I was denied communion for being on my knees once. Priest literally shrugged, shook his head, and stepped to the side so the person behind me could receive while I stood up. Not wanting to make a scene (and planning to talk to the priest later), I just stood up, opened my mouth, and again got the shake of the head as the priest gestured for me to receive in the hands. Chatted with him later and he was perfectly cordial about it, but claimed some diocesan guidelines that were obviously nonexistent. Really weird.
This happened to me when I was a young college student, experimenting with being more pious. I’ll never forgot the look of rage in the priest’s eyes and the nasty whisper of correction he gave me.
Some of those old Boomer priests are very sick people.
I once got a deer-in-the-headlights look from an older priest when I knelt and presented my tongue. He didn't chastise me or explicitly deny me, but I immediately gave him my hands instead and he looked relieved. I've never been one to insist on kneeling/tongue anyway.
Nowadays, I'm most likely to go kneeling/tongue when I happen to be carrying my infant son while I receive. At that point it's a much easier maneuver than trying to receive in the hands whilst holding a baby. Far less likely to drop the host (or the baby).
At a conservative Catholic church while I was on vacation (it was the only Catholic church in the town), everyone was kneeling at an altar rail. I stood to receive in my hand as I always do, and the priest said “if you want to receive in your hand, you have to go to that line over there” and pointed to my left. I was taken aback and decided to just receive on my tongue. But it was a very uncomfortable moment for me.
I was denied communion for being on my knees once. Priest literally shrugged, shook his head, and stepped to the side so the person behind me could receive while I stood up. Not wanting to make a scene (and planning to talk to the priest later), I just stood up, opened my mouth, and again got the shake of the head as the priest gestured for me to receive in the hands. Chatted with him later and he was perfectly cordial about it, but claimed some diocesan guidelines that were obviously nonexistent. Really weird.
Stuff like this is absurd. I expect more people have experienced this than most catholics realize
This happened to me when I was a young college student, experimenting with being more pious. I’ll never forgot the look of rage in the priest’s eyes and the nasty whisper of correction he gave me.
Some of those old Boomer priests are very sick people.
I once got a deer-in-the-headlights look from an older priest when I knelt and presented my tongue. He didn't chastise me or explicitly deny me, but I immediately gave him my hands instead and he looked relieved. I've never been one to insist on kneeling/tongue anyway.
Nowadays, I'm most likely to go kneeling/tongue when I happen to be carrying my infant son while I receive. At that point it's a much easier maneuver than trying to receive in the hands whilst holding a baby. Far less likely to drop the host (or the baby).
At a conservative Catholic church while I was on vacation (it was the only Catholic church in the town), everyone was kneeling at an altar rail. I stood to receive in my hand as I always do, and the priest said “if you want to receive in your hand, you have to go to that line over there” and pointed to my left. I was taken aback and decided to just receive on my tongue. But it was a very uncomfortable moment for me.