Introduction: The Holy Eucharist — Names, Relations, and Division

Introduction

INTRODUCTION i. Names. — No other mystery of the Catholic religion has been known by so many different names as the Holy Eucharist, considered both as a Sacrament and as a Sacrifice. These names are so numerous that the Church’s entire teaching on this dogma could be developed from a mere study of them. They are derived from Biblical events, from the sacramental species, from the effects produced by the Sacrament, from the Real Presence, and from the sacrificial character of the Mass. a) The names “Eucharist” (cvxapurria, gratiarum actio),1 “Blessing” (cuAoyia, benedictio) , and “Breaking of Bread ” (icAatns tov aprov, f radio panis) are of Scriptural origin. The first two occur in the Evangelical account of the Last Supper; the third goes back to the synoptics and St. Paul, and to certain expressions in the Acts of the Apostles. ” Blessing ” and ” Breaking of Bread ” are now obsolete terms, whereas ” Eucharist ” has remained in common use in the liturgy and in theological treatises since the time of St. Irenaeus. None of these three expressions exactly describes the nature of the Sac1 Not b§na gratia, as St Thomas thinks. 2 INTRODUCTION rament. Awe and reverence for the unfathomable mystery, together with the discipline of the secret (disciplina arcani), were responsible for them. The titles ” Last Supper” {sacra coena, Selirvov ayuov), “Lord’s Supper” (coena Domini, kvpuxkov Selirvov),2 and their poetical synonyms ” Celestial Banquet ” (prandium coeleste), “Sacred Banquet” (sacrum convivium), etc., which have a special relation to holy Communion, may likewise be traced to Sacred Scripture. b) ” Sacrament of the Bread and Wine ” (sacramentum panis et vini), “Bread of Heaven” (tyros iirovpavtos) , and such kindred appellations as “Bread of the Angels” (panis angdorum) and “Eucharistic Bread,” are derived from the visible species. St. Paul speaks of the Holy Eucharist as ” that bread ” 8 and ” the chalice of benediction.” 4 Far from misrepresenting the Sacrament or denying the dogma of Transubstantiation, these expressions are in accord with our Lord’s own way of speaking, for He calls Himself the “bread which cometh down from heaven.”8 c) The principal effect of the Holy Eucharist is expressed in the name ” Communion ” (communio, tvwns, Koiwvia), i. e. union with Christ, union of love. Present usage, however, restricts this term almost entirely to the reception of the Sacrament, as is apparent from such locutions as ” to go to Communion,” ” to receive holy Communion,” etc. The same is true of “Viaticum,” a name used to designate the Blessed Sacrament with special reference to the dying. “Agape” (&ydmf, Love Feast) 6 and ” Synaxis ” (

INTRODUCTION 3 d) Of special importance for the dogma of the Real Presence are those names which express the nature of the Sacrament. The Holy Eucharist, though according to its external species a ” Sacrament of Bread and Wine,” is in reality the ” Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ ” (sacramentum corporis et sanguinis Christi) or, simply, “the Body of the Lord” (corpus Domini), or “the Body of Christ” (corpus Christi). This explains such expressions as ” Sanctissimum,” ” Holy of Holies,” etc. e) The popular designation ” Sacrament of the Altar ” was introduced by St. Augustine. It points particularly to the sacrificial character of the Eucharist, indicating not only that as the body of Christ it is reserved on the altar, but more especially that it is a true sacrifice offered at the Mass. The traditional title ” Eucharistia” which appears in writings of authors as ancient as SS. Ignatius of Antioch, Justin, and Irenaeus, has in the technical terminology of the Church and her theologians taken precedence of all others, especially since the Council of Trent. The Roman Catechism is almost alone in preferring M Sacrament of the Altar.” The name ” Table of the Lord ” (mensa Domini, rpcwrcfa Kvplav) was formerly applied to the altar on which the Eucharistic sacrifice was offered ; later it came to be used of the sacrifice itself, and still later of the communion railing. ” To approach the Table of the Lord,” in present-day parlance, means to go up to the communion rail to receive the Blessed Sacrament. The original and deeper meaning of the phrase, viz.: to participate in the Eucharistic sacrifice, is no longer familiar to the people. The same is true of the word I; Keating, The Agape and the Eucharist in the Early Church, London 1 901; E. Baumgartner, £«• charistie und Agape im Ur christenturn, Solothurn 1909. 4 INTRODUCTION “Host” (hostia), which originally meant the sacrificial victim (Ovaia), but is now applied also to unconsecrated wafers. The current name for the Eucharist as a sacrifice is ” Sacrifice of the Mass” (sacrificium missae), or, briefly, “Mass” (missa). 2. The Position of the Holy Eucharist Among the Sacraments and Mysteries of the Catholic Religion. — The commanding dignity of the Holy Eucharist is evidenced by the central position which it occupies among the Sacraments and by the intimate connection existing between it and the most exalted mysteries of the faith. a) Though closely related to the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, and in a special class with them because of the kindred concepts of regeneration, puberty, and growth (food),7 the Holy Eucharist, by reason of its unique character, far transcends all the other Sacraments. It is the ” sacramentum sacramentorum ” because it contains and bestows, not only grace, but the Author of grace Himself. ” The Sacrament of the Eucharist,” says St. Thomas, “is the greatest of all sacraments; first because it contains Christ Himself substantially, whereas the others contain a certain instrumental power, which is a share of Christ’s power; … secondly, … all the other Sacraments seem to be ordained to this one as to their end; … thirdly, … nearly all the Sacraments terminate in the Eucharist.” 8 The first of these reasons is founded on the Real Presence ; the second, on the fact that Baptism and Confirmation bestowUie right to TCfr. Pohle-Preuss, The Sacra* 8 Summa ThtoL, 3a, qu. 65, art ments, Vol. I. 3. INTRODUCTION 5 receive Holy Communion : — Penance, and Extreme Unction make one worthy to receive it ; Holy Orders imparts the power of consecration; while Matrimony, as an emblem of the union between the mystical Christ and His Church, also symbolizes the union of love between Christ and the soul. The third reason given by St. Thomas is based on the consideration that those who have received one of the other Sacraments, as a rule also receive Holy Communion.9 We may add, as a fourth reason, that the Holy Eucharist alone among the Sacraments represents a true sacrifice, thereby becoming the very centre of the faith and the sun of Catholic worship.10 b) Viewed as a mysterium fidei, the Holy Eucharist is a veritable compendium of mysteries and prodigies. Together with the Trinity and the Incarnation it constitutes that wonderful triad by which Christianity shines forth as a religion of mysteries far transcending the capacity of human reason, and by which Catholicism, the faithful guardian and keeper of our Christian heritage, infinitely excels all pagan and non-Christian religions. This mysterious triad is no merely external aggregate. Its members are organically connected with one another. In the Eucharist, to borrow a profound thought of Scheeben, the series of God’s mysterious communications to humanity attains its climax. That same divine nature which God the Father, by virtue of the eternal generation, communicates to His only-begotten Son, the Son in turn, by virtue of the Hypostatic Union, communicates to His humanity, formed in the womb of the Virgin, in order that thus, as God-man, hidden under the Eucharistic • ” Sicut prist, quod ordinati com- charistie der Mittelpunkt des Glau* municant, st sHam baptisati, si bens, des Gottesdienstes und Lebens fuerint adulti.” (St Thomas, I.e.). der Kirch*, and ed., Paderborn lOCfr. F. A. Bongardt, Dii Bu- s88a. 6 INTRODUCTION species, He might deliver Himself to His Church, who, as a tender mother, mystically cherishes the Eucharist as her greatest treasure and daily sets it before her children as the spiritual food of their souls. First we meet the Son of God in the bosom of the eternal Father,11 next, in the bosom of His Virgin Mother,12 and lastly, as it were, in the bosom of the Church, — in the tabernacle and in the hearts of the faithful.18 3. Division of This Treatise. — The dogmatic teaching of the Church on the Holy Eucharist is admirably stated in the decrees of the Council of Trent. The Tridentine teaching may be summarized as follows : In the Eucharist the Body and Blood of the God-man are really, truly, and substantially present for the nourishment of souls, by reason of the Transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, which takes place in the unbloody sacrifice of the New Testament, t. e., the Mass. This descriptive definition brings out three principal heads of doctrine : ( 1 ) The Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist; (2) The 11 Cfr. John I, x8: * Unigenitus Filius, qui est in sinu Patris* 12 John I, 14: * Et Verbum car* factum est.* 18 This threefold relation has been artistically depicted by Raphael in his famous ” Disputa.” — On the miracles involved in the Holy Eucharist, v. infra, Part I, Ch. V, and Lessius, De Perfectionibus Moribusque Divmis, XII, x6. — The intrinsic propriety of the Eucharist in its actual form is well demon* strated by N. Gihr, Die hi. Sakramente der kath. Kirch*, Vol. I, 2nd ed., pp. 4x4 sqq., Freiburg 190a. INTRODUCTION 7 Eucharist as a Sacrament; and (3) The Eucharist as a Sacrifice. Hence the present treatise naturally falls into three parts. General Readings : — St Thomas, Summa TheoL, 3a, qu. 73 sqq.; Opusc, XXXVII (ed. Mich, de Maria, S. J., Vol. Ill, pp. 460 sqq., Tiferni Tiberini 1886). — Billuart, Summa S. T ho mat (ed. Lequette, Vol. VI, pp. 382 sqq.). — Albertus Magnus, De Sacrosancti Corporis Domini Sacramento Sermones (ed. G. Jacob, Ratisbon 1893). — *De Lugo, De Venerabili Eucharistiae Sacramento (ed. J. P. Fournials, Vols. Ill and IV, Paris 1892). — Bellarraine, Controv. de Sacramento Eucharistiae (ed. Fevre, Vol IV, Paris 1873).— Du Perron, Traiti du Sacrement de VEucharistie, Paris 1620. For a list of modern authors cfr. the bibliography in PohlePreuss, The Sacraments, Vol. I, pp. 3 sq. — In addition to the works there mentioned, the following may also be consulted: Haitz, Abendmahllehre, Mayence 1872.— X. Menne, Das allerheiligste Sakrament des Altars als Sakrament, Opfer und Kommunion, 3 vols., Paderborn 1873 sqq. — M. Rosset, De Eucharistiae Mysterio, Camtery 1876.— Card. Katschthaler, De SS. Eucharistiae Sacramento, 2nd ed., Ratisbon 1886.— *Card. Franzelin, De SS. Eucharistiae Sacramento et Sacrificio, 4th ed., Rome 1887.— P. Einig, De SS. Eucharistiae Mysterio, Treves 1888.— »De Augustinis, S. J., De Re Sacramentaria, Vol. I, 2nd ed., Rome 1889. — Card. Billot, De Ecclesiae Sacramentis, Vol. I, 4th ed., Rome 1907. — C. Jourdain, La Sainte Eucharistie, 2 vols., Paris 1897. — Card. Gasparri, Tractatus Canonicus de SS. Eucharistia, Paris 1897.— A. Cappellazzi, L’Eucaristia come Sacramento e come Sacrificio, Turin 1898.— H. P. Lahousse, S. J., Tractatus Dogmatic o-M oralis de SS. Eucharistiae Mysterio, Bruges 1899. — *Heinrich-Gutberlet, Dogmatische Theologie, Vol IX, Mayence 1901. — N. Gihr, Die hi. Sakramente der kath. Kirche, Vol. 1/ 2nd ed., Freiburg 1902.— *Scheeben-Atzberger, Handbuch der kath. Dogmatik, Vol. IV, Part 2, Freiburg 1901. — P. Batiffol, Studes d’Histoire et de Thiologie Positive, Vol. II, 3rd ed., Pant 1906.— J. C. Hedley, The Holy Eucharist, London 1907.— 8 INTRODUCTION W. J. Kelly, The Veiled Majesty, or Jesus in the Eucharist, London 1903. — D. Coghlan, De SS. Eucharistia, Dublin 1913. — W. Lescher, O. P., The Eucharistic Mission, London and New York 1908 (contains a summary of the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Holy Eucharist, pp. I-34). *) The asterisk before an author’s name indicates that his treatment of the subject is especially clear and thorough. As St Thomas is invariably the best guide, the omission of the asterisk before his name never means that we consider his work inferior to that of other writers. There are vast stretches of theology which he scarcely touched.