Part IV (Tertia Pars) Part 158 (2/2)

First of all there was Christ's betrayal, which was the work of G.o.d, of Judas, and of the Jews; and this is signified by the triple sign of the cross at the words, ”These gifts, these presents, these holy unspotted sacrifices.”

Secondly, there was the selling of Christ. Now he was sold to the Priests, to the Scribes, and to the Pharisees: and to signify this the threefold sign of the cross is repeated, at the words, ”blessed, enrolled, ratified.” Or again, to signify the price for which He was sold, viz. thirty pence. And a double cross is added at the words--”that it may become to us the Body and the Blood,” etc., to signify the person of Judas the seller, and of Christ Who was sold.

Thirdly, there was the foreshadowing of the Pa.s.sion at the last supper. To denote this, in the third place, two crosses are made, one in consecrating the body, the other in consecrating the blood; each time while saying, ”He blessed.”

Fourthly, there was Christ's Pa.s.sion itself. And so in order to represent His five wounds, in the fourth place, there is a fivefold signing of the cross at the words, ”a pure Victim, a holy Victim, a spotless Victim, the holy bread of eternal life, and the cup of everlasting salvation.”

Fifthly, the outstretching of Christ's body, and the shedding of the blood, and the fruits of the Pa.s.sion, are signified by the triple signing of the cross at the words, ”as many as shall receive the body and blood, may be filled with every blessing,” etc.

Sixthly, Christ's threefold prayer upon the cross is represented; one for His persecutors when He said, ”Father, forgive them”; the second for deliverance from death, when He cried, ”My G.o.d, My G.o.d, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” the third referring to His entrance into glory, when He said, ”Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit”; and in order to denote these there is a triple signing with the cross made at the words, ”Thou dost sanctify, quicken, bless.”

Seventhly, the three hours during which He hung upon the cross, that is, from the sixth to the ninth hour, are represented; in signification of which we make once more a triple sign of the cross at the words, ”Through Him, and with Him, and in Him.”

Eighthly, the separation of His soul from the body is signified by the two subsequent crosses made over the chalice.

Ninthly, the resurrection on the third day is represented by the three crosses made at the words--”May the peace of the Lord be ever with you.”

In short, we may say that the consecration of this sacrament, and the acceptance of this sacrifice, and its fruits, proceed from the virtue of the cross of Christ, and therefore wherever mention is made of these, the priest makes use of the sign of the cross.

Reply Obj. 4: After the consecration, the priest makes the sign of the cross, not for the purpose of blessing and consecrating, but only for calling to mind the virtue of the cross, and the manner of Christ's suffering, as is evident from what has been said (ad 3).

Reply Obj. 5: The actions performed by the priest in ma.s.s are not ridiculous gestures, since they are done so as to represent something else. The priest in extending his arms signifies the outstretching of Christ's arms upon the cross. He also lifts up his hands as he prays, to point out that his prayer is directed to G.o.d for the people, according to Lam. 3:41: ”Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens”: and Ex. 17:11: ”And when Moses lifted up his hands Israel overcame.” That at times he joins his hands, and bows down, praying earnestly and humbly, denotes the humility and obedience of Christ, out of which He suffered. He closes his fingers, i.e. the thumb and first finger, after the consecration, because, with them, he had touched the consecrated body of Christ; so that if any particle cling to the fingers, it may not be scattered: and this belongs to the reverence for this sacrament.

Reply Obj. 6: Five times does the priest turn round towards the people, to denote that our Lord manifested Himself five times on the day of His Resurrection, as stated above in the treatise on Christ's Resurrection (Q. 55, A. 3, Obj. 3). But the priest greets the people seven times, namely, five times, by turning round to the people, and twice without turning round, namely, when he says, ”The Lord be with you” before the ”Preface,” and again when he says, ”May the peace of the Lord be ever with you”: and this is to denote the sevenfold grace of the Holy Ghost. But a bishop, when he celebrates on festival days, in his first greeting says, ”Peace be to you,” which was our Lord's greeting after Resurrection, Whose person the bishop chiefly represents.

Reply Obj. 7: The breaking of the host denotes three things: first, the rending of Christ's body, which took place in the Pa.s.sion; secondly, the distinction of His mystical body according to its various states; and thirdly, the distribution of the graces which flow from Christ's Pa.s.sion, as Dionysius observes (Eccl. Hier. iii).

Hence this breaking does not imply severance in Christ.

Reply Obj. 8: As Pope Sergius says, and it is to be found in the Decretals (De Consecr., dist. ii), ”the Lord's body is threefold; the part offered and put into the chalice signifies Christ's risen body,”

namely, Christ Himself, and the Blessed Virgin, and the other saints, if there be any, who are already in glory with their bodies. ”The part consumed denotes those still walking upon earth,” because while living upon earth they are united together by this sacrament; and are bruised by the pa.s.sions, just as the bread eaten is bruised by the teeth. ”The part reserved on the altar till the close of the ma.s.s, is His body hidden in the sepulchre, because the bodies of the saints will be in their graves until the end of the world”: though their souls are either in purgatory, or in heaven. However, this rite of reserving one part on the altar till the close of the ma.s.s is no longer observed, on account of the danger; nevertheless, the same meaning of the parts continues, which some persons have expressed in verse, thus:

”The host being rent-- What is dipped, means the blest; What is dry, means the living; What is kept, those at rest.”

Others, however, say that the part put into the chalice denotes those still living in this world, while the part kept outside the chalice denotes those fully blessed both in soul and body; while the part consumed means the others.

Reply Obj. 9: Two things can be signified by the chalice: first, the Pa.s.sion itself, which is represented in this sacrament, and according to this, by the part put into the chalice are denoted those who are still sharers of Christ's sufferings; secondly, the enjoyment of the Blessed can be signified, which is likewise foreshadowed in this sacrament; and therefore those whose bodies are already in full beat.i.tude, are denoted by the part put into the chalice. And it is to be observed that the part put into the chalice ought not to be given to the people to supplement the communion, because Christ gave dipped bread only to Judas the betrayer.

Reply Obj. 10: Wine, by reason of its humidity, is capable of was.h.i.+ng, consequently it is received in order to rinse the mouth after receiving this sacrament, lest any particles remain: and this belongs to reverence for the sacrament. Hence (Extra, De Celebratione missae, chap. Ex parte), it is said: ”The priest should always cleanse his mouth with wine after receiving the entire sacrament of Eucharist: except when he has to celebrate another ma.s.s on the same day, lest from taking the ablution-wine he be prevented from celebrating again”; and it is for the same reason that wine is poured over the fingers with which he had touched the body of Christ.

Reply Obj. 11: The truth ought to be conformable with the figure, in some respect: namely, because a part of the host consecrated, of which the priest and ministers or even the people communicate, ought not to be reserved until the day following. Hence, as is laid down (De Consecr., dist. ii), Pope Clement I ordered that ”as many hosts are to be offered on the altar as shall suffice for the people; should any be left over, they are not to be reserved until the morrow, but let the clergy carefully consume them with fear and trembling.” Nevertheless, since this sacrament is to be received daily, whereas the Paschal Lamb was not, it is therefore necessary for other hosts to be reserved for the sick. Hence we read in the same distinction: ”Let the priest always have the Eucharist ready, so that, when anyone fall sick, he may take Communion to him at once, lest he die without it.”

Reply Obj. 12: Several persons ought to be present at the solemn celebration of the ma.s.s. Hence Pope Soter says (De Consecr., dist.

1): ”It has also been ordained, that no priest is to presume to celebrate solemn ma.s.s, unless two others be present answering him, while he himself makes the third; because when he says in the plural, 'The Lord be with you,' and again in the Secrets, 'Pray ye for me,'

it is most becoming that they should answer his greeting.” Hence it is for the sake of greater solemnity that we find it decreed (De Consecr. dist. 1) that a bishop is to solemnize ma.s.s with several a.s.sistants. Nevertheless, in private ma.s.ses it suffices to have one server, who takes the place of the whole Catholic people, on whose behalf he makes answer in the plural to the priest.

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SIXTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 83, Art. 6]

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