How then is the bread his body and the cup or that which is contained in the cup how is it his blood These things good brethren are therefore called Sacraments because one thing is seene in them and another thing vnderstood that which is seene hath a bodily kinde forme and shew but that which is vnderstood hath spirituall fruit The reverend Authour in speaking these things instructeth vs what wee ought to thinke and hold both concerning the Lords owne bodie which was borne of the Virgin Mary and sitteth now at the right hand of GOD and in which he shall come to judge the quicke and the dead and also concerning that body which is set on the Altar and whereof the people are partakers That body is sound and whole and is not divided by any cutting neither covered with any figures but this bodie which is set vpon the Lords Table is both a figure because it is a Sacrament and also as it is outwardly seene hath a bodily kinde and forme that feedeth the body but as it is inwardly vnderstood it hath a spirituall fruit which quickeneth the soule Aug. de sacra altar Serm. 1 Cor. 12.27 And the same Doctor minding to speake somewhat more plainely and manifestly of this mysticall body in the words following saith thus If yee will therefore vnderstand what Christes body meanes heare the Apostles saying Yee are the body of Christ and members for your part If then yee be the bodie of Christ and members for your part your mysterie is set on the Lords Table and yee receiue the mystery of the Lord. You answere Amen to that thing which you your selues be and by so answering you subscribe and consent to the same Thou hearest then Christes body and thou answerest Amen be a member of the body of Christ that so thy Amen may be true and right But wherefore is this done in bread In this matter we will bring forth nothing of our owne devise let vs rather heare the Apostle himselfe vtter his minde when speaking of this Sacrament he sayth we that are many are one bread 1 Cor. 10.17 and one body c. This holy man Augustine doth sufficiently instruct vs that as Christes bodie is signified by the Bread which is set vpon the Altar so also there is thereby signified by the bodie of the people that receiveth it manifestly thereby declaring that that is Christes proper or owne body in which he was borne of the Virgin in which he sucked in which he suffered in which be died in which he was buried in which he rose againe in which he ascended into Heaven in which he sitteth at the right hand of the Father and in which he shall come to judge the quicke and the dead Whereas that which is set vpon the Lords Table conteineth the mysterie of the other even as it doth likewise containe the mysterie of the beleeving people the Apostle himselfe witnessing the same and saying Wee that are many are one bread 1 Cor. 10.17 and one body in Christ. Your wisdome most noble Prince may perceiue and vnderstand that I haue both by the testimonies of the sacred Scriptures and by the sayings of the holy Fathers faithfully alledged and layd downe most evidently declared and plainely prooved that that bread which is called Christs bodie and that cup which is called Christs blood is a figure because it is a mystery and also that there is no small difference betweene that his body which is so in a mystery and that his body which sufferâ—â— and was buried and rose againe because in that was the very proper bodie of our Saviour neither was there in it any figure or or signification but the manifestation and plainenesse of the thing it selfe was knowne as also the beleevers at this day doe desire the sight thereof for that is our head and when wee see it Ioh. 10.30 our desire shall be satisfied for he and the Father are one not in respect that our Saviour hath a body but in respect of the fulnesse of the godhead Col. 2.9 which dwelt in Christ as hee was man Whereas in this which is celebrated and administred by a mystery there is a figure not onely of Christs owne body but also of the body of the people that beleeue in Christ for it beareth the figure of both the bodies that is to say both of Christ bodie which suffered and rose again and of the people that are in Christ through Baptisme borne againe and quickened from the dead Hereunto let vs adde also that this bread and this cup which is called the body and blood of Christ doth lieuely represent or set out the remembrance of the Lords passion or death even as hee himselfe hath sayd in the Gospell Luk. 22.19 Doe ye this in remembrance of mee which the Apostle Paul expounding saith 1 Cor. 11.26 So often as yee shall eate of this bread and drinke of this cup yee shall shew forth the Lords death till hee come Here we are taught by our Saviour by the holy Apostle Saint Paul that that bread and that wine which is set on the Altar is there set for a figure or remembrance of the Lords death to the end it might call back to our remembrance that which hath beene done in time past that so wee being made mindefull of that his passion might by it be made partakers of Gods gifts and graces by which also wee are delivered from death knowing this that when wee shall come to the sight and beholding of Christ we shall haue no need of such instruments and meanes thereby to be put in remembrance what his vnmeasurable and infinite goodnesse hath endured for vs the reason is because that When wee shall behold him face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 wee shall be put in minde not by any outward admonition of temporall things but we shall behold him in the very contemplation and sight of the truth it selfe and to be instructed how we ought to giue thanks to the author of our saluation And yet I would haue no man thinke that because wee speake thus that therefore the faithfull doe not in the mystery of the Sacrament receiue the Lords body and blood because faith receiveth that thing not which the eye seeth but that which the hart beleeveth for it is a spirituall meate and a spirituall drinke spiritually feeding the soule and giving the life of everlasting fulnesse even as our Saviour himselfe commending and setting out this mystery saith Ioh. 6.63 It is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing Thus I being a man of very small gifts and desiring to yeeld obedience vnto your Excellencies commandement haue presumed and vndertaken to dispute or reason of no small matters wherein I haue not followed the presumption of mine owne thinking or iudgement but regarded rather the authority of the ancient Fathers which if your Highnes shall allow as spoken Catholikely Christianly impute it I pray you to the deserts and worthinesse of your owne zeale and religion which was not ashamed having for a while layd aside the glory of your Kingly magnificence to demand an answer concerning the truth of such a poore and base person as I am But if happily these things shall not please and delight you ascribe it vnto my folly and vnskilfulnesse which could not effectually declare that which your Highnesse wished and I my selfe greatly desired Here endeth Bertrams Booke concerning the Body and Blood of the Lord. Errata IN the Epistle Whether he spurious reade whether he be spurious In the Preface next following PAge 2. Charlemayne the Great reade Charles the Great Page 7. Trithenius reade Trithemius Page 9. Sendeth greeting reade send greeting In the Booke of Bertram FOl. 5. Outwardly locked vp reade outwardly looked vpon Fol. 9. In colour or in favour reade in colour or in savour
know that in this fountaine welspring that is one thing which the bodily senses may touch and perceiue and therefore it is changeable and corruptible and againe that there is another thing in it which onely faith can beholde and that therefore it cannot be corrupted nor come into danger of decay Wherfore if a man would demand What that is which outwardly washeth the body I answere that it is nothing but the element but if a man would consider that which inwardly purgeth I say that it is a liuely vertue yea a vertue that is able to sanctifie yea a vertue and power that giueth immortalitie Therefore the water in Baptisme is in it owne propertie a corruptible humor or liquor but in mystery and spirituall meaning a wholesome and healthfull power And even so verily the body and blood of Christ being outwardly considered is a creature subiect to change and corruption and yet if a man consider the vertue and power of the mysterie it is life in deed giving immortalitie to such as be partakers thereof Therefore the things that are seene and the things that are beleeved are not all one For in respect that they are seene they feede the corruptible bodie they themselues being corruptible but in respect that they are beleeved they feed our immortall soules which shall liue for ever they themselues being also immortall The Apostle writing to the Corinthians sayth Know ye not 1 Cor. 10.1.2 c. that all our Fathers were vnder the cloud and all passed through the Sea and were all Baptised vnto Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea and did all eate the same spirituall meat and did all drink the same spirituall drink for they drunke of the spirituall Rocke that followed them and that rocke was Christ Hence we perceiue that the Sea and the Cloud both did shewe forth the kinde and figure of Baptisme and that the Fathers of the former Testament were Baptised in them that is in the Cloud and in the Sea Could the Sea as it was seene and thought to be an element haue in it the power and force of Baptisme or could the Cloud as it shewed forth the grosenes of some very thicke ayre sanctifie the people No verily And yet we dare not sith the Apostle spake in Christs name say that he spake not truely when he said That our Fathers were baptised in the Cloud and in the sea And although that Baptisme did shew forth and set out the forme of Christs Baptisme which at this day is vsed ministred in the Church yet no wise man dare deny vnlesse like a mad man he will presume to gainesay the Apostles words but that it was Baptisme and that our Fathers were therein and thereby Baptised Wherefore neither the Sea nor the Cloud in respect that they were bodily substances did shew forth or giue out the cleannesse of sanctification but in respect that they did invisibly conteine the sanctification of the holy Ghost For there was in them that is in the Sea and in the Cloud both a visible forme which appeared to the bodily senses and that not in an image or shew but in veritie or truth inwardly there shined forth in them a spirituall power which appeared not to the eyes of flesh but to the sight light of the minde or soule In like sort the Manna that was given to the people from heaven and the water also that flowed out of the Rocke were corporall and bodily substances and did corporally both feede the people and giue them drinke also and yet the Apostle calleth that Manna spirituall meat and that Water spirituall drinke And why doth he that Because there was in these bodily substances a spirituall power of the word which did feede and giue drinke rather to the minds then to the bodies of the beleevers And though that meate and that drinke did but shewe forth the mysterie of that bodie and blood of Christ which was to come which mysterie the Church doth at this day celebrate and administer yet the holy Apostle S. Paul affirmeth that our Fathers did eate the same spirituall meate 1 Cor. 10.3.4 and did drinke the same spirituall drinke A man will perhaps aske What he meaneth by this word the same I answere that he meaneth the very selfe same thing which the beleeving people doe at this day eate and drinke in the Church of Christ For wee may not vnderstand divers things thereby because it is one and the selfe same Christ who with his owne flesh fed in the Wildernesse the people that was Baptised in the Cloud and in the sea and then made them to drinke of his blood and that doth now in his Church feede the beleeving people with the Bread of his body and make them to drinke of the water of his blood Which thing the Apostle minding to declare after that he had said That our Fathers did eate the same spirituall meate 1 Cor. 10.4 and did drinke the same spirituall drinke he presently added For they dranke of the spirituall Rocke that followed them and that Rocke was Christ And this he doth that so wee might vnderstand that Christ was in the spirituall Rocke in the Wildernes and gaue vnto the people there the water of his blood which Christ afterwards offred even to the people of our age that bodie that he tooke of the Virgin and was hanged vpon the Crosse for the salvation of the beleevers from which bodie also he powred forth great abundanc of his blood by which we should not onely be redeemed but also made drinke thereof This verily is a wonderfull matter seeing that Christ being incomprehensible inestimable had not as yet takē vnto him mans nature nor tasted death for the salvation of the world nor had redeemed vs by his blood yet that our Fathers did in the Wildernesse by spirituall meate and invisible drinke eate his body and drinke his blood as the Apostle is a witnesse saying That our Fathers did eate the same spirituall meate and did drinke the same spirituall drinke Wee must not here seeke out our own reason or way by which this might bee performed but faith must be vsed if wee will know what was done For he that now in the Church doth by his Allmightie power spiritually turne the Bread into the flesh of his bodie and the wine into the Water as it were of his owne blood he then also invisibly made the Manna that was given from heaven to become his owne bodie and caused the water springing or flowing out of the Rocke to become his owne blood Psal 78.25 Which thing when David did well perceiue he by the holy Ghost protested and plainely affirmed saying Man did eate the bread of Angels For it were a fond thing to thinke that that bodily Manna which was given to the Fathers should feede the heavenly armies and multitudes of Angels or that they doe eate any such meate who are fed and fatted as it
is not onely every feast of Easter but even every day offered vnto the faithfull people neither is hee to be deemed a lyar who being asked of another man answereth that hee is offered For if the Sacraments had not a certaine similitude and likenesse of those things of which they are Sacraments they could not at all be Sacraments and in respect of this very likenesse that they haue they take the very names of the things themselues Wherefore even as the Sacrament of Christs body is after a certaine manner Christs body it selfe and the Sacrament of Christs blood is after a certaine manner Christs blood so the Sacrament of faith is faith Hence we perceiue that Saint Augustine saith that the Sacrament is one thing and the things whereof they are Sacraments is another thing Now the body in which Christ suffered and the blood that came out of his side are the things of the Sacrament but the mysteries by which these things are represented hee saith they are the Sacraments of the body and blood of Christ which are celebrated and administred in remembrance of the Lords passion and suffering and that not onely every yeare once at or about the feast of Easter but every day in the yeare And although the Lord had but one bodie in which hee suffered once for all and but one blood which was shed for the salvation of the world yet the Sacraments or elements signifying these things haue taken the names of the very things themselues insomuch that they are called the body and blood of Christ being so called indeed for the similitude and likenesse of the things which they represent and shew forth even as the feast of Easter which is observed every yeare is called the Passeover and the resurrection of the Lord whereas we know that the Lord did but once suffer and but once rise againe about that time And albeit that these very dayes cannot now be revoked or called backe because they are already past yet by their name and title are such dayes called as in which the memorie of the Lords suffering and resurrection is rehearsed and celebrated and this is therefore done because they haue a certaine resemblance and likenesse of these very dayes in which our Saviour once suffered and once rose againe Whereupon we say this day or to morrow or the next day is the Lords passion or resurrection when as these dayes in which these things were done were passed many yeares agoe So we may say that the Lord is offered when the Sacraments of his suffering are celebrated and administred whereas indeed hee was but once for all offered vp in himselfe for the salvation of the world as the Apostle saith Christ hath suffered for vs 1 Pet. 2.21 leaving vs an example that we should follow his footsteps For hee saith not that hee every day offered himselfe because he did it but once but this hee saith that hee hath left vs an example which is daily presented and shewed forth to the beleevers in the mystery of the Lords bodie and blood to the end that every one that shall come or repaire thereto may know that hee ought to be made a companion with him in his sufferings the image and liuely picture whereof hee doth as it were tarry and wait for to be exhibited vnto him in the holy mysteries according to the saying of the Wiseman in the Proverbes Pro. 23.1 Commest thou to a mighty mans table marke diligently what things are set before thee knowing that thou thy selfe must another time prepare such like things To come to a mightie mans table is to bee partaker of the Lords offering or as wee say of the Lords Supper and the marking or cōsidering of such things as are set before vs is the sound vnderstanding or knowledge of the bodie and blood of Christ whereof whosoever partaketh hee must know and remember thus much that hee ought to prepare such precious things that so hee may become a follower of Christ in dying with him the remembrance of whose death he professeth and acknowledgeth not only in beleeving but also in tasting Againe Saint Paul writing to the Hebrewes saith thus Heb. 7.26.27 Verily such an high Priest it became vs to haue as is holy harmlesse vndefiled separated from sinners and become higher then the heavens who needed not daily as those high Priests to offer vp sacrifice first for his one sinnes and then for the peoples for the Lord Iesus Christ did this once for all when hee offered vp himselfe That which he did once he doth now dayly exercise and vse For he once offered vp himselfe for the sinnes of the people and this very selfe same oblation or offering is every day celebrated among the faithfull but yet in a mystery that so that very thing which the Lord Iesus Christ offring vp himselfe once for all hath fulfilled may by the celebration administration of the mysteries bee daily performed and done for the remembrance of his death and passion Neither yet is it falsly said that the Lord in those mysteries is either offered or suffereth because they haue a certaine similitude or likenesse of his death and passion whereof indeed they are true and liuely representations Whereupon the very mysteries themselues are called the Lords bodie and the Lords blood because they haue the name of that or those things whereof they be the Sacrament Isodorus Originum siue Etymologiarū lib. 6. cap. de officijs colū 143. linea 28. Isodorus in his bookes which hee wrote of the true signification of words saith thus It is called a sacrifice as though a man would say a holy fact or deed because through mysticall prayer it is consecrated and appointed to or for the remembrance of the Lords suffering Whereupon by his authority and commādement we cal it the body and blood of Christ because that though it bee made of the fruits of the earth it is yet notwithstanding sanctified and so become a Sacrament Gods spirit working invisibly therein the Sacraament of the bred and cup the Grecians doe call Eucharistia that is if it bee interpreted good grace or thankesgiving And what is better then the body and blood of Christ Now the bread and wine are therefore compared and resembled to the Lords body and boold because that as the substance of this visible bread and wine doth nourish and make cheerfull the outward man So the Word of God which is the living or liuely bread being once rightly partaked of doth recreate and refresh the mindes of the faithfull And this Catholike Doctor teacheth vs that that same holy mystery of the Lords passion and suffering must on our behalfes or in respect of vs bee done for the remembrance of the Lords passion And in so saying he declareth that the Lords passion or suffering was onely once done but that the remembrance thereof is continually represented vnto vs in those same holy rites and solemnities Whereupon both the bread that
flesh which was crucified and for that blood which was shed with the souldiers speare This Doctor hath made a distinction concerning the body and blood of Christ and this he hath done with a very great difference For whilest that hee saith that the flesh and blood which the faithfull doe daily receiue are spirituall things and saith on the other side that the flesh which was crucified and the blood which was shed with the souldiers speare cannot bee affirmed to be spirituall or divine hee plainely declareth that they differ so much as spirituall and corporall things or visible and invisible things or as divine and humane doe differ one of them from another and that therefore for as much as they differ one of them from another both of them bee not neither indeed can bee one and the selfe same thing Now that spirituall flesh which is received by the mouth of the faithfull and that spirituall blood which is daily offered to bee drunke of the beleevers doe without doubt differ from that flesh which was crucified frō that blood which was shed by the souldiers speare as the authority of this present person alledged doth witnesse Wherefore they bee not all one For that flesh that was crucified was made of the flesh of the Virgin and was compacted or did consist of bones and sinewes and was besides distincted by the lineaments and proportions of the parts and members of mens bodies and was through the spirit of a reasonable soule quickned into his owne life and fit motions agreeing thereto But the spirituall flesh which doth spiritually feed the beleeving people in respect of the kind or forme which it sheweth forth outwardly doth being made by the Artificers hand consist of certaine graines of Corne or wheat and is not compacted of any sinewes or bones nor distincted by any diversity of members nor made liuely by any reasonable substance nor able to exercise any proper motitions for whatsoever in it doth minister or yeeld the substance of life pertaineth to a spirituall power and belongeth to an invisible efficacy and to a heavenly vertue or force but is indeed in respect of that which is outwardly seene farre differing from that which is beleeved in the mystery Besides that flesh of Christ which was crucified did not shew any other thing outwardly then that it was inwardly because it was the very flesh of a very man being also a very body in the kinde and forme of a very body Furthermore wee must consider that there is figured by that bread not onely Christs owne body but also the body of the people that beleeue in him whereupon it is made of many graines of wheate 1 Cor. 16.17 because the bodie of the beleeving people is through the Word of Christ increased with many faithfull ones Wherefore as the bread which is Christs body is received in a mystery so also the members of the people that beleeue in Christ are declared in a mystery And as that bread is said to bee the bodie of the beleevers not bodily but spiritually so must wee needs vnderstand it to bee Christs bodie not bodily but spiritually So likewise in the wine which is called Christs blood water is appointed to be mixed and the one is not suffred to be offred without the other to declare that the people cannot bee without Christ nor Christ without his people even as the head cannot bee without the body nor the body without the head Wherefore the water in that Sacrament beareth the image of people and representeth them Therefore if that wine being sanctified by the office and service of the Ministers be turned bodily into Christs blood the water which is mixed together with it must of necessity bee bodily turned into the blood of the beleeving people For where there is but one sanctification and by consequent one operation or working yea where there is but a like consideration it must needs then there follow that that mystery is like But we see that in the water in respect of the body thereof there is nothing turned wherefore it followeth very well that in the wine there is nothing turned bodily Whatsoever is set out in the water concerning the body of the people the same is taken spiritually Wherefore whatsoever is shewed foorth in the wine concerning Christs blood the same must of necessity be taken spiritually Againe the things which doe differ one of them from another be not all one That body of Christ which died and rose againe and became immortall Rom. 6.9 dieth not now neither shall death any more now beare rule ouer it for it is eternall and cannot now suffer any thing But that which is celebrated and administred in the Church is temporall and not eternall is corruptible not incoruptible is in the way homeward and not in it owne countrey Wherefore they must needs differ one of them from another and so by consequent are not all one and if they be not all one how is it said to bee Christs true body and his very blood For if it be Christs body and be truly so said to be as if it be Christs body it must bee his body in truth and if it be Christs body in truth or truly then it must needs bee that bodie of Christs which is incorruptible and impasible and so by consequent eternall Whereupon also it must of necessity follow that that bodie of Christs which is celebrated and administred in the Church must be incorruptible and eternall but we cannot deny but that that thing is corruptible which being changed is diuided into peeces to bee received and being broken or ground with the teeth passeth into the body and belly And yet that is one thing which is done outwardly and that is another thing which is inwardly beleeved through faith That which belongeth to the senses of the body is corruptible but that which faith beleeveth is incorruptible Wherefore that which appeares outwardly is not the thing it selfe but the image or representation of the thing but that is the truth of the thing and the thing it selfe which is perceived vnderstood by the minde Hereupon blessed Augustine in his Exposition vpon Iohns Gospell speaking of the body and blood of Christ saith thus Moses also did eate Manna Aug. in Ioh. tract 26. so did Aaron and so did Phiwees yea many others did eate Manna in the Wildernesse who also pleased God and yet are not dead And why so because they did spiritually vnderstand the visible food they did spiritually hunger after it they did spiritually taste it that so they might bee spiritually satisfied and filled For even wee also our selues doe at this day receiue visible food but the Sacrament is one thing and the vertue or power of the Sacrament is another thing Likewise in the words following Aug. tract eodem This is the bread which came downe from heaven Manna signified this bread the altar of God also signified this bread They