venerint, consider the response and give an answer worthy of your magnanimous, most experienced, and most divine mind.
7. Furthermore, these letters to the most blessed patriarchs, being in all respects equivalent to the one sent to your Holiness—since we found no one among the devout and faithful through whom to send them to those to whom they were written—we have sent to your Perfection, so that you may ferry them to them through some devout person who is traveling to those places to which they were addressed. A Moreover, by your own letters, you will admonish and urge them to take up a godly zeal for the right dogma and our blameless and sincere faith, and that if by chance they are questioned concerning those things which took place in Rome, they may provide an answer that is appropriate and consistent with what we have declared.
8. Concerning our letter to the most holy Patriarch of Alexandria, we have also written to the most holy Patriarch of Jerusalem, so that if you yourself cannot find the means to send them, he may direct it to his Beatitude. B And now, indeed, with the son-in-law of your Holiness hastening his departure, we have related what has occurred in a few words and in passing. But later, if it should be necessary, we shall write more fully and clearly regarding these matters, and we shall also send the document itself which was deposited against us on the mystical and divine table. From it, you will learn the perversity of these men regarding the faith, and how they are filled with all ignorance and boorishness—or, to speak more truly, with stupidity and madness.
May the Lord preserve your Perfection in good health, praying for us.
YEAR OF OUR LORD MLVI
SAMONAS, BISHOP OF THE CITY OF GAZA
NOTICE
(Galland, *Veterum Patrum Biblioth.*, vol. XIV, proleg. p. VII and p. 223.)
The blessed Samonas was bishop of Gaza in Palestine around A.D. 1056; there exists a certain disputation of his, found in both Greek and Latin, against Achmet the Saracen concerning the Eucharist. He was killed by the Saracens for the sake of religion. For this reason, Nicetas Comnenus counts him among the blessed martyrs (a). He is entirely occupied with proving that bread and wine, through the priest's consecration, are the true and entire body and blood of the Lord. C To persuade that dull and unrefined Mahometan man, he uses examples that are highly appropriate. He conducted this disputation while on a journey.
(a) *Prenot. Mystag.*, p. 407.
THE BLESSED SAMONAS, ARCHBISHOP OF GAZA, DISPUTATION WITH ACHMED THE SARACEN, CLEARLY DEMONSTRATING THAT THE BREAD AND WINE CONSECRATED BY THE PRIEST ARE THE TRUE AND WHOLE BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Once, when we were traveling to Emesa along with many others, and were engaging in our habitual conversation on various and diverse topics, which comforted us on the journey, we progressed in our talk further than was fitting. Among our number was a certain learned and eloquent man, a Saracen by birth, who, turning the discussion to the mysteries, asked me, saying: "Why, O bishop, do you priests mock the Christians, while taking the bread baked from flour, breaking it into small pieces for them, styling it the body of Christ, and asserting that it is able to provide the remission of sins to those who receive it? Do you mock yourselves, or those over whom you have authority?" B SAMONAS. What are you saying? For is bread not the body of God? ACHMED. I am in doubt as to which part of the contradiction I should answer. SAM. Were you born by your mother as large as you are now? ACH. No. SAM. But how large? ACH. Very small. SAM. And who made you grow? ACH. By the will of God, food. SAM. Therefore, has the bread become a body for you? ACH. I agree.
A
SAM. And how has bread become a body for you? ACH. I do not know the manner. SAM. Food and drink are sent down through the throat into the stomach as into a cauldron. But since the liver, which is warm, is situated near the stomach, the food is boiled and turned into chyle, and the coarse part moves downward, while the fine part, having been liquefied, floats on top. But since the liver is warm and dense, it draws this up and turns it into blood; and through the veins, as if through channels, it irrigates the whole body, distributing the food turned into chyle in the stomach—and in the liver it is turned into blood—exchanging it for each of the members, such as it is: bone for bone, marrow for marrow, nerve for nerve, eye for eye, hair for hair, skin for skin, nail for nail. And thus the infant’s growth into a man takes place, with the bread having become body for him, and the drink blood. ACH. You speak the truth.
SAM. B In the same way, then, understand that our mystery also occurs. For the priest places the bread upon the holy table, and likewise the wine, and, by means of prayer and holy invocation, the Holy Spirit descends and comes upon the things set forth, and by the fire of His divinity He changes the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, no less than the liver changes the food into the body of a man. Or do you not, my friend, concede that the most holy Spirit of God can perform the same thing as your liver? ACH. I concede it. C
SAM. We partake, therefore, of this body and blood for the remission of sins and for eternal life, as our Master says: *He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.* But for those who do not readily believe because of what appears—as if they did not see that what is promised to happen corporally is indeed brought about (for bread and wine are seen)—and furthermore for those who say: "How is it possible that prayer and the invocation of divine power made over the bread can change it into living flesh?" a simple and single argument will suffice. For we shall ask in return, since the mode of generation according to the flesh is manifest to all, how does that fluid which is poured in for the procreation of an animal become a man? D Yet there is no argument in this matter by which one could devise anything probable through reasoning. For what commonality does the definition of a man have when compared with that quality which is perceived? For a man is a rational and intelligent being; but that [fluid] is perceived as a quality in a liquid. And our understanding grasps nothing more than what is seen by sense. But by divine power, that [fluid] becomes a man; if that power were not present, it would remain inert and inactive. If, therefore, in that case the subject matter does not make the man, but the divine power makes the appearance change into the nature of man, much more—
A is it the height of ignorance, while bearing witness to such and so immense a power of God in that case, to imagine in this instance that God is powerless to fulfill His own will.
ACH. But what has common bread in common with flesh?
SAM. And what has common moisture in common with the image of God, tell me? But just as there is nothing strange or unheard of there if, by the will of God, moisture passes into the most noble living being, so must it be believed in this case equally; it is not to be wondered at if, by the presence of divine power, the bread is transformed for immortality and changed into the body of Christ.
ACH. But when Christ delivered this to His disciples, He did not pour forth many prayers, nor did He counsel you to speak in this manner. How is it, then, that you do not act in that way, but have need of many prayers?
SAM. Christ, as God, was Lord of His own body and soul, as He Himself says: I have power to lay down my life, and power to take it again. And He, being by nature God, immediately sanctified that bread then by His own divine power and grace, saying, This is my body, having both the Father and the Spirit within Himself; and thus He made the bread His own body, and He did not need any other being superior to Him to sanctify the bread. For what is inferior is blessed by what is superior. Christ Himself, however, not being inferior to the Father and the Spirit, accomplished whatever He willed with authority. But the priest among us, even if he bears the image of Christ, is nevertheless a man entirely subject B to and held fast by sins (for there is no one who is without sin, as the divine Word holds, even if his life be but one hour, except God alone); for this reason he needs many prayers, and first for his own sins of ignorance, then for those of the people, as the apostle Paul says. Wherefore, all the people standing outside the sanctuary join in labor and pray with the priest. The priest, therefore, beseeches God the Father, as one standing as a mediator between God and men, so that there may be no obstacle to the coming of the all-holy Spirit, but that He may send down again the divine, all-present, initiation-leading, and sanctifying Spirit, by whom all things said to be holy, whether in heaven or on earth, are sanctified through the participation of His sanctifying grace, in order to complete C the bread and the cup set forth as a sacrifice, and to make them that very same Lordly body and blood of Christ. For the Father was well pleased, as our scriptures say, and the Son dwelt among us, and the Virgin gave birth to God incarnate, and the Holy Spirit cooperated, who, having taken a part from the virginal blood, built up the bodily temple of Christ. From this we also demonstrate the inseparability and the equal power, the same nature, and the omnipotence of the holy Trinity, even though it is distinguished by three persons; and that where one of the three persons is, the other two D are inseparably present by nature—
as co-workers and providers for the whole of creation. A
ACH. You recount these mysteries well. But why, then, did Christ deliver his body to be eaten by those who believe in him?
SAM. It was done out of an ineffable kindness toward us and a wondrous dispensation: partly for the averting of opposing powers, and partly for the preservation of our soul as well as our body; since it was no longer possible that Christ should remain on earth and associate with us bodily until the consummation of the age, and heal our manifold illnesses at every hour. For this reason, then, being almighty, most compassionate, and man-loving, he did not wish for us to be separated from him, but rather that we should be with him like his children through the participation and communion of this bread, wine, and water—since these things are more familiar to our nature and not something to be despised or abhorred—which are changed by divine power into his body and blood according to his command. This becomes, B for those who partake of it worthily with faith, a remission of sins, life eternal, and a safeguard for soul and body. For he said, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves." Therefore, it has been delivered to us in this way, and is guarded and believed without any doubt, until he himself shall come, according to the word of Paul.
ACH. Is this communion, then, and the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, which you priests offer, truly the body and blood of Christ, or is it an exemplar of his body, just as the sacrifice of the goat which the Jews offer? C
SAM. Far be it from us to call the holy communion an exemplar of Christ's body, or a mere bread, or a figure, or an image. Rather, we partake of the body and blood of Christ our God himself, truly and deified, he who was incarnate and born of the holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary. For so we believe, and so we profess according to the voice of Christ himself, who, during that mystical supper, when delivering to his disciples the life-giving bread, declared: "Take, eat; this is my body." D Likewise, when delivering the cup to them, he said: "This is my blood." He did not say, "This is the exemplar of my body and blood," or "the image." And in many other places it is manifest that Christ said, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life." Since, therefore, Christ himself bears witness that it is truly his body and blood, which we the faithful bring forth and partake of, what need is there to doubt further about this matter, if we believe that he is God and the Son of God? For if he made the world out of nothing, and his word is true, living, effective, and almigh-
all-powerful, and the Lord has done A all that he willed (Ps. CXVII, 20): can he not change the bread into his own body, and the mixture of water and wine into his own blood? For as he said in the beginning, Let the earth bring forth the green herb (Gen. I, 11), and to this day the earth brings forth herbs as he sends the rain, protected and compelled by the command of God, so God has said: This is my body; and: This is my blood; and: Do this in my remembrance. And this takes place by the command of the Almighty until his second coming, by the divine inspiration and advent of the Holy Spirit.
ACH. But why did Christ hand down the taking of his body and blood hidden B under the form of bread, wine, and water, rather than under some other material?
SAM. I have already spoken of this, and I shall speak of it again. Through the condescension of God and his ineffable providence, indulgence, and consideration for us, it has come to pass that we pass through things familiar to us for eating and drinking, and are raised up to things that surpass our nature—I mean, to the divine mysteries. Moreover, among all other foods, bread has claimed the first place. Likewise, among drinks, water and wine hold the first rank. Therefore, the Lord, having joined his divinity to these things—I mean the bread, wine, and water—to which we are accustomed, by the power of his Word, by which he brought C all things into being out of nothing, transforms them into his own body and blood. Yet bread and wine are taken and appear. And this is done by a providential dispensation and a condescending gift, taking away from us the awe and fear we should have felt if he had ordered us to receive his flesh and blood in their own proper form. Furthermore, outside nations would have condemned us for eating human flesh, saying that after the manner of wild beasts we drink blood and devour raw flesh. Those who, on account of their unbelief, see only bread and wine, but the faithful see the body of Christ and the blood poured out from his immaculate side. Just as in the font of baptism, those held by unbelief see only water in the pool, but the faithful perceive the water, fire, and Spirit. D When, however, even they have become partakers of the baptism, then they too receive assurance from the sensible thing for their invisible regeneration. So, if there is any grace in the water, it is not from the nature of the water, but from the advent of the Holy Spirit.
ACH. It is clear that in every way you rightly proclaim and recount the mysteries of the faith of Christ. Yet one might be at a loss about this: how, when God is one and the body of Christ is one, it is divided into infinite bodies and parts? Many split it—
or is it one; and in each part, is it one and the same, safe and entire SAM. By these examples, which fall under the senses and matter, we clarify those things that lack matter and are above nature. Let anyone, therefore, hear this example, and understand the power of the word hidden within it. Let it be posited thus: someone holding a mirror lets it drop to the ground and breaks it into many fragments, yet in each fragment one may see the reflection of oneself intact. In this way, one ought to understand from this reflection that the flesh of Christ is safe and integral in every piece, whenever, as often as, and wherever it is broken. And again, take another example: every word that a man utters in speaking, the one who speaks hears for himself, and understands, and those who stand around also hear; even if there are many who hear, they do not hear it divided, but entire. In the same way, it must be posited and affirmed B concerning the body of Christ: that most holy body of Christ, seated with the Father, remains with Him. Furthermore, also, the bread consecrated by the priest, being transformed into the true body of Christ by divine power through the coming of the most holy Spirit, although it is divided, yet it is preserved entire and safe in every piece, just as the word of one who speaks is heard entire and undivided by all who hear. Thus, by examples falling under sight and the senses, we lead the stubborn and those too curious about understanding the mysteries of God—which are above nature, reason, and intellect, and above us—to their understanding.
When, therefore, the sanctified bread is divided into parts—which is the most holy body of Christ—do not think that it is partitioned, or torn away, or that that immaculate body is divided up like members that are severed (for it is immortal and incorruptible, and can never be exhausted or consumed); but that this partition is only of the accidents, which fall under the senses after the sanctification, for the strengthening of faith and the manifestation of a visible sign of things that remain, as well as an earnest and a viaticum for the obtaining of eternal life for us.
C ACH. Truly these things are worthy of admiration and paradoxical; they are ineffable mysteries of the faith of the Christians, above nature, mind, and human thought, Father. Therefore, I offer thanks to you, because you have shown to us in a manner most equitable, clear, and not difficult to grasp—and at once true—the dogma by which you have demonstrated Christ to be omnipotent, benevolent, and the true God, from whom falsehood is thrust as far away as possible, D and every imaginary opinion is cast out to a distance. But since these things have been discussed between us with holy and philosophical discourse, we must depart. For henceforth our horses must be urged on for the journey; for, as I see, the day is declining into evening.