Volume II, Treatise VIII, Chapter XI

Another Fruit We Ought to Reap from Communion, Which Is, to Unite Ourselves to Jesus Christ, and to Transform Ourselves into Him

One of the chief ends for which God instituted the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, or perhaps even the very chief, was, as the saints say, to unite himself to us, or to make us one and the same thing with himself. For as by virtue of the words of consecration, that which was before bread is changed into the proper substance of Jesus Christ; so by virtue of holy communion, he who before he received it, was man, is spiritually transformed into God himself. This is what is expressed by the words of Jesus Christ, related by St. John: “my flesh is truly meat, and my blood is truly drink, he that eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 6:56) And as by means of natural heat, the food which he takes becomes the same substance of him who takes it; so here, by means of grace, he who eats the bread of angels, becomes the same thing with this celestial bread, wherewith he is nourished. For, it is not the body of Jesus Christ which is transformed into the substance of him that receives it, but it is he that receives it, who is transformed into Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, says St. Austin, “is the food of those that are grown up. Grow up therefore, and you shall eat him, yet you shall not change him into yourself, as you do the food that you take, but you shall be changed into him.” It is also, says St. Thomas, proper to this sacrament, to transform man into God, and to render him like to him; for, if fire has the power to change all things into itself, to which it is united; and to communicate thereunto its form and perfection, after it has destroyed whatsoever is contrary to its nature, with how far greater reason ought “this all-consuming fire of the divinity,” (Deuteronomy 4:24), consume whatsoever impurity it finds in our souls, and renders them like to itself?

But setting apart at present the real and true union of Jesus Christ with him who receives him, and coming to what concerns the fruit we ought to reap from holy communion, I say that this fruit consists in uniting ourselves spiritually to Jesus Christ, and transforming ourselves unto him after thesame manner. That is to say, we must endeavour to render ourselves like him, throughout the whole course of our lives; to be humble as he was, patient, obedient, chaste and poor, like unto him: and it is this St. Paul recommends to us, in other words, when he says, “clothe yourselves with our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 13:14), “clothe yourselves with the new man.” (Ephesians 4:24) In consecration, the substance of bread is converted into the substance of the body of Jesus Christ, and the accidents always remain the same; in communion it is quite the contrary; the substance of man remains the same, it is only the accidents that are changed. He becomes humble who was before proud; he that was incontinent becomes chaste, and he who was peevish and choleric becomes meek and patient; and thus it is, that he is spiritually transformed into Jesus Christ.

St. Cyprian, interpreting these words of the royal prophet, ‘ my chalice which inebriates, how excellent is it?” (Psalms 22:5) and applying them to the holy Eucharist, says, “that as drunkenness renders a man quite different from what he was; so this divine sacrament renders us quite different from ourselves, by making us quite forget the things of the world, and elevating our minds to a commerce with those of heaven.”—(Ep. Ixiii. ad Ceecil.) How different did the disciples at Emmaus, become from what they were before, after they had received this celestial bread, from the hands of our Saviour himself? “They knew him then, whom they knew not before;” (Luke 24:35), and from inconstant, feeble, and timorous persons, they became firm, faithful and courageous. It is after this manner, that holy communion “ought to change you into another man, into a perfect man; that so they who live, live not to themselves, but live to him who died for them and is risen again to life.“ (2 Corinthians 5:15)

A holy virgin (St. Angela) says, upon this subject, what is very solid and spiritual. She speaks of the marks by which we may know if we are transformed into God; and says, that one of these is, to desire to be contemned by all the world, and to desire to be regarded by all the world as worthy of every contempt; and not to wish for the compassion of others, or to live in the esteem or in the heart of any one. And in fine, to advance so far as to desire that no one should, upon any account, have esteem for us, but take it for the greatest honour that can happen to us, to be contemned by all, that we may become more conformable to Jesus Christ, and count it “a folly to glory in any thing but in his cross.” (Galatians 6:14) It is thus that we ought to endeavour to be transformed into him, and this is the fruit we ought to reap from holy communion.

St. Chrysostom, speaking of the obligation imposed upon us of receiving this august sacrament, “when we shall feel ourselves,” says he, “moved to choler or to any other passion, let us think how great a good God has made us worthy to partake of, and this reflection will help us to suppress all sorts of irregular motions within ourselves.”—(Hom. i.) It is not just that the tongue that has touched the body of Jesus Christ should profane itself with vain, idle, and frivolous discourses—it ought to be sanctified; it is not just, that the heart which has received God himself, and is become, as it were, a ciborium or tabernacle of the precious body of Jesus Christ, should permit itself to be defiled with vain desires— it ought to desire God alone, and think upon nothing else but him. When you have received a lozenge into your mouth, you feel the odour and sweetness of it all the day after. This heavenly bread which you have eaten, has an admirable perfume; it sends forth a most divine odour, which you ought to preserve; and therefore you ought to breathe nothing but virtue and sanctity.

A holy virgin was wont to say, that as often as she communicated she guarded all the avenues of her heart with more care than ordinary, representing Jesus Christ to herself in her heart, as a lord and master that reposes in his own house. Wherefore, adds she, I then endeavour to preserve all possible modesty in my discourse, in my looks and gestures, and in all my exterior, like to a careful servant who puts his finger upon his mouth to give a sign that no noise is to be made for fear of waking his master.

About ReligiousBookshelf.com · A Supernerd Media project