How long do I have to fast before I go to church?

  • Thread starter Thread starter theCardinalbird
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

theCardinalbird

Guest
How long do I have to fast before I go to church?

Edit: how long do I have to fast before recieving the Eucharist?
 
Last edited:
Jamie5 said:
You don’t have to fast. It’s a personal decision.
Click to expand...
Such a false statement 😂
The current rules were introduced by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964, and are found in Canon 919 of the Code of Canon Law:
“A person who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from any food and drink, except for only water and medicine.
The elderly, the infirm, and those who care for them can receive the Most Holy Eucharist even if they have eaten something within the preceding hour”
 
An hour’s fast is required before Communion in the Novus Ordo Mass, (the Ordinary Form) of the Latin Rite (Roman Catholic). It doesn’t matter when you arrive at church or what time mass starts, the requirement to fast is an hour before receiving Communion. If you choose to receive Communion this is not a personal decision, it is a requirement of all healthy communicants. If you choose not to receive Communion there is no requirement to fast.
 
Question was before I go to church, not necessarily about communion? I would think God wouldn’t mind if you had a bite to eat while in the car. 😂
 
Jamie5 said:
Question was before I go to church, not necessarily about communion? I would think God wouldn’t mind if you had a bite to eat while in the car. 😂
Click to expand...
I would request that the OP clarify his original statement; however, practicing Catholics would realize the subject is about reception of the Eucharist.
 
Joe1 said:
How long do I have to fast before I go to church?

Edit: how long do I have to fast before recieving the Eucharist?
Click to expand...
Jamie5 said:
Question was before I go to church, not necessarily about communion? I would think God wouldn’t mind if you had a bite to eat while in the car. 😂
Click to expand...
Cthompson said:
I would request that the OP clarify his original statement; however, practicing Catholics would realize the subject is about reception of the Eucharist.
Click to expand...
Thank you OP for clarifying.
 
When I was a kid, I figured communion was always about an hour into church, so therefore there was no ned to really fast. Of course, we’d always get breakfast AFTER church, so that didn’t really seem to matter, much like waiting an hour before you go swimming.😁
 
Jamie5 said:
Question was before I go to church, not necessarily about communion? I would think God wouldn’t mind if you had a bite to eat while in the car.
Click to expand...
Most people ‘going to church’ on these forums are Catholic, as is the OP, and the phrase “go to church” likely means “go to Mass” when Catholics are most likely going to wish to receive Communion. That’s why @Cthompson and I both specified the fast before Communion in our responses.

No, God wouldn’t mind a bite to eat if you go to Church for an hour of Adoration, or if you go to Church for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but God gave the Church the power to bind and to loose - the power to make rules that we are bound to obey - and one of the things the Church has chosen to bind us to is the one hour fast before Communion, which most Catholics receive when they “go to Church.”
 
Jamie5 said:
When I was a kid, I figured communion was always about an hour into church,
Click to expand...
@Jamie5,
You probably had very long masses when you were a kid. Sunday Masses in my parish only take about 55-70 minutes, with the Communion Rite beginning about 40 minutes into the entire service. Weekday masses are only 25-35 minutes, with Communion starting about 20 minutes in. If I want coffee in the morning, before Mass and receiving the Blessed Sacrament, I plan accordingly. If I cut it close, I check my watch and will even go to the back of the line to receive if it makes a difference in the fast…or refrain from receiving at all.

Be at peace.
 
You need to fast for one hour prior to receiving the Eucharist, unless you are excused from the fast through either being above the age limitation or receiving a dispensation for a particular medical condition.

You may have water and medication any time though, those do not count as breaking the fast.
 
Normally for me I fast 1 hour or more before communion, depending on my circumstances.

CC 919: . A person who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from any food and drink, except for only water and medicine. .
 
It’s sad there is so much ignorance and confusion surrounding the fast before receiving Holy Communion in the Catholic Church.

Some say there is none. Wrong.

Some say the EF Mass requires not eating after midnight on the day one receives. Simply not true.

Others claim that the longer the fast, the better the fast. Again, ridiculous.

When I would prepare food before a Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy for consumption afterwards, the EFers would come in and make a big show about how hungry their were, how great the food smelled, etc. I’d tell them to go right ahead and eat – they would have still have easily satisfied the fast required for that particular church. They would then make a loud pronouncement for everyone to hear about how they were keeping the “midnight fast.”

I stopped offering after awhile.
 
Those EF’ers are trying to be pre-Vatican II in every way.
If they want to go beyond what is required, it would be all right and probably count as a penance, except that they ruin it if they make a big deal out of the fact that they’re doing it.
Like the people Jesus complained about who stand on the street corner to pray.
 
Last edited:
Good thing that most EF’ers are nothing like that.
Just as most OF’ers are not the ones who think (and say) that people don’t have to fast at all.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top