theime Thus he saieth Augustines ansvver to Pelagius denying scripture for that it made against his haeresy Nec ideo liber sapientiae qui tanta numerositate annorum legi meruit in ecclesia Christi pati debet iniuriam quoniam resistit eis qui pro meritis hominum falluntur rursus omnibus hic liber tractatoribus anteponendus quoniam sibi eum anteposuerunt etiaÌ„ teÌ„poribus apostoloruÌ„ proximi egregij tractatores qui euÌ„ testeÌ„ adhibeÌ„tes nihil se adhibere nisi diuinum testimonium crediderunt in englishe thus It is no reason that the boke of wisdom which so many worlde 's together hathe bene worthy the reading in the Church of Christe shoulde nowe receiue suche wronge at oure handes bicause it plainely resisteth these felowes that exalt mannes merites aboue goddes grace And agayne this booke is of more authoritye then all thexpositours in the worlde for the noble writers hard by the apostles time did muche preferre this booke before theyme selues who alleaging the testimony of that scripture doubted not but they vsed thereby the witnesse of goddes holy worde Euen so must we tel oure masters that it were plaine wrong to discredet the history of the Machabies which hathe bene in our Bible euer sithe Christes time for holy scripture bicause it hathe an euident testimonie against their faulse beleefe concerning the state of the soules departed which booke is not onely better to be beleued then all Caluins faulse gloses but of more authoritye then all holy expositors Owte of whiche booke bothe S. Augustine and others many haue vsed proofe of their matters as of the testimonie of sacred and holy scripture But oure aduersarye learned not this practise of Pelagius onely for it is an oulder sore and a common sicknes to al deuisers of deulishe doctrine as the skyllfull in the Churchies affaires maye acknouledge For sum there were that other wise could not vphoulde haeresy but by the vtter denial of all the oulde Testament as Carpocrates Ceuerus Manicheus Augusti de haeresib 24. haeres Tertul. de praescrip Iren. cap. 26. libr. 1. Euseb eccles histor libr. 4. De haeresi ad quod vult deum 30. heresi But Marcion and Cerdon reiect al together sauing Lukes gospel Nowe Cerinthus and Ebion make counte of none of all the euangelicall histories but the gospell of Matthewe Cerinthus againe and Seuerus woulde haue robbed the churche of the actes of thapostles A secte called Alogiani do refuse the gospell of S. Iohn with thapocalipse Martine Illiricus Caluine and theire companions that no man being but an haeretique shoulde euer oute pricke theime will shoulder with the proudest and lifte out of our bibles the bookes of Machabies with S. Iames Epistle and more when more nede requirethe The wich epistle as allso the epistles of Iohn and Iudas were once doubted of not as conteining any matter wherof the truethe was vncerteyne but as bookes not knowen to be of lyke force as canonicall scripture in the impugning of haeresies or confirming articles of belefe as al workes be til goddes Church haue published they re authoritye The Churches vse in confiâ—matioÌ„ or publishing off the canonical scripture and declared all thinges in theime conteined to be of the same credet that the spirite of god is and of gospel like truethe And by that authority of the churche what booke so euer be allowed thoughe it was not so taken before yet nowe we muste needes accept it sicut vere est verbum dei as the very worde of God And so be these canonicall epistles and bookes of machabaeis as before is declared Here nowe euery man may learne that it is a very daungerous matter to geue lesse creditt to any of these bookes or wauer in any point of faithe writen in theime for suche felowes iudgements that nowe emongest theime haue lefte vs nether oulde nor newe Testament Suche stubborne bowldenesse hadd these willfull men in manteynaunce of mischeuouse doctrine Whose open impudencie was counted handsom conueyaunce of they re scholers and adherents which were very many notwithstanding the catholike Christian men in all agies bothe meruailed and lamented thiere blyndnes And yet doubtlesse it is not much to be woondered at to see that man flatly forsake the scripture of God who is not abasshed to refuse and condemne that sense and vnderstanding of the scripture whiche the whole churche with all her lerned meÌ„ haue euer alowed and counted most holye Well by the strengthe of this pillare we haue chalenged and saued hetherto for all the barking of bandogges the scripture of God with the knoune meaning thereof And so I trust we shall doo stille from the newe aduersaries by the assured promesse of thassistance of Goddes holy spirite which shall leade vs not onely to the true canonicall scriptures with the sense of the same but allso gyde vs in all trueth necessary for oure saluation Let euery man therefore here take hede how he doubtethe of the knoweÌ„ and certayne sense that the Church of Christe by decree of councell or consent of doctors applieth to any scripture least by mistrusting the sayde sense he go forward vnaduisedly from open deniall of the commoÌ„ A necessary vvarning to fownde a priuat meaning of his owne in the stubborn defense wherof when he shall agaynst the truethe malipertly stande he goeth vnloockely forwarde and at th eÌ„d blasphemously reiectethe the blessed worde and sacred scripture of God as we haue proued the auncyent enimies of truethe to haue doon and as in these newe sect maisters we may to our great dolor see Yet lo eueÌ„ these are they that in all agyes as Vincentius saith flye in they re taulke and teachinge ouer the lawe the prophets the psalmes the gospell That crye oute of pottes and pulpittes nothing but goddes worde the booke of the lorde the testament of Iesus Christ Paule scripture as it may be supposed and as in th ende it is proued to dryue owte of doores Paule scripture Testament and Christ too and not to bring in to the peoples heades or hearts the feare and loue of God the holsom preceptes of Paules heauenly preachinge nor the true meaning of any scripture Who being vrged will rather credet a minstrelles ballat then the Machabeis or best booke in the bible But nowe yowe may see that whiles these meÌ„ thought to saue theyr credets by miscredetting the scripture thy haue wroght so wiesely that they haue lost theyr owne credets bothe in this poynt and in all other for euer And as they hoped by deniall of scripture too cloke theyr erroure they haue woon to theime selues the property of an haeretike by open shewe of they re owne folye That the funeralles of the Patriarches bothe in the lavve of nature and Moyses and Christe had practise in theime for the reliefe of the soules departed Cap. 4. NOwe therfore I haue greate hope to trust so muche of all studiouse readers for that loue whiche they
33. and in the .xij. booke of the literall exposition on the Genesis where he hathe the same wordes with more large proufe of the conclusion whiche nether agreeth with the state of Abrahams rest nor yet with the forsaken soules And the name of helle is nowe commonly taken for any one of the inferiour partes where God practiseth iudgement for sinne euerlastingly or temporally thoughe as Augustine saithe it can not be founde in plane scripture that Abrahams happy resting place shoulde be termed Hell or Infernum But I nede not seeke forther in the deape mistery of Christes affaires in the inferioure partes For as I am not ashamed to be ignoraunt vpon whom he bestowed the grace of deliuery so with Augustine or rather with Goddes Church I dare belieue that he loused sum vppon whome he exercised iudgement before And forther maye bouldely auouche that as ther were certaine at his coomming doune not vnworthy after longe paines tolerated to be released in his praesens so there be yet some which by mercy and meanes of goddes Churche be released dayly Not of that sorte whiche died oute of Goddes fauour Bernard ser de s Nicolao Quibus clausa est ianua misericordiae omnis spes interclusa salutis Vppon whome the doore of mercy and the hope of helthe be closed and shutt vp for euer but of the iust departed in faith and piety and yet not fully pourged of all corruption of iniquity Let thenimyes of Goddes truethe comme now and deny if they can for shame that Goddes iustice for sinnes remitted reacheth not sometimes to the placies of poonishement in the nexte liefe let theime withe purgatory rase vp the fathers resting place so plainely set fourthe by scripture beleued of the whole Church and alwaies tought by the holy fathers Yea let theime that will hauno pleace for sinners fiende with blasphemy hell like torments for Goddes oune Sonne with the damned spirites My hearte surely will scarse serue me to report it and yet cursed Caluine was not a fearde to write it and with arrogant vauntes ageynste the blessed fathers to auouche the same That miserable forsaken man sawe that the onely graunt of the oulde fathers poonishmēt by the lacke of euerlasting ioy might of force drieue him to acknowledge that God sometimes exerciseth his iustice vppon those whiche he loueth in the next liefe and so consequently that Purgatory paines might be inferred therevppon therefore he fel hedlong to this horrible blasphemy Caluins blasphemy vpon the article of Christes descention that Christe went not to lowse any from the paines of the next liefe but to be pounished in hell with the deadly damned him selfe for to amend the lacke of his passion vppon the Crosse O oure cursed time O corrupte conditions this beaste writeth thus ageinst oure blessed sauiours death and ageinst the sufficiency of the abundant price of our redemption and yet he lieueth in mannes memory yea his bookes be greedely redde redde Nay by suche as woulde be counted the chiefe of the cleargie and beare bishops names they are commaunded to be redde and the very booke wherein this and all other detestable doctrine is vttered The haeretikes priuely sett forth by bookes that vvhiche they dare not openly preach especially by theire authoritie commendid to the simple curates study that they might there lerne closely in deuilishe bookes suche wicked haeresies as the preachers theime selues dare not yet in the light of the worlde vtter nor maintaine But other be not so farre faullen therefore they must of reason confesse that God by iust correction hathe before Christes coomming visited in the next worlde many hundred yeares to gether the sinnes of those whome he dearly loued Althoghe not onely in all that time the soules of the holy Patriarches felt the lacke of the abundant fruition of the Maiesty but also for sin they bothe then in rest Excepting som that by peculiure praerogatiue haue alredy receyued theire bodyes and nowe in vnspeakable foelicity want till this day the increase of ioy and blesse that by the receiuing of there bodies yet liyng in doust they are vndoubtedly suer of Therfore it is ouer much praesumption to limit the maiesty of God in the gouernement of his owne creatures to the borders of our shorte liefe and allmost it toucheth his very prouidence withe iniury to say that he letteth him skape withoute poonishement for his sinnes that repented not till the houre of deathe as for whome he hath no skourge in the next liefe as he had here if deathe had not preuented his purporse These childishe cogitations can not stand with the righteousnesse of his will that for the first sinne committed doothe not onely pounishe many euerlastingly of the forsaken sorte but also for the same poonisheth bothe his best beloued in earthe and for a time abbatithe the foelicitye of the blessed Sanctes in heauen But I will not stray after these men My matter is so fructfull that I may not roue And thoughe the sectes of these dayes haue so infected euery branche of oure Christian faithe that a man can not well ouerpasse theyme what so euer he taketh in hande yet I will not medle withe theime no forther then shall concerne the quicke of oure cause and the necessary light of our matter That the practise of Christes Churche in the courte of binding and lousing mannes sinnes dothe lieuely set fourthe the ordre of Goddes iustice in the next liefe and prooue Purgatory Cap. 3. THis being then prooued that God him selfe hathe often visited the sinnes of suche as were very deare vnto him let vs nowe diligently behoulde the graue authority of lousing and binding sinnes and the courte of mannes conscience whiche Christe woulde haue kepte in earthe by the Apostles and Pastours of our soules where we neade not doubt but to finde the very resemblaunce of Goddes disposition and ordinaunce in poonishing or pardoning offensies For the honoure and poure of this ecclesiasticall gouernement is by especiall commission so ample Note that it conteineth not onely the preaching of the ghospell and ministery of the Sacraments but that whiche is more neare to the mighte and maiesty of God and onely aperteynethe to him by propriety of nature the very exacte iudgement of all our secret sinnes with lousing and binding of the same Ioan. 5. For as God the father gaue al iudgement to his onely Sonne so he at his departure hense to the honour of his spouse and necessary giding of his people did communicate the same in most ample maner as S. Chrisostom saithe to the Apostles and priestes for euer that they practising in earthe terrible iudgement vpō mānes misdedes might fully repraesent vnto vs the very sentence of God in poonishement of wickednesse in the worlde to coome Lib. de sacer 3. The princes of the earthe haue poure to binde too but no further then the body but this other saith he reachethe to the soule it selfe and practised
of his might turne from theime but if they doo bicause there is suche affinity betwixt both theire teachings and this of theires may seeme allwaies to haue bene ioyned to that extreme faulshod of the others then shall Goddes Churche stille protest the faithe of her children by praiers and practise for the deade bothe by the example of the fathers in Christes Churche vnder the gospel and by the facte of worthy Iudas in the lawe before But nowe their answer must be here that this booke by which I haue vrged theime so farre shal be no scripture And this is the isshue of haeresye lo. These meÌ„ that lightely writhe and wreaste Goddes worde Heretikes deny scriptures from all true meaning to the maintenaunce of theire matter being forther charged by euidence of the wordes when other conuenient shifte can not be founde they are driuen to refuse vtterly the sacred canonicall scripture of God for notwithstanding theire perpetuall bragges of scripture yet there can no scripture houlde theime but they will ether find a fonde shifte to lowse it or elles a shamefull stoutnes vtterly to brast and breake it They first seeke by suttelty to vnfasten the bonde of Goddes trueth which is euery waie so enwrapped with the testimonies of holy scripture theÌ„ as they can not woorke by wiles they bouldely brast the bandes in sonder Thus when for misconstruing of this plane assertion of the booke of Machabeis they can conuey no fit meaninge they are driuen to harde shiftes and vnseemely to deny the whole booke to be scripture and therfore in matters of quaestion of no authoritye In which pointe the authoritye of the Iewes mouethe theime more in denying the bookes to be in the canoÌ„ of goddes scripture then the decree of the holy Church for the approuing of the same to be scripture But S. Hierom thoughe he confesse the Iewes not to allowe theime In prol mach Though against a Ievve or an heretike they coulde not proue any article of faithe nether then nor novve by them Ca. 48. yet is boulde to recken theyme emongest the bookes of the holy histories not measuring they re authority by the canon of the Haebrues but by the ruele of Christiane councells The Canons of the Apostles will chaleng theyme froÌ„ the Iewes and haeretikes to be scripture stille Innocentius the first in his rehersall of diuine bookes noombrethe these of the histories of the Machabees also the councell of Carthage the third authorisheth theime S. Augustine in his bookes Ca. 47. De doctrina Christiana Li. 2. Cap. numbring all canonicall scriptures with the reste reciteth these also Off which bookes in the xviij Cap. 36. of the Citie of God he thus forther testifiethe Ab hoc tempore apud Iudaeos restituto templo non reges sed principes fuerunt vsque ad Aristobulum quorum supputatio temporum non in scripturis sanctis quae Canonicae appellantur sed in alijs inuenitur in quibus sunt Machabaeorum libri quos non Iudaei sed Ecclesia pro Canonicis habet From this time he meanethe after the history of Esdras there was no kinges butt chiefe gouernours after the restitution and repaire of the temple till Aristoâ—ulus time of all which time there is no chronikle nor counte in the scriptures which be Canonicall but in other that be extant we finde that supplied as in the bookes of Machabeis which bookes allthoughe the Iewes doo not yet the Churche of God counteth for canonicall scripture But what shoulde we stande in this point the whole Churche of God and euery part or prouince therof euery lerned doctour and vertuouse Christen man hathe receiued and alowed theime for scripture â–ª the which constant and perpetuall iudgement of the Churche of Christe if any man refuse lett him be aestemed an Ethnike Or bicause he defendeth the Iewes authority ageinst the determination of Christes Churche lett him be at this time accompted for a Iewe. And yet I thinke he ouer shooteth theime herein for they confesse the historye to be trewe allthough not holy scripture nether haue they founde any suche erroure of doctrine therein conteined as he doth And as for the auncient Christian writers and famouse doctours they alleage euen that place to proue the lawfull praier for Christian soules departed whereby these felowes take occasion to saie it is no scripture at all As godly Damascenus in these woordes Scitis enim quid dicat scriptura quomodo Iudas ille Machabaeus in Syon Ciuitate regis magni vt cognouit populum sibi subiectum à Palestinis hostibus occisum scrutatione facta inuenta idola in sinibus eorum statim pro vnoquoque eorum ad dominum qui ad misericordiam facilis paratus est munera propitiatoria obtulit sane ob summam religionem fraternamque charitatem In lib. pro defunc in hoc facinore vt in omnibus alijs a diuinissima scriptura magnificus admirabilis habebatur Yowe knowe saithe he what the scripture reportethe how that worthy Iudas Machabaeus of Syon the City of the great kinge after he vnderstode certeine of his subiectes to haue bene slaine of the Palestines his enemies and searche being made had founde in thyire lappes idols streght waies offered to God who is muche inclined to mercy for euery of his souldiars so slaine propitiatory oblations â–ª who suerly for that acte as proceding off wonderfull religioÌ„ and brotherly loue and in all other affaires is of the holy writte aestemed mighty and meruelous Longe before this writer did sanct Augustine vse the same booke and text of Machabeis De eura pro mort agenda to proue the praiers and sacrifice for the departed in peace In the booke of Machabes saith he we reade that sacrifice was offered for the deade But yf it were in none of the oulde scriptures redde at all yet the authority of the vniuersall Churche which for this poynt is playne were af no smaule force whereby it is prouided that in the prayers which be made at the altare by the prest to our lord god the commemoration of the deade shall haue theire place Thus by these auncient authors bothe the bookes be approued the text it felfe for which oure aduersaries vnworthely denied the boke alleaged for the same purpose and the doctrine so sure that yf no scripture coulde be fowde it woulde beare out it self against all faulshod But this doctor handleth Pelagius the haeretique denyng the booke of wisdom to be scripture bicause there was a sentence oute of the fourthe chapter therof broght against his wicked doctrine euen as he shulde be and as these wranglers in the like case must be The place well marked shall serue our turne when so euer we heare theime so impudently reiecte scriptures bicause they impugne theire haeresies which elles shulde be as good scriptures as any booke of the Bible yf they ether would make with theime or by any crafty colouring not playnely make againste
occasion of idle rest or carelesse affection in his owne time and cause when he may be assured to lacke the reliefe of others to whome in his liefe by well woorkinge he woulde not ioyne before Enchir. Cap. 110. But I had rather ye hearde S. Augustine vttering expressely this meaning of mine in his owne wordes It can not be denied saith he but that the soules of the deceased be relieued when the sacrifice of oure redemer is offered for theime or almose bestowed in they re behaulfe in the Churche But in deede these are proffitable to none but to such as in theyr lyfe deserued that those things after theire departure might doo theim good For there is a state of life that is nether so perfect but it may well haue neede of these helpes after deathe nor yet so very euill but suche thinges may well succour theime after theire departure Mary there is a kind of conuersation so vertuous that it requirethe no suche ayed and an other kind so wicked that those which passed theire former lyfe therin can haue after theire passage no reliefe by suche meanes for by our merites in this lyfe we doo obteine that after oure deaths we may ether atteine to remedy or elles be voyde of al helpes For it is a very vayne hope that any man shoulde praesume to winne that at Goddes hāde after he be passed out of this world which when he was in the worlde he neuer sought nor deserued And a little after thus he makethe all playne VVhen the sacrifice of the altare or elles any kind of almose be offered for all men departed being baptised for the very good they are thankes geuinge for the indifferent that be not very euill they are a mercyfull deliueraunce For the wicked and very euill although they be no succoure for theim which be departed and deade yet they are cōfortable for those that be aliue And to suche as receiue benefite therbie ether cōmeth ful forgiunesse or elles theyr iudgemēt and damnation is made therby sumwhat more tolerable The which sentence allmost in lyke wordes for that it merueilously opened this matter this author repetethe in the fourth question ad Dulcitium and elles very often Wherby the faithfull man may learne bothe howe much and whom these remedies doo relieue And then that the Church in his daies offered sacrifice for all those that were baptised and in the faithe therof departed bothe for that it was vncertaine who had neede therof and allso because euen then when the parties were not nor could not be partakers therof that goddes glory notwithstanding was excedingly sett forth and man comforted therbye Therfore goddes Church in a true sense may be faide to offer sacrifice euen for the holy and blessed martyrs who no doubt by sheedinge of they re bloude for Christes name and defense of vnitie be fully purged in this they re deathe and so perfectly released of all sinne and paine that might otherwise haue deserued punishment and sum expectation of goddes mercy in the lyfe to com For so S. Cyprian and other of his Church offered sacrifice Li. 4. epi. 5. for Celerne Laurēce and Ignatius as he testifieth him self Sacrificia pro eis semper vt meministis offerimus quoties martyrū passiones dies anniuersaria cōmemoratione celebramus For them we offer sacrifice as oftē as we cerebrate the yerly memoryes of martyres For wich kind of perfect men sacrifice is thankes geuing vnto God for theire glory and giftes of grace Tractat. 84. in Ioannem and a kind of intercessiō to theim in our necessities For which cause S. Augustine affirmeth Quôd pro martyribus nō oramus sed ipsi orant pro nobis We pray not for martyrs but they pray for vs. Nowe the sacrifice often celebrated for the wicked also that be not knowē to the Churche so to be is not beneficiall to theyme nether bicause theire noghty lyfe and deathe makes theime vnapte to receiue cōforth therby yet these holy apointed remedies are bothe cōfortable and meritorious to the geuers and procures as blessinges which are not lost Hovv praier vvhich taketh no effect in the departed is profitable to the procurer but turne ageine to the bestowers For the profit of other or the only wil to relieue other is a singulare deserte and meanes of meritte to a mannes sellfe Full truely saide Damascene that this carefull helpe and seruing of other mennes lackes is much like to the paine which one takethe in anoynting with a precious baulme an other mannes body which as he temperethe in his hande to bestowe vpon an other it firste redoundethe in verdure and vertue to him sellfe and then passethe by him to the vse of his neghboure for whome principally it was praepared But notwithstanding this free procurement and liberall graunt of common helpes in the departeds case euen there where it is vncertayne whether they take effect or no the Church yet doth not onely absteine from sacrifice and request for suche as doo openly appeare to sin vnto deathe as thapostle saith but som times for poonishment of certeyne contemptes and disobedience in sum persons she forbeareth these meanes euen there wher she might proffet the departed and peraduēture cleane discharge him of sinne and paine with all Which she dothe by merueilouse graue authoritie to the greate terrour of offenders That by the greuous poonishmēt of certaine many might learne to be careful and wise Greate is the authority of goddes ministers suerly and heuy is theire hande often vpon sinners Actu 5. allwaies to edifie and neuer to destroie What a straunge force had Peters wordes that droue down to death for dissimulation man and wiefe allmost bothe at a clappe what a horrible and dreadfull iudgemēt practised Paule 1. ad Tim. 1 1. Cor. 5. in geuing vpp sum to satan him selfe for sinne howe sharplie did the primitiue churche execute iudgement vpon greuouse offenders whome sum times after many yeres separation from the coomfortable receiuing the sacramentes they woulde hardely admit at theire last ende to the fellowship therof But nowher coulde the maiesty of goddes church appeare with more terroure then in this case when she dischargeth certaine for their punishment of all common helpe by praiers oblation and sacrifice after their departure though they otherwise died in the fauoure of God as I take it and might be of the chosen company that shal be saued And that punishment was nothing elles but a keping of theim in longer correction and paine for theire sinnes vnder goddes scourge in the next worlde for the admonishmēt of others in that case to beware whiles she would not vse her ordinary meanes for theire release A notable example we haue thereof Concilium aphricanū oute of a councell houlden in affrick the decrie of which assemblie S. Ciprian him sellfe with a practise in the excution therof Epist 9. reportethe in the first booke of his epistles Where he willeth
that one Victor who had made Geminus Faustinus being a priest ageynst the ordre taken in the councell of Aphrik thexecutor of his testament shoulde therfore haue no prayers of the clergye nor facrifice after his departure sayde or doone for him For in that tyme of greate persecution suche instant prayers so often sacrifice the scarsity of ministers the peoples necessity required that the priestes shoulde perpetually with oute all exception of worldly affayers serue the altare But you shall heare this blessed Martyrs or rather his wordes together with the councelles ordinaunce Victor cum contra formam nuper in consilio a sacerdotibus dataÌ„ Geminum Faustinum presbyterum ausus sit actorem constituere non est quò pro dormitione eius apud vos fiat oblatio aut depraecatio nomine eius in ecclesia frequentetur vt sacerdotuÌ„ decretuÌ„ religiose necessariò factuÌ„ seruetur a nobis simul caeteris fratribus detur exemplum ne quis sacerdotes ministros dei altari eius ecclesiae vacantes ad seculares molestias deuocet In englishe thus Seeing victor ageinst the ordre taken of late in a holy synod of priestes hathe made Geminus Faustinus the chefe dooer in th execution of his will and testament lett it be prouided that there be no oblation ther wyth yowe for his rest nor yet any prayers in his behaulfe in the churche that the decrye of the priestes before sayde may be religiously obserued and executed by vs. That therby all other oure bretherne may beware by his example how they wythdrawe suche as should serue the author to entangle theim selues with worldely affayres And here nowe oure aduersaryes must be called vpon and asked howe they can a way with this geare The haeretikes called vpon to ansvver whether this light of truethe be not ouer vehement for they re bleared eyes owle light or mooneshyne I trowe or mirke midnight were more fit for they re darke workes and doctryne oure way is ouer muche trodden for theues All this course of oure cause The vvhole matter ordered to oure hands so agreethe with it selfe so standethe wythe reason so vphoulden by scripture so ordered in all poyntes that Momus him selfe coulde practise no arte nor picke no quarelles here For such we must pray for those we must not praye in this case the sacrifice of goddes churche relieueth the departed in that case it is comfortable onely to the liuynge sum men neede helpe aster their death others helpe we neede and not they oures for open infidelles and haeretikes praiers are not vsed for all secrette offendres bicause their case is not knowne to the church of charity towardes her childreÌ„ she opeÌ„ly prayethe sum she poonishethe sum she pardonethe for al she merueilous teÌ„derly carethe This doctrine of truethe is purposely ordered by our elders euery point is touched and tried to our handes What time of the day was it in goddes church say trueth and shame the deuill when holy Cyprian wrote these thinges when the councell of aphrick decried these thinges when victor was punished by lack of sacrifice and prayers at his departure doeth your time of ignorance which yowe haue lymited for your waulke reache vp so highe in goddes howse but I will spare yow to anone your answer is not redie VVhat that holy sacrifice is vvhiche vvas euer counted so beneficiall to the liue and deade The punishement of oure sinnes by the heuy losse thereof The greate hatered vvhich the diuell and all his side hath euer borne tovvardes Christes aeternall priesthood and the sacrifice of the Churche And that by the saide sacrifice of the Masse the soules departed are especially relieued Cap. 8. ANd now we must faule in hand with the good ChristiaÌ„ Catholike for the searche of this so ofteÌ„ named sacrifice so coÌ„fortable to the liue so profitable to the dead and what that oblatioÌ„ is which the holy catholike and apostolike Church hath euer vsed through oute the world for the sinnes of the departed in place of the offeringes of the lawe and that sacrifice which Iudas Machabaeus made and procured at Hierusalem for the offensies of his people that perished in battle Surely it is no other but the sacrifice of our mediatour as S. Augustine termeth it and the offering vppon the altare It is no other then that obltation which so fully and liuely expressethe the death and passion of Christ Iesus Who being once offered by the sheeding of his blessed bloude for the redemption of man kind hath wrought such a vertuous effect not onely in the holy sacraments for the giuing of grace and remission of sinnes but allso hath lefte in a merueilous mistery his owne holy and blessed body and bloode as wel to feede vpoÌ„ for the especial streÌ„ght and comforth of our soules as to offer vppe the same for the remembrance of his death and cleaÌ„sing of our sinnes Not in that wise as it was doone vpon the crosse by the painefull sheeding of his bloude but as it was instituted first in the last supper Where Christ oure God and redemer according to the order of Melchisedech gaue to his apostles and offered to God the father that body which afterwarde was betraide and the same bloudde which was shed after also for the remission of sin beinge with all tearmed by him the bloude of the newe and aeternall testament as that which in the newe lawe shoulde succeade the bloddy offeringes of the owlde testament Whereof God allmighty being as a man woulld say lothesom or full hathe instituted this by his onely sonne as a most pure and praecious oblation and sacrifice to be continued in the Church through out the costes and corners of the rounde worlde Whiche being celebrated in the blessed memory of his sonnes passion and hauing no other hoste nor oblation then that whiche then was offered can be no other sacrifice then that whiche there was made for the forgiuenesse of sinne and redemption of the worlde The which woorthy action of Christes Churche so fructefully applieth vnto vs the benefite of oure maisters death that thereby we may haue comfortable hope of remission of all such misdeedes as most iustly deserued Goddes wrathe and terrible indignation ageinst vs. Now this is that blessed sacrifice which S. Augustin with feare and reuerence termeth in a thousand places of his works the sacrifice of the Altare the sacrifice of our Mediatour the sacrifice of oure price the sacrifice of the body and bloude of Christ the holsom and proffitable sacrifice the sacrifice of Melchisedech The common names of honoure geuen to the holy masse in olde time the new sacrifice S. Chrisostom the Reuerent sacrifice the honoâ—able Mysteries the Fearefull sacrifice Athanasius the propitiatory sacrifice the vnbloudy Hoste S. Cyprian the sacrifice of the Churche the perpetuall sacrifice the meate offering the medicine for our infirmities Iraeneus the pure sacrifice the new sacrifice of the new testament Clement ageine the vnbloudy sacrifice the rationable