Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Sacrament of the Eucharist · Book II: On the Real Presence, from the Testimonies of the Fathers
Chapter 31: Testimonies of the Fathers of the Sixth Age: Remigius and Primasius
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. IV, De Sacramento Eucharistiae, Book II: On the Truth of the Body of the Lord in the Eucharist, from the Testimonies of the Fathers. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
Thus far we have weighed the testimonies of the Fathers who flourished in the first five centuries, whom Calvin had boasted to favor him. Now we shall briefly note a few testimonies of the following ages, both on account of the audacity of Peter Martyr, who did not hesitate to cite even the later ones, as Theophylact and Bernard, for his error; and also that the continuation of the Catholic doctrine to our age from the Apostolic times may appear, which the adversaries can in no way demonstrate of their own doctrine. From the sixth age, then, we shall produce two testimonies, one of Remigius, the other of Primasius.
Remigius flourished in Gaul in the time of King Clovis, at the beginning of the year of the Lord 500, and wrote in these words in his commentary on chapter 10 of the first to the Corinthians: “The bread,” he says, “which we break on the altar, is it not the participation of the body of the Lord? Assuredly it is first consecrated and blessed by the priests and by the Holy Spirit, and then it is broken, since now, although it seem bread, it is in truth the body of Christ.” And below: “The flesh which the Word of God the Father assumed in the virginal womb, in the unity of His person, and the bread which is consecrated in the Church, are one body; for just as that flesh is the body of Christ, so this bread passes into the body of Christ; nor are there two bodies, but one body.”
Primasius flourished in the time of the fifth Synod, about the year of the Lord 550, as is clear from the fifth Synod itself, collation 2. He wrote on chapter 10 of the epistle to the Hebrews in these words: “It is one body of Christ with that which He assumed from the virginal womb; not many bodies,” and so forth; where he contends that this is the difference between the ancient sacrifices and the sacrifice of the Christians, that those were daily changed; for the same lamb is not immolated twice, but today one, tomorrow another; but the Christians, on diverse altars and at diverse times, always sacrifice the same body of Christ. Which certainly cannot be understood of material bread; for that is daily changed; nor of bread as it signifies the body of Christ; for in this manner the Hebrews too would have always immolated the same body, since by all their victims they represented the same Christ; nor can it be understood of the body as it is in heaven and is apprehended by faith; for Primasius says that it is immolated by the priests on the altar. We are compelled, therefore, to understand that the very true body of Christ, which is one to both, is truly present on the altar, and, under the species of bread and wine, is immolated by the priests. From which most plain testimony this too is gathered, that Saint Augustine held nothing else than the Catholics hold. For Primasius was most devoted to the doctrine of Augustine.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT XXXT. Testimonia Patrum 17, relatis Remigii, et Primasii. Hactenus expendimus testimonia Patrum* qui primis quinque saeculis floruerunt, quns sibi favere Calvinus jactaverat. Nunc brevi¬ ter annotabimus sequentium aetatum pauca testimonia, tum propter audaciam Petri Martyris, qui posteriores etiam, ut Theophy- lactum et Bern ardum pro suo errore citare non dubitavit ; tum etiam, ut appareat con¬ tinuatio doctrina} Catholicae ad nostram aeta¬ tem a temporibus Apostolicis, quod adver¬ sarii de sua doctrina demonstare nullo modo possunt. Igitur ex aetate sexta duo testimonia proferemus, unum Remigii, alterum Pri¬ masii. Rcmigius floruit in Galliatempore Clodove. Regis ad initium anni Domini 500. et in haec verba scripsit in commentar, cap. 10. prioris ad Corinth. « Panis, inquit, quetn frangimus in altari, nonne participatio corporis Domini est? Utique primum consecratur, et benediei- tura Sacerdotibus, et a Spiritu sancto, etdein- de frangitur, cum jam licet panis videatur, in veritate corpus Christi est. » Et infra : « Caro quam Yerbum Dei Patris assumpsit in utero virginali, in unitate sua} persona}, et panis, qui consecratur in Ecclesia, unum corpus sunt ; sicut enim illa caro, corpus Christi est, ita iste panis transit in corpus Christi, nec sunt duo corpora, sed unum cor¬ pus. » Primasius floruit tempore Y. Synodi, circa annum Domini 550. ut patet ex ipsa V Sy¬ nodo collat. 2. Scripsit autem in cap. 10. epist. ad Hebr. in ham verba : « Est unum corpus Christi cum illo, quod suscepit de utero virginali; non multa corpora etc. » ubi contendit hoc interesse inter sacrificia vetera, et sacrificium Christianorum, quod illa quotidie mutabantur; nec enim idem agnus bis immolatur, sed hodie unus, cras alius : at Christiani in diversis altaribus, et temporibus, semper idem Christi corpus sacrificant. Quod certe non potest intelligi de pane materiali : is enim quotidie mutatur; nec de pane ut significat corpus Christi ; nam hoc modo etiam Hebrad idem corpus semper immolassent, quippe qui omnibus suis victi- CAPUT XXX11. mia eumdem Christum repraesentabant : nec potest intelligi do corpore, ut est in coelo, et fide apprehenditur ; nam Primasius dicit immolari a sacerdotibus in altari : cogimur ergo intelligere, ipsum verum Christi corpus, quod utrique unum est, vere in altari adesse, et sub specie panis ac vini, a sacerdotibus immolari. Ex quo testimonio apertissimo il¬ lud etiam colligitur, S. Augustinum nihil aliud sensisse , quam Catholici sentiunt. Fuit enim Primasius Augustini doctrina} ad¬ dictissimus.