The formularies of the Scottish Church, the American Church, and the Irish Church are in the main the same as those of the Church of England; but there are in each case one or more distinctive features in regard to the Eucharist.
1. In 1764, a revision of the Scottish Liturgy by the Primus, Bishop William Falconer of Moray, afterwards Bishop of Edinburgh, and Bishop Robert Forbes of Ross and Caithness, was printed with the title The Communion-Office for the Use of the Church of Scotland, as far as concerneth the Ministration of that Holy Sacrament. This is the recognised standard text of the Scottish Communion Office. The authority for the use of this Office in the Scottish Church has to some extent varied. The fifteenth of the canons of 1811, while giving liberty to retain the English Office wherever it had previously been in use, enacted that “the Scottish Communion Office shall be used in all consecrations of bishops; and that every bishop, when consecrated, shall give his full assent to it as being sound in itself, and of primary authority in Scotland, and therefore shall not permit its being laid aside, where now used, but by the authority of the College of Bishops”. In the revised canons of 1828 the twenty-sixth canon, which corresponded to the fifteenth canon of 1811, gave power to the bishop of the diocese to approve a change from one Office to the other, and no longer required the authority of the College of Bishops for laying aside the Scottish Office. The twenty-first canon of 1838 declared the Scottish Office to be “the authorised service of the Episcopal Church in the administration of the Sacrament”; ratified the permission “to retain the use of the English Office in all congregations where” it “had been previously in use”; forbade any alteration from one Office to the other without the approval of the bishop of the diocese; and enacted that the Scottish Office “continue to be held of primary authority in this Church, and that it shall be used not only in all consecrations of bishops, but also at the opening of all general synods”. In 1863 the twenty-ninth canon declared the English Book of Common Prayer to be the service book of the Scottish Church “for all the purposes to which it is applicable,” and forbade any departure from it “except so far as the circumstances of this Church require, and as specified in the canons of this Church”. The thirtieth of the same canons enacted that the adoption of the English Book of Common Prayer as the service book of the Scottish Church should not affect the use of the Scottish Office where previously existing; that such a previously existing use of the Scottish Office should be continued “unless the incumbent and a majority of the communicants shall concur in disusing it”; that the English Office should be used in all new congregations unless the majority of the applicants desiring the formation of the new congregation should ask the bishop of the diocese to sanction the use of the Scottish Office, in which case the bishop shall sanction the use of the Scottish Office, and the use of it shall continue “unless the clergyman and a majority of the communicants shall concur in disusing it”; that the bishop of the diocese, “subject to an appeal to the episcopal synod,” may refuse an application for the use of the Scottish Office, if he think that “any undue influence has been exercised”; and that the English Office should be used “at all consecrations, ordinations, and synods”. In 1876 these canons were re-enacted. In 1890 the twenty-ninth canon of 1863 and 1876, which became the thirty-third canon, was to some extent altered, but still enacted that the English Book of Common Prayer is “the duly authorised service book of this Church for all the purposes to which it is applicable,” and forbade any departure from it “except so far as the circumstances of this Church require and as specified in these canons”; the thirtieth canon of 1863 and 1876 was excluded from the consideration of the synod, and remained in force, and was printed without alteration as the thirty-fourth canon. It appears, therefore, that from 1811 to 1863 the Scottish Office was of primary authority in the Scottish Church, and the use of the English Office was in certain circumstances allowed; and that from 1863 to the present time the English Office has been of primary authority, and the use of the Scottish Office has been in certain circumstances allowed. In point of fact the use of the Scottish Office seems to have first declined and then, at any rate on some occasions, increased while in point of law it has had a reduced degree of authority. It has been stated that in 1850, out of 118 congregations forty used the Scottish Office; in 1888, out of 275 congregations, fifty-nine used the Scottish Office only, and thirty-three used both the Scottish and the English Offices; and in 1899 the Scottish Office was used either jointly or solely in nearly half the congregations, the chief use of the Scottish Office being in the dioceses of Aberdeen, Argyll, and Brechin, and the chief use of the English Office being in the dioceses of Edinburgh and Glasgow. In the Scottish Office the Sursum corda and Preface and Sanctus follow the Offertory, and are followed by the recital of the institution, the oblation, the invocation of the Holy Ghost, the prayer for the whole state of Christ’s Church, and the Lord’s prayer in the following form:—
“All glory be to Thee, Almighty Father, for that Thou of Thy tender mercy didst give Thy only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who (by His own oblation of Himself once offered) made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world, and did institute, and in His holy gospel command us to continue a perpetual memorial of that His precious death and sacrifice until His coming again. For in the night that He was betrayed, He took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, THIS IS MY BODY, which is given for you: DO this in remembrance of Me. Likewise after supper He took the cup; and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this, for THIS IS MY BODY of the new testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins: DO this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of Me. Wherefore, O Lord, and heavenly Father, according to the institution of Thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, we Thy humble servants do celebrate and make here before Thy divine majesty, with these Thy holy gifts, WHICH WE NOW OFFER UNTO THEE, the memorial Thy Son hath commanded us to make; having in remembrance His blessed passion, and precious death, His mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension; rendering unto Thee most hearty thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same. And we most humbly beseech Thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and of Thy almighty goodness vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with Thy word and Holy Spirit, these Thy creatures of bread and wine, that they may become the body and blood of Thy most dearly beloved Son. And we earnestly desire Thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, most humbly beseeching Thee to grant that by the merits and death of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in His blood, we (and all Thy whole Church) may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of His passion. And here we humbly offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto Thee, beseeching Thee, that whosoever shall be partakers of this Holy Communion may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and be filled with Thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with Him, that He may dwell in them, and they in Him. And, although we are unworthy through our manifold sins to offer unto Thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech Thee to accept this our bounden duty and service, not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord: by whom, and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be unto Thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen.”
“Let us pray for the whole state of Christ’s Church.
“Almighty and everliving God, who by Thy holy Apostle hast taught us, … truly serving Thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. And we commend especially to Thy merciful goodness the congregation which is here assembled in Thy name, to celebrate the commemoration of the most precious death and sacrifice of Thy Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ. And we most humbly beseech Thee of Thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all those who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity. And we also bless Thy holy name for all Thy servants, who, having finished their course in faith, do now rest from their labours. And we yield unto Thee most high praise and hearty thanks for the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all Thy saints, who have been the choice vessels of Thy grace, and the lights of the world in their several generations, most humbly beseeching Thee to give us grace to follow the example of their steadfastness in Thy faith, and obedience to Thy holy commandments, that at the day of the general resurrection we, and all they who are of the mystical body of Thy Son, may be set on His right hand, and hear that His most joyful voice, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
“Then shall the presbyter say:—
“As our Saviour Christ hath commanded and taught us, we are bold to say:—
Our Father … For ever and ever. Amen.”
After the short exhortation, confession, absolution, comfortable words, and prayer of humble access, the directions for the administration are given. The species of bread is called “the sacrament of the body of Christ”. The words of administration are “The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy soul and body unto everlasting life”; “The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy soul and body unto everlasting life”; and in each case the person receiving was directed to say “Amen”. After the administration the use of the words “Having now received the precious body and blood of Christ, let us give thanks to our Lord God” is ordered. In the event of a further consecration being needed, the use of the whole prayer from “All glory be to Thee” to “that they may become the body and blood of Thy most dearly beloved Son” is directed.
2. In 1784 Samuel Seabury was consecrated as first Bishop of the American Church, to be Bishop of Connecticut, by the Primus of the Scottish Church, Bishop Robert Kilgour of Aberdeen, Bishop Arthur Petrie of Moray and Ross, and Bishop John Skinner, then Coadjutor Bishop of Aberdeen. He recommended to his congregations in Connecticut a Communion Office differing very slightly from the Scottish Office. In 1789 the American Communion Office was drawn up and agreed to by the Convention of the American Church. In the American Office the prayer “for the whole state of Christ’s Church militant” follows the Offertory; the short exhortation, confession, absolution, and comfortable words precede the Sursum corda; and the prayer of humble access follows the Sanctus, as in the English Office. As in the English Office too, the words of administration include the additions “Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on Him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving,” “Drink this in remembrance that Christ’s blood was shed for thee, and be thankful”; and there is no direction for the words “Having now received the precious body and blood of Christ” after the administration. In other respects, it is based on the Scottish Office, though with some important difference. In the recital of the institution “one oblation” is substituted for “own oblation”; and in the invocation of the Holy Ghost the words “that they may become the body and blood of Thy most dearly beloved Son” are altered to “that we, receiving them according to Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ’s holy institution, in remembrance of His death and passion, may be partakers of His most blessed body and blood”. In the Catechism the answer to the question “What is the inward part, or thing signified,” is “The body and blood of Christ, which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord’s Supper”.
In connection with the American Prayer Book it is interesting to notice a careful account by Bishop Seabury of the doctrine which he held in the sermon On the Holy Eucharist in his book Discourses on Sacred Subjects, which was published at New York in 1793. It is the same as that of many of the Nonjurors, for instance as that of Thomas Deacon, namely that the effect of the recital of the institution is to make the bread and wine representations of the body and blood of Christ; that after being made such symbols they are presented to God the Father as a sacrificial oblation; and that through the invocation of the Holy Ghost they become the body and blood of Christ in power and efficacy. Seabury regards the sacrifice of Himself by our Lord as having been offered at the institution of the Eucharist, and considers His crucifixion as having been merely passive, not an act of sacrifice. Like some of the writers of the Reformation period, he uses the phrase “natural body,” to denote the body of Christ which was born of the Virgin and suffered on the cross in its present glorious state in heaven as well as in its state of humiliation during His mortal life on earth. His teaching of the Nonjuring doctrine is linked with his explicit rejection of Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation, Receptionism, and Zwinglianism. He claims that the beliefs which he expresses are those of “the early writers and first liturgies of the Christian Church,” “the first Reformers in England,” “the First Prayer Book of King Edward VI.,” “a great number of eminent divines of the Church of England,” and “the present doctrine and practice of the venerable remains of the old Apostolical Church of Scotland”.
“When those Christian sects who retain the institution come to explain its nature and design, they differ widely in their sentiments, … one teaching that the bread and cup are by the priest’s repeating the words of Christ, ‘This is My body; this is My blood,’ over them converted or transubstantiated into the natural body and blood of Christ, that very body and blood which He assumed in the womb of the Virgin, and which suffered on the cross. Another denies Transubstantiation, and affirms that the bread and wine are not changed into the natural body and blood of Christ upon the minister’s pronouncing, ‘This is My body; this is My blood’; but only that the body and blood of Christ are thereby consubstantially united to the bread and wine. A third teaches that upon the repetition of those words no alteration at all is made in the bread and wine; but that they are only made or designated to be memorials or symbols of Christ’s body and blood, on the receiving of which the souls of believers by and through the energy of their own faith receive spiritually the flesh and blood of Christ, are made partakers of the benefits of His passion, and of that Holy Spirit with which His humanity was anointed. Lastly, some who call themselves Christians do consider the bread and wine merely as remembrances to put us in mind of the death of Christ, and seem to require no qualifications in the recipients but to remember at the instant that Christ died on the cross to attest the truth of the doctrines He taught, nor do they appear to expect either grace or remission of sins from this Holy Sacrament. Attentive consideration will, I think, convince us that neither of these opinions is reconcilable with the institution of the sacred ordinance; and a very moderate acquaintance with primitive Christianity will make us sensible that neither of them can be reconciled to the sentiments which the first Christians entertained of it.”
“That there was … a great and real change made in the bread and the cup by our Saviour’s blessing and thanksgiving and prayer cannot be doubted. Naturally they were only bread and wine, and not the body and blood of Christ. When He had blessed them, He declared them to be His body and blood. They were therefore by His blessing and word made to be what by nature they were not. That Christ offered Himself, His natural body and blood, His humanity, to God, a sacrifice for the sin of the world, will, I presume, be readily acknowledged to be a Scripture doctrine. But, as the Scripture has not in direct terms told us when He did so, it becomes a matter of inquiry when it was done. I know it is commonly said that He offered Himself on the cross. But, however common the opinion may be, it does not appear to me to have either Scripture or fact to support it. That He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and that He was once offered to bear the sin of many, are expressions of Scripture. But I know not that it is said in Scripture that Christ offered Himself on the cross. As far as I can perceive, the representation which the Scriptures give of the fact is decidedly against such an opinion.… It being admitted that Christ did offer Himself, His natural body and blood, His whole humanity, to God, a sacrifice for the sins of the world; and having been shown that He did not offer Himself on the cross, but was in everything that related to His crucifixion merely passive, it may be asked, When did He offer Himself? I answer, In the institution of the Holy Eucharist.”
“As He could not wound and kill His own natural body, and shed His own blood, He made this offering in a mystery, that is, under the emblems of bread and wine. Therefore He took bread, and having blessed and consecrated it to be His representative body, He brake it to signify and represent the wounding and piercing of His body on the cross, which was then soon to happen; also the cup of wine and water mixed to signify and represent the blood and water which flowed from His dead body on the cross when the soldier pierced His precious side.”
“It having now been proved that Christ did at the institution of the Eucharist offer His natural body and blood to God an expiatory sacrifice for sin under the symbols and representation of bread broken and wine poured out, and consecrated by blessing and thanksgiving, and His Apostles being commanded to do this that is, what He had done, in remembrance of Him, I ask, In what sense can this command be understood but as an injunction on them to offer bread broken and wine poured out, and consecrated by blessing and thanksgiving, to God as symbols of Christ’s body and blood, and for a representation or memorial of His offering His natural body and blood to God, which He then made under the same representation?… Hence it will follow that the Eucharist is not only a memorial of the passion and death of Christ for the sin of the world but also of that offering of Himself, His natural body and blood, which under the representation of bread and wine He made to God at the institution of the holy ordinance.… Hence also it appears that the Eucharist is a memorial not so much before men as before the Almighty Father.”
“It appears therefore that the Eucharist is not only a sacrament in which under the symbols of bread and wine according to the institution of Christ the faithful truly and spiritually receive the body and blood of Christ, but also a true and proper sacrifice commemorative of the original sacrifice of Christ for our deliverance from sin and death, a memorial made before God to put Him in mind, that is, to plead with Him the meritorious sacrifice and death of His dear Son, for the forgiveness of our sins, for the sanctification of His Church, for a happy resurrection from death, and a glorious immortality with Christ in heaven. From this account the priesthood of the Christian Church evidently appears. As a Priest Christ offered Himself a sacrifice to God in the mystery of the Eucharist, that is, under the symbols of bread and wine; and He commanded His Apostles to do as He had done. If His offering were a sacrifice, theirs was also. His sacrifice was original; theirs commemorative. His was meritorious through His merit who offered it; theirs drew all its merit from the relation it had to His sacrifice and appointment. His, from the excellence of its own nature, was a true and sufficient propitiation for the sins of the whole world; theirs procures remission of sins only through the reference it has to His atonement.”
“We may see in what sense the consecrated or eucharistised bread and wine are the body and blood of Christ. They are so sacramentally or by representation, changed in their qualities, not in their substance. They continue bread and wine in their nature; they become the body and blood of Christ in signification and mystery; bread and wine to our senses, the body and blood of Christ to our understanding and faith; bread and wine in themselves, the life-giving body and blood of Christ in power and virtue, that is, by the appointment of Christ and through the operation of the Holy Ghost, and the faithful receive in them the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice and death to all spiritual intents and purposes. There is therefore in this holy institution no ground for the errors of Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation, or the bodily presence of Christ, with which the Church of Rome, Luther, and Calvin have deceived, beguiled, and perplexed the Church. The bread and wine are in their nature still bread and wine. They are not transubstantiated into the natural body and blood of Christ, as the Papists teach. The natural body and blood of Christ are not consubstantiated with them, so as to make one substance, as the Lutherans teach. Nor are the natural body and blood of Christ infused into them, nor hovering over them, so as to be corporally received with them, as Calvin and his followers seem to teach, for they are far from being intelligible on the subject. The natural body and blood of Christ are in heaven, in glory and exaltation; we receive them not in the Communion in any sense. The bread and wine are His body and blood sacramentally and by representation. And, as it is an established maxim that all who under the law did eat of a sacrifice with those qualifications which the sacrifice required were partakers of its benefits, so all who under the Gospel eat of the Christian sacrifice of bread and wine with those qualifications which the holy solemnity requires are made partakers of all the benefits and blessings of that sacrifice of His natural body and blood which Christ Jesus made when under the symbols of bread and wine He offered them to God a propitiation for the sin of the world.”
“The officiating bishop or priest first gave thanks to God for all His mercies, especially for those of creation and redemption. Then, to show the authority by which he acts and his obedience to the command of Christ, he recites the institution of the Holy Sacrament which he is celebrating, as the holy evangelists have recorded it. In doing this he takes the bread into his hands and breaks it, to represent the dead body of Christ torn and pierced on the cross, the cup also of wine and water mixed representing the blood and water which flowed from the dead body of Christ when wounded by the soldier’s spear. Over the bread and the cup he repeats Christ’s powerful words, ‘This is My body, This is My blood.’ The elements being thus made authoritative representations or symbols of Christ’s crucified body and blood are in a proper capacity to be offered to God as the great and acceptable sacrifice of the Christian Church. Accordingly, the oblation, which is the highest, most solemn, and proper act of Christian worship, is then immediately made. Continuing his prayer, the priest intercedes with the Almighty Father to send upon them (the bread and wine) the Holy Spirit, to sanctify and bless them, and make the bread the body, and the cup the blood, of Christ, His spiritual life-giving body and blood in power and virtue, that to all the faithful they may be effectual to all spiritual purposes. Nor does he cease his prayer and oblation till he has interceded for the whole Catholic Church, and all the members of it, concluding all in the name and through the merit of Jesus Christ the Saviour. The Eucharist being, as its name imports, a sacrifice of thanksgiving, the bread and wine, after they have been offered or given to God, and blessed and sanctified by His Holy Spirit, are returned by the hand of His minister to be eaten by the faithful as a feast upon the sacrifice, the priest first partaking of them himself, and then distributing them to the communicants, to denote their being at peace and in favour with God, being thus fed at His Table, and eating of His food, and also to convey to the worthy receivers all the benefits and blessings of Christ’s natural body and blood, which were offered and slain for their redemption. For this reason the Eucharist is also called the Communion of the body and blood of Christ, not only because by communicating together we declare our mutual love and good-will, and our unity in the Church and faith of Christ, but also because in that holy ordinance we communicate with God through Christ the Mediator by first offering or giving to Him the sacred symbols of the body and blood of His dear Son, and then receiving them again, blessed and sanctified by His Holy Spirit, to feast upon at His Table for the refreshment of our souls, for the increase of our faith and hope, for the pardon of our sins, for the renewing of our minds in holiness by the operation of the Holy Ghost, and for a principle of immortality to our bodies as well as to our souls.… It is a sensible pledge of God’s love to us, who, as He hath given His Son to die for us, so hath He given His precious body and blood in the Holy Eucharist to be our spiritual food and sustenance.”
3. The English Book of Common Prayer was approved by the Irish Convocation in 1662; and the use of it was enjoined by the Irish Parliament in 1666. There are some allusions to Eucharistic doctrine in the Irish Form of Consecration or Dedication of Churches and Chapels, together with what may be used in the Restauration of Ruined Churches, and Expiation of Churches Desecrated or Prophaned, which was published in 1666 with the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin. The name of the compiler is not known; and, though the Form was to some extent used, it does not appear to have received any official sanction on the part of the Irish Church. The allusion to the eternal sacrifice perpetually presented in heaven in the prayer said before the altar is of considerable interest:—
“Then the bishop arising from his chair shall kneel before the altar or Communion Table, and say:—
“Let us pray.
“O Eternal God: who in an infinite mercy to mankind, didst send Thy holy Son to be a sacrifice for our sins and the food of our souls, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and the great Minister of eternal glory; who also now sits at Thy right hand, and upon the heavenly altar perpetually presents to Thee the eternal sacrifice, a never ceasing prayer, be present with Thy servants, and accept us in the dedication of a ministerial altar, which we humbly have provided for the performance of this great ministry, and in imitation of Christ’s eternal priesthood, according to our duty and His commandment. Grant that all the gifts which shall be presented on this Table may be acceptable unto Thee, and become unto Thy servants a savour of life unto life. Grant that all who shall partake of this Table may indeed hunger after the bread of life, and thirst for the wine of elect souls, and may feed upon Christ by faith, and be nourished by a holy hope, and grow up to an eternal charity. Let no hand of any that shall betray Thee be ever upon this Table; let no impure tongue ever taste of the holy body and blood which here shall be sacramentally represented and exhibited. But let all Thy servants that come hither to receive these mysteries come with prepared hearts, and with penitent souls, and loving desires, and indeed partake of the Lord Jesus, and receive all the benefits of His passion. Grant this for His sake, who is the Priest and the Sacrifice, the Feeder and the Food, the Physician and the Physic of our souls, our most Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus. Amen.”
After the passing of the Act for the Disestablishment of the Irish Church in 1869, the formularies of that Church were revised by the Representative Body of the Church. No alteration was made in the Thirty-nine Articles. The Communion Office of the English Book of Common Prayer was not altered, except in some rubrics and by the provision of additional collects at the end of the Office. Nothing in the Catechism was omitted or altered, but the following question and answer were added:—
“Question. After what manner are the body and blood of Christ taken and received in the Lord’s Supper?
“Answer. Only after a heavenly and spiritual manner; and the mean whereby they are taken and received is faith.”
The fourth of the Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical decreed in 1871, 1877, and 1899 forbids the wearing of any vestment or ornament other than surplice, bands, scarf, hood, and for preaching a plain black gown if the minister shall wish; and the thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh forbid the Communion Table to be other than “a movable Table of wood,” the use of lights “except when they are necessary for the purpose of giving light,” the use of a cross on or behind the Communion Table or on the covering of it, “the elevation of the paten or cup beyond what is necessary for taking the same into the hands of the officiating minister, the use of wine mixed with water, or of wafer bread, and all acts, words, ornaments, and ceremonies other than those that are prescribed by the Order of the Book of Common Prayer”. In the preface of the Revised Book it was said:—
“As concerning the Holy Communion, some of our brethren were at first earnest that we should remove from the Prayer Book certain expressions, which they thought might seem to lend some pretext for the teaching of doctrine concerning the presence of Christ in that Sacrament repugnant to that set forth in the Articles of Religion, wherein it is expressly declared that the body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper only after an heavenly and spiritual manner, and that the mean whereby it is therein received and eaten is faith; but, upon a full and impartial review, we have not found in the formularies any just warrant for such teaching, and therefore in this behalf we have made no other change than to add to the Catechism one question with an answer taken out of the twenty-eighth of the said Articles. As for the error of those who have taught that Christ has given Himself or His body and blood in the Sacrament, to be reserved, lifted up, carried about, or worshipped, under the veils of bread and wine, we have already in the canons prohibited such acts and gestures as might be grounded on it, or lead thereto; and it is sufficiently implied in the Note at the end of the Communion Office (and we now afresh declare) that the posture of kneeling prescribed to all communicants is not appointed for any purpose of such adoration, but only for a signification of our humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of Christ, which are in the Lord’s Supper given to all worthy receivers, and for the avoiding of such profanation and disorder as might ensue if some such reverent and uniform posture were not enjoined.”
This preface, although expressed with great caution and apparently intended to be such as could be accepted by any who were accepting the English formularies, appears to interpret the Declaration on Kneeling at the end of the Communion Office in such a way as to make “adoration” “unto any corporal presence of Christ’s natural flesh and blood” equivalent to “adoration” of “Christ” “Himself or His body and blood in the Sacrament” “under the veils of bread and wine”.