Mass Times

The Mass is the great encounter with Jesus Christ.

Bishop Baron

Guidelines for Receiving Holy Communion

The Church gives us some guidelines for the reception of Holy Communion to help us approach the sacrament reverently.

The Eucharist is a communion with Christ and with His Body, the Church. It is a statement of faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and of unity with the entire Catholic Church. Outside of the unbroken succession of authority from the Apostles to today’s bishops (apostolic succession), there is no priesthood; and without the priesthood, there is no valid Eucharist. Therefore, the bread and wine received in Protestant ecclesial communities is not the Body and Blood of Jesus.

Because of these differences, only a baptized member of the Catholic Church who believes in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist may receive Holy Communion; and a Catholic must not receive communion in a Protestant service.

The Eucharist as a sign of the real unity of the Church—including all Christians who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church—reminds us to pray earnestly that God would heal the divisions among believers.

We should not receive the Eucharist if we are conscious of having committed a mortal sin. All mortal sins must be confessed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving the Eucharist.

We must fast for at least one hour from food and drink (with the exceptions of water and medicine) before receiving the Eucharist.

The faithful may receive Holy Communion a maximum of two times in one day, but only if the second reception takes place during a Mass. (The exception to this is in the case of the Eucharist given as Viaticum to a person in danger of death, which may be received at any time.)

Eucharistic Adoration

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