Q: What is the law concerning the Eucharistic fast?
A: As I approached my 40th birthday, I became aware of a spirit-filled pilgrimage, so to speak, called the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. While I had enjoyed America’s “Native Spirit” before my journey, I would not say that I had any draw towards bourbon.
Still, as I do with most of my travels, I did some research beforehand, decided which distilleries to visit, and made sure that I had proper time for water and meals between the visits so that I could drive soberly. Because I had prepared for my journey, the 40th Birthday Trip was a blast, and led to many other visits to the Commonwealth of Kentucky and completing the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and the Kentucky Craft Bourbon Trail, a total of 46 distilleries!
As with travels (whether they include bourbon or not), so with the Mass: preparation is key. Spiritually we might peruse the readings before Mass or maybe even the orations if we have a Daily Missal. Physically we get cleaned up, put on our Sunday clothes for that day of the week, maybe wrestle with kids to get them in the car. But do our preparations for Mass include the Eucharistic Fast?
Canon 919 §1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law states: “Whoever is to receive the blessed Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from all food and drink, with the sole exception of water and medicine.” The further parts of that canon, §§2-3, establish general exceptions to the rule, including priests who say more than one Mass in a day, and the elderly and sick.
As with any canon, the exact words are important. The Church specifies the time of fast as “one hour before holy communion [emphasis mine].” While many find it easier to say one hour before Mass, that is not the law. The law only requires one hour before holy communion. So, depending on how much singing happens, or how long the priest or deacon preaches, or which Eucharistic Prayer the priest uses, there is some variance. But, as a good rule of thumb, I suggest 15-20 minutes before Mass begins. And, even if Mass is longer than an hour, one should not eat other food during Mass and receive Holy Communion.
The history of fasting goes back to the earliest times, according to Pope Pius XII in his Apostolic Constitution, Christus Dominus, promulgated in 1953. Pope Pius XII notes that St. Paul seems to advise some kind of fasting in 1 Corinthians 11:20-22. The Supreme Pontiff also especially notes the fourth-century synodal laws on fasting for those who celebrated the Eucharist, and a letter of St. Augustine stating that everyone in the world fasts before receiving the Eucharist. The same Doctor of Grace, cited in the fourth paragraph of the same Apostolic Constitution, writes, “‘It has pleased the Holy Ghost that, to honor so great a Sacrament, the Lord’s Body should enter the mouth of the Christian before other food.’” And so, the general rule through the centuries prescribed that Catholics fast from midnight until they received Holy Communion. It does not take a philologist to note that, in English, the first meal of the day, breakfast, comes from the words “break” and “fast,” and would have been the meal after Mass to break the fast (hence the popularity of early morning Masses). But, Pope Pius XII did allow, when one attended an evening Mass, a shorter fast of only three hours.
The same pontiff, only four years later, extended the three-hour fast to morning Masses in his 1957 motu proprio, Sacram Communionem. By 1964 Pope St. Paul VI lowered the fast even more to only one hour, which became even more strongly codified in the current Code of Canon Law. Again, the current laws allow those who are elderly, as well as those who are ill and those who care for them, to receive the Eucharist even if they have consumed food or drink within the hour, though those who can still observe the entire fast are encouraged to do so if possible. Water and medicine are always allowed.
But why fast? Christ notes that fasting helps strengthen the yearning for the Bridegroom (cf. Matthew. 9:15), so our fast helps us prepare for Christ the Bridegroom to come to the altar and into our bodies, after which we rejoice and feast. Pope Pius XII also notes that fasting shows reverence for the supernatural food of the Eucharist, pays honor to the Redeemer, and lifts our minds up to the things of God and spiritual realities. Certainly, after a good meal, my mind is not the most active, and all I want to do is take a good nap. Even a simple meal can lead to the “food coma,” and any student who has a class scheduled immediately after lunch can say that when it comes to staying awake, the struggle is real.
So, while the Eucharist fast has varied in length throughout the centuries, fasting as a physical and spiritual way of preparing to receive the Lord in the Eucharist has its roots in Apostolic Times, and has continued through the millennia as a way to prepare our bodies and souls for the Bridegroom to come to us. Make sure while you’re getting ready for Mass ahead of time—while you read the readings, get cleaned up and dressed, get the kids ready, and take time for silent prayer before Mass—you don’t exclude the Eucharistic fast, until the happy day for which we hope: seeing the Bridegroom face to face in heaven, where we no longer fast but feast with the Lover of our souls!
—Answered by Father Anthony Strouse
Diocese of Lansing, MI
