Her First Communion
Blogged by James Preece on 3rd July 2009
I stumbled across this photo of a young girl recently receiving her first communion in Rome...
This photo makes me feel sad because when my little girls receive their first holy communion it won't look like this.
My preference is for receiving communion in this way, receiving on the tongue while kneeling. The Church allows people to receive on the hand while standing and if people want to do so, I have no objections. I simply think it is better to receive on the tongue while kneeling, it is a beautiful expression of what is going on, a clearer symbol and a more reverent gesture.
Officially, the Church has no objection to those who wish to receive kneeling, but in reality there is absolutely no way to do it. I you choose to receive kneeling then you are apparently "drawing attention to oneself rather than allowing all the attention and reverence be focused on the presence of our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist" but if you choose not to kneel then your action is taken as a vote in favour of standing...
I sincerely believe that what would be best for my children would be to receive kneeling, as I did when I was a child, not so very long ago. Not just the first time they receive but every time. I would very much like to do it without drawing undue attention to my actions ot to theirs, it's not mean't to be a statement, it's receiving Holy Communion.
It doesn't seem fair. They are both Catholics, the little girl in the photo and my little girls. They both go to Catholic Churches.
So whats the problem?
Reader Comments
Jackie Parkes said...
[Comment removed at Jackie's request]
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Joe said...
I do not expect that I will ever be allowed to be responsible for parish First Communion catechesis ... But one thing I would definitely want in the programme would be an equality of status in preparing children to receive on the tongue or in the hand. The discipline of the Church in our country allows both practices, so I think the preparation of children to receive Holy Communion should allow both practices, rather than effectively permitting one only. Even if children receive in the hand, the discussion of receiving on the tongue will have the effect of encouraging reverence.
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J McMahon said...
I was at the midday Mass in St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, some weeks ago. I received communion on the tongue and while kneeling. Other people received in the hand while standing. There was no fuss at all. Everybody either stood or knelt at the communion rail. The practical difficulty arises when everybody comes up in a single or double line. Then there has to be an assumption that everybody will stand. To insist on kneeling would cause a disruption that would not be devotional.
The solution would be to use a communion rail or,at least, have everybody line up in front of the altar. the priest could then go along the line and those who wished to kneel could so without causing any disruption. All that is required is a bit of common sense and a willingness to be flexible.
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James said...
"All that is required is a bit of common sense and a willingness to be flexible"
Not sure we have a lot of that around here...
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Antonio said...
Judging by the interior of the photo, it looks like the personal parish of the Fraternity of St. Peter in Rome, who celebrate mass and sacraments according to the old Roman rite. Kneeling and receiving on the tongue is a given.
The problem with the modern Roman rite is that it has too many options and really depend on the preference of the celebrant.
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Mark Dobson said...
A voice of, if not dissent, at least query:
I do receive on the tongue because I understand that it's more reverent, but I don't think that's a conclusion I would ever have reached on my own. My tongue, after all, is no holier than my hands, and I seem to recall that St. James even has some pretty choice things to say about it.
And there's this too - maybe it feels different for you cradle-Catholic types: I recall being brought up not to stick my tongue out at people. Here my problem's not with receiving our Lord, but with how weird it feels to present your tongue to a priest. (I always have a feeling I'm doing it wrong anyway - they seem as confused as I am sometimes)
I am 100% certain that I'm not the only person who's ever thought this, or pointed it out, but I don't think I've ever heard it mentioned.
With you all the way on kneeling though. I used to receive communion in the Anglican church kneeling at an altar-rail, before I believed (in a clear way - I'm not even sure what I believed then) in the real presence. By believing that Christ offers us his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist, and subsequently coming into full communion with the Catholic Church, I seem to have also inherited a kind of reverence downgrade.
What, in the parlance of our times, is up with that?
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Ben Whitworth said...
"I used to receive communion in the Anglican church kneeling at an altar-rail, before I believed (in a clear way - I'm not even sure what I believed then) in the real presence. By believing that Christ offers us his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist, and subsequently coming into full communion with the Catholic Church, I seem to have also inherited a kind of reverence downgrade."
I too am a convert from Anglicanism, and my experience matches yours precisely.
I once marked an essay by a student (a cradle Catholic as it happens) who was convinced that kneeling was a sign of DENYING transubstantiation. She had observed that Catholics receive communion standing; and that Anglicans receive kneeling. She had simply drawn the logical conclusion.
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