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The following extract from Ælfrick, Abbot of Malmesbury's Saxon homily, which was appointed to be publicly read to the people of England on Easter Day, about 800 years ago, is extracted from Archbishop Usher's answer to a Jesuit.

The body of Christ which died and rose again and is now immortal, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over it; it is eternal and impassible. But this which is celebrated in the church is temporal, not eternal; corruptible, not incorruptible, &c. It is chewed by the teeth, and sent into This body is a pledge and an outward form; but Christ's body is truth itself.

the stomach.

Bertramus lib. de Corp. et Sang. Dom. pars prima.

Claret quia panis ille vinumque figuratè Christi Corpus et sanguis existit. Secundùm creaturarum substantiam, quod fuerunt ante consecrationem, hoc et posteà consistunt.

Extract from Berengarius' Confession, an. 1058, at a Roman Council under Pope Nicolas II.

Apud Gratianum de consecratione. dist. ii. c. 42. Ego. Berengarius, &c. consentio Sanctæ Romanæ et Apostolicæ sedi, et ore ac corde profiteor de sacramentis Dominicæ mensæ, eam fidem me tenere, quam Dominus et venerabilis Papa Nicolaus, et hæc sancta synodus, auctoritate evangelicâ et apostolicâ tenendam tradidit mihique firmavit; scilicet panem et vinum quæ in altari ponuntur, post consecrationem non solummodo sacramentum, symbolum, sive figuram, sed etiam verum corpus et sanguinem Domini nostri Jesu Christi esse, et sensualiter non solùm sacramento, sed veritate, manibus sacerdotum tractari, frangi, et fidelium dentibus atteri.

P. Innoc. III. Concilium Lateran. IV. Sac. Conc. Labbæi et Cossartii, tom. xi. p. 147. (Lutetiæ, Parisiorum, 1671.) An. 1215.

1. De fide Catholica.

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Una verò est fidelium universalis ecclesia, extra quam nemo omnino salvatur. In quâ idem ipse sacerdos et sacrificium Jesus Christus; cujus corpus et sanguis in sacramento altaris sub speciebus panis et vini veraciter continentur; transubstantiatis, pane in corpus, et vino in sanguinem, potestate divinâ.

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20. Statuimus ut in cunctis ecclesiis chrisma et eucharistia sub fideli custodiâ clavibus adhibitis conserventur, ne possit ad illa intemeraria manus extendi, ad aliqua horribilia vel nefaria exercenda.

Catechismus ex decreto concilii Tridentini ad Parochos Pius V. Pont. Max. jussu editus. (Venetiis, apud Aldum, 1582.)

De Sacram. ordinis.

Cùm episcopi et sacerdotes tanquam Dei interpretes et internuncii quidam sunt, qui ejus nomine divinam legem et vitæ præcepta homines edocent, et ipsius Dei personam in terris gerunt; perspicuum est eam esse illorum functionem, quâ nulla major excogitari possit. Quare meritò non solùm angeli, sed Dii etiam, quod Dei immortalis vim et numen apud nos teneant, appellantur. Quamvis autem omni tempore summam dignitatem obtinuerint, tamen Novi testamenti sacerdotes cæteris omnibus honore longè antecellunt. Potestas enim tum corpus et sanguinem Domini nostri conficiendi et offerendi, tum peccata remittendi, quæ illis collata est, humanam quoque rationem atque intelligentiam superat; nedum ei aliquid par et simile in terris inveniri queat.

EXTRACTS FROM THE ROMAN MISSAL. Missale Romanum, Dublinii, typis Patritii Wogan, cum superiorum permissu et approbatione.

De defectibus circa Missam occurrentibus.

Si hostia consecrata dispareat,-vel casu aliquo, ut vento, aut miraculo, vel aliquo animali accepta, et nequeat reperiri, tum altera consecretur.

De defectu intentionis.

Si quis non intendit conficere, sed delusoriè aliquid agere; Item si aliquæ hostiæ ex oblivione remaneant in altari, vel aliqua pars vini, vel aliqua hostia lateat, cùm non intendeat consecrare nisi quas videt; item si quis habeat ante se undecim hostias, et intendat consecrare solùm decem, non determinans quas decem intendit, in his casibus non consecrat, quia requiritur intentio.

De defectibus in Ministerio ipso occurrentibus. Si sacerdos evomat eucharistiam, si species integræ appareant, reverenter sumentur, nisi nausea fiat; tunc enim species consecratæ cautè separentur, et aliquo loco sacro reponantur, donec corrumpantur, et postea in sacrarium projiciantur. Quod si species non appareant, comburatur vomitus, et cineres in sacrarium mittantur.

Middleton on the Greek Article, p. 358. John vi.

As in an animated substance there are the flesh and the animating principle, so in the Levitical law there was the letter, which was intelligible to the most carnal understandings, and the spirit or ulterior design of the institution, which for the most part eluded notice, and by an easy metaphor, in speaking of any system or body of instruction, the terms flesh and spirit may be substituted for spirit and letter. Indeed we learn from Philo, vol. ii. p. 483. (quoted by Michaelis Anneck ad locum) that the Essenes actually used this illustration with regard to the Mosaic law.

The consecrated host to be worshipped with latria. Ssti. et Ecumenici Concilii Tridentini Canones et decreta, (Paris. 1823.)

Sessio 12.

De Eucharistiâ.

C. 5. Nullus itaque dubitandi locus relinquitur, quin omnes Christi fideles pro more in catholicâ ecclesiâ semper recepto latriæ cultum, qui vero Deo debetur, huic sanctissimo sacramento in veneratione exhibeant. Neque enim ideò minus est adorandum, quod fuerit a Christo Domino, ut sumatur, institutum. Nam illum eumdem Deum præsentem in eo adesse credimus, quem Pater æternus introducens in orbem terrarum dicit, "et adorent eum omnes angeli Dei."

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.

Sacrosancti et oecumenici concilii Tridentini Canones et decreta. (Paris. 1823.) Sessio 22. de sacrificio Missæ.

C. 2. Sacrificium visibile esse propitiatorium pro vivis et defunctis.

Et quoniam in divino hoc sacrificio quod in missâ peragitur, idem ille Christus continetur, et incruentè immo

latur, qui in arâ crucis semel seipsum cruentè obtulit; docet sancta synodus sacrificium istud verè propitiatorium esse, per ipsumque fieri ut, si cum vero corde et rectâ fide, cum metu et reverentiâ, contriti ac pœnitentes ad Deum accedamus, misericordiam consequamur, et gratiam inveniamus in auxilio opportuno. Hujus quippe oblatione placatus Dominus, gratiam et donum pœnitentiæ concedens, crimina et peccata, etiam ingentia, dimittit. Una enim eademque est hostia, idem nunc offerens sacerdotum ministerio, qui seipsum tunc in cruce obtulit, solâ offerendi ratione diversâ. Cujus quidem oblationis, cruenta, inquam, fructus per hanc uberrimè percipiuntur, tantum abest, ut illi per hanc quovis modo derogetur. Quare non solùm pro fidelium vivorum peccatis, pœnis, satisfactionibus, et aliis necessitatibus, sed et pro defunctis in Christe nondum ad plenum purgatis, ritè, juxta apostolorum traditionem* offertur.

Canon 3. Si quis dixerit missæ sacrificium tantùm esse laudis, et gratiarum actionis, aut nudam commemorationem sacrificii in cruce peracti, non autem propitiatorium; vel soli prodesse sumenti; neque pro vivis et defunctis, pro peccatis, pœnis, satisfactionibus et aliis necessitatibus offerri debere, anathema sit.

Canon 5. Si quis dixerit imposturam esse missas celebrare in honorem sanctorum, et pro illorum intercessione apud Deum obtinendâ, sicut ecclesia intendit. Anathema sit.

Catechismus ex decreto concilii Tridentini ad parochos, Pii V. Pont. Max. Jussu editus. Venetiis, 1582.)

De sacramento eucharistiæ, p. 267.

Sine ullâ dubitatione docendum est, id quod etiam sancta Synodus explicavit, sacrosanctum missæ sacrificium esse non solùm laudis et gratiarum actionis, sed verè etiam propitiatorium sacrificium quo Deus nobis placatus et propitius redditur. Quare si puro corde et accensâ fide et intimo nostrorum scelerum dolore affecti hanc sanctissimam hostiam immolemus et offeramus; dubitandum non est, quin misericordiam a Deo consecuturi simus, et gratiam in auxilio opportuno. Hujus enim victime odore ita delectatur Dominus, ut gratiæ et pœnitentiæ donum nobis impertiens peccata condonet.

In the early Church, at the Eucharist, thanks were offered up for those who had departed in the faith, and thus mention was made of them.

The Abridgement of the Christian Doctrine, revised by the Right Rev. James Doyle, D.D. (1828.).

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Q. Is the holy eucharist or mass a sacrifice?

A. It is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which he himself instituted at his last supper.

The sacrifice of the mass.

The principal objections to the Roman mass seem to be1st. That it is a nonentity.

2nd. That there is no place for it in the Christian religion.

3rd. That it has no real support from the Scriptures.

4th. That it is opposed to the plainest declarations of holy Writ, and is annihilated by the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews.

First, it is a nonentity; for if transubstantiation be a fiction; if the consecrated elements are substantially unchanged, and if they be signs only of the body and blood of Christ, there is then no victim to be sacrificed, and there can be no sacrifice of atonement. The presumed substance of the mass is the substantial, though invisible, body, and blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, and if these be not present under the accidents of the bread and wine, the sacrifice of the mass is evidently a nonentity.

Secondly, It can have no place in the Christian scheme. For, as has been shewn under the head of justification, a believer is completely justified from first to last by faith in Christ and him crucified, and hence he needs not a daily sacrifice to fill up that which is already complete.

Thirdly, The mass has no real foundation in the word of God. Romanists refer to Melchizedek who brought bread and wine to Abraham. (Gen. xiv. 18.) They hold that he offered bread and wine, as a sacrifice, and therefore that if the typical priest offered bread and wine, the Christian priesthood must needs have something better to offer, which is Christ, who was signified by the bread and wine. But, in the first place, there is no mention of Melchizedek's offering bread and wine as a sacrifice to God, but only of his blessing Abraham, and offering the sacrifice of praise. He brought the bread and wine,

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