Anima Christi.

SOUL OF CHRIST, SANCTIFY ME:

BODY OF CHRIST, SAVE ME:

BLOOD OF CHRIST, REFRESH ME:

WATER FROM THE SIDE OF CHRIST, WASH ME:

PASSION OF CHRIST, STRENGTHEN ME:

O GOOD JESU! HEAR ME :

WITHIN THY WOUNDS HIDE ME:

SUFFER ME NOT TO BE SEPARATED FROM THEE:

FROM THE MALICIOUS ENEMY DEFEND ME:

IN THE HOUR OF MY DEATH, CALL ME :

AND BID ME COME TO THEE,

THAT WITH THY SAINTS I MAY PRAISE THEE,

FOR EVER AND EVER.

AMEN.

"MAKE ME, O LORD, THROUGH THY GRACE, ALWAYS SO TO

BELIEVE AND UNDERSTAND, TO CONCEIVE AND FIRMLY TO HOLD, TO THINK AND TO SPEAK, OF THIS EXCEEDING MYSTERY, AS SHALL PLEASE THEE, AND BE GOOD FOR MY SOUL."

HE Sacrament, or the Celebration of It, is called-The Holy Eucharist; for it is the Church's special Service of Thanksgiving: The Holy Sacrifice or Oblation; because of the Offering there made: The Sacrifice of the Altar; because of the place where it is offered: The Mass ; from a word which also signifies an offering, or, more probably, from one which was used to mark the completion of the Sacrifice or the dismissal of the congregation: The Communion; because in it we are "partakers of Christ,' we are one with Christ and Christ with us:" The Breaking of Bread; from a Manual Act in the Consecration: The Divine Liturgy."

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* See, "A Catechism on the Church Militant, the Church Expectant, and the Church Triumphant," by the Compiler of this Altar Book. Sixth Thousand, Palmer, 32, Little Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C.

HE Celebration of the Blessed Sacrament, or Holy Eucharist, is the chief Service of the Church. It is Christ's own Service, instituted by Himself. It is that Service of the Church by which God is most honoured and man is most blessed. It is the highest act of Christian worship; no other is equal to it, or the like of it.

O

UR Lord Jesus Christ, very God and very Man, is present in His Sacrament. Of the Bread, when consecrated, He Himself said, This is My Body. Of the Cup, when consecrated, He Himself said, This is My Blood. Christ's Body and Blood are present "only after an heavenly and spiritual manner," but yet they are present "verily and indeed." This is a mystery, and, like the mystery of the Holy Trinity and that of the Incarnation, cannot be explained. Let it suffice to say, where the Body and Blood of Christ are, there must needs be Christ Himself, His Humanity, and His Divinity; for His Divine and Human Nature cannot be separated.

HE Sacrament is to be regarded as a Sacrifice and a Communion.

ΤΗ

The Sacrament is a Sacrifice. A Sacrifice, as we read in the Old Testament, is a Service in which there is an Offering offered to God by a Priest upon an Altar, the people joining with him; and it is accompanied with Praise and Prayer, Intercessions, and Giving of Thanks. Before Christ came, in ancient times, offerings were made of lambs and other animals, which were but a "shadow of good things to come," a type of Christ, the true Lamb of God. When Christ came and made the one Oblation of Himself once for all upon the Cross, fulfilling all types, the ancient sacrifices passed away. There could be no more shedding of blood, no further or other animal sacrifice. Henceforth, and for ever, there is One Offering. Christ, the very and true Lamb of God, is that Offering. Christians know no

Enstructions.

other Offering but Christ. He, the Great High Priest at the Throne above, offers to the Father His own spotless Body and priceless Blood, the one "Pure Offering" for sin (Mal. i. 11): and we, His Priests, at the Altar below, offer to the Father the same spotless Body and priceless Blood, the same one "Pure Offering." Christ offers Himself visibly in Heaven: His Priests offer Him invisibly, veiled under the visible forms of Bread and Wine, as He Himself ordained, on earth. As, too, the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament is only after a spiritual manner, so the Offering of Christ in the Sacrament is only after a spiritual manner. Therefore we call our Sacrifice a spiritual Sacrifice. The Offering of the Sacrament, also, alike with the Offering before the Throne, is the Memorial of the Cross and Passion of Jesus. We say, "in remembrance of His Death and Passion." Further, this Sacrifice, our Eucharistic Sacrifice, is offered, as were other sacrifices, for the glory of God, and in acknowledgment of His power and goodness, as well as to propitiate His favour, and for the remission of sins, and all other benefits of His Passion.

The Sacrament is a Communion.-In the ancient Sacrifices of the Law of Moses, as, for example, that of the Paschal Lamb, that, which was offered, was afterwards fed upon by him, or them, who offered it. So here. We first make our Offering, the precious Body and Blood of Christ; then we partake of It. "Christ is our spiritual Food and Sustenance in the Holy Sacrament." The benefits of His Cross and Passion are thus applied to us, fully and perfectly, for the "preservation of our bodies and souls to everlasting life."

THE

HE Celebration of the Sacrament ought to be omitted in no Church on the Lord's Day. The Disciples met to "break bread,”—the Sacrament being so named in Holy Scripture (Acts xx. 7) from the act of breaking the Bread by Christ in the Institution,- on "the first day of the week." It is also to be celebrated on all Holy-Days. In many places, as of old,