[Sermones de eucharistiae sacramento]

... "My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." It follows from this: "Many of His disciples went back," as if abhorring the words about eating human flesh. Ambrose: "Perhaps you will say, how is it true flesh, how is it true blood? Because you do not see the likeness of flesh. Observe where the disciples of Christ, hearing that He would give His flesh to be eaten, were receding." Only Peter said: "You have the words of eternal life; to whom shall we go?" So that more would not be scandalized and that there would not be a horror of human flesh, but the glory of the Savior might remain, therefore you receive the sacrament in a likeness. And you truly acquire the glory of nature by the virtue which you follow. Regarding the second, in the same place where the Lord said: "The bread which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world," the Jews fought among themselves, saying: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Such litigation is murmuring and detraction about the naked eating of the body of Christ, and therefore it ought to be veiled. Psalm: "If he who hated me had spoken evil of me, I would have perhaps hidden myself from him." Regarding the third, Numbers 4: Aaron and his sons entered, they who were disposing of the works, that is, covering the sacraments. Let others not see with any curiosity what is in the sanctuary before they are wrapped; otherwise, they shall die. 1 Samuel 6: "The Lord struck many because they had seen the ark of the Lord," as if it were not permitted for them to see it uncovered. The Ark signifies the body of the Lord, which must be veiled to the malignant lest they die spiritually if they see it naked, because the cause of their blindness would be thought to be something fantastic. Ecclesiastes 3: "In the many works of God, do not be curious, for it is not necessary for you to see with your eyes those things which are hidden."

The second reason why the Lord gives His body veiled is the faith of the good. And this reason can be distinguished into three things that demand this be veiled, namely: to be the true essence of faith, the remedy of primary infidelity, and the merit of faith. First, to be the true essence of faith requires that the body of Christ be veiled. Hebrews 11: "Faith is the evidence of things not appearing." For as Augustine says: "Faith is to believe what you do not see," that is, to believe the words of God concerning an occult thing which truly exists and yet you do not see it with your eyes. For concerning a thing which we see, we have knowledge rather than faith.