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A note from Fr Matthew: Receiving the Precious Blood

As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. In 1963, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council authorized the extension of the faculty for Holy Communion under both kinds in the document Sacrosanctum Concilium. Since then, many Catholics have embraced the option to receive both the Precious Body and the Precious Blood at mass. Our recent pandemic made using a common chalice unfeasible. COVID-19, unfortunately, is still with us, and it has created ongoing concerns about health and safety.

With that in mind, please know that receiving the Precious Blood is an option, not a requirement. Our priests, deacon, and Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist (EMEs) will reverently and carefully wipe the chalice with a purificator cloth after each person receives the Precious Blood. There is no way to “sanitize” the chalice, but we can be mindful.

Receiving both species of the Eucharist means we must be aware of our health. Yet it is also an opportunity to experience the mystery of Christ’s Body and Blood. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have stated that, “Holy Communion has a fuller form as a sign when it takes place under both kinds. For in this form the sign of the Eucharistic banquet is more clearly evident and clearer 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 connection between the Eucharistic banquet and the eschatological banquet in the Kingdom of the Father.”

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Matthew Malek, OFM Conv

Parochial Adminsitrator

[email protected], (952) 698-1710