must neades be confessed euen of the contrary teachers whiche thinges together conteine more probability for the proufe of oure purpose then they can for any other sense finde But nowe touchinge the texte nearer and finding that this woorke of mannes amending shall be wrought in the next liefe then it must nedes so induce this sense that no meaning may well be admitted whiche euidently setteth not forth the truthe of Purgatory And that this worke is not properly taken for any suche trouble or vexation that may fall to man in this liefe but for a very torment praepared for the next worlde firste the quality of the iudgement and meanes in the execution of that sentence of God whiche is named to be doone by fiere seemeth rather to import that then any other vexation the poonishement of the worlde folowing allwaies lightely so termed Then man is in this purging only asufferer which belongeth namely to the nexte worlde But especially that this sentence shall be executed in the day of our Lorde which properly signifieth ether the day of our death or the sentence of God whiche streghte foloweth vpon death or the laste and generall iudgement All the tyme off mans liefe wherein he foloweth his freedom is called Dies Hominis the daie of man bicause as man in this liefe for the most parte serueth his owne will so he often neglecteth Goddes but at his deathe there beginneth Dies Domini Where God executeth his ordinaunce and will vpon man This triall then of mannes misdeedes and impure workes must ether be at his deathe or after his departure by one of the two iudgementes But if we note diligently the circumstances of the saide letter it shall appeare vnto vs that this purgatiō was not ment to be onely at mannes death both bicause it shall be done by fyre whiche as is saide commonly noteth the torment of the next liefe and then S. Paule expressely warneth vs to take hede what we builde in respect of the difference that may fall to suche as builde fine workes and other that erecte vppon the foundation impure or mixte mater of corruption but the paines of deathe being common to the best as well as to the worst or indifferent and no lesse greuous in it sellfe to one then the other can not be imported by the fire whiche shall bring losse to th one sort and not paine thother Besides all this that day which the prophet speaketh of shall be notorious in the sight of the worlde and very terrible to many And S. Paule plainely affirmeth that in this iudgement there shall be made an open shewe of suche woorkes as were hidde before from man and not discerned by the iudgement of this world whiche the priuate deathe of one manne can not doo And lightely thapostle warning man of the sentence of God in the next lyefe 2. Cor. 5. admonisheth him that oure dedes must be laide open before the iudgemēt seate of God so here Dies domini declarabit quia in igne reuelabitur the day of oure lord will open the matter bicause it shall be shewde in fyre Last of all the Prophet nameth the tyme off this sharpe tryal Diem aduentus domini whiche is a proper calling of one of the iudgements ether that whiche shall be generall at the last day or elles that whiche euery manne must first abyde streghte after his departure when he shall be called to the peculiare reckoning for his owne actes In ether of whiche iudgements Magis l. 4 dist 47. this purging and amending fire shall be fownde For as in that generall wast of the whole world by the fyre of conflagration 2. Petri. Cap. 3. whiche is called ignis praecedeus faciem iudicis because it awaiteth to fulfill Christes ordinance in the day of his second comming as in that fier the whole man both body and soule may suffer losse and extreme payne for his poonishment or purgation and yet by that same fyre be saued euen so oute of doubt at this particulare iudgement streght vpon euery mannes death the soule of the departed if it be not before free must suffer paines and Purgation by the like vehement torment woorking onely vpon the soule as the other shall doo on the whole man And the prophets wordes now alleaged do meane principally of the purgation that shall be made of the faithfuls corrupted woorkes by the fiere of conflagration in the seconde comming of Christe thoughe his wordes well proue the other also as S. Paule too meaneth by theyme bothe That there is a particulare iudgement and priuate accompte to be made at euery mannes departure off his seuerall actes and dedes vvith certaine of the fathers mindes touching the textes of scripture alleaged before Cap. 7. ANd though such as shal liue at the comming of the iudge in the later daye shall then be purged of they re corruption and base workes of infirmity by the fyre that shall abetter and alter the impure nature of these corruptible elements or otherwise according to goddes ordinaunce yet the common sort of all men whiche in the meane tyme depart this worlde must not tary for theire purgation till that general amending of all natures no more then the very good in whome after theire baptisme no filthe of sinne is fownde or if any were was wiped a way by poenaunce muste awayte for they re saluation or the wicked tary for they re iuste iudgement to damnation The particulare iudgemēt But streght this sentence ether off iudgement or mercy must be pronounced and therfore it is called the particulare iudgement by whiche the soule onely shall receyue well the or woe as at the day of the greate accompt bothe body and soule must doo Of this seuerall triall the holy Apostle S. Paule saith Ad haebr 9 statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori post hoc iudicium It is determined that euery man once must dye and after that commeth iudgement And a nother scripture more expressely thus Eccles 11. Facile est coram domino reddere vnicuique in die obitus sui secundum vias suas It is an easy matter before oure lorde that euery man at the day of his death shulde be rewarded according to his lyefe and ways Agayne in the same place Memor isto iudicij mei sic enim erit tuum mihi heri tibi hodie Haue in remembraunce my iudgement for such shal thy nowne be yester day was myne to day may be thyne And therfore S. Ambrose saith that with oute delay the good poore man was caryed to rest and the wicked riche owte of hand suffered torments That euery man saith he may feele before the day of iudgement Super 5. ad Roman what he muste then looke for And in another place the same holy man writeth that Iohn the beloued of Iesus is allredy gone to the paradise of euerlasting blesse In psa 118 ser 20. passing as fewe shall doo the fiery
a maner a frade him self of wasting away in that horrible tormēt none more effectually then S. Augustine that confesseth there is no earthely paine comparable vnto it Lib. 4. Ca. 10. de ortho fid none more fearefully then Eusebius Emissenus who termeth it skaulding waues off fyre none more pithely then Paulinus that calleth those places off iudgements Ad Amandum epi. ◠Ardentes tenebras burning darknesse More peculiarely may the circūstances and cōdicion of that state by god be reueled but the trueth therof can not be more plainely declared nor better prooued These babes feared no bugges I warraunt yovv nether picked they Purgatory owte of Scipio his dreame but they had it owte of Goddes holy worde and tradition of the holy apostles and by the very suggestion of the spirite of truth All which if it can not moue the misbeleuer and stay the rashenesse of the simple deceiued sort it shall be but lost laboure to bring in any more for the confirmation of that trueth whiche all the holy doctoures haue so fully both proued and declared to my hand But nowe for vs that throughe Goddes greate mercy be Catholikes let vs for Christes sake so vse the benefite of this oure approued faithe to the amendement of oure owne lyues that where no argument will serue nor authority of Scripture or doctoure can conuerte the deceiued yet the fructe of this doctrine shewed by good liefe and vertuous conuersation may by Christes mercy moue theime Let the priest consider that this heuy iudgment must begī at the howse of God Epist 1. ca. 4. Ambros vbi supra as S. Peter affirmeth and so dooth S. Ambrose proue it must do In whom for the dignity of his honourable ministery as much more holynesse is requisite so a more straite reckoning must be required Let the Lay man lerne for the auoyding of greater daūger in the praesence of the highe Iudg willingly to submitt him self to Goddes holy ministers Who haue in most ample manner a commission of executing Christes office in earthe bothe for pardoning and poonishement of sinne that sufferinge here in his Churche sentence and iuste iudgement for his offensies he may the rather escape oure fathers greuous chastisement in the liefe to coom Therefore I woulde exhorte earnestly the minister of God that in geuing poenaunce he woulde measure the medecine by the malady aptly discerning the limitation of the poonishement by the quantity of the faulte not vsing lyke lenity in closing vp of euery wound For they shall not be blamelesse surely that doo the woorke of Goddes iudgement committed to theire discretion negligently nor the simple soule that lookes to be set free from further paine can by the acceptation of suche vnaequall remedies auoyde the skourge of iudgement praepared ▪ except he him selfe voluntaryly receiue as I woulde wishe all men should som forther satisfaction by the fructes of poenaunce that of his owne accorde he may helpe the enioyned paenalty and so by Goddes grace turne away the greate grefe to coom Excellently well Epist 2. and to oure pupose saide S. Cyprian in the fourthe booke of his epistles taulking of suche offenders as were not charged with poenaunce sufficyently or otherwise negligently fulfilled the same by these wordes VVe shall not herein any thing be preiudiciall to Goddes iudgmēt that is to coom that he may not alowe and ratifie oure sentence if he finde the perfect poenaunce of the party so require But if the offēder haue deluded vs by fayned accōplishing of his paenaunce then God who will not be deluded bicause he behouldeth the hearte of man shall geue iudgement of suche thinges as were hidde from vs. And so oure Lorde will amende the sentence of his seruauntes Wher this doctour seemeth to allude to the accustomed name of Pugatory whiche S. Augustin and other doo often call the amending fyere Thoughe it may well be that he here calleth the contrary sentence of iudgement to aeternall damnation vppon the impoenitent sinner whome the prieste bicause he coulde not discerne the fained hipocrasy of his externall dealing from the inward sorow of hearte pronounced to be absolued of his sinnes it may stand I say that he termeth that contrary sentence of God the correction or the amendement of the priestes iudgement Howe so euer that be it is a woorke of singulare grace and discretion so to deale with the spirituall patient that he haue no nede off the amending fyer Of the nature and condicion of Purgatotory fyre the difference of theire state that be in it from the damned in Hell vvith the conclusion of this booke Cap. 13. IF any curious head list of me demaunde where or in what parte of the world this place of poonishmēt is or what nature that fyre is of that worketh by such vehement force vppon a spirituall substance I will not by longe declaration thereof feede his curiosity bicause he may haue both the example and the like doubt of Hell it selfe and many other workes of God moe The lerned may see that quaestion at large debated in the bookes of the City of God Lib. 20. and in the litterall exposition vpon the Genesis And yet after all searche that man can make this must be the conclusion with the author of those bookes Libro 8. cap. 5 Quomodo intelligenda sit illa flamma inferni ille sinus Abrahae illa lingua diuitis illa sitis tormēti illa stilla refrigerij vix fortasse a mansuetè quaerentibus a contentiose autem certantibus nunquam inuenitur melius est dubitare de occultis quam litigare de incertis I am sure saith S. Augustine the Riche man was in wonderfull feruent payne and the Lazare in the rest of a pleasaunt abiding but howe or of what nature that Hell flame and fyre is to be taken or Abraham his bosom or the glottens tong or the intollerable thurst in that torment or the droppe to quenche his heat All these doubtes can scarsely be dissolued and satisfyed to the contentation of him that with humility maketh serche thereof But to contentious and curious ianglers they shal neuer be knowen Therfore better it is to be in doubt of these secretts then to stand in contentious reasoning off thinges vncertaine So must we thinke also of Purgatory that the paine thereof of what condicion so euer it be or where so euer the ordinaunce of God hath placed it is wonderfull horrible And by force of operation representeth the nature of oure fyre and bothe by scriptures and doctours is most termed by the name of fyre as Hell torment is It woorketh so vpon the soule of man as the other did vppon the riche mannes soule and all other that be allready in Helle before the receiuing of theire bodies into the same misery at the generall day of Iudgement And the sensible greefe may be as greate of certaine as in the other place of euerlasting damnation as Cyrillus Cyrill in vita
simple aske why they be proffitable S. Chrisostō may enstruct such as list learne and correct the other that list reprehēde in these wordes In 2. Cap. ad Hebr. hom 4. Tel me saith he what al these festiuall lights in the buriall of the deceased meane what all this singing of himnes and psalmes signifiethe to what end be so many priestes and musicians called to gether to which in fine he thus answerethe doo we not all these thinges to geue thankes to God and euerlasting glorye that he hath deliuered the departed from the troubles of this mortall lyfe doo we not this to our cōforte and honoure of the departed And in the buriall of the Noble matrone Paula howe the priestes did sing howe the bisshoppes of Hierusalem and of all Palestine and Syria for the most part caried torches Hierom. Epitaph Paulae howe the religiouse bothe mē and weemē did the rites of the dirigies howe her allmose folkes shewed theire cotes to procure mercy euen as they did at dorcas departure in the actes of the apostles howe they continued theire singing and saing vij daies together at the Churche in Bethlem where she was buried S. Hierom him sellfe a true record therof bearethe witnesse in the lyke wordes as I haue recited and many moe which the feare of weereing the reader causethe me full sore against my wil to omitte They so settforth not onely the substāce of the thinge which standethe in prayer and sacrifice but allso doo proue ageinst thenimies of good ordre that the smaulest ceremonies that oure churchies of late haue vsed were not lately takē vp by our couetousnesse and superstition but with more abundance and numbre and continuance and solēnytie practised in the floure of Christes churche in diuerse principal partes of the world as at Hierusalem and Cōstantinople by the praising and approuing of the grauest fathers of our faith And now S. Augustin being of Aphrick so farre from the other in distance of place yet ronnethe ioyntly with theim in religion He purposely writing of the solemne rites of Christiane funerals in that goulden treatise De cura pro mortuis agenda De cura pro mortuis agenda thus after longe consideration of the whole cause determineth that the pompe of burial with al suche solemnyties as there vnto be in goddes churche ioyned is very seemely for that body which was the vessell of a Christian soule and an instrument or companion in well woorking whervnto it shall be also vnited in the resurrection for to receiue together the inhaeritance of the euerlasting kingdom But the lack of these where they be not arrogantly contemned or can not be had is nothing hurteful to the good nor the hauing any thinge proffitable to the wicked as the exāples of Lazarus and the riche man may well proue Therefore it is the sacrifice and prayers which properly doo helpe or relieue the departed De ciuit 1. Lib. ca. 12. .13 Curatio funeris saith he conditio sepulturae pompa exequiarum magis sunt viuorum solatia quà m subsidia mortuorum Non tamen ideo contemnenda abijcienda sunt corpora defunctorum maximeque iustorum fidelium quibus tanquā organis vasis ad omnia bona opera sanctus vsus est spiritus Curiouse prouision for the burial and the pompe of the solēne obites be rather doone for the solace of the lieue then for helpe of the deade neuerthelesse the bodies of the departed namely of faithfull folkes may not be contemned or cast furthe the which the holy Gost vsed as vessels and instruments of well working By al which thinges it may wel be noted that sum thinges haue ben vsually practised in funerals for thākes geuing to almighty God as hymnes and psalmes other sum for decent coomlynes and solace of the liuinge as the place of the buriall the lightes the ringing and such lyke althoughe euen these thinges proceding of loue and deuotion be after a sorte meritorious to the dooers and a helpe to theyme for whome they be procured and good motiōs and memories of mannes duetye For which causies those and the lyke haue bene vniformelie vsed throughe owte the whole Catholike churche from the beginnyng But the princypal thinges perteyning to the iustes of the departed be praiers and sacrifice and other such like wherby they are assuredly much proffited by release of theyr paines So saith S. Augustine in these wordes Cap. 18. de cura pro mort Non existimemus ad mortuos pro quibus curam gerimus peruenire nisi quod pro eis siue altaris siue eleemosinarum sacrificijs solemniter celebramus Let vs neuer thinke that any other thinge properly apperteineth to the reliefe of the departed sauing the solemne sacrifices of the altare almose and prayer And therfore as the said holy doctour confesseth the worthinesse of the place where man is buried of it selfe profiteth not at all The sanctes pray for the soules in purgatory and vve pray vnto sanctes for them but in respecte of the holy prayers whiche be there rather made then elles where and the patronage of holy martyrs and sanctes to whome he nothing doubteth but intercession may profitably be made for the deceased for whiche cause as it may appeare by Paulinus Cap. 4 de cura pro mort men were very desirous euer in the primitiue Church to be buried by som blessed martyrs body And so must we thinke allso of buriall by the reuerent holy sacrament that it wonderfully helpeth man not for the placeis sake allthough the deuotion of the desirer is therin commendable but bicause the lyuing may there effectually commende the departed to God in the time of the holy sacrifice and may be put in remembraunce to call vpon Christes blessed person there praesent for the soule of that man whiche with care and study laide his body ī the hope of resurrection by the soueraigne holy body that is alredy risen againe And this was the cause that oure forefathers from Christes tyme till our dayes haue had respecte and desire as occasion serued to be buried there where by ordre praiers and sacrifice were daily had and where the patronage of holy sanctes might best be procured It is a highe point of wisdom surely good reader onely to see what godly wisdom oure fathers vsed in shew of their zele faith and Christianity As it is an vntollerable arrogancy and a singulare signe of infidelity to laugh at and blaspheme those thinges wherof not the prowdest haeretike that liueth hathe any intelligēce at al Obcoecauit enim eos malitia eorum For theire owne malice hathe blinded theime But leauing the thinges not principally intended as sufficiently by vse of the Church approued let vs turne to the practise of the oblation and praiers in the dirigies of the auncient that seeinge theime bothe praie and say Masse for theire dearest frendes soules thowe may be bould to vse the same for thine That doo I