Posted on 02/25/2008 5:48:28 AM PST by NYer
Rome - The Vatican is poised to introduce stricter norms on Roman Catholic mass, including halting the taking of communion in the hand and setting a time limit for homilies, an Italian newspaper reported Monday. Turin-based daily La Stampa quoted senior Vatican official, Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don saying the move was necessary to eliminate "extravagancies" that have crept into Mass celebrations.
Provisions include restricting to 10 minutes homilies and sermons and ensuring that they be exclusively based on the Gospel readings, said Ranjith who is Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
The practice of allowing the faithful to receive Communion - the bread host which Catholics believe represents the body of Christ - in their hands would also be "urgently reviewed", Ranjith was quoted as saying.
The Vatican wants the host "placed directly into the mouths of the faithful so they don't touch it (with their hands)... because many don't even realize they are receiving Christ and do this with scant concentration and respect," Ranjith said.
The distribution of communion on the hands of those attending mass has been widespread since the so-called Vatican II Council - a series of reforms introduced in the 1960s aimed at making church celebrations more accessible to the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.
But according to Ranjith the practice was "illegally and hastily introduced by certain elements of the Church immediately after the Council".
"Some people keep hosts with them as a sort of souvenir, others sell them while in some cases the hosts have been taken away to be used in blasphemous Satanic rituals," he said.
Ranjith said the measures to bring back "dignity and decorum" to mass celebrations were in line with Pope Benedict XVI's wishes, but he did not specify when they would be introduced, nor if they would be issues as an order or a set of guidelines.
Benedict, who earned a reputation as a conservative before being elected pontiff in 2005, last year eased restrictions introduced by Vatican II on the celebration of the traditional Latin mass.
The move which has included softening a prayer for the conversion of Jews contained in the Latin liturgical text, has drawn criticism from Jewish groups who resent what they say remains a singling out of members of their faith.
Meanwhile hard-line traditionalist Catholics have expressed anger over what they say is Benedict's tampering of the original Latin mass which they regard as sacred.
What an odd thing to say.
Actually, it's interesting too that your argument was actually addressed by Archbishop Ranjith recently.
From Ranjith on Kneeling for Communion during the liturgy and Communion on the Tongue
At the same time, speaking of communion in the hand, it must be recognized that the practice was improperly and quickly introduced in some quarters of the Church shortly after the Council, changing the age-old practice and becoming regular practice for the whole Church. They justified the change saying that it better reflected the Gospel or the ancient practice of the Church... Some, to justify this practice referred to the words of Jesus: "Take and eat" (Mk 14, 22; Mt 26, 26).
Whatever the reasons for this practice, we cannot ignore what is happening worldwide where this practice has been implemented. This gesture has contributed to a gradual weakening of the attitude of reverence towards the sacred Eucharistic species whereas the previous practice had better safeguarded that sense of reverence. There instead arose an alarming lack of recollection and a general spirit of carelessness. We see communicants who often return to their seats as if nothing extraordinary has happened... In many cases, one cannot discern that sense of seriousness and inner silence that must signal the presence of God in the soul.
Then there are those who take away the sacred species to keep them as souvenirs, those who sell, or worse yet, who take them away to desecrate it in Satanic rituals. Even in large concelebrations, also in Rome, several times the sacred species has been found thrown onto the ground.
bump!
When your mom gave you a spoonful of cough syrup she said: "Quit fussing and take your medicine!" even though you never touched the sppon.
"Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks from the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the Body and Blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread or drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats or drinks without recognizing the Body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement upon himself." 1 Corinthians 11:27-29
If you are a non-Catholic, shame on you for your offensive disrespect for people who love and trust the Lord.
I always thought that the fact that everyone except me receives communion at every Catholic mass I go to (and I go every week) meant that you Catholics had the whole sin thing whipped.
Gee whiz...
Sigh. Her education may be excellent in other respects, but her formation as a Catholic is gravely deficient. She is not a "eucharistic minister". Only a priest is a minister of the eucharist. Your daughter is an "Extraordinary" (wink, wink) minister of Holy Communion. Her function has nothing whatever to do with the eucharistic, sacrificial core of the Mass, only with the functionary aspect of distributing the Blessed Sacrament. And you'll forgive my saying so, but she shouldn't be. She is being used by those who should know better, to disobey direct instructions from the Vatican about the rare occasions (never routine) when EMHCs are permissible. She is being used by "meal people" who assert the Blessed Sacrament is more about us and our fellowship than about the true, substantial presence of Christ. She is being used by those who certainly know better, to blur the unique priestly character, representing the Personhood of Christ as Divine Bridegroom and therefore inescapably Male. I don't mean to insult your daughter or give offense, but sacramentally speaking your daughter has been coaxed into transexualism.
The "school play" mentality of post Vatican II liturgy in which everyone is supposed to be made to feel important by being given little jobs to do lest anyone's feelings be hurt -- this has been one of the MOST damaging and destructive effects of the post Council rupture with tradition.
I go to Spain a lot, and many people go to Communion (at the Cathedral in Madrid, for example) - and it’s distributed ONLY by the priests. I doubt that it takes much longer; and in any case, what’s the big hurry?
The Eucharettes may appear elsewhere from time to time, but they are basically an American practice, or at least the extent of their use.
Good way of putting it!
You love and trust a CRACKER!
Yes. One of the fruits of Vatican II is that Catholics are FAR less sinful then we used to be in those medeival preconciliar days. I submit as evidence the virtually nonexistent lines at the confessional...
In our church, no one knows where it is...
you deride and malign the faith of others. who is more foolish?
NOT in my church.
We love and trust Jesus Christ.
We believe that He is truth itself and never lies.
We believe that when he said of the Eucharist "This is my body", He was not lying.
Your lack of faith in Christ's words is sad, and unsurprising.
Please provide a link or some other type of proof or stop spreading malisious lies. This is such an urban legend. I saw a video of big foot, I saw a picture of a guy on top of the wtc as the plane was coming in...
On and on - use your haed man and discern real from not.
Yes we have!
We didn't stopped sinning, though. We simply reclassified "sin". It is no longer a personal choice which involves turning one's back on God. It is now an exclusive attribute of unjust societal structures which oppress and marginalize the poor. We're also working on eliminating the sense of sin by attempting to eradicate nasty "guilt feelings".
I frequently sit out Communion when I haven't been able to get to Confession and I often get these "dude.....what is your problem", looks. It used to make me uncomfortable, once upon a time. Now I wear my forlorn and solitary presence in the pews as a badge of honor. I feel like I'm making a statement.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I went to Mass with a friend of mine from college in January, and he and another of his friends went up to Communion, and I sat it out. He asked me after Mass why I didn’t go up. I explained to him that I take a “better safe than sorry” approach to the Sacrament, and that I like to make sure I go to Confession beforehand. It might be a little scrupulous on my part, but again, why take the chance that you’re committing a sacrilege?
Why so callous?!?
If you do not share the Catholic faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, so be it. But I ask of you, in charity, to please refrain from posting goading and/or immature comments about the Blessed Sacrament which come off as virulent and stem from your own lack of faith in this matter.
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