126 



THE MEANS OF GRACE 



The place for making the Easter Communion 

 is the parish church. One who makes it else- 

 where, under the new Code of Canon Law, is ad- 

 monished to inform his pastor of the fact. 12 



II. Preparation for Communion. — The na- 

 ture of the Holy Eucharist is such that it must 

 be received with the greatest possible purity of 

 soul and body. 



i. Preparation of the Soul. — In order to 

 receive Holy Communion worthily, the soul must 

 be free from mortal sin. 13 Therefore, if one 

 is conscious of a mortal sin, he must worthily 

 receive the Sacrament of Penance before ap- 

 proaching the Holy Table. If he must communi- 

 cate, and confession is impossible, he should at 

 least make an act of perfect contrition. Mortal 

 sins forgotten in a worthy confession should, if a 

 good opportunity offers, be confessed before ap- 

 proaching the Holy Table. There is, however, 

 no strict obligation to do so, and if one has no 

 opportunity to confess, it will suffice to mention 

 such sins in the next confession. To receive the 



Moral Theology, Vol. I, p. 179. — St. 

 Alphonsus, Theol. Moral., 1. VI, n. 

 297 sqq. 



12 Codex Iuris Can., can. 859, § 3: 

 "Suadendum est fidelibus ut huic 

 praecepto [communionis paschalis] 

 satisfaciant in sua quisque paroecia; 

 et qui in aliena paroecia satisfece- 

 rint, curent proprium parochum de 

 adimpleto praecepto certiorem fa- 

 care." — On the history of this pre- 



cept see A. Villien, A History of 

 the Commandments of the Church, 

 St. Louis 1915, pp. 210 sqq. 



13 Cfr. 1 Cor. XI, 27 sqq.; Cone. 

 Trident., Sess. XIII, c. 7, can. 11 

 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 880, 893); 

 Sess. XXII, De Observ. et Evitand. 

 in Celebrat. Missae. — Cfr. Prop. 

 Damnat. ab Alexandro VII., n. 38 

 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1138). 



