Written by Bridget Klawitter, Pastoral Associate

    As we look forward to restarting the cup with the Precious Blood of Christ, we must recognize that the Church has always taught the doctrine of concomitance: under each species alone (bread or wine), the whole Christ is sacramentally present and we "receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace,” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1390). As you receive Communion you make this act of faith in the total presence of the Lord, whether you receive Communion under only one form or under both kinds. It should never be seen that Communion under the form of bread alone or of wine alone is somehow an incomplete act or that Christ is not fully present to you.

    The Church's unchanging teaching from the time of the Fathers through the ages- notably in the ecumenical councils of Lateran IV, Constance, Florence, Trent, and Vatican II- witnessed a constant belief in the full presence of Christ in both elements. There are some pastoral circumstances that require Eucharistic sharing in one species only, such as when Communion is brought to the sick or when one is unable to receive either the Sacred Body or the Precious Blood due to an illness. Even in the earliest days of the Church's life, when Communion under both species was the norm, there were always instances when the Eucharist was received under only the form of bread or wine (e.g. during the Good Friday Liturgy).

    The appreciation for reception of "the whole Christ" through one species should not diminish in any way the fuller sign of reception of Holy Communion under both kinds. For just as Christ offered his whole self– Body and Blood- as a sacrifice for our sins, so too is our reception of his Body and Blood under both kinds an especially fitting participation in this memorial of eternal life.

    From the first days of the Church's celebration of the Eucharist, Holy Communion consisted of the reception of both species in fulfillment of the Lord's command to "take and eat . . . take and drink," (Mt. 26:26-27). The distribution of Holy Communion to the faithful under both kinds was the norm for more than a millennium of Catholic liturgical practice, continuing until the late eleventh century when the custom of distributing the Eucharist to the faithful under the form of bread alone began to grow. By the twelfth century theologians such as Peter Cantor speak of Communion under one kind as a "custom" of the Church. This practice spread until the Council of Constance in 1415 decreed that Holy Communion under the form of bread alone would be distributed to the faithful.

    In 1963, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council authorized the reinstitution of Holy Communion under both kinds in the document Sacrosanctum Concilium. The Council's decision to restore Holy Communion under both kinds at the bishop's discretion continued to grow and the Church encouraged that the faithful should be instructed to participate more readily in this sacred rite, by which the sign of the Eucharistic banquet is made more fully evident (CCC #1390). 

    The reinstitution of the distribution of Holy Communion under both kinds does not represent a change in the Church's long-established beliefs concerning the Holy Eucharist. Rather, today the Church finds it valuable to restore a practice when appropriate (such as today in our post-COVID world), that for various reasons was not favorable such as when the Council of Trent was convened in 1545. But with the passing of time, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the reform of the Second Vatican Council has resulted in the restoration of a practice by which the faithful are again able to experience "a fuller sign of the Eucharistic banquet." (CCC, #1390).