With the flu season upon us, I have noticed an increasing number of people in the Communion Procession who are wanting to dip the consecrated bread into the consecrated wine, rather than drinking from the cup. The Catholic Church has stated repeatedly that it is sacrilegious (and therefore not permitted) for a deacon or a lay person to do this. Why? After all, didn't we used to do this in the '70s?
A brief liturgical history: Prior to some point in the 1970s, having lay people receive the Blood of Christ was all but outlawed, for fear of spilling the Precious Blood of Christ. Then, the Vatican loosened the rules on this, and many US bishops felt that it would be beneficial for all to receive both the Body and the Blood of Christ. At the time, Holy Communion was distributed by priests on the tongue in most locations. So, special "intinction sets" were made that were essentially an open ciborium with a small cup in the center. The priest would take a host, dip it in the cup, and place it on the communicant's tongue, saying "The Body and Blood of Christ." Meanwhile, an altar server would hold a paten under the communicant's chin in order to catch any drops or spills. (Further history: this practice of "intinction" grew out of an older practice at Masses with a large number of concelebrating priests. In order for all the priests to speedily receive Holy Communion, priests would dip their hosts into the chalice on the altar.)
The next development was three-fold: lay people were permitted to distribute Holy Communion as "extraordinary ministers"*; people were permitted to receive the Body of Christ in the hand; and people were permitted to drink the Blood of Christ from a chalice or communion cup. The practice of the communion minister dipping the host and placing it on the tongue of the communicant more or less went away at that point.
In recent years, however, it has resurfaced, except this time instead of the priest doing the dipping, the communicant themselves are doing the dipping. The exact reason for this is unclear, but it seems to be due in part to a fear of transmitting germs. But the General Instruction of the Roman Missal 2002 only permits intinction by priests, not by communicants, and other more recent Vatican documents make it clear that "self-intinction" is not permitted.
The theological value being upheld is that no one except a priest-celebrant is permitted to "take" Holy Communion: it is to be administered (offered by a minister) and received. Dipping a host is considered "taking" and not receiving.†
A secondary concern is that there is an increase risk of spilling the Body or Blood of Christ if a drop of consecrated wine drips off the soaked host, or if the host itself disintegrates after being soaked with consecrated wine and falls to the floor.
Another practical/pastoral concern is the rise of Celiac-Sprue disease. An increasing number of communicants have Celiac-Sprue, which means that they must not consume any gluten, which is present in wheat. In most cases, this means they can only receive Holy Communion by drinking of the Blood of Christ. A host dipped into a cup of consecrated wine will leave some amount of gluten dissolved in the consecrated wine, thus preventing someone who is gluten-intolerant from receiving Holy Communion at all.
Thus, if one is concerned at all about transmitting or being contaminated with flu viruses, bacteria, germs, etc. through receiving the Blood of Christ, s/he should then not receive from the cup, rather than dipping their host into the cup.
By the way, anyone interested in the Catholic Church's response to H1N1 or other influenza should check out the US bishops' web page on the subject, which can be found at www.usccb.org/liturgy/swineflu.shtml.
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*The ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are the ordained ministers of the Church: bishops, priests, and deacons.
†One dear parish leader often says, "Jesus said, 'Take and eat' and 'Take and drink'; he didn't say 'Take and dip!'"
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