Quaestio 75 Question 75 De conversione panis et vini in corpus et sanguinem Christi The Change of Bread and Wine to the Body and Blood of Christ Deinde considerandum est de conversione panis et vini in corpus et sanguinem Christi. Et circa hoc quaeruntur octo. We have to consider the change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ; under which head there are eight points of inquiry: Primo, utrum substantia panis et vini remaneat in hoc sacramento post consecrationem. (1) Whether the substance of bread and wine remain in this sacrament after the consecration? Secundo, utrum annihiletur. (2) Whether it is annihilated? Tertio, utrum convertatur in corpus et sanguinem Christi. (3) Whether it is changed into the body and blood of Christ? Quarto, utrum remaneant ibi accidentia post conversionem. (4) Whether the accidents remain after the change? Quinto, utrum remaneat ibi forma substantialis. (5) Whether the substantial form remains there? Sexto, utrum conversio ista fiat subito. (6) Whether this change is instantaneous? Septimo, utrum sit miraculosior omni alia mutatione. (7) Whether it is more miraculous than any other change? Octavo, quibus verbis convenienter exprimi possit. (8) By what words it may be suitably expressed? Articulus 1 Article 1 Utrum in hoc sacramento sit corpus Christi secundum veritatem, sed solum secundum figuram, vel sicut in signo Whether the body of Christ is in this sacrament in very truth, or merely as in a figure or sign? Ad primum sic proceditur. Videtur quod in hoc sacramento non sit corpus Christi secundum veritatem, sed solum secundum figuram, vel sicut in signo. Dicitur enim Ioan. VI quod, cum dominus dixisset, nisi manducaveritis carnem filii hominis et biberitis eius sanguinem, etc., multi ex discipulis eius audientes dixerunt, durus est hic sermo, quibus ipse, spiritus est qui vivificat, caro non prodest quidquam. Quasi dicat, secundum expositionem Augustini, super quartum Psalmum, spiritualiter intellige quae locutus sum. Non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis, et bibituri illum sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me crucifigent. Sacramentum aliquod vobis commendavi. Spiritualiter intellectum vivificabit vos, caro autem non prodest quidquam. Objection 1: It seems that the body of Christ is not in this sacrament in very truth, but only as in a figure, or sign. For it is written (John 6:54) that when our Lord had uttered these words: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, etc., Many of His disciples on hearing it said: ‘this is a hard saying’: to whom He rejoined: It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: as if He were to say, according to Augustine’s exposition on Ps. 4: Give a spiritual meaning to what I have said. You are not to eat this body which you see, nor to drink the blood which they who crucify Me are to spill. It is a mystery that I put before you: in its spiritual sense it will quicken you; but the flesh profiteth nothing. Praeterea, dominus dicit, Matth. ult., ecce, ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi, quod exponens Augustinus dicit, donec saeculum finiatur, sursum est dominus, sed tamen et hic nobiscum est veritas dominus. Corpus enim in quo resurrexit, uno in loco esse oportet, veritas autem eius ubique diffusa est. Non ergo secundum veritatem est corpus Christi in hoc sacramento, sed solum sicut in signo. Obj. 2: Further, our Lord said (Matt 28:20): Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world. Now in explaining this, Augustine makes this observation (Tract. xxx in Joan.): The Lord is on high until the world be ended; nevertheless the truth of the Lord is here with us; for the body, in which He rose again, must be in one place; but His truth is spread abroad everywhere. Therefore, the body of Christ is not in this sacrament in very truth, but only as in a sign. Praeterea, nullum corpus potest esse simul in pluribus locis, cum nec Angelo hoc conveniat, eadem enim ratione posset esse ubique. Sed corpus Christi est verum corpus, et est in caelo. Ergo videtur quod non sit secundum veritatem in sacramento altaris, sed solum sicut in signo. Obj. 3: Further, no body can be in several places at the same time. For this does not even belong to an angel; since for the same reason it could be everywhere. But Christ’s is a true body, and it is in heaven. Consequently, it seems that it is not in very truth in the sacrament of the altar, but only as in a sign. Praeterea, sacramenta Ecclesiae ad utilitatem fidelium ordinantur. Sed secundum Gregorium, in quadam homilia, regulus reprehenditur quia quaerebat corporalem Christi praesentiam. Apostoli etiam impediebantur recipere spiritum sanctum propter hoc quod affecti erant ad eius praesentiam corporalem, ut Augustinus dicit, super illud Ioan. XVI, si non abiero, Paraclitus non veniet ad vos. Non ergo Christus secundum praesentiam corporalem est in sacramento altaris. Obj. 4: Further, the Church’s sacraments are ordained for the profit of the faithful. But according to Gregory in a certain Homily (xxviii in Evang.), the ruler is rebuked for demanding Christ’s bodily presence. Moreover the apostles were prevented from receiving the Holy Spirit because they were attached to His bodily presence, as Augustine says on John 16:7: Except I go, the Paraclete will not come to you (Tract. xciv in Joan.). Therefore Christ is not in the sacrament of the altar according to His bodily presence. Sed contra est quod Hilarius dicit, in VIII de Trin., de veritate carnis et sanguinis Christi non est relictus ambigendi locus. Nunc et ipsius domini professione, et fide nostra, caro eius vere est cibus et sanguis eius vere est potus. Et Ambrosius dicit, VI de sacramentis, sicut verus est Dei filius dominus Iesus Christus, ita vera Christi caro est quam accipimus, et verus sanguis eius est potus. On the contrary, Hilary says (De Trin. viii): There is no room for doubt regarding the truth of Christ’s body and blood; for now by our Lord’s own declaring and by our faith His flesh is truly food, and His blood is truly drink. And Ambrose says (De Sacram. vi): As the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s true Son so is it Christ’s true flesh which we take, and His true blood which we drink. Respondeo dicendum quod verum corpus Christi et sanguinem esse in hoc sacramento, non sensu deprehendi potest, sed sola fide, quae auctoritati divinae innititur. Unde super illud Luc. XXII, hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis tradetur, dicit Cyrillus, non dubites an hoc verum sit, sed potius suscipe verba salvatoris in fide, cum enim sit veritas, non mentitur. I answer that, The presence of Christ’s true body and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon Divine authority. Hence, on Luke 22:19: This is My body which shall be delivered up for you, Cyril says: Doubt not whether this be true; but take rather the Savior’s words with faith; for since He is the Truth, He lieth not. Hoc autem conveniens est, primo quidem, perfectioni novae legis. Sacrificia enim veteris legis illud verum sacrificium passionis Christi continebant solum in figura, secundum illud Heb. X, umbram habens lex futurorum bonorum, non ipsam rerum imaginem. Et ideo oportuit ut aliquid plus haberet sacrificium novae legis a Christo institutum, ut scilicet contineret ipsum passum, non solum in significatione vel figura, sed etiam in rei veritate. Et ideo hoc sacramentum, quod ipsum Christum realiter continet, ut Dionysius dicit, III cap. Eccles. Hierar., est perfectivum omnium sacramentorum aliorum, in quibus virtus Christi participatur. Now this is suitable, first for the perfection of the New Law. For, the sacrifices of the Old Law contained only in figure that true sacrifice of Christ’s Passion, according to Heb. 10:1: For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things. And therefore it was necessary that the sacrifice of the New Law instituted by Christ should have something more, namely, that it should contain Christ Himself crucified, not merely in signification or figure, but also in very truth. And therefore this sacrament which contains Christ Himself, as Dionysius says (Eccl. Hier. iii), is perfective of all the other sacraments, in which Christ’s virtue is participated. Secundo, hoc competit caritati Christi, ex qua pro salute nostra corpus verum nostrae naturae assumpsit. Et quia maxime proprium amicitiae est, convivere amicis, ut philosophus dicit, IX Ethic., sui praesentiam corporalem nobis repromittit in praemium, Matth. XXIV, ubi fuerit corpus, illuc congregabuntur et aquilae. Interim tamen nec sua praesentia corporali in hac peregrinatione destituit, sed per veritatem corporis et sanguinis sui nos sibi coniungit in hoc sacramento. Unde ipse dicit, Ioan. VI, qui manducat meam carnem et bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet et ego in eo. Unde hoc sacramentum est maximae caritatis signum, et nostrae spei sublevamentum, ex tam familiari coniunctione Christi ad nos. Second, this belongs to Christ’s love, out of which for our salvation He assumed a true body of our nature. And because it is the special feature of friendship to live together with friends, as the Philosopher says (Ethic. ix), He promises us His bodily presence as a reward, saying (Matt 24:28): Where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered together. Yet meanwhile in our pilgrimage He does not deprive us of His bodily presence; but unites us with Himself in this sacrament through the truth of His body and blood. Hence (John 6:57) he says: He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. Hence this sacrament is the sign of supreme charity, and the uplifter of our hope, from such familiar union of Christ with us. Tertio, hoc competit perfectioni fidei, quae, sicut est de divinitate Christi, ita est de eius humanitate, secundum illud Ioan. XIV, creditis in Deum, et in me credite. Et quia fides est invisibilium, sicut divinitatem suam nobis exhibet Christus invisibiliter, ita et in hoc sacramento carnem suam nobis exhibet invisibili modo. Third, it belongs to the perfection of faith, which concerns His humanity just as it does His Godhead, according to John 14:1: You believe in God, believe also in Me. And since faith is of things unseen, as Christ shows us His Godhead invisibly, so also in this sacrament He shows us His flesh in an invisible manner. Quae quidam non attendentes, posuerunt corpus et sanguinem Christi non esse in hoc sacramento nisi sicut in signo. Quod est tanquam haereticum abiiciendum, utpote verbis Christi contrarium. Unde et Berengarius, qui primus inventor huius erroris fuerat, postea coactus est suum errorem revocare, et veritatem fidei confiteri. Some men accordingly, not paying heed to these things, have contended that Christ’s body and blood are not in this sacrament except as in a sign, a thing to be rejected as heretical, since it is contrary to Christ’s words. Hence Berengarius, who had been the first deviser of this heresy, was afterwards forced to withdraw his error, and to acknowledge the truth of the faith. Ad primum ergo dicendum quod ex hac auctoritate praedicti haeretici occasionem errandi sumpserunt, male verba Augustini intelligentes. Cum enim Augustinus dicit, non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis, non intendit excludere veritatem corporis Christi, sed quod non erat manducandum in hac specie in qua ab eis videbatur. Per hoc autem quod subdit, sacramentum vobis aliquod commendavi, spiritualiter intellectum vivificabit vos, non intendit quod corpus Christi sit in hoc sacramento solum secundum mysticam significationem, sed spiritualiter dici, idest, invisibiliter et per virtutem spiritus. Unde, super Ioan., exponens illud quod dicitur, caro non prodest quidquam, dicit, sed, quo modo illi intellexerunt. Carnem quippe sic intellexerunt manducandam, quo modo in cadavere dilaniatur aut in macello venditur, non quo modo spiritu vegetatur. Accedat spiritus ad carnem, et prodest plurimum, nam, si caro nihil prodesset, verbum caro non fieret, ut habitaret in nobis. Reply Obj. 1: From this authority the aforesaid heretics have taken occasion to err from evilly understanding Augustine’s words. For when Augustine says: You are not to eat this body which you see, he means not to exclude the truth of Christ’s body, but that it was not to be eaten in this species in which it was seen by them. And by the words: It is a mystery that I put before you; in its spiritual sense it will quicken you, he intends not that the body of Christ is in this sacrament merely according to mystical signification, but spiritually, that is, invisibly, and by the power of the spirit. Hence (Tract. xxvii), expounding John 6:64: the flesh profiteth nothing, he says: Yea, but as they understood it, for they understood that the flesh was to be eaten as it is divided piecemeal in a dead body, or as sold in the shambles, not as it is quickened by the spirit . . . Let the spirit draw nigh to the flesh . . . then the flesh profiteth very much: for if the flesh profiteth nothing, the Word had not been made flesh, that It might dwell among us. Ad secundum dicendum quod verbum illud Augustini, et omnia similia, sunt intelligenda de corpore Christi secundum quod videtur in propria specie, secundum quod etiam ipse dominus dixit, Matth. XXVI, me autem non semper habebitis. Invisibiliter tamen sub speciebus huius sacramenti est ubicumque hoc sacramentum perficitur. Reply Obj. 2: That saying of Augustine and all others like it are to be understood of Christ’s body as it is beheld in its proper species; according as our Lord Himself says (Matt 26:11): But Me you have not always. Nevertheless He is invisibly under the species of this sacrament, wherever this sacrament is performed. Ad tertium dicendum quod corpus Christi non est eo modo in sacramento sicut corpus in loco, quod suis dimensionibus loco commensuratur, sed quodam speciali modo, qui est proprius huic sacramento. Unde dicimus quod corpus Christi est in diversis altaribus, non sicut in diversis locis, sed sicut in sacramento. Per quod non intelligimus quod Christus sit ibi solum sicut in signo, licet sacramentum sit in genere signi, sed intelligimus corpus Christi esse ibi, sicut dictum est, secundum modum proprium huic sacramento. Reply Obj. 3: Christ’s body is not in this sacrament in the same way as a body is in a place, which by its dimensions is commensurate with the place; but in a special manner which is proper to this sacrament. Hence we say that Christ’s body is upon many altars, not as in different places, but sacramentally: and thereby we do not understand that Christ is there only as in a sign, although a sacrament is a kind of sign; but that Christ’s body is here after a fashion proper to this sacrament, as stated above. Ad quartum dicendum quod ratio illa procedit de praesentia corporis Christi prout est praesens per modum corporis, idest prout est in sua specie visibili, non autem prout spiritualiter, idest invisibiliter, modo et virtute spiritus. Unde Augustinus dicit, super Ioan., si intellexisti spiritualiter verba Christi de carne sua, spiritus et vita tibi sunt, si intellexisti carnaliter, etiam spiritus et vita sunt, sed tibi non sunt. Reply Obj. 4: This argument holds good of Christ’s bodily presence, as He is present after the manner of a body, that is, as it is in its visible appearance, but not as it is spiritually, that is, invisibly, after the manner and by the virtue of the spirit. Hence Augustine (Tract. xxvii in Joan.) says: If thou hast understood Christ’s words spiritually concerning His flesh, they are spirit and life to thee; if thou hast understood them carnally, they are also spirit and life, but not to thee. Articulus 2 Article 2 Utrum in hoc sacramento remaneat substantia panis et vini post consecrationem Whether in this sacrament the substance of the bread and wine remains after the consecration? Ad secundum sic proceditur. Videtur quod in hoc sacramento remaneat substantia panis et vini post consecrationem. Dicit enim Damascenus, in libro IV, quia consuetudo est hominibus comedere panem et vinum, coniugavit eis deitatem, et fecit ea corpus et sanguinem suum. Et infra, panis communicationis non panis simplex est, sed unitus deitati. Sed coniugatio est rerum actu existentium. Ergo panis et vinum simul sunt in hoc sacramento cum corpore et sanguine Christi. Objection 1: It seems that the substance of the bread and wine does remain in this sacrament after the consecration: because Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iv): Since it is customary for men to eat bread and drink wine, God has wedded his Godhead to them, and made them His body and blood: and further on: The bread of communication is not simple bread, but is united to the Godhead. But wedding together belongs to things actually existing. Therefore the bread and wine are at the same time, in this sacrament, with the body and the blood of Christ. Praeterea, inter Ecclesiae sacramenta debet esse conformitas. Sed in aliis sacramentis substantia materiae manet, sicut in Baptismo substantia aquae, et in confirmatione substantia chrismatis. Ergo et in hoc sacramento substantia panis et vini manet. Obj. 2: Further, there ought to be conformity between the sacraments. But in the other sacraments the substance of the matter remains, like the substance of water in Baptism, and the substance of chrism in Confirmation. Therefore the substance of the bread and wine remains also in this sacrament. Praeterea, panis et vinum assumitur in hoc sacramento inquantum significat ecclesiasticam unitatem, prout unus panis fit ex multis granis, et unum vinum ex multis racemis, ut Augustinus dicit, in libro de symbolo. Sed hoc pertinet ad ipsam substantiam panis et vini. Ergo substantia panis et vini remanet in hoc sacramento. Obj. 3: Further, bread and wine are made use of in this sacrament, inasmuch as they denote ecclesiastical unity, as one bread is made from many grains and wine from many grapes, as Augustine says in his book on the Creed (Tract. xxvi in Joan.). But this belongs to the substance of bread and wine. Therefore, the substance of the bread and wine remains in this sacrament. Sed contra est quod Ambrosius dicit, in libro de sacramentis, licet figura panis et vini videatur, nihil tamen aliud quam caro Christi et sanguis post consecrationem credenda sunt. On the contrary, Ambrose says (De Sacram. iv): Although the figure of the bread and wine be seen, still, after the Consecration, they are to be believed to be nothing else than the body and blood of Christ. Respondeo dicendum quod quidam posuerunt post consecrationem substantiam panis et vini in hoc sacramento remanere. Sed haec positio stare non potest. Primo quidem, quia per hanc positionem tollitur veritas huius sacramenti, ad quam pertinet ut verum corpus Christi in hoc sacramento existat. Quod quidem ibi non est ante consecrationem. Non autem aliquid potest esse alicubi ubi prius non erat, nisi per loci mutationem, vel per alterius conversionem in ipsum, sicut in domo aliqua de novo incipit esse ignis aut quod illuc defertur, aut quod ibi generatur. Manifestum est autem quod corpus Christi non incipit esse in hoc sacramento per motum localem. Primo quidem, quia sequeretur quod desineret esse in caelo, non enim quod localiter movetur, pervenit de novo ad aliquem locum, nisi deserat priorem. Secundo, quia omne corpus localiter motum pertransit omnia media, quod hic dici non potest. Tertio, quia impossibile est quod unus motus eiusdem corporis localiter moti terminetur simul ad diversa loca, cum tamen in pluribus locis corpus Christi sub hoc sacramento simul esse incipiat. Et propter hoc relinquitur quod non possit aliter corpus Christi incipere esse de novo in hoc sacramento nisi per conversionem substantiae panis in ipsum. Quod autem convertitur in aliquid, facta conversione, non manet. Unde relinquitur quod, salva veritate huius sacramenti, substantia panis post consecrationem remanere non possit. I answer that, Some have held that the substance of the bread and wine remains in this sacrament after the consecration. But this opinion cannot stand: first of all, because by such an opinion the truth of this sacrament is destroyed, to which it belongs that Christ’s true body exists in this sacrament; which indeed was not there before the consecration. Now a thing cannot be in any place, where it was not previously, except by change of place, or by the conversion of another thing into itself; just as fire begins anew to be in some house, either because it is carried thither, or because it is generated there. Now it is evident that Christ’s body does not begin to be present in this sacrament by local motion. First of all, because it would follow that it would cease to be in heaven: for what is moved locally does not come anew to some place unless it quit the former one. Second, because every body moved locally passes through all intermediary spaces, which cannot be said here. Third, because it is not possible for one movement of the same body moved locally to be terminated in different places at the one time, whereas the body of Christ under this sacrament begins at the one time to be in several places. And consequently it remains that Christ’s body cannot begin to be anew in this sacrament except by change of the substance of bread into itself. But what is changed into another thing, no longer remains after such change. Hence the conclusion is that, saving the truth of this sacrament, the substance of the bread cannot remain after the consecration. Secundo, quia haec positio contrariatur formae huius sacramenti, in qua dicitur, hoc est corpus meum. Quod non esset verum si substantia panis ibi remaneret, nunquam enim substantia panis est corpus Christi. Sed potius esset dicendum, hic est corpus meum. Second, because this position is contrary to the form of this sacrament, in which it is said: This is My body, which would not be true if the substance of the bread were to remain there; for the substance of bread never is the body of Christ. Rather should one say in that case: Here is My body. Tertio, quia contrariaretur venerationi huius sacramenti, si aliqua substantia esset ibi quae non posset adorari adoratione latriae. Third, because it would be opposed to the veneration of this sacrament, if any substance were there, which could not be adored with adoration of latria.