Sermon 227

SERMO 227

The Habit of the Holy Day of Easter

TO INFANTS, CONCERNING THE SACRAMENTS

The eucharistic bread: if you have received it well, you are what you have received. The mysteries of the eucharistic sacrifice are explained.

I am mindful of my promise. For I had promised to you, who have been baptized, a discourse wherein I would explain the Sacrament of the Lord's table, which you now also see and of which you were made partakers last night. You ought to know what you have received, what you are to receive, what you must receive daily. That bread which you see on the altar, sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That cup, or rather what the cup contains, sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ. By these, the Lord Christ willed to commend his body and blood, which he shed for us for the remission of sins. If you have received well, you are what you have received. For the Apostle says: "We, being many, are one bread, one body." Thus did he expound the Sacrament of the Lord's table: "We, being many, are one bread, one body." It is commended to you in this bread how you ought to love unity. For was that bread made from one grain? Were there not many wheat grains? But before they came to the form of bread, they were separate; they were joined together by water after a certain crushing. For unless the wheat is ground and sprinkled with water, it cannot come to that form which is called bread. So you also were, in a sense, ground by the abasing of fasting and the sacrament of exorcism. Baptism came and, as if you were sprinkled with water, you came to the form of bread. But there is still no bread without fire. What, then, does the fire signify, that is, the anointing of the oil? Indeed, fire is the nourishment, the sacrament, of the Holy Spirit. Observe in the Acts of the Apostles when it is read; for this book has now begun to be read: today begins the book called the Acts of the Apostles. Whoever wishes to make progress has the means. When you come together at the church, put away vain stories; be attentive to the Scriptures. We are your books. Therefore, pay heed and see where the Holy Spirit will come: He will come in fiery tongues. For He breathes love by which we burn for God and despise the world and our chaff is consumed, and our hearts are purified like gold. Therefore, the Holy Spirit comes, after the water, the fire, and you become bread, which is the body of Christ. And thus unity is in some way signified. You hold the sacraments in their order. First, after the prayer, you are admonished to lift up your hearts; this befits the members of Christ. For if you have become members of Christ, where is your head? Members have a head. If the head had not gone before, the members would not follow. Where did our head go? What did you recite in the Creed? On the third day, He rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven, He sits at the right hand of the Father. Therefore, our head is in Heaven. Thus when it is said: Lift up your hearts, you answer: We have them with the Lord. And so that you do not attribute the fact that you have your hearts with the Lord to your own strengths, merits, or labors—for it is a gift of God to have your heart lifted up to Him—the bishop or the priest who offers the sacrifice continues and says—when the people respond: We have them with the Lord—: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God, because we have our hearts with the Lord. Let us give thanks because if he did not give it, we would have our hearts on earth. And you attest by saying: It is right and just, that we should give thanks to Him who made us have our hearts lifted up to our head. Then, after the sanctification of God's sacrifice, because he willed that we ourselves should be his sacrifice—this was shown when the first sacrifice of God was laid down and we—meaning the sign of the reality—which we are; behold where the sanctification has been accomplished, we say the Lord’s Prayer, which you have received and rendered. After it has been said: Peace be with you, and the Christians give each other a holy kiss. It is a sign of peace: as the lips show, let it be done in conscience, that is, just as your lips approach your brother’s lips, let your heart not depart from his heart. Great indeed are the sacraments and very great indeed. Do you wish to know how they are commended? The Apostle says: Whosoever shall eat of the body of Christ or drink of the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. What does it mean to receive unworthily? To receive it contemptuously, to receive it scoffingly. Do not make it seem cheap to you, because you see it. What you see passes away, but what is signified, the invisible, does not pass, but remains. Behold, it is received, eaten, consumed. Does the body of Christ perish? Does the Church of Christ perish? Do the members of Christ perish? By no means. Here they are cleansed, there they are crowned. Therefore, what is signified remains, even though that which signifies might seem to pass away. So, therefore, receive it in such a way that you consider yourselves, have unity in your heart, always have your heart lifted up. Let your hope not be on earth, but in heaven; let your faith be firm in God, acceptable to God. Because what you do not see here now and believe, you will see there, where you will rejoice without end.