Question 89 – Is It Ok For Lay People To Give Holy Communion To People That Are Shut-In?

Transcript:

That is not the teaching of the Church, it's only a problem of discipline and not of doctrine. In this discipline, after the council, unfortunately, lay people were allowed to distribute Holy Communion during Mass. It was completely unnecessary and it was against the entire tradition. Never in the 2000 years of Church tradition, in the East or the West, allowed lay people to distribute Holy Communion during Holy Mass. 

I stress ‘during Holy Mass’, it was never allowed because this is against the entire tradition and we have to abolish this. We cannot continue this because if there is a priest celebrating mass, there is no necessity for lay people. Even if the celebration is prolonged, why not? We have to take time for the Lord. It's not a cafeteria service wherein we have to finish this right away. It's completely impossible. Our Orthodox brothers and sisters in the Orthodox churches, like the Byzantine Orthodox Church, give us an example: even the deacon cannot touch the body of Christ and give the Holy Communion but only priests and bishops, it's impossible.

Even if there are thousands of people, they will have to wait because this is the greatest gift: the body of Christ! And for this greatest gift, we have to take time to receive it and not hasten it to spare time. The moment of the distribution of Holy Communion has to be the most sacred and holy, not a short moment of giving hastily Holy Communion. Before the council, the deacons were extraordinary ministers, thus they were allowed to give Holy Communion because at least they were ordained, they had a sacramental ordination.

Another thing is that we have to distinguish between the extraordinary or so-called lay ministers during Mass and outside Mass. These are, for me, significant differences. Outside the mass, of course, there was a tradition in the church during the persecution times and even in the first centuries, in my experience, during the Soviet clandestine church, wherein lay people could give Holy Communion but only outside the Holy Mass, bringing Holy Communion to prisoners or dying persons. 

Even my mother gave Holy Communion to her mother, my grandmother when she was ill and there was no priest. Well, in these cases, in the absence of priests, it is possible to bring Holy Communion to dying persons or to prisoners. Lay people, with the permission of a priest or a bishop, can bring Holy Communion to these Catholics. It is possible but they have to do this with the greatest possible reverence. 

When they have permission to bring, they have to have for example, in their house a tabernacle or a small room reserved only for this purpose: for prayer or to place the body of Christ. I don't know the circumstances but if there were such circumstances, as well as in our case during the persecution, my great aunt had a room with a hidden tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament inside. We went there and made adoration because it was during the persecution time. 

In these cases, I repeat, it could be done but with the greatest possible reverence towards the body of Christ. This is important. Another aspect is that when lay people bring the body of Christ to the sick or prisoners, they have to help them make an act of contrition because they have to receive the body of Christ with a purified heart. If they have grave sins, it is better for them not to receive Holy Communion but rather ask a priest to come and hear confession. 

In this case, extraordinary ministers have to seek a priest, even a priest from far away, and invite him, or bring and drive him. This would be a good service of the extraordinary ministers, to drive a priest even if he is from afar; even if the old priest is not willing to hear the confession of a dying person. Extraordinary ministers should organize a trip and bring a priest, then that priest hear the confession of this dying person or prisoner, and then he can give Holy Communion. 

So it has to be organized, innovative, and creative to provide for these people for them to receive Holy Confession and to purify their souls. It is even more important to receive first the sacrament of confession before receiving Holy Communion to purify their soul. You can also make a spiritual communion. We have to distinguish these aspects.