Number of people receiving communion

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I have been reading some older Catholic fiction and nonfiction and most of these books imply that the faithful were not “regulars” at the communion rail before the Second Council. Was that true? Most people, or many, did not receive weekly communion?

At my parish, there are very very few people, mostly elderly people, who do not go up to receive, and this makes me think my perception is true.

What changed? Is this trend true throughout the Church or just in North America?
 
fencersmother said:
I have been reading some older Catholic fiction and nonfiction and most of these books imply that the faithful were not “regulars” at the communion rail before the Second Council. Was that true? Most people, or many, did not receive weekly communion?

At my parish, there are very very few people, mostly elderly people, who do not go up to receive, and this makes me think my perception is true.

What changed? Is this trend true throughout the Church or just in North America?
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Just my opinion, but the understanding (and acknowledgment) of sin in America has become too humanist. We tend to think of ourselves as doing good on our terms, not on what the faith teaches–objective truth.

Also, we get mechanical and routine. We take for granted or forget that communion is HOLY–Christ himself. Our minds and hearts need reminding. I slipped into that funk for several years when I would receive communion without proper examination of conscience beforehand. Most of that time I had sins on my soul, and made it worse by receiving Christ unworthily.

Confession/Reconciliation is wonderful for the soul, and there for us always.
 
I am 77 years old and grew up attending Jesuit Parochial School and Church in downtown Miami Florida. From age 8 until about 15 years of age I was an Altar Boy. This was, of course many years before V II.
The Church was quite large, seating wel over 500 people and Sunday Masses were held on the hour from 7 AM until and including Noon. The 10 AM Mass was always a High Mass said by the Pastor and/or any visiting Priests who were dignataries. This Church served not only residents of Miami, but the huge number pf tpurists to the city.
I distinctly remember that on Saturdays afternoon and evenings, there were at least 3 Priests hearing Confession. And, at each Mass on Sundays, so many people received Communion that “off duty” Priests- at least 2 would come in to assist in giving our Communion. In those days only Priests were allowed to touch the Host.
I also remember that weekly Confession was stressed…something that seems to have gone by the boards nowadays.
 
fencersmother said:
I have been reading some older Catholic fiction and nonfiction and most of these books imply that the faithful were not “regulars” at the communion rail before the Second Council. Was that true? Most people, or many, did not receive weekly communion?

At my parish, there are very very few people, mostly elderly people, who do not go up to receive, and this makes me think my perception is true.

What changed? Is this trend true throughout the Church or just in North America?
Click to expand...
This is because most people today do not know the fasting rules and or the rules regarding when to refrain from communion.
  1. if you ate or drank anything (besides water) 1 hour before Communion, you cannot receive (it used to be 3 hours before V2)
  2. not having been to confession in the past year (if no mortal sin)
  3. if you have mortal sin, you cannot receive until you go to confession (many people do know know this or do not realize they have mortal sin - or disagree with the Church)
----- this include (but not limited to): use of birth control, premarital sex, voting for pro-abortion candidates, divorced and remarried without annulment, married outside the Church without dispensation, living with significant other without being married, masturbation, etc. All of which requires confession and sometimes fixing the situation.

I’m sure that there are plenty of Catholics who do one of things on my above list and still receive Communion. When I was growing up, my mom took birth control and still received Communion, as she disagreed with the Church. As a matter of fact, my mom hasn’t been to confession in almost 40 years.

I don’t think it has as much to do with V2, but more to do with the hippie generation
 
Do not make this a running commentary about your fellow Catholics today. Just answer the poster’s questions. Comparisons can be very judgmental and very uncharitable.

Thank You
 
Pope St. Pius X was a pioneer to encourage frequent reception of Holy Communion. He also adjusted the age of First Communion from 12 to the age of discretion. Before this for centuries, reception of Holy Communion was in fact infrequent among the faithful.

So it wasn’t just Vatican II, the seeds were planted decades before it.
 
fencersmother said:
I have been reading some older Catholic fiction and nonfiction and most of these books imply that the faithful were not “regulars” at the communion rail before the Second Council. Was that true? Most people, or many, did not receive weekly communion?

At my parish, there are very very few people, mostly elderly people, who do not go up to receive, and this makes me think my perception is true.

What changed? Is this trend true throughout the Church or just in North America?
Click to expand...
No idea, but since St. Pius X, the Church has been promoting frequent communion among the laity.

EDIT: Emu’d.
 
phil19034 said:
This is because most people today do not know the fasting rules and or the rules regarding when to refrain from communion.
  1. if you ate or drank anything (besides water) 1 hour before Communion, you cannot receive (it used to be 3 hours before V2)
  2. not having been to confession in the past year (if no mortal sin)
  3. if you have mortal sin, you cannot receive until you go to confession (many people do know know this or do not realize they have mortal sin - or disagree with the Church)
----- this include (but not limited to): use of birth control, premarital sex, voting for pro-abortion candidates, divorced and remarried without annulment, married outside the Church without dispensation, living with significant other without being married, masturbation, etc. All of which requires confession and sometimes fixing the situation.

I agree with your list of sins which would preclude one from receiving communion with 1 exception. I believe one can vote for a pro abortion candidate and receive. Had a discussion about this with a priest a long time ago and he agreed with me. What have all the pro life republican presidents done since r vs w to outlaw abortion – next to nothing!

I’m sure that there are plenty of Catholics who do one of things on my above list and still receive Communion. When I was growing up, my mom took birth control and still received Communion, as she disagreed with the Church. As a matter of fact, my mom hasn’t been to confession in almost 40 years.

I don’t think it has as much to do with V2, but more to do with the hippie generation
Click to expand...
 
Elizium23 said:
Pope St. Pius X was a pioneer to encourage frequent reception of Holy Communion. He also adjusted the age of First Communion from 12 to the age of discretion. Before this for centuries, reception of Holy Communion was in fact infrequent among the faithful.

So it wasn’t just Vatican II, the seeds were planted decades before it.
Click to expand...
Frequent Communion for centuries was wrongly considered by people as the sin of greed, which is why you will see old writings against daily or even weekly Communion. For most people in the Middle Ages, it was basically once in their life, usually before death (vaticum) because it was thought you would go straight to heaven. Most people believed they were unworthy to receive Holy Communion, so it became a vicious cycle of “I can’t receive the Eucharist and I am unable to go to Confession (because of work, sickness, etc.), so why bother going to Mass when I need to work to feed my family?”

Historically, this fed into a divide between Catholic workers who worked under horrible conditions for rich Catholic landowners and factory owners, which is why Marxism was so appealing to workers.
 
A lot of the change had to do with Pope Pius X(1903-1914) who encouraged frequent Holy Communion, which was well before Vatican II.
 
Well, I think before the 3 hour fast there was the from midnight fast. That works fine as long as you’re not going to an evening Mass :p.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of understanding/acknowledgement of sin in today’s world. I’m sure much of this is just lack of education rather than people not caring. I know that the fire and brimstone homilies aren’t really ever done these days, but I do wish there was a greater emphasis on sin, our unworthiness before God, the need for confession before receiving the sacraments, and just our need to repent and to amend our lives. I don’t feel like it’s emphasized enough. Priests shouldn’t really harp on it all the time, but it is necessary to bring this stuff up once in a while. I’m sure there are priests who do, but I have never heard it myself.

Then maybe people will truly examine their consciences before receiving Communion.

I would also like it if more churches did confession before Sunday Masses.
 
fencersmother said:
I have been reading some older Catholic fiction and nonfiction and most of these books imply that the faithful were not “regulars” at the communion rail before the Second Council. Was that true? Most people, or many, did not receive weekly communion?

At my parish, there are very very few people, mostly elderly people, who do not go up to receive, and this makes me think my perception is true.

What changed? Is this trend true throughout the Church or just in North America?
Click to expand...
A couple of issues.

The fasting rule used to be from midnight the night before. People obviously found that harder to keep, so people who went to later Masses wouldn’t receive each week because they couldn’t fast that long. When the fasting rule become 3 hours (and then the 1 hour it is now) it was easier for people to receive each week. That was one of the reasons for the change in the rule as I understand.

First communion used to be much later - 12yo or older. And frequent reception of communion wasn’t encouraged. Many people only received once a year or sometimes just monthly. More frequent reception was encouraged by Pope Pius X. He also changed the instructions for FHC to make it much younger (the 6 or 7 yo we see now).

Both of these things happened before Vatican II, but habits change slowly and communication wasn’t what it is today. However, as another poster said in the US, around the time of the council, frequent reception was normal. My family (mom and her siblings) went to convent schools in the 40s and they received both every week on Sunday (after Saturday afternoon confession) and at least once more during the week at a school Mass. By the time my oldest siblings were born in the 50s, weekly reception was normal at ordinary neighborhood parishes as well.
 
George_Stegmeir said:
I am 77 years old and grew up attending Jesuit Parochial School and Church in downtown Miami Florida. From age 8 until about 15 years of age I was an Altar Boy. This was, of course many years before V II.
The Church was quite large, seating wel over 500 people and Sunday Masses were held on the hour from 7 AM until and including Noon. The 10 AM Mass was always a High Mass said by the Pastor and/or any visiting Priests who were dignataries. This Church served not only residents of Miami, but the huge number pf tpurists to the city.
I distinctly remember that on Saturdays afternoon and evenings, there were at least 3 Priests hearing Confession. And, at each Mass on Sundays, so many people received Communion that “off duty” Priests- at least 2 would come in to assist in giving our Communion. In those days only Priests were allowed to touch the Host.
I also remember that weekly Confession was stressed…something that seems to have gone by the boards nowadays.
Click to expand...
You are a few years older than me (I’m 70) and was raised in Southern California. My experience was the same as yours except that I don’t remember being encouraged to go to Confession once a week but frequent confessions were encouraged. And if memory serves most everyone went to Communion.

Annie
 
janeway529 said:
Frequent Communion for centuries was wrongly considered by people as the sin of greed, which is why you will see old writings against daily or even weekly Communion. For most people in the Middle Ages, it was basically once in their life, usually before death (vaticum) because it was thought you would go straight to heaven. Most people believed they were unworthy to receive Holy Communion, so it became a vicious cycle of “I can’t receive the Eucharist and I am unable to go to Confession (because of work, sickness, etc.), so why bother going to Mass when I need to work to feed my family?”

Historically, this fed into a divide between Catholic workers who worked under horrible conditions for rich Catholic landowners and factory owners, which is why Marxism was so appealing to workers.
Click to expand...
The above information is very interesting to me. I knew that people in the middle ages received the Eucharist much less frequently than today but I didn’t know about them not receiving until death was at their door. Can you share where you learned this. Is the information available on the internet?
Annie
 
Elizium23 said:
Not necessarily a mortal sin, and I’m disappointed to see it listed among other clearly objectively grave ones.
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Under what circumstances would it not be a mortal sin to vote for a pro-death candidate?

Annie
 
Annie39 said:
The above information is very interesting to me. I knew that people in the middle ages received the Eucharist much less frequently than today but I didn’t know about them not receiving until death was at their door. Can you share where you learned this. Is the information available on the internet?
Annie
Click to expand...
I’d be interested to see that too. I have read about people (converts and others)postponing BAPTISM until just before death, but not communion. Very interesting.
 
As I recall, in the early 1960s a great many people would remain in their pews then. In fact, I recall quite vividly one time when I was in a crowded church, and I was the only person who went to communion, and I was a bit embarrassed to stand out then, going up the aisle alone.
 
GangGreen said:
I would also like it if more churches did confession before Sunday Masses.
Click to expand...
“Back in the day” Saturday afternoon/evening confession was common. You read about, and people talk about, people lining up to go to confession before going out on a Saturday night. 😛 And then going to Mass and receiving on Sunday morning.

It does make me laugh because so many people now complain about Saturday afternoons being the only scheduled confession times. They talk about how busy they are and how that time is inconvenient and how confession used to be more available “back in the day.” However, it appears that people just worked it into their schedule better.

Have a dinner date Saturday night? Just get ready a bit early and have him meet you at the church for confession! 😃
 
Elizium23 said:
Not necessarily a mortal sin, and I’m disappointed to see it listed among other clearly objectively grave ones.
Click to expand...
Before I learned that voting for a pro abortion candidate was a mortal sin, I used to vote for the candidate I felt was best too.

But then I visited a number of confession websites and downloaded a confession app (Mea Culpa Pro) which lists voting for a pro abortion candidate as a mortal sin (assuming that they are running for an office where their vote could impact abortion laws or judge appointments). So if you vote for a pro choice city councilman, its not a mortal sin, but if you vote for a pro choice state legislator, governor, congressman, or President, then that’s a moral sin (assuming that there is a prolife candidate).

Now I’m not saying that any of the parties are great, but we need to vote prolife as Catholics.

God Bless
 
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