Whether the Whole Christ Is Contained Under Each Species of This
Sacrament?
Objection 1: It seems that the whole Christ is not contained under
both species of this sacrament. For this sacrament is ordained for
the salvation of the faithful, not by virtue of the species, but by
virtue of what is contained under the species, because the species
were there even before the consecration, from which comes the power
of this sacrament. If nothing, then, be contained under one species,
but what is contained under the other, and if the whole Christ be
contained under both, it seems that one of them is superfluous in
this sacrament.
Obj. 2: Further, it was stated above (A. 1, ad 1) that all the other
parts of the body, such as the bones, nerves, and the like, are
comprised under the name of flesh. But the blood is one of the parts
of the human body, as Aristotle proves (De Anima Histor. i). If,
then, Christ's blood be contained under the species of bread, just as
the other parts of the body are contained there, the blood ought not
to be consecrated apart, just as no other part of the body is
consecrated separately.
Obj. 3: Further, what is once _in being_ cannot be again _in
becoming._ But Christ's body has already begun to be in this
sacrament by the consecration of the bread. Therefore, it cannot
begin again to be there by the consecration of the wine; and so
Christ's body will not be contained under the species of the wine,
and accordingly neither the entire Christ. Therefore the whole Christ
is not contained under each species.
_On the contrary,_ The gloss on 1 Cor. 11:25, commenting on the word
"Chalice," says that "under each species," namely, of the bread and
wine, "the same is received"; and thus it seems that Christ is entire
under each species.
_I answer that,_ After what we have said above (A. 1), it must be
held most certainly that the whole Christ is under each sacramental
species yet not alike in each. For the body of Christ is indeed
present under the species of bread by the power of the sacrament,
while the blood is there from real concomitance, as stated above (A.
1, ad 1) in regard to the soul and Godhead of Christ; and under the
species of wine the blood is present by the power of the sacrament,
and His body by real concomitance, as is also His soul and Godhead:
because now Christ's blood is not separated from His body, as it was
at the time of His Passion and death. Hence if this sacrament had
been celebrated then, the body of Christ would have been under the
species of the bread, but without the blood; and, under the species
of the wine, the blood would have been present without the body, as
it was then, in fact.
Reply Obj. 1: Although the whole Christ is under each species, yet it
is so not without purpose. For in the first place this serves to
represent Christ's Passion, in which the blood was separated from the
body; hence in the form for the consecration of the blood mention is
made of its shedding. Secondly, it is in keeping with the use of this
sacrament, that Christ's body be shown apart to the faithful as food,
and the blood as drink. Thirdly, it is in keeping with its effect, in
which sense it was stated above (Q. 74, A. 1) that "the body is
offered for the salvation of the body, and the blood for the
salvation of the soul."
Reply Obj. 2: In Christ's Passion, of which this is the memorial, the
other parts of the body were not separated from one another, as the
blood was, but the body remained entire, according to Ex. 12:46: "You
shall not break a bone thereof." And therefore in this sacrament the
blood is consecrated apart from the body, but no other part is
consecrated separately from the rest.
Reply Obj. 3: As stated above, the body of Christ is not under the
species of wine by the power of the sacrament, but by real
concomitance: and therefore by the consecration of the wine the body
of Christ is not there of itself, but concomitantly.
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