Lent & communion

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eatpraylove11

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If one gives up bread for lent, would that include giving up Eucharist as well?
 
Mike_Dye said:
The only thing that remains after the consecration is the appearance of bread.
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^^^This.

The Eucharist is the flesh (in the appearance of bread) and blood (in the appearance of wine) of Christ.

Therefore one doesn’t break one’s Lenten sacrifice by receiving the Eucharist if one gives up either bread or wine for Lent.
 
OraLabora said:
^^^This.

The Eucharist is the flesh (in the appearance of bread) and blood (in the appearance of wine) of Christ.

Therefore one doesn’t break one’s Lenten sacrifice by receiving the Eucharist if one gives up either bread or wine for Lent.
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What if you give up meat? :confused:
 
Unless you are in sin, no Lenten sacrifice should include giving up the Sacrament!

No matter what was given up.

ICXC NIKA
 
(The correct answer here, folks, is that Lenten sacrifices don’t count on Sundays regardless)
 
QuasiCatholic said:
(The correct answer here, folks, is that Lenten sacrifices don’t count on Sundays regardless)
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😉 True for the Saturday Vigil and Sunday … because every Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection *

However, there are Daily Masses and the Good Friday Communion Service …

I posit that the real answer is that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ - it is our Spiritual Food … one should never attempt to equate that great gift with *common food and drink be that bread, wine or meat …
 
Not bread. Not Bread. NOT BREAD. Jesus Christ is not the Bread King and the revolutionary. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His flesh is food indeed and His blood is drink indeed. Look past the veil, and see the mystery! Never give up the body & blood of Christ, never, never, never.
 
QuasiCatholic said:
(The correct answer here, folks, is that Lenten sacrifices don’t count on Sundays regardless)
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Counting Sundays and not counting Sundays are equally valid traditions for a personal sacrifice. You choose the sacrifice, you set the parameters. I’d never even heard that you get “time off” of your sacrifice on Sundays until the last 10-15 years. When I was a kid you gave something up from Clean Monday (or Ash Wednesday) and you didn’t touch it again until Easter Sunday. I can just hear Sister Paul asking in her Irish accent, “Do you think Jesus came in from the desert and had a feast once a week? Do you?”

Yes, I’m well aware that Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent, but they remain part of the penitential season. Thus, the Gloria and Alleluia are not sung during the Mass.

Regardless, the Eucharist would not be included because, as so many have pointed out, it is not bread.

In the Byzantine tradition, we “fast” from the Divine Liturgy Monday through Friday. We don’t fast from the Eucharist, though, understanding that it is our sustenance to get through the fast. Instead, we offer the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and the people have access to Holy Communion, even while foregoing the Divine Liturgy.
 
Regardless, the Eucharist would not be included because, as so many have pointed out, it is not bread.
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Correct that the Eucharist is not bread, but the bigger reason is you don’t “fast from Sacraments” in general. Sacraments are helps to holiness which is exactly what Lent is about.

Same reasoning for not emptying holy water stoops (not talking about the baptismal font). Sacramentals are also (though lesser) helps to holiness and we should not be fasting from things that foster holiness.
 
QuasiCatholic said:
What if you give up meat? :confused:
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The Eucharist isn’t ‘meat’, either.

Yes, it’s the “true presence” of Christ. But, it’s a sacramental presence: Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity are sacramentally present. (What is physically present are the appearances of bread and wine.)
 
I only asked because last year as I was taking my RCIA classes, I attended mass and one of the girls participated in Eucharist but did not drink the wine, because she gave up alcohol for lent. I do know it is the blood of Christ, but the girl was young and had an interesting perspective. I think her heart and intentions were in the right place.

I’ve been thinking about giving up bread for lent…boy would that be a game-changer for me (I love carbs)!!! Now I know for sure that I wouldn’t have to give up Eucharist! 😃
 
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