Doctrines and Practices of the Ancient Church Relating to the Eucharist, Chapter 11
CHAP. XI. The Eleventh Difference. The Fathers make the Bread and Wine to be the Sacrament, Sign, Figure, Type, Antitype, Image, &c. of Chriſts Body and Blood. They of the Church of Rome, make either the Accidents ſubſiſting without a Subject, or the Body of Chriſt latent under thoſe Accidents, to be the Sacrament, Sign, Figure, &c. and not the ſubstance of Bread and Wine, which they ſay is aboliſhed. Therefore they have no Sacrament ſuch as the Fathers aſſert.
I Might give in here a very large Collection out of the Fathers, calling the Bread and Wine by all thoſe names above mention'd; but to avoid tediouſneſs, I ſhall only ſelect ſome few of them (enow to prove the Truth of what I have aſſerted) under the ſeveral heads.
S. Ambroſe (p)De iis qui initiant. c. 9. Vera uti que caro Chriſti, quae crucifixa eſt, quae ſepulta eſt, verè ergo carnis illius eſt Sacramentum.. It is the true Fleſh of Chriſt that was buried; therefore it (viz. the Euchariſt) is truly the Sacrament of his fleſh.
S. Auſtin (q)Serm. ad recen. Batiſ. Quomodo eſt panis corpus ejus, & calix, vel quod habet calix, ſanguis ejus? Iſta, fratres, ideo dicuntur Sacramenta, quia in iis aliud videtur, aliud intelligitur.. How is the Bread his Body, and the Cup, or what the Cup contains, his Blood? Theſe, Brethren, are therefore called Sacraments, becauſe in them we ſee one thing, and underſtand another.
Again (r)In Pſal. 68. conc. 1. Cùm veniret Dominus ad coenam, qua commendavit Sacramentum corporis & ſanguinis ſui.. When the Lord came to the Supper, wherein he commended the Sacrament of his Body and Blood.
Facundus (s)Defenſ 3. capit. l. 9. Chriſti fideles Sacramentum corporis & ſanguinis ejus accipientes, corpus & ſanguinem Chriſti rectè dicuntur accipere. — non quod propriè corpus ejus ſit panis & poculum ſanguis, ſed quod in ſe myſterium corporis ſanguiniſ que contineant.. Chriſts faithful ones, receiving the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, are rightly ſaid to receive his Body and Blood. And he had ſaid before, Not that the Bread is properly his Body, and the Cup his Blood, but becauſe they contain in them the myſtery of his Body and Blood.
Iſidore (t)De Offic. Eccleſ. l. 1. c. 18. Haec duo ſunt viſibilia, ſanctificata autem per Spiritum Sanctum in Sacramentum Divini Corporis tranſeunt.ſpeaking of the Bread and Wine, ſays, Theſe two are viſible, but being ſancrified by the Holy Spirit they paſs into a Sacrament of his Divine Body.
They call them alſo Symbols.
Origen (u)Comm. in Matth. 15. foreign.. Having diſcourſed (as we hear… before) of the Euchariſt, concludes thus. Thu much may ſuffice concerning the Typical and ſymbo lical Body. And diſtinguiſhes it from the word that was made Fleſh, which he calls true food.
Euſebius (x)Dem. Evang. l. 1. cap. 10. foreign, &c.. Having received a command to celebrate the memory of this Sacrifice upon the Table, by the Symbols of his Body and ſaving Blood, according to the Ordinances of the N. Teſtament.
Theodoret (y)Comm. in 1 Cor. 13. foreign., not only in the large Teſtimony produced out of him in the laſt Chapter, calls the Bread and Wine the Symbols of Chriſts Body and Blood, but ſays thus elſewhere. In the moſt H. Baptiſm we ſee a type of the reſurrection, then we ſhall ſee the reſurrection it ſelf. Now we ſee the Symbols of the Lords Body, there we ſhall ſee the Lord himſelf.
They call them Signs.
S. Auſtin (z)Contr. Adimant. c. 12. Non dubitavit Dominus dicere hoc eſt corpus meum, cùm daret ſignum corporis ſui.. Our Lord did not doubt to ſay, This is my Body, when he gave the ſign of his Body.
S. Ambroſe (a)De iis qui init. c. 9. Ante benedictionem verborum Coeleſtium alia ſpecies nominatur, poſt Conſecrationem Corpus Chriſti ſignificatur.of the Bread. Before the Benediction of the Heavenly words, another ſpecies is named, after the Conſecration the Body of Chriſt is ſignified.
S. Cyprian (b)Nec poteſt videri ſanguis ejus quo redempti & vivificati ſumus, eſſe in calice, quùm vinum deſit calici, quo Chriſti ſanguis oſtenditur. Epiſt. ad Caecilium.. Neither can the Blood of Chriſt, whereby we are redeemed and quickned, be ſeen to be in the Cup, when Wine is wanting in the Cup, whereby the Blood of Chriſt is ſhown. Speaking againſt thoſe that uſed only Water.
Tertullian (c)— L. 1. adv. Marcion. Nec panem reprobavit, quo ipſum Corpus ſuum reptaeſentat.. Neither did he reject Bread, whereby he repreſents his own Body.
S. Jerome (d)In Matth. 26. — Ut quomodo in praefiguratione ejus Melchiſedec ſummi Dei ſacerdos panem & vinum offerens fecerat, ipſe quo que veritatem ſui corporis & ſanguinis repraeſentarer…. Chriſt, ſays he, took Bread that comforts mans heart, and proceeded to the true Sacrament of the Paſſover, That like as Melchiſedeck the Prieſt of the High God had done, when he offered Bread and Wine, ſo he alſo might repreſent the truth of his Body and Blood.
It's a very trifling objection that our Adverſaries make both to this and the former Teſtimony in Tertullian, that the word repraeſentare (to repreſent) ſignifies very often to exhibit a thing, and make it preſent; for tho' it ſhould be granted, it would not help their cauſe, ſince they both ſay, that it is Bread that repreſents his Body, which therefore muſt remain, ſince that which is not cannot act any thing: but then I add, that tho' in ſome Caſes to repreſent is to exhibit, yet never in the Caſe of Sacraments and Signs, for their Eſſence conſiſts in ſignification, therefore their repreſentation as Signs, muſt be to denote and ſhow rather ſomething abſent which they repreſent, than to make it preſent.
They call them alſo Types.
Cyril of Jeruſ. (e)Catech. Myſtag. 4. — foreign.He bids us receive the Bread and Wine with all certainty, as the Body and Blood of Christ: for in the Type of the Bread his Body is given to thee, and in the type of Wine his Blood.
Greg. Nazianzen (f)In Paſch. Orat. 43. Ed. Baſil. Gr. foreign.We. ſhall receive the Paſsover now in a Type ſtill, tho' more clear than that of the old Law (for the legal Paſsover, I am beld to ſay it, was an obſcure Type of a Type) but within a while we ſhall receive it more perfect and more pure.
S. Jerome (g)In Jerem. 31.upon thoſe words of Jerem. 31. They ſhall flow unto the goodneſs of the Lord, for Wheat, and Wine and Oyl, adds, — De quo conficitur panis Domini, & ſanguinis ejus impletur typus, & benedictio ſanctificationis oſtenditur.Of which is made the Lords Bread, and the Type of his Blood is filled, and the Bleſſing of Sanctification is ſhown.
Theodoret (h)Dialog. 3. — foreign.calls the Euchariſt, The venerable and ſaving Type of Chriſts Body.
Another name is Antitypes, ſignifying the ſame with the former.
Author Conſtitutionum (i)Lib. 5. cap. 13. — foreign.under the name of Clemens Roman. Chriſt delivered to us the myſteries which are antitypes of his precious Body and Blood.
Again (k)Lib. 7. c. 26.O our Father, we give thee thanks for the precious Blood of Jeſus Chriſt ſhed for us, — foreign.and for his precious Body of which we celebrate theſe Antitypes.
Euſtathius of Antioch (l)In Proverb. 9. citat. in Cenc. Nic. 2. Act. 6. foreign., expounding thoſe words, Eat my Bread, and Drink the Wine that I have mingled, ſays, He ſpeaks theſe things, by Bread and Wine preaching the Antitypes of Chriſts Bodily Members.
Macarius (m)Homil. 27. foreign.. In the Church is offered Bread and Wine, the Antitype of Chriſts Fleſh and Blood.
Greg. Nazianzen (n)Orat. 11.telling the ſtory how his Siſter Gorgonia was Cured of a deſperate Malady, foreign, &c.by applying the Sacrament mixed with tears to her Body, he expreſſes it thus. Whatſoever of the Antitypes of the precious Body and Blood of Chriſt her hand had treaſured up, &c.
Cyril of Jeruſ. (o)Catech. Myſtag. 5. foreign.. When they taſt, they are not required to taſt Bread and Wine (i. e. not theſe alone) but the Antitype of Chriſts Body and Blood.
Theodoret (as we heard before (p)Dialog. 2. foreign.) calls the Divine Myſteries, the Antitypes of the True Body of Chriſt.
And in another place (q)Recapit. in fine Dialog. 3. — foreign.he ſays, If the Lords Fleſh be changed into the Nature of the Divinity, wherefore do they receive the Antitypes of his Body, for the Type is ſuperfluous (you ſee Type and Antitype ſignify the ſame) when the Truth is taken away.
Theodotus of Antioch (r)Citante Bulingero adv. Caſaub. p. 166.ſays, As the King himſelf and his Image are not two Kings, neither are theſe two Bodies, viz. The Body of Chriſt perſonally exiſting in the Heavens, and the Bread, the Antitype of it, which is delivered in the Church by the Prieſts to the Faithful.
They call it a Figure.
Tertullian (s)Lib. 3. adv. Maricion. Tanem corpus ſuum appellans, ut hinc etiam intelligas corporis ſui figuram pani dediſſe.. Calling Bread his Body, that thou mayſt thence underſtand, that he gave to the Bread the Figure of his Body.
Again (t)Lib. 4. adv. Marcion. c. 40. Acceptum panem & diſtributum diſcipulis, corpus ſuum illum fecit, hoc eſt corpus meum, dicendo, id eſt, figura corporis mei.. The Bread which he took and diſtributed to his Diſciples, he made it his Body, ſaying, This is my Body, that is, the Figure of my Body.
Ephrem Syrus (u)Tract. de nat. dei curioſè non ſcrutanda. Diligenter intuere, quomodo in manibus panem accipiens, benedixit & fregit in figuram immaculati corporis ſui, calicem que in figuram pretioſi ſanguinis ſui benedixit dedit que diſcipulis ſuis.. Diligently conſider, how Chriſt taking Bread in his hands, bleſſed and brake it, for a figure of his immaculate Body, and alſo bleſſed and gave the Cup to his Diſciples, for a figure of his precious Blood.
S. Auſtin (x)In Pſal. 3. Adhibuit (Judam) ad convivium, in quo corporis & ſanguinis ſui figuram diſcipulis commendavit & tradidit.. He admitted Judas to the Banquet, in which he commended and delivered to his Diſciples the figure of his Body and Blood.
Bede (y)In Pſal. 3. Nec à Sacratiſſimâ coena, in quâ figuram Sacroſancti corporis ſanguiniſ que ſuis diſcipulis tradidit, ipſum (ſc. Judam) excluſit.alſo ſays the ſame, Neither did Chriſt exclude Judas from the moſt holy Supper, in which he delivered to his Diſciples the figure of his moſt holy Body and Blood.
And elſewhere (z)In Luc. 22. Pro agni carne vel ſanguine ſuae carnis ſanguiniſ que Sacramentum in panis & vini figurâ ſubſtituens, ipſum ſe eſle monſtraret, cui juravit Dominus, Tu es ſacerdos in aeternum ſecundùm Ordinem Melchiſedec., Chriſt instead of the Fleſh or Blood of a Lamb, ſubſtituting the Sacrament in the Figure of Bread and Wine, ſhowed that it was he, to whom the Lord ſware, Thou art a Prieſt for ever after the O… of Melchiſedeck.
The words of the Ambroſian Office are very remarkable, as they are ſet down by the Author of the Book of Sacraments under his name, where he asks this Queſtion.
(a)Lib. 4. de Sacram. c. 5. in initio. Vis ſcire quia verbis coeleſtibus conſecratur? Accipe quae ſint verba. Dicit ſacerdos, Fac nobis, inquit, hanc oblationem aſcriptam, rationabilem, acceptabilem, quod eſt Figura corporis & ſanguinis Domini noſtri Jeſu Chriſti, &c.Wouldſt thou know that the Euchariſt is Conſecrated by Heavenly words? Hear then what the words are. The Prieſt ſays, Make this oblation to us allowable, rational, acceptable, which is the Figure of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, &c.
This Prayer thus expreſſed in this Office, ſignifies more than all that can be cited againſt us out of theſe Books; and indeed they were too plain to be continued, when Tranſubſtantiation was believed in the Roman Church, and therefore in the preſent Canon of the Maſs they are changed, and inſtead of Figura Corporis, they now read, Fiat nobis Corpus, &c.
Laſtly, The Fathers call the Bread and Wine in the Euchariſt, the Image of Chriſts Body.
Euſebius (b)Lib. 8. Demon. Evang.. Chriſt, ſays he, delivered to his Diſciples the Symbols of his Divine Oeconomy, — foreign.requiring them to make an Image of his Body.
Gelaſius (c)Tract. de duabus Naturis. Certè Imago & Similitudo corporis & ſanguinis Chriſti in actione myſteriorum celebrantur. Satis ergo nobis evidenter oſtenditur, hoc nobis in ipſo Chriſto Domino ſentiendum, quod in ejus imagine profitemur, celebramus & ſumimus, &c.. Surely the Image and ſimilitude of the Body and Blood of Chriſt are celebrated in the action of the myſteries. It is evidently therefore ſhown to us, that we must think of our Lord Chriſt the ſame, which we profeſs, celebrate and take in his Image, &c.
Procopius of Gaza (d)Comm. in 49 Geneſ.expounding theſe words ſpoke… … Juda, His Eyes ſhall be red with Wine, and his Teeth … Milk (Gen. 49.12.) he applies it to the Euchariſ… … gladneſs which is obtain'd by the … firſt taſted, and had his Diſciples take and … Milk may ſignify the purity … food, foreignfor he gave the …ge of his … his Diſciples, no longer requiring the bl…dy … of the Law, and by the white teeth be denoted the purity of the Bready by which y… are nouriſhed.
Author Dialog. adv. Marcionitas inter opera Originis (e)Dialog. 3. — foreign.. If Chriſt, as the Marcioniſts ſay, was without Fleſh and without Blood, of what Fleſh, or of what Body or Blood did he give the Images, and commanded his Diſciples to make a remembrance of him by?
Synodus Conſtantinop. an. 754. (f)In Concil. Nicen. 2. Act. 6. — foreign. — foreign. — foreign.. The Fathers there call the Euchariſt, the true Image of Chriſt, and ſay afterwards — Chriſt commanded us to offer an Image, a choſen matter, to wit, the ſubſtance of Bread, not having an humane Figure, leſt Idolatry ſhould be introduced.
And again. It pleaſed him, that the Bread of the Eucharist, being the true Image of his natural Fleſh ſhould be made a Divine Body, being ſanctified by the coming of the Holy Gheſt, the Prieſt which makes the oblation intervening to make it holy, which before was common.
He that would have more Teſtimonies of this kind, may conſult Monſieur Blondel, in his Eſclairciſſements ſur l' Euchariſtie, cap. 4. prop. 8.
The Fathers alſo make two or three Remarks, which add further ſtrength to this Argument.
Firſt Remark. They not only make Bread and Wine to be the Image, Type, Figure, &c. of Chriſts Body Crucified; but they alſo aſſert, that an Image, Figure, &c. cannot be the thing it ſelf, of which it is an Image and Figure.
Tertullian (g)Cont. Marcion. l. 2, c. 9. Imago veritati non uſquequa que adaequabitur, aliud enim eſt ſecundùm veritatem eſſe, aliud ipſam veritatem eſſe.. The Image cannot be every ways adequate to the Truth; for it is one thing to be according to Truth, another to be the Truth it ſelf.
Athanaſius (h)Contr. Hypocr. Milet. foreign.That which is like to another is not that thing it ſelf to which it is like.
Hilary (i)De Synodis. Ne que enim ſibi ipſi quiſquam imago eſt.. Neither is any one an Image of himſelf.
S. Ambroſe (k)De fide l. 1. cap. 4. Nemo poteſt ſibi ipſi imago fuiſſe.. None can ever have been an Image of Himſelf.
Gr. Nyſſen (l)De anima & reſurrect. foreign.. An Image would be no longer ſuch if it were altogether the ſame with that of which it is an Image.
S. Auſtin (m)De Trinit. l. 7. c. 1. Quid abſurdius quàm Imaginem ad ſe dici?. What can be more abſurd, than to be called an Image with reſpect to ones ſelf.
Gaudentius (n)In Exod. tract. 2. Figura non eſt veritas, ſed imitatio veritatis.. A Figure is not the Truth, but an imitation of the Truth.
Theodoret (o)In Dan. l. 2. c. 2. foreign.. An Image has the Figures and lines, not the things themſelves.
Cyril of Alexand. (p)In Amoſ. cap. 6. foreign.. A Type is not the Truth, but rather imports the ſimilitude of the Truth.
Bertram (q)De corp. & ſang. Domini. Pignus & Imago alterius rei ſunt, id eſt, non ad ſe, ſed ad aliud aſpiciuu…. A pledge and an Image are of another thing; that is, they do not look to themſelves, but to ſomething elſe.
This Epiphanius the Deacon (r)In Concil. Nic. 2. Act. 6.in the ſecond Council of Nice confeſſes, and therefore is fain to deny, that the Euchariſt is the Image or Antitype of Chriſts Body; foreignFor, ſays he, If (the Euchariſt) be an Image of his Body, it cannot be the Divine Body it ſelf.
Damaſcen alſo (s)De Orth. fide l. 4. c. 14.who was one of the firſt Innovators in the matter of the Euchariſt, denies, that the Bread and Wine are a Type or Figure of Chriſts Body and Blood, but the very Body and Blood it ſelf; and that when the Antients call them foreign Antitypes, they mean it is ſo before Conſecration of the Elements not after, which I have abundantly ſhowed, by foregoing Teſtimonies in this Chapter, to be falſe, and it is confeſſed by ſome of the Roman Authors themſelves.
In a word, the Fathers make a ſign to be inferiour, and to fall ſhort of the thing ſignified; thus
S. Chryſoſtem (t)Hom. 8. in Epiſt. ad Roman. foreign.ſays, It is inferiour to it, and ſo much the more, as a ſign is below the thing of which it is a ſign.
So alſo S. Jerome (as we heard before) puts the Body and Blood of Chriſt in the Euchariſt, in the ſame rank as to veneration with holy Chalices, Veils, and other things that relate to the Paſſion of our Lord
2 Remark. The Fathers aſſert, that an Image and Type muſt viſibly demonſtrate that of which it is an Image.
Origen (u)Hom. 1. in Geneſ. Qui viderit imaginem alicujus, videt eum cujus imago eſt.. He that ſees the Image of a perſon, ſees him of whom it is an Image.
Marcellus Anchyr. apud Euſebium (x)Lib. 1. cont. Marcel. c. 4. foreign.. Images are demonſtrative of thoſe of whom they are Images, ſo that by them he that is abſent ſeems to appear.
Greg. Nyſſen (y)In Cant. Hom. 15. foreign.. The Original is plainly ſeen in the likeneſs of it.
Hilary (z)De Synodis. Eum cujus Imago eſt, neceſſe eſt ut imago demonſtret.. It is neceſſary that an Image ſhould demonſtrate him of whom it is an Image.
Which plainly confutes thoſe mens fancies in the Church of Rome (a)Bellarm. de Euchar. l. 2. cap. 15., who make Chriſt inviſibly preſent in the Euchariſt, to be the ſign of himſelf viſibly ſuffering upon the Croſs.
For as Greg. Nyſſen (b)Lib. 1. cont. Eunom. foreign;ſays. How can a man form an Idea of a viſible thing from an Inviſible?
And Tertullian laughs at it as ridiculous, when he ſays, (c)Lib. de carne Chriſti c. 11. Nemo oſtendere volens hominem, caſſidem ant perſonam introducit.No one that intends to ſhow a man, brings in a Helmet, or a Vizard. Which, we know, hide him from our ſight.
Irenaeus (d)L. 2. adv. haereſ. c. 40. Typus ſecundùm materiam & ſubſtantiam aliquoties à veritate diverſus eſt. Secundùm autem habitum & lineamentum debet ſervare ſimilitudinem, & ſimiliter oſtendere per praeſentia, ea quae non ſunt praeſentia.ſays, A Type is often different from the Truth, according to the matter and ſubſtance of the Type, but according to the habit and lineaments, it ought to keep likeneſs, and likewiſe by things preſent, ſhow thoſe things that are not preſent.
3. Remark. The Fathers plainly make the Bread and Wine in the Euchariſt, to be Signs and Symbols of Chriſt as abſent.
S. Ambroſe (e)L. 1. de Offic. cap. 48. Hic umbra, hic Imago, illic veritas. Umbra in Lege, imago in Evangelio, veritas in Coeleſtibus.. Here is the ſhadow, here the Image, there (viz. in Heaven) is the Truth. The ſhadow is in the Law, the Image in the Goſpel, the Truth in Heaven.
Again (f)In Pſalm 38. Aſcende ergo, homo, in coelum, & videbis illa quorum umbra hic erat vel Imago.. Aſcend, O Man, into Heaven, and thou ſhalt ſee thoſe things, of which there was here only a ſhadow or Image.
Maximus (g)In cap. 1. Hierarch. Eccleſ. foreign.the Interpreter of the Spurious Dionyſius, ſpeaking of the Bread and Wine which he calls Holy Gifts, ſays, They are Symbols of things above that are more true.
So again (h)In Cap. 3. foreign.elſewhere he ſays, The things of the Old Law were a ſhadow, thoſe of the New Teſtament were an Image, but the ſtate of the World to come is the Truth.
Theodoret (i)In 1 Cor. 11.26. foreign.. After his coming there will be no more need of Symbols (or Signs) when the Body it ſelf appears.
I refer the Reader to the Teſtimonies produced before (Chap. 10. Poſition 2.) out of S. Auſtin, Sedulius, Primaſius, Bede, &c.
I will conclude this Chapter with a paſſage or two out of the Prayers after the Sacrament in the Old Liturgy, uſed in Bertram's time (k)V. Bertram de corp. & ſang. Chriſti prope finem. p. 112. Edit. ult. Lat. Engl..
We who have now received the Pledge of Eternal Life, most humbly beſeech thee to grant, (l)Ut quod in imagine contingimus Sacramenti, manifeſta participatione ſumamus.That we may be manifestly made partakers of that which we here receive in the Image of the Sacrament.
And thus afterwards (m)Ibid. p. 114. Perficiant in nobis quaeſumus, Domine, tua Sacramenta quod continent; ut quae nunc ſpecie gerimus, rerum veritate capiamus.in another Prayer. Let thy Sacraments work in us, 'O Lord, we beſeech thee, thoſe things which they contain, that we may really be partakers of thoſe things which now we celebrate in a Figure.
Bertram Comments upon theſe Prayers, in ſuch paſſages as theſe. Whence it appears, ſays he, that this Body and Blood of Chriſt are the Pledge and Image of ſomething to come, which is now only repreſented, but ſhall hereafter be plainly exhibited. — therefore it is one thing which is now celebrated, and another which ſhall hereafter be manifeſted. And afterwards (p. 115.) The Prayer ſays, that theſe things are celebrated in a Figure, not in Truth, that is, by way of ſimilitude (or repreſentation) not the manifestation of the thing it ſelf. Now the Figure and the Truth are very different things: Therefore the Body and Blood of Chriſt, which is celebrated in the Church, differs from the Body and Blood of Christ which is glorified ſince the Reſurrection, &c.
We ſee how vast a difference there is between the myſtery of Christs Body and Blood which the faithful now receive in the Church, P. 117.and that Body which was born of the Virgin Mary, which ſuffered, roſe again, aſcended into Heaven, and ſitteth at the right hand of the Father. For this Body which we celebrate in our way (to happineſs) muſt be ſpiritually received; for Faith believes ſomewhat that it ſees not; and it ſpiritually feeds the Soul, makes glad the heart, and confers Eternal Life and Incorruption, if we attend not to that which feeds the Body, which is chew'd with our teeth, and ground in pieces, but to that which is ſpiritually received by Faith. But now that Body in which Chriſt ſuffered and roſe again, was his own proper Body which he aſſumed of the Virgin, which might be ſeen and felt after his Refurrection, &c.
It is very obſervable, and a great confirmation of what has been ſaid in this Chapter, That the Ancient Chriſtians of S. Thomas, inhabiting the Mountains of Malabar in the East Indies, agree with the Ancient Church in denying our Saviours Corporal Preſence in the Sacrament of the Euchariſt; as appears from their Publick Offices, and other Books, mentioned in a Synod which was celebrated amongſt them by Dom Aleixo de Menezes Archbiſhop of Goa, in the Year 1599.
In the fourteenth Decree of the third Action of the ſaid Synod, in which moſt of their Church Offices and other Books are Condemned, for containing Doctrines contrary to the Roman Faith, there is particular notice taken of their contradicting the Roman Faith in the point of Tranſubſtantiation.
1. The Book of Timothy the Patriarch is condemned, for aſſerting through three Chapters, that the true Body of Chriſt our Lord is not in the Sacrament of the Altar, but only the Figure of his Body.
2. The Book of Homilies is condemned, which teacheth, that the H. Eucharist is only the Image of Chriſt, as the Image of a Man is diſtinguiſhed from a real Man; and that the Body of Chriſt is not there, but in Heaven.
3. The Book of the Expoſition of the Goſpels is condemn'd, which teacheth, that the Euchariſt is only the Image of the Body of Chriſt, and that his Body is in Heaven at the right Hand of the Father, and not upon Earth.
4. Their Breviary, which they call Iludre and Gaza, is condemn'd; which teaches, that the moſt H. Sacrament of the Euchariſt is not the true Body of Chriſt.
Laſtly, The Office of the Burial of Priests is condemn'd, where it is ſaid, that the moſt H. Sacrament of the Altar, is no more but the virtue of Chriſt, and not his true Body and Blood.
This Synod was Printed in the Univerſity of Conimbra, with the Licences of the Inquiſition and Ordinary in the Year 1606. and is in the Poſſeſſion of a Learned Perſon, who gave me this account out of it.