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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	ancient_a	church_n	father_n	2,262	5	4.7708	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32989	Constitutions and canons ecclesiastical treated upon by the Bishop of London, president of the convocation for the province of Canterbury, and the rest of the bishops and clergy of the said province, and agreed upon with the King's Majesty's licence in their synod begun at London Anno Domini 1603, and in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord James, by the grace of God, King of England, France, and Ireland the first, and of Scotland the thirty seventh : and now published for the due observation of them, by His Majesty's authority, under the great seal of England.	Church of England.; Bancroft, Richard, 1544-1610.	1678 (1678)	Wing C4101; ESTC R40829	53,888	80

a reverend Estimation even in the Apostle's times for ought that is known to the contrary of the Sign of the Cross which the Christians shortly after used in all their Actions thereby making an outward shew and profession even to the Astonishment of the Jews That they were not ashamed to acknowledge him for their Lord and Saviour who died for them upon the Cross. And this Sign they did not only use themselves with a kind of glory when they met with any Jews but Signed therewith their Children when they were Christened to dedicate them by that badge to his Service whose Benefits bestowed upon them in Baptism the name of the Cross did represent And this use of the Sign of the Cross in Baptism was held in the Primitive Church as well by the Greeks as the Latins with one consent and great applause At what time if any had opposed themselves against it they would certainly have been censured as Enemies of the Name of the Cross and consequently of Christ's Merits the Sign whereof they could no better endure This continual and general use of the Sign of the Cross is evident by many Testimonies of the Ancient Fathers Thirdly It must be confessed that in process of Time the Sign of the Cross was greatly abused in the Church of Rome especially after that corruption of Popery had once possessed it But the abuse of a thing doth not take away the lawful use of it Nay so far was it from the purpose of the Church of England to forsake and reject the Churches of Italy France Spain Germany or any such like Churches in all things which they held and practised that as the Apology of the Church of England confesseth it doth with reverence retain those Ceremoni●s which do neither endamage the Church of God nor offend the minds of sober men and only departed from them in those particular Points wherein they were fallen both from themselves in their Ancient Integrity and from the Apostolical Churches which were their first Founders In which respect amongst some other very Ancient Ceremonies the Sign of the Cross in Baptism hath been retained in this Church both by the Judgment and Practice of those reverend Fathers and great Divines in the Days of King Edward the Sixth of whom some constantly suffered for the Profession of the Truth and others being exiled in the time of Queen Mary did after their return in the beginning of the Reign of our late Dread Sovereign continually defend and use the same This Resolution and Practice of our Church hath been allowed and approved by the censure upon the Communion Book in King Edward the Sixth his Days and by the Harmony of Confessions of later Years because indeed the use of this Sign in Baptism was ever accompanied here with such sufficient Cautions and Exceptions against all Popish Superstition and Error as in the like Cases are either fit or convenient First The Church of England since the abolishing of Popery hath ever held and taught and so doth hold and teach still That the Sign of the Cross used in Baptism is no part of the Substance of that Sacrament For when the Minister dipping the Infant in Water or laying Water upon the face of it as the manner also is hath pronounced these Words I baptize thee in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost the Infant is fully and perfectly Baptized So as the Sign of the Cross being afterwards used doth neither add any thing to the virtue and perfection of Baptism nor being omitted doth detract any thing from the Effect and Substance of it Secondly It is apparent in the Communion-Book that the Infant Baptized is by virtue of Baptism before it be Signed with the Sign of the Cross received into the Congregation of Christ's Flock as a perfect Member thereof and not by any power ascribed unto the Sign of the Cross. So that for the very remembrance of the Cross which is very precious to all them that rightly believe in Jesu Christ and in the other respects mentioned the Church of England hath retained still the Sign of it in Baptism following therein the Primitive and Apostolical Churches and accounting it a lawful outward Ceremony and honourable Badge whereby the Infant is dedicated to the Service of him that died upon the Cross as by the Words used in the Book of Common Prayer it may appear Lastly The use of the Sign of the Cross in Baptism being thus purged from all Popish Superstition and Error and reduced in the Church of England to the primary Institution of it upon those true Rules of Doctrine concerning things indifferent which are consonant to the Word of God and the Judgments of all the Ancient Fathers we hold it the part of every private man both Minister and other reverently to retain the true use of it prescribed by Publick Authority considering that things of themselves indifferent do in some sort alter their Natures when they are either commanded or forbidden by a lawful Magistrate and may not be omitted at every man's pleasure contrary to the Law when they be commanded nor used when they are prohibited Ministers their Ordination Function and Charge XXXI Four Solemn Times appointed for the making of Ministers FOrasmuch as the Ancient Fathers of the Church led by Example of the Apostles appointed Prayers and Fasts to be used at the Solemn ordering of Ministers and to that purpose allotted certain times in which only Sacred Orders might be given or conferred We following their holy and religious Example do constitute and decree That no Deacons or Ministers be made and ordained but only upon the Sundays immediately following Jejunia quatuor temporum commonly called Ember-weeks appointed in Ancient time for Prayer and Fasting purposely for this cause at their first Institution and so continued at this Day in the Church of England And that this be done in the Cathedral or Parish-Church where the Bishop resideth and in the time of Divine Service in the presence not only of the Arch-deacon but of the Dean and two Prebendaries at the least or if they shall happen by any lawful cause to be lett or hindred in the presence of four other grave Persons being Masters of Arts at the least and allowed for Publick Preachers XXXII None to be made Deacon and Minister both in one Day THE Office of Deacon being a step or degree to the Ministery according to the Judgment of the Ancient Fathers and the Practice of the Primitive Church We do ordain and appoint That hereafter no Bishop shall make any Person of what qualities or gifts soever a Deacon and a Minister both together upon one day but that the order in that behalf prescribed in the Book of making and consecrating Bishops Priests and Deacons be strictly observed Not that always every Deacon should be kept from the Ministery for a whole Year when the Bishop shall find good cause to the contrary but that there being

pray for Christ's holy Catholick Church that is for the whole Congregation of Christian People dispersed throughout the whole World and especially for the Churches of England Scotland and Ireland And herein I require you most especially to pray for the Kings most excellent Majesty our Soveraingn Lord IAMES King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith and Supream Governor in these his Realms and all other his Dominions and Countreys over all Persons in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal Ye shall also pray for our gracious Queen Anne the Noble Prince HENRY and the rest of the King and Queens Royal Issue Ye shall also pray for the Ministers of Gods holy Word and Sacraments as well Archbishops and Bishops as other Pastors and Curates Ye shall also pray for the Kings most honourable Council and for all the Nobility and Magistrates of this Realm that all and every of these in their several Callings may serve truly and painfully to the glory of God and the edifying and well governing of his People remembring the Account that they must make Also ye shall pray for the whole Commons of this Realm that they may live in the true Faith and Fear of God in humble Obedience to the King and Brotherly Charity one to another Finally let us praise God for all those which are departed out of this Life in the Faith of Christ and pray unto God that we may have Grace to direct our Lives after their good Example that this life ended we may be made Partakers with them of the glorious Resurrection in the Life everlasting always concluding with the Lord's Prayer LVI Preachers and Lecturers to read Divine Service and administer the Sacraments twice a year at the least EVery Minister being possessed of a Benefice that hath Cure and Charge of Souls although he chiefly attend to Preaching and hath a Curate under him to execute the other Duties which are to be performed for him in the Church and likewise every other stipendiary Preacher that readeth any Lecture or catechiseth or preacheth in any Church or Chappel shall twice at the least every year read himself the Divine Service upon two several Sundays publickly and at the usual times both in the Fore-noon and After-noon in the Church which he so possesseth or where he Readeth Catechiseth or Preacheth as is aforesaid and shall likewise as often in every year administer the Sacraments of Baptism if there be any to be baptized and of the Lords Supper in such Manner and Form and with the Observation of all such Rites and Ceremonies as are prescribed by the Book of Common-Prayer in that behalf which if he do not accordingly perform then shall he that is possessed of a Benefice as before be suspended and he that is but a Reader Preacher or Catechiser be removed from his Place by the Bishop of the Diocess until he or they shall submit themselves to perform all the said Duties in such manner and sort as before is prescribed LVII The Sacraments not to be refused at the hands of unpreaching Ministers WHereas divers Persons seduced by false Teachers do refuse to have their Children baptized by a Minister that is no Preacher and to receive the Holy Communion at his hands in the same respect as though the Vertue of those Sacraments did depend upon his Ability to preach Forasmuch as the Doctrine both of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper is so sufficiently set down in the Book of Common-Prayer to be used at the Administration of the said Sacraments as nothing can be added unto it that is material or necessary We do require and charge every such Person seduced as aforesaid to reform that their Wilfulness and to submit himself to the Order of the Church in that behalf both the said Sacraments being equally effectual whether they be ministred by a Minister that is no Preacher or by one that is a Preacher And if any hereafter shall offend herein or leave their own Parish Churches in that respect and communicate or cause their Children to be baptized in other Parishes abroad and will not be moved thereby to reform that their Error and unlawful Course Let them be presented to the Ordinary of the place by the Minister Church-wardens and Side-men or Quest-men of the Parishes where they dwell and there receive such punishment by Ecclesiastical Censures as such Obstinacy doth worthily deserve that is Let them persisting in their wilfulness be suspended and then after a months further Obstinacy excommunicated And likewise if any Parson Vicar or Curate shall after the publishing hereof either receive to the Communion any such persons which are not of his own Church and Parish or shall baptize any of their Children thereby strengthening them in their said Errors Let him be suspended and not released thereof until he do faithfully Promise that he will not afterwards offend therein LVIII Ministers reading Divine Service and administring the Sacraments to wear Surplices and Graduates therewithal Hoods EVery Minister saying the publick Prayers or ministring the Sacraments or other Rites of the Church shall wear a decent and comely Surplice with Sleeves to be provided at the Charge of the Parish And if any question arise touching the Matter Decency or Comeliness thereof the same shall be decided by the Discretion of the Ordinary Furthermore such Ministers as are Graduates shall wear upon their Surplices at such times such Hoods as by the Orders of the Universities are agreable to their Degrees which no Minister shall wear being no Graduate under pain of Suspension Notwithstanding it shall be lawful for such Ministers as are not Graduates to wear upon their Surplices instead of Hoods some decent Tippet of black so it be not Silk LIX Ministers to catechize every Sunday EVery Parson Vicar or Curate upon every Sunday and Holy-day before Evening Prayer shall for half an hour or more examine and instruct the Youth and ignorant Persons of his Parish in the Ten Commandments the Articles of the Belief and in the Lord's Prayer and shall diligently hear instruct and teach them the Catechism set forth in the Book of Common Prayer And all Fathers Mothers Masters and Mistresses shall cause their Children Servants and Apprentices which have not learned the Catechism to come to the Church at the time appointed obediently to hear and to be ordered by the Minister until they have learned the same And if any Minister neglect his Duty herein let him be sharply reproved upon the first Complaint and true notice thereof given to the Bishop or Ordinary of the Place If after submitting himself he shall willingly offend therein again let him be suspended If so the third time there being little hope that he will be therein reformed then excommunicated and so remain until he will be reformed And likewise if any of the said Fathers Mothers Masters or Mistresses Children Servants or Apprentices shall neglect their Duties as the one sort in not causing them to come

of Common Prayer that is brought to the Church to him upon Sundays or Holydays to be Christened or to Bury any Corps that is brought to the Church or Church-Yard convcnient Warning being given him thereof before in such manner and Form as is prescribed in the said Book of Common Prayer And if he shall refuse to Christen the one or Bury the other except the Party deceased were denounced Excommunicated Majori Excommunicatione for some grievous and notorious Crime and no man able to testifie of his Repentance he shall be suspended by the Bishop of the Diocess from his Ministery by the space of three months LXIX Ministers not to defer Christening if the Child be in Danger IF any Minister being duly without any manner of Collusion informed of the Weakness and Danger of Death of any Infant unbaptized in his Parish and thereupon desired to go or come to the Place where the said Infant remaineth to Baptize the same shall either wilfully refuse so to do or of Purpose or of gross Negligence shall so defer the time as when he might conveniently have resorted to the Place and have Baptized the said Infant it dieth through such his Default unbaptized the said Minister shall be suspended for three months and before his restitution shall acknowledge his Fault and promise before his Ordinary that he will not wittingly incur the like again Provided that where there is a Curate or a Substitute this Constitution shall not extend to the Parson or Vicar himself but to the Curate or Substitute present LXX Ministers to keep a Register of Christenings Weddings and Burials IN every Parish Church and Chapel within this Realm shall be provided one Parchment Book at the Charge of the Parish wherein shall be written the day and year of every Christening Wedding and Burial which have been in that Parish since the time that the Law was first made in that behalf so far as the ancient Books thereof can be procured but especially since the beginning of the Reign of the late Queen And for the safe keeping of the said Book the Church-wardens at the Charge of the Parish shall provide one sure Coffer with three Locks and Keys whereof the one to remain with the Minister and the other two with the Church-wardens severally so that neither the Minister without the two Church-wardens nor the Church-wardens without the Minister shall at any time take that Book out of the said Coffer And henceforth upon every Sabbath day immediately after Morning or Evening Prayer the Minister and Church-wardens shall take the said Parchment Book out of the said Coffer and the Minister in the presence of the Church-wardens shall Write and Record in the said Book the Names of all Persons Christened together with the Names and Surnames of their Parents and also the Names of all Persons Married and Buried in that Parish in the Week before and the day and year of every such Christening Marriage and Burial And that done they shall lay up that Book in the Coffer as before And the Minister and Church-wardens unto every Page of that Book when it shall be filled with such Inscriptions shall subscribe their Names And the Church-wardens shall once every year within one Month after the five and twentieth day of March transmit unto the Bishop of the Diocess or his Chancellor a true Copy of the Names of all Persons Christened Married or Buried in their Parish in the year before ended the said five and twentieth day of March and the certain days and months in which every such Christening Marriage and Burial was had to be subscribed with the Hands of the said Minister and Church-wardens to the end the same may faithfully be preserved in the Registry of the said Bishop which Certificate shall be received without Fee And if the Minister or Church-wardens shall be negligent in performance of any thing herein contained it shall be lawful for the Bishop or his Chancellor to convent them and proceed against every of them as contemners of this our Constitution LXXI Ministers not to preach or administer the Communion in Private Houses NO Minister shall Prench or Administer the holy Communion in any private House except it be in times of necessity when any being either so impotent as he cannot go to the Church or very dangerously sick are desirous to be Partakers of the holy Sacrament upon pain of Suspension for the first Offence and Excommunication for the second Provided that Houses are here reputed for Private Houses wherein are no Chapels dedicated and allowed by the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm And provided also under the pains before expressed that no Chaplains do Preach or Administer the Communion in any other places but in the Chapels of the said Houses and that also they do the same very seldom upon Sundays and Holy-days So that both the Lords and Masters of the said Houses and their Families shall at other times resort to their own Parish Churches and there receive the holy Communion at the least once every year LXXII Ministers not to appoint publick or private Fasts or Prophesies or to Exercise but by Authority NO Minister or Ministers shall without the Licence and Direction of the Bishop of the Diocess first obtained and had under his Hand and Seal appoint or keep any solemn Fasts either publickly or in any private Houses other than such as by Law are or by publick Authority shall be appointed nor shall be wittingly present at any of them under pain of Suspension for the first Fault of Excommunication for the second and of Deposition from the Ministery for the third Neither shall any Minister not Licensed as is aforesaid presume to appoint or hold any Meetings for Sermons commonly termed by some Prophesies or Exercises in Market-Towns or other places under the said Pains Nor without such Licence to attempt upon any Pretence whatsoever either of Possession or Obsession by Fasting and Prayer to cast out any Devil or Devils under pain of the Imputation of Imposture or Cozenage and Deposition from the Ministery LXXIII Ministers not to hold private Conventicles Forasmuch as all conventicles and secret Meetings of Priests and Ministers have been ever justly accounted very hurtful to the State of the Church wherein they live We do now Ordain and Constitute That no Priests or Ministers of the word of God nor any other Persons shall meet together in any private House or elsewhere to consult upon any matter or course to be taken by them or upon their motion or direction by any other which may any way tend to the Impeaching or Depraving of the Doctrine of the Church of England or of the Book of Common Prayer or any part of the Government and Discipline now established in the Church of England under pain of Excommunication ipso facto LXXIV Decency in Apparel enjoyned to Ministers THE true ancient and flourishing Churches of Christ being ever desirous that their Prelacy and Clergy might be had as well