Questo articolo è disponibile anche in:
Italian
English
Spanish
Good morning Father Angelo,
I’m Patrizia from C.
I am writing to ask you a very sensitive question.
I take care of an elderly lady suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
She lost her clarity of mind five years ago, but before she got sick, she used to go to church and receive communion.
On St. Rita’s day I took her with me to attend the Holy Mass.
I was deeply moved when, upon entering the church, she crossed herself without any help.
I asked the parish priest whether the lady could receive communion, pointing out the seriousness of her illness and her inability to understand and take care of herself, but the priest told me that she absolutely could not receive it.
Now she can no longer leave the house, and as the days pass she gets worse and worse.
I ask you Father, why can’t this sweet granny receive Communion? Maybe because we don’t know if she is in a state of grace?
But God alone knows the condition of her soul.
Couldn’t this illness be a cathartic condition for her soul?
Why deprive her of this grace; don’t we do the same with the people who are on the threshold of death?
Even her family members believe that it is absurd to let her receive Communion; I hear them say: “What’s the point, if she is not able to recognize that sublime moment?”
Now, she is not even able to make the sign of the cross anymore, but I support her hands to let her make it, for me it’s not an absurd thing.
Maybe it’s just me wanting it, maybe she wants it too.
While waiting for your answer, I thank you in advance.
God bless you greatly.
Answer from the priest
Dear Daughter,
1. the catechism of St. Pius X taught that three are the things that must be fulfilled to well receive Communion:
first, being in God’s grace;
second, knowing and being mindful of whom one is going to receive;
third, having fasted for an hour. This last provision has been corrected, because in the times of St. Pius X it was required to be fasting from midnight.
2. There is nothing to say about the first point, because none of us can judge the state of grace of another person.
Holy Communion can be denied to anyone who is not baptized, or who lives in a life condition manifestly outside of evangelical requirements and has not shown any repentance.
3. The discipline of fasting is further mitigated for sick people. For those people, a quarter of an hour is enough.
4. The second point remains to be considered: knowing and being mindful of whom you are going to receive.
There is the danger of desecration.
Therefore, the desire to enter into communion with the Lord is necessary.
This is why it is not given to children who have not yet achieved the use of reason.
And this is the same reason why it is not given to people who have completely lost the use of reason.
5. In the Greek Orthodox Church, first communion is given to newborns together with baptism.
That, however, has never been the practice of the Catholic Church.
The comparison with the dying is not valid because they may have some awareness of the sacrament they receive.
6. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church confirms the doctrine and discipline taught by the catechism of St. Pius X.
At question no. 291: “What is required to receive Holy Communion?” we read the following answer:
“To receive Holy Communion one must be fully incorporated into the Catholic Church and be in the state of grace, that is, not conscious of being in mortal sin.
Anyone who is conscious of having committed a grave sin must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation before going to Communion.
Also important for those receiving Holy Communion are a spirit of recollection and prayer, observance of the fast prescribed by the Church, and an appropriate disposition of the body (gestures and dress) as a sign of respect for Christ”.
7. One may object: why deprive these people, already afflicted by illness and who are probably already in advance experiencing their purgatory, of the grace of the sacrament?
Well, they are not to be deprived of the grace of the sacrament, but the intention is only to avoid its desecration.
In fact, they can enjoy the grace of the sacrament as long as some people intentionally offer their Holy Communion for their benefit.
In simpler and more common words: because they receive Holy Communion on their behalf. That is to say: they ask the Lord to bestow all the benefits of Holy Communion on the person to whom they want to give them.
In fact, by virtue of the charity that makes us all one in Christ, the merits of one – if no obstacles arise on the part of those who receive them – become the merits of the other.
How beautiful it would be if all of you went together to receive Holy Communion for the sake of this dear sick person.
In this way, the sacrament is not defiled and on the other hand, the sick person is not deprived of any benefit, because by living in grace she is well disposed to receive all the benefits that are given to her.
The Lord will give you credit for this holy concern of yours.
I hope that the advice I offered will be unanimously accepted by all of you. It would benefit you and it would benefit her at the same time.
I bless you and remember you in prayer.
Father Angelo