standing at the Altar of God that is to say at the Sacrament Table and St. Chrysostom informs us in one of his Homilies that it was so practised even in his time Chrysost t. 1. Hom. 22. de Simult ira p. 260. when he exhorts the Communicants or at least when he observes That they presented themselves at the Holy Table and that they there assisted standing on their legs But because this Sacrament is an Object worthy the respect of a Christian because it is the Memorial of the death of his Saviour and at the same time of his love and charity a bond of his Communion with him and an efficacious means savingly to apply unto him the holy Fruits of his bitter death and sufferings St. Cyrill of Jerusalem Cyrill Hiâ—roâ— Mystag 5. at the end of the IV. Century will have his Communicant approach unto the Holy Table not with the hand open and the fingers stretched out but in supporting the right hand with the left that he receive in the hollow of his hand the Body of Christ or as he says some lines before the Antitype of the Body of Christ that he takes care not to suffer any crum to fall to the ground and that having in this manner Communicated of the Body of Christ he draws near unto the Cup having the Body a little bowed in way of Adoration or Veneration to shew the religious respect with which we should participate of these Holy Mysteries The VI. Can. 101 t. 5. Concil Goarâ— in Euchol p. 150. Oecumenical Council ordained something of this kind to wit that one should present himself at the Communion holding his hands in form of a Cross which the Greeks observed a long while after and their Clergy observe it still at this day but as for the people for some time past they receive the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament both together in a spoon but I do not find that the people which came to the Communion were obliged to set themselves in Posture or Gesture of those which adore until that in the XIII Century the Adoration of the Sacrament was established in the Latin Church for this bowing of the Body which St. Cyrill desires is not properly the posture of him who really doth adore because he which adores prostrates himself on his knees before the Object of his Adoration to shew the motions of the profound humility of his Soul and his self-denial before him unto whom by this action he confesseth that he is but dust and ashes But as for St. Cyrill he only desires a little inclination of the Body in approaching unto the Mystical Table to shew the sentiments of veneration and respect which one ought to have for so great a Sacrament not to insist upon what the Eastern Council above mentioned was content to ordain three hundred years after St. Cyrill that we should go unto the Communion with the hands in form of a Cross without mentioning the bowing of the Body which St. Cyrill himself doth not prescribe unto the Communicant but for the reception of the Holy Cup. John Damaseen who borrowed of St. Cyrill and of the VI. Council what he saith of the posture of the Communicant in his time that is in the VIII Century doth not speak a word of this inclination of the Body Goar in Enchoi p. 1â—0 in Goars Notes upon the Ritual of the Greeks And what yet perswades me that Believers communicated standing in the antient Church and that this custom was always practised in the greatest Christian Communions excepting the Latin which changed this custom in the XIII Century is that besides the Greek Church which is of a very large extent and wherein they Communicate standing the Abassins who also make a very considerable Christian Communion do no otherwise receive the Sacrament Alvar. ubi supr During the time the Communion is distributed saith the same Priest Alvarez they are all standing Now it is most certain that the Christians which are fallen into ignorance as for example the Abassins and the Greeks have not taken away any antient customs but rather have added to the number of those observed by the antient Church which is the usual practice of ignorance so to do and if the custom of Communicating standing be still kept in the Eastern Churches it may also be affirmed it was observed in the West seeing that before the Latin Church had introduced in its service the Elevation of the Host to oblige the people to adore it and by consequence before the people were obliged to receive the Communion kneeling a considerable Body of Christians had separated from her and broke off which Body retained and practised the custom of Communicating standing as do at this time the Protestants of Europe called Calvinists excepting those of Holland who Communicate sitting and those of England who kneel in receiving the Communion but their Doctrine declaring sufficiently what they believe of the Sacrament it is easy to see that their kneeling is not addressed unto what they receive from the hands of the Priest at the Holy Table but only unto Jesus Christ who is in Heaven and whom they profoundly adore in the Act of the Communion as him who hath purchased for them this great Salvation whereof they are about to Communicate in receiving his Divine Sacrament and of himself by means of his Sacrament who dyed for their Sins and is risen again for their justification The same may also be said of the Protestants called Lutherans although their belief in this point is different from the belief of those in England for in that they kneel at receiving the Communion it is a token of the Adoration which they give unto Jesus Christ but it cannot be said without injustice that they address this Adoration unto the Sacrament because they hold and believe that it is the substance of Bread and Wine after Consecration and farther they do not render this Act of Adoration unto Jesus Christ in vertue of what they believe of his presence in the Sacrament because if so then all those in the assembly should kneel during the Celebration of the Mystery and yet it is only him that Communicates that kneels in the moment that he receives the Sacrament But before I leave this circumstance it may not probably be unnecessary to instance some customs that were practised in the antient Church in the act of the Communion for I find that Lay persons after having received the Sacrament at the hands of the Bishop or Pastour did kiss it It is what St. Jorom mentioneth in his Book against John Bishop of Jerusalem Hieron Ep. 62 Is there any one that hath Communion with you by force is there any one that after having stretched out his hand turns away his face and that in receiving the Holy Food gives you a Judas kiss Monsieur de Valois in his Notes upon Eusebiâ—s his History cites these words of Paul the Deacon speaking of the
consecrated Id. 42 The Eucharist celebrated but once a day in each Church which is also still observed amongst the Greeks Muscovites and Abyssins Id. 49 The matter of the Vessels employed in this Ceremony considered Id. 50 The Celebration and generally all the Divine Service was said in a Language understood by the People A. Ch. 6. 55 Consecration was made by Prayers Blessing and giving of Thanks A. Ch. 7. 65 The time and place of Celebration and of the Communion A. Ch. 10. 110 The Communion was received standing Id. 116 The Greeks and Abyssins do communicate standing Id. 118 The Communion standing Id. ibid. There have been always in the West that did and do communicate so Id. ibid. Certain Customs practised in the ancient Church in the act of communicating Id. ibid. The Communion under both kinds practised in all Christian Churches and also in the Latin Church for above 1000 years A. Ch. 12. 131 The Introduction of the Communion with the steeped Eucharist Id. 135 The Communion under one Kind established at Constans Anno 1415. and confirmed at Trent Anno 1562. Id. 143 144 All Christians except those of the Roman Church communicate under both Kinds Idem 146 The Remainders of the Sacrament burnt in some Churches and eaten by little Children in others A. Ch. 16. 170 Preparations requisite for him that celebrates C. Ch. 1. 521 The Original Use of the Sign of the Cross and of Material Crosses in the Worship of Religion Id. 538 Preparations required of the Receiver in respect of God and Jesus Christ C. Ch. 2. 542 Auricular Confession before receiving the Sacrament was not practised for above eight hundred years C. Ch. 3. 549 D. WHat Doctrines should be retained in the Church A. p. 1 Corruption of Doctrine is commonly the Consequence of the Corruption of Manners A. Ch. 2. 7 The Doctrine of the Council of Constantinople in the Year 754. touching the Sacrament B. Ch. 12. 365 The Doctrine of the second Council of Nice although it censures the Expressions of that of Constantinople yet it condemns not its Doctrine Id. 375 E. BRead and Wine have ever been the Matter of the Eucharist A. Ch. 1. p. 2 Wherefore Jesus Christ chose Bread and Wine and wherein the Ancients placed the resemblance they have unto his Body and Blood Id. 3 The mixing of Water with the Wine and its mystical signification Id. 4 Other mystical Significations in the composition of the Bread Id. 5 The Dispute touching Levened or Unlevened Bread A. Ch. 3. 28 Whence the Bread of the Eucharist came the Form of it with the Changes which happened unto it and at what time A. Ch. 4. 30 c. Who they were that distributed the Sacrament and what they said A. Ch. 11. 121 c. Who they were that had Right to communicate and their Words Id. 123 Women sometimes distributed the Sacrament in Italy and France Id. ibid. The Sacrament never celebrated without Communicants Id. 126 The Eucharist received by the hand of the Communicants A. Ch. 13. 150 This Custom ever practised in the West Id. 154 Communicant permitted to carry the Eucharist home and along with them in Voyages A. Ch. 14. 160 The Eucharist sent unto the Absent and the Sick and by whom A. Ch. 15. 164. Plaisters made of the Eucharist A. Ch. 16. 169 The Eucharist interred with the Dead Id. ibid. The Wine of the Eucharist mingled with Ink. Id. 171 172 The Greeks mix it with warm Water at the Instant of Communicating Id. 172 The Eucharist called Bread and Wine by the Fathers in the act of Communicating B. Ch. 2. 199 The Fathers affirm it is Bread and Wine Bread which is broken Corn Wheat the Fruit of the Vine c. Bread and Wine wherewith our Bodies are nourished Bread the matter whereof passeth the same fate of our common Food Bread which is consumed in the Distribution of the Sacrament things Inanimate Idem 200 201 c. They testifie that the Bread and Wine lose not their substance by Consecration Id. 206 The Participation of the Eucharist breaks the Fast Id. 210 The Eucharist is a Subject whereof one receives a little a bit a piece a morsel Id. 211 The Eucharist is the Sacrament the Sign Figure Type Antitype Symbol Image the Similitude and Resemblance of the Body of Jesus Christ by opposition of the Truth absent B. Ch. 3. 213 The Eucharist is not barely the Sacrament the Sign c. but a Sacrament in the lawful use of it accompanied with all the vertue and efficacy of this divine Body and this precious Blood Id. 220 When the Fathers say 't is Bread and Wine they never mince their words Id. 221 When they say it is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ they use several Modifications unto their Expressions Id. 223 Alterations happened to the ancient Expressions by whom and how B. Ch. 11. 361 When the use of Incense was introduced in the Celebration of the Eucharist C. Ch. 1. 523 The Proof and Trial the Communicant should make of himself before Receiving C. Ch. 3. 542 This Proof comprehends all the Dispositions of the believing Soul in regard of the Sacrament Id. ibid. F. HIm which maketh a thing is before that which is made B. Ch. 5. p. 250 Institution of the Feast of the Sacrament by Urban the Fourth Anno 1264 C. Ch. 4. 579 This Feast for the Novelty of it was not received at first but by the Church of Idem 580 When the Feast of the Procession of the Eucharist was instituted Id. ibid. Several desired that this Feast might be abolished Id. 582 G. AT what time they began to keep the Sacrament for the Sick A. Ch. 15. 165 William of Malmesbury is deceived in speaking of the Conversion of Berengarius B. Ch. 17. 460 H. NO body can dwell in himself B. Ch. 5. 262 History of the VII Century B. Ch. 11. 361 The state of the VIII Century B. Ch. 12. 365 History of the IX Century B. Ch. 13. 385 Continuation of the History of the IX Century B. Ch. 14. 425 The Dignities and Creation of Herribold Bishop of Auxerr Id. ibid. Continuation of the History of the IX Century B. Ch. 15. 430 c. History of the X. Century which was an Age neither of Light nor Darkness but made up of both B. Ch. 16. 439 History of the XI Century B. Ch. 17. 450 History of the XII and XIII Centuries B. Ch. 18. 465 History of the XIV and XV. Centuries B. Ch. 19. 497 I. WE should hold by what was done by Jesus Christ at first A. Ch. 1. p. 1 The Image and Figure cannot be the same thing whereof they are the Image and Figure B. Ch. 3. 218 Jesus Christ is absent from us as to his Humanity and present only by his Divinity B. Ch. 4. 233 The Ancients have only acknowledged two Comings of Jesus Christ Id. 240 The spiritual Presence of Jesus Christ is common with him and the Father Id. ibid. Jesus
generally agree that the Primitive Christians did frequently eat in common every one contributing as they were able unto these Feasts unto which the Poor had as free access as the Rich although they were not able to joyn their portion unto their Brethren S. Paul explains himself clearly 1 Cor 11. when he saith unto the Believers of Corinth When you meet together this is not to eat the Supper of the Lord for each one hasteth to eat his own Supper and one is hungry and another is drunken What have you not houses to eat and to drink in or do you despise the house of God and shame them which have not It is also granted that the Eucharist was celebrated at the same Times and Places where the Christians made these meals together and therefore it is the Apostle speaks of eating the Supper of the Lord backing the censure which he pronounced against the Corinthians by reason of disorders and excesses which they committed in these Feasts of Charity with the History of the Institution of the Sacrament which he recites at large an undoubted proof that this Sacrament was celebrated in the Time and at the Places where Believers did eat together S. Luke makes it appear evidently when speaking of the first Christians of the Church of Jerusalem Acts 2.42 he saith That they all did persevere in the Doctrine and Communion of the Apostles verse 46. and in breaking Bread and of Prayers and afterwards That they daily went unto the Temple and breaking Bread from house to house they eat their Bread with joy and singleness of heart and in the same Book he farther observes Act. 20.7 That the first day of the week that is the Lords day the Disciples met together to break Bread S. Peter speaks of this Feast when he saith unto the Believers 2 Pet. 2.13 to whom he wrote his Second Epistle That Seducers and Hypocrites were blots and stains which took pleasure in unrighteousness feasting together with you S. Jude whose Epistle is only an abridgment of S. Peters speaks so plainly that he leaves us not the least cause of doubt Jude 12. saying of these same persons That they are spots in the Christian Feasts of Charity it is in S. Judes Language in the Agapae this word Agape which was very famous in this sense in the Antient Church signifying properly in our Language Love or Dilection the practice of these Agapae continued a long while amongst Christians and Tertullian who lived towards the end of the II. Century and the beginning of the III. gives us an agreeable description of it Tertul. Apolog cap. 39. Our Supper saith he shews what it is by the name which it bears it is called by a name which signifies Love amongst the Greeks we comfort the Poor by this refreshment we sit not down to Table till after Prayers we eat to suffice hunger and drink what Decency and Purity will allow we there take our Meals but like Persons which consider that they must again return unto the Worship and service of God during the whole night we there discourse with one another but so as knowing that God heareth them which discourse after washing our hands and that lights are brought those that are present are desired to assist in singing some Hymn unto God as every one is able to do either out of the Holy Scriptures or out of his own mind it is observed from thence how he hath drank and in fine the Feast is ended with Prayer as it was begun It is true Tertullian doth not speak of the Celebration of the Sacrament in all this Discourse but it may suffice that he gives it sufficiently to be understood that they attended the Service of God in the same places where Christians made their Agapae for it may easily be gathered that they did there celebrate the Eucharist as often as they held these Feasts To know precisely how often the Feasts of Charity were joyned to the Celebration of the Sacrament is what is not easily done it will not be so hard to shew how long they continued these Agapae and common Feasts in the places where they assembled for the service of God and where by consequence they celebrated the Eucharist For I find that this was practised towards the end of the IV. Century but because there were great abuses crept into these Feasts the Council of Laodicea assembled about the year of our Lord 360. was constrained to forbid the use of them in the Temples and Churches You must forbear saith he making the Agapae in the Temples Concil Laodic cap. 28. or of setting up Tables and eating in the house of God It appears by what hath been said that for the most part the place where the Eucharist was celebrated and consecrated was the place where Believers met together to serve God and where for a long time they made their Feasts of Charity even at the same time that they celebrated the Sacrament It is true those places were very different according to the diversity of states and conditions wherein the Church of Christ was at the first beginning of Christianity they assembled in private houses sometimes in one place sometimes in another in private and obscure places to be sheltered as well from the rage of the Jews as the fury of the Gentiles therefore it was that they assembled before day and in the night time and they continued so to do for a long time whilest the Church was harrassed with Persecutions and because that sometimes they assembled together at the Tombs of Martyrs they also there celebrated the Eucharist at least the Pontifical Book observes in the life of Felix the first towards the end of the III. Century that this Pope decreed That Masses should be celebrated upon the Sepulchres of Martyrs which by the Emperour Constantine is called a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving in his discourse unto the Assembly of Saints or to the Church of God because in celebrating the Sacrament thanks were given unto God for the Victories of Martyrs as S. Austin speaketh who makes mention of this same custom in the last Chapter of the VIII Book De Civit. Dei Yet it must not be imagined but that during these sad and troublesome times they had some fixed places destinated for their Exercises for there were sufficient intermissions during the which they built certain little Houses joyning to their Church-yards which were places distant from the sight of Men where by consequence they assembled with greater safety The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius doth testifie so much and in several places mentions those places where Christians were wont to assemble observing that before the persecution of Dioclesian they had some intermissions under certain Emperours during which they atempted some better and larger Buildings than those which they had before But God would humble his Church which went about to lose amongst Lilies the beauty which she had acquired amongst Thorns he
in the main so also I thought fit to express my Gratitude unto the great Family of the Windhams in particular a Family known to be truly Noble and Great in the number of its flourishing Branches as well as in Riches Honour and approved Loyalty unto their King and Country the true happiness and lasting prosperity whereof shall ever be sincerely wished and desired by Honoured Sir Your most obedient humble Servant Jos Walker THE Author's Preface Translated from the FRENCH THE Controversies about Religion being a kind of War or if you will a sort of Law-Suit wherein both Parties plead their Cause with some heat it seems to me very difficult to write and not let fall some words that may favour the interest of that side for which we are concerned because the flesh corrupts the acts of the Understanding and the old Man never fails to vitiate the purity of the thoughts of the new I do not here speak of those angry Writers who in all their Works do shew an unlimited passion for the Cause which they defend and meditate nothing but disparaging their Adversaries to make their own Party triumph by the Calumnies which they cast upon the others I speak of mild and peaceable Spirits who write with moderation who nevertheless do it not alwaies so successfully but they let drop some things which all do not approve of because their ever remains frailty in man and the innocency of the second Adam hath not a compleat victory over the first What I say is particularly verified in examining the Tradition of the Church upon the Articles of our Faith for both the Roman Catholicks and the Protestants pretending that it is favourable to their Cause each alledge out of the holy Fathers to establish their Belief and Religion This consideration makes me think that the surest way and most edifying means for Christians would be plainly to produce what hath been from time to time received and believed in the Church upon the points in Controversie and Historically without dispute to represent the sentiments of our Ancestors upon all the Articles which are to be examined This is what I have indeavoured to do upon the matter of the Eucharist which is and will be alwaies if God prevent it not by his grace a stone of stumbling and a means which the Devil will never fail to use to keep up amongst Christians that unhappy strife wherewith they are so pleased but which ought to draw tears of blood from those good Souls that are sensibly touched for the glory of God and that without ceasing by their prayers desire that he will give unto all the grace to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace The better to succeed in my design and to represent the Sacrament at large I have divided my Work into three Parts In the first I examine the outward Form of Celebration I prove that Bread and Wine have alwaies been the matter of the Sacrament amongst Christians I hint at the mixture of Water with the Wine in the holy Cup and I endeavour to discover the Original as well as the Mysterie which the ancient Doctors of the Church since S. Cyprian have sought for in this mixture I mention sundry Sects of Hereticks whereof some have changed the matter of the Sacrament others have corrupted the Celebration and lastly others have quite rejected it not suffering that it should be celebrated at all I omit not what S. Ignatius said of certain Hereticks who condemned the celebration nor the Heresie of one called Tanchelin who also denied it but through another Principle I make some mention of the Slanders which the Jews and others cast upon Christians by reason of the Sacrament And I treat of the difference betwixt the Greek and Latin Churches about the using of levened and unlevened Bread Then I consider whence the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament was taken what was the fashion of the Bread with the innovations and changes which have thereupon hapned From thence I proceed to the consideration of the place of Consecration of the matter of the Chalices and Patins that is to say the Vessels which were used in this holy action this consideration is followed with an inquiry of the Language wherein Consecration was made and wherein all the Service was generally performed and from this Inquiry I proceed to the Examination of Ceremonies and of the Form of Consecration I mean the words of Consecration to know whether the antient Church did consecrate by Prayers Blessings and giving of Thanks or by these words This is my Body as is now the practice of the Latin Church Then I treat of the Oblation or the Form of the Sacrifice and I shew the Reasons and Motives which obliged the holy Fathers to give to the Eucharist the name of Oblation and Sacrifice I annex unto the consideration of the Oblation that of the Elevation and of the Fraction and I shew at what time the Latins began to lift up the Host to warn the people to adore it moreover I examine the Distribution and Communion and in the first place the Time the Place and the Posture of the Communicant the Persons who distributed those who communicated with the words of the one and the other and then of the Thing distributed treating at large the Question of the Communion under both kinds I also shew that for several Ages Communicants received the Eucharist with their hand that they were permitted to carry it unto their Houses and to carry it along with them in their Journeys and Travels and that the ancient Christians were so little scrupulous in this matter that sometimes they sent the Sacrament unto the Sick by Lay persons Men Women Acolytes and young Boys and not only so but they made Plaisters of it they buried it with the Dead In some Churches they burnt the remainder of the Sacrament and in others they caused it to be eaten by little Infants Sometimes they took consecrated Wine and mixed it with Ink then they dipt their Pen in these mixt Liquors the more to confirm the Acts they intended to sign In the Second Part I describe the History of the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers upon this weighty Article beginning with the reflections they have made upon the words of Institution and upon the interpretation they have given of these words This is my Body and after these Reflections I represent a great number of Testimonies wherein they call the Eucharist Bread and Wine in the very act of communicating they affirm it is Bread which is broken that it is Corn Wheat the fruit of the Vine Fruits of the Earth and like terms They positively say That it is Bread and Wine Bread wherewith our Bodies are nourished the matter whereof passeth through the natural accidents of our common Food Bread which is consumed in the celebration of the Sacrament They affirm that the Bread and the Cup which we receive at the Lord's Table are things
term The mother and root of all Riches the death of Sin the life of Virtue and the way which leads unto Paradise they chearfully with their Goods relieved the necessities of the Church whereof they were Members and in the Communion of which the Lord was pleased by his grace to settle them to make them partakers of his great Salvation S. Luke gives us so clear and full a representation in the second Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles that it cannot be thought of without admiration and at the same time without lamenting and deploring the dulness and coldness of these last times wherein is too plainly seen the accomplishment of the words of our Saviour who foretold That iniquity should abound and the love of many should wax cold But at the beginning of Christian Religion as this charity was in its greatest beauty the whole Church offered unto God upon the Table every Lords day or on the days when they Assembled to participate of this Sacrament of their Salvation and of there Union their Oblations for the support of their Spiritual Guides or Ministers for the relief of their Poor and for the other Necessities of the whole Church and out of these Offerings there was taken as much Bread and Wine as was needful for the holy Communion a custom which if I mistake not began to be practised in the days of the Apostles for S. Clement one of their Disciples Clement Epist ad Cor. p. 53. speaks of it as of a matter already established in that excellent Letter which he wrote unto the Church of Corinth in the name of that of Rome whereof he was one of the Pastours Those saith he which make their oblations at the time appointed are agreeable and blessed for obeying the command of God they do not sin Just Mart. Apolog. 1. p. 60. And Justin Martyr in his first Apology for the Christians it is commonly called the second sheweth that in his time the Food which was offered unto God by Believers with Prayers and Thanksgiving to be eaten and to relieve the Poor were called Oblations and towards the conclusion of that excellent work he saith That after Prayers and the kiss of Charity there was presented unto the Pastour Bread and a Cup mingled with Wine and Water and that he having received these things rendred praise and thanks unto God the Father of all in the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And there also he distinguisheth the Prayers of the Minister for the Consecration of the Eucharist from the action of the people presenting him the Bread and Wine which action he calls Oblation which he repeats again afterwards Cypr de operib Eleemos S. Cyprian also mentions these Oblations but under the name of Sacrifices when he reproacheth a rich and covetous Widow That she came into the Assembly or unto the Sacrament of the Lord without an Oblation and that she took part of the Sacrifice which the Poor had offered Hieron in â—erem c. 11. in Ezech. c. 18. Innoc. ad Dâ—cent c. 3. Ambros in Pâ—al 118. In like manner S. Jerom and Pope Innocent the first inform us that in their time the Deacon did publickly repeat in the Church the names of those which offered S. Ambrose Bishop of Milain in the argument upon the 118. Psalm and according to the Hebrews the 119. teacheth us that he that would communicate after having received holy Baptism was obliged to offer his present or gift at the Altar in the Constitutions which commonly go under the Apostles names Conslit Apost l. 8. s. 10. Prayers are made for them which offered Sacrifices and the first-fruits to the end God would render them an hundred fold and there is to be seen in the same piece several rules touching those Oblations Sozom. hist Eccles l. 6. c. 15. Hist Eccles l. 5. c. 17. Aug. Ep. 122. Sozomen observes in his Church-History that the Emperour Valens came to Church offered the gift upon the Table Theodoret reports the same of the Emperour Theodosius And S. Austin speaking of two Christian Women Captives who deploring their misery said amongst other things that in the place where they were They could neither carry their Oblations unto the Altar of God nor find any Priest unto whom to present it Id. Serm. 215. de temp if it were his And elsewhere recommending unto his flock the use and practice of these Oblations Offer saith he the Oblations which are consecrated at the Altar that man that is able to offer and doth not ought to blush for shame if he communicates of the offering of another And because the charity of Christians decayed by little and little and their zeal insensibly failing and loosing daily some of its ardour and strength these Oblations were not so numerous as they were wont to be every one easily dispensing with himself in not offering at the Table of the Lord as they were accustomed to do the Councils were obliged by their Canons and decrees to kindle the fire of this zeal which was almost extinguished whereunto tended that of the second Council of Mascon Assembled Anno 585 Concil Matisc 2. can 4. which ordains that all the people should offer every Lords day the Oblation of Bread and Wine and that of the Council of Mayence Anno 813. Which requires that Christian people should continually be put in mind to make the Oblations Con. Mogunt an 813. can 44. Capitul 858. c. 53. t. 3. Concil Gall. which is also repeated in the fifth Book of the Capitularies of Charlemain Chap. 94. It was also one of the instructions which Herard Archbishop of Tours gave unto his Priests Anno 858. that they should exhort the people to offer their Oblations to God and also in many other parts of the writings of the Antients I know not whether that Woman mentioned by John the Deacon in the life of Gregory the first needed those exhortations of presenting her offering unto God or whether she did it of her own free will and by that ardent zeal which inspired the primitive Christians with such commendable sentiments of pity and charity Vita Gregor 1. l. 2. c. 41. but in fine he writes That a certain Woman did offer unto Gregory as he celebrated the solemnity of the Mass the usual Oblations and that afterwards Gregory said in giving her the Sacrament The body of our Lord preserve your Soul she smiled in that he called the loaf of Bread which she made her self the body of Christ And forasmuch as for the most part none were admitted unto the participation of the Eucharist but those which presented their Oblations there is a very great number of Canons in the Councils which prescribe to whom the Oblations were to be distributed and to whom not but it is not necessary to alledge more proofs of this Antient custome seeing the matter admits of no difficulty Nevertheless this is not all that we intend
de Medicis desired of the Pope by her Letters dated Anno. 1561. the use of the Language understood stood by the people for the Celebration of the Sacrament as is reported by the President De Thou in his History Lib. 28. We may add unto all that hath been spoken the practice of the most considerable Christian Communions which at this time do celebrate Divine Service in the Vulgar Tongue understood by the People viz. the Abassins throughout Prester John's Country the Moscovites and Russians the Armenians as is testified by the Frier Alvarez the Baron Sigismund James de Vitry and several others the Liburnians the Illyrians or Sclavonians as is observed by Aventine and John Baptista Palat. Citizen of Rome in his Treatise of the manner of Writing Besides which all the Protestants in all parts whose numbers in Europe doth not fall much short of the Roman Catholicks As for the Greek Church which is of a vast extent it is most certain they celebrate Divine Service in pure Greek and not in the vulgar Greek now spoken which hath much degenerated from the Antient Greek but thereunto two things are replyed first that the Corruption hapned unto the Language of the Greeks under the Tyranny of the Turks is arrived but of late days so that before that time the Greek Church celebrated all their Divine Service in a Language understood by the People Secondly that how great soever this Corruption is it could not hinder but the Greeks in the decay of their Language which arrived by little and little and by degrees but that they were instructed from Father to Son in the understanding of the antient Liturgies of St. Basil and of St. Chrysostom which they make use of and that by that means notwithstanding the alteration befaln their Language they understand the things therein expressed Therefore the people make at this present the same Answers which they did heretofore the 123. Constitution of the Emperor Jovinian who lived in the VI. Century may take place in this matter of the Language understood by the people in Divine Service for he commands that they should with a loud voice repeat the Prayers made in the Celebration of the Eucharist and in the administration of Baptism to the end the people might understand it and grounds his Decree upon what St. Paul saith in the fourteenth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians But in fine if any now demand the reason wherefore the Latin Church which could and ought to celebrate Divine Service in the Latin Tongue during the time that Language was commonly used amongst the People in the West and wherefore they should obstinately persist in doing it in the same Language although for several Ages it hath been of no use amongst these Nations excepting in the Schools and wherefore they Anathematise in the Council of Trent those which say Sess 22. cap. 9. That the Mass ought to be celebrated only in the vulgar Tongue I answer that I pretend not to answer this question of my self but shall only say that there are several which believe she hath so done that the people should not perceive and take notice of several passages in the Mass which do not as they say agree with their Faith and Belief but as it is for the Reader to judge of these matters and not for me so I will conclude this consideration with the words of John Belet in his Summ of Divine Offices Apud Cassan in liturg c. 36. In the primitive Church saith he it was forbidden to speak in divers Languages unless there was some one present that could interpret for what would it avail to speak if one did not understand thence also came the good and wholesom custom observed a long while in the Church in sundry places that after the Gospel was pronounced literally it was expounded unto the people in the vulgar Tongue but what must be done in our days where 't is very rare to find any that read or attend or understand it which see which act or be careful Doth it not appear now that what the Prophet said is accomplished The Priest shall be like one of the People It seems then 't were better to hold ones peace than sing and be silent than dance CHAP. VII Of the Ceremonies and of the manner of Consecration JESVS Christ celebrated his Sacrament with so much simplicity and so few Ceremonies according to the Nature of his Gospel which is wholly Spiritual that there is none appears besides the action by which he took the Bread and that by which he blessed and consecrated it immediately after having taken Bread he gave thanks and blessed it to make it the Sacrament of his Body Just Mart. Apol. 2. vel 1. St. Justin Martyr represents unto us at large all that was practised in his time that is about the middle of the second Century in the Celebration of this venerable Sacrament but there are no other Ceremonies appear in consecrating it but only that after the Minister had ended his Sermon and then prayed and that the Believers when Prayer was ended saluted each other there was presented unto him Bread and a Cup wherein was Wine mingled with Water which he having taken he blessed and praised God and gave thanks that he was counted worthy to partake of those things In the Liturgy of the pretended Denys the Areopagite Den. Areop hierarch Eccles c. 3. some of the Deacons and Ministers with the Priests set the Holy Bread upon the Altar and the Cup of Blessing then he that officiates doth pray Give the Blessing unto all that are present wishing them Peace then having washed his hands he consecrates the Mysteries by Blessings and Praises In that which is in one of the Books of Constitutions called Apostolical although they be neither of the Apostles nor of St. Clement their Disciple the Deacons as in that of the pretended Denys bring the Elements viz. the Bread and Wine unto the Altar where the Bishop is with two Priests one at each side and also two Deacons at the ends of the Altar with little Fanns to drive away Flies and other little insects fearing lest any should fall into the Cup after which the Bishop having blessed the people and warned them to lift their hearts on high the people answering We lift them up unto the Lord he makes a pretty long discourse praising God and exalting the wonders of his Works concluding by reciting the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ and of the History of the Institution of the Sacrament then he consecrates and by a prayer which he addresses unto God whereof we shall take occasion to speak when we consider the form of Consecration or the Consecrating Liturgy In the Liturgies attributed unto St. James St. Mark St. Peter St. Basil St. Chrysostom and unto divers others almost the same thing is to be seen and if there be any alteration either for diversity or the number of Ceremonies it
is so inconsiderable and of little moment that it deserves not our pains to examine It will be necessary to consider that in that which bears the name of St. James although it cannot be his the Priest makes this Prayer at the time the Elements are set upon the Altar or the Holy Table Liturg. St. Jacob. to be blessed and consecrated O Lord our God which hast sent the Bread from Heaven the food of all the World Jesus our Lord Saviour Redeemer and Benefactor to bless and sanctifie us bless we beseech thee this Oblation and receive it upon thy Heavenly Altar remember O Lord thou which art full of love towards mankind those who offer and for whom they have offered and keep us pure and immaculate in this Holy Celebration of thy divine Mysteries because thy great and glorious name O Father Son and Holy Ghost is glorified and praised now and for ever Amen And in that attributed unto St. Mark but not his the Priest praying in the same time but in terms something different Liturg. St. Marc. O Lord Holy Almighty and terrible which dwellest in the Holy Places sanctifie us and make us worthy of this Holy Priesthood and grant that we may minister at thy holy Altar with a good conscience cleanse our hearts from all impurity drive out of us all reprobate sense sanctifie our Souls and Spirit and give us grace with fear to practise the Worship of our Fathers to give us the light of thy countenance at all times for 't is thou which sanctifiest and blessest all things and we offer unto thee Praise and Thanksgiving As for the Greeks they carried the Elements that is to say the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament from the Table of Proposition as they call it unto the Altar or unto the Communion Table where they are to be consecrated with so great Pomp Solemnity and Ceremony that the ignorant people dazled with the Ceremonies forbear not to give unto these Elements before they are consecrated such an honour as doth not belong unto them Cabasil in Liturg. expos c. 24. Cabasilas Archbishop of Thessalonica who wrote in the XIV Century complains of it in the Explication which he makes of their Liturgy and saith those which unadvisedly do so do confound the Elements which are sanctified with those which are not and that from this confusion proceeds the honour which they give unto the Bread and Wine before Consecration which this Archbishop doth condemn But in fine the Elements being so brought and laid upon the Holy Table to be consecrated these same Liturgies inform us that he that officiates after having recited all the History of the Institution of the Sacrament desires of God that he would send upon this Bread and Wine which were offered unto him his Holy Spirit to make them the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and because the Author of the Apostolical Constitutions which were not written until the end of the third Century or the beginning of the fourth doth very clearly represent the manner of this Consecration we will begin with him to shew how this consecrating Liturgy was couched for after having ended the recital of the History of the Eucharist by these words Constitut Apostol l. 8. cap. 12. Do this in remembrance of me for as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew the Lords death till he come He goes on Therefore setting before us his Passion his Death and Resurrection his ascension into Heaven and his second coming which will be when he comes with power and glory to judge the quick and the dead and to reward everyone after their works We effer unto thee O our King and our God according so thy Commandment this Bread and this Cup in giving thee thanks by him because thou hast made us worthy to stand in thy presence to execute this Ministry and we beseech thee O God who standest in need of nothing that thou wouldest favourably behold these gifts which are presented before thee and that thou wouldest therein do thy good pleasure for the honour of thy Christ and that thou wouldest send thy Holy Spirit upon this Sacrifice the witness of the passion of the Lord Jesus to make this Bread the Body of thy Christ and this Cup his Blood to the end that those which partake of them may be confirmed in piety obtain remission of sins may be delivered from the temptations of the Devil filled with the Holy Ghost made worthy of thy Christ and of everlasting life when thou O Lord most mighty shalt be reconciled unto them In the Liturgy of St. James it is said O Lord send thine Holy Spirit upon us Liturg Jacob and upon these sacred Elements which are offered to the end that coming upon them he may sanctifie this Bread and this Cup by his Holy good and glorious presence and that he would make the Bread the sacred Body of thy Christ and the Cup his precious Blood In that of S. Mark We beseech thee O God lover of mankind Liturg. Marc. to send down thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these Loaves and these Chalices to sanctifie and to consecrate them and to make this Bread the Body of Christ and this Cup the Blood of the New Testament of Jesus Christ our Lord our God our Saviour and our Sovereign King And so in those of St. Basil St. Chrysostome and generally in all excepting the Latin Liturgy at this time used I say in that of the present time for I cannot deny but that it was otherwise antiently and that in all appearance they cut off from this Liturgy I mean from the Canon of the Mass the Prayers which followed as in the other Liturgies the words of Institution by the which Prayers Christians were wont to consecrate the Divine Symbols even in the West during the space of a thousand years And to the end this truth should be made manifest this question must be throughly examined to wit whether the Antients did consecrate by Prayers and Invocations and by thanksgivings or otherwise Jesus Christ the absolute Master of the Christian Religion did consecrate his Sacrament by Prayers Blessing and Thanksgiving as the Divine Writers do testifie making use of two expressions the one of which signifying giving of Thanks and the other to Bless as to their Etymology but as to their sence and meaning they signifie one and the same thing The reason whereof may be that it was the manner of the Jews to conceive their Prayers in terms of Praise and Blessing the first Christians which made the example of Christ their Law and Rule intended not to consecrate any otherwise than he himself had done therefore Justin Martyr speaks of Prayers which the Pastour made after having received the Bread and Wine mingled with Water which was presented unto him Just Martyr Apolog. 2. he calls the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist in the Act of Communion The Bread
unto the blessing communication 1 Peter 2. and praises of God St. Peter considers good works as spiritual sacrifices agreeable unto God through Jesus Christ Rom. 12. Rom. 15. Philip. 2. and St. Paul the sanctification of a faithful Christian as a sacrifice of his Body The preaching of the Doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ as the sacrifice of the Gospel to offer the Gentiles And elsewhere he fears not to say that our Faith is a Sacrifice 2 Timoth. 4. And the blood which he was to shed for his blessed Master a sprinkling which was to be made upon this Sacrifice Therefore 't is that St. Peter and S. 1 Peter 2. Rev. 1. 5. John call all Believers in general Sacrificers according to what had been prophesied under the Old Testament The Holy Fathers being accustomed unto the stile of the Scriptures have also termed Sacrifices all the works of Piety Devotion Charity Alms-deeds Prayer giving Thanks and in a word all things which any way related unto the Worship and Service of Religion so far as St. Cyprian saith to sacrifice a Child Cypr. Ep. 59. in making it to communicate after Baptism And in another place He gives the name of Sacrifice unto a Present that was sent unto him in his banishment because it proceeded from a motive of Charity and that it was a kind of contributing towards his maintenance so Justin Martyr saith Just Mart. contr Tryph. p. 345. Strom. l. 7. p. 717. That Prayers and Thanksgivings are the only perfect and agreeable sacrifices well-pleasing unto God Clement of Alexandria speaketh of Prayer as of a very good and holy Sacrifice and saith That the Sacrifice of the Church is the words which proceed from devout Souls as by exaltation And Tertullian doth not he assure Ad Scap. c. 2. That the Christians sacrifice unto God for the safety of the Emperor by pure prayer only and that prayer-made by chast flesh of an innocent Soul and of a holy mind is the fattest and most excellent Sacrifice that God hath required Doth not he also explain the pure Oblation of Malachy Apol. c. 30. of Glorification of Benediction Praise Hymns Contr. Marc. l. 3. c. 22. 4. c. 1. De pat c. 13. de jejun c. 26. de usur c. 8. Minut. in Oct. and of Prayer proceeding from a pure heart and in fine doth he not reckon amongst the propitiatory Sacrifices and Oblations Mortifications Humiliations Contritions Fastings and strictness of life Minutius Felix makes the Sacrifices of the Christian Church to consist in good works and in the works of sanctification and holiness in an upright heart in a pure conscience and in faith unfeigned It is whereof Origen gives us several instances in one of his Homilies upon Levitious and I do not see what other interpretation can be given unto what is said by the Divine of the antient Church Greg. Naz. orat 20. I mean Gregory of Naziunzen when he saith That S. Basil is in Heaven offering Sacrifices and Praying explaining the Sacrifices to be Prayers which the Saints offer unto God in Heaven and that he saith of himself Id. orat 42. That he sacrificeth his discourse of Easter and that when he is in Heaven he will there sacrifice unto God upon his Altar Chrysost in Gen. hom 9. Sacrifices well pleasing in his sight It was also the Language of Chrysostom who looks upon Prayer as a very great Sacrifice and a perfect Oblation Id. in Mart. hom 16. And in one of his Homilies upon St. Matthew he saith that those who are not yet initiated do offer an Oblation and Sacrifice which is prayer and Alms-deeds And St. Ambrose Ambros de fug saec c. 8. t. 1. That wisdom is a very good Sacrifice and Faith and Vertue a good Oblation that Prayer it self is a Sacrifice Id. Ep. 59. Aurel. c. 29. c. 3. collect Mart. Bracar Conc. Carth. 3. c. 29. in cod 41. Aug. de civit l. 10. c. 4. Ep. 95. Id. Hom. 50. de poenit t. 10. Also we find in some Canons of Councils that the Prayers and Service of Morning and Evening are called Morning and Evening Sacrifices and that 't is commanded That if a dead Person is to be recommended in the afternoon it is to be by Prayers only if it be found that those who do it have dined According to which St. Austin speaks of Sacrificing unto God a Sacrifice of Praise and Humility and saith That we offer unto him Bloody Sacrifices when we suffer unto Blood for his Truth And in one of his Letters he opposeth the Sacrifice of Prayer offered by Christians unto the Sacrifices of the Law which were offered for the sins of Men. And elsewhere he requires That every one as he is able do not cease to offer for the Sins which he commits every day the Sacrifice of Alms-deeds Fasting Prayers and Supplications wherefore he gives us this definition of the true Sacrifice having regard not to its Essence but to its end and effect which is to direct us unto the enjoyment of Blessedness and Felicity The true Sacrifice saith he is every work which we do Id. de Civit. l. 10. c. 6. to be nearer united unto God by a holy Fellowship viz. by referring him unto the end of that good which may render us truly happy It cannot then be thought strange that the antient Doctors of the Church having given the name of Sacrifice unto all the Acts of Piety unto all the Works of Sanctification and unto all that we do for the Glory of God and for his Service should also qualifie the holy Eucharist with the same Title seeing that it makes one of the essential parts of the Worship of Christian Religion and that it even comprehends in substance the greatest part of the things relating thereunto and whereof it is composed as Prayers giving of Thanks the offering up of our Goods and our Persons Repentance Compunction Faith Hope and Charity and to speak in a word all the Holy and Divine Dispositions which we should bring unto the holy Table and without which one cannot worthily partake of this adorable Mystery of our Salvation But because these things which we have touched and which the Holy Fathers frequently call Sacrifices are not nevertheless Sacrifices properly so called to take Sacrifice in its proper and true signification I observe that these same Fathers in answering the Jews and Pagans who found fault that there were not in the Christian Religion any true external Sacrifices as there were in theirs agreed with them That in very truth they had none but that instead of those outward and external Sacrifices which were as it were the Soul and Essence of the Jews Religion and of all the Pagans they had a worship wholly spiritual a service Heavenly and wholly Divine without touching in this place the silence of all those who in the first Ages of Christianity undertook the defence of
Jesus Christ And as this Bread and Wine pass into the Body of Jesus Christ so also all those that eat it worthily in the Church are one sole Body of Jesus Christ as himself hath said Whosoever eateth my Flesh and drinks my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him Nevertheless this Flesh which he hath taken and this Bread Id. ibid. in cap. â—1 and the whole Church are not three Bodies of Jesus Christ but one Body And afterwards Although this Bread is brought from several places and that it is Consecrated throughout the whole World by several Priests nevertheless the Divinity that filleth all things filleth it also and maketh it to be one sole Body of Jesus Christ and all those which receive it â—d in Canone Idiss â— t. 6. Bibl. Pat. p. 441. do make this same Body of Jesus Christ which is one and not two And elsewhere As the Divinity of the Son which filleth all the World is one so also although this Body is Consecrated in sundry places and in an infinite number of different days yet they are not several Bodies of Jesus Christ nor several Cups but one sole Body and one Blood with that which he took from the Virgin and gave unto the Apostles for the Divinity fills it is joyned to it and causeth that as it is one so also it should be joyned unto the Body of Jesus Christ and should be one Body of Jesus Christ in verity This Author whoever he was says two or three things which sufficiently inform us of his intention for he saith that the Divinity joyns the Bread unto the Body of Jesus Christ of necessity then he must needs believe that it subsisted still after Consecration because a thing that is not cannot be joyned unto another thing the uniting and joyning of two different subjects presupposeth the Existence of the one and the other he saith also that the Church as well as the Sacrament is one Body with the natural Body of Jesus Christ he affirms it no more of the Sacrament than of the Church he then meant that they were both so after one and the same manner In fine see here how he argues the Natural Body of Jesus Christ the Sacrament and the Church are filled with one and the same vertue and animated if it may be so said with the same Spirit they are not then three Bodies but one the Unity of one Body depending on the unity of the Principle that acts in him So that because the same Principle that acts in the natural Body of Jesus Christ acts also in the Bread of the Eucharist and in the Church they should not be according to this Author but one and the same Body because that though considering them severally they be three different Bodies yet to consider them in the unity of this Principle and in the Numerical Identity if I may so say of the same vertue they become one sole Body This is as far as I can comprehend the Opinion of Remy which though not favouring the Opinion of Paschas yet is not for all that the Opinion of his Adversaries Therefore we will let him stand alone to receive the Depositions of others which present themselves to be heard The first is Rabanus very illustrious for his Dignity and for his Merit Historians vie with each other to celebrate his Praises as of the greatest Man of that Age and unto whom none was to be compared He was first a Friar in the Abby of Fulda then Abbot of the same Monastery and at last Archbishop of Mayance This illustrious Prelate and the most famous Disciple of the great Alcuin Tutor unto Charlemain being informed of the Opinion of Paschas Radbert touching the Sacrament set himself in a posture of arguing and openly opposing himself against it as against a Doctrine that appeared new and strange unto him and contrary to the ancient Belief of the Church This is the Declaration which the Anonimous Author and favourer of Paschas hath made us saying That Rabanus disputed against him at large Autor Anonym ubi supra in his Letter unto the Abbot Egilon But if we had not the Testimony of this Disciple of Paschas we cannot be ignorant of this matter seeing Rabanus himself hath transmitted the thing unto us for in his Penitential which Peter Stuart Professor in Divinity in the College of Ingolstat hath published he speaks after this sort Raban Maur. in Poenitent c. 33 de Eucharist It is not long since some persons holding erroneous Opinions touching the Eucharist of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ have said That it is the Body it self and the Blood of Jesus Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary and wherein our Saviour suffered upon the Cross and rose again from the Dead which Error we have opposed as much as we could and have signified in writing unto the Abbot Egilon what ought to be believed of the Body it self It cannot then be doubted but Rabanus wrote directly against Paschas seeing that the Opinion which he condemns and which he opposeth as erroneous is just that of Paschas as we have plainly demonstrated This Letter is lost either through the length of time or the malice of Men which have lived since that time But 't is sufficient that we do know that he wrote it and by consequence was a great Enemy of Paschas as unhe plainly testifies by several of his other Works which are come to our hands for he teacheth that the substance of Bread and Wine remain after Consecration and that these divine Symbols being received by Communicants part of it turns into their substance and the rest goes as their other ordinary food doth unto the place where Nature dischargeth it self Autor Anonym ubi supra The Anonymous Author already cited several times saith positively That he held the Sacrament to be subject unto this Accident And William of Malmesbury wrote to his Brother Robert in the Preface of the Epitome of Amalarius of Divine Offices which is to be seen in a Manuscript at Oxford Guillelm Malmesbur in All-Souls College I gave you notice saith he that amongst those which have writ of these things there is one that you are to avoid which is called Rabanus which in the Books of Ecclesiastical Offices saith That the Sacraments of the Altar are profitable to nourishment and for that reason are subject to corruption or malady or age or to be cast into the draft or to death it self See how dangerous a thing it is to say to believe and to write these things of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Tho. Waldens t. 1. doctrin in praesat t. 2. c. 19.52 62. Thomas Waldensis testifies the same in divers parts of his Writings where he reproacheth Wicliff That as he teacheth that the Eucharist is digested and passeth into our substance so he might also teach with Rabanus that it passeth into the draft And he instanceth the
318. Of the care which should be taken in receiving of the Eucharist In reading this Title it came into my mind that the Fathers of the Council might haply have comprised Auricular Confession in the preparations which they commanded yet nevertheless I do not find therein any such thing they only warn That a great deal of care must be taken in participating of the Body and Blood of our Lord and take care that we do not abstain from it too long lest that should turn unto the ruin of the Soul and that if one partake thereof indiscreetly we should fear what the Apostle saith Whosoever eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh his own Damnation A man ought therefore to examine himself according to the Command of the same Apostle and so eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup that is to say to prepare himself for the receiving of so great a Sacrament in abstaining some days from the works of the Flesh and in purifying of his Body and Soul Hincmar Arch-Bishop of Rhemes who died towards the end of th IX Century useth the same method when he represents unto Charles the Bald the Preparations necessary for worthy receiving the Sacrament Opusc 1. c. 12. t. 2. p. 101 102. He desires that every one would judge himself to the end that the trial being made in the heart the thought should serve for an Accuser the Conscience for a Witness and fear for an Executioner Then that the blood of the Soul should fall by tears And in fine that the Understanding should give such a sentence that a man should judge himself unworthy of participating of the Body and Blood of our Saviour And several other things which he proposeth without speaking any thing of Confession But by degrees Confession established it self infensibly amongst the Christians of the West and at length Innocent the Third authorized it by a Decree at the Council of Lateran in the Year 1215. at which time the Albigensis and Waldensis had separated themselves from Communion of the Latins The most part of all Christian Communions have no such Law as the Latins that obliges them unto Confession before receiving the Communion for example the Abyssins or Ethiopians the Armenians the Nestorians Confession 't is granted is used in the Greek Church which is of a large extent but it is so little practised that their Bishops and Priests do scarce ever confess De concord l. 4. c. 2. as Arcudius a Greek Latinized doth inform us And as for the Protestants every body knows they have found this Yoke of the Latins too heavy to bear But if the holy Fathers have not hitherto demanded private Confession before coming unto the Table of our Lord they do require other dispositions without which they forbid us approaching unto it It is in this sense that St. Chrysostom condemning the practise of those which came unto the Sacrament as it were by Rancounter and by custom at certain times which they looked upon to be more solemn he sheweth them that it is not the time that makes us any thing the more worthy to receive but that it is the purity of the Soul the holiness of our life the innocence of our Conversation Chrysost Hom 3. in c. 1. ad Ephes p. 1050 1051. It is not saith he the Epiphany nor the Lent that renders us worthy to approach unto the holy Sacrament it is the sincerity and purity of heart therewith draw near at all times and without them never come unto it Consider with what care and with what respect the Flesh of Sacrifices was eaten under the Law What caution did they not use what trouble were they not continually at to purifie themselves to that purpose And you approaching unto a Sacrifice which the very Angels behold with a religious reverence you think it is sufficient to prepare your selves unto so solemn an action by governing your selves according to the course of the Season Consider the Vessels which are employed for the Celebration of this Sacrament how clean they be how bright and shining they be yet nevertheless our Souls should be cleaner more holy and more resplendent than these Vessels seeing that it is only for us that they be prepared And in another place speaking of seldom and often receiving the Sacrament Id. Hom. 17 in Ep. ad Heb. p. 1872. We regard not saith he neither those which communicate often nor those which communicate seldom but those which communicate with a sincere Conscience a pure heart and an unreprovable life Let those that are in this condition always draw near and those which are not let them not so much as once draw near because they only draw upon themselves the wrath of God and make themselves worthy of Condemnation of pains and of punishments which should not seem strange unto us for as Meats which are wholsom of themselves being received into a diseased Body there causeth a disorder and an entire corruption and becomes the Original of some disease so it is the same of these terrible and venerable Mysteries when they be received into Souls which be indisposed And because the holy Fathers considered that this august Sacrament which giveth life unto some gives death unto others that is to say unto those which receive it unworthily and that if it be full of consolation unto holy Souls it is also full of terror unto the wicked They have spoken of it as of a terrible and fearful Sacrament because according to the saying of the same St. Chrysostom Whilst the death of Jesus Christ is celebrating Hom. 21. in Act a dreadful Sacrament is represented God gave himself for the World From thence came the Exhortation addressed unto the people in the ancient Liturgies to call them unto the Communion Draw near with fear August l. 3. de doctr Christ c. 16. in Ps 21. Hom. 2. Id. qu. super Evang l. 2. q. 38. p. 152. t. 4. And in fine should not we be seized with a holy fear accompanied with a very great respect to participate of the death of our Saviour to eat his Passion in eating his Supper as St. Austin speaks and to lick as he saith again his Sufferings in the Sacraments of his Body and of his Blood But if this warning was given unto Communicants they were told also in inviting them unto the holy Communion Holy things are for the Saints Whereupon St. Chrysostom makes this reflection When the Deacon cries Hom. 17. in Ep. ad Hebr. Holy things are for the holy it is as if he said Let not him draw near which is not holy he doth not say only him which is free of sin but him that is holy for it is not barely the remission of sins which renders a man holy but it is the presence of the Holy Ghost and the abundance of good works And St. Cyril of Jerusalem Mystag 5. The holy things saith he are proposed to be sanctified by the
It is evident that this respect and veneration hath reference unto the Body of Jesus Christ as the Adoration of the Wise men had which adored him when they saw him in the Manger at Bethlehem as Communicants adore him when they see him not in himself but in his Sacrament whereof he grants them the favour to participate All the World doth confess that Jesus Christ is not any more visible unto the Eyes of Men since his Ascension into Heaven I think that it is so also are to be understood the Adorations spoken of in a Liturgy which is attributed unto St. Chrysostom but cannot be his the Author being much younger than him There be some also which attribute it unto John the Second called the Mute Patriarch of the same Church but about 200 years after St. Chrysostom and yet neither is it very certain that it is of this John To conclude the Copies are very different for in that amongst the works of St. Chrysostom there is no mention made of Adoring but once when the Gospel is carried and when 't is lifted up because then the Choir saith Tom. 4. p. 9â—3 Come let us Worship and kneel down before Jesus Christ excepting that the Priest and Deacon bow the Head in several places in the Liturgy before and after the Consecration and that the People are once warned to bow the Head to give thanks unto God In liturg c. 7. Cassander represents another unto us in his Liturgies of the version of Leo Tuscus wherein there is no mention of Adoration but is not so of two others which we have one in the Library of the Holy Fathers and the other in the Ritual of the Greeks by James Goar of the Order of Preaching Friars for in both these there is frequent mention made of Adoring It is true these sorts of Adorations are there practised before the Consecration and after which plainly sheweth they were addressed unto God and unto Jesus Christ because the Bread and Wine by the Doctrine it self of the Church of Rome are not to be adored until after Consecration The thing will appear yet plainer if we consider the prayers which be there made when they dispose themselves unto the Communion Tom. 4. obser Clarysâ—st p. 618.8 〈◊〉 Pat. t. 2. Gree-Latiâ— p. â—1 Lord Jesus saith the Priest behold us from thy holy habitation and from the Throne of thy Glory and come sanctifie us thou who art in the Heavens sitting with thy Father and art here present with us in an invisible manner be pleased to give us by thy powerful hand thy pure and unspotted Body and thy precious Blood and by us unto all the People This prayer as every body sees hath for its Object Jesus Christ Reigning in Heaven and present unto his faithful Communicants by his Eternal Divinity and by the participation of his Grace Besides that Erasmus whose Translation comes nearer the Greek then that which is in the Library of the Holy Fathers and which we have followed because it is better liked by some Roman Catholick Doctors hath Translated these words Ibid. Be pleased by thy powerful hand to give us thy pure and immaculate Body and thy precious Blood In like manner when the Priest the Deacon and the People do Worship it is in saying three times Lord or as it is in the Ritual of the Greeks O God have mercy upon me who am a sinner which words do shew that this Adoration doth address it self unto God only who is therein expresly mentioned I say the same of the prayer which the Priest makes in taking the holy Bread when bowing his Head before the holy Table he saith I confess that thou art the Christ Ibid. p 32. the Son of the living God which didst come into the World to save sinners whereof I am chief c. After which he beseecheth him that he will vouchsafe to enter into his Soul filled with Passions and into his Body polluted with sin It cannot then be questioned but this prayer hath reference unto Jesus Christ and not unto the Sacrament which cannot enter into our Souls whereas our Saviour doth therein enter and into our Bodies also by the vertue of his Grace and by the efficacy of his holy Spirit for the sanctifying of them both of which Sanctification dependeth their Salvation and their Life As for the Deacons adoring when he cometh unto the Communion of the Cup in saying Ibid p. 8â—3 I come unto the King Immortal it can admit of no other Interpretation for I do not here examine what was the belief of the Ancient Church upon the point of the Sacrament I only inquire what the Ancients have said of the Adoration of Jesus Christ in the Act of communicating not to confound the Adoration of the Master with the Adoration of the Sacrament Therefore unto all the passages which have been alledged I will yet add two others unto which if I mistake not the same Explication ought to be given The first is taken from a fragment of the life of Luke the Anchorite who lived in the X. Century wherein is read these words You should sing Psalms which are suitable unto this Mystery In auctar Francis Combef t. 2. p. 986. and according to the Greek Typical Psalms and which do represent it Or the Hymn called Trysagion with the Symbol of the Creed then you shall three times bow the Knees and joyning the hands you shall with the mouth participate of the precious body of Jesus Christ our God It is easie to see that these three Genuflections have relation unto him to whom the Trysagion was sung that is to say unto God the Father Son and Holy Ghost of whom they begged Grace to communicate worthily I place in the same rank the History of St. Theoctista who having lived 35 years in a wilderness in the Isle of Paros desired a Huntsman whom she met by accident that he would the year following bring her the Sacrament Apud Metaphrast in vit S. Theoctist c. 13. which the Huntsman having done the Saint cast her self upon the ground received the Divine Gift and wetting the ground with her tears she said Lord now let thy Servant depart in peace because mine eyes have seen the Saviour which thou hast given us or as Cardinal du Perron hath translated Because mine eyes have seen thy healthiness After what way soever these words are taken nothing else can lawfully be gathered but that this Maid being transported with a holy joy in that God was pleased to give her the benefit of participating of this Divine Mystery of the enjoyment whereof she had been so long deprived she profoundly humbles her self in his presence in rendring thanks for procuring her so great a benefit and so sweet and solid a Consolation not to speak of Cardinal Baronius his often undervaluing Metaphrastus who relates the life of this Saint But besides this first consideration we must make a second which
Jesus Christ that he take care that not a crumb of it fall to the ground and having in this manner communicated of the Body of Jesus Christ he should approach unto the Cup having the Body bowed in way of Adoration or Veneration But besides say some St. Cyril doth not desire of his Communicant this inclination of body for Reception of the other Symbol which he represents unto us and doth call it the Body of Jesus Christ such as some crumbs whereof may fall to the ground it is that the Cup unto which he desires he should draw near with this inclination of Body contains a Liquor the moisture of which and the humidity remains as he saith upon the lips which cannot be said of the proper Blood of the Son of God The posture then which he prescribes for receiving of the Cup must necessarily be understood not of an act of Adoration which he doth not teach in any part of his Catechisms unto his Neophites but according to our second Consideration of the Veneration and respect which we ought to have for so great a Sacrament the Greek word used by St. Cyril being to be understood by that of veneration and respect because he speaks of an Object which is not adorable with the Adoration of Latery that is to say of the Sacrament and that besides he would not have said barely Approach with a little bowing the body but he would precisely have commanded to have adored it before receiving of it this action being of too great moment to speak so indifferently of and not to have commanded it after a more exact manner I will ad unto all these reasons that St. Cyril requires nothing of his Communicants but what what St. Chrysostom doth require of his also and yet in stronger terms of his Catechumeny when the time of their Catechising was expired that they presented themselves to be baptized In illud simile est regnum coelor patrifamil t. 6. p. 550. When you shall saith he come into the Closet of the holy Spirit when you shall run into the Marriage-Chamber of Grace when you shall be near unto that terrible and also desirable Pool prostrate your selves as Captives before your King cast your selves all together on your knees and lifting up your hands unto Heaven where the King of us all is sitting on his Royal Throne and lifting up your eyes unto that Eye which never slumbers use these words unto that Lover of Mankind c. Is not this approaching unto Baptism in a way of Worship and Adoration as St. Cyril desired one should approach unto the holy Communion And yet Christians never inferred from the words of St. Chrysostom that the Water of this Sacrament of our Regeneration was to be adored But what I say of the water of Baptism the same Chrysostom requires we should also do of the hearing of the Word of God The King himself saith he will not have his Diadem upon his head In illud ne eleemos vestr sac t. 6. p. 528. but lays it aside in reverence unto God speaking in the holy Gospel What saith he I know his Dignity which hath given me mine I adore his Kingdom which hath been pleased to make me reign And to say the truth we owe the same respect and veneration unto the Word of God and to his Sacraments which we do owe unto him which is the Author of them by giving him the Soveraign Adoration which we are obliged to render him at all times especially when we hear his Word read and preached and when we participate of his divine Sacraments If we descend yet lower than St. Austin we may inform our selves of what hath been practised in the Church since his death upon the Subject of the Adoration of the Sacrament for we have in the Works of St. Ambrose two Treatises touching the same matter made in the behalf of those newly initiated of which the latter entituled Of the Sacraments is more ample than the other We have that of Ecclesiastical Offices composed by St. Isidore Arch-Bishop of Sevil the Book of Sacraments of Gregory the First that made by Maximius Abbot of Constantinople expounding very mystically all the Action of the Sacrament German Patriarch of the same place also employed himself upon the same Subject and hath at large all that long History of Ceremonies practised in an Age which had already departed very much from the simplicity of the primitive times The Book called The Roman Order doth also examine all the particulars of the publick Service practiced in the Church of Rome We have in the IX Century the Treatise of Rabanus Arch-Bishop of Mayans of the Institution of Clerks that of Ecclesiastical Offices of Amalarius Fortunatus that of Walfridus Strabo almost under the same Title that of Florus under the name of Explication of the Mass In fine we have several other Treatises of the manner and order that ought to be observed in the Celebration of the Mass or of the Eucharist which Hugh Mainard a learned Benedictine hath caused to be printed with the Books of Sacraments of Gregory the Great as that he took from the Manuscript of Ratold Abbot of Corby about the Year 986. Another from the Library of du Tillet and which he saith is the Roman Order of the Year 1032. and a third of the Priory of Saluse in Normandy of the Prebends of the Order of St. Austin about the Year 1079. But in all this we do not find one word of the Adoration of the Sacrament no more than the Interpreters and Commentators of the History of the Institution of it which are not a few Moreover the expressions of the ancient Doctors of the Church will not a little contribute unto the illustrating of this matter for if they had a design to have Christians worship the Sacrament before receiving of it or at the instant of communicating methinks they should have spoke in a manner and way which should have possessed them with thoughts and dispositions suitable and which should have made them to conceive of it the same Opinion which one hath for an Object which is truly adorable Nevertheless instead of so doing I find their Instructions tended rather to divert than to incline them unto this Homage In fine I cannot comprehend that the people could dispose themselves unto the Adoration of the Eucharist when they heard the holy Fathers unanimously call it Bread and Wine even in the very act of Communion Wheat the Fruit of the Vine the Fruit of the Harvest and the like things They testifie it is Bread which is broke positively affirm that it is Bread and Wine Bread which nourisheth our Bodies which is inanimate which is digested the substance whereof remains after Consecration in a word Bread subject unto the same accidents with our common food For these are so many formal Declarations which these holy Doctors have made unto us in the second Chapter of the second Part. Must it not be
which said That Jesus Christ was but a meer Man The others That he had only a shadow of a Body They pretend I say that the silence of the Fathers upon the subject of the Adoration of the Sacraments in disputing against these Hereticks is an evident proof that it was not adored in the Ancient Church because if it had been adored they would have urged this Adoration both against the one and the other because one adores not the Body of a common Man nor an imaginary Body and which hath nothing of a true Body but a deceitful appearance It is also what is farther inferred by some amongst them from the silence of the same Fathers in their Disputes against the Aquarians which celebrated the Eucharist with Water only saying They could not dispence themselves from alledging this act of Adoration to represent unto them that the Consecration not being to be performed with Water only they would be guilty of the crime of Idolatry to adore common Water as if it had been the Blood of Jesus Christ whatever intention they might have had otherwise They say the same of the Canon made by the third Council of Braga Anno 675. against those which Consecrated Milk instead of Wine in the Holy Cup the Fathers satisfying themselves in saying that the Institution of our Lord admitted not to celebrate with Milk nevertheless say the Protestants if the Church had practised the Adoration of the Eucharist had not that been the fit time to have spoken of it and to have shewed That those which did celebrate the Sacrament with Milk caused the Church to be guilty of Idolatry because the People adoring the Cup could not in effect adore any thing but Milk How comes it to pass say they again that this publick Service of Religion this Adoration of the Sacrament was never alledged to overthrow Nestorias who said in speaking of the Humane Nature of Jesus Christ That he could not adore him which had been an Infant of two Months old and which had sucked the Breasts As for the Greek Church I cannot tell how after all that hath been said at the end of the XII Chapter of the Second Part it can be thought the Greeks adore the Sacrament It is true that all things which we therein observed do not well agree as many say with this act of Adoration no more than the reproach made by Arcudius a Greek Latinised against the Greeks whereof we made mention in the same place when he saith That they give but little or no honour unto the Sacrament As for Cabasilas Archbishop of Thessalonica who wrote in the XIV Century he saith only That believers willing to shew their Devotion and their Faith adore bless and celebrate as God that is to say in the Act of communicating Jesus Christ who is understood in his gifts Nevertheless certain words of Gabriel Archbishop of Philadelphia are cited who was a Prelate at Venice about 45 years ago the which do formally lay down the Adoration we treat of But the Protestants answer thereunto that besides that the Greeks do several things which as hath been shewed agree not with this Adoration There never hath been in the Greek Church any Decree made for the adoring of the Eucharist neither doth there appear any in their publick Books of Religion They say moreover That there is no certainty that the words cited under the name of Gabriel of Philadelphia are his because the Greek hath never been cited And that if it were true that they had been spoke by this Prelate it were not to be thought strange that a Greek living amongst the Latins should be prevailed upon by the ordinary practice of those which adore the Sacrament with the Worship of Latry but that his example and testimony conclude nothing touching the body of the Greek Church In fine Anthony Cancus a Patrician of Venice Archbishop of Corfou answering unto Pope Gregory the XIII which had commanded him particularly to inform him of the differences betwixt the Greek and Latin Church observes expresly in his History of the Heresies of the Modern Greeks the Manuscript whereof is to be seen in the Kings Library that there is no Christian Communion which renders less reverence less honour nor less Worship unto the Sacrament of the Eucharist than the Greeks do He also adds that having taxed them with the little respect they give unto the Sacrament that they answered him That there was no command which required this Adoration From whence he takes occasion to compare them unto Oecolampadius who plainly taught that the Sacrament should not be adored with the Worship of Latry Let the Reader judge of this dispute for it is not my business to decide it Therefore from the consideration of the Greek Church I pass unto that of Ethiopia or the Abyssins in the which according to the testimony of Francis Alvarez a Priest of Portugal and an Eye-witness In his Voyage into Fthiopia cap. 11. all the People as well Men as Women go unto the Communion with their hands lift up and open and during the whole Office and all the time of the Communion every one is standing Damian a Goes p. 507. the which is confirmed by Zaga Zabo an Abyssin who in the Explication of their Faith translated by Damian Goes observes that in saying their Mass they do not shew the Sacrament of the Eucharist as he saw that it was usually practised amongst the Latins The which doth shew how little credit is to be given unto a Liturgy of the Abyssins which is put into Latin in the Library of the Holy Fathers without mentioning from whence it was taken or who it is that translated it and in the which there is mention made both of the Elevation and Adoration of the Sacrament the which is directly contrary unto the Deposition of these two infallible Witnesses whose testimonies we just now received and the one of which to wit Alvarez expresly observes that the Abyssins do not lift up the Sacrament in the Celebration of their Eucharist which is the cause as the other saith that the Sacrament is not shewed unto the People as it is amongst the Latins And in the West it self there hath always been People which have celebrated the Sacrament without adoring or lifting it up as we have shewed at large in the first Part of this Historical Treatise because before the Introduction of the Elevation or Adoration of it in the Latin Church Berengarius with his followers were grown very eminent who were immediately followed by the Albigensis and Waldensis which spread themselves in France Italy England in Bohemia and elsewhere and all those celebrated the Eucharist without lifting up or adoring the Sacrament which practice was followed by the Taborites of Bohemia at the beginning of the XV. Century and the which is also practised by Protestants which are in very great numbers in all parts of Europe In fine to conclude this Chapter and at the same