Worthy Communion

Dispositions for Worthy Communion.—(a) Dispositions of Soul.—The divine law requires the state of grace (I Cor., xi. 27 sqq.), and probably also the previous sacramental confession which the Church prescribes sub gravi for one who is conscious of serious sin not yet remitted through absolution. But he is excused from the duty of previous confession who cannot omit Communion now (e.g., because while at the rails he remembers a grave sin and cannot leave without being disgraced) and who is unable to go to confession (see 2701 c). The recipient must also have a knowledge of the Sacrament suited to his mental capacity, and he must desire it, at least habitually. Since the Sacraments are fruitful in proportion to the cooperation given them, and since the presence and visit of Christ deserves honor and recognition, Communion should be received devoutly, and should be preceded by a preparation and followed by a thanksgiving (Canons 856, 731). The faithful may receive in any Rite, but their own Rite is advised for Easter Communion and strongly urged for the Viaticum (Canon 866).

(b) Dispositions of Body.—The communicant must observe the Eucharistic fast and must conduct himself with external reverence.

By ecclesiastical law a person is bound to the fasting from midnight to receive the Holy Eucharist lawfully (Canons 808, 858). Despite the changes made by the Apostolic Constitution, Christus Dominus (Jan. 16, 1953) and the Motu Proprio, “Sacram Communionem” (Mar. 19, 1957), priests and the faithful who are able to do so are exhorted to observe this venerable and ancient form of Eucharistic fast before Mass or Holy Communion. The legislation of these two papal documents, intended to increase devotion to the Blessed Sacrament by fostering frequent Communion, decrees:

1. that natural water does not break the fast;

2. that the period for observing the Eucharist fast before Mass, at whatever hour it may be said (morning, afternoon, midnight), is three hours from solid food and alcoholic beverages, and one hour from non-alcoholic beverages. The priest who is to celebrate computes his time from the beginning of Mass; the faithful, from the time of Communion;

3. that the sick, although not confined to bed, may consume non-alcoholic beverages and real and appropriate medicines, liquid or solid, without any restriction of time.

The Eucharistic fast is based on primitive tradition and is enjoined by the Church as a grave obligation that admits of no lightness of matter. The fast is violated by the smallest portion of food or alcoholic drink. Food is any solid which the physician considers digestible or alterable by the stomach, and hence the fast is not broken if wood, string, paper, hairs or fingernails are swallowed. But the food or drink must be eaten or drunk, that is, it must come from outside the mouth and be taken into the stomach in the way of consumption, and hence the fast is not broken by what comes from within the mouth (e.g., blood from the gums, food remaining in the teeth from the previous day) or by what is taken into the stomach in the way of saliva (e.g., the accidental remnants of a mouth wash or of a throat gargle, or spray, or of a chew of tobacco or gum, when one has spit out the contents as much as possible), or in the way of breathing (e.g., snuff, tobacco smoke inhaled, an insect or a raindrop blown into the mouth). A solid, like a caramel, however, which is dissolved in the mouth before it is swallowed, can not be considered as a liquid. The liquid of the Sacram Communionem must be a liquid before it enters the mouth. (See “Some Further Elucidations on Sacram Communionem” by Cardinal Ottaviani, American Ecclesiastical Review, Vol. CXXXXVII, No, 2, August 1957, p. 74.)

The reasons that excuse from the Eucharist fast, in regard to solids or alcoholic beverages, in lay Communion, are, in case of the well, the good of the Sacrament (i.e., its preservation from profanation), or the good of self (e.g., avoidance of serious disgrace, as when one who is at the altar rail remembers only then that he is not fasting); in the case of the ill, the danger of death (the Viaticum may be received even daily after nourishment). The salt taken in Baptism does not break the fast, and one who has a papal indult, which is granted for sufficient reasons, may receive Communion when not fasting.

External reverence means that one should approach Communion with cleanliness of body, respectability of dress, and modesty of behavior. No one is unfitted for Communion because of inculpable unsightliness (e.g., a sick man who has irremovable scars or deformities, a poor man who cannot afford any but the simplest garb, a crippled person whose gait is awkward). But unwashed hands and face, dirty mouth or teeth, worn or torn dress, and the like, which one avoids elsewhere as unsuited for human company, should be avoided when receiving the Eucharist. Women immodestly dressed should be refused Communion, if otherwise scandal will result (Canon 858).