“1) The bread which you see on the altar is, sanctified by the word of God, the body of
Christ; that chalice, or rather what is contained in the chalice, is, sanctified by the word of God, the blood of Christ. {Sermo 227; on p.377}”
“You know that in ordinary parlance we often say, when Easter is approaching, Tomorrow or the day after is the Lord’s Passion, although He suffered so many years ago, and His passion was endured once for all time. In like manner, on Easter Sunday, we say, This day the Lord rose from the dead, although so many years have passed since His resurrection. But no one is so foolish as to accuse us of falsehood when we use these phrases, for this reason, that we give such names to these days on the ground of a likeness between them and the days on which the events referred to actually transpired, the day being called the day of that event, although it is not the very day on which the event took place, but one corresponding to it by the revolution of the same time of the year, and the event itself being said to take place on that day, because, although it really took place long before, it is on that day sacramentally celebrated. Was not Christ once for all offered up in His own person as a sacrifice? And yet, is He not likewise offered up in the sacrament as a sacrifice, not only in the special solemnities of Easter, but also daily among our congregations; so that the man who, being questioned, answers that He is offered as a sacrifice in that ordinance, declares what is strictly true? For if sacraments had not some points of real resemblance to the things of which they are the sacraments, they would not be sacraments at all. In most cases, moreover, they do in virtue of this likeness bear the names of the realities which they resemble. As, therefore, in a certain manner the sacrament of Christ’s body is Christ’s body, and the sacrament of Christ’s blood is Christ’s blood.” (Augustine, Letters 98)
Augustine explains that in “common parlance” he seems to speak literally that the Lord’s passion is the following day, or that “this day is the Lord risen.” He connects this manner of speaking to the Eucharist, and declares that it is “in a certain manner” the body of Christ, based on its bearing the name of the “reality” they resemble, even though, like the Passion, Christ is not really raised up. Thus, when Augustine speaks of the Eucharist being the body of Christ, he means it from the standpoint of what it symbolizes, but not that it is actually a part of Christ’s real physical body placed on the altar. It is simply a manner of speaking.
In fact, from Augustine’s perspective, it is not just Christ on the altar, but all Christians:
“That bread which you can see on the altar, sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ.†2 That cup, or rather what the cup contains, sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ. It was by means of these things that the Lord Christ wished to present us with his body and blood, which he shed for our sake for the forgiveness of sins. If you receive them well, you are yourselves what you receive. You see, the apostle says, We, being many, are one loaf, one body (1 Cor 10:17). That’s how he explained the sacrament of the Lord’s table; one loaf, one body, is what we all are, many though we be. In this loaf of bread you are given clearly to understand how much you should love unity.” (Augustine, Serm. 227)
Notice how the little snippets from your website leave out all this context. Here’s more support, from sermon 227 which you quoted:
“What you can see passes away, but the invisible reality signified does not pass away, but remains. Look, it’s received, it’s eaten, it’s consumed. Is the body of Christ consumed, is the Church of Christ consumed, are the members of Christ consumed? Perish the thought! Here they are being purified, there they will be crowned with the victor’s laurels. So what is signified will remain eternally, although the thing that signifies it seems to pass away. So receive the sacrament in such a way that you think about yourselves, that you retain unity in your hearts, that you always fix your hearts up above. Don’t let your hope be placed on earth, but in heaven. Let your faith be firm in God, let it be acceptable to God. Because what you don’t see now, but believe, you are going to see there, where you will have joy without end.” (Augustine, Ser. 227)
Augustine is quite clear that the body of Christ is not consumed. In fact, his entire argument here is that the bread itself symbolizes the Christian directly. In other words, it is US who are offered on the table, though we are not literally transubstantiated into bread. Therefore he says that Christ is not consumed, AND His Church, since both are symbolized on the table.
I would recommend, actually, reading the entire sermon, as it reveals a great deal into Augustine’s views on the various sacraments. By his definition, sacraments and symbolism is the same thing. Hence, he can have a “sacrament of the Holy Spirit” which is the oil, also mentioned in that same sermon.
“Then came baptism, and you were, in a manner of speaking, moistened with water in order to be shaped into bread. But it’s not yet bread without fire to bake it. So what does fire represent? That’s the chrism, the anointing. Oil, the fire-feeder, you see, is the sacrament of the Holy Spirit.” (Same as above)
Another, the sacrament of the kiss of peace:
“After that comes Peace be with you; a great sacrament, the kiss of peace. So kiss in such a way as really meaning that you love. Don’t be Judas; Judas the traitor kissed Christ with his mouth, while setting a trap for him in his heart. But perhaps somebody has unfriendly feelings toward you, and you are unable to win him round, to show him he’s wrong; you’re obliged to tolerate him. Don’t pay him back evil for evil in your heart. He hates; just you love, and you can kiss him without anxiety.” (Same as above)
Where’s your sacrament of kissing by the way? And do you think that peace is transubstantiated into a kiss? Or is the Holy Spirit transubstantiated into the oil? This makes it clear that when Augustine speaks of Sacraments, he uses the word to mean something that is symbolic that we should meditate upon for a higher truth. Thus, the oil, which is the sacrament of the Holy Spirit, helps us think about the regenerating power of the Spirit. The sacrament of the Kiss of peace should bring our Christian duties we owe to one another to mind, though “peace” is not transubstantiated into the kiss. And the Eucharist should bring to mind the duty we have towards Christian unity, as well as the Christ who sacrificed Himself on the cross and rose again.
Here’s more quotes in general, interpreting the Eucharist as Protestants do today:
“They said therefore unto Him, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” For He had said to them, “Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life.” “What shall we do?” they ask; by observing what, shall we be able to fulfill this precept? “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He has sent.” This is then to eat the meat, not that which perisheth, but that which endureth unto eternal life. To what purpose dost thou make ready teeth and stomach? Believe, and thou hast eaten already.” (Augustine, Tractate 25)
“Let them come to the church and hear where Christ is, and take Him. They may hear it from us, they may hear it from the gospel. He was slain by their forefathers, He was buried, He rose again, He was recognized by the disciples, He ascended before their eyes into heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of the Father; and He who was judged is yet to come as Judge of all: let them hear, and hold fast. Do they reply, How shall I take hold of the absent? how shall I stretch up my hand into heaven, and take hold of one who is sitting there? Stretch up thy faith, and thou hast got hold. Thy forefathers held by the flesh, hold thou with the heart; for the absent Christ is also present. But for His presence, we ourselves were unable to hold Him.” (Augustine, Tractate 50)
“It seemed unto them hard that He said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you:” they received it foolishly, they thought of it carnally, and imagined that the Lord would cut off parts from His body, and give unto them; and they said, “This is a hard saying.” It was they who were hard, not the saying; for unless they had been hard, and not meek, they would have said unto themselves, He saith not this without reason, but there must be some latent mystery herein. They would have remained with Him, softened, not hard: and would have learnt that from Him which they who remained, when the others departed, learnt. For when twelve disciples had remained with Him, on their departure, these remaining followers suggested to Him, as if in grief for the death of the former, that they were offended by His words, and turned back. But He instructed them, and saith unto them, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth, but the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I have spoken unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Understand spiritually what I have said; ye are not to eat this body which ye see; nor to drink that blood which they who will crucify Me shall pour forth. I have commended unto you a certain mystery; spiritually understood, it will quicken. Although it is needful that this be visibly celebrated, yet it must be spiritually understood.” NPNF1: Vol. VIII, St. Augustin on the Psalms, Psalm 99 (98)
Notice that your website just quotes small little snippets that they assert prove that Augustine believed in transubstantiation. When you quite more of the context, things change a great deal.
It is funny I read that whole thing I do not see what you claim to see. Very interesting. Semantics. Lol
Could you answer this? What does your name tag imply? Cheers!
This cut-and-paste stuff simply isn’t serious theology in an attempt to undercut the core belief of the Catholic Church, a belief founded on Christ’s own words, the early Christian tradition, the various Church councils that examined the historic and apostolic practices, and learned doctors of the Church, its saints and martyrs and a stellar flood of theological giants upto and including Benedict XVI.
You never answered the question why Christ did not correct Himself what the Jews understood Him to say when He was speaking about His body and blood as the real physical body and blood which is what His apostles and the Jews believed.
Read in full context and with no prejudice against the Church teaching on the matter, it's clear St. Augustine believes in the real presence. This is just another instance (Like in his 98th letter that you quoted from) where the Saint is saying that the Eucharist should not be understood as literal human flesh (like some kind of flank steak), but it IS the literal Body of Christ, understood in a "spiritual sense". Read ALL of paragraph 8, not just YOUR "snippet" to understand what I just wrote is what is being taught by the Saint.
Tractate 25, again in its entirety>. Here, read all of paragraph 12, all of it, with an open mind and then come back and dare say St Augustine believed in some kind of "ONLY symbolic" form of the Eucharist.
Tractate 50 has simply nothing to do with the teaching of the Eucharist so it's quite intellectually dishonest to try to use it to apply it to that teaching. I'll leave the proof of that to a simple examination of it on the New Advent website linked to previously.
Elsewhere you quote from Tractate 26, so a word on that here/. #26, again in full context.> Again, read the WHOLE thing, not just paragraphs 1 & 2, PORTIONS of which you quote. Pay particular attention to paragraphs 19 and 20 ( if the whole thing is too much to read ) and again, dare come back and tell me St Augustine is some kind of proto-Protestant.
Sermon 227 is sadly not online (that I can see) but I think I've demonstrated enough, to the intellectually honest lurker and others, that your quote mining not withstanding, St Augustine remains as solidly Catholic as the Church has always recorded.
But go ahead, don't let that (or me) stop you from insisting that we Catholics don't know what our own Church fathers and/or Tradition state. Go ahead, persist in that fantasy if you really need.
If Augustine actually said this, he clearly didn't hold the current Catholic view of the Eucharist...