incense; at one time celebrating the memorial of the Great Sacrifice according to the Mysteries delivered from Him, and offering to God the Thanksgiving (Eucharist) for our salvation by devout hymns and prayers; at another time consecrating ourselves wholly unto Him, and to the High Priest, His Word, being dedicated unto Him in body and soul." S. Augustine :" In offering sacrifice we should know that the visible Sacrifice is to be offered to no other than Him, whose invisible sacrifice we ought to be in our hearts." Of the self-dedication of the Church at large, the same Father says, "He (ie. Christ) chose rather to be a Sacrifice than to receive one. . . . Hereby He is the Priest also, Himself both Offerer and Oblation, of which thing He willed that the daily Sacrifice of the Church should be a Sacrament, which being the Body of Him, the Head, learns to offer itself up through Him."2 If the "Sacrifice of Praise" of the Epistle to the Hebrews be indeed the Holy Eucharist, we have there another instance in which the mention of it has suggested to the writer's mind another sacrifice which it is open to all and the duty of all to offer; for the Apostle, having exhorted to the "continual offering' of the Sacrifice of Praise, immediately adds, "But to do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."3

* MAY BE FULFILLED WITH THY GRACE, ETC.]—This clause is from the Te igitur of the medieval Liturgies, and is therefore found in the Gelasian Canon. A literal translation of the original would be as follows:-"We humbly beseech Thee, . . . that all we who shall receive the most holy Body and Blood of Thy Son from this partaking of the Altar, may be fulfilled with all heavenly benediction and grace." All spiritual blessings, "remission of sins, and all other benefits of Christ's passion," are ascribed to a faithful reception of this holy Sacrament in every early Liturgy. Thus, e.g. in the Leonian Collects :5-That the "" reception of the Sacrament may change us, cleansed from all oldness, into a new creature;" "that to us receiving thereof it turn not to punishment, but to us faithfully partaking may profit unto pardon;" "that by this singular remedy Thou wouldst cleanse us from the contagion of all sins, and defend us from the incursion

1 De Civ. Dei, L. x. c. xix. tom. ix. col. 334.

2 Ibid. c. xx. col. 335.

4 Murat. tom. i. col. 697.

5 Ibid. tom. i. coll. 297, 354, 355, etc.

3 Heb. xiii. 15, 16.

of all dangers," etc. These are said, like our own, after the reception. S. Mark:-"That they may be to us all, who thereof partake, unto faith, sobriety, healing, temperance, sanctification, unto renewal of soul, body, and spirit, participation of the blessedness of eternal life and immortality, unto the glorifying of Thy all-holy Name, unto remission of sins," etc. S. James :2" We give Thee thanks, O Christ, our God, that Thou hast deemed us worthy to partake of Thy Body and Blood unto remission of sins and unto everlasting life." The Clementine :3" That they who receive thereof may be strengthened unto godliness, may obtain remission of sins, may be defended from the devil and his wiles, may be fulfilled with the Holy Ghost, may become worthy of Thy Christ, may attain eternal life, Thou being reconciled to them."4

The teaching of the Fathers is, of course, in accordance with that of the prayers which they offered: Lex orandi, lex docendi. Thus S. Hippolytus 5-"He gave us His Divine Flesh and His precious Blood, to eat and to drink them for the remission of sins." S. Cyprian :-" That after draining the Blood of the Lord and the Cup of Salvation, the memory of the old man be put off, and a forgetfulness of the old worldly conversation take place, and the woful and sad breast, that was before oppressed by torturing sins, be loosed by the joy of the Divine pardon." S. Ambrose :-"Stand there prepared that thou mayest take to thyself a defence; that thou mayest eat the Body of the Lord Jesus, in which is remission of sins, entreaty for reconciliation with God, and eternal protection." Julius Firmicus,8 340:-"Other [than the food

1 Renaud. tom. i. p. 158.

2 Assem. tom. v. p. 59, Lit. PP. p. 37.

3 Const. Apost. L. viii. c. xii. ; Cotel. tom. i. p. 407.

4 Dr. Neale says on this expression, where it occurs elsewhere in the same Liturgy: "Notice here, and again presently, this unscriptural' phrase. . . . This appears to me a good argument in favour of the belief that S. Clement's Liturgy was never really employed by any Church. Such an error might easily escape the notice of an individual writer; but the marvellous theological accuracy of early Liturgies would not have allowed the phrase to remain in use."-Liturgies Translated, p. 83, note. Yet it actually occurs in the Liturgy of S. James, of which Dr. Neale gives a translation in the same volume :-" Have pity, Lord, on us; be reconciled to all of us;" p. 53. I generally refrain from noticing the mistakes of other writers; but this is important, as it has been quoted in disparagement of the 2d Article of Religion. The phrase itself is no otherwise "unscriptural" than as not being found in Scripture.

5 Fragm. in Prov. ix. 1; p. 282.

6 Ep. lxiii. p. 153. 7 In Ps. cxviii. Expos. Heth, n. 48, tom. iii. p. 319. 8 De Err. Profan. Relig. p. 30; Lugd. Bat. 1645.

taken in certain heathen rites] is the Food which imparts salvation and life; other is the Food which, in the highest degree, both commends and restores man to God; other is the Food which refreshes the languishing, recalls the wandering, raises the fallen, which gives the tokens of eternal immortality to the dying. Seek the Bread of Christ, the Blood of Christ, that, earthly frailty spurned, the substance of man may be fed to the full with the immortal Food."

Remission of sins, so often mentioned as one effect of a faithful reception, is not, as in Baptism and Absolution, the special and direct gift attached to it by the Divine promise; but flows, as a necessary consequence, from that union with Christ, which is the great end and effect of this holy Sacrament. Wherever Christ enters, He comes to forgive and bless. When "we are one with Him, and He one with us," we are accepted of His Father for His sake; and this acceptance implies the pardon of sin, and the outpouring of all grace, according to the measure of each. "Draw near to

Him and be satisfied; for He is Bread. Draw near to Him. and drink; for He is a Fountain. Draw near to Him and be enlightened; for He is the Light. Draw near to Him and be delivered: for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' Draw near to Him and be absolved; for He is the remission of sins." 1

ACCEPT THIS OUR BOUNDEN DUTY AND SERVICE.]—This "bounden duty and service" is by implication called a "sacrifice:"-" although we be unworthy to offer unto Thee any sacrifice, yet," etc. The words are a translation or paraphrase of a clause in the old Canon,2 "Hanc igitur oblationem servitutis nostræ . . . quæsumus ut . . . accipias," "We beseech Thee to accept this oblation of our service." A similar phrase of later date, used in a prayer said by the Priest after the dismissal, is, "Obsequium servitutis meæ," "the obedience of my service:"-" May the obedience of my service please Thee, Holy Trinity; and grant that this Sacrifice, which I unworthy have offered to the eyes of Thy Majesty, may be acceptable unto Thee," etc. As this was in all the English Uses, our prayer may perhaps be indebted to this also.

1 S. Ambr. in Ps. cxviii. Expos. Sade, n. 28, tom. iii. p. 435.

2 Sacram. Gelas. Murat. tom. i. col. 696. It is still retained.

66

Com

pare the Gallican expressions, Suscipe... nostræ quoque servitutis obsequium;" Accepta Tibi sit. . nostræ servitutis oblatio;" "Suscipe Nomini Tuo debita honoris obsequia."-Miss. Goth. Liturg. Gall. pp. 227, 296.

h NOT WEIGHING OUR MERITS, BUT PARDONING OUR OFFENCES.] -Compare the old Canon :-"Non æstimator meriti, sed veniæ. . . largitor," which could hardly be rendered more literally. With both compare the prayer of Hezekiah for those who ate the Passover without legal purification:"The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God; . . . though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary."

"2

SECTION V.-The Second Prayer after the Communion and Lord's

b

Prayer.

RUBRIC XXX.

a ¶ Or this.

Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank Thee, for that Thou dost vouchsafe to feed us, who have duly received these holy Mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of Thy favour and goodness towards us; and that we are every members incorporate in the mystical body of Thy Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs through hope of Thy everlasting kingdom, by the merits of the most precious death and passion of Thy dear Son. And we most humbly beseech Thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with Thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as Thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

aT OR THIS.]-The former of these two prayers appears to be the more proper for ordinary use, as it gives verbal

1 Sacr. Gel. Mur. tom. i. col. 670.

2 2 Chron. xxx. 18, 19.

expression to the sacrificial aspect of the Sacrament, which is not brought out in the same manner elsewhere. At the same time, as the Sacrifice is inseparable from the action, and therefore sufficiently expressed by it, we need not hesitate to use the second, however frequently. We may suggest, therefore, that the second is to be preferred for the Festivals of Saints; because it recognises so fully the "holy fellowship" of all the faithful in Christ.

The present prayer was composed for the First Book of Edward, and was the only Post-Communion Collect provided in that Book. This example is followed in the Scotch, the Nonjurors', and the American Liturgies. In the Scotch and Nonjurors' it is called the "Collect of Thanksgiving." As such it may be compared with the Thanksgivings which follow the Communion in the Greek1 and the Oriental Liturgies. The following example is taken from the Syriac S. James :-" We give thanks unto Thee, O God, and above all things praise Thee for Thy unbounded and unspeakable love towards men. Condemn not, O Lord, for the reception of Thy holy and undefiled Mysteries, those whom Thou hast deigned to admit to the participation of Thy heavenly Table. But keep us, O good (Lord), in righteousness and holiness, that being made meet for the gift of Thy Holy Spirit, we may attain to a part, lot, and inheritance with all the saints who out of this world have pleased Thee; through the grace," etc. There is no such "Collect of Thanksgiving" in the Roman Office, nor in the old Offices of York and Hereford; but in those of Sarum and Bangor we find one appointed to be said by the Priest for himself, which in all probability suggested the prayer now before us; -"I give Thee thanks, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty everlasting God, who hast refreshed me with the most sacred Body and Blood of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; and I beseech Thee that this Sacrament of our salvation, which I, an unworthy sinner, have received, may not come for judgment unto me, nor for condemnation according to my deserts, but for profit of body and soul unto eternal life."

The

1 S. James, Assem. tom. v. p. 59; Lit. PP. p. 37; S. Basil, Goar, p. 175; S. Chrys. p. 84.

2 Renaud. tom. ii. p. 42. See the Nestorian, ibid. p. 596; S. Mark, tom. i. p. 163; the Coptic, pp. 24, 37, 38, 51; the Greek Alexandrine pp. 84, 124.

3 This prayer seems confined to the old dominion of our realm; for the only collections in which I find it were compiled for the instruction of Priests at Evreux and Rouen in Normandy. Martene, L. i. c. iv. Art. xii. Ordd. xxviii. xxxvii. tom. i. pp. 232, 244.