Expressions of Reverence

 I'm reading God is Near Us by Ratzinger and he is talking about different ways to receive communion.  We know about receiving in the hand and/or the mouth, but did you know that the monks at Cluny, around the year one thousand, took their shoes off to receive communion?

BTW, Jesus and his apostles received in the hand.  As a matter of fact, everyone received in the hand while standing until the ninth century.  

Avoiding Embarrassing Situations Receiving Holy Communion

A Priest Distributes Communion As Pope Francis Celebrates Mass Marking The Feast Of Pentecost In St. Peter's Square At The Vatican June 4. (CNS Photo/Paul Haring)

Avoiding Embarrassing Situations Receiving Holy Communion: I was recently making a retreat at a Monastery in the Catskills. At Sunday Mass, I was asked by the Chaplain to distribute the Precious Blood to the nuns and lay people in attendance.

This article in the Pilot relates the story of the priest distributing the Eucharist and asking the person if they were Catholic. It was a girl.  She must have not been holding her hands out correctly.  Just in case you didn't know that there is a correct way to receive, this article will tell you how.