If you ask whether this efficacy of the Eucharist is towards all men alike, I answer, No, but according to the state and measure of the faith of the communicants. As Origen said upon the 15th chapter of Matthew, the matter of this Sacrament profits not but by the word and by supplication; it may help our minds according to the quantity and proportion of faith.
Another thing I would often remind these men is that by Communion, we are incorporated into Christ. This word is not new but is in Paul to the Ephesians, who says that the Gentiles are made coheirs and of the same body, which in Greek is called σύσσωμος (syssōmos). Although we affirm that the apprehension or holding fast of the body of Christ is done by faith, yet upon this fast holding follows an effect, even a true conjunction with Christ, not a feigned or imagined one. This first belongs to the soul and then redounds to the body.
The same is commended to us in the holy Scriptures by Paul under a metaphor of the head and body when he calls us members of one and the same body under Christ the head, and under the state of marriage, wherein two are made one flesh. Cyril expresses this by bringing in a similitude of molten wax, which, mingled with other wax, makes one: thus he would have us joined with Christ. To this purpose are the words to the Ephesians, where we are said to be flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones. These words, if you look at them at first view, might seem to say that the Son of God is of our flesh and bones because he assumed flesh of mankind. However, Paul did not understand mere flesh but flesh clean from sin, capable of resurrection and immortality. The faithful have not this of themselves, nor did they draw it from Adam; they claim it by Christ because they are incorporated into him by the sacraments and by faith.
A certain entrance of Christ into us and a spiritual touching happens. Paul weighed this when he said to the Galatians, “But now it is not I that live, but Christ lives in me.” There is no need in these respects to draw Christ out of heaven or to disperse his body into infinite places, for all that we teach is spiritual, yet not a feigned thing. Imagined sights, idols, or feigned things do not nourish the mind, as we are certain is done here. We have said and confirm that these signs signify, offer, and most truly exhibit the body of Christ, although spiritually, that is, to be eaten with the mind, not with the mouth of the body.
If you ask how the Fathers of the old law could have the same in their sacraments that we have, it is easy to answer, seeing we have affirmed that in this Sacrament the thing is used spiritually, not corporally. In the Apocalypse, we read that the Lamb was slain from the beginning of the world. They waited for things to come; we celebrate the memory of them already done.
Lastly, we have shown that great heed must be taken lest what we speak of spiritual eating be understood as though it destroys the truth of his presence. Augustine said upon the 54th Psalm that the body of the Lord is in a certain place in heaven, but that the truth of the Lord’s body is everywhere. Wherever the faithful are, they apprehend that Christ had a true body given for us, and so they do eat him by faith.
Wherefore, I have now spoken in this sacramental matter that which, in my judgement, ought to be affirmed, being according to the Scriptures, which I would have the godly reader consider well and take in good part. May God in his goodness grant that at length the Church of Christ may obtain both truth and peace regarding this sacrament. These two things I wish for because I see that the Eucharist, which we discuss, has been so overwhelmed, buried, and defaced with lies, crafty devices, and superstitions, that it might rather be judged any other thing than that which the Lord instituted at the Last Supper.
To prevent it from being easily cleansed, the Devil, the most grievous enemy of all peace and truth, has sown so many opinions, contentions, disagreements, heresies, and controversies (though, thankfully, without bloodshed) that scarcely any consent worthy of Christians can be hoped for, by human reason. But we suffer these things (alas) not without cause. We have committed a double injury unto this Sacrament: partly by erecting an execrable idol in place of a notable and singular gift of Christ, and partly by abusing these most holy mysteries without sincerity of faith, with consciences defiled by grievous sins, and without sufficient self-examination.
I beseech the Lord to take pity on this great calamity and vouchsafe to restore unto his Church a reformed Eucharist and the right use of the same, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Monergism Books
A Treatise of the Lord’s Supper by Peter Martyr Vermigli, Copyright © 2024
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By downloading this eBook, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Monergism Books.
ePub, .mobi & .pdf Editions June 2024. Requests for information should be addressed to: Monergism Books, PO Box 491, West Linn Or 97068.