It was not ever thus. In most Episcopal parishes a hundred years ago, the principal service on Sunday was generally sung Morning Prayer, or choral Matins, with sermon. Those who wanted to receive Communion more than three or four times a year went to the early service at 8 am.
Even in Anglo-Catholic parishes such as ours, the Solemn High Mass at 11 am would generally be a “non-communicating” Mass: that is, only the priest would receive. Again, those who wanted Communion would go to the early service.
When my wife was growing up in an Anglo-Catholic parish in the Church of England, her family would go at 8 am to make their Communions at the early service. Then, they would go home for breakfast, after which they would return to church to sing in the choir at the non‑communicating Solemn High Mass at 11.
But of course many more people came to the Solemn High Mass than had been at the early service. In other words, even in Anglo-Catholic parishes, the majority of people might faithfully attend the principal service every Sunday and still receive Communion only, say, once a month or even just once a quarter. The canonical minimum to be considered a communicant of the Church is still only three times a year: typically at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.
This pattern began to change in the 1930s, under the influence of what was known as the Parish Communion Movement. The aim of this movement was to promote the full participation of the people in the Church’s worship. And since receiving Holy Communion is the fullest expression of this participation, the Parish Communion Movement sought above all to make the principal Sunday service a Eucharist at which all the people would have the opportunity to do just that.
In England, one of the principal spokesmen of the parish Communion movement, A.G. Hebert, wrote in 1937 that the ideal time was around 9 or 9:30 in the morning. The 8 am service was too early for many people; and 11 am was too late for most people to keep the fast before Communion. In 1949, by the way, Hebert visited this country and preached from this pulpit. Perhaps it was more than a coincidence that just a year later, in 1950, my predecessor Fr. Ward did away with the non-communicating High Mass here at S. Stephen’s.
Three decades after that, the 1979 Prayer Book fulfilled one of the key goals of the Parish Communion Movement by specifying the Holy Eucharist as “the principal act of worship on the Lord’s Day and other major Feasts,” and also by directing that at every Mass the Sacrament must be made available to the people.
So, we’ve come a long way. The question today, however, is whether we’ve come too far, and become too casual in our approach to the Blessed Sacrament. Here, perhaps, the Feast of Corpus Christi can help us.
Historically, in the Church we’ve tended to see-saw between periods when Christians felt free to receive Communion weekly or even daily, as in very first centuries of the early Church, and periods when people were so afraid of receiving unworthily that they tended to refrain from receiving at all. In 1215, for example, the Fourth Lateran Council had to require lay people to receive at least once a year, at Easter, after making their Confession to a priest.
The Feast of Corpus Christi originated in the thirteenth century as part of a movement of popular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament that had as one of its aims a return to more frequent Communion. The message of this feast is twofold. On one hand, we should by all means avail ourselves of the opportunity for weekly or even daily Communion. But on the other hand, we must approach the Sacrament with the utmost care, preparation, reverence, and devotion.
In other words, we need to steer a middle course between a rigorism that would keep us from Communion, and a laxity that would lead us to receive carelessly and thoughtlessly. Alas, the greater danger before the Church today is not rigorism but laxity.
Providentially, the Catholic spiritual tradition offers us practices that can help us increase the reverence and devotion with which we approach Holy Communion. Most important of all is spiritual preparation for Mass: saying our prayers and examining our consciences. For what sins and shortcomings are we seeking God’s forgiveness and help in this Mass? For what people and situations are we offering up our participation in this Mass?
At the very least, we need to make an effort to get to church on time so that we have an opportunity to get recollected in the few minutes before Mass begins. And if we arrive late, the Church’s traditional guideline is that we should only receive Communion if we’ve been present for the reading of the Gospel.
One key discipline of preparation is the traditional Fast before Communion. For some people health concerns make this impossible, and we certainly don’t want people passing out in the pews. But even if we can’t go completely without food from midnight the night before, it’s still a commendable practice to observe the minimal rule of eating nothing for at least an hour before Mass. It’s really difficult to be spiritually awake and alert for Holy Communion on a full stomach!
Also, the Church’s traditional wisdom is that we should not receive Holy Communion more than once a day, just as ideally priests should not celebrate Mass more than once a day. This is one reason among many, incidentally, why I’m really glad that Fr. Sawicky has arrived. If for some reason you have occasion to be at a second Mass on a day when you’ve already received Holy Communion, it’s perfectly okay and indeed highly commendable to go up for a blessing and not receive a second time. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! This is not like a meal where it’s bad manners not to eat what’s set before you.
Finally, no less important than preparation before Communion is thanksgiving after Communion. When we return to the pew from the altar rail, or after the end of the closing hymn, we need to take a few moments to say “thank you” to God for his gift of himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament, and to recommit ourselves to whatever tasks he’s given us to do in the world.
So, on this Feast of Corpus Christi, we give thanks for all who worked so hard for so many years to re-establish the Communion of the Faithful as the norm every Sunday and Holy Day. But we also show our gratitude by receiving this great gift with all the care, reverence, preparation, and devotion that it deserves.
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