〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas whether he were fitted to come or no. The Magistrates of Sparta were wont to examine all the Citizens how well they observed Lycurgus's Rules honouring those that were found blameless with the Title of Approved h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Persons and shall we not think our pains well bestowed if our merciful Father give that Character of us I grant that after our strictest Examination we cannot bespeak our God with the confidence of the Grecian Wrastler who challenged Jove as he was just to give him the Victory if he had duly prepared all things for the Exercise Clem. Alex. but yet the severer search we make before we come the greater Comfort and the more success we shall have in our approaches Obj. But some will say it is too late for men to consider now when they are come to the Altar and it is impertinent to urge it here since all is done that can be done in this matter in order to this Communion Ans Not so for if any have presumed to come altogether unprepared it is not yet too late to warn them of their sin and danger And it were better for them to go out to day saith St. Cyril i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hieros praef ad Catechum Meliùs est de mediâ viâ recurrere quam semper currere malé that they might come better fitted against the next opportunity yea Christ himself adviseth Math. 5.23 24. in some Cases to leave our gift before the Altar and retire till we are better disposed intimating that it offends Godâ— less to withdraw even from the beginning of his service than to proceed if we are unfit St. Ambrose knowing the Emperour Theodosius to be guilty of blood unrepented of although he was come to the Church with purposes to Communicate sent him back from thence with a serious Exhortation to Repentance k Recede igitur ne conare novo scelere scelus ante editum augere in vit D. Ambros So also St. Chrysostome being disturbed by a malicious and impertinent request just as he was about to consecrate the holy Symbols went out of the Church and desired another to finish the mystery which he durst not do being discomposed in his mind l Palladius in vit Chrysost Secondly But if we have in any measure prepared our selves yet is not this Exhortation to be thought unseasonable for as the most famous Orators though they had composed their Orations some days before yet were wont privately to recite them immediately before they spoke them to the Pâ—ople so it becomes us Christians to review the Records and sad Catalogues which we saw yesterday and briefly to act our Examination over again lest if the number and heinousness of our sins be at present out of our mind we should become as obdurate as if we never had beheld them What was done yesterday was to humble us just now and we are at this instant m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arr. in Epic. l. 1. to give the proof what we did in private and St. Pauls adding and so let him eat seems to direct us to make this the immediate duty before our receiving Let us then remember afresh what we found upon our inquiry and if we pass directly to the participation from this review of our offences we shall no doubt become so penitent and desirous of Pardon as not to be judged presumptuous Receivers § 4. For as the benefit is great if with a true penitent heart and lively Faith we receive that holy Sacrament for then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood then we dwell in Christ and Christ in us we are one with Christ and Christ with us Although the command of God by his Apostle is enough to require our obedience yet it is here backed with two of the most prevailing motives of all shewing that it is not only required of us to examine our selves but necessary for us and that we ought to do it for our own sake n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arrian in Epic. l. 2. 1. Because of the great benefits of worthy receiving 2. The dreadful danger of coming unprepared And first if we bring with us a penitent heart and a lively Faith the benefits are so many and so excellent that whosoever considers them cannot but long for them and they that obtain them may despise all other pleasures because they are as blessed as they can be on this side Heaven and are they not worth a little pains to dispose our selves for them They are surely most unworthy of them who will lose them rather than submit to the trouble of a sincere Examination of themselves The particular benefits are here expressed in the words of Christ John 6.54 55 56. in that mystical Sermon wherein he did secretly prepare the minds of his Disciples for this Sacrament shortly to be instituted and clearly alludes to the same The first benefit is the spiritual eating Christs body and blood For the humbled Sinner believing in the Incarnation Death and Passion of Jesus and receiving this Bread and Wine in token that God hath given him for his sins and that he doth rely on him as his only Redeemer This doth convey to such a penitent Believer all the benefits of the Birth and the Death of Jesus and as the Bread and Wine being received do communicate to us all the strength and comfort that they contain so the worthy Receiver by apprehending and embracing a Crucified Saviour draws perswasions of his pardon and encouragement to his Graces and so hath spiritually eat the flesh and drunk the Blood of Christ and hence flows the second benefit viz. His Dwelling or remaining in us and we in him that is when he have thus received our Saviour there is a blessed Communion between him and our Souls for he communicates of his fulness to us and we open our necessities to him and Thirdly hereby there is produced so near an Vnion that God esteems us as members of his dear Son lays our sin upon him and imputes his satisfaction to us and consequently all those benefits are derived to us which are mentioned by many and found by the Devout Communicant hope of pardon encrease of Grace assurance of our Resurrection and the expectation of Eternal Glory O Blessed mystery which dost communicate my Saviour and convey his Graces to me which givest me an interest in him and makest me one with him whom my Soul loveth How am I ravished with the sweetness of this Heavenly Feast how strongly do these benefits attract me if any pains or cost trouble or difficulty stand in my way I will account the pains to be pleasures the cost gain the trouble delight and the difficulty easiness which leads me to such blessedness O my Soul dost thou not wish with all thy Powers to be reconciled to God to be one with Christ and to be filled with the Spirit behold the
means to accomplish all these desires Do but examine into thy own heart till thou relentest for thy sins and search into Gods Mercy till thou art perswaded of his love And with this penitent believing heart come and partake of this spiritual Banquet and though thou dost not press thy Saviours flesh with thy Teeth which would do thee no good yet thou shalt really partake of all the benefits of his Death and become one with him and receive all from him that thy Soul doth either need or desire § 5. So is the danger great if we receive the same unworthily for then we are guilty of the body and blood of Christ our Saviour we Eat and Drink our own Damnation not considering the Lords Body we kindle Gods wrath against us we provoke him to plague us with divers Diseases and sundry kinds of Death The fear of losing the former benefits will be a sufficient motive to an ingenuous temper to prepare yet many are so obdurate as to rush upon this Ordinance without any preceeding care But that we may deliver our Souls the Church enjoins not only in the former but in this present Exhortation also that the Minister shall warn them not to come in so rude a manner the Heathen Man allows not that any should worship their Gods en passant o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutar. nor unless they had first prepared themselves at home and can such addresses be endured in the highest mystery of the best Religion Let such from the mouth of St. Paul hear and consider First The greatness of their sin 1 Cor. 11.27 29. Secondly The severity of their punishment ver 30.1 Their sin who come hither as to an ordinary solemnity and eat of this as common food not considering that the Lords Body and blood here p Nec se judicant nec sacramenta dijudicant sed sicut cibis communibus irreverentèr sacris utuntur lib. de Card. op Christi ap Cypr. is in Scripture q Hebr. 6.6 Chap. 10.29 accounted Crucifying the Son of God again as much as in them lyeth r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putting him to an open shame trampling upon him and accounting the blood of his Covenant as an unholy thing they use him as his Murtherers did shedding his blood not with design to be saved by it Å¿ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophil in 11 1 Cor. but suffering it to be spilt in vain They receive no benefit by it and yet they make a memorial of it which wounds Christ deeper than all the Cruelty of his Crucifiers did from them he expected no other but from these he doth t Quid est autem reos esse nisi dare poenas mortis Domini occisus est enim ab iis qui beneficium ejus irritum ducunt Ambros in loc so that they are guilty of his Body and Blood and shall be proceeded against as those that offer violence to the Lord Jesus By eating and drinking of this memorial of his Sacrifice they own he hath died for them but by their impenitence and perseverance in evil they declare that they will not be saved thereby And thus this sacred and salutary Rite which in its own nature would assure their Salvation and is designed by Christ to convey his benefits unto them u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylac ut supr is by their unpreparedness and iniquity turned into poison and a Curse and they being before fit for Condemnation by adding this Act of presumption they do accelerate and confirm it Secondly Their punishment will be answerable for they may be sure it will enflame the wrath of God to behold men so stupid and insolent to his dear Son and their Redeemer perhaps this wrath may only be expressed in temporal punishments shorter sicknesses lingring Diseases or sudden Death so it was at Corinth x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl ut supr Febribus infirmitatibus corripiebantur multi moriebantur Ambros in loc so were the Jews cut off who profaned the Passover Exod. 12.15 and thus many Apostates in the Primitive times were possest by the Devil for coming to the Eucharist before their reconciliation to the Church but if the Lord forbear shewing these visible judgments he hath ways enow and an Eternity coming on to chastise this presumption Wherefore ye bold and careless sinners who come in ignorance or in malice without Faith or Devotion sorrow for former or purposes against future iniquities consider what you do and what you must suffer for coming in this unfitness we tremble at the danger you run upon yet who shall pity those who might have escaped all the evil and gained infinite blessings only by a small preparation § 6. Iudge therefore your selves Brethren that ye be not judged of the Lord repent you truly of your sins past have a lively and stedfast Faith in Christ our Saviour amend your lives and be in perfect Charity with all men so shall ye be meet partakers of these holy mysteries That which God and his Church intend as caution to all that they may come better prepared is by the slothful and unbelieving made a pretence for their total abstaining but these dangers as St. Paul shews ver 31. might soon be avoided if we would judge our selves for then we should not be judged of the Lord Let us therefore set up a Tribunal in our own Breast y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylac Bonum judicium quod divinum praevenit quod divino subducit volo praesentari vultui irae tuae judicatus non judicandus Bern. in Cantic 55. and laying Gods Law before us let our memory read the Indictment and our penitential thoughts urge the accusation and that till we be convinced and plead guilty so shall our Conscience pronounce the same sentence upon us which otherwise would more dreadfully have issued out against us from the Divine Judicature It will condemn us as foolish base ungrateful wretches deserving the wrath of God and Eternal Damnation And when we are thus convicted we shall see it necessary by Faith to lay hold of Gods Mercy and further this will most effectually move us to amend our lives z Deprehendas te oportet antequam emendes Sen. Ep. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Simplic ad Epic. and discover what need we have to forgive all Men who our selves have so much to be forgiven so that it appears if we duly judge our selves all the other duties will follow in order let the danger of unworthy receiving therefore only make us more strict in our Examination for there is danger also if we do wholly stay away a Vtrobique grande periculum ideo magâ—â— necessitas instat ne indigni inveniamur Bern. de ordin vitae But the lesser hazard is on their side who set themselves to do their duty in the best manner they are able If we have by due process condemned our selves before it will
semper Deus Creat Durant de rit Eccl. l. 2. c. 44. that the antient Roman Church did not believe the substances to be annihilated no not after the Consecration Fifthly It was long before Rome it self did determine this Doctrine of Christs very flesh and blood being in the Sacrament g Ante Lateranense concilium Transubstantiatio non fuit dogma fidei Scot. 4. sent d. 11. q. 3. In Synaxi serò Transubstantiationem definivit Ecclesia diu satis erat credere sive sub pane Consecrato sive quocunque modo adesse verum corpus Christi Eras not ad 1 Corinth viz. not much above 400. years ago nor was it only opposed by Berengarius but the Master of the Sentences h Pet. Lomb. sent l. 4. c. 12. affirmed it was only a memorial and representation of the true Sacrifice and the famous Rabanus Maurus An. 850. plainly holds i Sacramentum in alimentum corporis redigitur virtute autem sacramenti aeterna vita adipiscitur Rab. Maur. de inst Cler l. 1. c. 3. The outward part still to remain and as Bread to be turned into the substance of the Body yea Scotus writ a peculiar Treatise against this then growing Doctrine which was condemned unjustly by Leo the IX not to mention now the Book of Bertram on this subject Sixthly To this we may finally annex many cogent reasons why this Transubstantiation is not to be believed viz. Because it is needless for us to expect to eat the natural flesh of Christ here where we come to seek a spiritual Union with him by Faith and an interest in his Death to which the eating his flesh would nothing conduce Again it is contrary to the nature of a Sacrament where the visible part must remain as the Water in Baptism doth to be a foundation for the inward and spiritual grace And further since the Heavens must contain Christs Body to the end of the World it is impossible it should be but one and yet many in several places at once always whole yet often broken received intire by every person and yet then at the right hand of God existing before yet Created by the Priest We must deny our Reason as well as our Senses if we can believe so great and absurd Contradictions Nor is it imaginable if this were the intent of our Lords words how he who was then alive and sitting at the Table could break and give himself or be eaten and yet remain intire and finally since we see and feel and tast it to be only Bread and Wine as to the substance still unless we will deny this great foundation of all our notions yea and of our Faith also we must not give credit to so strange and monstrous a conceit Yet still we do believe that every duly disposed Communicant doth receive really the Body and Blood of Christ in and by these Elements but it is by Faith and not by sense If we receive them in the manner and to the end which Christ appointed they give us a lively remembrance of his love and all-sufficient merit and thereby invite our Faith to embrace this Crucifyed Redeemer as the satisfaction for our sins whereupon he who is most ready to close with penitent Sinners doth by this rite of his own appointing give himself and the salutary benefits of his Death unto such and although the manner be mysterious yet the advantages are real and the effect more certain than if we eat or drunk his natural flesh and blood But we have diverted too far and therefore will reserve the Meditation upon this part until we come to the Administration Sect. III. § 3. § 10. Do this in Remembrance of me Having told us what it is which is presented to us our Lord goes on to prescribe the manner how we must make use of it viz. as a memorial of him The Ministers are to Do this which he hath done even to bless the Bread and break it and distribute it in remembrance of his Institution the people also are to Do this that is to take eat c. in Remembrance of his Passion And this being the great end of the Institution the Antients were wont always here to Commemorate all the principal Acts which Jesus hath done for us especially his Death k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in omnibus Graec. Liturg. Memores passionis Lit. Clem. Memorantes ergo nos salutarium ejus passionum Lit. Basil Memores gloriâ—sissimae ejus passionis ab inferis resurrectionis in coelum ascensionis Ambr. de sacr l. 4. c. 5. upon the Cross Our Master desires us not to celebrate his sufferings with a present expression of sorrow but by a perpetual remembring of them even as the brave Germannicus lying upon his Death-Bed desired his friends not to prosecute his Funerals with useless tears but if they would shew their love to him to do it by remembring his Will and executing his Commands Tacit. Let us then do this last Command of our dying Lord and remember him in these or the like thoughts It is but too apparent Blessed Lord how apt we are to forget thy dear love to us and thy bitter sufferings for us our continual transgressions publish it and our present stupidity and indevotion do declare it Praised therefore be thy goodness for these lively Emblems of thy most meritorious Cross and Passion oh that we may behold them with the same affections with which we should have been moved had we been spectators of thy horrid Tragedy so shall they imprint the Characters of thy love so deep upon our hearts that neither time nor temptation can obliterate them Behold we do here most affectionately call to mind the humility of thine Incarnation the merit of thy Death the power of thy Resurrection and the glories of thine Ascension And thus by thine own appointment Dearest Jesus we do shew our Thankfulness for thy Passion our Faith in thy Resurrection and our hope of thy second coming l In commemorationem mei i. e. hoc modo Mortem meam praedicabitis resurrectionem annuntiabitis adventum sperabitis donec iterum adveniam Ambros ut supr We will commemorate thy all-sufficient sacrifice before the Almighty to pacify his anger against us before the World to testifie our hope in a Crucified Saviour and before our selves to renew our sense of thy inexpressible love We will Do this so often and so sincerely with so much zeal and holy Passion that if it be possible neither we nor any others shall ever become unmindful of Thee and when we cannot have the Symbols before our Eyes the Impressions of them shall remain in our minds and our lives shall witness that we are not forgetful of thee § 11. Likewise also after Supper he took the Cup and when he had given thanks The life of Man requires not only meat but drink also to sustain it and therefore Christ hath set forth himself under both these to
their meat in due season Math. 24.45 For this Cause the Antient Church appointed the Priests in great Cities to have a Communion every Day so that devout people might always find the Table spread whensoever they hungred after this Bread of Life and in such places our own Church still makes monthly preparations and also sends the Minister to the Altar upon every great Festival on purpose to mind the people that he is ready if they were so also But when the Table is actually spread methinks we should need no other Oratory than those holy Symbols to invite us did we know our need of that food and were we acquainted with the pleasures of that Celestial Banquet we should be attracted with the very sight of the Elements and long yea languish to participate of them and sure they upbraid those wretches who go away and turn their backs upon them but there are some who cannot or will not hear this still voice and therefore the Minister doth once again ex officio invite us in the Name of God who is the great Master of this Feast and in the behalf of Christ who is the precious food there provided beseeching us that we will not by neglecting affront the great God and slight his dear Son and further exhorting us by the most cogent Argument viz. for our own sakes as we love our Souls as we fear to be Condemned and wish for Salvation that we will come Cicero thought a man might as soon run away from himself as lose the desire after those things which conduced to his own happiness h Prius à se poterit quispiam discedere quam appetitum earum rerum quae sibi conducunt amittere lib. de fin 5. But we have some so wretched who know there is no Salvation but by the Sacrifice of Christs Death and no so proper and ready way to get an interest in that Sacrifice as to eat of the remainders thereof in Faith and yet are hardly perswaded by the most pressing invitations But let us Consider that by frequent and long omissions our devotion grows flat our purposes wavering our Faith weak and our Corruptions strong the Enemy gets ground of us and the Spirit begins to withdraw from us i Mens deficit quamnon recepta Eucharistia erigit ac accendit Cypr. Ep. 54. ad Cor. so that if we would go safely to Heaven we must not too long neglect this holy Sacrament § 11. And as the Son of God did vouchsafe to yield up his Soul by Death upon the Cross for your Salvation so it is your duty to receive the Communion in remembrance of the Sacrifice of his Death as he himself hath Commanded Although we be by Gods Embassadors strongly intreated to come to this Holy Feast yet we must not think it left to our choice to hearken or to disobey for if they should not invite us we are obliged to come hither by the strongest Bonds of reason and duty For if Jesus thought our Salvation worth his Death do we think it too dear of a little preparation is he willing to bleed for our sins and are we not willing to weep for them shall he yield up his Soul in the midst of the most dolorous agonies and will not we yield up our Lusts and come to remember his love in this Holy Sacrament Our Saviour hath satisfied the divine Justice obtained a Pardon and done his part towards our Salvation but our part is still behind viz. to sue out this pardon in the Commemoration of his Death and in this Communion of his Body and blood to apply his merits by Faith to our own Souls And that we should Do this was one of his last and dying Commands Luke 22.19 1 Cor. 11.25 and is it not our duty to obey it How wretched then are we if we refuse to kneel and extend our hand for this Pardon which was purchased at so vast a price How unworthy are we to have any part in this Redemption if we disobey so small a Command and deny so easie a Request of so dear a Master His last Precept was to keep the memorial of the last Act he did for us on the Earth and sure it is our duty never to let that be forgotten § 12. Which if ye shall neglect to do Consider with your selves how great injury ye do to God and how sore punishment hangeth over your Heads for the same If we be resolved in spite of all this still to neglect this divine Ordinance the Minister can do no more than sadly tell us First the grievousness of our sin Secondly The greatness of our danger First We are desired to consider the sin which is called a great injury to God even as we esteem it to our selves when our Guests slight our invitation § 4. 'T is true we cannot properly injure God Job 35.6 by taking away any of his essential happiness Yet because we owe Obedience to him as our Soveraign Lord we are said to wrong him of his due k Debitum contrahitur quoties delinquitur quod debitum solvi in gehennâ quandoque necesse est Aug. Serm. 126. de Temp. Creditor est qui minus quam quod suum est habet vel voluntario ut in mutuatione vel involuntariò ut in Criminibus Vide Grot. de sat Chris c. 2. when we refuse to observe his Commands And in this Case let us consider before we resolve not to come that hereby we shall rob our God of this solemn part of his worship reject a plain and loving command despise the Passion of his dear Son slight his provision refuse his invitation grieve his Servants by such rash and obstinate denials and perhaps bring an evil report upon the Ordinance it self when men see we must be dragged to it The Sacrifices of the Erecynian Venus came of their own accord to the Altar saith Aelian hist anim l. 10. c. 1. But we are forced hither as to a slaughter house is not this a great injury to the Master of this divine Feast But secondly The mischief in fine lights upon our own heads for no man provoketh this King but in so doing he sinneth against his own Soul Prov. 20.2 God is just as well as merciful and severe to revenge the abuses of his love He will not always pass by this scorn nor put up these affronts but punish us perhaps temporally with losses and crosses sickness or an evil Death which careless neglecters deserve as well as unworthy receivers 1 Cor. 11.30 for so those Israelites who laughed at Hezekiahs invitation to the Passover 2 Chron. 30.10 were carryed into a sad Captivity within two years after 2 Kings 18.9 And we must not think presently we are safe because as yet none of these Judgments have seized on us for they may hover over our heads as the Arrow over Julians and at last pierce us to the heart but if we do escape a while l Si nunc omne
Essens d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porph. ut supr l. 4. c. 12. and the Christians e Tert. Ap. c. 39. Nec cibi sumantur nisi oratione praemissâ Hieron ep 22. ad Eustach began their common meals with a solemn Prayer for a blessing The Jews would not eat of the Sacrifice till Samuel came to bless it 1 Sam. 9.13 How much more then ought we to expect the Prayers of the Priest over this mysterious food of our Souls before we eat thereof especially since Jesus himself did not deliver this Bread and Wine until he had Consecrated it by giving thanks There are some other parts of this Office which may upon some occasions be omitted * Non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad Deum praegustetur but this must never be left out it being the most antient and Essential part of all some learned Men do believe that the Apostles themselves in their daily Communions did ever use the latter part of this form from who in the same night c. Alcuin de divin off and it is most certain that no Liturgy in the World hath altered that particular For in every Church the Priest repeats the words of our Saviours Institution and by those words the Consecration is made f Quomodo potest qui panis est esse corpus Christi Consecratione consecratio igitur quibus verbis est Domini Jesu paulò post ubi venitur ut conficiatur venerabile sacramentum jam non suis sermonibus sacerdos utitur sed Christi Ambr. de sacr l. 4. c. 4. ita D. Chrys serm de Judâ prodit Vbi Christi verba deprompta fuerunt jam non panis dicitur sed Corpus appellatur Aug. de verb. dom ser 28. ita Author de Card. op Christi ap Cypr. for it is not the power of the Priest but the efficacy of the Author which makes the Elements to become sacramentally the body and blood of Christ S. Chrys hom 2. in 2. ep ad Cor. versùs fin The Roman Church indeed hath made large additions to this Primitive Form so that it is not above a tenth part of the Canon of their Mass much of the rest being the names of Saints and commemorations of the dead But these corruptions and innovations being removed our excellent Reformers have given us the Apostolical and Catholick Form alone only with a short Prayer to introduce it and because all the Communicants ought to join with the Minister therein we will proceed so to explain it as may assist every ones understanding and devotion The Analysis of the Prayer of Consecration § 2. The Prayer of Consecration hath Three Parts 1. An Introduction shewing the Reasons of this Duty because 1. We have a dying Saviour given for us Almighty God our heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy onely Son Iesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption 2. That Death is so perfect and meritorious who made there by his own oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World 3. We are commanded to remember it and did institute and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again 2. A Petition for a Blessing on it intimating 1. The Author of this Blessing Hear us O merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and grant 2. The occasion of desiring it considering 1. The Act which we are about to do that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine 2. The Manner we intend to do it in according to thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christs most holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion 3. The Blessing desired may be Partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood 3. The Consecration it self reciting 1. The time when it was instituted Who in the same night that he was betrayed 2. The Manner how it was Instituted 1. As to the Bread 1. The Preparation I. Took Bread II. And when he had given thanks III. He brake it 2. The Administration and gave it to his Disciples saying Take eat This is my Body which is given for you 3. The Direction Do this in remembrance of me 2. As to the Wine also 1. The Preparation Likewise also after Supper I. He took the Cup II. And when he had given thanks 2. The Administration He gave it to them saâ—â—ng Drink ye all of this â—or This is my Blood of the New-Testament which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins 3. The Direction Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Prayer of Consecration § 3. Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy only Son Iesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption Our blessed Lord hath taught us to whom we should direct this Prayer even to God the Father of whom he himself did first beg this blessing and since the foundation of this Ordinance was the Death of Jesus Christ we do most fitly begin this Prayer with a Commemoration of that Mercy for how can we more effectually move Almighty God to give his blessing to us in this Sacrament than by acknowledging his infinite love in granting so glorious a Redemption to us And he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up to death for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 He that made him a Sacrifice for us will certainly make these Symbols to communicate him to us if we be desirous and prepared to receive him It is the method of the divine bounty to give his second mercies meerly because he had freely given the first g Cui initio ratio non fuisset praestandi aliquid ei praestamus ob hoc quia praestitimus Sen. de benef l. 4. c. 15. especially when he finds the former thankfully accepted so that we cannot have a better introduction to this Petition than the acknowledgment of Gods goodness in first giving his own Son for us especially if we make it with an humble and graâ—eful heart Besides it must need be a mighty strengthening to our Faith and a great encouragement to our hope of prevailing in this request when we have first remembred so rare an experiment of Gods mercy already received Let us therefore most thankfully confess the incomparable bounty of our Heavenly Father in giving his only Son to suffer for our Redemption and then we may with more confidence beseech him to sanctifie these Elements that they may be his body and blood to us because the divine appointment hath made them to be the means whereby we may become partakers of the benefits of that Holy Passion § 4. Who made there by his own Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice
Oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole World As we have declared the bounty of the Father so now we must acknowledge the merit of the Son before we did set forth the admirable love of the giver and next we magnifie the incomparable worth of the gift for God did not evidence his love to us by any insignificant testimony but by giving us the most real and inestimable benefit in the World The Death of this Saviour which he gave us though suffered but once was so infinitely meritorious as that it was sufficient to satisfie for the sins of all Mankind And where is it more proper to set forth that one all-sufficient Sacrifice in all its glories than here where we come peculiarly to celebrate it with our highest Praises and to make an everlasting memorial thereof If we regard the persons for whom this was done it is a Sacrifice if we respect him that did offer it it is a free Oblation if we consider him to whom it was offered it is a satisfaction and in every one of these respects it is full perfect and sufficient or particularly it is a full satisfaction a perfect Oblation and a sufficient Sacrifice not like the legal Offerings for the sins of one kind or the offences of one Nation or of one Person but for the sins of all the World Let none therefore mistake or imagine we are about to Sacrifice Christ again as the Roman Church falsly teacheth for that is not only needless and impossible but a plain contradiction to St. Paul who affirms that Jesus was to be offered but only once Heb. 9.26 Chap. 10.10 12. and by that one oblation h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theop. in 10 Hebr. v. 12. Illo sacrificio singulari à peccatis omnibus mundaremur Aug. de Civ Dei l. 7. c 31. he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctifyed ver 14. so that there needs no more offering for sin ver 18. And besides if we think that in this Sacrament Christ is daily offered up it seems we do not believe that which he did on the Cross to have been sufficient and so we should exceedingly derogate from that most meritorious Sacrifice to which we pretend to do honour by this Commemoration nor shall we make any difference between the all-saving Death of our Saviour and the daily offerings of Mosaick Institution if this also be continually to be reiterated Wherefore we do deny this Communion to be any new sacrificing of Christ For there is but one Sacrifice saith S. Ambrose not many and this is but the exemplar of that i Ambr. in 10. ad Hebr. This is only a memorial which the Lord hath delivered to us instead of a Sacrifice saith Eusebius k Euseb praep Evang. l. 1. c. 10. The Sacrifice need not be reiterated it is sufficient to remember it with Eucharist and Thanksgiving Rejoyce ye poor repentant Sinners for the price is paid by Christ and accepted by his Father already Acknowledge it gratefully and believe it firmly express it with all the honour you can devise since you came to this Heavenly Feast on purpose to glorifie the compleat and absolute satisfaction which your Redeemer hath made Let no man deceive you for Christ on th◠Cross assured you that the work of expiation was then finished there is nothing left for you now to do but only to pray that these outward Elements may be so blessed as to convey unto you the benefit thereof § 5. And did institute and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious Death until his coming again The work of our Redemption is so very excellent in it self that it deserves a perpetual memorial and who so fit to direct the particular manner of remembring it as he that did so nobly accomplish it and this is that very way which he himself hath instituted so that we have a most direct and powerful Argument to move our Lord to sanctifie these Elements because we celebrate this mystery in obedience to his own Commands Do this saith he in remembrance of me Luke 22.19 and we are bid to shew forth the Lords Death till he come 1 Cor. 11.25 26. And surely he will make these Symbols to be his Body and Blood to us because we are about to receive them purely by his Order no doubt he will establish that which he hath wrought for us l Grandis in rebus humanis est praerogativae ut aliquis operibus beneficiis faveat suis Amb. ser 10. in Ps 119. Psal 68.28 for otherwise he would seem saith S. Ambrose to abrogate that which he hath appointed We are desirous as much as in us lyeth to be partakers of his precious Body and Blood and according to his command we are come thus far but we can only strike the Rock it is he must bring forth the Water we must now stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord for till he have blessed the Bread and Wine we can go no farther Now if this Holy Rite were a meer humane device we could hardly expect to have so great a grace and power shewed for its ratification they that invocate God for those that are falsly called Sacraments cannot so rationally hope to be heard as we who only desire him to be favourable to the work of his Hands and to prosper us in that which we undertake by express Commission from the blessed Jesus O let us then revere this Ordinance which hath so divine an Author on which the Image of God is so plainly stamped let us with a mighty affection embrace our dying Saviours love who was so much afraid we should forget him and so desirous to be ever with us let us chearfully go on without doubts or fears knowing that he who hath bid us Do this is able to make it whatsoever he will or whatsoever we need let us not startle at the difficulty of this Sacramental change but rest satisfied in the power of the Author and Enjoyner let us call on him earnestly and then believe that he will so be present by his Spirit and his Grace as that we shall feel the virtue and efficacy thereof from time to time from one Communion to another even till we come to see him unvailed and face to face at his coming again in glory § 6. Hear us O merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and grant that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine according to thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christs most holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood We have now made a sufficient Introduction to this great Request by acknowledging the mercy and merit of Christs Death as also by declaring the divine Original of this Sacrament wherefore in the next place we come to the Petition it self which is the very Grace before this Coelestial food and herein
thy dreadful Passion were in view thy Soul was so calm as to be at leisure to institute this feast of joy and gladness surely I will entertain this Festival with the dearest regard I can express since it was one of the last Å¿ Plerique mortales postrema meminêre Caesar ap Salust Debetur maximo operi haec veneratio quod novissimum sit Authorque ejus statim consecrandus Plin. Panegyr and greatest Testimonies of the love of a dying friend this blessed Legacy this parting remembrance shall be in my heart for ever Secondly from the time we pass to the subject matter out of which this Ordinance was instituted and that is Bread such as we behold on the holy Altar which may when we behold it occasion such thoughts as these Blessed Jesus how lovely is thy humility thou hast chosen to be represented by Bread and though some curious or costly preparation had been more agreeable to thy Dignity yet this doth best express thy condescension Bread is the poor mans food yet necessary also for the rich the most antient constant universal and necessary sustenance of mankind and therefore a lively Emblem of thy all-sufficient and unconfined Love it springs from the Earth yet it is the staff of our life and given to strengthen mans heart t stomacho fultura ruenti Horat. Jud. 9.5 Heb. Fulci cor tuum buocellâ panis Vid. loc Psal 104.15 and so it signifies that Body which thou didst take from the Earth and gavest for the life of the World being contented it should be beaten and bruised winnowed and ground yea and prepared by all the varieties of suffering that it might become food for our Souls O that I may receive thee by Faith and then I know I shall draw the most salutary nourishment from thee and thou wilt as effectually be united to my Soul as the Bread which is eaten is to my Body u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Galen Let me eat this holy Bread in Charity that as the many grains are compacted into one Loaf x Panes Hebraeorum ita magni sunt ut unus omnibus convivis sufficeret Grot. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diog. Laert. Pythag. so we being many fellow Christians may all be united into that one body of which thou art the Head The meanness y Simplicitas Sacramenti quibusdam derogat effectûs fidem Tertul of the outward part is not to me any disparagement to this blessed mystery but I rejoice that thou hast chosen that which is so easie for all to procure in all places and at all times because it is so necessary for all persons Lord do thou make it thy Body and it shall be the Bread of Life to my Soul I see O merciful Jesus thou hast taken Bread into thy bountiful hands and behold I faint for hunger my strength is gone my sight is failed I languish for this spiritual food happy am I who am once again come so nigh thee on this blessed day of distribution I beseech thee do not pass me by As thou takest this Bread so didst thou take thy Body only to be broken in Sacrifice for us and in Sacrament to us let me not therefore want my part § 8. And when he had given thanks he brake it and gave it to his Disciples St. Cyril adviseth that we should carefully receive the consecrated Elements and beware that we lose not the least part thereof for the very filings of gold are precious But we should be much more solicitous to fix our minds so that we do not miss the least circumstance in this Holy Rite because there is none without a mystery Thirdly Therefore let us observe the Preparation which was by Giving thanks for Jesus did not enter upon the Administration till he had first as the Hellenists speak Blessed the Bread and Blessed God for it and it is very probable he did add some peculiar Praises for the Redemption to be wrought by his Death as also for this opportunity to commemorate it and convey the benefits thereof unto us which may furnish us with some such Meditations And dost thou O my Lord give thanks for my Redemption which cost thee so much pain and agony how much more then should I do so to whom all the advantage doth redound thou hadst the bitter but I the sweet thou the misery but I the benefit thereof and yet thou enterest upon it with thanksgiving to shew how freely thou didst suffer for our good and to teach us chearfully to suffer for thy sake if thou dressest thy self for death by praising God in this holy Institution shall I not compose my self for this blessed Feast by giving thanks also especially since by blessing God for it I shall bring down a blessing on it to make it become the Bread of Life wherefore I do here join my Eucharist to thine holy Jesus and do bless the Lord with all my Soul for this Heavenly repast O shew thy acceptance of my Praises by hallowing these Elements to the purposes for which they are designed Fourthly The distribution follows viz. The breaking of the Bread and giving it to his Disciples for although the breaking of the Bread do well set forth the Torments of our Saviours Body broken and wounded on the Cross yet there will be a fuller opportunity to remember this in the Administration § 8. 11. and for the present it may suffice to observe that among the Jews to break ones bread to any is as much as to distribute it to them and make them partakers thereof Isai 63.7 Lam. 4.4 Mark 8.19 And since the Lord doth this to thee he doth thereby own thee to be a servant of his Family and a Disciple of his School and therefore thou mayst thus consider O my fainting Soul make hast behold thy gracious Master is dealing his Bread to those that hunger and thiâ—st after Righteousness and if thy desires be as great as thy necessities they will make thee fly to partake of his bounty be not discouraged with thy unworthiness for he giveth to all men liberally and upbraids no man It is a mighty honour to receive the meanest Token from the Hands of a King but here the very gift it self is both excellent in it self and a pledge of the Givers love z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Rhet. l. 1. c. 5. who is the King of Kings and Lord of Glory The gift is most profitable and the Giver most honourable Dear Jesus give me a share thereof and I will ever value the Gift and love the Giver Declare me to be thine by feeding me at thy Table thou who wert content to be bruised and broken to satisfie my offended God oh be pleased to give thy self and the merits of this thy Passion unto me to satisfie my earnest longings and it shall be so welcome that I shall cry Lord give me evermore this Bread § 9. Saying Take Eat this is my Body which
as many as had sinned even for all the World for all saith St. Chrysostom are many When therefore we see this so plainly represented in the pouring forth of the Holy Chalice let us not only shew a high estimation of that most meritorious Blood which saves so many Souls effectually and hath virtue enough to redeem all the World but also actuate our devotion in some pertinent Soliloquies after this or the like form Methinks O my dear Redeemer while thou art pouring forth thy most precious blood thou lookest on me with a Countenance mixed of pity and upbraiding that I should take so little care to save this Soul which thou hast bought at such a rate Do I not behold those drops and streams to trickle down that have sealed the Covenant of Peace and confirmed all the Promises of the Gospel why then am I not swallowed up with admiration why do I not breath and pant after it I came not to quench my bodily thirst but to wash my Soul in this salutary Fountain oh how freely it flows how perfectly it cures Lord let me tast thereof Make it unto me the blood of Jesus for it is that my Soul thirsteth after And now that thy powerful word hath hallowed it let me not by evil thoughts or unbelief malice or impenitence make it to my self an unhallowed thing but as thou hast fitted it for the mystery oh fit me also to receive it I cannot now have any more low or common thoughts about it I will by Faith esteem it as my Saviours blood and though I am unworthy of so divine a Cordial yet my Soul gaspeth for it and without it alas I must die and perish § 13. Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me Amen We have here again a renewed injunction to Do this and if we have any sense of our Redeemers love or any care of our own Souls we shall not need to be pressed to it but shall desire to Do it often and yet always to Do it well not Drinking it as common Wine but as the memorial of his blood-shedding in remembrance of him and his inestimable kindness but of this we have spoken before § 10. Only we must note that this Amen in the end of this Prayer was antiently spoken z 1 Cor. 14.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atque ubi Praeses orationes gratiarum actiones absolvit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Ap. 2. by the people with a loud voice not only to shew their joining in the desire that the Elements may become truly Consecrated but also to declare their firm belief that they are now to be esteemed as the very Body and Blood of Christ Let us therefore here most devoutly seal all that the Priest hath done and unfeignedly testifie our Faith by a hearty Amen Lord it is done as thou hast commanded and I doubt not but the mystery is rightly accomplished I am perswaded that here is that which my Soul longeth after a Crucifyed Saviour communicating himself to poor penitent Sinners Oh let me be reckoned among that number and then I shall assuredly receive thee holy Jesus Amen The Paraphrase of the Prayer of Consecration § 14. O Almighty God infinite in Power and wonderful in thy goodness Thou art our Heavenly Father who to save us from Eternal Misery of thy tender mercy and free Compassion didst give thy only and well-beloved Son Iesus Christ not only to be born in our nature but also to suffer a most grievous and bitter death upon the Cross that his life might be for our Redemption from everlasting Torments to which we were forfeited We believe and confess it was this thy Son who made there on the Cross by his own voluntary oblation of himsel◠to that accursed Death though he was but once offered in this manner a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and satisfaction to thy offended Justice not only for the sins of some times or some Persons but for the sins of all men that are were or shall be throughout the whole World so that there is none but might upon their Faith and Repentance be forgiven by the vertue thereof And because there needs no other Sacrifice for sin now therefore our Lord Jesus appointed and did institute this holy Sacrament to represent it And in his holy Gospel he doth accordingly plainly command us to observe this Rite thereby to continue a perpetual and lively memory of that his most meritorious and most precious Death So that his love may be fresh in our hearts until his coming again to judgment in the end of the World In obedience to this command we are now about to make this memorial of his Passion and that we may do it effectually Hear us O most merciful Father Consider our need of this Heavenly food We most humbly beseech thee in whose power it is alone to feed our Souls And grant that we receiving with a true repentance and lively Faith these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine which thou hast chosen to express this mystery and partaking of them according to thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christs gracious intention and most holy Institution namely in remembrance of his bitter Death and bloody Passion Let them Communicate him unto us that we by them may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood and of all the benefits of his Incarnation and his sufferings But it is not in us to make these Creatures to be a Sacrament wherefore we will do as our Lord did and say as he said And be thou pleased to grant that the Words of Jesus pronounced by thy Servant may have the same effect upon these Elements which they had when spoken with his blessed mouth Who in the same night that he was betrayed to his Crucifyers as one of the last tokens of his love Took Bread the staff of life as we now take this into our hands to resemble his taking our nature and when he had begged thy blessing as we do also thereon and given thanks shewing how chearfully he suffered for us He brake it as we this Bread into many pieces an Emblem of his broken and wounded Body and gave it to his Disciples to whom he designed the benefits of his Passion Saying Take this pledge of your Redemption most thankfully and by Faith Eat that you may be nourished by my Love for This is the Communion of my Body and shall make you partakers of it as it is a Sacrifice which is given to God to satisfie for you Provided you Do this in a most thankful remembrance of me and my all-sufficient Oblation Likewise also after the Paschal Supper that he might give himself wholly to us He took the Cup of Wine which maketh glad the heart of Man even as we take this And when he had begged thy blessing on it as we now do and also given thanks that his blood was accepted for the life of the World He
to you consider the sound of his Masters feet is behind him wherefore labour to express the same reverence both in Soul and Body as you would do if Jesus were visibly present with a train of glorious Angels say as the Primitive Christians did g Porro moris erat Communicaturis dum accipiebant Eucharistiam dicere Domine non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum Authore Origine hom 6. in divers ap Durant Lord I am not worthy thou shouldst come under my roof and at the sound of his words let you heart leap within you for joy and say whence is it that my Lord himself should come unto me and then according as you have opportunity you may from these very words be furnished with most pertinent Meditations Meditations before the receiving of the Bread §. 4. The Body of our Lord Iesus Christ An Act of Faith O Eternal word of God by whose power all things were made I will not ask how thou canst give me thy flesh to Eat because I am abundantly satisfyed in thy saying This is my Body since thou canst make it become to me whatsoever thou sayst it is h Oportet igitur non in sumptionibus Divinorum mysteriorum indubitatam retinere fidem non quaerere quo modo D. Bernar. I believe Lord help my unbelief What though my senses assure me the outward substance and its accidents still remain i Corporalis substantiae retinet speciem sed virtutis divinae invisibili efficientiâ probat adesse praesentiam Cypr. de coen Dom. Yet my Faith and my Experience tell me there is an efficacy therein beyond the power of any other thing Alas the flâ—sh would profit me nothing John 6.63 for he that is joined to thee must be one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 O let these sacred Symbols therefore make me partaker of thy nature and a partner in thy merits let them unite me to thee ingraft me in thee and make that body mine which did suffer Death for me and then I shall seek no further but be more happy than if I could understand all mysteries Sure I am This is thy body in Sacrament it communicates to us the blessings and benefit thereof and though presented in a figure and by a holy Rite yet it is to all its purposes that which it doth represent I will therefore receive it as thy Body and esteem it infinitely above all other food that I may not be judged for not discerning thy Body O let it be unto me according to my Faith Amen An Act of Humility I am a sinful wretch O Lord and yet if I bid thee depart from me I banish all true happiness from my Soul I long for thy presence but how shall I entertain thee thou wast born of a pure Virgin wrapped in clean linnen laid in a new Tomb and dwellest now where nothing defiled can enter but never was there so unworthy an Apartment prepared for thee as my polluted heart into which I durst not presume to bring thee but that I know thou canst make it clean However when by Faith I see that Body which all the Angels of Heaven worship I cannot but abhor myself in Dust and Ashes I am amazed to see such a Majesty come to visit a Sin-sick Soul in so poor a Cottage yea I cannot but tremble at thy presence O thou King of Glory because I am so overspread with the filth of sin But I will lament those corruptions which I cannot fully purge away and beseech thee not to despise me though I do deserve it I do profess my self unworthy but thy condescension in stooping to me will be the more illustrious k Majoris enim pretii beneficium est quod praestatur indignis Salvian and if thou hast less delight in me for the present thou shalt have more glory by me afterwards when thou hast changed my vile body and made it like to thy glorious Body according to thy mighty Power Amen §. 5. Which was given for thee An Act of Love Holy Jesus I am not worthy to touch this blessed Body as it is thine yet I presume to approach because thy Love hath made it mine This is the Sacrifice for my Sins the price of my Redemption and that by which my Soul was ransomed from Hell and rescued from a dreadful Execution it was given for me and it shall now be given to me And hast thou prepared such a propitiation for me and offered it unto me which is dearer to thee than thousands of Gold and Silver Lord I am even ravished with thy Love and transported with affection to thee who hast regarded me a forlorn Creature and disappointed my Enemies that waited to see my fall Dear Saviour I will love thee with all my Powers and strive and pray that I may love thee more and more as fervently as ever any of thy Saints have done I will give my self unto thee and despise all other things in comparison of thee and when I have once tasted of this all-saving Sacrifice which was given for me I am perswaded that neither Life nor Death pleasure nor pain things prâ—sent or things to come shall ever be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Amen §. 6. Preserve thy Body and Soul to Everlasting Life An Act of Desire O my Coelestial food the Bread that came down from Heaven how doth thy sweetness and my own necessities invite me My body alas is liable to temporal my Soul to Eternal Death and behold here is the Medicine of immortality which will remove the sting of the first and destroy the power of the second Death which will fill me with the graces which I want fit me for the glory which I desire and advance my Soul and Body above the power of Corruption I feel a mighty hunger created in me an Appetite kindled after these incomparable dainties which nothing but this Heavenly Manna can satisfie Behold I despise the meat which perisheth and feedeth for destruction and I long with a great impatience to taste of this Body of Christ of which I may eat and live for ever which will make the Grave unable to hold me and Hell not to dare to shut its mouth upon me O make no long tarrying but give me now and ever this Bread for I desire nothing but Christ and if I want this repast I shall faint or die before I come to the Mount of God A Meditation when the Bread is offered to us §. 7. Take and Eat this An Act of Admiration Whence is it that my Lord himself should come to me No sooner doth his voice sound in my ears but my heart within me leaps for joy Oh blessed tidings to my poor Soul almost famished with feeding on husks and vanity faint and languishing with grief and fear and behold thou sayst Take and Eat thou offerest thy self unto me and commandest me to feast upon thy own flesh