Sacraments
How to Prepare to Receive Holy Communion
Preparing for the Eucharist · 7 steps
Being in a state of grace, keeping the one-hour fast, coming with attention, approaching reverently, receiving on the tongue or in the hand, answering Amen, and making a thanksgiving afterward, as the Church's law and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal ask.
7 steps · About 10 minutes
Holy Communion is the reception of Christ himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine. Because of who is received, the Church asks the communicant to come prepared: free of grave sin, fasting, attentive and reverent. None of this is meant to keep anyone away; St. Paul's warning about receiving unworthily (1 Corinthians 11) and the Church's law together exist so that we receive the Lord as the gift he is. This guide gives what the Church actually asks, and the ordinary way of receiving in the United States.
What you need
- A conscience free of unconfessed mortal sin (go to Confession first if it is not)
- The one-hour fast from food and drink other than water and medicine
- A few minutes before Mass to recollect yourself
- A prayer of thanksgiving for afterward: the Anima Christi, Adoro te devote, or your own words
When to pray it
At every Mass you attend when you are properly disposed; the Church asks Catholics to receive at least once a year, in Easter time, and encourages frequent, even daily, Communion. A person may receive a second time on the same day only within a Mass he or she is taking part in (canon 917).
Steps
Step 1: Be in a state of grace
Canon 916 says that one who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive the Body of the Lord without previous sacramental Confession, unless there is a grave reason and no opportunity to confess, in which case the person must make an act of perfect contrition with the intention of confessing as soon as possible. The Catechism (1385) says the same. So examine your conscience honestly before Mass. If you find a mortal sin, a serious matter done with full knowledge and deliberate consent, go to Confession before receiving; most parishes hear confessions on Saturday and often before Sunday Masses. If you find only venial sins, ask forgiveness in the and receive.
Tips
- If you are conscious of a mortal sin, do not receive until you have been to Confession, except in the case canon 916 provides: a grave reason, no opportunity to confess, and an act of perfect contrition with the intention of confessing as soon as possible.
- Venial sins do not bar you from Communion; the Confiteor and the Lamb of God at Mass, prayed sincerely, are already a remedy for them.
- The choice between receiving on the tongue and in the hand belongs to you, not to the minister.
- If you cannot receive for any reason, come forward for a blessing where that is the custom, or remain in the pew and make an Act of Spiritual Communion.