XIII About the three miracles in the possession of our Lord’s Body
XIII
About the three miracles in the possession of our Lord’s Body
B. These three miracles are worked by the power and perfection of consecration. They are to be noted in the possession of the Body of Jesus, which after consecration we still have with us. These are three wondrous signs: (1) a large body is contained under a little Host; (2) the same Body is in many places at the same time; (3) though this Body be in many places, it is not divided.
(1) The first wonderful sign: in the possession of our Lord’s Body a large thing, that is, our Lord’s Body, is contained under a small appearance of bread. For this there is a threefold reason:
1. The first reason is the proof of the greatness of His wisdom who made so wondrous a work, that is, the wisdom of the Holy Ghost. We see that the more skilful a sculptor is, the more delicate are his works. If you show a jeweller a very small stone, or a very small bit of metal, and ask him to make in it a very finely cut design, the less skilful workman will say it is impossible, while a very skilful workman will do it easily. So to prove His wisdom the Holy Ghost easily makes the whole Body of Christ to be present under the very smallest species of the Sacrament. Hence, in Scripture, the Holy Ghost is said to be ‘subtile.’ For it is not possible to put on the Altar a piece of bread so small that He does not know how to turn it into the true Body of Jesus. St. John of Damascus, speaking of the Holy Ghost overshadowing our Lady, says, ‘You ask me how bread can become the Body of Christ; and I say to you, The Holy Ghost will come upon it, and He will do those things which are above nature and above knowledge.’
2. The second reason is the likeness of the power of Jesus to the power of God. For whatever the Son of God can do by nature, this also the Son of Man can do, because of the unity of person. St. Ambrose, speaking of the fulness of power given to Him in Heaven and on earth, says, ‘He will be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High. This does not mean that He was not great before He was born of the Virgin, but it means that He will receive in time the power which as Son of God He had naturally from everlasting. This is so in the sense that He is one person, for thus the Son of God and the Son of Man agree in one power.’ But the Son of God, the Word of the Father, had that power, for He clothed Himself in a very small part of a body separated by the power of the Holy Ghost, and enclosed Himself in it, as it is said, ‘The Word was made flesh.’ A like power, therefore, has been given to our Lord as man, so that He is able to make His Body present under the smallest appearance of bread. It is said that the Lord is great in Sion; and Sion means a looking-glass, as Papias and Augustin say. Now there is no doubt that a large image is seen as clearly and wholly in a small glass as in a large one. God is therefore said to be great in Sion, or in a mirror, because the true Body of Christ is present, as we know by faith, as wholly in every way under a small appearance of bread as under a large appearance.
3. The third reason is, that this Sacrament is a sufficient cause for the end sought. Now the end of the Eucharist is to feed the faithful soul with spiritual food, and strengthen it against evil and in good. The efficient cause of this is the Body of our Lord, and that can be as truly and wholly under a small Host as under a large Host, because under each it is equally united to God, from whom comes all power in this Holy Sacrament. For however small the species of bread may be, there is the whole Body of Christ by conversion, His Blood by connection, His Soul by conjunction, and His whole Godhead by union. Hence it is certain that He has the fulness of power to feed the soul spiritually and give it strength. He who gathered little manna had no less than he who gathered much. St. Hilary says, ‘Where there is any part of His Body, that is, the smallest part of the Sacrament, there is His whole Body. For that which was true of the manna, a type of the Body of our Lord, is true of the Body itself. They who gather much have nothing over, and they who gather little have no want.’ For in this we have not to consider visible quantity but spiritual power. Hence he who consecrates much bread, or a large Host, has for his salvation no more than the true Body of Christ.
(2) The second wonderful sign is that one and the same Body is in many places, in many Hosts, in many particles. This is proved in three ways.
1. First, it is proved by Moses and the prophet Malachias. Malachias teaches that in many places one oblation will be offered, that is, the clean oblation of the faithful. Moses speaks of the memory of the name of God. This memory is the Sacrifice of the Altar, that is, the Body of Jesus, for He commanded us to offer that Sacrifice in remembrance of Himself. Now this is done in many places, and in this our one Lord comes to give us His blessing.
2. Secondly, it is proved by a clear reason, which is this, that the Son of Man shares the power of the Son of God, because of the unity of person. St. Ambrose says, ‘As the Son of God and the Son of Man are one person, so they have one power.’ Hence, as the Son of God is essentially everywhere, He has given to the Son of Man that His Body shall be sacramentally present in many places. St. Augustin says, ‘The Body of Christ is in one place, that is, in Heaven, for visibly, in human shape, He went up to the right hand of the Father. His truth, however, that is, His Godhead, is everywhere; and His truth, that is, His true Body, is sacramentally on every Altar where Mass is said.’ Pope Innocent III. says, ‘The height of heavenly wisdom has ordained, that as there are Three Persons in unity of essence, namely, the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, so there should be three substances in unity of person, that is, the Godhead of Christ, His Soul, and His Body. Since, therefore, Christ in His divine nature exists in three ways in things created—that is to say, in all things by His essence; in the just, and only in the just, by grace; and in our assumed manhood by the hypostatic union—He willed also to exist in three ways as to His human nature. In Heaven He is locally, in the Word He is personally, and on the Altar He is sacramentally. Hence, as by His Godhead He is essentially in all things, so in His manhood He is whole in many places.’
3. Thirdly, this is proved by the visible likeness which is shown to all in a glass. If you set many glasses, so that your face can be seen in them, one face will appear in all equally and wholly. If, on the other hand, you break up a glass into many little bits, one face will be seen perfectly in each bit. Moreover, though the glass be broken into many pieces, your face remains one in all, and is not changed. So is it in truth in this Sacrament of Jesus, who is called the mirror and image of the goodness of God. If then this glass, namely, the form of bread, be broken into many parts, in each it will be united to God, that is to say, will be the true Body of Christ. St. Jerome says, ‘Each of the faithful receives Christ whole. He is whole in each part, and is not lessened in each part, but in each part gives Himself whole.’
(3) The third wonderful sign is that, though our Lord’s Body be in many places, in many Hosts, in many fragments of the Host, yet it is not divided into parts, but remains whole and undivided. The Apostle asks if Christ be divided; as much as to say that, though He is in Heaven locally, in the hearts of the good spiritually, and in many places sacramentally, He is always one and whole. The explanation of this miracle is the unspeakable union of God and man, of flesh and the Word. For as the Word of God is everywhere, filling all Heaven and the whole universe, yet remaining undivided, so He granted power to His Body to be undivided; that is, the Body which He assumed of the Blessed Virgin and gave to His Apostles. As His Godhead is everywhere, it fills that Body and unites it with itself, and brings it about that as the Godhead is one, so the truth of the Body of Jesus is one Body in truth. St. Augustin says, ‘When we eat Christ we do not make Him into parts; but in the Holy Sacrament He is that which each one receives. Each one receives his own part in this Sacrament, but our Lord remains whole and undivided in Himself. He abideth whole and undivided in Heaven; He abideth whole and undivided in your heart. For He was altogether whole with the Father when He came to the Blessed Virgin; but when He filled her with Himself He did not go away from God. He came in the flesh, that men might feed upon Him; and yet, that He might feed the Angels, He abode wholly with His Father.’ We should therefore pray to our Lord that, though we may be bodily divided from one another, we may be always spiritually joined to Him in love. We should pray, too, that He will always so feed us sacramentally with Himself in this life that, with the Angels, we may hereafter feed for ever on the unveiled vision of His face.
The Voice of the Holy Ghost
(1) About His Body in a small Host; 1. The wisdom of the Holy Ghost, the worker; Having all power, overseeing all things, and containing all spirits, intelligible, pure, subtile. Wisd. 7:23.
In the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a Virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the Virgin’s name was Mary. And the Angel being come in said to her, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. She, having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the Angel said to her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give to Him the throne of David His father; and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the Angel, How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the Angel answering said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; and therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. St. Luke 1:26–35.
2. Our Lord’s power like God’s power; Jesus coming spoke to them, saying, All power is given to Me in Heaven and in earth. Going therefore teach ye all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world. St. Matt. 28:18–20.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was made nothing that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. St. John 1:1–5, 14.
The Lord hath reigned, let the people be angry: He sitteth on the cherubim, let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Sion, and high above all people. Let them give praise to Thy great name. Ps. 98:1–3.
3. A sufficient cause for its end; The children of Israel did so, and they gathered, one more, another less: and they measured by the measure of a gomor; neither had he more that had gathered more, nor did he find less that had provided less; but every one had gathered, according to what they were able to eat. Ex. 16:17, 18.
(2) His one Body in many places; 1. Malachias; From the rising of the sun even to the going down My name is great among the Gentiles; and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation; for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts. Mal. 1:11.
You shall make an altar of earth to Me, and you shall offer upon it your holocausts and peace-offerings, your sheep and oxen, in every place where the memory of My name shall be: I will come to thee, and I will bless thee. Ex. 20:24.
3. By a similitude; The unspotted mirror of God’s majesty, and the image of His goodness. Wisd. 7:26.
(3) His Body, though in many places, is not divided; Is Christ divided? Was Paul then crucified for you? 1 Cor. 1:13.
Prayer
Eternal Father, give me more love for Jesus, Thy Son, in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Let me draw near to this table of Heaven in faith and hope and love, in confidence and humility and peace and joy. Dear Father, Thou art in Heaven, loving with an equal love Thy Eternal Son and Thy Eternal Spirit, giving joy to the Mother of Jesus, giving joy to Angels and Saints. But Thou art with me on earth, loving me and giving me help, giving me every help that I need; for I am Thy child, whom Thou hast made from the dust. Lead me in the light to Jesus, my elder Brother, that in the burning of a great love I may receive Him into my soul. He came down from Heaven for me, and dwelt on earth for me. He still dwells on earth for me in the Blessed Sacrament, though He has gone up to His throne. Let Him come down to me now from His Altar, that I may feed on Him, and drink of the streams of His grace, till my hunger and thirst shall be for ever satisfied in the fulness of bliss, in the changelessness of the vision of peace.
Thanksgiving
O Holy Ghost, I thank Thee for the Bread of Life which Jesus gives. It is His gift to me; it is Thy gift to me; it is a possession for ever. I bless and praise Thee for the miracles which Thou daily workest in order that Jesus may be the food of His people. In a hundred lands, in thousands of churches, in the heat of summer and in the winter cold, in the midst of the morning dew and when the sun is high, a pure Sacrifice is offered to God, and a banquet of Heaven is spread for all. Hungry and thirsty, our souls faint within us; but we cry to Thee, and Thou leadest us in a right way, a way that brings us to Thy storehouses and to the garners of Thy grace. We kneel before the Altar, and Thou dost satisfy the empty soul, and dost fill the hungry soul with good things. We wander in a wilderness, but Thy springs are always found in it. Jesus has redeemed us from the enemy. Thou art the Comforter whom He sent. Thou dost gather us from all lands, from the rising and the setting sun, from the north and from the sea. Thy mercies, O Lord, give glory to Thee, and Thy wonderful works for the children of men ever show forth Thy praise.