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dizzy_dave
Guest
I found out that we as Catholics are only permitted to receive Holy Communion twice in any one day. I’m curious as to why that is? Thanks.
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SuscipeMeDomine
Guest
Probably so that we don’t trivialize something that’s so beyond imagining. If you could receive the Eucharist as often as you pop a TicTac, what meaning would it have?
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JReducation
Guest
The actual rule is that you can only receive the Eucharist once a day, unless the second mass is an extraordinary mass. In other words, the second mass is not the mass of the day. It may be a funeral, wedding, confirmation, and so forth.
The reason for this is tha the Holy Sacrifice of the mass is applied to the day. Once you have celebrated it for that day, it is over.
The only person who may celebrate the mass of the day twice is a priest in a situation where there is not a second priest, such as a parish that has many masses.
Even priests in such parishes must have the permission of the bishop or their religious superior to celebrate a third time the mass for the same day.
This is not just a rule for the laity. It is for deacons, priests, bishops, religious and laity.
In the case of a Saturday, you can go to mass Saturday mornig and again Saturday evening, because the evening mass is applied to Sunday.
It really has to do with the liturgical calendar. You cannot celebrate the same day twice.
A simple example, let’s pretend it’s the feast of Mt. Carmel. Once you have celebrated the liturgy for that feast, it’s completed.
Christ’s sacrifice need not be celebrated a second time by the same person in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. God has already been honoured.
This was done to prevent superstition, people who believed that the more they went to communion the more graces they received. Communion became an object of superstition, instead of devotion.
Hope this helps,
JR
The reason for this is tha the Holy Sacrifice of the mass is applied to the day. Once you have celebrated it for that day, it is over.
The only person who may celebrate the mass of the day twice is a priest in a situation where there is not a second priest, such as a parish that has many masses.
Even priests in such parishes must have the permission of the bishop or their religious superior to celebrate a third time the mass for the same day.
This is not just a rule for the laity. It is for deacons, priests, bishops, religious and laity.
In the case of a Saturday, you can go to mass Saturday mornig and again Saturday evening, because the evening mass is applied to Sunday.
It really has to do with the liturgical calendar. You cannot celebrate the same day twice.
A simple example, let’s pretend it’s the feast of Mt. Carmel. Once you have celebrated the liturgy for that feast, it’s completed.
Christ’s sacrifice need not be celebrated a second time by the same person in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. God has already been honoured.
This was done to prevent superstition, people who believed that the more they went to communion the more graces they received. Communion became an object of superstition, instead of devotion.
Hope this helps,
JR
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SuscipeMeDomine
Guest
Could you clarify?
Canon law says “Can. 917 A person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates, without prejudice to the prescript of ⇒ can. 921, §2.” I took that to mean that the first time could be at a Mass, a communion service, the bedside of a sick person, etc. The second time had to be at Mass but I don’t see where it says it has to be an unusual circumstance such as a funeral or wedding.
(And in case anyone is wondering, the reference to 921, §2 has to do with those in danger of death: §2. Even if they have been nourished by holy communion on the same day, however, those in danger of death are strongly urged to receive communion again.)
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PhilotheaZ
Guest
SuscipeMeDomine is correct. The second time must be at a Mass, but it does not have to be at a “special” or different type of Mass.
However, you should use prudent judgment in deciding whether to attend a second Mass on a regular basis, making sure that it is not becoming “routine” nor keeping you from carrying out the duties of your state in life. If in doubt, run it by your spiritual director or confessor.
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Nan_S
Guest
Does this mean that someone who receives Holy Communion at mass in the morning, and gets hit by a tractor-trailer at noontime, can’t receive Holy Communion with the Last Rites in the afternoon because it’s not being offered during a mass?
If this is the rule, it seems pretty harsh.
What is the meaning of “same day” anyway? For the purposes of this rule, does the new day begin at midnight or as sunset?
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Br.Rich_SFO
Guest
To stop a trend of rushing from one church to another in time to arrive for the Consecration and Holy Communion, and not actually attending the whole Mass.
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Br.Rich_SFO
Guest
It does not place the restriction of “unusual circumstances”.
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bpbasilphx
Guest
Many people consider receiving TWICE a day to be questionable.
The Orthodox would never do such a thing.
The Orthodox would never do such a thing.
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tessi
Guest
What is wrong with attending more than one Mass a day?
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SuscipeMeDomine
Guest
Why would you do that regularly? There are many forms of prayer including the Liturgy of the Hours. If you feel called to pray liturgically, you could incorporate one or more of the hours into your prayer life. If you want to use other forms of prayer then perhaps add lectio divina or the rosary or whatever form is meaningful to you.
If you use contemplative religious as a model of people who pray constantly, even they don’t attend multiple Masses a day.
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b_justb
Guest
I had asked this question of a friend of mine that is also a Priest. I put the question to him in terms of like this:
If I have a daily Mass devotion and go early in the morning and then some friends want to get together to go to an evening Mass is it OK to receive Holy Communion again or should I just remain seated and pray while everyone else processes?
He told me the twice a day thing and said the reason it came about was because some Catholics were trying to one up each other on the holiness / pious front. “I receive Communion every day” “Yeah, well I receive twice a day!” and so forth. So to prevent humans from being ridiculous the Church had to implement the twice a day only rule.
No sources, this is just what he told me.
If I have a daily Mass devotion and go early in the morning and then some friends want to get together to go to an evening Mass is it OK to receive Holy Communion again or should I just remain seated and pray while everyone else processes?
He told me the twice a day thing and said the reason it came about was because some Catholics were trying to one up each other on the holiness / pious front. “I receive Communion every day” “Yeah, well I receive twice a day!” and so forth. So to prevent humans from being ridiculous the Church had to implement the twice a day only rule.
No sources, this is just what he told me.
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Cathryn
Guest
I regularly receive the Holy Eucharist twice on Sundays. The reason is I receive at the 8AM Latin Mass because I love this Mass, and then with my husband go with him to the 11AM Novus Ordo in a different parish, which I also love. (My husband is an usher there.) I believe it’s important for me to go to Mass with my husband especially because he is a convert.
My Pastor told me to feel free to receive Holy Communion at the second Mass. He was very happy that my love for the Latin Mass was not creating a division in my marriage. He thought it was a good solution, as long as I was happy with it.
My Pastor told me to feel free to receive Holy Communion at the second Mass. He was very happy that my love for the Latin Mass was not creating a division in my marriage. He thought it was a good solution, as long as I was happy with it.
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Digitonomy
Guest
While this is possible, I would guess it’s more likely that instead of thwarting braggarts, the rule was intended to help the overly scrupulous, who might feel guilty about not attending mass and receiving the Eucharist a second, third, or fourth time if they had a chance on a given day.
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tessi
Guest
I repeat, what is wrong with more than one Mass a day? I receive Communion only once a day, but sometimes I go to more than one Mass a day.
Is it wrong, too, to recevice Communion only once a day?
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SuscipeMeDomine
Guest
If you want to attend Mass multiple times a day I suppose it’s your choice. It’s not, however, something the Church encourages.
When it comes to priests celebrating the Mass, they are limited. Canon law limits them to one Mass a day and twice on Sunday unless there’s a good reason to add an additional Mass. Lay people are limited in how many times a day they can receive communion.
I don’t get the sense the Church is saying “if one is good then more are better.”
But whatever makes you happy…
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tessi
Guest
Aren’t we supposed to pray constantly? The Mass is the perfect prayer. I don’t get the sense the Church saying “if one is good then more are not better”.
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musicmantg11
Guest
Traditionally, the Holy Eucharist should not be received more than once a day except if one attends a Funeral, Wedding, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, etc. It may be given more than once a day as Viaticum during Extreme Unction. The Code of Canon Law says different.
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Br.Rich_SFO
Guest
There is nothing wrong with it. The Mass is the highest form of prayer. I would attend any Mass that is available to me, even if I could attend only part of the Mass. Canon Law restricts reception of Holy Communion to no more than twice a day, with the second reception being within a Mass that you attended. Viaticum being an exception. A person does not need to receive Holy Communion every time they attend Mass.
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Cobbfmly
Guest
This is the case in my parish. Due to our parish being large (about 3000 families) and our church being small (seats about 500 people), we have 2 masses Saturday evening and 9 masses on Sunday (one of which is at a rural mission church, 30 miles from our parish). We have another rural mission church (about 6 miles from our parish), but the Bishop has allowed us to discontinue the Sunday mass at it. We have two priests assigned to our parish and one priest that we share with another parish. This means that typically the two priest that are assigned only to our parish receive Eucharist at least four times on Sunday (counting Saturday evening masses).
We are in the early stages of building a 1200 seat church, so that we can reduce the number of Sunday masses to a reasonable number.
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