Augustine and the Roman Objection

Q. Is there any merit to the Roman claim that Augustine was a proponent of transubstantiation?

 

Augustine (c. 354 - 430 A.D.):

Objection One:

And he was carried in his own hands. How on earth are we to understand this, my brothers and sisters, how is it humanly possible? How can someone be carried in his own hands? A person can be carried in the hands of others, but not in his own. Well, we have no way of knowing what it literally means in David’s case; but we can make sense of it with regard to Christ. Christ was being carried in his own hands when he handed over his body, saying, This is my body (Mt 26:26); for he was holding that very body in his hands as he spoke. Such is the humility of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this humility is what he recommends to us most strongly. 

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century, Expositions of the Psalms, 33-50, III/16, Trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., [Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2000], Exposition of Psalm 33, § 10, p. 21). Here

 

A.1. In what way was he carried? Carnally? Or in a spiritual sense? See: Everything else Augustine ever wrote…

 

Augustine on John Six: Here

Augustine on Signs and Figures: Here

Augustine on Christ's Physical Presence: Here

Augustine on the Sacraments: Here

 

See also Augustine's second exposition on the same passage, Psalm 33:

 

In the light of this, what is the meaning of he affected? It means he was full of affection. What could ever be as full of affection as is the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in consideration of our infirmity accepted temporal death amid such violence and degradation, to free us from everlasting death? He drummed because a drum can be made only by stretching a skin across a wooden frame, so David's drumming was a prediction that Christ was to be crucified. He drummed on the doors into the city; and what else are the doors into the city but our hearts, which we had shut against Christ? But from the drum of his cross he opened the hearts of us mortals. He was carried in his own hands; how was this possible? Because when he entrusted to us his very body and blood, he took into his hands what the faithful know about, and so in a sense he was carrying himself when he said, This is my body. 

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century, Expositions of the Psalms, 33-50, III/16, Trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., [Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2000], Exposition 2 of Psalm 33, § 2, p. 24). Here

 

See Also:

 

The psalmist wants to speak openly now about the sacrament that the Lord held in his hands.

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century, Expositions of the Psalms, 33-50, III/16, Trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., [Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2000], Exposition 2 of Psalm 33, § 12, p. 33). Here

 

The flesh and blood of this sacrifice was promised before the coming of Christ by the similitude of victims, in the passion it was given by the truth itself, but after his ascension it is celebrated by a sacrament of memory [per Sacramentum memoriæ celebratur].

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XLII, S. Augustini, Contra Faustum Manichæum, Liber Vigesimus (XX), Caput XXI, Col. 385). Here Trans. (Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Volume Three, trans. George M. Ginger, ed. James T. Dennison, Jr., [Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 1997], p. 537).

Alternate Translation:

…the flesh and blood of this sacrifice were foreshadowed in the animals slain; in the passion of Christ the types were fulfilled by the true sacrifice; after the ascension of Christ, this sacrifice is commemorated in the sacrament [per Sacramentum memoriæ celebratur].

Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. IV., Reply to Faustus the Manichaean XX.21. Here

The sacraments [sacramenta] are things in which, not what they are, but what they show, is always attended to, since signs exist as one thing and signify another.

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XLII, S. Augustini, Contra Maximinum Arianorum Episcopum, Liber Secundus (II), Caput XXII, § 3, Col. 794). Here Trans. (Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Volume Three, trans. George M. Ginger, ed. James T. Dennison, Jr., [Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 1997], p. 345).

 

Alternate Translation:

These are mysteries [sacramenta] in which one always looks not to what they are, but to what they reveal. They are signs of things; what they are is one thing, what they signify another.

John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint August: A Translation for the 21st Century, Arianism and Other Heresies, I/18, trans. Roland J. Teske, S.J., [Hyde Park: New City Press, 1995], Answer to Maximinus the Arian, II.XXII.3, p. 307. Here

 

Patristic Scholar, and Augustinian Priest, Father Allan Fitzgerald, O.S.A.: 

 

Later sacramental theology would see the sacraments as having the symbol's quality of being able to represent what it signifies as well as point to it, as having not only sacramentum (outward sign of a more important spiritual reality) and res (invisible reality), but also res et sacramentum; in the Eucharist this res et sacramentum is Christ really present. Since Augustine's definition of sign, however, contains only sacramentum and res, when he speaks of the consecrated elements in the Eucharist, they cannot be res, by definition an invisible reality, so he must see them as sacramentum, something which points beyond itself to res.

Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., gen. ed., Augustine Through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, [Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999], "Eucharist," p. 334. Here

 

For if sacraments had not some points of real resemblance to the things of which they are the sacraments, they would not be sacraments at all. In most cases, moreover, they do in virtue of this likeness bear the names of the realities which they resemble. As, therefore, in a certain manner the sacrament of Christ’s body is Christ’s body, and the sacrament of Christ’s blood is Christ’s blood, in the same manner the sacrament of faith is faith. Now believing is nothing else than having faith; and accordingly, when, on behalf of an infant as yet incapable of exercising faith, the answer is given that he believes, this answer means that he has faith because of the sacrament of faith, and in like manner the answer is made that he turns himself to God because of the sacrament of conversion, since the answer itself belongs to the celebration of the sacrament. Thus the apostle says, in regard to this sacrament of Baptism: “We are buried with Christ by baptism into death.” He does not say, “We have signified our being buried with Him,” but “We have been buried with Him.” He has therefore given to the sacrament pertaining to so great a transaction no other name than the word describing the transaction itself.

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. I, Letters of St. Augustin, Letter XCVIII.9, To Boniface, His Colleague in the Episcopal Office, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord). Here

 

Nor is the water "profane and adulterous" over which the name of God is invoked, even though it be invoked by profane and adulterous persons; because neither the creature itself of water, nor the name invoked, is adulterous. But the baptism of Christ, consecrated by the words of the gospel, is necessarily holy, however polluted and unclean its ministers may be; because its inherent sanctity cannot be polluted, and the divine excellence abides in its sacrament, whether to the salvation of those who use it aright, or to the destruction of those who use it wrong. Would you indeed maintain that, while the light of the sun or of a candle, diffused through unclean places, contracts no foulness in itself therefrom, yet the baptism of Christ can be defiled by the sins of any man, whatsoever he may be? For if we turn our thoughts to the visible materials themselves, which are to us the medium of the sacraments, every one must know that they admit of corruption. But if we think on that which they convey to us, who can fail to see that it is incorruptible, however much the men through whose ministry it is conveyed are either being rewarded or punished for the character of their lives? 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. IV, On Baptism against the Donatists, III.10.15). Here

 

…that is to say, if the fact of their catholic baptism and original reception of the sacrament of the body of Christ in the true body of Christ is sufficient to deliver these heresiarchs from eternal punishment. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. II., The City of God, XXI.25). Here 

 

Patristic Scholar and Jesuit Priest, Edward J. Kilmartin, S.J.:

 

In short, Augustine teaches that the Church is the true body of Christ (verum corpus Christi) while the eucharistic elements are the sacrament of the body of Christ (sacramentum corporis Christi). Hence the sacrament of the body of Christ is received in the true body of Christ. ...The visible in the sacrament is the expression and possibility of encounter with the invisible, i.e., Christ and the invisible Church: "These things, brothers, are called sacraments, because in them something is seen, [but] something else is understood." (Augustine, Sermo 272, (PL 38.1247); cf. Principia dialecticae 5, (PL 32.1410-11)).

(Edward J. Kilmartin S.J., The Eucharist in the West: History and Theology. [Liturgical Press, 2004.], p. 28, 26). Here

 

The reason these things, brothers and sisters, are called sacraments is that in them one thing is seen and another is understood.

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/7, (230-272B) on the Liturgical Seasons, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P., [New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 272, p. 300). Here

 

The sacrament is one thing, the power (virtus) is another [sed aliud est sacramentum aliud uirtus sacramenti].

(Tractatus in Iohannis Evangelium, XXVI.11 (CCSL 36:265)) trans. (Edward J. Kilmartin S.J., The Eucharist in the West: History and Theology, [Liturgical Press, 2004], n. 96, p. 47). Here Cf. "...but the sacrament is one thing, the virtue of the sacrament another." (Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. VII., Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John, Tractate XXVI.11). Here

 

Objection Two:

He walked here below in that flesh, and even gave us that same flesh to eat for our salvation. But since no one eats it without first worshipping it...

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, Exposition of the Psalms, Part 3, Vol. 18, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P., [Hyde Park: New City Press, 2002], Psalm 98, § 9, p. 474). Here

 

A.2. The text reads thus:

 

...nemo autem illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit... 

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1865], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XXXVII, S. Augustini Episcopi, Enarratio in Psalmum XCVIII, § 9, Col. 1264). Here

 

A More Accurate Translation:

And because He walked here in very flesh, and gave that very flesh to us to eat for our salvation; and no one eats that flesh, unless he has first worshipped… 

Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 99 (98), § 8, trans. newadvent.org, (Source).

 

See also:

…and no one eateth that flesh, unless he hath first worshipped...

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. VIII, St. Augustin on the Psalms, Psalm 99 (98), § 8). Here

 

Whether Augustine is speaking of worshipping the bread specifically or worshipping in general is debatable given the context of the passage. (Read the entirety of section eight and decide for yourself Here). Ultimately it is largely irrelevant, as it would in no way prove that the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the carnal flesh and blood of the Lord. Several lines later Augustine makes the following statement, which clearly indicates that he is not proposing that the flesh and blood we receive in the Lord's Supper is the same that hung on the cross.

 

It seemed unto them hard that He said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you:” they received it foolishly, they thought of it carnally, and imagined that the Lord would cut off parts from His body, and give unto them; and they said, “This is a hard saying.” It was they who were hard, not the saying; for unless they had been hard, and not meek, they would have said unto themselves, He saith not this without reason, but there must be some latent mystery herein. They would have remained with Him, softened, not hard: and would have learnt that from Him which they who remained, when the others departed, learnt. For when twelve disciples had remained with Him, on their departure, these remaining followers suggested to Him, as if in grief for the death of the former, that they were offended by His words, and turned back. But He instructed them, and saith unto them, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth, but the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I have spoken unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Understand spiritually what I have said; ye are not to eat this body which ye see; nor to drink that blood which they who will crucify Me shall pour forth. I have commended unto you a certain mystery; spiritually understood, it will quicken. Although it is needful that this be visibly celebrated, yet it must be spiritually understood. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. VIII, St. Augustin on the Psalms, Psalm 99 (98), § 8). Here

 

Alternate Translation:

But the Lord insisted: It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life (Jn 6:54). “Understand what I have told you in a spiritual way. You are not asked to eat this body that you can see, nor to drink the blood that will be shed by those who will crucify me. What I have revealed to you is something mysterious, something which when understood spiritually will mean life for you. Although it is to be celebrated in a visible manner, you must understand it in a way that transcends bodily sight.” Exalt the Lord our God, and worship his footstool, because he is holy. 

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, Exposition of the Psalms, Part 3, Vol. 18, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P., [Hyde Park: New City Press, 2002], Psalm 98, § 9, p. 475). Here

 

See Also:

 

But the apostle says, and says what is true, “To be carnally-minded is death.” The Lord gives us His flesh to eat, and yet to understand it according to the flesh is death; while yet He says of His flesh, that therein is eternal life. Therefore we ought not to understand the flesh carnally. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. VII, Tractates on John, Tractate XXVII.1). Here

 

This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He has sent.” This is then to eat the meat, not that which perisheth, but that which endureth unto eternal life. To what purpose dost thou make ready teeth and stomach? Believe, and thou hast eaten already. Faith is indeed distinguished from works, even as the apostle says, “that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law:” 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. VII, Lectures of Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate XXV.12). Here

 

For they supposed that He was going to deal out His body to them; but He said that He was to ascend into heaven, of course, whole: “When ye shall see the Son of man ascending where He was before;” certainly then, at least, you will see that not in the manner you suppose does He dispense His body; certainly then, at least, you will understand that His grace is not consumed by tooth-biting. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. VII, Tractates on John, Tractate XXVII.3). Here

 

Patristic Scholar and Sulpician Priest, Joseph Tixeront:

 

…he simply says that the Holy Spirit acts invisibly, and he advances no theory as to what becomes of the substance of bread and wine through the consecration. There was another question that claimed more of his attention and seems to have always preoccupied him:—the problem of how the body of Christ, a real body, is present in the Eucharist in conditions not those of a material and extended body. 

Joseph Tixeront, History of Dogmas, Volume II, trans. Henry L. Brianceau, [B. Herder, 1923], p. 414. Here 

 

St. Augustine had pushed his investigations still further and tried to define the sacramental mode of existence and action of the sacred body and blood. He had depicted it to himself as a mode of existence very similar to that of spirits, and again as a mode of action, the term of which was mainly spiritual and the principle, the vivifying spirit of Jesus Christ, glorious and impassible.

Joseph Tixeront, History of Dogmas, Volume III, trans. Henry L. Brianceau, [B. Herder, 1916], pp. 362-363. Here

 

Objection Three:

That bread, which you can see on the altar, sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That cup, or rather what the cup contains, sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ.

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/6, (184-229Z) on the Liturgical Seasons, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P.,  [New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 227, p. 254). Here

 

Context:

That bread, which you can see on the altar, sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That cup, or rather what the cup contains, sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ. It was by means of these things that the Lord Christ wished to present us with his body and blood, which he shed for our sake for the forgiveness of sins. If you receive them well you are yourselves what you receive. You see the apostle says, we, being many, are one loaf, one body (1 Cor 10:17). That's how he explained the sacrament of the Lord's Table; one loaf, one body, is what we all are, many though we may be. 

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/6, (184-229Z) on the Liturgical Seasons, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P.,  [New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 227, p. 254). Here

 

A.3. Also from sermon 227:

 

What you see passes away, but what is invisibly symbolized does not pass away. It perdures. The visible is received, eaten, and digested. But can the body of Christ be digested? Can the church of Christ be digested? Can Christ's limbs be digested? Of course not. 

(Augustine, Sermon 227). Trans. (Gary Wills, Why Priests?, [Penguin Books, 2014], p. 16). Here

Alternate Translation:

What you can see passes away, but the invisible reality signified does not pass away, but remains. Look, it's received, it's eaten, it's consumed. Is the body of Christ consumed, is the Church of Christ consumed, are the members of Christ consumed? Perish the thought! 

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/6, (184-229Z) on the Liturgical Seasons, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P.,  [New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 227, p. 255). Here

This bread makes clear how you should love your union with one another. Could the bread have been made from one grain, or were many grains of wheat required? Yet before they cohere as bread, each grain was isolated. They were fused in water, after being ground together. Unless wheat is pounded, and then moistened with water, it can hardly take on the new identity we call bread. In the same way, you had to be ground and pounded by the ordeal of fasting and the mystery of exorcism in preparation for baptism's water, and in this way you were watered in order to take on the new identity of bread. After that the water of baptism moistened you into dough. But the dough dose not become bread until it is baked in fire. And what does fire represent for you? It is the [post-baptism] anointing with oil. Oil, which feeds fire, is the mystery of the Holy Spirit . . . The Holy Spirit comes to you, fire after water, and you are baked into the bread which is Christ's body. That is how your unity is symbolized. 

(Augustine, Sermon 227) Trans. (Garry Wills, Why Priests?, [New York: Penguin Books, 2014], pp. 55-56). Here

 

Alternate Translation:

So the Holy Spirit comes, fire after water, and you are baked into the bread which is the body of Christ.

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/6, (184-229Z) on the Liturgical Seasons, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P.,  [New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 227, p. 255). Here

 

The Latin reads:

...et efficimini panis quod est corpus Christi.

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XXXVIII,  S. Augustini Episcopi, Sermon CCXXVII, Col. 1100). Here

Literally:

You become the bread, that is the body of Christ.

(Edward J. Kilmartin S.J., The Eucharist in the West: History and Theology. [Liturgical Press, 2004.], p. 25). Here

 

Roman Catholic historian Garry Wills:

 

Here is his most explicit claim that what is changed in the Mass is not the bread given out but the believers receiving it...

(Garry Wills, Why Priests?, [New York: Penguin Books, 2014], p. 55). Here

 

Then, after the consecration of the sacrifice of God, because he wanted us to be ourselves his sacrifice, which is indicated by where that sacrifice was first put, that is the sign of the thing that we are;

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/6, (184-229Z) on the Liturgical Seasons, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P.,  [New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 227, p. 255). Here

 

Christ is both the priest who offers as well as the victim that is offered. He desired that the sacramental sign of this should be the daily sacrifice of the Church. Since the Church is Christ's body and he is its head, the Church learns to offer itself through him.

(Augustine, The City of God, X.xx) Trans. (Lawrence J. Johnson, Worship in the Early Church: An Anthology of Historical Sources, Volume 3, [Liturgical Press, 2009], p. 33). Here

 

This is the sacrifice of Christians:  we, being many, are one body in Christ.  And this also is the sacrifice which the Church continually celebrates in the sacrament of the altar, known to the faithful, in which she teaches that she herself is offered in the offering she makes to God.

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. II., The City of God, X.6). Here

 

Sermon 272:

 

If you want to know what is the body of Christ, hear what the Apostle [Paul] tells believers: "You are Christ's body, and his limbs" [1 Cor 12.27]. If, then, you are Christ's body and his limbs, it is your symbol that lies on the Lord's altar--what you receive is a symbol of yourselves. When you say "Amen," and you must be the body of Christ to make that "Amen" take effect. And why are you bread? Hear again the Apostle, speaking of this very symbol: "We are one bread, one body, many as we are" [1 Cor 10.17]. 

(Augustine, Sermon 272) Trans. (Garry Wills, Why Priests?, [New York: Penguin Books, 2014], pp. 16-17). Here

 

Alternate Translations:

Therefore if you yourselves are the body of Christ and his members, then your own mystery lies on the altar. …Be what you see, and receive what you are.

(Edward J. Kilmartin S.J., The Eucharist in the West: History and Theology. [Liturgical Press, 2004.], p. 25). Here

 

So if you want to understand the body of Christ, listen to the apostle telling the faithful, You, though, are the body of Christ and its members (1 Cor 12:27). So if it's you that are the body of Christ and its members, it's the mystery meaning you that has been placed on the Lord's table; what you receive is the mystery that means you. It is to what you are that you reply Amen, and by so replying you express your assent. 

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/7, (230-272B) on the Liturgical Seasons, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P., [New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 272, p. 300). Here

 

Patristic Scholar, and Jesuit Cardinal, Henri de Lubac, S.J.:

For Ratramnus, although Paschasius's second sense is not excluded – indeed it is even mentioned explicitly – there is another aspect which is dominant. For him, the Eucharist is above all a mystical body in that it symbolizes, as Saint Augustine so often repeated, the body of Christ which we ourselves are, or should be: the 'body of the people that believes', the 'body of the people that receives', the 'body of the people reborn in Christ', 'the body of believers'. (PL, 121, 167-9, 159) It is, reproduced on the altar, the mystery of ourselves… 

Henri Cardinal de Lubac, S.J., Corpus Mysticum: The Eucharist and the Church in the Middle Ages, trans. Gemma Simmonds, C.J., [University of Notre Dame Press, 2007], p. 71). Here

 

Patristic Scholar and Jesuit Priest, William Harmless, S.J.:

For Augustine the Body of Christ appeared as a sort of diptych: at once sanctified people and sanctified bread. This double image was at once fact and exhortation, an indicative and an imperative. He encapsulated this in one of his most memorable aphorisms:

Estote quod videtis, et accipite quod estis.  

Be what you see, and receive what you are. [S. 272 (PL 38:1247-48)]

Augustine did not conceive of real presence in strictly ritual terms. His thinking admitted no sharp fissure between the real presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and the real presence of Christ within the Christian community.

William Harmless, S.J., Augustine and the Catechumenate, Forward by Allan Fitzgerald, O.S.A, [Liturgical Press,  2014], p. 376. Here

 

See Also:

 

But, he who says that the old things have passed away, so that in Christ altar yields to altar, fire to prayers, animal victims to bread, blood to the chalice, does not know that the word “altare” is used quite often in the Law and the Prophets, and that an altar [altare] was first raised to God by Moses in the Tabernacle, while the word “ara” is also found in the writings of the Apostles, while the martyrs cry out under the altar [ara]. He says that the sword has yielded to fasting, forgetting that two-edged sword of both Testaments, with which the soldiers of the Gospel are armed. He says the fire has given place to prayers, as if prayers were not then offered in the temple, and fire is not now cast by Christ upon the world. He says that animal victims have been replaced by bread, as if he did not know that even then the loaves of proposition were placed upon the table of the Lord, and that now he partakes of the Body of the immaculate Lamb. He says that blood has given place to the chalice, not thinking that he now receives the Blood in the chalice. How much more truly and more appropriately could he say that the old things are passed away and are made new in Christ, so that altar yields to altar, sword to sword, fire to fire, bread to bread, victim to victim, blood to blood. Surely, we see by this that the carnal old things give place to spiritual newness. This, then, is what we have to understand – whether we dine on that changeable seventh day or whether some fast on that day – that the carnal sabbath has been transformed into the spiritual one, and that a true and eternal rest is looked for in the latter, while a merely physical rest is now despised in the former as a superstitious observance. 

(Letter 36, [to Casulan], Ch. 10, § 24) see (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 12, Saint Augustine, Letters, Volume 1 (1-82), Trans. Sister Wilfrid Parsons, S.N.D., [Catholic University of America Press, 2010], pp. 158-160). Here

 

So they are great sacraments and signs, really serious and important sacraments. Do you want to know how their seriousness is impressed on us? The apostle says, Whoever eats the body of Christ or drinks the blood of the Lord unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11:27). What is receiving unworthily? Receiving with contempt, receiving with derision. Don't let yourselves think that what you can see is of no account. What you can see passes away, but the invisible reality signified does not pass away, but remains. Look, it's received, it's eaten, it's consumed. Is the body of Christ consumed, is the Church of Christ consumed, are the members of Christ consumed? Perish the thought! Here they are being purified, there they will be crowned with the victor's laurels. So what is signified will remain eternally, although the thing that signifies it seems to pass away. So receive the sacrament in such a way that you think about yourselves, that you retain unity in your hearts, that you always fix your hearts up above. Don't let your hope be placed on earth, but in heaven. Let your faith be firm in God, let it be acceptable to God. Because what you don't see now, but believe, you are going to see there, where you will have joy without end. 

(The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/6, (184-229Z) on the Liturgical Seasons, [New Rochelle, New York: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 227, pp. 255-256). Here

 

Alternate Translation:
Then, after the consecration of the Holy Sacrifice of God, because He wished us also to be His sacrifice, a fact which was made clear when the Holy Sacrifice was first instituted, and because that Sacrifice is a sign of what we are, behold, when the Sacrifice is finished, we say the Lord's Prayer which you have received and recited. After this, the 'Peace be with you' is said, and the Christians embrace one another with the holy kiss. This is a sign of peace; as the lips indicate, let peace be made in your conscience, that is, when your lips draw near to those of your brother, do not let your heart withdraw from his. Hence, these are great and powerful sacraments. Do you wish to know how they are commended? The Apostle says: 'Whoever eats the body of Christ or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.' What does it mean to receive unworthily? To receive in mockery, to receive in contempt. Let the Sacrament not appear of trifling value to you because you look upon it. What you see passes; but the invisible, that which is not seen, does not pass; it remains. Behold, it is received; it is eaten; it is consumed. Is the body of Christ consumed? Is the Church of Christ consumed? Are the members of Christ consumed? God forbid! Here they are cleansed; there they will be crowned. Therefore, what is signified will last eternally, even though it seems to pass. Receive, then, so that you may ponder, so that you may possess unity in your heart, so that you may always lift up your heart. Let your hope be, not on earth, but in heaven; let your faith be firm and acceptable to God. Because you now believe what you do not see, you are going to see there where you will rejoice eternally. 

(The Fathers of the Church, Saint Augustine, Sermons in the Liturgical Seasons, Volume 38, Trans. by Sister Mary Sarah Muldowney, R.S.M., [Fathers of the Church Inc., 1959], Sermon 227, pp. 197-198). Here

Objection Four:

Take away the word, I mean, it's just bread and wine; add the word, and it's now something else. And what is that something else? The body of Christ, and the blood of Christ. So take away the word, it's bread and wine; add the word and it will become the sacrament.

(John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed., The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century Sermons, III/6, (184-229Z) on the Liturgical Seasons, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P.,  [New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993], Sermon 229, p. 266). Here

A.4.

Take away the Word, and what is the water but water? The word is added to the element, and it becomes a Sacrament, itself, as it were, a visible word.

(A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Volume 29, Homilies on the Gospel According to St. John and His First Epistle, by S. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Vol. II., [Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1849], Homily LXXX, § 3, p. 827). Here Cf. (Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. VII., Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John, Tractate LXXX, § 3). Here

The kiss of peace is a significant sacrament. Give it and receive it in such a way that you will have charity. Be not a Judas. The traitor Judas kissed Christ with his lips, but in his heart he was plotting against Him. Perhaps someone is hostile in his feelings toward you, and you can neither dissuade nor convince him. You must bear with him. Do not return evil for evil in your heart. Love him, even though he hates you. Cheerfully give him the kiss of peace.

The Fathers of the Church: St. Augustine, Commentary on the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount with Seventeen Related Sermons, trans. Denis J. Kavanagh, [Catholic University of America Press, 2001], Sermon 61, pp. 325-326. Here

Father Jack A. Bonsor:

Readers familiar with Catholic theology might wonder about Augustine's position regarding the real presence. Does he hold the church's doctrine of transubstantiation?

The question is anachronistic. That is, it takes an issue from later theological disputes and asks it of Augustine's theology. Augustine never asked the question in this way. He did not focus on what happens to the elements of bread and wine. More, his Neoplatonic perspective never suggested the question of substance. 

Jack A. Bonsor, Athens and Jerusalem: The Role of Philosophy in Theology, [Paulist Press, 1993, reprinted: Wipf and Stock, 2003], p. 43. Here

~ Soli Deo Gloria