Salesian Literature

Chapter 20:  Frequent Communion

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It is said that Mithridates, the King of Pontus, discovered an antidote called mithridate.  With its use the resistance f his body became very great.  Later when he tried to poison himself to escape becoming a slave to the Romans, he could not do so[1].  The Saviour has instituted the most glorious Sacrament of the Eucharist, which truly contains his body and his blood, so that whoever eats it will live for ever (Jn. 6:50-58).  Therefore those who receive it frequently with devotion strengthen their spiritual life and well-being, to such an extent that it is almost impossible for them to be poisoned by any kind of evil attachment.  We cannot draw nourishment from this living flesh and find life in attachment to death.  If men were to continue living in the earthly paradise, they could have avoided bodily death by the power of the life-giving fruit placed there by God (Gen. 3:22-24).  In the same way, by the power of this Sacrament of life, it is possible for us to avoid spiritual death.

 

Fruit that is very delicate and decays easily, life cherries, apricots and strawberries, remains good for a whole year without difficulty, if preserved in sugar or in honey.  So, it is not unusual that our hearts, though frail and feeble, are kept safe from the corruption of sin when preserved in the sugar and honey of the incorruptible flesh and blood of the son of God.

 

Philothea, the Christians who are damned will have no excuse to present when the just Judge makes them see that the blame for their spiritual death is entirely theirs.  It was very easy form to have kept themselves alive and well by eating his Body which he had left them for this purpose.  “Unhappy ones”, he will say, “why did you die while having at your command the fruit and the food of life?”

 

“Daily reception of Communion at the Eucharist is something I neither praise nor condemn.  I advise and encourage everyone to receive Communion every Sunday, provided the heart is free of attachment to committing sin.”  These are the very words of St. Augustine.  With him I neither condemn nor praise without condition daily Communion.  Rather, I leave it to the discretion of the spiritual father of the person who wants to decide about this matter.

 

The disposition necessary for daily Communion has to be of a high degree of perfection.  So it is not good to recommend it to everyone.  But this disposition even though of great excellence, may be found in many devout persons.  So it is not good either to turn away and discourage everyone from it.  Rather, this matter must be dealt with by the consideration of the interior state of each individual person.  It would be imprudent to advise daily Communion to everyone unconditionally.  But it would also be imprudent to find fault with anyone for it especially if he were following the advice of a wise director.

 

Because of the frequent Communion of St. Catherine of St. Catherine of Siena, the objection was brought against here that St. Augustine neither praised nor condemned daily Communion.  Her reply was kindly.  “Well”, she said, “since At. Augustine does not condemn it, please do not condemn it either, and I will be satisfied.”

 

But, Philothea, you note that St. Augustine earnestly advises and encourages everyone to receive Communion every Sunday.  You must do so, as far as possible.  I presume that you have no kind of attachment to venial sin.  So you have the true disposition that St. Augustine requires.  You have one that is even more excellent.  You not only do not have any attachment to committing sin, but you do not even have any attachment to sin.  So, when your spiritual father finds it beneficial, you could receive Communion with profit even more frequently than on every Sunday.

 

However, many well-founded difficulties may arise, not from you but from those with whom you live.  Because of these, a prudent director might advise you not to receive Communion so often.  For example, you live in some kind of dependence on others, and those to whom you owe obedience or respect are so lacking in proper instruction or so eccentric that they are worried and disturbed at seeing you receiving Communion frequently.  Taking everything into account it might perhaps be good to submit in some way to their weakness and receive Communion only once a fortnight.  But it is understood that this is only in case you cannot overcome the difficulty in any other way.  This must not be taken as a general rule.  You must act according to the advice of your spiritual father.  But I can say this much with certainty: for those who want to serve God devoutly, the longest interval between Communions should be one month.

 

If you are well guided by prudence, neither mother, nor wife, nor husband nor father will come in the way of your receiving Communion often.  On the day you go to Communion, you will not set aside the responsibilities that are proper to your situation in life; you will show grater gentleness and kindness to your family members, not excusing yourself from any of your duties towards them.  So it is unlikely that they will prevent you from this practice, since it will not cause them any inconvenience, unless they have an extremely whimsical and unreasonable spirit.  In this case, as I have already pointed out, your spiritual director will advise you to given in to them.

 

I now make a brief remark to married people.  Under the old Law, God held it as wrong that creditors demand payment of their debts on feast days (Deut. 15:1-3).  But it was not so with regard to debtors paying and giving their dues to whose who made the request.  Ti would be out of place, though no great sin, to request payment of the marriage debt on the day of Communion.  But it would not be improper, rather it would be meritorious, to pay it.  Therefore, no one must be deprived of Communion, because of the payment of this debt, if otherwise devotion urges the person to want to receive.  In fact, in the early Church, Christians used to receive Communion every day, even though they were married and blessed with children.  That is why I have said that frequent Communion is not the cause of any kind of inconvenience to fathers, wives, or husbands, so long as the person who receives Communion uses prudence and discretion.

 

Regarding bodily illness, none can be a genuine obstacle to this holy participation, unless it causes frequent vomiting.

 

To receive Communion once a week, it is necessary to be free from mortal sin, and to have no attachment to venial sin, and to have a great desire for Communion.  For daily Communion, it is necessary besides this, to have overcome the greater part of our evil inclinations, and that it is done on the advice of the spiritual director[2].

 

 

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[1]  Aulus Geliius, Latin author (2nd century A.D.).

[2]  In modern times the practice of daily Communion was promoted by Pope St. Pius X.  his decree of 1905 states that “though it is extremely desirable that those who practise frequent and daily Communion be free from venial sins, or at least from fully deliberate one, and from all attachments to them, yet it is enough that they be free from mortal sin and resolved never to sin again.  With this sincere proposal, it is impossible that they should not gradually correct themselves from venial sin and from attachment to it.”  Right intention is also required, that is, a person should receive Communion “not from routine, vanity or human motives, but because he wishes to please God, to be more closely united with him in charity and to overcome his weakness and defects by means of this divine remedy.”  (quotation from “The Christian Faith”, ed. Neuner SJ & Dupuis SJ.  Bangalore: TPI, 3rd Edition, 1978, p. 323).

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