Communion

[Guest why]

Why is it for some Catholics they don't drink the blood when Christ clearly commanded that they do so?

[Pio Nono]

JMJ

1/13 - St. Hilary of Poitiers

Mt. 26:27-8 (NAB)

"Then [Jesus] took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins."

Receiving both the Holy Body (in the accident of a host of bread) and the Precious Blood (in the accident of pure wine) was common in the early Church for all the faithful. However, the practice soon became prominent for the faithful to receive only the Holy Body, due to pastoral considerations (i.e. the young, old, and children could spill the Precious Blood). This is because of the Catholic belief that Christ is present in a fourfold way in the holy host: body, blood, soul and divinity. One receives the blood by receiving the body; Christ cannot be separated.

However, priests are required to communicate under both kinds, as they offer not only the Holy Body of Our Lord, but the Precious Blood as well. Recently, the American bishops have encouraged a return to the ancient practice of all communicating faithful receiving both species. I hope this answers your question.

Yours,

Pio Nono

[cappie]

For Information this may help explain the differences one sees

From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

Communion under Both Kinds

281. Holy Communion has a fuller form as a sign when it is distributed under both kinds. For in this form the sign of the eucharistic banquet is more clearly evident and clear expression is given to the divine will by which the new and eternal Covenant is ratified in the Blood of the Lord, as also the relationship between the Eucharistic banquet and the eschatological banquet in the Father’s Kingdom.105

282. Sacred pastors should take care to ensure that the faithful who participate in the rite or are present at it are as fully aware as possible of the Catholic teaching on the form of Holy Communion as set forth by the Ecumenical Council of Trent. Above all, they should instruct the Christian faithful that the Catholic faith teaches that Christ, whole and entire, and the true Sacrament, is received even under only one species, and consequently that as far as the effects are concerned, those who receive under only one species are not deprived of any of the grace that is necessary for salvation.106

They are to teach, furthermore, that the Church, in her stewardship of the Sacraments, has the power to set forth or alter whatever provisions, apart from the substance of the Sacraments, that she judges to be most conducive to the veneration of the Sacraments and the well-being of the recipients, in view of changing conditions, times, and places.107 At the same time, the faithful should be encouraged to seek to participate more eagerly in this sacred rite, by which the sign of the Eucharistic banquet is made more fully evident.

From: The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in The Sacrament of The Eucharist Questions and Answers

US conference of Catholic Bishops

Does one receive the whole Christ if one receives Holy Communion under a single form?

Yes. Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is wholly present under the appearance either of bread or of wine in the Eucharist. Furthermore, Christ is wholly present in any fragment of the consecrated Host or in any drop of the Precious Blood. Nevertheless, it is especially fitting to receive Christ in both forms during the celebration of the Eucharist. This allows the Eucharist to appear more perfectly as a banquet, a banquet that is a foretaste of the banquet that will be celebrated with Christ at the end of time when the Kingdom of God is established in its fullness (cf. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 32).