Bishop Schneider returns to US; discusses reception of Holy Communion {Update 2}

Bishop Athanasius Schneider distributes Holy Communion at Assumption Grotto in 2008

On EWTN this past week was His Excellency, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, ORC - an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Maria Santissima in Astana, Kazakhstan. Bishop Schneider sat down with Fr. Mitch Pacwa to discuss a topic he has become well known for: Reverence for Our Eucharistic Lord, especially during reception of Holy Communion.

In the first half hour of the video, we hear how his German family ended up in that part of the world and how growing up behind the Iron Curtain affected understanding of the faith, especially the Eucharist. At a time when religious freedom is threatened here in the United States, it is good to see how other Catholics have struggled to practice the faith in the face of government oppression.  It gives us an appreciation of the freedoms we do have, and hopefully a desire to take full advantage of them in living out our Christian lives, and working to protect our liberties.

Bishop Schneider knows many languages. As a patristics scholar, this has given him access to texts that many others would not have.  He used these language skills to understand how Holy Communion was received in the early Church, since it is often brought up in discussions.  For example, people argue that early Christians received Communion in the hand, but His Excellency goes into greater detail on how they received in the hand.  It is very different from how we receive today.  In fact, kneeling and receiving on the tongue is a much simpler process than what occurred in the early Church.  He discusses this, and other things in the interview.

His Excellency spent time at Assumption Grotto in 2008 where I had opportunities to photograph him and converse briefly with him.  In 2009, the opportunities would present themselves again when he spoke at the Call to Holiness conference, an apostolate of which I am now a board member.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider is an interesting subject worth careful study. He is not dynamic, but his passion comes through loud and clear.  Students of virtue, which is hopefully all of us, should observe how he discusses the most sensitive subject of reception of Holy Communion.  This is a man who underwent culture shock when he went to Germany as a teen and witnessed people receiving Communion in the hand.  It crushed him, and his mother wept at the sight of the casual way in which the Eucharist was handled.   He was shielded from this practice in Kazakhstan where Communion was often received infrequently, and in secrecy.

Bishop Schneider is very devoted to Our Lady.
His episcopal ring contains the Miraculous Medal.

How does he discuss the subject?  Bishop Schneider knows people do not have the understanding he does.  When he talks about the issue he does not mock, ridicule, speak condescendingly, or joke at the expense of those who receive Holy Communion in the hand. Some have argued: He can't because he's a bishop, so we will argue this way on his behalf. These people do not understand the bishop, nor the virtues he exemplifies.  He uses his deep knowledge to reason, calmly, and in a way that is inviting for others to listen and learn.  He gives us that knowledge so we may reason calmly with others.

I have never been able to reconcile defending the Eucharist while attempting to verbally beat others into submission on this subject.  What Bishop Schneider gets, that others do not, is that people were born into this practice, and it is all they know. Or, people desiring to be humbly obedient were forcefully pushed into receiving in the hand against their own sensibilities, eventually embracing it unaware that it came into it's own through illicit means.   Reverence for the Eucharist should lead us to be mindful of the dignity of others.  Harsh rhetoric and demands only cause damage and make people defensive against the desired practice.  We would do best to pray for people to be enlightened and be patient as God works on their minds and hearts with what we present.

Some reject these things out of hand, but we must remember that once the seeds have been planted they take time to sprout.  Our job is not to force germination as this is against nature (God gives to all, free will).  We can keep the soil moist, taking care not to let it dry out; and take care to not oversaturate it (sometimes it's best to present things to people, encourage them to pray on it and let them ponder it over time).

Hopefully, more bishops will follow the lead of the Holy Father, who now places a kneeler out for those in his Communion line.  Bishop Schneider mentions in the interview that other bishops have set this practice up in their cathedrals. Here again, a gentle example is being set with some bishops and priests following, but not without catechesis.

If you want to learn more from Bishop Schneider, I suggest getting his little book, Dominus Est – It Is the Lord! Reflections of a Bishop of Central Asia on Holy Communion.  Even if you feel strongly about receiving Communion in the hand, read the book any way. I've not met anyone who didn't walk away feeling closer to Jesus in the Eucharist by learning this man's life story and the struggles Catholics endured to live the faith behind the Iron Curtain.  It can only make you appreciate how easy we can practice our faith here in the United States. In his homily at EWTN on the same day as the interview below, Bishop Schneider spoke on the effects of persecution on people's faith.

I also have a blog which is intended to collect things from, and on, Bishop Schneider, but it is in need of updating.  Many videos and texts have come out since I last updated it.  If you are aware of something that is not in that blog, drop a link in the comment box here.

Bishop Schneider was in New York, as well, during this visit.  People may feel free to drop in links for those events in the comment box here, as well.

UPDATES

Update 1: In this post. Fr. George David Byers discusses how he was traumatized by the changes in the 60's - something I have heard from others who were taught never to touch the Eucharist as had been the case for centuries, only to be told he now had to receive in the hand.

Update 2: Deacon Greg Kandra also has a post on the subject of reception of Holy Communion.  Go read: I've changed my mind; It's time to bring back the altar rail. 

Update 3: Fr. Jay Finelli offers a testimonial from his own parish where he installed an altar rail, then gave people a choice to use it... or not.

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!
- Diane M. Korzeniewski

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Card. Canizares recommends Catholics receive Communion on the tongue, kneeling

July 2008: Bishop Athanasius Schneider, ORC
distributes holy Communion at the Grotto altar rail

From CNA:

Lima, Peru, Jul 28, 2011 / 01:56 pm (CNA).- Spanish Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera recently recommended that Catholics receive Communion on the tongue, while kneeling.


“It is to simply know that we are before God himself and that He came to us and that we are undeserving,” the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said in an interview with CNA during his visit to Lima, Peru.


The cardinal’s remarks came in response to a question on whether Catholics should receive Communion in the hand or on the tongue.

He recommended that Catholics “receive Communion on the tongue and while kneeling.”


Receiving Communion in this way, the cardinal continued, “is the sign of adoration that needs to be recovered. I think the entire Church needs to receive Communion while kneeling.”

“In fact,” he added, “if one receives while standing, a genuflection or profound bow should be made, and this is not happening.”

Continue reading: Spanish cardinal recommends that Catholics receive Communion on the tongue

Also check out Fr. Z's comments.

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

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Altar rails are making a comeback....

The altar rail, long in use at Assumption Grotto, saw the comeback of the altar rail cloth
on Holy Thursday, 2011

The other day, the National Catholic Register had an article up about the return of altar rails.  It seems they are gaining in popularity as people desire to kneel to receive Holy Communion.

The altar rail is so called, because it is an extension of the altar.  Assumption Grotto has gone one step further during most Masses using the 1962 Missal (when there are enough servers).  That is, the use of an altar rail cloth was re-introduced on Holy Thursday this year.  People fold their hands in prayer and put them under the cloth, leaning against the rail, not on top of it. 

Go read this interesting, and detailed article about the altar rail, and it's new surge in popularity.  It includes some interesting history. 

• Altar Rail Returning to Use

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

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Rector Names Top Seven Common Holy Communion Profanations

Bishop Athanasius Schneider distributes holy Communion
at Assumption Grotto in Detroit in 2008

A priest sent this to me late last week and I decided to wait until today to post it since traffic is normally lower over weekends (especially in late spring and summer).

It has started to appear on a few other sites, like Courageous Priest

A Letter from The Cathedral Rector by Very Rev. Fr. John Lankeit,Rector,Ss. Simon &Jude Cathedral Phoenix,AZ January 30,2011 to his parishioners.

Dear Parishioners,


I want to thank all of you who have recently started receiving Holy Communion on the tongue,not to mention those of you who already had been. This subject has generated a lot of buzz over the past few weeks,the vast majority of which has been overwhelmingly positive.


While my main objective in encouraging reception on the tongue is to deepen appreciation for the Eucharist,I also have a pastoral responsibility to eliminate abuses common to receiving in the hand. Such abuses are no doubt unintentional. Nevertheless,what I witness troubles me. And I’m not alone.


In 2004,responding to the problem of Eucharistic profanation,the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament released an official instruction entitled REDEMPTIONIS SACRAMENTUS:On certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist. Regarding Holy Communion the document states:

“[S]pecial care should be taken to ensure that the host is consumed by the communicant in the presence of the minister,so that no one goes away carrying the Eucharistic species in his hand. If there is a risk of profanation,then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to the faithful.” (Paragraph 92)


Here are 7 common Holy Communion profanations that I see all too frequently:

• Blessing oneself with the host before consuming it. (The act of blessing with the Eucharist is called “Benediction”and is reserved to clergy).
• Receiving the host in the palm of the hand,contorting that same hand until the host is controlled by the fingers,then consuming it (resembling a one-handed “watch-the-coin-disappear”magic trick).
• Popping the host into the mouth like a piece of popcorn.
• Attempting to receive with other items in the hands,like a dirty Kleenex or a Rosary.
• Receiving the host with dirty hands.
• Receiving the host,closing the hand around it,then letting the hand fall to the side (as if carrying a suitcase) while walking away and/or blessing oneself with the other hand.
• Walking away without consuming the host.
• Giving the host to someone else after receiving (including animals)…yes,it happens!

We would never treat a piece of GOLD with the same casualness –especially in this economy! Yet many treat the Eucharist “piece”of GOD with casualness at best,indifference and irreverence at worst. Of course,much abuse is due to ignorance,owing to poor catechesis,which is precisely why I have written about this issue for four consecutive weeks.

Yet we have another great incentive…


When Holy Communion is received on the tongue…every single one of these abuses is instantly eliminated!
The way we treat another person says more about our relationship with that person than any words we might say. This is especially true of our relationship with the Divine Person,Jesus Christ. So let us continually seek to increase our reverence for our Eucharistic Savior,and to eliminate anything that degrades the respect He deserves.


God’s Blessings…
my prayers…


Rev. Fr. John Lankeit,
Rector,Ss. Simon &Jude Cathedral
Phoenix,AZ

I think he has listed at least seven reasons why we should go back to receiving holy Communion on the tongue. 

I also think that priests should consider the profanation that takes place when the paten is not used as is required by the GIRM.  If you receive at a parish where the paten is in use, you will notice many small Particles of Our Lord on it.  In most parishes today, they are all over the floor.

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

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New Video of Bishop Schneider on his book, Dominus Est, and an update on the Karaganda cathedral, "Our Lady of Fatima"

Many thanks to Fr. Markus Doppelbauer for sending me the following video clips. Bishop Athanasius Schneider - an auxiliary bishop from Kazakhstan, who speaks many languages, has made the this video available in several of them. I have embedded the English version. Look below for links to the video in other languages...

• Auxiliary bishop Athanasius Schneider on communion in the hand


• Weihbischof Schneider über die Handkommunion


• Bispo Athanasius Schneider no comunhão na mão


• Vescovo ausiliare sulla comunione nella mano

Bishop Schneider visited Assumption Grotto last summer, and will be back again in October of this year, where he will speak at the Call to Holiness conference. Reserve the date, and register early! Fr. Z will also speak at the conference!

If you want to see some of my photoposts from his visit to Assumption Grotto and Sts Cyril & Methodius, read this post and go through the links at the bottom: Bishop Athanasius Schneider on his book, "Dominus Est" and the Church in Kazakhstan

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

Archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal Caffarra - Decree on Holy Communion (on the Tongue)

Catholic News Agency reported on May 11th that an Italian Archbishop, Carlo Caffarra had suspended Communion in the hand to avoid abuses of the Eucharist.

This unofficial, third-party translation of a decree by Carlo Cardinal Caffarra of Bologna, Italy was just emailed to me. It is dated April 29th, 2009 and it comes less than one year after the release of Dominus Est - a liturgical-historical look at reception of Holy Communion in the Church by Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan.

This translation is rough, but you get the gist of what His Emminence is communicating. The decree, in it's original Italian, can be found on Zenit.

Emphases mine in bold... my notes bracketed in red

Directions about the distribution of the Eucharist

Decree of 27 April 2009

Since the times of its very origins, the apostolic Church has expressed its own faith persuasion that the disciples meet with the risen Christ, experience him in the first day after Saturday listening to the Word of God and its explanation and breaking the Eucharistic bread (see also Le 24, 13-35; Al 20, 7-12). Saint Justin, in his I Apologia, in #67, testifies the further development of this usual procedure.

The preaching of the Apostles, then, illustrated to the faithful the greatness of the Sacrament of the altar and the necessary mood that is necessary to take profitably part in it, without risking to eat and drink one’s own eternal condemnation (see 1 Cor 11, 29), but on the contrary so that eating that bread, Body of Christ given for the life of the world, the ones who believe can have eternal life (see John 6, 51).

Therefore, it is precise duty of the apostle [probably referring to apostolic successors - the bishops] to often exhort the Christians so that they can worthily receive the Body of Christ, shaping their own lives on the image of the One who is received in the Sacrament.

The devotion and the interior veneration with which the faithful approach the Eucharist reveals [perhaps, "is revealed"] also externally in the way they receive the consecrated Bread.

The shepherds’ catechesis must never miss to linger over the way the Eucharist can be approached in order to avoid as much as possible that the Most Holy Sacrament of Eucharist be treated with superficiality or even in a disrespectful way, or even worse, sacrilegious.

We must in fact realize that unfortunately many cases of profanation of the Eucharist have occurred, profiting by the possibility to receive the consecrated Bread on one’s palm of the hand, mostly, but not only, during big celebrations or in big churches attended by a great number of occasional faithful.

For such reason, it is necessary to watch on at the moment of the Holy Communion, sticking to the observance of the common rules that are well known to everybody.

The distribution of the Eucharist be done in a quiet and orderly way, be done first of all by the ordered ministers (priest and deacon); only in their absence, by ministers established with this very goal (acolyte). Only in really exceptional cases make use of other established ministers (lector), of nuns or of well prepared laymen.

During the Holy Communion the altar servers support the minister checking as closely as possible that each faithful, after receiving the consecrated Bread, eats it immediately in front of the minister himself and that for no reason the consecrated Bread be taken to one’s seat or put into one’s pockets, bags or anywhere else, nor fall to the ground and be trampled on. [If you could only see the patens used at Mass and the many crumbs, you would realize that Our Lord is being trampled on every day. A dry Communion Host can easily be put into a pocket. Intinction requires that Communion be received on the tongue].

The Eucharist, in fact, is the most precious gift that the Church preserves, alive presence of Our Risen Lord; all the faithful must feel called to do any possible effort so that This Presence [not the caps] be honoured first of all with one’s life and, then, with the external signs of our worship.

Anyway, taken into account the frequency with which we have been told of disrespectful behaviours in the act of receiving the Eucharist, we order that starting from today in the Metropolitan Church of S. Peter, in the Basilica of S. Petronius and in the Shrine of the Holy Virgin of S. Luke in Bologna the faithful receive the consecrated Bread only from the hand of the minister directly on their tongue.

In addition, we recommend all the priests to admonish the people they are in charge of, of the necessity to be in the grace of God in order to be allowed to receive the Eucharist and of the great respect that is due to the Sacrament of the Altar: through their catechesis, preaching, keen and loving celebration of the Holy Mysteries, educating the faithful to worship the God who made himself a man with their own lives and with the participation, that requires the highest care, even in gestures, of the Lord’s table.

We finally exhort the faithful to do any effort in order that the Eucharist, spring and top of all Christian life, be always more loved and worshipped, recognizing in It the presence itself of the Son of God among us.

Bologna, from the Archbishop Residence, 27 April 2009

Where to get Dominus Est :

Note: I have found some selling this on Amazon.com for as much as $43. This can be purchased for about $7-8 in a few places:

In the US: At Newman House Press, and Opus Angelorum bookstore

In the UK: At Eden

Past posts on Dominus Est and Bishop Scneider, and Communion on the tongue:

• Historical-Liturgical Notes on the Rite of the Eucharist by Bishop Athanasius Schneider


• New Prefect of CDW, Cañizares, Favors Communion on the Tongue


• Dr. Alcuin Reid Reviews, "Dominus Est"


• Author of Dominus Est, Bp Athanasius Schneider, to appear on EWTN Wednesday


• Photopost: Bishop Athanasius Schneider (at Assumption Grotto) on his book, "Dominus Est" and the Church in Kazakhstan


• Photopost: Bishop Athanasius Schneider, ORC at Sts Cyril & Methodius in Sterling Heights


• July 22 EWTN Mass with Bishop Athanasius Schneider


• Video: Bishop Schneider during Ordinations in Austria (a beautiful example)


• Photopost: Bp Athanasius Schneider at Assumption Grotto in Detroit - Week 1

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!