Intinction is the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

ic practice of partly dipping the consecrated bread, or ''host'', into the consecrated wine before consumption by the

communicant The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

Western Christianity

Intinction is a method of administering Holy Communion in many

Western Christian Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...

denominations. It is one of the four ways approved in the Latin liturgical rites of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

for administering Holy Communion under the form of wine as well as of bread: "The norms of the Roman Missal admit the principle that in cases where Communion is administered under both kinds, 'the Blood of the Lord may be received either by drinking from the chalice directly, or by intinction, or by means of a tube or a spoon'
General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 245
. .. In the Catholic Church, "The communicant must not be permitted to intinct the host himself in the chalice, nor to receive the intincted host in the hand. As for the host to be used for the intinction, it should be made of valid matter, also consecrated; it is altogether forbidden to use non-consecrated bread or other matter." Lay

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is, under the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'', "an acolyte, or another of Christ's faithful deputed", in certain extraordinary circumstances, to distribute Holy Communion. The term ...

are not allowed to administer by intinction. Intinction occurs in some

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the Great Chu ...

Churches and

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Churches, and intinction is common in some

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Churches, which often give the

the choice of drinking from the chalice or receiving by intinction. In many Lutheran, Episcopal,

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, and

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

churches, intinction is done in the manner of the communicant, not the pastor, dipping the host in the chalice. During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, one diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada temporarily discontinued intinction with concerns regarding the spread of contagion.

Eastern Christianity

In the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

, leavened bread is employed for the Eucharist. Traditionally, the consecrated bread is placed in the

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

and is given together with the consecrated wine directly into the communicant's mouth with a small spoon. Some of the Byzantine-rite

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

in communion with the Church of Rome adopted intinction during the early 20th century, dividing the bread into pieces long enough to be partially dipped in the consecrated wine and placed on the communicant's tongue. This is the practice at least of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the

Greek Byzantine Catholic Church The Greek Byzantine Catholic Church ( el, Ελληνική Βυζαντινή Καθολική Εκκλησία, ''Ellinikí Vizantiní Katholikí Ekklisía;'') or the Greek Catholic Church is a ''sui iuris'' Eastern Catholic particular church of ...

. Some Eastern Catholic Churches (for instance, the

Ethiopic Rite Alexandrian rites are liturgical rites employed by three Oriental Orthodox churches, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by their Eastern Catholic co ...

Catholics of Ethiopia and Eritrea) have adopted the use of unleavened bread, justifying it by reference to the ancient Jewish practice of using only unleavened bread at

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

meals, and give Communion by intinction.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Eastern Orthodox practice with regard to the

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is a Byzantine Rite liturgical service which is performed on the weekdays of Great Lent wherein communion is received from Gifts (the Body and Blood of Christ) that are sanctified (consecrated) in advance, ...

has varied historically and geographically. At this Liturgy, which is customarily used only on weekdays of Great Lent, no prayers of consecration take place but communion is distributed with bread with wine poured into it that were consecrated and reserved at the Divine Liturgy the Sunday before. Wine is placed in the chalice at the Presanctified Liturgy, and the presanctified Eucharist is placed into the wine. In the Greek and ancient Russian practice, this is understood as a "second consecration" in which the wine then becomes consecrated by contact with the consecrated bread that has had the consecrated wine poured into it on the previous Sunday In modern Russian practice, however, it is not considered consecrated. It is said to remain ordinary wine and is used only to facilitate swallowing the bread and so that the people can receive Communion in their customary way. This view is a subject of some controversy. The already consecrated bread used in this Liturgy has been united, at the time it is reserved, with the consecrated wine by placing some of the consecrated wine on the bread with the spoon. In the Russian tradition the wine is placed so that it traces out a cross. Also in the Russian tradition, whichever of the ministers is to consume the remaining elements at the end of the Presanctified Liturgy partakes of the bread alone when he receives Communion at that service and does not drink from the chalice so that he does not break his pre-Communion fast. The Greek (and ancient Russian) tradition is that the wine in the cup is sanctified, once a portion of the bread, on which consecrated wine has previously been poured, is placed in it at the "union" after the Fraction. All celebrants therefore receive the cup as well as the bread. Even when it happens that, at the time of reservation, a priest partially dips the unbroken consecrated bread into the consecrated wine instead of pouring some of the wine on it with the spoon, this does not constitute intinction in the sense here understood of performing the action at the time of administering Communion.

References

External links

General Instruction of the Roman Missal
{{CatholicMass, collapsed Eucharist in the Catholic Church Ceremonial food and drink Anglican Eucharistic theology Lutheran Eucharistic theology

Western Christianity

Eastern Christianity

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

See also

References

External links