On Frequent Communion

As get closer to the joyful day when the earth will resound from pole to pole with public Masses once more, perhaps we know have a greater love and desire to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. Here is a section from The Treasury of the Sacred Heart on frequent Communion.

Keep the Faith!

On Frequent Communion.

"Come to Me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you." "With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you." By these words the Redeemer wished to show us the great ardor with which He desired to unite Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist. Through His great desire that we should receive Him, Jesus not only presses us by His invitations -- "Come, eat My bread and drink the wine which I have mingled for you," but He also commands us to receive Him -- "Take ye and eat: this is My Body." Moreover, He endeavors to allure us to the holy table by promises of eternal life. "He that eateth this bread shall live forever." He also threatens to exclude from Paradise all who neglect to receive Him in the Holy Sacrament. "Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you." These invitations, promises, and threats, all proceed from the ardent desire of Jesus to unite Himself with us in this sacrament of His love. All are obliged, under pain of mortal sin, to communicate once a year, during the paschal time.*** But, in commanding the faithful to communicate "at least at Easter," the Church fully conveys to us the loving desire that Jesus has to see us approach the holy table much more frequently. There is no better means, according to St. Teresa, for becoming perfect in virtue than frequent Communion. "No weapon," says St. Gregory, "is more powerful against the enemies of Salvation than frequent Communion." "During the twenty-five years that I have had the charge of souls," says St. Francis de Sales, "experience has shown me, in the most convincing manner, the powerful virtue of this Divine Sacrament. It strengthens the heart for virtue; it frees it from sin; it comforts it; in a word, it beatifies it in this world, provided it be approached frequently, with proper faith, purity, and fervor." "We see by experience," says St. Liguori, "that those who communicate weekly seldom or ever fall into mortal sin." "We know by experience," says Cardinal Toletus, "that many Christians, weighed down with vice and crime, have been so changed by frequent Communion, that during the rest of their lives they seldom or ever committed mortal sin."

"The primitive Christians," says the Bishop of Cambray, "communicated every day; these times are not less dangerous; never was this remedy so much required." "Do you think," says the Bishop of Langres, "that a meat of which you partake only once in the year could be of great utility to you? It is the nourishment of which we make frequent use that has an effect on our constitutions. By returning to it often we imbibe, little by little, its qualities." "If the Eucharist," writes St. Ambrose, "be the daily bread, why is it that you receive it only at the close of the year? Receive it every day, if permitted, so that each day it may become useful to you. He who has received a wound, does he not seek a remedy? Sin, which captivates us, is our wound; and our remedy is in the celestial and venerable Eucharist; therefore, since I sin without ceasing, I ought constantly to partake of this divine medicine." Oh! what reply shall unhappy Christians be able to make to the Just Judge when He shall reproach them with having incurred eternal death, although they had it in their power to have maintained themselves in spiritual live and health, by feeding on His Sacred Body, which He bequeathed to them for this purpose! "Unhappy souls," will He say to them, "why have you thus brought death upon yourselves, when you had at command the fruit and the food of life?" St. Francis de Sales says, "Communicate therefore, frequently, and as frequently as you can, but with the advice of your spiritual director. As hares become white by eating snow, so will you by partaking frequently of the cause of all spiritual beauty, purity, and goodness, become all fair, and pure, and holy. If worldlings ask you why you communicate so frequently, tell them it is in order to learn to love God, to purify yourself from your imperfections, to obtain deliverance from your miseries, consolations in your afflictions, and support in your weaknesses. Tell them that two kinds of persons ought to communicate frequently; the perfect, because, being well disposed, it would not be well for them to stay away from the source and fountain of all perfection; and the imperfect, in order that they may be enabled to obtain perfection; the strong, that they may not become weak; and the weak, that they may become strong; the sick, that they may be restored to health; and the healthy, that they may not become sick; and that, for yourself, being imperfect, weak, and sick, you have great need of frequently receiving in the Holy Communion Him Who is your perfection, your strength, and your health. Tell them that those who are not immersed in worldly affairs ought to communicate frequently, because they have leisure for so holy an exercise; and that those who are, ought to do so, because they the more stand in need of doing so. Tell them that those who undergo severe pains and labors ought to feed on solid food, and frequently; and tell them that you receive the Holy Communion frequently in order to learn how to receive it well, inasmuch as it is difficult to do that well which we do not frequently practice."

***[The "Easter Duty" requires Catholics to receive Holy Communion during Paschal Time. In the United States, this period is from the first Sunday of Lent until Trinity Sunday inclusive. All Catholics in the Richmond Diocese are dispensed from this obligation but are still encourage to receive Our Lord if they are able.]