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Sacrament and Sacrifice in the Early Fathers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2011

C. W. Dugmore
Affiliation:
Bishop Fraser Senior Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History in the University of Manchester

Extract

In recent years liturgiologists have abandoned the search for a primitive consecration prayer which was universally employed in the early Church. It is now realized that while the essential eucharistic action was everywhere the same, the way in which it was done, and the interpretation of what was being done, differed considerably in the local churches. There were, for example, many local peculiarities in the Syrian and Egyptian rites, some of which probably reflect differences in the interpretation of what was being done, that is to say, differences in doctrine. Development took place, and the old was sometimes allowed to remain alongside the new. Thus the liturgy of Sarapion reveals a double tradition with regard to the consecration.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1951

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References

page 24 note 1 Cf. Srawley, J. H., The Early History of the Liturgy, Cambridge2nd ed. 1947Google Scholar; Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy.

page 24 note 2 Cf. the Invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the elements in the Jerusalem Rite in Cyril's time. On the interpolation of an Epiklesis into the Anaphora of the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus see E. C. Ratcliff in this Journal, i. 29–36, 125–34.

page 24 note 3 On these divergent traditions see further Ratcliff, E. C., ‘Christian Worship and Liturgy’ in The Study of Theology, ed. Kirk, K. E., London 1939, 430 ff.Google Scholar

page 24 note 4 Batiffol, P., Études d'Histoire et de Théologie Positive, 2me série: L'Eucharistie, la Présence ré et la Transsubstantiation, Paris 1905, 144.Google Scholar

page 24 note 5 Ibid., 163.

page 24 note 6 Ibid., 230.

page 25 note 1 de Lubac, Henri, Corpus Mysticum: l'Eucharistie et l'Église au Moyen Âge, 2nd ed.Paris 1949, 24.Google Scholar

page 25 note 2 Adv. Marc., iii. 19; C.S.E.L., xlvii. 408: sic enim dominus in euangelio quoque uestro reuelauit, panem corpus suum appellans, ut et hinc iam eum intellegas corporis sui figuram pani dedisse, cuius retro corpus in panem prophetes figurauit, ipso domino hoc sacramentum postea interpretaturo.

page 25 note 3 Ibid., iv. 40; C.S.E.L., xlvii. 559: acceptum panem et distributum discipulis corpus suum illum fecit hoc est corpus meum dicendo, id est ‘figura corporis mei’.

page 25 note 4 D'Alès, A., La Théologie de Tertullien, Paris 1905, 360.Google Scholar

page 25 note 5 Macdonald, A. J., The Evangelical Doctrine of Holy Communion, Cambridge 1930, 60Google Scholar. Contrast Turner's, C. H. Note on ‘“Figura Corporis Mei” in Tertullian’, J.T.S., vii (1906), 595–7.Google Scholar

page 26 note 1 Tert., De carnis resurr., 8; C.S.E.L., xlvii. 37: caro corpore et sanguine Christi uescitur, ut et anima de deo saginetur

page 26 note 2 So Macdonald, loc. cit.

page 26 note 3 Batiffol, op. cit., 224.

page 26 note 4 Swete, H. B., ‘Eucharistic belief in the second and third centuries’ in J.T.S., iii (1902), 173.Google Scholar

page 26 note 5 Cf. Batiffol, op. cit., 232.

page 27 note 1 Ratcliff, in The Study of Theology, 442.

page 27 note 2 De lapsis, 25, 26; C.S.E.L., iii. 255–6.

page 27 note 3 Ep. lxx. 2; C.S.E.L., iii. 768.

page 27 note 4 Ep. lxiii. 14; C.S.E.L., iii. 713: uice Christi … id quod Christus fecit imitatur.

page 27 note 5 Augustine, In Joann. Tract., lxxx. 3; P.L. xxxv. col. 1840: accedit verbum ad elementum et fit sacramentum. Cf. Sermo, ccxxvii; P.L. xxxviii. 1099: sanctificatus per verbum Dei, corpus est Christi.

page 27 note 6 Sermo, ccxxvii; P.L., xxxviii. 1099–1100: Si bene accepistis, vos estis quod accepistis: apostolus enim dicit, Unus panis, unum corpus multi sumus. …. Commendatur vobis in isto pane quomodo unitatem amare debeatis. Numquid enim panis ille de uno grano factus est? Nonne multa erant tritici grana? Sed antequam ad panem venirent, separata erant: per aquam coniuncta sunt. … Efficimini panis, quod est corpus Christi. Et ideo unitas quomodo significatur.

page 28 note 1 In Joann. Tract, xxvi. 13, 15; P.L. xxxv. 1612–14. Cf. Sermo lvii. 7; P.L. xxxviii. 389: ccxxix; P.L. xxxviii. 1103: cclxxii; P.L. xxxviii. 1247.

page 28 note 2 Cyprian, Ep. lxiii. 13; C.S.E.L., iii. 711.

page 28 note 3 Text printed in Roberts, C. H. and Capelle, Dom B., An Early Euchologion, Louvain 1949, 26Google Scholar; commentary, ibid., 45 f.

page 28 note 4 Ep. lxiii. 17; C.S.E.L., iii. 714: passio est enim Domini sacrificium quod offerimus. Cf. Ratcliff, op. cit., 429. See also Tert., De orat. xiv; C.S.E.L., xx. 189.

page 28 note 5 Ep. lxiii. 13; C.S.E.L., iii. 711.

page 28 note 6 Augustine, Contra Faustum xx. 21; C.S.E.L., xxv. 564: huius sacrificii caro et sanguis ante aduentum Christi per uictimas similitudinum promittebatur, in passione Christi per ipsam ueritatem reddebatur, post ascensum Christi per sacramentum memoriae celebratur.

page 28 note 7 De civit. dei, x. 6; C.S.E.L., xl (Pars i), 456: hoc est sacrificium Christianorum—multi unum corpus in Christo. Dom Gregory Dix (Shape of the Liturgy, 241, n. 2) regards this as ‘a somewhat obscure passage’ in which ‘Augustine, exceptionally, associates the act of communion with the sacrificial action’, and he adds the extraordinary statement that ‘he elsewhere makes it clear (e.g., ibid., xxii. 10) that it cannot strictly be a part of it’. There is no mention whatsoever of the act of communion in De civ. dei, xxii. 10, which is concerned with rebutting the charge that the Christian priest offers sacrifice to the martyrs. The passage (C.S.E.L., xl (Pars ii), 614) runs thus: Deo quippe, non ipsis sacrificat, quamuis in memoria sacrificet eorum, quia Dei sacerdos est, non illorum. Ipsum uero sacrificium corpus est Christi, quod non offertur ipsis, quia hoc sunt et ipsi.

page 29 note 1 Ibid., x. 5; op. cit., 452: sacrificium ergo uisibile inuisibilis sacrificii sacramentum, id est sacrum signum est.

page 29 note 2 Contra Faustum, xx. 18; C.S.E.L., xxv. 559: unde iam Christiani peracti eiusdem sacrificii memoriam celebrant sacrosancta oblatione et participatione corporis et sanguinis Christi.

page 29 note 3 Adam, Karl, ‘Die Eucharistielehre des hl. Augustin’ in Forschungen zur Christlichen Literatur- und Dogmengeschichte (ed. Ehrhard, A. and Kirsch, J. P.), Band 8, Paderborn 1908, 146Google Scholar, where he asserts: seine Betrachtungsweise der Taufe zumal unterscheidet er weder ausdrücklich noch auch nur andeutend von jener der Eucharistie.

page 29 note 4 Cf. Henri de Lubac, Corpus Mysticum, 23.

page 29 note 5 So Adam, op. cit., 147: gibt die Taufe eine Eingliederung in den Leib Christi, so die Eucharistie ein Einleben, Einwohnen, ein Verbundensein mit ihm.

page 29 note 6 See the note ‘Anamnesis’ in G. Dix, The Treatise on the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus of Rome, London 1937, 73 f.; cf. his Shape of the Liturgy, 243. The implications of this statement are worked out in quite a different connection in Shape of the Liturgy, 648 ff.; C.Q.R., cxlv. 163 ff.; cxlvi. 44 ff.

page 30 note 1 Apostolic Tradition, loc. cit.

page 30 note 2 J.T.S., iii (1902), 165–6Google Scholar.

page 30 note 3 J.T.S., xxv (1924), 268–9.Google Scholar

page 30 note 4 Op. cit., 75. For the text of the anamnesis in the various liturgies see Lietzmann, H., Messe und Herrenmahl, Bonn 1926, 5068.Google Scholar

page 30 note 5 Corpus Mysticum, 77.

page 30 note 6 Op. cit., 71. He cites our passage from Aug., Contra Faustum xx. 21.

page 30 note 7 See de Lubac's Note B, ‘Sur l'Eucharistie “antitype”’, op. cit., 351 ff. In what follows the writer is greatly indebted to this valuable Note.

page 31 note 1 Contra adversarios legis et prophet, i. 38; P.L. xlii. 626.

page 31 note 2 See above, 28, n. 6.

page 31 note 3 On the meaning of this word see Feltoe, C. L., ‘A study of some eucharistic phrases in the West’ in J.T.S., xi (1910), 575 ff.Google Scholar; and Martin Rule, ‘“Transformare” and “Transformatio”’, ibid., xii (1911), 413 ff.

page 31 note 4 The word ‘transformare’ (‘transformatio’) does not occur in Augustine in connexion with the Eucharist. It is to be found in the Missale Gothicum, the Missale Gallicanum Vetus, the Missale Francorum and other books representative of the old Gallican rite.

page 31 note 5 See, for example, Schanz, , ‘Die Lehre des Augustinus über die Eucharistie’ in Theologische Quartalschrift, 1896, 79115Google Scholar; Portalié, , ‘Augustin’ in Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique. t. 1 (Paris 1903), 2418–24.Google Scholar

page 31 note 6 Enarr. in Ps. xcviii. 9; P.L. xxxvi. 1264–5: ibid., xxxiii. 1, 10; P.L. xxxvi. 306

page 31 note 7 See, for example, F. Loofs, ‘Abendmahl’ in Hauck-Herzog, Realencyklopädie, 3rd ed., ii. 61–3: A. J. Macdonald in The Evang. Doct. of Holy Communion, 71–9.

page 31 note 8 De civil, dei, x. 5. The Latin is given at p. 29, n. 1, above.

page 31 note 9 Macdonald, op. cit., 77; Batiffol, op. cit., 246.

page 32 note 1 Ibid., 78.

page 32 note 2 Enarr. in Ps. lxxvii. 2: gratia sacramentorum virtus est.

page 32 note 3 Macdonald, loc. cit.

page 32 note 4 Richardson, C. C., Zwingli and Cranmer on the Eucharist: Cranmer dixit et contradixi, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Illinois 1949, 18Google Scholar and 16 n. 35, where a useful catena of passages from Zwingli is given.

page 32 note 5 Ep. xcviii. 9; C.S.E.L. xxxiv. 531: Si enim sacramenta quandam similitudinem rerum earum, quarum sacramenta sunt, non haberent, omnino sacramenta non essent. Ex hac autem similitudine plerumque iam ipsarum rerum nomina accipiunt. Sicut ergo secundum quendam modum sacramentum corporis Christi corpus Christi est, sacramentum sanguinis Christi sanguis Christi est, ita sacramentum fidei fides est.

page 32 note 6 Sermo cclxxii; P.L. xxxviii. 1247: aliud videtur, aliud intelligitur. Cf. De Doct. Christ. ii. i; P.L. xxxiv. 35: iii. 13; P.L. xxxiv. 71.

page 32 note 7 Batiffol, op. cit., 247.

page 33 note 1 Ibid., 252.

page 33 note 2 In Joann. Tract. xxvi. 12; P.L. xxxv. 1612: Hic est panis de coelo descendens, ut si quis manducaverit ex ipso, non moriatur. Sed quod pertinet ad virtutem sacramenti, non quod pertinet ad visibile sacramentum: qui manducat intus, non foris; qui manducat in corde, non qui premit dente.

page 33 note 3 Ibid., xxvi. 18; P.L. xxxv. 1614: Hoc est ergo manducare illam escam, et illum bibere potum, in Christo manere et illum manentem in se habere.

page 33 note 4 Ibid., xxv. 12; P.L. xxxv. 1602: crede et manducasti.

page 33 note 5 In Joann. Tract. xxvi. 12; P.L. xxxv. 1612: sacramenta illa fuerunt: in signis diversa sunt: in re quae significatur paria sunt.

page 34 note 1 Ambrose, De myst. 52: P.L. xvi. 423–4: Quod si tantum valuit humana benedicto ut naturam converteret, quid dicimus de ipsa consecratione divina, ubi verba ipsa domini Salvatoris operantur? Nam sacramentum istud quod accipis Christi sermone conficitur. Quod si tantum valuit sermo Eliae ut ignem de caelo deponeret, non valebit Christi sermo ut species mutet elementorum?

page 34 note 2 A reference to the Creation—ipse mandavit et creata sunt (Ps. cxlviii. 5).

page 35 note 1 De myst. 52; P.L. xvi. 424: sermo ergo Christi qui potuit ex nihilo facere quod non erat, non potest ea quae sunt in id mutare quod non erant? Non enim minus est novas rebus dare quam mutare naturas.

page 35 note 2 Ibid., 53–4; P.L. xvi. 424: et hoc quod conficimus corpus ex virgine est … vera utique caro Christi quae crucifixa est, quae sepulta est: vere ergo carnis illius sacramentum est. … Ipse clamat Dominus Iesus: Hoc est corpus meum. Ante benedictionem verborum caelestium alia species nominatur, post consecrationem corpus significatur. Ipse dicit sanguinem suum. Ante consecrationem aliud dicitur, post consecrationem sanguis nuncupatur.

page 35 note 3 De fide iv. 10; P.L. xvi. 667: nos autem quotiescumque sacramenta sumimus, quae per sacrae orationis mysterium in carnem transfigurantur et sanguinem, mortem Domini annuntiamus.

page 35 note 4 De myst. 58; P.L. xvi. 426: In illo Sacramento Christus est: quia corpus est Christi: non ergo corporalis esca, sed spiritalis est. Unde et Apostolus de typo ejus ait: Quia patres nostri escam spiritalem manducaverunt, et potum spiritalem biberunt: corpus enim Dei corpus est spiritale: corpus Christi corpus est divini Spiritus; quia Spiritus Christus, ut legimus: Spiritus ante faciem nostram Christus Dominus.

page 36 note 1 Explanatio psalmi xxxviii, 25; C.S.E.L. lxiv. 203 (P.L. xiv. 1102), etsi nunc Christus non uidetur offerre, tamen ipse offertur in terris, quia Christi corpus offertur, immo ipse offere manifestatur in nobis, cuius sermo sanctificat sacrificium quod offertur.

page 36 note 2 Ambrose, De patriarchis, 9 (38); C.S.E.L. xxxii. 146 f. (P.L. xiv. 719): hunc panem dedit apostolis, ut diuiderent populo credentium, et hodieque dat nobis eum, quem ipse sacerdos cotidie consecrat suis uerbis.

page 36 note 3 Expos. psalmi cxviii, viii. 48; C.S.E.L. lxii. 180 (P.L. xv. 1384): ut corpus edas Domini Iesu, in quo remissio est peccatorum.

page 36 note 4 Ibid.: suscipe ante dominum Iesum tuae mentis hospitio: ubi corpus eius, ibi Christus est. Cum hospitium tuum aduersarius uiderit occupatum caelestis fulgore praesentiae, intelleget locum temptamentis suis interclusum esse per Christum.

page 36 note 5 De Spiritu iii. 79; P.L. xvi. 829: caro Christi quam hodieque in mysteriis adoramus. Cf. De Incarnat. 75; P.L. xvi. 873: numquid cum et divinitatem eius adoramus et carnem, Christum dividimus?

page 37 note 1 Expl. ps. xxxviii, 25; C.S.E.L. lxiv. 203 (P.L. xiv. 1102): sed iam discessit umbra noctis et caliginis Iudaeorum, dies appropinquauit ecclesiae … uidimus principem sacerdotum ad nos uenientem, uidimus et audiuimus offerentem pro nobis sanguinem suum. Sequimur ut possumus sacerdotes, ut offeramus pro populo sacrificium etsi infirmi merito tamen honorabiles sacrificio, quia, etsi nunc, etc. The continuation of this passage will be found at p. 36, n. 1, above.

page 37 note 2 De officiis, i. 238; P.L. xvi. 100–101: ante agnus offerebatur, offerebatur et vitulus, nunc Christus offertur; sed offertur quasi homo, quasi recipiens passionem; et offert se ipse quasi sacerdos, ut peccata nostri dimittat; hic in imagine, ibi in veritate, ubi apud Patrem pro nobis quasi advocatus intervenit.

page 37 note 3 Cf. Aquinas, Summa, iii. q. lxxx. art. 12, ad 2.

page 37 note 4 Op. cit., 348.