CHAPTER I.
_With how great reverence Christ ought to be received._
_The voice of the disciple._
THESE are thy words, O Christ, the everlasting truth.
Because therefore they are thine, and true, they are all thankfully and faithfully to be received by me.
They are thine, and thou hast spoken them; and they are mine also, because thou hast spoken them for my salvation.
I willingly receive them from thy mouth, that they may be the deeper imprinted in my heart.
These gracious words, so full of sweetness and love, encourage me; but mine own offences drive me back from receiving so great mysteries.
2. Thou commandest me to come confidently unto thee, if I will have part with thee; to receive the food of immortality, if I desire to obtain everlasting glory.
Thou sayest, Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.
O sweet and friendly words in the ear of sinners, that thou, my Lord God, shouldst invite the poor and needy to the participation of thy most holy body?
*But who am I, Lord, that I should presume to approach unto thee?
*Behold, the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, and thou sayest come ye all unto me!
3. What meaneth this so gracious condescension, this so friendly invitation?
How shall I dare to come, that know no good in myself?
How shall I bring thee into my house, that have so often offended thy most gracious countenance?
*The angels and archangels revere thee, and the saints and just men fear thee, and thou sayest, come ye all unto me.
Unless thou, O Lord, didst say it, who would believe it to be true?
And unless thou didst command it, who would dare to come unto thee?
*Behold, Noah, a just man, laboured an hundred years in making of the ark, that he might be saved with a few; and how can I in one hour prepare myself to receive, with reverence the maker of the world?
4. Moses, thy great servant, and thy special friend, made an ark of incorruptible wood, which also he covered with most pure gold, to put the tables of the law therein; and I a corruptible creature, how shall I dare lightly to receive the maker of the law, and the giver of life?
Solomon, the wisest of the kings of Israel, bestowed seven years in building a magnificent temple to the praise of thy name.
He celebrated the feast of the dedication thereof eight days together; he offered a thousand peace-offerings, and he solemnly set the ark on the place prepared for it, with the sound of trumpets and joy.
*And I the most miserable and poorest of men, how shall I bring thee into my house, that can scarce spend one half hour devoutly? Yea would I could once spend near half an hour in a due manner!
5. O my God, how much did they do out of an endeavour to please thee! And, alas, how little is that which I do! How little time do I spend to prepare myself to receive!
I am very seldom wholly recollected, very seldom free from all distraction;
And yet surely no unbecoming thought ought to appear in the presence of the Deity, nor any creature find any place in me, for I am not to harbour an angel, but the Lord of angels.
6. And yet there is great difference between the ark of the covenant, and thy most pure body! Between those legal sacrifices, figures of future things, and the completion of all antient sacrifices.
Why therefore am I not more inflamed at thy venerable presence?
7. The devout King _David_ danced before the ark of God with all his might, calling to mind the benefits bestowed upon his fore-fathers.
He often sung to the harp, being inspired with the grace of the Holy Ghost.
He taught the people of Israel to praise God with their whole heart, and with joint voices every day to bless and praise him.
If so great devotion was then shewn, and there was such celebrating of the divine praise before the ark of the testament; what reverence is now to be performed in receiving the most precious body and blood of Christ?
8. O God, the invisible creator of the world, how wonderfully dost thou deal with us!
How sweetly and graciously dost thou dispose of all things for thine elect, to whom thou offerest thyself to be received in this sacrament!
This exceedeth all understanding! This strongly draweth the hearts of the devout, and inflameth their affections.
9. O the admirable and hidden grace of this sacrament, which only the faithful ones of Christ know: but the unbelieving, and such as are slaves unto sin, cannot experience;
In this sacrament spiritual grace is given, and strength which was lost restored in the soul, and the beauty disfigured by sin returns again.
This grace is sometimes so great, that not only the mind, but the weak body also, feeleth great increase of strength.
10. Our coldness and negligence is much to be bewailed, that we are not drawn with greater affection to receive Christ, in whom all the hope and merit of those that are to be saved consists.
For he is our sanctification and redemption: he is the comforter of us travellers, and the everlasting fruition of saints.
O the blindness and hardness of man’s heart, that doth not more deeply weigh so unspeakable a gift!
11. If the most holy sacrament was celebrated in one place only, and consecrated by one only person in the world, with how great desire would men be affected to that place, and to such a priest, that they might enjoy these divine mysteries!
But now there are many priests, and Christ is offered in many places; that so the grace and love of God to men may appear greater, the more this sacred communion is spread through the world.
Thanks be unto thee gracious Jesus, the everlasting shepherd, who hast vouchsafed to refresh us poor exiles with thy precious body and blood, and to invite us to the receiving of these mysteries with the words of thine own mouth, saying, Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.