in Scripture then are we bound to believe it for this is a general crime in this Age that men think nothing can be true if their narrow capacities cannot comprehend it as if all the mysteries of our Faith were so open for every ones understanding to enter the knowledge of them which if they were so then there were no need of Faith because Faith is onely required in those things our natures cannot comprehend and so might every Turk and Pagan be as good a Believer as a Christian therefore for the redress of this evil we are to understand whether Christ gave this power to his Apostles or no for if they had the power to pardon sins as being the Heads of his Church the same power must remain to their Successours in that Church because otherwise all succeeding Ages would receive no benefit by that gift which our Saviour gave for the good of us all that lay hold of it And to prove that they had this power is plain and easie enough first from Saint Matthews Gospel where our Saviour telling Saint Peter he would build his Church on him he saith Mat. 16. v. 18 19. And I will give thee the Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt binde on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven by which it is clear that he had a great power given him to pardon or not to pardon and that those which he did not pardon on earth should not be pardoned in heaven which is the same in Gods Church to this day and therefore let every one consider what reason they have to be members of it by which consists our eternal salvation Again our Saviour tells his Disciples in general saying Whatsoever ye shall binde on earth shall be bound in heaven Mat. 18. v. 18. and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven by which it is plain that they had this power of remission of sins and to deny the same power to their Successours in Gods Church would in my esteem be very unreasonable And as in all other points of Faith the contempt of them proceeds from a want of a right understanding of them as I have shown elsewhere so is it the same in this for it is buzzed in poor peoples ears Can man pardon sins or can Priests forgive us or the Pope absolve us without any consideration of the nature of it at all for if we rightly understood our selves or did but consult with reason we should soon be undeceived in this mystery For in the first place know that it is the gift of Christ himself and therefore not to be questioned by any man Secondly Priests cannot pardon sins by any natural power they have more then other men but by a supernatural grace from God we know and confess that it appertains to God onely by nature to pardon sins and so doth many other things as working of Miracles and casting out of Devils and healing the sick and the like which power we know God hath given unto men as well as the other proved by Christ himself where he speaking of all that truly believed in him saith he These signes shall follow Mark 16. v. 17 18. in my name shall they cast out Devils they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up Serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover now it is certain all these excellencies appertains to God by nature but if he is pleased to give this power to men what reason have we to question or be offended with it which power is equal to that of remission of sins and we see are both given to men by God Thirdly we are to consider that Priests do not pardon our sinnes immediately from themselves but Ministerially as when they apply the words of Absolution on us God hath promised to pardon us otherwayes he will not John 20. v. 23. as Christ saith Whose sins ye remit they are remitted and whose sins ye retain they are retained so that you see this is plainly true if you dare believe Christ himself Now that this may not seem strange to you do but consider that great vertue that is in Baptisme where by the application of water and a few words by the Priest or Minister the childe is pardoned of all its original sin now it is not the Minister nor Water nor words that pardons the Childe but God himself who is pleased by them and that means to do it and yet it is so far from dishonouring God that he is honoured by it because it is his holy will it should be so and this all Protestants believe which is as great a gift of God to mankinde as is the other and by all people thus plainly understood will not appear so strange and monstrous as they are made believe it is now we may plainly see how far those kinde of men are from being in Gods Church that do not onely not practise this truth but rail against and contemn it though it be published by our Blessed Saviour himself for the good of the whole world Again consider if God had not ordained this in his Church how should we know that our sins are pardoned by God at all or when they are so pardoned but that he hath promised when they do it on earth he will do it in heaven and this is our onely assurance and as it were a mark by which we know our sins are pardoned that we may thank his Divine Name for it which otherwise we should be very uncertain when to do I shall conclude this Chapter with that wholesome Counsel of St. Augustine who desireth That none make doubt of the Priests right in Remission of Sins Aug. No. Test q. 53 seeing the Holy Ghost is purposely given them to do the same in which case if any be yet contentious he must deny the Holy Ghost to be God and not to have power to pardon sins And onely adde that of St. Ambrose who saith St. Amb. lib. 1. c 7. de peuitent Why should it be more dishonour to God or more impossible or inconvenient for men to forgive sins by Pennance then by Baptisme seeing that it is the Holy Ghost that doth it by the Priests Office and Ministery in both Chap. 13. Proving the Churches Vniversality and that no Church is or can be Catholick but the Roman against the Opinion of Protestants OF all the great actions that God hath openly done for mankinde there is none that he hath declared more apparently then that his Church should be spread in all parts and corners of the whole world to the intent that all Nations hearing the sound of the Gospel there could be none that might plead any ignorance in the not hearing of it Now as this shall be proved by the words of Christ himself
To the Reader AMongst all the Miseries that attend our Humane Frailty there is none to be so much bewailed as the stupidity of our mindes which renders us worse then beasts and deprives us of that felicity for which we were Created which was to fill up the glorious places of the Lapsed Angels and so have been happy to all eternity the verity of this will plainly appear when we consider the madness of this our present Age where People suck in Errour as Children do Milk from their Mothers Breasts and unadvisedly repel Truth as one would do a Serpent that attempts their ruine they hiss at those that invites them to Happiness and hug the Preachers of their Misery that imbrace all kindes of Novelties and kick against ancient verities that cry out the Bible the Bible and yet believe nothing in it more then their own Fancies dictate to them Now that these people of which there is too many may a little see and know their own Errours I shall in this following Discourse prove that their own Bibles which they pretend to confide in both is and shall be their assured Judge to condemn their erroneous opinions as also their guide being rightly understood to the knowledge of the Truth as also make it appear that all the chief points of Religion which Protestants deny and Roman Catholicks practice is found and commanded in their own Bibles by which will appear with what partial eyes they have looked upon Scripture that read it over so often and cannot see those places which pointeth Gods Church and the Faith thereof so plainly to them for it is indeed with these kinde of people as it is with the Jews to this day who though they read in the Old Testament the Prophecies which plainly foretold Christs coming his Life and dolorous Death yet are so blinded with unbelief that they cannot understand the same so all that are now out of Gods Church read and tumble over the Old and New Testament and yet cannot see the plain places which all Christians are bound to believe under the peril of damnation and all this is because men have presumptuous mindes in trusting to their own understandings and will not relye on Gods Church which plainly shews them to her Members when none else can because she onely is guided in all truth by the Holy Ghost to the end of the world All therefore that I shall desire of every Protestant Reader is onely this that he minde and look closely to every Text of Scripture here quoted and what is said with an impartial eye and observe well how Scripture and reason concur in the truth of what is treated of concerning our Faith which is so much slandered by their teachers and others for though it be lightly made on by some yet they shall one day finde that the diligent search after truth was one of the main things for which we were sent into the world which truth being practised in Gods Church is here plainly proved which though not delicately dressed with crafty Sentences but in poor and simple style may I hope produce the desired effects for which it was intended that is that all deceived people may finde the way to Gods Church that all Ignorance and Errours may be banished and Truth take place that true Religion may flourish as a green Bay-Tree and Heresies and Factions wither as Plants without rain that living all our lives in communion with Gods Church we may at last enjoy that blessed end for which we were created THE Catholick Mirrour Chap. 1. This is to prove the Verity of the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour and that it is really so contrary to Protestants Opinion THe Misbelief of these times is such that it may give a just astonishment to all true Christians especially when they consider how little Faith many have in this most Blessed Sacrament and that there is no one thing our Blessed Saviour did so much inculcate to us in his whole life concerning any point of Faith as this he very well knowing the greatness of the Mystery and the smallness of our Faith it is in Holy Scripture often mentioned to be really his Body and Blood because we may plead no excuse by any mistake of one place alone and first you shall see how this Blessed Sacrament was prefigured to us in the Old Testament by the holy men of God and his Prophets as in Exodus 16.15 concerning the Manna which came down from Heaven to the Israelites to feed their Bodies so that foretold of this Spiritual Manna which feeds our Souls for should not this Blessed Sacrament be of greater value then Protestants make of it who say it is barely Bread and a Figure onely of Christ his Body then this Manna which was indeed a Figure would be of greater validity then that which it prefigured which is very absurd to think A second Figure we finde in Scripture is that Holy Bread of Proposition Exod. 25 Lev. 24. v. 5.6 7. or Shew-Bread which because it was a Figure of this most Holy Sacrament was to be made and eaten with such purity that none but sanctified persons was to eat of it to shew with what purity and reverence we ought to approach these Holy Mysteries The third Figure in Holy Writ is the Paschal Lamb Exod. 12. v. 3.4 5 6 c. an eminent Figure of this Sacrament wherein you may observe what Ceremonies God exacted from the Jews in the eating of it although but a Type of this from whence we may gather that this which Christ hath Instituted is to be had in a far higher esteem amongst Christians as requiring greater Faith in the believing of it and reverence in the receiving The fourth Figure was the Ark Exod. 25.10.11 12. whereof the Holy Doctor Saint Thomas saith 1.2 q. 102. ar That even as the Ark was made of the Wood of Sethim that is of pure and shining Cedar even so the Body of our Lord consisteth of most pure Members Again the Ark was gilded both within and without the which gilding signifieth the Wisdom and Charity of Christ our Lord. In the Ark were three things 1. There was a golden Pot wherein was kept Manna and was a figure of the Soul of Christ which containeth all plenitude of Sanctity and Divinity 2. There was the Rod of Aaron which signified the Priestly Power of Christ and as the Ark stood in the Tabernacle covered with a Vail even so Christ lyeth hidden in this Divine Sacrament under the Forms and Accidents of Bread and Wine which we must discover with the eyes of Divine Faith according to Saint Paul That Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen 3. There was in the Arke the two tables of Stone to signifie that Christ should be a Law-giver and this being one of his greatest Laws to believe in him let us take him at his word and thank
now and yet might as well have pretended the spirit as they since we see he was so well given as to go so far from his own Countrey to worship God in Jerusalem and to read the Bible in his going home In like manner our Saviour meeting with two of his Disciples going to Emaus Luke 24. v. 27 45. after his Resurrection it is said he expounded to them all the Scriptures and when they were altogether he appeared to them and opened their understandings that they might know the Scriptures from whence we may justly gather that if his Disciples and Apostles which were so conversant with Christ in his life-time were so ignorant of Scripture as not to know the meaning of the Prophets which foretold his Resurrection the third day and other Mysteries of his Death and sufferings what ignorance then have we or at least we ought to think so that never had those large means that the Apostles had but such is the miserable state of these unhappy times that many think themselves more wise and more holy then the Apostles were or then the whole Church of God is now and I think in time they will like Lucifer suppose themselves equal to God himself Thus having sufficiently proved the difficulty of understanding the Scripture with the danger of expounding it to our own private sense together with what course to follow in knowing the true meaning which is by adhering to Gods holy Church I will conclude with that saying of Saint Augustine Augustin l. 1. cont Crescon Then do we hold saith he the verity of the Scriptures when we do that which now seemeth good to the Universal Church which the authority of Scripture themselves do commend so that forasmuch as the holy Scripture cannot deceive whosoever then is afraid to be deceived with the obscurity of questions let him therein ask counsel of the same Church which the holy Scripture most certainly and evidently pointeth and sheweth unto us Chap. 16. Proving the necessity of the Churches Divine Servince to be said in the Latine Tongue or in one Language in all places of the world where it is exercised contrary to Protestants Opinion DId all Christians follows the counsel of our Blessed Saviour in his commanding us to submit and adhere to Gods Church there would not be such quarrellings in our mindes nor bad speeches from our mouths against her holy Institutions which though sometimes have not an apparent rise from Scripture yet are ordained in the Church by the instinct of the Holy Ghost who as I said is alwayes with her to direct her in all her proposals to us concerning our Salvation and as we may reasonably think that as God hath committed to her charge the dispensation of the holy Sacraments to us and other high qualities so he hath invested her with power to Ordain Constitute and Decree any thing that may be to the good and benefit of the same Church which Decrees and Constitutions we are bound to observe and without any difficulty in Conscience may so long as it is not against Gods word but rather agreeable to the same amongst which things that are thus constituted by the Church this of the Latine Service is one which I shall prove to be somewhat agreeable to Scripture and altogether to Reason and the practice of the Church of God in all Ages First we will observe something pertinent to this in Saint Lukes Gospel wheere he declares Luke 1. v. 10. that when Zacharias the Priest was offering and praying to God in the Temple for himself and all the people that the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of his offering Incense by which it appears that they knew not what he said nor understood any thing of it which is now the main objection against us in this point by our Adversaries but to satisfie these people we are to take notice that the publick or common Service of Gods Church being compos'd of Sucrifice Prayers and Thanksgivings is therefore chiefly designed for the honour and glory of God as being every day offered up to him by the Priests and not for the edification of the people so much by understanding it as by the benefit they receive and partake of being present at it for when the Priest saith the service of the Church he offers it to God for himself 1 Cor. 14 v. 2. Heb 5. v. 1.2 3. for the people present for the whole Church or for any other necessities of people that are absent so that it matters not whether they understand him or no since they have as much benefit of his Prayers as if they did for if they heard him not speak a word it were the same thing so long as God both hears him and understands him to whom it is offered and designed for in Sacrifice Prayer and Thanksgiving the Priests spak to God and not to the people for example when any man lies sick or in distress at home he sends to the Church to be prayed for by the Minister and Congregation now shall we think because he hears nor understands not those which pray for him that he hath no benefit by their prayers this were absurd to think for then we should be never the better for our Saviours Intercession to his heavenly Father for us whom we understand not nor know when nor for what he intercedes to him and yet we all receive much good by it and so we do in the Priestâ— saying the Divine Service who representeth the place of our Saviour on earth to mediate for us and we are assured that the effectual servent prayers of a righteous man prevaileth much James 5. v. 16. whether we hear and understand them or no but yet to discover the folly of those that impugne this practise they may please to take notice that the Latine tongue is not so much unknown or understood as it is thought it is for if there was any need to understand the Service as I have proved there is not there be many thousands of our Church and others that understand the Latine Tongue and those people that do not are so well instructed by the Church that with the instruction and the custom of hearing Mass they know when to kneel and when to stand when to pray and when to give thanks when to do reverence and when not besides most of the Service they have in their English Books and may know any part of the rest when they will if there were any need as there is none so that it is not said in Latine because the common people should not understand it as Hereticks falsly report but for a great necessity and convenience in the Church as I shall suddenly prove but first it is observable that though the common people in England read th Bible in English yet they understand not half of it nor which is worse are never made to understand it yet Protestants will say they must