“A penitent man kneels before the Lord!”
[Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade]
Thankfully, Cardinal Cupich is not my Archbishop.
On December 11#, Cupich published a letter in an archdiocesan newspaper. This gave his instructions to Chicagoan Catholics as to how they should receive the Eucharist. They must ‘process’ in-line; receive the Eucharist on the hand while standing; and return to the pew without causing any iota of delay or disruption!
(‘Cupich’ is apparently pronounced “Soup-itch.” The letter can be found in Appendix I.)
Please note that I always receive Holy Communion on the hand when attending a Novus Ordo Mass. [The only times I have received on the tongue ever, were at two TLM’s in 2024 and then pre-Vatican II. Yes: I am that old!]
Perhaps Chicago is, hmmm…“special”??
We should allow for the possibility that Chicago has an inordinate percentage of weirdo’s doing strange things on the way to Communion! (It does not sound like that is the problem from Cupich’s letter.)
I have been to Mass in several countries and though there are differences in how people receive Holy Communion — even in the Vatican! — I cannot recall seeing anyone ‘impede the procession’ or ‘disrupt the moment.’ (Except perhaps a very arthritic or incapacitated person who gets extra respect for struggling to come before the Lord!)
Indeed, it is more noticeable how some celebrants ‘dish out’ the Eucharist in an off-hand manner as if they just want to “git er’ dun”! More concerning is how so many parishioners nonchalantly receive Communion. Indeed, it is a relief to see people receiving the Eucharist with obvious reverence. Cupich et al. should be encouraging increased devotion, not less.
Cupich
For me, the issue pivots on two phrases Cupich used: “The law of praying establishes the law of believing is our tradition” and the runner-up: “the council fathers [at Vatican II] decided that their first document should take up the topic of restoring the way we worship.”
“The law of praying”
The LAW of praying? This is the first time in my life I’ve heard about any law of praying.
A Google search with Canon Law showed nothing. (‘Shout out to the Canon Lawyers out there: please let me know if there are specific Canonical requirements.)
The Catechism seem clear:
2699 The Lord leads all persons by paths and in ways pleasing to him, and each believer responds according to his heart's resolve and the personal expressions of his prayer. However, Christian Tradition has retained three major expressions of prayer: vocal meditative, and contemplative. They have one basic trait in common: composure of heart. This vigilance in keeping the Word and dwelling in the presence of God makes these three expressions intense times in the life of prayer.
The essential phrase being “and each believer responds according to his heart's resolve and the personal expressions of his prayer.”
“…RESTORING the way we worship”
So much weight on that one word: “restoring.”
Cupich implies that the Mass was broken down like some vintage car which needed to be returned to its original state. If Vatican II was about “restoring the way we worship,” Cupich et al. should specify exactly when and which form of the Mass they consider to be the “correct one”!
In language alone, Christ and the first members of the Church spoke Aramaic which is now a dead language. Later, Greek became the predominant language till the Third or Fourth Century, when Latin took over. The Tridentine Mass [TLM] codified the Latin mass in 1570 and became the prime form of the Mass up to 1962. So, the Church said the Mass in Latin for 1600 years! If we are going to ‘restore’ the language of the Mass surely it would be to Latin?! (Then, let’s not start talking about some of the dreadful changes introduced following Vatican II.)
Prayer
Others have said it beautifully: “Prayer is a conversation with God” & “We pray to grow closer to God.” Bingo! Maybe I can rephrase in context of this article — prayer is a personal conversation with God.
There are 3 forms of prayer: Vocal, Meditative & Contemplative. Also, there are four basic elements of Christian prayer (some divide them further):
Prayer of Adoration/Blessing:
Prayer of Contrition/Repentance:
Prayer of Thanksgiving/Gratitude:
Prayer of Supplication/Petition/Intercession.
The Right to Kneel
Fr. Casey Jones in Crisis Magazine noted that:
“ The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states quite plainly: “The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling”.
The GIRM then makes a cross-reference to the 2003 Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments’ Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, which states:
“The faithful should receive Communion kneeling or standing, as the Conference of Bishops will have determined,” with its acts having received the recognitio of the Apostolic See. “However, if they receive Communion standing, it is recommended that they give due reverence before the reception of the Sacrament, as set forth in the same norms.” ”
How to receive the King of Kings?
I do not follow Dr. Taylor Marshall but in a thread on Cupich’s letter I came across this video on 𝕏. He is Trad and attends the TLM: that said, he makes a pile of sense about why we should receive Communion on the tongue while kneeling even during the Novus Ordo.
Priests refusing Communion
Click on image to link to video: not all of these are likely to be “set-ups.”
Click image to link to 𝕏 and view the clip
Compare the sin of kneeling to receive Communion on the tongue to those who support abortion up till the minute of delivery like Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Justin Trudeau.
Nancy Pelosi was indeed barred from Communion by Archbishop Cordileone in 2022 but claims that she is still receives it elsewhere. Why is it possible that priests will give Communion to radical pro-Aborts yet are prepared to embarrass the plebs who dare to kneel before the Lord?
Here is a clip of a Confirmand in Brazil being refused Communion by her Bishop in 2023. Some suggest this was a “set-up”: either way he showed his true colours and brought shame to the Church.
Conclusion
A secondary question is whether Cupich introduced this edict after an appropriate Archdiocesan Synodality? If not, back to the drawing-board! (Hey, they insist on Synodality, so..!)
Similarly, the Church is opening doors to the LGBT and other communities. This is patently at odds with Cupich’s wish for “one-size fits all cookie-cutter Catholics.” I fear this sort of clericalism is driving people from the Church.
I gather some priest placed a one-person kneeler beside the Communion-line without any announcement, so his parishioners could choose to kneel, if they so wish. Apparently, that is working well and more parishioners are using it…without fuss. (Perhaps someone can send me the information as to where this is occurring?)
After Vatican II the hierarchy of the Church insisted that we think about our religion. They should not be upset when we do so!
Dr. Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 (Twitter) @ kevinhay77
Appendix I:
LINK: https://www.chicagocatholic.com/cardinal-blase-j.-cupich/-/article/2024/12/11/-as-we-pray-
‘As we pray …’
December 11, 2024
We all have benefited from the renewal of the church ushered in by the Second Vatican Council. This gathering of the world’s Catholic bishops and heads of religious orders of men took place in four sessions from 1962 to 1965.
Sixteen documents related to church renewal were eventually issued, but it is significant that the council fathers decided that their first document should take up the topic of restoring the way we worship. They took seriously the ancient maxim “lex orandi, lex credenda,” a phrase often associated with Prosper of Aquitaine, a fifth-century Christian writer. It simply means that the law of praying establishes the law of believing.
By recognizing this relationship between how we worship and what we believe, the bishops at the council made clear that the renewal of the liturgy in the life of the church is central to the mission of proclaiming the Gospel. It would be a mistake to reduce the renewal to a mere updating of our liturgy to fit the times we live in, as if it were a kind of liturgical facelift. We need the restoration of the liturgy because it gives us the capacity to proclaim Christ to the world.
Thus, for instance, the council called for the full, active and conscious participation of all the baptized in the celebration of the Eucharist to reflect our belief that in the sacred liturgy the faithful become the Body of Christ that they receive.
Our ritual for receiving of Holy Communion has special significance in this regard. It reminds us that receiving the Eucharist is not a private action but rather a communal one, as the very word “communion” implies. For that reason, the norm established by Holy See for the universal church and approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is for the faithful to process together as an expression of their coming forward as the Body of Christ and to receive Holy Communion standing.
It is important to recall that processions have been part of the liturgy from the earliest days of Christian practice. They give us a sensible experience of what it means to be a pilgrim people, helping us keep in mind that we are making our way together to the fullness of the heavenly banquet Christ has prepared for us. This is why we process into the church, process up to bring the gifts, process to receive Holy Communion and process out at the end of Mass to carry the Lord into the world.
Nothing should be done to impede any of these processions, particularly the one that takes place during the sacred Communion ritual. Disrupting this moment only diminishes this powerful symbolic expression, by which the faithful in processing together express their faith that they are called to become the very Body of Christ they receive. Certainly reverence can and should be expressed by bowing before the reception of Holy Communion, but no one should engage in a gesture that calls attention to oneself or disrupts the flow of the procession. That would be contrary to the norms and tradition of the church, which all the faithful are urged to respect and observe.
The law of praying establishes the law of believing is our tradition. When the bishops took up the task of restoring the liturgy six decades ago, they reminded us that this ancient principle enjoys a privileged place in the church’s tradition. It should continue to guide us in every age.
[Cardinal Cupich]