Q. My oldest daughter, age 52, is in a Bible class. One of her fellow students states that she feels cheated if there is no wine during Communion time at the Mass she attends. We didn’t receive wine during my early years as a Catholic. Can you comment on the changes? J.E.T., Rockford.

A.  There is no reason to feel cheated. The Council of Trent defined that whoever receives holy Communion under one species only, that is the sacred host or the precious blood, receives the whole presence of Christ — body, blood, soul and divinity.

Not receiving under both species does not deprive anybody of any grace necessary for salvation.

It states in The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, No. 282, that “Christ, whole and entire, and the true sacrament, is received even under only one species.”

It was only in the late 11th century that it became commonplace for just the host to be distributed.

The Second Vatican Council’s extension of the use of both species was, then, a return to the original practice.

The general instruction, in No. 283, authorizes each diocesan bishop to set norms regarding the use of both species. That same section allows bishops to delegate to a pastor the determination as to when Communion will be distributed under both forms.

Many times in parish life there are not enough trained volunteers to allow for the distribution of Communion under both species.

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