Petition for the Holy Eucharist on the Tongue (alone)

Being raised post-Vatican II, it would seem to me that when it came to the reception of the Eucharist, reception in the hand was the norm (however, it is not, the norm of the Church is upon the tongue). I remember in my youth a few people receiving upon their tongue, but for the most part our Lord was received in hand.

Anyone who has read this blog over the years knows that I am a Catholic revert. I journeyed far from the Church and it wasn't until I was about 23/4 that I returned. After returning, I spent a good deal of time learning my faith, but it wasn't until my late 20s that I discovered the Latin Mass. As I began to learn about the TLM, I began to have a greater appreciation for the Eucharist and reception on the tongue. I began to read more and more literature regarding the sacredness of even the smallest particle of the Eucharist and how it is truly Christ.

Coming to the realization that Christ is contained in smallest portion of the Eucharist, I began to ponder about the particles of the Host left behind on the hand, and about Eucharist theft and sacrilege, but the concept still was not understood in its totality until the one day I received the Most Holy Eucharist and stared into my palm after consuming it. As I gazed into my palm, there were small particles of the Host left in my hand. I immediately panicked and licked my hand. It was from that point on that decided that I would receive on the tongue alone, and made sure to learn the Church's position on the matter so that I could never be denied the Eucharist.

Over the years, I have witnessed persons try to steal the Most Holy Sacrament by walking out with it in the hands. I have been told by priests how persons had left our Lord in the pews. I have either been witness or privy to horrific abuses, so when I became aware of a petition started to ask the Holy Father to re-institute Communion on the tongue as the only means to receive, I promptly signed and it is my hope that those who read this post will do so as well.

I am sure that there will be more than a few who will say that reception in the hand pre-dated reception on the tongue, and to that I must say you are absolutely correct; however, it is important to note that the means by which reception in the hand was done was completely different from the way that it is today. In fact, in the early Church hands were required to be clean, the Eucharist was placed only in the palm of the right hand, and the hand had to be purified in water following reception so that any sacred particles would not be defiled or scattered about. Further, the change from reception in hand to mouth was done to prevent the loss and defilement of the Sacred Host, including theft and desecration by the trampling upon of the particle of the Host.

I would recommend to anyone who has questions about the history of Eucharist reception read Dominus Est, by The Most Reverend Athanasius Schneider.

I would also like to bring to the attention of the reader the origin of this petition. It can be found at: http://communiononthetongue.blogspot.com/ and the blog where I first made aware of this effort: http://ccfather.blogspot.com/2012/01/petition-to-restore-communion-on-tongue.html.

To sign the petition, you can visit http://communiononthetongue.blogspot.com/ or the
petition page: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/petition-to-the-holy-father/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend

[Excerpt from Countercultural Father]

Dear friends,
Two Australian priests in the Victorian diocese of Sale have started a worldwide petition to the Holy Father, for going back to the older practice of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue.
Both of these priests, Fr Speekman & Fr Wise are priests in good standing, and accept the current discipline of the Church.  Thus they would never refuse to give communion on the hands, to anyone who comes to them.  It is because of their pastoral ministries, that they are well aware of the terrible abuses and sacrileges that have crept in to the Church because of this practice, and are requesting the older discipline.
Communion on the hand has been allowed by many countries in the world, with the permission of the Holy See.  (In Australia it started on Pentecost Sunday 1976, for instance).  The Church says that if one chooses to receive Holy Communion in this manner to receive Our Lord in an reverent manner following the exhortation of St Cyril of Jerusalem, "When you approach, do not extend your hands with palms upwards and fingers apart, but make your left hand a throne for your right hand to receive the King of Kings.

The problem has been that these days, this is the exception rather than the rule, and fragments of hosts (occasionally even the whole ones) turn up in other places, instead of being consumed.  In addition to this, surveys have been done throughout the world which indicate that most Catholics have more of a Protestant conception of the Eucharist (in that they see this just as a symbol) instead of its reality as the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of Jesus Christ.   Poor catecheses in both classes and homilies is very much responsible for this, but it has been reinforced by cavalier attitudes towards the Holy Eucharist.

(To read the full text please visit the blog: http://ccfather.blogspot.com/2012/01/petition-to-restore-communion-on-tongue.html)

It is my sincere hope that all who read this will be moved to receive on the tongue, even if they do not sign the petition.

God bless you all.