by the means of the priest, it is delivered from the name of bread, and is reputed worthy the name of the Lord's body, although the nature of the bread remain still in it'; and it is not called two bodies, but one body of God's Son: so likewise here, the Divine nature residing in the body of Christ, these two make one Son, and one Person." In the selfsame manner also do Theodoret, Gelasius, and Ephræmius proceed against the Eutychian heretics. Theodoret, for his part, layeth down these grounds; that our Saviour," in the delivery of the mysteries, called bread his body, and that which was mixed (in the cup) his blood." That "he changed the names, and gave to the body the name of the symbol or sign, and to the symbol the name of the body." That he "honoured the visible symbols with the name of his body and blood; not changing the nature, but adding grace to nature." And that "this most holy food is a symbol and type of those things whose names it beareth, to wit, of the body and blood of Christ." Gelasius writeth thus: "Thed sacraments which we receive, of the body and blood of Christ, are a divine thing, by means whereof we are made partakers of the divine nature: and yet the substance or nature of bread and wine doth not cease to be. And · Εν δέ γε τῶν μυστηρίων παραδόσει, σῶμα τον ἄρτον ἐκάλεσε, καὶ alμa rò крāμа. Theod. dialog. 1. "AтрεπTоg, op. tom. 4. pag. 17. 3 Ὁ δὲ γε σωτὴρ ὁ ἡμέτερος ἐνήλλαξε τὰ ὀνόματα· καὶ τῷ μὲν σώματι τὸ τοῦ συμβόλου τέθεικεν ὄνομα, τῷ δὲ συμβόλῳ τὸ τοῦ σώματος. Ib. • Τὰ ὁρώμενα σύμβολα τῇ τοῦ σώματος καὶ αἵματος προσηγορίᾳ τετίμηκεν, οὐ τὴν φύσιν μεταβαλὼν, ἀλλὰ τὴν χάριν τῇ φύσει προστεθεικώς. Ibid. Ibid. σύμβολόν τε καὶ τύπον ἐκείνων, ὧν καὶ τὰς προσηγορίας ἐδέξαντο. d Certa sacramenta quæ sumimus, corporis et sanguinis Christi, divina res est, propter quod, et per eadem, divinæ efficimur consortes naturæ: et tamen esse non desinit substantia, vel natura panis et vini. Et certe imago et similitudo corporis et sanguinis Christi in actione mysteriorum celebrantur. Satis ergo nobis evidenter ostenditur, hoc nobis in ipso Christo Domino sentiendum, quod in ejus imagine profitemur, celebramus, et sumus: ut, sicut in hanc, scilicet in divinam transeant, Sancto Spiritu perficiente, substantiam, permanentes tamen in suæ proprietate naturæ ; sic illud ipsum mysterium principale, cujus nobis efficientiam virtutemque veraciter repræsentant, &c. Gelas. de duab. natur. in Christo, contra Eutychen. indeed the image and the similitude of the body and blood of Christ are celebrated in the action of the mysteries. It appeareth therefore evidently enough unto us, that we are to hold the same opinion of the Lord Christ himself, which we profess, celebrate, and are, in his image; that, as (those sacraments), by the operation of the Holy Spirit, pass into this, that is, into the divine substance, and yet remain in the propriety of their own nature: so that principal mystery itself, whose force and virtue they truly represent," should be conceived to be: namely, to consist of two natures, divine and human; the one not abolishing the truth of the other. Lastly, Ephræmius the patriarch of Antioch, having spoken of the distinction of these two natures in Christ, and said, that "no man having understanding could say, that there was the same nature of that which could be handled, and of that which could not be handled, of that which was visible, and of that which was invisible;" addeth, "and even thus, the body of Christ which is received by the faithful (the sacrament he meaneth) doth neither depart from his sensible substance, and yet remaineth undivided from intelligible grace: and baptism, being wholly made spiritual, and remaining one, doth both retain the property of his sensible substance (of water, I mean), and yet loseth not that which it is made." Thus have we produced evidences of all sorts, for confirmation of the doctrine by us professed touching the blessed sacrament: which cannot but give sufficient satisfaction to all, that with any indifferency will take the matter into their consideration. But the men, with whom we have to deal, are so far fallen out with the truth, that neither sense nor reason, neither authority of Scriptures or of fathers, can persuade them to be friends again with it: • ̓Αλλ ̓ οὐδεὶς ἀν εἰπεῖν δύναται νοῦν ἔχων, ὡς ἡ αὐτὴ φύσις ψηλαφητοῦ καὶ ἀψηλαφήτου, καὶ ὁρατοῦ καὶ ἀοράτου, οὕτως καὶ τὸ παρὰ τῶν πιστῶν λαμβανόμενον σῶμα χριστοῦ, καὶ τῆς αἰσθητῆς οὐσιας οὐκ εξίσταται (Schottus the Jesuit translateth this, et sensibilis essentiæ non cognoscitur : which is a strange interpretation, if you mark it), καὶ τῆς νοητῆς ἀδιαίρετον μένει χάριτος: καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα δὲ πνευματικὸν ὅλον γενόμενον, καὶ ἓν ὑπάρχον, καὶ τὸ ἴδιον τῆς αἰσθητῆς οὐσίας, τοῦ ὕδατος λέγω, διασώζει, καὶ ὃ γέγονεν οὐκ ἀπώλεσεν. Photii bibliotheca, cod. 229. Ephræmius de sacris Antiochiæ legib. lib. 1. in unless we shew unto them in what pope's days the contrary falsehood was first devised. If nothing else will give them content, we must put them in mind that, about the time wherein Soter was bishop of Rome, there lived a cozening companion, called Marcus, whose qualities are thus set out by an ancient Christian, who was famous in those days, though now his name be unknown unto us. Εἰδωλοποιὲ Μάρκε, καὶ τερατοσκόπε, Αστρολογικῆς ἔμπειρε καὶ μαγικῆς τέχνης, Δι' ὧν κρατύνεις τῆς πλάνης τὰ διδάγματα, Δι' ἀγγελικῆς δυνάμεως Αζαζὴλ ποιεῖν, *Εχων σε πρόδρομον ἀντιθέου πανουργίας. Where first he chargeth him to have been an idolmaker; then he objecteth unto him his skill in astrology and magic, by means whereof, and by the assistance of Satan, he laboured, with a shew of miracles, to win credit unto his false doctrines, amongst his seduced disciples: and lastly he concludeth, that his father the devil had employed him as a forerunner of his antithean craft, or his antichristian deceivableness of unrighteousness, if you will have it in the apostle's language. For he was indeed the devil's forerunner, both for the idolatries and sorceries, which afterward were brought into the east; and for those Romish" fornications and inchantments, wherewith the whole west was corrupted by that man of sin, "whose coming" was foretold to be " after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders." And that we may keep ourselves within the compass of that particular, which now we have in hand: we find in Irenæus, that this arch-heretic made special use of his juggling feats, to breed a persuasion in the minds of those whom he had perverted, that in the cup of his pretended eucharist, he really delivered them blood to drink. For, "feigning himself to consecrate the cups filled with wine, f Vet. author, citatus ab Irenæo, lib. 1. cap. 12. Apoc. chap. 9. ver. . 20, 21. i 2 Thess. chap. 2. ver. 9. h Ibid. chap. 18. ver. 3, 23. * Ποτήρια οἴνῳ κεκραμένα προσποιούμενος εὐχαριστεῖν, καὶ ἐπὶ πλέον and extending the words of invocation to a great length, he made them to appear of a purple and red colour: to the end it might be thought that the grace, which is above all things, did distil the blood thereof into that cup by his invocation." And even according to this precedent we find it fell out afterwards; that the principal and most powerful means, whereby the like gross conceit of the guttural eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ was at the first fastened upon the multitude, and in process of time more deeply rooted in them, were such delusions and feigned apparitions as these: which yet that great schoolman himself, Alexander of Hales, confesseth to happen sometimes either by "the procurement of man, or by the operation of the devil." Paschasius Radbertus, who was one of the first setters forward of this doctrine in the west, spendeth a large chapter upon this point: wherein he telleth us, that Christ in the sacrament did shew himself" oftentimes in a visible shape, either in the form of a lamb, or in the colour of flesh and blood, so that, while the host was a breaking or an offering, a lamb in the priest's hands, and blood in the chalice should be seen as it were flowing from the sacrifice, that what lay hid in a mystery might, to them that yet doubted, be made manifest in a miracle." And specially in that place he insisteth upon a narration, which he found in gestis Anglorum, but deserved well to have been put into gesta Romanorum for the goodness of it, of one Plecgils or ἐκτείνων τὸν λόγον τῆς ἐπικλήσεως, πορφύρια καὶ ἐρυθρὰ ἀναφαίνεσθαι ποιεῖ· ὡς δοκεῖν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑπὲρ τὰ ὅλα χάριν τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἑαυτῆς στάζειν ἐν τῷ ἐκείνῳ ποτηρίῳ διὰ τῆς ἐπικλήσεως αὐτοῦ, Irenæus, lib. 1. cap. 13. pag. 60. 1 Humana procuratione, vel forte diabolica operatione. Alex. Halens. summ. theolog. part. 4. quæst. 11. memb. 2. artic. 4. sec. 3. m Nemo qui sanctorum vitas et exempla legerit, potest ignorare, quod sæpe hæc mystica corporis et sanguinis sacramenta, aut propter dubios, aut certe propter ardentius amantes Christum, visibili specie in agni forma, aut in carnis et sanguinis colore, monstrata sint; quatenus de se Christus clementer adhuc non credentibus fidem faceret: ita ut dum oblata frangitur, vel offertur hostia, videretur agnus in manibus et cruor in calice, quasi ex immolatione profluere ; ut quod latebat in mysterio, patesceret adhuc dubitantibus in miraculo. Paschas. de corp. et sangu. Dom. cap. 14. Plegilus a priest: how an angel shewed Christ unto him in the form of a child upon the altar, whom first he took into his arms and kissed, but ate him up afterwards, when he was returned to his former shape again. Whereof arose that jest, which Berengarius was wont to use: "This" was a proper peace of the knave indeed, that whom he had kissed with his mouth, he would devour with his teeth." But there are three other tales of singular note, which, though they may justly strive for winning of the whetstone with any other, yet for their antiquity have gained credit above the rest: being devised, as it seemeth, much about the same time with that other of Plegilus, but having relation unto higher times. The first was had out of the English legends too, as Johannes Diaconus reporteth it in the life of Gregory the first; of a Roman matron, who found a piece of the sacramental bread turned into the fashion of a finger, all bloody; which afterwards, upon the prayers of St. Gregory, was converted to his former shape again. The other two were first coined by the Grecian liars, and from them conveyed unto the Latins, and registered in the book which they called Vitas Patrum: which being commonly believed to have been collected by St. Hierome, and accustomed to be read ordinarily in every monastery, gave occasion of further spread, and made much way for the progress of this mystery of iniquity. The former of these is not only related there, but also in the legend of Simeon Metaphrastes (which is such another author among the Grecians, as Jacobus de Voragine was among the Latins), in the life' of Arsenius: Speciosa certe pax nebulonis; ut, cui oris præbuerat basium, dentium inferret exitium. Guilielm. Malmesbur. de gestis reg. Anglor. lib. 3. Jo. Diac. vit. Greg. lib. 2. cap. 41. P Sanctus Hieronymus presbyter ipsas sanctorum patrum vitas Latino edidit sermone. Paschas. Radbert. in epist. ad Frudegard. Consule libros Carolinos, de imaginib. lib. 4. cap. 11. 4 Inter sententias patrum, a Pelagio Romanæ ecclesiæ diacono Latine versas, libell. 8. cui titulus De providentia vel prævidentia: sive, ut in Pholii bibliotheca habetur. cod. 98. περὶ διορατικῶν. Tom. 4. Surii, pag. 257. edit. Colon. ann. 1573. |