Question:   How many times may a Catholic receive Communion in one day?
 
Answer:  This question comes up often, usually from someone who has attended a wedding or a funeral Mass, received communion, and is planning on attending Mass again later in the day.  Like many things in the Church, this law was changed in the wake of Vatican II.
 
Older Catholics remember the 1917 code which stated that one could receive Communion only once a day.  The only exceptions were if the person was in danger of death or if by receiving Communion, they were preventing “impending irreverence.” 
 
Today a person may receive Communion twice on the same day “provided the second reception is during the celebration of Mass.
 
Question:  Do fasting laws still, apply?
 
Answer:   The custom of fasting dates all the way back to the third century and was considered a “means of spiritual preparation for the Eucharist and a way of showing reference for the sacrament.”  This law has been revised twice since the writing of the 1917 code which stated that one must fast from midnight.  It was changed to three hours prior to reception in 1957 and then again in 1964 when it was reduced to one hour.   A person should abstain from food and drink; water and medication being exceptions.  This rule does not apply “to the elderly,