not to be conferred as a spiritual happiness But if one desires a Faculty in singing dancing or agility of body if he desires beauty and modesty in a Wife wisdom sincerity of Friends or any thing else that is vertuous or commendable he shall be endued with a voice like a Seraphim be active as an Olympick Gamester have a Wife as chaste as Penelope be wife as Solomon and in fine obtain any one thing which he can desire being of good report But in case any one miss of these blessings as many do who go on these Errands as one may well believe and return as little improved as some of those do whom we send to Paris there is something in the way which interrupted this blessing and no doubt but the man was either not fitly prepared or had not Faith enough to receive the blessing They say farther that some of those Pythonick Spirits which formerly inhabited under the cavities of these three Rocks were permitted by Christ to keep their Stations with intention to make them slaves and drudges to the Monastery where now invisibly they wash the Dishes sweep the House and do all the Offices of good Servants so that the good Fathers take no care of those homely services for what is in the day fouled and disordered is by next morning found cleansed and well disposed by the ministry and diligence of those careful and officious Spirits All these things and much more is believed by the Armenians of Etchmeasin so easie it is to obtrude vain and superstitious fancies on ignorant and illiterate people In their Monasteries the whole Psalter of David is read over every 24 hours but in the Cities and Parochial Churches it is otherwise observed For the Psalter is divided into eight divisions and every division into eight parts at the end of every one of which is said the Gloria Patri Filio c. Their manner of Worship is performed after the Eastern fashion by prostrating their bodies and kissing the ground three times which the Turks likewise practise in their Prayers At their first entrance into the Church they uncover their heads and corss themselves three times but afterwards cover their heads and sit cross-leg'd on Carpets after the manner of the Turks The most part of their publick Divine Service they perform in the morning before day which is very commendable and I have been greatly pleased to meet hundreds of Armenians in a Summer morning about Sun-rising returning from their Devotions at the Church wherein perhaps they had spent two hours before not only on Festival but on ordinary days of work in like manner they are very devout on Vigils to Feasts and Saturday Evenings when they all go to Church and returning home perfume their Houses with Incense and adorn their little Pictures with Lamps CHAP. IV. The Confession of Faith in the Armenian Church THEY allow and accept the Articles of Faith according to the Council of Nice and are also acquainted with that which we call the Apostles Creed which likewise they have in use As to the Doctrine concerning the Trinity they accord with the Greeks acknowledging three Persons in one Divine Nature and that the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father I have read in many Books which treat of this Church an accusation against it that it admits but of one Person and one Nature in Christ according to the Doctrine of Eutyches of which I my self was once of opinion until I read and well considered of the Articles of their Faith They believe that Christ descended into Hell and that he freed the Souls of all the damned from thence by the grace and favour of his glorious presence but not for ever or by a plenary pardon or remission but only as reprieved until the end of the World at which time they shall again be returned unto Eternal Flames But that we may take a more clear view of their Faith I have thought fit to represent that which they call their Tavananck or Symbolum different from the Apostles and Nicene Creed which for those words follwing viz. where the Deity was mixed with the Humanity without spot seems to be calculated for maintenance of the Herisie of Eutyches and in opposition to the Catholick Doctrine as that of Athanasius is to the Heresie of Arrius But these words though they look ill at first yet if well considered and compared with the same expression which the Greeks use on the same subject it will amount unto no more than what the Greeks declare in the Anatolian Confession That the Body of Christ was a true not a fantastick Body that it was formed in the Womb of the blessed Virgin and was made a perfect man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. his rational Soul mixed with the Divinity Now the words of their Creed are Verbatim as followeth I Consess that I believe with all my heart in God the Father uncreated and not begotten and that God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost were from all Eternity the Son begotten of the Father and the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father I believe in God the Son increated and begotten from Eternity The Father is Eternal the Son is Eternal and equal to the Father whatsoever the Father contains the Son contains I believe in the Holy Ghost which was from Eternity not begotten of the Father but proceeding three Persons but one God Such as the Son as to the Deity such is the Holy Ghost I believe in the Holy Trinity not three Gods but one God one in Will in Government and in Judgment Creator both of visible and invisible I believe in the Holy Church in the remission of sins and the Communion of Saints I believe that of those three persons one was begotten of the Father before all eternity but descended in time from Heaven unto Mary of whom he took blood and was formed in her Womb where the Deity was mixed with the Humanity without spot or blemish He patiently remained in the Womb of Mary nine Months and was afterwards born as man with soul intellect judgment and body Having but one body and one countenance And of this mixture or union resulted one composition of Person God was made man without any change in himself born without Humane Generation his Mother remaining still a Virgin And as none knows his eternity so none can conceive his being or essence for as he was Jesus Christ from all eternity so he is to day and shall be for ever I believe in Jesus Christ who conversed in this world and after thirty years was baptized according to his own good will and pleasure his Father bearing witness of him and said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and the Holy Ghost in form of a Dove descended upon him he was tempted of the Devil and overcame was preached to the Gentiles was troubled in his body being wearied enduring hunger and thirst was crucified with
passage through their Country and this Tax is as well common to Turks as Greeks But this is a matter inconsiderable in respect of that Custom of Decimation which was a taking away of the Tythe or every Tenth of Male-children from the Greeks according to the number of them in the respective Parishes out of which proceeded the best and stoutest of the Turkish Janisaries but this Custom is now wholy out of use not having been practised for many years either because the Turks are willing to lay an easie Yoke on the Greeks or because so many of them turn Mahometans and of other parts and Nations such numbers flock daily to the Profession of Turcism that there is no need of this unnatural addition to increase the Power and Kingdoms of the Turk But with what freedom soever Christianity is licensed amongst the Turks in Europe it lies under a Cloud and a greater abhorrency in Asia unless in the Maritime Towns and Places where Traffick and Commerce have taught them Civility For Mahometanisme having had its first Original in Asia is most precisely observed in those Eastern parts where Christian Priests are forced to live with caution and officiate in obscurity and privacy fearing the superstitious temper of the Asian Zealots who are of a Pharisaical humour high esteemers of their own sanctity in comparison of which they account the European Turks loose and negligent Professors defiled by the use of Wine and unhallowed by their conversation with the Christians to whom they commonly bear so horrible a detestation that some of them judge it unlawful to be in their company or receive presents from them or to give them the salutation of peace and esteem their Cloaths if touched by Christians to be polluted Garments profaning their prayers It is generally observed that Pharisaical Professors in all Religions are the worst people in the world and the greatest disturbers of Humane Conversation and the peace and quiet of a Commonwealth I knew once at Smyrna a Reverend Preacher amongst the Turks or as you may call him a Doctor or Schoolmaster who had many Pupils under him whom he instructed in the Mahometan Law who was so great a lover of his own Sect that he hated the rest of Mankind his Sermons were always stuffed with Invectives against Christians charging Smyrna with unpardonable sins for indulging priviledges unto them and for admitting them into their Country on consideration of that lucre and benefit which their Trade brings in which discourse he oftentimes suffered himself to be so extravagantly transported with intemperance of language that at length the Officers of the City were forced to put him in mind of the common scandal he gave to the interest and subsistence of the Inhabitants that those discourses reflected on the Grand Signor and his Government and were Declamations against the clemency of their Emperour towards his Subjects and opposed those Capitulations and Articles which the wisdom of their Government had concluded with Christian Princes which were matters of that concernment as were neither safe for him to handle nor for them to hear with which Admonition though this Pharisee grew more moderate in his language yet his pride and insolence was not in the least abated for when he mounted his Mule accompanied with his Followers on foot of the same rank and head and accidentally met with Franks riding abroad on Horses such they call all the Western Christians they would force them to alight and with great reverence attend until the sanctity of so holy a man were past For their Books as they report say and teach them not to suffer Christians to sit on their Horses whilst men of their profession pass by them But our people little concerning themselves with what is written in their Books and less supporting an insolence and affront from them there often hapned rencounters and scuffles between both parties which had proceeded to higher quarrels had not the Magistrates seasonably suppressed the insolence of that people which was afterwards confirmed by Commands from the Grand Signor But not only hath the Greek Church the Turk for an Enemy and an Oppressor but also the Latines who not being able by their Missionaries to gain them to their party and perswade them to renounce the Jurisdiction of their Patriarchs and own the Authority and Supremacy of the Roman Bishop do never omit those occasions which may bring them under the lash of the Turk and engage them in a constant and continual expence hoping that the people being oppressed and tyred and in no condition of having relief under the protection of their own Governours may at length be induced to embrace a Foreign Head who hath riches and power to defend them Moreover besides these wiles the Roman Priests frequent all places where the Greeks inhabit endeavouring to draw them unto their side both by Preaching and Writings of which one being written in the Vulgar Greek by Francis Richard a Jesuite and printed at Paris called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was dispersed in all parts where that Language was current of which the Patriarch and Presbyters of that Church taking special notice and being very jealous and sensible of the ill effects it might produce in the minds of the Ignorant caused about 18 Years past that Book to be burnt prohibiting the use and reading thereof unto all people of their Church under penalty of the most severe Excommunication But so far indeed have the Latines the advantage over the Greeks as Riches hath over Poverty or Learning over Ignorance And whereas now the ancient Structures and Colleges of Athens are become ruinous and only a fit habitation for its own Owle and all Greece poor and illiterate such Spirits and Wits amongst them who aspire unto Sciences and Knowledge are forced to seek it in Italy where sucking from the same Fountain and eating Bread made with the same Leaven of the Latines it is natural that they should conform to the same Principles and Doctrine So that it will not be strange if in Exposition of those points wherein the Church of God for some Ages hath been silent and but now controverted in these latter days the Greek Priests should with little variety follow the sense of the Latine which they take up at adventure not being of themselves capable either to prove or try the meaning of the Scriptures or examine the ancient Tenents of their own Church And thus much shall suffice to have spoken of the Greek Church in general CHAP. II. Of the seven Churches of Asia to which St. John wrote Viz. Smyrna Ephesus Laodicea Philadelphia Sardis Pergamus and Thyatira wherein also is treated of Hierapolis BEING to treat of the Present State of the Greek Church the condition in which the seven Churches of Asia now stand of which Christ himself and the Holy Spirit was pleased to take so much notice Rev. I. must not only come pertinent to our discourse but in
Licenses to eat flesh is a scruple grounded on that Government which is agreeable to the present state of things rather than want of power in the Church to grant Dispensations for it CHAP. VI. Of Feasts observed in the Greek Church THE Greeks begin their Year in September observing the first day thereof with jollity and feasting esteeming a chearful spirit to be a good Omen that the succeeding year shall be prosperous though not being dedicated to the memory and honour of any Saint it is no point of Religion to abstain from labour yet it is esteemed undecent arguing either covetousness or a necessitous poverty The grand Feast of the Year as amongst all other Christians is Easter or the Festival of the Resurrection at which time the Greeks have this ancient and laudable Custom When they meet their acquaintance in the Morning or at any time within the three days of Easter they salute with these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ is risen and then the other answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is risen indeed and so they kiss three times once on each Cheek and on the Mouth and so depart The second day of September is the Feast of S. John the abstemious not of Precept but of Devotion and therefore is only celebrated by Kaloires and other Religious in honour of the holy S. John Baptist who by his severe and abstemious life in the Wilderness set the first Example of holy Fasts to such as would be Disciples of the holy Jesus The twenty sixth is dedicated with great honour and devotion to the Translation of the Body of S. John the Evangelist into Heaven for they maintain that this S. John being banished by Trajan the Emperour into the Isle of Patmos and there having wrote the Apocalypse he passed over unto Ephesus where ending his glorious life he was interred but after some days burial his Disciples searching for his Body in the Grave found it not from whence immediately arose a belief that his Body was assumed into Heaven and placed in the Mansion of Enoch and Elias who in company together shall again return to converse on Earth before Antichrist is perfectly revealed and made known unto the World And this they partly ground on the words of our Saviour to S. Peter If I will that he stay till I come what is that to thee The Greeks as they delight in the Histories of their Saints and recount them with as much variety and fancy as the Latines do their Legends so I might in this place recite long and tedious Histories of them but because the lives of most of them are recorded in Holy Scripture and of the later of them in the Synaxarion of which Book we shall hereafter speak we shall only here mention Cosma and Damianus and St. George the Cappadocian which are persons who after the Apostles and immediate Disciples of Jesus with some Fathers of the Church such as St. Basil St. Chrysostom c. take up a principal place in the Greek Kalendar The first two are called the Holy Anargiri to whom I found a poor Oratory erected at Ephesus which was thrown up of late with a few loose stones encircling a little Altar without Roof in the place of a more ancient Church whither the Greeks resort on the first of November to say Mass and sing Hymns in praise and commemoration of these Saints whom they report to have been born in Asia their father a Gentile and their mother a Christian called Thedosa who educated these her two Sons in Religious Piety and laudable Sciences but they principally addicting themselves to the studies of Physick did by the Divine assistance cooperating with the means of Herbs and Medicines become such perfect Practitioners that they cured all Diseases incident to Man and Beast without Money or other consideration of Interest for which cause they were called the Anargiri or those that took no Money They farther report That Damianus was so strict in this point that he dissented greatly from his Brother Cosma for having only accepted of two Eggs from a poor Widow though employed on her self for an Unguent or Cataplasm for the Sciatica that he ever after avoided all society and converse with him and at his death gave order that his Brother should not be interred in the same Vault or Grave with him the which resolution of Damianus the Friends of both designed to perform but that carrying the Corps of Cosma to burial they were met by a Camel which opening his mouth as miraculously as Balaam's Ass admonished the Bearers to lay the Brothers in the same Tomb together for that neither the Crime of Cosma was so great nor the difference so lasting but that both their Bodies might be contained in the same Sepulchre whose Souls were already united in the same heavenly Mansion The Kaloires also farther boasting of the Miracles of these Saints tell us that at Athens there is a Well adjoining to the Porch of that Church which is dedicated to them which is dry the whole year excepting only on that day when their Festival is celebrated and begins to flow at the first words of the Mass which seem to have the same Efficacy on this Spring as Moses's Rod had upon the Rock to produce a Flood of sweet and delicious water not only pleasant to the taste but wholesom for the Body but dries up and fails with the Evening of the Festival St. George the Capadocian is in like manner highly reverenced by this People there being scarce a Town where are two Churches but one of them is dedicated to this Saint of whom they recount many and various stories and what is most strange they believe them all They say that he was born of noble Blood and lived in the time of Dioclesian the Emperour under whom arising a bloody persecution this Saint as a Champion of undaunted Courage publickly presented himself owning and avouching the Gospel to be the only true and saving Faith inveighing against Idolatry and superstitious Customs and belief of Gentilism This Christian boldness sharpened the Arms of persecution against the Saint so that the Executioner struck him into the Belly with a Lance which though a great effusion of Blood followed yet the Wound closed and immediately became whole They tell us of his being thrown into a Pit of Lime and his walking bare-foot on Planks studded with sharp Nails of his remaining unconsumed and untouched amidst the flames of his raising the dead of his slaying a Dragon on the Banks of Euphrates near a place now called by the Turks Barut which the Greeks and Christians of those parts show unto Travellers to this day by which variety of Miracles many were converted unto the Christian Faith amongst which was the Queen Alexandra Wife of Dioclesian At length the time being come that this Saint was to dye the power of his persecutors prevailed against him by whom his head being struck off his soul ascended into
read the same words which we use at the Consecration of the holy Communion viz. In the same night when he was betrayed he took Bread and when he had given thanks he brake it c. Then follows this Prayer with some Soliloquies Lord who in the third hour didst send thy holy Spirit graciously take it not away from us but grant it unto us praying Lord make clean our hearts within us Which Prayer is repeated three times with the head bowed down and then the Priest raising himself again with an humble voice saith Lord hear my Prayer and lifting up his hand by way of blessing adds make this Bread the holy Body of Christ. Amen And here all the order of Consecration being finished he thus proceeds Thou art my God thou art my King I adore thee piously and faithfully And so covering again the Chalice which contains both species he elevates it and the People worship The Priest then Communicates eating that part of the Bread which in the time of preparation was divided into four pieces and the other three he puts into the Chalice of which with great devotion he sups three times and having himself received he administers the rest in a Spoon in both Kinds to the Communicants which being done the Chalice is carried to the side-Table of Preparation called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therein are also put the remaining Particles which were laid aside and designed for commemoration of the living and dead of which when the Priest hath received some himself the remainder is divided amongst the Communicants Thus the Mass being finished the Priest cleanses the Cup with great care lest any thing should remain of the Sacrament to be carelesly and prophanely treated It is the Custom in this Church to conserve the Sacrament for the use of the sick but it is never exposed to the view of the People unless at the time of Celebration and thence also covered in the Chalice with a Vail But a most laudable Custom it is in this Church That those who intend to Communicate before they dare to approach the Altar and receive the Divine Mystery they first retire to the bottom of the Church and there ask forgiveness of the whole Congregation desiring their pardon in case they have offended any particular person whatsoever If any one at that time acknowledges himself agrieved or injured the party abstains and withdraws from the Sacrament until such time as he is reconciled and his Adversary satisfied The words they use are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pardon us Brethren for we have sinned in word and deed The people answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God pardon you Brethren Immunis ar am si tetigit manus Non sumptuosa blandior hostia Mollibit aversos Deos Farre pio Saliente Mica CHAP. X. Of the fourth Mystery called Priesthood wherewith is treated of their Monasteries Orders of Fryars and Nuns and the austerity of their Lives P Riesthood amongst the Greeks is accounted one of the seven Mysteries of the Church in respect of that Power and Authority the Clergy is endued with for dispensation of the Mysteries of mans salvation as the power of the Keys for loosing and binding sins the power and energy of Preaching and interpreting the holy Scriptures as Oracles of God of receiving into the Church baptizing cleansing and regenerating with water in a mysterious manner from the foulness of Original sin power of administring the Sacrament of the holy Eucharist the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Chrism of healing the body by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or holy Oyl matters of such deep and profound concernment beyond the most sublime and elevated understanding as cannot proceed from the vertue and efficacy of any natural calling but only from that unintelligible and mysterious Character of the Priesthood acoording to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 4. v. 1. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Besides the different Orders of Religious and Secular Priests there are others distinctly appointed to administer in the Church and at the Altar namely Anagnostes who is ordained only to read the Hymns which are sung and the Prophets of the Old Testament the Psaltes which is appointed to sing the Psalms of David the Lampadarios who hath the care to trim the Lamps the Deacons and Sub-deacons who read the Epistles and Gospels all which are initiated and first blessed by the Bishop with imposition of hands who gives to the Anagnostes a Bible or Book of the holy Scripture which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to the Psaltes the Psalms of David signing and blessing them with the sign of the Cross All which after Ordination have the Crowns of their heads shaven Of Priests there are two sorts who have the power of Preaching and Administring the Sacraments viz. Secular and Religious The first though married have license to enter into holy Orders but their Wives dying they cannot be admitted to a second Marriage of which hard Injunction of their Church some early Widowers have complained unto me with sad remembrances of their past estate and inabilities for a continent life These wear Caps turned up with white from which hangs a fall of the same Cloth on their backs which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Dove being a Badge of their innocent life but this is oftentimes nay most commonly forfeited being cut off by the Bishop for some omission of duty or commission of sin so that few are observed to have continued this evidence of purity so frail are even Priests in those appetites which they profess to subdue The Religious Priests are called Kaloires from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good Priest or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good old Fathers which are Monks inclosed or encloistered in Monasteries professing chastity and obedience Their Order is of S. Basil besides which there is no other amongst the Greeks their Habit is a long Cassock of coarse Cloth girt to them of Camel colour with a Cap of Felt or Wool made to cover their ears and covered with a black Cool called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Their Government and way of living is very austere and strict for they wholly abstain from flesh for all their life In the Lents and times of Fasting they are nourished with Bread and Fruits Oyl and Fish with blood not being allowed which with Lacticinia and Eggs are the Dishes and Delicacies indulged at their Feasts and times of less austerity Most of their time is taken up in their Quires being obliged every day in Lent to read over the whole Psalter once and at the end of every four Psalms is said the Gloria Patri c. with three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Metagnai or in better Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they call them which is a bowing or kissing the ground three times At the end of every ten Psalms
than those who are Drones or unskilful in any Art or Trade Whether such men as these can read or not it matters not much for there is not one of a hundred of them so well learned it is sufficient if he can make his Cross and his Metagnia before the blessed Virgin which is a bowing on their Knees touching the ground with their Forehead which some will do 300 times together as I have already declared in the foregoing Chapter But the Fathers or Priests are of a Classis or Form above these for they can all read and write from the Prior to the lowest Deacon though very few of them understand the learned or School Greek in any perfection for it would puzzle the wisest heads amongst them to interpret every word in their Liturgy and yet they are so expert and ready therein that they can run from the beginning to the ending without stop or hesitation and gallop it over at that rate that one must have a good ear and some skill in the Greek Language to distinguish the different sound of the words which they utter besides which their chief study is of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Hymns of John Damascen and to find out and know the proper Lessons for the day and the Offices of the Church with all the Responses and Suffrages which is a Learning so intricate as requires some practice and application of the mind But such as have any Learning more than the rest it consists for the most in the knowledge they have of the Fathers and Councils of their own Church and in the Ecclesiastical Authors of the first Century after Constantine the Great The Latine and Hebrew Tongues and any besides the Greek they contemn and esteem as prophane Philosophy and Mathematicks being matters of Humane Learning they account as unnecessary for men who lead a mortified and spiritual life to whom also all Books are unlawful but such as treat of Divinity and a holy and devout way of living Every Monastery hath its Library of Books which are kept in a lofty Tower under the custody of one whom they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who also is their Steward receives their money and renders an account of all their Expences but we must not imagine that these Libraries are conserved in that order as ours are in the parts of Christendom that they are ranked and compiled in method on Shelves with Labels of the Contents or that they are brushed and kept clean like the Libraries of our Colleges but they are piled one on the other without order or method covered with dust and exposed to the Worm They have few Books amongst them but what treat of Divinity and as I have heard they have scarce any of much worth in regard that the Emissaries of France and other parts have by force of money deprived them of all the choicest Books in their Libraries Nor have they as I have been well inform'd one Book that varies in the least from the Doctrine of the Seventh Council for there is not one Book to be found of those which were wrote by those whom they call Hereticks esteeming that the easiest way to confute a Heretick and stop his Doctrine in its progress is to condemn the same and burn his Book In every Monastery they have Bells such as they daily use are small but those of greatest bigness are of about 4 or 500 weight which they ring at Festivals when they would make the greatest noise and rejoicing on these their Clocks strike which are fixed like those on our Churches in England which are not to be found as I remember in any other place in Turkey unless at Buda where I saw one of this sort For conclusion In this manner this Mountain of Athos is inhabited and this is the Government amongst these Religious men of the Greek Church who are for the most part good simple men of godly lives given greatly to devotion and acts of mortification for as out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks so these men discoursing with a lively sense of God and of his Service we may without over-much credulity or easiness of belief conclude them not only to be real and moral good men but such also as are something touched with the Spirit of God whose devotion and affection to his Commands and Precepts shall carry them farther in their way to Heaven than the Wisdom of the most profound Philosophers or the wisest Clerks And that such people are found in the world endowed with such Priviledges in the Countries of the Grand Oppressour of Christendom to God's Name be Glory and Honour now and for ever Amen CHAP. XII Of Confession Contrition and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the sanctified Oyl practised in this Church BEfore we treat of this last Mystery which is the Oyl of Prayer let us premise something touching the Confession of sins which is to be performed four times in the year to a Priest lawfully Constituted and Ordained that is for such who have leisure and convenience of living Priests and others entred into holy Orders or into a life of Regular Devotion are obliged to a Confession once a Month. The labouring and common people are enjoined to a Confession but once a year and that before their entrance into the great Lent which is before Easter To sick and infirm people it is recommended as a Remedy against the Diseases of the Soul and ease of a burdened Conscience Repentance the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is by them defined to be A sorrow of heart for sin of which a man accuses himself before a Priest with a firm resolution to correct the errours of his past life by that which is to come and with intention to perform whatsoever shall be enjoined him by his Spiritual Pastor for his Penance By which definition it appears how necessary the Greeks esteem Confession to a Priest having these words in the Orthodox Doctrine of the Oriental Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Priest cannot release unless he enquire first what he is to release and likewise it is apparent by the foregoing Definition That the Priest hath power to enjoin Penance which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as Prayers extraordinary Alms Fastings visiting of holy Places and the like When the Penitent comes to Confession the Priest utters these words to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold the Angel of the Lord is at hand to take thy Confession see therefore that thou conceal no sin for fear of shame for I also am a man and a sinner as thou art To such Penitents who are sick and languishing and find their Consciences guilty of any mortal sin as Fornication Adultery or Pride which tends to the contempt of God is administred the Sacrament of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or The Oyl of Prayer which is performed by the Bishop or Arch-Bishop assisted by seven Priests and begins