Hippolytus of Rome, The Refutation of All Heresies

And this (Marcus), infusing (the aforesaid) mixture into a smaller cup, was in the habit of delivering it to a woman to offer up the Eucharistic prayer, while he himself stood by, and held (in his hand) another empty (chalice) larger than that. And after his female dupe had pronounced the sentence of Consecration,712 Or, “had given thanks.” having received (the cup from her), he proceeded to infuse (its contents) into the larger (chalice), and, pouring them frequently from one cup to the other, was accustomed at the same time to utter the following invocation: “Grant that the inconceivable and ineffable Grace which existed prior to the universe, may fill thine inner man, and make to abound in thee the knowledge of this (grace), as She disseminates the seed of the mustard-tree upon the good soil.” And simultaneously pronouncing some such words as these, and astonishing both his female dupe and those that are present, he was regarded as one performing a miracle; while the larger was being filled from the smaller chalice, in such a way as that (the contents), being superabundant, flowed over. And the contrivance of this (juggler) we have likewise explained in the aforesaid (fourth) book, where we have proved that very many drugs, when mingled in this way with liquid substances, are endued with the quality of yielding augmentation, more particularly when diluted in wine. Now, when (one of these impostors) previously smears, in a clandestine manner, an empty cup with any one of these drugs, and shows it (to the spectators) as if it contained nothing, by infusing into it (the contents) from the other cup, and pouring them back again, the drug, as it is of a flatulent nature, is dissolved713 ἀναλυομένου: some read ἀναδυομένου, which is obviously untenable. by being blended with the moist substance. And the effect of this was, that a superabundance of the mixture ensued, and was so far augmented, that what was infused was put in motion, such being the nature of the drug. And if one stow away (the chalice) when it has been filled, (what has been poured into it) will after no long time return to its natural dimensions, inasmuch as the potency of the drug becomes extinct by reason of the continuance of moisture. Wherefore he was in the habit of hurriedly presenting the cup to those present, to drink; but they, horrified at the same time, and eager (to taste the contents of the cup), proceeded to drink (the mixture), as if it were something divine, and devised by the Deity.714 [Here was an awful travesty of the heresy of a later day which introduced “the miracle of Bolsena” and the Corpus-Christi celebration. See Robertson, Hist., vol. iii. p. 604.]

[40] Ὃς καὶ ποτήριον πάλ[ιν] ἕτερον κιρνῶν ἐδίδου γυναικὶ εὐχαριστεῖν αὐτὸς παρεστώς: καὶ ἕτερον [ποτήριον] κρατῶν, ἐκείνου μεῖζον, κενόν, καὶ εὐχαριστησάσης τῆς ἀπατωμένης δεξάμενος [τὸ μικρότερον,] ἐπέχει εἰς τὸ μεῖζον, καὶ πολλάκις ἀντεπιχέων ἕτερον εἰς ἕτερον ἐπέλεγεν οὕτως: «ἡ πρὸ τῶν ὅλων, [ἡ] ἀνεννόητος καὶ ἄρρητος Χάρις πληρώσαι σου τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον καὶ πληθύναι ἐν σοὶ τὴν γνῶσιν αὐτῆς, ἐγκατασπείρουσα τὸν κόκκον τοῦ σινάπεως εἰς τὴν ἀγαθὴν γῆν». καὶ τοιαῦτά τινα ἐπειπὼν καὶ ἐκστήσας τήν τε ἀπατωμένην καὶ τοὺς παρόντας, [ὡς] θαυματοποιὸς ἐνομίζετο, τοῦ μείζονος ποτηρίου πληρουμένου ἐκ τοῦ μικροτέρου, ὡς καὶ ὑπερχεῖσθαι πλεονάζον. Καὶ τούτου δὴ τὴν τέχνην ὁμοίως ἐ[ν] τῇ προειρημένῃ βίβλῳ ἐξεθέμεθα, δείξαντες πλεῖστα φάρμακα δυνάμενα αὔξησιν παρασχεῖν ἐπιμιγέντα οὕτως ὑγραῖς οὐσίαις, μάλιστα [δ'] οἴνῳ κεκερασμένῳ. ὧν ἑν[ί] τι[ς] φαρμάκῳ [ἐν] τὸ κενὸν ποτήριον κρύβδην ἔν(δοθ)εν (π)α(ρα)χρίσ(ας), ὡς μηδὲν ἔχον δείξας, ἐπιχέων ἐκ το(ῦ) (πλήρ)ους καὶ ἐπαναχέων, ἀναλυομένου τοῦ φαρμάκου ὑπὸ τῆς τῷ ὑγρῷ μίξεως, ὄντος φυσώδους, πλεονασμὸς τοῦ κεράσματος ἐγίνετο. καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ηὔξανεν, ἐς ὅσον [τὸ ποτήριον] ἐπαναχυνόμενον ἐκινεῖτο, τοιαύτης οὔσης τῆς τοῦ φαρμάκου φύσεως. ὃ εἰ ἀπόθοιτό τις πληρωθέν, μετ' οὐ πολὺ εἰς τὸ κατὰ φύσιν μέτρον πάλιν τραπήσεται, τῆς τοῦ φαρμάκου δυνάμεως σβεσθείσης τῇ τοῦ ὑγροῦ παραμονῇ. διὸ μετὰ σπουδῆς τοῖς παροῦσι προσεδίδου πίνειν, οἱ δὲ ὡς θεῖόν τι καὶ θεῷ μεμελημένον φρίσσοντες ἅμα καὶ σπεύδοντες ἔπινον.