Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 26:26

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it; and he gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body." — Matthew 26:26 (ASV)

St. Jerome: When the symbolic Passover was concluded, and He had partaken of the Lamb with His Apostles, He comes to the true sacrament of the Passover. This was so that, just as Melchizedekⁱ, priest of the Most High God, had done in foreshadowing Christ by offering bread and wine, He also would offer the present reality of His Body and Blood.ⁱ

St. Augustine of Hippo: And as they were eating, from which it is clearly seen that the disciples did not receive the Lord's Body and Blood while fasting at their first partaking. But are we therefore to object to the practice of the whole Church, which is to receive it while fasting?

It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit that, for the greater honor of so great a sacrament, the Lord's Body should enter a Christian's mouth before any other food. To commend the depth of this mystery more powerfully, the Savior chose this as the last thing He would imprint on the hearts and memories of His disciples, from whom He was about to depart to His Passion. But He did not direct in what order it should be taken from then on, so that He might reserve that for the Apostles, through whom He would regulate His Church. ¹

Glossa Ordinaria: Christ delivered to us His Flesh and Blood under another form and ordained them to be received that way from then on, so that faith—which pertains to things that are not seen—might have its merit. ²

St. Ambrose of Milanⁱ: This was also so that we might not be shocked by the sight of blood, while at the same time it secured the price of our redemption. ³

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Lord committed His Body and Blood to substances that are formed into a single whole from many parts. Bread is made from many grains, and wine is produced from many berries. In this, the Lord Jesus Christ signified us, and on His own table He hallowed the mystery of our peace and unity. ⁴

Remigius of Auxerre: Fittingly, He also offered the fruit of the earth to show that He came to take away the curse with which the earth was cursed for the sin of the first man. He also commanded that the produce of the earth be offered—the very things for which people primarily labor—so that there would be no difficulty in procuring them, and so that people might offer a sacrifice to God from the work of their hands.

St. Ambrose of Milan: From this, learn that the Christian mysteries existed before the Jewish ones. Melchizedek offered bread and wine, being in all things like the Son of God, to whom it is said, You are a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4). And of Him it is said here, Jesus took bread (John 12:24). ⁵

Glossa Ordinaria:^{i 6}

This, we must understand, is wheat bread, for the Lord compared Himself to a grain of wheat, saying, Except a corn fall into the ground etc. Such bread is also suitable for the Sacrament because it is in common use; other kinds of bread are made only when this one is unavailable.

But since Christ, up to the very last day—to use the words of St. John Chrysostom—showed that He did nothing contrary to the Law, it is clear that the bread the Lord took and gave to His disciples was unleavened. The Law commanded that unleavened bread should be eaten in the evening when the Passover was slain and that all leavened bread should be put away.

St. Gregory the Great: It has troubled various people that in the Church some offer unleavened and others leavened bread. The Roman Church offers unleavened bread because the Lord took on flesh without any defilementⁱ. Other churches offer leavened bread because the Word of the Father took flesh upon Himself and is truly God and truly man; and so the leaven is mingled with the flour. But whether we receive leavened or unleavened, we are made one body of the Lord our Savior. ⁷

St. Ambrose of Milan: Before the sacramental words, this bread is ordinary bread; after consecration, it is made from bread into Christ's flesh. And what are the words of consecration, or whose are the phrases, except those of the Lord Jesus?

For if His word had the power to make things that did not exist begin to be, how much more effective will it be in causing them to remain what they are, while at the same time being changed into something else? If the heavenly word has been effective in other matters, is it ineffective in the heavenly sacraments? Therefore, the bread is made the Body of Christ, and the wine is made blood by the consecration of the heavenly word.^{i 8}

Do you ask how? Learn. The course of nature is that a person is born only of a man and a woman, but by God's will, Christ was born of the Holy Spirit and a Virgin.

Paschasius: Just as real flesh was created by the Holy Spirit without sexual union, so by the same Holy Spirit the substance of the bread and wine is consecrated into the Body and Blood of Christ. And because this consecration is made by the Lord's word, it is added, He blessed.ⁱ

Remigius of Auxerre: By this He also showed that He, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, has filled human nature with the grace of His divine power and enriched it with the gift of immortality. And to show that His Body was not subject to suffering except by His own will, it is added, And He broke it.

Lanfranc: When the host is broken and the blood is poured from the cup into the mouths of the faithful, what else is signified but the offering of the Lord's Body on the cross and the shedding of His Blood from His side?ⁱ

Dionysius, Eccl. Hier., 3, in fin: This also shows that the one and uncompounded Word of God came to us in a compounded and visible form by taking human nature upon Himself. Drawing our community to Himself, He made us partakers of the spiritual goods which He distributed, as it follows, And gave it to His disciples.

St. Leo the Great: He did not exclude even the traitor from this mystery, so that it might be made clear that Judas was not provoked by any wrong, but that he had been foreknown in his voluntary wickedness. ⁹

St. Augustine of Hippo: Peter and Judas received from the same bread, but Peter received it to life, and Judas to death. ¹⁰

St. John Chrysostom: And this John shows when he says, After the sop, Satan entered into him (John 13:27). For his sin was aggravated because he approached these mysteries with such a heart; and having come to them, he was made no better by fear, kindness, or honor. Christ did not hinder him, though He knew all things, so that you may learn that He omits nothing that serves for correction. ¹¹

Remigius of Auxerre: In doing so, He left an example to the Church that it should not separate anyone from its fellowship, or from the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, except for some notorious and public crime.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Alternatively, the Passover was concluded by the taking of the cup and the breaking of the bread without Judas, for he was unworthy of the communion of the eternal sacraments. We learn that he had left them from the fact that he returns with a multitude.

St. Augustine of Hippo:ⁱ

And He said, "Take, eat." The Lord invites His servants to set Himself before them as food. But who would dare to eat his Lord? This food, when eaten, refreshes but is not consumed; He who rose again after being put to death lives on after being eaten. Nor do we divide His substance when we eat Him; this is how it is in this Sacrament. The faithful know how they feed on Christ's flesh; each person receives a part for himself. He is divided into parts in the Sacrament, yet He remains whole. He is whole in heaven, and He is whole in your heart.

They are called Sacraments because in them what is seen is one thing, and what is understood is another. What is seen has a material form; what is understood has spiritual fruit.

Let us not eat Christ's flesh only in the Sacrament, for many wicked people do that. Instead, let us eat for spiritual participation, so that we may abide as members in the Lord's body and be made alive by His Spirit. ¹²

St. Ambrose of Milan: Before consecration, it is bread. After Christ's words, This is my body, have been spoken, it is Christ's Body. ¹³

1. Ep. 54, 7
2. non occ.
3. Ambr. de Sacr., vi, 1
4. in Joan. Tr. 26, 17, cf Serm. 227, 1
5. Ambr. de Sacr., iv, 3
6. non occ.
7. non occ.
8. Ambr. de Sacr., iv, 4
9. Serm. 58, 3
10. in Joan Tr., 59
11. Hom. lxxxii
12. in Joan. Tr., 27, 11
13. de Sacr., iv, 5