Canon 101

[stephendaniel]

There was a person here, I think "Silver", who wrote a few years back about the MP. I could be mistaken. Anyway, in one of those discussions, the topic of the 101st Canon of the Quinisext Council. Someone at the time said this concerned the laity bring their own vessels to receive the Mystery, but I couldn't discern that from the Canon:

1. The divine Apostle loudly proclaims the man created in the image of God to be a body of Christ and a temple. Standing, therefore, far above all sensible creation, and having attained to a heavenly dignity by virtue of the soterial Passion, by eating and drinking Christ as a source of life, he perpetually readjusts both his eternal soul and his body and by partaking of the divine grace he is continually sanctified. So that if anyone should wish to partake of the intemerate body during the time of a synaxis, and to become one therewith by virtue of transessencc, let him form his hands into the shape of a cross, and, thus approaching, let him receive the communion of grace. For we nowise welcome those men who make certain receptacles out of gold, or any other material, to serve instead of their hand for the reception of the divine gift, demanding to take of the intemerate communion in such containers; because they prefer soulless (i.e., inani-mate) matter and an inferior article to the image of God. In case, therefore, any person should be caught in the act of imparting of the intemerate communion to those offering such receptacles, let him be excommunicated, both he himself and the one offering them.
   (1 Cor. 12:27; 2Cor.6:16.)

Interpretation.
In that time there prevailed a custom of laymen communing, just like priests, by taking the holy bread in their hands, in the manner in which they nowadays receive the antidoron. But since some men, on the pretense of reverence, and of paying greater honor to the divine gifts, used to make gold vessels, or vessels of some other precious material, and were wont to partake of the intemerate body of the Lord by receiving it in such vessels; therefore, and on this account, the present Canon will not admit this procedure, even though it be employed for the sake of reverence. Because, in view of the fact that a man is one who has been made in the image of God, and who eats the body and drinks the blood of Christ, and thereby becomes sanctified, and since he is in fact a body and temple of Christ, according to the Apostle, he transcends all sensible things and inanimate creatures, and consequently his hands are far more precious than any vessel. Hence anyone that wishes to partake of the Lord’s body, let him form his two hands into the shape of a cross, and let him receive it therein. As for any layman that may receive the body of the Lord in a vessel, and any priest who may impart it in any such thing, let both of them be excommunicated, because they prefer an inanimate (i.e., soulless) vessel to the human be-ing molded in the image of God.

I'm not drawing a conclusion. I understand there are Canons pertaining to the Faith and Canons that were relevant for their time. I also understand that there are Canons that are up to the Bishop to discern whether to "follow the letter of the Law".

However, what was the Tradition of imparting the Holy Body and Blood to the Laity at the time this Council was held. If the laity received the Mystery with their bare hands, why do we not do it now? Would that not be a Tradition that is intricate to the Faith? Something that couldn't change?

Just trying to clarify for better understanding. Thank you so much.

[stephendaniel]

There are a lot of grammatical errors in my first statement. Corrections are in bold.

There was a person here, I think "Silver", who started a discussion a few years back about the MP. I think it was him, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, in one of those discussions, the topic of the 101st Canon of the Quinisext Council came up. Someone at the time said this concerned the laity bring their own vessels to receive the Mystery, but I couldn't discern that from the Canon:

[Mark Templet]

Dear Stephen,

This is a good question. Today the only people that recieve the Body in their hands are the clergy. In ancient times there were traditions that had all of the laity as well doing so. I suspect that the reason for this no longer being a tradition is one of practicality. The above canon does not require that the layity take the Body in their hands, it is only prohibiting them from doing so in other vessels.
The clergy (usually the priest) who is despensing Holy Communion to the faithful must do so with tremendous care and attention. It is a dreaded thought to spill or drop the Holy Things! I have dropped antidorion before when trying to hand it to people and that is bad enough. When properly done today, there is a cotton cloth held against the Chalice and under the faithful's chin to ensure that anything dropped or dripped is caught and protected. If a single drop hits the floor, the priest had better immediately get down on the floor and consume it. Likewise great care is taken throughout the service to not miss a single crum. One of the safest ways to conduct these actions is the current use, that of the spoon, supported by a cotton cloth, rather than trying to hand something to someone who may not conduct themselves correctly because of nervousness, ignorance, or neglegence (God forbid).
You will find in Orthodoxy that there are many traditions that are not dogmatic, but revolve around practicality. Over several centuries they seem to become dogmatic (and if departure from them scandalizes people that must be taken into account), however they are not dogmatic they are simply orthopraxis. This takes some getting used to for us converts from the West.