Are divorced people permitted to receive Holy Communion?
Catholics who are divorced and remarried may not receive Holy Communion unless their previous marriage is found to be invalid by a Catholic Church court, since they are in an invalid and illicit union in the eyes of God. Jesus Christ, and thus, the Catholic Church which He founded, generally forbid divorce (Mark 10:2-12). Civil divorce does not end a marriage in the eyes of God or of the Church. Secular governments do not have any authority to dissolve valid marriages. For a most serious reason, a Catholic married person may obtain a civil divorce, for instance, because of adultery, by the other spouse, physical or spiritual abuse of spouse or children, or desertion, but this does not entitle a divorced person to date or remarry. Catholics who are divorced but not remarried should consult their confessors or a parish priest as to whether they may receive Holy Communion. In certain circumstances they are allowed to do so.
Reprinted from January 17, 1997
Do vitamin pills violate the Eucharistic fast?
For one hour before receiving Holy Communion we are not to eat or drink anything. However, medicine and water can be taken at any time before Holy Communion. If the vitamin pills are taken as dietary supplements (as is most likely), then they should be considered food. If they are taken as therapy or medication, then their use in the hour before receiving the Holy Eucharist would not violate the Church law about the Eucharistic fast. Priests can sometimes dispense from this Church law. If in doubt about any Church laws, consult your pastor.
Reprinted from January 17, 1997
In our parish we pray the rosary before Mass. I notice people have stopped
saying "Amen" at the end of the prayers. When did this start?
It is proper to say "Amen" at the end of the prayers during the Rosary. The reason for your parish change of practice might be found in the Lord's Prayer or Our Father recited during Mass, when it is not proper to add the word "Amen", since the "great Amen" is said just before and the Our Father is followed by the doxology. Perhaps your people have just carried over the habit from the Mass into the prayers of the Rosary. The word "Amen" ("so be it") is a kind of solemn affirmative, saying, in effect, "I agree and affirm what has just been said" or "What I have said or will say is a very solemn truth."
Reprinted from January 3, 1997
May a priest leave out the Gloria or the Nicene Creed at
Mass when he has five weekend Masses to say and no help? This what a priest
in another State told me when I asked him about these omissions.
You might remind the priest that the Second Vatican Council clearly teaches: "Regulation of the sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the Church, that is, on the Apostolic See and, as laws may determine, on the Bishop..." Therefore, absolutely no other person, not even a priest, may add, remove, or change any thing in the liturgy on his own authority." What you describe is a liturgical abuse and should be reported to the appropriate Bishop. If you are only a visitor there, however, I would leave the reporting to the regular parishioners, if I were you.
Reprinted from August 27, 1999
May a Catholic receive Holy Communion more than once a day?
Yes. A Catholic lay person may receive Holy Communion twice a day. The second time, however, that one receives Holy Communion, according to current Church Law, it must be received during a Mass and not outside of Mass. Of course, if a Catholic is dying, he or she may receive Viaticum outside of Mass and no matter how many times he or she may already have received Holy Communion.
Reprinted from September 20, 1996
My daughter says that it is not necessary for Catholics to attend Mass every
Sunday anymore. I maintain that we still have to go each Sunday. Which of
us is correct?
You are. Catholics who attain the age of reason obliged to assist at Mass on every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. Only serious sickness or a serious obligation in charity or moral impossibly excesses one from this duty. To miss Mass without such a serious reason ends one's friendship with God and a person who does this is guilty of a mortal sin. The third commandment of the Decalogue and the first precept of the Church require Sunday Mass attendance. Of course, Sunday Mass is not only a Christian duty and a Catholic obligation, but it is an enormous privilege and a great source of joy. For a Catholic Sunday Mass should not just be part of the week but the heart of the week.
Reprinted from September 20, 1996