wherof note gentle reader as before ys saied that as S. Iames and S. Clement directe their communicacion in praier to God the Father so doth S. Basill Chrysostom and S. Ambrose so also doth the catholique Church The schismaticall Church of the Proclamer and his felowes doth not so but reherseth historicallie the woordes of the scripture Yf yt should be asked whie the Proclamer and his likes refuse to folowe herin the auncient maner of the primitiue Church the imitaciō of whiche Protestāts why they folow not the maner of primitiue Church they so moch pretend and so often haue yt in their mouth yt ys easie to aunswer that they so doo bicause innouaciō which delighteth yt self with thown inuencions and desiereth nouelties and liketh allmost nothing that before was fownded ād setled by the Fathers which also pleaseth the people thursting chaunges of thinges occupieth their heades Other cause whie they shoulde not kepe the same forme maner and order of consecracion as the Apostles their Disciples and the Fathers did whie they should not cōtinew their peticion and praier in the time of consecraciō to god the father as they did whie theie vse not soch phrase and maner of woordes as all or most or some of thē did whie they put not water to the wine as all they did I cā none assign But to conclud hitherto yt maie be perceaued that the catholique Church in nothing varieth from the Apostolique primitiue and auncient Church and that the hereticall Church in nothing as touching consecraciō agreeth THE SIXE AND THIRTETH CHAP. DEclareth what was the intencion of the Apostles and Fathers in and aboute the consecracion in the Masse THe order by me appointed now requireth that we search what was the faith ād intenciō of the Apostles and Fathers of the primitiue Church aswell Grekes as Latines in and about the cōsecracion Yt ys a world to see how the Proclamer like a commōiester trifleth with soch a weightie matter Ah mercifull God that wise men can not see the deuelish wicked intēts of this heretical brood Brentius and Caluine contemne the woordes of the formes of Sacraments The Proclamer mocketh and skorneth the intencion of soch as mynistre the sacraments Yet when these two be taken awaie what sacrament haue yowe But that I tread not oute of my path leauing to entre the disputacion of intencion and faith generallie in all sacraments I will onelie here declare the intencion of the consecracion of the B. Sacrament by the practise of the Apostles and fathers And without all circumstances breiflie to entre into the matter we will first see the intent and faith of S. Iames what he thouht to be wrought in the consecracion of the Sacrament Which his goodlie praier wilfullie declare wherin he praieth thus Miserere nostri Deus omnipotens miserere nostri Deus seruator noster misere nostri Deus secundùm magnam misericordiam tuam demitte super nos et super haec dona proposita Spiritum tuum sanctissimum Dominum viuificum S. Jacobus in Missa vnà tecum Deo Patre et vnigenito Filio tuo assidentem simul regnantem consubstantialem ac coeternū qui locutus est in lege et Prophetis et in nouo tuo testamento qui descendit in specie columbae super D. n. Iesum Christum in Iordanis stuuio mansit super eum qui descendit super Apostolos tuos in specie ignearum linguarum in coenaculo sanctae gloriosae Syon in die Pentecostes Ipsum spiritum tuum sanctiss demitte nunc quoque Domme in nos in haec dona sancta proposita vt superueniens sancta et bona et gloriosa sua praesentia sanctificet et efficiat hunc panem corpus sanctum Christi tui et calicem hunc preciosum sanguinem Christi tui vt sit omnibus ex its sumentibus in remissionem peccatorum et in vitā aeternam Haue mercie vpon vs o God allmightie haue mercie vpon vs o God our Sauiour haue mercie vpon vs o God according to thie great mercie and send downe vpon vs and vpon these proposed giftes thy most holie Spiritt our liuing Lorde sitting and reigning and euerlasting together with thee S. Iames beleued by the worke of the holie Gost the bread and wine to be consecrated into the bodie ād blod of Chryste God the Father and thy onelie begotten Sonne who hath spokē in the law and in the Prophets ād in thie new testament which came down in the shape of a done vpon our Lord Iesus Chryst in the floud of Iordane ād abidde vpon him who came downe vpon thy Apostles in the shape of sierie toungs in the parlour of the holie and gloriouse Syon in the daie of pentecost The same thy most holie Spiritt o Lorde sende down also vpon vs and these holie proposed gifts that he coming vpon them maie with his holie good and gloriouse presence sanctifie and make this bread the bodie of thy Chryst ād this cuppe the preciouse blood of thie Chryst that yt maie be to all that receaue of yt remission of sinnes and life euerlasting c. Allthough in this praier of S. Iames manie things might be fownd woorthie of note yet yt shall suffice for this present that we obserue that he vpon the consecracion had the same maner of intent and faith that the catholique Church how hath that ys that the bread and wine set vpon the aultar by the miraculouse woork of the holie Gost be made the bodie ād blood of Chryst Which thing ys so liuelie and fullie spoken and vttered that yt nedeth no farder declaraciō This onelie maie be added that yf ther were no more doē by the consecracion but that the bread and wine be made a sacramentall bread and wine that ys onelie figurs and tokens of the bodie and blood of Chryst S. Iames wold neuer haue so earnestlie praied for the coming down of the holie Gost to sanctifie that bread and wine he knowing that the bread and wine might without the speciall sanctificacion of the holie Gost verie well be figurs of Chrystes bodie and blood as manie other things were in the olde lawe Neither wolde he haue praied that the holie Gost by his holie presence should make the bread and wine the bodie and blood of Chryste yf he had entended or beleued Chrysts institucion to haue but figures Yt were in my iudgement a mockrie of God to desire that the bodie and bloode of Chryste might be ther and wolde not haue yt in dede but onelie the figurs of yt But whie do I saie so moch in so plain and clere a mater As ye nowe perceaue by S. Iames his praier that his entent and faith was that Chrystes verie bodie and verie blood were consecrated on the aultar so shall ye see that S. Clement came to the aultar with the same faith and entent wherupon he praied thus Rogamus vt mittere digneris sanctum tuum Spiritum super
authoritie or credite ys he of that teacheth in the pulpet by speaking then he that teacheth by open writing Yf ye will not beleue me writing ye will not beleue me preaching Yf ye wil beleue me preaching for that I speake the trueth by the scriptures and auncient fathers Beleue me also writing the trueth by the scriptures aÌ„d auncieÌ„t fathers And yf these alowed writers of these later daies teach the trueth by the scripturs aÌ„d auncieÌ„t fathers theÌ„ must they neds be receaued And ther for trulie yt ys necessarie that they be alleaged to th eÌ„tent the trueth maie be perceaued to be one throughout all and that they being ioined with the auncieÌ„tes yt maie be seeÌ„ that the same trueth is taught now that was taught a thousand yeares agoÌ„ before And therfor haue I determined not to geue place to this refusall of Heretiques but to alleage the Authours of these later yeares that the coÌ„sonancie and vnitie of the trueth maie be perceaued in all ages and that ther ys no other trueth taught now theÌ„ was taught in the Primitiue Church and the time of the Apostles yea no other trueth then was taught by oure Sauiour Chryst himself and by his holie Spirit the Authour of all trueth Wherby the foule railinges and slaunders which bemost comoÌ„ lie in the mouthes of the enemies maie be taken awaie and they of their vntrueth and malice woorthilie confownded Thus moche I thought good to saie for that in this book I minde to vse the testimonies of these late writers for th entent aboue specified And nowe therfore to Theophilacte the Grecian I shall ioin the learned doctour Nicolaus de Lyra a latin Authour who writing vpon the sixt of S. Iohn cometh to this text Et panis quem ego dabo caro mea est And the bread whiche I will geue ys my flesh and expowndeth yt thus Postquam egit de pane spirituali qui est Verbum hic consequenter agit de pane spirituali qui est Sacramentum After he hath don saieth this Authour of Chryst with the spirituall bread which ys Nico. Lira in 6. Ioan. the woorde here consequentlie he treacted of the spirituall breade whiche ys the Sacrament What dothe this authour dissent from the Fathers dothe he not signifie that Chryste before the sentence so often alleaged did speake of the spirituall bread hys Godhead which he calleth the woord And doth he not now saie that in yt that foloweth Chryst speaketh of the Sacrament These be sufficient to declare the true vnderstaÌ„ding of our Sauiour Chrystes processe and ordre in the sixte of S. Iohn And for that ye perceaue the same aswell after the minde of Chryste the verie texte so leading vs to vnderstand yt as also after the minde of diuerse learned authours I will nowe procead to see the vnderstaÌ„ding of diuerse textes of the rest of this chapiter that treacte of the blessed Sacrament THE FOVRTH CHAPITER BEGINNETH A further proof of the former matter by S. Cyprian and Euthymius THis distinction of these two breades last before mencioned perceaued and being withall remeÌ„bred that at this text The bread which I shall geue ys my â—…esh whiche I will geue for the life of the world Chryst began to speake of the Sacrament and continueth the disputation therof to the ende of the chapiter to proue the same more manifestlie to the Reader and withall to make yt clere that that processe ys not of a figuratiue flesh but of Chrystes verie propre flesh and bodie I will beginne at the same text and so descending to the last by a nombre of the most auncient Fathers of Chrystes Parliament house open both the one and the other I trust to the full contentacion of the godlie Reader The firste that shall shewe hys minde of this matter shall be the holie Martyr Cyprian who saieth thus Panis vitae Christus est panis hic omnium non est sed noster est Et quomodò dicimus Pater noster quia intelligentium credentium pater est sic paneÌ„ nostruÌ„ vocamus quia Christus noster qui eius corpus coÌ„tingimus panis est Hunc autem paneÌ„ dari nobis quotidiè postulamus ne qui in Christo sumus Eucharistiam quotidie ad cibuÌ„ salutis accipimus intercedente grauiore aliquo delicto dum abstenti noÌ„ coÌ„municantes à caelesti pane prohibemur à Christi corpore separemur ipso praedicante monente Ego sum panis vitae qui de caelo descendi Si quis ederit de hoc pane viuet in aeternum Panis quteÌ„ quem ego dedero caro mea est pro seculi vita The bread of life ys Chryst and this breade ys not the breade of all men but yt ys ours And as we do saie Oure Father because he ys the father of all that do beleue and vnderstande Euen so also oure bread call we whiche touche his bodie bicause owre Chryste ys bread This breade we dailie desire to be geuen vs least we which be in Chryst and take the Sacrament dailie to oure meate of health some greuouse offence coming betwene while we being excoÌ„municated and not receauing be forbidden from the heauenlie bread maie be separated from the bodie of Chryste he himself openly saing and teaching I am the bread of life whiche descended from heauen Whosoeuer shal eate of this bread shall liue for euer The bread which I will geue ys my flesh for the life of the worlde Thus moch S. CypriaÌ„ In this sentence I doubte not but ye perceaue that this holy Martyr applieth the sentences of the sixt of S. Iohn to the SacrameÌ„t of Chrystes bodie and blood According to whiche vnderstanding he calleth Chryst our bread S. Cyprian aplieth the sixt of S. Iohn to the Sacrament whom he so calleth not onelie bicause of his Godhead but also bicause he feadeth vs in the Sacrament with his bodie For saieth he we being in Chryste do receaue the Sacrament dailie to the meate of health But yf by sinne we forbeare to receaue the heauenlie bread we be separated from the bodie of Chryste Wherby we maie perceaue that not onelie the sixt of S. Iohn ys to be vnderstanded of the Sacrament But also when S. Cyprian calleth the Sacrament the meat of health the heauenly bread and the bodie we are taught that in the SacrameÌ„t ys the verie presence of that bodie to the which proprelie these goodlie titles maie be wourthilie applied Whiche bodie can be none other but the bodie of Chryst God an man But forasmoch as the faith of this famouse Father and holie Martyr Cyprian in this poinct hath ben notablie and manifestlie declared in sentences before alleaged in the first booke and more herafter shall be spoken I will not nowe trooble the reader with any longer declaracion of the same but will ioin with Cyprian one of the other side of Chrystes Parliament house euen Euthymius a grecian whose sentence Reader yt shall
in of Chryste to his Apostles as some haue wickedlie taught raither seking to shadow the miraculouse worke of Chryste and to falsifie the scriptures then they wolde forsake their erroure or haue yt conuinced then coulde yt not proue that the clausures of the virginitie of the mother of Chryste notwithstanding his birth remained allwais closed whiche as ye maie perceaue they intended to proue Yt maie be that the Aduersarie being pressed with the authoritie of these graue and learned fathers will graunt that Chryste went in to this Apostles the doores being shett But yet he went not he will saie through the doore nor no other body so as there shoulde be two bodies in one place at one time That he went in the doores being shett he will graunte But howe he went in he can not tell To make this matter plain to the Aduersarie and thee Reader we will heare Chrysostom in an other place geuing some cause how he might so go in DignuÌ„ autem dubitatione est quomodò corpus incorruptibile formam clauorum acceperit Chrysost homil 86. in Joan. mortali manu tangi potuerit Sed hoc te non perturbet hoc enim permissionis fuit Corpus enim tam tenue leue vt clausis ianuis ingrederetur omni crassitudine earebat sed vt resurrectio crederetur talem se exhibuit Et vt ipsum crucifixum fuisse neminem alium pro eo resurrexisse intelligas proptered cum signis crucis resurrexit Yt yt woorthie of doubte howe the incorruptible bodie did take the forme of the nailes and Chrystes bodie was so void of grossnesse that yt might enter the doorees being shett coulde be touched with mortall hand But let not this trooble thee For this was doen of permission For that bodie being so subtile and light that yt might entre in the doores being shett was void of all grossnesse But that the resurrectioÌ„ might beleleued he shewed him self soche a one and that thowe mightest vnderstaÌ„d that yt waseueÌ„ he that was crucified and no maÌ„ ells did rise for him therfore he rose with the figures and tokens of the crosse Thus moche Chrysostome The cause whiche ys geuen here to helpe vppe the weaknesse of oure faith the sooner to beleue that Chryste passed through the doore ys that he had after his resurrection a pure clear and subtile bodie void of all corruption and grossnesse euen a spirituall bodie that might to oure own iudgement and reason the easelier so do and yet was yt a perfecte bodie of a man in substance and lineamentes But that he came in to his Apostles through the doore and howe and by what means he so did Chrysostom by expresse woordes in an other place declareth speaking in the person of Chryste after this maner Non est meum meos ludificare phantasinate vanam imaginem visus si timet veritatem corporis manus Chrys de resarrect sermon 9. digitus exploret Potest fortassis aliqua oculos caligo decipere palpatio corporalis verum corpus agnoscat Spiritus inquit carnem ossa non habet sicut me videtis habere Quòd ostia clausa penetraui sola est virtus diuini Spiritus non sola carnis substantia Yt ys not my propertie myne to delude with a phantasie Yf the seight feare a vain image Chryst entred trough the doores that were shett let the hand and fingar trie oute the veritie of the bodie Perchaunce some mist maie deceaue the eyes let the corporall feeling acknowledge a true bodie A spirit saied he hath not flesh and bones as ye see me to haue That I entred through the doores that were shett yt ys onelie the powre of the diuine spirit not the onelie substance of the flesh Thus Chrysostom As this place geueth goodlie instruction to the reader so doth yt fullie and mighteilie stoppe the mouthes of theÌ„ that speake wicked thinges against God in denienge the miraculouse workes of our Sauiour and master Chryste That Chryst with his perfecte bodie entred in to his Apostles Chrysostom proueth by Chrystes owen saieng being in the middest of them when he saied A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue Howe this bodie being a perfecte bodie of a man entred he declareth when he saieth in Howe Christes bodie entred through the doores shett Amb. in Luc. li. 10. cap. 14. the person of Chryste that yt entred through the doores Yf ye will learn by what mean he saieth yt was not by the substance of the flesh but by the vertue or power of the Godhead Of this matter also sâ—inct Ambrose ys a goodlie wittnesse who vpon the Gospell of sainct Luke saieth thus Habuit admirandi causam Thomas cum videret clausis omnibus per inuia septa corporibus inoffensa compage Christi corpus insertum ideo mirum quomodò se natura corporea per impenetrabile corpus infuderit inuisibili aditu visibili conspectu tangi facilis difficilis aestimari Thomas had a cause to merueill when he sawe all thinges being shetvppe and closed the bodie of Chryste by clausures without all waies for bodie to entre the walls being vnbroken to be entred in emong them And therfore yt was wonder howe the corporall nature passed through the impenetrable bodie with an inuisible coming but with uisible beholding easie to be touched hard to be iudged Thus sainct Ambrose Yf ye note this testimonie yt varieth not from Chrysostom For yt testifieth that oure Sauiour Chryste came in to his Apostles the doores being shett And that notwithstanding he went through the clausures of the house they not being broken And herevpon saieth saincte Ambrose ys the great wonder how his naturall bodie coulde entre through an impenetrable bodie Wherby bothe these Fathers declare the trueth of the doctrine of the Churche that Chryste thus entring ther were two bodies in one place There be manie that beare verie plain testimonie in this matter But we will heare but two mo onely Whiche I suppose with these before alleaged being all men of soche grauitie holinesse authoritie and learning maie suffice not onelie to counteruaill these fond bablers void of like grauitie holinesse or learning but also with them that haue any sparke of grace and wisdom take soch effecte as to cause them flee these leude teachers and to hisse them oute of all chrystian companie forasmoch as they teache soche learninge as none of the holy Fathers doo teache but soch raither as ys contrarie to them But let vs heare saincte Augustine in this matter thus he saieth Nec eos audiamus qui negant tale corpus Domini resurrexisse quale positum August de agone Christi cap. 24. est in monumeÌ„to Nec nos moueat quòd clausis ostijs subitò eum apparuisse Discipulis scriptuÌ„ est vt proptereà negemus illud fuisse corpus humanum quin contra naturam huius corporis videmus illud per clausa ostia intrare omnia enim
aedificat Adde ergo scientiae charitatem vtilis erit scientia non per se sed per charitatem Sic nunc Caro non prodest quicquam sed sola caro Accedat Spiritus ad carnem quomodò accedit charitas ad scientiam prodest plurimùm Namsi caro nihil prodesset Verbum caro non fieret vt habitaret in nobis Si per carnem multu nobis profuit Christus quomodò caro nihil prodet Sed per carnem spiritus aliquid pro salute nostra egit Caro vas suit quod habebat attende non quod erat Apostoli missi sunt nunquid caro ipsorum nihil nobis prosuit Si caro Apostolorū nobis profuit caro Domini nihil potuit prodesse Vnde enim ad nos sonus verbi nisi per vocem carnis Vnde filius Vnde conscriptio Ista omnia opera carnis sunt sed agitante Spiritu tanquam organum suum Spiritus ergo est qui viuificat Caro non prodest quicqua Sicut illi intellexerunt carnem non sic ego do ad manducandum carnem meam A long sentence of S. Augustine but as profittable and pleasaunt as yt ys long whiche I bring whollie that the reader shoulde not be defrauded of the right meninge of S. Augustine vpon this scripture and that the Aduersaries shoulde not haue occasion to reprehende that in vs that so often they haue offended in namelie to bring in a sentence of an Authour truncately so moch as apparantly wolde serue for their poupose but not so moche as wolde trulie open the right mening of the Authour in that matter In this sentence thus alleaged ye shall perceaue the full minde of S. Augustin for so moche as he thought necessarie to be saied for the explicacion of Chrystes minde in this scripture Thus maie S. Augustines woordes Spirit how yt quickneth and flesh howe yt profiteth nothing be englished What ys yt then that he adioineth Yt ys the Spirit that quickneth the flesh prositeth nothing Let vs saie vnto him he suffreth vs not against saing but desiering to knowe O Lorde good master howe doth the flesh profitt nothing seing thowe hauest saied Except a man eate my flesh and drinke my bloode he shall haue no life in him Doth not life profitte anie thing And for what be we that we be but that we maie haue eternall life which thowe promisest by thy flesh What ys yt then that the flesh profiteth nothing The flesh profitteth nothing but as they vnderstoode yt They did so vnderstande the flesh as yt ys torne in the dead karkas or as yt ys solde in the shambles not as yt ys quickned withe the spiritt Therfore yt ys so saied the flesh profitteth nothing as yt ys saied that science doth puff vppe or make prowde Shall we nowe therfore hate science God forbidde And what ys yt Science doth puff vppe Alone withoute charitie Therfore he adioined Charitie edifieth Adde therfore to science charitie and science shall be profitable not by yt self but by charitie So also nowe the flesh profitteth nothing but the flesh alone let the spirit come to the flesh as charitie cometh to science and yt profiteth very moche For if the flesh should profitt nothing the woorde shoulde not haue ben made flesh that he might dwell among vs. Yf Chryst by the flessh hath profitted vs moche howe doth the flesh profitt nothing But the spirit by the flesh hath doen somwhat for our healthe The flesh was the vessell what yt had attend not what yt was The Apostles were sent did not their flesh profitt yf the flesh of the Apostles did profitt vs coulde the flesh of our Lord nothing profitt Frō whence came the sownde of the worde to vs but by the voice of the flesh from whence the stile from whence the writing All these workes be of the flesh but the Spirit mouing yt as his organ Therfore yt ys the Spirit that doth quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing As they do vnderstande the flesh So do not I geue my flesh to be eaten Thus farre S. Augustine Nowe weigh gentle Reader whether the flesh of Chryst doth profitte anie thing or no. Nowe weigh also whether this scripture doth any one iotte The presence of Christs flesh in the Sacr. after the catholique faith speake or make against Chrystes blessed flesh in the Sacrament The catholique faith teacheth not that the flesh of Chryst ys geuen in the Sacramēt as peices or lumpes of flesh betorn oute of a dead karkas neither that the flesh of Chryst ys there as yt ys in the shambles nor that yt ys a pure naturall flesh without the spiritte not the flesh of a person that ys onelie man for so vnderstanded as they did vnderstand yt saith S. Augustine yt profiteth nothing But the flesh of Chryst of the good catholiques ys beleued to be in the Sacrament not as the flesh of a pure man but as the flesh of God not diuided from the Godhead but inseparablie euermore conioined to the same not grossly as in the shambles but spirituallie and yet verilie and reallie as a diuine flesh in misterie not torn as oute of a dead karkas by peices to be geuē abroade to the people but as Petrus Cluniacensis saieth yt ys parted euery mā without diminuciō euerie one receauing whol Chryst Neither yt ys eatē that therby yt ys cōsumed but yt ys eatē and yet euer remaineth as the Church saieth Nec sumptus absumitur neither being receaued yt ys cōsumed This ys the catholique faith against the whiche this scripture doth nothing The flesh of Chryst receaued as the flesh of God profiteth moch speake but raither with yt For as S. Augustine saieth The flesh of Chryste taken as yt ys quickned with the Spirit that ys with the Godhead and as the flesh of God yt profiteth moche which flesh ys so taken of the faithfull And therfor the Sacramentaries maie be ashamed and moche repent of ther wicked blasphemie wherwith they haue blasphemed the true catholique faith of Chryste calling yt the grosse and vain imaginacions of the Capharnaites with soche like impieties seing that the faith ys pure perfect and agreable to godds woorde and nothinge agreeing with the vanities of these grosse men After whose grosse maner as the flesh prositeth nothing So after that maner Chryst doth not geue his flesh as S. Augustine Chryst geueth his flesh in substance verilie but not in rude maner grosselie in the person of Chryst concludeth his exposition sainge Sicut illi intellexerunt carnem non sic ego do ad manducandum carnem meam As they did vnderstande the flesh so do not I geue my flesh to be eaten In the whiche wordes sainct Augustin dothe insinuate to vs that Chryst dothe geue vs the same his flesh to eate but not after that maner For the substance ys not here denied of the thing that ys geuen but the maner whiche he signifieth plainlie when saieth As they did
beleued Chryst to be in the Sacrament he doth well open in this his applicacion where he saieth that the receipt of the vertue of the spirituall meat and drinke whiche ys the bodie and bloode of Chryst ys not to be proporcioned according to the quantitie of the visible formes of bread and wine In the whiche woordes he plainlie declareth that the meate of the Sacrament figured by Manna ys the bodie and bloode of Chryst But here the Aduersaries will saie that this Authour ys on ther parte For he calleth yt spirituall meate and drinke wherby he meeneth the spirituall Obiection of spirituall meat and drinke answered receipt of Chrystes bodie spirituallie and not corporallie Call to remembrance what ys saied of this in the eighte chapiter of this booke wher ther be causes assigned vpon the saing of S. Augustin why the bodie of Chryste ys called spirituall meat and yt shall answer the Aduersarie fullie And yet I shall adde the saing of Sainct Ambrose to the vtter discomfiting of the Aduersarie whiche teacheth the bodie of Chryst to be in the Sacrament For he declaring Manna to be the figure of yt proueth by that and by an other excellent reason that the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament ys a spirituall bodie In Sacramento Christus est quia corpus est Christi Auibr de myst ca. 9. Non ergo corporalis esca sed spiritualis est Vnde Apostolus de typo eius ait quia patres nostri escam spiritualem manducauerunt potum spiritualem biberunt Corpus enim Dei corpus est spirituale Corpus Christi corpus est diuini spiritus In the Sacrament ys Chryst for yt ys the bodie of Chryst yt ys not therfor corporall meat Wherfor the Apostle also saieth of the figure of yt that our Fathers haue eaten spirituall meat and dronken spirituall drinke The bodie of God ys a spirituall bodie The bodie of Chryste ys the bodie of the diuine spirit Thus moche Sainct Ambrose First teaching the presence of Chryst in the Sacrament he contenteth not himself so to saie but to preuent the obiection of the Aduersarie who Chryste ys the substance of the blessed Sac. will elude this and saie that Chryst ys in the Sacrament as in a sign he saieth not onely that Chryst ys in the Sacrament but he saieth also that the bodie of Chryst ys the Sacrament the substance of bread and wine being chaunged into the substance of the bodie and bloode of Chryste the onely formes of bread and wine remaining And after he hath thus taught he inferreth that therfor yt ys no corporall meat but spirituall meate And to proue this he maketh as yt were two argumentes The first ys that forasmoche as the figures of yt were by Sainct Paule called spirituall meate and spirituall drinke moche more maie yt be called spirituall meat and spirituall drinke The seconde argument ys that the bodie of God ys spirituall and the bodie of Chryst ys the bodie of God wherfor the bodie of Chryst ys spirituall Thus ye see that as Sainct Augustin as yt ys before in the eight Chapiter alleadged calleth the very reall and substanciall bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament spirituall So also doth Sainct Ambrose not that yt ys not a very bodie but bicause in diuerse respectes yt ys spirituall as Sainct Cyrill also saieth Totum corpus viuifica spiritus virtute plenum esse ostendit In 6. Joan. Spiritum enim ipsam carnem nuncùpauit non quia naturam carnis amiserit in spiritum mutata sit sed quia summè cum eo coniuncta totam viuificandi vim hausit Nec turbari propter hoc decet Nam qui Domino conglutinatur vnus cum eo spiritus est quomodò igitur caro sua vna cum eo non appellabitur He sheweth that all his bodie ys full of the quickning power For he calleth his flesh the The flesh of Chryste called a spirit and so a spirituall flesh spirit not that yt had lost the nature of flesh and ys chaunged into the spirit but bicause yt ys so nerelie ioined with him yt hath taken into yt all power to make to liue Neither ys yt decent any man to be troubled for this For he that ys fast ioined with God ys one spirit whithe him Howe then shall not his flesh be called one with him Thus moche Sainct Cyrill Of whome we maie learn that Chryst him self called his flesh a spirit and therfore yt maie well be called spirituall and yet saieth Sainct Cyrill though yt be so called yt hath not lost the nature of flesh but ys both flesh and spirit And therfor well called of these Authours a spirituall flesh a spirituall bodie a spirituall meate and yet allwaies being a very substanciall bodie and a naturall flesh By these Authours yt ys made manifest to you that when they or other do call the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament a spirituall bodie or a spirituall flesh or as Rupertus doth a spiritual meate yt ys not furthwith after the Aduersaries minde to be made so spirituall that ther shall remain neither bodie nor meat but that by a spirituall vnderstanding by faith we must vnderstand yt a verie bodie verie flesh and yet spirituall for manie causes here and before declared And that this Authour ment euen so yt appeareth well For when he had called yt spirituall meat he furthwith expownded yt and saied that ys to saie the bodie and bloode of Chryst. whiche bodie and bloode he wolde so to be spirituall not that yt shoulde be absent from the Sacrament but raither to be the substance of the Sacrament whiche he doth well insinuate when he saieth that we receaue not the spirituall meat of the bodie and bloode of Chryst according to the quantitie of the visible forme of bread and wine He saieth not according to the quantitie of bread and wine whiche woordes might include their substances but saieth after the maner of the speache of the catholique faith according to the quantitie of the visible formes of bread and wine signifieng the substāces of thē to be absent bicause they be chaunged and maketh mencion onely of the formes And that this was his faith he by most plain woordes declareth in his exposition vpon the same booke of Exodus saing thus Quomodò verbum à summo demissum caro factum est non mutatum in carnem sed assumendo carnem Sic Rupert in Exo. ca. 10 panis vinum vtrumque ab imo subleuatum fit corpus Christi sanguis non mutatum in carnis saporem sed assumendo inuisibiliter vtriusque diuinae scilicet humanae quae in Christo est immortalis substantiae veritatem Proinde sicut hominem qui de virgine sumptus in cruce pependit rectè catholicè Deum confitemur Sic veraciter hoc quod sumimus de sancto altari Christum dicimus agnum Dei praedicamus As the Sonne of God coming down from the high was made
be accompted amonge euell receauers that otherwise thinke of the bodie of Chryst then ys to be thought of yt What ys to be thought of them that wher Chryst promised that the bread which he wolde geue shoulde be his fleshe whiche he wolde geue for the life of the worlde and by expresse woordes for the perfourmāce of the same promesse takinge bread saied plainlie This ys my bodie And S Paule as the wholl companie of the Fathers hitherto haue testified and mo yet shall testifie saieth that in the Sacrament ys the bodie of Chryst what I saie ys to be thought of them that will not thinke Chrystes bodie to be his bodie but withe the Ebionites and Cerinthians will make Chryst no God with the Manicheis will make him but a phantasticall figure and with the Nestorians will as they made a distinction betwixt the two naturs leauing the nature of man deuided and distincted from the Godheade so make the holie Sacrament distincted from Chryst wher in verie dede as God and man ys one Chryst So the blessed Sacrament as touchinge the Substance and Chryst ys all one the Substance of the Sacrament being none other but the verie substance of Chryst These euell receauers and abusers of Chrystes holie Sacrament as they abuse the thinge yt self So by slaunderouse tearmes doe they abuse them that well vse the same For the true Christians that honour God call they Idolaters Soche as acknowledge Chrystes verie bodie in the Sacrament call they grosse Capharnaites And soche as beleue the substance of bread by the omnipotencie of God to be chaunged and made the substance of Chryste they call Papistes But God geue them a better minde and the catholiques plentie of pacience patiently to suffre their railinges so long as God for our correction will permitte the same to continue And nowe to return to our matter this finallie ys to be noted in our Cassiod howe he vttereth Sainct Paules woordes Authour that alleging our text of Sainct Paule he vseth not the woordes of Sainct Paule but the meaning and vnderstandinge Thus he alleageth Sainct Paule Qui enim corpus Domini indignè manducat iudicium sibi manducat For he that eateth the bodie of our Lorde vnwoorthilie eateth his owne iudgement Note well that he saieth not he that eateth the bread but he that eateth the bodie of our Lorde expownding what bread Sainct Paule spake of in that scripture the bread I saie of Chrystes bodie as oftentimes yt ys allreadie saied What can be saied more plainer wolde the Proclamer haue anie plainer speache then this Let him note the woordes and the circunstance also and weigh yt well and he shall finde yt so plain that all his engines and wrestinges and all his subtilties◠with the aide of all his complices shall not be able to withstand the plain trueth of yt But Let vs heare Damascen speaking as plainlie as he and by like woordes openinge to vs the true mening of Sainct Paule This Damascen setting Damascen li. 4. ca. 14. furth the vertue goodnesse and power of the Sacrament saieth thus Si aurum offendat adulteratum per iudicialem correptoriamue ignitionem purgat vt non in futuro cum mundo damnemur Curat enim morbos omnimoda damna quemadmodum dicit Apostolus Si nos vtique iudicaremus non vtique iudicaremur Cùm iudicamur autem à Deo corripimur vt non cum mundo condemnemur Et hoc est quod dicit Quare qui participat corpus sanguinem Christi indignè iudicium sibi tosi manducat bibit Per illud purgati vnimur corpori Domini spiritui eius efficimur corpus Christi Nam spiritus viuificans est caro Domini quia ex viuificante spiritu concepta est Quod enim natum est ex spiritu spiritus est Hoc autem dico non auferens corporis naturam sed viuificationem diuinitatem eius ostendens Yf yt finde golde that ys corrupted by iudiciall and correptorie fieringe yt pourgeth yt that we be not in time to come condemned with the worlde For yt cureth diseases and all maner of hurtes as the Apostle saieth Yf we wolde iudge our selues we shoulde not be iudged but when we are iudged of God we are chasticed that we shoulde not be damned with the worlde And this ys yt that the Apostle saieth Wherfor he that receaueth the Damascen vttereth the woordes of S. Paule as other elders before bodie and blood of Christe vnwoorthilie he eateth drinketh his owne damnacion We being purged by that are vnited to the bodie of our Lorde and to his Spiritt and are made the bodie of Chryste For the flesh of our Lorde ys a quickning Spiritt bicause yt was conceaued by the quickninge Spirite For that that ys borne of the Spiritte ys a Spiritte This doe I saie not taking awaie the nature of the bodie but declaring his Godhead and power to geue life Thus he Leauing diuerse good and godlie notes in this sainge of Damascen to be considered by the Reader I hast me to note those thinges that be to the pourpose of this present cause Of the whiche the first and cheifest ys that he alleaging the sainge of Sainct Paule shewinge vs the exposition of the scripture and geuing vs the vnderstanding of the same and the right meninge of Sainct Paule speaketh yt by these woordes He that receaueth the bodie and blood of Chryst vnwoorthilie eateth and drinketh his owne damnacion In whiche maner of speache as an expositour aught to doe by vnwrestable woordes he declareth what Sathan wolde wrest and soo by plain woordes calleth that that Sainct Paule calleth the bread and cuppe of our Lorde the bodie and blood of Chryst he right well knowing that they be so in verie dede I trust the Proclamer will not here vpon this Authour cast the stinking mist of his figure considering that yt ys an exposition And the nature of an exposition ys to be plainer then the thing expownded And although both the text and the exposition speake the trueth yet he knoweth that what the text oftentimes speaketh obscurely or doubtfullie that must the exposition speake plainlie clerely and manifestlie Whefor he must nedes confesse that this Authour shewing the minde of S. Paule and expownding the bread and the cuppe to be the bodie and bloode of Chryst that yt ys plainlie so And wher diuerse of the adherēts of this Proclamer beare great Stomacke against this Authour for his plain trueth in manie matters Lett both him and them knowe that as in all pointes of this matter the wholl catholique Churche hath alowed him So ys he agreable to all that hitherto haue ben alleaged in the exposition of S. Paule which all be right auncient or hereafter shall be alleaged though they be not so auncient A Breif note also can I not but make of Damascen wher he saieth that we being pourged are by the receipt of the bodie of Chryste vnited to the same
knowlege the substance of naturall things to be vnder their formes ca. 63. Stercoranits of our time li. 1. ca. 14. Storehouse of God not common to all ca. 7. Straunge doctrines not to be folowed li. 1. ca. 8. Substance of Sacraments must be obserued the maner maie be altered ca. 26. Substance of a thing saied to be seen when onelie the outwarde forme ys seen li. 2. ca. 63. Synners receaue the bodie of Chryste reallie but not spirituallie ca. 55. Sixtene sects of Sacramentaries and other like ca. 41. Swearing to moche vsed now a daies li. 3. ca. 30. T Table of Chryste pourgeth li. 1. ca. 23. Table signifieth sacrifice in S. Paule ca. 31. item li. 3. ca. 16. Table of Chryste terrible of the olde Passouer not so li. 2. ca. 55 Table of our lord the bodie of our lorde li. 3. ca. 30. Teachers meet or not meet to be folowed li. 1. ca. 8. Temtacions of oure first Parents and men in these daies compared li. 2. ca. 41. Tertullian in one saing ouer throweth three assertions of the Sacramentaries li. 2. ca. 42. the same opened and deliuered from their sleights ca. 49. Tertullians wief receaued the Sa. secretly and alone li. 3. ca. 41. Theophilact auoucheth three things against the Sacramentaries li. 2. ca. 60. Three maner of doings touching scripture li. 1. ca. 26. Tradicion to be folowed li. 3. ca. 1. Transubstanciacion auouched li. 1. ca. 31. li. 2. ca. 7. 51. beleued of the fathers ibid. what it ys ca. 53. li. 3. ca. 14. proued bi Isich li. 2. ca. 54. 57. item treacted of li. 2. ca. 59. 60. 62. Trueth must haue an excellencie aboue the figure li. 3. ca. W Water of the Rocke whie yt was called spirituall li. 3. ca. 3. Waldo and waldenses prolog Wanton lusts of Byshops and preists reproued li. 1. ca. 22. Washing of the Apostles feet what yt signifieth li. 2. ca. 47. Verè the Aduerbe what force yt hath li. 2. ca. 18. Verie flesh of Chryste vnder forme of bread ca. 22. the same called spirit ca. 39. Veritie of Chrysts flesh setfurth before vs in the Sa. ca. 60. Victor excōmunicated the Churches of Asia li. 1 ca. 24. Willfull reason no sufficient warrant allwaies in the court of faith li. 2. ca. 42. Wyne mixed with water in Chrysts cuppe li 1. ca. 20. 26. li. 2. 43. li. 3. ca. 34. 35. yt ys a diuine tradicion so to be vsed and why yt ys ibid. Wyse men by hearing maie be wiser li. 1. ca. 8. Woman stricken to death for vnwoorthie receauing of the Bl. Sacr. li. 3. ca. 58. Wonderfull what ys proprelie li. 2. ca. 55. Worke of the Sa. miraculouse ca. 60. Woorthie receauers and vnwoorthie what they receaue li. 3. ca. 51. 52. 53. woorthinesse proprelie what yt ys ibid. Worldlie cares kepe men from God li. 3. ca. 40. Vntrueths vttered by the Procla three in one place ca. 39. Vnbloodie sacrifice the liuelie bodie of christe the aultar whiche the Iewes maie not eate ca. 60. Vnitie with Chryste two waies li. 1. ca. 14. li. 2 ca. 10. 14. 24. li. 3. ca. 23. Faultes in printing In this long worke gentle Reader there can not a fewe faultes be committed in the or thographie both bicause the printers were vnskilfull of oure language and for that the ouerseer coulde not be allwaies readie at the presse to make corrections In consideracion wherof and that I haue not tyme my self to gather all I praie thee of gentlenesse to beare ther with and for thy skill to correct after these fewe examples God be euer withe thee In the prolog the first line read haue moued in the xv lyne for primatiue primitiue and so in other places In the booke first amende the nombres of the leaues as for vii viii xi xvi lx c. ii iii. iiii viii xl c. then of the chapters for thirtene fourtene c. read thirtenth fortenth c. and for nine and thirteth read nine and twenteth And let the binder looke to the order of the Ternions for the signatorie letters be some wanting some mysplaced Finis