XII They committed Symony in the Administration of Baptism and the Eucharist setting rates of the Price they were to receive for them For their Marriages they made use of the first Priest that they found especially those who lived in the Countrey XIII They had an extraordinary respect for their Patriarch of Babylon a Schismatick and Head of the Nestorian Sect on the contrary they could not endure that the Pope should be named in their Churches where most commonly they had neither Curate nor Vicar but the ancientest presided in them XIV Though on Sundays they went to Mass yet they did not think themselves obliged to it in Conscience so that they were at Liberty not to goe nay there were some Places where Mass was said but once a Year and others where none was said in 6 7. and 10. Years XV. The Priests discharged Secular Employments The Bishops were Babylonians sent by their Patriarch and lived onely by sordid Gain and Symony selling Publickly Holy things as the Collation of Orders and the Administration of other Sacraments XVI They are flesh on Saturdays and were in this Errour in regard of the Fasts of Lent and the Advent that if they had failed to Fast one day they fasted no more thinking themselves not obliged to it because they had already broken their Fast These are the greatest Part of the Errours which Archbishop Meneses pretends to have found amongst the Christians of St. Thomas and which the Compiler of that History exaggerates to shew that extraordinary Labour was needfull for gaining these People But if that Archbishop and other Emissaries into the East had been well acquainted with the Ancient Theology they would not have so multiplied Errours In effect seeing they measured all things by the Rule of the Theology which is taught in the Schools of Europe it is not to be thought strange that they would needs reform the Oriental nations according to that Standard I confess there were abuses there that needed amendment but they ought not to have been rectified according to our Customs The Course that was to have been taken on these Occasions was to have turned back unto their Ancient Books and to have reformed them according to the Contents thereof and that might have been easily done as will appear in the Sequel of this Discourse But we must first relate the rest of that History that we may be able to make the better Judgment on the Conduct of Meneses and of the pretended Errours of the Nestorians Archbishop Meneses called a Synod the 20th of June 1599. where the Deputies of the Nestorians were present to deliberate jointly with the Archbishop about Matters of Religion And that it might appear that the Nestorians had all the Liberty that is necessary upon such Occasions and that on the other Hand they might give their Consent to all that should be decreed there the Archbishop gained Eight of the most Famous Churchmen and fully informed them of his Design and of the ways that were to be taken for succeeding in it giving them the particulars of all the Decrees that were to be made there and asking their Opinion upon every distinct Point as if nothing had as yet been resolved upon to the end that being present in the Synod they might doe the same and thereby oblige the rest to follow their Example He took many other measures for succeeding in his Designs which it would be to no purpose to relate and all that hath been hitherto alledged is onely to shew the manner how the Roman Religion hath been established in the East and that it is not to be thought strange that all the Reconciliations that have been made with those People whom we call Schismaticks have been of no long Duration It was then decreed in that Synod that the Priests Deacons Subdeacons and besides all the Deputies of Towns that were present should sign the Confession of Faith that the Archbishop had privately made by himself which was done and all solemnly swore obedience to be Pope whom they acknowledged to be Head of the Church swearing also that they would entertain no more Commerce with the Patriarch of Babylon Moreover they Anathematized the Person of Nestorius and all his Errours owning Cyrill Patriarch of Alexandria for a Saint Besides a great many particular Statutes were made in that Synod for reforming the Errours that Archbishop Meneses pretended to be in the Administration of their Sacraments and in their Books And therefore he caused their Liturgies and other Offices to be rectified He regulated the matter of Marriage according to the Decrees of the Council of Trent The Sacraments of Penance Confirmation and Extreme Unction were likewise reformed according to the Practice of the Church of Rome Priests were for the future prohibited to marry and regulations were made for those who were already married In a word the Archbishop introduced the Religion of the Latins amongst the Chaldeans as well in that synod as in the Visitations which he made of several Churches But let us now consider if he had reason to introduce so many Novelties amongst the Christians of St. Thomas which will serve to discover the Religion of those People I. As to what concerns the Errours which Archbishop Meneses imputes to them we have in the foregoing Chapter reconciled the Sentiments of the Nestorians with those of the Church of Rome and that was the way that the Archbishop should have proceeded with them if he intended to have established a lasting Reformation for he ought to have heard them before he condemned them for being called Nestorians When it had been made clear to them that all the Disputes which they had with the Church of Rome consisted onely in the Ambiguity of Terms they would have become a great deal more tractable and docile II. As to Images the Chaldeans reverence them not so much as the Greeks do because that great Veneration of Images was not so firmly established in the Greek Church but since the second Council of Nice which was posteriour to all the Sects of the Chaldeans who commonly are satisfied with a Cross in their Hand and that Cross wherewith the Priest blesseth the People is of plain Metal without any figure The Archbishop might very well have let the Christians of St. Thomas alone in that Ancient simplicity because all that hath been since that time decreed concerning Images is but barely matter of Discipline III. It is very true they administer not Baptism after the manner of the Latins but it is not therefore to be thought that the form of their Baptism is invalid and it was far less necessary to rebaptize those who had been baptized according to the Chaldean rite That which deceives the Emissaries when they treat about Affairs of Religion with the Orientals is the prejudices which they have learned in the Schools concerning the Matter and Form of Sacraments When for instance they see that the Child is not baptized at the same time
on purpose by the Patriarch Elias who stood in need of the Assistance of Rome The same Judgment we are to make of the Letters which the Nestorians assembled at Mosul for the Election of a new Patriarch wrote to Pope Julius III. wherein they give him the Title of Head of all Bishops in the same manner as St. Peter was of all the other Disciples That is not the ordinary Language of the Orientals in regard of the Bishop of Rome whom they do indeed acknowledge to be the chief of Patriarchs but that according to them is onely a Primacy of Honour and not of Jurisdiction and Power over the rest The same patriarch Elias annexed to his Letter the Confession of Faith of his Church where amongst other Articles it is said that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father that the Son hath taken a Body of the Holy Virgin that he is perfect both in Soul and in Mind and in all that belongs to a Man that the Word having descended into a Virgin was united to the Man and became one thing with that Man in the same manner as the Fire and the Iron are united together that that Unity is without either Mixture or Confusion and therefore it is that the Properties of each Nature cannot be destroyed after the Union that they believe that Jesus Christ who is begotten of his Father from all Eternity as to his Divinity was born of a Virgin in the fulness of time and united with the Nature of his Humanity As to what is objected to them that they call not the Virgin the Mother of God but Mother of Jesus Christ he answers that they speak in that manner to condemn the Apollinarians who pretend that the Divinity is without the Humanity and to confound Themistius who affirmed that Christ was onely Humanity without Divinity He farthermore adds that that is the Belief of the Church of Rome and that he receives all which that Church teaches that he acknowledges the Pope to be Head of all Churches and that out of the same Church of Rome there is no Salvation Now seeing Elias Patriarch of Babylon otherwise of the Nestorians could not come to Rome himself He dispatched to the Pope some of the ablest and most prudent Men about him to make the Reconciliation of the two Churches They together framed an Explanation of the Articles of their Religion where they laid down at length the manner of reconciling their Belief with that of the Church of Rome Abbot Adam who was one of the Deputies was charged with that Commentary or Explanation and the Patriarch accompanied him with a Letter to the Pope (1) Epist El. Patr. ad Paul V. wherein he treats of that Reconciliation of Belief and makes it appear that the two Churches differ onely in Ceremonies but that as to the Doctrine of Faith all the Disputes with the Church of Rome are but nominal He reduces those Points of Belief wherein he pretends to differ onely in Name from Rome to five Heads to wit in that the Nestorians call not the Virgin the Mother of God but Mother of Christ in that they assign to J. C. but one Power and one Will in that they acknowledge in J. C. but one Person in that they say barely that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and in fine in that they believe that the Light which is made on Holy Saturday at the Sepulchre of our Lord is a Light truly miraculous The Patriarch Elias having taken the Advice of the most knowing Men about him pretends that in all these Points they understand not one another aright And in effect Abbot Adam endeavours to justify himself in a long Discourse of which we shall onely here relate a Summary without speaking of the two last Articles which are common to all the Orientals the three first onely relating particularly to the Nestorians and I find that that Abbot evidently proves that the Modern Nestorianism is but a Heresie in Name and that it hath onely been condemned because not understood In the first place the Abbot makes appear that it is easie to reconcile the Roman Church which calls the Virgin Mother of God with the Nestorian which calls her Mother of Jesus Christ because it is a Principle received by both Churches that the Divinity neither generates nor is generated so that the Virgin hath engendered Jesus Christ who is God and Man both together but that it is not therefore to be believed that there are two Sons but one onely true Son insomuch that there is in Jesus Christ but one Filiation and one onely visible Person which the Nestorians call Parsopa In fine he concludes that they deny not but that the Virgin may be called Mother of God because Jesus Christ is really God and that that Doctrine is agreeable to the words of St. John in his Gospel of St. Paul and St. Gregory Nazianzene wherefore says he according to these Principles the Church of Rome acknowledges really that the Virgin is the Mother of God and the Orientals with good reason say also that she is Mother of Christ and yet for all that differ not in Judgment In the second place he examines the difference that seems to be betwixt the Roman and Nestorian Churches touching the Natures and Persons in Jesus Christ It is certain the Latins acknowledge two Natures and one onely Person in Christ whereas the Nestorians say that there are two Persons in him and one Parsopa or visible Person and besides that there is but one Power and Virtue in him He reconciles those two Opinions that seem at first so different by the explication which he gives of that Mystery The Orientals or Nestorians says he according to the two Natures that are in Christ distinguish in their Mind two Persons but with their Eyes they see but one Christ who is onely the Parsopa or Appearance of one Filiation And it is in that Sense also that the Nestorians acknowledge but one Power or Virtue in Christ because they look upon him but as one Parsopa or visible Person and so by reason of that real and perfect Union which makes but one Compositum of two Natures the Divine and Humane they distinguish not a double Power or Virtue making the Terms to rest on the Unity of Filiation Whereas in the Church of Rome these Powers or Virtues are distinguished into Divine and Humane because they are considered with relation to the Natures and it may easily be concluded from thence that this Diversity of Judgment is onely apparent since in effect the Nestorians confess with the Latins that there are two Natures in Christ and that each Nature hath its Power and its Virtue and besides both Churches acknowledge that there is no Mixture nor Confusion of those two Natures each retaining the Attributes which are proper to them In fine for a greater Illustration of his Opinion he adds these words As the Fathers of the Church of Rome acknowledge one
amongst them It is true they neglect it very much and the Archbishop Joseph a Nestorian who some years since was reconciled to the Church of Rome had much adoe to re-establish it in Diarbequer because the Nestorians though most of them Latinized would not submit to it as I have learned from another Chaldean Archbishop a great Friend of Joseph's who hath suffered much for maintaining the Interests of Rome We must then explain all the other Points of the Religion of the Nestorians with relation to the Sentiments of the Greek Church which is the source of all the Christianity in the East It is not to be denied but that the Nestorians consecrate in Leavened bread They moreover put into their Bread Salt and Oil as may be seen in the Notes upon the Works of Gabriel of Philadelphia where the way of making and preparing that Bread to make it proper for Consecration is related They have for that end a great many Prayers which they say however they observe fewer Ceremonies than the Greeks who to the Ancient have added an infinite Number of new ones CHAP. VIII Of the Indians or Christians of St. Thomas THE Indians or Christians of St. Thomas and the Nestorians may be comprehended under one Head because it is certain they make but one Sect and have but one Patriarch whose Jurisdiction extends as far as India and the Chaldeans who live at Goa Cochim Angamala and other Places of those Quarters are really of the Nestorian Sect. The Popes have often sent Emissaries into those Countries especially since the Portuguese setled there But he that laboured most in reconciling these Christians of St. Thomas to the Roman Church was Alexis de Meneses of the Order of St. Austin who was made Archbishop of Goa and took the Title of Primate of the East Seeing there hath been a History made out of his Memoires the relation of those who accompanied him into that Countrey and of some Jesuits who have been in the same Places we shall relate the State and Religion of those People at the time of that Famous Mission which happened in the Year 1599. Many before Meneses had attempted the Reunion of the Christians of St. Thomas with the Church of Rome Don John Albuquerque (1) Hist Orient des progrés d' Alex. Men. en la reduct des Crestiens de St. Thomas Imprimée à Brusseles en 1609. of the Order of St Francis was the first Archbishop of Goa and under him in the Year 1546. there was a College erected at Cangranor for instructing Children in the Ceremonies of the Latins But the Jesuits who were more sagacious soon perceived that the Young Chaldeans bred after the manner of the Latins were useless and that it was in vain to think of converting the Christians of that Countrey without the Knowledge of the Chaldaick or Syrian Language They therefore erected another College about a League from Cangranor in the Year 1587. where they taught Children the Chaldaick Tongue to the end that being grown up they might be received into the Ministery as real Chaldeans But neither did this do any great Service because it was not enough to be instructed in the Language of the Religion there must be besides an agreement in Sentiments with the Prelates to have the Liberty of Preaching in their Churches whereas being taught by the Jesuits their Doctrine and way of speaking were very different from what was commonly received in the Countrey And therefore it was impossible for the Jesuits to make them forsake their ancient Customs and to withdraw them from the Submission which they rendered to the Patriarch of Babylon who was not in the Pope's Communion no more than the Bishops that were under his Jurisdiction The Remedy therefore that was found for that was to seize the Person of a certain Bishop called Mar Joseph who had been sent by the Patriarch of Babylon to the end that by that means the People having no Pastour the Design might the more easily be brought about But that Bishop Mar Joseph ordered that Mass should be celebrated according to the Custome of Rome with Ornaments after the Latin Fashion and that they should even make use of the Wine and Wafers of the Latins Nevertheless he still persisted in Nestorianism and taught the Portuguese who served him to say Holy Mary Mother of Christ and not Mother of God which obliged the Archbishop and Viceroy to arrest him in order to his being carried to Rome But arriving in Portugal he so well managed his Affairs that he obtained Letters again to be received into his Bishoprick of Serra In the mean time there was another Bishop already put in his Place called Mar Abraham who to maintain himself in his Bishoprick went afterwards to Rome to submit to the Pope where having made an abjuration of his Heresies he was re-ordained He had all the Orders given him anew from the Tonsure to Priesthood then he was consecrated Bishop and the Pope empowred him by Bulls for governing the Church of Serra adding thereunto Letters of Recommendation to the Viceroy which stood him but in little stead for he was no sooner arrived but that the Archbishop of Goa caused his Bulls to be examined and finding that the Pope had been misinformed by Mar Abraham and that his Holiness had been imposed upon he was shut up in a Monastery in expectation of an Answer from Rome But he escaped and retired into the Churches of his Bishoprick where he was very well received by the Nestorians who hoped no more for any Bishop from their Patriarch In the mean time Mar Abraham who still distrusted the Portuguese retreated far up into the Countrey and to shew that he was sincerely in the Pope's Communion he ordained anew all those whom he had already ordained that he might conform to the Roman Rite and did all he could both with the Viceroy and the Archbishop that he might appear to be really in the Judgment of the Latin Church But he still preached Nestorianism in his Church of Serra and would not suffer the Pope to be called Head of the Church as owning no other Patriarch but the Patriarch of Babylon On the other hand the Ancient Bishop of Serra Mar Joseph was accused of teaching the Heresies of Nestorius and being thereupon questioned he answered freely that he had had a Revelation from God assuring him that the Religion which he had received from his Ancestours was the true Religion So he was immediately made Prisoner and sent to Rome where he died From this History it may be gathered that the Portuguese have used great Violence towards the Nestorians about Matters of Religion that the Emissaries being Men unacquainted with the Theology of the East have disturbed and molested them for Ceremonies of little or no Importance and that they have thereby occasioned the temporising of the Nestorian Bishops by introducing Novelties into their Churches to which they were constrained by Violence And therefore it was
that the same Mar Abraham having been obliged by the Pope's Brief and more by the fear that he had of the Vice-roy who gave him a Pass-port to repair to a Council he there again abjured all these Errours and made Profession of the Roman Catholick Faith But no sooner was he come back to his Church but that he taught Nestorianism as before and even wrote to his Patriarch of Babylon that the Portuguese had forced him to be present at the Synod of Goa The sequel of that History discovers more plainly the Violences used by the Portuguese towards the Nestorians to bring them to an Union with the Church of Rome and to oblige them to subscribe to the Confession of Faith of Pius IV. which happened in the time of Alexis de Meneses Arch-Bishop of Goa who went into the Indies with a Brief of Clement VIII to inform against Mar Abraham In that whole Relation there appears great Zeal in the Nestorian Christians of that Countrey for the Defence of their Faith which they pretended to retain as being once delivered unto them by St. Thomas In so much that they put their hands before their Eyes at the Mass of the Latins when the Priest elevated the Host to be adored by those that were present Above all they shew'd themselves zealous for their Patriarch of Babylon and when they were asked whether the Pope was not Head of the Church they made answer that he was Head of the Church of Rome which is a particular Church otherwise called the Church of St. Peter and not of the Church of St. Thomas as being independent one of another which they obstinately maintained They moreover resolutely withstood the Sacrament of Confirmation which Archbishop Meneses would have administred unto them and they accused him of Envy and Ambition alledging that he endeavoured to overturn the Religion of St. Thomas to make them embrace that of Rome to the end that by that Artifice he might remain absolute Master of all the Churches of the Indies And therefore say they that Archbishop calumniated the Patriarchs of Babylon protesting however that they would persevere in Submission and Obedience to their patriarch and that they would never forsake their Religion to embrace that of Rome Notwithstanding all these oppositions on the Part of the Nestorians Archbishop Meneses still persisted to inculcate to them that their Patriarch was an Heretick and Excommunicated and that therefore they could not pray for him This he did so vigorously sparing neither Pains nor Money that at length he softened them Sometimes he used Violence and was therefore often in danger of his Life For under Pretext that he had full Power from the Pope he exercised his Jurisdiction in all Places without minding the Ordinaries of the Places even before they had acknowledged his Character And in this manner that Envoy of the Pope planted the Roman Religion in that Countrey and spared no means to accomplish his Design He gave Orders in spight of the Diocesan Bishops and made those whom he Ordained first abjure the Errours of the Nestorians Besides the Confession of Faith they who entered into Orders were obliged to swear Obedience to the Pope and to acknowledge no other Bishops but such as were sent from him But let us now come to the Errours of which Meneses accuses the Christians of St. Thomas I. (1) Hist Orient des progr d' Alexis Meneses Chap. 20. They obstinately maintained the Errours of Nestorius and besides that they received no Images admitting onely the Cross which they much honoured Nevertheless there were Images of some Saints in Churches adjacent to the Portuguese II. They affirmed that the Souls of the Saints did not see God before the Day of Judgment III. They acknowledged but three Sacraments to wit Baptism Orders and the Eucharist and in the Form of Baptism there was so great an abuse amongst them that in one and the same Church different Forms of Baptism were in use and by reason of that it happened often that the Baptism was null So that Archbishop Meneses secretly rebaptized most Part of that People There were also a great many especially the Poor who lived in the woods who had never been Baptised because Baptism cost Money And nevertheless though they had never been baptised yet they went to Church and received the Sacrament Besides they often enough delayed Baptism for several Months nay and for several Years IV. They made no use of Holy Oil in the Administration of Baptism unless that finding in their Rituals that there was mention made of anointing after Baptism they anointed Children with an Unguent made of Indian Nuts without any Benediction and they esteemed that Unction Holy V. They had no Knowledge of Confirmation nor Extreme Unction nay not so much as the Names of them VI. They abominated Auricular Confession except a few that were Neighbours to the Portuguese And as to the Eucharist they communicated on Holy Thursday and many other Festival-days without other Preparation than coming to the Sacrament fasting VII Their Books were full of considerable Errours and in their Mass there were a great many Additions inserted by the Nestorians VIII They consecrated with little Cakes made with Oil and Salt which the Deacons and other Churchmen who were but in inferiour Orders baked in a Copper Vessel having for that purpose a separated Place in the Form of a little Tower and whilst the Cake was a baking they sung several Psalms and Hymns and when they were ready to consecrate through a Hole that was in the Floor of that little Tower they let the Cake in a little Basket made of Leaves slide down upon the Altar Moreover they made use of Wine made of Water in which some dry Grapes had onely been infused IX They said Mass but very seldom and he that served at it wore a kind of a Stole over his ordinary Cloaths though he was not a Deacon He had always the Censer in his Hand and said almost as many Prayers as he that celebrated adding thereto many unknown and impious Ceremonies X. They had so great a Veneration for Orders that there was not a Family where some Body was not in Orders and the reason of that was because as Orders made them not incapable of other Employments so they had every where the Precedence Besides they observed not the Age requisite for Priesthood and the other Orders for they made Priests at the Age of 17 18. and 20. Years and when they were Priests they married even with Widows and past to second or third Marriages The Priests Wives had some Place before others aswell in the Churches as elsewhere and they were to be known by a Cross which they carried about their Neck or some other thing that distinguished them XI They went daily to Church to reade the Liturgy aloud in the Chaldaick Tongue but they did not think themselves obliged to repeat it elsewhere neither had they any Breviaries for saying it in Private
for Fornication and shall marry another committeth Adultery It is manifest then say they that the Gospel permits the dissolving of Marriage in the Case alledged and declining the Authority of St. Augustine and some other Latin Fathers as to that Point they affirm that the Greek Fathers never explained that Passage otherways and that besides the whole Eastern Church therein agree with the Greeks Nay it is easie to prove by the Histories of the Councils of Florence and (1) F. paolo nella sua Istoria del Concil Card. Palavic nella sua Istor del Concil di Trent of Trent that it is the Practice of all the Greek Church And therefore it was that the Ambassadours of Venice addressed themselves to the Council of Trent for obtaining some qualification to be made in the Canon which was ready to be published against those who said that Adultery dissolved Marriage And the thing that set the Republick of Venice upon this was that the Greeks of Candia Cyprus Corfou Zante and some other Places Subjects of the State practised that which the Council was about to condemn In effect the Ambassadours had satisfaction because their reasons were thought good as Cardinal Palavicini acknowledges in his History of the Council It is nevertheless true that the Greeks dissolve their Marriages too easily and not in the Case of Adultery alone But they still pretend that therein they Conform to the Canon and Civil Laws which ought to be moderated because of the too great Liberty they have taken to themselves However Caucus having onely mentioned the Case of Adultery seems to have been too reserved inasmuch as he might have told a great many other Cases of less importance wherein the Greeks make no scruple to divorce Seventhly it is not to be thought strange that the Greeks eat no flesh that hath been stifled or strangled bloud nor other meats that are not onely forbidden in the Old Testament but also in the New as appears in the Acts of the Apostles a thing not singular to the Greeks of Corfou onely but which is generally practised by all the Christians of the East and not very long since it was wholly abolished in the West In the Eighth place as to the Article which concerns the Supremacy of the Pope it may be thought strange that Leo Allatius should fall so foul on Caucus in that Point as if he were one of the greatest Impostours in the World It is but too true that the Greeks who are not Latinised nay and all the rest of the Eastern Churches do not at present own that Primacy of Rome over the other patriarchs in the manner that it is acknowledged in the Western Church (1) Metroph Critop in Epit. Doctr. Eccl. Orient Metrophanes Critopulus assures us that the Eastern Church acknowledges no other Head but Jesus Christ who hath the Qualities of Head of the Church that amongst the Patriarchs there is no difference unless it be of the See 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he speaks The Patriarch of Constantinople takes the first place He of Alexandria the Second the Patriarch of Antioch the Third and he of Jerusalem the Fourth Every one is Supreme within his own Jurisdiction and if they all meet together in one place they mutually kiss one anothers hands So that none of them takes the Title of Head of the Catholick Church as the same Critopulus observes who would thereby condemn the Pope who assumes these Titles As to what Leo Allatius adds (2) Leo Allat de Consens Eccl Occid Orient that Caucus imposes upon the Greeks when he saith that they excommunicate the Pope and Latin Bishops on Holy Thursday that is a thing which hath not onely been observed by Caucus in Corfou but by many other Travellers also in several places The Jesuit Dandini who travelled to Mount Libanus in Quality of Nuncio under Clement VIII in the description that he makes of the Isle of Candy speaks of the Greeks in these terms (1) Girolamo Dandini in Miss Apost cap. 5. I should have a great many things to say if I would relate all the impurities of the Prelates Priests and other Churchmen of that Nation their separation from the Latin Church the Maledictions and Excommunications which they thunder against her on the most Holy Days and at the same time when we pray to God for their Conversion Ninthly we may easily believe that the Greeks reckon Sub-Deaconship amongst the inferiour Orders which are not Sacred to speak in the Terms of the Latins since it is not very long since the Latins themselves have made it a sacred Order In the tenth Place it may be seen in the Books of Greek Writers that to own but seven General Councils is not a thing peculiar to the Greeks of Corfou Nay one would think it a little too much to oblige them to receive the Latin Councils wherein they have had no share or those others wherein they say they were forced to be present more for the Interests of State than the Concerns of Religion They are permitted to live in this Belief in the States of the Republick of Venice Lastly as to what concerns Festival Days Fasts and many other Matters of Discipline it is certain the Greek Church does not agree therein with the Latin and Caucus had reason to say that the Greeks admitted them not nor yet part of the Saints of the Roman Church which they laugh at when they see them in Churches as may be seen in the History of the Council of Florence written by Syropulus where he saith (1) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When I enter into any Church of the Latins I salute none of the Saints whom I see because I know none of them Nay I have much adoe to know Jesus Christ there whom I do not adore neither because I know not in what manner they represent him I think this may be enough to justifie Caucus in what he attributes to the Greeks and if that Authour hath been pleased sometimes to exaggerate their Errours and to impose upon them it may also be said that Leo Allatius hath not always kept within bounds in making their Defence I confess the way that he hath taken to reunite the two Churches would be more effectual for reconciling the Greeks to the Roman Communion than the Course that hath been followed by the Emissaries who have encreased their Errours and continue to doe so daily instead of lessening them but for all that we may know the true Sentiments of the Greeks if we can but lay aside our ordinary Prejudices and distinguish those who are Latinised from those that are not We forgot to observe their Belief as to Purgatory Hell and Paradise (2) Caucus ib. ac supra Caucus with many other Writers does affirm that the Greeks deny Purgatory and that notwithstanding they pray for the Dead which is to be understood with relation to the Opinion of the Latins who commonly establish a
not the real Belief of the Iberians who exactly conform to the Faith of the Greek Church but that which hath given occasion of imputing it to them is because they own but one Place after Death where they put the Souls of the Damned and those who are thought to be in Purgatory Now seeing they pray indifferently for all the Souls which are shut up in that Place which they call Hell that God would deliver them from the Pains of Hell and that he would remove them from that obscure Prison to the Place of Light and Joy which is Paradise it hath easily been inferred from thence that they believed not Hell to be Everlasting which is to be understood with Limitation and in regard of some Souls onely who endure their Purgatory in that Place The Iberians agree also with the Greeks as to their Opinion of Confession and speak of it after the same manner They work on the most solemn Holy-days even on Christmas-day but that is not contrary to the Practice of the first Ages This is their way of baptising In the first Place the Priest reads a great many Prayers over the Child and when he comes to the words wherein we make the Form of Baptism to consist he does not stop but reads on without Baptising the Child at that time then so soon as he hath done reading the Child is stript and is at length baptised by the Godfather and not by the Priest which is done without pronouncing other words than those that were pronounced some time before They are not very pressing to receive Baptism and they rebaptise those who return again to the Faith after Apostasie The Priest alone amongst them is the true Minister of Baptism (1) In periculo obitûs si desit sacerdos infans non baptizatur So that for want of a Priest the Child must dye without Baptism and some of their Doctours are of opinion that in that case the Baptism of the Mother is sufficient to save the Child With Baptism they administer to Children Confirmation and the Eucharist They confess for the first time when they marry which they doe also when they are at the Point of Death but their Confession is made in three or four words If a Priest fall into any uncleanness which he confesses the Confessour deprives him of the Power of celebrating Mass And therefore the Priests have a care not to confess those Kinds of Sins (1) Pueris morientibus praebent Eucharistiam They give the Communion to Children when they are a dying and those that are come to Age receive it but seldom The Prince forces the Churchmen and even the Bishops to goe to the Wars and when they return home again they celebrate Mass without any Dispensation for their irregularity They are of the Opinion that no more than one Mass should be said in one Day upon one Altar and in one Church They consecrate in Chalices of Wood (2) Eucharistiam deferunt ad infirmos maxima cum irreverentia sine comitatu luminibus And they carry the Sacrament to the Sick with great irreverence without light or attendance On some Holy-days the priests together assist at the Mass of the Bishop who gives them the Sacrament in their hands and they themselves carry it to their Mouths The Churchmen do not daily say their Breviary but one or two onely say it and the rest listen He that recites the Office is commonly a Priest and they who are present for most part do not hear Most of the Iberians hardly know the Principles of Religion If they have no Children by their Wives they divorce from them with the Permission of the Priests and marry others which they doe also in case of Adultery and Quarrelling They alledge that there are no more Miracles wrought in the Church of Rome and (3) Sentiunt Pontificem in jure duntaxat positivo dispensare posse sed in re levi non gravi that the Pope can give no Dispensations but in matters of positive Right nor in these neither if they be of great consequence (4) Avitab Rel. Theatin Father Avitabolis in the same Letter to Pope Urban VIII describes the Politick State of the Iberians and amongst other things observes the great Authority of the Princes and Nobles for the Princes without any regard to that which is called Ecclesiastical Liberty or Immunity use Priests as Servants They slight the Bishops and punish them They obey not the Patriarch who takes the Title of Catholick or Universal and yet it is not he who is the chief in Spiritual Affairs but the Prince who is Supreme both in Spirituals and Temporals The Nobles doe the same within their own Lands in regard of the Bishops and Priests The Prince has his Voice with the Bishops in the Election of the Patriarch and all chuse him whom he desires The Will of the Prince and of the several Lords within their Territories stands for Law and they have no Judges for examining the Justice of Causes neither have they any particular Statutes to walk by not so much as admitting Witnesses The Princes dispose at their Pleasure of the Estates of their Subjects as well as of their Persons In fine the Patriarch of Constantinople sends Caloyers often into that Countrey to entertain them in their Enmity against the Pope That Letter was written in the Year 1631. by Father Avitabolis to Pope Urban VIII from Goris in Georgia or Iberia and in the same Book of Galanus are inserted the Letters of the Prince of the Georgians to Pope Urban VIII which are kept amongst the Records of the Congregation de propaganda fide That Prince amongst other things affirms that the Faith hath been preserved pure in his Dominions since Constantine the Great to his time and he allows a Chapel to the Missionaries of Rome that they may pray to God for him This Letter is dated in the Year 1629. Pope Urban wrote back to that Prince and sent a Letter also to the Metropolitan named Zachary What the Prince of the Georgians wrote to Pope Urban concerning the Faith which he pretends to have been in his Dominions since the time of the Emperour Constantine is consonant (1) Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 6. to the History of Socrates (2) Balsam Annot in Can. 2. Conc. 2. General And Balsamon reckons the Churches of Iberia amongst those Churches which were absolute and owned no Head on which they depended he observes that that was done in the time of Peter Patriarch of Antioch by a Synodal Statute and that at that time that Church depended on the Church of Antioch And for that reason the Metropolitan of Georgia took the Title of Patriarch Galanus joyns to the Iberians those of Colchis or Mengrelia saying that as they are Neighbours so they have the same Belief onely with this difference that the Mengrelians living on the Mountains and in the Woods are a wickeder sort of People than the
sung after Dinner Vespers at Sun set and at last their Compline after Supper before they goe to bed Every Office is composed of a Preface of two three and sometimes more Prayers with a like Number of Hymns betwixt them They have moreover proper Offices for Holy days Lent the moveable Feasts and for other days The Priests and other Churchmen who are in Holy Orders think not themselves obliged to say the Office when they cannot be present in the Quire unless it be since the Latins have thought fit to oblige them to it Their Fasts differ much from ours they onely observe Lent and then they do not eat till two or three Hours before Sun set They fast not in the Emberweeks nor in the Vigils of Saints or of any other Festival but instead of that they have other abstinences which they strictly observe for they eat no Flesh Eggs nor Milk two days of the Week to wit Wednesday and Friday and on these two days they taste not of any thing before Noon but afterwards every one is free to eat asmuch and as often as he pleases In the same manner they fast twenty days before Christmass and the Monks prolong that Fast At the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul they all fast during a fortnight and as long at the Festival of the Assumption of the Virgin Bishops expect not the Emberweeks for conferring of Orders as they do in the Latin Church but they administer them indifferently on all Holy days and before the late Reformation was brought in amongst them they gave in one day to one and the same Man the Orders of Lector Exorcist Acolyte Subdeacon Deacon Priest Archpriest and Bishop and all in two or three Hours time It is to be observed also that they use as many Ceremonies in making an Archpriest as in conferring other Orders and it seems they look upon it as an Order distinct from the rest They keep no Water in their Baptisinal Fonts that hath been blest on Holy Saturday for administring the Sacrament of Baptism as is done in the Latin Church but as often as any is presented to be baptized they bless the Water by saying a great many Prayers then they dip the Person to be baptized three times in the Water or besprinkle it thrice therewith it being first a little warmed Yet they pronounce but once the necessary words when they name the Person they make no use of Salt but they anoint not onely the Head but also the Breast with their open Hands They anoint also the Body before and behind from head to foot and besides that Unction which is performed before Baptism they have another also after which is properly the Confirmation of the Orientals but since their Reconciliation to the Church of Rome they have abolished it that they may administer the Sacrament of Confirmation after the Manner of the Latins Heretofore they took no great care to consess before the Communion but the Emissaries of Rome have obliged them to it at present All the Priests also were equal in Jurisdiction in Matters relating to Penance before their Reformation There were no cases reserved to the Patriarchs and Bishops Neither before that time did they use great Reverence towards the Sacrament of the Eucharist which they kept in their Churches without any lamp-light shut up in a little box and hid in a hole in the wall or in some other place Nor did they then publish their Marriages in Churches before the Ceremony was celebrated nay and for that they took all sorts of Priests indifferently not thinking it necessary to have recourse to the Curate There were besides some who Married before the Age of 12. and 14. Years And as to the Impediments of Marriage they differ'd much from the present practice of the Church of Rome for in counting the Degrees of Kindred they reckoned not onely from the Head and first of the Line but thought also that two branches springing from the stock as two Brothers are made two Degrees so that imagining they Married not but in the sixth Degree they married in effect in the third On the contrary they held that for an impediment which was none for they suffered not two Brothers to Marry two Sisters nor the Father and the Son to Marry the Mother and the Daughter They practise a certain Unction for the Sick which they call Lamp because in reality they make use of the Lamp-oil for it in this manner They make a little Cake somewhat bigger than an Host wherein they put seven Matches twisted of little straws and place all in a Basin with Oil then reading a Gospel and an Epistle out of St. Paul with some Prayers they light all the Matches That being done they anoint with the Oil the Forehead Breast and Armes of all that are present and of him who is sick saying at every Unction by this Unction God pardon thy sins strengthen and corroborate thy Members as he strengthened and corroborated those of the Paralytick Afterward they let the Lamp burn so long as the Oil lasts and seeing that Oil hath onely been blessed by a simple Priest many have believed that that Ceremony was not the Sacrament of Extreme Unction since it is administred to those who are not dangerously sick But they who are acquainted with the Oriental Theology will easily be perswaded that those People had no other Sacrament of Extreme Unction before the Latins reformed them nor indeed is the word Extreme Unction any where in use but amongst the Latins because they anoint not the sick but when they are at the Point of Death a thing not observed amongst the Christians of the East Before I conclude this Discourse concerning the Maronites I will here subjoin an abstract of what (1) P. Besson Syrie Sainte Father Besson the Jesuit hath observed in his Book entituled La Syrie Sainte where he chiefly speaks of the Maronites who inhabit that Part of Mount Libanus which is called Quesroan This Jesuit thinks that the Maronites derive their name from St. Maron a Syrian Abbot and not from Maron the Heresiarch and amongst other Arguments that he alledges to prove this he saith that the Maronites have been accustomed after that the Clergy and People had chosen a Patriarch to apply themselves to the Pope for obtaining his Confirmation But he ought to have minded that they had no recourse to the Pope before their strict Conjunction with the Church of Rome He farther adds that Johannes Damascenus could not be ignorant of the Heresie of the Maronites if they had really been Hereticks because he was their Neighbour and yet in the List that he makes of Heresies he speaks not of them But that was needless seeing they are comprehended under the Heresie of the Monothelites The same Authour in a few words takes notice of what the Jesuit Dandini and some others of the Society have done amongst the Maronites which we have mentioned more fully with necessary Reflexions on