sacrifice and so doothe the holy councel of Ephesus caull it Dionisius the sacrifice most excellent of all sacrificies and the hoste of hostes The latines altogether afterward named it the holy Masse so did S. Augustine call it S. li epist 33. epist et praecat prima praeparante ad missam b super vndec prouer Ambrose c Histor tripaâ—tit 24. cap. li. 10. Hierom d  Epiph scholastic with al the posteritie both in Latin and other barbarous languagies Besides many other excellent high and peculiare caullinges whiche can agree to no other common worship of God internall nor externall but only to this most worthy and honorable sacrifice which by the vertue that it hathe receiued by the first examplare thereof and by the might and mercy of the lambe of God which vnder the couer of breade and wine is there the appointed hoste and oblation is proffitable bothe to the quicke and the deade And therfore is and hathe bene vsed euer sithe the apostles age and by Christes owne praescriptioÌ„ and theirs coÌ„mauÌ„ded to be religiously obserued and of all faithfull people honoured as the principal protestatioÌ„ of our religioÌ„ as the grownde of al true worship as the badge of ChristiaÌ„ peace as the boÌ„de of holy society betwixt the heade and the membres as the loue knot betwixt Christ and his spouse The force and institution of the holy Masse as the vniting of the liue with the deade the holy sanctes with vs poore sinners angelles withe men heuenly thinges with earthely and the creatour of all with his owne creatures beneth as the plentifull condethe to deriue the grace of Christes death and merites off his passion to the continuall conforthe of our soules as the onely practise of his aeternall priesthod according to the ordre of Melchisedech and as the only effectuall memoriall and comfortable memory of the sheeding of his blessed bloude and sufferance of so deare and â—ainefull deathe for our redemption What altare so euer be erected against this altare it is nothing elles but a waste of goddes woorship a canker of religioÌ„ a token of dissension a separation of the holy society of the Christiane coÌ„munion The nevve communion is here described a larom towardes schisme a departure froÌ„ Christe an open badge of heresy a saulsy shoulderinge with Christes Church and ordinaunce an open robbry of his honour and priesthodde a plaine stoppe of the passage of his giftes and grace in his louing howse thonly way to paganisme and aeternall obliuion of his deathe and passion The deuil which is the oulde serpeÌ„t knowing by long experience and often proufe that the holy masse is the chiefe bane of sinne and his wicked kingdom hather euer from the begymyng shot at this marke by all the cursed indeuoures of wicked haeretiques to roote owte that stronge garde of vertue and pilloure of deuotion and religion Howe so euer they dissemble at they re firste enteraunce the diuill hathe that fetche in his faulse heade in all tymes of such toyle and perturbation of religion To which horrible indeuour thoughe he hathe for our sinnes and deseruing put greater force and wroght with more aduantage then euer before yet tyll the latter day and son of perditions appearing which is vnknowe to him he shal not bring it to passe The lawe the sacrifice the priesthod the altare of the newe and aeternal testameÌ„t praefigured by Melchisadech and perfited by Christe shall stand with and in the holy Churche tyl the worldes end Haeresy vvith her disordered ministers shall not out face Goddes Churche and Christes aeternall pristhod It is not your bare breade and borde not your Ministers nor your Seniours nor Elders nor your Nuper intendeÌ„ts nor what so euer yowe list be caulled that shall owt face goddes Churche she hathe by the spirite of God beaten downe your proudders the Arrians the Macedonians the Anabaptistes and all your predecessoures And nowe I tell yowe and be bowlde of it as owld oure moother waxethe as contemptible as yowe make her so little as yowe regarde her she will once yet in hir owlde daies gyue the ZwingliaÌ„s the Lutherans or of what other straunge souldier so euer your campe standethe an open ouertrowe Psa 100. Mat. 61. For yff hell were broken louse and the gates open it cowlde not preuaile We haue oure Presthod confirmed by a faire othe we haue our mothers right by an oppen promesse established And yet neuer the lesse good Catholike Christian lett vs thus persuade oure selues The holy masse takeÌ„ a vvay for oure sinnes that we haue so longe lost the vnestimable treasure of this holy sacrifice for oure greuous sinnes it is oure sinnes I say woo is vs therfore which haue deserued this plage which haue sett vs at variaunce with God and our mercifull redemer which haue taken from vs as vnworthy of so greate a treasure the dayly sacrifice the helpe of those which are a lyue the coÌ„forte of those which are departed the only grounde of al religioÌ„ and acceptable woorship of god And our misery is the greater because fewe feele the sore The lacke of this sacrifice for the departed only with the godly praiers therin Men tha vvere greuous offenders in oulde time punished by lacke of the sacrifice was counted when goddes truethe and Church floorished the greatest and extremest punishmeÌ„t that could be deuised and euer enioyned for sum notable crime to the terroure of other as for horrible desparation for willful heresye for contempte of the decries of of goddes holy ministers as by the late alleaged place out of S. Cyprian may be very profitably noted A lasse we haue nowe in amaner lost that wholy which then was denied only to such for theire greuouse poonishemnts as were heynous offenders Otherwise in earnest consideratioÌ„ of our case can not I thinke but that this blessed iuel is nowe denied vs of allmighty god generally for our greuous offensies which then was denied by his ministers to som one offender for the due poonishment of sin and wickednes O good reader what woulde that holy martyr haue saide if he had liued in our daies when to haue that oblation ether for the quicke or deade which once was estemed so necessary that no Christian man nether could in his lyfe nor after his death lacke it is nowe of it sellfe odious to most men and which abhorrethe me to speake poonishable by the lawes of the spiritualty and condemned well nere of all men what weene yowe this blessed bisshop woulde haue sayde if he had seene the holy hoste and offeringe to haue bene taken awaie De CoenaÌ„ domini which he once affirmed to be so necessary that if it were takeÌ„ awaie or wasted there were no religion nor worship of god at all would not he thinke yow with ferueÌ„t zele of goddes house haue cried out vpoÌ„ the sinnes of the people the blindnesse of the preachers and pastours
roue but that the very course of oure taulke well noted shall be the necessary inducing of that truth whiche we nowe defende concerning purgatory Especially if it be considered that in all praescription of poenaunce by the antiquitye the paine of satisfiyng was euer limited by the variety of the offense And then that the very cause of all payne enioyned was for the auoyding of Goddes iudgement in the liefe to coom First auncient Origen writeth thus Homil. 3. in lib. Iud. Behoulde our mercifull Lorde ioyning allwaies clemency with seueritye and weying tbe iust meane of our poonishement in mercifull and rightuous balanse He geueth not the offenders ouer for euer therefore comsider how longe thowe haste straied and coÌ„tynued in sinne so longe abase and humble thy selfe before God and so satisfie him in Confession of poenaunce For if thowe amend the matter and take poonishement of thy selfe then God is pitifull and will remoue his reuengement from him that by poenaunce praeuentented his iudgement Thus we see this father so to measure the paine and poonishement of sinners that he maketh his principall respect the auoyding off the sharpe senrence to coom S. Cyprian the blessed martyr noteth certeyne conuersies in his dayes who thought they had much wroÌ„ge to be further burdened with poenauÌ„ce for theire faule more then the returne to God ageyne he toucheth the maners of oure time very nere his wordes sounding thus Sermon de Lapsis Before they re sinnes fully purged before the confession of theire faulte made before theire consciencies by the prieste and sacrifice be cleansed before the ire and indignation of God be pacified and past they thinke al is wel and make boste therof But he enstructeth theime in the same place better as folowethe Confesse your selues brethern whilest ye are in this lyefe and whilest the remission and satisfaction by the preestes apoyntement is acceptable Let vs turne vnto God with all our heartes expressing the poenaunce for oure sinnes by singulare greefe and sorowe let vs cal for mercy let vs prostrate our selues before God let oure heuinesse of hart satisfie him let vs with fasting weeping and houlyng appeace his wrath whom for that he is our louing father we acknowledge to be merciful and yet bicause he beareth the maiesty of a iudge he is for iustice muche to be feared To a deape and a greuous wounde a longe and sharpe sauluing must be accepted Exceding ernestly thou must pray thow muste passe ouer the remnaunt of thy tyme with lamentable complaintes thow must for thy softe bedde take harde earthe and asshies and tomble thy self in sackcloth for the losse of Christes vesture refuse all apparell after the receite of the deuilles foode chuese earnest fasting and by diligent applijng thy sellfe to good woorkes and almose deedes purge thy sinne and delyuer thy soule from deathe So dooth S. Augustine correct the errour of suche Cap. 3. 4. de poenitantiae medicina as thinke the chaunge of lyfe withe oute al cogitation or care off theire offenses past to be sufficient for mannes perfect repaire and reconcileation to oure lord ageyne It is not sufficient saith he to amende oure maners and turne back from our misdedes vnlesse we satisfie before God for theyme whiche we haue allredy committed by dolour of paenaunce by humble sighes and grones and by the sacrifice of a contrite harte woorking with allmose dedes And in this sense ageyne he vttereth this comfortable ruele Sed neque de ipsis criminibus quamlibet magnis remittendis in ecclesia Euch. 65. dei desperanda est misericordia agentibus poenitentiaÌ„ secunduÌ„ moduÌ„ sui cuiusque peccati But we may not despaire off Goddes mercy for the remission of sinnes in the Churche be they neuer so greuous I meane to all suche as will doo poenaunce according to the quantity of theire faulte So S. Ambrose writing to a religious womaÌ„ that had broken her vowe of chastity whiche in those dayes was reckoned one of the most deadly and greuous crimes that coulde be warnethe her thus Grandi plagae alta prolixa opus est medicina grande scelus grandem necessariam habet satisfactionem A greuous hourt must haue a deape and long sauluing a henous offense requireth maruelous muche satisfaction Yea and as I take his wordes This sinne is better boulstred novv a daies he planely admonisheth her that she shall haue muche a dooe to satisfy fullie for her sinne duering her liefe and therfore he semeth to will her not to looke for full remedy and release before she feele Goddes iudgement Whiche he meaneth not by the generall day but the particulare accompt whiche foloweth streght vpon mannes death But that I deceyue no man wiettingly I wil report his owne wordes Cap. 8. ad virg laps Inhere poenitentiae vsque ad extremum vitae nec tibi praesumas ab humano die posse veniaÌ„ dari quia decipit te qui hoc tibi polliceri voluerit quae â—nim proprie in dominum peccasti ob illo solo â—n die iudicij conuenit expectare remedium Continue in poenaunce to the last day thow hast to lieue and praesume not ouer bouldely of pardon to be obteyned in mannes day for who so euer promiseth the so he deceyueth the for thou that hast offended directly ageinst God him sellfe must at Goddes hande onely in the day of iudgemeÌ„t trust of mercy Yf he meane by the last Iudgement then thauthor supposethe that suche horrible incest shall be poonished tyll the day of the generall resurrection in purgatory De ciuitate dei cap. 1â— lib. 21. for after that day as Augustine affirmethe there shall be no more any of the elect in payne He meaneth then surely nothing elles but that ther can be no poenaunce answerable fully in this lyefe to so greuous a cryme and that the Churche ordinarely pardoneth not the sinnes whiche be not by sum proportion of payne and poonishmen recompensed And this is ordinary thoughe by the supreame powr giuen to Goddes ministers for the gouernement of the church the offender may in this case or the lyke iff his competent dolour of hearte and zele so require wholy be acquieted through the merits of Christes death and the happy felouship of fanctes in the communion of the common body where the lacke of one membre is abundantly supplyed by the residewe Mary it is a hard matter to be so qualifyed that a man may not be vnworthy of so singular a grace and vnaestimable benefit Therfore this praerogatiue perteining not to very many excepted for the residue that by the ordinary Sacrament be raised vp from theire fawle euery one must endeuoure to doo poenaunce more or lesse according to the quantity and circumstancyes of the crime committed so S. Augustine saide before so doothe S. Ambrose meane nowe geuing this woman warning that her fault was so horrible that the paenaunce doone in this lyefe coulde not properly and exactly make
people that there were slaine Now what other thing did Dauid here and his people but that whiche Iudas Machabeus did afterwarde for the lyke deathe of his souldiars I trowe there was no fasting to be found ouer any maner a person lieue or dead for thy selue or other in the whole course of scripture but it was to obteine mercy at Goddes hande towardes the partie for whom thowe didest it 2. Reg. 12. So did this same holy prophet weepe fast lye on the grounde and change apparel for his childe which he begat of vrias wife wheÌ„ he lay at the point of deathe stricken by Goddes hand for the poonishemeÌ„t of his fathers faulte The which he did as he protesteth him selfe to turne the angry senteÌ„ce of god if it might be and recouer the childe againe But as soone as the childe was gone he brake of his longe faste geuing his frendes to weete that he tormented not him selfe so of only naturall compassion towardes the childe or inordinate loue as they thought but to obteine his purpose by suche bitter teares and fastinge at Goddes handes for the childes recouery Fasting then ouer any man and such solemne mourning is nothing elles but an effectual asking of mercy for whome so euer it be doone As more playnely it is yet declared in the buriall off Saul and Ionathas before saide celebrated by the Galadites and Saules souldiars Where as the scripture saithe Primâ— Reg. 31. after they had buried theire bodyes and bones they fasted vij daies Et ieiunauerunt septem diebus For no other cause but thereby effectually to aske pardon of their offensies There can I am sure be no reasonable occasion of theire fasting alleaged of no man but that Whiche the honorable Bede testifieth for vs in these wordes Recte et ad literam pro mortuis vt ad requiem peruenire valeant septem diebus ieiunatur quia post sex huius mundi aetates in quibus in carne laboramus septima est in illo saeculo aetas requietionis animarum carne exutarum in qua beatae tempus illud glorificum quando resurgere mereantur expectant Duely and according to the letter they fasted saithe he for the departed seuen daies together to obteinne rest for theim bicause after the sixe agies of the worlde in whiche we trauell in fleshe the seuenth age is looked for in that worlde when the soules be loosed from theire bodies when the blessed and happy sort shall continually be in expectation of the gloriouse time by receiuing theire bodies in the resurrection againe And that charitable relife of the poor by opeÌ„ almose and doles was also practised for the welthe of the departed in the obittes of oulde tyme the scripture it sellfe in the .iiij. chapter of Tobie Tobiae 4. maketh mention by report of that godly commandement that the good ould father gaue is sonne herin Panem tuum cum esurientibus comede de vestimentis tuis nudos tege Panem tuum vinum tuuÌ„ super sepulturam iusti constitue noli ex eo manducare bibere cum peccatoribus Eate thy breade with the hongry and needy and couer withe thy clothes the naked Sett thy breade and wine vpon the sepulture of the vertuous and make not the sinfull partaker thereof which wordes off exhortation can haue no other sense but that as before in the same place he gaue his son in charge to bestow vpon al meÌ„ according to his hability for that ther was hope to all charitable almose gyuers of goddes mercy so now he warneth him to feede the poore and breake his breade to suche especially as shuld coom to the iustes and funeralls of the departed He woulde neuer haue put him in mind to haue releaued the poore at burialles but for som commodity that might arise to the party deceased for otherwise his charity might haue proffeted the needy at other times as wel as vpon mennes departure Som tooke foolishe occasion by this place so sett store of meate vpon the graue it selfe where theire father or frend was buried Ser de cath sancti Pet. Lir. super hunc locum as thoughe the deade had bene desirous of corporall foode The which superstitious error S. Augustine ernestly improueth Other som made great feastes at the day of theire frendes deathe But the texte is playne it was the needy and good people that were at those soleÌ„ne exequies or other wise by theire praiers might be profitably present in the daies of memories houldeÌ„ for theime â–ª which practise was not prescribed as a newe thing to the yong Tobie but it was moued and praised vnto him Tob. 12. as a holy vsage of other burialles in those daies and alwaies before Bona est oratio cuÌ„ ieiunio eleemosina Prayer is profytable saithe the holy Raphel when it is ioyned with fastinge and almose and therfore as the fathers in theire prayers for the deade fasted as we haue proued so nowe I doubt not but almose shal crie for mercy at goddes hand for the soule departed vpoÌ„ whose sepulture these thinges be charitably wroght We haue a notable example in the actes of the apostles of the force of almose with praiers which wroght lyfe and procured mercye euen in the next world For the benefit of faithfull workes and holy praiers wil not be limited by the termes of this worlde it wil haue course doune so farre as the felowship of this Christen societie reacheth the deuell and all his abettours can not stoppe the rase thereof The onely shewe off certeine cotes with the requeste of the poore wydowes that wore theime made to Peter thapostle Acto 9. turned Tabitha to life agayne after her departure those garments geuen by her when she was a lieâ—e by the carefull trauell of her allmose folkes procured reliefe in the worlde to coom They warmed the backes of wydowes in earthe saithe Emissenus and the geuer hadd comforthe of theyme being gone from the earthe Sermon de initio quadrage It is good we shulde all learne here that haue receiued benefite of any man in this liefe withe loue and carefullnes not onely in this present worlde but most of all when our frend is departed to represent vnto god before his altare and holy ministers with sorowful weeping and hearty prayer the memory of such thinges as we haue receiued by waye of allmose or loue at his hande It shall be a soueraigne remedy for his infirmities and thapprouedest way to procure goddes mercy that can be Thelders of the Iewes making ernest supplication to oure sauioure for the Centurions seruaunt lying in extremitie vsed the memory of that gentilmans charitable actes in theire churche as the rediest waie to obteine grace and fauoure at his handes They cried owte together Lucae 7. dignus est vt hoc illi praestes diligit enim gentem nostram synagogam ipse aedificauit nobis Lorde be gratious vnto him he is worthy that
these be the right obittes these shall be commodious to the lyuing and proffitable to the deceased Againe in another place he arguethe that this vnordinate mourning can not stand with the stedfast beleefe of resurrection of the departed which the praiers of Goddes Churche and the rites of Christian dirigies doo plainely protest Homil. 32 in Cap. 9. Math. and proue these be his wordes Cur post mortē tuorū pauperes cōuocas cur presbyteros vt pro eis velint orare obsecras non ignoro te responsurum vt defunctus requiem adipiscatur vt propitium iudicem inueniat his ergo de rebus flendum atque vlulandum arbitraris Non vides quam maximè ipsi repugnas In his tyme the priestes vvere desired to pray for mennes soules Why doost thowe gather the poore people to coom to thy frendes buriall Why desirest thow the priestes to pray for theire soules Thy answher I am shure will be that thowe doost these thinges to prouide for his rest and to obteyne mercy and fauour at his iudgies handes Wel then go too what cause hast thowe to mourne or be waile his case doost thow not perceiue that thowe arte contrary to thy selfe in thy owne facte nowe all studiouse men may see what force the charity and allmose of faithfull people euer had especially towardes the dead howe litle weeping auaylethe howe vnlikly it is that the prescribed daies of the oulde funeralles in the lawe of nature or afterward were spent in mourning with owte woordes or workes for the departed but namely howe this holy fathers sentēce and minde fully setteth fourth the meaning of Tobies praecept for setting his breade and drinke vpon the sepulchres to be nothinge elles but a calling together of the poore people and feeding theime for the benefite of the person departed that not onely they by earnest praier but he by charitable workes might together obteine reste and mercy for his soule And here the simple sorte and suche as be ignoraunt off the force of almose or oure fathers practise for theire yeares being brought vppe in this sinful age whē vertue is defaced A greate decay of vertue in oure tyme and the workes of Christianitye scarse to be seene in a whole country and where they be muche merueled at as thinges rare or contemned as vnproffitable or of the wicked condēned vtterly as superstitious and vngodly suche good younge mē must looke backe a greate waye with me to lerne theire dueties of the blessed times paste that were wholy free from the contagion off this pestilent waste in religion euen to those daies that our aduersaries confesse to haue bene holy and vndefiled Man may be relieued after his departure ether by the almose vvhiche he gaue in his lyfe time or by that vvhich is prouided by his testament to be geuen after his deathe or elles by that almose vvhiche other men doo bestovve for his soules sake of theire ovvne gooddes Cap. 5. ANd we fiend the workes of mercy and charitie to helpe the soule of man in this life towardes remissiō of his sinnes or elles in the next worlde for release of paine due vnto the same sinnes Al which may be doone two waies firste by thyne owne handes or appointment liuing in this worlde Lucae 11. 16. Dan. 4. Ec. 3. Iob. 12. which is the best perfecteste and surest meanes that may be for that pourgeth sinnes procurethe mercy maketh frendes in the day of dreade cleansethe beforehand staithe the soule from deathe and lifteth it vppe allso to liefe euer lasting Regarde not here the ianglers that wil crie oute on the that mannes workes must not praesume so farre as to winne heauen or to pourge sinnes lest they intermeddle with Christes work of redemption and the office of onely faithe make no accompt of such corrupters of Christian conditions liue wel and carefully folowe these workes off mercy so expressely commaunded and commended in the scriptures kepe the within the householde of the faithfull and thy very good conuersation in operibus bonis shall refute they re vaine blastes and improue theire idle faithe Iacob 2. Say but then vnto theime by the wordes of S. Iames. Maister Protestaunt let me haue a sighte of your only faithe with out good workes and here lo behoulde mine and spare not by my good workes What religiō so euer you be of I know not but I would be off that religiō which the apostle calleth religionem mundam immaculatam Iacob 1. The pure and vnspotted religion and that is as he affirmeth to viset the fatherlesse and succoure widowes in theire neede And then tell theyme bouldely that the Churche of God hathe instructed the that all woorkes whereby mā may procure helpe to him selfe or other be the workes of the faithfull which haue receiued that force by the grace and fauoure of God and be throughe Christes bloode so wattered tempered and qualyfied that they may deserue heauen and remission of sinne Doubt not to tel them that they haue no sight in this darknes of haeresy in the waies of Goddes wisdō they haue no feele nor tast of the force of his death they see not howe grace prepareth mannes workes they can not reache in theire in fidelitie how wonderfully his death worketh in the sacraments they cā not atteine by any gesse how the dedes of a poore wrech may be so framed in the childrē of God that whereas of theire owne nature they are not hable to procure any mercy yet they nowe shall be counted of Christ him self sitting in iudgemēt worthy of blesse and lyfe euerlasting Bid theime coom in coom in and they shall feele with the in simplicity and obediēce that which thei could not owte of this society in the pride of contention euer perceiue And if they will not so doo let theim perish alone Turning then from theim thether where we were let vs practise mercy as I saide in our owne time in our helthe when it shal be much meritorious as proceding not of necessity but of freedom and good will And thē after oure departure the repraesentation of our charitable deedes by such as receiued benefite thereby shall excedingly moue God to mercy as we see it did sturre vpp the compassion of his apostle in the fullfilling of so straūge a request Wheruppon S. Cyprian saithe that almose deliuereth often from both the seconde deathe whiche is damnation Serm. de Eleemos and the firste whiche is of the body Yf thow yet chaunce to be negligent in the working of thine owne saluation whē thou arte in strenght and helthe when ouer muche carefulnesse of worldly welthe hindereth the remembraunce of thy duety towardes God for al that helpe they selfe at the least in thy latter ende for thoughe it had bene muche better before yet it is not euill nowe I speake not for priestes aduauntage God is my iudge I am not of that rowme my self and wil not condemne my soule for other But
be once thus freely wyped awaye in oure first regeneration there is no charge of pounishement or paenaunce for farther release of the same But nowe a man that is so freely discharged of all euill liefe and sinne committed before he came in to the familye yff he faule in to relapse and defile the temple of god Note then as goddes mercy allwayes passethe mannes malice euen in this case also he hathe ordeyned meanes to repayre mannes faule ageyne That is by the Sacrament of paenaunce which therfore S. HieroÌ„ termethe the second table In cap. 3. Isai or refuge after ship wracke as a meanes that may bringe man to the porte of saluation though lightely not with oute present dammage and daungeour In which blessed sacrament though goddes grace haue mighty force for mannes recouery and workethe abundantly bothe remission of sinnes and the discharge of aeternall poonishement due by iuste iudgement to the offender yet Christe him selfe the author of this Sacrament as the rest ment not to communicate suche efficacye or force to this The force of Christes death is not so largely applyed vnto vs in the sacrament off pâ—â—â—unce as in Baptisme as to baptisme for the vtter acquieting of all payne by sinfull life deserued For as in Baptisme where maÌ„ is perfectly renued it was semely to set thoffender at his first entrauÌ„ce on cleare grounde and make him free for al thinges done a brode so it excedingly setteth forth goddes iustice and nothing imparethe his mercy to vse as in all common wellthes by nature and goddes prescription is practised withe grace discipline withe iustice clemencye withe fauoure correction and with loue due chastisement of suche sinnes as haue by the how should children bene committed Nowe therefore if after thy free admission to this family of Christ thou doo greuously offende remission maye then be had ageyne but not commonly with owte sharpe discipline seeing the father of this oure holy houshowld poonisheth where he louethe Ad Hab. 12. and chastisethe euery childe whome he receiueth Whose iustice in pounishement of sinne not onely the wicked but also the good must muche feare Whereof S. Augustine warneth vs thus Deus saithe he nec iusto parcit nec iniusto Lib tra FauscuÌ„ cap. 20. illum stagellando vt filium istum puniendo vt impium God sparethe nether the iuste nor vniust chastising th one as his childe pounishing the other as a wicked person A childe then of this houshowlde contynuing in fauoure though he can not euerlastingly perishe withe the impoenitent sinners yet he muste being not by som especiall praerogatiue pardoned beare the rodde of his fathers discipline And gladly say with the prophet In flagella paratus sum Psal 37. I am redy for the roddes And what so euer these wantons that are ronne owte of this howse for theire owne ease or other mennes flattery shall fourge let vs continue in perpetuall cogitation of oure sinnes forgeuen and by all meanes possible recompense oure negligencyes paste Let vs not thinke but God hathe sumwhat to say to vs euen for oure offensyes pardoned being thus warned by his owne mouthe Sed habeo aduersum te pauca Apo. â— 2 quòd charitatem tuam primam reliquisti Memor esto itaque vnde excideris age poenitentiam prima opera fac But somwhat I haue ageynst the bicause thowe arte faullen from thy first loue Remembre therfore from whense thowe felle doo paenaunce and beginne thy former woorkes agayne And the consideration of this diuersity betwixte remission had by baptisme and after relapse by the sacrament of paenaunce moued Damascen to call this second remedy Deorth fide lib. 4. cap. 9. Baptismum vere laboriosum quod per paenitentiam lachrimas perficitur A kynd of Baptisme full of trauell by paenaunce and teares to be wroght In whiche God so pardone-the sinnes that bothe the offense it self and the euerlasting payne due for the same being wholy by Christes deathe and merites wieped away there may yet remayne the debt of temporall poonishment on oure parte to be discharged as well for som satisfaction of goddes iustice ageynst the aeternall ordre wherof we vnworthely offended 〈…〉 Cap. 〈…〉 as for to answer the Churche of her right as S. Austine saithe in whiche onely all sinnes be forgeuen Mary when occasion of satisfiyng for oure offensyes in this lyefe is neglected or lacke of tyme by reason off longe continuance and laite repentaunce fuffereth not due recompense in oure lyefe whiche is the tyme of mercye then certes the hande of God shall be muche more heuy and the poonishment more greuous And this is withe oute doubte to be looked for that the debt due for sinne muste ether here by payne or pardon be discharged or elles to oure greater greife after oure departure required And this to be the graue doctryne and constant faithe of the fathers I must first declare bothe for that it shall firmely establishe oure whole mater and clearely open the case of controuersy betwixt vs and the forsaken company Who woulde so gladly lyeue at ease in they re onely faithe that they list nether satisfye for theire sinnes nor procure goddes mercy by wel workyng In this case then let vs seeke the ordre of goddes iustice by the diligent consideration of som notable personagies of whome we may haue by the plaine scripture euident testimony bothe of the remission of theire sinnes and they re paenaunce and pounishment after they were reconciled ageyne AdaÌ„ that first did faule and vvas first pardoned did yet abide the skourge for his sinnes Oure first father Adam in whome we may behoulde almost the whole course of goddes iudgemeÌ„t and throughe whome bothe sinne and all pounishment due for sinne entred in to the worlde I thinke he had the first benefite by Christes deathe for the remission of his disobedience or at the leaste bicause I woulde not auouche an vncerteyne thinge this I am shure that by Christe he was raysed vp to goddes fauoure ageyne Of whome we fynde it thus written in in the booke of wisdom Cap. 10. Haec illum qui primus formatus est pater orbis terrarum cum solus esset creatus custodiuit eduxit illum a delicto suo This saithe he meaning by Christ vnder the name of wisdom salfely praeserued him that was first formed off God the father of the worlde when he was created all a lone and raysed him oute of his sinne ageyne The whiche disobedience withe what other sinne so euer was therunto in him ioyned thoughe it was thus clearly pardoned yet the poonishment therof bothe he felte longe after in his owne person and it lyethe vpon his posterity till this day For whiche sinne he him selfe begane to doo paenaunce as Irenaeus saithe euen in paradise Li. 3. c. 33 and then God practised iudgement vpon him as Augustine noteth first by his disenhaeretaunce then by paynefull traâ—ell
here in the worlde benethe which is a straunge case hath force and effect in heaueÌ„ aboue The poure of all potentates vnder the maiesty of the blessed Trinity in heauen and earthe is extreme basenesse compared to this By this graue authority therfore the pastors and priestes imitating goddes iustice haue exercised continually poonishement froÌ„ the springe of Christian religion downe till these daies vppon al sinners perpetually enioyning for satisfiyng of goddes wrathe poenaunce and woorkes of correction ether before they would absolue theime as the oulde vsage was or elles after the release of theire offensies wiche now of late for graue causes hath bene more vfed In whiche sentence of theire iudgment we plainely see that as there was euer accompt made emongest all the faithfull of paine due vnto sinne thoughe the very offense it selfe and the giltinesse as yow woulde saye thereof were forgiuen before so we maye gather that it was euer enioyned by the priestes holy ministery after the quality and quantity of the faulte committed Whereupon they charged som meaner offenders with certaine praiers onely other with large allmose diuerse with longe fasting many withe perilous peregrinations sum with suspending froÌ„ the sacramentes and very greuous offenders with curse and excommunication Wherby thou maiste not onely proue that there is paine to be suffred for thy sinnes Excommunication hath the image of goddes iustice in the vvorld to coom but allso haue a very image of that misery whiche in the next lyefe may faule not only to the damned for euer but allso to all other whiche neglected in this tyme of grace the fructes of poenaunce and woorkes of satisfaction for thanswer of they re lieues past This greate correction of excommunication and separation from the sacramentes Virgam S. Paule termeth the rodde wherwith he often threatened offenders 1. ad Timo. yea and somtymes thoughe it was with greate sorowe the pounishment was so extreame he mightely in Goddes steade occupied the same Cap. 2. 1. Cor. 5. As once ageinst Himemeus and Alexander and another tyme towardes a Corinthian vpon whome being absent he gaue sentence of theire delyuery vppe to Satan not to be vexed off him as Iob was for thencrease of merite In 1. ad Cor. ca. 5. saithe Chrisostom but in theire flesshe meruelously to be tormented for paiment for theire greuous offensyes and as the Apostle writeth of the Corinthian that his soule might be false in the day of oure lorde This poonishment was euer by cutting of from the Christiane society and often ioyned with torment of body or sicknesse And sumtymes withe deathe Act. 5. Note As in thexcommunication off Ananias and Zaphiras Whiche Christes vicar S. Petre to the greate terrour euen of the faithfull grauely pronounced on theyme for retayning backe certayne Churche gooddes whiche by promesse they had before dedicated vnto god and thapastles distribution August de Carrep gra ca. 5. This kinde of poonishment of sinners was euer counted so terrible that we fiend it caulled of the oulde fathers damnation Ita Gregâ— Nis orat de Castigatione as one that most resembles the paynes of the worlde to coom off all other And iff man coulde see withe corporall eyes the misery of the party so condemned in Goddes church his hearte would brast and it would moue terroure of forther damnation euen to the stubborne contemners off the Churches authoritye The which censure of goddes priestes thoughe it was sumtymes to the euerlasting woe off suche offenders as neglected the benefite of that present payne yet commonly it was but chastisement and louing correction of oure deare moother for theire deliuery from greater greefe in the lyefe to coom And for this cause as thexample off all agies past may sufficiently proue Aug. Euch cap. 65. were certeyne tymes and ordinary termes of poenaunce apoynted for iuste satisfaction for euery offense and by the holy Canons so limited that no sinne weetingly might be reserued to Goddes â—euy reuenge in the end of oure short dayes It were to longe to reporte the rueles and prescription of poenaunce out of Nice Councell or Ancyre â—icen c â–ª 12. Ancyre 5 or out of S. Cyprian for theire pounishment that fell to Idolatry in the tyme of Decius and Diocletianus or out of Ambrose the notable excommunication of Theodosius themperour By al whiche and the lyke in the historys of the ecclesiasticall affaires he that can not see what payne is due vnto sinne euen after the remission therof I houlde him bothe ignorant and malitious blinde And if any man yet doubt why or to what ende the Church of Christ thus greuously tormenteth her oune children by so many meanes of heuy correction whome she might by good authoritye freely release of theire sinnes let him assuredly know that she coulde not so satisfye goddes iustice alwayes by whome she houldeth hâ— authoritye to edifye and not to destroie to byind as well as to lowse Althoughe suche dolour for offensyes committed and so ernest zele may she sum tymes finde in thoffender that her chiefe and principall pastors may by theire soueraigne authoritye wholy discharge him of all paines to coom But elles in the common case of Christian men this poenaunce is for no other cause enioyned Ibidem but to saue theime from the more greuous torment in the worlde folowing In the whiche sense S. Augustine bothe speake the him self and proueth his meaning by thapostles wordes as foloweth Propterea de quibusdam temporalibus poenis 1. Cor. 11. quae in hac vita peccantibus irrogantur eis quorum peccata delentur ne reseruentur in finem ait Apostolus si enim nosmetipsos iudicaremus a domino non iudicaremur Cum iudicamur autem a domino corripimur ne cuÌ„ hoc mundo damnemur Therfore saithe he it is of certaine temporall afflictions whiche be laide vpon theire neckes that being sinners haue theire trespasses pardoned lest they be called to an accompt for theime at the latter ende that the Apostle meaneth by when he saith Iff we would iudge oure selues we shulde not then be iudged of oure lorde And when we be iudged of oure lorde then are we chastened that we be not damned with the worlde This onely carefull kyndnesse of oure moother therfore that neuer remitted sinne that was notorious in any age but after sharpe poonishment or ernest charge withe sum proportionall poenaunce for the same doothe not onely geue vs a louing warning to be ware and preuent that heuy correction of the world to coom whiche S. Paule callethe the iudgement of God because it is a sentence of iustice but allso in her owne practise here in earth of mercy in pardoning of iustice in poonishement she geueth vs a very cleare example off bothe the same to be vndoubtedly loked for at thandes of God him selfe by whome in the kingdom of the church these bothe in his behallfe be proffitably practised â–ª for iff there
were no respecte of the dredfull day in th end off oure lyefe nor any paine forther due for sinnes remitted in the next worlde then were it cruell arrogancy in theministers to charge men withe poenaunce needlesse to the offender and foly to the sufferer But god forbed any shulde be so malipert or misbeleuing as to miscredet the dooings and doctrine of the Catholike Church whiche by thauthoritye she hathe to bynde sinnes and the protection of the holy goste hathe vsed this rodde of correction to the proffite of so many and hurte of none euer sence oure maisters deathe and departure That the many foulde vvorkes and fructes of paenaunce vvhiche al godly men haue charged theyme selues vvithe all for theire ovvne sinnes remitted vvere in respecte off Purgatory paines and for the auoyding off goddes iudgement tempotall as vvel as aeternall in the next lyfe Cap. 4. THere be of the Epicures of our time that seeing the vsuall practise of paenaunce not onely by the Churcheis praescription but also by mannes oune voluntary acceptation openly to tend towardes the truth and proufe of Purgatory Melanch haue bouldely improued not withstanding the expresse counsell of the Apostle where he willeth vs to iudge oure selues all chastisement of our bodies as vnnaturall torments to the iniury of oure owne person and the excellencye of oure nature Ageinst these corruptors of Christen condicions and vertuous liefe thoughe the examples of all faithfull woorshippers of God sence the worlde began doo clearely stand yet the notable history of the Prophet Dauids repaire after his heuy faule bicause it hathe an especial warraunt of his pardon a plane processe in poenaunce a goodly platte of due handelinge the sores off oure sinnes after they be remitted and conteineth a manifest feare of Purgatory shall best serue oure turne This Prophet then thoughe he was assured of his pardon and afterwarde as I saide before by Goddes owne hād poonished yet crieth oute withe abundant teares Amplius laua me ab iniquitate mea a peccatis meis munda me Psal 50. More and more washe me from my iniquity Cap. 4. Apol. Dauid and of my sinnes pourge me cleane Dauid offended saith S. Ambrose as kinges commonly do but he did poenaunce he wept he groned as kinges lightly doo not he confessed his fault he asked mercy and throwing him self vppon the harde grounde bewailed his misery fasted praide and so protested his sorowe that he laft the testimony of his confession to all the worlde to come What moued this blessed man by Goddes oune mouthe pardoned of his sinnes so to torment him selfe That happy awe and deape feare of Goddes iudgemēt in the next world whiche the cursed security of this swheete poysened doctrine of oure dayes hathe nowe taken awaie euen that necessary feare of the thinges that might faule vnto him in the next liefe caused this holy prince and prophet so to vexe and molest him selfe It was hel it was Purgatory that this poenitent did behoulde ether of whiche he knewe his sinnes did well deserue S. Augustine shall beare me witnesse in wordes worthy of all memory Yea the prophets owne wordes vttered in a bitter praier and a psalme full of sorowe shall beare me witnesse thus saith S. Augustine In psa 37. Haec iste grauiora formidans excepta vita ista in cuius malis plangit gemit rogat dicit Domine ne in furore tuo arguas me neque in ira tua corripias me Non sum inter illos quibus dicturus es ite in ignem aeternum qui praeparatus est diabolo angelis eius Neque in ira tua emendes me vt in hac vita me purges talem me reddas cui emendatorio igne opus non sit This man besides the miseries of this liefe in whiche he was when he thus houleth and wepeth forther makethe sute and saithe O Lorde rebuke me not in thy furie let me not be one of theime to whome thou shalt saye awaie from me in to fier perpetuall whiche is prouided for the deuill and his aungells Nether yet correct me in thy wrathe but so purge me in my liefe time and wholy frame me that at lenght I may haue do neade of the Amending fier So farre speaketh this doctour By whome we may learne that Dauid after sharpe poonishement taken first at Goddes hand and then in the middest of many miseries of this mortall liefe did yet before hande behoulde the horrible iudgements in the next worlde th one for the damned soules and spirits thother for the amendment of such as God loued and shall be saued in the earneste memoriall of whiche assured paines and for the auoiding thereoff he so afflicted him selfe as is before sayde His hearte was in heuinesse his soul in sorowe his fleshe in feare and in his bones there was no rest before the face of his sinnes Thinke you here a protestant preacher withe a mery mouthe in Nathans steade coulde haue driuen him from this course of poenaunce dissuaded him from the feare of purgatory eased him with onely faith and sett him in securitye and perfect freedom from his offenses past Ecclesi 22. No no Musica in luctu importuna narratio Mirthe in mourning is euer out of season Flagella doctrina in omni tempore sapientia But roddes and discipline be allwaies wisedom These delicate teachers had neuer roume but where sinne bare greate rule And it is no small licklyhod of goddes exceding wrathe towardes vs in these daies that such soft phisitiōs please vs in so daungerous diseases It was not the doctrine of this time that healed Nabuchodonosor but this was his plaister Daniel 4. Peccata tua eleemosynis redime iniquitates tuas misericordijs pauperum Redime thy sinnes by almose and thy iniquities by mercy towardes the poore It was exceding fasting and many sorouwfull sobbes that bare of Goddes hande from the Niniuites It was the paiynefull workes of poenaunce that Iohn the Baptist first preached This was Paules rule that if we woulde poonishe or iudge our selues then woulde not God iudge vs. In to whose handes it is a heuy case to faule 1. Cor. 11. Haeb. 10. Horrendum est saithe he incidere in manus Dei viuentis For he shall call to accompt and reakoning as S. Bernarde supposeth euen the very actes of the iuste In cant 55 ser if thei be not well and throughly iudged and corrected to his handes The vndoubted knowledge of whiche straite accompte moued oure forefathers to require suche earnest afflictions of the people for satisfiyng for their sinnes And here gentle reader geue me leaue though I be the longer to geue the a little taste of the oulde doctours dealinges in the sinners case ▪ that thowe maist compare oure late handeling of these matters with their dooinges and so learne to lothe these light marchauntes that in so greuous plages deale so tenderly with oure sores And yet I intend not so to
must neades be confessed euen of the contrary teachers whiche thinges together conteine more probability for the proufe of oure purpose then they can for any other sense finde But nowe touchinge the texte nearer and finding that this woorke of mannes amending shall be wrought in the next liefe then it must nedes so induce this sense that no meaning may well be admitted whiche euidently setteth not forth the truthe of Purgatory And that this worke is not properly taken for any suche trouble or vexation that may fall to man in this liefe but for a very torment praepared for the next worlde firste the quality of the iudgement and meanes in the execution of that sentence of God whiche is named to be doone by fiere seemeth rather to import that then any other vexation the poonishement of the worlde folowing allwaies lightely so termed Then man is in this purging only asufferer which belongeth namely to the nexte worlde But especially that this sentence shall be executed in the day of our Lorde which properly signifieth ether the day of our death or the sentence of God whiche streghte foloweth vpon death or the laste and generall iudgement All the tyme off mans liefe wherein he foloweth his freedom is called Dies Hominis the daie of man bicause as man in this liefe for the most parte serueth his owne will so he often neglecteth Goddes but at his deathe there beginneth Dies Domini Where God executeth his ordinaunce and will vpon man This triall then of mannes misdeedes and impure workes must ether be at his deathe or after his departure by one of the two iudgementes But if we note diligently the circumstances of the saide letter it shall appeare vnto vs that this purgatiō was not ment to be onely at mannes death both bicause it shall be done by fyre whiche as is saide commonly noteth the torment of the next liefe and then S. Paule expressely warneth vs to take hede what we builde in respect of the difference that may fall to suche as builde fine workes and other that erecte vppon the foundation impure or mixte mater of corruption but the paines of deathe being common to the best as well as to the worst or indifferent and no lesse greuous in it sellfe to one then the other can not be imported by the fire whiche shall bring losse to th one sort and not paine thother Besides all this that day which the prophet speaketh of shall be notorious in the sight of the worlde and very terrible to many And S. Paule plainely affirmeth that in this iudgement there shall be made an open shewe of suche woorkes as were hidde before from man and not discerned by the iudgement of this world whiche the priuate deathe of one manne can not doo And lightely thapostle warning man of the sentence of God in the next lyefe 2. Cor. 5. admonisheth him that oure dedes must be laide open before the iudgemēt seate of God so here Dies domini declarabit quia in igne reuelabitur the day of oure lord will open the matter bicause it shall be shewde in fyre Last of all the Prophet nameth the tyme off this sharpe tryal Diem aduentus domini whiche is a proper calling of one of the iudgements ether that whiche shall be generall at the last day or elles that whiche euery manne must first abyde streghte after his departure when he shall be called to the peculiare reckoning for his owne actes In ether of whiche iudgements Magis l. 4 dist 47. this purging and amending fire shall be fownde For as in that generall wast of the whole world by the fyre of conflagration 2. Petri. Cap. 3. whiche is called ignis praecedeus faciem iudicis because it awaiteth to fulfill Christes ordinance in the day of his second comming as in that fier the whole man both body and soule may suffer losse and extreme payne for his poonishment or purgation and yet by that same fyre be saued euen so oute of doubt at this particulare iudgement streght vpon euery mannes death the soule of the departed if it be not before free must suffer paines and Purgation by the like vehement torment woorking onely vpon the soule as the other shall doo on the whole man And the prophets wordes now alleaged do meane principally of the purgation that shall be made of the faithfuls corrupted woorkes by the fiere of conflagration in the seconde comming of Christe thoughe his wordes well proue the other also as S. Paule too meaneth by theyme bothe That there is a particulare iudgement and priuate accompte to be made at euery mannes departure off his seuerall actes and dedes vvith certaine of the fathers mindes touching the textes of scripture alleaged before Cap. 7. ANd though such as shal liue at the comming of the iudge in the later daye shall then be purged of they re corruption and base workes of infirmity by the fyre that shall abetter and alter the impure nature of these corruptible elements or otherwise according to goddes ordinaunce yet the common sort of all men whiche in the meane tyme depart this worlde must not tary for theire purgation till that general amending of all natures no more then the very good in whome after theire baptisme no filthe of sinne is fownde or if any were was wiped a way by poenaunce muste awayte for they re saluation or the wicked tary for they re iuste iudgement to damnation The particulare iudgemēt But streght this sentence ether off iudgement or mercy must be pronounced and therfore it is called the particulare iudgement by whiche the soule onely shall receyue well the or woe as at the day of the greate accompt bothe body and soule must doo Of this seuerall triall the holy Apostle S. Paule saith Ad haebr 9 statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori post hoc iudicium It is determined that euery man once must dye and after that commeth iudgement And a nother scripture more expressely thus Eccles 11. Facile est coram domino reddere vnicuique in die obitus sui secundum vias suas It is an easy matter before oure lorde that euery man at the day of his death shulde be rewarded according to his lyefe and ways Agayne in the same place Memor isto iudicij mei sic enim erit tuum mihi heri tibi hodie Haue in remembraunce my iudgement for such shal thy nowne be yester day was myne to day may be thyne And therfore S. Ambrose saith that with oute delay the good poore man was caryed to rest and the wicked riche owte of hand suffered torments That euery man saith he may feele before the day of iudgement Super 5. ad Roman what he muste then looke for And in another place the same holy man writeth that Iohn the beloued of Iesus is allredy gone to the paradise of euerlasting blesse In psa 118 ser 20. passing as fewe shall doo the fiery
with owt doubte ther is none at al. Yff S. Augustine had but saide belike there is no suche meane place in the lyefe folowing mary sir then they might haue picked more matter of their infidelity and yet of that speach determining no certeinty there had bene no greate cause why they shulde haue forsaken the iudgement of Goddes Churche But nowe he so doubteth that he fyndeth more cause to thinke there should be one then that any man might gether vpō his wordes that ther should be none at all No nor he neuer went so farre good reader as to make any doubte of Purgatory paynes for poonishment of sinnes committed in the worlde For in all the same bokes where he hathe the lyke saing and allmost in the very same places he houldeth as a matter of faithe and to be beleued of all Christen men that the prayers of the lieuing doo release som of theire paines in the next liefe And he constantly as all other Catholikes euer did confesseth that the sinnes or vncleane workes of the liuing not duely by paenaūce wyped away in this worlde must be mended after oure deathe all thoughe it be very doubtefull in dede whether there be any worldly affections lefte in mannes mynde vntaken vppe by death and resolution of the body and the soule the care and remembrance wherof might be afterward by sorowe bothe purged and poonished And this to be his meaning and that he termeth here purgatory the griefe whiche a man hathe in losing that whiche he loued in this mortall liefe his owne wordes testifye in euery off those workes in whiche he kepeth this combate with Origenistes Lib. 21. de Ciuit. 26. In one place thus Quod sine illicienti amore non habuit sine dolore vrente non perdet ex earum rerum amissione tantum necesse est vt vrat dolor quantum haeserat amor That which by tiklinge loue was kepte can not be loste with oute burning grefe And looke howe fast the loue of suche thinges did cleaue to mannes mind so farre must sorow burne Ca◠So in the like talke with the saide Origenistes in his booke de fide operibus he foloweth the same signification of Purgatory Haec igitur saith he qnoniam affectu dilecta carnali non sine dolore amittuntur qui sic ea habent in eorum amissione passi detrimentum per ignem quendam doloris perueniunt ad salutem these thinges being by carnall affection loued be not lightly lost with oute grefe and therfore those that thus be affectionate fele losse in parting from theime and so coom to saluation throughe the fyer of sorowe ▪ suche a sadnesse the yonge man that demaunded of our maister the waie to heauen conceiued streght Matth. 19. when motion was onely made of distributiō of his gooddes Who being otherwise in the state of saluation and to be borne with all bicause he was a iuste man and lacked not the foundation of his faith yet the very losse or leauing of his gooddes was vnto him if he cōtinued in that affection a wonderful greate torment and as S. Augustin here calleth it a kind of purgatory the which perfect mē that aesteme al the trasshe of this worlde as durte and donge to winne Christe feele not at all whome the doctoure supposethe therfore to take no damage in the losse of thinges whiche they so litle loued Nowe in euery place where this exposition is founde as I think it is neuer in al his workes lightly but in conferēce with the Origenistes he alwaies addeth that the like fire of sorow may also correct the affectiōs euē of the departed but yet whether it be so or no he coūteth it a quaestiō of probable disputation rather thē any matter of faith ▪ as it is in dede very doubtful whether any such vnordinate affectiō may remaine vntakē vppe after mannes departure which by grefe and sorowe in the other worlde may be in time wholy consumed And further he neuer doubted For in that famous worke of the City of God withe in two chapters of that doubte made of this kind of purgation whiche we now haue declared Cap. 24. li. 21. he vttereth his faithe withe Goddes Churche off that greate torment and iust poonishement of sinfull liefe not sufficiently purged by poenaunce in oure time whiche he calleth the Amending fire and thus he saithe there Tales etiam constat ante iudicij diem per paenas temporales quas eorum spiritus patiuntur purgatos receptis corporibus aeterni ignis supplicijs non tradendos cae It is certeine saithe he Constat whiche is no worde of doubtefullnesse that suche men being purged by the temporall paines whiche theire soules do suffer before the day of iudgement shall not after they haue receiued theire bodies ageine be committed to the torment of the euerlasting fire This he vttereth in the same place where he doubteth of the other kinde of purgation Vide quaest 8. ad Dulcitium as he cōfessethe him selfe to be vncertein of the whole exposition refusing none at all that were agreable to faithe and woulde not helpe the falshood whiche he then refuted In his Enchir where he disputeth ageinste the same erroure Cap. 110. he so little doubteth that he calleth Purgatory damnation thoughe not perpetuall as that whiche might be bothe eased and vtterly remoued by the sacrifice and suffragies of the Churche And thus did that graue author withstand Origen then whose folowers wer as it may be thought very busy and trooblesom in those daies and long after But yet his sure staffe ageinst that erroure was this and the most common defense of all Catholikes that the temporall paines in the next world coulde neuer deliuer the great and greuous sinners that died with oute repentaunce or remission of theire sinnes from euerlasting death bicause that torment was praepared for the smaule offenseis whiche we call venial sinnes by whiche the holy Apostle ment vnder the names of the base substances off woodde hay and straw Ser. 4. de sanctis as these wordes of muche importaunce may wel declare There be diuerse saithe he that misconstruing these wordes of S. Paule before aleaged by ouer vaine security and confidence deceiue theime selues beleuing that if they do build capitall and greuous crimes vppon the fundation whiche is Christ they shall be pourged throughe fire and theyme selues afterward escape to euerlasting liefe but this vnderstanding good brethern must be corrected For those that so flatter theime selues shamefully do begile theime selues For that fiere whiche the Apostle speaketh of in these wordes He shall be saued through fier pougeth not mortal sinnes but smauler offensies onely To this purpose S. Hieroms wordes or the reuerēt Bedes whether you will for ether of theire graue authorities shall serue my turne doo wholy agree in the exposition of this sentence Mortuo homine impio non erit vltra spes In Cap. 11.
Prouerb A wicked man being once departed is past recouery or hope Where the author writeth thus Heu misere hoc pertransit Origenes qui post vniuersale iudicium vitam credidit omnibus impijs dandam Notandum autem quod etsi impijs post mortem spes veniae non sit sunt tamen qui de leuioribus peccatis cum quibus obligati defuncti sunt â–ª post mortem possunt absolui Origen passed ouer this texte pitifully that beleued all the wicked should haue at lenght liefe euerlasting after the day of generall iudgement Yet this is to be noted that allthough there be no hope of pardon for the wicked after theire death yet there be certeine whiche may be released of lighter trespasses in the bond of which they departed out of this world And so dooth Oecumenius a greeke author expounde S. Paules wordes off veniall sinnes for the purgation of whiche he dobuteth not but that there is a fire of iudgement in the liefe to come Ipse autem saluabitur quis Super. 3. Cap. 1. ad Cor. Qui aurum argentum lapides preciosos superaedificauerit cum enim dixisset de eo quod mercedem accipiet nunc qualem mercedem aperit salutem scilicet Saluabitur autem non sine dolore vt par est saluari per ignem transeuntem adhaerentes sibi leues maculas purgantem â–ª thus in Englishe By whome is it spoken when he saith he shall be saued By him it is spoken that buildeth on the foundatioÌ„ goulde filuer and preciouse stones For when he had towlde vs that suche shoulde haue a rewarde nowe he openeth what that rewarde shoulde be to wiett saluation And yet he must not be saued witheoute all paine as there is no cause why he should that must passe through fier and therby be pourged of the smauler spottes whiche sticke by him In the same sense dothe Theodoretus bothe expounde the wordes of the Apostle and vtter his iudgement of Purgatory also Super. 3. c. Malach. and allmost the rest of all the latine or Greke writers whiche my purposed breuitye with plentifull proufe otherwise forcethe me to leaue to the studious reader One place more I will onely adde oute of Remigius bicause he learnedly may knitte vp the place by ioyning bothe the prophet and Apostles wordes together In. 3. cap. Malach. vpon whiche we haue stand so longe Thus that good author writeth Ipse enim quasi ignis conflans peccatores exurens Ignis enim in conspectu eius ardebit in circuitu eius tempestas valida Hoc igne consumuntur lignuÌ„ foenum stipula Nec solum erit quasi ignis sed etiam quasi herba fullonum qua vestes nimiuÌ„ sordibus infectae lauantur Porro his qui grauiter peccauerunt erit ignis conflans exurens illis vero qui leuia peccata commiseruÌ„t erit herba fullonum Hinc per Isaiam dicitur si abluerit dominus c. Qui enim haheÌ„t sordes leuium peccatorum spiritu iudicij purgantur qui vero sanguinem habent hoc est grauioribus peccatis infecti sunt spiritu ardoris exurentur purgabuntur Et sedebit conflans emundans argentum colabit eos quasi auruÌ„ argentuÌ„ hoc est intellectum colloquium vt quicquid mixtum est stanno vel plumbo camino domini exuratur quod purum aurum est argentum remaneat Et purgabit filios Leui In filiis Leui omnem sacerdotalem ordinem intelligimus a quibus iudiciuÌ„ incipiet quia scriptum est tempus est vt iudicium incipiat a domo dei 1. Petri. 4. alibi a sanctuario meo incipite Si autem sacerdos flammis purgandus est colandus quid de caeteris dicendum est quos nullum coÌ„mendat priuilegium sanctitatis These goulden wordes haue this sense He shall coom as the gouldesmithes fyre â—â—â—â—ing sinners For in his sight a flame â—â—l ryse and a mighty tempest rownd â—boute him by whiche fyre our wodde hay and stooble shall be wasted and worne away With that he shall be lyke the cleÌ„sers herbe wherby garmeÌ„ts very much stayned be purged To all those that haue greuously offended he will be a burning and melltyng fyre but to the light sinners he shall be as the wasshers herbe Whiche difference the Prophet Esai noteth thus Cap. 4. Yff oure lorde wipe a way the filthe of the doghters of Syon and blodd from the middest of Israel in the spirite of iudgement and fyre For such as haue onely the spottes of veniall sinnes they may be amended by the spirite of iudgement but men of bloodde to witte the more greuous offenders must be tried by fire And he shall sitte casting and purifying siluer and shall purge menne as goulde and siluer be purified that is to say our thoghtes vnderstanding and wordes I call stannum peuter moued by the circumstaÌ„ce of the letter from impurity and vncleanesse as from pewter and leade by Goddes fornace shall exactly be pourged and nothing shall be lefte but pure as goulde and fine siluer And he shall pourge the sonnes of Leui that is the ordre of priesthood where this heuy iudgement shall first begin For so it is writen 1. Pet. 4. Tyme is nowe that iudgement begin at the howse of God and ageine Begin at my sanctuary Yff the priest muste be purged and fined what shal we deme of other whome priuilege of holy ordre dooth not commende or helpe thus farre goeth the author in conference of diuerse scriptures Who with the rest of all the holy fathers that compased their senses with in the vnity of Christes Churche hathe fownd by euident testimonye of sundry scriptures the paines of purgatory whiche the busy heades of oure tyme by vayne bragging off scriptures in singulare arrogancy off they re owne wittes can neuer finde A forther declaration of this poynte for the better vnderstanding of the doctoures vvordes VVherin it is opened hovve purgatory is ordeined for mortall sinnes and hovv for smauler offenses vvho are like to fele that grefe and vvho not at all Cap. 9. ANd I thinke they nowe haue smaule aduantage by thexception of Origens testimony by occasion wheroff suche light is fownde for oure cause that we nowe by goodly authority haue bothe fownde the placies alleaged plainely to proue purgatory and allso what sinnes it namely pourgeth and what men after theire death may be ameÌ„ded therby â–ª that not onely the bare trueth but sum necessary circumstances to the studious of the truethe haue bene here by iust occasion opened and all errour wholy remoued Except this point may somwhat stay the reader that heareth in som places the paines of Purgatory to be bothe a poonishment for greuous sinnes and a purgation of lighter trespasses with all and yet that it now may appeare the contrary by the mynde off som learned authors who expressely make that payne as a remedy onely for veniall sinnes and not to
were customably kept tricesimales quadragesimales anniuersariae memoriae the thirtithe the .xl. the yeres mindes and portions apointed owt as he saith in testamets for the mainteinaunce therof And all this commonly besides the peculiare deuotion of som towardes theyr singularely beloued If thow list go yet vppeward thow shalt find no lesse care for the helpe of the soules deceased for S. Ambrose reporteth of his time Super obit Theodos that otherwhiles the third and the thirtith otherwhiles the vij and the fourtith minde daies were religiously obserued yea and that as he saith by good authoritye and auncient vsage of the patriarches both in the law of nature and Moyses Cum frequentibus oblationibus omnibus with often and sundry oblatioÌ„s for the rest of the departed This xxx daies memoriall Iulio interpr ould holy Ephreem in his testament and last will prouideth for him selfe after his departure The seuenth day was also euer in the primitiue Churche with greate religioÌ„ obserued bicause as Beda saith that hath the representation of the lyfe to coom And S. Ambrose practised it for his brother for the like protestation and signe of the resurrection and rest perpetuall De fide resur Die septimo saith he ad sepulchrum redimus qui dies symbolum est futurae quietis the seuenth day we coom together againe to my brothers sepulchre bicause that day is a pledge of the rest to coom Hould on vpward stilli and Tertulian will witnesse with the that in that floure of Christes Church with in lesse then CC. yeres of our masters death Oblationes fiebant annua die pro defunctis That oblations and sacrifice were yerly made at the xij monthes mindes of moste men De Cor. milit he meanethe bothe by the sacrifice of the Churche and offeringes of the frendes of the departed â–ª as there also In exhort Castitat Repete apud DeuÌ„ pro cuius spiritu postules pro qua oblationes annuas reddas Cal to thy remembraunce for whose soule thowe prayes and in whose behallfe thowe makes yerly offeringes He speaketh of a frend of his that practised thus for his wiues departure And in another place he wel declareth the duety of maried â—d persons one towards another De monogamia if God by death separate them in sonder Pro anima eius orat et refrigeriuÌ„ interim postulat offert annuis diebus dormitionis eius She praieth for her husbandes soule and obteineth in the meane space ease and offereth euery yere at the mind day of his passing hense And he letteth not to affirme that the maried coople that practise not thus doo not beleue the resurâ—ection Therfore he concludeth thus Nunquid nihil erimus post mortem secundum aliquem Epicurum non secundum Christum quòd si credimus mortuorum resurrectionem vtique tenebimur cum quibus resurrecturi sumus rationem de alter utro reddituri What say yowe shall we faule to nothing after oure death as the Epicure thinkethe and not rise ageine as Christe teacheth And if we beleue the resurrection of the deade then doubtlesse we shall be bounde to make accompte one of an other This haeresy muche ioyneth vvith the Saduces as we shall together rise againe Beware here my masters once ageine I must tel you yowe are goinge towardes the deniall of the resurrection so many as condeÌ„ne the vsage of the Church in praying or offeringe for the deade Tertuliane saith yow be Epicures in this poynt and so yowe be in all others I say yowe are past priuy muttering in your heartes that there is no God Psal 13. for yowe are coÌ„me to plaine Cor. 1. Cap. 15. Manducemus bibamus cras enim moriemur Let vs eate and be mery we can not not tell howe longe we lieue I say yow must answer for parting the affection of man and wiefe and th one must be countable at the day of iudgement to an other that they procured not the dueties of the deade by right of Goddes holy Church for theire soules departed Take heede therefore yowe are warned But as neere as we be Christes time by Tertulians helpe we wil approch yet nyerer to the very Apostles age and looke out sum recorde of that time for oblations and distributions with memorialles for the departed And the further from yowe of the newe secte we go the more plaine destruction of your doctrine and more manifest proufe of our ould deuotion shall we fiend to your open shame and the conforte of Catholikes S. Clement therfore the Romane one coÌ„uersaunt with the apostles and instruâ—ted by theime in his faithe a familiare of S. Paule and promoted by S. Peter a â—â—ue pastor and a holy martyr thus reâ—orteth of the apostles ordinauÌ„ce in our â—atter Li. 8. CoÌ„st Cop. 48. Peragatur dies mortuorum in psaltis in lectionibus atque orationibus proâ—ter eum qui tertia die resurrexit Item â—onus in commemorationem superstitum atâ—ue defunctoruÌ„ EtiaÌ„ quadragesimus secundum veterem formam Moysen enim hoc modo luxit populus nec non anniuersarium pro memoria ipsius deturque de illius facultatibus pauperibus in commemorationem ipsius Thus in english We will that the third day be obserued for the departed in psalmes lessons and praiers for his sake that rose the third day And so the ix day for the vniting together in one memorie the departed with the liuing In lyke maner the fourtithe day must be kept according to the ordre vsed of ould for so did the people obserue the bewayling of Moyses And with al these the xij monthes mind beside Where for the memory of his departure lett sumwhat be distributed amongest the poore people How say yow now my masters is this popish or apostolike doctrine was it inuented for priestes couetousnes or obserued as Christes ordinaunce made we much of late of the litle we fownd before or of late lost for lacke of deuotion that which we had so long before Mercifull God who would thinke this geare were so auncient and so little set by Who woulde thinke the aduersaries were so impudeÌ„t and yet so much regarded What heart think yow they reade the auncient writers with all Or with what conscience can they passe by so plaine practise of all the Chistian world Or with what face can they name ether scripture or doctor How dare they looke backe att ony one steppe of antiquitie all which be nothing elles but a testimony off their wickednes and as yow would say a pointing with finger at their horrible spoile of ould doctrine and deuotioÌ„ What if one of their own scholares seeing this light in our matter shoulde aske of his maister a lasse sir what if this be true that is proued so ould The maistèr Protestant is posed and you chauÌ„ce to lie that are so late where are we your scholares then It is not answered if yow conforte him with faire wordes
and tell him yow folow the scripture For he wil charge yow againe streghte that these men had scripture vnderstood scripture alleaged scripture both of the new testament and the oulde and referred theire vsage sum to Moyses and Aaron other sum to the fathers in the lawe of nature and all to the Apostles of Christ Where are yow then no more but this perdy we vnderstand scripture perchaunce better then they we haue the holy Gost perchaunce and so hadde not the fathers perchaunce that is no scripture perchaunce this and this is not that doctors worke bicause it makes ageinst vs. I thinke he that would beleue your chauncing that may haue such assuraunce of the trueth on the other side he is worthy to be deceiued Well I will close vppe this parte of our talke for Tobies allmose borde in the obittes of Christian men withe S. Augustines graue iudgement who as he is plaine for the benefite of oblations in the memorialles of mens departures in all placies so here in a maner he ordereth the action thereof for abusies that might theron arise in his epistle to Aurelius 64 The offeringes saith he obserued for the soules departed whereof there is no quaestion but profet arisethe to theime let theime not be ouer sumptuouse vpon the mindes of the deceased nor soulde away but geuē with owt grudge or disdaine to suche as be praesent and would be partaker thereof but if moony be offered it may be distributed out of hande to the poore ▪ and thē shall not those daies of theire frendes memorialles be to their greate griefe forsaken or destitute of companye And the ordre with honeste coomlynesse shall be kept continually in the church So S. Clement him selfe teacheth all theime that be called to such daies of praiers for the departed and to be partakers of those oblations or charitable relieues which were by sum honest sober refresshing euen in the Church in those daies obserued whether they be of the laity or of the priestes he geueth thē this lesson Qui ad memorias eorū vocamini cū modestia cum dei timore comedite veluti valentes legatione fungi pro mortuis cum sitis presbyteri diaconi Christi sobrij esse debetis priuatim cum alijs v◠possitis intemperantes coercere All yow that are called to the funeralles of the departed refressh your selues in measure and feare of god that yow may be worthy to be as it were in commission of intreatie for the dead and being priestes or deacons of Christ yow are bownd to be sobre euen at home but abrode for others example and discipline That the binefite of praier and allmose apperteineth not to suche as dye in mortall sinne thoughe in the doubtefull case of mannes beeing the Churche vseth to pray for all departed in Christes faith Cap. 7. THus farre we now are broght I trust withe proufe and euidence enoughe with reasonable cleare light for the good simple peoples instruction and withe full safety from all the force oure aduersaries can make against vs. The patriarches exāple the wordes of scripture the practise of the Churche the natural society betwixt the partes of Christes misticall body in this world and his membres in the next and all our fathers faithe haue woon so muche that allmose and offeringes in sundry memorialls and diuerse obseruations of mindes and obittes be singulare and soueraigne to procure goddes mercye for the pardon of the soules deceased And nowe lest any man take occasion of goddes mercie which he seethe to be so redy that it may be woon by other mennes workes to liue in contempt of vertuous exercise and to passe the time of his owne lyfe in carelesse negligēce praesuming to purchesse fauoure at goddes hande so mercyfull by other mennes merittes with oute his owne deede or deserte let that man be aduertised quòd non habet partem in sermone isto that he shall in that case haue no benefite by our tallke the mercy which we speake of perteineth not vnto him suche idle drone beyes can take no fructe of other mēnes laboures nether quicke nor deade For that membre which in this body was so vnprofitable to him sellfe it is no right nor reason he shuld haue any gaynes by other mens trauell Therfore all these liberall promissies of fauour and grace to be procured by the workes of the lyue towardes the departed reache nether to the vnfaithfull out of this howse nor to the impaenitēt who was but an vnprofitable bourden of the house These thinges saithe Clement we meane of the godlie Lib. 8. constit 49. for yf thowe gaue al the welthe of the worlde to the poore for the wickeds sake thowe couldest not proffitte theime a heare For he that dyed in goddes displeasure can not looke for more mercy then he deserued Therfore S. Iohn thapostle seemethe to abbridge oure prayers 1. Epist. Cap. 5. and the obteining of oure petitions by borderinge theime as withe in certaine bondes after this sort We knowe that God doothe here vs what so euer we require we be sure he will accōpleshe oure requestes which we make vnto him Therfore he that knoweth his brother to sinne being not a sinne to death let him pray and lyfe shal be geuē to him that sinneth not to death there is a sinne to deathe for suche I doo not wil any man to praie This place of thapostle seemethe to declare the wonderfull force that the praiers of the faithful haue in procuring grace and remission for others so that they be brethern and passe hense with out the bonde of mortall sinne And the letter well weied shall make exceding much to proue the praiers for departed in piety as it in a maner forbiddeth all intercession for suche as be knowen to passe in continuance of mortall sinne There is no crime so greuous that man may commit in the course of this lyfe but the churche vseth praiers customably therfore and for her reuerēce is oftē hearde Therfor it may wel be thought that the party must be deceased of whome such diuersity of desertes doothe arise for all that be a lyue with out exceptiō The churche may pray for any sinner in this lyfe vvith hope of mercy if they be bretherne of oure familie must be prayde for And so longe as they be in this worlde and may repent theire sin is not so vnto deathe but lyfe by praiers may be and is cōmenly at goddes hand obteined Then it may wel be deduced that thapostle meaneth to incourage the faithfull to pray for such theire bretherne departed as died withowte bonde of deadly sin to their sight in a maner warning theime that for such theire praiers shall be acceptably heard But for others cōtinuing in sin to death he willethe not theim to praye nor can assure theime they shal be hearde So doth Dionysius a man not very aunciēt Carth. but of a full spirite and good grace expound this
text Whether he meaneth saith this father by finall impaenitence or by any mortall sinne coÌ„tynued vnto deathe it is sure and plaine a man must not pray for him that diethe in it Then yf we be admonished not to pray for one sorte of departed the case is cleare that we may and are bownd and shall be hearde for the other sorte that sinneth not vnto death To this place also S. Augustine disputing in his booke de ciuitate dei that praiers proffiteth not all meÌ„ departed alludeth Lib. 21. Cap. 24. or rather leanethe vnto â—t as a sure grounde against the Orginistes that would haue goddes mercy by mannes praiers obteined for the wicked soules deceased after this sort Si â—ui autem vsque ad mortem habebunt cor imâ—anitens nec ex inimicis conuertuntur in filios numquid iam pro eis id est pro talium lefunctoruÌ„ spiritibus orat ecclesia cur ita niâ—i quia iam in parte diaboli computantur qui lum essent in corpore non sunt translati in Christum Yf there be any that till death conntinue in stubburne impaenitency of hearte and of enimies to goddes Churche will not be made children doethe the Churche make intercession for suche that is to say for the soules of theime being departed in that state and why praieth she not for theyme but bicause they be nowe reckoned for the deuilles lote being deade that would not moue to Christes part when they were in theire bodies And this is the cause that for suche as in desperation destroy theyme selues by any kind of wilful or violent death or in the stubborne mayntenance of haeresye offer theime selues to be extirpate as well owte of the society of mannes lyfe as oute of the communion of the Christiane company our holy moother the Church who by her practise is the best construer off goddes worde neuer vseth any meanes for theire quiet rest Bracarens Cap. 34. Wheron there is a holy decrie of councell in this sense â–ª qui sibi ipsis quolihet modo culpabili inferuâ— mortem nulla pro illis fiat commemoratio neque cum psalmis sepeliantur All those that by any vnlawful way procure their own deathe Vide Timoth Alexand. respons 14 let no commemoration be had of theime nor be broght home with psalmes The which hath bene both diligently obserued euer emongest ChristiaÌ„s and for terrour of the wicked often by holy canons renewed Wherof there is no other cause but this that such persons being at th end cutt of the common bodie can receyue no vtility of that where vnto they are not nor now can not be ioyned And as in that case where goddes church hathe plaine presumption of any persons euerlasting perishing ether by coÌ„tinuance in infidelytie owte of her happy family or by haeresie and separation of him selfe till the last ende leaping owte of her holy lappe where he once was before or being and continuing with sum open euidence therof an vnprofitable membre and a deade branche as I saye in any plaine proufe of these thinges the Churche neuer practiseth for his rest bicause she nether hathe hope of getting any grace nor meanes to conuey any benefite vnto suche as be not in the lymmes of lyefe so if our sayde careful moother doo bestow of her customable kyndnesse al her godly meanes vpon those whome she knowethe not otherwise but in finall piety and paenitence to haue passed this lyefe and yett in deede before god to whome onely all secrets of mannes hearte be perfectly open dyed as abiectes and owtecastes in sinne and impaenitencye she can not for all that any whit helpe they re aestate so miserable nor appeace Goddes wrathe towardes theyme being nowe owte of the tyme of deseruing oute of the churchies lappe effectually and finally separated from the chosen people and oute of the coÌ„pase of grace and mercye Muche lesse any priuate maÌ„nes prayer caÌ„ be any thing at al beneficial to his frend or other that dyed not in Goddes fauoure whose payne can nether be finished nor by any of these ordynary meanes one moment released or lessened Yet euery good faythfull person must imitate the diligence of Goddes churche herein that ceaseth not bothe to offer and pray for all sortes wythe in her lymittes that be heÌ„se in any likelyhood of repeÌ„tance departed who hadde rather they shulde abuÌ„de to the needelesse theÌ„ at any tyme lacke for the reliefe of suche that might wante theyme Therfore let no man withdrawe his almose charity or praiers from any of the houshoulde of faithe vpon any light praesumption yea or strong coniecture of any mannes finall continuance in sin or wickednes vpon whom in the laste spirite of breathe as God may haue mercy so mannes praiers then shall be bothe needefull and exceding beneficiall vnto him Only with conscience thow may and must cease with Goddes Churche to practise the waies of mercy vpon such as be not baptised or otherwise after theire baptisme haue by leauing this holy communion of the faithefull iudged theim selues vnworthy and made they re case vnapte by continuaunce therin to receiue any benefite ether of the Churche which of theire owne accorde they haue forsaken or of any membre thereof whervnto by faithe and loue they are not ioyned And so al haeretikes shal be voyde of this mercy and grace after theire death which did in their lyfe so ernestly abhorre the same Vpon all other where any hope may be hadd if thowe pray or procure the meanes of mercy it shal at least be to thy selfe a singulare helpe and gayne thoughe the partye for whome thowe doost it ether neede it not being allready receiued into blesse Homil. 21. in Cap. 9. Actuum or elles in perpetuall damnation of helle be helples for euer Si praeces pro mortuis facimus saith S. Chrisostom si eleemosinas damus et si ille indignus sit nobis Deus placatior erit If we pray for the deade and bestowe allmose for their sakes if he be fownd vnworthy yet God wil the rather be mercyfull to our selues And sure it is that who so euer be fownde so gracious as with much compassioÌ„ of the deceaseds misery to procure with study and care Goddes merciful pardon towardes theyme that such a one especially shall find grace and fauour at the time of neede and be meruailous apte to receaiue bene fite by others procurement ageine VVho be most apte to receiue benefite by the praiers of the lyuing For as it is certaine that no man can receiue benefite after his departure by any worke or will of the liuing sauing suche as in theire lyfe deserued the same so must it needes be that where these remedyes be needefull and profitable that yet more or lesse they shal worke vpon the party for his relyefe according to the more or lesse deuotion and deseruing in this lyfe Therfore this truth of mutuall participation of the deade withe the lyue geueth no man
occasion of idle rest or carelesse affection in his owne time and cause when he may be assured to lacke the reliefe of others to whome in his liefe by well woorkinge he woulde not ioyne before Enchir. Cap. 110. But I had rather ye hearde S. Augustine vttering expressely this meaning of mine in his owne wordes It can not be denied saith he but that the soules of the deceased be relieued when the sacrifice of oure redemer is offered for theime or almose bestowed in they re behaulfe in the Churche But in deede these are proffitable to none but to such as in theyr lyfe deserued that those things after theire departure might doo theim good For there is a state of life that is nether so perfect but it may well haue neede of these helpes after deathe nor yet so very euill but suche thinges may well succour theime after theire departure Mary there is a kind of conuersation so vertuous that it requirethe no suche ayed and an other kind so wicked that those which passed theire former lyfe therin can haue after theire passage no reliefe by suche meanes for by our merites in this lyfe we doo obteine that after oure deaths we may ether atteine to remedy or elles be voyde of al helpes For it is a very vayne hope that any man shoulde praesume to winne that at Goddes hāde after he be passed out of this world which when he was in the worlde he neuer sought nor deserued And a little after thus he makethe all playne VVhen the sacrifice of the altare or elles any kind of almose be offered for all men departed being baptised for the very good they are thankes geuinge for the indifferent that be not very euill they are a mercyfull deliueraunce For the wicked and very euill although they be no succoure for theim which be departed and deade yet they are cōfortable for those that be aliue And to suche as receiue benefite therbie ether cōmeth ful forgiunesse or elles theyr iudgemēt and damnation is made therby sumwhat more tolerable The which sentence allmost in lyke wordes for that it merueilously opened this matter this author repetethe in the fourth question ad Dulcitium and elles very often Wherby the faithfull man may learne bothe howe much and whom these remedies doo relieue And then that the Church in his daies offered sacrifice for all those that were baptised and in the faithe therof departed bothe for that it was vncertaine who had neede therof and allso because euen then when the parties were not nor could not be partakers therof that goddes glory notwithstanding was excedingly sett forth and man comforted therbye Therfore goddes Church in a true sense may be faide to offer sacrifice euen for the holy and blessed martyrs who no doubt by sheedinge of they re bloude for Christes name and defense of vnitie be fully purged in this they re deathe and so perfectly released of all sinne and paine that might otherwise haue deserued punishment and sum expectation of goddes mercy in the lyfe to com For so S. Cyprian and other of his Church offered sacrifice Li. 4. epi. 5. for Celerne Laurēce and Ignatius as he testifieth him self Sacrificia pro eis semper vt meministis offerimus quoties martyrū passiones dies anniuersaria cōmemoratione celebramus For them we offer sacrifice as oftē as we cerebrate the yerly memoryes of martyres For wich kind of perfect men sacrifice is thankes geuing vnto God for theire glory and giftes of grace Tractat. 84. in Ioannem and a kind of intercessiō to theim in our necessities For which cause S. Augustine affirmeth Quôd pro martyribus nō oramus sed ipsi orant pro nobis We pray not for martyrs but they pray for vs. Nowe the sacrifice often celebrated for the wicked also that be not knowē to the Churche so to be is not beneficiall to theyme nether bicause theire noghty lyfe and deathe makes theime vnapte to receiue cōforth therby yet these holy apointed remedies are bothe cōfortable and meritorious to the geuers and procures as blessinges which are not lost Hovv praier vvhich taketh no effect in the departed is profitable to the procurer but turne ageine to the bestowers For the profit of other or the only wil to relieue other is a singulare deserte and meanes of meritte to a mannes sellfe Full truely saide Damascene that this carefull helpe and seruing of other mennes lackes is much like to the paine which one takethe in anoynting with a precious baulme an other mannes body which as he temperethe in his hande to bestowe vpon an other it firste redoundethe in verdure and vertue to him sellfe and then passethe by him to the vse of his neghboure for whome principally it was praepared But notwithstanding this free procurement and liberall graunt of common helpes in the departeds case euen there where it is vncertayne whether they take effect or no the Church yet doth not onely absteine from sacrifice and request for suche as doo openly appeare to sin vnto deathe as thapostle saith but som times for poonishment of certeyne contemptes and disobedience in sum persons she forbeareth these meanes euen there wher she might proffet the departed and peraduēture cleane discharge him of sinne and paine with all Which she dothe by merueilouse graue authoritie to the greate terrour of offenders That by the greuous poonishmēt of certaine many might learne to be careful and wise Greate is the authority of goddes ministers suerly and heuy is theire hande often vpon sinners Actu 5. allwaies to edifie and neuer to destroie What a straunge force had Peters wordes that droue down to death for dissimulation man and wiefe allmost bothe at a clappe what a horrible and dreadfull iudgemēt practised Paule 1. ad Tim. 1 1. Cor. 5. in geuing vpp sum to satan him selfe for sinne howe sharplie did the primitiue churche execute iudgement vpon greuouse offenders whome sum times after many yeres separation from the coomfortable receiuing the sacramentes they woulde hardely admit at theire last ende to the fellowship therof But nowher coulde the maiesty of goddes church appeare with more terroure then in this case when she dischargeth certaine for their punishment of all common helpe by praiers oblation and sacrifice after their departure though they otherwise died in the fauoure of God as I take it and might be of the chosen company that shal be saued And that punishment was nothing elles but a keping of theim in longer correction and paine for theire sinnes vnder goddes scourge in the next worlde for the admonishmēt of others in that case to beware whiles she would not vse her ordinary meanes for theire release A notable example we haue thereof Concilium aphricanū oute of a councell houlden in affrick the decrie of which assemblie S. Ciprian him sellfe with a practise in the excution therof Epist 9. reportethe in the first booke of his epistles Where he willeth
that was coÌ„mon in all Churchies as partly is and yet shall be better declared anone The which her worthy wll her sonne Augustine so allowethe that he setteth it forthe in the ninth of his confessioÌ„s to her aeternal memorie in these wordes My mother saieth he when the day of her passing hense was nowe at hande much regarded not howe her body might curiously be couered or with costly spiceis powdered nether did she counte vpoÌ„ any gorgious tumbe or sepulchre Note the vvhole History and feare not to folovv it these thinges she charged vs not will all But her whole and onely desire was that a memory might be kept for her at thy holy altare good Lorde at which she missed no day to serue the where she knewe the holy hoste was bestowed by which the bonde obligatory that was ageinst vs was cancelled Marke good reader as we go by the waie what that is which in the blessed sacrifice of thaultare is offered howe cleare a confession this man and his moother doo make of theire faithe and the Churchies belife concerning the blessed host of our daily oblation behoulde that weemen in those daies knewe by the grounde of theire constante faith that which our superintendents in theire incredulity nowe a daies can not confesse CoÌ„sider howe carefull all vertuous people were in the primityue Church bothe lerned and simple as to be present at the altare in they re lyfe time so after theire death to be remembred at the same Whose woorthy indeuours as often as I consider and often truely I doo consider theyme I can not but lament our contrary affection which can nether abyde the sacrifice the hoste nor the altare in oure daies and therfore can looke for no benefite therby after the day of oure deathe once coom vpon vs as oure fore fathers bothe looked for and oute of doubt had But leauing the peculiare consideration of suche thinges to the good and well disposed let vs go forwarde in the fathers pathes and see whether this so well lerned a clerk counted this zele of his oulde moother blinde deuotion as we brutes thinke of oure fathers holynesse now a daies For which matter we shall find The cursed ChaÌ„ hathe many children in oure daies that first eueÌ„ as she desired the sacrifice of the masse was offered for her not onely for thaccomplishent of her godly request but bicause the Church of god did that office for al that was departed in Christe as we reade in sundry placies of this maÌ„nes workes and as in the same booke of confessions he thus declareth and testifieth I leaue the Latine because the treatise growes to greater lengthe then I was aware of at the beginning yf I corrupte the meaning or intent of the writer let my aduersaries take it for an aduauntage thus he saith therfore Nether did I weepe in the tyme of the praiers wheÌ„ the sacrifice of our price was offered for her nor yet afterwarde when we weere at oure praiers lykewise the corps standing at the graue side c. Cap. 13. Lib. 9. vltimo Wherby euery reasonable man must needes acknouledge that bothe praiers and sacrifice was made for her as her meanig and godly request was before her passage she being thus therfore broght home with supplication and sacrifice solemnely Maister Grindall looke in youre grammer vvhat figure S. Augustine vsed here was not yet forgotten of her happy childe But afterwarde he thus very deuoutly maketh intercession for her quiett reste Nowe I call vpon the gratious Lorde for my deare moothers offensies geue eare vnto me for his sake that was the sallue for oure sinnes and was hanged vpon the crosse who sittethe on the right haÌ„d of God and makethe intercession for vs. I knowe she wroght mercyfully and forgaue those that did offend her and nowe good God pardoÌ„ her of her offensies which she by any meanes after her baptisme committed forgeue her mercifull god forgeue her I humbly for Christes sake pray the and entre not into iudgemeÌ„t with her but let thy mercy passe thy iustice bicause thy wordes are true and hast promised mercy to the mercifull And in the same chapter a little afterwarde he thus bothe praieth him selfe for her and ernestly inuitethe other men to do the same in these wordes Inspire my lord God inspire thy seruantes my bretherne thy children and my masters whome withe will worde and penne I serue that as many as shall reade these may remembre at thyne altare thy hand mayden Monica And her laite husband Patricius throughe whose bodies thowe broght me into this liefe and worlde Thus was that holy matrone by her good childe made partaker after her deathe of the thing which she most desired in her liefe And him selfe afterwarde in his owne see of Hippo in Aphrick had sacrifice saide for him at his departure though the day of his deathe fell at the pityfull hauocke which the Vandalles kâ—pt being Arians in those parties coÌ„maunding the christian Catholikes to be buried with owt seruice as I saide before This blessed Bishop departing owt of this liefe in the besiege of his owne Citye had notwithstanding oblation for his rest as Possidonius writing his life Possidonius in vita August and praesent at his passage dooth testifie Augustinus meÌ„bris omnibus sui corporis incolumis integro aspectu atque auditu nobis astantibus videntibus ac cum eo pariter orantibus obdormiuit in pace cuÌ„ patribus suis enutritus in bona senectute nobis corà m positis pro eius commendanda corporis depositione sacrificium deo oblatum est sepultus est Augustine saith he being sownde in his limmes nether his sight nor hearing failing him I being then praesent and in his sight and praying together with him departed this worlde in peaâ—e vnto his elders being continued till a fare age And so we being praesent the sacrifice for the commendacion of his rest was offered vnto God first and streght vpon that was he buried Thus lo all these fathers taughte thus they practised thus they liued and thus they died none was saued then but in this faithe lett no man looke to be saued in any other nowe That vve and all nations receyued this vsage of praing and sacrificing for the departed at our first conuersion to Christes faithe And that this article vvas not onely confirmed by miracle amongest the rest but seuerally by signes and vvoonders approued by it sellfe An that the Church is grovvne to suche beauty by the fructes of this faithe Cap. 10. MAny moe examples of these matters might be broght oute of S. Gregorye diuerse owte of Damascene enowe out of what writer so euer yowe lyke best such choise we haue in so good a cause wherof euery mannes workes are full But I wil passe ouer the rest that I may onely reporte one history owte of our own Church in the pure spring wherof the apostolick faith abundantly isshued downe from the
owte 〈◊〉 Sathans bondage and conuerted to thâ—â—elowship of Christes Church and let vs 〈◊〉 thing doubt but that which oure owne â—postles bothe by worde and worke by mâ—â—acle and by martyrdom first proued vnto â—s is the very true and vnfallible faithe oâ— oure Christianitie For if that were not â—ue which at oure first conueâ—sion was preached vnto vs then we â—eceiued nott the faithe but faulshoode aâ— theire handes theÌ„ the histories doo rake a lowdelye in testifiing we were tâ—â—ned to the Christiane faith bothe at that time and by such men then it wer no conuersion froÌ„ heatheÌ„ Idolatrie to the woorship of Christ but it were a chaunge from one superstition to an other and this latter so much worse then the other bicause vnder the name of Christe there were practise perpetual of execrable sacrilege in instituting of a sacrifice to the defasing of our redemption in adoring bare breade as the hoste of our saluation in offering it vppe to God for the sinnes bothe of the quick and dead in practise of vnproffitable praiers for the soules deceased with the like faulse worship of God in all pointes Then theire preaching was highly to Goddes dishonoure pernicious to the people and damnalbe to theime selues Then haue all that euer ranne the rase of that faithe and doctrine till this daie whiche they taught perished withe theime then are they fownd false witnesseis whom we haue accompted as oure vndoubted true and lawfull pastors then God hath purposely deceiued vs with fained miracles full many with numbers off vaine visions then al our labour is lost till this day The holynesse of so many good princies and priestes is praised in vaine the bloude of Martyres shed in vaine the exercise of al sacrameÌ„ts in vaine and bicause all deuotion consisted in our fathers dayes in the earnest zele of so faulse a religioÌ„ as they thinke this to be then the more deuotion the farther from Christ the lesse religion more nere to saluation then happy was he that was the worst and cursed was he that was counted the best then is oure case most carefull then are we worse theÌ„ all other natioÌ„s that neuer receiued the name of Christ then are we worse theÌ„ we were befor our conuersion then to be shorte thereis no religion no Christ no God no hope of saluation All which thinges if they repugne to common sense and reason and to the comfortable hope of oure saluation which we haue receiued from god by Christe Iesus and the assured testimony of the spirite of God that we be a parte of his chosen Churche and sanctified in his holy name by the worde of truethe and lyfe which we by the ordinary ministery of man haue receiued signes and woonders coÌ„firming theire calling and doctrine then this religion which they planted first in our contrie must needes be in al pointes bothe holy true and acceptable vnto God Then as by that religion our fathers were ingraffed first in to Christes body misticall which is the Churche in which till this day they haue kepte the highe way to saluation so who so euer forsaketh this or any principall article or braunche therof and so leauethe that Churche into which we first entered at oure conuersion Note and take heed betime he leaueth assuredly lyfe and saluation and withe out all doubt euerlastingly perisheth AmoÌ„gest which pointes of doctrine oure aduersaries can not denie but the saing masse and offering for the deade the allmose and praiers for the departed was taught withe the firste and proued by miracles withe the rest The which ether to denie were ouer muche discredit of the antiquitye and plaine impudencie or elles to attribute theyme to the diuells woorking were oppen vntollerable blasphemie Yea this doctrine hathe brought the Churche to this bewtifull ordre in all degries as we haue seene All the noble monuments not onely in oure commoÌ„welthe but through Christes churche do beare sufficient testimonie of oure first faithe herin This doctrine as the whole worlde knoweth fouÌ„ded all Bisshoprikes buylded al Churchies raysed al Oratories Yf praing for the deade vvere takeÌ„ avvay there shoulde no steppe of religigion remaine instituted al Collegies indued all Schooles maintened all hospitalles set forwarde al woorkes of charirye and religioÌ„ of what sorte so euer they bee Take a way the praiers and practise for the deade ether al these monumeÌ„ts must fall or elles they must staÌ„d agaynste the first founders will and meaninge Looke in the statutes of all noble foundacions and of all charitable woorkes euer sithe the first daie of oure happy calling to Christes faithe whether they doo not expressely testifie that theire worke of almose and deuotion was for this one especiall respect to be prayde and songe for as they call it after theire deathes Looke whether your Vniuersites protest not this faithe by many a solemne othe bothe priuatly and openlye Looke whether all preachers that euer tooke degrie in the Vniuersity before these yeres are not bounde by the holy euangelistes to pray for certaine noble princies and praelates of this realme All oure superintendents are deeply and daily periured in euery of their sermons at Paules or other placies of name And so often as these preachers doo omit it so often are they periured so often as they ether eate or drinke of theire benefactors cost so often beare they testimony of they re owne damnation Answer me but one question I aske yowe Whether the firste authors of suche benefites as yowe enioye in the Churche at this day A harde question proposed to the ProtestaÌ„t ether of bisshopricke or colledge or any other spirituall liuelyhoodde say yowre mindes vnfeinedly whether they euer meÌ„t that suche men of suche a religion of suche lyfe of suche doctrine should enioye that allmose which they especially ordeined for other men and for contrary purpose say truethe and shame the deuill thoughte they euer to make roume in Collegies for your wiues meÌ„t they euer to mainteine preachinge against the masse against praiers for theire owne soules when they purposely vpon that grounde began so godlye a woorke if they in deede neuer ment it as I knowe theye did not and as your oune consciencies beare witnesse with theim and against your selues that they did not howe caÌ„ yowe theÌ„ for feare of goddes highe displeasure against theire owne willes vsurpe those commodities whiche they neuer ment to suche as yow be A lasse good men thei thought to make frendes of wicked mammon and full dearly with bothe landes and gooddes haue they procured enimies to theire owne soules But if there be any sense in those good fathers and fouÌ„ders as there is and if they be in heauen as they re good deseruing I trust hathe broght theime then surely they accuse yow most iustly of wicked vniustice before the face of God for deluding the people for breaking theire willes for vsurping theire commodities against theire professed mindes and meaninges Or if they be
qualities in theire daies yet truethe folowing tyme theire fame raised vpon so light causies easely decayd and the grownde of perpetuall infamie sattled in wise mens heartes by the wickednesse of theire attemptes remained for a testimony to all posteritye of theire shame and ignominye And this I speake not onely of the authors of oure common sectes for they neuer atteined to any shade of famous report in theire daies bicause they coulde deceiue none but simple weemen but I meane by Arius him selfe and Pelagius with the lyke who in theire owne time being of greate aesteme emōgest many whom they deceiued yet after their death more and more they grew to shame and infamie so farre that who so euer were of theire opiniōs afterward durste not yet for shame vse their name or authority for proufe of their own doctrine See yow not in our daies how freshe the name of Luther Caluin Buser with that rable was emongest the rude people whome they had woonne ether with speache or pleasure of licentious doctrine and lo nowe it decayeth in a maner or their bones be coulde The peoples sensies raueshed with the praesent pleasure of suche as they heard last lyke theyme so longe as they heare theime afterwarde theire memory remaineth onely to malediction Vidi im pium superexaltatum eleuatum sicut Cedros Libani Psal 36. transiui ecce non est quaesiui non est inuentus locus eius I haue seene the wicked exalted and set vppe as the cedre treese of libanus I passed by and loe owt of hand he is no body I sought him and his abyding can not be fownde Who so euer shall seeke for our glorious preachers with in this C. yeare he shall find theime in suche estimation then as theire forefathers be nowe that is to say to be vnworthy the naming of theire owne adherents if any of that secte liue and last so longe For let theime neuer look to com to the infamous fame of Arrius the best of all these secte maisters not worthy to be scholare to a hundreth of his folowers Thus loe is the case of haeretikes liked of fooles when they be alieue contemned of all men whē they are deade Now in the doctors of Goddes Churche it is cleane contrarie and no lesse worthy to be noted for oure purpose for theire honoure and estimation rising vpon the sure vnfallible grownde of Goddes truethe by yeares and time gathereth suche force that not onely theire memorie is in perpetuall benediction before God but theire woorkes folowe theyme in the mindes of theire posterity to theire owne aeternall praise and benefite of all theire folowers And which is muche more to be wondered at they haue so passed enuy and malice of man that euen those whiche deadly hate theyme dare not but praise theyme And suche as mislike theire doctrine and knowe of theire owne conscience that they be directly ageinste theim yet dare not openly charge theime withe faulshoode as they doo vs theire scholars but rather as I sayde seeke sum sentence owte of theime to helpe theire owne cause then with theire plaine condemnation of faulshode to refuse their authoritie S. Augustine busyed much with the Pelagians and charged by theime in disputation that he defended the Manicheis doctrine concerning originall sin for his defense and warraunt proueth vnto theime that Sancte Ambrose taught the same doctrine that he did and yet they durste not be so bowlde to call him a Manichie Dic huic Ambrosio si audes quae mihi tam petulanter obiectas Thow haeretike saith he say the same by S. Ambrose if thow dare for shame whiche thowe so saulsely and wantonly obiectes to me Lib. 2. cōtra Iulian. Looke I pray yowe Ambrose was but newe deade when his onely name did feare the heretike when other alyue of as good lerning was contemned of him and by wordes of reproche charged with the Manichaeis sect who was a wyked man of horrible sectes not long before those dayes Pelagius owte of doubt thought no better of Ambrose and Cyprian deade thē he did of Augustine and Innocentius a liue bicause they re doctrine was all one but yet the men departed wer of more authority in goddes churche then the liuing of whose continuance to the ende men were vncertayne before the proufe thereof and they re wordes being deade might easely be wrasted to sum shew of they re purpose when the authority off the lyuing coulde not admitte any suche faulse dealinge theime selues bearing witnesse of the meaning of theire owne wordes Well then oure doctoures of goddes Churche being all of holy aestimation and blessed memory doo so dase the eyes euen of theire owne aduersaries that being of the very same doctrine that we who by Goddes grace be membres of the Catholike Church be of yet they are past the malice of those which like not theire dooing and doctrine For the heretikes well knowing theim to be the authors or at the least especiall mainteiners of this oure assertion of the valewe of praiers and the holy sacrifice for the departed yet they dare not but clokedly reprehende theyme when they flowe ageinst the poore Catholikes nowe alyue withe wordes off infinite blasphemye and sclaunderous reproche Therfore I now will call vpon theime with S. Augustines wordes Coom on all the packe of yow who so euer is the prowdest protestant vpō the earth call if he dare S. Denise Sanct Clement Athanas Chrisostom Ambrose Gregory Bede we are not ashamed of theire names as yowe be of your Maisters Call these papistes for praying for theire frendes call theime Idolaters call theime superstitious call theime enimies of Christes passion say they be iniurious to his death by prouiding a newe sacrifice for sin tell theime they inuented Anniuersaries monthes mindes and yearly offeringes for theire own gayne call theime masse mungers call theime blynde gydes No yowe dare not for your eares yowe dare not disprayse oure heuenly gydes yowe dare not once name your owne Suche force hath the truethe and such feare there is in faulshood and yet these doctors must needes be in a thousande times worse case then wee be if the doctrine of purgatory and prayers be not true We may be saued or at least reasonably excused by folowing they in leading vs in faulshod cā haue no excuse of theire impietye But howe gladde may all we Catholikes be in oure heartes that haue the full consent of all theime in the proufe of oure belyfe oute of whose workes the aduersaries woulde be gladde of one lyklye sentence And whose lyfe and doctrine are so glorious in goddes Churche that theire oune aduersaries raling at vs alyue yet dare not but with greate feare once blemish theire names departed Thoughe sumtimes it brastithe oute in sum one of theime to their owne miscredit So beutifull is the light of trueth And on the other side howe miserable is theire carefull case that folowe and defend that doctrine the authors wherof they
and praiers for the deade or elles by any one lerned maÌ„ in all the world was euer expounded for any such sense And lo now good reader what scriptures they alleage that can abide nothinge but scripture Firste owte of Ecclesiastes Cap. 11. The tree whether it faule to the southe or the north it lyeth ever wher it lighteth Then they alleage owt of S. Matthews ghospell Cap. 7. that there be two waies one to bring to heauen and thother leading streght to helle And then owte of the seconde to the Corinthians they bring in Cap. 5. howe we must all stande before the iudgement seat of Christe there to receiue eche of vs according to our workes and life and that by other mennes labour oure state can not be amended Again they alleage this sentence of the Apocalipse Cap. 14. Beati mortui c. blessed be the deade that dye in our Lorde for after that the spirite saithe that they shall rest from trauelles All which textes and the lyke of that sorte make no more ageinst purgatory then they doo ageinst hell or heauen excepte that aâ— Anaxagoras the philosopher saide Phisic 1. l. all thinges were in euery thinge so these diuines can finde euery texte of scripture to make for what purpose they liste and yet if the Catholikes alleage a number of scriptures and theime with the mind and iudgement of the whole worlde that doubteth not but they proue that for whiche they be recited yet they set light by theime and impudently with clamors beare men in hand that they haue no scriptures at all Which thinges as they smelle of muche arrogancie in al men so in these foulke that so malepertly controwle others where theyme selues haue no scripture at all it is vntolerable And for these which they here or elleswhere alleage I aske theyme sincerely and desire theime to tell me faithefully what doctour or wise learned man of the whole antiquity euer expounded these textes recited or any one of theyme or any other whiche yowe bring in elles when ageinst Purgatory or practise for the deade Yff they did not howe can yowe for sinne and shame dissent from the whole Churche off Christe vpon so light grounds Or howe dare yowe be so boulde that seeke in euery controuersy expresse scripture to alleage these placies whiche wyse meÌ„ nor I think your selues take for any suche purpose Or howe may yow for shame reiecte the euident word of God by vs truely reported for the triall of oure matter your selues hauing almost nothing that can be wraasted to youre sense An ansvver to the first place If yow stande to the triall of youre alleaged testimonies yowe will be muche abasshed I knowe For howe can yowe imagine that the place recited out of Ecclesiastes should further youre intent any thing at all Seeing that euen then when the wyseman spake those wordes the soule of man streght after her departure and the faule of the bodye continued not where it first fell for the iuste had a place of abidinge and rest in the inferiour partes whiche was called of Ezechias the gate of helle Isai 38. In the ghospel Sinus Abrahae the bosom of Abraham and nowe Lymbus Patrum in whiche they all abode till they were deliuered by the bloude and trauell of oure sauioure Iesus Bern. ser 4 de fest omnium sanct Amb. super 5. ad Romanos Withe whome they after were translated to the aeternal ioyes of heauen Whiche thinge if it be true as it can not but be true and certaine whiche the whole course of scripture the article of oure faithe in Christes descension in to hel and al the auncient fathers doo constantly setforth what blindnes be they in then that bring this place againste Purgatorie which as it is a stay of certaine for a time from heauen so the other before Christe was the staye off all And therefore it is plaine that this faulynge of the tree meanithe nothinge lesse then that euery man shoulde streght vpon his departure be conueyde ether to hell or heauen Or if any wedded to Caluines blasphemous and vnfaithefull paradoxies doo with Purgatory deny the fathers place of abode before the cooming of Christe and impugne the beleefe of Goddes churche so muche that he withstand the article of oure Crede for Christes descendinge in to hell or turne the cause of his going into hel to sum other purpose then the lowsing of theire captiuity that there were in expectation of his ioyfull apparance Caluins absurde doctrin is refuted yet I woulde demaunde so much of Caluins successor or scholare seeing he wil of this figuratiue speach of the trees fauliÌ„g gether so grounded and generall a rule that with owt delay euery man must to heaueÌ„ or hel streght after his death there to remaine in perpetuall state of his faule in the nexte life ether good or badde I woulde aske of him I saye what he thinketh by all those that were by the Prophets Apostles or Christe him selfe raysed vppe againe from deathe to lyfe Who receiuing by death that faule by theire accompt must needes abide where they first fell and so not in case to be reuoked by this theire faulse conclusion they diminishe the powre of the spirite in woorking their raisinge againe Or elles they must impute deceite to the holy men and oure master Christe whiche abhorreth me â—o speake for that they raysed theyme not beinge perfectely deade but in sum deadlye traunce or apparance of deathe But bicause the soule of Lazarus was nowe iiij daies owte of his bodye before Christe wroght vpon him The state of such in the next vvorlde as by goddes omnipotency vvere raised to lyfe againe it is sure and most certaine that it had sum place of abyding after the separation from the fleshe I can not thinke that his soule was in heauen nor it is not like that oure sauioure woulde so muche abase the happy condicion of him whome he loued so well as to reduce him to the vncertaine state of this lyfe I will define in this my ignorance nothing touching the secrettes of goddes wisdom herin But very like it is that the parties raysed from theire faule and deathe were not in the ioyes of heauen As before Christes death I am sure they were not but I speake of Tabitha also or other reuoked by thapostles handes that then after Christes passion might full well diyng in perfect state of lyfe go streght to heauen of suche I say it is very reasonable that they were not in the ioyes of thelect For elles Tabitha shoulde not haue had suche a benefite by her almose as the fathers doo witnesse she hadde And they vse her for an exaÌ„ple of the benefite which may rise to one after departure by charitable woorkes doone in this lyfe It had bene a smaule pleasure to haue plucked her from hauen to this mortalitye againe and misery of oure common lyfe and I trowe no
man may auouche withe salfety of his belefe that she or any other raysed againe miraculously was reuoked from the desperate estate of the damned soules then she muste necessarily be called from some meane condicion of her present abode and perhappes from paine too to this former state of lyfe againe But as in this secrett of god no man with owte iust reprehension may deeply wade so it may reasonably be gathered â—hat the faule of the tree before mentiâ—ned can not induce withe any probaâ—ilitie the necessity of the soules abiâ—ing in all respectes where it first lighâ—e Marye we freely graunt with diuers of the auncient fathers that the faule of the tree into the southe parte may â—ignifie vnto vs the departure of maÌ„ in the happy state of grace and the norâ—he side lykewise the cursed and damnable state of the wicked and that he which passethe hense in ether of these estates and condicions as euery lyuing man doothe can not procure by other nether deserue by him sellfe the chaunge of his happy lote or his vnlucky happe otherwise then in his lyfe time he deserued That is to say if he passe this worlde an electe person in the loue and grace of God he is oute of doubt of all damnation or rather oute of possibilitye to be reiected and so the case of the forsakeÌ„ is vtterly remedilesse And further by that figuratiue speache yowe had not best on your owne heade be ouer boulde least som Saduceie of your secte gather the perpetuall reste of the body with owte all hope of resurrection I can not tell howe it faulethe but yet so it doothe that your doctrine and arguments minister ouer muche occasion of erroure and that to the deceiued in the depest matters of our faithe But I will rubbe yow no more on thatsore I warned yowe before to take heede to the resurrection An Ansvver to the secoÌ„d text Nowe for the other text recited oute of S. Matthewes gospell of the double waie th one to perdicion an the other to saluation there is allmost none so simple but he seeth that it maketh no more for your purpose then the other For there as oure aduersary can not but knowe though to deceiue he liste dissemble mentioÌ„ is made and the meaning is onelye of these ij waies in this worlde and lyfe in one of which being full of ease and libertye the wicked waulkethe towardes hell or damnation In the which way the riche maÌ„ and vnmercifull tooke his tyme of whome Abraham saide that he had receiued good in his dayes In the other being bothe straite and harde the smal numbre of the chosen take their iourney towardes heauen And yet if yowe thinke good yowe may ioyne the place of temporall punishment for sinne in the worlde to coom to the straite and painefull passage of the electe though perhappes all they entre not therby And so shall yowe find this place not onely nothing to forther theire cause but sumwhat to helpe oures And so for the other taken oute of the fyft to the Corinth S. Augustine shal answer yowe and beare me witnesse An Ansvver to the thirdâ— argumeÌ„t it makethe nothing for yowe his wordes be these in his Encheridion This practise that Goddes Churche vseth in the commendations of the deade Cn. is nothing repugnaÌ„t to the sentence of the Apostle where he saithe that we all shall stand before the iudgement seate of Christe that euery one may receiue according to his desertes in the bodye ether good or euill for this in his lyfe and before deathe he deserued that these woorkes after his death might be profitable vnto him for in deede they be not profitable for allmen and why so but bicause of the difference and diuersitye of mens liues whilest they were in this flesh c. And this same sentence the Doctor often repeteth allmost in the same forme of wordes in diuers placies bothe to correcte theire ignorance that might take a way praiers for the dead bicause they finde the sentence of goddes iudgement to be executed on man according to the deseruing of this lyefe and no lesse to geue monition to the carelesse that they omitte not to doo well in this lyfe vppoÌ„ hope or presumtioÌ„ of other mennes works after their decease which as they be exceding beneficial to many so they helpe none suche as in their owne lyfe woulde not helpe theime selues The lyke declaration of this pointe hathe S. Denyse in the 7. chapter of his Ecclesiastical soueraignty whiche I omitte lest in this point by S. Augustine sufficiently auouched I weerye the reader without cause The last obiection An ansvver to the last scripture of the angelles words in the Apocalipse affirming the state of all those that dye in our Lorde to be happy to be past trauel and in rest and peace they be properly spoken there of holy men that sheede theire bloude in the times of persecution for Christes sake to geue theime assured comforte after a litle toleration and patience in the rage of Antichrist of blessed and aeternal rest and so the circumstance of the letter plainely geueth and so dooth S. Augustin expounde it Cap. 9. lib. 20. de ciui And for suche holy martyrs it is needlesse to pray as to pray vnto theime is most profitable Albeit the wordes are true and may be wel verified of all that passe hense in the happy state of grace being past the cares of this troblesom world and which is the greatest trauell of all other vtterly dispatched of the toile that sinners take in theire waies of wickednesse with freedoÌ„ froÌ„ sin and al feare of sinne and damnation for euermore So that this rest froÌ„ laboure is no more but a happy ioy of conscience with securitye of saluatioÌ„ and peace in Christe Iesu For which cause in the holy Canon of the Masse it is saide Christianos dormire in somno pacis in Christo quiescere That Christian folkes doo sleepe in the sleape of peace and rest in Christ thoughe for all that in the same place we aske Requiem refrigerium rest and refreshing for theyme And this holy peace from all toyle of the worlde and woorme of tormented conscience the electe children of God in theire fathers correction being assured of his aeternall loue do blessedly enioye But the wicked be in contrary case of whome it is saide non est pax impijs there is no rest or quietnesse to the wicked no not in theire daies of ioye much lesse in their infinite miserie of their euerlasting torments in the world to coom Of whose vnhappy state Isai 57. the prophet warneth vs thus againe Impij quasi mare feruens quod quiescere non potest The wicked be right like vnto the toomblinge and tossinge sea that neuer restethe The place of S. Iohn then being namely spoken of holy martyrs that streght with owte all paine after this lyfe passe to heauen may yet very fitly stand with