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According to early church tradition, only those who had been baptized were permitted to remain at Mass after the Creed on Sundays. So to help new converts in his diocese, St. Augustine (354-430) preached the sermon below. In it, he tried to help the new believers grasp the mysteries they were about to see and participate in.
This is a short sermon, especially by Augustine’s standards. So he wastes no time in getting right to the point: Not only is the host the true body of Christ but all of us together make up Jesus’ body here on earth. And since we are his body, Augustine urges all of us to live as his body: in peace and unity and love for each other. May we all take his words to heart!
You Are the Mystery
What you can see on the altar, you also saw last night; but what it was, what it meant, of what great reality it contained the sacrament, you had not yet heard. So what you can see, then, is bread and a cup; that’s what even your eyes tell you; but as for what your faith asks to be instructed…
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