the Body and Wine into the Blood of Christ he would think to escape by allowing a change to be made but only in the Act of worthy receiving Therefore I will onely make use of such Authorities as demonstrate this change to be made before communicating that it remains when the Sacrament is reserved and that immediately after consecration before any participation of the Symbols both the Priest and People did perform an act of Adoration to Christ beleived to be really and substantially though mystically present 10. In all ancient Liturgies as Blondel himself though a Huguenot confesses the prayer in the consecration of the Elements was That God would by his holy Spirit sanctifie the Elements whereby the Bread may be made the Body and the Wine the Blood of our Lord. And that before communicating whilst it was on the Altar it was esteem'd and worshiped as the true Body of our Lord St. Chrysostome will witnesse Let us saith he who are Citizens of Heaven imitate but even the barbarous Magi who worshipped our Lord an Infant c. Thou seest him not in the Manger but on the Altar Thou dost not see a woman holding him but the Priest standing by him and the Spirit with great vertue hovering over these Mysteries proposed Thou not only seest the Body it self as the Magi did but thou knowest also the vertue of it c. The same Body which is the most precious and most honour'd thing in Heaven I will shew thee placed upon Earth c. Neither dost thou only see it but touchest and eatest it and having received it thou returnest home with it c. Hence Optatus saith What other thing is the Altar but the Seat of the Body and Blood of Christ. A yet more irrefragable witnesse hereof is the General Council of Nice wherein Act. l. 3. c. de Divinâ mensâ are these words In this Divine Table let us not abase our intentions so as to consider the Bread and Wine set before us but raising up our mind by Faith let us understand that upon that holy Table is placed the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the World which is unbloodily immolated by the Priest and receiving his precious Body and Blood let us truly believe that these are the Symbols of our Redemption And that the Elements once consecrated and after reserved yet remain the Body of Christ though not participated St. Cyril of Alexandria expresly â—ectifies I hear saith he there are others who affirm that the Mystical Eulogy if any thing of it remain till another day doth profit nothing to sanctification Bur they are mad who say these things For Christ is not alter'd neither is his holy Body changed but the vertue of Benediction and quickning grace perpetually remains in it And as touching Adâ—ration of our Lord as acknowledged substantially present on the Altar St. Ambrose expresly asserts it Adore the foot-stool of his feet Therefore by the footstool is understood the Earth and the Earth the flesh of Christ which at this day also we adore in the Mysteries and which the Apostles adored in our Lord Iesus And from St. Ambrose the same is taught as expresly by St. Augustin discoursing on the same Text Adorate Scabellum pedum ejus Who moreover adds Christ hath given his flesh to be eaten by us for our Salvation Now no man eats this except he first adore it Yea moreover he saies We do not only not sin by adoring it but we should sin if we did not adore it And in an Epistle to Honoratus he affirms That the rich of the Earth and proud are somtimes brought to the Table of our Lord and there receive of his Body and Blood but they onely adore it they are not satiated with it because they do not imitate him by humility For of the humble it is said Edent pauperes saturabuntur 11. The same may be inferr'd by the wonderfull niceness and scrupolosity observed in the Primitive Church in the handling communicating and reserving these Mysteries what a crime was it esteem'd in the Primitive times if but a crum or drop of the consecrated Elements should fall to the ground For fear of that till about the year six hundred they were received by the Communicants not in their Fingers as among the Reformed but in the inside plain of their hands and in a silver Pipe c. But I will conclude this point with a brief Answer to the Doctors Allegations 12. Whereas therefore he says It is evident that Transubstantiation waâ— never taught by our Saviour since in the same breath wherewith he pronounced these words This is my Blood he explain'd himself by calling it expresly the Fruit of the Vine On the contrary I do confidently pronounce it to be evident that those words were neither spoken by our Lord in the same breath after the Consecration of the Chalice nor had they any regard to the Sacrament 'T is true they are mentioned by St. Matthew after the Consecration but he knows that in St. Luke who promised to write 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those words are mentioned before any Consecration began and the occasion of them is evidently the eating of the Paschal Supper c. For this is his Narration When the hour was come he sate down and the twelve Apostles with him And he said unto them with desire I have desired to eat this Passeover with you before I suffer For I say unto you I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfill'd in the kingdom of God And he took the Cup and gave thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves For I say unto you I will not drink of the fruit of the Vine until the kingdom of God shall come Now after all this follows his own last Supper the Mystical consecration and communion of his blessed Body and Blood For the Text thus continues And he took Bread saying This is my Body c. likewise also the Cup after Supper saying This Cup c. This being the order of the words no Text can possibly with more evidence conâ—ute the Doctor than this which himself cites for what can be clearer if before Consecration our Saviour said He would drink no â—ore of the fruit of the Vine then that what he drank after was not of the fruit of the Vine But besides this though our Lord should have called it after Consecration the fruit of the Vine as Saint Paul calls the other Symbol Bread this does not argue against a Change in their nature For Moses his Rod after it was changed into a Serpent is call'd a Rod still because it had been one Exod. 7. 12. and Io. 2. 9. it is said That the Master of the Feast tasted the Water that was made Wine 13. Is not now the Doctor 's Insincerity evident his insincerity even in the Pulpit has he not palpably mis-inform'd his Majesty and so illustrious
mercifully than their sins deserve not to be doubted For this the universal Church observes as a Tradition of our Fathers that for those who are dead in the Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord Prayers should be made when at the holy Sacrifice their Names are in their due place rehearsed and that it should be signified that the Offering is made for them And when out of an intention of commending them to Gods mercy works of Charity and Alms are made who will doubt that these things help towards their good for whom Prayers are not in vain offered to God It is not therefore to be doubted but that these things are profitable for the Dead yet only such as before their death have lived so as that these things may profit them after Death And again For Martyrs the Sacrifice is offered as a thanksgiving and for others as a propitiation 14. The Doctor cannot but know in his Conscience for he is no Stranger to the Fathers what a great Volume may be written to confirm this And that not one expression can be quoted against it Therefore whereas he said without any ground that Tertullian borrowed from Montanus I would ask him From whom did he borrow the omission of this charitable duty to the Dead but from the Heretie Aerius Nor is this to be considered as a voluntary courtesie don them which without any fault may be omited On the contrary St. Epiphanius will tell him the Church does these things necessarily having received such a Tradition from the Fathers And St. Augustin we must by no means omit necessary Supplications for the Souls of the Dead For whether the Flesh of the dead Person lye here or in another place repose ought to be obtained to his Spirit 15. If these Souls were believ'd to be in Heaven would it not be ridiculous If in Hell would it not be impious to offer the dreadful Sacrifice to make Supplications to be at charge in Alms for the obtaining them repose pardon of their sins refreshment of their sufferings a translation into the region of Light and peace and a place in the bosom of Abraham But if they be neither in Heaven nor Hell where are they then He cannot deny a third place unless he thinks them anihilated He will not say that third place is Purgatory because the Church calls it so But suppose the Church dispence with him for the Name I would to God he would accept of such a dispensation one pretence of Schism would quickly be removed 16. To conclude If all the Liturgies of the Church all the Fathers have not credit enough with him to perswade that this is no Novelty yet greater Antiquity for it he may find in the Iewish Church an expresse Testimony for which we read in the Book of Macchabees He will say it is not Canonical at least let him acknowledge it not to be a Romance and however the universal Tradition and practise of the Synagogue will justifie it From the Jews no doubt Plato borrowed this Doctrin and from Plato Cicero and from both Virgil. Nay even natural reason will tell him that Heaven into which no unclean thing can enter is not so quickly and easily open to imperfect Souls as to perfect nor have we any sign that meerly by dying sinful livers becom immediatly perfect 17. To fill his learned Margins he quotes certain Contradictors of Bellarmin as the Bishop of Rochester Polydor Virgil Suarez and Thomas ex Albiis but since both Bellarmin himself and all his Contradictors agree with the Church in contradiction to the Preacher that there is a Purgatory what other inducement could he have to mention them unlesse it were that his Readers might see what his Hearers could not that he was resolved to pretend but was not able indeed to produce any thing to purpose against the Catholic Church CHAP. XI Of Transubstantiation or a Substantial Presence of our Lords Body in the Sacrament Iustified by the Authorities of the Fathers c. The Preacher's Objections Answer'd 1. THe three next supposed Novelties of the Catholic Church all regard the most holy Sacrament That blessed Mystery which was instituted to be both a Symbal and instrument to signifie and to operate Vnity is by the cunning of the Devil and malicious folly of men becom both the work and cause of Dis-union 2. Touching this Subject the first of the three Novelties the Doctor says is Transubstantiation So far from being from the beginning that it is not much above four hundred years old that it was first beard of in the Council of Lateran For in Pope Nicholas the Second's time the submission of Berengarius imports rather a Con then Transubstantiation But evident it is That it was never taught by our Saviour since he in the same breath wherewith he pronounced This is my Blood explain'd himself by calling it expresly the fruit of the Vins and there needs no more to make the Romanists ashamed of that Doctrin than the concession of Aquinas who says That it is impossible for one body to be locally in more places than one From whence Bellarmin angrily infers that it equally implies a Contradiction for one body to be so much as Sacramentally in more places than one 3. In order to the giving some satisfaction touching this matter I will as before set down the Churches Doctrin concerning this most holy Sacrament which will extend it self to all his three pretended Novelties In the Profession of Faith compiled by Pope Pius iv out of the Council of Trent it is said I profess that in the Masse there is offered to God a true proper and propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and Dead And that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly and Substantially the Body and Blood together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Iesus Christ and that there is a Conversion or Change of the whole Substance of Bread into his Body and of Wine into his Blood which change the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation Moreover I confess that under one of the Species alone whole and entire Christ and a true Sacrament is received 4. And if he will needs have it so let it be granted that the Latin word Transubstantiation begun commonly to be received among Catholics at the Council of Lateran Though there was a Greek expression exactly importing as much 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as old as his Beginning that is in the time of the first General Council But for God's sake let not a new word drive him out of God's Church as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did the Arians He may observe with Cardinal Perron that the Church only says the change made in the holy Sacrament is usually called Transubstantiation So that on condition he allow a real Substantial change the word it self shall not hinder us from being good Friends 5. The Doctor sees now what our Church holds concerning this Point
A thing which neither any Canon nor Custom hath deliver'd that those who have no power of offering should give the Body of Christ to those who offer Whole volums may be transcribed to this effect I will only therefore refer him to St. Hierom on Titus and St. Chrysostom on the Acts where he will find the Eucharist not only a Sacrifice but a Sacrifice for remission of sins a Sacrifice for the Priest that offers a Sacrifice for the multitude a Sacrifice for the procuring of plenty c. sutably to the modern and ancient Liturgies 4. If after all this he will not allow any of these expressions in Doctors Canons Liturgies c. to be proper and litteral St. Augustin will contradict him Who saies Presbyters and Bishops are now in the Church properly called Sacerdotes sacrificing Priests And because the fancy which Protestants have entertained against the term Sacrifice Oblation c. proceeds from a mistake of the true sense in which the Church intends it for ordinarily the conception of a Sacrifice is supposed to import an immolation shedding of blood killing c. and no such matter appearing here but only a commemoration of a former real immolation and shedding of Christs blood therefore generally among all Sects divided from the Church the title of Sacrifice will not be endured 5. To prevent therefore for the future such a mis-understanding let them be pleased to take notice that all the Sacrifices of the Law were shadows and types of the Sacrifices of our Lord and the Legal Priest-hood a type of his Priest-hood But above all other Sacrifices and functions of Priest-hood those were most lively figures of our Lord which were perform'd on a certain day only once every year for the sins of the whole Congregation In the solemn celebration of which Sacrifice besides the immolation of it on the Altar the High Priest alone was appointed to carry of the blood of that Victime into the most holy place within the Veile and there to sprinkle it before the Propitiatory or Mercy-Seat This is that Sacrifice which St. Paul especially applies to our Lord and shews that Christ as a Victime was once and but once immolated on the Altar of the Cross for the sins of all mankind And that for the merit of his obedience to the death even of the Cross he was raised from death and made a Priest after the order of Melchisedech a Kingly Priest a Priest who had power given him in Heaven and Earth to apply the merits of his own Sacrifice And that the proper function of his Regal Priesthood was the entring with his immolated Body into the Sancta Sanctorum the highest Heavens there appearing before his heavenly Fathers Throne and presenting that most precious Victime to him This function of Priest-hood far more august than the immolation he does and will continually exercise to the end of the World By vertue of this he is made Head of the Church he has the power of sending the Holy Ghost c. and hereby he perfects Redemption 6. And withal knowing of what infinite value and vertue this function of his Priest-hood is he has been pleased to execute as it were by proxy the same function on Earth that himself immediately performs in Heaven For which purpose he has instituted Bishops and Priests to be not only his Ministers but Substitutes and Vice-gerents on Earth giving them power to consecrate and by cosecrating to place upon the Altar that very Body and Blood which was immolated on the Cross and is now present before his Father in Heaven This body and blood they Sacrifice this they offer this they with the People participate It is not a Sacrifice of immolation in that mistaken sense for nothing is slain the Victime suffers nothing It is but a Commemorative Sacrifice of Immolation But it is in the most proper rigorous sence an Oblation the very same of the very same body and blood that our Lord now offers in Heaven And the same vertue it has the same effects it produces propitiation remission of sins participation of the graces of Gods holy Spirit and all blessings both spiritual and temporal So that in a word as under the Law the Legal propitiation was said to perfected by the High Priests offring the blood in the most holy place So by this Oblation of Christs bood in the Heavenly Sanctuary perfect Redemption iâ— obtained and by the Commemorative Oblation of the same body and blood by his Priests in our earthly Sanctuaries an application of the benefit and vertue of that only meritorious Sacrifice once offered on the Cross is then procured unto us for remission of our sins and the donation of all other benefits spiritual and temporal 7. In regard of this sublime function of the Priest it is that the holy Fathers exalt his office before that of Princes yea even of Angels in this regard they call the oblation it self the most dreadful Mystery at which the Angels themselves assist with reverence and astonishment To which purpose I will content my self with only one or two passages of St. Chrysostâ—m When the Sacrifice saith he is brought out of the Quire Christ himself the Lamb of our Lord immolated When thou shalt hear the Deacons voyce crying Let us pray all in common when thou seest the Curtains and Veyls of the Gates drawn then think the Heavens are opened and the Angels descend And in an other place When the Priest has invâ—cated the Holy Spirit and perfected the Sacrifice full of terrour and reverence touching and handling with his Fingers him who is Lord of all things to how sublime a rank is he elevated c. In that time the Angels assist the Priest and all the Celestical powers send forth cryes of Ioy all the places about the Altar are filled with Quires of Angels in honour of him who is offered This we may have ground to believe if we only consider the super-eminent greatness of the Sacrifice then performed But moreover I have heard from the report of one who learnt the story from the mouth of an admirable old man to whom many revâ—lations of divine Mysteries have been revealed from Heaven How God was graciously pleased to honor him with a Vision of these things and how in the time of the Sacrifice he sau suddenly appear with as much splendor as human sight could support a multitude of Angels cloathed with white Robes encompassing the Altar and having their heads enclined in the same posture as we oft see the Souldiers in the presence of the Emperour Thus Saint Chrysostom CHAP. XIV Of Veneration of Images The Roman-Churches approved practise of it most suitable to Reason 1. THe seventh Novelty produced by the Preacher is the worshipping of Images but it being only named without any proofs or quotations I will spare them too And to shew that the term of worshipping is none of ours but invented by Protestants to render a most innocent