relied not upon any Hypothesis but upon the received Custom of the Church And that he did rely upon as is confessed But he did not in the least rely upon any thing at all of the pretended Sibyl Nor hath this Champion produced I think any one Proof that either Tertullian or any other of the Ancient or Modern Christians did at all rely upon any such Authority for that Practice but all unanimously relied upon Tradition from the Apostles His whole Book is full of Fallacy and Deceit and of the very Spirit and Genius of an Heretick who makes no scruple to abuse the whole Church of Christ and the most Excellent Persons in it to maintain his own Principles It is certain that divers of the great Truths of Christianity were known to the Gentiles long before and received by Tradition from the Common Parents of Mankind but received as Articles of Faith by Christians upon the Authority of Christ and his Apostles And such was this which he fathers upon an Impostor and pretends the Church received it from him without any Proof of either whereas if he was a Christian it is much more likely that he received the Hypothesis from the Practice of the Church at that time and is therefore rather an Evidence of it Other matters of this Book have been considered by learned Men of our own Country and I think I need say no more of this with any regard to him But as to the Practice besides all this positive and Affirmative Evidence I do deny that any competent Evidence can be produced among all the Churches of the World of any where the Christian Religion was planted without it or where it was introduced by any particular Person upon any special Occasion at any different time after the first planting of Christianity there in all those Ages since the Apostles being verily persuaded that no such thing can be produced but what will strongly confirm and illustate the contrary Evidence like Mr. Vsher's Flourish with his most ancient Manuscript Missals wherein the Commemoration of the Dead doth no where appear which yet were but two in all if not all but one mentioned by two several Authors and that no compleat Missal neither but only Liber Sacramentorum an Abstract and it self at last not to be found as his expression habebatur seems to imply a good Argument of the Agreement of all or most others in that particular that so industrious a Searcher into ancient Records and Monuments of Antiquity of that kind especially could neither see nor hear of any other either at home or abroad wherein it was not Such another Exception may perhaps be met with which may serve to confirm the general Rule but not any thing considerable I believe to any other purpose Certain it is it must either have been settled in all those several Places in the World where Churches were planted together with the rest of the Christian Doctrines and Institutions and then it must have proceeded from the same Founders who agreed as unanimously in this as they did in other necessary things of which sort this may therefore be concluded to be one or it must have had a several distinct particular Introduction by it self in all or most of those several Places and be derived from several Authors Originals Occasions and Times and then the Accounts of its special and particular Introduction in all probability would have very much varied in several places at least have remained upon Record or by Tradition in some But not a word of any such thing can I find that was ever heard of in any part of the World but a Unanimous Agreement in all both in the Practice continued by Custom and Original by Tradition from the Apostles And thus much for Proof à posteriori from Evidence of Matter of Fact which I think enough to satisfie any reasonable Man of competent Ability and to convince any Man of Modesty and Sincerity yet because simple genuine Truth is always consistent with all that is such it may ex abundanti gratifie an honest ingenuous Reader to observe briefly the Vniversal Agreement of this Catholick Practice of the Church of Christ 1. With common Reason and the Nature of things 2. With the common Sentiments of the Primitive Christians concerning the middle State of Souls 3. With divers plain Texts of the Holy Scriptures And 4. with the common Practice of the Jews in and before our Saviour's time never reprehended by him or any of his Apostles and therefore allowed by all and indeed practised by them and on the contrary the Inconsistence of the obstinate Opposition with Truth and Justice in divers respects As for Common Reason The Universe is of vast and unconceivable extent in it we see are many great Bodies Orbs and Regions the Life of Man upon this of the Earth is very short the Time from the Resurrection of our Saviour to this is near 1700 years and how much more it may be to the General Judgment no Mortal knows in the mean time the Souls of Mortals go out of their Bodies in infinitely various States of Purity and Impurity And certainly it is most reasonable that there should be not only one general Distinction of Souls but moreover many distinct Places States and Conditions wherein the separate Souls are disposed according to their several Qualifications when they go out of the Body And as that curious Observer of the Works of Nature as well of the Holy Scriptures the late Lord Chief Justice Hale speaking of towardly Plants by Death transplanted into another Region a Garden of Happiness and Comfort adds And possibly by continuance of time as they received Improvement and Perfection here so in that other Region they add to their Degrees of Perfection and are promoted to farther Accessions and Degrees and Stations of Happiness and Glory till they come to the State of Spirits of just Men made perfect Now in all these Varieties of States is there nothing capable of receiving Benefit by the Prayers of the Living Is there no Communion of Saints between those in the Body and those out of the Body But if there be how can it better be exercised or expressed than in the solemn Offices of the Church For the Common Sentiments of the Primitive Christians because it would be too long to recite so many Testimonies in this place and they are collected already to my hand by Sixtus Senensis and others I need but refer the Reader to them But this also is confessed and asserted by Blondel and Dalle but they would have us believe that they received them from an Impostor a Counterfeit Sibyl a groundless impudent and impious Calumny The Agreement with plain Scriptures is observable in that expression of our Saviour concerning the Sin which shall not be forgiven neither in this World neither in the World to come Mat. 12.32 and that which agrees with this of being cast into Prison and not coming out by any means till
and so comprize the whole time of the four first General Councils from first to last Eusebius in his 4th Book of the Life of Constantine describing the Martyrium of the Apostles built by him at Constantinople adds chap. 60. All these did the Emperor dedicate that he might consign to Posterity the Memory of our Saviour's Apostles But he had another Design in his Mind when he built this Church which was at first concealed but in the end it became known to all For he had designed this place for himself after his Death foreseeing by a transcendent Alacrity of Faith that his Body after Death should be made Partaker of the Apostles Apellation that even after Death he might be esteemed worthy of the Prayers which should be performed there in Honour of the Apostles believing that their Memory would be useful and advantagious to his Soul And afterward describing the Solemnity of his Funeral chap. 71. he saith that a vast Number of People together with those Persons consecrated to God not without Tears and great Lamentation poured forth Prayers to God for the Emperor's Soul thereby performing a most grateful Office to this pious Prince And herein also God demonstrated his singular Favour towards his Servant because after his Death agreeable to his own most earnest Desire the Tabernacle of his thrice blessed Soul was vouchsafed a place with the Monument of the Apostles and that it might be joined with God's People in the Church and might be vouchsafed the Divine Rights and Mystick Service and might enjoy a Communion of the Holy Prayers This was but 12 years after the Nicen Council and a great and most illustrious instance of the common received and settled Practice of that time And here before I proceed further it is fit to consider how far the continuance of that wicked and shameful Abuse by Cranmer put upon the Church of England in his clandestine Corruption of the True English Liturgy I say the Continuance of it to this day whether by supine Negligence or base Compliance with a Faction of Sectaries be consistent with that Profession of Reverence to Antiquity in general and to those first four General Councils in particular which is made by all who pretend to be genuine Sons of the Church of England with their use of the Constantinopolitan Creed in the most solemn Office so fouly deformed contrary to the Publick Office at that time used in the Church and attested by S. Cyril Bishop of Hierusalem who was present at that Council and a principal Man there How consistent with the Statutes of most ancient Colleges in both the Universities and the Oaths taken by so many Scholars for the Observance of them How consistent with the Belief of One Holy Catholick Church and of the Communion of Saints with that Reverence and Respect which the Holy Scriptures require should be paid to the Body of Christ the Depository of Christian Verities and the Pillar or Monument and Basis of Truth with that Reverence and Honour and Esteem which all true and genuine Christians cannot but have for so many glorious Saints as flourished in the Church of Christ and all agreed in this pious Practice for more than 1200 years from the time of Constantine who himself was none of the least being converted in an extraordinary manner by special Vision from our Saviour and the Truth thereof confirmed by very remarkable Victories and afterward so great a Promoter of Christian Piety that he was as Eusebius relates partaker of the Apostles appellation being called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Offices of the Greek Church and deservedly How it can be consistent therewith and with Christian Modesty to set up a Calvin a Bucer a Cranmer an Vsher like little Idols above all and not rather an undeniable proof of the very Spirit of Hereticks and Schismaticks Mr. * Life Appendix p. 55. Baxter's Questions in another Case not unlike this may very properly be proposed to our modern Opposers of this Catholick Practice Would they have held Communion with the Catholick Church for a Thousand Years together Or would they not if they had lived in those times If they would then why not with us who are of the same Judgment Was it a Duty then And is it unlawful now If they would not in all those Ages have held Communion with the visible Church what would they have done but separated from the Body and so from the Head and cast off Christ in all his Members and taken him to be a Head without a Body which is no Head and so no Christ What would they have done but denied his Power and Love and Truth and consequently his Redemption and his Office Hath he come at the end of 4000 years since the Creation to redeem the World that lay so long in Darkness And hath he made such wonderful Preparations for his Church by his Life and Miracles and Blood and Spirit c. and promised That the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it and that his Kingdom shall be an Everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion endureth from Generation to Generation and yet after all this shall he have a Church even as the Seekers say but for an Age or two Thus Mr. Baxter and very good but if this be good in the Case of Baptism of Infants why not as good in the Case of Prayers and Oblations for the Dead which I think hath as good Evidence of Apostolical Original as that or the Lord's-Day or Episcopacy or a good part of the Scriptures of the New Testament And if they stand all upon the same Foundation why should they not stand or fall together There is also an Assertion of St. Augustin 's which deserves to be here considered in this Case That * Quod universa tenet Ecclesia nec in Consiliis institutum sed semper retentum est non nisi Authoritate Apostolica traditum rectissimè creditur cont Donat l. 4 c. 24. what the Vniversal Church doth hold and was not instituted in Councils but always retained is most rightly believed to have been delivered by no other than Apostolical Authority For as this is a Practice which none did ever pretend was instituted by any Council so amongst all who have written concerning the Original or first Invention or Introduction of things none has ever assigned any Original of it in the Catholick Church later than the Apostles or in any part of the Catholick Church later than of the rest of Christianity it self So that could we trace it no further back than the time of Constantine it would be unreasonable to believe that the whole Christian Church so largely spread over the Face of the Earth and planted by so many several Persons at first and in Places so divided and remote one from another should so unanimously agree in such a Practice did it not proceed from some Common Cause which could be no other than the Mutual Agreement of all the Apostles in it
Name evermore praising thee and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Glory be to thee O Lord most high Amen THou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy Pleasure they are and were created Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing For thou wast slain and hast redeemed us unto God by thy Blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever Then turning toward the People Let us pray for the whole State of Christ's Church Militant here on Earth And turning again toward the Altar ALmighty and Everliving God who by thy holy Apostle hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give Thanks unto thee for all Men We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept these our Oblations and to receive these our Prayers which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty beseeching thee to inspire continually the universal Church with the Spirit of Truth Vnity and Concord and grant that all they who do confess thy Holy Name may agree in the Truth of thy Holy Word and live in Vnity and Godly Love †We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours and especially thy Servant N. our King that under him we may be godly and quietly governed and to grant unto his whole Council and to all that are put in Authority under him that they may truly and indifferently minister Iustice to the punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the maintenance of thy true Religion and Vertue †Give Grace O Heavenly Father to all Bishops Priests and Deacons and more particularly of this Church and Diocess that they may both by their Life and Doctrine set forth thy true and lively Word and rightly and duly administer thy Holy Sacraments And to all thy People give thy Heavenly Grace that with meek Heart and due Reverence they may hear and receive thy holy Word truly serving thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the Days of their Life And we commend especially unto thy merciful Goodness the Congregation which is here assembled in thy Name to celebrate the Commemoration of the most precious Death and Sacrifice of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ And we most humbly beseech thee of thy Goodness O Lord to comfort and succour all them who in this transitory Life are in Trouble Sorrow Need Sickness or any other Adversity And we also bless thy holy Name for all thy Servants * C. departed this Life in thy Faith Fear beseeching thee to give us Grace so to follow their good Examples that with them we may be Partakers of thy Heavenly Kingdom who having finished their Course in Faith do now rest from their Labours And we render unto thee most hearty Thanks and Praise for thy wonderful Grace and Vertue declared in all thy Saints who have been the choice Vessels of thy Grace and the Lights of the World in their several Generations a And chiefly in the glorious and most blessed Virgin Mary Mother of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord God and in thy Holy Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and Martyrs Ed. 6. most humbly beseeching thee that we may have Grace to follow the Example of their Stedfastness in thy Faith and Obedience to thy Holy Commandments b We commend unto thy Mercy O Lord all other thy Servants which are departed hence from us with the Sign of Faith and now rest in the Sleep of Peace Grant unto them we beseech thee thy Mercy and Everlasting Peace and that at the Day c. Ed. 6. v. H. Lestr c. 6. T. V. that at the Day of the General Resurrection we and all they who are of the Mystical Body of thy Son may be set on his Right Hand and hear his most joyful Voice Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World Grant this O Father for Iesus Christ's Sake our onely Mediatour and Advocate Amen Then the Prayer of Consecration ALmighty God our Heavenly Father who of thy tender Mercy didst give thine onely Son Iesus Christ to suffer Death upon the Cross for our Redemption who made there by his own Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World and did institute and in his Holy Gospel command us to continue and celebrate a Perppetual Memory of that his precious Death and Sacrifice until his Coming again Hear us O merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and of thy abundant Goodness vouchsafe to bless and sanctifie with thy Word and holy Spirit these thy Gifts and Creatures of Breat and Wine that they may be unto us the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son our Saviour Iesus Christ so that we receiving them according to His Holy Institution in Remembrance of his Death and Passion and Recognition of our Redemption thereby may be Partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood who in the same Night that he was betrayed (a) Here the Priest is to take the Paten into his Hands took Bread and when he had given Thanks (b) And here to break the Bread he brake it and gave it to his Disciples saying Take eat (c) And here to lâ—y his Hand upon all the bread This is my Body which is given for you do this in Remembrance of me Likewise after Supper (d) Here he is to take the Cup into his Hand he took the Cup and when he had given Thanks he gave it to them saying Drink ye All of this for This (e) And here to lay his Hand upon every Vessel be it Chalice or Flaren in which there is any Wine to be Consecrated is my Blood of the Now Testament which is shed for you and for many for the Remission of Sins Do this as often as ye shall drink it in Remembrance of me Amen The Memorial or Prayer of Oblation WHerefore O Lord and Heavenly Father according to the Institution of thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Iesus Christ we thy humble Servants do celebrate and make here before thy Divine Majesty with These thy Holy Gifts the Memorial which He hath willed us to make having in Remembrance his Blessed Passion Mighty Resurrection and Glorious Ascension rendering unto thee most humble and hearty Thanks for the innumerable Benefits procured unto us by the same And we humbly beseech thee of thy Fatherly Goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of Praise and Chansgiving and graciously to grant that by His Death Merits and Intercession and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may obtain Remission of our Sins and all
with the Spiritual Food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ as Members incorporate in His Mystical Body and Heirs through Hope of thy Everlasting Kingdom by the Merits of His most Precious Death and Passion And we most humbly beseech thee O Heavenly Father so to assist us with thy Grace that we may continue in that Holy Fellowship and do all such Good Works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in through Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory World without end Amen Then this Hymn GLory be to God on high and on Earth Peace Good Will towards Men. We Praise thee we Bless thee we Worship thee we Glorifie thee we give Thanks unto thee for thy great Glory O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty O Lord the onely begotten Son Iesu Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father that takest away the Sins of the World have Mercy upon us Thou that takest away the Sins of the World have Mercy upon us Thou that takest away the Sins of the World receive our Prayer Thou that sittest at the Right Hand of God the Father have Mercy upon us For thou onely art Holy thou onely art the Lord thou onely O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the Glory of God the Father Amen Then the Priest or Bishop if he be present may let them depart with this Blessing THe Peace of God which passeth all Vnderstanding keep your Hearts and Minds in the knowledge and Love of God and of his Son Iesus Christ our Lord And the Blessing of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost be amongst you and remain with you always Amen COLLECTS To be said as occasion may serve at the Discretion of the Minister ACcept us graciously O Lord in these our Supplications Prayers and Thanksgivings and dispose the Way of Servants towards the Attainment of Everlasting Salvation that among all the Changes and Chances of this Mortal Life they may ever be defended by thy most gracious and ready Help through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Almighty Lord and everlasting God vouchsafe we beseech thee to sanctifie direct and govern both our Hearts and Bodies in the Ways of thy Laws and in the Works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty Protection both here and ever we may be preserved in Body and Soul through our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Amen GRant we beseech thee Almighty God that the Words which we have heard this Day with our outward Ears may through thy Grace he so grafred inwardly in our Hearts that they may bring forth in us the Fruit of good Living to the Honour and Praise of thy Name through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious Favour and further us with thy continual Help that in all our Works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy Holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain Everlasting Life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty God the Fountain of all Wisdom who knowest our Necessities before we ask and our Ignorance in Asking We beseech thee to have Compassion upon our Infirmities and those things which for our Vnworthiness we dare not and for our Blindness we cannot ask vouchsafe to give us for the Worthiness of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty God who hast promised to hear the Petitions of them that ask in thy Sons Name We beseech thee mercifully to incline thy Favour to us who have made now our Prayers and Supplications unto Thee and grant that those things which we have faithfully asked according to thy Will may effectually be obtained to the Relief of our Necessity and to the setting forth of thy Glory through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen In these Forms thus disposed is so much both of the Substance and of the Order of the most ancient Liturgies that a small matter more would make it One of the Compleatest Liturgies in the World In the First Part should be more of the Scriptures which may either be left to the Discretion of the Priest or some of the Lessons for the Day be used And the Prayers which are preposterous before the Creed or the Epistle and Gospel v. Heb. 11.6 should either be after the Creed and the Te Deum or be reserved to the Second Part which is most agreeable to the most ancient Office for the Catechumens and Penetents who were not admitted to the Prayers of the Faithful And in the Second Part the Eucharist or Thanksgiving is much shorter than they anciently used and the Commemorations for the Communion of Saints of the whole Mystical Body of Christ are not so express as anciently they were in all the Liturgies now extant I shall conclude with these Observations concerning Liturgies 1. That Prescribed Forms in the Publick Worship of God and also for Private Use are of Divine Original and Institution 2. That there is not any good and clear Evidence of the Ordinary Solemn Worship of God ever performed in any Christian Church or other Religious Society in any part of the World without them 3. That therefore it is great Ignorance and Inconsiderateness at the best but usually great Presumption and Impiety in those who dare to speak against them in general 4. That the Jews did use Forms before our Saviours Time and the most ancient Christian Liturgies are so conform to them that it is highly probable they were of Apostolical Original as to the Substance and Order or rather that our Saviour himself who certainly retained the Rite retained also the Forms with such Variations as were proper for the Christians Use 5. That these things consider'd and the Use of the Word Liturgy in the Christian Church so ancient universal and appropriate to this Purpose it is very disingenuous to deny that St. Luke Act. 13.2 did use that Word which we translate Ministring being joyned with Fasting for Solemn Prayer by Liturgy after the manner aforesaid comprising more in that Word than ordinary Praying by reason of the Solemnity of the Eucharist and Christian Sacrifice In the Preface p. 9. l. 6. for January r. June A PREPARATIVE For the Reception of Truth for a Prologue to certain Discourses design'd for a True Reformation and Restitution of Primitive Christianity TRUTH is what in its own Nature is very Excellent and Powerful is of Divine Original of great Importance to Mankind and greatly opposed by the Powers of Darkness and all Evil Spirits And therefore it is the Duty Interest and Wisdom of Man to have a great Esteem Veneration and Reverence for it in all things but more especially in things of greatest Importance Matters of Religion And because it is certain and manifest to all Men who will but consider it that there is not any more common visible Obstacle to it than Prejudice of Education
express Hom. 21. in Act. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not in vain are Oblations for the Dead Not in vain Prayers Not in vain Alms For all these things did the Spirit Order willing that we should mutually help one another .... Doubt it not the Fruit will be pleasant It is not a light thing that the Deacon calls out to pray For those who are departed in Christ and For those who offer for their Memories And the same he saith also Hom. 41. in 1 Cor. 15. and adds †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For if Commemorations were not made for them not so much as this would be said For our Matters are not Stage-Plays Far be that For these are done by the Ordination and Disposition of the Spirit Let us therefore afford them help and perform their Commemorations c. The Propitiation proposed is common to the World therefore do we then confidently pray for all the Worthy and name them with Martyrs with Confessors with Priests for we are all one Body tho' some Members more splendid than others .... Why dost thou grieve and lament so much Favour may be obtained for the Deceased And that he himself formed a Liturgy which is at this day in use in the Greek Churches is affirmed by the Greeks and cannot with any good reason be denied and tho' 't is likely there may be some Alterations or Additions in it yet what relates to this matter is so confirmed by this and by more ancient Authority that it cannot reasonably be questioned The other is S. Epiphanius Bishop of Salamis the Metropolis of the Isle of Cyprus a Man of good Reputation for Ability and Piety and particularly studied in all the Doctrines and Practices of the Church and the several Heresies contrary thereunto In him we have a double Testimony that of Aerius and his own in a Book of all the Hereticks and Heresies In that of Aerius is observable 1. The Matter of Fact and common Practice viz. commemorating the Names of the Dead and Praying for them 2. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The End for which it was done viz. That they might be benefitted by the Pardon of their Sins at the Prayers c. of their Surviving Friends and the Church Both these he opposeth and that is a Proof of both and by the Testimony of an Adversary which is reputed the most convincing 3. The Opposition without any denial or question of the Antiquity or Universality of the Practice or Observation or of the Tradition of either the Practice or the Intention and Doctrine which if he had had any colour or pretence for it he would certainly never have omitted but he is able to say nothing against either the Practice or Benefit of it but If it be so it is in vain to be pious it would be sufficient to get People to pray for the Pardon of ones Sins after his Death In all these respects is the Opposition of Aerius a very considerable Testimony of both the Practice and Intention and consequently of the Doctrine of the Church in this case But because our great Man useth his utmost Skill and very grossly to evade and elude these Testimonies I will here present them both intire according to his own Translation with Notes of the Pages where most of the distracted Parcels may be found in his Book that the Reader who hath a mind to entertain himself with a Prospect of his Ingenuity may the more plainly discern it The Objection of Aerius For what reason do you commemorate after Death the Names of those that are departed He that is alive prayeth or maketh Dispensation of the Mysteries what shall the Dead be profited hereby And if the Prayer of those here do altogether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 profit them that be there then let no body be Godly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let no Man do Good but let him procure some Friends by what means it pleaseth him either by persuading them by Money or intreating Friends at his Death and let them pray for him that he may suffer nothing there and that those inexpiable Sins which he hath committed may not be required at his hands p. 238. Epiphanius his Answer and Testimony As for the reciting of the Names of those that are deceased what can be better than this What more commodious and more admirable that such as are present do believe that they who are departed do live and are not extinguished but are still Being and Living with the Lord and that this most pious Preaching might be declared that they who pray for their Brethren have hope of them as being in a Peregrination p. 240. But the Prayer also which is made for them doth profit altho' it doth not cut off All their Sins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here answers to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Objection Yet forasmuch as whilst we are in the World we oftentimes slip both unwillingly and with our Will it serveth to signifie that which is more perfect For we make a Memorial both of the Just and for Sinners For Sinners intreating the Mercy of God of the Just both the Fathers and Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles and Evangelists and Martyrs and Confessors Bishops and Anchoretes and the whole Order that we may sever our Lord Jesus from the Rank of all other Men by the Honour that we do vnto him and that we may yield Worship unto him while we thus judge p. 240. That our Lord is not to be compared unto any Man tho' a Man live in Righteousness a thousand times and more for how should that be possible considering that the one is God the other Man and the one is in Heaven the other in Earth by reason of the Remains or Reliques of the Body yet resting in the Earth p. 242. Except those who being raised from the Dead entred together into the Bride-Chamber as saith the Holy Gospel c. But forbearing these things I return to what I was about The Church doth necessarily perform this having received it by Tradition from the Fathers And who may dissolve the Ordinances of his Mother or the Law of his Father p. 237. as Solomon saith Hear my Son the Words of thy Father and reject not the Laws of thy Mother declaring by this that our Father that is God the Only begotten and the Holy Spirit hath taught us both in Scriptures and without Scripture But our Mother the Church hath Ordinances settled in her which are inviolable and may not be broken Seeing then there are Ordinances established in the Church and they are well and all things are admirably done this Seducer is again refuted p. 237. This is the Answer of Epiphanius the words inclos'd in Crochets are not in Vsher To this we may well apply what he saith before concerning Easter the Observation of which was another thing which Aerius quarrelled at But who knows these things best This seduced Fellow who is but newly sprung up and now
other Benefits of his Passion And here we offer and present unto thee O Lord our Selves our Souls and Bodies to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto thee humbly beseeching thee that whosoever shall be Partakers of this Holy Communion may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son Iesus Christ be fulfilled with thy Grace and Heavenly Benediction and made one Body with him that he may dwell in them and they in him And although we be Vnworthy through our manifold Sins to offer unto thee any Sacrifice yet we beseech thee to accept this our Bounden Duty and Service * And command these our Supplications Prayers to be by the Ministry of thy Holy Angels brought up into thy Holy Tabernacle before the Sight of thy Divine Majesty In the First Book of Ed. 6. but lese out afterward not weighing our Merits but pardoning our Offences through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom and with whom in the Vnity of the Holy Ghost all Honour and Glory be unto thee O Father Almighty World without end Amen AND we humbly beseech thee O Lord our God That it may please thee to give us Hearts to love dread and adhere unto thee and diligently to live after thy Commandments That it may please thee to preserve rule and govern thy Holy Church Vniversal in the Right Way That it may please thee to illuminate all Bishops Priests and Deacons and particularly of this Church and Diocess with true Knowledge and Vnderstanding of thy Word and that both by their Preaching Living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly That it may please thee to direct keep and strengthen in the true Faith and Worship of thee and in Righteousness and Holiness of Life thy Servant N. our King and Governour That it may please thee that he may ever have Affiance in thee ever seek thy Honour and Glory and have Victory over all his Enemies That it may please thee to bless and preserve all the Royal Family That it may please thee to endue the Lords of the Council and all the Nobility with Grace Wisdom and Vnderstanding That it may please thee to bless and keep the Magistrates giving them Grace to execute Iustice and to maintain Truth That it may please thee to bless and keep all thy People to give them increase of Grace to hear meekly thy Word and to receive it with pure Affection and to bring forth the Fruits of the Spirit That it may please thee to give to all Nations Vnity Peace and Concord That it may please thee to bring into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand and to comfort and help the Weak-hearted and to raise up them that fall and finally to beat down Satan under our feet That it may please thee to succour help and comfort all that are in Danger Necessity and Tribulation That it may please thee to preserve all that Travel by Land or by Water all Women labouring of Child all Sick persons and young Children and to shew thy Pity upon all Prisoners and Captives That it may please thee to defend and provide for the Fatherless Children and Widows and all that are Desolate and Oppressed That it may please thee to have Mercy upon all Men. That it may please thee to forgive our Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers and to turn their Hearts That it may please thee to give and preserve to our Vse the kindly Fruits of the Earth so as in due time we may enjoy them We humbly beseech thee to hear us O Lord our God through the Merits and Intercession of thy dearly beloved Son our blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Iesus and as he hath taught and commanded us we are bold to say OUR Father who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done on Earth As it is in Heaven Give us this day our Daily Bread And forgive us our Crespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from Evil For thine is the Kingdom And the Power And the Glory For ever and ever Amen Then after a little Pause for all to offer up their own private Prayers this Collect of humble Access to the Holy Communion Kneeling WE do not presume to come to this thy Table O merciful Lord trusting in our own Righteousness but in thy manifold and great Mercies We are not worthy so much as to gather up the Crums inder thy Table But thou art the same Lord whose Property is always to have Mercy grant us therefore Gracious Lord so to eat the Flesh of thy dear Son Iesus Christ and to drink his Blood that our Bodies and Souls being cleansed and our Sins part oned through his most precious Blood we may enjoy thy Favour be filled with thy Spirit and evermore dwell in Him and He in Vs Amen Note Concerning the Behaviour of the Communicants these things are to be observed that Anciently 1. They came Fasting to it v. Sparrow 2. They came in Purity from all not only Unlawful but Carnal Embraces whatsoever for some time before v. S. Hier. Apol. pro Lib. contra Jovin 3. They came up to the Rails v. Spar. to which they are called by these Words Draw near in the Invitation before the Confession 4. They answered Amen to the Words of the Priest at the Delivery of the Sacrament v. Spar. 5. They received the Consecrated Bread in their Hands v. Spar. 6. They were careful that none of it should fall to the Cround v. Tertul. de Cor. Mil Origen Hom. 13. in Exod. circa Med. Cyril Hierosol Cat. Myst 5. sub fi Aug. Hom. 26. l. 50 Hom. 7. They did but sip or tast of the Cup. So did the Jews before for it was a Rite of Thanksgiving to God in Use amongst them and so did the christians both using it as a Sacred Cup and not to be prophaned by pleasing the Palat which was the Fault of some of the Corinthians punished by the Judgments of God 1 Cor. 11.30 and savouring of the Temper and Disposition of those Jews whom our Saviour repremands Jo. 6.26 At the Communion this Benediction and Recognition THe Body of our Lord Iesus Christ †which was given for thee preserve thy Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life Ans Amen Take and eat this in Remembrance that Christ Died for thee And at the delivering of the Cup this THe Blood of our Lord Iesus Christ †which was shed for thee preserve thy Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life Ans Amen Drink this in Remembrance that Christ's Blood was shed for thee and be thankful Then having decently covered what remaineth of the Consecrated Elements this Thanksgiving ALmighty and Everliving God we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost vouchsafe of thy Favour and Goodness towards us to feed us who have duly received these Holy Mysteries
Blessed being it self a Receptacle of Holy Souls made illustrious with Visitations of Angels and happy by being a Repository for such Spirits who at the day of Judgment shall go forth into Eternal Glory In the interim Christ hath trod all the Paths before us and this also we must pass through to arrive at the Courts of Heaven Justin Martyr said it was the Doctrine of Heretical Persons to say that the Souls of the Blessed instantly upon the Separation from their Bodies enter into the highest Heaven And Irenaeus makes Heaven and the intermediate Receptacle of Souls to be distinct Places both blessed but hugely differing in degrees Tertullian is dogmatical in the Assertion that till the Voice of the great Arch-Angel be heard and as long as Christ sits at the right-hand of his Father making Intercession for the Church so long blessed Souls must expect the Assembling of their Brethren the great Congregation of the Church that they may all pass from their outward Courts into the inward Tabernacle the Holy of Holies to the Throne of God And as it is certain that no Soul could enter into Glory before our Lord entred by whom we hope to have Access So it is most agreeable to the proportion of the Mysteries of our Redemption that we believe the Entrance into Glory to have been made by our Lord at his Glorious Ascension and that his Soul went not thither before then to come back again to be contracted into the Span of Humanity and dwell Forty days in his Body upon Earth But that he should return from Paradice that is from the common Receptacle of departed Spirits who died in the Love of God to Earth again had in it no lessening of his Condition since Himself in Mercy called back Lazarus from thence and some others also returned to live a Life of Grace which in all Senses is less than the least of Glories Sufficient it is to us that all Holy Souls departing go into the hands that is into the Custody of our Lord that they rest from their Labours that their Works shall follow them and overtake them too at the day of Judgment that they are Happy presently that they are visited by Angels that God sends as he pleases excellent Irradiations and Types of Glory to entertain them in their Mansions that their Condition is secured but the Crown of Righteousness is laid up against the great Day of Judgment and then to be produced and given to St. Paul and to all that love the Coming of our Lord that is to all who either here in Duty or in their Receptacles with Joy and certain Hope long for the Revelation of that day At the Day of Judgment Christ will send the Angels and they shall gather together the Elect from the four Winds and all the Refuse of Men evil Persons they shall throw into Everlasting Burning Then our Blessed Lord shall call to the Elect to enter into the Kingdom and reject the Cursed into the Portion of Devils for whom the Fire is but now prepared in the interval For we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ saith St. Paul that every Man may receive in his Body according as he hath done whether it be Good or Evil. Out of the Body the Reward is not And therefore St. Peter affirms that God hath delivered the Evil Angels into Chains of Darkness to be reserved unto Judgment And St. Jude saith that the Angels which kept not their first Estate but left their first Habitation he hath reserved in everlasting Chains under Darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day And therefore the Devils expostulated with our Blessed Saviour Art Thou come to Torment us before the Time And the same also he does to Evil Men Reserving the Vnjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished For since the Actions which are to be judged are the Actions of the whole Man so also must be the Judicature And our Blessed Saviour intimated this to his Apostles In my Father's House are many Mansions but I go to prepare a Place for you And if I go away I will come again and take you unto me that where I am there ye may be also At Christ's second Coming this is to be performed Many outer Courts many different Places or different States there may be and yet there is a Place whither holy Souls shall arrive at last which was not then ready for us and was not to be entred into until the Entrance of our Lord had made the Preparation and that is certainly the Highest Heaven called by St. Paul the third Heaven because the other Receptacles were ready and full of holy Souls Patriarchs and Prophets and holy Men of God concerning whom St. Paul affirms expressly that the Fathers received not the Promises God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made Perfect Therefore certain it is that their Condition was a State of Imperfection and yet they were placed in Paradice in Abraham's Bosom and thither Christ went and the blessed Thief attended Him And then it was that Christ made their Condition better For tho' still it be a Place of Relation in order to something beyond it yet the Term and Object of their Hope is changed They sate in the Regions of Darkness expecting that Great Promise made to Adam and the Patriarchs the Promise of the Messias but when He that was promised came He preached to the Spirits in Prison He communicated to them the Mysteries of the Gospel the Secrets of the Kingdom the things hiddea from eternal Ages and taught them to look up to the Glories purchased by his Passion and made the term of their Expectation be his second Coming and the Objects of their Hope the Glories of the Beatifick Vision And altho' the State of Separation is sometimes in Scripture called Heaven and sometimes Hell for these Words in Scripture are of large Significations yet it is never called the third Heaven nor the Hell of the damned For altho' concerning it nothing is clearly revealed or what is their Portion till the Day of Judgment yet it is intimated in a Parable that between Good and Evil Spirits even in the State of Separation there is a Distance of Place Certain it is there is a great Distance of Condition and as the holy Souls in their Regions of Light are full of Love Joy Hope and Longing for the Coming of the Great Day so the Accursed do expect it with an insupportable Amazement and are presently tormented with Apprehensions of the Future Happy are they that through Paradice pass into the Kingdom who from their highest Hope pass to the greatest Charity from the State of a blessed Separation to the Mercies and gentle Sentence of the Day of Judgment which St. Paul prayed to God to grant Onesiphorus and more explicitly for the Thessalonians that their whole Spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the Coming of our Lord
Jesus And I pray God to grant the same to me and all Faithful People whatsoever Life and Death of the Holy Jesus Sect. 16. § 1. 2. Of Prayers for the Dead WE find in the History of the Maccabees that the Jews did pray and make Offerings for the Dead which also appears by other Testimonies and by their Forms of Prayer still extant which they used in their Captivity It is very considerable that since our blessed Saviour did reprove all the evil Doctrines and Traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees and did argue concerning the Dead and the Resurrection against the Sadducees yet he spake no word against this publick Practice but left it as he found it which He who came to declare to us all the Will of his Father would not have done if it had not been Innocent Pious and full of Charity To which by way of Consociation if we add That St. Paul did pray for Onesiphorus That God would give him Mercy at that Day that is according to the Stile of the New Testament the Day of Judgment the result will be That altho' it be probable that Onesiphorus was at that time dead because in his Salutations he salutes his Houshold without naming him who was Major domo against his Custom of Salutations in other places yet besides this the Prayer was for such a Blessing to him whose Demonstration and Reception could not be but after Death which implies clearly that there is a Need of Mercy and by consequence the Dead People even to the Day of Judgment inclusively are the Subject of a Misery the Object of God's Mercy and therefore fit to be commemorated in the Duties of our Piety and Charity and that we are to recommend their Condition to God not only to give them more Glory in the Re-union but to pity them to such purposes in which they need Which because they are not revealed to us in particular it hinders us not in recommending the Persons in particular to God's Mercy but should rather excite our Charity and Devotion For it being certain that they have a Need of Mercy and it being uncertain how great their Need is it may concern the Prudence of Charity to be more earnest as not knowing the Greatness of their Necessity And if there should be any Uncertainty in these Arguments yet its having been the Vniversal Practice of the Church of God in all Places and in all Ages till within these Hundred Years it is a very great Inducement for any Member of the Church to believe that in the first Traditions of Christianity and the Institutions Apostolical there was nothing delivered a ainst this Practice but very much to insinuate or enjoin it because the Practice of it was at the first and was Universal And if any Man shall doubt of this he shews nothing but that he is ignorant of the Records of the Church it being plain in Tertullian and S. Cyprian who were the eldest Writers of the Latin Church that in their time it was ab Antiquo the Custom of the Church to pray for the Souls of the Faithful departed in the dreadful Mysteries And it was an Institution Apostolical says one of them and so transmitted to the following Ages of the Church And when once it began to be contested against by Aerius the Man was presently condemn'd for a Heretick as appears in Epiphanius Thus far in the Person of a Romanist to which he adds But I am not to consider the Arguments for the Doctrine it self Note This was written in those times when it was not safe too plainly to profess such an Opinion altho' the Probability and fair Pretence of them may help to excuse such Persons who upon these or the like Grounds do heartily believe it But I am to consider that whether it be true or false there is no manner of Malice in it and at the worst it is out a wrong Error upon the Right side of Charity and concluded against by its Adversaries upon the Confidence of such Arguments which possibly are not so probable as the Grounds pretended for it And if the same Judgment might be made of any more of their Doctrines I think it were better Men were not so furious in the condemning such Questions which either they understood not upon the Grounds of their proper Arguments or at least consider not as subjected in the Persons and lessened by Circumstances by the Innocency of the Event or other Prudential Considerations He had said before No. 2. These Doctrines that have had long Continuance and Possession in the Church cannot easily be supposed in the present Possessors to be a Design since they have received it from so many Ages and it is not likely that all Ages should have the same Purposes or that the same Doctrine should serve the several Ends of divers Ages But however long Prescription is a Prejudice oftentimes so insupportable that it cannot with many Arguments be retrenched as relying upon these Grounds That Truth is more ancient than Falshood That God would not for so many Ages forsake his Church and leave her in an Error That whatsoever is New is not only suspicious but false which are Suppositions pious and plausible enough Liberty of Profesying § 20. The Judgment of Mr. Thorndike in his Learned Judicious and Honest Book Entituled Just Weights and Measures c. 16. I Have shewed out of the Revelation That the Souls of Martyrs appearing before the Throne of God in the Court of the Tabernacle to wit in the Jerusalem which is above the Throne appears to St. John indeed but it is to be understood in the Holy of Holies and therefore is not seen in the Court of the Tabernacle But those 144000 that were sealed and preserved from the Destruction of Jerusalem appear not in the Court of the Tabernacle but on Mount Sion a Place of inferior Holiness and sing not the Martyrs Song but are only able to learn it which no body else could do Sufficient Arguments of Difference in the State of Blessed Souls tho' all beneath that which the Resurrection promiseth which all of them earnestly desire Suppose the Place to be the third Heaven suppose that it is called Paradice because of necessity it answers the Figure of the Earthly Paradice suppose that in respect of the Saints that died under the Law it is called Abraham's Bosom there may be inferior Mansions in the mean time before the Resurrection for Souls of inferior Holiness tho' they depart in the State of Grace For how oft do the Apostles signifie a solicitous Expectation of the Day of Judgment in those whom they suppose to die Christians a thing which can by no means stand with the Estate of those that are before the Throne of God praising Him Day and Night in the Court of the Tabernacle And therefore S. Ambrose and S. Augustin had great Reason to follow the Fourth Book of * 2 Esd 4.41 42 7.32 Esdras placing the