John § 23

God by his living Word enlivens everyone and gives his Word as food and life to the saints, as the Lord declares, "I am the bread of life." … But sin, too, has its own special bread—of death, calling to those who are lovers of pleasure and lack understanding. [Sin] says, "Touch with delight secret bread and sweet waters that are stolen." For one who merely touches them has no idea that what is born from the earth perishes with [sin]. For even when the sinner thinks he is going to find pleasure, the end result of that food is anything but pleasant, as the Wisdom of God again reminds us: "Bread of deceit is pleasant to a person; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel." … The end result is, he eats and rejoices for a little while, but afterwards he spurns it the further his soul has moved away [from God]. For the fool does not know that those who depart far from God shall perish. … "Leave foolishness behind so that you may live, seek understanding so that you may remain." For the bread of Wisdom is living fruit, as the Lord said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven: if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever." For when Israel ate of the manna, which was indeed pleasant and wonderful, they still died, and whoever ate it did not live forever as a consequence of eating it; rather, the whole multitude died in the wilderness.…Now wicked people hunger for bread like this, for weak souls will hunger. But the righteous alone, being prepared, shall be satisfied, saying, "I shall behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when your glory is seen by me." For he who partakes of divine bread always hungers with desire. And he who hungers in this way has a never-failing gift, as Wisdom promises, saying, "The Lord will not slay the righteous soul with famine." He promises too in the Psalms, "I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread." We may also hear our Savior saying, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." It is much more satisfying then for the saints and those who love the life that is in Christ when they elevate themselves to a longing after this food.

"I am the bread of life"; and this for believers, because, as is said in Proverbs three, "she is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her," namely through faith: "and he who holds her fast is blessed," who holds fast through comprehension. And that he is the bread of life, he shows through the effect, because namely he gives the life of grace and the life of glory.

Full clearly may one herein behold that which was spoken afore by the Prophet Isaiah, I was made manifest to them that seek Me not, I was found of them that asked not for Me, I said, Behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by My Name: all the day spread I out My Hands unto a rebellious and gainsaying people. For, removing the whole case from His speech, and having taken away (so to say) all that cloaked it. He at length reveals Himself unveiled to them of Israel, saying, I am the Bread of life, that they may now learn that if they would be superior to corruption, and would put off the death which from the transgression fell upon us, they must needs approach to the participation of Him who is mighty to quicken, and destroyeth corruption, and bringeth to nought death: for this verily is a work proper and most fit for that which is by Nature Life. But since they, affirming that the manna was given to their fathers in the wilderness, received not the Bread which of a truth came down from heaven, that is, the Son, He maketh a necessary comparison between the type and the truth, that so they might know that not that is the Bread which is from heaven, but He Whom the trial shows to be so by Nature. For your fathers (saith He) and ancestors by eating the manna, gave to the bodily nature its need, gaining thereby life for a season, and imparting to the flesh its daily sustenance therefrom, with difficulty effected that it should not die at once. But it will be (He says) the clearest proof of its not being the Bread which is from heaven in a truer sense, that they who partook were no way benefited thereby unto incorruption: a token again in like way that the Son is properly and truly the Bread of Life, that they who have once partaken, and been in some way immingled with Him through the communion with Him have been shown superior to the very bonds of death. For that the manna again is taken rather as an image or shadow of Christ, and was typifying the Bread of Life, but was not itself the Bread of Life, has been often said by us: and the Psalmist supporteth us, crying out in the Spirit, He gave them bread of Heaven, man did eat angels' bread. For it seems to have been said to them of Israel by the Spirit-clad, but in truth it is not so, but to us rather is the aim of the words directed. For is it not foolish and utterly senseless to suppose that the holy angels which are in heaven, albeit they have an incorporeal nature, should partake grosser food, and need such aid in order to prevail unto life, as this body of earth desires? But I think it nothing hard to conceive, that, since they are spirits, they should need like food, spiritual (I mean) and of wisdom. How then is angels' bread said to have been given to the ancestors of the Jews, if the Prophet speaks truly in so crying? But it is manifest, that since the typical manna was an image of Christ, Which containeth and upholdeth all things in being, nourishing the angels and quickening the things on earth, the Prophet was calling that which is signified by shadows by the name of the truth,----from the fact that the holy angels could not partake of the more earthly food, drawing off his hearers even against their will from any gross conception as to the manna, and bringing them up to the spiritual meaning, that of Christ, Who is the Food of the holy Angels themselves also.

[Jesus] at length reveals himself to the [children of Israel], saying, "I am the bread of life." He does this so that they may now learn that if they want to get rid of the corruption that rules their lives and avoid the death that fell upon us because of sin, then they must draw near and participate in the only one who is strong enough to save them by destroying corruption and death.

He calleth Himself, "the bread of life," because He maintaineth our life both which is and which is to be, and saith, "Whosoever shall eat of this bread shall live for ever." By "bread" He meaneth here either His saving doctrines and the faith which is in Him, or His own Body; for both nerve the soul. Yet in another place He said, "If a man hear My saying, he shall never taste of death." And they were offended; here they had no such feeling perhaps, because they yet respected Him on account of the loaves which had been made.

([Nic.] Theoph.) The multitude being urgent for bodily food, and reminding Him of that which was given to their fathers, He tells them that the manna was only a type of that spiritual food which was now to be tasted in reality, I am that bread of life.

Having stated his position, he expresses it as, I am the bread of life, which gives life, as clearly follows from the above. We read of this bread: "The bread of Asher will be rich, he will furnish choice morsels," of eternal life, "to kings" (Gn 49:20).

It has been proven that the sacraments of the church are more ancient; now realize that they are more powerful. In very fact it is a marvelous thing that God rained manna on the ancestors and they were fed by daily nourishment from heaven. Therefore, it is said, "Humankind has eaten the bread of angels." And yet all those who ate that bread died in the desert, but this food that you receive, this "living bread, which came down from heaven," furnishes the substance of eternal life, and whoever eats this bread "will not die forever," for it is the body of Christ.

"I am," saith He, "the bread of life." And what was the source of their pride? "Your fathers," saith He, "did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead." What is it whereof ye are proud? "They ate manna, and are dead." Why they ate and are dead? Because they believed that which they saw; what they saw not, they did not understand. Therefore were they "your" fathers, because you are like them. For so far, my brethren, as relates to this visible corporeal death, do not we too die who eat the bread that cometh down from heaven? They died just as we shall die, so far, as I said, as relates to the visible and carnal death of this body. But so far as relates to that death, concerning which the Lord warns us by fear, and in which their fathers died: Moses ate manna, Aaron ate manna, Phinehas ate manna, and many ate manna, who were pleasing to the Lord, and they are not dead. Why? Because they understood the visible food spiritually, hungered spiritually, tasted spiritually, that they might be filled spiritually. For even we at this day receive visible food: but the sacrament is one thing, the virtue of the sacrament another. How many do receive at the altar and die, and die indeed by receiving? Whence the apostle saith, "Eateth and drinketh judgment to himself." For it was not the mouthful given by the Lord that was the poison to Judas. And yet he took it; and when he took it, the enemy entered into him: not because he received an evil thing, but because he being evil received a good thing in an evil way. See ye then, brethren, that ye eat the heavenly bread in a spiritual sense; bring innocence to the altar. Though your sins are daily, at least let them not be deadly. Before ye approach the altar, consider well what ye are to say: "Forgive us our debts, even as we forgive our debtors." Thou forgivest, it shall be forgiven thee: approach in peace, it is bread, not poison. But see whether thou forgivest; for if thou dost not forgive, thou liest, and liest to Him whom thou canst not deceive. Thou canst lie to God, but thou canst not deceive God. He knows what thou doest. He sees thee within, examines thee within, inspects within, judges within, and within He either condemns or crowns. But the fathers of these Jews were evil fathers of evil sons, unbelieving fathers of unbelieving sons, murmuring fathers of murmurers. For in no other thing is that people said to have offended the Lord more than in murmuring against God. And for that reason, the Lord, willing to show those men to be the children of such murmurers, thus begins His address to them: "Why murmur ye among yourselves," ye murmurers, children of murmurers? Your fathers did eat manna, and are dead; not because manna was an evil thing, but because they ate it in an evil manner.

(Tr. xxvi. 11) And because they had taunted Him with the manna, He adds, Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. Your fathers they are, for ye are like them; murmuring sons of murmuring fathers. For in nothing did that people offend God more, than by their murmurs against Him. And therefore are they dead, because what they saw they believed, what they did not see they believed not, nor understood.

(Tr. xxvi. 11) But are we, who eat the bread that cometh down from heaven, relieved from death? From visible and carnal death, the death of the body, we are not: we shall die, even as they died. But from spiritual death which their fathers suffered, we are delivered. Moses and many acceptable of God, eat the manna, and died not, because they understood that visible food in a spiritual sense, spiritually tasted it, and were spiritually filled with it. And we too at this day receive the visible food; but the Sacrament is one thing, the virtue of the Sacrament another. Many a one receiveth from the Altar, and perisheth in receiving; eating and drinking his own damnation, (1 Cor. 11:29) as saith the Apostle. To eat then the heavenly bread spiritually, is to bring to the Altar an innocent mind. Sins, though they be daily, are not deadly. Before you go to the Altar, attend to the prayer you repeat: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Matt. 6:12) If thou forgivest, thou art forgiven: approach confidently; it is bread, not poison. None then that eateth of this bread, shall die. But we speak of the virtue of the Sacrament, not the visible Sacrament itself; of the inward, not of the outward eater.

"Your fathers ate manna in the desert," for forty years, namely, as is said in Deuteronomy eight: "He gave you manna for food, which you did not know": "and they died," by the death, namely, of fault and infidelity: Hebrews four: "The word heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith."

They then who ate the manna (He says) are dead, not having received any participation of life therefrom (for it was not truly lifegiving, but rather taken as an aid against carnal hunger and in type of the true); but they who receive in themselves the Bread of Life, will have |408 immortality as their prize, wholly setting at nought corruption and its consequent evils, and will mount up unto boundless and unending length of Life in Christ. Nor will it at all damage our words on this subject that they who have been made partakers of Christ, need to taste bodily death on account of what is due to nature; for even though they falling into this end undergo the lot of humanity, yet, as Paul saith, they that shall live, live to God.

And observe how He distinguisheth between His bread and the manna, by causing them to hear the result of each kind of food. For to show that the manna afforded them no unusual advantage, He added, "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead." He then establisheth a thing most likely to persuade them, that they were deemed worthy of greater things than their fathers, (meaning those marvelous men who lived in the time of Moses,) and so, after saying that they were dead who ate the manna, He addeth, "He that eateth of this bread, shall live for ever." Nor hath He put "in the wilderness" without a cause, but to point out that the supply of manna was not extended to a long time, nor entered with them into the land of promise. But this "bread" was not of the same kind.

(Hom. xlvi. 2) The addition, In the wilderness, is not put in without meaning, but to remind them how short a time the manna lasted; only till the entrance into the land of promise. And because the bread which Christ gave seemed inferior to the manna, in that the latter had come down from heaven, while the former was of this world, He adds, This is the bread which cometh down from heaven.

(Hom. xlvi. 2) He then gives them a strong reason for believing that they were given for higher privileges than their fathers. Their fathers eat manna and were dead; whereas of this bread He says, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. The difference of the two is evident from the difference of their ends. By bread here is meant wholesome doctrine, and faith in Him, or His body: for these are the preservatives of the soul.

He compares the food He gives them with manna. "I," He says, "am the bread of life, but those who ate manna died." He did not simply add the words "in the wilderness," but with the purpose of showing that the manna did not last long for the fathers — only in the wilderness — and it did not enter the promised land with them.

Then when he says, Your fathers ate manna in the desert, and they are dead, he gives the major premise, namely, the bread that descended from heaven ought to have the effect of giving life. First, he explains this; secondly, he draws his point (v 50).

He explains his meaning through a contrasting situation. It was said above that Moses gave the Jews bread from heaven, in the sense of from the air. But bread that does not come from the true heaven cannot give adequate life. Therefore, it is proper to the heavenly bread to give life. So, the bread given by Moses, in which you take pride, does not give life. And he proves this when he says, Your fathers ate manna in the desert, and they are dead.

In this statement he first reproaches them for their faults, when he says, Your fathers, whose sons you are, not only according to the flesh, but also by imitating their actions, because you are grumblers just as "they grumbled in their tents" (Ps 105:25); this was why he said to them: "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers," as we read in Matthew (23:32). As Augustine says, this people is said to have offended God in no matter more than by grumbling against God.

Secondly, he mentions for how short a time this was done, saying, in the desert: for they were not given manna for a long period of time; and they had it only while in the desert, and not when they entered the promised land (Jos 5). But the other bread from the true heaven preserves and nourishes one forever. Thirdly, he states an inadequacy in that bread, that is, it did not preserve life without end; so he says, and they are dead. For we read in Joshua (c 5) that all who grumbled, except Joshua and Caleb, died in the desert. This was the reason for the second circumcision, as we see here, because all who had left Egypt died in the desert.

One might wonder what kind of death God is speaking of here. If he is speaking of physical death, there will be no difference between the bread the Jews had in the desert and our bread, which came down from heaven, because even Christians who share the latter bread die physically. But if he is speaking of spiritual death, it is clear that both then among the Jews and now among the Christians, some die spiritually and others do not. For Moses and many others who were pleasing to God did not die, while others did. Also, those who eat this bread of the Christians unworthily, die spiritually: "He who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment upon himself" (1 Cor 11:29).

We may answer this by saying that the food of the Jews has some features in common with our spiritual food. They are alike in the fact that each signifies the same thing: for both signify Christ. Thus they are called the same food: "All ate the same spiritual food" (1 Cor 10:3). He calls them the same because each is a symbol of the spiritual food. But they are different because one, the manna, was only a symbol; while the other, the bread of the Christians, contains that of which it is the symbol, that is, Christ himself. Thus we should say that each of these foods can be taken in two ways. First, as a sign only, i.e., so that each is taken as food only, and without understanding what is signified; and taken in this way, they do not take away either physical or spiritual death. Secondly, they may be taken in both ways, i.e., the visible food is taken in such a way that spiritual food is understood and spiritually tasted, in order that it may satisfy spiritually. In this way, those who ate the manna spiritually did not die spiritually. But those who eat the Eucharist spiritually, both live spiritually now without sin, and will live physically forever. Thus, our food is greater than their food, because it contains in itself that of which it is the symbol.

Therefore I say, He that eateth this bread, dieth not: I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

We are able to receive the Lord Himself, who gave His flesh for us, as He Himself says: "I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, and they died: but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, that if any man eat of it, he may not die" (John 6:48-50). And so that no one may think that He is speaking of the death which comes through the separation of soul and body, and may doubt with reason, since he knows that the holy apostles died this death, He added: "I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this, he will live forever" (John 6:51-52): that is, I did not speak about temporal life above, nor about the death of this life, in which even if anyone dies, nevertheless if he receives my bread, he will live forever. For he who receives, proves himself: but he who receives will not die the death of a sinner, because this bread is the forgiveness of sins.

"This is the bread which cometh down from heaven." Manna signified this bread; God's altar signified this bread. Those were sacraments. In the signs they were diverse; in the thing which was signified they were alike. Hear the apostle: "For I would not that ye should be ignorant, brethren," saith he, "that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat." Of course, the same spiritual meat; for corporally it was another: since they ate manna, we eat another thing; but the spiritual was the same as that which we eat. But "our" fathers, not the fathers of those Jews; those to whom we are like, not those to whom they were like. Moreover he adds: "And did all drink the same spiritual drink." They one kind of drink, we another, but only in the visible form, which, however, signified the same thing in its spiritual virtue. For how was it that they drank the "same drink"? "They drank," saith he "of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." Thence the bread, thence the drink. The rock was Christ in sign; the real Christ is in the Word and in flesh. And how did they drink? The rock was smitten twice with a rod; the double smiting signified the two wooden beams of the cross. "This, then, is the bread that cometh down from heaven, that if any man eat thereof, he shall not die." But this is what belongs to the virtue of the sacrament, not to the visible sacrament; he that eateth within, not without; who eateth in his heart, not who presses with his teeth.

(Tr. xxvi. s. 12) This was the bread the manna typified, this was the bread the altar typified. Both the one and the other were sacraments, differing in symbol, alike in the thing signified. Hear the Apostle, They did all eat the same spiritual meat. (1 Cor. 10)

"This is the bread descending from heaven," through the incarnation, "so that, if anyone shall eat of it," through faith and love: "he may not die," through transgression: because, as is said in Habakkuk two, "the just man lives by his faith." Just as faith liberates from death, so also does love: First John three: "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren; he who does not love remains in death." Nor does he give only the life of grace, but indeed also the life of glory.

There remained yet another act that would abolish that Passover and would become the Passover of the Gentiles, a source of life until the end. Our Lord Jesus took bread in his hands, plain bread at the beginning, and blessed it, made the sign of the cross over it and sanctified it in the name of the Father and in the name of the Spirit, and he broke and distributed it in morsels to his disciples in his kindness. He called the bread his living body, and he filled it with himself and with his Spirit. He stretched forth his hand and gave them the bread that his right hand had sanctified: "Take, eat, all of you of this bread that my word has sanctified. Do not regard as bread what I have given you now … eat it, and do not disdain its crumbs. For this bread that I have sanctified is my body. Its least crumb sanctifies thousands of thousands, and it is capable of giving life to all who eat it. Take, eat in faith, doubting not at all that this is my body. And he who eats it in faith eats in it fire and the Spirit. If anyone doubts and eats it, it is plain bread to him. He who believes and eats the bread sanctified in my name, if he is pure, it will keep him pure; if he is a sinner, he will be forgiven. He, however, who despises it or spurns it, he may be sure that he is insulting the Son, who has called the bread his body and truly made it so. Receive of it, eat of it, all of you, and eat in it the Holy Spirit, for it is truly my body, and he who eats it will live forever. This is the heavenly bread that has come down from on high onto the earth. This is the bread that the Israelites ate in the wilderness and did not esteem. The manna that they gathered, which came down to them, was a figure of this spiritual bread that you have now received. Take and eat of it, all of you. In this bread you are eating my body. It is the true source of forgiveness.

This bread, however, is not such, but abides forever, so that they, if they wish, will receive blessings far greater than their fathers. How is that which is granted by Christ not greater? For although everyone will taste death, yet he is alive by the hope of the resurrection.

Having presented the argument, he draws the conclusion: This is the bread that comes down from heaven. He says, This, the Gloss says, to indicate himself. But our Lord does not understand it this way as it would be superfluous, since he immediately adds, I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. So we should say that our Lord wants to say that the bread which can do this, i.e., give life, comes from heaven; but I am that bread: thus, I am that bread that comes down from heaven. Now the reason why that bread which comes down from heaven gives a life which never ends is that all food nourishes according to the properties of its nature; but heavenly things are incorruptible: consequently, since this food is heavenly, it is not corrupted, and as long as it lasts, it gives life. So, he who eats it, will not die. Just as if there were some bodily food which never corrupted, then in nourishing it would always be life-giving. This bread was signified by the tree of life in the midst of Paradise, which somehow gave life without end: "He must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take from the tree of life and eat, and live forever" (Gn 3:22). So if the effect of this bread is that anyone who eats it will not die, and I am such, then anyone who eats of me will not die.

But men must be quickened by my life: If any man eat of this bread, he shall live, not only now by faith and righteousness, but for ever.

The mysteries of the more perfect Sacraments are of one kind; for the Scripture says, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." Of another kind are the things which the prophets have announced concerning future glory, unto whom it was revealed, and to whom the saints have preached the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the Angels desired to look into. Of another kind again are those mysteries wherein is the redemption of the world, the remission of sins, the distribution of graces, the participation of the Sacraments: when you receive these you will wonder that a gift so transcendent should have been bestowed on man, as to make the manna which we wonder should have been rained down from heaven on the Jews seem to you to have possessed neither so much grace nor so much efficacy towards salvation. For all who received this manna in the wilderness died, save Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb, whereas he who tastes this Sacrament shall never die.

"If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world." When did flesh comprehend this flesh which He called bread? That is called flesh which flesh does not comprehend, and for that reason all the more flesh does not comprehend it, that it is called flesh. For they were terrified at this: they said it was too much for them; they thought it impossible. "Is my flesh," saith He, "for the life of the world." Believers know the body of Christ, if they neglect not to be the body of Christ. Let them become the body of Christ, if they wish to live by the Spirit of Christ. None lives by the Spirit of Christ but the body of Christ. Understand, my brethren, what I mean to say. Thou art a man; thou hast both a spirit and a body. I call that a spirit which is called the soul; that whereby it consists that thou art a man, for thou consistest of soul and body. And so thou hast an invisible spirit and a visible body. Tell me which lives of the other: does thy spirit live of thy body, or thy body of thy spirit? Every man that lives can answer; and he that cannot answer this, I know not whether he lives: what doth every man that lives answer? My body, of course, lives by my spirit. Wouldst thou then also live by the Spirit of Christ? Be in the body of Christ. For surely my body does not live by thy spirit. My body lives by my spirit, and thy body by thy spirit. The body of Christ cannot live but by the Spirit of Christ. It is for this that the Apostle Paul, expounding this bread, says: "One bread," saith he, "we being many are one body." O mystery of piety! O sign of unity! O bond of charity! He that would live has where to live, has whence to live. Let him draw near, let him believe; let him be embodied, that he may be made to live. Let him not shrink from the compact of members; let him not be a rotten member that deserves to be cut off; let him not be a deformed member whereof to be ashamed; let him be a fair, fit, and sound member; let him cleave to the body, live for God by God: now let him labor on earth, that hereafter he may reign in heaven.

You are God's beggar. I mean, we are all God's beggars when we pray. We stand in front of the great householder's gate. In fact we go so far as to prostrate ourselves, we whine and implore, wanting to receive something, and that something is God himself. What does the beggar ask from you? Bread. And you, what do you ask from God, if not Christ, who says, "I am the living bread who came down from heaven"?

"I am the living bread, which came down from heaven." For that reason "living," because I came down from heaven. The manna also came down from heaven; but the manna was only a shadow, this is the truth.

(Gloss. Nic.) Our Lord pronounces Himself to be bread, not only in respect of that Divinity, which feeds all things, but also in respect of that human nature, which was assumed by the Word of God: And the bread, He says, that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

(Tr. xxvi. 13) But when does flesh receive the bread which He calls His flesh? The faithful know and receive the Body of Christ, if they labour to be the body of Christ. And they become the body of Christ, if they study to live by the Spirit of Christ: for that which lives by the Spirit of Christ, is the body of Christ. This bread the Apostle sets forth, where he says, We being many are one body. (1 Cor. 12:12) O sacrament of mercy, O sign of unity, O bond of love! Whoso wishes to live, let him draw nigh, believe, be incorporated, that he may be quickened.

(Tr. xxvi. 13) The manna too came down from heaven; but the manna was shadow, this is substance.

This bread our Lord then gave, when He delivered to His disciple the mystery of His Body and Blood, and offered Himself to God the Father on the altar of the cross. For the life of the world, i. e. not for the elements, but for mankind, who are called the world.

In the second place, it is lifted up to the vision of the city coming down from heaven, that is, of the assumed humanity. Indeed, the Son of God descended to our humanity, and this, for Jerusalem, is to come down. But the souls do not come down. He said: "I am the bread that has come down from heaven," and with Him [came down] all the charismatic graces. Wisdom says: "All good things together came to me in her company." And so, when the soul is lifted up by an influx into it of divine strength, light, and warmth, it worships piously, sees clearly, and enjoys holily, and through this it comprehends the marvelous origin, the marvelous fall, the marvelous ascent or ascending, the marvelous return. Then it has the four sides of the city coming down from heaven. I mean there is a marvelous origin in the nativity, a marvelous fall in the crucifixion, a marvelous ascent in the resurrection and ascension, and [there will be] a marvelous return at the time of the judgment.

"I am the living bread," through essence, because having life in himself: above in chapter five: "Just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself." "Who descended from heaven," through the abundance of mercy: Exodus three: "I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt and their sorrow, and I descended to deliver them."

"If anyone shall eat of this bread, he shall live forever," through glory. Concerning this eating, Song of Songs five: "Eat, friends, and drink, and be inebriated, dearest ones"; this will be in glory. From this kind of eating the sinner was prohibited in the figure of Adam: Genesis three: "Now therefore, lest perhaps he take from the tree of life and eat and live forever."

Above the Lord showed that he is the bread that refreshes according to his divine nature; here he shows according to his human nature. And since this seemed false and harsh or hard, therefore this part has three parts: first is set forth the instruction of the faithful; second, its confirmation on account of the disputation of the Jews; third, its explanation on account of the scandal of the disciples.

A brief instruction is set forth, in which he says that his flesh is bread; on account of which he says: "And the bread which I shall give," namely for refreshment, according to what we ask in the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our supersubstantial bread," Matthew 6: "is my flesh," which namely refreshes: First Corinthians 10: "The bread which we break, is it not the body of the Lord?" "For the life of the world," namely the flesh of Christ was given, when it was exposed to suffering, according to that passage in Lamentations 3: "He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him," indeed his whole body; whence Isaiah 50: "I gave my body to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who plucked them"; and not only for striking, but indeed also for immolation; whence Ephesians 5: "He delivered himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God."

God elaborates on a suitable and wholesome new diet for the newly-formed and new-born babe. He says it consists of the one who nourishes and who is the Father of all that are generated and regenerated—just as manna, the celestial food of angels, flowed down from heaven on the ancient Hebrews … But when our kind and loving Father rained down the Word, he himself became spiritual nourishment to the good. This is a truly amazing mystery, because … this is the kind of diet the Lord administers: he offers his flesh and pours out his blood so that nothing is lacking for his children's growth. This is almost too much to take in! And then we are to throw out the old and carnal corruption, our old diet, receiving in exchange a totally new diet—Christ himself as we ingest him for him to remain hidden there. Then, with our Savior enshrined in our souls, as it were, we can correct the affections of our flesh.

For because Christ bore us all, in that He also bore our sins, we see that in the water is understood the people, but in the wine is showed the blood of Christ. But when the water is mingled in the cup with wine, the people is made one with Christ, and the assembly of believers is associated and conjoined with Him on whom it believes; which association and conjunction of water and wine is so mingled in the Lord's cup, that that mixture cannot any more be separated. Whence, moreover, nothing can separate the Church-that is, the people established in the Church, faithfully and firmly persevering in that which they have believed-from Christ, in such a way as to prevent their undivided love from always abiding and adhering. Thus, therefore, in consecrating the cup of the Lord, water alone cannot be offered, even as wine alone cannot be offered. For if any one offer wine only, the blood of Christ is dissociated from us; but if the water be alone, the people are dissociated from Christ; but when both are mingled, and are joined with one another by a close union, there is completed a spiritual and heavenly sacrament. Thus the cup of the Lord is not indeed water alone, nor wine alone, unless each be mingled with the other; just as, on the other hand, the body of the Lord cannot be flour alone or water alone, unless both should be united and joined together and compacted in the mass of one bread; in which very sacrament our people are shown to be made one, so that in like manner as many grains, collected, and ground, and mixed together into one mass, make one bread; so in Christ, who is the heavenly bread, we may know that there is one body, with which our number is joined and united.

I am the Living Bread Which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever.

To say the same things unto you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe, writes the Divine Paul to certain, in this too (I suppose) instructed by these very words of the Saviour. For as those who are diseased with wounds, need not the application of a single plaister, but manifold tending, and that not once applied, but by its continuance of application expelling the pain: so (I ween) for the soul most rugged, and withered mind, should many aids of teaching be contrived and come one after the other: for one will avail to soften it not by one and the first leading, but through its successive coming to it, even if it come in the same words. Oftentimes then does the Saviour bringing round the same manner of speech to the Jews set it before them manifoldly, sometimes darkly, and clad in much obscurity, at other times freed delivered and let loose from all double meaning, that they still disbelieving, might lack nothing yet unto their condemnation, but being evil evilly might be destroyed, themselves against their own soul thrusting the sword of perdition.

Christ therefore no longer concealing anything says, I am the Living Bread Which came down from heaven. That was (He says) a type and a shadow and an image. Hear Him now openly and no more veiled, I am the Living Bread, if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever. They who ate of that died, for it was not lifegiving: he that eateth of This Bread, that is Me, or My Flesh, shall live for ever. We must then beware of and reject alike hardening ourselves to the words of piety, since Christ not once only, but oftentimes persuadeth us. For there is no doubt, that they will full surely be open to the severest charges, who turn aside to the uttermost folly, and through boundless unbelief, refuse not to rage against the Author of the most excellent things. Therefore says He of the Jews, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloke for their sin. For they who have never by hearing received the word of salvation into their heart, will haply find the Judge milder, while they plead that they heard not at all, even though they shall specially give account for not having sought to learn: but they who often instructed by the same admonitions and words to the seeking after what is profitable, senselessly imagine that they ought to deprive themselves of the most excellent good things, shall undergo most bitter punishment, and shall meet with an offended judge, not able to find an excuse for their folly which may shame Him.

And the Bread which I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world.

I die (He says) for all, that I may quicken all by Myself, and I made My Flesh a Ransom for the flesh of all. For death shall die in My Death, and with Me shall rise again (He says) the fallen nature of man. For for this became I like to you, Man (that is) and of the seed of Abraham, that I might be made like in all things unto My brethren. The blessed Paul himself also, well understanding what Christ just now said to us says, Forasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. For no otherwise was it possible that he that hath the power of death should be destroyed, and death itself also, had not Christ given Himself for us, a Ransom, One for all, for He was in behalf of all. Wherefore He says in the Psalms too, offering Himself as a spotless Sacrifice to God the Father, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a Body preparedst Thou Me. In whole burnt-offerings and offerings for sin Thou tookedst no pleasure: then said I, Lo I come (in the chapter of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God, was My choice. For since the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sufficed not unto the purging away of sin, nor yet would the slaughter of brute beasts ever have destroyed the power of death, Christ Himself came in in some way to undergo punishment for all. For with His stripes WE were healed, as saith the Prophet, and His Own Self bare our sins in His Own Body on the tree; and He was crucified for all and on account of all, that if One died for all, all we might live in Him. For it was not possible that He should be holden by death, neither could corruption over-master that Which is by Nature Life. But that Christ gave His Own Flesh for the Life of the world, we shall know by His words also, for He saith, Holy Father keep them; and again, For their sakes I sanctify Myself. He here says that He sanctifies Himself, not aiding Himself unto sanctification for the purification of the soul or spirit (as it is understood of us), nor yet for the participation of the Holy Ghost, for the Spirit was in Him by Nature, and He was and is Holy always, and will be so ever. He here says, I sanctify Myself, for, I offer Myself and present Myself as a spotless Sacrifice for an odour of a sweet smell. For that which is brought to the Divine Altar was sanctified, or called holy according to the law.

Christ therefore gave His Own Body for the life of all, and again through It He maketh Life to dwell in us; and how, I will say as I am able. For since the life-giving Word of God indwelt in the Flesh, He transformed it into His Own proper good, that is life, and by the unspeakable character of this union, coming wholly together with It, rendered It life-giving, as Himself is by Nature. Wherefore the Body of Christ giveth life to all who partake of It. For it expels death, when It cometh to be in dying men, and removeth corruption, full in Itself perfectly of the Word which abolisheth corruption.

But a man will haply say, fixing the eye of his understanding upon the resurrection of them that have slept: They who received not the faith in Christ, and were not partakers of Him, will not live again at the time of the resurrection. What? shall not every created thing that has fallen into death return again to life?

To these things we say, Yes, all flesh shall live again: for Prophecy foretells that the dead shall be raised. For we consider that the Mystery through the resurrection of Christ extendeth over the whole nature of man, and in Him first we believe that our whole nature has been released from corruption. For all shall rise, after the likeness of Him That was raised for our sakes, and hath all in Himself, in that He is Man. And as in the first-formed we fell down into death, so in the First-born again, who was so for our sakes, all shall rise again from the dead: but they that did good, unto the resurrection of life (as it is written), and they that wrought evil, unto the resurrection of doom. And I will grant, that in no passing degree bitterer than death is the resurrection unto punishment, and the receiving life again unto disgrace alone. In the stricter sense then wo must understand the Life that is really so, the life in Christ, in holiness and bliss and unfailing delight. For that this is truly life the wise John too knows, saying, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide on him. For lo, lo, he says that he which is in unbelief shall not see life: although every creature looks to return again to life, and to rise again. It is then manifest, that the Saviour with reason called that the life which is prepared for the Saints, I mean that in glory and in holiness, which that we ought to pursue after by coming to the participation of the Life-giving Flesh, no right-minded person will doubt.

But since the Saviour called Himself Bread in many of the passages that have already been before us, let us see whether He would not hereby too bring to our mind any one of the things fore-announced and is reminding us of the things in Holy Writ, wherein He was long ago signified under the form of bread. It is written then in Numbers, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and thou shalt say unto them., When ye come into the land whither I bring you, then it shall be, that when YE eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave-offering a separation unto the Lord: a cake the first-fruit of your dough shall ye offer for an heave-offering: as an heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it, a first fruit of your dough, and ye shall give unto the Lord, an heave offering unto your generations. Obscurely then, and bearing a gross covering as of the letter, did the law typify these things: yet did it proclaim afore the true Very Bread That cometh down from heaven, i. e., Christ, and giveth life unto the world. For observe how He made Man like us by reason of His Likeness to us, a certain First-fruits of our dough and heave offering, as it is written, was offered up to God the Father, set forth the First-Begotten of the dead, and the First-fruits of the resurrection of all ascending into heaven itself. For He was taken of us, He took hold of the seed of Abraham, as Paul saith, He was offered up, as of all, and in behalf of all, that He might quicken all, and might be offered to God the Father, as it were the first handful of the floor. But as He being in truth Light, put that grace upon His disciples; for He says, YE are the light of the world: so too He being the Living Bread, and That quickeneth all things and keepeth them in being, by a likeness and through the shadow of the Law, was typifying in the twelve loaves the holy choir of the Apostles. For thus He says in Leviticus, And the Lord spalce unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee oil olive pure beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually without the vail in the tabernacle of the testimony. And then He proceeds, And ye shall take fine flour, and make twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And ye shall set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the pure table before the Lord, and shall put pure frankincense upon each row, and salt, and it shall be on the loaves for a memorial unto the Lord.

The lamp then in the holy tabernacle, and giving light without the vail, we said in the foregoing was the blessed John, nourished with the purest oil, that is, the illumination through the Spirit: outside the vail, because his doctrine was catechetic: for he says, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. But the things within the vail, that is, the hidden Mystery of Christ, he showeth not much. For I (he saith) baptize you with water unto repentance, but He That cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Seest thou then how he shines, as in simpler speech calling unto repentance; but the things within the vail he commits to Him That baptizeth with fire and the Spirit, to lay open? And these things we have set forth more at large, on the words, at the beginning of the book, He was the burning and the shining light: yet we touched on them now cursorily, since it was necessary, on John's passing away, to show that the preaching of the holy Apostles was near and straightway present.

For for this reason, I suppose, the Scripture, having first signified him by the lamp puts before us the consideration of the twelve loaves. Ye shall make (it says) twelve cakes: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. It is the custom of the Divine Scripture, to receive ever the number ten as perfect, and to acknowledge it as the fullest, since the series and order of the consecutive numbers, receiving a kind of revolution and mutiplication of the same into the same, advances and is extended to whatsoever one will. He commands then that each cake be of two tenth deals, that you may see perfection in the disciples, in the even pair, I mean both active virtue, and that of contemplation. He bids two rows to be made (and profitably so) well nigh indicating the very position, which it was (as is like) their custom to take, ever receiving the Lord in the midst of them, and accustomed ever to surround Him as their Master. And that we may know that, as Paul saith, they are unto God the Father a sweet savour of Christ, He bids frankincense to be put on the cakes, and that they be sprinkled also with salt. For it is said to them, YE are the salt of the earth. Yea and with reason does He bid it be offered upon the Sabbath day, for they were made manifest in the last times of the world: and the last day of the week is the Sabbath. And not only so, but because at the time of our Saviour's coming we held a Sabbath spiritually: for we rested from sin. And then were the holy Apostles also made manifest unto us, by whose Divine writings also we nourished attain unto the life in holiness. Therefore on the Sabbath day specially doth He bid the cakes to be set out upon the holy table, that is, in the Church. For the whole is often signified by a part. But what is holier than the holy Table of Christ? Therefore the Saviour was pre-typified as bread by the Law: the Apostles again as cakes by their likeness to Him. For all things were in verity in Christ, but by likeness to Him, they belong to us too through His grace.

I die (he says) for all, that I may quicken all by myself. And I made my flesh a ransom for the flesh of all. For death shall die in my death, and with me shall rise again (he says) the fallen nature of humankind. This is why I became like you, that is, human and of the seed of Abraham, so that I might be made like in all things to my brothers. … For there was no other way for the power of death to be destroyed, as well as death itself, unless Christ gave himself for us as a ransom, one for all, for he was in behalf of all.…Christ therefore gave his own body for the life of all, and again through that body he makes life to dwell in us. Now I will try to tell you how. For since the life-giving Word of God indwelt in the flesh, he transformed it into his own proper good, that is, life, and by the unspeakable character of this union, coming wholly together with it, rendered it life-giving as he himself is by nature. Wherefore the body of Christ gives life to all who partake of it. For it expels death when it comes to be in dying people, and [it] removes corruption, perfectly full, in itself, of the Word which abolishes corruption.

For as it certainly is in the power of a mother to give strong food to her infant, [but she does not do so], as the child is not yet able to receive more substantial nourishment; so also it was possible for God Himself to have made man perfect from the first, but man could not receive this [perfection], being as yet an infant. And for this cause our Lord in these last times, when He had summed up all things into Himself, came to us, not as He might have come, but as we were capable of beholding Him. He might easily have come to us in His immortal glory, but in that case we could never have endured the greatness of the glory; and therefore it was that He, who was the perfect bread of the Father, offered Himself to us as milk, [because we were] as infants. He did this when He appeared as a man, that we, being nourished, as it were, from the breast of His flesh, and having, by such a course of milk nourishment, become accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, may be able also to contain in ourselves the Bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father.

"And the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Here one might reasonably enquire, how this was a fit season for these words, which neither edified nor profited, but rather did mischief to those who had been edified; for "from that time," saith the Evangelist, "many of His disciples went back," saying, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" since these things might have been entrusted to the disciples only, as Matthew hath told us that He discoursed with them apart. What then shall we say? What is the profit of the words? Great is the profit and necessity of them. Because they pressed upon Him, asking for bodily food, reminding Him of the food provided in the days of their forefathers, and speaking of the manna as a great thing, to show them that all those things were but type and shadow, but that the very reality of the matter was now present with them, He mentioneth spiritual food. "But," saith some one, "he ought to have said, Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, but I have given you bread." But the interval between the two miracles was great, and the latter of them would have appeared inferior to the former, because the manna came down from heaven, but this, the miracle of the loaves, was wrought on earth.

When therefore they sought food "coming down from heaven," He continually told them, "I came down from heaven." And if any one enquire why He introduced the discourse on the Mysteries, we will reply, that this was a very fitting time for such discourses; for indistinctness in what is said always rouses the bearer, and renders him more attentive. They ought not then to have been offended, but rather to have asked and enquired. But now they went back. If they believed Him to be a Prophet, they ought to have believed His words, so that the offense was caused by their own folly, not by any difficulty in the words. And observe how by little and little He led them up to Himself. Here He saith that Himself giveth, not the Father; "The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Inquire again, then, of what things he spoke, and when you imagine that you have discovered what they are will you find anything to be so "foolish" as believing in a God that has been born, and that of a virgin, and of a fleshly nature too, who wallowed in all the before-mentioned humiliations of nature? But some one may say, "These are not the foolish things; they must be other things which God has chosen to confound the wisdom of the world." And yet, according to the world's wisdom, it is more easy to believe that Jupiter became a bull or a swan, if we listen to Marcion, than that Christ really became a man.

Now, just before (the passage in hand), He had declared His flesh to be "the bread which cometh down from heaven," impressing on (His hearers) constantly under the figure of necessary food the memory of their forefathers, who had preferred the bread and flesh of Egypt to their divine calling.

He speaks here clearly about the mystical communion of His body. "The bread," He says, "which I shall give is My Flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." Showing His authority, that He was crucified not as a servant and one lesser than the Father, but by His own will, He says that "I shall give" My Flesh for the life of the world. Although it is said that He was given by the Father (John 3:16), He also gave Himself: the first, so that we might know His unity of mind with the Father, and the second, so that we might know the sovereign freedom of the Son. Note that the bread partaken by us in the Sacrament is not an image of the Lord's body, but is the very Flesh of the Lord. For He did not say that the bread which I shall give is an image of My Flesh, but — "is My Flesh." For this bread, by ineffable words, through the mystical blessing and the descent of the Holy Spirit, is transformed into the Flesh of the Lord. Let no one be afraid to believe that the bread becomes Flesh. For when the Lord walked in the flesh and received nourishment from bread, that bread, when eaten, was converted into His body and was made like unto His holy Flesh, and, according to the custom of human nature, served for growth and strengthening. And now this bread is converted into the Flesh of the Lord. But how, they will say to us, does it appear not as flesh but as bread? This is so that we might not have aversion to the food. For if flesh were shown to us, we would be unpleasantly disposed toward Communion; but now, when the Lord condescends to our weakness, the mystical Food appears to us in the form that is ordinary for us. He gave His Flesh to death for the life of the world, for by His death He destroyed death. Understand, if you will, the life of the world as also the resurrection. For the death of the Lord brought about the universal resurrection for the entire human race. Perhaps by the life of the world He also means the life in holiness and blessedness. For although not all received illumination and life in the Spirit, the Lord gave Himself for the world, and as far as it concerns Him, the world is saved and all nature is sanctified, inasmuch as it received the power to conquer sin, and sin fled through one Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, just as through one Adam humanity fell into sin.

Which I shall give: this shows His power; for it shows that He was not crucified as a servant, in subjection to the Father, but of his own accord; for though He is said to have been given up by the Father, yet He delivered Himself up also. And observe, the bread which is taken by us in the mysteries, is not only the sign of Christ's flesh, but is itself the very flesh of Christ; for He does not say, The bread which I will give, is the sign of My flesh, but, is My flesh. The bread is by a mystical benediction conveyed in unutterable words, and by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, transmuted into the flesh of Christ. But why see we not the flesh? Because, if the flesh were seen, it would revolt us to such a degree, that we should be unable to partake of it. And therefore in condescension to our infirmity, the mystical food is given to us under an appearance suitable to our minds. He gave His flesh for the life of the world, in that, by dying, He destroyed death. By the life of the world too, I understand the resurrection; our Lord's death having brought about the resurrection of the whole human race. It may mean too the sanctified, beatified, spiritual life; for though all have not attained to this life, yet our Lord gave Himself for the world, and, as far as lies in Him, the whole world is sanctified.

(in v. 83) By becoming incarnate, He was not then first man, and afterwards assumed Divinity, as Nestorius fables.

He does two things concerning this. First, he speaks of himself in general; secondly, in particular, And the bread which I will give is my flesh. In regard to the first, he does two things: first, he mentions his origin; secondly his power.

He said, I am the living bread; consequently, I can give life. Material bread does not give life forever, because it does not have life in itself; but it gives life by being changed and converted into nourishment by the energy of a living organism. That has come down from heaven: it was explained before how the Word came down. This refuted those heresies which taught that Christ was a mere man, because according to them, he would not have come down from heaven.

He has the power to give eternal life; thus he says, If anyone eats of this bread, i.e., spiritually, he will live, not only in the present through faith and justice, but forever. "Everyone who lives and believes in me, will never die" (below 11:26).

He then speaks of his body when he says, And the bread which I will give is my flesh. For he had said that he was the living bread; and so that we do not think that he is such so far as he is the Word or in his soul alone, he shows that even his flesh is life-giving, for it is an instrument of his divinity. Thus, since an instrument acts by virtue of the agent, then just as the divinity of Christ is life-giving, so too his flesh gives life (as Damascene says) because of the Word to which it is united. Thus Christ healed the sick by his touch. So what he said above, I am the living bread, pertained to the power of the Word; but what he is saying here pertains to the sharing in his body, that is, to the sacrament of the Eucharist.

We can consider four things about this sacrament: its species, the authority of the one who instituted it, the truth of this sacrament, and its usefulness.

As to the species of this sacrament: This is the bread; "Come, and eat my bread" (Prv 9:5). The reason for this is that this is the sacrament of the body of Christ; but the body of Christ is the Church, which arises out of many believers forming a bodily unity: "We are one body" (Rom 12:5). And so because bread is formed from many grains, it is a fitting species for this sacrament. Hence he says, And the bread which I will give is my flesh.

The author of this sacrament is Christ: for although the priest confers it, it is Christ himself who gives the power to this sacrament, because the priest consecrates in the person of Christ. Thus in the other sacraments the priest uses his own words or those of the Church, but in this sacrament he uses the words of Christ: because just as Christ gave his body to death by his own will, so it is by his own power that he gives himself as food: "Jesus took bread, he blessed it and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: 'Take and eat it, this is my body'" (Mt 26:26). Thus he says, which I will give; and he says, will give, because this sacrament had not yet been instituted.

The truth of this sacrament is indicated when he says, is my flesh. He does not say, "This signifies my flesh," but it is my flesh, for in reality that which is taken is truly the body of Christ: "Who will give us his flesh so that we may be satisfied?" as we read in Job (31:31).

Since the whole Christ is contained in this sacrament, why did he just say, this is my flesh? To answer this, we should note that in this mystical sacrament the whole Christ is really contained: but his body is there by virtue of the conversion; while his soul and divinity are present by natural concomitance. For if we were to suppose what is really impossible, that is, that the divinity of Christ is separated from his body, then his divinity would not be present in this sacrament. Similarly, if someone had consecrated during the three days Christ was dead, his soul would not have been present there in the sacrament, but his body would have been, as it was on the cross or in the tomb. Since this sacrament is the commemoration of our Lord's passion—according to "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord" (1 Cor 11:26)—and the passion of Christ depended on his weakness—according to "He was crucified through weakness" (2 Cor 13:4)—he rather says, is my flesh, to suggest the weakness through which he died, for "flesh" signifies weakness.

The usefulness of this sacrament is great and universal. It is great, indeed, because it produces spiritual life within us now, and will later produce eternal life, as was said. For as is clear from what was said, since this is the sacrament of our Lord's passion, it contains in itself the Christ who suffered. Thus, whatever is an effect of our Lord's passion is also an effect of this sacrament. For this sacrament is nothing other than the application of our Lord's passion to us. For it was not fitting for Christ to be always with us in his own presence; and so he wanted to make up for this absence through this sacrament. Hence it is clear that the destruction of death, which Christ accomplished by his death, and the restoration of life, which he accomplished by his resurrection, are effects of this sacrament.

The usefulness of this sacrament is universal because the life it gives is not only the life of one person, but, so far as concerns itself, the life of the entire world: and for this the death of Christ is fully sufficient. "He is the offering for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the entire world" (1 Jn 2:2).

We should note that this sacrament is different from the others: for the other sacraments have individual effects: as in baptism, only the one baptized receives grace. But in the immolation of this sacrament, the effect is universal: because it affects not just the priest, but also those for whom he prays, as well as the entire Church, of the living and of the dead. The reason for this is that it contains the universal cause of all the sacraments, Christ. Nevertheless, when a lay person receives this sacrament it does not benefit others ex opere operato considered as a receiving. However, due to the intention of the person who is acting and receiving, it can be communicated to all those to whom he directs his intention. It is clear from this that lay persons are mistaken when they receive the Eucharist for those in purgatory.

But that which they ask, while striving among themselves, namely, how the Lord can give His flesh to be eaten, they do not immediately hear: but further it is said to them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye will have no life in you." How, indeed, it may be eaten, and what may be the mode of eating this bread, ye are ignorant of; nevertheless, "except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye will not have life in you." He spoke these words, not certainly to corpses, but to living men. Whereupon, lest they, understanding it to mean this life, should strive about this thing also, He going on added, "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life." Wherefore, he that eateth not this bread, nor drinketh this blood, hath not this life; for men can have temporal life without that, but they can noways have eternal life. He then that eateth not His flesh, nor drinketh His blood, hath no life in him; and he that eateth His flesh, and drinketh His blood, hath life. This epithet, eternal, which He used, answers to both. It is not so in the case of that food which we take for the purpose of sustaining this temporal life. For he who will not take it shall not live, nor yet shall he who will take it live. For very many, even who have taken it, die; it may be by old age, or by disease, or by some other casualty. But in this food and drink, that is, in the body and blood of the Lord, it is not so. For both he that doth not take it hath no life, and he that doth take it hath life, and that indeed eternal life. And thus He would have this meat and drink to be understood as meaning the fellowship of His own body and members, which is the holy Church in his predestinated, and called, and justified, and glorified saints and believers. Of these, the first is already effected, namely, predestination; the second and third, that is, the vocation and justification, have taken place, are taking place, and will take place; but the fourth, namely, the glorifying, is at present in hope; but a thing future in realization. The sacrament of this thing, namely, of the unity of the body and blood of Christ, is prepared on the Lord's table in some places daily, in some places at certain intervals of days, and from the Lord's table it is taken, by some to life, by some to destruction: but the thing itself, of which it is the sacrament, is for every man to life, for no man to destruction, whosoever shall have been a partaker thereof.

But lest they should suppose that eternal life was promised in this meat and drink in such manner that they who should take it should not even now die in the body, He condescended to meet this thought; for when He had said, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life," He forthwith subjoined, "and I will raise him up on the last day." That meanwhile, according to the Spirit, he may have eternal life in that rest into which the spirits of the saints are received; but as to the body, he shall not be defrauded of its eternal life, but, on the contrary, he shall have it in the resurrection of the dead at the last day.

(Tr. xxvi. 13) But when does flesh receive the bread which He calls His flesh? The faithful know and receive the Body of Christ, if they labour to be the body of Christ. And they become the body of Christ, if they study to live by the Spirit of Christ: for that which lives by the Spirit of Christ, is the body of Christ. This bread the Apostle sets forth, where he says, We being many are one body. (1 Cor. 12:12) O sacrament of mercy, O sign of unity, O bond of love! Whoso wishes to live, let him draw nigh, believe, be incorporated, that he may be quickened.

(Tr. xxvi. 15) As if He said, The sense in which that bread is eaten, and the mode of eating it, ye know not; but, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.

(Tr. xxvi. 15) And that they might not understand him to speak of this life, and make that an occasion of striving, He adds, Hath eternal life. This then he hath not who eateth not that flesh, nor drinketh that blood. The temporal life men may have without Him, the eternal they cannot. This is not true of material food. If we do not take that indeed, we shall not live, neither do we live, if we take it: for either disease, or old age, or some accident kills us after all. Whereas this meat and drink, i. e. the Body and Blood of Christ, is such that he that taketh it not hath not life, and he that taketh it hath life, even life eternal.

(de Civ. Dei, l. xxi. c. 25.) There are some who promise men deliverance from eternal punishment, if they are washed in Baptism and partake of Christ's Body, whatever lives they live. The Apostle however contradicts them, where he says, The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19. et seq.) Let us examine what is meant here. He who is in the unity of His body, (i. e. one of the Christian members,) the Sacrament of which body the faithful receive when they communicate at the Altar; he is truly said to eat the body, and drink the blood of Christ. And heretics and schismatics, who are cut off from the unity of the body, may receive the same Sacrament; but it does not profit them, nay, rather is hurtful, as tending to make their judgment heavier, or their forgiveness later. Nor ought they to feel secure in their abandoned and damnable ways, who, by the iniquity of their lives, desert righteousness, i. e. Christ; either by fornication, or other sins of the like kind. Such are not to be said to eat the body of Christ; forasmuch as they are not to be counted among the members of Christ. For, not to mention other things, men cannot be members of Christ, and at the same time members of an harlot.

(super Joan. c. xxvi. 15) By this meat and drink then, He would have us understand the society of His body, and His members, which is the Church, in the predestined, and called, and justified, and glorified saints and believers. The Sacrament whereof, i. e. of the unity of the body and blood of Christ, is administered, in some places daily, in others on such and such days from the Lord's Table: and from the Lord's Table it is received by some to their salvation, by others to their condemnation. But the thing itself of which this is the Sacrament, is for our salvation to every one who partakes of it, for condemnation to none. To prevent us supposing that those who, by virtue of that meat and drink, were promised eternal life, would not die in the body, He adds, And I will, raise him up at the last day; i. e. to that eternal life, a spiritual rest, which the spirits of the Saints enter into. But neither shall the body be defrauded of eternal life, but shall be endowed with it at the resurrection of the dead in the last day.

The disputation of the Jews has been set forth; here the confirmation of the doctrine is set forth. He therefore confirms what he had said, that his flesh is bread, in this order: first the necessity of eating the flesh of Christ is set forth; second, the utility of eating; third, the truth of the refreshment; fourth, the dignity.

First therefore the necessity of eating is shown, because without it there is no salvation; on account of which he says: "Amen, amen I say to you," that is, in truth: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man," as true bread, "and drink his blood," as true drink: "you shall not have life in you," namely the life of grace, of which it is said in the Psalm: "Quicken me according to your word."

Augustine: "Nothing lives by the Spirit of Christ except the body of Christ. If therefore you wish to live by the Spirit of Christ, be in the body of Christ." But he who eats the body of Christ is in the body of Christ; therefore he who does not eat does not live, because it is said below in the same chapter: "He who eats my flesh abides in me."

An inquiry is made here concerning the eating of the body of Christ and his flesh. And that it is not eaten seems to be the case: because what is eaten is ground down and chewed, but the impassible flesh of Christ cannot be ground down by the teeth; therefore neither can it be eaten. Likewise, what is eaten is converted into the one eating: but the body of Christ is not converted into us, but we into him: therefore we do not eat him, but he eats us.

In eating we find three things, namely mastication, incorporation, and conservation. Mastication is twofold according to the twofold eating: for there is sacramental eating, and in this there is sacramental mastication, because the species is chewed: there is also spiritual eating, and in this there is spiritual mastication, which is a spiritual discernment through faith. There is furthermore incorporation, by which we are incorporated into the body of Christ: there is also conservation, by which we are conserved through the Spirit of Christ, as the members of the body are conserved through the soul. Concerning these three things Augustine says: "O sacrament of piety! O sign of unity! O bond of charity! Whoever wishes to live, let him draw near, let him believe, let him be incorporated, let him be vivified."

Through this the first objection is clear: because there is mastication there, not carnal but spiritual or sacramental. To the objection that he is not incorporated into us, it must be said that the ultimate effect of food is to conserve; and because, although we are incorporated into Christ by eating, nevertheless because by eating we are conserved through him, he is rightly called our food.

From this it seems that the Sacrament of the Eucharist is of necessity, and that no one can be saved without it. Against this: Either he means the life of grace or the life of glory: not of grace, because whoever wishes to approach worthily must first have the life of grace; nor the life of glory, because if one can have the life of grace without eating, one can also have glory.

To this the response is given according to Augustine, that to believe is to eat: whence: "Why do you prepare your tooth and stomach? Only believe, and you have eaten." According to this, therefore, it must be noted that there is spiritual eating and there is sacramental eating: spiritual eating is through faith and charity, sacramental eating is under the Sacrament. Without sacramental eating there can be salvation, nor is it of necessity, as far as the institution of the Sacrament is concerned: spiritual eating is of necessity.

But objections are raised concerning baptized infants, who are saved yet have never eaten either sacramentally or spiritually. Likewise, he adds to the eating of the flesh the drinking of the blood, therefore without the drinking of the blood no one is saved: but only priests receive the blood: therefore they alone are saved.

It must be said that the effect of eating is twofold, namely incorporation and conservation. No one is saved unless he is a member of Christ, and unless he is preserved by Christ: hence no one is saved without the effect of eating: therefore eating is said to be necessary. But because in little ones, by divine generosity, there can be the effect of eating without eating: therefore they are saved even without any eating whatsoever. In adults, however, there cannot be incorporation or conservation without spiritual eating, which is through faith and charity, but there can be without sacramental eating. Therefore the former is necessary for adults, but sacramental eating, although it is not of necessity, nevertheless confers great benefit, because by the power of the Sacrament every good is increased in us. As for the objection raised concerning flesh and blood, Augustine explains it of spiritual food and drink: hence "he wishes food and drink to be understood as the fellowship of the body and members, which is the holy Church in his predestined and called saints and faithful," outside of which no one is saved.

Some people seem able to discuss different theories of this act as if they understood them all and needed only evidence as to which was best. This light has been withheld from me. I do not know and can't imagine what the disciples understood Our Lord to mean when, His body still unbroken and His blood unshed, He handed them the bread and wine, saying they were His body and blood. I can find within the forms of my human understanding no connection between eating a man—and it is as Man that the Lord has flesh—and entering into any spiritual oneness or community or koinonia with him.

It explains why this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like baptism and Holy Communion. It is not merely the spreading of an idea; it is more like evolution—a biological or superbiological fact. There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.

O amazing birth! O holy swaddling bands! The Word is all to the child, both father and mother and tutor and nurse. "Eat ye my flesh," He says, "and drink my blood." Such is the suitable food which the Lord ministers, and He offers His flesh and pours forth His blood, and nothing is wanting for the children's growth. O amazing mystery! We are enjoined to cast off the old and carnal corruption, as also the old nutriment, receiving in exchange another new regimen, that of Christ, receiving Him if we can, to hide Him within; and that, enshrining the Saviour in our souls, we may correct the affections of our flesh.

As the prayer goes forward, we ask and say, "Give us this day our daily bread." And this may be understood both spiritually and literally, because either way of understanding it is rich in divine usefulness to our salvation. For Christ is the bread of life; and this bread does not belong to all men, but it is ours. And according as we say, "Our Father," because He is the Father of those who understand and believe; so also we call it "our bread," because Christ is the bread of those who are in union with His body. And we ask that this bread should be given to us daily, that we who are in Christ, and daily receive the Eucharist for the food of salvation, may not, by the interposition of some heinous sin, by being prevented, as withheld and not communicating, from partaking of the heavenly bread, be separated from Christ's body, as He Himself predicts, and warns, "I am the bread of life which came down from heaven. If any man eat of my bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world." When, therefore, He says, that whoever shall eat of His bread shall live for ever; as it is manifest that those who partake of His body and receive the Eucharist by the right of communion are living, so, on the other hand, we must fear and pray lest any one who, being withheld from communion, is separate from Christ's body should remain at a distance from salvation; as He Himself threatens, and says, "Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall have no life in you." And therefore we ask that our bread-that is, Christ-may be given to us daily, that we who abide and live in Christ may not depart from His sanctification and body.

That the Jews would lose while we should receive the bread and the cup of Christ and all His grace, and that the new name of Christians should be blessed in the earth. In Isaiah: "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, they who serve me shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, they who serve me shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, they who serve me shall rejoice, but ye shall be confounded; the Lord shall slay you. But to those who serve me a new name shall be named, which shall be blessed in the earth." Also in the same place: "Therefore shall He lift up an ensign to the nations which are afar off, and He will draw them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come swiftly with lightness; they shall not hunger nor thirst." Also in the same place: "Behold, therefore, the Ruler, the Lord of Sabaoth, shall take away from Judah and from Jerusalem the healthy man and the strong man, the strength of bread and the strength of water." Likewise in the thirty-third Psalm: "O taste and see how sweet is the Lord. Blessed is the man that hopeth in Him. Fear the Lord God, all ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him. Rich men have wanted and have hungered; but they who seek the Lord shall never want any good thing." Moreover, in the Gospel according to John, the Lord says: "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that trusteth in me shall never thirst." Likewise He saith in that place: "If any one thirst, let him come and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Moreover, He says in the same place: "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall have no life in you."

That unless a man have been baptized and born again, he cannot attain unto the kingdom of God. In the Gospel according to John: "Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. For that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Also in the same place: "Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you."

Long-suffering truly and of great mercy is Christ, as one may see from the words now before us. For in no wise reproaching the littleness of soul of the unbelievers, He again richly gives them the life-giving knowledge of the Mystery, and having overcome, as God, the arrogance of them that grieve Him, He tells them those things whereby they shall (He says) mount up to endless life. And how He will give them His Flesh to eat, He tells them not as yet, for He knew that they were in darkness, and could never avail to understand the ineffable: but how great good will result from the eating He shows to their profit, that haply inciting them to a desire of living in greater preparation for unfading pleasures, He may teach them faith. For to them that have now believed there follows suitably the power too of learning. For so saith the prophet Isaiah, If ye will not believe neither yet shall ye understand. It was therefore right, that faith having been first rooted in them, there should next be brought in understanding of those things whereof they are ignorant, and that the investigation should not precede faith.

For this cause (I suppose) did the Lord with reason refrain from telling them how He would give them His Flesh to eat, and calls them to the duty of believing before seeking. For to them that had at length believed He brake bread, and gave to them, saying, Take, eat, This is My Body. Likewise handing round the Cup to them all, He saith, Drink of it all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is being shed for many for the remission of sins. Seest thou how to those who were yet senseless and thrust from them faith without investigation. He explaineth not the mode of the Mystery, but to those who had now believed, He is found to declare it most clearly? Let them then, who of their folly have not yet admitted the faith in Christ, hear, Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you. For wholly destitute of all share and taste of that life which is in sanctification and bliss, do they abide who do not through the mystical Blessing receive Jesus. For He is Life by Nature, inasmuch as He was begotten of a Living Father: no less quickening is His Holy Body also, being in a manner gathered and ineffably united with the all-quickening Word. Wherefore It is accounted His, and is conceived of as One with Him. For, since the Incarnation, it is inseparable; except as regards the knowledge that the Word Which came from God the Father, and the temple from the Virgin, are not indeed the same in nature (for the Body is not consubstantial with the Word from God), yet are they One by that coming-together and ineffable concurrence. And since the Flesh of the Saviour hath become life-giving (as being united to That which is by Nature Life, the Word from God), when we taste It, then have we life in ourselves, we too united to It, as It to the indwelling Word. For this cause also, when He raised the dead, the Saviour is found to have operated, not by word only, or God-befitting commands, but He laid a stress on employing His Holy Flesh as a sort of co-operator unto this, that He might show that It had the power to give life, and was already made one with Him. For it was in truth His Own Body, and not another's. And verily when He was raising the little daughter of the chief of the Synagogue saying, Maid, arise, He laid hold of her hand, as it is written, giving life, as God, by His All-Powerful command, and again, giving life through the touch of His Holy Flesh, He shows that there was one kindred operation through both. Yea and when He went into the city called Nain, and one was being carried out dead, the only son of his mother, again He touched the bier, saying, Young man, to thee I say, Arise. And not only to His Word gives He power to give life to the dead, but that He might show that His Own Body was life-giving (as I have said already), He touches the dead, thereby also infusing life into those already decayed. And if by the touch alone of His Holy Flesh, He giveth life to that which is decayed, how shall we not profit yet more richly by the life-giving Blessing when we also taste It? For It will surely transform into Its own good, i. e., immortality, those who partake of It.

And wonder not hereat, nor ask thyself in Jewish manner, How? but rather consider that water is cold by nature, but when it is poured into a kettle and brought to the fire, then it all but forgets its own nature, and goes away unto the operation of that which has mastered it. We too then in the same way, even though we be corruptible through the nature of our flesh, yet forsaking our own infirmity by the immingling of life, are trans-elemented to Its property, that is, life. For it needed, it needed that not only should the soul be re-created through the Holy Ghost into newness of life, but also that this gross and earthly body should by the grosser and kindred participation be sanctified and called to incorruption. But let not the Jew sluggish of understanding ever suppose that a mode of some new mysteries has been discovered by us. For he will see it in the older books, I mean those of Moses, already fore-shadowed out and bearing the force of the truth, for that it was accomplished in outward forms too. For what (tell me) shamed the destroyer? what provided that their forefathers also should not perish along with the Egyptians, when death, the conqueror of all, was arming himself against the firstborn? is it not manifest to all, that when they, in obedience to the Divine Law sacrificed the lamb, and having tasted of its flesh anointed the doorposts with the blood, death was compelled to pass them by, as sanctified? For the destroyer, that is, the death of the body, was arrayed against the whole nature of man, by reason of the transgression of the first-formed man. For then first did we hear, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. But since Christ was about to overthrow the so dire tyrant, by existing in us as Life through His Holy Flesh, the Mystery was fore-typified to them of old, and they tasted of the flesh of the lamb, and were sanctified and preserved by its blood, he that was appointed to destroy passing by, by the appointment of God, those who were partakers of the lamb. Why then art thou angry, O Jew, at being now called from the types to the truth, when Christ says, Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, ye have not life in you? albeit thou oughtest to come with more confidence to the comprehending of the Mystery, pre-instructed by the books of Moses, and by most ancient figures led most undoubtingly to the duty of faith.

How he will give them his flesh to eat he does not yet tell them, for he knew they were in darkness and would never in that state be able to understand what is ineffable.… But the power of learning suitably follows on those who believe.… It was therefore right that faith should first be rooted in them before understanding.… And it is for this reason (I suppose) that the Lord refrained from telling them how he would give them his flesh to eat, calling them to believe before they seek. For those who believed, however, he broke bread and gave it to them, saying, "Take, eat; this is my body." … Do you see how he does not explain the mystery to those who had senselessly rejected the faith without investigation? But, to those who believe, he declares it most clearly.

This is, he says, the great and ineffable mystery of the Samothracians, which it is allowable, he says, for us only who are initiated to know. For the Samothracians expressly hand down, in the mysteries that are celebrated among them, that (same) Adam as the primal man. And habitually there stand in the temple of the Samothracians two images of naked men, having both hands stretched aloft towards heaven, and their pudenda erecta, as with the statue of Mercury on Mount Cyllene. And the aforesaid images are figures of the primal man, and of that spiritual one that is born again, in every respect of the same substance with that man. This, he says, is what is spoken by the Saviour: "If ye do not drink my blood, and eat my flesh, ye will not enter into the kingdom of heaven; but even though," He says, "ye drink of the cup which I drink of, whither I go, ye cannot enter there." For He says He was aware of what sort of nature each of His disciples was, and that there was a necessity that each of them should attain unto His own peculiar nature. For He says He chose twelve disciples from the twelve tribes, and spoke by them to each tribe. On this account, He says, the preachings of the twelve disciples neither did all hear, nor, if they heard, could they receive. For the things that are not according to nature, are with them contrary to nature.

These two belonged to the seventy disciples who were scattered by the offence of the word which Christ spoke, "Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he is not worthy of me." But the one being induced to return to the Lord by Peter's instrumentality, and the other by Paul's, they were honoured to preach that Gospel on account of which they also suffered martyrdom, the one being burned, and the other being crucified on an olive tree.

...ye come together man by man in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the Son of man and the Son of God, so that ye obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but [which causes] that we should live for ever in Jesus Christ.

Since the Jews had before asserted that this was impossible, He showeth not only that it is not impossible, but that it is absolutely necessary. Wherefore He addeth, "He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life."

"And I will raise him up at the last day." For since He had said, "He that eateth of this bread shall not die for ever," and it was likely that this would stand in their way, (just as they before said, "Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead; and how sayest Thou, that he shall not taste of death?") He bringeth forward the Resurrection to solve the question, and to show that (the man who eateth) shall not die at the last. He continually handleth the subject of the Mysteries, showing the necessity of the action, and that it must by all means be done.

Those men then at that time reaped no fruit from what was said, but we have enjoyed the benefit in the very realities. Wherefore it is necessary to understand the marvel of the Mysteries, what it is, why it was given, and what is the profit of the action. We become one Body, and "members of His flesh and of His bones." Let the initiated follow what I say. In order then that we may become this not by love only, but in very deed, let us be blended into that flesh. This is effected by the food which He hath freely given us, desiring to show the love which He hath for us. On this account He hath mixed up Himself with us; He hath kneaded up His body with ours, that we might be a certain One Thing, like a body joined to a head. For this belongs to them who love strongly; this, for instance, Job implied, speaking of his servants, by whom he was beloved so exceedingly, that they desired to cleave unto his flesh. For they said, to show the strong love which they felt, "Who would give us to be satisfied with his flesh?"

Wherefore this also Christ hath done, to lead us to a closer friendship, and to show His love for us; He hath given to those who desire Him not only to see Him, but even to touch, and eat Him, and fix their teeth in His flesh, and to embrace Him, and satisfy all their love. Let us then return from that table like lions breathing fire, having become terrible to the devil; thinking on our Head, and on the love which He hath shown for us. Parents often entrust their offspring to others to feed; "but I," saith He, "do not so, I feed you with Mine own flesh, desiring that you all be nobly born, and holding forth to you good hopes for the future. For He who giveth out Himself to you here, much more will do so hereafter. I have willed to become your Brother, for your sake I shared in flesh and blood, and in turn I give out to you the flesh and the blood by which I became your kinsman."

This blood causeth the image of our King to be fresh within us, produceth beauty unspeakable, permitteth not the nobleness of our souls to waste away, watering it continually, and nourishing it. The blood derived from our food becomes not at once blood, but something else; while this doth not so, but straightway watereth our souls, and worketh in them some mighty power. This blood, if rightly taken, driveth away devils, and keepeth them afar off from us, while it calleth to us Angels and the Lord of Angels. For wherever they see the Lord's blood, devils flee, and Angels run together. This blood poured forth washed clean all the world; many wise sayings did the blessed Paul utter concerning it in the Epistle to the Hebrews. This blood cleansed the secret place, and the Holy of Holies. And if the type of it had such great power in the temple of the Hebrews, and in the midst of Egypt, when smeared on the door-posts, much more the reality. This blood sanctified the golden altar; without it the high priest dared not enter into the secret place. This blood consecrated priests, this in types cleansed sins. But if it had such power in the types, if death so shuddered at the shadow, tell me how would it not have dreaded the very reality? This blood is the salvation of our souls, by this the soul is washed, by this is beautiful, by this is inflamed, this causeth our understanding to be more bright than fire, and our soul more beaming than gold; this blood was poured forth, and made heaven accessible.

Awful in truth are the Mysteries of the Church, awful in truth is the Altar. A fountain went up out of Paradise sending forth material rivers, from this table springeth up a fountain which sendeth forth rivers spiritual. By the side of this fountain are planted not fruitless willows, but trees reaching even to heaven, bearing fruit ever timely and undecaying. If any be scorched with heat, let him come to the side of this fountain and cool his burning. For it quencheth drought, and comforteth all things that are burnt up, not by the sun, but by the fiery darts. For it hath its beginning from above, and its source is there, whence also its water floweth. Many are the streams of that fountain which the Comforter sendeth forth, and the Son is the Mediator, not holding mattock to clear the way, but opening our minds. This fountain is a fountain of light, spouting forth rays of truth. By it stand the Powers on high looking upon the beauty of its streams, because they more clearly perceive the power of the Things set forth, and the flashings unapproachable. For as when gold is being molten if one should (were it possible) dip in it his hand or his tongue, he would immediately render them golden; thus, but in much greater degree, doth what here is set forth work upon the soul. Fiercer than fire the river boileth up, yet burneth not, but only baptizeth that on which it layeth hold.

This blood was ever typified of old in the altars and sacrifices of righteous men, This is the price of the world, by This Christ purchased to Himself the Church, by This He hath adorned Her all. For as a man buying servants giveth gold for them, and again when he desireth to deck them out doth this also with gold; so Christ hath purchased us with His blood, and adorned us with His blood. They who share this blood stand with Angels and Archangels and the Powers that are above, clothed in Christ's own kingly robe, and having the armor of the Spirit. Nay, I have not as yet said any great thing: they are clothed with the King Himself.

These two baptisms He sent out from the wound in His pierced side, in order that they who believed in His blood might be bathed with the water; they who had been bathed in the water might likewise drink the blood. This is the baptism which both stands in lieu of the fontal bathing when that has not been received, and restores it when lost.

Therefore He also, wishing to show that this is not impossible, but even very necessary, and that one cannot otherwise have life, says: "unless you eat the Flesh," and so forth. So too Nicodemus spoke from unbelief: "How can a man enter into his mother's womb?" (John 3:4) Therefore when we hear that without partaking of the Flesh of the Son we cannot have life, we must have undoubting faith when receiving the Divine Mysteries, and not ask "how?" For "the natural man," that is, one who follows human, natural, or psychical reasoning, "does not receive" what is supernatural and spiritual (1 Cor. 2:14). So too he does not comprehend the spiritual food, the Flesh of the Lord.

Our Lord stops this argument. First, he states the power that comes from taking this food; secondly, he amplifies on it (v 55). As to the first he does three things. First, he states why it is necessary to eat this flesh; secondly, its usefulness; and thirdly, he adds something about its truth (v 56).

Jesus said: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. As if to say: You think it is impossible and unbecoming to eat my flesh. But it is not only possible, but very necessary, so much so that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have, i.e., you will not be able to have, life in you, that is, spiritual life. For just as material food is so necessary for bodily life that without it you cannot exist—"They exchanged their precious belongings for food" (Lam 1:11); "Bread strengthens the heart of man" (Ps 103:15)—so spiritual food is necessary for the spiritual life to such an extent that without it the spiritual life cannot be sustained: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth of God" (Dt 8:3).

We should note that this statement can refer either to eating in a spiritual way or in a sacramental way. If we understand it as referring to a spiritual eating, it does not cause any difficulty. For that person eats the flesh of Christ and drinks his blood in a spiritual way who shares in the unity of the Church; and this is accomplished by the love of charity: "You are one body, in Christ" (Rom 12:5). Thus, one who does not eat in this way is outside the Church, and consequently, without the love of charity. Accordingly, such a one does not have life in himself: "He who does not love, remains in death" (1 Jn 3:14).

But if we refer this statement to eating in a sacramental way, a difficulty appears. For we read above: "Unless one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (3:5). Now this statement was given in the same form as the present one: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man. Therefore, since baptism is a necessary sacrament, it seems that the Eucharist is also. In fact, the Greeks think it is; and so they give the Eucharist to newly baptized infants. For this opinion they have in their favor the rite of Denis, who says that the reception of each sacrament should culminate in the sharing of the Eucharist, which is the culmination of all the sacraments. This is true in the case of adults, but it is not so for infants, because receiving the Eucharist should be done with reverence and devotion, and those who do not have the use of reason, as infants and the insane, cannot have this. Consequently, it should not be given to them at all.

We should say, therefore, that the sacrament of baptism is necessary for everyone, and it must be really received, because without it no one is born again into life. And so it is necessary that it be received in reality, or by desire in the case of those who are prevented from the former. For if the contempt within a person excludes a baptism by water, then neither a baptism of desire nor of blood will benefit him for eternal life. However, the sacrament of the Eucharist is necessary for adults only, so that it may be received in reality, or by desire, according to the practices of the Church.

But even this causes difficulty: because by these words of Our Lord, it is necessary for salvation not only to eat his body, but also to drink his blood, especially since a repast of food is not complete without drink. Therefore, since it is the custom in certain Churches for only the priest to receive Christ's blood, while the rest receive only his body, they would seem to be acting against this.

I answer that it was the custom of the early Church for all to receive both the body and blood of Christ; and certain Churches have still retained this practice, where even those assisting at the altar always receive the body and blood. But in some Churches, due to the danger of spilling the blood, the custom is for it to be received only by the priest, while the rest receive Christ's body. Even so, this is not acting against our Lord's command, because whoever receives Christ's body receives his blood also, since the entire Christ is present under each species, even his body and blood. But under the species of bread, Christ's body is present in virtue of the conversion, and his blood is present by natural concomitance; while under the species of wine, his blood is present in virtue of the conversion, and his body by natural concomitance.

It is now clear why it is necessary to receive this spiritual food.

One cannot benefit from the Word of God for eternal life, except through his flesh. For until he was joined to the flesh, all flesh was held under the power of death. But now his life-giving flesh has been given. It nourishes the whole human race to life through the power suspended in it and joined in likeness to those who share the same physical nature.

And that this might not seem addressed to them alone, He declares universally, Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life.

Here the benefit of eating is touched upon: because he who eats the flesh is vivified in soul and body. In soul: whence he says: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life: has," I say, in merit; or "has," because he has already in a certain way begun to possess it; Isaiah fifty-five: "Hear, you who hear me, and eat what is good, and your soul shall delight in richness: incline your ear and come to me, and your soul shall live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the faithful mercies of David."

He also gives bodily life: whence he adds: "And I will raise him up on the last day," in that hour, of which above in chapter five: "The hour comes, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and those who have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."

An inquiry is made concerning the benefit: "He who eats my flesh," etc. For many eat who nevertheless die and are damned, as Judas. Likewise, just as the Son lives on account of the living Father, so it is said in the text that we live on account of the Son: but the Son does not live by eating: therefore by equal reasoning neither do we: or if we eat the Son, why does he himself not eat the Father?

It must be said that a twofold heresy arose from this word: one which said that from the moment anyone eats the body of Christ, he cannot be damned, provided he ate as a believer. But this is manifestly irrational on account of Judas. Others said that whoever once ate worthily would never afterward be damned: and this is manifestly false, because, as can be proved through Scripture, many were good in the Church who were afterward damned. Therefore it must be understood in the catholic sense: "he who eats," namely worthily, and does not depart from that worthiness, will live forever.

To the other objection it must be said that the comparison is not entirely similar, although it is adduced as a likeness. For the Son is said to live on account of the Father, because he has life from the Father and because he remains in the Father, but not because he is made better by participation in the Father: but we live through the Son, because from him we have life, and by the Son remaining in us and by participation in him we are made better. Therefore, because he does not remain in us except through eating, we eat so that we may live and be made better.

Herein too ought we specially to admire the holy Evangelist openly crying, And the Word was made Flesh. For he shrank not from saying, not that He was made in Flesh, but that He was made Flesh, that he might show the Union. And we do not say either that God the Word, of the Father, was transformed into the nature of the Flesh, or that the flesh passed into the Word (for Each remaineth that which it is by nature, and One Christ of Both); but in a manner unspeakable and passing human understanding, the Word united to His Own Flesh, and having, as it were, transformed It all into Himself (according to the operation which lieth in His power of quickening things lacking life) drave forth of our nature the corruption, and dislodged too death which of old prevailed by means of sin. He therefore that eateth the Holy Flesh of Christ, hath eternal life: for the Flesh hath in Itself the Word Which is by Nature Life. Wherefore He saith, I will raise him up at the last day. Instead of saying, My Body shall raise him up, i. e., him that eateth It, He hath put I: not as though He were other than His Own Flesh (and not wholly so by nature), for after the Union He cannot at all be severed into a pair of sons. I therefore (He saith) Who am become in him, through Mine Own Flesh, that is, will raise up him who eateth thereof, in the last day. For it were indeed even impossible that He Which is by Nature Life, should not surely overcome decay, and master death. Wherefore even though death which by the transgression sprang on us compel the human body to the debt of decay, yet since Christ is in us through His Own Flesh, we shall surely rise. For it were incredible, yea rather impossible, that Life should not make alive those in whom It is. For as if one took a spark and buried it amid much stubble, in order that the seed of fire preserved might lay hold on it, so in us too our Lord Jesus Christ hideth life through His Own Flesh, and inserts it as a seed of immortality, abolishing the whole corruption that is in us.

Whoever eats the holy flesh of Christ has eternal life because his flesh has the Word which by nature is life.

Then, again, how can they say that the flesh, which is nourished with the body of the Lord and with His blood, goes to corruption, and does not partake of life? Let them, therefore, either alter their opinion, or cease from offering the things just mentioned. But our opinion is in accordance with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn establishes our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.

Now, in as much as a sinner receives our Lord's body and blood in faith, he is in our Lord, and our Lord is in him, as our Lord himself says. Where the Lord dwells, there is his Spirit too.

Meanwhile, those who do not partake of it will have no share in eternal life, as not having received Jesus, Who is the true Life. For what is eaten is the Flesh not of a mere man, but of God, and able to deify as being united with the Godhead.

Next, the usefulness of this food is shown: first, for the spirit or soul; secondly, for the body, and I will raise him up on the last day.

There is great usefulness in eating this sacrament, for it gives eternal life; thus he says, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. For this spiritual food is similar to material food in the fact that without it there can be no spiritual life, just as there cannot be bodily life without bodily food, as was said above. But this food has more than the other, because it produces in the one who receives it an unending life, which material food does not do: for not all who eat material food continue to live. For, as Augustine says, it can happen that many who do take it die because of old age or sickness, or some other reason. But one who takes this food and drink of the body and blood of our Lord has eternal life. For this reason it is compared to the tree of life: "She is the tree of life for those who take her" (Prv 3:18); and so it is called the bread of life: "He fed him with the bread of life and understanding" (Sir 15:3). Accordingly, he says, eternal life, because one who eats this bread has within himself Christ, who is "the true God and eternal life," as John says (1 Jn 5:20).

Now one has eternal life who eats and drinks, as it is said, not only in a sacramental way, but also in a spiritual way. One eats and drinks sacramentally or in a sacramental way, if he receives the sacrament; and one eats and drinks spiritually or in a spiritual way, if he attains to the reality of the sacrament. This reality of the sacrament is twofold: one is contained and signified, and this is the whole Christ, who is contained under the species of bread and wine. The other reality is signified but not contained, and this is the mystical body of Christ, which is in the predestined, the called, and the justified. Thus, in reference to Christ as contained and signified, one eats his flesh and drinks his blood in a spiritual way if he is united to him through faith and love, so that one is transformed into him and becomes his member: for this food is not changed into the one who eats it, but it turns the one who takes it into itself, as we see in Augustine, when he says: "I am the food of the robust. Grow and you will eat me. Yet you will not change me into yourself, but you will be transformed into me." And so this is a food capable of making man divine and inebriating him with divinity. The same is true in reference to the mystical body of Christ, which is only signified [and not contained], if one shares in the unity of the Church. Therefore, one who eats in these ways has eternal life. That this is true of the first way, in reference to Christ, is clear enough. In the same way, in reference to the mystical body of Christ, one will necessarily have eternal life if he perseveres: for the unity of the Church is brought about by the Holy Spirit: "One body, one Spirit... the pledge of our eternal inheritance" (Eph 4:4; 1:14). So this bread is very profitable, because it gives eternal life to the soul; but it is so also because it gives eternal life to the body.

And therefore he adds, and I will raise him up on the last day. For as was said, one who eats and drinks in a spiritual way shares in the Holy Spirit, through whom we are united to Christ by a union of faith and love, and through him we become members of the Church. But the Holy Spirit also merits the resurrection: "He who raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead, will raise our mortal bodies because of his Spirit, who dwells in us" (Rom 8:11). And so our Lord says that he will raise up to glory whoever eats and drinks; to glory, and not to condemnation, as this would not be for their benefit. Such an effect is fittingly attributed to this sacrament of the Eucharist because, as Augustine says and as was said above, it is the Word who raises up souls, and it is the Word made flesh who gives life to bodies. Now in this sacrament the Word is present not only in his divinity, but also in the reality of his flesh; and so he is the cause of the resurrection not just of souls, but of bodies as well: "For as death came through a man, so the resurrection of the dead has come through a man" (1 Cor 15:21). It is now clear how profitable it is to take this sacrament.