a glorious mercy, rather than leave us in so intolerable a condition. A greater love than this could not be; and a less love than this could not have rescued us. 8. When the holy man reacheth forth his hands upon the symbols, and prays over them, and intercedes for the sins of the people, and breaks the holy bread, and pours forth the sacred chalice, place thyself, by faith and meditation, in heaven, and see Christ doing, in his glorious manner, this very thing which thou seest ministered and imitated upon the table of the Lord; and then remember, that it is impossible thou shouldest miss of eternal blessings, which are so powerfully procured for thee by the Lord himself; unless thou wilt despise all this, and neglect so great salvation, and choosest to eat, with swine, the dirty pleasures of the earth, rather than thus to feast with saints and angels, and to eat the body of thy Lord, with a clean heart and humble affections. 9. When the consecrating and ministering hand reaches forth to thee the holy symbols, say within thy heart, as did the centurion, Lord, I am not worthy;' but entertain thy Lord as the women did the news of the resurrection, "with fear and great joys;" or, as the apostles, "with rejoicing and singleness of hearth;" that is, clear, certain, and plain believing, and with exaltation and delight in the lovingkindness of the Lord. 10. But place thyself upon thy knees, in the humblest and the devoutest posture of worshippers, and think not much in the lowest manner to worship the King of men and angels, the Lord of heaven and earth, the great Lover of souls, and the Saviour of the body; Him whom all the angels of God worship; Him whom thou confessest worthy of all, and whom all the world shall adore, and before whom they shall tremble at the day of judgment. For if Christ be f Illud quæso, vir sapientissime, ipsa re approbes; quis sit iste Deus, quem vobis Christiani quasi proprium vendicatis, et in locis abditis præser tim vos videre componitis? dixit Maximus Medaurensis in epist. ad S. Augustinum, tom. ii. epist. 43. post medium. 6 Μετὰ φόβου καὶ χαρᾶς μεγάλης. Matt. xxviii. 8. h Acts, ii. 46. Atque illud etiam scire cupio, quo consilio, aut quâ mente feceris in epulo, ut Q. Arrii familiaris mei, cum togâ pullâ accumberes? quis unquam cœnavit atratus? Cicer. in Vatin. c. 12. Qui potui (dixit Aaron) cum tristis fuerim, offerre sacrificium? not there after a peculiar manner, whom, or whose body do we receive? But if he be present to us, not in mystery only, but in blessing also, why do we not worship? But all the Christians always did so from time immemorial. “No man eats this flesh, unless he first adores," said St. Austin1. "For the wise men, and the barbarians, did worship this body in the manger with very much fear and reverence: let us, therefore, who are citizens of heaven, at least not fall short of the barbarians. But thou seest him not in the manger, but on the altar; and thou beholdest him not in the Virgin's arms, but represented by the priest, and brought to thee in sacrifice by the Holy Spirit of God." So St. Chrysostom argues; and accordingly this reverence is practised by the churches of the east, and west, and south, by the Christians of Indiak; by all the Greeks, as appears in their answer to the cardinal of Guise; by all the Lutheran churches; by all the world, says Erasmus; only now of late, some have excepted themselves. But the church of England chooses to follow the person and piety of the thing itself, the example of the primitive church, and the consenting voice of Christendom. "And if it be irreverent to sit in the sight, and before the face, of him whom you ought to revere; how much more in the presence of the living God, where the angel, the president of prayer, does stand, must it needs be a most irreligious thing to sit, unless we shall upbraid to God, that our prayers to him have wearied us?" It is the argument of Tertullian".-To which many of the fathers add many other fair inducements, but I think they cannot be necessary to be produced here; because all Christians generally kneel, when they say their prayers, and when they bless God; and I suppose no man communicates, but he does both; and, therefore, needs no other inducement to persuade him to kneel: especially since Christ himself, and i In Psalm xcix. Vide etiam S. Ambros. Carnem Christi in mysteriis adoramus. — De Spir. S. lib. iii. cap. 12.— S. Bernard. de cœna Domini ad Pe trum presbyterum. Johannes Petrns Maffeus, Hist. Ind. Orient. lib. ii. circa med. Resp. ad Quest. 6. m Vide Erasm. lib. ix. epist. ad Pellicanum, cujus initium 'Evangelii vigor.' n Lib. de Orat. • Aute focos olim scamnis considere longis Mos erat; et mensæ credere adesse Deos. Ovid. Fast. vi. 305. Gierig, pag. 338. St. Stephen, and the apostle St. Paul, used that posture in their devotions, that or lower; for St. Paul kneeled upon the shore; and our Lord himself fell prostrate on the earth. But to them that refuse, I shall only use the words of Scripture, which the fathers of the council of Turon applied to this particular: "Why art thou proud, O dust and ashes?" And when Christ opens his heart, and gives us all that we need or can desire; it looks like an ill return, if we shall dispute with him concerning the humility of a gesture and a cir cumstance. 11. When thou dost receive thy Lord, do thou also receive thy brother into thy heart, and into thy bowels. Thy Lord relieves thee, do thou relieve him; and never communicate, but be sure to give thy alms for one part of thy offering. St. Cyprian does, with some vehemency, upbraid some wealthy persons in his time, who came to the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and neglected the corban,' or the ministering to the saints. Remember, that, by mercy to the poor, the sentence of dooms-day shall be declared; because what we do to them, we do to Christ: and who would not relieve Christ, who hath made himself poor, to make us rich? and what time is so seasonable to feed the members of Christ, as that, when he gives his body to feed us, and that, when his members are met together to confess, to celebrate, to remember, and to be joined in their Head, and to one another? In short, the church always hath used at that time to be liberal to her poor; and that being so seasonable and blessed an opportunity, and of itself also a proper act of worship and sacrifice, of religion and homage, of thankfulness and charity, it ought not to be omitted; and it can have no measure, but that of your love, and of your power, and the other accidents of your life and your religion. 12. As soon as ever you have taken the holy elements into your mouth and stomach, remember that you have taken Christ into you, after a manner indeed which you do not understand, but to all purposes of blessing and holiness, if you have taken him at all. And now consider, that he who hath given you his Son, with him will give you all things else. Therefore, represent to God, through Jesus Christ, all your needs, and the needs of your relatives: signify to him the condition of your soul; complain of your infirmities; pray for help against your enemies; tell him of your griefs; represent your fears, your hopes, and your desires. But it is also the great sacrifice of the world, which you have then assisted in, and represented; and now you, being joined to Christ, are admitted to intercede for others, even for all mankind, in all necessities, and in all capacities; pray, therefore, for all for whom Christ died; especially for all that communicate that day, and for all that desire it; that their prayers and yours, being united to the intercession of your Lord, may be holy and prevail. 13. After you have given thanks, and finished your private and the public devotions, go home; but do not presently forget the solemnity, and sink from the sublimity of devotion and mystery, into a secular conversation, like a falling star, from brightness into dirt. The Ethiopians would not spit that day they had communicated, thinking they might dishonour the sacrament, if, before the consumption of the symbols, they should spit: but although they meant reverence, yet they expressed it ill. It was better which is reported of St. Margaret, a daughter of the king of Hungary, that the day before she was to communicate, she fasted with bread and water: and after the communion, she retired herself till the evening, spending the day in meditations, prayers, and thanksgiving, and at night she ate her meal. Her employment was very well fitted to the day; but for her meal, it is all one when she ate it, so that, by eating, or abstaining, she did advantage to her spiritual employment. But they that, as soon as the office is finished, part with Christ, and carry their mind away to other interests, have a suspicious indifferency to the things of God, They have brought their Lord into the house, and themselves slip out at the back-door; otherwise does the spouse? entertain her beloved Lord, "I found him whom my soul loveth, I held him, and would not let him go." He that considers the advantages of prayer, which every faithful soul hath upon a communion-day, will not easily let them slip, but tell all his sad stories to his Lord, and make all his wants known; and, as Jacob to the angel, " will not let him go, till he hath given a blessing." Upon a com P Cant. iii. 4. 675 munion-day, Christ, who is the beloved of the soul, is gone to rest; and every secular employment, that is not necessary and part of duty, and every earthly thought does "waken our beloved before he please;"―let us take heed of that. 14. But what we do by devotion and solemn religion that day, we must do every day; by the material practice of virtues we must verify all our holy vows and promises; we must keep our hearts curiously; restrain our passions powerfully; every day, proceed in the mortification of our angers and desires, in the love of God and of our neighbours, and in the patient toleration of all injuries which men offer, and all the evil by which God will try us. Let not drunkenness enter, or evil words go forth of that mouth', through which our Lord himself hath passed. The heathens used to be drunk at their sacrifices, but, by this sacrifice eucharistical, it is intended we should be filled with the Spirit. If we have communicated worthily, we have given ourselves to Christ; we have given him all our liberty and our life, our bodies and our souls, our actions and our passions, our affections and our faculties, what we are, and what we have,-and in exchange have received him; and we may say with St. Paul", "I live: but not I, but Christ liveth in me." So that we must live no more unto the world, but unto God; and, having fed upon manna, let us not long to return to Egypt to feed on garlick. "For as when men have drunk wine largely, the mind is free, and the heart at liberty from care,-so when we have drunk the blood of Christ, the cup of our salvation, -the chains of the old man are untied, and we must forget our secular conversation: so St. Cyprian*.-But the same precept is better 4 Tu, pane vitæ accepto, facis rem mortis, et non horrescis? Nescis quam multa mala proficiscantur et subeant ex deliciis.-S. Chrysost. homil. 27. in 1 Cor. r Ille crucem, plagas, alapas, sputa aspera, passus, Waldfrid. Abbas de Pass. • Ora ego servabo puris non sordida sacris, Queis nostrum supero cum Patre jungo genus. — Nazianz. * Μεθύειν, μετὰ τὸ θύειν. u Gal. ii. 20. |