sacrifice For in these two all that be faithfullie and deuoutlie present lifting vppe their heartes to God and ioining with the preist in godlie affection be communicantes And so yt commeth to passe that both the praier and the sacrifice made and offred by the preist as by the common mynister of the Church ys common to all the people of gods church I will not stand vppon this being so plain but leaue yt to the farder consideracon of the Reader and come to his conclusion of the Masse booke wher he saieth shus And to conclude the preist by his owne Masse booke ys bidden to saie these woordes immediatelie after the Agnus Dei. Haec sacrosancta commixtio consecratio The Procl corporis sanguinis Domini nostri Iesu Christi fiat mihi omnibus sumentibus salus mentis corporis That ys to saie This commixtion and consecracion of the bodie and blood of our Lorde Iesus Chryst be vnto me and to all that receaue yt health of bodie and soule I perceaue this man kepeth his profession For yt ys apperteining to mēof his calling either to diminish and take awaie or to adde and put to somwhat The Answer from or to most of the sentences that they allcage For where before he cuttof from the places which he alleaged here he putteth to For wher the Masse booke hath but these woordes Haec sacrosancta commixtio corporis sanguinis c. He putteth in this woorde consecratio which the booke hath not But ouerpassing yt let vs see the force of the argument that he maketh oute of our owne Masse booke as he tearmeth yt and verie well For in dede yt ys our booke that abide and remain in the catholique Church not his that hath cutte himself of from yt and ys become a cast awaie But our Lord chaunge his minde that the lost shepe maie be fownde and brought home to the folde again The praier ys that the cōmixtion of the bodie and blood of Chryst maie be to the preist and to all that receaue health of bodie and soule Vnderstād that the preist ys the cōmon mynister of the Church wherfor doing the comon The cōmon praier of the Church ys not for one angle but for the wholl vniuersall Church mynistracion he cōmonlie praieth for all that doe receaue generally he stricteth not his praier for a fewe neither doeth he limitte yt or bownde yt withtime and place but he leaueth yt cōmon and vttereth yt with an vniuer sall He praieth not that the bodie and bloode of Chryst maie be health of soule and bodie to thē onely that receaue with him at that time and in that place which ys the thing the Proclamer laboureth to proue but in vain but he praieth for all that receaue indifferenlie either in that place and time or anie other Whether yt be now or at anie other time in that place or in anie other place in Fraunce or in Italie in Spain or in Germanie in Englōdor in Hierusalem whersoeuer the catholique Church ys and the Sacrament catholiquelie receaued But be yt that the preist had praied with limitaciō of time ād place ād desiered that yt might be halth of soule and bodie to all that receaue with him in that place and time what offence should the preist cōmitte yf when none wolde receaue with him he receaued alone or howe can the Proclamer proue a necessitie by yt that neades ther must be mo then the preist or that at that time and place the preist can not receaue alone Yf the Church charitablie wishing that some people shoulde receaue the holie Sacrament with the preist had made soch a praier coulde the Proclamer turne this charitie to a necessitie Will he turne the charitie of the Church wishing vertue godlinesse and deuocion in the people to a necessitie that bicause the people wil not vse this of necessitie the preist shall not Ys this good learning Ys this hys good doctrine ys this his holie religion Yt ys as moch to saiethat yf the people waxe colde in deuociō so shall the preist to Yf the people slacke their deuocion so shall the preist to yf the people neclect the seruice of God so shall the preist to Yf the people omitte to rendre most humble thankes to God and our Sauiour Iesus Chryst for our redemption so shall the preist to Finallie if the people will but twice or thrice in the yeare celebrate that solē ne memorie of Chrysts passiō and death as the more pitie yt ys the most of them doe yt not so often no more shal the preist also Thus shall yt come to passe that the deuociō ād duetie of the preist shall hang vpon the will of the people Thus the preistes that should be the salte of the earth the light of the woorlde whose light should so shine before men that they seing their good workes might glorifie their Father which ys in heauen shall neither be salt light nor geuers of good exāple to prouoke them to doe the memoriall of Chrystes death but when the people will Yt ys a straunge doctrine that yf Math. 5. the people will not serue God the preist shall not But who ys he that wise ys that seeth not the vanitie of yt and whether yt tendeth Hitherto I trust ye perceaue that how great so euer the countenaunce was made by these allegacions As odiouse as Popes be to protestāts they can alleage their decres wher they thinke good before alleadged that yet the force ys verie small But nowe come the great argumentes nowe come they which can not be auoided as the Proclamer supposeth so great ys the force of them Where to his places before alleadged I saied and doe saie they are raither examples of vertue for the people and not lawes of necessitie for the preist nowe he produceth lawes as the Canons of the Apostles and the decrees of Bishoppes of Rome which how odible socuer they be and haue ben to this Proclamer and his complices yet nowe in this matter they are fain to praie aide of thē First he alleageth a Canon of the Apostles in this sorte Fideles qui ecclesiam ingrediuntur scripturas audiunt Communionem sanctam non recipiunt tanquà m eccle Canon 19. See this Canō cut of in the middest siastica pacis perturbatores à Communione arceantur Soch Chrystian men as come to the church and heare the scriptures ād doe not receaue the holie communion let them be excommunicated as men that disquiet the Church In the alleaging of this Canon he kepeth his profession as he did in other by him before alleaged that ys to cutte them of and to mangle soch places as he alleageth and not to bring thē wholl as they lie wherof reader I make thee iudge This ys the Canon Omnes fideles qut conueniunt in solemnibus sacris ad ecclesiam scripturas Apostolorum Euangelium audiant Qui autem non perseuerarint in
soche as heys himself Soche true mē they be nowe also that this mā wil creditte in this matter euē soche as he ys himself yf he doe refuse all these kindes of mē aboue produced But howesoeuer he shall take this and the rest of my booke in outwarde countenance I trust yt shal touche his conscience And then as Chrysostom Smalle conforte wher conscience ys consounded saieth Leuis erit consolatio vbi conscientiae sentiunt se esse confusas Yt ys but a light or small comfort when the consciences of men perceaue them selues confownded God of his mercie reduce him and all that be gone astraie home to hys folde again that they be not in his terrible iudgement confownded before him and all his Angells Nowe Reader that the order of this my rude worke maye be knowen vnto Ordre of the Booke thee vnderstād that wher the enemie of Gods trueth hath in his saied sermō made his boast that he ys sure that not one sentēce cā be brought by the catholiq̄s to proue the Articles ther by him rehersed amōge the which beside the reall and substāciall presence of Christ in the Sacramēt he addeth manie other thinges apperteininge to the same which he ioineth together vnder one predicamēt that ys that we haue no proof for them that he maye be perceaued to be a vain and false man I will proue yt by scriptures doctours and Councells And incidentlie diuerse other of his rehersed matters to this principal apperteining Whiche allthough I ouerpasse them not in soche maner as he doth onelie to saie and nothing to proue or improue thē as they be of him vttered yet ye shall finde thē answered wher occasion ys ministred to speake of soche matter And although manie profownde and excellent learned men whose latchettes of their shoes I am not woorthie to loose haue woorthlie written in this matter yet for that none of them to my knowledge hathe after this maner proceaded orderlie to expownde the scriptures that treact of the Sacrament whiche methinke to the confutacion of this man ys necessarie I will by the helpe of God that waie proceade and not by mine owne phantasie but by the verie mindes of the doctours truely seke oute the true vnderstanding of them And for that these scriptures be in three sundrie bookes of the Bible that ys in the olde Testament in the Gospells and in the epistles ther The contens and ordre of this work for the matter beinge lōg I haue diuided this rude worke into three bookes In the first booke are opened soche promisses figures and prophecies of the olde Testament as appertein to the Sacrament The seconde booke geueth yow vnderstanding of the scriptures apperteininge to the same conteined in the vj. of sainct Ihon his Gospell the xxvj of sainct Matthew and in the xxiiij of saincte Luke The thirde booke expowndeth so moche of the tenth and the eleuenth chapiter of the first epistle to the Corinthians as toucheth that matter and also one sentence of the epistle to the Ephesians and one other to the Hebrues In this exposition to the more confutacion of the Aduersaire and confirmacion of the catholique I for the most part bringinge sundrie and diuerse doctours vpon euerie text doe ioin a greke doctour and a latine together that the concord and agreement of bothe churches maye well appeare and fullie be seen So haue I also ioined the doctours that haue written within the compasse of these nine hondreth yeares to them that haue written before that yt maie be iudged whether that these of the later time doo differ or dissent from them of the auncient time in the substanciall poinctes of our faith as the aduersarie saieth they doo By which processe gētle Reader thow shalt I trust perceaue that where the arrogante Philistine both blasphemouslie and vntruelie hathe said of the Catholique Church of the liuing God that yt hathe not one scripture one doctour nor one Councell yt hathe vndoubredly as touching the blessed Sacramēt and other articles apperteining to the same not onelie al the holie Scriptures that treact of that holie mysteric but also the holie Fathers and Councells that speake of the same both Grekes and latines and them aswel of the auncient time before a thousand yeares as thē that were of the later time within the cōpasse of a thousand yeares So that the scriptures being thus explained by the common consent of so manie doctours and all the same also conspiring vpon this one trueth as yt shall be perceaued not by a vain bragge withoute proofe but by euident and plain testimonie we maic as truelie as boldlie returning his bragge into his owne lappe saie that this philistine and his cōplices for the maintenance of their heresie against the presence of Christ in the blessed Sacramēt haue not one scripture one doctour nor one Catholiq̄ Coūcel to make for thē Which thīge I dare saie the indifferēt Reader whē he shal haue perused this booke wil not feare to auouche with me And wishinge that this my laboure might be profitable to the simple and Catholique Church Christes Parliamēt house vnlearned for whose helpe I haue most speciallie taken yt I haue framed my writing as neare as the matter will suffre to their capacities And wher in ciuill and politike regiment Lawes Actes and statutes haue their force by Councells and Parliamentes therfor wher the veritie of Christes reall presence in the Sacrament ys a trueth establissed enacted and receaued by Christes Parliament house I meen the catholique Churche yt liketh me oftentimes to allude to the name and therto agreablie to name this booke I haue Title of the booke not entēded to fall one heere breadth frō the faith of the catholiq̄ Churche Yf anie thing hath slipped from me I submitte yt to the correction of Christes catholique Churche and my self also Prainge thee god Reader to accept my labours in good part and remembre me in thy prayers Vale. THE FIRSTE BOOKE THE FIRST CHAPITER VPON OCCASION THAT THIS ADVERSARIE THIS PROCLAMER AND CHALENger wolde haue the scriptures red of all men presupposing the same to be easie to be vnderstanded entreth as by preamble to treact of the difficultie of the scriptures and to prooue that they aught not of all men to be red without an hable interpretour or teacher HAVING in pourpose to declare by the testimonie of the noble men of Christes Parliament house the enacted and receaued treuth or true meening of all or most of soche scriptures as treact of the blessd Sacrament of the bodie and bloode of our Sauioure Christe ther cometh to my minde the doctrine of Luther the great Progenitour of this Aduersarie who in his booke De seruo arbitrio Luther de seruo arbitr as other his ympes likewise in their bookes teacheth that the scriptures of them selues be easie of all men to be vnderstanded and nede no interpretour Wherunto also the more to infatuate the people he addeth
scriptures haue Scripture ys full of hardnesse and diuerse senscis manie senses and in some places require Tropes and figures in some none in some place they beare one sense in some other place they wil not beare the same And the vnframed capacitie of the vnlearned can not therunto atteign shall yt not be better for them to learn the true vnderstanding of the scriptures by hearing then by reading to fall into misunderstanding Maruaill not Reader at this that I saie For the learned yf they be rassh fall into this daunger For the Arrians the Macedonians the Nestorians the Eutichians the Pelagians the Lutherans the Oecolampadians of the which secte this proclamer ys were learned men and yet folowing their owne arrogaunt phantasie fell in to the misunderstandind of the scriptures and by misunderstanding into heresie Moche sooner the vnlearned maye thus fall knowledge of misteries not common to all Hierō prafa in Ezech Yt hathe ben vsed emong most people of sundrie sortes not to make the knowledge of their high thinges common of all to be handeled The Iewes were forbidden to read Genesis and the Balletts of Salamon before they were thirtie yeares of age Among the Romans the Bookes of the Sibells were red but of certain selected and speciall choosen men Emong the Philosophers Morall philosophie and speciallie Metaphisick was not to be handeled of all men but of soche as were thought mete for that studie Howe moche more then ys the scripture of God with reuerence and fear to be handeled of the chrystians not that I wolde yt should not be knowen of all as yt aught to be knowen but that yt shoulde not be red of all and therbie through misunderstanding God to be dishonoured the scripture abused and not onelie they that read but other also by them deceaued And thus Reader I wish thee to perceaue the godlie meening of the Churche to see the shaunder of this proclamer against yt and with all to vnderstand that the scriptures be hard Whiche meenyng ys not to be imagined nowe to be in theise latter daies inuented as this Proclamer semeth to charge the Churche but the weightie consideracion of this matter that the people shoulde raither learn then read them selues was not onelie in the latin churche as it appeareth by sainct Hierom but also in the greke churche as yt appeareth by Chrysostom For he declaring the causes of the obscurities of the scriptures and alleaging this for the first saieth Primum quia voluit Deus alios esse doctores alios discipulos Si autem omnes omnia scirent doctor necessarius non erat ideò esset rerum ordo confusus Nam ad eos quidē Chrystomel 44. in Matth. Esay 40. Deutr. 32. quos voluit esse doctores sic Deus dicit per Esaiam prophetam Loquimini sacerdotes in cordibus populi Ad eos autem quos voluit discendo cognoscere mysteria veritatis sic dicit in Cantico Interroga patrem tuum dicet tibi presbyteros tuos annunciabunt tibi Et sicut sacerdotes ne si omnem veritatem manifestauerint in populo dabunt rationem in die Iudicij sicut dicit Dominus ad Ezechielem Ecce speculatorem te posui domni Israel si non dixeris impio vt à vijs suis prauis discedat ipse quidem in peccatis suis morietur animam autem eius de manu tua requiram sic populus nisi à sacerdotibus didicerit cognouerit veritatem dabit rationem in die Iudicij Sic enim dicit Sapientia ad populum Et extendebam sermones meos non audiebatis Ideò ego in vestra perditione ridebo Sicut enim paterfamilias cellarium aut vestiarium suū non habet cunctis expositum sed alios habet in domo qui dant alios autem qui accipiunt sic in domo Dei alij sunt qui docent alij qui discunt First bicause God wolde some shoulde why God wolde the scriptures to be obscure be teachers some learners Yf all men should knowe all thinges a teacher were not necessarie and therfor shoulde the ordre of thinges be confownded For vnto them whome he wolde shoulde be doctours or teachers God saieth thus by Esaye the Prophete Speake ye preistes in the heartes of the people But vnto them whom he wolde to haue knowledge of the misteries of trueth by learning of other he saieth thus in the Canticle Aske thy father and he shall tell thee thy elders and they shall shewe thee And euen as the preistes except they open all treuth to the people they shall make an accompte in the daie of Iugement as our Lorde saieth to Ezechiell Beholde I haue sett thee a watch man to the house of Israel Yf thow saie not to the wicked that he maie departe from his naughtie waies he shall die in his sinnes but I shall require his sowle at thy hande So also the people except they learn of the prestes and shall know the trueth they shall make an accompte in the daie of iudgement So saieth Sapience vnto The store-house of God not comon to all the people I did sette furth my wordes and ye did not heare Therfor shall I also laugh in your perdicion As the housholder dothe not make his store-house or his wardrobbe common to all men but he hath in his house some that deliuer some that receaue So in the howse of God ther be some that teache some that learn Thus moche Chrysostome Whose saieng I nede not to expownde yt ys so plain of yt self Ye perceaue that he teacheth yowe that God hath sette this ordre that the preistes shoulde be teachers and the people learners and that for this cause God hath willed the scriptures shoulde be obscure Whiche in the ende of his saing he cōmendeth vnto vs to be remembred by à goodlie Similitude that the housholder maketh not his storehouse and wardrobbe cōmon to Scripture the store-house of God all but certain do deliuer and other do receaue no more thē ys deliuered The Storehouse ys the scripture wher in for the feading and cloathing of mans sowle ys reposed great plentie of knowledge whiche yet God hath not made common to all men to take at their owne pleasures But he hath appointed officiers to be kepers of this store which be his preistes to geue yt furthe to the people in due tyme and in due maner and forme As all men haue not discrecion to vse plentie well but some will wast yt some will abuse yt and turne yt to other vses then yt was made or appointed for therfore they haue not accesse vnto yt So all men hauing not grace and discrecion to vse the plentie of Gods knowledge in the scriptures well they wast yt that ys they sett litle by yt they do but bable and talke of yt yt runneth aboute their lippes as the meate doth aboute the childes mouthe bosom and cloathes and ys wasted but yt
ommbus quae habebā dubia sciscitarer I haue not frō my youth ceassed at any time either to read or ells to aske of learned men soche thinges as I knewe not Nether haue I had or vsed my self as manie do as master to my self But of late euē speciallie for this cause I wēt to Alexādria that I might se Didymus ād that I might aske of him soche doubtes as I had in all the scriptures Thus sainct Hierom. In the which reporte ye do heare howe cleresoeuer Luther and Zuinglius make the scriptures that saincte Hierō fownde doubtes therin and for dissolution of thē trauailed to Alexandria to Didymus In which facte also yt maie be learned that yf sainct Hierō so notable a mā sought a famouse mā to learn him yt maie well beseme other so to doo Did not Damasus being Bishoppe of Rome send to saincte Hierō to be aunswered in certain doubtes and disdeined Damasus learned of S. Hierom. S. Augustin of S. Amb. Many learned of S. Aug. not to learn of him Did not saincte Augustin go to Millen to saincte Ambrose to heare him and to learn of him Howe many that were learned worte to sainct Augustin to be taught of him in diuerse matters of scripture Yt wolde well fill an whollvolume to nōbre vppe those that haue trauailed cōtries to heare and learn of good holie learned men and that haue written to other for the like And therfore to conclude this matter I will no more but bringe in the saieng of sainct Clement the holie Martyr and disciple of saincte Peter the Apostle and then enter into the matter which principallie I haue in pourpose to treacte of Saincte Clement in his fiste epistle writeth thus Relatū est nobis quòd quidā in Clemens epist. 5. vestris partibus cōmorantes aduersantur sanis doctrinis prout eis videtur non secū dū traditiones patrū sed secundū suū sensum docere videntur Multas enim quidā vt audiuimus vestrarū partium secundum ingeniū hominū ex ijs quae legunt verisimilitudines capiunt Et ideò diligenter obseruandū est vt lex Dei cum legitur non secundum propriā intelli gentiālegatur vel doceatur Sunt enim multa verba in diuinis scripturis quae possunt trahi ad eum sensum quem sibi vnusquisque spontè praesumpsit Sed fieri non oportet Non enim sensū quē extrinsecus adulteretis alienū extraneū debetis quaerere aut quoquo modo it sū ex scripturarū autoritate consirmare sed ex ipsis scripturis sensum capere veritatis Et ideò oportet ab eo intelligentiā discere scripturarum qui à maioribus secundum veritatem sibi traditam seruauit vt ipse possit ea quae rectè suscepit competenter asserere Yt ys reported vnto vs that some duelling in your partes are aduersaires to wholsom doctrines and are perceaued to teache euē as yt liketh thēselues ād not according to the traditiōs of the Fathers but according to their own vnderstanding Some of your countries as we haue heard take many likelihoodes of those thinges that they do read according to the witte of men And therfore yt ys diligentlie to be looked vnto that the lawe of God whē yt ys red be not red or taught according to mens owne vnderstanding For ther be manie woordes in the scriptures of God which maie be drawen to that vnderstāding that euery mā at his own pleasure hath chosen But it maie not Scripture maie be drawen to diuerse senses so be doen. For ye ought not to seke an vnderstanding diuerse and straunge which ye maie adulterate or by any maner of means by autoritie of the scripturs in the outwarde face to confirme but of the scriptures themselues to take the true vnderstanding And therfore ye must learn the vnderstanding of the scriptures of him who kepeth yt according to the trueth deliuerid vnto him frō his elders that he maie also agreablie teache that he hath well receaued Thus farre Sainct Clement To take and embrace this ordre I meen to mistrust oure owne iudgemētes ād therfore to heare our Fathers ād vpō their iudgemētes not vpō our own phātasies to staie our selues in the true vnderstāding of the scriptures I haue yf my iudgement faill me not geuen thee gentle Reader god occasion For first to remoue and disproue the false saing of Luther and Zuinglius who haue taught that the scriptures be easie and plain to be vnderstanded wherun to this proclamer willing the scriptures to be common semeth to agree and consent I haue proued by diuerse and sondrie places yea and by whol bookes of the olde Testament that the same ys verie harde and full of difficulties not able to be dissolued but by a mā wel exercised in the reading and knowledge of the same And the like haue I doen of the gospells As for the epistles of saincte Paule yt ys proued by the inuincible testimonie of sainct Peter that they be harde ād be depraued of manie to their own damnaciō And that this might fullie appeare to thee I haue at large opened and proued the same not onelie by the saing and iudgementes of the best ād most auncient fathers of Chrystes Churche as of sancte Clement Hierom Chrysostome and other but also by their maner of atteigning to the vnderstanding of the scriptures for that they be hard Whiche their maner I haue also declared by their owne testimonie The difficultie of the scriptures thus proued cōtrarie to the sainges of Luther and Zuinlius I haue proceaded to declare by the scriptures first and after by the famouse learned Fathers howe we shall come to the vnderstāding therof Wher yt ys made manifest that we must atteign therunto by the teaching of the preistes which God hath appointed to be pastours ād teachers and Fathers of the people to feede thē to teache thē and to bring thē vppe in God And yet maie we not learn of euery one that taketh vpon him the Teachers meet to be folowed name of a pastour teacher or Father but of soche as teache the lawe of our heauēlie Father and ther withall forgetteth not the lawe of our mother the holie churche Theise two propreties he must haue iointlie for the one withoute the other sufficeth not in a teacher as by sainct Hierom yt ys declared Who also as saincte Clement teacheth must be soche one as teacheth the vnderstanding of the scriptures according to the trueth that he hath receaued and learned of his elders According to which counsell I minding to searche the vnderstanding of certain scriptures which be in controuersie I will repair to them that be the elders of Christes Churche whiche I terme his Parliament house and to learn of them the true vnderstanding of those scriptures I wish therfore the reader to submitte his iudgement vnto them as I will doo and all affection sett aparte to learn of them we ought to learn of
legem vngebantur quia ipse Dominus primus in coena mystica intelligibilem accepit sanguinem atque deinde calicem Apostolis dedit Sed ecce legislator hic post vnctionem Aaron filiorum subdidit De sanguine reliquum fudit super altari per circuitum Quod et Christum fecisse inuenimus Bibens enim ipse et Apostolis bibere dans tunc intelligibilem sanguinem super altare videlicet suum corpus effudit Corpus autem Christi Ecclesia est et omnis plebs eius Quod specialiter dicentem Marcum inuenimus Et sumens gratias agens dediteis et biberunt ex eo omnes et dixit eis Hic est sanguis meus noui testamenti qui pro multis effusus est But first the preist and after him his Sonnes were according to the lawe anoincted with blood For our Lorde him self also first in the misticall Supper did take the intelligible blood and then gaue the cuppe to hys Apostles But yet lo this lawgeuer after the enoincting of Aaron and his sonnes saieth The rest of the blood he powred rownde aboute vpon the Altar Whiche thing also we finde Chryst to haue doen. For he drinking and geuing his Apostles to drinke then he powred the intelligible bloode vpon the altar that ys to saie vpon his bodie The bodie of Chryst ys the Churche and all his people Whiche thinge we finde Chryst drāke his owne blood and gaue yt to his Apostles Marke speciallie sainge And he tooke the cuppe and gaue thankes and gaue yt to them and they all dranke of yt and he saied vnto them Thys ys my blood of the newe Testament whiche ys shedde for manie Thus moche Isychius I shall not nede to note any thing in this place of this Authour wher euery parte of his saieng ys so plain Yt ys verie manifest that he saieth that Why Christ first drank his owne blood Christ gaue vnto the Apostles his bloode whiche he calleth as before ys declared the intelligible bloode Which ys as moche to saie as the bloode of Chryst figured by the bloode of the lambe and also of the Ramme offred for Aaron ad his Sonnes Whiche bloode as Chrysostō also together with this Author wittnesse Chryst himself because his Apostles beleuing yt verilie according to the woorde of their master to be bloode shoulde not therfore loathe to drinke of yt dranke first vnto them and then dranke all they Yf Chryst dranke his owne blood he dranke yt either spirituallie or corporallie Spirituallie he could not wherfore he dranke yt corporallie As touching this wittnes of Chrysostome more shall be saied in the second booke And although this place conuinceth the Proclamer who saith Li. 2. ca. 55 that we can not bringe anie one olde catholique Doctour or Father Yet in the thirde booke shall be brought oute of this father diuerse and many places more plainlie teaching Gods truthe then this doth Wherfore leauing him with his ioint felowe who haue plainly testified Chrystes verie presence in the Sacrament for that the figure must be aunswered by the verie thing and truthe wherof yt ys the figure I shall cal two other mo wittnesses to testifie the same THE SEVENTENE CHAPITER PROCEADETH in the same matter by sainct Cyprian and Euthymius SAincte Cyprian martir Bishoppe of Carthage a man in learninge and vertuouse conuersacion most excellent and in propinquitie of time to Chryst right aunciente as Eusebius doth testifie whom sainct S. Cyprian his commēdacion Lab. 7. eccl li. Hist. c. 2 Cypriā de coena Augustine in his workes doth moche reuerence who liued aboute 256. yeares after Chryste whome I make to folowe emong the latines Tertullian for that he so moche esteemed and loued him as ys before saied In this matter he speaketh after this sorte Coena itaque disposita inter sacramentales epulas obuiarunt sibi instituta noua antiqua consumpto agno quem antiqua traditio proponebat inconsumptibilem cibum magister apponit discipulis Nec iam ad elaborata impensis et arte conuiuia populi inuitantur sed immortalitatis alimonia datur à communibus cibis differens corporalis substantiae retinens speciem sed virtutis Diuinae inuisibili efficientia probans adesse praesentiam The Supper therfore beinge ordered emonge the sacramental meates their mett together the olde ordeinances and the newe And when the lambe was consumed or eaten which the olde tradition did sett furth the master did put before hys disciples the inconsumptible meate Neither nowe be the people bidden to feastes prepared with conninge and charges but here ys geuen the food of immortalitie differing from common meates reteining the forme of corporall substance but prouinge by the inuisible efficiencie the presence of Gods power to be therin Thus sainct Cyprian Christ gaue his disciples inconsumptible meat Sacramentaries giue ther disciples ccnsumptile meat In the which woordes of this holy Father ye perceaue first the comparison of the two passouers Which he calleth the olde ordeinaunce and the newe that mette together emong the sacramentall meates Secondarelie ye maie perceaue the difference of thē bothe For the olde Passouer was a lābe which was cōsumed Whiche he teacheth when he saieth Et consumpto agno and when the lambe was consumed which the olde tradicion dyd sett furth The other ys a meate whiche neuer ys able to be consumed whiche he plainlie vttereth thus The master meening Chryst did put before his disciples inconsumptible meat Nowe note howe different the Sacramentaries be from this holie elder Sacramentaries glose vpon S. Cyprian ouerthrowen of Chrystes church They saie ther ys put or sett before vs but bread which ys consumptible as the paschall lambe was but this Father saieth The master put before hys disciples inconsumptible meat Neither maie they here vse their feigned glosing sainge that we do receaue inconsumptible meate in the Supper of the Lorde for we receaue Chryst spirituallie that ys the merite and grace of his passion For neither these Meate of Christes supper differeth frō common meates woordes will beare that glose neither the woordes that folowe For these woordes saie that the master did putte before them inconsumptible meate He did not putte the merite of his passion before them For yt ys not a thing of that nature that yt maie be taken by hand and laied before men in seight but yt ys taken by the inward man onelie But this meate was put before them H. 3. Bread of the hereticall cōmunion differeth not frō common bread Christes meat reteining the forme of corporall substāce cānot be the spirituall meat of the Sacramentaries And the woordes that do folowe do yet more clearlie shewe the matter and wype awaie their glose for yt foloweth that this meate whiche Chryste putte before his disciples did differ from cōmon meates and yet yt reteined the forme of naturall substance Yf yt did differ from common meates then yt can not be taken for the bread vsed
in the Sacrament For that bread as Cranmer or the Authour of that booke saieth differeth not from other meates For yt ys yerie pure materiall breade hauing no more holinesse then other creatures haue for that that dome creatures are no partakers of holinesse And further this meat as Ciprian saieth differing frō other meates reteineth the forme of corporall substance Yf this meat also doth retein the forme of corporall substance then ys yt not that spirituall meate whiche they call the merite of Christes passion or the belief that Chryst hath suffred for vs for that meat reteineth not the forme of corporall substance So that this newe ordeinaunce that was instituted by our Sauiour Christ to mete and to aunswer the olde ordeinaunce of the Paschall Lambe was no bare bread for that neither differeth from other meates neither yt ys meat inconsumptible neither ys yt the spirituall meate of the merite of Christes passion For that reteineth not the forme of corporall substance Wherfore I maie be bolde to affyrme that yt ys the verie reall and substanciall bodie of our Sauiour Iesus Christ which ys the inconsumptible meate as the Churche in the praise of God for hys wonderfull worke in this Sacrament D. Tho. Aquin. singeth Sumit vnus sumunt mille tantum isti quantum ille nec sumptus absumitur One dothe eate and a thousande do eate as moche do these eate as he and yet receaued he ys not absumed This also ys that foode of immortalitie that Ciprian speaketh of which cānot be bare materiall bread but yt ys the bread of life euen the flesh of Chryste which ys the medicine of immortalitie as saieth holie Ignatius disciple of sainct Ihon the Euangelist who exhorting the Ephesians whome he wrote vnto speaketh verie aptlie to the matter here nowe entreated Be ye Ignatius in epistola ad Ephes taught saieth he of the comforter obediēce to the Byshoppe and the preist with vnswaruing or stable minde breakinge the bread whiche ys the medicine of immortalitie the perseruatiue of not dieng but of liuinge by Iesus Chryste Thus Ignatius Note nowe that he calleth the bread that ys broken in the Sacrament The bread broken in the blessed Sacrament ys the medicine of immortalitie the medicine of immortalitie the preseruatiue from death Whiche effectes can not be attributed to the sacramentall bread of the Sacramentaries but to the heauenlie bread of the Catholiques which ys the bodie of Christe This inconsumptible meate this foode of immortalitie reteineth the forme of corporall substance For the bodie of Chryste in the Sacrament reteineth and ys couered with the formes of the corporall substances of bread and wine Whiche meat ys not so prepared to vs and for vs saieth Ciprian by the conning of man but by the inuisible woorking of God wherby being made a meat of soche excellencie and singular prerogatiue yt proueth the presence of Gods power to be ther whiche presence ys not that his general presence wherby he ys euery wher but yt ys aspeciall maner of presence as yt was Luc. 1. with the virgen when the Angell saied Et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi And the power of the highest shall ouershadowe thee Wheigh nowe with me christian Reader what maner of thing this new Honorable ād worthie titles of the Sacrament meate ys which Chryste hath sett in the place of the olde meate I meen of the Paschall lambe Yt ys an inconsumptible meate yt ys a foode of immortalitie yt ys wrought by the inuisible woorkinge of God yt hath a speciall presence of gods power All which declare yt a thing moche more honorable moche more excellent then the Paschall lambe which excellent tearmes can be verified in no one thing of this Sacramēt but in him onelie that saied Caro mea verè est cibus My flesh ys verilie meate Wherfor this excellent meate ys his verie flesh whiche Joan. 6. ys our verie Paschall Lambe of the newe Testamēt not onelie verilie offred but also verilie eaten to aunswer the figure whiche was both offred and eaten And that the Aduersarie shall not saie that I feign and make soche an exposition of S. Cyprians woordes as liketh me or make him to meen as pleaseth Cyprian eodem serm de Cana. me he shall perceaue the same Cyprian himself with one shorte sentence of the same sermon in the which the former sentence ys conteined to expownde yt as I haue doen which ys this Panis iste quem Dominus discipulis porrigebat non effigie sed natura mutatus omnipotentia Verbi factus est caro Et sicut in persona Christi humanitas videbatur latebat diuinitas ita sacramento visibili ineffabiliter se diuina infudit essentia This bread which oure Lorde gaue to his disciples chaunged not in outwarde shape but in nature by the allmightinesse of the woorde ys made flesh And as in the person of Chryste the humanitie was seen and the Godhead laye hidden Euen so the diuine nature inspeakeablie powreth The bread ī the blessed Sacrament by the omnipotencie of the word ys made flesh and putteth yt self in the visible Sacrament Thus moche Saincte Cyprian In the former sentence he speaketh of a meate geuen to the disciples in the last Supper Here he speaketh of the same meate geuen at that same time to the disciples Ther he saied that that meate ys an inconsumptible meate meate of immortalitie diffring from other meates but yet reteining the forme of corporall substance Here he saieth that being chaunged in nature but not in outward forme by the omnipotēcie of the woord yt ys made flesh Ther he saied that thepresēce of the diuine powr was proued to be present Here he saieth that the diuine nature vnspeakablie putteth yt selfin the visible Sacramēt So that that he called before indeterminatelie incōsumptible meat Here he calleth yt determinatelie flesh into the which the nature of breade ys turned Before indeterminatelie he saied that the meat reteineth the forme of corporall substance Here he determinatelie saieth that the breade which ys made flesh nowe being flesh reteineth the outwarde forme still In the other sentence he saied that the feast ys not prepared with arte and charges of man In this he saieth determinatelie by what mean yt ys prepared By the omnipontencie of the woord saieth he yt ys made flesh Note further what Similitude he vseth for the declaracion of Christes in uisible being in the Sacrament As in the person of Chryste the humanitie S. Cyprian his similitude to declare Chrystes presence in the Sacrament was seen and the Godhead was hidden Euen so the diuine nature which ys Chryst verie God vnspeakablie putteth yt self in the visible Sacramēt Wher by he teacheth that as the Godheade was hidden vnder the humanitie So Chryste ys hidden vnder the visible Sacrament that ys vnder the formes of bread and wine which are seen And wher the Aduersaries being sore pressed with this manifest and
not able to take holinesse Conclude then with this Authour that the Shew bread was a figure of the blessed Sacrament which for that yt ys holiest of all other yt proueth yt well to be the verie bodie of Chryst This Authour by plain woordes conuinceth the wicked opinion of Oecolampadius Oecolāpad conuinced by thautoritie of Isychius who in his booke of the Supper of our lorde saieth that the Sacramēt ys no holier nor otherwise sanctifieth then praiers doo These be his woordes Haec verò creatura panis ita sanctissimo vsui seruiens vt corpus Christi quod repraesentat appelletur vtentesue sanctificat non suae quidem natura sed vtentium sanctimonia hoc est fide affectu sancto Non minùs enim verè hoc quis de Eucharistia affirmat quà m de precibus quae vsu suo hominem sanctificant This creature of bread ys so sanctified seruing to a most holie vse that yt maie also be called the bodie of Chryst whiche yt dothe represent And yt doth sanctifie them that vse yt not of the owne nature But by the sanctimonie of the vsers that ys by faith and holie affection Thus he In whose woordes ys plain contradiction For sirst he saieth that the bread ys sanctified And yet he saieth again yt hath no holinesse in yt Again he saieth Oecolamp his contradiction yt sanctifieth the receauers And after he saieth yt doth not but their own sanctimonie sanctifieth them Thirdlie he saieth yt sanctifieth as praiers do and praiers if theye be deuoute pourchase sanctificacion but sanctifie not of them selues but the bodie of Chryst sanctifieth of yt self Nowe yf he meen this of the bread as yt ys handled nowe a daies of men of this secte I thinke he saieth trueth For nether ys that holie of yt self nether Comunion bread of the Sacramentaries sanctifieth not dothe yt sanctifie the receauers For they by their corrupted faith are rather defiled But if he speake of the Sacrament as yt ys vsed emōg the catholique people then he fowlie erreth For that bread sanctifieth and maketh vs clean as this Authour before hath saied And yt ys of yt self most holie as this same Authour in his last sentence taught And so against this wicked Oecolampadius yt ys holier then praier or anie other thing in the churche of God Nowe when we see this man and Cantorburie and soch other so plainly repugnante to the olde auncient Fathers what shoulde we ells do but reiect them and vtterlie detest them as men framing them selfes a faith vpon their hereticall election and not vpon the faithe of Chryst declared by the Auncient Fathers of the catholique Churche Although Isychius be right plain in this place alleaged yet shall yow heare him hereafter speake more plainlie THE FOVRE AND TWENTETH CHAPITER APplieng the continuall reseruing of the Shewe bread to the reseruacion of the Sacrament proueth the same reseruacion by the olde Fathers and by the perpetuall practise of the Church YT ys oute of all doubte by the testimonie of the Fathers before alleaged that the Shewe bread was a figure of the holie Sacrament Plain yt ys that the same Shewe bread was sett furth bicause yt shoulde be continuallie reserued in the temple and to no vse more was yt appointed then to be reserued Wherfore God commaunded that euerie Sabboth daie hott bread shoulde be sett furth vpō the table and that Aaron and his Sonnes the preistes shoulde eate the stale bread Shewe bread appoincted for three thinges Now the figure must be aunswered by the thing figured speciallie in that parte that ys the cheif and principall parte of the figure The principall parte of the Shew bread and the chief cause of the appoinctement of yt was for three things The first as the text alleaged declareth that yt should be alwais remaining in the temple vpon the table The second vt sit panis in monimentū oblationis Domini that yt should be abread of remēbrance of the offring of the Lord The third that yt should be eaten onelie of Aaron and his Sonnes Seing then the Sacrament ys the thing figured yt must answer the figure in these poinctes whiche be the principall parte of the figure So then as the Shewe bread was reserued So likewise maie the Sacrament be reserued As the Shewe bread was a bread of remenbrance of Shewe bread applied to the Sacramēt the oblaciō or offring of the Lorde So ys the Sacramēt the breade of remēbrāce of the offring of Chryst our lorde As the Shwe bread was to be eatē onely of Aron and his Sonnes So ys the Sacrament of none to be receaued but of our spirituall Aron and his Sonnes whiche folowe their father in holie faith and like conuersation This goodlie agreement and iust answering of the thing figured to the figure therof doth very well proue the thing so to be The Aduersarie can not denie but that the Shewe breade was a figure of the Sacrament For that ys testified by the holie Fahers And the reseruaciō of the Shew breade being a figure of some thing in the newe Testamēt For all the Leuiticall sacrifices and Ceremonies were figures of thinges of the newe Testament wherof can yt be a figure but of the reseruacion of the Sacrament as the bread yt self was a figure of the Sacrament yt self Let the aduersarie bring furth the thinge figured by the reseruaciō of the Shew bread yf he cā yf he can not as certē yt ys that he cā not for somoche God appointed no vain figure Math. 5. as God appointed no vain figure voide of all significaciō and he hath ordeined also that iota vnū aut vnus apex non praeteribit a lege donec omnia fiāt one iotte or one title shall not scape till all be fullfilled maugre of the Aduersaries hearte this parte of the figure ys aunswered by the reseruacion of this blessed Sacrament for the memoriall of the offring of Christ vpon the crosse and to be eaten of his good faithfull children Now wher one of the membres of the proclamaciō of this Aduersarie ys against the reseruacion of the blessed Sacramēt ye maie see that was made One mēbre of master Juells proclamacion against Reseruaciō in◠proued more by self will then by lawe for the lawe ys against him as by that that ys saied yt dothe well appeare But to this further confusion I shall declare and proue that this matter hathe ben putte in execucion in sundrie and diuerse ages frō the beginning of Chrystes Churche And for that this Aduersarie alleadgeth the epistle of sainct Clement written to saincte Iames called the brother of Chryst therfor shall I also alleadg the same epistle and beginning with yt descende to our daies Sainct Clemēt the disciple of saincte Peter the Apostle and an holie martir Phill. 4. Clemens Epist. 2. of Chryste of whome saincte Paule maketh mencion declaring the ordre aboute the blessed Sacrament vsed in
authoritie or credite ys he of that teacheth in the pulpet by speaking then he that teacheth by open writing Yf ye will not beleue me writing ye will not beleue me preaching Yf ye wil beleue me preaching for that I speake the trueth by the scriptures and auncient fathers Beleue me also writing the trueth by the scriptures aÌ„d auncieÌ„t fathers And yf these alowed writers of these later daies teach the trueth by the scripturs aÌ„d auncieÌ„t fathers theÌ„ must they neds be receaued And ther for trulie yt ys necessarie that they be alleaged to th eÌ„tent the trueth maie be perceaued to be one throughout all and that they being ioined with the auncieÌ„tes yt maie be seeÌ„ that the same trueth is taught now that was taught a thousand yeares agoÌ„ before And therfor haue I determined not to geue place to this refusall of Heretiques but to alleage the Authours of these later yeares that the coÌ„sonancie and vnitie of the trueth maie be perceaued in all ages and that ther ys no other trueth taught now theÌ„ was taught in the Primitiue Church and the time of the Apostles yea no other trueth then was taught by oure Sauiour Chryst himself and by his holie Spirit the Authour of all trueth Wherby the foule railinges and slaunders which bemost comoÌ„ lie in the mouthes of the enemies maie be taken awaie and they of their vntrueth and malice woorthilie confownded Thus moche I thought good to saie for that in this book I minde to vse the testimonies of these late writers for th entent aboue specified And nowe therfore to Theophilacte the Grecian I shall ioin the learned doctour Nicolaus de Lyra a latin Authour who writing vpon the sixt of S. Iohn cometh to this text Et panis quem ego dabo caro mea est And the bread whiche I will geue ys my flesh and expowndeth yt thus Postquam egit de pane spirituali qui est Verbum hic consequenter agit de pane spirituali qui est Sacramentum After he hath don saieth this Authour of Chryst with the spirituall bread which ys Nico. Lira in 6. Ioan. the woorde here consequentlie he treacted of the spirituall breade whiche ys the Sacrament What dothe this authour dissent from the Fathers dothe he not signifie that Chryste before the sentence so often alleaged did speake of the spirituall bread hys Godhead which he calleth the woord And doth he not now saie that in yt that foloweth Chryst speaketh of the Sacrament These be sufficient to declare the true vnderstaÌ„ding of our Sauiour Chrystes processe and ordre in the sixte of S. Iohn And for that ye perceaue the same aswell after the minde of Chryste the verie texte so leading vs to vnderstand yt as also after the minde of diuerse learned authours I will nowe procead to see the vnderstaÌ„ding of diuerse textes of the rest of this chapiter that treacte of the blessed Sacrament THE FOVRTH CHAPITER BEGINNETH A further proof of the former matter by S. Cyprian and Euthymius THis distinction of these two breades last before mencioned perceaued and being withall remeÌ„bred that at this text The bread which I shall geue ys my â—…esh whiche I will geue for the life of the world Chryst began to speake of the Sacrament and continueth the disputation therof to the ende of the chapiter to proue the same more manifestlie to the Reader and withall to make yt clere that that processe ys not of a figuratiue flesh but of Chrystes verie propre flesh and bodie I will beginne at the same text and so descending to the last by a nombre of the most auncient Fathers of Chrystes Parliament house open both the one and the other I trust to the full contentacion of the godlie Reader The firste that shall shewe hys minde of this matter shall be the holie Martyr Cyprian who saieth thus Panis vitae Christus est panis hic omnium non est sed noster est Et quomodò dicimus Pater noster quia intelligentium credentium pater est sic paneÌ„ nostruÌ„ vocamus quia Christus noster qui eius corpus coÌ„tingimus panis est Hunc autem paneÌ„ dari nobis quotidiè postulamus ne qui in Christo sumus Eucharistiam quotidie ad cibuÌ„ salutis accipimus intercedente grauiore aliquo delicto dum abstenti noÌ„ coÌ„municantes à caelesti pane prohibemur à Christi corpore separemur ipso praedicante monente Ego sum panis vitae qui de caelo descendi Si quis ederit de hoc pane viuet in aeternum Panis quteÌ„ quem ego dedero caro mea est pro seculi vita The bread of life ys Chryst and this breade ys not the breade of all men but yt ys ours And as we do saie Oure Father because he ys the father of all that do beleue and vnderstande Euen so also oure bread call we whiche touche his bodie bicause owre Chryste ys bread This breade we dailie desire to be geuen vs least we which be in Chryst and take the Sacrament dailie to oure meate of health some greuouse offence coming betwene while we being excoÌ„municated and not receauing be forbidden from the heauenlie bread maie be separated from the bodie of Chryste he himself openly saing and teaching I am the bread of life whiche descended from heauen Whosoeuer shal eate of this bread shall liue for euer The bread which I will geue ys my flesh for the life of the worlde Thus moch S. CypriaÌ„ In this sentence I doubte not but ye perceaue that this holy Martyr applieth the sentences of the sixt of S. Iohn to the SacrameÌ„t of Chrystes bodie and blood According to whiche vnderstanding he calleth Chryst our bread S. Cyprian aplieth the sixt of S. Iohn to the Sacrament whom he so calleth not onelie bicause of his Godhead but also bicause he feadeth vs in the Sacrament with his bodie For saieth he we being in Chryste do receaue the Sacrament dailie to the meate of health But yf by sinne we forbeare to receaue the heauenlie bread we be separated from the bodie of Chryste Wherby we maie perceaue that not onelie the sixt of S. Iohn ys to be vnderstanded of the Sacrament But also when S. Cyprian calleth the Sacrament the meat of health the heauenly bread and the bodie we are taught that in the SacrameÌ„t ys the verie presence of that bodie to the which proprelie these goodlie titles maie be wourthilie applied Whiche bodie can be none other but the bodie of Chryst God an man But forasmoch as the faith of this famouse Father and holie Martyr Cyprian in this poinct hath ben notablie and manifestlie declared in sentences before alleaged in the first booke and more herafter shall be spoken I will not nowe trooble the reader with any longer declaracion of the same but will ioin with Cyprian one of the other side of Chrystes Parliament house euen Euthymius a grecian whose sentence Reader yt shall
vnderstanding of Chrystes woordes and beleue that the bread and wine be Chrystes bodie and bloode And therfor looking for no soche worldlie kingdom nor kinglie palace of Chryst here vpon the earth Ascendamus cum Domino caenaculum magnum strastum atque mundatum accipiamus ab eo sursum calicem noui testamenti ibiue cum eo Pascha celebrantes inebriemur ab eo vino sobrietatis Let vs saieth S. Hierom go vppe with our Lorde into the great dining chambre allreadie prepared and made clean and ther let vs receaue of him aboue the cuppe of the newe testament and ther with him celebrating the Passouer let vs be satisfied with the wine of sobrietie I can not here withoute sorowe and greif passe these last woordes of S. Hierom but note to thee gentle reader the maliciouse doing of the Proclamer who impugning the presence of Chrystes bodie and bloode The Proclaemer cutteth of the woordes of Sain Hierom to deceaue his auditorie in the Sacrament trauaileth to prooue that his wicked doctrine by some of the holie fathers whome he wolde wrest to make them saie that Chryst ys onelie to be adored and honoured in heauen as wherbie yt might appeare that his presence were onelie ther. Among the whiche full euell fauoredlie he bringeth in these last woordes of S. Hierom cuttinge them of from the middest of the sentence and leauing oute that that goeth before whiche as ye haue heard maketh alltogether against him and also that that soloweth whiche as ye shall heare doeth make against him likewise And suatcheth truncatelie these fewe woordes and maketh a false shew with them as well as he can to deceaue his Auditorie Thus yt foloweth in S. Hierom ymmediately woorde for woorde Non enim est regnū Dei cibus potus sed iusticia gaudium pax in Spiritu sancto Nec Moyses dedit Hierō ibid nobis panē verū sed Dominus Iesus ipse conuiua conuinium ipse comedens qui comeditur Illius bibimus sanguinem sine ipso potare non possumus quotidie in sacrificiis eius de genimine vitis verae viueae Sorec quae interpretatur electa rubentia musta calcamus nouum ex iis vinum bibimus de regno Patris ne quaquam in vetustate literae sed in nouitate spiritus cantantes canticum nouum quod nemo potest cantare nisi in regno Ecclesiae quod regnum Patris est For the kingdom of God ys not meat and Chryst ys the feaster ād the feast whose blood we drinke in his sacrifices drinke but righteousnesse ād ioie and peace in the holie Gost Neither did Moyses geue vs the true bread but our lorde Iesus for he ys both the feaster and the feast he ys he that eateth and ys eaten His bloode drinke we and withoute him we can not drinke and dailie in his sacrifices of the generacion of the true Vine and of the wine of Sorec whiche by interpretacion ys called chosen doe we presse ruddie newe wines and oute of these we drinke the newe wine of the kingdom of the Father not in the oldenesse of the letter but in the newenesse of the spiritte singing a newe song which no mācan singe but in the kingdom of the church which ys the kingdom of the Father Thus moche S. Hierom. Who in refelling of the Iewish fables declareth that in the kingdom of Chryst shall be no matter of wordlie cheering For saieth he the kingdom of God ys not meate and drinke And returning to the right cheer of Chrystes kingdom he compareth yt with the cheer of Moyses and saieth that Moyses gaue vs not the true bread but our Lorde Iesus Whie did not Moyses geue the true bread seing that the bread that he gaue was a miraculouse bread a bread that came from heauen and the bread that Chryst gaue was no miraculouse bread but yt was common vsuall bread made here by the hand of man vpon earth Yf ye saie that the bread of Chryst was a figure of Chryst so was the other also and more liuely thē this for manie causes whiche in the thirde booke shall be declared But if ye will learn the true cause why our Lorde Chryst gaue the true breade and Moyses did not learn of S. Hierom who teacheth vs that yt ys Cap. 12. bicause Chryst geueth vnto vs not an onelie figure of him self but bothe the figure and him self also For in the feast that Chryst maketh he ys he that both maketh the feast as S. Hierom saieth and also the meat of the feast So thē he geueth him self who in dede ys the verie bread of life he geueth vs the true bread that Moyses coulde not geue For Moyses gaue the figure of yt but he gaue not the thing And therfore he gaue not the true bread Note then that Chryste ys the feaster for he biddeth vs to the feast and saieth Take and eate He ys the meate also of the feast for appoincting the A saing of S. Hierom. opened meat he saieth This ys my bodie And thus ye maie perceaue that S. Hierom ioineth with the woords of Chryst And farder he saieth by expresse woordes comminge to the poinct of the drinking of Chrystes wine in the kingdome of his Father Illius bibimus sanguinem We drinke his bloode But where drinke we yt In sacrificiis eius In his sacrifices Howe come we by this wine Joan. 15. of his whiche ys his bloode In sacrificiis eius de geminine vitis verae rubentia musta calcamus In his sacrifices we presse oute of the true vine the ruddie new wine Who ys the true vine Chryst who saied Ego sum vitis vera I am the true wine Howe presse we oute this newe ruddie wine oute of the generacion of this true wine By speaking the woordes of Chryst as he hath cōmaunded by which as S. Ambrose saieth that that ys in the cuppe ys made the bloode that redemed the people But in what place muste we drinke this newe wine Amb. li. 4 de Sa. ca. 5 Nouum bibimus vinum in regno Patris We drinke this newe wine in the kingdom of the Father For soche as be in this kingdom maie be partakers of Chrystes wine dronken in his sacrifices Other maie not Habemus altare de quo edere non habent potestatem qui tabernaculo deseruiunt We haue an aultar of whiche they maie not eate that serue the tabernacle For they singe not a newe song but remain in the olde letter None can sing this newe sōg but they that be in the kingdom of the Churche whiche ys the kingdom of Hcb. 13. the Father saieth S. Hierom. By this then ye maie perceaue not onelie the answer of S. Hierom to the questiō of Hedibia but also his assertion for the presēce of Chryst in the Sacrament For he saieth not in all this discourse that Chryst geueth vs a figure of the true bread but the true bread
two significacions of the Sonne and of the holie Gost and to the washing of the Soule from sinne by grace geuen in the ministracion of the same Sacrament yet the wholl ministracion and praiers aswell before batisme as after vsed in the same by a generall significacion ys called Baptisme So ys the consecracion and oblacion of the bodie of Chryst with all praiers and Ceremonies either going before or folowing the same by generall significacion called Masse This breif description of the Masse being made let vs examin the partes of yt whiche of them or howe manie of thē be against the woorde of God and the example or practise of the primatiue Church as yt ys pretended that yt maie be perceaued what iust cause the Proclamer hath so moche to exclame against the Masse The first parte ys consecracion This parte for that by yt ys taught the Parts of the Masse presence of Chrystes bodie and bloode whiche the Proclamer can not abide ys one cause why he reiecteth the Masse But howe iustly he doth it yt maie be perceaued through oute all this booke in which ys prooued the presence whiche the catholique Church teacheth and the figure ys improued whiche the Aduersary mainteineth An other parte ys oblacion or sacrifice wherin the Churche offreth Chryst to God the Father according to the commaundement of the same owne maister Chryst in the memoriall of his passion and deathe That this parte ys not against the scriptures and the holy Fathers yt ys allready proued in the declaracion of the prophecies of Melchisedech Daniel and Malachie in the first booke wherunto ys made an addicion whiche thowe shalt finde in the xxxvij chapiter of that same booke sufficient I trust to aunswere and satisfie anie reasonable man An other parte ys receauing of the Sacrament In the whiche twoo thinges do offend the Proclamer The one ys that the people do receaue vnder one kinde The other that the preist receaueth alone Whether the receauing vnder one kinde be against the Scriptures or the practise of the Primitiue Churche yt ys disputed and the trueth declared in the seconde booke from the lxiiij chap. to the. end of lxvijchap As for the receauing whiche the Proclamer termeth priuate yt shall be hereafter treacted of In doctrine which ys an other parte I knowe not what fault he can finde In praier the first and last parte of the Masse he findeth two faultes The one that praier ys made to sainctes The other that praier ys made for the dead for these two we shal haue recourse to the primitiue Churche and there make triall whether the Church doth well in so doing or the Aduersarie euell in denieng the same to be laufull and good Nowe for the first parte of the Masse whiche ys consecracion I will not moche otherwise here treact of yt but onelie laing furth the practise of the Apostolique and primitiue Churche therin compare the doinges of the catholique Churche nowe therwith that yt maie be perceaued howe iustlie yt foloweth the example therof As for the effect of consecracion whiche ys the presence of Chrystes bodie ther neadeth here no speciall treactice for that the woll booke treateth therof so fullie that yf the Proclamer will finde fault in the Masse forthat the presence ys taught ther to be he maie in other places of this worke finde sufficiēt matter for the proofe of the presence whiche yf yt will not satisfie him neither maie a fewe woordes here spoken moche helpe him As for the seconde parte whiche ys the oblacion or sacrifice of Chrystes bodie as before yt ys declared that yt ys offred according to the will and commaundement or Chryst himself and that by the testimonie of the Scripturs as they be vnderstāded of a nombre of the most auncient Fathers and by diuerse other graue authorities So shall yt be nowe set furth and cōmended to yowe by the practise of the Primitiue Churche Whiche we haue differred to this place And forasmoche as the Proclamer to extenuate and abase the honorable estimacion of the Masse whiche yt ought to haue in the heartes of the people doth for shame and with shame conceale the names of soche auncient Authours as do testifie that both Sainct Peter and Sainct Iames saied Masse the one at Rome the other at Hierusalem and doth also to Whē truth and learning serueth not mocking and skorning be their best argumētes bring the matter in contempt aske by waie of skorn whie raither we saie not that Chryste him self saied Masse for that were the neerer waie to bring the Masse in creditte I shall by good and sufficient authoritie shewe that not onelie Sainct Peter and Sainct Iames but also Chryste him self did saie Masse And so beginning at Chryst descende to three or foure hundreth yeares after Chryst and shewe the practise of the Churche And for this time I will ouerpasse the farder mocke and skorn that he maketh against the blessed Masse asking whie we doe not raither saie that Aaron and his chapleins saied Masse For in dede saieth he as yt hath ben vsed the Churche hath had moch more of the Robes of the Ceremonies and of the sacrifices of Aaron then of the institucion or ordeinance of Chryste For ys I shoulde touche him for that I shoulde cause Arons garment worne for a Bishopporke and the Cōmunion ministred in a cope him to be perceaued to impugne and in that behalf to skorne the ministracion of the Communion For that ys ministred in coapes and other soche garmentes as before were vsed in the Churche and he himself refuseth not to weare Aarons garment for a Bishoppericke So well agreeth his doing and his preaching together And thus scoffing at the garmentes that be nowe yet vsed he seemeth to me not to like this order of Religion that he liueth in but raither to reprooue this as he doth the other For in this poinct by his iudgement they holde both of Aaron But letting this passe I will returne to my matter and wish the Reader to remembre what this woorde Masse doth signifie as yt ys declared in the last chapiter and therwith to haue in minde as yt ys saied in this chapiter Chryste saied Masse that Masse ys the action of the consecracion oblacion and receauing of the bodie and bloode of Chryst and so vnderstanding Masse I saie that Chryst did saie Masse For he in his last Supper did institute Masse and did ther consecrate his bodie and bloode and offred them in sacrifice and gaue them to his Apostes to be receaued and commaunded that so yt shoulde be doen in the remembrance of his passion and death In this matter who listeth to be satisfied forsomoche as one auncient Authour maie satisfie a man let him reade the Epistle of Sainct Ciprian to Cecilius Epist li. 2. Epist. 3. and he shall ther sinde euery parte of the Masse here reckned to be doen by Chryst First for the consecracion he saieth thus Vt in Genesi
holie Gost instituted and not of Chryste In this processe then be diligent to see the agreement in the substanciall matters of ministracion be yt either Masse or Communion and yf anie be fownde to varie in the substanciall partes from the doctrine of the Apostolique and primitiue Chruche discredit them and reiect them and soche as shall be fownd to retein like doctrine in inthose parts to the primitiue Churche receaue them and embrace them So vpright and indifferent will I be that other thing then trueth will I will not require And that the matter as yt ys confessed on either part maie clerlie appear and as yt were lie flat before yowe vnderstand that the catholique Masse what yt ys Churche reteining the name of Masse confesseth yt as ys saied tobe a consecracion and oblacion of the bodie and blood of Christe in the memoriall of his passion and dath to the releef and comforte both of the liuing and of the dead and the holie receauing of the same blessed bodie and blood And although the Proclamer and his complices moche raill against the name of Masse yet the thing that they shoote at and wherwith they are most greiued ys the presence of Christes bodie and blood and the sacrifice of the same Take awaie these two and they will not force what name ys put to yt But frasmoche as the catholique Churche teacheth these things and these be they that the Aduersarie impugneth yf we can shewe these two things to haue ben vsed of the Apostles and their disciples and the Fathers of the primitiue church we shall caselie prooue them to haue vsed Masse whiche thing by Gods helpe I doubte not to doe And doing this I must to eche of these adde one other thing as it were an handmaidden to wait vpon them For to consecracion must be added intencion and to sacrifice praier for acceptation Fo so shall we see a great part of the order of the Apostolique and primitiue Churche in this holie ministracion vnderstand therfor that of these four that ys of the two principals and their hādmaides we wil seuerallie treat after this order First of consecration then of the intencion of the consecratours after that of oblacion last of praier for acceptacion of the same In treating of euerie of whiche I will laie to the practise of the Apostolique and primitiue Churche the doinges of the catholique Church in these daies and of the schismaticall Churche that iust triall maie be made whiche agreeth withe the Apostles and Fathers which dissenteth from them To enter into this matter let vs first see the maners of the ministration of the Apostles And forasmoche os the Proclamer with a certain skof or skorn of some saie beginneth with the cheif Apostle S. Peter saing that some saie he saied Masse at Rome I will also first beginne with him And albeit as ys saied yt ys spoken with skorn that he saied Masse yet yf yt be well weighed the skorn turneth to the Proclamers owne head For yf some saie that he saied Masse and none saie the contrarie I meen among the catholique writers then that S. Peter saied Masse bicause yt ys of some affirmed yt ys a trueth And that he saied no Masse whiche this Proclamer saeth bicause yt ys of no catholique writer affirmed ys an vntreuthe And thus though in skorn he hath confessed more for the trueth then he ys hable to bring to maintein his vntrueth For yf we haue some to saie for vs and he none to saie for him whose cause ys best yt ys easie to iudge That S. Peter saied Masse at Rome I can not doubt for that he and S. Paule being the fownders of the Churche ther as Irenaeus witnesseth and Peter being ther Bishoppe resident xxv years as bothe Eusebius and S. Hierom do testifie yt maie not be thought of soche an Apostle so feruentlie Irenaeus li. 3 cap. 3. Euseb eccl hist. lib. 3. cap. 2. Hieron li. eccl scriptorū Hugo de S. Vict. lib. 2. de Sac. part 8. cap. 14. professing and folowing Christe for so long time to haue neclected that part of his duetie And that he thersaied Masse yt proueth well that before being resident at Antioche he ys of diuerse testified so to haue doen. Wherfor yt well foloweth that he saing Masse at Antioche wher he was first resident did the like at Rome wher as Irenaeus saieth he fownded the churche and was all the rest of his life resident That he saied Masse at Antioche Hugo de S. Victorys a plain wittnesse who saieth thus Celebratio Missae in cōmemorationē passionis Christi agitur sicut ipse praecepit Apostolis tradens eis corpus sanguinem suum dicens Hoc facite in meam commemorationem Hanc Missam beatus Petrus Apostolus primus omnium Antiochiae dicitur celebrasse in quae tres tantùm orationes in initio fidei dicebantur The celebracion of the Masse ys doen in the commemoracion of the passion of Chryste as he commaunded the Apostoles deliuering vnto them his bodie and blood saing This doye S Peter saied Masse at Antioche in remēbrāce of me This Masse S. Peter the Apostle ys saied first of all to haue saied at Antioche in the which in the beginnīg of the faith ther were oneli three praiers saied Thus moche he In whom besides his testimonie that S. Peter saied Masse at Antioche yt ys also testified and taught that Chryste did institute the Masse in the which he deliuered his bodie and blood And that yt shoulde not be left in doubt what Masse S. Peter saied this authour saieth that he saied this Masse wherin ys deliuered the bodie and blood of Chryst whiche ys the Masse of the catholique Church A moch like testimonie geueth Remigius But yt shal suffice to heare the testimonie of Isi lorus who ys the eldest of these three for he liued more then Jsid li. 1. de off ecl cap. 15. nine hundreth years agon who saieth thus Ordo Missae vel orationum quibus oblata Deo sacrificia consecrantur primùm est à sancto Perro institutus The ordre of the Masse or of the praiers with the which the sacrifices offred to God are consecrated was first instituted of S. Peter Thus Isidorus In whiche his saing yt ys to be noted that he maketh not S. Peter the institutour or authour of the Cap. vltim Masse For as yt ys shewed in the first booke he doth attribute that to Chryste but he maketh him the authour of a certain ordre of the Masse and of praiers to be saied at the consecracion oblacion and mynistracion doen in the Masse but not of the Masse yt self Thus moch being saied to aunswer the Proclamer for S. Peters Masse let vs nowe procead Yt maie perchaunce seem straunge to the Proclamer to saie that S. Paule saied Masse but that he did so to the faithfull Chrystian considering the weight of that that shall be saied yt shall be made manifest Yt ys therfore to
faithfull and wise stewardes ād that we maie finde grace and mercie in that fearfull daie of the iust and good rewarde Thus moch S. Iames Masse Not minding to tarie vpon the beginniug of the praier wher ye maie perceaue that like maner of praier ys vsed as in the last chapter ys spokē of namelie that this sacrifice maie be receaued gratefullie acceptably c. Whiche I doe but touche wishing yt to be noted the better to perceaue the malice of the Proclamer who as ye haue heard reproueth and skorneth that in the Church that was vsed of the Apostles I minde not I saie to tarie but to hast me to note these thinges that now we haue to speake of namely that the sacrifice of the Masse ys auailable both to the quicke ād the dead which both be here testified whē the Apostle praieth that this sacrifice maie be pleasing and acceptable vnto the remissiō of sinnes ād to the rest of the soules of thē that sleape before vs. Doe not these woordes teach vs that S. Iames took this for a sacrisice propiciatorie whē he desiereth that the sacrifice maie be accepted to the propiciaciō of our sinnes And did he not thinke yt auailable to the dead whē he praieth that yt maie be to the rest of the sowles of thē that be dead The woordes be so plain that yt can not be deuied And as Caiphas though he were an euel Bishoppe spake one trueth of the S. James Masse ys full of knowlege euē by the iudgement of the Proclamer death of Chryst so the Proclamer though he be an euell mā spake one trueth of S. Iames Masse For he saieth that S. Iames Masse ys full of knowledge Yf yt be full of knowledge by the testimonie of the Aduers thē feare thowe not whether thow be catholike or other to saie that this ys good knowledg that the sacrifice of the Masse ys aualeable to the quick ād the dead For soch ys the knowledge in S. Iames his Masse And that thow maist be farder assured that the Apostles taught praier and the Masse to be profitable to the dead harken first what Dionyse the Disciple to sainct Paule saieth for the one and what Chrysostome testifieth for both S. Dionyse describing the maner Dionys eccles Hier. cap 7. parte prim of the buriall and exequies vsed in his time and before his time in the churche for parte of yt saieth thus Accedens venerandus Antistes precem sacram super mortuum peragit precaturue diuinam clementiam vt cuncta dimittat per infirmitatem humanam admissa peccata defuncto eumue in luce statuat in sinibus Praier for the dead vsed in S. Dionyse time Abrahae Isaac et Iacob in loco vbi aufugit dolor et tristicia et gemitus The reuerēde Bishoppe coming maketh holie praier vpon the dead and praieth the goodnesse of God that he wold forgiue the dead person al hys sinnes which he hath through infirmitie committed and that he will place him in the place of light in the Bosomes of Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the place frō whēce flieth sorowe heauinesse ād morning Thus moch S. Dynise See yowe not praiers here made for the Sinnes of the dead See yowe not peticion made for him that he maie come to the place of light to the place wher he maie feell neither sorowe nor heauinesse Yf this maner of praier was vsed in the time of the Apostles in whose time this Dionyse liued what shall we thinke but that S. Iames being one of them praied for the dead as the other Apostles did Obiection Perchaunce yt maie be saied that yf the Apostles had thought yt necessarie to praie for the dead they wolde haue left yt writtē in some of their epistles To this I saie that yt neaded not For first amōg the Iewes yt was before the coming of Chryst in vse to praie and offre sacrifice for the dead as the secōd booke of the Machabies doeth testisie Which booke although the Aduersarie doeth reiect yet S. Augustin saieth yt ys in the Canon of christē men And August de cura promortu Lib. vniuers fid Indaeorum Antonius Margarita one conuerted frō a Iewe to a Chrystian man in a booke that he made of the faith of the Iewes declareth the praier that they made for the dead which ys not moch vnlike to this praier of S. Dionyse And ouer he saieth that they haue a booke wherin be written the names of them that be dead which thrice in a yeare be redde and so praied for Which order ys yet amongest them so that then neaded not As for the Gētiles although they vsed funerall obsequies yet for that they were vngodlie after the heathē maner the Apostles gaue thē commaundement by tradicion to burie their dead and to praie for thē after the chrystiā maner Of the which cōmaundement S. Clement maketh mēciō how yt was geuē by S. Peter And so doth Chrysostome that yt was doē by the Apostles Clemens epist 1. Hom. 3. Philip. pri For he saieth thus Non frustra ab Apostolis sancitū est vt in celebratione venerandorū mysteriorū memoria fiat corū qui hinc decesserunt Nouerunt illis multū hinc emolumenti fieri multū vtilitatis Stante siquidē vniuerso populo manus in coelos extendente coetu itē sacer dotali verendoque posito sacrificio quomodò Deū non placaremus pro istis orantes Yt was not but to good pourpose decreed of the Apostles that in the celebracion of the honourable mysteries wherby he meneth the Masse a memorie or remē The Apostles decreed that the dead should be praied for in the Masse brance should be made of thē that haue departed hence They knew that moch commoditie shoulde come from thence to thē and moch profit For all the people standing and holding vppe their hāds into heauē the cōpanie also of preistes and the fearfull sacrifice being settfurth how shall we not appease God praing for these Thus Chrysostome As before ye haue seen the praier of the Apostle S. Iames praing for the dead so now ye see yt testified by Chrysostome that the Apostles cōmaūded the dead to be praied for in the celebraciō of the holie mysteries whiche ys the Masse wher the holie and blessed bodie and blood of Sauiour Chryst ys setfurth in the seight of the Father wherby his passiō ād death being liuelie remēbred ād hūble peticiō in the presence therof and for the meritte therof by the preistes ād people being made yt cā not be saieth Chrysost but that God will be appeased ād mercie for the soules obteined For as S. Cypriā saieth In huius praesentiae nō superuacuè mēdicāt lacrimae veniā nec vnquā patitur cōtriti cordis holocaustū repulsam In the presence of this vnderstād sacrifice teares doe adsurediebegge pardō neither doeth the sacrifice of acōtrite heart at anie time suffre repulse Ther for in this sentēce Chrysostome doeth
neclect that in all thinges bothe in faith and doinges we maie among our selues consent and agree These be the verie woordes of Leo. Thys ys the place which the Proclamer taketh in hande to reporte Iudge now I saie gentle Reader whether he hath truelie reported him or no. And first wher he alleadged Leo to prooue his communion vieue well I praie thee the authour and obserue diligentlie yf ther be in him anie one woorde of communion or communicantes and See here the impudencie of the Proclamer thowe shalt perceaue that ther ys no mencion made therof What trueth then ys to be thought either in the man or in the cause that he defendeth when to maintein yt he ys fain to falsifie the authours that he alleageth Ys yt not lamentable to see his shamelesse boldenesse that he wolde wittinglievtter in an honorable audieÌ„ce and also publish the same in printe to an wholl realme that he knewe to be false and clean otherwise then was the intent or minde of the authour which he alleaged That yt was not the minde of the authour thowe shalt easilie perceaue For first wher the Proclamer vseth these woordes communicate and communion The authour hath these See here his false sleight woordes the oblacion of the sacrifice and the sacrifice Nowe bicause the Proclamer hateth this woorde sacrifice as a scorpion as being applied to the holie SacrameÌ„t of Chrystes bodie and blood therfore to ease his maliciouse affection and to delude his hearers and readers yt liked his Chrystian sinceritie properlie tearmed hereticall malignitie to corrupt and falsifie the authour and reporte soche matter to be in him as ther ys in dede no woorde toward yt in him I mene to that sense and vnderstanding Again thowe seist that in all that sermon yf yt be woorthie of that name his cheifest pourpose ys to inueigh against that holie mynistracion whiche ys called the Masse in so moch that he saieth that this name Masse was not in vse manie years after Chryst which ys before improoued yet in this authour Leo euen in this place whiche he alleaged ther ys expresse and liuelie mencion made of the Masse and he calleth yt Masse that thys man calleth Communion And these twoo woordes sacrifice and Masse Sacrifice and Masse cause the Proclamer to falsisie Leo. vsed of this authour caused as I haue saied thys man to falsifie the authour so that he durst not alleadge him as he wrote but as yt might serue to helpe hys wicked cause To ende this note of the falsifieng of this authour by this Proclamer this also ys to be obserued and marked howe God suffreth Sathan and his Disciples to be blinded that they shall bring furth and alleadge places whiche being well weighed and taken as they lie according to the minde of the authour shall not onely ouerthrowe their matter as this authour in testifieng both sacrifice and Masse but shall also geue and mynistre occasion that theyr falshead their corruption of authours their blinding of the people shall be perceaued as nowe allreadie yt hath ben perceaued in sainct Hierom and this authour and shall more hereafter in thys matter But the Proclamer proceadeth and prooueth by the Masse booke that ther shoulde be a Communion bicause the preist saieth oremâ—is Let vs praie I see this man wolde plaie smal game raither then he will set out he wolde content himself with some ssender shewe or countenaunce of proofe raither then mainteining an euell matter to seem to be destitute of all proofe I praier thee good reader weigh with me what proof ys yt of the communion of the Sacrament that the preist saieth oremus Let vs praie what dependance ys ther of that woorde to proue the communion of the Sacrament Yf he can by that woorde prooue the communion of the Sacrament Let vs praie ys saied in the morning and euenning praier wheÌ„ther ys no CommunioÌ„ he maie doe the like in the Sacrament of Baptisme and in other sacramentes also for ther the preist saieth Oremus Let vs praie Yf by yt he had trauailed to proue a communion in praier he had doen right but to abuse yt to prooue the necessitie of the Communion of the Sacrament in soch sorte as he meneth yt ys raither a declaracion of his malice against the churche then anie proofe of his pourpose That ther ys a Communion in praier the other woordes of the preist whiche he also alleageth for hys pourpose doe manifestlie declare The preist saieth he saieth The Lorde be with yowe and the people aunswer And with thie spirit Doe ye not see here howe the preist and CommunioÌ„ in praier at Masse the people ioin themselues together one praing for the other Whiche maner of Communion ys also liuelie settfurth by that that he afterwarde produceth oute of the order of the Masse The preist saieth he turneth him to the people and saieth Orate pro me fratres sorores Praie for me brothers and sisters Here as before ye haue perceaued and shall hereafter perceaue he vseth a sleight he durst not for shame tell yowe why the preist desiereth the people to praie for him but as traitours clippe the kinges coin and deceaue the people so he clippeth manie of the places whiche he alleageth to deceaue gods people But that his falshead maie be perceaued and the cause knowen why the preist desiereth the people An other sleight of the Prolamer to praie for him I shall laie before yowr eies the wholl praier Thus he praieth Orate fratres sorores pro me vt meum pariter vestrum acceptum sit omnipotenti Deo sacrificium Whiche ys thus moche to saie in english Praie for me brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yowr maie be accepted of our Lord God Two Communions in the Masse besides the rauing of the Sacra Se ye now his sleight Ys here anie praier for the communion whiche he intendeth Doe these woordes proue that the preist can not receaue alone Ys ther anie mencion made here of that his communion Doe ye not perceaue that with two or three woordes he wolde blere yowe eyes and as the inglish prouerbe ys make yowe beleue that the Moone ys made of a green cheese The desire of the preist ys not that all they that be present wolde receaue the Communion but that they wil praie that their common sacrifice maie be acceptable to God This with the bringing in of two or three woordes wolde this man craftelie haue concealed and suppressed being as I suppose ashamed and grudged in conscience to let yowe know the verie thing required to be praied for which ys the acceptacion of the sacrifice which sacrifice he and his complices doe wickedlie denie Thus ye see that he wolde claime helpe of the Masse booke which in dede doeth him no other helpe but open his shame Yt doeth vs thus moch helpe that hereby we learn two Communions The first ys of praier the second of
communicateth vnder one kinde nor alone thinking that of necessitie yt must so be and cōtemneth the auncient practise of the primitiue Church and most fiercelie accuseth the wholl Churche for these thousand years of the transgression of Chrystes institucion and commaundement Thus ye maie see that the Masse of the catholique Church for the substanciall parts and poinctes of yt being conferred to the Masse of the Apostles and Fathers of the primitiue and auncient Church ys fownd to be fullie agreable and the Communion of the Schismaticall Church in all poincts disagreable Yf the Masse had disagreed or dissented in anie substanciall poinct thow maist be well assured gentle Reader that the Proclamer wolde not by so slender so impertinent yea and so vntrue conferences haue gone aboute to improue and disgrace yt as he doeth He conferred yt with the Masse of S. Iames but in soch sorte that yf he had neuer made pithier oracion in the disputacion at the Paruis in Oxforde I ween he shoulde neuer haue ben alowed for a generall Sophister But God be praised that his catholique Churche ys so appoincted that the enemies can not finde anie weightie matter iustlie to repugn or reproue yt But let vs see his conferences S. Iames saeth he saied Masse in the common toung as the people might vnderstand him They saie their Masse in a straunge toung that the people should not knowe what they mene This ys the first peice of his conference The man lackt good stuff to beginne his worke when he ys fain in the first shewe of all to place soch pelf Confider I praie thee gentle reader that yf yt shoulde be in question whether Plato were a man and his enemie shoulde come in and saie he was no man bicause he spake latin yt were but a fond argument and all together impertinent For the matter to be tried ys aboute the substance of Plato and not aboute anie accident and the enemie growndeth vpon the accident and leaueth the substance So the question here ys whether the Masse be good or no which ys about the substance of the thing and he cometh in with an argument of an accident that yt ys saied in latin and therfore yt ys not good what ys this to the pourpose Manie a thing ys good in yt self though yt be not of all vnderstanded The seuen liberal Sciēces be good though they be not vnderstanded of all men The holie scriptures be good in themselues though all men vnderstād them not Yea euen nowe when they be in the vulgar toung they will not speake so familiarlie no not to the mynisters that euerie mynister maie vnderstand them and yet they be good So ys the Masse likewise good though all the people vnderstand yt not This argument therfore proueth nothing against the Masse Yf he wolde rightlie haue proceaded he shoulde haue proued no Masse to be or that that ys called Masse to be in substance not good before he shoulde improue yt for being saied in an vnknowen toung as he tearmeth yt for yt ys meet yt be disputed whether the thing be before yt be disputed whether yt be of this maner of that Against his first comparison therfore we maie conclude that as S. Iames Masse saied in the hebrue toung was in yt self godlie and good though the greke or latin being at the same vnderstand not what was saied so the Masse nowe saied in the catholique Churche in the latin toung though the english or frenche man vnderstand yt not yet yt ys godlie and good in yt self His second comparison ys S. Iames spake oute the woordes of consecracion They in their Masse suppresse the same woordes and kepe them close Hetherto the Proclamer plaieth small game He had leuer in a weightie matter speake some trifling woord then saie nothing Malice will cast dust or what soeuer cometh to hand at his enemie in want of better weapon Here semeth a bare Armarie wher so weake a weapon ys bent against that whiche with all force he wolde ouerthrowe He hath small fauts to obiect against the blessed Masse when lowd speaking or softe speaking ys made a faute As before ys saied what ys this to the substance of the Masse As the Masse saied ys as good as the Masse songe so ys the Masse softelie spokē in substāce as good as the Masfe lowdlie The primitiue church praied manie praiers of the Masse secretlie spoken Ys not yowr owne Communion as good saied as songe yf ther were anie goodnesse in yt or ys yt not as good saied in a great congregacion wher some stand so farre of as they can not heare the woordes of consecracion whiche in that case are spoken as in soste silence to them as yt ys being song in a small congregacion where all the people maie heare Were all the Masses in the auncient Church throughlie oute spokē alowde Let the Proclamer looke the bookes and he shall finde yt otherwise Did S. Basill in his Masse pronounce the wholl action of cōsecracion with a lowde voice No when he began the Canon to entre toward consecracion he praied secretlie and the rule ys prefixed at the beginning of the praier Pontifex secretè The Bishoppe praieth this secretlie By imitacion wherof I thinke yt receaued throughout the catholique Churche to praie the praiers of the Canon secretlie And when S. Basill came to the consecracion did he speake the wholl processe with a lowde voice No part he spake with a lowde voice part with a secret or sost voice but this moch the Proclamer did not knowe percase whē he obiected this secrette speaking for a sault Yf he did he obiected yt more of malice then of trueth or wisdom Howe shender then thys comparison ys and of what weake force yt ys yt maie easilie be perceaued The thirde comparison ys this S. Iames in his Masse mynistred the Communion to the people They in their Masse receaue themselues alone This comparison in some vnderstanding ys true in some yt smelleth of vntrueth Yf yt be vnderstanded particularlie and not generally that ys that S. Iames somtimes when he saied Masse mynistred the Communion to the people yt ys true And so yt ys true that the catholique Church somtime mynistreth the Sacrament to to the people when Masse ys saied Yf yt be vnderstanded generallie that sainct lames at all times when he saied Masse mynistred the Communion to the people yt smelleth I saie of an vntrueth and so shall stand and be reputed vntill the Proclamer proue yt For I see so litle trueth in in him that withoute some better authoritie then his owne bare woorde I can not beleue him in this matter And that I thus doo I haue euen in this Masse saied withoute commucants matter good cause For as I finde that in the Churche of Constantinople Masse was dailie saied when the people did not communicate so doe I finde a rule made in the auncient Churche what the preist shoulde doo when ther were no