The Catholic Church warmly welcomes our visitors to worship with us, and we pray that they will benefit from our Liturgy that is comprised of the Word of God and the celebration of theEucharist the Lord’s Supper. However, we wish to point out that there are certain regulations regarding the reception of Holy Communion in the Catholic Church.

Those who may receive are:

1. Catholics who attend Mass each Sunday, the Day of the Lord’s resurrection (barring sickness), and have made their Easter duty, i.e. reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once per year;

2. Catholics who are married according to the laws of the Catholic Church;

3. Members of the Orthodox Church in good standing with their Church’s rules, but whose Church is not established in the diocese.

4. Baptized Catholics and Orthodox members living in the “state of grace,” i.e., living a life in keeping with the Ten Command-ments, the Beatitudes and the Precepts of the Church. The reminder of St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians is most apropos: “He who eats and drinks unworthily, sins against the body and blood of the Lord . . . he eats and drinks his own con-demnation in not recognizing the Body” [1 Cor. 11: 27, 29].

To reiterate, those who MAY NOT receive Holy Communion in the Catholic Church are:

1.Catholics who are irregular in their Sunday Mass attendance (barring sickness) and have not made their Easter duty;

2. Catholics who are married outside the Church (without Dispensa-tion) thereby taking themselves outside the Sacramental system of the Church;

3. Members of the Orthodox Church who are not living up to their Church’s directives and regulations, and only come to Church once in a while;

4. Catholics and Orthodox members who are living a sinful life in terms of private and public morality: co-habitation without marriage; involvement in immoral practices; procuring and abettingabortions; extortion and embezzlement, etc.

5. Christians who are not in communion with the local bishop

N.B.: For clarification on any of these directives, or to regularize your present situation, please consult any priest.