How severe is the Church's law on the 1 hour fast?

[EasterJoy]

If you failed to fast, then don’t receive. If you made a bad decision by overriding your better judgment on this and talked to the pastor afterward, I can see why he would reassure you that this was not the worst case of sacrilege ever committed. Still, it is a very bad habit to give yourself permission in advance to commit sin of any degree, but particularly not a sin that is so easily avoided. (I mean that most of us would find just about any other moral situation requiring us to stay where we are and refrain from an action while others went forward instead to be more difficult to manage. )

***If you have a phone or a watch with an alarm on it, just set it for about 45 minutes before daily mass; about 30 minutes before Sunday mass. ***

There are many places where one would practically have to be eating in the parking lot or would have to duck into the parish hall and grab one of the doughnuts left over from the last Mass in order to fail to observe the fast. Still, the idea of setting an alarm on the days you intend to receive Holy Communion is a good one. Yes, it is also a good idea to set the alarm for more like 70 minutes than for 60:00 minutes before you think you will be receiving the Eucharist. A little leeway is a good thing.

 

[MissRose73]

Water and medicine are the only permitted exceptions to the one-hour fast. And yes, it was originally longer. In the Eastern Rites, it’s still the accepted practice that those receiving the Eucharist fast for the entire day, from the time they wake up in the morning until the Eucharist itself. Although it should be noted that in the Eastern Rites communion is received much less often than than in the Western Rite.

As for your question, I think the real answer to it is philosophical in nature; whether the infusion of grace from receiving a sacrament can trump the killing of grace of a venial sin, which does not actually kill grace but simply harms it. And that’s a question that I think not even a professor of moral philosophy could answer, much less a parish priest and persons on an internet forum.

What is the rule though for Eastern Catholics? I’ve observed the 1 hour minimal fast as I am Roman Catholic / Latin Rite when going to the Byzantine Divine Liturgy. I hope that I was doing the right thing as the 1st Divine Liturgy I attended the priest did not say there was a longer fast time.

 

[Chatter163]

Last Friday I spontaneously remembered in the middle of the daily Mass that I was drinking apple juice just before walking over to get everything prepped, so I didn’t receive, which caused a bit of awkwardness for the priest (the students aren’t present on Fridays though).

Why would a server not receiving cause awkwardness for the priest?

 

[DJJG]

What is the rule though for Eastern Catholics? I’ve observed the 1 hour minimal fast as I am Roman Catholic / Latin Rite when going to the Byzantine Divine Liturgy. I hope that I was doing the right thing as the 1st Divine Liturgy I attended the priest did not say there was a longer fast time.

***It doesn’t matter which church you go to, you follow the rules of YOUR sui juris church. So, if your a Roman Catholic it’s 1 hour before communion, regardless of weather their requirement is longer or shorter. The requirements only change if you *****officially **change rites.

 

[prodromos]

When people spit something out, it is extremely rare, perhaps impossible, that they will spit out 100%. As a rule there will be a certain residue left in the mouth. So you would be breaking a fast if one was applicable during that period. Although it would not be something that you wanted to do, in reality, the fast was broken.

Would you not brush your teeth in the morning before mass?
We Orthodox fast from the night before the Divine Liturgy yet we always brush our teeth again in the morning, at least my family does. I’d hate to receive Christ’s body and blood with my mouth smelling like it usually does first thing in the morning.

 

[Tomdstone]

Would you not brush your teeth in the morning before mass?
We Orthodox fast from the night before the Divine Liturgy yet we always brush our teeth again in the morning, at least my family does. I’d hate to receive Christ’s body and blood with my mouth smelling like it usually does first thing in the morning.

A Greek Orthodox priest told me that it is recommended to gargle using mouthwash or to brush the teeth or both before receiving Holy Communion. Mouthwash is not considered to be food and therefore would not break the fast when used as gargling to clean out the mouth.