Whether, in distributing Holy Communion under both species, it is permissible for Christ's faithful to approach the Sacrament of the Eucharist and dip for themselves a particle which they have received in the hand into a chalice held by a priest or deacon?

℟. In the negative.

The General Instruction of the third typical edition of the Roman Missal explicitly affirms: « Then the priest takes the paten or the ciborium and goes to those who are to receive Communion, who customarily approach after the manner of a procession. It is not permissible for the faithful to take the consecrated bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and still less to pass them hand to hand among themselves. The faithful receive Communion kneeling or standing as the Conference of Bishops establishes. When, however, they receive standing, it is recommended that they make a due sign of reverence, to be established by the same norms, before the reception of the Sacrament » (n. 160); to which is added something regarding this case: « If Communion from the chalice is done by intinction, the one to receive Communion, holding the paten beneath his mouth, approaches the priest, who holds the vessel with the sacred particles and at whose side assists the minister who holds the chalice. The priest takes the host, dips part of it in the chalice and while showing it says, "The Body and Blood of Christ." The person who is to receive Communion responds, "Amen," receives the Sacrament from the priest in the mouth, and then goes back » (n. 287).

Moreover, the practice in which the faithful receive in the hand a particle that has already been dipped in the Most Precious Blood of Christ is to be regarded as an abuse.