Father Frederick Faber, The Blessed Sacrament, Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford IL 61105, reprinted 1958 (original written in 1860).
Fr Faber explicates St Thomas Aquinas' teachings on twelve miracles associated with the eucharist:
Two miracles concerning the substance of the bread and the wine
Two miracles concerning the species
Six miracles concerning the Body of the Lord and its concomitants
Two miracles concerning the consecration in the Mass
--Deacon Les
Two miracles concerning the substance of the bread and the wine:
The bread and wine are "annihilated" at the moment of transubstantiation.
At the moment of consecration during Mass, the bread and wine cease to exist, and what becomes present is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Our Lord. The accidents (appearances) remain those of bread and wine. We do not "see" Our Lord with our physical eyes, but with the "eyes of faith".
The perished substances are restored when Our Lord withdraws His presence.
The Lord's eucharistic presence continues as long as the accidents (appearances) continue to be those of bread and wine. When they no longer look like (taste like, etc.) bread and wine (e.g., through the processes of digestion), the Lord's eucharistic presence ceases, and what becomes present is a reversion to what it looks like.
Two miracles concerning the species:
The species hold together and exist without leaning on any substance.
What looks like bread and wine is maintained in existence without the presence of the underlying substance with which it usually associated (there is no substance of bread and wine, only the appearances of bread and wine). Our Lord is not white, round, nor does He taste like bread. That is, the underlying substance (the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Our Lord) is not supporting the accidents (appearances) of roundness, whitness, etc.
The species suffer the same contingencies and are accompanied by the same qualities as if their substances had not perished.
In the eucharist, what looks like bread and wine, even though it is not bread and wine, continues to have all the properties (accidents, appearances) of bread and wine.
Six miracles concerning the Body of the Lord and its concomitants:
The production of the Body and Blood of Christ, existing and permanent in heaven, under the species of bread and wine, so that He is not less truly, less really, or less substantially in the Host, than He is in heaven--
In the eucharist, what looks like bread and wine but in reality is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Our Lord makes Him as present to each of us here on earth as He is to His Father in heaven.
The presence with the Body of Our Lord of His Blessed Soul, with all its sanctity, beatific love, and beatific vision, ornaments and gifts, natural and supernatural, under the same species--
Again, what is present in the eucharist along with the uncreated divinity of Our Lord is the created humanity of Our Lord, which involves His body, His blood, and His human soul with all its attributes.
The presence under the species of the Hypostatic Union, by which the Flesh and Soul are united to the Divine Word--
The "hypostatic union" is the term used by theologians to refer to the one divine person, the Eternal Word, participating in two natures: the divine nature from all eternity, and the human nature from the moment of His human conception at the Annunciation. This union will continue to exist throughout all of eternity.
The spiritual manner in which the Body of Christ exists, with all its corporeal qualities, under the species of bread and wine--
I have read (I can't recall the reference; when do I track it down I will include a citation to it here) that the Body of Christ in the eucharist is that material being which comes closest to behaving as though it were a spiritual being. All of Jesus' corporeal (bodily) qualities (e.g., bodily organs) exist in the eucharist in a way that is a profound mystery. They do so in any small amount of the eucharist, only provided that that amount still has the appearances of bread and wine. (I understand this to be a theololgical opinion, and not necessarily a dogmatic teaching of the church).
The repetition of the presence of the Body of Christ:
as multiplied;
as subdivided--
"As multiplied": Our Lord is present in the eucharist equally in all the tabernacles of the world.
"As subdivided": As remarked above, Our Lord remains present in the eucharist as it undergoes subdivision, provided the smaller portions still retain the appearances of bread and wine.
The retiring of the Body of Christ from the species when they corrupt (cease to appear as bread or wine)
This has been referred to in some of the remarks given above. The usual way the eucharist "corrupts" (I don't think much of this term) is through the processes of digestion. Other examples include that of a person in a hospital with some dementia receiving the Sacred Host, and then becoming dazed and taking it out of his mouth. If there is danger of infection, the minister can place the Host in a cup of water until it dissolves and ceases to appear as bread, at which moment the Lord's eucharistic presence ceases.
Two miracles concerning the consecration in the Mass (miracles of love rather than of power)
The prodigal abundance with which Our Lord has bestowed this immense gift of consecrating--
Many thousands of Masses are offered up all over the world each day.
The facility (ease) of consecration.
Our Lord instituted the eucharist using short, direct expressions and actions.
1 comment:
Deacon Les: please explain in plain English what each of these mean. Some of us do not have the understanding that you have, since you have studied these matters.
Thank You
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