[metmom]

When did they start that?

All the priest ever did for decades was just give people a round white wheat wafer. No one ever handed anyone a cup to drink out of.

[Natural Law]

"When did they start that?"

I can recall it being done in my parish for at least the last 30 years. It is a decision by each diocese. Some have temporarily suspended the practice during the H1N1 fears, but most are doing it.

[Cronos]

While the consecrated bread ceases to be bread and the consecrated wine ceases to be wine, they maintain their original appearances. No visible change can be detected in the consecrated elements. No microscope, no matter how fine, will show the slightest alteration. What is on the paten will appear to be plain bread. What is in the chalice will appear to be plain wine.

In the Middle Ages the change effected at Consecration was as: Any created thing has two.aspects, its substance and its appearance. The substance is what the thing is in and of itself, internally, deep down inside. Its appearance is what can be perceived by our five senses and, thus, what can be perceived by scientific instruments.

When the bread and wine are consecrated, their appearances remain exactly the same as before, but their substances change. The appearance of bread and wine remain but they are now Christ's body and blood.

Science can examine only a thing's appearances. If they do not change, science will detect no change. This means that the unbeliever who scoffs at the Eucharist because he sees nothing altered under the microscope just does not understand what we say is going on. The Church teaches that the substance of the bread and the substance of the wine are altered, and substance is something that no microscope can perceive.