Fasting before mass - mortal sin?

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thememphisman

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yesterday i drank a hot tea around 9:30. daily mass started at 10. when i was drinking the tea i wasnt planning on going to mass, but around 10 i decided that it would be good to get back in the habit of going to daily mass. when it came time to receive eucharist i began to think whether or not i had fasted before mass. i decided to receive eucharist despite having drank tea only 30 mins before mass started.

is this mortally sinful? or am i being too hard on myself?

thanks
 
thememphisman said:
yesterday i drank a hot tea around 9:30. daily mass started at 10. when i was drinking the tea i wasnt planning on going to mass, but around 10 i decided that it would be good to get back in the habit of going to daily mass. when it came time to receive eucharist i began to think whether or not i had fasted before mass. i decided to receive eucharist despite having drank tea only 30 mins before mass started.

is this mortally sinful? or am i being too hard on myself?

thanks
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Too hard on yourself. The fast is for one hour before reception of COMMUNION, not for one hour before the START OF MASS. So you were good to go.
 
Say you did take a sip of water or tea right before you walked into mass.

Mortally sinful?
 
A few years ago I asked the same question. I had several posts that said it was a mortal sin to receive Holy Communion without a full one hour fast. I will read this thread with great interest.
 
You must live really close to your church. At 10am you decided to get back into the habit, and you were at Mass at 10am? I’d have to at least get ready and drive to Mass – even then I’d be lucky to make it there by the Gospel reading.

Just to be safe, say an act of contrition and plan on going to confession as soon as possible. Not saying that you are guilty of mortal sin (only you and your priest/confessor can determine that), but visiting the sacrament of reconciliation is always a good thing.

fyi, here is rule … note that it is one hour before communion – communion time can be different on Sundays than it is during the weekdays for Daily Mass. Some will try to time it exactly, which seems a bit scrupulous. I’ve heard some folks say that Father So-And-So says a fast Mass so you have to be done eating/drinking by this time, whereas Father This-And-That says a slower Mass so you can eat/drink a little later. Crazy scrupulosity!

Canon 919
  1. One who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception only of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion.
  2. A priest who celebrates the Most Holy Eucharist two or three times on the same day may take something before the second or third celebration even if the period of one hour does not intervene.
  3. Those who are advanced in age or who 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.
ewtn.com/expert/answers/communion_dispositions.htm
 
There are other cannons, dealing with the churches current teaching on fasting.
They make it clear that it is NOT a mortal sin to fail to fast on any specific occasion. What is required is an intention to follow the churches teaching to fast, and it is only a willfull rejection of this broader teaching which would be considered a mortal sin.
(I.e. it is a sin to say or to feel that the church is wrong to ask people to fast, or to say that you never intend to fast)
 
jmjconder said:
A few years ago I asked the same question. I had several posts that said it was a mortal sin to receive Holy Communion without a full one hour fast. I will read this thread with great interest.
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The required fast is one full hour before receiving Communion. Breaking it is a sin (unless dispensed such as for a medical reason). It may or may not be a mortal sin.

There are several considerations. First of all, if you ate or drank something without remembering the time, it is not likely mortal. On the other hand, if you ate just before Mass started because you were scoffing at the requirement for Communion fast, it is probably mortal.

Following the rules on fast and abstinence is a precept of the Church.

There is no requirement to receive Communion at any given Mass. If Communion time arrives and you know you have not met the fast, why would you receive anyway?
 
Corki said:
There is no requirement to receive Communion at any given Mass. If Communion time arrives and you know you have not met the fast, why would you receive anyway?
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This is one of the oddities of our day. Mass has become synomous with receiving communion.
 
Personally, I don’t think the issue is if it is a grave matter or not but the question is on intention. This post does not directly apply to your situation since you really hadn’t decided until the last minute and you did make an conscious decision to fast once you had decided to attend Mass. That being said, if you had taken a drink at 9:55 for a 10 AM weekday Mass (Sunday Mass you may still be okay), you should not receive though you should still attend Mass.

I understand you are asking in terms of confession, which it is probably not a mortal sin but should be confessed (as at least one other has mentioned), but in the future it should be something you have at the forefront of your mind as you prepare for Mass. The concept is that you are about to receive the Savior of the universe in the most intimate way imaginable. You should not only prepare you mind and soul for this encounter, but your body as well. The Church has prescribed that fasting for one hour is the minimum sufficient for this preparation. Because of the limitations of our bodies, this one hour minimum should be followed by everyone because you can’t short cut your digestive process. Your mental and spiritual preparation are up to you since each person will vary widely on how they prepare themselves but bodily preparation will have a natural minimum. In my opinion, you should fast shortly after receiving as well but there is no rule for that.

So when it comes to following this rule, it is about intention. Let us assume it is not a grave matter and so can never be a mortal sin, would you then stop worrying about it and just drink tea until you walked in the door? Does it need to be a mortal sin for you to not do it? While your situation is somewhat different since your intention was not to violate the rule, there are many people who just don’t get it.

A similar parallel is fasting. The Church requires fasting during Lent but that does not mean that is the only time you should fast, it just means that is the minimum amount of mortification you should be doing (that and Friday). Many people think fasting on Friday has gone away when really it has just become a personal choice as to what you mortify on Fridays in honor of Christ’s sacrifice, fasting was just the previous minimum. It is all about intention when it comes to these disciplines. The goal should be a desire to fulfill them, not out of a sense of following the law but out of a sense of love for your brother and of God.

I applaud you for trying to get back to a routine of daily Mass, it is not an easy thing to do until it becomes a habit. Just remember why you are going and the fast won’t be an issue. You won’t need a rule because you will want to follow it and maybe even go beyond the minimum out of love for our Lord.

God Bless.
 
Is the Eucharistic fast a grave matter?

It certainly has been considered traditionally to be a grave matter (indeed which did not admit of parvity (smallness) of matter).

I have though read in one orthodox source (G. Grisez, Living a Christian Life II Franciscan Press) (after he notes the above) that “*some *sound moralists” think that it now admits of parvity …smallness of matter (and they thus hold one needs not to be concerned about mortal sin if not observed perfectly) (of course that writer also noted if the person is trying to be irreverent or disobedient (contempt for the Church’s law) then plainly such was mortal …)

Catholic Answers’ apologist take on it (it is grave):

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=475644&highlight=eucharistic+fast

(As to the OP’s actual subjective sin at the time or not…they can discuss it with their confessor…)
 
Is the Eucharistic fast a grave matter?

It has long been considered a grave matter (indeed which did not admit of parvity (smallness) of matter).

Though I have read that some moralists think that it admits of parvity of matter.

Catholic Answers’ apologist take on it (it is grave):

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=475644&highlight=eucharistic+fast

(As to the OP’s actual subjective sin at the time or not…they can discuss it with their confessor…)

(and by the way there are exceptions in the law…see regarding the sick etc)
 
Bookcat said:
Is the Eucharistic fast a grave matter?

It has long been considered a grave matter (indeed which did not admit of parvity (smallness) of matter).

Though I have read that some moralists think that it admits of parvity of matter.

Catholic Answers’ apologist take on it (it is grave):

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=475644&highlight=eucharistic+fast

(As to the OP’s actual subjective sin at the time or not…they can discuss it with their confessor…)

(and by the way there are exceptions in the law…see regarding the sick etc)
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PS: since there are scrupulous readers out there…I will add for them…do not scruple here 🙂 If you have questions discuss such with your regular confessor.
 
To the question of:

Is the Eucharistic fast a grave matter?

It has long been considered a* grave matter* (indeed which did not admit of parvity (smallness) of matter).

Though I have read that some moralists think that it admits of parvity of matter.

Catholic Answers’ apologist take on it (it is grave):

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=475644&highlight=eucharistic+fast

(As to the OP’s actual subjective sin at the time or not…they can discuss it with their confessor…for even when something is a grave matter…more goes into the question “did I commit a mortal sin when I did X”…see the Catechism on mortal sin)

(and by the way for other readers…there are exceptions in the law…see regarding the sick etc)
 
puzzleannie said:
no
yes
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**I hold your words and wisdom in very high regard. I have asked this question a long time ago and was told it is a moral sin (given the conditions of a mortal sin) to ignore the fast. I also responded that it was hard to believe that this mortal sin is on the same plane as say an intentional murder.

Please weigh in - for me!**
 
Im feeling a bit guilty after coming across this. I am a newly Confirmed Catholic, and I read on wikipedia some time ago about this fast though I didnt know whether to take it seriously though because of the source… oops.
 
jmjconder said:
I hold your words and wisdom in very high regard. I have asked this question a long time ago and was told it is a moral sin (given the conditions of a mortal sin) to ignore the fast. I also responded that it was hard to believe that this mortal sin is on the same plane as say an intentional murder.

Please weigh in - for me!
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OP did not ask the rules for the communion fast, he asked about a specific situation. where did I say it is not a mortal sin to deliberately, willfully, with intent, to break the fast? it is harder than you think to commit a mortal sin–not hard to do the deeds, that is relatively easy, but hard to really be in an intentional frame of mind to sin grievously and deliberately with the force of intent that makes it mortal, that is, the willingness to sever one’s relationship with God in order to attain the end of the sinful act.
 
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