of the Lord to the publick service of God to the Word and Sacraments from all which I was because mine were debarred You did that for them and in them as farre as you could for me which I did for you I redeemed you and you in them redeemed me I you by taking on me your bonds you me by freeing them from bondage I you from the bondage of hell you me from the bondage of hell-hownds I you by my blood you me by your benevolence Iudas his treason was not more grievous and odious unto me then your compassion is acceptable He sold me to the Iewes you have bought me from the Turks Your redeeming me lesse chargeable more easie by infinite degrees then my redeeming you but no lesse acceptable to me then if you had shed your blood for me as I did mine for you What an honour will it be when the King himselfe sitting in his Maiesty shall publish in the large Amphitheater of the whole world his former misery for your greater glory and make known his owne sufferings to proclaime your kindnesse holding himselfe to have beene beholding unto you when you have done but your duties Though this acknowledgment be an ample recompence yet this recompence you will say is but verball acknowledgment But this verball acknowledgment shall be seconded with a reall recompence that shall not be as a lease for yeares determinable upon lives but an inheritance and that inheritance no lesse then of a Kingdome and that Kingdome not newly erected but long prepared so long as from the foundation of the world and consequently to continue after the dissolution of the world and prepared not by man but by God the Father and for none other but for you for you who by your deedes of mercy have evidenced the sincerity of your faith O what a joy what a crowne of rejoycing will it be when you shall heare from the mouth of the Iudge himselfe that comfortable call 〈◊〉 yee blessed of my father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world Vnto the which Kingdome he bring us who hath prepared it for us not for our merits but out of his owne mercy and by the merits of his deare Sonne Iesus To whom our gracius redeemer together with him the glorious Father and the blessed spirit the only Comforter three Persons in one Godhead blessed for ever be ascribed all Praise Power Might Majesty Dominion and Glory now and alwaies AMEN AMEN AN EPISTLE OF THAT BLSSED MARTYR S t CYPRIAN SOMETIME Bp. OF CARTHAGE TO The Bishops of Numidia concerning the Redemption of the Brethren from the bondage of the BARBARIANS Wherein 1 He deploreth the Captivity of the Brethren signified unto him by the Bishops of Numidia and sheweth what ought to be the duty of Christians in this regard 2 To this end he proposeth sundry arguments 3 The effects of them in regard of the Church of Carthage confirmed by other arguments 4 The Charity and liberality of that Church towards these Captives and S t Cyprians pious petition Cyprian to Ianuarius Maximus Proculus his beloved Brethren wisheth health WITH very great griefe of minde and not without teares we have read your letters most deare brethren which out of the tendernesse of your love you have addressed unto us concerning the captivity of our Brethren and Sisters For who cannot grieve in such occurrents Or who cannot esteeme his brethrens griefe to be his owne seeing the Apostle Paul doth say If one member doth suffer the other members doe suffer with it and if one member doe rejoyce the other members doe rejoyce with it And in an other place Who is weake and I am not weake We therefore must now esteeme our brethrens captivity to be our owne captivity The sorrow of those who are endangered is to be accounted our sorrow seeing we are all united in one body and not love so much as religiō ought to instigate encourage us to redeeme the members of our brethren For the Apostle saith againe Know you not that you are the Temple of God that the spirit of God dwelleth in you If charity did not urge us to succour our brethren yet we should here consider that they are the Temples of the Lord who are captived and that we ought not by long delay and neglected griefe suffer the Temples of the Lord to be long detained captives but speedily labour and endevour the best we may by our best services to procure Christ our Iudge our God to be favorable unto us For seeing the Apostle Paul saith As many of you as are Baptized into Christ have put on Christ in our captive-brethren we must contemplate Christ himselfe And he is to be redeemed from the danger of captivity who hath redeemed us from the danger of Death that hee who drew us out of the jawes of the Devill and remaineth and dwelleth in us should now himselfe be deliuered out of the hands of Barbarians and be ransomed with some part of our mony who ransomed us with his Crosse and his Bloud who in the meane time doth therefore permitt these things to come to passe for the triall of our faith whether every one of us will doe for his brother that which he would have to be done for himselfe if he were now in bonds under the Barbarians For what man who is mindfull of humanity and well advised of Christian Charity if he be a Father doth not thinke that his sons are there If he be an husband doth not with griefe and blush of the matrimoniall band esteeme that his wife is there held captive But how are wee all in common greived and vexed for the danger of the Virgins who are there detained In whom not only the losse of liberty but depriuement of chastity is to be bewailed and not so much the bonds of Barbarians as the impurities of baudes and brothels are to be bemoned with teares lest the members dedicated unto Christ should bee defiled with the contagious lusts of their insulters All which things we here as brethren takeing into consideration according to your letters and diligently examining have readily willingly and largly sent supplies of mony to our brethren being alway forward in the worke of God every one according to the firmenesse of his faith but now much more enflamed to such saving workes by the contemplation of so great sorrowe For seeing ou◠Lord saith in his Gospel I was sick and you visited me How much more will he say in this case and that for our greater reward I was a captive and you redeemed me And whereas againe he saith I was in prison and you came unto me how much more will it be when he shall beginne to say when the day of judgment shall come wherein you shall receive a reward from the Lord I was closed up in prison of captivity I lay bound among the Barbarians and from that prison from that bondage
4 Timely 5 Trustily 1 They did it Generally for all the Christians in generall and every one in particular concurred in this contribution 2 Bountifully for every one contributed according to his ability 3 Cheerefully They never pinched at it nor demurred on it but at first hearing resolved to doe it 4 Timely for they did wait till the brethren in Iudaea sought or besought them but as soone as they heard of a Dearth presently they sent reliefe yea by a forward supply prevented the famine 5 They did it Trustily for what was contributed they sent by trusty messengers Barnabas and Saul Let us deare Christians as neare as we may follow the precedent of these prime Christians First what is to be done in this kinde let it be done generally His Majesties letters patent in our captived brethrens behalfe were larger then any granted heretofore for other collections Others limited to certaine Counties Shires Cities This extended over the whole land that every one according to his ability should advance such a pious worke As the Apostle admonisheth the Corinthians concerning the relieving of the brethren at Hierusalem Let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him And againe Every one as he purposeth in his heart so let him give Every one For some must not be burthened that others may be eased save that some who abound ought to burthen themselves that others who are not so able may be eased They who have a litle let them impart a litle out of their litle Scarce any widow but hath a mite to spare A litle is much to him who hath not so much as a litle Any thing is welcome to him who hath nothing and a litle from many will be much to a few Doe it bountifully They who are rich in wordly goods must be rich in good works that they may be double rich They who abound in ability let them also abound in charity As God hath prospered him so let him give said the Apostle Hath God given bountifully unto you will you give niggardly unto them that is unto him Doth he say by his Apostle He that soweth sparingly shall reape sparingly and he that soweth bountifully shall reape bountifully And shall he reape sparingly from you who hath sowed so bountifully on you Doe you not read that To whome much is given of him much shall be required And can you thinke that no more is required of you then of those to whom so litle so nothing is given in comparison of you Shame you not that all things should abound unto you save the best of all your charity With what face can you pray unto God with David Have mercy upon me O Lord according to thy great mercy when you extend so litle mercy to him in his members out of your great ability Doe it cheerefully as the Apostle adviseth Not grudgingly or of necessity but of a willing minde For God loveth a cheerefull giver He looseth his good work who doth it not with a good will he doubles it that doth it with alacrity This seed must be sowne as with a full hand so with a free heart and a cheerefull countenance It is thine affection that doth Christen and give the name to thine action As it proceedeth from thee so is it esteemed by God God who in some cases accepts the will for the deed in this respecteth the will more then the deed For without this willingnesse in giving the gift though never so great is not accepted It is otherwise here then in the Psalme They who sow in teares shall reape in joy But here they who sow in teares as if they wept for every penny that departeth from them must not looke for a joyfull reaping Doe it timely least the triviall Proverb overtake your lazy charity While the grasse growes the horse starves Herein follow the Antiochians example whose reliefe prevented their brethrens want Aggabus did not say that there was a dearth already but only foretold of a dearth that should be and immediatly they sent away that their speedy charity might anticipate their brethrens indigency Doe as the Apostle willeth the Corinthians Make up before hand your bounty that the same may be ready Let us boast of you brethren as he doth of them I know the forwardnesse of your minde for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia Achaia was ready a yeare agoe and your zeale hath provoked many Let Solomons counsell cause you to give a quick loose to your liberality Withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to doe it Observe from them to whom it is due that is from the owner from the master of it as the Originall will well beare Know that in this case thou art not owner of thine owne not master of thine owne money It is not his who hath it but his who wanteth it He hath more right to it then thy selfe who hath more need of it then thy selfe delaying to give unto him thou deniest him his owne His necessity maketh him the master of it God thee the Steward only Say not to thy neighbour goe and come againe and to morrow I will give thee when thou hast it by thee Adjourne not thy benevolence give not thy gift a nights lodging let not him who needeth it lie one night without it Why shouldst thou turne him off till to morrow who needeth it to day who needed it yesterday yea many daies since Mercy is a thing that brookes no delay misery of all things cannot endure demurrers If Christ said unto him who should betray him That thou doest doe it quickly Much more saith he to them who should relieve him That which you meane to doe doe it timely Twice your gift by timely giving it One thing remaines They did it trustily They sent their benevolence by the hands of trusty men Barnabas and Saul It was a principall care of the Apostles to entrust men of experienced faithfullnesse with the conveying of their contributions that what was charitably conferred might be safely conveyed Therefore commonly they employed not one single person but two at least and both these singular for their integrity Here they employ both Barnabas and Saul men of whose faithfullnesse there could be no suspition One of them Barnabas Sold his land and laid it at the Apostles feet And was it likely that he who gave away his owne would defraud the faithfull of the bounty of others The other Saul was now become Paul of a persecutor an Apostle so industrious and zealous in his function that he used not his lawfull power of living by the Gospell which he preached but laboured with his hands because he would not be burthensome And was it probable that with the same hands he would intervert the charity of others to his
you freed mee In breife we give you great thanks that you would make us partakers of your carefulnesse and interest us with you in so good and necessary an imploiment as to present unto us fruitfull fields in which wee may sow the seedes of our hope expecting the harvest of those ample fruits which doe grow and proceed from such an heavenly and helpfull harvest Now we have sent one hundred thousand Sesterces that is 781 l 5 s sterling which summe hath beene raised by the contribution of the Clergie and Laytie in the Church over which by the providence of God we are made overseers which you shall distribute there and dispose of according to your diligence And wee desire indeed that there may not be the like occasion hereafter but that our bretheren being protected by Gods providence may be preserved safe from such dangers But if it shall please God for the triall of our charitable minde and faithfull heart that the like shall come to passe hereafter delay yee not to acquaint us therewith by your letters assuring your selves that the Church and whole society here as they doe earnestly pray that such things may not be againe so if they should bee they will willingly and largely send supplies againe And that you may remember in your prayers our brethren and sisters who have so readily and willingly contributed to this so necessary a worke that they may worke so alwaies and in your devotions for them returne unto them a requitall of this good worke I have subscribed the names of every one of them as also of our Colleagues and fellow-priests who themselves likewise being present have contributed both in their own and in the behalfe of their people according to their abilities And besides mine owne portion I have signified and sent the summe of theirs Of all whom as faith and charity requires you ought to bee mindefull in your prayers Most deare brethren we wish you alwayes well to fare A PASSAGE CONCERNING THE GOOD AND BENEFIT OF COMPASSION Extracted out of S. AMBROSE his second Booke of Offices CAP. 28. THE greatest incitement unto Mercy is that wee have a fellow-suffering with others in their calamities that we succour others in their necessities as much as we are able and sometimes more then we are able For it is better to suffer envie for shewing mercie then to pretend excuse for inclemencie As we our selves once incurred envy because wee did breake up the holy vessels for the redeeming of captives which deed displeased the Arians not so much because it was done as that they might have something for which they might carp at us For who is so cruel so yron-hearted as to be displeased that a man is to be redeemed from Death a woman from the pollutions of Barbarians which are more grieveous then Death young maidens children Infants from the contagion of Idols wherewith for feare of death they are in danger to be defiled Which action though we performed not without sufficient reason yet we so defended it before the people that we maintained it to be much more convenient for us to preserve for God soules rather then gold For he who sent his Apostles without gold did also without gold gather the Churches unto himselfe The Church hath gold not that it should keepe it but to disburse it and imploy it for necessarie releifes What need is there to keepe that which doth not helpe when wee have need Know you not how much gold and silver the Assyrians carried away from the Temple of the Lord Is it not better that the Priest should melt up these vessels if other supplies be wanting for the releefe of the poore then that the Sacrilegious enemie should carrie them away and defile them Will not the Lord say why didst thou suffer so many poore men to perish through hunger Surely seeing thou hadst gold thou shouldest have offered them nourishment Why are there so many captives carried away to be bought and sould and are not redeemed Why are there so many slaine by the Enemy Better it were that thou preservedst these living vessells then dead metalls No answere can be returned to those obiections For what wouldst thou say I feared lest the Temple of God should want ornaments He will answere thee the Sacraments seeke not gold neither doe they please the more for gold which are not purchased with gold The adorning of the sacraments is the Redemption of captives And verily those vessells are pretious which doe redeeme soules from death The true treasure of God is that which worketh the same which his blood wrought I then acknowledg it to be the vessell of the Lords blood when I finde Redemption in both that the Chalice redeemeth from the enemies those whom the bloud redeemed from sinne What an excellent thing is it when multitudes of captives are redeemed by the Church that it may be said Those are they whom Christ hath redeemed Behold the gold that is tried the profitable gold the gold of Christ which freeth from death Behold the gold whereby Purity is redeemed Chastity is preserved I had rather present these freed unto you then preserve gold for you This number this order of captives is a faâ—re more acceptable sight then the shew of golden goblets Thus was the Redeemers gold to be imploied that it should redeeme those who were endangered I acknowledge the bloud of Christ powred into gold not only to have shined but to have imprinted the power of divine operation by the gift of redemption Such Gold did the holy Martyr Laurentius reserve for the Lord who when the treasures of the Church were required of him promised that he would produce them Next day he presented the poore saying These are the treasures of the Church And these truly are treasures in whom is Christ in whom is the faith of Christ. What better treasures hath Christ then those in whom he saith that he himselfe is For it iâ— written I was hungry and you fed me I was thirsty and you gave me drinke I was a stranger and you tooke me in And afterward That which you have done to one of those you have done it to me What better treasures hath Iesus then those in whom he loveth to bee seene These treasures Laurentius shewâ—d and prevailed because the Persecutor himselfe could not take them from him Therefore Iehoiachin who in the seige kept the gold and imploied it not to provide reliefe saw the gold to bee violently carried away and himselfe to be led into captivity But Laurentius who had rather bestowe the Churches gold on the poore then keepe it for the Persecutor according to the singular efficacie of the interpretation of his name received the sacred Crowne of Martyrdome Was it said to holy Laurentius thou oughtest not to have disbursed the treasures of the Church nor to have sold the sacred vessells Necessary it is that a man doe discharge that office with sincere faithfulnesse and discerning