Thoughts on the Hypostatic Union during the
Triduum of Christ's Death
excerpted from The Catholic Encyclopedia
What, it may be asked, happened to the Hypostatic Union during the Triduum
of Christ's Death? The Apostles' and Nicene
Creeds, which are Infallible Documents of Faith, tell us that after
His Death Christ descended
into Hell (Limbo) and that
He was Buried. These statements presuppose that the
Word remained united both to the Soul which descended into
the Limbo of the Just and to the Body which was
Buried in the Sepulcher. Besides,
Death could take place without destroying the Hypostatic
Union, for Death did not consist in a separation of the
Humanity from the Divinity but in a separation of the
Soul from the Body. Hence the
Soul and the Body could be separated from each other
without being disjoined from the Word.
At this point several interesting questions immediately arise. How could Christ's
Body in the Sepulcher be united to the Word,
the Source and Fountain of all Life, and yet be Dead and
Lifeless? The solution to this Problem lies in a proper understanding of the manner
in which God is the Author of Life.
The Word, it is true, is the Source of all Life in the Universe,
especially of that of the Human Soul. As far as the
Human Body is concerned, the Divine Disposition by Creation
is such that the Body lives only when united to the
Soul. Hence although the Word is the Source of all
Life, It does not Vivify the
Body except through the Soul. Since
Christ's Body in the
Tomb was separated from the Soul - although united to the
Word - It was not a living Body.
During the Sacred Passion, our Lord shed
His Blood with Great Profusion and Generous Prodigality. The various stages of the
Passion and especially of the Way of the Cross
constituted a veritable Procession of the Precious Blood. The question whether Every
Single Drop of Christ's Blood, shed during the
Passion remained Hypostatically united to the
Person of the Word during the Triduum,
was debated during the Middle Ages with great Vehemence and Vigor between members of the Franciscan and
Dominican Orders. The prevailing opinion among Theologians today is to the effect that during the
Triduum of Christ's Death, the
Person of Christ remained Hypostatically united at least with that portion of
His Precious Blood which He Reassumed at the
Resurrection.
Bruges, Beyreuth, Jerusalem and several other places maintain or at-one-time claimed
to possess True Relics of Christ's Precious Blood.
If these Relics are true, is the
Blood of Christ which They contain still united to the
Person of Christ? Is It consequently deserving of
Divine Worship? This Problem has likewise been the subject of extensive and prolonged
discussion. At present the generally accepted Doctrine is the following: If
these Relics are the Blood shed by
Our Lord during His
Passion, these Particles of Christ's Blood were not reassumed at
the Resurrection but permanently separated from
Christ's Person; They are not to be
Worshiped (Latria) but only
Venerated (Dulia) like Particles of the
Holy Cross.
The Blood which is said to have flown Miraculously from
Consecrated Hosts or Images of Christ is
not the Blood of Christ at all. Since the
Resurrection, Christ is in a Glorified
State and "dieth now no more". Hence
He cannot Bleed in a Consecrated Host where
He is present in the same Glorified State.
If a fluid, the chemical ingredients of which are the same as those of Human Blood,
should appear on the Consecrated Host, the Phenomenon would be a
Miracle - a "Didactic" (meant to Instruct)
Miracle teaching us the Truth of the
Real Presence.
Since the Holy Eucharist was established on the Night of Holy Thursday
(during the Last Supper), and since the regular Celebration of
Mass did not begin until some time after the Resurrection,
Theologians speculate what would-have-been the state of Our Lord in the
Holy Eucharist if the Apostles had
Consecrated on:
1) Good Friday Morning,
2) Holy Saturday Morning,
3) Easter Morning?
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Holy Eucharist Presence - Good Friday Morning
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Body
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Blood
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Soul
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Divinity
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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Yes
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If the Apostles had Consecrated on
Good Friday Morning, Christ Who at that time was in
Himself Passible (able to
Suffer) would have been in the Holy Eucharist in an
Impassible manner. "It is clear," says Saint Thomas,
"that the very Body of Christ which was perceived in Its Own Nature by the Disciples, was also received
in the Sacramental Species. The Body which was perceived in Its Own Nature was not Impassible, but rather prepared for the Passion. But
that which in itself was Passible was in an Impassible manner in the Sacrament, just as that which in itself was visible existed
invisible".
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Holy Eucharist Presence - Holy Saturday Morning
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Body
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Blood
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Soul
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Divinity
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Yes
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Yes
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No
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Yes
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Let us suppose now that the Apostles had celebrated the Lord's Supper
on Holy Saturday Morning. At this time there existed a Real
separation between the Constitutive Elements of Christ. The
Sacred Host would have contained (in an Impassible manner) the Bloodless Inanimate,
Body of Christ as
It lay in the Tomb. The Chalice
would have held only the Blood separated from His
Body during the Passion and absorbed by the
Earth. Both the Body and the
Blood would have remained Hypostatically United to the
Divine Person. Christ's Soul, sojourning in
Limbo, would have remained entirely excluded from the
Eucharistic Presence.
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Holy Eucharist Presence - Easter Morning
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Body
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Blood
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Soul
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Divinity
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Yes - Glorified
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Yes - Glorified
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Yes
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Yes
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If the Apostles had Consecrated on
Easter Morning after Christ's Resurrection,
Christ would have been in the Holy Eucharist in the same
state as He is Now - namely, in a
"Glorified State". Christ Who
"dieth now no more" has an Animate Body through
whose Veins courses His Life's Blood under the
Vivifying influence of the Soul.
Christ is present in each species Wholly and Entirely -
Body, Blood, Soul, and
Divinity.
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The Hypostatic Union will continue after the
Resurrection for all Eternity. The
Word is never separated either from the Body or from the
Soul which He has assumed. Thus the
Hypostatic Union is Immovable,
Indissoluble, for all Eternity. The
Perpetual Inseparability of Our
Lord's Two (2) Natures is implied in
Christ's Eternal Priesthood. The
Eternal Existence of Christ is taught in the
following passage in Hebrews: "Jesus Christ, yesterday, and today, and the same
forever" (Hebrews 13:8). That the Apostle in this passage means the
God-Man is evidenced by his teaching in regard to
Christ's Eternal Priesthood: "But
this (Christ), for that He continueth forever, hath an Everlasting Priesthood" (Hebrews 7:24). Since
the exercise of Christ's Priesthood is a Theandric
(Human/Divine) act, it necessarily presupposes
the Hypostatic Union; and since Christ's Priesthood
is to endure Forever, the Hypostatic Union Itself
will never cease. The Exalted Celestial Priesthood of our Pontiff is not a mere empty title, but a complement of
the Sacrifice of the Cross. Christ appears
before His Father as the Victim of
Calvary and adorned with the Qualities of
Victim. He constantly presents to His
Father the Merits of His
Blood shed upon Calvary - everlastingly
He is asserting the Sacrifice of the Cross
in behalf of those whom He Redeemed. As Saint Ambrose remarks:
"He refused to relinquish the wounds which He had received for us, but preferred to take them with Him to
Heaven, in order to exhibit them to His Heavenly Father as the Purchase Price of our Liberty". In this way
Christ is "always living to make intercession for us"
(Hebrews 7:25).
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Jesus Christ consisted of Body,
Blood, Soul and
Divinity. At Death His
Body and Soul were separated, each individually
remaining united with His Divinity.
