taken out of the nature of man and from the intention of the creature ought to be laid for the foundation namely that the tongue was given unto man to be the interpreter of his thoughts and messenger of his conceptions Whence it followeth that to use the tongue to a contrarie end and to speake to the end to be not understood is to turne nature topsie turvie and quite to overthrowe her and as much as in us lyeth to frustrate the Creator of his intention and to change humane speech into an unprofitable Echo and into a sound beating the aire Now if this bee true in him which speaketh to others in a tongue which he understandeth not it is yet more true in him which is understood neither by himselfe nor by another V. Out of the selfe same maxime it followeth that when the Priest speaketh Latine in the Church he ought to speake to bee understood by some body Our adversaries must tell us whether he speake to bee understood by the assistants or to be understood by himselfe or to bee understood by God for there is no fourth Now hee speaketh not to be understood of the by-standers seeing hee speaketh so very lowe and in a tongue which the people understand not and besides in private Masses hee speaketh alone and without any assistants Besides he speaketh not to be understood of God for God understands us without our speaking though we speake not at all and before wee open our mouthes nor can it rather be said that the Priest in the Masse speaketh to the end to be understood by himselfe for hee knew his owne thought before hee spake speech was given man not to informe himselfe in his own thoughts but to the end to make it knowne to another he is utterly beside himselfe that speaketh to himselfe to the end to understand himselfe VI. Add herevnto that in many places of the Masse the Priest speaketh to the people saying unto them Oremus c. and Orate pro me fratres c. and many other such like things wherein the Priest bids the people aske of God such and such things and to ioyne their prayers with his but the people have no minde to obey that his commandement not so much as knowing what the Priest bids them doe the people might iustly say to him make us understand thee if thou wilt be obeyed VII Wherefore in the Church of the Old Testament the whole publique service was performed in the vulgar tongue and the prayers which Aaron and his Successors made for the Hebrew people were made in the Hebrew tongue which after the captivitie of Babylon being corrupted yet was still understood by the people as wee will shew hereafter VIII Our Lord Iesus Christ instituted and celebrated the holy Supper amongst his Disciples in the vulgar tongue and that which was understood by the assistants his will was that when the faithfull shall eat of that bread and drinke of that cup they shew forth the Lords death untill he come againe 1 Cor. 11. ver 26. Now this is not to shew forth a thing to propound it in an unknowne tongue not understood IX To this very selfe same end he gave unto his Apostles the gift of divers tongues to the end that in all nations they might establish the service of God in the tongue of the countrey and that in every tongue God might be served in such sort that the diversitie of tongues which at the building of Babel was a curse at the building of the Church is become a blessing X. The Apostles followed their Masters example for the Apostle writing to the Corinthians that were Grecians gave them in their owne tongue the forme of the Celebration of the holy Supper 1 Cor. 11. XI Would Iesus Christ who is the light of the world come to plunge it in darknesse and to make things more obscure And God having spoken to his people by Moses in a tongue understood would hee now wrap and infold up himselfe in darknesse by propounding his Word and by giving his Sacraments in a barbarous and an unknowne tongue XII But that which is yet of more strength in this matter and which clearely decides and fully determins this controversie is the authoritie of the Apostle Saint Paul who imployed the 14. Chapter of his 1. Epistle to the Corinthians in a manner wholly to condemne the use of strange tongues and not understood in the Church If saith he the trumpet give an uncertaine sound who shall be prepared to the warre So likewise you except you utter words which may be understood how shall it be knowne what is spoken For yee shall speake unto the aire and a little after Wherefore if I know not the meaning of the voice I shall bee a barbarian to him that speaketh and hee that speaketh shall be a barbarian to me and a little after If thou blesse with the spirit how shal he that occupieth the place of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thankes saying he understandeth not what thou sayest Thou verily giuest thankes well but another is not thereby edified Wherevpon he concludeth I had rather in the Church speake five words with my understanding that I may teach others also then ten thousand words in an unknowne tongue Du Perron against the King of great Brittaine book 6. chap. 1. p. 109. the word tongue in S. Paul signifieth an unknown tongue XIII Mounsieur du Perron answereth that Saint Paul speaketh not of an unknowne tongue which was in the Church but of tongues infused and miraculous This I willingly agree to for this augments the force of that place against the ordinarie service in an unknowne tongue For these miraculous gifts of tongues were rare and given unto some Christians for a small time to the end to declare the power of God and by consequent the use of them in the Church brought with them a benefit which the Masse in Latine cannot bring Neverthelesse the Apostle forbids them the use of this miraculous guift in the Church unlesse they interpret them instantly because he will have nothing spoken in the Church which is not understood How much more condemnes hee a strange language in the ordinarie service wherein that extraordinary evill which the Apostle would avoid would become ordinarie The Apostle forbids not an unknowne tongue in the Church for that it is miraculous but because it is not understood and because that he which speaketh is a barbarian to him that heareth him because that is not understood which is spoken because it is to speak in the aire because the people cānot say Amen to the thanksgiving they understand not and because that they that heare are not thereby edified which are truly reasons of moment be it that he which speakes in an unknowne tongue in the Church have learned that tongue by miracle or by studie the question here is not of the manner by which a tongue is learned but of the peoples
Orthodox Spaniards for the Visigots at the beginning were Arians was called the Mosarabicke or Toletain office whereof may be seene an abridgement in Isidore in his first booke of Ecclesiastick offices which Isidore borne in Sevill writ in the yeare of our Lord about 630. In the yeare 713. the Sarasins abolished in Spaine the kingdome of the Goths slue their King Roderick in battell and extinguished in the most part of Spaine the Christian Religion And held Spaine for many ages untill that the residue of the Christians which were retired fled into the MouÌ„tains having recollected their forces in the end drove out the Mores and replaced againe the Christian Religion in Spaine and established many pettie kingdomes Their service was done yet in Latine according to the ancient forme albeit by reason of the mixture of the Sarasins they had lost the use of the Latine tongue Their office or service was the ancient to wit the Mozorabick office which still continued in Spaine untill about the yeare of our Lord 1080. in the which King Alphonsus to gratifie Pope Gregorie the VII Roderick Archbishop of Toledo lib. 6. chap. 25. and 26. by strong hand and Maulgre the estates of the Countrey established in Spaine the Romish service then the Latine tongue which heretofore was used by custome was now established by law And so hath continued unto this day CHAP. XIII Of England and Germany and and how the Romish service and the Latine tongue were thither brought in IT will not be amisse to say somewhat also of England which in times past was called Brittaine a Etenim circiter non gentos ab hinc annos constat plebem in nonnullis regionibus pâ—eces suas publicas ignota lingue recitaste id quod in Anglia nostra fuisse factitatum manifestum faciam Harding in the first Section of his treatise Of prayers in a strange tongue saith about nine hundred yeares since publike prayers have begun in some Countreys to bee said in a tongue not understood especially in England This Doctor very much versed in Antiquity findeth not the use of the Latine tongue in England to bee more ancient since the terme of nine hundred yeares and hee hath in this spoken according to the truth We must then know that England received the Christian religion before there were any Churches erected amongst the Gaules or old French Nicephorus in his second booke Chap. 40. saith that Simon Zelotes the Apostle brought the doctrine of the Gospell unto the Westerne Sea and unto the Isles of Brittaine Gildas an English Author who lived in the sixt age and Polidore Virgil in his second booke of his Historie say that Ioseph of Arimathea there first preached the Gospell Balaeus in his first Centurie alleadgeth many other witnesses Tertullian b Britannorum in accessa loca Christo vero subdita who writ at the end of the second age in 7. Chap. of his booke against the Iewes saith that the inaccessible places of the Brittaines are subject to the true Christ. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Theodoret in his 9. booke of the meanes to cure the indisposition of the Greekes Our fishers and toule-gatherers and our currier so qualifieth he the Apostles have brought to all men the Evangelicall Lawes and have perswaded not onely the Romanes and those which are tributaries to them but even the Scithians Indians c. and those of Brittaine to receive the lawes of him that was crucified Some d West-monasteriensis Galfridus Authors affirme that in the yeare 185. Lucius King of Brittaine sent to Pope Eleutherius praying to bee instructed by him in the Christian religion and that he abolished Paganisme out of all Brittaine so that there was not left so much as one infidell Which is a a storie invented in favour of the Pope For these Historians place in this Isle peaceable Brittaine Kings raigning in the South-part of the Isle which was subject to the Romanes and which had no other King but the Emperor of Rome The estate of this Isle under the Romanes may be seene in Cornelius Tacitus in the life of Iulius Agricola and in Xiphilinus an Epitomiser of Dion in the life of Nero and of Severus Emperours At this time the Christians of South Brittaine suffered persecution under the Romanes that were Pagans And as for the Northerly part which at this day is called Scotland and the Countrey of Northumberland it was Heathenish and was so a long time after Eleutherius e Hieron Oceano Scotorum Asotorum ritu ac de republica Platonis promiscuas uxores ac communes liberos habeant Saint Hierome in his Epistle to Oceanus speaketh of the Scots as having in his time their wives common 200. yeares after Elutherius And f Idem lib. 2. in lovinianum Cum ipse adolescentulus in Gallia viderim Scottos gentem Britannam humanis vescicarnibus cum per sylvas porcorum greges armentorum pecudumque reperiam pastorum nates foeminarum papillas solere abscindere has solas ciborum delicias arbitrari Scottorum natio vxores proprias non habet c. in 2. lib. against Iovinian he sayeth he had seene the Scotch eating mans flesh And Galfride in his 2. Chapter of his third booke of his Historie speaketh of them as of Pagans Furthermore the Christians of this Isle celebrated Easter precisely the fourteenth of the moneth of March contrarie to the rules of the church of Rome which they would not have done had they beene brought to Christianitie by the Church of Rome This Isle so continued under the government of the Romane Pagans untill the time of Dioclesian in the yere 286. The Senate of Rome sent thither Caurasius to oppose the courses of the barbarous but he enleagu'd himselfe with the Islanders and thence drove out the Romanes and made himselfe King and after that time one while the Romanes prevailing another while the Islanders that Isse was but weakely held by the Romane Empire In the yeare of our Lord 307. Constantine Sonne of Constantius and of Helene a Christian woman governed that Island Being Pagan he tooke the title of Romane Emperour and passed thorow the Gaules and from thence into Italie and made himselfe absolute Emperour Then becomming Christian he granted peace to the Churches of Brittaine In the yeare 383. Maximus a Christian and Orthodox Prince govern'd Brittaine for as then all that part of the Isle which was subject to the Romanes was Christian This Maximus invaded with a maine armie the Gaules and conquered them and tooke the title of Romane Emperour against Gratian Sonne to Theodosius In the yeare of our Lord 434. The Romane Empire being fallen into the West and rent by the Goths Franks Vandals and Bourgagnions the Romanes abandoned the Isle of Brittaine Which moved the Islanders to conferre the kingdome upon Constantine the brother of the King of Brittaine Armorique who was issued of
very notable confession of a Cardinall of so great authority in the Church of Rome CHAP. VI. Proofe hereof even by the example of the Church of the old Testament BY what hath beene hitherto said it appeareth that in this question concerning a tongue not understood which is used in the publique service we have the Word of God and reason and the confession of our Adversaries on our side Wherevnto we must add the example of the ancient Church as well of the old as of the new Testament which ought to serve us for a rule I. To fetch the matter from the beginning God gave his lawe in a tongue understood and the forme of prayers and blessings which God prescribed to Aaron to make before the people was in the vulgar tongue of Gods people as are those prayers and blessings which are read in the 6. of Numbers verse 23. and following and in the 10. Chap. ver 35. and 36. and then of thanksgiving in the oblation of first-fruits Deut. 26. ver 3. and the forme of prayer after the payment of Tithes in the third yeare Deut. 26. ver 13. in a word all the publique prayers which were made by the Priests or by the people were made in a tongue understood by the people And David dictated to the people Psalmes which were sung in the Temple upon instruments of Musique in the Hebrew tongue which was the tongue used in Israel II. During the captivitie of Babylon the Hebrew tongue degenerated from it puritie Notwithstanding the which the change was not so great but that the Hebrew tongue in the which Moses and the Prophets writ was still understood by the Iewes Not onely for that the people were exercised in the reading and hearing of those bookes as well in their private houses as in the Synagogues euery Sabboth but also for that the corruption was not so great but that the commoÌ„ people easily understand the Hebrew by reason of the proximitie and neare resemblance betweene the Iewish and the Hebrew tongue Whence also in the new Testament the Iudaique tongue is often called the Hebrew as in 27. of Saint Matthew verse 33. where Golgotha which is a word of the Iudaique tongue is said to be an Hebrew word but the Hebrews say Golgoleth that is to say scalpe or scull and in the Chap. 19. of Saint Iohn verse 19. it is said that Gabbatha in Hebrew signifieth pavement although Gabbatha bee a Syrian word For that the Iewes after their returne from the captivitie of Babylon understood the Hebrew tongue and the Text of the bookes of the Lawe appeares by the 8. Chapter of Nehemiah ver 2. where it is said that Esdras the Priest brought the law before the congregation of men and women and of all them of hearing and it is added that Esdras read in the booke in the presence of the men and of the women and of as many as were capable to understand and the eares of the people were attentive to the reading This could not bee done in the Church of Rome in the which the Deacon reades the Gospell and the Subdeacon reades the Epistle in Latine before women peisants and trades-men that understand them not and consequently cannot bee attentive therevnto The exposition which the Levites added unto this Lecture which is mentioned in the Sequell was not to interpret the termes thereof into another tongue but to expound the meaning and sense of them as Nicholas de Lyra acknowledgeth upon the 8. of Nehemiah f Esdras legit in eo aperté id est intelligibiliter declarando ea quae videbantur obscura Iospehus Esdras read in the booke plainely that is to say intelligibly opening and declaring the things which seemed obscure III. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Iosephus in his 12. and in his 16. Chapter of his booke of the Empire of reason describes the Martyrdome of seven brethren and of their mother by the crueltie of King Antiochus th' illustrious and saith that the mother exhorted her children and especially the yongest to die constantly for the law of God and that shee spake to them in the Hebrew tongue It is to be presumed shee spake in Hebrew that shee might not bee understood by Antiochus who was a Grecian and seeing shee spake thus to the youngest and least it appeares that then amongst the Iewes even women and children spake Hebrew IIII. In the fourth Chapter of Saint Luke verse 16. and following our Lord Iesus being in the Synagogue of Nazareth taketh the booke of the Prophet Esay and reades before the people a long passage of Esay then addeth This day is accomplished this Scripture which you heare which words doe witnesse that the auditors and by-standers well understood the words of that place Is it credible that in the Synagogues of the Iewes the Scriptures were read in a tongue not understood seeing that in the Scriptures God speakes to the people to the end to be understood V. In the 22. of the Acts verse 2. the Apostle Saint Paul makes an oration to the Iewes in the Hebrew tongue which made them the more attentive Which he would not have done if they had not understood it And this Apostle would not have spoken to a people in a tongue not understood as also the sequell of the Chapter especially the 22. verse sheweth that the Iewes understood him very well CHAP. VII That the Primitive Christian Church thorow out the whole world used a tongue understood in the publique service HEre wee have for us the whole Primitive Church It is a thing without all contestation and witnessed by the Ancients that every countrey and nation even unto the most barbarous had the holy Scriptures translated into their vulgar tongues to the end that the people might be instructed by the reading of them Chrysostome in the first Homilie upon the 8. of Saint Iohn a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Syrians Egyptians Indians Persians Ethiopians and infinite other nations having translated into their tongues the instructions propounded by him to wit by Saint Iohn being barbarous people have learned to be lovers of wisdome And Theodoret in his 5. Sermon of the meanes how to correct the indispositions of the Grecians b Theod. Graec. affectionum curationis Sermon 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Hebrew hath not onely beene translated into Greeke but into the Latine into the Egyptian Persian Indian Armenian Scythique yea and even into the Polonian and to speake in a word into all languages which the nations use at this day Saint Hierome translated the Bible into the Dalmatick tongue as himselfe witnesseth in his Epistle to c Hieron Sophronio Quorum translationem diligentissimè emendatam olim meae linguae hominibus dederim Sophronius Saint Augustnie in his booke of Christian doctrine Chap. 5. d Ex quo factum est ut etiam Scriptâ—ra Divina qua tautiâ— mor bis humanarum
faith That it might not bee thought that hee spake onely of the Greeks and Latines who at that time were alreadie of diverse beleefes and separated in Communion one from the other and this not onely in some few places In plerisque partibus but in most parts and places Isidore in his first booke of Ecclesiasticall Offices Chap. 10. e Est autem lectio non parua audientium aedificatio Vnde oportet ut quando psallitur ab omnibus psallatuâ— cum oratur oretur ab omnibus Quando lectio legitur facto silentio aequè audiatur à cunctis Reading is no small edification to them that heare Whence it is meet that when the Psalmes are said or sung they should bee said or sung by all and when prayer is said it should be said by all and when reading is in hand that it be heard with reverent silence of all And yet even unto this day in the Church of Rome the order of reading is conferd by the Bishop pronouncing to him these words f Studete verba Dei videlicet lectiones sacrâ—s distinctè aneâ—rè ad intelligentiam aedificationem fidelium ab que omni meâ—dacio falsitatis proferâ—e c. quatenus auditores vestros verbo patiter exemplo vestro docere possitis Study you to pronounce the words of God that is to say the sacred lessons distinctly and plainely to the end that the faithfull may understand them and be edified by them without all error of falshood And alitle after In such sort that you may instruct your Auditors both by word and by example This is found extant in the Pontificall deformed by Pope Clement the Eighth in the Chapt of the ordination of Readers This forme of ordination is ancienter then the abuse which crept in afterward And I wonder at this that the said Pope having corrected many things in the Pontificall caused not this clause utterly to bee expung'd and put out which enwraps and infolds in flat periurie the readers of the Church of Rome who are bound in their ordination to reade in such sort and manner that the faithfull may understand their readings and that they may edifie their hearers for in making them reade the Scriptures in Latine they bereave them of the meanes to accomplish that promise which they have made unto God Wherefore Iohn Bellet in his recitall of Cassander in his Summe of divine Offices in the Prologue after hee had commended the custome of the Primitive Church wherein it was not permitted any thing should be spoken in the Church in a strange language without a present addition of the interpretation thereof hee addeth g Quid autem in nostris temporibus est agendum vbi nullus vel rarus invenitur legens vel audiens quod intelligat videns vel agens quod aâ—â—maduertat Iam videtur esse completum quod à Propheta dict ur Et erit sacerdos quasi de populo vnus Videtur ergò potiù◠essâ— tacendum quam psallendum potiùs silendum quam tripudiandum What couâ—se must we take in these our times wherein either none or but very few are found that understand what they reade or what they heare that seeth or practiseth what they observe now seemeth to be come to passe that which was said by the Prophet The Priest shall be as one of the people It seemeth then that it were better to be silent then to sing and rather to hold our peace then to danse Thus derided hee the singing and mimique gestures of the Priest All the Churches of the world which are not subiect to the Pope yea and even some of them which are subject to him are for us in this point For in Greece the service is said in Greeke and by more then a thousand yeares after Iesus Christ the tongue of the liturgie was the vulgar tongue and now whereas by the empire of the Turks and by the abolishing of schooles and learning the tongue is altered yet so it is that the vulgar Greeke is not so farre corrupted that the Greeke of the liturgie is not understood of the people and if it were otherwise yet so it is that the example of antiquitie by the space of a thousand yeares upward ought to be more considerable with us then the corruption of but yesterdaies birth Cassiodore who writ about the yeare 520. or 530. of our Lord hath an excellent passage upon this subject upon the Psalme 44. h Perscrutemur cur Ecclesia Dei de vestis varietate laudetur cui totum simplex convenit atque unum Sed hic varietatem aut linguas multiplices significat quia omnes gen tes secundum suam patriam in Ecclesia psallunt ut authori virtutum pulcherimam diversitatem demonstrent Let us carefully seeke out why the Church of God is praised and commended for her varietie of partie coloured garments But here this signifieth the varietie or diversitie of tongues for that all nations said the Psalter in the Church according to their severall tongues of their countries to shew forth unto the author of virtues a most beautifull diversitie Harding i Hardingus lib. de precibus linguae peregâ— Sect. 38. Quae gentes preces publicas vernaculo semper sermone habuerunt c. quales sunt Moscovitae Armenij Aethiopes c. Ruscianis Moravis alijsque quibusdam anie 600. ab hinc annos permissum fuit ut Missam lingua Dalmatica celebrarent acknowledgeth that the Muscouits Armenians and Ethiopians have ever had their publique prayers in their vulgar tongue and that to the Russians Moravians and to other people it was permitted from about 600. yeares to have the service in the Dalmatick tongue The Churches of the Abissines or Ethiopians have their service in the Ethiopian tongue as witnesseth Francis Aluares a Portugall Munck who lived seaven yeares in the Court of the Great Neguz of Ethiope in his 3. Chap. of his Ethiopian Historie k Et in tanto consecra nella sua lingua con le proprie nostre parole non la lieva Et il medesimo fa nel calice non l'alza Dice sopra quello le proprie nostre parolo nella sua lingua Onely saith he he consecrates in his owne with our very words and he makes no elevation he doth the same over the cup and elevates it not and saith over the same our very words in his owne tongue Cassander in his Liturgicks hath translated these very words of Alvares into Latine Who also in the 15. Chapter of the same booke cites the commentaries of Sigismund Liber De rebus Muscoviticis speaking thus l In singulis templis unicum tantum altare in dies singulos unum quod que sacrum faciendum putant To tum sacrum seu Missa gentili ac vernacula lingua apud illos peragi solet The Muscovites have but one altar in every temple and thinke that every day they ought to celebrate
Masse Chap. 17. seemeth to condescend and to yeeld as much touching these prayers for hee saith that they are not very ancient that untill within these five huÌ„dred yeares they were not said in the Church of Rome for there are five prayers in ranke of like nature in that part of the Masse which is called the offertorie the which this so renowned Cardinall hath beene bould to accuse of noveltie and hath observed that Innocent the III. who writ of the Masse in the yeare 1214. hath made no mention of them But that by these prayers the Priest makes an oblation and offers in sacrifice unconsecrated bread Bellarmine acacknowledgeth it in his first booke of the Masse Chap. 27. saying c Bellarm. c. 27. §. Primo Negari non debet panem vinum aliquo modo in Missa offerri proinde pertinere ad rem quae sacrificatur Haec propositio patet primum ex ipsa Liturgia Nam cum ante consecrationem dicimus Suscipe sancte Pater hanc immaculatam hostiam certè pronomen HANC demonstrat ad sensum id quod tunc manibus tenemus id autem panis est Et similes sunt in Liturgia non paucae sententiae quae panem offerri manifestissimè demonstrant It must not bee denied that bread and wine are in some manner offered in the Masse This may appeare first of all by the Liturgie it selfe for when before consecration wee say Suscipe sancte pater hanc immaculatam Hostiam Receive ô holy father this immaculate Hoast Certainely this Pronounce HANC demonstrates sensibly that which we then hold in our hands but it is bread which we hold And in the Liturgie so hee calls the Masse there are many sentences which manifestly shew that bread is offered Behold here then in the Masse an Hoast offered in sacrifice for the sinnes of the quick and of the dead which is not the bodie of Christ but unconsecrated bread But as concerning that which the said Cardinall saith that these prayers are new and brought in within these five hundred yeares he saith true in some sort It is true that it is a very new thing to sacrifice unto God unconsecrated bread for the sinnes of men But to call the bread and the wine of the holy Supper which the people brought and which the Pastor offered unto God sacrifices and holy oblations it is a thing very ancient and a prayer conformable to the Word of God which calls Almes prayers and al holy actions sacrifices d Bellarm. Ibid. §. Deinde Veteres Patres passim ita tradunt Ireneus lib. 4. cap 32. dicit Ecclesiam offerre Deo sacrificium ex creaturis id est ex pane vino Cyprianus lib. 2. Epist 3. dicit Christum obtulisse patricalicem vino aqua mistum Et in sermone de eleemosyna reprehendens divites foeminas quae non adferebant panem consecrandum Locuples inquit dives in Dominicum sine sacrificio venis partem de sacrificio quod pauper obtulit sumis Vbi per sacrificium panem intelligit qui per sacerdotes Deo sacrificandus erat The fathers of the first Ages spake thus So spake Ireneus in his 4. booke Chap. 32. saying The Church offereth to God a sacrifice of his creatures that is to say of bread and wine And Cyprian in the Epistle 3. of the 2. booke saith that Christ offered unto his Father a Cup blended with wine and water And in his Sermon Of Almes reproving the rich women that brought not bread to Church for an offering said unto them Thou rich and wealthy woman that commest to the Supper of the Lord without a sacrifice that takest part of the sacrifice which the poore hath offered Where it is evident that by these sacrifices he calls the offerings of bread and of wine not consecrated brought by the people as freely acknowledgeth the same Cardinall in the same place But that which is more expresse in this matter is that the Priest on Christmasse day adioyneth e Oblata Domine munera nova unigeniti tui nativitate sanctifica O Lord Hallow by the new birth of thy Sonne these offerings which we have offered unto thee He speaketh of an oblation already offered and yet this is spoken before consecration The title of the 24. Canon of the third Councill of Carthage is such f Vt in sacrificio tantùm panis calix offeratur That in sacrifice nothing be offered but bread and the Cup. g Ipse Canon Vt in Sacramentis corporis sanguinis Domi i nihil amplâ—ùs offeratur quà m ipse Dominus tradidit hoc est panis vinum aqua mixtum Nec ampliùs in sacrificijs offeratur quà m de uvis frumentis And in the Text of the Canon there is That in the Sacraments of the bodie and blood of our Lord nothing bee offered but what the Lord hath ordained namely of bread and of wine mingled with water and that nothing bee offered in sacrifices but that which commeth of the grape and wheat XIIII But behold here the things which as much or more then the precedent would give the people a very strong impression and would discover unto them the abuses of the Masse were it but pronounced with an audible voice in the vulgar tongue The Priest in the beginning of the Masse saith his Confiteor in these words h Confiteor Deo omnipotenti beatae Matiae semper Virgini beato Iohanni Baptistae sanctis Apostolis â—etro Paulo omnibus Sanctis vobis fratres quia peccavi nimis cogitatione verbo opere Mea culpa mea culpa mea maxima culpa Ideò precor bâ—atam Mariam semper Virginem beâ—tum Michaâ—lem Archangâ—lum beatum Iohannem Baptuâ—â—aâ— sanctos Apostostolâ—â—ke trum Paulum omnes Sanctoâ— vos fratres orate pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum I confesse unto Almighty God and to the blessed Marie ever a Virgin To blessed Iohn Baptist to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul to all the Saints and to you brethren I have too exceedingly sinned in thought word and deed Mine offence mine offence mine exceeding great offence Wherefore I beseech the blessed Marie ever a Virgin the blessed Michael Archangell the blessed Iohn Baptist the holy Apostles Peter and Paul all the Saints and you brethren to pray for me unto the Lord our God In this confession the Priest confesseth his sinnes to the dead departed this life contrarie to the example of all the prayers and confessions which are found in the Scriptures all which are made unto God onely For even as it is God onely whom we have especially offended Tibi soli peccavi Psalme 51. verse 6. I have sinned against thee onely so also is it God alone that can forgive us our sinnes and it is he alone that understands the prayers of the heart because hee it is onely that knowes the hearts of men 2. Chron. 6. ver 30. and it
is to be noted that by the 23. Canon of the third Councill of Carthage it is expresly forbidden to direct in the Eucharist any prayer to any other then to the person of the Father Vt cum altari assistitur semper ad Patrem dirigatur oratio not permitting so much as to addresse it onely to the person of the Sonne How much lesse would these fathers have suffered that in the Eucharist there should be offered prayers to Saints and to Angells XV. But that which is yet worse in this confession is that the Priest prayeth to have for intercessors unto God the Archangell Michael Iohn Baptist Peter and Paul c. never so much as making in one word mention of the intercession of Iesus Christ who neverthelesse went up into heaven of purpose to make request for us as Saint Paul teacheth us Rom. 8. verse 33. We have an Advocate with the Father to wit Iesus Christ the righteous For he it is who is the propitiation for our sinnes 1 Iohn 2. ver 1. and 2. thus in their Letanies they say to every Saint Ora pro nobis But unto Iesus Christ Miserere nobis dispoiling him of the office of Intercessor XVI That if the Masse were said in English would not the people bee offended hearing the Priest saying in his entering into the Masse We beseech thee Oramus te Domine per mertia Sanctorum quorum reliqâ—iae hic sunt ut indulgere digneris omni peccata mea Lord by the merits of the Saints whose reliques are herevnder that thou wilt vouchsafe to forgive mee all my sinnes What would the people say must then the Lords Table needs be changed into a Sepulcher And must the Masse bee said ouer dead-mens bones And why is salvation prayed for thorow the merits of the Saints As if Iesus Christ had not sufficiently satisfied for us or as if to obtaine remission of our sinnes it were behovefull that men that have beene sinners and that have had need of pardon themselves doe merit the remission of our sinnes for us For the effecting whereof must there bee found out payments for debts already payed and for which Iesus Christ hath fully satisfied And if the Saints have merited any thing God in giving them eternall salvation hath more then sufficiently payed them their merits It is a point of iniustice to will that the same money should serve to make two purchases when scarcely they have beene sufficient for to compasse the first Besides they told us that the Saints are not Mediators of redemption but onely of intercession but now I see that the Masse speakes of them as of mediators of redemprion in as much as it saith that they have deserved for us salvation and remission of our sinnes XVII But if the people knew that amongst these Saints whose bones are stooved up under the Altar and unto whose merits the Priest hath recourse that there are many of them whose Sanctitie is very doubtfull namely those whom the Pope hath foisted into the Catalogue of his Saints with commandement to call upon them and that of those reliques the greatest part of them are false and suborned Buckler or shield of faith in the Chapt. of the invocation of Saints and that many of these Saints never were men being imaginarie persons or forged at pleasure as we have elsewhere shewed they would bee yet much more astonisht and would grone under the burthen of so cruell a captivitie XVIII The people likewise would have a iust ground to bee offended knowing that the Priest in private Masses and without assistants saith Orate fratres c. pray brethren c. For who are these brethren to whom he speaketh being all alone Pope Innocent III. in the second booke of the Mysteries of the Masse Piè creden dum est sacris authoritatibus comprobatur quod Angeli comites assistaÌ„t orantibus Chap. 25. answereth that these brethren are the Angells But the words immediatly following contradict his answer Pray my brethren that my sacrifice and yours may bee acceptable unto almighty God For this sacrifice is not made for Angels nor by Angels As also that if these words Pray ye my brethren bee directed to Angels even so also these words Take ye eate ye will bee directed unto them and so must wee beleeve that in solitarie Masses the Angels are present in the roome of the people to eate XIX But what would the people say hearing these words of the Canon of the Masse Communicantes memoriam venerantes imprimis gloriosae semperque Virginis Mariae Communicating and honouring the memorie chiefly of the glorious and ever a Virgin Mary To what purpose is it to say Communicating together when none communicates But who could endure that the Communion of the holy Sacrament should bee celebrated IN THE FIRST PLACE for the honour the memorie of the Virgin Mary Seeing that the Institution of the Sacred Supper by Iesus Christ carieth it expresly that it is instituted in remembrance of Iesus Christ who said Doe this in remembrance of me By this relation Iesus Christ should have said Doe this IN THE FIRST PLACE in remembrance of my Mother We ought to speake of the holy and blessed Virgin with all respect and reverence but for all this ought wee not to change the nature of the Sacred Supper nor to divert or alienate it from it true end For it is instituted to shew forth the Lords death but not to shew forth the death of the holy Virgin sith shee suffered not death for our redemption XX. Some comfort had it beene if the Priest having said that this communion is celebrated in the first place to honour the mememorie of the blessed Virgin he had added that it is likewise done in the remembrance of Iesus Christ But this is it which hee omits i Communicantes memoriam venerantes imprimis gloriosae semperque virginis Mariae genetricis Dei Domini nostri Iesu Christi sed beatorum Apostolo rum ac martâ—â—um tuorum Petri Pauli c. Lini Gleri Clementis c. Cosmae Damiani omnium Sanctorum tuorum quorum meritis precibusque rogaâ—â—nus ut in omnibus protectionis tuae muniamur auxilio per eundem Christum c. Communicating and honouring the memorie in the first place of the glorious ever Virgin Marie Mother of our God and Lord Iesus Christ but likewise of all thy holy Apostles Peter Paul c. Cosmus and Damian and all thy Saints by the merits and prayers of whom wee beseech thee that in all things we may be furnished with the succours of thy protection by the same Iesus Christ our Lord. He maketh indeed mention of Iesus Christ but hee doth not say that this communion is done in his memorie onely he saith that in the first place hee celebrates the memory of the Virgin Mary and next the memorie of the Saints amongst whom hee thrusts in many Popes And alwaies falls backe upon
infancie all them that the Sex distinguisheth unto the body or the age unto time Set farre away from hence thou that commanding Lord every uncleane spirit let all wickednesse of diabolicall fraud keepe farre away let the mixture of any contrary power here have place let it not hover over about it to lay any ambushes let it not slide in covertly let it not corrupt by annoying it Let this holy and innocent creature be free from all assaults of the enemie and be purged by the departure of all wickednesse Let this water be a living well a regenerating water a purifying wave that all they that shall be washed in this wholesome lavor the holy Ghost working in them may obtaine indulgence of perfect purgation wherefore I blesse thee creature of water by the living God †by the true God †by the holy God †by the God who in the beginning by his word separated thee from the dry land c. Then hee breathes upon the water in forme of a Crosse and prayes that those waters may be efficatious to purifie the understanding and dipping the taper three times into the water he saith Let the power of the holy Ghost descend in fulnesse upon this fountaine Then he blowes thrise upon the water in this figure †Then powreth hee oyle and creame into it in forme of a Crosse There is even as much sense in all these words as efficacie in the ceremonie I thinke some broken-winded Monke whose braine swarmed out extravagant conceptions made these prayers in an ignorant age or that some profane fellow sported him selfe in ridiculous termes to mocke God XXV Thus when they consecrate salt the Bishop or Priest saith I conjure thee creature salt c. And speaking to salt as if it understood him gives it power against evill spirits In the mass-Masse-booke which is in use at Paris in the Masse of the holy Virgin Mary is extant a Passage which saith O faelix puerpera nostra pians scelera iure matris impera redemptori O thou happie woman in childbed who expiatest our sinnes command by the right of a mother the redeemer XXVI These things and many other the like wherewith swarmeth the whole Romish service could they but bee pronounced in English without exasperating the minds and without moving in some distate in other some laughter in others execration Who would laugh hearing the Priest saying in the beginning of the Masse Ad Deum qui laetificat iuventutem meam Vnto God that gladds my youth Albeit this Priest have a gray head In a word the whole body of the Romish service principally the Canon of the Masse is composed in such a manner that I doubt not but that the Popes would willingly correct many things in it if it were in their power and that they would make the same alteration which they have made in the Masses of the Saints out of which the Popes Pius the V. and Clement the VIII have rased out many Proofes and prayers to the Saints which are still extant in most of the Masse-bookes In the which Canon that which most displeaseth our Adversaries is that there are many clauses which contradict Merits Purgatorie and Transubstantiation In private Masses In the Communion under one kinde and in an unknowne tongue and that it is evident that the prayers of this Canon are in a manner all made to bee said over the Almes and over the bread and wine and not over the bodie of our Lord. Syn. Trid. Session XXII Can. 6. Si quis dixerit Canonem Missae errores continere ideoque abrogandū esse anathema sit But they dare not touch this peece because the Councill of Trent in the XXII Session thundreth and Anathematiseth every man that shall say that in the Canon of the Masse there is any thing to bee corrected they have bound their owne hands by this decree This is the sole remedie that remaines for them to estrange the people from the understanding of the Masse whereunto serveth the barbarous tongue and the lowe murmur and the confused and inarticulate singing thereof CHAP. X. An examination of our Adversaries reasons especially of those of Mounsieur the Cardinal du Perron AS touching the prayers of particulars in a tongue not understood so much as by him himselfe that prayeth our adversaries cast downe the bucklers and defend not themselves but abandon their cause onely they say That it is the Church For this word Church is a covert and starting hole for every sort of abuse and a playster for every sore This is it they oppose against the Word of God and unto all antiquitie unto reason and unto common sense which in this point are contrarie to the now Church of Rome of this time But as for the publick service in an unknowne tongue not understood our adversaries propound some slender reasons which we must examine I. They say that the title of the Crosse was writ by Pilate in three tongues in Hebrew Greeke and Latine they will have Pilate that was a Pagan Iudge give this law to the Christian Church For being a man of great prudence it is to be presumed that he had a care that the Masse should bee sung in a fit tongue Thus Pilates authoritie carieth it away above the Word of God and against the examples of Iesus Christ of the Prophets and of the Apostles That if according to the custome of the Romanes the title of the Crosse had beene written but in one tongue then should they not by this reason sing the Masse but in one tongue or if Pilate had writ nothing the Masse had not beene sung at all Du Perron lib. 6. of his book against the King of great Brittaine II. They have no better grace when they say that it is expedient that divine service be said thorowout and in all places in the same tongue that strangers may understand it This reason contradicts the former for if it be expedient that divine service be said in one and the same tongue every where then shall we be forced not to rest upon the inscription of the Crosse in three tongues and we shall be driven to say service in one onely tongue thorowout the whole universall Church By the same reason Sermons ought to be made every where in the same tongue in favour of strangers Certainely the service in Latine doth in no measure at all comfort the strangers that are in France For of these strangers three fourth parts at the least understand not the Latine and there will bee found in France ten times moe strangers which understand the French then the Latine And these strangers which understand the Latine cannot understand the Masse whereof a great part is pronounced in so low a voice that they that are neere the Priest cannot heare his voice But what shadow of reason is there for it that in favour of a few strangers which are in great townes all the people of France must be deprived of the understanding