Holy Communion Under One or Both Species?

What is Holy Communion?

The Eucharist - Holy Communion - simply is Christ's body, blood, soul, and divinity under the appearance of bread and wine. It is not a symbol of Christ, but rather, it is truly and really Jesus Christ! At the point in the Mass known as the consecration the priest, acting in persona Christi, will say "This is my Body, which will be given up for you" and "This is my Blood...". These were the words of Our Savior when He turned the bread and wine at the Last Supper into His Body and Blood, and, by the divine power of God in the priesthood, the bread and wine become Jesus Christ.

The Council of Trent condemned as heretical anyone who claimed that the Eucharist is not the Body and Blood and Soul and Divinity of Christ: “If anyone denieth, that, in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, are contained truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ; but saith that He is only therein as in a sign, or in figure, or virtue; let him be anathema.”

What is Transubstantiation?

The Baltimore Catechism Q. 246 asks, “What is this change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord called? This change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord is called Transubstantiation.”

Only the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church have a valid Eucharist. The protestants, who do not have valid Holy Orders, do not have valid priests and therefore can not confect the Holy Eucharist. They can not by their words cause transubstantiation to occur. A Lutheran or Anglican priest is not a valid priest.

What is Consubstantiation? 

That being said, the Lutherans, although, they do not have a valid Eucharist, believe the Communion in their services is both the Lord’s Body and Blood alongside the substance of bread and wine. This is called consubstantiation. The theological view of consubstantiation, which has no basis in the teachings of the Early Church at all, was explicitly condemned as heretical by the Council of Trent:

“If any one saith, that, in the sacred and holy sacrament of the Eucharist, the substance of the bread and wine remains conjointly with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and denieth that wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood-the species Only of the bread and wine remaining-which conversion indeed the Catholic Church most aptly calls Transubstantiation; let him be anathema.”

The writings of the Early Church Fathers abound in teaching the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, long before the term was coined by the Church. To illustrate the clear Catholic view that existed centuries, even a millennium before Martin Luther, we can turn to a few examples. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (313 – 386 AD) wrote, "Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as simply that, for they are, according to the Master's declaration, the body and blood of Christ.” And St. Augustine (354 – 430 AD) similarly and succinctly wrote, “Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: 'This is My Body.' No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored It.”

What is a Eucharistic Species?

In Theology we use the terms species in reference to the Eucharist. What does species mean? The Modern Catholic Dictionary by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. defines “species” as the following: “Appearances, especially those of bread and wine, after the Eucharistic consecration. The term "species" is used by the Council of Trent to identify the accidents, i.e., the size, weight, color, resistance, taste, and odor of bread, which remain exactly the same after transubstantiation. They are not mere appearances as though these physical properties were unreal. But they are appearances because after the consecration they lack any substance that underlies them or in which they inhere.”

This is an important definition because by it we see a few things. First, the Catholic view is transubstantiation. Second, in transubstantiation the bread and wine, at the moment of consecration, cease being bread and wine and are now the substance of the Lord’s Body, His Blood, His Soul, and His Divinity.  The only thing remaining of bread and wine are the accidents (the color, taste, smell, appearance, et cetera) of bread and wine. They are however not bread and wine any more.

Is Christ’s Body Only in the Consecrated Host? Is the Consecrated Wine Only His Blood?

In the Catechism of St. Pius X we find the clear and universal teaching of the Church: “Both under the species of the bread and under the species of the wine the living Jesus Christ is all present, with His Body, His Blood, His Soul and His Divinity. Both in the host and in the chalice Jesus Christ is whole and entire, because He is living and immortal in the Eucharist as He is in heaven; hence where His Body is, there also are His Blood, His Soul, and His Divinity; and where His Blood is, there also are His Body, His Soul and His Divinity, all these being inseparable in Jesus Christ.”

The smallest fragment of the Eucharistic Host is the fullness of Christ: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. And the smallest drop of the Consecrated wine is likewise the fullness of Our Lord: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We may in conversation refer to the Consecrated Host as “Christ’s Body” and the Consecrated Wine as “Christ’s Blood,” but in reality under each of the species of bread and wine there is no substance of bread or wine and there is the fullness of Christ.

The great confusion on this necessary teaching for salvation comes from the modernism that has infected the Church in the past few decades. In fact, many Catholics fail to understand this because Catholic parishes have introduced Communion in the hand, which was introduced as a liturgical abuse, and they now also distribute Holy Communion from the chalice. The sacrilege of Communion in the hand and the distribution of both Eucharistic species has led to a growing trend in Catholics failing to believe in the Real Presence (i.e. in transubstantiation) and, even for those who do believe, there is a trend in Catholics who believe the Consecrated Host is only Christ’s Body and the Consecrated Wine is only Christ’s Blood.

Should We Receive Holy Communion from the Chalice? 

In the Traditional Latin Mass, Holy Communion is given to those who are kneeling (with the elderly and ill able to stand), on the tongue, and only under one species. Why? The Baltimore Catechism in Q. 900 advised, "The Church does not give Holy Communion to the people as it does to the priest under the appearance of wine also, to avoid the danger of spilling the Precious Blood; to prevent the irreverence some might show if compelled to drink out of a chalice used by all, and lastly, to refute those who denied that Our Lord's blood is present under the appearance of bread also."

The trend following Vatican II to distribute both Eucharistic species incorporates a protestant practice that the Church had repeatedly prohibited in order to both safeguard our Lord’s Body and Blood and to teach the authentic Theology of the Real Presence under one species more fully. The Catholic Encyclopedia summarizes the Church’s history of this topic for those looking for more thorough information. While the Eastern Rites of the Church have continued to offer the Holy Eucharist through intinction (where the Consecrated Bread is dipped in the Consecrated Wine), this practice has long ago vanished from the Western Rites of the Church. The protestants introduction of this was done due to their heretical view of the Consecrated Bread containing the fullness of Christ.

We should not receive Holy Communion from the chalice as traditionally this was for the priest alone. We should also attend the Traditional Latin Mass and not the Novus Ordo. And we should of course never receive Holy Communion in the hand.  As Fr. John Hardon remarked: “Whatever you can do to stop Communion in the hand will be blessed by God.”