Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	father_n	scripture_n	tradition_n	2,047	5	9.1715	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36827	A new voyage to the Levant containing an account of the most remarkable curiosities in Germany, France, Italy, Malta, and Turkey : with historical observations relating to the present and ancient state of those countries / by the Sieur du Mont ; done into English, and adorn'd with figures.; Nouveau voyage du Levant. English	Dumont, Jean, baron de Carlscroon, 1667-1727.	1696 (1696)	Wing D2526; ESTC R9818	264,606	436

the Apostles Among the rest the Family of S. Lazarus was involv'd in the common Calamity but the Jews unwilling to make Persons of Quality suffer the utmost Severities that were usually inflicted on others instead of putting 'em to Death plac'd Lazarus and his Sister S. Maximin and some others whose Names I do not remember in a Bark without Oars Rudder or Sails abandoning 'em to the Mercy of the Winds which by the Providence of God brought 'em into the Port of Marseilles where they spent several Years in Preaching the Gospel Their Memory is preserv'd to this Day by a great number of Chapels erected in the places where 't is pretended the He and She Saints usually pronounc'd their Sermons which had such a prevailing Influence on their Hearers that the whole City was converted After such happy Success S. Lazarus was made Bishop and Mary Magdalen went to do Penance in the horrid Cave of S. Baume Her Head and one of her Arms are kept at S. Maximin amongst a great number of fine Relicks Her Head is enchas'd in a kind of Bust of Gold ending a little below her Shoulders and enrich'd with a great number of very fine Jewels among which there is an admirable Ruby equalling a Man's Thumb both in Length and Breadth This Bust was presented by Charles II. King of Switzerland Count of Provence The whole Face of this Head is expos'd to view contrary to the Custom of other Places where the Shrine is only show'd and the Spectator must imploy his Faith if it be strong enough to discover the Relicks But here one may distinctly perceive a Death's-Head of so vast a size that if it be Mary Magdalen's we cannot justly refuse our Assent to the Tradition that assures us of the unusual Bulkiness of the rest of her Body Our Guide made us observe a little dry Scurf about the middle of her Forehead somewhat towards her Left Eye and told us that this was the place where our Saviour put his Finger when after his Resurrection he said to her Touch me not c. But since I had never observ'd in the Scripture that Christ put his Finger on her Forehead when he spake these Words I ask'd a Father where I might find that Passage He told me that it was a Holy Tradition of the Church which I was oblig'd to believe under pain of Heresie adding upon the Authority of the same Tradition That during the Forty Days which Christ spent with his Disciples after his Resurrection he never touch'd any thing but this part of Mary Magdalen's Forehead and S. Thomas's Hand both which remain entire to this Day This Head is preserv'd in a Subterraneous Cave clos'd with four Iron Doors and we were told that the Bodies of S. Magdalen S. Maximin S. Marcellus and S. Sidonius were put into four Marble Sepulchres that are still to be seen in this Cave which was contriv'd on purpose for their Burying-place but that these Holy Bodies were afterwards more honourably lodg'd In the same Cave or Subterraneous Chapel they shew also a little Glass Vial containing certain small Flints that were moistened with the Blood that our Saviour shed upon the Cross endeavouring to make the Spectatours believe that the Blood is still visible but whatever care I took to consider these Flints with all imaginable Attention I cou'd not perceive the least Tincture of Blood Coming up from hence we were desir'd to take Notice of a Shrine of Porphyrie which contains the rest of that Saint's Bones except one of her Arms which is enchas'd in Silver and suitable in bigness to the Head Her Flaxen Hair is in another Reliquary And there are in the same place many other Rarities of this Nature which 't wou'd be too tedious to enumerate The Church that belongs to this Convent is large well lighted and very much esteem'd for its Architecture The Inside is adorn'd with several fine Marble Columns especially the great Altar which was built by Lewis XIII in performance of a Vow and is reckon'd one of the largest and most magnificent Altars in France All the rest of the Church is cover'd with Paintings by the most celebrated Hands which are also the Effects of Vows And every Altar is enrich'd with all sorts of Vessels Candlesticks Lamps and other Ornaments of Gold and Silver in great abundance This Church was built by Charles Duke of Anjou King of Sicily who endow'd it with a very plentiful Revenue and the Foundation being since encreas'd by the Piety of our Kings there is a very honourable Maintenance for Fifty Monks who live here I 'm afraid the Holiness of the Place will scarce make amends for my detaining you so long at S. Baume and therefore since a change of Entertainment is always very acceptable to a cloy'd Appetite I hope you will have the less Reluctancy to accompany me in a little Journey to Arles and Nismes where you might divert your self with a View of those Admirable Antiquities and Illustrious Monuments of the Roman Grandeur that are to be seen in those places Arles is a City of Provence and was formerly the Metropolis of a Kingdom of the same Name 'T was adorn'd by its old Masters the Romans with Temples Palaces Amphitheatres and other magnificent Works most of which were ruin'd in the succeeding Revolutions The Amphitheatre commonly call'd les Arrenes has escap'd the Fate of the rest tho' not so well as that of Nîmes for 't is impossible to walk on the Top from one end to the other so that I cou'd not measure its Length and Breadth The Town-House is very remarkable both for its Structure and Antiquities Among the rest there is a Marble Statue of Diana which formerly pronounc'd Oracles to those who came to consult her in her Temple which was seated in the same place where the Town-House stands at present as appears by the Foundations that are under the Clock-Tower All the Walls of the City are full of pieces of Statues Cornices and Columns which give the Spectatour a great Idea of the Number and Beauty of its Ancient Ornaments Among its finest Antiquities I may justly reckon that admirable Obelisk which some Years ago was found entire in the Ground and was since erected to the Glory of Lewis the Great by the Care and Contrivance of the Gentlemen of the Royal Academy with very beautiful Inscriptions on the Pedestal both in Latine and French and a Golden Sun on the Top which you know is the King's Emblem and the Soul of his Device This Obelisk wants the usual Ornament of Monuments of that Nature and at least in this respect may be justly esteem'd a Rarity But tho' there are no Hieroglyphical Figures upon it to determine its Age and discover its first Contrivers 't is generally reputed a Work of the Egyptians I know not whether the same Opinion will prevail in After-Ages for perhaps Posterity viewing the Inscriptions that have been lately added to it will do our

confounding the Persons of the Trinity Then he repeated what he had said before that the Persons were only distinguish'd by their Attributes f●om whence he concluded that the latter cou'd not be confounded without confounding the former And for a farther Confirmation of his Opinion he shew'd me a large Volume of S. Athanasius printed at Venice with the Latin on one side and the Greek on the other and made me take Notice of two Passages which I transcrib'd but have unhappily lost the Paper However tho' I cannot at present call to Mind the very Words of the Author I remember that in the first Passage he spoke of the Holy Ghost's proceeding from the Father without mentioning the Son I reply'd that the Question was not whether the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and that the Author whom he cited did not deny his Procession from the Son But I was oblig'd to acknowledge that the same Answer wou'd not serve to elude the positive Authority of another Passage which he shew'd me in the Nicene Creed where 't is expressly said à solo Patre procedens Thus my Mouth was stopt on this Subject as well as on the former and I must leave the Decision of this Controversie to those whose Profession obliges 'em to search into these Mysteries The second difference between the Romish and Greek Churches is concerning the Doctrine of Purgatory which the latter expressly denies affirming with us that 't is absolutely injurious to the Merit and Satisfaction of Christ Yet they pretend there is a certain Baptismal Fire through which every one must pass before he can be admitted into Paradise They believe that the Souls of Just Persons at their Separation from the Body go into a Third Place of the same Nature with the Romish Limbo's where they must remain till the Day of Judgment at which Time a sudden Fire shall dissolve the World in an Instant and purifie the Souls of the Righteous who after their final Judgment shall be receiv'd into everlasting Glory To confirm this Doctrine they alledge that Passage of the Scripture which speaks of the Souls that rest under the Altar But after all this Opinion seems not to be so well grounded as the former for if the Dead are not in a suffering Condition I know not what Reason they can give to justifie their praying for ' em The third Point is the Communion under both kinds for they give the Sacrament to the People in a Spoon in which the Bread and Wine are mixt together The Fourth is concerning Leaven'd Bread which they use in the Consecration of the Sacrament The Fifth and last Point in which they differ from those of the Romish Persuasion is the Celibacy of the Clergy For a simple Priest is allow'd to marry once but must never proceed to a second Marriage The Priests wear the Violet-colour'd Habit of a Bishop and a Cap of the same Colour with a little blue Turbant and behind their Cap there hangs a piece of Cloth of the same Colour about half a Foot long and broad which falls back on their Shoulders Besides these Priests there are certain Religious Persons under a Vow of Chastity and out of their Number the Bishops and even the Pastors are chosen whom they call Papa's They eat no Flesh and wear long Hair without ever touching it with Scissors They also suffer their Beards to grow without shaving or clipping 'em which disfigures their Faces and makes 'em seem very ugly They wear a large black Gown or Robe not much different from our Night-Gowns only their Sleeves are wider and button'd before and the Neck is like that of a Cassock Their Caps are made of Felt flat beneath like the Block of a Hat and wou'd be very deep if they were not cut before so that the whole Face appears but the Ears and hinder-part of the Head are cover'd Over this they wear a Kerchief of black Serge which hangs over their Shoulders This Habit is generally us'd by all religious Persons Pastors Bishops and Archbishops without any Mark of Distinction only the Bishops carry in their Hands a Pastoral Staff of Ebony eight Foot long with an Ivory Ball on the Top. The Bishops are not usually rich but they are no less respected by their Clergy than our French Prelates are by theirs Their Churches are built after the manner of ours but without the least appearance of Pomp or Grandeur They have a Quire where the Priests place themselves with those that come to confess and a Place for the Church-Wardens with a Crucifix or a Saint to which every one presents an Offering The Bishops do not observe so much State as in France for my Curiosity having one Day carry'd me to see 'em Officiate the Archbishop rose up to salute me and made me sit down by him on one of the Seats in the Quire whither a Priest conducted me by his Order after which they brought me some Frankincense as they do to all Persons of Note of their own Nation Their Pontifical Habit is so singular and odly contriv'd that 't wou'd be a hard Task to represent it distinctly and therefore I will neither undertake the Description of that nor of their Ceremonies and Rites of Worship I shall only add that when they enter the Church they take some Holy-Water and make five large Signs of the Cross at each of which they make a very low Bow repeating the same Ceremony when they go out to commemorate the five Wounds of our Saviour It has been so positively asserted by so many celebrated Divines that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is not acknowledg'd by the Greek Church that I dare hardly venture to contradict ' em However since neither Interest not Authority ought to deterr us from owning the Truth I 'm resolv'd at all Adventures to undeceive you of so vulgar an Error 'T is plain that the Authors of those Relations on whose Credit that Opinion is grounded were either deceiv'd themselves or intended to deceive their Readers unless perhaps to soften the harshness of that Censure you had rather believe that they speak of some obscure Sect which is not known in thi● Countrey For I can assure you that the Greeks at Constantinople and Smyrna are as firmly perswaded of the truth of that Doctrine as the most zealous Romanists and the only reason why they do not kneel at the Elevation of the Host is because their manner of Adoration is different from ours Nor do they worship the Sacrament less devoutly by bowing their Body and smiting their Breast tho' they stand all the while on their Feet than we do by prostrating our selves on the Ground and therefore we ought rather to consider the Intention of their Mind than the Posture of their Body But this is not all for they have a Custom which may serve for a convincing Proof of their Belief of that Opinion On Good-Friday they walk in Procession to the French Church to adore the Sacrament