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Above: Allegory of the Holy Eucharist by Miguel Cabrera (1750).
From the Roman Office.
℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. May the Gospel’s holy lection Be our safety and protection.
℟. Amen.
Reading 1
Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to John
John 6:44-52
At that time, Jesus said unto the multitudes of the Jews: No man can come to Me, except the Father, Which hath sent me, draw him. And so on.
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
26th Tract on John
Think not that thou art drawn against thy will; the soul is drawn, not willingly only, but lovingly. Neither must we be afraid lest men who are great weighers of words, and very far from understanding the things of God, should catch us up upon this Gospel doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, and should say to us: How can my faith be willing if am drawn? I answer: Thou art not drawn as touching thy will, but by pleasure. And, now, what is being drawn by pleasure? Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart (Ps. xxxvi. 4). There is pleasure in that heart to which the Bread That came down from heaven is sweet. The poet is allowed to say His special pleasure draweth each, but pleasure, which so draweth, is not a necessity, not a bond, but a delight how much more strongly, may we say that men are drawn to Christ, who delight in truth, who delight in blessedness, who delight in righteousness, who delight in life everlasting, since truth and blessedness, and righteousness and everlasting life are all to be found in Christ? Or have the bodily senses pleasure, and the spiritual senses none? If the spiritual sense have no pleasures, wherefore is it written: And the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life, and in thy light shall we see light (Ps. xxxv. 8).
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
℟. The Lord taught them good judgment and knowledge, Alleluia. He established in them the grace of His Spirit.
* And filled their hearts with understanding. Alleluia.
℣. For with a sudden sound the Holy Ghost came upon them.
℟. And filled their hearts with understanding. Alleluia.
℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. God’s most mighty strength alway be His people’s staff and stay.
℟. Amen.
Reading 2
Give me a lover, and he will catch my meaning; give me one who longs, give me an hungerer, give me a wanderer in this desert, a thirst and gasping for the fountains of the eternal Fatherland; give me such an one, and he will catch my meaning. If I talk to some cold creature, he will not. Such cold creatures were they of whom it is written: The Jews then murmured at Him because He said, I am the Bread Which came down from heaven. And they said: Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and Mother we know? How is it then that He saith: I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them: Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to Me, except the Father, Which hath sent Me, draw him (41-44). But wherefore speaketh Christ of them whom the Father draweth, since He Himself draweth? Why was it His will to say: No man can come to Me except the Father draw him? If we are to be drawn, let us be drawn by Him to Whom one that loved much said: Draw me, we will run after the savour of thy good ointments (Cant. i. 4). But let us consider, my brethren, what He meant, and understand it as well as we can. The Father draweth to the Son them who believe in the Son, because they are persuaded that He hath God to His Father. God the Father begetteth to Himself a coequal Son; and whosoever is persuaded, and realiseth unto himself by faith, and thinketh, that He in Whom he believeth is equal to the Father, him the Father is drawing unto the Son.
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
℟. Go ye unto all the world and preach the Gospel. Alleluia.
* He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
℣. In My Name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents.
℟. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
℟. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. May He that is the Angels’ King to that high realm His people bring.
℟. Amen.
Reading 3
Arius, who believed that the Son was made, was not one of them whom the Father draweth since whosoever believeth not that the Father is a Father by the begetting of a coequal Son, such an one knoweth not the Father. What sayest thou, O Arius? What sayest thou, O thou heretic? What is thy profession? What is Christ? He is not, saith Arius, Himself Very God. Then, O Arius, the Father hath not drawn thee; thou hast not understood His dignity as a Father, to Whom thou deniest His Son. Thou dost deny the existence of the Son of God, the Father draweth thee not, and thou art not drawn to the Son, since the Son of whom thou speakest is another son, existing only in thine imagination, and not the really existent Son. Photinus said: Christ is a mere man, and not God at all. He who uttered those words was not one of them whom the Father draweth. But whom hath the Father drawn? The Father drew him who said: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matth. xvi. 16, 17). Show a sheep a green bough, and thou drawest him. Let a boy see some nuts, and he is drawn by them. As they run, they are drawn, drawn by taste, drawn without bodily hurt, drawn by a line bound to their heart. If, then, among earthly things, such as be sweet and pleasant draw such as love them, as soon as they see them, so that it is truth to say, His special pleasure draweth each, doth not that Christ, Whom the Father hath revealed, draw? What stronger object of love can a soul have than the Truth?
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
Te Deum