14; v. 5, 6, 10; vi. 20) it is of necessity that He still have somewhat also to offer (Heb. viii. 3). Wherefore He is continually offering that One Sacrifice of Himself unto the Father, constantly pleading before the Throne His One perpetual Sacrifice for sin, seeing that 'He ever liveth to make intercession' (Heb. vii. 25) for us.

The way in which we plead the Sacrifice of Christ our Lord before the Father here on earth, and show It forth to the Church, is in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Of course the One Offering of Christ upon the Cross can never be repeated, for (Rom. vi. 9, 10); but that His Precious Death is commemorated before God and men; represented and pleaded before God; and applied unto the wants of the soul in the Holy Eucharist.

Again, This our Christian Sacrifice is offered unto God for five objects :

(1) As a Memorial, commemoration, or mystical showing forth of
the Death of Christ (1 Cor. xi. 26).

(2) As a solemn Act of Worship—indeed as being the One only
Act of Worship positively ordained by our Blessed Lord for
the use of His Church: hence the Prayer Book speaks of It
as 'This our bounden duty and service' (3rd Exh. in Com.
Off.).
(3) As our Eucharist or offering of praise and Thanksgiving unto
God; so in Prayer of Oblation (1 Post-Com. Pr. in Com.
Off), 'we Thy humble servants entirely desire Thy Fatherly
Goodness mercifully to accept This our Sacrifice of Praise
and Thanksgiving.'' And above all things ye must give most
humble and hearty thanks to God the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost' (3rd Exh. in Com. Off.). This is our highest
and most solemn Act of Thanksgiving.

(4) As a means for obtaining pardon and remission of our sins:
for 'He hath instituted and ordained Holy Mysteries as
pledges of His Love, and for a continual remembrance of His
Death, to our great and endless comfort' (3rd Exh. in Com.
Off.).
(5) As a means for obtaining all graces and blessings both for
ourselves and for the whole mystical Body of Christ-' that
we and all Thy whole Church may obtain remission of our
sins and all other benefits of His Passion' (Pr. of Oblat.).

II. The Holy Communion is a Sacred Feast upon the Sacrifice. In the Jewish peace-offering the characteristic ceremony was the eating of the flesh by the worshipper (Lev. vii. 15, 16; xix. 5, 6; xxii. 29, 30) after the fat had been burnt before the Lord (Lev. vi. 12). It was designed to express the enjoyment of communion with God at 'the Table of the Lord' (1 Cor. x. 21; cf. Ex. xxiv. 11).

So in the Holy Communion, after the Christian Sacrifice has been

offered unto God, and the Sacrifice has been completed by the Priest's receiving and partaking of It, then the worshippers draw nigh unto the Altar of God, and partake of the Holy, Heavenly Food, and eat of the Sacrifice at the Table of the Lord.

'Author of life Divine,

Who hast a Table spread,
Furnished with mystic Wine
And everlasting Bread,

Preserve the life Thyself hast given,

And feed and train us up to Heaven.'

Yes! blessed be God, at His own Table, This Man, Christ Jesus our Lord, receiveth sinners, and eateth with them (S. Luke xv. 2, xix. 7) in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

'O let Thy Table honoured be,

And furnished well with joyful guests,
And may each soul salvation see,
That here its sacred pledges tastes.'

For the Bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of Christ?' (I Cor. x. 16). Verily and indeed It is; and partaking of It, we are joined unto the Lord, and wholly united unto Him. For as He, by taking our Flesh, became a Partaker of our human nature (Heb. ii. 14; S. John i. 14), so we, by eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood in This most sweet and comfortable Sacrament, are made partakers of His Divine and Human Nature, so that we dwell in Christ and Christ in us; we are one with Christ and Christ with us' (3rd Exh. in Com. Off.; and cf. 1 Cor. x. 17).

'O Blessed Lord JESUS, how great is the blessedness of the devout soul that feasteth with Thee in Thy banquet; where there is set no other food to be eaten but Thyself, the only Beloved, and most to be desired above all the desires of the heart!'

'Thanks be unto Thee, O Thou Creator and Redeemer of mankind, Who, to manifest Thy Love to the whole world, hast prepared a Great Supper, wherein Thou hast set before us to be eaten, not the typical lamb, but Thine own most sacred Body and Blood, rejoicing all the faithful with this sacred Banquet, and replenishing them to the full with the Cup of Salvation, in which are all the delights of Paradise.

'Him do I really possess and adore, whom the Angels adore in Heaven: I, however, for the present and for a while by faith; but they by sight and without a veil. . But when that which is perfect is come, the use of Sacraments shall cease, because the Blessed in their Heavenly Glory need not any Sacramental remedy; for they rejoice without end in the Presence of God, beholding His glory face to face; and being transformed from brightness to brightness, even that of the incomprehensible Deity, they taste the Word of God made Flesh, as

He was from the beginning, and as He abideth for ever.'-Thos. à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, iv., xi. 1, 5, 2.

'We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread,

And long to feast upon Thee still;
We drink of Thee, the Fountain Head,
And thirst for Thee our souls to fill.'

-S. Bernard.

VI. The Eucharist-a Coming of the Lord.

ISA. LXIII. I. 'Who is This that cometh . . . that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.'

To-day let me ask and also answer three questions. Great and most important are they, and yet at the same time so simple that every earnest communicant ought easily to answer them for himself. I. Who is it that comes to us in Holy Communion? 2. To whom does He come?

3. Wherefore does He come?

I. Who is it that comes to us in the Holy Communion? It is none other than JESUS our Lord, the Chiefest amongst ten thousand, the altogether lovely One, mighty to save, Who comes to us in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, veiled under the outward elements of Bread and Wine, for 'Verily Thou art a God that hidest,' etc. (Isa. xlv. 15). For He saith, 'This is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die' (S. John vi. 50); 'for My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed' (vi. 55). He bids us come to Him, that He may come to us. He invites us,

'Come near to Me, I pray you,' 'Come, eat of My Bread and drink of the Wine that I have mingled' (Prov. ix. 5), that He may enter into our very souls and bodies.

He saith, 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' (S. Matt. xi. 28); 'He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst' (S. John vi. 35).

Advent is the season of the Church's year which specially speaks to us of our Blessed Lord's Coming; but He is ever coming to us in many ways:

In Holy Scripture, for 'the Holy Scriptures are the swaddling clothes wherein Christ is wrapped up' (Chrys.).

By His ministers, who come in His Name, bear and deliver His message, and are stewards of His mysteries.

In troubles and trials, when He appears in another form,' and
thus fulfils the proverb- When thou fearest, God is nearest.'
But specially in the Holy Eucharist, when He veils His glory and
His strength under Bread and Wine.

He comes for us, as our Saviour, mighty to save; He comes to us as God and Man-' Emmanuel, God with us;' He comes within us in the Holy Communion.

Yes, 'The Tabernacle of God is with men,' when He is received into earnest, faithful, loving, and obedient hearts in This Great Sacrament, for 'He dwelleth with you and shall be in you,' and He who speaks in righteousness, mighty to save, surely saith:

'Whoso eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath eternal life' (S. John vi. 54).

'He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood dwelleth in Me and I in him' (vi. 56).

'He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me' (vi. 57).

'O how can we thank Thee

For a Gift like This,

Gift that truly maketh

'Verily Thou art a Saviour' (Isa. xlv. 15), men' (Prov. viii. 31).

Heaven's eternal bliss!'

God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the and yet 'Thy delights are with the sons of

At His Incarnation our Blessed Lord, 'the Word made Flesh,' ' emptied Himself' of His glory and honour, veiled His glorious Godhead under the weakness of His Humanity, when He took the form of a Servant (Philipp. ii. 7), and was found in fashion as a Man.

'Veiled in Flesh the Godhead see,

Hail the Incarnate Deity!'

Now in the Holy Eucharist He veils both His Godhead and His Manhood under the outward forms of Bread and Wine.

'Lord JESUS Whom by power Divine
Now hidden 'neath the outward sign
We worship and adore,

Grant, when the veil away is rolled,
With open face we may behold
Thyself for evermore !'

Because JESUS our Lord is very Man (1 Tim. ii. 5), 'Bone of our bone and Flesh of our flesh' (Heb. ii. 14ƒ), therefore comes He to us in the Holy Eucharist; that, entering in such lowly wise into the bodies and the souls of His faithful and devout worshippers, He may be thoroughly and entirely united unto us (1 Cor. vi. 17), may dwell in us, and possess us for His very own, that He may become one with us and we with Him. (See 3rd Exh. in Com. Off. and S. John vi. 56.)

For if 1 S. John iv. 15, 16 be true, how much more does He dwell within us when Faith and Love and Hope are all exercised, and there is devout Obedience to the command, 'Do this for a Memorial of Me'? He comes to us in the Holy Communion that of His fulness we may receive (S. John i. 16), and may become 'partakers of the Divine nature' (2 S. Pet. i. 4).

'Thee we adore, O hidden Saviour, Thee,
Who in Thy Sacrament dost deign to be;
Both flesh and spirit at Thy presence fail,
Yet here Thy Presence we devoutly hail.

II. To whom and to what manner of men does our dear Lord come in the Holy Communion?

This Man, Christ JESUS our Lord, receiveth sinners, and eateth with them (S. Luke xv. 2).

The world saith, in scorn and indignation, 'He is gone to be a Guest with a man that is a sinner' (S. Luke xix. 7). But this is our glory, our comfort, and our joy, that our dear Lord comes to His poor, sinful, yet repentant servants in the Holy Communion.

He casts none out (S. John vi. 37); He turns no poor, sinful, heavy laden soul away from Him; He rejects no penitent sinner; He turns no hungering and thirsting soul away from His Table.

Indeed only those who know and feel and confess themselves to be sinners are invited to come to receive the Holy Communion.

The world does not hate sin in the abstract, but it sneers and points the finger of scorn at those whose sin has been found out! But JESUS finds those whom the world casts out (S. John ix. 35), and saith: 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'

Those who have no sin to acknowledge must, like the builders of Babel, find out a way of their own to reach to Heaven. They that be whole need not the Physician (S. Matt. ix. 12), Whose very touch brings healing, cleansing, life (S. Mark v. 41; S. Matt. viii. 3); but let no one who denies that he is a sinner come near the Blessed Sacrament.

The Church only contemplates the Communion of those who are sinners, who having found out their sins (Isa. vi. 5), hate them and desire to put them away (Ps. li. 3, 4, 9). To the question, 'What is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper?' she answers, 'To examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their former sins, stedfastly purposing to lead a new life . . .'(Catech.); and again she exhorts her children, 'Ye that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins. and intend to lead a new life . . .: draw

near.

and take this Holy Sacrament' (4th Exh. in Com. Off.). 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins,' etc. (I S. John i. 8, 9). And to such our dear Lord vouchsafes to come in the Holy Communion