The Feast of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ) has been celebrated by the universal church since 1264. It came about largely through some intense lobbying by a group of nuns, who said that we need a feast that calls attention to how special the Eucharist is and how privileged we are to be able to come to communion. We need a feast that reminds us that the same Christ who was present to the Apostles at the Last Supper is present to us at Mass under the appearance of bread and wine.

The Decree of 1264 making Corpus Christi a feast of the universal church was the culmination of a movement over many centuries of increasing reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. This same movement toward greater reverence for the Eucharist was, however, accompanied by a gradual decline in participation in the Eucharist by the faithful. For the first thousand years of Christianity, the faithful normally received communion under both species, following the example of Jesus who passed both the bread and the cup at the Last Supper. In fact, there was a tradition in some worship communities that when the gifts were being collected, the deacon would move through the congregation with the chalice. People who had brought wine from home would add wine to the cup until there was enough wine in the cup for everyone to receive the consecrated wine. From the eleventh century on, communion from the cup became less common and the practice of kneeling for communion and receiving communion on the tongue rather than in the hand became more common. Part of the reasoning for withdrawing the cup was to safeguard against spills and to counter the erroneous belief that the laity had to receive under both species to receive the whole Christ. Finally in 1281 the Council of Lambeth decreed that the Most Precious Blood was to be received by the priest alone Over the centuries the Feast of Corpus Christi focused on seeing the Blessed Sacrament, adoring the Blessed Sacrament, and being blessed by the Blessed Sacrament, but not always about receiving the Blessed Sacrament.

During the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century and the Counter Reformation within the Roman Catholic Church, the communion from the cup became one of the primary points of contention. In the Wars of Religion, some combatants marched into battle with a banner with the picture of a chalice on it. Positions hardened. Finally in 1970, the Catholic Church cautiously restored the option of receiving communion under both forms. Most parishes moved slowly on this, and Assumption very slowly. Communion from the cup began to be offered as an option at the 10:30 Mass about twenty years ago. Then, beginning in 2009, it was expanded to all the weekend Masses.

Even before Catholic Churches were closed in March of 2020 because of COVID-19, the Archdiocese asked us to cease offering communion from the cup. No one knew at the time how COVID was spreading, and not sharing the cup was a prudent decision. Now that we know that COVID is primarily an airborne virus, withdrawing the cup may have had little effect on stopping the spread of the pandemic. At any rate, it has been well over three years since the cup has been offered at Mass. Several weeks ago, the Archdiocese authorized all parishes to begin offering the cup at Mass, according to our own timetable. Of course, some people will still have reservations about drinking from the cup (Some people have always had reservations about drinking from the cup); but that is something we can decide for ourselves. The point of offering the cup is not so that we can get more of Christ (That is still heresy!). It is to offer us as human beings a more complete sign of the mystery we celebrate. We have a sufficient number of Ministers of the Eucharist to begin offering the option of receiving from the cup at the first three weekend Masses (5:00 Saturday, 7:30 and 9:00) beginning in July. As soon as we have enough active Ministers at the other Masses, we can begin to offer the Precious Blood then too.  

Since it has been over three years since we have done this, let’s review a few rules of communion etiquette. Everyone should continue to come by way of the center aisle and everyone should receive the consecrated host from the priest or minister. For those with gluten issues, we do have low-gluten hosts which we can consecrate if we know in advance that you are coming. Those who also wish to receive from the cup would then move to the minister to the left or right of center. When the minister says, “The Blood of Christ”, respond “Amen” and take the cup from the minister. It is not permitted to dip the host into the chalice. To receive from the cup, you must drink from the cup. The minister will wipe the cup with the purificator and turn it slightly before handing it to the next recipient.  How amazing is it that our God comes to us in such a humble and unassuming way!

                                                                               Fr. Joe