it leadeth naturally to teares For there is a certaine Sympathy inter oculos genua betweene the eyes and knees for as they say that are skilfull in the nature of things the child in the mothers wombe oculos habet genibus superpositos hath his eyes placed ouer his knees and thence some thinke that genua the knees are called à genis of the cheekes that are ouer them therefore the eyes naturally breake out into teares when wee kneele as answering by a naturall affection tanquam collectaneis suis as it were to those with whom they were nourished But I will not say what it may be in man sure I am if the Emperour Marcus his narration bee true when he and his Armie were in distresse for want of water and he had called the Christians in his Armie to pray to their God to supply their extreame necessitie the Christians presently Proijcientes se in terram casting themselues on the earth fell to their prayers and as soone as they had fallen to the earth and called on God by prayer the Lord sent raine from heauen that saued the Emperor and all his Army there kneeling procured a most gratious rayne and so no doubt but it is powerfull to draw down all Gods graces vpon vs. I conclude with S. Augustine De cura pro mortuis cap. 5. Nam orantes de membris sui corporis faciunt quod supplicantibus congruit cum genua figunt cum extendunt manus vel etiam prosternuntur Solo si quid aliud visibiliter faciunt quamuis corum inuisibilis voluntas cordis intentio Deo nota sit nec ille indigeat his indicijs vt humanus eipandatur animus sed his magis seipsum excitat homo ad orandum gemendumque humiliùs atque ferrentiùs nescio quomodo cum hi motus corporis fieri nisi motu animi praecedente non possunt eisdemque rursus exteriùs visibilitèr factis ille interior inuisibilis qui eos fecit augetur ac per hoc cordis affectus qui vt fierent istapraecessit quia facta sunt crescit For they that pray of the members of their body doe that which agreeeth with suppliants when they kneele when they lift vp their hands or when they prostrate themselues on the earth or if they doe any other thing visible although their inuisible will and intention of their heart be knowne to God and hee needeth not any of these signes that mans minde may bee layed open before him but by these gestures man doeth excite himselfe to pray and sigh more humbly and more feruently And I know not how it commeth to passe when these motions of the body cannot be performed vnlesse the motion of the minde goe before them yet againe by these externall gestures visibly done the internall inuisible intention which stirreth them is increased and by these the affection of the heart which preceded that these gestures might be performed doeth increase because these are performed Ratio 6. Praxis Ecclesiae Triumphantis THe sixt Reason is Praxis Ecclesiae Triumphantis the practise of the Triumphant Church in heauen and this admitteth no refusal for heauenly things are the exemplars and patternes to which earthly things must bee conformed Is there a Tabernacle to bee made on earth must not the modell thereof bee taken from heauen Secundùm formam in monte Exod. 25.40.26.30 thou shalt make it according to the forme shewed thee in the Mount Is there a forme of life to be prescribed to men on earth Is it not to bee guided by the rule of heauen Matth 6.10 Thy will be done Sicut in coelo sic in terra In earth as it is in heauen the obedience of earth must be squared by the line of heauen and then though our bodies be on earth yet our conuersation is in heauen Phil. 3.20 The earth is the prison or place of mans banishment the out-house and suburbs in comparison of heauen the Citie and pallace of the great King The earth is the place of Pilgrimage and the valley of misery and heauen is the Countrey of rest and eternall felicitie In earth all things are vnperfect and only inchoate in heauen all things are consummate and in absolute perfection Mans ambition by the subtiltie of the Serpent Gen 3.5 was Eritis sicut Dij you shall be as gods but mans greatest exaltation after his fall is Eritis sicut Angeli you shal be as the Angels And if it be true that the Church-gouernment the neerer it commeth to the Hierarchie of heauen the more perfect and absolute it is it will also be true that the neerer the worship and Adoration of the Church militant resembleth the exact and absolute patterne of the Triumphant Churches worship in heauen the more pleasing and acceptable to God it must needs be For surely this Sicut in coelo reacheth principally to the worship of God So that this is an vndeniable proposition which must necessarily be granted Such as is the Adoration and gesture of the Saints in the worship of God and of the Lambe at the supper of the Lambe in Heauen such must be the Adoration gesture of the Saints in earth in the worship of God at the Supper of the Lambe on earth But the Saints in the worship of God and of the Lambe doe vse the Adoration of falling downe and kneeling at the Supper of the Lambe in Heauen Therefore the Saints must vse the Adoration of falling downe or kneeling in the worship of God at the Supper of the Lambe on earth For that there is a Supper in via in the way there can bee no doubt to him that readeth Christes wordes Luke 14.16 A certaine man made a great Supper and bade many And that there is a Supper in patria in the Countrey and kingdome of Heauen there can be no doubt to him that beleeueth S. Iohn Apoc. 19.9 that pronounceth them blessed that are called to the Supper of the Lambe The first Supper is sub Sacramentis vnder Sacraments for so long as we liue here in this vale of misery and our soule is clad about wth sinfull flesh we haue need of Elements which God hath ordeined to conuey his graces to vs and because we cannot see but as in a glasse or darke speaking all vailes are not taken from vs. But when we shall see as we are seene face to face wee shall bee admitted to that Supper which is sine Sacramentis without all Sacraments and as we shall be sicut Angeli as the Angels of God so we shall be fedde sicut Angeli as the Angels of God without the meanes of any creature or Element at all Now if they at the marriage Supper of the Lambe consummate in Heauen doe bow downe and kneele much more must wee that are onely admitted to the marriage Supper that is the contract and espousals that is made by the holy Spirit in the Church militant in earth bow and kneele And so much the rather because the blessed Saints that bow and kneele in Heauen doe
onely make Confessionem Laudis confession of praise and giue glory and honour to God in signe of their Ioy which is so absolute that all teares are wiped from their eyes And therefore the Saints on earth that make Confessionem peccatorum miseriae confession of their sinnes and miseries in token of their sorrow and contrition ought much more to bow downe and kneele to pacifie the anger of God Now that the Saints in heauen doe bow downe or fall on the ground and kneele when they worship in bodie if their bodies bee there or else in soule and spirit and adore God and sing praise to him thaâ— sitteth on the Throne it is apparant in many places in the Reuelation of S. Ioh. Cap. 4.10 The foure and twenty Elders fall downe before him that sate vpon the Throne and worship him that liueth for euer and euer and cast their Crownes before the Throne And cap. 5 8. the foure and twentie Elders fell downe before the Lambe and ver 14. the foure and twenty Elders fell downe and worshipped him that liueth for euer and euer And C. 7. ver 9. hauing put a certaine number for an vncertaine twelue thousand of euery one of the twelue Tribes A great number clothed in white robes and Palmes in their hands cryed Saluation to our God which sitteth vpon the Throne and vnto the Lambe And all the Angels stood round about the Throne and about the Elders and the foure beasts and fell before the Throne on their faces and worshipped God saying Amen Blessing and glory and wisdome and thankesgiuing and honour and power and might bee vnto our God for euer and euer Amen And that these are Saints in glory appeareth after ver 14. These are they that come out of great tribulations and haue washed their Robes and made them white in the blood of the Lambe therefore are they before the Throne of God and serue him day and night in his Temple and he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among them They shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sunne light on them nor any heate For the Lambe which is in the middest of them shall feede them and shall leade them vnto liuing fountaines of waters and God shall wipe away all teares from their eyes Now these are the Endowments of another life wee are in great tribulation as long as wee are in this life these came out of great tribulation wee doe now wash our selues in the blood of the Lambe and while wee liue we cannot get out all the spots of sinne and lust these haue washed their Robes and made them white in the blood of the Lambe This life is Esuries sitis Iustitiae the hunger and thirst of righteousnesse the life to come hath no hunger nor thirst because they liue at the well head and sea of all goodnesse and their cup doth alwaies ouerflow I omit other circumstances for these prooue sufficiently that the Saints which the Apostle describeth are Possessors in the Kingdom of glory not Trauellers in the way of grace And the Text saith Verse 17. The Lambe which is in the middest of the Throne shall feede them that must necessarily be Coena gloriae the Supper of glory the vision and contemplation of God and Christ face to face without all Sacrament And in all this worship that the consummated Saints giue to God it is said that the Angels and the Elders Cap. 7.7.11 and the beasts did fall downe before the Throne on their faces and worship God So in heauen there is no worship without prostration and kneeling In like sort the twenty foure Elders which sate before God on their seats fell on their faces and worshipped c. 11.16 And in the 19. Verse 4. Chapter where the great whore is iudged the foure and twenty Elders the foure beasts fell downe and worshipped God that sate on the Throne saying Amen Alleluia And in the ninth verse it followeth Blessed are they that are called to the marriage Supper of the Lambe So at the marriage Supper of the Lambe there is falling downe or prostration and kneeling If all this worship bee giuen to God that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lambe by the Angels and Elders and Beasts and Saints when they worship God and are feasted at the Supper of the Lambe in glory in heauen why should not their practise bee a warrant to the Saints in earth to vse like falling downe or kneeling in the worship of God at the feast of the Lambe in grace on earth since the practise of the Church Triumphant may well be receiued as a patterne and guide by the Church militant whose example so long as shee followeth shee can neuer erre whose imitation is her readiest way to perfection If any shall replie that this is not the practise of the Church Triumphant which S. Iohn describeth in the Reuel but rather that vnder the name of the Church Triumphant in heauen the Militant Church is described in earth though I doubt not but it may very well be collected out of the pregnant circumstances of the Text that many of those passages cannot well bee vnderstood of the Church Militant in earth but onely of the Triumphant Church in heauen as in part appeareth before yet I will not greatly contend with him that shall gainsay in this point For suppose St. Iohn vnder the name of the Throne and the Angels and beasts and Elders and heauen doe only vnderstand the Kingdome of heauen and the Throne of Christ in the Kingdome of grace in this Life yet to my purpose it is all one For be it the worship here spoken of be of the Saints in the Church militant it is worship with outward Adoration prostration or kneeling which worship is principally performed in the Eucharist And be it that the feeding and supper of the Lambe be the feeding by the Sacrament of the Eucharist which is the supper of the Lambe in the way For at the feeding by the preaching of the word no man calls for kneeling they must necessarily grant my Conclusion That at the receiuing of this supper there must be prostration falling downe and kneeling And if Saint Iohn saw this then in Saint Iohns time kneeling was the receiued gesture of Communicants at the Supper of the Lambe So whether Saint Iohn spake of the Supper of grace or the Supper of glory kneeling or prostration is the gesture of Communicants at the Lords Table The perfection of the Triumphant Church imposeth a necessitie of our imitation if it bee done in heauen it must be imitated on earth if it bee done in confession of glory it must much more be done in confession of sinne if it be done in the sacrifice of prayse it must much more bee done in the sacrifice of contrition and prayer if they that haue no want nor no imperfection
doe thus fall downe and kneele how much more must they cast downe themselues in all humility that abound in nothing but onely in wants and imperfections whose greatest perfection is Agnitio imperfectionis the acknowledgement of their imperfections and whose greatest glory is the ingenuous confession of their own vnworthinesse And surely Saint Iohn Apoc. 9.10.22.8 that wrote this Reuelation is twice reprooued by the Angel because he would haue giuen diuine worship to the Angel but the faul◠〈◊〉 in obiecto not in modo adorationis in the obiect of his adoration For hee would haue giuen that to the Angel which was peculiar only to God but it was not in the manner of his adoration he fell at his feete and worshipped him diuine worship must haue falling downe or prostration or kneeling but diuine worship may not bee giuen to any Angell or Saint or Sacred or consecrated Creature but only to God to whom onely it is due The sum therefore of this reason is short and punctuall The Church Triumphant worshipeth and feasteth at the Lambes Supper with prostration or kneeling Therefore the Church Militant that must learne of the Church Triumphant must worship with prostration or kneeling at the feast of the Supper of the Lambe For the earth must learne of heauen and he that refuseth such guides as the Saints in heauen in the worship of God it is to be feared that hee is turned ouer to worse Tutors on earth and vnlesse he repent and returne to the right way and follow their footsteps that are gone to heauen before him he will hardly attaine to the great City wherof they are admitted as Citizens and Saints And sure I am the very Habendum and Tenendum the hauing and holding the right and possession of our inheritance is as Christ said Vade fac similiter Luc. 10.37 goe and doe thou likewise They kneeled and prostrated themselues when they adored God and were admitted to the feast of the Lambe on earth they doe so as S. Iohn saith now in heauen and they that rest from all their labours rest not from this labour of Adoration and prostration and we must follow them in the way that we may be crowned with them at the end of the way in the Kingdome of glory I Come now to the reasons for sitting for the Authorities are for standing Now before I come to handle them in particular giue mee leaue to strike at the roote of them all in generall and that is in short Pride and Presumption You will maruell much that I should say the Foundation of all these Reasons is Presumption and Pride and I cannot but maruell at it my selfe but I must much more maruell at the Author of these Reasons that bearing the name of a Christian and perchance a Minister he should giue mee cause to say as I doe For I knowe no meane or medium in Theologicall contraries when wee come to the Lords Table either wee must be humble or else we must bee presumptuous and proud Luk. 11.23 Hee that is not with mee is against mee saith our Sauiour and hee that gathereth not with mee scattereth Either a good man or a bad man either faithfull or vnfaithfull either a good seruant or a bad seruant either borne of God and the childe of God or borne of the deuill and the childe of the deuill either wee doe righteousnesse or wee doe vnrighteousnesse either wee loue the Brethren or wee loue not the Brethren either a good tree and good fruit or a bad tree and bad fruit And although a good tree cannot but beare good fruit and a bad tree cannot but beare bad fruit yet Mala arbor fieri potest bona a bad tree may bee made a good tree and the change must be first in radice and then in fructu first in the Roote wee must be grafted into Christ and then it will follow in the fruite Yet in all these there is no meane there is none to be found but either he is good or bad so there is none that comes to the Lords Table but either hee is humble and comes in humilitie with the Publicane or else hee is presumptuous Luk. 18.10 and comes in pride with the Pharisee Now that I may not bee accused to mistake this Author I will relate his words Kneeling is not onely disagreeable with the ioyfull Pag. 85. carriage which in the iudgement of the said Fathers the solemnizing of the Lords day requireth throughout euery part of Diuine Seruice but also repugnant in particular to the person sustained by each Communicant and to the nature and intendment of the Lords Supper The Lords Supper being a Sacrament not of humbling our selues after the manner and guise of suppliants and penitentiaries but of spirituall feasting and reioycing on our parts not onely for the Lords Resurrestion and our owne in his person but for all other fauors and dignities purchased for vs by his death And Pag. 84. Kneeling which is a gesture of humiliation and of him that bewrayeth his sinnes and submissiuely sueth for the pardon of them is altogether unsutable and repugnant to reioycing and cheerefulnesse c. Good God Is there any action of a Christian that may be done without humilitie May man that is but dust and ashes present himselfe at any time in Gods sight without humilitie That is with Pride for these admit no meane either humble or proud May wee haue the affection of humilitie and not haue the gesture of humilitie Did not the Fathers that stood at their Prayers in honour of Christs Resurrection stand in all humilitie surely they stood in confidence of Gods grace and in hope of their owne Resurrection but they stood in al humilitie because they could not forget their owne frailtie confident in God but humble in themselues So the Fathers that layd downe the gesture of humilitie for a particular Reason did neuer lay downe the affection of humility because that is against all reason to cease to be humble when Christ said Discite ex me quia humilis Learne of me to be humble and meeke learne of mee not to create the world not to redeeme the world not to feed fiue thousand with fiue loaues nor to feed the whole world with a few seeds not to raise from the dead nor to keepe men that they die not by curing all diseases but learne of mee to be humble and meeke And may it suffice to be humble in confession of sinne and supplicating for pardon or will it suffice to be humble in asking petitions for supply of wants and not bee humble in giuing of thanks will it suffice to be humble in the Examination of our selues and preparing our selues before we come to the Lords Table and at the very comming receiuing to cease to be humble and take state vpon vs Did we by our humilitie attaine to bee in a measure fit and worthy for those great mysteries that so we may lay downe
reuerence to him that feedes vs by these reuerend mysteries with the heauenly and diuine foode whereon the blessed Angels and Saints euer feed and euer desire to feede Inhiantes semper edunt edentes inhiant their eating doth not fill but increase their appetites and they euer say Ioan. 6. Lord euermore giue vs this bread Ratio 5. Praxis Ecclesiae Militantis THe fift Reason is Praxis Ecclesiae militantis the practise of the Church militant which is the best interpreter of the Churches doctrine in point of outward gesture Ceremonie as in the old Testament Praxis Prophetarum was Interpres Prophetarum the Prophets practise was the best expounder of the Prophets In which because it is not altogether cleare what Christ and his Apostles did in the first institution wee must be content to proceede à posteriori and from the neerest succeeding ages to collect what they learned from their predecessors euen from the time of the Apostles And first although it please them that are the fauourers of sitting at the Receiuing of the Comunion to take it as granted that Christ administred the Apostles receiued this Sacrament Discumbentes sitting or lying on one side or leaning on one arme as the custome of that time and Countrey was yet the grounds of that conceipt are not so cleere as they take them to be First then it must bee obserued that in this night in which this Sacrament was instituted there was Triplex Coena Paschalis Vulgaris Eucharistica the Paschal supper according to the Law Exod. 12. The vulgar supper of common meates if the Paschal did not suffice and the Eucharisticall which is the very institution of this Sacrament And of the Paschall and Eucharisticall there is no doubt The figuratiue Paschall Lambe was to continue vntill the true Paschall Lambe Christ was to bee offered and then in presence of the Substance the shadow was to cease and in the presence of the Truth the figure was to bee remooued Leo de Passione Domini Serm. 7 Vt ouem figuratiuam vera ouis remoueret hostia in hostiam transit sanguis sanguinem excludit legalis festiuitas dum mutatur impletur The true Lambe Christ that takes away the sinnes of the world tooke away the figuratiue Lambe one Sacrifice was translated into another Sacrifice the blood of Christ excluded all other blood and the legall festiuitie while it is changed is indeed fulfilled And Christ was to make his Will and Testament before his death that hee might seale it with his Crosse confirme it with his Blood so Christs death was the end of the figuratiue Passeouer and the beginning of the true Passeouer that was then offered for vs. And that there were three Suppers Euthim. in 26. Matt. cap. 63. Euthimius sheweth in these words De modo autem manducandi verisimile est quod stantes primùm manducauerunt Pascha secundum legem deinde discubuerunt coenauerunt For the manner of eating it is very likely that first they did eate the Passeouer standing according to the Law then they sate downe and did suppe And the same will further appeare out of Chrysostome and Theophylact. I obserue this to this end to shew how vncertaine this point of sitting at the celebration of the Eucharist is when they that ground it vpon the gesture of the Apostles which they take to be an eternall law or rule to all their successors are forced to make it vp with verisimile est or non constat it is very likely or probable that they sate or there appeareth no other gesture but sitting when they receiued this Sacrament For why Matth. 26.20 S. Matthew saith Now when the euen was come Discumbebat he sate downe with the twelue but this is plaine to be spoken of the Paschal Supper for the disciples say to Iesus Where wilt thou that wee prepare for thee to eate the Passeouer Vers 17. 19. And the disciples did as Iesus appointed them and they made ready the Passeouer And then follow the words When the Euen was come he sate downe with the twelue so this Discumbebat was in coena Paschali this sitting was at the Paschal Supper And the Eucharistical Supper was begunne after the end of the Paschal Supper Luke 22.20 1. Cor. 11.25 as it is plaine in S. Luke and S. Paul Et postquam coenasset and after Supper hee tooke the Cup And two seuerall Suppers might haue two gestures And it is a very poore argument to conclude thus Christ sate with his Apostles at the Paschal Supper and likewise at the vulgar supper if there were any therefore he sate also at the Eucharistical Supper For though S. Matthew say Matth. 26.26 Coenantibus illis while they did eate Luke 22.20 1. Cor. 11.25 Christ tooke bread and blessed it and brake it c. Yet S. Luke and S. Paul expound his meaning to be postquam coenauit after Supper or in the end of Supper betweene Supper and rising to goe to the Mount Oliuet Caluin harmo Euangel in Matih 26. And Caluin saith Finita coena sacrum parem vinum gustarunt they tasted the sacred Bread and Wine Supper being ended S. Marke hath the same narration of the preparation of the Passeouer and then addeth In the euening Iesus came with the twelue Mar. 14.17 18. and as they sate and did eate our Sauiour told them that one that did eate with him should betray him And in the 22. verse he saith as S. Matthew did Manducantibus illis as they did eate Iesus tooke bread c. But S. Luke maketh it most cleare for after the phrase of sitting downe with the twelue hee describeth two Cups one of the Paschal or common Supper of which he said Diuidite inter vos Take this and diuide it among your selues the other of the Euangelicall Supper Luke 22.14.17.19 in the 19. Verse He tooke bread And in the 20. Verse Likewise after Supper hee tooke the Cup. And lest any out of the former wordes should gather that onely the Clergie should taste of the Cup and the people should be debarred of the Blood of Christ because of the Paschal Cup he had said Diuidite inter vos Diuide it among you Of the Eucharistical Cup he saith in S. Matthew Matth. 26. ver 27. Bibite ex hoc omnes Drinke you all of this all for whom my Blood is powred out S. Iohn omitteth this Eucharisticall Supper or the institution of this Sacrament as being fully related by the other Euangelists but he mentioneth his rising from Supper and the washing of his Disciples feete And then hee addeth So after hee had washed their feete and had taken his garments and was set downe againe He said vnto them c. So it seemeth this sitting was ad pradicandum to teach them the vse of washing their feete and to discouer the traitor Iudas and then to fall into that excellent diuine Sermon equall to
to Christ So it is plaine that in Tertullians time there were no stations on the Lords day and so the Lords day is not called the day of station because on that day they stood at prayer And station properly is nothing else but a diurnall watching in the time of solemne prayer in which they did watch in prayer 1. Pet. 4.7 as the Apostle said Vigilate in orationibus so this station was not so named for standing at prayer And Tertullian saith Their station shall be more solemne Si steteris ad aram Dei if thou standest at Gods Altar This is to be vnderstood of the stationary prayer made at the Altar which being made on the weeke dayes was made keeling and therfore stare here is genuflectere standing is kneeling And this sentence is full and complete in it selfe and then he addes Accepto corpore Domini reseruato the body of the Lord being receiued and reserued both is saued both the participation of the Sacrifice and the execution of our office And surely it is probable that they receiued the Sacrament kneeling as well as they prayed kneeling S. Cyprian is the fourth who affirmeth lesse then his Master Tertullian Anno 250. hee onely saith Cum stamus ad orationem when wee stand at Prayer and hee sayth nothing of the Lords day and from Easter to Pentecost whereby I conceiue hee knowing that at all other times they prayed kneeling and speaking in generall of Prayer his word stamus must not so much expresse the gesture of Prayer as the action of Prayer which whether it were standing or kneeling it must as the next words are be vigilant vigilare incumbere toto corde ad preces debemus we ought to watch and intend our prayers with our whole heart and then hee addes that which is vsed in our Liturgie sursum corda lift vp your hearts to which the people answere Wee lift them vp vnto the Lord by which we are admonished to thinke of nothing but of God and to shut our hearts against the aduersary As for S. Cyprian I take it his opinion is that they did bow or kneele at the receiuing of the Sacrament as in his place it will appeare The fift is S. Basil his words are In primo Sabbati erecti perficimus deprecationes Anno 370. De spiritu litera sed rationem omnes non nouimus vpon the first day of the weeke wee pray standing but all know not the reason He giueth two 1. the Resurrection of Christ 2. that day is Imago seculi futuri the Image of the world to come which shall neuer haue end that knowes no euening nor giueth place to a succeeding day But speaking afterwards of kneeling he saith Insuper quoties genua flectimus rursùs erigimur ipso facto ostendimus quod ob peccatum in terram delapsisumus per humilitatem eius qui creauit nos in Coelum reuocati sumus As often as we kneele and stand vp againe by this deede wee shew that for sinne wee are fallen to the ground and by his humilitie that created vs wee are called backe to heauen In which it appeares that confession of sinnes which alwayes goeth before the Communion requires kneeling that we may fall to the earth by humilitie as wee fell to the earth by sinne S. Hierome is the sixt his words are On the Lords day and throughout the Pentecost Anno 390. Contra Lucifer by the tradition and authoritie of the Church wee doe not adore on our knees nor fast The word wee hold it not lawfull is not in Hierome but it seemes this Author added it out of Tertullian In which I marke one thing which this Author might haue obserued in all his authorities that the Church hath authoritie to change a gesture from the natural and prescribed gesture vpon particular reason And why then shall not the Church haue power to prescribe a gesture at the Lords Table most suring with the memory of Christs death and the carriage of humble contrite Communicants In which case I pray you heare what Hierome saith vpon those words of the Apostle Eph. 3. Flecto genua Haec autē spiritualiter exponētes non statim iuxta literam orandi consuetudinem tollimus qua Deum genu posito supplicitèr adoramus fixo in terram poplite magis quod ab eo poscimus impetramus legimus enim Paulum in littore sic orasse geniculationes in oratione praeceptas sed illud aedificat supplices sicut veram geniculationem esse docemus in anima quia multi corporale flectentes genu animae nequaquam poplitem curuauerunt contra alij erecto Deum corpore deprecantes magis se animo curuauerunt Expounding these things spiritually we doe not presently take away the custome of praying in which we adore God humbly vpon our knees and obtaine that of him which we most desire setting our knees to the earth for we reade that S. Paul prayed thus vpon the shore and kneeling was commanded in prayer But this doth edefie the simple as wee teach the true kneeling to bee in the soule For many bowing their corporall knees do not bow the knees of their soule and on the contrary many praying to God standing vpright haue more bowed themselues in soule In which words I obserue 1. when we kneele then wee adore God supplicitèr humbly in the fashion of supplicants 2. By kneeling magis impetramus we preuaile more in our Peticions 3. Kneeling is not onely grounded vpon imitation and example but praecepta It is commanded So S. Hierome though he permit standing at prayer vpon a special reason yet he holdeth kneeling to be sub praecepto and of greater force in the sight of God S. Chrysostome is the seuenth his words are Anno 398. Frustra stamus ad Altare in vaine doe we stand at the Altar expecting Communicants and none come and that is common with vs to stand vntill the people draw neere then kneele whose words I haue answered before in Dionysius Alexandrinus S. Augustinus is the eighth who saith Propter hoc ieuinia relaxantur stantes oramus Anno 420. Epist 119. cap. 15. quod est signum resurrectionis For this cause we remit our fasts and stand at prayer which is a signe of the Resurrection which is no more then is granted And yet in the end of the 17. chapter he concludeth of it Vtrum vbique seruetur ignoro I know not whether it be obserued euery where There is a reason added out of S. Augustine in the same 15. Chapter which I accept of though I finde it not there that kneeling is a gesture of a Penetentiary and of such outward humiliation as is wholy disagreeable with the solemnitie of reioycing on the Lords day S. Augustine indeed mentioneth rest and reioycing and then addeth Propter hoc for this cause we fast not but stand wherin I see no reason but a man may haue
maximè confitendum est cum illo sacro mysterio celebratur remissionis gratia indulgentiapeccatorum cum humilitate cordis contritione dicendum c. Although wee ought at all times to acknowledge from the heart our selues to bee sinners yet it must be most confessed when in that sacred mysterie the grace of remission and indulgence of sinnes is celebrated c. Lay these two places together and it will be most manifest that kneeling was vsed For in the former place he saith in all other our prayers wee kneele here he saith tunc quà m maximè then chiefly when wee pray for remission of sinnes that is in the Eucharist with humilitie and contrition therefore kneeling was then in vse both at all prayers and in this Sacrament and that in the very day of the Resurrection it selfe The 17. is Haimo in 1. Cor. 11. Cumtimore compunctione cordis omnique reuerentia debemus accedere recolentes quanto amore dilexit nos qui pro nobis seipsum obtulit vt nos redimeret as often as wee come to consecrate or receiue this Sacrament of his eternall gift which the Lord before his Passion left to be held by vs in his memorie we must come with feare and compunction of heart and all reuerence if all then of body as well as of soule and so of kneeling because that of all other is most reuerent meditating with how great loue he loued vs who gaue himselfe for vs to redeeme vs. And after Cum timore tremore debemus accedere ad illud Sacramentum terribile vt sciat mens reuerentiam se debere praestare ei ad cuius corpus sumendum accedit Wee ought to come with feare and trembling to that terrible Sacrament that the soule may know that she ought to performe reuerence to him whose body shee commeth to receiue The 18 is Ioannes Climacus who is said to liue in the sixe hundredth yeere he relateth a story of one that it seemeth was possessed and brought to the Communion there blasphemed whereupon he saith Nam si mea sunt turpia illa scelerata verba quid est quod donum caeleste suscipiens adoro quomodo possum vnà benedicere maledicere If those foule and wicked words are mine how is it that receiuing the heauenly gift I adore how can I at once both blesse and curse Lib. 1. cap. 117. The 19. is Honorius if hee be the Author of that Booke called Gemma animae extant in Bib. SS P. De diuinis officijs In Quadragessima ideò in Missa Flectamus genua dicimus quia corpus animam in paenitentia humiliare innuimus c. In Lent therefore we say in the Masse Let vs kneele because wee shew that wee humble our soules and bodies in repentance Whereof hee giueth three Reasons 1. because wee adore Christ in the flesh 2. because we call to mind that wee that stood in Paradise with the Angels doe now lye on the ground with the beasts 3. because he that standeth is equall to other men that stand in their righteousnesse as reasonable creatures but after our fall into fleshly desires welye in the dirt with the beasts as vnreasonable And hee deriueth this gesture from Abraham and the Prophets and the Apostle that said I bow my knees to the Lord. The 20. is Algerus hee liued about an hundred yeeres before Honorius De Sacramentis Lib. 2. cap. 3. Cassa enim videretur tot hominum assistentium vel adorantium vener and a sedulitas nisi ipsius Sacramenti longè maior crederetur quam videretur veritas vtilitas Cum ergo exteriùs nulla sint quibus tanta impenduntur obsequia aut insensati sumus aut ad intima mittimur magnae salutis mysteria The venerable sedulitie of so many men assisting or adoring might seeme vaine if the trueth and vtilitie of the Sacrament it selfe were not beleeued to bee much greater then is seene Seeing therefore outwardly they seeme nothing to which so great dueties of worship are giuen either we are insensible or els wee are sent to the secret mysteries of the great Saluation I will not descend any lower Authen Coll. 8. de Nauti vsur Nouel 109. nor trouble the Reader with any other testimonies onely I take it there is a Ciuill Constitution in the Authenticks against womens Dowries that shall not hold the Orthodox faith Nec percipientes sacrosanctam adorabilem Communionem nor receiue the holy and adorable Communion which penaltie of loosing of Dowries and portions if it were in force among vs we should peraduenture haue fewer stiffekneed sisters that are forcible Otors to draw many to the present irreuerence that is vsed in the worship of God and the celebration of the Sacraments By these it is manifest ynough that Kneeling at the Sacrament was in vse in the second hundred yeeres after Christ and so continued vnto Honorius Decree and that may be the reason that he made no mention of the receiuing of the Sacrament but onely of the eleuation of it And this I hope may satisfie any reasonable man that regardeth the practise of the Church militant and beleeueth the Fathers if not as Doctors that teach Quid faciendum what ought to bee done yet as Historians that truely relate Quid factum what was done in their times And if it were receiued as a custome in the Church in the second hundred yeeres why may wee not ascend to the first and so to the Apostolicall Church and say the second age learned it of the first and the first of the Apostles since no beginning can be found of the custome though we may perchance finde the first writer of it And then the rule is If it be a custome of the Primitiue Church the founder and Authour whereof is vnknowen referendum est ad Apostolos it must be ascribed to the Apostles that vsed it in their times And so it may well bee concluded that it was not a late Antichrist but the Spirit of Christ in the Apostles and Apostolicall men that first brought kneeling into the worship of God in the receiuing of the Eucharist For if the beginning and vse were good the abuse which is pretended for the abolishing of it because it was turned to Idolatrie must bee reformed and brought to the first institution as the Church of England hath done which kneeles to God and Christ at the taking of this Sacrament though wee vtterly detest the grosse superstition of those that doe adore the Elements and species themselues if any bee found so palpably blinde for the learned among them doe disclaime this point in their booke-learning whatsoeuer their practise be Now heare I pray you the force of this kneeling how able it is to appease wrath Petrus Blesensis saith of it Nihil faciliùs frangit iram quam genuflectio nothing more easily breaketh anger then kneeling for it prouoketh him that suffers the iniurie to pardon and him that doeth the iniurie