Mystical Body of the Church

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Theanalogy borne by anysociety ofmen to an organism is sufficiently manifest. In everysociety the constituentindividuals are united, as are also the members of a body, to effect a common end; while the parts they severally play correspond to the functions of the bodily organs. They form a moral unity. This, of course, istrue of theChurch, but theChurch has also a unity of a higher order; it is not merely amoral but amystical body. Thistruth, that theChurch is the mystical body ofChrist, all its members being guided and directed byChrist the head, is set forth bySt. Paul in various passages, more especially inEphesians 4:4-13 (cf.John 15:5-8). Thedoctrine may be summarized as follows:

The members of theChurch are bound together by asupernatural life communicated to them byChrist through thesacraments (John 15:5).Christ is the centre and source of life to Whom all are united, and Who endows each one withgifts fitting him for his position in the body (John 15:7-12). Thesegraces, through which each is equipped for his work, form it into an organized whole, whose parts are knit together as though by a system of ligaments and joints (John 15:16;Colossians 2:19).
Through them, too, theChurch has its growth and increase, growing inextension as it spreads through the world, and intensively as theindividual Christian develops in himself the likeness ofChrist (John 15:13-15).
In virtue of this union theChurch is the fulness or complement (pleroma) ofChrist (Ephesians 1:23). It forms one whole with Him; and theApostle even speaks of theChurch as "Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:12).
This union between head and members is conserved and nourished by theHoly Eucharist. Through this sacrament our incorporation into the Body of Christ is alike outwardly symbolized and inwardly actualized; "We being many are one bread, one body; for we all partake of the one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17).

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APA citation.Joyce, G.(1911).Mystical Body of the Church. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10663a.htm

MLA citation.Joyce, George."Mystical Body of the Church."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 10.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1911.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10663a.htm>.

Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Elizabeth T. Knuth.Dedicated to Bro. Odo Nanyanje, O.S.B.

Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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Mystical Body of the Church

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