cial attention to the refutation of these heresies; and the great argument by which they met them, and on which they most relied, was the universally admitted doctrine of the Church respecting the Holy Eucharist. The answer to the Nestorians who strove to separate the two Natures, was the admitted fact that Christ's Body is not only bestowed in the Sacrament, but that it is the principle of life, as being united to the Divine Nature. The answer to the Eutychians, who confounded together the two natures, was that it was "so notorious as to be witnessed by the very tongues of children, that in the Sacrament of the Holy Communion there is the truth of Christ's Body and Blood," i.e. of His human nature. Thus St. Cyril and St. Leo, the two great champions of the faith in those days, never seem to have doubted for an instant that this doctrine of the true, real, substantial, though spiritual, presence of Christ in the Sacrament, was the admitted and unquestioned belief of all Christians. "Let any man explain to us," writes St. Cyril, "and go on to teach us what is the efficacy of the mystical Eucharist. Why is it that we receive it? Does it not cause Christ to dwell in us even bodily, by the partaking and communion with His sacred Flesh? No doubt of it. For St. Paul writes, that 'the Gentiles had become one body, and partakers and fel In the words of St. Cyril, "That the thing set forth on the hallowed tables of the Church is not the nature of Deity, but the very Body of the Word, Who was born of the Father." low-heirs with Christ;' now in what way were they set forth as one body? Because they were thought worthy to be partakers of the mystical Eucharist, they became one body with Him, even as did each one of the Apostles." To any one then who is able to consider this subject, and to examine the writings of those bishops and teachers of the early Church who are held in special reverence by our own Church in England, it will be abundantly clear that they held and taught in all its fulness, the great doctrine of the true, real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. But, whilst we cling to this doctrine as our inalienable heritage as members of the one Holy Catholic Church, whose teaching must always be one and the same in all ages and at all times; let us not relinquish our hold upon the equally important truth, that this Blessed Presence comes to us not in the order of nature but of grace. Christ's manhood is the appointed means through which He communicates His life and strength to us, and repairs the ruin of our fallen nature; and the Blessed Sacrament is the channel through which that manhood is conveyed to us. But it comes to us not in a carnal and physical manner, to operate as a charm upon our bodies, but in a heavenly and spiritual manner, in a manner suitable to a Sacrament, through which it is conveyed to act upon our souls, and to be united to our spiritual being; so that in very truth we thereby "dwell in Christ and Christ in us, we are one with Christ and Christ with us." Let us then, each time we draw near to that Blessed Sacrament, lift up our hearts, that with the eye of faith we may behold Him, whom we love more than any earthly friend, even the Lord himself who was born of the Virgin Mary and crucified for us, coming to us in all the truth and reality of His two-fold nature-God and man, to become the food and sustenance of our souls. Who can measure the infinite vastness of that love which not only moved Him to be born and to die for us, but also day by day to revisit us in the Blessed Sacrament, and under the veils of simple bread and wine to bestow Himself wholly upon us? What more can we do than strive most earnestly to become less and less unworthy of so august a presence, and be able at each recurring celebration to realize successfully by faith the preciousness and awfulness of the gift imparted to us? Pray we then, in the words of a holy man of old, "Out of the abundance of Thine infinite majesty, O Lord, I beseech Thee to heal my sickness, to wash out the stains of my sin, to lighten my darkness, to enrich my poverty, and to clothe my nakedness, that I may receive the bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with such reverence and fear, such contrition and love, such faith and purity, such devotion and humility as is expedient for the welfare of my soul. Grant me, I beseech Thee, to receive not only the Sacrament and sign of the Lord's Body and Blood, but also the virtue of the Sacrament. O most merciful God, grant me so to receive the Body of Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which He took of the Virgin Mary, that I may be incorporated in His mystical Body, and ever reckoned among His members. And grant, O most loving Father, that Him whom I now receive under a veil, I may at length behold with open face, even Thy beloved Son, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth ever one God, world without end." LENT LECTURES ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST. I No. II. The Testimony of the Prayer-book to the BEGAN, on Thursday last, by pointing out to you that the great and peculiar blessedness of the Holy Eucharist, and the special honour in which it has ever been held since its institution, are based upon a deep conviction of the truth and reality of our Lord's Presence in that Sacrament. We found that the words of Scripture, as received and interpreted by the united voice of the ancient Church, have ever been held to teach, that as Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist to be one chief means by which the benefits acquired for the whole human race by His taking our flesh, are to be extended and applied to each individual soul; so He also ordained that His own body, which He had taken of the Virgin Mary, which had suffered, died, risen, and ascended into heaven, should be present in that Sacrament in an heavenly and spiritual manner, suitable to an heavenly and spiritual body, to render it efficacious to each faithful recipient: and further, |