The reasons that excuse from the Eucharist fast, in regard to solids or alcoholic beverages, in lay Communion, are, in case of the well, the good of the Sacrament (i.e., its preservation from profanation), or the good of self (e.g., avoidance of serious disgrace, as when one who is at the altar rail remembers only then that he is not fasting); in the case of the ill, the danger of death (the Viaticum may be received even daily after nourishment). The salt taken in Baptism does not break the fast, and one who has a papal indult, which is granted for sufficient reasons, may receive Communion when not fasting.
External reverence means that one should approach Communion with cleanliness of body, respectability of dress, and modesty of behavior. No one is unfitted for Communion because of inculpable unsightliness (e.g., a sick man who has irremovable scars or deformities, a poor man who cannot afford any but the simplest garb, a crippled person whose gait is awkward). But unwashed hands and face, dirty mouth or teeth, worn or torn dress, and the like, which one avoids elsewhere as unsuited for human company, should be avoided when receiving the Eucharist. Women immodestly dressed should be refused Communion, if otherwise scandal will result (Canon 858).
2706. Frequent Communion.—What dispositions are required for frequent Communion (i.e., Communion made several times a week) and daily communion?
(a) The necessary dispositions are the same as for rare Communion, namely, the state of grace and a right intention. Right intention means positively that one have in view the ends that Christ intended when He instituted the Sacrament, namely, that by means of Communion one may please Him, may be more closely united to Him, and may receive a remedy for one’s defects and infirmities. Those who receive devoutly have these purposes at least implicitly, which suffices; but it would be a serious sin wilfully to exclude all these ends. Right intention means negatively that one must not frequent Communion merely from routine, or from vanity, or from purely human motives, such as pecuniary profit or advantage. If the true ends are not excluded, these improper motives do not exceed a venial sin.
(b) Useful, but not necessary, dispositions are freedom from venial sins, especially such as are deliberate, and freedom from affection for venial sins.
2707. Duties of Parents, Pastors, Confessors in Reference to Communion.—(a) Parents.—The obligation of the Easter duty for boys under fourteen and for girls under twelve rests morally and juridically upon the consciences of those who are charged with their care, namely, parents, guardians, pastors, and confessors (see 2630, 2631). The parents are the best judges of the mental development, moral disposition and instruction of their children, and therefore of their fitness for First Communion (Canons 860, 854, n. 4).
(b) Confessors.—The decision or counsel about the fitness of children for First Communion, of penitents for frequent or daily Communion, about the frequency of the Viaticum, is left by the Church to the prudence of the confessor (Canons 860, 863, 864, 858, n.2).
(c) Pastors.—The Code prescribes that pastors be especially zealous in the matter of holding Lenten classes for the instruction of children in order that they may receive their First Communion worthily; it vests in the pastor the duty of seeing that no child approaches First Communion who has not the use of reason or proper dispositions, as well as of seeing that those children who are fit receive Communion without delay; it also requires that he provide for the fuller instruction in Christian doctrine of children who have made their First Communion (Canons 1330, 854, n. 5, 1331). Pastors should recommend to their people the practices of frequent Communion and of worthy Communion at every Mass they hear, and should take care that the dying receive the Viaticum while they are in possession of their mental faculties (Canons 863, 865). On the duty of administering Communion see 2676.
2708. Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament.—Having considered the duties owed to the consecration and communion of the Eucharist, we shall conclude by mentioning those that are owed to the Sacrament in its permanency or to Christ dwelling in the tabernacle.
(a) The Duty of Custody.—The Blessed Sacrament must be reserved in cathedral, abbatial, parochial, and religious churches; and it may be reserved with due permission of the Ordinary in collegiate churches and in certain public oratories; but there must be someone in charge, and it is not allowed to reserve the Eucharist in private homes or to carry it about when travelling. Churches which have the Blessed Sacrament should be open at least a few hours daily to the faithful. It is not lawful to reserve the Sacrament habitually on more than one altar of the church, and that altar should be the one that is most honorable or most suited for worship, and it should be suitably decorated. The tabernacle should be as precious as possible and be carefully guarded, and the Hosts should be reserved inside in a solid pyx or ciborium. Before the tabernacle should burn day and night a sanctuary lamp fed by olive or other oil (Canons 1265-1271).