124 



THE MEANS OF GRACE 



drew their strength, the virgins their zeal, the 

 saints their courage." 4 



The nature and effects of this Sacrament give 

 rise to the following obligations. 



I. The Duty of Receiving Holy Commun- 

 ion. — Holy Communion is not necessary as a 

 means of salvation (necessitate medii), but a 

 divine precept imposes upon all who have attained 

 the use of reason the duty of receiving the Eu- 

 charist if possible (necessitas praecepti). 5 



I. This duty is based on the same general rea- 

 sons as that of receiving Confirmation, plus the 

 additional one that Holy Communion is a food 

 without which the supernatural life of the soul 

 must needs grow weak or cease altogether. 

 There can be no doubt that the divine precept of 

 receiving the Holy Eucharist as viaticum G (when 

 there is danger of death from whatever cause) 

 obliges under pain of mortal sin, for Christ ex- 

 pressly declared: "Except you eat the flesh of 

 the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not 

 have life in you." 7 



In another place (ibid., n. 14) he 

 calls the Eucharist "pants concor- 

 diae." Again he says: "Fortes 

 sunt martyres, firmi sunt martyres, 

 sed panis confirmat cor hominis, 

 panis qui de caelo descendit." 

 (Serm., 333, c. 1; Migne, P. L., 

 XXXVIII, 1464).— Cfr. K. Adam, 

 Die Eucharistielehre des hi. Augu- 

 st™, Paderborn 1908. 

 * Don Bosco. 



5 Cfr. Luke XXII, 19; John VI, 

 54; 1 Cor. XI, 26. — Cone. Trident., 

 Sess. XIII, c. 2, can. 9; Sess. XXI, 

 c. 4, can. 4 (Denzinger-Bannwart, 

 n. 875, 891, 933, 937). — St. Thomas, 

 Summa Theol., 3a, qu. 73, art. 3; qu. 

 80, art. 1 1. 



6 To TeXeiiTcuoi' ko.1 dvayKaiora- 

 rov e<p68iov- 



7 John VI, 54. — Codex Iuris Can., 

 can. 864, § 1. — Cone. Nicaen. I., can. 



