Works › Sermons on the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist
Volume 13 · pp. 768–771
Sermon XXV. On the Effects of Christ's Body Taken from Three Names
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### Sermo XXV
### De effectibus corporis Christi sumptis ex tribus vocabulis
Venite, comedite panem meum, et bibite, etc. Prov. ix, 5. Vel alia ut supra.
Effectus Dominici corporis possunt sumi ex quibusdam nominibus, quae solent eidem adscribi. Nominatur enim
I. Quandoque verus panis.
II. Quandoque sacrificium altaris.
III. Quandoque sacramentum charitatis.
De primo, Joan. vi, 32: Pater meus dat vobis panem de caelo verum.
De secundo, Mal. II, 4: Placebit Domino sacrificium Juda, et Jerusalem.
De tertio, I ad Tim. iii, 16: Manifeste magnum est pietatis sacramentum, quod manifestatum est in carne per partum Virginis, praedicatum est Gentibus a sanctis Apostolis, creditum est in mundo, id est, concessum fidelibus in cibum salutis: unde recte dicitur sacramentum charitatis.
I.
Primo, corpus Domini nominatur panis verus. Et secundum hoc habet tres effectus: 1. Confortat, 2. Satiat, 3. et Vitam conservat.
Sic panis iste confortat animum ad malum culpae devincendum: quia qui carent corroboratione hujus panis, vincuntur a vitiis. IV Reg. xxv, 3 et 4, rex Babylonis et exercitus ejus obsedit Jerusalem, et non erat panis populo terrae, et omnes viri bellatores nocte fugerunt ad hortum regis, id est, ad delicias carnis: et ad campestria solitudinis, id est, ad viam latam, quae ducit ad mortem. Psal. ciii, 15: Panis cor hominis confirmat, ad malum scilicet culpae devincendum, ut jam supra.
2. Satiat spiritum ad fastidium mundi faciendum: unde Psal. cxxxi, 15: Pauperes ejus saturabo panibus. Complenda: "Satiasti Domine familiam tuam muneribus sacris." Et hoc ad fastidium mundi faciendum. Prov. xxvii, 7: Anima saturata calcabit favum. Gregorius: "Gustato spiritu, desipit omnis caro."
3. De tertio, quod conservat vitam ad Deum semper laudandum, Eccli. xxxiv, 25: Panis egentium vita pauperum est. Joan. vi, 51 et 58: Ego sum panis vivus, qui de caelo descendi... Ego vivo propter Patrem: et qui manducat me, ipse vivet propter me: et haec vita est ad Deum semper laudandum. Psal. cxlv, 2: Lauda anima mea Dominum, laudabo Dominum in vita mea: psallam Deo meo quamdiu fuero. De his supra sermone IX.
II.
Secundo corpus Domini nominatur sacrificium altaris, et secundum hoc triplicem habet effectum, scilicet, in triplici statu fidelium: 1. In hoc mundo, 2. In purgatorio, 3. In caelo. In primo statu peccata relaxat, in secundo poenam alleviat, in tertio gloriam augmentat.
I. De primo, Lev. v, 17 et 18: Anima si peccaverit per ignorantiam, offeret arietem immaculatum. Glossa, super illud Apostoli ad Heb. ix, 22: Sine sanguinis effusione non sit remissio. "Nihil enim prodest capram, id est, asperitatem poenitentiae immolare, nisi studueris in Christi immolatione planam fiduciam habere." Joan. i, 29: Ecce agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. Paschasius: "Licet omnia peccata in baptismo sint donata: infirmitas tamen peccati, id est, fomes, in carne remanet." Et quia adhuc quotidie labimur, saltem in venialibus, ideo pro nobis Christus quotidie immolatur: ut qui semel moriendo mortem devicit, quotidie recidiva delictorum per haec sacramenta relaxet. Ambrosius: "Sicut quod ubique offertur, unum est corpus: ita et unum est sacrificium. Christus semel in cruce hostiam pro omnibus obtulit: ipsam offerimus et nunc. Sed quod nos agimus, recordatio est sacrificii illius: nec causa suae infirmitatis repetitur, sed nostrae: quia quotidie peccamus."
### Sermon XXV
### On the Effects of Christ's Body Taken from Three Names
Come, eat my bread, and drink, etc. Proverbs 9:5. Or other texts as above.
The effects of the Lord's body can be taken from certain names which are customarily ascribed to the same. For it is named:
I. Sometimes true bread.
II. Sometimes the sacrifice of the altar.
III. Sometimes the sacrament of charity.
Concerning the first, John 6:32: My Father gives you true bread from heaven.
Concerning the second, Malachi 2:4: The sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord.
Concerning the third, 1 Timothy 3:16: Manifestly great is the sacrament of piety, which was manifested in the flesh through the birth from the Virgin, preached to the Gentiles by the holy Apostles, believed in the world, that is, granted to the faithful as food of salvation; hence it is rightly called the sacrament of charity.
I.
First, the body of the Lord is named true bread. And according to this it has three effects: 1. it strengthens, 2. it satisfies, 3. and it preserves life.
Thus this bread strengthens the soul for overcoming the evil of fault, because those who lack the strengthening of this bread are conquered by vices. 4 Kings 25:3 and 4: the king of Babylon and his army besieged Jerusalem, and there was no bread for the people of the land, and all the fighting men fled by night to the king's garden, that is, to the delights of the flesh, and to the open plains of solitude, that is, to the broad way which leads to death. Psalm 103:15: Bread confirms the heart of man, namely for overcoming the evil of fault, as already above.
2. It satisfies the spirit for producing disgust for the world; hence Psalm 131:15: I will satisfy its poor with breads. The Complenda: "You have satisfied your family, O Lord, with sacred gifts." And this is for producing disgust for the world. Proverbs 27:7: A satisfied soul will tread down the honeycomb. Gregory says: "When the spirit has been tasted, all flesh loses its savor."
3. Concerning the third, that it preserves life for always praising God, Ecclesiasticus 34:25: The bread of the needy is the life of the poor. John 6:51 and 58: I am the living bread who descended from heaven... I live because of the Father, and he who eats me, he too will live because of me; and this life is for always praising God. Psalm 145:2: Praise the Lord, my soul; I will praise the Lord in my life; I will sing psalms to my God as long as I shall be. Concerning these things, above in Sermon IX.
II.
Secondly, the body of the Lord is named the sacrifice of the altar, and according to this it has a threefold effect, namely in the threefold state of the faithful: 1. in this world, 2. in purgatory, 3. in heaven. In the first state it relaxes sins, in the second it alleviates punishment, in the third it increases glory.
I. Concerning the first, Leviticus 5:17 and 18: If a soul shall sin through ignorance, it will offer an immaculate ram. The Gloss, on that text of the Apostle to Hebrews 9:22, Without the pouring out of blood there is no remission, says: "For it profits nothing to immolate a she-goat, that is, the harshness of penance, unless you have been eager to have plain trust in the immolation of Christ." John 1:29: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Paschasius says: "Although all sins have been given away in baptism, nevertheless the weakness of sin, that is, the tinder, remains in the flesh." And because we still fall daily, at least in venial things, therefore Christ is daily immolated for us, so that he who by dying once conquered death may daily relax through these sacraments the relapses of offenses. Ambrose says: "Just as what is offered everywhere is one body, so also it is one sacrifice. Christ once offered the victim on the cross for all; we offer that same one even now. But what we do is the recollection of that sacrifice, and it is not repeated because of his weakness, but because of ours, because we sin daily."
II. De secundo, Lev. xvii, 11: Dedi vobis sanguinem, ut super altare in eo expietis pro animabus vestris. In hoc figuratum est, quod sacrificium Carnis et Sanguinis Christi valet animabus in poena purgatorii.
Hinc sciendum est, quod tres sunt turmae animarum hinc decedentium. Prima peccantium, secunda paenitentium, tertia innocentium. Primam sacrificium non adjuvat, secundam a poena alleviat, tertiam sine poena per ignem ad caelos sublevat.
1. De primo, I Reg. iii, 14: Juravi domui Heli quod non expietur iniquitas domus ejus victimis et muneribus usque in aeternum. Domus ejus, id est, omnium in peccatis persistentium. Jer. vii, 13 et seq.: Quia locutus sum ad vos, et non audistis: et vocavi vos, et non respondistis: projiciam vos a facie mea. Projiciam scilicet post hanc vitam vestram malam in poenam infernalem: a facie mea, id est, ab omni bono quod est in caelo et in terra. Tu ergo noli orare pro populo hoc, nec assumas pro eis laudem, id est, sacrificium laudis: et non obsistas mihi: quia non exaudiam te. Prov. vi, 32 et seq.: Qui adulter est, id est, amans et adhaerens creaturae ultra mensuram justitiae, perdet animam suam: quia zelus et furor viri non parcet in die vindictae, nec acquiescet cujusquam precibus, nec suscipiet pro redemptione dona plurima, quasi pretiosissimum Christi sacrificium.
2. De secundo supra, Lev. xvii, 11: Dedi vobis sanguinem, ut super altare in eo expietis pro animabus vestris. Sanguinem, id est, sacrificium corporis et sanguinis Christi. Sanguinis ponitur pro corpore et sanguine simul, pars pro toto: et quia sanguis in altari non est sine corpore, nec corpus sine sanguine pro animabus, quae scilicet sunt in purgatorio. Augustinus: "Orationibus et eleemosynis, etc." Zach. xiii, 8 et 9: Partes duae in terra dispergentur, et deficient, id est, infideles et mali Christiani damnabuntur: et tertia pars relinquetur in ea, id est, poenitentes. Et ducam tertiam partem per ignem, id est, animas poenitentium per purgatorium, et uram eos sicut uritur argentum: et probabo eos sicut probatur aurum. Ipse vocabit nomen meum, et ego exaudiam eum. Ipse, id est, populus Christianus in terra derelictus: invocabit me orationibus, eleemosynis, et sacrificio altaris, pro parte ducta per ignem, id est, pro animabus quae sunt in purgatorio: et exaudiam eum, alleviando scilicet poenam illorum et breviando.
II. Concerning the second, Leviticus 17:11: I have given you blood, so that upon the altar you may expiate in it for your souls. In this it was figured that the sacrifice of the Flesh and Blood of Christ avails for souls in the punishment of purgatory.
Hence one must know that there are three companies of souls departing from here: the first of sinners, the second of penitents, the third of innocents. The sacrifice does not help the first, alleviates the second from punishment, and raises the third through fire to the heavens without punishment.
1. Concerning the first, 1 Kings 3:14: I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of his house will not be expiated by victims and gifts forever. His house, that is, of all persisting in sins. Jeremiah 7:13 and following: Because I spoke to you and you did not hear, and I called you and you did not answer, I will cast you away from my face. I will cast you away, namely after this evil life of yours, into infernal punishment; from my face, that is, from every good which is in heaven and on earth. Therefore do not pray for this people, nor take up praise for them, that is, the sacrifice of praise; and do not stand against me, because I will not hear you. Proverbs 6:32 and following: He who is an adulterer, that is, one loving and clinging to a creature beyond the measure of justice, will lose his soul, because the jealousy and fury of the man will not spare on the day of vengeance, nor will he acquiesce to anyone's prayers, nor will he receive many gifts for redemption, as if the most precious sacrifice of Christ.
2. Concerning the second above, Leviticus 17:11: I have given you blood, so that upon the altar you may expiate in it for your souls. Blood, that is, the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ. Blood is put for the body and blood together, a part for the whole; and because blood on the altar is not without body, nor body without blood, for souls, namely those who are in purgatory. Augustine says: "By prayers and alms, etc." Zechariah 13:8 and 9: Two parts in the land will be scattered and will fail, that is, unbelievers and evil Christians will be damned; and a third part will be left in it, that is, penitents. And I will lead the third part through fire, that is, the souls of penitents through purgatory, and I will burn them as silver is burned, and I will test them as gold is tested. He will call upon my name, and I will hear him. He, that is, the Christian people left on earth, will invoke me with prayers, alms, and the sacrifice of the altar, for the part led through fire, that is, for the souls who are in purgatory; and I will hear him, namely by alleviating their punishment and shortening it.
3. De tertio, Prov. xxi, 14: Munus absconditum exstinguit iras, iras scilicet Dei, id est, poenas purgatorii, quantum ad animas innocentes, et in praesenti tribulationibus et flagellis satis purgatas. Psal. xxxvii, 2 et 3: Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me. Quoniam sagittae tuae infixae sunt mihi. Furor Dei ardet in inferno, ira in purgatorio, sagitta sive correptio amoris in hoc mundo. Qui ergo hic sagittas correptionis Domini patienter portat, furorem inferni et iram ignis purgatorii duce Domino illaesus evadet. Isa. xliii, 1 et seq.: Noli timere serve meus. Cum transieris per aquas, tecum ero, et flumina non operient te: cum ambulaveris in igne, non combureris: quia ego Salvator tuus. Dan. iii, 49 et seq.: Angelus Domini descendit cum Azaria, et sociis ejus in fornacem: et fecit medium fornacis quasi ventum roris flantem, et non tetigit eos omnino ignis, neque contristavit.... Tunc laudabant Deum dicentes: Benedicite Domino, qui eruit nos de inferno, et liberavit nos in medio ardentis flammae. Isa. lv, 12: In laetitia egrediemini, et in pace deducemini: montes et colles cantabunt coram vobis laudem.
III. De tertio supra nominato, scilicet, quod sacrificium altaris gloriam beatorum in caelo quodammodo augmentat, Lev. x, 14: Pectusculum sacrificii quod oblatum est, etc. Ut supra Serm. IV. Gregorius: "Eodem momento rapitur in caelum ministerio Angelorum consociandum corpori Christi, et ante oculos sacerdotis in altari videtur." Rapitur scilicet corpori Christi consociandum, id est, ad beatos laetificandum. Complenda: "Sumpsimus Domine divina mysteria, quae sicut tuis sanctis ad gloriam, ita nobis ad vitam prodesse perficias."
III.
Tertio, corpus Domini nominatur Sacramentum charitatis, et secundum hoc tres habet effectus: quia tria maxima bona operatur in nobis, scilicet, 1. Spiritus sancti veram participationem, 2. Ipsius Christi certam inhabitationem, 3. In similitudinem imaginis Dei transformationem.
1. De primo, Psalm. lxxx, 17: De petra, melle saturavit eos. Quia scilicet fideles sugunt de corpore Christi dulcedinem Spiritus Sancti. Sap. xii, 1: O quam bonus et suavis est Domine spiritus tuus in omnibus: qui scilicet, de corpore tuo in nos fluit. Augustinus: "Participatione corporis et sanguinis Christi homo vivit, non sumens tantum sacramentaliter, quod et mali faciunt: sed pertingens usque ad spiritus participationem, ut in corpore Domini tamquam membrum maneat, et ejus spiritu vegetetur."
2. De secundo, Joan. vi, 57: Qui manducat meam carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet, et ego in eo. Hilarius: "Accepta carne Domini, etc. Est enim in nobis Christus per carnem, dum ejus carnem accepimus: et sumus in eo, dum secum hoc quod nos sumus, in Deo est." Joan. i, 14: Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Dum Verbum carnem assumpsit, in carne nostra habitavit: et dum nos Verbum incarnatum in cibum accipimus, ipsum etiam habitat in nobis.
3. Concerning the third, Proverbs 21:14: A hidden gift extinguishes angers, namely the angers of God, that is, the punishments of purgatory, as regards innocent souls, and those sufficiently purged in the present by tribulations and scourges. Psalm 37:2 and 3: O Lord, do not rebuke me in your fury, nor correct me in your anger. For your arrows are fixed in me. The fury of God burns in hell, anger in purgatory, the arrow or correction of love in this world. Therefore he who here patiently bears the arrows of the Lord's correction will escape unharmed, with the Lord as leader, the fury of hell and the anger of the fire of purgatory. Isaiah 43:1 and following: Do not fear, my servant. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not cover you; when you walk in fire, you will not be burned, because I am your Savior. Daniel 3:49 and following: The Angel of the Lord descended with Azaria and his companions into the furnace and made the middle of the furnace like a blowing wind of dew, and the fire did not touch them at all, nor sadden them.... Then they praised God, saying: Bless the Lord, who rescued us from hell and freed us in the middle of the burning flame. Isaiah 55:12: In gladness you will go out, and in peace you will be led; mountains and hills will sing praise before you.
III. Concerning the third named above, namely that the sacrifice of the altar in a certain way increases the glory of the blessed in heaven, Leviticus 10:14: The little breast of the sacrifice which was offered, etc. As above, Sermon IV. Gregory says: "At the same moment it is snatched into heaven by the ministry of Angels to be joined to the body of Christ, and it is seen before the eyes of the priest on the altar." It is snatched, namely, to be joined to the body of Christ, that is, to gladden the blessed. The Complenda: "We have received, O Lord, the divine mysteries, which, just as for your saints unto glory, so for us unto life, may you cause to profit."
III.
Thirdly, the body of the Lord is named the Sacrament of charity, and according to this it has three effects, because it works three greatest goods in us, namely: 1. true participation in the Holy Spirit, 2. the certain indwelling of Christ himself, 3. transformation into the likeness of the image of God.
1. Concerning the first, Psalm 80:17: From the rock he satisfied them with honey. Because, namely, the faithful suck from the body of Christ the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom 12:1: O how good and sweet is your spirit, O Lord, in all things, which namely flows from your body into us. Augustine says: "By participation in the body and blood of Christ a man lives, not receiving only sacramentally, which even the evil do, but reaching all the way to participation in the spirit, so that he may remain in the body of the Lord as a member and be given life by his spirit."
2. Concerning the second, John 6:57: He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Hilary says: "When the flesh of the Lord has been received, etc. For Christ is in us through the flesh when we have received his flesh, and we are in him when that which we are is in God with him." John 1:14: The Word was made flesh and dwelt in us. When the Word assumed flesh, he dwelt in our flesh; and when we receive the incarnate Word as food, he also dwells in us.
3. De tertio, Joan. i, 12: Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his, qui credunt in nomine ejus, id est, deiformes et Deo secundum imaginem similes: nec potest creatura ad majus promoveri, quam quod assimiletur suo Creatori.
Assimilatur autem homo Deo virtute corporis Christi in tribus: 1. In interiori cordis bonitate, 2. In exteriori operis fertilitate, 3. In superiori caelestis regni haereditate.
1. De primo, II Pet. i, 3 et 4: Christus vocavit nos propria gloria sua et virtute, per quem maxima, et pretiosa nobis promissa donavit: ut per haec efficiamini divinae consortes naturae. Maxima promissa, id est, seipsum. Unde, jusjurandum, quod juravit ad Abraham patrem nostrum, daturum se nobis1. Ut efficiamur divinae consortes naturae, id est, verae bonitatis, quia natura Dei bonitas est. Ambrosius: "Quia Dominus Jesus consors est divinitatis et corporis: et tu qui accipis carnem ejus, divinae ejus substantiae in illo participas alimento," id est, vere bonus efficeris ab eo.
2. De secundo, Ezech. xvii, 22 et 23: Sumam ego de medulla cedri sublimis, et ponam: de vertice ramorum ejus tenerum distringam, et plantabo super montem excelsum, et faciet fructum. Medulla sublimis cedri est aeterna sapientia. Alti rami ejus sunt patres sancti. Vertex ramorum est Beata Virgo. Pars de vertice est caro Christi sumpta de Virgine. Surculus ergo sumptus de medulla et de vertice ejus, corpus Christi plenum divinitate. Iste plantatus in montem excelsum, id est, in cor justi ad Deum elevatum, facit similem Christo boni operis fructum. De utroque, ad Gal. ii, 20: Vivo, jam non ego: vivit vero in me Christus, me scilicet sibi assimilando interiori bonitate, et exteriori bono opere. Hinc dictum est Augustini: "Cibus sum grandium, cresce, et manducabis me: nec me mutabis in te sicut cibum carnis tuae, sed tu mutaberis in me."
3. De tertio, Joan. i, 12: Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri. Ergo et haeredes. Ad Rom. viii, 17: Si filii, et haeredes: haeredes quidem Dei, cohaeredes autem Christi. I Pet. i, 3 et 4: Benedictus Deus, qui regeneravit nos, id est, de filiis diaboli filios suos in haereditatem incorruptibilem, et incontaminatam, et immarcescibilem, conservatam in caelis. Amen.
### Footnotes
1 Luc. i, 73.
3. Concerning the third, John 1:12: As many as received him, he gave them power to become sons of God, to those who believe in his name, that is, God-shaped and like God according to the image; nor can a creature be advanced to anything greater than that it be assimilated to its Creator.
Now man is assimilated to God by the power of the body of Christ in three things: 1. in the interior goodness of the heart, 2. in the exterior fruitfulness of work, 3. in the higher inheritance of the heavenly kingdom.
1. Concerning the first, 2 Peter 1:3 and 4: Christ called us by his own glory and power, through whom he gave us the greatest and precious promises, so that through these you may be made sharers in the divine nature. The greatest promises, that is, himself. Hence, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us1. So that we may be made sharers in the divine nature, that is, in true goodness, because the nature of God is goodness. Ambrose says: "Because the Lord Jesus is sharer in divinity and body, you also, who receive his flesh, participate in his divine substance in that food," that is, you are made truly good by him.
2. Concerning the second, Ezekiel 17:22 and 23: I will take from the marrow of the lofty cedar and place it; from the top of its branches I will pluck a tender shoot and plant it upon a high mountain, and it will make fruit. The marrow of the lofty cedar is eternal wisdom. Its high branches are the holy fathers. The top of the branches is the Blessed Virgin. The part from the top is the flesh of Christ taken from the Virgin. Therefore the little shoot taken from its marrow and top is the body of Christ full of divinity. This, planted on the high mountain, that is, in the heart of the just person raised to God, makes fruit of good work like Christ. Concerning both, Galatians 2:20: I live, now not I; but Christ lives in me, namely by assimilating me to himself by interior goodness and exterior good work. Hence it was said by Augustine: "I am food of the grown; grow, and you will eat me; nor will you change me into yourself like the food of your flesh, but you will be changed into me."
3. Concerning the third, John 1:12: As many as received him, he gave them power to become sons of God. Therefore also heirs. Romans 8:17: If sons, also heirs: heirs indeed of God, and coheirs of Christ. 1 Peter 1:3 and 4: Blessed is God, who regenerated us, that is, from sons of the devil into his sons, unto an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance, preserved in the heavens. Amen.
### Footnotes
1 Luke 1:73.
Notes
- Luke 1:73. (Luc. i, 73.) ↩
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