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One-Hour Fast Before Communion
Issue: Does the one-hour Eucharistic fast refer to an hour prior to the reception of Holy Communion or an hour prior to the beginning of Mass?
Response: The one-hour Eucharistic fast refers to an hour prior to the reception of Holy Communion, not an hour prior to the beginning of Mass.
Discussion: The Church teaches that the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church in order to worthily prepare for Communion (Catechism, no. 1387).
Tertullian, a theologian of the early Church, taught that the Eucharist is to be taken "before all food," as a sign of its excellence. In addition to this period of fasting, it is also suggested that the faithful observe a time of silence and recollection, to "stir up joy at the coming of the Lord" (Immensae Caritatis, # 3).
Traditionally the fast prior to reception of the Eucharist began at midnight on the preceeding night. On November 21, 1964, Pope Paul VI announced that the Eucharistic fast would be reduced to one hour before Communion for both priests and the faithful.1
In accordance with this change in discipline, the 1983 Code of Canon Law prescribes:
"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" (Canon 919, §1).
The plain language of the canon says that one is to fast "one hour before Holy Communion," not one hour from the beginning of Mass. Canon 919 §3 says that the elderly, ill, and those who care for them can receive Communion even if they have eaten something within the preceding hour.
The one-hour fast is the minimum requirement. A minimum would not preclude a person fasting for a longer period of time out of personal devotion to the Lord. The language of the canon—"at least one hour"—encourages a longer fast, but does not make such a fast obligatory.
1 T. Lincoln Bouscaren and James I. O’Connor, The Canon Law Digest, vol. 6 (Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America, 1994), 566.
Recommended Reading
Holy Bible (Catholic edition)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Documents of Vatican II
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Hahn and Suprenant, eds., Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God
Leon Suprenant and Philip Gray, Faith Facts: Answers to Catholic Questions
Ted Sri, Mystery of the Kingdom: On the Gospel of Matthew
Leon Suprenant, ed., Servants of the Gospel
Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Without a Doubt: Bringing Faith to Life
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Available Faith Facts
St. Augustine’s Real Faith in the Real Presence
Come, Worship the Lord!: Promoting Adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist
Norms for Eucharistic Adoration with Exposition
Reception of Holy Communion
This is My Body: Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist
TheYear of the Eucharist
Smells, Bells, and Other Liturgical Odds and Ends
© 2005 Catholics United for the Faith
Date created: 7/15/2005
Date edited: 9/26/2007
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