Cough drops before communion?

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A brief history of the last 50+ years of the Communion Fast.

The fast as of 1950 was for all the faithful (laity or not), from all food and drink, from midnight until the time Communion is received.

Pope Pius XII, in Christus Dominus (1953) and Sacram Communionem (1957), decrees that: a) water no longer breaks the Communion fast; b) the sick may consume beverages or medicine (but not alcohol) without breaking the fast; c) if utterly necessary (see the document), any member of the faithful may consume beverages (but not alcohol), so long as they fast completely for one hour before receiving Communion; d) bishops may permit Mass to be held after 4pm, and the faithful must have abstained from food and alcohol for three hours, and from non-alcoholic beverages for one hour, to receive Communion. This document also differentiated between priests (whose fast is reckoned to the beginning of the Mass) and the faithful (whose fast is reckoned to the reception of Communion).

Pope Paul VI, in 1964, reduced the fast to simply one hour (food and drink, alcohol included, water and medicine excluded) for both priests and laity.
 
Cat said:
This is probably another topic, but I’ve never seen it discussed.

How about sex before Communion? What was done in the past, and what’s done now?

I’m serious. This is a favorite time for me and my husband (either before or after.)

Thanks.
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I’ve been told by a couple theologians that sex breaks the fast as well, but I’ve never seen it in writing for the eucharistic fast.

It does break the Orthodox rules for Great Fast (Lent), and sexual abstinance is encouraged during Great Fast and Philip’s Fast (Advent) for Byzantine Catholics.
 
Aramis said:
Nothing by mouth save water and essential medicine, including minimal food if requisite for meds.

Traditionally, even smoking breaks fast.
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What counts as essential? This seems to imply that the cough drops would break the fast.
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puzzleannie:
I will approach any offending child or adult and demand their gum.
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Even strangers? It’s one thing to approach someone you know and gently remind them that gum is not appropriate during Mass, but if I were visiting a new Parish and a stranger other than clergy approached me and “demanded” my gum you can bet I wouldn’t be visiting that church again!
 
Aramis said:
I’ve been told by a couple theologians that sex breaks the fast as well, but I’ve never seen it in writing for the eucharistic fast.

It does break the Orthodox rules for Great Fast (Lent), and sexual abstinance is encouraged during Great Fast and Philip’s Fast (Advent) for Byzantine Catholics.
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But not in the Latin (Roman) Rite, which has already been quoted.
 
Galnextdoor said:
I have a question. My daughter was cantoring at mass. She started to cough when she sat down and someone gave her a cough drop. She consumed it then went to communion. When she told me about it, I told her that she should not have received communion, because we are supposed to abstain from food or drink for 1 hour before receiving our Lord. She said I must be wrong because everyone else sucks on cough drops during mass. I thought that was just a typical teen response until I started noticing people popping a cough drop in their mouths and receiving communion 15 minutes later. Has the rule changed since I was a kid?
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does it say this in the Bible ( no food b4 communion ) if not dont worrie.
 
Last week I had a bad cold, including coughing fits that could last several minuites. My guess is that that is “essential”
 
There’s a great article you all might consider reading on the topic of the Communion fast here in Antiphon magazine. It’s by Ed Peters (a well-known canonist and father of Thomas Peters the “American Papist”); the title is “The Communion Fast: A Reconsideration”.

Taking medicine (whether it be syrup, pills, or cough drops) seems to me to be a reasonable exclusion from the fasting rules. The point of a fast is to be hungry, and taking medicine (truly needed) is not meant to ward off hunger, but to help the body be well. The present “one hour fast” is really no fast at all and is almost impossible to break on a Sunday (unless you live right next to your parish or are eating/drinking on the way to Mass).
 
japhy said:
A cough drop for a coughing cantor might count as “essential”.
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A cough drop which prevents coughing to the point of vomiting I’d agree is essential. A sip of water, or a cough drop never phased me.

Chewing Gum, well, Sr. Ambrose Bierce, OP, broke me of that…
 
I distinctly remember not having food or water after midnight Sat.to be able to receive Holy Communion on Sunday. There was no such thing as a vigil Mass then. Does anyone else remember those days?
 
japhy said:
There’s a great article you all might consider reading on the topic of the Communion fast here in Antiphon magazine. It’s by Ed Peters (a well-known canonist and father of Thomas Peters the “American Papist”); the title is “The Communion Fast: A Reconsideration”.

Taking medicine (whether it be syrup, pills, or cough drops) seems to me to be a reasonable exclusion from the fasting rules. The point of a fast is to be hungry, and taking medicine (truly needed) is not meant to ward off hunger, but to help the body be well. The present “one hour fast” is really no fast at all and is almost impossible to break on a Sunday (unless you live right next to your parish or are eating/drinking on the way to Mass).
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I skimmed the article, so I don’t know if anything like this is mentioned, however:

I would suggest that there are MORE reasons to fast than to “be hungry”.
One doesn’t really grow hungry in an hour…I think that the point of the fast before communion is that for the hour before we receive, we are more aware of our preparation. We aren’t meant to feel anything physically from the lack of food, but we the mental need to be aware the hour before receiving (15 min before mass starts on Sundays, more on weekdays) is to help us prepare ourselves. During Daily Mass that only lasts 25 min or so, I have to be aware longer before Mass starts and sometimes make a sacrifice of eating breakfast before hand.
 
agapewolf said:
I would suggest that there are MORE reasons to fast than to “be hungry”.
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I misspoke, sorry. I didn’t mean that “the point” of a fast is to be hungry, by that an effect of a proper fast is hunger. The present Communion fast does not produce this effect.
 
baltobetsy said:
The Communion fast excludes water and medicine. If the cough drop was truly used to treat a cough and not simply popped habitually as if it were a mint, then it would seem to qualify as medicine.

Betsy
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Exactly. The one hour fast does exclude water and medicine.
A cantor needs her voice to lead the congregation in praise during worship. Can she do that while coughing? Would the coughing have continued to the point where she may have needed to leave Church and miss Mass all together?
Was water even available? Two purposes were served by the cough drop. (1) The cough was no longer distracting to those around, and therefore to those already in prayer before Mass. (2) The cantor could perform her service.
There might be a concern if this was an everyday occurrence, but as the cough drop was used for medicinal purposes then let it drop.

The one hour fast from food and drink before Communion (not Mass) replaced the previous 3 hour fast with Vatican II. It is enough time for a person to prepare for worship without a drop in blood sugar and the person fainting during Mass. It also means a person can focus on the Mass without being distracted by a growling stomach.

Chewing gum before Mass would violate the spirit of the fast if not in fact the letter of the law. It should not even be a question.

The hunger we experience should be a hunger for God.
 
Ok we get it. Medicine and water: ok
Food and gum: not ok

The poor horse…please stop beating it.
 
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