I

The attitude of those who now became dominant may be seen by collecting some of the more official and authorised doctrinal statements of the time. The doctrine of the Eucharist was considered in both the Upper and the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury in October, 1553. In the Upper House the four following statements were agreed to:—

“Concerning the Sacrament of the altar.

“In the Sacrament of the altar duly administered we teach that by the words of Christ the real and actual substance of the body and blood of the Lord are present and contained under the species of the bread and the wine mixed with water. And since Christ can no longer be divided, or His blood separated from His flesh, because He dieth no more, therefore we believe that the whole Christ, God and Man, is contained under either species, and is as much received by the faithful under one species as under both. And therefore we affirm that the praiseworthy custom of communicating the laity, and clergy who are not celebrating, under one species, which was introduced by the Church for great reasons and has been observed for a very long time, is to be retained in our churches and is not to be altered without the authority of the Catholic Church.

“Concerning Transubstantiation.

“Since Christ declared that the one sacrifice and unique mystery, which He instituted at the Last Supper and commanded to be received by the faithful, is His body which was betrayed for us, we do not believe that this is only bread, or that the body of Christ is with the bread or in the bread, apart from our calling it the Bread of life who came down from heaven. And since the manner of existing there is by the Transubstantiation and transition of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of the body and blood of the Lord, the accidents of bread and wine meanwhile remaining for the sake of our weakness and the signification of the mystery, the pastors of the Church lawfully assembled in the Lateran Council fittingly expressed the ancient truth of the Catholic faith by the new word Transubstantiation, as the fathers of the Nicene Council declared that the Son is of the same substance with the Father by the new word Consubstantial.

“Concerning the adoration and reservation of the Eucharist.

“Since we confess that the real body and real blood of Christ, and therefore the whole Christ, are in the Eucharist, how shall we do otherwise than adore Him who never has been and never ought to be without adoration among Christians? And the Sacrament which has once been consecrated for the use of the sick, that they may not depart hence without Communion—a practice which the most ancient authors and councils show to have been customary in antiquity—remains the Sacrament and body and blood of the Lord until it is consumed, so long as the species are uncorrupted.

“Concerning the substance of the sacrifice of the Church, and the intention of it, and by whom and for whom and to whom it is to be offered.

“We celebrate the holy and life-giving and bloodless offering in the churches, not believing that what is offered is the body of some one ordinary man, but that it is the body which the Word who gives life to all things made His own, being at once the medicine for healing weaknesses and the burnt offering for cleansing offences; and we hold that on the Holy Table is placed the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, who is sacrificed by the priests without shedding of blood. And this new offering of the new covenant instituted and commanded by Christ, the Church, receiving from the Apostles, offers throughout the whole world not to angels, or to martyrs, or to any holy soul (for this would be idolatry, since the obligation of sacrifice pertains to the worship of supreme adoration), but only to God the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, although she offers the sacrifice at the memorials of the martyrs and in their memory, that they may pray for us, not for those who are not incorporated in Christ but for those who are the members of Christ, for the whole Church, for kings, for priests, for the absent and the present, for the spirits of the departed in Christ, that God may be propitious to their sins, for plenty, for fruitfulness, for the fruits of the whole world, for peace, for prosperity, for the sins and ignorances of the people, for their salvation, and for the daily restoring which their weakness needs, knowing that with such a sacrifice God is well pleased, and that He forgives great sins.”

In the Lower House of Convocation the subject was discussed at great length for some days. Almost all the members were agreed on the truth of the doctrine of Transubstantiation; but at the outset of the proceedings Philips, the Dean of Rochester, Haddon, the Dean of Exeter, Philpot, the Archdeacon of Winchester, Cheyney, the Archdeacon of Hereford, and Ailmer, the Archdeacon of Stow, refused to sign a declaration affirming it, the discussion turned mainly on Transubstantiation, and formal statements of opinion on the part of Philips, Haddon, Cheyney, and Philpot, which are alike in having been carefully drawn so as not to affirm it, have been preserved, apparently through a quotation from the destroyed Journals of Convocation. They are as follows:—

“The opinion of Walter Philips, Dean of Rochester.

“In the consecrated bread and wine the faithful really and actually and substantially eat with the faith of the heart the real body of Christ, which sits at the right hand of God the Father; and with the mouth they eat the Sacrament of the body of Christ.

“The opinion of James Haddon, Dean of Exeter.

“The body of Christ is actually present in the Sacraments of His body and blood when administered rightly (vere) and in accordance with the institution of Christ. By actually understand really and not in pretence, sacramentally not carnally.

“The opinion of Richard Cheyney, Archdeacon of Hereford.

“In the Sacrament of the altar by the power of the word of God spoken by the priest the body of Christ which was conceived of the Virgin Mary is actually present. Also His natural blood.

“The opinion of John Philpot, Archdeacon of Winchester.

“I say that by means of the holy symbols of the Lord’s Supper, administered in accordance with the institution recorded in the Gospels, the body and blood of Christ are really presented (exhiberi) by the Holy Ghost to those who receive in faith; and therefore that very body and blood in which Christ fulfilled all obedience for our salvation, in order that we might be joined together into one body together with Him, and might also perceive His power in the partaking of all good things.”

These four statements, as has been mentioned, are alike in having been carefully drawn so as not to affirm Transubstantiation. Apart from this one point they differ considerably from one another. Those of Philips and Philpot appear to express forms of receptionism. That of Haddon appears to follow the Lutheran idea of the presence of the body and blood of Christ in the consecrated elements during the administration. That of Cheyney seems most consistent with a belief that in the consecrated elements are the body and blood of Christ; and it is to be observed that he used the phrase “natural blood”. With few exceptions then the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury, like the upper House, accepted the doctrine of Transubstantiation.

In 1554 Convocation ordered the three following propositions to be submitted to Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer as a basis of a discussion to take place at Oxford:—

“i. In the Sacrament of the altar by the power of the word of God uttered by the priest the natural body of Christ which was conceived of the Virgin Mary is actually present under the species of bread and wine; also His natural blood.

“ii. After the consecration the substance of bread and wine does not remain, neither any other substance except the substance of Christ, God and Man.

“iii. In the Mass the life-giving sacrifice of the Church is propitiatory for the sins both of the living and of the dead.”

These propositions were also sent by Convocation to the University of Cambridge with the request that if held to be true they might be approved. They were so approved; and the University decided to send Cambridge divines to take part in the discussion with the Cambridge men, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, at Oxford.

In 1555 Gardiner, as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, put out a series of fifteen articles, subscription to which was to be made a condition of admission to any degree. Of these articles the eighth was as follows:—

“We believe that in the Sacrament of the Eucharist by the power of the word of God uttered by the priest the natural body of Christ which was born from the Virgin is actually present, and also His natural blood, and that the substance of bread and wine does not remain any longer, nor any other substance than that of Christ, God and Man. Wherefore we hold with sure faith that it is a holy act for us to adore the Eucharist whether in the Mass or outside the Mass. And we declare that in the Mass is the life-giving sacrifice of Christ, which is propitiatory both for the living and for the dead; and that Communion under both species is not necessary to salvation; and that the power of consecrating the body and blood of Christ has been granted only to priests lawfully ordained by Christ according to the rite of the Catholic Church.”

A declaration of doctrine set forth in 1556 by Cardinal Pole as papal legate included a statement about the Eucharist.

“The form of this Sacrament consists of the words of the Saviour in which He consecrated this Sacrament. For the priest consecrates this Sacrament speaking in the person of Christ; for by the power of these words the substance of the bread is converted into the body of Christ, and the substance of the wine is converted into His blood, yet in such a way that the whole Christ is contained under the species of bread, and the whole Christ under the species of wine, and that the whole Christ is under every part of the consecrated host and the consecrated wine, when a division is made. The effect of this Sacrament, which it produces in the soul, is the union to Christ of the man who receives it worthily.”

In the same year, 1556, Injunctions given by Cardinal Pole in connection with the visitation of the diocese of Gloucester contained an order—

“That all parishioners shall at the time of the elevation reverently kneel in such places of the church where they may both see and worship the Blessed Sacrament”;

and in 1557 the articles of inquiry drawn up by him for his visitation of the diocese of Canterbury included a question—

“Whether any person do hold, affirm, or say, that in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar there is not contained the real and substantial presence of Christ; or that by any manner of means do contemn and despise the said Blessed Sacrament, or do refuse to do reverence or worship thereunto.”