[Sermones de eucharistiae sacramento]

and God the Father approves it, in which, namely, He humbled Himself most, obeying the Father even unto death, triumphing over the devil, and redeeming the human race. Ecclesiasticus 35: "The sacrifice of the just is acceptable, and the Lord will not forget the memorial thereof," and it is an odor of sweetness in the sight of the Most High. Regarding the second, Matthew 24: "Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together," that is, the holy angels. Pope Leo: Around the body of the Lord are the eagles who fly around with spiritual wings; truly, the holy angels are spirits loving the purity of the world, venerating the clean body of the Lord, and protecting the faithful present. Gregory: Who of the faithful can doubt that in the very hour of immolation the heavens are opened, and in that mystery of Christ the choirs of angels are joined to the highest and first company? Regarding the third, Psalm: "Adore his footstool, for it is holy." Isaiah 66: The earth is called the footstool of God, and it signifies the flesh of Christ, which is originally from the earth. This is to be adored by us, because it is holy, because it is united to God. Augustine: It must be known that in Christ there is earth, that is, flesh, which is adored without impiety, because it was assumed by the Word of God; for he who adores does not look at the earth, but rather at Him whose footstool it is and for whose sake he adores. Also Augustine: Heretics say, "Why is it that you adore the flesh of the Lord, which you do not deny to be a creature, together with the divinity, and you serve it no less than the divinity?" I answer: I adore the Lord's flesh because of the person of the Son of God in Christ, that is, the humanity, because it was taken up by the divinity and united to the divinity in the unity of person. If you separate the man from God, I neither believe in him nor serve him, just as if someone found the king's purple or diadem lying by itself, would he adore them? But when the king is clothed in them, one incurs the danger of death if one neglects to adore them along with the king. So also in Christ the Lord, if anyone neglects to adore the humanity, not just naked, but united to the divinity, namely the one Son of God, true God and true man, he will die eternally. Pope Alexander: Nothing can be greater in sacrifices than the body and blood of Christ; and as this oblation is more powerful than others, so it ought to be more cultivated and venerated. Because, therefore, it is inestimably better than others, because it is united to God, it must be venerated most of all, and the little children of the Christians must be taught to adore it reverently. Thirdly, our sacrifice excels others by reason of virtue, that is, by the effect of its goodness. For it has a triple good act in the triple state of the faithful, namely: in this world, in purgatory, and in heaven. In the first state, it relaxes daily sins; in the second, it alleviates grievous pain; in the third, it generates great joy. Hence it is that triple masses are wont to be celebrated, namely for the salvation of the living, for the rest of the dead, and for the glory of the blessed. Hence it is also that the sacred host is broken by the priest into three parts, so that the virtue of the sacrifice of the Lord's body may be demonstrated to avail in the aforementioned triple state of the faithful. Regarding the first, Leviticus 5: "The soul that shall sin through ignorance, let him offer an immaculate ram," that is, Christ. The gloss says: Here the Church sings, "Lamb of God who takes away