ST. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church

14908 Main Street

Upper Marlboro, Maryland  20772

email:  rectory@stmarysum.org

Business Hours for the Rectory 10am - 5pm Monday through Friday

Eucharist

The Holy Eucharist is the Lord’s greatest and most precious gift to His Church. "I myself am the bread of life. No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry, no one who believes in me shall ever thirst. It is nothing less than the gift of His very self, really and truly present under the appearance of bread and wine. The Eucharist is a Sacrifice, truly and perpetuation of Christ’s death and resurrection, the summit and the source of all worship and Christian life. The Church lives and grows through the Eucharist. Through it the unity of God’s people is signified and brought about; the building of the Body of Christ is perfected.

The Holy Eucharist is also a banquet, hosted by Christ Himself who invites us, his Church, to be healed and nourished by his very presence. The Eucharist, then, unites the Church, because it draws all of us into closer all of us into closer union with Him, and through Him, to one another. For this reason, the Eucharist is the sacrament in which Christian initiation reaches its culmination, for in and through this sacrament, Christians are fully joined to Christ.

The people should be carefully instructed to hold the Eucharist in highest honor and to reverence the Sacrament with the greatest adoration. Genuflections, suitable silence and other signs of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament must always be observed.

The universal law of the Church clearly states that children who have reached the use of reason receive the Sacrament of Penance before admission to First Eucharist. The determination of readiness to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time is a primary responsibility of the pastor as well as of the child’s parents and/or guardian(s). They are to see to it that children who have reached the use of reason are correctly prepared when the child is attending Sunday Eucharist regularly, expresses a desire for the Eucharist and, when asked what the bread and wine become during Mass, can respond, "Jesus." Such readiness, not a specific age, appears to be the critical factor. It is presumed by age seven. We offer First Communion here at St. Mary’s to students in the second grade.

Guidelines for Receiving Communion:

1. For Catholics - Catholics fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when they receive Holy Communion in fulfillment of Christ’s command to eat His Body and drink His Blood. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, communicants must not be conscious of grave sin, have fasted for an hour and seek to live in charity and love with their neighbors. Persons conscious of grave sin must first be reconciled with God and the Church through the Sacrament of Penance. A frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is encouraged for all.

2. For Other Christians - Those Christians who are not fully united with us are welcome to the celebration of the Eucharist. However, it is a consequence of the sad divisions in Christianity that we cannot extend to them a general invitation to receive Communion. Catholics believe that the Eucharist is an action of the celebrating community signifying a oneness in faith, life, and worship of the community. Reception of the Eucharist by Christians not fully united with us would imply a oneness which does not yet exist, and for which we must all pray.

3. For Those Not Receiving Communion - Those not receiving sacramental communion are encouraged to express in their hearts a prayerful desire for unity with the Lord Jesus and with one another.

4. For Non-Christians - Those who do not share our faith in Jesus are also welcome to our celebration of the Eucharist. While we cannot extend to them an invitation to receive Communion, we do invite them to be united with us in prayer.

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