Chap. I With How Great Reverence — Christ Is to Be Received
The Voice of the Disciple.
1. These are thy words, O Christ, the Eternal Truth, though not all delivered at one time, nor written in one place.
Since therefore they are thy words, and they are true, they are all to be received by me with thanks, and with faith.
They are thine, and thou hast spoken them; and they are also mine, because thou hast delivered them for my salvation.
I willingly receive them from thy mouth, that they may be more inseparably ingrafted in my heart.
These words of so great tenderness, full of sweetness and love, encourage me; but my own sins terrify me, and my unclean conscience keeps me back from approaching to so great mysteries.
The sweetness of thy words invites me, but the multitude of my offence weighs me down.
2. Thou commandest me to approach to thee with confidence, if I would have part with thee, and to receive the food of immortality, if I desire to obtain life, and glory everlasting.
Come, sayest thou, to me all you that labour, and are heavy burthened, and I will refresh you. Matthew xi.
O sweet and amiable word in the ear of a sinner, that thou, O Lord my God, shouldst invite the poor and needy to the communion of thy most sacred body!
But who am I, O Lord, that I should presume to come to thee?
Behold, the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee; and thou sayest, Come you all unto me.
3. What means this most loving condescension, and so friendly an invitation?
How shall I dare to approach, who am conscious to myself of no good, on which I can presume?
How shall I introduce thee into my house, who have oftentimes offended thy most gracious countenance?
The angels and archangels stand with a reverential awe, the saints and the just are afraid; and thou sayest, Come you all unto me.
Unless thou, O Lord, didst say it, who could believe it to be true?
And unless thou didst command it, who would dare attempt to approach?
4. Behold Noah, a just man, laboured a hundred years in building of the ark, that he with a few might be preserved; and how shall I be able in the space of one hour to prepare myself to receive with reverence the Maker of the world?
Moses, thy servant, thy great and special friend, made an ark of incorruptible wood, which he also covered with most pure gold, that he might reposite therein the tables of the law; and shall I, a rotten creature, presume so easily to receive thee the Maker of the law, and Giver of life?
Solomon, the wisest of the kings of Israel, employed seven years in building a magnificent temple for the praise of thy name;
And for eight days together he celebrated the feast of the dedication thereof: he offered a thousand pacific victims, and brought in the ark of the covenant in a solemn manner, into the place prepared for it, with the sound of trumpet and jubilee:
And I, a wretch, and the vilest of men, how shall I bring thee into my house, who can hardly spend one half hour devoutly? and would to God I had ever once spent one half hour as I ought!
5. O, my God, how much did they endeavour to do to please thee?
Alas! how little it is that I do! How short a time do I spend when I prepare myself to communicate?
Seldom am I wholly recollected, very seldom free from all distraction;
And yet surely, in the life-giving presence of thy Deity, no unbecoming thought should occur, nor any thing created take up my mind; for it is not an angel, but the Lord of angels, that I am to entertain.
6. And yet there is a very great difference between the ark of the covenant with its relics, and thy most pure body with its unspeakable virtues; between those sacrifices of the law, which were figures of things to come, and the true sacrifice of thy body, which is the accomplishing of all those ancient sacrifices.
7. Why then am I not more inflamed, considering thy venerable presence?
Why do I not prepare myself with greater care to receive thy sacred gifts, seeing that these ancient holy patriarchs and prophets, yea kings also and princes, with the whole people, have shewn so great affection of devotion towards the divine worship?
8. The most devout King David danced before the ark of God with all his force, commemorating the benefits bestowed in times past on the Fathers. He made musical instruments of sundry kinds; he published psalms, and appointed them to be sung with joy; he himself likewise often sung them playing upon his harp, inspired with the grace of the Holy Ghost: he taught the people of Israel to praise God with their whole heart, and to join their voices in blessing and magnifying him every day.
If so great devotion was then used, and such remembrance of the praise of God before the ark of the covenant; how great ought to be the reverence and devotion which I, and all Christian people, should have in the presence of this sacrament, in the receiving the most excellent body of Christ?
9. Many run to sundry places to visit the relics of the saints, and are astonished to hear their wonderful works; they behold the noble buildings of their churches, and kiss their sacred bones wrapt up in silk and gold;
And, behold, I have thee here present on the altar, my God, the Saint of saints, the Creator of men, and the Lord of angels.
Oftentimes in seeing those things men are moved with curiosity, and the novelty of the sight, and but little fruit of amendment is reaped thereby; especially when persons lightly run hither and thither, without true contrition for their sins:
But here, in the sacrament of the altar, thou art wholly present, my God and man, Christ Jesus; where also the fruit of eternal salvation is plentifully reaped, as often as thou art worthily and devoutly received.
And to this we are not drawn by any levity, curiosity, or sensuality; but by a firm faith, a devout hope, and sincere charity.
10. O God, the invisible Maker of the world, how wonderfully dost thou deal with us? How sweetly and graciously dost thou order all things in favour of thy elect, to whom thou offerest thyself to be received in the sacrament?
For this exceeds all understanding of man; this, in a particular manner, engages the hearts of the devout, and enkindles their love.
For thy true faithful, who dispose their whole life to amendment, by this most worthy sacrament, frequently receive a great grace of devotion and love of virtue.
11. Oh! the wonderful and hidden grace of this sacrament, which the faithful of Christ only know; but unbelievers, and such as are slaves to sin, cannot experience.
In this sacrament is conferred spiritual grace, and virtue lost is repaired in the soul; and beauty disfigured by sin returns again.
And so great sometimes is this grace, that from the abundance of the devotion that is bestowed, not only the mind but the frail body also feels a great increase of strength.
12. Yet it is much to be lamented and pitied, that we should be so lukewarm and negligent, as not to be drawn with greater affection to the receiving of Christ, in whom consists all the hope and merit of those that shall be saved:
For he is our sanctification, and our redemption; he is our comfort in our pilgrimage, and the saints’ eternal enjoyment.
It is therefore much to be lamented that many take so little notice of this saving mystery, which rejoices heaven, and conserves the whole world.
Oh! the blindness and hardness of the heart of man, that doth not more consider so unspeakable a gift, and from the daily use of it falls into a disregard for it.
13. For if this most holy sacrament were only celebrated in one place, and consecrated by one only priest in the world, with how great desire dost thou think would men be affected to that place, and to such a priest of God, that they might see the divine mysteries celebrated?
But now there are made many priests, and Christ is offered up in many places, that the grace and love of God to man may appear by so much the greater, by how much this sacred communion is more spread throughout the world.
Thanks be to thee, O good Jesus, our eternal Shepherd, who hast vouchsafed to feed us poor exiles with thy precious body and blood, and to invite us to the receiving of these mysteries with the words of thy own mouth, saying; Come to me all you that labour, and are burthened, and I will refresh you. Matthew xi.