BY M. D. TALBOT.
ST. NILUS.—" Before the prayer of the priest, and the coming of the holy spirit, the things laid on the table are common bread and wine; but, after the solemn invocation, and the descent of the adorable spirit, it is no longer bread, and no longer wine, but is the body, and pure and precious blood of Christ, the God of all."— (Ep. 44, L.p. 21.) " Let us not approach to the mystic bread, as to mere bread; for it is the flesh of God, the venerable, adorable, and life-giving flesh."— (Ep. 39, L. 3 L p, 322.)
ST. ISAAC.—Speaking of what passed in his mind, in the presence of the blessed sacrament, he says: " Faith whispered to me: eat, and be silent; drink, child, and inquire not. She shewed me the body slain, of which, placing a portion on my lips, she said gently: Reflect what thou eatest. She held out to me a reed, directing me to write. I took the reed; I wrote; I pronounced, This is the body of my God. Taking then the cup, I drank. And what I had said of the body, that I now say of the cup: This is the blood of my Saviour."— (Serm. de Fide. Bill. Orient, T. 1, p. 220.)
ST. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS.—" Let Christians understand, who every day touch the body of Christ, what helps they may draw from that body, when the woman was perfectly cured by only touching the hem of his garment."— (Serm. 34, p. 872.) " I am the bread which came down from heaven: He is the bread, which, sown in the womb of the Virgin, and finally brought on our altar, affords daily celestial food to the faithful."—-(Serm. 67, p. 899.)
ST. NILUS.—" Before the prayer of the priest, and the coming of the holy spirit, the things laid on the table are common bread and wine; but, after the solemn invocation, and the descent of the adorable spirit, it is no longer bread, and no longer wine, but is the body, and pure and precious blood of Christ, the God of all."— (Ep. 44, L.p. 21.) " Let us not approach to the mystic bread, as to mere bread; for it is the flesh of God, the venerable, adorable, and life-giving flesh."— (Ep. 39, L. 3 L p, 322.)
ST. ISAAC.—Speaking of what passed in his mind, in the presence of the blessed sacrament, he says: " Faith whispered to me: eat, and be silent; drink, child, and inquire not. She shewed me the body slain, of which, placing a portion on my lips, she said gently: Reflect what thou eatest. She held out to me a reed, directing me to write. I took the reed; I wrote; I pronounced, This is the body of my God. Taking then the cup, I drank. And what I had said of the body, that I now say of the cup: This is the blood of my Saviour."— (Serm. de Fide. Bill. Orient, T. 1, p. 220.)
ST. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS.—" Let Christians understand, who every day touch the body of Christ, what helps they may draw from that body, when the woman was perfectly cured by only touching the hem of his garment."— (Serm. 34, p. 872.) " I am the bread which came down from heaven: He is the bread, which, sown in the womb of the Virgin, and finally brought on our altar, affords daily celestial food to the faithful."—-(Serm. 67, p. 899.)
