Assertion or Tenet of our Faith which doth not require to be well and distinctly understood and for this reason I shall explain every one of them in order as they lie First then we believe that it is a Sacrament that is a visible sign of invisible grace instituted by God for our sanctification Secondly we believe that this Sacrament contains really Jesus Christ all whole and entire that is his Body and Blood his Soul and Divinity Thirdly that under the Species in the Sacrament there remains nothing of the substance but only the appearance of Bread and Wine both substances being truly changed into the Body and Blood of the Son of God so that what we see of Bread and Wine as bigness figure colour smell taste c. are only the accidents and the outward and sensible appearance of Bread and Wine Fourthly that it is He God by his Almighty Power who works this wonderfull change by vertue of the words of Consecration This is my Body this is my Blood in that very moment in which the Priest in the Person of Jesus Christ makes an end of the pronunciation of them Fifthly That in vertue of these Divine words the Body of the Son of God becomes really present under the species of Bread not by it self or all alone but together with his Blood his Soul and Divinity and his Blood also under the species of Wine not singly by it self but accompanied with his Body his Soul and his Divinity with this difference that the Body becomes present there under the species of Bread precisely and directly by the vertue and signification of the words and the rest that is to say the Blood Soul and Divinity are there by concomitance only and by a necessary consequence because the Son of God being alive and the Divinity always inseparably united to his Humanity wheresoever his Body is there also is his Blood his Soul and his Divinity The same is to be said of his Blood which becomes present under the species of Wine directly by the signification of the words and his Body his Soul and his Divinity are also there by a necessary sequel and concomitance Sixthly That Jesus Christ continues whole and entire under the species of Bread and Wine in a Spiritual manner that is without his Quantity and natural extension after the manner of a Spirit that is whole in the whole Host and whole in every part of the Host so that he is there invisible indivisible and impassible And therefore when the Host is divided the Son of God is not divided nor broken but he continues entire in each small particle of the Host as he was before the division in the whole and he who receives any tho' the least part of the Host receives Jesus Christ whole and entire as much as if he had received the whole ARTICLE II. Of the Wonders which occurr in this Sacrament MAny and almost innumerable are the Wonders and Miracles which God works by his Almighty Power in this great Mystery whereof seven are more remarkable The First is that the Son of God in that very moment the words are pronounced becomes really present in the Eucharist and without departing from Heaven where he still remains his Body becomes truly present in the Sacred Host where before the Consecration it never was The Second which follows from the First is that the Body of the Son of God is at one and the same time truly in many places and in as many as there are Consecrated Hosts The Third is this admirable change of the substance of Bread and Wine into the substance of the Body and Blood of the Son of God so that at the moment of Consecration the Bread is no more Bread and the Wine is no more Wine Before Consecration saith St. Ambrose l. 4. de Sacram c. 4. the Bread is Bread after Consecration of Bread it becomes the Body of Christ The Fourth Miracle is that the accidents of Bread and Wine after the Consecration subsist separate from their proper substance which 'till then sustained them God by his Omnipotence preserving them thus in being The Fifth is that the Body of the Son of God is all whole entire and perfect in the Host yet without taking up any place as other Bodies do but after a Spiritual manner so that it is whole and totally entire in the whole Host and also whole and totally entire in each part of every Host after the manner of Spiritual things as for example the Soul which is all whole and entire in the whole and all whole and entire in every part of the Body from whence it follows of necessity that the body of the Son of God is as entire under the least as under the greatest part of the Host and he who receives but one part of the Host receives as much as he who receives the whole The Sixth which follows from the former that tho' the Host be divided or broken into many Parts the Body of the Son of God is neither divided nor broken because being Indivisible he continues in each part as he was before The Seventh is when the Host is consummated the Body of the Son of God is not consummated nor corrupted that altogether divine Body being incapable of any alteration what happens to it in that moment is only this it leaves or ceaseth to be in the Sacrament when the accidents of Bread or Wine are Corrupted and cease to be any longer the Accidents of Bread and Wine All these and innumerable other wonders with which this Sacrament abounds and which it is impossible to relate much more to comprehend oblige us to look upon it as an Abridgment of all the wonderfull effects of the Almighty Power according to that of David Psalm 110.4 where so long before by a Prophetick Spirit he foretold that God as a speciall token of his Mercy had made an abridgment of his Marvells in giving Meat to them that fear him and to behold it as the most endearing pledge which our Redeemer as the Council of Trent hath it Sess 13. c. 2. being ready to depart from this World to his Father summing up as we may say all the riches of his divine love to men most liberally bestowed upon us ARTICLE III. Of the Effects of the Holy Eucharist FRom what hath been said it is easy to judge of the great effects this Sacrament is capable and ordain'd to produce in the Soul of every receiver For as God hath wrought all these so immense and so incomprehensible wonders for our sakes it must needs be that they were design'd to work in us most powerfull effects of his Grace The Son of God by his infinite wisdom hath comprised them all in one word saying Jo. 6.56 that his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed and that he who eateth his body and drinks his blood remains in him and he Jesus interchangeably remains in him who eats him From these divine
please our Lord to receive him in this manner and that you loose innumerable favours by this your so signally cold reception of him Consider how ill this corresponds with that pressing and ardent love with which he invites you to this Feast and with that earnest desire he hath to receive you there saying to you now what formerly he did to his Disciples Luc. 22.15 I have most earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you Thus when he invites a Soul unto him he doth not only require that she appear in his presence but he expects that she should make him to hear and understand her voice Come says he Cant. 2.14 my dear and well beloved Soul shew me thy face let me hear thy voice for thy voice is sweet and charming as thy countenance is beautifull and comely By the face he gives us to understand the beauty of the Soul which consists in Sanctifying grace and the Ornaments of the Virtues and by the Voice he points at the acts of these same Virtues which make a confort and harmony most pleasing and agreeable in the sight of God. ARTICLE III. The practice of the Act of Faith for the Communion LEt us now come to the practice of these excellent Virtues and see how they must be employed in the Holy Communion To perform them right we must be well instructed and fully convinced of the truths of this divine Mystery which we have explain'd above Amongst these verities there are three upon which one may practice with much benefit the acts of Faith viz. 1. The real presence of the Son of the God in the Eucharist 2. The Wonders which God works in this Holy Mystery 3. The effects which he produceth in his Soul who worthily receives Exercise your Faith upon these three points when you communicate but see that they be acts of a stedfast and fervent faith and for the easier performance of them ponder and detain your self upon the two first before Communion and entertain your thoughts upon the third which are the effects after Communion in the following manner An Act of Faith upon the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament MY Saviour Jesus Christ I firmly believe and from the bottom of my heart I hold that thou art truly present in the Sacred Host I believe that it contains thy Body and thy precious Blood accompany'd with thy Soul and thy Divinity I believe that by vertue of the words of Consecration and in the moment they are pronounced the Bread is changed into thy Body and the Wine into thy Blood. I believe this truth upon the assurance of thy holy words and upon the authority of thy holy Church which thus teaches me to believe I believe it firmly and freely without any hesitation renouncing with all my heart all doubts which may ever come into my mind concerning this Subject Mar. 9.23 Credo Domine adjuva incredulitatem meam Yes my God I believe it assist my incredulity by thy grace and augment in my heart thy faith Luc. 17.5 Domine adauge nobis fidem believing thus I adore thee in this blessed Sacrament from the bottom of my Soul I acknowledge thee for my Lord and for my God as St. Thomas did Jo. 20.28 Dominus meus Deus meus Vpon the Wonders which occur in the Blessed Sacrament MY Lord and my God I acknowledge all the mighty things which thou hast wrought in this Holy Mystery grant me I beseech thee grace to understand them for they far exceed the capacity of my Soul. Psal 105.2 Quis loquitur potentias Domini auditas fafiet omnes laudes ejus Who is he O my God who can recount thy wonders and duly proclaim thy praises I know by faith and I acknowledge that thou art really in the Sacred Host without departing from Heaven where thou art seated on the right hand of thy Eternal Father That thou art in innumerable places in the same instant and in as many as there are Consecrated Hosts That the substance of Bread and Wine is changed into that of thy body and thy blood That of Bread and Wine there remains only the accidents which subsist without their substance which supported them before and that now thou dost miraculously conserve them as before That thy Body is in that Host without taking up any place and that it is whole in the whole Host and whole in every part thereof That it is as whole and entire under the least part as under the greatest Host That when the Host is broken thy body is not divided but that it remains entire in each part of the Consecrated Host That when the Host is consummated thy Body is not consumed but only ceases to be where it was before That the good and bad equally receive thee as to the reality but unequally only as to the effect the one finding life therein the other death O my Saviour I acknowledge all these great truths I firmly believe all these wonders I adore thy power which hath wrought them I praise thy infinite goodness that was pleased to prepare them for me and I say from the bottom of my heart with David Psal 9. Confitebor tibi Domini in toto Corde meo Narrabo omnia mirabilia tua Latabor exultabo in te psallam nomini tuo altissime My God I will praise thee with my whole Heart and I will recount all thy admirable works I will rejoyce in thee and I will bless thy holy name I acknowledg that thou hast really fullfilled in this mystery the Prophecy of David Psa 110.4 wherein he said that as an especiall effect of thy mercy thou hast made an abridgment and memoriall of thy wonders in bestowing food upon those who fear thee In this faith and with this acknowledgment I make bold to approach at present to this adorable banquet where thou bestowest upon me this divine food of thy Body and Blood that thou mayst fill me with thy self and thy divine Spirit O Jesus grant that I may approach unto thee with the sense of the respect and humility which is due to thy infinite Majesty who am I O my God that thou shouldst work such great wonders for my sake vouchsafe at least that I be not unworthy of them and that at present I may receive thee with a pure heart with a clear conscience and with a sincere and true faith Pardon me my Sins which have rendered me most unworthy to approach unto thee I detest them from the bottom of my heart because O my God they are displeasing to thee I here renounce them for the future and I promise to be faithfull to thee Proceed then my soul raise thy self up to go and receive thy God and to receive at his hands all the favours which he hath prepared for thee in this divine Sacrament Convertere anima mea Psa 114.7 in requiem tuam quia Dominus bene fecit tibi Vpon the Effects which the Holy Eucharist is capable to
INSTRUCTION CONCERNING PENANCE AND HOLY COMMUNION The Second Part OF THE Instruction of YOUTH Containing the Means how we may return to God by Penance and remain in his Grace by the good and frequent use of the Sacraments By CHARLES GOBINET Doctor of Divinity of the House and Society of SORBON Principal of the College of PLESSIS-SORBON The Last Edition in French now render'd into English LONDON Printed by J. B. and are to be Sold by Mathew Turner at the Lamb in High Holborn and John Tootell at Mr. Palmers the Bookbinder in Silverstreet in Bloomsbury Together with the First Part of the Instruction of Youth in Christian Piety 1689. A DEDICATORY PRAYER TO OUR LORD JESVS CHRIST MY Lord and my God permit me also to consecrate this Second Instruction to thee and lay it at the foot of thy Cross to which I invite thy Children and beg the favour of thy Benediction That which thou hast been pleased to bestow upon the First I made gives me hopes that thou hast yet reserv'd a blessing for this Second and that in respect of the things therein contained which are the Sacraments thy own work thou wilt not fail to bless it It s whole design is to instruct thy Children to teach them to frequent and make good use of the Sacraments Sacraments which with so much Charity thou hast instituted that thereby thou mightest conferr thy Grace upon us We see to our great grief that they have not that esteem which is due to them and that for want of the knowledge of their worth and grandure and the advantage which from thence arises to us many either neglect to approach unto them or at least do not always take care to provide themselves with convenient dispositions when they come Thou presentest them with holy Penance that thereby they may be freed from the Slavery of their Sins but it often happens that like the Israelites in the Aegyptian Bondage they choose rather to continue captives as before then to accept thy offer Thou bestowest upon them Celestial food for their nourishment and to strengthen them whom once thou hast received into thy Grace but by reason they are ignorant of the excellence of the gift they either refuse or neglect to take it and permit themselves Spiritually to be starv'd in the Desart of this Mortal Life This Bread of Angels agrees not with their tast so deprav'd it is that they preferr the Onions of Aegypt before this Heavenly Manna Divine Jesus open their eyes who live thus contented in their misery Make them feel the weight of their Chains make them sensible of the danger of that Servitude wherein they are detained by Sin make them ashamed so to affront thee and debase themselves as to serve the Devil that Enemy of thy Glory and their own Salvation Grant them Grace to aspire to that liberty which thy Children the Children of God enjoy that to this end they may embrace Holy Penance and thereby be entirely converted to thee and that their actions may testify the sincerity of their hearts That they may encrease and be strengthen'd in thy Grace by means of this Celestial Bread and that by frequently feeding upon thy pretious Body and Blood they may happily pass through the dangers of this Life to the Land of Promise which is thy Heavenly Kingdom where thou livest and Reignest Eternally AN ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER I Here present you Dear Reader with this Second Instruction for the use of young People and also of all such as are pleased to make use of it that they may learn how they may rightly employ these two grand means Penance and the Holy Eucharist instituted by Christ for our Salvation I have discoursed already of these two Sacraments in the Second Part of the First Instruction But I did it with that brevity which is necessary to be observed in matters which one treats of only in passant or by the by as accessories to the main point he designs to handle Since that time I have often observed that what I had said of them was not enough to give young People a full view or a perfect understanding of these two Sacraments and to facilitate the use thereof Therefore it seemed to me very convenient that they should have a Book wherein they might be solidly instructed in what concerns these two important Subjects and benefit themselves thereby upon either of these two occasions viz. 1. When they find themselves moved to return to God by a sincere Repentance and to consecrate themselves wholly to his Service by a true change of their former course of life and to this effect have need to make a general Confession of their life past as we have said in the Second Part the Sixth Chapter of the first Instruction 2. When after this general Confession they are willing to continue in the frequent use of these two Sacraments that they may do it as far as it may be needfull to conserve them in the grace of God and to advance in Virtue And this was the motive I had to undertake this Instruction wherein I supply what was defective in the former aend perform the two things I have but even now spoken of For in the four first parts of the Instruction concerning Penance I shew them the proper means whereby they may return to God The first of which is an exhortation to change our life and totally to addict our selves to Virtue In the Second I shew them the way to compass this design by treating at large of Contrition of the enormity of Sin and the practice of this great Virtue In the Third and Fourth I treat of Sacramental Confession and Satisfaction and whatsoever else is necessary for the worthy receiving of that Sacrament Afterwards in the Fifth Part I speak of the means to conserve the Grace which one hath received by the Sacrament and to persever in a truly holy and Christian life And the Instruction which follows concerning Communion may also serve for the same end For it is most certain that this Divine Sacrament is one of the chiefest means which God hath bestowed upon us to conserve us in his Grace Hence it is easy to perceive that this Instruction is not so much a Second Book as a continuation or conclusion of the first I made I have taken an occasion to intermix some necessary points which one is obliged to know as the explication of the Principal Mysteries of our Faith which I have plac'd in the first Part of the Instruction concerning Communion and that of the three Theological Virtues Faith Hope and Charity which you will find in the Second Part of the same Instruction Virtues which are the ground-work of our Salvation and upon which as St. Augustin de Verb. Apost hath it the house of God which is raised up by his Grace is built I have also taken occasion to explain the Commandments of God in the examen of Sins which I have plac'd at
of the singular advantages of Holy Communion and Effectually be made Partakers of those Graces which God is ready to bestow by means of this Blessed Sacrament As for the Second Part it is to be perused and Practized for this effect it will be very proper to peruse it often and with Attention but particularly upon the Eve and day of Communion PART I. Of the Doctrin that is to say of the Truths which it Imports us to know concerning the Sacrament of the Eucharist A Christian Communicant that he may receive worthily if as yet he know them not distinctly ought to be well instructed in three things of which two are generall the third is particular to this Sacrament First he must be instructed in Faith in Generall without which it is impossible to attain to the knowledge of this great Mystery of the Eucharist He must understand perfectly well what God hath reveal'd concerning this Virtue which is the Basis and ground-work of Salvation As Saint Paul saith Heb. 11.1 The Substance of the things to be hoped for Secondly He must have a true Notion of the Principal Mysteries of Faith in Particular as of the Blessed Trinity the Incarnation the Redemption the Catholick Chuch for except he believe these Truths it is impossible ever to come either to the knowledg or belief of that of the Holy Eucharist Thirdly He must be throughly informed in what concerns this Sacrament in particular viz. in the principal truths which appertain unto it as the real presence of the Son of God in the Cousecrated Host The change of the substance of the Bread and Wine into that of his Body and Blood The great wonders which meet in this Mystery The effects which it produces in the Soul of the worthy receiver The dispositions with which it ought to be received Following this order I shall divide this First Part into three Chapters whereof the First shall treat of Faith the Second of the Principal Mysteries of our Faith the Third of what concerns this Sacrament in particular And we shall divide the Chapters into Articles or Questions as necessity shall require CHAP. I. Of Faith. FOR your greater ease we shall treat of this Subject by way of Question and Answers immediately subjoyn'd Question I. What is it we are obliged to know concerning Faith in general SEven things viz. What Faith is who is the Author of it what its action its object its motive its rule and what the conditions it requires that it may be perfect Quest II. What is Faith IT is a gift of God or a light from above by which man being illuminated doth firmly believe all those things which God hath revealed and proposed to his Church to be believed whether written or unwritten In this definition is comprised all whatsoever as is abovesaid we are obliged to know concerning Faith. And first it teacheth us that Faith is a Supernatural light proceeding not from us but from God and which makes us assent to those truths the belief whereof is necessary for Salvation It teacheth us also who is the Author of Faith what its action the rest as we shall see by the Replies to the following Questions Quest III. Who is the Author of Faith I Answer God alone Faith is a gift of God saith the Apostle Ephes 2.8 and there is none but he can give it He bestows it upon us by enlightning our understanding in a supernatural way and inclining the will to follow by her consent the light which is proposed unto her The will indeed concurrs and doth well in accepting and agreeing with the truth which is proposed unto her but it is God alone who is the first and principal cause wherefore it is very necessary that we beg and require it at his hands Quest IV. What is the Action Object and Motive of Faith TO believe that is to hold a truth for certain and assured without the least doubt thereof is the proper act of Faith. The object that is the things which we are oblig'd to believe are all the truths which God hath revealed and which are therefore proposed that we may assent unto them The motive or reason why we ought to believe is the divine revelation For one believes a truth because God who neither can deceive us nor be deceived in what he reveals unto us hath revealed it And this revelation for this reason is always infallible Quest V. By what ways hath God revealed the Truth unto us BY two By the Holy Scripture and by Tradition These are the two ways whereby God hath been pleased to manifest his holy truths and both of them are equally infallible because both are equall the one written the other the unwritten word of God. Quest VI. Which is the Rule of Faith WE call that the Rule of Faith whereby we discern the revelations which come from those which do not come from God for it is certain that there are some false revelations and which the Devil the Author of Lies proposes by his Ministers and therefore that we may not be be deceived we have a certain rule This rule is the judgment or the interpretation of the Holy Church to which God hath given that Power and promised the assistance of his Holy Spirit that it also may never be deceived The Proofs are manifest in the Scripture Behold Mat. 28.20 saith he I am with you even untill the end of the World. He also said Mat. 16.18 Vpon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And the Apostle saith afterwards 1. Tim. 3.15 that the Church is the House of God and that it is the Pillar and Ground of Truth The Son of God commands us to hearken to it even as to himself Luc. 10.16 He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me And he saith Mat. 18.17 he who will not hear the Church let him be accounted as a heathen or Publican Without this Rule we can have no Faith because without it we can neither be assured of the Divine Revelation nor of the true Scriptures nor of their true Sense wherefore Hereticks who refuse to follow the Judgment of the Church have neither Faith not even any certainty of any thing they believe They say indeed that they follow the Scripture but they deceive themselves For first How do they know that there is such a thing as Scripture but by the Testimony of the Catholick Church which assures us of it and hath conserved it from time to time even untill their times Did not St. Augustin contra Epist fundam c. 5. say and with good reason that he would not believe the Gospel except he were moved unto it by the authority of the Catholick Church and that if we believe the Church when it tells us that we must believe the Gospel why should we not believe it when it forbids us to believe Manicheus or Hereticks Secondly It is not enough to
our Saviour Jesus Christ But Alas the contrary is too true and this crime tho' a thousand times greater yet is much more common amongst Christians then that of Paricide They have an horror and with good reason to deprive those of breath from whom they receiv'd their life yet they are not apprehensive to Murder and Crucifie again as much as in them lies our Saviour Christ by receiving him into an impure perfidious Breast Nature hath imprinted in them a profound and lasting respect for those from whom they have received only a Mortal and fading life But they easily forget the Reverence they owe to Jesus Christ notwithstanding he nourisheth them with his own substance his pretious Blood and offers them by his presence a Spiritual and immortal and a pledge of everlasting life O God Theotime is it possible then that there should be found Souls capable of so black a deed so horrible a Crime Surely they are only those who either have no Faith or such as have never considered the enormity of the Sin who can commit it for he must surpass the very Devils in malice who falls into such a Sin if he have but the least knowledge how grievous and great it is and what dreadfull consequences do follow from it Two points I therefore design to discourse of in this place I will set forth the enormity of this Sin from three heads 1. From that remarkable saying of our Lord himself Mat. 7.6 Do not give that which is Holy unto Dogs If it be a great Sacrilege to give to Dogs things consecrated to God what Crime must it needs be to give the Holy of Holies unto a Soul an enemy of God more impure and filthy then the very Dogs and what Sin must it be in those to receive the Body of our Lord who being no better then Dogs as it is said in the Apocalypse and under this notion excluded from the Sanctuary Foris canes impudici yet have the impudence to eat the Bread of Children the Bread of the very Angels themselves Ecce panis Angelorum vere panis filioram non mittendus canibus 2. From that so famed Doctrine and signal admonition of St. Paul 1. Cor. 11.27 Whosoever ones the Bread and drinks the Chalice of our Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of our Lord. This Sentence is a Thunder which ought to terrify all those who are so miserably unfortumate as to Communicate in Mortal Sin For he saith they are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Son of God that is they despise and treat in juriously this adorable Body and Blood whilst they receive it in a profane place in the Temple of Satan in a Soul polluted with Mortal Sin. It is particularly verified in this occasion what St. Paul relates elsewhere Heb. 6.6 this is to Crucisy Jesus Christ again to scoff at him to trample him under ones feet and contemn his Blood in that very action by which one ought to sanctify his holy name Can we think of these things without trembling and horror We never call to mind without a certain horror and eversion the inhumane methods the Jews and Soldiets a sed against our Saviour Jesus Christ in the time of his bitter Passion and can we be so insensible in our own case as not to detest those affronts we offer him even worse then the Jews did whilst we unworthily receive him For besides that they Luo. 23.34 knew not what they did we know and confess him to be the Son of God whom we offend St. Chrisostome explaining these words of St. Paul. 1. Cor. 11. Whosoever shall eat the Bread or drink the Cup of our Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of our Lord. Why so suith this Holy Father hom 27. and his answer is because he hath spilt the Blood and by that action he hath not offered a Sacrifice but committed a Murther for he who approaches unworthily to this Divine Table and receives no Fruit from thence resembles them who formerly pierced the Body of our Lord not to drink but to shed his Blood. And hom 60. Consider saith he what just Indignation you conceive against him who betrayed Jesus Christ and against those who Crucified him therefore consider lest you also be equally culpable and guilty of the Body and Blood of the Son of God. It is true they kill'd his most Sacred Body but you after so many and so often repeated benefits bestowed upon you receive him into an unclean and polluted Soul. St. Cyprian before him had said that unworthy Communicants offer Violence to the Body of Jesus Christ and that this sin is a more grievous offence in the sight of God then it is for a Christian to abjure him in the presence of Infidels The Third from hence which you ought never to forget that the sin of an unworthy Communion is the sin of Judas It was he who first committed it and those who fall into it since imitate his Example and become his Disciples They receive him as he did in a Criminall and guilty Soul They betray him not indeed to the Jews but which is worse to the Devil who inhabits in them What punishment ought they not to dread from such an Enormous Crime Ought they not to remember how that perfidious Apostle was immediately possessed by the Devil in the moment that be received Jesus Christ for since they imitate him in his Sin they cannot avoid being partaker of his punishment as we are about to shew you The dammages which follow from an unworthy Communion SUch a mischievous cause cannot but produce most fatal effects The death of the Soul which infallibly it brings with it is the first evil which follows from it Mors est malis vita bonis This death is an encrease or extension of that other wherein the Soul lay buried before by the Sin in which he receiv'd the Sacrament It is a further banishment from the grace of God and a further disheartning and exposing her to the Power of Satan From this Death follow other most dismal lamentable effects as the fall into new Sins the blindness of Spirit the encrease of vices and passions which makes a Soul to groan under the Yoke of her Captivity and hinder her from returning again to God by true Repentance The Prophet hath comprised these effects in few words Psalm 68.23 when speaking against the enemies of Jesus Christ he prays to God that their Table may prove a snare to them and an occasion of scandal That they may become blind so that they may not see their own good That they may always stoop under the Yoke of a miserable Servitude If those who persecuted Jesus Christ without knowing him are punished so severely what ought not Christians to expect when they treat him so ill in his own Person whom they know Histories are full of examples of divers punishments which God hath laid upon this so detestabie a
Heaven taking his pleasure in this Life should love his Inn better then his own House 4. This Hope makes the Just Man labour for his Salvation and becoming daily better and better render himself worthy of his heavenly vocation as St. John saith 1 Jo. 3.3 Every one who hath this hope in God doth Sanctify himself as God is holy This hope gives him strength to conquer all difficulties and wings to fly in the way of Gods commandments as the Prophet Isay 40.31 speaks They who hope in God says he shall change their strength that is receive a new force they shall have wings as an Angel they shall run with ease they shall travel without failing by the way 5ly This same Hope encourageth us in temptations it gives us strength to encounter them For what greater encouragement can there be in these occasions then to know that God is with us that he assists us in the fight and gives us strength to overcome and that he hath prepared an eternal reward for those that conquer He whose heart is replenished with Hope doth he not say with David whensoever he is tempted Ps 22.4 O my God I will not be afraid of any harm being thou art with me Ps 26.1 Our Lord is my light and my Salvation whom should I fear v. 3. If war shall be rais'd against me I will hope in him Ps 7.1 O Lord I hope in thee save me and deliver me from all my persecutors For this reason St. Paul 1. Thes 5.8 calls hope the Helmet of Christians Take says he for thy helmet the hope of Salvation For as a head-peice it preserves us from the blows of the enemy and the mortall wounds which he endeavours to give us In fine Hope guards us excellently well and is of infinite use in afflictions of which this mortall life is full Herein it is that we find our refuge our comfort and our strength when we consider with attention that these miseries cannot last always they will have an end and will be followed with an eternall joy if we suffer them with patience as it is but fit and just we should And when we ponder well upon those excellent words of St. Paul 2. Cor 4.17 wherein he assures us That the momentary and light afflictions which we at present endure work exceedingly above measure a weight of unconceivable glory and happiness which shall never end It is then when after the example of this glorious Apostle we shall rejoyce and esteem our selves happy in our afflictions being assured of this truth wherein he affirms Rom. 5.3 that Affliction causeth Patience Patience trys our strength this tryall confirms our Hopes and Hope will never confound us so as to permit our expectations to be frustrate Wherefore the same Apostle says Heb. 6.19 That this holy hope is to Christians that which the anchor is to a Ship which keeps it secure and steady amidst the tempestuous waves and preserves it against the violence of the winds O holy Virtue what blessings by thy means accrue unto us did we but fall into the account and know them Endeavour Theotime to make thy self master in an happy hour of this great virtue and to practise it with advantage to thy Soul and to this effect peruse carefully and with attention this little we shall say upon this Subject ARTICLE V. That the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is of great use to fortify and augment Hope the Virtue in us GOD endowed us with this Virtue when first he justified us in Baptism where we received Sanctifying Grace with the gifts of Faith Hope and Charity and other Christian Virtues It is encreased I confess together with the other Virtues by the frequent acts which we elicite and by good works which we perform in the State of Grace but it is also certain that it receives much strength and wonderfull growth by the most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist which may easily be evinced from the two things which as is above said are the object of Hope viz. Grace in this Life and in the next the Glory as well of Body as of Soul. As for Glory there is not any thing that confirms us more in the Hope of it then this Divine Sacrament wherein we receive the very Person himself the possession of whom compleats all our glory and our happiness for what greater security can we have that we shall one day enjoy God himself then by this bounty he hath shewed in communicating himself unto us in this life Could he afford us a more secure pledge then he himself is to which he hath also vouchsafed to add the assurance of his word saying Jo. 6.58 that he who eateth this bread shall live for ever And for the glory of the body it is no less confirmed unto us by this Sacrament being the Son of God hath told us Ibid 56. that he who eateth his body and drinketh his blood shall have life Everlasting and that he will raise him again at the last day And in effect the Fathers of the Church have often proved the Resurrection from the holy Eucharist and they have held that the life-giving flesh of Jesus Christ as they have frequently called it hath a particular vertue to raise from death to life those bodies it shall touch and conserve them to immortality much more efficaciously then the bones of Elizeus had vertue by their touch to raise a dead man to life This truth is no less certain in respect of grace For if we consider habituall or Sanctifying grace this divine Sacrament is a powerfull means to conserve it as also to increase it in the Soul in an high degree as often as we shall worthyly receive it And as for actuall graces which are as we said so many helps illuminations good and pious motions which the divine goodness hath bestowed upon us for the conservation of his grace and with which he inspires us that we may avoid evil and employ our selves totally in good so many protections which he affords us in the time when our Salvation is in danger it is questionless to this Sacrament that we owe the greatest part thereof as we clearly made out Part 1. Chap. 3. Art. 3. The reason is evident because this Sacrament containing as it really and truly doth Jesus Christ who is the Author and source of all Blessings it cannot be but that it must needs communicate them in abundance to those who worthily receive it If by the other Sacraments we are enrich'd with so many Graces by the only vertue which the Son of God hath granted to them how many more may we in reason expect from this where the same Son of God is present not only by some communication of his vertue but by himself in Person God once gave Manna to the Israelites and he sustained them therewith for the full space of forty years the time which their Pilgrimage towards the land of Promise endur'd in the Desert This Manna fell
Virgin that thou partake of the thanks which I am obliged to render to thy Son since he hath been pleas'd I should receive him in this Communion It was to thee that this living bread descended from heaven and from thee he took the body and blood which he gives us for our food Luc. 1.42 Blessed be thou amongst women and blessed be the fruit of thy womb Let the Angells praise thee for that thou hast given us this fruit of life and prepared for us this divine food which nourisheth us and brings us to everlasting bliss Help me to preserve this fruit that I may never loose it more And as thou hadst grace after thou hadst happily born him in thy womb to conserve him also more fortunately in thy heart obtain of him for me the like favour without which this Communion would not be usefull to me O Holy mother of God assist me that I may conceive in my Soul thy Son Jesus Christ that he may be born in me that he may dayly increase that he may there live and reign as absolute Lord and Master of my Soul. You may add here any of those prayers which the Church is used to make to her as the hymn Ave Maris Stella her Litanies or the like ARTICLE IX How we ought to spend the day of our Communion IT is an advice of very great consequence to spend all that day in Piety and Devotion wherein you have performed so holy so religious and so august an action and to honour that day by the exercise of good works upon which God hath been pleas'd to Sanctify you by his presence To spend it otherwise is to fail in your respect to Jesus Christ and it happens but too often that by this neglect of our duty we loose the greater part of the fruit which otherwise we might reap from the holy Table of Communion What then you are to do Theotime on that day is frequently in the day time to call to mind and seriously to reflect upon the honour you have received and to acknowledg that it is beyond your capacity sufficiently to esteem it 2ly Not to distract your mind either with vain divertisements or with unprofitable frivolous discourses but to be more serious modest and reserved in all the actions of that day remembring what honour it is how they value themselves who are admitted to the presence of a King and consequently what hath been done to you whilest you were chosen to be the Temple of Jesus Christ 3ly Employ all that day in good works as far as you are able as the rest of the morning in Divine Service or reading some good book After dinner in hearing the word of God assisting at Evensong and the remainder of the day either in discourse with good and virtuous persons or in reading At night in your prayers be not unmindfull to give God thanks for your Communion and for all the favours which he hath bestowed upon you Beseech him most earnestly that he will give you grace to benefit your self there-by the next day and all the remainder of your life and to practise well all the resolutions you have made upon this occasion But for the better complyance with these holy resolutions remember that you renew them every day in your morning prayers even to the day of your following Communion and at night in your examen of conscience see and consider well whether you have faithfully fullfill'd them or whether you have failed therein and broke your promise and in what that so you may rectify your self out of hand and set your self again into the right way of the Service of God and the path of your own Salvation ARTICLE X. Of frequent Communion NOthing remains but that I exhort you to Communicate often dear Theotime and benefit your self of the great advantages which God presents you with in this Divine Sacrament It is in reality a great benefit to have Communicated well in the manner we have but just now declared But if after this one abstain a long time from it he endangers himself to loose the fruit of the foregoing Communion by relapsing into Sin and the disorders of his former Life There is a certain proportion betwixt Spiritual and Corporal nourishment This requires we should take it as often as the necessity of our Body shall require and we need it according as the natural heat consumes our substance and whatsoever else serves for its subsistance The same we must affirm of Spiritual food which serves to repair the forces of the Soul which are continually diminished and weakened by Concupiscence and all the passions with which it is assaulted If these forces are not frequently recruited the Life of Grace is by degrees much weakned and totally lost at length Now that which serves to repair them is the Sacred Eucharist which renews our strength and restores our Soul to her former vigour weakening Concupiscence diminishing the Passions preserving her from Mortal nay even from Venial Sins as we have already said and proved at large After this is there any necessity of other motives to persuade either you or any other Christian to frequent Communion Certainly those who are willing to do what is pleasing in the sight of God and to continue in his grace have need of none And I suppose you are one of that number I exhort you then by the Charity of Jesus Christ and by the excess of love which he shewed us in bestowing himself upon us in this adorable Mystery as the best means for our Salvation that you will frequently approach unto him in this Divine Sacrament to the end he may remain in you and you in him according as he himself hath promised and you surely cannot but desire Consider that your Soul is always sick and that these Distempers if neglected may bring you to Eternal Death Come then to this great Physitian who only is able to cure you and preserve you from death by this Bread which he hath given as himself affirms for the Life of the World. Joan. 6.52 Panis quem ego dabo caro mea est pro mundi vita Ponder O ponder well upon the earnest desire he hath to relieve you in all your wants and the ardent love with which he calls and even compels you to come unto him Mat 11.28 Come to me all you that labour and are burthened and I will refresh you In me you shall find the repose which your Souls desire They who are not won with these so moving and vehement expressions do they not evidently shew that they are altogether insensible of the love which Jesus Christ hath so plainly testified he hath for them and that they are enemies to their own Salvation Is it possible that you should be one of these Look to it for if you be you are not of the number of the Children of God for Children listen and attend to the voice of their Father come to him willingly and
were strictly united in the person of the Son of God. So that continuing what he was that is God he became what he was not viz. Man as St. Leo Sermone de Nativ Dom. expresses himself Manens quod erat assumpserat quod non erat Quest IV. How was this Divine Vnion accomplished WHen the fulness of time was come that God had decreed to send his Son for the redemption of Mankind he dismis'd from Heaven an Angell Messenger to the Blessed Virgin whom above all others he had chosen and in whom he had ordain'd this adorable mystery should be perform'd to declare unto her it was his will that she should be the temporall Mother of the Son of God. She had no sooner yielded and concurr'd with her consent to the accomplishing of the will of God thus manifested unto her but the Almighty power frames in her Virginal womb an humane body out of her purest blood creating in the same instant a rationall Soul to animate and inform it and in that same moment the Word who from all eternity terminates the Divinity began in time to terminate the Humanity of our Lord Uniting in his Person the two divine humane Natures And thus was fulfill'd that divine truth recorded by St. John Verbum caro factum est The word was made Flesh The Blessed Virgin having thus conceived the Son of God by the speciall work of the Holy Ghost at the end of nine months she brings him forth into the world nourishes maintains and breeds him up as other mothers use to do their Children and the Son of God lived with her thus unknown to the world untill the age of thirty years thenceforward only he began to manifest himself and to commence the work of our redemption for which he came Quest V. What is it that the Son of God hath done for our Redemption HE did four principall things first he preached publickly his Gospell during the space of three years and some months confirming the truth of his Doctrine his Mission and his Divinity by an infinite number of miracles Secondly he Suffer'd under Pontius Pilate a most bitter Passion and death upon the Cross upon which he offer'd himself a Sacrifice in satisfaction to the divine Justice for the Sins of all mankind and recompensation for the infinite injury which thereby was done to the divine Majesty Goodness and by this means to open the gates of Everlasting life for man to enter which till that time were shut against both Adam and all his Posterity Having performed this duty the third day he rose again from the dead and after that by frequent apparitions he had proved the truth of his Resurrection for the space of forty days he Ascended glorious and triumphant into Heaven from whence at the end of the World he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead all men according to their merits who for that end shall be raised from death to life and appear before him never more to die but receive either an Eternal Reward for their good or everlasting Punishment for their evil works Thirdly he establish'd and confirm'd his Church consisting of almost innumerable men Pastors and their Flock who should believe in him and continue in an uninterrupted Succession to the end of the world which Church Act. 20.28 he purchased with his blood Fourthly he instituted the Sacraments as the means to convey unto us the merits of his Passion and as so many pretious Vessels wherein is preserved the price of that adorable blood which he hath so abundantly shed for us to the end it might be applied unto us according as the necessity of our Salvation should require And for as much as these two last heads require a larger Explication we shall treat of them here in two distinct Articles ARTICLE III. What are we oblig'd to believe concerning the Church I Believe the Holy Catholique Church the Communion of Saints We must first believe that it is the Mysticall Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head or a Congregation of the Faithfull holding the same Doctrin or Faith which he taught using the same Sacraments which he instituted living under the conduct of the Apostles and succeeding Pastours and acknowledging the same visible Head the Vicar of Jesus Christ the Chief Bishop and true Successor of St. Peter Secondly that there is but one Church as there is but one God one Faith one Baptism as St. Paul Ephes 4.4 saith unum corpus unus Spiritus unus Dominus una Fides unum Baptisma unus Deus Pater omnium He that doth not conserve this Vnion saith St. Cyprian de unitat Eccles how can he believe that he hath Faith he who opposes and resists the Church who abandons the Chair of St. Peter upon which the Church is built how can he hope that he is in the Church since the blessed Apostle teacheth this same thing and shewing the sacred tye of Vnity affirming that there is but one body that is the Church as there is but one Spirit who governs it Thirdly that this is that only Church which acknowledgeth the Pope for her visible head whom Jesus Christ hath appointed to govern her and to be the source and Center of her Unity here on Earth which made St. Cyprian say ibid. that Heresies and Schisms spring from hence that some will not acknowledge in the Church one whom Jesus Christ constituted head over the rest in those words which he spoke to St. Peter Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give to thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and in another place feed my Sheep Vpon one man continues St. Cyprian Ibid. he builds his Church and gives him charge to feed his Flock And although he bestow'd an equal authority upon the Apostles as far as concerns the remission of Sins Yet that the Vnity of the Church might more clearly appear he hath ordain'd one Chair and it was his will that the Vnity take its Original and beginning from one man and a little after he saith that the Primacy was given to St. Peter to shew that the Church of Christ and the Chair was one St. Hierome L. 1. in Jovinian says the same thing viz. That St. Peter was preferred before the other Apostles to be the head of the Church to the end that the head being one all occasion of division in the Church might be removed Fourthly we are obliged to believe that there is no Salvation for any one out of this one true Church It is an Article of Faith which hath been held constantly in the Church this having always been an unquestion'd and current Maxim that he who will not have the Church for his Mother shall not have God for his Father Which was the reason why St. Hierome finding himself in the East where there was some division upon this Subject the names of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity writ to Pope
Damasus Epi. 57. that he was resolved never to depart from him but inseparably to unite himself unto him as to one who held the Chair of St. Peter upon which says he I know that the Church is built Adding that the Church thus built is the only house where it is lawfull to Eat the Paschal Lamb the Ark of Noah out of which during the Flood none were saved he that doth not gather with the Pope scattereth that is he who is not united to Jesus Christ doth associate himself with Anti-Christ Fifthly we are also obliged to believe that this true Church is Infallible in her judgments in matters of Faith and Doctrine concerning manners whether she be or be not assembled in the persons of her Pastours and Head viz. the Pope and Bishops she holds universally one and the same Doctrine This is also an Article of Faith grounded upon the word of the Son of God who hath promised that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against her his Church from whence it follows that she never either fell or ever shall fall into the least error in points of faith she being as the Apostle affirms the Pillar and ground of truth But we have already prov'd this truth above in the first Article Now from all what we have said both in the first Article and in the present question it follows that we must conclude and hold this for a certain and infallible truth that all saithfull Christians whosoever desire to be assured in points of faith and sound Doctrine concerning Manners and to avoid error in a matter of so great concern must of necessity adhere and stick close solely inseperably to the Holy Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church and hear and follow her Judgment and Doctrine in all things ARTICLE IV. What are we obliged to believe concerning the Sacraments I Believe the Remission of Sins We are obliged to believe what the Church hath always taught concerning the Sacraments viz. First that they are the means instituted by God thereby either to confer his Grace upon us or to augment what we have already received or to restore what we had lost as it is expressed in the Councill of Trent Sess 7. Proaem Secondly that a Sacrament may be rightly defined in this manner a Visible signe of invisible grace instituted by God for our sanctification 3. That this Visible sign consists and is as it were composed of two parts viz. the sensible thing which is applyed in the Sacrament as water in Baptism and the words which are pronounced as in the same Beptism these words I baptize thee c. according to that received doctrine delivered by St. Augustin Accedit verbum ad Elementum fit Sacramentum By the joyning of the words with the Element or Material thing the Sacrament becomes compleat One of these two parts is called the matter the other the form of the Sacrament 4. That the Sacrament being applyed by a lawfull Minister either gives or augments Sanctifying Grace in the Soul of the worthy receiver 5. That there are Seven Sacraments viz. Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Penance Extreme Unction Order Matrimony Baptism makes us the Children of Jesus Christ Washing us from the Stains of Original sin and enlivening our Soul with the Life of Grace whence St. Paul calls Baptism Tit. 3.5 the laver of regeneration and the renovation of the Holy Ghost Confirmation strengthens us and conserves and confirms us in the faith we received in Baptism The Holy Eucharist is the nourishment of the Soul for as by Meat and Drink our decayed Spirits are revived so by the use of the Blessed Sacrament those damages which Charity dayly suffers from humane frailty are repaired Penance restores us to the Grace of God which we had lost by sin Extreme Unction gives us strength at the hour of death that we may be the better able to fight against our Ghostly Enemy in that last Moment upon which Eternily depends it is a remedy against Spirituall weakness contracted by our former Sins Order consecrates the Ministers of Christ and gives them power to conferr the Sacraments Matrimony sanctifies the contract betwixt man and woman and gives them grace to comply with the obligations which they draw upon themselves by that indissoluble Bond instituted by God for the propagation of Mankind and raised to the dignity of a Sacrament by our Saviour Christ Altho' all or every one of the Sacraments do cause sanctifying grace yet they do not every one produce it in the same manner for there are two viz. Baptism and Penance instituted for the remission of Sins which conferr it upon those whom they find void of grace from whence it is that they are called the Sacraments of the dead that is to say of those who are dead in the sight of God in the state of Mortal Sin whom they raise up from that death to the life of grace whereas all the rest are called the Sacraments of the living in as much as they encrease the grace they find precedently in the Soul and to receive any one of these worthily it is necessary that we be in the state of grace The Soul by each Sacrament is not only sanctified by habitual but also endowed with actual grace that is with a vigour and strength towards the compassing of those particular effects for which it was first instituted and ordained Moreover there are three which imprint a character in the Soul Baptism Confirmation and Order this Character is a Spiritual Mark or Seal which God makes in his Soul who receives any of these three Sacraments which impression because it can never be rased out none of these three Sacraments can be reiterated or received the second time by the same Person without a Sacrilege CHAP. III. Of the Holy Eucharist ALL what we have said hitherto whether of Faith in general or in particular of the Divinity it self of the Incarnation of the Son of God of the Holy Church and of the Sacraments serve only as so many steps or dispositions to the belief of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and to render the understanding of this adorable Mystery more easy to us which therefore we shall here endeavour to explain as brief and short as possibly we may I shall reduce all whatsoever we are obliged to know concerning it into four heads 1. The real prefence of the Son of God in the Sacrament 2. The Wonders inseparably annext unto it 3. The effects which it is capable to produce 4. The dispositions necessary to receive it ARTICLE I. Of the real presence of the Son of God in the Holy Eucharist and of what we are to believe concerning this Sacrament WE are obliged to believe that it is a Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ wherein he gives us really and truly his Body and Blood under the species or exteriour appearance of Bread and Wine for our Spiritual nourishment and refection There is not any one particle of this general
words it follows that the flesh of the Son of God as a Divine nourishment works in the Soul of the worthy receiver the same effects Spiritually which the best Corporal nourishment produceth corporally in the body of those who take it Now the effects of corporal nourishment are four or five 1. It conserves life 2. It makes one grow or encrease 3. It fortifies us 4. It preserves us against distempers Infine it gives us strength to be able to labour and to comply with all our respective duties By these we may judge of the effects of the Holy Eucharist The first is to conserve Grace which is the life of the Soul and therefore it is called the Bread of Life the Bread which gives Life unto the World. The Second is to augment the same grace and encrease the Christian Virtues Faith Hope and Charity This effect however it be common to all the Sacraments yet it is more peculiar to this as being more particularly instituted for the nourishment of the Soul and to make us increase and proceed from Virtue to Virtue till we come to the house of God. The third is to strengthen us against sin and the temptations which incline that way hence the Councill of Trent affirm'd Sess 13. c. 2. that this Sacrament is a preservative against Mortal and a remedy against Venial Sin. The fourth effect is that it heals the distempers that is the passions and disorderly affections of the Soul. It weakens concupiscence or gives new strength to overcome it It diminishes Choler Envy Pride and other Vices as St. Bernard Serm. de Coena Domini excellently well observes If any one says he does not find so frequent or so violent motions of Anger Envy Impurity or of other like passions let him give thanks to the body and blood of our Lord for it is the vertue of the Sacrament which produces in him these effects and let him rejoyce that the worst of Vlcers begin to heal Lastly the Holy Eucharist gives perseverance in the grace of God and in the way of Salvation in the midst of the various imminent dangers which we encounter in this Life and particularly when we draw near death whence it was given sometimes to Martyrs when they were ready to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ and the Church always takes care to Communicate the sick when they are in danger of Death that so they may be Strengthened in that dangerous passage and happily arrive at the haven of Salvation by means of this divine nourishment then called the Viaticum which is as much as to say the Provision for that voiage All these admirable effects evidently prove the greatness and excellence of this divine Sacrament and ought effectually to move us frequently to approach unto it and not neglect so many and so signal favours as God there presents unto us Yet we are to take notice that it doth not produce these Effects except in such persons as are rightly disposed to receive it as it deserves Of these dispositions we will now discourse ARTICLE IV. Of the dispositions required to Communicate well and as we ought WE shall inferr the dispositions from the same principle from which we gathered the effects viz. from the nature of the nourishment and Spiritual food we receive in the Holy Euchrist and as it produces the same effects in the Soul that food doth into the Body so also it requives proportionable dispositions in the Soul that nourishment doth to be beneficial to the Body Now Corporall nourishment we know requires three dispositions Life Health Action for a dead body is uncapable to be nourished an infirm Stomack can never make a good digestion nor is it possible to convert the food into our substance except that health be accompanied with our action which is the reason that the body to be nourished requires to be alive to be sound and well and to have an action of its own Thus the Eucharist that Celestiall food requires three dispositions in the Soul and without them it doth no good but harm The first is Sanctifying Grace which is the life of the Soul as mortall Sin is the death incompatible with it depriving us of this Supernatural life of the Soul Without this life the Soul not only receives no benefit from Communion but suffers also much detriment from this holy Table inofmuch as she becomes guilty of a new mortall Sin a Sacriledge which she commits by inviting the Authour of Life into the habitation of Death the author of Light into the place of Darkness and Jesus Christ into the company of the Devil This made St. Paul 1 Cor. 21.28 advertise all Communicants to examen themselves well when they approach to this holy table because saith the Apostle he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks damnation to himself The Second disposition is the interiour Health of the Soul which requires 1st that she be free from any affection to veniall Sin. 2ly that she be not actually moved either with Passions or Affections which may hinder her in her application and address to Jesus Christ And altho' these defects do not render the Communicant absolutely unworthy or the Communion Sacrilegious yet they cause very ill effects and considerably diminish the fruits which otherwise it would produce They hinder the Soul from digesting this sacred food by good thoughts and holy affections And as nutriment which lies indigested upon the Stomack begets crudities and causes Sickness in the body so this divine sustenance by means of these indispositions becomes prejudicial to the Soul. Thereby we contract tepidity and coldness in devotion Charity and other Virtues are considerably diminish'd our good actions weak and feeble our selves by degrees insensible of all good things which conduce to Piety And thus by degrees at last we are often brought into mortall Sin. The Third disposition is Action that is actual devotion To receive the fruits of this Sacrament it is not sufficient that we be not indisposed or that we do not put any obstacle to its effects it is necessary also that in this so religious an action wherein we receive the Holy of Holys and the Author of Holiness it self we concur with dispositions of our own which consist in the practice of Christian Virtues Of which we shall speak below in the Second Part of this Instruction ARTICLE V. Of an Vnworthy Communion AN ancient Lawgiver being ask'd why he had made no Laws against Paricides made answer because he esteemed that crime impossible that there could not be found Children so degenerate and unnaturall as to attempt the life of their own Parents I would to God we could say the same with truth in the point of Instruction concerning unworthy Communion or that we could truly say that it is not necessary to advertise Christians to avoid that so horrid Sacriledge because it is impossible for a man professing himself a Christian ever to be guilty of so enormous a crime against
these great acts of Faith and Hope are of no use If then these two Virtues without Charity are useless in respect of Salvation it is certain that of themselves without Charity they are not sufficient dispositions to receive into our brest the author of Salvation The Son of God entring into us by the Holy Communion would willingly find there a dwelling place prepared and worthy of him which cannot be except Charity be there For as S. Augustin says excellently well Faith is the foundation of the house of God in our Soul by Hope the Walls are raised but Charity is the roof and perfection of the work Domus Dei credendo fundatur sperando erigitur diligendo perficitur This is the reason why Salomon as it is recorded in Holy Writ building a Temple to God was not satisfied to lay the ground-work upon a Mountain and build it with stones of great value but over and above he caused 3. Reg. 6.20 that part of the Temple where the Ark of the Testament was to be placed to be covered and seeled with the purest Gold. The Holy Ghost teaching us by this figure that the house of God ought to be adorned with the most refined Gold of Charity without which it cannot be an agreeable or pleasing habitation for him In this divine Sacrament we receive the Bread of Life whereby as by Celestial food our Soul is nourished and preserv'd in the Life of Grace It is then required that it find the Soul alive no dead thing being capable of nourishment Now the life of the Soul is Charity and as the beloved Disciple saith 1. Jo. 3.14 He that loveth not is already dead This Celestial bread is the bread of the Children of God it is made for them and it is an horrible Sacrilege for any one to receive it who is not of that Number as we have said above Part. 1. Chap. 3. Art. 5. Vere panis filiorum non mittendus canibus Now what is it that makes men the Children of God and what is it by which they are distinguished from Children of the Devil St. Augustin Tract 5. in Epist 1. Jo. saith that it is Charity and nothing else Dilectio sola discernit inter filios Dei filios Diaboli The sign of the Cross Baptism frequenting the Church and the other marks of Christianity do not sufficiently distinguish betwixt the one and the other Charity alone is the only distinctive sign betwixt them He who loves God is the Child of God he who loves him not is the Child of perdition or of the Devil In fine it is a Heavenly banquet where our Lord gives himself for our food his body for meat and his blood for drink and to which he invites us with a love great beyond all comparison but he invites only his friends Eat says he Cant. 5.2 my friends and drink Now he is not a friend of Jesus Christ who doth not love him who doth not comply with his will in all things If you love me says he Jo. 14.14 keep my Commandments v. 21. He who knows my Commandments and observes them he and he alone it is that loves me It is his will that every one should come to this Banquet with that preparation which such a feast deserves that we bring with us the Nuptial garment if he find here any one so rash and temerarious as to present himself before him without this Ornament he rejects him as unworthy Now this robe is nothing else but that of Charity which renders our Soul acceptable to God and worthy to approach unto him Ps 44.14 In vestitu deaurato circundata varietate In a word it is most certain that to communicate well and as we ought we must be in the state of grace which without Charity it is impossible to be and this is the reason why we cannot communicate worthily without the Queen of Virtues ARTICLE II. That we must have a special care to distinguish false Charity from true THere is not any one who questions the precedent truth all agreeing that to receive worthily there must of necessity be the love of God in our heart since he hath bestowed himself upon us with such an admirable so unexpressible a love But all do not agree in the nature and quality of this love forasmuch as there are many who judge of it rather according to their own inclinations then consequent to the rules of truth There is not any one except perhaps some furious desperate Person who will not love God whom he knows to be the Author of all good and who does not at least think he loves him but there are almost infinite numbers of People who deceive themselves in this their belief and have nothing but a false and imaginary hope of God whereas they think they truly love him Such is their Charity who say they love God and yet hate their Neighbour or who will not pardon an injury or deny to be reconciled to their Enemy for as St. John says very well 1. Jo. 4.20 If any one shall say he loves God and hates his brother he is a Lyar. Such is their Charity who say they love God yet they have ill gotten goods which they will not restore who continue in an evil habit of Mortal Sin without having a firm purpose to amend and theirs who neglect to acquit themselves of the obligations of their State In a word all theirs who fail in the observance of Gods Commandments in any thing whatsoever This being an undoubted Maxim that the true and only mark of the love of God is to keep his Commandments If any one love me saith our Lord Jo. 14.23 he will keep my words that is my Commandments he who doth not love me observes them not And St. John after him 1. Jo. 2.4 assures us that he who says that he knoweth him God that is in the Scripture phrase he who saith he loves God and does not keep his Commandments is a Lyar and the truth is not in him All and every one of these sorts of Charity are false and deceitfull those who love God in this manner do not love him at all and those who Communicate only with this kind of love are unworthy Communicants and eat and drink Damnation to themselves The true love of God is only that which makes us observe his Commandments in all things which makes us fearfull to incurr his displeasure by any Mortal Sin and which makes us preferr his friendship before all whatsoever is most dear unto us as before our Pleasures our Estate our Honour and our Life it self being ready to loose all or any of these things when otherwise we might preserve them rather then offend God. Behold Theotime what it is that is the love of God without which it is impossible to be in the State of Grace or Communicate worthily and as we ought and that you may understand it better read what follows ARTICLE III. What is Charity IT is a Virtue
the most delicious viands you can possibly present him with Prepare your self to make him an offering of your heart to love him and of your self with all fidelity to serve him 3. Set forth upon your way to meet him and to invite him into your house by good thoughts and Holy affections Cant. 5. Veniat dilectus meus in hortum suum O Jesus come into my Soul as into a Garden which much delights thee Make her O make her fit and worthy to receive thee cleanse her and vouchsafe to take away from her whatsoever may be Offensive to thee plant in her and adorn her with the flowers which best please thee that is with Purity and Humility Veni Domine Jesu Come O Saviour of my Soul Come and save me by thy Grace and deliver me from those Enemies who design my Eternal ruine After Communion PErform that towards Jesus Christ which we are wont to do when a Person of Quality whom we have long expected is arrived For after the first meeting and salutation we conduct him to the apartment prepared for him and there we perform these four things 1. We give him some great or signal testimonies of our respect friendship and acknowledgment for the Honour which we receive by his presence 2. We offer him the best things we have such as may be most pleasing to him 3. If we have need of his assistance we beg such things as we want willingly would have And in fine 4. When he returns we give him thanks acknowledging the honour of the visit we renew and repeat to him the protestations of fidelity friendship and service Behold as in a pattern how you are to behave your self towards Jesus Christ immediately after Communion As soon therefore as you have receiv'd the Sacred host with much Faith and a profound Humility adore our Lord who is within you Then departing modestly from the holy Table withdraw your self into some convenient place and employ your self in the following thoughts Conduct our Lord not into your body since he is there already but into the place of your Soul wherein he most delights that is into your heart and your affection That is to say six your thoughts upon him and comply with the following duties Make acts of Adoration of Love and of Acknowledgment in this manner and first Of Adoration O my God and my Saviour Jesus Christ I adore thee from the bottom of my heart I firmly believe that I now possess thy Body thy Blood thy Soul and thy Divinity I acknowledge that thou art in me all and every one of these ways O Greatness of God! is it possible that thou shouldest humble thy self so low O goodness how immense art thou and yet art pleased thus to remain with us Thou dost not only come and inhabit with us but thou bestowest thy self upon us for our food and nourishment and to whom to a poor and wretched servant as I am A Lord to his Slave God to his creature Jesus Christ to a Sinner O res mirabilis manducat Dominum pauper servus humilis Altho' there were nothing else but my mean and base condition it would make me unworthy to receive thee but I am become more undeserving by my sins and yet thou hast the goodness not only to say to me as David did to Miphiboseth that I shall Eat at thy Table 2. Reg. 9.7 Et tu comedes panem in mensa mea semper But also thou thy self offerest thy self unto me for my food and nourishment O Divine Goodness how have I deserved such and so great favours Ibid. Quis sum ego quoniam respexisti super canem mortuum Ponder well upon these words and consider what you were before by sin less in the sight of God then a dead Dog in respect of his Master and that you are now by his grace and favour restored to the number of the Children of God and seated at his Table nourished with his Body and Blood. Next pass on to the Acts of Love and Acknowledgment Acts of Love towards Jesus Christ O My God what return shall I make for this so signal favour and what shall I do to acknowledge it Is it possible that I should not continually love thee after this excess of love which thou hast shew'd me Thou hast loved me to that degree as to lay down thy Life for my sake and shall I not make this return as only to live for thee Thou at present hast communicated thy self wholly to me and shall not I be from henceforward wholly thine O my God permit me not to be so ungratefull and so insensible of thy Love and my own Salvation I protest here before thee that I will be faithfull to thee for the future that I will never part from thee by any disobedience to thy Commandments Ps 118.93 In aeternum non obliviscar justificationes tuas quia in ipsis vivificasti me I will never forget thy bounty nor the favour which thou hast done me in admitting me to thy mercy I will love thee with all my heart O my Saviour Ps 17. Diligam te Domine fortitudo mea firmamentum meum refugium meum liberator meus I will love thee and I do love thee O my God my strength my support my refuge and my deliverer Thou art my God and my All. Deus meus omnia What is there either in Heaven or upon Earth that I should love besides thee Ps 72.25 Quid mihi est in Coelo a te quid volui super terram Deus cordis mei pars mea Deus in aeternum O my God I will not love either in Heaven or Earth any thing but thee Thou art the God of my heart the inheritance and only happyness I pretend to I have made choice of thee and I will never change An Offering to Jesus Christ WHat shall I give thee O my Saviour in acknowledgment of thy favours and as an earnest of the love which now I promise thee I have not any thing worthy of thee and if I had I have nothing but what is from thee and what is thine and due to thee upon all accounts but thou art pleased to accept what is thy own upon several heads Hence it is that I offer my self unto thee that is my Body and my Soul which are now sanctified by the Honour of thy Divine presence I consecrate them both unto thee since at present thou hast vouchsafed they should serve thee as a Temple My Body never more to be employ'd as an Instrument of Sin My Soul to know thee to love thee and evermore to be faithfull to thee O Lord bless I beseech thee the Present which I make thee Sanctify them both since they have served thee for a Temple Benedic Domine domum istam Permit not that my Body be any more defiled with impure delights nor my Soul by a will to commit any Mortal Sin. This resolution I here make in thy presence
to be faithfull to thee and to be all thine to serve thee with Body and Soul to correct the evil inclinations of them both to fight against my self and deny my self my wonted pleasures my Delights my Passions my Concupiscence my Anger my Ambition my own will and lastly all whatsoever may offend thee O my God. A Prayer to Jesus Christ DOmine Deus 1. Par. 29.18 Custodi in aeternum hanc voluntatem O my Saviour conserve in my Soul this holy resolution which thou hast given me and grant me grace to put it faithfully in execution I can do nothing of my self and without thy assistance I beg it of thee with all my heart that I may conquer all tho' almost innumerable difficulties which occurr in the way of my Salvation Regard me with the eyes of thy Mercy strengthen me daily with thy Grace Psal 24.16 Respice in me miserere mei quia unicus pauper sum ego Tribulationes cordis mei multiplicatae sunt de necessitatibus meis erue me When you have finished all these acts you may proceed and make use of the Prayers in your Manuall after Communion or other vooal Prayers according as your Devotion shall dictate to you And I say the same also of the Prayers which the same Manuals have as a preparation to Communion But all this is to be understood provided still that you apply your chief endeavours to the practise of the acts of some one or more of the precedent Virtues ARTICLE VII Advices concerning the precedent practices of Faith Hope and Charity THese are some prescriptions to be be observed concerning the practice which we have given you of these three Virtues in order to Communion The First is that it is not necessary to employ them all equally every time we Communinicate because they may be too long But it is enough that we insist particularly upon the practice of some one of the three and to direct the principall fruit of the Commmunion to that End. Thus you may choose for one Communion the practice of Faith for the next that of Hope and Charity for the third Secondly That you may reap the benefit of any of these Virtues you must prepare your self beforehand by reading the practices which we have given thereof you shall read then that which you intend to practice and take notice of the acts and endeavour to understand them well and make them your own Thirdly When the time of Communion shall be at hand you shall practice these acts as you reade them here But remember that your heart go along with your words that is to say that you reade them with attention and perform them with heart and mind To this end you must read them softly repeat and ruminate upon them within your self insisting upon those which move you most They are for the most part words taken out of Holy writ which I collected on purpose that you may learn them with more ease and that they may more efficaciously move you being the very words of the Holy Ghost In fine to conclude and reap the benefit of the practice of these three Virtues employ some part of the day of your Communion in pondering upon what you have practiced in the morning to this end reade the whole Chapter which concerns that Virtue and let it be the Spirituall Lesson for the day of your Communion ARTICLE VIII Another Advice of Prayer to the Blessed Virgin before and after Communion THis is what I recommend unto you most earnestly Dear Theotime that you do not forget the prayer to the Blessed Virgin before and after Communion Before Communion that you may obtain by her intercession the grace to Communicate worthyly conceiving as she did the Son of God in your heart before you receive him in your body as St. Ambrose affirm'd of her Prius concepit mente quam corpore And that you may be replenish'd with those holy dispositions whereby she merited to receive the Son of God himself into her womb and particularly with those of Purity and Humility which were the two virtues by which according to St. Bernard she attracted to her the Son of God She pleased him by her Virginity and conceived him by her Humility Virginitate placuit humilitate concepit For this reason you shall address your self unto her in this or some such like manner A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin before Communion O Blessed Virgin most worthy mother of God behold me upon the point of receiving him the very same person whom thou didst conceive in thy chast bowells and ready to partake of the adorable body and blood which he received from thee It concerns thee that he be received with all the respect and honour he deserves and that he be not unworthyly treated by those upon whom he bestows himself with so much love This is the cause why I address my self unto thee that thou wouldest vouchsafe to obtain of him in my behalf all the blessings which I stand in need of in this Communion Obtain of him that he take possession of my heart by love before he enter into my body by the Sacrament And that loving him I may be worthy to receive him Beg and by thy powerfull intercession obtain of him these dispositions for me these two important virtues which assured him unto thee and render'd thee deservedly his worthy mother I mean Purity and Humility That he find nothing in me which may tast either of Impurity or Pride And for this reason it is that I detest from my heart these two Sins which infinitely displease both him thee And I am fully resolv'd to use all my endeavours that I may perfectly acquire these two excellent virtues by which I heartily desire to please him and to imitate thee begging for this end his grace by thy holy intercession which I implore with all my heart After Communion YOu shall pray to her that by her intercession you may obtain grace to conserve her Son Jesus Christ whom you have corporally received also Spiritually in your Soul as she her self after she had conceived brought him into the world preserved him always in her heart by means of that love which kept her Soul continually fixed upon her dearly beloved Son a love whereby she enjoy'd a greater happiness then she did by being chosen the Mother of God according to the sentiment of a Father of the Church It is true says Venerable Bede in Luc. the Mother of God was truly happy upon this account that she became his Mother in the Incarnation and conceived him in her body but questionless she was much more happy for that she conserved him perpetually in her heart by love as she always did Form in your understanding a right conceit of this happiness and pray to the Blessed Virgin that she will obtain it for you for ever To this end direct the following prayer to her A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin after Communion IT is just O Blessed
esteem themselves happy in his company and above all they take it for a peculiar honour that they are admitted to eat at his Table What shame is it then for Christians so to neglect so great a treasure and so nigh at hand to be just at the Spring-head of Divine Graces and not esteem them to remain in the death of Sin when the Fountain of Life is at their disposal Ezech. 33.11 quare moriemini domus Israel and why do you deliver your selves to death O house of Israel O Christians amongst whom God hath chose his habitation upon earth why do you suffer your selves thus to dye having the author of Life so near you who invites you to come and threatens you if you do not accept his invitation Crying out to you in a loud voice John 6.54 unless ye eat my Body and drink my Blood you shall have no life in you Adding that he who eateth me shall live for my sake After such threats if we do not come and so great assurance if we do what can we alledge before the divine Tribunall at the day of judgment if still we are at a distance from him from God the Fountain of life and continue still companions to the enemy of mankind in the state of death and Sin and this because we are unwilling so to live that frequently we may partake of this living and life-giving bread Call to mind the feast in the parable Luc. 14. where the Master of the house shewed so much anger and indignation against those who refused to come after they had been so solemnly invited They excused themselves the best they could some with their affairs others with their pleasures one said he was obliged to go to his country house another that he went to try the Oxen he had bought and the third that he was taken up and employed about his marriage but not any of these excuses were admitted they were all rejected as frivolous pleas and therefore themselves for framing them were all judged worthy to be not only then but ever after excluded from that Banquet And this is the method which God shall use towards Christians who refrain from the Sacraments upon the vain pretences which usually they form to themselves for all their excuses shall be rejected and themselves punished as in in the Parable we have seen To those who shall excuse themselves with the affairs and employments of the world it shall be answer'd that there is no concern of such importance as that of their Salvation which therefore they ought to prefer before all other things And they shall be reproached with this that they have prefer'd their temporal concerns before their eternal happiness and made more account of the possessions of this world then of the grace of God. To those who shall excuse themselves with the indispositions of their Soul saying that they have not that virtue which is required for frequent Communion One may reply that their excuse is but too true yet it is a very bad one for that it is their duty so to live that they may Communicate dayly and to use all imaginable industry to render themselves capable thereof Lastly we shall find that there is no other cause why people communicate but seldom besides their sloath their indevotion and fear lest if they should frequent the Sacraments thereby they shou'd be obliged to live holily and in a word a will or a tacit resolution not to amend their lives but to remain in their Sins their Pleasures their Covetuousness Ambition and in all their irregular affections O Theotime avoid this great misfortune this fault so generall and yet so common amongst Christians who slight in this manner their Salvation and the great advantages which by the goodness Mercy of God are presented to them Learn in time to set a great value on them to advantage your self from thence approaching frequently to these divine mysteries instituted by God the means for your Salvation Begin this exercise from your youth and continue it thence-forward all your life that you may perform it dayly better and better and oftener approach to the Holy Table of Communion and receive our Lord. ARTICLE XI When and how often we ought to Communicate THe time which you ought most commonly to observe in your communion is that of every month so that you should not exceed that time without giving your Soul the opportunity to partake of this divine nourishment of the holy Eucharist It is very hard for you to stay so long without having a considerable want of help to resist the temptations of your Ghostly enemy or repress the passions which spring from your age and the heat of blood You have need of strength whereby you may be able to withstand the Devil as also of a good preservative against your self The one and the other you shall find in the holy communion wherefore it is fit you have recourse unto it according to the proportion of the necessity you find that you have thereof Beside it is necessary that you grow up and encrease in the fear of God and in all Christian virtues Faith Hope Charity Humility Temperance Modesty and the rest Which you can never do if you Communicate but seldom Take this then for a general rule that regularly speaking you Communicate once a month and oftener upon either of these occasions 1st When there happens any Solemn feast as of our Lord or of the Blessed Virgin which you should never let pass without receiving the Blessed Sacrament both because you should honour the Feast by this Sacred action as also make your self worthy to partake of the graces which God more liberally distributes in respect of the united prayers of the faithfull on those days The 2d is when you perceive in your self any considerable want thereof as when you are assaulted with more violent or more frequent temptations for then you must have recourse to this remedy to strengthen you least you fall into mortall Sin. And if by misfortune it have so happen'd that you are already faln therein for want of due foresight of the fall which easily happens not only to young people but to many others by reason they are not sensible of the evil before it be faln upon them in this case Theotime take care to confess your self forthwith And as for Communion take the advice of your Ghostly father whether it be to receive that day if he find you suffiently disposed or to defer it some days longer during which time you may prepare your self for it by doing penance for your Sins and deploring in the presence of God the misery which hath befaln you Behold what you are to observe concerning the time of Communion whilst yet you are young When you shall be more advanc'd in age in judgment and in the love of God you may Communicate more frequently still according to the counsell you shall receive in that point supposing you have a good guide