X. Of the Doctrine of the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of

Jesus Christ in the Eucharist ; the way the Church interprets the words " THIS is MY BODY."

At last we have arrived at the question of the Eucharist, and though we shall have here to enlarge a little more fully than we have done on other points, we will not overstep the prescribed limits.

The doctrine of the Real Presence of the Body arid Blood of our Lord in this sacrament, we believe to be fully established by the words of institution, which we interpret literally, and we find no more difficulty in taking them thus, than a traveller in following the main road that lies before him ; it is for those who look for a figurative meaning, and diverge into bye-paths to give their reasons for so doing. For us who see nothing in the words which Jesus Christ used in the institution of this Mystery, which should make us take them in a figurative sense, we are satisfied with their plain and obvious meaning ; but we have a still stronger reason, when we consider the intention of our blessed Lord in this Mystery, which I will explain as simply as possible, and on such grounds that our adversaries even cannot deny.

As the Jews not only assisted at the sacrifices which were offered for them, but eat also of the victim (or sacrificed lamb), which eating was to signify to them the participation they had in this oblation, so our Lord, having made Himself our Victim, willed that we should eat of His sacrificed Flesh, so that the very participation of His adorable Body should be a perpetual testimony to each of us, that He took upon Him our flesh, and that it was for us He sacrificed it ; therefore He plainly

B 2 and distinctly commands us, to" Take and eat; this is My Body which is given for you."

God gave express commands that the Jews should not eat of the sin-offering, to shew that the real expiation of sin could not be made under the law, or by the blood of animals. The people were thus, as it were, under an interdict, not being able, on account of the prohibition, to participate in the remission of sins.

Inversely it was absolutely necessary for Christians to eat of the real Sacrifice offered for sin, which is the Body of our Lord, to shew by this manducation, that remission of sins was accomplished under the New Testament.

God forbad, also, the Jewish people to drink the blood by reason that the blood was given to make an atonement for their souls; while on the other hand, our Lord bids us " drink His Blood," because it was shed for the remission of sins.

Thus the manducation of the Flesh and Blood of the Son of God is as real at the Holy Table, as grace, remission of sins, and participation in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is absolute and real under the New Covenant.

However, desiring to exercise our faith in this mystery and at the same time to divest it of any horror we might feel at the idea of eating His Flesh and Blood in its own form, it was expedient He should disguise it under a different aspect. Therefore if this consideration determined Him to give us the Flesh of our Victim in manner differing from that He gave the Jews, He has not for all that taken away any thing from its reality or substance. Does it not appear most evident that to accomplish the ancient types, and to give us in truth the Victim offered for our sin, Jesus Christ intended to give us His real Body and Blood ? This is so evident that our opponents wish us to believe such is their opinion, and constantly affirm that they do not deny that the Body and Blood of Christ are truly partaken of in the Lord's Supper. We will examine into this presently, when we enter into the explanation of their doctrine, after detailing the Church's views. But in the meantime, we must say, that if the simplicity of the words our Lord uses, forces them to acknowledge that His intention was to give us His very Flesh, when He said, " This is My Body," they ought not to be surprised if we cannot take them in a figurative sense. In fact, our Lord having so carefully explained to His disciples whatever He taught them, either by parables or metaphors, here makes no such explanation ;

is it not natural to conclude He applies them in their literal signification? I know that these so-called " Reformers," pretend that the Explanation is self-evident, because they see He presents merely bread and wine ; but this argument fails when we consider that He who addresses them is possessed of authority which transcends all the senses, and of power to which all nature yields obedience.

Whether is easier to the Son of God to say, " This is My body," and in very deed to make it so, or to say to the woman in the Gospel, Thou art loosed from thine infirmity," and she was so ; or to the father of the young man, " Thy son liveth," and he was "alive again;" or to forgive the sins of the paralytic by saying, " Thy sins are forgiven thee ?" Thus not being at a loss to discover how He will accomplish what He says, we cling to the words implicitly. He who does what He wills, works what He promises while He speaks; and it was easier for the Son of God to break through the law of nature to accomplish His words, than for us to reconcile our minds to such forced interpretations which subvert all rules of language. These rules, indeed, teach us that the sign which represents an object often receives the name of the object, for the mind will very naturally and readily recal an object by its representation. And this would apply, in some measure, to the Signs employed at the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, when once they had been promulged, and had become familiar through use. But it would be a thing unheard of, not only in Holy Scripture, but in any language in the world to call one object by the name of another which has no connection with it, e. </., to call bread, flesh, without in any way explaining it, or agreeing upon it beforehand as a sign or watchword; and yet this is what Protestants would make out that our Blessed Lord did in instituting the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. However, they do not confine themselves at all strictly to the figurative meaning they wish to put upon our Lord's words, but they allow that He intended, in uttering them, to give us in reality His Body and Blood.