On the Unity of the Catholic Church 7

This sacrament of unity, this bond of concord inseparably cohering, is shown when in the gospel the tunic of the Lord Jesus Christ is not divided at all nor torn, but, when they cast lots for Christ's garment, as to who should rather put on Christ, the garment is received whole, and the tunic is possessed unspoiled and undivided. The divine Scripture speaks and says: "But about the tunic, because it was not sewn from the upper part but woven throughout, they said to one another: 'Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be.'" He bore a unity coming from the upper part, that is, coming from heaven and from the Father, which could not be torn at all by the one who received and possessed it, but kept its firmness whole once for all and solid, inseparably. He cannot possess the garment of Christ who tears and divides the church of Christ. On the other hand, when, at Solomon's death, his kingdom and people were split, the prophet Ahijah, meeting King Jeroboam in the field, tore his garment into twelve pieces, saying: "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord: See, I am tearing the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give you ten sceptres, and two sceptres shall be his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen to put my name there." When the twelve tribes of Israel were being split, the prophet Ahijah tore his garment. But because Christ's people cannot be torn, his tunic, woven throughout and cohering, was not divided by those who possessed it: undivided, joined, connected, it shows the cohering concord of our people, who have put on Christ. By the sacrament and sign of his garment he declared the unity of the church.