custome was vsed in his time And the same thing is witnessed by Saint Ierome Euseb l. 1. de Demonst S. Hieron ad Lucinium Chrysost in epist ad Ephe. especially of the Church of Rome and those of Spaine Whereupon we see likewise that Chrysostome cryeth out most vehemently as complaining of the frosennes of his age as being such as that though the supper of the Lord were celebrated dayly yet there came but a very few people to the holy table yea of so great accompt it was held as that it appeareth vnto vs by a law made by the Church and set downe in the ancient Canons that the sacraments being blessed all the faithfull that is all those which were admitted to bee of the communion fellowship of the Church for so they called them should stay in the assemblie The difference betwixt the faithfull and those that were catechised and should be exhorted euen as they would auoide the punishment for doing otherwise to communicate But on the contrarie such as could not bee receiued thereunto namely such as were catechised as not hauing as yet beene sufficiently instructed Penitents which had not as yet giuen sufficient cleare and manifest signes of their repentance as also the possessed for being vexed of the euill spirit should be aduertised to withdraw themselues and to leaue the place cleane for the faithfull Concil Antioch c. 2. C. peracta D. 2. de consecrat And this is it which the Canons say As for such as enter into the Church of God and heare the scriptures but communicate not in prayer with the people but rather by some intemperancie doe keepe backe themselues from the holy communion let them bee excommunicate and cast out of the Church c. Againe The consecration ended let euerie man giue himselfe to receiue the communion if they will not bee cast out of the Church Hiero. in 1. ad Cor. c 11. Chrysost in 2. ad Cor. ho. 18. for so it was ordayned by the Apostles c. Whereuppon Saint Ierome telleth vs The supper of the Lord must bee common to all for hee hath giuen the Sacramentes vnto all his disciples equally And Chrysostome In some thing the Minister differeth not from the common people Nihil differt sacerdos à Subdito as when the participating of the holy mysteries is in hande For wee are all alike thought worthie to receiue them Not as in the olde law where the high Priest tooke his certaine portion and the people theirs and so as that the people could not haue any thing of that which was the sacrificers part for vnto euery one there present is deliuered one and the same bodie and one and the same cuppe And therefore hee was greatly offended with those who stayed behind with the faithfull after those which were catechised were put forth Chrysost in epist ad Ephe. hom 3. and yet woulde not communicate as offering iniurie vnto the Lordes table and feast Thou art come hither saith hee and hast sung Psalmes in the place with all the rest and in that thou hast not departed hast acknowledged thy selfe to bee of the number of those which are worthy to bee admitted thereunto howe commeth it therefore to passe that thou hauing stayed doest not receiue the Lords Supper And if thou aunswere that thou art vnworthy art thou not so likewise by consequent of the communion which is in prayers c. As for those which were catechised put to do pennance and possessed Of the catechised which had leaue to depart the Deacon after the sermon made knowne and signified vnto them in plaine wordes that they were to depart and go away which thing might bee practised with lesse adoe at this day when as there is not almost one to bee seene possessed of the euill spirit and for that the rigor and seueritie of doing of pennaunce is much abated as thirdly in that there come into our Churches none but the children of Christians And this leaue which was declared and openly told them was called Mittere vel dimittere vnde Missio Missa in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From whence the name of the Masse grew hence was the first originall of this worde Masse in the Church because as Bellarmin himselfe confesseth that this leaue was deliuered in these wordes Ite Missa est as amongst the Pagans was wont to be said I licet c. And by little and little as abuse is apt to seaze vpon wordes that are most familiar and well knowne vnto vs it came to passe that that part of the seruice which endured vnto the sermon Raban l. 1. c. 32. Innocen l. 6. de Sacr. Hugo l. 2. part 8. cap. 14. Tertul. de praescript corona and inclusiuely vnto the rehearsing of the Creede was called the Masse of those that were catechised and that which was afterwarde that is to say the celebrating of the holy Supper had appropriated and giuen vnto it the name of the Masse of the faithfull according to the olde and auncient distinction made in the Church betwixt those which were called the faithfull and those which were catechised And this is likewise testified by Tertullian in many places and the Masse of the faithfull began where that of the catechised ended But admit that this sending away was practised in the Church Rabbi Leui. in Leuit. cap. 5. after the manner of the Iewish Church which would not suffer that any leprouse or other infected persons shoulde bee admitted vnto their sacrifices or els according to the Pagans themselues who woulde chase the prophane from their misteries and holy thinges with these wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is leaue for the people to depart so farre it hath preuailed as that without all doubt it hath brought forth a name for the Masse a name which was neuer read in any Hebrew Greeke or Latine Authour before this time that is to say till foure hundred yeares after the death of our Lord and yet so new in that age of the worlde as that Saint Ierome the Pastor of Rome and one who hath written so many great volumes hath neuer so much as once made any mention of it yea and Saint Ambrose who vttereth it once and Saint Augustine onely twise did yet neuer take it in that sence and signification that we vse it for neither the one nor the other doth speak of it in touching or deliuering the matter and doctrine of the Sacrament although that Saint Ambrose haue written thereof sixe bookes and that S. Augustine haue handled the matter more amply and largely and more often then any other both vpon S. Iohn and in other places But both of them in a signification farre differing from that wherein it is vsed at this day that is to say not meaning or vnderstanding by this worde either sacrifice or sacrament Furthermore the place alleadged out of S. Augustine his sermons are of small force because the best
are aliue that so the Church may sing Gaudeamus in Domino c. Let vs reioyce and be glad in the Lord c. In this sence hath the greatest part of the auncient Fathers prayed Dionysi de Ecclesi Hierat c. 7. and that will be the more clearely vnderstood by themselues S. Denis speaketh not of Oblations neither yet of yearely feasts but how that they kisse the dead and poure Oyle vppon his head These diuers fashions taken from the customes of diuers Countries doe shew the indifferencie The prayer followeth That it might please God to pardon him his sinnes and to place him in the light and region of the liuing in the place from which griefe sadnesse and sighing are banished and vtterly excluded c. Was this because he doubted No for on the contrarie hee maketh but two rankes and so consequently but two places of abode after this life one for the prophane who die and depart out of this life desperate and without all hope in as much as they goe hence vnto miserie and an other for the Saints who haue liued well who in their death doe shew themselues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 full of good hope and dying doe require of God pardon for their sinnes These men saith hee depart out of this life full of ioy perceiuing themselues now to bee come to the end of all their fights and conflicts and drawing neerer vnto the crowne of glorie They possesse in hope 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a rest conformable to that of Christs Prayers doe call them blessed and offer thankes vnto him who hath giuen them the victorie The high Priest prayseth God who hath ouerthrowne the rule and soueraigntie of death The Ministers read in the assembly in the Scriptures the promises of the resurrection to the end they may serue for an exhortation to stirre vp those that are liuing to the like vertues they recite them in the end amongst the Saints in the commemoration which is made in the Church as those that are alreadie partakers of the same glorie with them c. Is it possible that a man should belieue them that all this is spoken of a Soule in Purgatorie or of any of whom the least doubt that is may be made Origen We doe not celebrate saith he the birth day Orig. l. 3. in Iob. for that it is an entrance into paine and griefe and manifold temptations but the day of death as the day of the laying downe and ending of all griefe c. And this is the cause why we vse the renuing of the memorie of the Saints and of our kins folkes dying in the faith as well to reioyce our selues for their ease as for to become humble sutors for a holy finishing and knitting vp of our end in faith Note well and obserue the end of griefes ease and rest the giuing of thankes for their rest and ease c. Againe Wee celebrate the memorie of the dead feasting Religious persons together with the Priestes the faithfull with the Cleargie feeding the poore the fatherlesse and the widdowes to the end that our feast may be for a memoriall of the rest of the Soules that are deceased whose memorie wee solemnize therein Note here also The distributing of almes the memoriall of their rest c. Then this cannot be a sacrifice to purchase vnto them ease or rest and yet notwithstanding this is that which first brought in Purgatorie but such a one as is not able to stand with these propitiations seeing that it taketh no hold but at the howre of iudgement So vnsound and vnsure it is to reason either from Purgatorie to the making of prayers for the dead or from these to goe about to proue their Purgatorie Greg. Nazian hom 7. Gregorie Nazianzene in his seuenth Homily O thou which art the Lord of life and of death saith he receiue Caesarius for we commit and commend him now vnto that course and order by which thou gouernest the world whereunto likewise we recommend as laid vp with thee both our owne Soules and theirs which haue gone before vs. Now hee had said before That he did alreadie enioy saluation that his soule receiued the fruit c. S. Ambrose commeth in with these words Blessed saith he are you both Ambros de Obitu Valent. he speaketh of the Emperour Valentinian and his brother If my prayers saith he be any thing worth for there shall not one passe from me wherin I will not haue an honorable remembrance of you Omnibus vos oblationibus frequent abo I will make mention of you in all my offerings that is to say in all my seruices Againe speaking of Theodosius Graunt rest O Lord saith he to Theodosious thy seruant let his soule enter into the place Ambros de Obitu Theod. where there is not any sence or feeling of the sting of death I loue this man and will not giue ouer the following of him into the land of the liuing I will not leaue him vntill my teares and my prayers haue brought him into the place whither his merits doe call him Namely into the mountaine of the Lord where there is euerlasting life without any sighing heauinesse or griefe c. And doe you tel vs still that they were in Purgatorie Yea rather saith he of Valentinian in the same place wee belieue and that by the testimonie of Angels that hee is ascended and gone vp into heauen washed from the defilements of sinne that his faith hath washed him c. that hee inioyeth the ioyes of eternall life Yea and this he saith of that Valentinian who was as yet but learning the principles of Religon that is to say as yet vnbaptised in which case Purgatorie was meetest to haue had place And in like manner of Theodosius He is deliuered from this doubtfull fight and warfare he inioyeth an euerlasting light eternall tranquilitie c. Hee is glorified amongst the companie of Saints there he embraceth Gratian he beholdeth in the kingdome of Christ the temple of Christ c. And he speaketh saith he full assuredly and confidently For as much as they are dead in the faith of Christ seeing the Lord was made sinne to the end that he might take away the sinne of the world to the end that wee might be all in him the righteousnesse of God no more saith he the slaues of sinne but sealed vp for the reward of righteousnesse In like manner his prayers could not possibly be vnderstood of his Purgatorie in as much as we haue seene as he gaue it no place vntill the day of iudgement With the same intent and mind S. Augustine praied for his mother saying I pray thee O Lord for her sinnes heare me by the medicine of his wounds which was hanged vpon the Crosse and sitteth at thy right hand making intercession for vs Pardon her and enter not into iudgement with her And I doe verily belieue that thou hast done this which I haue prayed thee
FOWRE BOOKES OF THE INSTITVTION VSE AND DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE EVCHARIST IN THE OLD CHVRCH AS LIKEWISE HOW WHEN And by what Degrees the Masse is brought in in place thereof By my Lord PHILIP of Mornai Lord of Plessis-Marli Councellour to the King in his Councell of Estate Captaine of fiftie men at armes at the Kings paie Gouernour of his towne and Castle of Samur Ouerseer of his house and Crowne of Nauarre The second edition reuiewed by the Author Saint Cyprian in the treatise of the Sacrament of the Cup of the Lord. We ought not herein to regard what any man hath iudged meete to bee done but rather what he which was before all men euen Iesus Christ our Sauiour hath done himselfe and commaunded others to doe For we follow not the custome of man but the truth of God ALSO If some one of our predecessors haue not so obserued and kept it God may haue pardoned him in his mercie but for â—t from henceforth there will remaine no place for pardon we hauing beene instructed and admonished by him FOR THOV SHALT LABOR PEACE PLENTIE LONDON Printed by IOHN WINDEY for I. B. T. M. and W. P. 1600. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORDS AND others of her Maiesties most Hon. Priuie Councell HAuing lately right Honorable translated out of French this most learned and fruitfull Treatise of Monsieur du Plessis touching the Institution and Doctrine of the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist and how and when and by what degrees the Masse hath beene brought into the Church in place thereof J haue presumed to present these my poore paines to your most fauourable acceptance and honourable patronage of the same Thus haue I thought good to do not so much in any personall respect of my owne priuate paines as in regard both of the Authour and of the matter of this Treatise For touching the Author who may bee iudged so worthy to take vpon them the protecting of the labours of a Gentleman so learned honorable as Monsieur du Plessis is being also a Councellor of State to the most Christian King as they who are likewise learned honourable and of Councell to a most religious Christian Queene As for the matter of the booke what is it els but an ample and singular Apologie of that most ancient and truly Catholike religion which her Highnes in the begining of her renowned raigne by the aduise of many most reuerend learned Diuines by the expresse warrant of the word of God by the gracious direction of his holy spirit with the free consent of all the States asseÌ„bled in Parliament did most Christianly establish euer since for the space of fortie two yeares a goodly blessed golden time the like whereunto all things well weighed no nation vnder heauen euer enioyed by the most singular prouidence of God and her princely prudence your Honors assistance hath most constantly maintained to the exceeding comfort of all her louing and loyall subiects and the great astonishment of all her enemies Embrace therefore right Honor. the excellent learning of the Author accept the trauel of the translator chiefly vouchsafe countenance and defence to the cause it selfe which is the cause of the true Catholike Church or rather of Christ from whom in most hartie humility I wish to you all the increase of all true honour here on earth and euerlasting happines hereafter in the heauens Your Honours in all humble dutie and seruice R. S. The Author his Preface to the Lords and M rs of the Church of Rome THE Apostle Saint Paul said to the Israelites his brethren according to the flesh I speake the truth in Christ Rom. 9 I lie not my conscience beareth me witnesse by the holy Ghost that I haue great heauines of hart that I could wish my self accursed to be separated from Christ for your sakes This that great Apostle notwithstanding who would not know any thing for all but Christ who desireth to be separated from all the world yea and separated in himselfe to bee with Christ and therefore verilie for some exceeding great and important cause as for to see them drawne out of the wayes of destruction into the state of saluation that is to say coupled and vnited to Christ And therefore it is most euident that hee iudged them lost in that estate wherein they were in asmuch as they coulde not bee founde in Christ and so without saluation for that they were without Christs They neuerthelesse sayth hee to whome belonged the adoption and the glorie and the couenants and the ordinances of the law and the diuine seruice and the promises of whome came the fathers and of whom according to the flesh came Christ And yet notwithstanding all this he letteth not to declare them to be of Israel and yet not Israel to be the seed of Abraham yet notwithstanding not all children because saith he the worde of God cannot fall away c. May I here my masters be so bolde as to say the like vnto you In respect of my selfe verily I may not I desire your saluation with a great affection I wish it heartilie with the hazard of this my life yea I will say in a good conscience as the saide Apostle saide vnto Agrippa That it might please God to make you all such like as I my selfe except these bondes except those afflictions whereunto this profession is subiect For what is more belongeth not to any man besides the Apostle in whome the exceeding measure of knowledge begot an exceeding measure of loue towards God and charitie towards his brethren which as we cannot imitate in effect so neither must we in worde besides that this hyperbolicall kinde of speech can hardly fit vs. But rather in respect of you I dare be bold to say more for the couenants and ordinances of the lawe and the diuine seruice and the promises were giuen vnto you long ago but not vnto you alone but not to you more then others And many fathers are sprung vp amongst you and you it may be discended of them according to the flesh but yet for all this the worde of God cannot fall away or perish no not although Christ himselfe who is God blessed aboue all things should be descended of you according to the flesh That word verily which giueth vs to vnderstande that there must fall out an apostacie in the Church that the man of sinne the sonne of perdition should sit in the Temple of God causing himselfe to be adored therein as God And seeing you cleaue vnto him vnder the shadow of this See of this pretended discent I dare bee bolde to say vnto you freely with the Apostle Deceiue not your selues with thinking your selues to be the children of Abraham for you are not children at all such as are of the faith and not of the succession Galat. 3.7 Rom. 9.8 are Abrahams children for they are the children of the promise they verily are
Alexandria All that the Lord hath done is not written but rather so much as the pen-men thought to be sufficient both for maners and doctrine of faith to the end that shining through a right faith manners and the truth we may come to the kingdom of Christ Now those pen-men of whom he speaketh were they not inspired of God Is it not his holy spirit himselfe Againe Lib. 5. in Leui. whether it were he or Origen vpon Leuiticus In the two Testaments we may finde out and discusse whatsoeuer matter concerning God from the same gather whatsoeuer knowledge of things in so much as that if any thing remaine not determined by these Scriptures there is not any third which we are to receiue and admit of for the authorising of such knowledge Cyrill Bishop of Ierusalem Beleeue me not Cyril Hierosolim Catec 4. if I shew it thee not by the Scriptures for the saluation of our faith is not bolted out by the meanes of any disputation but plainly demonstrated by them Thom. 1. part Sum. q. 1. art 3. Supra omne debitum creaturae Et q. 147 art 4 p. 3. in add q. 6 art 6. And what will they say more when as Thomas one of their side saith That the things that proceede of the onely will of God besides whatsoeuer is due vnto the creature cannot be made knowne vnto vs otherwise then in that they are deliuered vnto vs in the Scripture That the doctrine of faith and the Sacraments cannot bee but of Christ That the ordinances and statutes of the church are not of themselues of the necessitie of saluation When also expounding the place in controuersie at this day of the second to Timothie chapter the third he vseth these wordes That the Scriptures teach the truth In 2. ad Tim. c. 3. â— reproue falshood perswade vnto that which is good and draw backe from that which is euill Not saith he after any faint or feeble maner but to the perfecting of the worke of saluation yea saith he euen in the highest degree c. And Scotus after him That the holy scripture is sufficient for the Pilgrime that is to say for the Christian trauailing heere below to come to the end of his purposed voiage that is to say vnto saluation That this way is not doubtfull but most certaine that in the same likewise is founde sufficiently laid open whatsoeuer is to be beleeued hoped for or done And Cardinall Caietan vpon the place afore named To the making saith he of the man wise vnto eternall saluation and furnished with all those partes requisite for the making of the man of God perfect Admit will some say vnto vs that it is sufficient The scripture is cleare and plaine vnto saluation Lactan l. 5. c. 1. but yet notwithstanding obscure difficult ambiguous by consequent daungerous This is all that which can be said against a wicked maÌ„ making his will taking pleasure to set his heires togither by the eares through sutes in the law And what would they say then to the Gentiles to Celsus to Iulian to all the Philosophers who tooke occasion by reason of the facilitie and simplicitie of the same to account thereof as base and contemptible He that is the light of lights and together therewith all goodnes it selfe shall he delight himselfe in becomming obscure and darke vnto vs This light that lightneth euerie man that commeth into the world shall he be come downe here vpon earth to blind the world euen them whom he hath chosen and set apart from the world Shall not the essentiall almightie word of God haue power or knowledge or will to expresse and make plaine his meaning in his worde when as he is come from heauen vnto vs from the bosome of the father amongst men to expresse and manifest himselfe The holy Ghost sent downe from the father and the sonne to teach the Apostles the things concerning saluation and in them vs comming downe vpon them in tongues of fire to interpret himselfe in all maner of languages shall he be no better then barbarisme and darknesse shall he not be prouided of wordes cleare and plaine inough to make himselfe to be vnderstood in the Scriptures Verily we learne not this lesson in the Prophets if they be not able to auouch vnto vs in that they speake their own cause Thy word saith Dauid is a torch vnto my feete Psal 119. 19 12. that is to say a light causing our eies to see They that speake not according to this word saith Esai it is because they haue no light in them Neither yet of S. Peter Esai 8.2 Pet. 1.19 who in his iudgement hath thought it to be so far off from obscuritie as that he hath commaunded vs to hearken to the Propheticall worde as vnto a light that shineth in darknesse And what then shall be the brightnesse of the Gospel which is the light of this light the Sunne in respect of the lampe and declared vnto vs by the Sonne the brightnesse of the glorie of the father Afterward the Apostle saith that he hath spoken diuerse wayes to the Fathers and to the Prophets c. And to whom then shall he be obscure to whom shall he bee hidden except as Saint Paule saith vnto vs vnto them which perish 2. Cor. 44. to them whose vnderstaÌ„ding the God of this world hath blinded to the end that the light of the Gospel of the glorie of Christ might not shine vnto them Likewise the Fathers they speake not according to our aduersaries According to the fathers for when they aunswere the Pagans they go not about to excuse the simplicitie and clearnesse thereof by denying them but rather say they it behoued them to be such to the ende that that which was for the saluation of euerie particular partie might be vnderstoode of all Irenaeus saith Iren. cont hae res l. 2. c. 42 67. Iust in Tryph. Tertul. de resurrect All the Scripture both Propheticall and Euangelicall is manifest and without ambiguitie and may likewise be vnderstoode of all Iustine Let vs haue recourse vnto the Scripture that therein we may find where to be safe and sure Tertullian The heretikes shun the light of the Scripture So farre is it off that they should be able to shrowde themselues vnder the darknesse of the same Athanasius Athan. in Epi. ad Iouinian True faith in Christ is cleare by the Scriptures Let vs set saith he against the Arrians this candle vpon the Candlesticke and it is sufficient Saint Hillarie to the same purpose Hillar de vnit patris filâ—i The Lord hath set forth the faith of the Gospel in the greatest simplicitie that possibly can be and hath fitted his wordes for our capacitie so farre forth as our infirmitie is able to beare it Constantine the Emperour likewise in the same cause Constant in Concil Nicen. Socrat. l. 1. Chrysost in 2.
and qualitie that their doctrine and pure life hath aduaunced them vnto in the Church for there is some such a one that is worth manie according to their times according I say as they haue beene nearer or further off from the true light seeing that Saint Ierome complaineth himselfe S. August ad Ianuarium Bed l. 4. in Sam. c. 2. that he was in his time come vnto the lees Saint Augustine That all was now become full of presumptions preiudicate opinions and more then Iudaicall Ceremonies Beda likewise That it was a lamentable thing and not to bee vttered without teares how that in his time the Church grewe worse and worse euery day And this will proue true in counting cleane contrarie to our Iesuites for they to cast dust in the eyes of the world doe tell vs Such a one who liued 800. or 1000. yeares since hath said this or that whereas they should say such a one who liued 200. 300. or 400. yeares next after the Apostles hath spoken thus c. For our question is not how long time a lie hath indured The diuell saith the Lord is a liar from the beginning but what manner of doctrine that was which was first that is according to Tertullian the truth then when how by what degrees falsehood and lying sprung vp increased and grew great aduaunced it selfe against Vincent Lyrinens c. 39. and aboue this truth c. And this is that which Lyrinensis saith For the expounding of the Canonicall Scripture we must summon and call togither the aduises of the fathers but preferre that euermore which they haue spoken either all or the greatest part of them and that verie manifestly often constantly assuredly c. what hath beene otherwise deliuered what Saint Martyr or Teacher soeuer he hath beene let vs hold it inter proprias occultas priuatas opiniunculas for Apocrypha and priuate opinions Furthermore we are euer to proceed forward to the fifth that they are to be read as great personages That we must reade them in such sort as they will be read but neuerthelesse as men whose writings cannot be equall with the Scripture as little as their spirits can match the holy Ghost yea such on the contrarie as must be iudged by the scripture examined one by another euen the old with those which in regard of them are new as they haue sufficiently learned in some places to reproue them of whom they had beene instructed in many things Cyrâ—l in Leuit. l 5. according to the rule which S. Cyril giueth vs. If there be any thing in the scripture to be decided besides the two Testaments let vs know that we haue not any third the authoritie whereof we are bound to receiue This also is the same that the Fathers say vnto vs. S. Ierome Let euery thing that shall haue bin spoken after the Apostles time be cut off Hieronym in Psal 86. let it not carrie any authoritie with it how holy or eloquent soeuer the Author may bee Saint Augustine Augu. de vnit eccles c. 6. Reade to me of the Law Prophets Psalms Gospel and Epistles reade we wil beleeue c. Al others saith he how holy or learned soeuer they be I read them not to belieue that which they affirme to bee true because they say it but in as much as they proue it vnto me by these canonical Authors Ep. 19. ad S. Hieronym Ep. 111. 112 c. For how Catholike so euer they may be there is alwaies something in their writings which their honour reserued it is lawfull for vs to reproue if it doe not agree with the truth Thus am I affected in other mens writings and such wish I them to be in mine c. And if you would know of what manner of men hee purposeth to speake he speaketh of his owne bookes Rest not thy selfe saith he in my books Lib. 3. de Trinit contr Crescon l. 2. c 21 Ep. 112. but correct them by the reading of the Scriptures Of those of Saint Cyprian I doe not hold them for Canonicall but I examine them by the Canonicall Wherein I find them conformable I praise him where otherwise there with his good leaue I reiect and forsake him Of these namely Saint Ambrose and Saint Ierome Contr. Faust l. 11. c. 5. l. 2. Contr. Donat. c. I purposed not saith he to intermingle their opinions that so thou maiest not thinke that wee should follow the sence of any man as the authoritie of the Scripture Of all them in generall that haue written since the time of the Apostles In them all saith be the reader or hearer hath free iudgement to approue or disprouethem not being bound of necessitie to belieue them but with libertie of iudging c. Yea saith he elswhere All the letters of Bishops without any exception to those of the Bishops of Rome which haue beene written or are written after the Canon of the Scriptures may be reprehended by the Councels and the prouinciall Councels giue place to the generall and the first generall are oftentimes amended by the latter Sine vllo typo sacrilegae superbiae without any swelling of wicked pride In like manner saith hee to Maximinus Bishop of the Arrians August contr Maxim l. 3 c. 14. I alleadge not vnto thee the Councell of Nice though the worthiest that euer was by way of preiudice neither alleadge thou against me that of Rimini For as I hold not my selfe bound to the authoritie of the one so neither doe I take thee to be bound to the authoritie of the other wherefore let vs reason the matter together by the authoritie of the Scriptures c. Of which onely saith hee against the Donatists by a speciall priuiledge denied to all others that come after it is not lawfull to doubt And in the meane time Peter Abbot of Clugnt Petr. Cluniac l 2. amongst the pretended errours for which Peter Bruits who read the Diuinitie Lecture at Tholosa was burned about the yeare 1200. obserued this That hee belieued in the Canonicall Scripture only and would not consent that the Fathers had the same authoritie with it And that this was the errour of that time appeareth in Gratian who liuing at this time maketh the Decretall Epistles of the Popes equall with the Epistles of Saint Paul and falsifieth Saint Augustine to fortifie his owne saying How farre better dealt Gerson and the Count Picus of Mirandula who doe more accompt of a lay man an idiot an olde man a child with a place of Scripture then a Pope or vniuersall Councell without Scripture Now who so shall read the Scriptures and the Fathers vpon the Scriptures furnished with these rules calling vpon the name of God and bringing a right zeale to the searching out of the truth let vs not doubt but that hee may easily discerne of the controuersies of this time as to know on which side truth or
in the doctrine of the Apostles Gloss ordin in Act. 2. in the communion and breaking of bread c. The Glosse saith Of bread as well common as consecrate that is to say as well ordinarie as sacramentall And Lyranus Partly saith he because they did communicate together day by day partly likewise because they did vse their victuailes and goods as in common Oecumenius in Act. 2. And Oecumenius Breaking the bread saith he to shew the plaine and cheape diet which the Apostles vsed Caietanus Distributing the breade that is to say their prouision of victuailes from house to house according to the store which they had receiued by the gift of the able faithfull And when shall we learne to speake like to the Siriacke and Arabian expositors communicating in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper called the Eucharist for they to signifie the same doe vse the word Vcaristio and by the same reason they might haue retained the worde Masse What coÌ„munion or agreement is there betwixt that this new inuention And who is he that is not out of all doubt that this was not any of the Apostles and disciples their ordinarie exercises of pietie And withall marke well how that to establish the truth the whole bodie of holy scripture is not sufficient to content and satisfie this sort of people whereas one onely word mis-vnderstoode falsely construed drawne into a by-sence rent and torne froÌ„ the best interpretation of most ancient antiquity of the best learned in these latter ages euen their owne a gesse and coniecture a dream is sufficient yea more then enough for them to establish build a lie vpon But that the Apostles and disciples of our Lord did keep themselues to his institution without any swaruing from it at all if our aduersaries will not belieue S. Paule when he saith to the Corinth and to vs all I haue receiued of the Lord that which I haue deliuered vnto you Gregor lib. 7. de Registr c. 67. let vs see at the least if they will belieue their owne Doctors Gregory the great who notwithstanding hath plaid the part of a liberal benefactor to the erecting and setting vp of the Masse telleth vs that The Lords Prater is said presently after commoÌ„ praier because the custome of the Apostles was to consecrate the Host in saying the Lords praier onely c. where he calleth the consecrating of the host the sanctifying of the signes or sacraments Platina in the life of Xistus the first He ordained that Sanctus Sanctus Platina in vita Xisti c. was sung in the office or Lithurgie for at the first these thinges were nakedly and simply done S. Peter added nothing to the consecration saue onely the Lords praier Walafridus Strabo vnder Lewes the Gentle Walafri Strabo abbas c. 22 in lib. de rebus ecclesiast about the yeare 850. a famous Abbot as Trithemius writeth What we do at this day saith he by a ministery multiplyed and enlarged with praiers lessons songs and consecrations the Apostles as our faith bindeth vs to belieue and those which followed next after them performed in most simple and single maner being no other thing then that which our Lord had commanded by prayers and remembring of his passion And therefore they did breake bread in houses as it appeareth Actes 20. And our Elders likewise report vnto vs that in former times Masses were no other thing then that which it vsually done vppon the day of Preparation otherwise called the Fryday before Easter vppon which day there is no Masse saide Mandatum but onely the communicating of the Sacrament after the pronouncing of the Lordes Prayer And in like manner according to the commandement of the Lorde after a due commemoration of his death and passion they did participate and receiue in old time his bodie and blood euen all they I say who were for capacitie and reason meet to be admitted thereunto Berno Augiensis de rebus ad missam spectantibus c. 1. Berno Augiensis to the same effect In the birth of the Church saith hee Masse was not said and celebrated as it is at this day witnes Pope Gregorie and therewith he alleadgeth the place aboue named And it may be saith he that in former times there was nothing read but the Epistles of S Paule afterward other lessons as well of the olde as of the new Testament haue beene mingled therewith B. Remig. Antisiado de celebratione nusâ—ae Cap. 1. And all this he may seeme to haue taken out of the life of S. Gregory and S. Remigius Bishop of Auxerre vnder Charles the bald It is held saith he that S. Peter did first say Masse in Antioch that is to say in such sort as the Lord had giuen in commandement vnto his Disciples in these words Do this in remebrance of me that is to say call to your minds that I am dead to purchase your saluation and do ye the like and that both for his your owne sakes And some say that he said not at that time aboue three prayers which began with these words Hanc igitur orationem c. Durandus in his Rationall Durand in Rationali The Masse in the Primitiue church was not such as it is at this day for it did not properly consist of any moe then these eight wordes This is my body This is my bloud Afterwards the Apostles added thereto the Lords Praier c. And furthermore the steps marks of this truth are yet to be seene in the Monastery of S. Benet wherein the three daies before Easter the Abbot alone doth hallow the bread and the wine and the Monkes sitting with him receiue them at his hand vpon these daies there is no other manner of Masse said The Lords institution is read and certaine places of the holy scripture and that they call Mandatum that is to say Mandatum the Lords commaundement as Walafridus Berno and Remigius c. Now in all these places they vse the word Masse being vsed in the times wherin they liued for the holy supper This which wee haue run out into of fitting our selues with the testimonies of such as speake their owne language and agree with them in their worship and seruice hath got vs thus much namely that from the testimonies of all the said Abbots which haue professed to write of the Masse wee get this ground and aduantage namely that the Apostles did retaine the Lords institution and as of consequent it must follow did also deliuer the same vnto their disciples and followers That they had not as they themselues doe affirme added any thing thereunto but that which was of the same spirit and maister namely the Lords prayer and this we must assuredly conceiue to haue beene not so much in respect of the forme of the Lordes Supper as in respect that it was commended vnto them for their ordinarie prayer And that there was
the Scriptures Walafridus speaketh Who first instituted and appointed lessons to bee read out of the Epistles of the Apostles Walafrid de diuin Oftic c 22. Microlog c. 1. and out of the Gospels before the celebrating of the Sacrifice it is not certainely knowne but it is thought the Apostles their first successors did so ordaine especially because the celebration of these Sacrifices is commaunded in the Gospels and in the Apostle is taught the manner how it must bee done c. And in the same Chapter Telesphorus sayeth hee the ninth Bb. of Rome ordained that the Gospels and Epistles should be read in the assemblies of the Christians in steade of the propheticall writinges And againe Before Pope Celestine that is before the yeare 430. or thereabout there was nothing rehearsed before the consecration but the Epistle and Gospell Againe sayeth hee there was a time when there was nothing read but Saint Paule namelie as may bee presumed the place which concerneth the holie Supper Albinus Flaccus in like manner sayeth Albinus Flaccus de diuinis officiis Rabanus de instit cleric Berno Aguiensis cap. 1. Heretofore the Epistle of Saint Paule onelie was recited and after it the holy Gospell and then the Masse was celebrated Rabanus likewise vseth almost the verie same wordes saue onelie that hee addeth that this fashion of singing was not vsed in the Church in such sorte as it is at this day All these cited Authors were about the yeare 800. and 900. The Abbotte Berno alleadging the life of S. Gregorie He bindeth vp saieth hee into one volume Gelasius his booke of the solemne orders and Customes vsed in Masses cutting off much changing a little and putting to somewhat and calleth it the booke of the Sacraments and it may be that in the former times there was nothing read but the Epistles of Saint Paule Then afterwarde it fell out that other Lessons Amalar. lib. 3. cap. 5. both of the olde and of the new Testament were mingled therewithall in such order ad manner as solemne thinges are wonte to require Amalarius Bishoppe of Trire Celestine was the first that ordayned that the Psalmes of Dauid shoulde bee sung by course not sayeth hee that they had beene vsed to haue beene sung for before time the Epistle of Sainte Paule and the holie Gospell were onelie wonte to bee read and afterwarde the Sacrifice was celebrated and the Masse beganne by the foresaide Lecture where vppon custome hath retayned it vntill this daye in the vigilles of Easter and Whitsontide that is to saye at these solemne feastes wherein now in these latter dayes euerie man appointed himselfe to receiue the holie Supper And this I woulde haue marked by the waye against those that finde faulte with the reformed Churches for hauing taken the chiefe grounde and principall foundation for their prescript forme of administring and receyuing of the holie Supper out of the first Epistle of Saint Paule to the Corinthians chap. 11. where hee rehearseth the institution of our Lord seeing they may well perceiue that it was so practised in the first olde age as their owne Authors doe witnes vnto them Of Psalmes Radulph Deane of Tongres sayeth That the olde Diuine Seruice consisted in Psalmes and in Lessons but that the Psalmes made vppe the greater parte insomuch as that the Psalter was runne through there euerie weeke and hee giueth a reason for it Because sayeth hee that it is a perfect abridgement of Diuinitie wherein Dauid hath spoken more like an Euangelist then a Prophette and furthermore it is to vs and to all true repenting sinners an example of the mercie of God and that for the same cause the reading of Saint Paule his Epistles was so much vsed as wherein we are instructed and taught the manner of his conuersion and profiting Walaf c. 26 in them likewise obseruing the rich and bountifull goodnes of God and in like manner Walafridus in Chapter 26. Now after these Lectures there was a place wherein they vsed to speake of the preaching that had beene made and framed thereof for the Bishoppe or Pastor was wonte to expounde some one place or other vnto the people wherevppon wee reade these wordes in the Lithurgie attributed vnto Clemente How that after the Lessons the Bishoppe speaketh vnto the people by waye of exhortation and hereuppon sprung so manie Homilies of the olde Fathers Clemens siue alius in Liturgia aswell Greeke as Latine as likewise the Bbs. when they tooke their oath did bind themselues by promise to performe this dutie in signe and token whereof the booke of the Gospell was deliuered to them with these wordes Take the Gospell and preach it vnto the people that is committed vnto thee as wee shall see hereafter The traces and steps whereof may seeme still to bee seene in that part of the Masse called in French the Prosne wherein the Curates doe laye open vnto the people some rudimentes of their Christian faith but the ignorance or else the riotousnes of the Prebates hath now through tract of time so preuailed with these Copiers out of bookes as that they haue left out what was mentioned of making of Sermons and goe on with a smooth foote from the Lecture to the Offertorie or offring which Walafridus and Berno affirme to bee sprung vp Walafr c. 22. Berno Augiensis c. 1. ex prioris populi consuetudine of the custome of the Iewish Church And these offrings in the Christian Church were for the most parte of breade wine or of the first fruites thereof in corne and in grapes and these were consecrated vnto God by prayer afterward they tooke that which was necessarie for the Communion of the holy Supper and looke what remained it was eyther eaten of all in common or else giuen to the poore And further let it bee marked that both of them say in proper and apte tearmes We do not reade it in plain and euident forte who it was that added vnto our Lithurgies that which is sung inter offerendum at the offring and as little of that singing by course vsed in the communion and as certainelie doe wee receiue verily belieue that the holie Fathers in the first times did offer and communicate without anie voice heard which also is furthermore obserued vpon the holie Saturday of Easter Wherby wee perceiue verie clearelie that the Bbs. or Priestes did not say Offero Sacrifico Offerimus Sacrificamus but that according to the example of our Lorde after they had pronounced and vttered the holie wordes of the institution of the Sacrament they gaue it vnto the people without saying anie thing all those precise and strict ceremonies coupled and fastened to a number of wordes vttered with one breath to certaine signes of the Crosse c being crept in a long time after and whereof these honest fellowes can render no other reason saue that according to the measure of the growth of the Church in mightines
as it is to this day vsed in the Greeke Churches But about this time the zeale of Christians waxing cold they began in the Church of Rome to deuide them into certaine peeces or pawses which were called partes to the end that seruice might be made the shorter as we reade in Optatus who citeth the 2. part of the nine and fortieth Psalme And alth ought this diuiding of Psalmes into partes may seeme to haue beene in the time of S. Hillarie yet it was not receined into the Church Epiphanius calleth them distinctions S. Ambrose in his Lithurgie Psalmulos or little Psalmes which are nothing else but verses and they were sung within a certaine time after countervoicewise one side singing one verse and an other an other Of the Institution Theodoret reporteth of Flauianus and Diodorus in Antioch Theodor lib. 2 cap. 24. that they caused them to be thus sung about the sepulchers of Martyrs but in the Latine Church Paulinus reporteth it to be by the appointment of Saint Ambrose in his Dioces which was afterward about the yeare 430. spread abroad euerie where and that by the authoritie of Pope Celestine who by name did practise it at the first beginning and entrance into ecclesiasticall or diuine seruice Of reading S. Chrysostome reporteth ordinarily When it is told thee in the church Of reading Chrysost hom 36. in 1. ad Cor. hom 3. in 2. ad Thessal Concil Laodi cap. 17. Cut diuided readings or lessons Ambr. in praefat in Psalm De Offic. lib. 1 cap. 11. 44. Seuer Sulpit. de vita S. Mart. l. 3. De Offi. l. 1. c. 8 De Virg. l. 3. ad Gratian. l. 4. c. S. Agust tract 9 in Ioann serm 236. de temp serm 7. 10. de verb. Apostol c. Beloth c. 57. Berno Radulphus The Sermon Ambr. epist 33 post tractatū S. Basil in psal 14. 114. S. August in 1. Epist S. Ioh. Amb. epist 33. S. August de ciuit l. 22. c. 8 August de doctrina Christia the Lord saith so and that the Deacon doth bid all the world to be silent and still thinke not that it is not to the ende that thou shouldest honour the reader but rather him that speaketh by his mouth Againe when thou hearest the Prophete which telleth thee the Lord saith this Remoue thy solfe O earth and rise thou higher O heauen thinke within thy selfe who it is from whom the Prophet speaketh vnto thee If these readinges had beene such as are now a daies in the Masse to what end should those exhortations of S. Chrysostome serue But the Councell of Laodicea is likewise plaine and pregnant in this point Let the Canonical scriptures be read in the church not any others S. Ambrose oftentimes What seueritie of punishment haue we established in the Church to the end that silence may bee kept whiles the scriptures are reading whereas notwithstanding the Psalmes doe keepe silence of themselues And these readinges or lessons were aswell out of the law as out of the Gospell and Apostle as appeareth in infinite places of S. Ambrose S. Augustine and others and that throughout whole books vntill such time as S. Ierome by the commandement of Pope Damascene because the lithurgy seemed as then to be too long did make an extract of certain lessons out of the Prophets Epistles Gospels wherevpon he composed the booke called Comes or the booke of lessons from which time they began to be in vse in the Church Now the Bishop or Pastor of the Church was wont to take the place whereof he wold make his sermō ordinarily out of those lessons as appeareth by those wordes of S. Ambrose S. Augustine and others so oftentimes vsed We haue heard in the lesson that hath beene read c. and vpon the same we must deliuer and speake as the Lord shall vouchsafe to enable vs c. And sometime out of the Psalme that had beene sung as may be seene in S. Basill vpon Psalme 114. Or else they tooke a whole booke as S. Augustine in his treatise vpon S. Iohn saue that vpon the daies of great feastes as the feast of the Natiuitie Easter and Pentecost they chose out picked places from thence to intreate of the historie and misterie And the sermon was called Tractatus Sermo and from thence grew these speeches Homilia tractare de superiori loco dicere siue de exedra And it was the custome of the Pastor before he began to speake to the people to pray vnto God that hee woulde shew him the fauor and mercie to teach them well and to giue them well and throughly to apprehend that which hee should teach them according to Saint Augustine his precept Before he speake let him pray vnto God for himselfe and for them to whom he is to preach and let him be saith hee Orator antequà m dictor which is let him pray before hee preach And this sermon did continue as wee learne out of Saint Basill about an houre in the ende likewise concluding the same with prayer In Saint Augustine Conuersi rursus ad Dominum c. we betake our selues againe vnto God c. And furthermore as this is the principall charge of the Ministers to preach the worde as those vnto whom our Lord deliuering his commission spake in these expresse wordes Go preach the Gospell vnto all creatures c. So haue we from these great and worthie men infinite sermons as by name from Saint Cyprian Saint Ambrose Saint Augustine S. Chrysostome S. Basill c. but not from any one of these any booke of rites or ceremonies neyther yet any patterne of any sacrifice And they let not to take great paine to prescribe and point out vnto vs the qualities of a preacher and the partes and conditions of a Bishoppe that is worthy the roome and place of teaching the people especially Saint Augustine in his bookes of Christian doctrine but for teaching of him howe many diuers wayes and with howe many ceremonies hee should say Masse or offer his pretended sacrifice they trouble not themselues at all Now after the sermon That the holy Supper was frequented at that time of al the faithful it was ordinarily the custome to beginne with the administration of the holy Supper especially during the time of their first loue and zeale when as the Christians for the most part did communicate euerie weeke yea and some euerie day the Sacramentes being neuer set vpon the Table of the Lorde but that there would bee a number of faithfull Christians to communicate thereof And furthermore S. August ad Ianuar. ep 119 Saint Augustine exhorteth the faithfull to communicate euery Lordes day Prouided saith hee that thy soule be not set vpon sinne Saint Ambrose giueth warning and admonisheth them to celebrate the memorie of the Lord euerie day rebuking certaine of the East Churches which did not communicate oftener then once a yeare And Eusebius saith that the same
thanke God sayeth hee in this Sacrament for that hee hath deliuered vs from errour Chrysost in hom 24. in 1. ad Cor. for that hee hath adopted vs for brethren so far off as we were from al hope by reason of our impieties and therfore we call it the cup of blessing and the Eucharist In the lithurgie likewise which is attributed vnto S. Basill is wholie set downe the storie of our redemption and in the verie place of the Canon of the Romish Masse Of the Canon and endeth with the institution of the holie Supper no word or mention made of anie propitiatorie Sacrifice other then of our Lord himselfe to bee short it is worth the noting that we cannot by tracing out find or meete with anie one step or footing of the Canon of this Masse in the olde Writers though otherwise diligent inough to anotomize vnto vs the partes and prices of their seruice if it were not for one onelie place in S. Ambrose in his bookes of the Sacramentes and yet those bookes not acknowledged of all men to be his howsoeuer vnder his name for the foresaide end abused most notoriously S. Ambrose sayeth S. Ambrose l. 4. 67. de Sacr. Fac nobis hanc oblationem adscriptam rationabilem acceptabilem quod est figura corporis sanguinis Domini c. that is vouchsafe O Lord to make this our oblation and offring to bee allowed vs in our account and hold it as acceptable because it is the figure of the bodie and blood of our Lord who the day before he suffered tooke bread in his holie hands c. And wee haue said inough hereof before namely in what sence they vsed this word oblation according to the imitation of the Iewish Church which is likewise plainely seene by this prayer framed according vnto that of the law Let the offring of their gifts be acceptable But whereas S. Ambrose vseth this word figure their Canon sayeth Grant that it may be vnto vs the bodie and blood of Christ Againe of this oblation that is to say of the elements of bread and wine taken from the Masse and whole lumpe of the same set before and presented vnto the belieuers for Sacraments and vnto God for a sacrifice of thankesgiuing in remembrance of the passion death and resurrection of Christ Saint Ambrose saide Vnde memores eius passionis c. precamur vt hanc oblationem suscipias c. We pray thee that in remembrance of his death and passion c. thou wouldest receiue this oblation vpon thine heauenlie altar by the hands of thine Angels as thou didst vouchsafe to receiue the gifts of Abell thy seruant and deare child and the sacrifice of the Patriarch Abraham c. Now that which he speaketh of the oblation of the Elements made Sacraments by the word the Romish Canon vpon the insuing of the first corruptions and deprauing of thinges tooke occasion to speake it of Iesus Christ himselfe so that what the one said of the figure the other spake of the thing it self so by consequent make the sacrifice of Christ inferiour to those of Abell Abraham and Melchisedech Acceptable sayth he as those which indeed we know by the vniform consent of the whole Scriptures to haue been acceptable to God by no other meanes saue onelie in Iesus Christ And let vs further note by the way that in the Lithurgie which they attribute vnto S. Ambrose they haue razed and scraped out the worde figure that so they might fit the Canon the better to that of the Romish Masse As for the consecration or blessing it was not attributed vnto certaine wordes Of the consecration or blessing and much lesse vnto a prefixt and set number of wordes but onelie to the institution of the Lord and to the effectuall power thereof And this appeareth in that the olde Doctors did neuer teach otherwise and in that diuerse men haue vsed diuerse and different wordes herein also for that in diuerse Lithurgies the wordes are diuerse and herein likewise for that the Latines doubted not but that the Greciās as they speak did consecrate and yet notwithstanding the Greeks did not make account that their consecration was accomplished till afterthe prayer which followeth the institution of the holy Supper the Latines on the contrarie defend at this day that it was accomplished in these onelie wordes Hoc est enim corpus meum c. Let it bee so In these Lithurgies wherewith they would dazell our eyes and which they attribute to S. Iames S. Clement S. Basill S. Chrysostome c. according to the translations of their interpreters In S. Clement his Lithurgie Ostendat the wordes of consecration are these in the praier which they make after the reading of the institution of the Supper We O Lord mindfull of the passion of thy deare Son do beseech thee according to thy institution that it will please thee to send thy holie spirit vpon the Sacrament here present and set before vs who may cause and manifestly declare that the bread is the bodie of Christ and the wine his blood shed and powred out for the life of the world And so likewise speaketh Cyrill in steade that in the Church of Rome the consecration is neyther attributed vnto the institution that goeth before nor vnto the prayer that followeth but vnto the onely pronuntiation or speaking of their wordes giuen and deliuered by strict accountes without interruption as though forsooth it were some precise forme of wordes for the passing of some bargaine in the ciuill law as the Schoolemen are wont to reason notwithstanding that the Cardinall Caietan doth hold that when it is said Benedixit it was Benedictione laudis non consecrationis and that hee was neuer willing to make any exposition vppon the pretended wordes of consecration because hee coulde not finde therein anie ground or foundation laide vppon antiquitie Now as for these wordes how they should bee vnderstoode wee will handle that point when we come to speake of the question of Transubstantiation so that here it shall suffice to haue spoken of it by way of historie The prayer The praier that it would please God to make the faithfull communicating to become more and more one bodie and one spirit that is to say the misticall bodie of Christ is in all the Lithurgies aboue named according to that which Saint Augustine teacheth That the Sacrifice of Christians is their being of manie one bodie in Christ That which is most worthy sayeth hee and notable in the Sacrament of the Altar August Epist 59. is for that in the oblation which the Church offreth shee is offred vppe her selfe vnto God and to bee offred sayeth hee in an other place is as much as to bee vowed and dedicated vnto him seeing that in this Sacrament we protest by a sacred and soueraigne vow to dwell in Christ and in his bond and couenant And therefore he addeth I suppose that
the time of Alexius not the Pope Zonar tom 3. Bellarmin de praef Ro. Pont. é Signibert Leon. 9. Ounphâ—fast lib. 4. And furthermore in the saide lithurgie are rehearsed all the names of the other Patriarks and what appearance of truth can there be alledged why the Patriarch of Constant should be forgotten if it were made by him that the rather because the Bb. of Rome is remeÌ„bred therein as likewise for the empire of Alexius And the first of that name raigned about the yeare 1080. This was 700. yeares after Chrysost So that he whosoeuer he was that was the coÌ„pounder mingler of these liturgies shold haue looked a little better vpon his receipt takeÌ„ better aduisement with him in his matters And neuertheles we gaine and get the aduantage in these points ouer and aboue namely that by them it is said that the people coÌ„municated euery day in the sacraments that vnder both kinds not the cleargie alone as they call it that as then it was not known what should be meant by the priuate Masse neither yet by the Opus operatuÌ„ the worke wrought and that there are in the same many thinges for to condemne the Romish Masse but no one thing to induce or leade vs to the approbation thereof and let the same serue likewise for other the lithurgies which are attributed vnto the same time As concerning the Decretall epistles of these times Decretall Epistles they are not of any better passe then the rest going before The very same reasons perswade me to reiect them besides the barbarousnes the fooleries and ignorances apparant and euident in them If we allow them to haue been written by the Popes theÌ„ let vs also giue this allowance vnto the Popes as to be the most insufficient least capable Bishops of any that were then liuing and to haue beene more Gothish then the Gothes themselues And yet in the meane I am not ignorant how that the pietie of these times was grown to a verie great confusion as being much mingled with superstition through the intermingle of infidels with Christians by reason also of the deepe and dead bed of negligence that Christians were fallen into the great swarmes of barbarous people and the ignorance of the Prelates all which did one after another as it were hand in hand follow and fall out But I say that these as yet were but the doting deuotions of some particular persons and were not growne vp so farre as to get a law vppon their heades Particular Superstitions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verè appellemus we may call them with the scripture wil-worships or seruices the wandring and vnruled deuotions of some men rather then of the Church As for example when we reade in S. Cyprian that certaine women caried away the Eucharist in their handkerchefes kept it in their coffers took it euerie morning fasting In S. Ierome that it was wont to be sent to new maried folkes to take it at their owne house together In S. Augustine that it was wont to be giuen to infants Concil Carthag 3. cap 6. Concil Hipponensis compendium Concil Altisiod Amphiloch in vita Basil mistaking this place following If you eate not the flesh of the Son of man you haue no life in you c. In the third councell of Carthage and in that of Bonne in Afrike That it was put into the mouth of the dead contrarie to that which is said Take and eate which likewise we reade to haue beene practised by S. Bennet about a woman that was dead and forbidden in the Councell holden at Auxerre in expresse wordes And likewise to be briefe in that goodly booke of Amphilochius if we will belieue it which telleth vs that S. Basill caused a piece of it to bee buried with him which hee had kept I cannot tell how many yeares for the same purpose c. all of them being superstitions which haue presidentes and examples of great antiquitie though neuerthelesse at this day condemned by the Romish Church which yet is faine to builde and boulster vp her selfe with such antiquitie For who can tell into how many by-waies man erreth and wandreth when once hee is out of the right path or into how many falsities and vntruthes hee falleth when once hee departeth from the institution of the Lorde to follow his owne humour and floating fancie CHAP. VII What a metamorphosis and mishapen chaunge was wrought vpon the celebration of the Supper about the time of Gregory the great which happened about the sixth age of the Church WE passe now from out of the calme pathes of silence into the rough and vnbeaten way of darknesse and from the glittering beames of dazeling pompe into the blacke duskish clouds of the dreadfull ignorance of the Church I meane in respect of the outward face and appearance of the same as it was then to bee seene If the first did mightily inlarge the bounds of vanities and ceremonies no doubt the other was not behind in the promoting of superstition and false doctrine And that we may the more easily comprehend compasse the truth hereof let vs briefly call to mind in what estate and plight wee haue left either the holy Supper or the Masse and by this name onely let vs call it hereafter seeing that this name beginneth to get the vpper hand in this time and age whereof wee are now to speake It was an assemblie of Christians calling vppon the name of God by Iesus Christ singing his prayses hearing his worde attending vnto the expounding of the same as it was deliuered them by the Pastors then offering afterward vnto God in giuing thankes for his graces for the fruites and goods that hee had giuen them that some part thereof might be consecrate to the vse of the Sacramentes and some part imployed in the sustaining and nourishing of the poore or for other such like necessities of the Church And as for the Canon that is to say that principall part of seruice in which the Sacraments were blessed receiued and communicated wee haue left it as it was composed and made of a preface which lifted vp the spirites of those who were at it on high of a rehearsall of the pure and holy institution of the Supper of a prayer vnto God that it would please him to giue an effectuall power and operation to the sacramentes to knit and vnite together more and more those which were communicantes to Iesus Christ their head to the members of his bodie which is the Church and as such to foster and feed them vp vnto eternal life with a commemoration of the holy Martyrs of their life and of their death for the stirring vp of the zeale of euerie one so farre as that they may not grudge at or be sparing in any thing which might serue for the setting forth of the glorie of God neyther yet preferre any thing whatsoeuer to the working and assuring of their
it once spoken of in this signification Processions In the second place Gregorie the first had instituted a procession to bee made vppon Easter day with a supplication or Letanie Now the ordaining of these supplications or Processions did first rise vppon the occasion of publike calamities as of the plague of the earthquake c. for the taking away whereof the people ioyned together in prayers vnto God But Honorius the first appointed that euery Lordes day there should be a Procession made at Rome from the day of S. Apollinaris vnto the daye of S. Peter with Gregorie his Letanie Some attribute that ordinaunce to Agapet Sergius as a thirde Promoter of this worke of augmentation followeth aboute the yeare 690. and casteth in vnto the rest all the festiuall dayes as namelie the fowre Ladie dayes and thus more and more superstition increased as the Moone when shee is past the change vntill it had gained the place and preheminence vpon the Lords dayes and that in all places This is the thing that Charles the Great the true and trustie aduancer of all Romish inuentions speaketh of Let the Priest with the companie of singers goe aboute the Church c. This same Sergius did further appoint that whiles the bread of the Communion was in breaking there should be sung Agnus Dei c. hee gaue censers to the Churches he ordained that the Priest should make three partes of the bread which he held in the Masse according to the custome which was then established namelie that there should alwaies bee an ordinarie and set number of Communicantes and that there should not bee anie Masse without a Communion The breaking of the bread into three parts and that the casting of the bread ordained for the same into three parts should bee to the end that the Priest might haue one part the other officers of the Church an other and the people that did communicate the third But whereas then also these priuate Masses beganne in which the same order of breaking and deuiding of the bread into the said partes was continued notwithstanding that no man but the Priest alone did receiue eate of it that no absurdity might seeme to cleaue vnto this practise it was clapt into a misticall matter the meaning whereof sayeth hee is Because that one parte of Christ is risen another parte walking vppon earth and a thirde parte of him remaining in the Sepulcher c. Others there are who had rather vnderstand it to signifie and haue relation to the faithful in heauen on earth and in Purgatorie Others again vnderstand thereby the Patriarkes Abraham Isaac and Iacob and so euery man according as his inuention pleased him The Pax. and Allegories likewise of the same stampe The fourth Maister of this augmentation was Innocent the first who in steade of the custome vsed amongst the auncient faithfull to kisse in signe of peace ordained a Canon whereout leapte that law decree of Charles the great Lib. 1. c. 53. l. 5. c. 94. Vt pax detur ab omnibus confectis Christi sacramentis that is that the peace that is the kisse of peace shold be giuen of al c. And he yeeldeth a reason because that therein is signified the true concord c. Now a little before the time of Charles the great Leo the second had changed the same into superstition ordayning in stead thereof the plate of siluer or copper which is wont to bee held out to kisse after the consecration Of taking of the Eucharist with the mouth Lib. 7. cap. 367 Concil Altifiod c. 36.37 which within a while after was receiued together with the rest of the ceremonies The fift practise of augmentation was that where the Eucharist had wont to bee deliuered into the hands of the Communicantes yea and that in the time of Charles the great as appeareth by this Canon Vt qui acceperint sumant That those which haue taken it with their hand may take it with their mouth for otherwise let them bee shutte out and excluded for sacrilegious persons It was now forbidden women to touch it with their naked handes yea and to touch the linnens wherein the Sacramentes were wrapped far from the practise which was vsed by Gorgonia the sister of Nazianzene who handled it with her handes and kept it about her going aboute her busines Then they beganne to giue it them at their mouthes Alber. Krantz in Metrop l. 1. c. 19. Beda de rat temp lib. 2. Paul Diacon l. 6. de gestu Longobard Adon. aetat 6. Many Masses as wee reade of Iustinian in Nicomedia who tooke it with his mouth at the hand of the Bishoppe of Rome and of Witikind which saw as hee said a little childe who had it giuen into his mouth for euen such fables were plentifull at this time The sixt there was wont to bee celebrated but one common supper for all and so by consequent they had in euerie Temple or Church but one Table or Altar But as the people grew slower and slower in communicating so they perswaded them so much the more to bring offrings yea constrained them thereto by the Canons of their Synods and by the lawes of the Empire and to this end they made men belieue that it was sufficient for them to bee present onelie so that they forget not to offer in so much that Masses and Altars did multiplie the communion in the meane time withering and falling away and that so farre foorth as that the Priestes themselues sometimes did not receiue it Lib. 7. c. 50. though they had consecrated the same This is faithfully witnessed by Charles the great his lawes Let the people bee warned to offer Iugiter continuallie Whereas the former went no further but to communicate often and the reason is added Because that these offringes are verie profitable for those which offer and for theirs Lib. 6. c. 16â— Concil Altissi cap. 10. Againe Let the people offer daylie to the Priests or at the least euerie Lords day c. And for the multiplying of Masses these goodlie Canons It is not lawfull to say two Masses vpon one Altar in one day neyther yet for any Priest to say anie the same daye vpon the Altar whereupon the Bishoppe shall haue saide one And of the not communicating of the Priestes themselues Wee will sayeth Charles That so oft as the Priest doth offer the bodie and blood of Christ so oft hee doe receiue the same c. Because sayeth the Canon manie doe otherwise as it is reported vnto vs Concil Tolet. 12. De consecr Dict. 2. c Relatum est Lib. 6. Car. c. 118. Concil Worm c. de purgand Monach. Concil Altisiod c. 12. Carol. lib. 1. cap. 161. insomuch as that there is neede that the Emperour his authoritie shoulde prouide for the same The seauenth and by this you may see how farre the abuse was now growne namelie as that if a Monke had robde
the Monasterie of neuer so little a thing for his purgation hee was put to receiue the Sacrament in these wordes Corpus Domini sit tibi in purgationem Let the bodie of the Lord bee thy purgation that is for a proofe and triall whether thou bee guiltie or no whereas they were wonte to say in the supper To feede thee vnto eternall life Some gaue it vnto the deade whereuppon the Canon in the councell of Auxerre was made De Eucharistia mortuis non danda and all did vse to giue it to young children whereuppon came the constitution and lawe made by Charles the great To haue the Eucharist readie for to giue to children euerie daye Others did weare it at their breast as they vse to doe the Agnus Dei the blessed graines c. at this day The eight practise was the beginning of the consecrating of it in honour of the Saintes the Masse drawing to their profit and aduantage all the abuses and poisonous infections which were sprung vp together in the Church Whereupon we reade that Gregorie the third added these wordes vnto the Canon Quorum festiuitas hodiè celebratur whose feast is solemnized this day About the yere 750. and 800. because that at this time beganne the inuocation of Saintes to be very rife in the Church of Rome To be briefe Adrian the first as we haue seene redoubled and drew out the Offertorie into a far greater length to the end that there might be the more time leasure for the bringing of their offeringes and caused to be receiued so neere as he could the Gregorian office in euerie place So likewise did Stephen his successor and ordained moreouer that in euery Masse said vpon the Lords day there should be sung Gloria in excelsis whereof wee haue a law by Charles the Great lib. 6. c. 170. The saying of Masses for the dead was not yet established by law Ep. 2. Gregor ad Bonifac. in Tom. 2. concil Naucler Ge. 25 so carefull was he to apply himselfe to all their decrees and nouelties And all this fell betwixt the time of Gregorie the first and the thirde which fell about the time of Pipin and Charles toward the yeare 800. And yet this is to be noted that Masses for the dead were not as yet established by law for Boniface the great Apostle of the Romaine ceremonies in Germanie consulting with Gregorie the second about his commission demaunded of him amongst other questions If kinsfolkes shoulde offer for their dead and so thereupon was inioyned by the Pope to see it done and obserued CHAP. IX What was the manner of the proceeding of the Masse and of the making vp of the same as also of the vse thereof after the time of Charlemaine and particularly of the taking away of the cup of the Lord. NOw we haue hitherto seene the setting together and building of the Masse and that for many ages and by many authors and rearers of the same and of the diuers differing peeces whereof it was patcht From henceforward we are to looke vpon and take the view of the rising not so much of the building as of the vse and manner of vsage thereof falling out more pernicious faultie then the former Let vs alwaies call to mind that the holy Supper by hy his first institution was a remembraunce of the death and passion of our Lord and a communicating of the faithfull in the bodie and blood of the same with the creatures of bread and wine as seales and assurances of eternall life and wee haue seene the making of a Supper without any Communion a pretended sacrifice without any remembraunce of the death of Christ But now it becommeth a custome to vse it in remembraunce not any more of the passion of our Lord and of the merite of his crosse but of the Saints Masses in the honour of the Saints and for diuers other vses of their sufferings and of their merites It is made good for all vses for the liuing for the dead for the whole and for the sicke for men and for beasts for the fruits of the earth and the distemperatures of the aire c. This is now from henceforth become a Catholicon and vniuersal remedie good for euerie thing except for that from which it is fallen and degenerate as namely for that for which the holy Supper was instituted and contrariwise there is not left vnto the holy Supper whose place it vsurpeth the least marke or signe of it selfe It is good for the dead Let the remembrance of the dead be made in all Masses Concil Cabilon Can. 33. saith the Councell of Caualion and the reason is added though it bee smally to the purpose For euen so saith it therein is prayer dayly made for the liuing And it was likewise at this time that they were begun to bee ordained by tennes and thirties c. as it appeareth by the Epistles of Sigibaldus Torchelmas Cuthbertus Lullus c. of giuing landes to the Church in these wordes Offero Deo omnes res quae in hac chartula continentur insertae pro remissione peccatorum meorum parentum ad seruiendum Deo ex its in sacrificiis Missarumue solemniis c. I offer vnto God all that which is contained in this scedule for the remission of my sinnes and the sinnes of my forefathers for the seruice of God practised in the offering of sacrifices and saying of Masses a thing neuer heard of to bee vttered and spoken of by any former writers Good against tempestes Call to your mindes saith Lullus and remember to sing the Masses which are accustomed to be sung for tempests Good against sicknes The priests saith Wigbertus at this time haue said euery one of them fiue Masses for the recouerie of Lullus Good for warres Let the Priests saith Charles and Lotharius say the Masses vsed for them that go to wars with vs. Good for to purge offenders If any man in the Monasteries saith the Councell of Wormes be suspected of theft let him be purged by the taking of the Sacrament And Sybicon Bb. of Spire in the councell of Mentz about the yeare 1100. did by it purge himselfe of adultery Good to hallow cities and fortresses Leo the fourth about the yeare 900. did hallow the Cittie Leopolis against the Saracens And finally good against inchanters for the priestes do vse the hallowed linnens wherein the Eucharist is wrapped for to quench and put out fire And it was requisite that the Councell of Schelestat should helpe and remedie the same by an expresse article Concil Selegstad c. 6. But how farre off are all these vses from that which is ordained by the Sonne of God He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood he abideth in me and I in him Againe All we saith the Apostle which doe eate one and the same bread are one bodie c. But let vs proceed if it bee S. Gregories it deliuereth soules out of
bee measured backe againe vnto him in the same measure which he measured out and gaue or whether in the recompence he shal be made equall to him who not in giuing of water but in shedding of his blood shal haue drunke the cup which God the father hath powred out vnto him Assuredly here is not any cup of colde water but a cup full of strong wine to make drunken a cup of pure and neat wine c. For my Lord Iesus no other hath the pure wine in his possession c. In another place Iesus Christ the night before his passion prescribed vnto his disciples the forme of this Sacrament gaue it power commanded them to doe it The prescription giuen for the forme consisteth in bread and wine Marke the order As they were yet at supper he rise from the table washed the feet of his disciples and returning to the table instituted the sacrifice of his bodie and of his bloode giuing the bread by it selfe the wine by it selfe saying of the bread Take eate this is my bodie of the wine thus drink ye all of this This is my blood c. And the same may be gathered out of diuers other places And in deed Vincent reckoneth vp one Tundatus Vincent l. 27. c. 88. a wicked man who seeing himself smitteÌ„ froÌ„ heaueÌ„ with a mortal blow required the coÌ„munion wheÌ„ he had taken the body of the Lord drunk the wine he cried O God thy mercy is greater then mine iniquitie how great soeuer it be And William Duke of Normandie hauing to giue the Danes battell in England we reade that he caused all his armie to receiue the sacrament and by name vnder both kindes But it is more then time to see by what manner of proceeding and vnder what colour the blood of Christ was cut off and taken away from the people and this will afforde vs matter inough for an other Chapter CHAP. XI How the cutting off of the cup of the Lord from the faithfull proceeded and grew and vnder what pretext and colour NOw in deed the case standeth thus that the Deuill the enemie of the blood of Christ who neuer shrinketh backe or giueth ouer did from time to time and at an inch prosecute the point of cutting off of the cup from the faithfull and which is worse vnder the shadow of deuotion For we haue seene that about the yeare 350. vnder the shadow of children and sicke folke it was laboured to bring in bread dipt in the wine which Iulius Bishop of Rome did hinder expresly opposing thereto the institution of the Lord. And againe we reade that about the yeare 950. the Monkes of the order of Clugni vnder the colour of fearing to shed the cup did institute in their conuents to deliuer bread wet in wine IntinctaÌ„ vnto their nouices though freely acknowledging that it was against the vse and order of other Churches Because say they that there are of our nouices so raw and grosse-headed as that if they did receiue the blood by it selfe they would fall into an inconuenience and this inconuenience is that which they call Periculum effusionis the daunger of shedding bred and brought vp as we shall see with transubstantiation and hath spred it selfe abroad into as many countries as the other From that time forward in a Councell held at Tours for the same consideration it was permitted to giue Intinctam breade dipt in wine vnto the sicke and that not onely in Monasteries but in Parishes and the reason thereof is added Yuo de diuinis Offic. Hildeb se Epise vocat epist 64. To the end saith he that the Priest may truely say The bodie and blood of our Lord doth profite thee vnto the remission of thy sinnes c so needfull did they alwaies iudge both the kindes to be In the end of the time of Yuo Bishop of Chartres it came to be giuen in some places vnto the whole sound But Hildebert Bb. of Mantz kept a great stirre about it findeth fault with the custome and insisteth vpon the institution of Christ vrging the same That either kind ought to be giuen by it selfe and that otherwise it is but to giue Iudas his sop and not the bodie of Christ And in deed it is cleare About the yere 1280. Hugo de Sacr. Altar that at this time the greatest and most autentike writers did speake no otherwise Hugo de Sancta Victoria saith Men receiue both the one kind and the other to signifie that this sacrament hath a double effect for it is the redemption of the bodie and of the soule which will not be sufficiently expressed and signified if it should not be receiued vnder any moe then one kind And in another place The receiuing vnder both kindes signifieth his redemption vnto him that so receiueth them and that both of bodie soule c. Now theÌ„ of which of the two wil they frustrate depriue vs Peter Lombard saith the Maister of the sentences maketh this question Lombard dist 11. l. 4. Wherefore do men receiue Iesus Christ vnder both kindes seeing bee is whole and intire in one Who answereth him with Saint Ambrose his answere vz. Because this Sacrament profiteth both bodie and soule and because that our Lorde would shew thereby that hee had taken vppon him the whole nature of man that so hee might redeeme whole man So that now alreadie there was some dreaming of a concomitancie that is an vnseperable fellowship and vnion of the flesh and blood of Christ a thing deriued and springing from transubstantiation as in deed followed to be maintained more fully afterward and yet notwithstanding this consequence did not inforce that which followed afterwarde namely That of necessitie against the expresse wordes of the institution the cuppe must be cut off from the Laitie On the contrarie Lombard l. 4. dist 11. The Eucharist dipt in wine sayeth hee must not bee giuen to people in steade of the Communion for wee reade not that the Lord hath giuen it so vnto anie of his Disciples but onelie vnto Iudas c. Gratianus the compiler and Author of the decree intreating at the same time of this matter in his Treatise Of the consecration repeateth it more then twentie times that Iesus Christ his ordinance vnto his Disciples was vnder both kindes and neuer speaketh otherwise so farre off is it that there should bee the printes and markes of the forbidding of the cuppe in his decree gathered out of all the Fathers De conse dist 2. Canon tunâ—â—is Petrus ex August de vtilitate credendi Psal 33. 35. Vide de consec dist 2. C. Comperimus C. quia passus C. Si non sunt C In Caena C. Timorem C. Quum frangit C. Quid sit Sanguis C. Sacerdotes 1. q. 1. Hymnus iste extat in Officio fest Sacram. quod S. Tho. attribuitur ea de causa co referendus est And indeede the places
which hee there alleadgeth out of the old Writers are verie expresse and fit for the purpose ' Peter sayeth hee preacheth vnto them to belieue in him whom they had crucified to the ende that belieuing they might drinke the bloode which they had spilt in their madde and furious moode Againe The same blood which they shedde in their follie they drunke by his grace c. And the Canons which hee draweth out of Iulius Gelasius and Gregorie the Great doe vtter the same neither doth the Glose vpon the decree speake otherwise in any part thereof de Consecr d. 2. To bee briefe the olde Agends euen to this daye in the Rubrick of the visitation of the sicke do beare these wordes Let the bodie and the blood of the Lord bee administred vnto them vnder both kindes yea and since that superstition brought in that which they call Periculum effusionis the daunger of shedding so that vntill this time there is not one bare worde to bee found in all the olde Writers to the contrarie but that the cuppe was administred vnto the people Sufficient proofe of the same are the verses engrauen vppon the olde cuppes as likewise this Hymne in vse as yet vnto this daye Dedit fragilib us corporis ferculum Dedit ex tristibus sanguinis poculum Omnes ex eo bibite Sic Sacrificium istud instituit Cuius Officium committi vo luit Solis Presbiteris quib us sie congruit Vt sumant dent caeteris As likewise Beatus Rhenanus reporteth that in his time there were to bee seene in some cathedrall Churches the cuppes wherewith they ministred vnto the people and that they were called ministring cuppes likewise in the Romish pontificall which were couered and of the weight of some 480. or 560. ounces hauing a certaine pretie little beake or pipe at which the people did drinke to auoid all shedding And namelie there is to bee read of that of the cathedrall Church of Mentz and of that of the Abbye of S. Gall in Swisserland And as yet to this day in the Abbye of Clugni at the great Masse the Priest doth consecrate three hostes the one whereof they say is for himselfe and the others for the Deacon and Subdeacon which being receiued hee drinketh in the cuppe one parte of the consecrated wine with a hollow reede or pipe and then after him his Deacon and Subdeacon one after another doe drinke the rest with the same reede or pipe And the Christians called Maronicks of the Citie Marcinas in Syria remaining still vntill this present in Ierusalem practise the same And now wee are come to twelue hundred yeares and more after the death of our Lord obseruing in all ages and pointing out from age to age this vse of both kinds in the Church And then what manner of antiquitie is that which our aduersaries can obiect against vs from that time forward But as the doctrine of Transubstantiation authorised by the Councell of Lateran after the yeare 1200. had within a while after engendred and brought forth by consequence the concomitancie or ioyning and coupling of the bodie and blood of Christ together as also the daunger of shedding this new conclusion followed of these two ouer-measures about the yeare 1300. That therefore it was sufficient seeing also that it was lesse daungerous to giue vnto the Laitie onelie the kind of bread And yet hetherto it stoode rather by toleration then by ordinance or constitution for it was not yet throughlie founde out as being but in certaine Churches not in all and the rather seeing the daylie resolution of the best learned was That the Sacrament was not perfect but vnder both kindes Gulielmus Durandus Bishoppe of Miniat Gulielm Durand in ration diuinorum L. 4. p. 3. titulo de osculo pacis did euerie where maintaine and defend that our Lorde did institute it for all vnder both kindes and that they are requisite for the perfection of the Sacrament in briefe hee sayeth All those in the Primitiue Church which were present at Masse did communicate because that all the Apostles had drunk of thee cup the Lord commaunding them Drinke yee all for they offered a great loafe sufficient for all which thing is as yet practised of the Grecians Where is now the difference betwixt the Priestes and the Laitie Againe Although that vnder the kinde of wine the bodie bee receiued with the blood Duran l. 2. p. 2. tit simili mod notwithstanding according to the iudgement of Innocent the third the blood cannot bee drunke vnder the kinde of bread nor the bodie is not eaten vnder the kinde of wine because that like as the blood is not eaten nor the bodie drunken so neyther is the one and the other drunke vnder the kinde of bread nor eaten vnder the kinde of Wine c. And this is the cause why he addeth in certain places after the taking of the bodie and of the blood there is reserued and kept behind in the cup some little quantitie of blood and wine powred vpon it to the end that the other Communicantes may take it because it should not bee conuenient to make so much blood and because also that there cannot be any cup found to containe it and notwithstanding sayeth hee in manie places men doe communicate with breade and wine that is with the whole Sacrament and this is also confirmed vnto vs by Thomas And hereof it commeth that some do attribute the taking away of the cuppe vnto this Innocent notwithstanding that he made not anie decree for the same Balaeus l. 5. de vit Pap. But yet it was much about the verie same time that the giuing of wine to wash the mouth withall was brought in in steade of the cutting of the kinde for wee reade in the Synodall booke of the Church of Nisme these wordes Wee commaund and inioyne all Priestes Synodalis liber Nemau eccles that they haue pure wine readie in the Church to giue vnto euerie one of the people presentlie after that hee shall haue receiued the bodie of the Lord forbidding them in expresse tearmes not to depart out of the presence of the Priests vntill they haue taken some and verie well washed their mouthes therewithall And notwithstanding this error did not vniuersallie as then possesse all Christendome Abbas Visper for wee reade that the Christian Souldiers which were to vndergoe the assault made vpon Damiata before that they would buckle themselues thereunto did all of them communicate the bodie blood of our Lord c. Alexander Hales maketh mention how that in his time the deuout and religious persons found it strange that the cuppe should bee taken from them demaunding that it might bee restored vnto them againe and that this their request was made of no effect by a pretended miracle which was by the making of blood to come out of an host Alexand. 4. q. 40. M. 3. art 2. 4. q. 53. M. 1. c. And
concealed and kept backe Concil Tolet. 1. c. 14. Concil Caesar August c. 3. Liturg. PraesanctificatoruÌ„ Interprete Genebrardo that they were condemned by the Councels The first of Toledo saith If any man do receiue the Eucharist of the Minister and doe not eate it let him be put backe and excommunicate as a Church robber And that of Saragosa If hee doe not eate it in the Church that is in the verie place let him be accursed for euer Whereas Bellarmine alleadgeth the lithurgie of the presanctified amongst the Grecians which was said in Lent pretending that therin they did not consecrate or take any moe then one kind for certaine the lithurgie saith expressly that after that the Minister hath sanctified the bread he powred out the wine and water into the cup pronounced the accustomed words And the praier of the faithfull saith For behold his bodie without spot and his quickning blood c. which are set vpon this table And in the Post-communion they giue thankes vnto God for the receiuing of the one and the other That which is more speciall proper herein is that they consecrate for many in one day whereof they alleadge some one or other tradition But these are their cold and friuolous arguments vpon this point and in deed how can they be otherwise against the expresse word of God But we against these particular deuotions so endles and bottomles doe set this Maxime and generall rule In vaine do you serue me after your owne fancies being properly called in the scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will worship And against that custome Tertul. de virg veland Cypr. ad Quin. ad Iubaâ—â—num August lib. 2. contra Donatist c. 6. de Bapt. cont Donat. lib. 2. c. 14. that euerie man frameth and fashioneth to himselfe whether new or old as best pleaseth him let vs set the true antiquitie Iesus Christ saith Tertullian and S. Cyprian hath said I am the Truth and not Custome And whereas Custome hath preuailed against the law let vs say with S. Augustine We must waigh and ponder the doctrines in the right balance of the scriptures and not in the false and deceiptfull scales of Custome But let vs draw all vnto a conclusion and let vs not be ashamed with S. Cyprian his saying That what others before vs haue erred in and done amisse let vs correct at the admonition and warning of the Lord and where doth he speake lowder and more clearely then in his word to the end that when he shall come in his glorie and heauenly Maiestie he may find vs holding fast such admonitions as hee hath giuen vs obseruing that which he hath taught vs and doing that which he hath done So be it And now by this time wee haue looked into all the partes thereof A Recapitulation how and by what degrees the holy Supper of our Lord is degenerate and turned into the Masse how of the corrupting of the one the other was first begotten then nourished and afterward brought vp to that state wherein it hath stood for these certaine ages and that so long as vntill it hath vtterly brought the other to nothing in the Church of Rome So straunge an alteration as that in the whole frame and booke of nature there is not the like to bee met withall seeing the Masse now retaineth no more of the holy Supper either in his outward or inward partes seeing that the best sighted hauing considered the one could not obserue or find so much as one step or note of the other because also it is to go against and exceede the lawes of nature to passe from one extremitie to another a thing not credible not possible to be acknowledged if the diligent obseruation of histories did not point out vnto vs both the first proceedings and also the growing of the same till it came at the midst The holy supper was an assemblie a bodie of the faithfull vnited and knit together in one spirite strengthning the faith stirring vp the charity and kindling the zeale one of another in one common manner of celebrating of the seruice of God The Masse what containeth it being said by a priest in some corner of the church shuffled vp by a cleark who vnderstandeth not for the most part of the time one word that he speaketh The holy supper did resound with songs to the praise of God sung indifferently by all the people it taught them by the reading expounding of the holy scriptures it lifted them vp vnto God raised them out of themselues by feruent ardent praier But what impression can the Masse make in the heartes of men being a certaine kind of muttering noise posted ouer by one man alone not vnderstood of those which are present yea hardly vnderstood of himselfe where the scriptures are read of purpose so as they may not be vnderstood the praiers vttered with a low voice in an vnknown tongue that so they may not be heard with attention and lesse followed deuoutly by the people where by consequent they abide fixt vpoÌ„ that which they see not minding any higher matters it hath signes without any signification it hath pretended mysteries without any thing misticall in them except it be the muttered hums artificially affected by him that consecrateth and the carefull regard of a premeditated ignorance to be wrought and effected by such meanes vpon and in the poore silly people In the holy Supper was celebrated the memory of the death and passion of our Lord by a plaine and open rehearsall of the cause manner and benefites of the same and thereby the faithfull were taught to acknowledge and call to minde the greatnesse of their sinnes and to admire and magnifie the great and vnspeakeable mercies of God stirred vp consequently to renounce and forsake themselues to giue themselues vnto God to die vnto their lusts and concupiscences to liue vnto Christ to Christ I say who hauing once deliuered himselfe to the death of the Crosse for to giue them life did yet further vouchsafe to giue himselfe to them in his sacramentes euerie day as meate and drinke vnto their soules to the feeding of them vp vnto eternall life In the Masse I appeale vnto the consciences of all those that eyther say or see the same who of them it is that can say by being at the same euerie daye that hee can learne or carrie away any of all this that the infidell can thence playe the diuine that thence hee can receiue any instruction either of the deadly fall of Adam or of the quickning death of Christ that the Christian can profit therby any thing be it neuer so little in the true acknowledging of the mercies of God or in the knowledge of himselfe or in briefe that he can therein perceiue his transgressions that so he may run to seeke the remedie or this drynes alteration of the soule and mind which our Lord calleth the thirst of righteousnes
to quench the same in the welspring of life this reuiuing water gushing out vnto eternall life this precious blood of our Lord which is made our iustification yea our iustice Againe in the holy Supper all the faithfull did communicate together in bread and in the cuppe in the bodie and in the blood of our Lord being taught thereby that they were but one bodie euen the bodie of Christ but diuers members quickened moued and gouerned by one spirite euen by his spirit liuing one life and consequently taught mutually to loue one another mutually to imbrace one another the greater becomming seruants to the lesser the strong vnto the weake the learned to the ignorant and the wise and prudent to the foolish and simple referring all their actions to the glorie of their head to the seruice of the bodie and to the saluation of his members In the Masse what is there that may imprint this brotherly loue and charitie in vs or expresse and teach vs any such instruction yea on the contrarie which doth not suppresse and burie charitie which doth not oppresse and smother that in all dispightfull manner such lessons and doctrine where the Priest if hee may be lawfully so called communicateth alone one for all where the auncient bread of the communion of the bodie of Christ great according to the proportion of the communicants is brought to one wafer that in some places no greater then a penie being for the priest alone whereas our Lord deliuered himselfe to death for all and gaue himselfe to all where also so oft as any are admitted thereunto they are depriued of the cup of the communion so much as in them lyeth of the blood of Christ Then what proportion holdeth it with the supper yea what opposition and contrarietie is there that it maintaineth not against the Apostle We are one onely bread 1. Cor. 10.17 and one onely bodie c. To be short in the holy supper man was taught how he was indebted vnto one onely God for his creation as likewise that hee was not bound to any for the work of his regeneration iustification sanctificatiō saluation but to one only Christ the eternall son of God the beginning midst and end of our spirituall life in so much as that he which doth regenerate vs in baptisme and doth nourish and feed vs in the holy supper is made our meat himselfe and in so much as that he which washeth vs from our sinnes doth cloath and couer vs with his righteousnesse In the Masse what shall wee say where of the holy table of our Lord they haue made vs an Altar of all sortes of saints where of the remembrance of his death they haue made vs a legend of the Saintes their sufferinges and passions where in stead of his blood the onely propitiation for our sinnes they pretend to administer vnto vs their praiers intercessions and merites where to shut vp all in a word is pretended to sacrifice in honor of the Saints him for whose glorie and names sake all the Saintes haue offered whatsoeuer they haue sacrificed yea and for whose names sake they ought to sacrifice themselues To bee short let vs set before vs on the one side an assemblie of faithfull people praying vnto God singing his praises hearing his worde and attentiue to the expounding of the same a seruant of God in all simplicitie so ripping vp their sinnes as that hee maketh them to haue a sence and feeling of the same by the worde declaring thereupon the remission thereof in the death and passion of our Lorde distributing vnto them rounde about the table his bodie and his blood in the sacrament of bread and wine which he hath instituted and prouoking and stirring of them vp to the giuing of all heartie and euerlasting praise vnto him for this so great a benefite This was the holy supper of the faithfull in the old Church this is ours And now set before your eyes on the other side a Priest with a straunge garment his face fixt vppon an Altar with a Clearke standing behind him muttering in an vnknowne language interlarded with signes lifting vppe a Wafer in an affected and ceremoniall sorte causing it to bee worshipped dippping it in his wine eating it alone vsing no word of interpretation or exhortation neither yet giuing the people any other taste thereof by any manner of instruction perswading them notwithstanding that by thus much as hath beene done being at their or his request and bought with some peece of money he hath sacrificed our Lord for them or him that hee hath with this his one labour set his father in Paradice drawne him out of Purgatorie c. This is the Masse of Rome that same which wee so greatly complaine of and whereof there is so much talke but how differing and disagreeing both for manner and effect I call their owne soules to witnes from the seruice of the fathers how farre off then from the institution of Christ and how farre off from the order of the Apostles But it is now time to finish this discourse let vs leaue the partes and looke into the circumstances and so we shall come to behold the truth of this matter in more cleare and euident manner The end of the first booke The Second Booke WHEREIN ARE HANDLED THE CIRCVMSTANCES AND APPERTINANCES BELONGING TO THE Diuine seruice as those also which belong vnto the Masse CHAP. I. Of Churches and Altars and of their originall and proceeding IT followeth after wee haue spoken of the parts of seruice their first originall and beginning as also of their increase and proceeding deprauing corrupting c. that we now examine the circumstances thereof And therefore let vs beginne with the Churches Altars and images and therein consider how by the good husbanding of the matter by the Sea of Rome the circumstances haue taken the place of the substance and the accidents of the subiect in such manner as that in Papistrie there is more regard had of a pretended adorning beautifying of places thē to the forme substance of that which is to be done therein for the saluation instruction of men The ancient Iewes by the commandement of God had built a temple for sacrifices Act. 2.5.21 Act. 9.13 after that many Sinagogues like parish Churches therein to reade and expound the word of God Our Lord did often vse to go into the same to draw the Iewes to the knowledge of the truth his Apostles likewise did imitate his example But in as much as it was not lawfull for them to doe the seruice ordained in the new Testament therein they are content to doe it in their owne priuate houses Act. 1.2.4.5.10.12.20.28 no lesse consecrate and dedicate then the temple and the synagogues seeing it is the seruice that sanctifieth the place and not the place that sanctifieth the seruice yea so much the rather in that the voice of Gods owne Sonne manifested in
fire purged from the earth refinedeuen seuen times And what gold is that whereof the Prophet speaketh verily such as is hid from the outward sences of the Saints but in the inward closet of their hearts is bright and shineth with the light of God according to that which the Apostle saith that some build vpon gold others on siluer and others on precious stones c. And thus behold how that faith true doctrine is the true building of the Church And againe Many people do build walles and raise pillars c. but where is the choise that is made of the Ministers of the church And let not any man alleadge here vnto me the temple of the Iewes the table the lampes the censors c. These thinges were good when the priestes did sacrifice beastes when their blood was the ransome for sinnes c. Idem in c. 7. Ierem. But now that our Lorde poore though he were hath dedicated the pouertie of his house let vs not thinke vppon any thing but his crosse let vs make lesse accompt of riches then of durt let vs not be in loue with this Mammon which our Lord hath called vnrighteous let vs not loue that whereof Saint Peter confesseth so freely and cheerefully that he hath none let not vs say of our goodly marble stones as the Iewes did The temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord for the temple of the Lord is there where a true faith a holy conuersation and the societie of all manner of vertues doe dwell That is to say if wee belieue S. Ierome that the temple of God is that place Chorus what manner of one soeuer it be where pure doctrine is preached by good Ministers and where it is receiued by the faithfull vnto obedience of faith and charitie c. Whereby we also see that after that Christians had these gorgeous temples they now and then forsooke and cast them off to retaine and hold fast the pure seruice of God Victor l. 1. 3 Vnder the time of the persecution by the Vandals Victor maketh mention that they came again to celebrate diuine seruice without making any difference of place euen wheresoeuer they could further that because of the furious outrage of the Arrians they assembled in priuate houses And at Constantinople we reade Sozom. l. 8. c. 21. 27. that the Orthodoxes for the vniust exile of Chrysostome did forsake the temples to come together in priuate First at Constantine his cestern thē without the citie in a kind of old theatre finally during the sharpnes rage of the persecution Socrat. l. 6. c. 18 Chrysost ho. 46. in Math. sometimes vnder close walks in the suburbs somtimes in the fields Wherupon Chrysost saith in certain places We haue retained the fundamental points of doctrine howsoeuer we haue left for them the foundations groundworks of the temples wals thereof Now the places of Christian assemblies according to the diuersitie of the time and manner of building had diuers names In Actes 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a high hall in other places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 houses then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 places or houses of praier Dominica the Lords places Martyria because they met in the places of the Martyrs their sepulchers for the kindling of their zeale As they grew in the faith about the time of Constantine they called them Basilicae borrowing their names from the pallaces where Princes were wont to sit and hold their assises Then Temples at such time as Christendome fell to gratifie and temporize with Paganisme as is to bee seene in the time of Saint Augustine S. Ierome c. And in the end the thing containing taking the name of the contained they were called Churches because that the Church was there assembled as prophane authors doe say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lueia in Dial. Merc. Maiae to make cleane the Church or assemblie or banquet that is the place where these things should be done In this first antiquitie it is not read that they were built or dedicate to any other then God onely To whom they were built Sozomen l. 2. c. 3. Euseb l. 3. de vit Constant l. 5. c. 2. Sozom. l. 2. c. 26. Socrat. l. 1. c. 16 and therefore were called Dominica 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and from thence came the name Kirke as yet in vse amongst the Germains And Constantine did not vse to doe any otherwise and therein they had a purpose to differ from the Paganes In the place of Christes sepulcher he builded a stately Church Eusebius calleth it Martyrium magnum because saith hee it was consecrate to Iesus Christ the great and faithfull Martyr c. At Constantinople hee named one Irenen by reason of the peace of the Gospell and another the Church of the Apostles because of their doctrine but both of them dedicated vnto the Sonne of God For as concerning that which is read in Nicephorus that Constantine did dedicate the citie of Constantinople 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Mother of God Langus although a Romanist hath verie well noted and proued from Eusebius that the accent is abused taking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dei genitricem for Deo genitum that is the mother of God for the Sonne of God where there is nothing to make the difference but onely the accent And Nicephorus in another place acknowledgeth the same Niceph. l. 8. c. 49. l. 7. c. 49. Athan. in lib. de passione Domini August aduersus Maxim In Athanasius but this little booke cannot be his the Iewes of Beryta being conuerted did dedicate their Sinagogue vnto the Sauiour of the world and many others afterward by their example And Saint Augustine also reasoneth from thence against Maximinus the Arrian If we build saith he a temple of stone and of wood vnto any holy Angell be he neuer so excellent should we not be accursed of the truth of Christ and of the church of God seeing that thereby wee shoulde giue vnto the creature the seruice which is due vnto none but vnto God onely Idem de ciuitat Dei l. 8. c. 27. l. 22. c. 10. August in Psalm 94. As likewise he teacheth in euerie other place that the temples the pastors the sacrifices are not belonging or due to any but to God Vni magno debentur And that there was not any temples or altars built vnto the Martyrs Because saith he they are no Gods but haue the same God that wee haue but although there bee sepulchers built for them memorias sicut hominibus mortuis they are but as memorials of dead men whose soules notwithstanding liue in the presence of God Whereby we learne that if we reade yea though it were in his time or somewhat after as abuses crept in that there were places of prayer as chappels chauncels or temples called by the names of Martyrs or
mysterie as indeed there is neuer any mention made but of bread simplie And all the offringes from amongst which the breade of the holie supper was taken was such bread as was ordinarilie vsed to bee eaten in houses which as al men might see was not without leauen seeing that the old church did communicate euerie day except wee will not belieue that the Christians likewise did not eate any other bread at their owne houses but vnleauened bread Chrysost 1. Cor. c. 5. Chrysostome saieth Take no care hereafter about this leauen for now likewise thou hast an other lumpe the shadowes are past And Gregorie the Great maketh not mention of anie other bread in the holie supper then the common and vsuall such as they kneaded and baked at the Bakers house and was solde in the market at Rome Gregor in Registio Likewise in his Register we haue these wordes When wee take the breade whether it be leauened or vnleauened wee are made a bodie of the Lord our Sauiour Againe expounding the Passeouer vnto the Christians he saith Hee eateth vnleauened bread which doth good works and when they are done doth not marre them with vain glorie and hee that doth the workes of mercie without the mingling of sinne with them c. To be brief Niceph. l. 8. c. 53. 54. Nicephorus intreating of the heresie of the Theopaschites and Monophysites so called because they taught that the Godheade it selfe did suffer doth obserue and note for our behoofe that in the supper they vsed vnleauened bread and not common and ordinarie bread And this they affirmed that they held from Gregorie the great Bb. of Armenia so far was it off to be held at that time either for an heresie or for an error to vse common bread in the celebrating of the holy supper And this was after the year 700. Insomuch as that it may seem that this custom entred into the Latine Church about the same time that the popes delighted themselues to trim vp their churches with al maner of Iewish ceremonies after they had once spoild and robd it of al her principal and goodly ornaments indeed as humilitie simplicitie purity c. And indeed the Decretal of Clement the third about the yeare 1188. against the Priests which vsed cups of wood leauened bread sheweth that this ordinance was not as yet throughlie established De celebrat Miss cont lit We reade that about the year 1100. there began a schisme betwixt the Greeke and Latine Church about this matter and that the reasons were handled on the one parte and on the other by Nicaetas Monke of Constantinople standing for the partie of Michael the Patriarke and Humbert Bb. of Sylua Candida standing for the side of Leo the 9. the one and the other shewing himselfe but weake in that they striue to make that necessarie which the Church had helde indifferent The worst was that vppon this question and controuersie these two Bishoppes fell into an other namely the Primacie or supremacie Durand l. 4. c. 41. Extrauag de celebr Miss C. finali Thom Aquin. op 1. cont error Grec c. 32. Hildebert Ceneman Ep. 44. which caused that neither of them to auoide the impeachment and weakening of his authority would yeeld a haires bredth from his conceiued opinion For about this time Durandus wrote that the Masse might bee celebrated with leauened bread and brought in to proue his purpose the Extrauagantes de Celeb Miss And Thomas Aquinas after him That of a truth it agreeth better with the puritie of the mysticall bodie to vse vnleauened bread in this sacrament but not saith hee as though it coulde not bee well administred with leauened bread And the Epistle of Hildebert Bb. of Mans which censureth the Priest that had offered common bread vseth these wordes Therein hee swarueth from the rule of custome but not of faith and it behoueth thee to correct the fact Concil Ferrar. as a scandall and offence rather then as a sinne and that thou carrie thy selfe rather like a Father towardes him then like a Judge And this thing was afterward decided by a Councell held at Ferrara for the agreeing and reuniting of the Greeke and Latine Churches That it was indifferent to celebrate the holy Supper either with leauened or vnleauened breade And therefore why shoulde such differing and disagreeing affections continue so long for thinges so reasonable and indifferent Of the wine The like hath beene about the wine of the Lordes Supper Some vnder the colour of sobrietie would vse water and not wine Of such S. Augustine and Epiphanius make mention amongst the Heretikes and not without cause seeing they abolished one part of the substance of the Sacrament But S. Cyprian doth refute them sharpelie and bringeth them backe to the institution of Christ who onely must bee heard in all thinges concerning them And hereupon it is that he hath it so oft in his writings That in this sacrament which is Christ no man is to be heard but Christ himselfe Others would haue the wine delaied with water and the most auncient Christians did so vse it and that not without apparant shew inasmuch as the people of the Easte did not ordinarilie vse wine without water as the Hebrew and Greeke phrases of speech do proue howsoeuer they alledge other reasons for thus their vsing of it as that there came out of our Lord his side water and blood That this is a signe of the two natures in Christ or rather of the vnion of Christ with his church allegorizing vppon euerie thing according to their accustomed maner Howsoeuer it bee notwithstanding it may bee that the course of the text would not shew vs in this particular point of the blood and water anie thing but the true and vndoubted death of the Lord in this that the wound had pierced the case of his heart because also that if wee should fall to allegorizing then with the greatest part of the Fathers we shold thence collect and gather the two sacraments of the Church that is Baptisme from the water and the Eucharist from the blood c. Onely let vs not finde fault with this obseruation prouided that it bee voide of superstition that is free from condemning of those which do not administer anie thing but onely wine as also without any preiudice to the libertie which Christ hath left vnto his children which will not admit any manner of necessitie but that which is grounded vpon the holy word If any doe contrarywise bring in any other necessitie wee affirme that it is not without an error because as they themselues do say to make that to bee a matter of faith which is not is to sinne and erre in the faith And therefore wee condemne the Canons of the church of Rome which say absolutelie that the wine cannot bee administred without water Canon Oportet C. in sacrament D. 2. de Consâ— seeing there is nothing saide or
sound and large foote least it might ouerturne But and if there do any thing of the body or of the blood fall vpon the couering or pall of the Altar let them in any case cut it away and burne it and lay the ashes in some cleane place c a great matter if so be such regard care were so necessary that the ancient church should forget this or that the ancient church whereof we stand so greatly hauing neglected it we should notwithstanding hold it so needfull and necessarie Before the holy table The vaile whereupon the elements gifts or offerings were set there was especially in the Greek church a vaile drawne which after that they which were as yet to be catechised Chrysost in hom â—d Pop. Antioch hom 36. in 1. Cor. were departed gone forth was drawne together then they went forward with the blessing of the Sacraments Chrysostome in many places When thou hearest let vs pray altogether and therewithall seest the vaile drawne together then thinke that heauen is about to open and the Angels to discend c. This custome was retained as hauing beene first borrowed from the Iewes for they had a vaile in the midst of the temple and this vaile was clouen and rent in sunder in signe of the vniting of the Iewes and Gentiles the one with the other or els from the Gentiles for they likewise had vailes spread and drawne abroad before their altars Tertul. in Apol Apuleius saith Velis candentibus reductis the white vailes being drawne together Tertullian Conspectus caeterorum velo oppanso interdicebatur There were saith he not any but priestes that came neere for euen the very sight was kept from all others by the meanes of a vaile hanging before it And in these indifferent things the ancient church did apply it selfe very wisely sometimes to the Iewes and sometimes to the Gentiles But all this great adoe and preparation came in a long time after the Church through the corruption of the time proceeding by little and little from the inward to the outward from the center to the circumference from the substance to the circumstance and from the discipline of Christ to an imperiall statelinesse and eminencie in the world Now these sacraments being there placed wee haue declared the manner of the blessing consecrating and distributing of them to the faithfull with what prayers with what holy wordes c. But there is yet behind one circumstance which is whether these prayers and words were vttered in a language knowne and vnderstood of the common people or not which is a matter in controuersie betwixt vs and our aduersaries CHAP. V. That the old and auncient seruice was said in a language vnderstood of the people and by what degrees it was altered and chaunged ASsuredly That the seruice vsed in the Church of the Iewes was vnderstood of all the care that it hath pleased God to take for the instruction of his people throughout the whole course and cariage of the Church should bee able in a word to make this question friuolous and needlesse He that would haue all his people to know all his law and all the ceremonies likewise of the same at their fingers end who so much commanded them to get knowledge and condemned ignorance so sharpely who would haue it as a frontlet betwixt their browes and as a glasse before their eyes that the father should teach it vnto his children in the fields in his house lying standing c. cannot in any wise be thought that he would haue it kept hid secret from him by the barbarousnes of a language not knowne or vnderstood that is lockt and clapt vp in ciphers that it might not be comprehended or attained He likewise that so expresly commandeth fathers to teach their children the cause of the institution of his sacraments namely that of the Passeouer into whose roome that of ours called the holy Supper is come who would that children should question their fathers therof that fathers should answer their children that in the time of the shadows of the old Testament rudiments of the law shal not be vnderstood and taken to haue meant that his people should be taught in a language not vnderstood neither yet to haue taken it for an honour and worship to bee praied vnto and serued of them without vnderstanding And in deede the Sacramentes of the old lawe are instituted in the Hebrew tonge which was the vulgar and common language amongst the people And againe when he would terrifie and make them afraid hee threatneth them with a strange and barbarous language 1. Cor. c. 14 and with lips which they do not vnderstand And S. Paule concludeth saying Tongues are signes not to the beleeuers but to the infidels and vnbeleeuers And there is no cause why it should be here alleadged that from the time of Esdras vnto Christ the people had learned the Chaldee tongue vnder the captiuitie and that yet notwithstanding the Scriptures were alwaies read in the Church in the Hebrew tongue For the question is not in what tongue it was read but whether it were vnderstood of the people or not Nehem. 8.2 And for that let Esdras himselfe be belieued saying Esdras the Priest brought the law before a multitude of men and women and all those which could vnderstand So then it may bee seene hereby that not so much as the women but they vnderstood it He read the same vnto them in the street before the water gate froÌ„ the breake of the day vntill noone and the eares of all the people were attentiue to the booke of the law Wherefore were they thus attentiue but that they had a purpose and intent to vnderstand But that is more Nehem. 8.8.3 They themselues did reade distinctly plainly for to vnderstand did vnderstand it in reading of the same What is that other properly but to reade Esdras without hauing any purpose to vnderstand him But say they It is said that Esdras and the Leuites did expound the law vnto the people True but it is as plaine and cleare Nebe 8. v. 7.9 that it was the sence and meaning of the law and not the words or phrases of speech for this selfe same Chapter hath alreadie certified and assured vs that they vnderstood them And in the same sence it is said Act. 8.35 that our Lord and Sauiour expounded Esay in the Sinagogue whereat the people were rauished and the scriptures likewise vnto his disciples in Emaus Suk 24.27 that Philip expounded the 53. of Esay to the Eunuch Who will belieue that this great noble man did not vnderstand the words seeing he did reade theÌ„ seeing also he demanded whether the Prophet did speak of himself or of some other But in deed he did not know that this prophesie was of Christ For whereas they go about to make vs belieue that the Iewes did not vnderstand Hebrew
hereupon but that seeing that the lay man did vnderstand the seruice to say Amen all the laitie for that all had to answere and did performe a part dutie therein had also the vnderstanding thereof and by consequent that the seruice of the ancient Church was solemnized in a language vnderstood of euery particular person And how could euerie particular person vnderstand it if it were not their vulgar and common speech The proofes of this practise Proofes from all nations drawne from seuerall particular nations will make the same more cleare and manifest In the Church of Ierusalem and regions thereabout it is not doubted but that they vsed their praiers in the Hebrew tongue and we haue proued that it was commonly knowne vnderstood of all But to the end that they may not alleadge that this was one of the three tongs which were sanctified by the title vpon the Crosse of our Lord Theodor. l. 4. c. 29. Theodoret telleth vs that Ephraim an Archdeacon of the towne of Edessa in Syria vsed the Syriacke a corrupt kind of Hebrew and that his Homelies were in this language and so were his canticles likewise and songs saith Sozomenus which were sung in the Churches of Syria For as concerning the Greeke tongue Hieronum de Eccle. Scriptor Basil ep 63. Theodoret Amphilochius do testifie that he was ignorant therein Now this was aboue 400. yeres after the death of our Lord. S. Basil after he hath deliuered set downe how that all the church did sing together kindle their zeale by meditating of that which was sung which canot possiblie be conceiued to haue been in a tong not vnderstood addeth these words saying If you auoid shun vs for this theÌ„ also shun the Egiptians the Lybians the Thebanes Palestines Arabians Phenicians Syrians Euphrateans for amongst al these the vigils singing of psalms praiers that are coÌ„mon are had in honor chiefe accompt Hyeronym ad Heliodor in epitaphio Nepotian S. Ierome in like manner saith Now the tongues and lips of all maner of people do sound out the death and resurrection of Christ I cease to speake of the Iewes Greekes and Latines which our Lord hath consecrated by the title of his crosse but the wilde and sauage nation of the people called Bessi euen this whole people cloathed in skins and who sometimes were wont to kill and sacrifice men haue broken the harsh and rough veine of their tongue and turned it into Christian hymnes and now what speech or talke doth there sound throughout the whole world but onely Christ And furthermore at this time the Maronites had their seruice in the Chaldie the Armenians in the Armenian language the Abyssines in the tong of the Abyssines these namely which make such a sum measure of the name Christian as that all the countries which at this day haue giuen their names to the Bb. of Rome do not amount or rise to a greater number In the Churches liuing after the manner of the Greekes their liturgies were kept and continued in Greeke that throughout euerie place whereas this language had planted it selfe as appeareth by the liturgies attributed to S. Basil and S. Chrysostome as also by the very vse and custome of Greece But to the end they may not attribute that either to the worthines of the tongue or to the prerogatiue which they pretend to be purchased by the title of the crosse in such place as where their language is not greek and yet their Church ordered after the manner of the Greeke churches their seruice is in the vulgar language of their countrie and not in Greeke This is euident by all the Churches that are in that great Empire of Muscouia and Russia in all which there is no other language receiued or heard then the common and vulgar howsoeuer they acknowledge and approue of the course of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Greeke confession And as for the Latine and Westerne Churches The like in the Laâ—ine churches let vs not imagine that there was any other rule kept and obserued in them The Greek tong saith Cicero went in his time almost ouer all the world the Latine also because of the Empire had spred verie farre And this is it which maketh some shew and likelihood that the seruice of diuers of the Westerne regions was said in Latine but yet so notwithstanding as that euen there also the rule will proue generall namely that were it in Latine or were it otherwise yet in the old and ancient Westerne Churches it was alwaies so as it was in others namely in a language vnderstood of the hearers The vulgar and natural speech in Italy was Latine and therefore wee are of iudgement that in the neighbour prouinces of Spaine Fraunce c. there is likelihoode that the Empire in establishing his lawes did likewise propagate and multiplie the vse of his language as in deed the prouinces were reported to speake Romaine that is the tongue of the Empire howbeit that their originall language was neuer altogether abolished and extinct But if it bee doubtfull whether the seruice there were done in Latine or no yet it standeth certaine and firme that it was done in a language knowne and vnderstoode of the people Sulpicius in the life of Saint Martine saith As the Reader Sulpicius in vita Martin whose course it was to reade vppon that day was detained by the throng of people one of his assistants taking the Psalter betooke himselfe to the first verse that bee met withall Now the Psalme was Out of the mouthes of babes and sucklinges thou hast perfected thy praise c. Which place being read there was a shout and crie made by the people in such sort as that all their aduersaries were ashamed and confounded The people no doubt was moued with that which they vnderstood yea it is most cleare and manifest that it was so for if this portion of scripture were read at this day in the midst of our common people of Fraunce it is most certaine that seeing the ignorance that raigneth amongst them there is not one that woulde be moued to crie in as much as not any one woulde take any regard thereto And as for Spaine it appeareth that the Latine tongue hath beene familiar in it of old by the steppes and markes thereof remaining amongst them still by the lawes which the Gothes established amongst them by the Gothish Code as they call it which is written in very good Latine Lucius Marmiculus l. 5. and by those worthy personages which haue sprung out from amongst them as lightes of the Latine tongue as Lucane and the Senecas with diuers others In so much as one of their Chroniclers saith that if the Gothes and the Mores had not come into Spaine the Spanish tongue had remained as pure and incorrupt as the Romaines their language was in the time of Cicero and therefore if their
may not bee afraid of any difficultie hee saith Whatsoeuer difficultie thou shalt meete withall yet if thou reade them thou shalt profite by them for if our Lord find vs occupied in the scriptures he will not onely vouchsafe to feede vs but also if hee finde these meates readie drest at our houses hee will bring vs the Father thither with him Hieronym in Epist ad Ephes l. 3. c. 4. c. Saint Ierome giueth a generall rule saying Wee must reade the scriptures with our whole affection to the end that as good exchaungers wee may know to distinguish the good money from the false So farre off was hee from fearing least wee shoulde therein receiue the false and counterfeite For saith hee in another place our Lord hath spoken by his Gospell Idem in Psal 86. not to the end that a fewe might vnderstand but all The laitie are not excluded but rather on the contrarie he saith The laitie must not onely haue sufficiently but aboundantly that so they may instruct one another that so they may also reproue one another Idem in ep ad Coloss c. 3. Idem in Epitaph Paulae Idem de virginitate ad Demetriad And hee taketh his assertion from the thirde to the Colossians Let the word of God dwell aboundantly amongst you c. The women in like manner as little for hee saith of his Paula in praising of her It was not tollerated or winked at in any of her sisters that they should bee ignorant in the Psalmes or faile to reade and learne something dayly out of the holy scripture And hee giueth the same counsell to Demetrias On the contrarie hee condemneth certaine of his time who did refraine to reade them as our ignorant friers doe vnder the shadow of humilitie Idem in 1. ad Tit. saying They giue themselues to ignoraunce idlenesse and sleeping thinking in the meane time that it is their onely sinne to reade the scriptures and therewithall they contemne and set light by those which meditate in the lawe of the Lord day and night accompting of them as pratling and vnprofitable fellowes And Saint Augustine speaketh to the same effect August serm 1. fer 6 post Dom. passionē Wee take great comfort and consolation in the reading of the scriptures for in them a man may view see himselfe as in a mirror This reading purifieth and purgeth him from the filth of sinne partly by setting before him the horrour of hell and partly by kindling the feruent desire of comming to heauenly ioyes Who would bee oft with God Idem in psal 33. let him pray and reade When wee pray we speake to God when we reade he speaketh to vs. And he further giueth this lesson to all saying in these wordes Reade the holy scriptures for God hath commanded that they should bee written Idem in Volus epist 3. to the end that you might all receiue consolation both learned and vnlearned and as well Cleargie as laitie for sayeth hee God speaketh in the scriptures as a close and priuate friende Hee speaketh without any colour or painting vnto our heartes whether we bee wise and skilfull or ignorant And hee is not contented that one should heare in the Church Idem in c. Ieiunn But furthermore saith he vnto those of his Diocesse It is not sufficient that you heare the holy lessons in the Church it behooueth you to reade them your selues in your owne houses or that you seeke out such as may reade them vnto you On the contrarie hee censureth certaine people of his time who thinking to bee more humble then the rest would not reade them who feare saith he to learne least they should grow proud Idem in psal 131. Idem in lib. 2. de doctr Chri. c. 6. 〈◊〉 tract 45 in Iohan. And by that meanes saith he they continue still as sucklinges in their milke which the scripture reproueth In like manner hee armeth vs with couragiousnesse against all obscuritie and difficultie that may bee conceiued or thought to be in them saying There is nothing spoken obscurely in one place which is not made verie cleare and plaine in some others All whatsoeuer belongeth to faith and good workes is therein set downe very clearely There are therein plaine and cleare points to satisfie thy hunger and there are againe some obscure and darke places to whet thine appetite And the same thing is giuen out by Fulgentius and Gregorie in other wordes Fulgent in ser de cōfessionib Gregor in ep ad Leandrum Basil in psal 1. There is store and plentie for a strong man to eate and for the child and weakling to sucke vppon in this riuer the lambe may sporte it selfe and bee merrie and the Elephant may swimme c. Saint Basill The holie Scripture is as an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a shoppe or storehouse furnisht with medicines from amongst which euerie man may make choice of that which is fitte for his disease the onelie way to come to finde out the truth is the meditating of the scriptures And hee handleth this pointe at large Bellarmine replieth saying Idem in Ep. ad Greg. Mang that hee sent the Stewarde of the Emperour Valens his kitchin vnto his kitchin when hee went about to be speaking of the Scriptures And what and if against so many places hee did alledge this one little storie in truth But Theodoret onelie sayeth that this was not in respect of the Scriptures Theodor. lib. 4 Eccles hist c. 19. Chrysost in hom de Lazaro but in respect of his course and barbarous carriage towardes him But let vs heare Chrysostome for hee perplexeth them greatly and maketh them in a pittiful case saying The reading of the scriptures is a great bulwarke against sinne the ignorance and not knowing of the Scriptures a headlong downfall and a bottomles mudpit To know nothing of the law of God is a mightie meanes of the ouerthrow of our saluation This is it which hath begotten heresies and corrupted the manners of men which hath turned all things vpside down Idem ad Hebrae hom 8. The Manichies saith hee and other heretikes doe beguile deceiue the simple but if wee haue acquainted our soules with discerning betwixt good and euill it shall bee easie for vs to know finde them out and this acquaintance and familiaritie wee shall attaine by the vse of the scriptures Theophilact who followeth thē almost step by step saith of the scriptures which arme vs to withstand such delusions because that they are that light which doth discouer catch the thiefe c. They are good for our Monks and Doctors of Sorbone will our aduersaries say But to this point let vs heare further for the same Chrysostome saith Idem in Mat. hom 3. Loe here the plague and bane of all you thinke the reading of the holie scriptures doth not belong to anie but Monks but it is more necessarie a great deale for you
is the cause also that S. Ambrose would haue men to be throughlie intentiue Ambros 1. Cor. 83. Chrysost in 2. Cor. hom 8. To the end sayeth hee that this oblation which is of many may be celebrated together And Chrysostome seteth it downe vnto vs for a general rule That in the mysteries that is in this sacrament the Pastor differeth not from the Parishioner c. In like manner the forme and ceremonie of ordaining and instituting of Ministers in the Apostolike Church is most cleare and euident The maner of the laying on of hands vsed of the olde Church The Church prayed God that it would please him to be present by his holie spirit at the election to blesse it And to the end that they might be the more feruent in praier they vsed to fast before after which those which were elect by the Church receiued the imposition of hands in the beginning by the Apostles and afterward by the Pastors Bishops but neuer without a perfect knowledge and triall of their doctrine and life It is also to bee obserued that whereas our Lord breathed vppon his Apostles saying vnto them Receiue the holie Ghost the Primitiue Church notwithstanding did not practise the same because such signes haue no other power then that which God hath giuen vnto them and therefore must not presumptuously be conceiued to haue anie such except there appeare the expresse institution and ordinance of the Lord for the warrant of the same In the election of the Bb. Fabian Eusâ—b l. 6. c. 29 wee see the simplicitie that was in the olde Church The Church came together aswell the Elders and Deacons as the other people manie were propounded as thought worthy to vndertake the charge in the end Fabian by the common consent and voice of the whole Church is named Bb. and sometimes wee see the common people make the election and after to present the elected to the Presbyterie that is to the ecclesiasticall assemblie and other sometimes wee see the Presbyterie to propound them vnto the people for to approue them if there bee no man that can say anie thing against them onelie it was alwaies vsed that before they were ordained and installed in their Ministerie there was a generall agreement and consent of the people and ecclesiasticall order that is of the whole Church as concerning the soundnes of his doctrine and vnspottednes of his life which was to bee chosen Bishoppe or Elder And this wee coulde proue through all ages successiuelie if so be it were anie controuersie amongst vs. For the present the questioÌ„ is first of the charge of the Minister of the church whether Bishop or Priest for the first were intituled by the Ancientes with the name of Ministers the old Episcopall bookes doe yet make mention thereof secondlie of the ceremonie which was obserued in the ordaining of the same And seeing that these two pointes doe one of them cleare and make plaine the other wee purpose to insist and stand vppon them The charge of such a one I say was to preach the Gospell and administer the Sacramentes not to say Masses not to sacrifice the bodie of Christ for the liuing and for the dead The forme of giuing of orders in the ancient time Theodoret l. 4 c. 23. Concil Carth. 4. c. 1. 2. Epiphan l. 1. tom 2. Sozom. l. 4. c. 24. Iust Nouel 123 de eccles diuer The auncient forme and manner also say wee had not any ceremonie that did shew anie thing eyther of Priestes or sacrifices And this wee must proue by taking the search and view of the auncient recordes of antiquitie Theodoret teacheth vs in the election of one that was to succeede Meletius the Great that it was the custome in ordaining of a Bb. that all the Bbs. of the Prouince should be present therat at the least three or fowre Where hee was examined of his doctrine and sometimes called to make confession of his faith and in his life so farre foorth as that hee was to aunswere therein to whatsoeuer hee could bee accused of or charged withall whereuppon wee haue a most expresse lawe made by Iustinian the Emperour Afterwarde it was agreede that the Metropolitane or in his absence the most auncient Bishoppe should lay his hand vppon him and blesse him and all the others likewise laide to their handes in signe of consent And to the end that he might bee aduertised and put in minde of his dutie by an eye signe two Bishoppes helde the holie Gospels ouer his head to the end hee might know that his calling tyed him to the preaching of the Gospel And this ceremonie was ordinarily done before the holie Table where the Sacraments were wont to bee administred Nazian in leudem Basil In some places likewise it was obserued that the Bishoppe passed through all the degrees of the Church before that hee came to that place and roome S. Denys describing this ceremonie sayeth The Bishoppe is kneeling before the Altar hee hath the bookes giuen of God helde ouer his head and the hand of the Bishoppe that is his who layeth his handes vppon him and is blessed of him by most holie praiers the consecrating Bishoppe doth set vpon him the signe of the Crosse c. but of the Masse or any sacrifice or yet any other ceremonie hee speaketh not at all August l. 3. cont Crescon c. 21. 22. Sozom. c. 19. l. 8. Chrysost 2. Cor. 8. hom 18 Volaterr l. 22. Herman Gigas Concil Aquisgran c. 9. The same forme and manner was practised in the person of Cresconius Maximilianus Theophilus Alexandrinus c. and these alwaies with publike praiers and fasting going before And from thence the Romaine Church retaineth as yet the fastes of the fowre times because that Pope Gelasius did ordaine that Orders should be giuen onelie fowre times a yeare vpon a Saturday the dayes going before being spent in examining their liues and manners The ages following added therto the staffe and the ring saying The staffe as a shepheardes crooke to reforme and call the stragling into the way as also to vpholde the infirme and weake and the ring in signe of the honour due vnto Bishoppes and for to seale their secrets withall But the truth is that this was after that they were become Lordes of great Lordshippes that the Popes and Emperours would receiue fealty and homage from them inuesting them with these ensignes and badges as Knightes and Squiers are wont to bee noted out by the speare the sword and shield c. But what get wee hereby but that the Bb. both in his election and examination as also in the whole forme and maner obserued in his ordination was charged onelie to teach the word of God well and faithfullie and to administer his holy sacraments purelie and sincerely to correct his people by his prescribed form of discipline and his church with such a gouernment as is truly ChristiaÌ„ And look what
the breade giuen to those that were catechised which wee call the hallowed breade to the washing of feete practised vppon the Apostles c. which neuerthelesse do shew vnto vs at large in their treatises that howsoeuer they abuse the word yet they doe not let as need requireth to take and vnderstand it in the right vse and signification And as for the worde Sacrifice the Grammarians likewise say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the priesthood that is the care or administratiō of holy things And this is the cause that euery consecrated action hath beene called by this name likewise it hath purposely beene vsed to signifie the diuine seruice because that the Iewes and the Gentiles did vse it so Rom. 15. Phil. 2. Orig. ad Rom. l. 10. Chrysost ad Rom. hom 29 Epiph. haeres 79. Angust de ciuit Det. l. 10. c. 6 Tertul in Apolog Idem ad Scapul Iren. l. 4. contr haeres c. 34. Psal 50.69 Ecclesiastic 35 Ad. Heb. c. 13. August epist 120. ad Honorat Euseb de Demonstr l. 1. c. 10. Tertul. c. 4. contr Marciō Philip. 4. Hebr. 3. Iren. l. 4. c. 32. 34. Cypr. serm 1. de cleemos August ep 122 Psalm 51. Ecclesiastic 35. Rom. 12.2 who placed all their seruices in Sacrifices Thus wee see that Saint Paul called all the ministerie of the Gospell a Sacrifice And Origen saith This is a very worke of the Priesthood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to preach the Gospell Chrysostome My Priesthood or sacrificing office is to preach the Gospell Epiphanius speaking of them which were chosen in the thirteenth of the Actes saith They did sacrifice the Gospell And in the same sence Saint Augustine likewise hath said We call a sacrifice euery worke that hath relation vnto God being done to the end that wee may cleaue and sticke vnto him in a holy societie As Tertullian speaking of prayers I offer vnto him the fattest sacrifice that I am able euen prayer which hee hath commanded proceeding from a chaste bodie from a harmelesse soule from a holy spirite c. Ireneus Our altar is in heauen whither our prayers and offeringes are directed And the praises of God and giuing of thankes are called by the name of Sacrifices in the Psalmes Whereupon Saint Augustine saith Wee giue thankes to the Lord our God which is the great Sacrament in the sacrifice of the New Testament c. And Eusebius We sacrifice and burne the memorie of this great sacrifice c. rendring thankes to the God of our saluation c. And Tertullian The Samaritane intended to offer a true sacrifice euen the sacrifice of praise and thankesgiuing in the true temple and to the true sacrificer Iesus Christ c. The offeringes likewise which are made in the Christian assemblies for the reliefe of the poore haue had this name giuen them in Saint Paule A smell of a sweete sauour a sacrifice acceptable vnto God offeringes wherewith hee is well pleased In Ireneus We offer vnto God the first fruites of his giftes feeding the hungrie and cloathing the naked c. In Saint Cyprian where he reprocheth a rich widow Comest thou to the Lords banquet without a sacrifice And Saint Augustine which calleth the almes of certaine matrons sacrifices the table of the Temple whereuppon they were laide an Altar and to bee briefe a broken and contrite heart is a sacrifice vnto God Psalme 51. so is charitie towardes a mans neighbour and the vowes which wee make of consecrating and dedicating of our liues vnto the Lord Rom. 12. And why then should any man make it strange that the olde writers haue called the holy Supper a Sacrifice seeing that all these actions doe meete together in it namely a holy office a remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ vppon the Crosse the reading and preaching of his worde feruent praiers a serious and deepe meditation of sinne and of the grace of God both together the contrition of hart the vow of sacrificing from thence forward soule and bodie vnto God and the opening of the bowelles of compassion towardes the brethren all of them such actions as euerie one whereof by it selfe is called both in the holy scriptures as also in the fathers Oblations and Sacrifices and how much more then that which doth comprise them all in it selfe alone But that we may not contend about wordes let vs come to the question which is If the Masse bee a propitiatorie Sacrifice and also if the holy Supper in his puritie were instituted for the same end if our Lord Iesus bee there sacrificed a new really and in very deed for a propitiation of our sinnes that is to say for the sinnes of the quicke and the dead by the Ministers or Priestes which things we denie and our aduersaries affirme The scripture telleth vs That there are no propitiatory sacrifices in the new Testament besides that of Iesus Christ himselfe That the lambe was slaine before the foundation of the worlde And this lambe is the eternall Sonne of God whose sacrifice cannot chuse but be almighty all-sufficient absolutely perfect in respect of the desired end namely the saluation of men And therefore for the saluation of man wee haue no need neither of reiterating any sacrifice neither of any other new and neuer before offered Sacrifice whatsoeuer on the contrary all the Sacrifices of the lawe in their imperfections doe leade vs to the perfection of this same in their being often reiterated they shew vs their insufficiencie and weaknesse to bee cut off and ended in the strength and efficacie of this onely one Whereuppon it commeth that in the new Testament we heare not any more of Sacrifices or Sacrificing Priestes Of Sacrificing Priestes saue where as it is taught to bee the name and office of all and euerie Christian You are saith Saint Peter a royall priesthood a holy priesthood a holy people 1. Pet. 2. Apocal. 1. c. And Saint Iohn Christ hath made vs kinges and priestes vnto God his father to offer saith the Glosse acceptable sacrifices vnto God by him Of sacrifices also in like manner saue that wee render continuall thankes vnto God for this great sacrifice by the consecrating of whatsoeuer is in vs To offer vnto God sayeth the Apostle spirituall sacrifices which may bee acceptable vnto him in Iesus Christ 1. Pet. 2. Rom. 2. euen our selues a liuing sacrifice which is our reasonable seruing c. Likewise in the holy Supper from whence they woulde deriue the Masse there is no worke of sacrifice for sinne The sacrifice of Iesus Christ was accomplished vppon the Crosse where hee was slaine for vs and not in the holy Supper but the remembrance of that sacrifice offered vppon the Crosse is renewed in the Supper according to the institution of the Lorde vntil his comming that is without the being of any other sacrifices for sinne that partition wall and to the vtter cutting off of all expectation or further looking after of
hath the Greeke translated it The Chaldie Paraphrast in like manner Your praier shall bee vnto me as a cleane sacrifice c. But the Prophet his purpose is to oppose and set the Gentiles against the Iewes the Leuiticall Sacrifices which they had defiled to the puritie of the seruice which shal be at the comming of Christ not of one people but amongst all manner and sortes of people If incense be taken according to the bare letter will they say that incense and the Masse are both one will they bring vs backe againe to the Iewish ceremonies or rather to the ceremonies of the Gentiles but if it bee taken figuratiuely who shall better interprete the figure then Dauid My praier commeth vnto thee O Lord as incense Then S. Iohn There was offered vp vnto him saith hee much incense to the end that hee might offer vp the praiers of all the Saintes vpon the golden Altar which is before the throne Againe The smoake of incense rise vppe from the praiers of the Saintes the golden viols were full of perfume which were the prayers of the Saintes c. Let vs adde that they are of iudgement that incense carrieth not with it anie propitiation Genebrard in Lithurg Dionâ—s And if this worde Oblation or Offering bee taken literallie can they denie that Minha the word which the Prophete vseth here doth not signifie in the whole booke of Leuiticus anie other thing then the offeringes of fruites and other thinges without life peace-offeringes and sacrifices of praise and thankesgiuing And what analogie or correspondencie can it then haue with a sacrifice for sin And if it bee thus what shall follow then but that in the Masse there is nothing offered but bread and for a thankesgiuing But and if it bee taken figuratiuelie what better interpreter can there bee found then the spirite of God and that in the newe Testament which speaketh not to vs but of spirituall sacrifices of the preaching of the worde of thankesgiuing and of the consecrating of our selues Tertul. a duer Marcion l. 4. aduersâ—ud c Tertullian saith expounding this place In euerie place shal be offered a pure sacrifice that is to say sayeth hee a simple and single hearted praier from a pure conscience Againe Hee addeth saith hee speaking of spirituall sacrifices and in euerie place there shall bee offered in my name pure and vndefiled sacrifices Aduers Marcion l 3. Againe Bring vnto God O yee nations of the Gentiles because that vndoubtedly the preaching of the Apostles was to passe throughout the whole world Againe Euerie where there shal be offered pure sacrifices vnto my name And what manner of ones Hieronym in 1. Malach. Gloriae scilicet relatio the yeelding of glorie blessing praises and hymnes and not a worde of the Masse S. Ierome vpon this place Let the Iewes knowe that they are not to offer anie more goates and bulles but incense the praiers of the Saints and that not in anie one prouince of Iudea as in the onelie Cittie of Ierusalem but throughout the whole worlde a cleane sacrifice as is to bee seene in the ceremonies of Christians And again The sounde of the Apostles is gone throughout all the endes of the worlde Idem in Esa c. 52. Euerie where there is sacrifice offered to God And herein is accomplished the word of the Prophet namelie in that that God is purelie preached and purelie called vpon in euerie place And Chrysostome after the same manner Chrysost t. 2. hom 16. ex varus in Matth. Euseb l. 1. Demonst Euang. c. 6. 10. Eusebius in expounding this place We sacrifice therefore and burne the memoriall of this great sacrifice according to the mysteries which haue beene taught vs yeelding thankes to God for our saluation offering vnto him religious hymnes and holy praiers We sacrifice vnto the high God the sacrifice of praise a sacrifice full of sweete smell Wee sacrifice the same after a new fashion according to the new Testament a pure offering and sacrifice But in all this what matter is there concerning propitiation Theodoret doth expounde it of the abolishing of the legall sacrifices Theod. in Malach c. 1. and of the seruing of God in spirite and truth as our Lord himself auouched in the speech which hee made vnto the Samaritanish woman and thus doth the greatest number take and expounde it But here they replie vpon vs all this is olde is there no question of any thing that is newe this may bee aunswered in a word That the Prophet sayeth A pure offering and not a new offering But let vs graunt vnto them this worde new Ireneus will answere them Iren. l. 4. c. 34. Chrysost cont Iud. l. 3. Oblationes hic Oblationes tillic There are sacrifices and here are sacrifices sacrifices in Israel sacrifices in the Christian church the kinde and manner is onely changed inasmuch as then they were offered by seruantes and bondslaues but now by freemen or rather to speake more fitlie by sons and children Chrysostome in like manner sayeth A newe sacrifice because it proceedeth from new hope because it is no more offered by fire and smoke but by the grace and spirite of God But say they there are certaine Doctors that haue vnderstood it of the Eucharist and wee say vnto them againe on the other side that there are other some which haue vnderstoode it otherwise as we haue caused it apparantlie inough to bee seene heretofore But wee contend not in this place about the Eucharist but about the sacrifice of the Masse not about a sacrifice of praise but a sacrifice propitiatorie And therefore let vs not abuse the Fathers vnder the colour of this word seeing there is not anie one to be found Iren. l. 4. c. 32. that hath so much as once thought vpon it Ireneus saith Christ giuing aduice and counsell vnto his Disciples to offer vnto God the first fruites of his creatures not as of anie necessitie in God but that they might not bee vnthankefull and vnfruitfull tooke that which by creation is bread and gaue thanks saying This is my bodie c. teaching that the sacrament of the new Testament is new And hee addeth thereto Which the Church taking from the Apostles offereth throughout the whole world vnto God the first fruites of his giftes to him that giueth whatsoeuer foode and nourishment we haue That is to say because that the auncient Christians were wonte to offer of their fruites vnto God as wee haue seene heretofore by many places out of the same Ireneus and from out of them they tooke the bread and the wine which were distributed in the holy Supper the remainder being giuen to the poore or conuerted to the necessarie vses of the Church The question then that riseth hence is of the sacrifice of thankesgiuing and not of a propitiatorie sacrifice of the sacrifice of fruits and things without life and not of the reall sacrificing of our
the supper and that by them wee are inioyned to doe the same that he hath done as to blesse the bread to eate the bread to blesse the cuppe and to drinke the cup to distribute them both and to receiue them both But as for the matter of sacrifice there was none but vpon the Crosse The communicating of him and his graces and the action of thanks is ordained instituted to be practised at this Table and vpon this Crosse hee hath borne our iniquities vpon this Crosse he hath beene broken for our sins God forbidde saith S. Paul that I should euer glorie but in this Crosse If then this be to sacrifice the bodie then it is not hoc facere to doe that which Christ hath done who tooke the bread who distributed it who performed not in all this anie action of a sacrifice but if it be thus Do that which I haue done then it must not bee anie worke of sacrificing here will not bee found any sacrifice and so there must needes follow as poore slender Diuinitie as the Grammer or sence that went before was poore and slender To be short if faire in that place bee to sacrifice it is saide Doe this as oft as yee shall drinke it c. by which reason it should follow that the sacrifice hath no place but at such times as a man doth drink And yet they say that the Sacrifice Transubstantiation doe goe before And againe if it were saide vnto all those which were sitting at the Table with our Lord Hoc facite then the commandement of sacrificing was generall to all for in like manner vnto all in general euen to all the whole Church of Corinth S. Paul said Hoc facite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Priestes by this account shall haue as weake a foundatiō for their places as the sacrifice hath But who can better expound this place then S. Paul Do this saith he in remembrance of mee And how For as oft as you shall eate of this bread and drinke of this cuppe you shall shew forth the death of the Lord vntill his cōming Not by standing gazing on in a fond sort not by the means of an Enterlude or play neither yet by any such apish fooleries but by a serious earnest either meditation or laying open of the horror of our sinnes and of the mercy of God who hath so greatlie loued the world as that hee hath vouchsafed to giue his Sonne to the death of the Crosse for vs miserable sinners to the end that he that belieueth in him may haue eternall life And this is the same with that which their Glose saith Do this in remembrance of me For saith it the sacrament ought to be receiued in the remembrance of the Lordes passion shew forth the Lordes death c. that is to say make your account and set it down for certain that the suffering and death of the Lord came through you For Whosoeuer sayeth Oecumenius sheweth forth this death he displayeth and maketh a shew of all manner of gifts and of all manner of loue towardes men yea in a worde Oecum in 1. Cor. 11. sayeth hee of the whole meanes of our saluation Let these fellowes now draw neare which haue the Fathers so full and so rife in their mouthes but cannot bring foorth so much as any one who hath founde the sacrifice of the Masse in these wordes Hoc facite that hath expounded this worde for to sacrifice And yet notwithstanding if there were any place wherein it might be found who doubteth yea or who can denie but that of all others that is no place for to finde it in A great man of this time seeing himself thrust out of this place Genebrard hath inuented this shift namelie to say that the Apostles did say their first Masse vpō the day of Pentecost And this hee would tug out by the haire both out of a place of Deuteronomie where mention is made of the offering of new fruites which then was ordained in the lawe as also from the 2. of the Actes where these wordes are Act. 1.2 They did perseuere in the doctrine of the Apostles in communicating and breaking of bread and in prayers which wee haue alreadie sufficientlie refuted For what agreement is there betwixt any thing therein and the sacrifice of the Masse for the remission of sins And yet notwithstanding we will further take the paines to call to minde Hugo Card. in Act. c. 2. what their Glose saith vpon this place of the Acts Of bread aswell common as consecrated that is to say aswell ordinarie as sacramentall And Cardinall Hugo after the same manner And Lyranus Partly sayeth hee because they did communicate euerie day partlie also because they did eate together in common And Oecumenius sayeth This is for to shewe the simplicitie that they vsed in liuing and conuersing together And the Syrian and Arabick interpreters They receiued the Communion or Eucharist Vcharisto And Caietanus This is to shewe the distribution of the meat as it was practised from familie to familie So that on euery side the standing of the Masse doth still faile and deceiue it But let vs come to other places It is saide Actes 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 13. as they sacrificed Their olde translation sayeth Ministrantibus as they were executing their office and Ministerie And the Glose addeth In good workes euery man according to his charge and degree The Syrian and Arabian As they were in praiers because it is added that they did fast Chrysostome and Oecumenius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they preached Caietanus As they preached and prophesied that is to say as they expounded the word And Cardinall Hugo Ministrantibus scilicet praedictis Prophetis And of him wee haue spoken else where But let vs grant them according to their owne desire Sacrificantibus let it bee said As they sacrificed Epiphanius saith concerning this place These were chosen with Paule and Barnabas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sacrificing the Gospell Chrysostome saieth to the same purpose Let him sacrifice the Gospel But where shall wee haue a better expositor then S. Paule himselfe This grace sayeth hee hath beene giuen mee of God that I should bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Minister of Iesus Christ Let vs say a Priest if they will towardes the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sacrificing in very forcible tearmes the Gospell of God to the end that the offering of the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might bee well accepted of being sanctified by the holy Ghost In which place Theodoret sayeth The Apostle called hit preaching 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a holy Ministerie a holy sacrifice and a true and sincere faith an acceptable offering It is said 1. Cor. 10. You cannot bee partakers of the Table of the Lord 1. Cor 10. and of the table of diuelles Now the Table of diuelles say they is an Altar and that of the Lordes
Idem l. 3. c. 4. l 4. c. 5. sometimes we consecrate our selues all wholy vnto him and his high priest or sacrificer which is to Christ dedicating I say our selues bodies and soules vnto this word where wee haue to obserue that he reckeneth vp the sacrifice of Christians as the memorie of the passion of our Lorde thankesgiuing prayers praises and offering vppe of our selues c. but of the sacrifice without blood which they pretend whether it bee in the Supper or in the Masse not one word Nowe about this time was the first generall Councell of Nyce held Can. Nicaen wherein wee haue a Canon all saue some little parte thereof drawne out of the Vatican librarie the title whereof is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the holy table The wordes are Wee doe not rest and content our selues with the breade ministred vnto vs here belowe or yet in the cuppe but lifting vppe the vnderstanding of our mindes wee thinke by faith that the Lambe of God taking away the sinnes of the worlde lyeth in this Table 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sacrificed by the Priestes without being slaine c. Where wee obserue agreeing with the doctrine going before that there is insinuated a certaine secrete opposition betwixt the holy table and the Altars of the lawe of the Lambe which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde and the Sacrifices of the lawe which were nothing but figures and shadowes of the Sacrifice which was there offered to this which is but renewed by being called to minde and of the bodily presence and visible substance of the one to the eating and receiuing of the other by faith And this appeareth more euidently by that which followeth which calleth vs cleane backe from all thinking of a sacrifice to the receiuing and communicating of a sacrament that is That we truely and verily receiuing his precious bodie and blood belieue these thinges to bee the infallible signes of our resurrection And this is the cause why wee take not much but a little that so wee may know that it is not to fill vs full vnto bodily nourishment but to further and feed the worke of our sanctification For if hee had rested in the sacrifice woulde that haue followed which he saith And that notwithstanding our being present at this sacrifice wee haue the resurrection and the life c. Athanas orat 3. cont Arrian Whereupon also Athanasius of the same time saith The oblation or sacrifice of the Lord once offered did accomplish all thinges and remaineth fast and sure throughout all times Aaron had his successors but the Lorde sine transitione successione without any succession or change from one to another holdeth the priesthood for euer Saint Basill Those which were wont to be consecrated of the seed of Aaron are excluded Basill in 1. c. Esa to the end that there might come in their roome a priest according to the order of Melchisedec and not the sacrificing priestes of the Church of Rome There is no more any question saith he of the continuall sacrifice neither yet of these so oft reiterated and renewed sacrifices c. For there is but one sacrifice that is Christ and the mortification of the Saintes which is become famous and renowned for their confessing of him There is but one besprinkling and cleansing with water and that is the washing of the new birth there is but one purgation for sinne that is his blood shedde for the saluation of the world To what end saith the Lord serueth so many sacrifices he requireth but one reiecting all whatsoeuer els that is that euerie man doe reconcile and offer himselfe to God appearing before him a liuing sacrifice by a reasonable seruing of him and offering vnto God the sacrifice of praise c. Againe Now in the end and latter age of the worlde one onely sacrifice is approued once offerred for an oblation for sinne For the Lambe of God hath taken away the sin of the world offering himselfe an oblation and sacrifice of a smell of a sweet sauour c. Idem in psal 115. And in another place I will therefore sacrifice my soule vnto thy praise O Lord as it were vpon some Altar I will offer vnto thee the sacrifice of praise which is more worth then an infinite number of others c. Gregorius Nazianzenus This great sacrifice Gregor Nazianz in Pasch orat 2. which in his first nature could not bee sacrificed is mingled with all the sacrifices of the lawe That same I say which is the purgation not of one parte of the worlde nor forsome certaine time but of the whole world and for euer And thus we are admonished not to seeke for any other But saith he we offer vnto God vpon his celestiall Altar together with Angels the Sacrifice of praise let vs passe through the first vaile and drawe neere vnto the second let vs sacrifice to God at all times And hee addeth For the chiefe and principall point of wisedome is a good and honest life purged and made cleane before God euen that God which is most pure and requireth no other sacrifice at our handes but this purenesse which the scripture commonly calleth a contrite and broken heart the sacrifice of praise a newe creature in Christ c. Eusebius Emissenus saith Euseb Emissen de caen Dom. Seeing that our Lorde was to conuey vp into the heauen beyond the reach of our pearcing sight this his humane bodie which he had taken vppon him it was needfull that vppon this day hee should consecrate for vs the Sacrament of his bodie and of his blood that so what had once beene offered vppe for the price of our redemption might bee honoured in a mysterie for euer to the end that as redemption hath his ordinarie course for the saluation of men without any wearisomnesse so also the euerlasting oblation perpetuall sacrifice of this redemption might liue and continue fresh in our memorie and that this one true and perfect sacrifice that is to say Christ might continually bee present in grace which wee must iudge of by faith and not by outward appearance by the inward affection and not by the outward sight Where wee are to note that hee saith Sacrament not Sacrifice and that hee opposeth the remembrance of the oblation to the oblation it selfe the powerfull course and continuance of redemption to redemption it selfe once wrought the presence of grace to the reall presence and the body of Christ lifted vp to heauen to the Sacrament of the same left remayning in the Supper Epiphanius Epiphanius cont Marcion haere 42. 35. Haue you offered me sacrifice saith the Lord fortie yeares in the wildernesse c. To the end that they might learne that God by the comming of his Christ hath taken away all manner of vse of sacrifices and that in respect of one sacrifice which hath perfected and accomplished all the other sacrifices that went before
c. Theophilact about the yeare 1000. The medicines which are effectuall and forcible doe heale euen at the first time being administred but those which neede to bee taken againe and againe doe argue their weakenes sufficiently euen by that onely note euen so it fareth betwixt the Legall sacrifices and the sacrifices of Christ But here riseth a question whether that we also doe offer sacrifices and oblations without shedding of blood vnto which wee aunswere affirmatiuelie but it is in that wee renue the memorie of the death of the Lorde and yet in the meane time it is but one sacrifice not manie because is hath beene offered but onelie once wee offer then daylie himselfe or rather the remembrance of this oblation by which hee did offer himselfe c. In place else where hee giueth vs these generall rules Where there is remission of sinnes there needeth not anie more sacrifices but Christ hath offered a sacrifice seruing and standing sufficient for euer and therefore wee haue no neede of anie other seconde sacrifice c. Anselmus in like maner Ansel in Ep. ad Heb. c. 10 Howbeit we offer sacrifices euerie day yet it is no other then the recording renewing of the memory of the death of Christ therby we offer but one sacrifice not manie for hee was onelie once offered c. Againe All that we doe is but the renuing of the remembrance of his death Againe Our Lordsaide Take eate and sacrifice offer vnto God And S. Paule to the same ende That the Saintes were perfected by one onely oblation And this hath come to passe within this thousand yeares so hard and difficult a thing it is to bring the learned to speake the language of the Masse though the abuse and mischiefe be alreadie brought in And indeede we shall see hereafter that it doth not speake it it selfe But now since the yeare fiue hundred vntill this time it hath ouerrunne great large Dominions and yet by certaine degrees and by the concurring of diuerse causes During the feruent and deuoute zeale of the Christian Church the holie supper was celebrated euerie Lordes day Carol. Mag. l 7. c. 138.182 167. yea in some Churches euerie daye and the number of Communicantes was ordinarilie verie great whereby wee haue seene herefofore that in populous Churches and congregations there haue beene distributed at one time diuerse great loaues and diuerse great cuppes of wine This zeale together with the time grew luke-warme whereupon wee see that S. Ambrose and S. Chrysostome are greatlie grieued to see That it was their dutie to attend at the Lordes Table and that no man hasted to come thereto c. Insomuch also as that exhortations manie and diuerse being vsed to draw the people thereunto but profiting nothing there were diuerse Canons made to binde and inforce the people thereunto as also ciuill lawes Let all the faithfull communicate and staye the Masse without anie more bidding L. 2. c. 45. yea at the least let them not faile to communicate on the Lordes daye c. But whether it were the obstinacie or carelesnes of the Pastors or both that were the cause these Canons profited little In the ende there was a lawe made That such Laye people as did not communicate at the least euerie feast of the Natiuitie Easter Whitsontide Add. 3.38 should bee held for infidels and ratified afterward in the Actes and Statutes set forth by Charles the great thus the Table of the Supper stoode solitary and as a reiected and forlorne thing for the most part at least in respect of the Laitie The ecclesiasticall persons continued their communicating for some time and so there still remained a certaine forme of Communion or Eucharist But shortlie after loosenes laide holde vpon them also as it had done before of others Whereupon we see that the Church is constrained to make Canons That at the least three or foure should alwaies communicate with the Priestes The printes whereof are as yet in the Abbye of Clugny where the Deacon and Subdeacon doe receiue the Communion as yet vnto this day together with the Priests But afterward these three were shufled vppe into one this one was hee that rung the bell whome they called the Sexten Camp nariū And this coldnes did still so encrease that Charles the great is constrained to make a lawe L. 5. c. 93. l. 6. c. 118. Add. 2. c 7. by which the Priest after hee hath consecrated is bound to communicate because that euen hee himselfe did oftentimes abstaine and there are manie olde Canons to that purpose Thus the vse of the Communion was lost by degrees this Communion I say wherin Christians were admonished and put in minde of practising true charitie by the substance of the bread which consisted of manie cornes wrought vppe into one loaf seeing thy bee manie members of one bodie liuing vnder one heade euen Iesus Christ our Lord and so proportionablie the sacramentes themselues fell into a consumption as namelie the bread from manie loaues to one and from a great one to a little one no bigger then would serue being deuided onelie for three persons and in the ende as wee now see to breade no bigger then a penie And the wine consequentlie so as it might fit the other from great vessels vnto little pots such as serue at the Masse from manie cups to one from a great one to a little one And it is notwithstanding to bee noted that this abuse had his abode onelie in the Church of Rome all other Churches as those amongst the Abissines Armenians Syrians Grecians Muscouites c. hauing retained and retayning the Communion as yet vnto this daye Now it fell out also that the people no longer communicating in the holy supper became negligent in other partes of their accustomed seruice and particularlie in that of bringing of offeringes which consisted according to the Canons in breade and wine from which was taken what was necessarie to bee imployed in the Communion for those offerings ceasing it was a cause that the Communion also ceased Carol. l. 1.5.94 152. And indeede we see that this law is oftentimes renued by Charles the Great namelie That the people should be warned to communicate and bring their offeringes euerie Lordes daye For that the one did cease to bee because of the other and thereupon also the requesting of the one was with the more honestie by reason of the other Wherefore to cherish them vppe both in deuotion as also in liberalitie they were giuen to vnderstand that the Masse did not onely benefite and serue them by their communicating in the Sacrament in it but that the principall point of comforte vnto them thereby was yet behinde namelie the sacrifice in the merite whereof they had part inasmuch onelie as that they were present thereat prouided euermore that they for their partes brought their sacrifices that is to say their offeringes with them There was
heard in their seruice Sursum Corda 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lift vp your heartes on hie and when their currant speech and common talke was but of one Altar and one celestiall sacrifice when in their entrance into the celebration of the sacrament it was saide vnto the people Shew yee forth the death of the Son of man and confesse his resurrection vntill his comming But there were two doctrines especiallie which springing vppe in those ages Transubstantiation and Purgatorie concuning and conspiring together establish this sacrifice and prospering and growing together at that time and that by equall degrees did aduance and set aloft this pretended sacrifice The one Transubstantiation for after such time as it was taught that the bread and the wine were chaunged that they were reallie the body and blood of our Lord then what honour was too great to giue vnto this sacrifice Who can then doubt that it should bee propitiatorie for the sinnes of all that were liuing this sacrifice offered in the Masse being the same in flesh and blood which was hanged vppon the Crosse for the sinnes of the world The other was that of Purgatorie for if we haue saide they both our friendes departing passing out of this worlde to abide the scorching flames of Purgatorie and that our owne sinnes also must bee purged there then let vs prouide a remedie let vs goe to this Masse which is so soueraigne and full of saluation let vs laye good foundations and powre out largelie for our selues and our parentes let vs leaue grounds goods with charge of hauing the same saide after vs. And hereto belong the lawes aboue mentioned to bee made in the time of Charles the Great and then euery day thinges grew from ill to worse The ignorance then of the age the coldnes of the people in deuotion the couetousnes of the Priestes the carelesnes of the Bishoppes and the barbarousnes of the speech of men begot fostered and maintained this abuse in the Church which hauing once taken roote and growne vppe to strength could not bee beaten downe againe but by the spirite of God which thing also manie men of good spirits did perceiue verie well Arnoldus de villa noua one of the great men of that time About the yeare 1200. helde in his positions That the sacrifice of the Masse was a manifest abuse and a plaine starting aside from the pure doctrine of Christ The Waldenses and Albigenses in France That Masses whether they were for the liuing or for the dead were directlie against the institution of the Lord. And these resistances and contradictions did so assaulte the maintainers of this abuse as that all Christendome was in an vprore and not without fruite for the spreading of them throughout all the nations of the west Church proued a good seed sowne by God to cause the truth to spring vp there againe in his time but what shall wee say if their greatest and grauest Doctors carried away notwithstanding with the streame do likewise speake against their doctrine Peter Lumbard saith the Maister of the sentences Distinct 12. l. 4. De Consec D. 2. Can. handleth this question aboute the yeare 1150. saying It is demaunded of some if that which the Priest doth bee properlie called a sacrifice and oblation and if Christ be sacrificed euery day or whether hee was onely once offered Whereunto this short aunswere may be shaped That that which is consecrated and offered by the Priest is called a sacrifice and oblation because it is the renuing of the memorie and representation of the true sacrifice and of the holy oblation made vpon the Altar of the Crosse And this hee proueth by manie places out of S. Augustine and of S. Ambrose c. Note here how well hee agreede with the Councell of Trent which pronounceth If any man say that the verie and proper body of Christ is not offered in the Masse let him be accursed The Schoolemen which came after him haue beene so bold as to rob the Crosse of Christ to hang the Iewels euen the power thereof about the necke of their Masse so that sometimes they break out into these speeches That the bodie of our Lord was offered for originall sinne but that hee is continuallie offered by them vpon the Altar for actuall sins A cursed blasphemie by which the Crosse of Christ is made of none effect by which there is lesse attributed vnto it then vnto the Table of their Altar directlie also against the expresse Scripture which sayeth comparing the fall of Adam with the benefite of Christ his death That the fault was through one offence vnto condemnation but the gift is of manie offences vnto iustification Againe after hee had spoken of all manner of sinners And such saith S. Paule were you but you haue beene washed you haue beene sanctified but you haue beene iustified by the name of Iesus Christ Rom. 5. 1. Iohn 3.8 c. And to bee briefe That the Sonne of God hath appeared to destroy the workes of the Diuell c. But so the case standeth as that Thomas their chief Champiō Thom. in Ep. ad Heb. 6. doth again in an other place agree with himself saying Christ was wounded for our iniquities Esa 53. and that not oftentimes but onely once 1. Pet. 3 Christ hath died once for our sinnes and his onely oblation sufficeth to drie vp the fountaine of the sinnes of all mankinde Idem in sūma part 3. q. 83. And as concerning the sacrament It is but the representation sayeth hee of the passion of our Lord for S. Augustine sayeth as oft as wee celebrate the Passeouer is Christ slaine euerie time yea rather this is but a yearelie renuing of the memory of that which was done otherwise thereby setting before vs such notable and famous monumentes thereof as if by them wee were brought to the verie beholding of his hanging vppon the Crosse Idem part 13.3 q. 73. art 6. And elsewhere It behoued that euermore there should remaine some representation of the passion of our Lord In the old Testament this principall sacrament was the Paschall Lambe Whereuppon the Apostle sayeth Christ our Paschall Lambe was offered And in place thereof hath succeeded in the new Testament the Eucharist which is a memoriall of his passion past and suffered as the other was a prefigurer and foreshewer of his passion to come Petrus Alphonsus at the same time Petr. Alph. l. 2. Ep. did not acknowledge either the Eucharist or the Masse for any other thing then a sacrifice of praise and this was at that time one of the questions disputed by the Albigenses and Petrus Brutis who was burnt aliue at Tholosa where he taught publikelie that it was not propitiatorie All these sacrifices sayeth hee which were offered vnder the lawe were nothing but signes of this great sacrifice Idem in Dialog tit 12. which was to destroy sinne But since the comming of Christ we vse
bee able to make it to serue in the distinction that followeth of her that had brought forth a sonne or a daughter and how in the number of dayes of the one or of the other But the point is that they haue neither Greeke nor Hebrew Paraphrast neither Iewish nor yet Christian Commentarie which euer could finde out Purgatorie by this text Origen who hath made an expresse Homily vpon this verse notwithstanding he be greatlie delighted in allegorizing Orig. hom 9. in Leuit. Ieronym in Ezech. c. 49.47 Theod. in Leuit c. 12. could not perceiue anie such matter therein And as farre off was Saint Ierome expounding the same in his Commentarie vpon Ezechiel Theodoret likewise who handleth this question Wherefore there is appointed a double time for the purging of her that hath brought forth a daughter in respect of her which hath brought forth a sonne Caietan sayeth verie well From all these lawes this instruction and point of pietie Caietan in Leuit c. 12. 1. Sam. 2.6 may verie well bee drawne That wee were borne from our mothers wombe subiect to sinne c. In the first of Samuell Hanna sayeth in her song The Lord is he which destroyeth and raiseth to life which throweth downe into the graue and raiseth vppe againe from thence which giueth pouertie and riches which humbleth and exalteth And because that this worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie a graue and hell they wil haue it to signifie hel in that place and notwithstanding that it may bee vnderstoode for Purgatorie But this place is expounded by it selfe for these wordes Which throweth downe to the graue and bringeth backe againe are no other thing but according to the manner of the Hebrewes the expositors of the former which killeth and bringeth to life againe as in the verse following which humbleth and exalteth is contained the exposition of the wordes going before Who maketh poore and filleth with riches c. Psal 30. Psal 71. But Dauid himselfe without any other will expound it vnto vs The Lord hath lift vp my soule out of the graue or out of hell And in another place Thou hast shewed me manifold troubles but afterward thou turnedst vnto me and hast quickened me and brought me from the depth of the earth But this did no man euer vnderstand to be meant of purgatorie and the Chaldie Paraphrast whom they alleadge is against them God saith he carieth to the graue and bringeth backe againe Ad vitam saeculi to the life of this world that is to say to the life present as appeareth by this word Rursus And Lyranus saith There is not hell in Hebrew but the pit that is to say the graue And that it is his purpose to declare how that he oftentimes giueth life vnto them whom men are giuen to iudge past recouerie as it was with Ezechias But if wee should allegorize their Glosse saith Hee bringeth the obstinate Iewes to hell in as much as he suffreth them to bee led into the condemnation thereof He bringeth backe from thence the Gentiles who did deserue it in calling them backe from idolatrie Tertullian maketh this kind of argument Tertul. l. de resurre carn 28. Contr. Marcion l. 4. c. 34. Cyril Catech. 6 de Monarch Dei Sophron. in serm de Natiuit Dom. August de ciuit Dei l. 17.6.4 That seeing it is the flesh properly which is mortified that is to say which suffereth death that it followeth likewise that it shall bee quickned namely by the resurrection And againe against Marcion That one and the same Christ hath in his power the sentence of eternall death as also of eternall life Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus reasoneth after the same manner against Manes Sophronius Bishop of Constantinople proueth the greatnesse of our redeemer who hath turned the curse by Adam into a blessing his death into life and his fall into a rising againe But S. Augustine standeth more amply vpon it and in better sort saying The Lord killeth and quickneth againe c. and this is nothing els but that which he repeateth againe when he saith He bringeth to the gates of hell and bringeth backe againe He killeth saith he according to that which the Apostle saith If you be dead with Christ seeke the things which are aboue c. For you are dead c. And afterward he addeth And our life is hid with Christ behold how he killeth them holesomely behold how he reuiueth and quickneth them againe But hee bringeth them likewise saith he to hell and bringeth them backe againe Without doubt saith he this was accomplished in our head in whom our life is hid For he that hath not spared his owne Sonne hath slaine him for vs and in that he hath raised him vp againe he hath also quickened him brought him to hell and backe againe according to that which hath beene said Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell and of his pouertie we are made rich c. By their accompt it should follow holding the exposition of Saint Augustine that our Lord had beene in purgatorie Saint Gregorie God slayeth and bringeth backe againe to life Gregor in 1. Reg. c. 1. and behold saith he the order in as much as hee bringeth to hell and bringeth backe againe For in respect of God to bring downe to the gates of hell that is to strike amased the hartes of sinners with the apprehension of eternall torments and to bring them backe from thence that is to relieue their astonished hearts sorrowing and bewailing their faultes by the hope of eternall life c. And yet euerie one knoweth if hee fauour purgatorie or no. Hugo the Cardinall This is a metaphoricall speech He bringeth Phenenna euen into extreame affliction taking her children from her hee bringeth againe Hanna making her fruitfull when she was barren And so saith he by hell in many places is vnderstood great affliction Caietan in l. 1. Reg. c. 2. Cardinall Caietan in like manner In Hebrew saith he it is He bringeth downe into the pit and causeth to rise vp againe And for that he vseth a verbe of the Preter-tense and not of the future I am constrained by the name of pit to vnderstand in this place neither hell nor graue but rather a prison For from the creation vnto the time of Hanna there was not any that rise out of hell none that rise againe from the dead but God hath often caused many free and innocent persons to be put in prison and hath brought many out from thence againe In the last of the first of Samuel it is said That the valiant men of Israel 1. Sam. the last Chapt. ver the last 2. Sam. 1.12 after the ouerthrow of Saule did burie the bodie of Saule and of his children burned them in Iabes tooke their bones buried them and fasted seuen daies And in the 2. Sam. 1.12 that Dauid mourned wept and fasted And thereupon Bellarmine reasoneth thus He fasted therefore
grieuous both the one and the other by pennance Now the truth is cleare how that purgatorie is not pennance as also that it is not ordained for sinnes but for punishment but and if it be as some would haue it for sinnes yet it is but for pettie and sleight sinnes Ireneus saith It is the word alone that washeth away the filthines of the daughters of Sion that washed the feete of his disciples and which sanctifieth their whole bodies Clemens Alexandrinus It is the good spirituall washing which cleanseth the soule Hieronym in Esa 4. whereof the Prophet speaketh The Lord hath washed away the filthines of Sion c. S. Ierome expounding this place saith in like sort That which is but lightly foule will bee washed cleane but that which is deeply stained and defiled by being burnt in the fire And this is that which Iohn Baptist said He will baptize you with the holy Ghost and with fire for man can giue but water but God fire and the holy Ghost which washeth away filthinesse and purgeth away the deadly and haynous sins Chrysostome Chrysost in Matth. hom 5. c. 4. Cyril in Esa c. 4. For men are baptised with fire by temptations that are present according to that in Esay In the spirit of feruencie and zeale c. Cyrill in like manner In the spirit saith he of iudgement that is to say by a iust sentence according as our Sauiour saith Now is the iudgement of this world for hee fighteth with the world and Sathan iustifying vs by faith c. And also in the spirit of zeale by the grace of baptisme which is not begotten in vs without the spirit c. For we are not baptised with bare water but with the holy Ghost with this diuine and intellectuall fire which wasteth in vs the vncleannesse of our vicious nature and melteth and burneth all the spots of sinne Haimo ibid. c. Haimo The same holy Ghost is called the spirit of iudgement and the spirit of zeale and feruencie of iudgement because that in baptisme Sathan is iudged and as it were condemned when his power ouer man is taken away from him of zeale because he inflameth the heartes of men with loue towardes their creator scouring away the canker of sin whereof it is said God is a consuming fire he will baptise vs with the holy Ghost and with fire c. And Hugo the Cardinall in like manner And thus you may see by these ancient fathers how they haue made a purgatorie of the holy Ghost and of the temptations and trials happening in this life the paines of purgatorie which cannot be except in the other And Lyranus In the spirit of iudgement for our Lord hath satisfied for the Church by the way of iustice in the spirit of zeale because he hath performed it in a great measure of charitie and loue And yet this is one of the textes whereby Bellarmine laboureth to make his cause so strong And here we are not to forget his vnsound and vnfaithfull dealing for that which S. Augustine hath spoken expresly De nouissimo iudicio of the last iudgement wherein saith he the daughters of Syon shall be refined graunt it saith he in as much as they shall be seperated from the wicked as the pure gold from his drosse in the furnace admit it also in this respect for that all creatures shall as then passe through the fire and likewise all manner of soules according to the opinion of that time this hee turneth and wresteth to help for the building of his purgatorie which they pretend to take place and seaze vpon men at the time of their departure out of this life And we are to request the reader to marke the deceit he worketh vpon the place Peter Abbot of Clugni abuseth either ignorantly or impudently another place Esay 8. Esa 8.19 Shall the people require a signe and vision of their God for the quicke and for the dead For so he alleadgeth it whereas the text saith Shall not a people inquire at their God shall they runne for the liuing to the dead reprouing such as did runne to south sayers sending them backe as is said afterward to the law and to the testimonie c. In deed the Septuagints haue translated it Shall they inquire of the dead concerning the liuing that is to say concerning the businesse and affaires of the liuing And the Chaldie paraphrast Euerie man saith hee inquireth and asketh counsell of his idolles so the liuing take counsell of the dead And Origen likewise You to whom God hath giuen his law will you go to inquire of the Deuils which are in verie deede dead Hieronym in Esa c. 8. And Saint Ierome vpon Esay saith As the infidels do aske counsell at their false Gods so the faithfull ought to runne to the true God and to the lawe and to the Prophetes inspired by him c. Lyranus saith as hee saith Saint Cyrill Cyril in Esa l. 5. orat 5. Would you aske counsell sayeth the Lord of the dead for the liuing you which are aliue is there any reason that you shoulde inquire of the deade of the bodies which lie in the graues or of the soules which it may bee are in hell Nay rather saith hee you which are quickned by the liuely worde of God will you go vnto sorcerers and Magicians which are dead in their soules Now the argument of Peter of Clugni was thus framed There are visions of the dead and therefore a Purgatorie but it is grounded as we haue seene vpon an vnsound Grammar or rather vpon the corrupting and deprauing of the old expositor wherein as some note there was as in S. Ierome Pro viuis à mortuis and not ac mortuis And this is the more likely in asmuch as for the most parte he applyeth himselfe to the Greeke text And in deed Cardinall Hugo said Amortuis of the dead for the liuing that is to say to aske counsell of images which are like vnto dead men which is a ridiculous and foolish thing Esay 9. Wickednesse saith the Prophete shall burne like a fire Esa 9.17 It shall deuoure the briars and the thornes and shall bee kindled in the thicke places of the forrest c. This is one of Bellarmine his maister-pillars There the Prophete threatneth the people of Israel From the head vnto the taile the boughes and the stumpe the Magistrate and the false prophete These are his wordes And after that hee hath denounced the anger of God to fall vppon the Magistrates and vppon the men in authoritie hee addeth That it shall not stay there but that it shall set on fire and deuoure the common sorte which hee compareth to bushes of thornes or to a thicke growne vnderwood And it is made plaine by the wordes following And the people shall bee as fewell or a baite for the fire no man shall haue pittie vppon his companion to spare him c What agreement is
and that is it which galleth them most S. Paul to the Romaines alleadgeth Esay I liue saith the Lord that euerie knee shall bow before me Rom. 14. Esay 45.13 and euerie tongue shall giue praise vnto God There was greater show why it should be vnderstood of worshipping and adoration and yet he expoundeth it of the iudiciall throne of Christ Tertull. ca 17 1. de Trinit Thom in Ep. ad Philip. c. 2. and of his last iudgement And indeed Tertullian vnderstandeth it of subiection and not of adoration The ordinarie Glose saith here As well the Angels as men and the Diuell Thomas likewise The Angels willingly and freely the Diuels will they nill they That is saith hee according to that which S. Iames saith that euen the Diuels themselues doe tremble Rom. 9. S. Ambrose interpreteth it by this place of the Epistle to the Romaines Which is God blessed aboue all things c. For saith he there is nothing in the world but heauenly earthly or infernall things and referreth it to the authoritie that Christ holdeth of the Father Chrysost ad Philip. c. 2. Haimo Caict in Ep. ad Philip. c. Chrysostome to the glorie of Christ vnder which both men and Angels and Diuels doe bow and stoupe euen all both iust and righteous as also the sinners and rebellious And Haimo Hugo and Caietan after the same manner And in deed Bellarmine dare not vrge this place neither yet that of the Apocalips but confesseth that they proue not the matter Neither hath it beene alleadged by any certaine Monkes onely of this time and age excepted who make vp their Purgatorie of whatsoeuer commeth to their hands euen as franticke men who sansie euerie thing that is said vnto them For how was it possible for the old writers to find it here vnder the earth when as Saint Gregorie sought it in hotte waters in bathes and in the shadowes of trees When Alcuinus seated it in the ayre betwixt heauen and earth When the certaine place where it was was vncertaine vnto them vntill the time of Beda to whome I know not what spirit did reueale it to bee vnder the earth In the first of S. Peter Christ saith he hath suffered once for sinnes 1 Pet 3.18 c. being mortified in the flesh but quickned by the spirit by the which he also went and preached to the spirits that were in prison This prison say they is Purgatorie Let them reade that which followeth and then they will vnsay it againe Hauing beene disobedient in times past when as the patience of God did once attend and waite in the daies of Noe c. The question then is about matters happening in the daies of Noe Now they are not yet resolued that there was any Purgatorie in the time of the olde Testament And in deed they haue euermore expounded this place of the limbes so that by building their Purgatory vpon this place they haue broken downe the partition wall Againe the Gospell is preached to be heard vnderstood and receiued in faith And they themselues doe affirme that faith is not begotten or to be come by in Purgatorie To what end or vse then should this preaching serue in Purgatorie Againe to the vnbelieuing disobedient for whome according to their owne doctrine purgatorie was neuer builded Now in deed the true sence and meaning is that the spirit of Christ at all times hath called men to repentance yea euen in the daies of Noe those rebellious persons who abused the patience and long suffering of God and who notwithstanding standing out disobedient vnto the same are therefore holden captiues in prison that is to say in eternall punishment And the Greeke article leadeth vs hereunto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prison when the question is of spirites is ordinarily taken for here In the Apocalyps Sathan shal be let loose from his prison and elsewhere Apoc. 20. 2. Pet. 2. Iude 1. The Deuils are tyed vp in chaines of darknesse in euerlasting bondes c. But seeing they will not accept of our expositions yet at the least I would haue them to stand to the fathers Clement Alexandrine saith Clem. l. 6 that Christ and the Apostles did preach the Gospell vnto the damned but this hee taketh out of certaine Apocrypha writinges attributed vnto Saint Peter and S. Paule who had corruptly vnderstood this place In ep ad Epict. Athanasius saith that during the time that the bodie was in the graue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word went to preach to the spirites that were in hell that is to say saith Damascene Damasc l. 3. de Orthod fid c 6. Not for to conuert them to the faith but to conuince them of their vnbeliefe this preaching being no other thing but a manifesting of his deitie vnto the infernall powers by the descending of Christ into hell S. Augustine ad Euodium handleth this verie place August ad Euod epist 99. and turneth it into all the waies that it may bee taken and vnderstood that so hee might come by the true sence and yet hath not remembred Purgatorie in any one small word in the end he concludeth thus That to the end that hee may auoide the inconueniences that follow other expositions it must bee vnderstood not of any going downe into hell but of the operation and powerfull working of his deitie which he exercised from the beginning of the world that is to say that he preached vnto them which liued here below imprisoned in this mortall bodie by the spirit of his diuine nature sometimes by inward and secret inspirations and sometimes by outward admonitions proceeding from the mouth of the iust And thus it is to bee seene how that for Purgatorie hee vnderstandeth this present life Thom. 3. p. ◠62. art 2. And Thomas doeth likewise approue the same handling this question of purpose To bee shorte Cardinall Hugo saith In carcere in the prison of sinne and vnbeliefe c. And their Glosse Of the darknesse of infidelitie or of carnall desires c. And Lyranus bound and chained with the common custome of sinne And as concerning the whole place they vnderstand it Of the preaching of Noe which he practised amongst the infidels of his time Heb. 13. to draw them to repentance by the spirit of Christ for saith he Christ is yesterday and to day the same and for euer and euer what maketh all this then for Purgatorie In the first of S. Iohn If any man see his brother sinne a sinne that is not to death 1. Iohn 5.16 let him aske of God and he will gine him life to all them I say which doe not sinne vnto death There is a sinne vnto death I doe not say that thou shouldest pray for it c. From hence they inferre those which sinne vnto death Are those that persist in infidelitie saith Saint Augustine euen vnto
ages did euer acknowledge the Purgatorie of the Church of Rome BVt say they if we should go to it but according to mans reason would not it giue sentence with vs that so many persons as die so quickly haue need of this manner of purging their soules departing impure and vncleane out of this world and so vnfit to be receiued into heauen with that their pollution Wherevnto we answere them that the barre and iudgement seat that is directed by humane reason hath no place in the Church that in that skill of the law which professeth the defence and maintenance of Christianitie it is a shame to speake without testimonie and authoritie out of the word and that a great deale more then to speake in the ciuill law without law But how much more shame is it then when a man vndertaketh to speake for Christianitie and holdeth a course contrarie to the scriptures And this we haue learned from the ancient writers Tertullian Let vs reuerence the fulnesse of the scriptures if we will not vndergoe the woe ordained for such as adde vnto them Basill This is to fall away from the faith either to cast away and cut off any parte of that which is written or to adde any thing that is not Chrysostome The thoughtes of the hearers halt when they haue a doctrine deliuered them without any scripture S. Augustine Let vs see if this be taught in the law or prophets or in the Gospell or Epistles Gerson in like manner Let vs suspect all manner of reuelations if they bee not confirmed by the law and the Prophetes But these ancient fathers here alleadged haue also belieued Purgatorie Let vs admit that it is so as it is not in deed yet we answere as we haue done before that we do not allow of the old fathers as lawgiuers in the Church For there is but one law maker saith the Apostle euen Iesus Christ and themselues tooke it as an iniurie offred vnto them to be so reputed only they accompted of themselues as expounders of the law ordained by our Lord and of the scriptures which he hath left vs. And this is the greatest honour that can be giuen them in the Church and in this respect and consideration we honour their bookes we weigh and ponder their expositions where they are found to differ one from another we endeuour our selues to make our choice of the best euen those which come neerest vnto the analogie and proportion of faith If wee doe otherwise if wee admit of them as authours of doctrines and not interpretors wee shall be in danger to bee as we said Anabaptistes with Saint Cyprian Montanistes with Tertullian Chiliastes with Ireneus c. In stead that wee are to abide and continue Christians with Christ whose voice the sheepe heare who alone hath the woraes of eternall life Now we haue heretofore cited all the Doctors to the interpreting of the places produced and alleadged by our aduersaries for purgatorie who could not see it there where they did find it who for the most part haue in the said places found the contrarie and yet we will proceed on further as namely to shew that the auncient fathers haue affirmed such Maximes as wherewith the Romish Purgatorie cannot stand As that when they haue at any time spoken of it they doe it not affirmatiuely but doubtfully and not as of an article of religion but as of a fantasie or opinion that may bee propounded and receiued for arbitrarie that for the most parte what they haue saide cannot agree with that which wee are in controuersie about at this day And finally that if they had belieued it for a necessarie article they had collected and gathered from thence as from a principle of faith such corollaries consequences as wee see at this day which neuer came to light till a long time after one long after another and that by the succession of many ages And to the end that this may more clearely be seene let vs call to mind at our entrance into the same what purgatorie it is whereof we speake as namely of a certaine third place whither the soules of the faithfull dead in the faith of Christ go at the time of their departure out of this life there to bee tormented with fire before they bee receiued into the place of blisse yea and that so long as vntill by the praiers and suffrages of those that are liuing there be satisfaction made for the temporall punishments due for the same and that all the spottes of vncleannesse bee purged and cleansed away that is for that say they vnto vs by faith in Christ wee haue remission of the fault and sinne onely and not of the eternall punishment due to the same which by the fauour and power of the keies is changed from being eternall and made temporall and for that wee must of necessitie satisfie this temporall punishment either in this life or in the life to come by our selues or by some others c. And now behold the Maxims of the ancient fathers contrarie to Purgatorie The propositions held by the old writers contrarie to purgatory Basil reg bren inter 10. 13. Ambr. in Luc. l. 10. c. 22. The first that God by Iesus Christ doth wholly and altogether deface and blot out both the sinne and the punishment S. Basill Thesoule wallowing in the mire of sinne how can it approach or come neere vnto God verily by constantly and stedfastly belieuing that the purging and cleansing of his sinnes is accomplished by the blood of Iesus Christ in the multitude of the mercies of God according to that which he himselfe hath spoken If your sinnes were as red as skarlet they shall be made as white as the wooll Saint Ambrose We embrace and take hold on Christ that so hee may say vnto vs be not afraide of the sinnes of this worlde neither of the floodes of afflictions which vexe and besiege the bodie J am the remission of sinnes c. Saint Augustine August de verb. Dom. ser 37. 31. Idem de Trini l. 4 c. 2. Christ in taking vpon him the punishment and not the fault hath blotted out and vtterly defaced both the fault and punishment due to the same Againe Wee liue not in this world without sinne but wee shall go out of this world without sinne Againe What shall wee pray for in this life verily that wee may finde remission and forgiuenesse in the worlde to come What profiteth this pardon and forgiuenesse it wipeth not away the staine He that acknowledgeth a wrinkle laboureth to smooth and make it plaine And where then are our wrinkles stretched out and smoothed c. verily vpon the crosse of Christ for vpon this crosse hee hath shed his blood and this is that whereby the Church is cleansed from all spottes and wrinkles as a thing verie cleane and bright c. Againe There is but one purging of the vniust the blood of that iust
might be forgiuen him before his departure out of this life for hee hath not obtained remission of his sinnes here shall neuer come by it there It will not be there at all because that such a one shall not possiblie attaine vnto eternall life seeing that eternall life is the remission of sinnes Idem ibid. And therefore he saith forgiue me to the end I may be comforted before I go hence and be no more Againe When the day shalkâ— come saith he let vs go on without feare directly to the companie of the Saintes for wee shall go to our fathers to them which haue instructed vs in the faith to that end that when our workes doe faile vs our faith might sustaine and succour vs August ad Maced cp 54. and our inheritance defend vs c. The Maxims of S. Augustine in like manner are After this life euery man shall haue that which he hath purchased vnto himselfe In this life there is place for repentance for such as indeuour themselues thereto Idem de temp serm 66. Here the mercie of God doth helpe but out of this life it serueth to no vse c. In such case as thy last day findeth thee in such case shall the last day of the worlde take holde vppon thee For as a man dieth in the one Idem de verb. Apost ser 18. so shall hee bee iudged in the other There are two places of abode the one in eternall fire the other in an euerlasting kingdome The one saith hee in another place for the faithfull Idem in psal 32. Idem de peccat meritis l. 1 c 2 8. Idem in l. qui ei adscribitur de vanitate saeculi Chrysost de Lazaro hom 2 Idem in Genes hom 5. 3. de paenit Hiero. in 13. q. 2. c. in praesent which is the kingdome of heauen the other for the Apostates and vnfaithful in hell of any third we know nothing at all neither yet do we find any thing therof in the scriptures Againe There is no third or middle place for any man so that he which is not with Christ can not possiblie bee any where els but with the Deuilles Againe Know this that so soone as the soule is seperated from the bodie either it is placed in paradice for his good workes or else for his sinnes cast headlong into hell in Tartara inferni and therefore choose you to which of these you will stand c. Chrysostome So long as wee liue here vppon earth we promise to our selues goodly things through hope but so soone as we are deceased there is no more time of repenting vs neither yet of washing away of our sinnes For saith he in another place hee that hath not washed himselfe cleane from his sinnes in this life shall not after it finde any comfort or consolation for here is the time of wrastling and fighting there of triumphing and receiuing of giftes S. Ierome So long as we are in this world we may receiue aide and succour one of another either by praier or good counsell but when as wee shall once come before the throne of Christ neither can Iob Daniel nor Noe pray for vs but euery man shal beare his owne burthen But our fathers of Trent haue caused the same to be razed in the Table Index expurg 1â—0 Hieronym ad Ga. c. 6. Againe vpon this place of the Galathians Let vs doe good whiles it is time c. Here saith he is the last time of sowing let vs make speed that we may haue sowen all our fieldes c. Againe vpon the Epitaph of Paula All this which returneth to the Lord is accompted amongst his family That which we make accompt of to be lost that is it which is placed in heauen for in that that Paula hath dwelt in this bodie she hath beene absent from the Lord as it were for so much time as one iourney or voiage would require Peregrinabatur a Domino c. Againe he saith Id mâ—de obitu â—lesillae ad Paulam After that Blessilla was returned to her maker discharged of the burthen of this life and aduanced again to her old possession and inheritance from which she had discontinued c. Againe Let vs weepe for the dead but for him that is gone to hell not for them who are accompanied with hostes of Angels not those to whom Christ himselfe commeth before c. Epiphanius in the same sence Epiphan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l 2 tom 1. In the world to come after that man is dead there is no succour no place for fasting calling to repentance or of making any vaine ostentation of almes deeds c. For as after the mowing downe of the corne the graine addeth nothing to his grosnesse neither yet is subiect to be corrupted with the wind c. So likewise all succour and help either by fasting pennance c. after death is cleane gone and vanished For Lazarus commeth not from where he was to the rich man nor the rich man to Lazarus Abraham casteth not his spoiles and bootie to the poore man to inrich him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iâ—de apud Tertullianum ad Scamina producete ad Marter c 3 apud Ambr. l. 1. de Offic. neither yet doeth the rich man any more receiue the thing which he requesteth how importunate soeuer he were with courteous bountifull Abraham For the garners are sealed vp the time accomplished the battell finisht the champions their places voide and emptie and the garlandes distributed Such as haue fought are at rest they which haue not excelled are gone those which haue not striuen and fought are not any more such as haue beene ouercome are cast out all thinges are fully consumate and finished Let our aduersaries here againe reconcile these Maxims and their purgatorie two places and not one more with a third the immediate inioying of the heauenly life with their darke and dolorous abode in Purgatorie the vnprofitablenesse of all manner of satisfactions after this life with their Masses Suffrages other pretended satisfactions Some will say vnto vs yea but it is receiued into the Christian Churches From whence purgatory came and in what sence this word is vsed of the old writers Plato de Anima in Gorgia Euseb l. 1. de prepar Euang. c. vlt. l. 12. Arnob. l. 2. contr Gentes yea it raigneth there yea it triumpheth there And how then or froÌ„ whence came it or entred it thereinto seeing it is not of Christ By what dore or rather through what windowes seeing that it did neuer enter by the scriptures verily we haue declared heretofore As namely that they that were conuerted to Christ whether from Iudaisme or from Paganisme did bring with them either their ceremonies or their opinions this happened in this article as in others For Plato who liued about 400. yeares before the comming of Christ hath this peece of doctrine so intire
for but approue O Lord and heare witnesse with Voluntariaoris mei the free offerings of my mouth Epiphan cont Aerium l. 3. t. 1 haeres 75. c. This argument was more throughly canuased and hotly dealt in about the yeare 500. in the time of Epiphanius who concealeth not or hideth the same from vs but setteth downe the verie same wordes That this is no commaundement of the father but an instruction and lesson taught by the mother that is to say by the Church Aerius found himselfe offended at these prayers for the dead which passed measure He put foorth this question Wherefore are the names of the deceased repeated and recited after their death And to what end doe praiers serue for those that are taken out of this life If it be to the end that they may not suffer for their sinnes c. Heere verily were a place to answere him that there is a Purgatorie That those that are departed hence without hauing satisfied for their sinnes are relieued by such suffrages c. But on the contrarie what dooth Epiphanius presuppose and set downe for the foundation of the matter in question Verily euen the quite contrarie That such as the liuing pray for are and liue in the presence of the Lord and that by these prayers such as are as yet trauelling this worldly pilgrimage doe witnesse their hope S. Chrysostome hath spoken of these prayers for the dead with greater aduantage then any others For that which Tertullian hath called Custome Epiphanius a Decree or Tradition of the Fathers he hath called an Apostolicall Tradition But he is confuted in one word by S. Ierome and S. Gregorie who saith that the Apostles vsed no other prayer in the celebration of seruice then the Lords prayer But yet for all that shall we thinke that hee praied for soules in Purgatorie when as hee belieued not any such thing Nay verily but rather for them which are with Christ Chrysost hom 3 ad Philip. Idem hom 4. ad Hebr. They are saith he with their king not any more beholding him as in a mirrour no longer loking vp vnto him by the eyes of faith but face to face For else what shuld be the meaning of these flaming Lamps but that we beare these glorious Champions companie home to their houses after their combat finished and accomplished As also what should bee the meaning of these Hymnes but that we glorifie God and giue him thankes for that hee hath crowned the deceased That he hath set him at libertie from all griefe and anguish and that he keepeth him now euen with himselfe These then are all of them nothing else but actions of ioy and reioycing And if thou marke what thou singest at that time it is Conuertere anima mea in requiem tuam Flie O my soule into thy rest for the Lord hath dealt graciously with thee And againe I wil not feare the euil wicked persons because that thou art with me c. Idem hom 70 ad Antioch in Math. hom 32 in Ioh. 61. In an other place The faithfull dying saith he shal take his flight vp into the habitation of the Angels so that he shal not be to be found euen at the time of his funerall And in deed the Liturgies which they obiect so much vnto vs should so much the more confirme them in this point That of Saint Basil Remember those O Lord which sleepe in hope of the resurrection Would he in their conscience call Purgatorie a sleepe And when hee prayeth for the liuing he saith For their saluation for the remission of their sinnes But for the dead For their rest and ease of their soule in a cleare and light place farre and free from weeping and wayling c. And thus Chrysostome The office of Millaine attributed to Saint Ambrose For them saith it which haue gone before vs with the ensigne of faith and which sleepe the sleepe of peace c. And that which they attribute vnto Saint Iames in the same sence For all such as haue embraced the true faith from Abell for the Patriarkes Apostles Prophets Martyrs as also for the Virgine Marie whome he calleth the mother of God most holy and pure c. And which amongst them is hee that would say that shee is in Purgatorie But after all Saint Ierome in the place before alleadged cutteth off all quite and cleane That out of this world we receiue no helpe aide or comfort either by the counsailes or prayers one of another And this is cited to the same end and purpose in the Decree And what shall wee say of the Masse vsed at this day Hierony apud Grat. c 20. in praesenti 13. q 2. which on the contrarie praieth not for the deliuerie of soules out of Purgatorie but out of Hell from the darke lake from the iawes of the Lyon and from eternall paines And that not for the time present but in respect of the iudgement to come as likewise that that which is read of the memorie of those which sleepe the sleepe of peace and which rest in Christ is not to bee read in the old Masse bookes of Rome which are written with hand but added onely after that the Masse hath beene applied to the vse of the dead So hard a thing it is and alwayes hath beene to vpholde and maintaine a lie against the truth They replie And what then was the end of praying for the dead In what sence they praied for the dead Orig. l. 3. in Iob We cannot better sound the reason of this then by the line of the Fathers themselues which did practise it Origen alleadgeth two reasons We celebrate saith hee the memorie of their rest partly to reioyce for that they are placed in Refrigerio at their ease partly for to pray vnto God that he would giue vs euen vs that are still liuing a good ende by faith c. This then is properly for the instruction of the liuing and not for the comfort of the dead Saint Denis Wherefore saith hee doth the Minister pray vnto God that he will pardon the dead Dionys c. 7. Eccles Hierar and place him in the region of the liuing For seeing that euerie man is there handled according to his life and that he hath now ended the same what can such prayers preuaile and helpe him Heere was to bee aunswered according to the doctrine receiued and taught by the Church of Rome That this was to free him out of the paines of Purgatorie But in deed what is his answere That the praiers of good and vertuous men doe neuer faile of their fruit That God rendreth to the faithfull according to their workes but in such sort notwithstanding as that he blotteth out their spots and imperfections for his mercie sake then it is not by the rigour and seueritie of Purgatorie That although the promises of God made vnto the faithfull be alreadie effected and fulfilled that yet the Minister doth
owne sonnes as in deed they drew lots for two But and if they belieue not vs yet let them at the least belieue their owne writers Cardinall Hugo saith To the end they might haue tribes as the sonnes of Iacob had And in the same sence hee expoundeth this word Esay 4. Lyranus Et inuocetur c. quia vocati sunt because they are called the adopted sonnes of Iacob and are become heades of two tribes after the manner of his owne children The annotation also of their Fonseca vpon Caietan This is a phrase of speech familiarly vsed of the Hebrewes that the name of this man is called vppon by that man when their meaning is that that man is called by this mans name And thereupon he alleadgeth the fourth of Esay and Daniel 9. Let them also remember themselues of their owne doctrine How that the fathers were in the Limbes that in the Limbes they did not see God neither by consequent know the affaires of men whereupon it followeth by their owne sayings that they could not be called vpon And yet notwithstanding Bellarmine in the time of the cleare light of learning is not ashamed to alleadge this place Eliphaz saith to Iob Iob 5. Call now and see if there be any that will answere thee and turne thy selfe vnto some one of the Saintes c. Which place other expositors doe reade with an interrogatiue point And the summe of the text is That no man when he is chastised of God can say that it is any wrong or iniustice seeing hee hath found as hath beene said before matter of reprehension euen in his Angels And how much more saith hee in them which dwell in these houses of clay c. And thereupon hee addeth Cast thine eies round about and see if thou canst find any amongst the most holy who hath beene punished causelesse But and if they will haue it that by Saintes the Angels are vnderstoode besides that it standeth not with the scope and purpose of the text it is as quickly denied as affirmed and such figures doe not proue or conclude any thing But and if they simplie take it to bee vnderstoode of the Sainte then so much the lesse seeing that they in the Limbes could neither heare norse according to their owne doctrine And certainly S. Ierome if he be the author of those commentaries was not aduised of this doctrine notwithstanding that he three handle this verse by name In the Psalmes saith Cocleus it is said Psal 32. Pro hac orab ad te omnis sanctus The Hebrew saith For this shall euerie holy man pray vnto thee c. The Chaldie For this shall euery good man pray vnto thee in time conuenient that is Because thou art readie to forgiue them which confesse their faultes And so S. Paul hir selfe doth expound it Romaines 4. But in euerie place where they find the name Saiâ—t there they will find inuocation or intercession of the Saints August Hieronym Theodor. in Psal 32. But without any longer staying vpon the matter Sant Augustine intreating vpon this place saith Euery holy man shall pray vnto thee because of impietie and for the remission of sinnes because thou fâ—â—giuest them and otherwise no holy man would pray vnto thee And when In due and conenient time when the new Testament shall be come when the grace of Christ shall be manifeted when in the fulnes of time God shal haue sent his Sonne to redeeme them which were vnder the law c. And this is spoken saith he of all Christians of Saint Paule himselfe who being prickt with the sting of the law cryeth vnto God wretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from the bodie of this death Saint Ierome saith The Saintes doe pray in this life for the remission of their sinnes seeing the most holy are not exempted now is the conuenient time for to obtaine Theodoret in like manner I will not pray vnto thee alone for mine impietie but all those that shall haue the knowledge of thee shall make the same prayers vnto thee Seeing saith he that vnder the new Testament Haimo in Psal 32. Bernard serm 73. in Cant. the faithfull by sea and by land shall praise God by the singing of the Psalmes of Dauid c. Haimo The remission of iniquitie is good and for the obtaining thereof euerie holy man will pray vnto thee in a time conuenient that is to say in this life in which alone prayer can obtaine the same Saint Bernard For this saith he c. Seeing saith he that the Saintes haue need to pray to God for their owne sinnes to bee saued by his mercie they being nothing able to trust and leane to their owne righteousnesse c. And againe Pro hac orabit O misericors c. Idem in ep ad Henric. Senens Archiep. Euerie Saint whosoeuer saith hee shall pray vnto thee O most mercifull father for his iniquitie becomming a humble suter for the sence and feeling of his sinne and miserie and yet notwithstanding a Saint for that he consenteth not vnto it in that be delighteth and taketh pleasure in the law according to the inward man c. And Cardinall Hugo saith For all the Saints and holy men haue need to pray vnto God for the remission of their owne sins c. And in a couenient time that is to say in this present life according to that which is said labour whiles it is day c. Farre enough off then from the exposition of our aduersaries That the saintes deceased doe pray for vs. And Lyranus followeth Saint Ierome Cardinall Caietanus and Arias Montanus translate it Super hac not Pro hac that is saith Caietanus That euerie Saint shall pray vnto God for to obtaine the blessed fauour of his diuine righteousnesse c. Here is no question then of praying for another in an other life And as little proofe is there to bee gathered out of Psalme 121. Psalm 121. I haue lifted saith Dauid mine eies towardes the mountaines from whence succour shall come vnto me c. By the hils they will vnderstand the Saintes This is a figure And by these hils some vnderstood the scriptures as Saint Augustine others the heauens as Euthymius some the Saintes as Caâ—siodorus Of such sortes of speaking there followeth no good argument But let vs take them in whatsoeuer sence they will If it bee to the Saintes they were according to their owne doctrine in the Limbes and therefore in vaine for that purpose they had more need to haue cast downe then to haue lifted vp their eyes But they should at the least haue considered what followeth My succour commeth from the Lord who hath made heauen and earth And then not from all or any of these creatures bee they neuer so high and eminent And this is that which Saint Augustine saith No man can vnderstand by these mountaines great personages August in psal 121.
And amongst men who was more great then Iohn Baptist of whom the Lord saith amongst those that are borne of women c. Thou seest then this great mountaine to shine but heare his confession We haue saith he all receiued of his fulnes It is then from him of whom they haue receiued that we must looke for our succour and not from these mountaines from Christ the Sonne of the most high and soueraigne father c. And if thou lift not vppe thine eyes by the scripture thou shalt not bee admonished and taught how to bee enlightened of him Saint Ierome haue lifted mine eyes Hieronym in psal 121. the eies of my spirite vnto the toppe of the bookes that is of the laâ— and the Prophetes from whence I see comming vnto mee my Lord my aide and my helpe that is Christ and so Saint Augustine vpon S. Iohn doth expound it of the scriptures I an other place Saint Ierome ioyneth these two places together to the same end August tract 1 in Iohan. Hieronym in Esa c. 52 l. 14. I â—â—ue lifted mine eyes vnto the hils and I haue lifted mine eyes vnto thee which dwellest in the â—â—auens opposing and setting them against the ordinarie intention and drift of the â—â—euill who would curbe and keepe in our soules vnder the slauerie of these inferior pâ—wers Theodoret Being compassed and set about with calamities say the captiues of Baâ—lon Theod. in psal 120. we haue cast our eyes on euery side but we know that there is no help of man that can do 〈◊〉 good we rest in the good pleasure and will of God c. Saint Bernard likewise speaking of Christ persecuted in the Church and in his members saith Who is hee that without teares can see the teares of Christ Bernard in ep ad Simonem Abbatem S. Nicol. lifting his eyes from the deepe pitte of mire and elay vnto the mountaines from whence help and succour is to come vnto him c. And surely then not from the Saintes for they know themselues to stand in neede to bee helped of Christ but rather saith he From the Lord which hath made heauen and earth Caietan also most fitly and for the purpose saith This is here as a dialogue betwixt the people and the Prophet shall I here stand and waite for my helpe from the mountaines from the princes and potentates of the earth nay rather from the Lord c. In the Psalme 134. it is said Iudicabit Dominus populum suum in seruis suis deprecabitur Psal 134.14 Of a bad and naughtie Grammar construction they make a bad piece of diuinitie He shall bee prayed vnto say they in his seruants But the Hebrew saith Hee shall repent himselfe or he shall be appeased towarde his seruantes And so haue Caietanus Pagnin and Arias Montanus their interpretors translated the same And the Chaldie Paraphrast in like manner that is That God according to his mercie will be appeased towards to his people At the least they should haue kept themselues vnto their Glose which from a badde translation hath notwithstanding gathered a good doctrine Deprecabilis saith it efficietur seruis suis exaudiendo seruis suis placabilis fiet hee will bee intreated at the prayers of his seruantes and in the same manner Haimo But let vs heare the fathers Haimo in psal 134. Saint Augustine hath read it Et in seruis suis adorabitur and expoundeth this place of the casting off of the Iewes and calling of the Gentils comming into the Church on euerie side Saint Ierome Consolabitur and gathereth the former sence thereof also That the Lord shall bee comforted in the incredulitie of the Iewes and in the faith and beliefe of the Gentiles But Theodoret commeth more neere vnto the purpose and scope of the Prophet For saith he Thou O Lord seeing vs assailed by enemies wilt not cast vs off neither wilt thou chasten vs according to our sinnes And thus likewise Caietanus But say they doth not intercession presuppose inuocation Now the fathers of the olde Testament haue caused the names of the Patriarkes to steppe in to helpe their prayers If intercession presuppose innocation Genes 32. Exod. 32. Deutr. 9. Psal 131. Exod. 6.5 32.13 Leuit. 26.42 Dan. 3. Deut. 8.26.34 1. Kings 8. Psal 89. Iacob said The God of my father Abraham and Isaac deliuer mee c. Moyses Call to minde thy seruantes Abraham Isaac and Iacob Call to mind thy seruant Dauid and his afflictions c. But assuredly they do plainly enough expound themselues in the same places To whome saith Moyses thou hast sworne by thine owne selfe I will multiply their seede and giue vnto them this lande And Salomon Performe vnto thy seruant Dauid that which thou hast said the couenant that thou hast assured and confirmed vnto him c. And the Lord himselfe I haue remembred my couenant made with your fathers and not your fathers not their merites to witte they all alleadging to God and God vnto them the whole cause and reason of the graces and deliuerances that they craued at his hand or that hee performed vnto them to be the free promise which hee vouchsafed to make to the Patriarkes to Dauid to his people c. and not their merites which as wee shall see hereafter are none at all at Gods hand And this is the same which the Glose saith in the like places Firmiter promisisti non licet mutari Thou hast infalliblie promised and it is not lawfull for thee to reuoke or change thy promise But whereas they go about to deriue and find the originall of intercession these places cannot serue for an example For by their owne coafessions those that were in the limbes could not be intercessors And that wee may not need to bee still repeating the same thing let this which hath beene saide serue and be vnderstood of all such like places In Iob 33. Iob. 33.23 Elihu after he had shewed by how diuers sortes and waies God chastiseth men for their amendment hee addeth these wordes according to the old translation If there bee an Angell speaking for him one of a thousand to declare of the equitie of this man Then will he haue mercie vpon him and say deliuer him for I haue found wherefore to bee reconciled vnto him c. Thereupon they infer that Angels do make intercession for vs. But according to the Hebrew the truth of the word translated Angell is ambiguous and may be taken for a messenger and seemeth also presently after that it ought to be vnderstood for a prophet or interpreter of the will of God as in the booke of Iudges 2. Chap. And that because of the worde which followeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say an Interpreter And hee saith not for him but with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him make God acquainted with the vprightnesse of the man but vnto man his
hauing these giftes either of Saints or Angels but on the contrarie this doctrine was then noted to be the doctrine of heretickes as of the Basilidians and Ophites c. Who praied vnto Angels in their workes and that by set formes of praier Idem l. 1. c. 23. 35. which Ireneus rehearseth O tu Angele ab a te or opere tuo c. And these had likewise their pretended Saints Iudas Cain c. Against whom Ireneus doth not oppose either Abell or S. Peter but onely Iesus Christ our Lord. But in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna Idem in Ep. ad Sâ—â—yâ—nens apud Euseb l. 4. c. 15. we haue this whole question handled the Martyrs were much honoured in the Church and they deeply condemned that did not honour them and not without cause being vessels chosen of God to seale and assure by their testimonie the resurrection of the Lord. But how far did this honour extend They were buried with great regard and there is made yearely a rehersall of their martyrdome vppon a certaine day the day of their death is celebrated and solemnized by the name of the day of their natiuitie in stead of the Paynims their Genethliacks or birth-daies the Church commeth together into the common place of buriall there to praie vnto God that by the sight of their bones they may be stirred vp to the like constancie for at that time they had not yet any Churches Now in respect of any of al this may they iustly be said to haue either worshipped or praied vnto them Nay rather saith this Epistle The Iewes and the Gentiles came to intrcate the gouernour that the body of Polycarpus might not be deliuered to the Christians least they should honour it in stead of Christ. But how doth the Church defend it selfe They are abused through ignorance saith it for we can neuer forsake Christ who hath suffered for the saluation of all them which are to bee saued in the whole world neither can we euer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 colere honour any other And note how it vseth the word which coÌ„prehendeth the seruice which was accustomed according to godlines to be giuen vnto Christ that is to say the seruing of him in calling vpon him seeking of our saluation in him But some said vnto them so greatly do you honour your Martyrs Yea saith the Church of Smyrna but we worship Christ as the true and naturall Sonne of God and we loue the Martyrs as his Disciples and followers and not without good cause for the incomparable loue which they haue borne to their king Schoolemaster we our selues greatly longing and earnestly desiring to become their companions and Schoole fellowes c. Finally We celebrate the natiuitie that is to say the day of the death and Martyrdome of Polycarpus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in remembrance of them that haue finished the combat before vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for the preparing and exercising of them which are to come thereto that is to say to stirre vp such as are present to the like constancie for the name of Christ Who giueth vs the grace say they and not the Martyrs to bee partakers of the like crowne Tertull. in Apol. c. And this Epistle was written about the yeare 160. Tertullian saith J pray not to any but him of whome I know that I may obtaine because it is hee onely which doth and giueth all things and I am one that haue need to beg and craue his seruant to honour him alone and to offer vnto him the best fattest sacrifice as he hath commanded euen a praier and supplication which proceedeth from a chast body an innocent soule and a holy spirit c. And in the booke of the Trinitie he yeeldeth a reason why hee praieth vnto him alone It is not proper or pertinent to any but God to know our secrets but Christ knoweth the secrets of our harts Jt belongeth not to any but God to forgiue sins but Christ forgiueth sinnes Reasoning from his all-seeing knowledge and from his Almightie power to proue his Deitie Godhead and froÌ„ the Godhead to the seruice of inuocation Againe Else how should a man be sought sued vnto in our praiers as our mediator seing that the inuocating of one only man is without any power or efficacie to saluation seeing also it is said cursed is that coÌ„fidence that is put in man c. To that aboue said they oppose and bring a place of Ireneus Obiections where there is comparison made betwixt Eue and the Virgine Marie As Eue saith he was seduced by the words of an Angell that is a wicked Angell to runne from God by transgressing of his word so the Virgine Marie receiued ioyfull tidings by the word of an Angell that is a good Angell to heare God by obeying vnto his word And as the first was seduced and drawne away to runne and flie from God so the second was perswaded to obey him to the end that of the Virgine Eue the Virgin Mary fieret aduocata might become say they the aduocate Here saith Belarmine what can be more cleare Yea rather say we vnto him what can be more obscure That the Virgine Marie should be Eue her aduocate with God being borne 4000. yeares after Eue and receiued likewise a long time after her into heauen when as likewise we shall haue regard to their opinion of the Limbes But in deed that which goeth before as also that which followeth sheweth clearely that Ireneus had no other drift but to oppose the good that came to mankind by the meanes ministerie of Marie to the maladie and mischiefe wherwith the same became infected by that transgression of Eue. And as for the word Aduocate some are of iudgement that Ireneus was translated out of Greeke into Latine for we haue great peeces of him as yet in Greeke and further it cannot possibly bee that euer any Latine writer would haue written in such a stile 2. Cor. 7. passim Ioh. 16 And in other places also hee is verie absurdly translated by his interpreter Now the case so standeth that in the Greeke one and the same word dooth signifie both an aduocate and a comforter that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and one and the same Verbe to comfort and to exhort as is often and commonly to be seene in the Scriptures So in S. Iohn that which is translated in the Gospell Comforter according to the old translation speaking of the holy Ghost the comforter of our soules is interpreted Aduocate in the Epistle of S. Iohn 1. Ioh. 2.11 Tertul. de Trinit c. 29. speaking of Christ the mediatour Likewise Tertullian where he speaketh of the holy Ghost translateth it Aduocatum so indifferently hath it beene taken either for the one or for the other And so the sence is as if Ireneus should say that as Eue was the ruine and ouerthrow of mankind so the
goest about to worship them then it is that the good Angell is displeased with thee c. And in an other place That which the greatest of the Angels doth worship Colere Idem de Vera relig c. 55. tom 10. the same is that which is to bee worshipped of the most base and meanest of all men for because of fayling toworship it the nature of men is become the last and worst For the Angels are not become either wise and vnderstanding or true and iust by any other then man but euen from one and the same wisedome and from that one and the same immutable veritie Euen the truth and wisedome of God of the same substance with the Father which hath thought good to take vpon him the nature of man to teach vs thereby that man hath no other to worship and adore then him which is adored and worshipped by euerie creature indewed with vnderstanding and reason Seruitute And leâ— vs know and belieue that the good Angels are also of the same mind that wee should worship with them one and the same God and therefore we doe honour them with brotherly loue but not with diuine worship or seruice neither doe we build any Churches vnto them and that because that Religon doth bind and restraine vs to the one onely Almightie God c. And thus you may see one of the foundations of Inuocation irrecouerably vndermined by this that we are not to adore any but the one only God that the Angels and Saints take it for offered iniurie when we doe otherwise That Inuocation hath an interest in Adoration as apart thereof c. And now behold here an other Idem in Psal 29. That there is not any mediatour but one onely that this one onely God will not bee called vpon and praied vnto but by this mediator If thou consider saith he the Diuinitie of our Lord Jesus Christ wee find not in it either matter place or affection for praier For in the beginning was the word c. But hearken to that which followeth after The word became flesh thou hast herein a Maiestie wherunto to pray and an humanitie that praieth for thee For this was spoken by the Apostle and that after the resurrection Who sitteth saith hee at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for vs. In as much as he hath vouchsafed to be a mediatour betwixt God and men And what is this God The Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost And what are men Sinners wicked and vngodly mortall Betwixt this Trinitie and the iniquitie and infirmitie of men was a mediatour made euen a man But it may be that this man is not placed ordained al alone for the executing of this charge office Non est quo eas nisi ad me Non est qua cas nisi per me In Iohan. tract 22. Idem de Relig. Serm. 55. tract 10. Praeteripsum Idem in Psal 109. but heare yet further Behold what thy Sauiour saith vnto thee Thou hast not whether else to goe besides me thou hast not whereby to goe thither but by me Walke by Christ so thou commest to God thou goest by him thou goest to him Seeke not wherby thou maiest come to him otherwise then by him He was made the way by which thou hast to come I say not vnto thee seeke the way he that is the way is come vnto thee arise walke walk by good manners walke on foote Whosoeuer runneth out of this way the more hee runneth the more he waÌ„dreth because that he draweth the more backward out of his way And for as much as praier is the meane by which man approcheth vnto God he explaneth himself the more carfully Ther is not saith he any righteous praier but by Christ Again that praier that is not made by Christ is sin Let his praier saith he be turned into sin And wherefore Because it was not made by the mediatour of God men Iesus Christ the man What then the Saints Martyrs Apostls angels cannot they be mediators cannot they be our aduocates Let vs heare him Idemâ—ontra Parmen l. 2. c. 8 S. Iohn saith not saith he you haue an Aduocate as seperating himselfe from amongst sinners as though forsooth hee had had no more need of the propitiation which is made by the Mediator sitting at the right hand of the father making intercession for vs for then he had spoken arrogantly and falsely And if he had said you haue me for a mediator with the father I obtaine pardon for your sinne as Parmenian who set the Bishop in the place of the mediator betwixt the people and God it had beene yet worse Exoro Who would haue taken him for an Apostle of Christ Yea who wold not on the contrarie haue taken him for Antichrist To the end therfore that Christians may keepe the vnitie of the spirit in al their praiers let theÌ„ be assuredly perswaded of one onely mediatour For Christians doe recommend one an other in their praiers but he alone is the true mediator which maketh intercession for all and for whome no man praieth So Paul though a principall member vnder the head but yet notwithstanding a member recommendeth himselfe to the praiers of the faithfull he maketh not himselfe any mediatour betwixt the people and God but he praieth that all the members of the body of Christ would praie for him c. For if Paul were a mediatour then all his fellow Apostles should be so likewise Non constaret ei ratio Idem in 1. Ep. Ioh. And if that there should be any mediatour then Paul himselfe should misse in his accompt when as hee saith one God one mediatour of God and of men c. In an other place We haue an aduocate c. Behold and marke Iohn the same that dranke vpon the Lords breast c. He saith not you haue but we haue and he saith not you haue me for an aduocate but you haue Christ. And he chused rather said hee to put himselfe in the number of the sinners that he might haue Christ an aduocate then to set himselfe downe for the aduocate in the place of Christ and to be found condemned amongst the proud and arrogant He that hath held this hath not spotted himselfe with heresie hath not fallen into schisme For hence it is that schismes arise when men say we are iust and righteous we sanctifie the vncleane we iustifie the wicked we praie we obtaine c. And the Saints then saith hee doe they not pray for vs And the Bishops doe not they pray for the people Read but the Scriptures and you shall see that the Bishops doe recommend themselues vnto the people The Apostle saith praying alwaies for vs the Apostle for the people the people for the Apostle you for vs wee for you all the members one for another the head for all c. And then the Saints liuing and not the dead for
thing was said to be done And here it is not to be forgotten that Bonauenture saith that when he was dead these scarres and printes were seene and acknowledged by many in so much as that some of them put nailes into them And Mathias Paris on the contrary a Monke that liued at the time of his death of a longer standing and more auncient by fortie yeares then Bonauenture writeth in his Chronicle that there was not any manner of print to be seene after his death And yet the man was not to bee suspected for the matter Dominick for he speaketh as superstitiously as any of the rest And haue they said any lesse of Dominick Nay rather it belonged to them to incroach dayly enter deeper into blasphemy And so much the more because of the emulation raised betwixt these two orders because that Dominick who was the formost in time seemed to come last in reputation account Anton. Archicp in tit 23. c. 11. the Archb. Antonine therefore that was of this order peiseth his miracles not against those of S. Frauncis but against the miracles of our Lord giueth them the start prerogatiue both for number for greatnes Christ saith he raised but three from death at all Dominick at Rome onely raised as many and 40. neere to Tholosa which were drowned on horsebacke in the riuer Garona besides infinite others Christ after his resurrection went in to his disciples the dores being shut Dominick whilet yet he bare about this mortall bodie which is much more went into the temple the dores being fast Now by the way let vs note that this was by their owne speech either by the proprietie of a spirituall and glorified bodie or els by an Almightie power And thus he goeth through all the miracles of our Lord alwaies preferring and giuing S. Dominick the vpper hand To be short Christ said after his death All power is giuen to me in heauen and in earth and verily saith he this power was not in a small measure communicated bestowed vpon Dominicke ouer all things in heauen earth or hell and that euen in this life for he had Angels to attend vpō and serue him the elements obaied him and the deuils trembled vnder him And this he laieth downe in many examples He addeth further that at Rome there were two images the one of S. Paul and the other of S. Dominick that at the feet of the former was written Per istum itur ad Christum by this men go to Christ and at the feet of the latter Facilius itur per istum but more easily and readily by this man that is to say by Dominicke That is saith Antonine Because that the doctrine of Paul and the Apostles induced and persuaded men to belieue but Dominicks to obserue and keep the councels Which is a shorter course and cut And thus you may already see that he was more then S. Paul and all the Apostles But what shall we say now of that which followeth Quia saith he Domino nostro similis est Dominicus aptissimé denominatus est verie fitlie and rightly was he called Dominicke because he was like Domino to our Lord. And he was possessiuelie in possession that which our Lord was authoritatiuely in authoritie for the Lord said I am the light of the world and the Church singeth of Dominick you are the light of the world The Prophets beare witnesse Domino vnto the Lord and to Dominicke also Zacharie 11. I haue chosen me two roddes the one I haue called Decorem beautie that is to say the order of Saint Dominicke the other Funiculum a corde or band that is the order of the Gray friers thus they abuse the scripture Dominus that is to say our Lord was borne on the bare earth but the virgine for feare of cold laid him in a manger Dominicus from his swathing clothes abhorring the pamperinges and tender delightes of the worlde was found oftentimes by his nurse lying all naked vpon the bare earth For our Lord there appeared a starre in beauen in token that he did lighten the whole world In the forehead likewise of Dominicke as he was baptised the Godmother espied a star signifying a new light to be borne into the world c. The praier of our Lord was euer more heard when he would for in the garden that which he asked of a fleshlie desire hee would not obtaine according to reason But Dominick neuer demanded any thing of God which he did not whollie enioy according to his owne desire Dominus that is our Lord loued vs and washed vs from our sinnes in his blood Dominicke through a perfection of charitie tooke euerie daie three disciplines or corrections from his owne hand not with a corde but with an iron chaine euen to the causing of his blood to runne downe One for his faults though they were verie small another for those that were in Purgatorie and the third for them that liued here in the world c. And thus this Archbishop Antonine draweth this comparison through all the parts of the life of our Lord. In a word our Lord being to depart out of this world promiseth the Comforter vnto his disciples And Dominick saith vnto his Be not grieued for I wil do you more good in the place whither I go then I haue done here for there you haue me a better aduocate then any other that you can haue there c. And what shall now become of that which S. Iohn saith vnto vs If we haue sinned we haue an aduocate euen Iesus the righteous c. And notwithstanding these blasphemies are authorized by the Church of Rome for the good establishment that they haue procured vnto the Popes their authoritie for Gregorie the ninth canonized Dominicke in the yeare 1223. ordained a festiual day to be kept vnto him authorized also his rule and order and bestowed priuiledges vppon the same Now hee that writ these thinges was an Archbishop of Plorence high accounted of amongst our aduersaries Albert. Krant in hist Saxon. l. 9. c. 7. Abb. Trithem in Chronic. Hirsaughtiens But in the meane time they are warie enough not to tell vs any thing amongst the rest of their miracles of that which Krantzius reporteth vnto vs That one Bernard a Iacobine Confessor and Chaplen to the Emperour Henrie the 7. did poison him in the host Whereupon saith Trithemius the Abbot Pope Clement the fift inioyned them for a marke of reproch and ignominie that the Priests of their order from thence forward should neuer receiue or deliuer the communion but with the left hand An example for the Popes of these times to ordaine by the same reason that they should as yet be restrained from the vse of their right hand in detestation of the murther committed by frier Clement a Iacobine vpon the person of K. Henry the third In a word to come to our purpose Bullae fraternitatum ordinis
spirite by which wee belieue and say that Iesus Christ is the Lord which no man can say by the libertie and freedome of his will but onely by the holy Ghost c. This is the same with that which the Bishops of the East did write vnto the Bishops of Africke S. Barnard Bernard de grat liber arb Libertas a peccato In the fall Adam fell from his not being able to sinne to his not being able to doe any thing but sinne hauing altogether lost the libertie of taking aduise and counsell c. as also that which he had of forbearing to sinne And this losse happened vnto him by the abusing of the libertie of his will c. Being fallen from his will it is not still remaining free for him to raise vp himselfe againe by the same For although at this day be would doe it yet the case so standeth with him as that it is not in his power not to sinne It must be Christ that must inspire and indue him with new vertue by his restauration that the Lord may transforme vs into this image howbeit euen then our perfection commeth not in this life but in the life to come c. And he is full in all his bookes of such places which shal hereafter be seene as better opportunitie serueth Peter Lombard saith Lomb. l. 2. d. 25 After sinne till there be a restauration by grace man is ouercome and pressed of concupiscence and hath infirmitie to doe euill but hee hath no grace to doe good And therefore he can sinne but he cannot cease to sinne and that damnablie c. Againe In that Adam hath sinned of free will and that sinne hath ouercome him he hath lost his free will Libertatem inquam à peccato the libertie that hee had to keep himselfe from sinning whereof the Apostle speaketh whereas the spirit of the Lord is there is the libertie and truth of the Gospell If the Sonne deliuer you not you cannot bee free c. And this libertie consisteth in being free from sinne for to serue and obey vnto righteousnes c. which thing they haue attained onely and not any others whome the Sonue hath repaired by grace c. And therefore Anselme said Anselm in 14. ad Rom. as Lombard doth alleadge him The whole life of infidelles is nothing but sinne For there is no goodnesse or felicitie to bee found where the chiefe goodnesse or felicitie is wanting Thom. in 2. sent dist 31 32 c. Thomas likewise layeth vs downe these Maxims The person of Adam hath infected nature and nature now infecteth the person the bodie infecteth the soule not by working vpon it but by receiuing from it for the soule is the proper subiect of originall sinne Idem l. 1. d. 41. Originall sinne is indifferently in all and the punishment thereof is likewise in all no man can satisfie for it but God onely making himselfe man No man can forsake or shake it off of himselfe for from the estate of nature to the estate of grace no man can passe either by free will or by merite but per appositionem gratiae ex mera gratia by the adding and applying of grace c. It may be Not one to be excepted no not the holy virgine August de nupt concupise Idem de perfect iustit Idem contr Iul. l. 5. c. 9. that they haue excepted some persons from this common and generall condition at the least the virgine Marie Let vs heare then Saint Augustine All flesh that is borne by the carnall copulation of man and woman is sinfull flesh That onely which was not so begotten is without sinne that is to say the humane bodie of our Lord. Againe Whosoeuer thinketh that there hath beene anie either man or woman for in Latine he comprehendeth both the sexes except the alone Mediator of God and men to whom the remission of sinnes is not needfull he is contrarie to the holie scripture wherein the Apostle saith by a man sinne is entered into the world c. Yea saith he in another place hee is an hereticke For if as without all doubt it is the flesh of Christ bee not sinfull flesh but like onely to sinfull flesh what remaineth but that it onely being excepted all other humane flesh is sinfull flesh c. Then he concludeth And who so denieth this iâ— a detestable hereticke Yea the flesh of the virgine For saith he It appeareth that concupiscence which Christ would not haue to beare any stroke at all in his conception hath caused the propagation of euill into all mankind For the body of Marie although that he did spring from thence did not notwithstanding transfuse any part of the same concupiscence into the body of Christ because shee did not conceiue thereby And it is not here to be obiected which he speaketh of in an other place that it is not his purpose to speake of the mother of our Lord when the question is of sinne Idem de natu grat c. 6. Because shee hath had greater measure of grace giuen her to ouercome all the parts and parcels of sinne For in that he saith to ouercome it presupposeth a combat with sinne for the ouercomming whereof shee had need of new grace To which purpole wee alleadged Origen heretofore Whereas if she had not beene redeemed iustified and sanctified by the blond of Christ then shee had not beene it at all S. Ambroâ—e saith Ambr. in Luc. Immaculatâ— Partus nouitare Idem in Esay Our Lord Iesus is he alone of all those that haue beene borne of women which hath not felt the contagion of earthly infection and that by reason of the new and extraordinarie manner of his conception and generation which was without spot or touch of sinne Againe Euerie man is a lyar and no man without sinne except God alone It is therefore to bee obserued that not one that is of man and woman that is to say of the coniunction of their bodies that is without sinne Anselm l. 2. Cur deus hom c. 16. in 2. ad Cor. c 5. as also that he that is without this sinne was also begotten without this manner of conception c. Anselme I would know saith he how of this sinfull lumpe of this mankind altogether infected with sinne God should draw foorth a man without sinne Tanquam azymum de fermento being as much as if a man should go about to make a Loafe of vnleauened bread out of a lumpe that is nothing but leauen For although that the conception of this man were pure and vndefiled yet the Virgine out of whose wombe he was taken was conceiued in iniquitie and her mother conceiued her in sinne and therefore also borne with originall sinne for shee likewise hath sinned in Adam in whose person all haue sinned Rom. 5.12 Whereby we may see the impudencie of our aduersaries who vpon the second to the Corinthians where it is said All
For without the Lawe sinne was not knowne whereas now there is no man that can excuse himselfe by ignorance Ambros l. 9. Ep. 71. wherefore it is made First for to take away excuse Secondly to humble euerie man before God by the sight and knowledge of his sinne Sinne did superabound through the Law and began to be offensiue vnto me for to know it as being a thing which by infirmitie I could not auoide for it causeth a man throughly to know that from which no man can keepe himselfe and which cannot but hurt him The Law then is turned vpside downe except that euen by the verie increase of sinne it become profitable vnto me by the meanes of my hauing beene humbled c. In the end transgression increased by the Law and in like manner pride was abated being the originall of transgression and this turned me to profit for as pride deuised and found out transgression euen so transgression hath wrought and brought foorth grace c. Againe Sinne hath shut out the naturall Law yea and almost quite abolished it and therefore this Law succeeded to conuince vs by written testimonies to shut our mouthes and to humble the whole world before God To humble it for as much as by the Law wee are all cast and conuict persons and for that by the workes of the Law there is no man iustified that is to say that by the Law sinne is knowne but the offence is not pardoned It might haue seemed then that the Lawe had brought dammage and hurt with it in that it hath made vs all sinners but the Lord comming hath with vs giuen sentence against the sinne which wee could not auoide and hath cancelled our bill of debt by his bloud c. Ep. 73. The Law therefore saith hee is a Schoolemaster that leadeth vs vnto our Master which master is Christ Saint Augustine The letter of the Law which teacheth that wee ought not to sinne August de spirit liter if the quickning spirit doe not accompanie the same doth kill vs For it hath done more for vs to bring vs to the knowledge of sinne then to the auoiding of the same for euerie way wee stand in need of an absolute righteousnesse when as yet the case so standeth as that there is no man without sinne him onely excepted which is not onely man but God by his nature c. Thus saith hee the righteousnesse of God is manifested but not without the Law for by the Law hee hath shewed vnto man his infirmitie to the end that returning by faith and hauing recourse vnto his mercie he might be healed c. Againe The vnrighteous haue a lawfull vse of the Law as of a Schoolemaster for it is vnto them beeing vnrighteous a iust terrour the iust doe vse it also and yet are not iustified by it but by the Law of faith The Law of workes is in Iudaisme the Lawe of faith in Christianitie c. By the Law of workes God saith Doe this that I commaund you by the Law of faith we say to God Giue and inable vs to doe that which thou commaundest For that which the Law commaundeth is to make vs vnderstand what the Law doth Idem de verb. Apost Ser. 13. What is it then saith he in an other place lawfully and rightly to vse the Law It is to learne what our sicknesse and disease is by the Law The law is a Schoolemaster a guide and gouernour of children the Tutor dooth not giue directions and instructions to the child how to come to him but to his Schoolemaster but to his Master that is to say to Christ In an other place Who is that saith he that can accomplish the Law Idem l. 9. retract so much as in one point besides him who is the author of all the commaundements of God that is to say Christ For likewise in these commaundements we are to pray thus Forgiue vs c. Which the Church is to continue vnto the end of the world But saith he all the commaundements are said to bee fulfilled when that which is not fulfilled is pardoned Thou saiest Idem de perfect Iustit Wherefore then should hee haue commaunded that which could not be fulfilled Nay rather saith he what could he doe more for the good of man then to commaund him to walke vpright to the end that when hee should be brought to confesse and acknowledge that he could not hee might haue recourse vnto the remedie And this is it which hee toucheth in briefe Idem in Iohn c. 3. by way of recapitulation in an other place Seeing that they could not fulfill the Law by their owne power and strength being become guiltie of the Law they haue craued the helpe of the deliuerer To bee conuicted of the Law Reatus legis wrought spite and maliciousnesse in the proude and this spite in the proude brought forth confession in the humble so that now the sicke and diseased doe confesse themselues sicke and diseased Let the Phisition come saie they and heale our diseased and sicke people nowe the Physition is our Lord c. The Demi-pelagians and amongst other of them the Monke Cassianus put foorth this question to Prosper that great Diuine of Fraunce And what is then the vse of the law Prosper Aquit in sentent 42. 44. In Epigram 43. in Psal 118. Verily saith hee that we might seeke for grace euen that grace by the which the Law is fulfilled The law saith he which could not bee fulfilled and that not through it owne default but through ours and our fault was necessarily discouered by the Law that so it might be cured by grace Otherwise the Law doth rather increase sinne then diminish or cut it off in as much as to concupiscence it addeth disobedience And in an other place in one word Chrysost in Ep. ad Rom. hom 5. 17. Idem in 1. Tim. hom 2. Transmittit ernard in Cantic Serm. 50. Jndex peccati lex est c. Saint Chrysostome saith The Law would iustifie man but it cannot for neuer did any man fulfill it and no man can be iustified thereby but in accomplishing of the same a thing which is not possible for any man What doth it then It straineth it selfe it doth his dutie to send vs to him that is able to doe it and the same is Iesus Christ saith he if thou belieue in him And this is the same also that Saint Barnard hath so excellently said God in commaunding vs impossible things hath not properly made men sinners but hath made them humble For in receiuing the commaundement and espying the default we will crie to heauen and God will haue pittie on vs and then also in that day we shall know that it is not by the workes that we shal haue done that we shall be saued but by his mightie power c. Now these which haue so well instructed vs in the office and ministration
haue not any reward but that which is bestowed vppon vs in our free pardon Saint Barnard saith in one word Bernard in Psal 91. Serm. 9. 15. De Sepulch Idem in Cant. Serm. 22. By faith Christ dwelleth in our harts and as for works they giue testimonie vnto our faith how that it liueth Againe The fruit of the knowledge of God is the strong crie of prayer c. Death being dead life is restored into his place in like manner sinne being taken away righteousnesse succeedeth it c. And how Because saith heâ—e in an other place they that are iustified from their sinnes desire and resolue themselues â—o embrace and follow holinesse without the which no man shall see God For they heare the Lord who cryeth Be holy c. But All these workes saith he all these pretended merits Sunt viâ—â— regni non causa regnandi They are the way to raigne but not the cause thereof But as we said before these two righteousnesses are verie much differing namely that which approueth and iustifieth our faith from that which iustifieth our selues that burning and beeing consumed at the onely appearance of the shining brightâ—nesse of the face of God this beeing of proofe against the Cannon shot of Gods wrath and Hell it selfe that being the worke of the newe man which is renued but slowly in vs this of the eternall God himselfe who hath giuen himselfe wholly and intirely vnto vs. And therefore all that righteousnesse before this is held for nothingâ— by the Apostle himselfe for worse then nothing that is for corruption and filthinesse so farre off is it from meriting any thing And this also euen with the littleâ— goodnesse that it hath in it is the gift of God and the worke of God working in our hearts by his spirit which saith vnto our pride What hast thou that thou hast not receiued That which is most rife in thee is the worke of Adam more weightie ordinarily then the rest and which concludeth against him Who can draw that which is cleane out of that which is foule and filthie c. For how should a perfect worke spring from an imperfect faith A sound fruie from a diseased tree But the case so standeth as that wee dayly crie here on earth Increase our faith strengthen it purge it from all diffidencie and distrust And notwithstanding wee admire heere the goodnesse of the mercifull God in respect of that which hee hath giuen to him whome hee hath iustified by the gift of faith and by the gift of righteousnesse hee will haue it called a reward but verily such a one as groweth due vpon free promise and not by purchase And thereupon our pride hath set in foote to build the matter of merit a word not heard of throughout the whole Scripture a word condemned throughout the whole Analogie of faith which setteth before it no other thing then the merit of Christ according to the free promise of the eternall father In the meane time where so euer there is Merces The abuse of this worde Merit Ierem. 31.16 Thom. l. 2. q. 114. art 2. a hire or reward promised of God the pride of man hath caused them to find out the merit of men Ieremie saith to the Church of the Iewes assuring them of their reestablishing They shall returne from the Countrie of the enemie Thy worke shall haue his reward From thence Thomas maketh an argument to proue their merit notwithstanding that there is properly handled the estate and condition which was to befall them in this world and not in the kingdome of heauen but hee concludeth notwithstanding that reward and merite cannot be but improperly spoken betwixt God and men betwixt whome there is no maner of equal proportion that is saith he That man obtaineth of God as in the nature of a reward it is because that he hath giuen him power and vertue to labour Quasi mercedem Hieronym in Esa l 15. c. 95. Mat. 5.22 Luke 6.23 Ambr. in Luc. l. 5. c. 6. But Saint Ierome hath spoken better alleadging this place That this reward is their inheritance which serue God In the Euangelists oftentimes Reioyce yee for great is your reward in heauen c. Ambrose verily wheresoeuer there is this word Merces interpreteth it praemium he causeth it to be attributed to the mercie of God and to be receiued by a Christian faith and in like manner all the rest as we shall see And as for that which Thomas argueth That that which is giuen according to iustice may seeme to be a condigne and worthy reward But the Apostle saith 2. Timoth. 4. Ambros in 2. Tim. c 4. Amplissima praemia The crowne of righteousnesse is reserued and laid vp in store forme which the Lord the iust Iudge will render vnto me in that day c. Verily he should haue called to mind that Saint Ambrose expounding this place saith Because that God giueth exceeding great gifts to them that loue him that is worthie of his greatnesse and not of our merits And the ordinarie Glose Seeing that faith is grace and eternall life grace it cannot be but that he hath giuen grace But Saint Augustine August in hom 50. Idem hom 14. as we shall see more largely and fully hereafter Nay saith hee Paul if he had giuen thee that which was due vnto thee he should haue bestowed punishment vpon thee c. Pardon me Apostle I doe not see any thing that is properly thine except euill and this is thine owne doctrine that thou hast taught vs That when God crowneth thy merites he crowneth nothing but his owne gifts c. And Thomas himselfe likewise may seeme to come neere to the same Thom. l. 2. q. 114. art 3. when hee saith That our workes considered as proceeding from our free will cannot merite but rather as proceeding from the grace of the holy Ghost giuen vnto vs. And in deed what man shall bee so proud as to dare to say That Abraham merited God by his workes vnder colour of those words which God saith vnto him I am thy reward Abraham saith the Apostle To whome faith was imputed for righteousnesse Now it were to be desired that the old writers had vsed this word more sparingly although their intention and drift be sufficiently cleare and manifest And whence it sprang But the truth is that that which the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dignitie or worthinesse the Latines haue translated Merit and consequently that which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be made or reputed worthie they haue expounded mereri for want of an other verbe to expresse it in one word And in deed the old Glosarie saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mereri to bee made worthie is expounded by this word to merit And it may be verified by many places In the disputation that fell betwixt the Orthodoxes and the Donatists in the time of Saint Augustine this word was ordinarily
beene deriued and drawne Masses for the deade through such an abuse much like to that which is condemned by diuers auncient Councels namely the giuing of the Eucharist vnto the dead Withall wee haue shewed that there is no Purgatorie that the old and new Testament did neuer acknowledge it as neither the first and most auncient antiquitie if so bee they take it not from the heathen as also that those which haue spoken of it did not meane the same which our aduersaries embrace maintaine but rather that this is an opinion which cannot by any meanes stand and agree with that of theirs and how that hereby Masses and Suffrages for the dead swarme vpon the face of the earth From this pretended sacrifice likewise haue proceeded and sprung the Masses said in honour of Saints in which they were both praied vnto and worshipped yea euen to the offering vp in sacrifice in honor of them of the Sonne of God himselfe if one would belieue them Further wee haue shewed that the inuocation and worshipping of Saints is condemned throughout the whole Scripture old and new and by all true antiquitie that the beginning of this doting madnesse was taken vp by the imitating of the heathens in their Paganisme shewing further the manifold contradictions that were maintained against the same for a long time and thus the whole seruice of Saints a great portion of the Papists doctrine falleth downe to the ground And for as much as Inuocation is grounded vppon the merit of Saints and this Merite oftentimes alleadged in the Masse and that euen in their speaking to God for the remission of sinnes wee haue verified and auoucht it that there is not any maner of meriting at Gods hand allowed or taught either in the Scriptures or in the auncient writers neither yet in the purer sort of the new latter writers except such as they themselues are at this day ashamed of In summe that there is neither sacrifice name nor merit which euer saued the dead or which euer was able to preserue the liuing but the onely name merit and sacrifice of one onely Iesus Christ God and man dead for our sinnes and risen for our iustification To whome with the Father and the holy Ghost be honour and glorie for the riches of his grace eternally and euerlastingly Amen The end of the third Booke The fourth Booke Wherein the holy Supper of our Lord is handled and intreated of as a Sacrament and consequently of the Masse and it is a treatise of Transubstantiation CHAPTER I. What a Sacrament is and wherein it consisteth And of the difference betwixt the Sacraments of the old and of the new Testament where are set downe certaine rules of the old writers for the vnderstanding of them HItherto wee haue intreated of the Masse as it is a corrupting of the holy Supper of our Lord in the qualitie or vnder the name and nature of a sacrifice it followeth now that we examine it as a counterfeit of the same in the qualitie of a Sacrament a matter intreated of so exactly by many great personages of this time as that it may seeme a verie vnaduised and needlesse thing after them to enter into the same matter not treading the steps wherein they haue gone before Notwithstanding because this worke would remaine lame vnperfect if it should want this part I will deale therevpon but so briefely as possibly may bee standing not so much vpon the matter of dispute as the course of the storie to the end that that which seemeth at the least to haue his stay and maintenance from auncient writers may be confessed and acknowledged not to haue any manner of recommendation at all more then that which it reapeth from the verie newest and latest writers that haue sprung vp in the Church of Rome The Lawe was no sooner giuen to man but sinne insued thereupon neither was sinne so soone hatched but that presently thereupon man receiued the writ of condemnation and sencibly felt the punishment thereof whereupon likewise the Gospell was preached vnto him Gene. 3. by Gods owne mouth namely in the promise of the holy seede which should bruise the head of the Serpent and in the incarnation of the Sonne of God for the redemption of mankind for the remission of our sinnes And this Gospell is the reconciliation of God with men by the bloud of our Lord shed effectually before the foundation of the world in as much as from the same he hath wrought the saluation and redemption of the Patriarkes and Prophets and to bee short of al them which haue bene saued either without the Law or vnder the law shed notwithstanding naturally in his appointed and determined time euen when our Sauiour hauing taken our flesh was stretched vpon the tree of the Crosse for vs. Man in the meane time in his blindnesse and peruerse nature became vnable either to see or belieue this excellent mysterie if God had not reuealed it vnto him The necessity of the sacraments but able on the contrarie quickly to forget it according to our ordinarie negligence and carelesnesse in heauenly things if it had not beene represented and set before his eyes continually And afterward what apparance or likely-hood could there be conceiued of sinfull man vnthankfull to God and condemned and cast away in his owne conscience that God would vouchsafe to be his God that hee would reconcile himselfe vnto a vile and vnprofitable creature that hee would make a league with dust giue himselfe to him for a perpetuall inheritance and deliuer his onely Sonne to suffer a shamefull and ignominious death for him All of them beeing workes of a bottomelesse depth of mercie towards a most miserable creature who waited and looked for nothing else in the guiltinesse of his owne conscience but a bottomlesse Sea of wrath and indignation This therefore was the cause why God our Creator the beginning middle and end of our saluation not content to haue promised and giuen his Sonne to our first parents vnto reconciliation and redemption and in their persons vnto their true posteritie which is the Church doth renue from time to time this Gospell vnto his children this glad tidings of the league and couenaunt made with his faithfull ones for their saluation giuing them sometimes Prophetes to preach his Christ that was to come and sometimes Apostles to testifie and beare witnesse vnto him alreadie come in the flesh dead and risen for vs. This is the ministerie of his holy word euermore continued in his Church He furthermore ordaineth for them Sacraments of this couenant made and accomplished earnest pence and palpable pledges of the certaintie of his promises testimonies of his faithfulnes and remedies of their distrust and diffidencie which speake and testifie outwardly both vnto their eares and eyes by the analogie and agreement of their nature and inwardly to their vnderstandings and hearts by the working of the holy Ghost accompanying them namely that this
midst of you c. Yea to frustrate and disapoint them euerie manner of way whether his purpose and intention stand good or not For if he be nothing bent that way then according to their doctrine hee consecrateth not neither is the Sonne of God communicated And neuerthelesse if he do consecrate yet they doe not communicate therein for they are alwaies subiect to doubt whether hee had any purpose and intention or not And whereas there is doubting there is no faith and where there is no faith there is nothing but sinne Now themselues are of this iudgement that hee cannot receiue the bodie of Christ which doth not belieue in him Now then what priuiledge hath the vertuous and godly man more then the wicked seeing that the intention or not intention of the Priest transubstantiateth or leaueth vntransubstantiated seeing that both the one the other are subiect to doubt of the intention therefore of the effect seeing that both the one and the other whether doubting or assured thereof do equally receiue or not receiue Likewise what shall become of their doctrine De opere operato That the thing profiteth and is auaileable in asmuch as it is onely performed and done not in regard of the person which doth it seeing that this whole mysterie dependeth now Ex opere operantis of the working and operation of the sacrificer Moreouer where shall the excellencie of this Sacrament aboue all other Sacraments bee found if the rest depend vppon the grace of God without any such necessitie of the intention of him that consecrateth as the greatest part of them doth hold of baptisme and of that pretended Sacrament of mariage c. On God I say whose intention and purpose neuer halteth or faileth neither yet by consequent the obiect of our faith the same not to speake any thing more sharpely and grieuously of the infirmity of man being subiect to faile euerie moment But further I would know what shal become of their priuate Masses Bonauent in Comp. Sacr. Theol. rubr 11. l. 8. Gabr. Biel. lect 6. lit C. seeing that Bonauenture Biel hold That besides the intent of him that consicrateth there is required the intent and purpose of him that instituteth and ordaineth that it is not sufficient for the Priest to haue an intent to consecrate if hee follow not the intent of Christ in this sacrament But Hugo and Biel the most part of the schoolmen are they not of iudgement that priuate Masse wherein there is no publike remembrance made of the death of Christ doth nothing at all agree with the mind of the institutor what consolation then can they of the Church of Rome haue in the Sacrament when in stead of nourishing of their faith they maintaine and feed doubt and vncertaintie when as after they haue beene well prepared they know not what they receiue the efficacie of the consecration being vnable to penetrate and pearce according to their doctrine in the Sacrament without this intention and purpose the man likewise not being able to pearce and see into the intent of the consecrating Priest by any meanes Thus in seeking to giue too much to the worthinesse of the Priest they haue taken away the effect of the Sacrament from God who onely worketh the same and from the people the profit and fruit which should come to them thereby Stella clericoruÌ„ and for which it was ordained And all this that they might be honoured in the dispensation of the mysteries of God more then God himselfe more then the Creator whose Creators and makers since the time of the entring of the doctrine of transubstantiation they haue not beene ashamed to professe themselues to be Now the old Church had neuer any such doctrine they did not at any time once thinke of calling of Christ out of heauen by multitude of wordes What is meant by consecrating they did attribute the communion of the bodie of Christ to the institution of our Lord to the operation of the holy Ghost and to the faith of the faithfull To consecrate in their language was to sanctifie that is to blesse that is to change a thing from the common vse to a holy and from a profane to a sacred which is accomplished by the word that is to say by the institution of the Lord which giueth it his efficacie Thus speaketh Saint Cyprian ordinarily That the bread and the wine of the holy Supper are sanctified by the word And S. Augustine expoundeth it saying Not for that it is spoken but for that it is belieued not the sound that flâ—eth away but the permanent and abiding power that is to say the operation of the spirit of God c. After the same manner haue all the ancient fathers written as S. Hillarie Isidor l. 6. Ambrose Ierome Gregorie c. Isidore in like sort By the commandement of Christ we call his bodie and his bloud that which is sanctified of the fruites of the earth and made a Sacrament by the inuisible operation of the spirit of God c. In which sence the prophane Authors vsed also the word Consecration Promiscui vsus Cornelius Fronto saith Consecrated that is that which is made holy or turned to a holy vse being before prophane that is to say of a common vse But God forbid that our Lord should make the communion of his bodie which he offereth vnto vs subiect either to the sound of words or to the intent mind of him that vttereth them The ministers as were also the Apostles are made for the church not the church for them yea they are the ministers and not the Lords thereof they are not dispensers of their owne mysteries but of Christs yet which is more not of Christes mysteries but of the signes of his mysteries onely 1. Cor. 13. no more then they are of faith which commeth of the hearing of the worde notwithstanding that they minister the word to vs God hauing reserued vnto himselfe the gift of faith to worke the same by the effectuall power of his spirit as a dispensation only from his grace being no more depending on him that ministreth then tied to the signes which hee ministreth c. God verily saith to Moses And thou shalt sanctifie it c. Leuit 3. August in quaest in Leui. But he saith also in another place I am the Lord which do sanctifie it S. Augustine demandeth thereupon How can it be that both the Lord and Moses should do it Verily saith he Moses by the visible sacraments by his ministerie but the Lord by his inuisible grace by his spirit as that wherein lieth all the fruit and benefit of the visible sacraments So Iohn Baptist the greatest amongst those that are borne of women saith the Lord baptised with water but the gift of the spirit was of Christ And by the ministerie of Paul and Apollos many belieued but the gift of faith by which man belieueth
Mathew S. Marke and S. Luke doe all of them make mention how our Lord tooke the bread blessed it gaue it to his disciples saying vnto them Take eate this is my bodie how commeth it that S. Iohn maketh no mention thereof in this place that is to say in the rehearsing of that which goeth before the passion of our Lord Verily saith he It is a testimonie that our Lord hath spoken of that point a great deale more largely elswhere and where then but in this sermon of Capernaum Chrysost in Mat. hom 83. And Chrysostome saith How came it to passe that his disciples were not much troubled when they heard this Namely these words This is my bodie c. Verily saith he Because he had handled the great and waightie points of this thing before hand he laboured not to confirme that which they did alreadie vnderstand c. And againe And he drurke saith he himselfe least the hearing these words should haue said what then Doe we drinke blood and eate we flesh c. For when he first spake of these things manie were offended onely for the wordes sake to the end therefore that this might not come to passe againe he first performed the action himselfe that so he might take away whatsoeuer might trouble their spirits or perplexe their mindes in the communicating of the misteries Whereby it appeareth that those excellent olde fathers haue referred the place of S. Iohn to the interpretation of the holy supper instituted afterward that is to say that the eating which is ordained in the vse of the sacrament in the holy supper is the same that without the sacrament is declared in that place If then it bee spirituall here let it bee so likewise there And therefore let vs heare what the fathers say vpon the same Tertullian Notwithstanding that he saith That the flesh profiteth nothing Tertul. de resurrect carn wee must gather the sence from the matter of that which is spoken For in as much as they accounted his speeches to be harsh and intollerable as if he had determined in deed to haue giuen them his flesh to eate to direct and bring the state of their saluation to the spirite hee did set downe aforehand It is the spirit that quickeneth Marke that he saith Verily which cannot be expounded and taken there for Visiblie but for Carnally c. Athanasius â—pon this place Whosoeuer shal haue spoken a word against the Son of man De peccat contr spirit whereunto by consequent we haue to oppose Spirituallie Athanasius The Lord disputing in S. Iohn of the eating of his bodie and seeing that many were offended said vnto them what will this bee then if you see the Sonne of man ascend and go where he was before c. It is the spirit which quickneth c. For be hath spoken there both of the one and the other of the flesh and of the spirit and hath distinguished the spirit from the flesh to the end that belieuing not in that onely which appeareth to the eyes but also in the inuisible nature wee may learne that those thinges which hee spake are not carnall but spirituall For to how many men should his bodie bee able to be sufficient meate that so it might bee the foode and nourishment of the whole worlde But to draw them from vnderst anding of him carnally he made mention of his ascention and to make them to vnderstand afterward that the flesh whereof he had spoken was a spirituall meate and heauenly food that he was to giue it them from aboue For the thinges saith he which I haue told you are spirit and life As if he said My bodie which is shewed and giuen for the world is giuen for meate to the ende that it may be giuen spiritually to euerie one and that it may become a defensatiue and preseruatiue to all in the resurrection vnto eternall life S. Augustine expounding these wordes August in psal 98. The wordes which I speake vnto you are spirit and life bringeth in our Lord expounding those of the holy Supper in these tearmes Vnderstand saith he spiritually that which J haue said You shal not eate this bodie which you see you shall not drinke that blood which they shall shed that shall crucifie mee I haue recommended vnto you a certaine Sacrament which spiritually vnderstood will quicken and make you aliue Idem tract 27. in Ioh. and if necessitie require that it be visiblie celebrated yet it must be vnderstood inuisiblie Againe What meaneth this saying They are spirite and life that wee may vnderstande them spirituallie they are spirite and life hast thou vnderstoode them carnally they are notwithstanding spirite and life but not to thee And spiritually that is to say figuratiuely mistically Carnally is as much as to say literally really For saith he Thou hast to obserue this rule Idem de doct Christ l. 3. c. 16 If in the scripture a word or phrase of speech doe for bid thee some vile and wicked thing or command thee some honest and good worke that then it is not figuratiue but if on the contrarie c. thou must then make account of it to be figuratiue If you eate not the flesh c. it may seeme to command a trespasse c. it must needes then be a figuratiue speech a phrase and manner of speech commanding vs to be partakers of the death and passion of our Lord Cyril Cateches mystag Idem in Leuit. l. 7. and sweetly and profitablie to call to our remembrance that his flesh was crucified and pearced through for vs. S. Cyril Bishop of Ierusalem If you eate not c. Not vnderstanding these things according to the spirit they went away offended supposing that he had inuited them to a banket of mans flesh Saint Cyrill Bishop of Alexandria If you eate not c. But if you bee the children of the Church and instructed in the mysteries of the Gospell If the word which is made flesh dwell in you c. know that the thinges which are written in diuine bookes are figures c. For there is also in the new Testament and Gospels the killing letter c. as he shall find that doth not spiritually apprehend the thinges that are there spoken c. and hee bringeth forth this place for an example Theoph. in Ioh. c. 6. Whereupon also Theophilact though he were of that time wherein transubstantiation was set vp saith vpon this place In as much as we vnderstand it spiritually wee are no prophane deuourers of flesh but rather we are sanctified by this meate Againe For that they vnderstood it carnally he saith vnto them That which I tell you must be vnderstood spiritually and that is the way to profite thereby But to expound and take them carnally that profiteth nothing but turneth into matter of grosse offence Therefore he addeth The words that I say are spirit that is to say spirituall and life that is
Idem Serm. 2. de Baptisme c. 3. lie open to such great and grieuous threatnings what shall we say of him that sheweth himselfe rash and vnaduisedly carying himselfe against so great a misterie Verily wee will say with Saint Paul That he eateth and drinketh his owne condemnation not discerning the Lords body But wee may learne of the said Saint Basill in the same place that such touching is not meant of the body but of the soule For saith he By so much the more as he is greater then the Temple c. so much the more is it to be feared to approach rashly to touch with an impure and filthy soule the body of Christ then to come neere vnto sheepe and Oxen c. Out of Gregorius Nyssenus the brother of Saint Basill they cite a place Gregor de vita Mosis but it maketh nothing at all for them for hee intreating of the Manna saith The bread that came downe from heauen which is the true mâ—ate which is signified in this historie is not a thing without a body For how should a thing without a body become foode and sustenance to a body This would be to purpose against such as should denie the veritie of the body of Christ and further can it not serue But and if they should gather from it that common bread by consecrating may be made the heauenly bread and the heauenly bread a body to nourish our bodies they should sinne many waies against themselues for they will not graunt that either the bread may bee made a body neither yet that it entreth into the nourishment of the body whereupon it remaineth that wee vnderstand this place by the Councell of Nice That the Sacrament to become profitable both to soule and bodie is made vnto vs a seale of the resurrection c. But will wee plainely know this Fathers meaning The bread saith he in the beginning is common Idem de Bapt. but the misterie hauing made it sacred it is called and is the body of Christ and so the wine and beeing things of small accompt before the blessing after the same which proceedeth of the spirit they worke excellently What then is there any transmutation of the substance Thus saith he by the newnesse of the blessing the same power that is to say of the holy Ghost maketh the Minister reuerend and seperated from the vulgar sort for of one of the multitude of the people which he was yesterday he is sudainely become a Master and teacher of pietie and a super-intendent of the hidden and pro found misteries and al this without any maner of change made either in his body or forme Thus againe the Altar is holy and yet it is but a common stone not differing from others that walles are made of but this commeth to passe by the dedicating of it to God Let vs reason from thence therfore neither the bread nor the wine are changed in themselues neither in their bodies or formes but onely in that of common ones they are made sacred and sanctified instruments of God to exhibite vnto vs his grace c. Gregorius Nazianzenus Eate the body and drinke the bloud without beeing confounded and doubting c. and denie not faith vnto the things which are named of the flesh and Passion of our Lord c. that is to say Bee not offended as are the Iewes and Gentiles at the Crosse and infirmities of Christ But say they hee calleth it Eating and drinking c. And who will doubt of that We doe not contend about the thing but the manner Verily saith he let vs become partakers of the Passeouer and yet notwithstanding spiritually Greg. Nazianz in orat 2. de Pasch although this Passeouer bee more manifest then the old For the Passeouer of the Law I speake it boldly was a more obscure figure of a figure c. And then ours also is but a figure but yet a more cleare and plaine figure And in the funerals of his sister Gorgonia Idem in funere Gorg. If said he her hand had in any part clasped and laid close hold vppon any thing of the representations and resemblances of the precious body or bloud of Christ c. Then they continued resemblances that is to say figures after the consecration For otherwise who would belieue that these holy persons more zealous verily and bearing more reuerence vnto sacred things then they of this age would haue permitted these women to touch them thus with their hands and so to carie traile them vp and downe their houses Optatus doth agrauate the furious outrages of the Donatists in these words Optat. aduers Parm. l. 2. You haue broken downe the Altars whereupon heretofore you haue offered whereupon the vowes of the people and the members of Christ haue beene carried from whereof many haue receiued the pledges of eternall saluation the protection of faith and the hope of the resurrection you haue broken the cups the bearers of the bloud of Christ c. The Altar which is the seate of his bodie and of his bloud c. Who seeth not that all this must be figuratiuely taken and that the first figures doe binde vs to the others Verily after the same manner that the members of Christ that is to say the faithfull and their vowes haue beene carried vpon the Altar that is to say in spirit in the same the body and bloud haue beene set there also the Cups haue beene the bearers c. And in like maner when he saith The pledge of eternall life the hope of the resurrection what other thing is this then that which the Councell of Nice said Pledges of our resurrection And at the least of that which he saith afterward What offence hath Christ done you whose body and bloud at certaine moments dwelt in these Altars They should haue learned that this could not bee spoken or vnderstood but of the vse celebration of the holy supper and that at that time they had not kept them in a tabernacle vpon the Altar that they might be there still resident and worshipped continually And as little dooth that proue Ephrem l. de natur Dei nimium scrutanda which they alleadge of Saint Ephrem Why seekest and searchest thou saith he for things that are past finding out Thou wilt leaue off to be faithfull any longer and fall to becurious For whome may this saying better fit then the embracers of transubstantiation for they haue vndertakeÌ„ to examine these misteries by Auerrhoes and Aristotle But rather saith hee be faithfull and innocent be partaker of the immaculate bodie of thy Lord by a most euen faith Assure thy selfe that thou eatest the same Lambe whole and intire c. These things surpasse all admiration he hath giuen vs fire and spirit to eate and drinke that is his bodie and his bloud c. Fire then and spirit which are not laid hold on or taken with the hand but spiritually but
the carrion shall bee Idem hom 24. in 1. Cor. c. 10. thither will the Eagles resort The Eagles saith he to shew that it greatly standeth him vpon that wil come neere to this body to pitch his flight in the highest and loftiest degree and that he haue nothing to doe with the earth that he looke vp vnto behold the Sun of righteousnes And that he haue the eye of his vnderstanding verie quicke and sharpe sighted for this table is a table for Eagles to feed vpon and not the Crowes They are to thinke saith he in an other place Idem hom 60. ad Pop. Antioch Idem in Psal 144.133 in Mat. hom 7. 90. Idem in Ep. ad Caesar Monach Idem in oper impers hom 11. in Iohan. That they taste and feed on him that is set on high worshipped of Angels They are to rise vp to the gates of heauen to looke vpon him he filleth the spirit not the belly He distributeth the holy things vnto them that are holy Thou maiest imbrace him but it must be with a pure conscience touch him but by rising in thy spirit soaring aboue the heauens But what is there in all this that maketh for the transubstantiators In the Epistle to Caesarius ther is a doubt put yet it is an old one The bread saith he before it be sanctified is called by vs bread but after that it is sanctified by the grace of God c. it is thoght worthy to be called by the name of the body of our Lord notwithstanding that the nature of bread doe still abide in it c. And in an other place If it be daungerous to conuert sanctified vessels to priuate vses there being not in them the verie bodie of Christ but the misterie of his body then how much more the vessels of our bodies which God hath prepared for his owne habitation c. Whether Chrysostome Maximinus or some other were the Author of this booke so it is that he speaketh as was then the vse and custome and according to the faith receiued in the Church For as concerning that which Bellarmine saith that a certaine disciple of Berengarius did insert it it is as easie for vs to denie as it is hard and difficult for him to proue Saint Ierome speaketh not any otherwise Hieronym in Mat. 26. After saith hee that the Passeouer was accomplished and the flesh of the Lambe eaten with the Apostles he tooke bread which comforteth the heart of man and passeth forward to the Sacrament of the true Passeouer to the end that as Melchisedec Gods high Priest offering for a presiguration of him had done he also might represent the truth of his body Bellarmine laboureth in this place to turne represent into present or offer Idem ad Hedâ—â— but S. Ierome will expound himselfe If saith he the bread which is come downe from heauen be the body of Christ and the wine his bloud shed for manye for the remission of sins c. let vs ascend with the Lord into this great hall c. and let vs receiue of him there on high the cup of the new Testament and there celebrating with him the Passe-ouer let vs bee drunken with him with the wine of sobrietie c. Then it is here below that it doth represent him and on high that it presenteth and offereth him They replie If saith he The bread which he brake and gaue to his Disciples be the body of our Sauior then our Lord himselfe est conuina conuiuium both the guest and the feast he which eateth he which is eaten c. Not verily after the letter for Belarmine would be loth to blame S. Ierome of heresie and this is their heresie That the bread may be the body of Christ And therefore in a mysterie Idem in 1. Cor c. 11. in a figure for a remembrance for a pledge c. And he himselfe also doth vse al these words Hee tooke the bread saith hee and blessing it as he should suffer left it to vs for his last remembrance as he which goeth into strange countries leaueth some one or other token of remembrance with his friend c. which he can hardly looke vpon without weeping And this is in handling the matter of the supper Idem aduers Ioum. l. 2. C. de hac quidem de Consecr D. 2. In an other place He offered wine for a figure of his bloud c. for a figure of his Passion to approue the truth of his body And vpon Leuiticus Of this oblation saith he which is maruelously made for a remembrance of Christ it is permitted to eate but it is not permitted to any according to his own sence to eate of that which Christ hath offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse What becoÌ„meth then of that which they say that the very same is taken in of men at their mouthes And what distinction shall it be possible for S. Ierome to make therein But that that that is to say the Sacrament is taken and receiued with the mouth but this that is the thing is receiued by faith And this is the same that he saith in an other place In Ep. ad Hedâ—â—t In Eccles c. 3 Idem in 1. Cor 11. In Esa c 66. That all those that haue put on Christ in Baptisme doe eate the bread of Angels that we are fed with his flesh both in the Sacraments as also in the Scriptures That they which haue had the same in such sort as to bee fed therewith must haue a cleane and a new spirit Comparing the receiuing of Christ in the supper with that receiuing of him which is in Baptisme and in the word Againe That the flesh of Christ is vnderstood two waies Either spiritually and diuinely whereof it is said My flesh is truely meate c. Or for that which was crucified and pearced with the Souldiers speare That then is the Sacramentall that is to say the Eucharisticall bread so called for the straite vnion of the Sacrament and the thing c. And this the real into which we are grafted and implanted by the vertue of the holy Ghost crucified in it to be glorified with it c. For as for that which our aduersaries say that that is his flesh which cannot suffer and this his flesh that is subiect to suffering they should remember themselues how that this is spoken many ages after our Lords glorification whose flesh as they themselues hold cannot any more become subiect to suffering S. Idem ad Eph. c. August q. â—7 In Leuâ—t ad Eund cont Maxim l. 3. c. 22. Idem Ep. 23. ad Boâ—â—â—ac Augustine commeth We haue seene his Maximes heretofore as so many preparatiues to the deciding of this matter Hee said vnto vs The fathers haue eaten the same meate that we in the Sacraments and he gaue vs the holy supper for an example Againe The signes of eatimes
Idem in Psal 33.1 2. Ierm And how was he carried in his own hands Because that recommending his body his bloud he took into his hands that which the faithful know that is to say the bread and the cup and so he carried himselfe after a certaine maner saying This is my body c. Now let them expound vnto vs what is the meaning of this Quodammodo C. Hocest quod De Consecr D 2. Idem Ep. 118. c. 3 after a certaine sort except it be Sacramentally Or as the Canon saith Improperly not in truth but in a misterie To the end saith he that the sence may bee It is called the body of Christ that is to say it signifieth it He compareth say they the deuotion wherwith it ought to be honoured to that of the Centurion who said vnto our Lord I am not worthie that thou shouldest come vnder my roofe c. But to what purpose if we receiue but the signe Where as we take the thing by faith and the signe with the hand As the Centurion receiued the Lord corporally vnder this roofe and spiritually and by faith in his soule and corporally without faith vnto condemnation spiritually by faith vnto saluation according to that which Saint Augustine saith in an other place That the Virgine is not vnâ—happy Idem in ps 98. because shee did conceiue and beare our Lord in her wombe but by faith in her soule But he hath said say they Worship his footstoole and thereby he meaneth his flesh And of his flesh he saith That no man doth eate it that hath not first worshipped it This is not then the bread And who doubteth that wee ought not to worship the flesh of Christ vnited hypostatically to the Deitie And that no man can eate it which doth not belieue it and that no man can belieue it which doth not worship it and that no man can truely worship it except that hee belieue it And is not this same against our transubstantiators which teach that the wicked eate it Of those I speake which can neither worship nor belieue it But to worship it is to worship it in heauen and not in the bread lifting vp our spirits on high and not casting downe our eyes vpon the earth And this is it that wee dispute Not saith S. Augustine the signe that is seene Idem de doctr Christ l. 3. c. 9. and which goeth away but that whereunto it ought to bee referred But let them blush and bee ashamed that they haue not added there to that which followeth Vpon what ground so euer thou fallest downe to worship looke not down vnto the earth but vp to the holy one whose foot stoole it is Idem in Psal 98. that is to say the humanitie of Christ And when thou worshippest him let not thy thoughts rest in the flesh and without being quickned by the spirit for it is the spirite that quickneth c. And this is the cause why our Lord said to the twelue c. Vnderstand sptritually that which I haue said you shall not eate this body which you see neither shall you drinke this my bloud which they shall shed that shall crucifie me I haue inioyned you by commandement to vse a certaine Sacrament which spiritually vnderstood will giue you life c. Had it not therfore beene better for them that they had left this place vnremembred They cite an other place That which is taken from the fruits of the earth saith hee consecrated by misticall prayer let vs take for the spirituall saluation in remembrance of the passion of our Lord Idem de Trin. l. 3. c. 4. c. it is not sanctified to be so great a Sacrament but by the inuisible operation of the holy Ghost And what is there heere for any man to doubt of As though there were no other operation of the holy Ghost but Transubstantiation For is not regeneration in Baptisme a marueilous worke also of the holy Ghost Wherein notwithstanding the water in his substance receiued not any chaunge But as for that which hee saith of the fruites of the earth and that they are made a great Sacrament they should haue learned that for to continue Sacraments they also continued fruites of the earth and for to continue fruites of the earth they did also continue Sacraments that is to say sacred signes of the grace of God And such like and lesse forcible to proue any thing are these places following It is one Passeouer which the Iewes celebrate as yet with a lamb idem contr li. Pet. l. 2. c. 37. It is an other which we receiue of the body bloud of our Lord. And who denieth it euen since the true Lamb which hath caused to cease the tipical or figuratiue and which hath take froÌ„ it both the thing and also the Sacrament Againe In stead of all the old sacrifices the body of Christ Idem de ciuit Dei l. 17. c. 20 is offered and administred to them which are partakers thereof Or who doubteth of this point And how oft hath it beene told them that the question is of the manner And in the end Idem apud Yuon Carnut Serm. ad Neophyt Idem de doct Christ l. 3. c. 16 they would find it in a place cited by Yuon Bishop of Charters Take and receiuean the bread that which was hanged vpon the Crosse and in the Cup that which issued out of the body of Christ And what is this but the same that he said to the children as here hee speaketh vnto Nouices or new conuerted Christians These things are called Sacraments because that therein one thing is seene and an other vnderstood Communicate in the passion of our Lord and keepe fast in your memories that his flesh was crucified and pearced through for you And yet this place is not found in his workes but alleadged by the said Yuon of Chartres Let onely the sound Reader iudge here what swaie or force these places can afford amongst so manie others by which they are most clearely and planely expounded Cyrill Patriarke of Alexandria giueth vs these Maximes Cyril Anâ—t 12 Our Misterie is not an Anthropophagie that is to say consisteth not in eating of mans flesh we must not set the spirits of the faithfull in the scrole of these grosse conceites beeing occupied in things that are receiued by a pure exquisite and onely faith c. Christ entreth into vs by faith and dwelleth in vs by the holy Ghost for the holy Ghost is not separated from the Sonne c. Cyril 3. c. 24. l. 11. in Ioh. Idem in Leuit. l. 7. Idem in Ioh. l. 3. c. 24. If thou stand perswaded according to the letter in that which is said If you eate not the flesh c. this letter dooth slate thee but if thou be perswaded to vnderstand it spiritually there is the spirit of life to bee found therein c. The only begotten Sonne
the redemption being perpetuall went for the saluation of all that so also the oblation of that redemption should stand perpetuall that is saith the Glose Gloss ibid. the preaching of this onely sacrifice after which there is not any other to come And that this perpetuall sacrifice might liue in our remembrance and might alwaies be present with vs in the grace thereof Asacrifice saith he which must be iudged of by faith and not by the outward appearance or kind by the inward affection not by the outward sight Here now you may behold a manifest opposition of the mystery against the realitie of the remembrance against the presence of the presence of grace against the reall presence of faith against apparance and of affection against sight But notwithstanding say they there is a change And what change verily such a one as hee there describeth and setteth downe for he compareth the change that is made therein first with the creation For as saith he in the twinckling of the Lords eyes there were incontinently subsisting and extant the heauen the sea and the earth although of nothing by the same power also in the sacramentes whereas this vertue commandeth the effect doth incontinently follow Now would they say that by the consecration Christ was created anew And to bring forth nothing is this to chaunge and turne is this to transubstantiate And what can they then inferre but that the same spirite which made the heauen and the earth doth conioyne and vnite them together in the holy supper as we haue diuerse and sundrie times said And secondly with the change which is made in vs by our regeneration in Christ into which saith this Eusebius Non viuendo sed credendo transiliisti we enter not by liuing but by belieuing we are made of the children of perdition the adopted children of God by a hidden and secret purenes continuing and abiding idem atque idem one and the same in substance but otherwise much altered and chaunged by the proceeding and growth of faith Changed saith Bellarmine accidentallie and not substantiallie And therefore the bread the wine in the holy supper in like maner changed said Theodoret in a word Not in their nature but by addition of grace c. And how then shall wee there receiue the bodie of Christ verily in a manner proportionable to this change and correspondent to this obiect When saith he thou commest to the altar to be fed of these spirituall meates looke by faith vpon the bodie and blood of thy Lord touch him there with thy mind and spirit mente continge take him by the hand with thy hart drinke him haustu interioris hominis with the full and large draughtes of thy soule with all thine inward man c. And yet this is the man amongst all the rest by whom they take themselues best vnderpropped Procopius Gazaeus saith also Procop. Gazeus in Genes c. 49. Macar Egypt Anachor The Lord gaue the image figure or tipe of his bodie to his disciples not admitting any more the bloudie sacrifices of the law Macarius an Egyptian more clearely saying That there ought to be offered in the Church bread and wine the resemblances and representations exhibiting the bodie and blood of Christ the fathers of the olde Testament knew it not how that they that should receiue the inuisible bread should also spirituallie eate the flesh of Christ c. Figures then euermore and types and representations of the bodie and bloud which forbid and exclude all manner of realnesse in the kinds as likewise all change in the substances in that they alwaies call them bread and wine c. And thus wee are come to the time of Gregory the first about the yeare of our Lord 600. CHAP. VI. That of a long time also after Gregorie transubstantiation was not knowne And further that all the most famous liturgies receiued of our aduersaries are repugnant thereunto NOw Gregorie 1. Anno 600. Gregor dial 4. c. 58. Et in registro had not as yet beene infected with this errour howbeit he had inwrapped himselfe in many other Who is there saith he of all the faithfull that doubteth that at the houre of the sacrifice at the voice of the minister the heauens are opened or that the heauens are ioyned to the earth c. and we will bee readie to tell it them at all times if they will heare And heauen is not onely ioyned to the earth but God to man and righteousnesse to a sinner c. They say that this is vnder the Accidentes of bread wee in the nature of our soule Which is the more beseeming diuinitie But when S. Gregorie saith When we take the bread whether it be heaued vp or not heaued we are made one bodie with the Lord our Sauiour To what end should he say heaued or not heaued if there be nothing but accidents And is there not any great difference whether we our selues be made the bodie of our Lord or els the bread and wine the Indiuiduum vagum accidents hanging in the aire Idem hom 22. in Euang. But saith he The bloude is sprinkled vpon the two postes when it is not taken of the mouth of the body onely but also with the mouth of the heart That is to say say they when it is taken also in at the mouth of the bodie But we say that this is according to the rule aboue specified which giueth to the signe the name of the thing That is that the sacrament is taken in at the mouth of the bodie the thing by the mouth of the soule and in the faithfull the one with the other Which S. Gregorie layeth open elsewhere in these wordes speaking of the vngodly Howbeit Idem l. 2. expos in l. 1. Reg. c. 1. that they receiue the Sacrament with their mouth yet they are not replenished with the vertue of the Sacrament And therefore say wee they did not take the flesh and bloud For he that receiueth them saith the Lord hath eternall life Beda followeth S. Augustin step by step Bed 1. Cor. 10. and it may be that Bellarmine for the same cause hath left him out He teacheth them that the sacramentes of the old and new testament are the same in substance That in all sacraments the sacrament is one thing and the vertue of the sacrament another and particularly in that of the holy Supper that that which is seene hath a corporall figure but that which is vnderstood a spirituall fruit That the bread is said to be the bodie of Christ after the same manner that we are called his members c. To be short saith he The creature of bread wine Idem in Luc. l. 6. c. 2â— by the vnspeakeable sanctification of the holy Ghost is translated into the Sacrament of his flesh and bloud Into the sacrament saith he not into the thing it selfe that is to say of elements they are made Sacraments they are made
instrumentes of the holy Ghost for our spirituall food that is for the analogie that is in them In as much saith he as the bread strengtheneth our flesh the wine maketh bloud in the flesh the one referred mystically he saith not transubstantiated really to the bodie of Christ the other to his blood And in deed saith he in another place No vnfaithfull person eateth the flesh of Christ Againe Idem in Exod. c. 12. in 1. Cor. 10. If you be the bodie of Christ and his members your mysterie is set vpon the table of the Lord you receiue the mysterie of the Lord c. And this is about the time of Charles the great that is to say neere 800. yeares after Christ who likewise saith in his booke against images That our Lord hath not left any other image of himselfe then the holy Supper Carol. Mag. de Imaginibus No transubstantiation to the time of Charles the great Albinus also vnder him That he that abideth not in Christ namely by faith although that hee fasten his tooth vpon the Sacrament yet he eateth not the bodie of the Lord. And wee may affirme it with a good conscience that hitherto there could not bee learned out of any of the bookes of the fathers any doctrine that tended to the teaching of the transubstantiation of the Romish Church but to the contrarie Which thing the liturgies and ecclesiasticall prayers which they make reckning of as most ancient can witnesse vnto vs. In that which they pretend to haue beene S. Iames his liturgie Further proofe by the lithurgies That which is attributed to S. Iames. hee speaketh of the Sacrament in these wordes A diuine and celestiall mysterie a spirituall table wherein the Sonne of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is mystically set before them He craueth of God by praier To declare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 manifestly that which he there maketh shew of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in signes Hee exhorteth the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To lift vp their harts on high He rehearseth the institution of the holy Supper sincerely after which the people answere Wee declare the death of the Lord and confesse his resurrection c. He prayeth likewise a long time after that the words are pronounced That it would please God to send his spirite vppon those giftes that is to say vpon the bread and wine which he calleth notwithstanding Honorable reuerend renowned c. And vpon them that are to be partakers of the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the end that they may be sanctified vnto them and made the bodie and bloud of Christ Of Christ saith he Which is diuided and distributed vnto them that is to say in the Sacrament And which yet notwithstanding is not diuided nor distributed that is to say in himselfe With whom all this doth well agree howsoeuer it doth no whit agree with the power and efficacie of the fiue wordes or with any parte of all the fantasticall deuise of transubstantiation That which is attributed vnto Clement Bishop of Rome The liturgie of S. Clement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calleth the bread and the wine after the consecration Figures as we haue said and the words there are worth the consideration We beseech thee O Lord that thou wouldest vouchsafe to looke downe vpon these gifts here set before thee and that it may please thee to send downe thy holy spirit vpon this sacrifice note after the consecration the testimonie of the sufferings of our Lord Iesus to the end that he may manifestly shew that this bread is the bodie of thy Christ and this cuppe his blood to the end that they which receiue it may be confirmed in pietie hauing remission of their sinnes c. If the gifts and the sacrifice be one selfe same thing and the one and the other Christ reallie with what mouth can they pray vnto God that he would vouchsafe to looke downe vppon them and to send his holy spirit thereinto c. And how doth the bread become a witnes of the passion of Christ yea Christ himselfe And why doth he pray vnto God That he would manifestly shew how that the bread is the bodie of his Christ alreadie as our aduersaries hold transubstantiated into Christ by the consecrating wordes which went before And that which he saith To the end that they which receiue it c. which in the Greeke cannot be referred to any thing but the bread and cup. And how commeth it that it is not rather referred to the bodie c. We haue alreadie spoken of that which is attributed to Saint Basill The liturgie of S. Basill he calleth the bread and wine after consecration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say figures hee prayeth God to send both vpon them as also vpon the communicants his holy spirit for to sanctifie them The bread to be the body of our Lord c. The communicants to be vnited together amongst themselues and vnited vnto the bodie and bloud of Christ in such sort as that they may haue him dwelling in their harts And the exhortations that go before are That no man shold think that there is any earthly thing that there is any word of any mortall flesh the Lord is offered for the faithfull c. Again how wil any of all this agree with carnall transubstantiation linked to the wordes that do not consecrate Or how will this agree being communicated with the infidels with that wherein they haue no part or as it is referred to the elements which are not otherwise to be considered of then as instruments of our coniunction and coupling with Christ not to the end that we may haue him to passe through our mouthes but to the end wee may possesse him dwelling in our harts by his spirit The Preface of S. S. Ambrose his liturgie Ambr. l. 4. c. 5. de Sacr. Ambrose his liturgie beginneth as all the rest Sursum corda the minister praieth that it would please God to accept of the oblation that is offered vnto him The figure saith he of the bodie and bloud of Christ. And this word figure is by name in his booke of Sacraments where it is whollie recited being maliciously defaced and put out of the Masse published in the name of S. Ambrose The institution of our Lord followeth wherein are the wordes which they call consecrating and notwithstanding after the same pronounced We offer vnto thee this host or oblation without spot And which The holy bread saith he and cup of eternall life and wee pray thee To receiue it vpon thine altar by the hands of thine Angels as thou vouchsafedst to receiue the gifts of thy child Abel and the sacrifice of the Patriarke Abraham c. I referre it vnto them euen on their consciences if this can be referred to the true bodie true blood of our Lord being aliue and not subiect to any passions by the hands of the minister