Tag: Communion

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Sacraments

How long is a person supposed to fast before Communion?

Father Francis Hoffman

November 8, 2023 7:12 am November 8, 2023

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The Church asks us to fast for one hour before Communion, but there are no indications of how long to fast after Communion. Growing up, I was taught that the…

The Church asks us to fast for one hour before Communion, but there are no indications of how long to fast after Communion. Growing up, I was taught that the “species” of the holy Eucharist remains in us (in our stomach) for 10 to 15 minutes until digested; for that reason, pious common sense suggests not eating or drinking for 10 to 15 minutes after holy Communion. Here is what the Code of Canon Law states: “A person who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from any food and drink, except for only water and medicine.

“A priest who celebrates the Most Holy Eucharist two or three times on the same day can take something before the second or third celebration even if there is less than one hour between them.

“The elderly, the infirm, and those who care for them can receive the Most Holy Eucharist even if they have eaten something within the preceding hour” (Canon 919).

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

Father Reginald Martin

October 18, 2023 7:12 am October 18, 2023

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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

What is Spiritual Communion?

Father Francis Hoffman

August 7, 2023 7:00 am August 7, 2023

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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

Is It Possible for Catholics to Receive Communion at a Non-Catholic Church?

Father Ray Ryland

July 22, 2023 7:17 am July 22, 2023

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The answer is no. The reason is this. The Church teaches that to partake of Communion in any Christian tradition is publicly to declare one is in full agreement with…

The answer is no. The reason is this. The Church teaches that to partake of Communion in any Christian tradition is publicly to declare one is in full agreement with what that tradition teaches or holds. Therefore, if you, a Catholic, were to share in the Communion of a non-Catholic tradition, your action would bespeak a falsehood.

For the same reason, the Church does not allow non-Catholics to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord in the Eucharist. This prohibition has nothing to do with the spiritual state of non-Catholics. In fact the rule exists for the protection of the integrity of non-Catholics who happen to be present at a Eucharistic celebration. It prevents them from unwittingly, but still symbolically, making a public statement that is untrue.

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Sacraments

Communion More Than Once A Day?

Father Reginald Martin

May 11, 2023 8:07 am May 11, 2023

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The Church’s Code of Canon Law (updated in 1983) allows the faithful to receive communion twice in the same day, provided they attend the Mass at which they receive the…

The Church’s Code of Canon Law (updated in 1983) allows the faithful to receive communion twice in the same day, provided they attend the Mass at which they receive the Eucharist. Thus an individual may receive Communion at a daily Mass, and again at a wedding, funeral or other ritual (see Canon 917).

Insisting an individual attend the Mass at which she or he receives Communion stresses the communal aspect of the Eucharist. At Mass, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy” (No. 1326). We also unite ourselves with other members of Christ’s Body. The rule also discourages overzealous or superstitious souls from wandering from church to church and taking part in no more of the Mass than the Communion rite.

Deacons who assist at more than two Masses must excuse themselves from receiving Communion after the second, but the law does not apply to the dying, and states, “The Christian faithful who are in danger of death, arising from any cause, are to be nourished by holy Communion in the form of viaticum. Even if they have received Communion in the same day [they] are strongly urged to receive again” (Canon 921).

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Sacraments

Why Unleavened Bread For Holy Communion?

Msgr. Charles E. Pope

April 23, 2023 7:46 am April 23, 2023

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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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