HOLY COMMUNION IN THE HAND IN THE EARLY CHURCH
Jean Marty’s book in French is available from ‘Les Editions Saint Raphael, 31 Ouest, rue King, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada J1H 1N4.
The book essentially exposes the remarks and gestures made by a possessed woman in Switzerland during 1975-1978. Speaking through the possessed woman, the demons were forced to tell the truth by Our Lady under the Solemn Church Exorcism, which was witnessed by the following priests who have all expressed their conviction of the authenticity of the revelations made by the demons upon the order of the Blessed Virgin.
- Abbot Albert-l`Arx, Niederbuchorten
- Abbot Arnold Elig, Ramiswil
- Abbot Ernest Fischer, Missionary, Gossau (St.-Gall).
- Rev. Father Pius Gervasi, O.S.B., Disentis
- Abbot Karl Holdener, Ried
- Rev. Father Gregoire Meyer, – Trimbach
- Rev. Father Robert Rinderer, C.P.P.S., Auw
- Abbot Louis Veillard, Cerneux-Pequignot
All eight priests are Swiss, except Father E. Fischer, a German. All participated in the exorcisms except Father G. Meyer who was spiritual director of the possessed woman. Two other French priests also participated in the exorcisms.
E=Exorcist
B=Beelzebub
E: In the name…! What is the story about Communion in the hand in the earliest times of the Church?
B: Christ – we saw this ourselves at the time – when He broke the Bread, did not give It into the hands of the Apostles. We do not wish to speak any more! Not any more!
E: In the name….!
B: We do not like saying that! But we particularly do not like saying it at this time!
E: In the name of the Most Blessed Virgin!
B: At the time when Christ said: “This is My Body”, at the Last Supper, He put the bread directly into the mouths of the Apostles.[87] There is no question about the Precious Blood; they drank It, and did not have It in their hands first.
The Apostles who were present at the Last Supper never acted otherwise; they gave Holy Communion in the mouth … Christ did not wish that later It would be received in the hand … if later, they did receive It in the hand, it was because they had a wrong understanding of things… Christ never wished it. He Himself gave It into the mouth; and even the Blessed Virgin never received this Sacrament any other way, and always kneeling, bowing very deeply… Ah! We do not like saying this!
We were full of fury against Her (he points upward) whenever She received Communion. She saw and, in a mystical way, experienced everything that happened at the Last Supper. She nearly always knew everything. She was destined to guide the Church. The Apostles were also destined for this, but She had in a very large measure, to work with them.
We have had to say this before: She was on her knees[88] day and night, praying for the Apostles, so that everything would go well in Christ’s Church. The Apostles, who were at the Last Supper, never gave Communion any way but into the mouth. If that happened differently later on, it was not the fault of the Apostles. No more did Jesus and His Mother have any part in it. They (he points upward) neither planned for nor wished for that. It was absolutely not their intention.
E: Who did want to introduce Communion in the hand?
B: You must not ask that question!
E: In the name of the Father…!
B: It is we who schemed and plotted for that.[89] We said to ourselves: If we can manage to introduce Communion in the hand among the early Christians, then later on they will be able to say: “There was Communion in the hand previously at the time of the first Christians.” And so it was that this Council, these men of today, would be able to say: “The first Christians communicated in the hand, therefore there is nothing wrong in it. They were the first Christians, It was the time of the life of Christ, they were near Christ. Therefore, it absolutely cannot be sinful.”
True, they did not know that this was not wanted by God. At that very moment, even then, we said to ourselves that if we could make that happen, the result would be a certain lukewarmness. However, Communion in the mouth was brought back. Certain saintly souls and very great Doctors of the Church saw clearly where this was leading, and that it would be better and that there would be much more respect if He up there (he points upward) were received in the mouth… if they could not simply take Him into their hands, into their filthy hands … with nails too long or varnished, or uncared-for hands. We cannot even say it all. There are often people who have not washed their hands all day, when they go somewhere… I do not want to say that! … It is a frightful irreverence.
There are many who do not believe in God so much. They see symbolism everywhere, a little like the Protestants. At the beginning, the Council was not like that, but later it was decided that it had to take steps towards the Protestants and the others. This was solidarity; this was good; this was Christian Charity; and so, partly with the help of the freemasons, we were able to reach the point where it was being said: “It is necessary to be charitable, conciliatory, to practice love of neighbor, to have dialogue[90] one with the other…” until finally, the stage is reached where everything can be softened and changed a little … and things rearranged in such a way that they lose their value and their profound meaning. So it can happen that important graces are lost because one goes along with the crowd.
Mary Refuge Of Souls 