Growing in frequent Communion does not mean mechanically multiplying Communions as if collecting pious acts: it means learning to receive often, and always better, the One who gives Himself as food. Holy Communion is the summit of Christian life, "the source and summit of the Christian life"[1]; to receive Communion frequently is to let this source irrigate every day of existence, instead of returning to it only from time to time.
For centuries, excessive fear kept the faithful away from the Holy Table: many believed they were rarely worthy enough. It took a pope, Saint Pius X, to recall with authority, in the 1905 decree Sacra Tridentina, that frequent and even daily Communion is "greatly desired by Christ our Lord and by the Catholic Church", and that it is open to all the faithful in a state of grace, provided they approach with a right intention[2]. This article is devoted to the practical path: how frequent Communion grows, under what conditions, by what means, and what fruits it bears.
This practice must be clearly distinguished from neighboring realities treated elsewhere. Spiritual Communion — desiring to receive Christ when one cannot receive Him sacramentally — completes it without replacing it. Eucharistic adoration prolongs Communion but is not identical with it. The concrete manner of receiving Communion (in the hand or on the tongue, bodily dispositions) and the common errors to avoid are treated in separate articles, to which this article refers. For a florilegium of the great sayings of the saints on the Eucharist, see What do the saints say about frequent Communion?.
Why seek to receive Communion often?
"My flesh is true food": the Bread of Life
The desire to receive Communion often is not an added devotion: it arises from the very nature of the Eucharist, which Christ presented as food. In the great Bread of Life discourse at Capernaum, Jesus does not speak of a distant symbol but of real food to be received:
"My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." — Jesus, Gospel according to Saint John 6:55-56[3]
Food is not meant to be taken once a year. A body that is only rarely fed grows weak; so does the soul. "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man [...], you do not have life within you" (Jn 6:53)[4]: Christ binds the life of the soul to this eating. To receive Communion often is simply to take seriously that the Eucharist is bread, and that bread is eaten regularly.
The "daily bread" of the Our Father
This logic of daily nourishment is written into the very prayer Jesus taught us. "Give us this day our daily bread" (Mt 6:11)[5]: behind material bread, the whole Tradition has recognized the Eucharistic bread. The Catechism recalls that, taken literally, the Greek word epiousios — "supersubstantial" — "refers directly to the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ, the 'medicine of immortality,' without which we have no life within us"[6]. The Fathers already read the petition in this way: Saint Ambrose urged Christians to receive this daily bread "every day", and Saint Augustine saw in it the Eucharist received at the altar[7]. To ask each day for one's bread is to ask to be able to receive Communion.
The "medicine of immortality"
In the earliest centuries, frequent Eucharist was already understood as the remedy that heals and preserves. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, led to martyrdom around the year 107, described it in a phrase that became famous:
"[Breaking] one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote that we should not die but live forever in Jesus Christ." — Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians, 20, 2[8]
A medicine is not taken once for all: it is received as long as the illness lasts. As long as the soul is exposed to sin and death, it needs this antidote. That is why the Church, far from reserving Communion for rare occasions, "would wish", says the Council of Trent, that the faithful receive Communion at every Mass:
"The holy Council would wish that at each Mass the faithful who are present should communicate, not only by spiritual desire, but also by the sacramental reception of the Eucharist, so that a more abundant fruit of this most holy sacrifice may come to them." — Council of Trent, session XXII (1562), ch. 6[9]
What the Church teaches about frequent Communion
Saint Pius X's turning point: the decree Sacra Tridentina (1905)
For a long time, actual practice fell far below this wish. For fear of profaning the sacrament, many of the faithful received Communion only once or twice a year. On 20 December 1905, the Sacred Congregation of the Council, through a decree approved and willed by Saint Pius X, put an end to this misunderstanding by proclaiming that frequent and daily Communion is the very desire of Christ and of the Church[10]. This decree, Sacra Tridentina Synodus, is one of the major acts of the pope who has been called the "pope of the Eucharist"; five years later, in 1910, the decree Quam singulari lowered the age of First Communion to the age of reason, so that children themselves would not be deprived of this bread[11].
The two conditions: state of grace and right intention
The heart of the decree is a liberation: there are not a thousand conditions for frequent Communion, but only two. The first:
"Frequent and daily Communion, as something greatly desired by Christ our Lord and by the Catholic Church, should be open to all the faithful, of every rank and condition; so that no one who is in the state of grace and approaches the sacred table with a right and devout intention may be prevented from doing so." — Sacra Tridentina Synodus, decree 1 (20 December 1905)[12]
The first condition is therefore the state of grace: having no unconfessed mortal sin on one's conscience. The second is the right intention, which the decree defines with liberating precision:
"This right intention consists in this: that the one who approaches the sacred table does so not from routine, or vanity, or human respect, but in order to please God, to be more closely united with Him by charity, and to remedy his weaknesses and defects by that divine medicine." — Sacra Tridentina Synodus, decree 2[13]
Nothing else is required: neither prior perfection, nor total absence of lesser faults, nor a feeling of fervor. The Eucharist is not the reward of the perfect, but the bread of the weak who want to be healed.
The break with Jansenist rigorism
If this reminder was necessary, it was because a stubborn error had distorted piety. In the seventeenth century, Jansenism — whose manifesto was Antoine Arnauld's treatise De la frequente communion (1643) — had spread the idea that receiving Communion required almost angelic purity and long prior penances[14]. Under cover of reverence, souls were kept away from the altar. The decree of 1905 names this deviation without hesitation: "the poison of Jansenism", it says, "which, under the appearance of showing the honor and reverence due to the Eucharist, had infected even the minds of the good", by multiplying obstacles to Communion[15]. Saint Pius X decides the matter: reverence for the sacrament does not consist in staying away from it, but in receiving it often and well.
Must one be free from every venial sin?
One objection remains in many scrupulous consciences: "But I am not worthy; I still have so many faults." The decree answers directly. It is especially fitting, certainly, that those who receive Communion often be free from fully deliberate venial sins and from any attachment to them; but this is not a required condition:
"Although it is especially fitting that those who communicate frequently or daily should be free from venial sins, at least fully deliberate ones, and from any affection for them, it is nevertheless sufficient that they be free from mortal sins, with the purpose of never sinning again in the future." — Sacra Tridentina Synodus, decree 3[16]
In other words, waiting to be perfect before receiving Communion often would condemn one never to receive Communion — and precisely to deprive oneself of the remedy that heals these imperfections. It is by receiving Communion that one becomes worthy of receiving Communion.
What the Catechism and Church law ask today
The teaching of Saint Pius X has become the ordinary discipline of the Church. The Catechism confirms that receiving Communion at every Mass corresponds to the meaning of the Eucharist itself: "It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions, receive Communion when they participate in the Mass"[17]. It also recalls the double requirement: the Church obliges the faithful to receive Communion at least at Easter, but "strongly encourages the faithful to receive the holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily"[18].
Canon law gives the concrete framework. One may receive Communion once a day; a second time on the same day is permitted, but only within a Mass in which one participates (can. 917)[19]. Before receiving Communion, one must observe the Eucharistic fast: abstaining from food and drink — except water and medicine — for at least one hour (can. 919)[20]. Finally, anyone conscious of grave sin must first receive the sacrament of penance before approaching the Holy Table (can. 916)[21]: this is the whole link between frequent Communion and regular confession.
The wisdom of the masters: how often should one receive Communion?
Saint Thomas Aquinas: daily Communion is praiseworthy
The question of frequency is not new. Saint Thomas Aquinas posed it clearly: is it lawful to receive this sacrament every day? His answer distinguishes two points of view. On the side of the sacrament itself and of its power, which is love, it is always profitable to receive it, and therefore "praiseworthy to receive it daily"[22]. On the side of the receiver, however, reverence may sometimes counsel abstaining, through humility or respectful fear. Thomas concludes, citing Saint Augustine, that both attitudes are good, but that love outweighs fear:
"This bread is our daily bread: receive it each day, so that it may profit you each day. Live in such a way that you may deserve to receive it each day." — Saint Augustine, cited by Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q. 80, a. 10[23]
Saint Thomas's golden rule is therefore not a number, but a disposition: whoever can approach each day with reverence and love does well to do so.
Saint Francis de Sales: the strong and the weak
A master of devotion accessible to all, Saint Francis de Sales strongly encouraged frequent Communion in his Introduction to the Devout Life (1609). To anyone surprised to see him receive Communion often, he has one answer: two kinds of people should communicate often: the perfect, because, being well disposed, they would be very wrong to keep away from the source of perfection; and the imperfect, so that they may attain it — "the strong, lest they become weak, and the weak, that they may become strong"[24]. Frequent Communion is therefore reserved neither for a spiritual elite nor only for beginners: it is for all, each according to his state.
"By adoring and feeding upon beauty, goodness, and purity itself in this divine sacrament, you will become wholly beautiful, wholly good, and wholly pure." — Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II[25]
Neither laxism nor rigorism: the role of discernment
Francis de Sales immediately adds a wise measure: "Communicate often, as often as you can, with the advice of your spiritual father"[26]. The concrete frequency — every day, several times a week, every Sunday — is regulated with a confessor or director, taking into account the state of the soul, its duties, and its possibilities. Against rigorism that keeps people away, the Church has reopened the Holy Table; against laxism that would trivialize it, she maintains the conditions of the state of grace and right intention. The just path, neither scrupulous nor presumptuous, is found in this guided discernment.
The fruits of frequent Communion
Why insist so much on frequency? Because each well-made Communion produces real fruits, which the Catechism lists precisely[27]. To multiply Communions is to multiply these graces.
It unites intimately with Christ
The first and greatest fruit is union with Christ Himself. "The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus"[28]. The Lord had promised it: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him" (Jn 6:56). To receive Communion often is to remain often in Him — to let this presence become the soul's habitual air rather than an exceptional visit.
It nourishes and makes the life of grace grow
What material food does for the body, Communion does for the soul: it restores, strengthens, and makes it grow. "What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life"[29]: it preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. A soul deprived of Communion is an undernourished soul; a soul that receives Communion often grows.
It separates from sin and preserves
Frequent Communion is also a remedy against sin — exactly the opposite of the Jansenist prejudice that reserved Communion for the pure. The Catechism is explicit:
"The Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins. [...] As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins." — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1393-1394[30]
Still more, through the charity it rekindles, the Eucharist "preserves us from future mortal sins": the more we share in the life of Christ, the harder it becomes to break with Him by grave sin[31]. This is why receiving Communion often is not presumption but protection.
It makes the Church and commits us to the poor
Finally, Communion does not unite each person only to Christ, but all the faithful to one another: "the Eucharist makes the Church"[32]. It strengthens the incorporation into the Mystical Body begun at Baptism, and it concretely commits us to the poorest, in whom Christ continues to give Himself: recognizing Christ in the host leads to recognizing Him in one's brother[33]. Frequent Communion thus makes the whole of charity grow, toward God and toward neighbor.
Concrete means for growing in frequent Communion
Receiving Communion often cannot be improvised: it must be cultivated. Here are the means proposed by the spiritual tradition for moving from rare or distracted Communion to frequent and fruitful Communion.
Live in a state of grace: regular confession
The first condition of frequent Communion is to remain in a state of grace. Whoever wants to receive Communion often must therefore flee mortal sin and, if he falls into it, promptly have recourse to the sacrament of penance before returning to the altar (can. 916)[34]. Regular confession, even when there is no grave fault, purifies the soul, uproots attachments to venial sin, and rekindles the desire for the Eucharist. Frequent Communion and regular confession advance together: the second keeps open the path to the first.
Purify the intention: receive Communion out of love, not habit
The danger of frequent Communion is precisely the routine denounced by the decree of 1905. By receiving Communion every day, one can risk doing it mechanically, without desire. The remedy is to renew the intention often: to receive Communion "to please God, to be more closely united with Him by charity, and to remedy one's weaknesses"[35]. Before each Communion, a brief act of desire — "Lord, I want to receive You because I love You and need You" — is enough to pull the soul out of habit. On the distortions to avoid, see the common errors concerning frequent Communion.
Prepare well: Communion begins before Mass
"The sacraments of the New Law [...] produce a greater effect according as the dispositions of the recipient are better", the decree recalls; therefore Communion must be "preceded by careful preparation"[36]. Saint Paul had already taught this: "Let a man examine himself" before eating this bread (1 Cor 11:28)[37]. To prepare means arriving at Mass without haste, listening to the Word, rekindling faith in the Real Presence, and desiring the One one is about to receive. The Cure of Ars expressed the greatness of what approaches:
"The food of the soul is the Body and Blood of a God!" — Saint John Vianney, Cure of Ars[38]
Make a real thanksgiving after Communion
The decree of 1905 asks that Communion also be "followed by a suitable thanksgiving, according to each one's strength, condition, and duties"[39]. The minutes after Communion are a unique time: Christ is truly present within us as long as the species remain. Saint Teresa of Avila urged souls not to waste this moment:
"After receiving the Lord, since you have the very Person present, strive to close the eyes of the body and open those of the soul, and look within your heart." — Saint Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection, ch. 34[40]
A few minutes of silence, adoration, and petition after Communion do more for the spiritual life than long scattered devotions. This is where frequent Communion becomes fruitful, by being prolonged in mental prayer.
Make spiritual Communions between Masses
One cannot always receive sacramental Communion — work, illness, or distance from a church may prevent it. Tradition then proposes spiritual Communion: ardently desiring to receive Christ and welcoming Him in spirit. Far from competing with sacramental Communion, it maintains and prepares it, keeping the soul in the habitual desire for the Eucharist. Multiplying these brief movements of desire during the day is to stretch the whole heart toward the next Communion.
Desire daily Mass according to one's possibilities
Growing in frequent Communion also means, for those who can, tending toward daily Mass — not out of obligation, but out of desire. Many saints made it the center of their day. Where life does not allow this every day, one can add a weekday Mass, or choose a fixed day. The essential point is not the number but growing fidelity: making the Eucharist a regular and loved appointment, toward which the whole day is oriented.
Learn from the saints and from Mary
Finally, one grows in frequent Communion by learning from those who lived from it. All the saints were Eucharistic souls. Saint Pius X, who reopened the Holy Table to all, summed up the matter in one saying:
"Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven." — Saint Pius X[41]
Mary, finally, who bore the Word made flesh in her womb, is the model of every Communion: one may ask her to receive Communion with her heart, her faith, and her love. To hear the other great voices — Augustine, Thomas, Catherine of Siena, Teresa, the Cure of Ars, Padre Pio — see the florilegium What do the saints say about frequent Communion?.
A concrete path, day after day
Growing in frequent Communion is not decided once for all: it is built through simple habits, taken up again each day. The table below summarizes the practices mentioned and their spiritual motive.
| When | What to do | Spiritual motive |
|---|---|---|
| Regularly | Go to confession in order to remain in a state of grace | First condition of Communion (can. 916) |
| Before Mass | Arrive unhurried, rekindle faith, desire Christ | Careful preparation (Sacra Tridentina, decree 4) |
| At the moment of Communion | Renew the intention: "I receive You out of love" | Purify the intention, flee routine (decree 2) |
| Immediately after Communion | A few minutes of silence and adoration | Thanksgiving (Teresa of Avila; decree 4) |
| Between Masses | Make spiritual Communions | Keep the soul in desire for the Eucharist |
| Each week | Add, if possible, a Mass besides Sunday | Growing fidelity more than the number |
| Always | Receive Communion "to please God and unite oneself to Him" | The very desire of Christ and of the Church (Trent; Pius X) |
Frequent Communion is not an exploit reserved for a privileged few: it is the ordinary path of holiness, open to every faithful person in a state of grace. It begins with one decision — to return often, and always better, to the One who gives Himself as food — repeated often enough to become, little by little, the very heartbeat of Christian life.
Further reading
- Spiritual Communion — desiring and receiving Christ in spirit when one cannot receive sacramental Communion: the complement of frequent Communion.
- What is the right way to receive Communion? — the dispositions of body and soul for receiving the host well.
- Common errors concerning frequent Communion — routine, scruple, sacrilegious Communions: the traps to avoid.
- How to grow in Eucharistic adoration — prolonging Communion through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
- How to grow in regular confession — keeping the path to the Holy Table open through penance.
- What do the saints say about frequent Communion? — a florilegium of the great sayings of the saints on the Eucharist.
Notes and References
Second Vatican Council, dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium (1964), § 11: the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life" (totius vitae christianae fons et culmen). Taken up by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1324.
1Sacred Congregation of the Council, decree Sacra Tridentina Synodus, 20 December 1905, approved by Saint Pius X, decree 1: "Frequens et quotidiana sumptio sanctissimae Eucharistiae, ut votum Christi Domini et Ecclesiae catholicae maxime exoptatum, omnibus fidelibus, cujusvis ordinis et conditionis, ita pateat, ut nemo, qui in statu gratiae sit et recta piaque mente ad sacram mensam accedat, prohiberi possit." Full text: Acta Sanctae Sedis, vol. 38 (1905), p. 400-406.
2 12Gospel according to Saint John 6:55-56, English translation of the French liturgical text cited in the source article: "My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him."
3Gospel according to Saint John 6:53, English translation of the French liturgical text cited in the source article: "Amen, amen, I say to you: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and unless you drink his blood, you do not have life within you."
4Gospel according to Saint Matthew 6:11, English translation of the French liturgical text cited in the source article: "Give us this day our daily bread."
5Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2837: taken literally (epi-ousios: "supersubstantial"), "our daily bread" "refers directly to the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ, the 'medicine of immortality,' without which we have no life within us". French official edition, Mame/Plon, 1992.
6Saint Ambrose, De Sacramentis, V, 4, 26: "If it is daily bread, why do you take it only once a year? [...] Receive every day what profits you every day."; Saint Augustine, Sermon 57, 7, likewise reads the "daily bread" of the Our Father as the Eucharist. Sources cited by the CCC, § 2837.
7Saint Ignatius of Antioch (died around 107), Letter to the Ephesians, 20, 2: the Eucharist is "the medicine of immortality, the antidote that we should not die but live forever in Jesus Christ" (pharmakon athanasias, antidotos tou me apothanein). Cited by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1405.
8Council of Trent, session XXII (17 September 1562), Doctrina de sanctissimo Missae sacrificio, ch. 6: "Optaret quidem sacrosancta Synodus, ut in singulis Missis fideles adstantes non solum spirituali affectu, sed sacramentali etiam Eucharistiae perceptione communicarent, quo ad eos sanctissimi huius sacrificii fructus uberior proveniret."
9On the context of the decree: under the pontificate of Saint Pius X (1903-1914), the practice of rare Communion (often annual or Easter Communion only) was common, inherited from post-Tridentine and Jansenist rigorism. The 1905 decree reversed this tendency and founded the modern practice of frequent and daily Communion.
10Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, decree Quam singulari, 8 August 1910, under Saint Pius X: it fixed the admission of children to First Communion at the "age of reason" (around 7), against the custom that postponed it to 12-14. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 2 (1910).
11Sacra Tridentina Synodus, decree 2: "Recta autem intentio in eo consistit, ut qui ad sacram mensam accedit, non ex consuetudine, aut vanitate, aut humanis rationibus, sed ut Dei beneplacito satisfaciat, arctius cum eo caritate coniungatur, et divino illo pharmaco suis infirmitatibus ac defectibus medeatur." Translation: receiving Communion not from routine, vanity, or human respect, but to please God, unite oneself to Him by charity, and remedy one's weaknesses.
13 35Antoine Arnauld (1612-1694), De la frequente communion, Paris, 1643: an emblematic work of Jansenism, requiring long penances and delayed absolution before Communion, thus keeping the faithful away from frequent Communion. The Jansenist movement was condemned several times (bull Cum occasione, 1653; Unigenitus, 1713).
14Sacra Tridentina Synodus, preamble: "Iansenismi autem venenum, quod, sub specie debiti honoris ac reverentiae Eucharistiae exhibendae, etiam bonorum mentes pervaserat..." — "the poison of Jansenism which, under the appearance of showing the honor and reverence due to the Eucharist, had infected even the minds of the good", by multiplying obstacles to frequent Communion.
15Sacra Tridentina Synodus, decree 3: "Quamvis maxime expediat ut frequenter et quotidie communicantes a peccatis venialibus, saltem plene deliberatis, eorumque affectu immunes sint, sufficit nihilominus ut a mortalibus culpis vacui sint, cum proposito nunquam in posterum peccandi."
16Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1388: "It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions, receive Communion when they participate in the Mass."
17Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1389: "The Church obliges the faithful [...] to receive the Eucharist at least once a year [...]. But the Church strongly encourages the faithful to receive the holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily."
18Code of Canon Law (1983), can. 917: "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" (except in the case of viaticum, can. 921 § 2).
19Code of Canon Law (1983), can. 919 § 1: "A person who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy Communion from any food and drink, except for only water and medicine." The elderly, the sick, and those who care for them are dispensed (§ 3).
20Code of Canon Law (1983), can. 916: "A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the Body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession", unless there is a grave reason and no opportunity to confess, with the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition. Cf. 1 Cor 11:27-29.
21 34Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q. 80, a. 10 ("Whether it is lawful to receive this sacrament daily?"): considered on the side of the sacrament itself and its power — which is to contain Christ, "in whom is the fullness of grace" — "it is profitable to receive it daily"; on the side of the recipient, reverence may counsel abstaining at times.
22Saint Augustine, cited by Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q. 80, a. 10 (after De verbis Domini, Sermon 57): "Hic panis quotidianus est: accipe quotidie, quod quotidie tibi prosit; sic vive, ut quotidie merearis accipere." — "This bread is daily: receive it each day, so that it may profit you each day; live in such a way that you may deserve to receive it each day."
23Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Introduction to the Devout Life (1609), Part II, ch. 21 ("How one must communicate"): two sorts of people should communicate often, "the perfect" and "the imperfect" — "the strong, lest they become weak, and the weak, that they may become strong".
24Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, ch. 21: by adoring and feeding upon the beauty, goodness, and purity of Christ in the Eucharist, the soul "will become wholly beautiful, wholly good, and wholly pure". (English translation from the French text; cf. Annecy edition of the Works.)
25Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, ch. 20-21: "Communicate often, as often as you can, with the advice of your spiritual father." The author subordinates concrete frequency to the director's discernment, according to the state of each soul.
26Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1391: "The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus." Cf. Jn 6:56.
27 28Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1392: "What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life." Communion preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism.
29Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1393-1394: "The Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins"; "as bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins."
30Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1395: "By the same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins. The more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin." The Eucharist is not, however, ordered to the forgiveness of mortal sins, which belongs to the sacrament of penance.
31Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1396: "The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church." Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ, and through Him to all the faithful in one body.
32Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1397: "The Eucharist commits us to the poor." To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, His brethren.
33Sacra Tridentina Synodus, decree 4: "Cum vero sacramenta novae Legis, etsi effectum suum ex opere operato habeant, maiorem tamen producant effectum, quo meliores sunt dispositiones suscipientis, idcirco curandum est, ut sedula ad sacram communionem praeparatio illam praecedat, et congrua gratiarum actio, pro uniuscuiusque viribus, conditione et officiis, subsequatur." — careful preparation must precede Communion, and suitable thanksgiving must follow it.
36 39First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 11:28-29, English translation of the French liturgical text cited in the source article: "Let each one examine himself before eating this bread and drinking this cup; for the one who eats and drinks without discerning the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself."
37Saint John Vianney (1786-1859), Cure of Ars, Catechism on Holy Communion: "The food of the soul is the Body and Blood of a God! Oh, what beautiful food! The soul can feed only on God; only God can satisfy it." Collected in The Spirit of the Cure of Ars (Abbe Monnin).
38Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), The Way of Perfection, ch. 34: "After receiving the Lord, since you have the very Person present, strive to close the eyes of the body and open those of the soul, and look within your heart." Counsel on thanksgiving after Communion.
40Saint Pius X (1835-1914), reported saying: "Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven." Cf. collections of his sayings on the Eucharist; Saint Pius X is called the "pope of the Eucharist" for having promoted frequent Communion (Sacra Tridentina, 1905) and early Communion (Quam singulari, 1910).
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