pation in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communication of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the participation of the body of the Lord?" I Cor. 10:16. Because we, being many, are one bread and one body, seeing we partake of one bread and one cup. The third communication or communion is the participation in suffrages.[1] In this participation the good Lord is glorified: "I am a companion of all them that fear thee and that keep thy commandments," Ps. 119:63. And besides this threefold communication is the communication which is the intercourse between all Christians, good and bad. The first three are only participated in by good men, but of this fourth men of the world think more.
Secondly, it is to be noted that in this statement I speak of excommunication, as it corresponds to the fourfold excommunication just spoken of, namely, separation (1) from participation in divine grace which makes gracious, (2) from a worthy participation in the sacraments, (3) from participation in the suffrages which prepare for the life eternal—these three being opposed to the corresponding threefold communion—and (4) from intercourse with Christians, either by the censure of the spiritual or public exclusion by the secular judge.
From these it follows: (1) that there is not and can never be an excommunication of the three first kinds except for mortal sins. This is clear, because never is any one separated from the communion of the saints, which is the participation in God's grace, and the sacraments and the suffrages, preparing for the life eternal, except for mortal sin. For mortal sin alone divides or separates from communion of this kind, just as it separates from God himself. Nor can this happen except through mortal sins, because, so long as
- ↑ Suffrages are the prayers of the church and other benefits accruing from the acts of the church in the mass and indulgences. See Hergenröther: K.-recht, 567; Friedberg: K.-recht, 294.
