25 September 2008

Patristic Quote of the Day

We do not in those shrines raise altars on which to sacrifice to the martyrs, but to the one God, who is the martyr's God and ours; and at this sacrifice [the Eucharist] the martyrs are named, in their own place and in the appointed order, as men of God who have overcome the world in the confession of his name. They are not invoked by the priest who offers the sacrifice. For, of course, he is offering the sacrifice to God, not to the martyrs (although he offers it at their shrine) because he is God's priest, not theirs. Indeed, the sacrifice itself is the Body of Christ, who is not offered to them, because they themselves are that Body. -- St. Augustine, *City of God* XXII:10

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