Duc_In_Altum Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 So, I was sitting here in my dorm room and sipping my favorite flavor of Gatorade (Lime Ice.....Ooooh Soooo Goooood) and i noticed that daily mass starts in 59 minutes. I had planned to attend as i try to do daily. Just wondering, Does the one-hour fast before mass include liquids? I think it's an issue of self mastery and sacrifice and that liquids should apply. I know it's kinda silly but what does the One True Church say about this particular fast? in faith, hope, and Christ, -Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piccoli Fiori JMJ Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 I've heard that the only exception is water and medicine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatcatholic Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 [quote name='FutureNunJMJ' date='Oct 4 2004, 08:37 PM'] I've heard that the only exception is water and medicine... [/quote] yes, that is how i have understood it as well. someone else may be able to provide the necessary documents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StColette Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Why Fast Before Communion? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Straight Answers from Fr. William Saunders HERALD Columnist Recently, someone told me that a person is supposed to fast one hour before receiving Holy Communion. I honestly have never heard that before. Can you clear up this matter for me? — A reader from Dale City Canon 919 of the Code of Canon Law states, "One who is to receive the most holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before holy Communion." Actually, this regulation merely reflects an ancient tradition in our Church, which is even rooted in Judaism. In Acts of the Apostles (13:2), we find evidence of fasting connected with the liturgy. A more normative practice of fasting before receiving holy Communion appears throughout the Church after the legalization of Christianity in 313. St. Augustine attested to this practice in his own writings. Granted, the specific requirements of the fast have changed over time. Prior to 1964, the eucharistic fast began at midnight. Pope Paul VI, on Nov. 21, 1964, reduced the fast to a period of one hour. This rule has two exceptions: First, if a priest celebrates more than one Mass on the same day, as oftentimes happens on Sunday, he is only bound to the one hour fast before the first Mass. The priest may eat and drink something to keep up his strength in between Masses even though a full hour fast will not occur before the next reception of holy Communion. Second, those who are elderly (at least 60 years of age) or sick, as well as their caretakers, can receive Communion even if a full hour fast has not been fulfilled. For example, people in the hospital are not in control of their own schedule and may be eating or have just finished eating when visited by the priest or eucharistic minister. Therefore, the period of fast before receiving holy Communion is reduced to "approximately one quarter of an hour" for those who are sick at home or at a medical facility, those elderly confined to home or a nursing home, and those who care for these people and who are unable conveniently to observe the fast ("Immensae Caritatis,"1973). The most important point regarding this question concerns why we ought to fast. St. Paul reminds us, "Continually we carry about in our bodies the dying of Jesus, so that in our bodies the life of Jesus may also be revealed" (II Cor 4:10). We, too, are charged to convert our whole lives — body and soul — to the Lord. This conversion process involves doing penance — including bodily mortification like fasting — for our sins and weaknesses, which in turn strengthens and heals us. Pope Paul VI exhorted the faithful in his apostolic constitution "Paenitemini" (1966), "Mortification aims at the ‘liberation’ of man, who often finds himself, because of concupiscence, almost chained by his own senses. Through ‘corporal fasting’ man regains strength, and the wound inflicted on the dignity of our nature by intemperance is cured by the medicine of a salutary abstinence." Moreover, the fast before receiving holy Communion creates a physical hunger and thirst for the Lord, which in turn augments the spiritual hunger and thirst we ought to have. In the Old Testament, fasting prepared individuals to receive the action of God and to be placed in His presence. For instance, Moses (Ex 34:28) fasted 40 days atop Mount Sinai as he received the Ten Commandments, and Elijah (I Kings 19:8) fasted 40 days as he walked to Mount Horeb to encounter God. Similarly, Jesus Himself fasted 40 days as He prepared to begin His public ministry (Mt 4:1ff) and encouraged fasting (Mt 6:16-18). Likewise, this corporal work enhances the spiritual disposition we need to receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. In a sense, we fast so as not "to spoil our appetite" but to increase it for the sharing of the paschal banquet. Jesus said in the beatitudes, "Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill" (Mt 5:6). In all, fasting is an exercise of humility, hope and love — essential virtues in preparing ourselves to receive the holy Eucharist. This regulation, however, does not mean we have to be scrupulous and count-off seconds. I remember concelebrating Mass with a priest who had eaten one-half hour before Mass and was worried that he would not have a one-hour fast before receiving holy Communion. He literally set his watch for one-hour, dragged-out the prayers, and stood at the altar while I finished giving everyone else holy Communion until the hour had ticked away. While we do not want to be lax, we do not want to be scrupulous. The goodness of receiving holy Communion supersedes the precise "hour of fast" if there is a doubt. However, note that one should also not be lax. Pope John Paul II lamented in "Dominicae Cenae" (1980) the problem of some people not being properly disposed to receive holy Communion, even to the point of being in a state of serious mortal sin. He said, "In fact, what one finds most often is not so much a feeling of unworthiness as a certain lack of interior willingness, if one may use this expression, a lack of eucharistic ‘hunger’ and ‘thirst,’ which is also a sign of lack of adequate sensitivity towards the great sacrament of love and a lack of understanding of its nature." We must make a good faith effort to prepare ourselves properly to receive the Lord. Therefore, the eucharistic fast assists us in preparing to receive holy Communion wholly — body and soul. This physical mortification strengthens our spiritual focus on the Lord, so that we may humbly encounter the divine Savior who offers Himself to us. Fr. Saunders is dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and pastor of Queen of Apostles Parish, both in Alexandria. [url="http://www.catholicherald.com/saunders/97ws/saun970619.htm"]http://www.catholicherald.com/saunders/97ws/saun970619.htm[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 (edited) [quote name='Duc_In_Altum' date='Oct 4 2004, 09:34 PM'] Just wondering, Does the one-hour fast before mass include liquids? I think it's an issue of self mastery and sacrifice and that liquids should apply. I know it's kinda silly but what does the One True Church say about this particular fast? [/quote] Like others have said, the only exceptions to the fast are water and medicine. However, the fast isn't an hour before Mass; it's an hour before the moment of Communion. So if, for example, you ate something at 5:30pm, and Mass was at 6pm, but Holy Communion was at 6:50pm, you'd have fasted longer than an hour. Edited October 5, 2004 by Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiat_Voluntas_Tua Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 At an Easter Vigil Mass, one can eat while driving to Mass and still obey the Fast...That is SPin! Totus Tuus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duc_In_Altum Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 Stcolette, thanks. That more than answers my question. It also answers questions i didn't even know i had. I've always been a big fan of fasting just because of the tension it creates internally from not instantly gratifying myself. For it is in dying to oneself that we are born to eternal life, that is, eternal life in the Eucharist. This explains why i like it so much. Blessed be God. You're spin and so is He. -in faith, hope, and Christ, -Joe Hahn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StColette Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 you're welcome glad that I could be of assistance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatcatholic Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 could someone PLEEEEASE tell me what "spin" means? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StColette Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 [quote name='phatcatholic' date='Oct 4 2004, 11:59 PM'] could someone PLEEEEASE tell me what "spin" means? [/quote] I think it's a new word for "dope" lol though I'm not quite sure lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duc_In_Altum Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 If you wanna know all you need to know about spin, here's the phat link. I highly recommend it. It might even make you chuckle. [url="http://phorum.phatmass.com/index.php?showtopic=21101&hl="]http://phorum.phatmass.com/index.php?showtopic=21101&hl=[/url] in spin love of Christ, -Joe Hahn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatcatholic Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 maybe its the apologist in me, but the media puts their "spin" on catholicism so much that i can't help but have a natural distaste for the word. sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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