The Blessed Eucharist as a Sacrament
Since Christ is present under
the
appearances of bread and wine
in a sacramental way, the Blessed Eucharist
is
unquestionably a sacrament of the Church.
Indeed, in the Eucharist the
definition
of a Christian sacrament as
"an outward sign of an inward grace
instituted by Christ" is verified.
The investigation into the precise nature of
the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, whose existence Protestants do not deny, is
beset with a number of difficulties. Its essence certainly does not consist in
the Consecration or the Communion, the former being merely the sacrificial
action, the latter the reception of the sacrament, and not the sacrament
itself. The question may eventually be reduced to this whether or not the
sacramentality is to be sought for in the Eucharistic species or in the Body
and Blood of Christ hidden beneath them.
The majority of theologians rightly
respond to the query by saying, that neither the species themselves nor the
Body and Blood of Christ by themselves, but the union of both factors
constitute the moral whole of the Sacrament of the Altar.
The species
undoubtedly belong to the essence of the sacrament, since it is by means of
them, and not by means of the invisible Body of Christ, that the Eucharist
possesses the outward sign of the sacrament. Equally certain is it, that the
Body and the Blood of Christ belong to the concept of the essence, because it
is not the mere unsubstantial appearances which are given for the food of our
souls but Christ concealed beneath the appearances.
The twofold number of the
Eucharistic elements of bread and wine does not interfere with the unity of the
sacrament; for the idea of refection embraces both eating and drinking, nor do
our meals in consequence double their number.
In the doctrine of the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, there is a question of even higher relation, in that the
separated species of bread and wine also represent the mystical separation of
Christ's Body and Blood or the unbloody Sacrifice of the Eucharistic Lamb. The
Sacrament of the Altar may be regarded under the same aspects as the other
sacraments, provided only it be ever kept in view that the Eucharist is a
permanent sacrament. Every sacrament may be considered either in itself or with
reference to the persons whom it concerns.
Passing over the Institution, which is
discussed elsewhere in connection with the words of Institution, the only
essentially important points remaining are the outward sign (matter and form)
and inward grace (effects of Communion), to which may be added the necessity of
Communion for salvation.
In regard to the persons concerned, we distinguish
between the minister of the Eucharist and its recipient or subject.
The matter or Eucharistic
elements
There are two Eucharistic
elements, bread and wine, which constitute the remote matter of the Sacrament
of the Altar, while the proximate matter can be none other than the Eucharistic
appearances under which the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present.
Bread
The first element is wheaten
bread (panis triticeus), without which the "confection of the Sacrament
does not take place" (Missale Romanum: De defectibus, sect. 3), Being true
bread, the Host must be baked, since mere flour is not bread.
Since, moreover,
the bread required is that formed of wheaten flour, not every kind of flour is
allowed for validity, such, e.g., as is ground from rye, oats, barley, Indian
corn or maize, though these are all botanically classified as grain
(frumentum).
On the other hand, the different varieties of wheat (as spelt,
amel-corn, etc.) are valid, inasmuch as they can be proved botanically to be
genuine wheat. The necessity of wheaten bread is deduced immediately from the
words of Institution: "The Lord took bread" (ton arton), in
connection with which it may be remarked, that in Scripture bread (artos),
without any qualifying addition, always signifies wheaten bread.
No doubt, too,
Christ adhered unconditionally
to the Jewish custom of using only wheaten bread
in the Passover Supper, and by the words,
"Do this for a commemoration of
me",
commanded its use for all succeeding times.
In addition to this,
uninterrupted tradition, whether it be the testimony of the Fathers or the
practice of the Church, shows wheaten bread to have played such an essential
part, that even Protestants would be loath to regard rye bread or barley bread
as a proper element for the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
The Church maintains an easier position in the
controversy respecting the use of fermented or unfermented bread. By leavened
bread (fermentum, zymos) is meant such wheaten bread as requires leaven or
yeast in its preparation and baking, while unleavened bread (azyma, azymon) is
formed from a mixture of wheaten flour and water, which has been kneaded to
dough and then baked.
After the Greek Patriarch Michael Cærularius of
Constantinople had sought in 1053 to palliate the renewed rupture with Rome by
means of the controversy, concerning unleavened bread, the two Churches, in the
Decree of Union at Florence, in 1439, came to the unanimous dogmatic decision,
that the distinction between leavened and unleavened bread did not interfere
with the confection of the sacrament, though for just reasons based upon the
Church's discipline and practice, the Latins were obliged to retain unleavened
bread, while the Greeks still held on to the use of leavened (cf, Denzinger, Enchirid.,
Freiburg, 1908, no, 692.)
Since the Schismatics had before the Council of
Florence entertained doubts as to the validity of the Latin custom, a brief
defense of the use of unleavened bread will not be out of place here.
Pope Leo
IX had as early as 1054 issued a protest against Michael Cærularius (cf. Migne,
P.L., CXLIII, 775), in which he referred to the Scriptural fact, that according
to the three Synoptics the Last Supper was celebrated "on the first day of
the azymes" and so the custom of the Western Church received its solemn
sanction from the example of Christ Himself.
The Jews, moreover, were
accustomed even the day before the fourteenth of Nisan to get rid of all the
leaven which chanced to be in their dwellings, that so they might from that time
on partake exclusively of the so-called mazzoth as bread.
As regards tradition,
it is not for us to settle the dispute of learned authorities, as to whether or
not in the first six or eight centuries the Latins also celebrated Mass with
leavened bread (Sirmond, Döllinger, Kraus) or have observed the present custom
ever since the time of the Apostles (Mabillon, Probst). Against the Greeks it
suffices to call attention to the historical fact that in the Orient the
Maronites and Armenians have used unleavened bread from time immemorial, and
that according to Origen (Commentary on Matthew, XII.6) the people of the East
"sometimes", therefore not as a rule, made use of leavened bread in
their Liturgy.
Besides, there is considerable force in the theological argument
that the fermenting process with yeast and other leaven, does not affect the
substance of the bread, but merely its quality. The reasons of congruity
advanced by the Greeks in behalf of leavened bread, which would have us
consider it as a beautiful symbol of the hypostatic union, as well as an
attractive representation of the savor of this heavenly Food, will be most
willingly accepted, provided only that due consideration be given to the
grounds of propriety set forth by the Latins with
St. Thomas Aquinas (III:74:4)
namely,
the example of Christ,
the aptitude of unleavened bread
to be regarded
as
a symbol of the purity
of His Sacred Body,
free from all corruption of sin,
and finally the instruction of St. Paul (1 Corinthians 5:8)
to keep the Pasch
not
with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth".
Wine
The second Eucharistic element
required is wine of the grape (vinum de vite). Hence are excluded as invalid,
not only the juices extracted and prepared from other fruits (as cider and
perry), but also the so-called artificial wines, even if their chemical constitution
is identical with the genuine juice of the grape.
The necessity of wine of the
grape is not so much the result of the authoritative decision of the Church, as
it is presupposed by her (Council of Trent, Sess. XIII, cap. iv), and
is based
upon the example and
command of Christ, Who at the Last Supper
certainly
converted the natural wine of grapes
into His Blood.
This is deduced partly
from the rite of the Passover,
which required the head of the family to pass
around the
"cup of benediction" (calix benedictionis)
containing the
wine of grapes, partly, and especially,
from the express declaration of Christ,
that henceforth He would not drink
of the "fruit of the vine"
(genimen vitis).
The Catholic Church is aware of no other tradition and in this
respect she has ever been one with the Greeks. The ancient Hydroparastatæ, or
Aquarians, who used water instead of wine, were heretics in her eyes. The
counter-argument of Ad. Harnack ["Texte und Untersuchungen", new
series, VII, 2 (1891), 115 sqq.], that the most ancient of Churches was
indifferent as to the use of wine, and more concerned with the action of eating
and drinking than with the elements of bread and wine, loses all its force in
view not only of the earliest literature on the subject (the Didache, Ignatius,
Justin, Irenæus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and
Cyprian), but also of non-Catholic and apocryphal writings, which bear
testimony to the use of bread and wine as the only and necessary elements of
the Blessed Sacrament.
On the other hand, a very ancient law of the Church
which, however, has nothing to do with the validity of the sacrament,
prescribes that a little water be added to the wine before the Consecration
(Decr. pro Armenis: aqua modicissima), a practice, whose legitimacy the Council
of Trent (Sess. XXII, can. ix) established under pain of anathema.
The rigor of
this law of the Church may be traced to the ancient custom of the Romans and
Jews, who mixed water with the strong southern wines (see Proverbs 9:2), to the
expression of calix mixtus found in Justin (First Apology 65), Irenæus (Against
Heresies V.2.3), and Cyprian (Epistle 63, no. 13 sq.), and especially to the
deep symbolical meaning contained in the mingling, inasmuch as thereby are
represented the flowing of blood and water from the side of the Crucified
Savior and the intimate union of the faithful with Christ (cf. Council of
Trent, Sess. XXII, cap. vii).
The sacramental form or the
words of consecration
In proceeding to verify the form,
which is always made up of words, we may start from the dubitable fact, that
Christ did not consecrate
by the mere fiat of His omnipotence, which found no
expression in articulate utterance, but by pronouncing the words of
Institution:
"This is my body . . . this is my blood",
and that by
the addition: "Do this for a commemoration of me".
He commanded the
Apostles to follow His example.
Were the words of Institution a mere
declarative utterance of the conversion, which might have taken place in the
"benediction" unannounced and articulately unexpressed, the Apostles
and their successors would, according to Christ's example and mandate, have
been obliged to consecrate in this mute manner also, a consequence which is
altogether at variance with the deposit of faith.
It is true, that Pope
Innocent III (De Sacro altaris myst., IV, vi) before his elevation to the
pontificate did hold the opinion, which later theologians branded as
"temerarious", that Christ consecrated without words by means of the
mere "benediction". Not many theologians, however, followed him in
this regard, among the few being Ambrose Catharinus, Cheffontaines, and Hoppe,
by far the greater number preferring to stand by the unanimous testimony of the
Fathers.
Meanwhile, Innocent III also insisted most urgently that at least in
the case of the celebrating priest, the words of Institution were prescribed as
the sacramental form.
It was, moreover, not until its comparatively recent
adherence in the seventeenth century to the famous "Confessio fidei orthodoxa"
of Peter Mogilas (cf. Kimmel, "Monum. fidei eccl. orient.", Jena,
1850, I, p. 180), that the Schismatical Greek Church adopted the view,
according to which the priest does not at all consecrate by virtue of the words
of Institution, but only by means of the Epiklesis occurring shortly after them
and expressing in the Oriental Liturgies a petition to the Holy Spirit,
"that the bread and wine may be converted into the Body and Blood of
Christ". Were the Greeks justified in maintaining this position, the immediate
result would be, that the Latins who have no such thing as the Epiklesis in
their present Liturgy, would possess neither the true Sacrifice of the Mass nor
the Holy Eucharist.
Fortunately, however, the Greeks can be shown the error of
their ways from their own writings, since it can be proved, that they
themselves formerly placed the form of Transubstantiation in the words of
Institution. Not only did such renowned Fathers as Justin (First Apology 66),
Irenæus (Against Heresies V.2.3), Gregory of Nyssa (The Great Catechism, no.
37), Chrysostom (Hom. i, de prod. Judæ, n. 6), and John Damascene (Exposition
of the Faith IV.13) hold this view, but the ancient Greek Liturgies bear
testimony to it, so that Cardinal Bessarion in 1439 at Florence called the
attention of his fellow-countrymen to the fact, that as soon as the words of
Institution have been pronounced, supreme homage and adoration are due to the
Holy Eucharist, even though the famous Epiklesis follows some time after.
The objection that the mere
historical recitation of the words of Institution taken from the narrative of
the Last Supper possesses no intrinsic consecratory force, would be well
founded, did the priest of the Latin Church merely intend by means of them to
narrate some historical event rather than pronounce them with the practical
purpose of effecting the conversion, or if he pronounced them in his own name
and person instead of the Person of Christ, whose minister and instrumental
cause he is.
Neither of the two suppositions holds in the case of a priest who
really intends to celebrate Mass. Hence, though the Greeks may in the best of
faith go on erroneously maintaining that they consecrate exclusively in their
Epiklesis, they do, nevertheless, as in the case of the Latins, actually
consecrate by means of the words of Institution contained in their Liturgies,
if Christ has instituted these words as the words of consecration and the form
of the sacrament.
We may in fact go a step farther and assert,
that the words
of Institution constitute
the only and wholly adequate
form of the Eucharist
and
that, consequently, the words of the
Epiklesis possess no inherent
consecratory value.
 |
| Christ with Eucharist Vicente Juan Masip 16th Century |
The contention that the words of the Epiklesis have joint
essential value and constitute the partial form of the sacrament, was indeed
supported by individual Latin theologians, as Touttée, Renaudot, and Lebrun.
Though this opinion cannot be condemned as erroneous in faith, since it allows
to the words of Institution their essential, though partial, consecratory
value, appears nevertheless to be intrinsically repugnant.
For, since the act
of Consecration cannot remain, as it were, in a state of suspense, but is
completed in an instant of time, there arises the dilemma: Either the words of
Institution alone and, therefore, not the Epiklesis, are productive of the
conversion, or the words of the Epiklesis alone have such power and not the
words of Institution.
Of more considerable importance is the circumstance that
the whole question came up for discussion in the council for union held at
Florence in 1439. Pope Eugene IV urged the Greeks to come to a unanimous
agreement with the Roman faith and subscribe to the words of Institution as
alone constituting the sacramental form, and to drop the contention that the words
of the Epiklesis also possessed a partial consecratory force.
But when the
Greeks, not without foundation, pleaded that a dogmatic decision would reflect
with shame upon their whole ecclesiastical past, the ecumenical synod was
satisfied with the oral declaration of Cardinal Bessarion recorded in the
minutes of the council for 5 July, 1439 (P.G., CLXI, 491), namely, that the
Greeks follow the universal teaching of the Fathers, especially of
"blessed John Chrysostom, familiarly known to us", according to whom
the
"Divine words of Our Redeemer
contain the full and entire force of
Transubstantiation".
The venerable antiquity of the Oriental
Epiklesis, its peculiar position in the Canon of the Mass, and its interior
spiritual unction, oblige the theologian to determine its dogmatic value and to
account for its use. Take, for instance, the Epiklesis of the Ethiopian
Liturgy: "We implore and beseech Thee, O Lord, to send forth the Holy
Spirit and His Power upon this Bread and Chalice and convert them into the Body
and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
Since this prayer always follows
after the words of Institution have been pronounced, the theological question
arises, as to how it may be made to harmonize with the words of Christ, which
alone possess the consecrated power.
Two explanations have been suggested
which, however, can be merged in one. The first view considers the Epiklesis to
be a mere declaration of the fact, that the conversion has already taken place,
and that in the conversion just as essential a part is to be attributed to the
Holy Spirit as Co-Consecrator as in the allied mystery of the Incarnation.
Since, however, because of the brevity of the actual instant of conversion, the
part taken by the Holy Spirit could not be expressed, the Epiklesis takes us
back in imagination to the precious moment and regards the Consecration as just
about to occur.
A similar purely psychological retrospective transfer is met
with in other portions of the Liturgy, as in the Mass for the Dead, wherein the
Church prays for the departed as if they were still upon their bed of agony and
could still be rescued from the gates of hell.
Thus considered, the Epiklesis
refers us back to the Consecration as the center about which all the
significance contained in its words revolves.
A second explanation is based,
not upon the enacted Consecration, but upon the approaching Communion, inasmuch
as the latter, being the effective means of uniting us more closely in the
organized body of the Church, brings forth in our hearts the mystical Christ,
as is read in the Roman Canon of the Mass: "Ut nobis corpus et sanguis
fiat", i.e. that it may be made for us the body and blood.
It was in this
purely mystical manner that the Greeks themselves explained the meaning of the
Epiklesis at the Council of Florence (Mansi, Collect. Concil., XXXI, 106).
Yet
since much more is contained in the plain words than this true and deep
mysticism, it is desirable to combine both explanations into one, and so we
regard the Epiklesis, both in point of liturgy and of time, as the significant
connecting link, placed midway between the Consecration and the Communion in
order to emphasize the part taken by the Holy Spirit in the Consecration of
bread and wine, and, on the other hand, with the help of the same Holy Spirit
to obtain the realization of the true Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ
by their fruitful effects on both priest and people.
The effects of the holy
Eucharist
The doctrine of the Church
regarding the effects or the fruits of Holy Communion centers around two ideas:
(a) the union with Christ by love and (b) the spiritual repast of the soul.
Both ideas are often verified in one and same effect of Holy Communion.
The union with Christ by
love
The first and principal effect of
the Holy Eucharist is union with Christ by love (Decr. pro Armenis: adunatio ad
Christum), which union as such does not consist in the sacramental reception of
the Host, but in the spiritual and mystical union with Jesus by the theological
virtue of love. Christ Himself designated the idea of Communion as a union
love: "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh blood, abideth in me, and I
in him" (John 6:57). St. Cyril of Alexandria (Hom. in Joan., IV, xvii)
beautifully represents this mystical union as the fusion of our being into that
of the God-man, as "when melted wax is fused with other wax".
Since
the Sacrament of Love is not satisfied with an increase of habitual love only,
but tends especially to fan the flame of actual love to an intense ardor, the
Holy Eucharist is specifically distinguished from the other sacraments, and
hence it is precisely in this latter effect that Francisco Suárez, recognizes
the so-called "grace of the sacrament", which otherwise is so hard to
discern. It stands to reason that the essence of this union by love consists
neither in a natural union with Jesus analogous to that between soul and body,
nor in a hypostatic union of the soul with the Person of the Word, nor finally
in a pantheistical deification of the communicant, but simply in a moral but
wonderful union with Christ by the bond of the most ardent charity.
Hence the
chief effect
of a worthy Communion
is to a certain extent a foretaste of
heaven,
in fact the anticipation and pledge of our future union with God by
love in the Beatific Vision. He alone can properly estimate the precious boon
which Catholics possess in the Holy Eucharist, who knows how to ponder these
ideas of Holy Communion to their utmost depth.
The immediate result of this
union with Christ by love is the bond of charity existing between the faithful
themselves as St. Paul says: "For we being many, are one bread, one body,
all that partake of one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17).
And so the Communion
of Saints is not merely an ideal union by faith and grace, but an eminently
real union, mysteriously constituted, maintained, and guaranteed by partaking
in common of one and the same Christ.
The spiritual repast of the
soul
A second fruit of this union with
Christ by love is an increase of sanctifying grace in the soul of the worthy
communicant.
Here let it be remarked at the outset, that the Holy Eucharist
does not per se constitute a person in the state of grace as do the sacraments
of the dead (baptism and penance), but presupposes such a state.
It is,
therefore, one of the sacraments of the living.
It is as impossible for the
soul
in the state of mortal sin
to receive this Heavenly Bread
with profit, as
it is for a corpse
to assimilate food and drink.
Hence the Council of Trent
(Sess. XIII. can. v), in opposition to Luther and Calvin, purposely defined,
that the "chief fruit of the Eucharist does not consist in the forgiveness
of sins".
For though Christ said of the Chalice: "This is my blood of
the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins"
(Matthew 26:28), He had in view an effect of the sacrifice, not of the
sacrament; for He did not say that His Blood would be drunk unto remission of
sins, but shed for that purpose.
It is for this very reason that St. Paul (1
Corinthians 11:28) demands that rigorous "self-examination", in order
to avoid the heinous offense of being guilty of the Body and the Blood of the
Lord by "eating and drinking unworthily", and that the Fathers insist
upon nothing so energetically as upon a pure and innocent conscience.
In spite
of the principles just laid down, the question might be asked, if the Blessed
Sacrament could not at times per accidens free the communicant from mortal sin,
if he approached the Table of the Lord unconscious of the sinful state of his
soul. Presupposing what is self-evident, that there is question neither of a
conscious sacrilegious Communion nor a lack of imperfect contrition (attritio),
which would altogether hinder the justifying effect of the sacrament,
theologians incline to the opinion, that in such exceptional cases the
Eucharist can restore the soul to the state of grace, but all without exception
deny the possibility of the reviviscence of a sacrilegious or unfruitful
Communion after the restoration of the soul's proper moral condition has been effected,
the Eucharist being different in this respect from the sacraments which imprint
a character upon the soul (baptism, confirmation, and Holy orders).
Together
with the increase of sanctifying grace there is associated another effect,
namely, a certain spiritual relish or delight of soul (delectatio spiritualis).
Just as food and drink delight and refresh the heart of man, so does this
"Heavenly Bread containing within itself all sweetness" produce in
the soul of the devout communicant ineffable bliss, which, however, is not to
be confounded with an emotional joy of the soul or with sensible sweetness.
Although both may occur as the result of a special grace, its true nature is
manifested in a certain cheerful and willing fervor in all that regards Christ
and His Church, and in the conscious fulfillment of the duties of one's state
of life, a disposition of soul which is perfectly compatible with interior
desolation and spiritual dryness.
A good Communion is recognized less
in the
transitory sweetness of the emotions
than in its lasting practical effects
on
the conduct of our daily lives.
Forgiveness of venial sin
and preservation from mortal sin
Though Holy Communion does not
per se remit mortal sin, it has nevertheless the third effect of "blotting
out venial sin and preserving the soul from mortal sin" (Council of Trent,
Sess. XIII, cap. ii).
The Holy Eucharist is not merely a food, but a medicine
as well. The destruction of venial sin and of all affection to it, is readily
understood on the basis of the two central ideas mentioned above.
Just as
material food banishes minor bodily weaknesses and preserves man's physical
strength from being impaired, so does this food of our souls remove our lesser
spiritual ailments and preserve us from spiritual death.
As a union based upon
love, the Holy Eucharist cleanses with its purifying flame the smallest stains
which adhere to the soul, and at the same time serves as an effective
prophylactic against grievous sin.
It only remains for us to ascertain with clearness
the manner in which this preservative influence against relapse into mortal sin
is exerted.
According to the teaching of the Roman Catechism, it is effected by
the allaying of concupiscence, which is the chief source of deadly sin,
particularly of impurity.
Therefore it is that spiritual writers
recommend
frequent Communion
as the most effective remedy against impurity,
since its
powerful influence is felt
even after other means have proved
unavailing (cf.
St. Thomas: III:79:6).
Whether or not the Holy Eucharist is directly conducive
to the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, is disputed by St.
Thomas (III:79:5), since the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar was not instituted
as a means of satisfaction; it does, however, produce an indirect effect in
this regard, which is proportioned to the communicant's love and devotion.
The
case is different as regards the effects of grace in behalf of a third party.
The pious custom of the faithful
of "offering their Communion"
for
relations, friends, and the souls departed,
is to be considered as possessing
unquestionable value, in the first place,
because an earnest prayer of petition
in the presence of the Spouse of our souls
will readily find a hearing, and
then,
because the fruits of Communion as a
means of satisfaction for sin may
be
applied to a third person, and
especially per modum suffragii
to the souls in
purgatory.
The pledge of our
resurrection
As a last effect we may mention
that the Eucharist is the "pledge of our glorious resurrection and eternal
happiness" (Council of Trent, Sess. XIII, cap. ii), according to the
promise of Christ: "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath
everlasting life: and I will raise him up on the last day." Hence the
chief reason why the ancient Fathers, as Ignatius (Letter to the Ephesians 20),
Irenæus (Against Heresies IV.18.4), and Tertullian (On the Resurrection of the
Flesh 8), as well as later patristic writers, insisted so strongly upon our
future resurrection, was the circumstance that it is the door by which we enter
upon unending happiness.
There can be nothing incongruous or improper in the
fact that the body also shares in this effect of Communion, since by its
physical contact with the Eucharist species, and hence (indirectly) with the
living Flesh of Christ, it acquires a moral right to its future resurrection,
even as the Blessed Mother of God, inasmuch as she was the former abode of the
Word made flesh, acquired a moral claim to her own bodily assumption into
heaven.
The further discussion as to whether some "physical quality"
(Contenson) or a "sort of germ of immortality" (Heimbucher) is
implanted in the body of the communicant, has no sufficient foundation in the
teaching of the Fathers and may, therefore, be dismissed without any injury to
dogma.
The necessity of the holy
Eucharist for salvation
We distinguish two kinds of
necessity,
•the necessity of means
(necessitas medii) and
•the necessity of precept
(necessitas præcepti).
In the first sense a thing or action is
necessary because without it a given end cannot be attained; the eye, e.g. is
necessary for vision. The second sort of necessity is that which is imposed by
the free will of a superior, e.g. the necessity of fasting.
As regards
Communion a further distinction must be made between infants and adults. It is
easy to prove that in the case of infants Holy Communion is not necessary to
salvation, either as a means or as of precept. Since they have not as yet
attained to the use of reason, they are free from the obligation of positive
laws; consequently, the only question is whether Communion is, like Baptism,
necessary for them as a means of salvation. Now the Council of Trent under pain
of anathema, solemnly rejects such a necessity (Sess. XXI, can. iv) and
declares that the custom of the primitive Church of giving Holy Communion to
children was not based upon the erroneous belief of its necessity to salvation,
but upon the circumstances of the times (Sess. XXI, cap. iv).
Since according
to St. Paul's teaching (Romans 8:1) there is "no condemnation" for
those who have been baptized, every child that dies in its baptismal innocence,
even without Communion, must go straight to heaven. This latter position was
that usually taken by the Fathers, with the exception of St. Augustine, who
from the universal custom of the Communion of children drew the conclusion of
its necessity for salvation.
On the other hand, Communion
is prescribed for adults, not only by the law of the Church, but also by a
Divine command (John 6:50 sqq.), though for its absolute necessity as a means
to salvation there is no more evidence than in the case of infants. For such a
necessity could be established only on the supposition that Communion per se
constituted a person in the state of grace or that this state could not be
preserved without Communion. Neither supposition is correct. Not the first, for
the simple reason that the Blessed Eucharist, being a sacrament of the living,
presupposes the state of sanctifying grace; not the second, because in case of
necessity, such as might arise, e.g., in a long sea-voyage, the Eucharistic
graces may be supplied by actual graces.
It is only when viewed in this light
that we can understand how the primitive Church, without going counter to the
Divine command, withheld the Eucharist from certain sinners even on their
deathbeds.
There is, however, a moral necessity on the part of adults to
receive Holy Communion, as a means, for instance, of overcoming violent
temptation, or as a viaticum for persons in danger of death.
Eminent divines,
like Francisco Suárez, claim that the Eucharist, if not absolutely necessary,
is at least a relatively and morally necessary means to salvation, in the sense
that no adult can long sustain his spiritual, supernatural life who neglects on
principle to approach Holy Communion. This view is supported, not only by the
solemn and earnest words of Christ, when He Promised the Eucharist, and by the
very nature of the sacrament as the spiritual food and medicine of our souls,
but also by the fact of the helplessness and perversity of human nature and by
the daily experience of confessors and directors of souls.
Since Christ has left us no definite precept
as to the frequency with which He desired us to receive Him in Holy Communion,
it belongs to the Church to determine the Divine command more accurately and
prescribe what the limits of time shall be for the reception of the sacrament.
In the course of centuries the Church's discipline in this respect has
undergone considerable change. Whereas the early Christians were accustomed to
receive at every celebration of the Liturgy, which probably was not celebrated
daily in all places, or were in the habit of Communicating privately in their
own homes every day of the week, a falling-off in the frequency of Communion is
noticeable since the fourth century.
Even in his time Pope Fabian (236-250)
made it obligatory to approach the Holy Table three times a year, viz, at
Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, and this custom was still prevalent in the
sixth century [cf. Synod of Agde (506), c. xviii].
Although St. Augustine left
daily Communion to the free choice of the individual, his admonition, in force
even at the present day, was: Sic vive, ut quotidie possis sumere (The Gift of
Perseverance 14), i.e. "So live that you may receive every day."
From
the tenth to the thirteenth century, the practice of going to Communion more
frequently during the year was rather rare among the laity and obtained only in
cloistered communities.
St. Bonaventure reluctantly allowed the lay brothers of
his monastery to approach the Holy Table weekly, whereas the rule of the Canons
of Chrodegang prescribed this practice.
When the Fourth Council of Lateran
(1215), held under Innocent III, mitigated the former severity of the Church's
law to the extent that all Catholics of both sexes were to communicate at least
once a year and this during the paschal season, St. Thomas (III:80:10) ascribed
this ordinance chiefly to the "reign of impiety and the growing cold of
charity".
The precept of the yearly paschal Communion was solemnly
reiterated by the Council of Trent (Sess. XIII, can. ix). The mystical
theologians of the later Middle Ages, as Tauler, St. Vincent Ferrer,
Savonarola, and later on St. Philip Neri, the Jesuit Order, St. Francis de
Sales and St. Alphonsus Liguori were zealous champions of frequent Communion;
whereas the Jansenists, under the leadership of Antoine* Arnauld (De la
fréquente communion, Paris, 1643), strenuously opposed and demanded as a
condition for every Communion the "most perfect penitential dispositions
and the purest love of God". This rigorism was condemned by Pope Alexander
VIII (7 Dec., 1690); the Council of Trent (Sess. XIII, cap. viii; Sess. XXII,
cap. vi) and Innocent XI (12 Feb., 1679) had already emphasized the
permissibility of even daily Communion.
To root out the last vestiges of
Jansenistic rigorism, Pius X issued a decree (24 Dec., 1905) wherein he allows
and recommends daily Communion to the entire laity and requires but two
conditions for its permissibility, namely, the state of grace and a right and
pious intention.
Concerning the non-requirement of the twofold species as a
means necessary to salvation see COMMUNION UNDER BOTH KINDS.
The minister of the
Eucharist
The Eucharist being a permanent
sacrament, and the confection (confectio) and the reception (susceptio) thereof
being separated from each other by an interval of time, the minister may be and
in fact is twofold: (a) the minister of consecration and (b) the minister of
administration.
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| Blessed John Paul II |
The Minister
of
Consecration
In the early Christian Era the
Peputians, Collyridians, and Montanists attributed priestly powers even to
women (cf. Epiphanius, De hær., xlix, 79); and in the Middle Ages the
Albigenses and Waldenses ascribed the power to consecrate to every layman of
upright disposition.
Against these errors
the Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
confirmed the ancient Catholic teaching,
that "no one but the priest
[sacerdos],
regularly ordained according to
the keys of the Church,
has the
power of consecrating this sacrament".
Rejecting the hierarchical
distinction between the priesthood and the laity, Luther later on declared, in
accord with his idea of a "universal priesthood" (cf. 1 Peter 2:5),
that every layman was qualified, as the appointed representative of the
faithful, to consecrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Council of Trent
opposed this teaching of Luther, and not only confirmed anew the existence of a
"special priesthood" (Sess. XXIII, can. i), but authoritatively
declared that "Christ ordained the Apostles true priests and commanded
them as well as other priests to offer His Body and Blood in the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass" (Sess. XXII, can. ii).
By this decision it was also declared
that the power of consecrating and that of offering the Holy Sacrifice are
identical. Both ideas are mutually reciprocal. To the category of
"priests" (sacerdos, iereus) belong, according to the teaching of the
Church, only bishops and priests; deacons, subdeacons, and those in minor
orders are excluded from this dignity.
Scripturally considered, the necessity of a
special priesthood with the power of validly consecrating is derived from the
fact that Christ did not address the words, "Do this", to the whole
mass of the laity, but exclusively to the Apostles and their successors in the
priesthood; hence the latter alone can validly consecrate.
It is evident that
tradition has understood the mandate of Christ in this sense and in no other.
We learn from the writings of Justin, Origen, Cyprian, Augustine, and others,
as well as from the most ancient Liturgies, that it was always the bishops and
priests, and they alone, who appeared as the property constituted celebrants of
the Eucharistic Mysteries, and that the deacons merely acted as assistants in
these functions, while the faithful participated passively therein.
When in the
fourth century the abuse crept in of priests receiving Holy Communion at the
hands of deacons, the First Council of Nicæa (325) issued a strict prohibition
to the effect, that "they who offer the Holy Sacrifice shall not receive
the Body of the Lord from the hands of those who have no such power of
offering", because such a practice is contrary to "rule and
custom".
The sect of the Luciferians was founded by an apostate deacon
named Hilary, and possessed neither bishops nor priests; wherefore St. Jerome
concluded (Dial. adv. Lucifer., n. 21), that for want of celebrants they no
longer retained the Eucharist.
It is clear that the Church has always denied
the laity the power to consecrate. When the Arians accused St. Athanasius (d.
373) of sacrilege, because supposedly at his bidding the consecrated Chalice
had been destroyed during the Mass which was being celebrated by a certain
Ischares, they had to withdraw their charges as wholly untenable when it was
proved that Ischares had been invalidly ordained by a pseudo-bishop named
Colluthos and, therefore, could neither validly consecrate nor offer the Holy
Sacrifice.
The minister of
administration
The dogmatic interest which
attaches to the minister of administration or distribution is not so great, for
the reason that the Eucharist being a permanent sacrament, any communicant
having the proper dispositions could receive it validly, whether he did so from
the hand of a priest, or layman, or woman.
Hence, the question is concerned,
not with the validity, but with the liceity of administration. In this matter
the Church alone has the right to decide, and her regulations regarding the
Communion rite may vary according to the circumstances of the times. In general
it is of Divine right, that the laity should as a rule receive only from the
consecrated hand of the priest (cf. Trent, Sess. XIII, cap. viii). The practice
of the laity giving themselves Holy Communion was formerly, and is today,
allowed only in case of necessity.
In ancient Christian times it was customary
for the faithful to take the Blessed Sacrament to their homes and Communicate
privately, a practice (Tertullian, Ad uxor., II, v), to which, even as late as
the fourth century, St. Basil makes reference (Epistle 93). Up to the ninth
century, it was usual for the priest to place the Sacred Host in the right hand
of the recipient, who kissed it and then transferred it to his own mouth;
women, from the fourth century onward, were required in this ceremony to have a
cloth wrapped about their right hand. The Precious Blood was in early times
received directly from the Chalice, but in Rome the practice, after the eighth
century, was to receive it through a small tube (fistula); at present this is
observed only in the pope's Mass. The latter method of drinking the Chalice
spread to other localities, in particular to the Cistercian monasteries, where
the practice was partially continued into the eighteenth century.
Whereas the priest is both by
Divine and ecclesiastical right the ordinary dispenser (minister ordinarius) of
the sacrament, the deacon is by virtue of his order the extraordinary minister
(minister extraordinarius), yet he may not administer the sacrament except ex
delegatione, i.e. with the permission of the bishop or priest.
As has already
been mentioned above, the deacons were accustomed in the Early Church to take
the Blessed Sacrament to those who were absent from Divine service, as well as
to present the Chalice to the laity during the celebration of the Sacred
Mysteries (cf. Cyprian, Treatise 3, nos. 17 and 25), and this practice was
observed until Communion under both kinds was discontinued. In St. Thomas' time
(III:82:3), the deacons were allowed to administer only the Chalice to the
laity, and in case of necessity the Sacred Host also, at the bidding of the
bishop or priest.
After the Communion of the laity under the species of wine
had been abolished, the deacon's powers were more and more restricted.
According to a decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites (25 Feb., 1777),
still in force, the deacon is to administer Holy Communion only in case of
necessity and with the approval of his bishop or his pastor. (Cf. Funk,
"Der Kommunionritus" in his "Kirchengeschichtl. Abhandlungen und
Untersuchungen", Paderborn, 1897, I, pp. 293 sqq.; see also "Theol.
praktische Quartalschrift", Linz, 1906, LIX, 95 sqq.)
The recipient of the
Eucharist
The two conditions of objective
capacity (capacitas, aptitudo) and subjective worthiness (dignitas) must be
carefully distinguished. Only the former is of dogmatic interest, while the
latter is treated in moral theology. The
first requisite of aptitude or capacity is that the recipient be a "human
being", since it was for mankind only that Christ instituted this
Eucharistic food of souls and commanded its reception. This condition excludes not only irrational
animals, but angels also; for neither possess human souls, which alone can be
nourished by this food unto eternal life.
The expression "Bread of
Angels" (Psalm 77:25) is a mere metaphor, which indicates that in the
Beatific Vision where He is not concealed under the sacramental veils, the
angels spiritually feast upon the God-man, this same prospect being held out to
those who shall gloriously rise on the Last Day.
The second requisite, the immediate
deduction from the first, is that the recipient be still in the "state of
pilgrimage" to the next life (status viatoris), since it is only in the
present life that man can validly Communicate.
Exaggerating the Eucharist's
necessity as a means to salvation, Rosmini advanced the untenable opinion that
at the moment of death this heavenly food is supplied in the next world to
children who had just departed this life, and that Christ could have given
Himself in Holy Communion to the holy souls in Limbo, in order to "render
them apt for the vision of God". This evidently impossible view, together
with other propositions of Rosmini, was condemned by Leo XIII (14 Dec., 1887).
In the fourth century the Synod of Hippo (393) forbade the practice of giving
Holy Communion to the dead as a gross abuse, and assigned as a reason, that
"corpses were no longer capable of eating".
Later synods, as those of
Auxerre (578) and the Trullian (692), took very energetic measures to put a stop
to a custom so difficult to eradicate.
The third requisite, finally, is baptism,
without which no other sacrament can be validly received; for in its very
concept baptism is the "spiritual door" to the means of grace
contained in the Church.
A Jew or Mohammedan might, indeed, materially receive
the Sacred Host, but there could be no question in this case of a sacramental
reception, even though by a perfect act of contrition or of the pure love of
God he had put himself in the state of sanctifying grace. Hence in the Early
Church the catechumens were strictly excluded from the Eucharist.
Article 3: 
