THE Scottish Communicant A Guide to the worthy receiving of the Blessed TO WHICH IS ANNEXED The Order for the Celebration of the ACCORDING TO THE USE OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCH COMPILED BY REV. ALEX. HALDANE-CHINNERY, LL.B. INCUMBENT OF ST. BRIDE'S, LOCHABER, IN THE DIOCESE OF JUL '878 COOLEIANA EDINBURGH R. GRANT & SON, 107 PRINCES STREET OUR Church is deeply indebted to the sister Church in England for many admirable manuals of Eucharistic devotion. The present is an attempt to meet a special want of those members of the Church of Scotland who still use and value her distinctive Liturgy. I gladly sanction its use in my own Diocese as a manual of private devotion, believing that there is nothing contained in it which is at variance with Holy Scripture, or the teaching of our branch of Christ's Holy Catholic Church. GEORGE, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles. To the Reader. MY DEAR FRIEND,-In the Blessed Sacrament, our good Lord JESUS CHRIST provides Spiritual Nourishment for us His People. And our need of this Spiritual Nourishment is very evident; because we have souls as well as bodies. If our bodies need food: so also do our souls. If bodily food is required for the body: the Spiritual Food is also required for the soul. Without the food of this world, our bodies would be starved: so in like manner, without the Bread of Life, Which cometh down from heaven," our souls must suffer spiritual famine. دو But JESUS, in His great love, has provided against this. He has "prepared a Table for us in the wilderness of this world. He (the Eternal Wisdom) says to us: "Come, eat of My Bread, and drink of the Wine which I have mingled (Prov. ix. 5). For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed" (S. John vi. 55). Eat, then, O My friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O My beloved" (Cant. v. 1). But you may well ask: How can I eat CHRIST'S Flesh and drink His Blood? Is such a thing possible? Yes, this is possible; and He Himself has provided a way. For in the night that He was betrayed He took Bread, and when He had given thanks, He said: "Take, eat; This is My Body. And He took the cup, and said: Drink ye all of This: for This is My Blood of the New Testament" (S. Matt. xxvi. 26-28). But perhaps you will say again: Is this really true? Can I verily and indeed eat CHRIST'S Body and drink CHRIST'S Blood under the forms of Bread and Wine? How can these things be? Yes, my friend, all this is true, and it may be done. But still the mystery is great, and we cannot understand it. A little child might worthily receive the Blessed Sacrament, and yet the wisest and most learned theologian in the world could not explain the mystery of this eating and drinking. Let us, then, with childlike faith, rest upon those words of our Blessed SAVIOUR, "With GOD all things are possible " (S. Matt. xix. 26). How encouraging are the invitations of the Lord JESUS to come to His Holy Table! And yet His Apostle Paul, filled with a holy reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, warns us again and again of the danger of partaking unworthily, lest we should thereby become "guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord." "But let a man examine himself," he says, "and so let him eat of that Bread, and drink of that Cup." The following pages are intended as a help in this examination. May the HOLY SPIRIT direct your heart, my dear friend, and enable you to taste and see that the Lord JESUS is gracious indeed, unto all that come unto Him. PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. The following simple questions are addressed to those who desire to receive the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of JESUS CHRIST. It is earnestly hoped that all who carefully consider these inquiries, will be able to reply to each with a hearty YES: 1. Do you believe that there is ONE GOD, Who is over all, blessed for ever? 2. Do you believe that there are Three Persons in the Godhead: the FATHER and the SON and the HOLY GHOST? 3. Do you believe that the FATHER is GOD, the MAKER of heaven and earth? 4. Do you believe that the SON is GOD, our SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, and that He became Man for our sakes? 5. Do you believe that He was conceived by the HOLY GHOST, and that He was born of the Virgin Mary ? 6. Do you believe that JESUS CHRIST, Who is true GOD and true Man, died on the Cross to save poor sinners from going to hell? 7. Do you believe that He truly rose again from His tomb on the third day, and showed Himself alive to His disciples ? A |