By Father Thom Hennen
Question Box
Q: How many times a day can you attend Mass or receive Communion? Also, if I go to a wedding on a Saturday, does that fulfill my Sunday obligation?
A: You can attend Mass as many times in a day as you like. However, the Church does place some limitations on how often a person may receive Communion in a day. The “Code of Canon Law” states: “A person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates” (can. 917). This means a person may receive Communion twice in one day, provided the second time is within Mass. It could well be that the first reception of Communion that day was also at a Mass.
A common example might be if someone attends a funeral Mass on a Saturday morning and then goes to the anticipated (vigil) Mass later that Saturday to fulfill the Sunday obligation. A person may receive Communion at both Masses. Some people mistakenly assume this is because the prayers, texts and readings for these Masses are different, but that is irrelevant to the rule.
Canon 917 adds that this second reception is “without prejudice to the prescript of can. 921, §2,” which states: “Even if they have been nourished by holy communion on the same day, however, those in danger of death are strongly urged to receive communion again.” In danger of death, therefore, a person may receive Communion twice in the same day no matter what.
Okay, but why does the Church limit reception of Communion? If we believe, as we do, that Jesus Christ is truly present (body, blood, soul and divinity) in the Eucharist, why not receive as many times as possible? Out of reverence for the Eucharist, the Church places rules on and limits the number of times a person can receive. Otherwise, one might go from church to church getting their “vitamin Jesus” and this could become almost routine, mundane, even sloppy or from a place of entitlement.
The Church always wants us to see the relationship between receiving Communion and the Mass, which is what makes Communion possible. It is the celebration of the Eucharist, not the reception of Communion, that is the “source and summit” of our faith.
A Catholic could be in good standing with the Church, according to “Precepts of the Church” listed in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (paras. 2041-2043) and only receive the Eucharist once a year during the Easter season. The obligation on Sundays and holy days is to participate in Mass, not to receive Communion.
However, since at least the pontificate of Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914), the faithful have been encouraged to receive Communion on a more regular basis (provided they are disposed to do so), weekly or even daily if possible. Pius X also lowered the age of first Communion from 12 years old to roughly 7 years old (the “age of reason”). We should be neither flippant nor unnecessarily abstemious when it comes to the reception of this great gift.
As to weddings and the Sunday obligation, it depends. Most weddings in parishes in the United States are on Saturdays and before the vigil Mass for the Sunday celebration of Mass. The 1953 Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus stipulates that the earliest the vigil Mass may be celebrated is 4 p.m. If a wedding Mass takes places after 4 p.m. (regardless of the prayers, texts or readings used), then this does “count” for one’s Sunday obligation to attend Mass.
(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)
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