"Love and hope are preferable to fear"

America Magazine has a nice little article sketching the differing attitudes through the centuries toward the frequency with which laypersons could receive Communion.  Here is how it begins:

One Holy Saturday sometime in the 10th century, a married couple dressed in sackcloth and covered themselves in ashes. They went to their parish priest, barefoot and weeping, begging to be able to receive holy Communion with the rest of the parish on Easter. The priest, although appalled by their audacity, given their sins, accepted their repentance and gave them absolution. However, he did not grant them permission to receive Communion. The couple was completely distraught and rushed to a nearby parish in hopes of receiving a different verdict from the neighboring priest.

What horrible action could this married couple have done that kept them from receiving Communion, and why were they so unhappy at being unable to receive on Easter Sunday? ...They had successfully fasted and abstained all the way up until Holy Saturday, when, overcome by temptation, they had sexual intercourse. They knew the harsh penalty for breaking their Lenten obligation, but they also knew that if they missed receiving the Eucharist on Easter, they would likely have to wait until next year to receive. Hence, they tried in vain to convince the priest at the neighboring parish to give them permission to receive Communion; but they were again denied. Filled with sorrow, they returned to their home parish and went to Mass on Easter but did not present themselves for Communion. 

Then, according to the story, the priest from the neighboring parish appeared and gave them Communion. The tale finishes by noting that the priest from the neighboring parish never left his parish, leaving the reader to assume it was instead an angel who gave them holy Communion. 

The article then traces different attitudes toward reception of the Eucharist over the centuries:

• Early centuries: frequent reception of communion
• Post-Constantinian era: reception became more infrequent
• Late medieval and early Renaissance: thanks to the Jesuits and the great Spanish mystics, reception became more frequent again
• 17th century: Jansenism comes along and reception becomes infrequent again
• 19th century: Jesuits are able to help the church overcome the Jansenist impulse, and reception starts to become frequent again
• 20th century: Pope Pius X encourages frequent reception of communion

The era of the Spanish mystics includes this description of a popular drama intended to urge the faithful to receive:

On the feast of Corpus Christi during the early 17th century, thousands of people lined the streets as the consecrated host was carried to the local cathedral. Following the procession, a cart with an elaborate stage was rolled in front of the cathedral and one of the Eucharistic dramas, like “The Phoenix of Love,” by Jose de Valdivielso, was performed. This “romantic comedy” about the love story between Christ and a character called Soul drew upon popular themes in Spanish theater to educate the laity. 

Throughout the play, Christ, as a valiant suitor, constantly professes his deep yearning to make Soul his wife. At one point Christ proclaims, “I am such a suitor that I draw near to Soul concealed, dressed with the red of flesh and the white of bread.” However, the audience is filled with alarm when a rival suitor, Lucifer, attempts to lure Soul away from Christ. A few minutes later, cheers erupt as Christ, the victorious lover, takes Soul to the wedding ceremony of the Eucharist, and Soul cries out, “Let me eat, sacred Spouse, so that I may see you more clearly.” The play is meant to inspire the faithful to then enter the church and worthily receive their lover, Christ, in the Eucharist.

The title of this post is a quote from Thomas Aquinas.  The author of the article reports it as a reply to St. Augustine.  Here is the author, Professor John Rziha:

Augustine [writing some 20 or so years after Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire] reports, however, that many are beginning to oppose this practice of frequent Communion out of fear that people are receiving unworthily. He responds by recalling the Gospel stories of Zaccheus and the centurion. Both were sinners, and, while Zaccheus welcomed the Lord into his home because of his love, the centurion did not feel that he was worthy for the Lord to visit his home because of his fear. Augustine argues that both of these biblical figures venerate the Lord. Likewise, both those who abstain from Communion out of fear of the Lord, and those who receive it out of love, venerate the Lord. 

Centuries later, Aquinas, in arguing for more frequent reception, wrote, "Love and hope are preferable to fear."

One thread running through the article is that throughout the centuries, saints and religious orders were critical reformers in promoting the more frequent reception of communion.  The laity - no doubt abetted by clergy - tended toward feelings of unworthiness.  The church had to add a canon law requiring the faithful to receive at least once a year.

I don't know to what extent the laity continue to feel unworthy.  Perhaps indifference is a bigger challenge for the church today than unworthiness.   On any given Sunday, most Catholics don't attend mass at all.  (Whether a latent sense of unworthiness contributes to the indifference is difficult to discern.)  

It doesn't seem far-fetched that our era needs saints to step forward to lead us to more frequent reception.  I suspect that is the hope in promoting the sainthood of Blessed Carlo Acutis.  Personally, I think there is ample room for other saints to come forward to lead us back to a fuller participation in the Bread of Life.