Expert: Griff Ruby - 3/28/2009

Question
My 83 year old mother will not take pills less than 1 hour before she goes to mass.   I told her that they are not considered food.   She disagrees.   Who is right?

Answer
The Eucharistic fast is a matter of discipline, since the goal is to show due reverence for the Sacrament.  As it is only a discipline however, the Church would be at liberty, if She so chose, to abolish the fast altogether, though obviously that would be gravely ill-advised.  But there is nothing that intrinsically requires such a fast under all circumstances, for example in immediate danger of death or when receiving the Viaticum, or even to protect the Sacred Species from desecration, absolutely no fast is required, and that has been so from the beginning.
When it comes to the normal circumstance of receiving Communion at Mass, the rules have gone through a number of changes over the years.
Consulting my oldest edition of My Catholic Faith (the 1949 edition, which comes before all the liturgical changes of even the least kind), the requirement does state that nothing is to be consumed after midnight, no food, no drinks, no medicines.  The exception to this was those who have been sick in bed for at least a month and without assurance of a speedy recovery who could, with the advice of their confessor, be permitted medicine and liquid foods prior to receiving Communion (how soon before receiving seems to have been up to the discretion of the confessor).
By 1954, the standard had relaxed somewhat in that water was to be permitted at any time, and that the fast might be for only three hours (for solid food), and only one hour (for liquid food, which must not include alcohol) if the Mass is in the afternoon (after 4:00), but still from midnight otherwise.  More latitude was given to the confessor to permit exceptions in the fast to those who must perform heavy labor late the night before, attend Mass late in the day (but before 4:00), or make an extensive journey to Mass, and also that the sick may (again at the advice of their confessor) receive liquid food (again must be non-alcoholic) and medicines at any time.
By 1958, the rules have changed again in that midnight has been taken out of the picture.  A this point the fast is three hours for solid foods and one hour for liquid (but non-alcoholic) foods, and water may be taken at any time, and furthermore that water may be mineral or carbonated or fluoridated etc, so long as it is not sweetened.  The sick may take non-alcoholic liquids and medicine at any time, and unlike before, the medicine is permitted even if it contains some alcohol (e. g. cough syrups and some cold and flu medicines).  The three and one hours each count back from the actual time of reception of Communion during the Mass.
By 1965, the standard has relaxed to merely a single hour for any foods, both solid and liquid.  Water is permitted at any time, and medicine is permitted to the sick at any time.
Now (consulting the 2004 edition of the catechism, now retitled Our Catholic Faith), the standard is relaxed somewhat further in that to the aged or infirm are not bound by any fast, and even those taking care of the aged or infirm, as long as this care is occurring at the time of reception of Communion.  And to all, water and medicine are permitted at any time.
Your mother is to be commended for her Eucharistic piety, as the more one can abstain from (and the longer), the more commendable, but technically she has been "out of date" on this since the early-mid 1950's as far as what the required minimums are, and of course even at the earliest period, one sufficiently sick in bed for at least a month could, at the discretion of the confessor, receive medicine as permitted by the priest.
In practice, if she takes that pill a little early so as to be at least an hour before Communion, or else takes it afterwards, that is a reasonable way to show a token of respect for the Sacrament, unless there is some medical requirement that the pill be taken at a very specific time of day, and even in that case an earlier or later Mass may be attended so as to avoid the conflict.  But if she were sick in bed, and Communion could only be recieved at one specific time, and if the pill were also required at about that same specific time (that is, medically, by the doctor), I cannot see even the strictest confessor, operating under the strictest rules, begrudging her that pill even should it come only one minute before Communion.