Article II: On the Requisites for Licit Reception of a Sacrament

In infants and the perpetually insane, that no disposition is required in order that they usefully receive the Sacraments of which they are capable is the common opinion. But in adults, besides those things which are required for valid reception, several other things are required for licit reception of a Sacrament. Hold the following:

1436. Principles. I. For licitly and fruitfully receiving the Sacraments OF THE DEAD, namely Baptism and Penance, there are required in adults acts of FAITH, HOPE, at least virtual, and sorrow for sins, which must at least be ATTRITION. This is established from Trent, sess. 14, cap. 1, where the dispositions necessary for justification are set forth at length. Yet sorrow in one to be baptized ought to concern actual sins, not original sin; because no one repents of the deed of another.¹⁴

1437. II. For licitly and fruitfully receiving the Sacraments OF THE LIVING, by divine law the preexisting STATE OF GRACE is required. The reason is that the Sacraments of the living were instituted primarily for increasing sanctifying grace; therefore, speaking per se, they already presuppose

it present in the subject, although per accidens they can generate it (cf. n. 1395).

Hence: 1. He who knowingly receives a Sacrament of the living in the state of mortal sin sins gravely; and indeed more gravely than the minister who makes or ministers it, because he not only handles it unworthily, but also renders it useless, and thus impiously mocks Christ the Lord, the Author of the Sacraments. 2. He who is conscious to himself of grave fault is held to confess before he receives the Eucharist, as Trent commands.¹ If the matter concerns the other Sacraments of the living, he is held to be contrite;² whether he is also held to confess is denied more commonly and more probably (cf. nn. 1500 and 1684, 2).

1438. III. Besides the said conditions, the reverence owed to the Sacrament requires actual DEVOTION; the greater this is, the more abundant are the fruits perceived from the Sacrament. This is established from Trent, sess. 6, cap. 7. The reason of the first part is clear of itself. The reason of the second is that, although the Sacraments confer grace from the work worked, nevertheless divine wisdom, which in all things and through all things strives to promote the good will of man, has so instituted the Sacraments that, according to the greater disposition of the subject, a more abundant supply of graces is conferred. "Thus from the same fire," says the Angelic Doctor, "he receives more heat who approaches it more, although the fire, as far as concerns itself, pours forth its heat equally to all"³ (cf. n. 534).

Hence it follows that in practice one must not admit the opinion which makes licit the RECEPTION of the Sacraments with a probable opinion; because such an opinion, although speculatively it is not destitute of some foundation, "almost never will be able to be brought down into practice by recipients without detriment to their own soul."⁴

Moreover, there are also other CONDITIONS, from the law of the Church, to be fulfilled in reception of the Sacraments; these we shall explain when we have come to the individual Sacraments. Meanwhile:

1439. It is asked: Whether it is licit for a faithful person to RECEIVE or ASK for Sacraments from an unworthy minister?

Resp. 1. When the minister is unworthy ON ACCOUNT OF SOME CENSURE or INABILITY, it is licit to ask Sacraments from him, even without grave cause, if he is tolerated; because the Council of Constance absolutely conceded to the faithful communication with tolerated persons. But if he is not tolerated, but one to be avoided, or is a heretic or schismatic, then only in extreme or very grave necessity is it licit to receive from him Penance or Baptism; probably also the Eucharist and Extreme Unction, namely in the case in which the sick person cannot receive the other Sacraments, provided scandal or suspicion of communication with intruded ministers or heretics is avoided.⁵ And these things indeed are from the law of the Church concerning censures (cf. n. 1292, 2 and 1327, Question). With respect to natural law, attend to the following RULE:

2. If the minister is certainly unworthy ON ACCOUNT OF MORTAL SIN, it is not licit, without grave cause, to ask Sacraments from him. The reason is that from the law of charity we are held to impede the sin of neighbor, when we can impede it without grave inconvenience. And this holds, even if the one ministering is the pastor, or is otherwise already prepared; because even external sin must be impeded. "Only," says St. Alphonsus, "would I except him who would receive the Eucharist from an unworthy priest who was actually ministering it to others, according to the opinion ... that it is only one sin to minister the Eucharist to several." We have said, without grave cause, namely of necessity or notable utility: when this stands, it is licit to ask Sacraments from an evil minister, because cooperation with his sin is merely material (cf. n. 519).

"Hence the doctors say that Sacraments are LICITLY received from a sinner minister: 1. if the precept of confession or communion presses; 2. if from delay of reception danger of a fall is imminent; 3. if you must fulfill the precept of hearing Mass; 4. if otherwise you must remain for a long time in mortal sin, and you cannot, indeed if you do not wish to, approach another confessor, nor wait an hour, because to be liberated from sin as soon as possible is not a small utility; 5. if you must be without Communion, at least for a long time, or without the fruit of confession, even if you do not have mortal sin; 6. if otherwise you cannot gain a jubilee; 7. if you need a skilled director and do not have another, provided, adds Sporer, you would have to wait a long time for another; 8. if you wish to apply Mass for a deceased friend."⁶

What, YOU WILL ASK, in doubt whether the minister is unworthy?

Resp. 1. Any minister is presumed worthy, unless the contrary is established. Hence, probably, you can ask a Sacrament even from him whom you know to have sinned a little before, because he is to be presumed to have already disposed himself, at least by contrition. 2. A minister is judged unworthy if he is a customary sinner, or if he is voluntarily living in a proximate occasion of sin. Likewise, if after sin he has not confessed beforehand, before the celebration of Mass.⁷