Communion in the Hand Destroys Piety: Bishop Athansius Schneider

Edit: Continued from a previous article that not even Luther would have given Communion in the Hand.

A Calvinist Invention

Every priest can see that parts of the Host will remain on the hands of the faithful, and parts will fall to the ground to be trampled.

(kreuz.net) Communion on the tongue is a fruit of piety and grown naturally.

Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider (50) said this for the radio station, 'Radio Maria Südtirol' on the 19th of July.

The current form of Communion in thee hand comes, on the contrary, to a dishonoring of the Sacrament of the Altar.

It was introduced with the sweep of a hand and has damaged piety.

How the Deviltry Began

Auxiliary Bishop Schneider explains how Communion in the Hand was introduced in a spirit of disobedience during the 60s of the last century.

In the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern Germany it was insisted suddenly that hand communion came down from the time of the Church Fathers:

"Unfortunately this is something the Bishops at the time had invented."

After the Second Vatican council Paul VI († 1978) expressly forbid Communion in the Hand.

But the Bishops in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria and Germany put pressure on the Pope.

They insisted that it was no longer possible to prescribe the wild practice.

Whereupon in 1968 the Pope addressed all Bishops regarding Communion in the Hand.

Almost two thirds of the world Episcopate opposed the sacrilege.

The majority of the Bishops warned that the particles of the consecrated Hosts would fall on the floor and that sacrality would by destroyed by this practiced.

But the propagandists of Hand Communion were not appeased.

Thereupon Paul VI allowed in May of 1969 in the document 'Memoriale Domini' to allow Hand Communion where it had already been illegally practiced.

The Communion on the Tongue was designated as the "Rule".


The Abuse is the Rule

Msgr Schndeider has noticed that things have been turned upside down.

Communion on the Tongue is the exception and Communion in the Hand is the rule.

The Auxiliary Bishop excoriates that the giving of Communion will always involve particles remaining on the fingers.

Additionally, there is at least the danger that the Host could be stolen.

Hand Communion may only be suppressed from on high

Msgr Schneider encourages Bishops and Priests to promote Communion on the Tongue.

That the Holy Father himself only gives Communion kneeling on the tongue, serves as an example for us.

The Bishops must draw their own conclusions from this:

"If the Pope does it, it is also a sign for me as a Bishop to act in the same way"

Auxiliary Bishop Schneider believes that the faithful, who love the Church and the Mass, would readily embrace Communion on the Tongue.


Communion Rails Must be Present

The Auxiliary Bishop recommends setting up Communion rails again.

That is especially helpful for older persons, who would be supported when they knelt.

They would otherwise be at a disadvantage, when there is a possibility to receive kneeling.

The faithful could --says the Auxiliary Bishop -- even stay at the Communion rail. Then no one can be discriminated against.

The introduction of Communion rails are "logical and just".

The Bishop believes that with time, the majority will sink to their knees for the overpowering moment of Communion.

You take Communion Yourself and Stick it in the Mouth


Finally, he stresses that Communion in the Hand can be worthily received.

But it recalls the daily grind, where "I can take it myself and put it in my own mouth."

That diminishes sacrality.

Link to kreuz.net ...
Photo: © thatliz, Flickr, CC

Auxiliary Bishop Says Communion In the Hand is a Calvinist Novelty

Not Even Martin Luther Would Have Done It

In the last century the Old Liberal Bishops promoted hand Communion.  They used a historical lie toward this end.

Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider

(kreuz.net)Present day Communion in the Hand has no roots in the early Church.


This was stressed by Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider (50) of Astana in Kazakhstan on the 19th on the radio station 'Radio Maria Südtirol'

Msgr Schneider is a Patristic expert.

Hand Communion was contrived "all new" from the Second Vatican Council -- the Auxiliary Bishop firmly said.

The antique Church had practiced a completely different form for the reception of Communion.

In that period the hand in which Communion was received was purified before and after.

Additionally, the faithful would take the Body of the Lord from their hand in a disposition of prayer with his tongue:

"If anything it was more of an oral reception of Communion than in the hand".

After Communion, the communicant had to lick their hands with their tongues, so that even the smallest particle should not be lost.

A Deacon supervised the purification.

The Auxiliary Bishop cotinued: "This concern and care stands in direct opposition to indifference and carelessness with which so called Communion in the hand is dispensed."

Women never held Communion simply on the flat of the hand.

They spread a white cloth, a manner of corporal over their hand.

Then, they would receive Communion directly to their mouth from the linen cloth.

"That is a tremendous contrast to the present form of Communion in the hand" -- insisted Msgr Schneider.

The ancient faithful never took Communion with their fingers: "the gesture of hand Communion was completely unknown in the Church."

The Antique Form of Giving Communion Was Impractical in the Final Analysis

In the course of the centuries the Church developed a form of giving Communion which "surely came from the Holy Ghost".

Msgr Schneider explained that the Eastern Church had already completed this step by the 5th Century, the West somewhat later.

The transition took place worldwide, organically, instinctively and peacefully.

The Auxiliary Bishop reports that Pope Gregory the Great († 604), gave Communion in on the tongue.

French and Spanish Synods of the 8th and 9th Centuries sanctioned against touching the Host with excommunication:

"If a Synod can make such a strict threat, this form will be forbidden in a short time."

Communion in the Hand Comes from the Calvinists

According to the Auxiliary Bishop, communion in the hand comes from the Dutch Calvinists of the 17th Century.

Calvinism denies the real presence of Christ in the Host.

One such communion in the hand wasn't even practiced by the Lutherans:

"The Lutherans have until quite recently, and till today in Scandinavian lands, preserved communion kneeling and on the tongue."

Coming up: Communion in the hand destroys piety.

Link to original, kreuznet...