Holy Communion

To receive Holy Communion a strict fast from midnight on is necessary, so that absolutely nothing be taken in the shape of food or drink, not even medicine.

As to the fast of the sick, see article, Communion for the Sick, Page 25.

Water taken into the mouth, but not perceptibly swallowed, does not break this fast, such as in rinsing the mouth, brushing the teeth and the like.

In case of doubt about having broken the fast, consult a Priest about it before attempting to receive.

There is no obligation to go to Holy Communion after one has gone to confession, unless it should be one’s Easter Duty, and there should be no other p. 21occasion to comply with it. One may go to confession at any time without going to Holy Communion.

Make a special effort to dress well when you receive Holy Communion. The dignity of the sacrament demands it. Let men and boys always attend particularly to their neck-dress and to their shoes. To receive Holy Communion without a collar, or with a soiled one, is unpardonable slovenliness and irreverence; and to approach the Holy Table with soiled shoes, unless it be on a very rainy morning or at a season of unusual mud or dust, is an equal sign of great disrespect.

It is not proper to wear gloves at the Communion-rail.

Never go to church to receive Holy Communion without a prayer-book and prayer-beads, at least a prayer-book; or beads, if you cannot read.

Do not approach the altar-rail without having prayed at least a quarter of an hour, as an immediate preparation.

If Holy Communion should be distributed before Mass for the convenience of a few, do not receive then, if you can wait until the Communion-time of the Mass; and never approach the holy table without having prepared yourself by at least a quarter of an hour’s prayer.

Those who go to Communion but once or a few times in the year, should not easily go on a week day, if they must hurry on account of their work, and when they can go on Sunday just as well. Such are scarcely able to receive Holy Communion properly on a week-day morning.

When intending to receive Holy Communion take your position in church as near to the altar as pew-regulations and the crowd will permit.

Approach the altar immediately after the bell has been rung for the Priest’s Communion; or if you receive outside of the Mass, as soon as the signal has been given and the server recites the Confiteor.

Do not bend the knee on leaving the pew, but when you have arrived at the rail; then rise and kneel close up to the rail. Where there are several steps, however, leading to the rail, it is well to kneel on the lowest step until the Priest descends from the platform of the altar.

Fold your hands before your breast in going to and from the rail, and do not let them hang by your sides. Cast your eyes down and do not look about.

Try to kneel at the middle of the rail immediately before the main altar, unless other communicants have already taken up that place. Never kneel toward the end of the rail, if the middle of the rail is free; in which latter case walk to the middle of the rail and do not oblige the Priest to carry the Blessed Sacrament all the way to you at the other end of the rail, or farther from the main altar than is necessary. If your seat is in the side aisle, let it not prevent you from going to the middle of the rail. Let your endeavor be always to receive Holy Communion directly before the main altar, when possible, whether there be many communicants or few. In some large churches no attention is paid to those who kneel at the end of the rail when the middle of it is free. Often the Priest cannot tell who has received, and who has not, especially when the church is large and there are many communicants coming and going. Sometimes a pulpit or pillar obstructs his view.

Make the sign of the cross on yourself when the Priest turns toward the people pronouncing the absolution after the Confiteor.

Strike your breast three times when he holds up the Sacred Host turned toward you and says three times the “Domine non sum dignus.” Say likewise each time as you strike your breast the same words in English, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.”

If it is a cloth you hold over your hands—for the communicant must always be provided with some kind of cloth or spread to hold before the breast—be sure to stretch out the palms of your hands perfectly flat, that the cloth may be flattened out before your chin in the manner of a small table-spread, so that, in case the Holy Communion should be accidentally dropped, it may not fall to the floor. To hold the cloth in a pointed manner over the folded hands does not altogether answer the purpose for which it is intended.

In returning from the rail, do not drop the cloth to the floor, if there are others to receive; but try to keep it spread over the rail.

If the cloth should not be raised over the rail when you are about to receive, reach for it and adjust it for yourself. Never attempt to receive without the requisite cloth or substitute for the same.

If a card is used for the communicants instead of a cloth, be sure you pass it to p. 23your neighbor after you have received, if there is no altar-boy to take it from you.

When there is more than one railing of communicants, retire at once when you have received. Make a simple genuflection on the floor before the rail at the place where you have received, and return to your pew without making another genuflection.

Do not approach to receive Holy Communion if you are feeling sick at the stomach. If an accident should happen after receiving, or you greatly fear one, you should go to the vestry and make it known to the Priest or to some one in charge.

Avoid spitting and expectorating for at least a quarter of an hour after Holy Communion.

Remember it is not permitted to touch the Sacred Host with the fingers. If it should cleave to any part of the mouth, loosen it gradually with the tongue and swallow it.

Try to swallow the Sacred Host as soon as possible. Do not think that you ought to let it melt in your mouth.

In the act of receiving hold your face up, but do not look into the face of the Priest or in any direction. Keep your eyes cast down.

Put out your tongue so as to let it cover the lower lip entirely.

Practice these last rules occasionally at home before going to Holy Communion. Frequent communicants sometimes get into habits of carelessness in these matters.

If there have been only a few communicants at Mass or you have been among the last ones to receive, remain at the railing until the Priest has returned to the altar and has closed the door of the tabernacle.

When Holy Communion is distributed outside of Mass and there have been but a few communicants, they, or the last ones that have received, if there have been many, should remain at the altar-rail until the Priest has given the blessing, except before or after a Requiem Mass, when he omits the blessing.

Do not leave the church a few minutes after you have received. Always remain at least a quarter of an hour in thanksgiving after Holy Communion.

Do not leave the church, as a rule, immediately after the Mass when you have received at the regular time. It is seldom a quarter of an hour from Communion-time until the end of the Mass, unless there has been an unusually large number of communicants, and you have been among the first to receive. To leave immediately after Mass when one has received but a few minutes before, looks very bad, shows ignorance, thoughtlessness and irreverence in religious matters.

If you are entitled to a plenary indulgence by receiving Holy Communion, do not forget to say some special prayers for the intention of the Holy Father, to the extent at least of five times the Our Father and Hail Mary.