whose wordes by you in this place recited D. I haue this muche to say that as I know the same place is alleaged of dyuers other and therfore I wyl not plainely deny it so because that worke of Ciril is not ertante I haue good cause to suspecte it And so muche the more for that diuers of your sorte haue alleaged oute of the same doctour in his worke Thesaurus certaine wordes for the supremicie of the Byshop of Rome whiche are not there to be found This vniust fatheryng of your owne late deuised phantasies vpon the auncient doctours and writers of the churche may cause vs iustly to suspecte the residue of your doyng But be it so that those are Cirils owne wordes indéede Wée haue for that one suspected place a number of sounde testimonies that all did not alow reseruacion nor thinke it accordyng to the worde of God Origine vpon the .v. chap. of Leuiticus The Lord saith he deferred not the breade that he gaue to his disciples saying take and eate neither commaunded it to be kepte vntill the morow The residue of his wordes vpoÌ„ the same place be suche as he séemeth thervpon to gather an argument that it should not be reserued Hee that wrote the sermon De caena domini in Cyprian saieth plainely of the sacrament Recipitur non includitur At is receiued it is not inclosed or Butte vp Isychius vpon Leuiticum at large declareth how that in his time if the ministers and people were not able to eate vp so muche as was consecrated the restdue was bourned and coÌ„sumed by fier that it might not be kepte vntill the nexte day Therfore you may not force vpon vs to receiue reseruacion as a thyng either grounded in scripture or generally alowed by the primatiue churche What will you say to your seconde Epistle of Clement bysshoppe of Rome Ret so many holy loues saith he he offered vpon the aulter as may be sufficiently for the people If so be any shall remaine let them not be kepte vntil the morow but with feare and tremblyng let the ministers eate it vp This was a Bisshoppe of Rome this was Peters successour this was as you say head of the churche and yet you heare his appoinâ—mente and order taken erpressely against reseruation If ye will not beléene vs why doo you not beléeue your owne Will you say with your testimonie of Ciril that Origine was madde that Isychius was madde Or if ye be not afrayde to say it of them Will you say that Clement was madde also Well sir if ye wyll proue vs impudent or madde for not receiuynge reseruacion I truste you se that wée shal haue company in our impudencie and madnesse But Clementê Epistle presseth you harde in soole receiuynge and priuate Passe also and signifieth that all the ministers receiued together with the people For in the wordes before rehearsed he speaketh of the Passe that was vsed when that Epistle was made and yet it willeth you to prepare for the people Why doo you not folow his aucthoritie in these poinetes You will say as you sayd in the beginning if the people be absente and when the sacramente is prepared either will not or can not come to receiue Clement then sayeth not that the priest consecratyng should forbeare because thother bidden guests will not come The churche you will say did alway professe a communion proue oute of the same history that it were no abuse to haue boyes and chyldren to minister the sacramente commonly because in that extremitie Sirapions boye delyuered him the sacrament which the pryest sent Surely in this your maner of defendynge priuate Passe wherein you shew your selfe to be able to bringe nothing for the mainteinance therof but only extraordynary chanses in extremitie and necessitie you doo much bewray the euyl vse of it and manifestly declare yea and as it weare protestée that in déede it is euel and without all aucthoritie or example of the primatiue churche if you bee not bryuen to it by necessitie and lacke of communicants You wyll reply perhappes and say by these examples it may appeare that company in receyninge is not of necessitie or if it had ben they would not haue vsed the contrary Yes sir necessitie and extremitie may cause some kinde of gods commaundements at times to be omitted and yet out of necessitie the same commaundementes ought necessarely to bee obserued and kepte The Iewes were commaunded on the Sabboth day to doo no bodely or toylinge worke Neuerthelesse sometimes we rede that by necessitie of there enemies constreined they kept warre and fought on the Sabboth day Yet can you not say but that commaundement was necessary I sayd the like before of baptisme and the same must I say in the lordes supper that a case of necessitie may perhappes for a time alter some necessary parte of it and yet not bee taken for any generall rule Therfore if ye wyll receiue alone in your Passe or minister vnder one kinde you must neuer doo it but in extremitie otherwyse your proufes helpe you nothinge at all Yea but in the history of Sirapion but one kinde is mencioned and reseruation manifestly appeareth in that it was so ready to bee boye to soke the sacramente consecrated in a licour not consecrated And especially if he were of your opinion in transsubstantiacion This may you se by your owne place that in reseruation they vsed often to kepe bothe kyndes Which might wel stand with the maner of that time wherin they did euery day communicare so that the wine also might well tary vntil the next day The .xiiii. caÌ„non of Nicene councel in no sence doth prouce sole receiuinge 10. Cap. Answer to the .xiiii. Cannon of Nicene cousell as you would haue it séeme to doo It apointeth who should minister and in what order they should receiue firste the byshop then the priestes after the deacons and so forthe other that dyd communicate This order takeÌ„ by that holy counsaile maketh so plainly againste the manner of your pryuate Masse as I assure you I meruaile that you coulde for shame alledge it Who seeth not by this testimony that all the ministers vsed commonly to receiue together with the byshop beynge present Here was not my lorde at the high aulter and the residew of hys chaplaines and priestes in sundry chapels celebrating by them selfe but all receiued together deacons and all that it might appere to bee a heauenly feast or supper and not a worke or sacritice to be done of one to the behoufe and benefite of a number that stande by and loke on The councel speaketh not here in this poynte of any extraordinary chaunce as it doeth in that parte that you alledge but of the common ordynary maner which by the aucthority of the same councell was apointed to bee vsed in the church It we had lacked testimonyes for the trueth againste pryuate Masse wée had bene muche beholdinge to you for puttinge vs in mindâ— of
by spiritual gouernours But to apointe a geometricall measure of place a prescripte proportion of tyme or one certaine number that may serue for all churches times and ages is far aboue our reache And therfore I leaue it to be deuised of suche profound and curious braines as you and yours haue Which beside the worde of god and contrary to his workynge in his creatures can compryse accidences without subiectes and bodies withoute fashion quaÌ„tity or measure with other suche highe misteries whiche neither scripture nor any necessitie of reason doth teache For in déede our wittes are so simple as in gods misteries we can sée no more then his holy word leadeth vs vnto Nexte is that you burden vs with Erasmus aucthoritie 8. Cap. and chalenge vs that wée wyll not beléeue his reporte Sir it séemeth very straunge to mée that you whiche haue so muche hated Erasmus A. as ye haue often chased him out of grammer schooles and dryuen him into the fire should now in your néede take helpe and succour at hys hand Answere to Erasmus Tertullian Cyprian and Ciril Truly wée doo now esteme Erasmus as wee haue alwayes for a man of excellent learning and a singular instrument prouided of god to begin the reformacion of his church in this latter time and yet thinke wee not all his opinions to be true For you I thinke doo esteme Tertullian and Origen and that right worthely And yet if ye wyl graunt all that they write to be true I wyl proue you an heritke Notwithstandinge we deny not that whyche Erasmus saieth in this mattier and knew whens he had his assertion before you tolde vs. How little it serueth your purpose I wyll shew hereafter You confirme Erasmus opinion with that Tertullian wryteth in his 2. boke Ad vxorem of the Paynimes wife that was Christened and euery day priuely receiued the sacrament at home in her house And also with the history that Ciprian rehearseth of the woman that vnreuerently opened the cheste where in shee kepte the Lordes body To this also ye adde Cirilles aucthority for reseruation Out of these places you sucke not onely soole receauinge but also mynistringe vnder one kinde reseruation yea and reall presence also Of soole receiuing Firste for soole receiuinge it behoueth to consider that in the time of Tertullian B. Ciprian and all that age the church was in much trouble vexacion and persecution so that they could not haue their ecclesiasticall assembles and congregations for common praier and ministracion of the sacramentê so conueniently as afterwarde in time of peace For euery Paynime especially if his wyfe childe or seruaunt were tourned to Christianitie was ready and sought occasion to bewray them and bringe them in trouble as it may appere by the same booke of Tertullian that you alledge Therfore they were oftentimes compelled of necessitie to send the sacrament to such as were absent and either durst not or might not conueniently come as ye may perceiue by Iustine the Martir that the fashion was in his time Hereof it came that dyuers receiued alone in their houses But nor these places nor any other that you be able to alledge can proue that there were ministers or priestes priuately celebratinge with other standinge bie that receiued not That whiche these persons receiued at home was parte of that was distributed in the common celebration where company were and vppon case of necessitée sent by the ministers to them beinge absent But you should bringe such places as might proue that the common minister in place of the lordes supper dyd celebrate and receiue alone other beinge present and not partaking For suche a sole receiuinge is your pryuate Masse that you pretende to striue for Now therefore let vs sée how aptely your argument gathered vppon these places doeth conclude your purpose Women and lay men somtime in case of necessitie priuately receiued at home parte of that which was sent from the common celebration therfore common ministers as often as they liste oute of necessitie may consecrate and receiue alone in the common place of prayer when the people is present and doth not communicate I thinke your selfe may easely se of what force this collection is That may be graunted to a lay person receiuinge that may not to a pryest ministringe that sometime in necessitie whiche may not alwayes at pleasure that at home where none is that may not in the church where many be Wherfore these testimonies are but weake groundes to builde pryuate Masse vppon You wyll perchance obiecte that such receiuing in houses was vsed when the churche was in quiet and without persecutioÌ„ I graunt you as the maner is that facions brought in by necessitie or some greate consideration be oftentimes kept and folowed with abuse when neither necessitie doth constraine it nor good consideracion can mainteine it and so was it in this matter Hierome against Iouinian mencioneth that in his time some vsed to receiue in their houses but he earnestly inueigheth against that maner Why saith he doe they not come into the church he Christ sometime abrode in the common place somtime at home in the house c. In Socrates the. 2. boke we reade that Sinodus Gangrensis condemned Eustathium for that contrary to the ecclesiastical rules he graunted licence to coÌ„municate at home So that hereby it may apeare that a custome that in necessitie to some persons is eyther tollerable or pius error is at another time and to other persons vntollerable and Impia prophanatio If you dilygently examine that maner of receauinge in theyr houses at that tyme which ye thinke to make with you you shal wel perceiue it not a lytle to make against you When they did celebrate as Iustine before rehearsed doth witnesse they dyd not only distribute to them that were presente but by the deatons sent it to such as could not be present Did they not in this point declare a necessitée of partakinge if it were possible at euery ministratioÌ„ In so muche that when their place would not receiue all or other necessary cause did let them to come to the common place of prayer yet that they might be partakers of the Lordes supper they sent it to them where they were How well doth this fashion agree with your priuate masse Wherin ye neither cal nor proffer nor send to the people but so doo it all alone in sight of the hole congregacion as though it weare a thinge that nothing appertained vnto them Now then you may euidently se that none of these aucthorities hetherto alleged doth prove directly your Masse that is a sole receiuinge in the celebration of the sacrament But how necessary that time of the churche dyd thinke it to bee that the people should bee partakers with the prieste that Epistle signitieth that you attribute to Anacletus where it is this wrytten Peracta consecratione omnes communicent qui noluerit ecclesiasticis carere liminibus Sic
prouyng your learnyng can not be so little but that ye must néedes know A. Euen as say you it is to be wisshed that al contencion and strife were cleane banisshed and yet men are not to be forbidden to sue for their righte when they be iniured so is it to be wisshed that people were so deuoute as they woulde dayly receiue their howsill for so ye terme it And yet is not the priest to be letted to receiue when the people wil not dispose them selues vnto it Beside that ye conclude here only the case of necessitie whiche healpeth the common vse of your priuate Masse very little Ye make your comparison betweene thynges very vnlike and of nature diuers that is between possible and vnpossible and lawful vnlawful That all cotencion should be banisshed from amonge men in this worlde is a thing vnpossible a perfection not to be looked for in this fraile life But in a christian congregacion to haue some of the people or ministers to coÌ„municate orderly with the chiefe minister celebratynge is a thynge so possible as bothe the space of many hundred yeres it was continually vsed in the churche and may at this day with good example and instruction of the ministers be brought to passe although not euery day yet very often times Moreouer to sue for ones right is not only a thing suffered but of it selfe lawful and good and wée haue therof example and aucthoritée in gods worde But for the priest to minister the lordes supper alone is a thyng neither tollerable nor lawfull but contrarie to the forme that Christ him self vsed neither haue wée either aucthoritée or example in the scripture as a sufficient warrant to alter that forme that he vsed and apoincted Therfore your comparison is fautie on bothe partes and especially for that ye séeme to gather therby that it is no more necessarie for company to receiue with the priest then it is to haue all contencion banisshed from christian men whiche as I haue sayd in the frailtée of this woride is vnpossible If suche similitudes should be alowed a man might breake all gods commaundementes and yet proue him self not to do amisse Is not this a ioyly reason thinke you As it is to be wisshed that all variance and strife were cleane abandoned from amonge christian men and yet are not they to be forbidden to sue for their right which be iniured of other so it is to be wisshed that all vnmaried priestes did liue chaste but if they can not the bisshop must not forbid them to haue aâ—coosen of theirs to kéepe their house with whom Si non caste tamen caute This comparison is as rightly applied as yours is and yet how well it proueth I will make your selfe iudge All your drifte in this parte is by alledgyng the corruption of the worlde and slacknesse of deuocion to signifie that the people can not bee brought to communicate with the priest and therfore of necessitie that he may receiue alone But be the world neuer so corrupte I thinke it as vnpossible to haue a priest to celebrate deuoutly euery day as it is to haue some of the people often times to communicate with the priest Wherfore I may as effectually conclude vpoÌ„ the corruption of this time that priestes can not bee brought deuoutly to Masse euery day as ye doo that the people can not dispose them selfe in this colde charitie godly to frequent the sacrament And then were ye best to restraine your dayly massynge priestes and apoincte them either to once or at least to fewer times in the yere as ye haue taken order for the people generally to receiue only at Caster B But the prieste say you is bounde to offer vp the dayly sacrifice for himselfe and for the people This is the roote of all the abuses of the Lordes supper that ye haue brought into the churche of christ This is it wherwith ye doo pitifully deface the death and passion of Christ makinge your selues for your glories sake as it were means of reconciliacion betwene god and his people This is it that hathe discouraged christian people from the often vse and frequentacion of the Sacramente For hereby ye signifie that of necessitie it apperteineth only to the priest and as you wrote before the people to be lefte free to come as seldome as they wyl This ye take for the grounde of your reason in this place and yet within few lines haue twise rehersed it withoute any proofe at all But in déede ye muste of necessitée leaue that vnproued that ye be not in any wise able to proue For sure I am that neither the institucion of Christ maketh mencion of any oblation or sacrifice to be done by the minister sauinge only the sacrifice of thankes geuing for yet the scripture apointeth any bounden duty for the priest more to vse the sacrament then other godly and wel disposed christian men What significacion haue you in the wordes that christ vsed in ordeining the sacrament or in the maner of his doynge that hee then offered him selfe to his father He did that the next day after him self vpon the crosse as S. Paule saieth perfectly once for euer neither doeth he graunt his priuilege of the euerlasting priesthodde to any but to him selfe Therfore when your priestes take vppon them his office to offer sacrifice propitiatorie they goe beyonde theyr commission and take more vpon them then their dutie not without iuste reprehension of arrogancie and presumption Christes institution as the euangelistes S. Paule setteth it foorth is a teaching that hee gaue to vs his blessed body and bloud and not that wee should offer it vp to god the father He sayde Take eate doo this in remembrance of mee he said not geue offer and sacrifice for your sinnes A sacrifice is a thinge geuen to God the sacramente was a thinge geuen to vs. Nothinge therfore can be of nature more contrary then your sacrifice and christes sacramente Wherfore it must néedes bee that ye sucked this erroure oute of the phrases and fashions of speakynge that the olde fathers vsed peruertinge the same to a farre worse sence then euer they ment it For whâ— causes thâ— Lordes supper is called of the Deâ—tours a sacrifice 1. This thinge more euidently to declare it behoueth to consider that the fathers vpon dyuers occasions vsed to call the Sacrament by the name of an oblation or sacrifice First Csemens Asexander Teriussian Jraenens and other make mencion of a certaine oblation or offering that Christen people commonly vsed when they came together to celebrate the Lordes Supper In this they offered vp bread wyne and victuals abundantly not only to serue the communion as wee had a shadow of late yeres in the holy lofe but also that of the ouerplus therof aswell the ministers might haue their findinge as poore people also be refreshed Hereof partely it came to passe the erample beinge taken firste of the common
Meaninge that they were very fewe and seldome in comparison of that their duitie was But if ye wyll stand vppon these few sillables Nemo est to proue that somtime the minister receiued alone I answer all be it this place did proue that none of the common people would communicate whose slacknes he there reproueth yet ye cannot by this testimony declare that none of the ministers or the clergie receiued with hym heynge byshop there For the maner was not then as you doo vse it now that euery prieste receiued particularly at an aulter by him selfe but all the mynisters and clergy did communicate together with the byshop or chiefe minister that celebrated This to proue true although I coulde bringe in many examples and testimonies yet I wil content my selfe with one that your selfe putteth me in minde of in recitinge afterwarde the .14 cannon of Nicene counsell for therein order is taken by that holy counsell that the deacons should not minister to the byshop and priests nor receiue before them but after in order as it séemed more conuenient Loke for further declaration of this in examininge the cannon that ye afterwarde alledge Wherefore this your place of Chrisostome doth not sufficiently iustifie sole receiuinge by one minister as ye would haue it seeme to do for proufe of your priuate masse But if I should flatly deny that the mynister receiued when none of the people were partakers how coulde you proue it by this place Ye wyl say because he calleth it Quotidianam oblationem and the people as appeareth did not euery day communicate I answere hee named it Oblationem either for that it was done in the remembraunce of Christes sacrifice or for the offeringe vp of the breade and wine to the celebration of the Lordes supper he called it Quotidianam to the inmitacion of the sacrifice of the olde lawe not because it was euery day done withoute intermission but for that it was oftentimes celebrated that is so often as the people assembled together to the church or common place of prayer as hee him selfe witnesseth vpon the. 8. chapiter of Mathew At which times he alwaies had either some of the people or the residew of the mynisters and clergie to communicate with him as the maner of that time was But ye wil here dally vpon the proper signification of this worde B Quotidianum euery day without intermission euery day daily sacrifice euery day masse euery day at the aulter Then must you geue mee leaue as extremely to vrge these two sillables Frustra in vaine is oure oblation in vaine is our sacrificing to no profite or commoditie is our masse in vayne wée stande at the aulter because it is done without company to receiue with vs. And surely if a man rightly consider this place he may iustly meruaile why ye would alledge it for priuate masse For in déede there is no thinge that hathe any colour for it but only the wreasted argument that you wrynge out of the sound of these wordes Quotidiana obsatio and Nemo est qui parbicipet by the tone parte gatheringe that the people then vsed to receiue only at Easter as they doo now by the tother that the priest receiued euery day and there vpon conclude your sole receiuinge Which your collection of how small effecte it is any man may perceiue if hee consider these twoo thingê before declared First that at that time all the ministers receiued together as it shall be afterward more plainly proued by your owne testimonies Secondly the I haue euidently shewed oute of Chrisostome him selfe that many vsed to receiue at diuers other times of the yeare beside Easter For in déede hee doth not there blame the generall maner of all without exception but of a number that addicted theim selfe either to Easter or some other times whether they were meete or vnméete And at other common seasons would not frequent the sacramente though they were more mete to receiue But these were not al as I sayd but a number of the common people and the residew of the better disposed were so few as oftentimes when the lessons of scripture weare redde when prayers and thankes geuing were made when bread and wine were as the maner was offered vp for the communion whiche were the first partes of celebration as appereth in Iustine then he was compelled either to suffer the ministers and clergie to receiure alone or els for lacke of communicantê to leaue of the residew of the ministration And that is it that be complaineth of and saith is done in vaine because it was vnperfitly done For the preparinge to communion the prayers and thankes geuinge for that purpose the offeringe vp of breade and wine the callinge of the people to it may séeme to be in vayns when none dyd come to participate with the mynisters Wherfore Chrisostome in this place doth not only nothinge confirme priuate masse but also maketh very muche againste it and declareth that hée toke the righte and trew vse of the Lordes supper to bée when the people were together partakers of the same For if he had taken it as you doo for an offeringe vp of the body of Christe for him selfe and the people Or if hee had at suche tymes receiued alone and thought it wel done hee neither coulde nor would haue sayd Frustra babetur quotidiana obsatio in vaine we haue our dayly offering geuing no other reason why it was vain but because the people at suche tymes dyd not receiue Therfore it appeareth by those wordes both how necessary hee estemed the peoples communion and also that hee toke not OblationeÌ„ for a propitiatorie sacrifice as you doo For then he could not haue sayde frustra habetur To this purpose it maketh that the same Chrisostome in the same place so earnestly calleth the people to it as he saith to them Whosoeuer is not partaker of the misteries doth impudently and wickedly to stande there And in the. 17. Hom. vpon the epistle to the hebrewes he signifieth that the maner then was that a deacon stode in a place higher then other and with a signe of his handes and a lowde voice called the people to the communion This was not only at Easter but at other times also By this earnest maner of calling therfore it may appere how muche this doctour toke it to be of the substance of the Sacrament that a number should be partakers of it and how farre diuers hys maner was from the fasshion of your priuate masse Now then your amplyfied coÌ„clusion wherin ye clayme Chrisostome to be wholy with you sheweth it selfe to be very vaine And wée may now as iustly say as wée did before that ye haue no proofe out of the auncient fathers for that ye doo herein so earnestly defende And that wée haue right good testimonies both out of the scripture and out of the Doctours against it For ye muste not vse to grounde doctrines vpon the coniecture of a few