Blessings at Holy Communion

Whilst going along with the custom of giving blessings to those who approach the altar rail but who are unable to receive Holy Commuion, I have always considered it somewhat anomalous. At the time of Holy Communion, there is an unavoidable distinction made between those who can receive and those who can't. In the past, the latter would stay in their places. Now they come for a blessing. However, there are some who, seeing everyone go up, simply follow and receive Holy Communion even when they shouldn't.

It seems someone has sought clarification as you will see at adoremus.org. I reproduce the contents of this clarification here. At present, I will not introduce any change in the parish but perhaps this might be the beginning of a re-evaluation of this practice, endorsed as it is by the Bishops of England & Wales, Scotland and Ireland in their teaching document One Bread One Body no. 43:

Even though some may not receive sacramental communion, all are united in some way by the Holy Spirit. The traditional idea of spiritual communion is an important one to remember and reaffirm. The invitation often given at Mass to those who may not receive sacramental communion - for example, children before their First Communion and adults who are not Catholics - to receive a 'blessing' at the moment of Communion emphasises that a deep spiritual communion is possible even when we do not share together the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ.

With all due respect to our Bishops, I feel this interpretation of Spiritual Communion is flawed. To benefit from Spiritual Communion one needs to have all the dispositions necessary for actual Sacramental Communion. Whilst approaching the altar for a blessing might be the expression of a desire for Sacramental Communion, it cannot bring about a spiritual Communion with the Body and Blood of the Lord and with those members of the Church who can fully participate in the Eucharist in this manner.

According to a letter dated 22nd November 2008 from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments the matter is under review. And that's how I shall leave it for the present. For the present, the Congregation makes the following observations, as posted at adoremus.org:

1. The liturgical blessing of the Holy Mass is properly given to each and to all at the conclusion of the Mass, just a few moments subsequent to the distribution of Holy Communion.

2. Lay people, within the context of Holy Mass, are unable to confer blessings. These blessings, rather, are the competence of the priest (cf. Ecclesia de Mysterio, Notitiae 34 (15 Aug. 1997), art. 6, § 2; Canon 1169, § 2; and Roman Ritual De Benedictionibus (1985), n. 18).

3. Furthermore, the laying on of a hand or hands — which has its own sacramental significance, inappropriate here — by those distributing Holy Communion, in substitution for its reception, is to be explicitly discouraged.

4. The Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio n. 84, “forbids any pastor, for whatever reason to pretext even of a pastoral nature, to perform ceremonies of any kind for divorced people who remarry”. To be feared is that any form of blessing in substitution for communion would give the impression that the divorced and remarried have been returned, in some sense, to the status of Catholics in good standing.

5. In a similar way, for others who are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in accord with the norm of law, the Church’s discipline has already made clear that they should not approach Holy Communion nor receive a blessing. This would include non-Catholics and those envisaged in can. 915 (i.e., those under the penalty of excommunication or interdict, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin).

As adoremus comments:

The Congregation’s clarification that extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion(always laity), cannot give sacramental blessings within Mass is very helpful; and could be especially useful to pastors in parishes where inappropriate blessings during Communion have become common.

Although the CDW letter did not mention young children, we often see little children who have not yet received first Holy Communion accompanying their parents in the Communion line, with their arms crossed over their chests — both as a signal to the minister that they are not receiving Communion, and as an expression of the child’s reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.

This reverent gesture of a young child is laudable and appropriate. But sometimes a minister (or extraordinary minister) interprets the child’s gesture as an implicit request for a special blessing as a sort of “substitute” for Communion. While the intention of blessing the child may be good, it should be made clear to all that the priest’s blessing at the conclusion of Mass includes everyone, and that there should not be separate blessings for any person during the Communion rite.

Let's see where this ends up.