A month or so ago, I wrote about the book Dominus Est by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, published by the Vatican Press in which he argues for Holy Communion to be received on the tongue and kneeling.
Bishop Schneider gave the following interview which has been posted on Gloria TV under the heading "As a bishop I cannot be silent":
H/T New Liturgical Movement
8 comments:
As I said over at the NLM, to those of you who understand German - even if only a bit - I strongly recommend the original German interview, as His Excellency's German is far better than his English (in fact it's almost flawless), and he explains the various points in greater detail. The German interview with Msgr. Schneider is in two parts and can be found at these URLs:
http://www.gloria.tv/? video=mnzf...wsxjvflzhrdspos
http://www.gloria.tv/? video=dwzt...zowftihynqaeuos
I personally am deeply impressed by this man.
Do you think CTS might translate the book into english? I am sure many people would like to read this.
Dominie
I particularly like the title of Fr. Tim's post : "As a bishop I cannot be silent."
It might almost be a newspaper headline : "Bishop Speaks Out !"
Now this bishop (rather appropriately named Athanasius,) really was worth listening to.
I thought he spoke very well in English and I was deeply impressed by his love for Our Lord, his deep reverence for Christ's presence in the Eucharistic species, his concern for abuses and lack of reverence, his understanding of the problem of irreverence in the Church today and the need for better catechesis, all of which speaks most highly of the man and the bishop.
But we need more men like him !
Dr Wright said in relation to this good bishop: "But we need more men like him !"
I would echo that and add "especially here in the UK".
yes - we do need more men - and Bishops to speak out on these abuses - it's only taken him 30 plus years to wake up ???
Dominie:
According to Te Deum Laudamus blogspot, "Newman House Press has been contracted to publish Bishop Scheider's book in English"
see:
http://te-deum.blogspot.com/2008/01/bishop-schneider-reception-of-holy.html
Ted
On the approach to Easter and my reception into the church I had to make the decision on how I would choose to receive Holy Communion. I attend two quite different churches regularly. During the week while at university I go an Oratory where as there is an altar rail most people kneel unless they find it too difficult to do so and the choice to receive on the tongue or hand is left to the individual. At weekends I attend my local church where the altar rail has been removed so everyone walks down the center of the church and once again the choice to receive on the tongue or hand is left to the individual. The two churches also differ in their practices when it comes to offering communion, at the oratory you can receive the host only, at my local church you can choose to receive under both kinds if you wish to do so. My local church also employs the use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC) where as the Oratory has only priests offering communion.
My preferred method of receiving Holy Communion is on my knees, place on the tongue by a priest. Below I will attempt to justify my choice which is based largely off my experience in church which I have described above and also material I have read off the internet and in books through my course of instruction into the Holy Catholic Church.
ON MY KNEES
Whether intentionally or not I have found that when walking down the center of my local church one behind the other to receive communion you often feel ushered past like lemmings walking over a cliff while when given the opportunity to kneel you have time to consider the event in which you are about to partake and afterwards a chance to become part of the moment. Although only momentary as you do have to move on to allow the next person to kneel this time is very important to me.
ON THE TONGUE
I consider this method to be more reverent but also the thought of loosing even a small piece of the host through carelessness horrifies me. I also consider this part of my choice influenced by the fact I prefer to receive directly from the ordained hands of a priest which I might also add are spiritually cleansed during the Mass, and rather than defy the host by having it place in my hand I would rather have it place on my tongue and directly into my being.
THE PRIEST
Some people would condemn me for having immediate respect for a priest regardless of what kind of person they are. Nonetheless for me they are a man of God, what happens to them during the Mass happens to no other not to mention the point I mentioned above about there hands being ordained and being spiritually cleansed during the Mass. For me there is simply no comparison between priest or EMHC.
COMMUNION UNDER BOTH KINDS
The church teaches that it is unnecessary to receive under both kinds at Mass and so I am content to simply receive the host. I forget the actual terminology used but you still receive the ‘whole’ even though only receiving under one kind. There are also the practicalities of serving from the chalice such as spilling the blood. Regardless of all this however I just can’t bring myself to drink out of the same cup as the rest of the congregation.
The choices to receive on the tongue or hands, from priest or EMHC or under both kinds from my experience of the practices I see in church is always left largely to the individual. Your choice to kneel however has been largely chosen for you especially by the removal of the altar rail or the rushed manner in which communion is given. Only in one Mass I attend do I feel free to make the choice myself to knee which is when I visit the Oratory house in Rednal. There is no altar rail as it is only a very small chapel but just a small step. Nonetheless the priest conducts his behaviour in such a way that if you want to kneel to receive you feel free to do so. I realize it is only a small detail but it is very much appreciated and I wish it were something more churches would consider in their practice of offering communion.
Slightly off topic but when I was still very new to the church I noticed another practice that differs greatly was that of genuflection. I learnt most of what I know of the Mass by going along to the Oratory at least once or twice during the week in the early evening and hiding out at the back of the church with my simply prayer book following along to the Mass and also by people watching.
I had learnt very early on about the custom of genuflection as since I was at the beginning of my journey into a world very different from that around me I wanted to make a special effort to become familiar with some of the simpler practices such as the sign of the cross and standing during the gospel reading as I wanted to be respectful and careful not to accidentally offend.
I would sit and watch people cross the altar in amazement and thought to myself at the time if these people (Catholics) truly believed that the true presence of Christ is present on the altar how can they allow themselves to pass by without sometimes even acknowledging Him. Some people would head bob as if they were gesturing to someone in the street, others would do a half hearted curtsy, there were those that would genuflect correctly, placing their knee right to the ground but even this seemed to be when it took their fancy. The only people that seemed to do it every time without question was the priests (in actual fact I think if I had been sitting close enough I would hear their knees hit the ground). Even the practice among priests I noticed differed though as in other churches I visited the practiced appeared relaxed and they would simply head bob when getting the altar ready for Mass (although they would always genuflect correctly when saying the Mass).
At the time and still now a little I find it very disheartening, here I was being careful not to offend by trying to respect the churches customs and all around me there were Catholics who did not even respect them themselves. In the end I came to my own conclusions -
I use a quick head motion to acknowledge a person in the street.
I stand and shake the hand of a person in a position of respect.
I would even curtsy if I were ever to meet the queen
BUT In the presense of the Lord I will ALWAYS genuflect and my KNEE will TOUCH the GROUND as long as I Live (or my health permits me to do so).
Well that’s my two cents, I am certainly no expert and am still only at the beginning of my journey but I have tried to write things how I see them.
Catherine
Catherine - congratulations on your reception into the Church. I think you are absolutely right in your instincts.
In fact, there is not a simple either/or choice on the manner of receiving Holy Communion. Communion in the hand is allowed by indult whereas communion on the tongue is universally allowed.
When one has respect for a priest, it is primarily because of his sacramental character, regardless of his personal qualities. For a priest to be shown respect on these grounds is a good reminder to him of the obligations of his state.
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