Take Communion in the Catholic Church

In most Christian faiths, Communion is a main part of mass. Each denomination has its own slightly different way of doing things, but this article describes how to take Communion at a Catholic church.

Steps

  1. Become Catholic if you are not already. Baptized children go through the process in Sunday school, but if you are an adult you will take group classes, called RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), and go through the process of Overcome Fear of Confession, first Communion, and Confirmation to convert to Catholicism.
  2. Make sure you have been welcomed into the church. Each church has its own welcoming ritual. You must be welcomed before you can take Communion.
  3. Receive Communion in a state of grace. Eucharist may not be received while a person has mortal sin on his or her soul. If you have committed a mortal sin, you must go to Reconciliation and repent before receiving Communion.
  4. Go to Mass. Prepare yourself mentally during the Consecration of the Eucharist (when the host is changed into the body and blood of Christ).
  5. Walk up to the altar when the altar servers or priests go to the customary place. Wait for the usher to guide your row to walk up. When leaving the pew there is no need to genuflect. Wait in line and do not skip people. During this time, you should be preparing yourself to be handed the host.
  6. Receive the host. Either have the host fed to you on your tongue or handed to you. In the Traditional Rite, the host is fed to you, not handed to you. Close your mouth and allow the host to dissolve on your tongue while thinking of the sacrifice made.
    • If you wish to have the host handed to you, hold out your hands, one on top of the other. However, this is not allowed in the Traditional Rite.
    • If you wish to have the host fed to you, open you mouth and extend your tongue so that the host does not fall. This is the Traditional form of receiving and is actually still the "ordinary" (meaning proper, as opposed to "extraordinary," meaning permitted but not exactly encouraged) form.
    • When you finally receive the Body of Christ, the priest or minister will say "The Body of Christ," and will respond, "Amen."
  7. Choose to drink the cup or not, if you are attending the Novus Ordo. If the priest and/or the minister of Communion is also offering the Blood of Christ, you will respond "Amen," when receiving His Blood as well.
  8. If you are attending a Byzantine Rite church, go up to the tetrapod (small table near the priest), bow and bless yourself, and then cross your arms over your chest. Tilt your head back and open wide. The priest/deacon will use a spoon to place Communion in your mouth (don't worry, mysophobics; properly done, the spoon does not touch your tongue, mouth, or anything else). He will pray the prayer over you; DO NOT respond.
  9. Walk back to your seat and kneel. This is a time to reflect. Return to your pew and pray, until the priest is finished offering the Blessed Sacrament.
  10. In the Byzantine Rite, there is usually no kneeling. Do what everybody else does.

Rosary Prayer

Doc:Rosary in English,Rosary in Latin

Tips

  • If you want the host handed to you, put your left hand on top of the right. In Catholic Faith, the left hand is the "clean" hand.
  • If you fumble with your hands when receiving the Communion, arrange them while you are waiting in line.
  • In the Byzantine Rite, there is a local variation regarding whether or not the priest/deacon/server will hold something under your mouth in case anything goes wrong.

Warnings

  • Certain Catholic parishes have different customs for receiving Eucharist. To some people, particularly older churchgoers, it may be considered disrespectful to chew the host. To avoid offending others at Mass, it's best to learn about the traditions of a particular church.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Take_Communion_in_the_Catholic_Church&oldid=315155"