The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-12-01
For the Central Presbyterian.
Rome and Observation-Disclosures.

Rome and Transubstantiatio
MeSsrs. E1ditorS,-The work of Faith
er Muller" to which 1 referred in my
last letter, "THE Holy MASS, THE
SACRIFICE FOR THE LIVING AND THE
DEAD, the copy of which in my hands is
from the eighth revised edition, not only
has the an,primaatWr of Cardinal Nc
Closkey, but has prefaced to this eighth
edition several pages of eulogies upon
the work from Cardinal McCloskey, the
Catholic World, the Catholic Reuieto, the
Ne1O York Tablet, the Ne1O York Free
mans Journal, and other authorities
high in the Roman Catholic Church,
In which it is spoken of with "unquali-
fed commentator, recommended in
the most earnest manner to all the faith
full, its publication hailed with delight
as a great God-send, -" the browning eff
fort of the authors faith-imspired
genius, mine of instruction and edi-
cation for the priest and for the laymen
the book for our times and our coapa-
try every single page of it worth the
price of the volume etc.
We may therefore, 1 suppose. part
with DIR. O'Connell and Rufus" and
luxuriate for while in0the teachings of
this magnificent work" AS an expo
sition and defence of the Roman Catholic
doctrine of ransubstantiation, it may be
regarded from these predatory eulogies
as the very ablest that Romanism can
present. [ propose therefore to examine
In the light Of this new and much
Wanted contribution to the literature of
the controversy, that strange doctrine of
the conversion of bread and wine really
and substantially into the body and
blood of Christ.
And first, az to the statement of the
doctrine, we have great advantage in
following so explicit and candid an au-
thor. He does not cover up his mean
ing with words of dubious import, or
throw over it any page of mystery such
as we generally find in writers of his
class. He is very outspoken and calls
things by their right names. For in
stance in speaking of the Mass, he saws
(page 2O6) that it "is indeed an un-
fashionable abyss of the most astounding
prodigies, " and he then proceeds to tell
us what these astounding prodiGies"
are. The first, he tells us is that as
soon as the priest has pronounced the
words of conservation over the host and
the wine In the chalice, the real body
and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are
present upon the altar, His body under
the appearance of bread and his blood un-
der the appearance of wine" The second
IS :" that after the words of conservation
there remains neither bread nor wine
though the contrary appears to our
senses. The third prodigy is that after
the words of conservation there remains
nothing of the substance of bread and
wine, but only the color, smell, taste, and
other accidents. The fourth is that the
accidents Of bread and wine" by which
ne means the color, taste, smell, chemical
properties, ETC., all present without be-
ing united to anything, because nothing
of the substance Of bread and wine IS
any longer there to sustain them, and
the body and blood of Jesus Christ
which take the place of bread and wine
cannot be the subject of these accidents
:. e., Of color, taste, smell, and. the like
The fifth prodigy is that mot only the
body of Christ but Jesus Christ. true
God, and true man is entire there such
as ne IS IN heaven, so that the blood of
Christ, his sacred soul and his divinity
are conformity with his body in the host
under the species Of bread, and his body
his soul and his divinity are conformity
with his blood in the chalice." The
sixth and last Of these prodigies is that
Jesus Christ is not only whole and en-
tire in each host, whole and entire in the
chalice, but he is also whole and entire
IN each particle Of the host as he is whole
and entire in the least species of wine, q"
80 that " when the priest breaks the host
or divides the chalice it is not Christ
who is broken or divided it is the species