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Maxirad
Guest
Does ingesting Metamucil less than an hour before receiving Holy Communion break the one-hour fast?
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Catholic90
Guest
I do not consider Metamucil food, but medicine. You can ingest medicine within 1 hour of Communion.
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underacloud
Guest
That’s a grey area. Taking medicine is OK and not considered breaking the fast. But is metamucil medicine? And why do you need to take it in the hour immediately preceding Eucharist?
It seems like you ought to be able to take the metamucil before you start the hour fast.
If in doubt, talk to your priest. He can clarify this for you, or even if it is considered breaking the fast, he can provide a dispensation for you.
It seems like you ought to be able to take the metamucil before you start the hour fast.
If in doubt, talk to your priest. He can clarify this for you, or even if it is considered breaking the fast, he can provide a dispensation for you.
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Catholic90
Guest
Metamucil certainly is not food. Have you had it? Nasty stuff.
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ConstantineTG
Guest
Aren’t those fiber supplements? If they are not for a good medical reason which means you can take them later, then you must take them later.
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underacloud
Guest
Well, it is and it isn’t. I certainly can’t see why anyone taking a dietary supplement (fibre, vitamins, etc) can’t do so before the one hour fast, or after mass. What circumstance would necessitate it being taken at such a precise time?
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Rence
Guest
Metamucil is a medicine, and is not food. But it can be taken before an hour before Mass so that if you’re worried about it, you can take it earlier…and you can even take it after Mass. Are you asking because you lost track of time and took it too late?
I wouldn’t miss Communion just because I took Metamucil, but that’s just me. When in doubt, ask your priest. He probably took some too sometime that morning…
I wouldn’t miss Communion just because I took Metamucil, but that’s just me. When in doubt, ask your priest. He probably took some too sometime that morning…
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losh14
Guest
I’ve understood there to be three reasons for the fast:
- To create a physical hunger and associate that with our spiritual hunger which is fulfilled by the Eucharist.
- To set aside a time of prayer and fasting before the Eucharist (traditionally done in the Presence, I think).
- So no one goes to the bathroom during Mass.
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jpjd
Guest
Considering that Mass generally takes an hour, and it generally takes at least 10 minutes if not 20 minutes or more to get to church…one can safely eat (or take Metamucil) before they leave for church and not break the 1-hour fast.
Remember, the 1-hour fast means fasting for 1 hour before receiving Communion, not 1 hour before leaving for church.
Remember, the 1-hour fast means fasting for 1 hour before receiving Communion, not 1 hour before leaving for church.
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tjwdsssc2015
Guest
JMJ
Canon 919 §1 of the Code of Canon Law (CIC):
“Whover is to receive the blessed Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from all food and drink, with the sole exception of water and medicine.”
The annotation says:
“Water and liquid or solid medicine may be taken by all at any time.”
Metamucil is a liquid.
Therefore, medicinal or not, it is legitimate to consume Metamucil within an hour before the Eucharist is consumed.
God love you!
Canon 919 §1 of the Code of Canon Law (CIC):
“Whover is to receive the blessed Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from all food and drink, with the sole exception of water and medicine.”
The annotation says:
“Water and liquid or solid medicine may be taken by all at any time.”
Metamucil is a liquid.
Therefore, medicinal or not, it is legitimate to consume Metamucil within an hour before the Eucharist is consumed.
God love you!
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thistle
Guest
Why would anyone need to take a laxative less than one hour before receiving Communion. That could easily wait until after. There is not a crucial timing to take something like that unlike many other medications. In my view that breaks the fast.
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ConstantineTG
Guest
#3 is not a valid reason. Food takes longer than 1-2 hours to go through your digestive tract.
Basically the purpose of fasting is to make us realize that nothing is more important than God. “Man does not live by bread alone…”
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ConstantineTG
Guest
You misinterpreted the law. “Liquid” is meant to describe the medicine, not that you can have any liquid. To understand the law better, understand the purpose of fasting. We fast so we know that we can do without these things, even food. But we cannot do without God. Of course medicine is allowed because we shouldn’t put our health at risk when we grow our spirituality.
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Tarpeian_Rock
Guest
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puzzleannie
Guest
since presumably it is taken as a medication, no it does not. Do the directions say to take it with a meal? then the meal would be breaking the fast.
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pinctor
Guest
A bit of a tangent - I recall the old days when catechisms used to declare that if, in the course of brushing your teeth, you swallowed even one drop of water, you had broken your fast.
Thank God that sort of snittery is gone!
Thank God that sort of snittery is gone!
Perhaps things have changed, but as I recall, one must play fast and loose with the definition of liquid to make that stick.
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tjwdsssc2015
Guest
JMJ
Thanks for your response, ConstantineTG!
Do you have any documentation to support your claims?
I’ve heard before that acceptible liquids are water-based. For example, one snowy afternoon, after going sledding, when the rest of us were drinking hot cocoa (powder mix in warm milk), a friend of mine who was going to Mass that evening mixed her cocoa powder in hot water instead of milk. Whether this is legit or not, I don’t know; I haven’t seen any documentation either way (which doesn’t mean documentation doesn’t exist…one way or another).
In short, there are many reasons people think explain why we fast before the Eucharist. I don’t know the real answer (not yet, at least). I don’t think anyone who has answered this so far does, either. They’re all ideas. No one has given any sources.
If you have documentation to back up your claim, I’d be interested to see it. Until then, I hold to my claim. (However, I do submit to the fact that the word “liquid” modifies the “medication”. How this interplays with Metamucil, is another story, and I still hold that it is acceptable to take it if needed…note: IF NEEDED.)
God love you!
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tjwdsssc2015
Guest
JMJ
I stand corrected–there are solid forms of Metamucil. However, that does not change that I agree it is acceptible to take if needed within the hour fast. Same would go for vitamins, or herbal supplements (for example: I take alfalfa pills for my allergies instead of Cetirizine HCL).
God love you!
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underacloud
Guest
Aquinas in the Summa Theologica gives reasons for the fast:
First, as Augustine says (Resp. ad Januar., Ep. liv), “out of respect for this sacrament,” so that it may enter into a mouth not yet contaminated by any food or drink. Secondly, because of its signification. i.e. to give us to understand that Christ, Who is the reality of this sacrament, and His charity, ought to be first of all established in our hearts, according to Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Thirdly, on account of the danger of vomiting and intemperance, which sometimes arise from over-indulging in food, as the Apostle says (1 Corinthians 11:21): “One, indeed, is hungry, and another is drunk.”
This is not from the magisterium, but is very helpful in understanding the fast.
In short, the fast is kept as due reverence for the most blessed sacrament. Surely to quibble over technicalities isn’t really in keeping with the reverence due. As people have posted, if the metamucil is taken as medicine and NEEDS to be taken at a precise time within the hour preceding the reception of the Eucharist, there is no problem.
But why on earth would it NEED to be taken at such a time?
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