And that is also acceptable given some health problems (e.g. hands/wrists).
I think it’s weird. Unless he can’t distribute the Hosts for some reason, I think he should, since he is a priest.
There are about a bazillion threads dealing with the questionable and potentially abusive over-use of EMHC’s. Now, it’s an abuse for the priest himself to distribute the “wrong” Sacred Species? Last I knew, the priest is the Ordinary Minister of the Eucharist. I would think that term is broad enough to cover either Species, despite the fact that in most situations he would be distributing the Host. There may be, as others noted, some physical reason for this. And even if not - would there ever be a circumstance in which it would NOT be “permitted” for a priest to distribute the Precious Blood? I don’t believe there would be any such restrictions on what the “Ordinary Minister of the Eucharist” could distribute. Why do some strain so hard to find things to second-guess?
Now, here is what RS notes about the distribution of Holy Communion under both species:
The only stipulation made here concerns intinction. Here, the document specifically notes that this is to be from the priest.
It’s an issue (for me, at least) because to distribute the Host requires touching the sacred species themselves; distributing the Chalice requires only touching a sacred vessel. It’s a matter of respect for the Blessed Sacrament, since a priest is supposed to properly cleanse his hands after handling the Host (this is called an ablution). This has fallen by the wayside in those parishes that purify the sacred vessels after Mass, and even moreso when it is not the priest that purifies the sacred vessels.
It needn’t be. For the Latin Rite, it was not the custom at the time of the Council of Trent, although the concession of the Chalice to the laity was taken up again by the second Vatican Council. Throughout the world, in Latin Rite parishes, the practice differs. Some places offer the Chalice all the time, others only on special occasions. I have never personally seen a parish which only allowed EMHCs to receive from the Chalice (although to be honest, selective concession of the Chalice was what Vatican II had in mind, but not in the way you mentioned).
If you had attended a Mass in the Extraordinary Form (the “Tridentine” or “Traditional Latin” Mass, as some people call it) they would have been kneeling, but still only receiving the Host.
We “miss” nothing by receiving our Lord, whole and entire, under one species. While the sign value of receiving both the Host and Chalice is greater than receiving under one species alone, there is no additional grace received.
There are strict rules about the mode of reception of Holy Communion in the Catholic Church. Only priests (and bishops) are allowed to “self-communicate”, by which I mean they may take the Host and Chalice themselves. Passing the Chalice from person to person is not at all permitted. And the spilling of consecrated wine – the Precious Blood of our Lord – is a big deal, and the Church goes to great pains to avoid it; when it does happen, She has a process in place to proper clean the spill and reverently dispose of the Precious Blood.
Actually, the concern is warranted, as expressed by Redemptionis Sacramentum:
That is why you never see Communoin under both Species at Papal Masses where the faithful number in the thousands.
This is what the Church believes.