and thirst forholines s;they shallhave their sin.

He said, “ In fact, w hat one finds

fill” (M t 5:6). In all,fasting isan exercise m ost often isnot so m uch afeeling of Eucharistic Fasting:
of hum ility, hope and love— es sential unw orthines sas a certain lack of Preparation and Penance
virtues in preparing ours elvesto receive interior w illingness,ifone m ay use this
the Holy Eucharis t. expres s ion,a lack ofEucharistic ‘hunger’
and ‘thirst,’ w hich isalso asign oflack
Fr.W illiam S aunders,P hD
T his regulation, how ever, does not ofadequate s ens
itivity tow ardsthe great
m ean w e have to be s crupulous and s acram ent of love and a lack of
count off s econds . I rem em ber once unders tanding of its nature.” W e m ust
concelebrating M ass w ith apriest m ake a good faith effort to prepare
w ho had eaten one-half hour before ours elves properly to receive the L ord.
M ass and w as w orried that he w ould T herefore,the Eucharistic fastassists usin
not have a one-hour fast before preparing to receive Holy Com m union
receivingHoly Com m union. w holly -body,souland divinity.

He literally set hisw atch forone hour, T hisphys icalm ortification s

trengthensour
dragged out the prayersand stood atthe s piritualfocuson the L ord,so that w e m ay
altar w hile I finished giving everyone hum bly encounterthe divine S avior W ho Recently someone told me that a
else Holy Com m union until the hour offersHim selfto us . person is supposed to fast one h o u r
had ticked aw ay. W hile w e do not before receiving Holy Communion. I
w ant to be lax,w e do not w ant to be honestly have never heard that before.
s crupulous . T he goodnes sof receiving Can you clear up this matter for me?
Holy Com m union s upersedesthe precise Copyright © Arlington Catholic Herald,Inc. A readerinDaleCity
“ houroffas t” ifthereisdoubt. Allrightsres erved.U s ed w ith perm is
sion.
P rinted w ith eccles
iasticalapproval
Canon 919 of the “ Code of Canon L aw ”
How ever, note that one should also states, “ O ne w ho is to receive the m ost
notbe lax. P ope John P aulIIlam ented in Holy Eucharis tisto abs tain from any food
“ Dom inicae Cenae” (1980) the problem of Pope John Paul II Society of Evangelists
or drink,w ith the exception of w aterand
P .O .Box 5584,Bakers field,California93388
som e people not being properly disposed E-m ail:info@ pjpiis
oe.org P hone:661 393-3239 m edicine, for at leas t the period of one
to receive Holy Com m union,even to the w w w .pjpiis
oe.org hourbefore Holy Com m union.” A ctually
pointofbeing in astate ofseriousm ortal P am phlet041
this regulation m erely reflects an ifafullhourfas
t has not been fulfilled. m an,w ho often findshim self,becaus e of
ancient tradition in ourChurch,w hich is concupiscence,alm ost chained by his
even rooted in Judaism. For exam ple,people in the hospital are ow n senses.T hrough ‘corporalfasting’ m an
not in control oftheir ow n s chedule and regainsstrength,and the w ound inflicted
In Actsofthe Apostles (13:2) w e find m ay be eating orhave just finished eating on the dignity of ournature by intem per-
evidence offasting connected w ith the w hen visited by the priest orEucharis tic ance iscured by the m edicine ofas alutary
liturgy. A m ore norm ative practice of m inister. T herefore, the period of fast abstinence.”
fas ting before receiving Holy Com m union before receiving Holy Com m union is
appearsthroughout the Church after the reduced to “ approxim ately one quarter M oreover, the fast before receiving Holy
legalization ofChris tianity in 313 A.D. S t. of an hour” for those w ho are sick at Com m union creates a physical hunger
Augus tine attes ted to thispractice in his hom e orat am edical facility,thos e elderly and thirst for the L ord, w hich in turn
ow n w ritings . Granted the s pecific confined to hom e oranursing hom e,and augm entsthe spiritual hunger and thirs t
requirem entsof the fast have changed those w ho care for these people and w e ought to have. In the O ld Tes tam ent,
over tim e. P rior to 1964,the Eucharis tic w ho are unable conveniently to observe fasting prepared individualsto receive the
fas t began at m idnight.P ope P aulVI,on the fast (“ Im m ens
ae Caritatis
,” 1973). action of God and to be placed in His
N ovem ber21,1964,reducedthe fast to a pres ence. For ins tance,M oses(Ex 34:28)
period ofone hour. T he m ost im portant point regarding this fasted 40 days atop M ount S inai ashe
ques tion concerns w hy w e ought to fas t. received the Ten Com m andm ents .Elijah (I
T he rule has tw o exceptions: First, if a S t.P aulrem indsus ,“ Continually w e carry Kings 19:8)fasted 40 daysashe w alked to
priest celebratesm ore than one M as son about in ourbodiesthe dying of Jesus ,s o M ount Horeb to encounter God.S im ilarly,
the sam e day,asoftentim eshappenson that in our bodiesthe life ofJesusm ay be Jesus Him self fasted 40 days as He
S unday,he isonly bound to the one- hour revealed” (2 Cor 4:10). W e too are prepared to begin Hispublic m inistry (M t
fast before the first M ass. T he priest charged to convert our w hole lives— 4:1ff) and encouraged fasting (M t 6:16-
m ay eatand drink s om ething to keep up body and soul— totheL ord. T hisconvers ion 18). L ikew ise,thiscorporalw ork enhances
his strength in betw een M asses even proces s involves doing penance — the spiritual dis position w e need to
though a full hourw illnot occur before including bodily m ortification like fasting— receiveChrist in the Blessed S acram ent.
the next reception ofHoly Com m union. foroursinsand w eaknes s
es ,w hich in turn
s trengthensand healsus . P ope P aul VI In as ense,w e fast so asnot “ to spoilour
S econd,those w ho are elderly (at least 60 exhorted the faithful in his apostolic appetite” but to increase it forthe sharing
years of age) or sick as w ell as their cons titution “ P aenitem ini” (1966), ofthe P aschalbanquet.Jesussaid in the
caretakerscan receive Com m union even “ M ortification aim s at theliberation of Beatitudes,“ Blest are they w ho hunger