Receiving Holy Communion

1. Fast for 1 hour before receiving Holy Communion - no food or drink except medicine.
2. Be in a state of grace, free from mortal sin, before receiving holy Communion.
3. Receive Holy Communion as often as possible.
4. Participate in Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation.
5. We bow when the Body and Blood of Christ are offered.
6.  To receive Holy Communion in our hands, we extend our hands with palms facing up, dominant hand below the other.
7. The priest or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion says, Body of Christ. We reply, "Amen."
8. After receiving the Body of Christ, we pick it up with our dominant hands and place it in our mouths.  (If we choose to receive Holy Communion on our tongues,  After the Body of Christ has been placed on our tongues, we close our mouths.)
9. The priest or the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion offers the chalice and says, "The Blood of Christ."
10. We reply "Amen" and take the chalice in our own hands.
11. We sip a small amount of the Blood of Christ and then return the chalice.
12. After receiving Holy Communion, we return to our places in church and pray.