Eucharistic fast

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CuriousInIL

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I understand that the required Eucharistic fast is one hour before you receive.
My question is:
If you are going to mass and know that you will not receive (because you are conscious of mortal sin) do you keep the fast anyway? (I realize you are not required to do so.)
 
I did because I had to keep the kids on the fast. It just made things easier.
 
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CuriousInIL:
I understand that the required Eucharistic fast is one hour before you receive.
My question is:
If you are going to mass and know that you will not receive (because you are conscious of mortal sin) do you keep the fast anyway? (I realize you are not required to do so.)
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any excuse to fast is a good one!!
 
The fast is only *one hour * before receiving communion.

Considering that the communion rite comes near the end of the Mass, it’s kind of hard NOT to keep it!
 
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CuriousInIL:
I understand that the required Eucharistic fast is one hour before you receive.
My question is:
If you are going to mass and know that you will not receive (because you are conscious of mortal sin) do you keep the fast anyway? (I realize you are not required to do so.)
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Two comments.

One, someone may abstain from the Eucharist for other reasons besides mortal sin. To assume that someone who does not recieve is because of unconfessed mortal sin is worng. I guess abstaining from the Eucharist at the Divine Liturgy is something more prevalent in the Eastern Churches than it is in the Western Church.

Two, which is also why I did not vote, I keep the 12 hour fast before reception of the Eucharist unless it is a Vigil Liturgy and then I just eat a small lunch.
 
My parish only performs the Pauline Mass which does not require the Euchristic fast. It so happens that by the time I get to chuch and participate in Mass until the Eucharist, an hour as passed. It’s not intentional.
 
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LeahInancsi:
My parish only performs the Pauline Mass which does not require the Euchristic fast. It so happens that by the time I get to chuch and participate in Mass until the Eucharist, an hour as passed. It’s not intentional.
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Ummm, sorry, but if your parish is Catholic then it does require teh Eucharist Fast. This is spelt out in Canon Law and has nothing to do with which Mass is celebrated.

From the Code of Canon Law.
Can. 919 §1 Whoever is to receive the blessed Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from all food and drink, with the sole exception of water and medicine.
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§2 A priest who, on the same day, celebrates the blessed Eucharist twice or three times may consume something before the second or third celebration, even though there is not an hour’s interval.
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§3 The elderly and those who are suffering from some illness, as well as those who care for them, may receive the blessed Eucharist even if within the preceding hour they have consumed something.
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There is a like canon in the Code of Canons of of Oriental Churches but I can not find it right now.

So all Catholics are bound by the one hour fast before reception of the Eucharist. To not do so is a mortal sin as it is a violation of Canon Law.
 
I found it in the Eastern Code.
Canon 713
1. The Divine Eucharist is to be distributed in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, unless a just cause suggests otherwise.
2. Concerning the preparation for participation in the Divine Eucharist through fast, prayers and other works, the Christian faithful are to observe faithfully the norms of the Church sui iuris in which they are enrolled, not only within the territorial boundaries of the same Church, but, inasmuch as it is possible, everywhere.
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Basicly it tells us to go to the particular code for our respective Church. In the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church that is one hour, I believe.
 
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ByzCath:
Ummm, sorry, but if your parish is Catholic then it does require teh Eucharist Fast. This is spelt out in Canon Law and has nothing to do with which Mass is celebrated.

From the Code of Canon Law.
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There is a like canon in the Code of Canons of of Oriental Churches but I can not find it right now.

So all Catholics are bound by the one hour fast before reception of the Eucharist. To not do so is a mortal sin as it is a violation of Canon Law.

Either way, you’re going to have at least an hour from the time you leave home and drive directly to church and take communion.

This website would be well-served with spell check.
 
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LeahInancsi:
Either way, you’re going to have at least an hour from the time you leave home and drive directly to church and take communion.

This website would be well-served with spell check.
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Both of these are true but I am not sure, as I do not have a particular law for my Church in front of me, if it says 1 hour before communion or 1 hour before the Divine Liturgy.

And I misunderstood what you were saying. I took what you were saying as the Pauline Mass does not require a fast. I went back and read it again and see that is not what you are saying.

But… The Latin Church parish I go to occasionally is a 5 minute drive from my house and the Mass lasts about an hour at the most… so I can safely say that if I eat and go I would not fast for an hour. That said, I do a longer fast anyways, except for the water for my medication and the occasional cup of coffee, which has been approved by my confessor.
 
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ByzCath:
Both of these are true but I am not sure, as I do not have a particular law for my Church in front of me, if it says 1 hour before communion or 1 hour before the Divine Liturgy.

And I misunderstood what you were saying. I took what you were saying as the Pauline Mass does not require a fast. I went back and read it again and see that is not what you are saying.

But… The Latin Church parish I go to occasionally is a 5 minute drive from my house and the Mass lasts about an hour at the most… so I can safely say that if I eat and go I would not fast for an hour. That said, I do a longer fast anyways, except for the water for my medication and the occasional cup of coffee, which has been approved by my confessor.
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Since I’m only a Catechumen and not a knowledgable as a more experienced Catholic, I’ll admit that the source of my information has been things I’ve heard from reliable sources. For example, before EWTN’s TDL Mass, they mention that you must fast for one hour proior to Mass and lead the listener to believe this is not the case for the Pauline Mass.

I may have said this before, but I go to a Pauline Mass and I know for a fact that I’ve fasted for an hour before I get to the Church. I don’t know what your schedule is, but maybe you can rearrange it to accomodate this one little item or not worry about the tiny little details so much.
 
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LeahInancsi:
For example, before EWTN’s TDL Mass, they mention that you must fast for one hour proior to Mass and lead the listener to believe this is not the case for the Pauline Mass.
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I think theie may be some confusion on your part. What’s the TDL mass? The mass they are celebrating on EWTN’s “The Daily Mass” is the Pauline Mass, not a latin mass. Some portions of the mass are said in Latin, but that does not make it a Latin Mass.

The Tridentine Latin Mass is the traditional mass of the Roman Catholic Church, and is not celebrated on EWTN. You would know it if you saw it.

S
 
On Christmas Eve, we went to an evening service at my parent’s non-Catholic church. I felt wierd eating a piece of candy in the car - guess the fast has become a real ingrained habit for me!
 
Fasting is just too deeply ingrained, I guess.

Actually, we tend to have fasted quite a bit longer than required, since we’re at the 9am Mass and don’t eat between waking and Mass at all–though that’s really more a matter of reducing the stress involved in getting six people ready in a house w/ only one shower.

I have occasionally made toast or something equally quick for the children who aren’t old enough to receive yet, but usually we just don’t have time to eat before getting out the door. (We have about 1-1/2 hrs between waking and heading out the door–just enough time to get the job done and not enough to let the kids get restless.)
 
Considering that the one-hour fast is nearly impossible to break (for many including myself this would mean eating either on the drive to church or in the pew) I always observe a de facto fast.
 
Andreas Hofer:
Considering that the one-hour fast is nearly impossible to break (for many including myself this would mean eating either on the drive to church or in the pew) I always observe a de facto fast.
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Yeah, it seems that a one hour fast only prevents snacking in the pew.
 
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slewi:
I think theie may be some confusion on your part. What’s the TDL mass? The mass they are celebrating on EWTN’s “The Daily Mass” is the Pauline Mass, not a latin mass. Some portions of the mass are said in Latin, but that does not make it a Latin Mass.

The Tridentine Latin Mass is the traditional mass of the Roman Catholic Church, and is not celebrated on EWTN. You would know it if you saw it.

S
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Sorry…I’m out of this discussion.
 
Even if someone did fast before they were *not *going to receive communion, it really wouldn’t be a “eucharistic fast”.

In my church, I always fast, the mass is sufficiently long, and since the church doesn’t allow hot dog vendors I really don’t have much of a choice.
 
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