Saints LightHow Do I Receive Communion?
Come to Communion in the state of grace, bow, answer Amen, and receive on the tongue or in the hand, consuming the Host at once. Then spend a few quiet minutes with the Lord you have received.
What this lesson teaches
- The Communion Rite includes the Our Father, the sign of peace, the Lamb of God and the centurion's humble response.
- Receive only in the state of grace; anyone aware of mortal sin goes to Confession first.
- Bow, answer Amen, and receive either on the tongue or in the hand, consuming the Host immediately.
- Under either kind alone you receive the whole Christ, and Communion deepens your union with him and the Church.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 1385-1387
- CCC 1390-1391
- CCC 1393-1394
- CCC 1396
- CCC 1415
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: John 1:29; Matthew 8:8; John 6:57 (6:56 in most modern Bibles).
A sample question from this lesson
How should you receive the Host in the hand?
- Pick it up from the minister's fingers with your own fingers
- Receive it on your palm, carry it back to the pew, and consume it there
- Make a throne with one hand over the other, receive it, step aside, and consume it at once
- Hold your hands cupped and wait for the minister to drop it in
Show the answer
Make a throne with one hand over the other, receive it, step aside, and consume it at once. The lesson describes placing one hand flat on the other, receiving on the palm, stepping to the side and consuming the Host immediately.
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- State of grace
- The condition of a soul living in God's friendship, free of unconfessed mortal sin.
- Spiritual communion
- A prayer of desire to receive Christ, made when one cannot receive the sacrament.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"How Do I Receive Communion?" is lesson 7 of The Mass, Explained. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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- Coming Home: What If I Have Been Away for Years? (Becoming Catholic, free)