THE Controversies about Religion being a kind of War , or if you will a sort of Law-Suit , wherein both Parties plead their Cause with some heat ; it seems to me very difficult to write , and not let fall some words that may favour the interest of that side for which we are concerned , because the flesh corrupts the acts of the Understanding , and the old Man never fails to vitiate the purity of the thoughts of the new . I do not here speak of those angry Writers , who in all their Works , do shew an unlimited passion for the Cause which they defend , and meditate nothing but disparaging their Adversaries , to make their own Party triumph by the Calumnies which they cast upon the others . I speak of mild and peaceable Spirits , who write with moderation ; who , nevertheless , do it not alwaies so successfully , but they let drop some things which all do not approve of , because their ever remains frailty in man , and the innocency of the second Adam , hath not a compleat victory over the first . What I say , is particularly verified in examining the Tradition of the Church , upon the Articles of our Faith ; for both the Roman Catholicks and the Protestants , pretending that it is favourable to their Cause , each alledge out of the holy Fathers , to establish their Belief and Religion . This consideration makes me think that the surest way , and most edifying means for Christians , would be plainly to produce what hath been from time to time received and believed in the Church upon the points in Controversie ; and Historically without dispute to represent the sentiments of our Ancestors , upon all the Articles which are to be examined . This is what I have indeavoured to do upon the matter of the Eucharist , which is , and will be alwaies ( if God prevent it not by his grace ) a stone of stumbling , and a means which the Devil will never fail to use , to keep up amongst Christians that unhappy strife wherewith they are so pleased , but which ought to draw tears of blood from those good Souls that are sensibly touched for the glory of God , and that without ceasing by their prayers desire that he will give unto all , the grace to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace . The better to succeed in my design , and to represent the Sacrament at large , I have divided my Work into three Parts : In the first , I examine the outward Form of Celebration ; I prove that Bread and Wine have alwaies been the matter of the Sacrament amongst Christians . I hint at the mixture of Water with the Wine in the holy Cup ; and I endeavour to discover the Original , as well as the Mysterie which the ancient Doctors of the Church since S. Cyprian , have sought for in this mixture . I mention sundry Sects of Hereticks , whereof some have changed the matter of the Sacrament , others have corrupted the Celebration ; and lastly , others have quite rejected it , not suffering that it should be celebrated at all . I omit not what S. Ignatius said of certain Hereticks who condemned the celebration , nor the Heresie of one called Tanchelin , who also denied it , but through another Principle ; I make some mention of the Slanders which the Jews and others , cast upon Christians by reason of the Sacrament ; And I treat of the difference betwixt the Greek and Latin Churches , about the using of levened and unlevened Bread . Then I consider whence the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament was taken , what was the fashion of the Bread , with the innovations and changes which have thereupon hapned . From thence I proceed to the consideration of the place of Consecration , of the matter of the Chalices and Patins , that is to say , the Vessels which were used in this holy action ; this consideration is followed with an inquiry of the Language wherein Consecration was made , and wherein all the Service was generally performed ; and from this Inquiry , I proceed to the Examination of Ceremonies , and of the Form of Consecration ; I mean , the words of Consecration , to know whether the antient Church did consecrate by Prayers , Blessings , and giving of Thanks , or by these words , This is my Body , as is now the practice of the Latin Church . Then I treat of the Oblation or the Form of the Sacrifice , and I shew the Reasons and Motives which obliged the holy Fathers to give to the Eucharist the name of Oblation and Sacrifice : I annex unto the consideration of the Oblation , that of the Elevation , and of the Fraction ; and I shew at what time the Latins began to lift up the Host , to warn the people to adore it : moreover , I examine the Distribution and Communion , and in the first place , the Time , the Place , and the Posture of the Communicant , the Persons who distributed , those who communicated , with the words of the one and the other , and then of the Thing distributed , treating at large the Question of the Communion under both kinds . I also shew , that for several Ages , Communicants received the Eucharist with their hand ; that they were permitted to carry it unto their Houses , and to carry it along with them in their Journeys and Travels ; and that the ancient Christians were so little scrupulous in this matter , that sometimes they sent the Sacrament unto the Sick by Lay persons , Men , Women , Acolytes , and young Boys ; and not only so , but they made Plaisters of it , they buried it with the Dead . In some Churches they burnt the remainder of the Sacrament , and in others , they caused it to be eaten by little Infants . Sometimes they took consecrated Wine and mixed it with Ink , then they dipt their Pen in these mixt Liquors , the more to confirm the Acts they intended to sign . In the Second Part , I describe the History of the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers , upon this weighty Article , beginning with the reflections they have made upon the words of Institution , and upon the interpretation they have given of these words , This is my Body ; and after these Reflections , I represent a great number of Testimonies , wherein they call the Eucharist , Bread and Wine , in the very act of communicating ; they affirm it is Bread which is broken , that it is Corn , Wheat , the fruit of the Vine , Fruits of the Earth , and like terms : They positively say , That it is Bread and Wine ; Bread , wherewith our Bodies are nourished , the matter whereof passeth through the natural accidents of our common Food , Bread which is consumed in the celebration of the Sacrament . They affirm , that the Bread and the Cup , which we receive at the Lord's Table , are things inanimate ; that the substance of Bread and Wine remain after Consecration : and because : one is found amongst them that much varies from this language , I represent unto the Reader what some have said to reconcile this Authour with others who have expressed themselves otherwise than he hath done . Then re-assuming the thred of my History , I make appear , that these same Doctors have believed , that participating of the Eucharist , broke the fast , and that they have spoken of what is received in the Communion , as of a thing whereof one received a little , a morsel , a piece , a small portion . And having seen what they believed , and what they said of the things which we receive in the Eucharist , I inquire what they taught of the Use , the Office , and Imploy of the sacred Symbols : And they tell us , that the Eucharist is the Sacrament , the Sign , the Figure , the Type , the Antitype , the Symbol , the Image , the Similitude , and the resemblance of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ . And the better to instruct us in the nature and force of these expressions , they will have us make these two observations , First , that when they speak of the Eucharist as of a Sign , a Figure , an Image , it is in opposition to the reality , which they consider as absent . The other is , that they constantly hold , that the Image and the Figure cannot be that whereof they are the Image and Figure . And indeed , not to leave their Doctrine exposed unto the stroaks of Calumny , they declare , that if the Eucharist be a Figure , and an Image , it is not a bare Figure , nor an Image without operation ; but a Figure , an Image , and a Sacrament replenished with all the vertue and all the efficacy of the Body and Blood of our blessed Saviour , clothed , if it may be so said , with the Majesty of his person , and accompanied in the lawful Celebration with all the fruits , and with all the benefits of his death and Sufferings . But because the same Fathers who affirm that the Eucharist is Bread and Wine , and who say , that it is the Sign , the Symbol , the Figure , and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour , do say also , That it is his Body and his Blood , that it passeth and is turned into his Body and Blood ; I have not omitted to report the explications which they give us thereupon , and to shew which of those sorts of expressions they have limited ; for by this means it is easie to comprehend their words , and intentions . Having ended the Examination of their Doctrine , I have applied my self unto the search and inquiry of its consequence , to know if they believed the eating of the Flesh of Jesus Christ , with the mouth of the body , the eating of the same Flesh by the wicked , as well as by the righteous , and the presence of the Lord upon Earth , as to his Humanity , and how they understood the following Maxims , whether a Body can be in several places at the same time ; whether it can subsist invisibly after the manner of a Spirit , without occupying any space ; whether what hath been done long since , can still be done every day ; whether the Cause can be later than the Effect ; whether that which containeth , ought not to be greater than that which is contained ; whether Accidents can exist without their Subject ; whether the Senses may be deceived in the report they make of sensible Objects , when there is no defect in the Organ , or in the medium , or situation of the Object ; whether a Body ought to be visible , and palpable , and whether it ought to have its parts so distinguished the one from the other , that each part ought to answer the respective part of place ; whether there may be penetration of dimensions ; whether one may dwell in himself ; whether a Body may be all intirely in one of its parts ; and whether whatsoever is seen and touched , and falls under sense , be a Body . And to the end nothing be wanting to establish the Doctrine of the Fathers in the point of the Eucharist , I add unto direct proofs , a great many indirect proofs , taken from their words and actions , whence are drawn several inductions , which contribute very much to shew what were their sentiments of this Article of our Faith . Then I represent the Alterations and changes happened in the ancient expressions and Doctrine , the contests of the Ninth Age , whereunto if I mistake not , I have given much light by certain considerations , which shew as clear as the light , which of the two Opinions had the better , that of Paschasius , or that of his Adversaries . The History of the Tenth Age , shall be represented in such a manner I hope , as will not be displeasing unto the candid Reader , seeing it will inform him that in that Age , which I consider neither as an Age of Darkness , nor of Light , but participating of both , wherein things passed otherwise than hath been hitherto believed . I treat exactly of what passed in the Eleventh Century , in regard of Berengarius , and his Followers ; in regard of the Albigenses , and Waldenses , in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries ; of Wicklif , and the Lollards in England ; in the Fourteenth Age , of the Taborites in Bohemia ; in the Fifteenth , and until the separation of the Protestants , with some Observations which I make from Age to Age , upon the Greek Church . And in the last Part , wherein I treat of the Worship , I examine the preparations which precede the Celebration ; I inquire the time wherein Christians began to introduce in the exercise of their Religion , the use of Incense and Candles , especially at the Celebration of the Sacrament . Unto this practice , I add that of the sign of the Cross , and also of material Crosses ; the consideration of holy Vestments , and of those particularly appointed for this holy Ceremony , not forgetting that of Flowers , which were used in form of Coronets , or otherwise , in honour of the Eucharist . I make one Chapter of the dispositions requisite for a Communicant in respect of God , and of Jesus Christ ; and another , of those which he ought to have in regard of the Sacrament ; which ingageth me to speak something of Auricular Confession , and to inquire whether the Holy Fathers have requir'd it as a disposition absolutely necessary unto a lawful Communion : And I conclude the whole Work with the question of the Adoration of the Sacrament , which I treat of with some care and exactness , to the end , the Reader might see what hath been the Belief and practice of the ancient Church on so important a point as this is , and when the first Decrees were made for worshipping the Host .

I know very well there can be nothing of testimony , be it never so clear ; but the subtilty of men will find means to elude , and this is it which hath rendred , and will render the disputes of Religion immortal , many of those who handle them , seeking more their own , than Gods glory , and examining the passages of the Ancients , with the prejudices they have been before prepossess'd with . Thence it is , that beholding them in a bad light , they can never rightly understand what was the true Belief of the Church upon the Controversies wherewith it hath been agitated so many years . Nevertheless , there is nothing we should more indeavour , than to represent , and discover the naked truth ; not caring that men should triumph over us , so that truth might triumph over us all . It is with this design , that I have undertaken to discover sincerely what Christians have believed in past Ages , and the Article of the Eucharist , which seems to me , one of the most essential , and which causeth the greatest division amongst Christians in the West .

But to the end that none may be mistaken in the explication of the testimonies of the holy Fathers , and not swerve from their Intentions , I will propose some means , which seem not to me improper , and the practice whereof may be of great use unto all such as desire to be instructed in what they believed . In the first place , their Works ought to be read without any prejudice , I speak of their genuine , not forged , Works ; for when one is pre-occupy'd in favour of an Opinion , and sets about reading them , one shall find , what is not intended therein , prejudice so darkning the understanding , that many times the shadow is taken for the substance ; and a fallacious appearance , for the truth , because that prejudice predominates , and makes men incapable of rightly judging what they read ; the Idea of the opinion which prepossesseth us , so filling the faculty of the Understanding , that it can receive no other impression until we dismiss these prejudices . Wherefore the first thing to be done when we set about reading the Monuments , which we still injoy , of Ecclesiastical Antiquity , is well to examine our selves , to see if we be free from all sorts of preoccupation . For , provided we bring unto this study nothing of our own , but attention , and a sincere desire of knowing the truth , we shall gather Fruits full of consolation and joy , and we shall doubtless discover , what hath been the belief of those ancient Doctors upon the point which we examine . Secondly , great heed must be taken not to separate what God hath joined together , I mean , the nature , and the matter of the Symbols , from their efficacy , and from their vertue , in their lawful use : for then these things are inseparable , although they be different one from another ; for the nature of Bread and Wine is one thing , and the grace and vertue which the Consecration addeth unto their nature , is another thing : and therefore it is , that the holy Fathers spake not so honourably of the Sacrament , when they consider the substance of the Symbols , as when they regard their efficacy and vertue . And indeed , when they have a design to represent this efficacy , they make use of the loftiest and most magnificent expressions , to raise the Dignity of this Mysterie , and to make us conceive a grand Idea of it ; and certainly it is with great reason , because 't is a thing very worthy our admiration , and which I may say doth surpass our understanding , that Christ Jesus should accompany his Sacraments with so great a power , that he should cleanse our Souls with a few drops of Water , and that he should nourish them with a few crumbs of Bread , and a few drops of Wine , but after a manner so Noble , so Heavenly , and so Divine , that all we can do is , to feel the fruits and advantages , without conceiving the manner , or how it is effected : And therein is seen that magnificence of the Works of God , Tertul. de Baptis . c. 2. which is promised in the effect ; whereof Tertullian speaks , and which he opposeth unto the simplicity of these same Works , which appears in the Action ; and in respect of which Simplicity , the Fathers have expressed themselves , in terms more humble , and not so lofty , agreeable unto the nature of Symbols . This second means shall be follow'd by a third , which is not the least considerable ; and for the understanding whereof , it is necessary to observe , that the Holy Fathers have used two sorts of expressions in speaking of the Eucharist : by the one , they affirm , that the Sacrament is Bread and Wine ; and by the other , they say , it is the Body and Blood of Christ : These two sorts of expressions taken literally , cannot agree together , nor be both true in relation to one and the same Subject . For if the Eucharist be properly the Body of Jesus Christ , it is not properly Bread ; and if it be properly Bread , it cannot be understood to be properly the Body of Jesus Christ . Nevertheless the Fathers who have said , that the Eucharist is Bread , have also said that it is the Body of Jesus Christ ; how shall we then do , to give a right sense unto expressions so different , and which in appearance are so inconsistent ? That which we should do , is maturely to consider what these Holy Doctors have said for explanation of their meaning ; and that cannot better be done , than by diligently searching their Works ; that of the two sorts of expressions which they have used , they have restrained the one , without giving any limitation unto the other : for in equity it must be granted that those which they have limited , ought not to be explained according to their intention , without the restrictions which they have used ; and that on the contrary the others which have received no limitation should be understood simply and absolutely , and in the proper terms wherein they have expressed them ; and to say the truth , had they intended that these two so different expressions should have been understood in the same manner , wherefore should they have taken so much care and pains to limit and restrain the one , and never heed to take the least care in restraining or sweetning the others ? Such different proceedings in regard of these kinds of expressions , doth it not plainly declare that they intended that they should be differently understood , and that there should be given unto those which they have restrained , a Figurative and Metaphorical Sense ? and unto those which were not restrained , a proper and litteral Sense ? that is to say , that the former should be taken for Figurative Speeches , and the latter for proper expressions , and without any Figure . If then they have restrained and limited the expressions which do affirm that the Eucharist is Bread and Wine , and if they have not limited those which affirm that 't is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ , it must be concluded , that those which declare that the Sacrament is Bread and Wine , are improper and figurative Speeches ; and that the others which say that it is the Body and Blood of our Lord , are proper and literal expressions . But if on the other side , they have taken exact care to restrain the propositions which say , That the Eucharist is the Body of Jesus Christ without adding any limitation unto the others which asserted that it is Bread , it must be necessarily infer'd , that when they said that the Eucharist is the Body of our Lord , they spake improperly and figuratively ; and on the contrary , that they spake literally and properly , when they affirmed that it is Bread and Wine . Now the Reader will perceive in perusing this Treatise , what manner of speaking these Holy Doctors have used herein ; for it is enough for me here to propose unto him the means of right understanding them .

The fourth rule to be observed for the right understanding their testimonies , is not to make them clash one against another , nor to imbroil them in contradictions : for it must be supposed , that they were prudent and judicious enough not to contradict themselves , and to keep themselves from a reproach which would have been cast on them , had that befaln them . There are two things in their works relating to the matter we treat of , which should be carefully distinguished , but in such sort as to take them always in good Sense ; I mean the ground of their Doctrine , and its consequences . And indeed the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers having had its consequences , as the greatest number of Doctrines have had , it is evident that of two explications which may be given unto it , there is but one that is true ; that which shall make a contradiction betwixt the Doctrine and its consequences , and the consequences and the Doctrine , is false , and contrary to their Intention ; whereas that , that reconciles both , is lawful and genuine : for their Doctrine must be considered with its consequences , as a Body , whereof all the parts should have a dependance , the one to the other , and all tend to the same end , as so many lines to the center . I have examined a great many of these consequences in this History , to the end that those who read it , may judge if they agree with the foundation of the Doctrine , and if the Doctrine and its consequences ; do favour the substantial change for if the consequences favour this change , it will be a great presumption that the Doctrine doth not disfavour it , although it should not so positively establish it , as the Latins have done . But also if all these consequences are directly opposite unto the Doctrine of Transubstantiation , it will be a manifest proof , that the ground of the Doctrine is no less opposite unto it , and that the Antients have not received this Doctrine into the Object of their Faith , and that they made it not an Article of their Belief . This fourth rule shall be strengthened with a fifth , which appears no less important unto me , and which only demands , that doubtful and uncertain passages ought to be explained by certain passages , and the obscure by the clear and manifest ones . This is a Maxim of Tertullian's which I 'll not alledge in this place , because it is alledged in the Body of the Work : but after all , there 's nothing more just and reasonable . It often befals most Authors to deliver themselves more happily at one time than at another , though they treat of the same Subject ; it happens unto some through neglect , or not having well digested their thoughts , it being impossible to express themselves clearly on a Subject , if the mind have only confused notions of it ; others do so for reason , which may here be said particularly of the Fathers of the Church , when they treat of the Sacraments , principally of that of the Eucharist ; for there were certain Times and Places when they explained not themselves so clearly as at other times , although they never said any thing contrary to their Sentiments , the discipline of their times not suffering them to do otherwise . But however the matter hapned , it seems very just and equal when the mind of an Author would be known upon a matter which he hath treated in divers Places , in some places clearer than at others , to have recourse unto those Places wherein he hath most clearly explained himself , and by those to interpret the others wherein he expressed himself more obscurely , either through inadvertency , or for reason more darkly and ambiguously ; this kind of proceeding is natural unto all Mankind , and reason shews 't is the safest way can be taken in these occasions . I will not fear to say that 't is the only means to terminate the Disputes and Controversies of Religion , because , they all arising from the several interpretations given unto passages of the Holy Scriptures , and of those of the antient Doctors of the Church , they might be easily reconciled if Men would agree that the most clear and intelligible should serve as a Commentary unto the more difficult and obscure . Unto all these rules I will add a sixth , which shall be the last . The Fathers being on this occasion to be considered as witnesses examin'd , to learn of them what was the belief of the antient Church touching the Sacrament , there 's no question to be made but that the greater number ought to be preferr'd before the less , and that the lesser number ought to submit unto the greater , things being otherwise alike ; I mean both the one and the other being of equal Authority , and their Testimony alike worthy of belief : for instance , if eight or ten amongst them should unanimously depose , that the substance of the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament is abolished by the Consecration , and that there remain only the accidents and appearance , which subsist miraculously without any Subject ; and that there was but one , that said to the contrary : It is not to be doubted but the testimony of the Ten , ought to be preferr'd before one single Person ; because every one of the Ten is as credible in his particular , as he that is alone of his own Opinion , and that there is much more likelihood that one single Person may be mistaken in relating the belief of the Church , than ten Persons that agree in their Testimonies . But by the same reason , if Ten be found that testifie that the substance of Bread and Wine remains after Consecration ; and that on the contrary , one single Person shall say , it is changed into the substance of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ : we are obliged to confess , that the belief for the which the ten Persons do declare , hath been the true Belief of the antient Church ; and that the sentiments of this single Person , is a particular Opinion which ought to be rejected , or at the least , if possible , endeavour to recover him unto the general Opinion believed amongst the Christians of his time , by giving unto his words a more mild Explication , and the most favourable Construction that may be . I think no Body can reasonably condemn the Means which I have proposed , the practice whereof may conduce very much to the right understanding of the Holy Fathers , provided we observe them sincerely , and no other end be proposed in explaining their Testimonies , but what I have had in reporting them in this Treatise , that is , a love of the Truth , Tertul. de Virgin . veland . c. 1. Against which no prescription can be made , neither by length of time , by the credit of Persons , nor by the Priviledges of Countreys . To conclude , the Reader may be pleased to take notice , that if in this History I have spoken of the Country of the Abassins as of the Kingdom of Prester John , it was to accomnodate my self with the vulgar Opinion , without making exact inquiry what it is , and without troubling my self at this time , to reconcile Historians and Travellers that have written diversly of it .