ôA sacrament of the New Law instituted by Christ to give spiritual aid and comfort and perfect spiritual health, including, if need be, the remission of sins, and also, conditionally, to restore bodily health, to Christians who are seriously ill.ö
Edward Schillebeeck, O.P., gives a homily on what the liturgy itself inspires us to consider: brotherly love in the sharing of a common meal, elevated to the sublime by this Sacrament.
The questions and answers from numbers 869-894 of the Baltimore Catechism number 3 give a definition of it as Sacrament and as Sacrifice, and elaborates it as institution and miracle.
Conditions for receiving Holy Communion are given while its effects on the recipient are detailed in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, numbers 895-915.
The Sacred Congregation of Rites explains its centrality in the Liturgy of the Church. It makes more intelligible the signs by which it is celebrated as the memorial of the Lord and worshipped as a permanent Sacrament in the Church.
Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Albuquerque, NM, gives an understanding of the correct doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ and what is the expected behavior toward it.
A rescript concerning communion species and of infants as decided by the Council of Trent. It removes all doubts as to what is not permitted in certain circumstances.
An encyclical letter promulgated by Pope Paul VI (Mysterium Fidei), shedding more light on the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, the re-enactment of the sacrifice of the cross, as celebrated in the Liturgy of the Mass.
