The Blessed Sacrament, by virtue of which the paschal mystery of Christ is ever present among men, is the source of all grace and of pardon for sins. But those who wish to receive the Body of the Lord in order to share in the fruits of the paschal sacrament must approach it with a pure conscience and the proper dispositions. In particular the Church prescribes that “no one who is conscious of being guilty of mortal sin, however repentant he may feel, may receive Holy Communion until he has received sacramental absolution (cf. Council of Trent, Decree on the Eucharist, n.7).”

(Vatican Council II, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, n.23)

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