Is it a sacrilege to take communion in hand?

Is it a sacrilege to take communion in hand? In the Old Mass, Catholics receive communion by kneeling down and receive the Holy Eucharist in tongue. In the new mass, this has been changed, Catholics no longer kneel down and take communion in tongue. Catholics believe that the “real presence of our Lord” is in the bread and wine and therefore it is only appropriate to behave in a such manner of reverence that is due to Him. According to tradition and teaching, the priest is the only one allowed to hold the body of Christ because his hands were consecrated. > Out of reverence towards this sacrament [the Holy Eucharist], nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest's hands, for touching this sacrament. > St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) - Summa Theologica, Part III, Q. 82, Art. 3, Rep. Obj. 8 > The fact that only the priest gives Holy Communion with his consecrated hands is an Apostolic Tradition. > The Council of Trent (1545-1565) > This method [on the tongue] must be retained. > _Memoriale Domini_ - Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) > To touch the sacred species and to distribute them with their own hands is a privilege of the ordained. > Pope John Paul II - _Dominicae Cenae_, 11 > It is not permitted that the faithful should themselves pick up the consecrated bread and the sacred chalice, still less that they should hand them from one to another. > _Inaestimabile Donum_, April 17, 1980, sec. 9. My question is more about worship and reverence. How do we behave in God’s presence? Yes, we are all dirty rags I know. Like for example in dining, do we use our licking fingers or use fork and knives? Do we exercise ethics and right conduct?