5 6 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 8 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 2 2 7 Images of the Eucharist as an Extension of the Incarnation The corpus of commentaries to Psalms offers two more images of God’s mercy – the bread of angels and the milk for children, where the Eucharist is spiritually interpreted by Augustine as an extension of the Incarnation of the God’s Son. Every action of God is merciful and anticipates maior misericordia, always responding to a great spiritual misery of man (Lat. magna miseria; Augustinus Hipponensis 1956 in CCSL 38, 604). In this regard, Augustine develops the theme of the Eucharist as an extension of the Incarnation of God’s Son: “Such is mercy demonstrated to us by God: ‘Show us, Lord, your mercy; grant us your salvation’ [Psalm 84:8]. Grant us Christ in whom we can find your mercy. We shall tell him: Grant us your Christ. He has given him to us, that’s true, but still let’s tell him: grant us your Christ, because we’ll tell him: ‘give us today our daily bread’ [Matthew 6:11]. And what is our bread if not the one who said: ‘I am the living bread who came down from heaven?’ [John 6:51].” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 39, 1167). Thus, according to Augustine Christ is the mercy of God and the living bread. In everyday reciting of the Lord’s prayer and our request for daily bread we do not ask God to provide us only with material bread to satisfy our hunger, but also with heavenly bread, the Eucharist. The Incarnation thus enabled the Eucharist. The bishop of Hippo reminds us in Enarratio 130 that Christ, the living bread, is the Word of God in the first place: “You know that Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God, according to the word of John: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him and without him nothing came to be’ [John 1:1–3]. Hence, he is the absolute bread, the bread of angels [Psalm 77:25]. Behold! The bread has been prepared for you.” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 40, 1905). The passage shows that the bread prepared for man is identified by Augustine as the mystery of the Word of God. To be able to understand this mystery, one must grow spiritually (Dojčár 2019, 46–48). This growth is associated with the image of milk for children. In already mentioned Enarratio 130 Augustine describes it in the following way: “Grow through this milk to arrive to the bread. Are you asking how this milk may help you grow? Start trusting in the fact that Jesus Christ has adapted to your weakness and stick to it strongly.” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 40, 1905). 8 Maternal Milk for Children According to Augustine, the Word of God becomes not only the living bread but also the milk through Incarnation. In Enarratio 30 he described it in the following way: “[A]nd just like mother who feeds her infant with milk after digesting food that her newborn baby is not able to digest, feeding the infant with her milk containing all that he would get sitting by the table but in a more suitable way because it is given to him through the body of his mother, the Lord came and put on human body to make milk of his wisdom for us.” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 38, 197). The image of milk enables Augustine to relate it with the concept of mercy. In Enarratio 30 he speaks about materna misericordia in relation with this milk: “Because you are my strength and my refuge and for your name you will become my guide who will feed me. Not for my merits but for your name, to celebrate you, to prevent me from losing the way, not because I would deserve it. You will be my guide and you will feed me so that I am strong enough to eat the food of angels. Because the One who had promised us heavenly bread fed us with milk and demonstrated his maternal mercy.” (Augustinus 1956 in CCSL 38, 197).
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