ificial aspect, of the Sacrament. In the "Lord's Supper" we feast
upon the Sacrifice which has already been offered upon the Altar.
"This Thy Table," tells of the Banquet of the Lamb. As St. Thomas puts
it:--

He gave Himself in either kind,
His precious Flesh, His precious Blood:
In Love's own fullness thus designed
Of the whole man to be the Food.

Or, as Dr. Doddridge puts it, in his Sacramental Ave:--

Hail! Sacred Feast, which Jesus makes!
Rich Banquet of His Flesh and Blood!
Thrice happy he, who here partakes
That Sacred Stream, that Heavenly Food.

This is the Prayer-Book aspect, which deals with the "_Administration_
of the Lord's Supper"; which bids us "feed upon Him (not it) in our
hearts by faith," and not by sight; which speaks of the elements as
God's "creatures of Bread and Wine"; which prays, in language of awful
solemnity, that we may worthily "eat His Flesh {90} and drink His
Blood". This is the aspect which speaks of the "means whereby" Christ
communicates Himself to us, implants within us His character, His
virtues, His will;--makes us one with Him, and Himself one with us. By
Sacramental Communion, we "dwell in Him, and He in us"; and this, not
merely as a lovely sentiment, or by means of some beautiful meditation,
but by the real communion of Christ--present without us, and
communicated to us, through the ordained channels.

Hence, in the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus is for ever counteracting within
us the effects of the Fall. If the first Adam ruined us through food,
the second Adam will reinstate us through food--and that food nothing
less than Himself. "Feed upon _Him_." But how is all this brought
about?

(III) HOW IT DOES IT.

Once again, nobody knows. The Holy Ghost is the operative power, but
the operation is overshadowed as by the wings of the Dove. It is
enough for us to know what is done, without questioning as to how it is
done. It is enough for us to worship Him in what He does, without {91}
straining to know how He does it--being fully persuaded that, what He
has promised, He is able also to perform.[9] Here, again, we are in
the region of faith, not sight; and reason tells us that faith must be
supreme in its own province. For us, it is enough to say with Queen
Elizabeth:--

_He was the Word that spake it;_
_He took the bread and break it;_
_And what that Word did make it,_
_I do believe and take it._[10]

[1] _Leitos_, p