Spurious Dionysius speaking of the Bread and Wine which he calls Holy Gifts says They are Symbols of things above that are more true So again (h) In Cap. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elsewhere he says The things of the Old Law were a shadow those of the New Testament were an Image but the state of the World to come is the Truth Theodoret (i) In 1 Cor. 11.26 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After his coming there will be no more need of Symbols or Signs when the Body it self appears I refer the Reader to the Testimonies produced before Chap. 10. Position 2. out of S. Austin Sedulius Primasius Bede c. I will conclude this Chapter with a passage or two out of the Prayers after the Sacrament in the Old Liturgy used in Bertram's time (k) V. Bertram de corp sang Christi prope finem p. 112. Edit ult Lat. Engl. We who have now received the Pledge of Eternal Life most humbly beseech thee to grant (l) Ut quod in imagine contingimus Sacramenti manifesta participatione sumamus That we may be manifestly made partakers of that which we here receive in the Image of the Sacrament And thus afterwards (m) Ibid. p. 114. Perficiant in nobis quaesumus Domine tua Sacramenta quod continent ut quae nunc specie gerimus rerum veritate capiamus in another Prayer Let thy Sacraments work in us ' O Lord we beseech thee those things which they contain that we may really be partakers of those things which now we celebrate in a Figure Bertram Comments upon these Prayers in such passages as these Whence it appears says he that this Body and Blood of Christ are the Pledge and Image of something to come which is now only represented but shall hereafter be plainly exhibited therefore it is one thing which is now celebrated and another which shall hereafter be manifested And afterwards p. 115. The Prayer says that these things are celebrated in a Figure not in Truth that is by way of similitude or representation not the manifestation of the thing it self Now the Figure and the Truth are very different things Therefore the Body and Blood of Christ which is celebrated in the Church differs from the Body and Blood of Christ which is glorified since the Resurrection c. We see how vast a difference there is between the mystery of Christs Body and Blood which the faithful now receive in the Church P. 117. and that Body which was born of the Virgin Mary which suffered rose again ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of the Father For this Body which we celebrate in our way to happiness must be spiritually received for Faith believes somewhat that it sees not and it spiritually feeds the Soul makes glad the heart and confers Eternal Life and Incorruption if we attend not to that which feeds the Body which is chew'd with our teeth and ground in pieces but to that which is spiritually received by Faith. But now that Body in which Christ suffered and rose again was his own proper Body which he assumed of the Virgin which might be seen and felt after his Refurrection c. It is very observable and a great confirmation of what has been said in this Chapter That the Ancient Christians of S. Thomas inhabiting the Mountains of Malabar in the East Indies agree with the Ancient Church in denying our Saviours Corporal Presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist as appears from their Publick Offices and other Books mentioned in a Synod which was celebrated amongst them by Dom Aleixo de Menezes Archbishop of Goa in the Year 1599. In the fourteenth Decree of the third Action of the said Synod in which most of their Church Offices and other Books are Condemned for containing Doctrines contrary to the Roman Faith there is particular notice taken of their contradicting the Roman Faith in the point of Transubstantiation 1. The Book of Timothy the Patriarch is condemned for asserting through three Chapters that the true Body of Christ our Lord is not in the Sacrament of the Altar but only the Figure of his Body 2. The Book of Homilies is condemned which teacheth that the H. Eucharist is only the Image of Christ as the Image of a Man is distinguished from a real Man and that the Body of Christ is not there but in Heaven 3. The Book of the Exposition of the Gospels is condemn'd which teacheth that the Eucharist is only the Image of the Body of Christ and that his Body is in Heaven at the right Hand of the Father and not upon Earth 4. Their Breviary which they call Iludre and Gaza is condemn'd which teaches that the most H. Sacrament of the Eucharist is not the true Body of Christ Lastly The Office of the Burial of Priests is condemn'd where it is said that the most H. Sacrament of the Altar is no more but the virtue of Christ and not his true Body and Blood. This Synod was Printed in the University of Conimbra with the Licences of the Inquisition and Ordinary in the Year 1606. and is in the Possession of a Learned Person who gave me this account out of it CHAP. XII The Twelfth Difference The Fathers assert That Christ's Body is not eaten corporally and carnally but only spiritually But the Church of Rome teaches a Corporal Eating a Descent of Christ's Natural Body into ours and understands the Eating of Christ's Body literally and carnally IF the Church of Rome declares its own Faith when it imposes the Profession of it upon another and makes one abjure the contrary under pain of Anathema then I am sure it was once with a witness for the eating of Christ's Body in the most literal and proper Sense when An. Dom. 1059. Pope Nicholas II. and the General Council of Lateran prescribed a Profession of it to Berengarius made him swear it and anathematize the contrary as it is set down by Lanfrank (n) De Eucharist Sacram. adv Berengar which because the Nubes Testium tho' it has set down two other Forms durst not give us I will therefore here transcribe out of him I Berengarius Ego Berengarius indignus Diaconus Ecclesiae S. Mauritii Andegavensis cognoscens veram Catholicam Apostolicam Fidem anathematizo omnem Haeresin praecipue eam de quâ hactenus infamatus sum quae astruere conatur panem vinum quae in altari ponuntur post consecrationem solummodo Sacramentum non verum corpus sanguinem Dom. nostri Jesu Christi esse nec posse sensualiter nisi in solo Sacramento manibus Sacerdotum tractari vel frangi aut fidelium dentibus atteri Consentio autem S. Romanae Ecclesiae Apostolicae sedi ore corde profiteor de Sacramentis Dominicae mensae eam fidem tenere quam Dominus Venerabilis Papa Nicholaus haee S. Synodus authoritate Evangelica Apostolica tenendam
enim non debet esse in causa negandi veritatem If by reason of any Disease the Species should descend into the Draught he means the Body also it self would descend and be sent forth For Shame ought not to be a Reason for denying the Truth To which S. Antoninus (y) Part. 3. tit 13. cap. 6. sect 3. Igitur corpus Christi sanguis tamdiu manet in ventre stomacho vel vomitu quocunque alibi quamdiu species manent sicut substantia conversa mansisset Et si species incorruptae evomuntur vel egrediuntur est ibi vere corpus Christi agrees citing Paludanus in the case Therefore the Body and Blood of Christ remains so long in the Belly and Stomach or Vomit or any where else as the Species remain just as the converted Substance viz. Bread and Wine would have remained And if the Species are vomited up whole or go forth downwards there is truly the Body of Christ. And he tells us of S. Hugo Cluniac how he commended one Goderanus who by a strange fervor swallowed down the Particles of an Host which a Leper had vomited up with vile Spittle saying That S. Laurence his Gridiron was more tolerable If these Consequences seem horrid and detestable to the Reader the Doctrine from which they necessarily flow ought to be look'd upon much more so But now to return to the Fathers and their Sense of Eating the Body of Christ. It is evident to any that will impartially consult their Writings that they were perfect Strangers to all these Cases that are thus currently resolved in the Roman Church That Christ's Natural Body should enter into ours is too gross and carnal a Thought to be attributed to them and fits only the Imaginations of a Carnal Church and of those Capernaites who in the Sixth of S. John ask How can this Man give us his Flesh to eat Christ tells them That the Words he spoke to them were Spirit and Life And so the Fathers always understood the eating of Christ's Body and drinking his Blood not in a literal and proper but in a figurative and spiritual Sense as I shall now prove from their Writings Wherein it may not be amiss to take notice first What their Sense is about understanding things carnally and spiritually S. Chrysostome (z) Hom. 46. in Joan. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 asking this Question What is it to think or understand carnally He answers Simply to look upon the things proposed and to think of no more But we ought to view all Mysteries with our inward Eyes for this is spiritually to view them S. Austin (a) De Doctr. Christ l. 3. c. 5. Cùm figuratè dictum sic accipitur tanquam proprie dictum sit carnaliter sapitur gives the same account We have a carnal Taste when we take that which is figuratively spoken as if it were properly spoken And elsewhere (b) Serm. 44. de diversis Omnis figurata allegorica lectio vellocutio aliud videtur sonare carnaliter aliud insinuare spiritualiter Every figurative and allegorical Reading or Speech seems to sound one thing carnally and to insinuate another thing spiritually S. Austin (c) De Doctr. Christ l. 3. c. 16. Si praecepriva est locutio aut flagitium aut facinus yetans aut beneficentiam jubens non est figurata Si autem flagitium aut facinus videtur jubere aut utilitatem aut beneficentiam vetare figurata est Nisi manducaveritis carnem filii hominis c. facinus vel flagitium videtur jubere Figura ergo est praecipiens passioni Domini esse communicandum suaviter atque utiliter in memoria condendum quod caro ejus pronobis crucifixa vulnerata est further gives a Rule when to understand a thing literally and when to understand it figuratively and spiritually If the Speech be by way of command either forbidding a Crime or heinous Wickedness or bidding a beneficial or good thing to be done it is not figurative But if it seems to command a Crime or heinous Wickedness or forbid an useful and beneficial thing it is figurative And then he gives the Example of his Rule in those words of Christ Except ye eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of the Son of Man ye have no Life in you Now this says he seems to command a Crime or horrid thing therefore it is a Figure commanding us to communicate in the Passion of our Lord and sweetly and profitably to treasure up in our Memory that his Flesh was crucified and wounded for us Origen said the very same before him (d) Hom. 7. in Levitic non solùm in Veteri Testamento occidens Litera deprehenditur est in N. Testamento Litera quae occidit cum qui non spiritualiter quae dicuntur adverterit Si enim secundùm literam sequaris hoc ipsum quod dictum est Nisi manducaveritis carnem meam biberitis sanguinem meum occidit haec litera and gives the same Instance Not only in the Old Testament is found the killing Letter there is also in the New Testament a Letter that kills him who do's not spiritually consider what is said For if thou follow this according to the Letter which was said Unless ye eat my Flesh and drink my Blood this Letter kills And in another place (e) In Joan. Tom. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are not to eat the Flesh of the Lamb as the Slaves of the Letter do c. To which he opposes those who receive the Spirituals of the Word Such as those whom S. Austin mentions (f) In Joan. tract 26. Quia visibilem cibum spiritaliter intellexerunt spiritaliter esurierunt spiritaliter gustaverunt ut spiritaliter satiarentur who pleased God and died not i. e. eternally Because they understood the visible Food Manna spiritually they hungred spiritually they tasted spiritually that they might spiritually be satisfied Or as he expresses it a little after (g) Ibid. Qui manducat intus non foris qui manducat in corde non qui premit dente He that eats inwardly not outwardly that eats in his Heart not he that presseth it with his Teeth And therefore elsewhere * Serm. 33. de Verb. Dom. Nolite parare fauces sed cor exhorts them Do not prepare your Jaws but your Heart This is what Clemens Alexandr (h) Strom. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 requires when he says That Christ when he broke the Bread set it before them that we may eat it rationally i. e. spiritually So S. Austin again (i) De Verb. Apost Serm. 2. Tunc vita unicuique erit corpus sanguis Christi si quod in sacramento visibiliter sumitur in ipsa veritate spiritualiter manducetur spiritualiter bibatur The Body and Blood of Christ will then be Life to every one if what is visibly taken in the Sacrament
be in truth spiritually eaten and spiritually drunk Where he makes this to be eating in Truth and the other but Sacramental So Macarius (k) Homil. 27. having called the Bread and Wine the Antitype of Christ's Flesh and Blood he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They which are Partakers of the visible Bread do spiritually eat the Flesh of the Lord. He should rather have said orally according to the Doctrine of our Adversaries S. Athanasius (l) Tract in illud Evang. Quicunque dixerit verbum contra filium hominis expounding those words What if ye see the Son of Man ascending where be was before It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing c. adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He affirmed both of himself the Flesh and Spirit and made a difference betwixt the Spirit and the Flesh that not only believing that of him which was visible but what was invisible they might learn that those things which he spake were not carnal but spiritual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For to how many could his Body have sufficed for Meat that it should be made the Food of the whole World But therefore he mentions the Son of Man's Ascension into Heaven that he might draw them from this corporal Conceit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hereafter might learn that the Flesh he spake of was celestial Meat from above and spiritual Nourishment to be given by him c. It will suffice all the World if we follow Tertullian's (m) De Resurr c. 37. Quia sermo caro erat factus proinde in causam vitae appetendus devorandus auditu ruminandus intellectu fide digerendus Advice Since the Word was made Flesh he is to be long'd for that we may live to be devoured by Hearing to be chewed by Understanding and digested by Faith. It is an excellent Comment on this which Euebius gives us (n) Lib. 3. Eccl. Theol. c. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon those words of John 6. The Flesh profits nothing c. Do not imagine that I speak of that Flesh I am encompassed withal as if you must eat that nor think that I command you to drink sensible and corporeal Blood But know that the very Words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life So that these very Words and Speeches of his are his Flesh and Blood whereof whoso is always Partaker being nourished as it were with beavenly Bread shall be a Partaker of heavenly Life Let not the hasty hearing of those things by me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Flesh and Blood trouble you for things senfibly heard profit nothing but it is the Spirit that quickneth them that can spiritually hear them S. Basil (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says the same There is an intellectual Mouth of the inward Man whereby he is nourished who receives the Word of Life which is the Bread that descended from Heaven Facundus Hermian (p) Lib. 12. Defens 3. capit c. 1. takes this of eating Christ's Flesh to be a Mystery and that S. Peter when he answered Lord whither should we go thou hast the Words of Eternal Life did not then understnad it For says he Quod si mysterium intellexisset hoc potius diceret Domine cur abeamus non est cum credamus nos corporis sanguinis tui fide salvandos if he had understood the Mystery he should rather have said Lord there is no reason we should go away fince we believe we shall be saved by Faith in thy Body and Blood. He means his Death and Passion which is his Sense of eating Christ's Body and Blood. Theodorus Heracleot (q) Catena in Joan. 6.54 55. refers this eating Christ's Flesh to the sincere embracing the Oeconomy of his Incarnation These says he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the reasoning of their Minds by assenting to it as it were tasting the Doctrine do rationally or spiritually eat his Flesh and by Faith partake of his Blood. S. Chrysostom (r) Hom. 46. in Joan. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. upon those words It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing reckons up some of those carnal Doubts that profit nothing as It is a carnal thing says he to doubt how Christ descended from Heaven and to imagine him to be the Son of Joseph and how he can give us his Flesh to eat All these are carnal which ought to be mystically and spiritually understood Cyril of Jerusalem (s) Catech. Mystag 4. says That the Jews for want of understanding spiritually Christ's words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imagined that Christ exhorted them to devour his Flesh which is hard to be distinguish'd from the Roman Churches Oral Manducation This carnal Fancy might well make them shrink and cry out This is a hard Saying who can hear it For as S. Austin (t) Cont. advers Legis l. 2. c. 9. Horribilius videatur humanam carnem manducare quam perimere humanum sanguinem potare quam fundere well observes It seems more horrible to eat Humane Flesh than to kill it and to drink Mans Blood than to shed it Origen's (u) Prolog in Cantic Est materialis hujus hominis qui exterior appellatur cibus potusque naturae suae cognatus corporeus iste sc terrenus Similiter autem spiritualis hominis ipsius qui interior dicitur est proprius cibus ut panis ille vivus qui de caelo descendit c. Rerum vero proprietas unicuique discreta servatur corruptibili corruptibilia praebentur incorruptibili verò incorruptibilia proponuntur words for I see no good reason to question they are his are enough to convince effectually all such carnal Jews and Christians There is a Meat and Drink for this material and outward Man as we call him agreeable to his Nature viz. this corporeal and earthly Food There is likewise a proper Food for the spiritual or as we call it inward Man as that living Bread that came down from Heaven c. But the Property of things is reserved to each distinct and corruptible things are given to that which is corruptible and incorruptible things are proposed to that which is incorruptible Greg. Nyssen (x) Hom. 1. in Cantie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. also well expresses it thus There is an Analogy betwixt the Motions and Operations of the Soul and the Senses of the Body c. Wine and Milk are judged of by the Taste 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but these being intellectual the Power of the Soul that apprehends them must be altogether intellectual S. Chrysostom (y) Homil. 26. in Matth. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said well That Christ gave himself to us for a spiritual Feast and Banquet And Procopius Gazaeus (z) Comment in Exod. Coelestis seu divinus Agnus animarum solet esse cibus
sacrificed and slain This made Gr. Nyssen (x) Orat. 1. in Resurr Dom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say That the Body of the Victim speaking of Christ is not fit for eating if it be alive And S. Cyprian (y) Lib. 2. Ep. 3. Nec nos sanguinem Christi possemus bibere nisi prius calcatus fuisset pressus Neither should we be able to drink the Blood of Christ unless it were first trodden and pressed Alluding to Grapes in a Wine-press and that Christ's Blood must be out of his Veins when we drink it and so considered by us But none of the Ancients has given a fuller Account of this than Hesychius (z) Com. in Lev. l. 1. Carnem ejus quae ad comedendum inepta erat ante passionem aptam cibo post passionem fecit Si enim non fuisset crucifixus sacrificium corporis ejus minimè comederemus Comedimus autem nunc cibum sumentes ejus memoriam passionis who says That Christ made his Flesh fit to be eaten after his Passion which was not fit to be eaten before his Passion For if he had not been crucified we could by no means eat the Sacrifice of his Body But now we eat Food receiving the Memory of his Passion And again (a) Ib. l. 2. Sartaginem Domini crucem accipi oportet quae etiam superimpositam Dominicam carnem esibilem hominibus reddidit Nisi enim superimposita fuisset cruci nos corpus Christi nequaquà m mysticè percepissemus he compares the Cross to a Gridiron which when our Lord's Flesh is put upon it makes it fit to be Food of Men For unless it had been laid thus upon the Cross we could in no wise mystically have received Christ's Body And because this Food which is thus mystically to be eaten could not be fit Food for us unless Christ was crucified and slain therefore in several places he speaks of Christ as slaying himself in the Eucharist which cannot be understood properly before he was slain upon the Cross says (b) Ib. l. 1. Praeveniens seipsum in caena Apostolorum immolavit quod sciunt qui mysteriorum virtutem percipiune Christ by way of anticipation slew or sacrificed himself in the Supper of the Apostles which they know that perceive the Virtue of the Mysteries Again (c) Ib. l. 2. Prius figuratam ovem cum Apostolis caenans Dominus posteà suum obtulit sacrificium secundò sicut ovem scipsum occidit Our Lord first supping upon the figurative Lamb with the Apostles did afterwards offer his Sacrifice and a second time as a Lamb slew himself And now after all these Testimonies and Considerations which put together demonstratively conclude against any eating of Christ's Body or drinking his Blood but what is spiritual and figurative I 'll put an end to this Chapter with two remarkable Sayings of S. Austin The first is upon the 98 Psalm (d) In Ps 98. where he confutes those who when our Saviour spake of eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood were offended at this as an hard Saying and then expounding that which Christ added The words I speak are Spirit and Life he makes our Lord speak thus to them Spiritualiter intelligite quod locutus sum Non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis bibituri illum sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me crucifigent Sacramentum aliquod vobis commendavi spiritualiter intellectum vivificabit vos si necesse est illud visibiliter celebrari oportet tamen invisibiliter intelligi Understand spiritually what I have spoken You are not to eat this Body which you see nor to drink that Blood which they shall shed that will crucifie me I have commended a certain Sacrament to you which if spiritually understood will give Life to you and if it be necessary this Sacrament should be visibly celebrated yet it must be invisibly i. e. spiritually understood by you No Protestant could chuse Words to express his Mind more fully by in this Matter His other Saying is against the Manichees who fansied a latent Christ in the Fruits of Trees and Ears of Corn and professed to eat him that was passible with their Mouths S. Austin thus sarcastically derides them (e) Contr. Faustum l. 20. c. 11. Ore aperto expectatis quis inferat Christum tanquam optimae sepulturae faucibus vestris Ye expect with open Mouth who should bring in Christ into your Jaws as the best Sepulcher for him If S. Austin had been for Oral Manducation of Christ's Body in the Eucharist he could not have had the confidence to have objected this as a Reproach to the Manichees which might so easily have been returned with shame upon himself I conclude therefore that the Trent Fathers when they called the Sacramental and Oral Manducation real eating to distinguish it from the spiritual eating and made that Canon (f) Conc. Trid. Sess 13. Can. 8. Si quis dixerit Christum in Eucharistia exhibitum spiritualiter tantùm manducari non etiam sacramentaliter ac realiter anathema sit If any shall say That Christ exhibited in the Eucharist is only spiritually eaten and not also sacramentally and really let him be Anathema that herein they were so far from designing to testifie their Consent with the Fathers who as you have heard generally say the contrary that they seem rather to have had a Conspiracy against them CHAP. XIII The Thirteenth Difference The Fathers assert That the Faithful only eat Christs Body and drink his Blood in the Eucharist not the wicked Whereas they of the present Roman Church extend it to both THIS Assertion being a necessary consequence of the foregoing one will make my work the shorter for its proof What the Church of Rome holds in this matter cannot be questioned The Trent Catechism speaking of such a Person that makes no distinction betwixt the Sacrament and other common food expresses it thus (g) Catechis ad Paroch Part. 2. n. 27. Qui impurè sumens corpus Domini quod in Eucharistia occultè later Who impurely taking the Body of the Lord which lies hid in the Eucharist there it is hid they mean under the species and the wicked take it Therefore Dom. Soto who was one of the Council of Trent says (h) In 4. dist 12. qu. 1. art 3. Est indubiè tenendum quòd corpus sc Christi descendit in Stomachum etiamsi ab iniquo sumatur We must undoubtedly hold that the Body of Christ descends into the stomach tho' a wicked man takes it So Aquinas (i) Part. 3. quaest 80. art 3. conclus Cùm corpus Christi in Sacramento semper permaneat donec species Sacramentales corrumpantur etiam injustos homines Christi corpus manducare consequitur Seeing the Body of Christ always remains in the Sacrament till the Sacramental Species are corrupted it follows that even wicked men do eat the Body of Christ. Alensis (k) Part.
all but is a Divine Food Which none has more admirably and fully spoke to than Origen (x) In Matth. c. 15. v. 15. p. 253. Ed. Huet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who having said a great deal about Christs Typical and Symbolical Body which S. Austin called before the visible Sacrament he goes on thus Many things also might be said concerning that word which was made Flesh and the true Food which whosoever eats shall surely live for ever no wicked Man being capable of eating it For if it were possible that a wicked man continuing such should eat him that was made Flesh seeing he is the Word and the living Bread it would not have been written That whosoever eats this Bread shall live for ever This is that which Macarius (y) Homil. 14. discourses of so largely and piously Telling us that as a great rich Man having both Servants and Sons gives one sort of meat to the Servants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and another to the Sons that he begot who being Heirs to their Father do eat with him So says he Christ the true Lord himself created all and nourishes the evil and unthankful but the Children begotten by him who are partakers of his grace and in whom the Lord is formed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. he feeds them with a peculiar refection and Food and Meat and Drink above and besides other men and gives himself to them that have Conversation with their Father as the Lord says He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood abides in me and I in him and shall not see death With whom S. Jerome (z) In c. 66. Esaiae Dum non sunt sancti corpore spiritu nec comedunt carnem Jesu neque bibunt sanguinem ejus de quo ipse loquitur Qui comedit carnem meam bibit sanguinem meum habet vitam aeternam agrees speaking of voluptuous men Not being holy in Body and Spirit they neither eat the Flesh of Jesus nor drink his Blood concerning which he says He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath Eternal Life S. Austin also (a) Contra Donatist post collat c. 6. De ipso pane de ipsa Dominica manu Judas partem Petrus accepit says Of that Bread and from our Lords own Hand both Judas and Peter took a part But then he (b) Tract 59. in Joan. Evang Illi manducabant Panem Dominum ille Panem Domini contra Dominum illi vitam ille poenam makes the distinction himself that Judas received only the Bread of the Lord when the other Disciples receiv'd the Bread that was the Lord. Which is directly contrary to Transubstantiation for according to that even such a one as Judas must eat the Lord and no Bread when this Father says that he ate the Bread and no Lord. Neither is S. Austin singular in this Phrase of the Bread of the Lord to signifie the real substance of that Element that is eaten in the Sacrament and not the proper Body of Christ For so S. Jerome uses it (c) In Jerem. c. 31. Confluent ad bona Domini super frumento de quo conficitur Panis Domini When he speaks of Corn of which the Bread of the Lord is made It is also very observable that as the Council of Trent as we heard before makes eating Christ Sacramentally and really to be the same and spiritual eating to be of another sort not real but one would think rather imaginary On the quite contrary the Fathers distinguish the sacramental eating from the real and make the spiritual and real eating to be the same and they will grant that a bad Man may eat Christ Sacramentally that is in sign but not really for so none but the faithful can do it For thus S. Austin (d) Serm. 2. de verb. Apost Tunc autem hoc erit id est Vita unicuique erit Corpus sanguis Christi si quod in Sacramento visibiliter sumitur in ipsa veritate spiritualiter manducetur spiritualiter bibatur Then will this be that is the Body and Blood of Christ will be Life to every one if that which is visibly taken in the Sacrament be in the Truth it self spiritually eaten and spiritually drank Which in another place (e) Tract 26. in Joan. Quod pertinet ad virtutem Sacramenti non quod pertinet ad visibile Sacramentum he expresses by the visible Sacrament and the virtue of the Sacrament Again most expresly (f) De Civit. Dei. l. 21. c. 25. Ipse dicens qui mandacat carnem meam bibit sanguinem meum in me manet ego in eo ostendit quid sit non Sacramento tenus sed revera Corpus Christi manducare sanguinem ejus bibere Christ saying He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him shows what it is not sacramentally but really and in truth to eat Christs Body and drink his Blood. And therefore in the same Chapter (g) Ibid. Neque enim isti dicendi sunt manducare Corpus Christi quoniam nec in membris computandi sunt Christi speaking of wicked men he says Neither can they be said to eat the Body of Christ since they are not to be accounted Christs Members S. Austin again distinguishes the Sacramentum rei the Sacrament of the thing from the res Sacramenti the thing of which it is a Sacrament (h) Tract 26. in Joan. Hujus rei Sacramentum in Dominica Mensa praeparatur de Dominica Mensa sumitur quibusdam ad vitam quibusdam ad exitium Res vero ipsa cujus Sacramentum est omni homini ad vitam nulli ad exitium quicunque ejus particeps fuerit The Sacrament of this thing is prepared on the Lords Table and received from the Lords Table to some to Life and to others to destruction But the thing it self of which it is a Sacrament is for Life to every one that partakes of it and to none for destruction For as S. Chrysostom (i) Catena in Joh. 6.49 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 phrases it He that receives this Bread will be above dying I will conclude this Chapter with two remarkable places of St. Austin The first is cited by Prosper (k) Lib. Sentent ex August sententia mihi 341. vel 339. Escam vitae accipit aeternitatis poculum bibit qui in Christo manet cujus Christus habitator est Nam qui discordat à Christo nec carnem ejus manducat nec sanguinem bibit etiamsi tantae rei Sacramentum ad judicium suae praesumptionis quotidiè indifferenter accipiat who has gathered S. Austin's Sentences He receives the food of life and drinks the Cup of Eternity who abides in Christ and in whom Christ inhabits For he that disagrees with Christ neither eats his Flesh nor drinks his Blood altho' he takes
about this Mystery both according to the Old and New Testament that no doubting may disturb you concerning this Life-giving Banquet The Sermon goes on with an account of the Jewish Passover and the Application of those things to the Eucharist which I omit Christ before his suffering consecrated Bread P. 469. and distributed it to his Disciples saying thus Eat this Bread it is my Body and do this in remembrance of me Also he Consecrated Wine in a Cup and said Drink ye all of this This is my Blood which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins The Apostles did as Christ commanded they consecrated Bread and Wine for the Eucharist And to his memory also afterward every one of their Successors and all Christ's Priests According to Christ's Command by the Apostolical Benediction did consecrate Bread and Wine in his Name Now Men have often disputed P. 470. and do it still How that Bread which is prepared of Corn and is baked by the heat of Fire can be changed into Christ's Body and how that Wine which is pressed out of many Grapes by any blessing of it can be changed into our Lord's Blood Now to such Men I answer that some things are spoken of Christ by signification some others by a known thing It is a true thing and known that Christ was born of a Virgin and voluntarily suffered Death and was buried and this Day rose from the Dead He is called Bread and a Lamb and a Lion and otherwise by signification He is called Bread because he is our Life and the Life of Angels He is called a Lamb for his Innocency A Lion for his Strength whereby he overcame the strong Devil Yet notwithstanding according to true Nature Christ is neither Bread nor a Lamb nor a Lion. Wherefore then is that Holy Eucharist called Christ's Body or his Blood if it be not truly what it is called Truly the Bread and Wine which are consecrated by the Mass of the Priests show one thing outwardly to Mens Senses and another thing they declare inwardly to believing Minds Outwardly Bread and Wine are seen both in appearance and in tast yet they are truly after Consecration Christ's Body and Blood by a Spiritual Sacrament An Heathen Child is Baptized yet he altereth not his outward shape though he be changed within He is brought to the Font full of Sin through Adam's Disobedience but he is washed from all his Sins inwardly tho' he has not changed his outward Shape So also that Holy Font-Water which is called the Well-spring of Life is like in Nature in specie to other Waters and is subject to corruption but the Power of the Holy Ghost by the Priest's Blessing comes upon that corruptible Water and after that it can wash both Body and Soul from all Sins P. 471. by spiritual Power We see now in this one Creature two things that whereby according to true Nature it is corruptible Water and that whereby according to the Spiritual Mystery it has a saving Power So also if we look upon that Holy Eucharist according to a corporeal Sense then we see that it is a Creature corruptible and changeable but if we own a spiritual Power there then we understand that Life is in it and that it confers Immortality on those that tast it by Faith. There is a great difference betwixt the insible Vertue and Power of this Holy Eucharist and the visible appearance of its proper Nature By its Nature it is corruptible Bread and corruptible Wine and by the Virtue of the Divine Word it is truly the Body and Blood of Christ yet not corporally so but spiritually There is much differencce betwixt that Body which Christ suffer'd in and that Body which is consecrated for the Eucharist The Body that Chrivt suffer'd in was Born of the Flesh of Mary with Blood and Bones with Skin and Nerves animated by a rational Spirit in humane Members but his Spiritual Body which we call the Eucharist is collected from many grains of Corn without Blood and Bone without Member or Soul wherefore there is nothing in it to be understood Corporeally but all is to be understood Spiritually Whatsoever is in that Eucharist which restores Life to us this is from Spiritual Virtue and from Invisible Operation Therefore that Holy Eucharist is called a Sacrament because one thing is there seen and another thing understood that which is there seen has a bodily Nature that which we understand in it has a spiritual Virtue The Body of Christ that suffered Death P. 472. and rose from the Dead henceforth dies no more but is eternal and impassible That Eucharist is Temporary not Eternal it is corruptible and capable of division into minute Parts it is chewed with the Teeth and sent into the draught yet it will be true that according to spiritual Virtue it is whole in every part Many receive that Holy Body yet according to the spiritual Mystery it will be whole in every part Tho' some receive a lesser part of it yet there will not be more virtue in the greater part than in the lesser because it will be whole in all Men according to the invisible virtue This Sacrament is a Pledg and a Type the Body of Christ is the Truth We keep this Pledg Sacramentally till we come to the Truth it self and then is the Pledg at an end It is indeed as we said before Christ's Body and his Blood but not Corporally but Spiritually Do not dispute how this can be effected but believe it firmly that so it is Here follow some idle Visions which that credulous Age were fond of but are nothing to the purpose and therefore I omit them Paul the Apostle speaketh of the old Israelites writing thus in his Epistle to the Faithful P. 473. All our Fore-fathers were baptized in the Cloud and in the Sea and all ate the same spiritual Meat and all drank the same spiritual Drink for they drank of that spiritual Rock and that Rock was Christ That Rock from whence the Water then flowed was not Christ in a Corporal Sense but it signified Christ who declared thus to the Faithful Whosoever thirsteth let him come to me and drink and from his belly shall flow living Water This he said of the Holy Ghost which they that Believed on him should receive The Apostle Paul said that the People of Israel ate the same spiritual Meat and drank the same Spiritual Drink because the heavenly Food that fed them for forty Years and that Water that flowed from the Rock signified Christ's Body and Blood which are now dayly offered in the Church of God. It was the same which we offer to day not corporally but spiritually We told you before that Christ consecrated Bread and Wine for the Eucharist before his Passion and said This is my Body and my Blood he had not yet suffered and yet he changed by his invisible Power that Bread into his Body and
that Wine into his Blood as he did before in the Wilderness before he was born Man when he turned the heavenly Food into his Flesh and that Water flowing from the Rock into his Blood. P. 474. Many Persons ate of the Heavenly Food in the Desart and drank of the Spiritual Drink and yet as Christ said are dead Christ meant not that Death which no Man can avoid but he understood eternal Death which several of that People for their Unbelief had deserved Moses and Aaron and several others of the People that pleased God ate that heavenly Bread and did not die that everlasting Death tho' they died the common Death They saw that the heavenly Food was visible and Corruptible but they understood that visible thing spiritually and they tasted it spiritually Jesus said Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath Eternal Life He did not command them to eat that Body which he had assumed nor to drink that Blood which he shed for us but by that Speech he meant the Holy Eucharist which is Spiritually his Body and his Blood and whosoever tasteth this with a believing Heart shall have that Eternal Life Under the old Law the Faithful offered divers Sacrifices to God which had a future signification of the Body of Christ which he hath offered in Sacrifice to his heavenly Father for our Sins This Eucharist which is now consecrated at God's Altar is a Commemoration of the Body of Christ which he offered for us and of his Blood which he shed for us As he himself commanded Do this in remembrance of me Christ once suffered by himself but yet his Passion by the Sacrament of this Holy Eucharist is daily renewed at the Holy Mass Wherefore the Holy Mass is profitable very much both for the Living and also for the Dead as it hath been often declared c. The rest of the Sermon being of a moral and allegorical Nature I omit Besides this Sermon in Publick we have also two other Remains of Elfrike the Abbot in the Saxon Tongue * Published at the end of the foresaid Sermon printed by John Day Also in the Notes on Bede 's Eccl. Hist p. 332 333 334. which speak the very same Sense and deserve to be inserted as far as they concern this Argument of the Eucharist and the change made in it The first is an Epistle to Wulffine Bishop of Shyrburn in which is this Passage The Eucharist is not the Body of Christ corporally but spiritually not the Body in which he suffered but that Body when he consecrated Bread and Wine for the Eucharist the night before his Passion and said of the Bread he Blessed This is my Body and again of the Wine he blessed This is my Blood which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins Now then understand that the Lord who was able to change that Bread before his Passion into his Body and that Wine into his Blood Spiritually that the same Lord by the Hands of the Priests daily consecrates Bread and Wine for his Spiritual Body and for his Spiritual Blood. The second an Epistle of Elfricke to Wulfstane Arch-Bishop of York in which among other things against too long reserving the Eucharist he says thus Christ himself consecrated the Eucharist before his Passion Vid. p. 334. Hist Eccles Sax. Lat. Bedae he blessed Bread and brake it saying thus to his Apostles Eat this Bread it is my Body and again he blessed the Cup filled with Wine and spake thus to them Drink ye all of this it is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins Our Lord who consecrated the Eucharist before his Passion and said that Bread was his Body and Wine truly his Blood he also daily consecrates by the Priests hands Bread for his Body and Wine for his Blood in a Spiritual Mystery as we read in Books Yet notwithstanding that Lively Bread is not the same Body in which Christ suffered nor that Holy Wine the Blood of our Saviour which was shed for us in bodily thing or sence in re corporali but in a Spiritual sence in ratione Spirituali That Bread indeed was his Body and also that Wine his Blood just as that heavenly Bread which we call Manna which fed God's People forty Years viz. was his Body and that clear Water was his Blood that then flowed from the Rock in the Wilderness As Paul writes in his Epistle They all ate the same spiritual Meat and drank the same spiritual Drink c. The Apostle that says what you have heard They all ate c. he do's not say corporally but spiritually Christ was not as yet born nor his Blood shed then it was the People of Israel did eat that Spiritual Meat and drank of that Rock neither was that Rock Christ Corporeally tho' he spake so The Sacraments of the Old Law were the same and did spiritually signify that Sacrament or Eucharist of our Saviour's Body which we now consecrate This Last Epistle Elfricke wrote first in the Latin Tongue to Wulfstane containing tho' not word for word yet the whole Sence of the English Epistle and that Paragraph of it which I have inclosed between two Brackets was look'd upon as so disagreeable to the present Faith of the Roman Church that some had rased them out of the Worcester Book but the same Latin Epistle being found in Exceter Church it was restored I was once about to have added some Citations here out of Bertram's Book de corpore sanguine Domini out of which many passages in the Saxon Sermon foregoing were taken But they are so many that I must have transcribed and the Book it self is small and so well worth the reading especially with the late Translation of it into English and a Learned Historical Dissertation before it giving a large account of the Difference betwixt his Opinion and that of Transubstantiation printed An 1686 that I shall rather refer the Reader to it where he may abundantly satisfy himself Instead of it I will only add one Testimony more out of Rabanus Arch-bishop of Mentz in an Epistle to Heribaldus * Epist ad Herib c. 33. de Eucharist Which we are beholden to the Learned Baluzius for giving it us entire in Appendice ad Reginonem p. 516. a Passage having been rased out of the Manuscript out of which it was first published Thus he says As for the Question you put Quod autem interrogastis utrum Eucharistia postquam consumitur in secessum emittitur more aliorum ciborum iterum redeat in naturam pristinam quam habuerat antequam in Altari consecraretur superflua est hujusmodi Quaestio cùm ipse Salvator dixerit in Evangelio Omne quod intrat in os in ventrem vadit in secessum emittitur Sacramentum Corporis Sanguinis ex rebus visibilibus corporalibus conficitur sed invisibilem tà m corporis quà m animae
as proper to propose the Example of the Jews themselves to the Romanists to provoke their Emulation whom they may see better explaining as blind as they are Christ's words of Institution and agreeing better with the Ancient Church in the matter of the Eucharist than themselves and raising such Arguments and Objections against the Transubstantiating Doctrine as can never to any purpose be answered The Instances of this are very remarkable in a Book called Fortalitium Fidei contra Judeos c. printed An. 1494. but written as the Author himself tells us fol. 61. in the Year 1458. where he gives us the Arguments of a Jew against Transubstantiation some of which I shall out of him faithfully translate The Jew (g) Vid. l. 3. consid 6. sol 130 impossibl 10. begins with Christ's words of Institution and shows that they cannot be interpreted otherwise than figuratively and significatively as the Fathers we have heard have asserted 1. Vos Christiani dicitis c. Ye Christians say in that Sacrament of the Eucharist there is really the Body and Blood of Christ This is impossible Because when your Christ showing the Bread said This is my Body he spake significatively and not really as if he had said this is the Sign or Figure of my Body After which way of speaking Paul said 1 Cor. 10. The Rock was Christ that is a Figure of Christ And it appears evidently that this was the Intention of your Christ because when he had discoursed about the eating his Body and drinking his Blood to lay the offence that rose upon it among the Disciples he says as it were expounding himself The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life denoting that what he had said was to be understood not according to the Letter but according to the Spiritual Sence And when Christ said This is my Body holding Bread in his Hands he meant that that Bread was his Body in potentia propinqua in a near possibility viz. after he had eaten it for then it would be turned into his Body or into his Flesh and so likewise the Wine And after this manner we Jews do on the day of Unleavened Bread for we take unleavened Bread in memory of that time when our Fathers were brought out of the Land of Egypt and were not permitted to stay so long there as whilst the Bread might be leavened that was the Bread of the Passover and we say This is the Bread which our Fathers ate though that be not present since it is past and gone and so this unleavened Bread minds us of the Bread of Egypt and this Bread is not that so is that Bread of which the Sacrifice of the Altar is made It is sufficient for Christians to say that it is in memory of that Bread of Christ though this Bread be not that And because it was impossible that one Bit of his Flesh should be preserved in memory of him he commanded that that Bread should be made and that Wine which was his Flesh and Blood in the next remove to come into act as we Jews do and Christ borrowed his Phrases and the Elements from their Supper at the Passover with the unleavened Bread as we said before When therefore your Christ at the Table took Bread and the Cup and gave them to his Disciples he did not bid them believe that the Bread and Wine were turned into his Body and Blood but that as often as they did that they should do it in remembrance of him viz. in memory of that past Bread and if you Christians did understand it so no impossibility would follow but to say the contrary as you assert is to say an impossible thing and against the intention of your Christ as we have show'd This is what the Jew urges with great reason But the Catholick Author makes a poor Answer to it and has nothing to say in effect but this That the Tradition of the Catholick Church concerning this Sacrament is true viz. That in this Sacrament there is really and not by way of Signification the True Body and True Blood of Christ 2. Whereas the Roman Church flies to Miracles in this case of Transubstantiation the Jew encounters that next of all thus You Christians say that the Body and Blood of Christ is in the Sacrament of the Altar by a Miracle Ibid. 11. Impossib p. 131. this I prove to be impossible Because if there were any Miracle in the case it would appear to the Eye as when Moses turned the Rod into a Serpent that was performed evidently to the Eye though Men knew not how it was done So also in the case of the Ark of the Covenant of Old mighty Miracles were wrought and those not only sensible Miracles but also publick and apparent to all the People insomuch that Infidels were terrifyed at the very report of such Miracles Men seeing before their Eyes the Divine Power brightly shining in Reverence of the Ark of his Covenant as appears in his Dividing the Waters of Jordan while the People of Israel passed over dry-shod the Waters on one side swelling like a Mountain and on the other flowing down as far as the dead Sea till the Priests with the Ark went over the Chanel of Jordan and then Jordan returned to its wonted course But the Kings of the Amorites and Canaanites hearing of so great and publick a Miracle were so confounded with the terror of God that no Spirit remained in them Josu c. 4. 5. and so I might instance in many other Evident Miracles which to avoid tediousness I omit And yet in that Ark neither God nor Christ was really contained but only the Tables of Stone containing the Precepts of the Decalogue and the Pot of Manna c. Exod. 16. and the Rod of Aaron that flourished in the House of Levi Numb 17. If therefore by the Ark that carried only the foresaid Bodies that were inanimate how sacred soever they were God wrought in Honour of it such evident far-spreading and publick Miracles how much more powerfully should they have been wrought by him if it were true that in your Sacrament of the Altar the true God or Christ were really contained whom you affirm that he ought to be worshipped and venerated infinitely above all Since therefore no such thing do's appear there to the Eye it follows that it is impossible for any Miracle to be done there since this is against the Nature of a Miracle The answer to this is so weak and so the rest are generally such an unintelligible School-jargon that I shall not tire the Reader with them But shall go on with the Jew 3. Ibid. 12. Impossib fol. 132. You Christians do assert that the true Body of Christ begins to be on the Altar This seems to be impossible For a thing begins to be where it was not before two ways Either by Local Motion or by the conversion of another thing into it as appears
exemplum dedit ut quotiescunque hoc facimus in mente habeamus quod Christus pro nobis omnibus mortuus est Ideo nobis dicitur Corpus Christi ut cùm hoc recordati fuerimus non simus ingrati gratiae ejus quemadmodum si quis moriens relinquat ei quem diligit aliquod pignus quod ille post mortem ejus quandocunque viderit nunquid potest lacrymas continere si eum perfectè dilexerit upon those words The same night that our Lord was betrayed he took Bread. He left says he to us his last Memorial God our Saviour gave us an Example that as often as we do this we may call to mind that Christ has died for us all Therefore we call it Christ's Body that when we remember this we may not be unthankful for his Grace As if one that was a dying should leave some Pledge to one whom he loved which he after his death when ever he look'd upon could not contain his Tears if he perfectly loved him Bede (d) In Proverb lib. 1. c. 3. Sicut in medio Paradisi lignum vitae positum testatur Moses ita per Sapientiam Dei viz. Christi vivificatur Ecclesia cujus nunc Sacramentis carnis sanguinis pignus vitae accipit in futuro praesenti beatificabitur aspectu has also given us the same Account As says he Moses witnesses that the Tree of Life was placed in the midst of Paradise so by the Wisdom of God to wit of Christ the Church has Life given it in whose Sacraments of his Flesh and Blood she now receives the Pledge of Life and hereafter shall be made happy in a present Sight of him Where you see he distinguishes this Pledge from his present Aspect hereafter Gaudentius (e) In Exod. tract 2. Vere illud est haereditarium munus Testamenti ejus novi quod-quod nobis ea nocte qua tradebatur crucifigendus tanquam pignus suae praesentiae dereliquit Hoc illud est viaticum nostri itineris quo in hac via vitae alimur ac nutrimur donec ad ipsum pergamus de hoc seculo recedentes calls the Eucharist that hereditary Gift of his New Testament which on the night that he was delivered to be crucified he left with us as a Pledge of his Presence This is the Prevision of our Journey by which we are fed and nourished in this way of Life till removing from this World we go to him Still we see it is a Pledge of Absence 3 Position Whatsoever Presence of Christ the Fathers speak of in the Eucharist they acknowledge the same in Baptism and in as full Expressions So that if we will follow the Fathers we may as well assert a Substantial Presence of Christ's Body in Baptism as in the Eucharist But this on all hands is denied Gaudentius (f) Tract 2. in Exod. in fine Quem Sacramentis suis inesse credimus in the Place last cited speaking of our Lord Jesus says We believe him to be in his Sacraments He had spoke of both Sacraments before and his words may well be understood of both I am sure other Fathers give their full consent to it S. Basil (g) De Baptism lib. 1. cap. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking of the Excellency of Christ's Baptism and the supereminent Glory of it says That Christ the Son of God has determined it That one greater than the Temple and greater than Solomon is here So Gr. Nazianzen (h) Orat. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold one greater than the Temple is here to them that perfectly consider S. Ambrose (i) Apol. David c. 12. Christe in tuis te invenio Sacramentis speaking of Baptism says O Christ I find thee in thy Sacraments And again (k) De his qui initiant c. 2. Crede illic esse Divinitatis praesentiam Believe that there is the Presence of the Divinity So afterwards (l) Ibid. cap. 5. Crede adesse Dominum Jesum invocatum precibus Sacerdotum Believe that the Lord Jesus is present being invoked by the Prayers of the Priests S. Austin (m) In Joan. tract 50. Habes Christum in praesenti per fidem in praesenti per signum Christi in praesenti per baptismatis Sacramentum in praesenti per altaris cibum potum upon those words The poor ye have always with you but me ye have not always discourses thus concerning having Christ now Now thou hast Christ by Faith now thou hast him by the Sign of Christ now by the Sacrament of Baptism now by the Meat and Drink of the Altar Here you see he makes no difference of having Christ at present these several ways he mentions S. Chrysostome (n) Hom. 51. in Matth. Lat. Graec. Savil. Hom. 50. pag. 322. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. As when thou art baptized it is not he viz. the Priest that baptizes thee but it is God that holds thy Head by his invisible Power and neither Angel nor Archangel nor any other dare approach and touch thee c. The same Father * Id. Epist ad Colos Hom. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus speaks of one to be baptized Thou shalt presently embrace our Lord himself be mingled with his Body be incorporated into that Body which is seated above whither the Devil cannot approach So the Author of the Commentaries upon S. Mark (o) Inter Opera Chrysost Hom. 14. Vos qui accepturi estis Baptismum primum tenete pedes Salvatoris lavate lachrymis crine tergite c. speaks to those that are to be baptized as if Christ were present You that are to receive Baptism first lay fast hold on the Feet of your Saviour wash them with your Tears wipe them with your Hair c. Marcus the Hermite (p) De Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking of a baptized Person says Upon his Baptism he has Christ lying hid in him S. Chrysostome again (q) In Gal. 3. v. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If Christ be the Son of God and thou hast put him on viz. in Baptism having the Son in thy self and being made like to him thou art brought into one Kindred and Nature Again elsewhere (r) In Ephes 5. v. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking of Christ's partaking of our Flesh and Blood he says He communicated with us not we with him How then are we of his Flesh and of his Bones He means this That as he was begotten by the Holy Ghost without the concurrence of Man so are we regenerate in Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As therefore the Son of God was of our Nature so are we also of his Substance and as he had us in himself so also we have him in our selves And all this is by Baptism Cyril of Alexandr (s) Tom. 6. in Collectan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says of the Soul That it is conjoined perfectly to Christ by
holy Baptism And tho' every one knows that Union supposes Presence and Nearness yet this is never made an Argument that Christ is present corporally in Baptism No more can such like Phrases used by him concerning the Eucharist be urged as a Proof of it S. Hilary (t) Lib. 8. de Trinit Nos verè Verbum cibo Dominico sumimus quomodo non naturaliter manere in nobis existimandus est c. Nos sub Mysterio verè carnem corporis sui sumimus per hoc unum erimus quia Pater in illo est ille in nobis Ut cùm ille in Patre per naturam Divinitatis esset nos contra in eo per corporalem Nativitatem ille rursum in nobis per Sacramentorum inesse mysterium crederetur speaks many things of our real Union with Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist We truly receive the Word in the Lord's Food how is he not then to be thought naturally to dwell in us We under the Mystery do truly take the Flesh of his Body and thereby shall be one because the Father is in him and be in us So that since he was in the Father by the Nature of the Divinity we on the contrary in him by Corporal Nativity and he might be believed again to be in us by the Mystery of the Sacraments But then it is observable that he do's not say these great things only of the Eucharist that by partaking of it we have a natural Union with Christ but he says we have the same by Faith by Regeneration and by Baptism (u) Ibid. Quomodo non naturalem in his intelligis unitatem qui per naturam unius fidei unum sunt Cessat in his assensûs unitas qui unum sunt in ejusdem regeneratione naturae Quid hic animorum concordia faciet cum per id unum sint quod uno Christo per naturam unius Baptismi induantur How dost thou not understand a natural Unity in those who are one by the nature of one Faith Again The Unity of Consent has no place in those who are one in the Regeneration of the same Nature Again What should Agreement of Wills do here when they are one by this that they are cloathed with one Christ by the Nature of one Baptism I 'le add but one Testimony more out of Fulgentius (x) De Bapt. Aethiop cap. ult Nec cuiquam aliquatenus ambigendum est tunc unumquemque fidelium corporis sanguinisque Dominici participem fieri quando in Baptismate membrum Christi efficitur but it is very home Neither need any one at all doubt that then every Believer is made Partaker of our Lord's Body and Blood when he is made a Member of Christ in Baptism And yet even this do's not infer a Substantial Presence of Christ in Baptism To make this Position still more full and cogent let me add That the Fathers so speak of the Waters of Baptism as if they were turned into Blood and we dyed in that Blood and baptized in Blood and yet all these neither prove the Presence of Christ's natural Body nor Transubstantiation there To name a few Testimonies S. Jerom (y) In Esa 1. Baptizemini in sanguine meo per lavacrum regenerationis upon those words Wash ye make ye clean says Be ye baptized in my Blood by the Laver of Regeneration Again (z) Baptizatus est in sanguine agni quem legebat In Esa 43. he says of the Eunuch He was baptized in the Blood of the Lamb whom he read of in the Prophet So S. Austin (a) In Joan. tract 11. Unde rubet Baptismus nisi sanguine Christi consecratus Whence comes Baptism to be red but because it is consecrated with Christ's Blood Prosper (b) De Promiss part 2. Baptismo sanguine Christi tinguntur They are dyed in the Blood of Christ in Baptism S. Chrysostome (c) Catech. ad illuminand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking to those that were to receive Baptism You shall be cloathed with the Purple Garment dyed in the Lord's Blood. Julius Firmicus (d) De Error Prof. Relig. c. 28. Quaere fontes ingenuos quaere puros liquores ut illic te post multas maculas cum Spiritu S. Christi sanguis incandidet Seek for the Noble Fountains enquire for the pure Waters that there after thy many Stains the Blood of Christ with the Holy Spirit may make thee White Caesarius (e) Hom. 5. Paschal Ingreditur anima vitales undas velut rubras sanguine Christi consecratas or the Author of the Paschal Homily The Soul enters the Waters of Life that are red as it were being consecrated by the Blood of Christ Isidore of Sevil (f) In Exod. c. 19. Quid Mare rubrum nisi Baptismum Christi sanguine consecratum What is the Red Sea but Baptism consecrated by the Blood of Christ And again (g) De vocat Gent. c. 23. Verus Israel ingreditur Mare rubrum baptismum scilicet Christi cruore signatum The true Israel enters the Red Sea to wit Baptism signed with the Blood of Christ And Primasius (h) In 1 Cor. 10. Mare rubrum significat Baptismum Christi sanguine decoratum The Red Sea signifies Baptism graced with the Blood of Christ 4. Position The Fathers so consider the Presence of Christ's Body in the Eucharist as can no way agree to the Presence of his natural and glorified Body there The Fathers as I have before proved see Chap. 7. Observ 4. Reason 2. look upon the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist as the Representative Body of Christ and thus Christ's Body is indeed present by that which is its Proxy or Pledge But this Presence in a proper sense is Absence and does suppose it I shall therefore here only insist upon one Consideration of Christ's Body there which can only agree to his Representative Body but not to the Natural and Glorified Body of Christ Viz. The Presence of Christ's Body in the Eucharist which the Fathers speak of is of his Body as crucified and slain and dead Now this cannot agree to his Natural Body which by our Adversaries Confession is impassible and invulnerable now it is glorified and cannot admit any separation of Parts which Crucifixion do's suppose nor die any more It is plain by the words of Institution that the Body of Christ there spoken of is his broken Body such as Crucifixon caused and his Blood is considered as shed and poured out of his Veins and separated from his Body which our Adversaries that speak of his Presence in the Sacrament do not believe But the Fathers did believe this and say so for which at the present in stead of all I need cite only S. Chrysostome (i) Hom. 21. in Act. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose Phrase for the Eucharist is While this Death is perfected this tremendous Sacrifice these ineffable Mysteries Again (k)
The Celestial and Divine Lamb is wont to be the Food of Souls S. Austin (a) Tract 1. in Epist Joan. Ipsum jam in coelo sedentem manu contrectare non possumus sed fide contingere indeed tells us We cannot handle him who now sits in Heaven yet says he we may touch him by our Faith. For as he says elsewhere (b) Tract 26. in Evang. Joan. Non ad Christum ambulando currimus sed credeudo nec motu corporis sed voluntate cordis accedimus Sic se tangi voluit sic tangitur ab eis à quibus benè tangitur ascendens ad patrem manens cum patre aequalis patri We run to Christ not by walking but by believing nor do we approach him by the Motion of our Bodies but by the Will of our Hearts And afterwards Thus he would be touched and thus he is touched by all that rightly touch him ascending to the Father remaining with the Father equal to the Fath. r. And in the next Tractate (c) Idem Tract 27. in Joan. Quid est hoc Hinc solvit illud quod non noverant Illi enim putabant eum erogaturum corpus suum ille autem dixit se ascensurum in coelum utique integrum Cùm videritis filium hominis ascendentem ubi crat priùs certè vel tunc videbitis quia non co modo quo putatis erogat corpus suum certè vel tunc intelligetis quia gratia ejus non consumitur morsibus upon those words What if ye see the Son of Man ascend c. What do's this mean He hence resolves that which they did not know For they imagined that he would bestow his Body upon them and he told them that he would ascend into Heaven entire and whole When you shall see the Son of Man ascending where he was before then surely you will see that be do's not bestow his Body after that manner you think he do's Surely you will then at least understand that his Grace is not consumed by bites of the Teeth Gelasius (d) Contr. Eutych l. 4. Credere in filium Dei hoc est videre hoc est audire hoc est odorari hoc est gustare hoc est contrectare eum therefore said well To believe on the Son of God this is to see him this is to bear him this is to smell this is to taste him and this is to handle him These Testimonies one would think are sufficient to tell us the Sense of the Fathers in this Matter yet with the Reader 's leave I will add a few Considerations more to put it out of all doubt 1 Consideration It appears there is no necessity to understand eating and drinking Christ's Body in the Eucharist of his natural Body received into ours because the Fathers say We eat and drink and partake of Christ's Body and Blood in Baptism which by the confession of all can be done only spiritually there Thus Cyril of Alexandria (e) In Joah 9.6 says The Gentiles could not have shaken off their Blindness and contemplated the Divine and H. Light that is attained the Knowledge of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unless by Holy-Baptism they had been made Partakers of his Holy Flesh and washed away the blackness of their Sin and shak'd off the Devil's Power And elsewhere (f) Glaphyr in Exod. lib. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking of the Eunuch He by his Question says he shewed that he was Partaker of the Spiritual Lamb for he was presently thought worthy of Baptism Fulgentius (g) De Bapt. Aethiop in fine Nisi manducaveritis carnem filii hominis biberitis ejus sauguinem non habebitis vitam in vobis Quod quisquis non solum secundùm veritatis mysteria sed secundùm mysterii veritatem considerare poterit in ipso Lavacro S. Regenerationis hoc fieri providebit Unless ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye shall have no Life in you Which whosoever can consider not only according to the Mystery of Truth viz. in the Sacraments but according to the Truth of the Mystery will see that this is done in the Laver of Holy Regeneration And again (h) Ibid. Nec cuiquam esse aliquatenus ambigendum tuâ—â— unumquemque fidelium corporis sanguinisque participem fieri quando in baptismate membrum corporis Christi efficitur Neither need any one in the least doubt that every Believer is then made Partaker of Christ's Body and Blood when he is made in Baptism a Member of Christ's Body Therefore S. Basil (i) In Esa 3. says That the Lord takes away Christ from those who having put him on by Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by sinning afterwards trample upon his Body and count the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing 2 Consideration The Fathers with reference to Eating and Drinking distinguish Christ's True Body from his Sacramental one which they could not do if Christ's True and Natural Body and Blood were eat and drunk in a proper sense in the Sacrament S. Chrysostome (k) In 1 Cor. c. 11. v. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expounding those words He that eateth and drinketh unworthily c. says As Christs Presence which brought those great and unspeakable Blessings to us did condemn those the more that did not receive it so also the Mysteries make way for greater Punishments to those that unworthily partake of them S. Austin (l) Contr. Faustum l. 20. c. 21. Hujus sacrificii caro sanguis c. in passione Christi per ipsam veritatem reddebatur post ascensum Christi per Sacramentum memoriae celebratur whose words I have given Chap. 10. Posit 2. makes the Flesh and Blood of Christ to be exhibited in the Truth at his Passion and in the Sacrament only the Memory of it to be celebrated Bede (m) In Psal 21 Intelligent in pane vino visibiliter sibi proposito aliud invisibile scilicet corpus sanguinem verum Domini qui verus cibus potus sunt quo non venter distenditur sed mens saginatur upon those words The Poor shall eat and be satisfied says By this Bread and Wine which are visibly offered to them they will understand another invisible thing viz. the true Body and Blood of our Lord which are really Meat and Drink not such as fills the Belly but which nourishes the Mind And in another place (n) In Esdram lib. 2. cap. 8. immolatio Paschae gloriam insinuet resurrectionis cùm omnes electi carne agni immaculati id est Dei Domini nostri non amplius in Sacramento credentes sed in reipsa ac verirate videntes reficiuntur speaking of the Passover The Immolation of this Passover represents the Glory of our Resurrection when all the Elect shall eat together the Flesh of the Immaculate Lamb I mean
rei fit scissura Signi tantum fit fractura Qua nec status nec statura Signati minuitur c. Being taught by holy Lessons we consecrate Bread and Wine for a saving Host It 's a Maxim to Christians that Bread is changed into Flesh and Wine into Blood. What thou dost not comprehend or see a strong Faith confirms it besides the order of Nature Precious Things lie hid under different Species which are Signs only not Things The Flesh is Meat and the Blood Drink yet Christ remains whole under each Kind Uncut unbroken undivided he is received whole by him that takes him When a thousand take him one takes as much as they nor is he consumed in taking The Good and Bad both take him but their Lot is unequal in Life and Death He is Death to the Bad and Life to the Good behold an unlike end of a like taking When the Sacrament is broken Be not stagger'd but remember There is as much in a Particle As the whole covers Here is no division of the thing Only a breaking of the Sign Whereby neither the State nor Stature of the thing signified is diminished c. Another Hymn of the same Author which begins Pange lingua gloriosi In Breviar Rom. in sesto Corp. Christi In supremae nocte coenae Recumbens cum sratribus Observata lege plenè Cibis in legalibus Cibum turbae duodenae Se dat suis manibus Verbum caro panem verum Verbo carnem efficit Firque sanguis Christi merum Et si sensus deficit Ad firmandum cor sincerum Sola fides sufficit Tantum ergo Sacramentum Veneremur cernui Et antiquum documentum Novo cedat ritui Praestet fides supplementum Sensuum defectui c. Thus translated in the Manual of Godly Prayers At his last Supper made by Night He with his Brethren takes his Seat And having kept the Ancient rite Using the Laws prescribed Meat His twelve Disciples doth invite From his own Hands himself to eat The Word made Flesh to words imparts Such strength that Bread his Flesh is made He Wine into his Blood converts And if our Sense here fail and fade To satisfy Religious Hearts Faith only can the Truth perswade Then to this Sacrament so high Low rev'rence let us now direct Old Rites must yield in dignity To this with such great Graces deckt And Faith will all those Wants supply Wherein the Senses feel defect c. In another Hymn of Th. Aquinas which begins Verbum supernum prodiens they pray thus to the Sacrament In Breviar Rom. in Festo Corp. Christi O salutaris Hostia Quae Coeli pandis ostium Bella premunt hostilia Da robur fer auxilium O saving Host that openest Heaven's Door Th' Arms of our Foes do us enclose Thy strength we need O help with speed We humbly thee implore There was published at Paris with the appâ—obration of three Doctors of the Faculty there An. 1669. a little Book in French called Practique pour Adorer le tres Saint Sacrament de l' Autel Or A Form for the Adoration of the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar Which begins thus Praised and adored be the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar And then adds Whosoever shall say these Holy Words Praised be the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar shall gain an hundred days of Indulgences and he that do's reverence hearing them repeated as much He that being confessed and communicated shall say the above-said words shall gain a Plenary Indulgence and the first five times that he shall say them after his having been Confessed and Communicated he shall deliver five of his Friends-souls whom he pleases out of Purgatory Then follows the Form for honouring the Holy Sacrament consisting of two Prayers as follows which I shall set down in Latin and English because I find them in the Hours of Sarum Fol. 66. and in the S. Litaniae variae p. 44. printed at Colen 1643. The first of them has this Rubrick before it in the Hours of Salisbury Our Holy Father the Pope John xxii hath granted to all them that devoutly say this Prayer after the Elevation of our Lord Jesu Christ three thousand days of Pardon for deadly Sins Anima Christi sanctifica me Corpus Christi salva me Sanguis Christi inebria me Aqua lateris Christi lava me Hor. Sar. Splendor vultus Christi illumina me Passio Christi conforta me H. Sar. Sudor vultus Christi virtuosissime sana me O bone Jesu exaudi me Intra vulnera tua absconde me Ne permittas me separari à ce Ab hoste maligno defende me In hora mortis meae voca me Et jube me venire ad te Ut cum sanctis tuis laudem te In saecula soeculorum Amen Soul of Christ sanctify me Body of Christ save me Blood of Christ inebriate me Water of Christ's Side wash me Passion of Christ comfort me O good Jesus hear me Within thy Wounds hide me Suffer me not to be separated from thee From the malicious Enemy defend me In the Hour of my Death call me And command me to come to thee That with thy Saints I may praise thee For evermore Amen At the Elevation of the Mass Hor. sec us Sar. Ibid. Ave verum corpus natum De Maria Virgine Vere passum immolatum In cruce pro homine Cujus latus perforatum Unda fluxit sanguine Esto nobis praeguslatum Mortis in examine O Clemens O pie O dulcis Fili Mariae Thus translated in the Manual of Godly Prayers All hail true Body born of the Blessed Virgin Mary 5 Truly suffered and offered upon the Cross for Mankind Whose Side pierced with a Speat yielded Water and Blood. Vouchsafe to be received of us in the Hour of Death O good O Jesu Son of the Blessed Virgin have mercy on me After this the French Form adds what follows These two good Prayers were found in the Sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem and whosoever carries them about him with Devotion and in Honour of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be delivered from the Devil and from suddain Death and shall not die of an ill Death He shall be preserved from Pestilence and all infectious Diseases No Sorcerer nor Sorcery shall be able to hurt him or her that has these two good Prayers about them The Fire from Heaven shall not fall upon the House where these Prayers are rehearsed with devotion A Woman with Child saying them devoutly shall be brought to Bed without any danger of her own or her Child's Death Lightnings and Thunders shall not fall upon the Houses where these Prayers are rehearsed with Devotion Such a one shall not die without Confession and God will give him Grace to repent of his Sins Now I will add a Specimen of Litanies of the Sacrament Litaniae de Sacramente S. Litaniae variae p. 30. Panis vivus qui de Coelo descendisti Misere nobis Deus absconditus Salvator Misere