to remove all doubt on the subject of the divine mysteries; by which you have been made worthy to partake of the body and blood of Christ'." And again, after citing the words of the institution, he exclaims : "Since then he has thus affirmed and pronounced of the bread, this is my body, who will hereafter dare to doubt it? and since he has affirmed and declared, this is my blood, who will call it in question, by saying this is not his blood? He once turned water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana of Galilee; and is he the less worthy of credit, when he changed wine into his sacred blood? Wherefore, with the utmost degree of certainty, let us receive these mysteries as the body and blood of Christ; for under the appearance of bread, is given to thee the body; and under the appearance of wine, is given to thee the blood; that by partaking of the body and blood of Christ, thou mayest be, in a manner, incorporated with the body and blood.”—Ὥστε μετὰ πάσης πληροφορίας ὡς σώματος καὶ αἵματος μεταλαμβάνωμεν Χριστᾶ· ἐν τύπῳ γὰρ ἄρτε δίδοταί σοι τὸ σῶμα· καὶ ἐν τύπῳ οἴνε δίδοταὶ τὸ ἅιμα· ἵνα γένη μεταλαβὼν σώματος καὶ αἵματος. Χριστέ, σύσσωμος καὶ σύναιμος αυτ". No words, that language can supply, can

2

1

Σύσσωμοι καὶ συναιμοι το Χριστό γεγόνατε.

See works of St. Cyril, edit. Don Touttée, p. 319, et seq. Cat. 22, Mystag. iv. No. 1, 2, et 3.

possibly exceed these, in clearly describing the Catholic faith on the subject.

But as it is not the privilege of every mortal, to behold the splendour of the noonday sun, there have been persons who have called in question the faith of St. Cyril on the subject, because in the same discourse1, he says, that the Jews, to whom Christ addressed himself in the sixth chapter of St. John, did not hear him spiritually, or with the eyes of the spirit, and that they were scandalized, and went away. What man in his senses can imagine, that this observation of St. Cyril cancels the strong declarations which we have here produced? The holy father unquestionably blames the Jews for not understanding the words of Christ in a more spiritual and refined sense; and indeed they are justly entitled to the severest censure; for agreeably to their carnal notions, they imagined that the flesh of Christ was to be cut and distributed for their corporeal sustenance; not understanding, that the soul was to be nourished in a spiritual and sacramental form. This is the meaning of St. Cyril; and as a proof of the correctness of this statement, let the reader look at his subsequent words, which are not to be exceeded in clearness: "Do not attend to the elemental appearance of bread and wine, for

they are the body and blood of Christ, according to our Lord's declaration. If the senses should suggest another notion, let faith be your voucher, and your assurance. Do not judge of the thing from the taste; but be assured beyond doubt, from the dictates of your faith, that you are thought worthy of receiving the body and blood of Christ'.” Μὴ πρόσεχε ἔν ὡς ψιλοῖς τῳ ἄρτῳ καὶ τῷ ὅινῳ· σῶμα γὰρ καὶ αἷμα Χριστέ, κατὰ τὴν δεσποτικὴν τυγχάνει ἀπόφασιν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἡ αἴσθησὶς σοι τᾶτο ὑπό βαλλει, ἀλλὰ ἡ πίστις σε βεβαιέτω. Μὴ ἀπὸ τῆς γέυσεως κρίνῃς τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἀλλ ̓ ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως πληροφορ ἀνενδοιάστως σώματος καὶ αἵματος Χριστᾶ καταξιωθείς. Again I request the attention of the learned reader to this passage, and indeed to the whole of this discourse; and if he should not be convinced that St. Cyril here delivers the Catholic doctrine without disguise, I advise him to compose a treatise, in order to prove, that there is no certitude under heaven.

The writings of the great St. Augustine and of the illustrious St. John Chrysostom, are literally full of the clearest and most incontrovertible evidence on the subject of the Catholic doctrine relative to the holy Eucharist. Not to tire the patience of the learned reader, I beg him to give his attention to the passages here referred to. "One is the passover,' says he, "which they (the Jews) celebrate in ' Ibid. No. 6.

eating the lamb; another is that which we receive in the body and blood of our Lord'." The comparison here introduced by the holy father, evidently requires that the expressions. be referred to the body and blood in a literal sense2.

Nothing can be more clear, precise, and eloquent, than the language which St. John Chrysostom uniformly employs on this momentous subject. In his celebrated commentaries on St. Matthew's gospel, he says: "Let us under all circumstances give credit to God; and by no means contradict him, however his word may appear repugnant to our reason and to our senses: but let his word preponderate over our reason and our senses. This conduct we must hold respecting the sacred mysteries, where we are not to look only at what is before us, but to attend to his declaration. By his word, we cannot be deceived; by our senses, we are easily led into error: his word has never failed; our senses often prove fallacious. Since therefore, he has said, this is my body, let us give him our undoubted assent, and view the object with the eyes of the soul'. The extreme clearness of

37.

Contra lit. Petil. liv. ii. c. 2 See also lib. i. contra Crescon. c. xxv. et Enarr. in Psal. xxxiii. conc. 1.

• Πειθώμεθα τοίνυν πανταχοῦ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ μηδὲν αντιλέγωμεν, κἄν ἐναντίον εἶναι δοκῇ τοῖς ἡμετέροις λογισμοῖς καὶ ταῖς ὄψεσι τὸ λεγόμενον· ἀλλ' ἔστω καὶ λογισμῶν καὶ ὄψεως κυριώ

this passage renders all elaborate comment wholly unnecessary. For it cannot escape the attention of the most illiterate reader, that St. Chrysostom views in the holy Eucharist a mystery, above the reach of the senses and the reason, to be believed on the authority of God alone; while modern innovators, called Reformers, see in this sacrament an empty figure only, which requires no effort of faith1.

As the doctrine of the Greek church is frequently referred to by Protestants, and as it is of extreme weight in confirming Catholic tenets, where both churches are clearly agreed, I will produce unexceptionable evidence of this perfect agreement from a work already cited. In various and multiplied documents preserved in this performance, the language on all the controverted points between Protestants and Catholics is precisely the same as that held by the Catholic church. In the attestation signed by the seven archbishops of the east, is the

τερος αυτῶ ὁ λόγος. ὕτω καὶ, ἐπὶ τῶν μυστηρίων ποιῶμεν, ὦ τοῖς κειμένοις μόνον ἐμβλέποντες, ἀλλὰ τὰ ῥήματα αυτῶ κατέχοντες. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ λόγος αυτῶ ἀπαραλόγιστος, ἡ δέ αἴσθησις ἡμῶν ἔνεξαπάτητος· ὗτος ἐδέποτε διέπεσεν, ἅντη δὲ τὰ πλείονα σφάλλεται. Ἐπεὶ ἦν ὁ λόγος φησι, τῦτο ἔστι τὸ σῶμά με, καὶ πειθώς μεθα καὶ πιστευώμεν, καὶ νοητοῖς ἀυτὸ βλέπωμεν ὀφθαλμοῖς. -Hom. 82, ol. 83, in Matt. p. 513, tom. 2, edit. Savil.

1 See also a splendid passage, Hom. 24, in 1 ad Cor. p. 401, tom. iii. et lib. 3, de Sacerdot. versus Inst. pp. 15 et 16, tom. vi. edit. Savil.

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