at all with the Papists in worshipping at the lifting up of the Hoast or the carrying it about in Procession but contrarywise renounce Both cannot be said with Colour of Reason to confirm them in their Errour or misguided Worship by obeying the Decree of P. Honorius No more then they can be said to confirme them in their Doctrine of Transubstantiation by reteining those words This is my Body This is my Blood at the Celebration of the Sacrament on the misunderstanding of which that Doctrine was grounded Why may not we as justly reteine the Adoration in the receiving directing it to the proper Object Christ corporally present in Heaven and spiritually in the Sacrament The Sursum corda in the Communion-Service Lift up your Hearts unto the Lord which our Church hath borrowed of the primitive Age shewes evidently enough whither our Worship is directed Ob. 6. At the Sacrament we put on and act the persons of coheires and represent our sitting with Christ at his Table in his Kingdome of Glory which requires a gesture of familiarity and fellowlike equality kneeling then is very unsuitable for it as being a Posture of Inferiority Subjection Humility Besides it crosseth the assurance of our Coheirship with Christ because it implies an unfellow-like and inferiour Condition in our future state of Glory and debaâ—â—s us from sociall admittance and entertainment as Guests at his Table Answ 1. If these Patrons of Non-conformity did not openly professe a sound beliefe in the Holy Trinity and the Godhead of our Saviour I could not imagine this objection could have proceeded from any other than some of those monstrous Apostates in Poland who revolted to Photinianisme other Blasphemous Sects so much pride presumption it hath in it and so manifest a Tendency to the imbracing of their opinions Neither hath it more Reason than Religion in it as being a Complication of Errours and Absurdities and groundless supposals It supposeth 1. that we have a kind of equality with Christ by our priviledge of Coheirship whereas there is a vast Distance between us He is Heire of all Things by Nature we be Heires by his free Donation Heaven was his possession from all Eternity It is but prepared for us to be possest after the Resurrection it is his Inheritance by purchase ours by Promise We are but Heires in Hope depending upon favour for Actuall Admission He is actuall Lord and Possessour and hath the Disposall of this Kingdome at his Command And however by taking our Nature upon him he became of kin to us and is not ashamed to call us Brethren yet considering our present vilenesse and his Height of Majesty methinks we should be ashamed afraid too not to acknowledge him such an elder Brother as is our Lord Prince who hath the spirit without measure annointed with the oyle of Gladness above his fellowes the supream head of his Church far exalted above all Angels as well as men And all this as Man How much vaster a Distance is there between us him being considered as the Son of God who thinks it no Robbery to be equall unto his Father as such we consider him when we kneel to him in the Sacrament 2. That our communicating at the Sacrament represents our future estate of Glory exprest by our Saviour under the similitude of eating and drinking with him at his Table in his Kingdome Whereas our Saviour clearly tels us that we are to celebrate it in coÌ„memoration of his Passion that is past not of our preferment that is to come This is my Blood of the new Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Mat. 26 28. The Apostle tels us the same This is my Body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me 1 Cor. 11. 24. As often as ye eate this Bread drink this Cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come v. 26. 3. That a Gesture of Humility such as kneeling is crosseth and hindreth the assurance of our Coheirship Whereas if we will believe the Scriptures there is no vertue which better assureth our Interest in Christ and the Promises which are made to us in him than Humility which if it be not layd very deep as the foundation of all other Graces the whole structure will soon come to Ruine The first lesson which our Saviour gave his Followers was to deny themselves without which they could neither beare his Crosse nor follow him Mat. 16. 24. And Christs own Humility it is which the Apostle would have us set before our eyes as a Patterne to follow because thereby he obteined his Glory Phil. 2. 5-9 The deep Humility of the Centurion and woman of Canaan very well consorted with an extraordinary Faith and high Confidence in our Saviour whereof the one thought not himself worthy that Christ should honour him so far as to come under his Roof Mat. 8. 8. And the other as humbly took upon Her the disgracefull name of a Dog Mat. 15. 27. Yet both their Faiths are so highly commended by our Saviour as none else seemed to come neer them O Woman great is thy Faith Be it unto thee even as thou wilt said our Saviour to the one Mat. 15. 28. I have not found so great faith no not in Israel Mat. 8. 10. saith he to the other 4. Christs advancing our Nature by exalting it to his Fathers right Hand his assuming us into a kind of Fraternity and Coheirship with himselfe should serve to make us the more humble to confess our unworthinesse and to keep a geater Distance not to puff us up and make us presume upon our Priviledges It was the Guise and Character of the Pharisees to presse for the highest Roomes Mat. 23. 6. Whereas Christ chargeth his own Disciples to sit down in the lowest withall telling them that whosoever exalteth himselfe shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted Luk. 14. 7 10 11. This effect the high Favours of God wrought in the Blessed Virgin and John the Baptist When the one heard from the Angell Gabriel that she should be the Mother of the Son of God She replyed Behold the Handmaid of the Lord. And humbly thanked God in her Song that he had regarded the low estate of his Handmaiden Luk. 1. 38 48. And when Christ came to the other to be Baptized he refused saying I have need to be baptized of Thee and comest Thou to me Mat. 3. 14. Yea he counted himself unworthy to stoop down and unloose his shoe-latchet Mark 1. 17. How much fitter then were it for us who come so farre short of these two eminent Patterns either with the Prodigall in the Gospell to come unto our heavenly Father with the like humble Confession I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Luk. 15. 18 19 21. Or with the penitent Publican to stand at a Distance cast down our Eyes and
another on the Cheek at meeting Of Inferiors to kiss the hand of the Superior but of Suppliants and Petitioners who would express the greatest Humility to bow themselves before him towards the Earth So we read in Holy Scripture that Abraham bowed himself to the Hittites when he petitioned them for a Sepulchre wherein to bury Sarah his Wife So Jacob to his elder Brother Esau when he petitioned him to be favourable to him and accept his present So the Patriarchs to Joseph when they petitioned him for a supply of Corn in the time of Dearth So David to King Saul when he pleaded his Innocency So Nathan the Prophet and Bathsheba to David when they supplicated him in behalf of Solomon c. This Gesture therefore was used by the Primitive Christians in their most Solemn Prayers and Services wherein they endeavored to express the greatest Piety and Humility And more especially at the receiving of the Holy Sacrament the Auncients rightly judging that the Solemnity of the Eucharist was the chief part of that publick Worship which was due unto God only since the Place where the Eucharist was celebrated was peculiarly entituled The Place of Prayer So Saint Augustine tell us Sermon 237. de Temp. Post Sermonem fit missa Catechumenis manebunt Fideles Venietur ad locum Orationis After Sermon the Prayers for the Catechumens are said The faithful tarry behind Then we come to the Place of Prayer By this Gesture also the Christians of old made a publick profession of their faith that Christ was God and man in one and the same Person and present by his Divine Power in the Sacrament thus honouring the Son as they honoured the Father according as we are commanded Jo. 5. 23 and as every one is bound to doe who believes in him aright that He is God manifested in the Flesh 1 Tim. 3. 16. Without a sound and right Faith we are no fit Partakers of this Sacrament and that Faith which we have in our Heart we are to express outwardly upon every just Occasion and especially in the Acts of God's publick Worship wherein we testify and make known to others what we inwardly acknowledge For it is not sufficient to believe with the Heart we must confess also with the Mouth as we read Rom. 10. 10. and consequently we are to profess the same Belief by our bodily Gesture as well as by our Speech seeing there is the same reason of Both namely the outward witnessing of that Belief which is within And this is more especially requisite when Sects and Heresies arise which corrupt and pervert the Articles of Faith concerning our Saviour either denying his God-head or dividing his Person as some then did and as others at this Day do To oppose and contra-distinguish themselves unto These the Christians of those elder Times adored Christ in the Sacrament thus honouring him and his Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the same undivided worship as Naz tels us in that Oration which he made to the 150 Bishops assembled at Constantinople thus openly testifying their Belief in him as coeternal and consubstantial to the Father and worthy of the same Honour with him The same Father thus elegantly expresseth it in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Sentences which he thus put into Greek verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The sense whereof is this He is a fool who worships not the Eternal word of God equally to his heavenly Father He is a fool who worships not the Word incarnate appearing amongst us equally to God the Word in heaven before his Incarnation Such an one either separateh God the Word from his Father or the humane nature from the Word These are the chief of my witnesses who give the most clear and pregnant Testimonies concerning the Practise of the Auncient Church in this Particular To them I shall add some others who though they speak not particularly for a Posture of Adoration yet when in more general Termes they either press or mention the use of an humble and a reverend Gesture they cannot in reason be thought to mean any other than what the former more expresly declared Dionys Eccles hier cap 3 cals the Sacramental Bread and Wine which are placed on the holy Table 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Venerable or adorable Signes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Venerable or adorable Signes are set on the Divine Altar whereby Christ is represented and partaken of Origen in his fifth homily in diversos-Quando sanctum cibum illudque incorruptum accipis epulum quando vitae poculo pane frueris manducas bibis corpus sanguinem Domini tunc Dominus sub tectum tuum ingreditur tu ergo humilians teipsum imitare Centurionem dicito Domine non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum That is when thou partakest of the holy food and immortal Banquet when thou enjoyest the Bread and Cup of life thou eatest and drinkest the Body and Bloud of the Lord then the Lord entreth under thy Roof Thou therefore humbling thy selfe imitate the Centurion and say Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my Roof Cypr Testim ad Quirinum lib. 3. 94. Cum honore timore Eucharistiam accipiendam that is the Eucharist is to be received with feare and honour For which he cites 1 Cor. 11. 27. Ambr or rather Hilarius in 1 Cor. 11. 28. Devoto animo cum timore accedendum ad Communionem docet ut sciat mens se reverentiam debere ei ad cujus corpus sumendum accedit Hoc enim apud se debet judicare quia Dominus est cujus in mysterio sanguinem potat qui testis est beneficii Dei Quem nos si cum disciplinâ accipiamus non erimus indigni sanguine corpore Domini non inultum scientes corpus Domini negligenter accipere that is The Apostle teacheth us to approach unto the Communion with fear and a devout mind that our Mind may know we owe reverence to him to the receiving of whose Body we draw near for this he ought to judge within himself that it is the Lord whose Bloud he drinketh in the Sacrament which is a testimonie of God's favour Whom if we receive with Discipline we shall not be unworthy of the Bloud and Body of the Lord knowing that to receive the Body of the Lord in a negligent manner will not be unpunished The Discipline which he speakes of is the outward Order and Carriage prescribed by the Church Whereof St. Cyp long before him speaks in his Tract De Orat Dom Sit Orantibus Sermo Precatio cum Disciplinâ quietem continens pudorem Cogitemus nos sub conspectu Dei stare Placendum est divinis oculis habitu corporis modo vocis that is Let the speech and Prayer of Supplicants be with Discipline
the guests who are in severall seats whereby the use of a coÌ„mon Table is overthrown and the Communion destroyed Clemens Alex. Strom. 1. witnesseth of the time werein he lived that when some had divided the Sacrament they suffred ever one of the People to take his Part. Ans 1. The Sacrament is called The Lords Supper not that it agrees in all things with our ordinary Suppers but by occasion of the first institution which was at Supper time after the eating of the Passeover Whence the Christian Church from that time till â—his day hath generally received it in the morning fasting and the Non-conformists practise the same and yet think not they violate the Order of Christ in thus crossing that Circumstance of the first Institution It is observable also that in the very same Chapter wherein the Apostle cals it The Lords Supper he calls it also The Body and Blood of the Lord taxeth them for their irreverence in partaking thereof and their disregard of so high and holy an Ordinance as if they valued it no more then their common food And I have already shewed that the Church of Christ constantly and studiously made a Distinction between that Gesture which they used at this holy Feast and that which they used at their ordinary meales But I had rather answer this Argument from the Practice of the Objectours in relation to other circumstances which attend the taking of our common food and are the usuall appurtenances of an ordinary supper as sitting covered discoursing laughing carving and reaching the Dish to one another drinking to welcoming one another with the like for which there is the same reason and the same allowable freedome if this Argument be of any force Yet those who urge a supper-Gesture neither use nor urge these circumstances It is possible this Gesture may have given occasion to some such rudeness in the more clownish ignorant sort but for ought I can find are not justifyed or approved by any sober Persons of that way For they generally sit bare when they receive the Bread and Wine receive them from the hand of the Minister returne the Cup to him againe and are silent during the whole Time of the Solemnity 2. As to the carrying about of the Bread Wine by the Minister that officiates it is a deviation from the Order of the Church of England which exhorts and chargeth all by the mouth of the Priest who officiats to come and draw neer unto the Lords Table and so comunicate together as many as can atonce and all ought to do it successively in proportionable Companies If they would have all communicate together at the same Table at the same time they talke of Impossibilities especially in numerous Congregations Our Saviour and his Apostles were a small Company and so might conveniently meet together at the same Table But Larger Congregations such as we now have and admit to the Communion are not in a capacity of meeting there all together but must come to the Table in convenient numbers one company after another what gesture soever they receive it with whether kneeling standing or sitting And yet they may be well said to partake of the same Table because they partake of the same Bread and Wine which is there placed and consecrated and thence delivered unto them Those noble Iewish Captives are said to partake of King Nebuchadnezzars Table though they came not neere it meerely be-because certaine Portions of meate and wine the same which the King ate and drank of were sent unto See 2 Sam. chap. 11. 8. Gen. 43. 16. 32. 34. them fom his Table or by his speciall Appointment Dan. 1. 3 4 5. the like had Jehoiachin from Evilmerodach 2. King 25. 27 30. and Mephibosheth from David 2 Sam. 9. 10 11. And those Idolaters who are said to be Partakers of the Table of Devils in opposition to the Partakers of the Lords Table 1 Cor. 10. 21. did not eat or drink sitting at the Altar of the Idol but onely ate part of those Sacrifices which had been offered on the Altar whether in the Temple of the Idol or at their own Houses v. 27 28. ch 8. 10 when severall companies at a great Festivall Time sit down successively at the same Noble mans Board they are all said to be partakers of one and the same Table And in Gentlemens Houses where the Cups and Glasses are not usually set on the Table but brought unto the Guests as they have occasion to drink yet all the Guests are as truly and properly said to communicate of the Wine as of the Bread and Meat which are placed on the Table whereat they sit Neither is the Lords Table made for a set formall meale but a spirituall Repast where there is as much satisfaction in a Bit as in a whole loafe as much virtue in a few Drops as in a large draught of Wine Let me adde that the place urged for this communicating at one Table viz. 1 Cor. 11. 21 33. belongs not to the Sacrament but the Feasts of Charity which accompanied it And these are long ago disused nor are thought fit to be revived by those that contend for the fitting at the communion so that no argument can be drawn from thence 3. The Communicants usually receive Portions of the same loaf whereby they signifie themselves to be the same Bread and Body as the Apostle speakes 1 Cor. 10. 16. But it is neither necessary nor fitting that to signifie their fellowship at the Communion Table and to represent their eating and drinking with Christ at his Table in his Kingdome they should carve for themselves or deliver the Parcels to one another promiscuously seeing the Apostle in the same place makes an evident distinction between this holy Communion and our common Meales 1 Cor. 10. 16. and ch 11. 22. Neither read we of any such Thing at the first Institution to which they would have our present Practice to be conformed that the Apostles took their severall Portions of Bread without any Delivery of them by Christ much lesse that they promiscuously distributed them to one another But they took them severally from the hand of their Master as will appeare by what is left recorded touching the manner and method used in the eating of the Passover at the close of which Feast the Gospell tels us that the Sacrament was instituted For Beza Annot. in Mat. 26. 20. informes us out of of Paulus Burgensis and Emanuel Tremelius both learned Jewes and Converts and out of Scaliger De Emend Temp. who was very well verst in the writings of their Rabbins that after the first Course ended the Guests arose and washed their Feet then sitting down againe at the Table the Father of the Family divided a loaf of unleavened Bread into two Parts the one halfe whereof he covered with a Napkin till the End of Supper when bringing it forth he divided it into as many Parcels as there were Guests at
Transubstantiation whereon it was built the scandalous consequent of a false opinion For when that doctrine was agreed on and finally determined in the great Councill of Laterane under Innoc. 3d. then and not before was this kneeling at the Sacrament some few yeares after enjoyned by Honorius 3d. his immediate successour as a Gesture agreeable to expresse the Adoration which was due to the Body of Christ corporally present in the Sacrament Now how can that Gesture be fitly retained much lesse rigorously imposed on all which had so false unwarrantable an Originall Answ 1. Suppose that this kneeling had been first introduced by the Bishop of Rome and that upon a false supposall yet it follows not thence that it may not be used by the Reformed Churches or imposed by our Superiours upon a true just Ground Now the Church of England which enjoyneth kneeling openly declares her Judgment against the Doctrine of Transubstantiation and the Adoration of the Hoast which is grounded upon that Principle or Supposall Whereby all Scandall and the very Appearance of evill is quite taken away whenas the same Authority which enjoynes the one renounceth the other as our Church doth in her 28. Article When Naaman had openly profest that he would not sacrifice to any God but the God of Israel he was dismist with a Blessing by the Prophet Elisha and had an implicite leave given him testifyed by the silence of the Prophet not onely to enter the house of the Idol Rimmon but to bow down therein whilst his Master the King leaned on his shoulder The other Tribes were satisfied at the building of the great Altar by the Bankes of Jordan when they heard the answer of the Tribes of Ruben and Gad and the halfe Tribe of Manasseh that they had not built it for sacrifice to worship any false God by or the true God in a Schismatical way but meerly for a monument of Concord equall priviledges in the service of the same God The Primitive Christians in Julian the Apostates time and under the ten Persecutions would not so much as cast a Graine of Incense into the fire which was made before an Idol no not to save their lives because it would have been looked upon and interpreted as a divine religious honour done to that Idol Neither would they bow themselves before the Romane-Eagles the Ensignes of the Camp for the same Reason Yet the same Christians made no scruple of lifting up their hands and eyes towards Heaven when they prayed in the open fields as that Legion of Christian Souldiers did mentioned by Justin Martyr which obtained raine for the Army of Marcus Antoninus in a time of great Distresse not fearing thereby to scandalize the Heathen and confirme them in their idolatrous worshipping of the Sun Moone and Stars because it was sufficiently known unto the world to whom they directed that bodily worship viz. not to the Host of Heaven but to the Lord of Hosts In like manner the Church of England cannot be justly censured for confirming the Romanists in the Belief of Transubstantiation and the suitable Practise of adoring the Hoast because she hath professedly condemned both that Principle and that Practise and openly declared that she directs not this Bodily worship of kneeling to the visible signes in the Sacrament immediately or indirectly or any way whatsoever as it is commonly minced and qualified with distinctions but solely and immediately to God in Heaven Yea I remember to have some where read that the same primitive Christians refused not to bow down and prostrate themseves before the Statues of the Emperours because it was reputed a civile honour and so profest by themselves And though they were taxed by some of the Heathen for worshipping of Ceres Bacchus because they adored at the receiving of the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament yet they constantly reteined the same Gesture not thinking fit to alter it upon so groundlesse a slander Yea Mr Cartwright acknowledgeth in his Epistle to the Church of England That if among the Romish filth we find any good Thing that we willingly receive not as theirs but as the Jewes did the holy Arke from the Philistines For herein saith he it is true that is said The sheep must not lay down her Fell because she sees the wolfe sometimes clothed with it And the Apostle hath taught us that it is lawfull to eate that meat which hath been sacrificed to Idols asking no question for Conscience sake 1 Cor. 10. 25 27. Why may we not then use that Gesture aright which hath been abused to Idolatry 2. But upon a more serious and considerate Review of what was decreed by Pope Honorius some few yeares after the Laterane Councill under Innocent 3. we shall find not that he enjoyned kneeling at the receiving of the Sacrament but Bowing at the Elevation thereof and the carrying it about in Procession Which also appeares clearly enough by the Practise of the Romanists at this Day who performe their Adorations accordingly Honorius Decree runs thus Extra De Celeb. Missarum cap. 10. Sacerdos frequenter doceat Plebem suam ut cum in Celebratione Missarum Elevatur hostia salutaris se reverenter inclinet idem faciens cum eam defert Presbyter ad infirmum that is Let the Priest often teach his People that when the Saving Hoast is elevated at the Celebration of the Masse they reverently bow themselves doing the like when the Priest carries it to the Sicke Ye see the Reverence here enjoyned is not kneeling but Bowing And the Time whereat this Bowing is to be performed is not the Time of Receiving the Sacrament but when the Hoast was elevated in the Masse or conveyed to the sick This Decree was set forth in the yeare 1220. and founded on a former Decree of the Laterane Councill under Innocent 3d. some 5. yeares before wherein it was determined Jesu Christi Corpus sanguinem in Sacramento Altaris sub speciebus Panis Vini Veraciter contineri Transubstantiatis Pane in Corpus Vino in Sanguinem potestate divina that is The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar are verily conteined under the formes of Bread Wine the Bread being transubstantiated into the Body and the Wine into the Blood of Christ by the power Divine See for this also Conc. Trid. Sess 13. cap. 4 5. Where the Cultus latriae or divine worship exhibited to the Sacrament is made the necessary consequent of Transubstantiation From the same fountaine sprang the Institution of that superstitious Festivall of Corpus Christi by Vrbane 4th Anno 1264. confirmed by Clement 5. Anno 1311. But what is all this to the Church of England or other Protestant Churches which use kneeling at the Receiving of the Sacrament touching which Pope Honorius enjoyned nothing nor medled with it at all but left it as he found it practised many yeares before his time whoever then reteine this auncient Gesture and comply not
water came down from Heaven very cool and refreshing on the Romans but upon their Adversaries haile accompanied with fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Yea we immediately felt the presence of God upon their Prayer as of an invincible and immortal Deity So highly did God approve and reward the Prayer of these Christian-Souldiers which was attended by this humble Gesture But the most principal Testimony of all which therefore I have reserved last is that of St. Chrysostom in 2. Ep. ad Cor. Hom. 18. in Morali pag. 647. Edit Savil. Where relating the particulars of the Communion Service he thus speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is One may see how the People beareth no small part in the publick Prayers For Prayers are made both by Priest and People for the Possessed and the Penitents all uttering one and the same Prayer Prayer full of compassion Then when we have excluded those from the sacred Rails who are not in a capacity to partake of the holy Table another Prayer useth to be made whereat we cast our selves down on the Ground alltogether and rise up alltogether Which practice of the Greek Church thus recorded by St. Chrysostom wâ—ll agrees with what I before alledged touching the Latine Church out of Caesarius and Alcuinus who both witness that the People were admonished to kneel when the Bishop or Priest administred at the Altar PROP. IV. What ever Gesture was used at the Publick Prayers which was varied as we find by the Precedent Testimonies yet this is sufficiently clear that the Communicants always used a Gesture of Adoration at the Receiving of the Sacrament thereby testifying that religious Honour and Divine Worship which they owed and acknowledged due unto God the Father who gave and to his Blessed Son our Lord Jesus Christ who is therein given unto us with all his Merits and Graces and the Benefits of his Passion Which I hope will be judged to come home unto our purpose and serve to justifie both the Practice and Precept of our Church in using and enjoyning the Gesture of kneeling whereby we now usually express the Act of Adoration 1 That ancient Author of the Book De Cardinalibus Christi operibus among St. Cyprians works who ever he were he was an Orthodox Doctor and contemporary as well with St. Cyprian as with Cornelius Bishop of Rome to whom he dedicates his work in his Tract De Coena Domini hath these words Pauperes spiritu ad hoc mysterium eligit diligit Spiritus Sanctus eorum qui pompaticâ— gloriosè sacris se Altaribus ingerunt obsequia detestatur that is The Holy Ghost loveth and chooseth such to be Partakers of this Sacrament as are poor in Spirit and abhorreth the Servicâ—â— of those who pompously and proudly press unto the holy Altars And after speaking of the Communicant he describes him thus Inter Sacra Mysteria ad gratiarum actiones convertitur inclinatâ— capite munditiâ cordis adeptâ se intelligens consummatum restituens Peccator sanctificatam Deo animam quasi Depositum custoditum fideliter reddit deinceps cum Paulo gloriatur laetatur dicens Vivo jam non ego vivit verò in me Christus That is While the Sacrament is administring the Communicant applies himself to Thanksgiving and having bowed his head and conceiving himself to be now perfect upon the cleansing of his heart the reconciled Sinner entirely commits his sanctified Soul as a Depositum into the hands of God and thence forward glorieth and rejoyceth with Paul saying It is not I that live now but Christ liveth in me Now this Bowing of the Head here mentioned was a Gesture of Adoration at the receiving of the Sacrament and that proud manner of approaching or pressing unto the Holy Table or Altar as the phrase of old was which he so much condemns seems too applicable unto Those who make choice of Sitting at the receiving of the Sacrament upon presumption of their Coheirship with Christ Cyril Patriarch of Jerusalem Orat. Mystag 5 ta thus instructeth the Communicant how he should approach to the holy Table at the receiving of the Sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is When thou approachest the Holy Table come not with thy hands rudely stretcht forth nor with thy fingers parted wide asunder but supporting thy right hand with thy left as being to receive the King of Heaven and hollowing the Palms thereof so receive the Body of Christ saying withall Amen Then approach to receive the Cup of Christs Blood not rudely stretching forth thy hands but bowing thy self and saying Amen after the manner of Divine Worship and Adoration Where these three Things are observable First That the manner of partaking the Sacramental Bread and Wine had a peculiar Reverence annext to it exprest by a particular Posture of the Hands and whole Body to contradistinguish it to our own ordinary Repast at meales Secondly That the Communicant in the Act of Partaking bowed himself after the manner of Adoration to express his inward Devotion unto God Thirdly That at the same time he said Amen thus testifying his Assent to that Short Prayer wherewith the Sacrament was delivered and thereby shewing that he joyned with the Minister in it And sure kneeling which is a Gesture of Worship well suits with Prayer which is a part of Worship Ambr. de Sp u. S to lib. 3. cap. 12. Quâ ratione ad Incarnationis Dominicae sacramentum spectare videatur quod ait Propheta Adorate Scabellum pedum ejus consideremus Legimus enim alibi Coelum mihi Thronus Terra autem Scabellum pedum meorum Sed nec terra adoranda nobis est quia Creatura est Dei. Videamus tamen ne Terram illam dicat adorandam Propheta quam Dominus Jesus in Carnis assumptione suscepit Itaque per Scabellum Terra intelligitur per Terram autem Caro Christi quam hodiè quoque in mysteriis adoramus quam Apostoli in Domino Jesu adorarunt Neque enim divisus Christus sed unus Neque cum adoraretur tanquam Dei filius natus ex Virgine negabatur That is Let us consider how that of the Prophet worship his Footstool may seem to belong unto the Mystery of our Lords Incarnation For we read elsewhere Heaven is my Throne and Earth is my Footstool But neither is the Earth to be worshipped by us as being the Creature of God Let us see nevertheless whether the Prophet doth not say That Earth is to be worshipt which the Lord Jesus assumed in his Incarnation By the Footstool therefore is the Earth to be understood and by the Earth the Body of Christ which to this day we also worship in the Sacrament and which the Apostles worshipt in the Lord Jesus For Christ is not divided but one and the same Neither when he was worshipped as the Son of God was he denied to be the Son of the Virgin Augustine commenting on the same words of the Psalm the 98 with