Pre communion fast

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Roseeurekacross

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Is not keeping this or breaking it a mortal sin?

Do breath mints/ cough and throat losenges count count as breaking the fast?

Or does this fast refer to a meal,
 
Yes
Yes, unless they are taken medicinally, for a current cold, etc.
No
 
There is not keeping the fast and therefore not going up for communion. This happens to people now and then and is not a sin. Don’t worry. Just keep the fast next time and receive next time.

Then there is not keeping the fast and going up for communion anyway. I think this can be done in such a way as to constitute a grave sin.

There are certain instances when it is okay to receive if you didn’t keep the fast. Sickness can dispense you, or a soldier right before the enemy comes, the Titanic is going down, etc.
 
If you have eaten & thus unable to receive communion you have the option to make a spiritual communion 😃
You can also ask a priest for one off dispensation if you have eaten due to which you have not kept the fast but yet wish to receive the communion… although from what I have seen many priests do not really bother if a person has kept the fast or not and asking them for dispensation only results in a laugh from the priest or a weird stare 😛
 
anything apart from water or medication or food due to health issues taken less than an hour before communion is breaking the fast.
 
No, it is not a mortal sin.

No, mints or lozenges etc. do not break the Communion fast. As early as the 1950s Pope Pius XII clarified that medicines and personal hygiene do NOT violate the Communion fast.
 
This is one of those topics that comes up pretty often, which just goes to show that Catholics love Jesus in the Eucharist!

The current fasting regulation is that you have to fast for an hour before Communion time, if you are going to receive Communion. (Not an hour before Mass starts, although that is a pretty common rule of thumb in my part of the US.) So if Mass at your parish lasts about an hour and Communion is at the 45 minute mark, you have to fast during Mass and for about fifteen minutes beforehand.

Throat lozenges eaten as medicine, or mints eaten as herbal medicine, do not break the current Eucharistic fasting regs. Neither does water. Neither does food or candy for diabetics low on sugar, for example. Mother Church does not want anybody collapsing.

OTOH, if you’re just hungry in a normal way, or have other normal concerns, eating food for those purposes would break the fast. But if you forget or just decide to eat, the thing to do is to remember not to receive. There is no shame in not receiving Communion for any good reason, and breaking the fast is a perfectly good reason.

It is common for people attending Extraordinary Form Masses to follow the older fasting regulations (fasting from midnight till Communion, not drinking water, etc.), or some version of the modified 1950’s fasting regulations (fasting for three hours before Communion). They are not bound by these regs, however; it is current canon law that binds them.

Obviously, there is nothing preventing people from keeping a longer Communion fast or a stricter Communion fast. But if you choose to do that for whatever reason, you are not bound by it; so breaking it in ways that don’t break the current rules still wouldn’t be a sin.
 
I forgot to say that sick people are generally allowed to receive without fasting, so if you’re sick you don’t have to worry about breaking the fast at all, medicine or no medicine.

Finally – if you happen to break the fast and don’t remember that you did, or if you break the fast and then receive out of habit, without thinking about it –

That is not a sin. It’s an honest mistake. If it bugs you, you can apologize to God. You don’t have to formally confess it, because there’s nothing to confess.

Sins are acts performed on purpose. If it wasn’t done on purpose, it’s not a sin.

If you thought you were okay to receive, and realize just before reception that you broke the fast, just step out of line. (And if that embarrasses you, you can always hurry toward the bathroom. Nobody will ask any questions.)

If you do break the fast on purpose and receive on purpose, you should go to Confession about it. But in most cases, it’s a venial sin. It would be a grave sin if you were doing it on purpose to make a statement, or if it was attached to other seriously grave behavior.

That said, it’s not something you should be doing on purpose, as it disrespects Jesus.

But the main reason we fast before receiving the Eucharist is because God has given it as a gift to us. Fasting is an act of supplication and prayer, as well as of sorrow for our sins and failings. We fast to show that we are seriously asking for Him and seriously grateful. Fasting makes our hearts ready to receive Him.
 
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Thankyou Father David. Thanks everyone for your responses.
 
Fifteen minutes before a longer Mass is positively wimpy. That is the time it takes to get to Church!
 
Fasting used to be longer. I think Vat II it got shortened.
 
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