Jul 2 Thu
How should I receive the sacred Host?
In the optional rite of Communion in the hand, the communicant should place his cupped left palm upon the right. The minister places the sacred host on the left palm. Stepping aside yet still facing the minister, the communicant conveys the sacred host to his mouth with the right hand. The minister should ascertain that the host is consumed there.
The Amen that the communicant pronounces upon receiving the sacred host is equivalent to saying, “Yes, Lord, I believe. I love you and hope in you. I know my time of waiting is over, for my hope has become a reality that fulfills the deepest needs of my faith and my charity. You are mine, and I am yours, wholly made one in this sacrament. My soul worships you in silence.”
It is not the sacrament that changes, as bread and wine would, into our substance; it is we ourselves who are changed, so to speak, into its nature. So that we can very well apply here those words of St Augustine put into the mouth of our Lord: “I am the food of the strong, believe and you will eat me. But you will not change me into you, as you do with the food of your body; it is you who will be changed into me.”
Nevertheless, there is always the danger of our getting used to it and not paying due respect to our Lord present in the sacrament.
Communion is a gift of God, given to the faithful through the minister appointed for this purpose. Thus, the faithful are not permitted to pick up the consecrated bread and the sacred chalice themselves; still less are they permitted to hand them from one to another.
The faithful, whether religious or lay, who are authorized as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist can distribute Communion when there is no priest, deacon, or acolyte, when the priest is impeded by illness or advanced age, or when the number of the faithful going to Communion is so large as to make the celebration of Mass excessively long.
This is so because the ordinary ministers for the distribution of Holy Communion are the bishop, the priests, and the deacons.
The acolyte is an extraordinary minister of Communion who is instituted permanently.
In case of genuine necessity, a simple faithful may be appointed by the bishop (or Vicar) as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion (the so-called lay minister). This appointment is always for a specific occasion or for a time. The “lay minister” should be duly instructed and distinguish himself by his Christian life, faith, and morals.
These “lay ministers” should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion, and they are always to receive from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing either species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful. A “lay minister” does not give Communion to himself; if it is the case, he or she takes Holy Communion from the hands of the priest, like any other lay person.