We don't have anyone to bring Communion to the choir/schola for our Masses. What we do is receive after Mass. It works well. I don't know if this would work with your priest, but it wouldn't hurt to ask!

Receiving after Mass would definitely be my preference, but unfortunately there are time restraints for the priest because he has another Mass to celebrate after this one.

And GIRM 86, in the context of the administration of Holy Communion during (rather than after) Mass, directs that care should be taken so that the choir may receive Holy Communion with ease, which I would read to strongly discourage any direction for them to receive after Mass (they could *choose* that if a minister was ready and willing, but I don't think that's for anyone else to direct them to do).

Although I do not know the shape and size of your church this seems to me not a good idea no matter who distributes the Communion. Merely for the sake of reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament it would be good to avoid climbing stairs with it.

Yeah, it's not really the most ideal situation, but I'm not sure what would work better. What we used to do is just have the choir go downstairs right at the very beginning of Communion, and then we would get back upstairs pretty quickly and be able to start singing. However, it's gotten harder with a couple of older members who can't climb the stairs very well.

It seems like it's always a difficult/awkward situation no matter what. For me personally, it has made things easier to have someone bring the Blessed Sacrament to me, because 1) I have asthma and after climbing up and down the stairs I have trouble singing well, and 2) I'm pregnant, which means my lung capacity is further reduced and it's getting harder to waddle up and down the stairs, haha... It kind of makes me laugh that the GIRM talks about the choir receiving Communion with ease, because I'm like, "is that ever possible?"

I'm thinking after Easter what I'm going to do is have the choir sing the Communion Antiphon and then I'll just play something instrumental on the organ for the rest of the time, and then everyone can receive Communion however they want and it won't be a big rush to hurry up and receive Communion so we can start singing. When I'm sitting in the pew, I prefer instrumental music to people singing, anyways.

I would strain to avoid saying that being in the choir is one of those situations - there's no basis for that in what the Church teaches. It's one thing to periodically remind people they are not obliged to receive. It's quite another to effectively recommend non-reception without basis. The logistical preferences of the music director in that regard aren't sufficient to make such a recommendation other than the music director's self.

We receive from an EMHC in the choir loft - many in choir would have difficulty with the stairs, and communion would be over by the time they went down, received, and returned.
While care should be taken with carrying a ciborium, stairs should not IMHO constitute an insuperable barrier.
While I don't switch lines to receive from a priest, I appreciate that the choir loft is the only place where I can receive kneeling without causing a fuss.
When on occasion the EMHC has forgotten to come to the loft, we have received after Mass. And once or twice not at all, but I think this is hardly to be recommended.

with respect to the original posters question, I think - choir members should be encouraged to receive if they wish to , as communion with the Lord is more important than service in ministry. and secondly, if it is a matter of conscience for them, then let them go to a priest, in whatever way is practicable. This seems to me a simple application of 'considering the needs of others'.

It seems that with ever increasing age of choirs, that the old lofts, often with steep, narrow, winding stairs, are becoming increasingly unserviceable (sometimes even the organists and music directors are finding it difficult, between injuries, disabilities, and the general obesity epidemic). While some may be able to make the trip up for the mass, to make the extra trip down/up for communion is very often asking far too much of old knees and the like.

Yet, some option to reverently receive communion is imperative, be it during the mass, or in a dignified way after mass (which would be nearly impossible in the very "social" environment of many parishes after mass).

I wonder if really the better long term solution is not in fact architectural/engineering in nature? Most of us are seeing fewer Catholic worshipers than ages past, so I wonder if converting the back few pews into choir stalls on a slightly elevated position, with the organ console relocated to be with the singers, might not be something worth considering. (The impact of this on acoustics would need to be very carefully considered, and might be inadvisable.) I do in fact know of a number of churches and chapels that removed the choir lofts completely, though at least one now wishes it had the extra seating capacity back. Alternatively, there is always the possibility of installing an elevator. (If building new, and on a large scale, a chancel choir would be the option I would most prefer, but that is difficult to retrofit and unsuitable for small churches.)

In the average Catholic parish, silence would not be the result of not singing during the distribution of Communion.

That's a good idea, Adam. I think I will try that next time and see how it goes.

I play at a very small, beautiful, old church that has a loft and narrow stairs. I am a new Catholic (2 1/2 yrs) and play/cantor. I participated in Traditional Mass a few times early on, and attended daily Mass with some trads, so was accustomed from almost my first Mass to receive by tongue. Now, it seems sacrilegious to me to receive any other way (others think differently, and that's fine). So the priest, knowing my preference, has me go up to the front while Eucharistic ministers receive, and I receive before any of the congregation, so I can get back upstairs to begin the music. It seems to work in this place. Lack of music doesn't seem to take away from the reverence. And I like to say "amen" loudly enough to be heard since few people have been doing this.

Does anyone else have the same situation?

I have been doing for a few years what AW suggests, it works very well.

I agree with Adam, while communion is still being distributed, the church is not silent, so music is useful. I do think there should be silence - but after the communion distribution, after the ablutions, when the priest can sit in his seat again, and communicate by body language that this is not just a random pause, but a deliberate time of silent contemplation. Sort of a John Cage moment :-)

singing is praying :-)

Veromary, that is what we do at both EF and OF. I'm the asthmatic, so the two college-aged gentlemen usually start the Communio without me, and since they chant the verses and any women come back in on the antiphon, it's rather seamless. Then we sing a motet, then the Marian antiphon, then have silence. It works quite well. At Low Mass, we normally chant a Eucharistic/Blessed Sacrament chant or Communio from a different Sunday that is also appropriate instead of the Communio of the day.

Silence is preferred by many communicants, anyway--my own husband, chant-lover that he is, included!

Torculus, that is one of the reasons I always take a drink of water after receiving and before singing, pace Salieri; I'm not being disrespectful of the Sacred Species, but quite the opposite. I also have severe dry-mouth due to medications, so particles of the Species are always stuck in my throat. Better safe than sorry. Fortunately, being in the loft, no one observes this, and my pastor already knows that I do this and why.

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