Project Canterbury

The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D.
Lord Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore.

The Worthy Communicant;
Or, a Discourse of the Nature, Effects, and Blessings consequent to the Worthy Receiving of the Lord's Supper,
And of all the Duties required in Order to a Worthy Preparation:
Together with the Cases of Conscience occurring in the Duty of Him that Ministers, and of Him that Communicates;
As also Devotions Fitted to Every Part of the Ministration.

Edited by the Right. Rev. Reginald Heber, D.D.
Late Lord Bishop of Calcutta.

London: Printed for C. and J. Rivington, 1828.

Chapter III. Of Faith, as it is a Necessary Disposition to the Blessed Sacrament.

Section VI. Meditations and Devotions relative to this preparatory Grace;
to be used in the Days of Preparation, or at any Time of Spiritual Communion.

St. Bernard's Meditation and Prayer.

THE chalice which thou, O sweetest Saviour Jesus, didst drink, hath made thee infinitely amiable; it was the work of my redemption. Certainly nothing does more pleasingly invite, or more profitably require, or more vehemently affect me, than this love; for by how much lower thou didst for me descend in the declinations of humility, by so much art thou dearer to me in the exaltations of thy charity and thy glory. Learn, O my soul, how thou oughtest to love Christ, who hath given us his flesh for meat, his blood for drink, the water of his side for our lavatory, and his own life for the price of our redemption. He is stark and dead cold, who is not set on fire by the burning and shining flames of such a charity.

I.

Blessed Saviour Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Fountain of life and salvation; by thee let us have access to thy heavenly Father, that, by thee> he may accept us, who, by thee, is revealed to us. Let thy innocence and purity procure pardon for our uncleanness and disobedience; let thy humility extinguish our pride and vanity; thy meekness extinguish our anger; and thy charity cover the multitude of our sins.

II.

O blessed Advocate and Mediator, intercede for us with thy Father and ours, with thy God and ours: and grant that, by the grace which thou hast found, by the prerogative which thou hast deserved, by the mercy which thou hast purchased for us, that as thou wert partaker of our sufferings and infirmities, so we, by thy death and resurrection, and by thy infinite gracious intercession, may be made partakers of thy holiness and thy glory.

III.

Let the brightness of thy divine grace for ever shine upon thy servants, that we, being purified from all error and infidelity, from weak fancies, and curious inquiries, may perceive and adore the wisdom and the love of God, in the truth and mysteriousness of tins divine sacrament. And be pleased to lighten in our spirits such a burning love, and such a sinning devotion, that we may truly receive thee, and be united unto thee; that we may feed on thee the celestial manna, and may, with an eye of faith, see thee under the cloud, and in the veil; and, at last, may see thee in the brightest effusions of thy glory. Amen.

A Confession of Faith in Order to the Mysteries of the Holy Sacrament, taken out of the Liturgy of St. Clement,
to be used in the Days of Preparation and Communion.

HOLY, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Blessed art thou, O God; and blessed is thy name for ever and ever. Amen.

For thou art holy; and in all things, thou art sanctified and most exalted; and sittest on high above all, for ever and ever.

Holy is thine only begotten Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ; who, in all things, did minister to thee Ids God and Father, both in the creation of the world, and in the excellent providence and conservation of it. He suffered not mankind to perish; but gave to him the law of nature, and a law written in tables of stone, and reproved them by his prophets, and sent his angel to be their guards. And when men had violated the natural law, and broken that which was written,--when they had forgotten the divine judgment manifested in the deluge upon the old world, in fire from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, in many plagues upon the Egyptians, in the slaughters of the Philistines,--and when the wrath of God did hang over all the world for their iniquity,--according to thy will, he who made man, resolved to become a man; he who is the Lawgiver, would be subject to laws; he that is the High Priest, would be made a sacrifice; and the great Shepherd of our souls, would be a lamb, and be slain for us. Thee, his God and Father, he appeased, and reconciled unto the world, and freed all men from the instant anger. He was born of a virgin, born in flesh; he is God, and the Word, and the beloved Son, the first-born of every creature, according to the prophecies which went before him, of the seed of Abraham and David, and of the tribe of Judah.

He who is the Maker of all that are born, was conceived in the womb of a virgin; and he that is void of all flesh, was incarnate and made flesh: he was born in time, who was begotten from eternity: he conversed piously with men, and instructed them with his holy laws and doctrine: he cured every disease and every infirmity: he did signs and wonders among the people: he slept, and ate, and drank, who feeds all the living with food, and fills them with his blessing: he declared thy name to them, who knew it not: he enlightened our ignorances: he enkindled godliness, and fulfilled thy will, and finished all that which thou gavest him to do.

All this when he had done, he was taken by the hands of wicked men, by the treachery of false priests and an ungodly people, he suffered many things of them, and, by thy permission, suffered many things of reproach. He was delivered to Pilate the president, who judged him that is the Judge of the quick and dead, and condemned him who is the Saviour of all others. He who is impassible, was crucified; and he died, who is of an immortal nature; and they buried him, by whom others are made alive; that, by his death and passion, he might free them for whom he came, and might dissolve the bands of the devil, and deliver men from all his crafty malices.

But then he rose again from the dead; he conversed with his disciples forty days together; and then was received up into heaven, and there sits at the right hand of God his Father.

We, therefore, being mindful of these things, which he did and suffered for us, give thanks to thee, Almighty God,--not as much as we should, but as much as we can; and here fulfil his ordinance--and believe all that he said; and know and confess that he hath given us his body to be the food, and his blood to be the drink of our souls; that in him we live, and move, and have our being; that by him we are taught,--by his strength, enabled,--by his graces, prevented,--by his Spirit, conducted,--by his death, pardoned,--by his resurrection, justified,--and by his intercession, defended from all our enemies, and set forward in the way of holiness and life eternal.

O grant that we and all thy servants, who, by faith and sacramental participation, communicate with the Lord Jesus, may obtain remission of our sins, and be confirmed in piety, and may be delivered from the power and illusions of the devil; and being filled with thy Spirit, may become worthy members of Christ, and at last may inherit eternal life; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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