unity of the bread. Saviour used in celebrating the sacrament was whole and unbroken; for he took bread, and blessed it, and broke it. He did not break it before, but after, it was sanctified. The apostle Paul proves the unity of Christians from the unity of that bread of which they were all partakers: 1 Cor. x. 17. "For we being many, are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread." And, accordingly, it has always been the practice of the Christian church to place the bread on the table whole and unbroken, and only to break and divide it into portions for distribution when it is consecrated k. The eastern churches at the present day use cakes of bread, which, in order that they may be easily broken, are pressed with some instrument when they are made, so as to be deeply indented with transverse lines. This is not an ancient practice, because in primitive times the sacramental bread was taken from the oblations of the people, which of

The bread or loaf which our

k It is not by any means uncanonical, or inconsistent with the practice of the Christian church, to prepare the bread before the service begins, by making partial incisions; which, without passing entirely through it, render it easy to be broken and divided at the proper time, but which do not destroy its unity. This custom has, in fact, prevailed for a long time in the patriarchate of Constantinople and in all the east, as may be seen in the preparatory part of the liturgy of Chrysostom, published by Goar in the "Rituale Græcum." But to divide the

bread completely into small fragments, (as may possibly be done in some places, from want of consideration and familiarity with ecclesiastical rites,) is a practice which cannot be justified, and which should be carefully avoided. When there were many communicants, in primitive times, there were several cakes or loaves, in proportion to the number; and it took some time, after the consecration was finished, to break and divide them into pieces for distribution : so that in some churches an anthem was sung while the bread was broken.

course were plain. It is not essential to the validity of the sacrament that the bread should be whole and entire before consecration, and broken afterwards; but the universal practice of the Christian church, derived from the apostles and from Jesus Christ himself, ought not to be infringed in this

matter.

SECTION X.

THE OBLATION, PRAYERS, AND COMMEMORATIONS.

The bread and the cup having been placed on the table, the verbal oblation and prayers begin. This part of the liturgy comprises several very important particulars, and it will be necessary to examine each by itself, in order to observe that the church of England is authorized by ancient practice in assigning to it the place which it holds. The prayer entitled "for the church militant" may be divided into three parts: first, the oblation; secondly, the commemoration and prayers for the living; thirdly, the commemoration of the departed faithful.

THE OBLATION.

My present design does not lead me into a consideration of the various respects in which the eucharist was regarded by the primitive church as an oblation or sacrifice'; but to inquire into the nature of the verbal and direct forms of oblation in the primitive liturgies, and to observe how far they

1 Much information on this subject will be found in Waterland's Review of the Doctrine of the Eucharist, chap. xii. p. 532; Bp. Patrick on

the Christian Sacrifice; Joseph Mede on the holy Altar; Dr. Hickes on the Christian Priesthood; Bp. Bull's Answer to M. Bossuet of Meaux.

justify and support the English liturgy. By verbal oblation, I mean an oblation expressed in words, for all oblations are not so expressed. It is obvious to all readers, that the ancient liturgies contain certain passages in which something is directly and verbally offered to God. Let us begin with the form contained in the liturgy of the Apostolical Constitutions, which represents the great oriental rite towards the end of the third, or beginning of the fourth, century. After the words of institution, and a commemoration of Christ's death, resurrection, &c. the following passage occurs: " To thee, our King and God, we offer this bread and this cup, according to Christ's institution; giving thanks to thee through him, because thou hast thought us worthy to stand before thee, and to minister unto thee "." It would seem impossible to deny that this is an oblation, or sacrifice, of bread and wine to God. A prayer immediately follows, which is just as explicit, "that God would send his holy Spirit, the witness of Christ's passion, upon this sacrifice, that he may make this bread the body of Christ, and this cup the blood of Christ "." Here the bread and wine are evidently spoken of as the sacrifice; for when God is implored to send his holy Spirit on the sacrifice, that the bread may be made Christ's body, and the wine his blood, it seems evident that the bread

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Προσφέρομεν σοι τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ Θεῷ, κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ διάταξιν, τὸν ἄρτου τοῦτον, καὶ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, εὐχαριστοῦντες σοι δι ̓ αὐτ τοῦ, ἐφ ̓ οἷς κατηξίωσας ἡμᾶς ἐστάναι ἐνώπιον σου καὶ ἱερατεύειν σοι. Apost. Const. lib. viii. c. 12. P. 403. ed. Clerici.

and wine are identical with the sacrifice, otherwise there is no connection between the former and the latter parts of the prayer.

The liturgy of Cæsarea, which represents the great oriental rite as used at Cæsarea A. D. 370, and probably for centuries before, after the words of institution, and the verbal commemoration of Christ's death &c., as above, proceeds thus: "Offering to thee thine own things out of thine own,————— we praise thee, we bless thee, we give thanks to thee, O Lord; and we pray, O Lord our God. Wherefore, most holy Father-we approach thy holy altar; and having set before thee the antitypes of the body and blood of thy Christ, we pray and beseech thee, O most holy, according to the good pleasure of thy beneficence, that thy holy Spirit may come upon us, and upon these gifts lying before thee, and bless them, and sanctify them, &c. o" We here recognise the same sort of verbal oblation as in the former case. For the oblation to God of

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things which are his own, taken out of his own,” plainly refers to the bread and wine, which are God's creatures, and therefore are his own; and, further on, the elements are called gifts, that is, things given or offered, which God is implored to sanctify, and make Christ's body and blood.

In the ancient liturgies of the Alexandrian patri

ϋ τὰ σὰ ἐκ τῶν σῶν σοι προσφέροντες κατὰ πάντα καὶ διὰ πάντα, σε ὑμνοῦμεν, σε εὐλογοῦμεν, σοι εὐχαριστοῦμεν, Κύριε· καὶ δεόμεθα, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν. διὰ τοῦτο Δέσποτα πανάγιε, καὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ καὶ ἀνάξιοι δοῦλοι σου -προσθέντες τὰ ἀντίτυπα τοῦ ἁγίου σώματος καὶ αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ

σου, δεόμεθα καὶ σε παρακαλοῦμεν, ἁγίε ἁγίων, εὐδοκίᾳ τῆς σῆς ἀγαθότητος, ἐλθεῖν τὸ πνεῦμα σου τὸ ἅγιον ἐφ' ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ προκείμενα δῶρα ταῦτα, καὶ εὐλογῆσαι αὐτὰ, καὶ ἁγιάσαι, κ. τ. λ. Litur gia Basilii, Græc. Goar, Rituale Græc. p. 168, 169.

Thus,

archate, the same sort of oblation is found. "Before thy glory, O holy Father, we place these holy gifts, out of those things which are thine own:" then, "Send down from above-the Holy Spirit upon us thy servants, and upon these venerable gifts placed before thee, upon this bread, and upon this cup," &c.P In another Alexandrian liturgy nearly the same words occur: "We, O Lord God, have set before thee thine own, out of thine own gifts, and we pray and beseech thee to send from on high-thy Holy Spirit upon these loaves, and these cups, to hallow and consecrate them," &c. In a very ancient Alexandrian liturgy the verbal oblation is simply, "We offer to thee this bread and this cup." It appears, therefore, that in the ancient Alexandrian liturgy, the bread and wine were verbally offered.

The liturgies of Rome and Italy contained two oblations; one before, the other after consecration. In both the elements are offered as they are bread and wine. The first is as follows: "We beseech thee, O Lord, propitiously to receive this oblation of our service, and of all thy family's-which obla

p"Tu es coram cujus gloria hæc sancta dona proponimus, ex illis quæ tua sunt, Pater sancte Et mitte deorsum ex excelso tuo sancto &c.Spiritum tuum sanctum &c.— super nos servos tuos, et super hæc veneranda dona proposita coram te, super hunc panem, et super hunc calicem," &c. Liturgia Cyrilli Copt. Renaudot. Lit. Oriental. Coll. tom. i. p. 47, 48.

4 σοι κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν τὰ σὰ VOL. II

ἐκ τῶν σῶν δώρων προεθήκαμεν ἐνώπιον σου. καὶ δεόμεθα καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν σε, φιλάνθρωπε ἀγαθέ, ἐξαπόστειλον ἐξ ὕψους τοῦ ἁγίου σου—ἐφ ̓ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀρτοὺς τούτους, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ποτήρια ταῦτα τὸ πνεῦμα σοῦ τὸ ἅγιον, ἵνα αὐτὰ ȧyɩáoŋ, K.T.λ. Liturgia Marci. Renaudot. tom. i. p. 156, 157.

r" Offerimus tibi hunc panem et hunc calicem." Liturgia Ethiop. Renaudot. tom. i. P. 517.

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