of the Faithful Vicars were also nominated to them all and the Churches that were not able to maintain a Vicar were united The Vicars after they were named were brought in one by one to kiss the Metropolitan's Hand who at the same time gave them their Collation declaring to them the greatness of their Authority and of the Obligations of their Office and commanding the People to acknowledge them as their Parish-Priests and the Shepherds of their Souls After they had all one after another performed this Ceremony they were admonished all together in the presence of the People by the most Reverend Metropolitan to comply with the Obligations of their Function and being all upon their Knees before him he delivered the following Charge to them Venerable and beloved Brethren and fellow Priests and particular Pastors of the Faithful We let you all to understand that we tho' unworthy of it are in the place of Aaron and ye of Eleazar and Ehitaman the lower Priests we are in the place of the Apostles of our Lord Christ ye in that of the Seventy-two Disciples we are to give a strict Account of you at the tremendous Day of Judgment you of the People that are now committed to you Now that we may be all found good and faithful Stewards in our Master's House we do admonish and beseech you beloved Brethren in Christ to remember what we are about to say unto you and which is of most importance be sure to observe it and put it in execution In the first place we do admonish and beseech you in the Lord to have your Life and Conversations unblamable yielding the savour of a good Name and Example to the People of God in suffering no Women and especially those of which the World may entertain any suspicion tho' Slaves to live in your Houses neither are you to converse with any of the Sex you must not fail to rise every Night to recite the Divine Office in the Church which must be performed at some certain hour and after that is done none of you must say Mass otherwise than Fasting and after Midnight forward and in the Holy Habits which must always be kept clean ye shall receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ with all Reverence and Humility confessing your Sins to some approved Confessor with great contrition and sorrow for them but especially if your Consciences do check you for any fault you have committed The Corporal and Palls must be made of Linen neither can they without an Apostolical dispensation be made of any other Cloth and must be always kept clean The Holy Vessels you are always to wash with your own hands and that in other clean Vessels dedicated to that use putting the Water wherein they were washed either into the Font or into some Cistern dug for the purpose in the Church-yard and drying them with all diligence The Altar must be covered with clean Towels of which at the time of Celebration there must be at least three with a Corporal neither must any thing besides Reliques or Sacred things belonging to the Altar be laid upon it The Missals Breviaries and Prayer-Books must be perfect and entire Your Churches must be well covered and both the Walls and Pavements must be kept clean In the Sacristy or â—omewhere near to the High Altar there must be a place to hold Water wherein the Corporals and Holy Vessels are to be washed as also the Hands of those that have touched any of the Holy Oils and in the Sacristy there must be a Vessel with clean Water for the Priests and others that have ministred at the Altar to wash their Hands and a clean Towel to dry them the Gates and Porches of the Churches must be strong and well shut None of you shall take â—he cure of a Church upon you without the Prelate's knowledge and order notwithstanding you should be called to it by the People neither shall any of you leave the Churches you have a Title to nor be translated to another Church without his Order None shall presume to hold more than one Church contrary to the disposition of the Holy Canons The Jurisdiction of no Church shall be divided among many but every Church shall have its own Parish-Priest and Pastor None shall Celebrate any where but in a Church or with any sort of Arms. None shall give the Holy Saâ—rament to any of another Parish without leave from their Parish-Priest In the celebration of â—he Mass ye shall all observe the same Ceremonies that there may be no Confusion nor Scandal The Chalice or Patten must be of Gold Silver Brass or Tinn and not of Iron Glass Copper or Wood. The Parish and other Priests must visit and comfort the Sick in their Parisheâ— Confessing them and giving them the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar and the Holy Unctiâ—â— with their own hands admonishing the Siâ—â— when they visit them to desire those Sacramenâ—â— when they shall judge them necessary Nonâ— shall take any Fee for baptizing or for the administring of any Sacrament or for burying the Dead No Child shall die without Baptisâ— through your negligence nor no sick Persoâ— without Confession and the Holy Communiâ—â— None of you shall Drink to excess or be notâ—â— for the same or for being quarrelsom Noâ—â— of you must bear Arms nor eat and drink 〈◊〉 Taverns and Inns. Ye shall not eat with 〈◊〉 Infidel Mahometan Jew or Heathen neithâ—â— shall you imploy your self in Hawking Huâ—â—ting or Shooting What you know of tâ—â— Gospel of Christ of the Holy Scriptures and of good Examples join'd with pure Catholicâ— Doctrine ye shall deliver to the People on the Lord's-day and Holy-days preaching the word of God to the edification of your Flocks You must take care of the Poor and of Strangâ—â—â— and Widows of the Sick and the Orphans 〈◊〉 your several Parishes You must be sure to keâ—â— Hospitality inviting Strangers to your Tableâ— therein giving good Example to others Upon every Lord's-day before Mass ye shall Blesâ— the Water with Salt in the Church with which you are to sprinkle the People taking it out of a Vessel or Pot made for that purpose Ye shall not pawn any Sacred Vessels or Ornaments of the Church neither to Heathen nor Christiâ—n Ye shall not take Usury nor engage your â—elves in Contracts or Farms nor in any Secular â—ublick Office ye shall not alienate the Goods â—hich ye have acquired after ye were in Orders â—ecause they belong to the Church neither â—hall ye sell or change any thing belonging to â—he Church In Churches where there are Bapâ—â—smal Fonts they shall always be kept clean â—nd where there are none ye shall have a parâ—â—cular Vessel for Baptism which shall be put â—o no other use and shall be kept in some deâ—ent place in the Church or Sacristy Ye shall â—each your Parishioners and especially the Chilâ—ren the Articles of the Creed the Pater Noster â—he Commandments of the Law of
to the Laws have â—y Trade or communication with the better â—rt of People and so would not be able to live â—mong them for which reason the Synod doth â—clare That the custom of not touching any 〈◊〉 the baser sort being observed only in comâ—yance with the Heathens and looked upon as 〈◊〉 Superstitious Heathen Vanity and not voluntaâ—â—y observed is no Superstition nor for the aboveâ—entioned Reasons any matter of scruple and â—â—at Christians may in all places thus lawfully observe it where there are Naires or any of the better sort or where it is likely they may â—e or may come to hear of it But in all places where these Causes do not concurr or in secret or among the Portuguezes this Superstition cannot be observed without doing a great injury to their Consciences on the contrary the Synod doth admonish all the Faithful to receive all such with great Love and Charity tho' never so poor and mean and especially if they are Christians knowing that there is no distinction of Persons with God who is Lord of all And albeit they do not touch the base sort of People upon the forementioned account yet if theâ— should happen to touch any of them they shall not wash themselves thereupon that being a thinâ— that can never come to the knowledge of thâ— Heathens and would therefore be a manifesâ— Superstition those also that will not touch the Naires or if they should do wash themselves which as the Synod is informed is what the Christians in the Southern parts do observe where the forementioned impediment is not among the Heathens who are rather scandalized by such a contemptuous Carriage Therefore the Synod doth command all that shall be found guilty of forbearing to touch such or having touched them shall wash themselves to be severely punished as Superstitious followers of the Heathen Customs and commands the Preachers and Confessors to admonish them thereof in their Sermons and Confessions Decree III. THe Synod being informed that in some parts when any one of the baser sort do but touch the Cisterns of Christians that Christians do Disempolear or Purify them by performing certain Ceremonies after the manner of the Heaâ—hens which is very contrary to the Purity of â—â—e Christian Religion being an intolerable Suâ—â—rstition doth with great rigour command those â—hat make the said Disempoleamento or Purificatiâ—â— or use the said Ceremonies to be thrown out 〈◊〉 the Communion of the Church and to be deâ—â—ied the Casture during the Prelate's pleasure or at â—â—ast for one Year and to be punished with the â—enalties that such Ceremonies do * This word Disempelear comes â—â—m Ioleas which is the name this vile cast of People is called by deserve Decree IV. WHereas in the Feast of the Heathen called Ona which is Celebrated in August in which they go out one against another with Bows and Arrows and other Arms in which conflicts some are killed and more wounded and some Christians unmindful of their Obligations living among them and communicating much with them do go forth with them and Armed as they are to the said Feasts and are thereby liable to the same Disasters Therefore the Synod doth command all the Faithful Christians of this Bishoprick in Holy Obedience and upon pain of Excommunication not to presume to resort to this or any other Heathen Festivity tho' there should be no Ceremony belonging to a Pagod therein forasmuch as all such Feasts are dedicated to the said Pagods and are celebrated and observed to their Honour and Veneration which is the rather to be forbore in this of the Ona by reason of the danger of death that there is probably therein the Heathens superstitiously imagining that all that die in that occasion go immediately to Heaven but Christians shall only observe their own Holy Festivities among themselves and that with a due moderation and decency as becomes the Professors of the Law of Christ without having any thing to do with the Superstitious Festivals of the Heatâ—ens which are dedicated to the Honour of the Devil and if any Christian shall die in the said Heathen Feast he shall be denied Ecclesiastical Burial Decree V. FAithful Christians must not only avoid the Ceremonies and Superstitions of the Heathens but the Judaical Rites and Ceremonies also which were all abrogated by the sufficient promulgation of the Gospel for which reason the Synod tho' it doth very much commend the Holy Custom of carrying Children to Church forty days after they are born to offer them to the Lord in imitation and praise of what was done by our Lady the most Holy Virgin nevertheless it condemns the separating of Women for the said forty days after the birth of a Male as if they were unclean so as not to suffer them to enter into the Church imagining they would sin in doing it and eighty days after the birth of a Female both which are Jewish Ceremonies that are now abrogated and not only useless but prejudicial and as such the Synod doth totally prohibit the observance of them declaring that if Women have Health and Strength sooner they shall be obliged to go to Church to hear Mass upon Sundays and Holy-days and after forty days they may according to their Custom carry their Sons to Church with Devotion understanding that there â—s no Precept of the Church for it but that it is only a pious Devotion of faithful Women that are willing to make such an Offering of their Sons to God in imitation of the most Holy Virgin Mary the Mother of God taking her for the Intercessor of the Children thus offered to God both for Spirituals and Temporals Decree VI. ONe of the greatest Sins in the sight of God and which he has always prohibited and punished above all others is the consulting of Witches and such as hold a correspondence with the Devil wherefore the Synod being informed that a great many Christians of this Bishoprick and especially among those that live in the Heaths by reason of the Communication they have with Infidels and their having so many Witches and Fortune-tellers about them when they intend to Marry have recourse to such People to know what Success they shall have governing themselves so much by what they are told as to break off Matches after they are concluded and to make new ones at the pleasure of the said Witches as also when they are Sick that they send for such People to perform some Ceremony whereby they hope to have their Health restored and at other times to help them to Children and to discover Thefts and fâ—â— several other purposes all which are things repugnant to the Christian Religion doth command all Christian convicted of having consulted any of the said Witches for these or any other purposes to be thrown out of the Church neither shall any Priest go to their Houses oâ— give them the Casture during the Prelate's pleasure or for one Year at least and shall be punished with such other Penalties
better observed by all We do therefore under the same Precept and Censure command all Christians in all Towns and Villages of this Bishoprick and where there are no Villages all that use to assemble together at any Church as belonging to it immediately upon this our Pleasure being intimated to them to chuse Four of the most Honourable Conscientious and Experienced Persons among them to come in their Name at the said time to the said Synod with sufficient Powers to Approve Sign Confirm and Consult in their Name so as to oblige themselves thereby to comply with whatsoever shall be determined in the Synod And that these Commissioners may demand or propose whatsoever they shall judge to be of Importance to the Synod and for the Spiritual or Temporal Good of their People We do grant free Liberty to all in this Diocess as well Ecclesiasticks as Laicks that have any Complaints Grievances or Controversies about any such Matters as are decidable by the Prelate or other Christians to represent the same to the Synod where they shall be heard with Patience and have Justice done them according to the Sacred Canons Customs and lawful Vsages of the Country And whereas we are informed that there are several things in this Bishoprick which are the Causes of great Contentions we do therefore not only give leave but do also admonish and command all that are concerned in any such Matters that forbearing all other ways that are prejudicial to Christianity they do now make use of this just and holy way of putting an end to all their Debates And since to bring all these things to a good issue the favour and assistance of God is necessary from whom all good things do proceed and without whom we can do nothing wherefore to engage the Divine Clemency by Prayer to be favourable to us following the laudable Custom of the Holy Fathers and Ancient Councils we do Admonish and in the Name of God earnestly request all the faithful Christians of this Bishoprick from this time forward until the end of the Synod to exercise themselves with a pure and clean heart in Fasting Alms Prayer and other works of Piety instantly beseeching God to enlighten the Vnderstandings of all that shall meet together and so to enflame our Wills with Divine Love that we may determine nothing but what is right and may observe and comply with whatsoever shall be Decreed taking for our Intercessor our Lady the most Holy Virgin Mary of whose Praise and Honour we are to Treat particularly as also the Glorious Apostle St. Thomas the Master Patron and Protector of this Church and all the other Saints in Heaven that so this Synod may begin and proceed in Peace and universal Concord and may end to the Praise Honour and Glory of God our Lord for ever And that this our Publication of a Diocesan Synod may come to the knowledge of all that are concerned we Will and Command it to be Read in all the Churches of this Bishoprick to the People on the Sunday next after the intimation thereof to the Curates and after that to be fixed to the Gates of the Church Dated from Chanotta the 14th of May under our Seal and the Great Seal of our Chancery and Written by Andre Cerqueira Secretary to the most Illustrious Archbishop and Primate in the Year 1599. Frey Aleixo Arcebispo Primas THE ACTS and DECREES OF THE SYNOD of Diamper ACTION I. IN the Name of the most Holy and undivided Trinity the Father Son and Holy Ghost in the Year of our Lord 1599 on the 20th of June being the third Sunday after Whitsuntide in the seventh Year of the Pontificate of our most holy Lord Clement VIII the Supreme Roman Bishop and in the first Year of the Reign of the Catholick King Philip the Second King of Portugal and Algarves and of Malucco the Illustrious Lord Dom Francisco da Gama Conde de Vidigeyra Admiral of the Indies being Vice-roy in the Town of Diamper subject to the King of Cochim an Infidel and Heathen in the Church of All-Saints in the Bishoprick of Angamale of the Christians of St. Thomas in the Serra of Malabar the See being vacant by the death of the Arch-Bishop Mar-Abraham there assembled in a Diocesan Synod according to the Holy Canons the most Illustrious and most Reverend Lord Dom Frey Aleixo de Menezes Arch-Bishop Metropolitan of Goa Primate of the Indies and the Oriental Parts together with all the Priests and Curates of the said Bishoprick and the Procurators of all the Towns and Corporations in the same with great Numbers of other Persons belonging to the said Church and called to the said Synod by the most Reverend Metropolitan Where after having given Thanks to God for his having extinguished and composed all the Alterations and Commotions by which Satan the Enemy to all that is Good had endeavoured to hinder the assembling of this Synod and being all filled with Joy to see themselves met together to Treat of things pertaining to the Service of God the Purity of the Faith and the Good of Christianity and their own Souls the most Illustrious Metropolitan did celebrate the Solemn Mass for the removing of Schism as it is in the Roman Missal and having preached to the People to the same purpose the Mass being ended he re-invested himself in his Pontifical Robes and read the Office for the beginning of a Synod as it is in the Roman Pontifical which being over and the Metropolitan seated in his Chair with all the Ecclesiasticks and Secular Procurators about him in their order he told them That he celebrated this Holy Synod by Virtue of two Briefs of the Holy Father our Lord Pope Clement VIII in which his Holiness had recommended to him the Government of that Church after the death of the Arch-Bishop Marabran until such time as it should be provided of a Pastor and Prelate besides that the same belonged to him as the Metropolitan thereof and Primate of the Indies and all the Oriental Parts by the Canons the See thereof being vacant and it having no Chapter to take care of it during the vacancy which Briefs being faithfully translated into the Malabar Tongue were immediately read and received with that Reverence and Obedience that was due to them After which the Lord Metropolitan told them That seeing he had but little knowledge of the Malabar Tongue it was necessary for him to have some faithful Person and that was well versed in Ecclesiastical Affairs to relate truly in the Congregations what he should say or what should be spoke to him Whereupon upon Jacob a Priest and Curate of the Church of Pallurte in the said Bishoprick a Person well skilled both in the Portugueze and Malabar Languages was presently pitched upon by common Consent who being called by the Lord Metropolitan was charged by him with the Office of Interpreter to himself and the Holy Synod giving him an Oath at the same time upon the Holy Gospels
of Purgatory to be an Article of Faith of no long standing in the Church Multa inquit sunt de quibus in primitivâ Ecclesiâ nulla quaestio factura fuerat quae tamen posteriorum diligentiâ subortis dubitationibus jam evaserunt perspicua Nemo certè jam dubitat Orthodoxus an Purgatorium sit de quo tamen apud priscos illos nulla vel quà m rarissima fiebat mentio sed Graecis ad hunc usque diem non est creditum Purgatorium esse Legat qui velit Graecorum veterum Commentarios nullum quantum opinor aut quà m rarissimum de Purgatorio sermonem inveniet Quamdiu enim nulla fuerat de Purgatorio cura Nemo quaesivit Indulgentias nam ex illo pendet omnis Indulgentiarum existimatio quum itaque Pugatorium tam serò cognitum ac receptum Ecclesiae fuerit universae quis jam de Indulgentiis mirari potest quòd in principio nascentis Ecclesiae nullus fuerat earum usus coeperunt igitur Indulgentiae post quam ad Purgatorii cruciatus aliquando trepidatum est Purgatory and that the Souls which are cleansing from their Sins do receive benefit from the Prayers and Devotions of the Faithful I do likewise affirm that †The Souls of the Iust This was the common Opinion of the Ancient Fathers namely Irenaeus at the end of his 5th Book Justin Quaest 76th Tertullian in his 4th Book against Marcion Origen in his 7th Homily upon Leviticus and a great many other places Lactantius in the 21st Chap. of his 7th Book Victorinus in his Commentary upon the words I saw under the Altar Ambrosius in his 2d Book of Cain and Abel Chrysostom in his 39th Homily upon those words If in this life only in the 1st to the Corinth The Author of the Imperfect Work in his 34th Homily upon St. Matthew Austin in his Enarration upon the 36th Psalm Theodoret in his Commentaries upon the 11th to the Heb. Oecumenius in his Commentaries upon the same place Theophylact in his Commentaries upon the 23d of St. Luke Aretho on those words How long O Lord c. Euthymius upon the 23d of St. Luke and Bernard in his Sermon upon All-Saints day And to Pope John the 22d being charged with having believed this Doctrine Bellarmin returns the following Answer Joannem hunc 22dum reverâ sensisse Animas non visuras Deum nisi post resurrectionem caeterum hoc sensisse quando adhuc sentire licebat sine periculo Haeresis nulla enim adhuc praecesserat Ecclesiae definitio Which Confession makes the Doctrines of praying to Saints and of Purgatory and of Indulgences to be very new Articles of Faith the Souls of the Just and Faithful which at their departure out of this Life have entirely satisfied for the Punishment due to the Sins that they have committed as also those in Purgatory which have made an end of satisfying for their sins according to the Divine Pleasure and Ordination as also those who after Baptism have committed no Sin do at the moment of their death go immediately into Heaven where they behold God as he is And I do condemn and anathematize the Heresy of those who think that the Souls of the Just are in a Terrestrial Paradise till the day of Judgment and that the Damned are not Tormented any otherwise than by the certainty they have of the Torments they are to enter into after the day of Judgment And I do confess and affirm that the Saints now reigning with Christ in Heaven are to be Reverenced and Invoked and that they offer Prayers to God for us whose Relicks are likewise to be reverenced on Earth And moreover that the * Images Gyraldus a Learned Papist in the 18th Page of the History of the Gods speaking of Images in the Church of Rome saith At de istiusmodi magis mutire possumus quam palam loqui idcircò satius ea fuerit Hippocrati Angeronae consignare illud certè non praetermittam Nos dico Christianos ut aliquando Romanos fuisse sine Imaginibus in primitivâ quae vocatur Ecclesiâ Images of our Lord Christ and of our Lady the Glorious Virgin Mary and of all the other Saints are to be kept used and reverenced with due Honour and Veneration I do also believe that our Lady the most Holy Virgin Mary is the proper and true Mother of God and ought to be called so by the Faithful for having brought forth according to the Flesh without any pain or passion the true Son of God and that she always continued a Virgin in and after her Deliverance having never been defiled by any actual Sin I do confess that the power of granting Indulgences was left to the Church by our Lord Jesus Christ the use whereof I do affirm to be healthful and profitable to all Christian People I do acknowledge the Holy Catholick and Apostolick Roman Church to be the Head Mother and Mistress of all other Churches in the World and do hold all that are not subject and obedient to her to be Heretical Schismatical and disobedient to our Lord Jesus Christ and his Commands and to the Order that he left in the Church and to be Aliens from Eternal Salvation I do promise and swear true Obedience to the Pope the Roman Bishop the Successor of the Blessed Prince of the Apostles St. Peter and Vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth the Head of the whole Church on earth and Doctor and Master of the same and the Father Prelate and Pastor of all Christians and do confess that all who deny Obedience to the said Roman Bishop the Vicar of Christ are Transgressors of the Divine Commands and cannot attain to Eternal Life I do without any scruple receive approve and confess all other Matters defined and declared in the Sacred Canons and General Councils and chiefly in the Holy Council of Trent and do in the same manner condemn reject and anathematize every thing that is contrary to the same together with all Heresies condemned rejected and anathematized by the said Church Namely the Diabolical and perverse Heresie of Nestorius together with its perverse Author Nestorius and its false Teachers * Theodorus They should not have been so hard upon Theodorus for Pope Honorius's sake who by Name was condemned together with him by the 5th General Council and I am mistaken if Pighius and some other Popish Writers have not for that very reason laboured hard to vindicate Theodorus's Memory Theodorus and †Diodorus Du Pin in his 4th Century of Christianity p. 189. saith As to what concerns his Doctrine of the Incarnation we could better judge of it if we had his Books but there is no great probability that one who was praised esteemed and cherished by Meletius St. Basil St. Gregory Nazianzen St. Epiphanius and even by St. Athanasius and his Successors Peter and Timothy of Alexandria who was also considered in a General Council as one of the
reign with Christ in the Heavens are to be venerated and invok'd by the Faithful desiring of God a Remedy for our wants through their Intercession and of them that they would intercede for us which they do daily by offering up our Prayers and Petitions to God That the Bodies and Reliques of Saints ought to be had in veneration in being carefully kept kissed and adored by the Faithful and placed under the Holy Altars and other consecrated places upon the account of their having been lively Members of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit and because they are to be raised again at the day of Judgment and and clothed with Eternal Glory in Heaven and God vouchsafes many Blessings upon Earth by them CHAP. XI FUrthermore That the Images of our Lord Christ and of our Lady the Glorious Virgin Mary and of the Holy Angels that are painted after our manner and of other Saints which the Church believes to be in Heaven ought to be kept and used in all decent places not only in the houses of the Faithful but chiefly in Churches and Altars and to be reverenced and adored with due veneration and with the same that is due to the Persons they represent not that we believe that there is any thing of Divinity or * Virtue If there is nothing of Virtue in one Image more than another why do People go so many hundred miles to pray to some particular Images of the Virgin Mary when there is scarce a Church or Chappel in their way wherein there is not an Image of her Virtue in them for which they ought to be honoured or that we put our Hope and Confidence in them as the * Heathens The Learned Heathens made the very same declaration concerning their worshipping of Images Heathens did in their Idols but because the Honour which we pay to them referrs to what they represent so that in prostrating our selves before their Images we adore Christ and reverence the Saints whose Images they are In like manner we adore the sign of the Cross with the Worship of †Latria The saying that this Latria or Supream worship is only Relative cannot excuse it from being Idolatrous without excusing the grossest Worship among the Heathen it being impossible in Nature to give any other Worship than what is relative to an Image when worshipped as such Martinus Peresius Aila Bishop of Guidez in Spain in the third part of his Book of Traditions p. 223. passeth a severe but just censure upon the Worship here established Cujus doctrinae nullum quod ego viderim afferunt validum fundamentum quod possit fideles ad id quod docent obligari Nam neque Scripturam neque Tracitionem Ecclesiae neque communem sensum sanctorum neque Concilii Generalis determinationem aliquam nec etiam rationem quâ hoc efficaciter suaderi possit adducunt Et p. 226. Certe haud dissimile imò fortè majâ—s scandalum infirmis paratur qui has distinctiones prorsus ignorant nec possunt nisi errando intelligere ut ego ipse in multis simplicibus experimento deprehendi cum ab eis sciscitarer quid de hac re sentirent in eo quod dicitur eâdem adoratione adorandum esse Imaginem quâ rem cujus est Nam cum videant simulachrum operosè sculptum affabrè expolitum in eminenti loco templi positum ipsumque à multitudine veneratum super haec audiant quòd eodem honore debeat honorari quo res cujus est colitur certè in multis simplicibus periculosissimus erroris affectus facilè potest adgenerari quo putent aliquid Numinis latere in imagine sic quoque rei repraesentatae tum nomen tum gloriam ad imaginem facilè possunt transferre quod maximè periculosum esse judico Latria which is due only to God because it is a sign representing the Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ upon the Cross and which he himself hath told us will be the sign of the Son of Man in the Day of Judgment and with the same Worship of Latria we adore the Images of our Lord Jesus Christ because they represent him CHAP. XII FUrthermore the Church professeth that every Person as soon as he is born hath a Guardian Angel given him whose business it is to excite People to what is good and to deliver them from many evils which they would otherwise have fallen into which Angel protects and accompanies People through their whole lives doing all it can to keep them from Sin and all other Evils that so it may bring them to Eternal Life and is always suggesting good things to their Free Will from which we receive many Blessings as well Spiritual as Temporal notwithstanding we neither see them nor understand how they do it and these we call our Guardian Angels CHAP. XIII FUrthermore That the Catholick Church is one and the same all over the World having for its Pastor the chief Bishop of Rome Successor in the Chair of the Blessed Prince of the Apostles St. Peter to whom and by him to his Successors our Lord Jesus Christ delivered the full power of ruling and governing his whole Church from whence it is that the Roman Church is the Head of the whole Church and the Father Master and Doctor of all Christians and the Prelate of all in common and of all Priests Bishops Archbishops Primates and Patriarchs of whatsoever Church they are as also the Pastor of all Emperors Kings Princes and Lords In a word of all that are Christians and of all the Faithful People Hence it is that all that are not under the Obedience of the said Roman Bishop the Vicar of Christ upon Earth are out of a state of Salvation and shall be condemned to Hell as Hereticks and Schismaticks for their Disobedience to the Commands of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Order that he left in his Church CHAP. XIV FUrthermore that One and the same God is the Author of the New and Old Testament of the Prophets and the Gospels the Saints of both those Testaments being inspired in the Writing of them with the same Holy Spirit and so the Catholick Church receives all the Canonical Books of both Testaments which contain in them nothing but what is infallibly true and was dictated by the Holy Spirit To wit of the Old Testament the five Books of Moses Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy as also Joshua the two Books of Judges Ruth the four Books of Kings the two Books of Chronicles the first Book of Esdras the second which is called Nehemias Tobit Judith Esther Job the Psalms of David being 150 the Proverbs Ecclesiastes the Song of Songs the Book of Wisdom Ecclesiasticus the four greater Prophets viz. Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel the twelve lesser viz. Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi and the first and second of Maccabees and of the New Testament St. Matthew
of Beasts or of some other Men which besides that it is a great Ignorance is also an Error contrary to the Catholick Faith which teacheth That our Souls after Death are carried to Heaven or Hell or Purgatory or Limbus according to every ones Merits and that there is no such fabulous and false Transmigration The second is That all things come necessarily to pass or through * I am very apt to believe that they are here falsely accused of attributing all things to Fate for no other reason but because they believed Predestination which if it was so Arch-Bishop Menezes who was himself an Austin Fryar shewed but little respect to the Memory of his pretended Father in making Predestination and Fate to be equally destructive of humane Liberty Fate or Fortune which they call the Nativity of Men who they say are compelled to be what they are and that there is no help for it which is a manifest Error and condemned by Holy Mother Church for as much as it destroys that Liberty of Will with which God created us leaving us in the power of our own Will to do Good or Evil to obey his Holy Inspirations and Internal Motions by which he excites to Good or to resist Evil so that as it depends on his Divine mercy and goodness to move us to Good so it depends on our Free-Will whether by his assistance we will obey those Inspirations and will profit our selves of his Internal Motions or of our own free Will refuse to do it or in a word do Well or Ill so that if we perish for doing any thing that is Ill it is the fault of our own Free-Will as the Catholick Faith teaches us and not from the fate of our Nativity as the ignorant Heathens will have it The third is †This is an Error that Justin Martyr Clemens Alexandrinus and others of the Philosophical Fathers seem to have been in That every one may be saved in his own Law all which are Good and lead Men to Heaven Now this is a manifest Heresy there being no other Law upon earth in which Salvation is to be found besides that of our Saviour Christ for that he only teacheth the Truth so that all that live in any other Sect are out of a state of Salvation and shall be condemned to Hell there being no other Name given to Men by which we can be saved but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God who was Crucified for us All which Errors the Synod commandeth the Vicars and Preachers often to preach against in the hearing of the ignorant People and all Confessors to examine their Penitents concerning them and to teach them the Catholick Truth Decree V. THis Synod being informed that there is a dangerous Heresy and very injurious to our Lord Jesus Christ sown and preached through this Diocess which is That it is a * Grievous Sin How does this consist with their having so many Crosses in their Churches and Houses as they tell us they had or with their administring the Sacrament of the Eucharist or with their Preaching that it was Christ and not the Son of God that suffered upon the Cross grievous sin so much as to think or speak of our Saviour's Holy Passion and as there are a great many of this Opinion so the doing of it has formerly been prohibited by impious Censures all which is a manifest Error and extreamly prejudicial to the Souls of all faithful Christians and the fruit and profit of Souls arising from such Considerations and Discourses which is very great as well for that love and affection which they beget in us for our Saviour who suffer'd for our Salvation as for the Example of those Vertues which were so Illustrious in his Holy Passion and the hatred of Sin for which he suffer'd so much and the fear of the Divine Justice which he so rigorously satisfied and the confidence of our Salvation by such a plenteous Redemption and the use of the Sacraments to which he applyed the virtue of his Holy Passion and other infinite benefits which are derived from thence to our Souls which Error included another no less prejudicial and which is also common among the Nestorians the condemning of Holy Images for that if it were an Impiety to think of the Passion of our Lord Christ it must follow that all those things are unlawful that move or contribute thereunto as the Sign of the Holy Cross and all Images of the Holy Passion all which is a gross and manifest Heresy Wherefore the Synod doth recommend it to all Preachers Confessors and Rectors of Churches frequently to perswade their People to the consideration of those Divine Mysteries and to that end they shall advise them to the Devotion of the Rosary of our Lady the most Blessed Virgin Mary wherein are contained all the principal Mysteries of the Life of our Lord Christ with profitable Meditations upon them Decree VI. AMong the many Errors sown in this Diocess and left in the Books thereof by the perfidious Nestorian Hereticks there being several against our Lady the most Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of God the only Remedy of Christians the Mother of Mercy and the Advocate of Sinners the Queen of Angels The Synod doth therefore declare That it is the Doctrine of the Catholick Faith that the Holy Virgin was never at any time stained with the guilt of any actual sin and that it is Pious to believe that she was also Conceived without Original Sin it seeming to be most agreeable to the Dignity of the Mother of God that it should be so tho' it is true that Holy Mother Church †Has not as yet determined It is much she has not since the Invention of the Holy Reliques in the Mountains of Granada among which there was a Book in Arabick of S. Cecilius who was consecrated Bishop of Eliberis by St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome with this Title De Dono Gloriae Dono Tormenti in which there is the following Definition of the Immaculate Conception made by all the Apostles being met together to Solemnize the Exequies of the Blessed Virgin Illa Virgo Maria Illa Sancta Illa electa à primo Originarioque peccato praeservata fuit ab omni culpâ libera atque haec veritas Apostolorum Concilium est quam qui negaverit maledictus excommunicatus erit salutem non consequetur sed in aeternum damnabitur All which Reliques and this Book among the rest were after a severe and impartial Examination approved of and received as genuine by a late Provincial Synod in Spain has not as yet determined any thing about that matter Furthermore the Catholick Faith teacheth that she was always before in and after Child-birth a most pure Virgin and that she brought forth the Son of God made Man without any Pain or Passion having none of those things which are common to other Women after Child-birth
publication thereof shall come to their knowledge to deliver all the Books they have written in the Syrian Tongue either with their own hands or by some other Person to the most Illustrious Metropolitan which they may do at the Visitation that he intends to hold speedily or to Father Francisco Roz of the Society of Jesus Professor of the Syrian Tongue in the College of Vaipicotta or to the said College in order to their being perused and corrected or destroyed as shall be thought most convenient the Books of Common Prayer being excepted which are to be emended in the form abovesaid and under the same Precept of Obedience and pain of Excommunication the Synod does command That no Person of what Condition or Quality soever within this Bishoprick shall presume to translate any Book into the Syrian Tongue without express License from the Prelate with a Declaration of the Book to which it is granted the Books of Holy Scripture and Psalms only excepted and until such time as this Church shall be provided with a Bishop the most Illustrious Metropolitan doth commit the Power of granting all such Licenses to the Reverend Father Francisco Roz of the Society of Jesus by reason of his great skill in those Books and in the Chaldee and Syrian Languages Decree XVII SEeing the Purity of Faith and good Manners doth very much depend on the Doctrine that is preached to the People wherefore the Synod being informed that there are several ignorant Curates who do take upon them to preach and make Discourses in publick wherein they teach several Errors and Heresies that they meet with in Books that they do not understand and several fabulous and Apocryphal things those especially which they take out of the Book of the Infancy of our Saviour and other Apocryphal and Heretical writings doth command that none presume to preach or make any set Discourse to the People but who are Licensed by the Prelate in Writing who shall first examine them diligently as to their sufficiency and Doctrine according to the Holy Council of Trent and when there shall happen to be no Prelate during the vacancy of the See the most Illustrious Metropolitan doth commit the care thereof to the Rector of the Jesuits College of Vaipaicotta in this Diocess that so he and such of the Fathers as he shall name may make the said Examinations of which they shall give a Certificate sealed by the Rector and at the next Visitation the Lord Metropolitan shall name such as shall appear to him to be most for the benefit of the People of this Bishoprick in order to their being rightly instructed and whosoever shall without having undergone such an Examination and without having obtained a License thereupon in writing under the hand of the Bishop or Prelate presume to preach or make any Discourses to the People shall be suspended from their Office and Benefice for a Year nevertheless all Vicars may in their own Churches make such Discourses to their People as they shall judge necessary out of the Holy Scriptures and other approved Books to which end the Synod doth earnestly desire that there may be a Catechism made in the Malabar Tongue out of which there may be every Sunday something read to the People And whereas the Synod is informed that the most Illustrious Metropolitan is already about such a Work and has reason to hope that it may be done by the end of the Visitation it doth command so soon as it is finished and published That all Vicars do every Sunday at the time of Offering or before or after Mass read a Chapter of the same to the People in conformity to the Orders they shall receive Decree XVIII WHereas through the Ignorance and bad Doctrines of the Priests of this Diocess occasioned by their having been accustomed to read Heretical and Apocryphal Books they do many times deliver Errors and fabulous Stories in their Sermons and Admonitions to the People without knowing what they say themselves Therefore to prevent the Peoples being mis-taught the Synod doth command That whensoever it should be proved to the Prelate that any such thing has been delivered in publick or in any Congregation that the Prelate having drawn up a Form of Recantation in Writing shall send to the said Curates or the Persons that have delivered such things commanding them to retract and unsay the same in publick either by reading the said Recantation or by declaring the Contents of it to the People and teaching them the Truth which if any shall refuse to do which God forbid they shall be declared Excommunicate and shall be punished according to the Holy Canons and the quality of the Matter they delivered which shall be executed with great rigour if it shall appear to have been spoke with Knowledge and Malice but where it shall be found to have flow'd from Ignorance and an innocent Mind it shall suffice that a ready Obedience be paid to the said Satisfaction and Recantation Decree XIX THe Synod having been informed of several Meetings that were in this Diocess upon the death of Bishop Mar-Abraham in which both publick and private Oaths were taken against yielding Obedience to the Holy Roman Church several Curates and others obliging themselves never to consent to any change either in the Government of the Bishoprick or in matters of Faith nor to receive any Bishop that should be sent to them by the Holy Apostolical See or by any other way than by the Order of the Schismatical Heretical Nestorian Patriarch of Babylon with several other particulars contrary to the Sacred Canons and the Obedience that is due to the most Holy Roman Pontificate doth declare all * Such Oaths We may see by this what doughty Securities Promises or Oaths made to defend a Church that is not Popish are in the opinion of Papists such Oaths or any other taken or that shall be taken in the same manner to be void and of no force and that they do not only not oblige the Consciences of those that have taken them but that as they were rashly and maliciously taken so it is an Impiety and Schism to keep them denouncing the Sentence of the greater Excommunication upon all those that made them or took them This Synod having above all other things promised and sworn to yield Obedience to the Commands of the Pope and the Holy Apostolical See according to the Holy Canons and never to receive any Bishop or Prelate but what shall be sent by the Holy Roman Church to which it of right belongs to provide Prelates and Bishops to all the Churches in the World and to receive those that he shall send without any doubt or scruple acknowledging them for the true Prelates and Pastors of their Souls without waiting for any other Order besides that of the Bishop of Rome notwithstanding any impious Oaths that may have been made at any time to the contrary Decree XX. THis present Synod together with all the
matters appertaining to their Salvation do but too often make them unmindful of the Holy Sacraments wherefore the Synod doth command and earnestly recommend it to all Confessors that are called upon to Confess any Sick Person to instruct them in the Doctrine and Efficacy of this Sacrament of Vnction admonishing persuading and intreating them when they shall come to stand in need of it to have it administred to them and they shall also admonish the People and particularly those who attend the Sick Person not to fail to call the Vicar when it is necessary that is when they apprehend the Sick Person to be in any danger and before he has lost his Senses to give him the Holy Vnction and such as shall be negligent therein besides the offence they do to God and the Sick Person shall be punished severely at the pleasure of the Prelate Decree III. THe Synod doth command the Priests that go to anoint the Sick tho' it should be to the Hamlets to go in their Surplice and Stole carrying the Vessel the Holy Oil is in in their hands covered with a piece of Silk with great reverence having the Chamus or Parish-Clerk before them with the Cross of the Church in his Arms who or some other Person shall also carry a Pot of Holy Water and if it is in the Night a Lanthorn or some other Light before him that so all People may know what he is going about and if the Sick Person is in a condition he shall persuade him to Confess himself again and be reconciled notwithstanding he should have Confessed himself the day before letting the Sick Person know that it is necessary in order to his receiving the Holy Sacrament of Vnction with the greater purity and when the Priest shall be to carry this Sacrament a long way to those that live in Heaths he shall go in the best Form he can and shall carry the Surplice and Stole along with him that so when he comes to administer the Sacrament he may do it with all due reverence he shall likewise if the Sick Person has not a Crucifix of his own leave one upon his Pillow exhorting him to fix both his Eyes and confidence thereon at his last minute begging by it the pardon of his Sins of our Lord who for our sake died thereon ACTION VII Of the Holy Sacraments of Order and Matrimony The Doctrine of the Sacrament of Order THe sixth Sacrament is that of Order which was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ the day before he suffered for us after that he had made an end of instituting the Sacrament of the Eucharist that so he might institute the Sacrifice and the Priests that were to offer it together at which time he created the Apostles Priests giving them withal power to consecrate others that so the Sacrifice and the Priesthood might be continued in the Church till the end of the World The Matter of this Sacrament is that which is delivered to the Person that is ordained for the exercise of that Order he has received to the Priests a Cup with Wine in it and a Patten with Bread to a Deacon the Book of the Gospels and to a Sub-Deacon an empty Cup and Patten and so as to the other inferiour Orders The Form of the Priesthood and other Orders are the words spoke by the Bishop when he delivers to every one that which belongs to his Ministry and the exercise of his Order The Minister of this Sacrament is only a Bishop to whom only Christ committed the power of Consecrating Priests the effect of it is the encrease of Grace to the end that the Person ordained may be a fit Minister This Sacrament was instituted by Christ as highly necessary in his Church for a Sacrifice and Priesthood are so joined that the one cannot be without the other wherefore since under the New Testament the visible Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist was to be instituted it became therefore necessary that there should be a new visible and eternal Priesthood in the same Church whereby the ancient Priesthood of the Old Law was translated and there were Priests provided accordingly for the Offering of the Divine Sacrifice which Priests being lawfully ordained our Lord Jesus Christ has given them power over his true and real Body to Consecrate Offer and Administer it as also over his Mystical Body the Church giving them power to pardon and retain Sins to which power â—t likewise belongs to rule and govern all Christian People and to lead them in the way to Eternal Life Now the Priesthood being so high an Office that it may be exercised with the more decency and veneration it was convenient that there should be different Orders or Ministers who are bound by their Function to serve the Priesthood and to be divided in such 〈◊〉 manner that after having received the Clerical Tonsure they are to ascend through the lower to the higher Orders The * Lower That there was none of the lesser Ecclesiastical Order in the Primitive Church is acknowledged by Caâ—d Bona in his Book of Liturgies Tertia classis Ministrantium saith the Card. Clericos minorum ordinum complectitur Acolythos scil Exorcistas lectores Ostiarios quos antiquissimos esse ab Apostolis vel ab immediatis eorum Successoribus institutos Doctores Scholastici asserunt sed non probant dicendum igitâ— cum St. Thoma quod temporibâ— Apostolorum omnia Ministeria quâ— ordinibus minoribus competunt non 〈◊〉 distinctis personis sed uno duntaxâ— Ministro exercebantur contingit 〈◊〉 mirum Ecclesiae quod hominibus soleâ— qui dum tenâ—e patrimonium hâ—beâ— uno servo contenti sunt qui solâ— omnia administrat si vero rediâ—â— augeantur servorum etiam augetâ— numerus eoque modo crescit familiâ— lower are the Ostiary Reader Exorcist Acolythus The higher those which are called Holy and are the Sub-Deacon Deacon and Priest to which degrees there is joined that of Bishops who succeeded in the place of the Apostles and as St. Paul saith are ordained to govern the Church of God so that they are in a higher degree than the Priests and to them only it belongs by virtue of their Office to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to Consecrate the Holy Oil of Chrism and to Consecrate Altars and Churches and ordain Priests and other Bishops The Church enjoins Continency and Chastity to all that take Holy Holy that so being disingaged from all other business they may employ themselves wholly in the Ministry of the Altar and be intent only on matters appertaining to our Lord and Divine Worship The Church does not admiâ— Slaves to be Priests because it is necessary to the Divine Worship that the Ministers thereoâ— should be free and not subject to others and that they should not have been guilty of Murther or Blood neither must they have been born out of lawful Wedlock nor have any blemish or maim nor have been twice Married nor have
for the Churches that are in the Heaths the Vicars shall give orders that the Children or at least such of them as are nighest to the Church shall upon a certain day of the Week come to learn the Doctrine employing others persons to instruct the rest therein and the Schoolmasters that teach Syrian or that teach to read and write shall every day before they begin School repeat the said Doctrine to their Scholars in Malabar neither shall any inferior Orders no not the first Tonsure be given to Children before they can say the whole Doctrine in Malabar in which they must be examined according to the Holy Council of Trent and in all Church s there shall be a Book of the * Doctrine The Christians of Malabar would certainly lose the second Commandment by receiving this Roman Doctrine in which that Commandment never appears no not as part of the first nay in the Tridentine Catechism tho' writ in Latin and for the use of Parish-Priests there is only the three first words of it mentioned and I do not believe there is one Priest of a thousand in Spain or Portugal who if they should have the whole Second Commandment repeated to them would not say what I have heard more than one and those very grave Priests too say of it That it might be John Calvin's but they were sure it was none of God's Commandments Doctrine in the Malabar Tongue for the instruction of Children which the Synod doth entreat the Father Rector of the College of Jesuits of Vaipicotta to order to be translated by some of that College commanding all the Churches of this Diocess as also exhorting all the Christians thereof at Night to cause the said Doctrine to be taught in their Houses to their whole Families that so their Servants and Slaves may be instructed therein and the Confessors in their Confessions must not fail to examine their Penitents in the Doctrine and to exhort them to learn it Decree XIX THat the Faithful Christians in this Diocess may in their Common Prayer be conformable to the whole Catholick Church they must not from henceforward say the Ave Mary as they have been taught by the Perfidious Nestorians but must say it thus Ave Mary full of Grace the Lord be with thee blessed art thou among Women blessed is Jesus the fruit of thy Womb Holy Mother of God pray for us Sinners now and at the hour of our Death Amen Jesus And in this form it shall be inserted into all the Prayer Books of this Diocess Decree XX. VVHereas the Christians of this Diocess do not shew the least Reverence to the most Holy Name of Jesus when it is mentioned which ariseth from the false Doctrine of the Nestorian Hereticks who do impiously assert That it is not worthy of Reverence being the Name of a Humane Person teaching falsly that there are two Persons in Christ therefore since that Divine Name contains in it so many Divine Mysteries being the Name of our Redemption and the Name above all Names At which St. Paul saith every knee in Heaven and in Earth and below the Earth ought to bow the Synod doth command that as often either in the Gospel or Prayers of the Mass or Offices or any where else that that Name is mentioned all People do reverently bow their Body whether they be sitting or standing and the Clergy and other Christians having their Caps on shall take them off and the Vicars and Preachers must not neglect to put their People frequently in mind thereof and whereas the Name Lyo is the same with the most sweet Name of Jesus in the Malabar Language and is commonly given to Children in Baptism the Synod doth strictly prohibit the giving of that Name to any body for the future commanding all that are called by it to take another Name in Confirmation or at any other time it being a great irreverence for any one to be called by so high and Divine a Name Decree XXI WHereas it is necessary that the Feast of Christ's Nativity should be celebrated with great solemnity and uniformity through the whole Catholick Church the Synod doth command that on the Eve of that Festivity all the Clergy and People do assemble together in the Church there to say the Matins with the greatest Solemnity possible and that after they have done these Prayers which shall end about Midnight they shall make the customary Procession which being over a Solemn Mass shall be said with all possible Festivity after which the Priest may say a Mass at break of day and a third at the usual time of Mass for the Priest must know that for the greater Solemnity of this Festival they are permitted to say three Masses upon it that is one at Midnight one at break of day and a third at the ordinary time or being private Masses all three together after break of day but being publick shall be all said in the fore-mentioned Order neither shall they after the first two take the Lavatory but after having received the Blood shall go on with the Mass without taking the Lavatory that so they may be Fasting to celebrate the third and they shall be very careful to have the Cups well scoured and their Fingers washed clean with Water which shall be preserved in a particular Vessel in order to its being afterwards either thrown into a Pond or poured under the Altar or into the Baptismal Water that is in the Font and if any Priest through carelessness should in either of the two first Masses take the Lavatory after that it shall not be lawful for him to say any more because the Mass is not to be celebrated but Fasting which the taking of the Lavatory breaks Decree XXII THe Synod doth command That the Priests in the solemn administration of the Sacraments of Baptism Matrimony and Extream Vnction or when they administer the Holy Eucharist without the Mass for the greater decency and reverence for what they are about do wear a Surplice with a Stole about their Necks And whereas hitherto there has been no such thing as a Surplice in this Bishoprick the most Reverend Metropolitan having been pleased to provide such Vestments as are necessary in this Bishoprick no Vicar shall go from hence without taking a Surplice along with him which he is to wear in the administration of the Holy Sacraments wherein the Synod commands them likewise to use the Rites and Ceremonies prescribed in the Roman Ceremonial which the said Lord Metropolitan has commanded to be translated into Syrian and to be kept in all Churches which contains the Forms of Baptizing of Anointing the Sick of Marrying of Sacramental Absolution with the customary Prayers therein of administring the Holy Sacrament of the Altar of the Exorcisms of the Church for People possessed with the Devil the Blessings of Holy Water of Ashes of Chains and Branches as also the Form of Burying the Dead Old and Young and of reconciling Churches and
he has vouchsafed to me and you and all the faithful People of this Bishoprick in permitting us to celebrate this Synod maugre all the impediments which Satan the enemy of Souls had created to obstruct it by stirring up Contentions and Debates on purpose to separate this Christianity from the Vnion of the Catholick Church and to keep them in their old Errors as you all very well know I do also give many thanks to God for his having been pleased to order Matters so that this whole Affair should end with so much Joy Peace and Concord as you all see it does and so much to the sorrow of Infidel and Idolatrous Kings and of all the other Enemies of our Holy Catholick Faith I do also thank you my most dear Brethren and fellow Priests and Coadjutors and you my beloved Sons the Procurators of the People and all the other principal Persons who have been present at this Synod that not regarding the troubles of the Ways and Times nor the displeasure of the Kings to whom you are subject you have as true Christians desirous of Salvation over-looked all those Inconveniencies and obeyed our Precept in assembling your selves together to treat about the good of your Souls for which God will reward you with Eternal Life if you persevere in the purity of the Faith you have here profest and which you have been taught by this Synod and shall conform your Lives and Manners to its Decrees I trust in the Lord that he will carry you back safe to your Houses and bless you and your Families and Posterity for ever which God of his infinite Grace and Mercy grant Amen This Discourse being ended the most Reverend Metropolitan rose up and with abundance of tears gave his solemn Blessing to the People and after that the Arch-Deacon with a loud voice said Let us depart in peace to which the whole Synod answered in the name of Christ Amen And thus the Diocesan Synod ended the 26th of June in the Year 1599 to the Honour and Praise of our Lord Jesus Christ who with the Father and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth for ever Amen The Synod being ended in conformity to what had been ordained therein there was given to every one of the Vicars that was nominated to any Church by the most Reverend Metropolitan a Stone Altar Consecrated by his Lordship for that purpose their former Altars not having been duly Consecrated as also a Box with the Vessels of Holy Oils together with Directions how to use them There was moreover a Book of the Administration of the Sacraments according to the Roman use translated into Chaldee and Syrian given to every Vicar and another which contained the whole Christian Doctrine in the Malabar Tongue for the instruction of Children and others as also a Surplice to be used in the administration of Sacraments which was what had never been in use among them the Churches were also furnished with Corporals Vestments Frontals Cups and what-ever else was necessary to the Ministry of the Altar all which were wanting in most Churches and all the Controversies whether betwixt Corporations or particular Persons that were brought before the Synod were decided by the most Reverend Metropolitan and his Assessors after which they all departed in peace The most Reverend Metropolitan as soon as the Synod was ended begun his Visitation of all the Churches in the Diocess in order to put the Decrees of the Synod in execution reciting the principal and most necessary of them in every Church and delivering the Books Breviaries and Missals as well of th◠Churches as of particular Persons every where and burning the Books condemned by the Synod and correcting others puting the Vicars in possession of their Churches who were every where received as such by the People who settled Revenues upon them of which together with what was given them by the most Reverend Metropolitan they made Ollas or Instruments in the Churches creating four Church-wardens and opening the Church Boxes and in a word ordering whatever was necessary to be done The Clergy who had not been present at the Synod made a profession of the Faith the Confessors were examined and had Licences given them in writing according to their abilities and the necessity of the Church prohibiting all others to hear Confessions Where there was a Font they also Baptized all the Children that they found unchristened and had those brought in that were in the Heaths where there were many that were Eight and Ten Years old unchristened They Confirmed the whole People and Absolved all that were Excommunicate many of which according to their custom had continued so for twenty or thirty Years and especially for Murther for which they never grant Absolution no not at the hour of death the Metropolitan preached every day to Christians in the Church and to Infidels who flocked to see him in the Church Porch treating with them about Baptism when he came to say Ingredimini in Sanctam Dei Ecclesiam several of which he persuaded to turn Christians who after having learned their Catechism were Baptized by him at other places He Catechized the Children in the Malabar Tongue and finding there was none of them that understood their Catechism he ordered them to be taught it every day out of Books that were kept in the Church Finally where he met with any that were disposed to Marry he Married them and gave Orders about every thing else relating to the Synod which he did in the Form following After the most Reverend Metropolitan had been received by the whole People with great Joy and Festivity according to their fashion and carried in Procession to the Church the way as he went being covered with Cloth or Mats or Boughs of Trees after the common Ceremony of Blessing and Absolution the whole People both Men and Women came with a most profound Humility and Reverence to kiss his Hands and to yield Obedience to him he went to Church betimes in the Morning with the whole Clergy and People where after having Confessed himself before the High Altar which he did for the great need there was of having those Christians instructed in the Sacrament of Confession which was in use among them but in few places he said Mass When Mass was ended Father Francisco Roz Master of the Chaldean and Syrian Languages in the Jesuites College at Vaipicotta with the rest of the Fathers deputed to that Work and some of the most learned Caçanares assembled together in the Sacristy or in some other place appointed where in obedience to the Excommunication of the Synod all the Syrian Books were brought before them as well those that belonged to the Churches as those belonging to private Persons all which were emended delivering those which were condemned by the Synod to the Metropolitan who burnt them all The Metropolitan having in the mean time put on his Pontificals sat down and Preached at length to the People all the necessary
thee Peter that the †Faith Here the Bishop makes very bold with the Scripture again in quoting the Faith of thy Church as St. Luke's words Faith of thy Church may never fail The Faith of other particular Churches as we have seen may fail but the Faith of the Roman Church has never failed nor never will Wherefore Brethren fasten your selves close to this firm Pillar of the Roman Church against which according to our Saviour's promises the Gates of Hell shall never prevail which Gates are the Heresies that are and have been in the World You ought therefore to render many thanks to God for his having relieved you at this time by sending you the Lord Arch-Bishop for a Spiritual Pastor and Master who having left his Dwelling and quiet is at all this Trouble only for the sake of your Salvation and to rescue you from the errors you have hitherto lived in For I know and am certain that he is one of those Pastors which God spoke of by Jeremiah And I will give you Pastors according to my heart and they shall feed you with Knowledge and Doctrine Hitherto you have been fed with Errors and Ignorances and your Pastors have sought gain and not the Salvation of your Souls This Pastor as you see does not come to take any of your Goods from you but to spend his own for your profit and to put you in the right way to Heaven and Salvation From ‖ Whence I do not believe that the Arch-Bishops of Malabar made half so much of their Bishoprick as Bishop Andre did of his of Cochim or as Father Rez the Jesuit made of Malabar after he was preferr'd to it by the Pope whence you may clearly perceive the great difference there is betwixt him and those other Pastors or to speak more properly those Wolves which you have had hitherto among you as our Lord saith in Sheeps cloathing Hitherto your Errors have had some excuse because you could know no more but what your Masters taught you whereas from henceforward you shall have no manner of excuse neither before God nor Man if you do not become such as all that love you desire you to be The Faith and Doctrine that has been preached to you by the Arch-Bishop is the Faith of all the Christians in the Indies and of all Clerks and Religious in these Parts and which all Portugal Spain and in a word all * Christendom The Reformed the Greek the Muscovite the Georgian the Armenian the Antiochian Alexandrian and Abyssin Church are it seems no part of Christendom with this Declamer Christendom holds This is the Faith that was taught by the Son of God the Faith that St. Thomas preached and was preached also by St. Peter and the rest of the Apostles and if any shall teach the contrary let him be as St. Paul saith Anathema and Excommunicated and expelled the Society of the Faithful as he is from Christ his Faith and Grace The Lord give you a perfect knowledge of himself as it is desired by your Brother in the Lord. Writ at Cochim the 28th of June 1599. Your Brother in the Lord Bishop FREY ANDRE The SYNOD'S Answer The Lord Assist Us. To the most Illustrious and Reverend Lord Dom Andre the most worthy Bishop of Cochim The Diocesan Synod of the Christians of St. Thomas of the Bishoprick of the Serra assembled in the Town of Diamper wisheth eternal Health and Prosperity in our Lord. OVr most Reverend Metropolitan ordered your most Illustrious Lordship's Letter to this Synod to be read in a full Assembly of the Priests and People and having heard and understood it we rejoiced exceedingly in the Lord to perceive that the Holy Doctrine taught us by your Lordship is the same with that our Metropolitan has preached in all our Churches and has declared in this Synod as also the same that is preached by the Fathers all over this Diocess by which means we are the more confirmed in the Catholick Faith and the Obedience we owe to the Holy Roman Church our true Mother and to our Lord the Pope the Successor of St. Peter and Christ's Vicar upon Earth as is manifest from the Acts of the said Synod Signed by Vs as your Lordship may see and if we have hitherto been wanting to our Duty in these Matters it did not proceed from any Obstinacy of Mind or from any Inclination we had to be Hereticks or Schismaticks but purely for want of the Light of true Doctrine and healthful and Catholick Food which was not given us by our Prelates but who did instead thereof poyson us with the false Doctrines of Nestorius and several other Errors from which we are now by the Divine Mercy rescued and by the goodness of God and the Ministry of our Metropolitan enlightened from whence also rose the Rebellion which was made by us when the Truth began to be first preached to us as also all the Troubles and Vexations that we gave to our Metropolitan and the manifest Dangers we exposed him to for all which we are now heartily sorry and do dayly more and more lament it But whereas God has been pleased to enlighten us with his Doctrine the Metropolitan being discouraged by none of those things to go on preaching in our Churches the light of the Truth coming to us by that means we have cordially embraced and have with an unanimous consent and great alacrity made profession thereof in this Synod having also put the Affairs of our Church in the best Order we were able and submitting our selves to the Judgment of our Metropolitan Mar Aleixo who as our Master has instructed us in all things But whereas his Lordship after his Visitation of this Diocess is over is to go to reside in his * Own Diocess The Arch-Bishop cured them of these fears for some time at least at the end of his Visitation when he made a solemn renunciation of the Arch-Bishoprick of God and as solemn an acceptation of that of the Serra and that judicially and in Form desiring the Christians of St. Thomas to whom he delivered both those Instruments to sollicite the Pope and King of Spain to give way to the Translation and promising withal to employ all his own interest in both to perswade them to it but it seems all would not do for the next News we hear of him is That instead of being gratified with the Arch-Bishoprick of the Serra he was condemned to be Governour-General of the Indies for three Years and after that translated to the Primacy of Portugal own Diocess which we take notice of to our great Sorrow by which means we shall want a Special Protection we do therefore beg that until such time as God shall be pleased to send the Pastor among us which we expect from the Holy Apostolical See your Lordship as being the Prelate that lives nearest to us and from whom and your Predecessors this Church has received so many