It appears that these sentences were preceded by a salutation or benediction in the ancient liturgies. According to Theodoret, the beginning of the mystical liturgy, or most solemn prayers, was that apostolic benediction, “ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you allt.” The same was also alluded to by Chrysostom, when he was a presbyter of the church of Antiochu. We find that this benediction, with the response of the people, “ And with thy spirit,” has all along preserved its place in the east ; for in the liturgies of Cæsarea, Constantinople, Antioch, and Jerusalem, it is uniformly placed at the beginning of the Anaphora, just before the form “ Lift up your hearts.” In Egypt w, Africa, and Italy, the apostolic benediction was not used at this place, but instead of it the priest said, “ The Lord be with you,” and the people replied, “ And with thy spiritx.” In Spain, and probably Gaul, as now in England, there was no salutation before the introductory sentencesy. Priest. Lift up your

hearts. Sacerdos. Sursum corda. Answer. We lift them up. Respons. Habemus ad Dounto the Lord.

minum. Priest. Let us give thanks Sacerdos. Gratias agamus unto our Lord God.

Domino Deo nostro. Answer. It is meet and right Respons. Dignum et justum so to do.

In the liturgy of Cæsarea the introduction to the thanksgiving was as follows:

est 2.

t See vol. i. p. 29. u Ibid. p. 31.

Menard. p. 1. See also vol. i. p. 127. 136.

Sacerdos. Η χάρις του κυρίου ημών Ιησού Χριστού, και η αγάπη του Θεού και Πατρός, και η κοινωνία του αγίου Πνεύ

ท ματος, είη μετά πάντων υμών. Populus. Και μετά του Πνεύματός σου. Sacerdos. "Aνω σχόμεν τας καρδίας. Populus. "Έχομεν προς τον κύριον. Sacerdos. Ευχαριστήσωμεν τώ κυρίω. Ρopulus. "Αξιον και δίκαιόν εστι προσκυνεϊν Πατέρα, Υιον, και άγιον Πνεύμα, τριάδα ομοούσιον και αχώριστον 4.

SECTION XV.

THE THANKSGIVING OR PREFACE.

The thanksgiving in the sacrament was instituted by our blessed Saviour himself, for we learn from holy scripture, that when he had taken bread and wine he gave thanks to God, and blessed them b. And we find that the same custom has prevailed in the Christian church from the beginning. In fact, we continually meet in the earliest writings of the Christian Fathers, the word eucharistia, or thanksgiving, applied both to the service and to the consecrated elements, so great a portion of the liturgy in those days consisted of thanksgiving. The term was used in these senses by Ignatius in the apostolical age, by Justin Martyr, Irenæus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian shortly afterwards®, and

a Liturgia Basilii, Goar, Rit.

θέντος άρτου και οίνου και ύδατος. Grec. p. 165.

Justin Martyr, Apolog. i. p. 96. b Matt. xxvi. 26, 27; Mark ed. Thirlby. και εν τη εκκλησία xiv. 22, 23 ; Luke xxii. 19, 20. παρεχώρησεν ο Ανίκητος την ευχα

• Εκείνη βεβαία ευχαριστία ηγεί- ριστίαν τώ Πολυκάρπω κατ' εντροσθω, η υπό τον επίσκοπον ούσα, πην δηλονότι, Irenei fragment. ή και αν αυτός επιτρέψη. Ignat. Epist. ad Victorem Romanens.

. . Epist. ad Smyrnæos, c. viii. Episcop. p. 341. ed. Benedict. . , c. .

. . ευχαριστήσαντος δε του προεστώ- Clemens Alexandrin. Pedagog. τος, και επευφημήσαντος παντός lib. ii. c. 2. p. 178. ed. Oxon. του λαού, οι καλούμενοι παρ' ημίν « Eucharistia pascit.” Tertulδιακονοι διδόασιν εκάστα των παρ- lian. de Præscript. c. xxxvi. p. όντων μεταλαβείν από ευχαριστη- 215. ed. Rigalt. VOL. II.

I

thenceforward by numerous Christian writers. We have, however, an earlier allusion to the liturgy under the title of eucharistia, or thanksgiving, in the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians; where, in forbidding and reasoning against the practice of some persons, who used the miraculous gift of tongues in an improper manner, namely, by celebrating the liturgy in an unknown language, he says,

66 when thou shalt bless with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest ?" 1 Cor. xiv. 16. έπει, εάν ευλογήσης το πνεύματι, ο αναπληρών τον τόπον του ιδιώτου πώς έρεί το αμήν επί τη ση ευχαριστία και επειδή, τι λέγεις, ουκ . Néyers, oủk oide. The meaning of this passage is obvious : 66 If thou shalt bless the bread and wine in an unknown language which has been given to thee by the Holy Spirit, how shall the layman say Amen, ‘so be it,' at the end of thy thanksgiving or liturgy, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest d?” It is undeniable that St. Paul in this place uses exactly the same expressions to describe the supposed action as he has employed a short time before in designating the sacraments of Christ's body and blood, and describing our Lord's consecration at the last supper. Το ποτήριον της ευλογίας και ευλογούμεν, ουχί κοινωνία του αίματος του Χριστού έστι; “ the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the com

6

66

d Dr. Waterland says,

this construction of the text appears too conjectural to build upon, and is rejected by the generality of interpreters: I think, with good reason, as Estius in particular hath mani

fested upon the place.” Review of the Doctrine of the Eucharist, &c. ch. i. p. 45. It is strange that Doctor Waterland did not perceive the weakness of Estius's arguments.

munion of the blood of Christ?” 1 Cor. x. 16. 'O κύριος Ιησούς εν τη νυκτί ή παρεδίδοτο, έλαβεν άρτον, και eyxapiothoas ékhase, 1 Cor. xi. 23. “ the Lord Jesus, in the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it.” The language of St. Paul also in the passage under consideration, as well as the action which he describes, is perfectly conformable to the description given by Justin Martyr of the celebration of the eucharist. “ Then bread and a cup of water and wine is offered to the president of the brethren; and he, taking them, sends up praise and glory to the Father of all, in the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and makes a very long thanksgiving, because God has thought us worthy of these things. And when he has ended the prayers and thanksgiving, all the people that are present signify their approbation, saying, Amen. For Amen in the Hebrew language signifies ‘so be it."" Here we observe the “president” corresponding to the person who “ blesses,” according to St. Paul, and performs the “ thanksgiving.” The “people” corresponding to the “ unlearned person” (or layman, as Chrysostom and Theodoret interpret the word) of St. Paul,

e Justin Martyr, Apolog. i. των αιώνων, όπερ έστι τέλος, ου p. 96, 97. ed. Thirlby.

λέγει το 'Αμήν. Ηom. 35. in f Chrysostom, commenting Epist. 1. ad Cor. tom. x. Oper. on this passage, says, idiótnv

ed. Benedict. p. 325. Chrysδε τον λαϊκόν λέγει, και δείκνυσι ostom obviously understood και αυτόν ου μικράν υπομένοντα την the apostle to speak of the liζημίαν, όταν το 'Αμήν ειπείν μη turgy by alluding to the words δύνηται. ο δε λέγει τούτο έστιν εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων, which αν ευλογήσης τη των βαρβάρων he says éoti teos, that is, the φωνή, ουκ ειδώς τί λέγεις, ουδε έρ- end of the liturgy. And acμηνεύσαι δυνάμενος, ου δύναται cordingly look to the liturgies υποφωνήσαι το 'Αμήν ο λαϊκός. of Antioch, where he preached ου γαρ ακούων το, εις τους αιώνας these Homilies, and we find

and replying Amen, “so be it,” at the end of the thanksgiving in both passages. If we refer to all the ancient and primitive liturgies of the east and of Greece, the peculiar applicability of St. Paul's argument to the Christian liturgy will appear still more. In the liturgy of Constantinople or Greece, which has probably been always used at Corinth, the bishop or priest takes bread, and “ blesses” it in the course of a very long “ thanksgiving,” at the end of which all the people answer, “ Ameng.” The

. same may be said of the liturgies of Antioch and Cæsareah, and in fine of all the countries of the east and Greece through which St. Paul bare rule or founded churches. It may be added, that there is, I believe, no instance in the writings of the most primitive Fathers, in which the Amen is ever said to have been repeated at the end of an office containing both blessing and thanksgiving, except in the liturgy of the eucharist.

All this shews plainly that the argument of St. Paul applies immediately and directly to the celebration of this sacrament. Whether we regard his own previous expressions, the language and the words of the earliest Fathers, or the customs of the primitive church exhibited in the ancient liturgies, we see the accurate coincidence between the case

στρατιάς όντας ιδιώτας καλείν ειώθασι. In Epist. 1. ad Cor. c. 14. tom. iii. Oper. ed. Sirmond. p. 191,

g Liturgia Chrysost. Goar, Rituale Græc. p. 75–79.

Theodoret comments thus on the passage: ιδιώτην καλεί τον εν τω λαϊκό τάγματι τεταγμένον" επειδάν και τους έξω της