In my travels after the pandemic, it seems the shared use of chalices at Mass for the Precious Blood is still relatively rare. OSV News takes a closer look:
After the federal government declared a health emergency in 2020 over the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic churches in the U.S. scrambled to figure out how to provide the Eucharist, the sacrament that is the “source and summit of the Christian life” while keeping people safe from contagion.
In that process, most Catholic churches decided to suspend the Communion chalice at Mass, while allowing people to receive just the host. That prudential judgment by church officials to restrict holy Communion to just one kind only was possible for Catholics, because the church teaches Jesus Christ is “wholly and entirely present” — body, blood, soul and divinity — in the Eucharist. Whether one receives either the host, the body of Christ (which retains the appearance of bread), or the blood of Christ (which retains the appearance of wine) at holy Communion, that person receives the same Christ and can “receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace.”
But the Catechism of the Catholic Church also teaches “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.”
By the time the federal government completely lifted all health restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2023, Catholics were routinely receiving the host, the body of Christ, at holy Communion.
While some dioceses allowed distribution of the blood of Christ from the Communion chalice as early as June 2022, residual fears about the virus have left their mark long after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the risk of COVID-19 contagion from surfaces was actually low and that vaccination was the most effective protective measure against contracting the airborne disease.
With the exception of Eastern Catholic churches (where Catholics receive the Eucharist under both kinds commingled from the priest), the return of the faithful routinely receiving the blood of Christ in Communion chalices has proceeded far more slowly in parishes of the Latin Church.
“I was looking forward for it to come back,” said Edward Zampinella, who receives Communion under both kinds at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Chicago. The pastor there confirmed to OSV News that his parish started to distribute the blood of Christ again at weekly Mass in mid-May.
Zampinella, 67, told OSV News he has been receiving the Eucharist from the Communion chalice “for as long as I’ve been living” but that he had to stop during the pandemic.
“With COVID people got scared and stuff. Now it’s coming back. People are coming out of their shells. Some people are still a little scared, but we (should) just be an example, make people feel comfortable” receiving the blood of Christ again, he said.
