What Is the Right Way to Receive Holy Communion?

Before asking how Communion should be received, we must remember whom we receive. The seriousness of the proper manner follows entirely from this reality.

Not a symbol, but the whole Christ

Catholic faith professes that, through transubstantiation, the consecrated bread and wine truly, really and substantially become the Body and Blood of Christ. The Council of Trent solemnly defined at Session XIII (11 October 1551) that Christ is contained “whole and entire” under either species and in every particle: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.^[3] We receive not “a part” of Jesus, but the whole Jesus, living and glorious.

Jesus prepared this truth in the Bread of Life discourse: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you” (Jn 6:53), and “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6:56). Saint Alphonsus Liguori sums up the daring of this gift:

“As if this were not enough, He invented the Eucharist. A God makes Himself bread, a little host, to descend upon our lips and into our hearts, removing every distance between Him and us.”^[4]

Why the manner matters so much

Because Christ Himself gives Himself, the recipient’s disposition is not indifferent. The same divine food produces opposite effects according to the soul’s condition: life for those who receive worthily, judgment for those who receive in mortal sin (1 Cor 11:27–29). Jesus repeats this to Luisa with a striking image:

“If the soul does not have the proper dispositions to receive Me, I do not find in her the empty space in which to pour My Life. Everything happens as if I were dead for her and she for Me. I burn, but she does not feel My flames. I am Light, but she remains blind.”^[5]

The proper manner is therefore not formalism: it determines whether God’s greatest gift becomes in us a source of life or an occasion of judgment.

The Church distinguishes essential conditions, without which Communion is sacrilegious, from fitting dispositions that allow grace to bear fuller fruit. The former are not negotiable; the latter belong to fervor and must be cultivated.

Being in a state of grace: the absolute condition

The first, absolute and non-negotiable condition is to be in a state of grace, with no awareness of unconfessed mortal sin. The Catechism states plainly:

“Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.”^[6]

This requirement comes from Saint Paul: “A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup” (1 Cor 11:28). Trent imposed the grave obligation to confess first upon anyone conscious of mortal sin, however strong the desire to receive.^[7] Receiving in mortal sin is not an added gift, but sacrilege, a further grave sin. As Father Iannuzzi writes, anyone not in a state of grace who receives Communion, whether on the tongue or in the hand, commits sacrilege.^[8]

Before every Communion, the Catechism thus calls for an examination of conscience in the spirit of the centurion whose words the liturgy repeats: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”^[9]

The Eucharistic fast: preparing the body

The second condition prepares the body. Canon law requires abstinence from all food and drink, except water and medicine, for at least one hour before Holy Communion.^[10] Formerly observed from midnight, the fast was shortened to facilitate frequent Communion, yet retains its meaning: a small deprivation marks the Host as food unlike any other. The Catechism connects it with the body’s entire attitude:

“To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. Bodily demeanor—gestures, clothing—ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.”^[11]

The elderly, the sick and those caring for them are exempt or subject to an eased fast: the Church does not impose a burden that would prevent Communion.^[12]

Reverence, faith and humility: the soul’s disposition

The third condition is interior: approach with faith, humility, desire and adoration. One does not receive a king carelessly. Everything—gesture, dress and recollection—should express the respect, solemnity and joy of the encounter.^[13] Saint John Paul II warns against irreverence and routine:

“May God preserve us from acting in a way that lacks respect, from undue haste, from an impatience that causes scandal.”^[14]

This reverence is not scrupulosity but the coherence of faith. If we truly believe it is God whom we receive, our bearing will express it.

This practical question deserves the Church’s precise, non-polemical answer.

The norm: Communion on the tongue

The normative practice of the Latin Church is Communion on the tongue. It best reduces the risk of irreverence or profanation and protects fragments of the Host. Father Iannuzzi explicitly recalls that this is the Church’s normative manner.^[15]

Communion in the hand: an indult, never an obligation

Communion in the hand was permitted in certain countries by indult, a particular authorization, beginning in the late 1960s and governed by the 1969 instruction Memoriale Domini.^[16] The instruction reaffirmed the value and wisdom of Communion on the tongue while conceding reception in the hand where the practice had already spread, provided that every danger of irreverence and erroneous Eucharistic belief was avoided. Reception in the hand is therefore neither sacrilege in itself nor obligatory: it is a permission whose meaning depends upon reverence.

Nor is it an absolute novelty. In the fourth century Saint Cyril of Jerusalem taught the newly baptized to receive Christ’s Body by making their hands a throne for “receiving the King,” one resting upon the other, palm upward.^[17] The dignity of the gesture came not from the hand itself but from adoration.

What matters more than the gesture

Father Iannuzzi recounts a revealing sign: when a second Host once fell into Saint Faustina Kowalska’s hands, Jesus told her:

“I desired to rest in your hands, not only in your heart.”^[18]

Jesus accepted resting in her hands because of her holiness. The episode shows that the heart’s disposition takes precedence over the gesture’s material form, without cancelling the Church’s prudence in retaining Communion on the tongue as a protective norm.^[19]

“The Church’s preference for Communion on the tongue and permission for Communion in the hand must always be accompanied by the reverence, devotion, humility, respect, adoration and decorum befitting our Savior.”^[20]

The proper manner also includes the proper frequency. The Church imposes a minimum and recommends far more.

The minimum and the recommendation

The obligatory minimum is the Easter duty: receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter season.^[21] Yet the Church strongly encourages Communion on Sundays and feast days, more often, and even daily.^[22] Frequent and daily Communion is a treasure.

The liberation brought by Saint Pius X

This invitation was not always obvious. Jansenism spread the notion that one had to be nearly perfect before approaching the altar, keeping the faithful from the Eucharistic table. In 1905 Saint Pius X, through Sacra Tridentina Synodus, opened frequent and daily Communion to all the faithful with only two conditions: the state of grace and a right intention—not receiving from routine or vanity, but to unite oneself with God and grow in charity.^[23] In 1910 Quam Singulari restored First Communion to children from the age of reason.^[24] We do not receive because we are worthy, but in order to become holy.

Preparation is discussed often; its necessary continuation, thanksgiving, is often forgotten. To receive Christ and immediately dismiss Him through distraction is to waste the most precious visit.

Why remain with the Christ whom we have received?

After Communion Christ remains really present within us while the species endure, for several minutes. This time is unique: God is sacramentally present in our innermost being. The Catechism urges us to nourish the gift in prayer and charity.^[25] Spiritual tradition, from the Imitation of Christ to Saint Alphonsus, recommends remaining in silent adoration and speaking to Christ as to a friend truly present.^[26] The Curé of Ars described the intimacy created by this food:

“All together you form one body with Jesus Christ, whose flesh and blood serve as your daily food.”^[27]

Luisa’s thanksgiving: thanking Jesus with Jesus Himself

Here the Divine Will contributes its particular light. On 10 April 1910 Luisa describes, under obedience, her preparation and thanksgiving. She relies not upon her own efforts but allows Jesus to do everything in her:

“Knowing that I want to receive Him at any cost, and so as not to be dishonored by coming into me—but rather to receive the greatest honors—He Himself prepares my poor soul. He gives me His own things, His merits, His garments, His works, His desires; in sum, all of Himself.”^[28]

Luisa calls the Virgin, angels and saints to help her offer Jesus fitting honor, then summarizes thanksgiving in the Divine Will:

“It seems to me that I prepare myself in Jesus Himself, and that I thank Him with the help of Jesus Himself.”^[29]

The secret is not producing beautiful feelings, but being clothed with Christ so as to receive and thank Him with His own dispositions. Ten years later Jesus expands this thanksgiving to all creation:

“I want to take possession of every action, every word, every thought, every heartbeat and every step of creatures. And through each one, in the name of all, I want to tell You: I love You, I thank You, I bless You and I adore You.”^[30]

This is the heart of the Divine Will perspective. For Luisa, the ultimate manner of receiving is to repeat within oneself what Jesus did when He instituted and received the Eucharist.

This exceeds the unaided soul’s strength: out of love Jesus deposited His whole Life in each Host to enable the creature to receive Him:

“Since the creature was unfit to receive Me, this excessive Love led Me to give the whole of My Life to prepare her. Thus I placed My works, My steps and My Love within her… Therefore clothe yourself with Me, cover yourself with each of My acts, and come to receive Me.”^[31]

Allowing Jesus to continue His act within us

Jesus teaches that whenever a soul receives Communion, He wishes to continue in her the very act He performed at the Last Supper and Calvary:

“Every time a creature receives Communion, I continue My action in her as if I were receiving Myself. The soul must transform herself into Me, making My Life, My Prayers, My loving Moans and My Sufferings her own.”^[32]

“When, in receiving Communion, a soul repeats what I did, I feel as though I were receiving Myself; and I receive complete Glory, divine contentments and outpourings of love worthy of Me.”^[33]

Hence Jesus’ explicit request: “When you receive Me, do what I did.”^[34] To receive in His manner is to unite ourselves to Him in embracing every soul and everything the Father wills.

Becoming a living host

The culmination is astonishing: by grace, the soul living in the Divine Will becomes a living host in whom Christ continues to dwell. On 17 December 1914 Jesus explains that by making all her being and acts flow in His Will, He renews a true consecration within her:

“I will continue to live in you as in a living Host—not a dead host like the hosts in which I am not.”^[35]

The soul does not merely absorb the Host: she becomes a living tabernacle extending Christ’s Eucharistic presence in the world. This is the highest manner of reception: not consuming an object, but becoming one with a Person.

Sacramental Communion lasts a few minutes and may be prevented by illness, lack of a priest or circumstances. The Divine Will opens a way that never abolishes the sacrament, but prolongs it without interruption.

Communion “continual like breathing”

In 1903 Jesus tells Luisa that holy desire, joined to an accepted sacrifice when reception is impossible, brings an unceasing union:

“The result for her is not only one Communion a day, as the Church permits, but continual Communion, just as breathing is continual.”^[36]

He specifies that this rewards not those who do not wish to receive Him, but those who cannot and offer that deprivation to please Him.^[37] Living in the Divine Will is itself uninterrupted Communion:

“My Will is continual Communion with the soul. Not only once a day, but at every hour, at every instant, the soul who does My Will is in close Communion with Me.”^[38]

Longer than sacramental Communion, without obstacle

On 23 March 1910 Jesus gives the most explicit comparison. He never devalues the sacrament, source and summit of Christian life, but shows how life in His Will extends its fruit beyond temporal limits:

“Sacramental Communion lasts a few minutes, while Life in My Will is perpetual Communion—even eternal Communion, because it continues eternally in Heaven. Communion in My Divine Will is subject to no obstacle: it is enough for the soul to want it, and it is done.”^[39]

This illuminates life in the Divine Will when the sacraments are unavailable: perpetual Communion is not a convenient substitute, but the sacrament’s continuation for one who, while prevented, ardently desires Christ.

Its fruits depend on conformity to the Divine Will

Luisa receives a decisive warning: the measure of the fruit of Communion depends upon the soul’s conformity to God’s Will. Without it, the sacrament can remain fruitless:

“The sacraments produce fruits according to how the soul is adjusted to My Will. If the soul is not adjusted to My Will, she may receive Communion and remain on an empty stomach, go to confession and remain dirty.”^[40]

This restates Saint Paul’s warning: material reception does not save by itself; the disposition of the will opens or closes itself to grace. The best preparation is therefore to unite one’s will to God’s before, during and after Communion.

When sacramental Communion is impossible, Catholic tradition proposes spiritual Communion, an act of faith and desire asking Jesus to come spiritually into the heart. It is not a worthless substitute: spiritual masters recommend it many times throughout the day. Saint Alphonsus practiced it constantly, certain that Christ never refuses Himself to those who desire Him in love:

“Beloved souls, if you should ever doubt My love, consider Me enclosed in the Host. Possessing such a pledge, it is impossible to doubt that I love you, and love you greatly.”^[41]

The Divine Will joins and deepens this practice: continual desire lived in His Will becomes the “continual Communion” of the Book of Heaven.^[42] Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus expressed the same burning trust:

“Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone; He burns with the desire to enter your heart. Go, do not listen to the devil; laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love.”^[43]

The final aspect of receiving well is negative: avoid what makes Communion sterile.

The worst obstacle: receiving without proper dispositions

The gravest danger is receiving in mortal sin, turning the food of life into judgment (1 Cor 11:29). A subtler obstacle is receiving by habit, without making room or emptying oneself so Christ may enter:

“If the soul does not have the proper dispositions to receive Me, I do not find in her the empty space in which to pour My Life.”^[44]

Coldness and routine

Routine is Communion’s discreet enemy. Repetition can empty the gesture of faith. The remedy is not scrupulosity but renewed desire: remember whom we are about to receive, awaken faith in the Real Presence, and entrust the soul’s preparation to Christ Himself, as Luisa describes. Jesus laments the indifference of consecrated souls: “Even the souls who say they are My spouses do not desire to receive Me.”^[45] Receiving well begins by truly desiring the One received.

The right manner unfolds on three levels:

• Conditions: be in a state of grace—confess first in case of mortal sin—observe the one-hour fast, and approach with reverence and faith. Otherwise one risks sacrilege.
• Continuation: make thanksgiving, remain with Christ received, and do not waste the visit. Receive frequently, even daily, with a right intention.
• Depth: receive “in the manner of Jesus,” allowing oneself to be clothed with Him, becoming a living host, and uniting one’s will to the Divine Will so that a few minutes become perpetual Communion.

These levels do not compete. Discipline safeguards the gift; mystical depth reveals its end. To receive well is to let Jesus accomplish what He desires: to make every tabernacle a reservoir of His graces^[46] and, through every well-disposed soul, extend His presence in the world.

• The Book of Heaven — Luisa Piccarreta’s work in which Jesus teaches Communion in the Divine Will.
• The Divine Will — the gift of living in God’s Will, key to perpetual Communion.
• The Hours of the Passion — meditating upon the Passion in order to receive in the manner of Jesus.
• Did Judas receive Holy Communion at the Last Supper? — Communion received unworthily.
• How can one live in the Divine Will without access to the sacraments? — Communion of desire and perpetual Communion.
• Is the Novus Ordo Mass valid? — the liturgical framework of Communion.
• The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will — the perfect model of the soul receiving God.