hands face clothes covered over with ashes have nothing to be seene but a pale face thinne cheekes and a meagre looke And is this the matter that keeps you from Confession Num ergo in Coccino Tyrio pro delictis supplicare nos condecet It were good then to provide Purple and Scarlet to mourne for our sinnes You may perceive by this what strict and severe Penance open offenders were compelled to take before they could be received into the Church And this continued 2 3. somtimes 4. yeares and more together before perfectionem suam reciperent they could be perfectly received into the Communion of the faithfull as by the Canons of diverse Councells may appeare If any fell in the persecution of Licinius placuit Sanctae Synodo the Nycene Councell determined thus That though such were unworthy of mercy yet aliquid humanitatis some favour should be shewed them And the favour was no more but this tribus annis inter Poenitentes habeantur they must doe Penance for three yeares together Anno 325. Indeed we doe finde more severity brought into the Church in the times these Councells were celebrated than can be found in the writings of the Fathers before alleadged The reason is given by Socrates The Novatians were a pure Sect which divided themselves from the Church under Decius Anno. 251. because they conceived the Bishops shewed too much favour to those that fell from the Church by reason of the persecution raised by Decius Hereupon the Bishops made an Addition to the Ecclesiasticall Canon that in every Church a Poenitentiary should be appointed to admit Penitents into the Church after they had done publike penance This kind of Confession Nectarius abolished in the Church of Constantinople after it had continued about 100. yeares upon occasion of an abuse of an horrible nature done to a Lady of that City under colour of Confession by a Deacon True also it is that Saint Chrysostome who succeeded Nectarius doth often give a glaunce at that kinde of publike Confession saying non opus est quasi in theatro that there was no need that men should be set as it were upon the stage to confesse sinnes which none suspected by thâ—m and so make themselves a scorne to the world when they needed not which was the case of this woman Howbeit the Confession whereof Irenaeus Tertullian and Cyprian speake was never abolished but continued in Saint Basils Saint Gregory Nyssens and in Saint Chrysostomes time and ever after So did likewise in the Latine Church and to this purpose a solemne day was set apart for taking of publike Penance for open faults by imposition of hands and sprinckling of Ashes namely Ashwednesday by the Canon of the Councell of Agatha in Gratian. This is the godly discipline wherof our Church speaketh in the Commination of putting notorious sinners to open Penance in the beginning of Lent and wish that it might bee restored againe And as Ashwednesday was appointed for putting notorious sinners to open Penance so was Maundy Thursday set apart for their Absolution Dies quo sese Dominus pro nobis tradidit in Ecclesia poenitentia relaxatur sayes Saint Ambrose So writeth Innocentius to Decennius quinta feria ante Pascha Poenitentibus remittendum Thursday before Easter is appointed for Penitents to receive Absolution This Absolution they tooke upon their knees by imposition of the Priests hands as appeareth in the Councell of Carthage I know this whole discourse touching Penance is not pleasing and that those that read it will say they have therein endured a long Penance For all that hold the Nicene Creed doe not hold the Nicene Canons Hee that prophesieth of Wine and strong drinke is a Prophet for some Palats And hee that will bring you fresh suits of Tissue and Cloth of Gold to doe Penance in every day at some great Feast would be a welcome messenger of humiliation That Ladyes might say to their women to use Tertullians words Cedo acum crinibus distinguendis fetch me my Crisping pinnes to curle my lockes pulverem dentibus elimandis and Powder to turne my boxen teeth into Ivory si quid ficti nitoris prepare me some excellent new Fucus to restore my complexion to a cleerer nitour praeterea exquirito balneas prepare me a sweet perfumed Bath to clense the Cutis Adjicito ad sumptum be-speake me a banket of all choice Rarities at the Confectioners quumque quis interrogârit cur animae largiaris and if some inquisitive Dames aske you what meanes this preparation of these dainties of this exquisite Ceruse this precious Fucus this rare dentifrice this curiously prepared Pomatum Deliqui dicitâ— in Deum tell them I have sinned against GOD periclitor in aeternum perire and runne a dangerous hazard of eternall perdition Itaque nunc pendeo maceror excrucior ut Deum reconciliem mihi therefore I take this sore Penance and do torment and macerate my selfe as you see to procure my peace and pardon with Almighty GOD. Oh that there were not too many now a dayes that willingly would not thinke of any other Penance But if any such be they deserve as much to be pittied as such Guides as the Author of this Letter to bee censured For I pray you tell mee if these kinde of men intend not utterly to overthrow the godly discipline of the Primitive Church by denying that there were any Altars or Churches within 200. yeares of Christ. For if this were granted to bee true which is palpable unto mee then all that hath beene said concerning the godly discipline constantly practised in Churches and at Altars would vanish into frivolous fancies and idle dreames CAP. XI Of Schooles of Religion Catechiâ—ts Degrees in the Church Educati Audientes Catechumeni Intincti Neophyti Hereticks neglect these Orders Libraries Treasuries Offerings at the Eucharist disposed of by the Bishops Corruption among Deacons Timothy directed to take part of Oblations The Emperours Brother a Bishop WHat should I speake concerning Schooles Libraries Gazophylacia Treasure houses which were built in all Bishops Sees and Metropolitane Cities and belonged to the Church Can any man imagine then that there were no Churches built within 200. yeares after Christ for the Bishop Clergy and people of God to meet in Since the only end why these were built was to fit men for Gods Service in the Church In Saint Iohns time there was a Schoole and Church neere unto Ephesus for himselfe did commend a young man to the Arch-Bishop to be brought up Anno. 100. There was a Schoole in Alexandria where Pantaenus Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen taught one after another Anno. 182. There was a Schoole or Church in Smyrna where Irenaeus heard Polycarpus teach Anno. 180. In Rome there was both a Church and a Schoole For Anthia brought Eleutherius thither to bee brought up under Anicetus Anno. 167. So much the Centurists avouch And we may perceive
gracious Lords upon reason of State used some connivence and extended an hand of mercy and sometimes an arme of protection over them We may finde that the Emperours caused sundry edices upon petitions of grace preferred by diverse pious and worthy persons unto them to be issued out in their behalfe as that of Trajan hoc genus non inquirondum This was in the third perâ—ecution Anno. 98. Nerva before eos absolvâ— volâ—it This was Anno. 96. Domitian in contempt of the meane and despicable condition of the brethren of our Saviour did the like tenne yeares before This was in the second persecution Anno. 81. Hence it was that St. Iohn returned againe from banishment and dwelt at Ephesus and remained Bishop there as afore Adrian succeeded these in his favourable edicts in the behalfe of Christians Ne turbentur Saint Iustin putteth Antonius Pius his sonne in minde thereof This was Anno. 117. Antonius Pius upon the petition of this holy man did the like And this was Anno. 138. Melito Bishop of Sardis confesseth it to be true that Nero and Domitian at the instigation of some wicked men persecuted the Christians but that Domitian upon better consideration relented And that the Emperours Ancestours to Antoninus Verus did support and defend them as he also did this was Anno. 161. But Marcus Aurelius as he had just cause not onely defended them but commanded their enemies to bee burnt quicke because by their prayers his Army was refreshed with water in a great famine and drought and his enemyes the Germanes were burnt with firy hayle storme Iulius Capitolinus witnesseth the same Fulmen de coelo pâ—ecibus suis contra hostium macâ—inamentum sc. Legio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicta extorsit suis pluvia impetrata cum siti laborarent This peace Commodus granted unto the Vniversall Church throughout all the world In his time Bacchylus was Bishop of Corinth and Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus This peace was Anno. 180. And in the seventh persecution Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria in his Epistle to Stephen Bishop of Rome confesseth that all the Christians then enjoyed peace And this was in the eighth persecution under Decius Anno. 256. Galienuâ— granted the like edicts under whom and Valerianus was the ninth persecution This was Anno. 260. Heare now what Tertullian will say to this purpose who was 140. yeares before Eusebius The Lawes made against Christians Trajanus ex parte frustratus est vetando inquiri in Christianos And Hadrian Vespasian Antoninus Pius Antoninus Verus would never urge the execution of them Let saith he M. Aurelius his letter be produced hereby it will appeare that he quit the Christians from all danger of punishment and denounced death to their accusers And gives the reason before specified The name of Christians saith he came in under Tiberius who threatned punishment against all those that accused them Domitian indeed began to persecute them but hee quickly relented Caeterum de tot exinde principibus ad hodiernum Divinum humanumque sapientibus edite aliquem debellatorem Christianorum At nos è contrario edimus protectorem The Christians then it seemes by Tertullian from the time of Domitiam Anno. 81. unto the Raigne of Severus when Tertullian lived found Protectors not all great persecutors this was Anno 193. Nero excepted the Heathen could not shew from the Raigne of Tiberius when Christianity began how any one Emperour sought to root them out but hee could let them see that very many had shewed them favour Christians therefore for feare of Tyrants were not faine for 200. yeares together to live in Woods and Caves under the ground But their Churches were built and frequented and their Bishops well respected and this favour continued till about the nineteenth of Dioclesian Anno. 298. And Dioclesian was the first persecutor that I can finde that caused Churches and Oratories to be broken downe which had beene soone done if Christians had no Churches till above 200. yeares after Christ. CAP. 6. Of the succession of Bishops in their severall Sees S. Ambrose's art to save his Church and Altar standing Synods assembled Power of the Keyes exercised The wealth of the Church of Rome The multitude of Christians a terror to Heathen IT is also manifest that there is a continued succession of Bishops from the Apostles times unto the Nicene Councell And the Catalogue of the foure most famous Sees of Ierusalem Antioch Alexandria Rome appeare in Eusebius And it is probable that the godly Bishops preserved their Churches standing in those dangerous times by the selfesame art whereby S. Ambrose kept his from surprising of Arrian Hereticks Fervebat enim tunc persecutio saith he The art was Christian fortitude and patience Sanè si me vis aliqua abduceret ab Ecclesia carnem meam exturbari posse non mentem potuistis advertere Me you should finde ready Vt si Imperator faceret quod solet esse regiae potestatis ego subirem quod Sacerdotis esse consuevit Quid ergo turbamini volens nunquam jus deseram coactus repugnare non novi I will not willingly betray my Church but submit to what the Emperour will cause to be done Dolere potero potero flere potero gemere Adversus arma milites Gothos quoque lachrymae arma sunt Talia enim munimenta sunt Sacerdotum So our holy Bishops in the ten persecutions commended the preservation of the houses of God who would surely as David did looke unto his owne house when by prayers and teares he was forced so to do Vis haec Deograta A broken and a contrite heart thou canst not despise The Heathen are entred into thine inheritance Lay hand upon the shield and buckler Why pluckest thou not thy right hand out of thy bosome Thus doubtlesse Christians preserved their Churches standing And it is more Christianlike to acknowledge a truth and to give God the glory thereof than to the dishonour of God and shame of Christianity to maintaine a falsehood The Bishops of those times were contented to yeeld themselves to be sacrificed to keepe their Churches from ruine They put on the minde of the Lord Iesus If ye seeke me let these go their wayes This minde Saint Ambrose notably discovered Offeram jugulum meum Vtinam meo sanguine sitim suam expleant Let my life go to save my Church O blessed minde well beseeming a Bishop nay to save the Altars pro Altaribus gratiùs immolabor I would be glad at my heart to be sacrificed for Altars Behold Behold the president of a true Bishop and let him that is bound in conscience to president himselfe by such a paterne be astonished and ashamed if he have betrayed the contrary disposition by word or deed To conclude since there was such an evident succession of Bishops in their severall Sees we may be well assured they had Churches and did not for
found no other favour but Vt Laicus communicet to communicate in the same place that the Laity did and was not permitted Locum Sacerdotis usurpare to approach unto the Altar or take the place of a Priest any more So Cornelius deposed Novatus that was made Bishop in a Taverne and after he had performed publike penance he was received only In communionem Laicorum to communicate with the Laity Now that these distinctions of places were strictly observed in the Catholike Church within 200. yeares after Christ appeareth manifestly out of Tertullian who to the shame and confusion of Hereticks very excellently discovereth the want thereof among them Non omittam ipsius haereticae conversationis descriptionem I will tell you saith he what the fashion of Hereticks is in their meeting how light vaine and base it is issuing out of the earth and the braines of idle men Sine gravitate sine authoritate sine disciplina very sutable to their faith For first of all quis Catechumenus quis Fidelis incertum you shall see no distinction made amongst them of Catechumeni Fideles Pariter adeunt pariter audiunt pariter orant they run in a rout together and so heare and pray all in one place and if Heathen men come in while they are at their Sacrament before these Swine doe they cast their Pearles licèt non veras though they be false Prostrationem disciplinae and when they prostrate discipline in this manner they would be commended for their purity and simplicity Cujus penes nos curam lenocinium vocat the care whereof amongst us they stile the trappings of the Whore of Babylon For the reformation of these grosse and odious abuses and to restore the Church to her ancient and reverend discipline the Councell of Ancyra was assembled Here you shall finde cleerely how Audientes Catechumeni Fideles Clerici Sacerdotes were distinguished by all which their mistake sheweth it selfe that say there were no Churches till 200. yeares after Christ. CAP. IX Where the Communion was celebrated The installation of Bishops The Bishops Throne S. Iames's Chaire in Ierusalem S. Peter's Chaire in Rome What kept S. Austine in the bosome of the Church Hereticks had no Church Succession of Bishops from the Apostles necessary to prove a true Church How S. Irenaeus S. Augustine Tertullian confounded Hereticks The detection of the creeping in of Aereticks A true succession of Bishops in the Ch. of England When Schismaticks crept into it LET us now come to speak more particularly of that place of the Church where the Priests served This was called Presbyterium because it was a place appointed for Priests to administer the Sacrament in Here Anicetus gave the Eucharist to Polycarpus Anno 167. Hither Theotechnus brought Marinus to receive the Sacrament thereby to be encouraged to endure Martyrdome Here were made the inthronizations of Bishops Egesippus sayes that he was present at Rome when Anicetus was installed Anno 167. And many personages of great quality were present at the solemnity of Fabianus his installation All these received their president from the Apostles For S. Iohn went from Ephesus into a Church Constituere Episcopos to ordaine Bishops For this purpose a Chaire or Throne was placed in the Presbytery or Chancell Vrbanus Bishop of Rome Anno 230. speaking thereof sayes that before his time Sedes in EpiscoporuÌ„ Ecclesiis excelsae constitutae inveniuntâ—r ut thronus speculationem potestatem judicandi solvendi ligandi à Domino sibi datam doceat their High-place put them in minde of their high authority given of the Lord to binde and loose And Vrbanus may well say they were found there for there they had continued in the principall Sees even from the Apostles Sublimiorem quandaÌ„ sedem fuisse indicat historia de Cathedra Iacobi that there were such lofty seats S. Iames his Chaire is an evidence say the Centurists out of Eusebius that bare them no great good will The Bishops seat of S. Iames continued in the Church till Eusebius his time Anno 326. which the Brethren there ordinarily have shewed unto all men Such a Seat it was wherein Saint Irenaeus saw Polycarpus Bishop of Smyrna sit Anno 180. Such a Chaire S. Austin telleth Petillianus remained both at Ierusalem and Rome from the Apostles dayes till his time Though saith he you slanderously call the Chaire in other Churches Cathedram pestilentiae what cause hath the Church of Rome given you to say so of it In qua Petrus sedit in qua â—odie Anastasius sedet or the Chaire of the Church of Ierusalem In qua Iacobus sedit in qua hodie Iohannes sedet quibus nos in Catholica unitate connectimur to which two Churches we are joyned in Catholick Vnity The succession of Bishops in such a Chaire was one thing amongst others that kept St. Augustine from departing out of the bosome of the Catholicke Church For thus he saith in his answer to the Epistle of Manichaeus Multa in Ecclesiae gremio me justissimè tenent-tenet ab ipsa sede Petri Apostoli usque ad praesemem episcopatum successio sacerdotum The succession of Priests from Saint Peters seat keepes me of right in the Church Tenet Catholicae nomen the name of this Catholick See keeps mee in For whereas all Hereticks would bee called Catholicks yet when they demanded by a stranger be ubi ad Catholicam conveniatur where is the Catholick Church at which they meet Nullus haereticorum vel basilicam sâ—am vel dâ—mum audeat oâ—â—endere there is none of them all that dare undertake to doe that The very note whereby Hereticks were knowne from Catholicks was that Catholicks could shew their Churches and the very Chaires in them wherein there was not onely a Morall succession in purity of faith and manners but a Locall succession of Bishops continued even from the Apostles times which Hereticks could not shew and therefore were hereby convinced to be such and so put to shame and confounded Thus Irenaeus confoundeth Valentinus Cerdon and Marcion We are able saith he to reckon up all those that were appointed Bishops by the Apostles in their severall Churches unto our time But because that was too long a businesse for the worke then in hand therefore he reckons up those that had succeeded the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Church of Rome And to them succeeded Linus then Anacletus 3º loco Clemens Clementi Euaristus Euaristo Alexander then Sixtus deinceps Hyginus post Pius post quem Anicetus Then Soter and now 12º loco Episcopatum ab Apostolis habet Eleutherius By this ordination and succession saith hee the tradition which is from the Apostles received in the Church and the publishing of the faith hath come even to us which we being able to shew confundimus omnes eos qui quoquo modo vel per suam placentiam vel vanam gloriam vel
per coecitatem malam sententiam praeterquam oportet colligunt we put all those to confusion that through vaine glory or ignorance broach new doctrines in the Church For none of all these Heretickes can derive their succession from the Apostles nor shew how their doctrines were received by Tradition from them For before Valentinus there were no Valentinians and he came to Rome under Hyginus and increased his faction under Pius and continued unto Anicetus Cerdon also that was before Marcion came in under Hyginus who was the eighth Bishop and Marcion prevailed under Anicetus which was the tenth So those that are called Gnosticks from Menander Simons Disciple All these sell into Apostacy after the Church had continued a long time Thus Tertullian confoundeth Valentinus Apelles and other Hereticks edant origines ecclesiarum suarum evolvant ordinem sacerdotum ita per successionem ab initio decurrentem ut primus ille episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis vel Apostolicis viris qui tamen cum Apostolis perseveraverit habuerit authorem antecessorem Let Heretickes shew that they had an Apostle for the Author of their doctrine or some Apostolicke man whom they doe succeed as Polycarpus was placed by Saint Iohn in the Church of Smyrna and Clemens by Peter in the Church of Rome Confingant tale quid Haeretici I would faine see Hâ—reticks to set their heads to devise such a pedigree This hee was sure they could not for Valentinus and Marcion saith he came in under Antoninus the Emperour and were cast out of the Church by Eleutherius In this sort doth Saint Cyprian confound Novatian Novatianus in Ecclesiâ nâ—n est nec Episcopus computari potest Novatian is neither Bishop nor member of the Church qui Evangelica Apostolica traditione contempta nemini succedens à seipso ordinatus est because hee cannot prove his succession according to Apostolicall tradition To conclude thus doth Saint Augustine confound the Donatists and Sectaries of his time Numerate Sacerdotes vel ab ipsa sede Petri in illo ordine Patrum quis cui successit videte They that say there were no materiall Churches built till 200. yeares after Christ are more injurious to the Church and unjust to themselves and to all true members of the Catholicke Church than perhaps every one is aware For if in all this time there were no materiall Churches then there could bee no materiall Chaire wherein their Bishops were enthronized and if no Chaire then no reall inthronization then no personall succession from the Apostles whereby the right faith was derived from God the Father to his Sonne whom he hath sent into the world out of his owne bosome nor from the Sonne to his Apostles nor from the Apostles to succeeding Bishops For as Tertullian reaoneth very excellently if we will have the truth to be adjudged of our side it must appeare by this if we walk in that rule quam Ecclesiae ab Apostolis Apostoli à Christo Christus à Deo tradidit which we have received of the Apostles they of Christ Christ of God Those that deprive us of the benefit of this Apostolicall tradition plucke one speciall staffe out of our hands whereby wee stay our selves from falling from the true Catholicke Church and beat all Hereticks out of our Communion Miserable were we if he that now sitteth Arch-Bishop of Canterbury could not derive his succession from St. Augustine St. Augustine from St. Gregory St. Gregorie from St. Peter For hee that remembreth whom hee succeeds will doubtlesse endevour and pray to be heire to their vertues as well as possessor of their places What a comfort is this to his Grace and to all those that receive consecration from him and to all those that they shall ordaine when they remember that this Grace can say Ego sum haeres Apostolorum Sicut caverunt Testamento sicut Fidei commiserunt sicut adjuraverunt ita teneo I am the Apostles heire the Faith which they have by Will bequeathed to the Church that I hold Mea est possessio Olim possideo prior possideo habeo origines firmas ab ipsos authoribus quorum fuit res Here I and my Predecessors have kept possession here are my evidences which I have to shew that I have received the right Faith from the true Owners Vos verò but as for you Marcion and Apelles exhaeredaverunt semper ubdicaverunt the Apostles Christ God Himselfe hath dis-inherited you and cast you out On the other side what a confusion is this to all Hereticks or Schismaticks when the Fathers of our Church and all true children of the Church shall be able to tell them that they have no right of inheritance or portion in their Mother Quando unde venistis Quid in meo agitis non mei tell us when and from whence you come and what you make your selves to doe in the Church that are no sons of the Church We can with Saint Irenaeus point you to the time of your comming in You Cartwright and your brood came in as most Sabbatarians did under Arch-Bishop Whitguift and you Ames and Brightman with your Laodiceans came in under Arch-Bishop Bancroft and you Vicars and our Cotton with his fugitives came in or rather went out under Arch-Bishop Abbot Thus Saint Irenaeus Saint Cyprian Saint Augustine and other holy Fathers have detected the Donatists Marcionists and other Sectaryes of their times and so put them to utter confusion And so by their example are we taught to doe and our duty is to blesse God that wee are able so to doe Cotton therefore or whosoever else is the Author of this Letter shewed himselfe a sly and subtile Merchant when he would make use of the authority of a learned and godly Bishop of our Church against his mind utterly to overthrow the Truth of our Church by making simple people believe there were no Churches nor Altars till 200. yeares after Christ. For if this were so and that he could tell us when our Church came in then there would no be cause but to honour him and his party for a true Church as well as this of ours And it would bee no reproch to him and his adherents to have their comming in detected and thereby themselves discovered to bee no other but such whose comming in may be discovered CAP. X. Dedication and Consecration of Churches used by godly Bishops and taxed by the Centurists for the Mystery of Iniquitie What penance was performed by Hypocrites and Apostata's before their admittance into the Church Of Confession Exomologefis Dayes of Penance and Absolution Citizens Penance I Will passe from the placing of the Bishops Chaire to the dedication of his Church where it was set The dedication of Churches within two hundred yeares after Christ sheweth clearely that there were Churches within that time There is mention of Dedication of Churches under Euaristus Anno 112. and under Hyginus Anno 154. under Calixtus of
such as were fallen to decay by age Anno 221. And before them all Saint Clemens his command both for building and Consecrating of Churches maketh it apparent that there were Churches The words of his Epistle to St. Iames are these Ecclesias facite per congrua loca quae divinis precibus sacrare oportet These testimonies of Roman Bishops the Centurists suspect and brand the Dedication of Churches with the Mystery of Iniquity But who delivered them the keyes of the bottomlesse pit to condemne whom they list Or what Mercury conveyed Saint Peters keyes into their hands to shut out nay thrust out of heaven and to let in thither whom they list No blessed Martyr holy Father or godly man before themselves durst nay would forget their owne piety so much as to tax the Dedication of Churches for a Mysterie of Iniquity But some of all these sorts have allowed commended and practised the Dedication of Churches Where then the Doctrine and Decrees of Popes and of the first and best times are confirmed by the doctrine and constant practice of the holy Catholicke Church it seemes great boldnesse and impiety in three or foure men to condemne and to brand their authority with the Mysterie of Iniquity It appeareth by the testimonies of Eusebius Athanasius Basil Nazianzen alledged by the Centurists Gent. 4. cap. 6. and of S. Austin Prosper and Sidonius alledged by them Cent. 5. c. 6. and if they had beene disposed they might have added to these S. Chrysostome Sozomen S. Ambrose Greg. Magnus and diverse others in all ages that have approved and with great devotion and piety practised the Dedication of Churches O then that there should be a mouth opened to such blasphemy But to let them stand to their owne Master whether the worke were good or bad it is confessed on all hands that there were Churches dedicated within 200. yeares of Christ therefore the Centurists will helpe to cry downe their opinion that say there were none built in all that space Secondly the use of the keyes and the exercise of the discipline of the Church in excommunication abstention giving absolution and receiving Penitens into the Church all which were of famous and frequent use within 200. yeares after Christ doe manifestly declare that there were Churches built within that space For how Deliquents should be excommunicated out of Dens Forrests or private houses or solemnely admitted into them againe is beyond any common understanding If we cast our eyes upon the discipline used in the Primitive Church in casting out and receiving men againe into the Church we shall finde that it was executed so solemnely gravely and impartially yet with such pitty and fellow-feeling of humane infirmities as made the same very awfull and reverend and struck the mindes aswell of those that stood as of such as had fallen with griefe and terrour None that had fallen into any notorious crime to the publike scandall of their brethren and to the wounding of weake consciences were admitted againe into the Church before they had done open penance in sackcloth and ashes with fasting and prayer Thus was the Young-man who had committed many notorious robberies received againe into the Church by S. Iohn Anno 100. So those simple Women led captive by Marcus the Valentinian and by him corrupted both in body and minde made open confession of their faults Lugendo lamentando Weeping and wailing before they were received into the Church So by the sentence of Hyginus Cerdon à religiosorum horninum conventu abstentus est and was not received into the Church before he had performed his penance exomologesin faciens Anno 151. So Marcion and Valentinus were cast out of the Church by blessed Eleutherius saith Tertullian and when Marcion confessed his fault and submitted himselfe to take penance he was received to peace with this Proviso that he should reduce those to the Church whom he had perverted Now in what sort Penitents performed their penance and made confession the act it selfe will discover Is actus saith Tertullian this act which usually and most commonly is expressed by a Greek word exomologesis est wherein we confesse our fault to God not as though he were ignorant thereof but â—o far forth as by this confession Satisfactio disponitur the minde is set in readinesse for satisfaction pâ—enitentia nascitur our repentance springeth out of it and pâ—enitentia Deus mitigâ—tur by our penance GOD is appeased Therefore Exomologesis prosternenti humâ—â—ifâ—e andâ— hominis disciplina est penance is a discipline used for the humbling and casting downe of men conversatione in injungens imposing withall such a manner of conversation as may move pitty and commiseration De ipso quoque habitu atque victu mandat This Exomelogeâ—is giveth law both to our food and raiment Saccâ— câ—nere incubare and ordereth men to lye in sackcloth and ashes to have the beauty of the body in no honour to fill the soule with sorrow Plerunque verò jejuntis preces aleâ—â— to feed our prayers with fasting to weepe waâ—e and mourne night and day unto thy God Presbyteris advolvi aris as Rhenanus reads the place Dei â—dgeniculari to humble your selfe before the Priests and to fall downe upon your knees before Gods Altars to sue unto al the brethren for their prayers in your behalfe Haec omnia exomologesis penance worketh all this Ergo cum te ad fratrum genua protendis Christum contrectas Christum exoras when you fall downe at your Brethrens knees you catch hold of Christ you over-intreat Christ to be good to you And when your Brethren weepe for you Christus patitur Christ is troubled and affected Christus Patrem deprecatur Christ becoms your intercessor to his Father Facitè impetratur semper quod filius postulat a sons request is â—oone granted by a Father Some saith he think they shall performe a speciall benefit and afford an acceptable reliefe to their modesty by concealing their faults As if forsooth because our cunning will helpe us to bleere mens eyes proinde Deum celabimus wee shall be inabled thereby to keep our faults from Gods notice An melius est damnatum latere quà m palam absolvi had you rather be damned so no body know of it than to have your sins pardoned before the face of all the world Miserum est sic ad exomologe sin pervenire hee is in a miserable case that makes such a kind of confession But besides modesty which you hope to preserve by concealing your faults you may perhaps feare other inconveniences and disgraces that you make the body lyable unto quod inlotos quod sordulentos that you have neither your face washed nor your hayre kemb'd nor your clothes brusht and are shut up from all pleasure and delight in asperitudine sacci horrore cineris oris de jejunio vanitate feeling nothing but rough sackcloth galling the sides seeing nothing but head
Altar nec apud Altare consistere nor to stand neere it Nec ulteriùs sancta contrectare nor to handle holy things any more That this distinction of places was kept within 200. yeares after Christ is manifest by the Stations which the Priests kept at the Altar on Fasting-dayes and not on Sundayes in those times as Rhenanus thinketh Tertullian is cleere for it Nonne solennior erit statio tua si ad aram Dei steteris Solemne stations were made at the Altar and so continued to be there made on Wednesdayes and Fridayes from the Apostles times this holy place was also appointed for those prayers which the Priests daily made for the sacred persons of Kings and Bishops And we do not find that high service was performed at that holy Altar by any Deacon or Levite Not only the Liturgies of the Church but the Constitution of the Apostles from whom they had their direction doth order that Priests at the Altar doe pray pro omni Episcopatu for all Bishops and particularly pro Episcopo nostro Iacobo pro regibus and for Kings that they may leade a quiet and peaceable life c. S. Austin distinguisheth inter precationes orationes precationes were called such prayers as were made before that which is on the Lord's board incipiat benedici but Orationes Orizons were made cùm benedicitur sanctificatur when it is blessed and sanctified which kinde of prayer all the Church almost concludeth oratione Dominica with the Lords Prayer Here are those Prayers made which the Priest useth for Kings even for those Kings à quibus persecutionem patiâ—batur Ecclesia that did persecute the Church Prayer for Kings for Bishops for the whole and the Lords Prayer was then oâ—ly said at the Altar by the Priest in the Holy of Holyes At the Altar also were Commemorations made in Saint Cyprians time If a Priest at his death make a Priest his Executor and so cause him to leave the Altar where he ought to serve continually the Canon was that for such an one non offerretur nec Sacrificium pro dormitione ejus celebraretur Neque enim ad Altare Dei meretur nominari in Sacerdotum prece qui ab Altare Dei Sacerdotes ministros Levitas avocare voluit He deserves not to be named in the Priests Prayer at the Altar that is an occasion to withdraw Priests from the Altar Lastly on the Altar were made oblations of first fruits Grapes and Oile as hath bin noted out of Origen and may appeare plainly in the Canons of the Apostles I will not dispute the Authority of these Canons Some doe reject them but the sixth generall Councell approveth 85. of them and saith they were received by their Predecessors tanquam à Deo traditi as delivered of God Howsoever Saint Irenaeus witnesseth that for the point now to bee declared Oblations were made daily and hourely on the Altar God saith hee would have us munus offerre ad Altare frequenter sine intermissione By this that hath beene said it appeareth sufficiently as I suppose that the Altar or Lords Table stood not in the body of the Church but in the Holy place separated and inclosed for Priests only to serve who did there consecrate the Eucharist receive oblations offer up prayers for the sacred persons of Kings and of Bishops and the whole Church and did there and no where else conclude their Prayers and Orizons commonly with the Lords Prayer For none of all these holy Offices belonging only to Priests were performed in the body of the Church where every one might be present and see what was done Therfore the Altar did not in those times stand in the body of the Church and so farre the Vicar is not mistaken The Altar then did stand in the Primitive Church at the upper end of the Qâ—ire and not in the body of the Church and by that Precedent the Vicar might suppose that it ought to stand except the Canons of our Church have otherwise ordered it And this is the next point to be inquired after CAP. XIII The Rubricke touching the standing of the Communion Table in the body of the Church Of the Rubricke concerning Chancels Who hath the appointing of Books to be read by Priests Peter-Lombard and the Ancient Fathers appointed to be read Bishop Iewel and others directed to be read Communion Tables according to Bishop Iewel stood in the Presbytery The Presbytery is not the body of the Church I Will speake first to the Rubricke which all men acknowledge for a Canon then to the booke which the Vicar is bound to read and commanded so to do Touching the Rubricke It is fit we expound one Rubricke by another and what is briefly and obscurely set downe in one to supply and expound out of another The Table shall stand in the body of the Church or Chancell c. saith the Rubrick before the Communion But the Rubrick before Morning Prayer seemes to put in a double exception or Caution 1. Except it shall be otherwise determined by the Ordinary of the place 2. And the Chancels shall remaine as they have done in times past The place of reading of Prayers in the first part of the Rubricke is left to the determination of the Ordinary of the place and upon good reason because some part of those prayers as namely the First Service is to be read in Auditorio or body of the Church And some part againe namely the Second Service ought to be read only in Sacrario if the ancient practise of holy Church be enquired after But the later part of the Rubrick which concernes Chancels themselves and so by necessary consequence the essential parts of the Chancell as in Cathedral Churches the Priests Stals the Bishops Throne and the Lords Table or holy Altar with the railes wherby it is environed to keep it from all manner of prophanation and to preserve it entire and apart for the Priests to officiate in these shall remaine as in times past The ordering of these things otherwise than they were in times past is not referred be it spoken under correction to the determination of the Ordinary of the place much lesse to any Vicar or Parson to make a Daedalus engine of the Lords Table and so to set the Church upon Wheeles and so to run it out of the pious and Reverend practice of holy and unreproved Antiquity The Rubricke allowes no such liberty Let no man therefore invade the Churches right or goe about to remove the ancient bounds in this particular that hee bring not a curse upon himselfe The Church I confesse is indulgent enough to these fancifull and popular men yet it is to be hoped she will not suffer her ancient Land-markes to bee pluckt up and throwne by to please new fangled people withall For hoc ratum fixum Chancels shall remaine as they have done in times past which is not to bee understood of
180. Tertullian also cleerely sayes that when the body of the Lord in the Eucharist is received on a solemne fasting day two things are performed participatio sacrificii executio officii stationum the sacrifice is received and the fast kept Therefore there is no cause why some should withdraw themselves à sacrificiorum orationibus from the prayers of the sacrifices or of the Eucharist out of a feare to breake the devotion of their Fast before the set time For both may stand together Anno 203. The Priest saith S. Cyprian Sacrificium verum plenum tunc offert in ecclesia Deo Patri si sic incipiat offerre secundum quod ipsum Christum videat obtulisse when the Priest doth use bread and powre wine into the Chalice and doth not consecrate water only without wine he doth offer a pure sacrifice as Christ himselfe did Passio est enim Domini sacrificium quod offerimus our sacrifice is Christs passion because we make mention of his passion in omnibus sacrificiis nostris Nay saith the same blessed Martyr the Priests only duty is Non nisi Altari sacrificiis deservire precibus orationibus vacare And because Geminius did appoint a Clergy man his executor whereby he was withdrawn Ab Altari sacrificiis therefore it was ordered Non offerendum proâ—eo nec sacrificium pro dormitione ejus celebraretur On the other side the same holy Martyr is carefull to have the names of such Confessours as dyed in prison to be brought him and the particular day of their departures Vt celebrenter hic à nobis oblationes sacrificia This he duly and yeerely performed in the behalfe of Celerinus the Martyr and others and takes the whole Clergy and Laity in Carthage where he was Archbishop to witnesse herein For Sacrificia pro iis semper ut meministis offerimuus quoties Martyrum passiones dies anniversaria commemoratione celebramus Anno. 240. Saint Chrysostome also maketh often mention of the Host of Oblations and Sacrifices in the holy Eucharist Quum vides quod Dominus offeratur vides sacerdotem in hostia occupari super hanc preces effundere doe you not conceive your selfe to be wrapt into heavenly meditations c And againe How shall we receive the Sacred Host how shall we be partakers of that admirable mystery with this tongue of ours whereby our soule is defiled How shall we partake the Lords Body with a defiled tongue For this Sacrifice Domini sacrificium est and what communion hath CHRIST with Bâ—lial This Sacrifice the Priest standing at the Altar offereth to GOD for all the world for Bishops for the Church c. Anno. 398. With what feare and reverence saith Saint Ambrose istud divinum coeleste sacrificium est celebrandum Vbi Caro tua in veritate sumitur ubi Sanguis tuus in veritate bibitur ubi summa imis junguntur ubi adest praesentia Angelorum ubi sacerdos sacrificium mirabiliter est constitutum Thus doe I come to thy Altar ô Lord though I be a sinner ut offeram tibi Sacrificium to offer to thee that Sacrifice that thou hast appointed Receive it therefore I beseech thee ô Lord for thy whole Church and for all thy people whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious bloud We have seene saith the same Father the chiefe Hie Priest offering his bloud for us let us Priests follow him as well as we may that we may offer a Sacrifice for the people For though he be not now seene to offer yet is he offered in the earth when Christs Body is offered vae quoque ipsi mihi bonos filios diabolus gestiebat â—ripere pro quibus ego quotidie instauro sacrificium Anno. 374. Saint Augustine saith that his mother Monicha desired only at her death memoriam sui ad Altare tuum fieri unde sciret dispensari victimam anctam qua deletum est Chirographum Here is mention made both of an Altar and a Sacrifice Of the bloud of this Sacrifice none are forbidden to take but hereunto all are exhorted that desire eternall life By the way then it is an injury to forbid Lay-men to partake of the bloud of this Sacrifice For Christ hath changed the Sacrifice of beasts in hostiam secundum Melchisedech qui panem vinum obtulit and this Sacrifice toto terrarum orbe diffusum est And againe the Lord by his Prophet saith sacrificium oblationem noluisti Quid ergo nos jam hoc tempore sine Sacrificio dimissi sumus absit perfecisti enim mihi corpus Ablata sunt signa promittentia quia exhibita est veritas promissa The Sacrifice of Christs body saith the same Father succeedeth all other Sacrifices of the Old Law and for all those Sacrifices and oblations Corpus ejus offertur participantibus ministratur Christ saith he is both the Priest and the Oblation who hath power to make the daily Sacrament thereof to be Ecclesiae Sacrificium That as the Church is offered by him in her Head so is he offered by her as his Body And when this Sacrifice of our Mediator is offered it cannot bee denyed but the soules of the faithfull are hereby eased This oblation the same Father calleth summum verissimum sacrificium and saith that at the memories of Martyrs Deo offertur Sacrificium Christianorum We do not saith the same Father set up Altars to sacrifice to Martyrs but Sacrificium immolamus uni Deo but we offer Sacrifice to God alone both their God and ours Ipsum verò Sacrificium corpus est Christi which is not offered to them for themselves and the body of Christ but unto God For what faithfull man did ever heare the Priest standing at the Altar over the body of a Martyr say thus offero tibi Sacrificium Petre vel Paule vel Cypriane cum apud eorum memorias offeratur Deo True it is saith the same Father the Martyrs suo loco ordine nominantur non tamen à Sacerdote qui sacrificat invocantur Saint Augustine alloweth of Sacrifices but not of Invocation of Saints And for this cause he and Epiphanius condemne Arrius for an Hereticke It appeareth by that which hath beene said that there were Altars and Oblations and Sacrifices which the Fathers allowed and if these be used as they ought to be and as these holy Saints of God used them this man ought not to score them up amongst blasphemous figments and dangerous deceits without wronging the blessed Saints of God that continually behold his presence into whose society God grant both him and me to come To conclude this constant doctrine of the holy Fathers concerning Altars Oblations and Sacrifices is confirmed by the Canons of sundry Councels And in these also we may observe some difference made of Sacrifices There we see Sacrifices which Lay-men might offer as Sacrifices
of Praise Prayer Almes-deeds and the like and there were Sacrifices which neither they nor Deacons neither might offer and such were those Sacrifices whereof the Fathers make so often mention that are offered at the Holy Altar Of such the Nicene Councell speaketh Diaconi offerendi Sacrificii non habent potestatem and the Councel of Carthage Conc. Bracarense and many more All Gods people men and women were allowed to offer some Sacrifices to commemorate the death of Christ upon the Crosse to offer all manner of spirituall and Christian Sacrifices of Fasting Prayer Mortification Almes-deeds praising of God reading and preaching of Gods Word but the Sacrifice of the Altar wherein the Death and Passion of Iesus Christ is commemorated in the Consecration of the Bread and Wine and breaking and delivering them to the Faithfull is the particular function of the Priest to performe Thus wee see Altars Oblations and Sacrifices were in common use amongst the most holy Saints of God that ever lived Therefore farre bee it from this man to condemne these or the like in our Church for blasphemous figments and pernitious impostures Farre be it I say from him even as farre as it was from the mind of those learned and godly Fathers that framed the 31. Article whose meaning may yet more cleerely appeare from the declaration made therof by their successors in place piety and learning whereof we are now to speake CAP. XIX The meaning of the 31. Article delivered What Sacrifices are blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits The doctrine of our Church herein taught by Bishop Mountague Bishop Andrewes Bishop White and Mr. Casaubon Homilie of Sacraments IT is very meet that wee enquire more narrowly into the meaning of the 31. Article For we may be sure that those godly and learned Fathers of our Church that give strict charge to private Preachers that they shall take heed that they teach nothing in their Preaching which they would have the people religiously to believe and observe but that which is agreeable to the doctrine of the Old Testament or the New and that which the Catholicke Fathers and ancient Bishops have gathered out of that doctrine will not censure the constant doctrine of the Fathers and Primitive Church for blasphemous Fables and dangerous deceits nor yet involve and lap Chemnitius Gerardus and other sound Protestants yet such as suffer Altars still to stand as this Author tells us within any plait or fold of that their censure The words of the 31. Article whereunto this lettered man relateth are these The Sacrifice of Masses in the which it was commonly said that the Priests did offer Christ for the quick and the dead to have remission of paine and guilt were blasphemous Fables and dangerous deceits Now let us heare what is the true and Orthodox meaning hereof out of the mouthes of the most learned men of our Church and such as the most learned Prince that ever was in this kingdome King Iames of happy memory allowed and set on worke to deliver the mind of the Church and of himselfe in this very point And in this ranke I begin with Bishop Mountague Bishop Mountague speaking as he saith himselfe in Bishop Mortons words saith thus I beleeve no such Sacrifice of the Altar as the Church of Rome doth I fancy no such Altars as they imploy though I professe a Sacrifice and an Altar And a little after speaking of his adversaries saith thus I have so good opinion of your understanding though weake that you will confesse the blessed Sacrament of the Altar or Communion Table whether you please to be a Sacrifice not propitiatory as they call it for the living and dead not an externall visible true proper Sacrifice but only representative rememorative and spirituall Sacrifice Now if you grant a Sacrifice why deny you an Altar And againe I have used the phrase of Altar for the Communion Table according to the manner of antiquity and am like enough sometimes to use it still nor will I abstaine notwithstanding your agginition to follow the steps and practise of antiquity in using the words Sacrifice and Priest-hood also and yeâ— be further from Popery in that practice than you from Puritanismâ— or any Puritane indeed from true Popery being two birds of one feather It appeareth plainely from hence that our Church doth not condemne the Sacrifice of the Altar mentioned in the holy Fathers for blasphemous figments and dangerous deceits but the Sacrifice of Masses because the common opinion held of them was that they were propitiatory externalâ— visible true and proper Sacrifices for the quick and the dead For had they beene commonly held to be no more but representative rememorative and spirituall Sacrifices our Church would not then doth not now finde any fault with them What the fault is the said most learned and acute Bishop proveth out of Saint Cyprian in this â—ort Nam si Iesus Christus Dominus Deus Noster ipse est â—ummus Sacerdos dei Patris sacrificium Patri seipsum â—btulit hoc fieri in sui commemorationem praecepiâ— utique illâ— Sacerdos vice Christi vere fungitur qui id quod Christus feciâ— imitatur sacrificium verum ac pleâ—um tunc â—ffert in Ecclesia Deo Patri si sic incipiat offerre secundum quod ipsum Christum videat obtulisse You doe not this saith he to the Gagger therefore in Saint Cyprians judgement your Sacrifice is neither full nor true The like doth the Reverend Bishop of Elie avouch turning his speech to the Cardinall and saying thus At vos tollite de missa transubstantiationem vestram nec diu nobiscum lis erit de Sacrificio Memoriam ibi Sacrificii damus non inviti Sacrificari ibi Christum vestrum de pane factum nunquam daturi Sacrificii vocem scit Rex Patribus usurpatum nec ponit inter res novas at vestri in missa Sacrificii audet ponit Take you Transubstantiation out of the Masse and we will not contend with you about a Sacrifice A memory of a Sacrifice we grant but grant we will never that Christ made of bread is Sacrificed The word Sacrifice is in use among the Fathers this the King knoweth well enough and hee placeth it not among Noveltyes as he doth the Sacrifice in your Masse Will you be pleased yet further to heare of the doctrine of our Church in this particular out of learned Doctor White now Lord Bishop of Elie. The things which wee simply condemne in the Popish Masse are these 1. That CHRIST existing in earth covered with formes of Bread and Wine is in his very substance offered to God his Father 2. We reject private Masses in which the Priest eateth alone and undertaketh for a fee to apply the fruit thereof to particular persons 3. That it is of equall force with the Sacrifice of Christ upon the Crosse. 4. That it conferreth grace by the outward worke
pernicious purpose must in reason be in the heart of this Scribe otherwise it was utterly impertinent to scare the poore Vicar with such terrible and astounding words And better had it beene to have kept such mortall bolts as these in store and not to discharge them so soone before discretion had brought him within eye-reach of the right marke Had this man beene so wise as the Vicar was to president himselfe by what he sees done in the Kings or Bishops Houses or Chappels he would have kept these shafts in his Qâ—iver and bestowed them as he sees M. Casaubon and our learned Bishops by the Kings direction doe upon grosse and impious abuses cleerely discovered as well in Altars as in Sacrifices and not therewith to strike through Oblations sacrifices and Altars themselves together with the holy and reverend use and users thereof from whom he hath his Priesthood Orders Faith and Religion too if he have any at all In shooting after this blinde heedlesse fashion not the judgement only and learning but the discretion and piety of the Archer to his Mother the Church and to all reverend antiquity stands in greater hazzard of the shot than the unremarkable actions of a simple Vicar They are not Altars which still stand in the Churches of sound Protestants and may remaine in some of ours or to make use of their Covers and Ornaments Tables may bee placed in their roomes of the same length and fashion the Altars were of as this Author tels us with which practise he also concurreth in opinion they are not Altars I say or Sacrifices or Oblations that true Christians and good Protestants have in execration but the grosse and vile abuses of these Against abuses onely good Christians protested and from thence received they their names This the most learned Bishop in his Apologie for King Iames of happy memory putteth the Cardinall in minde of Salva protestatione hac haud ulla est fides Nostra nisi quae Vestra est vel esse debet vetus 〈◊〉 illa Catholica The Protestant holds the same Catholicke faith which is or ought to bee the same in Rome and over all the Christian world The Protestant hath the abuses and Novelties only which are crept into the Romane Church in detestation not the things themselves no not the name of the very Masse it selfe For as the same Reverend Bishop telleth the Cardinall in the Kings name In missa si missa fiunt quae sum 〈◊〉 antiatione vestra ibi submissa â—unt bono fi loco res essent non valde de nomine litigaret Rex The King would like well enough of the Masse if her Priests would â—hrive her of Transubstantiation the name should beget no reall difference Those therefore were not well advised nor throughly informed of the doctrine of our Church and of pious antiquity that by their violent and unlearned clamours incited the people unto that horrible out-rage committed in breaking downe of Altars and caused them to boggle and spie umbrages and scandals at the things themselves where none at all could have beene found if these Arietes gregis had partaken as much of the mild temper of the sheep as they did of the Rams horne But where simplicity and ignorance is armed nothing can be expected but a violent confusion and the like disorder This disorder committed de facto as the Author speakes the supreme Magistrate thought meet to punish not by a kind of law but by a law yet in force to punish the same de jure in case it should be committed The law was made by Queen Mary and is this If any shall unlawfully contemptuously or maliciously of their owne power or authority pull downe deface spoile or break downe any Altar or Altars c. such person or persons are to be punished as in the law is expressed Queene Mary who made this law did repeale the law made by King Edward for the authorizing of the Book of Common Prayer Queene Elizabeth who did establish King Edwards law for authorizing the Book of Common Prayer did repeale Queene Maries repeale thereof but that part of the Statute which concerneth the punishing of such disorderly people that of their own authority riotously pull down Altars c. the said Queene Elizabeth of famous memory repealeth not but it is still in force that the Magistrate whom it concernes may proceed against delinquents that violate the Lords Table standing Altar-wise or break or deface the pictures of Christ or of Saints in Church-windowes or crosses or the like upon that Statute if any should so offend which God foâ—bid if Sergeant Rastales hand and starre point and lead me not into an errour CAP. XXI Altars crept not into the Church Altars Consecrated with more ceremony and regarded with more reverence than any part of the Church appeareth out of Bishop Iewell On the Altar stood the Crosse of CHRIST in the Primitive Church and in Saint Chrysostomes time and remained there in Queene Elizabeths Raigne sometime steps unto the Altar drawne with Curtaines Archbishops and Bishops and all sorts of people doe reverence towards the Altar Barbarous Souldiers kisse them Penitents prostrate before them Saint Ambrose willing to be made a Sacrifice for them THe drift of the Author in this Epistle is the disgrace of Altars To this purpose he hath framed these words to serve his turne two wayes 1. By the manner of their comming in and that was creeping 2. By the meanes of their creeping in and that was by Complying with the Iewes For as much as the most ancient and holy Fathers of the Primitive Church and the most learned and pious Fathers of our own Church have Christian Altars and Sacrifices in due honourable and reverend estimation there is no cause at all why a man not bigge with selfe love nor made to kindle a faction quae jam plus satis calescit should picke a quarrell first with them then with their name then with their comming in by phrasing it so contemptuously in that terme of creeping whereby is implyed their comming into the Church in some base secret undue and unobservable manner I dare be bold to say that no man of judgement and learning though hee look over Antiquity as the Devill lookt over Lincolne will say and meane to justifie what hee saies by sound proofes out of good antiquity that Altars crept into the Church It were not amisse if this Pen-man would looke the face of his actions in the envious mans tares these he shall finde crept up among the Wheat no man knowing how when the honest Husband-man and his servants thought no hurt but were at rest and asleepe The case is not so with Altars the Husband-men themselves that labour faithfully in the Lords Vineyard the Governours of Christs Church and the true and only successors of the Apostles brought them in by the speciall direction of Gods holy Spirit I shall not need to spend much time in proofe hereof
The least thought of what hath beene said lights up a Candle to shew the truth hereof which no blast of Puritane mouthes set against it is able to blow out though Boreas had made his bellowes in their Cheekes Sure wee are by that which hath beene said that Churches were built and made with the very Cradle of Christianity and when they were made they were consecrated For a man may as lawfully and Christianly administer the blessed Sacrament in a Barne or Towne-Hall as in any place that is not Consecrated to such holy uses And when the Church was Consecrated was not the Altar the chiefest place which with most ceremony and devotion was hallowed when it was hallowed was it not kept more carefully from prophanation than any other part of the Church Levita eligatur sayes Saint Ambrose qui Sacrarium custodiat not the Vestry onely but the Altar belonged to his care Was there not a feast annually kept in a joyfull remembrance of the dedication of every Church and did not the Consecration of the Altar carry the name of that feast doth not St. Augustine say my brethren you know right well that to day consecrationem Altaris celebramus was not the Altar set and fixed in the most eminent place of al the Church The Readers Tribunall stood in the body of the Church in loco editiori in a place exalted above the rest there But was not the Altar set in Sacrario or Sancto Sanctâ—rum in the highest place of all whereunto the Priest ascended by certaine steppes and degrees and when they did so ascend were there not Psalmes of degrees sung called for that cause Graeduals were not tythes of greatest sanctity given to the Altar was it not the only place whither none but Priests might be allowed to come to officiate was not the holy Eucharist there and no where else Consecrated Durst the Priests themselves ascend thither without doing lowly reverence three severall times Was not this holy Altar and the mysteries thereof at some time kept rayled from the eyes of most men doth not KING Edward the 6th call it Sacro-sanctum Altare in his writ to the Bishop doth not Saint Nyssex say Altare hoc Sanctum c. this holy Altar at which we stand is in his owne nature no more but a stone such as our houses are made of but being Consecrated and Dedicated benedictionem accepit and is become meâ—sa Sancta Altare immaculatum quod non ampliâ—s ab omnibus sed à solis sacerdotibus iisque venerantibus contrectatur Veneration towards the Altar was then required and practised Doth not the most holy and blessed Archbishop as the fifth Councell calls him performe his low obeysance toward the holy Altar and exhort all others to doe the like doth hee noâ— say adoremus primum Sacro-sanctum Altare did not the reverence of holy Altars prevaile so farre with the furious Souldiers and barbarous Goths that in all humility they willingly fall down and kisse the holy Altar doth not Tertullian say that in his time Altars were had in that reverence that their Penitents used adgeniculare to fall downe upon their knees doth not St. Chrysostome say dum vides sublata vela tum cogita câ—elum ipsum sursum resâ—rari Angelosque descendere when the Curtaines are drawne by our hearts which even then we are bidden to lift up unto the Lord conceive heaven it selfe to be open to us when Iesus Christ is given to the faithfull Communicant who wee may be sure commeth not alone but with the blessed Spirit attended with his blessed Angels whom hee hath made ministring spirits for their good who shall bee heires of salvation Doth not the same Father say semper in Altari manere solet Christi Crux the Crosse of Christ alwayes used to stand upon the Altar doth not Beatus Rhenanus say out of Tertullian and Lactantius that in those times Christians had no other Images in their Churches praeterquam crucis signum super Aram adorientem versum ut mentem oculosque in coâ—lum ubi Pater est omnium erigerent espansis manibus but only the Crosse of Christ which stood upon the Altar And is it not also said that the Altar which stood in former Princes times continued in Queen Elizabeths Chappell with the Crosse upon it Doth not Bishop Iewell in the place cited by the Author confirme the greatest part of all that hath beene said And are these arguments that Altars crept into the Church If the Governours of the Church had come in to see the furniture of the Church as the good man of the house did to see his guests and had espied there an Altar amongst sundry other Consecrate things would they not at one time or other have questioned some or other for it and have said Friend how came this hither Neither the Altar nor his furniture are such guests or wedding garments as I look to find here and therefore doe you take it and cast it unto utter darknesse There it was bred and so crept in hither and there let it bee buried But the case yee see is quite otherwise they honour reverence and adore towards it for his sake whose Sacrament is Consecrated thereon And this is the first man that I can find that â—aith Altars crept into the Church And if he bee not I hope hee will discover himselfe and â—ell us by whom hee doth president himselfe I am sure not by Kings or Bishops Chappels or Cathedrall Churches or by any true Christian member of them But if Altars crept into the Church I would but know how he and I came in I will begin with my selfe I had my Ordination from Bishop Dove he had his Consecration from Archbishop Whitguift and the Archbishop his from the undoubted successors of Saint Peter and of our Saviour Christ Here is no creeping in all this And I perswade my selfe he crept not into his if he had orders in the Church of England If the Porter or Sexton had led him aside in the night into the Belfrey and had put what belongs to his custody into his hand and so he had stole up to the Chancell this had beene Creeping But Priests in our Church have their Ordination usually at the 4. tempora they prepare or ought to prepare themselves with Fasting and Prayer three dayes before and at the Ordination they kneel upon their knees before the holy Altar The Bishop and they pray before the holy Altar then is given imposition of hands before the holy Altar then the Bishop taketh the holy Gospels from the holy Altar and delivereth the same into the hands of him that is ordained who maketh solemne protestation before Almighty God meekely kneeling still upon his knees before the holy Altar and in the presence of the Bishop and the whole Congregation that hee will read these holy bookes c. Here is no creeping but this holy action is
they pretend and subtilly malicious as the Goths were violently barbarous As the poore and strangers were relieved and entertained with these stocks of money so likewise were their Priests and Deacons thereby maintained which S. Cyprian cals stâ—pes sportulae And it seemes the meanes belonging to some of their Churches was very great For the Church of Rome in those Pâ—imitive times maintained above two hundred persons members of that Church And as Dionystus Bishop of Corinth witnesseth it was the pious custome of that Church also even from the very beginning to send reliefe far and neere upon all occasions And it seemes that the Church of Rome besides their Oblations had revenues in Land belonging to them whereof mention is made in the Decretals These common Treasuries were found in all Churches and continued even from the Apostles times For as S. Ambrose collecteth the Apostle S. Paul wisheth Timothy to make use thereof and not to war at his owne charges Timothy it seemes abstained à participatione Gazophylacii but the Apostle instructs him otherwise saying that those That preach the Gospell ought to live of the Gospell Whereupon Priùs hunc sumere praecâ—pit qui primus est sic caeteris distribuere The Bishop was the prime man to whom the custody of the treasure was committed who was to make use thereof for keeping hospitality in his owne house and to cause the Deacons to dispense the rest as occasion served who dealt not alwayes so faithfully as they ought to have done for they became sometimes Nummularii and to have pecuniarum mensas such tables and banks of money quas evertet Deus which God would overthrow as Origen sayes The Churches therefore being thus rich it is no marvell if Demetrius brother to Probus the Emperour was content to be Bishop of Byzantium afterward called Constantinople and made his son Probus the Emperours Nephew Bishop after him Though happily it was not the wealth but the holinesse of Bishops that made Princes desire their places for vulgò dici the old saying was by Saint Ambrose his report Imperatores sacerdoâ—ium magis optaverant quà m Sacerdotes imperium If then they were carefull to have and build Treasure houses and were permitted to enjoy their wealth and riches and likewise had houses to give entertainement to Pilgrims and were not molested by their persecutors herein shall we imagine that they would not be much more zealous to build Churches and houses for Gods service wherein as appeares by their Vigiles and continuall Prayers and receiving the holy Eucharist they imployed themselves both night and Day or will wee thinke that their enemies were more malicious against their Religion than covetous of their wealth and therfore they would suffer them to enjoy their Treasure houses and dwelling houses in their prime Cities but would demolish their Churches and drive them into Forrests and dennes and holes of the earth to exercise their Religion in But I take it by that which hath been said that it is more manifest that Christians had Churches within 200. yeares after Christ than either Schooles or Libraries or Treasure houses or dwelling houses of their own though all this be as cleere as the day And this is one note wherby Tertul. distinguisheth Catholicks and true Christians from Schismaticks and Hereticks those had Churches and places of abode but these had none but were straglers and had their Communions in corners You have seene how the Catholicke Church is accommodated with Churches and other useful houses Now cast your eye upon the condition of Hereticks and behold the modell therof in three words out of Tertulliar Plerique nec Ecclesias habent sine matre sine sede orba fide extorres sibi late vagantur Hereticks sayes hee have neither Churches nor houses of their owne to settle in but like unto Caine were Vagabonds and Runnagars over the face of the earth and so the case was with them even to Saint Cyprians time and therefore that blessed Martyr saies plainely The Eucharist cannot be received among Hereticks for the elements must be consâ—rated before they become parts of that Eucharist This Hereticks could not then doe quia nec Altare â—ec Ecclesiam because they had neither Altar nor Church For of necessity sayes Saint Cyprian Eucharistia in Altâ—ri Sanctificatur the Eucharist is Consecrated upon the Altar If then this were true which this unadvised man would make the Vicar believe that there were no Altars nor Churches neither within 200. yeares after Christ it must needs follow that the holy Eucharist was not received by any of the Holy Martyrs and blessed Saints of God in all the Primitive Church or else that they did receive some kinde of Sacrament that was not Consecrated For Eucharistia in Altari Sanctificatur is a ground on which he sets his rest as the Fathers before him and his successours ever did I must needs therefore conclude that if Schismaticks doe not build Altars in the honour of this man for the good service hee hath done them they are very ungratefull For by outing Christians and driving them out of their Churches into Woods and solitary places to Administer the holy Sacraments in hee hath set the very true Character of Schismaticks and Hereticks upon the face of the holy Catholicke Church that now you shall not know the one from the other And what is lawfull for the one to doe shall bee as lawfull for others Neither can derive their Succession nor Ordination nor power of Consecration from Christ and his Apostles Therefore both Sacraments and Sacramentalls may bee administred by all that list and when they list and where they list and as they list and they can shew as good evidence and authority for their so doing as the best of them all that shall controle them And if any shall censure them they must looke to have as good as they bring censure for censure and excommunication for excommunication For in the Primitive Church for 200. yeares together there was haile fellow well-met all equalls no Audientes no Catechumeni no Competentes no Neophyti no Deacons no Priests or if there were Deacons or such Anti-christian names as Priests there were no Sacraments for them to administer no Eucharist to deliver or if they delivered it they gave it before it was Consecrated for they had no Church nor Altar to Consecrate the same upon and Eucharistia in Altari Consecratur wee are sure out of all antiquity that the Eucharist must be consecrated on an Altar These then being the inconveniences which must necessarily follow if there were no Churches nor Altars within 200. yeares of Christ I hope the Author will repeale his assertion and yeeld unto a Truth uncontrollable that there were Churches and Altars not only within 200. yeares after Christ but all those 200. yeares together and were then and ever since in the holy Christian Church And so I have done with that point
things hence or that the complying of these holy Fathers with Gods people the Iewes is in this respect any argument of their secret and undue creeping in or not rather a forcible argument to warrant and justifie the bringing of them into the Christian Church and the due honouring of them being no worse things than such as the types whereof were shewed Moses in the Mount and are themselves with their Priests and holy service performed about them visible types of the triumphant Church in heaven and for this cause as chiefly because they are the seats and Chaires of estate where the Lord vouchsafeth to place himselfe amongst us as Optatus speaketh have beene in all ages so greatly honoured and regarded of the most wise most learned and most blessed Saints of God So that he which saies Altars crept into the Church by a kindâ— of complying with the people of the Iewes may with as good reason say that the orders of Archbishops Bishops Priestâ— and Deacons with their severall offices and degrees with their attyre habits and vestments together with oblations tythes glebe lands and maintenance crept into the Christian Church by a kinde of complying with the Iewes and are therefore alike and altogether to bee cast out of the Church as Iudaicall Ceremonies But God forbid that any sonne of the Church as this man intitles himselfe or Vniversity either should shew so little good affection and learning as to speake or thinke the worse of any of these for their complying with the people of the Iewes herein and cast them out as Iudaicall ceremonies For what the Patriarchs and people of the Iewes practised by the law of nature or the rule of right reason or by inspiration of Gods Spirit many hundred yeares before the Ceremoniall or Leviticall Law was given are not to be ranked among Iudaicall Ceremonies which were fulfilled in our Saviour Christ and were by him taken away and nailed to his Crosse. The Councell of Aquisgrane and the Fathers whom they follow take us out another lesson For then making of vowes singing of Psalmes and spirituall Songs keeping of Feasts observing of Fasts dedicating of places for Gods Worship ordayning and maintaining of Priests and Deacons as well as Altars should all be cast out from the face of this man and his abettors as Moses was from the presence of Pharaoh beware thou see my face no more thou art crept in among us that are the sons of the Church under a Vizard made of a kind of complying with the Iewes whose Mosaicall ceremonies we renounce But it is to be hoped that he that weares the name of the Sonne of the Church will not to her wrong under that ensigne advance the party of Donatus Nihil honorificentius quà m ut Imperator Ecclesiae filius esse dicatur sayes Saint Ambrose a sonne of the Church is a name for Kings and Emperors the nursing Fathers of the Church and it were sacriledge to steale it away from them and convey it to their and her enemies But if this man be a sonne of the Church then may we say with Iacob deliver me ô Lord I pray thee from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau lest he come and smite the Mother upon her Children He had shewed himselfe more likâ—â— sonne of the Church if he had said that the name of Sabbath had crept into the Church in a kinde of complying in phrase with the people of the Iewes and that in a shadow of things to come as if Christ were not come in the flesh against the Apostles express doctrin and charge Col. 2. and from hence would have sought to have cast out that old leaven out of our Church which hath sowred the affections of too many towards the Church and disturbed the peace and hindred the pious devotion thereof CAP. XXIII The conceit of a Dresser unworthy a Divine Suting Psychicus in Tertullian The Patriarch and Bishops in the fifth Councel expresse a different apprehension thereof Christs first institution of the Sacrament no rule to us in matters Circumstantiall An Altar confessed by the Author Saint Paul did and the Church may order things otherwise than Christ used The Eucharist to be received Fasting THe Authour hath much busied himselfe to pull downe disgrace and cast out Christian Altars as ever did Abraham Isaac or Iacob or the old Christians before Moses or Moses David Salomon or any of the Patriarches before CHRIST or any blessed Martyres holy Saints of God and zealous Christians since Christ have beene to build consecrate adorne and honour them Whose Factor he is and of whom he is to receive his pay the enemy of Altars that befriended him with this inspiration best knowes But if his pay must be proportioned noâ— by his good will but by his good successe then can it not be good The man I thinke was borne when all good starres had their backes toward him And if he bare not Sisera's minde why do the Stars fight against him in their order for that wherin he thinkes to winne a reputation by disgrace of Altars brings them honour and him confusion at every turne Such is the proud mans destiny In eo deijciuntur in quo extâ—lluntur sayes Saint Austin their table is their snare their prosperity their ruine they hope to leane on a wall and adders sting them Sicut fumus peribunt The higher smoake mounteth the further from heaven the neerer to nothing So hath it fared with this man from the beginning hitherto The higher he built his hopes upon old writers or new the lower is he beaten with their fall upon his head It is found by his owne Authors that Altars were in the Christian Church within lesse than 200. yeares after Christ that they did not stand in the body of the Church that they did not creepe in that their complying confuteth their creeping Hitherto wee are gone already and now comes forth a reason against the setting of the Lords Table Altarwise made of such stuffe that if he had studyed all his life long to honour Altars in the opinion of good Christians and to fill his owne face with shame he could not I thinke find any comparable to this fulsome and nasty conceit of a Dresser The Country people would suppose them Dressers I confesse unfainedly that this speech was so scandalous and offensive to me and I perswade my selfe it is no lesse to any Christian apprehension and trencht so close upon blasphemy that I could not choose but take up such stones as lay neere mee to cast at it And I cannot but wonder how any man I will not say in holy orders meditating on the holy Eucharist Consecrated upon the most holy Altar standing no otherwise than it ever did in the holy Catholicke Church but any man of gentle extraction liberall education and virtuous disposition could have so unhallowed and degenerate a thought come into his mind fitter for Epicurus or one of Bacchus Priests than