Dist. 8, Part 1, Art. 1, Q. 1
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 8
Articulus I. De praefiguratione Sacramenti eucharistiae.
Quaestio I. Utrum Sacramentum eucharistiae debuerit praefigurari.
Et quod hoc Sacramentum sit praefiguratum, patet per illud Apostoli, primae ad Corinthios decimo1: Omnes eandem escam spiritualem manducaverunt; et post: Haec omnia contingebant illis in figura. Et quod ita debuerit, apparet:
1. Quia, si lex vetus fuit nobis futurorum figura, et quae erant digniora magis debent praefigurari, cum hoc Sacramentum sit dignissimum, maxime debuit praefigurari.
2. Item, ratione alia ostenditur: quia congruum erat, ut processus a tenebris ad lucem fieret mediante umbra et figura, quia, sicut natura non sustinet repentinas immutationes, sic nec anima2; sed in hoc Sacramento est ipsa lux praesens: ergo debuit praefigurari.
3. Item, hoc Sacramentum est difficillimum ad credendum; sed ad difficilia paulative est infirmus promovendus: ergo etc.
Contra: 1. «Mutationis non est mutatio3»: ergo nec signi signum; sed Sacramentum hoc, eo ipso quod Sacramentum est, est signum et figura: ergo non debuit praesignari nec praefigurari.
2. Item, confirmatio et extrema unctio sunt novae legis Sacramenta et non habent figuras in veteri — quia, si dicas de unctione regum4, illud nihil est, quia illud speciale, hoc universale — ergo nec hoc debuit habere.
3. Item, baptismus habuit figuram5, quae non tantum fuit figura, sed etiam remedium, ut puta circumcisionem; sed nihil praecessit Sacramentum altaris, quod haberet eius remedium: ergo hoc Sacramentum est sine figura.
### Conclusio. Eucharistiae Sacramentum praefigurari conveniens fuit ratione tum suae dignitatis, tum difficultatis in credendo.
Respondeo: Dicendum, quod istud Sacramentum praefiguratum est et praefigurari debuit tum ratione suae dignitatis, tum ratione difficultatis: ratione dignitatis, quia praedicandum et exspectandum erat sicut donum Dei excellentissimum6; ideo figurae
huius Sacramenti praeire debuerunt, et in quibus refocillaretur exspectatio fidelium, et dignitas huius Sacramenti famosior ostenderetur; unde figurarum praemissio non fuit aliud quam famae eius divulgatio. — Ratione difficultatis, quia hoc7 inter Sacramenta cetera est difficillimum ad credendum, immo inter cetera credibilia; ideo debuerunt homines ad hoc assuefieri quadam figurarum manuductione.
1. Ad illud quod obiicitur primo in contrarium, quod signi non est signum; dicendum, quod illud signum habet veritatem coniunctam8; unde non tantum est signum, sed etiam ratione coniuncti est veritas; et quoniam veritatis potest esse signum et figura, ideo Sacramentorum novae legis potest esse signum et figura, et maxime huius.
2. Ad illud quod obiicitur de confirmatione et extrema unctione, multipliciter respondetur. — Quidam enim dicunt, quod omnia Sacramenta in veteri lege sunt praefigurata, quoniam rota erat in rota, in visione Ezechielis9. Et quod obiicitur de duobus Sacramentis, solvunt per interemptionem: quoniam tres unctiones legis novae praefiguratae sunt per tres unctiones David, de quibus primi Regum decimo sexto, et secundi Regum secundo et quinto10, et ita per interemptionem respondent.
Alii dicunt aliter, quod illa Sacramenta non fuerunt praefigurata propter suam perfectionem; unde distinguunt tria genera Sacramentorum. Quaedam enim sunt suprema, ut illa quae dant gratiam perfectam vel ad pugnandum, vel ad egrediendum; et talia sunt confirmatio et extrema unctio, quae de ratione sua perfectionem dicunt; et quoniam Lex neminem ad perfectum duxit11, ideo haec duo sunt propria novae legis12. — Alia sunt quasi media, quae gratiam magnam dant, ideo pertinent ad legem novam; tamen, quia non dicunt perfectionem, possunt praesignata esse in veteri testamento, et haec, ut dicunt, sunt duo, scilicet baptismus et eucharistia. — Quaedam sunt infima, ut matrimonium, ordo et poenitentia; et haec non sunt propria, immo communia, nec tantum praesignata, immo inchoata et in nova perfecta. — Tamen praeferre alia Sacramenta duobus, quae praefigurata sunt, videtur valde absurdum, cum sint haec duo Sacramenta, baptismus et eucharistia, famosissima.
Et ideo aliter dicendum, quod quamvis omnia aliquo modo praefigurata sint, haec duo tamen pluribus et expressioribus figuris, tum propter difficultatem in credendo, quae est in baptismo, quia primum Sacramentum, in eucharistia, quia summum; tum propter dignitatem, quae est in baptismo quantum ad efficaciam, in eucharistia quantum ad continentiam; tum propter Ecclesiae unitatem, quae est in baptismo quantum ad inchoationem, in eucharistia quantum ad consummationem, vel in baptismo quantum ad signaculum christianitatis13, in eucharistia quantum ad cultum Deitatis. Unde quamvis alia habeant figuras aliquo modo, non tamen ita praecipue nec ita expresse.
3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod baptismus habuit figuram sanctificantem; dicendum, quod ratio huius est duplex. Prima est, quia baptismus est remedium contra morbum perniciosum et mortiferum; et est remedium parvulorum, qui se non possunt iuvare; et quoniam qui minus se possunt iuvare maiori indigent auxilio: ideo Sacramentum praecessit baptismum, quod de se haberet efficaciam14. Non sic est de eucharistia, quoniam est Sacramentum iam viventium et adultorum, qui se possunt iuvare auxilio fidei et motu liberi arbitrii; unde supplet in eis fides quod deerat a parte Sacramenti. Et sic patent quaesita.
1. De nomine huius admirabilis et ineffabilis Sacramenti, quod est eucharistia, cfr. infra dub. 2; de essentia eiusdem infra p. II. a. 2. — De figuris huius Sacramenti cum ceteris Scholasticis S. Thom. idem docet in Commentario et brevius in Summa (III. q. 73. a. 6.). Tres huius articuli quaestiones a multis una quaestione absolvuntur, sed ab Alex. Hal. (S. p. IV. q. 10. m. I. a. 1-3), adiectis aliis quaestionibus, diffuse exponuntur.
De tribus igitur his qq. praeter locos citt. S. Thom., hic q. I. a. 2. quaestiunc. 1-3. — B. Albert., hic a. 2. — Petr. a Tar., hic q. I. a. 3. — Richard. a Med., hic a. I. q. 3. — Durand., hic q. I. — Dionys. Carth., hic q. 2.
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Article I. On the prefiguring of the Sacrament of the eucharist.
Question I. Whether the Sacrament of the eucharist ought to have been prefigured.
That this Sacrament was prefigured is clear from that saying of the Apostle, First to the Corinthians, the tenth chapter1: They all ate the same spiritual food; and afterward: All these things happened to them in figure. And that it ought to have been so appears:
1. Because, if the old law was for us a figure of things to come, and the things which were more worthy ought the more to be prefigured, then since this Sacrament is the most worthy, it most of all ought to have been prefigured.
2. Likewise, it is shown by another reason: because it was fitting that the passage from darkness to light should be made by means of shadow and figure, for, as nature does not bear sudden changes, so neither does the soul2; but in this Sacrament the light itself is present: therefore it ought to have been prefigured.
3. Likewise, this Sacrament is the most difficult to believe; but the weak person must be advanced toward difficult things gradually: therefore, etc.
On the contrary: 1. "Of a change there is no change3": therefore neither is there a sign of a sign; but this Sacrament, by the very fact that it is a Sacrament, is a sign and a figure: therefore it ought not to have been presignified nor prefigured.
2. Likewise, confirmation and extreme unction are Sacraments of the new law and do not have figures in the old — for, if you should speak of the anointing of kings4, that is nothing, because that is special, this universal — therefore neither ought this one to have had it.
3. Likewise, baptism had a figure5, which was not only a figure but also a remedy, as for instance circumcision; but nothing preceded the Sacrament of the altar which would have its remedy: therefore this Sacrament is without a figure.
### Conclusion. That the Sacrament of the eucharist be prefigured was fitting both by reason of its dignity and by reason of the difficulty in believing.
I respond: It must be said that this Sacrament was prefigured and ought to have been prefigured both by reason of its dignity and by reason of its difficulty: by reason of its dignity, because it was to be proclaimed and awaited as the most excellent gift of God6; and therefore the figures
of this Sacrament had to go before, and in them the expectation of the faithful might be revived, and the dignity of this Sacrament might be shown more renowned; whence the sending-ahead of the figures was nothing other than the spreading abroad of its fame. — By reason of difficulty, because among the rest of the Sacraments this7 is the most difficult to believe, indeed among the rest of the things to be believed; and therefore men had to be accustomed to it by a certain leading-by-the-hand of figures.
1. To that which is objected first to the contrary, that there is no sign of a sign; it must be said that that sign has truth joined to it8; whence it is not only a sign, but by reason of what is joined to it, it is truth; and since there can be a sign and figure of truth, therefore there can be a sign and figure of the Sacraments of the new law, and most of all of this one.
2. To that which is objected concerning confirmation and extreme unction, the response is manifold. — For some say that all the Sacraments were prefigured in the old law, since the wheel was within the wheel, in the vision of Ezekiel9. And as to what is objected concerning the two Sacraments, they resolve it by interception: because the three anointings of the new law are prefigured by the three anointings of David, of which First Kings the sixteenth, and Second Kings the second and fifth10, and thus they respond by interception.
Others say otherwise, that those Sacraments were not prefigured on account of their perfection; whence they distinguish three kinds of Sacraments. For some are supreme, as those which give perfect grace either for fighting or for going forth; and such are confirmation and extreme unction, which by their very account bespeak perfection; and since the Law brought no one to perfection11, therefore these two are proper to the new law12. — Others are as it were middle, which give great grace, and therefore pertain to the new law; yet, because they do not bespeak perfection, they could be presignified in the old testament, and these, as they say, are two, namely baptism and the eucharist. — Some are lowest, as matrimony, order, and penance; and these are not proper, but rather common, nor only presignified, but rather begun and perfected in the new. — Yet to prefer other Sacraments to the two which were prefigured seems quite absurd, since these two Sacraments, baptism and the eucharist, are the most renowned.
And therefore it must be said otherwise, that although all were in some way prefigured, these two nevertheless were prefigured by more and more express figures, both on account of the difficulty in believing, which is in baptism, because it is the first Sacrament, and in the eucharist, because it is the highest; both on account of dignity, which is in baptism with respect to efficacy, in the eucharist with respect to containing; both on account of the unity of the Church, which is in baptism with respect to its beginning, in the eucharist with respect to its consummation, or in baptism with respect to the seal of christianity13, in the eucharist with respect to the worship of the Deity. Whence, although the others have figures in some way, yet not so chiefly nor so expressly.
3. To that which is objected, that baptism had a sanctifying figure; it must be said that the reason for this is twofold. The first is, because baptism is a remedy against a pernicious and deadly disease; and it is a remedy for little children, who cannot help themselves; and since those who can less help themselves need greater assistance: therefore a Sacrament preceded baptism, which would have efficacy of itself14. It is not so with the eucharist, since it is a Sacrament of the now-living and of adults, who can help themselves by the assistance of faith and the movement of free will; whence in them faith supplies what was lacking on the part of the Sacrament. And thus the things sought are clear.
1. Concerning the name of this admirable and ineffable Sacrament, which is the eucharist, cf. below dub. 2; concerning the essence of the same, below p. II. a. 2. — Concerning the figures of this Sacrament, S. Thomas, with the rest of the Scholastics, teaches the same in his Commentary and more briefly in the Summa (III. q. 73. a. 6.). The three questions of this article are by many resolved in a single question, but by Alexander of Hales (S. p. IV. q. 10. m. I. a. 1-3), with other questions added, are set forth at length.
Concerning these three questions, therefore, besides the places cited: S. Thomas, here q. I. a. 2. little-questions 1-3. — B. Albert, here a. 2. — Peter of Tarentaise, here q. I. a. 3. — Richard of Middleton, here a. I. q. 3. — Durandus, here q. I. — Dionysius the Carthusian, here q. 2.
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- 1Vers. 3. et 11. — Inferius post Et quod ita codd. G X supplent esse.Verses 3 and 11. — Below, after Et quod ita ("And that it thus"), codices G X supply esse ("ought").
- 2Cfr. supra pag. 88, nota 3.Cf. above, page 88, note 3.
- 3Aristot., V. Phys. text. 10. et 13. (c. 2.), nec non XI. Metaph. c. 11. (X. c. 12.). — Minor ostensa est supra d. 1. p. I. q. 2.Aristotle, Physics V, texts 10 and 13 (c. 2), and also Metaphysics XI, c. 11 (X, c. 12). — The minor was shown above, d. 1, p. I, q. 2.
- 4Cfr. 1. Reg. 10, 1. et 16, 13. — Inferius post ergo codd. H L P Q Y supplent si illa duo non habuerunt [cod. L addit figuram].Cf. 1 Kings 10, 1 and 16, 13. — Below, after ergo ("therefore"), codices H L P Q Y supply si illa duo non habuerunt ("if those two did not have it") [codex L adds figuram, "a figure"].
- 5Vide supra d. 1. p. II. a. 2. q. 1. et 3.See above, d. 1, p. II, a. 2, q. 1 and 3.
- 6Cfr. Breviar. Roman. antiphonae in festo Corp. Christi, quae sumtae sunt ex Psalmis ibi occurentibus. — Ex codd. H K L N Y substituimus praedicandum et exspectandum pro praedicatum et exspectatum. Inferius pro refocillaretur, quod praebent codd. E F G I, alii refulciretur, Vat. legit ut et in iis praefulciretur, et pro famosior codd. R S T firmior.Cf. the Roman Breviary, antiphons on the feast of Corpus Christi, which are taken from the Psalms occurring there. — From codices H K L N Y we have substituted praedicandum et exspectandum ("to be proclaimed and awaited") for praedicatum et exspectatum ("proclaimed and awaited"). Below, for refocillaretur ("might be revived"), which codices E F G I give, others read refulciretur; the Vatican edition reads ut et in iis praefulciretur; and for famosior ("more renowned") codices R S T read firmior ("firmer").
- 7Cod. H quia non tantum.Codex H reads quia non tantum ("because not only").
- 8In cod. bb secunda manus in margine addidit: Vel dicendum, quod verum est, per se loquendo. Sacramentum autem duo concernit: signum et rem signi. Unde etsi Sacramentum non praefiguratur ea parte, qua signum est, praefiguratur tamen ratione rei, qua veritas est, sive ratione veritatis coniunctae. Hoc additamentum sumtum est ex Alex. Hal., S. p. IV, q. 10. m. I. a. 1. § 1.In codex bb a second hand added in the margin: "Or it must be said that it is true, speaking per se. Now a Sacrament concerns two things: the sign and the reality of the sign. Whence, although a Sacrament is not prefigured in that respect in which it is a sign, it is nevertheless prefigured by reason of the reality, in which it is truth, or by reason of the truth joined to it." This addition is taken from Alexander of Hales, S. p. IV, q. 10, m. I, a. 1, § 1.
- 9Cap. 1, 16. et 10, 10: Quasi sit rota in medio rotae. Cfr. tom. III. pag. 545, nota 10, ubi verba Gregorii allata sunt.[Ezekiel] c. 1, 16 and 10, 10: As though there were a wheel in the midst of a wheel. Cf. tome III, page 545, note 10, where the words of Gregory are cited.
- 10Vers. 13. — Seq. loc. est II. Reg. 2, 4; tertius ibid. 5, 3.Verse 13. — The following place is 2 Kings 2, 4; the third, ibid. 5, 3.
- 11Hebr. 7, 19: Nihil enim ad perfectum adduxit Lex. — Pro ad perfectum codd. F H ad perfectionem. Paulo ante voci perfectionem codd. F G I praemittunt plenam, et pro dicunt cod. G substituit dant. Aliquanto superius pro propter suam cod. F propter summam. Inferius pro non dicunt cod. G et ed. I non dant.Hebrews 7, 19: For the Law brought nothing to perfection. — For ad perfectum codices F H read ad perfectionem. A little before, to the word perfectionem codices F G I prefix plenam, and for dicunt codex G substitutes dant. Somewhat above, for propter suam codex F reads propter summam. Below, for non dicunt codex G and edition I read non dant.
- 12Supple: novae legis. — Paulo inferius pro in nova cod. G in novo [testamento].Supply: of the new law. — A little below, for in nova codex G reads in novo [testamento] ("in the new [testament]").
- 13In cod. X secunda manus posuit Christi humanitatis.In codex X a second hand put Christi humanitatis ("of the humanity of Christ").
- 14Cfr. supra d. 2. dub. 3. — Codd. T X ideo Sacramentum baptismi praecessit aliquid, quod de se haberet etc.Cf. above, d. 2, dub. 3. — Codices T X read ideo Sacramentum baptismi praecessit aliquid, quod de se haberet etc. ("therefore something preceded the Sacrament of baptism, which would have of itself," etc.).