De Sacrifici
The Mystery of the Holy Sacrifice
The author introduces the Eucharist as a divine work that transcends nature, instituted by Christ at the Last Supper.
Dear son, the holy sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ is invisible grace made in visible form—that is, the sacred host, which is transubstantiated into the true flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. This most marvelous holy sacrifice, by which we are to be saved, was instituted, son, on the Thursday of the Supper, when our Lord Jesus Christ was eating with the apostles, and he blessed the bread and the wine, and said that the bread was his flesh and the wine was his blood.✦1 Dear son, by the power of the words that God Jesus Christ set upon the bread and the wine, the host and the wine you see raised at the altar become the Body of Jesus Christ when the priest sings Mass and says the words that Jesus Christ spoke on the Thursday of the Supper.2 To show you, my son, that the God of glory is Lord of nature, He performs a work that is above the power of nature; that work is causing the holy, glorious Body of Jesus Christ to be present in the form of bread and wine.
Faith Above the Senses
The believer is instructed to trust the light of faith over the deceptive nature of bodily senses.
If your eyes, son, say that the sacred Host is bread, the power and wisdom and love and the other virtues of our Lord God tell your soul that that sacred Host and the sacred wine are truly the very body of Jesus Christ who, to save you, went up on the cross on Good Friday of Easter.3 Dear son, since your eyes are created things, and the powers of God are of the Creator, and because the Creator is a nobler and truer thing than any creature, for that reason you, son, must believe the witnesses God gives by His power more than the witnesses nature gives through your eyes and your other bodily senses.4 Understand, son, that the eyes lie about some things; for according to bodily sight, it seems that the sea and the earth join up with the sky; and a sick sense of taste finds bitterness in the apple and in the honey and in the other foods that are sweet. Son, God's power cannot lie, for there is nothing that can make it lie; but the five5 bodily senses often lie, because other things stronger than they make them lie. So, since God's powers tell your soul by the light of faith that you should believe that sacred host and that consecrated wine to be the holy Body of Jesus Christ, and your bodily senses falsely lie to you about what God's powers tell you, and since the bodily senses are liars and God's powers cannot lie, for this reason you are bound to believe what God's powers signify to you by their very own power.6
The Purpose of Eucharistic Faith
God ordains the sacrament to elevate the human understanding and reveal His divine perfections to the world.
Do you know why God wants you to believe that the body of Jesus Christ is under the sacred host, and that it is just as God commands you to believe? So that you may believe more by the powers of God than understand by your bodily senses; for the elevation that your understanding receives by the light of faith above the78 v.9 bodily senses surpasses them, so you understand greater things through the power of God than through natural works or physical senses.10 So that God's great power, knowledge, and will may be shown every day and in many places of the world, God wants the sacrament of the altar to be true; for in no other way can a creature so well understand that God's power, knowledge, and other virtues are in very great perfection as it does through the sacrifice of the altar. And for this reason, my son, you can conclude that this has been ordained in the sacraments of the Holy Church so that people may better understand the great virtues of our Lord God.11
Read the original Latin
Amable fill, lo sant sacrifici del cors de Jhesu Christ es invisible gracia feta en forma vesible, so es la hostia sagrada, la qual es transubstanciada en vera carn de nostro Senyor Jhesu Christ.
Aquest sant sacrifici molt maravellós e per lo que nos nos avem a salvar, fo ordonat, fill, al dijous de la cena, con nostro Senyor Jhesu Christ menjava ab los apóstols, e benehi lo pa el vi, e dix quel pa era la sua cara el vi era la sua sanch.
Amable fill, per la vertut de les paraules que Deus Jhesu Christ posá el pa e el vi, esdevé la hostia el vi que tu veus levar al altar, lo cors de Jhesu Christ, con lo prevere canta la missa e diu les paraules que Jhesu Christ dix al dijous de la cena.
A demostrar, fill, que lo Deus de gloria es senyor de natura, fa obra qui es sobre lo poder de natura; la qual obra es con fa en forma de pa e de vi esser lo sant cors gloriós de Jhesu Christ.
Si los teus ulls, fill, dien que la hostia sagrada es pa, lo poder e la sáviea e lamor e les altres vertuts de nostro Senyor Deu díen a la tua anima que aquella hostia sagrada e lo vi sagrat es verament aquell cors metex de Jhesu Christ qui per salvar tu, pujá en la creu al dia del divendres sant de Pasqua.
Amable fill, con los teus ulls sien creats e con les vertuts de Deu sien creador, e car creador es pus noble cosa e pus venadera que creatura, per assó tu, fill, deus més creure als testimonis que Deus dona ab sa vertut, que als testimonis que natura dona ab los teus ulls e ab los altres teus seyns corporals.
Entín, fill, con los ulls menten en alcunes coses; car segons vista corporal, par que la mar e la térra se tenguen ab lo cel; el gustament malaut troba amargor en la poma e en la mel e en les altres viandes qui son dolces.
Fill, vertut de Deu no pot mentir; car no es nula cosa qui la puga fer mentir; mas los . v. seyns corporals sovint menten, per so car alcunes altres coses pus forts que ells los fan mentir. On, com les vertuts de Deu diguen per lum de fe a ta anima que creegues aquella hostia sagrada e aquell vi sagrat esser lo sant cors de Jhesu Christ, e los teus seyns corporals falsament te menten so que les vertuts de Deu te díen, e con los seyns corporals sien mentiders e les vertuts de Deu no pusquen mentir, per assó est ubligat que creegues so que les vertuts de Deu te signifiquen ab lur vertut metexa.
¿Sabs per que Deus vol que tu creegues que lo cors de Jhesu Christ es sots la hostia sagrada e que sia enaxí com Deus te mana creure? per so que més pusques creure per les vertuts de Deu que per los teus seyns corporals entendre; car lexalsament quel teu enteniment pren per lum de fe sobre los . v. seyns corporals, sobrepuja major coses entendre per la vertut de Deu que per les obres naturals ni per los seyns corporals.
Per so que sia demostrat cascun jorn e en molts lochs del mon lo gran poder e saber e voler de Deu, vol Deus que sia lo sagrament del altar vertader; car creatura per nula altra manera no pot tan be entendre lo poder el saber e les altres vertuts de Deu esser en molt gran perfeccio, com fa per lo sacrifici del altar. On per assó, fill, aesmar te pots que aquella cosa cové esser ordonada en los sagraments de Sancta Esgleya, per so que mils pusque hom entendre les grans vertuts de nostro Senyor Deu.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Cor.11.23-1Cor.11.25 — For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
Notes
- 1 ↩Source reads cara; in this Eucharistic institution formula the intended sense is almost certainly carn (flesh), parallel to body/flesh and blood. Rendered as flesh; confirm against the critical text if available.
- 2 ↩Medieval Catalan posá with the bread and wine as objects is taken as ‘set/placed upon’ (the words Christ put upon the elements at the institution); not ‘became’ or a later consecration formula.
- 3 ↩Old Catalan «lamor» read as «l'amor» (love); «sáviea» as «saviesa» (wisdom); «cors metex» as «cos mateix» (the very same body).
- 4 ↩Source “venadera” read as medieval Catalan for “verdadera” (true); “seyns” as “senys” (senses).
- 5 ↩Manuscript numeral '.v.' is the figure five, completing 'los .v. seyns corporals' (the five bodily senses), as confirmed by the same formula in the following section.
- 6 ↩Source says both the sacred host and the consecrated wine 'are the holy Body of Jesus Christ' (lo sant cors); rendered literally without expanding to 'Body and Blood'.
- 7 ↩Read as agglutinated l'exalçament ('the elevation/raising'), the likeliest sense with quel teu enteniment pren…sobre. Less likely: legalment ('lawfully').
- 8 ↩Sentence is cut mid-phrase at sobre los ., continued after the page/signature mark in s3–s4 as seyns corporals… (same pattern as DoctPuer.1.25.8).
- 9 ↩Non-lexical print/page or signature mark (verso/catchword-style), not part of the Catalan argument. Same artifact type as DoctPuer.1.25.8.s2 between los and seyns corporals.
- 10 ↩Continuation of s2 after the break: [l'exalçament … sobre los] seyns corporals, sobrepuja major coses entendre…. Subject of sobrepuja is the elevation from s2, not the senses themselves.
- 11 ↩aesmar: reckon/estimate/judge; rendered as 'reckon' for natural instructional address.
Doctrine for Children — Opening companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit