He that eateth me, shall also lyue for me: not as your fathers dyd eate Manna in the deserte, and are dead. He that eateth me, shall also liue for me.

Thus therefore true bread and true wyne remayne styll in the Euchariste, vntyll they be consumed of the faythfull, to bee sygnes, and as seales vnto vs annexed vnto Goddes promises, making vs certaine of gods giftes towardes vs. Also Christe remaineth in them and they in Christe, whiche eate his fleshe and drinke his bloude, as Christ himselfe hath promised: They that do receiue my fleshe, & drinke my bloud abide in me, and I in them. Moreouer he abideth also in them which worthily receiue the outwarde sacrament, neither dothe he departe so soone as the sacrament is consumed, but cōtinually abideth feding and nourishing vs, so long as we remayne bodies of that head, and members of the same. I take not that the natural body of Christ, which is onely spirituall, intelligible, and vnsensible, hauynge no distinction of members and parts in him. But that body onely I agnise and worship, whiche was borne of the virgin, which suffred for vs, which is visible, palpable, & hath al the fourm and shape, and partes of the true natural body of man.

Christe spake not these woordes of anye vncertain substaunce, but of the certayne substaunce of breade, whiche he then helde in his handes, and shewed to his Dysciples, whan he sayde: Eate ye, this is my bodye, and lykewise of the cup, when he said, Drinke ye, this is my bloud: meaning verely of that bred, which by nature is vsuall and common wyth vs, whiche is taken of the fruite of the grounde, compacted by the vniting of manye graynes together made by man, and by mannes hande brought to that visible shape, being of a round compasse, and without all sense or lyfe: which nourisheth the bodye, and strengtheneth the heart of manne: of this same bread I saye, and not of anye vncertayne and wandrynge substaunce the olde fathers saye that Christ spake these woordes: Eate ye, this is my bodye. and lykewyse also of the Wyne whiche is the creature, and fruite of the vyne, pressed out of manye clusters and beryes, and maketh mannes hearte merye: of the verye same wyne, I say, Christe spake: Drynke ye, this is my bloude: and so the olde Doctors dooe call thys speakyng of Christe tropical, figuratiue, anagogicall, allegoricall, whiche they dooe interprete after this sorte, that althoughe the substaunce of bread and wyne dooe remayne, and bee receyued of the faythfull, yet notwithstandyng Christe chaunged the appellation thereof, and called the breade by the name of hys fleshe, and the wyne by the name of hys bloude, non rei veritate, sed significante my-

sterio. i. Not that it is so in verye deede, but signifyed in a mysterye: so that we shoulde consyder, not what they bee in theyr owne nature, but what they importe to vs and signifye, and shoulde vnderstande the Sacramente, not carnallye but sprituallye, and shoulde attende, not to the vysible nature of the Sacramentes, nor shoulde bee intente grossely to the outwarde breade and cuppe, thynkinge to see there with oure eyes no other thynges but onely bread and wyne, but that lyfting vp oure myndes, we shoulde looke vp to the bloude of Christe wyth oure fayth, shoulde touche hym with our mynde, and receyue hym with our inwarde manne, and that beynge lyke Eagles in this lyfe, wee shoulde flye vp into heauen in oure heartes, where that Lambe is residente at the ryghte hande of his father, whiche taketh away the synnes of the worlde, by whose strypes we are made whole, by whose passion wee are fylled at hys table, and whose bloude we receyuing oute of his holye syde, doe lyue for euer, beynge made the guestes of Christe, hauynge hym dwellyng in vs through the grace of his trew nature, and throughe the vertue and efficacye of his whole passion, beynge no lesse assured and certified that we are fed spyrituallye vnto eternall lyfe by Christ his flesh crucifyed, and by his bloudshedde, the trewe foode of oure myndes, then that oure bodyes bee fedde with meate and drynke in this lyfe: and hereof this sayde misticall breade in the table of Christ, and the mistical wyne, beyng administred and receyued after the institution of Christe, is to vs a memoriall, a pledge, a token, a sacrament, and a seale.

And thereof is it that Christ sayth not thus: This is my bodye, eate ye: but after he had bidden them eate, then he sayde: This is my body whiche shall bee geuen for you. Whiche is to meane, as thoughe he woulde saye, In eatyng of thys breade, consyder you that this breade is no common thyng, but a mystical matter: neyther dooe you attende that whiche is sette before youre bodelye eyes, but what feedeth you wythin: Consider and beholde my bodye crucifyed for you: that eate and digeste in youre myndes: Chew you vppon my passion, bee fed with my death. This is the true meat, thys is the drynke that moysteneth, wherewyth you beyng truelye fedde and inebriate, shall lyue for euer.

The bread and the wyne whiche be set before your eyes,  

Commentary    Close

An interesting misprint occurred in the 1583 edition. Where all previous editions rendered a phrase in Cranmer's explication (i.e., his written response to the articles being debated) as 'the bread and wine which is set before your eyes' (1563, p. 941; 1570, p. 1595; 1576, p. 1361), the 1583 edition reads: 'the bread and wine which be set before our eye' (1583, p. 1432). This is obviously a typographical error.

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