Blood of Christ - History

History

In the early Church, the faithful received the Eucharist in the form of consecrated bread and wine. Saint Maximus explains that in the Old Law the flesh of the sacrificial victim was shared with the people, but the blood of the sacrifice was merely poured out on the altar. Under the New Law, however, Jesus' blood was the drink shared by all of Christ's faithful. St. Justin Martyr, an early Church father of the 2nd century, speaks of the Eucharist as the same body and blood of Christ that was present in His Incarnation.

The tradition continued in the Church in the East to commingle the species of bread and wine, whereas in the West, the Church had the practice of communion under the species of bread and wine separately as the custom, with only a small fraction of bread placed in the chalice. In the West, the communion at the chalice was made less and less efficient, as the dangers of the spread of disease and danger of spillage (which would potentially be sacrilegious) were considered enough of a reason to remove the chalice from common communion altogether, or giving it on only special occasions. However, it was always consecrated and drunk by the priest, regardless of whether or not the laity partook. This was one of the main issues in the Protestant Reformation. As a consequence, the Catholic Church first wanted to eliminate ambiguity, reaffirming that Christ was present both as body and as blood equally under both species of bread and wine. As time went on, the chalice was made more available to the laity. After the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church gave a full permission for all to receive communion from the chalice at every Mass involving a congregation, at the discretion of the priest.

See also Shroud of Turin#Blood stains for laboratory researches.