Posted on 04/13/2011 4:56:32 PM PDT by verdugo
Book Review of: Communion in the Hand - Documents and History, by Bishop Juan Rodolfo Laise, bishop-emeritus of San Luis, Argentina
Preserving Christian Publications (2011) ISBN-10: 0980208459
A book just published in English by Bishop Juan Rodolfo Laise, bishop-emeritus of San Luis, Argentina
Quoting official Vatican documents, Bishop Laise shows that no legal permission exists in the Novus Ordo for the practice of Communion in the hand. Based upon this evidence, he forbid this abuse in his own diocese of San Luis, Argentina during his episcopal tenure from 1971-2001, and subsequently wrote a book on the subject to encourage other bishops to examine this important matter more carefully.
From the books Introduction:
From the outset, priests and faithful under my pastoral care asked me not to introduce this practice in the diocese of San Luis. I called a priests meeting for August 8, at which I presented Romes decree and the instruction Memoriale Domini.
They unanimously agreed that, for the good of the faithful, Communion on the tongue should be maintained....
The result of this meeting was a diocesan decree in which I reiterated the request of the pope and strictly abided by the law in force maintaining the prohibition of Communion in the hand.
Nevertheless, a question remained: Since Memoriale Domini was the only legislation in force, how was it that everyone adopted the practice of Communion in the hand as if it were merely an option proposed, and even recommended, by the Church?
Seeking an answer to this question and to defend my decisionwhich was very controversial with some ecclesiastical sectors that spoke out in the mediaI encouraged a deeper investigation of the history of this usage. And the results of this investigation are found in this work.
From the Conclusions:
All that has been elaborated on until now permits us to realize that the history of the reintroduction of communion in the hand is nothing other than the triumph of an act of disobedience. The consideration of the details of this history makes evident to us the gravity of this disobedience: in fact, it is very serious above all because of the very matter which it concerns; very serious because it implies the open resistance to a clear, explicit and solidly founded directive of the pope; most serious by its universal extension; most serious because those who did not obey were not only the faithful or priests, but in many cases bishops and entire episcopal conferences; most serious, because not only did they remain unpunished but they obtained a resounding success; most serious, in short, because it has succeeded in having the state of disobedience remain hidden, making it such that one might believe, on the contrary, that they were adopting a proposal that came from Rome.
From EWTN: A NETWORK GONE WRONG
Page 58
Fifth, the venerable and ancient practice of receiving Communion on the tongue from the hand of the priest
while kneeling, which is still the law of the Church,71 emphasizes the Divine Presence in the Blessed
Sacrament, protects the Sacrament from profanation and sacrilege, or even the appearance thereof, and makes
clear the radical distinction between the priesthood and the laity. As Pope Leo XIII observed in declaring Anglican priestly orders absolutely invalid, the Protestant rebels of the sixteenth century understood as well as anyone the Catholic maxim lex orandi, lex credendi. Loosely translated, the maxim means that the law of prayer is the law of belief. That is, the way of worship reflects what one believes, so that if one prays in a certain way, over time he will come to believe as he prays. Hence, he who prays in the manner of heretics will himself become a heretic. That is precisely why the Protestant
71 Most Catholics do not realize that Communion in the hand is actually a tolerated exception to Church law, but only if very precise and strict conditions are met. One has yet to see where those conditions have ever been met in any diocese.
The decree Memoriale Domini, issued by Pope Paul VI’s Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship on May 28, 1969, decreed that the ancient law of the Church requiring Communion on the tongue must remain in force: “Therefore, taking into account the remarks and the advice of those whom ‘the Holy Spirit has placed to rule over’ the Churches, in view of the gravity of the matter and the force of the arguments put forward, the Holy Father has decided not to change the existing way of administering Holy Communion to the faithful. The Apostolic See therefore emphatically urges bishops, priests and laity to obey carefully the law which is still valid and which has again been confirmed.”
Memoriale Domini had been issued precisely to address widespread disobedience to this law of the Church. Cardinal Suenens and other European prelates, aping Bucer and the other Protestant heresiarchs, had instituted the Protestant practice of Communion in the hand in open defiance of Church law, and then dared the Vatican to do something about it. But while Memoriale Domini upheld the law mandating Communion on the tongue, the same document fatally compromised with Suenens and the other liturgical rebels in Europe by agreeing that in any region where the abuse of Communion in the hand had already been established the document uses the phrase “has already developed” a two thirds majority of the episcopal conference could petition the Holy See to ratify its disobedience and thus make it legal! This the European rebels promptly did. North America soon followed, even though the abuse had not already developed” before Memoriale Domini.
Did Jesus serve the Last Supper by placing it on the tongues of the disciples? Nope, he broke the bread and passed it around.
Are you suggesting that Jesus did it wrong? I guess he didn’t read the papal decrees.
Are you Catholic?
Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the mass at the last supper described in scripture. The apostles were equivalent to popes & bishops today, they were not just “anybodies”.
No, I’m not Catholic.
Now you answer my question: did Jesus put the Last Supper bread on the tongues of the disciples in accordance with the Papal decree you referenced?
Who takes precedence: Jesus or the Pope? As for me, I will follow Jesus, not man-made rules.
Since you are a Protestant, you do not have the Real Presence, you are only eating bread, so you can do whatever you like.
This tread is intended for Catholics.
I don’t follow men’s rules either. I follow the triune God Who guides His Catholic Church through the power of the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised, using men as His instruments, and not the cacophony of 30,000 non-Catholic churches all disagreeing over how to follow Scripture.
Well, I agree with you that a good Christian should follow Jesus. That said, Jesus said that the bread and wine were truly his body and blood. So if you want to find Jesus you can find Him in every tabernacle of every Catholic church all over the world. 10,000 turned and walked away after Jesus spoke of eating His body and drinking His blood and yet he did not offer a speech on the symbolism of His words even to the Apostles. So yes, I believe Jesus and I find Him where He said He would be.
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