E-SOURCE 7.2
Concerning the Body and Blood of the Lord
The Christian mystery of the Eucharist was, and continued to be, a divisive issue within the
Church. Some, like Paschasius Radbertus (785-c. 865), advocated for a very literal reading of
the transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Others, like
Ratramnus of Corbie (d. 868), defended a more symbolic interpretation – a view that would
eventually be deemed heretical. In this passage, Ratramnus puts forth his justification for his
interpretation of the Eucharist.
As you read, consider these questions:
1) Why might Ratramnus put such an emphasis on the need for mystery in the Eucharist?
What might be the value of admitting lack of understanding?
2) What is the significance of the Eucharist within the Church? What is the significance of
the Eucharist to relations between the clergy and the laity? How might Ratramnus's belief
have proved troublesome to the Church?
RATRAMNUS OF CORBIE, CONCERNING THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD
IX. Now let us return to those matters for the sake of which I have made these observations, viz.
- the Body and Blood of Christ. For if this mystery is performed under no figure, it is not
properly called a mystery. That cannot be a mystery in which there is nothing hidden, nothing
removed from the bodily senses, nothing concealed by any veil. But this bread, which by the
ministry of the -priest is made the Body of Christ, exhibits one thing outwardly to the human
senses, and intimates another thing inwardly to the minds of the faithful. Outwardly indeed it is
bread which it was before, the form is extended, the color is displayed, the taste is perceived; but
inwardly a very different thing is intimated, far more precious, far more excellent; because it is
celestial, because it is divine; i.e., the Body of Christ is exhibited, which is neither perceived, nor
received, nor eaten by the corporeal senses, but by the earnest contemplation of the believing
soul.
X. The wine, also, which by the consecration of the priest, is made the sacrament of the Blood of
Christ, exhibits one thing as far as the outward appearance is concerned, but inwardly it contains
another. For what else is seen outwardly but the substance of wine. Taste it, it is wine. Smell it, it
has the smell of wine. Look at it, the color of wine is seen; but if you will consider inwardly, it is
not now wine, but it is, to the minds of the faithful, the Blood of Christ; and it savors thereof
when it is tasted, and it is so recognized while contemplated, and it is proved so to be when
smelled. That no one can deny that these things are so is evident, because the bread and the wine
are figuratively the Body and Blood of Christ. For according to what is seen, neither is the
appearance of flesh perceived in the bread; nor is the fluid of blood in the wine; yet
notwithstanding, after the mystic consecration, it is now no longer said to be bread or wine, but
the Body and Blood of Christ.
XI. For if, according to the opinions of some, nothing here may be taken figuratively, but all in
reality; then in that case, faith effects nothing, since nothing spiritual is contemplated, but
whatever it is, is altogether taken corporeally, and since faith, according to the apostle, is the "
evidence of things not appearing," i.e., not of things which are seen, but of things which are not
seen, we shall take nothing here according to faith, because whatever exists we judge it
according to the senses of the body. And nothing is more absurd than to take bread for flesh, and
to say that wine is blood; nor can that be a mystery in which nothing secret or hidden is
contained.
XII. And now let us consider in what sense they are said to be the Body and Blood of Christ in
which no change is seen to have taken place. For every change is effected either from that which
is not, into that which is; or from that which is, into that which is not; or from that which is into
that which is. But in this sacrament, if only it be considered in the strictness of truth and
something be not believed beyond that which is seen, no change is recognized as having taken
place. For it has not passed from that which was not into that which is; as is the case when things
begin to be. If truly they were not before, but now are, then in that· case there was a change from
that which was not to that which is. But here the bread and the wine were in existence before
they were made into the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. But neither does it pass
from existence before, nor can that be destroyed which never had a being.
XIII. There remains, then, that change which is made from that which is to that which is, such as
is perceived in matters undergoing variety or change of quality (e.g., when what has been black
is changed into white); nor here is that seen to have taken place, for nothing is found to have
undergone a change, either in touch, color or taste. If, therefore, nothing here is changed, it is
nothing else than it was before. But it is something else; since the bread has become the Body,
and, the wine, the Blood, of Christ. For thus he said: “Take and eat, this is my body;” similarly
also, speaking of the cup, he says: “Take and drink; this is the blood of the New Testament
which is shed for you.”
XIV. We must therefore ask those who will take nothing here in a figurative sense, but will have
all to consist in literality, in what sense has the change taken place, so that now they are not what
before they were, viz., bread and wine, but are the Body of Christ? For according to the nature of
the element and the form of the visible things, neither of them, i.e., neither the bread nor the
wine, have undergone any change, and if they have undergone no change, they are none other
than they were before.
XV. Your Highness perceives in what manner those who think otherwise proceed. They deny
what they are believed to affirm, and what they believe they are proved to destroy. For they
faithfully confess that they are the Body and Blood of Christ, and when they do this, they
doubtless protest that these things are not what they were before, and, if they are other than they
were, they have undergone a change. Since this cannot be denied, let them tell us in what respect
they are changed, for corporally nothing in them is seen to be changed. They must, therefore,
confess either that they are changed in some other sense than according to the substance, and that
therefore they are discerned to be, not that which in truth they seem, but something else which
they are· not in their own proper nature; or, if they will not confess this, let them be compelled to
deny that they are the Body and Blood of Christ, which it is wickedness not only to say, but even
to think.
XVI. But because they confess that they are the Body and Blood of Christ, nor can they be so
unless by a change to the better; and that this change cannot be made corporally but spiritually, it
must be confessed to have been made figuratively, because under the veil of corporeal bread and
corporeal wine the spiritual Body of Christ and the spiritual Blood of Christ exists. Not that there
are two different substances existing, viz., body and spirit, but one and the same thing, in one
respect continues to be bread and wine, but in another it is the Body and Blood of Christ. For as
it regards both one and the other, (bread and wine) corporeally they are corporeal creatures, but
as to power or efficacy, they are spiritually made the mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ.
Source: Monk of Corbie, The Book of Bertram, trans. W.F. Taylor (London: Simpkin Marshall &
Co., 1880), 6-13. Text modified by Phillip C. Adamo.