1583 Edition | Book 9 | Page 1414 
Close(d. 1227) [Kelly]
Papal chamberlain 1188; cardinal-deacon of Santa Lucia in Silice 1193; tutor of future Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1197
Pope (1216 - 27); crowned Frederick II in 1220
Elevation of the host was introduced by Honorius III. 1570, p. 1314; 1576, p. 1124; 1583, p. 1149.
In the 'Dialogue between Custom and Truth', Honorius III is said to have introduced reverencing of the sacrament. 1570, p. 1559; 1576, p. 1329; 1583, p. 1390.
MarginaliaAnno 1552.it hath no mouth.
Vertie. You must vnderstand, that a man is shaped of two partes: of the body, and of the soule. And eche of them hath his life and his death, his mouthe, his teethe, his foode, and abstinence. For like as the body is nourished and fostered with bodily meats, or els can not endure, so must the soule haue his cherishing, otherwise it will decay, & pine away. And therefore we do & may iustly say that the Turkes, Iewes, and Heathen be dead, because they lacke þ e liuely foode of the soule. But how then, or by what meane wil you fede the soule? Doubtles not by the instrument of the body, but of the soule. For that which is receiued into the bodye, hath no passage from thence into the soul. For Christ sayth, MarginaliaMath. 5.That what so entreth into the belly, is conueied into the draught. And where as you say that the spirite hathe no mouth, like as it hath no bodye or bones, you are deceiued. For the spirite hath a mouthe in his kinde, or else howe coulde a man eate and drinke Iustice? for vndoubtedly his bodily mouthe is no fit instrument for it. Yet Christ sayeth, that he is blessed that hungreth and thirsteth for Iustice. If hee hunger and thirst for Iustice, belike he both eateth and drinketh it, or otherwise he neither abateth his hunger, nor quencheth hys thirst. MarginaliaWhat is to hunger and eate righteousnes.Nowe if a man eate and drinke righteousnesse wyth hys spirite, no doubt his spirite hath a mouth. Whereof I will reason thus:
[Back to Top]| MarginaliaArgument.Da- | Of what soeuer sorte the mouth is, suche is hys foode. |
| ti- | But the mouth of the spirite is spirituall, not bodily: |
| si. | Therefore it receiueth Christes body spiritually, not |
| bodily. |
And in like manner Christe speaking of the eatyng of hys bodye, nameth him selfe the breade, not for the bodye, but of life for the soule, and sayth: MarginaliaIohn. 6.He that commeth to me, shal not hunger, and he that beleeueth in me, shall neuer thirst. MarginaliaHow Christes body is taken by fayth.Wherfore who so will be relieued by the body of Christ, must receiue him as hee will be receiued, with the instrumente of faith appoynted thereunto, not with his teethe or mouthe. And where as I say that Christes body must be receiued & taken with faith, I meane not that you shall plucke downe Christ from heauen, and put him in your faith
CloseCatholics would argue that Christians received Christ in the Eucharist both with faith and orally. While Protestants and Catholics agreed on the spiritual virtues of receiving Holy Communion as described by Verity, Catholics would insist that Communion is also food for the spiritual benefit of the soul and the body, as alluded to by Paul in I Corinthians 11:30. As to the common Protestant accusation against Catholics that they 'shall pluck down Christ from heaven', Catholics would answer that Christ is indeed seated in glory in heaven, but he is also present wherever mass is celebrated in his divine, risen, glorified body as he promised in John 6; for nothing is impossible with God. Therefore Catholics would utterly reject Verity's statement, 'Christ's body … hath nothing to do with our body …'
[Back to Top]Now to returne to our former purpose, seeing it is plain that Christes body is meat for our spirit, and hath nothing to do with our body, I wil gather thereof this reason. The sacrament is bodily foode and increaseth the body: Ergo, the sacrament is not the very body of Christ. That it norisheth the body, it is euident
CloseVerity remarks that Eucharist does feed the body as any food or drink does, for the Eucharistic doctrine established in the Edwardian Reformation and reaffirmed in the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 was that the elements of the sacrament remain bread and wine before, during and after the Communion Service.
[Back to Top]
CloseVerity uses the common Protestant trope of what becomes of the Catholic Eucharist should a mouse somehow get hold of a host and consume it. The Catholic response was that although shameful if not sacrilegious for those charged with caring for the Sacrament, such an action would have no effect upon almighty God or upon any creature incapable of reason or belief.
[Back to Top]
CloseCatholics would object that Christ's body under the signs of bread and wine is indeed his corporeal body born of the Virgin Mary and which hung upon the Cross, yet it is also his risen, glorified body, and the Mosaic Law cannot apply to it; not least because, according to Paul in Galatians 3:13, Jesus' salvific death was itself a violation of the Mosaic Law.
[Back to Top]Againe, when the sacrament was dealte, none of thē all crouched downe and tooke it for his God, forgettinge hym that sate there present before their eies, but tooke it, and eate it, knowing that it was a sacrament and a remembrāce of Christes body. MarginaliaKneeling to the Sacrament forbidden in olde Coūcels.Yea, the old Councels commanded that no man should kneele downe at the tune
Close'Tune': misprint of 'time', in the 1583 edition only
CloseIt is noteworthy that in his marginal notes Foxe cites no canons of any General Councils of the Church to support his claim regarding kneeling.
CloseIt is not inconceivable that in times of persecution under the Romans Communion could be brought to the sick, imprisoned or dying by the laity, being a time of emergency. St Tarcisius (Third-Fourth Century) was martyred by a Roman mob for carrying the Eucharist, and possessed any early cult, according to the fourth-century writings of Pope Damasus I. Tarcisius has often been portrayed in literature and art as a youth, even a boy, but there is no certainty as to his age, or whether he was in fact a layman (he may have been a deacon).
[Back to Top]
Close'Hanged him up': placed the reserved Eucharist in a container (pyx or tabernacle) to be given to the sick or to be adored. The tradition and history of the reservation of the eucharist outside Mass is much older than the thirteenth century, as, for example, the fourth-century record of Tarcisius' martyrdom attests (see above). Among the earliest records of this practice are the writings of St Justin Martyr (first century).
[Back to Top]
Close'Begod': to make the Eucharist God: believed by Catholics amd denied by Protestants.
Furthermore, if the bread be turned and altered into the body of Christ, doubtles it is the greatest miracle that euer God wrought. MarginaliaApostles & olde Doctours make no miracle nor maruell at the Sacrament.But the Apostles saw no myracle in it, Nazianzenus an olde wryter, and Augustine entreating of al the myracles that are in the scripture, number the Sacrament for none. As for the apostles it appeareth wel that they had it for no maruel, for they neuer mused at it, neither demanded how it might be: whereas in other thinges they euermore were ful of questions. As touching S. Augustine he not only ouerhippeth
Close'Overhippeth': overlook
CloseCatholics would argue that Christians received Christ in the Eucharist both with faith and orally. While Protestants and Catholics agreed on the spiritual virtues of receiving Holy Communion as described by Verity, Catholics would insist that Communion is also food for the spiritual benefit of the soul and the body, as alluded to by Paul in I Corinthians 11:30.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaIf Christ were both gone and tarried, then he should seme to haue left himselfe behinde him.Christes body can not both be gone, and be heere.
But he is gone, and hath left the world:
Therefore it is follie to seeke him in the world.
Close'Fie': expression of disgust.
Veri. I do neither locke vp, neither imprison Christ in heauen: but according to the Scriptures declare that hee hath chosen a blessed place, & moste worthy to receiue his maiestie: in which place who so is inclosed, thinketh not himself (as I suppose) to be a prisonner: but if you take it for so hainous a thing, þt Christ should sit resident in heauen in þe glory of his father, what thinke you of them that imprison him in litle boxe
Close'Little box': tabernacle or pyx used for reserving the Eucharist in the Catholic tradition.
CloseIn the Catholic tradition it was understood that when the outward forms of bread and wine ceased to be outward forms of bread and wine, i.e., when the outward form of bread turns into mold or the outward form of wine turns into vinegar, Christ was no longer present. Such circumstances were rare and strictly guarded against by the clergy.
[Back to Top]
Close'Burn him [Christ] too?'. If the Eucharist underwent the occurrences described above in the note for lines 266-267, or if an ill communicant coughed up some element of the host mixed with mucus or saliva, the clergy were to dispose of the elements (no longer recognized as Christ under the signs of bread) by burning them. Here Verity is alluding to the burning of heretics for believing the Eucharistic doctrines he is propounding in the reigns of Henry VIII, and probably Mary I.
[Back to Top]Cust. Nay sir, but I see now you are farre out of the way. For Christ hath not so grosse & fleshly a body, as you think, but a spirituallMarginaliaChristes body is spirituall in the Sacrament, say the Papistes. and a ghostly body, and therefore without repugnaunce it may be in many places at once.
Veri. You say right wel, and do graunt that Christes body is spiritual. But I pray you answer me by the waye: Can any other body then that which is spirituall, be at one time in sondry places.
Cust. No truely?
Veri. Haue we that same selfe sacrament that Christe gaue to his Disciples, at his Maundie
Close'Maundy': Christ's Last Supper remembered on Holy or Maundy Thursday, when he commanded ('maundy') the Apostles to continue celebrating the Eucharist as he had done that night.
Cust. No doubtlesse, we haue the same.
Veri. When became Christes body spirituall? was it so euē from his birth.
Cust. No, for doubtles before he arose from death, his bo- body was earthly as other mens bodies are.