As Cardinal Ratzinger opined, was the Church receiving the Eucharist unworthily by hand over the first 900 years?
I agree that it’s outwardly more reverential to receive on the tongue, but if I may further paraphrase Cardinal Ratzinger, the sins we commit with our tongue are as bad, if not worse, than what we do with our hands.
I was receiving on the tongue for many years, and then I realized I was secretly considering myself superior to those who receive by hand - which is a terrible sin of spiritual pride. Now I receive by hand, since it is perfectly acceptable to do so. Others may not have issues with spiritual pride, but I definitely do.
I read somewhere that while the early Church received in the hand, they also had some kind of cloth covering their hand so they did not come into direct contact with the Host. Maybe the same article discussed an early time when the faithful received the consecrated wine, but not by drinking out of the chalice. A deacon would place it into their mouth via a “fistula,” some kind of straw. Both these practices are somewhat different than what we see today.