the other Countries of Greece the Islands of the Aegaean and Ionian Seas Dalmatia Albania Walachia and Moldavia But as for those Countries that lie North of Thrace toward Mount Haemus on the one hand and bounded by the Danube on the other they remain exempt from his Jurisdiction and enjoy the privilege of being independent on any other then their own Metropolitans according to the Constitutions of the Emperours who rais'd them to that dignity Such are the Archbishop of Justiniana Prima or Achridae who claims this privilege from the times of the Emperour Justinian who to doe honour to the Country where he was born equalled it in dignity to an Apostolical See and made it altogether absolute and free He is Primate of all Bulgaria and has under him about eighteen Bishops though it must be acknowledged that some who have enjoyed this Title have come to the Patriarch of Constantinople to be consecrated But this can no more be alleged as a prejudice and bar to their just liberty and power then it might be to the Patriarchs of Alexandria who have sometimes received their Consecration in the same place Next the Archbishop of Pecium a City of Servia who governs that whole Country with the assistence of sixteen Bishops These two Countries make up the higher and lower Moesia of the Ancients Then the Archbishops of Georgia and Mingrelia And lastly the Archbishop of the Island of Cyprus who has three or four Suffragans being free from the pretensions of the Patriarch of Constantinople as well as of Antioch But notwithstanding these immunities all of them yield a mighty deference to the chief See and upon occasion according as they are able contribute to support the necessities of it For besides the Present they are obliged to make upon the Presentation of a new Patriarch who is always to be confirmed by the Grand Signor or Vizir who indeed do oftentimes impose such as they think fit a yearly summe is now exacted in the way of Tribute Emanuel Malaxus in his History of the Patriarchs of Constantinople from the taking of the City to his own time that is to the year 1577 tells us that the Elections of the four first Patriarchs were free and how that afterward upon a Present of a thousand Ducats of Gold made in favour of a certain Kaloir of Trapezond named Symeon whom his Countrymen especially desir'd to make Patriarch the Turks took advantage of their forwardness and made it a standing rule and precedent for the future and the summ was soon doubled and trebled and not long after turned into a yearly Tribute And this has been encreasing ever since by the covetousness and rapaciousness of the Turks to which the horrid Differences and Dissentions among the Greeks have given too great an occasion as I shall have occasion to shew immediately by late examples The Sultana and the Favourites and great Officers of the Port besides the yearly Presents made to them also are to be bribed lustily upon all occasions so that the standing and accidental Charge of the Patriarch put both together make a great summ for which he is responsible For the raising of this mony with which they buy the liberty of their Religion there is a certain Tax or portion of mony payable by every Metropolitan and Bishop besides what is given at their Consecration for he usually makes them every year which they receive from the several Priests under their Jurisdiction according to the value of their Incomes To collect these summs or honourable Presents he deputes one of his Dependents every year as his Legate whom they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometime upon occasion he goes himself in person to visit for the same purpose Mony comes in also from the Ordination of Priests that are within his particular Diocese who pay him so many Dollers a year as their Livings are worth from granting Licences of Marriage and Dispensations and from Law-suits judicially heard before him For to prevent the ill consequences of running to the Turks for Justice they usually appeal to him as to their Judge in Civil causes and are concluded by his sentence and determination under the grievous penalty of being excommunicated which they dread more then death it self For if they refuse to stand to his arbitrement and decision they are ipso facto deprived of the benefit of the Sacraments and in case any should be so hardy and obstinate as not to endeavour quickly to be reconciled to the Church unless he has a mind to turn Turk to gain his pretended right by suing his Adversary before a Cady or in the Divan the Patriarch and those about him will spare for no charge to get such a one condemned to the Gallies for a certain time till they have conquered his refractoriness of humour and brought him to terms of submission this being the main pillar and support of their Government But they seldome make use of this rigorous and expencefull course a Principle of conscience in the persons concern'd hindring the prosecution of it and making them afraid to transgress therein while they remember that chiding expostulation of S. Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians 1 Epist 6. 1. as if it had been particularly directed unto them Dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust and not before the Saints The Patriarch in the determination of causes brought before him has the assistence of twelve of the chief Officers belonging to the Patriarchal Church and dignity These also assist the Archbishop of Heraclea in vesting and crowning him at his Inauguration and still retain the same high titles as they did before the Turks came among them These are as it were his standing Council to whom he refers the great affairs and concerns of Religion Lastly several devout persons that by their hand-labour and frugal way of living or otherwise have advanced their fortunes and have scraped some mony together leave it oftentimes in the way of Legacy to the Church to serve the needs of it By all which ways and means the Patriarch as I was made to believe may receive between thirty and forty thousand Dollers a year But this being matter of conjecture and wholly uncertain I lay not any great stress upon it and determine nothing in the case The Patriarch most commonly is chosen out of the number of the Bishops who according to the present constitution and practice of that Church are Kaloirs of the Order of S. Basil and bred up for the most part at mount Athos and consequently under a vow of Celibacy To derive a greater lustre upon the Episcopal Dignity and Function their menial servants and such as attend them are usually in Deacons Orders When they address to him the usual style is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most Holy Father or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your Holiness
Eye struck out and hamstring'd in his left Leg and condemned to work in the Mines afterwards present at the Council of Nice XX. S. Ignatius to whom they give the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the third Bishop of Antioch from S. Peter thrown to the wild Beasts in the Amphitheatre at Rome under Trajan XXV The Nativity of our most Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ XXVII S. Stephen first Martyr JANVARY I. The Circumcision of Christ as also the Festival of S. Basil VI. Epiphany or Baptism of our Saviour Upon this day after they have celebrated the Holy Sacrament they consecrate and bless the Waters and especially for the uses of Holy Baptism XVII S. Anthony one of the first Founders of the Monastick Order in Aegypt under Decius XVIII S. Athanasius and S. Cyril Bishops of Alexandria XXV S. Gregory Nazianzene whom they style 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Divine XXX S. Basil S. Gregory and S. Chrysostome the memory of which three great and famous Bishops they celebrate together FEBRVARY II. The Presentation of Christ in the Temple by the Blessed Virgin after the forty days of her Purification when Simeon met them there therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 XI S. Blasius Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia who having confest Christ there obtained the glory of Martyrdom under Diocletian MARCH IX The forty Souldiers Martyrs who being exposed naked in a Lake or Ditch near Sebaste in the lesser Armenia were frozen to death under Licinius XXV The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin S. Mary APRIL XXIII S. George of Cappadocia crown'd with Martyrdom under Diocletian styled peculiarly by the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 XXV S. Mark the Evangelist MAY. VIII S. John the Divine XXI Constantine the Great and his Mother Helena whom they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or equal to the Apostles JVNE XI S. Bartholomew and S. Barnabas Apostles XIX S. Jude Apostle and Brother of our Lord. XXIV The Nativity of S. John Baptist the forerunner of Christ XXIX S. Peter and S. Paul Apostles JVLY XVII S. Marina Virgin and Martyr of Antioch in Pisidia the Daughter of Aedesius an Idol-Priest I suppose him between whom and Julian the Apostate Emperour there was a great intimacy and familiarity The Latines call this martyred Saint Margaret XV. Elias the Prophet XXVI S. Parasceve Virgin and Martyr had her Head struck off somewhat about the times of Antoninus XXVII S. Panteleemenon Physician and Martyr who suffer'd at Nicomedia in Bithynia under Maximian The Latines call him Pantaleon AVGVST VI. The Transfiguration of our Blessed Saviour XV. The Death of the Blessed Virgin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dormitio This the Latines call the Assumption in the relation of whose triumphal carriage into Heaven by the Angels the Greeks are very idle and fancifull even to a great height and degree of credulity and folly The institution of this solemnity Nicephorus attributes to the Emperour Mauritius some little time before the year 600. XXIX The beheading of S. John the Baptist Almost every day has a peculiar Saint and Martyr at whose commemoration the Religious in their Convents use a proper office as in the Roman Breviary which makes their Church-books swell to a great bulk These are the entertainments of their devotion in their retirements from the world performed indeed without that great solemnity as the above-mentioned Festivals are at which the people are usually present and are obliged to keep sacred by their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or abstaining from the servile works of their callings according to the practice and direction of their Church in the Rubrick of their Menology Their offices are long and tedious The Priests and Deacons and other devout persons observe the Vigils preceding the great Festivals spending the whole night in prayer and reading the History of the Gospels or the proper Lessons for the Solemnity without any interruption taking their turns and relieving one another when tyred and so keeping up the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or sacred ministration I have been present for seven hours together at their service upon a Festival day from between four and five of the clock in the morning till toward twelve When there is a full Congregation the ordinary prayers appointed for the Solemnity begin and the life of the Saint is read to them in the vulgar Greek translated out of Simeon Metaphrastes or the Synaxaria which are collections briefly containing the most remarkable passages and accidents of the Saints lives and the particularities of their sufferings and martyrdom to which the people are very attentive For this purpose among others they make use of the translation of Maximus Bishop of Cerigo a Book called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Treasure composed by Damascen of Thessalonica Venice 1618. Quarto which contains Moral discourâ—es intermixed with the Historical and indeed are in the nature of Sermons and a third Book which they call by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the new Treasure At such solemnities the holy and august Sacrament is always celebrated and that with great pomp and ceremony and indeed is not onely a necessary but the principal part of the Festival Every one strives to bring his present or gift as he is able according to the Primitive custom as Bread Wine Oyl for the Lamps Wax-candles Frankincense and such like to be mae use of in the following sacred rites or any other way as the service of the Church may require At such times also they are very charitable and liberal to the poor the meaner sort giving away what they can scarce spare from themselves it being usual for such as are faln into any extraordinary distress to get Letters from the Patriarch I speak of the places in and about Constantinople especially to recommend their case and to stir them up to compassion And I have observed several Turks to bring their Christian slaves with a bolt or chain about their leg to the Church-doors of the Greeks to beg their alms in order to their relief and maintenance but this being the usual artifice of their covetous Patrons there is little notice taken of them They go to Church always betimes in the morning and in the Winter time an hour or two before day which was the practice of the first Christians in the times of Trajan according to the relation which Pliny the younger then Pro-Praetor in the lesser Asia made to that Emperour and this they doe that the people may be present at the entire service and dismist in good time to attend and look after their concerns but chiefly that they may perform their devotions more securely and be less disturbed and molested by the Turks If I may judge of others by my self I am perswaded that no Christian of what Communion soever can be present at their religious worship but he will melt into tears and sighs and find
or Hypothesis and have dealt impartially in the case without the least tincture of Affection or Prejudice To which purpose I have studiously endeavoured to couch things in a plain close style without enlarging upon them unnecessarily being more ambitious in a subject of this nature of the reputation of being accounted an honest and carefull then spruce and elegant Writer I have sometimes indeed referred to the judgment of Antiquity but it was wholly in order to the better understanding the present practice of the Greeks and I can say most conscientiously that those few reflexions which I have made are wholly owing to a just zeal and love for the honour of truth and the advancement of strict and discreet Piety whereby my my Reader may not onely be bettered in his judgment but in his life too You will here clearly see with what great difficulties the poor Eastern Christians struggle against what mighty opposition they still maintain the profession of Christianity and how the Cross of Christ triumphs notwithstanding the cruel mockings and insultings of the profest Enemies of it though it must be most sadly confessed that several corruptions and errours in point of Doctrin and Superstitious Rites and Practices in Worship have crept in among them to the great disadvantage scandal and dishonour of our Holy Religion which is hereby continually exposed to the censure and contempt of the Mahometans who dull and stupid as they are do not pretend to examine the grounds and reasons of the Christian Belief but judge of the whole by such odd phantastick misrepresentations and fortify their old prejudices every day more and more with fresh matter of dislike The common people among the Greeks doe as they are directed without the least examination or demurr and depend altogether upon their Teachers and Spiritual Guides in matters of Religion being wholly ignorant of and unacquainted with the Scriptures few having the leisure and fewer ability to reade them It was the pious design of that great man Cyrillus Lucaris of whom more at large hereafter in causing the New Testament to be translated into vulgar Greek for the use and benefit of the meaner sort that they might be built up in the most Holy Faith and thence be fully instructed in the knowledge and Doctrin of God our Saviour But though they had curiosity and learning enough to consult these Sacred Writings the Copies are very rare and scarce to be met with and no care is taken to furnish out a new Edition and it is too too apparent not without design to keep them more in subjection and awe not to say ignorance They are bred up in the same perswasion as formerly and so zealously do they retain the outward Services of Religion in all its punctilio's and circumstances that even the Bishops themselves who would be content to relax somewhat of the severities of their Fasts dare not attempt to make any alteration in the least lest their people obstinate to excess should be offended at it and doubt of the truth of what they would have them still profess and believe And indeed considering the present state of things there is little sign or hope of a Reformation For the misery of it is that though it is manifest to all who understand Antiquity how much the present Greeks have in several points of Doctrin varied from the Belief of their Ancestours and have corrupted the simplicity and purity of Religion by a mixture of odd opinions and fancies they pretend notwithstanding that their Tenents are agreeable to the Fathers and that they follow the Traditions of the ancient Church But without looking back much beyond this last Century whoever will compare the answers of the Patriarch Jeremias to the Letters of the Divines of Wittenberg in the year 1576. with their Confession of Faith published in the year 1662. and with the Bethleemitick Synod held in the year 1671. will find such a vast difference between the modesty of that Patriarch and their bold determinations as will encline any sober and considering man to believe that they have of late more then ever been wrought upon by the sly artifices and insinuations and underhand dealing of the subtile Emissaries of Rome who watch continually over the poor Greeks and take advantage of their poverty and distress to bring them to a further compliance and in time to a down-right subjection I do not doubt but that time which is the great revealer of secrets will discover the mystery of the last Synod held by the Patriarch of Jerusalem who when I waited upon him at Constantinople not long before my departure knowing me to be a Priest of the Church of England and Chaplain to his Excellency the English Embassadour then at the Port entertained me very respectfully and acquainted me that he had several Papers against the Romanists which he would take care to transcribe and put into my hands to be printed in England but he did not I confess tell me the particular Subject and Argument of them nor thought fit afterward to send them as he had at first designed Reflecting upon this discourse I was the more amazed at the determinations of this Synod held by his Authority and perchance it would not be want either of good manners or charity to guess by what arguments they were prevailed upon and how they were influenced This design of the Romanists which has been carrying on for so many years was soon discovered by Cyrillus Lucaris Patriarch of Constantinople a man of great parts and of an extraordinary courage who was resolved to give a check and put a stop to it as much as in him lay and by degrees to reform those abuses and errours that had prevailed among the Greeks and introduce a stricter alliance and union of the Eastern Church with the reformed Churches of Christendome This drew upon him the indignation of Urban the Eighth then Pope and the Congregation of Cardinals de propagandâ fide as they speak at Rome who knew no good could be done while he sate upon the Patriarchall Throne and therefore finding after several attempts to bring him over by fair means to relinquish his pretensions that he was too stout and too honest to submit to their overtures and proposals they made use of several evil arts to dethrone him and in order thereunto blackened and defamed him with a thousand calumnies and pursued him with unwearied diligence and malice and never desisted till they had got him strangled Out of respect to the memory of this good man who suffered so much in his life-time by the Jesuits the great instruments made use of in his Persecution and Tragicall end and is still most unworthily treated by Monsieur Arnaud from a man of such excellent Learning and Piety so much disingenuity could scarce be expected in the height of his zeal for the Roman Doctrin of Transubstantiation and by the Latinizing Greeks who contrary to all laws of humanity return him hatred for
Bishoprick of Damalon Rhodus New Patras in Thessaly Aenus Drystra Tornobus under which are the Bishopricks of Lophitzus Tzernobus and Presilabe Joannina a City of Aetolia formerly called Cassiope under which the Bishopricks of Bothrontus Bella Chimarra and Drynopolis Euripus Arta the same with Ambracia a City of Epirus Monembasia the same with Epidaurus a City in Peloponnesus under it the Bishopricks of Elos and Marina Rheon and Andrusa Nauplium Phanarion and Neochorion Sophia Chios now called Scio. Paronaxia Tria Siphnus Samos Carpathus now Scarpanto Andros Leucas These eight are Islands in the Archipelago Varna near the Danube Old Patras under which the Bishopricks of Olene Methona and Corona Proconnesus Ganus and Chora In the same Paper that was put into my hands these Bishopricks were added Media towards the Euxine Sozopolis not far from Adrianople Praelabus somewhere toward the Danube Capha in the Cimmerian Bosphorus a City of Tartaria Praecopiensis Gotthia in the same Country Bindana near Sophia Didymotichum Litiza Bysia Selybria Zychnae in Macedonia Neurocopus Melenicus Beroea Pogogiana in Illyricum Chaldaea Pisidia Imbrus Myra Santorina an Island near Melos Aegina Walachia for this I suppose is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Moldavia are four Bishopricks as in Candia there were lately three under the Metropolitan of that Island Several of the Bishops mentioned in the Catalogue being freed from the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitans to which they formerly belonged and so become in respect of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 free and independent and onely subject to the Patriarch are called by way of distinction Archbishops as he of Samos for instance who before was under Rhodes and so of the rest The Archbishops which have Suffragans under them still or had formerly at least being generally called Metropolites But of the Metropoliticall and Episcopal Sees thus much Considering the Poverty of the Greek Church and the scanty provisions made for such as enter into holy Orders there being no rich Livings to invite them to doe so it must onely be a principle of Conscience at first that makes them willing to take up that holy Calling which deprives them of all other ways and means of getting a subsistence For the Clergy must be content with their allowance and not think to better their condition by busying themselves in any Secular employment as being altogether inconsistent with their holy Profession But custome and long use make things most troublesom and difficult to be born easy at last It is accounted a good Preferment if in a Country-village the poor Priest can make in the whole year forty Crowns out of which he pays a proportion to his Bishop For there being no Lands belonging to the Church besides the small allowance agreed upon at first by him and the people they pay him so many Aspers for Christening their Children giving them the Sacrament upon extraordinary occasions Burying their dead and performing other Funeral rites and the like And on the great Festivals they present him with mony or what is mony-worth that he may expresly mention their names or their relations whether alive or dead when he comes to that part of the Liturgick-service in the celebration of the Sacrament where such Commemorations are used as believing such a Recommendation made by the Priest at that solemn time to be of great force and efficacy Marriage does not hinder any person if he be not otherwise unqualified from being put into holy Orders not in such a one obliged to live from his Wife But the general practice of the Church is against Marriage after Orders So that if any Priest once married should marry a second time much more if a Priest not before married should enter into this state they are liable to censures and as if the character imprinted upon them when they were made Priests were by this act rased out they are esteemed as meer Laicks and accounted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or flagitious persons and transgressours of the Laws and Canons of the Church They have a distinct Habit from the people which is black wearing a Cassock and having a Felt-cap upon their heads of the same colour over which they throw a kind of Veil which hangs down behind their back if they be Kaloirs and are permitted by the Turks to wear their Hair long and over their Shoulders Which the other Greeks of late years presuming to imitate the chief Vizir Achmet upon his return from Candia fearing that it might be of ill effect and consequence if this Innovation were any longer indulged commanded them under a grievous penalty to shave their heads as formerly which they with haste and trembling submitted to well knowing that such orders were not to be dallied with They are in great veneration among the people every-where who have a just opinion of the necessity of their Order and of the dignity of their Function that they are set apart by God for his more immediate Worship and Service and that without their Ministery the Christian Religion would soon be at an end in Turky and salute them always by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Father giving them Respect where-ever they meet them and oftentimes kissing their hands and then putting them to their foreheads which is one of the greatest signs of Reverence in that part of the world Next to the Priests are the Deacons of which there are great numbers belonging to the Bishops who are never advanced to the Priesthood and Subdeacons which assist in the service of the Church and Readers whose office is in the great Church to reade the Scripture to the people But of these inferiour Orders I shall have occasion to say somewhat hereafter I shall onely adde thus much of the superiour that they are never conferr'd together and at the same time but there is to be necessarily the interposition of a day at least And therefore if upon a Capriccio of the Grand Signor any simple Kaloir should be design'd to be Patriarch he is to be advanced by degrees and not immediately placed in the Patriarchal Chair till after some little time The strict and severe course of life which the Religious lead is greatly admired by the Greeks as the height of perfection in this world and what equals them to Angels Of which sort are great numbers in Greece and the Lesser Asia which follow the Rules and Constitutions of S. Basil the Great as those do of S. Antony who live upon Mount Sinai and Libanus and are dispersed up and down Aegypt from the Desart to the Red Sea The name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Kaloir the Greeks in their ordinary discourse mightily humouring this pronunciation was at first I suppose appropriated to the old men of the Order but now it lies in common among all and is the general name by which they are called They have their Convents in several By-places out of the publick roads or
on the right side of the Holy Bread Then he takes another piece and so to the ninth which are placed on the left side all which he offers up in honour of S. John Baptist the Apostles S. Basil Gregory the Divine Chrysostome Athanastus Cyrillus Nicolas and all holy Bishops S. Stephen George Demetrius Theodorus and all holy Martyrs S. Antony Euthymius Saba Onuphrius Athanasius of Mount Athos and all holy Monks holy Physicians who cured gratis Cosmus and Damianus Cyrus John Panteleemenon Hermolaus Sampson Diomedes Thallaleus Tryphon and the rest S. Joachim and Anna and of the Saint of the day and all Saints for the sake of whose prayers and supplications O God protect us and in behalf of the Bishop of the place and of the whole Hierarchy of Benefactors and Friends and Relations living and dead here he names the persons whom he is desired particularly to commemorate that the mercifull God would indulge them pardon Then he puts a little silver instrument upon them that the Coverings may not touch the Particles which are put in three rows and so disorder them it being made of two short arches crossing each other in the figure of a star hence called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 repeating these words And the star came and stood over where the young child was And then they cover the Patin and the Chalice distinctly with linen or silk saying at the first The Lord is King and hath put on glorious apparel c. and at the second Thy power O Christ hath obscured the heavens and the earth is full of thy glory now and for ever and afterward both together with a larger covering or veil which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saying O our God hide us under the shadow of thy wings now and for ever Amen All which that is both Bread and Wine making the Oblation are blessed soon after by this solemn Prayer which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O God our God who hast sent our Lord and God Jesus Christ our Saviour and Redeemer who does bless us and sanctifie us to be the heavenly Bread and nourishment of all the world do thou bless this Oblation and receive it upon thy supercelestial Altar Remember O gracious and mercifull God those who offer it and those for whom it is offered and preserve us blameless in the celebration of thy Divine Mysteries this being said by the Priest in a soft and still voice as it were to himself he afterwards says aloud For thy most venerable and glorious Name of Father Son and Holy Ghost is sanctified and glorified now and for ever Amen This Prayer of Benediction being pronounced the Elements though barely blest and yet unconsecrated become venerable and divine Gifts or Oblations as they speak The Deacon having received the book of the Gospell from the hands of the Priest holding it on high that the people may the better see it goes out at the North-door of the Chancell the inferiour Officers carrying Tapers before him and is followed by the Priest and so having made a short Procession in the Body of the Church they enter into the Chancell at the middle door and deposit the Gospell upon the middle Altar where the Consecration is always made This they call the first and lesser Introitus or Entrance Then the Priest says this Prayer secretly O Omnipotent Lord God who onely art holy who receivest the sacrifice of praise from those who call upon thee with their whole heart receive our Prayer who are Sinners and bring us to thy holy Altar and make us fit to offer up to thee Gifts and spiritual Sacrifices for our Sins and the Trespasses of the people and grant that we may find favour before thee and that our Sacrifice may be acceptable unto thee and that the good Spirit of thy grace may dwell in us and in these Gifts thus offered and in all thy People Next the Quire sings the Hymn which begins Come let us adore and fall down before Christ save us thou Son of God c. and the other short Hymn which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Holy God holy and powerfull holy and immortall have mercy upon us Glory be to the Father and to the Son and c. Which being ended the Deacons reade the Epistle and Gospell appointed for the day So far in ancient times when the Discipline of the Church flourished and was kept up in its perfection and vigour the Catechumeni were admitted to be present in their proper place this being the Missa Catechumenorum and then were dismissed with a peculiar Prayer the Deacon crying aloud and making proclamation Whosoever of you are Catechumeni depart and this was repeated thrice let none of the Catechumeni stay you who are of the number of the faithfull or compleat Christians stay Let us more and more call upon God in peace Then the Priest says several private Prayers to himself after which he advancing towards the Altar of Prothesis takes off the Chalice which he holds in his hand covered and is attended by the Deacon carrying the Patin in which is the holy Bread that is to be consecrated upon his head and that covered too with a piece of silk that it may not be seen and by the other inferiour Ministers going before in order with the Launce the Sponge wherewith they wipe the Dish and the Chalice gilt Crosses Incense Pots Tapers and little Bells and the like They all pass out at the little North-door and proceed slowly into the Nave or Area of the Church about which they take a compass the Quire in the mean while singing the Hymn which they call Cherubicus The people during this Procession shew all imaginable reverence bowing their heads bending their knees and sometimes prostrating themselves upon the pavement and kissing the hem of the Priest's Stole as he passes by besides crossing themselves continually during this pomp and repeating these words Remember me O Lord in thy Kingdome the Priests and Deacons interceding for themselves and the people in this form The Lord God be mindfull of us all in his Kingdom now and for ever Then they enter in at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or middle Door and place the Elements upon the Altar directly opposite to it in order to their consecration This Procession they call the second or great Introitus or Entrance or access to the Altar This seems to be and really is as they order the matter the most solemn part of the Grecian Worship and at which they express the greatest devotion if we may judge of it by these outward and visible signs A practice that really gives great offence and is wholly unjustifiable notwithstanding all the little and trifling excuses and pretensions made by Symeon Thessalonicensis and Gabriel Severus in favour of it as that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies any Adoration and Respect
heat and contest arising hence several Centuries of years before the overthrow of the Greek Empire grew wider and wider and at last became irreconcilable being fomented in the following Ages by the ambition of the great Ecclesiasticks of both parties who upbraided each other with prevaricating and departing from the mind and will of Christ herein The Sacramental Bread is to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 clean or pure which purity does not so much refer to the fineness of the corn as to the manner of its being kneaded and baked either by Men legally pure or else by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Old women professed or the Wives of married Priests not otherwise unqualified the former being supposed upon the account of their Vow the other of their relation to be of more then ordinary Sanctity They celebrate the Holy Sacrament on the same day but once upon the same Altar which is always the middlemost of the three or where there are onely two on that which is opposite to the middle Door and never upon the Prothesis Anciently there was onely a single Altar in each Church as one High Priest and Mediatour the Lord Jesus Christ who by his own bloud entered in once into the Holy place as appears not onely from the order and disposition of their Fabrick Antiquity being wholly unacquainted with Side-Altars wherewith the Churches under the Papacy are crowded for the sake of that great number of Masses daily sung as they pretend for the relief of poor Souls in Purgatory but from the sacred use to which it was appropriated for for some hundreds of years the Sacrament was not celebrated twice the same day as is evident from the eloquent Panegyrick of Paulinus Bishop of Tyre concerning the structure of Churches preserved by Eusebius in the tenth book and fourth chapter of his Ecclesiasticall History In the great Churches the Priest celebrates the Sacrament upon the solemn Festivals and upon Sundays and at other times upon occasion when he is hired either to pray for the Soul of any dead person or for success in a journey or the like Sometimes they go to ruined places without their Towns or in the Fields where formerly were Churches or near a holy Fountain A Table there placed in stead of an Altar is covered with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or consecrated cloaths without which they cannot consecrate in unhallowed places At these times I have observed persons troubled with Agues and other feverish distempers laid at some distance from the Altar with their faces toward it hoping by the merit of the Blessed Sacrament and the prayers of the Priest officiating to be restored to their health The Laicks are obliged to receive the Blessed Sacrament four times a year With which law of their Church they most readily comply none omitting it especially at Christmas or Easter unless hindred by a real and urgent necessity In order to their better Preparation the preceding Fasts are appointed and observed It is not allowed that the Priest begin the service of Consecration till after morning the usual time being about the third hour of the day which is not without a design the Priest using this short form of Prayer O Lord who sentest thy most Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at the third hour O mercifull God take not thy Holy Spirit from us But at the Festival of Easter their piety is early this Service being usually performed before the Sun-rise after the example of S. Mary Magdalen and the other devout women who came with their ointment to the Sepulchre where Christ had been entombed as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week S. Matth. chap. 28. v. 1. or as S. Luke expresses it chap. 24. v. 1. on the first day of the week very early in the morning In the time of the Great Lent except on Saturdays Sundays and the Feast of the Annunciation the Sacrament is not celebrated till in the middle of the afternoon But of this more at large hereafter The Greeks communicate fasting looking upon it as a thing very unlawfull and scandalous to tast a drop of wine or eat the least bit of bread for several hours before they receive so that 't is oftentimes to be admired with what great courage and obstinacy they doe as it were violence to themselves and get the mastery over their natural passions and inclinations When they receive the Sacrament they do not kneel but onely incline their body at which moment they are taught to exercise an act of Faith after this manner I confess and acknowledge that thou art Jesus Christ the Son of the living God who camest into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief Which form were it as ancient as the times of S. Chrysostome which will never be proved cannot justly be urged by the Patrons and Asserters of Transubstantiation in favour of their opinion because the words are most probably referred not to the Elements which they are just about to receive but to our B. Saviour God and Man in Heaven whom the sacred Elements not onely truly and really represent but also exhibit The People are obliged by the law of the Church to confess to a Priest rightfully and lawfully constituted before they communicate But the Confessours whom they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or spiritual men do not require and exact of their Penitents a rigid anxious or particular confession of their Sins but have regard to modesty and an ill memory that may not retain every circumstance of fact and are not over-difficult in granting their Absolutions What remains to be farther said about Confession may be seen in its proper place The Priest too is obliged by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Order prefixed to the Liturgy which bears the name of S. Chrysostome to confess before he goes to consecrate But I am apt to fear that this piece of Church-discipline is not kept up among them and that Priests and people notwithstanding the obligation are not very strict and zealous in the practice of it unless in the case of hainous Crimes which wast the Conscience it being oftentimes intermitted This is the fault of the Persons and as to the practice it self the Church of England does no way disallow it but rather recommend it to those of her Communion in the Office of the Holy Sacrament provided it be done after a due manner and that the Consciences of the people be not burthened with unjust scruples as if the whole benefit of the Sacrament would be lost and the Confession it self rendred ineffectual except they disburthen and lay open the secretest thoughts of their heart and reveal the minutest punctilio and circumstance of their guilt They give the Eucharist in both kinds to little Children of one or two years of age sometimes to new-born Infants that is after they have been Christened in case
any other ground then that of his own triâ—ling fancy for they are onely added as sauces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Wheat to make it more gratefull to the palate and more easily digestible in the stomach But 't is certain that these things are offered in honour of particular Saints upon their Festival-days and in remembrance and behalf of the dead and accordingly they carry them to the graves of their deceased Friends During the solemn time of Lent set apart for the severe exercises of Penance there is no consecration of the Sacrament except on Saturdays Sundays and the Feast of the Annunciation For which cause the other days are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But lest by this intermission there should seem to be a neglect of our B. Saviour's Institution which it concerns the Christian Church to observe every day to implore God's mercy by the oblation and merit of this unbloudy Sacrifice there is this provision made for it yet so as that the severities of the Lenten Fast shall be preserved that there shall be onely celebrated in the intermediate space 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Missa Praesanctificatorum Thus at this day according to the ancient custom about three a clock in the afternoon when the Fast is ended about the time of Vespers though sometime the old severe discipline being somewhat relaxed as to this circumstance they doe it sooner the Priest does receive and exhibit the Elements which were before consecrated so that this Solemnity is nothing but an image and repeated celebration of the former Consecration except that there are peculiar Prayers allotted for this service which are to be found in the Office Of the Sacrament of the Eucharist hitherto Under the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ecclesiastick or sacred Order the Greeks comprehend the inferiour as well as superiour Ministers which any way soever may belong to the Church In the whole they reckon up seven which are The Sexton whose office is to light the Lamps keep the Church clean and doe any such like mean work The Reader who reads the Lessons out of the Gospels or Epistles to the people though sometimes this is performed by a Deacon at the Desk The Quire-man whose office is to sing the Prayers and Hymns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Praecentor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Canonarcha I have observed a little Boy sometimes passing from one side of the Quire to the other and repeating several versicles which they chant after their poor way For their vocal Musick is very rude and harsh without any art or gracefulness The Sub-deacon who takes care of the Utensils of the Altar and of the several Vestments used by the Priest and Deacon in the time of their officiating He remains in the Sacrarium during the Service which is cumbered and perplexed with so many Ceremonies that his being there to assist is almost necessary Of the three superiour Orders Deacons Priests and Bishops I have discoursed already I will onely observe that the office of a Priest according to the Greeks consists of these three parts that is in the power of absolving or remitting the sins of Penitents of teaching and instructing the people and of consecrating the Blessed Sacrament In conferring any of these three Orders they take a strict care that the person ordained have no lameness or other defect in his body whereby he may be made less fit and capable to doe the duty belonging to his Order and Office And this is always done by Imposition of the hand of the Bishop according to the Canonicall practice and as the particular condition and order of the persons ordained shall require This is so essential a part of the Rite that with them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are promiscuously used and serve to express the same thing The doctrine of Confession and Penance conduces very much to preserve the esteem and dignity of the Priesthood notwithstanding the great want of secular advantages among the Greeks who are very sensible of the great quiet and satisfaction they find within them from their Ghostly Fathers Counsels and Absolutions In order to which they make oral Confession necessary not a nice and scrupulous Confession of every sin with every particularity and circumstance of it but a general and free disburthening of the Conscience as the Penitent who knows his own case best shall think fit in prudence to make in order to his recovery and confirmation They oblige all in general to go to Confession four times a year but they think fit to dispense with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or simpler sort of people if they onely confess in Lent But for such as have advanced in Piety they expect from them a monthly Confession Every Priest is not a Confessour nor indeed can be without the licence of the Bishop who usually chuses out grave and elderly and prudent persons to exercise this solemn part of the Priestly Function Men of this faculty and of these qualifications being for the most part made Parish-Priests for the greater ease and comfort of sick and dying persons of whose Souls they have the care They are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Spiritual men or Fathers and are readily obeyed and complied with in the Penances which they inflict according to the practice and Canon of the Church which is therefore called in the vulgar Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is exacted in the way of punishment and satisfaction But here I could wish I had not reason to complain of the avarice and jugglings of the Priests who commute these Penances with Pecuniary mulcts which yet perchance are as grievous to the poor people as the severest austerities of Fasting After the Penance inflicted is performed or some way or other satisfied the Priest absolves the Penitent after this manner The Grace of the All-holy Spirit by my Meanness that is by the mediation of my Ministery pardons and absolves you This form of Absolution is not constantly observed but is varied oftentimes it being left in a manner wholly to the discretion of the Penitentiary Christophorus Angelus a Greek of the Morea in the account he published of the State of this Church in the year 16 mentions this form According to the power which Christ gave to his Apostles saying Whose sins you loose upon earth they shall be loosed in heaven and according to the power which the Apostles gave to the Bishops and according to the power which I have received from my Bishop thou shalt be pardoned by the Father Son and Holy Ghost Amen and thy portion shall be with the just But in the Prayers of Pardon which the Priest recites over Penitents and such as have confest it
had been guilty of and absolutely devested himself of the Patriarchall Dignity Cyrillus hereupon though not without a great sum of mony paid to the Turks this Restoration being look'd upon as a new Advancement was re-established in his former Seat January 1623. A Kaloir preferred to be an Archimandrite arrived at Constantinople from Rome whence he brought the assurance of a considerable sum of mony in case they could once more secure the displacing of Cyril but the design taking vent it was happily prevented However the cause was not given over as desperate but new designs were carried on at Rome with greater subtilty and endeavours were used to corrupt the Patriarch and this way having blasted his reputation among his friends who had hitherto afforded him their utmost assistence and who had a great opinion of his honesty and integrity the more effectually to ruine him Accordingly three were sent from Rome about Febr. 1624. Padre Berilli a Jesuit a man of great subtilty and wit who was to insinuate himself into the acquaintance of the Patriarch and to perswade him to stir up the Cossacks over whom he had a mighty influence they being of the Greek Communion which if it had been really practised and discovered had been punisht with a thousand deaths if he had had so many lives to lose A second who was a Lay-gentleman to make some overtures about a League and Peace with Spain A third a Greek of Nauplia bred up in the Greek College at Rome founded by Pope Gregory the Thirteenth in the year 1581. called Cannachio Rossi who had instructions in Italian under the hand and seal of Cardinal Bandini in order to adjust matters with Patriarch Cyril These may be seen at large in the Narrative above-mentioned the sum of them in short is this That the Pope was willing to expend considerable sums of mony to reunite the Greek Church to the Roman that they saw not how this Union could be made if the reports which they had received of the present Patriarch were true as that he denied the Invocation of Saints and the worship of Images Transubstantiation which they chose to express by the name of the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament for at that time the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was scarce known among the Greeks Liberty of will Authority of the Councils and Fathers the necessity of auricular Confession thus drawing up a confused charge of Articles against him whereof some were wholly untrue for no person professed a greater respect to the ancient Councils and Fathers then he that he sent several Young men to the Universities of England and Germany in order to his propagating the same Doctrin all the East over and that he distributed Catechisms amongst his Bishops full of the same Errours in compliance with the Hugonot Embassadours And if that he would gain their esteem and favour at Rome he should admit the Florentine Council and condemn and anathematize the Errours and Blasphemies of the Calvinists and Lutherans Upon these proposals of Rossi the Patriarch consulted our Embassadour and was over-perswaded by him contrary to his own temper to make no reply at the present But this silence was taken for a contempt and a refusal which they could not brook and therefore in the way of revenge they stirred up some of the Bishops whom they had made of their party to dethrone him and offered twenty thousand Dollers to fix one of them in his place During this hurly-burly he thought fit to retire till the Jesuiticall intrigue was made known to the Government who yet would understand nothing of it till their eyes were opened with a Present of ten thousand Dollers The Greeks now expected to enjoy the Peace which they had bought at so dear a rate but the event shewed that their expectations were vain and ill grounded for at Rome they were resolved not to give over a game as a lost which they had some kind of hope to retrieve by foul play To effect this they thought fit to send an Anti-Patriarch though onely with the Title of Apostolicall Suffragan and with him a Treasurer with full and absolute Power and Authority to doe as they should think fit and agreeable to the Interests of the Roman Church And to promote this design new Titular Bishops of Smyrna Naxia and the other Islands were created Monsignor Suffraganeo arrives at Naxia December 1626. where he was complemented by the French Embassadour who sent thither his Chaplain titular Bishop of that place and two Jesuits to receive him They brought him to Scio where at first he met with the same respect as the Townsmen of Lystra would have shewn to S. Paul and Barnabas as if the Pope had come amongst them and appeared in his likeness But the man swelling with the thoughts of the extraordinary Power wherewith he was intrusted and not able to contain himself begins to lay about him to the great scandal of those of his own Communion as well Ecclesiasticks as others The Greeks especially were alarmed at this unparallel'd boldness and seeing that the Liberty of their Church was now struck at and invaded made friends to the Vizir and represented their case so effectually that the Suffragan was forc'd to fly and the titular Bishops who had the ill luck to be apprehended were committed to Prison notwithstanding the mediation of their great Patron The Affairs of the Greek Church were in a likely way of settlement to the great vexation of the Jesuits who were horribly perplext and confounded at their late shamefull baffle and overthrow They seemed to acquiesce but it was onely till a fair opportunity presented it self of renewing the onset with greater fury and violence This they wisht for and knew could not be long wanting in Turkey where there is such frequent alteration among the chief Ministers and such change of humour too upon any fresh emergence it being a maxime of Turkish Politicks to suspect a Design in every little accident and take ombrage at it and accordingly so it hapned In June 1627. there arrived at Constantinople upon a ship of London a certain Kaloir called Nicodemo Mataxa born in Cephalonia who having learned in England where he had lived several years the art of printing had brought with him a Press and Types in order to the publishing of Books for the use and information of the poor ignorant Greeks The design was excellent and most Christian but it being wholly new the great difficulty was how to get the luggage ashore without giving any jealousy to the Turks The good man was brought to our Embassadour by the Archbishop of Corinth from the Patriarch to beg of him to own the goods otherwise in great danger to be seised Which accordingly he did upon a farther application of the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria this latter Gerasimus hapning then to be upon the place who with the Dutch Embassadour the Sieur Van Haghe came to his Lordship's Palace to
consult him But to prevent all sinister interpretations of the Turks he thought fit to doe it openly having first given the Vizir notice of it There was a longer demurr about working at the Press it being very obvious to foresee how liable they were to be accused by the jealous Turkish Cadyes and Imams that is Justices and Priests of printing Books against their Religion The Embassadour would by no means be perswaded by the Patriarch to permit this to be done in his house but advised them to take a house in the neighbourhood promising them his assistence It was impossible that this should escape the knowledge of the French Embassadour and the Jesuits who hearing that the Press was set up and all things ready for their work grew strangely dissatisfied at it as if the design had been chiefly to print Books against the Church of Rome and by publishing Catechisms and Rudiments of Learning spoil the trade of the Jesuits who had set up a School in their Convent and taught Greek Children gratis and by these means oftentimes made Proselytes of their Parents They first tried to win Mataxa by fair means but this way not succeeding they called him Heretick and Lutheran and soon after it was told him that they had designs upon his life which put the poor man into such a fright that he made it his earnest request to the Embassadour that he might be permitted to lie in his house not daring to adventure to stay in the night in his own lodgings where he worked in the day-time for fear of having his throat cut The Patriarch to vindicate himself from the aspersions cast upon him by the Jesuits as if he had introduced new and scandalous Doctrines in the Greek Church sent a little Book to the Press concerning the Faith and Doctrine of that Church which some years before Mataxa arrived he had composed and designed to have sent into England to be printed there and to dedicate to King James but now he inscribed it to his Son and Successour Charles the First of blessed and glorious memory They look'd upon this as such a bold Defiance of Rome and France that they were resolved not onely to destroy the Press but to sacrisice the Authour and Printer to their revenge And having procured a copy of a Book written by Cyril and printed in England in defence of our B. Saviour's Divinity which he chiefly intended against the Jews and finding some few passages in it against the Opinions of the Mahometans they gained a Buffone who was a cunning Rascal and in esteem with the Vizir by promising him twenty yards of Sattin to acquaint him that Mataxa was a Souldier and sent to stir up the Greeks to mutiny that under a pretence of printing Books for the use of Children he had disperst others of a quite different argument and such as opposed the Alcoran meaning this little Book of Cyril's several copies of which he had brought over with him that the English Embassadour protected him that the Patriarch was the Authour and that great numbers were sent into Vkrain to perswade the Cossacks to invade the Empire upon the absence of the Grand Signor who then designed an expedition into Asia The Vizir upon the first notice without examining whether the accusation were true of false or so much as likely which I intimated before to be the rash and heady practice of the Turks sends a Company of Janizaries no less then one hundred and fifty commanded by a Captain to seise upon Mataxa and this at the instigation of the French Embassadour who contrived that the designed assault should be deferred till Twelfth-day having learned that our Embassadour had invited the Venetian Bailo a Roman Catholick but a man of a more mild and Christian temper then the French Count and with whom he maintained a friendly and intimate correspondence notwithstanding their different sentiments in some few poiâ—â— of Religion no way essential to it the Patriarch and several other persons to an entertainment But Mataxa very happily absent at Galata with the Embassadour's Secretary in his return to Pera not knowing that his house was beset passed unknown through the Souldiers being in a hat and though pointed at by some as the man yet others saying that he belonged to the English Embassadour he escaped at last and got into the Palace half dead with the fright he was put into The Captain missing his chief prey binds his Servants rifles his Chests empties the Room and carries all away with him as the goods of a Traitour to the value of seven thousand Dollers The Patriarch lying under the accusation of a Crime so capital and fearing the sad effects of Turkish fury upon the first impressions before the fit is over durst not go home to his own house that night The next day the Book was examined and the particular place in which was the supposed Blasphemy against Mahomet interpreted by two Greek Renegado's in the presence of the Vizir and several Churchmen but no great matter upon their examination could be made of it Cyrillus himself relying upon his innocency appearing the same day against whom several crimes were objected but without the least proof The day following the Embassadour thought fit to demand audience of the Vizir to expostulate the case with him and to satisfy him in several particulars relating to Mataxa which he did with an admirable success the Vizir confessing with shame that he had been over-credulous wondring at the impudence of those who had abused him by false informations and promising to see restored all the goods which had been taken away three days before in that great hurry And to wipe off the prejudice out of the minds of the Turkish Priests he thought â—it and condescended to go soon after to the Mufti to satisfy him also Upon these heinous provocations the Embassadour and the Patriarch were so justly offended the Embassadour for that they endeavoured to ruine his reputation in the Turkish Court and had spoken not onely reproachfully of him which he generously slighted but of the King his Master whom Rossi in a discourse with the Patriarch the day after the Turks had seiz'd upon the Press had called the Head of the Hereticks the Patriarch for that they conspired against his life that they were resolved to shew their resentments upon the Authours and Contrivers of the Plot and prevailed so far notwithstanding the reiterated instances of the French Embassadour as to have Cannachio Rossi and the Jesuits thrown into prison The Turks designed to strangle them as having contravened the Laws of their Government but at the intercession of the English Embassadour chiefly they forbore to execute this bloudy sentence and banisht them and the rest of their Order the dominions of the Grand Signor as disturbers of the publick peace Soon after Sir Thomas Row leaves Turkey succeeded by Sir Peter Wych a Gentleman of great worth and rare accomplishments and every way fit
from his not being preferred by him to the Archbishoprick of Thessalonica which he earnestly desired and now he was resolved in the way of revenge to step into his Seat for which advancement he was to pay no less then fifty thousand Dollers But not being able to make good his undertaking and satisfy for this great summ after seven days huffing and domineering the Turks banished him and the Bishop of Amasia his Confederate who died there to the Island of Tenedos whence writing penitential Letters to the Patriarch in which he acknowledged his guilt and the justice of his punishment he was by his favour restored to his former Diocese March 1634. Six months after this Anastasius Pattelari of Candia Archbishop of Thessalonica bought the Patriarchship at the price of sixty thousand Dollers and this by the instigation and with the assistence of the Romanists as Cyril writes in a Letter from Tenedos whither he was banished But this perfidious and ingratefull man whom Cyril had preferred to be a Bishop and had otherways obliged continued scarce a month in the dignity which he had gained by horrid Simony Cyrillus being restored in June following upon the hard condition of paying besides the summ which the sacrilegious Usurper had contracted for an overplus of ten thousand Dollers almost to the utter ruine of the poor Greeks of whom it was to be exacted and levied March 1635. Cyrillus Contari begins again to raise new troubles in the Greek Church to gratify his own ambition and pride and his Masters the Jesuits and bribing the Turks with fifty thousand Dollers invades once more the Patriarchall Throne which is now wholly influenced and governed by the Jesuits In the midst of his wine in April following not able to keep the secret he confesses that all was done by an agreement with the Pope to whom Cyril was to be sent whom they had got banished to Rhodes This man was every way fit for their turns being of a base mercenary temper and wholly depending upon Rome making frequent profession that if the Pope would but furnish him with mony enough he would not onely kiss his hands but his feet too and I suppose he would have been content to have styled himself Patriarch Imperatoris Turcarum Romani Pontificis gratiâ Cyril now an Exile in Rhodes gives an account by Letters to the Dutch Embassadour of his hard and cruel usage and of the designs of some of the Christian Corsayrs to have seised upon him in order to his transportation into Italy which being made known to the chief Officer who commanded the Souldiery in that Island was happily prevented by his removing him thence About eighteen months after July 1636. he was restored though not without the powerfull intercession of his friends and great sums of mony without which be the cause never so just and clear nothing is done in Turkey Cyril though restored had the same difficulties to encounter with as before the same enemies still remained who kept up their animosities and malice toward him those of Cyrillus of Beroea his party advanced during his usurpation to titles and dignities in the Church who were now disgraced and ran the same fortune with him endeavouring by all means possible to promote his interest and we cannot easily imagine that the Jesuits were now reconciled and become his Friends No they saw to their hearts grief how Cyril had still prevailed notwithstanding his frequent depositions and banishment and therefore they all were resolved to be rid of him one way or other and get him dispatcht For now they were grown furious and desperately mad against him and nothing less then his bloud would satisfy their revenge Which yet God would not suffer them to effect till about two years after The Tragical time drew nigh in which this excellent man was to be made a Sacrifice Of the manner of his Death I am able to give a particular relation as having received it from the mouth of the Reverend Doctour Pocock Prebendary of Christ Church Oxon a person of excellent judgment and incomparable learning in the Orientall Languages as those many usefull and curious Books which he has published fully declare who then lived at Constantinople when the bloudy fact was committed and of which he sent a large account to that excellent man Archbishop Laud of famous memory who was very inquisitive to know the minute circumstances of the Patriarch's Death little thinking at that time that his own sad fate was coming on so fast The copy of this Letter was unhappily lost in the time of the Civil Wars but this reverend and excellent Person has been pleased often in discourse to give me the summ of it Which very much confirms the relation of the same Murther written by Nathanael Conopius Protosyncellus of the Patriarchall Church under this Patriarch in Greek Cyril's Enemies not able to get any advantage over him during the Emperour's stay at Constantinople the chief Vizir being his Friend they foreseeing their departure from that City had with their mony gained an interest in Bairam Bassa then in great favour who undertook the business for them which he thus by a wile effected For the Grand Signor having resolved in the year 1638. upon a War upon the Persians in order to the recovering of Bagdat out of their hands into which it had faln not long before sent this Bairam Bassa before him to prepare the way and to make all necessary provisions for the intended Siege while he and the Vizir advanced in slow and easy marches with the gross of the Army then gathering from the most distant parts of the Empire though in two distinct Bodies and at some distance for the convenience of forrage and quarter The Emperour finding all things to his mind and agreeable to his expectation was hugely pleased and satisfied with his conduct He taking the advantage and being often admitted into the Emperour's presence assisted herein by Husain Bassa represented to him among other things relating to that conjuncture that Cyrillus had a great power over those of his Religion that by his instigation the Cossacks had but lately faln upon Azac a considerable Town upon the River Tanais not far from the great lake of Maeotis which they took and pillaged that he was a dangerous man and might stir up the Greeks which were so numerous in Constantinople to mutiny at that time especially when the Imperial City was left bare and defenseless most of the Janizaries being in the Camp and therefore that it was fitting and necessary to prevent such a mischief as might easily happen by putting him to death The jealous Emperour possessed with these plausible stories immediately in a rage signed an Hatte Sherif or Order for his being strangled and a Courier was dispatcht away with it in great hast to the Caimacam or Governour He pursuant to his Order forthwith sent his Officers to seize upon Cyrillus and sent him Prisoner to
one of the Castles upon the Bosphorus In the Evening June 27. they took him thence and put him into a Boat telling him that they were carrying him on board a Vessel lying at Santo Stephano a small Port upon the Propontis a little below the Seven Towers in order to his transportation But as soon as they had launched forth he perceiving their design to murther him fell upon his knees and prayed with great fervency and earnestness preparing himself for death After some revilings and buffettings they did not long delay to put the fatal string about his Neck and soon dispatcht him Having done the bloudy work they stript him and threw his naked Body into the Sea which was afterward taken up by Fishermen and by some of his Friends buried upon the Shore where it had lain exposed for some time But it soon appeared that the malice of his enemies was not yet satisfied for envying him the honour of a Grave they addrest to the Caimacam and got an Order from him to have his Body dug up and thrown into the Sea again and it was done accordingly But the Body was afterwards recovered and buried obscurely in one of the Islands that lie over against the Bay of Nicomedia Thus fell this great man Cyrillus Lucaris by the hands of violence whom both for his Piety and Sufferings which were wholly upon the account of Religion I shall not be afraid having just reason so to doe notwithstanding the passionate censure of Monsieur Arnaud to esteem a Saint and Martyr APPENDIX PRaeter ea quae de hac vetustissima juxtà ac piissimâ Doxologiâ superiùs annotavi paucula haec subnectere visum est Exstat Doxologia haec Graecè edita in fine Liturgiae S. Chrysostomi ab Ambrosio Pelargo Niddano ordinis Praedicatorum Wormatiae 4 o. an 1541. quem Symeon Syracusanus uti ille loquitur Popponem Trevirorum Archiepiscopum è Terrâ Sanctâ quam religionis fortè causâ inviserat redeuntem comitatus Treverim attulisse fertur Codicem autem hunc mirae vetustatis esse depraedicat ante mille annos descriptum fuisse ante octingentos plus minus annos Treverim allatum Pauculas variationes in margine apposui sub notâ Tr. Librum autem istum rarissimum quidem vix alibi reperiendum ex ipsius Bibliothecâ quantivis pretii ceimeliis refertissimâ utendum dedit vir consummatissimae eruditionis omni laude major D. Thomas Marshallus S. Theologiae Professor Collegii Lincolniensis Oxon. Rector perquam dignissimus Facilè quoque videbis formam istam quae in Libro Constitutionum Apostolicarum paulò amplior occurrit cum Codice Treverensi magis convenire quà m cum nostro Alexandrino Sed discrimen utriusque adeò leve nullius momenti est ut in caeteris mirifica consensio perplaceat invictissimum Catholicae veritatis argumentum contra nuperos Dogmatistas qui sub purioris Theologiae titulo antiquam Apostolicam de Sanctissimae Trinitatis divinitatis D. nostri Jesu Christi mysterio fidem subdolè impiè corruperunt meritò debeat aestimari Reperi quoque hunc divinissimum Hymnum ad finem duorum Psalteriorum Graecorum MSS. in Bibliothecâ Bodleianâ quorum alter num 15. in 8 o. inter Codices Baroccianos scriptus erat ante quingentos septuaginta plus minus annos ut ex circulis Paschalibus post Praefationem S. Basilii Theodoreti Cosmae Indico-pleustae illic descriptis abunde liquet Horum enim primus incipit ab anno Creationis 6613. sive Christi 1105. ultimus verò desinit anno ejusdem Epochae 6648. sive Christi 1140. Circa hujus intervalli initia codicem descriptum fuisse hae tabulae ad computum Ecclesiasticum spectantes quae futuris annis uti solent Ephemerides Calendaria prospicere meritò censendae sint liquidò testantur Alter verò in 4 o. manu quidem recentiori vix ante tria secula uti ex characteribus conjectari fas est exaratus Denique S. Notkeri Psalterium MS. in Archivis Seldenianis pulcherrimè additis notulis musicis descriptum monitu eruditissimi mei Amici D. Edvardi Bernardi S. T. B. Saviliani Professoris Astronomiae consului quo praeter versionem Latino Sermone expressam quam Ecclesia Anglicana juxta rituale in Ecclesiis Occidentalibus ferè ubivis locorum usu receptum ad amussim sequitur nisi quòd è Graeco paulò variatum sit Graecè quoque characteribus licèt Latinis exstat Variantes Lectiones literâ N. notatas habebis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 juxta exemplar Alexandrinum sive uti illic inscribitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hymnus Matutinus è Psalterio S. Notkeri Gloria in excelsis Deo Et in Terra Pax Hominibus bonae Voluntatis Laudamus Te Benedicimus Te Adoramus Te Glorificamus Te Gratias agimus Tibi Propter magnam gloriam Tuam Domine Deus Rex Coelestis Deus Pater Omnipotens Domine fili Vnigenite Jesu Christe Domine Deus Agnus Dei Filius Patris Qui tollis peccata mundi Miserere nobis Qui tollis peccata mundi Suscipe deprecationem nostram Qui sedes ad dextram Patris Miserere nobis Quoniam Tu solus Sanctus Tu solus Dominus Tu solus altissimus Jesu Christe Cum Sancto Spiritu In Gloriâ Dei Patris Amen Sequuntur in eodem venerandae Antiquitatis Codice hi Versiculi è Psalmis maximâ ex parte collecti tanquam Hymni pars â—isdem uncialibus characteribus planè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 descripti neque dubitandum videtur quin simul ac eodem tempore olim recitarentur quod hodiè faciunt Graeci uti ex Horologiis manifestissimum est malè ergo Hymni Vespertini à Viro eruditissimo titulo insignitus est Variantes lectiones hîc quoque annexas habes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉