As Eve From Adam's Side

the Church was born from Christ's in blood and water:

...In the homilies, Pope Benedict is also unveiling what the Church is. He does so in obedience to the most ancient profession of faith: "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins." The "communion of saints" is primarily that of the holy gifts, it is that holy salvific gift given by God in the Eucharist, by welcoming which the Church is generated and grows, in unity over all the earth and with the saints and angels of heaven. The "remission of sins" are baptism and the other sacrament of forgiveness, penance. If this is what the "Credo" professes, then the Church is truly not made up by its hierarchy, not by its organization, much less is it a spontaneous association of like-minded men, but it is a pure gift of God, a creation of his Holy Spirit, which generates its people in history, with the liturgy and the sacraments.

There is an image that recurs frequently in the pope's homilies: "One soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out" (John 19:34). Here again are the blood and water, the Eucharist and baptism, the Church that is born from the pierced side of the Crucified One, the new Eve from the new Adam. Recourse to images is one of the other distinctive features of the homilies of Benedict XVI. In the cathedral of Westminster, on September 18, 2010, he drew everyone's attention to the great Crucifix that dominates the nave, to the Christ "crushed by suffering, overwhelmed by sorrow, the innocent victim whose death has reconciled us with the Father and given us a share in the very life of God." From his precious blood, from the Eucharist, the Church draws life. But the pope also added, citing Pascal: "In the life of the Church, in her trials and tribulations, Christ continues to be in agony until the end of the world..."