Clarity
from the East
"Archbishop Jan Pawel Lenga M.I.C., from Karaganda, Kazakhstan, who was persecuted for his faith during the years of soviet communism, recalled the days when the Eucharist was forced to be celebrated in secret by the faithful. He called to mind its sacredness and discussed ways to highlight this fact.
He said that, 'Among the liturgical innovations produced in the Western world, two in particular tend to cloud the visible aspect of the Eucharist, especially as regards its centrality and sacredness: the removal of the tabernacle from the center and the distribution of communion in the hand.'
'Communion in the hand', he said, 'is spreading and even prevailing as being easier, as a kind of fashion. ... Therefore, I humbly propose the following practical propositions: that the Holy See issue a universal regulation establishing the official way of receiving communion as being in the mouth and kneeling; with communion in the hand to be reserved for the clergy alone.'
He likewise asked that 'bishops in places where communion in the hand has been introduced work with pastoral prudence to bring the faithful slowly back to the official rite of communion, valid for all local Churches."
Has the Australian Archbishop not heard of spiritual Communion- and an unfortunate outcome of misinterpetations of Pope St Pius X's teaching sanctification through frequent Communion (which is substituted in modern times by the idea that the act of Communion is essential to participation).
"Archbishop Jan Pawel Lenga M.I.C., from Karaganda, Kazakhstan, who was persecuted for his faith during the years of soviet communism, recalled the days when the Eucharist was forced to be celebrated in secret by the faithful. He called to mind its sacredness and discussed ways to highlight this fact.
He said that, 'Among the liturgical innovations produced in the Western world, two in particular tend to cloud the visible aspect of the Eucharist, especially as regards its centrality and sacredness: the removal of the tabernacle from the center and the distribution of communion in the hand.'
'Communion in the hand', he said, 'is spreading and even prevailing as being easier, as a kind of fashion. ... Therefore, I humbly propose the following practical propositions: that the Holy See issue a universal regulation establishing the official way of receiving communion as being in the mouth and kneeling; with communion in the hand to be reserved for the clergy alone.'
He likewise asked that 'bishops in places where communion in the hand has been introduced work with pastoral prudence to bring the faithful slowly back to the official rite of communion, valid for all local Churches."
Has the Australian Archbishop not heard of spiritual Communion- and an unfortunate outcome of misinterpetations of Pope St Pius X's teaching sanctification through frequent Communion (which is substituted in modern times by the idea that the act of Communion is essential to participation).
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