Works › The Book on the Sacrament of the Eucharist
Volume 38 · pp. 251–253
Chapter IV conclusion; Chapter V, On the Nutritive Power of This Food from Virtue, nos. 1-2.
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Marginal label (printed p. 251): Cibus nutritivus: quia nutrit virtute coelesti.
Marginal label (printed p. 253): Nutrit veri cibi veritate.
Eccli. xxxviii, 6: Dedit hominibus scientiam Altissimus, honorari in mirabilibus suis. In his enim mitigabit dolorem. Jerem. xvii, 14: Sana me, Domine, et sanabor: salvum me fac, et salvus ero, quoniam laus mea tu es. Nullus enim his modis qui dicti sunt, sanat et sanus est, nisi solus Deus.
Caput V. De cibi hujus nutritivitate ex virtute.
1. Dicemus nunc de cibi hujus nutritivitate, hoc est, virtute quam habet ad nutriendum.
Virtus autem hujus cibi ad nutriendum in sex cognoscitur, scilicet quod nutrit virtute coelesti, quod nutrit veritate veri cibi, quod nutrit ad vitam, quod radicem confert immortalitatis, quod nutrit virtute vincente nutritum et ad se convertente, et quod nutrit virtute universali. Primum habet ex origine. Secundum ex naturali puritate. Tertium ex conjuncta sibi deitate. Quartum habet ex aeternitate virtutis. Quintum autem habet ex spiritus plenitudine. Sextum autem ex omnium gratiarum plenitudine.
Primum igitur notandum est, quod nutrit coelesti virtute quae nobilior est omni virtute humana vel humani cibi. Unde, Joan. vi, 32 et 33, dicitur: Non Moyses dedit vobis panem de coelo, sed Pater meus dat vobis panem de coelo verum. Panis enim Dei est, qui de coelo descendit, et dat vitam mundo. Hic enim panis vegetare et nutrire habet ad vitam coelestem, de quo dicitur, Isa. v, 10 et 11: Quomodo descendit imber et nix de coelo, et illuc ultra non revertitur, sed inebriat terram, et infundit eam, et germinare eam facit, et dat semen serenti, et panem comedenti: sic erit verbum meum quod egredietur de ore meo: non revertetur ad me vacuum, sed faciet quaecumque volui, et prosperabitur in his ad quae misi illud. Imber enim gratiae descendit de coelo Trinitatis, et nix candidissimae castitatis nihil habens de incendio fomitis in uterum beatae Virginis, et inebriavit terram illam ad maledicti veteris abolitionem, et infudit eam ad hujus tritici fertilitatem, et dedit semen serenti omni sacerdoti, et dedit panem manducanti et omni communicanti huic sacramento. Et sic factum est de verbo quod egressum est de ore Altissimi: hoc enim vacuum a fructu et divinum in spiritum tantum non est reversum, sed se incorporando fecit quaecumque Pater voluit, omnem familiam suam coelesti virtute satiando: quod prosperatum est in his ad quae misit illud, quia continue sumptum multiplicat virtutem, in nullo deficiens a seipso. Sic enim impletum est quod dicitur in Psalmo cxxxi, 13: Viduam ejus benedicens benedicam, pauperes ejus saturabo panibus. Vidua ejus Ecclesia est, quae benedictionem ejus in novo sponso suo et cultore Christo consecuta est, ita ut omnes pauperes spiritu panibus ejus qui virtutis sunt coelestis, sint saturati. Hoc enim non nisi virtute coelesti fieri potuit, nec famelici Christi esurient, nisi panem virtute coelesti nutrientem. Panis enim de terra talibus non deficit, sed panem de coelo esurierunt.
Est autem advertendum, quod etiam alimentum corporale corpora animata non nutrit nisi virtute coelesti, quamvis elemento corporali, hoc est, calore naturali, qui virtutem habet ignis, nutrimentum digeratur et purificetur, eo quod caloris ignei est segregare grossa a subtilibus, et aggregare subtilia quae sibi attrahit: tamen ad aequalitatem complexionis non nutriret, nisi in eo esset virtus coelestis, quia omnis aequalitas in complexione corporum animatorum est ab aequalitate coeli, in quo prima est aequalitas in genere corporum: et ideo Christus nobis naturalem perficiens cibum, optimam coelestem virtutem posuit in ipso, qua nutriret. Quia etiam ipsum nutrimentum propter hoc de coelo venisse dicitur, Joan. vi, 31: Panem de coelo dedit eis manducare. Et ibidem, v. 32: Pater meus dat vobis panem de coelo verum. Sicut etiam dicitur in Psalmo cxliii, 5: Inclina coelos, et descende: non tantum ut nobiscum in terra sis, sed etiam sic ut nobis coelestem cibum in communicando coelestem virtutem ingeras, qua ad coelestium vitam nutriantur. Hoc est quod dicitur, Joel. iii, 18: Et erit in die illa, stillabunt montes dulcedinem, et colles fluent lacte. Montes enim sunt supremi coeli Trinitatis vertices, a quibus coelis nobis haec stillavit dulcedo nutrimenti. Colles autem sunt eminentiae humanae in natura et persona Christi. In natura quidem in corpore, sanguine et spiritu etiam vivifico et naturali, et in anima Christi. In persona autem una in deitate et humanitate. Haec enim omnia de coelo humanae naturae dicit venisse Joannes Baptista, Joan. iii, 31: Qui desursum venit, super omnes est. Ex his omnium coelorum virtutibus habet virtutem nutritivam iste cibus. Psal. lxvii, 9: Terra mota est, etenim coeli distillaverunt a facie Dei Sinai, a facie Dei Israel. Terra enim corporis Domini mota est, et mota de infimis in virtutes coelestes: quia coeli qui dicti sunt, sicut dictum est, potenter in eam distillaverunt omnem suam virtutem a facie praesentiae Dei Sinai, qui in monte Sinai apparens manna tamquam coeli cibum dedit patribus, et a facie praesentiae Dei Israel, quem sicut dicitur, Genes. xlviii, 15, pascit a juventute sua,1 sicut usque in praesentem diem verum Israel pascere dignatur. Ideo tota die continue clamamus ad ipsum dicentes, Matth. vi, 11: Panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie, qui supersubstantiali virtute nobis praestet nutrimentum. Ubi enim nos habemus supersubstantialem, hebraicus sermo habet Egolya, quod interpretatur egregius panis. Panis enim coelestis est: quoniam ad gregem communem non pertinet, sed specialiter his praeparatur, qui ad coelibem, quantum possunt, vitam toto desiderio et conatu referuntur, dicentes cum Apostolo, ad Philipp. iii, 20 et 21: Nostra conversatio in coelis est, unde etiam salvatorem exspectamus Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, qui reformabit corpus humilitatis nostrae, configuratum corpori claritatis suae. Quia per nihil corpus humilitatis nostrae adeo configuratum est corpori claritatis suae, scilicet Christi, sicut per nutrimentum coeleste et coelesti virtute nutriente, quod dedit nobis. Sic est quod dicitur, Deuter. xxviii, 12: Aperiet Dominus thesaurum suum optimum, coelum, ut tribuat pluviam terrae tuae, in tempore suo. Optimus enim thesaurus Dei est haec coelestis virtutis in nutrimento nostro gratia. Et hic thesaurus est coelum, hoc est, virtus coelestis, ex quo sicut ex pluvia ad foecunditatem irrigatur terra propter coeli virtutem quae in guttis roris et pluviae descendit in ipsam. Ita irrigatur ad foecunditatem coelestem tota natura terrena quae in nobis est ex influxu in nos hujus nutrimenti, quod optimi thesauri coelestis secum in nos defert virtutem, et irrigat animas nostras ad proferendum coeli decorem. Hoc est quod dicitur, Deuter. xxxiii, 28: Oculus Jacob in terra frumenti et vini, coelique caligabunt rore. Oculus enim signum est desiderii sanctorum ad frumentum istud, vinum in quo coeli jam concepta dulcedine coelesti rore tantae gratiae caligant, et stillant nobis coelestis roris virtutem.
Marginal label (printed p. 251): Nutritive food: because it nourishes by heavenly virtue.
Marginal label (printed p. 253): It nourishes by the truth of true food.
Ecclesiasticus 38:6: The Most High gave knowledge to human beings, that he may be honored in his wonders. For in these things he will soothe pain. Jeremiah 17:14: Heal me, Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. For in these ways which have been spoken of, no one heals and is healthy unless God alone.
Chapter V. On the Nutritive Power of This Food from Virtue.
1. We shall now speak of the nutritive power of this food, that is, the virtue which it has for nourishing.
But the virtue of this food for nourishing is known in six things, namely that it nourishes by heavenly virtue, that it nourishes by the truth of true food, that it nourishes unto life, that it confers the root of immortality, that it nourishes by a virtue conquering the one nourished and converting him to itself, and that it nourishes by universal virtue. It has the first from origin. The second from natural purity. The third from the deity joined to it. The fourth it has from the eternity of virtue. But the fifth it has from the fullness of the spirit. The sixth, however, from the fullness of all graces.
Therefore first it must be noted that it nourishes by heavenly virtue, which is nobler than every human virtue or the virtue of human food. Hence in John 6:32 and 33 it is said: Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. For this bread has power to vegetate and nourish unto heavenly life, concerning which it is said in Isaiah 5:10 and 11: As rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there any more, but make the earth drunk, and soak it, and make it germinate, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall be my word which shall go forth from my mouth: it shall not return to me empty, but it shall do whatever I have willed, and it shall prosper in those things for which I sent it. For the rain of grace descended from the heaven of the Trinity, and the snow of most white chastity, having nothing of the fire of tinder, into the womb of the blessed Virgin, and it made that earth drunk for the abolition of the old curse, and soaked it for the fertility of this wheat, and gave seed to every priest who sows, and gave bread to the one eating and to everyone communicating in this sacrament. And so it was done concerning the word which went out from the mouth of the Most High: for this did not return empty of fruit and divine only into spirit, but by incorporating itself it did whatever the Father willed, satisfying his whole household with heavenly virtue; and it prospered in the things for which he sent it, because, continually received, it multiplies virtue, failing in nothing from itself. For thus was fulfilled what is said in Psalm 131:13: Blessing, I shall bless his widow; I shall satisfy his poor with breads. His widow is the Church, which obtained his blessing in her new spouse and cultivator, Christ, so that all the poor in spirit are satisfied with his breads, which are of heavenly virtue. For this could happen only by heavenly virtue, nor will Christ's hungry ones hunger unless for bread nourishing by heavenly virtue. For bread from earth does not fail such people, but they have hungered for bread from heaven.
But it must be observed that even bodily nourishment does not nourish animated bodies except by heavenly virtue, although by a bodily element, that is, by natural heat, which has the virtue of fire, nourishment is digested and purified, because it belongs to fiery heat to separate coarse things from subtle things and to gather subtle things which it draws to itself. Nevertheless it would not nourish to equality of complexion unless heavenly virtue were in it, because every equality in the complexion of animated bodies is from the equality of heaven, in which there is the first equality in the genus of bodies. And therefore Christ, perfecting natural food for us, placed in it the best heavenly virtue by which it would nourish. For also this nourishment itself is said for this reason to have come from heaven, John 6:31: He gave them bread from heaven to eat. And in the same place, verse 32: My Father gives you true bread from heaven. As is also said in Psalm 143:5: Incline the heavens and descend: not only so that you may be with us on earth, but also so that you may bring heavenly food into us by communicating heavenly virtue, by which they may be nourished unto the life of heavenly things. This is what is said in Joel 3:18: And it will be on that day, the mountains will drop sweetness, and the hills will flow with milk. For the mountains are the highest summits of the heaven of the Trinity, from which heavens this sweetness of nourishment has dropped for us. But the hills are the human eminences in the nature and person of Christ: in nature, indeed, in the body, blood, and also life-giving and natural spirit, and in the soul of Christ; but in person, one in deity and humanity. For John the Baptist says that all these things came from heaven to human nature, John 3:31: He who comes from above is above all. From these virtues of all the heavens this food has nutritive virtue. Psalm 67:9: The earth was moved, for indeed the heavens dropped before the face of the God of Sinai, before the face of the God of Israel. For the earth of the Lord's body was moved, and moved from the lowest things into heavenly virtues, because the heavens that have been spoken of, as has been said, powerfully dropped all their virtue into it before the face of the presence of the God of Sinai, who, appearing on Mount Sinai, gave manna to the fathers as food of heaven, and before the face of the presence of the God of Israel, whom, as is said in Genesis 48:15, he feeds from his youth,1 just as to the present day he deigns to feed the true Israel. Therefore throughout the whole day we continually cry to him, saying, Matthew 6:11: Give us today our supersubstantial bread, which by supersubstantial virtue may furnish nourishment to us. For where we have supersubstantial, the Hebrew expression has Egolya, which is interpreted excellent bread. For it is heavenly bread, since it does not pertain to the common flock, but is specially prepared for those who, as far as they can, are directed with their whole desire and effort to a celibate life, saying with the Apostle, Philippians 3:20 and 21: Our conversation is in the heavens, whence also we await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will reform the body of our humility, configured to the body of his glory. For by nothing is the body of our humility so configured to the body of his glory, namely of Christ, as by the heavenly nourishment and the heavenly virtue nourishing, which he gave us. So it is what is said in Deuteronomy 28:12: The Lord will open his best treasure, heaven, that he may give rain to your land in its time. For the best treasure of God is this grace of heavenly virtue in our nourishment. And this treasure is heaven, that is, heavenly virtue, from which, as from rain, the earth is watered for fruitfulness because of the virtue of heaven which descends into it in drops of dew and rain. Thus the whole earthly nature which is in us is watered unto heavenly fruitfulness from the influx into us of this nourishment, which brings with itself into us the virtue of the best heavenly treasure, and waters our souls for bringing forth the beauty of heaven. This is what is said in Deuteronomy 33:28: The eye of Jacob is in a land of wheat and wine, and the heavens will be dark with dew. For the eye is a sign of the desire of the saints for that wheat, the wine in which the heavens, already conceived with sweetness, grow dark with the heavenly dew of so great a grace and distill for us the virtue of heavenly dew.
Sic ergo cibus iste optime nutritivus est ex ea quam in se habet coelesti virtute, quae nutrit ad coeli conformitatem, et in coelo nostram facit esse per coelibatum conversationem et intentionem rationis.
2. Sicut autem nutrit coelesti virtute, ita etiam nutrit ipsa veri cibi veritate. Et ideo dicitur, Joan. vi, 56: Caro mea vere est cibus, et sanguis meus vere est potus. Et hoc ipsum de isto cibo conveniens dicitur, quam de naturali corporis cibo, quamvis et cibus corporeus non nutriat nisi per id quod est in ipso de cibi veritate. Verus enim cibus vocatur ille, qui nihil habet sibi admixtum nisi cibum. Multa enim sunt admixta cibo corporali, quae non sunt de cibi veritate: et ideo natura in nobis fecit instrumenta, quae non verum cibum a vero cibo separarent, ita quod solus verus cibus ad nutrimentum membrorum referatur. Sicut enim stomachus a cibo separat grossa terrestria, et grossa emittit in secessum, sic hepar et venae ejus aquosum grossum separantes a vero cibo, aquosum per renes mittunt ad vesicam. Sic incensum amarum a cibo vero separatum ad receptaculum fellis mittitur. Sicut melancholicum foetulentum cibi ad splen dirigitur, sic etiam de ipsis venis aliquid terrestre separatur, quod non satis conveniens est et quod redundans ad venas magnas hepatis in vesicam emittitur, quod in urina a medicis hypostasis vocatur. Sic etiam aliquando quod ipsis membris non in veritate cibi influxum est, per apostemata vel sudores emittitur, ut sincerus cibus ad membrorum nutrimentum in cibi simplici veritate adhibeatur. In isto autem cibo nihil est nisi simplex et verum, nihil penitus de impuro vel non vero cibo habens admixtum, et ideo verus cibus et potus vocatur. Absit enim ab omnium fidelium cordibus, quod aliquid sit in hoc cibo, quod verus cibus non sit, similitudine cibi se verum cibum esse mentiatur. Et ideo de omnibus sic illo cibo cibatis et potu isto potatis dicitur, Joan. vi, 51 et 52: Ego sum panis vivus, qui de coelo descendi. Si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane vivet in aeternum. Et ibidem, v. 35: Ego sum panis vitae: qui venit ad me non esuriet, et qui credit in me non sitiet umquam. Adeo enim habet cibi veritatem, quod alterius aufert esuriem: quia desiderium sanctorum jam ad aliud nutriens spiritum, iterum non accenditur, quamvis per necessitatem corporis cibus terrenus propter sustentationem suscipiatur. Apocal. vii, 16: Non esurient, neque sitient amplius, nec cadet super illos sol, neque ullus aestus. Sic enim veritate cibi interius reparantur, quod esuries in alium cibum non accenditur, et infunditur vero potu, quod sitis saecularis refrigerii in ipsis non sentitur: et sic interius refrigeratur gratia a veritate cibi, quod aestus mundani solis, hoc est, aestus mundani honoris, vel deliciarum, vel cupiditatis divitiarum hujus saeculi, in desiderio non cadit, neque aliquis aestus concupiscentiae carnalis. Et hoc totum efficit nutriendo omni cibi veritate, et potando omni veritate potus. Et ideo, Joan. vi, 34, a non intelligentibus Judaeis veritas hujus cibi in desiderio sanctorum patrum petitur: Domine, semper da nobis panem hunc, qui sic vere cibat, ut alium cibum ad refectionem animae non quaeramus. Hoc est quod dicit Elias, III Regum, xvii, 14: Hydria farinae non deficiet. Hydria enim est sacramentum, farina autem cibus contentus in ipso sacramento, veritati cibi nihil habens admixtum. Qui cibus quia verus est, et non deficit in ipso veritas ejus, non permittit redire famis inediam, si non sponte a sumentibus eum abjiciatur: nulla enim causa est, quod in nostro corporali cibo sumpto iterum sic esuries redeat, nisi quod ille cibus a veritate cibi corrumpitur et destituitur, et quando destitutus a veritate cibi, membra exinanita alium desiderant cibum. Sed iste cibus quia numquam virtute cibandi per corruptionem aliquam destituitur, sic cibat, ut fames ad alium cibum non revertatur: sed desiderium sanctorum est, ut in ipsis iste cibus continuetur, et in sumptione sacramentali iterata non cibus iteretur, sed idem qui ante sumptus est, continuetur. Et hoc vult dicere Salomon, Proverb. xii, 25: Justus comedit et replet animam suam: venter autem impiorum insatiabilis. Quia sicut dicitur, ad Philipp. iii, 19: Quorum Deus venter est, et gloria in confusione ipsorum, qui terrena sapiunt. Numquam saturantur: quia terrenum cibum quaerunt, qui semper perit a membris eorum. Hinc est, quod dicitur de sanctis in Psalmo lxxvii, 29 et 30: Desiderium eorum attulit eis, scilicet Dominus: non sunt fraudati a desiderio suo. Quia continue manens in eis verus cibus in omni cibi veritate, desiderium aliorum delectantium redire non permittit. Hic enim cibus non mutatur. Iste enim est de quo consulit Dominus, Joan. vi, 27: Operamini non cibum qui perit, sed qui permanet in vitam aeternam.
Thus, therefore, this food is most excellently nutritive from that heavenly virtue which it has in itself, which nourishes unto conformity with heaven and makes our existence be in heaven through a celibate conversation and the intention of reason.
2. But just as it nourishes by heavenly virtue, so also it nourishes by the very truth of true food. And therefore it is said in John 6:56: My flesh is truly food, and my blood is truly drink. And this very thing is fittingly said of this food more than of the natural food of the body, although even bodily food nourishes only through that which is in it of the truth of food. For that is called true food which has nothing mixed with it except food. For many things are mixed with bodily food which are not of the truth of food; and therefore nature made instruments in us which separate not-true food from true food, so that true food alone is referred to the nourishment of the members. For just as the stomach separates coarse earthly things from food and sends the coarse things into excretion, so the liver and its veins, separating the coarse watery element from true food, send the watery element through the kidneys to the bladder. So the burnt bitter element, separated from true food, is sent to the receptacle of gall. Just as the foul melancholic element of food is directed to the spleen, so also from the veins themselves something earthly is separated, which is not sufficiently fitting and which, overflowing to the great veins of the liver, is sent into the bladder, which in urine is called hypostasis by physicians. So also sometimes what has flowed into the members themselves not in the truth of food is sent out through abscesses or sweats, so that sincere food may be applied to the nourishment of the members in the simple truth of food. But in this food there is nothing except simple and true, having absolutely nothing mixed in it from impure or not true food; and therefore it is called true food and drink. Far be it from the hearts of all the faithful that there be something in this food which is not true food, that by the likeness of food it should lie that it is true food. And therefore concerning all those thus fed by that food and given drink by this drink it is said, John 6:51 and 52: I am the living bread who came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever. And in the same place, verse 35: I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. For it has the truth of food to such a degree that it takes away hunger for another, because the desire of the saints, already nourishing the spirit toward another, is not again enkindled, although because of the necessity of the body earthly food is received for support. Apocalypse 7:16: They will not hunger, nor thirst any more, nor will the sun fall upon them, nor any heat. For thus they are inwardly restored by the truth of the food, so that hunger for another food is not enkindled, and they are infused with true drink, so that thirst for worldly refreshment is not felt in them; and thus inwardly grace is cooled by the truth of the food, so that the heat of the worldly sun, that is, the heat of worldly honor, or delights, or covetousness for the riches of this age, does not fall into desire, nor any heat of fleshly concupiscence. And this whole thing it effects by nourishing with every truth of food and by giving drink with every truth of drink. And therefore, John 6:34, the truth of this food is sought in the desire of the holy fathers by the Jews who did not understand: Lord, always give us this bread, which so truly feeds that we may not seek another food for the refreshment of the soul. This is what Elijah says, 3 Kings 17:14: The jar of flour will not fail. For the jar is the sacrament, but the flour is the food contained in the sacrament itself, having nothing mixed in it against the truth of food. Because this food is true, and its truth does not fail in it, it does not permit the hunger of famine to return, if it is not willingly cast away by those who receive it. For there is no cause why, when our bodily food has been received, hunger should again return in this way, except that that food is corrupted and deprived from the truth of food, and when it has been deprived of the truth of food, the emptied members desire another food. But because this food is never deprived by any corruption of the virtue of feeding, it so feeds that hunger does not return to another food; but the desire of the saints is that this food be continued in them, and that in repeated sacramental reception the food not be repeated, but the same one who was received before be continued. And this is what Solomon means to say, Proverbs 12:25: The just man eats and fills his soul, but the belly of the impious is insatiable. Because, as is said in Philippians 3:19: Their God is the belly, and their glory is in their confusion, they who taste earthly things. They are never satisfied, because they seek earthly food, which always perishes from their members. Hence it is said of the saints in Psalm 77:29 and 30: He brought them their desire, namely the Lord; they were not cheated of their desire. Because true food continually remaining in them in every truth of food does not permit the desire of other delightful things to return. For this food is not changed. For this is the one concerning which the Lord counsels, John 6:27: Work not for the food which perishes, but for that which remains unto eternal life.
Sic ergo cibus hic nutrit et coelesti virtute et ipsa cibi veritate.
Thus, therefore, this food nourishes both by heavenly virtue and by the very truth of food.
Notes
- Genesis 48:15: God who feeds me from my youth. (Genes. xlviii, 15: Deus qui pascit me ab adolescentia mea.) ↩
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