Results of a survey on Communion in the hand

Yesterday the Zenit website reported on a survey that have been undertaken in the United States about the attitude of the laity to communion in the hand and other related Eucharistic practices of the contemporary Church. Although I am often suspicious of the value of public opinion research on issues that don’t always come down to a simple affirmative or negative this has been apparently the largest survey that has been undertaken of lay opinion. The results are actually encouraging for those of us of a traditional frame of mind. It does of course depend where the survey was taken because as we know the church in the US shows great extremes of opinion and practice in a way that is perhaps less evident in this country. The report was commissioned by a clearly conservative group but the results are striking. That being so it is perhaps all the more surprising to read it on Zenit which often seems to be very much the voice for current Vatican orthodoxy.

What the survey, the largest so far conducted with regular worshippers, suggests is a desire for greater reverence for the Eucharist, not by only by favouring reception on the tongue but also in externals such as genuflecting and avoiding the use of lay ministers. There was a desire to re-establish in churches the centrality of the Tabernacle. Only a minority of respondents were attending the pre-Conciliar liturgy. The US bishops are being forwarded the report as part of an initiative on the part of those who commissioned it to restore reverence for the Eucharist. 

The article can be seen at Communion in the Hand or in the Mouth? Results Are Published of the Largest Survey in the U.S. on the Eucharist

Recommended Lenten Reading

Today being Shrove Tuesday seems a good day upon which to recommend a book for Lenten reading. I recently read a book which I would strongly recommend as suitable for this season, or for Eastertide up to Corpus Christi, or at anytime if you wish to reflect upon the theology, and reality, of the Eucharist. Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper is by an American theologian, Brant Pitre, and published by Doubleday in 2011.

Image: Amazon

At first sight it suffers to a British reader's eye from being written in an at times conversational and somewhat popularist manner, but I assume Dr Pitre is aiming for a wide market in the US. Once you have got used to his style and as he moves to his main arguments the book is more useful and usable. 

Using the Biblical narratives and contemporary Jewish commentaries and later Jewish traditions he examines in detail the actions and intentions of Our Lord at the Last Supper, as well as His self-proclamation and ministry, and how those actions accord with Jewish expectations of the Messiah and as to how literally the injunction to eat His Flesh and drink His Blood was intended.

In some ways I was reminded as I read it of Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth, and if readers found that a valuable guide, then I think Dr Pitre's book will also appeal. There is a similar attention to the realities of first century life and practice. The Jewish and Temple traditions are made available to readers who would in most cases  be unaware of them.

Some of the ideas he discusses I was already aware of (indeed he disarmingly points out inhis conclusion that much of what he says in not new), but I found many new insights in the book, and things I did not know - things which certainly augment my understanding of the institution of the Eucharist.

Having read this book I am reminded that I really must read some of the works of Margaret Barker who also looks to the origins of the Liturgy in the worship and life of the Temple. Lenten reading for me perhaps? In the meantime I do heartily recommend Dr Pitre's book.

Last words of St Thomas Aquinas

Today is the feast of St Thomas Aquinas - Dominican priest, philosopher, theologian and Doctor of the Church.

St Thomas Aquinas

Image:saintaquinas.com

This altarpiece in the church of S. Caterina d'Alessandria in Pisa is usually dated to c.1340, but there is the suggestion that it was probably was painted on the occasion of the canonization of St Thomas in 1323. It is usually ascribed to Francesco Traini, but Lippo Memmi has also been suggested as the painter.
In it St Thomas receives not only the divine wisdom but also the wisdom of the Evangelists and the philosophers of the classical world. He then convey this to the Christian community, and also, in order to convert them, to the enemies of the Church. The intertwining structure of these rays of vision or wisdom determines the composition of the picture and creates a pictorial order which reflects the divine order of the cosmos.

The following are said to have been his last words:

If in this world there be any knowledge of this sacrament stronger than that of faith, I wish now to use it in affirming that I firmly believe and know as certain that Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, Son of God and Son of the Virgin Mary, is in this Sacrament. I receive Thee, the price of my redemption, for Whose love I have watched, studied and laboured. Thee have I preached; Thee have I taught. Never have I said anything against Thee: if anything was not well said, that is to be attributed to my ignorance. Neither do I wish to be obstinate in my opinions, but if I have written aught erroneous concerning this sacrament or other matters, I submit all to the judgment and correction of the Holy Roman Church, in whose obedience I now pass from this life.

With acknowledgements to the Oxford Ordinariate group newsheet for this week.