Can I receive holy communion in Spanish mass when I know little Spanish?

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edjlopez23

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Can I receive holy communion in Spanish mass even though I don’t know Spanish very well.
 
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Switch “Spanish” with “Latin”, and ask the question again. I think you will find the answer immediately.
 
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There’s not a need to understand every word that is said. You know the general structure of the Mass so you know what’s going on even if you’re not comprehending every word.
 
I mean I really don’t know very much Spanish. So basically can we receive holy communion in other languages that we do not know how to speak?
 
edjlopez23 said:
So basically can we receive holy communion in other languages that we do not know how to speak?
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Yes, of course we can. I’m surprised you need to ask the question. How could you possibly doubt it?
 
To elaborate on my original answer, the reason I say “switch to latin” is because in TLM, The priest of a low TLM are not actually obligated to even speak out loud so you can hear it; even in high mass with choir, it’s actually in Latin, and the only part in english is the repeat of epistle, repeat of gospel, and homily, and that’s only for Sunday. Otherwise, without the latin-english missal, you just know “this is gloria” "this is the consecreation’ “this is Our Father” “we say I am not worth to receive you…”
 
edjlopez23 said:
Thanks, I just needed to check the rules.
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You can recite the Our Father and the Creed in English, when every one else is saying it in Spanish (or in any language, in any country). The same goes for the Kyrie, the Glory Be, and so on. “Amen” is the same, or almost the same, in every language―minor differences in pronunciation can safely be disregarded. Keep an eye open to see how people receive in the country you’re visiting―depending on where you are, it may be in one kind or in both kinds, on the tongue or in the hand, standing or kneeling.
 
I had to make my Sunday obligation one time but wasn’t able to make it to any other parish than a Korean one (I am a white guy that knows approximately 3 words of spanish and 2 words of tagalog) but my priest said it was fine. I did my best to follow along from memory because NOTHING was in english, not even the booklets. The sacrifice of the mass surpasses language, even if my personal knowledge is limited to english. If the mass is valid, my participation in it is still valid as well.
 
St Augustine speculated that receiving the Sacrament at a Spanish Mass was a mortal sin unless you spoke fluent Spanish, however, on the occasion that you were going with some friends to a Mexican bar afterward, the sin was abrogated. Thomas Aquinas would later further relax this speculation by saying that anybody who said “Buenos Dias” during the sign of peace would count as a Spanish speaker, even if they were otherwise fully Anglophone.

Today, it is generally regarded as acceptable.
 
You can receive the Eucharist in any Catholic mass if you are properly disposed (and you are a Catholic).
 
Why not.
Until 1970 mass was said in Latin and most people had no idea what was being said unless they had a missal. See that’s why I like having a universal language where no matter where you go it will always be the same language.
 
If u have a missal u can follow along with it just like they did pre Vatican ll.
 
Yes, in fact we went to a Christmas mass like that (or Christmas eve). It was nice.
 
I’d be in trouble then, because I went to Mass in Egypt in Arabic. The bishop gave me a booklet to follow along (the Mass of St. Basil if I recall correctly), but I’d get lost after the petitions…

I did this for about a year.
 
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jas84173 said:
Why not.

Until 1970 mass was said in Latin and most people had no idea what was being said unless they had a missal. See that’s why I like having a universal language where no matter where you go it will always be the same language.
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Most Catholics knew what was going on, even if they didn’t know Latin and didn’t follow along in a hand missal.

Where the priest was standing and what he was doing was how the faithful could tell how the Mass was progressing.

Trying to follow the priest’s Latin words was very difficult with a missal, as there were different tones of voice and some priests mumbled their Latin in an accent. Really, I think that was the difficult way of following the Mass.
 
And elaborating on this topic, if you are in a country of which you don’t speak the local language, you are still obligated to attend Sunday Mass if at all possible…and if properly disposed, yes you would receive.
 
I’ve received in a Hispanic national parish where everything’s in Spanish and I barely know any, and also in several foreign countries where the Mass was said in a language I don’t know.
Nobody minded.
I think “Amen” when the priest holds up the host is the same in any language.
 
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