Whether the Seminal Loss That Occurs During Sleep Hinders Anyone from
Receiving This Sacrament?
Objection 1: It seems that seminal loss does not hinder anyone from
receiving the body of Christ: because no one is prevented from
receiving the body of Christ except on account of sin. But seminal
loss happens without sin: for Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii) that
"the same image that comes into the mind of a speaker may present
itself to the mind of the sleeper, so that the latter be unable to
distinguish the image from the reality, and is moved carnally and
with the result that usually follows such motions; and there is as
little sin in this as there is in speaking and therefore thinking
about such things." Consequently these motions do not prevent one
from receiving this sacrament.
Obj. 2: Further, Gregory says in a Letter to Augustine, Bishop of the
English (Regist. xi): "Those who pay the debt of marriage not from
lust, but from desire to have children, should be left to their own
judgment, as to whether they should enter the church and receive the
mystery of our Lord's body, after such intercourse: because they
ought not to be forbidden from receiving it, since they have passed
through the fire unscorched."
From this it is evident that seminal loss even of one awake, if it be
without sin, is no hindrance to receiving the body of Christ.
Consequently, much less is it in the case of one asleep.
Obj. 3: Further, these movements of the flesh seem to bring with them
only bodily uncleanness. But there are other bodily defilements which
according to the Law forbade entrance into the holy places, yet which
under the New Law do not prevent receiving this sacrament: as, for
instance, in the case of a woman after child-birth, or in her
periods, or suffering from issue of blood, as Gregory writes to
Augustine, Bishop of the English (Regist. xi). Therefore it seems
that neither do these movements of the flesh hinder a man from
receiving this sacrament.
Obj. 4: Further, venial sin is no hindrance to receiving the
sacrament, nor is mortal sin after repentance. But even supposing
that seminal loss arises from some foregoing sin, whether of
intemperance, or of bad thoughts, for the most part such sin is
venial; and if occasionally it be mortal, a man may repent of it by
morning and confess it. Consequently, it seems that he ought not to
be prevented from receiving this sacrament.
Obj. 5: Further, a sin against the Fifth Commandment is greater than
a sin against the Sixth. But if a man dream that he has broken the
Fifth or Seventh or any other Commandment, he is not on that account
debarred from receiving this sacrament. Therefore it seems that much
less should he be debarred through defilement resulting from a dream
against the Sixth Commandment.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Lev. 15:16): "The man from whom the
seed of copulation goeth out . . . shall be unclean until evening."
But for the unclean there is no approaching to the sacraments.
Therefore, it seems that owing to such defilement of the flesh a man
is debarred from taking this which is the greatest of the sacraments.
_I answer that,_ There are two things to be weighed regarding the
aforesaid movements: one on account of which they necessarily prevent
a man from receiving this sacrament; the other, on account of which
they do so, not of necessity, but from a sense of propriety.
Mortal sin alone necessarily prevents anyone from partaking of this
sacrament: and although these movements during sleep, considered in
themselves, cannot be a mortal sin, nevertheless, owing to their
cause, they [sometimes] have mortal sin connected with them; which
cause, therefore, must be investigated. Sometimes they are due to an
external spiritual cause, viz. the deception of the demons, who can
stir up phantasms, as was stated in the First Part (I, Q. 111, A. 3),
through the apparition of which, these movements occasionally follow.
Sometimes they are due to an internal spiritual cause, such as
previous thoughts. At other times they arise from some internal
corporeal cause, as from abundance or weakness of nature, or even
from surfeit of meat or drink. Now every one of these three causes
can be without sin at all, or else with venial sin, or with mortal
sin. If it be without sin, or with venial sin, it does not
necessarily prevent the receiving of this sacrament, so as to make a
man guilty of the body and blood of the Lord: but should it be with
mortal sin, it prevents it of necessity.
For such illusions on the part of demons sometimes come from one's
not striving to receive fervently; and this can be either a mortal or
a venial sin. At other times it is due to malice alone on the part of
the demons who wish to keep men from receiving this sacrament. So we
read in the Conferences of the Fathers (Cassian, Collat. xxii) that
when a certain one always suffered thus on those feast-days on which
he had to receive Communion, his superiors, discovering that there
was no fault on his part, ruled that he was not to refrain from
communicating on that account, and the demoniacal illusion ceased.
In like fashion previous evil thoughts can sometimes be without any
sin whatever, as when one has to think of such things on account of
lecturing or debating; and if it be done without concupiscence and
delectation, the thoughts will not be unclean but honest; and yet
defilement can come of such thoughts, as is clear from the authority
of Augustine (Obj. 1). At other times such thoughts come of
concupiscence and delectation, and should there be consent, it will
be a mortal sin: otherwise it will be a venial sin.
In the same way too the corporeal cause can be without sin, as when
it arises from bodily debility, and hence some individuals suffer
seminal loss without sin even in their wakeful hours; or it can come
from the abundance of nature: for, just as blood can flow without
sin, so also can the semen which is superfluity of the blood,
according to the Philosopher (De Gener. Animal. i). But occasionally
it is with sin, as when it is due to excess of food or drink. And
this also can be either venial or mortal sin; although more
frequently the sin is mortal in the case of evil thoughts on account
of the proneness to consent, rather than in the case of consumption
of food and drink. Hence Gregory, writing to Augustine, Bishop of the
English (Regist. xi), says that one ought to refrain from Communion
when this arises from evil thoughts, but not when it arises from
excess of food or drink, especially if necessity call for Communion.
So, then, one must judge from its cause whether such bodily
defilement of necessity hinders the receiving of this sacrament.
At the same time a sense of decency forbids Communion on two
accounts. The first of these is always verified, viz. the bodily
defilement, with which, out of reverence for the sacrament, it is
unbecoming to approach the altar (and hence those who wish to touch
any sacred object, wash their hands): except perchance such
uncleanness be perpetual or of long standing, such as leprosy or
issue of blood, or anything else of the kind. The other reason is the
mental distraction which follows after the aforesaid movements,
especially when they take place with unclean imaginings. Now this
obstacle, which arises from a sense of decency, can be set aside
owing to any necessity, as Gregory says (Regist. xi): "As when
perchance either a festival day calls for it, or necessity compels
one to exercise the ministry because there is no other priest at
hand."
Reply Obj. 1: A person is hindered necessarily, only by mortal sin,
from receiving this sacrament: but from a sense of decency one may be
hindered through other causes, as stated above.
Reply Obj. 2: Conjugal intercourse, if it be without sin, (for
instance, if it be done for the sake of begetting offspring, or of
paying the marriage debt), does not prevent the receiving of this
sacrament for any other reason than do those movements in question
which happen without sin, as stated above; namely, on account of the
defilement to the body and distraction to the mind. On this account
Jerome expresses himself in the following terms in his commentary on
Matthew (Epist. xxviii, among St. Jerome's works): "If the loaves of
Proposition might not be eaten by them who had known their wives
carnally, how much less may this bread which has come down from
heaven be defiled and touched by them who shortly before have been in
conjugal embraces? It is not that we condemn marriages, but that at
the time when we are going to eat the flesh of the Lamb, we ought not
to indulge in carnal acts." But since this is to be understood in the
sense of decency, and not of necessity, Gregory says that such a
person "is to be left to his own judgment." "But if," as Gregory says
(Regist. xi), "it be not desire of begetting offspring, but lust that
prevails," then such a one should be forbidden to approach this
sacrament.
Reply Obj. 3: As Gregory says in his Letter quoted above to
Augustine, Bishop of the English, in the Old Testament some persons
were termed polluted figuratively, which the people of the New Law
understand spiritually. Hence such bodily uncleannesses, if perpetual
or of long standing, do not hinder the receiving of this saving
sacrament, as they prevented approaching those figurative sacraments;
but if they pass speedily, like the uncleanness of the aforesaid
movements, then from a sense of fittingness they hinder the receiving
of this sacrament during the day on which it happens. Hence it is
written (Deut. 23:10): "If there be among you any man, that is
defiled in a dream by night, he shall go forth out of the camp; and
he shall not return before he be washed with water in the evening."
Reply Obj. 4: Although the stain of guilt be taken away by contrition
and confession nevertheless the bodily defilement is not taken away,
nor the mental distraction which follows therefrom.
Reply Obj. 5: To dream of homicide brings no bodily uncleanness, nor
such distraction of mind as fornication, on account of its intense
delectation; still if the dream of homicide comes of a cause sinful
in itself, especially if it be mortal sin, then owing to its cause it
hinders the receiving of this sacrament.
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