hose
suspected of crime in order to put them to proof. Because we read in
the Decretals: "It often happens that thefts are perpetrated in
monasteries of monks; wherefore we command that when the brethren
have to exonerate themselves of such acts, that the abbot shall
celebrate Mass, or someone else deputed by him, in the presence of
the community; and so, when the Mass is over, all shall communicate
under these words: 'May the body of Christ prove thee today.'" And
further on: "If any evil deed be imputed to a bishop or priest, for
each charge he must say Mass and communicate, and show that he is
innocent of each act imputed." But secret sinners must not be
disclosed, for, once the blush of shame is set aside, they will
indulge the more in sin, as Augustine says (De Verbis. Dom.; cf.
Serm. lxxxii). Consequently, Christ's body is not to be given to
occult sinners, even if they ask for it.

_On the contrary,_ on Ps. 21:30: "All the fat ones of the earth have
eaten and have adored," Augustine says: "Let not the dispenser hinder
the fat ones of the earth," i.e. sinners, "from eating at the table
of the Lord."

_I answer that,_ A distinction must be made among sinners: some are
secret; others are notorious, either from evidence of the fact, as
public usurers, or public robbers, or from being denounced as evil
men by some ecclesiastical or civil tribunal. Therefore Holy
Communion ought not to be given to open sinners when they ask for it.
Hence Cyprian writes to someone (Ep. lxi): "You were so kind as to
consider that I ought to be consulted regarding actors, and that
magician who continues to practice his disgraceful arts among you; as
to whether I thought that Holy Communion ought to be given to such
with the other Christians. I think that it is beseeming neither the
Divine majesty, nor Christian discipline, for the Church's modesty
and honor to be defiled by such shameful and infamous contagion."

But if they be not open sinners, but occult, the Holy Communion
should not be denied them if they ask for it. For since every
Christian, from the fact that he is baptized, is admitted to the
Lord's table, he may not be robbed of his right, except from some
open cause. Hence on 1 Cor. 5:11, "If he who is called a brother
among you," etc., Augustine's gloss remarks: "We cannot inhibit any
person from Communion, except he has openly confessed, or has been
named and convicted by some ecclesiastical or lay tribunal."
Nevertheless