The Frequent Reception of Sacraments

[OraLabora]

Two things as far as I can tell.

(1) Relaxation of the 3-hr fast

(2) Changing of the view that one must go to confession before receiving.

Wasn’t frequent reception encouraged by Pius X? Long before the 3-hour fast was abolished? Long before going to confession became unfashionable?

 

[DCNBILL]

Today I often hear from contemporary theologians on how the frequent reception of the sacrament is spiritually beneficial to us, but for vast periods of time in the past, the reception of the Blessed Sacrament was a rarity.

How has this view developed over time? Was the reception of the Eucharist among laity common on a weekly/daily basis in the early Church, and then eventually faded out of favor, before eventually becoming common again? What was their justification for this? Is it possible for both them and us to be right, or was somebody in history clearly in error?

I believe that we can say with certainty that somebody in history was in error.

 

[ProVobis]

Wasn’t frequent reception encouraged by Pius X? Long before the 3-hour fast was abolished? Long before going to confession became unfashionable?

Yes, whatever frequent means to someone who only receives once a year I suppose.

Nowadays the Popes seem to be stressing more frequent confession. How’s that coming along?

 

[ProVobis]

This can (and often does) lead to an over-rationalization of sin, but it also leads to a certain humility that may have been lacking in previous centuries, despite the greater piety of the time, because we don’t just assume that we’re better than certain people, or that certain people should be written off. It can also lead us to being better equipped to serve these people and bring their souls to safety & healing.

Isn’t it possible that one can take excessive pride going down this “humility” road? After all presumption of one’s salvation is grave matter, or at least I’ve been taught.

 

[Brendan]

(2) Changing of the view that one must go to confession before receiving.

That is my biggest ‘take’ on this issue. It is not so much the greater frequenting of the Sacraments today, as the exchange of frequency of certain Sacraments.

Reception of Sacramental Absolution used to be far more common, and it is a rarity now for most Catholics.

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

You have checked them? Sent out questionnaires? Asked individually?

I said that because TK noted that being in the state of grace is meant to be the standard for those who love Our Lord, which is true, but I also know that many Catholics do not believe in all the Church teaches nor do they love God since they sin then excuse their behavior. This is all over my family, friends, and beyond. They also pray very little, I have witnessed this as well. Look at Germany, half of the priests there don’t pray, I can’t believe that the laity are any better nor that it is restricted to Germany alone. Just look at the data, countless American Catholics support sodomy, female ordination, and don’t believe in the Real Presence. These people aren’t orthodox nor do they truly love God if they deny His teachings.

 

[TK421]

That is my biggest ‘take’ on this issue. It is not so much the greater frequenting of the Sacraments today, as the exchange of frequency of certain Sacraments.

Reception of Sacramental Absolution used to be far more common, and it is a rarity now for most Catholics.

But Confession being a rarity - at least as far as it being a necessity, rather than practiced for venial sins - and the reception of the Eucharist being at least weekly, is what the Church is suppose to be like. Granted, this is an exterior fantasy at the moment given what the data on beliefs is telling us, but on the face, the Church is doing what it is suppose to be doing.

It also has abandoned the “we have to protect Jesus” policy of early centuries. Bishops are fully aware of either rebellion or ignorance within the ranks, but we don’t conduct investigations for somebody approaching the Eucharist at Communion.

 

[otjm]

Yes, whatever frequent means to someone who only receives once a year I suppose.

Nowadays the Popes seem to be stressing more frequent confession. How’s that coming along?

Like most things, it is gradually improving.

Kind of like asking “How is 24 hour Adoration coming?” again, gradually - my parish has been doing it for over 20 years.

 

[otjm]

I said that because TK noted that being in the state of grace is meant to be the standard for those who love Our Lord, which is true, but I also know that many Catholics do not believe in all the Church teaches nor do they love God since they sin then excuse their behavior. This is all over my family, friends, and beyond. They also pray very little, I have witnessed this as well. Look at Germany, half of the priests there don’t pray, I can’t believe that the laity are any better nor that it is restricted to Germany alone. Just look at the data, countless American Catholics support sodomy, female ordination, and don’t believe in the Real Presence. These people aren’t orthodox nor do they truly love God if they deny His teachings.

Going from an isolated incident to " everybody is doing that" or most, or the majority, or a near majority is a dangerous route to take.

Given the fact that the Baltimore Catechism was thrown out somewhere around the start of the 70’s, and that we now have two generations of Catholics who have had little, if any training in what the church believes, and are working on the third generation, I personally refrain from judging what others know or what the status of their soul is. I recommend this approach. It is all too easy to get caught in the pharisaical trap and fail to look within one’s own area of expertise - where one is with God, not where someone else is with God. The scene told by Christ, of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the house of prayer comes to mind.

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

Going from an isolated incident to " everybody is doing that" or most, or the majority, or a near majority is a dangerous route to take.

Given the fact that the Baltimore Catechism was thrown out somewhere around the start of the 70’s, and that we now have two generations of Catholics who have had little, if any training in what the church believes, and are working on the third generation, I personally refrain from judging what others know or what the status of their soul is. I recommend this approach. It is all too easy to get caught in the pharisaical trap and fail to look within one’s own area of expertise - where one is with God, not where someone else is with God. The scene told by Christ, of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the house of prayer comes to mind.

I try my best not to judge the state of others’ souls because I know that I am a sinner. I examine my conscience every night and I don’t pardon myself because others are more sinful because nothing can excuse my sins. That said, I am not blind to what the Church is going through right now. We have Catholic politicians that know the Church teachings yet deny them with the praise of the Catholic clergy.

 

[otjm]

I try my best not to judge the state of others’ souls because I know that I am a sinner. I examine my conscience every night and I don’t pardon myself because others are more sinful because nothing can excuse my sins. That said, I am not blind to what the Church is going through right now. We have Catholic politicians that know the Church teachings yet deny them with the praise of the Catholic clergy.

The Church is not going through anything right now that it has not gone through for the last 2000 years; it is just that news went from extremely poorly spread, because there was little means of communication, to now, instantly spread, with the communicators seeking spin and juice; today’s spin and juice is tomorrow’s back story, and Friday’s “I think I heard something about that somewhere…” and by Monday of next week, it has so thoroughly made the rounds that it is unrecognizable from what actually happened. Sort of the “sit in a circle and whisper to your neighbor on the left what you heard on the right”, except that we now abuse and misuse electrons to do this, much to their dismay.

I long, long ago dismissed Nancy and her ilk; CINOs don’t get my attention. Again, nothing particularly new; just that instant communication has given us a ring side seat to CINOs, where before, not much leaked out. They were still CINO, but much more discrete.

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

The Church is not going through anything right now that it has not gone through for the last 2000 years; it is just that news went from extremely poorly spread, because there was little means of communication, to now, instantly spread, with the communicators seeking spin and juice; today’s spin and juice is tomorrow’s back story, and Friday’s “I think I heard something about that somewhere…” and by Monday of next week, it has so thoroughly made the rounds that it is unrecognizable from what actually happened. Sort of the “sit in a circle and whisper to your neighbor on the left what you heard on the right”, except that we now abuse and misuse electrons to do this, much to their dismay.

I long, long ago dismissed Nancy and her ilk; CINOs don’t get my attention. Again, nothing particularly new; just that instant communication has given us a ring side seat to CINOs, where before, not much leaked out. They were still CINO, but much more discrete.

This current age is in a much more awful state than other times. Bishop Athanasius calls the current age the fourth great crisis of the Church.

 

[otjm]

This current age is in a much more awful state than other times. Bishop Athanasius calls the current age the fourth great crisis of the Church.

And that is due to…what?

 

[Mike_Dye]

Didn’t the fast used to be after midnight and was changed to three hours?

You are right, You fasted from midnight. Water would break the fast early on (that was later modified). That was the reason the 6:00 AM Mass was so popular, remember in those days July and August without air-conditioning was the norm. The rule was changed to three hrs. and now is one hour prior to actually receiving. As has been stated, water and meds. don’t break the fast.

 

[OraLabora]

This current age is in a much more awful state than other times. Bishop Athanasius calls the current age the fourth great crisis of the Church.

I think any reading of St Paul’s Epistles, and for that matter the Psalms and the Old Testament would dispute that. The big difference is that technology can fast-track our road to perdition.

In some ways this era is better: an end to legal slavery and institutionalized racism are two examples. Advances in medicine leading to a longer healthy lifespan is another.

I wouldn’t want to go back. On the other hand there is much we can improve in this epoch. Our duty as Christians is not to pine about the lost past, but to help build the New Jerusalem in the here and now.

 

[Lucretius]

This current age is in a much more awful state than other times. Bishop Athanasius calls the current age the fourth great crisis of the Church.

Remember that in the age of the Apostles and the Fathers, homosexuality was culturally acceptable and practiced on adolescents by married men. We are heading in that direction, but the West has not reached the perversion of pre-Christian sexual ethics until pederestry is acceptable.

Christi pax,

Lucretius