The Hungry Heart

Spiritual Eating

One particular phrase in yesterday’s translation piece gave me particular trouble. The phrase was “ore cordis,” which I ended up translating as “with the mouth of the heart.” Now the particular difficulty I had in translating the phrase had more to do with the context of the passage. Radulphus Ardens is clearly playing on the more generic connotations of the Latin word “os” to signify the whole face instead of just the mouth. (The passage later goes on to describe how the face is downcast during contemplation—much like the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration—and how to direct the “pupil of our contemplation” on our Savior.)

However, even apart from the context in which the ardent preacher uses the phrase, “os cordis” is definitely something to ponder. It reminds me of Aquinas’ discussion on the two ways of receiving the eucharist, one sacramental and the other spiritual (Summa Theologiae, III, q. 80, a. 8). The first is the mere reception of the sacrament. The second is the reception of the sacrament along with its fruit, or effect, which is a special union with Christ. The first is an eating with the body’s mouth, and the second—to use the phrase we saw in Radulphus—is an eating with the heart’s mouth. The bodily eating of the sacrament is for the sake of the spiritual eating, for the sake of nourishing of the heart.

Like anything with a mouth, the heart hungers. Yet the heart is very privileged, for before it lies a sacred banquet, in which Christ himself becomes its food.