Christus in corde, or, The mystical union between Christ and believers considered in its…

I shall first speak of the Bond of Faith, and then of that of the Spirit.

Faith doth in an admirable manner unite unto Christ; the Scripture sets it forth, as if it had all motions, postures, and sensations spiritually in it self, to take in Christ with his incomparable benefits into the soul; it is there called, a seeing, a coming to, a receiving of, a leaning on, a putting on, a feeding upon Christ; it sees and looks to him as a Saviour; it comes to him as a centre of rest; it receives him as a precious gift; it leans on him as a sure foundation; it puts him on as an heavenly covering; it feeds on him as the very food and life of the soul. In St. Ambrose (speaking of the Woman who had an Issue of blood) Faith is called a touching of Christ:¹ Non credunt qui comprimunt, credunt qui tangunt, fide tangitur Christus; Many press upon Christ in outward Ordinances, but Believers touch him; it is by Faith that he is touched, so as to have virtue from him. In St. Austin it is not merely a touching, but a taking hold of Christ:² Quomodo in ⟨p. 164⟩coelum manum mittam, ut ibi sedentem teneam? fidem mitt & tenuisti. How may I put up my hand into Heaven, that I may take hold of Christ sitting there? send up thy Faith and thou holdest him. In St. Basil it is called [Greek or Hebrew], an intellectual mouth in the inner man, whereby we feed upon Christ the bread of life. In St. Chrysostom, Faith is that by which [Greek or Hebrew] we are begotten and consubstantiated with Christ.³ In Theophylact it is that by which a man is [Greek or Hebrew], a part of Christ the root, united to, and incorporated in him. The import of all these various expressions in Scriptures and Fathers, is this: That Faith is the great capacity which takes in Christ into the Soul.