On the Tongue and From A Priest

In fact, the faithful regarded themselves as guilty, and rightly so as Origen recalls, if, after they had received the body of the Lord and kept it with all reverence and caution, some part of it were to fall to the ground through negligence. (para. 58, Mysterium Fidei, http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_03091965_mysterium.html)

I stopped receiving Holy Communion in the hand about 5 years ago.  Around the same time, I stopped being an Euchartistic Minister.  I typically will not receive the Precious Blood.  And almost always, I will receive Holy Communion only from a priest (I do make exceptions for a deacon).

Mother Theresa
www.motherteresa.org

I can recall at least two of a few things that have brought me to this point.  The first is the outstanding series from ChurchMilitant.com series "Sleight of Hand: The Reception Deception (http://www.churchmilitant.com/video/series/shrd/section?video_section=reception-deception).  The second is my experience as an adult altar server.

I learned from the ChurchMilitant.com series that from Pope Paul VI, to Saint Pope John Paul II, to Pope Benedict XVI, and to Pope Francis, receiving Holy Communion in the hand was and is not a favorable practice to them.  In fact, none of them recommended it.  If you attend a Papal Mass in Rome, you can only receive Holy Communion on the tongue from the Pope or (only) a priest (there's plenty of footage of Papal Masses on YouTube that you can see for yourself). The practice of receiving only on the tongue at Papal Masses is not meant to showcase the steep tradition of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue only in Rome.  It is meant to show the entire Holy Church how it should be done.

The abuse of receiving Holy Communion in the hand started after Vatican II, during the time of Pope Paul VI.  It started in Germany and in the Netherlands.  This abuse was not new - it was used by Protestants centuries earlier to protest their beliefs that our Blessed Lord did not mean literally what he said in John 6 and at the Lord's Supper.  

Of the 16 official documents that were released as part of Vatican II, only one, Sacrosanctum Concilium, pertained to the liturgy.  There was no mention of changing the manner in which one was to receive Holy Communion in this document. In fact, the document called for "Latin to be retained and Gregorian chant to be given a place of preference in the liturgy."

http://maniplesmatter.blogspot.ca/2013/01/keep-those-fingers-together-message-to.html

Pope Paul VI asked his fellow bishops what they thought of the reception of Holy Communion in the hand - the majority of the bishops were not in favor of the practice.  From this survey of bishops arose three ways to handle the current abuse: no concessions, the practice must stop; allow both forms of receiving Holy Communion; allow a concession only where the abuse had started and was difficult to stop.  The bishops were in favor of the first option; Pope Paul VI chose the last. Through a series of other attempts to find a balance between cease-and-desist and conciliatory approaches, reception of Holy Communion in the hand was approved by the then NCCB (USCCB) in 1977, through the use of a very narrow exception to Rome's petition process.

I recall my time as an adult altar server where I assisted the deacon with preparing the altar.  The altar was prepared with reverence and care.  At one particular Mass, I observed the priest putting down the chalice using his middle, ring, and pinky fingers, while keeping his index finger and thumb together.  This is to prevent particles of the Precious Host from falling!  

If so much care is given to handling of a consecrated host by the priest, what business do I or anyone have as a lay person touching the host for its reception or distribution?