---
title: "Catena Aurea: The Four Gospels"
author: "Thomas Aquinas"
translator: "John Henry Newman (ed.)"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 138 of 394
url: https://scriptura.si/works/thomas-aquinas-catena-aurea-the-four-gospels/138/
cite: "Thomas Aquinas, tr. John Henry Newman (ed.), Catena Aurea: The Four Gospels, section 138. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/thomas-aquinas-catena-aurea-the-four-gospels/138/"
---

# Catena Aurea: The Four Gospels

*Thomas Aquinas, tr. John Henry Newman (ed.)*

The four Gospels read through chains of quotations from the Church Fathers.

## 138. Matthew 26 · 4 of 9

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/thomas-aquinas-catena-aurea-the-four-gospels/138/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/thomas-aquinas-catena-aurea-the-four-gospels/138/#p-N

[¶0] Lanfranc: When the host is broken, when the blood is poured from the cup into the mouth of the faithful, what else is denoted but the offering of the Lord’s Body on the cross, and the shedding of His Blood out of His side? [Source note: ed. note: This is quoted in the early editions, and in Gratian de Cons. ii. 37. as Augustinus ’in Libro Sent. Prosper.’ but does not occur in that collection of Prosper as we have it. It is found in Lanfranc cont. Bereng. 13.]

[¶1] Dionysius, Eccl. Hier., 3, in fin: In this is also shewn, that the one and uncompounded Word of God came to us compounded and visible by taking human nature upon Him, and drawing to Himself our society, made us partakers of the spiritual goods which He distributed, as it follows, "And gave to his disciples."

[¶2] Leo, Serm. 58, 3: Not excluding the traitor even from this mystery, that it might be made manifest that Judas was provoked by no wrong, but that he had been foreknown in voluntary impiety.

[¶3] Aug., in Joan Tr., 59: Peter and Judas received of the same bread, but Peter to life, Judas to death.

[¶4] Chrys., Hom. lxxxii: And this John shews when be says "After the sop, Satan entered into him." [[John 13:27]] For his sin was aggravated in that he came near to these mysteries with such a heart, and that having come to them, he was made better neither by fear, kindness, nor honour. Christ hindered him not, though He knew all things, that you may learn that He omits nothing which serves for correction.

[¶5] Remigius: In so doing He left an example to the Church, that it should sever no one from its fellowship, or from the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, but for some notorious and public crime.

[¶6] Hilary: Or, The Passover was concluded by the taking the cup and breaking the bread without Judas, for he was unworthy the communion of eternal sacraments. And that he had left them we learn from thence, that he returns with a multitude.

[¶7] Augustine: [Source note: ed. note: This passage, headed ’Augustinus’ in the Bodl. MS., and ’Aug de Verb. Dom.’ in the earlier editions, is apparently taken from two canons in the 3d pt. of Gratian, viz. c. 70. and c. 58. to which Augustine’s name is there prefixed. It has not been found in S. Augustine’s works. But it is found in Bede on I Cor. x. who also quotes it from ’Aug. de verb. Evang.’]

[¶8] "And said, Take, eat;" The Lord invites His servants to set before them Himself for food. But who would dare to eat his Lord? This food when eaten refreshes, but fails not; He lives after being eaten, Who rose again after being put to death. Neither when we eat Him do we divide His substance; but thus it is in this Sacrament. The faithful know how they feed on Christ’s flesh, each man receives a part for himself. He is divided into parts in the Sacrament, yet He remains whole; He is all in heaven, He is all in thy heart.

[¶9] They are called Sacraments, because in them what is seen is one thing, what is understood is another; what is seen has a material form, what is understood has spiritual fruit.

[¶10] Aug., in Joan. Tr., 27, 11: Let us not eat Christ’s flesh only in the Sacrament, for that do many wicked men, but let us eat to spiritual participation, that we may abide as members in the Lord’s body, that we may be quickened by His Spirit.

[¶11] Ambrose, de Sacr., iv, 5: Before consecration, it is bread; after Christ’s words, "This is my body," have been pronounced, it is Christ’s Body.

[¶12] Ver. 27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of it;28. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom."

[¶13] Remigius: The Lord having given His disciples His Body under the element of bread [Source note: [marg. note: sub specie panis] , well gives the cup of His Blood to them likewise; shewing what joy He has in our salvation, seeing He even shed His Blood for us.

[¶14] Chrysostom: He gave thanks to instruct us after what manner we ought to celebrate this mystery, and shewed also thereby that He came not to His Passion against His will. Also He taught us to bear whatsoever we suffer with thanksgiving, and infused into us good hopes.

[¶15] For if the type of this sacrifice, to wit, the offering of the paschal lamb, became the deliverance of the people from Egyptian bondage, much more shall the reality thereof be the deliverance of the world.

[¶16] "And gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it." That they should not be distressed at hearing this, He first drank His own blood to lead them without fear to the communion of these mysteries.

[¶17] Jerome, Hieron. Ep. 120, ad Hedib: Thus then the Lord Jesus was at once guest and feast, the eater and the things eaten. [Source note: ed. note: ap. Grat. do Consecr. d. ii. 87.]

[¶18] Chrysostom: "This is my blood of the new testament;" that is, the new promise, covenant, law; for this blood was promised from of old, and this guarantees the new covenant; for as the Old Testament had the blood of sheep and goats, so the New has the Lord’s Blood.

[¶19] Remigius: For thus it is read, "Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you." [[Exod 24:8]]

[¶20] Chrysostom: And in calling it blood, He foreshews His Passion, "My blood ... which shall be shed for many." Also the purpose for which He died, adding, "For the remission of sins;" as much as to say, The blood of the lamb was shed in Egypt for the salvation of the first born of the Israelites, this My Blood is shed for the remission of sins.

[¶21] Remigius: And it is to be noted, that He says not, For a few, nor, For all, but, "For many;" because He came not to redeem a single nation, but many out of all nations.

[¶22] Chrysostom: Thus saying, He shews that His Passion is a mystery of the salvation of men, by which also He comforts His disciples. And as Moses said, "This shall be an ordinance to thee for ever," [[Exod 12:24]] so Christ speaks as Luke relates, "This do in remembrance of me." [[Luke 22:19]]

[¶23] Remigius: And He taught us to offer not bread only, but wine also, to shew that they who hungered and thirsted after righteousness were to be refreshed by these mysteries.

[¶24] Gloss., non occ.: As the refreshment of the body is wrought by means of meat and drink, so under the form of meat and drink the Lord has provided for us spiritual refreshment. And it was suitable that for the shewing forth the Lord’s Passion this Sacrament should be instituted under both kinds.

[¶25] For in His Passion He shed His Blood, and so His Blood was separated from His Body. It behoved therefore, that for representation of His Passion, bread and wine should be separately set forth, which are the Sacrament of the Body and Blood. But it should be known, that under both kinds the whole of Christ is contained; under the bread is contained the Blood, together with the Body; under the wine, the Body together With the Blood.

[¶26] Ambrosiaster, in 1 [Cor 11:26] : And for this reason also in do we celebrate under both kinds, because that which we receive avails for the preservation of both body and soul.

[¶27] Cyprian, Ep. 63, ad Caecil.: The cup of the Lord is not water only, or wine only, but the two are mixed; so the Lord’s Body cannot be either flour only, or water only, but the two are combined. [Source note: ed. note: To signify, as S. Cyprian proceeds to say, the union between Christ and His faithful people; "For if one offer wine only, the blood of Christ begins to be without us; if water only, the people begin to be without Christ." This passage of Cyprian is quoted in Gratian. de Cons ii. 7.]

[¶28] Ambrose, de Sacr., v. 1: If Melchisedech offered bread and wine, what means this mixing of water? Hear the reason. Moses struck the rock, and the rock gave forth abundance of water, but that rock was Christ. Also one of the soldiers with his spear pierced Christ’s side, and out of His side flowed water and blood, the water to cleanse, the blood to redeem. [Source note: ed. note: ap. Gratian de Cons. d ii, 83, cf. Paschas de Corp. et Sang. 11]

[¶29] Remigius: For it should be known, that as John speaks, "The many waters are nations and people." [[Rev 17:15]] And because we ought always to abide in Christ and Christ in us, wine mixed with water is offered, to shew that the bead and the members, that is, Christ and the Church, are one body; or to shew that neither did Christ suffer without a love for our redemption, nor we can be saved without His Passion.

[¶30] Chrysostom: And having spoken of His Passion and Cross, He proceeds to speak of His resurrection, "I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth, etc." By the "kingdom" He means His resurrection. And He speaks this of His resurrection, because He would then drink with the Apostles, that none might suppose His resurrection a phantasy.

[¶31] Thus when they would convince any of His resurrection, they said, "We did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead." [[Acts 10:41]] This tells them that they shall see Him after He is risen, and that He will be again with them.

[¶32] That He says, "New," is plainly to be understood, after a new manner, He no longer having a passible body, or needing food. For after His resurrection He did not eat as needing food, but to evidence the reality of the resurrection. And forasmuch as there are some heretics who use water instead of wine in the sacred mysteries [Source note: ed. note: e.g. The Encratites, followers of Saturnius and Tatian in the second century. See Can. Apost. 43 and 45 of Johnson’s Translation.] , He shews in these words, that when He now gave them these holy mysteries, He gave them wine, and drank the like after He was risen; for He says, "Of this fruit of the vine," but the vine produces wine, and not water.

[¶33] Jerome: Or otherwise; From carnal things the Lord passes to spiritual. Holy Scripture speaks of the people of Israel as of a vine brought up out of Egypt; [[Ps 80:8], [Jer 2:21]] of this vine it is then that the Lord says He will drink no more except in His Father’s kingdom. His Father’s kingdom I suppose to mean the faith of the believers. When then the Jews shall receive His Father’s kingdom, then the Lord will drink of their vine. Observe that He says, "Of my Father," not, Of God, for to name the Father is to name the Son. As much as to say, When they shall have believed on God the Father, and He has brought them to the Son.

[¶34] Remigius: Or otherwise; "I will not drink of the fruit of this vine," i.e. I will no longer take pleasure in the carnal oblations of the Synagogue, among which the immolation of the Paschal lamb held an eminent place. But the time of My resurrection is at hand, and the day in which exalted in the Father’s kingdom, that is, raised in immortal glory, "I shall drink it new with you," i.e. I shall rejoice as with a new joy in the salvation of that people then renewed by the water of baptism.

[¶35] Aug., Quaest. Ev. i, 43: Or otherwise; When He says, "I shall drink it new with you," He gives us to understand that this is old. Seeing then that He took body of the race of Adam, who is called the old man, and was to give up to death that Body in His Passion, (whence also He gave us His Blood in the sacrament of wine,) what else can we understand by the new wine than the immortality of renewed bodies?

[¶36] In saying, "I will drink it with you," He promises to them likewise a resurrection of their bodies for the putting on of immortality. "With you" is not to be understood of time, but of a like renewal, as the Apostle speaks, that "we are risen with Christ," the hope of the future bringing a present joy. That which He shall drink new shall also be "of this fruit of the vine," signifies that the very same bodies shall rise after the heavenly renewal, which shall now die after the earthly decay.

[¶37] Hilary: It seems from this that Judas had not drunk with Him, because He was not to drink hereafter in the kingdom; but He promises to all who partook at this time of this fruit of the vine that they should drink with Him hereafter.

[¶38] Gloss., non occ.: But in support of the opinion of other saints, that Judas did receive the sacraments from Christ, it is to be said, that the words "with you" may refer to the greater part of them, and not necessarily to the whole.

[¶39] Ver. 30. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.31. Then saith Jesus unto them, "All ye shall be offended because of me this night; for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.32. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee."33. Peter answered and said unto him, "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended."34. Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."35. Peter said unto him, "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." Likewise also said all the disciples.

[¶40] Origen: When the disciples had eaten the bread of blessing, and drunk of the cup of thanksgiving, the Lord instructs them in return for these things to sing a hymn to the Father. And they go to the Mount of Olives, that they may pass from height to height, because the believer can do nought in the valley. [Source note: ed. note: The passages (Bede and Rabanus, below, and more further on) between the brackets are not found in the earlier Editions of the Catena, in the ED. PR. nor the Bodl. MS. They appear to have been inserted by Nicolai.]

[¶41] Bede, in Luc., 22, 39: Beautifully after the disciples have been filled with the Sacraments of His Body and Blood, and commended to the Father in a hymn of pious intercession, does He lead them into the mount of Olives; thus by type teaching us how we ought, by the working of His Sacraments, and the aid of His intercession, mount up to the higher gifts of the virtues and the graces of the Holy Spirit, with which we are anointed in our hearts.

[¶42] Rabanus: This hymn may be that thanksgiving which in John, Our Lord offers up to the Father, when He lifted up His eyes and prayed for His disciples, and those who should believe through their word. This is that of which the Psalm speaks, "The poor shall eat and be filled, they shall praise the Lord. [[Ps 22:26]]

[¶43] Chrysostom: Let them hear this, who like swine with no thought but of eating rise from the table drunk, when they should have given thanks, and closed with a hymn. Let them hear who will not tarry for the final prayer in the sacred mysteries; for the last prayer of the mysteries represents that hymn. He gave thanks before He delivered the holy mysteries to the disciples, that we also might give thanks; He sung a hymn after He had delivered them, that we also should do the like.

[¶44] Jerome: After this example of the Saviour, whosoever is filled and is drunken upon the bread and cup of Christ, may praise God and ascend the Mount of Olives, where is refreshment after toil, solace of grief, and knowledge of the true light.