Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Sacrament of the Eucharist · Book VI: On the Sacrifice of the Mass (Second)
Chapter 6: The Sacrifice of the Mass Profits All the Living
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. IV, De Sacramento Eucharistiae, Book VI: On the Sacrifice of the Mass (Second Book). 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).
The third question follows, for whom the sacrifice of the Mass ought or can be offered. And there are six kinds of men concerning whom it can seem there may be doubt. For some still live, others are dead: those who live are either living members of the body, or dead, or in no way, that is, they are either just, or sinners but faithful, or finally impious and infidels: of those who are dead, some now dwell in purgatory, others in heaven, others too are in hell condemned to eternal torments.
And concerning those indeed who live within the Church, and those who are in hell, that is, the first and the last, there is no controversy. For for all those who are within the Church, whether they be just or sinners, all Catholics teach that the sacrifice can be offered, nay even that it is really offered daily: for we say in the Canon that we offer for all the orthodox and worshippers of the Catholic and Apostolic faith. But the heretics have nothing peculiar to say about this matter.
But for those who are in hell, it is certain that the sacrifice cannot be offered: nor does any, either heretic or Catholic, deny this; for both the guilt and the punishment of the damned in hell are irremissible. Wherefore Augustine expressly teaches, Book 1 on the origin of the soul, chapters 9 and 11, that the sacrifice cannot be offered for little ones who died without Baptism, and in the Enchiridion, chapters 109 and 110, he says that the sacrifice profits the damned nothing, if it be offered for them. But of this matter we have said more in the second book on purgatory, last chapter.
Of those who live and are outside the Church, the matter can easily be explained. For first it is established that at least indirectly the sacrifice profits them, and can even indirectly be offered for them. For while we offer the sacrifice for the Catholic Church to be propagated, united, purged, which it is certain is lawful, at the same time it is indirectly offered for the conversion of infidels and heretics. Moreover in our Missals there is a proper Mass for taking away schism: where, though the sacrifice is offered for the peace of the Church, yet implicitly it is offered for the schismatics, namely that they may be converted. Finally in the oblation of the chalice, while we are bidden to pray for the salvation of the whole world, certainly in some way we pray also for infidels.
Then it is certain, even from the nature of the thing, if there be no prohibition of the Church, that it is lawful to offer for men of this kind. For the sacrifice of the cross was offered for all: why therefore cannot the Mass too be offered for all? Then, in the ancient Church it was offered for princes and kings, who yet were all infidels: for that which the Apostle says, 1 Timothy 2: I will therefore that prayers be made, etc., is commonly expounded by the Fathers of the prayers which are made in the sacrifice. And Chrysostom expressly, homily 6 on this epistle, says that offering is to be made for a Gentile king. And Tertullian in his book to Scapula: “We sacrifice,” he says, “for the safety of the Emperor.” And in the old law, as we showed above, they sacrificed for the life of King Darius and his sons, 1 Esdras 6; and in the second book of Machabees, chapter 3, for the safety of the Gentile Heliodorus. Moreover Clement, Book 8 of the Constitutions, chapter 18, teaches that the Apostles offered the sacrifice of the Eucharist for the kings of their time, and also for the Catechumens, and for the bringing back of those who were involved in error. And in the Liturgy of James there is express prayer for the extirpation of heresies. Chrysostom and Basil in the Liturgy likewise pray for the whole world, and by name for those who err, that they may be recalled from error. Chrysostom moreover, Book 6 on the priesthood, says that the sacrificing priest prays for the sins of all men, that God may be propitious to them; and in the homily on Adam and Eve he says that the priests pray publicly for infidels, heretics, Jews, Catechumens, etc. In the Roman Order, where the third scrutiny is described, which is done on the Wednesday after the fourth Sunday of Lent, a proper Mass is appointed for the Catechumens, and within the action, in those words: “This oblation, therefore, of our servitude, etc.”, it is expressly added that it is offered for the Catechumens. It cannot therefore be doubted that it is absolutely lawful to offer the sacrifice for those who are outside the Church.
Nor is it repugnant to these things, that Augustine says, Book 1 on the origin of the soul, chapter 9: “Who would offer the sacrifice of the body of Christ, except for those who are members of Christ?” For, as Saint Thomas rightly answered to this objection, in the fourth book, distinction 12, question 2, article 2, little question 2, to the fourth, this must be understood of those who are members of Christ, in act or in potency: for then it is offered also for the members of Christ, when it is offered for some that they may become members of Christ. Add that Augustine speaks in that place only of the dead: and because the dead are either members of Christ in act, or in no way, therefore he could say absolutely that it cannot be offered for the dead unless they be members of Christ.
But although these things are so, yet the Church, in the chapter A nobis, on the sentence of excommunication, forbade to pray publicly for the excommunicated, and consequently for heretics, who are all excommunicated: accordingly it also forbade the sacrifice to be offered for them directly and expressly; for the sacrifice is always public.
But someone will ask whether, where the king is an infidel, as in Greece, where the Turk rules, and in India, in Japan, among the Chinese, where the heathen reign, it is lawful for the priests who are there to offer expressly for the king. I answer: I think it is lawful, provided that king be not excommunicated (as heretical kings are), but a pagan or heathen. For this is a tradition, nay even an Apostolic constitution, as we showed a little before; nor is there, that I know, any manifest prohibition of the Church.
Again someone will ask whether at this time it is lawful to offer the sacrifice for the conversion of heretics or other infidels: the reason for doubting is, because the whole Liturgy of the Latin Church, which is now in use, is referred to the faithful, as is clear from the prayers of oblation, both outside and within the Canon. I answer: I think it is lawful, provided nothing be added to the Mass, but only by the intention of the priest the sacrifice be applied to the conversion of infidels or heretics; for this many pious and learned men do, whom we cannot reprehend, nor is there an express prohibition of the Church. Yet it is safest what others do, who so moderate their intention that they directly intend to offer for the increase, unity, and peace of that Church which lives among heretics or heathen: for those who so offer have the same effect as the former. For the Church cannot be increased, and united, and pacified in those places, unless the infidels or heretics be converted: and at the same time the intention of these is more conformable to the ecclesiastical rite than that of the former.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT VI. Sacrificium Missie omnibus viventibus prodest. Tertia sequitur qmestio, pro quibus sacri¬ ficium Missa; offerri debeat, aut possit : Sunt autem sex hominum genera, de quibus dubitari posse videtur. Alii enim adhuc vi¬ vunt, alii mortui sunt : qui vivunt, aut sunt membra corporis viva, aut mortua, aut nullo modo, id est, au| sunt justi, aut peccatores, sed fideles, aut denique impii, et infideles : eorum qui mortui sunt, alii in purgatorio, alii in crelo jam degunt, alii etiam apud in¬ feros aeternis suppliciis addicti sunt. Et de iis quidem, qui vivunt intra Eccle¬ siam, et de iis, qui sunt in gehenna, id est, de primis et ultimis, nulla controversia est. Nam pro iis omnibus, qui sunt intra Eccle¬ siam, sive justi, sive peccatores sint, Catho¬ lici omnes docent, sacrificium offerri posse, imo etiam reipsa quotidie offerri : dicimus enim in Canone, pro omnibus Orthodoxis, et Catholica;, atque Apostolicac fidei cultoribus nos offerre. Haeretici autem nihil habent pe¬ culiaro, quod de hac re dicant. Pro iis autem qui sunt in gehenna, certum est, sacrificium offerri non posse : neque id ulli aut haeretici, aut Catholici negant ; nam damnatorum ad gehennam, et culpae, et prenae sunt irremissibiles. Quare Augustinus ex professo docet, lib. i. de origine animae, cap. ix, et xi. sacrificium offerri non posse pro defunctis parvulis sine Baptismo, et in Enchiridio, cap. cix. et cx. dicit, nihil prod¬ esse damnatis sacrificium, si pro eis offera¬ tur. Sed de hac re plura diximus in n. lib. de purgatorio, cap. ult. De iis qui vivunt, et extra Ecclesiam sunt, facile res explicari potest. Nam in primis constat eis saltem indirecte sacrificium prod¬ esse, et pro eis etiam indirecte offerri posse. Dum enim offerimus sacrificium pro Ecclesia Catholica propaganda, unienda, purganda , quod certum est licere, simul indirecte offer¬ tur pro conversione infidelium, et luer otico¬ rum. Praeterea in libris nostris Missalibus exstat Missa propria ad tollendum schisma : ubi licet, pro Ecclesia; pace sacrificium offe¬ ratur, tamen implicite offertur pros chisma- f icis, ut videlicet convertantur. Denique in oblatione calicis, dum pro totius mundi sa¬ lute orare jubemur, certe aliquo modo pro infidelibus etiam oramus. Deinde certum est, etiam ex natura rei, si nulla sit prohibitio Ecclesia;, licere offerre pro ejusmodi hominibus. Nam sacrificium crucis pro omnibus fuit oblatum : cur igitur non possit etiam Missa pro omnibus offerri ? Deinde, in antiqua Ecclesia offerebatur pro principibus et regibus , qui tamen erant omnes infideles : quod enim Apostolus ait, 1 Timoth. ii : 1 i olo igitur fieri orationes ctc. (1) communiter a Patribus exponitur de oratio¬ nibus, qua; fiunt in sacrificio. Et Chrysosto- mus expresse homil. vi. in hanc epistolam, dicit pro rege gentili esse offerendum. Et Tertullianus in libro ad Scapulam : « Sacri¬ ficamus, inquit, pro salute Imperatoris. Et in lege veteri, ut supra ostendimus, sacrifi¬ cabatur pro vita rogis Darii, et filiorum, I Esdra; vi. et in II lib. Machabieor. cap. m. pro salute Heliodori gentilis. Praitcrea Cle¬ mens lib. viu. constitutio, cap. xvm. docet, (1)1 Timoth. V, 1, 378 LIBER VI. Apostolos obtulisse sacrificium Eucharistiae pro regibus sui temporis, necnon pro Cate¬ chumenis, et pro reductione eorum, qui versabantur in errore. Et in Liturgia Jacobi lit expressa oratio pro extirpatione heere- sum. Chrysostomus, et Basibus in Liturgia similiter orant pro toto orbe terrarum, et nominatim pro errantibus, ut revocentur ab errore. Chrysostomus praeterea lib vi. de sa¬ cerdotio , dicit sacerdotem sacrificantem orare pro peccatis omnium hominum, ut illis Deus propitius liat; et in homil. de Adam et Eva. dicit, Sacerdotes publice orare pro infidelibus, Haereticis, Judaeis, Catechume¬ nis, etc'. In ordine Romano, ubi describitur scrutinium tertium, quod agitur Feria iv. post Quartam Dominicam Quadragesimae, instituitur Missa proria pro Catechumenis, et infra actionem in illis verbis : « Ilanc igitur oblationem servitutis nostrae etc. » ex¬ presse additur eam offerri pro Catechume¬ nis. Non igitur dubitari potest, quin absolute liceat sacrificium offerre pro iis, qui sunt extra Ecclesiam. *fs. Neque his repugnat, quod ait Augustinus lib. i. de orig. anima*, cap. ix : « Quis offe¬ rat sacrificium corporis Christi, nisi pro iis, qui sunt membra Christi ? » Nam ut recte respondit ad hanc objectionem S. Thomas in iv. distinet, xii. quaest. ii. art. n. quaest. n. ad iv. id intelligi debet de iis, qui sunt mem¬ bra Christi, actu vel potentia : tunc enim offertur etiam pro membris Christi, quando offertur pro aliquibus, ut fiant membra Christi. Adde, quod Augustinus non loquitur eo loco, nisi de defunctis : et quia defuncti aut sunt membra Christi actu , aut nullo modo, ideo absolute dicere potuit, non posse offerri pro defunctis , nisi sint membra Christi. Sed quamvis haec ita se habeant, prohi¬ buit tamen Ecclesia cap. A nobis, de sen¬ tentia excommunicationis , publice orare pro excommunicatis, et consequenter pro haereticis, qui sunt omnes excommunicati : proinde etiam prohibuit, sacrificium pro cis directe , et expresse offerri ; sacrificium enim seinper est publicum. Sed quaeret aliquis , utrum ubi rex infide¬ lis est, ut in Graecia, ubi Turea dominatur, et in India, in Japone, apud Sinas, ubi eth¬ nici regnant, liceat sacerdotibus, qui ibi sunt, expresse offerre pro rege. Respondeo : Existimo licere, modo rex ille non sit ex- communicatus, (ut sunt reges haeretici ; sed paganus, sive Ethnicus. Nam haec traditio, imo et constitutio Apostolica est, ut paulo ante ostendimus ; neque exstat, quod sciam, ulla Ecclesiae manifesta prohibitio. Rwrsus aliquis petet, utrum liceat hoc tempore sacrificium offerre pro haereticorum, sive infidelium aliorum conversione : ratio dubitandi est, quia tota Liturgia Latinae Ec¬ clesiae, quae nunc est in usu, refertur ad fi¬ deles, ut patet ex precibus oblationis, tum extra, tum intra Canonem. Respondeo : Existimo id licere, modo nihil addatur ad Missam, sed solum per intentionem sacerdo¬ tis applicetur sacrificium conversioni infide¬ lium, sive haereticorum ; id enim multi fa¬ ciunt viri pii, et docti, quos reprehendere non possumus, neque exstat expressa Eccle¬ siae prohibitio. Tutissimum tamen est, quod alii faciunt, qui intentionem suam ita mode¬ rantur, ut directe intendant, offerre pro aug¬ mento, unitate, et pace illius Ecclesiae, quae inter haereticos, vel ethnicos conversatur : qui enim ita offerunt, eumdem habent effe¬ ctum, quem superiores. Non enim potest au¬ geri, et uniri, ac pacificari Ecclesia in illis locis ; nisi convertantur infideles, aut haere¬ tici : et simul horum intentio conformior est Ecclesiastico ritui, quam superiorum.