Of the excellencie gretnes of this Sacrament se what he saith As ofte as ye shall do this so ofte shal ye make a remembrance of me vntil I come Therfore we hauing in mind his most glorious passion resurrection from hel his ascentioÌ„ to heaueÌ„ we do offer vnto this spotles sacrifice reasonable host bloudlesse offering this holy bread and Cuppe of lyfe euerlastyng We bothe aske and pray the that thou woldest take this oblation into thy high alter by the handes of thy holy Angelles as thou haste vouchesafe to receaue the rewardes of thy Iust seruante Abell and the sacrifice of our patriarke Abraham and that which the high preist Melchisedech hathe offered vnto the. Therfore how oft soeuer thou dost receaue what saith the Apostel to ye. Howe ofte so euer we do take we do show the Lordes death If we showe deathe we showe remission of synnes Remission of synnes howe ofter so euer bloude is shed it is shed in remission of synnes I muste alwaye take it that my synnes maye be remytted I that alwaye do synne muste alwaye haue a medison De Sacramentis li. 6. Cap. 1 For as our Lorde Iesu Christ is the true sonne of God not as men by grace but as a sonne of the substaunce of his father So is it the veray fleshe as he sayde and the veray bloude whiche we drinke But perauenture ye may saye how veray fleshe I that se the similitude se not the truthe of the bloude Fyrst I tolde you of the worde of Christ which worketh that it is able to chaunge and conuert kyndes of nature institute Farthermore whan his disciples dyd not take the worde of Christ but hearinge that he wolde gyue them his fleshe to eate and his bloude to drynke they went backe yet Peter onely sayde thou hast the wordes of lyfe and shal I go from the Therfore least that mo shoulde saye so as ther were a certayne fear of bloud but that the grace of the redemer might abyde styll therfore in a similitude thou takest the sacrameÌ„t but yet thou gettest the grace and vertue of the true nature In his firste prayer at masse I O Lorde remeÌ„bringe thy passion do come vnto thyne alter all though I be a synner that I may offer to the that sacrifice which thou dydest ordayne and commaunde to be offered for our saluation in remembraunce of the. Aduersus uigilantium I reproue all opinions agaynste the churche openly condempne theÌ„ Amb. de fide ab Garcianum Away with Argumentes where fayth is sought Thomas had a greate cause to maruel when he saw Christes body brought into the house with oute hurte through the gates closed whiche coulde not be passed through with mennes bodyes Saynt Ambrose in his boke De spiritu sancto lib iii. Cap. xii It is therfore no meane question and therfore we should the more diligently consyder what is the fotestole For we reade in a nother place heauen is my throne and the earthe the fotestole of my fete But yet the earth is not to be worshipped of vs because it is a creatur of God And yet let vs se though lest the Prophete name the earth to be worshypped which our Lord Iesus toke in the takinge of fleshe So theÌ„ by the fotestole let the earth be vnderstand then by the earth the flesh of Christ which we do now worship also in the misteries and which the Apostelles as we haue before sayd worshiped in our lord Iesu for christ is not deuided but one S. Augustyne Fo. xxxviii Here begynneth the sayinge of Saynt Augustyne priore contione Psal 33. Cum fugerit Dauid Saul persecutorem iniquiens ait Christ was borne in his own haÌ„des CHrist was borne in his owne handes Howe can that be in man Who can vnderstand for who is borne in his owne handes A man may be borne in other mens handes no manne is borne in his owne handes Howe it may be vnderstande in Dauid after the letter I fynde not in Chryste we fynde Christ truely was borne in his owne handes when he geuing his bodye sayth This is my body That body verely was borne in his owne handes Contra literas Petiliani Lib. ii It is another passeouer that the Iewes do celebrate with a shepe an other that we celebrate in the bodye and bloude of our Lorde Christe in Sacramentes fewe in nombre moost excellent in signification hath bounde together a felowshyppe of newe people As baptysme is consecrate in the name of the Trinitie Ad Ianuarium Epi. 118. and the communicatynge of the bodye and bloude of hym And if anye other thynge be commended therin Scriptures canonicall it doth playnely appeare what tyme the Apostels toke fyrst the bodye and bloude of oure lorde that they dyd not take it fastynge is it therfore to accuse maliciously the vniuersall churche that it is alway receaued of the fastynge For that cause it pleased the holye gost that in the honour of so great a sacrament that the bodye of our Lorde shoulde firste enter into the Christian mouth before other meates Therfore thoroughout all the worlde this maner is obserued Let vs heare oure Lorde not speaking of the sacrament of baptysme De peccatorum merites et remissionem but of the sacrament of his holy table Except ye eate my fleshe drynke my bloude ye shall not haue lyfe in you What do we seke more What can they aunswer to this excepte with stubbornes they do bend their brawling synowes contrary to the cleare trueth Was not the Lorde ones offered in hym selfe and yet in the Sacrament not onely by al the solempnities of Easter but euery daye to the people is offered Nor he doth not lye Omni die populus immolatur which beynge demaunded dyd aunswer him to be offered For if the Sacrament had not a certaine similitude of those thynges whereof they be Sacramentes they shulde not be Sacramentes at all Therfore they be called sacramentes because one thing is seene in them another thinge vnderstanded That which is sene hath a bodelye forme Epistola ad bonifacium that whiche is vnderstande hath a spirituall frute He that taketh the mysterye of an vnitie and kepeth not the bonde of peace he taketh not the bonde of mistery for hym selfe but a wytnesse agaynst hym self I remember my sayinge when I dydde treat of Sacramentes I told you that after the words of Christ that whiche is offered is called breade but when the wordes of Christe is spoken then it is not called bread Ante consecrationeÌ„ pa. drÌ„ post consecrationem corpus appellatur but it is called the bodye Therefore in the Lordes prayer we pray Oure breade but as it is sayde in greke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 supersubstancial not that whiche goeth into the bodye but that of eternall lyfe which vpholdeth the substaunce of our soule Quâ—tidie Take dailye that maye dailye profite the. So lyue that
thou maiste dailye deserue to take it Dailye holy Iob dyd offer for his children sacrifice lest any thinge either in heart or worde they shold offend Therfore thou hearest that as often soeuer the sacrifyce is offered the death of the lorde the resurrection of the lord the ascention of the lord is signified remission of sinnes and the daily bread of euerlasting lyfe thou doest not take He that hathe a wounde desireth a medison it is a wounde that we be vnder synne The heauenly honorable sacrament is a medison The fyrst sacramentes which were obserued by the law Contra Faustū lib 19. ca 13 were for messyngers of Christe to come whiche when Christe dyd fullfill with his commynge were taken awaye And therefore were they taken awaye because they were fulfilled For Christ came not to breake the law but to fulfill it And there be other institucions greater in vertu better in profyte easyar to be done fewer in nombre as by the Iustice of God shewed into the libertie to them that be called the childern of God If in the olde tyme righteouse men for this foreshowinge sacramentes figures of thinges not yet fulfilled Dani 13 2 Mac 7 were redy to suffer harde horrible thinges as of the thre children whiche in Danyell is manifest and of the Machabes how moche the more now for the baptysme of Christ for the bodye or Eucharist of Christ euery Christian ought to be more redy to suffer all maner of thinges We worshyppe the fote stole of his fete for it is holy What is the fotestole of his fete The earth is the fotestole of his fete Here I am in a doubte I am afrayde to worshippe the earth lest he should condempne me that made heauen and earth Agayne I am afrayde not to worshippe the stoole of my LORDES feete because the Psalme nynetye and eyghte sayinge vnto me Thou shalte worshippe the stole of his fete I aske what is the stole of his fete Beynge thus tossed to and fro I turne me to Christ for hym I seke here and fynde how that without violence of Goddes honor the earth maye be worshypped and so withoute violation of GODDES honoure the stole of his fete may be worshypped For christ toke of the earthe earthe for the fleshe is of the earthe and he toke flesh of the flesh of Mary and because in that fleshe he walked here We eate the same flesh that was borne of the vyrgin Mary and gaue the same fleshe to be eaten of vs for our saluation no man eateth that fleshe except he fyrst haue worshipped it It is so founde oute how souche a fotestole of the Lorde maye be worshipped And not onely that we synne not in worshippinge of it but that we synne in not worshippynge of it And though it be necessary that it be visible celebrate I wolde not that ye toke my wordes so grossely as they which beleuinge me to cutte forth certayne peces of my body and to geue them in meate But I haue commended vnto you a certayne sacrament vnder these wordes my fleshe shal be geuē you vnder sacramentes that it may be eaten not accordinge to this grosnes that ye se but spiritually it must be vnderstande and spiritually vnderstanded it wyll geue life vnto you for visibly must this Sacrament be celebrate but my fleshe shal be vnder the same inuisible and inuisible there beynge present it must be vnderstand Visibiliter celebretur sed inuisibiliter intelligitur And though it be necessary it to be celebrate visible it must nedes be vnderstande inuisible Conciōe .ii. Psal 33 DAuid fled to Achimalech and before him he chaunged his countenaunce Fugit Dauid ad Achimelech eoram to mutauit multū suū 1 reg 21 and lefte hym and went his wayes for there was a sacrifice after the order of Aaron afterwarde he of his body bloud institute a Sacrifice after the order of Melchisedech He chaunged his countenaunce in the preisthod he lefte the people of the Iewes and came to the Gentyles He was borne in his owne handes when he gaue his bodye and his bloude He toke into his own handes that the faithfull knoweth and he dyd beare hym selfe after a manner when he sayde This is my body Eodē psal contione primo The Sacrifice of Aaron is take away and the Sacrifice is begonne after the order of Melchisedech Therfore hathe he chaunged his countenaunce I can not tell how ▪ who is this I can not tell who I knowe who for our Lorde Iesus Christe is knowen in bodye and bloude He woulde be oure health wherfore he hath geuē vs his body bloude of his owne humilite for except he had ben meke he wolde neither haue ben eaten nor drōken Sermo 4. Our daily bread whether we aske exhibition necessarye to the bodye of the father signifienge in bread what soeuer is necessarye to vs or we do vnderstande that daiely bread which we are wōt to receaue of the alter We aske wel that he may geue it vs. For what is that we aske or praye for but that we commyt none euell wherby we be seperate from souche breade and the worde of God that is daiely preached is breade for because that it is breade of the soule For when this lyfe shall passe away Sacramen altaris we do not seke for that breade whiche honger seketh for nor we ought not to take the sacramēt of the alter that we shal be ther with Christe whose bodye we take nor the wordes ought not to be sayde to vs whiche we say vnto you nor the boke is not to be redde that we shal se hym which is Gods worde Serm. 46 by whiche all thinges be made The Lorde Iesus hathe exhorted by promyse of eternal lyfe to eate his fleshe and drinke his bloude as it is manifest in the gospell in these wordes He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud Therfore they that now do eat and drink let them think what they eat what they drinke least as the Apostle saith they eate and drinke their owne iudgemente not iudginge the Lordes body They that eat not and drinke not let them make haste to suche dayntyes beinge hidden Christ doth daiely feed his table is that whiche is set in the myddes What cause is it Christus quotidis pascit Oh herears that ye see the table and cōmeth not to the daynties perauenture ye thinke Fideles norunt quo modo caro manducatur Infideles nesciunt how is the Lordes fleshe eaten and his bloude dronken with infideles it is not knowen but the faithful know Come to the profession and thou hast assoyled the question Let the faithefull lyue well that they eate not into iudgement and drinke Thinkinge vpon your degrees and kepinge your profession come to the fleshe of our Lorde vntill the worlde be ended Oure Lorde is aboue but yet for all that the truthe of the
if one dyed for all that they euen whiche lyue nowe lyue not to them selues but to hym that dyed for them and rose agayne Souche affecte and faith therfore shoulde he prepare in his mynde whiche dothe participate of the breade and cup. If there be greate threatenynges put for them in the olde lawe that rashely go to those holy thinges whiche be of men sanctifyed What is to be sayde on hym whiche vnto souche so greate a misterye that is to saye of the body bloude of our Lorde is folyshly rashe For the greater that any thinge is then they in the temple after the Lordes voyce so moche the more greuouse and terrible it is to hym that is constitute in the vnclennes of the soule rashely to touch the body of Christ the Apostle sayinge he that eateth and drinketh vnwoorthely shal be gyltye of the body bloude of our Lorde yea a more vehement and more terrible iudgement expressynge by repeticion Let man proue hym selfe If a man onely beinge constitute in vnclennes haue so terrible iudgement how moche more he whiche when he is in synne presumeth to attayne to our Lordes bodye dothe get to hym selfe iudgement Therfore let vs make cleane our selues frome all filthynes and so let vs come to the holy thinges that we escape the iudgemente of them that put our Lord to death Gycrilius super Ioh. lib. iiii cap. xiii WHen the Capharnytes whiche perceaued the power of godly vertues of our Sauiour by miracle of tokens shoulde gladely receaue his sermon and yf any thinge semyd harde they humblye shoulde haue desyered the solucion of them To ask this questioÌ„ how is a Iues word but they allway do contrary sayinge how can he geue vs his fleshe they cryed together of God with greate wyckednesse nor it came to their myndes that nothinge is impossible with God For when they were carnall as Paule saithe they coulde not vnderstaÌ„d spirituall thinges But let vs I beseche you take a ensample at the synnes of others and puttinge sure faith to mysteryes euer in so high thinges this worde how Let vs eyther thinke or pronounce for this is a Iewes worde and the cause of extreme torment Therfore Nicodemus when he sayde how can this thinge be done he harde worthely Arte thou a master in Israel and knowest not these thinges Therfore we being taught by the faute of other when God worketh let vs not aske how But let vs graunte to hym onely the waye of knoweleage of his owne worke For as thoughe none knew what god is after nature yet by faith he iustified when he beleueth hym to geue rewardes to them that seke hym So though he knew not the maner of his workes when yet by fayth he doubteth not hym to be able to do all thinges he getteth rewardes of this goodnes not to be contempned For our Lorde by Esaye represseth vs sayinge My counsayles be not as yours nor my wayes as yours As the heauens be exalted from the earth so be my wayes exalted from youre wayes and my thoughtes from your thoughtes Be not they worthy greate tormentes which do so contempne God the maker of all thinges that they dare in his workes saye howe whom Scripture hath taught that he is able to do all thinges O thou Iewe howe cryest thou also now this is folishnesse I also gladly folowyng wyll aske the how dyddest thou go out of Egypt How was Moses rodde turned into a serpent How dydde waters goo into the nature of bloude Howe dyd oure fathers escape through the myddes of the seas as by dry lande Howe dydde welles of water fly out of a stone Howe stode Iordane How by onely crye dyd stronge Hierico fall There be innumerable thinges Quomodo euertiâ— totam dei scripturaÌ„ eius opera deâ— struit in the whiche yf they aske howe thou must nedes turne all scripture wherfore it dyd rather behoue you to beleue Christ and yf any harde thinge be sene vnto you to aske of hym mekely then lyke dronkards to crye out how can he geue vs his fleshe In the same boke Cap. xiiii It behoueth fyrst to stablysh the rootes of fayth in thy mynde and then to enquire these thinges that be for man to be enquired for to teacheth Esayas Except ye beleue ye shall not vnderstand But they afore they dyd beleue dyd importunately aske and for that cause our Lorde howe it myghte be done dyd not disclose But vnto his disciples beleuinge he gaue the fragmentes of breade sayinge Take and eate this is my bodye and of the cuppe Drinke ye of this all this is the cup of my bloude Thou doest perceaue that vnto them enquyringe withoute fayth he dyd not shewe the maner of the mistery Christus misterium exposuâ—t credentibus non infidelibus But to them that beleued and not askinge howe he dydde expounde Lette them here this whiche wyll not yet by reason of pryde receaue Christes fayth Excepte ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloude ye shall not haue lyfe in you For thei cannot with sanctifienge of a blessed lyfe be parteners of fayth whiche by mysticall blessynge hathe not receaued Iesu Christe For he is lyfe after nature whiche is gotten afore of maÌ„ But no lesse doth his bodye quicken For it is ioyned vnspeakeably to the sonne of GOD of whome all thinges be quickened Therefore it is called his bodye and is one with him For after the incarnation it is one and abydeth one without deuision at all But onelye that the worde of the father The word of the father and the teÌ„ple taken of the virgin be not in natur one thiÌ„g and the temple taken of the vyrgin be not in nature one thynge For man taken is not of the same substaunce with the worde of GOD yet one with it in a communication ineffable Howe than the flesshe of oure Sauioure to the worde of God whiche is naturallye lyfe beinge ioyned is made lyuely when we eate it then haue we lyfe Not onely to the worde alway but also touchinge often tymes Our Lord Iesus dyd rayse deade men as we reade Luke .vii. that he myghte shewe his bodye also to be able to geue lyfe that if by his onely touchinge corrupt thinges were made hoole agayne how shal not we liue whiche both taste and eate that fleshe for he wyll alwaye reforme to his immortalitie the parteners of hym Desyre not thou Iewe to ask how Nor desyre not thou Iew to aske howe but remember though water be naturally colde yet by the comminge to of fyre forgettynge his coldenes it doth scalde This same way also we thoughe our nature be corruptible yet by partakinge of lyfe beinge called from our wyckednes to the proper tye of it we be fashyoned agayne to lyfe He that eateth Christes fleshe hath lyfe euerlastynge For the fleshe hath the worde of God that is lyfe eternall naturallye Therefore he sayth I wyll rayse hym