Homily XXVII.
1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 17 But in giving you this charge,
I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the
worse.
IT is necessary in considering the present charge to state also first
the occasion of it. For thus again will our discourse be more intelligible.
What then is this occasion?
As in the case of the three thousand who believed in the beginning,
all had eaten their meals in common and had all things common; such also
was the practice at the time when the Apostle wrote this: not such indeed
exactly; but as it were a certain outflowing of that communion which abode
among them descended also to them that came after. And because of course
some were poor, but others rich, they laid not down all their goods in
the midst, but made the tables open on stated days, as it should seem;
and when the solemn service was completed, after the communion of the Mysteries,
they all went to a common entertainment, the rich bringing their provisions
with them, and the poor and destitute being invited by them, and all feasting
in common. But afterward this custom also became corrupt. And the reason
was, their being divided and addicting themselves, some to this party,
and others to that, and saying, "I am of such a one," and "I of such a
one; "which thing also to correct he said in the beginning of the: Epistle,
"For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them
which are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos;
and I of Cephas." Not that Paul was the person to whom they were attaching
themselves; for he would not have borne it: but wishing by concession to
tear up this custom from the root, he introduced himself, indicating that
if any one had inscribed upon himself even his name when breaking off from
the common body, even so the thing done was profane and extreme wickedness.
And if in his case it were wickedness, much more in the case of those who
were inferior to him.
[2.] Since therefore this custom was broken through, a custom most excellent
and most useful; (for it was a foundation of love, and a comfort to poverty,
and a corrective of riches, and an occasion of the highest philosophy,
and an instruction of humility:) since however he saw so great advantages
in a way to be destroyed, he naturally addresses them with severity, thus
saying: "But in giving you this charge, I praise you not." For in the former
charge, as there were many who kept (the ordinances), he began otherwise,
saying thus: "Now I praise you that ye remember me in all things:" but
here contrariwise, "But in giving you this charge, I praise you not." And
here is the reason why he placed it not after the rebuke of them that eat
the idol-sacrifices. But because that was unusually harsh he interposes
the discourse about wearing of long hair, that he might not have to pass
from one set of vehement reproofs to others again of an invidious kind
and so appear too harsh: and then he returns to the more vehement tone,
and says, "But in giving you this charge, I praise you not." What is this?
That which I am about to tell you of. What is, "giving you this charge,
I praise you not?" "I do not approve you," saith he, "because ye have reduced
me to the necessity of giving advice: I do not praise you, because ye have
required instruction in regard to this, because ye have need of an admonition
from me." Dost thou perceive how from his beginning he signifieth that
what was done was very profane? For when he that errs ought not to require
so much as a hint to prevent his erring, the error would seem to be unpardonable.
And why dost thou not praise? Because "ye come together," saith he,
"not for the better but for the worse;" i.e., because ye do not go forward
unto virtue. For it were meet that your liberality should increase and
become manifold, but ye have taken rather from the custom which already
prevailed, and have so taken from it as even to need warning from me, in
order that ye may return to the former order.
Further, that he might not seem to say these things on account of the
poor only, he doth not at once strike in to the discourse concerning the
tables, lest he render his rebuke such as they might easily come to think
slightly of, but he searches for an expression most confounding and very
fearful. For what saith he?
Ver. 18. "For first of all, when ye come together in the Church,
I hear that divisions exist among you.
And he saith not, "For fear that you do not sup together in common;"
"for I hear that you feast in private, and not with the poor:" but what
was most calculated thoroughly to shake their minds, that he set down,
the name of division, which was the cause of this mischief also: and so
he reminded them again of that which was said in the beginning of the Epistle,
and was "signified by them of the house of Chloe." (c. i. 11.) "And I partly
believe it."
Thus, lest they should say, "But what if the accusers speak falsely?"
he neither saith, "I believe it," lest he should rather make them reckless;
nor again, on the other hand, "I disbelieve it," lest he Should seem to
reprove without cause, but, "I partly believe it," saith he, i.e., "I believe
it in a small part;" making them anxious and inviting them to return to
correction.
[3.] Ver. 19. "For there must be also factions among you, that they
which are approved may be made manifest among you."
By "factions," here he means those which concern not the doctrines,
but these present divisions. But even if he had spoken of the doctrinal
heresies, not even thus did he give them any handle. For Christ Himself
said, "it must needs be that occasions of stumbling come," (Matthew chapter
18, verse 7) not destroying the liberty of the will nor appointing any
necessity and compulsion over man's life, but foretelling what would certainly
ensue from the evil mind of men; which would take place, not because of
his prediction, but because the incurably disposed are so minded. For not
because he foretold them did these things happen: but because they were
certainly about to happen, therefore he foretold them. Since, if the occasions
of stumbling were of necessity and not of the mind of them that bring them
in, it was superfluous His saying, "Woe to that man by whom the occasion
cometh." But these things we discussed more at length when we were upon
the passage itself; now we must proceed to what is before us.
Now that he said these things of these factions relating to the tables,
and that contention and division, he made manifest also from what follows.
For having said, "I hear that there are divisions among you," he stopped
not here, but signifying what divisions he means he goes on to say, "each
one taketh before other his own supper;" and again, "What? have ye not
houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the Church of God?" However,
that of these he was speaking is evident. And if he call them divisions,
marvel not. For, as I said, he wishes to touch them by the expression:
whereas had they been divisions of doctrine, he would not have discoursed
with them thus mildly. Hear him, for instance, when he speaks of any such
thing, how vehement lie is both in assertion and in reproof: in assertion,
as when he says, "If even an angel preach any other gospel unto you than
that ye have received, let him be accursed;" (Galatians chapter 1, verse
8) but in reproof, as when he says, "Whosoever of you would be justified
by the law, ye are fallen away from grace." (Galatians chapter 5, verse
4) And at one time he calls the corrupters "dogs," saying, "Beware of dogs:"
(Philippians chapter 3, verse 2) at another, "having their consciences
seared with a hot iron." (1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 2) And again, "angels
of Satan:" (2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 14-2 Corinthians chapter 11,
verse 15) but here he said no such thing, but spoke in a gentle and subdued
tone.
But what is, "that they which are approved may be made manifest among
you?" That they may shine the more. And what he intends to say is this,
that those who are unchangeable and firm are so far from being at all injured
hereby, but even shows them the more, and that it makes them more glorious.
For the word, "that," is not every where indicative of cause, but frequently
also of the event of things. Thus Christ Himself uses it, when He saith,
"For judgement I am come into this world; that they which see not may see,
and that they which see may be made blind." (John chapter 9, verse 39)
Dawnso likewise Paul in another place, when discoursing of the law, he
writes, "And the Law came in beside, that the trespass might abound." (Romans
chapter 5, verse 20) But neither was the law given to this end that the
trespasses of the Jews might be increased: (though this did ensue:) nor
did Christ come for this end that they which see might be made blind, but
for the contrary; but the result was such. Thus then also here must one
understand the expression, "that they which are approved may be made manifest."
For not at all with this view came heresies into being, that "they which
are approved may be made manifest," but on these heresies taking place
such was the result. Now these things he said to console the poor, those
of them who nobly bore that sort of contempt. Wherefore he said not, "that
they may become approved," but, "that they which are approved may be made
manifest; showing that before this also they were such, but they were mixed
up with the multitude, and while enjoying such relief as was afforded them
by the rich, they were not very conspicuous: but now this strife and contentiousness
made them manifest, even as the storm shows the pilot. And he said not,
"that ye may appear approved," but, "that they which are approved may be
made manifest, those among you who are such." For neither when he is accusing
doth he lay them open, that he may not render them more reckless; nor when
praising, that he may not make them more boastful; but he leaves both this
expression and that in suspense, allowing each man's own conscience to
make the application of what he saith.
Nor doth he here seem to me to be comforting the poor only, but those
also who were not violating the custom. For it was likely that there were
among them also those that observed it.
And this is why he said, "I partly believe it." Justly then doth he
call these "approved," who not only with the rest observed the custom,
but even without them kept this good law undisturbed. And he doth this,
studying by such praises to render both others and these persons themselves
more forward.
[4.] Then at last he adds the very form of offence. And what is it?
Ver. 20. "When ye assemble yourselves together," saith he, "it is
not possible to eat the Lord's Supper."
Seest thou how effectually appealing to their shame, even already by
way of narrative he contrives to give them his counsel? "For the appearance
of your assembly," saith he, "is different. It is one of love and brotherly
affection. At least one place receives you all, and ye are together in
one flock. But the Banquet, when you come to that, bears no resemblance
to the Assembly of worshippers." And he said not, "When ye come together,
this is not to eat in common;' "this is not to feast with one another;"
but otherwise again and much more fearfully he reprimands them, saying,
"it is not possible to eat the Lord's Supper," sending them away now from
this point to that evening on which Christ delivered the awful Mysteries.
Therefore also he called the early meal "a supper." For that supper too
had them all reclining at meat together: yet surely not so great was the
distance between the rich and the poor as between the Teacher and the disciples.
For that is infinite. And why say I the Teacher and the disciples? Think
of the interval between the Teacher and the traitor: nevertheless, the
Lord Himself both sat at meat with them and did not even cast him out,
but both gave him his portion of salt and made him par-taker of the Mysteries.
Next he explains how "it is not possible to eat the Lord's Supper."
Ver. 21. "For in your eating, each one taketh before other his own
supper," saith he, "and one is hungry, and another is drunken."
Perceivest thou how he intimates that they were disgracing themselves
rather? For that which is the Lord's, they make a private matter: so that
themselves are the first to suffer indignity, depriving their own table
of its greatest prerogative. How and in what manner? Because the Lord's
Supper, i.e. the Master's, ought to be common. For the property of the
master belongs not to this servant without belonging to that, but in common
to all. So that by "the Lord's" Supper he expresses this, the "community"
of the feast. As if he had said, "If it be thy master's, as assuredly it
is, thou oughtest not to withdraw it as private, but as belonging to thy
Lord and Master to set it in common before all. For this is the meaning
of, `the Lord's.' But now thou dost not suffer it to be the Lord's, not
suffering it to be common but feasting by thyself." Wherefore also he goes
on to say,
"For each one taketh before other his own supper." And he said not,
"cutteth off," but "taketh before," tacitly censuring them both for greediness
and for precipitancy. This at least the sequel also shows. For having said
this, he added again, "and one is hungry, and another is drunken," each
of which showed a want of moderation, both the craving and the excess.
See also a second fault again whereby those same persons are injured: the
first, that they dishonor their supper: the second, that they are greedy
and drunken; and what is yet worse, even when the poor are hungry. For
what was intended to be set before all in common, that these men fed on
alone, and proceeded both to surfeiting and to drunkenness. Wherefore neither
did he say, "one is hungry, and another is filled:" but, "is drunken."
Now each Of these, even by itself, is worthy of censure: forit is a fault
to be drunken even without despising the poor; and to despise the poor
withoutbeing drunken, is an accusation. When both then are joined together
at the same time, consider how exceeding great is the transgression.
Next, having pointed out their profaneness, he adds his reprimand in
what follows, with much anger, saying,
Ver. 22. "What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise
ye the Church of God, and put them to shame that have not?"
Seest thou how he transferred the charge from the indignity offered
to the poor to the Church, that his words might make a deeper impression
of disgust? Here now you see is yet a fourth accusation, when not the poor
only, but the Church likewise is insulted. For even as thou makest the
Lord's Supper a private meal, so also the place again, using the Church
as a house. For it was made a Church, not that we who come together might
be divided, but that they who are divided might be joined: and this act
of assembling shows.
"And put them to shame that have not." He said not, "and kill with hunger
them that have not," but so as much more to put them to the blush, "shame
them;" to point out that it is not food which he cares for so much as the
wrong done unto them. Behold again a fifth accusation, not only to overlook
the poor but even to shame them. Now this he said, partly as treating with
reverence the concerns of the poor, and intimating that they grieve not
so for the belly as for the shame; and partly also drawing the hearer to
compassion.
Having therefore pointed out so great impieties, indignity to the Supper,
indignity to the Church, the contempt practised towards the poor; he relaxes
again the tones of his reproof, saying, all of a sudden, "Shall I praise
you? In this I praise you not." Wherein erie might especially marvel at
him that when there was need to strike and chide more vehemently after
the proof of so great offences, he doeth the contrary rather, gives way,
and permits them to recover breath. What then may the cause be? He had
touched more painfully than usual in aggravating the charge, and being
a most excellent physician, he adapts the incision to the wounds, neither
cutting superficially those parts which require a deep stroke; (for thou
hast heard him how he cut off among those very persons him that had committed
fornication;) nor delivering over to the knife those things which require
the milder sort of remedies. For this cause then here also he conducts
his address more mildly, and in another point of view likewise, he sought
especially to render them gentle to the poor: and this is why he discourses
with them rather in a subdued tone.
[5.] Next, wishing also from another topic to shame them yet more, he
takes again the points which were most essential and of them weaves his
discourse.
Vet. 23. "For I received of the Lord," saith he, "that which also
I delivered unto you: how that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He
was betrayed, took bread:"
Ver. 24. "And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take,
eat: this is My Body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of
me."
Wherefore doth he here make mention of the Mysteries? Because that argument
was very necessary to his present purpose. As thus: "Thy Master," saith
he, "counted all worthy of the same Table, though it be very awful and
far exceeding the dignity of all: but thou considerest them to be unworthy
even of thine own, small and mean as we see it is; and while they have
no advantage over thee in spiritual things, thou robbest them in the temporal
things. For neither are these thine own."
However, he doth not express himself thus, to prevent his discourse
becoming harsh: but he frames it in a gentler form, saying, that "the Lord
Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread."
And wherefore doth he remind us of the time, and of that evening, and
of the betrayal? Not indifferently nor without some reason, but that he
might exceedingly fill them with compunction, were it but from consideration
of the time. For even if one be a very stone, yet when he considers that
night, how He was with His disciples, "very heavy," how He was betrayed,
how He was bound, how He was led away, how He was judged, how He suffered
all the rest in order, he becometh softer than wax, and is withdrawn from
earth and all the pomp of this world. Therefore he leads us to the remembrance
of all those things, by His time, and His table, and His betrayal, putting
us to shame and saying, "Thy Master gave up even Himself for thee: and
thou dost not even share a little meat with thy brother for thine own sake."
But how saith he, that "he received it from the Lord?" since certainly
he was not present then but was one of the persecutors. That thou mayest
know that the first table had no advantage above that which cometh after
it. For even to-day also it is He who doeth all, and delivereth it even
as then.
And not on this account only doth he remind us of that night, but that
he may also in another way bring us to compunction. For as we particularly
remember those words which we hear last from those who are departing; and
to their heirs if they should venture to transgress their commands, when
we would put them to shame we say, "Consider that this was the last word
that your father uttered to you, anal until the evening when he was just
about to breathe his last he kept. repeating these injunctions:" just so
Paul, purposing hence also to make his argument full of awfulness; "Remember,"
saith he, "that this was the last mysterious rite He gave unto you, and
in that night on which He was about to be slain for us, He commanded these
things, and having delivered to us that Supper after that He added nothing
further."
Next also he proceeds to recount the very things that were done, saying,
"He took bread, and, when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take,
eat: this is My Body, which is broken for you." If therefore thou comest
fora sacrifice of thanksgiving, do thou on thy part nothing unworthy of
that sacrifice: by no means either dishonor thy brother, or neglect him
in his hunger; be not drunken, insult not the Church. As thou comest giving
thanks for what thou hast enjoyed: so do thou thyself accordingly make
return, and not cut thyself off from thy neighbor. Since Christ for His
part gave equally to all, saying, "Take, eat." He gave His Body equally,
but dost not thougive so much as the common bread equally? Yea, it was
indeed broken for all alike, and became the Body equally for all.
Ver. 25. "In like manner also the cup after supper, saying, This
cup is the New Covenant in My Blood: this do, as oft as ye drink of it,
in remembrance of Me."
What sayest thou? Art thou making a remembrance of Christ, and despisest
thou the poor and tremblest not? Why, if a son or brother had died and
thou wert making a remembrance of him, thou wouldst have been smitten by
thy conscience, hadst thou not fulfilled the custom and invited the poor:
and when thou art making remembrance of thy Master, dost thou not so much
as simply give a portion of the Table?
But what is it which He saith, "This cup is the New Covenant?" Because
there was also a cup of the Old Covenant; the libations and the blood of
the brute creatures. For after sacrificing, they used to receive the blood
in a chalice and bowl and so pour it out. Since then instead of the blood
of beasts He brought in His own Blood; lest any should be troubled on hearing
this, He reminds them of that ancient sacrifice.
[6.] Next, having spoken concerning that Supper, he connects the things
present with the things of that time, that even as on that very evening
and reclining on that very couch and receiving from Christ himself this
sacrifice, so also now might men be affected; and he saith,
Ver. 26. "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup,
ye proclaim the Lord's death till He come."
For as Christ in regard to the bread and the cup said, "Do this in remembrance
of Me," revealing to us the cause of the giving of the Mystery, and besides
what else He said, declaring this to be a sufficient cause to ground our
religious fear upon:-(for when thou considerest what thy Master hath suffered
for thee, thou wilt the better deny thyself:)-so also Paul saith here:
"as often as ye eat ye do proclaim His death." And this is that Supper.
Then intimating that it abides unto the end, he saith, "till He come."
Ver. 27. "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink the
cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and the Blood of
the Lord."
Why so? Because he poured it out, and makes the thing appear a slaughter
and no longer a sacrifice. Much therefore as they who then pierced Him,
pierced Him not that they might drink but that they might shed His blood:
so likewise doth he that cometh for it unworthily and reaps no profit thereby.
Seest thou how fearful he makes his discourse, and inveighs against them
very exceedingly, signifying that if they are thus to drink, they partake
unworthily of the elements? For how can it be other than unworthily when
it is he who neglects the hungry? who besides overlooking him puts him
to shame? Since if not giving to the poor casteth one out of the kingdom,
even though one should be a virgin; or rather, not giving liberally: (for
even those virgins too had oil, only they had it not abundantly:) consider
how great the evil will prove, to have wrought so many impieties?
"What impieties?" say you. Why sayest thou, what impieties? Thou hast
partaken of such a Table and when thou oughtest to be more gentle than
any and like the angels, none so cruel as thou art become. Thou hast tasted
the Blood of the Lord, and not even thereupon dost thou acknowledge thy
brother. Of what indulgence then art thou worthy? Whereas if even before
this thou hadst not known him, thou oughtest to have come to the knowledge
of him from the Table; but now thou dishonorest the Table itself; he having
been deemed worthy to partake of it and thou not judging him worthy of
thy meat. Hast thou not heard how much he suffered who demanded the hundred
pence? how he made void the gift vouchsafed to him? Doth it not come into
thy mind what thou wert and what thou hast become? Dost thou not put thyself
in remembrance that if this man be poor in possessions, thou wast much
more beggarly in good works, being full of ten thousand sins? Notwithstanding,
God delivered thee from all those and counted thee worthy of such a Table:
but thou art not even thus become more merciful: therefore of course nothing
else remaineth but that thou shouldest be "delivered to the tormentors."
[7.] These words let us also listen to, all of us, as many as in this
place approach with the poor to this holy Table, but when we go out, do
not seem even to have seen them, but are both drunken and pass heedlessly
by the hungry; the very things whereof the Corinthians were accused. And
when is this done? say you. At all times indeed, but especially at the
festivals, where above all times it ought not so to be. Is it not so, that
at such times, immediately after Communion, drunkenness succeeds and contempt
of the poor? And having partaken of the Blood, when it were a time for
thee to fast and watch, thou givest thyself up towine and revelling. And
yet if thou hast by chance made thy morning meal on any thing good, thou
keepest thyself lest by any otherunsavory viand thou spoil the taste of
the former: and now that thou hast been feasting on the Spirit thou bringest
in asatanical luxury.Consider, when the Apostles partook of that holy Supper,
what they did: did they not betake themselves to prayers and singing of
hymns? to sacred vigils? to that long work of teaching, so full of all
self-denial? For then He related and delivered to them those great and
wonderful things, when Judas had gone out to call them who were about to
crucify Him. Hast thou not heard how the three thousand also who partook
of the Communion continued even in prayer and teaching, not in drunken
feasts and revellings? But thou before thou hast partaken fastest, that
in a certain way thou mayest appear worthy of the Communion: but when thou
hast partaken, and thou oughtest to increase thy temperance, thou undoest
all. And yet surely it is not the same to fast before this and after it.
Since although it is our duty to be temperate at both times, yet most particularly
after we have received the Bridegroom. Before, that thou mayest become
worthy of receiving: after, that thou mayest not be found unworthy of what
thou hast received.
"What then? ought we to fast after receiving?" I say not this, neither
do I use any compulsion. This indeed were well: however, I do not enforce
this, but I exhort you not to feast to excess. For if one never ought to
live luxuriously, and Paul showed this when he said, "she that giveth herself
to pleasure is dead while she liveth" (1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 6); much
more will she then be dead. And if luxury be death to a woman, much more
to a man: and if this done at another time is fatal, much more after the
communion of the Mysteries. And dost thou having taken the bread of life,
do an action of death and not shudder? Knowest thou not how great evils
are brought in by luxury? Unseasonable laughter, disorderly expressions,
buffoonery fraught with perdition, unprofitable trifling, all the other
things, which it is not seemly even to name. And these things thou doest
when thou hast enjoyed the Table of Christ, on that day on which thou hast
been counted worthy to touch His flesh with thy tongue. What then is to
be done to prevent these things? Purify thy right hand, thy tongue, thy
lips, which have become a threshold for Christ to tread upon. Consider
the time in which thou didst draw near and set forth a material table,
raise thy mind to that Table, to the Supper of the Lord, to the vigil of
the disciples, in that night, that holy night. Nay, rather should one accurately
examine, this very present state is night. Let us watch then with the Lord,
let us be pricked in our hearts with the disciples. It is the season of
prayers, not of drunkenness; ever indeed, but especially during a festival.
For a festival is therefore appointed, not that we may behave ourselves
unseemly, not that we may accumulate sins, but rather that we may blot
out those which exist.
I know, indeed, that I say these things in vain, yet will I not cease
to say them. For if ye do not all obey, yet surely ye will not all disobey;
or rather, even though ye should all be disobedient, my reward will be
greater, though yours will be more condemnation. However, that it may not
be more, to this end I will not cease to speak. For perchance, perchance,
by my perseverance I shall be able to reach you.
Wherefore I beseech you that we do not this to condemnation; let us
nourish Christ, let us give Him drink, let us clothe Him. These things
are worthy of that Table. Hast thou heard holy hymns? Hast thou seen a
spiritual marriage? Hast thou enjoyed a royal Table? Hast thou been filled
with the Holy Ghost? Hast thou joined in the choir of the Seraphim? Hast
thou become partaker of the powers above? Cast not away so great a joy,
waste not the treasure, bring not in drunkenness, the mother of dejection,
the joy of the devil, the parent of ten thousand evils. For hence is a
sleep like unto death, and heaviness of head, and disease, and obliviousness,
and an image of dead men's condition. Further, if thou wouldst not choose
to meet with a friend when intoxicated, when thou hast Christ within, durst
thou, tell me, to thrust in upon Him so great an excess?
But dost thou love enjoyment? Then, on this very account cease being
drunken. For I, too, would have thee enjoy thyself, but with the real enjoyment,
that which never fadeth. What then is the real enjoyment, ever blooming?
Invite Christ to sup (Revelation chapter 2, verse 20) with thee; give Him
to partake of thine, or rather of His own. This bringeth pleasure without
limit, and in its prime everlastingly. But the things of sense are not
such; rather as soon as they appear they vanish away; and he that hath
enjoyed them will be in no better condition than he who hath not, or rather
in a worse. For the one is settled as it were in a harbor, but the other
exposes himself to a kind of torrent, a besieging army of distempers, and
hath not even any power to endure the first swell of the sea.
That these things be therefore not so, let us follow after moderation.
For thus we shall both be in a good state of body, and we shall possess
our souls in security, and shall be delivered from evils both present and
future: from which may we all be delivered, and attain unto the kingdom,
through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the
Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now
and ever, and world without end. Amen.
Homily XXVIII.
1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 28 But let a man prove himself,
and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
What mean these words, when another object is proposed to us? This is
Paul's custom, as also I said before, not only to treat of those things
which he had proposed to himself, but also if an argument incidental to
his purpose occur, to proceed upon this also with great diligence, and
especially when it relates to very necessary and urgent matters. Thus,
when he was discoursing with married persons, and the question about the
servants fell in his way, he handled it very strenuously and at great length.
Again, when he was speaking of the duty of not going to law before those
courts, then also having fallen upon the admonition respecting covetousness,
he discoursed at length concerning this subject likewise. Now the same
thing he hath also done here: in that having once found occasion to remind
them of the Mysteries, he judged it necessary to proceed with that subject.
For indeed it was no ordinary one. Wherefore also he discoursed very awfully
concerning it, providing for that which is the sum of all good things,
viz. their approaching those Mysteries with a pure conscience. Whence neither
was he content with the things said before alone, but adds these also,
saying,
"But let a man prove himself:" which also he saith in the second Epistle:
"try your own selves, prove your own selves:" (2 Corinthians chapter 13,
verse 5) not as we do now, approaching because of the season rather than
from any earnestness of mind. For we do not consider how we may approach
prepared, with the ills that were within us purged out, and full of compunction,
but how we may come at festivals and whenever all do so. But not thus did
Paul bid us come: he knoweth only one season of access and communion, the
purity of a man's conscience. Since if even that kind of banquet which
the senses take cognizance of cannot be partaken of by us when feverish
and full of bad humors, without risk of perishing: much more is it unlawful
for us to touch this Table with profane lusts, which are more grievous
than fevers. Now when I say profane lusts, I mean both those of the body,
and of money, and of anger, and of malice, and, in a word, all that are
profane. And it becomes him that approacheth, first to empty himself of
all these things and so to touch that pure sacrifice. And neither if indolently
disposed and reluctantly ought he to be compelled to approach by reason
of the festival; nor, on the other hand, if penitent and prepared, should
any one prevent him because it is not a festival. For a festival is a showing
forth of good works, and a reverence of soul, and exactness of deportment.
And if thou hast these things, thou mayest at all times keep festival and
at all times approach. Wherefore he saith, "But let each man prove himself,
and then let him approach." And he bids not one examine another, but each
himself, making the tribunal not a public one and the conviction without
a witness.
[2.] Ver. 29. "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
and drinketh judgment to himself."
What sayest thou, tell me? Is this Table which is the cause of so many
blessings and teeming with life, become judgment? Not from its own nature,
saith he, but from the will of him that approaches. For as His presence,
which conveyed to us those great and unutterable blessings, condemned the
more them that received it not: so also the Mysteries become provisions
of greater punishment to such as partake unworthily.
But why doth he eat judgment to himself? "Not discerning the Lord's
body:" i.e., not searching, not bearing in mind, as he ought, the greatness
of the things set before him; not estimating the weight of the gift. For
if thou shouldest come to know accurately Who it is that lies before thee,
and Who He is that gives Himself, and to whom, thou wilt need no other
argument, but this is enough for thee to use all vigilance; unless thou
shouldest be altogether fallen.
