HOLY PICTVRES of the mysticall Figures of the most holy Sacrifice and Sacrament of the EVCHARIST: Set forth in French by LEWIS RICHOME, Prouinciall of the Societie of JESVS; AND Translated into English for the benefit of those of that Nation, aswell Protestants as Catholikes.
By C. A.
Printed with Licence. 1619.
THE TRANSLATORS PREFACE TO THE READER.
GOOD Reader, I present vnto thy view the Embleame of thy temporall life, Translation, (nihil enim noui sub sole) & a soueraigne preseruatiue of thy spirituall life, which is holy meditation, the indigested crudities of these times, occasioned by rawe study and superficiall prayer, send vp such grosse fumes into the head, and breede such wayward spirits in the heart, as in matters of Religion, doe make the greater sort, euen at mans estate, to thinke as a childe, to speake as a childe, with no lesse ignorance then contention. A strange preuarication, that the childrens game in jest, should prooue good earnest amongst men. Cock sodden halfe eaten: surely the most, that know any thing, doe liue vpon the swimme, and thinke the first seething of the pot to be sufficient, wanting the maturity of deeper meditation. Sweet Iesu, how is thy net rent, and great fishes slip out, for want of due consideration? How many diuisions, and subdiuisions doth thy seamelesse coate endure? Indeed, in earthly things, variety is cause of pleasure, but in case of Religion, variety is the mother of nullity, a position no whit paradoxall, being grounded vpon a principle of secular policie it selfe, confirmed euen by the God of wisdome, saying, That a Kingdome diuided against it selfe (there is variety) cannot stand, there is the nullity. The Lutheran, the Caluinist, the Puritane, the Brownist, and Anabaptist, make the Diuels Sett of fine Parts, consisting of discords; who alwayes running Diuision in a wrong key vpon the plain song of Scripture, doe marre the soule, which God made a harmony; yea, and all the musick too in the Church of God; and which is the [Page]worst of all, neuer rest so little as a briefe, no nor yet are [...] haste, for any order I see taken, to coniure downe these spirits, which make the Church become monstrous, and to [...] monstrously predicated of, that it should be compoted of incompatible contradictions. These are much like so many race-Poasts, that steppe before each other a mile in madnesse (for that is distraction) and he that runs the course ouer, is sure to ouer-runne the Constable; and is sure to runne his sight out, though not out of sight; which euery pious minde, and studious of the Churches weale, cannot but hartily wish might soone betide them.
But now behold again; although in respect of the dreadfull and disasterous issue of these wicked designes, Ipitie these men more, then they doe themselues: yet I shame to see the ground, and first originall of this intoxication. And what? haue they neither hearts, nor fore-heads for themselues? not a Ianus amongst them to looke behinde, and before, whence and whither? good God, that neither pitie, nor shame, is able to strike one notch into their whirling heads, to stop those exentrick motions of a brain-sick giddinesse, whose punishment condigne, and sutable to the sinne, must be a whirle-pit. But I haue almost forgotten my selfe, being rapt beyond measure, when I seriously meditate vpon those woful aberrations. The thing, I would vtter, is this. Aske a Sectary (Puritane, Brownist, or other) the ground of his opinion, and he laies you downe a Bible, and many words makes he of the Word, which he will be tryed by, though for the sense therof, in conclusion, it must be tried by him, and he vntutored, slaue to his owne shallow weenings, will bee hammering out some improper word, of his owne proper forge, and appropriate it to that most sacred Word it selfe; and then presently preuent preuention, by cursing his Aduersary, that shall adde, or diminish from it. This, oh this is it, that makes me blush, for their impudencie, laugh at their folly, and grieue at the injury, done to those heauen-inspired Oracles, yea that blessed [Page]Spirit of God himselfe, by those fanaticall enthusiasme.
I could speake vpon mine owne experience very much in discouery of this folly and impiety, (and to discouer it, is to refute it): but I may not exceed the limits of an Epistle, and future occasion may offer it selfe for more ample discourse herein. For the present, I hartily desire thee (good courteous and Christian Reader) to learne truely, and exactly, what that Scripture meaneth, by testifying of it selfe, That no scripture is of any priuate interpretation. Next, to that rule put this example, set before the eyes of thine imagination, the sects aboue mentioned, with all the petty rioters, calued out of them; and (if thou canst haue patience to endure the while) suppose also the holy Scriptures laid in common before them, then let them demand each of other, from the first to the last, and reciprocally, what infallible assurance and warrant they haue, to builde their particular opinions, different amongst themselues, & impugned by the demander, vpon such and such places of sacred Writ, as they pretend; and it is not to bee vttered, what a spirit of contradiction thou shalt soone discerne in them vpon strict examination, and yet what a spirit of flumber too, that all this while they cānot see it thēselues.
But to leaue those out-flying hunters, which the Church (if it were so well manned, as to top them) should whip in at the first breaking our, or whippe out at last for euer comming in againe. It is now high time to turne my speech to thee, good Christian, that with true humility, & vnfained sincerity seekest the plain way to heauen, & thy soules happinesse. To render thee a general account of this particular designe; vnderstād, that this Treatise is chosen by me, amongst many other, for that it something concernes that point of the warrant of holy Scripture, before touched, as being founded thereupon, and seconded also by the interpretation of the Doctors in the firster age of the new Testamēts Church. Besides, the most of those places alledged (and there be 14. of them in all) are so profound in search, [Page]so pleasant in the finding, so correspondent in the Type, so reuerend in the Mystery, so euery way absolute, as (setting all controuersies aside, with the which I will not medle) I professe I could not hold off my hands from translating, though it were for my owne priuate vse, onely to keepe me both from idlenesse, and from employments of inferiour condition. And after peceiuing that, whereas I intended to make the Translation onely lesse priuate, some were instantly endeauouring to make it altogether publike; for the worthy respect I must euer beare to the first moouer hereunto, and the generall good of my owne Countrey, in the encrease of piety and true deuotion; I was sooner yeelding hereunto, as being not a little glad, that my poore labours should euer prooue to be accounted worthy of the Churches acceptance. Now my greatest feare is, lest I haue done the Author himselfe some wrong through the tenuity of my skill. I must confesse, I haue not been apprentise to this trade of translating, nor did I euer breath that stranger ayre of France; what I haue got herein, is by my trauailes at home. Besides, those that are wel practised in this course, wil yeeld me that the elegancy of speech, vsed by the composer, is by diffrence of language much abated in the translation, be in neuer so exact; yet my hope is, I haue giuen you the same man still, though in an English habite; and though the manner of the stile be changed yet the matter of the book is the same it was. Thou hast heere my feares, and my hopes, take my prayers also with thee (good Reader) in stead of a blessing vpon thy perusall hereof, and if it like thee, giue me thine againe in change, for further illumination: it is all I craue of thee for my paines; thou shouldest not deny these prayers to thine enemy, though hee skorne them, sure thou canst not, but giue them thy friend, that begs them, and desires to rest
A BRIEFE EXTRACT OVT OF THE AVTHORS Epistle Dedicatory to the Queene of FRANCE.
THe French Author in his Epistle Dedicatory, to the most Christian Queene of France, setteth downe an instruction for the more profitable vse of these holy Pictures, which I thought good to impart vnto thee (gentle Reader) the instruction is this. Before thou present thy selfe to the Royall Table of the Sonne of God, cast the eyes of thy vnderstanding vpon one of these Pictures, as first vpon the Tree of life, meditating vpon the nature, qualities, and vertue thereof, according as they are set downe in that Picture: another time vpon the Sacrifice of Abel, vpon the Paschall Lambe, vpon Manna, or some one of the rest: the which Pictures, with their Expositions, will furnish thee, with ample matter of spirituall meditation, by which thou shalt goe the better prepared to that great Feast, and after that thou hast attentinely runne ouer the draughts of the ancient Figure, thou mayest turne thy selfe to the consideration of the truth of them, liuely expressed in our Sacrament, and shall enioy thereby the spirituall delights therof, so much more profitably, by how much this contemplation shall haue made the eye of thy soule more quicke-sighted and piercing, and thy heart more desirous of that heauenly food. After this manner these Pictures shall serue, as it were a peece of Tapestry, in beholding wherof, thy vnderstanding may take a heauenly repast; they shall serue also as an ornament, and holy preparation of the soule, for the more worthy receiuing of that heanenly food, and together therewith a refection of all the most goodly, and worthy vertues, which adorne a Christian soule. For this Sacrament containeth not onely the grace of God, as [Page]other Sacraments doe, but euen the Author of Grace himselfe our Sauiour Iesus Christ, attended vpon with the magnificence of all his rich treasury. In this Sacrament euery deuout soule shall receiue light for her faith, force and strength for her hope and a continuall fier, wherewith to enflame her charity, seeing that it is a glittering mystery of the wonders of God, a liuely Image of our future happinesse, and felicity, and a nuptial feast of heauenly loue; shee shall there learne humility, the foundation of Christian vertue, beholding with the eyes of faith, the King of Kings there present, and yet neuerthelesse, clothed exteriorly with a base garment of the vulgar accidents of two sensible creatures, Bread and Wine, condescending therus mercifully, with some abasement of his Maiesty, the more familiarly to communicate himselfe to his creatures infirmitie, and necessity. The Christian soule may there practise religious piety towards God, adoring Soueraigne Maiesty, in the presence of his holy humanity, vaned thereunto. To conclude, shee may there take a necessary viaticum, during her pilgrimage in this mortality of all spirituall and eternall riches, the encrease of which, she is with all diligence to seeke, that shee may become the more great in the eyes of God, and men.
THE PRINTER TO THE READER.
GEntle Reader: Whereas the Descriptions whereupon the seuerall parts of this work are framed, doe suppose as thou wilt finde so many painted Tables of the matters themselues described in them, to bee set, as it were, before thine eyes, which the Author himselfe, in his French booke, thought good to supply with so many printed Pictures prefixed before them: I haue beene induced, by the aduice of others, to omit those Pictures altogether, for the reasons heere mentioned.
First, because hauing receiued order to procure them from the French Presse. I found the stamps so ouer-worne by meanes of a second Edition, which came foorth at the same time, that I thought the Pictures not worth the buying.
Secondly, because when they were first printed, though no doubt they were done with great arte: yet were they so defectiue, not onely for want of colour, but also in respect of the worke it selfe, that the Printer was faine to excuse them in a Note to the Reader, remitting him thereby, for the better vnderstanding of those stories presented in them, to the Authors Descriptions of those Painted Tables, which he faineth to haue before the eyes of his Readers. Whereby it appeareth, that the printed Pictures came farre short of the Authors Descriptions: and therefore serued to little purpose, not being able to expresse very many of those things, which the Author describeth, as contained in them.
Thirdly, because the descriptions themselues, are so glorious, so liuely, and so compleate, as there is no need [Page]of the Pictures; which therefore, though easily perceiued to be missing, can no way be thought wanting by any iudicious Reader: especially considering, that such descriptions are made to supply the want of those Painted Tables which they describe; as Pictures againe were inuented to supply the office of Descriptions. The Painted Table being nothing else but a visible report, or a certaine kind of speech to the eye of the beholder: as the Description thereof againe is fitly tearmed by our Author in his Prologue, a certaine Picture deuised for the eare of the Reader. The Orator or Poet, no lesse then the Painter, endeauouring to beget with pleasure and delight, a liuely conceit of those things in vs, which their Descriptions and Pictures doe set before vs. Wherefore, if eyther of them be excellent, there is no need of the other: and to ioyne a Picture to the Description of a Picture, is in a sort to disgrace them both, and to shew in effect, that they are both defectine. And I doubt not, that Philostrat as himselfe, whom our Author was content to imitate, would haue taken it very ill at his hands, who for the better conceiuing of his Descriptions, should haue thought it necessary to haue had those Pictures added, which he describeth as present before the eyes of his Reader.
For these reasons therefore, if it were not the best, I hope thou wilt not iudge it to be much amisse, that I haue altogether omitted those Printed Tables, being in truth no lesse defectiue then superfluous, in respect of their excellent Descriptions, which of the two are farre the better Pictures.
That which doth more conceme me, is to excuse some faults of mine owne, which haue escaped mee heere and there, in the Printing of this notable Worke, the Copie which was sent mee being very soule; and hauing no body by mee that could correct mee. All that I can doe at this present in satisfaction thereof, is onely to make a particular confession, or recantation of them; which you [Page]shall finde in the latter end of this Booke, set downe in such manner, as thou mayest easily reforme them in thy reading: for the number of the page and line where the error is being noted there, will easily shew thee how to mend it. And so desiring Almighty God to pardon also those secret faults of thine, with the rest of mine, which I feare are farre the greater. I bid thee hartily farewell.
THE LICENCE FOR THE PRINT, which goeth before the French Copie.
VVEE Doctors of Diuinity in Paris doe subscribe, certifying that we haue read all this present Booke, entituled Holy Pictures, &c. Composed by the Reuerend Father LEVVIS RICHOME, of the Society of the name of Iesus: and not hauing found any thing herein contrary to the Catholike, Apostolike and Romane Faith, nor to good manners; but many excellent things, excellently deduced, and most learnedly explained with a singular transparantnesse, touching the high mysteries of the holy Eucharist: therefore wee haue iudged it most worthy to come to light, as much for the reducing of wanderers, as for the edifying and consolation of all true Catholikes. Done at Sorborne this 17. of March. 1601.
HOLY PICTVRES OF THE MYSTICALL FIGVRES APpertaining to the most excellent Sacrament and Sacrifice of the Eucharist.
THE CAVSES, VSES, AND EFFECTS of Pictures and Figures in holy Scripture.
IT remaines yet to declare according to our power, wherefore the Diuine prouidence would vse fore-going Figures in the Law of Nature and Moses, before that hee sent his Son, to establish his owne Law in his proper Person. Whereof we giue this reason in generall, that it was to declare that he is God; and for the more profitable instruction of his creature in this point. And thus we prooue what we haue said. It is the familiar manner of Gods proceeding, to perfect his admirable workes vpon little principles and smal beginnings;God workes by little principles. therby to make it appeare that he is God in little things, as well as in great, and no lesse in the first beginning and going forward, then in the end and conclusion of his worke.
In creating the world, he began it of nothing, and in the gouernment thereof hee continueth the propagation of his creatures, by meanes of their seede, which in a manner is also no thing. For, which is worthy of admiration, this little seede containes in its littlenesse, all that which is to be borne out of it afterwards. This Method of God is very fit to manisest clearely his wisedome, power, and bountie; and very proper, sweetely to make himselfe knowne vnto man, according to his capacitie. Who sees a faire great Palme-tree well branched, thicke of boughes. [Page 7]and loaden with Palmes; hath hee not, wherefore to admire the Creator in this creature? but hee who shall contemplate the little stone, from whence all this come forth,Their beginning and end. the roote the body, the branches, the leaues, and the fruit of this tree; will magnifie on the one side his diuine wisdome, which secretly proceeding from such a beginning, to such an end, from such imperfection, to such perfection, teacheth properly the greatnesse of it selfe, by the opposition to the littlenesse, whereon it wrought: and on the otherside, he will no lesse admire his infinite vertue, which of so little a sprout could produce such a goodly tree, then praise his bountie, which in fine hath made a Present of all this for the vse of man.
This manner of proceeding is as cleare as meruailous in all the parts of this vniuersall world: but thrise illustrious, and thrise admirable it is in that Monarchie, which God the Sonne hath established in the rule of his Church; whereof the foundations haue been meruailous in the Law of Nature; the progresse yet more meruailous vnder the Law of the Iewes, but the accomplishment made in the Law of Grace, surpasseth all admiration. The foundations in the Law of Nature, and the progresse in that of Moses, are meruail ous, because that in their littlenesse they containe the modell and the figure of the greatnesse of our Sauiours Law: and in this Law of our Sauiour, the accomplishment is infinitely more admirable, because it containeth the perfection of all that, which of old was conceiued and figured in the other Lawes that went before it. And this is it which the Scripture sets before vs so often, as a cleare demonstration of the Maiesty, and greatnesse of our Creator. Saint Paul writeth, that all things chanced in Figure to the Iewes, that is to say,1. Cor. 10. that the old Law was a Picture of the new; and our Sauiour protesteth often, that he will accomplish the Law, euen to a little lot,One ior. Matth. 5.18. meaning that the Law of Grace was a most absolute accomplishment of the other Lawes before it.
[Page 8] Now then,God shewes himselfe God in the reserence of things past, to things present. Esay 41.23. if in any other worke of his; Almightie God most diuinely hath made himself appeare to be God, he hath in this connection and reference of things past, to things to come, so farre distant one from the other. In the first place, foretelling that which was to ensue, hee hath shewed to haue present before his eyes, all things, were they passed, or to come; a signe of supreame dignitie. For without this knowledge, he could not haue ordained and foretold these so great, and so faire designes of so many mysteries, which were not to be effected till after the ensuing of many thousand yeeres; neither haue pointed out the Lineaments of the Law of Moses in the Law of Nature; and haue made in the Law of Moses, a body of Figures, which represented the Law of the Messias, as we see he hath.
For the Circumcision giuen to Abraham, the Red [...]ses, the Desert, the Manna, the Mountaine of Sina; in summe, all the Iudaicall Mysteries, were but so many Pictures containing in signification the truth of our Religion.
Who then could know how to draw these so Diuine draughts from time to time,S. Cyril. de Adoratione. from season to season; except he which holds in his vnderstanding, the knowledge and the face of times and seasons, and of all things, passed, present, and to come? And who could make accord the past with the present, and the present with the past? Who is it can ioyne the figure to the body,Against Atheists. and the body to the figure, the shaddow to the truth, and the truth to the shaddow? And with so faire, iust, and equall proportion, consummate the worke from point to point, according to the first designe, except he which can all that he will?
As this manner of working by little beginnings and figures, arising to perfection, and to the truth it selfe, by meanes proportioned, both to the beginning, and to the ending, was conuenient to witnesse the Maiestie of God: so also it was necessary for to iustruct the Iewes, when the Law was in her childe-hood, and meruailously proper to [Page 9]perfect the Christians, when it came to the perfection of mans estate. These Iewes were rude, like yong children: and therefore their Law was a Schoole-master. God taught them by Figures; threatened them with the whip: promised them milke and hony; thus were they taught according to their capacitie, bridled with their owne bitt, and drawne by their owne cords, which were most agreeable with their owne dispositions.Plato. Plato saith that yong people ought to begin their Schoole with the Mathematikes, because it is a Science which teacheth them by things agreeable to their wits, by lines, by triangles, squares, rulers, figures, which enter sweetely into their spirits. The Iewes then being children, were to be taught Religion, by figures of Religion, as familiar Alphabets to their infancie; and such was the vsage of them amongst the Iewes; but with Christians it is farre otherwise. If the Iewes fed vpon Figures, by vvhich they vvere taught; as their Paschall Lambe, their Manna, their Sacrifices, their Offerings, and their other more remarkable signes, wherein if they were spirituall, they did contemplate the future truth of the Law of Grace; the Christians doe not so, but contrariwise they hold the truth it selfe present, and in it they contemplate the Figures past, without any more vsing of them after the manner of the Iewes. From which contemplation they draw to themselues many good vses. The first whereof is, That they admire this supreme wisdome of God, who hath from the beginning so vvell grounded the Kingdome of his Sonne, and conducted it to the perfection of the Law of Grace, from so little beginnings in appearance, and yet so great in signification; seeing hee hath so diuinely laid the liuely and last colours of the Law of Grace, vpon those shaddowes and lineaments which he had drawne before in the Lawes of olde.
The second is, that they admire the selfe-same wisdom, contemplating the faire report of the nevv and old Testament to one another, beholding each other, like the two [Page 10]Cherubims vvhich vvere turned face to face before the Arke; the one containing the true portraiture, the other the liuely truth; the one saying the Messias shall come, the other, the Messias is come,; the one the Messias shall endure the death of the Crosse, the other the Messias hath endured the death of the Crosse: the one the Messias shall institute an eternall Sacrament, and Sacrifice of his body, the other that hee hath instituted the eternall Sacrament and Sacrifice of his body, and so of other mysteries.
These two admirations bring vs three other fruits. First, they illustrate our faith; for when the mysteries which we beleeue are declared to vs by Figures and Prophecies giuen many ages agoe, our faith takes foundation and roote vpon the authoritie and certaintie of things past. And this is the reason why the Scripture (to plant this faith in the heart of the hearer) sendeth him so often to the Tables and Testimonies of the ancient Law. So our Sauiour going about to make a faithfull Christian of his secret Disciple, Nicodemus, Ioan 3. Num. 21. illustrates the mystery of his Passion by the historie of the Serpent of Brasse, long before erected in the Desert, to be a Figure of his Passion; so insinuated he the victory of his Resurrection, by the shipwrack and comming forth of Ionas out of the Whales belly:Ionas. Iona. 2.2. Matth. 12.19. so the Euangelists and the Apostles vse often the witnesse of the old Testament, to giue foote and credit to the faith they preached.
Secondly, the Figures confirme our hope, for seeing that which God hath so long before figured and foretold, is faithfully accomplished, wee are induced to hope that what is yet to come as the iudgement, the Reward the glory, the paine and the rest, shall be likewise accomplished with the same fidelitie.
Finally, they inflame our loue tovvards God, because this contemplation of the ancient Figures, reported to the present truth, maketh vs see the eternall charitie vvith vvhich God hath loued vs, preparing for vs by so long [Page 11]Prescience, the Good which in the end he hath giuen vs; and still promising vs more to come hereafter. And because loue and benefits engender loue, here-hence it is, that if wee be not vnnaturall, wee encrease in our loue tovvards God by this meditation. These are the causes, effects, and vse of Figures. It remaines to enter into the Temple of God, there to see the holy Pictures of the Sacrament and Sacrifice of the body of his Sonne, drawne from the writings of his holy Testament, explained by his owne Word, and that according to the Doctrine of his Diuine Painters and Writers, the Interpreters of his Word; the dumbe Picture shall be for your eyes, the description of them for your eares; and the exposition of one and of the other, shall serue for your spirits or vnderstandings. The first is of the earthly Paradise, and of the Tree of Life planted therein, set forth as you, see in the Picture follovving.
THE FIRST PICTVRE. PARADISE AND THE TREE OF LIFE.
The Description.
CHRISTIAN Beholders,Gen. 2. [...]. you know that this admirable Chronicler, and diuine Cosmographer, Moses, said in the History of the Creation, that God had in the beginning planted a Garden of pleasure towards the East, in which he put the Man that he had formed. This is that faire and spacious Region that the Painter represents to you in this Table or Picture. It is high in seate, rich in goodnesse, rare in beautie, gratious in habitation, and aboundant in all forts of delights. The earth in some quarters thereof is leuelled into a plaine champion field; and in other places raised vp in little harrowes or hilles, replenished with plants and trees of excellent goodnesse. In the place where it is highest, you may there marke a fountaine, which rising in great bubbles, is formed into a Riuer, winding and watering all the Garden: towards the end whereof, it is diuided into foure heads, and maketh foure great slouds, running into diuers quarters of the earth. The first of which, is called Phison, casting vpon the shoare her golden sands, and many faire pretious stones, but no person gathered them vp, because there was none as yet but Adam and Eue in the world; their children, you may imagine, will not lose them for want of gathering. The ayre there is most pure and subtill: and therefore we see not any token of clouds or mists, the Sun shining cleare and bright alwayes. As for the fire which is of elements the most supreame, it holds it selfe still and quiet in its kingdome aboue the ayre; yet contributing, [Page 14]notwithstanding, light and heate, with a sweete temperature, as it were, after the manner of a Torch lighted in heauen. This gay verdure wherewith the earth is still apparrelled, and these odoriferous flowers, which with a thousand florishing colours adorne the same; and wherewith those trees in like sort are all so trimly dressed, shew forth the Spring, in whose company the other Seasons make heere their quarters all together. And therefore Summer hath heere alreadie made yellow the Haruest in this golden field, and ripened many fruits in those Meadowes and neighbour Orchards, which are readie for the gathering. As also Autumne shewes forth her goodly clusters of ripe Grapes in those little hilles, where Noah as yet had neuer planted Vineyard. And lastly, the Winter giues repose without any sharpnesse of colde,See Saint Bafil. [...]. Paradis. for it is mitigated partly by the light of the Sunne, which at al times casts his cleare beames vpon the Horizon of this diuine Region, without estranging it selfe very much towards the South; partly by the moyste warme breath of those windes, which blow sweetely from the South, to abate the coldnesse of this Pegising ayre. So that there is a perpetuall accord of all the soure Seasons, whereof the Spring-time holdeth the preheminence. This goodly wood of high trees and thick Cops about it, are full of little birds, which make the ayre resound with a thousand sorts of warblings; and aboue all the Nitinghall, incessantly, and in many quires make melodious muficke all the yeere long. But the Painter could not represent to the eare their sweete harmony, as hee represents to the eye the Birds; and in particular, that Birde, which men call the Birde of Paradise, hanging heere in this Palme-tree, little of body, with long feathers, all ouer adorned with beautifull colours; her head yellow, her neck enameled with a gay greene, her wings spotted with a cawny purple, and the rest of her body with a pale gold colour, Citizen of the skye, faire wits excellencie; and admirable in this, that shee is alwayes in the ayre, without [Page 15]euer touching the earth, for that shee hath no feete, and when shee will rest her selfe, shee grapples about the trees, with two long feathers, made in fashion of wyer threeds; like as it is represented heere. These Lions, Elephants,S. Bas. Orat. de Parad. Aug. lib. 4 de Ciuit. D [...]i, 9.11. Tygers, and other liuing creatures that you see in diuers places, are not cruell, nor furious, but gentle and obedient; and therefore Eue had not any feare of them, no more then Adam her husband, who walked neere them in coasting these woods.
But that which is most exquisite and admirable in this Garden. is the Tree of Life, or of Liues, according to the Hebrew word, planted in the middest of the others, so called, because the fruite thereof is of such vertue, that it cannot onely nourish the body for a time, as other fruites do, but also repaire all defecteousnesse, and giue it strength and vigour of life, to make it perdurable and immortall. And as God hath made in man an Abreuiation of all other creatures; euen so hath he comprised in this Tree, the vertues and perfections of all other Plants. And I beleeue it to be that Nectar and Ambrosia, called also Nepenthes, Ambrosia and Nectar. Nepenthes. Moly. Plin. lib. 25. cap. 4. and Moly, which the ancient Poets inuoluing the truth in fables, affirme to haue force to make young againe, to preserue from death, and to driue away all cause of griefe and discontentment.
The first Tree which you see on the left-hand towards the West, is the Tree of Knowledg of good and euill, loaden with Apples, faire to behold, and delitious to the taste. Eue which is there standing, beholds them with an ambitious and eager desire, and would faine bee at them, but shee is aduertised by her husband, that God had forbidden them to be eaten. The Enemy to mankinde mooued with enuy, and lying in waite for the nonce, when he perceiued her weaknesse by her curious beholding, tooke occasion to seduce her; and cloathed with the body of a Serpent, a craftie subtill creature, qua [...]ities agreeing to this Deceiuer, by many compasses and windings about the Tree hauing [Page 16]now gotten vp, began from aboue to speake with her, and perswade her to take thereof: the poore foole being easily perswaded, falls vpon the fruite, and begins to [...]ate, neuer doubting any deceit, nor fearing death it selfe, that lay hidden therein; and which is worst, shee will perswade her husband Adam to doe the like. Alas! how deare must this one bit cost him? What a deadly bit will chis be? How many wounds and deathes shall he swallow downe with this one morsell? Ah good mother, lend not your eare to this wicked Abuser, who for his reuolt is newly cast downe from heauen, and being now full of rage and fury, seekes nothing on the earth, but your confusion. Keepe you, for Gods sake, from touching these Apples, which are onely forbidden you, among so much other daintie fruites, set before you on the spacious table of this delightfull Garden. Offend not for a little pleasure of your tongue, the Maiesty of a Lord so bountifull and liberall, as he hath been vnto you. But if you desire to eat some fruit, which is indeed most exquisite and diuine, lift vp your hand to this Tree of Life, and not to that of death, and kill not your selfe with all your race in you, by this enormous crime of foule ingratitude, for the committing whereof you haue so small occasion.
1. THE CHVRCH OF GOD LIVELY set foorth in earthly Paradise.
GOD teacheth vs celestiall things by terestriall, and spirituall, by those that are corporall. This faire Garden, which hath beene heere before represented, according to the Historie of Moses, by two diuers Pictures, the one seruing for the eye, the other for the eare, is a Figure [Page 17]of the Church of God;Cant. 4. Isay 51.61. A [...]. 2. which the Scripture calleth sometime a Garden, sometime a Vineyard planted by the hand of the Almightie. And truely, if this faire earthly place figured some dwelling, it could figure none more reasonably then that, where God raignes,S. Greg. 5. Cant. 4. S. Aug. lib. 8. de Genes. ad lit. c. [...] and workes after a singular manner, and where his children are diuinely nourished, which is his Church. A heauenly habitation of men, and truely eleuated aboue the earth, for so much as the desires of those Saints, of whom it is cornposed, dwell in heauen. An abode of spirituall delights, the true Pallace and proper Mansion of the children of God.S. A [...]g. de Ciuitate Dei. lib. 13. cap. 21. S. Augustine hauing proued that this Garden had his being in a corporall place, and such a one, according to the literall sense, as Moses hath described, he declareth of what it was the Figure, and saith, That Paradise is the life of good people; the foure Flouds, the foure Cardinall Ʋertues, to wit, Wisdome, Fortitude, Temperance, lustice; the Trees the Artes; and the fruits of the Trees the workes of good men; the Tree of Life, Wisdome the mother of all goodnesse; the Tree of Knowledge of good and euill, the experience of a Commandement broken. And he addes (which is more remarkable) a second signification; That all these things may be vnderstood of the Church, for to be the better receiued, as signes propheticall of things to come. The Church then is a Paradise, so called in the booke of the Canticles; the foure Flouds are the foure Euangelists; C [...]nt. [...]. the fruits of the Trees are good workes; the Tree of Life, is the Holy of Holies, Iesus Christ; the Tree of Knowledge of good and euill, the free Ithertie of the will: S. Aug. lib. de Ciuit. cap. 21. So Saint Augustine allegorizing vpon this Historie of the earthly Paradise.
2. OF THE GIFTS, AND EXCELLENT qualities of the Church described in the patterne of earthly Paradise.
IN the Church then may bee seene spiritually, all that which corporally was contained in the Garden of Pleasure. Shee is situated towards the East; for shee is alwaies turned towards Iesus Christ, the true Orient, and so called, because he is the East, which shee alwayes beholds, adores,Zach. 9.11. contemplates, loues, and admires. In signe whereof, the materiall Temples of Christians are turned to the East: whereas the Temple of the Iewes looked towards the West. In her is to be seene the accord of the foure Euangelists, foundations and springs of our faith, as the foure Elements, and the foure vniuersall Flouds of this spirituall Garden: The Sunne of Iustice, which is God, shineth heere alwayes; by the bright beame of his truth, Sacrament, Baptisme, Confirmation, Penance, and the rest; the Vertues, Faith, Hope, and Charitie; and other like qualities, hold there the places of trees and plants; the holy actions of the iust are as the greenes, the flowers, the fruits, and the delitious odours thereof, the preaching of Gods Word, the Writings of the holy Fathers, and their cloquence, are the gold and pearles cast vpon the shoare, by the foure diuine Flouds of the Euangelists; the Birdes which sing in this Paradise, are the deuout soules, which in all times with heart, word and deed, sound foorth the praises of God: the Bird of Paradise, so called in particular, is euery perfect Christian, whose conuersation is alwayes in heauen, whose thoughts, desires, and workes, like vnto purple and golden feathers, are all gilded and [Page 19]inflamed with charitie; the Lions, Beares, Tygers, and other nobleliuing creatures present the Christian Kings and Potentates, who notwithstanding their greatnesse and power, obey, as the least, to the voice of our Sauiour, speaking and commanding by the Pastors and Gouernors of his Church. The Church then is a Paradise on earth, figured by the former, and is her selfe also a figure of a future Paradise, which we looke for in heauen. A Figure so much more diuine, as the delights of the soules, which are found in her, are farre more precious, and more neerely resembling true felicitie, then the corporall gifts contained in that earthly Garden, which was prepared for the first Adam. Come we now to the Tree of Life, the ornament of this Paradise, and the prope [...] subiect of our present discourse.
3. THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE Altar, figured by the Tree of Life.
THe Tree, and the fruite of Life,Paschasius lib. 1. de corp. Domini. cap. 7. Philo Iud. de planct. Noe ex Platone. planted in the midst of earthly Paradise, was a Figure of Iesus Christ, and of the Sacrament of his body. Man is a Tree, saith Philo the Iew, after Plato; but a celestiall Tree, and turned vp-side downe; for earthly trees haue their heads fixed in the ground, to wit, their roote; Man contrariwise hath his lifted vp to heauen: he is then a diuine heauenly Tree.Mat. 7.17, 12, 13. Marke 6.24. Our Sauiour oft compareth the good man to a good tree, and the wicked to an euill; and one of the blinde, which were healed by him, being asked, if hee saw any thing, answered, that he saw men, like trees, walking vpon the earth. If then this meruailous Tree were the picture of any man, or meate, what could it more worthily figure [Page 20]in the Church of God, then Iesus Christ, God and Man, and his body, the most diuine meate of all? But the better to know the correspondencie of this Picture to the truth, we ought to note the draughts or lines of the olde mystery, and so compare them with the qualities of the new.
4. RESEMBLANCES OF THE TREE of Life, to the holy Sacrament of the Alter.
THe portraitures, and lineaments of the resemblances, and likenesse, that is betweene our Sacrament and the Tree of Life, are these that follow. The Tree of Life was the Tree of Trees, that is to say, the collection of the vertue of all trees and plants, as man of all creatures, and the Sunne of all lights: the body of Iesus Christ also, is the most noble of all bodies, the rich storehouse of all vertues, and the treasure of the Diuinitie it selfe; conceiued in Virgin earth by the worke of the holy Spirit, and borne of a Virgin; a Body, wherein dwelleth truely the fulnesse of all goodnesse.S. Aug. lib. 1. cont. aduers. legis. cap. 18. The Sacrament also of this body, is the collection of all the ancient Sacraments and Sacrifices, and for this cause, Sacrament of Sacraments, and Sacrifice of Sacrifices; as the Tree of Life was the Tree of Trees, and the Fruite of Fruites; Sacrament, truely planted in the midst of the Church, that is to say, lifted vp to a most noble height amongst the other celestiall mysteries; as the Tree of Life was planted in the midst and most eminent place of the Garden, among the other Trees.
The Tree of Life was ordained, not to nourish the body by little and little, as did the other fruits, but for to repaire [Page 21]all the defects thereof at once, to render it vigorous, to giue it a perfect life without end, and to nourish it in the highest degree, that a body can possibly be nourished. Even so the body of our Sauiour is left in refection to his Church, not to sustaine vs after the fashion of corruptible meates, which are conuerted into the substance of our bodies, but rather to conuert our bodies into it, imprinting in them his diuine qualities, and giuing them a liuing spring of immortalitie; according to that which our Sauiour said, Hee that eateth this bread shall liue eternally: Ioan. 6.51.44. Hee that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, bee hath life eternall, and I will raise bins vp in the last day.
The tree of life was no where to bee found, but onely within the inclosed earthily Paradise; neither was there any more then one alone; the Sacrifice also, and Sacrament of the body of our Sauiour is not made, but in his Church, by such as are lawfully called thereunto; and if it be found amongst Heretikes, they haue it from the Church; and it is euery where one selfe-same body, and not many; so as there is no profitable Sacrament of this precious meate, neither any Tree of Life in the assemblies of Heretikes, no more then in that of the Paynims; and if they carry it out of the Church with them, and take it, being Infidels, it is to their damnation, because they are foorth of the holy Church, the true and onely earthly Paradise, in which is planted the Tree of Life for the children of God.Exod. 12. S. Aug. Serm. de Temp. 181. c. 12. The Lambe (saith Saint Augustine) is sacrificed in one onely house, for that the true Sacrifice of the Redeemer is sacrificed in one Catholike Church; the flesh of which the Law forbids to bee carried forth, for so much as wee must not cast to dogges that, which is holy.
The Tree of Life was prepared for meate vnto Adam, no longer then hee remained in state of Innocencie, and therefore, after he had sinned, hee was excluded from it: which depriuing him thereof, was Gods Iustice and Mercy together; Iustice, because that sinfull man, merited by [Page 22]his disobedience to be depriued of the vse of that fruit which was reserued, for the reward of his obedience, saith Saint Chrysostome and Theodoret. S. Chrysost. hom. [...] Gen. 18. The [...]d. [...]. 126. in Gen. Mercy, for that hauing been condemned to many miseries, if he had eaten, he had bin made immortall, and so immortally miserable vpon the earth; whereas in liuing but a little time, his misery is so much shortned.Tren l. 3. c. 37. S. Greg. Naz. [...] at. 2. de Pasch. Wherefore, saith Saint Gregory Nazianzen, after Saint Ireneus, his punishment is turned into mercy; for if he had tasted of this fruit, his life had become immortall, and his euils endlesse. And euen so the fruit of our Sacrament is also prepared for those, which haue a cleane soule; so that if any one take it with conscience of mortall sinne, he takes death, and puts himselfe in danger to be eternally miserable. This is it which Saint Paul saith.1. Cor. 11.27. Whosoeuer shall eate and shall drinke the Chalice of our Lord vnworthily, hee shall bee guiltie of the body and bloud of our Lord: and for that cause let euery one proue himselfe, and so eate of this bread, and drinke of this Chalice; for whosoeuer eates and drinkes vnworthily, he eates and drinkes his owne condemnation, not discerning the body of our Lord. He exaggerates the greatnesse of the crime, and threatens the criminals by great and piercing words, to make euery Christian attentiue and wary, that he do his endeauour to prepare himselfe worthily to the eating of this bread; and herewith he sheweth, in what consisteth the meanes to make this preparation, which is by cleansing the soule by an holy confession of all the sinnes, which we can remember; in doing penance, and making satisfaction for the same: for this the examining, and proouing, of which he speaketh;S. Chrysost, hom. 24. in 1. Cor. hom. 3. ep. Ephes. S. Amb. lib. 6. in Luc. c. 37. S. Cyp. l. 3. ep. 14. S. Aug. tract. 16. in Ioan. and that he commands, is no other thing then this, as Saint Chrysostome, Saint Ambrose, Saint Cyprian, Saint Augustine, and all the holy Fathers haue explaned. To this purpose said Saint Iohn, Blessed are those which wash their robes to the end that their strength be in the wood of life; that is to say, happy are those, which doe penance, and cleause themselues of all their sinne,Apoc. 12. to the end that they [Page 23]may worthily participate the fruite of this diuine Sacrament, the Tree planted in the Church of God, for the attaining of life eternall.
5. OF THE EXCELLENCIE OF THE HOly Sacrament of the Altar, farre aboue the Tree of Life.
THe likenesse of the Tree of Life, with our Sacrament, makes vs to admire the wisdome and power of God, who had both knowledge and power to exhibite so diuine a portraiture of this most excellent Sacrament; but if we contemplate the difference, and the excellencie of the one so farre aboue the other; we shall more admire his vnmeasurable liberalitie towards vs. The difference is first in this, that the Tree of Life was but an earthly body, and corruptible, brought foorth and nourished by the earth, insensible, after the manner of other created things, quickned with the life of a plant, hauing neither sense nor discourse. Our Tree of Life is an immortall body, celestiall and diuine, engendered in the wombe of a Virgin, by the worke of the holy Ghost; quickned by an intellectuall soule, carrying the Image and likenesse of God, expressed therein with the most liuely and compleate draughts of perfection and beauty, that euer humane soule enioyed; so that if the working hand of the Creator shew it selfe admirable in the common Fabricke of mans body, what tongue shall be able to tell, what spirit to comprehend, the beauty of the bodie of his Sonne? Or so much as of that earth out of which he brought foorth, and with which he nourished this body, which was the holy body of the Virgin Mary. O deified body of the Sonne! O di [...]i [...]e body [Page 24]of the Mother! O fruitfull Virgin aboue all mothers! O chast Mother aboue all virgins, hauing engendered such a Sonne! O heauenly earth; true earth of theliuing; paterne of the Church; Garden of God, infinitely more noble then this first earthly Paradise! Virgin diuinely and truely fruitfull, which hast brought forth a Tree of so precious fruit, surpassing in goodnesse and beauty al the fruits of the earth! O the bountifull liberality of him that gaue it!
6. THE BODY OF THE SAVIOVR, NOVrishment of the soule, and cause of the glorious resurrection of the body.
THe second difference betweene our Sacrament and the Tree of Life, is, that this Tree was onely for the body, to make it immortall, and to preserue it from death. Our Tree of Life is also for the soule, which it beautifieth, nourisheth, and maketh sat with celestiall and diuine vertues; and besides, it imparts much more to the body, then did the other; for it disposeth it not onely to immortality, but also to a glorious resurrection; and therefore it is, without comparison, more worthy to be called Tree of Liues, then the other to be termed the Tree of Life; for this giues three liues, the life of grace to the soule, the corporal life to the body; & to both the life of glory; prerogatiues most diuine, and alone proper to the body of the Son of God; for although the heauens, the starres, and other naturall bodies furnish the soule with some spirituall nourishment, seruing her for an obiect to contemplate their fiame and beauty, and to feed and refresh her with the knowledge of their natures, it is notwithstanding a farre [Page 25]off, & by imagination alone, wheras this deified body marieth it selfe vnto her by a contracted knot of celestiall and diuine loue, and being really present with her, imprinteth in her his qualities of grace and glory, which no other naturall body can do, it being aboue their force and vertue, and reserued to the onely body of the Master of Nature.
7. THE SACRAMENT OF THE BODY of the Sonne of God, Tree of all the earth.
FInally, the first Tree of Life had for her onely and last dwelling the earth, and that for a little time, and in one parcell alone. It may be it had been multiplied in many quarters, if that man had perseuered constant in his first innocency. But the second is in many places of the earth continuing alwayes one, and abideth not for a little time, but remaine in heauen for euer: for on earth, as contained in this Sacrament, it feedeth the children of God during their peregrination, in whatsoeuer coast of the world they be dispersed; and to them it is and shall be the high obiect and eternall meate of felicitie in proper forme and cleare vision of glory, when the soule implunged, as it were, in the profound contemplation and loue of his God, shall enioy to the full, the riches of his Diuinity, and the body cloathed with immortality and honor, shall see and admire with corporall eyes, the wonderfull glory of that body, by which it was redeemed.
8. CERTAINE SPIRITVALL ASPIRATIons of the soule, desiring the cleare vision of the body of our Sauiour, and a giuing thankes for the same.
O Good Iesus, when shall the Sunne of that day shine, wherein we shall openly see this bright body of thy holy humanitie, which yet we heere behold by faith, hidden in the depth of this profound mystery? when shall that season be, in which we shall enioy with full libertie, this Tree of selicitie, alwayes youthfull, greene, flourishing and bearing fruit; planted within the inclosure of the celestiall Paradise, in the Land of the Liuing. A Land in which the Orient-Sunne shineth perpetually, causing an euerlasting Spring to abound with the Autumne fruites of immortalitie, watred with delicate riuers of pure delights, ennobled with all sorts of beauty, inhabited with diuine spirits; Habitation of honor, felicity and peace euerlasting. When, O sweete Iesus, shall we be in possession of this happinesse? thou knowest when, O Lord, from whom nothing can be hid: and thou alone hast the cleare knowledge hereof; we haue nothing but faithfull hope, and know no more thereof, then that which the mouth of thy deare Spouse hath tould vs. This shall be, when thou shalt please. This shall be, when the decree of thy wise mercie shall haue put an end to all our misery, and the tearme of our mortall life, shall giue beginning to that, which knoweth neither death, nor ending. This shall be then, when farre from all griefe, we shall reioyce with the fulnesse of all goodnesse in thee, and by thee, eternally happie: But in the meane while, O Soueraigne Creator, we haue an [Page 27]eternall oblation to thy infinite bountie, that prepared for our first Father and vs, the diuine benefite of that Tree, which was to haue been a preseruatiue from death, and a soueraigne electuary of immortality, with a thousand other goods for the sustenance, & pleasure of the life of our body. And if he receiued not the fruitfull vse of this Tree, it was his owne most faultie ingratitude, no lesse enormious, then thy liberality was great towards him; and the practise thereof so much the greater, that thou wast not hindered from conferring so great a benefit vpon him, although thou didst foresee that he would offend thee, and so depriue himselfe by his owne crime, of this comfort.
Much more ought we to thanke thee, that thou hast giuen vs in the Law of Grace a Sacrament of Life, infinitly better then the Tree of Life; for what comparison is there betweene thy celestiall body, and the wood of earthly Paradise? betweene the price of a body, which hath redeemed all the world; and a Tree, that is not the thousandth part of the world? betweene the excellency of the body, in which inhabites the fountaine of life, and the fruit, in which remaines onely but a part of life? between the vertue of a deified body, bearing God, and being vpheld of God: and a liuely plant of God, hauing in it selfe but the vertue of a mortall creature? What is then thy bountie (O mercifull Lord)? and who could euer imagine, that after hauing been so grieuously offended of men, and hauing iustly depriued them of the vse of this first fruit, thou wouldest so mercifully substitute another, which so infinitely surpassed the former in all good qualities? and who could be so good, and so liberall, but thou which art selfe goodnesse and liberalitie without measure, or end? be blessed, O Lord, for thy gifts, and since without end thou art sweet and gratious, giue vs yet meanes and grace to praise thee, thanke thee, and serue thee, with all the forces of our soule, euen till the last breath of our life and so holily to make an end of our pilgrimage in this o [...] [Page 28]mortall race, strengthned with the viaticum of the precious Sacrament of thy body, that one day we may eternally enioy the fruit of life, which thou hast prepared in heauen, to be meate and nutriment of euerlasting happinesse, for thy beloued.
THE SECOND PICTVRE. THE SACRIFICE OF ABEL.
The Description.
SIlence, masters, and attention,Genes. 4. [...]. wel to pierce into the draughts and the sense of this sacred Picture, to learne, how we ought to make Sacrifice to God, and to yeeld him faithfull homage. ABEL, first shepheard, and first iust of the children of Adam, and first Priest of the Law of Nature, offereth Sacrifice to the diuine Maiestie: The Altar is prepared by nature, without arte; for the world is but new borne, there are not yet any builders, or houses amongst mortall men: the Priest is also cloathed simply, after the fashion of Adam his Father, halfe naked, and couered onely with a sheepes skinne, but the offering is a choise one, and culled for the best, that he could choose in all his flocke, but the heart of the Offerer is yet much better; you reade his profound deuotion and humilitie in the posture of his body, he prayeth vpon his knees bowed to the earth; his eyes weeping, and cast vp towards heauen; his mouth modestly open, pronouncing the praises of God, his armes and hands moderately lifted vp, imploring his diuine mercy, and the whole composition of his sweete and gratious visage, witnesseth his godlinesse, his faith, his hope, his charitie, and other diuine vertues of his soule, with which he offered both the Sacrifice, and himselfe to his Creator: so as the heart of the Offerer, and the sweet smell of the Offering ascended euen to the heauens;S. Cyprian serm [...] de Natiuitate. from whence, as you see, God makes descend his fier, inflaming the ayre, and lighting vpon the Altar, to deuour the Burnt-offering in signe that it is very [Page 30]acceptable in his sight. It is not so in Caine, the older brother of Abel, who by manner of acquiting himselfe, hee cares not how, and as though he meant to deceiue his diuine Maiesty; makes his oblation on the other side, offering certaine ill-fauoured sheaues of straw, keeping the best corne for himselfe: no maruell, therefore, though it had no signe of approbation from heauen, as the Sacrifice of Abel had; whereat he is all inraged, and giueth manifest signes of his fury;Gen. [...]. [...]. see you how lumpishly he looketh? how he roules his eyes in his head, and bends his browes as a forlorne mad-man? God from aboue perceiued him well, and chidde and corrected him as a Father; shewing him, that the eye of his knowledge pierced the depth of his secret thoughts; and that an Hypocrite, thinking by faire shewes to deceiue God, deceiueth himselfe. Moreouer, that it is in his liberty to doe well, and that in doing well, he shall haue him for his friend, and well shall come of him. But Caine remaines Caine, hardened and obstinate by his fatherly correction, and turning the point of his spite against his innocent brother Abel, he now resolueth to haue his life, and goeth forthwith to put his malitious designe in execution; so that making the earth to drinke mans bloud in the beginning of the world, and the bloud of the innocent, and of his owne proper brother, he carieth the marke of the first Murtherer, first Tyrant, and first Paracide in his forehead, and becommeth the fundamentall stone of the kingdome of Satan. But thou, O meeke childe, which art attentiue to thy Sacrifice, without any suspition or thought of the enuy of thy vnnaturall brother, thou shalt be the first member of the Church of God, representing both in thy name, and in thy person, all the teares, trauels, anguishes, persecutions, and laborious courses of the iust in this life. But especially in thy Sacrifice, and in thy death, thou shalt beare the figure of the iust Messias, killed to kill our sinne, and to restore vs againe to the life of Grace. Farewell Abel, farewell the blessednesse [Page 31]of the Family of thy Father, farewell the honour of the world; thou art taken away from the earth in the flower of thy yeeres; the very Starres mourne for thee, and turne away their eyes in detestation of the foule crime of thy brother. O you tender soules, which see and heare all this, melt your hearts into griefe, and your eyes into teares with sorrow and compassion. But comfort your selues; Abel is yet aliue; Abel is now in the safety of the hand of God, he shall die no more, but liue for euer, and we shall liue with him in heauen, if we imitate him on earth; as all those that are obstinate and wicked, with obstinate Caine, must perish eternally.
1. THE SACRIFICE OF ABEL, A FIGVRE of the Crosse, and of the Eucharist.
THe Sacrifice of Abel was a manifest Figure, as well of the death of our Sauiour, as of the Sacrament and Sacrifice of his body, left for a memoriall of his death. That it was a Figure of Christs death, the Scripture teacheth, when it saith,Apoc. 13.2. That the Lambe hath been slaine from the beginning of the world, that is to say, that Iesus Christ hath been put to death from the beginning in Figure, which Figure consists not onely in the death of Abel, but also in the death of the Lambe which he offered. Tertullian, Tertul, de Car. Christi. S. Aug. lib. 15. cap. 18. & lib. 28. cont. Faust, cap. 9.11. Rup. lib. 4. Genes. 4. Ioan. 10. Saint Augustine and other Doctors declare the resemblance betweene them in this manner. Abel brother of vniust Caine; most Iust Iesus, brother of the most vniust Iewes; Abel a shepheard, Iesus Christ the Good shepheard; the sacrifice of Abel was acceptable to God; Iesus Christ by his Sacrifice appeaseth God; Abel offered his Lambe; Iesus Christ himselfe, the true Lambe; Abel was slaine through [Page 32]enuy;Marc. 15.10. Iesus Christ was crucified out of enuy; Abel was killed in the fields; Iesus Christ without the gates of Hierusalem.
That this was also the Figure of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, it is euident by the faith of the Church, which hath alwayes so beleeued, as is witnessed by the ancient Prayer shee vseth in offering that Sacrifice, which is inserted in the Canon of the Masse, and is to be found in the writings of Saint Ambrose, S. Ambros. lib. 4. de Sacr. cap 6. & in Can. Miss. in these tearmes; Ʋpon which Oblations vouchsafe to looke downe, Lord, with a gratious eye, as thou didst look downe vpon the Presents of thy iust seruant ABEL. But let vs see the workes, and lineaments of this Figure.
2. THE ACCORD OF THE FIGVRE OF the Sacrifice of ABEL, with that of the Masse.
BEhold now some draughts of this Figure, answering to the truth. The Sacrifice of Abel was the first Sacrifice of the Law of Nature: for albeit that Adam, no doubt, did Sacrifice; yet notwithstanding the Scripture makes no mention thereof, but setteth downe this of Abel, as the first; and without doubt, this was also the first in dignity. In like manner, the first Sacrifice, offered by Iesus Christ, true ABEL, is this of the Eucharist, for that on the Crosse was the second. As Abel sacrificed his first-borne Lambe; so Iesus Christ offereth in the Eucharist, the First-borne of his Father, and of his Mother, and First-borne amongst many brethren. As Abel, a little after he had sacrificed, was led by his brother out of the house, and by him put to death. So our most happy Sauiour, after that he had offered his first Sacrifice, was made prisoner, and [Page 33]the morrow after was led out of the Citie of Hierusalem to Mount Caluary, and there crucified. The Sacrifice of Abel was pleasing, by reason of the innocency and piety of the Offerer: the Sacrifice of the Eucharist is alwayes pleasing to God, by reason of his Beloned Sonne, in whom he is well pleased: for it is he which is alwayes the first and principall Offerer in the Masse, as he is also the principall agent in all the other Sacraments; for as it is he, which makes his Body; it is he also, that Baptiseth; it is he that Confirmeth; it is he that Absolueth vs from our sinnes, and which doth all the rest; the Priest being no more but his Vicar and Instrument therein: but the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, in one thing, farre excelleth the other of ABEL, because it is an Offering gratefull of it selfe to God, for it is Iesus Christ himselfe; it is he, which is the Offerer, and Offering together.
Finally, the Sacrifice of ABEL containes alone three Sorts of Sacrifices, which after were instituted by God in the Law of Moses, as it shall be shewed in the Type of Melchisedech; which are the Holocaust, the Hoste Pacificall, and the Hoste Propitiatory. In the first, all the Offering was burnt, and offered directly to the honor of God, in acknowledgement of the homage, which wee owe to his diuine Maiesty. The second was offered in giuing thankes, and in signe of a ioyfull vnion and alliance betweene the Creator and the creature. The third was offered to obtaine remission of sinnes. These three sorts were in the Sacrifice of ABEL, and are found clearely in the Sacrament of the Masse; for all is offered to God, and to his honor. In it, is a thankesgiuing of the highest degree, by a Returne, as it were, made vnto him of the most excellent gift, that euer he bestowed, and therefore it is called the Eucharist; by it we haue Propitiation, for finnes by it are pardoned. As for the Sacrifice of the Crosse, although it was truely an Holocaust, and vertually a thanksgiuing to God, yet was it properly Propitiatory; and [Page 34]therefore the Scripture assigning the cause, wherefore Iesus Christ died,Rom. 4 25. 1. Cor. 15.3. mentioneth alwayes sinne; He was deliuered (saith Saint Paul) for our sinnes, and often elsewhere; it is then Propitiatory. The Sacrifice of ABEL therefore containing the three fore-named sorts of Sacrifices, was an expresse Figure of the Eucharist, and so you may behold how the truth hath accomplished the ancient Figure.
Of two sorts of Sacrificers.
BEsides the proper Sacrifices which are made by Priests and ordained Officers, with such Oblations, and Presents, as Abel and Caine did offer vpon the Altar of stone: there are other, called also Sacrifices, in a more ample signification of the word Sacrifice, which are the workes of vertue, as of Faith, Hope, Charity, Prayers, Almes, Fasting, Mercy, Teares, good Desires, and other actions of pietie, that not onely Priests, but euery one ought to offer on the Altar of his soule, after the fashion of ABEL, in innocencie and sincerity, and (in a word) to offer himselfe also, as ABEL offered himselfe, taking from him the paterne of a perfect Sacrificer. Saint Cyprian speaking of Christian Sacrifices;S. Cyprian. de [...]ra. Domi. ABEL (saith he) innocent and iust, sacrificing to God with puritie, teacheth others, that they ought to come to the Altar with the feare of God, and simplicitie of heart. S. Ambros. de Ord. Dominic. Incar. cap. 1. And Saint Ambrose. ABEL offered sacrifices of the first-borne of his flocke, teaching vs thereby, that the Presents of the earth please not God; but onely those, in whom shined the grace of diuine mystery.
But as for Caine, he is a patterne and example of the wicked: he offered negligently by way of acquitance; deceitfully giuing of the worst; and thinking to deceiue God: so doe peruerse men, after his imitation, offer alwayes the worst vpon the Altar of God; the worst corne, the worst grapes, for their Tithes; the worst bread for their [Page 35]almes; their worst children to the Church, for men of the Cleargie; and this, not for the honor and glory of God, but for the vanity of the world, for particular interest, and temporall commoditie. Such Sacrificers are imitators of Caine, and partakers of his crime, and shall be contemned of God, and be made companions of his paine.
3. GOD PERMITS EVILL, TO DRAW good foorth of it for his glory, and the profit of his children.
BVt Abel was slaine by his brother Caine; what is, O Lord, the secret of thy prouidence in this permission? How hast thou endured, that thy first Iust, first Sacrificer, first faithfull seruant in thy house, should be so vniustly oppressed, and that the enuious hath had the vpper hand against the innocent? Such a demaund mans heart might make at the first view, admiring the iudgements of God, which he doth not vnderstand. But we must know that God permitteth nothing, which is not holy, and honorable to his Maiesty; he doth then permit, that the vniust oppresse the innocent, for two principall reasons; of which the first is taken from his wisdome, which requires, that Caine should be left in his liberty, working after the nature of man, as the other creatures do according to theirs: Gods will is, that the fier doe heate necessarily; that the water moysten necessarily; and so of the rest, of other like creatures. But that man, made according to the Image and likenesse of his Maker, should haue freedome and libertie in his actions, like vnto him, and therefore hath bestowed a free-will vpon him,Eccles. 15.17. and hath set before him water and fier, permitting him to stretch foorth his hand, to [Page 36]which he will; with this charge, that if he choose Vertue, he shall haue reward; if he transgresse his Lawes, he shall cary his punishment. This is it, that God said to Caine a little before,Genes. 4.6.7. If thou doe well, shalt thou not receiue good? and if thou doe euill, thy sinne, shall it not be also before the doore; but thy appetite shall bee in thy power, and thou shalt rule it. Without this liberty, Man should not be man, but a beast, working not with election and choise, but by force of nature, as a horse; and if God should binde the armes of the wicked, men should not be able to know the good from the bad. He suffered then Caine to kill his brother, for to demonstrate his wisdome, permitting sice working to a free creature; as by the selfe-same wisdome, a little before, he had suffered Adam to transgresse his Commandements, and to giue himself and all his race a deadly blow, because he had created him with such freedome. The second reason wherefore he suffered this murther, as many other [...]uils, is drawne from his power and bounty; his power can turne to good all the euill which is done by his permission, and his bounty will; and therefore he permits it. Men ought neuer to permit euill, if they can hinder it; for they are not all powerfull to repaire it, being done; but God permits it, because he can draw profit from it. Vpon which, [...]. Aug. lib. de [...]iuit. cap. 8. excellently saith Saint Augustine, It hath bin agreeable to the omnipotencie of God, to permit euils comming from free-will: for his almighty bounty is so great, that he can doe no ill, be it in pardoning the euill done, be it in the healing of it, be it in turning it to the profit of the iust be it in reuenging the same by iust punishment. And a little after, There is none of the better or more mightie power, then he, which not doing any ill, turnes the euillinto good, and drawes profit from it. In another place giuing the reason, wherefore God did permit the Angels to fall;S. Aug. lib. 22. de Ciuit. cap. 1. It is (saith he) because God iudged it to be a thing more worthy his power and bounty, to draw good from an euill committed, then not to permit any euill to be done. At that time then, for this reason, he suffred Caine to doe as [Page 37]he did, and for the same reason he permitted many others as bad as he, to exercise their malice, euen to the killing of his owne proper Sonne, which was the greatest enormity that euer was committed, nay that euer could be committed or imagined: for God was put to death; the Creator, by his creature; the Father by his children; the King by his vassals, a crime which surpasseth the atrocitie of all other crimes. And yet notwithstanding, from this death, from this ignominy and enormity, his power and diuine bounty hath drawne foorth not onely his owne glory, and the honour of his Sonne, but the life and saluation of all mankinde. Which is it that Saint Augustine admireth,S. Aug. in Psal. 73. saying, How great a good hath God giuen vs, from out the euill of the Traytor Iudas? and how great good haue all the Gentiles from the sentence of the Iewes, condemning our Sauiour to death? Euen death? Euen so conuerted he the cuill which his seruants endured, to their good and honour: the death of Abel, to the profit and honor of Abel, and to the confusion of Cain: the one is made an honorable Martyr, the other became an infamous Murtherer; Abel is honoured with glory to be the first Martyr; Caine marked with the ignominy of the first Paracide; and so of other persecuted Saints, and their wicked Persecutors: They heere exercise their fury, S. Aug. lib. de Contin. cap. 6. Psal. 115. God making by them Martyrs, saith Saint AVGVSTINE: the good seeme to be neglected, but their death is protious before God, they haue been esteemed dead before the eyes of fooles, Sap. 3. but they are in pease; and the wicked which seeme to triumph, shall in the end haue their change, punished in the meane while, euen in this life. For if sinne, S. Aug. lib. de Contin. cap. 6. saith Saint AVGVSTINE, which seemes vnpunished, carry after it the paine it deserueth, so that there is no person which is not grieued to haue committed it, or if he feele not any griefe for it, he is starke blinde in soule: how then askest thou, wherefore deth God permit sinne, if sinne displease him? and I would aske of thee againe, if he punish sinne, how can sinne be pleasing to him? Saint Chrysost [...]me shewes in this very History the experience [Page 38]of the Doctrine of Saint Augustine: S. Chrysost. ep. [...]d Rom. Hom. 8. act si [...]m. Thinke (saith he) vpon this; CAINE hath committed a murther; ABEL was murthered; which of these died, he that cried, being dead, who was ABEL; the blood of whom cryed; or he that feared and trembled, which is a greater misery then death it selfe. And towards the end of his Homily, hee maketh God speake thus to CAINE, Thou hast not feared ABEL liuing, now then feare him dead; thou hadst no feare to kill him, be now in continuall feare, after thou hast killed him; liuing he feared thee, and thou wouldest not endure him; endure hurs now dead, as a terrible Lord. So sheweth he that the condition of Abel was better then that of Caine, and that it is much more desirable to suffer iniury,Plato. Seneta, and others. then to doe it; much more great vnhappinesse to commit ill, then to suffer it.
4. ABEL AN IMAGE OF THE IVST, AND CAINE of the wicked.
ABEL was the Image of the head Iesus Christ, so was he the Image of the children of God, members of this Head; and Caine contrariwise of the wicked: Abel simple, meeke, seruing God in sincerity of heart, sighing vpon the earth, without house, without possession, and altogether despising the vanity of this vaine life; called therefore ABEL, which is to say, a Breath. But Caine, a Louer of the earth, and of this present world; forward to build a Citie, calling it Enoch, from the name of his sonne, and not caring for any thing, but for the earth. Abel then was an Image of the Iust, which inhabite the earth as strangers, meditating, and seeking after their heauenly Countrey. After this manner Abraham walked as a Pilgrim vpon earth, not purchasing any thing therein, but [Page 39]onely a Tombe for him and his;Matth. 8.20. Luc. 9.15. and the Sonne of God goes yet more forward, for he had not in his life any place where to rest his head, and was faine to borrow his Sepulcher when he died. Courage then Christian soules, redeemed from earth to inherite heauen, know your condition to be the same with that of your Ancestors, and of our Sauiour himselfe: with holy sighes lament your miseries in this vaile of teares, patiently bearing your afflictions; your first brother so liued, and so died; your Redeemer and Head so trauailed, and so left you his life; lift vp your eyes to heauen, which is your owne Citie, this earth is not for you, neither her honors nor delights for you; she with her delights and honors, is all for her owne children. Children of the earth, Inhabitants of the earth, and Burgesses of the City of Caine; beare not enuy to their prosperitie, which is a smoake that passeth in a moment, and like vnto smoake will vanish into nothing: but giue immortall thankes to God, who hath called you to the fruition of his immortall riches; and whilest that you are in the region of death, thinke on the true perdurable life; and liuing as children of God, fixe your hearts vpon God, and place your hopes vpon the treasure and honor of his eternity.
THE THIRD PICTVRE. THE SACRIFICE OF MELCHISEDECH.
The Description.
MELCHISEDECH, King of Salem,Genes. 14. [...]. and great Priest of the most high God, being aduertised that Abraham had gained a meruailous victory ouer foure victorious kings, and that he came marching towards him with his troupes; he goes forth of the Citie, accompanied with his Clergie and Nobility, the vulger people following, to meete him, and to entertaine him with a Sacrifice of thankesgiuing, and to bestow vpon him his solemne blessing. Behold, he is arriued at the place, where he encounters Abraham himselfe, adorned with the attyre of a great King and chiefe Priest, full of Maiesty in his Person, and in his gesture. Behold his reuerend cariage, the sweetnesse of his countenance, and the grauity of his visage; some haue thought that he was Sern, Noabs son; but the Scripture makes not any mention of his beginning, no nor of his natiuity, and death, being otherwise accustomed to note very diligently the Genealogies, Houses, and Pedegrees of Illustrious persons; which makes vs coniecture, that some high secret is hidden within the shadow of this mysticall silence, concerning his discent.
The ornament which he weareth on his head, is a Miter of twisted Cypers, wouen of diuers colours; high and round like a Coife, lined with cloath of gold; fastned with a Saphire in the forme of an Akorne, in which is tyed a ribon of azure-Cypers, mouing in the ayre behinde. Vpon his fore-head he hath a thinne plate of fine gold, bound with a band of Iacint, which is in stead of a Royall Diadem; [Page 42]and vpon the plate is ingrauen the great name of God. His first Roabe, next to his body, reaching downe to his feete, is an Albe of fine linnen cloath; the Tunicle which is next aboue it, shorter by a foote, is all of curled Hyacinth, embrodered round about with a border of n [...]edle-worke, and girt to his reines with a golden girdle all embrodered. Of which stuffe and fashion also is made the garment, which couers his shoulders, after the fashion of a gorget, fastned before his breast with three Carbuncles, cut into the fashion of buttons, and set in gold. The Altar erected, and the bread and wine being set vponit, the Sacrifice begunne. Abraham is lighted off his horse, as also the most part of his people; his vpper garment is of Buffe-leather, gilt and enriched with diuers figures; from which kinde of garment is come the fashion of our Corcelets, of iron; the peeces that couer his armes, thighes, and legges, as you see well fashioned in the ioynts, with figured bosses, are all of the same stuffe. He weares on his head an admirable Helmet, artificially grauen, enriched with gold, and adorned with a plume of many rare feathers. His Courtle-axe hangs on his left side, fastened to a belt, after the manner of a skarfe. He kisseth his right hand in signe of Honor; with his left hand he holds his Leadingstaffe: one of his Squires carrieth his Target; another holds his horse by the bridle in the wing of the first Squadron: this Horse, as you see, is of a bright bay colour, bearing himselfe vpon that foote, which is to the side of the Mounter, and lifting vp the other; and shewes by the faire fashion of all his body, that he is well broken, and well mannaged, as worthy to be ridden by so great a Captaine. Behold a while his little head, his Rats eares pricking vp, his forehead leane and large, marked with a starre right in the midst, his necke of a reasonable length, slender at the setting on of the head, big towards the brest, and sweetly bowing in the middle: the brest round and large, and the crouper in proportion: the tayle and the mayne long; behold [Page 43]how in champing proudly the bridle, he casts a white foame, opening his swelling nosthrells, and shewing the vermillion within them: see how he beates the earth with his right foote, holding it in the ayre, as if hee meant to make a little legge: and obserue, I pray you, how excellently the Painter hath drawne his smooth hoofes, well rounded and large, with the garlands fine and hairie: his pasternes short, and some what vpright; his tufted ioynts bigge and strong, and well set together: vpon his backe he hath nothing, but a cushen, fastened with little girthes, and a crouper; without stirrops, for they were not yet in vse, no more then saddles of warre.
The people, of whom this first Squadron was composed, are the three hundred and eighteene men of armes, seruants borne in the house of Abraham, they are diuersly armed, some with Corslets, like their Captaine, howbeit they are not so richly wrought, others with Coates of made, hauing sleeues and gorgets; others with Coate-armour of iron, cut or lashed; the peeces for the face, legs, and shooes are made of plated steele; and all haue their Fawchions hanging at their neckes in skarfes, and Gauntlets on their hands. With these he miraculously defeated thearmy of the foure Assyrian Kings, who a little before had ouercome in battaile fiue other Kings, to wit, the King of Sodome, of Gomor, of Adama, of Seboim,Genes. 14.8. and of Baile, allied to Abraham, and they returned into their Country with their Souldiers, enriched with the spoiles of the vanquished, and chiefly of the two most wealthy Cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, which they had sacked, leading away thousands of prisoners with them; among whom was Lot, nephew to Abraham, with all his Family. Thus being proud of their successe, they went disbanded without order of warre, thinking of nothing but of drink and sleeping. Abraham pierced to the heart with the misfortune of his Nephew, and his other Allyes, resoluing to take reuenge, went with such speed after them, that hauing [Page 44]ouertaken the enemie the same night, hee charged them so hotly vpon the sudden, that he easily discomfited them, recouered the prisoners, and brought backe many others with a glorious victory, and with these, rich spoiles of cattell, apparell, and all sorts of wealth, which the Painter hath diuersly expressed in the taile of the forenamed Squadron. For there you see Camels and Horses, some shewing a peece of the head onely, others all the head, and others a peece of the body: likewise, there you see also Coates, Aimours, Chestes, and such like things. But you ought not to wonder, that the Souldiers haue their armes and garments bloudie, for they come fresh from the combate. These first Lords next Abraham, wearing great plumes in their gilded Helmets, enuironed with a Diadem,Gen. 14.17. are the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, who hauing gathered certaine troopes, are come to encounter him with congratulation. Abraham vsing them with all courtesie, and rendering to them not onely their people, that were prisoners, but also their goods, which they found as they were a little before, when they were taken from them; they returne Well satisfied and contented. Melchisedcch is attentiue to the Sacrifice, and makes his Offerings of Bread, and of Wine to God, praying to him most affectually,Gen. 14. heare what he saith; Blessed bee (Thou) ABRAHAM by God the highest, which created heauen and earth; and blessed be God the highest, by whose protection thy enemies are in thy hands. This laid, he blessed Abraham, and gaue to him part of the Sacrifice, as also to his people, and inuited them all, most earnestly, to his house, to refresh them, euery one thanking God with the High-Priest, and Abraham giuing him as his due, the tenth part of all the spoiles. O how many mysteries are hidden in the shadow of this Picture.
1. MELCHISEDECH FIGVRE OF our Sauiour.
MEn cannot paint foorth that, which is to come, not being able to haue the corporall sight thereof; but God, who seeth all as present, hath made the portraiture of the future Priest-hood of his Sonne, in the person of Melchisedech, and of the Eucharist in his Offering. Saint Paul writes thus, Melchisedech, (saith he) King of Salem, Hebr. 7. Priest of the mest high God, who mette Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gane Tithes of all: First indeed by interpretation the King of Iustice, and then also King of Salem, which is to say, King of Peace; without Father, without Mother, without Genealogie, hauing neither beginning of dayes, nor end of life, but likened to the Sonne of God, continueth a Priest for ener. He saith then expressely, that Melchisedech was the Figure of our Sauiour, and setteth downe many resemblances betweene them. Melchisedech was in Figure King of Iustice: Iesus Christ is the true King of Iustice, constituted Iudge of the quick and the dead; Melchisedech bearing the name, and Iesus Christ being the thing. Melchisedech King of Peace, our Sauiour the true Salomou, Prince of Peace. For it is he onely, that hath made peace betweene God and man. Melchisedech, King, and Priest of the Chanancons, and of Abraham; Iesus Christ, King of Gentiles, and of Hebrewes, descending from Abraham: hauing made of both people the building of his Church, whereof himselfe is the corner stone. Melchisedech, annoynted of God, not with a corporall Vnction, as Aaron, and the other It wish Priests, but with spirituall; [Page 46]Iesus Christ the annointed of his Father, the Holy of Holies, and the Saint of Saints. Melchisedech without Father, and without Mother, and without Genealogie, that is to say, named in the Scripture without any mention of Father or Mother, or of his lineage; not that he had no Father, nor mother, but for a mystery. The generation also of the Sonne of God is vndiscouerable, not only the eternall, but euen the temporall; for what spirit can comprehend, how he hath been begotten, and that from all eternity, of his Father? and how in time without cohabitation of man, he was borne of a perpetuall Virgin before his birth, in his birth, and after his birth. Thus then, Melchisedech, the High-Priest, was the Figure of Iesus Christ.
2. THE PRIEST-HOOD OF THE SONNE of God, figured in that of Melchisedech.
BVt the most liuely part of this resemblance, and most concerning our mystery, is that, which the Apostle puts the last, as the most perfect, saying, That the Priesthood of the Sonne of God, according to the order of MELCHISEDECH, remaines eternally: Psal. 119. which was also the Prophesie of DAVID, Our Lord hath sw [...]rne, and it shall not repent him; Thou art a Priest for euer, according to the order of MELCHISEDECH. This parcell then containeth the mystery of the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of the Eucharist, instituted by Iesus Christ in his Church, vnder the formes of bread and wine, to continue euen to the end of the world. There had been amongst men two kindes of Priesthood before the comming of our Sauiour, the one in a Sacrifice, not bloody, which offered to God gifts without effusion of blood; such was the Offering of Melchisedechs [Page 47]bread and wine; the other in bloody Sacrifices, which were of three sorts of beasts, Oxen, Weathers, or Goats; and so many kinds of Birds, Doues, Turtles, and Sparrowes; such were the Sacrifices of Aaron. The truth whereof, was accomplished and fulfilled in the Sacrifice of the Crosse, where Iesus Christ was offered once for all, in a bloody manner, and that with death, after the resemblance of the sacrificing, and Sacrifices of Aaron: and such a Sacrifice could not be iterated, for Iesus Christ could die but once. But the truth of the Priesthood and Sacrifice of Melchisedech began in the euening of the institution of the Eucharist, when our Sauiour ordained the Sacrament and Sacrifice (not bloody) of his sacred body, vnder the formes of bread and wine; this hath he continued euer since, by the mystery and seruice of our Priests, his Vicars, and shall continue so long, as the Church shall trauaile vpon the earth, he being eternally Priest, according to the order of Melchisedech, that is to say, offering continually the true bread and true wine of his body and blood, as Melchisedech offered the Figure. But wherefore is it, that this Soueraigne wisdome hath instituted the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of his body, vnder the formes of bread, and of wine? If we may be able to find out the reason, it will very much enlighten vs to see, and admire his greatnesse.
3. WHEREFORE OVR SAVIOVR HATH instituted the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of his body, vnder the formes of bread and wine.
THe supreame wisdome of Christ, hath instituted the Sacrament and Sacrifice of his body, vnder the formes of bread and wine, for many reasons, of which the most [Page 48]principall seeme to me to be these. First, because the bread and wine, sensibly and very properly set forth the nature, the profitablenesse, and the excellencie of this Sacrifice, and Sacrament. There is nothing more common, nor better knowne to vs, then bread and wine; which as they are the two most noble and proper sustenances of mans life; euen so the Sacrifice and Sacrament of the body of our Sauiour, is the most diuine food and strength of our soules and bodies. Bread and wine is very prositable and necessary in the beginning, midst, and end of repast; and the Hebrewes, vnder the word, Bread, comprehend all meat, as being the chiefe, and a companion of all other meates; and the ancient Sages haue of old called wine, the King of the banquet. [...]. 6.46. [...]. 25. [...]. 4. Our Sauiour then hath instituted the Eucharist with these two Symboles, or signes, to teach vs by them, that in the Law of Grace, the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of his body, holds the first ranke amongst all the presents of meate, that can be set vpon the table of his Altar, for to honour his Maiestie, and feede our soules withall.
4. THE BREAD AND WINE, SIGNES of the Passion of our Sauiour in his Sacrament.
THe second cause, wherefore our Sauiour hath instituted the mystery of his body in these elements, is to set before our eyes, that, which he hath endured for vs, making himselfe bread and drinke vnto vs. The corne is cast into the earth to come vp in eares, and to encrease; it dyeth to come forth, it endureth winde, haile, frost, heate and cold in the field; it is threshed in the barne-floore, ground [Page 49]in the Mill, wrought in the kneading, and baked with fire in the Ouen. The Grape carries the markes of the same torments; for after it escapeth the iniuries of the ayre, as the Corne doth; it is troden and trampled vnder feete, it is wrung in the Presse, it endures to be shut vp in the Tunne and inclosed in the caue, for to become good wine. These actions and passions are the draughts, that paint foorth to vs, the trauailes which our Sauiour hath endured, that hee might be to vs the celestiall bread and wine, which hee giueth vs in the Sacrifice and Sacrament of his body.
5. THE BREAD AND WINE IN THE Eucharist, signes of the Mysticall body of our Sauiour.
THe third cause of this institution, made in these elements, is to represent the mysticall body of the Church of Iesus Christ: for as the bread and wine is made of many cornes, and wrought into one paste: so the Church also is composed of many members, vnited vnder one head: therefore it is, that the Greekes call this Sacrament Sinoxis, that is to say, collection;S. Chrysost, hom. 24. in 1. Cor. 10. S. Aug. 26. in Ioan. and the Latines Communion, as much to say as a common vnion. For these reasons, and likenesses, our Sauiour hath instituted this mystery in bread and wine, in such sort, that the bare elements speaking without words, doe teach vs these three godly lessons; the charity of our Sauiour in nourishing vs with himselfe; his patience, in suffering for vs; and our vnion with him. Such was his diuine wisdome in this institution, that it learneth also for Doctrine.
6. THE BODY OF OVR SAVIOVR CALled Bread, and his Blood Wine.
FOr the same cause aforesaid, the Scripture calleth the body of our Sauiour Bread,Ierem. 1. and his blood Wine. Ieremie saith in the person of the Iewes, Let vs cast wood vpon his bread, that is to say, Let vs put his body on the Crosse, as the ancient Fathers haue interpreted it. Againe, Hee shall wash his stole in wine, Gen. 49.11. and his garments in the bloud of the grape; that is to say, he shall shed his bloud in abundance, figuring his bloud by the wine.1. Cor. 10.16. Saint Paul also, calling the Sacrament bread and wine, explaines it to be the body and bloud of our Sauiour.1. Cor. 11.27. Hee that shall eate (saith he) this bread, and shall drinke this Chalice vnworthily, he shall be guiltie of the body and bloud of our Lord. Ioan. 6, Our Sauiour himselfe calleth himselfe Bread, and his bloud Drinke, because he offered himselfe to his Father in Sacrifice, and giueth himselfe to men in this Sacrament, vnder the formes of bread and wine.
7. WHAT THIS SACRAMENT IS.
THe Eucharist is a Sacrifice, as was the Oblation of Abel, and both a Sacrifice and Sacrament, as was the Paschall Lambe, and many other ancient mysteries: for the body of our Sauiour, as it is offered to God in the Masse, is sacrificed; and the self-same body, as it is giuen for food [Page 51]to Christians, is a Sacrament. And heere-hence some sigures represent it onely, as it is a Sacrament, so did the Tree of Life: others, as a Sacrifice onely, so did the Oblation of Abel: others, as both a Sacrifice and a Sacrament together; and so did the Oblation of Melchisedech, the Paschall Lambe, and such like. Well then, a Sacrament is a signe and an instrument of a holy thing; so Baptisme signifies the internall and holy washing of the soule, and as an instrument effects it, if he, which receiueth it doe not hinder the same. In like manner the Eucharist containes the body and bloud of our Lord inuisibly, which feed the soule, and is also a signe thereof, by the outward materiall visible formes of bread and wine, and in this respect is a perfect Sacrament.
8. WHAT A SACRIFICE IS, AND HOW it is offered in the Masse.
THe Sacrifice taken in his proper signification, is an outward action of religion, and soueraigne honour, done to God in acknowledgement of his supreame Maiestie, by a proper officer, in offering some present, and in making some change thereof. In this manner, the offerings of beastes, and other bodies in the Law of Nature, and of Moses, were Sacrifices. And in this sense, the Eucharist also is a Sacrifice in the Law of Grace; and that of so much more excellencie aboue the former, as the bodie of the Sonne of God, offered in it, surpasseth all the other bodies, which could be presented to the diuine Maiestie. This Sacrifice is made (as hereafter we shall shew more at large) by the words of Consecration. This is my body: this is my blood, by which Iesus Christ transubstantiates the [Page 52]bread and the wine, into his body and bloud, and by the same action, hee offers it to his Father for his Church, though he vse not any formall words of oblation, as by saying, I offer thee my body; for it is enough, that he make it present vpon the Altar with that intention; for he did no more in offering the Sacrifice of the Crosse, as neither did the ancient Sacrificers in their Sacrifices. God vnderstands sufficiently the language of the heart. The Church hauing this body from the liberality of God, offers it with Iesus Christ, and by it doth honor him with homage of diuine and soueraigne whorship: shee also prayeth to him by the merits which were purchased in this body, & afterward taketh it for her food and refection. And as in olde times God gaue beasts to the Iewes, which the Iewes offered to him againe, honouring him in them, and did eate of the flesh, to participate of the Sacrifice: so hath he giuen vs the body of his Sonne, and we honor him with it, and pray vnto him, endeuoring by it, as by a rich present, to pacifie him, and to make him fauourable towards vs, and afterwards we take it for our refection; but yet without euer consuming the same, as the bodies of beasts were consumed, which could serue but once, and therefore to euery Sacrifice was required a new beast. But the body of our Sauiour is immortall, and alone sufficient to honour God, and to be the food of immortalitie to all the members of his Church,S. Aug. lib. 10. de Ciuit. cap. 6. at all times, and in all places. We haue said before, that good workes, done for God, are sometimes called Sacrifices, as Prayers, Fastings, Almes, and other actions of piety; but these are called Sacrifices, only by way of resemblance; and this kinde of Sacrifice euery one may, and ought to offer: whereas the proper and true Sacrifice cannot be offered, but by him, who is a proper and true Priest by office, such as was Melchisedech, and the Iewish Priests of olde, and now are the Priests of Christ.
9. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEENE A Sacrament and a Sacrifice.
FIrst, a Sacrament is instituted of God for the sanctification of his creature, but a Sacrifice is ordained to ho [...]ior the Creator; the one regardeth man, the other respecteth God: for albeit, that the sanctification, given by the Sacrament, redounds to the honor of God; and the action of Sacrifice to the sanctification of his creature: the proper end, notwithstanding, which a Sacrament aymes at, is to sanctifie man; and that of the Sacrifice, to doe homage vnto God; neither more nor lesse, then in a Ciuill Monarchie; Alleagiance is for the King, and the administration of lustice for the People, though administration of Iustice honor also the King, and Alleageance be profitable to the Subiect. Euen so then in the Church, a spirituall Monarchie; the Sacrament is ordained to helpe man, and the Sacrifice to honour God: What more is done in the one or the other, it is rather by consequence, then of the first intention; and therefore as a Sacrament is properly the signe, and instrument of the grace of God: so a Sacrifice especially setteth foorth the greatnesse and Maiesty of God.
Secondly, a Sacrament profits onely him, which receiueth it, being well disposed and prepared, as Baptisme sanctifieth only the baptised: the Sacrifice may profit all the world, absent, present, iust, iniust, disposed, indisposed, liuing, and departed, if they be not in deadly sinne; for though it be not directly instituted for the Sanctification of man, as hath beene said, yet notwithstanding, it openeth the do ore to the sanctification of all men, for as [Page 54]much as it pleaseth God by honor and prayer, and by this office of piety it obtaines of him mercy and grace, and new blessings of repentance, and remission of sinnes to all those, for whom it is offered. And so therefore the Sacrifice of the Masse is profitable for all those, which heare it, and for whom it is offered.
10. NO RELIGION WITHOVT Sacrifice.
AS the Church hath alwayes had Sacraments, for a meanes to sanctifie the children of God; so it hath neuer been, nor euer shall be vpon the earth without a Sacrifice. And sure great reason there is it should be so: for since that al true religiō is instituted for the soueraigne acknowledgement & seruice of God; it is necessary that in his Church, which is his Kingdome and Monarchie, there should be a publike worship of supreame honor, by which men assembled in one body, and societie, might professe their faith and dutie towards him. This worship is the Sacrifice, by which God is knowne and adored publikely, as our soueraigne Lord, Master of life and death: and Author of all our good, the most high honor, that can be giuen, proper to God, and vncommunicable to any creature, as onely due to diuine Maiestie. Wherefore a Religion without a Sacrifice, is a body without a soule, and a Monarchie without homage, or publike acknowlegement of authoritie; that is to say, without a signe of Monarchie. The Church then onely keeper of true Religion, hath euer had proper Sacrifice, and Priests appropriated by their office, to administer the same. The most famous Sacrifice in the Law of Nature, was that of bread and wine, [Page 55]offered by the High-Priest, Melchisedech; in the Law of Moses, there were many; in the Law of Grace, our Sauiour hath established this of his body; one alone in the place of all the Ancient, adumbrated by them all; and alone the most sufficient of all; as well by reason of the thing offered, which is of infinite price, as of the dignity of the Offerer, who is the Sonne of God: for the Priest is nothing but his Vicar; so as this onely Sacrifice is in estimaon aboue all those of olde, as the Sunne is aboue all the Starres. A Sacrifice most perfect, and most worthy of our Sauiour, who hath instituted it in the Law of Grace, the most perfect Monarchie that euer was, or which euer shall be, and instituted it after so noble a manner, as it is full of mystery, to wit, after the resemblance of the Sacrifice of the most noble King, and High-Priest, Melchisedech, vnder the formes of bread and wine, which he shall offer, euen vntill the end of the world by his Priests and Vicars, he himselfe remaining High-priest for euer, after the order of Melchisedech.
11. TESTIMONIES OF THE HEBREW Doctors vpon the same subiect, that is, of the Sacrifice of MELCHISEDECH.
RAbby Samuel, renowned amongst the Hebrewes,Rabby Samme [...] in Gen. speaking of this, that Melchisedech offered, saith, Hee did an act of Priest-hood, for he sacrificed bread and wine to God holy, and blessed.
Rabby Phines also, a great Hebrew Doctor:Sabby Phinee, See Gal. 1.10. In the time of the Messias all the Sacrifices shall cease, but the Sacrifice of bread and wine shall remaine alwayes, as it is written in Genesis: And Melchisedech brought foorth bread and wine. [Page 56]Melchisedech, that is to say, the King Messias, shall except out of this cessation of Sacrifices, the Sacrifice of bread and wine, as it is said in the Psalmes. Psal. 109. Thou art a Priest for euer, after the order of Melchisedech. His meaning is, that Melchisedech was the figure of Iesus Christ, who is the true Messias, and that Iesus Christ is an High-Priest for euer, according to the order of Melchisedech, instituting in his Church an eternall Sacrifice of his body and blood, vnder the formes of bread and wine, making all the other Sacrifices to cease, they being but shadowes and figures of this heere. And so wee see it to be fulfilled, since the death of our Sauiour, wherein all the bloody Sacrifices, Figures of his death, were finished, whereas contrariwise the institution of the Eucharist, which is our Masse, the Sacrifice sigured by that of Melchisedech, then tooke its first beginning.
12. TESTIMONIES OF THE ANCIENT Greeke Fathers, vpon the Figure of MELCHISEDECH.
SAint Clement. S. Clem. lib. 4. Stre. MELCHISEDECH, King of Salem, Priest of the most high God, gaue the bread and wine sanctified, in figure of the Eucharist.
Saint Chrysostome, S. Chrysost, hom. 35.36. in Gen. speaking of the same Sacrifice of MELCHISEDECH. Beholding the Figure, thinke, I pray you, vpon the truth, that is to say, if thou makest account of the Offering of Melchisedech, how much more of the Sacrament and Sacrifice of the body of our Sauiour, which is the truth, signified of old by the ancient Figure? And againe:Idem, After that MELCHISEDECH, King of Salem, had offered bread and wine (for hee was the Priest of the [Page 57]most high) ABRAHAM tooke from his hand part of that which had been offered, that is to say, he did eate and drinke of the sacrificed bread, and wine.
Theodoret, [...] Pas. 109. Idem in Gen. 4.63. hauing declared how our Sauiour had begun his Priest-hood after the order of Melchisedech, in the institution of the Sacrament of his body, addeth, Wee ha [...]e found Melchisedech, Priest and King, affirming to God not Sacrifices of beasts, deprined of reason, but of bread and wine; as if he should say, that the Priest-hood and offering of our Sauiour, is not with effusion of blood of beasts, as that of Aarons, but without killing; and that his body is giuen in Sacrifice, vnder the formes of bread and wine, according to the order of Melchisedech.
Saint IOHN DAMASCENE,S. Ioan. Dam [...] lib. 4. de Fid. cap 24. The Table of Melchisedech figured out our mysticall Table; euen as Melchisedech carried the Figure, and the Image of the true Prelate, Iesus Christ.
TMEOPHILACT, vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes,Theophil. in [...] 5. ad Heb. Psal. 109. explaning the words of the Psalmist, Thou art a Priest for euer, according to the order of Melchisedech. It is most cortaine (saith he) that this Prophecie is to be vnderstood of Iesus Christ; for it is he onely, that hath sacrificed bread and wine according to the order of Melchisedech. And a little after, He saith eternally, as well for that Iesus Christ maketh intercession for vs incessantly to his Father, as for that he is offered euery day: this Oblation is made without ceasing, by the Officers and Seruitors of God, hauing for Priest and for Sacrifice, Christ the Sauiour; it is hee that breaketh and distributeth himselfe.
13. TESTIMONIES OF THE ANCIENT Latine Fathers.
SAint CYPRIAN, S. Cyprian. l. 2. ep. 3. ad Cecil. Who hath been more Priest of the highest, then our Lord Iesus Christ, who hath offered Sacrifice to God the Father, and offers the same, that Melchisedeth did,Ioan. 6. bread and wine, to wit, his body and his bloud, for his body is the true bread, and his bloud is the true wine, and the true drinke.
Saint Hierom,S. Hieron. epist. 126. ad Euagr. S. Hieron. in ep. ad Marcel. nomine Paula, & Eustoch. scripta. giuing a reason to Euagrius, wherefore Melchisedech was compared to our Sauiour. It is (saith he) because he sacrificed not victimes of flesh and blood of beasts, but dedicated the Sacrament of Christ with bread and wine, a simple and pure sacrifice. And elsewhere, Reade Genesis, Thou shalt finde the King of Salem Prince of the Citie, who then offered in Figure of Christ, bread and wine, and dedicated the mystery of Christians in the body and bloud of our Saniour. Againe, Our mystery (the Masse) is signified by the word Order; not in imolating victimes of beastes, according to the order of Aaron; but in offering bread and wine, that is to say, the body and bloud of our Sauiour.
Saint Ambrose speaking of the Eucharist, S. Ambrel. l 5. de Sacra. cap. 1. We know (saith he) that the Figure of this Sacrament hath gone before in Abrahams time then, when Melchisedech offered Sacrifice.
Saint Augustine speaking of this Sacrifice of MELCHISEDECH: S. Aug. lib. 16. de Ciuitate Dei. cap. 22. Then first was shewed in Figure the Sacrifice, which now is offered by Christians throughout the vniuersall world.S. Aug lib. 1. Cont. Aa [...]s. [...]. cap. 20. And elsewhere, Those, that reade, know what Melchisedech brought forth, when he blessed Abraham, and are made partakers thereof; they see that through all the world such a Sacrifice is offered: And he meaneth the Sacrifice of the Masse, which is offered ouer all the world.
14. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEENE THE Sacrifice of the Crosse, and that of the Eucharist.
THe Sacrifice of the Crosse was bloudie,Of this Oblation speaketh Saint Paul, Hebr. 7.27, offered but once, in Hierusalem onely: this of the Eucharist not bloudie, it is offered, and shall be, throughout all the world, where the Church is dispersed, and that euen to the end of the world. That of the Crosse is the chiefe cause of our good, the treasure and the generall exchequer of our redemption, and the fountaine of our sanctification: for by this death our Sauiour hath purchased vs all the good vnlesse we hinder or neglect it: the Sacrifice of the Masse, is the instrument to apply the fruit of all these purchased goods vnto vs; it is the key, which opens this treasure; it is the meanes to haue part of this substance, and the bucket to draw vp from the spring of this fountaine, where with to cleanse vs: and as when some one is washed in Baptisine, or absolued in Penance, the merite of the Crosse flowes into him or her, that is baptised or absolued from sinne, by meanes of these Sacraments: euen so the fruit of the Crosse is distributed by the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, to all those, which offer it, and for whom it is offered; and it is the same body, that was offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse; and that which is offered on the Altar in the Church, and giuen for food of immortalitie to all those, which will receiue it. The Masse then, celebrating this Mystery, makes the Sacrament and Sacrifice of the body of our Saniour, and in them both is (as of olde, the ancient Sacraments and Sacrifices were) an instrument to make vs participate the merit of the Passion of our Sauiour; [Page 60]but so much more efficatious and precious, as Iesus Christ, who is in it the Priest, and the offering (for the man is but the Vicar) surpasseth in dignity the ancient Priests, and their earthly victimes. This is the difference betweene the Sacrifice of the Crosse and that of the Masse, and the glory of God is manifested diuersly thereby, in two diuers mysteries.
15. THE DIFFERENCE OF THE SACRIfice of Melchisedech, and of this of the Masse.
THe Sacrifice of Melchisedech, was but the shadow and the Figure; this of the Masse, the body, and the truth. In that there was nothing but bread and wine, terrestriall, materiall, and insensitiue, nourishing nothing but the body, and that for a little time; in this there is offered the body and bloud of our Sauiour, the true bread, and the true drinke, bread of heauen, bread of life, immortall and glorious diuine bread, and diuine flesh, without the substance of any materiall bread, both meate and drinke together, giuing the nourishment of grace to the soule, and the sprout of immortalitie to the body, and to both of them the fruit of all blessednesse. In that God shewed his diuine wisdome, figuring with his prouident pensill the future Priest-hood of his Sonne, in the person of Melchisedech: and the Sacrifice of the body of his Sonne, in the Sacrifice of Melchisedech. But in this heere hee hath left markes infinitely more cleare of his omnipotencie, wisdome, and boundy; changing the hidden substance of bread into that of his body, without changing the forme of the outward accidents, offering himselfe by himselfe, [Page 61]being at one instant together, the Sacrificer, and the thing Sacrificed. Could he shew himselfe more great, more skilfull, and more liberall? Could he establish a Sacrifice either more honorable for the acknowledging of his diuine Maiestie, then this, in which he offered not the body and bloud of beasts, but his owne body and bloud, or more profitable to man, then in which he giues vs his owne body? This mystery then, so agreeable to the honor of God, and so beneficiall to his friends, doth it not merit to be eternally continued in the Church, according to that, which Dauid hath so diuinely prophecied, Thou art a Priest for euer according to the order of Melchisedech? Not according to the order of Aaron, who was the Sacrificer of the bodies of beasts, lesse honorable, and lesse profitable, and therefore worthy to be changed; but according to the order of Melchisedech, offering without bloud the body of the Sonne of God, vnder the formes of bread and wine; Sacrifice and Priest-hood most honorable, and most worthy to endure euen to the end of the world, neither can the world be furnished with a better, either for the houor of God, or for the good of his children.
16. THE GOOD SPIRITVAL SOVLDIERS are worthy of the food, and blessing of the body of our Lord.
BVt who are the children worthy to feed vpon this Sacrifice, and to haue the blessing of the true Melchisedech? truely they are Abraham and his souldiers, which haue noble soules, and are armed in all parts with vertue: which hotly pursue the enemies of their saluation, fighting valiantly against the forces of the Assyrians pride, [Page 62]Couetousnesse, Leachery, Enuy, Gluttony, Hate, Idlenesse, Iniquity, Impiety and other vices, signified by the Assyrians. These then are they that giue the tenth of their victories, and of their spoiles to God; which giue him thankes for his benefits, and acknowledge his assistance, as chiefe cause of all their good actions; for which they glory in nothing but in him, and confesse that all their good commeth from him. These are they that are true children of Abraham, and like valient warriers, know readily how to manage their bodies in all sorts of combates, and exercises of spirituall battle.
This braue Horse of Abrahams, so well made, and so well taught to the bitt, and to the spurre, to trotte, to gallop, to runne, and to bee decently ordered, resembleth those bodies, that are well tamed and well taught to follow the commands and directions of a warlike soule. Such was he,1. Cor. 9.27. which said, I chastise my body, and make it a seruant; such haue been a thousand champions of our Sauiour, which haue victoriously combated against the greatest forces and armies of their enemies, the world, the flesh and the diuell. Such souldiers are worthy of the bread of God; worthy which, whom the great Melchisedech should comply in the end of their victories, comming foorth to honor them, to congratulate with them, to inuite them to receiue the holy Repast of his sacred body, and to sanctifie them with his great blessing, wherewith they returne into their countrey, which is heauen, rich with reward, and enobled with immortall glory.
THE FOVRTH PICTVRE. ISAAK ON THE ALTAR.
The Description.
THese two yong men, seruants of Abraham, attend at the foote of the mountaine with this saddled Asse; Abraham himselfe, with yong Isaak, is ascended to the top of the mountaine, hauing commanded them to tarry beneath, vntill he had there worshipped, and offered Sacrifice: this is the third day, since they came from home with him, hauing neuer vsed to depart from him: their face shewes, that they are sorrowfull, and astonished; and it is by all true likelihood for not knowing the cause, why he should leaue them; and for hauing seene and heard of things they misliked: they had seene, how their Master all sad, had put the wood (which the Asse carried) vpon the shoulders of Isaak, taking himselfe fire in the one hand, and a sword in the other;Ioseph. lib. 1. Antiq. cap. 13. and certainly the teares ran downe in great abundance from their eyes, because they see their yong Master loaden with this heauie burden, to goe with no little paine, for hee is tender and delicate, and but fiue and twentie yeeres old. They could not also imagine, what should be the Sacrifice Abraham would offer, seeing it was his custome to Sacrifice before his domesticals, without euer hauing vsed such like ceremony. But this, which puts them yet in more great wonder, is, that they perceiued not any beast he had to sacrifice, whereof Isaak himselfe being sollactous, asked of his Father in the way, where the Lambe was for the Burntoffering, to whom Abraham answered, that God would prouide it. The good childe knew not, that himselfe was [Page 64]the Lambe, appointed for the Sacrifice; lesse knew hee what this holy old man thought within himselfe; for hee felt a maruailous combate in his soule, pressed on the one side with the assaults of Nature, which moued him to fatherly compassion; and on the otherside with the Word of God, which made him stedfast in the execution of his Commandement. Nature said to him; O Father, what dost thou? Hast thou begotten a sonne, to be his murtherer? Hast thou giuen him life in the world, to put him, with thine owne hand, to death? Hast thou giuen being to this creature, and wilt thou depriue him of it, in a moment, as soone as it beginneth? Wilt thou burie in one moment, the comfort of thy age, and all the hopes of thy future race, within the tombe of thy only sonne? Thy only sonne, giuen thee of God, after so many faire and goodly promises of thy prosperity? Thy onely son, so tenderly nourished, so carefully brought vp, so beautifull, so gratious, so obedient and perfect in all kinde of graces? And who euer saw such a Father, as thou art? And what will thy houshold, thy neighbours, and thy kindred say? And aboue all the rest, what will his poore Mother say, (who sitting at home, little thinke [...] of any such matter) when shee shall see thee returne all alone, and that shee shall heare the pitifull newes of her deare, and onely childe slaine, not by force of sicknesse, nor by the hand of the enemie, nor by the teeth of any furious beast, but by the sword of his owne Father, imbrued in the bloud of his sonne? O Father, what dost thou? And into what rigour is thy old age fallen, towards the end of thy daies? O happie hadst thou been, if thou had neuer been a Father? Happy, if in thy yong and barren veers, thou hadst bin plucked downe hastily into thy graue? This said Nature to him.
But faith and charity towards God, vsed another Language, and of a farre higher nature. ABRAHAM, thou art to obey the voice of God; thy sonne is neither thine, nor his mothers, but borrowed; it is God, who hath lent [Page 65]him thee, without giuing any certaine tearme of life; hee will haue him now, it is his right; he is Master of life and of death, he can be vniust in nothing that he commandeth, though it be, that he command the father to kill his son. He is Almighty to multiply thy race without Isaak, S. Aug. lib. 1. de Ciuit. cap. 21. hauing a thousand meanes within the treasure of his diuine secrets to accomplish this, which he hath promised thee. If thy sonne be faire, wise and vertuous, so much more is he worthy to be presented before the eyes of his Maiesty. No person will blame thee to haue obeyed God; and if men blame thee, wh [...] [...] to doe with the words, and iudgement of [...] [...]orld, where the voice of the high God resound [...] And thy wife, if shee be wise, will take it [...] [...]uing place to necessitie, and to the diuine will [...] shee be not wise, thou must not regard her. On [...] and care not for any other thing; our Lord Alm [...] nath so commanded it, and his commandement can be for nothing, but for thy good, nor the execution of it, but for thy merit and praise. So Nature combated with Faith, and Reason with Grace, but in the end, the victory remained to Faith and Grace.
Wherefore, being come to the top of the Mountaine, and hauing laid in order the wood vpon the Altar, and made ready euery thing for the Holocaust, Abraham doth declare his intention to his sonne, and then dearely embracing him, saith to him; O my deare sonne, euen now thou askedst of me where the Lambe was, that is to be sacrificed? It is thou, my beloued, which must be that Lambe; It is thou, that the great God hath chosen; thou art no more mine; I am no more thy Father; thou art the Holocaust, consecrated at this time to the honor of God; Adew my son; and with these words, losing his voice, sobbing, and weeping, he kissed him. But Isaak said to him, O my most honorable Father, the will of God and yours be fulfilled; my life is his and yours; and my death cannot haue a more honorable graue, then the Altar of his Maiestie. [Page 66]Farewell, my most honorable Father accomplish his good pleasure: Adew my most honorable Mother, without farewell; I bewaile your sorrow, bewaile not my death, since it is so diuinely ordained; you shall see me in the Land of the Liuing. Abraham now hath bound him, and set him vpon the wood, and bathing him with teares, kisseth him againe, and the more that he saw him couragious and obedient, the more was his heart wounded with fatherly loue towards him. Then Isaak, like a little Lambe, consenting to all from his heart, as hath been said, and putting himselfe, as he could, on his knees, after the manner as you see, recommends himselfe to God, offering himselfe as a liuely Holocaust to his holy will, and his necke peaceably to his Fathers hand, so to become a perfect Sacrifice: Abraham his arme is lifted vp, and is ready to strike; O God be mercifull to this poore Father, and his pious son; be thou contented, if it please thee [...] with the good will, and liuely faith of them both; they are already Sacrificed to thee in their hearts. Feare you not, O meeke and tender soules. Behold the Angell which hinders the blow, and cries with a high voice: ABRAHAM, AERAHAM, stay thy hand, strike not thy childe. ABRAHAM stayes, and falls on his knees, rauished with pleasure and admiration. The Angell shewes him a Ramme, caught in the bush by the hornes, to burne in the Holocaust instead of Isaak, Abraham goes, and puts it on the Altar with thanksgiuing: and so are they both deliuered, and both gaue thankes to God: for this diuine fauour. O great God, thy name be blessed, as well in this thy command, as in thy countermand thereof! O thou art wise in both, and good in both! O how well thou knowest to make triall of the faith, and loue of those, that thou louest? and mightily to deliuer them from paine, and to set them in repose.
1. ISAAK, AND THE RAMME SACRIFIced, a Figure of the death of our Sauiour, and of the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of his body.
NO person doubts, that the Sacrifice, made in the person of Isaak, and the Ramme, containes the Figure of the death of our Sauiour, the resemblance consists in these points; which Saint Augustine in one of his Sermons, no lesse piously, then eloquently obserueth.S. Aug. Serm. 7. de Temp. Abraham giueth his sonne in Sacrifice, and his sonne Isaak also giueth himselfe. God the Father gaue his Sonne for our redemption; and Iesus Christ for the same cause gaue himselfe to his Father. Isaak carrieth his wood to the Mountaine; Iesus Christ carrieth his Crosse to Mount Caluary, which is the very same Mountaine whereon Isaak was offered, saith the same Doctor, hauing learned it of Saint Hierom, S. Aug. Serm. 71. de Temp. Ioseph. lib 1. Antiq. cap. 13. whom he citeth. And it importeth not, that Iosephus writeth, that Isaak was offered in the Mountaine Moria, where Salomon builded his Temple; for the place of the Temple and Mount Caluary, were in one and the same Mountaine, though distant in place; and the selfe-same Mount Caluary was also the Sepulcher of Adam. As for the killing, and the burning of the sheepe or Ramme vpon the Altar, in stead of Isaak, it containeth another mystery, accomplished on the Crosse, as declareth Saint AVGVSTINE:S. Aug. Serm. 71. de Temp. Abraham (saith he) represented God the Father, giuing his onely Sonne: ISAAK represents Iesus Christ, obedient to his Father and offering himselfe vpon the Altar of the Crosse; but the Diuinity represented by ISAAK, endures not any hurt but onely the humanity, signified by the Ramme: hee is tyed by his hornes, as Iesus Christ was tyed in power, signified by [Page 68]hornes, and by his owne power; for no other power could master, hold, or binde him. Caught in a bush, as our Sauiour was:S. Aug. Serm. 71 de Temp. Fastened (saith the same Doctor) to the bush, when he hung betweene the hornes of the Crosse, his hands and feete nailed, and his head crowned with thornes. These are the resemblances of the Crosse, to the Sacrifice of Abraham. No man also doubteth, but this selfe-same Sacrifice was a Figure of the Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Masse, seeing that this hath alwayes been the faith of the Catholike Church,S. Ambrol. l. 4. de Sacra. cap. 6. S. Thom. in Prosa lauda S [...]. S. Ambros. lib. 4. de Sacra. cap. 9. S. Thom in Prosa lauda Sion. as it appeareth by the Canon of the Masse, where like mention is made of this Sacrifice, and that of Abel, and of Abraham: which is also confirmed by the testimony of Saint Ambrose, who hath recorded the same Prayer in his writings; and by Saint Thomas of Aquine, in his Prose, Lauda Sion; and will be easily perceiued by the reference of the one to the other, as of the Figure to the Truth it selfe. In this Oblation, Abraham offered the Sacrifice, which he had made, that is to say, his sonne, whom he had begotten; in the Eucharist the Sonne of God offers his bodie, which he himselfe formed in the wombe of the Virgin, and which he maketh present vpon the Altar by his omnipotent word. Abraham, the Sacrificer, offereth the Victime, and Isaak also a liuely and reasonable Victime, offereth himselfe; in the Eucharist, Iesus Christ offers himselfe, who is both Priest and Sacrifice; Sacrificer and Victime, and that both liuing and reasonable. Isaak being offered, endured nothing in the Sacrifice, but onely the Ramme in his [...]ome; the body of the Sonne of God endures no hurt in the Eucharist. perseuering alwayes whole, but onely the substance of bread and wine, which cease to be after the words of Consecration, and the visible species and accidents thereof, which are subiect to alteration.
Isaak was not to be offered in any place indifferently, neither was that left to the choyse of Abraham, but in a chosen place, and appointed expresly by God himselfe, [Page 69]who spake thus to Abraham, Gen. 22.2. Thon shalt offer thy sonne vnto me for an Holocaust in one of the Mountaines that I shall shew thee. Iesus Christ also is offered onely in the Mountaine of the Church, the Mountaine of Sion, where hee raigneth, and he is offered in such a place, and on such an Altar, as his Church, taught by the holy Chost,Psal. 2.6. appointeth. Thus haue we seene some draughts of the Figure, which signifieth our truth; let vs now see some others.
2. THE HEIGHT OF THE MYSTERY OF the Eucharist, signified by the Mountaine, and by Abraham; and how we are to approach vnto it.
THere are yet some circumstances in the Figure, which teach vs other qualities of our Sacrament, and Sacrifice. The Mountaine teacheth vs, how high a mystery it is: for it is a familiar marke in the holy Scripture, to shew thereby some diuine thing, which is eleuated aboue the basenesse of common iudgement.Exod. 20. So Moses receiued the Maiestie of the Law, and the secrets of God in the Mountaine. And so the Prophet, exhorting the Preacher, to lead a holy and contemplatiue life, saith vnto him, ascend vp to the Mountaine, Thou, that Euangelizest to Sion, Esay 40.9. that is to say, eleuate thy soule aboue earthly things, and ascend the Mountaine of contemplation, the better to declare the high Mountaine of Gods greatnesse.Matth. 17. So our Sauiour transfigured himselfe on the Mount Thnbor; so both himselfe and his Church is called a Mountaine. And high,Dan. 2.35. and spirituall things, are signified by this circumstance of high places on earth. As then the Sacrifice of Abraham was high and eminent in corporall situation: so the greatnesse [Page 70]of our mystery is aduanced in spirituall highnesse, and eleuated farre aboue earthly sense, or humane iudgement, and truely set in the top of Mount Sion, being the most supreame, and the most admirable of all the other Sacraments in the Church of God. And in the same signification, the two seruants of Abraham, which represent our humane reason and vnderstanding, remaine at the foot of the Mountaine, sorrowfull and sadde, as incapable of this Mystery. And so likewise the Asse, by the which is meant our corporall sense, yet more vnapt to ascend the Mount of this diuine Mystery. It is onely Abraham, and Isaak, that is to say, spirits, illuminated with a firme and liuely faith, that haue their wings so strong, as are able to flye so high pitch, and to contemplate the eminency, greatnesse, and maiestie of the Sacrament and Sacrifice of the body of the Sonne of God, on the top of holy Sion. But in mounting they must perseuer, and walke on from home three dayes together, carrying with them the Wood, the Sword, and the Fire, to burne as Abraham and Isaak did before them. These three dayes are the preparation of good workes, which we ought to doe in the faith of the Trinity, before we present our selues to the Altar, and Table of this diuine Sacrifice. The wood signifies to vs the matter of good purposes and holy desires, wherewith we ought to kindle the fire vpon the holy Altar. The Sword is the Word of God, with which we ought to be armed, for it is that, which saith, This is my body; and can doe all that it saith. If Nature make difficult to beleeue it; if shee oppose against it sense or reason, we ought to defend our selues with this diuine Word, and fight manfully, as Abraham did, who beleeued that, which Nature strongly disswaded, and executed that, which it abhorred. The Fire of Abraham is the Charity wherewith our heart ought to burne heere more then in any other acte of Religion; for this is a nuptiall feast, a ban [...] et of Loue addressed for the children of Abraham; cloathed with the wedding garment: [Page 71]and prepared only for you, O faithfull soules,Math. 22.12, which sigh holily, and fight valiantly against the assaults of infidelitie, and the counsell of the flesh. Perseuer couragiously euen to the third day, when God will lift you vp from this base earth, to make you see his glory in the top of the high and celestiall Sion, our true and assured dwelling.
THE FIFTH PICTVRE. THE PASCHALL LAMBE.
The Description.
ALL is in darknesse now in Egypt,Sap. 18.1 [...]. and all things rest quietly in silence of a peaceable repose. The Sunne whirling about vnder the earth, is well-neare come to the Meridian Antipode, and the night is now in the midst of his course in the Aegyptian Climate: the Hebrewes haue taken some foure howres since their mysticall refection of the Paschall Lambe, in euery Family, according as they were appointed, and shall continue so to doe euery yeere, from henceforth, vpon the same day and howre, that is to say, in the euening of the fourteenth day of the first month of their holy yeere, beginning in March; for their Ciuil yeere began in September. The Ceremony is very strange,Ioseph. l. Anti [...]. c. 4. Exod. 12.11. for hauing sprinkled the bloud of the beast on the thresholds and poastes of all their doores, they haue eaten with vnleauened bread, and wilde Lettice, the Lambe roasted,Exod. 12.8. disseuering the bones from his flesh, without breaking any; and made maruailous haste in eating; euery one holding a staffe in his hand, hauing their garments girt to their loynes,Exod. 12.49. and their shooes on their feete, as if they were ready out of hand to take a iourney. Hauing thus finished the holy banquet, according to this Ceremony,Exod. 13. thy cast the remainder into the sier. No person durst after goe foorth into the streete, they hauing had an expresse commandement to keep within; and not without cause; for there shall be presented a terrible massacre, and it is begun already: heare you the lamentations, and howlings of the Aegyptians in this next [Page 74]Village,S. Hieron. in Esay 19. Psal. 77. Exod. 9.22.24. Exod. 10.21. called Tamis, Where the Pharoes made their common residences; now is the fatall night wherein this supreame Puissance doth execute his rigorous iustice against thee, Pharoe, and against thy subiects, instruments of thy malice: thine and their hardned hearts, haue been beaten with nine great plagues, beaten with the fury of the foure elements, Fier, Ayre, Water, and Earth, beaten with little animals,Exod. 7.27. Exod. 8.3. Exod. 8.17.24. armed with the arme of the Almightie, to constraine thee to let the Hebrewes go, whom thou detainest with vniust oppression, thou hast notwithstanding remained alwayes hardned. But at this time thou art ouercome, inforced to yeeld, to open the dungeon of thy steeled heart, and to obey necessity, hauing refused the voice of the God of Hoasts, of whom now thou feclest the arme more heauy then euer. O heauen, what astonishment, and what horrible slaughter is wrought by this destroying Angell? He hath alreadie slaine thousands of the first borne, as well of men, as of beastes, and will doe the like to all the rest,Exod. 12.29. without sparing the first borne euen of the King, which sitteth gloriously in the throne of his Maiestie. This horrible executioner of iustice scoureth all places, and spareth none, sauing onely the Hebrewes. Hee hath indeed visited their houses, holding the sword in his hand, but seeing the threshold and poastes of their doores red with the bloud of the Lambe, he passeth on, without doing any hurt vnto them.Exod. 12. He exercised all his fury vpon the Aegyptians alone, and namely, vpon this miserable Citie, where euery place is full of dead bodies, the houses, the stables, and the streetes. The earth is fearefull, being oppressed with so many corses, and the ayre is dreadfull, being wholly possessed, not onely with darknesse, but also with the cryes of Citizens, lamenting their present harmes, and fearing worse. For they perswade themselues, and haue good cause to thinke and feare, that this night would make a generall tombe of all Aegypt. Pharoe hath sent some of the Gentlemen of his Chamber, to call Moses [Page 75]and Aaron, which are alreadie come,Exod. 12.31.32. he prayes them to giue him their blessing, and to depart in peace and in haste, with all that appertaines vnto them; the Aegyptian people being fearefull, vrge them to be gone by all means possible. The Iewes will depart vpon the breaking of the day, but not without carrying away rich booties, of gold, of siluer, of apparell, pretious stones, and such like treasures, that they had borrowed of the Aegyptians vpon good condition, neuer to restore them againe;Exod. 12.36. but to pay themselues for their day labours in Aegypt many hundred yeeres together, without receiuing any reward for their trauaile and paines. It is a borrowing in name, but in effect a restitution of Iustice, iustly ordained of God himselfe.Exod. 5.14. If yee will attend a little, you shall haue the pleasure to behold this departure; you shall see a world of people, for there went foorth on foote six hundred thousand men of the Iewes,Exod. 12.37. ouer and aboue the number of women and little children, and many Aegyptians beside, that followed them, to be put in the Roll of the children of God with them: they began long since to goe foorth.
1. OF THE TIME OF IMMOLATION OF the Paschall Lambe, and of the Holy and Ciuill yeere of the Hebrewes, and of their Neomenia, or new Moone.
FOr to see well the verity of our Sacrament in the shadow of this Figure, in the first place is to be noted the ceremonie of the time, and the end of it. God commandeth the Iewes to take the Lambe, the tenth day of the first Moone of the Spring-time,Exod. 12. where began the Holy yeere, and to immolate it, that is to say, to kill and offer it [Page 76]to God, in the euening of the fourteenth day; wasting it presently after, and eating it, with the ceremony represented in the picture. The first Moone of holy yeere was the new Moone, the next to the Aequinoctiall in the Spring, which Aequinoctiall fell then in the fourteenth of March; and since the correction of the Callender of Pope Grego [...]ie the thirteenth, it falleth vpon the twentieth. And all this Moone, taking part of March and part of Aprill, makes the first month of the yeere, the second Moone makes the second month, and so of others; and so many new Moones, so many beginnings of new monethes; and the first day of the Moone, was the first of the month; and the fourteenth of the Moone, was the fourteenth of the moneth: So as the yeere of the Iewes, was twelue Moones, or twelue moneths of the Moone, euery one hauing nine and twenty daies and a halfe, which is the who'e space of the course of the Moone; true it is, that to keepe the number of dayes whole, they make, that one moneth hath thirtie daies, and the other nine and twentie; and the monthly yeere containes but three hundred fifty and foure dayes, lesse by eleuen dayes, then the yeare of the Sunne, which hath three hundred, threescore and fiue daies. For this cause, the Iewes from two yeeres to two, and from three to three, did enterlace one moneth; to the end to make by such addition, their moonely yeare, equall to that of the Sunne, which other people vse, as we doe now, and then their yeare consisted of thirteene months. Now the yeare, which begunne in this month of March, was the yeere commanded of God, and called holy or sacred, for in it he set his people at liberty. The ordinance is set downe in these words:Exod. 12.1. This month shall be to you the beginning of months, and the first month in the yeere.
They haue another common vulgar yeare, equal to this heere, vsed in secular intercourses and traffiques, beginning in the Moone next to the Aequinectium in Autumne, which comes commonly in September, as that of the [Page 77]Spring-time in March, and the course of this first Moone, was the first month of this Ciuill yeare, containing part of September, and part of October, as the first month of the sacred yeare, had one part of March and another of Aprill; as hath been said.Ioseph. lib. 1. Antiq. cap. 4. Iosephus hath noted this difference of yeares, amongst many Authors, and the Christians vse the same distinction, but grounded vpon another cause: for they haue a Sacred yeere, and a Ciuill; their Holy yeere begins either at Christmas, or at the Circumcision, or in March. Before the time of K. Charles the ninth in France, men began it at Easter, and since at the Circumcision; and according to this yeere wee count at this present, 1600. since the Natiuity of our Sauiour, comming into the world to repaire our ages, and to giue vs eternity for time.
Our Ciuill yeare is variable, and according to the diuersitie of the Countrey, or condition of persons; good husbands and Schollers begin at Saint Rhemigius, many at Saint Martin, some at Saint Iohn Baptist, and others at other seasons: but the Holy yeare hath his vniforme limits, as it ought, and there is little difference through all the Catholike Church. Well then, God commanded the Hebrewes to keepe their yearely Sacrifice of the Paschall Lambe, in this first month, and in the fourteenth day of it, because this was the nearest time to their going forth, and deliuerance; for they went forth the next morning, after the first-borne of the Aegyptians were slaine at midnight, the night before: So as the Ceremony was iustituted at that time precisely, to put them in minde of the benefit, as also the day and houre of it; which was alwayes religiously obserued, vntill the truth of this Figure at the same time, many yeares after was accomplished by our Sauiour, deliuering vs out of a greater seruitude, and substituting the true Lambe in memory thereof, as after we shall see. The same Hebrewes had commandement to offer Sacrifice euery new Moone, that is to say,Num. 10. & 28. Ioseph. lib. 3. Antiq. cap. 10. vpon the Calends or [Page 78]first dayes of euery month; which solemnity the Hebrews called Hodesch, as who would say, beginning: the Septuagint haue translated it Neomenia, a Greeke word, which signifies a new month, or a new Moone. This Feast was not instituted to serue as a Sacrifice to the new Moone, as the Pagans made it, but for a thanksgiuing to God for the benefits of his bounty and wisdome, in the gouernment of the world; & for to instruct vs, that we ought to make our entrie into all the seasons; and to begin euery action with the praise of God, and inuocation of his holy name. And hereby they were inuited to honour the Creator of the Moone,Genes. 1.14. and of all the world, seruing themselues of the course of that Planet for signe of times, for the which end it was created.
2. WHEREFORE THE YEARE OF THE Hebrewes was Lunary, and how the Synagogue was compared to the Moone.
THe causes, wherefore God would, that the Hebrews should take their years from the course of the Moone, rather then from the Sunne, as now the Church doth, are worthy to be knowne, if they were also easie to be found out. For it ought not to be doubted, but that this ordinance was founded in great reason, comming from so wise a Law-maker. Amongst many others, I finde three. The first is taken from the rudenesse of this people, to which God hauing regard, commaunded them to reckon their yeares and months by the Moone, as more facill and easie, then if they accounted by the twelue celestiall signes, deuised by the Chaldeans, and other Heathenish people. For euery one seeth the new Moone, and all his quarters; and [Page 97]the most simple can obserue, that shee ends her whole course within one moneth; whereas none knowes the signes of the Zodiaque, but Astronomers.S. Greg. Naz. Or. 2. de Pasch. The second is more important, touched by Saint Gregory Nazianzen, that it was, to keepe in order by this ceremony the Iewes from following the superstition of the Pagans, who were extreamely giuen to the worship of the Moone; for they adored it in heauen, as a Queene: in the earth, and vnder earth, as a Goddesse, vnder the name of Luna, Diana, Proserpina; whose example might giue occasion to that people, vainely giuen, and of themselues inclined to imitate the foolish Pagans, to suffer themselues to be head-long carried to Idolatry, so much in practise in those dayes, if they had not some true and lawfull vse of the Moone, thereby to be held from the abuse therof, against the Law of God.
Therfore God commanded them, to order their months and yeares, Feastes and Ceremonies, according to the course of the Moone; adored the true God in his Law, and seruing themselues of the creature, to the honour of their Creator.Exod. 25. And with like wisdome hee ordained the Arke of Couenant, to the end they should haue some visible thing, before which to honor God, without running to Idols. The third cause is full of mystery, and it was to giue a secret and mysticall signification of the condition of the Synagogue, by the qualities of the Moone, very significant of it. The Moone is the lowest Planet of all, terrestriall and grosse, and yet celestiall notwithstanding: the Iudaicall Law also was earthly and carnall, the Ceremonies, Sacrifices, Promises, and the rest, no better, and yet giuen of God notwithstanding; and therefore celestiall in this respect; the Moone is a cold and mutable Planet: the Synagogue a Law of feare, which is a cold passion, a temporall Law, and mutable, which was to be changed into the Law of Grace. The Moone by her light doth not ripen any fruit; though shee giue by her influence [Page 80]encrease to Plants, Trees, and liuing creatures: The Synagogue giueth not any perfection by his ceremonies.Hebr. 7.19. The Law (saith Saint PAVL) bringeth nothing to perfection; and neuerthelesse vnder her direction and light, the children of God did receiue from his Maiesty, grace and encrease of vertue; not by force of Iudaicall Sacraments, as now by the Christian, but onely by the faith and obedience, that they brought with them to those Sacraments. For these reasons amongst others, the Lunary yeare was the yeare, and the time of the Synagogue. Such as are more spirituall, will draw better reasons hereof, from the treasures of the Book of God, whose wisdome is infinite in all things. The Christians rule themselues by the Solary yeare, because the foresaid causes, neither touch them nor their religion. We shall now decypher the sense of the Picture, and shall see, how the Paschall Lambe figureth the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of the body of our Sauiour.
3. THE PASCHALL LAMBE, A FIGVRE of the Sacrifice of the Crosse, and of the Eucharist.
THE Paschall Lambe did Figure Iesus Christ, true Lambe without spot, descended from heauen to bee killed, and by his bloud to deliuer vs from the death and seruitude of the Aegyptians, to wit, from ignominie, and eternall damnation. This Ceremony in certaine circumstances carried the signe of the Sacrifice of the Crosse, in the reall slaughter in the bloudy effusion, in the roasting of the Lambe, and such like. Saint Iohn also, in the Sacrifice of the Crosse,Tem. 19.36. Exod. [...]2.46. applieth the prohibition of not breaking the bones of the Lambe, to that fact of the Iewes, [Page 81]when they breake not one bone of our Sauiour crucified.
Saint Iustin singularly remarketh,S. iustin. Dialo. cont. Trypho. that the Lamb was so disposed of, when they rosted it, that it made the Figure of a Crosse.
The selfe-same Lambe, in other ceremonies, was one of the most rare Figures of the Eucharist; as our Sauiour declareth in generall, when after the eating of the Lambe, he instituted incontinently the Sacrifice of his body. For he ioyned not with any other intention these two ceremonies,S. Cyprian. serm. de Can. Denun. but to shew, that he accomplished this Figure past in this present verity, and that vpon a Picture of most noble, and most illustrious antiquitie, he made, as it were, a bed or table for the Sacrifice of the Law of Grace; which will appeare, if we obserue the very lineaments of the Iudaical shadow expressed in the light of our faith. First, the Law commandeth to offer the Lambe in the euening of the fourteenth day of the first Moone, that is to say, of the first month of the yeare, as hath been said, and afterwards to eate it: for it could not be eaten, without it were first immolated, as Saint Gregory of Nisse, noteth.S. Greg. Niss. Or. 1. de Resur. In the next place; the selfe-same Law saith, that they ought to eate it euery one priuately in his owne family. These circumstances, as the others, of which we will speake hereafter, haue infallibly been accomplished in some Sacrifices of the new Law;Matt. 5.17.18. for otherwise Iesus Christ should not haue fulfilled the old Law, from point to point, according as he promised, and should haue giuen a Figure or shadow, without exhibiting the truth and substance.
Now this accomplishment hath not been made in the Sacrifice of the Crosse; for this Sacrifice fell not out in the fourteenth, but in the fifteenth day of the Moone, which was the Friday following, neither in the euening of the day, but at midday, when our Sauiour, mounting on the Crosse, hung thereon three hourses after, before he died; neither was there then any mysticall refection; for none did eate at that time, neither was this Sacrifice made priuately [Page 82]in euery Family, but publikely, and in the sight of the world. These Ceremonies then touch not the Crosse; whereas all of them agree very well to the Eucharist. For our Sauiour offered himselfe therein,Matth. 26. Marc. 24. Luc. 22. the true Lambe; at the going downe of the Sun, on Thursday the fourteenth day of the Moone; and gaue himselfe to be catenpresently after, and this in priuate, onely in the presence of his Family, which were his twelue Apostles, representing then his deare Spouse, the Church, to whom he left for his last farewell out of this mortall life, his body, as a pledge of his infinit loue, and an immortall memory of the good, that he was to doe, to vs, and for vs. This ancient Figure then of the Paschall Lambe, according to the circumstances thereof, hath beed accomplished in the Eucharist, and not elsewhere.
4. HOW IESVS CHRIST IS IMITATED in the Eucharist.
BVt if the Lambe was imitated, and immolation importeth occasion, how is it, that our Sauiour hath accomplished the verity of the immolation, in the institution of the Eucharist, seeing that he was not slaine at that time? How can it be, that he should now be immolated, seeing that he is immortall. The Catholike Doctors answere to this question, that if one take the word of immolation strictly, and in rigour, signifying reall occasion, it was not properly done, but on the Crosse, and heere is no immolation of that nature, for so much as the body of our Sauiour is now remoued infinitely from the gripes of death, and from all hurt, not onely on the Altar, but wheresoeuer else he is.Rom. 6. Iesus Christ (saith the Scripture) being risen, dyeth no [Page 83]more; death hath no more power ouer him. The same Doctors notwithstanding, following the Scripture, teach all with one accord, that hee is mmolated in the Eucharist, howbeit they be different in the explication of this immolation: some haue said, that there is no other thing, but the bare representation of the death of our Sauiour, which is not sufficient, because so it should be but a Picture of immolation, not true immolation, nor such as the Catholike Doctrine teacheth vs. Wherefore the exposition of others is better and more agreeable to the Scriptures, and to the testimony of antiquitie, who hold, that this immolation consists in this, that our Sauiour gaue himselfe, as hee yet giues himselfe for meate and drinke vnder the forme of dead things, which are the accidents of bread and wine, taking in them a dead being; to wit, of things that wee eate, which is a being, that hath neither life nor feeling. So that as hee became mortall, by taking vpon him our mortal nature, in the which he was immolated in his owne person, on the Altar of the Crosse, albeit his Diuinity remained still immortall: Euen so taking heere an exteriour being of a thing dead, and giuing himselfe, vnder such a being, he exhibits himselfe as dead; and after this manner he is truely immolated in regard of the formes, though he remaine still in himselfe altogether impassible. And although the humanity alone, of the Sonne of God, endured the strokes of death, yet notwithstanding, we say that God is truely dead, because the Humanity and the Diuinity made then but one, to wit, one person, God and man,1. Cor. 2.8. Iesus Christ: In like manner we say, that the body of our Sauiour is truely immolated, albeit nothing but the species earieth the marks of death, not because the forms make not one person, but one Sacrament, with the body of our Sauiour; and this body is truely immolated, and truely broken, by reason of the species of bread, which endures this breaking; and likewise his bloud is truely shed, not as the bloud which is drawne from the veines, but after the maner [Page 84]as the substance of wine, might a little before haue bin powred out in his owne kind, to which succeeded the substance of bloud, immolated without occasion, as the first Councell of Nice explaines it;Concil. 1. Nicen. Cap. 5. and shed without bloudy effusion; and truely immolated, according to the order of Melchisedech, vnder the dead formes of bread and wine,Concil. Trident. Sess. 22. cap. 1. as speakes the Councell of Trent, immolated not in Figure, as of old in the Hebrew Sacrifices, where his body was not present, and immolated, not in him, himselfe, and in his proper forme, as it was on the Crosse, but as it is said, vnder the formes of bread and wine, vnder which his body is present; and it is in this sense, that the holy Scripture and the Doctors teach, that our Sauiour is offered or immolated in the Eucharist, as shall be euident by the testimonies following.
5. THE IMMOLATION OF THE BODY of our Sauiour in the Masse, confirmed by the testimonies of the Scripture, and ancient Fathers.
SAint Paul saith:1. Cor. 5.7. Christ our Paschall Lambe hath been immolated, wherefore let vs feast with bread without leauen, bread of sincerity. It is certaine, that the Apostle meant the immolation of our Sauiour, made in the Eucharist with refection, and not that of the Crosse, which was a Paschal Feast, accompanied with torments, of ignominies, of distresses and wants, and of other circumstances repugnant to a holy refection.
Saint AMBROST,S. Ambros. in cap. 1 Luc. When we Sacrifice, Christ is present, Christ is immolated; for Christ, our Passcouer, hath been offered.
[Page 85] Saint Hierom after Origen giues the same exposition,Orig. & S. Hier. in 26. Mat. Concil. 1. Nic. can. 5. that Saint Ambrose of the words of Saint Paul, and the first Councell of Nice saith, that our Sauiour is immolated without effusion of bloud, as we said euen now.
Saint Cyril of Hierusalem tells vs, speaking of the Eucharist;S. Cyril. Hieres. Catech. Mist. 5. Christ is offered to God the Father, for our sins.
Saint Gregory Nisse proueth it by the Figure of the Paschall Lambe; saying,S. Greg. Niss. Or. 1. de Resur. Euery man knoweth that man could not eate the Lambe, but first it was immolated, wherefore Iesus Christ gining his body to be eaten, shewes manifestly, that there was before a true and entire immolation.
Saint AVGVSTINE: Iesus Christ, S. Aug ep. 23. ad Bonis. hauing been once immolated in himselfe, is he not neuerthe lesse immolated for the people euery day?
After the same language speake the other Doctors of the Church of God, whom it is not needfull to cite; we ought rather to admire heere the infinite power, wisdom, and bounty of our Redeemer, in that he will vouchsafe to giue himselfe in such a fashion, for the benefit of his members; and that so much the more, because the gift surpasseth, not onely our merits, but euen our thoughts. For who could euer dare to hope; who would euer thinke, that he would so much abase himselfe after his triumphant Ascension, that he would become meate for vs? To apparell himselfe with mortality, to make vs immortall? To take a mortall Robe vpon him, for to giue vs an immortall garment? Is hee not truely all puissant in this effect? all wise in this ordinance, and al good in this charity? As who, for example, would euer haue expected those other things, which now wee see are come to passe, if they were not done alreadie? Who would haue thought that this selfesame Sonne of God, equall in all things to his Father, immortall, impossible, most rich, Creator, and nourishers of all creatures; could haue had the power and will, to make himselfe Man; a mortall man, a needy little Insant sucking the breast of a Virgin, to giue himselfe afterwards on the [Page 86]Crosse, remaining alwayes what hee was before? Who, without particuler reuelation, would euer haue thought this? Wee know, that he would doe it, and that he hath done it, and we admire it in our attentiue silence. Admire then likewise the same God, for that he giueth, and continueth to giue his glorious body, hidden vnder such base elements, impassible vnder corruptible garments, immortall, vnder the robe of immortality; and a great Creator vnder the cottage of a little creature; a great God, vnder the forme of a little Lambe.
6.
HOW THE PASCHALL LAMBE sheweth the vse, and end of the Eucharist.
THere is yet one noble consideration more in the Paschall Lambe, which shewes the vse and the end, for which our Sacrifice was ordained. The Paschall Lambe was instituted in signe of the deliuery of the Iewes,Exod. 8.12.12. and in memory of it: For they immolated it about the euening, at the going downe of the Sunne, and did eate it a little after towards night;Deut. 16. and at midnight following was the Pasque, or the Fast, that is to say, the passage of our Lord, when passing thorow Aegypt, hee slew by the hand of his reuenging Angell, all the first borne, which was the great blow he gaue for the deliuerance of the Iewes, that was to follow the next day; and Moses by the ordinance of God, aduertised the Iewes to teach their posterity, that this Sacrifice of the Lambe was commanded in memory of this deliuerance.Exod. 12.14.26. Wherefore this was a signe of the benefit to be receiued, and a memoriall thereof, after it was receiued. The resemblance of this Figure hath been perfectly accomplished in the verity. For our Sauiour ordained [Page 87]the Sacrament and Sacrifice of his body vpon the euening, of that night, in which he was taken, to be crucified the next morning, and passe from this world into another; to stisle by his death the true first-borne of Aegypt, to wit, the sinnes of mankinde, and to bury afterwards in his precious bloud, as within the depth of a red-Sea of his infinite merits, the powers of hell for the true deliuerance of his Elect.
This Sacrifice then was a signe of the victory, which was to be gotten, and a memoriall of the same, after it was gained; this our Sauiour signified, when instituting the same, he foretold the Apostles of his death, and commanded them to doe what hee had done, in remembrance of him, Doe this in remembrance of me, that is to say,Luc. 22.19. 1. Cor. 11.24. celebrate this Sacrifice, in remembrance of that I shall haue done for your redemption. For as the night which followed the institution of the Paschall Lambe, was the great Vigil, and immediate signe of the deliuerance of the Hebrewes; so also the midnight of our Sauiour, which followed the institution of this Sacrifice, was the great brunt, and the immediate ensigne of our redemption. The time of this midnight was at ful midday, whē he moūted on the Crosse to encounter the enemy, and to ouerthrow our sins with out-stretched armes; this was a profound midnight indeed, of spirituall darknesse, in which they were buried, which procured his death; a midnight also of corporall darknesse; for the Sunne and the Moone, enraged with the indignity of such a crime, committed against the person of their Creator, were suddenly colypsed, and caused a profound darknesse extraordinary, and a dreadfull night in the midst of the day. And as the Ceremony of the Paschall Lambe, continued in memory of the good, receiued in Aegypt, so long as the Synagogue endured. So in like maner the Sacrifice of the Masse was instituted, to continue in memory of the victorious Passion of our Lord, so long as the Church shall be militant heere on earth: and this is it [Page 88]which Saint Paul saith,1. Cor. 11.26. writing to the Christians of Gorinth. As often as you shall eate of this Bread, and drinke of this Chalice, you shew the death of the Lord, vntill he come; that is to say, euen vntill the great day.
7. OF THE CEREMONIES VSED IN eating the Paschall Lambe.
THere were a great number of Mysticall Ceremonies, vsed in eating of the Iewes Paschall Lambe, which in their shadowes Figure to vs the truth of ours, and together instruct vs how we ought to eate it, for to draw substance of life from it. The Iewes Lambe was offered in the euening: Iesus Christ gaue himselfe in the Eucharist, and on the Crosse, in the euening of the world, and at the last howre of the day, Ioan. 2.18. as speaketh the Apostle Saint Iohn. The Lambe was to be roasted, thereby to shew the burning charitie of our Sauiour, in giuing his body in this Sacrament, seasoned and coloured with the flame of his burning charity; teaching vs withall, that wee must bring with vs feruent loue, when we come to eate it; for this is the preparation, and the appetite, with which spirituall meates ought to be taken, for the good nourishment of our soules.Exod. 12. Those, which did eate it, ought to be Iewes by bloud, or by Religion; no person may eate our Lamb, that is not a Christian, borne of Christians, or made Christian by Baptisme. They did eate it in the night, to shew that our Eucharist is a hidden mystery, and inuisible to sense and humane iudgement, and knowne onely to faith. The Father of euery Family was to eate it; euery Pastor in his Parish, as in his Family; and euery Church as a Family vnder her Pastor, eates the Lambe of God; but with this [Page 89]difference, that the Iewes did eate diuers Lambes in diuers houses, and in diuers times, their Lambe being corruptible: the Christians eate all one selfe-same Lambe, in all times, Iesus Christ incorruptible Lambe and immortal, and onely sufficient for all, and alwayes. They did not breake the bones, to Figure the impassibility of the Diuinitie of our Lambe Iesus Christ, hid vnder the Humanity, as the bones are hidden vnder the flesh: and further, to represent the impassibilitie of his body, hid vnder the formes of bread and wine. And therefore the Figure is perfectly accomplished in our Banquet; for we eate our Lambe, not onely without breaking his bones, but without hurting whatsoeuer of his flesh, all whole, all vnited, all immortall, without euer consuming of it.
The Figure giues but a little touch concerning the bone onely, the verity goes further, and accomplisheth it also in the body. They were to eate it hastily, to shew that this mystery ought to be deuoured with a liuely and blessed faith, without the narrow sifting curiosity of reason, and humane sense. Of the selfe-same signification was the Ceremony which commanded to burne what remained; to teach vs, what we cannot comprehend in our mystery, that we ought to burne in the fire of Charity. The bread without leauen, signifies the sinceritie of conscience, that men ought to bring to this Table,1. Cor. 5.8. as S. Paul interprets it: the bitter Lettice signifies Penance; and herehence it is, that the children of the Church of God, before they present themselues to receiue the blessed Sacrament; put their soules in good estate, bewailing their sins, confessing themselues, and doing penance for them. The Iews were gyrt eating their Lambe; in signe that we ought aboue all things to be chast, when we eate of this virginall flesh of the Lambe without spor. For Luxury proceedeth from the Reines; and to girde the Reines, is to take away the first causes of the sinne of the flesh, and make whoredome to dye in its spring; and therefore Saint Gregory [Page 90]saith,S. Greg hom. 13. We then put the girdle to our reines, when we represse the lasciuiousnesse of the flesh, by the bridle of continency. The staffe in their hands, and shooes of dead skinne on their feete, after the fashion of people, which are to take a iourney, teach vs, that we should liue in this mortall flesh, as pilgrimes dead to this world, hauing for the soueraigne strength of our Pilgrimage, the staffe of the Crosse †; and for our shooes of our feet, the meditation of death; and this at euery pace and moment of our life, as indeed in euery steppe we approach to the graue. There are then in all these faire lineaments and mysteries figured and accomplished, sufficient markes whereby to acknowledge, as well the truth, which is the Sacrament of our Lambe, the Redeemer, as also the bounty and supreame wisdome, of him who hath figured it by his seruant Moses, and by his owne proper hand fulfilled the same.
But who shall giue vs eyes to penetrate sufficiently these workes? words to praise them highly? affection to loue them holily? except thou, O soueraigne Master, who art the worker of them? Who shall make vs touch the fruit of thy flesh, and of thy bloud, except thou, which giuest them vs to vse? Who shall deliuer vs from Pharoe, and from Aegypt, except thou, that hast certainly deliuered vs? But we vnthankfull and forgetfull wretches, haue taken againe the iron chaine of seruitude, by our sinnes, vpon vs.
O sweet Lamb, that didst come into this world, to wipe away the sins of the world, in the purple colour of this noble bloud, imployed to dye red the poasts of the Crosse, and to turne from vs the violence of the destroying Angel. Defend vs against our enemies in this bloud, wash vs from our sinnes in this bloud, refresh vs with this bloud, and in this bloud powred into our breasts, stifle the first-borne of spirituall Aegypt, which are seldome from vs, and which too often we carry with vs; the loue of this world, fleshly pleasures, follies and smoakes of vanities: stifle the high [Page 91]desires of our obdurate soules, which as the first-borne of Man, push vs forward to the vanity of worldly honours. Smother the concupiscenses and fiers of our flesh, which as the first-borne of our brutish and vnreasonable appetites, which seeke after nothing but the hay of the earth, and the baits of sense. Enkindle in our hearts this celestiall fire, with which thou art seasoned, to be our Paschall Lambe, and the delicious dainty of our Feast, to the end that we may receiue it with gaine of incorruption, seasoning our soules by this receiuing, to become an Holocaust of delicious smell, and of good taste to thy Maiesty. Make vs wise, well to acknowledge thy gifts: make vs good, to the end we may be worthy of them; and strengthen vs in vertue, that we may perseuer in the way of thy holy Lawes, to be receiued at last to thy Mariagefeast, where thou shalt be the Spouse and the Lambe, the Giuer, and the meate of eternall felicitie.
THE SIXT PICTVRE. MANNA IN THE DESERT.
The Description.
YOV see heere the Desert of Arabia,Exod. 16. in the confines of Aegypt, and Moses conducting the multitude of the Hebrewes, in number more then six hundred thousand, lately deliuered from the bondage of the Aegyptians,Exod. 12.37.38. and from the hands of Pharoe, who came to be swallowed vp, with all his armie; in the depthes of the waues of the Sea. So soone as the meate, and the bread, which they brought with them from Aegypt, began to saile, then they fell a crying for hunger; for the belly hath neither patience, nor eares; especially in so rude a people, and enclined to murmure as these are. God of his liberality, and benignity towards them, makes this day, vpon the euening, to flye great flockes of Quailes vpon the Campe, wherewith they were fed; and you see some of them yet remaining: and this morning, the first day of the weeke, he hath made raine to them Manna, which serued them, and shall serue them for food, vntill they be arriued in the Land of Promise, which are these round white graines, of the bignesse and forme of Corianders,Exod. 16. which falling thick and small from heauen, haue made white the Land, all couered therewith; and so haue ceased to fall. Wherefore all the world runneth greedily to gather it vp: some carry panniers full vpon their backes; some their baskets in their hands; some their wallets; the housholders send their seruants, who thereof make their prouision with al diligence. But aboue all, it is a pleasure to see the little children halfe naked, who, hauing tasted of these white sweete things, [Page 94]runne to it, as to an haile of sugred comfits; and thrusting one another away, striue who shall put most in their pockets. They fall on eating greedily, remembring no more the Quailes, that fell the night past. The elder sort contemplate this small bread, and admire it, and euery one said in the beholding it, Man-hu, that is to say, What is this? and not without reason; for it was meate neuer seene before, neither had the heauens euer rained downe any such; especially in this Desert, barren of all good fruit. They also saw it fall from the skie, when it was cleare, without knowing any originall, or naturall cause thereof; they see it laid betweene two snowes,Exod. 16.14. or dewes, as betwixt two white sheetes. For a little before that it descended, a little dew was spread ouer the earth to receiue it,Rab. Salom. & Lyra. ibid. and being already descended, another couered it. These meruailes astonished the Hebrewes, and made them say Man-hu, Man-hu? But they shall be yet more amazed, when they shall see that it shal not fall on the Sabbath day, as it were, to keepe the Feast; that he, which shall gather all the morning, more then the measure of a Gomer for his prouision,Exod. 16.26. shall not haue more then the other, which shall haue gathered lesse:Exod. 16.18. and that this Gomer, shall be the measure of food, that euery one shall eate, great or little; that it shall melt, and desolue into water with the beames of the Sun, and it shall harden being put to the fire,Exod. 16.21. to be prepared and baked into bread; that it shall conuert it selfe to that, which euery one would haue it; and he, which would haue the taste of the flesh of Chickens,Exod. 16.23. of Veale, of Partridge, or of other things to eate, he shall haue it taste according to his owne desire; that it shall putrifie, if they keepe it till the next day, if it were not the Sabbath day. For these maruailes, they said alwayes Man-hu? as nor being able to comprehend what it is; and that name remained alwaies to the thing, in witnesse of the admiration. Moses contemplates this present Sacrament, and casteth the eyes of his cleare sighted vnderstanding, vpon the greatnesse of the [Page 95]future mystery; and highly praysing the gifts of the diuine boundy, instructeth this grosse people, how they ought to cary themselues in the gathering, and vse of this bread. He also commanded his brother Aaron, Exod. 16.33.34. to reteine one vessell thereof, to put in the Tabernacle, there to be reserued, when it shall be framed,Hebr. 9.4. in eternall memory of the gifts receiued from the diuine hand; euery one already hath gotten his prouision, and the Manna fallen begins to melt, the Sunne being high risen aboue the Horison, and drawing neare the South.
1. MANNA, A FIGVRE OF THE SAcrament of the Altar.
OVr Sauiour hath euidently declared, that Manna was a manifest Figure of the Sacrament of his body, when instructing the Iewes, vanting of their Ancestors, Ioan. 6. Exod. 16.14. Num. 11.7. Psal. 77.24. whom they said, to haue eaten Manna in the Desert, as it is written: Thou hast giuen them bread from heauen: and taking occasion thereby to speake to them of the eating of his flesh, true Manna from heauen; he answeres them, saying: Verily, verily I say vnto you, Ioan. 6.31.32.44. that it is not Moses which gaue you the true bread from heauen; but it is my Father, which giueth you the true bread from heauen. And a little after: Your fathers haue eaten Manna in the Desert, and are dead; who eateth this bread, shall liue for euer. Teaching by this allusion and comparison, that Manna was but the shadow and Figure of his flesh; and that Moses had giuen but the figuratiue bread of that bread, which he was to leaue to his Church, true bread descended from heauen; to wit, his pretious body, exhibited vnder the formes of bread. Saint Paul, according to the Spirit of his Master, [Page 96]compares Manna to the Eucharist,S. Chrys [...]st. S. Cyril. Alex. The [...]ph. S. Aug. in cap. 6. Ioan. G. Ambros. lib. de im [...]tat. c. 8. & 9. & lib. de Sac. cap. 1. and the Red-sea to Baptisme, as shadowes to the body. The holy Fathers of like faith and doctrine, speake of Manna, as of a faire Picture, made in the Schoole of Moses, and extoll the holy Sacrament of the Altar, as the truth, exhibited in the Law of grace: well then, for the better conceiuing thereof, let vs contemplate the semblance of the one to the other, and compare the Manna of the Iewes, with the Manna of the Christians.
2. THE CORRESPONDENCE OF MANna, to the Sacrament of the Altar.
MANNA was called bread from heauen,Psal. 77.24. because it came from the ayre, called heauen in the holy Scripture; as when it saith,Matth. 13.4. The birds of heauen, that is to say, of the ayre, which is their element: our Sacrament is truely bread from heauen, for it containes him, which is truely descended, not from the ayre, but from heauen it selfe. And this is that, which our Sauiour said to the Iewes, as aboue we haue heard.Ioan. 9.31.32. It is not Moses, which giueth you true bread from heauen, but it is my Father, which giueth you the true bread from heauen. Secondly, Manna was a food, extracted from an extraordinary cause, and made by the ministery of Angels, and not a worke of Nature; and this is the cause,Glossa in 16. Exod. why it is called the bread of Angels. For to say, that it was because they did eate it, were an impertinent exposition; seeing that the meat of such Spirits is spirituall, and proportioned to their nature, according to that, which Raphael said to Tobias. To [...]. 12.19. It seemed indeed that I did eate and drinke with you, but I vse a meate and a drinke inuisible, and which none can see. For the selfe-same reason it [Page 97]is called by Saint Paul, Spirituall meate,1. Cor. 10. not that it was not visible, and palpable, but because it was prepared by an inuisible hand, and after a diuine manner.Plin. lib. 11. c. 14 & lib. 12. c. 4. Gal. l. 3. de aliment. The naturall Philosophers haue well acknowledged a kinde of naturall Manna, which is a certaine dew of honny, which the labourers of Syria gather from the trees of the mount Lybanus, & whereof the Apothecaries make vse; but this heere was far otherwise in his effects & causes, as hath bin said; it was produced miraculously in the Desert and fel euery day but the Sabbath, in Winter, and in all times; and it was a miracle that it fell not on the Sabbath. It continued in this manner forty yeeres and no more; and this was one of the miracles, that this people saw there continually in the Desert; this was then a celestiall food supernaturall and diuine. This quality agrees very well to our Sacrament; For, first,1 the body of our Sauiour was not begotten after a naturall manner,Luke 1. but by vertue of the holy Ghost, in the wombe of the Virgin, which are two extraordinary causes. Secondly, this body is made present,2 in the Altar, vnder the formes of bread and wine, by the ministery of Priests, which are the Angels of God in the Church. These are those, which, as instruments, make this body in the Sacrament, vsing to that end the omnipotent word of Iesus Christ, THIS IS MY BODY, and in this sense it is made by Angells, and is the true bread of Angels. Thirdly,3 Manna was giuen for prouision in the Desert of Arabia, euen vntill they entred into the Land of Promise: the Sacrament is giuen vs in the Desert of this world, vntill the Church militant shall enter victoriously, and triumphantly into the Land of the liuing, which is her heauenly countrey. Fourthly,4 Manna gathered in little or great quantity, was neither more nor lesse; for neuer a one had in the end more then the measure of a Gomer, bee it that he had gathered more or lesse, and this measure was equally sufficient to euery one, nourishing a man growne, and not ouer-charging the stomack of a yong childe. A [Page 98]thing in truth most admirable; that in a multitude of more then six hundred thousand of people, and so great inequalitie of complexions, and of stemackes, the selfe-same quantity was equall and proportionable to the condition of euery one. This also is more admirably seene in the Eucharist; for it is not greater in a little Hoast, then in a great one, in a piece, then in all; and the body of our Sauiour is all in all the Hoast, and all in euery part of it; and is giuen equally to all, vnder vnequall pieces; how be it, that in regard of the effect, it profits more to those that are prepared. Fiftly,5 Manna serued both for meat and drinke; for it baked into bread before the fire, and ranne into water before the Sunne, here-hence is that the Doctors said, that the Iewes asking water, murmured malitiously without cause;Exod. 16. for so much as hauing Manna, they had whereof to eate and drinke; neither more nor losse, then long time after them the fiue thousand, which did cate in the Desert the bread and fishes multiplied, had both meat and drinke by that miraculous food, in Figure of our Eucharist. Euen so the Eucharist it selfe giueth the body and the bloud of our Sauiour, true bread and true drinke together, though it be but vnder one kinde.6 Sixtly, Manna was couered and hidden betweene two dewes;Glossa ex Rab. Salan Exod. 16. the body and bloud of our Sauiour is couered and hid from our sense and iudgement, vnder the outward accidents of bread and wine. Are not heere resemblances enough to make vs see the very face, and Figure of our Sacraments. And if God hath bin admirable figuring long since the patterne of the truth, is he nor yet much more admirable, in making perfect from point to point the truth it selfe, according to the patterne, and in laying so faire, and so measurable a resemblance of the liuely colours of a new Mystery, vpon the lineaments of the ancient Figure? But let vs see yet some other draughts.
3. WHAT SIGNIFIED THE LIKENES of Manna to Coriander.
PHILO, a great Doctor, writeth,Philo. l. 2. Alleg. post. med. That the peeces of the graine of Coriander, burst and cast in the earth, grow as well as the whole graine; euen as the grafts of a tree, set, or planted, will liue, and grow. An admirable property of this graine, and which is not found in any other seede, that I haue read of, not in Wheat, which is a graine that hath the sprout most full of life. The Scripture, which puts not one tittle to paper without reason, compares Manna to Coriander, to the end (no doubt) wee should marke a wonder, hidden in the Iudaicall shadowes, to be discouered in the light of our faith; the which wonder consists in this, that one part alone of our Sacrament hath life, as well as the the whole; and that euery peece of an Hoast broken, containes as much as the whole Hoast. This wonder was signified (as I said before) in the quantity of Manna, which was so equall in the prouision, although it were gathered in vnequall measure. Then the Scripture saying that Manna, the olde Figure, was like to the graine of Coriander, gaue an outward Picture to the Iewes, and signified to vs the inward life of our Manna, in all his parts, hauing the likenesse of Coriander; albeit this be in one respect infinitely more perfect, for none of the parts of Coriander, is all the Coriander; but all the parts of the Sacrament, are all the Sacrament, and all containe the body of our Lord, and all are the whole: yet if we respect the formes, the parts of the Hoast are not the whole Hoast, but only a part thereof.
4. THE HOLY SACRAMENT KEPT IN the Tabernacle, as Manna in the Arke.
VVEE haue heard, how Moses commanded his brother Aaron to take of Manna, to bee reserued within the Tabernacle, for a memoriall of the benefits receiued from God, which was put in execution so soone as the Arke was prepared,Exod. 16.33. within the which Aaron put a golden pot full of Manna, and the Arke, and the pot in it was seated in the most holy place;Heb. 9.4. as Saint Paul witnesseth, writing to the Hebrewes. So as Manna not onely serued for meat, and all manner of sustenance, but also for a memoriall. The truth of these shadowes continue from age to age in the Church of God; in which the body of our Sauiour, as celestiall Manna, is giuen for food, and a viaticum, and withall is kept and rescrued, for a memoriall of benefits receiued from God. For wheresoeuer the blessed Sacrament is found, euery where it is a memoriall of the bountie of our Sauiour towards vs, it is also kept, and it shall be kept in Churches euen to the end of the world, to be caried to the sicke, and others, who haue need of it, and cannot come to the Church,S. Iust. ep. 2. & S. Iren. epist. ad vict. Pap. quae est apud Erseb. lib. 5. hist. c. 24. Euseb. l. 6, c. 36. or be present at Masse to receiue it. Such was the practise in the time of the Apostles, and in the ages following, vntill this day, as it appeareth by the writings of Saint Iustin, and other Doctors of holy antiquitie.
5. THE BREAD OF THE IEWES BEARES the name of wonder, in Figure of our wonderfull Sacrament of the Altar.
AS Manna was wonderfull in his causes, in his nature, and in his effects; so it carried a name, signifying nothing but wonder and admiration; for Manna comes from the word Man-bu, which is, as we haue said before, nothing, but What is this? a word, which importeth admiration, and desire to know in him, that speakes it; who, because he is ignorant of the nature of the thing, admires it, and asketh, What is this? Our Manna, and our Sacrament is so admirable, that no name c [...]n declare it; and after that one hath well considered it, hee shall finde it much more easy to admire it, then to expresse it by a name, correspondent to the excellencie; by which meanes, of all the names that it beares, there is none which is more agreeable to it, then Manna, the name of admiration; which Dauid declared by Periphrasis, when he called the Eucharist,Psal. 110. The memoriall of the wonders of God; which is not so much a name, as a marke of wonder; and to this of Dauid it is likely our Sauiour had regard, when instituting the Sacrament of his body, he said to his Apostles,Luke 22.29. Doe this in remembrance of mee; as if he had said, vse this, as a memoriall of my wonders. Well then, in this very name of Manna, wee shall obserue another resemblance of admiration betweene the old Manna, and the institution of the new.Exod. 16. For when the Hebrewes, hauing taken theirs in their hand, said wondering, Man-hu, what is this? Moyses answered onely in generall to their demand; this is the bread, that our Lord hath giuen you to eate: but our Sauiour taking the bread, and [Page 102]instituting the Sacrament, answeres in particular saying. This is my body, Matthew. Marke. Luke. and taking the Cup, This is my bloud, as if he had said, Your Fathers long since asked, What is this? holding in their hand the food, that I made raine downe vnto them, and you still pronouncing Manna, aske what is this? I answere both to you, and your Fathers, This is my body, this is my bloud; their Manna and their wonder, was this my body, in Figure; but the Manna, which I make, and the memoriall, that I institute, is my body, not in Figure, but in truth. Behold then the wonder of our Sacrament, figured in the name of the ancient Manna, and the admirable resemblance betweene the old Manna, in the Law of Moses, and our new Manna in the Law of Grace. And since that all heere is admirable, and that the admiration hereof is profitable to vs, and honorable to God in this great Mystery; let vs further contemplate the springs and causes of this admiration, arising out of his omnipotencie, wisdome, and bountie, and let vs see wherefore the holy Fathers haue so extraordinarily admired it.
6. THE WONDERFVLL POWER OF GOD in the Sacrament of the Altar.
GOd shewes himselfe admirable three wayes; by his Power, by his Wisdome, and by his Bountie: to the which end he hath grauen the workes of these three vertues in euery worke of his, be it neuer so little. The naturall vertues of Stones or Plants, and the armour of beasts, set forth the power of their Creator; the ordering of the parts of euery creature, the industry of the great and little beasts, and their agilitie, make vs to see his wisdome: the essence and propertie of all things giuen vs, doe witnesse [Page 103]his bountie vnto vs: all that he did long since in the Law of Nature, and of Moses, and all that he hath done, or shall doe hereafter in the Law of Grace, is marked with these three markes, and there is nothing wherein hee becomes not admirable by meanes of these three, to all those that exercise the eyes of their soules, in contemplation of the greatnesse of his works. But aboue all, he hath shewed himselfe maruailous in this diuine Sacrament, as the last and principall worke of his hands, and the admirable new Schedule or Codicill of his Testament. And first, he hath made appeare in it his wonderfull Power by so many sundry waves, as there be diuersities in the nature of things; we must explaine them after a stammering manner. For how can we doe otherwise (O Lord) speaking of so high an effect of thy infinite power? We finde in all visible nature the Substance, the Qualitie, the Relation, the Action, the Passion, the Place, the Time, the State, the Habite, and nothing more. Man, for example, hath a reasonable soule and a body, which make his substance: He hath his quantity, which are his length, breadth, and thicknesse: Hee hath his qualities, which are his colour, his beauty, his bounty, and such like: He hath his relations compared to another, which is lesse great, lesse good, or as great and as good as himselfe; and is thereby surnamed greater, better or equall: He hath also his actions, for hee speaketh, hee writeth, or doth other things: He hath his passions, for he receiues in his body, or in his soule, some impression of cold, of heate, of ioy, of knowledge, of sorrow, and such like: He is in some place, as in the City, in the fields; and that at sometime, either in the morning, or in the euening, in Summer, or in Winter: He hath his situation, for hee is sitting, or standing, or lying. Finally, he hath his vesture or clothing, his cloake, his shooes, &c. And all whatsoeuer, which is found in Man, or in any other corporall creature, is referred to one of these heads, which are the ten orders, by the Philosophers assigned to Nature,Arist. in Meta. & Logic. comprehending [Page 104]all the parcells of euery creature. According to all which, our Sauiour sheweth himselfe omnipotent in this Sacrament; let vs see it first insubstance.
7. OF THE OMNIPOTENCIE OF GOD in Transubstantiation.
AS for Substance,1 which is the foundation of all, and holds the first ranke amongst things:Categoria sub. [...]. our Sauiour shewes his supreame power in this Sacrament, in that hee changeth by his Word the substance of bread into his bodie, and the substance of wine into his bloud; a kinde of miracle, very like vnto creation, and more noble in this Mystery, then creation it selfe; and most fit to make vs know, and acknowledge him an omnipotent workman. In the creation,Dexit & facia [...]. Psal. 32.9. God did speake, and it was done, he commanded, and it was created, as Dauid singeth. Heere he saith, This is my body, and his body is found there, This is my bloud, and his bloud is there present. Then his omnipotent Word made that to be, which was not before at all: now it makes present his body in a place, where it was not a little before. There it changed nothing into the creature: heere it changeth one creature into another, and in a certaine manner into the Creator himselfe; so as the Priestes working in the Consecration by vertue of this omnipotent words, are in this respect Creators of their Creator. For changing the bread into the body of our Sauiour, and making this body present, they make also by necessary concomitance, that his Soule and his Diuinity, which neuer abandons the body, be also present; and by such operation they produce after a certaine manner the diuine Person, and their Creator, neither more nor lesse, then the glorious [Page 105]Virgin brought forth Iesus Christ, God and Man; and is truely called the Creatrix, and Mother of her Creator, although shee bred neither the Soule nor the Diuinitie of him, but onely the body conioyned to a reasonable Soule, and hypostatically vnited to the Diuine Person, which accompanieth it vnseparably. Therefore the mystery of the Incarnation, as also of Transubstantiation, is greater and nobler, then that of Creation. For the effect of the Creation, was a creature, to wit, the World; but the effect of the Incarnation, as also of Transubstantiation, is the Creator, by reason of this consequence and concomitance. And if one should consider the body of our Sauiour alone, the effect is alwayes more pretious, seeing that this body surpasseth the price of a thousand worlds. God then sheweth himselfe greater in this change, then he did in the Creation. And therefore after the Creation, and before the Mystery of Transubstantiation, when he would giue proofe of his power, it was first by the change of one creature into another, because such an operation did most properly testifie the soueraigne Master of Nature; but therewithall to facilitate the faith of Transubstantiation, which he was to make in the Law of Grace, of bread and wine into the body and bloud of his Sonne. So for the first proofe of his omnipotencie, he changed the Rod of Moses into a Serpent; and before Pharoe and the Aegyptians,Exod. 3. & 4. he conuerted the waters of Aegypt into bloud. So likewise the first miracle by which Iesus Christ made man, shewed himselfe God, was by changing the water into wine; & the last remarkable miracle, that he wrought in his mortall life,Ioan. 2. was in changing the bread into his body, & the wine into his bloud; which he continueth euery day, and shall continue, in witnesse of his omnipotencie, so long as his Church shal walke in the Desert of this world; as he continued the Figure of Manna in the Desert of Arabia, during the peregrination of the Hebrewes; in which Manna, this admirable mutation was figured; for as it is said in the booke [Page 106]of Wisdome,Sap. 16.21. it was turned into that euery man would haue it.
8. THIS CHANGE IS A MIRACLE FOR the Faithfull.
NOw this changing of substance into substance, appeareth not to the bodily sense, but to the eyes of faith onely; and therefore it is made for the faithful, which beleeue without seeing; and not for vnfaithfull and carnal people,S. Aug. in serm. de Temp. 147. Whose rule is to vnderstand nothing, except that which they touch, saith Saint Augustine. The mutations and changes that Moses made to fight against the infidelity of Pharoe and the Aegyptians, and to giue manifest proof of Gods omnipotency, strucke their senses with admiration; as also the miracles of our Sauiour did, and those of his Saints, which were done to plant the faith. The miracle that hee worketh in this change, as also in the accidents, is not for the planting of faith, but for the exercise and encrease thereof: he that requireth to see it with sense, shewes that he hath no more faith then an Infidell; and that he more beleeues his sense, then the words of God, which denounceth to him this change, saying. This is my body, this is my bloud: he shewes also that he vnderstands not reason; for there are diuers natural changes which are made in secret, without the senses perceiuing when they are made, as when the water changeth it selfe into the juyce of wine in the Vine, and into the juyoe of a Cherry in a Cherrytree; when the corne changeth it selfe into the substance of an eare, and when an Egge is turned into a Chicken, the shell remaining whole, and without any exteriour mutation.
9. OF THE SAME POWER OF GOD, shewed in the accidents of bread and wine.
AS our Sauiour sheweth himselfe in this Sacrament, Lord and Master of Nature, by changing the substance, as it hath been said: so he maketh it appeare, that he is omnipotent in the accidents of the same substance, distributed into those nine Orders, which wee haue set downe before. First in generall, because he giues to them all a manner of being supernaturall, which is to support themselues without subiect; an effect so farre aboue the power of common nature, as it is for a man to hold himselfe in the ayre without stay. And in particular, he giueth force to the quantity of bread, not onely to be without subiect, but also to doe the office of substance, and to serue for foundation to the quality, to the sauour,Gen. 21. and to other accidents, and produceth with them a substance, in giuing nourishment by them.2. Reg. Luke 1. Luke 1. And as by commanding the barrennesse of Sara, of Anna, and of Elizabeth, and the Virginitie of his blessed Mother to conceiue and bring forth, he made proofe of his omnipotencie: Euen so he shewes himselfe heere omnipotent, when he commandeth the barren accidents themselues, and without all sappe of substance, to bring forth; and which is more, to bring foorth an effect farre aboue their ranke, to wit, a substance, which is a nature without comparison more noble, then the accident, and of whom the accidents altogether depend, as simple officers and vassalls, hauing nothing of their owne, but what they haue from the power of substance. These are then so many markes of an omnipotent Lord in this Mystery.
10. THE SELFE-SAME POWER, VERIFIED in the accidents of the body of our Sauiour, and first in respect of the quantity.
THe diuine Power is yet more euident in the managing of the accidents of the body of our Sauiour,2 for it there holds his quantity all entire with his dimensions, without possessing place; all in all the Hoast, and all in euery part, how little soeuer it be; which is to giue to his body that manner of being, that naturally belongeth to a spirit, thereby to shew himselfe God omnipotent. So God is all, through all, and all in euery part of the world, and our soule through all the body, and all in euery part. The body of our Sauiour is not euery where, that being a prerogatiue reserued to the Diuinitie alone; but it is in many places in one selfe-same time, and in all parts of the Hoast; which is naturall to spirits, and a priuiledge giuen to this body, vnited to the Diuinitie. And since God giueth the power to Angells, which are spirits, to take a corporall being, and to cloath themselues with some humaine, or other visible forme, and to possesse a place after the manner of a body, it is not to be doubted, but he can giue contrariwise to a body, especially his deified body, the prerogatiue to be in this Sacrament, after the manner of a spirit, without possessing any place; and it repugnes no more to the nature of a body, not to possesse a place, then to the fier not to burne; wherefore, as the fier ceased not to bee fier within the furnace,Van. 3. though it burnt not the Hebrew children: so the body of our Lord ceaseth not at all to remaine a body in this Sacrament, though it occupie no place; and if God hath made, that the virginity remained [Page 109]entire with the conception and bringing forth of a childe, an effect most repugnant to virginity, wherefore shall it be hard to him to make, that a body remaine a body without possessing place? seeing that virginity and facundity are more disagreeing from accord, then to be a body, and not to occupie any place? The Scripture makes to vs easie the faith of this miracle, teaching that our Sauiour went forth of the Sepulcher, it being shut; and that he entred into the chamber of the Apostles, the doores being shut, his body then possessed no place at that time, or two bodies were in one selfe-same place with penetration of dimensions, which is an effect as difficult, and hard to Nature, and onely depending of the omnipotencie of God.
11. THE MARVAILOVS POWER OF GOD about the qualities of the body of our Sauiour in the blessed Sacrament.
THe brightnesse, colour,3 and such like qualities of the body of our Sauiour, are also heere by prerogatiue of his omnipoteucie, inuisible to the eye, and vnknowne to all the other senses. The eye seeth well a whitenesse, the tongue tasteth a rellish, the hand toucheth a quantity; but these are the qualities of bread and wine, and not of the body of our Sauiour, which our mouth taketh, without any feeling of the proper qualities of it. When he conuersed with men, the Diuinity appeared not, but by the body of his Humanitie: heere the body is hidden, not appearing but by the accidents of bread and wine: hee hath his body inuisible vnder the visible accidents, disposing his body at his pleasure. So he made it inuisible by miracle, before his resurrection; so he walked without heauinesse [Page 110]vpon the waues: so after his resurrection, hee hid the splendor of his body, and vanished from the sight of his Apostles: so he mounted vp to heauen, not hindered by any heauinesse of his body.
12. THE WONDERFVLL RELATIONS OF the body of our Sauiour in the same Sacrament.
VVHen a body is in a naturall place,4 euery member hath diuers relations to the diuers parts of the place: The head to one, the feete to another, the hands to a third, and so of the rest. For there it is extended: but heere the parts of our Sauiours body, haue euery of them relation, not to the parts of place, but to one or other. The head is not where the rest of the members are, and all is heere distinct and apart, and yet all notwithstanding in a little Hoast, and sometimes in so little a quantitie of the Sacrament, that it seemes to be impossible, that all should not be in confusion: And indeed it is impossible to Nature to make such an experiment, or but to comprehend it; much lesse yet to explaine it. It is thy Power, O Iesus omnipotent, and soueraigne Master of Nature; thy knowledge and thy word can doe it.
There is yet another diuine relation of this Sacrament, figured in Manna. For as Manna, gathered in vnequall quantity, was alwayes found in equall measure: euen so here a little Hoast applied, and compared to a great one, is found equall, for that in both, the body of our Sauiour is as great in the one, as in the other; and which is more admirable, it is one and the same body. So as the equalitie is not onely by reason of equall taking, but of the selfesame thing in number, to wit, the body of our Sauiour all [Page 111]whole, receiued of euery one. We also admire,Exod. 13.21. as a meruailous relation in another kinde, that the Cloud, the Pillar, and the fiery Tongues, representing the holy Ghost,Ioan. 3.22. Act. 2.3. were all one thing. Let vs admire that the visible formes, distinct in themselues, referred to the body of our Sauiour, make one Sacrament. Let vs admire, that according to diuers relations, Eue was a sprout of Adam, and in a manner as his daughter, being extracted from his body, and notwithstanding in another respect his wife; and that our Sauiour was Sonne of the Virgin, by reason of his Humanity, and Father of the selfe-same Virgin, in regard of his Diuinitie. If we admire these things, certainly vnderstanding the relations, which are in this Sacrament, of a great body to one so little: of the members one to another, in so little a space: and of them all to the visible accidents, we haue whereat to wonder, and in our wonder, to magnifie the power of almighty God.
13. ADMIRABLE ACTIONS OF THE body of our Sauiour.
THe actions of the body of our Sauiour,5 is heere diuinely admirable, for it nourisheth without being disgested; it nourisheth, not as corruptible meats, for a little space of time, but for euer to immortality. For it soweth in the body the seed, by which it shall be one day inabled merise gloriously, and the presence of this body giues vertue of nourishing to the accidents, which they cannot do naturally, without substance. This deified body mounts yet more high, for it nourisheth the Spirit, and workes in the Spirit a prerogatiue, denied to all other bodies; so that as it is heere present after the maner of a Spirit, it hath the [Page 112]operation of a Spirit, and penetrates the Soule by his action, beautifieth it, illuminateth it, makes it chast, and ingraues in it other spirituall ornaments. If the tree of Life, renewing the body, and Manna, changing the taste, were admirable in their actions; how much more the body of our Sauiour, in respect of the action it hath in this Sacrament? For they worked not, but vpon the body; but this body worketh vpon body and soule, and that not onely to immortality, but also to eternall felicitie, as we haue said.
14. THE BODY OF OVR SAVIOVR impassible.
THe body of our Sauiour in this Sacrament endures not any hurt,6 although it may be iniured by vngodly soules, that take it vnworthily, or by the wickednesse of Infidels, which doe iniury the outward signes, where with it is cloathed, as the King with his Royall roabe. The impassibility of Manna resisting the fier,Sap. 16.17. and the not cortupting thereof on the Sabbath, which putrified on other dayes;Exod. 3.3. the impassibility of the Bush, not consuming, though it was all compassed with the flame; the impassibilitie of the garments of the Hebrewes, which endured whole the space of forty yeeres in the Deserts,D [...]ut. 29.5. without being wasted, or euer mended; all these impassibilities were admirable; but that of the body of our Sauiour was most wontierfull of all. For all these things at the last ended in corruption, was none at all, but in this nothing happeneth, or can happen to the body of our Sauiour, but onely to the visible signe; for howsoeuer the Hoast be diuided into many parts, the body for all that still remaineth vndiuided, and whole in euery part, as the face, for example, is seen [...] [Page 113]whole in euery peece of a broken glasse. The stomack disgesteth the formes, but disgesteth not the body; if the formes vanish away in one place, the body ceaseth to be there, but it is found in other places, wheresoeuer the eternall Sacrament remaineth. The formes may bee burnt in the fier, gnawne of beasts, troden vnder-foot; but the body is alwayes impassible, free from hurt and corruption, and retaining alwayes its owne glory and immortality.
15. THE SACRAMENT IS IN MANY places at one, and the same time.
THe place of earthly Paradise was most beautifull, as hath bin said, and it cannot be denied,7 but the dwelling of Adam was delightfull, and both the one and the other admirable, & especially in respect of the Tree of Life. Heere the second Adam is in this Sacrament, as hid in the shadow of his Paradise, he alone being both the Tree of life, and the Paradise of soules, whose Spouse he also is; and euery thing is heere more admirable. Our Sauiour is heere, and he is also in heauen. He is in heauen, as in his Kingdome, occupying place as other bodies doe, after a naturall manner; he is heere after a supernaturall manner, lodged in a little roome, answerable to the quantity of the formes, vnder which he is, conforming thereby his greatnesse to our littlenesse, his power to our weaknesse. Howbeit his body is nothing lessened by the littlenesse of the place, but remaines as great as it was on the Crosse. Who can see this without the eyes of faith? who can also comprehend, how in one selfe-same instant, he is found on diuers Altars, in diuers Countries, and both in earth, and in heauen? Truely no body but euery faithfull Christian beleeues [Page 114]it, though hee cannot comprehend it; because the Scripture teacheth it, it is the Scripture, which saith, Our Sauiour gaue his body to his Apostles, saying,Ma [...]. 2 [...]. Mark. 14. [...] 22. This is my body, from which antecedent it solloweth, that it was in diuers places in one and the self same instant; it was in his naturall place naturally, and sacramentally in as many other places, as there were Apostles, that receiued it; it ought then to bee beleeued, though humane iudgement cannot vnderstand it. [...]. Co [...]. [...]2.2. Saint Paul assures vs as knowing it, that he was rauished into the third heauen; and notwithstanding he confesseth, he could not comprehend in what manner, whether it were in body and in soule, or onely in soule; and we beleeue that, which he saith, though it seeme difficult to vs. Our Sauiour saith to many, Take, this is my body, & by consequence he saith, that it is in diuers places; shall we then not beleeue it, because our capacity cannot comprehend it? Shall we measure the worke of God by the reach of our vnderstanding, and take the Scepter out of his powerfull hand, to giue the more credit to the infirmitie of our iudgement? Saint Paul could not vnderstand, how he had been rauished; Was he not therefore rauished at all? And we lesse know, how he was rauished; Do we therefore not beleeue it? And it we know, that one selfesame voice, in one selfe-same moment entreth whole and entire into ten thousand eares, and that our soule is eutirely all, in diuers parts of our bodies; that Abacuck was in one selfe-same howre in Babylon,Abacut. [...]an. 14 36. and in Iudea, places distant one from another more then an hundred leagues; wherefore should wee make difficulty to beleeue heere, what the Word of God assirmeth? We see daily, that the Starres which are in the midst of heauen, are in foure and twenty howres in all places of heauen, which is more then if a birde flying round about the earth, should twentie or thirty times in one halfe quarter of an howre, bee both in the East, and in the West, and in all the places, which are betweene these two spaces; should wee thinke, that the [Page 115]power of God is abridged, so as it cannot make his bodie to be in diuers places? Beleeue then (Christian soules) the Word of your omnipotent God, and with faith admire in this act his admirable power.
16. THE BODY OF OVR SAVIOVR aboue the Lawes of Time.
TIme passeth by succession,8 and rules all heere in this world, but when God created the world, the Time began without precedence of Time, and succeeded not to Time, so as then it simply began. The same God at his pleasure hath bridled Time, and hindered it from consuming the things, that were subiect to Time. The garments of the Hebrewes were all kept whole, as it hath been said,Dent. 29.5. the space of forty yeeres, in despight of deuouring Time: The little pot of Meale, and the vessell of Oyle of the Widow,3. Kings 17.14. who nourished Helias, endured many months, which could haue sufficed but one day: Manna corrupted in foure and twentie howres, and held good eight & forty howres, when the next day was the Sabbath, and endured for many ages, being kept within the Arke in a golden pot.Hebr. 9.4. These workes were admirable; but our Sauiour shewes himselfe in his Sacrament, much more admirable, then in those workes; his body is present in the Hoast so soone as the words of Consecration are ended; and that in a moment, without requiring any precedent time, euen as the world was made without any precedence of Time. The presence of this body coutinueth by verrue of this Word, as in vertue of the same, the production of creatures continued, and shall continue euen to the end of Time: Doth not our Redeemer then shew himselfe herein the Master of Nature?
17. THE ADMIRABLE SITVATION OF the body of our Sauiour in the blessed Sacrament.
VVEE haue heere aboue touched the admirable situation of the body of our Sauiour in this Sacrament; and the more we thinke thereof,9 the more occasion we haue to admire Gods power, and to confesse our insufficiency in this point, as in others. All the members are heere distinct the one from the other, hauing their proper reference amongst them; howsoeuer it be with the accidents of bread and wine. Shall we not then admire the greatnesse of God, making such a distinction of members, retaining their quantity in so little a space, in inclosing them in a little point, and yet leauing to them the largenesse of their dimensions and capacities? And moreouer, who will not wonder to see, that howsoeuer a man turne the Hoast, lift it vp, or lay it downe, yet this diuine bodie altereth not the situation in it selfe? and although, when the Sacrament is remoued, it changeth place, yet it changeth not, for all that, the situation of his parts: wee see some such like thing in heauen. For euen as the Sunne is alwayes aboue the earth; albeit it seeme to vs wheeling about to the Antipodes Land, to be vnder our feete: euen so by resemblance, albeit the parts of the quantity of the Hoast be changed, neuerthelesse the parts of the body of our Sauiour remaine in their seate of Maiestie. Humane reason there admireth God in the naturall seate, and mouing of that great Celestiall body: heere Faith extols the greatnesse of God, in the admirable situation of the deified body of his Sonne.
18. THE CLOTHING OF THE BODY of our Sauiour.
ADAM in his innocency was richly cloathed, and neuerthelesse naked; and after that he had offended,10 he was clad with dead skins, and yet notwithstanding he remained still naked; all this was admitable. For how was he cloathed and naked; naked and clothed together? This was, because in that first estate, he had his soule cloathed with all kinde of goodly garments, of Iustice, of Chastity, of Charity, of Fortitude, of Temperance, and of other such like attire, and had nothing vpon his body, neither had he need. But when the soule was dispoiled of her habits, shee was ashamed of her owne nakednesse, and of that of her poore body, which shee was necessarily to couer, at least one part of the shame of the soule: Thus Adam was clothed and naked; naked and clothed, by diuers considerations. The Antithesis is most diuine, and most meruailous without comparison; for the body of our Sauiour hath not any garments, and notwithstanding is alwayes most richly cloathed, but it is with diuine gists of immortall glory: It is shining by brightnesse, more then the Sunne; more pleasing by its beauty, then all the Stars; admirable in this, and admirable also, for that he couereth this robe of glory, and takes that of bread and wine, hiding the Maiesty of his presence vnder the visible formes, to become the more familiar to our capacity; euen as hee hid his Diuinity vnder the mantle of our humane nature, appearing but Man, and being neuerthelesse God & Man together, to make vs enioy his sweete conuersation. So Manna, Figure of this Mystery, euen in this point, was couered [Page 118]with two dewes, the one falling before the Manna, and seruing it, as it were, for a bed, and the other after, in stead, as it were, of a couerlet, as hath been said. Behold how God shewes himselfe in this Sacrament, Soueraigne Lord of all Nature vniuersally.
19. HOW THE EVCHARIST IS AN Abridgment of all the wonders of God.
IS not then this diuine Mystery an abridgment of Gods wonders? And God, hath he not made himselfe seene admirably admirable in this wonderfull abridgment, more then in any other worke of his? Hee hath made appeare his greatnesse two wayes, the one in making of wonders apart, the other, which is the more diuine, in assembling them together. As a Musition, that not onely knowes to set for single voyces, but also hath the arte, and the grace of setting many parts together, and to delight the eare with a sweete harmony, composed of diuers voyces well accorded. After that he had shewed himselfe wonderfull in the production of a thousand creatures, he made man, as an abridgement of them all. Hee hath made since the Creation of the world, a thousand and a thousand admirable workes, in the common course of nature; sometime in the substance of things, sometime in the accidents; he hath changed, as we haue said, the wood into a Serpent, changing the substance and the accidents,Exod. 3. & 4.9. Insu. 10.12. and after the same miraculous manner, the waters into bloud: He hath stayed the course of the Sunne against the force of his extreame swistnesse;4 Reg. 1.10. 4. Reg. 6.6. Exod. 10.21. Num. 16.31.32. he hath made fier to defcend from heauen, contrary to its lightnesse; Iron to swimme aboue the water, contrary to the weightinesse thereof; obscured the [Page 119]brightnesse of the ayre, by extraordinary darknesse;Num. 17.8. made the Sea passable within her very depths; opened the bosome of the earth, contrary to the solidnesse thereof; made in one night, to sprout, to flourish, and to beare fruite, a drie wood, contrary to it barrennesse; made a Beast speak,Num. 22.36. whereof naturally it was vncapable. In conclusion, he hath shewed, that he is God of Nature, making supernaturall workes in euer parcell, and part of it; but being come in proper Person into the world, and being himselfe to depart out of the world, hee hath left a miracle, equall in greatnesse to the world, and a chiefe worke, worthy of his hand, and for which he deserues to be remembred, containing alone the abridgement of all the wonders, that hee euer made, be it in creating the world by his omnipotent Word, be it in gouerning it by his dinine Wisdome, be it in the preseruing of it by his infinite bounty. A miracle, containing his pretious body, and thereby surpassing the price of a thousand worlds. A miracle, where hee made himselfe to be admired, as soueraigne Master of all creatures, commanding the substance of things, and their accidents; commanding the ten Categories, that is, the ten Orders of things in the vniuersall world. Dnuid considering the diuersitie, and beauty of creatures, cryes out, saying, O Lord, how thy name is admirable through all the earth; Psal. 8.1. but considering this future Mystery, he sings another tune, saying, Our Lord hath made a memoriall of all his wonders; Psal. 110. and declaring what it is, He hath giuen to eate to them that feare him: It is his body, which he giueth to his children; for the common meates of the world, he giueth to beasts, and to men, good and euill; this body hee hath giuen to his deare Spouse, prepared in this Sacrament, and apparelled with all his wonders. True marke and signe of his greatnesse; true Manna, bearing the name of wonder; true bread, descended from heauen; true gift, drawne from the greatest treasure of his almighty Wisdome, and from his all-wise goodnesse.
20. HOW FAITH IS FORTIFIED BY this Sacrament.
THe first article of our Faith is to beleeue in God Almightie; for which this article beginneth our Creed, and vpon this foundation are built all other points of our Religion. Now the saith of this article is admirably exercised, ayded, and augmented in the practise of this diuine Mystery. For so often as wee communicate, as wee haue Masse, as we participate or meditate vpon this holy banquet, so often we beleeue, that God is ommpotent, making and renewing euery day, by his omnipotent Word, the wonder of his pretious body, to the astonishment of Angels, of men, and of Nature vniuersally: So often as we make bow to the obedience of Faith, the humility of our sense and iudgement, which in this Mystery is altogether blinde; so often we purchase new strength, and new grace, to beleeue the omnipotencie of our God. And herehence it is, that the holy Fathers, S. Iustin, S. Ireneus, S. Chrysostoms, S. Iustin. Apol. 2. S. Iren. l. 4. c. 34. S. Chrysost. bom. 16. ad. Pap. Ann [...]. & bom. 83. in Ma [...]h. S. Ambros. lib. 4. [...]it. mist. c [...]9.9. S. Cyprian. lib. [...] Corn. Dom. S. August. in Psal. 33. S. Ambrose, S. Cyprian, S. Agustine, and other Doctors, so often as they either speake, or write of the Eucharist, alwayes inculcate with vs the Almightie power of God, and obiect it to Heretikes, as a certaine Marke of his powerfulnesse. And as the Patriarkes and Prophets, when they would shew, that God is Almighty, call him Creator of heauen, and of earth: Euen so the holy Doctors, when they will extoll the almightinesse of our Sauiour, alledge euer this his chiefe worke; and as the Diuell of old perswaded certaine misinformed Philosophers to write, that the world was not created, but that it was eternall without beginning, to weaken so much our faith [Page 121]in the omnipotencie of the Creator: So in our age hath he raised certaine hereticall spirits, which deny the presence of the body of our Sauiour in this Sacrament, by their heresie to take away, and to deface this most noble marke, or signe of his omnipotency, and to ouerthrow a most strong pillar of our Faith, and the most beautifull ornament of Christian Religion.
21. OF THE GOODNES OF OVR SAuiour in this Sacrament.
THe contemplation of the omnipotency, and goodnes of God, makes vs admire and loue him. We haue giuen some documents of his omnipotency in this Sacrament, let vs say one word of his goodnesse in the fame. It is an argument of our loue, to giue our goods to his behoofe and profit, vpon whom we bestow them. So God hath shewed himselfe to loue man, by giuing him a being, and creating the world for him. It is an argument of greater loue to giue his owne substance; for he that giueth of his proper bloud out of his body, shewes himselfe more louing, then he which makes neuer so great a present out of his purse. Almighty God hath giuen his onely Sonne,Ioan. 3.16. substance of his substance; and the Sonne also hath giuen himselfe vnto vs, ioyning in alliance his Diuinity to the Family of our Father Adam, and making himselfe our brother, so to worke our Saluation: could he haue tyed himselfe to vs by any more straite bond, and giuen himselfe more amorously, then in giuing himselfe wholly to vs, and making himselfe one with vs, to deifie vs with himselfe, and make vs heires of his glory? Well then, as in the Incarnation he hath made a gift of his Diuinity to man, so in [Page 122]this Sacrament he hath bestowed vpon vs his Humanitie; [...] hath giuen it once to death, in a bloudy Sacrifice, and from time to time he ceaseth not to giue it for meat, to apply vnto vs the fruit of his redemption; he maried his Di [...]nity to our Humanity, when he made himselfe man; he [...]arieth his humanity to ours, when he giueth it to vs in this Sacrament: For the flesh of our Sauiour heere, is holily vnited to ours, to make it both chast and fruitfull in bringing forth good workes: and the same flesh is also a most diuine dish of his nuptiall feast, to feed and fat our soules with celestiall vertues, and to giue immortality to our bodies. O sweet Iesus, what goodnesse is this, and what an effect of inflamed loue? that thou vouchsafest to ioyne thy selfe by two so straite knots of Mariage, and of Meate, to so base and so miserable persons, as we are? the Lord to his scruants, the King to his vassals, the Creator to his creatures, God to wretched poore sinners? O what loue is this of thine, in this diuine Mariage, and Food? What King would euer take for his Spouse, a poore vassall of his? And what father would feede his children with his owne body? We see, that mothers nourish their children with their milke, which is a white bloud; but what mother euer nourished her children with her proper flesh? O diuine mariage, O diuine banquet! O wicked abuser, and immortall enemie of Man, which hast troubled this marriage, and this banquet, substituting in the place of this true Bridegroome,1. Reg. 19.13. and this true Dauid, and this deified flesh, an Idoll of Bakers bread! But this thou hast done in the Church, which thou hast falsly intituled Resormed, and not in the Church of God. Thou hast done it, I say, in a Synagogue of such misbeleeuers, as haue chosen rather to lend their eares to the lyes of thy vanity, then to beleeue the sacred and holy words of verity; not in that Church,1. Tim. 3.15. pillar of truth; Spouse which cannot erre, assisted with the true Spirit. Shee knoweth full well her Spouses voice and manner of proceedings; she knoweth the goodnesse [Page 123]of his Table, and will beware how shee forgoe it; shee knoweth the Son omnipotent, made for vs Emanuell, Esay. [...].14. that is to say, God with vs, when he was made Man; liuing with vs, and speaking with vs in his proper person; but especially when he giueth himselfe vnto vs in this nuptiall banquet heere, wherein, more then euer, or any where else, he is indeed Emanuell. For when he conuersed with vs mortall and visible, it was but for a littla time, the vnion was lesse, with fewer people, and that in Iury onely: but by this Sacrament he is euer most straitely vnited; as Spouse and Food, with all them, that will marrie themselues with him, and feed vpon him; and this not in one onely Land, but in so many places, as this Catholike and Vniuersall Church adores her Spouse, euen from the East to the West, from the South to the North, and through all the earth. An husband, when he departs from his wife, a father from his children, a friend from his friends, signifies his loue more then euer, makes a feast, leaues a pretious remembrance, and shewes that departing, hee would leaue himselfe still present, if he could possibly be in many places at once. Iesus Christ hath accomplished all this after a diuine manner; for vpon the end of his passion, and of his departure from this world, hee shewed his feruent loue to his children, Hauing loued his owne, which were in the world, Ioan. 13.1. (saith Saint IOHN) he loued them to the end; that is to say, he shewed them his loue more then euer before. He likewise made his banquet, with singuler signification of loue, saying, I haue greatly desired to eate this Pasque with you, not the Moysaicall, but the truth of the Moysaicall, wherein he himselfe was the Lambe. Finally, for a Ring of remembrance, he hath left his proper body, and his owne selfe, to be alwayes present with his friends, in the manner aforesaid, and to be for euer their Emanuell.
22. CHARITIE TOWARDS GOD, AND towards our neighbour, encreased by this Sacrament.
IF liberalitie drawes hearts, if the table makes friends, and if loue begets loue; what person will shew himselfe so rusticall, and frozen, as not to be allured by this infinit goodnesse, not to be gained by this feast, not to be inslamed with this fier, in the frequentation of this diuine Sacrament? What soule, I say, will not be wholly inflamed with the loue of her Redeemer, feeling her selfe so delitiously feasted by him, so tenderly embraced of him, and so straitely vnited with him? Whom will shee loue, if shee loue not this goodnesse? With whom wilshee make amitie, if shee make it not with so liberall a Spouse? And of whom shall shee be amorous, if shee be not enamored of so feruent a friend, and louer.
And then, if shee loue faithfully this her Spouse, and attentiuely consider the nature of this Mariage and Feast, it cannot bee, but shee must also loue forthwith her neighbours, and her Christian brethren, for the loue of her Spouse; when shee shall see, how they are likewise beloued of him; and called to the same Feast, and made members of one and the selfe-same body with her. For to signifie this mutuall amity, he himselfe is ginen in meate and drinke, vnder the likenesse of bread and wine, which are made of many graines, and of many grapes; as wee haue said elsewhere. And truely the Apostle, to exhort the maried holily to loue their wiues, [...]bes. 5.25. drawes his most forcible argument from this mystery, as being the example of a perfect mariage, and of a perfect loue. From the mariage, [Page 125](I say) of Iesus Christ with his Church, to whom he liberally giues himselfe, and with whom he is vnited, by these two most straite bonds of a Spouse, and of Meate. For which reason also the Eucharist hath alwaies been an Embleme of vnion, peace, and charity. And for signification whereof, it was an ancient custome to giue the kisse of peace in the Masse; from whence came afterward the ceremony of kissing the Pax, which is still in vse. Behold then how this soueraigne goodnesse drawes vs by this Sacrament, as well to his owne loue, as also to the loue of our neighbour.
23. OF THE WISDOME OF GOD IN this same Mysterie.
LEt vs now see some workes of the diuine Wisdome in this his Sacrament; for it is so well ordered, as it is easie to perceiue, that it is shee which is the Mistresse, and chiese doer therein. According whereunto, the Scripture also saith, Wisdome hath built her a House, Prou. 9.1. shee hath cut out seuen Pillars, shee hath immolated her victime, mingled her wine, and set foorth her table. This House is the Church; these seuen Pillars, are the seuen Sacraments; the wine mingled, is the pretious bloud of our Sauiour; and the meat of this table, the sacred Manna of his flesh; and so haue the ancient Fathers explained it, and namely, S. Cyprian. S. Cyprian. cpist, 63. ad. Cecil. d [...] Sacer. Calicis, & lib. 2. aducrs. Iudeos, [...]. 2. Now as humane wisdome shewes it selfe in well ordaining, well comprising, and well instructing, (for these are the true effects of a wise vnderstanding;) so the diuine Wisdome maketh her selfe appeare in this Sacrament, by the same meanes. A wise Orator shewes himselfe in the orderly method of his discourse: A wise Captaine in well ranking an [Page 126]armie; a wise Architect in well ioyning the parts of the building; and so of other wise worke men. A wise Musition in setting many parts of M [...]ick, and vniting them together with a sweete and well a greeing harmony; Mirmerides was admired for his and a [...]trious wisdome, when he made that so much renowned Chariot of foure wheeles, [...] l. 35 c. 10. which the wing of a Fly did couer; and that wonderfull ship stored with Masts,Pun. 16. with Sayles, with Roaps, with Ankors, with Rudder, and with all other tacklings, which the wing of a Bee might also couer.
But aboue all, Wisdome shewes her selfe, in the good and effectuall teaching of euery Science or Vertue; and this is her most high title. In all these kindes, the diuine Wisdome shineth foorth most brightly in this Sacrament. Her ordinance heere is admirable: For what goodlier order can one desire, then to haue drawne so many faire Figures from time to time? and to haue at the last inspired, and breathed, as it were, the life of Truth into those ancient lineaments? giuing in a Law most perfect, a Sacrament full of all perfection; a Sacrament of charity in a Law of loue; and preparing for the nuptialls of our humane nature, with the Sonne of God, a nuptiall feast of the flesh of God.
His Wisdome is heere yet more admirable in combining, for this combination surpasseth all wonder, for God and Nature are heere combined; Heere is the body of the Sonne of God, by vertue of his omnipotent Word; his soule as inseparable from the body, his Diuinity, as vnited vnto them both, and by consequence, the Father and the holy Ghost, and all the holy Senate it selfe of this blessed Trinity are heere assembled: All the wonders of Nature are heere comprised, as hath been said: All the soules and bodies of the faithfull are heere conioyned in one, as many cornes in one loafe,Maub. 24.28. S. Chr [...]ost. bom. 4. in 1. Cor. 10. and many grapes in one cup of wine; gathered together like vnto so many diuine Eagles about the body of their King, saith Chrysostome. But what diuine [Page 127]wisdome was it, to haue prepared this diuine morsell, so conformable to the infirmity and capacity of our weake nature, vnder the taste and feeling of bread and wine, meat and drinke of all other the most familiar to vs.
24. GODS DIVINE WISDOME IN teaching of this high Mystery.
THe last, and most liuely tract of Wisdome, is to teach effectually: And what greater wisdome can be shewed therein, then to haue giuen heere the meanes to learne, to encrease and fortifie both faith and charity? the one the foundation, and the other the crowne of Christian vertue? For eating this morsell, we receiue an Earnest of immortality, and as the Church singeth, A pledge of future glory. And it cannot bee but that by the presence of so braue a Captaine, whom we beleeue firmely to be heere present, though inuisible to our sight; our courage and heart should much encrease, if we be faithfull souldiers. For as the wicked spirits fright vs, if wee beleeue them to bee present, though we see them not with on [...] bodily eyes: So contrariwise, and with more reason, we grow confident, and as it were, are lifted vp to heauen by the assured presence of our Sauiour. Heere, moreouer wee learne Religion, the most noble Pearle of Christian Iustice; whereby we honor God, doing him the homage of Soueraigne worship due to his Maiestie alone, which heere is done with soueraigne preparation. For first heere is offered a Sacrifice vnto him, which is a worship of supreame acknowledgement, incommunicable to all other, but to God a Sacrifice, not of bodies of the beasts, as in the old Law; but of the body of God, by which body he hath been soueraignely [Page 128]honored, with which he hath bin fully appeased; in which he hath ouercome the power of his capitall enemie, and shall one day come to iudge both the quicke and the dead. So as the worship is most soueraigne, and the thing offered so great, that it cannot be greater; which as it is an art of Religion most honorable to the Creator, so is it most beneficiall also to his creature; who receiuing this precious body from the liberality of God, offers it to him againe, for an Holocaust, for a thanksgiuing, for a Propitiation or remission of sin, honoring him for his gifts, with his proper gift, as in Figure thereof. In the Law of Nature and M [...]yses, the holy Saints did honor him, in making offrings of those goods, that they had receiued of him: Which is it that the great and deuout King Dauid confesseth, saying, All things are thine, 1. Paral. [...]9.14. and we haue giuen thee that, which wee haue receiued from thy hands. In this Sacrament wee haue likewise a lesson of humility, seeing our Sauiour to appeare amongst vs in a poore familiar habit, without attendance, and in a meaner manner then Dauid, when he came to the Priest Achimelech; 1. [...] 2. to appeare, I say, not in his owne garment, but vnder the formes of bread and wine, hiding therewith his robe of glory, that wee might with greater confidence draw neere vnto him. Wee haue heere also a lesson of patience; beholding our Redeemer to endure so constantly, and for so many ages the iniuries that the wicked doe vnto him, through their misbeleefe, their sinues, their blasphemies, treading him vnder their feete, casting him into the fier, and the like dishonors, though all this be done without any hurt of his impassible body. Heere we haue also a lesson of obedience, in that he is present without faile, at the voyce of his Vicar, whosoeuer he be, pronouncing the words of his omnipotency, ouer the bread and wine. Heere therefore we haue a lesson of all the most high vertues, giuen by the example it selfe, of our Redeemer, a manner of teaching most cleare and pregnant, and recommended vnto vs by himselfe, when he said, I haue [Page 129]giuen you an example, to the end you should doe, as you haue seeneme do. Hee ceased not to giue vs examples of well doing, from time to time, while he liued and conuersed with vs; but heere hee giueth vs the patternes and examples of diuine vertues from better imitation, altogether. Behold the wonders of our Sacrament, without comparison greater, then those of Manna, and far more worthy, for the which we should say, Man-hu? What is this? for neither men nor Angels can sufficiently enough admire it.
A COLLOQVIVM OF PRAISES AND thanksgiuing to God.
VVHat remaines heere then (O Lord, Almighty, most good and most wise) but that we eleuate our hearts to the contemplation of this thy diuine Sacrament? And Bauing admired the wonders of thy greatnesse, to render thee immortall thankes for thy immortall benefits? But who can worthily contemplate the price, and the excellencie of this benefit, if thou giuest not eyes and light to see it? And what tongue shall be able to speake of this thy great mercy? Moyses, considering thy goodnesse, and resounding thy praises, said; Deut. 32. Let the Earth heare the words of my mouth, let my doctrine grow vp together, as raine, and my speech flow as the dew, as a shower vpon the hearbe, and as drops vpon the grasse, for I will inuocate the name of our Lord. Giue magnificence to our God; the workes of God bee perfect, and all his wayes Iudgements. It is heere, where there is need of such an Orator, and of such a language, to magnifie and praise such a gift, as surpasseth all those that the Hebrewes did euer receiue, and to extoll such a worke, as carrieth with it markes of diuine perfection, ingrauen therein by the hand of God, all good, all wise, and all mighty. Though Moyses himselfe were heere, and that his language were eloquence it selfe, yet hee would come short to speake of thy Matesty herein, O Lord. The [Page 130]tongues of Angels stammer in vttering this Mystery; and wee Fecome dumbe, the more we endeauour to speake thereof. Our highest praise is an humble confession of our insufficiency, and our greatest endeauour, is to contemplate heere in silence thy great vertue, to ad [...]re with respect, thy admirable wisdome, to thanke with loue thy infinite goodnesse, which wee desire to dee, O sweete Iesus, all the time of our mortall life, to the end that hauing well knowne the benefit of this Manna, and wonderfull pasture of our pilgrimage, we may come to enioy the other, which thou holdest hidden for the life to come, [...] in the treasures of thy felicitie.
THE SEVENTH PICTVRE. THE BREADS OF PROPOSITION.
The Description.
THese twelue Loaues, set vpon the Table, six at each end, piled one aboue another, and the Violl of gold aboue them, full of most pure Incense; are those which the Scripture calleth the Loaues of Proposition, or Breads of faces; as who would say, Bread exposed and set in a publike and sacred place, before the face of God. There lyeth hid vnder this name a double mystery, which the Pensill knowes not how to expresse; they are made by Priests onely, of most pure flower, weighing about eight pounds euery one, all Loaues well prepared, but neither puffed vp, nor great in regard of their weight, because they are without leauen. They offered them euery weeke, and they were to be renewed euery Sabbath-day, and hot ones to bee put in their place; the Loaues being taken away, the Priests might eate them. They are twelue, because it is the offering of all the Children of Israel, diuided into twelue Tribes, by which they make a Present in common of thankes to God, acknowledging their life and conuersation to come from his Maiestie. The Table, where they are sett, is made of Setim, a pretious and incorruptible wood. It is two cubits long, and one broad, all gilded with fine gold, and enriched with a circle of gold also, which goeth all about; bordered with double crownes of foure fingers large, the one aboue, the other beneath, It is put vpon two tressels, made of the same wood, of a cubit and a halfe long, square, and sett vpon feete, cut and carued. It is placed towards the North, vpon the right side [Page 132]of the Sanctuary. And on the left side, towards the South, there stands the golden Candlesticke, with seuen Lampes; and betweene both the Altar of Incense. But who is this braue Knight,Dauid. 1. R [...]g. 21. accompanied with certaine Light-ho [...]semen, that speaketh with Achimelech, the High Priest, keeper of these Loaues, and as it seemes all astonished to see him? It is, without doubt, valiant Dauid, who flying the fury of Saul, is come to the City Nob in haste, being stolne away from the Court, and hee askes something to eate, for he is extreame hungry. Achimelech ignorant of the cause, and wondering to see him so vnprouided, with so little a traine, being one of the greatest Captaines and Princes of the King; speakes as if he were astonished, and tells him, that he hath nothing but the Breads of Preposition, dedicated to the onely vse of Priests; notwithstanding he and his people in such necessity might eate of them, so that they were cleane, and not defiled, especially with womer. Dauid answereth, if there be no hinderance but that, wee are cleane; for we haue not had the company of our wiues these many dayes. And so he went, and tooke his refection, and will carry away with him the sword of Golias, which before hee had dedicated and left in the House of God, where it hung wrapped in an holy linnen cloath. He will serue himselfe of it in the warres of God, and cut in pieces with it, the enemies of his name.
1. THE BODY OF OVR SAVIOVR, CONceiued of a Virgin, by the operation of the holy Ghost; signified by the Loaues of Proposition, kneaded of the purest flower, without leauen.
THese Loaues, and these Offerings, did long since Figure footth our Eucharist, which we haue declared to haue been the true Bread. But none sauing those,S. Cyril Hieros. Catech. mist. 4. S. Hier. in lib. 1. in cap. 1. epist. ad Tim. that were spirituall men amongst the Iewes, could penetrate the secret of this hidden mystery; now it is easie for all Christians to see it, the shell being broken, that the kernell may appeare, and the curtaine of the Figure drawne, that the truth may be seene: we need but cast our eyes vpon the ancient Lineaments, to know the present truth. The most pure flower, and without leauen, whereof the Loaues were kneaded, signifieth the body of Iesus Christ, conceiued by the operation of the holy Ghost, of the most pure substance of the Virgin, without leauen; that is to say, without originall sinne, or any corruption. For leauen in the Scripture oftentimes signifieth malice, and infection: and in that sense our Sauiour said to his Apostles, Take heed of the leauen of the Pharisies, which is hypocrisie. Matth. 16.6.11. Marc. 8.1 [...]. Luke 12.1. Marke 8.15.1. Cor. 5.6. And in another place; Beware of the leauen of HEROD. The like sayings he hath elsewhere. After the same manner spake S. Paul, saying, Let vs feast, not in the old leauen, nor in leauen of Malice and wickednesse, but in the a [...]in [...]es of sincerity and verity. The ground of the similitude is in this, that as leauen altereth and maketh sowre the paste; so sinne changeth, puffeth, and corrupteth the beautie and goodnesse of the soule. The Breads then without leauen, are a Figure of [Page 134]our Sauiours body, conceiued without infection of sinne. They were called Loaues of faces, or of two faces; and therein lay two Mysteries, as the ancient Hebrewes haue prophetically written,Rabbi Ionathas in cap 25. Exod. Ca [...]. 10. c. 6. and namely Rabbi Ionathas, who liued long time before the comming of our Sauiour. The Mysteries are, that in the future Sacrifice of the body of the Messias, there should be a Change of one Substance into another, as of one Face into another: and also that two Natures, and two Faces, the Diuine and the Humane, should be vnited in the Person of the Messias, offered and sacrificed vnder the forme and face of bread, and in the substance of Flesh. And therefore the holy Loaues of the Table of our Sauiour are truely Loaues of two Faces, and of two Natures, containing the foresaid mysteries in truth, as these heere did containe then in name, and Figure. They were offered euery day for the Children of Israel, by the sacrifycing Priests of the Iewes, as the body of our Lord in the Masse, by Christian Priests, for all Christians. The Iewish Priests onely, did make them; and Christian Priests onely make the Sacrament and Sacrifice of this body; for to them only is giuen this power, and to no other seruants in the House of God, be they men or Angels.
2. HOW THE BODY OF OVR SAVIOVR is offered euery day, and renewed euerie weeke.
THis body is offered euery day in the Masse, and reserued, as were the Loaues of Proposition, for the children of God, in memory of the death of our Sauiour, and in thankesgiuing for all his benefits bestowed vpon vs, for the sustenance of soule and body. This is our true weekly [Page 135]and daily bread (saith Saint Cyprian, Matth. 6.9. Luke 11.3. S. Cyprian. l. de or; domin. S. Ambros. l. 5. de Sacra. c. 4. S. August. l. 2. de Serm. Dom. in Monte, cap. 12. and the other Doctors of the Church) which he himselfe hath taught vs to aske of him. It is renewed once a weeke; for although it bee offered euery day, it is principally offred vpon the Sunday of rest to Christians, substituted in the place of the Iewes Sabbath, in which men are gathered together in the Church, to renew the offering of that bodie with feruent and fresh deuotion, in the presence of all faithfull soules. This is alwayes one selfe-same body, immortall and glorious, but it is renewed and multiplied, because it is found in many new formes of bread and wine.
3. THE BEGINNING, AND END OF THE Communion is Charity, Prayer, and Contemplation.
THe Loanes of Proposition were placed vpon the gilded Table; and vpon the vpper-most of them was sett a Violl of gold, full of the purest Incense. Which ceremonie teacheth vs, that the body of our Lord, requireth a soule cloathed with Charity, which is the gold of the Temple of God to rest in; and that the end of the Communion of his body, ought to be inward prayer and contemplation, signified also by the Violl of gold, and by the Incense set aboue the Loaues: For the Violl and Incense in holy Scripture, doth signifie the prayers of Saints;Psal. 140.2. Apoc. 5.8. and gold, the most pretious mettle of all other, signifieth loue and heauenly charity, the most noble affection of the soule, wherewith the celestiall Ierusalem is enriched; and of it all Christian workes ought to bee composed, or at least gilded therewith, but especially the communion of this Sacrament, which is the Sacrament of loue and charity.
4. THE BODY OF OVR SAVIOVR SIGnified by the Table, vpon which were set the Loaues of Proposition.
THe Table made of the wood Setim, incorruptible, Guilded with fine gould, crowned with a double crowne, and framed with a wonderfull arte, euen to the feete of the tressels; signified the same body of our Sauiour, conceiued, as hath been said, of the substance of the Vigin, cleare from all corruption, and endued with all sorts of perfectian, that may be in a humane body, after the likenesse of this Table, excellent in matter, and admirable in forme. Iesus Christ then, celestiall bread, reposeth on Iesus Christ: as the Bread of Proposition stood vpon this Table, and as he himselfe is offered by himselfe, as the ancient Loaues by the Priest Achimelech: So as he is together the Offering offered, the Table carrying the Offering, and the Priest distributing it, in this vnbloudy Sacrifice; as he was also in the bloudy Sacrifice of the Crosse, the Victime, the Sacrificer, and the Altar: the Lambe offered, the Priest offering, and the Altar-stone, whereon the Holocaust was burned, in the holy fier of his infinite Charitie.
5. THE SIGNIFICATION OF THE Gandlesticke.
THis Table is in the North-side of the Sanctuary, hauing a Candlestick of gold, with seuen lampes, on the left side towards the South, and the Altar of perfumes hard by, being in the midst betweene the Candlestick and the Table. All these things, and the manner of their placing, are full of mystery. The Candlestick signifieth the light,S. The. 1.2. A. 102. art. 1. and the knowledge men ought to haue of God in this world, where Iesus Christ illuminateth his Church, by the seuen gifts of the holy Ghost, as by seuen lamps, and seuen Starres; and especially giuing her light, by which the mystery of the Sacrament of his body may be seene:Clemens Alex. Stro. lib. 5. S. Greg. 5. Ezec, hom. 6. Hesych. 5. Leuit. 24. the excellency of which cannot be well vnderstood, without light from on high, and without great faith, and diuine wisdome. The knowledge of God, and of this mystery, was first communicated to the Iewes, enlightened by the South of the Law, and after giuen to the Christians before Idolaters, signified by the North, where the Chieftain and Captaine of Rebels had made his residence, and placed the throne of his pride.Esa. 14.14. And therefore the Table of the true Proposition Loaues, is in the North side of the Church, composed of those which were Panyms before the Law of Grace. For it is shee, which hath in verity the Table of the body of our Sauiour, true Bread of heauen, erected only in figure amongst the Iewes.
6. THE HEART OF THE IVST IS THE Altar of Incense.
THe Altar of Incense, which was betweene the Candlestick and the Table of Loaues, and vpon the which men burnt to God, euening and morning, most sweete odours; signifying,Exod. 30.7. & 8. Gloss. ibid. saith Philo the Iew, the memory that we ought to haue of Gods benefits, bestowed vpon vs by his Diume bounty, and the thanksgiuing, that men ought to render vnto him. This Altar was within the Temple, hauing before it the Arke of Couenant, hidden more secretly in the Holy of Holies; and behinde it was the Altar of Holocausts,Philo Iudaeus quis cerum diuisit haereses. lib. de vita Moysis. whereon the beasts were sacrificed at the gate of the Temple. So that all these things in their placing, made a Crosse, or a man stretched out vpon a Crosse; the Arke was in place of the head; the Altar of Holocausts, of legges and feete; the Candlestick, the arme on the left side; the Table of Proposition Loaues, the arme on the right side; and the Altar of Perfumes, the brest and heart. The Altar of God (saith Saint Gregory) is the heart of a iust man, S. Greg. l. 25. Moral. cap. 7. & lib. 3. Expos. in 1. Reg. cap. 5. S. Aug. Serm. de Temp. 255. in which the diuine fier ought to burne alwayes, because from it the flame of charitie towards God ought to ascend without ceasing. And Saint Augustine saith, That in euery true Christian there ought to be two Altars, the one in the soule, answering to the Altar within the Temple; the other in the body, answering to the Altar of the Holocausts without the Temple. That is to say, whosouer wil carry the name of a Christian, ought to be pure in his soule, and chast in his body. In this Altar then, beholding the Arke of Couenant, Figure of Iesus Christ, and drawing neere the Table of Proposition [...]eaues, we ought to render thankes to God. But wherewith and how?
7. WHEREWITH, AND HOW WE OVGHT to thanke God.
VVHerewith, and how wee ought to thanke God, wee shall vnderstand by the composition of the Perfume which was burnt vpon the materiall Altar: the ingredients of this Perfume, were foure mixtures of equall waight, to wit: First, drops of Myrrhe, that is to say, the most pretious liquor that distilleth from Myrthe. Secondly, Onix, a kinde of little shell. Thirdly, Odoriferous Galban, which driues away Snakes. Fourthly, and the purest Frankencense. These foure ingredients represented the foure parts of this visible world, as learned Philo teacheth. Myrrhe, which distills, signifieth the water:Philo l. quis baer. cer. diui. the Onix terrestriall and drie, the earth: the odoriferous Galban, the ayre: the transparant and mounting Incense, the fier. The Perfume, thus then composed, readeth vs a lesson, and setteth before our eyes the whole world, in the Hieroglifique of the parts thereof; teaching a generall acknowledgement of the benefits that we receiue from God. First, in our bodies, the noriture whereof we receiue by the created world, but chiefely in our soules, which are nourished by the body of his Sonne, a food infinitely more worth then a thousand worlds: a body giuen once on the Altar of the Crosse in a bloudy Sacrifice, and on the Altar of his Church, vntill the end of the world, by an vnbloudy Sacrifice, vnder the formes of bread and wine.
8. THE VERTVES, WHICH ARE NECESsary, worthily to gine thankes vnto God, and to make a iust examen of our actions.
THe same Perfume teacheth vs,Gin Ti Ord. in Exod. 30. with what preparation we ought to make this thanksgiuing. For these foure aromaticall ingredients, mingled together to make powder of Perfume, teach vs, that we ought to acknowledge and thanke his diuine liberality with the vnion and mixture of Faith, of Hope, of Prayer, of Chastity, of Charity, and of all the other most holy and most Christian vertues.S. Gregory. We make (saith Saint Gregory) a Perfume of aromaticall composition, when from the Altar of holy workes, there ascendeth vp to God a good odour of purity, by the multitude of many vertues mixed together: for this sweet smelling incense becommeth more pure, when one vertue is ioyned with another. Now the ingredients to be wel mixed, ought to be stamped and brought to powder; the which puluerization teacheth the diligent examination, that we ought to make of our actions and behauiours, to the end, that beholding them in grosse, wee bee not deceiued in the knowledge of our selues. To puluerize the aromaticall drugs (saith the same Doctor) is to cersider and examine in particular, G. Gregny. our vertues, words, and workes; and to call them to a secret and strict account; for so they shall be fit to be set before the Tabernacle of God, to be a sweete odour to him.
9. A SOVERAIGNE ACKNOWLEDGEment, due onely to God, made in the Eucharist.
IT was forbidden to employ this Perfume, vpon any other, but onely vpon God himselfe, to signifie, that the thanksgiuing, which we owe to God, is supreame and incommunicable to any creature; and that otherwise wee thanke God, and otherwise the Saints, and other Benefactors. To God, with the adoration called Latria, as a Soucraigue honor: to others, by a lesser worship, as to the instruments of his Soueraigne goodnesse. Now this signification of supreame thanksgiuing, is most agreeable to our Sacrament, and Sacrifice, signified by the Loaues of Proposition; for in it is made soueraigne memory, of the Soueraigne benefits of our Redemption, and thankes are rendered to God, with soueraigne magnificence; to wit, with the offering of the same body, which hath redeemed vs, an offering infinitely agreeable to his diuine Maiestie. This is the reason, why this action is called Eucharist; that is to say, Good grace, or Thankesgiuing; taking its title, and vsuall name, from the most worthy and remarkable effect thereof.
10. THE BODY OF OVR SAVIOVR, meate for the Sanctified.
NOw these Loaues were not eaten, but by the Priests, and Leuites: people sanctified for the seruice and worke of the Sanctuary. By which Ceremony the holy Ghost doth Figure forth vnto vs, that Christians ought to eate the bread of Christs Table with singular purity, if they will eate it profitably; and that euery one ought to haue, in this action, his soule adorned with a Priestly holinesse, because he doth herein, after some sort, the office of a Priest: for he offers the body of Iesus Christ, with Iesus Christ; and with his Vicar, the Priest Sacrificing, he eateth the bread set and offered vpon the holy Table. And in this respect, Saint Peter calleth all Christians, Priests, and Kings, 1. Pet. 2.9. holy people, and royall Sacrificers. For although the Lay-people (to speake properly) haue not the character of Priests, no more then they are properly Kings; yet are they neuerthelesse called by a generall appellation, Priests, and Kings, after the foresaid manner. In that, as such, they are Sanctified, and haue right to eate of the Sanctified bread.
11. WHAT SIGNIFIED THE TABLE OF Proposition Loaues, and the Candlestickes multiplied by SALOMON.
NOw it ought not to be passed ouer,Reg. 7.49. 2. Paral. 4.8. that Salomon long time after builded the Temple, placed in it ten Tables for Proposition Loaues, and ten golden Candlesticks, [Page 143]encreasing ten times the number; fiue Tables and fiue Candlesticks, on the left side the Altar of Perfumes, towards the South, and fiue on the right side towards the North; whereas Moyses had put but one Table on the North side, and one Candlesticke on the South side the Altar of Perfumes, being in the midst, as hath been declared. This ouerplus, and misterious magnificence, signified that the light of faith, and the spirituall nourishment of faithfull soules, should be without comparison in more great abundance, in the time of our true Salomon, Iesus Christ, and in the Church built by him, then it was it the Law of Moyses. And that with great reason, for that he, the bright Sunne, and the true celestiall Bread, should then descend to the earth, begetting a new Sommer, bringing the cleare light of noone-day vnto the diuine mysteries, making a plentifull haruest through all the world, and causing the Loaues of Proposition to multiply in abundance,S. Hier. in c. 40 Ezech. Apoc. 12.2, from the onely Bread of his body, as Saint Hierom speaketh. Samt Iohn in the Apocalyps declared by another allegory the same brightnesse, which Salomon figured by his Candlestickes, when he said, That hee did see a Woman cloathed with the Sunne; vnderstanding the Church vnder the name of a Woman, and by the Sunne, signifying the greatnesse of the spirituall light, bestowed vpon her in the Law of Grace. Malachie also foretold, that throughout all the earth,Malach. 1. there should be offered a pure Oblation, that is to say, the body of the Sonne of God: and that this heauenly Bread should be offered, and distributed in abundance in the House of God. Which is the same, that Salomon had signified in preparing ten Tables, a number of vniuersality, and that in the Temple of God, a Figure of the Church. [Page 142] [...] [Page 143] [...]
12. PVRITY OF BODY, NECESSARY IN such as come to receiue the holy Communion.
BVt what meant Achimelech, 1. Reg. 21. when offering to Dauid and to his people, the holy Bread, hee did it with this condition, if they had kept themselues cleane from the company of women? It signified that, which our holy Doctors teach; to wit, that to present our selues to the Table of our Proposition bread, we ought to haue not only our soules pure from sinne, and adorned with all vertue, as it hath been said, but also our bodies cleane from all impurity. Achimelech, saith Saint Hieram, would not giue the Proposition bread to Dauids men, till first he vnderstood, that they had been continent from their wiues three dayes before. What then ought to be the chastity that Christians should vse, comming to the Table of our Sauiour, which is his proper body? a Virgin body, and conceiued of a Virgin, Spring and treasure of all purity, and infinitely more pretious then the Proposition Loaues? There is (saith the same Doctor) as much difference betweene the Loanes of Proposition, and the body of Christ, S. Hier. l. 1. e. 1. epist. ad Tit. as betweene the shadow and the bady, the Image and the Verity, the Figures of things to come, and the things themselues represented by passed Figures. For this cause therefore,In Concil Eliber. opud gratia: d [...]. omnis, de [...]seer. & Conril. Cabik. Gen. [...]6. the Apostles and their Successors haue holily ordained, that the Lay-people, which will Communicate, should containe themselues from their wiues at the least three dayes before, and as many after Communion; and that the Priests, which communicate daily, and handle this chast and dinine Flesh, liue without wiues, and be aften the manner of Angels, chast all their life.
13. THEY WHICH HOLILY COMMVNIcate, receiue strength, and are armed by the Sacrament.
SVch then, as eate this true bread of Proposition, as Dauid did, hauing their soules and bodies cleane, are not onely strengthened against the temptation of Satan, and enabled to resist concupiscence, but also take into their hands the sword of Golias, and the weapons of their enemies, to fight valiantly in the combates of our Lord, to cut in pieces the troopes of Satan, the world, and the flesh, and to attaine the victory of a glorious conquest.
14. A BRIEFE EXHORTATION TO PVritie, when we present our selues to the holy Sacrament.
BVt alas, how few are the number of such valiant combatants? How few are there, that present themselues to this diuine Table, with that cleannesse and reuerend respect, which the High-Priest Achimelech required of Dauid, and of his people, before he would permit them to eat his Loaues of Proposition, the shadow, and Figure of ours? how few, that imitate the holinesse of Dauid, and of his Souldiers, in this celestiall banquet? How few obserue the purity which our ancient Fathers, and our holy Mother the ancient Church commanded? What are we become? [Page 146]What doe we? of what thinke we? how haue we left our ancient feruour in Communicating frequently, and the ancient holinesse of the first Christians, in communicating deuoutly? What is become of the chastitie of the first Christianity? Where doe you see, as of old, the concourse of godly soules, purely amorous of this their Spouse, and soberly hungry after this banquet? If there be yet any, as it ought not to be doubted, but there are many thousands, hidden within the Oratory of the Sanctuary of the House of God; the number notwithstanding is exceeding little, in comparison of that, which hath been, and which ought, and might be, if we had the courage and deuotion of our Ancestors.Proue [...]bs 9. Come hither then (O faithfull soules) but come prepared; put on your nuptiall garments, the more worthily to present your selues before your Spouse, who is the Soueraigne and all-seeing Wisdome: whet and sharpen the appetites of your hearts; approach to the Table, that he hath prepared for you; eate the liuing Bread, which he hath so well seasoned; drinke the celestiall Wine, which hee hath mingled for you; Bread, which giues eternall life; Wine, which maketh drunk with happinesse and felicity; sill vp the Feast, there are yet many empty places, and encrease your glory, by encreasing the number of the inuited.
THE EIGHT PICTVRE. THE OBLATION OF THE FIRST fruits at Pentecost.
The Description.
THE better to vnderstand, how this Assembly celebrates the Sacrifice of the First-fruits: you are to conceiue the forme of the Temple, in which it is made. The Temple of the Iewes, as it is commonly taken,Ezech, 40.41. is this inclosure of walles, hauing fiue hundred cubits in square: but to speake properly, it is that House built within the enclosure towards the West end, magnificently couered; in height twenty cubits, and fixtie in length, diuided into two parts: the first of which is twenty cubits long, and is the most holy part; for this is the Holy of holies, place for the Arke of Couenant, where no person enters, sauing onely the High-Priest, and that but once in the yeere. The second is forty cubits in length, and in it is placed the Altar of Perfumes, right against the doore of the Sancta Sanctorum, hauing on euery side fiue Candlestickes of gold, and fiue Tables for Breads of Proposition, as elsewhere we haue said. On this Altar euery Prince of the Priests, in the circuit of his office, offers Incense to God, euening and morning; as Zachary did,Zachary. Luke 1. the father of Saint Iohn Baptist. The rest of the inclosure is without roofe, diuided into two great Yards or Courts, each one being an hundred cubits in length and largenesse. On the South side and North side, were certaine houses, called Gazophilaces, as much to say, as treasuries. They were for the habitations of Priests and Leuites, and to keepe the holy treasures; hauing neere vnto them certaine walking-places, [Page 148]and little walls. The first Court, separated from the second by a little wall, hauing a portall in the midst, is the place, where the Priest, make their Sacrifices vpon this great Alzar, which is night against the Temple. Where you see fiue Cesterns on the right hand, and fiue on the left, full of water, to wash the entrals and feete of the Victimes. And on the left side of the wall of separation, neere to the Portall, a molten Cesterne, called a Sea, by reason of the exceeding great capacity thereof; for it is ten cubits square, and fiue cubit; deepe; and this is the sountaine wherein the Priests washed their hands and feer, when they went to offer Sacrifice. The second Court is the place for Lay-people; and this little raised vp seat, in the forme of a seaffold, in the midst of it, is a Throne of brasse, fiue cubits square,2. Paral. 9.13. and three cubits high, where Salomon, and the Kings of the Iewes after him were placed, during the time of the Sacrifice. Now this great multitude of men, which are in the first Court, are the Priests and Leuites; and the other in the other Court, are the people, all there assembled for the solemnity of the new Oblation of the first fruits in Haruest, called the Feast of Pentecost. In which Oblation, after many bloudy Sacrifices, to wit, of seuen Lambes, two sheepe, one Oxe, offered in Holocaust; and one Goate offered for sinne; two Wheat-loaues, with two Lambes, were offered to God as Peace-offerings, that is to say, in action of thankes; euery one hauing made an Oblation of his first fruits, to the Priests, according to the Law. In the first partition are only Priests: in the second, the women are in an Oratory, seperated from the men; and all, as well men as women, see all and euery part of the Sacrifice, which is done in the Court of Priests. For that the Altar was raised vp ten cubits high, and the walles, which seperated the Court,2. Paral. 41. were but three cubits high; they easily heare the voices of the Priests, and of the Musicall Instruments,Ioseph lib. 5. de [...]lls lad cap. 14. and Trumpets, which sound while the Sacrifice burneth, The seuen Lambs, the fat Calfe, the two [Page 149]sheepe, are long since wholly consumed in the fier, without any part reserued, saue onely their skins: for this is an Holocaust, that is to say, a Sacrifice, wherein all must bee burnt, to the honor of God, without reseruing any thing to Priests, or Lay-people. The Hee Goate also is all consumed to ashes, because it is offered in common for the sinnes of the people: for if it were offered for one particular person, a part thereof had been kept to the Priests, according to the Law of the Propitiatory Sacrifice, which gineth them that prerogatiue. Herehence it is, that the Scripture saith, that they eate the sinnes of the people, that is to say, the Sacrifices offered for the sinnes of the people. The two Loaues, which are, as it were, the body and heart of this Sacrifice, are made of sine Wheat-flower,Oser. 4.8. as the Proposition Loaues, but of leauened paste, whereas those of Proposition are without leauen, which is a mysterious shadow: they are made in the forme of round cakes, the High-Priest offers them now to God, lifting them vp to heauen by a remarkable ceremony, with the Lambes placed vnder them, and turning them from the South into the North, and from the East to the West, prayes to God with these words; Looke from thy Sanctuary, Deut. 26.15. and thy highest habitation of heauen, and blesse thy people of Israel, the Land, which thou hast giuen to vs, as thou swarest to our fore-fathers, a Land slowing with milke and hony: after this eleuation, the Loaues, and the Lambes remaine to him, as his right. All the world is in prayers and deuotion, adoring the diuine Maiesty, imploring his mercy, and rendering thankes for his goodnesse, not without demonstration of the inward eleuation of their soules, by the outward mouings and gestures of their bodies: One lifts vp his eyes to heauen, another striketh his breast, another ioynes his hands, many bow down their heads, and bend their knees, some haue their eyes fixed on the Altar, sinoaking yet with the Sacrifice of the burnt Victimes; other on the Priests gesture, eleuating so ceremoniously the Loaues, [Page 150]put ouer the Lambs; some also are attentiue to the Loaues and the Lambes themselues, but their lookes cannot bee seene, nor the mouings of their hands and eyes, for as much as all of them look towards the Altar, and are painted for the most part with their backes turned towards vs, so as little of their shape before appeares, and much lesse their visage. But by these few we see we may well coniecture, that the most spirituall cast their thoughts on the mystery which was hidden vnder the rinde of the Ceremony: for they are taught that their Law was, as it were, a peece of Tapestree,1 Cor. 10. teaching the truth of that, which should after be in the time of the Messias; by meanes whereof, they behold not so much the preparation of the Sacrifices of the Beasts, and of new Loaues, as that, which is signified by them; and it is not to bee doubted, but God did make seene to many the future light of the Law of Grace: surely by contemplating onely the countenance of this olde Priest, portrayted on the right side of the Altar, lifting his eyes to heauen, and holding his hands a crosse, all rauished and all in an extasie, one may collect, that he hath had some secret reuelation of the great good, that God had promised for the ages to come, by the feast of this Sacrifice of new Loaues; and that he in his soule glorified the diuine Maiesty; desirous, if such were the good pleasure of God, to bee liuing vpon the earth in that season; and like it is, that he said in his heart: O God of Israel, how great, how magnificent, and admirable art thou in the workes of thy hands? great to doe great things, magnificent to obliege men by thy great benefits, and admirable to choose the times and seasons, wherein thou wilt bestow them. Thou hast by that commandement alone, of thy liuely word, created heauen and earth, and all that is betweene them, to make a present thereof to man, thy creature, and ceasest not to oblige him with new benefits euery moment: thou hast in particular assisted with a thousand blessings this thy people, the Hebrewes, breaking with a strong hand, [Page 151]the yron chaines of their bondage, deliuering them out of Aegypt, and from the tyranny of Pharoe, giuing them for their portion, a Land of Milke and Holy, true delicacies of the earth, and communicating to them thy holy Lawes and secrets; these are the true effects of thy great goodnesse: but I see it will extend it selfe out of measure more then euer, to the future people and ages, not containing it selfe in Palestine, but spreading it selfe ouer the world, when the Messias, and Redeemer, whom thou hast promised, and we expect, and whom these Sacrifices prefigure to vs, and after a secret manner foretell, shall come to Sacrifice himselfe, and to be an Oblation of new Bread, and food of immortality.
O happy time, in which this Sauiour shall be borne! O happy people, which shall be his people, conducted by his Lawes, and fed at his Table! O that I were a childe of that age, and member of that Common-wealth! This Picture makes vs coniecture, that hee speaketh to this purpose.
1. THREE IVDAICALL PEASTS OF the First-fruits.
THe Iewes receiued a Commandement in the Desert,Leuit. 23. to offer vnto God the first of the new fruites of the Land of Promise, when they should be peaceable possessors thereof, and that vpon three Feasts of the yeare. The first was the day after the Pasque, in which they gaue a sheafe of the first eares in the beginning of Haruest;Leuit. 23. Ioseph. l. 3. c. 10. Ant. 9. which after the Iudaicall account began in March, or in the entrance of Aprill, because the Land was very hot. The second they celebrared fifty daies after, which for that cause [Page 152]was called Pentecost, wherein not eares of Corne, as in the first Feast, but two Loaues of new Wheate, with many bloudy Sacrifices going before, were offered vp to God. The third was after the fifteenth of Septemb. in which the First-fruits of all the year were offred together, as Wheat, Barly, Grapes, Oliues, Pomgranats, Figges and Dates. The most famous of all the three Feasts, was that of Pentecost; and for that reason the Law called it simply, and without any addition,Rab. Salomon [...]ad [...]ra. in c. 23. Leuit. The feast of First-fruits, a most solemne, and most holy day. The Oblation offered vpon that day, was accompanied with all the three kindes of the Iewish Sacrifices, which were the Holocaust, the Propitiatory, and the Peace-offering: and they made them of the noblest kinde of Hoasts and Victimes; to wit, of seuen Lambes, of one fat Calfe, of two sheepe in Holocaust to the honor of God, one Goate in Propitiatory Sacrifice for remission of sinnes, and two Lambes, with the Loaues, in a Peace-offering for thanksgiuing. This is the Feast, and the Oblation of the First-fruits, represented in the former Picture.
2. THE MASSE THE NEW OBLATION in the Pentecost of Christians.
THis Oblation, and this First-fruits of new Bread at Pentecost, was one of the most illustrious Figures of the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of the Masse, a new Oblation indeed, and the true First-fruits of the Wheat of the new Law, as the ancient Fathers haue obserued. And amongst others, Saint Irenaeas very elegantly in these words. Our Sauiour (saith hee) teaching his Disciples to offer the First-fruits of his creatures to God, [...]. l. 4. c. 32, not for any need he had of them, but to the end they night not be vnprofitable and vngratefull [Page 153]seruants; tooke the bread, which is the creature, and yeelding thankes, said, This is my body; likewise he confessed, that the Chalice, which came of his creature, was his bloud, teaching the new Oblation of the new Testament, which the Church receiued from the Apostles, and offers all ouer the world to God, our nourisher and feeder, for the First-fruits of the gifts, that he hath bestowed vpon vs in the Law of Grace, according as Malachy hath foretold, I haue no will in you (saith the Lord of Hostes) and gifts will not receiue at your hands:Malac. 1. for from the rising of the Sunne, euen to the going downe, great is my name among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of Hostes. By which words (addeth this Doctor) The Prophet manifestly signefieth, this, which is now come to passe; for the former people cease offering to God, and Sacrifice is now offered to God throughout all the vniuersall world, and the name of God is glorified amongst the Gentiles. Making then allusion to the old Figure, he saith, that our Sauiour saying, This is my body, and this is my bloud, and transubstantiating the bread into his body, and the wine into his bloud, taught his Apostles & Disciples to giue to God the First-fruits of his creatures, and to offer him a new Oblation of the new Testament, which is the truth of the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of the Masse, figured by the Oblation of the First-fruits, as we haue shewed:S. Iust. in Tripho. S. Chrysost, in Psal. 95. Tertul. l. 3. cont. Marc. c. 22. S. Aug. l. 18. de Ciuit. c. 35. S. Hieron. in c. 1. Mal. & al [...]. which Figure we are now to explicate, together with the Prophecie of the Prophet Malachie, which Saint Irenaus citeth for the same truth; and with him Saint Iustin, Saint Chrysostome, Saint Hierome, Saint Augustine, Tertullian, and other great Doctors of the Church. But let vs see the circumstances of the old Oblation, answering in all respects to the body of the new.
3. OF MANY CIRCVMSTANCES OF THE ancient Oblation, answering to the truth of the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of the Masse.
THe Loaues of the First-fruits, were made of the finest flower of Wheate, and round, after the manner of a cake. We haue heere the matter and forme of our Hoasts: The Priest did lift it vp before the people, in Figure of the eleuation of our Sauiour vpon the Crosse. The Priest also eleuates the consecrated Hoast, that it may be adored, and maketh ouer it many signes of the Crosse. The Sacrifice of Loaues were Min-ha, Malac. 1. that is to say, not bloudy; the Masse is a Sacrifice of the same kinde, without effusion of bloud, and the true Oblation Minha, foretold by Malachy. The Figure was called in the Law a new Sacrifice: which Moses names in the Hebrew and Syriach tongue,Deut. 16. Missa, that is to say, Oblation rich, and sufficient; which word is not found in all the Bible to signifie any other thing, but this new Oblation, as the Hebrew Doctors teach. All this is liuely agreeable to the Masse: for in regard first of the name, it is agreeable to it in euery point; seeing that this our Sacrifice is singularly a new Sacrifice in all respects, in respect of the thing offered, of the Priest, and of the manner of offering it. The thing offered is singularly new; it is a new fruit, brought forth from a new earth, to wit, the body of our Sauiour borne of the Virgin, a new bread, a liuing bread, immortall and glorious. The Priest also new, to wit, the Sonne of God, the annointed of God, King of men and Angels, and there was neuer the like, nor neuer shall be hereafter. The manner wholly new, for the thing [Page 155]offered, and the Priest is the selfe-same thing, and both the one and the other, are hidden vnder the formes of bread and wine, all in the one, and all in the other kinde, and all in euery part of it, in his proper quantity, in his immortality, and in his glory, though our sense and vnderstanding see nothing, but the outward signes. So is this Sacrifice altogether new, and not knowne either in the Law of Nature, or in the Law of Moyses.
4. OF THE NAME MASSE.
AS for the word Missa, Masse, proper name of the old Oblation, it is left wholly to ours; and it is so well assigned, and applied, that it signifies no more, neither nominateth any other thing, then the Sacrifice of the Law of Grace, as of old it signified onely that of Moyses. In so much as many great Doctors doubted not,Missa apud S. Clem. epist. 3. Abdias lib. 7. S. Euarist. l. 3. cap. 27. S. Alex ep. 1. Telesph. ep. 1. S. Ambros. l. 5. ep. 3. S. Aug. serm. 91. de Temp & 251 S. Leo ep. 81. & 88. Concil. Rom. de Coascr. d. 1. nullms Concil. 2. Carth. can. 3. Concil. Agath. c. 47. de Conf. d. 1. Missas. but that this was an Hebrew word, and the same, which denominated the ancient Oblation of the First-fruit, and one of the first names, that the Apostles gaue to the Eucharist. The which is probable, because it is so called by many ancient Fathers both Greeke and Latine; as S. Clement, Successor of Saint Peter; Abdias, who wrote the life of the Apostles, either in Greeke or in Hebrew. S. Euaristus Pope, who sate the yeere 97. S. Alexander, sitting in the yeere 106. Telesphorus, sitting in the yeare 127. S. Ambrose, S. Augustine, Saint Leo. Moreouer, the first Romane Councell, the second of Carthage, the Councell of Agath. and many other ancient Authors of the first foure Ages, and all these haue often vsed it, as a name frequented among the Christians, which is an argument that it was left by tradition from the Apostles, howsoeuer the Church did vse in the beginning many [Page 156]other names, especially the Greeke Church. Some Doctors haue thought it to be a Latine word, for the likenesse of the syllables, and of the sound. But the argument concludeth not that it is rather Latine, then Hebrew, seeing that it hath the like syllables, and sound in both Languages; and if the Latine challenge it by that title, the Hebrew may challenge it by the same. And after this manner euery one may draw to his Language a thousand strange words by similitude or likenesse, and may put themselues in danger to incurre the crime of vnlust vsurpers, or ill interpreters, as it happened to Optatus in the word Cephas, which he thought to be Greeke, by reason of the likenesse of syllables of the word Cephale, Head. By like misconstruing, the Latins may also say, that the Hebrew words Alma, Massa, Cera, and such like, are onely Latin, because they haue a Latine sound, and euery Language may challenge the word Sac as her owne, because it hath the same sound and signification in all tongues. It is then as likely, that the word Missa, is an Hebrew word, as that it is a Latine. But if any shall resolutely hold, that it comes rather from the Latine, then from the Hebrew I shall more willingly agree thereunto. For this casuall encounter of the Latine with the Hebrew, is more meruailous, then if it had been deriued from the Hebrew. For it could not happen; but by diuine prouidence, that one Latine word should be so happily tyed, and allyed to the Hebrew, that it seemes altogether to be an Hebrew word, and that the Hebrew word should come so neere to the Latine, that it seemes indeed to be a Latine word, and that this word hath been vsed to signifie the like thing in diuers Languages, and Lawes. The Hebrew word in the Law of Moyses, to signifie the Figure of the Sacrifice of our Sauiours body: and the Latine word, to signifie in Latine the truth of the same Sacrifice in the Law of Grace. And that the most excellent Sacrifice of all other, hath been baptized with the like name in syllables, and in signification, by the [...] most [Page 157]noble Languages of the world; in Figure by the Hebrew, and in Verity by the Latine. The old Figure then resembled our Sacrifice in the matter, in the forme, in the ceremony, and most liuely in the name.
5.
TRANSVBSTANTIATION MADE IN the Sacrament, figured by the Leauen.
THere are yet more mysticall draughts in the ancient Figure, which preach into vs the truth of our Eucharist; but principally three: The first the Leauen: the second the Time: the third the Sacrifices, foregoing this Oblation. It hath been said, that these Loaues were made of Leauen-paste, and were eleuated in Oblation, by the High Priest, with the Lambes.Leuit. 23.20. Then (saith the Scripture) the Sacrificers shall-eleuate the Lambes, with the Loaues of the First-fruits, turning them before the Lord. In such sort, as the Loaues were put aboue the Lambes, and all was eleuated together. This is a diuine draught of Gods Pensell, in the Table of the Figure; teaching vs not only the presence of the body of his Sonne, true Lambe, without blot in the Sacrifice of the Masse; but also the manner of his being there, which is by transubstantiation, that is to say, by changing of the substance of bread, into the substance of the body of our Sauiour, hiddē vnder the formes of bread. The Leauen heretofore hath been a signe vnto vs of some bad thing; but heere, by a contrary quality it is a signe of that, which is good: as often in Scripture one selfe-same thing hath sundry and contrary significations, by reason of contrary references and respects. So the Lion,Gen. 49 9. Apoc. 5.5. 1. Pet. 5.8. if we consider him as a Royall and strong beast, is a signe of God; as he is cruell and fierce, a signe of the Diuell. For which [Page 158]cause our Sauiour himselfe expresseth Vice by Leauen in one place;Matth. 16.6. Luke 13.21. and in another he compares his Church to Leauen. The Leauen then in the Loaues of the First-fruits, figureth to vs, the transubstantiation, which is made in our Eucharist, as already often hath been said, and must bee said hereafter, behold the picture. The Leauen by a naturall property changeth the paste, heates it, puffes it vp, and giues it in a certaine manner, soule and life, so farre forth as it is capable thereof. The word of God, supernaturall Leauen, changeth also the bread, and because it is of more force, then nature, it passeth also further; for it chāgeth not the qualities, as the natural leauē in the paste, but the substāce; it leaues the visible qualities, & chāgeth the bread within; it animateth truly this bread, & makes it liuing bread, changing the substance of it into the flesh of the Lambe of God, Iesus Christ, signified by the Lambes, offred with the Loaues in this Sacrifice. The Loaues, & the Lambes, eleuated by the High Priest, were diuers things, and did make one onely oblation; heere, where the truth is liuely accomplished, diuers elements also make one self-same Oblation; for the Lambe is vnder the formes of bread and wine; and when those elements are multiplied, and offered in diuers places, it is alwayes one selfe-same Lambe, and one selfe-same Sacrifice. So as this draught, drawne in the old Figure, tells vs that the Sacrifice, figured by the bread of First-fruits, should be one Sacrifice of flesh, vnder the shewes of bread and wine; to which draught our Sauiour gaue liuely colours, when he instituted the Sacrament of his body vnder these elements. Neither is it without mystery, that the Loaues and the Lambs were of two diuers natures, for they signified two natures in one Iesus Christ, the Diuinity, and the Humanity; two things in one Sacrament, the earthly, which are the visible accidents, and the heauenly, which is the body of the Sonne of God, and his Grace. Finally, they signified two peoples, the Gentiles and Iewes, vnited vnder one Head, [Page 159]reduced into one, and made one by meanes of this Sacrament and Sacrifice. And so his diuine Wisdome not only teacheth vs, by this figuratiue Lineament, the presence of his Flesh in the Eucharist, but also the quality of his Person, and after what manner he makes vs his flesh, and vniteth vs therein. Let vs see what the Scripture, and the ancient Hebrew, and Christian Doctors say hereof, enriching the Figure with the embroderies of their learned Expositions.
6. THE SACRAMENT, AND SACRIFICE of the body of our Sauiour, vnder the formes of bread, foretold in the Scripture, and taught by the Hebrew Doctors.
DAVID by these eleuated Loaues foretold our Sacrament and Sacrifice:Psal. 71.72. There shall be (saith hee) a firmament in the earth, in the tops of wountaines, the fruit thereof shall be extolled farre aboue Libanus. Or according to the Hebrew phrase, There shall be a little wheat in the earth vpon the top of the mountaines, and the fruit thereof shall be lifted aboue Lybanus. These words cannot signifie other wheate, or any other thing more liuely, then our consecrated Hosts, containing the body of our Sauiour, true wheat on earth, true bread and solid stabilitie of our soules and bodies; fruit truely lifted vp, not onely vpon the toppe of Libanus, but aboue the highest of the celestiall powers. Wherefore the Hebrew Doctors conformably hereunto,Rab. Salomon in Psal. 72.16. vol say that Dauid heere did sing of a certaine kinde of little Cakes, or thinne delitious wafers, that should bee offered in Sacrifice in the time of the Messias:Psal. 71.16. Our Masters (saith he, of happy memory) vnderstood by this word, a certaine kind [Page 160]of Cakes, which shall be made in the time of the Messias, of the which also all the Psalme is written. And all their Hebrew Commentaries extoll, extoll, euen to heauen, the eating and mystery of this Bread and of these Cakes, which, say they, shall be of the bignesse of the palme of a mans hand. And one amongst them,Rab. Derachias [...] [...]eans. illad [...]. Eccles. quid est quod fuit? id quod crit. Eccles. 9. named Barachias, explaining these words of Ecclesiastices; What is that which was? the same that shall be: addeth further, As their first deliuerer, to wit, Moyses had giuen them bread of wonder, which was Manna; so the second Redeemer (the Messias) should giue them a more wonderfull bread, to wit, these Cakes. And hereunto the same Redeemer alludeth,Ioan. 6. saying, It is not Moyses, which gaue you the bread from heauen: vnderstanding his body, as it hath been declared in the Figure of Manna.Rab. Ionathas in suo: [...]aigum. Gal. l. 10. c. 4. Psal. 71.17. And the Rabbins Paraphrastically interpret in the same sense the words of the Psalme before alledged; There shall bee (saith one of them) a parcell of bread in the earth, on the top of the mountaines; that is to say (saith hee) there shall bee a Sacrifice of bread on the head of the mountaines of the Church, or on the head of the Priests, which shall bee in the Church. For the Mountaines of the Church are the Prelats and Priests of it, if they be such, as are worthy of that name; for so much as they are lifted vp aboue the vulgar, as spirituall Mountaines aboue the earth, by holinesse in manners, and sublimity of Doctrine. This Figure then, is euery day literally fulfilled in the Church, when the Priests say Masse, eleuating the holy Hoast aboue their head; and when the faithfull Christians eate these diuine and delitious Cakes, at the mysticall Table of our Sauiour. The ancient Iewes could not write more clearly of the Figure of our Truth amongst the shadowes of their Law: and he, that seeth not this Truth, brightly shining in the Sacrifice of the Law of Grace, is blinde at noone-day, and worse then a Iew.
7. THE TESTIMONIES OF HEBREW Doctors for Transubstantiation, and the manner, how the body of our Sauiour is present in the Eucharist.
THe manner, how the body of our Lord is really present in the Eucharist, hath been no lesse plainely set downe in the writings of the Hebrewes, then is the Reall presence it selfe. This Manner hath two respects; the one to the beginning of the Presence, and teacheth how the body of our Lord is first made present in the Sacrament of the Altar; the other, to the maner of this Presence, and declares how he remaines there present. Of both wee haue spoken in the Figure of Manna, discoursing there of the Almighty power of our Sauiour. Heere we shall onely alledge the testimonies of Hebrew and Christian Doctors, to declare this Presence more fully, and to shew the soundnesse of the Catholike faith, concerning Transubstantiation. And as for the first,Con [...]. Trident. sess. 19. c. 4. can. 2. the Catholike Faith and doctrine holds, that the body of our Sauiour is made present vpon the Altar by Transubstantiation, that is to say, not by descent from heauen to earth, neither by new production, but by changing the substance of bread into the substance of the body of our Sauiour, borne of the Virgin. The same faith and doctrine saith, that it remaines there with a diuine Presence spirituall, and supernaturall, in its quantity, without possessing any place, and in its Maiesty, without any shew thereof, being there immortall and glorious, but inuisible to sense, and incomprehensible to reason and humane iudgement, as hath been said elsewhere. And this in summe, is that, which the Doctors, as well [Page 162]Iewes, as Christians, haue written. The Hebrewes (as we haue said before in the Table of Proposition Loaues) haue taught, that these Loaues were called Breads of faces, because they did Figure forth a Sacrifice, in the which there should be bread in the beginning, and flesh in the end; for the substance of bread was there to be changed into the substance of the body of the Messias, the outward accidents remaining whole; and that it should be a Sacrifice of two faces; one outward of bread, which the sense might see; and the other inward, of the substance of flesh, which Faith only could perceiue. And to this may haue reference, that the Hebrew word,Lehen, bread and flesh. Rab. Kimhi. 1. Seras [...]im. Gal. 10. & 7. 1. Cor. 11.27. Lehen, set in this place, hath a double signification; for sometimes it signifieth bread, sometimes flesh. So as where our Translation hath: He offered him the breads of Proposition: other translations haue; He offered the flesh of thy God. And Saint Paul long time after, vsing the same manner of speech, what he calls Bread, he also names the body of our Sauiour. The same Hebrew Doctors,Osee 14.8. explaining the words of Osee: They shall be conuerted, that sit vnder his shadow, they shall liue with Wheate. Our Masters (say they) writ vpon these words, that at the comming of the Redeemer, there shal be change of nature in Wheat. And Rabby Moyses vpon the words of the Psalme:Rab. Moyses Hadarsania Psal. 135. Gal. l. 10. c. 6. Rab. Iudas in Exod. cap. 25. Gal. l. 10. c. 6. Who giueth food to all flesh, a for (saith he) the bread, which bee will giue, is his flesh, and this shall be a great wonder. The Oblation then is bread in the beginning, but after the words of Consecration, it is flesh, the substance of bread being turned into the substance of the body of our Sauiour, by the vertue of his Omnipotent word, the which being able to make all the world of nothing, can change one substance into another. This changing is called Transubstantiation in the Catholike Church; a word brought into vse fiue hundred yeares agoe,Rab. Kimbi. Gal. l. 10. c. 4. to stoppe the mouthes of the Heretickes, which rose vp against the true Faith; the thing it selfe being as ancient, as the Eucharist: for in the same instant, that the Sacrament was instituted by our Sauiour, [Page 163]Transubstantiation was in vse, though the name was not to be borne vntill long time after. As for the Manner according to which the Messias body was to remaine in the Sacrament, after it is made present by Transubstantiation: the same Hebrew Doctors haue tolde, that it was to bee there inuisible, and impalpable, and in many places together, which they beleeued also of the body of the Prophet Elias, being in many places at the same time without being seene, or touched, as the Rabbins testifie in these their Expositions.
8. THE TESTIMONIES OF THE CHRIstian Doctors concerning Transubstantiation, and the manner, how our Sauiours body is in the Eucharist.
THe Christians haue been so much more resolute, and cleare in setting downe the Faith and Doctrine of Transubstantiation, and the manner of the presence of our Sauiours body in this Sacrament, by how much they haue had better Masters, then the ancient Hebrews. Their Masters were our Sauiour himselfe, the Sonne of Truth, the Reuealer of heauenly secrets, and his Apostles filled with the new light of the Holy Ghost: whereas the Hebrewes had none, but Moyses and the Prophets, which taught by shadowes and Figures. Behold then what they haue said of this admirable change, which wee call Transubstantiation, and of the manner how the body of our Sauiour remaines in the Sacrament.
Saint IVSTINE, Wee are taught, S. Iustin. Apol. 2. that the meate (the bread and wine) wherwith our flesh and bloud are nourished, by change thereof into our substance, being Consecrated by the [Page 164]prayer and word of God, is the flesh and bloud of Iesus Christ incarnate, that is to say, the substance of bread and wine, is changed into the body and bloud of our Sauiour.
Saint IRENEVS,S. [...]r [...]. l. 4. c. 3 [...]. disputing against the Heretikes, which denied that Christ was Omnipotent: H [...]w (saith hee) will they bele [...]ue, that the consecrated bread is the body of Iesus Christ? As if he should say, if they beleeue not, that he is Omnipotent; they cannot beleeue, that in the Eucharist, the bread is changed into his body, by his Word, seeing there can be made no such change by any other word, but his, who can doe all by his Word, as hee made the world by his Word.
Saint CYRIL of Hierusalem:S. cyril. [...]ierosol. [...]tech. mis [...]ag. 4. Hee long since in Cana turned water into wine, the which hath some resemblance to bloud; shall we esteeme him lesse worthy to be beleeued, saying, that he hath changed the wine into his bloud.
Saint CHRYSOSTOME:S. Chrysost. hom. 6. ad Pap. An [...]ioch. Because the Word saith, This is my body, let vs obey, and beleeue, beholding it with the eyes of our faith: As if he would haue said, these words, This is my body, are words of the Omnipotent, and effect that which they signifie; we ought then, to obey and beleeue that,Idem hom. 23. in Ma [...]h. which they say. The same Doctor vpon the same subiect of Transubstantiation: The things, that we propose you, are not workes of humane vertue, it is God that sanctifieth them, and changeth them; we are but the instruments.
Saint. GREGORY NISSE,S. Greg. Niss. in orat. mag. catech. c. [...]7. I [...]n de S. [...]ap [...]sme. We beleeue that the bread duely sanctified by the word of the Word of God, is changed into the body of the Word of God. And againe, The bread of the Aliar in the beginning is common, but after that it is sacrificed in the Masse, it is called the body of Christ, and it is so indeed.
Saint IOHN DAMASCEN,S. Ioh. Damas. l. 4. de Fide, c. 14. The bread and the wine, mingled with water, is supernaturally changed into the body of Christ, by the inuocation and comming of the holy Ghost, and they are not two, but one selfe-same thing.
THEOPHILACT,Theoph. i [...] [...]. This bread is transformed into the [Page 165]flesh of our Lord, by the mysticall blessing of secret words, and by the comming of the holy Ghost. Behold, you haue heard some Greeke Fathers; with the same spirit and like stile, speake also the Latine Fathers.
TERTVLLIAN, Our Sauiour tooke the bread, Tertvl. l. 4. cont. Mar. c. 40. and made it his body, saying, This is my body.
Saint CYPRIAN, This bread, S. Cyp. de. C [...]n. Dom. which our Lord presented to his Disciples, was made flesh by the all powerfulnesse of his Word, changed not in apparance, but in substance: As if hee would haue said, the outward formes of the clements, the quantity, colour and sauour remaine, but the inward substance is changed into the substance of the body and bloud of our Sauiour.
Saint AMBROSE. This bread, S. Amb. l. 4. de Sacer, c. 4. before the words of the Sacrament, is bread, but after Consecration the bread is made flesh; and hauing shewed, that this consecration and changing, is made by the word of God; he confirmes his conclusion, saying, If the word of Christ hath been so powerfull, as to giue a being to that, which was not; how much more is it credible, that it can make the things, which were before, to be now changed into another? But heare Dauid, saying, He hath spoken, and the things were done; he hath commanded, and they were created: I answere thee then, Thas before consecration the bread was not the body of Christ, but after the same it is the body of Christ: hee said it, and hee bath effected it.
Saint AVGVSTINE, almost in the same tearmes;S. Avg. serm. 2 [...]. de Verb. Dom. I haue told you, that before the words of Christ, the bread is called bread, but after they are pronounced, it is no more called bread, but the body of Christ.
Saint RHEMIGIVS of Rhemes, The flesh, S. Remig. in [...]. [...] ep. 2. Cor. which the word of God, the Father, hath taken in the Virginall wombe, and vnited vnto his Person; and the bread, which is consecrated vpon the Altar, is one bodiy of Christ; For euen as that flesh is the body of Christ, so this bread is changed into the body of Christ, and are not two, but one body. Hee meant that [Page 166]Transubstantiation produceth not a new body of Iesus Christ, but that it makes the same body, which he tooke in the wombe of the Virgin, present in this Sacrament after consecration; nothing remaining of those elements, but the accidents.
PASCHASIVS,Paschasius Corbiens [...] l. de Corp. & sang. [...]. c. 1. Though the forme of bread and wine, be found in this Sacrament, we ought to beleeue notwithstanding, that after the consecration, there is no other thing, but the flesh and bloud of Christ. From all these testimonies we collect the explication of two points, which doe concerne the manner of our Sauiours being in the Sacrament of the Altar. For first we vnderstand hereby, that the body of our Sauiour is made present in the Sacrament by Transubstantiation, that is to say, by change of substance, the substance of bread giuing place to the substance of his body, which succeeds by vertue of his Omnipotent word. And because the Soule, and the Diuinity neuer leaue this body, whole Iesus Christ is in the Sacrament, his body by vertue of his Word; his Soule and his Diuinity, as necessarily following, and accompanying the same. Secondly, we learne, that so long as the species be there vncorrupted, the same body remaines vnder them with its quantity, beauty, immortality, and glory, but supernaturally and in a spirituall and diuine manner, without being perceiued, vnlesse by the eyes of faith, as we haue before declared, so far forth, as a thing ineffable can be declared. By meanes whereof, the Fathers often aduertise vs, not to consult heere with the Lawes of Nature, nor to regard, what sense and humane iudgement tells vs, but simply to beleeue the word of him, who can doe all, and cannot lye.
9. WHERFORE OVR SAVIOVR WOVLD haue his body hid, and not visible in the Sacrament.
HEere it shall be good to note, wherefore our Sauiour gaue his body, veiled vnder the shewes of bread and wine, & not visible, & in proper forme. For hereby we shal come to know, that he was nolesse wise, then he is good; not onely giuing vs an inestimable gift, but also giuing it after the manner he did. The principall reasons noted by the Fathers, are these; The first is taken from the nature of the Sacrament: for since that euery Sacrament is a visible signe of an inuisible thing; it followeth, that he giuing his body in this Sacrament, was to couer it vnder some visible signes, as the accidents are, the colour, the whitenesse, the sauour, and such like things, which obiected to our sense, might put our soule in minde of some secret thing; whereas if he had giuen it openly, it had not been a Sacrament, full of mystery, but a simple gift of his body.
The second reason giuen by S. Ambrose, S. Augustine, S. Cyril. ep. ad Co [...]osirium. S. Amb. l. 4. d. sacr. c. 6. l. 6. c. 1 S. August. apu [...] grat. de cons d. 2. verum. See S. Iohn Damas. l. 4. c. 14. de fid. & S. Tho. p. 3. q. 75. c. 5. c. and Saint Cyril, is this, to wit, because this sweet manner is most conuenient, and principally to our infirmity, most naturall and easie: for we take this diuine morsell vnder the forme of common bread, familiar to our taste, to wit, vnder the accidents of bread and wine. Whereas, if wee should haue eaten them with the feeling of the naturall qualities thereof, it had been an eating, that could not haue been endured, for two reasons. For first, it could not bee done, but sense would naturally conceiue horrour to swallow downe humane flesh in proper forme, especially being raw; Secondly, we could not haue endured the [Page 168]brightnesse of so ghstering a body, nor the presence of so glorious a Maiestie, if he had sn [...]wed himselfe in it. Saint Paul was become blinde, for hauing seene the brightnesse of this body; [...] Co [...]. 3.23. and if it behooued Morses speaking to the Hebrewes, to veile his shining face, which they could not otherwise haue beheld; how much more sit was it, that Iesus Christ should veyle his body, without comparison more resplendent, then the face of Moses, to come neare vnto vs, and to be eaten of vs?
A third reason may be added, that this inuisibility giues vs a singular meane; to exercise our faith, and to marit happinesse in beleeuing, and not seeing; according to the Maxime of our Sauiour,Ioh. 20.29. who called them happy, which beleeued without seeing, that is to say, which did giue faith and credit to the Word of God, although sense, and humane reason, penetrate not the thing beleeued, nay rather finde in it a repugnance to their Lawes: as it comes to passe heere, where we beleeue the body of our Sauiour to be; though sense seeth onely the outward accidents of bread and wine, vnder which it is present, and humane iudgement cannot comprehend the possibility of this presence. But if the body of our Sauiour by this conuersion were made visible, and the accidents of bread changed, as it was done in the miracle at the mariage in Cana, in which the water, [...]ax. 2 [...] with the qualities, was changed into the substance and qualities of wine, there should be no exercise of faith, it not being an obiect of faith, or hidden secret: but an effect,Hebr. 11. not onely euident to reason, but also to sense. There should also haue been no merit: For looke, where eyther sense or reason giues any proofe, faith hath no reward, saith one of our Doctors.S. Greg. bow. 26. Ioan. 2. In the Miracle of Cana, and in other such like, there is not any need of faith, but of good sense for to make triall: as the Master of the banquet did, who witnessed, that the wine was excellent, hauing had no more but a taste thereof; for he could not haue faith, not knowing any thing then of that, which our Sauiour [Page 169]had done, howsoeuer hee saw the effect: And that which the Apostles did beleeue therein, was not the conuersion of water into wine, for that they saw with their owne eyes and vision is not faith: but the Diuinity of the Soane of God, secret worker of that apparent miracle, and the merit also of their faith, was not in seeing the conuersion of the water into the wine, but in beleeuing with the eyes of faith the Diuinity of Iesus Christ, which they did not see with their corporall eyes.
A so [...]rth reason, wherefore God giues vs his body, hid vnder these signes, was secretly to hid the mystery of this diuine meate, from the view and sight of Infidels, and to take from them al occasion of calumniating the Christians. For if they called them Androp [...]phages, Tertal. in Apol. cap. 7. Minutius Feli [...] in Ocla [...]io. Eusch. l. 5. hist. cap. 1. Orig. cont. Cels. lib. 6. Athenag [...]orat. pro Christ [...]. and eaters of humane flesh, as witnesse Tertullian, Euse bius, Minutius, and other ancient Fathers, because they heard say, that they fed vpon the body of Iesus Christ in a certaine banquet, where notwithstanding they see nothing but bread and wine; what might they haue said, and what crimes might they haue laid to their charge, if they had either vnderstood or seene, that they did eate that body in the naturall forme?
Finally, hereby our Sauiour hath preserued the Maiesty of his body from many inconueniences, of beasts and of men, to which it had been exposed, and in danger to bee often iniured in his proper forme, whereas by hiding the same, al the indignities are receiued in a garment, which is not his owne, that is to say, in the shew of bread and wine; albeit, such as are guilty of those crimes, must expect iust condemnation from God, for the iniury which they haue done to this Sacrament.
10. AS THE OLDE OBLATION OF FIRST fruits began in Pentecost, so our new.
THe two last draughts, figuring the Masse, consist partly in the circumstance of time, in which the old Oblation was instituted, and put in practise: partly in the Sacrifices, which were to be offered before. These two Lineaments haue been diuinely accomplished. The time of this Sacrifice was the fiftith day,Leuit. 25 10.11. Num. 4. a number importing remission of sinnes, and of liberty and freedome. In signe whereof, euery fiftith yeare, each one entered into the possession of the goods, which they had formerly sold, without repaying any money backe. In the same yeare, the Land was neither tilled nor sowne. And the Leuites were freed from the seruice of the Temple, after they were come to the fiftith yeare of their age. As then the ancient offering was ordained in the Desert, and practised only in the Land of Promise in the prefixed time of Pentecost, that is to say, Haruest being gathered in fifty dayes after Easter; number of remission. In like manner the Sacrifice of the Eucharist was instituted by our Sauiour, being yet a traueller in the Desert of this world, and put in practise by the Apostles, after the descent of the holy Ghost vpon the day of Pentecost, fiftith day, day of pardon and remission, putting the children of God in possession of the promised Kingdome, which they had lost, before; a day of generall Haruest, in which were to be reaped all sorts of celestiall fruits. And as the three sorts of bloudy Sacrifices, Holocausts, Propitiatories, and Pacifiques, did goe before the old Oblation of First fruits: in the same manner, the bloudie Sacrifice of the Crosse, figured heere by them, we [...]thefore [Page 171]the practise of our new Oblation. At this time then, and according to the Figure, the Apostles did begin to celebrate the Masse, and to offer to God the First-fruits, and the admirable and immortall wheat of the body of the Sonne of God, cast on the Crosse to die, springing out of the Sepulcher for to reuiue; mounting to the right hand of his Father, and gathered into his celestiall barnes, there to raigne for euer.
The Oblation of First-fruits, which vntill then had bin made in Figure, eyther in the Law of Nature, or of Moyses, was but Barly, as it were, the beginning of Haruest: but this heere was the great Haruest, the great solemnitie of First-fruites, and the great Oblation of celestiall Wheat, and of the Bread that liueth and giueth life: the true Pentecost, and the true Iubily of the holy Ghost, chiefe worker of this Sacrament and Sacrifice. Of which our Sauiour speaking, said, The words, Ioan. 6 [...]. which I say vnto you are Spirit and Life: as if he had said, The words I speake vnto you, concerning the eating of my flesh, are not to bee vnderstood carnally, after the manner of the Capharnaits, who dreamed of dead flesh to be cut in peeces; but spiritually of a liuely flesh, which my Spirit will make present, to be giuen in a spirituall manner without death, or detriment, as he wrought the conception of this same body in the wombe of the Virgin, without carnall operation, and without any hurt to her Virginity.
11. THE MASSE BEGAN TO BE CELEbrated by the Apostles at Pentecost.
IT was then at Pentecost, that the Apostles, new Sacrificers, did giue beginning to the practise of a new Sacrifice, [Page 172]in the new Law, offering a full and sufficient Oblation, and celebrating the Messe with a pacifying Hoist of the bread from heauen, and of the immortall Lambe. Saint Iames was one of the first that offered in Hierusalem, as all Antiquity witnesseth, and after him the other Apostles, both in Hierusalem, and elsewhere. Then began this diuine and first troupe, as the first fruites of the Spirit of Grace, to eate these delitious Cakes, promised at the comming of the Messias, and to communicat, not once a yeare onely, or once a month, or once a weeke, but euery day, for it was a food they had neuer eaten of before, exceeding delight full to the taste; and these good foules had a continual appetite.A [...] 2. They were perseuerant (saith the Scripture) in the doctr [...]ne of the Apostles, in the communion of the breaking of bread, and in prayer. They went to it euery day; but this was, after that the holy Ghost was descended. For before it was said onely, that they did perseuer in prayer; they communicated euery day, after the descent of the holy Ghost, Great worker of this mystery: Spirit, which brought celestiall fier into their stomackes, quicknesse to their tongues, charity to their harts: & did let forth the pure water, foretold by the ancient Lauarites of Salomons Temple. Fountaine of Dauid. Fzech 36.25. Ioel. 3.2 [...]. Zach. 13.1. water of Grace, and of the Sacrament of Baptisme, of Penance and the rest, appropriated to cleanse the entrals and the feete of the Hoasts to be offered, and of the Offerers themselues, that is to say, to purifie the hearts, the actions, intentions, and affections of them which offered the Sonne of God, their good workes and themselues, as whole burnt Sacrifices vpon the Altar of his Maiesty. O if Moses had been at this Pentecost, at this new Oblation and Sacrament of truth, whereof so long before he had drawne the Picture. With what reuerence would hee haue adored it? O if Dauid could haue had a place at the table of this pacifique Bread, and of this immortall Wine, as he had in the ancient Sacrifices; with what appetite would he haue fed vpon this celestial flesh? [Page 173]and with how earnest desire would he haue said of this diuine drinke.Psal. 115. I will take the cup of salnation and call vpon the name of the most high. If Salomon, after hauing finished his magnificent Temple, had had this body for to haue offred it to God, after the manner of Melchisedech, without effusion of bloud, and without death; how much more rich, and honorable, would he haue thought the dedicating of that Temple, in respect of this Sacrifice alone, then in regard of thousands of Oxen, sheepe, and Bulles, burnt vpon the Altar of Holocausts. O Christian soules, lifted vp by contemplation, acknowledge the gift of your Lord, often celebrate this Pentecost, offer this oblation, take the first fruits of this deified Wheate, and offer him yours; to the end that one day you may haue place at the Table of felicitie, where this same Lord shalbe both the meate and the drinke of that banquet.
THE NINTH PICTVRE. THE BREAD OF ELIAS.
The Description.
HAVE you not compassion of this good Elias, 1. Reg. 19. [...]. who sleepeth vnder the shadow of this Iuniper tree, more resembling one dead, then a man sleeping? Behold his face pale and wanne, and bathed with a cold sweat: his head carelessely bending towards the earth, vpon the left side; his eyes halfe open; his armes cast heere and there, and no signe of breath in his mouth, and all his body stretched out, as if he were yeelding vp the ghost. Surely, a little before, being, as it were, beside himselfe with feare, and ouercome with wearinesse; hee asked of God, if it were his good pleasure, to take him out of this world, that he might be deliuered once for all, from the griefes, that his soule felt, by reason of the persecution of this cruell Tygresse, Iezabel, who had sworne by her gods, that shee would put him to death, within foure and twenty houres, and in the feruour of his Prayer, he is fallen a sleepe vnder this shrubbe, where he is but euill accommodated, either for shadow, or any rest or repose; for it is little, and the leaues are like so many thornes, which doe not keepe off the Sunne, but pricke and pierce the flesh; and the earth is sowed round about him. Wherby I coniecture, that the holy man, without election, or choise, cast himselfe downe, where he was, (finding himselfe in a manner, out of breath) and where the feeblenesse of his body had placed him: But God, who hath alwayes his eyes open, to behold the paines of his seruants, and his armes stretched out for their deliuerance, hath sent for [Page 176]his comfort and succour this heauenly youth, who stands hard by him with bread baked vpon the cinders, [...]. [...]g. 19.5.6. and a pot of water. It is an Angell, in figure and shape of a man, for so the Spirits commonly appeare vnto men. The Painter hath made his visage bright, in forme of lightning, representing by this sudden flash, his spirituall and subtill nature: his lockes flying backe behinde, are of a golden colour: he hath also wings set on his backe, (according as the Scripture it selfe doth paint them forth) to signifie the Swistnesse of their motion. You see them vnequally spred forth in the ayre, the one of them shewing the inside, the other the outside, wonderfully faire, & artificially drawne. The two great feathers, guides of the rest, are of a bright greene colour, as the wing of a Peacock: the other next to them are intermingled with yellow, oring-tawnie, red, and blew, after the fashion of a Rainbow: the little feathers, which cloath the quills of both these, and of the others, that follow in diuers rankes, are of diuers colours, as the former: the downe which couers the backe of the wing, is like a heape of little small scales, of diuers colours sette vpon cotten. His garment is a stole of fine linnen, embrodered with a curious work all about. The refection which he brought for this good Prophet, seemes not great at the first show, consisting onely of bread and water, which are the two most common and vulgar parts of the food of man; but experience will shew, that it is a diuine meat and drinke: for Elias shall by it be sustained and fortified, to walke the space of forty dayes and forty nights, vntill that he come to the wonderfull Mountaine, where of old God gaue the Tables of his Law. Whilest I speake, the good old man sleepes still, and thinks neither of eating nor drinking, nor of any meanes to free him from danger. Wherefore the Angell shakes him the second time, [...]. [...]eg. 15.7. and waking him, aduises him to take some refection, and be packing. If you please to expect vntill he rise, you shall see him gift with a great leather girdle, & in a dusty Cassock, reaching [Page 177]to the mid-legge, couered also with a little mantle flying in the ayre; and when he is vp, hee will not faile with all speed, to obey the words of the Angell, and to get him as farre as he can from the fury and reach of the Queene. Behold he is now risen, and walketh on a pace towards the Mountaine of Horeb.
1. THE BREAD OF ELIAS, FIGVRE OF the Sacrament of the Altar.
THe Bread of Elias, was for certaine a Figure of our Sacrament, and of many mysteries hidden in it. Wee haue said elsewhere, that in the Scripture, as well in the old, as in the new. Bread signifieth generally the body of our Sauiour; for so much as it is giuen in meat for the sustenance of our soules, and the immortality of our bodies. So Ieremie, speaking of the body of our Sauiour,Ier. 11. saith in the person of the Iewes, resolued in their Councell to crucifie him; Lay the w [...]d on his bread, that is to say, giue the torments of the Crosse to his body,Tertul. l. 4. cont. Mar [...]. as the ancient Fathers haue explained it: and the Sonne of God said of himselfe, I am the Bread of heauen. In this generall sense then,Iohn 6. the Bread of Elias did Figure this body, and this meate. But more partiularly, in that it was wonderfull in all its causes, effects and circumstances, which are so many Lineaments, drawne vpon the old Figure, for a liuely representation of the truth, which should follow after. First then, this Bread was sent from God by the seruice of an Angel; this [...] accomplished in the Sacrament, for it is giuen vs from God, specially by the ministery of the Priest,Malach. 1.2.7. S. D [...]anil. l. [...] 12. who is called the Angell of God in Scripture, because that after the manner of Angell, he teacheth others, saith S. Dionise [Page 178]of Areopagita: for as the superiour Angells enlighten the inferiours by their knowledge; so the Priests communicate their doctrine to the inferiour members of the Church of God.S. [...]. i [...]id. Angell, also according vnto Saint Hierom, because he is a Mediator betweene God and man, and declareth to the people the will of God. Finally, Angell of God, saith Saint Chrysostom, S. Chry2ost. hom. [...]. in 2. Tim. 1. because he speaketh not of himselfe, but as sent from God. It is then this Angell, that consecrateth our bread by the Word of God, that maketh it flesh by his power, and distributeth it by his commission. Secondly, this Bread of Elias, was bread of Wheat; for if it had been of other matter, the Scripture would haue specified it. And it was Bread, fashioned into a cake, after the forme of loaues, baked on the cinders. This is also accomplished in our Sacrament, for this is the matter, and that the forme of our Hoasts, which are of Wheate, the Sacrament and the admirable Cakes of the Messias, of which mention was made a little before; but what doth the Scripture signifie by saying, that this Bread was baked vnder the imbers.
2. WHAT MEANETH THE SCRIPTVRE in signifying, that the Bread of Elias was baked vnder the imbers.
THough we know not, how this Bread was baked vnder the imbers by the Angell; wee beleeue notwithstanding, that it was so baked; for the Scripture saith it, and because it saith nothing without cause, there is no doubt, but vnder the hollow of these imbers, there lye hidden some mysteries, appertaining to our Sacrament. These mysteries are three, amongst many others, which, [Page 179]such as are more spirituall, may obserue. The one is, that it puts vs in minde of our Sauiours charity. The imbers are the remainder of fier, and heate past; this Bread then baked vnder the hot imbers, mingled with liue coales, did Figure our Sacrament, true memoriall instituted by Iesus Christ, and commanded to be celebrated in his memory,Luke 22.19. and in a recordation of his loue, and death. And therefore it is the true Bread, baked vnder the imbers, that is to say, prepared with the burning coales of his Charity, of which it is a memoriall, as also of that, which he endured for vs. The second mystery, taught in this baking, is the great humility of the Sonne of God in this Sacrament; the imbers being a thing of small value, or none at all, and therefore Hieroglyfick of basenesse and of humiliation; as the naturall Ceremony of all Nations teacheth vs, vsing them in this signification. So Abraham, out of humility,Genes. 18. calleth himselfe dust and [...]shes, and abaseth himselfe vnder the name of these things. Also the Hebrewes of Bethulia, Iudith. 7.4. beseeching the diuine Maiesty to succour them, in humility cast ashes vpon their heads. So the Pagan King of Niniuy humbled himselfe, rising from his throne,Iohn 3.6. and sitting vpon ashes. The Bread then baked vnder the ashes, is Iesus Christ, true Bread of heauen, humbled and abased; humbled, not onely in making himselfe man, in marrying his Maiesty with the infirmity of our nature, and in enduring the torments and reproaches of the Crosse, but also in giuing himselfe, as meate to his creatures, vnder the Figure and habite of these weake and meane elements of bread and wine; in giuing himselfe after the manner of a thing dead and insensible; in giuing himselfe to be eaten and swallowed downe of poore sinners. All these degrees of humility represented in ashes, are heere persormed, and practised in this Sacrament. With good reason then was it figured by such a notable signe of great humility, as were the imbers, on which was baked the Bread of Elias.
[Page 180] The third mystery is, that hereby are signified the many mysteries of this Sacrament, hidden vnder the formes of bread and wine, as vnder imbers. mysteries of the loue and greatnesse of God, and of the admin [...]b [...] effects of this meat, which deuout soules may more easily se [...]e then I can expresse. And as the great Ma [...]es [...]y of our Sauiour, walking visibly vpon the earth, was c [...]uered vnder the cloake of our humanity, his almighty power, w [...]sdome and bounty, effecting the worke of our [...]cemption by the s [...]eblenesse, folly, and ignominy of the [...]: Fu [...] so in this Sacrifice, he couereth the glory of his body vnder the veyle of these signes and cinders of [...] and makes the hand of supreme vertue wo [...]e i [...]sbly, for the support and health of our soules and bodies.
3. WHAT SIGNIFIETH THE SLEEPE of Elias vnder the shadow of the luniper tree.
THe diuine hand of God hath by other Lineaments, and colours, no lesse admirably painted forth the three former mysteries, & many others in another corner of this table, where you see Elias sleeping in the shade of the Iuniper tree, for herein we see our Sauiour sleeping on the Crosse; and acknowledge the memory of his passion, the greatest signe of his loue and humility, and the most high secret of this Sacrament of his pretious body.Plin. l. 16. c. 24. P [...]in. l. 16. c. 25. The Iuniper commonly is a little shrubbe, growing in sandy and barren places, void of all exteriour beaute; hauing for slowers and leaues nothing, but sharpe prickles. Elias sleepes, tyred and weary, in the shade of this shrub. Is not this a liuely representation of our Sauiour, vexed with torments, [Page 181]crowned with thornes sleeping a dead sleepe vpon the Crosse? Tree of humility, shadowing his greatnesse; punishment of [...]. co [...]ering his innocency? [...]ce of thornes, paine and pouerty? Are not these the markes of the course of the painefull life of our good King, and of his dolefull sleepe. Moreouer, the selfe-same circumstances set forth to vs the qualities of our Sacrament, being a memoriall of his life and death; for if wee consider it exteorly, it shewes nothing, but what is little, easie, without fruit, without flowers, and without beauty to the sense, and all full of thornes to humane iudgement, which is backward to beleeue the things which it sindes to bee repagnant to our capacity, and as it were, pricked and offended therewith: as long since it happened to the Capharna [...]ts,Iohn 6. and other children of darknesse; which since that time [...]ef [...]lowed after them. On the otherside, the same tree is [...]r greene, & his thornes are his leaues and beauty, the wood being burnt, driueth away Serpents,Pli [...]. l. 24. c. [...]. and the coale, thereof, haue such a liuely and burning heate, that they will end [...]e a whole yeare vnder the ashes: For which reason, Da [...]id calleth them Coales of desolation, Psal. 119.4. because they b [...]ne scorchingly, and consume forcibly. These qualities doe secretly paint vnto vs the inward vertue, and beauty of the Crosse of our Sauiour, and of his Sacrament. For all that which appeares there repugnant to sensuality, is verdure and beauty to the faithful soule, as also a proofe of the omnipotencie and loue of Iesus Christ towards vs. The wood of this Crosse, and of this Sacrament, which is it, that appeareth hardest in the one, and in the other, being burned in meditation with the heauenly fier; of which Dauid said, The fier shall burne in my meditation; being,Psal. 8.3. I say, set a sier by this meditation, chaseth away Sernents, that is to say, the wicked thoughts, which the old Serpent hisseth into our soule, to poyson and sting vs to death. It eagendereth also in vs coales of charity, which being hidden vnder the imbers of humility neuer die. Thus you [...] [Page 182]the Iuniper decyphered. But vnder the shadow of this Iuniper Elias slept; that is, the Christian soule taketh his rest in meditating vpon the Sacrament of the Altar, which is the shadow, that is to say, the memorial of the death of our Sauiour, as hath been said; for as the shadow represents the body, so the Sacrament represents the Passion: and as the body is present with the shadow, so is our Sauiours body with the holy Sacrament.
4. ELIAS HIS WALKE, AFTER THE SHAdow of the Iuniper tree, to the Mountaine Horeb, and of the water, that was giuen him with the bread.
VNder this shadow, truely, wee ought to repose our selues, in the wearisomnesse of our persecutions, as Elias slept vnder the figuring shadow of this tree, when he fled from the rage of Iezabel. For there is not any where a more sweete and sound rest amidst the trauailes of this painfull life, then in receiuing his body, to meditate vpon his death. Which Dauid, by the Spirit of Prophecy, taught vs of olde, saying to God in the person of euery afflicted Christian;Psal. 22.5. Thou hast preyared in my sight a Table against them that trouble me. And therefore the Angell, as it were, interpreting the Figure, awaketh Elias, and exhorts him to eate the Bread, figuring this Table: the which he doth, and there with is so well refreshed, that hee takes strength and courage to walke forty dayes and forty nights, enen to the Mountaine of God, freeing himselfe from the persecution of the Queene. Where we haue yet two other mysteries in the Figure, appertaining to the truth. For this space of forty dayes, signifieth the painefulnesse of our mortall [Page 183]pilgrimage, diuided into foure ages, as into foure tens; into Infancy, Yong age, Mans age, and Old age; consisting of dayes and nights, of good and euill, of consolation and persecution. The walke of Elias continued euen to Horeb, signifieth the progresse, which is conuenient for vs to make, ascending by holy desires, and aspirations, and by good works, euen to the top of Christian perfection, according to the measure of the grace of God, communicated to euery one; and from this toppe, to zoare vp with a victorious flight, aboue death and the world, to the high Mountaine of our celestiall felicity. But now in this pilgrimage our true Bread, and sustenance, is the body of our Sauiour, giuen by his Angell, to wit, by his Priest, as hath been said.
5. THE SIGNIFICATION OF THE pot of Water.
BVT what signifieth the pot of Water, giuen with this bread? surely nothing else, but the grace of God, giuen with this Sacrament: for so it was figured by the Creator himselfe, when he promised it, by his Prophet Ezechiel, saying, I will powre out vpon you cleane water, to wit, his Grace; and our Sauiour crieth in the Temple,Ezech. 36 25. Iohn 7.37. If any man thirst, let him come to me and drinke; speaking of the same Grace. It is this water which is giuen vs to refresh our wearinesse; which giues vs force, and makes vs able to ascend with ease the Mountaine of God, that we may so obtaine the possession of heauen. Who would haue thought at the first show, that in the shadow of this Figure, these excellent mysteries were hidden? And how many more be there, that a contemplatiue soule might heere obserue? [Page 184]But are not these sufficient to make vs admire the infinite wisdome of God, in the delineation of his secrets? His Soueraigne powerfulnesse in the greatnesse of his workes? His surpassing bounty in the largenesse of his benefits? Truely, this was an euident testunony of his most wise prescience, to draw so long before such a liuely Picture of the Sacrament of his body: a goodly marke of his vertue, to haue giuen to Elias Bread of s [...]ch force, that it could maintaine life, and furnish with strength for forty whole dayes trauell, an ouer-trauelled body: an euident signe of his great mercy, with so fatherly care to defend one of his owne mortall creatures, and to send him an immortall Spirit; and one of his owne Court, to serue him as his Pantler, and Cup-bearer, in his necessity. But what is this in respect of that hee hath done, leauing this Sacrament to his militant Church; this pretious pledge, which is both armour and food; bestowing vpon her his Humanity and Diuinitie, giuing himselfe, and all that he is; and that in a manner so diuine, and so agreeable to our infirmity? That, which he did for Elias, was it any more then a Picture, a representation, and a shadow, compared to the liuely Image, to the truth, and to the Body? Who shall then, O Lord, be able to vtter, yea or to conceiue thy wisdome in this Bread, thy omnipotent greatnesse in this mystery, thy infinite mercy in this Feast? And what can seeble mortall creatures doe, but fumble in speaking, and admire in silence the height of thy Councells, and the sweetnesse of thy Graces, and thanke thee from the bottome of their hearts in humbly confessing their owne insufficiency?
THE TENTH PICTVRE. THE PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE.
The Description.
THE Iewish Priest commeth to offer the yearely Propitiatory Sacrifice,Leuit. 4.6.7. there with to appease God, and obtaine of him grace, and pardon for his owne sinnes, and for the sinnes of the people. One of them hath caried the bloud of the Victime, to the Altar of Perfumes, placed before the doore of the Sanctuary, called Holy of Holies, where the Arke of God is; and the flesh of that Victime, together with the head and skinne, was consumed with fier, out of the City of Ierusalem, no body eating thereof. They, that burnt it, wash themselues without the gates of the Towne, for that, according to the Law, they were reputed vncleane by this seruice, and could not enter againe into the company of their brethren, vntill they were purified by the water of Expiation. There is also in this Picture represented another Sacrifice for sinne, but in ceremonies much differing from the former. For this is iterated daily, and the bloud of the Victime is not carried into the Sanctuary, but is offered vpon the Altar of Holocausts, in a basen of gold, as you see. The men of the Priestly linage doe eate in this roome, apart, the flesh of the Hoast, and are sanctified; whereas in the other Sacrifice, all was consumed by fier, and they were vncleane, which burnt it, as hath been said. There is not any woman, neither any vncleane man, admitted to this banquet; for the Law receiued none but men, and those sanctified.
1. THREE KINDS OF SACRIFICES.
VVEE haue said elsewhere, that there were three kindes of Sacrifices, obscurely practised in the Law of Nature, and expresly ordained in that of Moses. The first was the Sacrifice of Holocaust: the second, of thanksgiuing: the third, Propitiatory, for the appeasing of God. In this last Sacrifice three kindes of beasts might lawfully be offred, Bulls, sheepe or Goats; and three kinds of birds, Pigeons, Sparowes or Turtles. All of them figured either the Sacrifice of the Crosse, or that of the Masse, or both together. The first then, of which mention is made in the present Picture, signified manifestly the Sacrifie of the Crosse; and the second, that of the Eucharist. Let vs see the resemblance betweene them.
2. OF THE PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE, which Properly signifies that of the Crosse.
IF we attentiuely consider the Figure, wee shall easily see the resemblance it hath with the truth. The first Propitiatory Sacrifice was offered but once a yeare, and no more; painting forth thereby, the one onely Sacrifice of the Crosse,Leuit. 25.10.11. Luke 4.19. which was offered but once in the yeare of our Sauiour, that is to say, during his life, which was the yeare and time of the true Iubily of our Lord; and so offered, as it might neuer be reiterated. This is Saint Pauls discourse, [Page 187]writing to the Hebrewes; In this will (saith he) we are iustified by the Oblation of the body of Iesus Christ once made: And afterwards hauing shewed, that the Iewish Priests, could not take away sin with their bloudy Sacrifices, he addeth;Hebr. 10, 10, But Iesus Christ hauing offered one Hoast for sins, s [...]teth now for euer at the right hand of God. This Sacrifice then could not be reiterated, our Sauior hauing so triumphed ouer death, as he could die no more, neither was it necessary. The second circumstance was, that in this yearely Sacrifice, the bloud of the Victime of Propitiation, was carried and set vpon the Altar of Incense, seated before the Sanctuary, a Figure of heauen, as Saint Paul allegoriseth.
The bloud of our Sauiour also, that is to say, the price of his bloud, was carried vp to heauen, and set before the eyes of God. Who in consideration of that bloud, shed for men to his honor, giues them pardon of their sinnes, if it bee not long of themselues. Thirdly, the flesh of the Victime was all consumed in the sier, with the head and skinne, without the Campe, whilest they were in the Desart, or without Hierusalem, after it was chosen for the place of Sacrifice. Our Sauiour was crucified on Mount Caluary, out of Hierusalem, his body burnt by three fiers, and consumed euen to death, by the fier of his infinit loue, which made him a voluntary Victime to his Father, for our sinnes; by the fier of our sins themselues, which caused him to die; by the fier of those reproaches, blaspemies and torments, which hee endured in his Passion. And it was easie to see, how his skinne felt this fier, when it was cruelly torne with whips, as also his head, crowned with thornes, and his sacred visage, defiled with spittle. Finally, none of those, which sacrificed, did eate of this Propitiatory Sacrifice, no man also did eate of this: And they, that did burne the flesh of the ancient Victime, were vncleane, and were to purifie themselues in the water of Expiation, before they came againe into the City: They also, which did put our Sauiour to death, became thereby abominable [Page 188]in the sight of God; and if they would enter into the City of Hierusalem, which is his Church, they were first to be purified by the water of Baptisme. Behold from point to point, and tittle to tittle, the Figure accomplished in the Sacrifice of the Crosse, which hath truely wiped away our sinnes, and giueth abeundant grace of peace and Propitiation, so it be applied, as God hath ordained, that is, by the Sacraments; but aboue all, by the Sacrament and Sacrifice of the Eucharist.
3. THE SECOND KIND OF PROPITIAtory Sacrifice, a Figure of the Eucharist.
NO doubt, but as the first kinde of Propitiatory Sacrifice, was accomplished in the Oblation of the Crosse: so the second was fulfilled in some other. For if nothing passed in the olde Law, were it neuer so little, which our Sauiour was not to fulfill in the Law of Grace; and if he himselfe hath so often protested, that hee would accomplish all the Law euen to the least tittle, and that heauen and earth should passe,Matth. 5.18. Luke 16.17. before one tittle thereof should be left vnperfected: who dare thinke, that so remarkable a Sacrifice, as this, hath not been fulfilled, according to all the circumstances thereof. And surely the accomplishment of it is manifestly seene in the Eucharist, which is iterated euery day, as the ancient Figure was; for Masse is said euery day. The bloud is set vpon the Altar, and offered to God in the Masse. The flesh of the body of our Sauiour likewise is there eaten, both by Priests and Lay people; who in quality of Christians, and faithfull people, are all, in some sort, accounted Priests, and Kings, as Saint Peter calls them:1. Pet. 2.9. And for so much as they prepare [Page 189]themselues duely, before they communicate, by Penance, and other workes of Piety, they are male children of the Priestly Line, as hauing manly, and not effeminate soules, though they be women and yong Virgins. This flesh is eaten in a holy place, that is to say, in the house of God, which is the Catholike Church, and ordinarily in the place of Sacrifice and Prayer; and if the sick eate it in their priuate houses, it is alwaies in the circuit of the house of God. And this flesh sanctifieth those, who eat it purely, and without being defiled with any mortall sinne.
4. WHAT DIFFERENCE THERE IS BEtweene the Iudaicall Propitiatory Sacrifices, and Sacraments, and those of Christians.
THe Sacrifices of the Iewes, offered for sinnes, were Propitiatory, and obtained pardon, not by any vertue, that wasin them: for as Saint Paul saith,Heb. 10. It is impossible, that sinnes should be taken away by the bloud of Bulls, and of Goats; but by the Religion and piety of those which offered them, protesting by them the faith and hope, that they had in the Messias to come, Iesus Christ. After this manner God promised them grace; saying of the deuout man,Heuit. [...]. Hee shall offer Sacrifice, and the Priest shall pray for him, and his sinne shall be forgiuen him: They were then auaileable, and obtained pardon, by the faith and vertue of the Offerers, who were acceptable to God, but not of themselues, sauing onely in Figure; whereas the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, which is the truth of them all, containeth and gi [...]h grace, as doe all the Sacraments of the Law of Grace. [...] hauing beene instituted by the Author of Grace, [...] Christ; and by the M [...]ster himselfe in person, and [...] [Page 190]the mediation of Moses his seruant, and the price of our redemption, being paid in his pretious bloud; it was but reason, that they should haue in them the vertue, which the former figured: and that seeing the money was now paid in, they should giue truely and indeed remission of sinnes. Wherefore the Christians Sacraments doe giue grace of themselues, and by their proper operation, in vertue of the prerogatiue giuen to them by our Sauiour; and hee which receiues them with good disposition, receiueth profit by two wayes; to wit, by the Sacrament, which he receiues, and by his owne deuotion, which hee brings with him; whereas the Hebrewes had none, but onely by the second way. Their Sacraments were beneficiall, as was the brazen Serpent in the Desart; [...]. 21. for it was not by its owne proper vertue, that it did heale the biting of Serpents, but from the faith of those, which did behold it, according as God had commanded, it seruing onely for a signe to behold with their eyes, and for an obiect of their faith in God, by whom they were to be cured. But ours are healthfull in the nature of a pretious Triacle against poyson, which hath in it selfe the efficacy and strength of a soueraigne medicine, and so entring into a prepared stomacke, worketh a soueraigne effect for the health of the body. In like manner, the Sacraments of the Law of Iesus Christ, haue in themselues vertue to saue; as Baptisme, Penance, and other Sacraments, instituted for the remission of sins, wash sinnes out of the soule, and bring grace by their very action it selfe. And principally the Eucharist, containing the Creator of Grace, Iesus Christ: The other Sacraments hauing onely the fruit; this is both the Tree, and the Apples: The others giuing flowing streames; but this the Fountaine it selfe. The Eucharist also, in as much as it is a Sacrifice, obtaines pardon of the Diuine bounty for him, for whom it is offered. For the body of Christ is so precious in Gods sight, and God hath been so much glorified by it, that it cannot bee presented to him vpon the Altar, [Page 191]but it will procure fauour and grace; especially the chiefe presenter being the proper person of his Sonne himselfe, in whom he is well pleased, and to whom he can deny nothing; the Priests are but the visible Vicars, and Mediators of the action: The Gift and the Giuer, the Offering, and the Offerer, is one and the same, infinitely agreeable to the eyes of the diuine Maiesty. The Eucharist then is a Propitiatory Sacrifice, figured by that of the Iewes, in the manner, as hath been said.
5. TESTIMONIES OF THE ANCIENT FAthers, both Latine and Greeke, teaching the Sacrifice of the Masse, to bee a Propitiatory Sacrifice.
SAint AVGVSTINE, By many ancient Sacrifices, S. Aug. ep. 57. which were offered for sinne, this Sacrifice was signified, which giueth indeed true remission of sinnes: The bloud of which Sacrifice, not onely is not forbidden, (as in those of the Law) but presented to all the world, and all are inuited to drinke it. And in his booke of the City of God, he writeth,S. Aug. l. 20. de Ciuit. Deic. 25. That in the Church, Sacrifices are offered for sinne, and shall bee vntill the day of Iudgement; but not after, because then there shall be none, to whom sinnes can be remitted. And in a Sermon, which he hath made of the Innocents, speaking of the Altar, where Priests say Masse:Idem Serm. de Innocent. There (saith he) is powred foorth the bloud of Iesus Christ for sinners.
Saint AMBROSE, speaking of the Eucharist: Iesus Christ offereth himselfe, as Priest, for the remission of our sins. S. Ambros. lib. 1. Offic. cap. 48. And in his Exhortations to Virgins, he calleth that, which is offered on the Altar, An healthfull Hoast, Idem in Exhort. ad V [...]g. by the which the sinnes of the world are taken away.
[Page 192] Saint CYPRIAN,S. Cyprian. de Coe [...] Dem. in a Scrmon saith, That the Eucharist is an Holocaust for the purging of our iniquities.
Saint HIEROME,S. Hiero [...]an c. 1. [...]pist. ad [...]it. If men command the Lay people to abstaine from the company of their wiues, that they may pray the better; what ought men to thinke of the Bishop, which offers to God euery day the Victims without spot, for his own sins, and the sinnes of the people?
Saint CHRYSOSTOME,S. Chrysost. lib 6. [...]. The Priest, as Embassadour and Oratour, makes intercession to God for all; to the end to make him mercifull, not onely to the sinnes of the liuing, but also of the departed. And in his Lyturgie, or forme of saying Masse,Idem in Lyturg. H. st [...]a [...]. 3. in ep. ad [...]p [...]. he prayes to God thus, Make vs fit to present to thee gifts and Sacrifices, for our sinnes, and for the ignorances of the people; and oftentimes calleth the Eucharist an healthfull Hoast.
And Saint BASIL also in his Masse,S. Basil. in Ly [...]rg. initio. Make vs worthy (saith he, praying to God) to present our selues before thee with a cleane heart, and to serue thee, and offer this venerable Sacrifice, for the blotting out of our sinnes, and the malice of the people.
Saint IAMES in his:S. Iam. in Ly [...]rg. Wee offer this vnbloudy Sacrifice to thee for our sinnes, and the ignorances of the people.
Saint IVSTIN MARTYR,S. Iustin. [...]ial. Cont. T [...]pho. writes, That the Sacrifice of the Doue, which men did offer for the Leaprous, in the Law of Moyses, was the Figure of the Eucharist, offered for the purgation of sinnes.
Saint CYRIL of Hierusalem,S. Cyril. Hier os. [...]atech, Mi [...]l [...]. 5. Wee offer Iesus Christ, slaine for our sinnes, to the end to make him mercifull to vs, and to others, who is most benigne and grations.
In conclusion, all the Catholike Doctors, Latine and Greeke, are of the same faith, and speake the same Language, and call the Sacrifice of the Masse, the true and only Sacrifice of Christians, instituted by Iesus Christ, for the obtaining from God remission of sinnes; the Sacrifice of the Crosse, is not the Sacrifice of Christians, though it be the foundation of Christian Religion: for the Christians [Page 193]neither can offer it, our Sauiour being now immortall, nor desire to offer it, for so much as they should be like to the Iewes, which crucified him. It is the Eucharist, which is the sole and proper sacrifice of Christians, ordained for a memoriall of that of the Crosse; and to apply the merite thereof. And as Baptisme, Confirmation, and the other Sacraments, as Sacraments, remit sinne, in the vertue of the Sacrifice of the Crosse: so the Eucharist, as a Sacrifice, applieth to vs remission of sinnes, gained vpon the Crosse, and after this manner is a propitiatory Sacrifice. This Doctrine is according to God, and according to reason: For since Iesus Christ is Priest eternally,Psal. 109. according to the order of [...]lchisedech, the Sacrifice instituted by him according to that order, which is that of the Masse, and no other, must needs be Propitiatory; because it is the essentiall office of a Priest to offer for sinne, as Saint Paul writes. [...]. For euery High Priest taken from among men, is appointed for men in those things, that pertaine to God, that hee may offer gifts, and sacrifice for sinnes. Iesus Christ then, as Priest, offereth h [...]nselfe in this Sacrifice for our sinnes, and hee doth it by the ministry of Priests his Vicars, euen as by them he teacheth, baptiseth, confirmeth, and exerciseth the other offices, and holy functions of our Doctor and Redeemer.
I [...] standeth with reason also, seeing that Prayer, Almes, Fasting, Penance, and other actions of Piety bee honorable and pleasing to God, appease his wrath, and obtaine of him remission of faults committed; that this Sacrifice, which is the greatest honor, that the Church can present to God, and the most diuine of all other holy actions, should haue force to appease him, and gaine his Grace.Moyses. Exod. 3 [...].3 [...]. Dan. 4.2 [...]. Moyses obtained pardon for many thousand of sinners: Daniel did counsell the King of Babylon to redeeme his sinnes by Alms. These works then were Propitiatory, & how should not then the Sacrifice of the body of the Sonne of God, offered by the same his Sonne, and by his members, in supreme worship of his Maiesty, be so? The enemy of mankinde, [Page 194]hath he not been extreamely enuious and malitious, that would take away this beleese from the soules of the children of God? and such as haue beleeued his deceits, against the honor of God, and against the Doctrine of his Church,; Are they not miserably bewitched, and altogether vnworthy to haue remission of their faults?
6. AFTER WHAT MANNER THE SACRIfice of the Masse, and the Sacraments remit sinne, since that of the Crosse is our whole redemption.
BVT if the Sacrifice of the Crosse bee our whole redemption, and the infinite price, paid for all our sins, and of a thousand sinfull worlds, if there had been so many; how say we, that the Sacrifice of the Masse, the Sacraments, and good workes are propitiatory? I answere, that the Sacrifice of the Crosse is the Fountaine head of our saluation; the Sacrifice of the Masse, and Sacraments are the Riuers by which the merits of the Crosse flow into our soules, and without which, this merit should be vnfruitfull to vs. Baptisme is one of these Riuers, so is Consirmation, and the other Sacraments. The Sacrifice of the Masse is one of them also; and by them the Crosse imparteth saluation, but to no other, sauing only to Christians: For Turkes and Pagans doe not receiue any fruit, because they haue not any Sacrament, nor Sacrifice, by which they may open the doore to come to this Merit, and make flow into them the waters of Redemption, and of health. The Crosse to them is a Fountaine stopped, an Orchard inclosed, a Treasure locked vp; because they neither haue the Conduit-pipe, nor the entry, nor the Key, by which [Page 195]they may be partakers thereof. The Masse therefore is no more a new redemption, then the Sacraments, as that of the Crosse was; but an excellent meanes to apply the redemption, which was made on the Crosse. The Sacraments are meanes in their kinde. The Eucharist hath the Pr [...]uiledge to doe it, both as a Sacrifice, and as a Sacrament.
Good workes are good and Propitiatory, not of themselues, but because they are founded vpon the Crosse; and without this stay, they are vnprofitable to eternall life. Wherefore, the Sacraments, the Sacrifice of the Masse, good workes, godly actions, and all Christian Religion, take life, force and vertue from the Crosse. The Sacraments are the Conduit-pipes; the good workes, the fruites; the Eucharist is the great Key. The Sacraments profit, and are Propitiatory onely to those, which receiue them in good disposition; Baptisme remits sinne onely, to him, that is baptized; Penance to him, which doth it; and so of the rest. The Eucharist, as a Sacrament, giueth grace onely to him, which communicates, but as a Sacrifice it profits all those, for whom it is offered: as well for that it is a most noble action, made with a generall and most effectuall Prayer; as also by reason of the present it makes to God; and is therefore a generall meanes to appease him, by offering him the body of his Sonne, who hath paid all, and for all, and therefore is able to obtaine all. Wherefore, if Masse bee said for the Iust, it procures them encrease of grace, and vertue to perseuer therein; if for repentant sinners, it obtaines them pardon; if for the impenitent, it obtaines them repentance; if for Infidels, it obtaineth their conuersion; and so it profits all the liuing. If it be applied to the Saints departed, it honors them; if for those which are in Purgatory it diminisheth their paines. But what if you obiect? Masse is offred for many, which notwithstanding remaine obstinate in their wickednesse? I grant they doe, but it is by their owne fault, who depriue themselues of this fruit; for it profits others. The Crosse is a wayes [Page 196]then the foundation of our whole redemption; the Sacraments are the meanes for to apply them in particular to euery liuing Christian well disposed; the Sacrifice of the Masse, to all, as hath been said; and in them all, the bloud shed on the Crosse, is the price and payment of our redemption.
7. THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASSE, and the Sacraments, rather giue, then take any honor from the Crosse.
AS the Sacrifice of the Masse, and all the Sacraments of the Church, doe take their vertue from the infinit merit of the Crosse; so they honor it, by applying the vertue thereof. For so many times as they giue grace, so often they giue occasion to praise the first cause of that grace. Neither more nor lesse, then naturally an Eagle, a Lion, a Dolphin, an Emeraud, and euery other noble creature, bringing by his goodnes and beauty, some profit or pleasure to man, stirre him vp to praise the Creator, who gaue that goodnesse and beauty to the creature. So the Sacraments giuing grace, by that action of theirs, testifie to vs the merit of the Passion of Christ, meritorious spring of this grace. But aboue all Christian Mysteries, the Sacrisice of the Masse excelleth; and that for two reasons. The first, because it containes in it present the same body, which redeemed vs vpon the Crosse, and presenteth in this body, the fountaine of our redemption. Whereas other Sacraments communicate nothing, but the Riuers flowing from that Fountaine. The second, because it liuely represents the action of this our redemption, to wit, the Passion of our Sauiour, and the Sacrifice of the Crosse; for [Page 197]the same body, which was offered on the Crosse, is offered heere; on the Crosse, by bloudy Sacrifice; heere, by vnbloudy Sacrifice: on the Crosse it was immolated; it is immolated also heere; but there with slaughter, and violent effusion of bloud; heere it is immolated after the maner, we haue said; to wit, the formes of bread and wine, and by them represented as a dead and insensible thing, such as are bread and wine, and his bloud seeming to be after the manner of wine shed, vnder which it is; whereas it is alwayes in his body, and both body & bloud remaine impassible, immortall and glorious. Vpon the Crosse, his power seemed weaknesse and infirmity; his goodnesse malice, and his wisdome folly; for the wicked beheld him poore, beleeued him impotent, blasphemed him as a malefactor, and derided him as a foole; though he was in himselfe all powerfull, all good, all wise: all this is represented in the Sacrifice of the Masse. For in outward shew nothing appeares, but infirmity, to the eyes of Infidels, neither will they beleeue, that our Sauiour can make his body there present; it also seemes to them impiety, and therefore they call it Idolatry; it appeares to them nothing but folly, and therefore they mocke at it, as if it were a Com [...]edy; wheras, notwithstanding, it is an action of the Sonne of God, and the most godly worke of Piety and Religion, that is in the Church. For these reasons then, it honoreth, it preacheth, it communicateth, it represents the vertue of the Crosse, aboue all other Christian mysteries: and no meruell for it was ordained by the hand of him, which hath of old drawne forth, in the old Sacrifices, all the Figures of the Crosse; and who knew well, how to prepare a Sacrifice in the Law of his Grace, which might liuely,1. Cor. 11.26. and effectually represent the same Passion in euery point. And as he hath wisely ordained it, so hath he chosen it for a most honorable memory of his Crosse. Wherefore the Aduersary affirming, that the Masse euacuats the honor of the Crosse, is a not orious lyer, a wicked deceiuer, and an impudent [Page 198]calumniator, and goeth about himselfe to euacuat the honor of the Crosse, and depriue men of the fruit of it, obscuring the truth by his lyes, deceiuing soules by his impostures, and blemishing the actions of piety by his slanders.
8. THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASSE, Profitable to obtaine from God all kind of good, and it extends it selfe to all persons, except the damned.
SEing that the Sacrifice of the Masse, is so good a means to obtaine remission of sinnes; it is easie to conceiue, that it is able to helpe vs to obtain, whatsoeuer else is profitable for vs. For it is more hard to appease the wrath of God, and to encline him to be mercifull vnto vs, when by sinne we are his enemies; then to obtaine all other gifts from him, when he is become our friend. We know likewise that the ancient Sacrifices were offered, nor onely for sinne, but for many other temporall ends also. It followes then, that the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, which succeeded to all the ancient Sacrifices (as Saint Chrysostome, S. Chrysost. in Psal. 95. S. Aug. cont. Ad [...]ers. leg. l. 1. c. 20 S. Leoserm. 8. de Pass. Dom. Saint Augustine, Saint Lee, and the other Doctors of the Church affirme) may be offered for the same ends; otherwise the truth should come short of the Figure, which were absurde. That the ancient Sacrifices were employed for the obtaining of other gifts, besides remission of sinne, is euident by the holy Scripture, which tels vs, that the Hebrews offered Victims for the life of King Darius, Darius 1. Esd. 6. Heliodor. 2. Mach. ib. 3.32 and his children. As also that Onias, High-Priest, offred for the health of Heliodore. The Masse then is much more able to obtaine all that, which the Iudaicall Oblations obtained; for they [Page 199]contained onely the Figure of the body of our Sauiour, but the Eucharist exhibits the reall body it selfe. And this hath been the practise of the Church euen from her Cradle.1. Tim. 2. Saint Paul commanded that publike prayer should bee made in the Church for Kings, and other persons in authority, to the end we might liue peaceably vnder them; these Prayers the holy Fathers, Saint Chrysostome, S. Chrysost. in 1. ad Tim, 2. S. Amb. l. 6. de Sacer. c. vlt. S. Aug. ep. 59. ad Paul. Th [...]oph. & Occum in 1. Tim. 2. Tertul. ad Sea. pul. S. Aug. l. 22. c. 8. S. Prosper. Aquitan. de predictio D [...]i. c. 6. S. Chrysost. in h [...]. 1 [...]. & 21. in Act. Apost. S. Hier [...]s. Catech. 5. Mis [...]ag. Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine and others, expound to be those, which are made in the Sacrifice of the Masse. Tertullian confirmeth this custome; Wee Sacrifice (saith hee) for the health of the Emperour. Saint Augustine writeth, That in his time certaine Priestes said Masse, and offered Sacrifice in a house, for to driue away the Diuels, which infested it, and made it inhabitable. Saint Prosper witnesseth, that the Sacrifice of the Masse, was offered for a woman possessed, that shee might bee deliuered; and after that shee was dispossessed, the same was offred againe in the way of thanksgiuing. Saint Chrysostome, in many places, makes mention of the custome of the Church, to say Masse for the fruits of the earth; and the testimony of Saint Cyril of Hierusalem is cleare in this matter, who in one of his Lessons, speaking of the Masse, saith, After that the spirituall Sacrifice and vnbloudy worship is done, ouer the same Heast of Propitiation, we pray to God, for the common peace of all the Churches, for the tranquillity of the world, for Kings, for Souldiers, for the sicke, for the afflicted; In conclusion for all those which haue need of succour.
9. THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASSE profitable to the Faithfull departed, which are in Purgatory, and honorable to those, which raigne in heauen.
THe faith, and custome of the Church, hath euer been to offer also to God, the Sacrifice of the Masse, for the soules of the faithfull departed, not to procure pardon for their sinnes, but to obtaine of God release of the paine, due to their sinnes, who are in Purgatory. For they which are in hell, are cut off eternally from the body of Iesus Christ, and incapable of succour from his precious bloud. Saint Chrysostome, S. Chrysost. hom. [...]9. ad. Pap. An [...]ie. & [...]m. 3. [...]. ad Philip. speaking of this custome: Not without cause (saith he) it was or da [...]ed by the Aposiles that commemoration should be made of the faith full departed, in the dreadfull mysteries (for so he calleth the Sacrifice of the Masse) for they well knew, it would bring them great benefit and profit. According to which faith,S. Aug. l. 9. [...] sess. c. 11.12.13. S. Augustine was entreated by his Mother, to pray to God for her after her death in the Masse, Shee (saith hee) charged me, not to prepare for her [...] sumptuous to [...]be; but onely signified, that sheed s [...]r [...]d, that remembrance should be made of her at the Altar, at which emery day shee religiously serued God; knowing that from it, was the Victime distributed, [...] 2.14.15. which w [...]ped out the hand writing of decree that was against vs, and led the enemy in triumph. Which he performed like a faithfull childe, causing the office for the dead, and Masse to be said for her at her burial, helping her rather after this manner, then bewailing her with teares, as himselfe witnesseth, saying to God; We wept not. O Lord, in the prayers, which we made, when the Sacrifice of our price was offered vp to the [...], Whereby he shewes, what was the [Page 201]faith and religion of all the Church in his dayes. S. Epiphan [...], also puts this custome amongst the Articles of Catholike Doctrine; and witnesseth,Epiph. heres. 57. & in A [...]acephale [...], & S. Aug. de [...]. cap. [...]3. (as after him did also S. Augustine) that Aerius was Anathematized, as an Heretike, for hauing held, that the Sacrifice of the Masse was not to be offered for the dead.
The same Church hath also at all times, offered Sacrifice of thankesgiuing, for the Victime of the blessed Saints, which are raigning in heauen. And here-hence it is, that men say Masse vpon their Feasts, in which they are called vpon & remembred, not that men offer Sacrifice to them, for that was the slander of the old Heretikes and Pagans: but to giue thanks to God, who made them victorious, and to shew, that we reioyce in their glory. And this is it Saint Augustine declareth,S. Aug. l. 8. de Ciuit. cap. 27. answering to the calumnies of Heretikes, Who is he amongst the Infidels (saith he) that euer heard the Priest, being at the Altar, say in his Prayer, I offer Sacrifice to thee, O Peter, O Paul. O Cyprian? for it is to God, and not to them, that that Sacrifice is offered, within the Churches dedicated to their memory. And elsewhere,Ide [...] co [...] Fa [...]st. l. 20. c. 21. almost in the same tearmes: We erect not Altars to Martyrs, but onely to God, in remembrance and memory of them: For who did euer heare any Prelate, doing his office at the Altar, where Saints bodies lye, say, We offer Sacrifice to the O Peter, O Paul, O Cyprian? but what is offered, is offered to God, who crowned the Martyrs, though it be done in places dedicated to their memorie. By which Doctrine it appeares, how the Sacrifice of the Masse, is not onely Propitiatory for sinnes, but profitable to obtaine of God all kind of benefits. And that it extends it selfe to all sorts of persons, except the damned. And that as the Sacrifice of the Crosse, is a generall, and fundamentall treasure, for all the members of the Church of God, liuing and dead, present and to come; so the Sacrifice of the Masse is an instrument, and vniuersall meanes to apply the merit of this treasure to euery one.
THE ELEVENTH PICTVRE. THE FIVE LOAVES AND TVVO FISHES.
The Description.
HEE, which is in company of Iesus,Iohn 6. Matth. 14.21. Marc. 6.40. can want nothing. Doe you behold this great number of people, set by hundreds and fifties, vpon these beds and Tapestries of hearbes and flowers of the Spring, taking their refection in the midst of the Desart? they are about fiue thousand men, besides women and little children:Matth. 14.21. who following our Sauiour many dayes, heard his Word with such feruour and delight, that before they were a ware, all their prouision was spent, and were vtterly destitute of necessary food, in these high mountaines and barren places, fruitfull onely of grasse and flowers. Yet notwithstanding, they banquet to their fill, hauing meruailous aboundance of food, though all their prouision was but fiue Barly-loaues and two fishes, which a yong Boy of the troope had by chance brought with him. O this Boy shall one day, vnder the name of Marshall, be a great feeder and nourisher of Christian soules, in the Countrey of Aquitan. This prouision was onely casuall, and very insufficient for so great a number of people: but the Diuine prouidence was neither casuall, nor nigardly, which knowes well how to prouide for want, and to make abundance of new Manna spring vp in the midst of the Desart, and to feed them after with materiall food, whom he had fed before with the bread of his holy Doctrine. For hee multiplied the Loaues and the Fishes, by his blessing, in such abundance, as they did suffice to fill all this people, set at so many tables, who brought with them as good appetites [Page 204]to eate, as they had strong stomackes to disgest. All cat as much as they will of these Loaues, and these Fishes. And the Apostles are the diuiders and deliuerers, no lesse wondering then ioyfull to see, that the bread and fishes encreased in their hands, as fast as they distributed them to their guests. But Philip and Andrew aboue all other were astonished; for they also aboue therest apprehended the greatnesse of the multitude, and the little quantitie of food, which was to be had in that place. The good Philip said, Two hundred pentworth of bread will not suffice that euery ont may haue a little bet, (as the custome is to distribute holy-bread.) Whereas these fiue Loaues, brought by this childe, were not to be valued at three pence. And Andrew giuing notice to our Sauiour,Cohn. 6.7. of the afore named Loaues and Fishes, saith, But what are these amongst so many? As indeed, they might seeme to bee nothing, for so great a number, according to the rule of humane iudgement, meaning the food with the eaters, and not conndering, what the diuine hand of God can doe. Whilest they serue and admire the miracle, the gues's bestirre themse lues lustily, without sparing either their paines in eating, or the meate set before them. They, who haue long since filled their stomackes begin to fill their bockets; and there is not one heere, that doth not keepe some piece of this bread; some for necessary prouision, others as reliques of deuotion. And after all this, the Apestles filled twelue baskets full with the fragments. All of them are transported with ioy and astonishment, preferring our Sauiour before Moyses, as hauing found a meanes, by his omniporent hand to furnish a table in the Desart; whereas Moyses procured only Manna to fall from heauen, made to his hands, by the hands of Angels, and not produced by any blessing of his. Whereupon they resolue to take our Sauiour their head, and to make him their King. But hee, who was created King by his Father,Apec. 19.16. and carieth written in his thigh, and in his garment this stile, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and [Page 205]is descended on earth to endure dishonors, and not for to ioy in the glory of the world, will not haue to doe with such electors, nor with such a Kingdome. Wherefore, hee goes further into the desart, stealing away, both from their fight, and election.
1.
THE MIRACLE OF THE FIVE LOAVES, a Figure of the Eucharist.
THis wonderfull banquet, prepared in this Desart, was a Picture of our Sacrament, as the Figures were, which euen now haue been declared: not so ancient for time, but wrought by the hand of a more cunning work-man. For the former Figures were anciently pictured indeed, according to the direction of God, but by the hand and Pensell of Moyses: this was the inuention of our Sauiour himselfe, and freshly drawne by his owne hand. Wherefore, those former did signifie a farre off, and in diuers subiects, the Eucharist, and the Author thereof; this is an entrance vnto it, and sheweth it to bee neere at hand, because it is done by the Author himselfe, in proper person. The others set foorth our diuine mystory, as the old Prophets foretold the Messias to come many yeares after; this heere did shew him in a manner present; as Saint Iohn Baptist did point at our Sauiour with his finger. And therefore, as our Doctors note, the Euangelist Saint Iohn great Secretary, and most priuy to his Masters intentions, before hee would set downe the Sermon, which our Sauiour made of the eating of his flesh, sets in the for efront the declaration of this miracle, as a peece of the same subiect, necessary for the vnderstanding of that Sermon, and for the stranthening of our faith, concerning the Feast, which our Sauiour was to [Page 206]prepare shortly after. By this method the supreame wisdome hath wisely taught vs, tracing out by little and little, both by deeds and words, the way to the faith of this mystery of his pretious body, working a miracle vpon the sustenance, which was to be a signe thereof, and declaring to vs, the designe of the future banquet of his flesh, to be after exhibited vnder the formes of bread. Behold now proportions and colours of the Picture.
2. IN WHAT THE MIRACLE OF THE fiue Loaues did Figure the Eucharist.
THis miracle was a Figure of the Eucharist in generall, because it was a wonderfull refection, as that is of the Eucharist: wonderfull in that it was cleane contrary to other common repasts, which in the beginning are greatest in quantity, and the longer the banquet continueth, the lesse meat remaineth, till at last all be consumed. Whereas heere contrariwise, in the beginning there was but a little meate, to wit, fiue Loaues and two Fishes; and the same enereased more and more, the more it was distributed and eaten; and in the end of the Feast, there remained great aboundance. This wonder appeareth farre greater in the Eucharist, in which one onely body of our Sauiour, hath sufficed for all the Church, now more then sixteene hundred yeares; which multiplieth without being many, and is eaten without being consumed. For if there be an hundred thousand Hoasts consecrated, it is in them all, and yet it is but one. And if it be receiued of an hundred thousand mouthes, it is taken whole and entire of all, and neithere is, nor can bee consumed of any. This is the first draught of the likenes that is betweene the miracle of the [Page 207]fiue earthly loaues, & our celestial bread, which is but one. The other smaller draughts are these: That miracle was made of bread, by the blessing of our Sauiour, it was done in the Desart, it was prepared without labour, paine, or difficulty; it was distributed by the Apostles, and was a refection giuen both to the soules and bodies; there is no doubt but faith, hope, and charitie, reuerence, religion, and other vertues, were planted in the hearts of many of them, when they beheld this admirable worke, done by our Sauiour for their good: herehence it was, that they would needs create him King. These designes are expressed with liuely colours in the Eucharist; for it is made of bread by the benediction of our Sauiour, who worketh secretly by his Almighty word, as a Master work-man in this Sacrament. It is made in the Desart of this life, for in the other there shall be no more Sacraments. It is made after a simple manner, onely of bread and wine, and the words of Consecration: whereas the ancient Sacrifices of the Iewes were made with paine and trauell, much killing, much washing and burning of the Victimes. And if some other ceremonies be vsed in the Masse; they are easie, and appertaine rather to the decencie, then to the essence of the Sacrament and Sacrifice. In conclusion, this Sacrifice and Feast, is made by the ministery of the Apostles, and of Priests, succeeding them; and it serueth to plant and encrease in the soule (as elsewhere we haue declared) Faith, Hope, Charity, Religion, and other diuine vertues, true food of our soules, and to giue vigour to our bodies, that they may rise gloriously vpon the great day of the general resurrection.
3. THE TWO FISHES, A FIGVRE OF the same Sacrament.
THe Fishes, by another similitude, do signifie to vs the same Sacrament.S. Aug. l. 1 S. de Qiuit. cap. 23. Our Fish is Iesus Christ (saith Saint Augustine) because he alone was without sinne in the depth of this mortality, as in the profundity of waters. The same haue said Tertullian, Tertul. de Rap. c. 1. Opt. Mil. l. 3. The Sibills. S. August. ibid. Iethus. Optatus Mileuitan, cited by the same Saint Augustine, and many other Fathers. And before them, the Sibills in their writings, called our Sauiour a Fish: but the Greeke word, Iethus, which they vsed, containeth a remarkable Anagram, which is not found in the Latine, nor in any other Language; for the fiue letters whereof it is composed, make,Resus Christos Theon Vies Seter Iesus Christ Sonne of God Sauiour. He is then our Fish, and the Fish giuen for food to the Church, is no other, but Iesus Christ, giuen in the table of the Eucharist. And it skilleth not, that in this miracle there are two Fishes; for both did signifie one self-same Iesus Christ, God and man, as doth also the fiue Loaues; and it is not necessary that a Figure should bee like in all things to that which is signified. Moreouer, Christians, in respect of their Head, are also called Fishes: We are bred in the water (saith Tertullian, Tertul. l. Bap. c. 1. as little fishes, to the likenesse of our Fish Iesus Christ. For it is the water of Baptisme, which regenerateth vs in Iesus Christ, to his Spouse the Church; and whosoeuer are not Fishes of this water, perish in the sea of this world.
4. WHEREFORE NO MENTION IS MADE of any drinke in this miracle, and other circumstances of it.
THe Euangelist makes no mention of any drinke in this miracle; it being probable, that as Manna was both meate and drinke, euen so were these Loaues and Fishes multiplied, which is also agreeable to the mystery: for seeing, they that follow Iesus Christ, are fishes, which naturally neuer drinke; these also need no drinke, being already become the Fishes of our Sauiour, beleeuing in him: albeit, the mystery is yet greater, in that hereby is noted a rare fingularity of the holy Sacrament. For euen as Manna alone, the Loaues and the Fishes, did serue both for meate and drinke: So the Sacrament in one kinde is both meate and drinke, the body of our Sauiour seruing for both together, as did Manna, and those Loaues and Fishes, Figures of it.
Now for other circumstances of this miracle, wee obserue, first, that it was done in the Spring-time, vpon the euening, in the Desart, before them which had heard, and followed our Sauiour, they being bidden to sit vpon the grasse. These circumstances teach vs, that the Sacrament of the Eucharist, was instituted in the spirituall Spring of the world,Psal. 103.32. when Iesus Christ shortly after was to send his holy Spirit, to renew the face of the earth, to make a new Testament, amending the old, to wit, a new Law, a Law of Grace; vpon the euening, that is to say, in the last houre of the world: and in the Desart, that is, during this mortall life. And that for those, which should beleeue in his [Page 210]Word, and which constantly follow him, euen vnto the breaking of bread, taming of their flesh, despising of worldly vanities, and the doing of that, which they there did corporally, eating also vpon the grasse in the Desart: For all flesh is grasse, Esay. de 6. and all his glory is as the flower of the field, saith Esay: and he, who subdueth his flesh, and makes no reckoning of the flourishing beauty of the world; is set vpon the grasse, worthy to be fed with the blessing of our Sauiour, by the seruice of his Apostles; that is to say, to receiue the food of immortality in the Church of God, by the hands of his Vicars, which are the Pastors, and Priests thereof.
5. WHY THE PEOPLE WOVLD CREATE our Sauiour King, and why he fled them.
THese people thus satisfied, were about to create our Sauiour King; not entreating him, but compelling him to accept the Royalty; which hee foreseeing, stayed not vntill they came to him, but quickly withdrew himselfe from them, and fled into the Mountaine to pray. But from whence comes this desire in these men, and wherfore did Iesus Christ refuse this honour, fithence that he was Prince of heauen and earth, and absolute King, without dependance of any other? If for the miracle, they would haue made him King; wherefore had they not the same will, when they saw him cast foorth diuels out of the bodies they possessed, and make those mighty, wicked and rebellious spirits obedient to his Commandements? Why had they not the same will, when he commanded all diseases and maladies, and was obeyed? Making the blinde [Page 211]to see, and the lame to goe, &c. These wonderfull miracles, did not they also merit the same Diadem, which this refection in the Desart did? In truth, if men consider them in their greatnesse, they merited a diuine respect and acknowledgement; but this miracle had some particular thing, which moued these men to this desire and designe. First, it was a kind of miracle neuer heard of, before Moyses had made Manna descend frō heauen, Elias had made the flower and oyle to encrease in fauour of the Widow; but Moyses made not the Manna with his owne hands,Exod. 16. 3. King. 17.14.16. as our Sauiour wrought this miracle; and that which Elias did, he did not by his owne power, but receiued power of God to doeit. Our Sauiour multiplied these Loaues in his owne hands, and with his owne proper blessing; this made them beleeue that he could be no lesse then the Messias, & King promised to Israel; and for this cause they sought for to declare him King. Secondly, the other miracles of our Sauiour were particular, principally effected for their good which were deliuered, and healed. This heere was a publike benefit done in the sight of all the multitude, and to the profit of euery one of them in particular, which caused in them a generall desire to acknowledge the same by conferring a publike honor vpon our Sauiour, and by making him their head, to whom they were so much obliged. Thirdly, they did acknowledge, that this refection was a benefit, worthy of a King. For the principall office of a King, is to guide and feed his subiects; for which cause they are compared to Feeders, and called Pastors of the people. They would then haue proclaimed him King,Esay 44.28. Homer. Iliad 2. Philo Iudaus, l. de Agricult. as the Roman Souldiers made their Emperours, and the other Nations of the world, their first Kings. But our Sauiour was not come to take vnto himselfe any earthly Kingdome, but to establish a spirituall Kingdome of his elect, who are the inheritance of his Church; in the which hee is King of the Iewes, and raigneth likewise in the hearts of [Page 212]all his faithfull subiects. The earth is too base, and too little for such a King; it is heauen, which is the true throne of such a Maiesty, [...]. 109.2. the earth is but his sootstoole? Wisely therefore did hee to contemne this royalty, reading vs a Iesson by his example, to despise and slye the honours of this world, as transitory and deceitfull, and not to make esteeme, but of such presents, as come from heauen, which are firme and permanent, and onely worthy to bee giuen by an Almighty King, and to be sought after by reasonable creatures capable of immortality.
6. GOD, NOVRISHER OF EVERY CREAture, true nutriment of his Children?
IF this good people, seeing that Iesus Christ had so I magnificently and so miraculously filled them, would haue made him King, and honoured him with an honour, which they held to be the greatest of all greatnesse heere vpon earth, as wee haue heard; what would they haue thought, and what would they houe done, if they had a little vnderstood, that this Lord was hee, which of olde had freed their Fathers in the Desart? and which nourisheth the Angels in heauen, and the blessed Spirits with food of his felicity? who giues to eate to euery creature? who keepes open table; in the spacious ayre, vpon the face of the earth, within the depthes of the waters, prouiding for the fowles in the ayre, the beasts of the earth, for the fishes of the sea, and for all liuing creatures their proper food, in their owne dwellings? What would they haue said, if the eyes of their soule had been opened, to behold the grearnesse, highnesse, and profoundnesse of that miracle, [Page 213]without comparison saire more admirable, then the they did so much admire, and esteemed worthy to bee rewarded with a Kingdome. It is a farre greater miracle, (saith Saint Augustine) to prouide for the whole world; S. Aug. Tract. in Ioan. 24. then to feed fiue thousand men with fiue Leaues and two Fisves. And sithence this miracle is the greater, wheresore did these men perceiue onely the lesser? Was it not for so much as the most part of them had not the entire faith, they should haue had of the Messias, whom they did esteeme indeed a great man, but not great God, as they ought? But what would they heue said, had they knowne that this Sauiour would giue his slesh to men to eate, and feed them to immortality? And that with so many miracles, as Nature it selfe stands wondering at them? Would they not foorthwith haue proclaimed him, not onely the King of men, but of Angels also, and of all the world? Nay would they not haue inferred by good discourse, that hee was God both of heauen and earth? For it is God alone, who hath power to giue himselfe in meate, without diminution and detriment; he alone in heauen giues his Diuinity for food of the blessed, and he alone giues on earth the body of his Humanity to his seruants, for food to saluation remaining no lesse entire then before; a worke worthy of God, infinite as well in power, as in goodnesse. Mortall Kings may wel prepare magnificent feasts, such as were made by Holofernes, Salomon, Cleopatra, and many Romane Emperours;3. Reg. 4. Plutarch. in Anton. but they made them not of their owne substance, it was not of their owne bodies, that they were liberall, it was but of the bodies of beasts, and of other prouision, which they had taken from the storehouse of Nature. God alone can giue himselfe to be eaten, he alone is almighty, not to bee exhausted, vncapable of diminution. If then these things be so great; and if we beleeue and see heere that, which they neither saw nor beleeued; If wee see the prouidence of our Sauiour to gouerne and nourish all the [Page 214]world; his charity to vs, in norishing vs with his flesh from the Table of his Church; his truth in promising moreouer the food of felicity. Why doe we not admire his benefits? Why doe we not magnifie them? Why doe wee not giue him immortall thankes for them? The multitude of his wonders, doe they dazell our eyes, as a bright lightning, or as the light of the Sunne? The continuall multiplying of his presents, doth it make his great liberality lesse admirable to vs? But if, as mortall men, we take no heed to the workes, which God doth in Nature euery day, as being ordinary and common; let vs at least regard the rare excellencie of this Table, furnished with a meate more worth, then all that Nature can affoord. The Iewes filled with fiue Loaues and two Fishes, thought not of the miracle, which God doth in nourishing the whole world, because that was a miracle frequent and common; And yet they adwored that of the fiue Loaues, S. Aug. Tract. in Ioan. 24. not because it was greater (saith S. Augustine) but because it was more rare, and lesse vsuall. Wherefore admire not we then the rarenesse of our Sacrament, sithence it is the miracle of miracles, hauing no like, and which by no continuance of time can become vulgar, as the miracles of Nature? Wherefore cry we not in our hearts, Liue the King of Kings, Raigne the King of Kings, Immortall glory to the King of Kings, which hath giuen a refection of so great a wonder; filling with one loafe and with one fish, that is, with his sacred body, not fiue thousand men for one time, but millions of men and of women, that haue wandered in the Desart of this world these sixteen hundred yeers, and wil fill yet as many millions moe of Christian soules, as shall feed vpon it, to the end of the world; who will fill them, not as he hath filled those, with the materiall food of the body, for the maintenance of this mortall life. But with spirituall food of the soule, for to bee nourishment of immortality and mernall felicity. Liue then, O King of Kings, true Life of [Page 215]our soules and bodies. Raigne, O King of Kings, truely worthy to raigne. Immortall glory to thee, O King of Kings most wise to guide, most mighty to defend, most blessed, tenderly to nourish the sheepe, which follow thee, in the mountaines and barren desarts of this mortall life. O when shall this bee, that wee shall arriue to the high mountaine of thy eternity, there to take without end the food, that thou thy selfe art, true felicity of such as shall haue followed thee in the pathes of thy holy Commandements.
THE TWELFTH PICTVRE. OVR SAVIOVR, PREACHING OF THE SAcrament of his bodie.
The Description.
THE Sauiour of the world speakes, the Diuine Word preacheth,Iohn 6.59. the supreame Wisdome discourseth of the Sacrament of his body, in the Synagogue of Capharnaum, where he had done many great miracles. The preheminence of the Orator, and the dignity of the subiect, deserueth an attentiue eare, neuer man spake so, and of such a matter: He sees that the people follow him, enticed by the miracle of the fiue Loaues and two Fishes, and taketh occasion from their earthly desire, to inuite them to a celestiall banquet of his flesh, which he is about to prepare for those, that shall beleeue in him, and haue the appetite of their soules in good disposition. Heare what he saith: I am the bread of life, Iohn 6.48. your Fathers haue eaten Manna, and are dead: this is the bread which descended from heauen, that if any man eate of it, he may not die. I am the liuing bread, descended from heauen; he that eateth this bread, shall liue eternally; and the bread, which I will giue, is my flesh, for the life of the world. Iohn 6.52. The Iewes (saith the Euangelist) contend amongst themselues, saying, How can this man giue vs his flesh to eate? Iesus said vnto them, Verily, verily I say vnto you, if you eate not the flesh of the Sonne of Man, and drink not his bloud, you shall not haue life in you. Who so eateth my flesh, and drinke my bloud, he hath life eternall, and I will raise him vp at the last day. For my flesh is meate indeed, and my bloud it drinke indeed; who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud, he dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the liuing Father [Page 218]hath sent mee, and I liue by the Father: Hee that eateth mee, hee also shall liue by mee. This is the bread, that came downe from heauen, not as your Fathers did eate Manna, and died: hee, that eateth this bread shall liue for euer. I hese are the words of our Sauiour. The Apostles, and they which did beleeue in him, are ranished; but there are others that haue deafe eares, and grosse conceits, iudging amisse of his words, rashly taking scandal at the mystery which they vnderstood not, [...]on 6.60 and murmuring said, This is a hard saying, who can abide to heare it? But Iesus Piercing their thoughts, and secret murmurings corrected them, & said vnto them; Doth this scandalize you? if then you shall see the Son of Man ascend, where he was before, it is the Spirit that quickneth, the flesh profileth nothing; the words, that I haue pinken to you bee Spirit and Life. So hee endeauoureth to make them capable; but they notwithstanding remaine still blind and obstinate in their misbeleefe, and got themselues out of his company. Behold you, how they wrinkle their fore heads in going away, and looke behinde them? These are carnall and ouerweyning people; beleeuing nothing, which comes not vnder the comprehension of their sense. These are the Patriarches of all those, which make warre against the Sacrament of the body of our Sauiour.
1. WHEREFORE OVR SAVIOVR MADE a Sermon of the Eucharist, before hee anstituted it.
THe Painter, who knoweth how to dispose well of his worke hee hath in hand, endeauours, amongst other things, to ioyne dexteriously the beginnings to their ends, and so to smooth the knots of parts disagreeing, that nothing [Page 219]appeare hard, or constreined in the connexion, but all to be aptly guided and brought to an end, with due proportion of draught and colour. The supreame Wisdome, Master of Sciences and Artes, obserued this law in all his creatures. And it is vsuall with him,Sap. S. 1. & 11.12. to reach in his strength from end to end, and to gouerne all things sweetly, and to dispose them in measure, in number, and in weight. According to this rule, he continueth the course of this mouable world, coupling extremities with their extremities, by conuenient meanes. So hee made the day to succeed the night, by interposing of the morning, and the night to the day, by the euening, neighbour to both; the Sommer to Winter, by the Spring, comming betweene; and the Winter to Sommer, by interposing of Autumne; and so in all his other workes of this world. When the Sonne of God, Soueraigne Wisdome, had decreed in the Councell of his Father, and of the holy Ghost, to marry one day the greatnesse of his Diuinity, to the littlenesse of our Nature; and resolued at the same time, to bestow also vpon vs, as well for food, as ransome the body, which he had taken of Adams Posterity; he began euen then, by little and little, to ordaine these Figures, which we haue hitherto runne ouer, and other such like, which are in his booke; making, as it were, the first preparations for this Feast, which was to follow. And being at length made Man, and the time being come, when he was to fulfill the verity of them, and to couer the holy table with the food of his pretious flesh; hee made a wonderfull proofe vpon the bread,Matth. 14.21. Iohn 5.10. as we haue seene; and incontinently after, he preached this excellent Sermon, which was as it were, a generall proclamation of the banquet colouring by the brightnesse of a famous miracle, and by his liuely voice, those Characters of the old Figures, and ioyning the Images past, to the Verity present, by the interposition thereof, before the full accomplishment of his worke. The selfe-same method vsed hee for preparatiō to the faith of other mysteries of his death, [Page 220]of his Resurrection, of his Ascension, of the comming of the holy Ghost, of Baptisme, and of other Sacraments. For besides the ancient Figures of them, which he ordained long before; he made many discourses a little before they were effected, and the Sacraments themselues were instituted. Wherefore, this Sermon was, as it were, the connexion of things passed, to things present, of the shadow to the body, and as a speaking morning, declaring the comming of the Sacrament of the Altar, which is the summe of all the other mysteries in the Church of God.
2. THE FIRST CAVSE, WHY OVR SAuiour would giue his flesh to eate, and his bloud to drinke, which was to shew his goodnesse.
THe first cause, why our Sauiour would giue his flesh to eate, & his bloud to drinke, is for as much as he is admirably good, & exceedingly liberall towards vs, as hath been often already declared. He tooke his body of vs, and because he did that for vs, he will in ploy it vpon vs, and giue it vs againe, like a magnificent Lord, as many wayes as a body might profitably be ginen and imployed; to wit, for a price, for food, for vnion and signe of amity. Hee, which giues a pearle of great value to redeeme his friend from captiuity, giues it as a price: he, that sets some delicate fruit vpon the table, doth it, that it may be eaten: and the husband, which giues himselfe in mariage, giues his body, that by vnion hee may become one flesh with his wise; and the ring, which hee leaues, departing from her, is a pledge of his loue. Our Sauiour gaue his [Page 221]body on the Crosse for our redemption, and thereby paid the tribute, due to the diuine Iustice, for the Ransome of mankinde: he giues the same body in the Table of his Sacrament, as a nuptiall Feast for meat, vnto vs, for to make a diuine vnion with vs, and for a pledge of his loue. Then the master and chiefe cause, why he gaue vs his flesh to eat, and his bloud to drinke, is his boundy, his liberality, and his infinite loue.
3. THE SECOND CAVSE, TO GIVE A remedy to our misery.
THe second cause, why our Sauiour did giue vs his body to eate, is our miserable condition; which out of his exceeding loue to vs, he was desirous to repaire, as hee hath in ample maner by the gift of his body. For by communicating vnto vs his diuine flesh, and deified bloud; he hath both performed the part of a true Father, and of a naturall Mother towards his children; and withall, hee hath wisely and effectually repaired all the breaches of our spirituall ruine, and procured the restauration, and health of our soules and bodies, by remedies directly opposite to our diseases. The Father giueth all, that he can, to his childe, engendered of his seed. The mother nourisheth and brings her childe vp with her owne milke, which is also a part of the substance of her body, and both meate and drinke to the childe. Our Sauiour, who regenerated vs in his bloud by Baptisme, is wholly bestowed vpon vs, in giuing vs his body; for by concomitance we haue together with it, his soule, and his Diuinity, to the which it is inseparably vnited: And of this dainty food he giues vs, not a part onely, but his whole body, and his whole bloud, each of which is [Page 222]both true meate, and true drinke vnto vs. By meat he lost vs, by meat he repaired vs. The first meate was forbidden vnder paine of death:Matth. [...]. [...]6. Iohn [...] Thou shalt not eate of the Tree of Knowledge of good and euill, for looke what day thou shalt eat of it thou shalt die. The second meat is commanded with promise of life: Take, eate, who eateth my flesh, and drinketh my bloud, he hath life eternall. The first was really eaten by disobedience, and killed vs. The second is really eaten by obedience, and quickens vs. The poyson was truely swallowed downe; the Antidote or counter-poyson also is truely taken, and not by Figure. The flesh of the first Adam, by geueration, drew vs to death and confusion; the flesh of our Sauiour, second Adam receiued by manducation, brings vs to life, and nourisheth vs to immortalitie, and eternall glory.
4. TWO BAD VNIONS, OF THE FLESH of Adam, with our soule, repaired by the flesh of our Sauiour.
BVT behold the maine point of opposition betweene the flesh of our Sauiour, and that of Adam. The flesh of Adam is the spring of all our miseries, by reason of two vnions, wherewith it ioynes it selfe to our soule; the one is naturall, and made in the wombe of our mother by necessity; the other morall, and made my our owne free-wil, when the soule followeth the appetites of this corrupted flesh of Adam.
The first vnion, is the blow, that first wounded vs to death. [...] For by it we are begotten in iniquity, and conceiued in sin, according to the saying of King Dauid, and become defiled, in the first instant of our conception: branded [Page 223]with the marke of originall malediction: enennes of our Creator separated from him, and at war within our seiues: for wee bring with vs the Schedule of rebellion, and the fource of cruell warre, which this masse of corruption incessantly stirreth vp against our soules; casting darknesse of ignorance into our vnderstanding; fier of concupiscence into our will; and forgetfulnesse of heauen, and of other future things, into our memory. The same vnion is also cause, that the spirits of men are multiplied, and at diuision amongst themselues: for looke how many bodies are begotten of the flesh, and seed of Adam, so many soules are created, to be vnited to those bodies, and to giue them life: and as the children of Adam disser in bodies, so by meanes of this generation, they are also of different spirits.
The second vnion of this flesh with the soule, encreaseth and maketh worse, the euills, which came from the first: For the soule by loue, being vnited to her flesh, and following the sensual appetites thereof, forgetting heauen, and liuing in the vanities and voluptuousnesse of the earth, is so much more made enemie of God, and banished from his friendship, as shee yeelds her selfe peruerse; and so much more also diuided in her selfe, enduring a continuall tyranny of our flesh, to whom shee is made slaue by this voluntary vnion, and of whom shee is arrogantly vexed, and pricked forward to commit new sinnes, which are to her soule so many executioners, which giue her torment at euery moment. This vnion also diuideth men amongst thēselues; for euery one seeking the cōmodities of his owne flesh, and giuing himselfe to vice; loues none but himselfe, his proper commodities, his honors, riches and voluptuous pleasures, hating and persecuting at those that do hinder him in them, whether they be good or bad. And from thence doe spring dissentions, warres, and all excesse of enuy, whoredome, couetousnesse, and such like sinnes, which are committed in the world. Behold then, how the [Page 224]first vnion of the flesh of Adam with our soules, is the spring: And the second, the fulnesse of all our euills, diuiding vs from God, from our selues, in our felues, and amongst our selues, for an Antidote and counterpoyson of this flesh, and those pernitious effects thereof: the second Adam, Iesus Christ, affoords vs his owne flesh, endued with contrary qualities, and worker of contrary operations. For the flesh of the first Adam is foule, infected, and pestilent: that of the second Adam, pure holy, Virgin like, and in one word, flesh of God. The flesh of Adam produced from a filthy seed, and ioyned with our soule, makes vs the children of Adam: the flesh of our Sauiour, begotten of a Virgin, by the worke of the holy Ghost, and giuen vs, for to be vnited with vs, and to vnite vs to God, makes vs the children of God, not by necessity of generation, but by acts of deuotion, ordained by meanes of this vnion, not onely to cherish, to nourish, and beautifie our soules, but also to repaire the defects of our bodies, to correct their wicked inclinations, to extinguish their concupiscences, to purge and refine them to the likenesse of his owne, and to sow in them the seed of glorious immortalicy. And albeit this vnion be not naturall, as the vnion of body and soule; yet is it, notwithstanding, reall, true, and most intrinsecall, after the manner of meate and drinke, and of a holy and diuine mariage, by the which wee are made one Spirit with God. By the mediation of this flesh of his Sonne vnited to ours; wee are also vnited in our selues, our sanctified flesh obeying thereby the Law of the Spirit; and finally, we are voited euen one with another, and made one Spirit, and one body vnder our chiefe Soueraigne, Iesus Christ, by the vertuall knot of his pretious flesh, which euery one receiueth in this Sacrament. Behold you the opposite effects? By the flesh of Adam wee are made sinners; separated from God, both in spirit and in body: our bodies are multiplied, and likewise our spirits in the same proportion with the bodies: men are diuided amongst [Page 225]themselues by enmities, arising from the loue of the flesh; and euery man is diuided in himselfe, his flesh rebelling to the spirit. By the flesh of our Sauiour, all these inconueniences are repaired, as with admirable wisdome, so with aboundant grace. Of this meate then, giuen as a counter-poyson against the first meat, and of this sacred vnion, in remedy of that, which diuided vs. Did our Sauiour heere Preach? This is the sense, and the end of his diuine Sermon;Iohn 6.48. for calling it the brend of life; the lining bread that came downe from heauen; and saying, That this bread is his flesh, which he will giue for the life of the world: He declareth, that he will giue his body for our food and redemption: And adding after, He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my bloud, hath life euer lasting, and I will rasse him vp at the last day, for my flesh is meate indeed, and my bloud is drinke indeed: Hee signified the effects of this meate, contrary to the effects of the meate of Adam. The meate of Adam, cause of death, a deadly morsell, an carthly food, a food of anguish: The meate of our Sauiour, spring of life, bread of life, bread from heauen, flesh of ioyfulnesse, and of resurrection. When he said, Hee that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my bloud abideth in me, and I in him. He sheweth that he giues his flesh for this vnion, for a bond of amity, and perpetuall pledge of his loue towards vs. Hee hath then giuen his body in this life, for our good, as many waies as it could be giuen; for our redemption, for our meat, for our remedy, for a pledge vnto vs, to deliuer vs, to nourish vs. to heale vs, and to comfort vs, and will giue it in heauen to glory for vs. Hath he giuen sufficiently? is he sufficiently liberall, to giue himselfe so liberally, and at so many time; and by so many wayes on earth, and to promise himselfe vnto vs yet another way in heauen? And are not wee exceedingly vngratefull, in not acknowledging his goodnesse? no lesse vniust in not giuing our selues to him, that haue nothing but from him? And most ingratefull in making no better vse of his gifts, ordained to vnite our [Page 226]selues vnto him, and amongst our selues, for the attaining of life euerlasting? What hath this diuine Spouse done? What hath he inuented? What doth he not? What hath he not deuised, to gaine the loue of a faithfull soule? And what doe we? In what doe we employ our selues to gaine his loue? And who is it, of whom this Prince, so infinitly rich, mighty and beautifull, is so much inamored; but of a poore caytiffe and deformed creature, whom he would enrich, nobilitate and beautifie, to make him worthy of his Kingdome? And how would he seeke to purchase, by so many meanes, the loue of such a creature, if he were not goodnesse it selfe? O infinit Goodnesse, infinit Wisdome, infinite Power fulnesse! Make our soules holily inamored of thy beauty, enlighten them with the diuine beames of thy celestiall knowledge, and make them worthy of thy sacred loue.
5. PRIDE, AND LICENTIOVSNES, ENEmies of Faith, and the first aduersaries of the holy Sacrament.
PRide, and sensuality, are vncapable to vnderstand the wonders of God, and vnworthy to receiue his benefits. Wee haue heard the diuine promises of our Sauiour, speaking of the eating of his flesh; and of the euerlasting fruits thereof; heere was cause to wonder at the height of the mystery, and liberality of the Giuer, and good occasion to say, as Saint Peter a little after, wondering, said: Thou bast the words of eternall life. Iohn 6.63. They were heere, neuerthelesse, who in stead of being lifted vp in admiration, were strucke downe to death by the words of life; because pride and sense had made them bad hearers of the truth, enemies [Page 227]of the light, and vnable to behold further, then humane iudgement could reach. In so much as though truth it selfe did speake vnto them, they murthered themselues by the voice of truth, thinking that eyther he could not doe as he promised, and giue his flesh to eate; or that if hee could doe it, it should be a very inhumane, and barbarous act. They vnderstood of flesh (saith S. Augustine) as if one should dismember a dead body, or as men sell it in the market; S. August. Trust. 27. in Ioan. & in Psal. 98. and flesh vnderstood not, what it was he called flesh. They thought that our Sauiour would cut his body into little bits, and serue it to the table boyled, and dressed, as the body of a beast; and standing vpon the bulwarke of their carnall imaginations, and pushed forward by the spirit, which blindes the soule; in stead of being edified, they were scandalized, and became perfidious in their heart, rude in their thought, and blasphemers in their language, and did say: How can this man giue vs his flesh to cate? Behold, Iohn 6.52.60. a hard saying, and who can endure it. By the first question, they did shew their incredulity, not perswading themselues, that our Sauiour could accomplish that, which he did promise: by the second, they made their pride appeare, condemning our Sauiour, as if he intended to commit an horrible crime, by killing himselfe, and giuing mans flesh to eare, if he should be able to doe that, which he said: People extreamely blinded with pride and sensuality; for they had seene a little before, a thousand of miracles done by the hand of our Sauiour, and beleeued them without asking, How? And in stead of learning by those so many rare workes, to beleeue more easily, they heere aske, How? more incredulous then euer. But why are they now so little obedient to the voice of our Sauiour? Why were they not before more scrupulous and wary? Wherfore did they not as well aske, how he made the blinde to see, the lame to walke, the diuels to flye; and of the fresh miracle, how hee satisfied fiue thousand men with fiue Loaues and two Fishes? Heere their (How) had been much more to purpose, [Page 228]and more pertinent: for they might haue vnderstood thereby, that he did these things in the authority & power of a Master, Al-wise and Al-mighty: and this knowledge would haue perswaded them, that hee could powerfully, and wisely accomplish this, which hee so manifestly did promise of his flesh, although it seemed impossible, and absurde to their sense and iudgement. But what will you? They were proud, and their pride had made them to lose the memory of what was past, and bound their eyes not to see the truth present, nor to fore-see the truth to come; and in one word, did make them obstinately erronious, that is to say, Heretikes. Behold the first controulers, the first persecutors, and first Herenkes, stirred vp against the truth of this holy Sacrament; behold the first authors of Quomodo? (How?) out of which mould the Diuell hath shaped all the rest, which sithence haue conspired against God; for to assault the mysteries of his Church, by Quomodo? and by (How?) and namely to shake this heere, as the most high, and most repugnant to their senfuality. It was pride and the flesh, that made them mutiners, and rebels, against the doctrine of Iesus Christ, and presumptuous to comdemne that, which they vnderstood not. So the Arrians mocked at the Catholike faith, concerning the generation of the Sonne of God, whilest they would vnderstand that, which they could not, and would not beleeue that, which they should; to wit, that God had begotten a Sonne;Psal. 3.7. Psal. 109.1. and in stead of saying Christianlike, I beleeue, they asked, as Philosophers. How? Albeit the Scripture did clearely set downe the truth of this generation, and tolde them on the otherside, that they could not comprehend it; and that they ought to beleeue, and not to question about it. [...]say 53.8. So the Panym [...] and the Heretikes did laugh at the saith of the death of Iesus Christ; neither could they be perswaded, that he being the Sonne of God, and God himselfe, would or could haue endured death, and did say; How can it bee that hee could dye? At this [Page 229]very day in like manner, such, as beleeue not, imitating their Ancestors, beate their hornes against the same Rock, and doe say. How can the body of our Sauiour be present in the Eucharist? How can it be in many places, without possessing a place! Be eaten without being seene? Exposed to the iniuries of the wicked, without hurt? And because they are proud, they beleeue nothing, but what they vnderstand, and so lose their faith, and their vnderstanding, like vnto their Fathers, and namely, the Capharnaits; how be it in another extremitie of heresie: For of them, saith Saint Augustine, They did not vnderstand, S. Aug. Tract. 27. in Ioan. because they beleened not, and the Prophet saith, If you beleeue not, you shall not vnderstand. By saith we are vnited to God, and by vnderstanding we are quickened. Let vs first adhere to the truth by faith, to the and that we may afterward be quickened by vnderstanding; for he that adhereth not, vesisteth, and who resists, belecueth not. Hee excludeth the beame of light, which should penetrate into him; be turnes not away his eyes, but shuts vp his vnderstanding. In like manner, these heere would know in Philosophie, and not beleeue in Christianity, and so became bad Philosophers, and lose the name of Christians. The Church of God, and the children of God doe not so: They doe beleeue the voyce of truth, which said, The bread, which I will giue, is my flesh; and after they come to vnderstand, as much as diuine mysteries can be vnderstood in the shadow of this mortality, expecting to see them in heauen vnmasked and discouered, when they shall see all things in God.
6. EXPOSITION OF THE WORDS OF our Sauiour.
IT is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words, which I speake to you, are Spirit and life. It was the custome of our Sauiour, to speake couertly in this maner, of the highest mysteries, to the end he might be heard with better attention: For the secret of God (saith S. Augustine) ought to engender in the hearers attention, S. Aug. 27. in Ioan. and not to breed au [...]rsion: But what he spake darkly, he after explained sufficiently; to take away occasion of error. So we see, that hauing said to N [...]codemus, Iohn 3.4. That to be saued, hee ought to be borne anew: He expounded himselfe, saying, That he ought to be Baptised of water, and the holy Ghost, and that he meant not a corporall, but a spirituall generation. In like manner,Iohn 2.19. when he said, I will destroy this Temple, and I will build it againe in the third day; the Euangelist added, for explination thereof, that he spake this of the Temple of his body. Our Sauiour seeing then, how the Capharnaits tooke offence at his words, giuing them an absurde sense, and such as their grosse phantasies did forge; he correcteth their carnall sense, and explaines his owne, and tells them; Doth this scandalize you? Iohn [...]. If then you shall see the Sonne of Man ascend, where he was before. As if he should say, you are sensuall people, and will not beleeue that I am able to doe more, then you are able to comprehend; you thinke that this is an impossible thing for me, to giue you my flesh to eate, and that it can suffice for you all, or giue you eternall life; what then will you thinke? what will you say? when you shall see, that I shall carry this flesh to heauen, from whence I descended to take it heere on earth? when [Page 231]you shall vnderstand, that I am God and Man together? certainly, when you shall see that done, which is of more difficultie, you will haue occasion to beleeue this, which is more easie; for it is of it selfe more difficult, to carry flesh into heauen, which none euer did, then to giue it to eate on earth, the which many haue done, though not after the manner, that I will giue it. Wherefore either you ought to beleeue, that I can giue my flesh to be eaten, seeing that I can doe a more difficult thing; or not beleening, you are to enter into a greater incredulity & condemnation, when men shall tell you, that I in flesh am ascended into heauen. Our Sauiour doth not deny the giuing of his flesh to bee eaten; but he tould them, that he is God Almighty, for otherwise he should not haue descended from heauen; and that being God, he could doe more then that, and that if they did not beleeue him, their pride and sensuality was the cause, which are the true barres and bolts, that exclude and hinder the entrance of faith. He addeth, The flesh profuteth nothing, [...]l is the Spirit that quickeneth; the words that I speake vnto you, are Spirit and life. Whereby he sweetely taketh away the cause; which scandalized them, and said; The flesh, as you vnderstand it, and the eating, which you imagine, is carnall, and profiteth nothing: but that flesh, whereof I speake, is spirituall, and giueth life eternall: The words, which I say vnto you, are Spirit and life: and your thoughts sauour of nothing but of flesh, and corruption. My flesh shall indeed be giuen, and truely vnited to the members of my Church; yet not alone, or without soule and life, as the flesh of beasts, which is onely for the body: but as being quickened with my Spirit, and with my Diuinitie, by reason whereof, it shall giue life, and vnite them to life, which shall eate thereof, as it is vnited to the life of my soule, and of my Diuinitie. And shall be giuen, not in a carnall manner, in peeces and in gobbets, as dead flesh, but spiritually as liuely flesh, immortall and vncapable of diuision. And as this flesh was truely taken from [Page 232]the substance of the Virgin, my Mother, but in a spirituall manner, by the vertue of the holy Ghost, and not by coniunction with man; euen so shall it be truely giuen, not in a carnall, but after a diuine and spirituall manner. Flesh and humane iudgement shall perceiue nothing, except some outward accidents, of the colour, Figure, and taste; but the eyes of faith will penetrate the mystery hidden therein. This is it, which our Sauiour would signifie, to appease the murmuring of the Caphamaits, and to raise them vp, from the blockishnesse of their flesh, vnto the spirituall sense of his holy word.
7. HERESIE ALWAYES CARNALL, AND in loue with extremities.
AS the enemie of man raised carnall men to oppose themselues to the word of life, and to hinder the Sacrament of the flesh of our Sauiour, in the first preparation of this Feast; so he hath also raised vp others to disturbe and stoppe the proceedings and fruit thereof, already prepared. These are they, which in this last age, do impugne the honor and magnificence of this Feast; taking from it the substance and truth, saying; that the flesh of our Sauiour is not heere, but onely a Figure thereof: and that there is heere no reall eating of the flesh of our Sauiour present, which they call carnall, but onely spirituall, by the meanes of saith alone, which makes the body of our Sauiour spiritually present, and eateth it spiritually. These people are carnall, as well as the Capharnaits, and puffed vp with the same blast of pride, o [...]erthrowing the truth; but by a contrary battery. The Capharnaits did interpret the words of our Sauiour, altogether fleshly, and these men altogether [Page 233]spiritually; those were in one extremity, beleeuing nothing but flesh; these are in another extremity, admitting nothing but spirit; and both the one and the other not willing to acknowledge, but what their fancies tells them, and therefore are carnall, faithlesse and proud, though after a different manner: The sensuality of the later in particular doth shew it selfe, in that they thinke it a carnall thing, that the flesh of our Sauiour should be present in the Sacrament: their incredulity is in this, that they will not beleeue the word of God, who said, that hee would truely giue his flesh to eate: their pride, in that they preferred the iudgement of their sense before his Word, and condemne the ordinance of our Sauiour, albeit they make faire shewes of defending the same. They erre then in three things: First, in thinking the presence of the flesh of our Sauiour in this Sacrament to be carnall, for the presence of a thing makes not the carnality, but the manner; his flesh was trutly, and by reall presence conceiued in the wombe of the Virgin: Yet was not that presence carnall, because the manner of the conception was from the holy Ghost.
When he ascended into beauen, his body was present, in as many places of the beauens, as he did penetrate, the presence was reall, but neuerthelesse spirituall; because it depended of a cause spirituall and diuine, and not naturall. When he made himselfe seene to Saint Paul, he was present, and his presence was true and reall; yet spirituall, that is to say, not after an ordinary and naturall manner. Euen so the flesh of our Sauiour is really present in the Eucharist; yet not carnally, as common flesh, is present vpon the table; but by transubstantiation, by a way about nature, by the all powerfull word of our Sauiour. It is there inuisible, impalpable immorrall, and inconsumptible, and so spiritually, and so diuinely that nothing but the eyes of faith can perceiue it; and because these heere haue not, but the eyes of their flesh, and carnall iudgement, therefore they deny this presence, and same another according to [Page 234]the blindnesse of their flesh against the truth, and leaue the true faith, by an imaginary, no faith, and are blockish, and infidels in their sensuall faith.
8. CONTRADICTIONS OF HERETIKES in their false, and imaginary faith.
THe same Heretikes inwrap themselues in contradiction; denying on the one side the flesh of our Sauiour to be really present in the Eucharist; and saying on the other side, that it is there by Spirit and faith. For if it bee not really there, it cannot bee present by Spirit, and by faith; for as much as no strength, neither of the Spirit, nor of Faith; doth make a thing present, that is absent. Neither faith, nor the Spirit makes, that the Hebrewes at this present doe passe the red sea, or eate Manna in the Desart; or that Iosua now doth stay the Sunne, or that our Sauiour is now conceiued in the wombe of the Virgin, or that he now riseth from death, or ascends into heauen, or that hee comes now to iudge the liuing and the dead, though it beleeue all this; if these men answere, that faith imagineth these things as present, albeit they bee absent; they confesse, that as the presence of these things, is but imagination; so the faith, which they haue of the presence of the flesh of our Sauiour in the Sacrament, is imaginary, and that they cate it not, but by imagination. Like vnto them, who sleeping dreame, that they make good cheare, and yet make no good cheare, but in their fancie. Such faith is not the faith, that makes a faithfull man in this point; neither is such sustenance truely sustenance, neither such meate, truely meate; it is a faith, a refection, a meate of fancie. Now our Sauiour said,Iohn 6. that his flesh is meat indeed, and his [Page 235]bloud drinke indeed; then the faith, or rather no faith of these men, is a carnall infidelity, and a froward imagination, contrary to the faith of God. They are the children of the Catholike Church, which by faith doe eate indeed the body of our Sauiour; that is to say, in a spirituall manner, as it hath been said, and with the faith required thereunto, by the which they doe beleeue the word of God; beleeuing that his body is there present, as his word saith; beleeuing that they take it really, and eate it really, as he hath promised; beleeuing that he could doe that, which he said, and that he doth nothing, which is contrary to his goodnesse and wisdome. And as their faith is farthfull, so their eating is true: and contrariwise, the eating practised by these Heretikes in their Supper, is altogether carnall: for they take nothing heere more excellent, then bread, and neither doe they eath but bread; nor beleeue any thing, but what the faith of a Turke, of a Iew, and of a Pagan, all carnall, could not beleeue. For what difficulty had there been, to beleeue the presence of a morsell of bread, that they see, taste, and perceiue by their sense to be so?
9. THE LITERALL SENSE, FOVNDAtion of others, against the same Heretikes.
THese good people, therefore, lose themselues in the by-wayes of their spirituality: for willing to interpret the flesh of our Sauiour, and his bloud; and all this eating spiritually, according to their owne sense, saying, that men cate not this flesh, but by Spirit, and by faith alone: they leaue the proper and fundamentall vnderstanding of the words of our Sauiour, and take onely a metaphoricall one against the law of all good Diuinity: [Page 236]which first ought to vnderstand and establish the literall and proper sense of the Scripture, and after vpon that foundation to ground the spirituall. For example, the Scripture saith,Gen. 2. Exod. 14. Iud. 15. 1. Reg. 17. that God planted an carthly Paradise; that the Hebrewes did passe the red Sea, that Sampson tyed Foxes by the tayles, that Dauid did sight in single combate with Goliah, and such like things; if euery one would so spiritualize these histories, that they would deny the literall truth, and say, that earthly Paradise is no other thing, but the Church; the red Sea, Baptisme; Sampsons Foxes, the Heretikes; Golish, the enemy of mankinde; Danid, Iesus Christ; and that there is no other thing meant thereby; he should make a spirituall fense indeed, but should ouerthrow the ground of the history, and commit Sacrilege against the Scripture, which writeth the foresaid things, as truly performed: they should do in this, as the Priscillianists did long since, who did allegorize according to their fantasie, all the passages and literall senses of the Scripture, which were against their Herefie,S. August. lib. de Hares. 70. as writeth S. Augustine. In like, manner, these heere allegorize, and say, that there is nothing heere, but a spirituall and mysticall eating of the flesh of our Saulour.Iohn 6. For since that our Sauiour hath said, that his flesh is meate indeed, and his bloud drinke indeed, and that who so eateth his slesh shall haue eternall life; we must necessarily suppose a reall eating of a reall thing, & adde the spirituall & allegoricall afterwards. We sinde indeed in the Scriptures, the word (Lion) put for the Diuell,1. [...]. 18. Matth. 7.15. and the word (Woulse) for a faise prophet. These are metaphoricall, and spirituall significations; but the same words are placed elswhere in their proper vsage, and do signifie beasts, and out of a resemblance of these words, in their proper signification, they are translated to signifie the Diuell and false Prophets. Wherefore, if there bee heere an eating of the flesh of our Sauiour, all spirituall, that is to say, which is done onely by the Spirit, without any reall taking of that flesh; it is necessary to finde a proper [Page 237]and reall ground & foundation thereof, the which reall eating cannot bee but in the Eucharist, containing really the flesh and bloud of our Sauiour, true and proper meat, true and proper drinke. But is it not a carnall vnderstanding to admit a reall eating of the flesh of our Sauiour? Yes doubtlesse, if we should vnderstand, as did the Capharnai [...]s, an humane and sensuall eating: but the manducation which the Catholike Church teacheth, and which we haue declared, is reall indeed, but spirituall, but diuine, and full of wonderous effects, & testimonies of the powerfulnesse, goodnesse, and wisdome of the Creator. And when the ancient Fathers refute the carnall eating, they neuer meane this heere, but onely that, which the Capharnalts did forge to themselues, and which our Sauiour doth correct by the words, we haue expounded, as they sufficiently testifie of themselues. For as often as the Fathers speak of this carnall eating, they propose the Capharnaits, as authors of that fond imagination, and doe also p [...]nely shew, that the eating, of which our Sauiour did preach, is of the reall flesh of him, though the manner of taking be spirituall. Let vs cite one or two for all. Saint HILLARY,S. Mill. [...]. 8. de Trin. It is our Sauiour that said, my flesh is m [...]te indeed, and my bloud is drinke indeed. Who shall [...] my flesh, and drinke my bloud, dwelleth in mee, and I in him. Heere is no occasion to doubt of the truth of the flesh and bloud of our Sauiour; for according to his word, and according to our faith, it is flesh indeed, [...] bloud indeed; and those things taken and drunke by vs, make, that we are in Iesus Christ, and Iesus Christ in vs. Is not this the [...]th? to them let it not be true, which doe not beleene, that Iesus Christ is true God. He would say, that the words of our Sauiour ought to be taken in their liuely, and literall signification. The same faith Saint AVGVSTIN [...], Wee haue heard, saith he, the true Master, the di [...]ine Rod [...] [...]r, and the Sauiour of mankinde, recommending vnto vs his bloud, our price. He hath spoken to vs of his body, and of his [...], he [...] said, that his [...]dy is [...], and his bloud deinke, [Page 238]when recommending to vs such meat and such drinke, he said, If you eate not my flesh, and drinke not my bloud, you shall [...] haue life [...] you. And who could say this of life, but Life himselfe? Ph [...] then shall bee de [...] to him, and not life, who shall thinke Life to be a lyer. That is to say, whosoever shal think, that our Sauiour cannot, or will not, gine his flesh and his bloud, as his words did fignifie, he is an Insidell, [...] shall [...]e, and be damned for [...]. The other Doctors speake after the same manner, that those two beere doe.
10. TWO KINDES OF COMMVNION, THE one Spirituall, the other Sacramentall.
THe ancient Fathers haue clearely acknowledged an eating, altogether spiritual, of the flesh of our Sauiour, which is done in hearing the Masse, in meditating vpon the greatnesse of this banquot, in taking the flesh of our Sauiour onely by sight, by desire, and by d [...]uotion. But they haue deliuered th [...] doctrine; without preiudice to that other, which you haue heard: for they haue euer beleeued and esteemed this reall eating; which by proper name, they haue called Sacramentall, and haue preser [...]ed it before the other, when it is holily done; as also they haue preferted the Spirituall alone, before the Sacramentall, if it be not done with due preparation. Rightly iudging, that it is better to heate Masse deuoutly, and contemplate the mysteries of this meate, and communicate in [...]b is spirituall maner, then to communicate with a conscious [...] defiled with mor [...]ll finno, and by fi [...] to p [...]ophane the table of our Lord. And this Sacramentall eating, though it bee reall, ceaseth notto be spirituall, because the [...], is supernaturall and diui [...]e, as hath been [...] is [Page 239]called Sacramentall for distinctions sake, because heere men take the Sacrament. The other simply bears the name of Spirituall, because it is only done by Spirit, without receiuing really the flesh of our Sauiour. This Spirituall communion properly, is but deuotion towards the Sacrament, as the Sacramental is the reall receiuing of the Sacrament; the which ought, for an vnseparable companion, alwayes to haue the Spirituall; for otherwise it profiteth nothing, and hurteth exceedingly much, whereas the Spiritual may be profitable without the Sacramentall. The children of God vse both sorts; for they communicate both Sacramentally. and Spiritually but the mis-beleeuers are depriued of both. For denying the presence of the body of our Sauiour, they take away the heart of the Sacrament, and depriue themselues of the Sacramentall communion; and not hauing the true faith of the Sacrament, they cannot communicate spiritually, For without faith, no holy Spirit quickeneth, no Sacrament profitath; so that still they remaine carnall in their fancie, as the Capharnaits did in theirs.
11. OF THE DIVINE WISDOME AND goodnesse of God in this Sacrament: and of the folly, and ingratitude of men.
BVt before wee turne away our face from beholding this Picture, let vs a little fixe the eyes of our vnderstanding, vpon the contemplation of this diuine Widome, preaching to vs of the communion of his flesh: and vpon our owne basenesse, not knowing how to acknowledge the sweetnesse of his diuino benefits. On the one side, let vs consider the liberality of the Redeemer; and on the otherside, [Page 240]the ingratitude of men; the wisdome of the Master, and the folly of the Disciples. Our Sauiour hauing sed the people with terrestriall bread, intendeth to giue them the celestiall, and to substitute the bread of life in place of the bread which was dead; bread of the soule, for bread of the body. And behold these very men, who hauing receiued and eaten the first bread, esteemed the Giuer worthy the honor of a Scepter in recompence; will not vnderstand our Sauiour preaching of the excellenty of the second; although his words were very cleare, yet they in their ignorance murmure against the bounty and wisdome of their Master; for that bee promised to giue them bread of headen, a deified bread, which was his body, not a strange body, but his owne proper body, not the flesh of beasts, but the flesh of God incarnate. They are scandalized, because he intended to vnite them to himselfe by his flesh, to deifie them by his flesh, and to nourish them thereby, not for soure and twenty houres onely, but to all eternity. They mistrusted his power, were offended at his goodnesse, and condemned the wisdome of his words, before they vnderstood them. [...]hn 6.52. How o [...]n this man (say they) giue vs his flesh to eate? O senselesse disciples, and too obliuious! And how a little before fed hee more, then fiue thousand of you, with fiue Loaues and two Fishes, making aboundance in want, and fruitfulnesse in the Desart? If you beleeue,Marth. 14.16. Iohn [...]. he hath done this worke, by power of his almightinesse; wherefore aske you, how hee can giue you his flesh? wherefore esteeme you, that he cannot accomplish this, that he saith, albeit, it seemes vnpossible to you? You say, Behold a hard speech, and who can endure it? And what word find you so hard? What hard speech could proceed out of the mouth of this good Master? O delicate and dainty disciples, what hath he said, that so violently piereed your hearts? What sentences hath hee vttered, that seeme so hard for you to swallow? He hath said, That hee is the bread come downe from heane; [...] that, who so c [...]teth this [Page 241]bread, shall line eternally; that the bread which be will gine, is his flesh, for the life of the world, that his flesh is meat indeed, and his bloud drinke indeed. These words of Iron, or of stone, as are your breasts? Are they not words of life, and of eternall life? words of saluation and consolation? Doth life displease you? Doth Saluation scandalize you, and Consolation grieue you to the heart? Are you not malitious schollers, to striue against so louing a Lesson? and desperately discased, to enter into madnesse at the hearing of such a voice? and that of such a Physition? and that of such a promise of eternall life? And if these words, so louingly vttered by this sweet Lambe, seeme to you intollerable; how hard to you shall those words bee, which hee shal vtter against you in his great day, and against all them who shall bee incredulous, as you are; when he will say, when hee will pronounce, when hee will thunder out his last and irreuocable decree, Goe you [...]ursed, from mee, into eternall fire. prepared for the D [...]ll and his angels? If the sweetnesse of the Lambe, and Sauiour of the world, bee now intollerable to you, what will be the rigour of the Iudge of Angels and men, then condemning your want of faith? But if you finde difficult to your vnderstanding the words of the Master, wherefore, as good disciples, aske you not, to the end to be instructed? If you haue conceiued some opinion of this Master, by reason of the wonders, that he hath done before you; wherefore think you, that he cannot do this, that he promiseth? that he cannot declare to you this, which to you is difficult? Why condemne you his doctrine, before you vnderstand it? Why depart you from the company of the truth, which would instruct you?
12. TO THE STRAYED SHEEPE OF our age.
BVt, O you wandering soules of this last age, why goe you backward, in hauing abandoned the company of this Master? imitating these your olde predecessors, the Capharnaits, who going out of the house of God, haue forsaken the Table, and the Feast of the flesh of the Son of God, to goe take a bit of bread out of the throate of Wolues? Why imitate you the Capharnaits, which condemne you? Wherefore, like vnto them, murmure you at the almightinesse of the wisdome of him, that said, The bread, Iohn 6.51. that I shall gine you, is my flesh? Why beleeue you not this, that he saith, since that it is the mouth of Truth that speakes it, which cannot lye? Why giue you Law, and measure to his arme; saying, That he cannot make a body be, without possessing place, and that it cannot bee at the same time in diuers places, in heauen and earth, in many Churches, and on many Altars? Can he doe nothing, that is aboue the capacity of your braines? But what faith is yours, to beleeue nothing, except that, which sense witnesseth to you, or which your spirit comprehendeth? is it not the faith of a faithlesse Philosopher, which followes the course of the creature, altogether ignorant of the power of the Creator? And what iudgement is yours, to reiect the Catholike faith about this great mystery, for not hauing the capacity to vnderstand it? Seeing there haue been a thousand things in Nature it selfe, that the Philosophers vnderstood not? and for not vnderstanding them, did they reiect them? But can you vnderstand, how our Sauiour took humane flesh, without the seed of man? how [Page 243]our bodies, reduced into ashes, shall rise againe? How the bodies of the damned shall burne, without being consumed, in eternall flames, and other mysteries of our faith? And if you beleeue these things, without vnderstanding them, why beleeue you not this heere? If this seeme more difficult to you; so much the more haue you, wherein to admire the omnipotencie of God; and so much the more merit in beleeuing? If you beleeue, that God is Almighty, why doe you not beleeue, he can doe this, that he saith, who hath made the whole world by his onely word? If you beleeue him all wise, why beleeue you not, what hee hath ordained, is decreed with great wisdome, albeit your iudgement cannot attaine to the secret of it? If you beleeue, that hee is most good; why doe you not simply vse the gift of his Maiesty? Wherefore say you, that it is a carnall thing to haue his flesh to eate, seeing he hath so disposed of it, as it may be really, and yet spiritually eaten? Are you not proud in your basenesse; rather beleeuing the infirmity of your iudgement, then the greatnesse of his Almightinesse? Intollerable in your folly, condemning this, which his wisdome ordained? Vngratefull in your vnbeleeuing, refusing the meate, that he offers you for your health? O good Iesus! O good Master! O good Pastor! illuminate, teach, bring home these poore wanderers, these wicked disciples, these stragling sheepe, and preserue vs in the sollidity of thy holy faith, in the lap of our good Mother, thy royall Spouse, to receiue there alwayes the refection of thy holy flesh. We beleeue thou giuest it vs reall, and not in Figure; for thou hast said in plaine tearmes, The bread which I will giue, is my flesh for the life of the world. Iohn 6. We acknowledge that thou hast the words of life, in the administration of thy holy body, and of thy holy bloud: We know, that thou art life eternall, and that thou giuest in thy slesh, and in thy bloud, nothing,S. August. Tra [...]. 27. in Ioan. but that which thou thy selfe art: thus speakes one of thy Saints. In the confession of our infirmity, incapacity and misery; we adore [Page 244]the height of the almightinesse, wisdome and goodnesse, in this diuine and mysticall Sermon, and in the mystery, that it teacheth; and acknowledge hoere with the words of life, the Fountaine of life. For which wee yeeld thee immortall thankes, and humbly intreate thy Mai [...]sty, to make vs so holily to vse this Sacrament, of thy pretious body; that thereby we may be vnited with thee for euer, and made worthy to bee for euer also in heauen, at thy blessed Table, in the life eternall.
THE THIRTEENTH PICTVRE. THE WASHING OF THE FEET, GOING BEfore the institution of the Eucharist.
The Description.
THIS day, being the fourteenth of the first Moone of the Spring, the Sunne is set; but a greater Sun shineth. The Sauiour of the world hath celebrated the Legall Pasque, and goeth to prepare the great and admirable Feast of the Sacrament and Sacrifice of his body, ordaining the same in stead of the Hebrewes Paschall Lambe. He is risen from the Table, and hath put off his feasting roabe, to the end to wash his Apostles feet, for a remarkable ceremony. See you, how this sweete Lambe, girt with a white towel,Ioan. 13.4 [...]. doth the office of a meane seruant, washing his seruants feete, and wiping them with the same towell? Hee hath washed them all, except good Peter, who seeing his Master to come,Ioan. [...].6. and cast himselfe at his feete, to doe him the same seruice, that he had done to the eleuen of his companions; withheld, and protested to him, that he would neuer endure, that he should wash his feete: But hearing ou [...] Sauiour threaten, that if he refused, he should be depriued of his part with him: Hee yeeldes readily, and with alacrity presents to be washed; not onely his feere, but his hands and his head also; remaining neuerthelesse much astonished and confounded. And truely not without reason; for the brightnesse of this thy meruailous humility, O good Iesus, amazed the dimme sense of this poore man; and by admiration, rauished the soule out of his body. This brightnesse is so great, that it is able to [...]onish all men, as the light of thy Diuinity rauisheth into [Page 246]adminiration & fear, the Powers of heauen. Who wil not be abashed to see the Master prostrate before his seruant? Such a Master, before such a Disciple? To see the Maiesty of such a Master, to bow himselfe to the basenes of such a seruice? And how could this good old man, but feare, but be astonished, and dismayed at this profound, and extraordinary humility of his King? How could he but refuse to haue his feet washed by the hand of God, as being ashamed to see himself so humbly serued by the Greatnesse which he adored? But what may this humble Apostle say, seeing his King, and his God, kneeling before him to wash his feete? Seeing these almighty armes tucked vp, and his diuine hands, workers of the Starres of heauen, and of a thousand wonders vpon earth, to cleanse the silthinesse of his feete? These fingers, so pure, and so neate, to touch the foule toes, and the soles of his fraile mortality? This gesture, these hands, these eyes, these behauiours, that the Picture giues him; seeme they not to you to speake, O Christian soules? And to tell you by silence, that this good Apostle said in his heart, O my sweet Master, what is this? Washest thou my feete? Doest thou, I say, thus kneele before mee? Thou thy selfe bow downe to my feete! And how? was it not sufficient lowhnesse in thee, to haue taken,Philip. [...]. being infinite God, the shape of a man, and to bee maried to the most meanest family of thy reasonable creatures? To be made a little Infant, Citizen of Nazareth, and Pilgrim on the earth,Philip. 2. and to haue thy infinite Greatnesse, lapped within the cloathes of our littlenesse? Canst thou more humble thy selfe, then in abasing thy selfe, by taking the condition of a meane seruant? Choosing the crauels, the poornesse, the contempt of this world; but that thou most cast thy self notwithstanding at my feet? Thou, my Lord, wash my feet? thou my King of mee, thy vassall? thou my God, of me, thy creature? thou, supreame purity, of me most filthy? thou my worthy Sauiour, of mee, most vnworthy sinner? And what may the Angels say, and the [Page 247]Planets themselues, of thee and of mee, O Lord? beholding a spectacle of such consusion, seeing the varlet to be serued by the Master, the King to be made seruant to the varlet, and the Creator to be on his knees before his creature? Thou wash my feete, O Lord, and I [...] thee, and the Angels and the Planets, which see mee, doe they not now detest my pride, for that I permit thee? and the creatures of the earth, would they not [...]nne presently vpon me, if thy Almightinesse hindered them not? Saue mee, if thou pleasest, O Lord, from their indignation; if I am proud, thy humility hath constrained me, it is that, which hath commanded mee. I protest that I protested, that thou shouldest neuer wash my feet, but thy humility wil be, the Mistres; I haue obeyed it, and am become proud in my humiliation, and in obeying; content your selfe, O Lord, with that which you haue already done, and suffer mee to take your place, and to bee a little proud in washing your feete; since that I already haue sufficiently been proud, in enduring you to wash mine. Ah, sinfull creature, that I am! such might be the discourse, O diuine Apostle, which thou madest in thy thought, vpon the humility of thy Lord. But stay a while, and thou shalt well see other proofes, and other exercises of this diuine vertue. Expect, vntill he shall giue himselfe to thee for meate and drinke, cloathed with a roabe of exceeding humility; with a thin whitenesse, with a waterish rednesse, with the littlenesse of fraile accidents; when he shall enter within thy entralls, and abase himselfe, not onely before thee; but moreouer within thee. Expect this night, when he shall be taken as an offender, bound as a theese, mocked as a foole, beaten like any base fellow, spit vpon, as a blasphemer. Expect vntill the morning, when hee shall bee euill entreated of Kings, of Priests, of people, and whipt after by all the worldly powers; when he shall be condemned, crowned, and crucified, as a theefe, as a tyrant, as a notable offender conuicted. Expect, but till these things come to passe, and [Page 248]then thou wilt see, that this humility, which now seemes infinite to thee, is but a small parcell of the humility of thy Sauiour; thou wilt see that his humility is a bottom without end, and without any bounds. O diuine Humility, how great art thou become, in the littlenesse of the Sonne of God; how beautifull in his base seruices and ignominies; rich and aboundant in his pouerty? O Iesus, thou art a great Master, and teachest well a godly Lesson; teaching humility in thy humiliation; teaching, not in saying only, but in doing, teaching by worke, and by example, and not onely by word and by councell. And who euer dare, amongst the sonnes of men, lift vp themselues by pride, hauing seene the Sonne of God bow downe himselfe to this little Boteswayne and poore fisher? and to abase himselfe before the worthlessenesse of vile and wretched sinners, and that with so great humiliation? And who will not for euer make account of humility, since that Wisdome himselfe hath taken it to himselfe? who will not learne it with loue and respect, since that the Sonne of God teacheth it on his knees? Who will not entertaine the greatnesse of this little vertue, and the littlenesse of this great Dame; since the eldest borne of so great a Lord, descended from heauen, and made man, loues her, embraces her, praises her and made himselfe little, to make her great, and to procure her authority amongst the sonnes of men? O holy Hu [...]niilty, foundation of true Christian vertue, and ladder to the glory of heauen. O welbeloued Christians! Let vs loue hereafter the example of our Redeemer; let vs humble our selues vpon earth with him, to be exalted with him aboue the celestiali Arches.
1. OVR SAVIOVR CELEBRATES THE Iewish Passouer, before he institutes the Sacrament of his body.
OVR Sauiour celebrates the Iewes Pasche, when hee would institute the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of his body, according to the order of Melchisedech; laying, with a diuine skill, the liuely colours of the truth, vpon the dimme Picture of the ancient portraiture. The manner then, which hee vseth in celebrating this Pasch, was the same, which the Iewes did then obserue; different from the old Pasch, celebrated in Aegypt, in some ceremonies,Exod. 12. added or changed since that time, which neuerthelesse were kept by our Sauiour. In the number of these ceremonies, one was, to be cloathed in eating with a feasting Roabe, named from a Greeke word Synthesis, Sueton. in Nere. cap. 51. and in the Gospell, A wedding garment, and in Latine words, Pallium, lana, vest is coenatoria, accubitoria, which in English, is a Sleeuelesse garment, Cloake, or Roabe, in which one sitteth at the table. It was decent, and of good stuffe, and often of a purple colour, or of skarlet, or of a crimson violet. The Iews custome was also to eat the Pasch, not standing, but as at other ordinary refections, after the maner of Persians, leaning on the one side, vpon their beds, and hauing the table before them; and for this reason, they had no shooes on their feet: of which manner of eating, the Scriptures (as well the new, as the olde) make mention in sundry places. The History of Hester, describing to vs the magnificent banquet of King Assuerus, saith, That they had little beds, vpon the which men did repose themselues in taking their repast.Tobi [...]. 2.3. We learne the same out of Tobias [Page 250]booke:Luke 38. and in the Euangelists we haue many signes therof; namely, in Saint Luke, when he resites, how Magdalen comming to the banquet, remained behinde our Sauiour, washing his feete with her teares, and wiping them with her haire; which giues vs to vnderstand, that he was vpon a bed raised vp, holding his naked feete from the ground behinde him, otherwise she standing behind, could not haue washed him and done him this seruice. The Romans did keepe the same custome, as well in their apparell, as in their fitting at table; and as they were careful to keep it, they also thought it vnseemely, publikely to be seene in one of these garments, which they did eate in? This Suet [...] nius noteth in Nero; Neron. Sueton. in Nor. cap. 5. saying, That he one day went out into the streete, cloathed with his Synthesis, or mantle for the table, without a girdle, & without sh [...]es, with a hand-kercher about his necke. From this truth we gather, that the Hebrewes, as well as the Romans, did in this fashion imitate the people of the East. At this day it is no more in vse; neuerthelesse there be diuers manners of eating. In all Europe, almost all men eat sitting, as wee see in Spaine, in Italy, and elsewhere; which is the honestest and comliest maner. The Iaponians eate fitting vpon the ground, after the maner of Taylors, sowing vpon a table; and so doe the Turkes in many places. The Iewes then took their repast, and did eat their Lamb lying halfe a long, vpon one side, in their beds. We also learne out of their rituall, that in eating the Paschall Lambe, a pottage made of wilde lettice and endines, was serued in according to the Law,Exod. 12. into which the Father of the family did first dip his sweete bread (that is to say) vnleauened, & then the rest after him. So as that which the Euangelist doth recite,Matth. 6.26.21. Marke 14.20. Luke 22.21. our Sauiour to haue said in supping, He, which putteth his hand into the dish, to eat with me, it is he that will betray me; doth shew that the Iewish ceremony was kept by him. And further teacheth, wherefore Iudas was not discouered, by these words, and why euery one was in trouble to know of whom our Sauiour meant [Page 251]them; for euery one did dippe his sop together with our Lord; so as the true betrayer could not bee discerned amongst the rest; and so euery one was afraid to be noted, because euery one did put his hand into the dish with Iesus Christ. The same father of the family did take a great cake, kept vnder the table-cloath, and diuided it into as many peeces, as he had there people at the table, and did giue to euery one his share, saying these words; This is the bread of Auguish, which our Fathers haue eaten in the Land of Aegypt; whosoeuer is hungry, let him come neere, and make his Pasche. This done he tooke the cup, saying, Thou art blessed, O Lord, who [...] created the fruit of the Vuse. And hauing drink [...] gaue it to the next, and he to his neighbour, and [...] [...]om hand to hand, euen to the last. This ceremony had been also added by the Iewes, and our Sauiour condemned it not, but mended it; seruing himselfe of it as a shadow, and laying vpon it one part of the preparation of his Sacrament; for he blesseth the bread and wine, & changing them into his body and into his bloud, offers them to his Father in an vnbloudy Sacrifice, vnder the forme of these elements, after the order of Melchisedech, Psal. 109. and distributes them to his Disciples, as Father of the Family. No more as bread of Angush, but of Ioy; no more as earthly bread of death, but heauenly bread of life, and true foode indeed. And wine he gaue, not common and materiall,Iohn 6. but excellent and deified, which was his proper bloud, as it were, powred out into the Chalice, true drinke of men.Ioan. 6. But before he came to this acte, the crowne of his precedent actions, and accomplishment of the Iewes Law, being now come vnto this part of the Legall ceremony, he riseth from the table, putteth off his garment, and hauing taken a linnen towell, girdeth himselfe with it; powreth out water into a bason, wosherh his Disciples feete, and wipeth them with the towell, wherewith he was girt. It was also another ceremony added to the ancient Pasche, to sing an Hymne after the Mysticall Repast; for there is not any [Page 252]mention of it in the old Testament;Matth. 26.30. Marke 1 [...].26. which is a signe, that this was an ancient tradition, the which our Sauiour obserued, as he did the former: for so the Euangelists do note, that hauing said the Hymne, he, and his Apostles with him, went out of the roome.
2. WHAT IS SIGNIFIED BY THE washing of feete.
BVT what meaneth this washing of feet, after the Iudaicall Supper, and before the mysterious refection of the body of our Sauiour? When men sit downe at table, and when they rise, they wash their hands, and not their feet; and surely what reference hath our feet to our mouths, and the washing of them to eating: for if the washing of feete was to auoid the defiling of the bed, whereupon they were accustomed to receiue their food, they should haue bin washed at the beginning, and before they sate downe to the table for to eate the Lambe; after the eating wherof, they were to suppe. But now the beds are fouled alreadie, and the feete of the Apostles are not become fouler, then they were, when they sate downe to the table. What then signifieth this extraordinary washing? It sheweth, that he, that will haue part and fruit, in the refection of our Sauiours body, ought not only to be cleane in mouth, and hand, as in common feeding, but moreouer in his feet; that is to say, he ought to be wholly cleansed; he ought to bee pure and cleane, not onely in his actions and words, but also in his affections. The hand may well signifie workes; for it is the Instrument of instruments, and the Factotum both of spirit and body. The mouth is the mould of the word, and signifies it. The feete note to vs the affections of the soule; for as the corporall feete carry the body, so [Page 253]the affections carry the soule, and are her feet. So the hand and mouth cleane, and the feet washed, are signes vnto vs of a man iust in his actions, discreet in his words, and pure in his affections; signes of a cleane man in euery point, and worthy of the refection of the body of our Sauiour. But who can attain to the perfection of this purity, amidst the pollusions of this mortall life? He, whose feet our Sauiour will wash: that, which to man is impossible, to the grace of God is most easie. If the question be of our owne force, God tells vs by IBREMY,Ierem. 2.22, If thou shalt wash thy selfe with Niter, and multiply to thy selfe the herbe Borith, thou art spotted in thine iniquitie before me? But when the question is of the diuine vertue, the same God speakes thus:Esay 1.1 [...]. If your sinnes shall be as skarlet, they shall bee made as white as snow? and if they bee red, as vermilion, they shall bee white as wooll. With the same spirit spake Iob to God,Iob 14. [...]. Who can make him cleane, that is conceiued of vncleane seed? Is it not thou which onely art? DAVID considering his sinne, and his infirmitie, said; Behold I was conceiued in iniquities, and my mother brought me forth in sinne: Psal. 50, considering the omnipotent mercie of our Creator, he said, Thou shalt wash use, and I shall be made whiter then snow. All the waters of the Ocean, cannot make the skinne of an Aethiopian white; one drop of this water of Grace, shed vpon a sinful soule, made by sin blacker then an Aethiopian; wil make it whiter then Alabaster, and more faire then the day. Of this water God did speake by his Prophet, saying: I will powre out vpon you cleane water, Ezech. 36. [...]5. and you shall be cleansed from all your contaminations: not materiall waters, and earthly, but spirituall & heauenly; which the same Lord calleth his Spirit.Act. 8.17. I will powre my Spirit vpon all Nations. Whosoeuer then hath his soule cleansed with this water, his vnderstanding illuminated with this Spirit, his desires washed in this liquor, that man is wholly cleane euen vnto his feet, and may confidently present himselfe to the table of the Lambe without blemish. This is the signification of our Sauiours washing his Disciples feete.
THE FOVRTEENTH PICTVRE. THE INSTITVTION OF THE EVCHARIST.
The Description.
O Diuine Euening, O admirable Feast (Christian beholders) which this mystical Table representeth vnto vs! An Euening, expected foure thousand yeeres. A Feast, figured foure-fold, and prophecied by a thousand Sacrifices and Sacraments. The Son of God is the Feast-maker; the King, the Preparer; the Meate and the Drinke together. It is he, which prepares himselfe, the true Lambe of God, to giue himselfe in the last course, to twelue of his houshold;Ioan. 1.29. and will for euer continue his liberality to his Church, as long as shee shall trauell in the desart of this mortall life. Lambe, which by and by shall be enuironed by the Wolues, which to morrow shall be slaine by them; which with his bloud shall drowne the sinnes of the world, and with teares; the weapons of his humility, shall astonish the mightinesse of the proud Tyrants, of the Pharoes, of the Princes of hell, and of the world. Who, finally, hauing stifled by his death the first-borne of Aegypt, will swallow within the Ocean of his merits, the iniquities of the captiue world, setting the same at freedome. He commeth from washing the feet of his Apostles, and hauing taken the Symhose, or festiuall Roabe againe, according to the Iewes ceremonious custome, setteth himselfe downe at the table, and they with him; disposed after the fashion of the Persians,Sueton. in Ne [...]. cap. 51. & Easterne people, whom the Hebrewes did imitate, to wit, vpon beds, in stead of chaires and stooles, where they are leaning and lying on the one side of their body, casting their [Page 256]feete behinde them, and taking their meat with the right hand, as you see. Saint Iohn is in the place of the best beloued childe;Supra pectus. Ioan. 13.26.21.20. for he layeth his head on the bosome of the Father of the family, Iesus Christ; who held the vpper end of this first bed. Saint Peter is next Saint Iohn; the other are fiue and fiue on two other beds. They are a little astonished, and sorrowfull, euery one examining his conscience, vpon that which our Sauiour hath said euen now in eating the Lambe, that there was one amongst them, which would betray him: Saint Iohn, the nearest to him, and the boldest, asked him, who it should be; but neither he, nor the rest of his companions, could know any thing, except Iudas, who in his heart was twisting the cord of treason against his Master, to his owne condemnation. Euery one is afraid to fall into this foule crime, except the offender. And all attend the issue of some great mystery; not onely by reason of the ceremony of washing, which our Sauiour had neuer vsed, in keeping the Passouer with them the yeares before; but also because of his countenance, behauiour, and words: for men reade in his eyes, in his mouth, and in all his visage, the graces of a diuine loue, and the grauity of Maiesty, more then humane; and his words, full of affection, and of wisdome, did witnesse that he did meditate some worthy proofe of an Almighty power. [...] 22.15. Hee tould them, that he greatly destred to eate this Passouer with them, before he suffered; not the Iewes Passouer, which he had long since eaten, drawing the last line of the Figure; but the Passouer of his body. These are significatiue words of great affection, and the affection of so powerfull a Lord, cannot faile to effect some great thing. He hath taken the bread, hath blessed and broken it, as before he blessed the fiue Loaues and two fishes.Matth. 14. They moreouer perswade themselues, that this ceremony is a preamble of some miracle neuer heard of before. Being then thus attentiue, he gaue to them all that, which hee had taken, saying, [...] 6. This is my body, take and eate. He giues now the [Page 257]Cup, saying, This is the Chalice of my [...] of the new Testament, drinks you all of it, and doe this in remembrance of me. They did drinke, and as they found themselues wholly transported and ranished with loue, when they tooke the Sacrament of his body, vnder the forme of bread. So now they feele their soules set a sire with a diuine flame, by drinking of the mysterious and beauenly liquor of his pretious bloud. Iudas alone, by his fault made no benefit of it, for he hath not taken this holy flesh, & diuine drink, with a requisite preparation. The Diuell had seized on his heart long since, & had porswaded him to betray his Master; he had his feete cleansed, but [...] soule loaden with filthinesse; wherefore, taking vnworthily a meate so worthy, hee hath swallowed death and damnation, in place whereof, the others receiued life and sanctification.
Behold the chiefe worke of our Sauiour, effected and perfected in fiue words, behold the signification, and prot [...]se of a thousand Prophesies, and Figures past, fulfilled in one truth. Behold the offered Lambe, in an vnbloudy Sacrifice, commemorating that of the Crosse, which to morrow he ought to accomplish. Behold the Masse, and the magnificent [...]ation of Christians, which shall endure euen to the end of the world, to honor the Creator of the world; to celebrate the death of his Sonne, and to nourish his children, with his Flesh to eternall life.Matth. 26.30. Marke 14. [...]. Our Sauiour rising from the Table, goeth his way, and hauing, like a true Father, giuen many documents, parsing from his children; and saying vn Hymne, in action, of thankes, goeth foorth vnto the Garden of Oliues. Hee went long since, and is walking there: O sweet Lambe, whither goest thou in the snary darknesse of this dangerous night? thou knowest well, that this is the place, noted by the Trdytor, which hath sold thee for ready money; thou well knowest, that the wolues are already trouped, and armed with crast and rage, to take thee, and lead thee bound to the butchery: than [...], O drinke W [...]lome, for nothing can [Page 258]scape the eyes of thy diuine prouidence: thou knowest, that there for our saluation, an agony of horror shall fall vpon thee,Luke 22.44. and a bloudy sweat shall flow from thy passioned body, with extreame feare of thy grieued soule, euen to the death: thou knowest, thou shalt be taken there, and bee bound like a Lambe, and bee led from thence, like a theefe to Execution; and notwithstanding all this, thou goest thither; nay, thou goest thither, because thou doest know it. And what compels thee to these voluntary torments (O Redeemer of my soule)? but the force of thy loue and mercy, which make thee goe with ioyfulnesse of heart, to present thy selfe to the combate, for to pull forth the children of Adam out of the oppression of sinne, and from danger of eternall damnation, by the price of thy bloud? O great God, by what offices, seruices, and Sacrifices, shall we be able to acknowledge this thy vnlimitted bounty? O my soule, what wilt thou doe for such a Redeemer? with what loue canst thou sufficiently loue him? by what words canst thou duely thanke him? and with what honor wilt thou adore him.
1. THE ENTRANCE, THAT SAINT IOHN maketh, by which he declareth the greatnesse of the mystery of the Eucharist, which our Sauiour was to institute.
THis Picture represents vnto vs, the Institution of the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of our Lords body; the noblest actiō the diuinest Institutiō that euer he did after he was made Man; the richest present, that hee did euer giue to God, and to men, while he liued mortal vpon the earth; and the highest mystery that hee was to leaue in the treasures [Page 259]of his deare Spouse, the Church. We haue formerly discoursed hereof in many precedent Figures, and namely, in that of Manna; it will bee sufficient heere, to note the circumstances of the present history, which especially set forth the greatnesse of it. Saint Iohn beginning his narration of the washing of feete vpon the Eue of the Pasche, writeth thus, Iesus knowing that his houre was come, that he should passe out of this world to his Father: whereas he had loued his, that were in the world, vnto the end hee loued them. And when Supper was done, whereas the Diuell now had put into the heart of Iudas Iscariot to betray him: knowing that the Father had giuen all things into his hands, and that hee came from God, and returned to God; he riseth from Supper, and layeth aside his garments. And that which followeth of the washing of feete: by which words Saint Iohn taught vs, that our Sauiour was now in the vigill of his Passion; that he had loued, and did constantly loue his owne; that he was the Sonne of God, hauing all things in his power. And by these preamples hee signified vnto vs, that in this Euening, so neare to his departure, hee was to make the conclusion of all his course by some notable acte, to the honor of his Father, and their good, whom he had loued so much. An action worthy of such a Father, and of such a Sonne, and of such a Louer, all powerfull, all good, and all wise. A Sonne spares nothing to honor his Father; how liberall then will such a Sonne be to such a Father. A father reserueth nothing from his children, that may tend to make them happy; and departing from them, hee leaueth them all the best that he hath. What then will such a Father doe, for the aduancement and happinesse of his children? Wherefore our Sauiours desire was to accomplish this his chiefe worke in a little time, but with such magnificence, as was agreeable to his greatnesse, gaue with the ornament of those wonders, which wee haue mentioned before his owne body, in Sacrifice to his Father, and in food to his Church; commanding her to continue this soueraigne [Page 260]honor, and this table of immort [...] [...], [...] as shee shall be a traueller in the desart of this mortallty. And so he fulfilled that, which Saint Iohn would signifie by those words, that he hath set in the beginning of his Dircourse: for giuing his body to his Father in Sacrifice, hee made him a present most worthy of his Maiesty, and giuing it in food to his Church, he leaues her a most precious gage of his loue. And by the changing of the bread into his body, and of the wine into his bloud, which hee doth in this mystery; he doth a proper act of an infinite power, and more noble, then the creation of the world. Wherefore, as the manner of the worke is worthy of God; so the Present is mest magnificent, and of greater value then ten thousand worlds: for it is the bady of a Prince, the body of a King, the body of God: and the Sacrifice made therof, is indeed a Sacrifice of Soueraigne honor, especially being ostered by such a Priest, who is the Sonne of God himselfe; and the food of this pretious body, and the manor of giuing and taking it vnder the formes of bread and wine, is most agreeable to the wisdome of the Giuer, and to the profit of the receiuers. The vnwonted ceremony of washing of feete, did signifie no lesse, then the former words, the Maiesty of the future mystery. And whereas the other Euangelists note, that our Sauiour, before he Instituted this holy banquet, said, I haue greatly desred to ea [...] this Pasche with you. Luke 22.151. Manto. 26. Marke 14. Luke 22. And againe, That he tooke bread, and blessed it with thankesgiuing, the Cup also, and blessed it. All these words tended to the same end, to declare that our Sauiour was going to do some admirable worke vpon the bread, and the wine, in the end of his dayes, before hee died. Let vs now search into the words of the Institution,
2. THE EXPOSITION OF OVR SAVIours words, THIS IS MY BODY.
OVR Sauiour being set againe at the Table, with his Apostles, in such manner, as hath been said; tooke bread, and hauing blessed it, brake it, and said,Matth. 2 [...]. Marke 14. Luke 22. This is my body, and in so saying, the creature obeyed, one substance gaue place to the other; and the bread was transubstantiated into the body of our Sauiour, that is to say, the substance of bread departed, and the substance of our Sauiours body taked the place thereof. Howbeit, the colour, the taste, and the other accidents of bread do still remaine, to serue for the outward robe, to couer our Sauiours body, and to make an entire Sacrament, which is euer composed of two things, euen as a man is made of soule and of body; the one inuisible for the soule, and the other visible for the sense: so to speake, and so to doe, appertained to an omnipotent Lord: mans word onely signifieth, but the word of God both signifieth and worketh. The Kings, and the Potentates of the world command indeed their subiects, and their subiects obey them; but if they command their trees, their riuers, their mountains, and other insensible creatures; their commandements are in vaine to the eares of such vassals; for that, which hath neither sense, nor soule, cannot vnderstand the voice of any, but the Creator. King Xerxes threatened the mountaines,Plut. de Ira. and made to be heaten the waues of the Sea; but the mountaines were dease to his threatnings, and the Sea contemned his whip. It is God alone, that can make himselfe to be vnderstood and felt of all that is.S. Hieron. in c. 8. Matth. All creatures (saith Saint HIEROM) haue feeling of the Creator, for they vnderstand [Page 262]him when hee threatens them, or commands them: not that all things haue vnderstanding, as the Heretikes dreame, but by reason of the Maiestie of him, that hath made euery thing of nothing. He commandeth all, and not onely things depriued of sense, but euen that, which yet hath neither nature nor being.Rom. 4.17. Matth. 8.27 Marke 4.41. He calleth (saith the Apostle) the things, which are not, as if they were. So the Sonne of God, by his Word, puts the bridle in the mouth of the windes and waues, and calmes the raging of the Sea. Euen so he commanded the sicke, Death it selfe, and the Sepulcher; and his commandement was fulfilled.Gen. 1. So he commanded Nothing, when he created the world of Nothing; and that nothing was obedient, and became a world, by the commandement of his voice. The word of man is significatiue; Gods word is also operatiue: If a man say in the night, O that it were day, he signifies that he hath a desire, that the Sunne should rise from his Horizon, to make it day; but the Sunne for his saying hasteneth neuer the more the course of his Chariot, to make day approach. But God saying,Gen. 1. Let there be light, the light appeared presently, and his word was not significatiue onely, but moreouer the effectrix of his will: saying then, This is my body, that which a little before was bread, is truely his body; and his word doth outwardly signifie to the eare, and maketh inwardly that, which it did signifie. It said, that it was the body of the Sauiour, and saying so, it made it so; for otherwise, he had not said so of it;Ioan. 14. for so much as a lye cannot proceed from the mouth, and heart of Truth it selfe, which assureth nothing, that is not true.
3. OF THE CLEARENES OF THE SENSE of these words: THIS IS MY BODY, by Scripture, and by reason.
THese words: This is my body, are most cleare; if there be any in the whole volume of the booke of God; and good reason they should be cleare, For they containe the Law, and Institution of thy greatest Sacrament and mystery of our Faith, in ordaining whereof, it was fit to speake clearely, and intelligibly, to the end to take away all occasion of error in a matter of such importance. They containe also the principal clause of the testament or Pact, which the Sonne of God did then make with his Church, wherein the Language which is vsed, ought to be proper, cleare and euident, and without doubtfulnesse, ambiguitie, or incertainty, that the Will of the Testator may bee vnderstood without difficulty, and without contention.Matth. 26. Marke 14. Luke 22. This is the cause, why three Euangelists, the Registers of this Institution, and Notaries of this Testament, haue vsed the selfe-same words, and S. Paul after them, without varying.1. Cor. 11. To the end to hold constant the light of this euidence, and strongly to maintaine the ground of that faith, which wee ought to haue of this mystery: and to declare by a firme and sollide accord of foure diuine witnesses, that the sense of the words is that, which they literally signifie; and that being the words of an Almighty worker, to whom nothing can be impossible; and the words of a supreme truth, who can say nothing, which is not true; they must needs make that, which they signifie. By which meanes, if any one refusing the literall sense of the Scripture, will glose it from his owne head, saying, This is my body, that is to [Page 264]say, this is the Figure of my body; This is my bloud, that is, the Figure of my bloud; he should herein be opposite to the holy deposition of these foure witnesses, not daring so to speake, which notwithstanding they would haue done, if such had been the sense of the words; and should also too boldly change the truth of Gods word; giuing a sense cleane contrary to the signification of the words, and putting the Figure for the Body, against the authority of the forenamed witnesses, who haue neuer presumed to giue such a glosse. Yea, hee should doe contrary to all law of Speech and Grammer, which commandeth to take the words of the text, according to the ground of their proper meaning, without hauing recourse to any metaphoricall and improper signification; when they do not giue any absurde or contradictory sense, which happeneth not here. For heere the proper sense is most cominent and agreeable to the truth; and the words do signifie no other thing, but the presence of the body of Iesus Christ in this Sacrament, which is not onely not contradictory, nor absurde, but full of wonders, most worthy of the power, wisdome, and goodnesse of our Sauiour. When the Scripture calleth the King a Lion, the word ought to bee taken by similitude, that a King is like a Lion, by reason of his royall magnanimity; for taking the word according to the sense of the letter, the meaning should be, that he were a beast, which would be false and absurde. But these words, taken in their naturall signification, containe nothing, but that which is most agreeable to the Maiesty of the Creator, and most heneficiall to his creature; wherefore, there is not any reason heere to runne to Figures: and therefore also it is impiety to say, that these clauses, This is my body, This is my bloud, are improper speeches, importing no more, then that they are Figures of his body and bloud. For such deprauation destroyes the truth of a most noble Sacrament, and shewes that such Enterpreters are not onely void of faith, but also depriued of vnderstanding; hastily opening [Page 265]the gate to themselues, and to all other senselesse people, to reiect all sense of Scripture, be it neuer so euident, if it displease them; and to frame the manner of it, according to the vnsteadinesse of their owne braines, and to the exorbitant passion of vnbridled flesh.
4. TESTIMONIES OF THE FATHERS, vpon the Exposition of the same words.
AS the Scripture is euident in these diuine words; so is the Exposition of holy Fathers, constant to maintaine the sense, they giue in proper signification, as hath bin said.
Saint CYRIL of Hierusalem, Since that Iesus Christ, S. Cyril. Hieres. Catech. myst. 4, hauing taken the bread, saith, This is my body; Who is he, which for euer dare to doubt? and he affirming the same, and saying, This is my bloud; Who will refuse to beleeue it? He changed water into wine, a creature, neighbour to bloud by his only will; Iohn 2. and shall not we beleeue, that hee hath changed the wine to his bloud? Beleeue then most constantly, that we receiue the body and bloud of Christ; for vnder the forme of bread, the body is giuen thee; and the bloud vnder the forme of wine.
Saint BASIL, hauing asked with what feare, faith,S. Basil. in Regul. breu interrog. 172. and affection of the soule, men ought to take the body and bloud of our Sauiour, answeres himselfe, saying; How great the feare is, S. Paul instructs vs, Who so eateth this bread, and drinketh this Chalice vnworthily, he eateth and drinketh his owne damnation. What we are to beleeue, is taught by the words of Christ, who said, This is my body giuen for you. And there this Doctor consequently sheweth, how we ought to beleeue these words, This is my body, which the same faith, with which we beleeue these words of Saint Iohn, when he saith, The Word was made flesh; Iohn 1. and those of [Page 266]Saint Paul, Philip. 2. when he extolled the great humility of the same Word in his Incarnation, his great obedience in his Passion, and his infinit charity in the one and the other: as then we beleeue that God was really and truely made flesh, and suffered death, according as the words of the Scripture tell vs. In the same manner Saint Basil will, that wee beleeue the Reall Presence of the body of our Sauiour, according as these words, This is my body, teach vs; and concludes, that by faith, and consideration of these things, we are inflamed with a great loue to Iesus Christ, which is the affection of the soule, that wee ought to bring with vs to the Communion of his body and bloud, accompanied with feare and beleefe, as hath been said.
Saint CHRYSOSTOME,S. Chrysos. hom. 83. in Matth & 60 ad Pap. Antioch. Hom. de prodit Iuda. Gen. 1.22. & 8.17. Let vs beleeue God without doubt; for it is he, which said, This is my body. And elsewhere, It is not man, which makes the body and bloud of Christ in offered things; but Christ himselfe, crucified for vs: Hee said, This is my body; by this word the offering is consecrated. And euen as these words, once vttered, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth; alwayes worke their effect in Nature, for generation: euen so these words vttered, This is my body, giue certainty to the Sacrifice through all the Tables of the Church, euen vnto this day, and will giue it, vntill the comming of the Sonne of God.
Saint IOHN DAMASCENE,S. Ioan. Damas. l. 4. c. 14. The bread and the wine, mingled with water, supernaturally are changed into the body, and bloud of Christ, by the innocation of the holy Ghost, and are not two, but one, and the same: this hallowed bread, it not the Figure of the body, neither the wine the Figure of the bloud; but the true deified body of our Lord, and his true bloud.
THEOPHILACT,Theophil. in Matth. 26. a graue and ancient Doctor, Iesus Christ saying, This is my body, sheweth that the bread, sanctified vpon the Altar, is his body, and not the Figure of it, seeing that he saith not, this is the Figure of my body, but, This is my body; for it is thansformed in an explicable manner, though outwardly it seemeth bread.
[Page 267] Saint AMBROSE,S. Ambros. de Sacr. l. 5. c. 4. & 5. It is the word of Christ, which made this Sacrament; by which Word all hath been made. Our Lord commanded, and the earth was made: seest thou then how working his Word is? If then his Word hath been so mighty, as it made that to be, which was nothing before; how much more easy will it be vnto him, to change one thing into another? the bread before consecration, is bread; but after the vttering of these words, This is my body, it is the body of Christ. Heare him, saying, This is my body, take you all and eate of this. It is Iesus our Lord, which testifieth that wee receiue his body and his bloud; shall we doubt of his fidelity, or testimony?
Saint CYPRIAN, This (saith our Lord) is my body.S. Cyp. de cun. Dom. They had, according to the visible forme, eaten of the same bread, and drunke of the same wine. But before these words, that food was onely for the nourishment of the body, and to giue strength to the corporall life; but after that Iesus Christ had said, Doe yee this in remembrance of me, This is my flesh,The forme of Consecration are these words THIS IS MY BODY. This is my bloud; as often times as the same words are pronounced with the same faith, this substantiall bread, and this consecrated Chalice, with solemne benedicton, hath been profitable for the health of the whole man. He teacheth then, that the words of our Sauior are vnderstood according, as they do signifie, and that they are the forme, by which the bread and the wine are consecrated into the body and bloud of our Sauiour.
Saint AVGVSTINE writing the ancient enstome of Christians, who did answer Amen, S. August. l. 22. cont. Faust. c. 10. & in Psal. 33. Concil. 1. after that the Priest had vttered the words of Consecration, This is my body, this is my bloud, saith thus, The bloud of Christ, giueth a cleare voice on earth then, when as the Christians hauing receiued, answered, Amen. It is the cleare voice of bloud, that the bloud it selfe pronounceth by the mouth of the faithfull, receiued by that bloud. The same Author elsewhere, Iesus (saith hee) carried himselfe in his hands, when recommending his body, he said, This is my body. It was then according to the literall sense of the Word, the body of our Sauiour.
[Page 268] Saint ANSELME,S. Anselm. in. 1. Cor. 11. expounding the selfe-same clauses, maketh Iesus Christ to speak thus; Eate this that I giue you, because it is my body. It plainly appeares bread to the outward senses, but acknowledge by the sense of faith, that this is my body; the same in substance, that shall be giuen for you to death. This is the Exposition of the ancient Fathers, and there hath neuer been any Doctor of the Catholike Church, which gaue to these words, This is my body, other sense, then these heere doe giue. And this is the meaning of Iesus Christ; and whosoeuer followeth any other, he is gone out of the Schoole of Christ Iesus, taking a lye for truth, and damnation for food of eternall life.
5. MYSTICALL REFERENCES OF OVR Sauiours words, THIS IS MY BODY, to the ancient Figures, and to all other bodies.
THis is my body, saith our Sauiour: We haue said something vpon these words, but it is nothing in comparison of that, which may yet be said; they are cleare, but yet they are full of hidden meanings. They alone containe the old and new Testament; and flye in signification farre aboue the height of heauen; more profound, then the depthes of the Ocean, and more in widenesse, then is the compasse of the world: in sweetenesse they surmount all the hony, and milke of the Land of Promise: in vertue, the power of all men and Angels; and in greatnesse, the Maiesty of all Kings, that euer were vpon the earth. The words, which made the world out of nothing, were great in effect: in heauen they made the Starres; the Fishes in the sea,Gen. 1, in the ayre the Fowles, vnder earth the stones, and mettells; and vpon earth the Plants, the Trees, the Lions, [Page 269]the Elephants, and other creatures, in number infinite, and in beauty admitable; but that which our Sauiour saith, and in saying, effecteth by these words, This is my body, is more infinite, then all that together; this body is more, then a thousand worlds, if so many had been produced. The most excellent name of God is the Tetragram, expressed vnder the voice Idoney, composed of foure letters, not to be vttered by the Iewes. This clause, This is my body, it the clause Tetragram, wouen of foure words, euident to the eares of faith, but vnexplanable by the tongue either of man or Angell. What shall we say then, to expresse the vertue of it? And who can or shall expresse it, but he, who is the Author of these words and mysteries? It is he must do it, that is, the all-knowing Word, and all powerfull, able to know, to say, and to doe, whatsoeuer he will. What said then this great God by these words, This is my body? He said, that it is his body; and saying this, he said all, that is, precious, admirable, and diuine amongst bodies. Hee distinguisheth all the bodies, that he had euer (made) or created, from his owne, and prefetreth it before them all. Hee said, I haue made the Sunne, and the Moone, the Starres, and all those immortall bodies, which on high make the wainscot of my Fathers Pallace; but these are not my body, neither substances allied to my person, these to me are strange bodies; This is my body, which I haue formed by an extraordinary way, in the wombe of an holy Virgin; which I haue diuinely appropriated to my greatnesse, and which I haue made the habitation of my dignity. The other bodies are parts of my possession, this heere is the body of my particular person, surpassing the excellency of all the bodies, long since consecrated to God, and were propheticall Figures thereof. The Tree of Life planted in the earthly Paradise; the Lambe of innocent Abel offered in Sacrifice; the bread of Melchi adech, giuen in blessing the Sacrifice of Abraham, accomplished by rare faith and obedience; the Hebrewes Paschall Lambe; the Manna from [Page 270]heauen, the Loaues of Proposition, the First-fruit offerings, the bread of Eliah, the Sheepe, the Lambe, the Ewes, the Heifers, the Beefes, the Oxen, the Doues, the Sparrowes, the Turtles, and all the bodies of beasts, which the Law of Moses set vpon the Altar in Holocaust, in action of thanks, in Propitiation; all the bodies, that men haue offred to the Maiesty of my Father, haue been sacred bodies, the Figures of this my body, this is, not the Figure, but my body it selfe, which onely pleaseth my Father, which only can worthily thanke him, which onely can effectually appease him; the others were not pleasing to him; but so farre forth as they had relation to this heere, in as much as they did Figure it, and foretold its comming; this is the subiect of all these bodies, and of all these old Sacrifices: this is the body, in which God shall be truely honored, in which he shall bee fully satisfied, in which he shall receiue with infinite measure, the taxe of mans Redemption, and in which he shall iudge the quicke and the dead. By these words then, our Sauiour sheweth the body, which is the honor of all his Church, both in earth, and in heauen: for that which is most precious in a Kingdome, is not treasure, munition, gould and siluer mines, the store-houses of merchandizes, the opulent Cities, the stately houses & Pallaces, the Orchyards, the Gardens, and other such like pleasant places. But it is the body of the King; it is for him and by him, that the Nobles command, that the souldiers fight, that the Magistrates exercise Iustice, that the Guard watch and keepe Sentinell, that the Merchants trade: He, that hath the body of the King, hath all. Wherefore the words of our Sauiour, This is my body, declare, that this is the holiest, and diuinest thing within the inclosure of the kingdom of heauen, and Monarchy of his most deare Spouse, which is his Church. What canst thou then, O sweet Iesus, choose, more rich and more diuine, for to honor thy Father, to testifie thy loue, to make happy thy Spouse, then to leaue this body, in a perpetual Sacrifice to his Maiesty, in daily Sacrament and [Page 271]food to thy members? What canst thou vtter higher, then to say, This is my body? The great Casar disguised in the habite of a slaue, gaue once both astonishment and courage to his Pilot, dismayed with a storme; when making himselfe knowne, he tells him; Haue heart, my friend,Plut. in Casares. it is Casar, thou carriest. With what heart, and with what admiration ought wee to heare these words, This is my body? With what respect and loue ought we to receiue this body, although disguised in the habite of fraile Elements, since it is thou that speakest clearely, and sayest, This is my body? And what courage oughtest thou to haue, O my soule, hauing with thee, and carrying in thy mortall body with thee, this immortall body, this liuely body, quickned with a most noble soule, replenished with all perfection, both of Nature and Grace, this Lord, God and Man, King of Kings? And what other thing canst thou doe but contemplate in silence, (rather then to endeauour to expresse in words) the greatnesse of thy Redeemer in this his owne Word, which thou canst not comprehend? And with a deepe humility, and burning affection, enioy the Presence, that he maketh thee thereof so often, as for thy good and saluation, he shall say to thee that, which he then said of his body to his Church: This is my body, take and eate?
6. HOW OVR SAVIOVR OFFERS HIMselfe to God in Sacrifice, saying, This it my bodie.
WHen our Sauiour made dis body Present in vttering these words, This is my body, in the same instant he offered it to his Father in an vnbloudy Sacrifice, after the forme of Melchisedech, and forth with he gaue it [Page 272]to his Apostles in Sacrament, vnder the same forme. This is the cause, why hauing said, This is my body, hee addeth, giuen for you, that is to say, offered for you in Sacrifice; broken for you, now giuen and broken, and which shalbe hereafter giuen and broken in the same fashion, euen till the end of the world, in remembrance of that bloudy Sacrifice, which to morrow I wil offer for you, once for all, vpon the Crosse. So as our Sauiour made not his body onely Present, but present vnder the formes of bread, giuing it a being of food, a dead being, albeit that in it selfe it was euer liuing, euen as in making himselfe man, his Diuinity tooke a body, and a mortall being, and endured death in that body, albeit the Diuinity was alwayes immortal, and endured nothing, as we haue declared before. He made himselfe by reason of the dead species, present as dead, and represented himselfe as a Victime, and as an offered Lambe, for to bee afterward the refection of the Father of the Family, [...]. 12. and of his houshold, according to the Figure of the Iewes Lamb, the which could not be eaten before it was first dead, immolated, offered, and made a Victim, as the Scripture hath told vs;S. Greg. Niss. or. 1. de Resur. and Saint Gregory of Nisse after the Scripture. And it imports not, as hath been said heretofore, that our Sauiour vttered no words of Oblation expresly, saying; My Father, I offer thee this body; the manner after which he makes himselfe Present, as a Victime expressed sufficiently, that he offered himselfe. It was also sufficient, that hee made it Present, with intention to offer it to God, who seeth the heart, though the tongue say nothing. And so the Iewish Priests did offer their Sacrifices, immolating the the beasts only, and saying no other thing, whereby to signifie that it was a Sacrifice. And so our Sauiour likewise offers himselfe vpon the Crosse, without vsing any words, fignifying Oblation.Matth. 26.28. The same immolation was made in the Censecration of the Chalice, when our Sauiour said, This is my bloud of the new Testament; Luke 22.20. shed for many for the r [...]ission of si [...]ner: Also, This Cup is the new Tastament in [Page 273]my bloud, the which is shed for you. For by this consecration, the bloud of our Sauiour is represented apart, which also doth euidently declare, that his body was made a Sacrifice, according to the likenesse of those of the Iewes, who comming to immolat the beast, did kil it, separating the bloud from the body with a sword;Heb. 4.12. as our Sauiour with his omnipotent Word, in stead of a piercing Sword, made his bloud Present in the Cup, as separated from his body, and so representeth the immolation therof: and albeit the body and the bloud were not actually separated, and that the body was in the Cup, and the bloud was with the body vnder the accidents of bread, yet notwithstanding, by reason of the forme of wine, separated and set apart, they appeared separated, to represent this immolation; and the bloud was truely shed, not after the maner of Aarons bloudy Sacrifices, in which the bloud was drawne from the veines in proper forme, but after the manner of wine. Our Sauiour vsed also the Present tense, saying, This is my bloud, shed; this is the Chalice of my bloud, shed for remission of sins; Matth. 26. Luke 22. to signifie, that this, which was in the Chalice, to wit, his bloud; (for the wine could not bee shed for remission of sinnes) was already powred into the Chalice, by an vnbloudy effusion, as it was the next day by bloudy a effusion on the Crosse. And when the holy Fathers did sometimes turne the words of Consecration into the Future tense, saying, This is my bloud, which shall be shed, in stead of that is said, which is shed; they contraried not the sense, which we now giue; for they all did affirme the Reall Presence of our Sauiours bloud in the Chalice: but they referred the words of our Sauiour, not onely to that present powring foorth, which was then made, but also to that, which was to bee made, as well on the Crosse, by bloudy Sacrifice once, as in the Eucharist, by vnbloudy Sacrifice, euen vntill the end of the world. Behold, how our Sauiour Sacrificed, and offered his body to his Father by these words, This is my body, giuen for you; This is my bloud, shed for you. And this is the [Page 274]new Sacrifice, and offering in the Law of Grace, which the holy Fathers say, was instituted in this mysticall Supper, as we shall learne by the ensuing witnesses.
7. THE SACRIFICE, AND SACRAMENT of our Lords body, to haue been instituted in the mysticall Supper, declared by the testimonie of Fathers.
SAint Gregory of Nisse, speaking of the institution of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, S. Greg. Niss. or. 1. de Resur. made in the Supper of the Paschall Lambe. Our Sauiour (saith hee) by his ordinance preuenteth the violence of his enemies, with a secret manner of Sacrifice, ineffable and inuisible to the eyes of mortall men. He himselfe offers himselfe for vs, Oblation and Ʋictime. Priest and Lamb of God together. And when was this? this was then, when hee gaue to his familiars his body to eate, and his bloud to drinke.
Saint CHRYSOSTOME, S. Chrysost. hom. 2. in. 2. Tim. Be it Peter, be it Paul, bee it another Priest of like merits, which offereth the holy Oblation: this is euer the selfe-same, which Iesus Christ in person gaue to his Disciples, and that which the Priests yet make daily: this heere is no lesse, then that there. Wherefore? Because they are not the men, that sanctifie it, but it is the same Christ, who hallowed it before.
Saint AMBROSE, S. Ambros. in Psal., 8. We haue seene the High Priest, comming to vs, and haue heard him, offering his bloud for vs; Let vs follow him, according to our power, since that we are Priests, to the end to offer Sacrifice for the people; we are certainly vnequall in merit, but honored by the Sacrifice. For albeit that Christ now seemes not to offer, he is neuerthelesse offered on the earth then, when his body is offered heere.
[Page 275] Saint AVGVSTINE, S. Aug. in Psal. 33. cont. 2. Psal. 109. Iesus Christ hath instituted of his body and bloud, a Sacrifice according to the order of Melchisedech.
AESICHIVS of the same time with Saint Augustine,Aesich. lib. 2. in Leuit. c. 8. Our Lord God, supping with his Apostles, did first offer the Lambe, which made the Figure; and after his owne Sacrifice.
RVPERT, Rupert. lib. 2. in Exod. c. 6. Our Saniour extreamely perplexed in the beginning of his Passion, first immolated himselfe to his Father, with his owne proper hands.
These passages, and the rest, that haue been cited in the Types of Melchisedech, and of the Paschall Lambe, teach how our Sauiour instituted the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of his body, after the old ceremony of the Paschall Lambe was accomplished; which is the Faith, that the Church hath euer held, and will hold for euer.
8. OVR SAVIOVRS TESTAMENT, MADE in the Institution of the Sacrifice, and Sacra ment of his body.
IT was in this admirable actiō, that our Sauiour made his new Testament, of the new Couenant with his Church, amending the old; and drawing neere to his death, it was a time fit and agreeable for him to bequeath, and leaue an eternall testimony of his last Will, and affection towards his children. The words of the Testament,Gal. 4.24. Heb. 8.7. & vlt. Exod. 24. Matth. 26.28. Marke 14.24. Luke 22 20. Exod. 24.7.8. Heb 9.16.17.18.19.20. & of the Testator are cleare, as also the Ceremony, according to S. Matthew, and S. Marke, our Sauiour said, This is my bloud of the new Testament, that shall be shed for many, vnto the remission of sinnes. And according to S. Luke, This is the Chalice, the new Testament in my bloud, which shall be shed for you: in the same sense he saith, new Testament of his bloud, making allusion [Page 276]to the old, which he long since had written by the meanes of his seruant Moyses, and marked with the bloud of beasts, to Figure forth this heere, that there was made in the Desart, at the foot of the Mount Sinay, where Moyses, as a royall Notary, read the Law, and the cenure of the written Testament, and gaue the aduertisements of the Father of the Family, before seuenty of the Ancients, assembled by name, and before the people, that were to inherit. In it the goods also were be queathed, to wit, the Land of Promise, a Figure of Paradise. And in Figure, the death of the Testator also was interposed: for there was Sacrifice offered, whereby the death of the future Testator, Iesus Christ, made Man, was represented, and promised, for confirmation of the Testament; to which Ceremony, that hath reference which Dauid said;Psal. 49. Iosue 8.31. Leuit. 23. Gather yee together his Saints vnto him: which ordaine [...] Testament, and alliance with Sacrifice. The same Ceremony was practised by Iesus, when he renewed the Couenant of this Testament, obserued also by the Iewes, euery yeare, in the Feast of Pentecost; and by Salomon, 3. Reg. 9.25. three times in one yeare. These Victims then, after they were offered to God, were taken by the Priest, and by the people, in ordinary refection, and the Altar,Exod. 24. Heb. 9. and the Booke of the Law, was sprinkled with the bloud of them. According to the trace of all these Ceremonies. Our Sauior made this Testament in this last euening in the desart of this world; in Mount Sinay, where the old was made, but in another part thereof, to wit, in Sion and Hierusalem, part of Sina, and adioyning to it, as Saint Paul said: In Sion, more noble then the other part of Sina,Gal. 4.24. and in Hierusalem, a more liuely Figure of his Church, then was the Desart; whereof Esay hath written, The Law shall goe foorth of Syon, Psay 2.3. and the word of God from Hierusalem. In it then our Sauiour published in two words his Law, and gaue his Aduertisements, saying in this same Supper;Ioan. 13.34. I giue you a new Commandement, that you loue one another. A Law of Loue, and not of Feare, as the Law of [Page 277]the old Testament.Matth. 26.28. Marke 14.24. Luke 22.20. 1. Cor. 11.24. He made the Recitall of his Testament in these words; This is my bloud of the new Testament. He made his Legacies and promises to his inheritors, not of a Land of Canaan, as of old to the Hebrewes, but of the remission of sinnes, and of the Kingdome of heauen. Of remission saying, This bloud, shed for you, and for many, Luke 22.29. vnto remission of sinnes. And of the Heritage, he saith, I dispose to you, as my Father disposed to me, a Kingdome, that you may eate, and drinke vpon my table in my Kingdome, and may sit vpon thrones, iudging the twelue Tribes of Israel. Behold a wonderful sauourable conclusion. David, making his Will, enioyned King Salomon, his sonne, his sonne,3. Keg. 2.7. that he should make the children of Berrellay, to eate at his table, in token of great honor and friendship, but he made them not inheritors of his Kingdome, nor sharers of his Royall honors. Heere our Sauiour communicates his Table, his Kingdome, and his Throne, to his friends; his Table, in which is serued for meate, and for drinke, his proper flesh and bloud; it could not be more royall, nor more exquisite; neither the Heritage greater, nobler, nor worthyer of such a Testator. The Testament was written also with the Law, not in Tables of stone, as the old, but in the hearts of the Apostles, and of all those, which shall be called to this inheritance after them. And this is that, which was foretold by Ieremy: Hier. 31.32.33. I will giue my Law within their ontrals, and will write it in their hearts. According to which manner of speech, Saint Paul said to the Corinthians; You are the Epistle of Christ, 2. Cor. 3.3. ministred by vs, and writen, not with inke, but with the Spirit of the liuing God; not in tables of stone, but in tables of the heart, consisting of flesh.
It was signed by the hand and bloud of the Testator, when holding the Chalice, and changing the wine to his bloud, he said, This is my bloud of the new Testament. Matth. 26.28. Marke 14.24. The Altar, which was our Sauiour himselfe, was besprinkled, when he tooke it; the people, Inheritor, and the Book, was also sprinkled; when the Apostles did drinke, and did wet [Page 278]their brests, which were the tables, wherein the Law and the Testament were written. The refection of the Victim sacrificed, was made betweene the Priest and the people; when our Sauiour hauing offered his body to his Father, tooke it himselfe, and gaue it to his Apostles to eat, concluding his eternall Couenant with the refection of his body, and with the drinke of his bloud. He left a pledge of loue by his Testament, and a pretious Iewell of his remembrance, when he left this self-same body, and this self-same bloud, for an eternall memory of his charity towards vs his heires,Luke 12.18. saying, Doe this in remembrance of me. So our Sauiour, hauing written and accomplished his Testament, according to the draughts of the old Figure; died the next day, and his Testament shall remaine, eternally confirmed by his death. O diuine and powerfull work-man! O sweet Iesus! O great God! What shall we heere amidst so many wonders first admire, thy Powerfulnesse! thy Wisdome! thy Goodnes! thy Greatnes! thy Prouidence! thy sweetnesse! thy Liberality altogether, or all apart! where all is great and admirable together, all great and admirable apart! What a work-man art thou, O Redeemer of the world, to haue so long agoe, so diuinely drawne the Figure of thy Testament, and to accomplish the truth vpon that Figure, with so diuine tracts of improuement? What a Master art thou, to haue left so heauenly instructions, and so faire lawes of amity, grauen in such liuing tables, as are the hearts of thy Disciples? What a King, to haue made so amiable and honorable a combination with thy poore subiects? What a Father of a Family, to haue written so fauourable a Testament vnto men, and of thy enemies, to haue made them thy children, and thy heires of so great a Kingdome? O Redeemer, what were we without this Testament? we were eaytifes and vagabonds; vnworthy to be supported vpon the earth, and worthy of eternall confusion; but by it we haue gotten a right to heauen, and to immortall glory; and nothing remaineth, but to take possession, [Page 279]and there to reioyce in peace for euer, so soone as we shall haue fought the good fight, as thy Apostle speakes,2. Tim. 4.7. kept the faith, and consummated the course of our yeares, in the good workes of thy loue and charity, according to thy Commandement. For thy victorious death, hauing made this Testament of force, and irreuocable, hath done vs this fauour aboue thy ancient friends and children, which departed before it; who albeit they did leaue this world with the hope of heauen, yet they enioyed not heauen immediatly in recompence of the workes, they had done in thy Grace and seruice, as true children: noe, this was a Grace referned to the time of thy new Testament, which was to be eternall by thy death, and to put in full possession, without delay, those thy children, which like true heires, shall haue executed the will of their Father: and what thanksgiuing shall be able or sufficient for to acknowledge worthily the least part of these so great fauours?
9. IN WHAT MANNER OVR SAVIOVR, hauing made his Testament, left his body to his Heires.
OTher fathers, hauing disposed of their goods, and signed their testament; dye and leaue their bodies to be put in the earth, where they rot, and their soules goe to their places; so as their heires haue no other better pawne of the presence and person of their father, then their ashes and bones. Our Sauiour hath obserued the substance of this Ceremony, but after a different maner; for he gaue his body to his Apostles, in an impassible manner, albeit mortall also then, and from that time he left it to his Church, clothed indeed with the first mortall robe, made of the accidents [Page 280]of bread and wine, but vnited with his Soule, and his Diuinity, now a liuing body, immortall and glorious. For his tombe also, hee hath the bodies and soules of his heires; a liuing tombe, and ennobled with a reasonable soule, which if it be well prepared with requisite qualities, doth from his harbouring, receiue a wonderfull reward: for whereas other tombes reape from the bodies buried in them, nothing but spoiles of death and horror, and are by them defiled; the bodies of Christians doe receiue life, immortality, sanctification, and celestiall ioy from the body of our Sauiour: whereby it appeareth, that we ought to vse exceeding great diligence, in well preparing our selues, to lodge worthily in vs this pretious body. The principall apparell is Loue and Chastity, and then after these, all the other vertues of the soule, which accompany the former. We reade that Artemissia, C [...]. Tuscal. Herod. Liu. 8. Plut. l. 36. c. 5. V [...]. lib. [...]. Queene of Carya, after shee had consumed her treasures, in a magnificall and admirable Sepulcher, that shee had prepared for the dead body of the King her husband; in the end made them to pound his bones, and tooke them in a drinke, for to be her selfe the liuing Sepulcher of his dead body, whom shee had so extreamely loued in his life, and without whom shee could not liue. This was an Humane loue, more worthy of compassion, then of praise; which neuerthelesse may serue vs for an example, to make vs do better: for how much more conuenient, and iust is it, that wee should employ all our spirituall meanes, our loue, our deuotion, our fastings, our almes, our prayers, that we may become a liuing Cabinet of the body of this diuine Spouse of our soules, whom we shall receiue, not senselesse nor dead, nor reduced into powder; but aliue, immortall, all whole with his soule, and with his glory, and with all the Maiesty of his Diuinity, for to be one day eternally vnited with him.
10. TWO GREAT WONDERS HAPPENED in the institution of this Sacrament.
SAint Augustine, S. August. in Psal. 33. 2. Keg. 21.13. expounding what the History of the Kings saith of Dauid, that counterseiting to be out of his wits before King Achis? He carried himselfe in his own hands; tooke occasion to admire another wonder farre exceeding that, which came to passe in the institution of this Sacrament. And it is, that our Sauiour carried himselfe in his proper hands. A thing, which he esteemed most admirable, and impossible to haue been practised by Dauid, according to the sence of the letter: But that our Sauiour only did it, when holding his body in his hand, and saying, This is my body, hee cetried it to his mouth, and gaue it to his Apostles. For though it might be that Dauid, playing the foole, carried himselfe in his hands, by going on all foure, after the manner of little children; or bearing himself vp vpon his armes, and vsing them in stead of feet and of legges, after the fashion of those, who by actluity, cast their body vpward in the ayre, with their head downward, like a tree, and walke vpon their hands. S. Augustine, neuerthelesse, had reason to say, that to cary himselfe of himselfe in his owne hands, belongeth only to our Sauiour; for it is he, which truly earieth himselfe David caried not himselfe on his hands, but rather on his hands and feet together, if it be to be vnderstood of the first manner; or only on his armes, if of the second; but our Sauiour carieth himselfe properly in his hands, neither more nor lesse, then he caried in his band the meate, which he put in his mouth, or into the mouthes of others.
There is heere yet another thing, admirable in this Institution, [Page 282]which is, that our Sauiour tooke himself for food; a thing not heard of, neither hapned to any man since the Creation of the world.Iose [...]h. lib. 7. de [...]el. Iuda [...]c. Histories tell vs, that some mothers had fed vpon their owne children, as Mary the Iew; and that some person haue eaten a certaine part of their body, compelled by the violence of some extraordinary sicknes; but it was neuer read, that a man either did, or could eate himselfe all whole, still remaining without hurt; and such an act neuer came into the thought of man. The Sonne of God alone can doe it, and hath done it, and hath giuen herein an illustrious testimony, that hee is God, doing a worke which onely God could doe, by vertue vncommunicable to any other: for it is God alone, that liueth of himselfe, and is his owne proper food; the creatures do liue of other creatures, and their food is from without their body, and none liue of themselues; the blessed Spirits in heauen, doe liue of the vision of God; but God alone is his owne life, and his owne meat from all eternity; and needeth no other thing but himselfe, to sustaine himselfe eternally. So that our Sauiour, taking himselfe for food, signeth himselfe with the signe of his owne greatnesse, and sheweth, as by an experiment proper to God, that he was God, hee being able to make food of himself, euen according to the body, after the likenesse of his Diuinity, which is the food and nourishment of himselfe, and belongeth to no other thing, but to God alone. And this is that which he signified by these words;I [...]. 5.26.24. S. Chrysost. hom. [...]. in Ioan. For as the Father hath lofe in himselfe, so bee hath giuen to the Sonne also to haue life in himsele: for proofe then, and declaration of his speech, hee rooke himsele in food corporally, as spiritually he himselfe is his life and his food, and his felicity; and likewise the life, food, and felicity of his Elect.
11. SAINT IONN FIRST RECEIVETH OF all the Apostles. The Eucharist, the true refection, and the Present at the refection.
OVR Sauiour then doth offer his body, and his bloud to God his Father in Sacrifice, and hauing receiued them first himselfe, he giues them to his Apostles for spirituall refection, beginning at Saint Iohn; and not onely because he was nearest him at the table, but because he was endued with singular charity and chastity, vertues altogether proper to make vs sit worthily at the table of this feast of loue and purity. It is heere, where the refection began, which alone is true and holy; and now it began to be continued afterward, so long as the world should endure. All the other which had of old been instituted in the House of God, were but Figures of this; their meats, were meates of corruption, and of death, seruing onely to maintaine this mortall life; the Victims, the Offerings, and all that, which was set vpon the Altar, or vpon the table in the Law of Nature, and of Moses, were but dead bodies, and mortall food to nourish mortall bodies; the body of our Sauiour, is the body of life, and food of immortality. In this refection, the ceremony of Alliance made betweene God, and Man, was celebrated by the mediation of the flesh, and bloud of God, signes both signifying, and withall effecting, a most streight, and most diuine vnion of the head with his members, & of the members amongst themselues. And the Symbols, which were the meate of the table, and the connexion of such, as assisted, the selfe-same were the Presents of the Feast. It was a famous custome among the Nations of the world, to giue Presenis after a great Feast; [Page 284]the which were called of the Greeke word, Apophoreta, as who should say, things to bee carried from the Feast: of which S. Ambrose speaking,S. Ambros. in exhort. ad Ʋirg. writ in these termes, in his Exhortation to Virgins: Such as are inuited to a great Feast, haue a custome to bring away some conuiuiall presents. Isid. Some bring vesieis of gold; some of sillier, some gold and siluer [...] some money;Sueton. Coligul. Lam [...]d, in Helioga [...]oto. some Iewels; some beasts; some men; the Sonne of God gaue his body and his bloud, for the Present of his Feast or the meat of his Feast, and for the Feast it selfe, surpassing the price of all other Presents, as also the splendour and deliciousnesse of all other banquets.
12. OF THE WORDS OF OVR SAVIOVR; Doe this in my remembrance.
NOw this diuine refection was not inssituted to be celebrated once alone,Hest. 1. as that of Assuerus was, but fo [...] to be continued euen vntill the end of the world, as the Paschal Lamb continued vntill the end of the Synagogue,Exod. 12. as hath been declared. Wherfore our Sauiour hauing communicated his Apostles, and established the Institution of his banquet in this first refection; commandeth the continuation thereof, and declareth the end, why hee would it should be continued saying,Luke 22.19. 1. Cor. 11.24. Doe this for a commemoration of me. In y selfe will alwayes be the Sacrifice, and the principall Sacrificer, but inuisible. I ordaine you Priests, to be my Vicars, and visible Sacrificers in my Church, euen as I haue giuen you the authority of Doctors, and Pastors, to keepe my place in the Chaire of truth, and to feed and rule my slocke. Doe this then, do this action, the noblest that shal be done in my Family, and continue therein a memory of the Sacrifice, which shall be offered by me to morrow [Page 285]on the Crosse, for you and all mankinde. Do it in memory of the Passion, that I shall haue suffered for you, in memory of the infinite price of my bloud, which I shall shed for you, in memory of the victory, that I shall obtain [...] for you, ouer the enemies of your soules health, ouer the infernall powers, ouer the tyrants of your spiries, ouer the Prince of darknesse, ouer the flesh and the world; in memory of the immortall glory, that I shall haue purchased for you, and for those, which will be my members, giuing my flesh in Sacrifice vpon the Altar of the Crosse. Do this Feast, and celebrate this Sacrifice, in memory of these exploits, continuing it without limit of time; and when my Passion shall be once past, let it be alwayes liuing, and p [...] serued by your seruice, in the memory, and in the face of my Church; and as the benefit is of infinite merit, so let the acknowledgement also be eternall? This is the sense of these words.Luke 23.19 [...] Doe this for a commemoration of [...] As well Diuine as Humane Iustice requiteth, that men giue praise to great exployts of vertue; and that they be mindfull of a benefit, & that the remembrance be so much more liuely and honorable, as the benefit is great.Exod. 20.8. This is it why our Lord commanded the Sabbath day, in remembrance of the Creation of the world; the Feast of new Moones, in memory of the conseruation thereof; the Paschall Lambe,2. Par. 2.4. Exod. 12. in memory of the deliuery of the Hebrewes, captiues in Aegypt. The same Hebrewes did celebrate the victory of Mordecheus, gained ouer their enemies;2. M [...]b. vlt. Iudis. 16. and that of the valiant Iudith, obtained ouer Holofernes. Was it not then reason and iustice, that there should be a memoriall of the Passion of the Sonne of God, it being the most admirable worke that euer was, and the true worke of an Almighty and all mercifull Lord his highest prowesse, his noblest victory, his greatest benefit towards men, and for which alone hee descended from heauen, taking the garment of our mortality? Especially considering that this Redemption could not haue saued, vnlesse it had been applied, and [Page 286]made proper to euery one, by this memory, reiterated with faith, loue, deuotion, contemplation, fasting, watching, and other workes of piety, which are the doores, by which this infinite merit of his Passion-entereth into our soules, euen as the windows of an house are the means, by which they that are within, doe pertake of the Sun-beames, and enioy them, as if it shined onely for them.
13. THE MASSE A MOST PROPER MEmoriall of our Sauiours Passion.
AS it were very reasonable, and very important, that the memory of our redemption were alwayes fresh and liuing in our soules: so the diuine Wisdome hath chosen a most agreeable meanes, to represent it most honorably, and with fingular efficacie; to that end, instituting a Sacrifice in his house, and a solemne refection amongst his children: for these are the two principall acts among men, whereby God is Soueraignely honored, and the memory of any thing most effectually preserued. The Sacrifice acknowledgeth God, reuerenceth him, and doth him homage, rendering him thankes for his benefits; and the refection assembles and vnites men together, and makes their meetings more famous, and more capable to retaine the remembrance of things P [...]st, and more powerfull to ingraue, and send their memory forward to the future ages of posterity. And so wee see as well in holy Histories, as prophane, that the greatest actions of men, of Kings, of Captaines, and Princes and Common-wealthes in the world, for Peace, for Warre, for Victory, for Triumphes, for Funerals, and other workes of great importance, haue been begunne and ended with Sacrifices, and Feasts. Salomon [Page 287]celebrated the Dedication of his magnificent Temple,3. Reg. 2.63. 2. Por. 7.8. which he built for God, with innumerable Sacrifices and Feasts; the Persians, the Aegyptians, the Grecians, the Romans, and all the Nations of the world, vsed the same meanes, to honour their Actes, and make the memory of them immortall. Thus to doe, is an imprinted Law of Nature, and holily practised in the House of God. It is no wonder then, that Iesus Christ, Author of all good Lawes, hath established an Altar, and a Table; a Sacrifice, and a Feast, to ingraue his Honor, and make the memory of his triumphant Death to liue for euer. But that, which in this preparation is more efficatious to represent this death, and more to be considered then all the rest in this preparation, is, that same body, which suffered, which died, and which suffering and dying had triumphed, is actually present in this Sacrifice and refection, as the matter both of the one, and of the other. He hath not ordained, that it should be celebrated, as it was of old, by words and mysteries, and by the bodies of beasts, but he himselfe would be present in the action. Neither more nor lesse, then as a King, who desirous to celebrate some great Victory of his owne; not onely would make it to be recounted and sung, and represented by Orators, Poets, and Painters, but he himselfe in person would be present, acting the principall personage in the representation thereof. For so our Sauiour hath represented his owne victorious death, being therein himselfe the chiefe Actor, the Sacrifice, and the Sacrificer, giuing his body immolated, and his bloud shed; his body as dead, and yet liuing; his bloud as drawne forth of his body, and yet still vnited with his body: & in conclusion, exhibiting himselfe in Sacrifice, and refection, after a most effectuall and pregnant manner, to set forth clearely, liuely, and profitably, the resemblance and memory of his sacred Passion to the honor of his Father, and the saluation of his welbeloued. And therefore hath also commanded this Sacrifice and Feast, to bee celebrated from yeere to yeere,Exod. 12. [Page 288]not in one place only, as that of the Iewes Lamb, but euery day, and many times a day; and this in all places, wheresoeuer the faith of his name, and the name of his Maiesty, should haue shewed it selfe; and in all parts of the earth, wheresoeuer the tree of his glorious Crosse should haue taken roote.
14. THE MASSE, THE FEAST OF GOD, wherein he is singularly called vpon in the Law of Grace, and the Christians are perfectly heard.
THE Masse, the singular Sacrifice and Royall Feast, by which God is highly honored, and his creature is exceedingly helped; for in it his Maiesty denyeth nothing be it neuer so great, that any man asketh, either for the health of his owne soule, or for the saluation of his neighbour, and so his creature is there inriched by his gifts. The Persian Kings celebrated in their Court a certaine kinde of Feast, dedicated either to the day of their birth, or of their coronation, which they in their Persian language did call Ticta, [...]. Lin. 8. as who should say, perfect Supper. This Feast was honored with such a prerogatiue, as the King at that time denied no demand, which was made vnto him. A custome, no lesse wisely, then happily obserued by Queene Hester; for her History tells vs, that hauing spied the season, shee feasted with royall prouision Assuerus, her husband, the King of Medes and Persians, to obtaine of him vengeance against her enemies, and deliuerance for her people; and therefore, after they had taken their refection, the King, according to his custome, said: What is thy petition that it may be giuen thee? [...]. and what wilt thou haue done? although [Page 289]thou shalt aske the halfe of my Kingdome, thou shalt obtaine it: Shee asked boldly, and as easily obtained that, which shee asked. The Sonne of God is more magnificent in his continuall Feast deuoted vnto the dayes of his remembrance, for hee giues not earthly goods, but himselfe, for a sauing Sacrifice and food of saluation, and puts a present in our hand, wherwith we may be sure to obtaine of the Maiesty of his Father, all that concernes our peace, repose & safety; and promiseth vs, not the halfe of an earthly kingdom, like an earthly King; but as an heauenly King, the whole Kingdome of heauen. So that the promise, God made of old to the captiue Hebrewes in Babylon, You shall call vpon me, and I will be are you, Ierem. 29. is diuinely fulfilled in the Law of Grace, by meanes of this noble and perfect Feast indeed: for albeit in the Law of Nature, and of Moyses, God well liked the Sacrifices of his seruants, and heard their prayers; yet was it with farre lesse liberality, and alwayes in contemplation of the Messias to come, who one day was to satisfie the diuine Maiesty, by the Sacrifice of his body. Whereas Christians in the Law of Grace, offer him a Sacrifice most acceptable in the highest degree, that is, the body & bloud of the Messias himselfe, paying, as it were, in his hand a full satisfaction, taken from that body and bloud, the fairest payment that can be made; and praying the Father by the Sonne, which is the most vrgent prayer that can be imagined. The Histories tell vs, that the Molessians desirous to obtaine some fauour from their King,Plutarch. in Themist. did take one of his sons, & holding him in their armes, cast themselues on their knees before him, neere to the domesticall Altar & doing this, they were neuer denied. Which maner of supplication Themistocles vsed then, when being banished from Athens, hee came into that Country, and preserued himself by this ceremony, from the anger of Admetus, King of Molessians, who long before had been his great enemie, and would haue put him to death, being then in his power, had hee not serued himselfe of this desence. [Page 290]To receiue a prayer for loue of a sonne, is naturall; and it ought not to be doubted, but since God is Author of Nature, and hath giuen this inclination to fathers, he hath it also in himselfe; and that so much more perfectly, as he is a Father of infinit perfection and loue, and that his owne Sonne is the liuely Image of his Fathers perfection, and therefore infinitly beloued of him. And for this cause our Sauiour exhorteth his Disciples,Heb. 1.3. to aske boldly of his Father, what they would, in his name, and by his merit; as hauing right to obtaine by this title whatsoeuer they demaunded. The Church also following the direction of her Redeemer, concludes her prayers in his name, saying. Heare vs almighty God by Iesus Christ thy Sonne. Matth 21. Marke 11. Ioan. 16.24. And albeit euery Christian hath at all times, and in all places, accesse to God, by the merits of his Sonne; yet then his prayers are most acceptable, when hee sayeth or heareth Masse, and with due preparation receiueth this Sacrament; For the King himselfe is then present at this perfect and compleat Feast, at the which he denyeth nothing, that is asked; and the prayer being made in his Royall presence, carryeth with it credit and prerogatiue, to be heard of the Diuine Maiesty. Behold the banquet, the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of the Law of Grace, figured by all those of old that went before it, and substituted in their places: the Oblation and Sacrifice of Christians, and the noblest instrument they haue, whereby to call vpon God & to haue the grant of their requests; behold our Eucharist, and our Masse. The Prayers, the Scriptures, the Garments, and the Ceremonies, which haue been since ordained by the Apostles, and their Successors, and which are in vse at this day, are not the Sacrifice of the Masse, they are onely the ornaments thereof; the essence of the Masse, and of all this Royall Feast, is the body and bloud of the Sonne of God, offered in a Sacrifice commemoratiue of his death. This is the Sacrifice, and the Sacrament, which makes the substance of this banquet; the rest serues onely to honor this [Page 291]honorable and diuine action. In this euening then of the fourteenth day of the Moone, the true Lamb was offered, the Figure of the old was accomplished, the right of legall Sacrifices was finished, the continuance of the Synagogue was ended, and the foundation was laid of the Law of Grace. All which our Sauiour signifieth diuinely, by the circumstance of the time, wherein he ordained the Iewes Pasche, and in which he established the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of his body, which remaineth to be declared for a finall end to this Treatise.
15. THE REDEMPTION OF MANKINDE, and the end of the Synagogue, signified by the Institution of the Eucharist in the full of the Moone.
EXplaining the type of the Paschall Lambe, wee said, that the Ceremony began vpon the fourteenth day of the first month, of the Hebrewes holy yeare vpon the euening; because in that night the first borne of Aegypt were killed, and the gates opened to the freedom of the children of God. Our Sauiour then to put an end to the old Figure, and liuely to expresse the truth thereof, instituted the Sacrament of his body at that time of the yeare, a time, wherein the true deliuerance was neere at hand; as the Iewes Pasche was a signe of their liberty, which was then to follow: for the next day,Exod. 12. our Sauiour was to break the yoake of sinne, and to deliuer mankinde from Satans tyranny, figured by that of Pharo. But heere is yet another mystery, hidden vnder the number of the dayes, and state of the Moone, which our Sauiour by the same wisdome hath also brought to perfection. It was said, that the Lamb [Page 292]was to be taken into the house,Exod. 12.13. the tenth day of the first month, and to be offered the fourteeth. Our Sauiour accomplished the first,Exod. 12.6. Matth. 21. when he made his entry into Hierusalem, riding vpon a shee Asse, and vpon a yong vntamed Asse.Ioan. 12.1.12. For S. Iohn writes, that sixe daies before the Pasche hee came to Bethania, and the next day, which was fiue dayes before the Pasche, he entered into Hierusam. It was then vpon the tenth day, that he was receiued into Hierusalem with great ioy, as the Paschall Lambe, there to be offered vpon the fourteenth, in this Sacrament, without effusion of bloud, and on the next day vpon the Crosse, by reall slaughter: for as the sixth before the Pasche, that is to say, before the fourteenth, was the ninth of the month, so the fift before the same was the tenth of the month.
The second part, which was the state of the Moone, was no lesse wisely fulfilled. The Moone had fourteene dayes old vpon the euening of the Lambe; for the fourteenth of the month, was the fourteenth of the Moone, as the beginning of the month, was the beginning of the Moone, which hath been elsewhere declared. The Moone was then in her full. We said before, that the Moone signified the Synagogue; wherefore the full Moone signified that the Synnagogue was not come to her perfection. When our Sauiour therefore instituted the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of his body, in that day, and in that houre, hee fulfilled the figured truth, and withall signified by the ceremony of the time, that the Synagogue was then in her fulnesse, ready to depart; as being now accomplished in the Institution of the Christian Pasche, shadowed in the Iudaicall.S. Ambres. epist. 13. Matth. 5. And this is that, which Saint Ambrese, amongst other Doctors, noteth, saying: Our Lord celebrated in the fulnesse of the Law, which hee came to fulfill: And there remained nothing for the entire and perfect consummation but onely the last draught, which was his death on the Crosse. Wherefore from that time, the Iudaicall Sacrifices, figured of ours, were abolished before God, [Page 293]and the Sacrifice of the body of his Sonne substituted in the place of them all. The Law of Grace to that of Moyses, and the Christian Church to that of the Iewes Synagogue, being as the truth to the picture, and the body to the shadow; which was also declared by the Eclypse of the Moone and of the Sunne in the next day of the Pasch, as we shall make it appeare in the exposition following.
16. THE END OF THE SINAGOGVE, AND the beginning of the Law of Grace, Signified by the Eclypse of the Moone, and Sunne, which fell out the next day of the Pasche, and after the Eucharist ordained.
THe Moone was eclypsed, and caused an eclypse of the Sunne, on the morrow of the Pasch, and of the Institution of the Eucharist. This was a double eclypse, no lesse wonderfull, then vnknowne to Nature. Who hath euer seen, that the Moone should come vnder the Sunne, when shee was diametrically distinct from it? or that the Sunne should be eclypsed, being so farre off from the Moone, as the halfe of her circle; which is all the distance, that can be, to dispart one Starre from another? Now the Moone on thursday euening, which was the houre of the Pasche, being found in the East, and the Sunne in the West; the next day at mid-noone, shee was ioyned face to face to the Sunne, in the same point of the Zodiak with him; and as shee ceased to shine vpon the earth, so by her interposition, shee made the Sunne to lose his light, in such sort, as there were two admirable echpses of the two great lights of heauen; & by them was signified the departure of God from the Iewes, and the end of their Synagogue. For as [Page 294]the Sunne by his eclypse left to lighten the earth; and the Moone by hers, losing the sensible light, that shee tooke from the Sunne, and communicated heere below to the world. Euen so the Sonne of heauen, Creator of this visible Sunne, from that day forward, retired the beames of his fauours from these vngratefull people, and the Synagogue eclypsed in her fourteenth day, that is, in her fulnesse, was depriued of the spirituall light, which shee receiued from him, and was before communicated vnto her in the practise of her Ceremonies. Then was shee at full in the accomplishment of all her Figures, and from thenceforth eclypsed with an eternall eclypse, being ended for euer; and a new Moone began, that is to say, the Church of Iesus Christ, which hee purchased to himselfe the next day in the time of this eclypse, by his pretious bloud in the terrible battell of the Crosse, where all the Furies of hell, and their confederates of this world, ioyned together to assault him; and those two Torches, as it were, offended and angry at the iniury, done to their Creator, played their parts, and shewed their indignation on the Theater of heauen, speaking by the language of their effects, a language knowne to all, and making in a strange maner the streams of their light runne vpward, withdrawing them from the eyes of men beneath, with sighes and groanes of the astonished world.
17. THE CHVRCH, SIGNIFIED BY THE Moone: and of the Pasche, and Christian renouation.
THe Pasche then of our Sauiour, being instituted, conteining the Altar and Table of the Sacrifice, and Sacrament [Page 295]of his body: and the combate of the Crosse being ended, the Synagogue receiued a deadly blow, with all her Sacrifices and Sacraments; and a new Moone appeared, to signifie that the Church was now no more in the Synagogue, but in the Law of Grace. The Moone hath a generall resemblance to the Church of God: for as the Moone takes all her light from the Sunne, and sometimes goes before it, sometimes comes after it, and sometimes ioynes with it: so the Church shewes by the beames of the Sonne of God, going before him, according to his Humanity, vntill the time of his Natiuity: being present with him while he remained vpon the earth; following him afterward, and sometime ioyning her selfe to him by the Sacrament, and Reall Presence of his body. Againe, as the Moone lighteneth the night, and giueth direction amidst the darknesse: Euen so the Church hath euer enlightened the night of this world, and shewed the way to heauen, amidst the darknesse of Heathenish Idolatry. Moreouer, the Moone particularly marketh out the seuerall states of the Church in her first increasings: Shee sheweth the Church vnder the Law of Nature, at the Change, in the weaknesse of her beames; and on the fourteenth day, when shee is at the Full, shee hath a resemblance of the Church in the Synagogue, as we haue said: but in that she became a new Moone, after a new manner, in her fifteenth day, she signified the Church in the Law of Grace. The newnesse, and new manner, consists in this, that shee drew neare to the Sun by an extraordinary meanes; for being on Thursday so farre from it, as the East from the West, the next day shee was euen against it; which approachment shee should not make, according to her naturall course, but in the space of fourteene dayes, supernaturally also and with no lesse wonder, shee returned to the East on Friday euening at Sun-set, where shee had been the night before. And so in six houres shee put on the seuerall roabes of all her states; for shee was new; shee was in he first quarter; [Page 296]shee was in her fulnesse, and in the beginning of her third seuenth, to wit, in her fifteenth day. In these circumstances, and in these wonders, happening neuer before, nor since, shee marketh out the Church in the state of Grace, a state of singular renouation, of a third seuenth, of a third time in the new Pasch, in the new and great Sacrifice and Feast, instituted by the Sonne of God in his body. To which purpose Saint Augustine writeth in these words, Because wee are in the third time of all the worlds continuance; [...] Aug. [...]. 119. ad lan [...]er. c. 3. herehence it is that our Sauiour rose vpon the third day. The first time was before the Law; the second in the Law; the third vnder Grace; in the which is manifested the Sacrament, which was hid in the folds of the Propheticall bookes. This it is, that, which was signified by the number of the Moones; and for that [...] the Scripture, the number of seuen hath a mysticall signification of perfection, the Pasche was celebrated in the third weeke of the Moone, which is betweene the fourteenth and the [...]e and twentieth day. Behold how God reades vs a lesson by his Starres, teaching vs Paradise by the skie, and communicating to vs the beames of his intellectuall light, by the condition and course of the corporall.
18. OVR SAVIOVR HAVING INSTITVted the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of his body, goeth foorth of his ledging to goe to the Garden of Oliuet.
THe sweete Lambe being offered this euening, and giuen in refection to his Apostles, and hauing abolished the olde Pasche, and instituted the new, as hath been said, sung an Hymne, with his Apostles, after the tradition of the Iewes, and went forth to goe to the garden of Oliuet, where he was to be deliuered by Iudas to the wicked, who had already the watch-word to apprehend him. This only remained to accomplish all the proofes of his infinite loue towards mankinde. He was first offered to his Father by an vnbloudy Sacrifice, without death and passion; he went forth to be taken afterwards as a Lambe, and to be made a victime on the Crosse, there shedding his bloud, and giuing his life. He had giuen his body to his friends, he goeth now to offer it to his enemies. He had refectioned the soules of the humble, he went soone after to bee fed with gall, to drinke viniger, to surfet with the torments and reproaches of the proud. He long since planted a Garden of delights, of rest, and of honor; he is now gone to a garden of sorrowes, of combate, and of disgrace: He planted the Tree of Life in that delightfull Garden; he commeth to plant another in the Orchard of his Church, more exquisit, and more excellent without comparison. And himselfe walkes in this solitary Garden, to repaire the fault committed in the first Garden. In that the debt was made by disobedience; in this it began to be paid by humility. In planting the first Garden, and the first tree of life, he only [Page 298]imployed his word, who commanded, and all was made; but in this it is not so; one houres stay in this will cost thee thy bloud, O my sweet Redeemer, and with the droppes of that pretious purple, the beds of this garden must be watred: And the Tree of Life, which thou hast planted in the Paradise of thy Church, is not any meane effect, as that was, of thy holy word, but thy pretious body and bloud it selfe, accompanied with the aray of thy holy Diuinitie. O my Lord, what can I say to prayse thy magnificency? I say, that thou art magnificent euery way; in taking and giuing, in feeding and in suffering euery way; good, and euery liberall of thy goods, and of thy selfe; euery way rich in mercy; and euery way aboundant in propitiation: herehence it is, that for thy last retraite thou goest to the Garden of Oliuet, to make for vs, and to giue vnto vs the oyle of thy mercies; Oliues for vs, but Apples of anguish for thee. O my soule, thy Redeemer goeth in the night, and goeth to subiect himselfe, for thee, to paines in this Garden; doe something for him; accompany him amidst this darknesse; haue compassion on him; admire his loue towards thee; loath thy sinnes, that haue cast him into these vexations; weepe and pray with him; offer him thy heart and seruice in this perplexed high-way of his Agony. And fince thou art written in his Will, called to his Heritage, and placed at the Table of his Kingdome, to eate of his fruit of life; giue some signe of a grateful soule, and mindfull of so many benefits; make him some present of thy gifts, that he hath giuen thee; and giue him something of that, which he hath made thine; albeit thou art nothing, yet giue him thy selfe; in giuing thy selfe, thou shalt become something; giue thy selfe to him, since he hath giuen himselfe to thee; and when I say himselfe, what say I? an infinite depth of goodnesse, giuen many wayes vnto thee; in his birth, in his conuersation, in thy meate, in his death, and in all the kindes, that a thing can be giuen. After thou hast contemplated, thanked, followed, and serued him in [Page 299]the Garden of Oliues, at the Iudgement Barre of Pilate, in the Mount Caluary, at the Crosse, with teares and sighes of loue, of compunction, and compassion; make him often thy Host, by means of this diuine Table, which he hath prepared for thee, of his immortall and glorious body, to giue himselfe to thee, and to lodge with thee, so often as thou wilt; and taking the healthfull refection of his dish: contemplate moreouer in this Table the delicates of Paradise, and of eternall life, which shall follow after. For as the Altars of the Hebrewes were Figures of this Feast: so this Feast is the Image of the celestiall Table. Heere thou eatest the bread of Angells; in heauen thou shalt also liue of the bread of Angels. Heere thy meat is God himselfe, the self-same God will be thy food at that Table there: the food is heere immortall; thy food there will be immortall. Hee, which hath of his owne free cost and charges, prepared this Feast on earth, for the food of his Pilgrims, the selfe-same will prepare, according to his magnificency the Feast of felicity in heauen, for a glorious triumph of those, who shall haue runne couragiously in the pathes of his diuine Lawes. Yet there is a difference. For in this Feast, nothing but faith soberly perceiues the sauour of the meate, and the sweetnesse of the drinke; humane sense and iudgement seeth nothing heere but couered dishes, without power to touch them: In that there, the meate shall bee exposed to the appetite of the soule to the full; in a magnificent and open table, and the senses shall haue also their good part. In this heere we are mortall, growing in the Land of the dying, in that wee shall bee immortall, without feare of death or disquiet, set in the possession of the Land of the Liuing, and of the eternall kingdome; but who can vtter by word, or imagine by thought, the magnificency of that royall Feast? The great Apostle, rapt vp euen into the third heauen, to learne the lessons of those diuine mysteries,1. Cor 2.9. Esay 6.4.4. knew not how to doe it, and shewed himselfe learned in the confession of his ignorance in the mysteries of God. [Page 300]This is a Feast vnknowne to any, that is not set at the Table to eate and drinke there. Well then, O faithfull soules, and trauellers in this Desart; redeemed by this Lord, beloued of this Spouse, inuited to those nuptiall banquets; purely vse the meat, that he hath prepared, and that he offereth you in pawne of his loue in this mortall life; liue holily, [...]. attend patiently, keepe your lampes replenished with the oyle of your good workes, and kindled with the light of your conuersation, to the end, that when the time of the celestiall mariage shall come, the doore may be opened to you, that you may enter to the Feast. And thou, O sweete Lambe, which shall bee the great King, and the great food of this immortall table, effect, if it please thee, by the infinite merite of thy Crosse, that wee may sit downe there, according to the promise of thy Testament, and that wee there may liue eternally, there to praise thee euerlastingly. Amen.
Laus Deo beatae (que) Ʋirgini Mariā & omnibus sanctis.
A TABLE OF THE PICTVRES, DESCRIPTIONS, AND EXPOSITIONS OF THEM.
- PICTVRE I. Paradise and the Tree of Life.
- THe Description. Page 13
- 1 The Church of God liuely set forth in earchly Paradise. Page 16
- 2 Of the benefits and excellent qualities of the Church, described in the patterne of earthly Paradise. Page 18
- 3 The holy Sacrament of the Altar figured by the tree of life. Page 19
- 4 Resemblances of the tree of life to the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Page 20
- 5 Of the excellency of the holy Sacrament of the Altar farre aboue the tree of life. Page 23
- 6 The body of the Sauiour, nourishment of the soule, and cause of the glorious resurrection of the body. Page 24
- 7 The Sacrament of the body of the Sonne of God, tree of all the earth. Page 25
- 8 Certaine spirituall aspirations of the soule, desiring the cleare vision of the body of our Sauiour, and a giuing thankes for the same. Page 26
- PICTVRE II. The Sacrifice of Abel.
- THe Description. Page 29
- 1 The Sacrifice of Abel, a Figure of the Crosse, and of the Eucharist. Page 31
- 2 The accord of the Figure of the Sacrifice of Abel, with that of the Masse. Page 32
- Of two sorts of Sacrifices. Page 34
- 3 God permits euill, to draw good forth of it for his glory, and the profit of his children. Page 35
- 4 Abel an Image of the Iust, and Cain of the wicked. Page 38
- PICTVRE III. The Sacrifice of Melchisedech.
- THe Description. Page 42
- 1 Melchisedech the Figure of our Sauiour. Page 45
- 2 The Priest-hood of the Son of God, figured in that of Melchisedech. Page 46
- 3 Wherefore our Sauiour hath Iustituted the Sacrament and Sacrifice of his body, vnder the formes of bread & wine. Page 47
- 4 The bread and wine, signes of the Passion of our Sauiour in his Sacrament. Page 48
- 5 The bread and wine in the Eucharist, signes of the mysticall body of our Sauiour Page 49
- 6 The body of our Sauiour called bread, & his bloud wine. Page 50
- 7 What this Sacrament is. ibid.
- 8 What a Sacrifice is, and how it is offered in the Masse. Page 51
- 9 The difference betweene a Sacrament and a Sacrifice. Page 53
- 10 No Religion without Sacrifice. Page 54
- 11 Testimonies of the Hebrew Doctors vpon the same subiect, that is, of the Sacrifice of Melchisedech. Page 55
- 12 Testimonies of the ancient Greeke Fathers, vpon the Figure of Melchisedech. Page 56
- [Page]13 Testimonies of the ancient Latine Fathers. Page 58
- 14 The difference betweene the Sacrifice of the Crosse, and that of the Eucharist. Page 59
- 15 The difference of the Sacrifice of Melchisedech, and of this of the Masse. Page 60
- 16 The good spirituall souldiers are worthy of the food, and blessing of the body of our Lord. Page 61
- PICTVRE IV. Isaak on the Altar.
- THe Description. Page 63
- 1 Isaak, and the Ramme sacrificed, a Figure of the death of our Sauiour, and of the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of his body. Page 67
- 2 The height of the mystery of the Eucharist, signified by the Mountaine, and by Abraham; and how wee are to appreach to it. Page 69
- PICTVRE V. The Paschall Lambe.
- THe Description. Page 73
- 1 Of the time of Immolation of the Paschall Lambe, and of the Holy and Ciuill yeare of the Hebrewes, and of their Neomenia, or new Moone. Page 75
- 2 Wherefore the yeare of the Hebrewes was Lunary, and how the Synagogue was compared to the Moone. Page 78
- 3 The Paschall Lamb, a Figure of the Sacrifice of the Crosse, and of the Eucharist. Page 80
- 4 How Iesus Christ is imitated in the Eucharist. Page 82
- 5 The Immolation of the body of our Sauiour in the Masse, confirmed by the testimonies of the Scripture, and ancient Fathers. Page 84
- [Page]6 Hom the Paschall Lambe sheweth the vse, and end of the Enc [...]arist. Page 86
- 7 Of the ceremonies vsed in eating the Paschall Lambe. Page 88
- PICTVRE VI. Manna in the Desert.
- THe Description. Page 93
- 1 Manna, a Figure of the Sacrament of the Altar. Page 95
- 2 The correspondence of Manna, to the Sacrament of the Altar. Page 96
- 3 What signified the likenesse of Manna to Coriander. Page 99
- 4 The holy Sacrament kept in the Tabernacle, as Manna in the Arke. Page 100
- 5 The Bread of the Iewes beares the name of wonder, in Figure of our wonderfull Sacrament of the Altar. Page 101
- 6 The wonderfull power of God in the Sacrament of the Altar. Page 102
- 7 Of the omnipotemcie of God in Transubstantiation. Page 104
- 8 This Change is a miracle for the faithfull. Page 106
- 9 Of the same power of God shewed in the accidents of bread and wine. Page 107
- 10 The selfe-same power, verified in the aceidents of the body of our Sauiour, and first in respect of the quantitie. Page 108
- 11 The meruailous power of God about the qualities of the body of our Sauiour in the blessed Sacrament. Page 109
- 12 The wonderfull relations of the body of our Sauiour in the same Sacrament. Page 110
- 13 Admirable actions of the body of our Sauiour. Page 111
- 14 The body of our Sauiour imp [...]ssible. Page 112
- 15 The Sacrament is in many places at one, and the self-same time. Page 113
- 16 The body of our Sauiour about the Lawes of time. Page 115
- 17 The admirable situation of the body of our Sauiour in the blessed Sacrament. Page 116
- [Page]18 The cloathing of the body of our Sauiour. Page 117
- 19 How the Eucharist is an abridgement of all the wonders of God. Page 118
- 20 How Faith is fortified by this Sacrament. Page 120
- 21 Of the goodnesse of our Sauiour in this Sacrament. Page 121
- 22 Charity towards God, and towards our neighbour, encreased by this Sacrament. Page 124
- 23 Of the Wisdome of God in this same mystery. Page 125
- 24 Gods diuine wisdome in teaching of this mystery. Page 127
- A Colloquium of prayses and thankesgiuing to God. Page 129
- PICTVRE VII. The Bread of Proposition.
- THe Description. Page 131
- 1 The body of our Sauiour conceined of a Virgin, by the operation of the holy Ghost, signified by the Loaues of Proposition, kneaded of the purest flower, without leauen. Page 133
- 2 How the body of our Sauiour is offered euery day, and renewed euery weeke. Page 134
- 3 The beginning, and end of the Communion is Charity, Prayer, and Contemplation. Page 135
- 4 The body of our Sauiour signified by the Table, vpon which were set the Loanes of Proposition Page 136
- 5 The signifieation of the Candlesticke. Page 137
- 6 The heart of the Iust, is the Altar of Incense. Page 138
- 7 Wherewith and how we ought to serue God. Page 139
- 8 The vertues, which are necessary, worthily to giue thankes vnto God, and to make a iust examen of our actions. Page 140
- 9 A Soueraigne acknowledgement, due onely to God, made in the Eucharist. Page 141
- 10 The body of our Sauiour, meate for the Sanctified. Page 142
- 11 What signified the Table of Proposition Loanes, and the Candlestickes multiplied by Salomon. Ibid.
- 12 Purity of body, necessary in such as come to receiue the [Page]holy Communion. Page 144
- 13 They which holily communicate, receiue strength, and are armed my the Sacrament. Page 14 [...]
- 14 A briefe exhortation to purity, when we present our selue [...] to the holy Sacrament. ibid.
- PICTVRE VIII. The Oblation of the First-fruits at Pentecost.
- THe Description. Page 147
- 1 Three Iudaicall Feasts of the First-fruits. Page 151
- 2 The Masse, the new Oblation in the Pentecost of Christians. Page 152
- 3 Of many circumstances of the ancient Oblation, answering to the truth of the Sacrament, and Sacrifice of the Masse. Page 154
- 4 Of the name Masse. Page 155
- 5 Transubstantiation made in the Sacrament, figured by the Leauen. Page 157
- 6 The Sacrament, and Sacrifice of the body of our Sauiour, vnder the formes of bread, foretold in the Scripture, and [...] by the Hebrew Doctors. Page 159
- 7 The testimonies of Hebrew Doctors for Transubstantiation, and the manner, how the body of our Sauiour is present in the Euchari [...]. Page 161
- 8 The testimontes of the Christian Doctors, concerning Transubstantiation, and the manner, how our Sauiours bodie is in the Eucharist. Page 163
- 9 Wherefore our Sauiour would haue his body hid, and not visible in the Sacrament. Page 167
- 10 As the old Oblation of First-fruits began in Pentecost, so ours new. Page 170
- 11 The Masse began to bee celebrated by the Apostles at Pentecost. Page 171
- PICTVRE IX. The Bread of Elias.
- THe Description. Page 17 [...]
- 1 The Bread of Elias, Figure of the Sacrament of the Altar. Page 177
- 2 What meaneth the Scripture in signifying, that the Bread of Elias was baked vnder the imbers. Page 178
- 3 What signifieth the sleepe of Elias vnder the shadow of the Iuniper tree. Page 180
- 4 Elias his walke, after the shadow of the Iuniper tree, to the Mountaine Horeb, and of the water, that was giuen him with the bread. Page 182
- 5 The signification of the pot of Water. Page 183
- PICTVRE X. The Propitiatory Sacrifice.
- THe Description. Page 185
- 1 Three kindes of Sacrifices. Page 186
- 2 Of the Propitiatory Sacrifice, which properly signifies that of the Crosse. ibid.
- 3 The second kinde of the Propitiatory Sacrifice, a Figure of the Eucharist. Page 188
- 4 What difference there is betweene the Iudaicall Propitiatory Sacrifices, and Sacraments, and those of Christians. Page 189
- 5 Testimonies of the ancient Fathers, both Latin and Greeke, teaching the Sacrifice of the Masse, to be a Propitiatory Sacrifice. Page 191
- 6 After what manner the Sacrifice of the Masse, an [...] the Sacraments remit sinne since that of the Crosse is our whole redemption. Page 194
- 7 The Sacrifice of the Masse, and the Sacraments, rather g [...], then take any honor from the Crosse. Page 196
- [Page]8 The Sacrifice of the Masse, profitable to obtaine from God all kinde of good, and it extends it selfe to all persons, except the damned. Page 198
- 9 The Sacrifice of the Masse, profitable to the faithfull departed, which are in Purgatory, and honorable to those, which raigne in heauen. Page 200
- PICTVRE XI. The fiue Loaues and two Fishes.
- THe Description. Page 203
- 1 The miracle of the fiue Loaues, a Figure of the Eucharist. Page 205
- 2 In what the miracle of the fiue Loaues did Figure the Eucharist. Page 206
- 3 The two Fishes, a Figure of the same Sacrament. Page 208
- 4 Wherefore no mention is made of any drinke in this miracle, and other circumstances of it. Page 209
- 5 Why the people would create our Sauiour King, and why hee fled them. Page 210
- 6 God, nourisher of euery creature, true nutriment of his Children. Page 212
- PICTVRE XII. Our Sauiour, Preaching of the Sacrament of his body.
- THe Description. Page 217
- 1 Wherefore our Sauiour made a Sermon of the Eucharist, before he instituted it. Page 218
- 2 The first cause, why our Sauiour would giue his [...] to eat, [Page]and his blend to drinke, which was to shew his goodnesse. Page 220
- 3 The Second cause, to giue a remedy to our misery. Page 221
- 4 Two bad vnious of the flesh of Adam, with our soule, repaired by the flesh of our Sauiour. Page 222
- 5 Pride and licentiousnesse, enemies of Faith, and the first aduersaries of the holy Sacrament. Page 226
- 6 Exposition of the words of our Sauiour. Page 230
- 7 Heresie alwayes carnall, and in loue with extremities. Page 232
- 8 Contradictions of Heretikes in their false and imaginarie faith. Page 234
- 9 The literall sense, foundation of others, against the same Heretikes. Page 235
- 10 Two kindes of Communion, the one Spiritual, the other Sacramentall. Page 238
- 11 Of the diuine wisdome, and goodnesse of God in this Sacrament: and of the folly, and ingratitude of men. Page 239
- 12 To the strayed s [...]epe of our age. Page 242
- PICTVRE XIII. The washing of the feete, going before the Institution of the Eucharist.
- THe Description. Page 245
- 1 Our Sauiour celebrates the Iewes Passouer, before he institutes the Sacrament of his body. Page 249
- 2 What is signified by the washing of feete. Page 252
- PICTVRE XIV. The Institution of the Eucharist.
- THe Description. Page 255
- 1 The entrance that Saint Iohn maketh, by which has declareth the greatnesse of the mystery of the Eucharist, which our Sauiour was to institute. Page 258
- 2 The Exposition of our Sauiours words, This is my body: Page 261
- 3 Of the clearenesse of the sense of these words: This is my body, by Scripture, and by reason. Page 263
- 4 Testimonies of the Fathers, vpon the Exposition of the same words. Page 265
- 5 Mysticall references of our Sauiours words, This is my body, to the ancient Figures, and to all other bodies. Page 268
- 6 How our Sauiour offers himself to God in Sacrifice, saying, This is my body. Page 271
- 7 The Sacrifice, and Sacrament of our Lords body, to haue been instituted in the mysticall Supper, declared by the testimony of Fathers. Page 274
- 8 Our Sauiours Testament, made in the Institution of the Sacrifice and Sacrament of his body. Page 275
- 9 In what manner our Sauiour hauing made his Testament, left his body to his heires. Page 279
- 10 Two great wonders happened in the Institution of this Sacrament. Page 281
- 11 S. Iohn first receiueth of all the Apostles. The Eucharist, the true refection, and the Present at the refection. Page 283
- 12 Of the words of our Sauiour; Doe this in my remembrance. Page 284
- 13 The Masse, a most proper memoriall of our Sauiours Passion. Page 286
- 14 The Masse, the Feast of God, wherein he is singularly called vpon in the Law of Grace, and the Christians are perfectly [Page]heard. Page 288
- 15 The redemption of mankind, and the end of the Synagogue, signified by the Institution of the Eucharist in the full of the Mo [...]ne. Page 291
- 16 The end of the Synagogue, and the beginning of the Law of Grace, signified by the eclypse of the Moone, and Sunne, which fell out the next day of the Pasche, and after the Eucharist ordained. Page 293
- 17 The Church, signified by the Moone: and of the Pasche, and Christian renouation. Page 294
- 18 Our Sauiour hauing instituted the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of his body, goeth foorth of his lodging, to goe to the Garden of Oliuet. Page 297
Faults escaped.
PAge 14. line 21. pegising reade picreing. p. 15. l. 23. cause r. sorts. p. 18. l. 25. like quallities r. like heauenly quallities. P. 25. l. 13. tree of all r. tree for all. p. 27. l. 9. practise r. praise. P. 32. l. 12. workes r. markes. p. 38. l. 10. he feared the r. ser [...]ed thee. p. 47. l. 15. mystery r. ministry. p. 57. l. 7. affirming r. offering. p. 63. l. 33. salactous r. solicitous. p. 64. l. 16. prosperity r. posterity. p. 76. l. 1. wasting r. rosting p. 120. l. 14. wee haue r. wee heare. p. 125. l. 20. workes r. markes. p. 131. l. 27. conuersation r. conseruation. p. 151. l. 43. holy r. honny. p. 172. l. 22. Lauarites r. Lauatories. p. 183. l. 11. celestiall r. eternall. p. 212. l. 27. freed r. fed. p. 221 l. 7. boundy r. bounty. p. 225. l. 29. glory for vs r. glorifie vs. p. 230. l. 23. explanation r. [...] plication. p. 236. l. 15. writeth r. reciteth. p. 264. l. 16. cominent r. connenient. p. 267. l. 26. S. Augustine writing r. S. Augustine reciting. p. 269. l. 7. Idonay r. Adonay. p. 276. l. 17. Iesus r. Iosua. p. 292. l. 2. fourteeth r. fourteenth, and l. 7. Hierusam r. Hierusalem. p. 292. l. 23. was not com: r. was now com: p. 295. l. 9. the Church shewes r. the Church shin [...]: and l. 31. shee should not make r. shee could not make. p. 229. l. 29. in that we shall be r. in that there we shall be.