|
Sessio Vigesimaprima,
|
Twenty-first Session,
|
|
celebrata die XVI. Iulii 1562.
|
held July 16, 1562.
|
|
DOCTRINA DE COMMUNIONE SUB UTRAQUE SPECIE, ET PARVULORUM.
|
DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE COMMUNION UNDER
BOTH SPECIES, AND OF LITTLE CHILDREN.
|
|
Caput I.
|
Chapter I. |
|
Laicos et clericos non conficientes non adstringi jure divino
ad communionem sub utraque specie.
|
That laymen
and clerics, when not sacrificing, are not bound, of divine right, to communion
under both species.
|
|
Itaque sancta ipsa synodus, a Spiritu Sancto, qui spiritus
est sapientiæ et intellectus, spiritus consilii et pietatis, edocta, atque ipsius
Ecclesiæ judicium
|
Wherefore, this holy Synod,—instructed
by the Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the spirit of counsel and of godliness,237237
and following the |
171
|
et consuetudinem secuta, declarat, ac docet, nullo divino
præcepto laicos et clericos non conficientes, obligari ad Eucharistiæ sacramentum
sub utraque specie sumendum; neque ullo pacto, salva fide, dubitari posse, quin
illis alterius speciei communio ad salutem sufficiat: nam, etsi Christus Dominus
in ultima cæna venerabile hoc sacramentum in panis, et vini speciebus instituit
et apostolis tradidit; non tamen illa institutio et traditio eo tendunt, ut
omnes Christi fideles statuto Domini ad utramque speciem accipiendam adstringantur.
Sed neque ex sermone illo, apud Ioannem VI., recte colligitur, utriusqme speciei
communionem a Domino præceptam esse: utcumque juxta varias sanctorum patrum
et doctorum interpretationes intelligatur: namque, qui dixit:
Nisi manducaveritis
carnem filii hominis et biberitis ejus sanguinem, non habebitis vitam in vobis:
dixit quoque:
Si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in æternum. Et qui dixit:
Qui manducat meam carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem, habet vitam æternam: dixit
etiam:
Panis, quem ego dabo, caro mea est pro mundi
|
judgment and usage of the Church itself,—declares
and teaches, that laymen, and clerics when not consecrating, are not obliged,
by any divine precept, to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist under both
species; and that neither can it by any means be doubted, without injury to
faith, that communion under either species is sufficient for them unto salvation.
For, although Christ, the Lord, in the Last Supper, instituted and delivered
to the apostles, this venerable sacrament in the species of bread and wine;
not therefore do that institution and delivery tend thereunto, that all the
faithful of the Church be bound, by the institution of the Lord, to receive
both species. But neither is it rightly gathered, from that discourse which
is in the sixth of John,—however according to the various interpretations of
holy Fathers and Doctors it be understood,—that the communion of both species
was enjoined by the Lord; for he who said, Except you eat the flesh of the
Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you (v.
54), also said: He that eateth this bread shall live forever
(v.
59); and he who said, He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my
blood hath everlasting life (v.
55), also said: The bread that I will
|
172
|
vita. Et
denique qui dixit:
Qui manducat meam carnem et
bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet et ego in illo: dixit
nihilominus:
Qui manducat
hunc panem, vivet in æternum.
|
give is my flesh for the life of the world
(v.
52); and, in fine, he who said, He that eateth my flesh and drinkeih
my blood, abideth in me and I in him (v.
57), said, nevertheless, He that eateth this bread shall live
forever (v.
59). |
|
Caput II.
|
Chapter II. |
|
Ecclesiæ potestas circa dispensationem sacramenti Eucharistiæ.
|
The power of
the Church as regards the dispensation of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
|
|
Præterea declarat, hanc potestatem perpetuo in Ecclesia
fuisse, ut in sacramentorum dispensatione, salva illorum substantia, ea statueret
vel mutaret, quæ suscipientium utilitati seu ipsorum sacramentorum venerationi,
pro rerum, temporum et locorum veritate, magis expedire judicaret. Id autem
apostolus non obscure visus est innuisse, cum ait:
Sic nos existimet homo, ut
ministros Christi et dispensatores mysteriorum Dei; atque ipsum quidem hac potestate
usum esse satis constat cum in multis aliis, tum in hoc ipso sacramento, cum,
ordinatis nonnullis circa ejus usum, Cetera, inquit, cum venero, disponam. Quare
agnoscens sancta mater Ecclesia hanc suam in administratione sacramentorum auctoritatem,
licet ab
|
It furthermore declares,
that this power has ever been in the Church, that, in the dispensation of the
sacraments, their substance being untouched, it may ordain, or change, what
things soever it may judge most expedient, for the profit of those who receive,
or for the veneration of the said sacraments, according to the difference of
circumstances, times, and places. And this the Apostle seems not obscurely to
have intimated, when he says: Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers
of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God.238238
And, indeed, it is sufficiently manifest that he himself exercised this power,
as in many other things, so in regard of this very sacrament; when, after having
ordained certain things touching the use thereof, he says: The rest I will
set in order when I come.239239
Wherefore, holy |
173
|
initio Christianæ religionis non infrequens utriusque
speciei usus fuisset, tamen progressu temporis, latissime jam mutata illa consuetudine,
gravibus et justis causis adducta hanc consuetudinem sub altera specie communicandi
approbabit, et pro lege habendam decrevit, quam reprobare aut sine ipsius Ecclesiæ
auctoritate pro libito mutare non licet.
|
Mother Church, knowing this her authority in the
administration of the sacraments, although the use or both species has, from
the beginning of the Christian religion, not been unfrequent, yet, in progress
of time, that custom having been already very widely changed, she, induced by
weighty and just reasons, has approved of this custom of communicating under
one species, and decreed that it was to be held as a law; which it is not lawful
to reprobate, or to change at pleasure, without the authority of the Church
itself. |
|
Caput III.
|
Chapter III. |
|
Totum et integrum Christum ac verum sacramentum sub qualibet
specie sumi.
|
That Christ
whole and entire and a true Sacrament are received under either species.
|
|
Insuper declarat, quamvis Redemptor noster, ut antea dictum
est, in suprema illa cæna hoc sacramentum in duabus speciebus instituerit et
apostolis tradiderit, tamen fatendum esse, etiam sub altera tantum specie totum
atque integrum Christum verumque sacramentum sumi; ac propterea, quod ad fructum
attinet nulla gratia necessaria ad salutem eos defraudari, qui unam speciam
solam accipiunt.
|
It moreover declares, that
although, as hath been already said, our Redeemer, in that last supper, instituted,
and delivered to the apostles, this sacrament in two species, yet is to be acknowledged,
that Christ whole and entire and a true sacrament are received under either
species alone; and that therefore, as regards the fruit thereof, they, who receive
one species alone are not defrauded of any grace necessary to salvation.
|
174
|
Caput IV.
|
Chapter IV. |
|
Parvulos non obligari ad communionem sacramentalem.
|
That little
Children are not bound to sacramental Communion.
|
|
Denique eadem sancta synodus docet, parvulos usu rationis
carentes nulla obligari necessitate ad sacramentalem Eucharistiæ communionem,
siquidem, per baptismi lavacrum regenerati et Christo incorporati, adeptam jam
filiorum Dei gratiam in illa ætate amittere non possunt. Neque ideo tamen damnanda
est antiquitas, si eum morem in quibusdam locis aliquando servavit. Ut enim
sanctissimi illi patres sui facti probabilem causam pro illius temporis ratione
habuerunt, ita certe eos nulla salutis necessitate id fecisse sine controversia
credendum est.
|
Finally, this same holy
Synod teaches, that little children, who have not attained to the use of reason,
are not by any necessity obliged to the sacramental communion of the Eucharist:
forasmuch as, having been regenerated by the laver of baptism, and being incorporated
with Christ, they can not, at that age, lose the grace which they have already
acquired of being the sons of God. Not therefore, however, is antiquity to be
condemned, if, in some places, it, at one time, observed that custom; for as
those most holy Fathers had a probable cause for what they did in respect of
their times, so, assuredly, is it to be believed without controversy, that they
did this without any necessity thereof unto salvation. |
|
DE COMMUNIONE SUB UTRAQUE SPECIE ET PARVULORUM.
|
ON COMMUNION
UNDER BOTH SPECIES, AND ON THE COMMUNION OF INFANTS.
|
|
Canon I.—Si
quis dixerit, ex Dei præcepto vel necessitate salutis omnes et singulos Christi
fideles utramque speciem sanctissimi Eucharistiæ sacramenti sumere debere: anathema
sit.
|
Canon I.—If any one saith, that,
by the precept of God, or by necessity of salvation, all and each of the faithful
of Christ ought to receive both species of the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist:
let him be anathema. |
|
Canon II.—Si
quis dixerit, sanctum Ecclesiam Catholicam non justis
|
Canon II.—If any one saith, that
the holy Catholic Church was not |
175
|
causis et rationibus adductam fuisse, ut laicos atque
etiam clericos non conficientes sub panis tantummodo specie communicaret, aut
in eo errasse: anathema sit.
|
induced, by just causes and reasons, to communicate,
under the species of bread only, laymen, and also clerics when not consecrating:
let him be anathema. |
|
Canon III.—Si
quis negaverit, totum et integrum Christum, omnium gratiarum fontem et auctorem,
sub una panis specie sumi, quia, ut quidam falso asserunt, non secundum ipsius
Christi institutionem sub utraque specie sumatur: anathema sit.
|
Canon III.—If any one denieth,
that Christ whole and entire,—the fountain and author of all graces,—is received
under the one species of bread; because that, as some falsely assert, he is
not received, according to the institution of Christ himself, under both species:
let him be anathema. |
|
Canon IV.—Si
quis dixerit, parvulis, antequam ad annos discretionis pervenerint, necessariam
esse Eucharistiæ communionem: anathema sit.
|
Canon IV.—If any one saith, that
the communion of the Eucharist is necessary for little children, before they
have arrived at years of discretion: let him be anathema. |
|
Duos vero articulos alias propositos nondum tamen excussos,
videlicet: an rationes, quibus sancta Catholica Ecclesia adducta fuit, ut communicaret
laicos atque etiam non celebrantes sacerdotes, sub una tantum panis specie,
ita sint retinendæ, ut nulla ratione calicis usus cuiquam sit permittendus;
et: an, si honestis et Christianæ caritati consentaneis rationibus concedendus
alicui vel nationi vel regno calicis usus videatur, sub aliquibus conditionibus
concedendus sit, et quænam sint illæ, eadem
|
As regards, however, those
two articles, proposed on another occasion, but which have not as yet been discussed:
to wit, whether the reasons by which the holy Catholic Church was led to communicate,
under the one species of bread only, laymen, and also priests when not celebrating,
are in such wise to be adhered to, as that on no account is the use of the chalice
to be allowed to any one soever; and whether, in case that, for reasons beseeming
and consonant with Christian charity, it appears that the use of the chalice
is to be granted to any nation or kingdom, it is to be conceded |
176
|
sancta synodus in aliud tempus, oblata sibi quamprimum
occasione, examinandos atque definiendos reservat.
|
under certain conditions; and what are those conditions:
this same holy Synod reserves the same to another time,—for the earliest opportunity
that shall present itself,—to be examined and defined. |
This book has been accessed more than 137709 times since July 13, 2005.
|
