of the great wonders God wrought in the old law, in favour of his people, was the manna showered down from heaven, with which they were fed for forty years in the desert: this manna was only a figure of this adorable sacrament; this is the bread that descended from heaven, to feed the souls of christians to the end of the world: the Israelites eat the manna and died; but but he that eats this bread, shall live forever. As now the Israelites, not only admired but submitted, without diving into the divine secret, so hidden, that they gave it the name of manna, What is this? so we ought not only to admire, but adore and submit, without vain search, into this heavenly manna, so incomprehensible to us. The first was truly a hidden secret, which had the taste of all meats, and yet was none of them, of which it had the taste; so ours is a hidden mystery, which has the colour, taste, accidents of bread and wine; and yet faith, which supplies the defect of our senses, assures us it is neither the one nor the other. You have then, O christian, nothing more to do, but to adore the omnipotent power of God, and cry out with St. Paul, O depth of the riches of God's wisdom and knowledge!

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SECT. II.

The holy Eucharist a Communion.

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RE we commanded to receive the holy Eucharist? A. We are; unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. St. John vi. 54. Q. Does not Christ here command all to receive in both kinds? A. No; for in the same place, he promises everlasting life to him that receives in one kind, under the form of bread alone: He that eats this bread shall live for ever. Q. What are the necessary dispositions to receive worthily? A. That we be in a state of grace, free from mortal sin, and in charity with all men. Q. What sin is it to receive unworthily? A. The highest sacrilege, and brings judgments on those who are guilty of it: He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment

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to himself. 1 Cor. ix. 29. Q. What is the Viaticum ? A. The holy communion, given to dying persons.

INSTRUC. The blessed Eucharist, being our spiritual nourishment, is necessary to the life of the soul, as food is to support the natural life of the body: and as no one can live, or preserve his health or strength, without his ordinary food; so we cannot have spiritual life, which is grace, unless we receive the holy Eucharist, and the oftener we communicate, the stronger and more vigorous is this life: the reason is, because, though all the sacraments give grace, yet grace and the increase of grace, is in a peculiar manner ascribed to this sacrament, as having Christ really present in it, who is the author of grace, according to that; Grace and truth were through Jesus Christ; and as being a sign and remembrance of his passion and death, which was the cause of grace to all mankind; so that this sacrament gives grace far more abundantly, fortifying the soul against all interior weakness, as well as exterior attacks of the Devil, and giving us power and strength to arrive to eternal life, which is the end for which it was instituted, That if any one eat thereof, he may not die, the death of sin. But if this sacrament be instituted to preserve us from sin, and to conduct us to glory, we may conclude, that without it, we cannot be long preserved from the one, or obtain the other; this experience sufficiently teaches. In the primitive times, when christians communicated more frequently, they were more devout, and were enabled by the virtue of this sacrament, not only to keep the whole law of God, but to die martyrs for it. All the saints that have lived since, did they not communicate frequently? And if we regard the lives of christians at present, it is plain to be seen, that those who conímunicate often, are generally the most eminent for piety and religion, the most regular in their lives, the most virtuous, and the best portion of God's church; while, on the other hand, those who communicate seldom, very seldom, are never the most remarkable for the purity and regularity of their lives this rule will ever hold; the reason whereof may be, that it is a difficult matter for those who

communicate so seldom, to communicate well.-It is in vain for any one to plead against frequent communion, and to say, they are unworthy; because it is in every one's power to remedy that; it is in every one's power to clear his conscience by a good confession, and hearty contrition, and do his best to prepare himself by the help of God's grace; and if with this diligent preparation, he would take up the custom of communica ting oftener, very likely he would be more worthy every day; whereas, the longer he abstains through sloth, the worse he grows. It is indeed better for him to abstain entirely, than to receive unworthily; but even this plea will not save him; for, as well he who receives unworthily, as he who does not receive at all, because he is unworthy, will both in the end be excluded from eternal glory.

It is true, the transcendent holiness of this sacrament, requires a great purity of soul and conscience, to receive it worthily and profitably, and great precaution is necessary to communicate well: the most essential thing required is to be in a state of grace, and free from all mortal sin; for whosover is conscious of mortal sin, and receives the holy communion while he is in that bad state, he communicates unworthily, and eats and drinks his own judgment; He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of our Lord: not discerning between the sacred table and the profane: receiving the holy Eucharist with as little preparation as if he were to eat ordinary bread; not considering that under the outward form of bread, he receives the body of Christ. This some of the Corinthians had done, for which God afflicted them with sickness, infirmities, and death; and thus did they eat and drink their own judgment. 1 Cor. ix. To prevent this great misfortune, every one must take the advice of the Apostle, and prove himself: let a man prove himself: 1. By a diligent examine of his life and conscience: 2. Disburden himself of all his sins by an entire confession: 3. Receive a valid absolution: then you have nothing to hinder you from access to this divine banquet, when you

are free from all mortal sin; firmly believe all the mysteries of faith, this in particular; and are in charity with the whole world, both friend and enemy. You must also come fasting from the midnight before, which is a strict precept received by tradition from the Apostles.

There is no command from Christ, that the laity shall all communicate in both kinds; but on the contra ry, our Saviour himself promises life everlasting to him that receives under one kind, under the form of bread. It is true, the Apostles received under both kinds at the last supper, for as they were made priests, they were not only to receive the sacrament, but also to offer this sacrifice, representing his body slain, and his blood shed, which cannot be, unless the Eucharist be consecrated in both kinds; and for the same reason, the priests now do all consecrate and receive in both kinds, as often as they do what Christ did at his last supper; yet there is no priest, though in the most exalted degree, but in private communion receives as others do in one kind; and it is a thing very well known to the learned, that in the primitive church, communion in one kind was ever allowed: the reason is, because the manner of receiving it is only a point of discipline, which is left to the determination of the church, as other points of discipline are, and does not touch the substance of the sacrament: for if we have a right belief of the sacrament itself, and hold that Christ himself, true God and man, is present under each kind; and if the grace of this sacrament is certainly derived from the real presence of our Saviour therein, and not from the outward form of the elements, it is evident that the whole sacrament, and all the grace essential to it, is received under one kind. Is it not a great folly to think that the same grace is not given to our souls by Christ present, under the form of bread, as by Christ present under the form of wine.

EXHOR. Think now, O christian, when you approach to this sacrament, what you receive therein; Do you not know that the bread which we eat is the communion of the body of our Lord? 1 Cor. x. 16. This

is what faith teaches, that the same body of Christ is given you in the holy communion, that was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and miraculously born of the Virgin Mary: the same that was adored in Bethlehem, that walked upon the swelling waves of the sea, whose very presence made the Devil tremble, whose very touch raised the dead to life, and cured all diseases: the same that was crucified, rose again, and ascended into heaven. O think with what purity of life and conscience, with what holy dispositions, you ought to receive this most blessed body of Christ, which is so much adored both in heaven and upon earth.-By this sacrament you are united to God; for herein you receive the body and blood of Christ, which is united to his divine Person, and he is God: all that is holy both in heaven and upon earth, is given you in it; and why is it given you, but to communicate grace, and to give you an abhorrence of sin? What then "will become of us, if, after having eat such food, "we commit such crimes? O think what it is to com"municate unworthily? With what indignation do you "reflect on Judas, who betrayed him; on those that cru"cified him? Beware then that you also be not guilty "of his body and blood; they indeed committed mur"der upon his blessed body; and you perhaps receive "it with à polluted soul !" St. Chrysostom, Hom. 60. ad pop. Antioc. If you are guilty, confess and repent bitterly.

The Holy Eucharist, a Sacrifice.

૨. S the Eucharist a sacrament only? A. No; it

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A It is an offering made to God, as an acknowledgment of his being the supreme Lord and God of all; and therefore sacrifice cannot be offered to any creature, either in heaven or upon earth, without idolatry. Q. Why would our Saviour have the Eucharist offered as a sacrifice ? A. That as under the old law there were sacrifices to prefigure his death then to come, this might be a perpetual representation of his death now past, to renew the memory, and impart the benefit of it