Offer Communion Under Both Kinds?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kliska
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
MooCowSteph said:
Does anyone feel like the withholding of the precious blood is denying people a full participation in the sacrament? Is that a “fair” allegation?
Click to expand...
I certainly do not.

But I am just as certain that from time to time posters have appeared on this forum who I would classify as material utraquists.

:twocents:
tee
 
My local RCC Parish does offer both species. Though I grew up in a parish that only offered the Body of Christ (though it too now offers communion in both species). I have never taken the blood, neither when Catholic when it seemed to be more commonly offered, nor today in my current Church out of habit more than anything mixed in with a tiny bit of germ paranoia.
 
The Precious Blood is present inside the Host, with the Body. Only on certain occasions should the Host and Cup be offered together.
 
Upgrade25 said:
The Precious Blood is present inside the Host, with the Body. Only on certain occasions should the Host and Cup be offered together.
Click to expand...
Perhaps you should read what the bishops of the United States have had to say on the matter.
 
twf said:
That’s the whole basis of using EMHCs…to speed things up. Right or wrong, the “time it takes” is a consideration every priest weighs.
Click to expand...
I don’t believe that’s why EMsHC are employed for the most part.
 
CatholicCraze said:
It tends to vary from parish to parish. For instance, my parish at home only gives out the host and gives the wine out for Gluten free people. Our former pastor made it like this after the whole swine flu so we haven’t had the wine since. Our new pastor is currently trying to bring the wine which I really hope he does. At my catholic college both are served so where I live it varies based on parish.
Click to expand...
Truly sad that any Catholic would refer to the Precious Blood as “wine” – yet you capitalize “Gluten.”
 
One thing that is VERY ugly about offering the cup is the amount of lipstick that gets deposited on it and in turn on the purificator. It can be downright gross.

Getting the lipstick stains out of purificators can also be extremely difficult. While some Eastern Catholic and Orthodox women would never present themselves for communion wearing lipstick, I can just imagine how well such a request would go over in the Latin Rite in the US and Western Europe.
 
e_c said:
Some considerations…
  1. IT CAN SPILL. This has happened to me when distributing… people pull the chalice away while still tilted. Disaster. And awkward to try to tell them what to do with their clothing.
  2. MUSTACHES. Oh man. Self-explanatory.
  3. UNSANITARY. Really… a hundred people’s backwash? Not safe, and gross even if everyone’s fit as fiddles. The very elderly especially can have a hard time with basically spitting back into the cup.
  4. EXPENSIVE. Those gallon bottles of wine are not cheap. Over the years, it adds up.
  5. TIME CONSUMING. Father has to distribute to x EMHC’s once, then twice, or there must be delicate choreography to have him split it with those who have been given a chalice to distribute. Then also the line slows down when distributing to congregants.
  6. TRAFFIC. The ducking and dodging and weaving can be very frustrating in some parishes. And then if you aren’t receiving under both forms, but the person sitting on your inside is, then you’ll have to wait for them back at the end of the pew or stand up if they want their seat back. A little awkward, since we’re supposed to be focused on something other than that stuff. (COMMUNION RAILS would help solve the issue… as would returning to the ancient design of naves, with seating ONLY for the sick and elderly, which allows for a free-flowing approach. Dream on though, right?)
  7. THEOLOGICALLY CONFUSING. Not only is there the issue of the question of the necessity of receiving both, but many people just don’t understand that this too is the Eucharist… There’s “the Eucharist,” and “the wine.” Maybe not distributing it could call attention to the fact that it too is something special.
  8. A LOT TO PURIFY. In large congregations, this can be a real problem. Oftentimes, the task is delegated (illegally) to a sacristan or lay volunteer who means well but does not know what they are doing. They rush through the job because of the volume, with x problems along the way, some of which are very, very materially serious. It would be better if Father just had the one chalice to purify, which he could do right there on the altar. And then there is the issue of how to purify (and distribute) chalices to begin with, which is done dubiously… “a little” of the Precious Blood is the same as “a lot,” which is the whole Christ. Purificators touching some is, in this respect, the same as getting them soaked. Why is this the common practice? I digress.
  9. ALCOHOL PROBLEMS. Some kids just want to drink. All alcoholics just want to drink. YES this is a real thing.
  10. IT CAN SPILL. It bears repeating.
Click to expand...
With proper training, planning and self-control, none of what you mentioned should be an issue.
 
EyesClosed said:
Truly sad that any Catholic would refer to the Precious Blood as “wine”
Click to expand...
Oh, unless you have reason to believe [user]CatholicCraze[/user] is truly confused, it is not so bad. The Church herself uses the word in her Catechism, as do the Early Church Fathers which it quotes.
EyesClosed said:
– yet you capitalize “Gluten.”
Click to expand...
🤷 Maybe because it looks and sounds German (though it actually derives from the Latin)?

tee
 
EyesClosed said:
With proper training, planning and self-control, none of what you mentioned should be an issue.
Click to expand...
I’m amused by that.

Thats like saying everyone should hit the gas when the light turns green. With the proper training that would work for the first car and the 50th car. But it doesn’t work that way does it?
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
I’m amused by that.

Thats like saying everyone should hit the gas when the light turns green. With the proper training that would work for the first car and the 50th car. But it doesn’t work that way does it?
Click to expand...
Only in NASCAR…😃
 
otjm said:
Perhaps you should read what the bishops of the United States have had to say on the matter.
Click to expand...
I’m not promoting consubstantiation. Crud, it looks that way. In the accident of the bread is present: The Body and Blood and Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will certainly read what the Bishops, far holier men than I, have to say about this.
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
I’m amused by that.

Thats like saying everyone should hit the gas when the light turns green. With the proper training that would work for the first car and the 50th car. But it doesn’t work that way does it?
Click to expand...
It’s not like saying that at all.

Good planning and training can make all the difference in the world. Sadly some individuals and organizations aren’t capable of either one.
 
Upgrade25 said:
I’d say that they were right in allowing it again, but bad catechesis messed up the opportunity.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t say “allow,” rather “promote.” Nothing was ever wrong in RECEIVING both species, as long as you were properly disposed.
 
EyesClosed said:
Getting the lipstick stains out of purificators can also be extremely difficult. While some Eastern Catholic and Orthodox women would never present themselves for communion wearing lipstick, I can just imagine how well such a request would go over in the Latin Rite in the US and Western Europe.
Click to expand...
No, we like wearing lipstick just as much as Latin Rite Catholics
 
EyesClosed said:
It’s not like saying that at all.

Good planning and training can make all the difference in the world. Sadly some individuals and organizations aren’t capable of either one.
Click to expand...
While it is easy to say, in real life it is quite another matter altogether. I think e_c brought up some practical considerations which actually made sense.

What constitutes good planning and training?

If you refer to EHMCs/lectors/commentators, yes, they do have ‘training’ as far as to what they should and should not do which can be done formally or in ad hoc manner.

Our former Archbishop, now an emeritus, was very particular with how the liturgy being played out. He would, after the procession on going back to the sacristy, remind his entourage and tell them - the altar boys, lectors and EHMCs, on what he had observed during the mass, in order to improve or to avoid undesirable incidents. Those may be regard to the readings or the handling of the Holy Communion.

I don’t dispute you, but your parish seems to be very complacent about the liturgy. I wonder.
 
EyesClosed said:
It’s not like saying that at all.

Good planning and training can make all the difference in the world. Sadly some individuals and organizations aren’t capable of either one.
Click to expand...
The best planners and trainers aren’t going to get 100% cooperation. I think that was HD’s point.
 
Kliska said:
Does your parish offer communion under both kinds? Asking out of curiosity and I know most Eastern Catholic Churches do offer both (correct?), so this is mainly to those in the Latin rite. Does it usually differ by location? If you don’t mind, share your country with your answer.
Click to expand...
Yes and I’m glad. USA
 
EyesClosed said:
With proper training, planning and self-control, none of what you mentioned should be an issue.
Click to expand...
EyesClosed said:
It’s not like saying that at all.

Good planning and training can make all the difference in the world. Sadly some individuals and organizations aren’t capable of either one.
Click to expand...
How do we train wine to be less expensive? Or train people not to go out looking for alcohol? Or the sanitation issue? Or - THE MUSTACHES? Good golly gee, the mustaches.

The training it would take to make these things go super smoothly in many spaces would require hours of Russian ballet-esque instruction and practice… not just for EMHC’s either! The reality of the parish does not allow for this. We just take what we can get, and usually it’s ok. Here though, the problem is that one often needs to navigate a swarming hive of fellow communicants, while Our Divine Redeemer sits in one’s mouth, almost forgotten because Mary Ellen is in front of you and she walks sloooowwwwly, but you are afraid to dodge around her because, well, there are people in line for the chalice, and the lad behind you may or may not be heading to the end there so you are trying to give him some room. Meanwhile, Mary Ellen has decided to communicate again and has gotten in that line, so now you have to wind your way through that line perpendicularly to get out, pardoning yourself to someone who is supposed to be in intense recollection, just as you are supposed to be. Finally you break free! But then you realize - you are on the wrong side of the nave now! You thought you might want to take the chalice, which is only distributed on the left, but decided after turning that you would rather just get back to prayer.

This is how it really is.

Oh - ALSO. Let me add another - which really does happen… FLIES. Or other bugs. Or random things… falling into the chalice. Best to minimize that possibility, no? Unless you are carrying a pall with you when you distribute, this is something that can happen! Are you prepared to give that to the next communicant? Or to drain it yourself? Or to sneak it to Father without him knowing what he’s consuming?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top