Taking Communion on the Tongue

I always receive on the tongue because I just think there’s less chance of dropping the host and because I think it’s a bit more reverent. But there actually is a theological reason for doing so as well!

Bad Catechesis at Likelierthings.com: “I take communion on the tongue when I can, and the reason for this was explained by Benedict XVI in The Spirit of the Liturgy, written back when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. In the Middle East, apparently, there is a tradition in which the host will himself place a morsel of food in the mouth of his guests. At the mass, it is the priest who is the icon of Jesus Christ, and Jesus acts through the hands of the priest to offer, as head, the true sacrifice of worship to the Father. And by virtue of this same sacrifice, he himself now feeds us his own body so that we might be united with him more and more. Therefore, following the ancient tradition, it is an excellent sign of Jesus� position as host and source of our life that his icon should place in our mouths with his own hands that morsel of spiritual food that saves us and makes us one with him. So everytime I go up to receive from the priest, I take communion on the tongue. If, however, there’s a Eucharistic Minister (not a priest) from whom I receive, I take communion in the hand, since the sign of the host at the banquet is not there. (The EM is not the icon of Christ like the priest is.)”

HT Julie at Happy Catholic!