The Eucharistic sacrifice, is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life (Lumen Gentium 11). The other sacraments, as well as with every ministry of the Church and every work of the apostolate, are tied together with the Eucharist and are directed toward it. The Most Blessed Eucharist contains the entire spiritual boon of the Church, that is, Christ himself, our Pasch and Living Bread (Prebysterorum Ordinis 5).
The Eucharistic Sacrifice is intrinsically directed to the inward union of the faithful with Christ through communion; we receive the very One who offered himself for us, we receive his body which he gave up for us on the Cross and his blood which he “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28) The Eucharist is a true banquet, in which Christ offers himself as our nourishment (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 16).
Knowing now the importance of such a sacred sacrament, how then should we receive communion? First of all, we must be free from sin, we must have confessed any mortal and venial sins we have committed since our previous confession, we must have fasted for at least one hour before receiving communion.
At the time of communion, process in an orderly manner and with respect for the priest or ministers to receive communion. When we arrive in front of the ciborium with the consecrated hosts, we must make a bow (Redemptionis Sacramentum 90), since we are in the presence of Christ, in body, blood, soul and divinity, at that moment the priest or the minister raising the consecrated host, will say to us: “the Body of Christ”, to which we will respond “Amen”, thus recognizing this truth of faith. We can receive the host either on the tongue, or in the hands, extending the hands one over the other at the height of the ciborium, taking care that they are flat as if presenting an altar where we will receive the Body of Christ, once the host is received, it must be consumed immediately.
If it is offered at Mass and it is our desire, we can also receive communion of the Blood of Christ, for which we approach the minister with the chalice, and we bow when we arrive before the chalice, since Christ is completely in the consecrated species, the minister will say to us “Blood of Christ” and we will also respond “Amen”, thus recognizing the presence of our Lord in the consecrated wine. The minister will then hand us the chalice for us to take a small sip, after which we hand the chalice back to the minister.
Having received the communion of Christ, we are to go to our places, and take advantage of this sacred moment that we are in communion with Christ to present our prayers to Him. It is tradition to pray on one’s knees and remain so until the priest stores the consecrated hosts that may have remained in the tabernacle.
Let us partake of the sacrament of Holy Communion with great faith, let us prepare our souls for this great mystery by going to the sacrament of reconciliation, and thus be one with Christ.