Receive the Holy Communion twice a day?

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Sometimes, I plan to go to two masses on the same day but I am not sure if I am allowed to receive the Holy Communion for the second mass if both masses are the same. In other words, if the readings and Gospel are the same for both masses, then I cannot receive the Holy Communion for the second time?

Thanks!
 
It does not matter what the readings are. You may receive Communion a maximum of two times per day (usually thought of as a calendar day, so the Saturday vigil Mass is considered Saturday), IF the second time is at a Mass which you attend.

You may not receive Communion a third time in a day (unless you are in danger of death, you may receive Viaticum).

You may not receive a second time if the second time is not at a Mass (for example, at a Communion service).
 
Thanks! I was confused as some webpages mentioned the second mass is something like a wedding or a funeral…it didn’t say that it was a regular mass.
 
I was wondering about that myself.

My wife and I attended 7:30 am Mass on Sunday morning. We picked up her 86 year old father at the airport that afternoon. He had been unable to attend Mass that morning before traveling so we took him to the 5:00 pm Mass. My wife and i both received again.

I thought that I had read if the 2nd time was in the context of a Mass, it was ok.

This was the first time I had ever been in a situation to attend two masses in the same day. It wasn’t by design, it just worked that way as we wanted to make sure that my wife’s father got to Mass. Fortunately, it was a different Priest so we didn’t have to hear the same homily again. It was actually interesting to hear the two homilies and how each Priest approached it.
 
Generally speaking you may only receive Communion once a day. This is what I have always been taught. It comes out of the Council of Trent as a way to minimize the abuses of the time when individuals would receive multiple times. If however, the readings are different, you may receive a second time. Examples are if one of the Masses is a funeral mass or wedding. On Divine Mercy Sunday, a person may go to an earlier Mass during the day in which the readings are for the second Sunday in Easter. The reading would be different than those read for Divine Mercy Sunday. There are other times as well, in which the Vigil Mass is not the same as the readings on Sunday. Of course, the best person to ask about an issue as important as this is a priest.
 
DebChris said:
Generally speaking you may only receive Communion once a day. This is what I have always been taught. It comes out of the Council of Trent as a way to minimize the abuses of the time when individuals would receive multiple times. If however, the readings are different, you may receive a second time. Examples are if one of the Masses is a funeral mass or wedding. On Divine Mercy Sunday, a person may go to an earlier Mass during the day in which the readings are for the second Sunday in Easter. The reading would be different than those read for Divine Mercy Sunday. There are other times as well, in which the Vigil Mass is not the same as the readings on Sunday. Of course, the best person to ask about an issue as important as this is a priest.
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No, sorry, that’s wrong. Canon Law is clear, you can receive twice in one day as long as the second time is at a Mass in which you’ve participated.

So, you can attend two Masses on Sunday morning and receive Communion at both. You can be at the bedside of someone in the hospital and receive Communion when they do, then leave the hospital and go to Mass and receive Communion again.

However, you can’t receive at Mass and then again at the sick person’s bedside later that same day (unless Mass was being celebrated at the bedside). You also can’t just come in at the end of Mass and go to Communion if you’ve already received that day.
 
The way it had been explained to me is that if the readings are the same, then it is essentially the same Mass. Again, I am going by what I have been instructed and defer to the experts. The only person who is required to receive Commuion at any Mass is the priest. He may be called upon to celebrate several Masses per day.
 
What about if you are a priest ? Do they receive at every mass ? I’m normally so focussed on God at the time I don’t really pay any attention to what the priest does but it was just a thought I had. I know that our priest resides over 4 mass on the weekend and now I wonder if he is allow to receive at every mass. 🤷
 
Oz_Girl said:
What about if you are a priest ? Do they receive at every mass ? I’m normally so focussed on God at the time I don’t really pay any attention to what the priest does but it was just a thought I had. I know that our priest resides over 4 mass on the weekend and now I wonder if he is allow to receive at every mass. 🤷
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A priest must receive Communion whenever he celebrates the Mass. He is the only one so obligated. He receives Communion before anybody else.
 
DebChris said:
The way it had been explained to me is that if the readings are the same, then it is essentially the same Mass. Again, I am going by what I have been instructed and defer to the experts. The only person who is required to receive Commuion at any Mass is the priest. He may be called upon to celebrate several Masses per day.
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It’s not a matter of what you or anyone else is required to do, but rather what you are permitted to do.

Canon 917:

“Can. 917 A person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates …”

In other words a person CAN receive a second time on the same day - but the second time must be within a ‘eucharistic celebration’ (Mass) in which the person participates. No mention of having to have different readings second time around. A Mass with different readings according to your logic would NOT be the same day anyway - and thus would make a nonsense of the wording of the canon if interpreted as you indicate, as there then wouldn’t even be any question of receiving twice ‘in the same day’.

And since when are two Masses with the same readings the same Mass, even if they are on the same day? The readings are cyclical, and I know Ash Wednesday in two years time will have exactly the same readings as this year’s Ash Wednesday - by your logic they would be the same Mass too, since they have the same readings, and I would be unable to receive Communion in two years’ time.
 
LilyM said:
It’s not a matter of what you or anyone else is required to do, but rather what you are permitted to do.

Canon 917:

“Can. 917 A person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates …”

In other words a person CAN receive a second time on the same day - but the second time must be within a ‘eucharistic celebration’ (Mass) in which the person participates. No mention of having to have different readings second time around. A Mass with different readings according to your logic would NOT be the same day anyway - and thus would make a nonsense of the wording of the canon if interpreted as you indicate, as there then wouldn’t even be any question of receiving twice ‘in the same day’.

And since when are two Masses with the same readings the same Mass, even if they are on the same day? The readings are cyclical, and I know Ash Wednesday in two years time will have exactly the same readings as this year’s Ash Wednesday - by your logic they would be the same Mass too, since they have the same readings, and I would be unable to receive Communion in two years’ time.
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I don’t have access to the canon. I was speaking from my own experience when any time that I have received a second time on the same day was by permission. Specific mention was made that the readings were different. One example is Divine Mercy Sunday. The Mass of Divine Mercy, in my diocese, is generally held in the afternoon with readings that differ from those of the Second Sunday in Easter read in the morning. It is also announced that those who go to both Masses may receive Communion at both of them. A person need only attend one Mass to meet the Sunday obligation. Of course, like a friend of mine, I have problems with referring to Mass as obligation. Mass is a joy.
There are also different readings for each of the Masses for Christmas and Easter. One Christmas, those of us who attended the Vigil were specifically invited to return in the morning to celebrate Mass and for a special Christmas breakfast.
The reasoning I gave only referred to the single day, not the cyclical calendar.
At no point, were any of my comments meant to serve as a judgment toward those who do receive more than once. As you notice, I deferred to those with information that I did not have.
 
DebChris said:
A priest must receive Communion whenever he celebrates the Mass. He is the only one so obligated. He receives Communion before anybody else.
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Thanks for the reply. There is so many things that happen in Mass I wonder if I will ever know every detail.
 
DebChris said:
I don’t have access to the canon. I was speaking from my own experience when any time that I have received a second time on the same day was by permission. Specific mention was made that the readings were different. One example is Divine Mercy Sunday. The Mass of Divine Mercy, in my diocese, is generally held in the afternoon with readings that differ from those of the Second Sunday in Easter read in the morning. It is also announced that those who go to both Masses may receive Communion at both of them. A person need only attend one Mass to meet the Sunday obligation. Of course, like a friend of mine, I have problems with referring to Mass as obligation. Mass is a joy.
There are also different readings for each of the Masses for Christmas and Easter. One Christmas, those of us who attended the Vigil were specifically invited to return in the morning to celebrate Mass and for a special Christmas breakfast.
The reasoning I gave only referred to the single day, not the cyclical calendar.
At no point, were any of my comments meant to serve as a judgment toward those who do receive more than once. As you notice, I deferred to those with information that I did not have.
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:tiphat: the Code of Canon Law is available online at vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM
 
The way I’ve always heard it explained is that it’s the purpose of the Mass, not so much the readings.

Now, I wonder if it’s actually 2 different principles:
  1. If you happen to attend 2 different Sunday Masses (why would you, unless they were different?), you can receive communion at Both. Or, as the above example, if you receive Communion in a private reception first, then attend Mass later.
  2. If there are two Masses for different intentions the same day: daily or Sunday Mass, plus a wedding, for example. Maybe you’re scheduled to be an EMC at the 10:00 Mass at your parish, and it’s also the Sunday of the monthly Tridentine Mass or Byzantine Divine Liturgy downtown. So you go to the 10 AM Mass to serve as an EMC, do your rounds at the hospital at 11:30, and then go to the Tridentine Mass at 1 PM.
So, the canon law principle is that you can receive Communion a maximum of 2 times in 24 hours, so long as the second time is at Mass. The practical application is always given as “two different Gospels,” because otherwise there’s no good reason to be at 2 Masses in 24 hours.

If you’re a church musician, you should really only receive Mass once, anyway.
 
GodsGadfly said:
The way I’ve always heard it explained is that it’s the purpose of the Mass, not so much the readings.

Now, I wonder if it’s actually 2 different principles:
  1. If you happen to attend 2 different Sunday Masses (why would you, unless they were different?), you can receive communion at Both. Or, as the above example, if you receive Communion in a private reception first, then attend Mass later.
Maybe you want to attend Mass twice. Or you go to the early Mass for a reason and then attend the later one for another reason. Regardless of the reason for attending 2 Masses on Sunday you may receive Communion at both.
  1. If there are two Masses for different intentions the same day: daily or Sunday Mass, plus a wedding, for example. Maybe you’re scheduled to be an EMC at the 10:00 Mass at your parish, and it’s also the Sunday of the monthly Tridentine Mass or Byzantine Divine Liturgy downtown. So you go to the 10 AM Mass to serve as an EMC, do your rounds at the hospital at 11:30, and then go to the Tridentine Mass at 1 PM.
So, the canon law principle is that you can receive Communion a maximum of 2 times in 24 hours, so long as the second time is at Mass. The practical application is always given as “two different Gospels,” because otherwise there’s no good reason to be at 2 Masses in 24 hours.

Who are you to to tell people they have no good reason for attending Mass twice in one day? I could be going to a Mass that is being celebrated for someone and then attending my regular Mass. I could be reading at two Masses. I could simply want to attend a second Mass and receive Communion again. In all cases the Church tells me I may receive Communion a second time at a Mass I’m participating in and it lays down no rules about the Mass being different the second time.

If you’re a church musician, you should really only receive Mass once, anyway.
Not sure if you mean they should only be asked to play once (not practical if they are the only musician in a parish with more than one Mass) or if they shouldn’t receive at the second Mass if they play twice. In either case you are making up your own rules. Canon Law imposes no such rules.
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GodsGadfly said:
The way I’ve always heard it explained is that it’s the purpose of the Mass, not so much the readings.

Now, I wonder if it’s actually 2 different principles:
  1. If you happen to attend 2 different Sunday Masses (why would you, unless they were different?), you can receive communion at Both. Or, as the above example, if you receive Communion in a private reception first, then attend Mass later.
  2. If there are two Masses for different intentions the same day: daily or Sunday Mass, plus a wedding, for example. Maybe you’re scheduled to be an EMC at the 10:00 Mass at your parish, and it’s also the Sunday of the monthly Tridentine Mass or Byzantine Divine Liturgy downtown. So you go to the 10 AM Mass to serve as an EMC, do your rounds at the hospital at 11:30, and then go to the Tridentine Mass at 1 PM.
So, the canon law principle is that you can receive Communion a maximum of 2 times in 24 hours, so long as the second time is at Mass. The practical application is always given as “two different Gospels,” because otherwise there’s no good reason to be at 2 Masses in 24 hours.

If you’re a church musician, you should really only receive Mass once, anyway.
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Thank you for the post.
Usually if a person (other than the church musician) attends Mass twice on a Sunday, it is for two different purposes.
I used the example of Divine Mercy Sunday. A person goes to Mass in the morning to celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter. The focus of the afternoon Mass is the Divine Mercy. A special announcement has been made that it is permissible to receive at this Mass even if a person received in the morning. Why else would a special announcement be made? Either Mass would still meet the Sunday obligation.
A person might observe the Easter or Christmas Vigil and then attend the Sunrise Service. My favorite Mass of the year is the Easter Vigil because that is when new members are baptized. I do know that the times that I received twice, after confirming with the priest that it was okay, did involve different “purposes.”
 
Can. 917- A person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates…
 
"Who are you to to tell people they have no good reason for attending Mass twice in one day? "
I wasn’t telling anyone anything. I was making a practical observation that most people don’t go to Mass twice with the same liturgy. However, it is kind of frowned upon by the Church (just as a priest saying multiple masses is frowned upon) because it takes away from the mystery of the Mass.

I’m sure if a person wanted to go twice, for whatever reason, he or she could receive at both. I was merely trying to reconcile what most of us were taught with what the canon says.

If I wanted a fight, which I don’t, I could give plenty of reasons against attending identical liturgies on the same day: depriving someone else of a seat at a crowded mass; taking away from the mystery and solemnity of it; etc.

But I was merely trying to reconcile the two points.

On the church musician thing, there needs to be some standardization there, and, as far as I know, there is none. At most traditional churches I’ve attended, the musicians receive communion after Mass. My dad is an organist, and he usually receives with the EMCs, which isn’t exactly the way it’s supposed to be. I’ve also been to churches where the musicians line up at the front of the communion line and then have to hurry back.

So, it would seem to me that it’s better for a FT organist like my dad to receive Communion just once, so that he doesn’t disrupt the flow of all the masses.

Hey–I always feel fortunate to attend Mass at all, so if I have a chance to go twice on a Sunday, I try to take it to make up for all the Sundays I miss.
 
Can. 905 §1. A priest is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist more than once a day except in cases where the law permits him to celebrate or concelebrate more than once on the same day.
§2. If there is a shortage of priests, the local ordinary can allow priests to celebrate twice a day for a just cause, or if pastoral necessity requires it, even three times on Sundays and holy days of obligation.
I found this while looking at the website where the Canon Law is found. It answers an earlier question regarding the priest receiving the Eucharist more than once.
 
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