Edition Hide
De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput VI: De uero perfectoque sacrificio.

Proinde uerum sacrificium est omne opus, quod agitur ut sancta societate inhaereamus deo, relatum scilicet ad illum finem boni, quo ueraciter beati esse possimus. unde et ipsa misericordia, qua homini subuenitur, si non propter deum fit, non est sacrificium. etsi enim ab homine fit uel offertur, tamen sacrificium res diuina est, ita ut hoc quoque uocabulo id Latini ueteres appellauerint. unde ipse homo dei nomine consecratus et deo deuotus, in quantum mundo moritur ut deo uiuat, sacrificium est. nam et hoc ad misericordiam pertinet, quam quisque in se ipsum facit. propterea scriptum est: miserere animae tuae placens deo. corpus etiam nostrum cum temperantia castigamus, si hoc, quemadmodum debemus, propter deum facimus, ut non exhibeamus membra nostra arma iniquitatis peccato, sed arma iustitiae deo, sacrificium est. ad quod exhortans apostolus ait: obsecro itaque uos, fratres, per misericordiam dei, ut exhibeatis corpora uestra hostiam uiuam, sanctam, deo placentem, rationabile obsequium uestrum. si ergo corpus, quo inferiore tamquam famulo uel tamquam instrumento utitur anima, cum eius bonus et rectus usus ad deum refertur, sacrificium est: quanto magis anima ipsa cum se refert ad deum, ut igne amoris eius accensa formam concupiscentiae saecularis amittat eique tamquam incommutabili formae subdita reformetur, hinc ei placens, quod ex eius pulchritudine acceperit, fit sacrificium. quod idem apostolus consequenter adiungens: et nolite, inquit, conformari huic saeculo; sed reformamini in nouitate mentis uestrae ad probandum uos quae sit uoluntas dei, quod bonum et bene placitum et perfectum. cum igitur uera sacrificia opera sint misericordiae siue in nos ipsos siue in proximos, quae referuntur ad deum, opera uero misericordiae non ob aliud fiant, nisi ut a miseria liberemur ac per hoc ut beati simus - quod non fit nisi bono illo, de quo dictum est: mihi autem adhaerere deo bonum est - : profecto efficitur, ut tota ipsa redempta ciuitas, hoc est congregatio societasque sanctorum, uniuersale sacrificium offeratur deo per sacerdotem magnum, qui etiam se ipsum obtulit in passione pro nobis, ut tanti capitis corpus essemus, secundum formam serui. hanc enim obtulit, in hac oblatus est, quia secundum hanc mediator est, in hac sacerdos, in hac sacrificium est. cum itaque nos hortatus esset apostolus, ut exhibeamus corpora nostra hostiam uiuam, sanctam, deo placentem, rationabile obsequium nostrum, et non conformemur huic saeculo, sed reformemur in nouitate mentis nostrae: ad probandum quae sit uoluntas dei, quod bonum et bene placitum et perfectum, quod totum sacrificium nos ipsi sumus: dico enim, inquit, per gratiam dei, quae data est mihi, omnibus, qui sunt in uobis, non plus sapere, quam oportet sapere, sed sapere ad temperantiam; sicut unicuique deus partitus est mensuram fidei. sicut enim in uno corpore multa membra habemus, omnia autem membra non eosdem actus habent: ita multi unum corpus sumus in Christo; singuli autem alter alterius membra, habentes dona diuersa secundum gratiam, quae data est nobis. hoc est sacrificium Christianorum: multi unum corpus in Christo. quod etiam sacramento altaris fidelibus noto frequentat ecclesia, ubi ei demonstratur, quod in ea re, quam offert, ipsa offeratur.

Translation Hide
The City of God

Chapter 6.--Of the True and Perfect Sacrifice.

Thus a true sacrifice is every work which is done that we may be united to God in holy fellowship, and which has a reference to that supreme good and end in which alone we can be truly blessed. ¹ And therefore even the mercy we show to men, if it is not shown for God's sake, is not a sacrifice. For, though made or offered by man, sacrifice is a divine thing, as those who called it sacrifice ² meant to indicate. Thus man himself, consecrated in the name of God, and vowed to God, is a sacrifice in so far as he dies to the world that he may live to God. For this is a part of that mercy which each man shows to himself; as it is written, "Have mercy on thy soul by pleasing God." ³ Our body, too, as a sacrifice when we chasten it by temperance, if we do so as we ought, for God's sake, that we may not yield our members instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but instruments of righteousness unto God. ⁴ Exhorting to this sacrifice, the apostle says, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." ⁵ If, then, the body, which, being inferior, the soul uses as a servant or instrument, is a sacrifice when it is used rightly, and with reference to God, how much more does the soul itself become a sacrifice when it offers itself to God, in order that, being inflamed by the fire of His love, it may receive of His beauty and become pleasing to Him, losing the shape of earthly desire, and being remoulded in the image of permanent loveliness? And this, indeed, the apostle subjoins, saying, "And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed in the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." ⁶ Since, therefore, true sacrifices are works of mercy to ourselves or others, done with a reference to God, and since works of mercy have no other object than the relief of distress or the conferring of happiness, and since there is no happiness apart from that good of which it is said, "It is good for me to be very near to God," ⁷ it follows that the whole redeemed city, that is to say, the congregation or community of the saints, is offered to God as our sacrifice through the great High Priest, who offered Himself to God in His passion for us, that we might be members of this glorious head, according to the form of a servant. For it was this form He offered, in this He was offered, because it is according to it He is Mediator, in this He is our Priest, in this the Sacrifice. Accordingly, when the apostle had exhorted us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, our reasonable service, and not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed in the renewing of our mind, that we might prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, that is to say, the true sacrifice of ourselves, he says, "For I say, through the grace of God which is given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For, as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another, having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us." ⁸ This is the sacrifice of Christians: we, being many, are one body in Christ. And this also is the sacrifice which the Church continually celebrates in the sacrament of the altar, known to the faithful, in which she teaches that she herself is offered in the offering she makes to God.