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Tag: Communion

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Sacraments

What are the current rules for determining the age of reason for first holy Communion?

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There is no hard-and-fast rule for determining the age of reason: it is a judgment call on the part of parents, pastors and teachers — the ones who know the…

There is no hard-and-fast rule for determining the age of reason: it is a judgment call on the part of parents, pastors and teachers — the ones who know the child the best. In general, throughout the United States, second grade is the time when children receive first Communion. Typically, the children in second grade are between the ages of 7 and 9.

First Communion and confirmation are not typically given at the same time in the Latin rite of the Church, but the three sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist) are administered at the same time in the Eastern rite. For Latin-rite Catholics — about 99 percent of Catholics around the world — baptism is to be given within the first weeks of birth. First confession and first Communion follow around age 7, and confirmation may be administered at the age of reason or after. Across the United States, the typical age range for confirmation is 12 to 17, and there are good reasons advanced both for the younger and older ages.

The Code of Canon Law states: “The administration of the Most Holy Eucharist to children requires that they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation so that they understand the mystery of Christ according to their capacity and are able to receive the body of Christ with faith and devotion.

“The Most Holy Eucharist, however, can be administered to children in danger of death if they can distinguish the body of Christ from ordinary food and receive Communion reverently.

“It is primarily the duty of parents and those who take the place of parents, as well as the duty of pastors, to take care that children who have reached the use of reason are prepared properly and, after they have made sacramental confession, are refreshed with this divine food as soon as possible. It is for the pastor to exercise vigilance so that children who have not attained the use of reason or whom he judges are not sufficiently disposed do not approach holy Communion” (Canons 913-914).

Rev. Francis Hoffman, J.C.D., Executive Director of Relevant Radio. Follow him on his Facebook page “Father Rocky.”

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Sacraments

What is Spiritual Communion?

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Years ago, I learned a “spiritual communion” prayer that St. Josemaría Escrivá learned as a child from his mother’s confessor. It goes like this: “I wish, my Lord, to receive…

Years ago, I learned a “spiritual communion” prayer that St. Josemaría Escrivá learned as a child from his mother’s confessor. It goes like this: “I wish, my Lord, to receive you, with the purity, humility and devotion with which your most Holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervor of the saints.” Millions around the world now pray that prayer.

A spiritual communion is a personal devotional that anyone can pray at any time to express their desire to receive holy Communion at that moment, but in which circumstances impede them from actually receiving holy Communion. The impeding circumstances might be a variety of things: the person could already be “maxed out” because they have already received holy Communion twice that day; or the person could be in prison and unable to attend Mass; or the person might be elderly and at home watching Mass on the television or listening to it on the radio; or the person might be hiking a mountain and wants to be more deeply united to Jesus Christ at that moment.

There is no such thing as an “official” spiritual communion. Everyone can make up their own, or use a prayer another person composed.

When you pray a spiritual communion, your soul receives grace to the degree that you have true hunger for the holy Eucharist.

Rev. Francis Hoffman, J.C.D., Executive Director of Relevant Radio.

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Sacraments

What is a First Penance liturgy?

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First penance liturgy is usually referred to as “first penance service” and is for children preparing for their first Communion. Often, parents are encouraged to attend the service and make…

First penance liturgy is usually referred to as “first penance service” and is for children preparing for their first Communion. Often, parents are encouraged to attend the service and make their own confession.

Before children receive their first holy Communion, they are to make their first confession: “It is primarily the duty of parents and those who take the place of parents, as well as the duty of pastors, to take care that children who have reached the use of reason are prepared properly and, after they have made sacramental confession, are refreshed with this divine food as soon as possible. It is for the pastor to exercise vigilance so that children who have not attained the use of reason or whom he judges are not sufficiently disposed do not approach holy communion.” (Canon 914).

Typically, this takes place in the second grade when children are seven or eight years old. Often, the parents and godparents will be invited to participate in the first penance liturgy not only to accompany their children, but also to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation themselves and thus give good example to their children.

It should not be complicated or difficult to organize a first penance liturgy, and if it will promote the practice of confession, I would whole heartedly encourage it.

Rev. Francis Hoffman, J.C.D., Executive Director of Relevant Radio. Follow him on his Facebook page “Father Rocky.”

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Sacraments

Communion Gestures

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The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) specifies three times during the Mass when the celebrant must genuflect: after showing the host (1) and chalice (2) at the consecration,…

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) specifies three times during the Mass when the celebrant must genuflect: after showing the host (1) and chalice (2) at the consecration, and before Communion (3). The text adds, “If, however, the tabernacle with the … Blessed Sacrament is situated in the sanctuary, the priest…and the other ministers genuflect when they approach the altar and when they depart from it, but not during the celebration of Mass itself” (No. 274).

The GIRM also prescribes appropriate devotional posture for the faithful who wish to receive communion, “When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister” (No. 160).

What response should we give a communicant — or a celebrant — who feels these gestures are insufficient? We might remark that the GIRM establishes minimum requirements. Should we wish to do more, only the practical limitations of the worship space limit us.

Thus if a celebrant wishes to genuflect before returning consecrated Hosts to the tabernacle, nothing prohibits him. Likewise, a communicant might genuflect or even kneel to receive Communion if this does not impede the progress of others wishing to receive the Eucharist.

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Sacraments

Why Unleavened Bread For Holy Communion?

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Historically, it seems clear that Jesus would have used unleavened bread at the Last Supper. The ancient Jews were instructed to use unleavened bread during the feast of Passover. This…

Historically, it seems clear that Jesus would have used unleavened bread at the Last Supper. The ancient Jews were instructed to use unleavened bread during the feast of Passover. This is scripturally and historically linked to the fact that, in their hasty exodus from Egypt, there was no time to fully knead the dough and allow the bread to rise before baking it (see Dt 16:3). Thus they baked it quickly without yeast.

The Passover meal that commemorated the Exodus was therefore to be eaten with unleavened bread (see Ex 29:2; Nm 9:11).

Theologically and spiritually, yeast, or leaven in the New Testament, is often equated with sin, impurity and hypocrisy (see Mt 16:6; Lk 12:1). And thus unleavened bread comes to symbolize sincerity, purity and integrity.

Regarding what the bread was like, we must keep in mind several factors. In the first place, wheat bread, which is most common today, was far less common in the ancient world. Breads were more often made from other grains such as barley. Second, bread can be baked in such a way that it has a dry, crackerlike quality. Or, bread can be baked in such a way that it has a doughy, more pitalike, quality. And this is so for both leaven and unleavened bread. Thus, other than affirming the bread at the Last Supper was unleavened, we cannot be utterly certain of its other qualities.

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2 min read
Sacraments

Complete Penance Before Communion?

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Through the centuries of the Church few things have seen more evolution than the actual practice of the Sacrament of Penance. In this beautiful sacrament, the penitent brings three things:…

Through the centuries of the Church few things have seen more evolution than the actual practice of the Sacrament of Penance. In this beautiful sacrament, the penitent brings three things: interior repentance, the verbal confession of sins, and satisfaction (a penance). The Church, in the ministry of a priest with proper jurisdiction, offers mercy through the verbal absolution of sins. These are what St. Thomas Aquinas called the matter and form of the sacrament — the elements brought by the penitent being the matter, and the absolution of the priest being the form.

In the first few centuries of the Church, confession and absolution were separated by time, and often by a considerable amount of time. Confession of sins was a rare occurrence and, in fact, some opinions stated it could be done only once during a person’s lifetime. After confessing one’s sins, a person fulfilled the penance given (often publicly) and then returned to the priest for absolution once that penance was completed.

Much has changed in how we celebrate the Sacrament of Penance today, but the need remains for a penitent to offer some satisfaction for sins as a means of self-denial and of positive action to repair harm resulting from personal sin. In the majority of situations we no longer need to return to the priest after completing our penance in order to ask for absolution. The priest does not withhold absolution until our penance is completed. It is understood that we will complete our assigned penance in a reasonable time after confessing our sins, unless we are truly prevented from doing so by illness or other reason.

Absolution, the forgiveness of our sins in the sacrament, is not given on condition that we fulfill the assigned penance. The effects of absolution are immediate and not dependent on completion of our penance or satisfaction. Even if we never complete the penance, our sins have been forgiven by God through the ministry of the priest. If a person simply forgets to complete the assigned penance, or cannot complete it for a good reason, there is no harm that results, and the person need not refrain from receiving holy Communion on that account alone. However, it would seem that someone who willfully refuses to offer satisfaction for sins through the assigned penance may be withholding an important element of the sacrament and ought to confess that a previous penance was never satisfied.

Msgr. William J. King is a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg,

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