De coena domini
The Friend: Dining with the Apostles
Christ initiates the Last Supper as a final act of friendship and intimacy with His disciples before His passion.
Once the supper was finished, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him, he rose from the supper and laid aside his garments (John). For we see that when friends are separated, they are accustomed to dine together first. They are accustomed to dining together first. So, knowing he would soon be separated from his apostles, Christ wanted to dine with them beforehand. Hence, Luke. XXII: I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, etc. In this supper, therefore, Christ assumed the role of a friend, the role of a servant, and the role of a bishop. He took on the role of a friend by eating with them so familiarly.
The Paschal Lamb: Symbols of Devotion
The requirements for eating the paschal lamb serve as allegories for the interior life, faith in Christ's nature, and the necessity of penitential sorrow.
At this meal, he ate the paschal lamb, and the instructions for how it should be eaten are found in Exodus. Exodus 12: 'You shall not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but only roasted by fire.' Here, certain things are forbidden—namely, that it not be eaten raw or boiled in water, and that it be roasted by fire. For raw meat is not cooked by fire, and boiled meat, though cooked, isn't as flavorful. Those who have a 'raw' heart—that is, one not cooked by the fire of love—eat it raw; those who lack the flavor of devotion in their heart eat it boiled; those who have a heart cooked by the fire of love and full of flavor eat it roasted by fire. Second, it must be eaten with its head, feet, and entrails; the head of this lamb is his divinity, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11: His head is God, his feet are his humanity, which is weak by nature, and the entrails are his soul. We must eat all of these. Certain heretics claimed Christ was not true God; they did not eat the head. Others claimed he was not a true man and lacked a real body, possessing only a phantom; they did not eat the feet. Still others claimed he lacked a rational soul, having only divinity in its place; they did not eat the entrails. We, however, as the faithful, should eat the head and feet along with the entrails, so that we may faithfully believe in his divinity, soul, and body. Third, it must be eaten with bitter herbs—that is, with the bitterness of sorrow for all our sins. It should be noted that some people eat these bitter herbs whole, some eat them crushed, and some consume only their juice. For there are some who have only a superficial sorrow for their sins, which can be called attrition; these are the ones who eat the bitter herbs whole. These are the bitter herbs eaten whole. Such attrition doesn't fully justify the sinner. Jeremiah: You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused to accept discipline. Others reach a higher level of perfection, not only crushing their sins but also shedding tears; these take the lamb with the juice of the bitter herbs—that is, with an abundance of tears, as Gregory says in his Morals. The meat is to be eaten with bitter herbs so that, when we receive the body of the Redeemer, we may afflict ourselves in weeping for our sins; for this bitterness of penance wipes away the humor of perverse vices from the stomach of the mind.
The Servant: Washing of the Feet
Christ demonstrates the role of a servant by washing the disciples' feet, teaching the necessity of humility and spiritual purity for those who lead.
Unleavened bread is bread made without yeast. According to Gregory, those who do their good works with the corruption of vainglory eat bread with yeast—the kind of people to whom the Lord says, 'Offer a sacrifice of praise with leaven.' For he offers a sacrifice with leaven who prepares it for God out of plunder, but he who keeps himself from bad company keeps it without leaven, as it says in Corinthians. Fifth: 'A little leaven corrupts the whole lump.' Second: Christ took on the role of a servant when he washed his disciples' feet. He washed both their physical and spiritual feet. First, he washed their physical feet as an example and a lesson—an example of humility, as he himself says: 'I have given you an example, so that you should do as I have done.' Peter, however, recoiled at this humility, saying, 'You will never wash my feet,' to which he replied. Christ said, 'If I do not wash you, you will have no part with me.' Then Peter, struck by both fear and love, offered his feet, head, and hands to be washed, but Christ rebuked him, asserting that he didn't need the washing of his head or hands, but only his feet. By the head, intention is understood; by the hands, action; and by the feet, affection. The first two, namely intention and action, were already clean in Peter, and therefore he didn't need the washing of his head and hands. He did, however, have a good intention in all things and a clean action. Second, he washed their feet as a lesson to show that leaders ought to wash the feet of their subordinates. Otherwise, the washing isn't done well, either because the hand is unjust or because the water is unclean and murky, as it says in Ecclesiasticus 34: 'Who can be made clean by the unclean?' Gregory says: You must first be cleansed yourself if you want to cleanse others; you must first become wise yourself if you want to make others wise; you must become light yourself if you want to illuminate others; you must approach God yourself if you want to lead others to Him; you must be sanctified yourself if you want to sanctify others. Likewise: you must have upright hands and thus be of sound judgment, so that you may, for instance, give sound advice. Secondly, when the water is unclean; unclean water is the love of the world. Jeremiah 2: 'What good is it to you to go to the way of Egypt, to drink the water of the Nile?' Such water does not wash; it defiles. Augustine says: Whoever you are in the world, He who made the world comes to you to rescue you from the world. For if any pleasure in the world delights you, you will always want to be unclean; yet if some necessity keeps you there, the world—that is, God—dwells in you, He who cleanses the world, and you will be clean. Thirdly, because this uncleanness of the feet is caused by excessive repetition. It is too persistent and deep-seated (Ecclesiastes). Sirach 34: 'If a man washes after touching a dead body, and touches it again, what does his washing profit?' Hence 2 Peter: 'The last state has become worse than the first.' This applies to them: 'The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, having been washed, returns to wallowing in the mire.' Thirdly, He washed the feet spiritually with the water of His own blood, of which it is said in the Apocalypse: 'They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have made them white.'
The Bishop: The Mystery of the Eucharist
Christ assumes the role of a bishop by instituting the Eucharist, calling the faithful to trust in the Word over the deception of the senses.
Since Christ's blood is said to whiten, it seems to possess the power of both milk and blood; for milk is blood refined in the breasts, while Christ's blood was refined in His own body and in our heart. It's said to be refined in the breast of the intellect through meditation and in the breast of the heart's desire through devotion, and thus Christ's blood—in His body and in our own—is transformed through meditation and affection into a whiteness that cleanses and purifies our souls. Revelation 1 says: He washed us from our sins in His blood. Third, Christ took on the role of a bishop when He changed bread and wine into His own body and gave the apostles the power to consecrate it. This is a greater power than was ever given to any human; for it is the great power of God to make something out of something else, just as when He made heaven and earth, and a third, even greater power, to make a Creator out of a creature. He didn't give this power to angels, but to priests alone, because by divine power they convert the body and blood into the appearance of bread and wine. Hence Eusebius says: the invisible priest, that is, Christ, through His ministers converts visible creatures into His body and blood by His sacred power and His word, namely: 'This is my body,' etc. Therefore, no one should rely on their sight, for sight would think it sees the color of bread; nor on taste, for it would think it senses the taste of bread; nor on smell, for it would think it senses the odor of bread and wine. Instead, one must rely on hearing, because when one hears the words of consecration, it is exactly as one hears—'This is my body,' etc. This was signified in Genesis 27 in the case of Isaac, who, when he had blessed Jacob, had his sight deceived because his eyes were dim and he didn't recognize him; his smell was deceived because he believed he sensed the odor of Esau's garments; his taste was even deceived because he believed he was eating of Esau's game, yet he was eating of Jacob's; and he was deceived in his touch, because he thought he was touching Esau's hands, yet he was touching Jacob's. But his hearing, which heard Jacob's voice, was not deceived; rather, he said: 'The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob.' So too, in this Sacrament, all other senses are deceived except for hearing, and therefore all the faithful who hear the words of consecration must firmly and truthfully believe that the body of Christ is His blood.
Read the original Latin
Coena facta, cum dyabolus misisset in cor, ut traderet enin Judas Scarioth, surrexit a coena et posuit vestimenta sua, Joh. XIII: videmus enim, quod, quando amici separantur. ab invicem, solent primo invicem epulari. Sic sciens Christus, quod cito ab apostolis suis separari deberet, prius cum ipsis coenare voluit. Unde Luc. XXII: desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum, antequam pater etc. In hac ergo coena Christus assumsit personam amici, personam servi, personam episcopi. Personam siquidem amici accepit in hoc, quod tam familiariter comedit.
In hac coena comedit agnum paschalem, et qualiter comedi debeat, habetur Exod. XII: non comedetis ex eo crudum quid nec coclum aqua, sed tantum assum igni, Hic aliqua prohibentur, scilicet ut non comedatur crudus nec aqua coclus, et quod sit igne assatus, Caro enim cruda non est igne cocta, caro vero elixa, licet sit cocta, non est tainen adeo sapida. Illi ergo comedunt crudiun, qui habent cor crudum, id est non coctum igne amoris, illi comedunt elixum, qui non habent in corde saporem devotionis, illi comedunt assatum igne, qui habent cor coctum igne amoris et sapidum. Secundo debet comedi ejus caput cum pedibus ct intestinis; caput istius agni est ejus divinitas, Unde I. Cor. XI: caput ejus Deus est, pes ejus humanitas, quae est infirma in nalura, intestina sunt ejus anima, Omnia ista debemus comedere. Fuerunt quidam haeretici, qui dixeruut, Christum non esse verum Dewn, isti caput non comedebant, Alii dixerunt eum non esse verum hominem nec habere veram carnem, sed phantasticaim ; isti pedes non comedebant, Alii dicebant, cum non habuisse animam rationalem, sed loco animae solum divinitatem, isti intestina non comedebant, Nos ergo fideles caput et pedes cum intestinis comedamus , ut de ejus divinitate, anima et carne fideliter sentiamus. Tertio debet comedi cum lactucis agrestibus, id est cum amaritudine dolendo de peccatis omnibus.
Notandum, quod quidam sunt, qui comedunt istas laclucas integras, quidam contritas, quidam succum ipsarun. Sunt enin quidam, qui habent de peccatis suis superficialem dolorem, quae attritio potest dici, isti éumunt. islas lactucas integras. Talis atiritio non justificat peccatorem plene. Jerem. V: percussisti eos et non doluerunt, attrivisti eos et renuebant accipere disciplinum. Alii sunt majoris perfectionis, qui scilicet non solum peccata conterunt, sed etiam lacrymas emittunt; isti sumunt agnum cum succo laclucarum, id est cum abundantia lacrymarum, Gregor, in Moral. : carnes cum lactucis agrestibus sunt edenda, ut, cum corpns redeintoris accipimus, nos pro peccalis nostris in fletibus afflizamus, Quare ipsa amaritudo poenitentiae abstergit à mentis stomacho perversae humorem vitiorum, Quarta debet comedi cuin.
panibus azimis, id est cum panibus non fermentatis. Panes comedit cuin fermento secundum Gregorium, qui bona sua cum corruptione vanae gloriae facit, quibus dominus dicit: sacrificate de fermento laudem, De fermento- namque unmolat, qui Deo de rapina parat, sed ille sine fermento custodit, qui se a mala societate custodit, E Corinth. V: modicum fermentum totam massam corrumpit, Secundo Christus assumnsit personam servi in ec quod pedes suorum discipulorum lavit. Lavit autem pedes corporales et spi tuales, Primo lavit corporales in exemplum et documentum; in exemplum quidem humanitatis, ut ipse dicit; exemplun dedi vobis, ut vos ita faciatis, Istam tamen humilitatem Petrus abhorruit dicens: non lavabis mihi pedes in aeternum, Cui respondit. Christus: si non lavero te, non habebis partem mecum, Tunc Petrus timore ac amore percussus obtulit lavandos pedes, caput et manus, sed Christus corripuit enm asserens, quod non indigebat lotione capitis nec manuum , sed tantum pedum, Per caput intelligitur intentio, per manns operatio, per pedes affectio. Duo prima, scilicet intentio et operatio, in Petro munda erant et ideo lotione capitis et manuum non indigebat. Habebat autem intentionem in Omnibus bonam, operationem mundam, Secundo lavit pedes in documentum ad ostendendum, quod praelati debent lavare subditos. Tuno autem non bene lavatur, aut quia manus est iniqua, anut quia aqna est immunda et turbida, Eccles, XXXII: ab immundo quis mundabitur?
Gregorius: prius oportet te mundari, si alimm vis mundare, sapientem prius fieri et sic alios facere sapientes, lumen fieri et sic alios illmninare, accedere ad Deum et sic alios adducere, sanctificari et sic alios sanctificare, Item: manns habere rectas et sic esse recli consilii, ut, puta, rectum dare consilium, Secundo quando est aqua immunda; aqua immunda est amor mundi, Jerem, I: quid tibi in via Aegypti, ut bibas aquam turbidam? Talis enim aqua non lavat, sed coinquinat, Augustinus: quisquis es in mundo, ad te venit, qui fecit mundum, ut eripiat te de mundo, quia, si aliqua delectatio te delectet in mundo, semper vis esse immundus, si tamen aliqua necessitas te retinet, mundus, scilicet Dens, habitat in te, qui mundat mundos, et eris mundus. Tertio quoniam ipsa inacnla pedum ex nimia frequentatione efficitur. nimis tenax et inveterata, Eccles. XXXIV: qui baptizatur a mortuo, id est, qui lavatur a mortali peccato et iternm tangit mortuum, quid profuit Javatio ejus! Unde II, Petri: facta sunt posteriora deteriora prioribus. Convenit illis illud: canis reversus ad vomitum suum et sus lotat iterum in volutationem Inti, Tertio lavit pedes spiritualiter aqua sui sanguinis, de quo dicitur Apocal. H: Javerunt stolas suas in sanguine agni et dealbaverunt eas.
Ex quo inagis sanguis Christi dealbare dicitur, videtur, quod habet virtntem lactis et sanguinis, Lac enim est sanguis in uberibus excoctus, Sanguis autem Christi fuit excoctus in corpore suo et in corde nostro, Jn corpore suo fuit excoclus igne amoris sui, qui tam vehementer in corpore suo ebullit, quia aperto latere cum impelu emanavit, In corde autem nostro sunt duo ubera, scilicet intellectus. et affectus, Dicitur autem excoqui in ubere intellectus per meditationem et in ubere affectus per devotionem , et sic sanguis Christi in suo corpore et in noslro corpore per meditationem et affectionem vertitur in albedinem et animas nostras dealbat et mundat. Apocalyps, I: lavit nos a peccalis nostris in sanguine suo, Terlio accepit Christus personam episcopi, quando scilicet panem et vimun in corpus suum transmutavit et apostolis potestatem conficiendi dedit, Et ista est major polestas, quam unquam homini data fuit, Est enim potestas Dei magna, facere aliquid de aliquo, sicut, quando fecit coelum et terram, Est et tertia maxima sicut de creatura creatorem. Istam potestatem non dedit angelis, sed solis sacerdotibus, quia divina virtute corpus et sanguinem in speciei panis et vini convertunt, Unde Eusebius: invisibilis sacerdos, id est Christus, per ministros suos visibiles creaturas corpus et sangninem suum sacrata polestate convertit verbo suo, scilicet illo: hoc est enim corpus etc. Unde non debet aliquis attendere ad visum suum, quia visus putaret se videre colorem panis, nec ad gustum, quia putaret, se sentire gustum panis, nec ad olfactum, quia pularet, se sentire odorem panis et vini, sed attribuere debet ad auditum, quia, cum andit consecrationis verba, ita est omnino, sicut audit, hoc est enin cor etc, Quod significatum est Genes, XXVII in Isaac, qui, cum benedixisset Jacob, fuit deceptus ejus visus, quia oculi sui caligaverant, et ipsum non agnovit; fuit deceptus olfactus, quia credidit, se sentire odorem vestiinentorum Esau; fuit etiam deceptus gustus, quia credidit, sei comedere de venatione Esan, et comedit de venatione Jacob; fuit et deceptus in tactu, quia pulabat, se tangere manas Esau et tangebat manns Jacob, Sed auditus, qui vocem Jacob audivit, non fuit deceplus, imo dixit: vox quidem Jacob est, Sic eliam in isto sacramento omnes alii sensus decipiuntur praeter auditum et ideo omnes fideles, qui audiunt verba consecrationis, firmiter, veraciter credere debent, quod corpus Christi est sanguis ejus.
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
- Daily reminders so the plan survives busy weeks