of the singular advantages of Holy Communion and Effectually be made Partakers of those Graces which God is ready to bestow by means of this Blessed Sacrament As for the Second Part it is to be perused and Practized for this effect it will be very proper to peruse it often and with Attention but particularly upon the Eve and day of Communion PART I. Of the Doctrin that is to say of the Truths which it Imports us to know concerning the Sacrament of the Eucharist A Christian Communicant that he may receive worthily if as yet he know them not distinctly ought to be well instructed in three things of which two are generall the third is particular to this Sacrament First he must be instructed in Faith in Generall without which it is impossible to attain to the knowledge of this great Mystery of the Eucharist He must understand perfectly well what God hath reveal'd concerning this Virtue which is the Basis and ground-work of Salvation As Saint Paul saith Heb. 11.1 The Substance of the things to be hoped for Secondly He must have a true Notion of the Principal Mysteries of Faith in Particular as of the Blessed Trinity the Incarnation the Redemption the Catholick Chuch for except he believe these Truths it is impossible ever to come either to the knowledg or belief of that of the Holy Eucharist Thirdly He must be throughly informed in what concerns this Sacrament in particular viz. in the principal truths which appertain unto it as the real presence of the Son of God in the Cousecrated Host The change of the substance of the Bread and Wine into that of his Body and Blood The great wonders which meet in this Mystery The effects which it produces in the Soul of the worthy receiver The dispositions with which it ought to be received Following this order I shall divide this First Part into three Chapters whereof the First shall treat of Faith the Second of the Principal Mysteries of our Faith the Third of what concerns this Sacrament in particular And we shall divide the Chapters into Articles or Questions as necessity shall require CHAP. I. Of Faith. FOR your greater ease we shall treat of this Subject by way of Question and Answers immediately subjoyn'd Question I. What is it we are obliged to know concerning Faith in general SEven things viz. What Faith is who is the Author of it what its action its object its motive its rule and what the conditions it requires that it may be perfect Quest II. What is Faith IT is a gift of God or a light from above by which man being illuminated doth firmly believe all those things which God hath revealed and proposed to his Church to be believed whether written or unwritten In this definition is comprised all whatsoever as is abovesaid we are obliged to know concerning Faith. And first it teacheth us that Faith is a Supernatural light proceeding not from us but from God and which makes us assent to those truths the belief whereof is necessary for Salvation It teacheth us also who is the Author of Faith what its action the rest as we shall see by the Replies to the following Questions Quest III. Who is the Author of Faith I Answer God alone Faith is a gift of God saith the Apostle Ephes 2.8 and there is none but he can give it He bestows it upon us by enlightning our understanding in a supernatural way and inclining the will to follow by her consent the light which is proposed unto her The will indeed concurrs and doth well in accepting and agreeing with the truth which is proposed unto her but it is God alone who is the first and principal cause wherefore it is very necessary that we beg and require it at his hands Quest IV. What is the Action Object and Motive of Faith TO believe that is to hold a truth for certain and assured without the least doubt thereof is the proper act of Faith. The object that is the things which we are oblig'd to believe are all the truths which God hath revealed and which are therefore proposed that we may assent unto them The motive or reason why we ought to believe is the divine revelation For one believes a truth because God who neither can deceive us nor be deceived in what he reveals unto us hath revealed it And this revelation for this reason is always infallible Quest V. By what ways hath God revealed the Truth unto us BY two By the Holy Scripture and by Tradition These are the two ways whereby God hath been pleased to manifest his holy truths and both of them are equally infallible because both are equall the one written the other the unwritten word of God. Quest VI. Which is the Rule of Faith WE call that the Rule of Faith whereby we discern the revelations which come from those which do not come from God for it is certain that there are some false revelations and which the Devil the Author of Lies proposes by his Ministers and therefore that we may not be be deceived we have a certain rule This rule is the judgment or the interpretation of the Holy Church to which God hath given that Power and promised the assistance of his Holy Spirit that it also may never be deceived The Proofs are manifest in the Scripture Behold Mat. 28.20 saith he I am with you even untill the end of the World. He also said Mat. 16.18 Vpon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And the Apostle saith afterwards 1. Tim. 3.15 that the Church is the House of God and that it is the Pillar and Ground of Truth The Son of God commands us to hearken to it even as to himself Luc. 10.16 He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me And he saith Mat. 18.17 he who will not hear the Church let him be accounted as a heathen or Publican Without this Rule we can have no Faith because without it we can neither be assured of the Divine Revelation nor of the true Scriptures nor of their true Sense wherefore Hereticks who refuse to follow the Judgment of the Church have neither Faith not even any certainty of any thing they believe They say indeed that they follow the Scripture but they deceive themselves For first How do they know that there is such a thing as Scripture but by the Testimony of the Catholick Church which assures us of it and hath conserved it from time to time even untill their times Did not St. Augustin contra Epist fundam c. 5. say and with good reason that he would not believe the Gospel except he were moved unto it by the authority of the Catholick Church and that if we believe the Church when it tells us that we must believe the Gospel why should we not believe it when it forbids us to believe Manicheus or Hereticks Secondly It is not enough to
follow the Scripture except also they follow and be assured of the true Sense of Scripture for as St. Augustin in tract 18. in Jo. saith Heresy springs from no other source but from good Scripture ill understood and boldly maintained And St. Hilary l. 2. ad Constant August saith excellently well That there is no Heretick but maintains his Blasphemies by the Scripture If they fay that the Holy Ghost inspires them with the true Sense of the Scriptures and the right understanding of the Mysteries therein contained The Answer is impertinent for there was never any Heretick who had not this same Plea. Secondly If it be so why are there so many different Sentiments amongst them and that in Points of Faith Can the Holy Ghost be contrary to or contradict himself Is it possible that he should inspire both truth and falshood 3ly who is it that doth not perceive that this answer were it good would authorize as many religions as there are men for every one will easily say that he hath the Holy Ghost Lastly why do they desire that others should believe them whilst they affirm that they have the H. Ghost having nothing besides there own assertion to justify what they say since they themselves refuse to believe the Church which requires their assent by so just a title as is the promise made her by the Son of God of the continuall assistance of his H. Spirit even to the end of the world We must then conclude and hold for a certain truth that it is neither our private judgment nor our interiour perswasion however we may believe it comes from the Holy Ghost which is capable to serve us as a rule in points of Faith or can make us see which is a true and which a false revelation but it is the sole Testimony of the Catholick Church and the judgment which she forms of the divine truths which is and ought to be the rule of our belief For whilst we submit our selves to her judgment we cannot fall As we cannot but mistake and err when tho' never so little we depart from the doctrine of the Church We find in the Church four conditions required for the rule of saith To be a rule it must at one and the same time be One Certain Manifest and Visible The Church is One for as there can be but one Faith so there can be no more then one true Church as it is said in the Nicene Creed Et unam Sanctam Catholicam Apostolicam Ecclesiam The judgment of the Church is Certain in points of faith since she can never fail being as the Apostle saith the Pillar and ground of truth It is Manifest because clearly proposed and by word of mouth explained upon occasion of any Emergent difficulty in matters of faith The Church for this reason was Established by the Son of God his will is that we have recourse unto her in these occasions according as it was also practiced in the Old Testament where it is said Mal. 2.7 that the lips of the Priest do conserve knowledge and one must seek the Law from his mouth And the Apostle assures us that the same method is to be observed in the New Testament when he saith Ephes 4.11 that the Son of God hath established some Apostles some Pastours and other some Doctors for the administration of his word for the building up of the body of Jesus Christ that is his Church That we may not be like Children wavering in uncertainty and carried away with every wind of Doctrine And for this reason also St. Augustin affirms that in all difficulties which occurr concerning any questions or matters of Faith we must make our addresses to the Church If any one saith he cont Crescon fear to be deceived in the obscurity of this question let him consult the Church Si quis falli metuit hujus obscuritate questionis Ecclesiam de illâ consulat Lastly the Church is Visible as consisting of Pastours who have succeeded one another ever since the Apostles even unto this present time and as in all ages one might so at this very time one may easily address himself unto them to be instructed in all what concerns our faith This is the City whereof the Son of God speaks Mat. 5.14 which is built upon a Mountain to which all the World may have access as it was foretold by Isaias Chap. 2.3 Come and ascend to the mountain of our Lord to the House of the God of Jacob. It will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths for the Law will come forth of Sion and the word of our Lord from Jerusalem It was to this City that St. Augustin de Vnitat Eecles c. 14. sent the Donatists when he said to them you have the City whereof he himself who built it said that it was a City built upon a Mountain and could not be hidden I have staid and dilated my self on set purpose upon this Subject of the Rule of Faith because it is of great concern in this affair and upon which all the rest as far as concerns us depends it is a Principle and Fundamental Maxim in matters of Faith That we must hearken to and obey the Church we must receive the Divine Revelations from her alone and the Interpretation she gives of the Holy Scripture and Tradition which are the two ways by which as is abovesaid God hath been pleased to convey his Divine Truths the Mysteries of our Holy Faith unto us Quest VII What Qualities or Conditions ought our Faith to have IT follows from what we have already said that Faith to be perfect must have three qualities or Conditions it must be Humble Vniversal and Firm or fixed and steddy Humble that is in matters of Faith we are to submit our selves to the judgment of the Church and not to be wedded to our proper sense nor to our interiour persuasion nor to the judgment of any particular Person as we have shew'd above Thus God ordained it in the Old Testament Deut. 17.8 where he commanded that in the difficulties which should occurr concerning the performance of the Law every one should have recourse to the Priests follow exactly their decision and that under pain of Death in case one should be refractory or disobedient And in the New Testament he hath decreed that he who will not hear the Church shall be accounted as an Infidel Vniversal that is it ought to comprehend and believe generally all the truths which are proposed by the Church to be believed without excepting any and the reason is evident because the Church which proposeth them by reason of the assistance of the Holy Ghost which is promised her without restriction is equally infallible in all her Judgments and can be no more deceived in the least then in the greatest Mystery of our Faith and as St. Augustin contra Epist fundam speaking of the Books of the Sacred Scripture saith excellently well If
I believe the Gospel I must also necessarily believe the Acts of the Apostles because the same Authority of the Catholick Church obliges to believe them both We may say the same of all the other truths which are proposed by the Church for if we believe one we ought also to believe the others because it is the same Authority and the same Church which proposes and gives us assurance of them both And the same St. Augustin l. 16. cont Faust c. 3. speaking of Hereticks and those who would give credit to nothing but their own will. You says he who in the Gospell believe what you please and what you like not reject You rather give credit to your selves then to the Gospell because when led by your private Spirit you approve what pleaseth and disapprove what displeases you in Scripture you do not at all submit your selves to the authority of holy writ there to find out your faith but rather you subject the Scripture to your selves to judge of it according to your will. In fine Faith ought to be firm that is fixed steddy and free from any at least voluntary doubt And this also for the same reason the infallible authority of the Church which proposes unto us the divine truths the objects of our Faith and cannot be deceived in what she proposes to us So that there is no more reason to doubt of any one truth then of all the rest And there is not a better way to dispell with ease the doubts which arise against any one article of our faith then to reflect upon the others which one believes with all the certainty imaginable which yet are no otherwise grounded then upon the same authority of the Church for if we do not doubt of those neither ought we to question these In all the doubts which may occur concerning any point or points of faith whether they arise from our own imaginations or spring from occasion of Heresy new doctrins or scandall given in the Church we ought to have recourse to this authority as to a secure refuge A refuge where we shall find the divine Protection against the contradiction of evill tongues as the Psalmist hath it and after him St. Augustin in those excellent words which he delivers upon that passage of Psa 30. exposi 2. Serm. 3. Preteges eos in tabernaculo tuo a condictione linguarum If you find tongues which contratradict you heresies raised up against you and divisions which oppose you have recourse to the Tabernacle of God adhere and stick fast to the Catholick Church do not depart from this rule of Truth and you shall be protected and guarded from the contradiction of tongues in the Tabernacle of God. Behold not only a wholsome but also a necessary advice which ought to be practised upon occasion of any doubts in faith and especially in the beginning of any heresy And had the hereticks of our time follow'd this good councell they would never so unfortunately have continued obstinate in their errour or drawn others into the same ruin as they have done CHAP. II. Of the things we are obliged to believe WE shall reduce them to four heads 1. The Divinity or what we are obliged to believe of God. 2. The Incarnation or the Humanity of the Son of God which shall comprehend what we are to be believe of Jesus Christ 3. The Church 4. The Sacraments These four things are all contained in the Apostles Creed ARTICLE I. What are we oblig'd to believe of God FOur things The First I believe in God that God is that is that there is one only true God who is an uncreated Being Eternall Independent Infinite in perfections in Knowledge in Power in Wisdom in Goodness in Justice and in all other things Secondly The Father Almighty and in his only Son I believe in the Holy Ghost that in God there are three Persons The Father the Son and the Holy Ghost That all these three are but one true God having the self same divine Essence the self same Wisdom the self same Goodness the self same Power and so of the other divine perfections That the Son the Eternal Word proceeds from the understanding of the Father by a perfect Knowledge which the Father conceives of himself by which he expresses his Image in the Son. And the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son by a Mutuall love which they bear one another That these Processions do not cause any inequality or dependence or priority amongst the Divine Persons who are all Equall and Eternall as being all but one only true God One in Nature and three in Persons Thirdly Creator of Heaven and Earth That God is the authour and creator of all things that he hath made both Heaven and Earth and all the creatures therein whether visible or invisible of nothing by his only word That he conserves them by his power and governs them by his wisdom Fourthly Life Everlasting That as he is the beginning and first cause so also he is the end of all things and particularly of Men and Angels whom he created to adore and serve him and for whom he hath prepared eternall happiness which will consist in this that the blessed shall see him perfectly and enjoy him as he is in himself and this enjoyment shall endure for all eternity it shall never no never end ARTICLE II. What are we obliged to believe of Jesus Christ FOR the greater facility and distinctions sake we shall divide this Article into Questions Quest I. What is Jesus Christ And in Jesus Christ his only Son. HE is the Son of God the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity who was Incarnate that is made Man for us men and for our Salvation But Quest II. Why was he made Man TO redeem man from the Sentence of everlasting death which we had all incurred by disobedience of the first man and to give full satisfaction to the Divine Justice as well for that first or Original Sin as for all the rest which have been committed ever since by other men Quest III. This Incarnation in what doth it consist Who was conceived of the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary IT consists in the strict and personal union of the Eternall word with human nature that is with a mortall body and an immortall Soul such as we have from which union there results a compound whom we call Jesus Christ true God and at the same time true man. Whence it plainly follows that in Jesus Christ there are two Natures and one only Person viz. the one divine the other humane nature both united in one the same Person of the Son of God or the eternal word whereas on the contrary in the divinity there is but one Nature three Persons By this Union the Divinity was neither changed into the Humanity nor the Humanity into the Divinity of our Lord for that is impossible But both natures enjoying either of them their own perfections
He speaks more effectually in the 7th Chapter of the Prophet Jeremy And now because you have done all these works and I have spoken to you early rising and speaking you have not heard and I have called and you have not answered I will do to this house wherein my name is invocated and wherein you have confidence and to the place which I have given to you and your Fathers as I did to Silo and I will cast you away from my face as I have cast away all your Brethren the whole seed of Ephraim Jer. 7. And to shew how great his Indignation was against that people for contemning his sayings and the exhortations which he had so often made them for their Conversion he forbids his Prophet to pray for them and to oppose himself by his prayers to the Design he had to punish them and revenge himself of them Tu ergo noli Orare pro populo hoc nec assumas pro eis laudem Orationem neque obsistas mihi quia non exaudiam te Thou therefore pray not for this People neither take unto thee Praise and prayer for them and resist me not because I will not hear thee Could God give a greater mark of his indignation against them who refuse to be converted then is express'd in those Words since he refuses that others should appease him by their prayers by which they would endeavour to hinder the execution of his justice But if his anger were so high against the Jews for this reason how can we expect it should be less against Christians against us our selves Theotime who contemn no less his divine grace and who continue in our disordered lives and in our Sins after so many exhortations and admonitions to leave them This is the reflection which St. Hierome made upon this place which we ought to consider and keep well in minde Viz. that all that which God there spoke to the People of the Jews ought to be understood of us if we commit the same faults that the Jews did Quidquid illi populo dicitur intelligamus de nobis si similia fecerimus St. Hier. in c. 7. Jerem. CHAP. VI. Of the Great Punishment which God lays upon those who refuse or defer their Conversion ALL the Passages which I have brought do sufficiently shew the heavy Chastisement which God sends to those that contemn him in that manner The Scripture contains a vast number of others But we need not seek farther then in this Exhortation of God which we have spoken of above Learn from God himself what you ought to fear and the misfortunes that will befall you if you resist any longer the desire he hath of your Salvation The punishments are contained in these words Ego vero in interitu tuo ridebo subsannabo vos I will laugh at your Destruction and mock at you words full of terrour which ought to make all those tremble who are in mortal Sin. Dicat nunc qualiter feriat quos ad se nullatenus revertentes tanta longanimitate sustentat St. Greg. lib 18. moralium c. 7. It is for those according to the advice of St. Gregory to learn hence from the mouth of God himself in what manner he will punish those whose conversion he hath expected a long time without any effect on their part By these words God threatens to revenge himself of those at the hour of their death who continue in their sins to punish their wicked life with an unfortunate end and treat them at that last hour as they have dealt with him during their life Is not this most just and reasonable They abandon'd God during their Life and God abandons them at the hour of their death They refuse to hearken when he speaks and moves them to their Salvation they contemn his admonitions and will give ear to nothing but their own Passions and follow nothing but their pleasures They perform all their actions as if they Mocked God and God by a just but dreadfull punishment will act in respect of them as a provok'd Enemy who Scoff 's at his Conquer'd Foes and Insults over their utmost miseries with which he sees them overwhelmed He will behold them Surprized with some dreadfull accident or a mortal Agony which in a small time will carry them away He will see them Searching all means to Escape Overwhelmed with griefs troubled with fear and trembling tormented with the Remorse of their guilty Consciences calling to him for their Succour and Deliverance but he will not hearken at all He will become Deaf to their Prayers as they would not give ear to his admonitions He will not hearken to their desires for their deliverance as they would not hearken to his advices for their Salvation He will not give them time for repentance being they refused it when it was in their power and when they were exhorted by God himself Thus will they dye Miserably seeing themselves constrained to abandon a mortal Life with all the Pleasures which they lov'd more then either God or their Salvation to go and begin an Eternal Death where for fleeting Pleasures they shall find immortal torments and an infinity of evils which shall never end It is thus Theotime that God shall treat those who contemn his Favours and refuse to hearken to his Voice when he invites them to their Salvation and thus will he punish them always and that you may better comprehend this Chastizement of God take notice of three great evils which compose it The First is an unprovided death which he will send to those that are impenitent when they shall least expect it Cum irruerit repentina calamitas interitus quasi tempestas ingruerit The Second is an oppression of grief and anguishes in that dreadfull surprise pains of Body and Senses anguishes of Soul and Conscience this is that which is signified by those words of God Cum irruerit super vos tribulatio angustia The Third which is the most dreadfull is God's forsaking them in that last and deplorable extremity a forsaking so great that he will never more hearken to their prayers and crys as he himself saith in the following words tunc invocabunt me non exaudiam c. And all these miseries will befall them in punishment of their obstinacy in their Sins and refusal to be converted Eo quod exosam habuerint disciplinam sermonem Domini non receperint c. I would to God Theotime this chastisement were as rare as it is frightfull and terrible But it happens too often by a deplorable misfortune and is but a just effect of the divine justice which frequently puts in Execution his threats against those who so often contemn his holy inspirations All the Christians who are either dead or dayly dye in Mortal Sin of whom the multitude is innumerable are witnesses of this truth All those to wit who are surprized by unexpected accidents either of sickness wherein they dye without
better the grievousness thereof SInce it is most certain that the best way to know a cause is to consider its effects doubtless the best means to discover the grievousness of Mortal Sin is to reflect on the Sad effects which followed from it We have said before that we could not perfectly know Sin in it self because it is the Supreme evil which is infinite no more then we can understand in it self the Supreme and Sovereign good which is God. But as by the effects which we see of his Power of his Wisdom of his Goodness we arrive at some knowledge of God So on the Contrary we may find out in some sort the heinousness of Sin if we do but consider attentively the Dreadful effects it causes and the horrible misfortunes which it carries with it And all these effects are as so many Powerfull motives of Contrition to make us detest and abhor Sin. To discover it the better we shall observe some order and search for it in several places viz. in our selves in Heaven in Hell in God himself and in his Son Jesus Christ ARTICLE I. Of the death of the Soul or the sad effects which Sin produceth in his Soul who commits it I Begin with the Death of the Soul because this is the first effect which Sin produceth as soon as ever is is committed Peccatum cum consummatum fuerit generat mortem Jac. 1. And I would to God it were as sensible as it is real and that those who are so unfortunate as to fall into Mortal Sin might exactly know the greatness of the evil which thereby they draw upon themselves as really in it self it is and resent it as it deserves It is for this reason that I desire to explicate it unto you and make you understand it Sin then saith the Scripture is no sooner finished but immediately it causeth Death It 's certain that it is not the death of the Body for a man doth not dye in the moment he hath committed it It is then the death of the Soul a thousand times more dreadfull then that of the Body for this doth but separate the Soul from the Body but the Death which is caused by Sin is a Separation of the Soul from God who is a Supernatural Life as St. Aug. saith vita corporis anima est vita animae Deus est And as this life which God gives the Soul is infinitely more estimable then that which the Soul confers upon the Body which it animates so the Death which causeth the loss of that Divine Life is infinitely more dreadfull and Lamentable then naturall Death To understand this well you must know what God hath reveal'd and we believe concerning a Soul which hath the Blessing to be in the State of the Grace of God And it is this when God receives a Soul into his Friendship he Cloathes her with the Robe of Sanctifying Grace a supernatural and Divine quality which cleanseth the Soul from all the spots of Sin and renders her agreeable to the eyes of God. And at the same moment he replenisheth her with Divine gifts as Faith Hope Charity and other Christian Virtues Then by the means of that Grace God dwells in that Soul after a particular manner he makes her his Temple and Habitation where he is pleased to be adored and loved by the Souls that possess him Lastly he interchangeably communicates himself unto her filling her with his holy Spirit and Divine Inspirations All these truths are drawn from the express words of the Sacred Scripture As from that where God promises That he will pour upon us a clean water which will cleanse us from all our stains Ezek. 36. This water is Sanctifying Grace From that where he saith That the Charity of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us Rom. 5. That we are the Temples of the Living God and that the Spirit of God doth dwell in us 1. Cor. 3. from those words where our Saviour saith If any one love me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our Dwelling with him Joh. 14. From those words of St. John. God is Charity and he who remains in Charity remains with God and God with him 1. Joh. 4. There are a great number of the like passages which clearly represent unto us the state of a Soul Sanctifyed by Grace and the great happiness she enjoys in that condition wherein she possesses God himself and is possessed by him Now all this felicity is constant and permanent as to what relates to God whose gifts are without repentance as the Scripture saith only the Soul can deprive her self of and destroy in her self this happiness This misfortune befalls us when forgetfull of the infinite blessing we possess and permitting our selves to be surprized by the allurements of Sin we break that happy League and Alliance which God had made with us And this we do by a criminal disobedience whereby we incur the displeasure of God and lose in a moment all those inestimable goods which before we happyly enjoyed O God Theotime who can worthily express the dreadfull misfortune which happens to a Soul by one mortal sin and paint to the life the deplorable state to which it is reduced in the moment she offends in which the Soul in that very instant is deprived of the grace of God and of one beautifull and as an Angel in his sight becomes as hideous and hatefull as a Devil Quomodo obscuratum est aurum mutatus est color optimus Thren 4. Is there any subject where we may more sitly apply those dolefull words of Jeremy how comes it to pass that this Soul should be so defaced what is become of that grace which made her more bright then gold how is that divine beauty changed into so hideous a form It is an effect of the divine Anger which hath justly fill'd that Soul with cloudy darkness which before had unjustly banisht the light of Grace But that which is most to be lamented is that that Soul which formerly had the honour to be employ'd as the Temple of God now sees her self rejected by him with horrour and detestation and the Holy Ghost retired from her having abandoned her to be the dwelling-place of the Devil according to that sentence of the same Prophet repulit Dominus Altare suum maledixit sanctificationi suae God hath rejected his Altar and laid a curse upon the place where he was adored and sanctified Thren 2. Is it possible Theotime that you can read these words without trembling if you are in the state of Mortal Sin It is this forsaking of God and this loss of his grace which properly causes the death of the Soul infinitely more to be feared then that of the Body forasmuch as by the death of the body we are only deprived of the presence of the Soul death being only a separation of the Soul from
were strictly united in the person of the Son of God. So that continuing what he was that is God he became what he was not viz. Man as St. Leo Sermone de Nativ Dom. expresses himself Manens quod erat assumpserat quod non erat Quest IV. How was this Divine Vnion accomplished WHen the fulness of time was come that God had decreed to send his Son for the redemption of Mankind he dismis'd from Heaven an Angell Messenger to the Blessed Virgin whom above all others he had chosen and in whom he had ordain'd this adorable mystery should be perform'd to declare unto her it was his will that she should be the temporall Mother of the Son of God. She had no sooner yielded and concurr'd with her consent to the accomplishing of the will of God thus manifested unto her but the Almighty power frames in her Virginal womb an humane body out of her purest blood creating in the same instant a rationall Soul to animate and inform it and in that same moment the Word who from all eternity terminates the Divinity began in time to terminate the Humanity of our Lord Uniting in his Person the two divine humane Natures And thus was fulfill'd that divine truth recorded by St. John Verbum caro factum est The word was made Flesh The Blessed Virgin having thus conceived the Son of God by the speciall work of the Holy Ghost at the end of nine months she brings him forth into the world nourishes maintains and breeds him up as other mothers use to do their Children and the Son of God lived with her thus unknown to the world untill the age of thirty years thenceforward only he began to manifest himself and to commence the work of our redemption for which he came Quest V. What is it that the Son of God hath done for our Redemption HE did four principall things first he preached publickly his Gospell during the space of three years and some months confirming the truth of his Doctrine his Mission and his Divinity by an infinite number of miracles Secondly he Suffer'd under Pontius Pilate a most bitter Passion and death upon the Cross upon which he offer'd himself a Sacrifice in satisfaction to the divine Justice for the Sins of all mankind and recompensation for the infinite injury which thereby was done to the divine Majesty Goodness and by this means to open the gates of Everlasting life for man to enter which till that time were shut against both Adam and all his Posterity Having performed this duty the third day he rose again from the dead and after that by frequent apparitions he had proved the truth of his Resurrection for the space of forty days he Ascended glorious and triumphant into Heaven from whence at the end of the World he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead all men according to their merits who for that end shall be raised from death to life and appear before him never more to die but receive either an Eternal Reward for their good or everlasting Punishment for their evil works Thirdly he establish'd and confirm'd his Church consisting of almost innumerable men Pastors and their Flock who should believe in him and continue in an uninterrupted Succession to the end of the world which Church Act. 20.28 he purchased with his blood Fourthly he instituted the Sacraments as the means to convey unto us the merits of his Passion and as so many pretious Vessels wherein is preserved the price of that adorable blood which he hath so abundantly shed for us to the end it might be applied unto us according as the necessity of our Salvation should require And for as much as these two last heads require a larger Explication we shall treat of them here in two distinct Articles ARTICLE III. What are we oblig'd to believe concerning the Church I Believe the Holy Catholique Church the Communion of Saints We must first believe that it is the Mysticall Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head or a Congregation of the Faithfull holding the same Doctrin or Faith which he taught using the same Sacraments which he instituted living under the conduct of the Apostles and succeeding Pastours and acknowledging the same visible Head the Vicar of Jesus Christ the Chief Bishop and true Successor of St. Peter Secondly that there is but one Church as there is but one God one Faith one Baptism as St. Paul Ephes 4.4 saith unum corpus unus Spiritus unus Dominus una Fides unum Baptisma unus Deus Pater omnium He that doth not conserve this Vnion saith St. Cyprian de unitat Eccles how can he believe that he hath Faith he who opposes and resists the Church who abandons the Chair of St. Peter upon which the Church is built how can he hope that he is in the Church since the blessed Apostle teacheth this same thing and shewing the sacred tye of Vnity affirming that there is but one body that is the Church as there is but one Spirit who governs it Thirdly that this is that only Church which acknowledgeth the Pope for her visible head whom Jesus Christ hath appointed to govern her and to be the source and Center of her Unity here on Earth which made St. Cyprian say ibid. that Heresies and Schisms spring from hence that some will not acknowledge in the Church one whom Jesus Christ constituted head over the rest in those words which he spoke to St. Peter Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give to thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and in another place feed my Sheep Vpon one man continues St. Cyprian Ibid. he builds his Church and gives him charge to feed his Flock And although he bestow'd an equal authority upon the Apostles as far as concerns the remission of Sins Yet that the Vnity of the Church might more clearly appear he hath ordain'd one Chair and it was his will that the Vnity take its Original and beginning from one man and a little after he saith that the Primacy was given to St. Peter to shew that the Church of Christ and the Chair was one St. Hierome L. 1. in Jovinian says the same thing viz. That St. Peter was preferred before the other Apostles to be the head of the Church to the end that the head being one all occasion of division in the Church might be removed Fourthly we are obliged to believe that there is no Salvation for any one out of this one true Church It is an Article of Faith which hath been held constantly in the Church this having always been an unquestion'd and current Maxim that he who will not have the Church for his Mother shall not have God for his Father Which was the reason why St. Hierome finding himself in the East where there was some division upon this Subject the names of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity writ to Pope
and which will yet more confirm that pardon confirming me in the resolution I have conceived to be faithfull to thee Come then O Divine Saviour enter and take possession of me speak to my Soul a word of comfort Psa 34.3 Dic animae meae salus tua ego sum tell her that thou art her strength her Salvation and her Sovereign good Tell her as once thou didst Abraham Gen. 15.1 Fear not I am thy Protector amidst the greatest dangers of this Life I will secure thee I am thy exceeding great Reward an infinite and incomprehensible recompence in the next grant I beseech thee that I may rightly understand these high Mysteries these important truths and that this may be the fruit of the Communion which I am about to receive When you have ponder'd well upon these holy thoughts approach to the Sacred Table full with desire to take possession of and enjoy your God and replenished with hope to receive in this Communion an abundant plenty of Graces to conserve him in you and you in him After Communion AS soon as you are retired from the Holy Table prostrate in heart before him adore with all humility our Lord whom you have received return him innumerable thanks for the infinite favour he hath done in coming to you and consequent to this you shall insist upon the practice of these three acts of the Virtue of Hope An earnest desire of Eternal Salvation A strong resolution to labour that you may attain unto it Prayer to demand at the hands of God grace and the means to obtain it Adoration First then addressing your thought to our Lord whom you have received represent to your self how you possess him the very same whose sight causeth all that bliss which maketh the Angels and Saints in Heaven blessed and all the Celestial Spirits desire and esteem themselves happy to behold him 1. Pet. 1.12 In quem desiderant Angeli prospicere in this belief speak to him and let your heart pronounce as followeth I Adore thee O Infinite greatness O Divine Majesty who fillest both Heaven and Earth and art adored in Heaven by all the Blessed Spirits Angells and Saints who incessantly praise and cry out before thee Esai 6.3 Sanctus Sanctus sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth how is it possible O my God that thou shouldst stoop so low as to descend unto me and to enclose thy self within me 2. Par. 6.18 Is it credible O All-mighty God that thou wouldst vouchsafe to dwell amongst men upon the Earth If the Heavens and Heavens of Heavens do not contain thee how much less this habitation which I have prepared for thee But thy goodness O great God knows full well how to humble it self when it pleases thee Thou knowest well how to conceal the amazing splendors of thy glory and by condescending to our weak capacity to communicate thy self more freely to us This thou didst begin to do in thy adorable Incarnation in which thou mad'st thy self like unto us to attract our love And this method thou holdest on in this Mystery where thou bestowest thy self upon us for our food and nourishment that thou may'st more closely unite thy self unto us and make us aspire to that Celestial Banquet which thou hast made for all the Blessed in Heaven who glut themselves without loathing and are perpetually satiated with and yet always desire thy Divine presence O my God grant me grace that I may dayly more and more aspire to and long after this eternal banquet that the desire to enjoy it may make me slight all the goods and pleasures of this mortall life and labour continually to render my self worthy of it and happily at last to arrive unto it This is my resolution which at present I make before thee I resolve to renounce all whatsoever my irregular affections and may too much incline me to the vain and deceitfull goods or possessions of this life I know they are apt to endanger and make me loose everlasting happyness and for this reason I will discharge my heart of them that I may love nothing but thee alone and place my whole trust in thee as David did Ps 72.28 It is good for me to cleave to God and to put my hope in our Lord. I firmly resolve to watch over all my actions and fly from Sin and avoid whatsoever may displease thee And as the same Psalmist expresseth himself Ps 17.24 I will be by his grace immaculate in his sight and will observe to keep my self from all iniquity I will labour to work my Salvation by keeping thy holy commandments And I protest before thee O my God and I hope I shall be faithfull to thee Ps 118.106 I have Sworn and determin'd with my self to keep the Judgments which thou hast form'd and manifested to me of thy justice But I am not able to perform this resolution without the assistance of thy grace wherefore I most humbly demand it of thee O Jesus save me ibid. 35. Conduct me thro' all the ways of thy Commandments which I now enter upon and Embrace with all my heart Incline my heart and make me love thy divine truths which thou hast so abundantly attested and not to covetousness or the immoderate desire of the goods of this world Divert my Eyes that they may not see that is be fixed on Vanity or the promising but indeed vain and empty delights of this present life Enliven and strengthen me in thy way that is in the holy path of Virtue and good works Grant that I may find nothing amiable whereon to fix my affection but thee alone Assist my weakness that I may be able to advance towards thee Cant. 1.4 Draw me to thee O divine Jesus that being so attracted I may run after the odours of thy perfumes that is of thy divine Virtues by an holy imitation of them and following thee by that way even as far as Heaven where thou livest and raignest for all Eternity CHAP. III. Of Charity the third disposition for the worthy receiving the blessed Sacrament ARTICLE I. How necessary Charity is and how much is requir'd to Communicate well and as we ought THis is the third disposition to a good Communion and no less necessary then the former two yea without it those two great Virtues would not at all conduce or dispose the soul better for the worthy receiving of Jesus Christ Altho' your Faith were as great as that of the Apostles and your hope equalled that of the Prophets if you have not Charity you are not in a condition fit to entertain him who is Charity himself and who cannot dwell with him who is without it Altho' I should have so strong a Faith says St. Paul 1. Cor. 13.1 so that I could move Mountains without Charity it avails nothing and proceeding he affirms v. 3. Altho' I should distribute all my goods amongst the poor and deliver my body to be burnt as the Martyrs have done if I am void of Charity all