Communion under both species

[promusica]

One of the things I find interesting, and somewhat alarming, is that so many of our communion hymns speak of partaking of the body and blood of Christ, when on the ground here in Ireland the reality is that communion under both species is either rare or non-existant. I am music minister in two churches close to Dublin: in one, it is around four years since we've had both; in the other, never. Every time Holy Thursday or Corpus Christi comes round, the issue is raised, with a vague response. Various excuses I've heard have been i) expense, ii) time constraints, iii) messiness (communion processionals often are a free-for-all anyway), and the old chestnut, iv) catechesis (people wouldn't really understand). None of which are really adequate. What's the experience out there, in the UK or elsewhere?
Incidentally, I took note of the fact that at the Opening Cermony of the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin on Sunday, communion was distributed under both species, with red umbrellas denoting the station for the cup and white for the host. Great to see, but when it doesn't happen on a Sunday, there's something wrong...

[alan29]

I can't remember the last time I saw communion under one kind only.
Both kinds seems to have been the norm for decades over here.

[JW]

Both kinds seems to be common practice in the South of England as well, though there are still some churches where it is only one kind.

[londonchurchman]

My experience in London is almost always that it is given in both kinds.

[docmattc]

One of the things I find interesting, and somewhat alarming, is that so many of our communion hymns speak of partaking of the body and blood of Christ, when on the ground here in Ireland the reality is that communion under both species is either rare or non-existant.

The norm in England is both species, ("The pastor or priest celebrant should see to the full and proper implementation of Communion under both kinds in accordance with the provisions made by the Conference of Bishops." - Celebrating the Mass) but we should not forget that in receiving under either species we are receiving both the body and blood.

We should not feel that we are somehow 'short changed' in receiving under one kind alone. I'm not sure that the absence of catechesis here hasn't led to a perception that the sum of the parts equals the whole. The reality is that each of the parts is the whole.

Neither should we feel that one species is superior to the other, however the universal practice of the host being distributed by the priest and the chalice by the deacon or extraordinary minister does imply a certain hierarchy.

This past Sunday we had one Mass in the parish only, in the open air. Because of this communion was under one kind. It was also first communion Sunday, and I'm not sure how I feel about reception under one species for first communicants when both species is the norm. But that's not the topic for this thread.

[Southern Comfort]

Based on evidence from diocesan liturgical commissions, it appears that Communion under both kinds is the norm in the south of England, with only rare exceptions, but that the further north you go, the spottier its occurrence becomes.

In the USA (the country of Prohibition before the War) it is universally found, but in France (that wine-drinking country!) it is almost never met with. Strange, that.

[Peter]

In Munich, Ljubljana and Milan (see http://www.ssg.org.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1511&p=21048#p21045) only the Host was offered.