Why do Catholics only receive the host and not the wine during Holy Communion? I watch Mass on television and never see Catholics receive anything but the host.During Pope Benedict's visit to the United States next week, as many as 100,000 Catholics will receive Communion during the televised Masses at Washington Nationals Stadium on Thursday and Yankee Stadium on Sunday. And the reader is right: If you watch those Masses, you'll see all of those Catholics receiving only the consecrated Host--the Body of Christ.
The Church teaches that, at the consecration, when the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, Christ is present "body and blood, soul and divinity" in both species. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes:
Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite.
The "pastoral reasons" referred to here are both the ease of distribution of Communion, particularly to large congregations, and the protection of the Precious Blood from profanation. Hosts may be dropped, but they are easily recovered; the consecrated wine, however, is more easily spilled and cannot easily be recovered.
The Catechism goes on to note:
But "the sign of communion is more complete when given under both kinds, since in that form the sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more clearly." This is the usual form of receiving communion in the Eastern rites.
In the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church (as well as in Eastern Orthodoxy), the Body of Christ is immersed in the Blood, and both are served to the faithful on a golden spoon. This minimizes the danger of spilling the Precious Blood (which is largely absorbed into the Body). Since Vatican II, a similar practice has been revived in the West: intinction, in which the Host is dipped in the Chalice before being given to the communicant. And in the United States, Communion under both species (in which the communicant receives the Host and then drinks from the Chalice) is allowed for pastoral reasons, and some churches do take advantage of that concession.
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good anwer, Scott! I might amend it to say that “Many” churches offer Holy Communion under both species – the consecrated Host and the Precious Blood. One of the main reasons why it isn’t done all the time is simple logistics. Usually, if the cup is offered, there need to be two cup ’stations’ for each station offering the Host. Often, that’s simply impossible! Imagine what kind of organized chaos might result if they tried to offer the cup to the 56,000 people at Yankee Stadium, for example! And imagine how much wine they’d need!
When we go to Orlando, my wife and I often attend Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady, Queen of the Universe. It’s a beautiful church, seating a couple of thousand, and it’s frequently full for the many masses every weekend. They usually have a dozen or more communion ministers, and distribute only the Host. I kidded the rector after mass one Sunday about not offering the cup, and he good-naturedly answered that they couldn’t afford the wine bill, and couldn’t find enough people to help with communion!
Peace,
Deacon Bob
I would have to abstain, and as a Catholic, this would be disconcerting. I have celiac disease, meaning that I cannot have anyting with wheat. No Eucharist for me!
I attended mass this summer where communion was offered under both species. Some people, (like myself) wish to receive only the host due to the fact that everyone has to drink from the same cup.