and condition of man would permit and he was bound and layd at the Altar to be Sacrificed there was neither sitting as if he were equall with that God that called for him to be Sacrificed nor so much as standing either in his innocencie or his hope and expectation And therefore being the type both of Christ the propitiatorie Sacrifice and of the Christians Eucharisticall Sacrifice wee as bound by the chaine of our owne sinne and vnworthinesse and layd and nailed as it were on the Altar of Christs Crosse with the nailes of contrition of deuotion of prayer and praise and of compassion must present our selues in the gesture and behauiour of those that are to bee offered vp as Sacrifices to God in all deiection and humilitie of soules and bodies kneeling with Salomon 1 Reg. 8.12 2. Paralip 6.13 in the consecration and dedication of the spirituall Temple of our soules and bodies as he did when he cōsecrated the materiall Temple vnto God Where I pray you let it neuer be forgotten that it must needs be that the thoughts of Isaak the Sacrifice could be no other when he lay bound at the Altar then this that he was Ia◠iam Sacrificandus therefore moriturus euen now in an instant to be sacrificed and die And he was then to die the naturall death of the body we at the Lords Table die the spirituall death to sin in mortification and newnesse of life and therefore there is no great likelyhood that hee then thought of the gesture and prerogatiues of a guest and a table as if he were equall to that iust and seuere God to whom hee was to be sacrificed and so presented himselfe to him without all feare and reuerence S. Stephen the first Martyr and therefore the first Sacrifice among Christians Acts. 7.56.60 prayed and kneeled and though hee were partaker of the vision of God which is the Supper of the Lambe and that without Sacrament for hee saw the heauens open and the Sonne of man sitting at the right hand of God yet Deposuit vitam ne deponeret obedientiam he neuer layd downe his obedience till he layd downe his life but persisted in kneeling till hee fell into his last sleepe And why should not the gesture of a Martyr bee a fit gesture for a Communicant at the Lambes Supper since both are Sacrificers of themselues the one in body the other in soule and spirit And this was in the time of Nature Let vs looke on Moses Law concerning Sacrifices In Leuiticus it is often repeated Leuit. 1.4 4.24 that the Priest when he offered for himselfe or the people and euery priuate man that offred his priuate Sacrifice Imponet manum super caput He shall lay his hand vpon the head of the Sacrifice How 1. in Leuit Origen expoundeth it allegorically of Christ Imposuit peccata humani generis super caput suum Christ layd his hand vpon the head of the Sacrifice that is layd all our sinnes vpon his owne head But in the letter there are two reasons giuen of it 1. Vide Tostat. in Leuit. cap. 3. Vt renuntiaret proprietati siue iurisuo That the priuate man might surrender vp all his right and proprietie that he had in the Sacrifice when he deliuered it vp to the Priest to be Sacrificed to God 2. Vt poenas peccatorum in caput animalis transferret quas inflicturus erat offerenti That he might transferre the punishment of sinnes due to the offerer vpon the beast that was to be sacrificed In which it is manifest that euery man that presenteth his Sacrifice at the Altar standeth as a condemned man ready to bee executed that entreateth and beggeth of God that the punishment due to him by his demerits may be layd on the Sacrifice that is vpon Christ that beareth our punishment and curse vpon his Crosse and healeth vs by his stripes As the death prepared for Isaak was transferred from him to the Ramme that was hanged in the bushes that is Christ crowned with thornes and nailed on the Crosse And he that feelingly considereth this state wil easily resolue of the humble thoughts and humble gesture of such a Sacrificer as deserueth the death that the Sacrifice suffereth for him and deprecateth pardon for his sake whose Sacrifice maketh atonement for the sinnes of man In this case when we thus condemne and execute our selues can any thoughts be too lowly or any gesture too humble to entreat pardon So this carriage of the carnall sacrificer telleth vs what our carriage must bee in the offering of the spirituall sacrifice of our selues Our prayers that sue for grace and remission must shew humilitie in soule and body because wee seeke indulgence to soule and body And when we confesse we are most worthy to die in our selues and for our selues both soule and body and desire to receiue grace not for our selues but for Christs sake must we not testifie this vnworthinesse with the deiection of both soule and body Yea our very prayses and thankes for all Gods mercies must bee offered with all outward and inward humility since as it is in the second Psalme Psal 2.11 it becōmeth vs not only to serue the Lord infeare but also to reioice to him with reuerence cum tremore as the vulgar reades it with tremor or trembling For as the goodnesse of God causeth confidence and reioycing so the greatnesse and iustice of God and our owne guiltinesse and sinne cause trembling and humilitie So our very sacrifice of praise and glory requires humilitie and kneeling as the examples of those in heauen who being freed from all wants and therefore neuer needing to pray but onely to giue prayse for their ouerflowing and fulnesse of glory at the well head doth shew Apoc. 4.10 who cast downe their Crownes and fall downe and worship him that sitteth on the Throne and the Lambe And surely the Gospel in the offering of spirituall sacrifices differs not in dueties of Nature and Religion and chiefly in humility which is virtus Christiana Euangelica the Christian and Euangelicall vertue vnknowen and contemned by the heathen and taught onely in the Schoole of Christ And therefore our Sauiour Christ might teach all sacrificers how to behaue themselues when hee entred into his agonie in the garden which was the entry and beginning of his sacrifice for there he did sacrifice himselfe voluntate in wil as he finished it vpon the Crosse actu in acte Positis genibus orauit Luk. 22.41 he prayed vpon his knees to teach all spirituall sacrificers to vse the same kneeling in their deuotions and prayers and sacrifices which he began in the propitiatory and all-sufficient sacrifice for sinne Wherin because that wherewith God is worshipped doth profit man and not God for no man doth good to the fountaine if hee drinke of it nor to the light if he see by it and if man come to God God is not increased by it
Luk. 22.41 did not kneele at his prayers on the Crosse because hee could not kneele And I conceiue I haue good reason for it For first it was vsed by Abraham and the Wise men Gen. 17.3 17. Matt. 2.11 who onely knew the Law of Nature Secondly it is commanded in the Morall Law to be giuen to God and forbidden to be giuen to an Idoll Exod. 20.5 In the negatiue Thou shalt not bow downe to them there is the outward seruice nor worship them there is inward adoration both forbidden to be bestowed on any false god In the affirmatiue Deut. 6.13 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God there is the inward adoration of the heart by deuotion and him onely shalt thou serue and the body onely can serue the soule is free there is the outward bowing and kneeling And the Law of Nature and the Moral Law touch not Ceremonies so Prostration or kneeling is a duetie 3. August retract lib. 2. cap. 37. Ceremonie is named à Carendo of Want because the soule that wants other meanes to expresse it selfe doth it by signes and gestures And in heauen where grace and glory are receiued immediatly without any Sacrament or Ceremonie at all there can bee no Ceremonie and yet the Elders in Heauen cast downe their Crownes and fall downe Apoc. 4.10 and worship him who sitteth on the Throne and therefore kneeling or bowing is a duetie which may not be omitted as an indifferent thing in the solemne worship of God SO then in this seruice soule and bodie must ioyne together for many reasons The first is Naturae totius debitum the debt or duety of the whole man for God created soule and bodie by his diuine power and Christ redeemed our soules by the agony of his soule and our bodies by the death of his bodie and the holy Ghost sanctifieth our soules and bodies in such sort that our bodies are members of Christ body and our soules and bodies are Temples of the holy Ghost 1. Cor. 3.16 6.15 19. and therefore soule and body must ioyne in Adoration of him that made vs and restoreth vs and sanctifieth vs for himselfe The second is Excitatio mutua mutuall excitation for the soule doeth alwayes excite the body as the Musician strikes the instrument and the body doeth sometimes call home and awaken the soule that wandreth and is heauy in the seruice of God and as an instrument with a sweet melody doeth quicken the soule in this harmony of Gods Religion The third is offensio mutua both soule and body are sharers in the offence to God by sinne and therefore both soule and body must concurre in the pacification of God our hearts must be broken and contrite by inward sorrow and our bodies and knees bowed to testifie that we are broken poore and impotent because wee come before that Physician who cureth none but them that confesse their owne sicknesse and seeke his helpe So then since wee come to Gods house to pacifie him let our cariage be such that we stirre him not to more anger and let vs euer hold this rule Ingressus cum reuerentia progressus cum adoratione Let our entry try be with reuerence and our progresse with Adoring and then Egressus cum benedictione our departure shal be with a blessing Now Ploremus where the Hebrew reades Genu flectactamus let vs kneele the Septuagint the Vulgar and most of the ancient haue Ploremus let vs weepe In which difference I resolue nothing I onely relate that which the Learned in those tongues obserue which is that the little deflection of Niucha which is Genu flectamus let vs kneele from Niurecha Ploremus let vs weepe may bee the occasion that the Hebrew and the Septuagint doe differ and likewise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let vs kneele and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let vs weepe may bee the cause of this varietie And the coniecture is not improbable for Dauid first saying Procidamus let vs fall downe which implies the prostration of the whole body it is not likely that in the next words he would adde Genu flectamus let vs kneele which is but a part and included in falling downe Howsoeuer since Christ and the Apostles so often follow the Septuagint in some Textes that differ from the originall I hope I may passe without blame who make vse of both And surely Verse 1. in this Psalme as Exultemus and Adoremus are well ioyned let vs reioyce and let vs adore sing for our deliuerance and adore our Deliuerer for praise without adoration is to giue God our tongues but not our seruice and obedience and adoration without exulting is to doe God seruice and not to giue him thankes for his benefits Verse 6. So Adoremus and Ploremus are as well ioyned let vs adore him for his dominion or Lordship and let vs weepe before him to intreate pardon for our transgressions For adoration without teares is to looke with the Pharisee so much on Gods graces and our owne vertues that wee forget our owne sinnes Luk. 18.11 And teares without inuocation is so much to looke on our owne sinnes that we forget the mercies of God that forgiueth sinne and so are swallowed vp in despaire So that as we must praise God for his goodnesse and adore him for his greatnesse so we must weepe before him to wash away our sinnes and deplore and preuent our present and future miseries And surely if wee plucke away the vaile of fig-leaues that couereth our shame rather then cureth our wounds wee shall discerne that all our state and being is a lamentable and miserable being For the naturall man Plorandus quia non plorat is most to be pitied because he laments not his sinne and miserie because he seeth it not as the sicke man is most desperate whose woundes are past cure because they are past sense and the spirituall man Non plorandus quia plorat is therefore not so much to bee lamented and pitied because hee doth in such sort lament and deplore his owne sinnes and miseries that his whole life is nothing else but a continuall repentance and contrition for his sinnes alwayes sorrowing for his sinne and ioying in nothing but onely in this that he is truely contrite for his sinne For why The spirituall Pharaoh Satan with all his armie will neuer be drowned but in the red Sea of teares which may well bee called red for they are Sanguis animae the blood of the soule The fire of concupiscence will neuer be quenched but in this water of teares and the spots and deformities of the soule will neuer be washed away but in the Sope or Lye of teares and compunction Wilt thou then O wretched man know the weight and greatnesse of sinne Looke vpon the Crosse of Christ which this * Passion Sunday day represents vnto thee and there thou shalt learne that none could beare it but the Sonne of God
meditation is but as prayer and the like which properly offer diuine adoration to God For why The Sacrament is a visible signe of an inuisible grace in which as God offereth to vs his Sonne in his death and passion and the graces of the holy Spirit so wee offer to him our selues In Baptisme the Sacrament of Spirituall generation the water washeth the body and the Blood of Christ washeth the soule there God becommeth our Father by adoption and wee offer vp our selues and our children to be sonnes of God by grace Aug. Tract 2. in loan Dedit vnicum vt non esset vnicus God giueth his onely Sonne to vs that hee might no longer be an onely Sonne but make many brethren vnto himselfe and sonnes and heires to God Christ giueth himselfe to vs to be our head and wee consecrate and dedicate our selues to Christ to be his members God becommeth our Lord and we become his seruants we offer our selues to fight as souldiers vnder his colours and he receiueth vs into his army and protection and armes vs by his grace to fight his battailes so that Baptisme is as a mutuall or reciprocal couenant that he should be our God and we should be his people consecrated and sealed to his seruice The like is done in the Eucharist the Sacrament of encrease there the Flesh and Blood of Christ the meate and drinke of our soules is giuen to vs for our growth and we there giue and offer vp our whole selues a holy and liuing sacrifice acceptable to God which is our reasonable seruice of him The first of regeneration is done of vs being children when wee are not able to promise for our selues in this of nourishment we doe contract by our selues that he shall be our God and wee will be his holy Temple that hee shall be our head and we will be his liuing members that hauing receiued life from his life and spirit from his Spirit we will no more liue to our selues but vnto him that so we may say with the Apostle Viuo ego iam non ego I liue yet not I Gal. 2.27 but Christ liueth in mee we cease to liue the life of sinne that wee may altogether liue the life of grace In which respect the fathers call this Sacrament Latreiam diuine worship Cyril Epist. ad Nectar Actor Concil Ephe. Tom. 1 c. 14 apud Biunium pag. 714. Dum vnigeniti filij Dei hoc est Iesu Christi mortem ex mortuis resurrectionem annunciamus eiusdemque in Coelum assumptionem profitemur incruentum in Ecclesia Dei cultum nos obire mysticasque benedictiones adire eaque ratione sanctificari vtpote sacrae carnis pretiosi sanguinis Christi omnium saluatoris participes effecti While we do shew the death of the onely begotten Sonne of God that is Iesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead and his assumption into heauen we professe to performe the vnbloody worship of God in the Church and come to the mysticall blessings and by that meanes to be sanctified as being made partakers of the sacred flesh and the pretious blood of Christ the Sauiour of vs all Aug. de Ciuit. Dei lib. 10. c. 4. so sayeth S. Cyrill And S. Augustine saith Hinc nos seruitutem quae latria graecè dicitur siue in quibusdam Sacramentis siue in nobis ipsis debemus We do owe to God that seruice which in Greeke is called diuine worship either in certaine Sacraments or in our selues Againe the oblation of sacrifice pertaineth Ad cultum Latreiae to diuine worship August contra Faust Man l. 20. cap. 21. And againe Sacrifice is diuine worship Aug de Trinit l. 3. c. 10. And againe Infantes non nouerunt quod in altari ponitur peracta pietatis celebratione consumitur Infants know not that which is set vpon the Altar and performed in the celebration of pietie where this Sacrament is called pietie But in my iudgement Caluine doeth best expresse this point for hee defineth a sacrament thus Instit lib. 4. cap. 14. §. 1. It is Testimonium diuinae in nos gratiae externo signo confirmatum cum mutua nostrae erga ipsum pietatis testificatione A testimony of diuine grace in vs confirmed by an externall signe with a mutuall testification of our seruice or pietie towards him And that this pietie is to Godward it appeareth in the word erga ipsum And againe when he saith That as God doeth seale the promises of his beneuolence to our consciences by these externall symbols so we in like sort doe testifie our pietie to him as well before him and his Angels as in the sight of men So the Sacrament is an action of our pietie to God and pietie is the inward deuotion or adoration of the soule And therefore Viguerius in his institutions which are a briefe of Schole diuinitie collecteth thus That Viguerius cap. 16. ver 8. Gratia Sacramentalis ad duo ordinari videtur videlicet ad tollendos defectus peccatorum praeteritorum in quantum transeunt actu remanent reatu iterum ad perficiendam animam in his quae pertinent ad cultum Dei secundùm religionem Christianae vitae Sacramentall grace is ordained for two ends 1. to take away the defects of sinnes past in as much as they bee past in acte and remaine in the guilt 2. to perfect the soule in those things that appertaine to the worship of God according to the Religion of Christian life And ver 3. He saith Dicitur signum datum ad sanctificandum hominem in cultum honorem Dei that it is a signe giuen to sanctifie man to the worship and honour of God And after In vsu Sacramentorum duo possunt considerari Cultus diuinus sanctificatio hominis In the vse of the Sacraments two things may be considered The worship of God and the sanctification of man As in the Law Circumcision did consecrate and seale the seed of Abraham to God and the Passeouer did prepare them to the sacrifice of God in the wildernesse Yea and this Passeouer is called Religio Religion What is this seruice Exod. 12.26 and Victima transitus Domini ver 27. the sacrifice of the Lords Passeouer And Exod. 13.10 Custodies huiusmodi cultum thou shalt obserue this ordinance or forme of worship so in the Gospel Baptisme doeth regenerate and consecrate vs to God and the Eucharist doeth offer vs vp in sacrifice to him And this Sacrament may better be called an Act of Religion or pietie and the sacrifice of the Lords Passeouer since that was Typus agni paschalis a type of the Paschal Lambe and here are offered membra agni Paschalis the members of the Paschal Lambe And this offering vp of our selues to him is indeed the true and dayly sacrifice of the Christian Church which being the mysticall body of Christ cannot offer Christs natural body which Christ offered once for all vpon the Crosse but
it is Idem sacrificatum the same thing sacrificed Christ crucified that is represented to God and communicated to vs. And surely euery one that doth desire to bee heard and therefore concludes his prayers with these words Per Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum through Iesus Christ our Lord doth represent and offer Christ crucified to God and entreates remission and grace through his death and passion And Christ our high Priest that sitteth at the right hand of God doth at that instant execute his office and make intercession for vs by representing his wounds or scarres to his Father In Baptisme in like maner when wee doe consecrate and dedicate our selues to Gods seruice wee doe as it were offer vp Christ crucified by way of representation as if we did explicate and vnfold the passion of Christ at that time desiring to bee accepted for his sake And that made S. In exposit incho Epist ad Rom. Tom. 4. Augustine to say Quodeo tempore quisque prose offert pro peccatis suis quum eiusdem passionis fide dedicatur at that time euery one offereth the sacrifice of Christs passion for his sinnes when he is dedicated in the faith of that passion and the maner he explicateth with Quodammodo offert he offers in a sort not properly but by way of representation and application And this is made good by the words of the Apostle Rom. 6.3 Know you not that as many of vs as are baptized into Christ Iesus are baptized into his death And againe v. 4. Consepulti per baptismum in mortem buried with him by baptisme into death And againe v. 5. Complantati similitudini mortis planted together in the likenesse of his death so our Baptisme is a representation of Christs death But this Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ as a more ample and perfect image doth more fully represent Christs death and by way of memoriall offer it to God as being instituted and commanded for a representation and commemoration thereof And this is generally receiued of antiquitie and so allowed by the Romish Sacrificers though they proceede further without ground or reason For why De Trinit lib. 4. cap. 14. S. Augustine said well Ipse cui offert qui offert quique offertur these bee proper to Christ to be the Godhead to whom he offereth to be the Priest that offreth the Sacrifice that is offered vp to God The true Sacrifice that is due onely to the true God is that Contra Faustum lib. 20. cap. 18. Quo eius altare solus Christus impleuit with which Christ onely filled his Altar As for Christians vnde iam Christiani peracti eiusdem sacrificij memoriam celebrant sacrosancta oblatione participatione corporis sanguinis Christi They celebrate the memorie of this sacrifice performed on the Crosse by the sacred oblation and participation of the bodie and blood of Christ So Christs sacrifice is the trueth and ours the representation of that trueth Aug. Epist 23. And in his 23. Epistle Nonne semel immolatus est Christus in seipso tamen in Sacramento nonsolùm per omnes Paschae solennitates sed omni die populis immolatur Hee was once offered in himselfe and yet in the Sacrament he is not only offered yeerely at the solemnitie of the Passeouer but also euery day And hee giues a reason Sienim Sacramenta quandam similitudinem earum rerum quarum Sacramenta sunt non haberent omnino Sacramenta non essent Ex hac autem similitudine plerunque etiam ipsarum rerum nomina accipiunt Sacraments haue a similitude of things whereof they are Sacraments els they were not sacramēts And by this similitude they borrow the names of those things whereof they are Sacraments Hoc sacrificium exemplum est illius Chrisost ad Heb. 10. this sacrifice is an example or imitation of that sacrifice of Christ on the Crosse So Christ offered and wee offer sed hoc quod nos agimus recordatio est sacrificij but that which wee doe is a commemoration of a sacrifice Againe S. Augustine saith Aug. quest 61. inter 83. Dominus noster Iesus Christus ostenditur Rex noster ipse est etiam Sacerdos noster in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedec quiseipsum obtulit holocaustum pro peccatis nostris eius sacrificij similitudinem celebrandam in suae passionis memoriam commendauit Hee is our King for euer after the order of Melchisedech who offered himselfe a sacrifice for our sinnes and hee commended the similitude of this sacrifice in the remembrance of his passion These and many other sentences of the Fathers Lomb. lib. 4. Dist 12. G. made the Master of the sentences to rest in this that this Sacrament is a representation or memorie of that Sacrifice performed on the Altar of the Crosse and further went not the diuinitie of his time And Thomas that liued long after him knew no other doctrine And hee giueth onely two Reasons why it is called Immolatio Christi the sacrificing 3. qu. 83. art 1. or immolation of Christ First because it is Imago quaedam passionis Christi It is a certaine Image or representation of Christs passion as Images are called by the names of those things whereof they are images as S. Augustine saith And when wee looke on a painted wall or table we vse to say this is Cicero this is Salust and the like So the celebration of this Sacrament is a representatiue image of Christ passion which is the true immolation of him and therefore it is called the Immolation of Christ and there hee produceth Chrysostomes words cited before The second Reason is Quia participes efficimur fructus Dominicae passionis Because by this Sacrament we are made partakers of the fruit and benefit of Christs passion therefore it is called the sacrifice of Christ so Thomas goeth no further then representation and participation I descend no further for by this it is plaine who are Veteratores and Nouatores the corrupters of antiquity that remoued the ancient bounds and the Authors of Noueltie that not onely speake old Diuinitie nouè in new words and formes but also bring in noua new and strange doctrines and Articles neuer heard of That this Sacrament is the onely proper externall dayly sacrifice of the Church without which the other two relatiues cannot stand viz. that there is no Religion without Priesthood nor Priesthood without sacrifice here it is manifest where the house began to runne to decay and where the enemie sowed Tares For as Thomas saith The Altar is the representation of Christs Crosse and the Priest beares the image of Christ our High Priest and so his sacrifice is but a representation of Christs sacrifice exemplum illius as before Againe Th◠Qu. 73. Art 4. compare this Sacrament with three times and it will haue many names Respectu praeteriti concerning the time past in as much as it is a commemoration of
or that which is the trueth the Fathers and Councels that vpon the particular of Christs resurrection decreed for standing prayer might and did as it will appeare vse kneeling at the Lords Table according to the generall rule of Prayer at all other times and occasions and according as they then vsed to do in the participation of those great and reuerend mysteries of the Body and blood of Christ Now among all these obseruations this must not be omitted in generall before wee come to the particular that all those Fathers who vpon particular reason of Christs resurrection speake for standing prayer on Sundayes and from Easter to Pentecost and at other times according to the Common Law or rule of prayer require kneeling and humility with prayer yet in the matter of this Sacrament either they are silent and say nothing or if they speake of it they reiect both sitting and standing and speake onely for adoration and kneeling And so here bee Testes but not Testimonia names of mute witnesses whose depositions or dictats are nothing against kneeling but rather pleade for it both by their silence and their reason For concerning their silence it is more then probable that they who for the resurrection of Christ and our hope and expectation of our owne Resurrection did in a maner violate the Law of Prayer and humilitie and ordaine standing on the Lords day and from Easter to Pentecost as a testimony of our ioy and confidence and expectation thereof and dispence against the generall Law of kneeling at Prayer would also haue added the like expresse declaration in a matter of so great consequence as the Lords Supper is and said plainely that for the same reason we ought also to stand at the Lords Table when we receiue the Body and Blood of Christ since these reuerend mysteries require as reuerend gesture and behauiour as prayer doeth because in this Sacramēt we receiue all that which our praiers can aske and receiue in this life that is Christ with all the benefits of his death and Passion and the holy Ghost with all the whole traine of his gifts and graces and the greater Gods gifts are the greater should bee our humilitie and reuerence in receiuing them And the Argument is good Quod hominem though it be defectiue in the Fathers sense which is this The Fathers and Counsels decreed for standing at Prayer on Sundayes and from Easter to Pentecost But in the celebration of the Eucharist according to Christs institution there was not neither should be now any prayer at all as these men suppose Therefore the Fathers and Councels that decreed for standing at Prayer on Sundayes and from Easter to Pentecost spake nothing of the Lords Supper in which there ought to bee no prayer at all So then the silence of the Fathers in point of the Lords Supper is an argument that they spake onely of standing at Prayer and not at the Lords Supper Come to the Reason and it wil appeare more plainely For besides that priuate Lawes are stricti iuris and therefore to be restrained to the strict letter and no further And as the Lawyers say Exceptio firmat regulam the exception doth make the rule more strong and firme the exception of Sundayes and betweene Easter and Pentecost concerning standing at prayer maketh the rule strong that we should not stand at any other time and the exception of Prayer on Sunday maketh it strong that at other parts of diuine worship whereof the Sacrament is a principall and most eminent part we should not stand but vse the gesture that the nature of the action requireth which is humilitie and kneeling The reason which the Fathers giue is the memorie and celebration of the resurrection of Christ and the confidence that we haue of our part in the first and second Resurrection Now what is this Reason to this Sacrament which is Commemoratio not Resurrectionis but Mortis a commemoration not of the Resurrection but of the death and Passion of Christ 1. Cor. 11.26 The Apostle saith not as often as you eate this bread and drinke this Cup Annunciabitis resurrectionem you shall shew forth the resurrection but Annunciabitis mortem Domini you shall shew foorth the death of the Lord So then the reason of the Fathers is quite turned against this disputer The Christians did stand at praier on Sundaies and from the Passeouer to Pentecost vpon a particular reason that is for the memorie of Christs Resurrection and the ioy and confidence of our Consurreximus our rising with Christ Phil. 3.10 and the power of his Resurrection in vs Wee come to this Sacrament not to celebrate the memorie of Christs resurrection nor our confidence of rising together with him but in remembrance of his death and Passion in which wee must die to sinne as hee died to nature Therefore though we stand at Prayer to celebrate Christs resurrection yet we ought to kneele in all humilitie at the receiuing of this Sacrament in remembrance of his death and Passion for the Passion of Christ is as forcible to procure sorrow and humilitie for our sinne that deliuered him to death as the Resurrection of Christ is able to procure ioy and confidence for our redemption and deliuerance from sinne and death And of the oxen and fatlings Christ said Matth. 22.4 Tauri mei altilia occisa sunt mine oxen and fatlings are killed and Christ was slaine not onely that he might be to Godward Pretium the price of our ransome but also that hee might to vs-ward be Cibus our food Wherein because man doeth altogether abhorre to eate liuing flesh our blessed Sauiour was put to death that so hee might be the food of our soules So then the reason of the Fathers which moued them to decree standing at Prayer on Sundayes and from Easter to Pentecost doeth proue a contrario that when we celebrate the memorie of Christs Passion in the Eucharist which mooueth compunction and humilitie we should then kneele in token of our contrition and humiliation as they did stand in the ioy and confidence of Christs and their owne resurrection Whereby it appeareth that the Fathers who ioyne teares and contrition and confession and prayer with this Sacrament ment not to alter the humilitie in the receiuing thereof though they change the ordinary gesture of kneeling at Prayer vpon Sundayes and from Easter to Pentecost for the ioy and confidence they receiued of our Sauiours Resurrection Thus haue we passed the example of our Sauiour and his Apostles and haue not yet found any solid proofe for sitting at the Sacrament but rather left it doubtfull what gesture they vsed whether standing as at the Passeouer or kneeling or lying or sitting Now after the time of Christs Ascention vnto the time of Iustin Martyr and Tertullian and Dionysius of Alexandria there is no Author produced that saith any thing concerning the gesture of Communicants only there is a coniecturall argument made to