sufficiently known incited some envious * Busy Jesuits Persons to prepossess the King with prejudice against him By this means they obtained an Injunction of not proceeding to this nomination The Marquess de Ruvigny appeared at Court in this affair and ingag'd himself unto the King for Monsiuer L'ARROQVES Zeal and Fidelity in his Majesties Service The King who is naturally inclin'd to goodness thereupon answer'd the Marquess de Ruvigny the Deputy General that some went about to give him other impressions of Monsieur L'ARROQVE but seeing he would be Caution for the party accus'd he would permit this Minister to Exercise his profession in any other place excepting Paris A business of this moment made as great noise as could be imagin'd but did not prejudice Monsieur L'ARROQVE as much as his Enemies could have wished for soon after he was sought unto by several considerable Churches but he accepted of none but the proposal which was made unto him by that of Saumur The Church and the Academy were then vacant both of a Minister and of a Professor in Divinity he was offer'd both but whether it was through modesty or that he desired not to vary from his former kind of Study much different from that to be perform'd by a Professor in Divinity he only accepted the former As he was preparing to enter upon it the Intendant of the Province appear'd against it for what reason is not known The Consistory of the Church of Saumur us'd such Arguments to remove this Opposition that in fine it was removed Nevertheless Monsieur L'ARROQVE thought it not convenient to accept the offer being so advis'd by Monsieur Conrart for whom he had a singular kindness who represented unto him that the Intendant would always bear him a grudge and that therefore it would not be safe to be under his power The Counsel of this incomparable Friend induced Monsieur L'ARROQVE to incline unto other offers made unto him at that time from divers places The Church of Montauban that of Bourdeaux and that of Roven desir'd to have him for their Minister he preferr'd the latter before the two others by the advice of Friends he accordingly went to Roven there to Exercise his Ministry and there 't was that improving the rare Talents that God had endowed him with he labour'd until his Death in the conversion of Souls and in explaining the holy Scriptures with indefatigable diligence and Industry Roven was a place very convenient for such a person for 't is a City abounding with great wits and well furnish'd with good Libraries He there acquired a great reputation amongst the learned Men even of the Contrary party And the Illustrious Monsieur Bigot at whose House they Assemble once a week and entertain curious and learned discourse was very well pleas'd to have Monsieur L'ARROQVE of the number who also went unto their Assembly where his profound Knowledg in Ecclesiastical History was much admired and esteem'd by them all A little after his coming to Roven Monsieur David so well known amongst the learned for his great Literature and by his contests with Messieurs de Marca Justel and de Launay carped at him about one of the two Latin Dissertations which he publish'd in the year 1670. and dedicated unto Monsieur d'Amproux Councellor in the Parliament of Paris whose Wit Probity and Learning are esteem'd by all who know him Monsieur L'ARROQVE had refuted the Opinion of Father Petau touching the time of the Birth and Condemnation of the History of Photin His Reasons appeared very solid unto a great many but Monsieur David who otherways was well satisfi'd Father Petau's Epoch was wrong fanci'd that Monsieur L'ARROQVE had not sufficiently refuted it therefore took occasion to write against him which was the cause of Monsieur L'ARROQVES reply which he dedicated unto Monsieur Conrart an intimate Friend to them both Since which time this learned Minister hath publish'd divers excellent Treatises on several Subjects He wrote one intituled Considerations upon the Nature of the Church Another much larger wherein he shews the conformity of the Discipline of the Protestants of France with that of the Primitive Church Another in Latin in defence of the Sentiments of Monsieur Daille touching St Ignatius his Letters and the Apostolical Constitutions against Messieurs Pearson and Beverige two famous English Doctors They have writ a second time in defence of their Opinion and he had designed a Reply as hath been seen by a Manuscript Copy found near finish'd amongst his Papers but at the request of some persons favouring Episcopacy he did not finish his Answer The last work he publish'd is an Answer unto a Treatise of the Bishop of Meaux of the Communion under both kinds although his name was not to it yet it was judged to be his it was known by the manner in which it was written clear free from digressions and superfluous Ornaments and full of solid remarks drawn from the profoundest Antiquity But how great an Idea soever the printed Works of the late Monsieur L'ARROQVE gives us of the greatness and Exactness of his Wisdom it may be termed but small in comparison of what would have been seen if God had been pleas'd to have spared him to finish what he had begun he being esteemed one of the fittest men of France to compose an Ecclesiastical History all his Friends intreated him to set about it and accordingly he labour'd effectually therein with all diligence He intended to have published one Volume every year and to have joyned thereunto sundry dissertations which would equally have demonstrated his sincerity and his learning He had carry'd on his work but unto the middle of the fourth Century which is the only thing the publick will not lose of so vast and rich a Structure There was also found amongst his Papers a very exact Treatise of the Regale wherein he proves that the Kings of France since Clovis had this Right over all the Cathedral Churches in their Kingdom This with some other small Tracts which this Illustrious person had finish'd before his Death may make a compleat Volume Monsieur L'ARROQVE the worthy Son of such a Father will be careful of communicating them unto the World But he confines not himself only thereunto he promiseth also an Exact Collection of all the Dissertations which he hath found in the History of the first 350 years of the Church and he intends to publish them in Latin for the benefit of Strangers Every body will be glad to hear this News especially if we add somwhat touching the particulars of this Collection Therefore I now give notice that therein will be seen Dissertations 1. Upon the thundering Legion where shall be shewn that what hath been said of it is very uncertain 2. Upon the original of shaving of Priests 3. De Orariis 4. Of the manner that the Clergy saluted the People which shall serve to explain this passage of St. Cyprian in regard of Aurelius whom he
de Medicis desired of the Pope by her Letters dated Anno. 1561. the use of the Language understood stood by the people for the Celebration of the Sacrament as is reported by the President De Thou in his History Lib. 28. We may add unto all that hath been spoken the practice of the most considerable Christian Communions which at this time do celebrate Divine Service in the Vulgar Tongue understood by the People viz. the Abassins throughout Prester John's Country the Moscovites and Russians the Armenians as is testified by the Frier Alvarez the Baron Sigismund James de Vitry and several others the Liburnians the Illyrians or Sclavonians as is observed by Aventine and John Baptista Palat. Citizen of Rome in his Treatise of the manner of Writing Besides which all the Protestants in all parts whose numbers in Europe doth not fall much short of the Roman Catholicks As for the Greek Church which is of a vast extent it is most certain they celebrate Divine Service in pure Greek and not in the vulgar Greek now spoken which hath much degenerated from the Antient Greek but thereunto two things are replyed first that the Corruption hapned unto the Language of the Greeks under the Tyranny of the Turks is arrived but of late days so that before that time the Greek Church celebrated all their Divine Service in a Language understood by the People Secondly that how great soever this Corruption is it could not hinder but the Greeks in the decay of their Language which arrived by little and little and by degrees but that they were instructed from Father to Son in the understanding of the antient Liturgies of St. Basil and of St. Chrysostom which they make use of and that by that means notwithstanding the alteration befaln their Language they understand the things therein expressed Therefore the people make at this present the same Answers which they did heretofore the 123. Constitution of the Emperor Jovinian who lived in the VI. Century may take place in this matter of the Language understood by the people in Divine Service for he commands that they should with a loud voice repeat the Prayers made in the Celebration of the Eucharist and in the administration of Baptism to the end the people might understand it and grounds his Decree upon what St. Paul saith in the fourteenth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians But in fine if any now demand the reason wherefore the Latin Church which could and ought to celebrate Divine Service in the Latin Tongue during the time that Language was commonly used amongst the People in the West and wherefore they should obstinately persist in doing it in the same Language although for several Ages it hath been of no use amongst these Nations excepting in the Schools and wherefore they Anathematise in the Council of Trent those which say Sess 22. cap. 9. That the Mass ought to be celebrated only in the vulgar Tongue I answer that I pretend not to answer this question of my self but shall only say that there are several which believe she hath so done that the people should not perceive and take notice of several passages in the Mass which do not as they say agree with their Faith and Belief but as it is for the Reader to judge of these matters and not for me so I will conclude this consideration with the words of John Belet in his Summ of Divine Offices Apud Cassan in liturg c. 36. In the primitive Church saith he it was forbidden to speak in divers Languages unless there was some one present that could interpret for what would it avail to speak if one did not understand thence also came the good and wholesom custom observed a long while in the Church in sundry places that after the Gospel was pronounced literally it was expounded unto the people in the vulgar Tongue but what must be done in our days where 't is very rare to find any that read or attend or understand it which see which act or be careful Doth it not appear now that what the Prophet said is accomplished The Priest shall be like one of the People It seems then 't were better to hold ones peace than sing and be silent than dance CHAP. VII Of the Ceremonies and of the manner of Consecration JESVS Christ celebrated his Sacrament with so much simplicity and so few Ceremonies according to the Nature of his Gospel which is wholly Spiritual that there is none appears besides the action by which he took the Bread and that by which he blessed and consecrated it immediately after having taken Bread he gave thanks and blessed it to make it the Sacrament of his Body Just Mart. Apol. 2. vel 1. St. Justin Martyr represents unto us at large all that was practised in his time that is about the middle of the second Century in the Celebration of this venerable Sacrament but there are no other Ceremonies appear in consecrating it but only that after the Minister had ended his Sermon and then prayed and that the Believers when Prayer was ended saluted each other there was presented unto him Bread and a Cup wherein was Wine mingled with Water which he having taken he blessed and praised God and gave thanks that he was counted worthy to partake of those things In the Liturgy of the pretended Denys the Areopagite Den. Areop hierarch Eccles c. 3. some of the Deacons and Ministers with the Priests set the Holy Bread upon the Altar and the Cup of Blessing then he that officiates doth pray Give the Blessing unto all that are present wishing them Peace then having washed his hands he consecrates the Mysteries by Blessings and Praises In that which is in one of the Books of Constitutions called Apostolical although they be neither of the Apostles nor of St. Clement their Disciple the Deacons as in that of the pretended Denys bring the Elements viz. the Bread and Wine unto the Altar where the Bishop is with two Priests one at each side and also two Deacons at the ends of the Altar with little Fanns to drive away Flies and other little insects fearing lest any should fall into the Cup after which the Bishop having blessed the people and warned them to lift their hearts on high the people answering We lift them up unto the Lord he makes a pretty long discourse praising God and exalting the wonders of his Works concluding by reciting the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ and of the History of the Institution of the Sacrament then he consecrates and by a prayer which he addresses unto God whereof we shall take occasion to speak when we consider the form of Consecration or the Consecrating Liturgy In the Liturgies attributed unto St. James St. Mark St. Peter St. Basil St. Chrysostom and unto divers others almost the same thing is to be seen and if there be any alteration either for diversity or the number of Ceremonies it
from the beginning of the XI Century all the Doctors had erred in the point of the Sacrament of the Altar except Berengarius and himself and their followers It must then be granted that the Doctrine of John Wickliff upon the subject of the Sacrament was the same with that of Berengarius and by consequence directly contrary unto that of the Latin Church a Doctrine which according to the testimony of Walsingham he taught publickly in his Lectures in his Sermons and in his Writings maintaining as is elsewhere shewed by this English Historian That after the Consecration made by the Priest in the Mass In Richard H. ad an 1282. the Bread and Wine doth therein remain as they were before Pope Gregory the IX had indeed condemned the Doctrine of Wickliff as Heretical in the year 1377. and had certified so much by Letters unto the University of Oxford unto the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishop of London and unto King Edward himself commanding them to order matters so In Richardo II. That Wickliff should be apprehended and put into prison But Walsingham who every where Vomits Thunder and Lightning against him testifies that the Bulls of Gregory had no effect the University having consulted whether it should receive these Bulls honourably or reject them with scorn the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London carrying themselves very negligently and coldly either of their own inclination or by reason of the People which favoured him or it may be for both together as for the King we do not find that the Popes Letters made any Impression upon his spirit In Epist ad Mart. V. on the contrary this Historian informs us That the Lords and Princes of the Kingdom did favour Wickliff Which Thomas Waldensis interprets of the King himself and of his Son of the Duke of Lancaster and several other great Lords of the Kingdom Therefore it is not to be wondred at if Walsingham says That the Princes and great Lords protected him the which he repeats over again in the Life of Edward the Third And he observes in that of Richard the Second upon the year 1381. that he seduced great numbers throughout the whole Kingdom and that he had Agents which he employed therein he neglecting no opportunity himself on his own part Amongst those which sided with him In Richardo H. ad an 1381 he makes mention of one William which preached at Leicester on Palm-Sunday That the Sacrament of the Altar was true Bread after Consecration And as the Bishop of Lincoln disposed himself to punish him in depriving him of the liberty of Preaching the People appearing in his behalf so affrighted the Bishop that he durst proceed no farther against him After which he mentions several other Learned Men that professed the same Faith and which Preached it boldly and publickly not only in the Cities and Villages but also at the University of Oxford on the Eves of Holy-days particularly Nicholas Hertford Chancellor of the University Ibid. and a certain Prebend of Leicester All these saith he and several others their Adherents published their sin like Sodom and did not hide it and not being content to have evil Opinions touching the Catholick Faith and other points wherein they erred they drew the People into the Precipice of their Error by publick Sermons William Arch-Bishop of Canterbury seeing that infinite numbers of people departed daily from the Communion of the Church of Rome assembled his Suffragan Bishops and some other Assistants which as Walsingham saith had not followed after Baal with several Professors of Divinity and in this Assembly caused to be condemned twenty Propositions of Wickliff's who notwithstanding this Condemnation did not forbear teaching and writing as before as is testified by Thomas Waldensis Prolog t. 2. doctrin 12. But it may not be passed over in silence that amongst these Propositions of Wickliff which were condemned the first of which denied Transubstantion the seventh imports That God ought to be subject to the Devil a most horrible Proposition which I think could not proceed out of the mouth of any man that bears the name of a Christian Therefore it is but charity not too easily to give credit to these kinds of Accusations without having convincing proofs of it Of all Wickliff's Works Vid. l. 2. c. 13. l. 4. c. 3. there is but one printed that I know of entituled Trialogus Now in this Treatise there is contained several things which absolutely destory this devilish Proposition Moreover if Wickliff presented unto the English Nobility assembled in Parliament at London the Propositions now spoken of as the Friar Walsingham doth testifie Is it probable that having a design to invite them to embrace his Opinions as the same Historian doth intimate he would have proposed such a Thesis which had been sufficient to have exasperated them against him and rather have made them his Enemies than his Protectors Neither do I find that Widdeford who reports and opposeth all Wickliff's Articles which Thomas Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Pope's Legat condemned four years after in a Synod at London I say I cannot find that he maketh any mention of this blasphemous Proposition That God should obey the Devil Let the Reader give his Judgment thereupon as for my part I will prosecute the course of my History in saying that Wickliff departed this life in the Year 1385. in the Parish of Lutleworth whereof he was Curate after having composed and written several Books and Treatises for Eneas Silvius who was afterwards Pope under the name of Pius the Second Cap. 35. writes in his History of Bohemia That it was supposed they were above two hundred Volumes The Friar Walsingham 1 Ad an 1387. who was his sworn Enemy by reason of the Thesis which he published against the Friars describes his death in such a manner as sufficiently expresseth his passion and resentment 2 In Ricard II. ad an 1385. grounding his relation upon hear-say As it is reported Nevertheless he is not ashamed to say that he died distracted and that he was damned In hist Bohem. c. 35. quite contrary unto John Hus who by the relation of Eneas Silvius That he had rendred himself famous by the reputation he had acquired by a holy and pious life for he often said in his Sermons Ibid. That he desired to go after his death unto the same place where the Soul of Wickliff was gone making no doubt but that he was a good and holy man and worthy of Heaven The Doctrine of Wickliff did not expire with his person for Nicholas Herreford Doctor in Divinity defended those which were his followers and which professed the Doctrine which he had taught as 1 In Ricard II. ad an 1387. Walsingham doth write 2 Ad an 1389. in Hypodigm Neust ad an 1395. which he represents unto us to have been in very great numbers under the name of Lollards in all that
imputed unto them because there is not the least sign of it to be found Cap. 10 11 12 13. â—bi supra neither in the Confessions of Faith made by the Waldensis inserted by Paul Perrin in their History nor in that of the Taborites Which by the testimony of Eneas Sylvius had embraced the impious and wicked Sect of the Waldensis Of necessity then their Belief must be the same with the Protestants because that of the Waldensis did agree with it as may be judged by all that hath been hitherto spoken But in fine the Question is to know the Belief of the Taborites touching the holy Sacrament but what can better inform us than their own Confession of Faith drawn up in the Year 1431. by John Lukavitz wherein they declare Confess Tabor Joan. Lukavits that their Belief touching the Eucharist is That the Bread remains in its nature true Bread and that it is the Body of Jesus Christ not by a material Identity but Sacramentally really and truly Then they reject the Opinion of those which say That the same Body of Jesus Christ which is in Heaven is also in the Sacrament Ibid. with all its essential and accidental Proprieties Because say they this would be a means to presuppose that the substance of Bread should cease to be and that it should be converted substantially into the Body of Jesus Christ Moreover they formally deny the Adoration of the Eucharist If John Hus was of the same Opinion of those which were called Taborites it must be owned after so express a Declaration as they made that he opposed the Doctrine of Transubstantion If we give credit unto what is reported in the Acts of the Council of Constance we cannot question but that he was contrary unto this Doctrine In fine The Council doth condemn thirty Articles of John Hus in the 1 Concil Constant sess 15. twenty fifth whereof they make him say that he doth approve of forty Articles of Wickliff's the 2 Ibid. sess 8. three first whereof are directly contrary unto Transubstantiation Moreover there is to be found in the Proceedings made against him that he had preached and taught 3 Ibid. sess 15. That after consecrating the Host at the Altar the material Bread did remain that the substance of Bread remains after Consecration and that the Opinion which the Church holdeth of the Sacrament of the Body of Jesus Christ is erronious Therefore Pope Martin the Fifth Ad finem Concil Constant in his Bull of Approbation of the Council doth not fail of representing John Hus as approving the Articles of Wickliff before spoken of Ibid. He declares also that Jerom of Prague was of the same Judgment that is to say in an Opinion contrary unto the Church of Rome which the Council doth also observe in the twenty first 1 Ibid. sess 21. Session And Gobellin Persona Official of the Diocess of 2 Cosmodrom a tat 6. c. 95. Peterborough who lived at that time thought that he ought not to say the contrary after the Declaration of the Pope and of the Council But if we consult the Works of John Hus printed at Noremberg Anno 1558. with his Martyrdom and that of Jerom of Prague for so it is that their death is therein styled we shall find that he always believed the Doctrine of Transubstantiation and that of Concomitance and the reading of Wickliff's Works for whom he had an extraordinary kindness calling him always Evangelical Doctor could never make him alter his mind nor work upon his spirit the same effects which it wrought upon the Taborites In fine in his Treatise Of the Blood of Jesus Christ against the false Apparisions of it which at that time was frequently published in all parts he said Tom. 1. fol. 155 That the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is in the Sacrament truly and really after what manner soever it ought to be here below in the Church that is to say as appears by the scope of the whole Discourse invisibly and not visibly as the Autors of these miraculous Apparations would have it be believed And in the same Treatise Ibid. he accuseth of Incredulity those which believed not what he said of the presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament He supposed Ibid. That Accidents do subsist without their subject in the Sacrament confesseth that there is no contradiction in saying That the Body of Jesus Christ is here sacramentally Ibid. p. 156. Ibid. p. 158. Ibid. fol. 161. and at the same time in Heaven locally He affirms for truth that his Blood is truly and really in the Sacramen confesseth That Jesus Christ is hidden in the Sacrament And amongst many Inconveniences which he fears these feigned Apparitions of the Blood of Christ might produce Ibid. fol. 162. he puts this down as the fifth That it may be there are some which question whether the Blood of Jesus Christ be in the venerable Sacrament because it doth not visibly appear unto them And a little after he saith That we adore the Body and Blood of of Jesus Christ which is at the right hand of his Father and in the venerable Sacrament made by the Priests The same man writeth in his Treatise of the Body of Jesus Christ Id. t. 1. fol. 164. That the Doctrine of Berengarius is a great Heresie He receiveth for a true testimony of St. Austin's a passage of Lanfranc a sworn Enemy of Berengarius which the Canonist Gratian cites in his Decree under the name of St. Austin In a word in this little Treatise he embraceth and follows all that the Latins believe of the Sacrament of the Altar And that it should not be imagined that he changed his Opinion it is to be observed that amongst several little Treatises which he composed during his Imprisonment at Constance Cap. 2. p. 32. t. 1 there is one Of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ written Anno 1415. wherein he teacheth the same Doctrine Ibid. declaring moreover That all that the Church of Rome believes of the venerable Sacrament ought to be believed That he had preached this Doctrine from the beginning unto that day And in fine Ibid. fol. 49. Ibid. fol. 40. c. 3 That he believed Transubstantiation And saith he I never taught that the substance of material Bread remained in the Sacrament of the Altar He adds a little after That the Body and Blood of our Saviour remains in the Sacrament as long as the Species of Bread and Wine do subsist In another little Treatise wherein he examines whether Lay-persons should receive under both kinds he lays it down for a truth That the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is under both species of the Sacrament that is to say that he is entirely under the species of Bread and entirely under that of Wine He that writ the History of John Hus particularly the conflicts he was to suffer at
from Holiness to Holiness But if the holy Fathers considered the Eucharist as an Image of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ they have also more especially considered it as the Memorial of his Death and Sufferings That was it which was designed by St. Justin Martyr when he said That Jesus Christ commanded us to make the Bread of the Eucharist in remembrance of the death which he suffered for those Contr. Tryph. p. 259. whose Souls are cleansed from all sin And Tatian who had been at the School of this excellent Master Diatess t. 7. Bibl. Pat. observes That the Lord commanded his Apostles to eat the Bread and drink the Eucharist because it was the Memorial of his approaching Suffering and Death It was also in the same Contemplation that St. Austin spake 1 L. 83. quaest q. 61. Of celebrating the Image of his Sacrifice in remembrance of his Passion 2 Id. contr Faust l. 20. c. 21. of celebrating the Sacrifice of our Saviour by a Sacrament of remembrance and 3 Id. l. 3. de Trinit c. 4. De fide ad Petr. c. 19. to receive the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist in remembrance of the death which he suffered for us It is the constant Doctrine of the ancient Doctors of the Church of Eusebius St. Chrysostom Theodoret of Eulogius Patriarch of Alexandria and others particularly of St. Fulgentius who speaking of the Eucharist said That it is the Commemoration of the Flesh which Jesus Christ offered and of the Blood which he shed for us This Remembrance brings into our minds divers Ideas which do all contribute unto the sanctifying of the Communicant In the first place an Idea of the strict Justice of God who not being able to pardon us without first receiving a satisfaction chose rather to abandon his own Son unto the most bitter and sharpest of all torments and unto the most shameful death than to see us perish eternally Therefore the Apostle saith That God appointed him from all Eternity Rom. 3. to be a Propitiation by Faith in his Blood thereby to declare his Righteousness that is to say according to the Interpretation of Origen That God in the fulness of time In Rom. 3. and in these last Ages hath shewed his Justice and hath given for a Saviour him which he had appointed to make a Pripitiation for our Offences for God saith he is just and being just he could not justifie Sinners therefore he would have the Redeemer to interpose to the end that those which could not be justified by their own Works might be saved by believing in his Name Secondly The Idea of our sins which had rendred us Slaves unto the Devil and unto Death In Ps 95. for Mankind saith St. Austin was held Captive under Satan and were subject unto Devils And that of the goodness of God and of his great love towards men John 3. For he so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but should have eternal Life Whence it is that St. Bernard said That he gave him unto us Serm. 1. de advent Domin because his compassion is great his mercies are many in number and his love is abundant It was the Humiliation of Jesus Christ and the exceeding greatness of his Love which moved him to die for us It was the thought of St. Austin when he said Con. duas Epist Pelag. l. 4. c. 4. Jesus Christ was pleased to undergo death for us that is to say the punishment of sin without sin for as he only was made the Son of Man to the end that we should become the Children of God so also he alone suffered the punishment for us not having deserved it to the end that by him we should obtain forgiveness without having deserved it because that as we deserved no good so also he on his part merited no evil he bare our punishment not being guilty thereby to cancil our Obligation and to put an end unto our punishment In fine the Remembrance whereof we speak represents unto us the infinite price of his Blood for our Redemption Euseb demonstrat l. 1. For it is this great and inestimable price saith an ancient Bishop which according to the testimony of the Prophets was to redeem the Jews and the Gentiles this Sacrifice for the whole World this Offering for the Souls of all Mankind this pure Hostage for all Sins this Lamb of God of whom the Prophets have said so many things and by whose divine and mystical Doctrine we all which were Gentiles have found forgiveness of sins and all those amongst the Jews which have hoped in his Name deliverance from the Malediction of the Law All these Considerations create in our Souls a holy and religious dread of offending a God whose Justice is so severe and whose tender mercies also are so great a God who being of right our Judge chose rather to become our Father and to save us by his Grace when he might justly have punished us in his Anger a mortal and irreconcilable hatred against all sin and wickedness a firm resolution of warring against it and never to lay down Arms until we have overcome it a true and hearty reliance of flying unto the merciful Throne of our Saviour an ardent Zeal for his Glory an absolute renouncing of the World and of our own selves to the end not to live but unto him only seeing he hath so lovingly shed his Blood for our Salvation and for a fulness of felicity so ardent a love for this blessed Redeemer that each faithful Communicant may say in that blessed moment with the Spouse I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine Moreover the same holy Doctors of the Church have contemplated the Sacrament as a Memorial of the blessed Resurrection Basil de Bapt. cap. 3. p. 581. saying that we participate thereof To put us always in remembrance of him which is risen again for us This Remembrance assures us that the object of our hope of our confidence and of our faith Rom. 1. is not Man only but that he is God also for he was declared to be the Son of God by the Resurrection from the Dead He assureth us that his Satisfaction was accepted of his Father for our discharge and that it had the vertue and power to appease his wrath and to reconcile us unto him From thence it is that the Apostle saith not only Rom. 4. That he was delivered for our sins but also That he rose again for our Justification And in fine he assures us that this Resurrection which justifies us before God should shew its efficacy in the death of our Old Man and in the crucifying the Flesh and the Lusts thereof Rom. 6. For we are buried together with him in his death by Baptism that as Jesus Christ is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father so also we should walk
confessed that they very ill instructed the people which God had committed unto their charge if the Sacrament is a Subject to be adored because all these plain and formal expressions served only to estrange the Mind from the Idea of this Soveraign Worship of Religion in making them conclude it was nothing but Bread and Wine in regard of their nature but otherwise the Sacraments of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ And what confirmed them the more in this thought is that the Fathers never warned them to take their words figuratively when they say that the Eucharist is Bread and Wine but when they call it the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ they use many precautions as hath been shewed in the third Chapter saying that almost all do call the Sacrament his Body that our Saviour hath honoured the Symbols with the names of his Body and Blood that they be his Body and Blood not simply and absolutely but after some sort being so called by reason of the resemblance because they be the Sacraments the Signs the Figures the Memorials of his Person and Death and that they are in the stead of his Body and Blood What need all these Limitations and Illustrations if their design had been that the people should have adored the Eucharist for you would say that they seem to be afraid that they should take it for an Object worthy of this Worship and Homage so much care is taken by them to make them comprehend what sense they should give unto their words when they say that it is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ a precaution absolutely inconsistent with the intention and thought of inspiring unto them the Doctrine of Adoration This is the reasoning of those which admit not of the Adoration of the Sacrament But if from the consideration of the words of the holy Fathers we pass unto that of several things which were practised by the ancient Church in regard of the holy Sacrament and which hath been examined by us in the first Part we may draw Inferences by the help whereof we shall the easier discover the truth of what we do examine For example the Christians for several Ages made use of Glass Chalices in the Celebration of the Sacrament They gave the Sacrament for a long time unto young Children although very uncapable of the act of Adoration They obliged Communicants to receive it in their hands they permitted them to carry it home along with them unto their houses and to keep it as long as they pleased even to carry it along with them in their Travels without ever finding that they gave it any particular Worship whilst they kept it locked in their Chests or Closets They sent it unto the Absent and unto the Sick without any Ceremony not only by Priests and Deacons but even by Lay-persons by Men Women and young Boys Bishops for above three Centuries sent it unto each other in token of Love and Communion without any noise or giving it any homage or honour by the way and without the peoples assembling in the ways by which it passed to receive it as an Object of their Service and Adoration They also sometimes communicated without any scruple of Conscience after Dinner or Supper and so mingled the Eucharist with their other food Were not this to answer very ill unto the soveraign respect which one should have for a Divinity one adores to mingle it in the same Stomach with ordinary food and to communicate standing as they did But besides all these Customs observed in the Ancient Church see here others also observed by them and which have been considered by us in treating of the exteriour form of Celebration In some places what was left of the Eucharist after Consecration was burnt in the Fire in other places it was eaten by little Children which were sent for from School The Sacrament was employed to make Plaisters it was buried with the Dead and sometimes Ink was mingled with the Consecrated Wine and then they dipt their Pens in these two mixed Liquors Can it be imagined say the Protestants that Christians so zealous as they were should Adore the Sacrament seeing it was employed by them unto uses so far distant from this Adoration and so contrary unto the Worship which is due unto God All these Customs could they consist with a Worship of this Nature and with this Soveraign respect which is due only unto the sole object of our Devotion and of our Religion let the Reader judge And the better to judge hereof let him compare the conduct of the Ancient Church in this particular with that of the Latin Church since the XI Century for these kinds of oppositions do not a little contribute unto the Illustrating the matters now in question practices so different upon the same subject not proceeding but from divers principles nor such various effects but from as different causes I ought not to pass in silence the custom of this same Church in turning out of the Assembly all those that could not or would not Communicate I speak of the Catechumeny the Energumeny and the Penitents which could not be admitted unto the participation of this Divine Sacrament and of those amongst Believers which voluntarily deprived themselves of it for it is most certain that all those which remained in the Assembly did communicate both great and small as hath been shewed in the first Part of this Book And nevertheless if besides the use of the Communion for which they confessed the Eucharist had been instituted they believed that the Sacrament was an object of Adoration What did they mean in forbidding those People which were not in a state of communicating the acts of Piety and Christian Humility A thing so much the more strange that the Holy Fathers believed for certain that prayers made unto God at the time of celebrating the Sacrament were more efficacious then those made unto him at other times by reason of the Commemoration which is there made of the Death of Jesus Christ in whose Name and for whose Merits we pray unto him By what principle and motive were they deprived of the fruit and comfort which they might receive from the homage which they would have given unto God at that blessed moment The sinner addressing himself unto the object of this Worship and Adoration I mean unto the Sacrament would have prayed unto it with a flood of tears and with sincere marks of his Repentance and Contrition to grant him pardon of his sins and to seal the Absolution of them unto his Soul The Energumeny would have implored the assistance of his holy Spirit for his deliverance from the slavery of the Devil The Catechumeny would have presented unto him his prayers for the augmentation of his knowledge and to be e're long honoured by being Baptized into his Church and then afterwards to be admitted unto the holy Sacrament And in fine the Believer in the sense of his unworthiness would