My comment is at the end of this humorous post by Fr. Z on the conundrum of accidentally inserting the Host in someone's mouth who desires to receive our Lord and Savior on the hand:
From a reader:
I tend not to be legalistic but when visiting that church the priest pressed my hand quite rudely and hissed “We do not take it in the hand here”. I wonder if I should send him a note. God bless you.
Brief, but I think we get the idea.
I strongly doubt that the priest hissed. What is this, Harry Potter?
However, the choice of the word “hissed” underscores how sensitive people are to liturgical moments. Communion is… should be… a vulnerable moment.
I loathe Communion in the hand. On the first full day of my pontificate as Pius the Tenth the Second, or maybe Clement XV, or perhaps John XXIII… I will abolish it by means of a Bull, which I shall also read from the central loggia of St. John Lateran… with full social media coverage and live internet streaming.
Priests should not deny people Holy Communion in the hand if they are in a place where the bishop has given permission for Communion in the hand.
It can happen that, in the course of distribution, the altar boy may be holding the paten in such a way that the priest doesn’t see the hands, the surprised tongue pops out, BAM, on we go. That happened to me at least once this morning, but it was pretty clear that this was just a mechanical thing, and not Father-denied-Communion, etc.
However, from the better readings of Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae it seems that during celebrations of Holy Mass with the Extraordinary Form, communicants are not to receive in the hand, even where it is permitted. That said, I think that even in EF celebrations, priests should be very careful not to bruise the sensibilities of newcomers, who, by the time of Communion, probably think they are on another planet.
They are right. They are on another planet is some sense.
But let’s be careful and gentle with them.
And may we also review how PROPERLY to receive in the hand?
We do NOT receive one-handed.
We do NOT use pintcher fingers.
We do NOT cup hands next to each other.
We do NOT lick the Host up.
We do NOT swap the Host back and forth.
We do NOT rattle Jesus around in the hand before popping Him.
In the meantime… dear readers…
… please please please just STOP receiving Communion in the hand.
Please? You are making me sad.
MY COMMENTS NOW: At three of our Sunday Masses we offer the receiving the Most Precious Blood of our Lord through intinction with the option of receiving Holy Communion kneeling if one so desires at all of our Masses. We have made it abundantly clear that if one wishes to receive Holy Communion on the palm of the hand, then they should make that abundantly clear to the minister or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion prior to the Host being intincted. At the "intinction" Masses more people are now receiving from the chalice than ever before as so many refuse to go and place their mouth on the rim of a chalice to drink the Precious Blood and so by-pass the chalice altogether. But with intinction they are able to eat and drink the Most Precious Body and Blood of the Lord and without the fear of contagion by directly placing their mouth on the rim of a chalice that contains salivic bacteria on it, the bacteria being life threatening rather than life saving.
Those who wish to receive in the hand still do and some receive on the palm by kneeling.
At our weekly school Mass, we have taught the children to receive the intincted host by kneeling although we make clear that if a child chooses to stand they may do so and also receive on the palm by making that clear prior to the Host being intincted.
To say that this has slowed the children down and made their receiving of Holy Communion much more reverent and solemn is an understatement. I know that this experience will increase their reverence and awe for the Lord whom they receive under the sacramental signs of bread and wine.
I have been concerned for years at the manner in which our children casually and unthinkingly receive the host on the palm of their hand which is a moving target or try to snatch it or cup their hand and walk off with the host as they pop Jesus in their mouth no matter how often we catechized them to do so more deliberately and reverently. They are children after all and do not intentionally act irreverently, but that's exactly how it looks, but no more with intinction, reverence in its external form rules the liturgical day!
Kneeling and intinction are no-brainers.
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