We almost hesitate to report his words, because they will be difficult to comprehend. He spoke, for the faithful, of a complete union with Christ, even with his flesh and his blood, and nevertheless of a union which is effected only by the Spirit. Calvin’s speech was of so much importance that we cannot think of suppressing it. Vulgar minds insist on comprehending everything as they do the working of a steam-engine; but the greatest minds have acknowledged the reality of the incomprehensible. Descartes said that ‘in order to attain a true idea of the infinite, it is not in any sense to be comprehended, inasmuch as incomprehensibility itself is contained in the formal definition of the infinite.’ ‘Infinity is everywhere, and consequently incomprehensibility likewise,’ said Nicole.[533] The Christian however comprehends to a certain extent the mystery which we are now considering, and above all he experiences its reality. ‘If, as the Scriptures clearly testify,’ said Calvin at the synod of Berne (1537), ‘the flesh of Christ is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed, it follows that if we seek life in Christ, we must be thereby veritably fed. The spiritual life which Christ gives us consists not only in his making us alive by his Spirit, but in his rendering us, by the power of his Spirit, partakers of his life-giving flesh, and by means of this participation, nourishing us for eternal life.[534] Therefore, when we speak of the communion which the faithful have with Christ, we teach that they receive the communication of his body and his blood, no less than that of his Spirit, so that they possess Christ wholly. ‘It is true that our Lord has gone up on high, and that his local presence has thus been withdrawn from us. But this fact does not invalidate our assertion, and that local presence is by no means necessary here. So long as we are pilgrims on the earth, we are not contained in the same place with him. But there is no obstacle to the efficacy of the Spirit; he can collect and unite elements existing in far separated places. The Spirit is the means by which we are partakers of Christ. That Spirit nourishes us with the flesh and the blood of the Lord, and thus quickens us for immortality. Christ offers this communion under the symbols of bread and wine to all those who celebrate the supper aright and in accordance with his institution.’ Such was Calvin’s speech. ‘I embrace as orthodox,’ said Bucer, ‘this view of our excellent brothers Calvin, Farel, and Viret. I never held that Christ was locally present in the holy supper.[535] He has a real finite body, and that body remains in the celestial glory. But in raising us by faith to heaven, the bread which we eat and the cup which we drink are for us the communication of his body and his blood.’