whether the body of a perfight man maye be vnder so litle a broken peace of breade And many such other folysh questions which behoueth with sobernesse to be entretyd of amongest suche persons as haue theyr wyttes exercysed in disputynge reasonyng vpon souche high matters But as vnto the laye people it dothe suffise that they do beleue that after the wordes of consecration be once by the minister spoken ouer the creatures of bread and wyne that ther is incontinent the very body bloud of our sauiour christ which nether can be deuided nor yet receaue any hurt nor is not mete to receue any maner of iniury whatsoeuer chauÌ„ces do become of the outward formes of bread and wyne For if the sacred body of our lorde should be throwne into the myre or into any vyle gonge or any otherwise vnto any irreuerent parsonnes thinkinge should be iniured or soylde in dede the mooste iniury that can be done vnto it is whan it is receued into the mouth of a wicked synfull parson whiche is sore soyled spotted with greuouse and odible sinne Now surely it is therfore sittinge for our christian religion to entreat and order the outwarde formes of breade and wyne of the holy sacrament with all due reuerence But as concerning the very body of our Sauiour it self lyke as God after his nature is no lesse glorious in a vyle synke than he is in heauen and canne by no malyce of man or chaunce by man or otherwyse happeninge receaue any hurt or iniurye no more can the glorified body of our sauiour Christe what iniurye soeuer be doone vnto the outewarde tokens of breade and wyne And to be breife agaynste all doubtes and seruples of mannes weake knowledge Lette vs fyrst call to oure myndes the immesurable power of God vnto whome nothinge is impossible yea vnto whoÌ„ ther is nothing but it is light to be done so it be his pleasure that it should so be whiche saide Take eate This is my bodye And in a nother place of the same Epistle he saithe At the masse tyme the Angelicall sprites do with moste humble reuerence staÌ„de a boute the Alter ther to do there worshippe and lowly reuerence he also is there present whome all the heauenly hoostes of blessed sprites do desire to behold and loke vpoÌ„ And a litle after Let all preistes therefore consider the highnes of their profession whan they do staÌ„d at the aulter they haue aungels to minister vnto them These be the wordes of the famous clerke Erasmus Rothorodame whereby all Christian people maye knowe what was his opinion in the Sacrament not disagreing from the olde fathers here before written ¶ Thomas Cramner in his Cathechisme in the .cc.xxxv. lefe of the fyrst syde CHrist sayth of the breade this is my bodye and of the cuppe this is my bloude Wherefore we ought to beleue that in the sacrament we receaue truely the bodye and bloud of Christ For God is almighty and he is able therfore to do all thinges what he wyl Wherfore when Christ taketh bread and saith Take eate this is my body we oughte not to doubte but we eate his very body And whan he taketh the cuppe and saith Take drinke this is my bloude we ought to thinke assuredly that we drinke his very blode And this we muste beleue yf we will be counted christiâ—n men And where as in this pâ—â—illous tyme certayne dysceytfull persons be founde in many places who of very frowardnes will not graunte that there is the body and bloude of Christe but deny the same for none other cause but that they can not compasse by mannes blynde reasone howe this thinge shoulde be brought to passe ye good children shall with all diligence beware of suche persons that ye suffer not youre selues to be deceaued by them For suche men surely are not true Christians neyther as yet haue they learned the firste Article of the Crede whiche teacheth that God is almyghtye whiche ye good children haue already perfectlye learned wherfore eschew suche erronious opinions and beleue the wordes of oure Lorde Iesus that you eate and drinke his verye boâ—â—e and bloude in the Sacrament aâ—thoughe mannes reason cannot comprehende howe and after what maner the same is there present Wherfore doubte not good chyldren but there is the bodye and bloude of our Lorde whiche we receaue in the lordes supper For he hath sayde so and by the power of his worde hath caused it so to be Wherefore seynge Christ sayth do this as often as ye do it in remembraunce of me it is euident thereby that Christe causeth euen at this tyme his bodye and bloude to be in the Sacrament after the maner and fasshion as it was at that tyme when he made his mauÌ„dye with his disciples For else we coulde not do it in the remembraunce of hym that is to saye to receaue his bodye and bloud euen so as he hym selfe dydde geue it to hâ—s disciples And let not the folysshe talke of vnbeleuers moue you who are wonte to aske this question How can the preiste or minister make the bodye and bloude of Christ To this I answere that the mynister dothe not this of hym selfe But Christ hym selfe dothe gyue vnto vs his fleshe and bloude as his wordes dothe euideÌ„tly declare In the .cc.xxxiiii. And this is the meanynge and playne vnderstandyng of the wordes of the Lordes supper Wherfor learne them diligently I praye you that when ye be asked what is the coÌ„munio or the Lordes supper ye maye answer it is the true bodye true bloude of our Lorde Iesus Christ hymselfe to be eaten and dronken of vs Christen people vnder the forme of breaâ—e and wyne ¶ In the fyrste booke of common prayer set forth by kynge Edwarde the syxt fol. c.xvi HEre vs O mercifull father we beseche the and with thy holy sprite and worde vouchsafe to blesse and sanctifye these thy gyftes of breade and wyne that they maye be vnto vs the bodye and bloude of thy moste dearly belouyd sonne Iesus Christ And in the .cxxi. lefe And ye muste not thinke lesse to be receaued in parte then in the hoole But in euery of them the hole bodye of our sauiour Iesu Christ ¶ Of prayinge for the deade BE liberal vnto al men liuinge yet let not to do good euen vnto them that are dead Ecclesiasticus .vii. Set thy bread and wyne vpon the burieng of the iust and eate and drinke not therof with synners Tob. iiii So he gathered of euery one a certayn insomuch that he brought together two M. Dragmes of siluer whiche he sente vnto Ierusalem that there might a sacrifice be offered for the misdeede In the whiche place he dyd wel and right for he had some consideration and ponderinge of the lyfe that is alter this tyme. For if he hadde not thoughte that they whiche were slayne dyd yet lyue it had ben superfluouse and vayn to make any vowe or sacrifice for them
fleshe Super Marc. cap. xiiii Whan Chrâ—st had blessed he brake the breade and that do we also puttinge therto prayers saynge This is my body This that I do geue and you now take For the breade is not only a figure of our Lordes bodye but it is turned into our Lordes body For he sayth the bread that I wyll geue is my fleshe He sayd not it is a figure of my flesh but it is my fleshe And howe saith he Cur earo non uidetur is not fleshe sene Oh man for oure infirmitie this is done For breade and wyne be of those thinges wherewith we be accustomed withall Them we do not abhorre but bloude and fleshe set forth we beholdynge coulde not beare but shoulde abhorre Therfore the mercifull God condescending to oure infirmitie Transelementatio doth kepe the forme or kynde of breade and wyne and into the vertu of fleshe and bloude he chaungeth them Super Iohannem Cap. vi Take that the breade that is eaten of vs in misteries is not onely a certayne figuringe of our lordes fleshe but the very flesh For it is transformed by secrete wordes That breade by a misticall blessing and comming of the holy goste Transformatio is chaunged into the body and bloud of Christ And how sayest thou the fleshe appeareth not to vs but breade that we shulde not abborre the eatinge of it For if flesh shuld haue appeared we shoulde haue ben vnsemelye mynded agaynste the communion but now our lord condescendinge to our infirmitie appeareth to vs in suche misticall meat as we haue ben accustomed to The Iewes when they harde of the eatinge of his fleshe dydde misbeleue and therfore they spake a word of infidelitie that is How For when the thoughtes of mysbeleiffe entered into the harte then entered also how Wherefore he wyllynge to shew that it is not impossible but very necessary and that lyfe can none otherwyse be had except ye eate my fleshe ¶ Leo in his .xl. Epistle LEt those phantastical Christians tell me what body Iesus brought into the sight of his disciples the gates beynge shut ¶ Anselmne Byshoppe of Canterbury almost fyue hundred yeares paste sayeth vppon these wordes This is my body It appeareth vnto the vtter senses of man to be but breade But know ye by the sences of the mynde bycause saith Christ this is my body none other but that same in substaunce which shal be geuen to death vpon the crosse and crucified for you Oure Lordes body is consecrated with the signe of the Crosse the fount of baptisme is hallowed and also preistes are made by the same signe Aug. in psal xxxiii Haymo Homil passione Christi Math. li. The breade is chaunged into our Lordes fleshe and the wyne into his bloude not by a fygure nor by a shadowe but by the veritie ¶ Damascen in his .iiii. boke of the ryght catholyke faith The .iiii. Chapter Doest thou aske of me howe breade is made Christes body and wine and water his bloud I aunswer vnto the that the holy goost worketh these things aboue mans vnderstandynge but the breade and wyne are turned The bodye is ioyned vnto the deitye whiche body is of the virgin not that the bodye taken of the virgin commyth downe frome heauen but that the breade it selfe and wyne are chaunged into the bodye and bloude of God The bread wyne water through inuocation and the coÌ„mynge of the holy goste vnto them are aboue nature chaunged into Christes bodye and bloude and they are not two bodyes but one and the same bodye The breade and wyne be not a figure onely of Christes bodye and bloude God forbyd but the bodye and Bloude of Christ Dost thou se breade dost thou se wyne do they auoyde beneth as other meates do God forbyd Thinke not so for as wax if it be put once into the fyer no substaunce remayneth nothinge is lefte so here also thinke thou that the misteryes be consumed by the substaunce of the bodye Damasen lib. iiii ca. xiiii For as moch as our Lord is the spirituall Adam it hath be semed mannes natiuite to be spirituall And also his meate natiuite is geuen to vs by water and the sprite through holy baptizme I saye and the meate breade of lyfe Our Lorde Iesus Christ whiche came doune from heauen For he was aboute to suffer for vs voluntarye deathe in the nyght whiche he offred his owne selfe He dyd dispose a new testament to his disciples and Apostelles by theÌ„ to all others beleuing in hym In the parlor of the holy and gloriouse Syon eatinge the olde passouer with his disciples fulfillinge the olde testament He washed his Disciples fete gyuinge them a token of holy baptisme Afterwarde breakinge breade he gaue to them saying Take eate this is my bodye whiche for you shal be broken in remâ—ssion of synnes In like maner takyng the cupe of wyne and water gaue to them sayeng Drynke of this all This is my bloude of the newe Testament whiche shal be shed for you in remission of synnes Do ye this â—n remembraunce of me For how often so euer ye shall eate this breade and drinke this cuppe ye shall shewe the death of our Lord and confesse his resurrection vntil he come If the worde of God be a lyuynge thinge and of efficacite And all thinges that our Lorde woulde he dyd If he sayde let the lyght be made and it was made Be the fyrmamente made and it was made If by the worde of God the heauens were made and with the sprite of his mouth euery vertue of them If heauen and earth water fyer and ayer and al the ornament of them by the worde of our lorde be made perfight man him self an expressed beast Vis uerbi dei continuo manet If god hym selfe a wylling worde be made man and of the most pure and vndefiled bloude of the holy vyrgyn and in him selfe without seed haue susteyned fleshe Can not he make breade his bodye and wyne and water his bloude Argumentum a minori He sayde in the begynninge let the earth brynge forth grene grasse and euen vntyll nowe after rayne it bringeth forth fruites beinge helped and strengthed with Goddes worde For god sayde This is my body and this is my bloude Hoc SacramentuÌ„ tuÌ„ continuo fiet denec ueniat and this do in remembraunce of me And by the almyghty precepte of God vntyll he shall come it is done for as all thinges that God dyd the holy goost workinge he dydde And so nowe by the operation of the holy gooste these he doth aboue nature whiche nothinge but onely fayth can take Howe shall this be done to me saith the holy vyrgin for I knowe not manne The Aungell aunswered The holye gooste shall come vpon the and the vertue of the highest shall ouershadowe the. And nowe asketh thou Quomodo howe is breade made the body of Christ wyne and water
that were deade But forsomuche as he sawe that they whiche dye in the fauour and beleife in God are in good rest and ioye he thought it to be good and honorable for a reconsilynge to do the same for these that were slayne that the offence mighte be forgeuen .ii. Machab. xii Viset the sicke bury the deade and diligentlye do their exequis and diriges and praye and also geue almose for them Saynt Clement in his compendiolo We do scelebrate the daye of the departinge for those that seme to dye do not dye Therfore we remēber the sainctes our parents oure frendes And we make a solempne memorye for them that dye in the faithe And we reioyse as well at their relefe as also they desyeringe our Godly consummation and ende in the faithe And so we do not after that sorte celebrate the daye of the natiuitie for they that dye in the Lorde shall lyue allwayes Origen in Iob. And whan thou haste asked before God for whose sprit thou makest mention of for whom thou geuest yearely oblations c. Tertulian de exortacione castitatis pagi ccccc lxxxi Geue rest O Lorde to thy wel-beloued seruaunt Theodosius euen that same rest that thou hast prepared for thy saynctes that his soule turne thither from whense it descendyd Ambrosius super obitu Thedosii imperatoris Some vse to obserue the daye of the buryall some the thyrde daye some the .vii. day some the .xxx. day and some the mon the daye and euery obseruinge hath auctorite by the whiche obseruinge the necessarye offyce of godlynes is fulfilled Amb. in oratione super obitu Theodosii imperatoris I commende vnto the O Lorde God allmighty the innocent soule of my brother now deade And I offer vnto the my Sacrifice take mercifully and gladely the present or gyfte of a brother the sacrifice of a preist Amb. in oratione de obitu fratris sui satiri It is not to be denyed that sowles of men departed are releued through the godlynes of their frendes alyue when the sacrifyce of our mediator Christ is offered for them or else almose be geuen for them in the Churche Aug. in his enchiridion ca. ex ad dulcimum When the people shall stande holding vp their handes with the preist and the dreadfull sacrifice is set forth shal we not optayne goddes fauour praying for the deade Aug. vpon the first chapter vnto the Hebrues We muste trauell as muche as maye be that the deade may be holpen not with wepinge but with prayer supplications almose and sacrifice Aug. in his .xli. Homilie i. Cor. xv I Augustyne beseche the O Lord for the sinnes of my mother Here me by the medisine of oure woundes which hange on the crosse and sitting on thy right hand and prayeth for vs c. August lib. confess ix cap. xiii Thorough the prayers verely of holy churche and thoroughe the holsome sacrifice and almes which is geuen for the spirites of them it is not to be douted the deade to be holpen that it may with them be done more mercifull of the Lorde then their trespasses deserued This geuen of the fathers the vniuersall churche obserueth that they that dye in the communion of the body and bloude of Christe when they be remembred to that sacrament it is prayed for them that is offered for them Aug. sermo xxxii oratio sacrificium altaris eleemosina prosint defunctis The soules of good men departed are not seperated from the churche or else a remembraunce of them shoulde not be made at gods Alter in the communion of Christes Alter for them Aug. de ciuitate dei lib. xx cap. ix I did not wepe in those prayers whiche we made to the O Lorde when the sacrifice of oure price or redemption was offered for my mother Monica Aug. lib. ix confessionu cap. xii My mother Monica commaunded vs not to do these thinges for her but onely she desired a remembraunce of her to be made at thy aulter O Lorde whiche she hadde dayly serued from whiche aulter she knew that the holy goost or sacrifice to be distributed by whiche the writing of our own hand sinne that was cōtrary vnto vs is done away by whiche hooste or sacrifice thy enemy the deuill is vainquisshed or ouercome Aug. in Lib. ix confessionum Cap. xiii When sacrifice either of the aulter or els of any manner of almose are offered for the dead which were baptised They ar thankesgeuing for them that be very good people and for them whiche are not verye badde they are propiciations for purchasinges of the mercy and fauour of God Eyther they do profit vnto this thinge that it maye be full remission or else at the least that the payne be made more tollerable Aug. in his prima precatione ad missa O holy father receaue thou this offeringe for thy seruaunt whiche Moyses receaued when he dyd se in sprite Receaue the gifte for thy seruaunt that he feruentlye desired that gifte and offering whiche the holy man the stronge man and the lustye man doth requyre Receaue the oblation of thy grace for thy seruaunt Valyntinian nowe departed the whiche grace he dyd neuer refuse Amb. in oratio funcb super obitu Valent. Imperat. And thou shalte performe vnto me the mercy of the Lorde not only while I lyue but euen when I am deade and plucke not thy mercy a waye from my howse for euer i. Reg. i. xx.c ¶ Of penaunce confession and satisfaction YF it chaunce at any tyme that any mans hart enuye infidelitie or any euell of these whiche we haue spoken of before hathe preuilye crepte in Let hym not be ashamed to confesse these thinges to hym whiche ruleth and taketh care and charge of the soule of man that of hym and by the worde of our Lorde and the holsome councell maye be comforte whereby he maye auoyde with safe faithe and good workes the paynes of eternall fyer and come to the rewarde of euerlastynge lyfe D. Petrus in Epistola Clementis ad Iacobum fratrem domini We comynge by and by vnto Christ are commaunded of Saynte Clement to cast all our euill thoughtes out of oure hartes and to open them and shew them to the preistes of our Lorde Ad Clementem in compendiolo suo If we reuele open and shew forth our synnes not onely before God but also before them whiche can heale or cure oure woundes and synnes thē our synnes shal be cleane blotted oute of hym with faith Beholde I will put a waye your synnes and iniquites euen as the cloudes whiche vanyshe and go theyr wayes Origen in Luke .ii. the .viii. Homil. Ther be some whiche do saye it is sufficient for them to their helth and saluatiō if they confesse their fawtes onelye to GOD to whome nothinge is hyd who knoweth the conscience of menne But they wyll not or else they be ashamed or els disdayne to shewe them selues to the preiste whome oure Lorde hath ordayned the geuer of the law