Should I refrain from communion if I don’t remember when I last ate?

Q: Dear Trent, we’re supposed to refrain from eating for an hour before Holy Communion, but I can never tell if it’s actually been an hour or not. A few times I’ve stayed in my pew because I wasn’t sure if it had been an hour since I last ate. What should I do?

A: None of us, not even the priest offering the Mass himself, knows the exact moment when he will be receiving Holy Communion. If someone uses the hour of fast as a directive that he must eat something right up until an hour before he will receive Holy Communion, problems can ensue.

A good way to get avoid this distraction is to refrain from eating food an hour before the Mass starts. This way, you’ll be certain at every Mass you attend that the fast has been satisfied and will be able to receive Our Lord as He wants you to do.

Trent Beattie lives in Seattle, Washington. He is the author of the newly-released book on scrupulosity, Scruples and Sainthood: Accepting and Overcoming Scrupulosity With the Help of the Saints, and he selected the daily meditations for Saint Alphonsus Liguori for Every Day.

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Cmittermeier

It was only in the last year that I found out it was to be an hour before communion and not an hour before mass. The only question that has ever bugged me has been when I get tickle in my throat during mass and use a cough drop. I have always presumed it does not break the fast, am I correct?
- faithful123
  
  http://www.osv.com/TCANav/TCAQuestionoftheDay/Dec6102010/tabid/8228/Default.aspx
  
  Second question down when you click this link or paste in browser
  answers question.
  
  but I’ll put the answer here —
  Church law recognizes that illness, age and physical weakness may prevent
  individuals from observing the Eucharist fast (since 1964, the Church has
  prescribed a fast of one hour). In such cases, “Those who are advanced in age or
  suffer from any infirmity as well as those who take care of them, can receive
  the Most Holy Eucharist even if they have taken something during the previous
  hour” (Canon 919.3).
  This rule broadens the Church’s law, so we may interpret it broadly. Cough
  drops (even if we enjoy their taste!) are not considered food, but medicine. The
  commentary on the legal text states that medicine “need not be prescribed by a
  physician,” so cough drops do not break one’s fast.The church would also understand if one is diabetic and cannot go one hour without some food in stomach, to keep blood sugar stable. This is also in keeping with Christ who was not ‘against the law’ but came to ‘fullfill’ the law WITH LOVE… ie: healing on the Sabbath if such person needed healing, or those who ate grain in the fields on the Sabbath;because they were HUNGRY… Jesus was more about MERCY to individuals and their situation then strict adherance to laws. So is HIS Church…
  - Mary@42
    
    And he strongly declared: “What My Father demands is Mercy, not Sacrifice.” And Mercy is His Message to St. Faustina, the Eucharistic Apostle of the Divine Mercy. Mercy in action, Mercy in emphathizing with those in need, Mercy in praying for the sick, the sinners, the dying and the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
Mary@42

This should not be a confusing precept of Mother Church. As Faithful 123 explains from the Canon Law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church has also explained this Fasting before Holy Communion adequately. Oh, how wonderful it is these days!!!!! I remember in my younger days ( in the “50′s) when fasting was from Midnight on Saturday. The young ones and teenagers were not allowed to attend the early Mass – that was for the parents. Ours was the one which began at 9.30 a.m. ending a few minutes before noon. By that time, little Mary at age 8 was so hungry, my father made sure he had bought a bunch of bananas beforehand, which I immediately started munching after praying my quick Pray to Jesus, after receiving Holy Communion!!!! Thank you Mother Church for making it easier for the young ones of to-day to concentrate on the Holy Mass and pray, addressing Jesus personally united with them in His Body, Blood Soul and Divinity, after Holy Communion- which is the apex of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. But, hey, good people, we never complained!!!!!!! It was OK
Anonymous

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