Receiving Communion in the Hospital

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Nechasin

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When my last child was born, while my wife was in labor, a Catholic chaplain came by and prayed with us. He said some prayers, told us that there was a group of Nuns that would be keeping us in their prayers. He then offered to give us communion. My wife received, and I did not. I was caught offguard and was not expecting it all. I had recently eaten, so I fel that I wasn’t properly disposed to receive. In cases like that, what is the proper way to be disposed to receive Communion. Do all of the fasting requirements hold? Since, I’m not in danger, is it OK that I receive also?
 
Next time you can receive.

Can. 919 §3 The elderly and those who are suffering from some illness, as well as those who care for them, may receive the blessed Eucharist even if within the preceding hour they have consumed something.
 
Nechasin said:
When my last child was born, while my wife was in labor, a Catholic chaplain came by and prayed with us. He said some prayers, told us that there was a group of Nuns that would be keeping us in their prayers. He then offered to give us communion. My wife received, and I did not. I was caught offguard and was not expecting it all. I had recently eaten, so I fel that I wasn’t properly disposed to receive. In cases like that, what is the proper way to be disposed to receive Communion. Do all of the fasting requirements hold? Since, I’m not in danger, is it OK that I receive also?
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It says that the person who is ill and their caregiver can receive with a shorter fast. I personally do not like the manner some parishes take Holy Communion to hospitals. I do not feel it appropriate to fill up a 20 Host pyx and then head off to the hospital to see who we can give Communion to. Just for the reason you originally gave. Most people may not be properly disposed to receive. EMHC should in my opinion be visiting specific patients that have made arrangements or those whose family has called the parish to make arrangements. This way the patient and their family will know that Communion minister will be there at 12:30. (or what ever time) When necessary the priest will need to visit for Confession before Holy Communion.
 
Pre-planning is often difficult in hospital settings. Taking communion to the home-bound can be scheduled, but you often find yourself at a hospital with someone who only recently arrived, and perhaps in serious condition.

As stated before, in these circumstances, you don’t have to worry if you’ve recently eaten something.
 
Didi said:
Pre-planning is often difficult in hospital settings. Taking communion to the home-bound can be scheduled, but you often find yourself at a hospital with someone who only recently arrived, and perhaps in serious condition.

As stated before, in these circumstances, you don’t have to worry if you’ve recently eaten something.
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But you do need to be concerned if the person has been to Mass in the last 10 years or been to Confession in the last 4 years or that their Marriage situation allows them to receive Holy Communion. These are not situations that EMHC’s should be evaluating.
 
I am not a big fan of the Eucharistic herd at Mass.

I do like the way my pastor has arranged the care of souls under his protection who are hospitalized: He stops by at least once a week, makes sure we have confession available, also annointing for the sick one if needed. The deacon or this elderly EMHC also come by daily with the Eucharist and Father’s list of who is receiving and who is not, by Father’s standards. It is offered. Nobody is hectored into it.

The dear, fatherly gentleman who serves us in this capacity has my prayers and I ask St. Taricisus’ intercession for him daily in his travels, as he carried Our Lod to two hospitals- esp. in this weather!

The priests in the deanery are encouraged to “cover” for each other at the hospitals, so nobody gets a bad feeling at not having seen a priest in a while. I hear some gripes about how unfair Bishop Doran is, but this is one of his ideas.
 
I love being a Catholic hospitals and being able to recieve communion. Unfortunately because of my health I’m frequently hospitalized. On one occasion less then an hour after recieving Holy Communion my heart returned to normal rhythm and I did not have to receive the procedure I was admitted for.

I also travel out of state to Mayo Clinic and have been admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital there. (They have the most stunning “chapel” at St. Mary’s by the way.) Not everyone hospitalized has a local priest to come look after them. Receiving daily communion while being hospitalized is so strengthening and comforting to me.

I only remember one or two occasions where it was offered to my husband when he was with me at the hospital. Certainly no one is forced to receive so I don’t see the situation as problematic. A priest at Mass has no more abilty to determine the state of someone’s soul in the communion line then an EMHC bringing the Eucharist to sick patients.
 
My mom was hospitalized for a broken hip and had to spend some time in a rehab. We asked the hospital staff for her to be on the schedule to receive Holy Communion, but no one came that Sunday. Once she was at the rehab, I contacted two of the EMHCs that I know, and asked if someone could bring Holy Communion to her at the rehab, and they did. It turned out that her roommate was also Catholic, and had been in the rehab for 14 months, and no one had brought her communion - they had a protestant church service available. She said she had contacted the nearby parish, but no one ever came. My friends (EMHC & his wife) gave her Holy Communion and have visited her weekly ever since. While my mom was there, we prayed the Rosary - a decade every evening, and a novena to St. Peregrine. I don’t think this dear lady had experienced “community” - for a long time - children fallen away, not active in her parish, etc. Was she “properly disposed” - my friends didn’t make any judgement, but I know they are very devout, and have certainly talked to her about the need for reconciliation when she is able to see a priest.
 
Bro describes the ideal, and the ideal is not always possible.
here, where there are no Catholic hospitals, chaplains and other visitors have to follow hospital policies. Specifically there are new policies about chaplains (which are quite controversial but that is another thread) as well as visits by pastors or those designated by churches to visit the sick.

Also when a patient is admitted it can take up to 48 hours for their admitting info, including religious affiliation and request for communion, to be available to the front desk. Visitors are no longer able to inquire at the nurses station on each floor for instance, if they represent a church they are required to check in at a central location and pre-arrange their visits. Upshot is a person, especially for a short stay, in the hospital may not get a visit for confession and communion unless the family calls the parish to request it.

We get at least once a week complaints from families “Grandpa was in the hospital but Father did not come” yet no one called the parish to inform us. So unless the Catholic chaplain is there, and unless the admitting info specifically requests him to visit, they will be visited by a non-Catholic chaplain on the hospital’s own schedule.
 
DiZent said:
My mom was hospitalized for a broken hip and had to spend some time in a rehab. We asked the hospital staff for her to be on the schedule to receive Holy Communion, but no one came that Sunday. Once she was at the rehab, I contacted two of the EMHCs that I know, and asked if someone could bring Holy Communion to her at the rehab, and they did. It turned out that her roommate was also Catholic, and had been in the rehab for 14 months, and no one had brought her communion - they had a protestant church service available. She said she had contacted the nearby parish, but no one ever came. My friends (EMHC & his wife) gave her Holy Communion and have visited her weekly ever since. While my mom was there, we prayed the Rosary - a decade every evening, and a novena to St. Peregrine. I don’t think this dear lady had experienced “community” - for a long time - children fallen away, not active in her parish, etc. Was she “properly disposed” - my friends didn’t make any judgement, but I know they are very devout, and have certainly talked to her about the need for reconciliation when she is able to see a priest.
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That is where most people make the mistake. They tell the hospital staff or someone they know. The patient or the family should speak with someone in the local parish church office. Even if it is in a strange town call the parish direct and speak with someone there or the pastor if necessary.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
That is where most people make the mistake. They tell the hospital staff or someone they know. The patient or the family should speak with someone in the local parish church office. Even if it is in a strange town call the parish direct and speak with someone there or the pastor if necessary.
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On other occasions when my mom was hospitalized, I did contact the parish directly as well as notifying the hospital staff, and no one came. The rehab was not within the boundaries of our parish, and the roommate said she had contacted the local parish, and no one came. Only when I contacted the EMHC from my parish directly. As another poster noted, this is a common experience. The request doesn’t get past the hospital staff, doesn’t get to the priest or he has other obligations, doesn’t get delegated to the EMHC in a timely manner, or there are not enough EMHCs in the local parish. I don’t think the latter is much of a problem - at least not at my parish, but may have been the case at the local parish. Either way, this lady had not been visited for 14 months which was very sad. I have considered becoming an EMHC for this reason.
 
As a staff member in a Catholic hospital, I often will receive communion if I see the Eucharistic minister making rounds.One of the benefits, I tell my coworkers, of being Catholic.
Kathy
 
DiZent said:
On other occasions when my mom was hospitalized, I did contact the parish directly as well as notifying the hospital staff, and no one came. The rehab was not within the boundaries of our parish, and the roommate said she had contacted the local parish, and no one came. Only when I contacted the EMHC from my parish directly. As another poster noted, this is a common experience. The request doesn’t get past the hospital staff, doesn’t get to the priest or he has other obligations, doesn’t get delegated to the EMHC in a timely manner, or there are not enough EMHCs in the local parish. I don’t think the latter is much of a problem - at least not at my parish, but may have been the case at the local parish. Either way, this lady had not been visited for 14 months which was very sad. I have considered becoming an EMHC for this reason.
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You are correct that is very sad. Even if you wind up in a hospital outside of your own parish you should contact the local parish. If no one comes call, again and again, and again, then call the Bishop. The NUMBER ONE responsibility of the parish priest is to celebrate the Sacraments, assisted in many cases by the Deacon and Lay ministers in the care of the sick.
 
I always make it a point when I am in the hospital either as a mom with sick kids or in labor bringing them into the world to put on my registration papers that I/my older kids/DH would like to receive. I love that they brought me communion in labor and delivery…the best preparation for the upcoming event! Glad your DW was able to receive, next time you will know there might be an opportunity!
 
I get all my medical treatment at the VA hospital here in town. It does have a catholic chaplain, but the sacrament for those in the hospital is usually brought around by an EMHC. They check with the hospital to see if there is any patient who is a catholic. So it hasn’t been a problem for me when I’ve been there.

Oh, just a note. That was when I was in due to an illness. Any other patient (those that are mentally ill or whatever) is encouraged to go to mass in order to receive. I think the one hospitalization that stands out in my mind was when I was in due to food poisoning. Not fun. :eek:
 
Where I live, there is a diocesan ministry for hospital patients. Lay people involved in it must be active EMHCs in their parishes and trained by the priest in charge of the ministry. Each is assigned to a particular hospital on a particular day. They are given a list of the Catholic patients by the hospital’s Admitting Department. Sometimes patients can’t receive Holy Communion due to medical reasons, but they like having someone there to pray with them and to chat with. If the patient doesn’t have a parish, that usually means he/she isn’t a practicing Catholic, yet they usually appreciate the contact. The lay visitors ask “are you able to receive Holy Communion, or would you like me to say a brief pray with you?” The lay visitors encourage the sacrament of Reconciliation. They don’t just indiscriminately distribute Holy Communion to each patient. The priests associated with this diocesan ministry anoint the patients (unless the patients have been anointed by their parish priests before being admitted), and they make efforts to visit all the Catholic patients on the list, when lay people can’t make it due to illness or whatever reason.

It is unrealistic to expect each hospital patient to contact their parish priest after being admitted. Most are just to sick to. Many are subjected to tests and procedures, etc., during the parish’s office hours. And how many of our parishes are staffed only a few hours a week now, with staff or volunteers listening to phone messages perhaps once a day, meaning the priests pick up the notes a day later? It is also simply unrealistic to expect each parish priest to be available to the hospitalized and homebound at the drop of a hat – they are busy (though I’m not saying that they never respond to their parishioners’ requests). They also need to sleep, like the rest of us – so we would be uncharitable to expect them to respond to a midnight hospital call, then perhaps a 3 a.m. hospital call, and then show up as scheduled to celebrate the parish’s 7 a.m. Mass. Let’s pray that all the bishops implement this ministry in their dioceses.
 
Please allow me to add my 2 cents worth. In the last month I was hospitalized twice with a heart issue unannounced. I was very pleased to have had the opportunity during my stay to receive the blessing of the sick and communion. In these cases it is up to the individual to determine if they are worthy not the person administering. If I received and was not that is between me and God.
I was very grateful that the Priest arrived to give me the blessing of the sick and for the lay people who volunteer their time. It was very comforting and spiritually uplifting. In most cases it is quite unrealistic to expect hospitalized individuals to announce to anyone that they would like someone to visit them.
 
We had a situation where a friend was dying and on his last days. He requested that his wife call a priest, which she called the new pastor who was assigned to their parish. The pastor came to the man’s bed side and asked how long it had been since he had been to confession. The man said, ten years. The priest responded, “ten years?” He patted the man on the shoulder and said, “good luck,” and walked out without hearing his confession or giving him the last rights.

The man died.

Jim
 
quiet52;:
It is unrealistic to expect each hospital patient to contact their parish priest after being admitted.
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HIPPA more or less requires the patient to contact their clergy person of choice.

I’m aware of one hospital that requires:
  • Clergy must check in and check out;
  • Clergy must list all patients they are to see;
  • The patient must have previously written that they are willing to see that specific cleric;
    If those three conditions are not met, the cleric won’t see the patient.
Rules like that make it very difficult for a hospital ministry. They also explains why some patients can be in hospital for a very long time, without getting the spiritual nourishment that they requested.

Until there have been several lawsuits that have gone to the Appellate Level, knowing where to draw the line is going to be difficult. From a strictly economic POV, such caution is fully justified.

xan

jonathon
 
Nechasin said:
When my last child was born, while my wife was in labor, a Catholic chaplain came by and prayed with us. He said some prayers, told us that there was a group of Nuns that would be keeping us in their prayers. He then offered to give us communion. My wife received, and I did not. I was caught offguard and was not expecting it all. I had recently eaten, so I fel that I wasn’t properly disposed to receive. In cases like that, what is the proper way to be disposed to receive Communion. Do all of the fasting requirements hold? Since, I’m not in danger, is it OK that I receive also?
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Hello, you could have received the body of christ. The Code of Canon Law states this: The elderly and those who are suffering from some illness, as well as those who care for them, may receive the blessed Eucharist even if within the preceding hour they have consumed something.
 
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