is offered as a universal sacrifice to God by the High
Priest, who offered nothing less than Himself in suffering for us, so
that we might become the body of so glorious a head, according to that
'form of a servant' which He had taken. For it was this (our human
nature) that He offered, in this that He was offered, because it is in
respect of this that He is mediator, priest and sacrifice.' Then after
a reference to Rom. xii. 1-6 {241} he continues, 'This is the Christian
sacrifice: the "many" become "one body in Christ." And it is this that
the Church celebrates by means of the sacrament of the altar, familiar
to the faithful, where it is shown to her that in what she offers she
herself is offered.' And x. 20: Of Christ's perfect sacrifice of
Himself 'He willed the Church's sacrifice to be a daily sacrament. For
as she is the body of Him the head, she learns through Him to offer up
herself.' Again xix. 23: 'God's most glorious and best sacrifice is we
ourselves, that is His city, of which we celebrate the mystery in our
oblations, which are known to the faithful.' Cf. xxii. 10: 'The
sacrifice itself is the body of Christ, which is not offered to them
(the martyrs), for they themselves also are it' (quia hoc sunt et
ipsi). Cf. _Serm._ 227: 'If you have well received (the body of Christ
in the sacrament) you are what you have received ... He willed us to be
His sacrifice.'

In all this we have a very plain and much forgotten teaching. But we
must not misunderstand St. Augustine's use of apparently exclusive
language--as if the sacrifice of ourselves was the only sacrifice
offered in the eucharist. The sacrifice of the Church is offered up
through Christ. Thus he also speaks of the celebration of the
eucharist (on the occasion of his mother's death, _Conf._ ix. 12) in
the phrase 'the sacrifice of our ransom (pretii nostri) was offered for
her.'

We do well to remember by the way that in _De Civ._ x. 5, 6, St.
Augustine twice over defines what he means by sacrifice thus: 'A true
sacrifice is everything that is done in order that we may by a holy
fellowship inhere in God.'

OXFORD: HORACE HART

PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

_A Series of Simple Expositions_

_of_

_Portions of the New Testament_

BY THE

REV. CHARLES GORE.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. In Two Vols.

IN CONTEMPLATION.

THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN.