The Anatomy of the Mass, Book 1 · Chapter 16
CHAP. XVI. Examen of the Adoration of the Sacrament by the word of God. That the Ancient Chriſtians did not worſhip the Sacrament.
IF the Scriptures had with our Adverſaries any authority, this controverſie would ſoone be decided.
Every action that concernes Gods Service, and ſpecially Adoration, is to be done in Faith, and not with doubts and conjectures, as Saint James ſaith, Chapter firſt: Let him aske in Faith nothing wavering: And Saint Paul, Rom. 14. ſaith that whatſoever is not of Faith, is ſinne. And the ſame Apoſtle to the Hebrewes, Chapter 11. It is impoſſible without Faith to pleaſe God. Now it is impoſſible that the people of the Roman Church ſhould worſhip the hoſte of the Maſſ… in faith: Becauſe God hath not commanded it in his word. For as Saint Paul ſaith, Rom. 1…. Faith commeth by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
In generall we have the Lords commandement ſaying, Thou ſhalt worſhip the Lord thy God, and him onelyonly ſhalt thou ſerve. Hee ſpeaketh of the Soveraigne God, Creator and Governour of the World, and not of a God made with words, that is made of bread, ſubject to falling, to be vomited up, and ſtolne away. Certainly, to worſhip ſuch a god as that, is to violate the Commandement of the Law, which ſaith: Thou ſhalt have no other God before me.
In vaine doe they anſwer that Chriſt ought to be worſhipped, ſince hee is God: For, beſides that they preſuppoſe that which is not, to wit, that this bread is tranſubſtantiated into the body of Chriſt, they declare themſelves that in this Sacrament Chriſts body is not onelyonly worſhipped: but alſo the roundneſſe, colour, and ſavour of the bread.
That if any religious worſhip were to be given to this Sacrament, ſome trace of it would be found in the Inſtitution of the holy Supper, and ſome commandement of the Lord: But neither trace nor appearance of that is to be found. But rather we ſee that the Apoſtles ſate at the table during this action, as it appeareth by what is ſaid i… Saint John 13.12. that Chriſt after h… had taken his garments, he ſate downe againe. During which repaſt Saint John was leaning on Jeſus boſome, Verſe 23. And Saint Paul relating the Inſtitution of the Lord, ſaith: I have received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you. Since then hee doth not ſpeake of any adoration of the Sacrament, it is certaine hee had not received it of the Lord, and beleeved not that the Church was obliged to worſhip the Sacrament.
The ordinary ſhift of our Adverſaries, is to ſay that the Apoſtles worſhipped not the conſecrated hoſte, becauſe they had Chriſt every day with them, and muſt have beene continually kneeling before him.
I anſwer that to eate Chriſt with their teeth, and receive him in their mouthes, and ſacrifice him in ſacrifice propitiatory, are actions which were new to the Apoſtles, and which neceſſarily required Adoration. Every Sacrifice is performed in the worſhipping of him to whom the Sacrifice is offered up. Theſe things ſo extraordinary and admirable (if they were true) did well deſerve an extraordinary veneration. Specially in the firſt Inſtitution which was to ſerve for a rule unto the Church, and a patterne to conforme her ſelfe unto.
And ſince our Adverſaries will have Chriſt in the holy Supper to have eaten himſelfe, he might by the ſame reaſon worſhip himſelfe, and bowe the knee before himſelfe, which is a very merry and recreative conception, and ſutable unto Tranſubſtantiation.
Whereupon we give our Adverſaries the choice. Will they have Chriſt to have adored the conſecrated hoſte? But it would follow from thence, according to their doctrine, that Chriſt had worſhipped his owne ſelfe, and that he was holyer than himſelfe. And it is certain that he that worſhippeth, and he that is worſhipped, are two perſons. Will they have Chriſt not to have worſhipped the conſecrated hoſte? But it will follow from thence that the Apoſtles, neither then, nor ſince, never worſhipped it. For Chriſt ſaying unto them, Doe this, commanded them to doe as he had done.
That if the Lord would have had the Apoſtles to have worſhipped the Sacrament he would have made an elevation of the hoſte, as was obſerved in al Sacrifices, for to binde the ſacrificers and the aſſiſtants to the adoration. A thing nevertheleſſe which Chriſt did not doe: for he offered up nothing to his Father. He did not ſay, Father receive this oblation: But ſayd to his Apoſtles, Take, Eate.
Even in the very time of Tertullian and of Cyprian (as we ſhall ſee hereafter) the cuſtome of divers Chriſtians, both men and women, was to carry into their houſes the ſacred bread they had received in the Church, to wrap it up in a cloth, and to lock it up at home in a cheſt or cupbord. A manifeſt proofe they worſhipped not the Sacrament. For would they have permitted a woman to take God with her hand, put him up in her pocket, and keepe him locked up cloſe at home?
Would the Chriſtians have upbraided the Pagans that they worſhipped Statues that could not move themſelves,See Arnob. lib. 6. and Lactantius lib. 2. cap. 2. nor riſe when they were fallen, nor breathe, ſubject to ruſt, wherein mice make their neſts, &c. if the Pagans might have upbraided them the ſame, and tell them that they worſhipped an hoſte that could not breath, nor riſe up when it is fallen, nor open its eyes, nor ſtretch out its hands; that may be ſtolne by men, and eaten by mice, and will grow mouldie, &c?
Durſt Theodoret have ſayd in the 55 queſtion upon Geneſis, foreign.that it is an extreame folly to worſhip that which one eateth, if the Chriſtians of his time had worſhipped the Sacrament afore they are it? It is this errour above all others that keepes the Pagans from embracing the Chriſtian Religion, as Averroes teſtifieth; of whom Salmeron the Jeſuite cites theſe words out of the 12 booke of his Metaphyſickes. Salmeron Tomo 9. Tract. 18. S. Ca lvi nus.Quoniam Chriſtiani Deum ſuum quem adorant, manducant, ſit anima mea cum Philoſophis. Since Chriſtians eate the God they worſhip, let my ſoule be with the Philoſophers.
The ancienteſt forme of celebrating the Euchariſt in the Chriſtian Church, is that which is deſcribed about the later end of the ſecond Apologie of Juſtin Martyr, wherein no mention is made of any adoration: No more than in that which is extant in the booke of the Eccleſiaſticall Hierarchie of Denis, who is ſurnamed Areopagite.
There are ſome places in the Fathers that ſay that Chriſt is worſhipped in the Euchariſt: but that makes nothing to this purpoſe. For the Father alſo and the Holy Ghoſt ought to b… worſhipped in the Euchariſt. It is one thing to worſhip Chriſt in the action of the Sacrament, and another thing to worſhip the Sacrament. Yet notwithſtanding, the third Councel of Carthage in the 23 Canon, forbids one to addreſſe his prayer to the Sonne in the Euchariſt, in theſe words: When any one aſſiſts at the Altar, Cum ad altare a…ſtatur, ſemper ad l'atrem der gatur oral…o.let his prayer alwayes be directed to the Father. If then they had worſhipped the conſecrated hoſte, doubtleſſe it would not have beene forforbidden to invocate it.
There be alſo in Ancient Fathers ſome Oratorie Apoſtropho's, wherein they ſpeake to the water of Baptiſme,Ambroſ. in Lu…am cap 10. O qua qua Sa…am…utum Ch…ſt eſſe …ru…ſti. and to the bread and wine of the Euchariſt: but that makes nothing for the adoration neither of the water nor of the bread. So the Scripture ſpeakes often to heaven, to the Earth, to the Sea, to the Mountaines; yet none can inferre from thence that they muſt be worſhipped.
Of Theodoret, who in his 2. Dialogue ſaith, that the ſignes are worſhipped, …all be ſpoken hereafter. There is in the Greeke foreign, which cannot be underſtood of the ſoveraigne adoration, …eing he ſpeakes of the ſignes or Sym…les, which cannot be worſhipped reli…ouſly, and with the worſhip of Latria, without manifeſt Idolatry. In the Greeke copies of the Affrican codex, Aurelius Biſhop of Carthage, is oftē called foreign: Abraham worſhippeth, or rather pro…rateth himſelfe before the Sons of Heth, Geneſ: 23. verſ. 7. & 12. And Jacob doth the ſame to his brother Eſau, Gen: 33.3. and David to Jonathan. 1. Sam: 20.41. Whom nevertheleſſe Abraham, and Jacob, and David eſteemed not to be Gods: Tertullian againſt Hermogenes, chap. 22. ſaith, that he worſhippeth the plenitude of the Scriptures. Auſtiu in the 164 Epiſtle to Emeritus, Baptiſmum Chriſti ubique veneramur: We worſhip every where the Baptiſme of Chriſt. Such n…n…r of ſpeeches ought to be underſtood according to the ſubject or matter in hand.