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Dist. 9, Art. 1, Q. 3

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 9

Textus Latinus
p. 204

Quaestio III. Quid sit manducare sacramentaliter.

Tertio quaeritur, quid sit manducare sacramentaliter, sive pro quanto aliquis dicatur manducare sacramentaliter; et quaeritur, utrum sufficiat sola actio corporalis. Et quod sic, videtur:

1. Per simile: qui enim mergitur, forma Sacramenti baptismi servata, si non habeat aliquid resistens, baptizatur sacramentaliter1: ergo videtur similiter, quod manducet sacramentaliter qui recipit corporaliter ipsum Sacramentum.

2. Item, sola spiritualis masticatio et incorporatio rei facit manducationem spiritualem2: ergo videtur, quod sola degustatio sive masticatio specierum facit manducationem sacramentalem.

3. Item, minima dispositio, quae possit haberi ad hoc Sacramentum, est fides informis; sed sine hac potest manducari sacramentaliter: ergo videtur, quod sola actio corporalis sufficiat. Probatio minoris: haereticus sacerdos potest conficere, sicut infra3 videbitur; sed non minus est conficere quam sacramentaliter sumere: ergo haereticus potest sacramentaliter sumere: ergo sine fidei actu potest sacramentaliter manducari: ergo sola actione corporali.

4. Item, quaecumque inseparabiliter sunt unita, quamdiu sunt, in nullo actu separantur: ergo qui sumunt et manducant unum, et alterum; sed species continent corpus Christi veraciter4: ergo qui species comedit comedit corpus Christi. Sed non comedit ex hoc spiritualiter: ergo sacramentaliter saltem.

Contra: 1. Ad actum sacramentalem requiritur intentio, sicut supra5 probatum est, et si quis verba diceret et non intenderet consecrare, non conficeret: ergo qui manducat, si non intendit, sacramentaliter non manducat.

2. Item, fides est fundamentum omnium Sacramentorum, maxime huius, quia in forma huius dicitur: Mysterium fidei etc.6: ergo si aliquis degustat et non credit, non sumit sacramentaliter.

3. Item, duo sunt de integritate Sacramenti, scilicet significatio et sanctificatio7: ergo ad hoc, quod aliqua ratio Sacramenti salvetur, necesse est, aliquod istorum reperiri; sed ei qui non credit, Sacramentum nec significat nec efficaciam sanctificationis praestat: ergo talis nullo modo manducat.

4. Item, si sola masticatio corporalis sufficeret, tunc mus et Angelus, assumto corpore, et homo ignorans sacramentaliter sumerent; quorum quodlibet est inconveniens8: restat ergo, quod non sufficit.

Est igitur quaestio, quid requiratur.

Conclusio. Sacramentalis manducatio est manducare Sacramentum cum intentione sumendi illud ut Sacramentum.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod sacramentaliter manducare est manducare Sacramentum et ut Sacramentum. p. 205 Quoniam enim sacramentaliter manducare est dispositio actus manducandi, ideo ad hoc, quod actus sit sacramentalis, necesse est, quod respiciat ipsum Sacramentum ut Sacramentum. Ad hoc autem, quod aliquis manducet Sacramentum manducando species, duo exiguntur, scilicet cibi existentia et eius ad cibatum naturalis convenientia. Primum exigitur, quia, si non praecessit Sacramenti confectio, non potest sequi manducatio. Secundum exigitur, quia cibus iste solis hominibus est concessus; unde sicut homo solus baptizatur9, ita corpus Christi sacramentaliter a solo homine manducatur; et sicut solus homo suscipit Sacramentum baptismi, ita solus homo suscipit Sacramentum eucharistiae. — Ad hoc vero, quod manducet ut Sacramentum, necessaria est intentio et intentionis regulatio vel secundum fidem, quae est in ipso, vel secundum fidem, quae est in altero. Intentio, inquam, necessaria est; nam si quis iret ad mensam et intenderet corpus reficere, et aliquis pro pane communi Sacramentum sibi sicut panem offerret, et ipse intenderet omnino cibum corporalem sumere10; nemo diceret, eum sacramentaliter manducasse. — Necesse est etiam, quod illa intentio dirigatur vel secundum fidem, quae est in ipso, vel in altero, quia vel oportet, quod credat, quod sub illa specie aliquid spirituale lateat, quod sumere intendat; vel oportet, quod saltem intendat sumere quod alios credere aestimat, quamvis ipse non credat. Unde credo, quod si aliquis haereticus intendit accipere quod aestimat Ecclesiam credere esse corpus Christi, quamvis non credat, sacramentaliter comedit; quia, quamvis intentio sua non copuletur11 nec attingat rem Sacramenti per propriam fidem, attingit tamen mediante fide aliena. Unde sacramentaliter comedit, quamvis non ita attingat, sicut ille qui credit fide propria.

Et sic patet, pro quanto dicatur sacramentaliter manducare, scilicet quia Sacramentum primum vere existit, et ipse qui manducat illud ut Sacramentum sumere intendit; sive quia credit esse verum Sacramentum, sive quia aestimat, alios credere.

Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod sufficit sola manducatio corporalis; dicendum, quod falsum est, sicut ostendunt rationes ad oppositum, immo quatuor exiguntur, sicut tactum est.

1. Ad illud quod obiicitur de mersione, dicendum, quod non sufficit in adulto, sicut prius12 dictum fuit, nisi adsit intentio regulata a fide vel in se, vel in alio; sic in proposito.

2. Ad illud quod obiicitur de spirituali manducatione, dicendum, quod non est simile: quia in actu fidei et caritatis semper res spiritualis attingitur, et ita res spiritualis non frustratur. Sed cum quis manducat corporaliter, potest esse, quod non attingat aliquid, quod spiritualiter subest, nec intellectu nec affectu, nec per se nec per alterum; et ita non manducat ut Sacramentum. Et sic patet illud.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur de fide informi, dicendum, quod falsum est, quia minor est cognitio aestimationis quam fidei13, et minus est intendere facere quod alius facit, quam intendere quod credit; et quia dispositio aliqua est, ideo aliquo modo est manducatio sacramentalis, quamvis non ita plene.

4. Ad illud quod obiicitur de inseparabilitate, dicendum, quod inseparabilia sunt quantum ad situm, non tamen sunt inseparabilia quantum ad actum14. Potest enim quis percutere et perforare et frangere speciem, et tamen nihil facit circa rem; ita et manducare. Et quoniam Sacramentum dicit comparationem ad rem, nihil dicitur attingere sacramentaliter, nisi etiam attingat rem; et hoc potest esse, sicut visum est: et ideo non sufficit solum speciem manducare ad manducationem sacramentalem, nisi attingat rem per intentionem regulatam aliquo genere cognitionis, scilicet vel aestimationis, vel fidei informis, vel fidei formatae, vel etiam scientiae certae, ut in Christo15.

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English Translation
p. 204

Question III. What it is to eat sacramentally.

Thirdly it is asked what it is to eat sacramentally, or in what sense someone is said to eat sacramentally; and it is asked whether bodily action alone suffices. And that it does, it seems:

1. By a likeness: for one who is immersed, the form of the sacrament of baptism being preserved, if he have nothing resisting, is baptized sacramentally1: therefore it seems likewise that he eats sacramentally who receives the Sacrament itself bodily.

2. Likewise, spiritual mastication and incorporation of the thing alone makes eating spiritual2: therefore it seems that the tasting or mastication of the species alone makes eating sacramental.

3. Likewise, the least disposition that can be had toward this Sacrament is unformed faith; but without this one can eat sacramentally: therefore it seems that bodily action alone suffices. Proof of the minor: a heretical priest can consecrate, as will be seen below3; but to consecrate is no less than to receive sacramentally: therefore a heretic can receive sacramentally: therefore without an act of faith one can eat sacramentally: therefore by bodily action alone.

4. Likewise, whatever things are inseparably united, as long as they exist, are separated in no act: therefore those who take and eat the one, also the other; but the species truly contain the body of Christ4: therefore he who eats the species eats the body of Christ. But he does not from this eat spiritually: therefore at least sacramentally.

On the contrary: 1. For a sacramental act intention is required, as was proved above5, and if someone were to say the words and not intend to consecrate, he would not consecrate: therefore he who eats, if he does not intend, does not eat sacramentally.

2. Likewise, faith is the foundation of all the Sacraments, most of all of this one, since in the form of this it is said: Mystery of faith etc.6: therefore if someone tastes and does not believe, he does not receive sacramentally.

3. Likewise, two things belong to the integrity of the Sacrament, namely signification and sanctification7: therefore in order that some character of the Sacrament be preserved, it is necessary that one of these be found; but for him who does not believe, the Sacrament neither signifies nor confers the efficacy of sanctification: therefore such a one in no way eats.

4. Likewise, if bodily mastication alone sufficed, then a mouse and an Angel, having assumed a body, and an ignorant man would receive sacramentally; each of which is unfitting8: it remains, therefore, that it does not suffice.

The question, therefore, is what is required.

Conclusion. Sacramental eating is to eat the Sacrament with the intention of taking it as a Sacrament.

I respond: It must be said that to eat sacramentally is to eat the Sacrament and as a Sacrament. p. 205 For since to eat sacramentally is a disposition of the act of eating, therefore in order that the act be sacramental, it is necessary that it regard the Sacrament itself as a Sacrament. Now for someone to eat the Sacrament by eating the species, two things are required, namely the existence of the food and its natural suitability to the one fed. The first is required, because, if the confecting of the Sacrament has not preceded, eating cannot follow. The second is required, because this food is granted to men alone; whence as man alone is baptized9, so the body of Christ is eaten sacramentally by man alone; and as man alone receives the Sacrament of baptism, so man alone receives the Sacrament of the eucharist. — But for him to eat it as a Sacrament, intention is necessary and the regulating of the intention either according to the faith which is in himself, or according to the faith which is in another. Intention, I say, is necessary; for if someone went to table and intended to refresh the body, and someone offered him the Sacrament as common bread, and he intended wholly to take bodily food10; no one would say that he had eaten sacramentally. — It is also necessary that that intention be directed either according to the faith which is in himself, or in another, because either it is fitting that he believe that under that species something spiritual lies hidden, which he intends to take; or it is fitting that he at least intend to take what he reckons others to believe, although he himself does not believe. Hence I believe that if some heretic intends to receive what he reckons the Church to believe to be the body of Christ, although he does not believe it, he eats sacramentally; because, although his intention is not joined11 to nor attains the thing of the Sacrament through his own faith, it nevertheless attains it by the mediation of another's faith. Hence he eats sacramentally, although he does not so attain as one who believes by his own faith.

And so it is clear in what sense one is said to eat sacramentally, namely because the Sacrament first truly exists, and he who eats intends to take it as a Sacrament; whether because he believes it to be a true Sacrament, or because he reckons others to believe it.

To that which is objected, that bodily eating alone suffices; it must be said that it is false, as the arguments to the opposite show, indeed four things are required, as has been touched on.

1. To that which is objected concerning immersion, it must be said that it does not suffice in an adult, as was said before12, unless there be present an intention regulated by faith either in oneself or in another; so in the case at hand.

2. To that which is objected concerning spiritual eating, it must be said that it is not alike: because in the act of faith and charity the spiritual thing is always attained, and so the spiritual thing is not frustrated. But when someone eats bodily, it can be that he does not attain anything which lies spiritually beneath, neither in intellect nor in affection, neither by himself nor by another; and so he does not eat it as a Sacrament. And so that is clear.

3. To that which is objected concerning unformed faith, it must be said that it is false, because the cognition of reckoning is less than that of faith13, and it is less to intend to do what another does than to intend what he believes; and because there is some disposition, therefore in some way it is sacramental eating, although not so fully.

4. To that which is objected concerning inseparability, it must be said that they are inseparable as to position, yet they are not inseparable as to act14. For one can strike and pierce and break the species, and yet do nothing toward the thing; so also with eating. And since the Sacrament expresses a relation to the thing, nothing is said to attain sacramentally unless it also attain the thing; and this can be, as has been seen: and therefore it does not suffice merely to eat the species for sacramental eating, unless one attain the thing through an intention regulated by some kind of cognition, namely either of reckoning, or of unformed faith, or of formed faith, or even of certain knowledge, as in Christ15.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Cfr. supra lit. Magistri, d. IV. c. 1. seqq.
    Cf. above, the text of the Master, dist. IV, ch. 1 ff.
  2. 2
    De quo vide quaest. praeced.
    On which see the preceding question.
  3. 3
    Dist. 13. q. 1. — Finem arg. cod. W exhibet sic: ergo sola actio sive masticatio corporalis sufficit ad manducationem sacramentalem.
    Dist. 13, q. 1. — Cod. W gives the end of the argument thus: therefore bodily action or mastication alone suffices for sacramental eating.
  4. 4
    Ut ostenditur infra d. 10. p. I. q. 1.
    As is shown below, dist. 10, pt. I, q. 1.
  5. 5
    Dist. 6. p. II. a. 2. q. 1. — Inferius post manducat cod. B addit corporaliter, codd. FGI spiritualiter, vel corporaliter.
    Dist. 6, pt. II, a. 2, q. 1. — Below, after eats, cod. B adds bodily, codd. FGI spiritually, or bodily.
  6. 6
    Vide supra d. 8. p. II. a. 2. — Inferius post non sumit non pauci codd. repetunt ergo, pro quo cod. H hoc.
    See above, dist. 8, pt. II, a. 2. — Below, after does not receive, not a few codd. repeat therefore, for which cod. H reads this.
  7. 7
    Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.
    See the scholion to the preceding question.
  8. 8
    Cfr. supra d. I. p. I. q. 2. et 3.
    Cf. above, dist. I, pt. I, q. 2 and 3.
  9. 9
    Vide infra lit. Magistri, d. XIII. c. 1. in fine, et Comment. a. 2. q. 1.
    See below, the text of the Master, dist. XIII, ch. 1, at the end, and the Commentary, a. 2, q. 1.
  10. 10
    Cfr. supra pag. 121, nota 9.
    Cf. above, p. 121, note 9.
  11. 11
    Permulti codd. assumere.
    Very many codd. read assumere (to take up).
  12. 12
    Cod. G compleretur. Alex. Hal., S. p. IV. q. 11. m. 1. a. 4. reguletur. Paulo ante post sacramentaliter codd. supplent tamen.
    Cod. G reads compleretur. Alexander of Hales, Summa, pt. IV, q. 11, m. 1, a. 4, reads reguletur. A little before, after sacramentally, the codd. supply yet.
  13. 13
    Dist. 4. p. I. a. 2. q. 1. et d. 6. p. II. a. 2. q. 1. ad 3.
    Dist. 4, pt. I, a. 2, q. 1, and dist. 6, pt. II, a. 2, q. 1, ad 3.
  14. 14
    Vide III. Sent. d. 23. a. 2. q. 1. ad 4. et q. 2. ad 4.
    See III Sent., dist. 23, a. 2, q. 1, ad 4, and q. 2, ad 4.
  15. 15
    Alex. Hal., loc. cit.: Dicendum, quod etsi inseparabilia sunt quantum ad simultatem essendi, quamdiu enim species est, simul sunt; non tamen sunt inseparabilia quantum ad simultatem patiendi. — Vide scholion ad 1. huius articuli quaest.
    Alexander of Hales, loc. cit.: It must be said that although they are inseparable as to simultaneity of being — for as long as the species exists they are together — yet they are not inseparable as to simultaneity of undergoing. — See the scholion to the first question of this article. ---
Cited by

2 places in the Opera Omnia citethis question. Derived from Quaracchi’s own apparatus, never tagged by hand.

Whether this sacrament has efficacy in every just man
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 12
supra d. 9. a. 1. q. 3.
Whether the body of Christ descends into the belly of a man
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 13 · 2×
supra d. 9. a. 1. q. 3.

2 further references address the article or printed page this question belongs to, rather than the question itself.

← Dist. 9, Art. 1, Q. 2Dist. 9, Art. 1, Q. 4→