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THE

DISCUSSION AT DOWNSIDE.

FOURTH DAY.-Wednesday, March 5th, 1834.

SUBJECT:

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.

THE CHAIRMAN, on taking the Chair, said, Ladies and Gentlemen, as there are probably some now present, who did not take any part in the discussion of the first subject, perhaps it may be well for me to detain you a few moments whilst I read again the rules by which the discussion is to be regulated.

(The Hon. Gentleman then read the Rules.)

THE REV. T. J. BROWN.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, -The matter upon which I am now invited to address you is indeed of vital importance; and I feel sensibly the awful responsibility which I take upon myself, when I come forward to advocate, concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass, the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. It is a matter I have said of vital importance; for it was upon this point, principally, that the Calvinists rested the lawfulness of their separation from the Roman Catholic Church. That Church they said, could not be the Church of Christ, which was involved in an error so great as is implied by the doctrine of the Real Presence, and the Sacrifice of the Mass it had thereby, they alleged, fallen into idolatry, for a length of time, and thus, not having been supported by the promises of Christ, the Roman Catholic Church could not be the true Church.-I feel full well all the dif ficulties of my present situation: I know that there are arrayed against us prejudices conceived almost in infancy, prejudices which have been nourished in maturer years,

prejudices which have been confirmed even by old age. How then shall I apply myself to my task? It is, by entreating, in the first place, that you will, as much as possible, divest yourselves of any preconceived notions, respecting those points of Catholic doctrine which I am about to develope. Yet I am fully sensible that it will be extremely difficult for you, if not impossible, so far to free yourselves from those cherished prejudices of your early and riper years, as that they shall place no obstacle in the way of my doing justice to my cause.

My duty prescribes that, in the first place, I should lay before you the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church; and if that doctrine appear unreasonable and absurd, I bid you recollect that it is the doctrine, not of a small portion only of Christendom, but, of by far the largest portion; that it is the doctrine which was maintained by the whole Church before Protestantism made its appearance; that it is the doctrine of Christianity from the east even unto the west; finally, that it is the same doctrine which was held by such men as Pascal, Bossuet, Fenelon, and Descartes, by men distinguished in different countries and in different ages, by their soundness of understanding, and the acquisitions which they made in every science. Do not then, at the outset, condemn me as advocating an absurdity.

I beg also to observe that before proceeding to establish directly the Catholic belief concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass, it is necessary that I should satisfy you fully concerning another very essential doctrine; and Mr. T. is well aware of the necessity under which I labour of advocating the real presence of Christ upon our altars, as well as the sacrifice which we make of him thereon. When, indeed, we first met to propose this discussion, I was of opinion that those dogmas were not so essentially connected, but that Mr. T. might be satisfied with bringing his objections against the Sacrifice of the Mass alone. As however, he thought differently, I am willing that our doctrine of the real presence shall be fairly controverted, as well as that of the Sacrifice which we offer; and consequently I shall first establish that part of our Creed which relates to the former subject.

Our doctrine on the Real Presence is stated by the Council of Trent, Session 13, cap. 1

"The Holy Synod openly and plainly professes, that, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, after the consecration of the bread and wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially present under the

appearance of those sensible objects. Nor in this is there any repugnance; that Christ, according to his natural manner of existence, should always remain in heaven at the right hand of his Father, and that at the same time, he should be present with us, in many places, really, but sacramentally, in that way of existence which, though in words we can hardly express it, the mind, illuminated by faith, can conceive to be possible to God, and which we are bound firmly to believe. For so all our forefathers-as many as were members of the true Church of Christ-who wrote on the subject of this Holy Sacrament, openly professed."

This doctrine of the Council of Trent is confirmed in a small Catholic work entitled:-" Roman Catholic Principles," whch I have here, and from which I shall read the following short extract :

"Christ is not present in this sacrament, according to his natural way of existence; that is, as bodies naturally exist; but in a manner proper to the character of his exalted and glorified body. His presence then is real and substantial, but sacramental; not exposed to the external senses, nor obnoxious to corporal contingencies."

This is the real doctrine of Catholics, with respect to the manner of Christ's presence in the sacrament of the altar; and I doubt not that it conveys to your minds, a notion of our doctrine, very different, in many respects, from that in which it has hitherto been conceived by you. The objections which will probably be brought against this part of our belief, will lead to its further development.

The belief of Catholics concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass is correctly stated in the same work from which I read the last quotation :

"Our Saviour in leaving to us his body and blood, under two distinct species or kinds, instituted not only a Sacrament, but also a Sacrifice ; a commemorative sacrifice, distinctly shewing his passion and death until he come. For as the sacrifice of the cross was performed by a distinct effusion of his blood, so is that sacrifice commemorated in this of the altar by a distinction of the symbols. Jesus, therefore, is here given not only to us, but for us; and the Church is thereby enriched with a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice, usually termed the Mass: propitiatory we say, because representing, in a lively manner the passion and death of our Lord, it is peculiarly pleasing to our eternal Father, and thus more effectually applies to us the all-sufficient merits of the sacrifice of the cross."

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I subjoin one other quotation from Sect. 14 of the Exposition of Catholic Doctrines," by Bossuet, as tending more efficaciously than the extract which I have just given, to remove any erroneous impressions which you may entertain with regard to our true doctrine on the question before you.

"The Church is so far from believing, that any thing is wanting to the sacrifice of the cross, that she deems it, on the contrary, so perfectly and so fully sufficient, that whatever is afterwards added, has been instituted to celebrate its memory, and to apply its virtue. We acknowledge, that all the merits of the redemption of mankind is derived from the death of the Son of God: when,

therefore, in the celebration of the divine mysteries, we say: We offer to Thee this holy victim; we pretend not by this oblation, to make or to present to God a new payment of the price of our salvation; but to offer to him, in our behalf, the merits of Jesus Christ present, and that infinite price which he once paid for us upon the cross."

Thus, then, in the sacrifice of the altar we do not offer a new sacrifice; nor do we seek to supply any deficiencies in the sacrifice of the cross. We believe that, so far as regards the price of our redemption, the one sacrifice of the cross was fully sufficient; but by the sacrifice of the altar we hold that there is applied to us, in a more perfect manner than by our prayers or by our other good works, the merits of that one sacrifice.

Having truly stated the doctrine of Catholics on those two important points, I come to the proofs by which our belief is substantiated. Hereafter it will be my duty to lay before you the arguments whereon we build our doctrine of the nature and efficacy of the Sacrifice of the Mass; at present I must begin by establishing the Real Presence. For if I am able once to convince you of the truth of the Catholic creed on this point, namely, that we have upon our altars Jesus Christ, truly, really, and substantially present, not indeed after the manner of a natural body, but after an invisible, spiritualized, and sacramental manner, then there will be much less difficulty in satisfying you upon the offering which we make of him to his eternal Father, and the ends for which we make that offering. Let me, then, claim your earnest attention to the proofs which I am about to adduce.

Those proofs are so manifest in Scripture, regarding the questions proposed for discussion, that were we to hold with Protestants the written word to be the only rule of faith, yet by it alone would they be sufficiently demonstrated. They may, indeed, be illustrated and supported by an appeal to the belief of the Church in the primitive, and subsequent ages; but to my view" the Real Presence,' and "the Sacrifice of the Mass" can be clearly substantiated by the written word. I proceed therefore to argue therefrom.

The first proof to which I direct your attention, is the 6th chap. of the Gospel of St. John, which contains, as we expound it, the promise made by Christ of bestowing hereafter upon men, his body and blood. Now I beg your serious attention to the language held by our blessed Saviour in this chapter, and to the arguments which it furnishes. In all ages it has been expounded, as I am going to

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