of VVinchester VVilliam Bishop of Chichester Iohn Byshop of Hereford Richard byshop of Elye Edwine Byshop of VVorceter Nicholas Byshop of Lincolne Richard Byshop of S. Dauys Thomas Bishop of Couentry and Lichfield Iohn Bishop of Norwiche Iohn Bishop of Carlyll Nicholas Bishop of Bangor With diuers other personages of honour and credite subscribyng their names the recorde wherof remaines in the handes of the moste reuerend father Matthewe Archbishop of Canterbury THE Lordes prayer the Creede and the x. Commaundements in the Saxon and Englishe tounge THat it is no new thyng to teache the people of God the Lordes prayer and the articles of their beliefe in the Englishe tounge wherby they mought the better serue their God and holde faste their profession of Christianitie may well be proued by many godly decrees of byshops and lawes of kinges made froÌ„ tyme to tyme in the raigne of the Saxons before the Conquest In a councell holden by Cuthbert Archbyshop of Canterburye in the yeare of our Lorde 747. and in the 33. yeare of Aethelbalde king of Mercia who was present at this same Councell with his princes dukes it was decreed vt ipsi presbyteri dominicam orationem et simbolum anglice discant et doceant That the priestes doe both learne them selues and also teach to others the Lordes prayer and the Creede in Englishe In olde Cannon bookes of churches in the epistles of Aelfricke we read it thus inioyned to priestes Se maesse preost sceal secgan on sunnan daguÌ„ and maesse dagum ðaes godspelles andgyt on englisc ðam folce and be ðam Pater noster be ðam Credan eac sÆ¿a he oftost maege þaÌ„ mannuÌ„ to onbryrdnysse ê§ hi cunnon geleafan heora cristendome gehalden The priest shall say vnto the people on sondayes and holydayes the sense of the Gospell in English and so also touching the Lordes prayer and the Creede so ofte as he may to mens contritioÌ„ that they may know their beliefe and kepe suere their Christianitie Cnut a king of England worthy of memorye amongest many other good lawes he made in the time of his princely gouernmeÌ„t hath also thys law And ealle cristene men Æ¿e laeraþ sÆ¿iþe georne þaet hig inÆ¿eardne heortan aefre God lufian and rihtne cristendon geornlic healdan and god cundan lareoÆ¿an geornlice hyran Godes lara laga smeagan oft gelome him sylfum to þearke And Æ¿e laeraþ ê§ aelc cristen man geleornige ê§ he huru cunne rihtne geleafan and ariht understandan and Pater noster Credan geleornian for ðam mid oþrum sceal aelc cristen mann hine to Gode gebiddan mid þam oþrum gesÆ¿utelan rihtne geleafan We admonish diligentlye all Christian men that they doe alwayes loue God with an inwarde harte and be diligently obedient to deuine teachers and doe subtillye search Gods learning and lawes often and dayly to the profite of them selues And we warne that all Christian men do learne to know at the least wyse the right beliefe and aright to vnderstand and learne the Pater noster and the Creede For that with the one euery Christian man shall pray vnto God and with the other shewe forth right beliefe Thus is it reserued in memorie put in writing as touching the diligent care that the former age of the church of God bad to haue the people of God wel instructed in that prayer wherof Christ him self is the author and in the articles of their beliefe Which prayer of the Lord and Creede with the tenne lawlyke wordes that God hym selfe taught Moyses and wrote with hys finger in two tables of stone on the Mount Sinai for all mens chastisement as well for that olde people that was in tymes paste as also for vs that bee nowe be here set out as they are yet sene in old bokes of the Saxon tonge But for the better vnderstanding of any worde that may seeme harde vnto the reader we haue thought good to place ouer the Saxon the familiar wordes of our own speech ⸪ Math. 6. Verely when ye pray Soþlice ðonne ge gebiddan nyll ye speke much nellon ge spraecan faela as y e hetheÌ„ They thinke sÆ¿a sÆ¿a haeþene Hig Æ¿enaþ that they be harde in ðaet hig syn gehyrede on their manyfolde speaking heorna maenigfealdan spraece Nill ye therefore them Nellon ge eornoslice him do like vnto Verely your geefenlaecan Soþlice eoaer father wote what your nede faeden Æ¿at hÆ¿aet eoÆ¿ ðearf is before y t ye to hym pray â–ª is â–ª aer þam ðe ge hine biddaþ VVherfore praye ye Eornostlice gebiddaþ eoÆ¿ thus ðus The Lordes praier in Englishe Pater noster on englisc THou our father Ãu ure faeder which art in heauen ðe eart on heofenuÌ„ be thy name hallowed si þin nama gehalgod Come thy kingdome Be thy Cume þin rice Si ðin will in earth as in Æ¿illa on eorþan sÆ¿a sÆ¿a on heauen Geue vs to day heofonum Syle us to daeg our daylye bread And urne daeghÆ¿aÌ„lican hlaf And forgeue vs our trespasses forgif us ure gyltas as we forgeue them that sÆ¿a sÆ¿a Æ¿e forgifaþ ðam ðe against vs trespasse And ne Æ¿iþ us agyltaþ And ne led y u not vs into temptatioÌ„ laed ðu na us on costnunge But deliuer vs from euill Ac alys us fram yfele Be it so Si hit sÆ¿a The beliefe in English Credo in deuÌ„ on Englisc I Beleue in God Ic gelyfe on God y e father almightye maker faeder aelmihtigne scyppend of heaueÌ„ earth And heofenan eorþan I beleue in y e sauiour Christ ic gelyfe on haelend Crist hys onely begotteÌ„ sonne our his ancennedan sunu urne Lorde who was coÌ„ceaued of drihten se Æ¿aes geeacnod of the holy ghost borne ðam halgan gaste acenned of Marye the virgyne suffred of Marian ðaÌ„ maedene geþroÆ¿od vnder Pontius under þaÌ„ Pontiscan Pilate on y e crosse haÌ„ged he Pilate on rode ahangen he was dead buryed he Æ¿aes dead bebyrged he down desceÌ„ded to hel And he ny Æ¿er astah to helle he arose froÌ„ death on the thyrd aras of deaþe on þaÌ„ þriddan daye And he went vp to daege And he astah up to heauen and sitteth now at heofonuÌ„ and sitt nu aet y e righthaÌ„d of God almighttie sÆ¿iðran Godes aelmihtiges the father FroÌ„ thence he faeder Ãanon he will come to iudge Æ¿ile cuman to demenne both the quicke the aegþer ge ðaÌ„ cucum ge þam deade And I beleue on the deaduÌ„ ic gelyfe on þone holy ghost And the holy halgan gast And ða halgan coÌ„gregatioÌ„ And of y e saintes y e gelaþunge halgena societie And sinnes forgeuenesse gemaennysse synna forgifenysse And of y e flesh y e rising flaesces aerist And y t euerlasting life ê§ ece life The ten coÌ„maundementes þa tyn beboda which also God himselfe ðe eac God sylf proclaimed froÌ„ the mounte geclypode of þam munte with loude voyce to mid
A TESTIMOnie of ANTIQVITIE shewing the auncient fayth in the Church of England touching the sacrament of the body and bloude of the Lord here publikely preached and also receaued in the Saxons tyme aboue 600. yeares agoe Ieremie 6. Goe into the streetes and inquyre for the olde way and if it be the good and ryght way then goe therin that ye maye finde rest for your soules But they say we will not vvalke therein Jmprinted at London by Iohn Day dwelling ouer Aldersgate beneath S. Martyns ¶ Cum priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis The Preface to the Christian Reader GReat contention hath nowe been of longe tyme about the moste comfortable sacrament of the body bloud of Christ our Sauiour in the inquisition and determinatiō wherof many be charged and condemned of heresye and reproued as bringers vp of new doctryne not knowen of olde in the church before Berengarius tyme who taught in Fraunce in the daies whē William the Norman was by conqueste kyng of England and Hildebrande otherwyse called Gregorius the seuenth was pope of Rome But that thou mayest knowe good christian reader how this is aduouched more boldly then truely in especiall of some certayne men which be more ready to maintaine their old iudgement thē of humilitie to submitte them selues vnto a truth here is set forth vnto thee a testimonye of verye auncient tyme wherin is plainly shewed what was the iudgement of the learned men in thys matter in the dayes of the Saxons before the conquest Fyrst thou hast here a Sermon or homelye for the holy day of Easter written in the olde Englishe or Saxon speech which doth of set purpose and at large intreate of thys doctryne and is found among many other Sermons in the same olde speech made for other festiuall dayes and sondayes of the yeare and vsed to be spoken orderly accordyng to those daies vnto the people as by the bokes thē selues it doth well appeare And of such Sermons be yet manye bookes to be seene partlye remayning in priuate mens handes and taken out from monasteryes at their dissolution partlye yet reserued in the libraryes of Cathedrall churches as of Worceter Hereford and Exeter From which places diuerse of these bookes haue bene deliuered into the handes of the moste reuerend father Matthewe Archbyshop of Canterburye by whose diligent search for such writings of historye and other monumentes of antiquitie as might reueale vnto vs what hath ben the state of our church in England from tyme to tyme these thynges that bee here made knowen vnto thee do come to lyght Howe be it the Sermons were not first written in the olde Saxon tounge but were translated into it as it shoulde appeare from the Lattyne For about the end of a Saxon boke of lx Sermons which hath aboute the middest of it this Sermō agaynst the bodely presēce be added these wordes of the translatour Fela faegere godspell ƿe forlaetaþ on þisū dihte ða maeg aƿendan se ðe ƿile Ne durre ƿe ðas boc na micle sƿiþor gelaengan ðyles ðe heo ungemetegod sy mannum aeþraet ðurh hire micelny'sse astirige We let passe many good gospells which he that lyste may translate For we dare not enlarge thys boke much further lest it be ouer great so cause to men lothsomnes through hys bygnes And in an other booke contaynyng some of these Saxon Sermons it is also thus written in Lattyne In hoc codicillo continentur duodecim sermones anglice quos accepimus de libris quos Aelfricus abbas Anglice transtulit In thys booke be comprysed xij Sermons whche we haue taken out of the bookes that Aelfricke abbot translated into Englishe In which wordes truelye here is also declared who was the translatour to witte one Aelfricke And so hee doth confesse of hym self in the preface of his Saxon grāmer where he doth moreouer geue vs to vnderstand the number of the Sermons that he translated thus Ic AElfric ƿolde ðas litlan boc apendan to engliscum gereorde of ðam staef craefte ðe is gehaten gsammatica syþþan ic tƿa bec aƿende on hund eahtatigū spellum I Aelfricke was desirous to turne into our Englishe tounge from the arte of letters called grammer thys little booke after that I had translated the two bookes in fourescore Sermons But how soeuer it be nowe manifest enoughe by thys aboue declared how that these Sermons were translated I thinke notwithstanding that there will hardlye be found of them any Lattyne bookes being I feare me vtterlye peryshed made out of the waye since the conquest by some which coulde not well broke thys doctrine And that such hath bene the dealing of some partiall readers may partlye hereof appeare There is yet a very aunciēt boke of Cannons of Worceter librarye and is for the most parte all in Latyne but yet intermyngled in certayne places euē thre or foure leaues together with the olde Saxon tounge and one place of this booke handleth thys matter of the sacrament but a fewe lynes wherin dyd consiste the chiefe poynte of the cōtrouersie be rased out by some reader yet consider how the corruption of hym whosoeuer he was is bewrayed This part of the Lattyne booke was taken out of ij epistles of Aelfrike before named were written of hym aswell in the Saxon tounge as the Lattyne The Saxon epistles be yet wholie to be had in the librarye of the same church in a boke written all in Saxon and is intituled a boke of Cānons shrift boke But in the Church of Exeter these epistles be seene both in the Saxon tounge and also in the Lattyne By the which it shall be easie for any to restore agayne not onely the sense of the place rased in Worceter booke but also the very same Lattyn wordes And the words of these two epistles so much as concerne the sacramentall bread wyne we here set immediatlye after the Sermon fyrst in Saxon then the words of the second epistle we set also in Lattyne deliuering them most faythfully as they are to be seene in the bookes from whence they are taken And as touching the Saxon writings they be set out in such forme of letters and darke speech as was vsed whē they were written translated also for our better vnderstanding into our common and vsuall Englishe speech But nowe it remayneth we do make knowen who thys Aelfricke was whom we here speake of in what age he liued and in what estimation He was truely brought vp in the scholes of Aethelwolde byshop of Winchester Aethelwolde I meane the elder and greate saincte of Winchester church So canonised because in the dayes of Edgar kyng of England he conspyred with Dunstane Archbyshop of Canterburie Oswalde bishop of Worceter to expell out of the Cathedrall churches through out all England the maryed priestes which then were in those churches the olde dwellers as wryteth Ranulphus Cestrencis in hys pollicronicon and to set vp of newe the religion or rather
amonge them also these two epistles of Aelfricke as is to be sene in ij bokes of CaÌ„nons of Worceter librarye wherof the one is all in the olde Saxon tounge and there these epistles of Aelfricke be in the same tounge the other is for the most parte all in Lattyne and is intituled Admonitio spiritualis doctrinae where these epistles be in the Lattyne tounge and be ioyned together for an exhortation to be made of the byshop to hys clergie There is also a like booke of Cannons of Exeter church where these two epistles in Lattyne be appoynted in stede of two sermons to bee preached Ad clericos et presbyteros to the clerkes and priestes and the epistles be also in the same boke in the Saxon tonge And thys booke was geuen to Sainct Peters church in Exeter by Leofricke the first and most famous bishop of that church as in hys owne recorde and grauÌ„t of all such landes bokes and other thinges he gaue vnto the church it is thus expressed in the Saxon tounge Here sÆ¿utelaþ on ðissere bec hÆ¿aet Leofric b. haefþ gedon into sancti Petres minstre on Exanceastre ðaer his bisceop stol is ê§ is ê§ he haefþ geinnod ê§ aer geutod Æ¿aes ðurh Godes fultume c. ðonne is seo oncnaÆ¿ennis ðe he haefþ god mid gecnaÆ¿en sanctum PetruÌ„ into ðam halgan mynstre on cyrclicuÌ„ madmuÌ„ ê§ is ê§ he haefþ þider inngedon 11. ful maesse bec ane colectaneum .11 pistel bec .11 fulsang bec .1 nihtsang .1 ad te leuaui .11 psalteras se ðriddan sÆ¿a man singþ on rome .11 ymneras 1. deorÆ¿urþ bletsung boc .111 oþer þeos englisc Cristes boc .11 sumer raeding bec 1. Æ¿inter raeding boc regula canonicorum martyrologium .1 canon on leden scrift boc on englisc c. Here is shewed in thys booke or charter what Leofrike bishop hath geuen into Saint Peters mynster at Exeter where his bishops seate is that is that he hath gotte in agayne through Gods helpe what soeuer was takeÌ„ out so forth first shewing what laÌ„des of such as was taken from the church he recouered agayne partlye by his earnest complaynte and sute made for the same partlye by his geuyng of rewardes Nexte making also report what landes with other treasure of his own he gaue of newe to the place he commeth at laste to the rehearsall of hys bookes wherof the last here named a Cannon on Leden scrift boc on Englisc that is a Cannon boke in Lattyne and shryfte boke in Englishe is the boke we speake of and hath in it the Lattyne and Saxon epistles of Aelfricke Thus as this boke of Exeter church hath thys good euidence by which it is shewed that Leofrike was the geuer therof euen so the boke of CaÌ„nons of Worceter church written all in Saxon hath in it most certayne testimonie that the writer therof was the publike scribe of the church whose name was Wulfgeat For thus haue And let byshops take heede that they presume not to ordaine priestes or deacons vnlesse they do first professe to haue no wiues Now albeit thys and many other councels helde from tyme to tyme by the space more theÌ„ of an hundreth yeares after this did litle auaile but that the priestes did both marrye and still kepe their wiues because as wryteth Gerardus Archbyshop of Yorke to Anselme Cum ad ordines aliquos inuito dura ceruice renituntur ne in ordinando castitatem profiteantur When I call any to orders they resiste with a stiffe necke that they doe not in taking order professe chastitie Or as is reported in the Saxon storye of Peterborowe church speaking of the councells of Anselme of Iohn of Cremona of William Archbyshop of Canterburye Ne forstod noht ealle þa bodlaces All these decrees auayled nothyng Ealle heoldon here Æ¿ifes be ðes cinges leaf sÆ¿a sÆ¿a hi ear didon They all kept their wiues still by the kinges leaue as they dyd before Yet it came to passe vpon thys decree of Lanfranke that the forme of wordes wherin the priestes should vowe chastitie was nowe fyrst put into some bishops pontificall Ego frater N. promitto deo omnibusque Sanctis eius castitatem corporis mei secundum cannonum decreta secundum ordinem mihi imponenduÌ„ seruare domino praesule N. presente And as the wordes were thus put into some poÌ„tifical in a general speaking as the maÌ„ner is thys coÌ„trouersie but also that more is what was the coÌ„mon receaued doctrine herein of the whole church of England as well when Aelfricke hym self lyued as before hys tyme and also after his time eueÌ„ froÌ„ him to the conquest But what was the condition and state of the church wheÌ„ Aelfricke him self liued In deede to confesse the truth it was in diuers pointes of Religion full of blindnes and ignoraunce full of childysh seruitude to ceremonies as it was longe before and after and to much geuen to the loue of monketye which now at thys tyme vnmeasurablye tooke roote and grewe excessiuely But yet to speake what the aduersaryes of the truth haue iudged of thys time it is most certayne that there is no age of the church of England which they haue more reuerenced and thought more holy then thys For of what age haue they canonized vnto vs more sainctes and to their lyking more notable Fyrst Odo Archbyshop of Canteaburye who dyed in the beginning of king Edgars raigne Then king Edgar hym selfe by whom Aelfricke was made abbot of Malmesburye Then Edward called the Martyr kyng Edgars bastard sonne Then Editha kyng Edgars bastarde daughter Also Dunstane archbyshop of Canterbury of whoÌ„ Aelfricke was greatly estemed Aethelwold bishop of Winchester vnder whom Aelfricke had hys first bringing vp Oswalde byshop of Worceter and after Archbyshop of Yorke who made Aelfricke abbot of S. Albons Wulfsine bishop of Scyrburne vnto whom Aelfricke wryteth the first of the epistles we here speake of Elfleda a Nunne of Romesey and Wulhilda Abbesse of Barkyng lyued in the dayes of king Edgar And laste of all Wlfritha K. Edgars coÌ„cubyne All these I say with some other more be canonized for sainctes of this age in which Aelfricke him self liued in great fame credite Also Leofricke and Wulfsine whom we haue shewed to haue been the geuers of those Cannon bookes wherin be seene Aelfrickes epistles be reuerenced for moste holy men and saintes of their churches And these ij liued byshops in the comming in of the Conquerour Thus doe some men now a dayes not onely dissent in doctrine from their owne church but also from that age of their churche whiche they haue thought moste holy and iudged a most excelleÌ„t paterne to be folowed Wherfore what may we nowe thinke of that great coÌ„sent wherof the Romanistes haue long made vaunte to witte their doctrine to haue coÌ„tinued many hundred yeares as it were lincked together with
ought we to betake the rest vnto the might of y e holy ghost w t true humilitie not to searche rashlye of that deepe secretnes aboue y e measure of our vnderstaÌ„ding They did eat y e lambes flesh w t their loynes gyrt In the loines is the lust of the body And he whyche wyll receyue y t housell shall restrayne that concupisceÌ„ce and take with chastitie that holy receypt They were also shod VVhat be shoes but of the hydes of dead beastes VVe be truely shod if we folow in our steps deades the lyfe of those pilgrimes which please god w t keping of his commauÌ„demeÌ„ts They had staues in their handes when they ate This stafe signifieth a carefulnes and a diligeÌ„t ouerseing And al they y t best know and caÌ„ should take care of other men and staye them vppe with their helpe It was inioyned to the eaters y t they shoulde eate the lambe in haste For god abhorreth slouthfulnes in his seruantes And those he loueth that seeke the ioye of euerlasting life with quicknes hast of minde It is written Prolong not to turne vnto god lest the time passe awaye through thy slowe tarrying The eaters mought not break the laÌ„bes bones Nomore mought the souldyers y t did hang Christ breake his holy legges as they did of the two theefes that hanged on either syde of him And y e Lord rose froÌ„ death sound without al corruption at the last iudgemeÌ„t they shal see him whom they did most cruelly hange on y e crosse This time is called in y e Ebrue tonge Pasca and in latine Transitus in English a Passouer bicause y t on this daye the people of Israell passed from the land of Aegipt ouer the read sea from bondage to the lande of promyse So also dyd our Lord at thys tyme departe as sayeth Iohn the Euangelyste from thys world to his heaueÌ„ly father Euen so we ought to folowe our head and to go from the deuill to christ from this vnstable world to his stable kingdoÌ„e Howbeit we should first in this preseÌ„t life depart froÌ„ vice to holy vertue from euill manners to good manners if we will after thys lente lyfe go to that eternal life after our resurrection to Christ He bring vs to his euerliuing father who gaue him to death for our sinnes To him be honour praise of wel doing world wythout ende Amen ¶ This sermon is found in diuerse bookes of sermoÌ„s written in the olde English or Saxon toung whereof two bookes bee nowe in the handes of the most reuerend father the Archbishop of Caunterburye Here followeth the wordes of Aelfrike abbot of S. Albones also of Malmesberye taken out of his epistle written to Wulfsine byshop of Scyrburne It is founde in a booke of the olde Saxon tounge wherin be xliij chapters of Canons and ecclesiasticall constitutions and also Liber poenitentialis that is a poenitentiall booke or shryfte booke deuided into iiij other bokes the epistle is set for the 30. chapter of the fourth boke intituled be preost sinoþe that is a Synode concerning priestes and this epistle is also in a canonn boke of the churche of Exeter SVme preostas healdaþ þaet husel ðe biþ on easter daeg gehalgod ofer gear to sceocum mannum ac hi misdoþ sÆ¿yþe deope ê§ Ã°aet halige husel sceole fynegian nellaþ understandan hu mycele daedbote seo poenitentialis taecþ be ðam gif ðaet husel biþ fynig oþþe haeÆ¿en oþþe gif hit forloren biþ oþþe gif mus oþþe nytenu ðurh gymeleaste hit etaþ Man sceal healden þaet halige husel mid mycelre gymene ne forhealdan hit ac halgian oþer edniÆ¿e to sceocum mannum a embe vii niht oð ðe embe xiiii niht ê§ hit huru fynig ne sy forþon ðe eal sÆ¿a halig biþ ê§ husel þe nu to daeg Æ¿aes gehalgod sÆ¿a ê§ Ã°e on easter daeg Æ¿aes gehalgod Ãaet husel is Crister lichama na lichamh ce ac gastlice Na se lichama ðe he on ðroÆ¿ode ac se lichama ðe he embe spraec ða ða he bletsode hlaf and Æ¿in to husle anre nihte aer his ðroÆ¿unge and cÆ¿aeþ be ðaÌ„ gebletsode hlafe ðis is min lichama and eft be ðam halgan Æ¿ine ðis is min bloode þe biþ for maneguÌ„ agoten on synna forgyfennesse Vnderstandaþ nu ê§ se drihten ðe mihte aÆ¿endon ðone hlaf aer his ðroÆ¿unge to his lichaman and ê§ Æ¿in to his blode gastlice ðaet se ylca daeghÆ¿amlice bletsaþ ðurh sacerda handa hlaf Æ¿in to his gastlican lichaman and to his gastlican blode Here thou seest good reader how Aelfrike vpon fynding fault wyth an abuse of his tyme whiche was that priestes on Easter day filled their housell boxe and so kept the bread a whole yere for sickmen toke an occasion to speake agaynst the bodely presence of Christ in the sacrameÌ„t So also in an other epistle sent to Wulfstane Archbyshop of York he reprehending agayne thys ouerlong reseruing of the housell addeth also wordes more at large against the same bodely presence His wordes be these SVme preostas gefyllaþ heora husel box on eaftron and healdaþ ofer tÆ¿elf monaþ to untrumum mannum sÆ¿ylce ðaet husel sy haligre ðonne oþer Ac hi doþ unÆ¿islice for þam ðe hit Æ¿annaþ oþþe mid ealle forrotaþ on sÆ¿a langum fyrste and he biþ ðonne scyldig sÆ¿a sÆ¿a us saegþ seo boc Se ðe husel forhylt oþþe hit forlyst oþþe mys eton oþþe oþre nytenu sceaÆ¿a ða poenitentialem hÆ¿aet he saegþ be þisum Eall sÆ¿a halig is ðaet husel ðe biþ gehalgod to daeg sÆ¿a ðaet ðe biþ gehalgod on ðam halgan easter daege Healdaþ forþig ic bidde ðone halgan Crister lichaman mid maran Æ¿isdome to scocuÌ„ mannum fram sunnan daege to sunnan daege on sÆ¿iþe claenum boxe oþþe be þam maestan feoÆ¿ertyne niht and ðicgaþ hit ðonne lecgaþ ðaer oþer Æ¿e habbaþ bysene be þam on Moyses bocum sÆ¿a sÆ¿a God sylf bebead on Moyses ae ðaet se sacerd sceolde on aelcuÌ„ saeternes daege settan tÆ¿elf hlafas on þam tabernaculo ealle niÆ¿e bacene ða Æ¿aeron gehatene panes propositionis and hig sceoldon ðaer standan on ðam Godes getaelde oþ oþerne saeternes daeg â–ª etan hi ðonne ða sacerdas sylfe settan ðaer oþre Sume preostar nellaþ ðicgan þaet husel þe hi halgiaþ Nu Æ¿ille Æ¿e eoÆ¿ secgan hu seo boc segþ be ðam Presbyten missam celebrans et non audens sumere sacrificium accusante conscientia sua anathema eft Se maesse preost ðe maessaþ and ne dear ðaet husel ðicgan Æ¿at hine scyldigne se is amansumod Laesse pleoh is to ðicgenne ðaet husel ðonne to halgienne Se ðe tuÆ¿a halgaþ ane ofletan to husle se biþ þam gedÆ¿olan gelice ðe an cild fullaþ tuÆ¿a Crist syif gehalgode husel aer his ðroÆ¿unge he bletsode þone hlaf tobraec ðus cÆ¿eþende to his halgum apostolum etaþ
ðisne hlaf hit is min lichama he eft bletsode aenne calic mid Æ¿ine and cÆ¿aeþ heom ðus to drincaþ ealle of ðisum hit is min agen blode ðaere niÆ¿an gecyþnysse ðe biþfor manegum agoten on synna forgyfenysse Se drihten þe halgode husel aer his ðroÆ¿unge and eÆ¿aeþ ê§ se hlaf Æ¿aere his agen lichama ðaet Æ¿in Æ¿aere Æ¿itodlice his blod se halgaþ daeghÆ¿amlice ðurh his sacerda handa hlaf to his lichaman Æ¿in to his blod on gastlicere geryne sÆ¿a sÆ¿a Æ¿e raedaþ on bocum Nebiþ se liflica hlaf lichamlice sÆ¿a þeah se ylca lichama ðe Crist on ðroÆ¿ode Ne þaet halige Æ¿in nis þaes haelendes blod þe for us agoten Æ¿aes on lichamlican ðinge ac on gastlicum andgyte AEgþer biþ soþlice se hlaf his lichama ê§ Æ¿in eac his blod sÆ¿a sÆ¿a se heofonlica hlaf Æ¿aes ðe Æ¿e hataþ manna ðe feoÆ¿ertig geara afedde Godes folce ðaet hlutre Æ¿aeter Æ¿aes Æ¿itodlice his blod ðe arn of ðam stane on ðaÌ„ sestene ða SÆ¿a sÆ¿a Paulus aÆ¿rat on Æ¿umon his pistole Omnes patres nostri eandem escam spiritualem manducauerunt et omnes eundem potes spiritualem biberunt c. Ealle ure faederas aeton on þaÌ„ Æ¿estene þone ylcan gastlican mete þone gastlican drenc druncon Hi druncon of þaÌ„ gastlicum stane se stan Æ¿aes Crist Se apostol saede sÆ¿a sÆ¿a genu gehyrdon ðaet hi ealle aeton ðone ylcan gastlican mete hi ealle druncon ðone gastlican drenc Ne cÆ¿aeþ he na lichamlice ac gastlice Naes Crist ða gyt geboren ne his blod naes agoten þa þaet Israhela folc geaet ðone mete of ðam stane dranc se stan naes lichamlice Crist þeah he sÆ¿a cÆ¿aede Hit Æ¿aeron þa ylcan gerynu on þaere ealdan ae hi gastlice getacnodon ðaet gastlice husel ures haelendes lichaman ðe Æ¿e halgiaþ nu SOme pristes keepe the housell that is hallowed on Easter day all the yere for syke men But they doe greatlye amysse bycause it waxeth horye And these will not vnderstand how greuous penaunce the poenitentiall booke teacheth by thys if the housell become hory and rotten or yf it be lost or be eaten of mise or of beastes by neglygence Men shal reserue more carefullye that holy housell and not reserue it to longe but hallowe other of newe for syckemen alwayes wythin a weke or a fortnight that it be not somuch as horye For so holy is the housell whych to day is hallowed as that whyche on Easter daye was hallowed That housell is Christes bodye not bodylye but ghostlye Not the bodye whyche he suffred in but the bodye of which hee spake when he blessed bread and wyne to housel a night before his suffring sayd by the blessed bread thys is my bodye agayne by the holye wyne thys is my bloude whiche is shede for manye in forgeuenes of sinnes vnderstand nowe that the lord who could turne y t bread before his suffring to his body and y t wyne to his bloude ghostlye that the selfe same lorde blesseth dayly throughe the priestes handes bread and wine to his ghostly body and to his ghostly bloud Here thou seest good reader how Aelfrike vpon fynding fault wyth an abuse of his tyme whiche was that priests on Easter day filled their housell boxe and so kept the bread a whole yere for sickmen toke an occasion to speake agaynst the bodely presence of Christ in the s acrameÌ„t So also in an other epistle sent to Wulfstane Archbyshop of York he reprehending agayne thys ouerlong reseruing of the housell addeth also wordes more at large against the same bodely presence His wordes be these SOme priests fil their boxe for housel on Easter day so reserue it a whole yere for sicke meÌ„ as though that housel were more holy theÌ„ any other But they do vnaduisedlye bicause it waxeth black or al together rotleÌ„ by keping it so long space And thus is he become giltie as y e boke wytnesseth to vs. Yf anye do keepe the housell to long or lose it or myse or other beastes do eate it see what y e paenitential boke sayeth by this So holy is altogether that housell whiche is hallowed to daye as that which is hallowed on Easter day VVherfore I besech you to kepe that holy bodye of Christ with more aduisement for sick men from sonday to sondaye in a verye cleane boxe or at the most not to kepe it aboue a fortnight and then eate it laying other in the place VVe haue an example hereof in Moyses bookes as god him selfe hath commaunded in Moyses lawe How the priestes should set on euery saturnday twelue loaues all newe baked vpon the tabernacle the whiche were called panes prepositionis and those shoulde staÌ„d there on gods tabernacle til y e next saturnday the did y e pristes theÌ„ selues eate them set other in y e place SoÌ„e priestes wil not eate y e housell which they do hallow But we will now declare vnto you how y e boke speaketh by theÌ„ Presbyter missaÌ„ celebrans et non audens sumere sacrificium accusante coÌ„scieÌ„tia sua anathema est The priest that doth saye masse and dare not eate theÌ„ housell hys conscience accusynge hym is accursed It is lesse daunger to receyue y e housell theÌ„ to hallowe it He y t doth twyse hallowe one host to housell is lyke vnto those heretikes who do christen twyse one childe Christ himselfe blessed housel before his suffring he blessed y e bread and brake thus speaking to hisa postels Eate this bread it is my body And agayne he blessed one chalice w t wyne and thus also speaketh vnto theÌ„ Drinke ye all of this it is myne owne bloud of y e newe testament which is shed for many in forgeuenes of synnes The lord which halowed housel before his suffering sayeth y t y e bread was his owne body y t y e wyne was truly his bloud he haloweth dayly by y e haÌ„des of y e prist bread to his body wyne to his bloud in ghostly mystery as we read in bokes And yet y t liuely bread is not bodely so notwithstaÌ„ding not y e self same body y t Christ suffered in Nor y t holy wine is y e sauiours bloud which was shed for vs in bodely thing but in ghostly vnderstanding Both be truly y t bread hys body and y t wyne also hys bloud as was y e heauenly bread which we call Manna that fed forty yeres gods people And y e cleare water which did then runne from the stone in the wildernes was truly his bloud as Paul wrote one summe of his epistles Omnes patres nostri eandem escam spiritualem manducauerunt et omnes eundem potum spiritualeÌ„ biberunt c. All our fathers ate in the wildernes the same ghostlye meate and dranke the same ghostly drinke They dranke of y t gostly stone and
micelre stemne to all the men which with ealluÌ„ ðam mannuÌ„ ðe mid Moyses were in the Moyse Æ¿aeron on ðam wildernesse then Æ¿aestene ða THe lorde was Dryhten Æ¿aes speaking these sprecende ðas wordes to Moyses and thus Æ¿ord to Moyse and ðus sayth I am the Lord thy cÆ¿aeþ Ic eom ðryhten ðin God I thee out ledde of God Ic ðe ut gelaedde of Aegypt lande and of their egipta londe and of hiora bondage Ne loue y u other ðeoÆ¿dome Ne lufa ðu oþre strauÌ„ge Gods besides me Ne fremde Godas ofer me Ne my name name thou in minne noman ne cig ðu on vayne for that thou ne idelnesse forþon ðe ðu ne arte giltlesse with me if bist unscyldig Æ¿iþ me gif thou in vayne namest my ðu on idelnesse cigst minne name RemeÌ„ber that thou noman Gemyne ê§ Ã°u hallowe thy rest day gehalgige ðone raeste daeg VVorke ye vj. dayes on Æ¿yrceaþ eoÆ¿ vi dagas on the seuenth rest ye bycause þaÌ„ siofoþan restaþ eoÆ¿ forðam in vj. dayes Christ on vi daguÌ„ Crist geÆ¿orhte made heauen and earth heofonas eorþan y e sea all creatures that saes and ealle gesceafta ðe in them be And he rested on him sint hine gereste on the seuenth day therfore on þone siofoþan daeg forþon the Lord it hallowed dryhten hine gehalgod Honour thy father thy Ara ðynuÌ„ faeder þinrae mother that the Lorde medder ða ðe dryhten gaue thee y t thou be longe sealde ðe ê§ Ã°u sie ðylenge lyuing in y e earth Ne kill libbende on eorþan Ne sleah thou Ne lig ne y u priuelye ðu Ne lige þu dearnenga Ne steale thou Ne say thou Ne stala ðu Ne saege ðu false witnesse Ne desire lease geÆ¿itnesse Ne Æ¿ilna thou of thy neyghbours ðu ðynes nehstan heritage with vnryght ierfes mid unryhte These coÌ„maundementes we haue taken from the lawes of Alfrede the king before which they are alwaies placed but here the maner of speaking in the scripture is somewhat chaunged and that more is here is lefte out these wordes Non facies sculptile neque omnem similitudinem quae est in coelo desuper quae est in terra deorsum nec eorum quae sunt in aquis sub terra non adorabis neque coles c. 2. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image nor the likenes of any thing that is in heauen aboue or in the earth beneath or in the water vnder the earth Thou shalt not bowe downe to them nor worship them For I thy Lord. c. Which thyng is done in all copyes of Alfredes lawes written in the Saxon tounge and not onely in them but in many other bookes as hath been seene eyther Saxon or Lattyne intreatyng of the commaundementes which were written before the Conquest and since the second Nicene councell wherin was decreed the worshipping of Images See what followed of taking away froÌ„ the worde of God contrarye to the expresse coÌ„maundement of the same vpon the vngodly decree of that couÌ„cell WheÌ„ this thing was espied by them that translated these lawes into the Lattyne tounge sone after the conquest these wordes were restored agayne by the traÌ„slatours to their due place as by the Lattyne bookes of the lawes it is to be seene But bicause we haue made mention of that second Nicene councell whiche decreed both of the hauing and worshipping of Images we shall here brieflye shewe what our stories report was thought of the same couÌ„cell by the learned of England and chieflye by that great learned Englyshe man and of most fame in that age Alcuine scholemaister to Charles the great Anno ab incarnatione Domini 792. Carolus rex Francorum misit Synodalem librum ad BritanniaÌ„ sibi a CoÌ„stantinopoli directuÌ„ in quo libro heu proh dolor multa inconuenientia verae fidei contraria reperta sunt maxime quod pene omniuÌ„ orientalium doctorum noÌ„ minus quam trecentoruÌ„ vel eo amplius episcoporum vnanima assertione confirmatuÌ„ imagines adorari debere quod omnino ecclesia dei execratur CoÌ„tra quod scripsit Alcuinus epistolam ex autoritate diuinaruÌ„ scripturarum mirabiliter affirmataÌ„ illamque cuÌ„ codem libro persona episcoporuÌ„ principum nostrorum regi Francorum attulit That is In the yere froÌ„ the incarnatioÌ„ of our Lord. 792. Charles kinge of Fraunce sent to Brytaine a Synode booke which was directed vnto hym from Constantinople in the which booke alas many thinges vnconuenient and contrarye to the true fayth were found in especiall that it was establyshed with a whole consent almost of all the learned of the East no lesse then of three hundreth byshoppes or more that men oughte to worship Images the whiche the Churche of God doth vtterlye abharre Agaynst the whiche Alcuine wrote an epistle wonderouslye proued by the authoritie of holy Scripture and brought that epistle with the same booke and names of our byshoppes and princes to the king of Frauuce This story hath Simeon of Durham Roger Houeden Flores Historiarum and the historie of Rochester ₠¶ The Saxon Caracters or letters that be moste straunge be here knowen by other common Caracters set ouer them ¶ d. d. ð. th þ. th f. f. g. g. i. i. r. r. s. s t. t. Æ¿. w. y. y. z. z. and. ê§ that ¶ ¶ Æ AE Æ AE Ã. Th. Þ. Th. E. E. H. H. M. M. S. S. Ç·. W. And. ¶ One pricke signifieth an vnperfect point this figure which is lyke the Greeke interrogatiue a full painte which in some other olde Saiâ—â—â— bookes is expressed wyth three prickes set in triangle wyse thus Imprinted at LondoÌ„ by Iohn Day dwelling ouer Aldersgate beneath S. Martyns ⸫ ¶ Cum priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis * Who dyd put out secular priestes out of the church of Canterbury as the story of that house sheweth These charters are to be sene * No suche demaunde of thys profession in any Englyshe pontificall before thys tyme. Exod. 14. Exod. 17. Math. 27. Marc. 15. Luke 24. * No such signe commaunded by God in that place of scripture but it was the bloud that God dyd loke vpon Exod 12. * Vnderstand thys as that of S. Paule Ephe. 2. Christ reconciled both to God in one body through hys crosse Iohn 6. Math. 26. Luke 22. Marke 14 1. Cor. 11. * This was now in question and so before Beringarius tyme. * A necessarye distinction * The water in baptisme and bread and wine in the Lords supper compared * No transubstantiation * DiffereÌ„ces betwixt Christes naturall body and the SacrameÌ„t therof * 1. Difference * Not the body that suffred is in the housell * 2. Difference * 3. Difference * 4. Difference Math. 15. * 5. Difference These tales seme to be infarsed placed here vpon no occasion 1. Cor. 10. * Note this exposition which is now a dayes thought new Iohn 4. 1. Cor. 10. Exod. 17. Math. 26. Luke 22. Marke 14 * Now we eate that bodye which was eaten before he was borne by the faythfull * See a transubstantiatioÌ„ * Manna Iohn 6. Iohn 6. * What body do the faithfull now eate * A signification before Christ * A sacrifice in Christes tyme. * A remembraunce after Christ Math. 26. Ebreu 10. * This doctrine with praying to images to the dead bodies of men at their tombes tooke his beginning of the auarice of moÌ„kes vnto whom it was gain full * The housell is also the body of al faithfull men * No scripture enforceth the mixture of water with the wyne * The wine signifieth christes bloude * How we shoulde come to the holy coÌ„munion The words inclosed betwene the ij halfe circles some had rased out of Worceter booke but they are restored agayne out of a booke of Exeter church William of Malmes 1. lib. de pontificibus * That is commit no adultery * That is commit no adultery