casta simplicia moderata non superstitiosa iciunia Quid prodest oleo non vesci molestias quasdam difficultatesque ciborū quaerere caricas piper nuces palmarum fructus similam mel piflacia Tota hortorum cultura vexatur vt cibario non vescamur pane et dum delicias sectamur à regno Coelorum retrabimur Hieron ep 2. ad Nepotian pa. 18. A. Let thy Fasts saith he be pure chaste sincere moderate and not superstitious For what auaileth it saith he to forbeare oyle and to seeke after farre fetched and deare bought niceties as drie Figgs Pepper Nuts Dates Simnels Honey Pistace nuts Wel-dressed Gardens are tumbled ouer that wee may not feede on browne bread and while we follow after delicates we are drawne backe from the Kingdome of Heauen And if this holy Father do not allow of these so meane delicates in comparison how would hee thunder against sweet wines and sweet meates marchpanes preserued stuffe and condited juncates all of them very warrantable on a Romane fasting day And this custome of the ancient Church is so cleare and well knowne to all that knowe any thing in Antiquitie that the Writers of the Church of Rome doe confesse it to be true The Author of the Booke called Antiquitates Liturgicae saith (b) Antiq. Liturg. to ◠feriâ quarta quatuor temporum cap. 1. pag. 101. Fuit olim par ratio vini quae carnis There was anciently the same reaso of wine that was of flesh And not long after he addeth that the meates forbidden by the Canons in time of fasting were delicate meates either by nature or made such by Arte. (c) Postremum à quo abstinere inbent canones sunt cibi delicati siue naturâ siue arte conditi Ibid. pag. 105. Lindan saith that (a) Jeiunia nostra quae dum olei stammas vini aestum omnisque aromatum generis ignes Helluoni infarciunt stomacho veteribus Christianis omnino fuisse non modò incognita sed intolerabilia atque adeò abominanda pijs omnibus vetera cogitantibus arbitramur notius quà m vt de ea re vlla sint verba profundenda Lind. Panopl l. 3. c. 11. pag. 89. Wines and Spices and Confections now familiar in their Fasts would haue seemed intalerable to the ancient Church Beyerlynck saith that (b) Abstinebant illi piscibus omnique potu qui inebriare potest nunc in solis carnibus ciborum delectus fere consistit Beyerlinck prompt in festo Cinerum tex 3. pag. 64. they the Ancients did abstaine from fish and all drinke that might ouerturne the braine but that now among them their choise of meates consisteth almost in flesh only Reginaldus saith (c) Licet vinum olim fuerit de numero rerum quae in die ieiunij sumi prohibentur nunc tamen non esse Reginald l. 4. num 151. pag. 151. Though wine anciently was in the number of those things which are forbidden on fasting dayes yet it is not now so Matthaeus Galenus saith (d) Vinum vix puerperis concedebatur sanos autem valentes illudgustare in Quadragesima quartis sextisque feriis nefas fuisse testantur Epiphan Timotheus Balsamon Mat. Galenus Catech. 93. pag. 291. Wine was scarce permitted to women in childe-bed but that men in health should taste it in Lent or on Wednesdaies and Frydaies was held as an hainous thing And Pisanus (e) Veteres Canones non solum vinū sed etiam siceram interdixere omne quod inebriare potest mulsam ac ceruisiam olera tantum concedebant in esum seclusis etiam ipsis piscibus Pisan de Abstinent cap. 14. pag. 162. The ancient Canons saith he did not onely forbid wine but strong drinke and Meath and Ale and all that might ouercome the braine they onely allowed hearbs for meate fishes being forbidden also And Hofmeister citeth a saying out of Theophilus Alexandrinus that (f) Qui legum praecepta custodiunt ignorant vinū in ieiunijs carniū esum repudiant Hof Loc. com cap. 17. fol. 176. pa. 2. they who keepe the rules of the Lawes know not any wine in their Fasts It is a cleare case then that the Ancients did forbeare wine and strong drinke and pleasant meates when they refreshed themselues vpon their fasting daies And consequently the choise of meates which the Church of Rome doth make is most opposite to the practice of Gods people in elder and purer times Secondly the choise that the Church of Rome doth make of her meates for a fasting day doth ouerthrow the very vse of a religious Fast For by their owne definitions and determinations the vse of a right Fast is for afflicting of the body and subduing of lust and elevating of the minde to God-ward but their choise of meates ouerthroweth these ends and vses For spices and sweet-meates and preserued stuffe and confectionary ware and strong wines all which and much more are allowable with them in their religious Fasts nay they do ordinarily prouide the best wines or where wines are not so vsuall Braggot Meath other choise drinkes to keepe Lent Fast withall these I say doe please nature inflame the blood fill the head and prouoke lust so farre are they from helping to cleare the braine elevate the minde coole lust and afflict the body This truth besides the euidence of it in reason is acknowledged by the Aduersaries also Iacobus de Graff is (a) Etsi vinum sit nutritiuum ad concupiscentiam magis prouocet potus vini quà m esus carnium tamen c. Iaco. de Graff part 1. lib. 2. c. 37. num 24. pag. 215. Although saith he wine be nutritiue or of a nourishing nature and the drinking of wine doth more prouoke men to lust then the eating of flesh doth yet c. Pisanus (b) A quibusdam terrae fructibus abstinebant olim Catholici in Quadragesima vt docuit Augustinus contra Faustum nempo ab Aromatis aut ijs quae venerem excitant Pisan de Abstinent cap. 14. pag. 165. Catholikes saith hee in times past did abstaine from some fruites of the earth in Lent time as Augustine doth witnesse as namely from spices and such things as stirre vp or prouoke lust And so speake others but I will content my selfe with one testimony more and that is of Cornelius à Lapide a late learned Iesuite Hee writing on these words of Daniel Neither came there flesh nor wine in my mouth noteth that the (a) Veteres Christiani vsi sunt Xerophagiâ .i. cibis aridis vti teflantur Tertul. Cypr. Basil alij Idque faciebāt triplici de causa Primò ad poenitentiam Sicut enim potus quia liquidus subtilis penetrans intima intimiùs singulas corporis partes afficit recreat ita abflinere à potu et à liquidis vescique aridis maior est poenitētia quà m vesci liquidis abstinere aridis Sis sitis magis affligit hominem quà m fames
THE EPICVRES FAST OR A SHORT DISCOVRSE DISCOVERING THE LICENCIOVSnesse of the ROMANE Church in her religious FASTS BY HENRIE MASON Parson of St. Andrews Vndershaft London LONDON Printed by G. P. for Iohn Clarke and are to be sold at his Shop vnder St. Peters Church in Cornhill 1626. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL Dr. IOHN KING one of the Canons of christ-Christ-Church in Oxford and second Sonne to the worthy Prelate Dr. KING late Bishop of LONDON * ⎠* Good Sir I Did heeretofore offer to your * Dr. Henâ—y King elder Brother a little Booke of the right vse of Fasting and now I bring vnto your selfe one much lesse of the abuses of Fasting My intention in both is the same to testifie towards your deceased FATHER now with the Lord my thanks seruice dutie and whatsoeuer a Domesticke could owe to a louing wise and vertuous Lord and withall to expresse according to my power the loue and affection which I shall euer beare to his suruiuing Posteritie praying also that you who haue receiued from him life and being may follow him and if it may be euen exceede him in his vertues Which intention and desire of mine if you shall please to accept of in this small Treatise as your Brother did in the other I shall esteeme it in you both as a token of your Fathers continued loue vnto me in his succeeding Issue My purpose in this small Treatise is to lay open the seuerall abuses which in these later yeeres haue corrupted this holy exercise of fasting and made it both odious to God and lesse passeable among men And this I did for two causes First to admonish good Christians that they beware of formalitie empty shews in religious duties and more especially that when they fast they be not like the Hypocrites of our time who in so foule a maner haue defiled so good a worke Secondly I vndertooke this Discouerie thereby to detect the superstition the pride of the Roman Church in hope that some euen amongst them may be moued to lay these things to heart And first for their superstition that is heereby detected that neglecting the power and vertue of a religious Fast and whatsoeuer hath any goodnesse or efficacie in it yet they doe place religion and merit in the empty name and the bare out-side which they onely haue retained And againe for their pride that appeareth in this that finding many corruptions crept into their practise of fasting contrarie to the custome both of Scriptures and the ancient Church as themselues cannot but confesse yet they had rather defend their grosse practises then acknowledge that the Church of Rome can doe any thing amisse Which two foule faults as they are vsuall with that Church in other things so they are palpable in this exercise of fasting as will clearely appeare by the particulars in this ensuing Treatise Would GOD our seduced Countreymen Rom. 10.2 who haue a zeale of GOD but not according to knowledge would heereby learne that all are not ancient customes that carry the old name but that the Church of Rome can retaine the titles of Antiquitie when she hath vtterly abolished the things which were afore time meant by them And my prayer to God is for such among them as desire to know the truth to saluation that God at length will open their eyes to discerne betweene things that differ and will moue their hearts to consider how vnsafe it is for them to commit their soules to those mens guiding who make the corrupt practise of their Church the vnquestionable rule of their Doctrine And with this Prayer I end my Preface commending my selfe to your loue my labours to your acceptance and you and all yours to GODS blessing and gracious protection Iune 12. 1626. Your louing and obliged Friend HENRIE MASON To the Reader IN the Authorities alledged beside the quoting of the Bookes Chapters numbers c. I haue most times named the leafe or page where the words are to be found I did it for 2. causes 1. That when I should haue occasion to reuiew any Authoritie I might with the more speede be directed to the place 2. That if there should happen any error in the number of the Bookes Chapters c. the addition of the leafe or page might be an helpe to amend it And because the Reader may make the like benefit of these quotations if he chance vpon the same Impression that I haue â—sed I thought it not amisse to specifie what Edition I followed in the seuerall Authors Which is as followeth Iosephi Angles Flores theologic Qq. Part. 1. in 4o. Burgis 1585. Antiquitates Liturgicae A Booke in three tomes in 8o. without the name of the Author Printer place or yeere but it was licenced by Petrus Lintrensis of Doway 1604. and granted with priuiledge to Bellerus the Doway Printer by the Archdukes 1603. Io. Azorij Institut part 1. Coloniae 1602. Bellarmini Controuersiae in fol. Paris 1608. Beyerlinck Promptuar Moral part 3. Colon. in 8o. 1616. Martin Bonacinae Opera in folio Lugduni 1624. Cajetani Summula in 8o. Paris 1539. Cassiani Opera in 8o. Duaci 1616. Euseb Histor Graecolat in fol. Coloniae Allobrogum 1612. Anton. Fernandes Examen Theologiae in 8o. Colon 1621. Ioan. Filesaci Opera in 8o. Paris 1614. Vincentij Filliucij Morales quaest Lugduni 1622. Barthol Fumi Aurea armilla 8o. Lugduni 1596. Matthaei Galeni Catecheses in 4 to Lugd. 1593. Iac. de Graffijs Decisiones aureae in 4 to Antwerp 1604. S. Hieronymi Opera Paris 1609. Ioan. Hofmeisteri Loci communes in 16o. Paris 1573. Hieron Llamas Summa ecclesiastica in 8o. Mogunt 1605. Cornel. à Lapide in Prophetas majores Antwer 1621. Leonar Leffius de Iustitia Iure Antw. 1612. Guliel Lindani Panoplia Colon. 1575. Iodoci Lorichij Thesaurus Friburgi 1609. Barthel Medinae Instructie Confessariâ—rum in 8o. Venet. 1601. Ioan. Medinae Cod. de Iejunio 4o. Brixiae 1606. Alphon. Pisanus de Continentia Abstinentia 8o. Colon. 1579. Valer. Reginaldi Praxis fori poenit fol. Coloniae 1622. Emman Roderiquez SuÌ„ma CasuuÌ„ Colon. 1620. Franc. Toleti Instr Sacerd. 8o. Rothomagi 1609. Greg. de Valentia in Thomam Venet. 1608. THE EPICVRES FAST OVr Sauiour in his Sermon on the Mount among other lessons tending to Religion and an holy life doth instruct his Hearers in the right vse of Fasting (a) Mat. 6.16 17 18. When ye fast saith hee bee not as the Hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appeare vnto men to fast Verily I say vnto you they haue their reward But thou when thou fastest anoynt thy head and wash thy face c. In which words our Lord doth two things 1. He giueth a Caueat to beware of an abuse in fasting such as the Scribes and Pharises did defile this holy worke with Be not as the Hypocrites of a sad countenance c. And secondly he giueth vs counsell to take the right way in fasting
further deduce and obserue these Collections following 1. That a Popish Fast in most points of moment is most vnlike to the ancient Fasts For the Ancients abstained from Wine and Spices and Iuncates the Papists allow these as most innocent on a fasting day The Ancients had one only refection in the day of their Fast the Papists haue two or three or more for the all dayes drinking is more then one refection The Ancients did fast till euening or when zeale was somewhat decayed till three of the clocke at least the Papists breake off their Fasts at noone or an houre or two sooner The Ancients were sparing in their one refection and fed on course fare the Papists in their set refection feede by the bellie and choose such meates and sawces as best please the appetite prouided onely that they eate not flesh And finally the Ancients were strict and rigid obseruers of their rules and orders of fasting the Papists are most loose in dispensing with all men and in all things that haue any shew of hardnesse or affliction in them These contrarieties betweene our new Doctors and the old Fathers I haue proued already as I passed thorow the Particulars but if any man desire to see them all together in one heape he may finde them collected and acknowledged by the friends and wel-willers of the Church of Rome who reckon vp these not to their Mothers shame but for the praise of her loue and tendernesse to her children whom she would not chasten so seuerely as the old Church of Christ was wont to chasten her children Pisanuc then the Iesuite thus commendeth the tender loue of the Romane Church to her babes and sucklings (a) Si qua in redisciplina Ecclesiastica laxata lapsa est id maximè in ieiuniorum ratione videre licet ac ex huius lectione libelli fatis animaduertetur Sanè pia mater Ecclesia imbecillitati nostrae se accommodat cuius proinde pietatem commendare debemus Ad Veterem Apostolicam Ecclesiam plerique omnes prouocant sed huius ieiunia sâ—ata solennia vel non probant vel ne per somnium quidem sequuntur Pisan Praefat. ad Lector praefixâ libro de Abstinent pag. 96 97. If saith he the Discipline of the Church bee any where relaxed and falne downe it is most of all to be seene in the matter of Fasts and may bee well inough perceiued by the reading of this booke Forsooth our holy Mother the Church doth apply her selfe to our weakenes whose motherly care we ought therefore to commend And againe All men for the most part doe appeale to the ancient and Apostolike Church but her set and solemne Fasts they either doe not allow or doe neuer a whit follow her in them And the same Author (b) Non est quòd aliquis ieiunij difficultate deterreatur Siquidem tanta moderatio est adhibita per Ecclesiae praxin antiquorum Canonum perfectioni vt qui hodie sciens praeceptum absque necessitate ieiunium negligit non leue profectò crimen incurrat Ecce enim veteres Canones non solùm vinâ—m sed etiam siceram interdixére omne quod inebriare potest mulsam ac ceruisiam Olera tantùm concedebant in esum seclusit etiam ipsis piscibus c. Hodiè vino piscibus vti licet Nec ampliùs vt olim semel tantum vesperi reficimur sed coenae in prandia sunt commutatae c. Quid quòd à quibusdam terrae fructibus abstinebant olim Catholici in Quadragesuna vt docuit Augustinus contra Faustum nempe ab aromatis aut ijs quae Venerem excitant iuxta praeceptum Apostolerum sola Olera admittentium in quo etiam Ecclesia Catholica potestatem habens Apostolicam vt in alijs multis benignè nobiscum dispensauit c. Postremò quia Canones ieiunantibus cibum prohibent potum non prohibent subingressae sunt conuiuentibus Hierarchis nostrae nocturnae Refectiunculae Veteribus prorsus ignotae eo videlicet praetextu ne potus noceat c. Pisan de Abstinent cap. 14. pag. 162 c. There is no cause saith he why any man should be deterred with the difficultie of fasting For the practice of the Church hath so moderated and mitigated the perfection of the old Canons that whosoeuer now doth wittingly neglect the Fast that is required without necessity out of doubt he shall incurre no small crime Yea but what is that mitigation which the Church hath vsed in tempering the old Canons Hee goeth on to tell vs that in these words Behold saith he and sure the thing deserueth attention the old Canons did not only forbid wine but all strong drinke that might trouble the braine and Meath and Ale or Beere they allowed onely hearbs to be eaten on their fasting dayes forbidding euen fish also c. But now-a-dayes wee may lawfully vse both fish and wine Nor do we any longer as aforetime they were wont refresh our selues once onely in the euening but suppers are turned with vs into dinners c. Nay the Catholikes of ancient time did in Lent abstaine from some fruites of the earth as Augustine teacheth against Faustus namely from spices and such things as stirre vp lust according to the precept of the Apostles who admit hearbs alone wherein as in many other things the Catholike Church hauing Apostolike authoritie hath fauourably dispensed with vs c. Lastly because the Churches Canons doe forbid meate but not drinke our euening Refections vnknowne to the Ancients haue by the conniuencie of the Prelates priuily crept in vpon pretence forsooth lest drinke alone should doe harme Thus he and in like sort another (a) Quantum de prima illa Veterum ieiuniorum seueritate bactâ—nus detractum est Maiores nostri feria 4 6. plerique etiam Sabbatho non solum carnibus abslinebant sed etiam ieiunabant nunc feriam sextam Sabbathum in Dominicae passionis mortis memoriam delectu tantùm ciborum celebramus Illi ieiunijs adiungebant vigilias nocturnos ad orandum deum agebant conuentus nos vnius exiguum specimen retinuimus scilicet Natiuitatis Domini Jlli in horam nonam imo vsque ad vesperam ieiunia extendebant nec prandere sed canare soliti nos cadem statim in meridie relaxamus prandia sumimus eaÌ„que talia vt praeteritam abstinentiam copiâ varietate ciborum facilè compensemus Illi vnicam refeetiunculam eámque tenâ—em ieiunantibus indulgebant nos longo pleno prandio vespertinam adijcimus refectiunculam quae saepenumerè in coenam degeneret Abstinebant illi etiam piscibue omnique potu qui inebriare potest nunc in solis carnibus ciborum delectus ferè consistit Denique veteres Christiani quoad hanc ieiunandi legem admodum rigidi paucissiâ— os ab illius obseruatione eximebant nunc infiniti aut imbecillitatis aut necessitatis titulo bac obl'gatione l'berantur Laurent Beyerl
prompt moral part 3. in festo Cinerum tex 3. pag. 63 64. How much saith he hath hitherto beene abated of the former seueritie of the ancient Fasts Our forefathers on Wednesday Friday and most of them on Saturday also did not onely abstaine from flesh meates but did also fast but now we keepe Friday and Saturday for the memory of Christs Passion and death only with forbearing some meates without intermitting any meale They to their fastings ioyned watchings and had night-assemblies for prayer vnto God we haue onely kept a little semblance of one of them namely of Christmasse Eue. They continued their Fasts till three of the clocke yea till euening nor were they wonted to dine but to sup we breake off our Fasts at mid-day and take our dinners and them such that we doe easily recompence the foregoing abstinence with plentie and varietie of meates They allowed but one onely Refection and that a slender one we to a long and full Dinner doe adde an euening Refection which many times doth degenerate into a Supper They abstained from fish and all drinke that may intoxicate the braine now our choise of meates consisteth for the most part in the forbearing of flesh alone Finally the ancient Christians being very strict about the rules of fasting did exempt very few froÌ„ the obseruance thereof but now the number is infinite of them that vpon pretence of weaknes or necessitie are freed from this bond And from all this hee inferreth (a) Vnde quum dominum habeamus tam mansuetum Ecclesiam matrem tam benignam quae infirmitatibus nostris condolere non negligit nihilque quod supra vires sit exigal exhibeamus nos etiam dicto eorum audientes c. Beyer l. c. that seeing we haue so milde a Lord I suppose he meaneth the Pope and so tender a mother the Church which is not backward to condole our infirmities and requireth nothing of vs aboue our strength let vs yeeld our selues obedient to their command c. And surely he that will not yeeld to so easie a penance deserueth to pay for it in Purgatorie But the thing that I intend in transcribing these two Authors is at one view to let the world see how much the Church of Rome euen by the confession of her owne flatterers is degenerated from the practice of the Primitiue and purer Church And therefore when they alledge vnto vs the sayings and doings of Fathers and ancient Writers for defence and commendation of their Fasts they doe therein play the Gibeonites with vs. They tel vs of old fasting daies aforetime of choise of meates vsed in the Primitiue Church and what account the Fathers made of the Fast of Lent but when they put these names vpon their owne Fasts they shew vs but their owne worne raggs and broken bottles and clowted shooes which they would make vs beleeue came afarre off euen from the first times of the Primitiue Church and if we will beleeue them vpon their owne word as the Israelites beleeued the smooth tale of the Gibeonites then we may be deceiued by these Iebusites as they were by those Gibeonites But if we aske counsell at the mouth of the Lord or if we aduise with the ancient Fathers of the Church we shall finde that all this stuffe is but counterfeit trash no more like to the Fasts of the Prophets Apostles ancient Fathers and Christians of former times then an Ape is like to a man Secondly We may note out of the former passages that they know not how to define a Fast but so as that they must withall contradict their owne rules and condemne their owne practice For in their definition of a Fast they say that it is a straiter abstinence then the rules of Temperance doe require and yet by their rules a man may eate and drinke excessiuely without breaking of a Roman Fast They say in their definition that in a Fast there must bee but one Refection and yet by their rules a man may eate a full Dinner and a little Collation which proueth a iust supper and drinke what he will all day long They say in the definition that a Fast is a longer abstinence then ordinarie and that the time of refection then must be later and yet by their rules a man may take his meale at twelue eleuen or tenne of the clocke which is I thinke as soone as any man vseth to dine on ordinarie dayes And lastly in the definition they say that a Fast both for the continuance of the abstinence and for the qualitie of the meate when the abstinence is ended must be such as may beat downe the body tame the flesh and bridle concupiscence and yet by their rules a man may eat drink so much and so often as will breede no affliction to any man liuing Thus their doctrine is crossed by their owne definition Nor could it well bee otherwise For both their doctrine in the particulars and their practice in the vse of a Fast is such as that if they had framed a generall definition of a Fast that had bin agreeable thereunto it would plainely haue appeared that they had bidden open defiance to all Antiquitie yea and to their elder Schoolemen too And therefore they thought it better in generall to professe conformitie to Scriptures and the ancient Church and in particular so to molde it by distinctions and considerations and congruities of a reasonable alteration as might serue to bleare their eyes that are wilfully blinde But a wise man who hath his eyes in his head will easily see the disproportion betweene their generall definition and their particular doctrines Thirdly we may gather from the premises that the religious Fasts of Rome are nothing but a superstitious fopperie and a meere mocking both of God and men For all is but an out-side there is no pith nor vertue within a Fast in name but in deede nothing lesse I shall not neede to declare this further in this place it is sufficiently demonstrated already and if neede be we haue the witnesse of one of their owne Prophets who confesseth in a manner as much as I haue said For (a) Et sanè non multùm ieiunat qui in diebus ieiuniorum non â—rctiùs ieiunat quà m Ecclesia iubet hoc est qui edit bibit omnia quae Ecclesia permittit vel quae non punit Lorich Thesaur v. Ieiun nu 10. pag. 1130. to say the truth saith he he fasteth not much who on fasting dayes fasteth not more straitely then the Church doth command that is who eateth and drinketh al things which the Church doth permit or which it doth not punish By which last words added as I conceiue by some Censor before hee licensed the Booke to the Presse though he mayseeme to sup vp againe his owne breath and onely to say that the Church doth tolerate these things without giuing allowance to them yet this qualification will not helpe the matter For whatsoeuer they suffer to goe vncontrolled that they allow as lawfull and without fault as hath alreadie bin declared But Lindan is plaine and speaketh home when he calleth their Fasts Ieiunia Epicurea Epicures Fasts And indeed they haue more affinity with the feeding of an Epicure then with the fasting of a deuout Christian In respect of all which as our Sauiour said to his Disciples When ye fast be not as the Hypocrites of a sad countenance c so let me say to all sincere Christians When ye fast be not as these Hypocrites al for shew and nothing for substance But when ye fast vse a true abstinence such as may afflict the body master the flesh eleuate the soule and humble the whole man by repentance and sorrow and together with outward abstinence ioyne inward exercises of deuotion examining your consciences acknowledging your sins condemning your own selues as vnworthy to taste of any of Gods creatures and running to the Throne of grace for mercie and forgiuenesse that your sinnes beeing pardoned your consciences may bee comforted and your soules better enabled for Gods seruice Fourthly we may gather what a smooth and easie way the Church of Rome doth paue for men vnto heauen and happinesse For these loose and licencious Fasts of theirs they say that they haue great power both to merit heauen and to free a man from Purgatorie But if they can merit and satisfie in this manner and by this meanes they may with much ease haue many merits and great store of satisfactions nor is it any wonder that they talke of such a multitude of these things laid vp in the Churches Treasurie It is a wonder rather if the Treasurie of the Church bee not long since so full that they want soules to bestow them vpon Yea and a wonder it may well seeme if on the other side there be any man so carelesse of himselfe as to stand in need of them For he that for his soules health will not fast as they call fastnig so often and so much as they doe require is a most negligent man of his saluation and it is pitty that euer he should goe to heauen or be deliuered from Purgatorie or hell But those who heare Christ say and consider what he meaneth when he saith Striue to enter in at the strait gate cannot thinke to buy heauen at so easie a rate nor to make satisfaction for their sins with so sleight a penance They will thinke all little enough though with Dauid and Daniel and Ezrah they chasten and afflict their soules with fasting Nor will they thinke when all is done to merit heauen or to satisfie Gods Iustice by it Let Papists preach their merits while they will true Christians wil be both more penitent and lesse proud FINIS Errata PAg. 9. in marg lit c. Bellar. pag. 168 169 r. pag. 1068 1069. Pag. 10. in marg lit a. distositionem ciborum digestionem r. dispositionem digestionem Pag. 14. in marg lit a. flammas r. flammas Pag. 25. in marg lit c. adde in the end Filliuc Tract 27. part 2. c. 2. num 42. pag. 281. Pag. 28. in marg lit c. soluant r. soluunt Pag. 35. in marg lin vlt. prandedi r. prandendi