, His Body, His Most Sacred Heart to us in Holy Communion.
HAVE YOU EVER ASKED JESUS?
Father Aloysius Ellacuria, the founder of the Missionaries of Perpetual Adoration, had a young mother come to him in the early 1970’s, her eyes filled with tears, an aching body filled with cancer, and little time to live.
He took her into the chapel asking her, “Have you ever asked Jesus to cure you?” “No,” she replied. “Well,” he said, “Let us kneel down right here in front of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and let us ask Our Lord to cure you.”
“You know Jesus is really present in the Most Blessed Sacrament; do you really believe that?” “Yes,” she promptly replied. Father continued, “Our Lord is the same as He Who walked on this earth 2000 years ago; and He blessed the sick and healed the sick. Do you really believe that He is the same Lord Who is living here in the Most Blessed Sacrament?” “Yes, I do,” was her pain-filled response. “Well, He cured them and He can cure you.”
Together they prayed a series of “Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s and Glory Be’s.” After three of each the startled woman said: “Father, I don’t think it is necessary for us to go on – I feel healed!”
The next day X-rays were taken by an astonished doctor who said: “All the cells that were attacked by the cancer are now like the cells of a new-born baby.”
O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine,
all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!
BEGUN IN DISOBEDIENCE
The practice of Communion in the hand was first introduced in Belgium by Cardinal Suenens in disobedience to the rubrics of the Holy See. Not wishing to publicly rebuke a brother bishop, Pope Paul VI decided to lift the ban prohibiting Communion in the hand, leaving the decision to individual bishops. The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, then president of the United States NCCB, initiated two unsuccessful attempts to introduce Communion in the hand in 1975 and 1976.
In the spring of 1977, the bishops’ vote again fell short of the required two-thirds majority. Nevertheless, for the first time ever bishops in absentia were polled by mail after the conference meeting; subsequently the necessary votes materialized and the measure was declared passed. Several canon lawyers have stated categorically that this procedure was illegal.
An interview with Bishop Blanchette in the National Catholic Register (June 12, 1977) confirms that Communion in the hand was unlawfully introduced into the United States. Fr. John Hardon likewise has affirmed the fact that retired and dying bishops were polled to make sure the measure for Communion in the hand would be passed.
REAL WORLD, REAL ABUSES
The greater a person’s charity is, the more he is compelled to speak what he knows to be true. If someone truly loves his neighbor, it is painful for him to see him deprived of truth. And so it is with our heavenly Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her love for us exceeds all mortals and even our own parents, for Her love is supernatural and without equal, save that of God Himself.
Therefore, She would have Her children “walking in truth” (3 John 4), in the path of the Church and the Commandments, and Our Lady will not fail to warn Her children when their means of salvation, the Catholic faith, is under attack. Right now, the summit of our Catholic faith, Our Lord Jesus Christ present in the Sacrament of Love, the Holy Eucharist, is under daily attack. The indult of Communion in the hand has opened a major door to numerous acts of irreverence and sacrilege.
Years ago, when Communion in the hand was beginning to rear its ugly head in the United States, a group of concerned Catholics ran a full-page ad in the Hartford [Connecticut] Courant newspaper (April 27, 1977, p. 16) to express their dismay concerning acts of sacrilege reported in Europe from Communion in the hand.
Within this full-page ad were horrendous testimonies of sacrilege against the blessed Sacrament. The following testimonies were collected by an editor in Zurich, Switzerland:
“In a restaurant, some young people cut a Host into pieces to see if the Blood would run, then they threw it into the toilets.” (November 1969, Witness: proprietor).
“In a dry-cleaning establishment, we found the Consecrated Host in a boy’s trousers. The boy admitted receiving it in a round-about fashion, thanks to distribution of Communion in the hands…” (January 10/70, Witness: proprietor).
“A woman who attended daily Mass twice a day in two different churches observed a man who also attended Mass in these two different churches and who received Communion each time. (Two Communions daily)… The woman denounced this act to the Vicar General whom she knew well.
They found this man’s address and apprehended him one day as he was leaving his residence. The package that he was carrying was opened; it contained seventeen Hosts!!! Upon being questioned, he named those who had given him this work and said he was given francs for each host.” (Witness: a Dominican priest, L.P.A.N.).
“In Holland, some students were conducting a flourishing trade in consecrated Hosts, thanks to Communion given in the hand. They collected them and arranged them on the wall, like butterflies. About 200 Hosts were found, transpierced in this manner…” (Witness: President of the parish, F.E.A.G.).
HISTORICAL CHURCH PRACTICE
Reviewing available evidence from Church history and the writings of the Church Fathers does not support the claim that Communion in the hand was a universal practice that was gradually supplanted and eventually replaced by the practice of Communion on the tongue. Rather, the facts seem to point to a different conclusion.
Pope St. Leo the Great (440-461), already in the fifth century, is an early witness of the traditional practice. In his comments on the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, he speaks of Communion in the mouth as the current usage: "One receives in the mouth what one believes by faith." (Serm. 91.3) Furthermore, in the ninth century the Roman Ordo clearly shows that Communion on the tongue was the manner of reception.
The oft-quoted reference of St. Cyril of Jerusalem is quite suspect, because what follows his famous quote is odd, superstitious, and even irreverent to Catholic thought. This has led scholars to question the authenticity of the text, that perhaps the saint's successor was really responsible for this odd statement, the Patriarch John, who succeeded St. Cyril. But this John was of suspect orthodoxy, which we know from the correspondence of St. Epiphanius, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine.
So if the quote is genuine, it most likely is attributed to the Nestorian Patriarch John, which would explain the oddity of the text. The fact that St. Cyril is quoted to the exclusion of Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope St. Sixtus I, the Council of Trent, and centuries of Church tradition, is a prime example of the historical revisionism and dumbing-down of the modernists. Just a sampling of reliable historical evidence is enough to demonstrate the consistent position of the Church regarding Communion in the hand:
Pope St. Sixtus I ( 115-125): "it is prohibited for the faithful to even touch the sacred vessels, or receive in the hand";
Origen (185-232 A.D.): "You who are wont to assist at the divine Mysteries, know how, when you receive the body of the Lord, you take reverent care, lest any particle of it should fall to the ground and a portion of the consecrated gift (consecrati muneris) escape you. You consider it a crime, and rightly so, if any particle thereof fell down through negligence." (13th Homily on Exodus);
St. Basil the Great (330-379), one of the four great Eastern Fathers, considered Communion in the hand so irregular that he did not hesitate to consider it a grave fault (Letter 93);
The Council held at Saragozza (380), it was decided to punish with excommunication anyone who dared to continue the practice of Communion in the hand;
The local council at Rouen, France (650) stated, “Do not put the Eucharist in the hands of any layman or laywomen but only in their mouths”;
The Council of Constantinople (692) which was known as in trullo (not one of the ecumenical councils held there) prohibited the faithful from giving Communion to themselves. It decreed an excommunication of one week’s duration for those who would do so in the presence of a bishop, priest or deacon;
Council of Trent: "To omit nothing doctrinal on so important a subject, we now come to speak of the minister of the Sacrament, a point, however, on which scarcely anyone is ignorant. The pastor then will teach, that to priests alone has been given power to consecrate and administer the Holy Eucharist.
That the unvarying practice of the Church has also been, that the faithful receive the Sacrament from the hand of the priest, and that the priest communicate himself, has been explained by the Council of Trent; and the same holy Council has shown that this practice is always to be scrupulously adhered to, stamped, as it is, with the authoritative impress of Apostolic tradition, and sanctioned by the illustrious example of our Lord himself, who, with His own hands, consecrated and gave to His disciples,
His most sacred body. To consult as much as possible, for the dignity of this so August a Sacrament, not only is its administration confided exclusively to the priestly order; but the Church has also, by an express law, prohibited any but those who are consecrated to religion, unless in case of necessity, to touch the sacred vessels, the linen or other immediate necessaries for consecration.
Priest and people may hence learn, what piety and holiness they should possess who consecrate, administer, or receive the Holy of Holies." (Council of Trent, Session 13, Chapter 8)
"This debasement to My Son's Body shall not go unpunished!” (Our Lady of the Roses, August 21, 1975)
OUR LADY COMES TO US
Heaven has given us so many wonderful graces through the message of Our Lady of the Roses. We have been blessed with much practical guidance so desperately needed in our confused and troubled times. Particularly important is Heaven’s directions concerning the abusive and sacrilegious practice of Communion in the hand. Our Lady has said: "You must not take the Body of My Son in your hand!
You open the door for the entrance of evil spirits to defile My Son's Body! The consecrated fingers of a duly-ordained man of God, the priest, shall place My Son into your mouth, and you must absorb His Body with goodness and love." (March 22, 1975) Also, Our Lady said in 1984, "My Son is not pleased with the manner in which His Body and Blood is being given to all of the humans upon earth.
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, and must not be continued, for you only add to your punishment when you continue on in the ways that have been found to be unpleasing to the Eternal Father." (Our Lady, June 30, 1984)
THE SAINTS
So much of the sense of the sacred has disappeared today, and so much of the heritage of Catholic teaching has been obscured and overlooked. We now look to the writings of several saints, which convey an admirably reverential attitude towards the sacraments, especially the holy Eucharist.
From the writings of St. Bonaventure’s The Breviloquium, chapter 11, #5, he writes concerning the reverence for the holy oils: "...a sacrament whose matter is holy—that is, consecrated oil—in order to avoid any risk, its dispensation is entrusted to priests in general. And because of the consecration of the oil, it should be touched by none except consecrated hands." (Note the great reverence for the sacraments in general expressed by St. Bonaventure.
The same reverence was naturally present during this time for the blessed Sacrament, the greatest of sacraments).
Another Franciscan saint, St. James of the March, writes: "He is no less guilty who hears the word of God carelessly than he who allows the body of Christ to fall on the ground through his own negligence." (Office of Reading, Franciscan Supplement, from the sermons of St. James). And of course we cannot forget to include one of the greatest minds the Church has ever known,
St. Thomas Aquinas:
"Secondly, because the priest is the appointed intermediary between God and the people, hence as it belongs to him to offer the people's gifts to God, so it belongs to him to deliver the consecrated gifts to the people.
Thirdly, because out of reverence towards this sacrament [the Blessed 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. Hence it is not lawful for anyone to touch it, except from necessity, for instance if it were to fall upon the ground, or else in some other case of urgency." (SummaTheologica, Volume III, Q. 82, Art. 13).
PROTESTANT INFLUENCES
This misguided enthusiasm for the revival of Communion in the hand has been shared in the past, but notably by those outside the Church. The Protestant revolutionary Martin Bucer was, after Martin Luther and Melanchthon, the most influential of German Reformers. Detesting the reverent and traditional Catholic practice of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue, Bucer had this to say:
"Every superstition of the Roman Antichrist is to be detested... I have no doubt that this usage of not putting these sacraments in the hands of the faithful has been introduced out of a double superstition; firstly, the false honor they wished to show this sacrament, and secondly the wicked arrogance of priests claiming greater holiness than that of the people of Christ, by virtue of the oil of consecration.
I should wish that pastors and teachers of the people should be commanded that each is faithfully to teach the people that it is superstitious and wicked to think...that the hands of the ministers are holier than the hands of the laity; so that it would be wicked, or less fitting, as was formerly wrongly believed by the ordinary folk, for the laity to receive these sacraments in the hand:
and therefore that the indications of this wicked belief be removed-as that the ministers may handle the sacraments, but not allow the laity to do so, and instead put the sacraments into the mouth—which is not only foreign to what was instituted by the Lord but offensive to human reason. In that way good men will be easily brought to the point of all receiving the sacred symbols in the hand..."
SACRILEGE - LOSS OF FAITH
Pope Paul VI in Mysterium Fidei quotes Origen with approval who says that if anyone dropped a Sacred Particle of the Host on the ground (through negligence) then that person would be guilty of sin: “In fact the faithful thought themselves guilty, and rightly so, as Origen recalls, if after they received the Body of the Lord in order to preserve it with all care and reverence, a small fragment of it fell off through negligence.” (Mysterium Fidei, Pope Paul VI, taken from "In Exod. Fragm." P.G. 12, 391.)
At any given Mass there will be at least a few, if not many, who will drop the sacred Particles to the ground, thereby committing sacrilege and irreverence, though it may be only through negligence and thoughtlessness. The priest, however, is responsible to make sure that no irreverence is committed and is bound to take all necessary precautions to safeguard the honor and respect due Our Lord in the blessed Sacrament.
The late Fr. Alfred Kunz, a canon lawyer, had some very powerful statements regarding Communion in the hand: he maintained that by pastoral experience (his pastoral experience) he was morally certain that there would be loss of particles by placing Communion in the hands at any given Mass. This loss of particles is an act of irreverence by the priest and he is bound not to do anything that would violate his conscience.
This irreverence to God by losing particles is against the Divine Positive Law and therefore, regardless of its canonical status, cannot be done. And this is due to that fact that to drop a consecrated fragment of the Host to the ground is the same as dropping the consecrated Host to the ground. Even if done through negligence it is still a sin of sacrilege. The danger of irreverence is to be avoided by Divine Law. Not even the Pope can change this law.
The Vatican document
[“En reponse a la demande,” 29 May 1969: AAS 61 (1969) 546-47 (French)] outlining the seven conditions "sine qua non", without which you cannot, is merely reminding us of this Divine Law. It is the personal responsibility of the minister of the Sacrament to see to it that all danger of irreverence towards the Blessed Sacrament be avoided. And for this reason there are priests who have decided in conscience that they cannot give Communion in the hand, because they are convinced that the danger of irreverence, sacrilege and loss of true faith is too great.
Dietrich von Hildebrand (who Pope Pius XII called a “20th century doctor of the Church”), in an article entitled "Communion in the hand should be rejected," wrote the following: "Is it believable that instead of applying the most scrupulous care to protect the most sacred consecrated host, which is truly the Body of Christ, the God-man, from all such possible abuses, there are those who wish to expose it to this possibility? Have we forgotten the existence of the devil who wanders about seeking whom he may devour'? Is his work in the world and in the Church not all too visible today? What entitles us to assume that abuses to the consecrated host will not take place?"
Confirming his concerns is Mike Warnke, a former satanic high priest who converted to Christianity, who warned the U.S. bishops that allowing Communion in the hand was a mistake, as it would allow satanists easier access in procuring the sacred host, which is desecrated at satanic services. The Holy Father is well aware of the danger of the loss of sacred Particles and this is certainly part of his reasoning in not giving Communion in the hand at his private Masses at the Vatican.
The bishops of the Philippines have reportedly rescinded this practice, and now only permit Communion on the tongue. Likewise, the Archbishop of San Luis, Argentina, his Excellency Juan Rodolfo Laise, has prohibited Communion in the hand in his diocese.
Catastrophic loss of faith
Another evil fruit of Communion in the hand has been a catastrophic loss of faith in the Real Presence. A Gallop poll several years ago among Catholics showed that only 30% held the true Catholic teaching concerning the Eucharist. The other 70% represented various shades of Protestant belief, or no belief at all.
As a matter of fact, there are catechists who can attest that some of today’s Catholic youth did not believe the Host to be the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ until after they began receiving on the tongue. The new practice did not convey to them the great truth of the Real Presence. Again, Fr. John Hardon has affirmed this:
“Behind Communion in the hand—I wish to repeat and make as plain as I can—is a weakening, a conscious, deliberate weakening of faith in the Real Presence.”
GOD’S LAW
There are those who will object that confronting this widespread abuse of Communion in the hand is disloyal to the Church. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is not disloyal to say that in practice the majority of Catholics are in disobedience to the existing law of the Church regarding reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament and the prevention of potential sacrilege. It is the law of the Latin Rite that we receive in the traditional manner, i.e., Communion on the tongue.
Communion in the hand is the exception, that cannot be done if
(1) there is potential loss of particles;
(2) it is instituted in exclusion of the traditional manner of reception; or
(3) there is the danger of scandal and loss of true faith in the Blessed Sacrament as a result.
So it is disingenuous to complain that such a discussion is disloyal. This article is meant to foster thoughtful, prayerful reflection, and to illustrate the contradiction between Church law and common practice. The dangers that arise with Communion in the hand are real, serious, and avoidable. What is it called when sacred Particles of the Host fall to the ground or are lost through negligence? It is called a sacrilege.
Freedom not grounded in truth is a loose canon. Likewise, when words are no longer measured by the truth of reality, they become instruments of deception. The faithful have been deluded by propaganda regarding Communion in the hand, and the appeal to “obedience” (an “obedience” that is really divorced from the law of the Church) has been used to railroad the faithful into accepting the modernist agenda in many instances.
For example, the fact that Communion in the hand cannot be allowed if there is loss of Particles is certainly not known by the majority of Catholics, but this in fact is the true obedience required: that the higher law against irreverence and sacrilege be maintained and promoted. This has frequently not been done.
If you do not have an understanding that there is a hierarchy to law (that some laws exist to promote and support higher, unchangeable laws of God), you will have priests and laity alike telling you that Communion in the hand is permitted and that’s the end of the story. But this is naïve and intellectually dishonest, because within the indult itself there are provisions to protect from sacrilege, scandal and loss of faith, which represents the higher law. If any of these provisions are broken, you do not have permission to give Communion in the hand.
This is the truth, and if anyone will not submit to these provisions, it is they who are disobedient. The indult must serve to promote the higher law and if it does not, or a particular spin is put on the indult that makes it in practice opposing the higher law, then it is no longer a law, but a usurpation of a higher law. The indult for Communion in the hand is an ecclesiastical law that can be revoked, and was revoked in the past when it was determined to be failing to promote the higher law of reverence.
Any true and correct interpretation of the indult must conform to and promote this higher law. Natural law will never change (reverence belongs to this category); ecclesiastical law can change, and the indult for Communion in the hand belongs to this category. A soul-searching question for many priests would be: If it was objectively determined that there was loss of sacred Particles, scandal, or loss of faith, what would the priest be obliged to do?
Our Lady of the Roses words concerning the Communion in the hand issue displays a perfect and profound grasp of the mind of the Church and the pre-eminence of natural law over ecclesiastical law. Her words display an affirmation of the hierarchy of law and the necessity of the clergy to submit to the immutable law of God. She displays a complete absence of human respect, but an unqualified respect for the divine.
All this we would expect from a message attributed to Our Lady, the Immaculate. But we must do our share and proclaim the message of Our Lady boldly and fearlessly. As our Holy Father John Paul II has said: “What is needed is the courage to speak the truth clearly, candidly, and boldly, but never with hatred or disrespect for persons. We must be firmly convinced that the truth sets people free (John 8:32).”
We must save Our Lord’s Sacred Heart from abuse and defilement from those who do not truly believe the consecrated Host to be the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ. Encourage your family, friends and relatives to work to stop Communion in the hand.
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