So that in Holy Communion there is the fulness of Divine Grace, in that God feeds us therein with no unreal sign, but with the Body and Blood of His only Son. Such a rite, having such an Inward Part, must be approached with corresponding self-abasement. If we are allowed access to such a thing it must be indeed "humble," and so we say in the Prayer of humble access, "We do not presume to come to this Thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Thy table. But Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. If anywhere we have the embodiment of "justification by grace through faith" it is here.

Again, we must believe and acknowledge that in this Sacrament there is the most unsearchable Mystery. The Mystery of the Sacrament lies in this, that in it there are two parts, an outward part or sign which is bread and wine, and an Inward Part, which is the Body and Blood of Christ. These two parts make up together the Sacrament. These two parts are by the power of God so joined, that they who eat and drink rightly and faithfully, eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood; and they who eat and drink unworthily, eat and drink their own condemnation, not discerning the Lord's Body, and so are "guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord," i.e. of the Inward Part.

This is a great Mystery; but it is a Mystery in accordance with the mysteries of our own nature, and of the Nature of Him Who came to remedy the evils of our state. What can be more mysterious than our own nature? We too are composed of two parts, an outward and an inward, a fleshly and

a spiritual, united together by some inconceivably mysterious link. Besides this, we have received sin with the flesh and blood we have received from our parents; we have received it not only through our souls or spirits, but through our flesh which we have received from Adam. We are assured by St. Paul that as we have received death from the first Adam, so must we receive life from the Second Adam (Rom. v. 14-21; 1 Cor. xv. 15-20), and our Lord tells us that we must receive this life, not only by partaking of His Spirit, but by eating of His Flesh (John vi. 53, 54, 55). In saying this He uses most startling and mysterious words, but still words in accordance with the Infinite Mystery of His Twofold Nature. For He was God and Man. In Him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9), and yet His Body died. His Body was infinitely mysterious in its origin, for He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. More especially the appearances of His Body between the day of His Resurrection and that of His Ascension are such as to prove to us that His Body had natural and supernatural properties. It was seen, and felt, and handled, and so had the properties of a natural body but It passed through the closed doors, It vanished and re-appeared at will; above all It ascended up into heaven, and took Its seat at the Right Hand of God; all which things show Its supernatural and mysterious attributes; and well may It have such attributes, for It is the Body of the Lord of Life. It is the Body which the Eternal Word had assumed that in and by It He might be our Second Adam-the Author of our new life so that because It rose again we shall

:

rise again in our bodies. In some heavenly and

spiritual way we are members of His Body-of His Flesh and of His Bones. Eve, in that she was formed of the bone and flesh of Adam, is a figure of the Church, mystically formed out of the pierced side of the Second Adam (Ephes. v. 30, 31). Seeing then that our nature is so mysterious in that we partake through flesh and blood of an evil nature, seeing that the two-fold Nature of our Redeemer is so exceedingly mysterious, seeing that the Spirit in the Scriptures has thrown such a cloud of mystery over His Body of Flesh by ascribing to It the properties of a Spirit, and seeing that He Himself spake so mysteriously respecting the life-giving power of His Flesh when eaten by His people; it behoves us to look upon this Sacrament of His Body as containing a deep mystery, and to approach it with the utmost awe and reverence.

The preparation, then, for receiving this Sacrament answers to its nature. If this Sacrament be the means by which Christ would dwell in us we must prepare ourselves to receive such a Guest, and this can only be by our examining ourselves as to whether we are keeping the commandments of God, according to the words of the Spirit: "He that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him (1 John iii. 24), and if we find, as we assuredly shall, that in many things we fall miserably short, then to humble ourselves in true and earnest contrition, and so at least receive the promise, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit" (Isaiah lvii. 15).

Again, if all be given to us of free grace, we must come, not trusting in our own righteousness, but in God's manifold and great mercies; we must come as needy and unworthy recipients of incon

ceivable bounty; and so we must see to it that we have a "lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of His Death." If this Sacrament be a pledge of our own forgiveness, and of our yet being " very members incorporate in the mystical Body of Christ, which is the blessed company of all faithful people," then we must examine ourselves as to whether we forgive as we would be forgiven, and as to whether we are in charity with all men, for "he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him " (1 John iv. 16).

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And if this Sacrament be, as it is, a very deep mystery, then we must, in the words of the Church, "consider the dignity of this Holy Mystery " in that in It, to use the words of a holy man, 'things lowest and Highest, earthly and Heavenly, are united." In the face of such a depth of love and power ours must surely be the spirit which inspired the words of the Psalm,

"Lord, I am not high minded: I have no proud looks.

"I do not exercise myself in great matters which are too high for me,

"But I refrain my soul and keep it low, like as a child that is weaned from his mother, yea, my soul is even as a weaned child.

"O Israel, trust in the Lord, from this time forth for evermore.

ET a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that Bread, and drink of that Cup. -I Cor. xi. 28.

My duty is to exhort you in the mean season to consider the dignity of that Holy Mystery, and the great peril of the unworthy receiving thereof; and so to search and examine your own consciences, (and that not lightly, and after the manner of dissemblers with God; but so) that ye may come holy and clean to such a heavenly Feast, in the marriage garment required by God in Holy Scripture, and be received as worthy partakers of that Holy

Table.

The way and means thereto is: First, to examine your lives and conversations by the rule of God's

commandments; and whereinsoever ye shall per

ceive yourselves to have offended, either by will, word, or deed, there to bewail your own sinfulness, and to confess yourselves to Almighty God, with full purpose of amendment of life. And if ye shall perceive your offences to be such as are not only against God, but also against your neighbours; then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto them; being ready to make restitution and satisfaction, according to the uttermost of your powers, for all injuries and wrongs done by you to any other; and being

B