• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

Communion in the hand?

Jeff Ostrowski · August 11, 2013

518 Holy Communion AVE YOU EVER heard somebody rail against receiving Communion in the hand in a very disagreeable way? I’m talking about when somebody uses an unpleasant manner of speech, not realizing that many good Catholics who love God are just doing what they have been taught.

I hope my article below does not come across in such a way. When speaking about “Communion in the hand” we should always be pastoral and sensitive.


DURING TODAY’S HOMILY our pastor described the proper way to receive Holy Communion. He said Catholics are allowed to receive on the tongue or in the hand. However, he mentioned recent legislation from the Vatican which says anyone receiving in the hand must place the Sanctissimum into his mouth in front of the priest or minister.

Full disclosure: I haven’t received Communion in the hand since the early 1990s. At the traditional Mass, all receive on the tongue, from an ordained minister. Nobody is allowed to touch the Sanctissimum except for ordained ministers. This is a wonderful tradition that came about over a period of centuries. It is beautiful and really helps everyone understand how sacred and special the Holy Eucharist is. We ought to have kept this tradition, but after the Second Vatican Council, permission was given for lay people to touch the Sanctissimum under certain circumstances.

I don’t really worry too much about those who receive Communion in the hand. They are free to do so under current Church law, although the way Cardinal Bernardin forced this upon the Church in America is disturbing. To learn more, Google the following terms: “Bernardin” + “Communion in the hand.”

DURING HIS HOMILY, I began asking myself: “Why would anybody receive Holy Communion in the hand?” For one thing, since the Sanctissimum must be placed in the mouth in front of the minister, why add the extra step? For another thing, our hands are so dirty. (Remember, my wife and I have two small children. Trust me: hands are normally dirty.) St. Thomas Aquinas was explaining some reasons for priests washing their hands at Mass. One reason given by the Angelic Doctor follows:

“We are not accustomed to handling precious objects unless the hands be washed; hence it seems indecent for anyone to approach so great a Sacrament with hands that are, even literally, unclean.”

I remember a very smart priest talking about the post-Conciliar “movement” in Germany for hand-Communion. One advocate made up a pamphlet with all the quotes from history “proving” the Sanctissimum was sometimes received in the hand by the early Church. It even had nice color pictures. This priest approached the author and said, “Your pamphlet is very nice, but you forgot something crucial. You forgot to include all the reasons this practice was abandoned, as the Church developed over the centuries.”

ONE OF OUR MOST POPULAR blog entries ever (shared more than 6,000 times) was the one about kneeling for Communion. Until late 2011, priests were supposed to “catechize” Catholics who knelt for Communion. However, as of 2011, this has been changed. Catholics in the USA are now free to kneel. A very kind gentleman sent me all kinds of documentation, proving that even before 2011, Catholics could kneel for Communion. I was planning on posting all of it, but I just realized doing so would be superfluous in light of this.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

[Speaking of those who wish to eliminate Latin from the liturgy.] “One may well wonder what the origin is of this new way of thinking and this sudden dislike for the past; one may well wonder why these things have been fostered.”

— Pope Saint Paul VI (15 August 1966)

Recent Posts

  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”
  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • The Tallis Scholars
  • Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
  • Pope Saint Paul VI to Consilium (14 October 1968)

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up