Vicki Yamasaki, Founder, Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace, CUP@corpuschristiforunityandpeace.org
Communion in the Hand – The Root Cause to Disbelief
The largest survey ever conducted among Catholic laity in the U.S. reveals that the primary reason for a loss of belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist is receiving Communion in the hand while standing. This survey, which included nearly 16,000 Catholics, far surpasses the 2019 Pew Research Study that surveyed approximately 1,200 Catholics and served as the basis for the USCCB’s Eucharistic Revival. The Real Presence Coalition deserves a lot of credit for conducting this survey during July 2024. According to the prestigious polling firm they hired, Public Opinion Strategies, the survey demographics possess broad representation across age, gender and dioceses and the survey results reliably represent opinions of engaged U.S. Catholics.
When asked for their recommendations, U.S. laity in the survey findings overwhelmingly suggest the practice of receiving the Eucharist on the tongue while kneeling.
Since we know that Jesus is truly present in both physical and spiritual form in the Eucharist, and we take Him into our bodies, then it follows that we should treat the reception of Holy Communion with the utmost reverence.
Is it a Surprise That Satanists and Politicians Hate the Eucharist
Just this past week we see Governor Gretchen Witmer of Michigan blatantly mock Holy Communion when she places a Dorito chip on the tongue of a kneeling social influencer in a Tik-Tok video while wearing a Harris and Walz baseball cap. Thankfully the Michigan Catholic bishops issued a statement indicating they were profoundly disappointed and offended by her sacrilegous act profaning our Lord.
Click here to watch video
And with the Satanic black masses on the rise, we know that Satanists attempt to steal the Eucharist so that during their black mass they can ‘reoffer’ it to Satan. We know of two black masses being offered this month on October 20th in Coney Island and on October 25th in Atlanta. Satanists are able to obtain the Eucharist because people are receiving the Eucharist in the hand.
Why Choose to Receive Communion on the Tongue?
One of the most compelling reasons for Catholics to receive Communion on the tongue is the profound sense of reverence it embodies. By receiving the Eucharist directly on the tongue while kneeling, the faithful express deep respect and humility for the true presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. This practice emphasizes the sacredness of the Eucharist and helps foster a sense of awe and worship.
It’s also seen to minimize the risk of the consecrated Host being dropped, mishandled, or particles left on the ground. This physical gesture of humility and reverence aligns with the longstanding traditions of the Church, echoing the sacredness with which the Eucharist has been received throughout history.
There has been scientific evidence indicating that particles of the consecrated Host can be left on the ground after Communion, especially when received in the hand. Studies have shown that a significant number of fragments can remain on the floor after the distribution of Communion. For instance, one study found that handling unconsecrated hosts resulted in at least one visible fragment in 70 out of 100 cases, with an average number of particles being 1.18.This evidence supports the practice of receiving Communion on the tongue while kneeling, as it helps to minimize the risk of dropping or mishandling the consecrated Host, ensuring that it is treated with the utmost reverence and respect.
The movie “Exorcism of Emily Rose,” based on a true real-life case of Anneliese Michel, a young German woman who underwent 67 exorcism rites before her death in 1976. In the story it included an exorcist forcing demons to reveal how receiving Communion in the hand was detrimental to Catholics. The demon Judas claimed responsibility for introducing this practice.
Receiving Communion in the Hand: An Indult in the 1970s
Catholics today might be surprised to learn that Communion in the hand is a recent development. It was first introduced in Belgium by Cardinal Suenens in defiance of the Holy See’s guidelines. Instead of publicly rebuking a fellow bishop, Pope Paul VI decided to lift the ban on Communion in the hand, leaving the decision to individual bishops. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, then president of the U.S. National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), made two unsuccessful attempts to introduce Communion in the hand in 1975 and 1976. In the spring of 1977, the vote among bishops once again fell short of the required two-thirds majority. Nevertheless, bishops were polled by mail after the conference, and the necessary votes were secured to pass the measure. Several canon lawyers have stated that this procedure was illegal. An interview with Bishop Blanchette in the National Catholic Register confirmed that Communion in the hand was unlawfully introduced into the United States. Fr. John Hardon also affirmed that retired and dying bishops were polled to ensure the measure’s passage.
Unfortunately, after the indult, receiving communion in the hand became commonplace. One could strongly argue that we could track the descent in belief in the real presence in the Eucharist to this landmark decision. This move to communion in the hand is a Protestant transition. We just have to look to the Protestant Reformation during Martin Luther’s time where he insisted that communion be given in the hand to understand how diabolical it really is.
The Consecrated Host … Untouchable by the Unconsecrated
In 2009, the Office for Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff issued the document “Communion Received on the Tongue and While Kneeling,” citing St. Thomas Aquinas. He stated, “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. Hence, it is not lawful for anyone else to touch it except from necessity, for instance, if it were to fall upon the ground, or else in some other case of urgency” (Summa Theologiae, III, 82, 3).
Looking back to the Old Testament, the Ark itself was only permitted to be touched by consecrated hands. The Ark was so sacred that only certain Levites, the priests of the time, could touch it. This was emphasized when Uzzah, a layman transporting the Ark at King David’s request, was struck dead by God for touching it (2 Samuel 6:1-7 and 1 Chronicles 13:9-12).
To understand the wise words of St. Thomas Aquinas and those offered in the Old Testament, we simply need to look at current practice. A priest is only permitted to touch the Monstrance with the Eucharistic Lord contained within it. German Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand, admired by many popes, said, “It is not difficult to see that the danger of parts of the consecrated Host falling to the ground is incomparably increased, and the danger of desecrating it or indeed of horrible blasphemy is very great. And what in the world is to be gained by all this? The claim that contact with the hand makes the host more real is certainly pure nonsense.”
Magisterium Reiterates Support for Communion on the Tongue
The Congregation of Divine Worship has issued multiple sources of authoritative guidance supporting the reception of communion on the tongue. Redemptionis Sacramentum, a binding document, states, “Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should wish to receive the sacrament in the hand … the Sacred Host is to be administered to him or her.” In 1999, the Congregation of Divine Worship’s official publication, Notitiae, stated, “Therefore, those who restrict communicants to receive Holy Communion only on the hands are acting against the norms.” Clearly, the CDW indicates that receiving communion in the hand should not be the norm but the exception.
It was all too painful when churches closed during the pandemic, and bishops and priests refused to grant the faithful communion on the tongue. I experienced this violation multiple times and, despite fighting mightily, had no success in moving clerics from their positions. Interestingly, during the H1N1 swine pandemic, the CDW issued a letter on July 24, 2009, authoritatively stating, “Each of the faithful always has the right to receive communion on the tongue”—nor is it licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ’s faithful who are not impeded by law.
Witnesses of Popes, Saints and Angels
Pope St. Sixtus I (115-125): “it is prohibited for the faithful to even touch the sacred vessels, or receive in the hand”
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)
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)
In 1969, Pope Paul in Memoriale Domini admonishes Catholics for receiving communion in the hand and that receiving communion on the tongue must be observed.
Pope Benedict XVI stopped giving communion in the hand in 2008 and in 2009 the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff issued “Communion received on the tongue and while kneeling” that draws on our Church fathers (St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine for strong reasons why we should receive communion on the tongue and kneel while doing so. The document states:
“From the time of the Fathers of the Church, a tendency was born and consolidated whereby distribution of Holy Communion in the hand became more and more restricted in favor of distributing Holy Communion on the tongue. The motivation for this practice is two-fold: a) first, to avoid, as much as possible, the dropping of Eucharistic particles; b) second, to increase among the faithful devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.”
Before his departure as Prefect of the CDW, Cardinal Sarah, urged the faithful to receive communion on the tongue.
Fr. John Hardon spoke out against the practice of receiving communion in the hand. On November 1, 1997 at the Call to Holiness Conference in Detroit, Michigan, there was a panel discussion in which Fr. John Hardon was one of the speakers who fielded various questions from the audience. One of the questions was about Communion in the hand. After explaining how the practice was illegally introduced into the United States, he concluded by saying, “Whatever you can do to stop Communion in the hand will be blessed by God.”
Our Mission
We have a clear mission here. Perhaps it is time to:
- Begin receiving communion on the tongue while kneeling
- Join a parish council with other like-minded faithful. Initiate a fundraiser for Communion rails/kneelers.
- Join a Bible study and ask to facilitate one of the meetings. Present much of the information in this blog.
It’s a wake-up call when nearly 16,000 lay Catholics report in a survey that the primary cause of disbelief is receiving Communion in the hand. This is the largest Catholic survey ever conducted in U.S. history. For context, the Pew Research Study in 2019, which the USCCB used to base their Eucharistic Revival, only surveyed around 1,100 Catholics. It’s time we listen and take action. Will you join us?