Way The Eastern Rite Of The Catholic Church Administers Holy Communion?

In many Eastern Catholic Churches, Communion is received by the priest on a spoon, taken from a chalice in which the Body of Christ is comingled with the Blood of Christ. Eastern Catholics in communion with the Catholic Church have the right to receive communion in their Church and are welcomed to the Eucharist in all parishes in the Diocese.

Roman Catholics are accustomed to seeing children around the age of 7 receive Holy Communion for the first time, but this practice is relatively new in the Catholic Church. All Roman Catholics are welcome to attend the Divine Liturgy at these Eastern Rite Churches, which fulfills the Sunday obligation and may receive Holy Communion.

Until the Second Vatican Council, lay Catholics received Holy Communion under the species of bread alone, kneeling, and on the tongue. Some Eastern Catholic churches use leavened bread (mostly in the Byzantine Rite) or unleavened bread (like the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church), distributing Holy Communion.

The Church teaches that there are two basic requirements for Catholics to receive Holy Communion worthily: first, one must be in a state of grace. Communion may be received in any Catholic Church, as sacramental initiation in the mystery of salvation is perfected in the reception of the Divine Blood.

In the Byzantine church, Holy Communion is in the form of small cubes of leavened bread placed in a chalice (intinction) with wine and a small amount of water. The priest or deacon uses a spoon to take out a piece of the Body of Christ, saturated with His Blood.

Full communion with the Catholic Church is determined through faith, sacraments, and pastoral governance. Eastern tradition likens yeast in bread to the soul in the body, meaning the “living bread” of the Eucharist must have yeast.