of the divinity; we in him, by his corporal birth; and he in us by the sacramental mystery." De Trin. L. viii. p. 954, 955, 956.

S. JAMES OF NISIBIS, G. C.-In his fourth discourse, On Prayer, he says: "None will be cleansed uuless they have been washed in the laver of baptism, and have received the body and blood of Christ; for the blood is expiated by this blood, and the body cleansed by this body."

S. EPHREM OF EDESSA, G. C.-"His body, by a new method, is mixed with our bodies; and his most pure blood is transfused into our veins. He is wholly incorporated with us. And because he loved his church, he was made the bread of life that he might give himself to be eaten." Hymn, xxxvii. de Virginitate, Bibl. Orient. Assemani, T. 1. p. 97.

(i) St. James was bishop of Nisibis in Mesopotamia, and was held in much estimation by his contemporaries. He was present at the council of Nice in 325, and died about the year 350. His works, mentioned by Gennadius in the fifth century, were published at Rome in Armenian and Latin, by Antonelli, in 1756. (N. B. Copies of this work are rare in England; there is one in the Collegiate Library at Manchester.)

(k) St. Ephrem was a disciple of the above mentioned father, and a deacon of Edessa in Syria. He wrote many works in the language of his country, which were translated into Greek during his life; and were held in such estimation, that in many churches, as St. Jerome testifies in his Catalogue, they were publicly read after the canonical books of Scripture. They were published in Latin by Gerard Vossius, at Rome; and in Greek by Twaites, at Oxford. In 1732 and seqq., Cardinal Quirini, with the aid of J. S. Assemani, gave a new and splendid edition of his works, in six volumes, folio. The three first contain the works which had before been published in Greek and Latin; the three latter, those which he found in the Vatican Library, which are in Syriac, with a Latin translation. St. Ephrem died about the year 379.

(2) Corpus ejus nova ratione nostris corporibus immistum est; ipsius quoqué sanguis purissimus in venas nostras diffusus, totus ipse nos totos pervasit.

"You believe that Christ, the son of God, for you was born in the flesh. Then why do you search into what is inscrutable? Doing this, you prove your curiosity, not your faith. Believe then, and with a firm faith receive the body and blood of our Lord.(")—Abraham placed earthly food before celestial spirits, (Gen. xviii.) of which they ate. This was wonderful; but what Christ has done for us greatly exceeds this, and transcends all speech and all conception. To us that are in the flesh, he has given to eat his body and blood. Incapable as I am of comprehending the mysteries of God, I dare not proceed; and should I attempt it, I should shew only my own rashness." De Nat. Dei. T. iii. p. 182. Ibid.

S. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM,(") G. C.-In his instructions, addressed to those who had been newly baptised, he says: "The bread and wine, which before the invocation of the adorable Trinity were nothing but bread and wine, become after this invocation, the body and blood of Christ." Catag. Mystag. 1. n. 4. p. 281.—“ The eucharistic bread, after the invocation of the Holy Spirit, is no longer common bread, but the body of Christ."(P) Ibid. Catech. iii. n. 3. p. 289.—“ As Christ, speaking of the bread, declared and said: This is my body; who shall dare to doubt it? And as speaking of the wine, he positively assured us, and said: This is my blood; who shall doubt

(m) Si ista curiosè rimaris, non jam fidelis nuncupaberis, sed curiosus. Esto itaque fidelis. Participa immaculatum corpus et sanguinem Domini tui fide plenissimâ.

(n) St. Cyril was patriarch of Jerusalem, and died about the r 385. The works which he has left, in twenty-three Cateal Discourses, form a full and very accurate abridgment of Jan Doctrine.

μεν άρτος γίνεται σωμα Κριστου, ὁ δε δινος άιμα Κριστον. άρτος της ευχαριστίας, μετα την επίκλησιν τε ἅγιο πνεύματος, ι άρτος λιτος, ἄλλα σωμα Χριστου.

it, and say that it is not his blood?" Catech. iv. n. 1. p. 292.

"Jesus Christ, in Cana of Galilee, once changed water into wine, by his will alone; and shall we think it less worthy of credit, that he changed wine into his blood?") Invited to an early marriage, he wrought this miracle; and shall we hesitate to confess that he has given to his children his body to eat, and his blood to drink? Wherefore, with all confidence, let us take the body and blood of Christ. For in the type or figure of bread, his body is given to thee; and in the type or figure of wine, his blood is given;" that so being made partakers of the body and blood of Christ, you may become one body and one blood with him; thus, the body and blood of Christ being distributed in our members, we become Christofori, that is, we carry Christ with us; and thus, as St. Peter says, 'we are made partakers of the divine nature."" Ibid.

S. OPTATUS OF MILEVIS,(") L. C.-" What is the altar, but the seat of the body and blood of Christ? What offence had Christ given, whose body and blood, at certain times, do there dwell This huge impiety was

(9) αυτου ουν ἀποφηνάμενον, και είποντος περι του άρτου, τουτο μου ἐστι το σωμα, τις τολμήσει ἀμφιβαλλειν λοιπον; και αυτου βεβαιωσαμένου και ειρηκοτος, τουτο μου ἐστι το αιμα, τις ἐνδοιασει ποτε, λεγων μη ειναι αυτον το αιμα ;

(*) και ουκ ἀξιοπιστος ἐστιν δινον μεταβαλων εις αιμα ;

(*) την ἀπολαυσιν του σώματος αυτου και του αιματος.

(ε) ἐν τυπῳ ἀρτου, δίδοται σοι το σωμα, και ἐν τυπῳ ονου, δίδοται σοι το διμα.

(u) Milevis was a city of Africa, of which St. Optatus was bishop about the middle of the fourth century. The work quoted was written against the Donatists, in seven books, addressed to Parminianus, a bishop of that sect. It abounds with innumerable passages in favour of the unity, and other marks of the true church.

(x) Sedes et corporis et sanguinis Christi.

Cujus illic per certa momenta corpus et sanguis habitabat.

doubled, when you broke also the chalices, the bearers of the blood of Christ."(*) Contra Parmen, L. vi. p. 91, 92, 93.

S. BASIL,(") G. C.-" About the things, that God has spoken, there should be no hesitation, nor doubt, but a firm persuasion, that all is true and possible, though nature be against it. Herein lies the struggle of faith— The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them: amen, amen I say unto you: except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you." (John vi. 53, 54.)—Regula viii. Moral. T. ii. p. 240.

S. GREGORY OF NYSSA, G. C.-"The body of Christ, by the inhabitation of the word of God, was transmuted into a divine dignity: and so I now believe, that the bread, sanctified by the word of God, is transmuted into the body of Christ.(") This bread, as the apostle says, is sanctified by the word of God and prayer, not that, as food, it passes into his body, but that it is instantly changed into the body of Christ, agreeably to what he said, This is my body. And therefore does the divine word commix

(*) Calices, Christi sanguinis portatores.

(a) St. Basil, surnamed the Great, for his admirable eloquence and profound erudition, was bishop of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, and died about the year 379, leaving many valuable works.

(b)

καν ἡ φυσις μαχηται.

(e) S. Gregory of Nyssa was the younger brother of St. Basil, like him, highly celebrated for his acquirements, and Bishop of Nyssa, on the confines of Cappadocia, in Asia Minor. His writings are numerous. He died late in the fourth century.

(α) και νυν τον τῳ λόγῳ του Θεου ἁγιαζόμενον άρτον εις σώμα του Θεου λόγου μεταποιεισθαι πιστευομαι.

(ε) ενθυς προς το σωμα του λόγου μεταποιούμενος, καθώς έρηται ύπο του λόγου, ότι τουτο ἐστι το σώμα μου.

itself with the weak nature of man, that, by partaking of the divinity, our humanity may be exalted. By the dispensation of his grace, he enters, by his flesh, into the breasts of the faithful, commixed and contempered with their bodies, that, by being united to that which is immortal, man may partake of incorruption." Orat. Catech. c. 37, T. ii. p. 534, 535, 586.-" The bread also is, at first, common bread; but, when it had been sanctified, it is called and is made the body of Christ.") Orat. in Bapt. Christi, T. ii. p. 802.

S. AMBROSE, L. C.-"The manna in the desert was given in figure. You have known things more excellent. For light is preferable to the shadow; truth to the figure; the body of Christ to the manna from heaven. But you may say: I see somewhat else; how do you assert, that I shall receive the body of Christ?-This remains to be proved. How many examples may we not make use of to shew, that we have not here what nature formed, but what the divine blessing has consecrated; and that the virtue of this blessing is more powerful than that of nature, because by it nature itself is changed? Moses held the rod; he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent. Again he took it by the tail, and again it became a rod. See you not that, by the prophetic power, the nature of the rod and the serpent was twice changed?"-He proceeds to instance many other miraculous changes, as re

(5) ἑαυτον ἐνσπειρει δια της σαρκός, δις ἡ συστασις ἐξ δινου τε και άρτου ἐστι τοις σωμασι των πεπιστευκότων κατακιρνάμενος. (७) σωμα Κριστο λεγεται τε και γίνεται.

(h) St. Ambrose died in the year 396, having held the see of Milan twenty years, with great profit to the church, edified by his exalted virtues the western provinces, and instructed them by his writings. These are numerous, comprising Commentaries on many parts of Scripture, and moral Treatises.