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In need of a little help:
I have been given conflicting information from friends about the frequency a person should recieve Holy Communion. I have been told that a person should not recieve more than once in a day, but I have also been told that a person should recieve at every mass attended even if that is twice in one day. This is a bit confusing to me. I would greatly appreciate if someone could help to clarify this for me.

Thanks in advance
workinprogress

The Catholic Church allows folks to receive up to twice in one day.


Sharon

My understanding is slightly different Sharon , .
Two occasions yes -

the first may either be at Mass or at a service of Holy Communion outside of Mass [ equivalent of Pre-Sanctified Liturgy]

but the second occasion must be at Mass.

Ooops - an afterthought - are we talking Eastern or Western here ? - My answer is strictly for us Latins

Anhelyna

I have asked my priest in the past the same question. Byzantine. But I think the CCC says the same. Normally, only once daily. An exception would be on your wedding day, where you might go to Mass quietly early in the day, and then later in the day at your Nuptual Mass, or Liturgy.

I think more than once daily is discouraged, perhaps because some folks would go to an extreme and receive numerous times. We are to receive our Lord to become more like Him, and then take that holiness out into the world for the profit of ourselves and others. For most of us, spending all day in church with the goal of receiving duplicate times would be making Communion into an idol.
denise

Agreed,

But there are times - especially times in Holy Week, when you really ARE in church all day - at least you are if you are a cantor, or serve, when it's nice to be allowed to receive at both Eucharistic services.

Anhelyna, you are of course correct, and I wuz in too much of a hurry.

Sharon

Dear workingprogress, traditionally Byzantines only received the Holy Mysteries on Sundays and major feastdays. Daily celebrations of the Divine Liturgy have only come into regular use in the last few hundred years.

The Divine Praises (Divine Office, especially Vespers and Matins) were a major part of the regular liturgical life of the Byzantine Church and were replaced to a great degree in parishes by daily and Saturday evening Divine Liturgies. Some parishes, are again recovering the regular celebration of the Divine Praises.

Anhelyna and Sharon:

We Latins may receive twice a day but in certain limited circumstances. We may go to a daily or Sunday Liturgy and receive. We may also go to a special Liturgy the same day and receive: church dedication on Sunday or a wedding or funeral, for example.

The reception that Anhelyna mentions leaves me puzzled, however. The Eucharistic Service done in the absence of a priest in the parish may not be done on a day in which a priest will be present for a Mass. That is an abuse that was addressed in a Vatican document about 1997 that dealt with the collaboration of the laity in the ministry of the parish priest. These paraliturgical services are meant to be substituted for Liturgy when a long period of time prevents the faithful from receiving the Eucharist. So if there is a funeral or wedding and a priest is coming into a parish without a priest or whose pastor is away, no such service may be held. So there are no situations where one could receive at a Eucharistic Service and later receive at a Liturgy.

These services were originally intended to substitute for Sunday Liturgy and they have grown to fill up weekdays. However, they are not supposed to be used if the priest is away for a single day off and regular liturgies are celebrated every other day. That is an abuse of the permission for these services to be held.

I was brought into a ministry of this type over ten years ago in my parish and still continue. I received a thorough grounding in the way in which these services were to be done, as well as the limitations on their use. Through the week, they are to be used when a priest cannot be found for a single Liturgy during the time between Sundays. Otherwise, a parish is to fast from the Eucharist and pray for more priestly vocations to fill the gap. If a priest can come in during the week for Liturgy for one or more days, the faithful should have a Service of the Word or Morning Prayer together.

BOB

I feel this thread reflects a gap between the eucharist and the traditionally rigorous preparation that should practised. We should receive the Holy Mysteries after confession, penance, absolution, prayerful preparation, fasting AND WITH THE BLESSING OF OUR SPIRITUAL FATHER!!! In my tradition we do not have communion on demand for anyone who approaches the chalice.

The eucharist is our spiritual food - the medicine following the spiritual examination and diagnosis we receive in confession (before the reception of communion). The amount of spiritual medicine we receive is not important. The tiniest crumb is powerful enough and doesn't need repeating.

Spasi khristos -
Mark, monk and sinner.

BOB,

I take your point.

However when I was working [ ooooh some 6 years ago now ] it was in a School which was used to having a Full Time Chaplain celebrating Mass on a 5 days a week basis for the staff and pupils [ his day off was Saturday !]

From that happy time we had a change of Chaplain and his day off was Wednesday and we said Morning Prayer with the pupils - but after a while the attendance began to drop markedly so the Cardinal was consulted and he authorised a Service of Holy Communion outwith Mass which was held on days when the Chaplain could not be present . This was taken by one of the Eucharistic Ministers on the School Staff - there were always 2 present .

Later still we went through a period of over 6 months when due to a shortage of Priests in the ArchDiocese we had no Chaplain . At the start there were about 50 pupils present for Morning Prayer 4 days a week and we had Mass on the 5th - said by one of the Priests from the neighbouring Parishes, but after a Month we were authorised to re-commence the Service of Communion outwith Mass as it was likely that we would be without a Chaplain for many months longer than had been anticipated. It was felt important that the pupils should continue in the accustomed 'habit' of a Communal Service - be it Mass , or a Communion Service or Morning Prayer on a daily basis. The local Parishes were also having some logistical problems with supplying us with a Priest and frequently despite the fact that we thought it had been confirmed - no-one arrived - and this was far from ideal.

Because of this is was perfectly possible that we would Receive in the Morning and be at Mass in our own Parish at night. This the Cardinal knew and we were told that it was not a problem.

It is also possible where a family has a sick person and the whole family together Receive Communion in the house during a 'sick call' visit by Priest or Eucharistic Minister for some attend to attend Mass later in the day.

On a more personal note, at Christmas a year ago I, as Choir Member , gave Communion to the Choir at the Midnight Mass [ some of our members are mobility impaired and cannot get up and down the stairs to the Choir Loft easily, so we do not go down for Communion] , went to 9.30 Mass as normal and again helped with Communion and was then asked to return with the rest of the Choir at 12.15pm to sing at a special Mass when the Archbishop would be the Celebrant. I was the only Choir member who was also a Eucharistic Minister so was most unhappy about the situation for Communion for myself and asked the Archbishop's MC, who was also the Chancellor of the Diocese ,and he then took me to the Archbishop and I explained to him my concerns. I was told that the 2 occasions that we could Receive Communion were correct but it was possible under certain circumstances to waive this and he felt that this was one of them - so in fact that day I did Receive 3 times.

I have to say that in my own Parish I have never attended a Service of Holy Communion outwith Mass - and I cannot foresee such a situation in the future. Indeed one of our Priests 'fills in' in the neighbouring Parish when their Priest has his 'day off' and when due to s sudden death they were without a priest for a prolonged period we covered that Parish for all Masses - and it has to be admitted that was a strain on our Priests - but it was done.

Anhelyna

Fr Mark,

Here I think we have one of the big differences beween Western and Eastern Practice. I do understand what you say and the reasoning behind it . Preparation is important and should never be missed or done hurredly . This I have discussed, at times at great length with my Spiritual Director , and he counsels me that I should Receive the Sacrament regularly - providing I am not in a state of great sin - I have been reminded that at the beginning of Mass we do have a penitiential rite and our sins are forgiven and we are then able to approach the Ciborium/Chalice for the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord - and He will give us healing and strength - unworthy people that we are. We know we can do nothing without Him - and His grace is given freely .

And yes - individual Confession is expected of us and this should be on a regular basis. However I ,as a Eucharistic Minister, am not permitted to ask anyone who comes to me if they have prepared correctly , or even if they are Catholic, that is for the Priest .

Anhelyna

In the Ruthenian Metropolia, at least judging from directives of the past, during solemn events (pilgrimages/otpusti; ordinations; gatherings of the "local church" {eparchial community} for celebratory liturgies at the cathedral or other church, etc.) a dispensation has been normally granted to the faithful, to receive communion twice on the same day. An announcement was/is normally made, advising the faithful of this "privilege" so that they would not be hesitant or have undue worry about whether or not they were able to receive a second time.

These occasions are normally afternoon pontifical liturgies and the condition presumes that some of the faithful may have attended a Divine Liturgy earlier in the day, either at their parish church or during the pilgrimage/otpust. The intended result is that the worshipping community be able to share in the Eucharistic Banquet/Sacred Mysteries in the context of the gathered local church, under the presidency of the bishop surrounded by his clergy and faithful and that this symbol be made more manifest.

Anhelyna, what you describe happening on that particular Christmas is actually a rather common experience, particularly defined as it applies to priests. Since the liturgies or masses of the Nativity are normally many, priests of the Latin Church have traditionally been given automatic permission to "trinate" (celebrate three masses) on Christmas as a normal matter of course. This also corresponds to a degree, to the Latin distinction of the Nativity masses as (1) Mass at Midnight; (2) Mass at Dawn; and (3) Mass During the Day.

In regards to the clergy, priests generally have the faculty to celebrate two liturgies on the same day, according to need (this is called "bination"); special permission from the Ordinary must be obtained to celebrate more than twice, except as mentioned, in the Latin Rite on Christmas Day.

While according to tradition, more than one liturgy on a particular day is an anachronism in the Byzantine usage (i.e.: originally, the matter would not arise), today's circumstances sometimes dictate that the priest celebrate more than once on a given day, both in larger parishes and those clergy who tend to more than one parish.

There are even some Orthodox parishes which because of size, offer more than one Eucharistic service. These are addressed according to a variety of disciplines, mostly in response to the "one altar/one liturgy" canon that has been part of the Eastern tradition: (a) some parishes simply have more than one Divine Liturgy in the same church on the same altar, to serve the needs of the community, period. There is no pretension of fulfilling the legalistic "letter of the law," but rather, pastoral prudence is invoked. This is common in the Johnstown Diocese and some Ukrainian Orthodox churches, particularly those parishes which have the service of more than one priest; (b) others celebrate what is referred to as the "Pro-Liturgy" or more technically, the "Obidnitsa" which can be performed in several ways. Some versions are merely a "dry liturgy" made up of the common parts of the regular Divine Liturgy, without the Offertory and Eucharistic anaphora. In this case, the service would include the Enarxis (entrance rites) and Liturgy of the Word, the Ektenia following the Gospel or homily, and then proceed to the "Lord's Prayer" and "Communion Rite. The remainder of the service follows the normal Divine Liturgy. Other versions are more true to the structure of the Office of Typica (Obidnitsa) which does contain excerpts from the regular liturgy but also has additional psalmody and other prayers, followed by the distribution of holy communion; (c) in some jurisdictions, a "secondary altar" is set up either before the Royal Doors on the solea, or directly in front of the principal altar (or even on the tetrapod), upon which the second liturgy is celebrated, in order to fulfill the technical, legalistic mandate of "one altar/one liturgy." This is the practice in several large OCA parishes; (d) certain churches may simply change the antimension on the holy table, to fulfill the technical requirement; and (e) larger and more complete churches sometimes have "para-ecclesia" or in common language, "side chapels" adjacent to the main altar, on the far sides of the iconostasis. These chapels are complete in that they each contain their own separate iconostasis, which normally are an extension of the main icon screen, where the principal icons and proper doors are repeated on either side, with a holy table within. An example of this can be seen in the cathedral built by St. John Maximovich in San Francisco and in many European churches, both Orthodox and Greek Catholic. This perhaps is the most agreeable way to fulfill the traditional mandate of "one altar/one liturgy."

So, it can be said that there is precedence in the Eastern tradition for both the reception of the Eucharist by the faithful more than once in a given day (at least in modern times) and also for the celebration of more than one Divine Liturgy in the same church on the same day. I just thought that I would offer a contribution to this subject, which has not yet been part of the discussion.

God bless you all,

Fr. Joe

Wow - once again this Forum does not fail to educate me ! Thank you for that explanation Fr Joe.

Having thought again about this overnight - it's that time difference 'thing' again and for some reason my brain seems to bring forward the bits and bobs that I need whilst I am sleeping I feel that possibly I did not make myself clear on some parts.

Going back a bit, BOB said in reference to Eucharistic Services
<< However, they are not supposed to be used if the priest is away for a single day off and regular liturgies are celebrated every other day. That is an abuse of the permission for these services to be held. ......... Through the week, they are to be used when a priest cannot be found for a single Liturgy during the time between Sundays. Otherwise, a parish is to fast from the Eucharist and pray for more priestly vocations to fill the gap. If a priest can come in during the week for Liturgy for one or more days, the faithful should have a Service of the Word or Morning Prayer together.>>

In practice the School I was in was as big , if not bigger , than many of the Parishes in the Archdiocese - 2200 pupils, 150 teaching staff and many non-teaching . The Chaplain served all these people, and of course the families of all in the School were counted as part of the Community so I suppose he actually served somewhere in the region of about 4,500 people. The School was actually so big that there was nowhere in its physical buildings that we could have a Service for the whole School !

On Feasts that were celebrated during School terms he would have to celebrate 4 Masses [ one for years 1,2,3 together in the local Parish Church , mine, which could just accommodate that number ] and 3 other Masses for the rest of the Community , using the School Assembly Hall which would just hold one Year Group.

I know of only one Parish in a neighbouring Diocese that was faced with the situation of a 'Priest-less' parish - and this lasted for just over a year - they were given regular 'cover' from retired but active Priests from that Diocese. Normally the Diocese can help with cover from the list of retired Priests. I agree with BOB that a Eucharistic Service should be the exception rather than the rule - but I stand by my comment about Communion of the Sick in a domestic situation when those who Receive with the sick person [ and we always offer Communion to those present with the sick person - we are told that this should be done] but their carers/family may Receive for a second time at Mass that day should they so wish.

I do take Fr Joe's comment about a Priest maybe having to Celebrate 3 Masses in the same day - that had not dawned on me as a possible problem . Ours manage with one Mass each day [ we have 3 Priests and 3 daily Masses] but Sundays - yes that is where this would come in with technically 7 Masses [ 5 Parish and 2 Hospital ,which are served from our Parish]

Thanks Fr Joe for explaining how it is managed under the one Liturgy/one Altar tradition.

What a fascinating turn this thread has actually taken

Anhelyna

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Our Lady's slave of love:
Ooops - an afterthought - are we talking Eastern or Western here ? - My answer is strictly for us Latins


Thank you everyone for your detailed responces. You have been a great help. My appologies for the specifics that I thoughtlessly left out. I am a Byzantine and my home church is Byzantine, but aI am also in the choir for the Roman Catholic Campus ministry at my college. Hences my difficulty: If I come back home to visit for the weekend and go to my home church, I am still obligated to be in the choir Sun. evening at school. (it's a very small choir and missing people make a difference.)

Thank you again for all of your responces; your thoughts are a great help.

--workinprogress

Dear workinprogress [ wow that's some name to type ]

I don't think you have any problem .

As a BC your normal practice is one Liturgy only - but that should not prevent you from singing at Mass in the RC Chapel choir.

You could ask the Priest to give you a blessing instead of The Holy Mysteries , explaining to him why you feel unhappy about receiving twice in one day as a routine practice. Look on it as a chance to spread a little light about the East !

I'm sure he will understand your request.

Anhelyna

how do eastern catholics view flat azyme bread for eucharistic matter? and of course not for their own churches but from the roman church.