Fr. Louis Bulletin Letter - October 16, 2005 - Communion and Eucharistic Adoration
This Tuesday, October 18, Bishop Listecki will be at Saint Peter to celebrate a Pontifical Mass at which he will install me as your Pastor. The Mass begins at 7:00 pm and will be followed by a reception in Kolbe Hall. I strongly encourage you, if at all possible, to participate in this Mass offering your prayers specially for the Bishop and for me. Bishop Listecki will be happy to greet as many of you as possible at the reception.
In recent weeks several parishioners had questions for me pertaining to the Most Holy Eucharist. Perhaps the following answers may be helpful to some of you as well. The current discipline of the Church with regard to the frequency with which one may receive Holy Communion in one day is reflected in the Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 25 January 1983. Canon 917 states that “a person who has received the Most Holy Eucharist (at one Mass) may receive it again on the same day” at the second Mass in which the person participates. In other words, if you participate in two Masses in one day, you may receive Holy Communion at both Masses.
The Roman Ritual Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass published by the Congregation for Divine Worship under the authority of Pope Paul VI on 21 June 1973 (revised in 1983 in light of the new Code of Canon Law) gives the current discipline of the Church with regard to the Eucharistic fast. Paragraph number 24 states that “communicants are not to receive the Sacrament unless they have fasted for at least one hour from foods and beverages, with the exception only of water and medicine. However, the elderly and those suffering from any kind of infirmity, as well as those who take care of such persons, may receive the Eucharist even if they have taken something within the hour before Communion.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1378) reminds us that “we express our faith in the Real Presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord.” It used to be the custom that before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance a person knelt on both knees for a moment while bowing the head (a so-called “double genuflection”). The above-mentioned Roman Ritual Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass did not maintain this double genuflection. Paragraph number 84 of that document states that “a single genuflection is made in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, whether reserved in the tabernacle or exposed for public adoration.” The rationale for that change simply was that it is the one Lord who is present in the Holy Eucharist – and equally so – whether in the reserved Sacrament in the tabernacle or in the exposed Sacrament during adoration. Thus, any distinction between acts of reverence to our Lord present in the tabernacle or in the monstrance is avoided. This means that those who exercise an official liturgical role in a ceremony before the exposed Blessed Sacrament – for example, priest, deacon, reader, altar server – must make a single genuflection when passing before the monstrance. Also, it is perfectly acceptable for the faithful participating in the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to do a single genuflection. However, this does not prohibit any of the faithful “in the pews” from doing a double genuflection out of their own personal piety.
Saint Peter, pray for us!