Pope St. Pius X on Holy Communion – Frequent and Daily

Never before has our so-called civilisation possessed such enormous power to corrupt morality and humanity.

Every day in the West, we are bombarded by gratuitous temptations and seductions to a debased, consumerist, materialistic, sexualised, ‘dumbed-down’ lifestyle, unlike anything even remotely conceivable to our ancestors.

Dear Lector, Pope St. Pius X, of course, did not write those words; I did.

Yet it is clear that although St. Pius X lived a hundred years ago—he died in 1914 on the eve of World War I—he felt things clearly analogous to what I just said.

Indeed, it is evident he felt these same things far more intensely in his heart than I do. For although these problems were much less pronounced back then, his heart was certainly more pierced than my own hardened heart is today.

Let us look to his very first encyclical, E supremi, issued two months after he became Pope in 1903. There he expresses his foreboding at being elected Pope with these words:

We were terrified beyond all else by the disastrous state of human society today [Italics mine].

For who can fail to see that society is at the present time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep rooted malady which, developing every day and eating into its inmost being, is dragging it to destruction?

You understand, Venerable Brethren, what this disease is – apostasy from God …

We find extinguished among the majority of men all respect for the Eternal God, and no regard paid in the manifestations of public and private life to the Supreme Will – nay, every effort and every artifice is used to destroy utterly the memory and the knowledge of God …

Such, in truth, is the audacity and the wrath employed everywhere in persecuting religion, in combatting the dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all relations between man and the Divinity!

Yes, St. Pius X felt all this acutely and was not ashamed to express his frank and honest emotion:

We saw therefore that, in virtue of the ministry of the Pontificate, which was to be entrusted to Us, We must hasten to find a remedy for this great evil … But, cognisant of Our weakness, We recoiled in terror from a task as urgent as it is arduous.

In writing my opening sentences above, I am, then, only a extremely late ‘Johnny-come-lately’ – and a poor imitator indeed of Popes like St. Pius X.

For the Catholic Church has been warning about this state of affairs for a very long time, as we intimated recently in a post regarding Pope Leo XIII.

Now, there is yet another way in which I am only a very poor copyist of the great St. Pius X.

For one of the ongoing themes of this website is my exhortation to frequent and daily communion. But a hundred years before me, this was also central to the pontificate of St. Pius X.

Truly, I can hardly help myself here. I feel the incredible power good this renders my own soul. And I see no greater tonic for our world in free-fall than the uplifting leaven of Holy Communion.

As I wrote recently at this weblog:

What amasses in us, as we participate in Mass after Mass after Mass? For as Canon Ripley has written in his pre-Vatican II catechism This is the Faith:

The purpose of Holy Communion is to incorporate us more completely into the Mystical Body of Christ.

What really happens to us in the Holy Mass, even if we are scarcely awake to it? Such enquiry can prove valuable indeed …

Let me amplify with something of my own experience now.

I address you, dear Reader, sixteen years after I first encountered the Catholic Mystery and began my journey into Her Sacraments.

Now, if you and I, as Catholics, have been repeatedly incorporated ever ‘more completely into the Mystical Body of Christ’, can we observe anything noteworthy in our souls as a result?

Personally, I have seen much of note in these sixteen years since the Catholic Mystery has worked upon my soul! My spiritual orientation is radically different from my New Age days.

This website and my upcoming book are my testimony to that decisive change in spirituality.

But that decisive change is not Pelagian! It is not something that I, myself, have done. Rather it is something that was done to me and in me – via His Mystical Body.

And so, so much, it seems to me, hangs on understanding precisely that.

The New Age movement … spreads the belief that there is one great, universal spirituality to which we can all attain through our own effort.

And oh-so-confidently excluding the need for religion, it excludes the Sacramental Graces of the Heart of Christ pouring through His Mystical Body …

It excludes the warming, thawing, softening HUMANISING power of His Sacred Heart communing with our tiny hearts of stone …

This warming, thawing, softening, humanising  power is, I should also say, all the more apparent when one goes to Mass frequently or indeed daily. And really here is my hope for the world: deepening recognition of Sacramental Grace and deepening participation in Sacramental Grace.

But once again, I am only echoing, a century later, what was anticipated by Pope St. Pius X.

For Pope St. Pius X initiated a programme to restore all things in Christ (Instaurare Omnia in Christo). And at the centre of that programme was increased reception of the Holy Eucharist.

And so, during his eleven year pontificate, Pope St. Pius X acted in numerous ways to promote frequent and daily communion.

But let us begin with the beginning. In 1905, St. Pius X entrusted the matter to the Sacred Congregation to find in favour of the case for frequent and daily communion.

Or in the words of  Sacra Tridentina – the Vatican document which arose from the Holy Father’s request – the Pope asked the Sacred Congregation to resolve:

The question concerning the dispositions required to receive the Eucharist daily; so that this practice, so salutary and so pleasing to God, not only might suffer no decrease among the faithful, but rather that it increase and everywhere be promoted, especially in these days when religion and the Catholic faith are attacked on all sides, and the true love of God and piety are so frequently lacking.

We will say little more here. We are mainly going to re-present that old papal document in the hope that this wonderful teaching will become a little better known thereby. For what Pope St. Pius X so encouraged in 1905 would seem even more burningly relevant today.

We will simply say that we are breaking paragraphs down into shorter ones for easier reading from a computer screen. And we are adding some of our own emphasis in bold, in contradistinction from the italics used for Latin phrases etc.

SACRA TRIDENTINA On Frequent and Daily Reception of Holy Communion

Pope St. Pius X

Issued and approved by Pope Pius X on December 20, 1905

The Holy Council of Trent, having in view the ineffable riches of grace which are offered to the faithful who receive the Most Holy Eucharist, makes the following declaration:

‘The Holy Council wishes indeed that at each Mass the faithful who are present should communicate, not only in spiritual desire, but sacramentally, by the actual reception of the Eucharist.’

These words declare plainly enough the wish of the Church that all Christians should be daily nourished by this heavenly banquet and should derive therefrom more abundant fruit for their sanctification.

This wish of the Council fully conforms to that desire wherewith Christ our Lord was inflamed when He instituted this Divine Sacrament.

For He Himself, more than once, and in clarity of word, pointed out the necessity of frequently eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood, especially in these words:

This is the bread that has come down from heaven; not as your fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.

From this comparison of the Food of angels with bread and with manna, it was easily to be understood by His disciples that, as the body is daily nourished with bread, and as the Hebrews were daily fed with manna in the desert, so the Christian soul might daily partake of this heavenly bread and be refreshed thereby.

Moreover, we are bidden in the Lord’s Prayer to ask for ‘our daily bread” by which words, the holy Fathers of the Church all but unanimously teach, must be understood not so much that material bread which is the support of the body as the Eucharistic bread which ought to be our daily food.

Moreover, the desire of Jesus Christ and of the Church that all the faithful should daily approach the sacred banquet is directed chiefly to this end, that the faithful, being united to God by means of the Sacrament, may thence derive strength to resist their sensual passions, to cleanse themselves from the stains of daily faults, and to avoid these graver sins to which human frailty is liable.

So that its primary purpose is not that the honor and reverence due to our Lord may be safe-guarded, or that it may serve as a reward or recompense of virtue bestowed on the recipients.

Hence, the Holy Council calls the Eucharist ‘the antidote whereby we may be freed from daily faults and be preserved from mortal sin.”

The will of God in this respect was well understood by the first Christians; and they daily hastened to this Table of life and strength. They continued steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles and in the communion of the breaking of the bread.

The holy Fathers and writers of the Church testify that this practice was continued into later ages and not without great increase of holiness and perfection.

Piety, however, grew cold, and especially afterward because of the widespread plague of Jansenism, disputes began to arise concerning the dispositions with which one ought to receive frequent and daily Communion; and writers vied with one another in demanding more and more stringent conditions as necessary to be fulfilled.

The result of such disputes was that very few were considered worthy to receive the Holy Eucharist daily, and to derive from this most health-giving Sacrament its more abundant fruits; the others were content to partake of it once a year, or once a month, or at most once a week.

To such a degree, indeed, was rigorism carried that whole classes of persons were excluded from a frequent approach to the Holy Table, for instance, merchants or those who were married.

Some, however, went over to the opposite view. They held that daily Communion was prescribed by divine law and that no day should pass without communicating, and besides other practices not in accord with the approved usage of the Church, they determined that the Eucharist must be received even on Good Friday and in fact so administered it.

Toward these conditions, the Holy See did not fail in its duty.

A Decree of this Sacred Congregation which begins with the words Cum ad aures, issued on February 12, 1679, with the approbation of Pope Innocent XI, condemned these errors, and put a stop to such abuses; at the same time it declared that all the faithful of whatsoever class, merchants or married persons not at all excepted, could be admitted to frequent Communion according to the devotion of each one and the judgment of his confessor.

Then on December 7, 1690, by the Decree of Pope Alexander VIII, Sanctissimus Dominus noster, the proposition of Baius was condemned, requiring a most pure love of God, without any admixture of defect, on the part of those who wished to approach the Holy Table.

The poison of Jansenism, however, which, under the pretext of showing due honor and reverence to the Eucharist, had infected the minds even of good men, was by no means a thing of the past.

The question as to the dispositions for the proper and licit reception of Holy Communion survived the declarations of the Holy See, and it was a fact that certain theologians of good repute were of the opinion that daily Communion could be permitted to the faithful only rarely and subject to many conditions.

On the other hand, there were not wanting men endowed with learning and piety who offered an easier approach to this practice, so salutary and so pleasing to God.

They taught, with the authority of the Fathers, that there is no precept of the Church which prescribes more perfect dispositions in the case of daily than of weekly or monthly Communion; while the fruits of daily Communion will be far more abundant than those of Communion received weekly or monthly.

In our own day, the controversy has been continued with increased warmth, and not without bitterness, so that the minds of confessors and the consciences of the faithful have been disturbed, to the no small detriment of Christian piety and fervor.

Certain distinguished men, themselves pastors of souls, have as a result of this, urgently begged His Holiness, Pope Pius X, to deign to settle, by his supreme authority, the question concerning the dispositions required to receive the Eucharist daily; so that this practice, so salutary and so pleasing to God, not only might suffer no decrease among the faithful, but rather that it increase and everywhere be promoted, especially in these days when religion and the Catholic faith are attacked on all sides, and the true love of God and piety are so frequently lacking.

His Holiness, being most earnestly desirous, out of his solicitude and zeal, that the faithful should be invited to the sacred banquet as often as possible, even daily, and should benefit by its most abundant fruits, committed the aforesaid question to this Sacred Congregation, to be studied and decided definitely (definiendam).

Accordingly, the Sacred Congregation of the Council, in a Plenary Session held on December 16, 1905, submitted this matter to a very careful study, and after sedulously examining the reasons adduced on either side, determined and declared as follows:

1. Frequent and daily Communion, as a practice most earnestly desired by Christ our Lord and by the Catholic Church, should be open to all the faithful, of whatever rank and condition of life; so that no one who is in the state of grace, and who approaches the Holy Table with a right and devout intention (recta piaque mente) can be prohibited therefrom.

2. A right intention consists in this: that he who approaches the Holy Table should do so, not out of routine, or vain glory, or human respect, but that he wish to please God, to be more closely united with Him by charity, and to have recourse to this divine remedy for his weakness and defects.

3. Although it is especially fitting that those who receive Communion frequently or daily should be free from venial sins, at least from such as are fully deliberate, and from any affection thereto, nevertheless, it is sufficient that they be free from mortal sin, with the purpose of never sinning in the future; and if they have this sincere purpose, it is impossible by that daily communicants should gradually free themselves even from venial sins, and from all affection thereto.

4. Since, however, the Sacraments of the New Law, though they produce their effect ex  opere operato, nevertheless, produce a great effect in proportion as the dispositions of the recipient are better, therefore, one should take care that Holy Communion be preceded by careful preparation, and followed by an appropriate thanksgiving, according to each one’s strength, circumstances and duties.

5. That the practice of frequent and daily Communion may be carried out with greater prudence and more fruitful merit, the confessor’s advice should be asked. Confessors, however, must take care not to dissuade anyone from frequent or daily Communion, provided he is found to be in a state of grace and approaches with a right intention.

6. But since it is plain that by the frequent or daily reception of the Holy Eucharist union with Christ is strengthened, the spiritual life more abundantly sustained, the soul more richly endowed with virtues, and the pledge of everlasting happiness more securely bestowed on the recipient, therefore, parish priests, confessors and preachers, according to the approved teaching of the Roman Catechism should exhort the faithful frequently and with great zeal to this devout and salutary practice.

7. Frequent and daily Communion is to be promoted especially in religious Institutes of all kinds; with regard to which, however, the Decree Quemadmodum issued on December 17, 1890, by the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, is to remain in force.

It is to be promoted especially in ecclesiastical seminaries, where students are preparing for the service of the altar; as also in all Christian establishments which in any way provide for the care of the young (ephebeis).

8. In the case of religious Institutes, whether of solemn or simple vows, in whose rules, or constitutions, or calendars, Communion is assigned to certain fixed days, such regulations are to be considered as directive and not preceptive.

The prescribed number of Communions should be regarded as a minimum but not a limit to the devotion of the religious.

Therefore, access to the Eucharistic Table, whether it be rather frequently or daily, must always be freely open to them according to the norms above laid down in this Decree.

Furthermore, in order that all religious of both sexes may clearly understand the prescriptions of this Decree, the Superior of each house will provide that it be read in community, in the vernacular, every year within the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

9. Finally, after the publication of this Decree, all ecclesiastical writers are to cease from contentious controversy concerning the dispositions requisite for frequent and daily Communion.

All this having been reported to His Holiness, Pope Pius X, by the undersigned Secretary of the Sacred Congregation in an audience held on December 17, 1905, His Holiness ratified this Decree, confirmed it and ordered its publication, anything to the contrary notwithstanding.

He further ordered that it should be sent to all local Ordinaries and regular prelates, to be communicated by them to their respective seminaries, parishes, religious institutes, and priests; and that in their report on the state of their dioceses or institutes they should inform the Holy See concerning the execution of the prescriptions therein enacted.

Given at Rome, the 20th day of December, 1905

Vincent, Card. Bishop of Palestrina, Prefect

Cajetan DeLai, Secretary

Foreword for Monarchy by Roger Buck

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