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scripture_n	article_n	believe_v	creed_n	2,820	5	10.5298	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14268	Two treatises the first, of the liues of the popes, and their doctrine. The second, of the masse: the one and the other collected of that, which the doctors, and ancient councels, and the sacred Scripture do teach. Also, a swarme of false miracles, wherewith Marie de la Visitacion, prioresse de la Annuntiada of Lisbon, deceiued very many: and how she was discouered, and condemned. The second edition in Spanish augmented by the author himselfe, M. Cyprian Valera, and translated into English by Iohn Golburne. 1600.; Dos tratados. English	Valera, Cipriano de, 1532?-1625.; Golburne, John.	1600 (1600)	STC 24581; ESTC S119016	391,061	458

or of the diuell And to make that more manifest whereof we intreat let vs deuide into three partes or orders all the Bishops that haue bene in Rome The first shall conteyne all those that from the beginning were Bishops vntill the time of Saint Siluester The second all those which were from Siluester vnto Boniface 3. The third all those that haue bene from Boniface 3. vnto Clement 8. who this yeare of the Lord 1600. doth tyrannize in the Church Come we now to the first order The common opinion hath bene that S. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome the which by holy scripture can no way but the contrary rather be proued Many haue handled this argument to whom I referre those that would knowe it For my part that which our aduersaries say concerning this matter to me seemeth impossible First they soy that S. Peter ●●ued after after Christ passion 38. yeares which they count in this maner That he was for a time in Iudaea after at Antioch where he was Bishop 7. yeares So saith Bartholmew Caranza in his summa Conciliorum But if that be true which they say that S. Peter liued but 38. yeares after Christ the Epistle of S. Paul to the Gal. sheweth this to be impossible Saint Paul also in 1. chap. of his said Epistle declareth that after his conuersion he went not to Ierusalem but into Arabia and thence turned to Damascus and that 3. yeares after he came to Ierusalem where he found Peter with whom he abode 15. dayes not to learne ought of him but to confer with him 14. yeares after this as he saith in the chapter following he came againe to Ierusalem where those that were pillers of the Church Iames Cephas which is Peter and Iohn gaue him the right hand of fellowship These yeares were 18. at the least 3. saith he and afterwards 14. and the time which passed from the Passion of Christ vntill S. Paules going to Arabia After this they both were at Antioch where S. Paul reproued S. Peter for his dissimulation If there he was seuen yeares and twenty fiue yeares afterwardes at Rome ioyned with the eighteene yeares before mentioned shall make fiftie yeares at the least Then shall it be vntrue which they say that Saint Peper liued thirty eight yeares after the death of Christ as saith Caranza in his summa Conciliorum And much more vntrue shal be that which Humfridus Panuinus in the Chronicle of the Roman Bishops and in his annotation vpon Platina in the life of Saint Peter saith that Saint Peter was martyred 34. yeares 3. moueths and 4. dayes after the passion of Christ Count thus the yeares the S. Peter liued after Christ From the death of Christ vntill the 2. yeare of the death of Claudius were 10. yeares all which time Saint Peter abode in and departed not once from Iudea This time passed he came to Rome where he abode 4. yeares from whence by Claudius Edict against the Iewes he departed and returned to Ierusalem from Ierusalem he went to Antioch and there abode 7. yeares in which time died Claudius and Nero succeeded him in the Empire In the beginning of Neros reigne S. Peter returned to Rome whence after some time he departed and trauelled almost throughout all Europe which peregrination being ended he returned the third time to Rome From Saint Peters first enterance into Rome vntill his death were 24. yeares 5. monethes and 12. dayes which ioyned with the 10. yeares before passed in Iudea make 34. yeares three moneths and 4. dayes All this saith Panuinus Herein he contraieth his owne authors which affirme Peter to haue bene 7. yeares in Antioch and 25. after at Rome And Gracian in a certaine decree saith that Saint Peter by reuelation passed or translated his seate from Antioch to Rome And so Fryar Iohn de Pineda in the 3. part booke 20. chap. 5. Sect. 1 following this opinion saith In Antioch before Rome had S. Peter his seate Papall Caranza in his summa Conciliorum speaking of S. Peter counteth thus He sate saith he in the bishops chaire at Antioch 7. yeares and departing thence came to Rome in the time of the Emperor Claudius where he sate in the Bishops chaire 25. yeares 2. moneths and 3. dayes We see now the count of Caranza and Panuinus to be false In this they agree that he was crucified at Rome Betweene the death of the Lord and the death of Nero were 37. yeares The said Panuinus saith that S. Peter was crucified in the the last yeare of Nero then shal it be 37. yeares and not as he saith 34. yeares after the death of Christ The Legend and Cannon say that Saint Peter and Saint Paul were in one selfe same yeare day and hower beheaded at Rome Saint Ierome saith that Paul was killed with a sword and Peter crucified Eusebius saith that the one was beheaded and the other crucified We demaund and chiefly of our Spaniardes which so much beeleeue these thinges when came Saint Peter to Rome how longe there stayed he when and of what kinde of death and where dyed he who was his successor for some say Linus others Clement we shall finde great confusion and disorder amongst them as already we haue seene and how deale they so with Christians whose faith is to be founded vpon the word of God The Popes Supremacie to be Peters successour they sell for an Article of our faith insomuch as saith Boniface 8. it was de necessitate salutis necessarie to saluation and who so beleeued it not could not be saued behold vpon what holy scriptures it is founded vpon a legend of mens sayinges disagreeing among themselues The cause taken away the effect ceaseth If Saint Peter were not Bishop of Rome it followeth that all whatsoeuer is sayd touching the succession Primacie of the Pope is meere lyes and fashood Also Saint Peters Commission was to be Apostle of the circumcision among the Iewes and that of Saint Paul of the vncircumcision among the Gentiles Gal. 2. 7. Saint Paul to the Romans themselues also saith that he preached the Gospell where none had once made mention thereof and giueth a reason Beast he should seeme to build vpon a straunge foundation Whereupon it followeth that Saint Peter was not at Rome Also in the Epistles which he wrote being prisoner in Rome he sent salutations from the faithfull which were then in Rome without any mention made of Saint Peter And had he bene in Rome it is to be thought he would haue named him Read the 4. chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians from the 10. verse vnto the 14. where he saith Salute Aristareus and Marke and Iesus called Iustus which be of the circumcision These onely be they that assisted me in the kingdome of God and were a comfort vnto me Whereupon it followeth that Saint Peter was not at Rome seeing he neither did assist nor comfort him This Epistle was written from Rome And in

with him 30000. men and onely Saint Barnard without any payne flew to heauen 3. descended into purgatorie and all the rest into hell perpetually to be damned Thus far Venero He that reporteth this was no Ideot but a preacher and of the order of preachers Who will not beleeue an holy hermite come from another world a Bishop and a preacher also O happie Bishop which knew what passed in Heauen Purgatorie and hell Blessed be our God which hath opened our eyes and made vs to vnderstand such apparitions to be illusions of the diuell For confirmation of this our Doctrine Reade the Parable which our Sauiour propoundeth of the rich worldling who prayed Abraham to send Lazarus before deceased to the house of his father that he might declare to his fiue brethren that which he passed But Abraham answered they haue Moses and the Prophets let them heare them whom if they will not heare neither will they bee perswaded though a man should rise from the dead Luke 16. So that euery Christian which readeth searcheth and meditateth the holy scripture doth know that all this which they say concerning Purgatorie is lies albeit the Pope will haue it an Article of faith Were it an article of faith it should be founded vpon the scripture On the scripture it is not founded therefore it is no Article of faith Also were it an Artticle of faith it should be one of the twelue of the Apostles creede but it is not therefore it is not an Article of faith But it is as saith Doctour Constantine the head of the wolfe It serueth to mainetayne idle bellies Conclude wee this then of the false myracles of Antichrist with that which the Lord saith False Christes and false Prophetes shall arise and shall worke signes great and wonderfull so that if it were possible the verie elect should be deceiued Well hath our Redemer forewarned vs well hath his Apostle Saint Paule foretold vs. See we now to our selues for of ignorance now shall we not sinne we are forewarned And as Daniel for our consolation foretold vs of the miserable end of Antichrist so also saith Saint Paule and that more plainely then Daniel that the Lord will destroy him with the spirit of his mouth and consume him with the brightnesse of his comming which we see dayly more and more accomplished How many kingdomes and prouinces do now know the Pope to be Antichrist And how came they by this knowledge not forced but by reading and hearing the word of God Very wise was the Pope in forbidding the Bible in forbidding the reading of the holy Scripture well did he vnderstand that all his euill his whole ruine and destruction should there thence proceede But I commaund it The Lord saith Saint Paule will destroy him with the Spirit of his mouth with his word with the holy Scripture with the doctrine of the olde and new Testament with the Bible which he so much abhorreth Many nations haue forsaken him onely Spaine and Italy giue him life But albeit they so do yet is his sicknesse vncurable and doubtlesse shall he die thereof The third and last passage wherewith we confirme the Pope to be Antichrist is taken out of the seuenteenth chapter of the Reuelation of Saint Iohn Reade the whole chapter Here will we note the principall points Saint Iohn saith hee saw a woman sit vppon a beast the woman and the beast with their quallities and attire he depainteth The woman saith hee was the great whore which sitteth vpon manie waters with whom the kings of the earth haue committed fornication He saith that she was set vppon a beast That this woman was clothed with purple and Scarlet and guilded with golde and adorned with precious stones c. Who had in her forehead a name wri●ten A Mysterie Great Babylon mother of fornications and abhominations of the earth that this woman was drunken with the bloud of the Saints and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Iesus And concluding the chapter he saith that this woman is the great citie wh●ch reigneth ouer all the kings of the earth Concerning the beast saith he which was of the colour of Scarlet full of the names of blasphemie which had seuen heades and ten hornes Saint Iohn saith that when he saw this woman ride vpon the beast he greatly wondered The Angell declareth vnto him the secret of the woman and of the beast The beast saith the Angell which thou hast seene was and is not c. He saith vnto him that the seuen heades be seuen mountaines whereupon the woman sitteth He saith that the ten hornes be ten kinges subiect to the beast That these kings shall fight against the Lambe but the Lambe shall oue●come them That the waters whereupon the Whoore sitteth bee peoples and kindreds and nations and tongues Hee saieth that the ten hornes of the beast shall hate the whore shall make her desolate and destroy her Who seeth not Antichrist the Pope of Rome here figured and liuely painted out to whom can all these things be applied but to him alone The whore is the Pope the beast is the Romane Empire whereupon the Pope sitteth a●d wherewith hee hath lifted vp himselfe It is a common p●rase of speech in the Scr●pture to call Idolatrie and superstition fornication and t●e Idolaters it calleth strumpets and whoores Reade the s●cond chapter of Ieremie and 3. verse Ezech. 16. chap. Of 〈◊〉 chap. 1. 2. and 3. The Pope then is called Whore and gre●t whore for his idolatrie and superstition which he committeth and teacheth to so many people and nations Note that which we haue said in the passage cited out of the 11. chapter of Daniel How much more yet by the great prouidence of God hath this thing fully and plainely happened seing a Pope hath bin which was a woman and a greate whoore Reade the life which we haue recited of Iohn 8. where he saith that the woman was clothed with purple and scarlet and gold c. Euen so is the Pope in his pontificall habite and chiefly the day of his coronation fully clothed Platina speaking of Pope Clement the fifth as in his l●fe we haue decla●ed saith that at his coronation fell a wall which killed many and that the Pope falling from his horse lost a Carbuncle which fell from his Miter or as they call it Reyno that was worth s●xe thousand Florences D. Illescas chap. 24. speaking of the coroantion of Leo the tenth saith these words The day of this coronation in Rome was so solemne and ioyfull that any hardly remembred to haue seene the like thing For besides the other feastes made which should be tedious to recount they affirme aboue an hundred thousand duckets to haue bene cast among the people c. How could this Pope say that which said Saint Peter Siluer and gold haue I none This woman he calleth Babylon as much to say as confusion He calleth

king of kings and vnder the name of Pastor he sheweth himselfe a rauening Wolfe and vnder pretence to be S. Peters successor he declareth himselfe the follower of Iudas For as Iudas with a kisse fayned friendship betrayed his Lord so with fayned holinesse and outward ceremonies doth the Pope draw the common people into the chaines and snares of ignorance and superstitions The said title therefore which Christ gaue vnto Iudas Ioh. 17. 12. the Apostle giueth to Antichrist 2. Thess 2. 4. A contemner of mariage when he esteemes it a carnall estate and therefore with such seuerity forbiddeth it to his Clergie that although fornicators and adulterers can easily purchase absolution of their sinnes no pardon remaineth for the Clergie that mary according to the ordinance of God but the same is reputed and punished by the Pope for an vnpardonable sinne Albeit the holy scripture teacheth 1. Cor. 7. 9. That it is better to marry then to burne And Hebr. 13. 4. Marriage is honorable among all men Also 1. Timoth. 3. 2. Euery Bishop must be the husband of one wife Insatiable is the couetousnesse of the Pope and extendeth into all parts For money he pardoneth sinnes selleth ecclesiasticall functions maketh marchandize of his Bulles indulgences Iubilies Reliques Masses praiers and sacraments and compelleth the miserable people to buy his marchandize not on such dayes onely as other marchants vse to traffique but also and principally on the feast dayes the Lords dayes and Sabboths when other men rest And raketh together euery day in the yeare and of all sortes of people euen of the Iewes and Curtesans of Rome A tyrant he is and persecutor of Saints being the cause of the sheding of so much Christiā blood inciting kings princes to persecute such as contradict him and abandon his Idolatries and superstitions to serue God according to his will and word whom the Pope condemneth for heretiques to be burned and least they should speake putteth a gagge in their mouthes And to fill vp the measure of his crueltie he spareth not Emperours nor kings being the Lords Annointed when they refuse to execute his tyrannies as histories plainely witnesse A deceauer he is sundry waies because he deceaueth the common people with false doctrine and vaine promises with high titles and fayned holinesse with bulles Pardons false miracles and illusions of the diuell c. He is full of impietie because he pleaseth and delighteth himselfe not only in sinne but causeth others also to sinne because he hath depraued the worship of God with idolatrie the authoritie of kings with tyrany The common faith with deceit and the life of his Clergie with shame and filthinesse occasioned by constrayned single life To conclud in the kingdome of the Pope is the fountaine and spring af all abhominations and slaunder according to the old prouerbe The neerer to Rome the worse Christian So the neerer to Antichrist the further from Christ By these demonstrations it appeareth plainely that the Pope is Antichrist whom the Holy scripture hath foretold and by whom the Church of Christ hath so much suffered The second Treatise of the Masse and the holinesse thereof WE haue passed by the Lords assistance the Laborinthe not of Creete but of Rome of the Pope and his Roman Court another much worse and for more intricate troublesōe The Pope haue we proued to be a false Preist and very Antichrist to be the man of sin sonne of perdition to be that whereof whom speaketh S. Iohn in his Reuelation This haue we proued by his euil life wicked Doctrine by the sayings of Doctors and ancient Councels and by three notable passages of holy scripture Now will we shew the Masse which is the second pillar that supporteth and vpholdeth the Roman Church to be a false sacrifice an inuention of the diuell and a profanation of the holy supper which Iesus Christ our redeemer instituted And if such bee the Masse as we will proue it to bee it followeth that wee ought to flie and detest it and so doe we flie and abhorre it as a thing condemned and abhominable before the face of God This done wee will shewe by the Lordes assistance without which we can doe no thing that good is Iesus Christ to be the true and onely priest and chiefe bishop And his propper body blood which he offered vpon the crosse to his father to be the true only sacrifice the memory wherof we shew forth so oftē as we celebrate his holy supper A table wil we place at the end of this Treatise wherein we will shew the conformity vnion and likenesse which the holy supper instituted by Iesus Christ holdeth with the holy supper in the reformed Churches celebrated And thē also wil we shew the differēce disconformity contrariety that the Masse which our aduersaries celebrate holdeth with the holy supper of Christ which is the same we now celebrate As the name of Pope is not found in the holy scripture as little also is there found the name of Masse And doubtlesse had it bene so necessarie for a Christian to beleeue the authoritie of the Pope and holinesse of the Masse without which faith say they it is vnpossible for a man to bee saued It is I say to bee beleeued that Iesus Christ or his Apostles would haue made some mention thereof For all whatsoeuer is necessary for our saluation doth Christ and his Apostles teach vs. Saint Paule speaking to the Ephesians saith Ye knowe that I keepe backe nothing that was profitable but haue shewed you and haue taught you openly and throughout euery house Witnessing both to the Iewes and Grecians the repentance and faith in our Lord Iesus Christ But this holy Apostle so diligent in teaching that which we ought to beleeue maketh no mention of the Pope nor of the Masse Hereuppon it followeth that to beleeue the authoritie of the Pope or holinesse of the Masse is no Article of faith But true it is will they saie vnto me that this word Masse is not found in the scripture but its equiualent is found the supper of the Lord And if we ought to admit the Lords supper thē must we admit this name Missa Whereunto we aunswere that most great Iniurie and wrong doe they to the holie supper which the Lord instituted in saying it to be the same that is their Masse which they haue imagined and forged For how great difference there is betweene Truth and Falshood Light and darkenesse God and Belial So great is the difference betweene the holy supper and the profane Masse Had the question bene concerning the name whether the holy supper were to be called Missa or no. It should not be of great importance Agree wee in the substance of the things and call it as ye list Albeit it bee il done when the holy spirit calleth a thing by such or such name that man dare call it by another name The Apostle calles it

albeit God of his absolute power can drowne the whole world againe yet will hee not drowne it So then say we now that Christ could doe that which they say annihilate the substance of the bread and be transubstantiated into it But we say that he will not do it because he will remaine sitting at the right hand of his father in heauen and according to his humanitie according to his flesh which he tooke of the Virgin Mary according to the flesh wherein he dyed wiil he neuer descend hither vntill he come to iudge the quick and the dead And so to this end sayd he to his disciples The poore ye shall haue alwayes with you but me shall ye not haue alwayes For fortie dayes passed after his resurrection hee ascended into heauen sitteth at the right hand of the Father c. Very well did his Apostle S. Peter vnderstand this when in a sermon which he preached at Ierusalem hee sayd Whom meaning Christ the heauens must containe vntill the time that all things bee restored And this is an Article of our faith which in the Creed we confesse That Iesus Christ is ascended into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father from whence shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead Then will he not come to transubstantiate the bread into his body So our aduersaries be heretikes denying in deed this article of faith which with their mouth they confesse in the Creed Hereuppon let vs nowe conclude that Christ can but hee will not transubstantiate himselfe into the bread but will sit at the right hand of the Father vntill he come to iudge c. As the holy Scripture doth witnesse it and in the Creed wee confesse it The second reason wherewith they confirme their Transubstantiation is That Iesus Christ is infallible truth and therefore of necessitie that which hee sayth must bee as hee saith it He saith This is my body Then it followeth that that is his bodie and if it be the body of Christ it is not Bread With Esayas chap. 53. verse 9. and Saint Peter chap. 2. vers 22. confesse we that Iesus Christ neuer sinned we also confesse that vntruth nor deceit was euer found in his mouth For he is that which of himselfe he saith Ioh. chap. 14. verse 6. The way the trueth and the life Wee also confesse that with his owne mouth he hath sayd This is my body and so beleeue we that it is For should wee denie that which our King Prophet and Priest affirmeth we should not be Christians Thus farre agree we with our aduersaries The difference that is betweene them and vs is as touching the maner How or in what manner that which Iesus Christ by the meane of his minister in the holy Supper doth giue vs is truely and really the body and bloud of Iesus Christ For the better vnderstanding hereof it shall bee needfull to vse the distinction which the Lord vseth in the sixth chapter of the Gospell of Saint Iohn That there bee two maners of eating the bodie of Christ the one carnall the other spirituall Commonly when the Scripture opposeth the flesh to the Spirit by the flesh it vnderstandeth the parte of man that is not regenerate nor subiect to the lawe of God So call wee men without the knowledge of God carnall naturall and sensuall men But it is not heere so to bee taken By the flesh is vnderstood the same flesh of Christ it selfe ioyntly with his blood bones and sinewes and which Iesus Christ took when he was borne and liued in this world when he dyed and rose againe c. The second maner of eating which is called spirituall is when the faithfull Christian his bodie being here below is lifted vp so high in spirit that with the wings of faith it flyeth and with one flight doth pierce all the heauens and stayeth not vntill it come before the throne of the maiestie of God the father at whose right hand he findeth sitting his redeemer and satisfier Christ And finding him with great ioy doth feede vpon him eateth his glorious bodie and drinketh his most precious bloud And if the faithfull Christian doth freely eate him much more freely doth the Lord giue himselfe to sustaine the soules which he with the death of his body with the shedding of his bloud redeemed He that with his body and bloud did redeeme them with his body and with his bloud wil he maintain them yet not carnally but spiritually by faith as before we haue sayd Our aduersaries beleeue the body of Christ in the first manner to be in their Masse They beleeue that the mouth taketh the teeth chawe the throate swalloweth and the stomacke receiueth the same carnall bodie which was borne which dyed which rose againe c. They wil vnderstand the words of Christ literally be it as it will be but Christ himselfe speaking of the necessity that wee haue to eate his flesh and drinke his bloud saith The words which I speake vnto you are spirit and life to wit that which I haue sayd vnto you touching the eating of my flesh and drinking of my bloud vnderstand you not after the letters as they carnally sound lift vp the mind and vnderstand it spiritually The Capernaits and many of the disciples also as saith S. Iohn carnally vnderstood the words of Christ And also they sayd that it was a hard saying and murmured at it To whom Christ vnfolding their errour told them they should vnderstand his words spiritually You see here that our aduersaries are worse then the Capernaits for the Capernaits would not carnally eate the flesh of Christ nor drinke his bloud but they make no bones at it without any scruple and without any loathing will they eate the flesh of Christ carnally but it will nought auaile them For the Spirit it is that quickeneth and the flesh as Christ himselfe saith speaking to our purpose profitteth nothing c. That the Lord in his supper gaue carnally his body may wee not vnderstand For should wee so vnderstand it A most great absurditie world followe that Iesus Christ when hee celebrated his supper had two carnall bodies One by one The Bodie that celebrated the supper that brake the bread in his handes blessed it brake it and gaue it to his disciples c. was the true carnall body of Christ which was borne and dyed c. If that which this carnall bodie tooke in his handes and gaue to his disciples was also the carnall body of Christ it followeth that Iesus Christ when he had celebrated his supper had two carnall bodies one which sate and remained in his place and the other which sitting body gaue to his disciples The which is a great absurditie But did they vnderstand this second manner of body which the Carnall body of Christ gaue to his disciples and they tooke it and did eat it not to bee his

Transubstantiation among our aduersaries that they hold him not a Christian but an heretike anathematized accursed and excommunicated that doth not beleeue it Wherein to the Councell of Florence held in the time of Eugenius the fourth in the yeare of our Lord 1439. do they great iniurie In this Councell were present the Emperour of Grecia the Patriarke of Constantinople and many Easterne Bishops The Greekes and Latines agreed in this Councell in the difference which they held touching the holy Spirit and in some other things they also agreed but as touching Transubstantiation albeit the Pope did labour them to allow of it yet could they neuer effect it with them And great heed tooke the Greekes that in the letter of vnitie no mention were made of Transubstantiation the which was done to the good liking of the Greeks as in the Bull of Eugenius which beginneth Exultent coeli laetetur terra appeareth wherin he giueth for good to all Christendome that the Greeke and Latine Church had once againe accorded And I surely know had their Transubstantiation bene an article of faith without which there is no saluation the Romane Church did wickedly to admit the Greeks for brothers seeing they openly denyed Transubstantiatiō That which our aduersaries say of the mutual cōsent of the Church touching the article of Transubstātiation here appeareth to be false For neither the Greek nor Eastern church euer beleeued it nor now at this day beleeueth it nor yet did the Latine Church for a thousand yeares space beleeue it Of all this which we haue spoken touching Transubstantiation we conclude that which we say to be truth that he which heareth the Masse is a great Idolater and he which sayth it is a greater The fift Domage which the Masse causeth is that besides the sayd foure domages it maintaineth many abuses as is Purgatorie Concerning Purgatorie say we there is no other purgatorie but the bloud of Christ which purgeth our sinnes By which purgation wee are reconciled with the euerlasting Father The other purgatorie say we which our aduersaries haue forged without the word of God is the head of a wolfe as Doctor Constantine did call it who for the cause of religion of infirmitie age and hard imprisonment among those cruell Canibals and eaters of mans flesh the defilers of the faith in the castle of Traiana died Purgatorie is a common cutpurse that without shame or correction stealeth robbeth and catcheth all what it can to fill the paunches of these idle bellies priests and friers all the ecclesiasticall order For whence haue they so enriched themselues whence is it that they haue builded so many sumptuous Monasteries which seeme rather Castles and pallaces of most rich kings and Princes then houses of begging Friers and poore Monkes who in times past gained their liuing with the labour of their hands Whence haue they founded so many Chappels so manie Trentals so many Masses prayed and sung which they called de requiem but of the foolish perswasion of Purgatorie As the Masse entertayneth Purgatorie so also doth Purgatorie entertaine the Masse The Masse and Purgatorie are euen as two Mules the one rubbing the other The false prophets made an old simple woman beleeue that the soule of her father mother husband daughter or other person whō she deerely loued was suffering most grieuous torments and paines in Purgatory and demanded some reliefe by the Masse or Masses which should be said for it Then the poore old woman taking it from their mouth ioyned peece to peece 68 Blancas which is a ryall went to a Priest and giuing him the tyall for Masses are sold for money besought him to say a Masse with great deuotion for the soule of her father or some other person whom she loued And were the old woman so much more superstitions then went she to a monasterie holding it for certaine that the Fryers liued a more religious and holy life then the Priestes and being come to the monasterie besought the Sextan or potter to cause a Masse with all speede to be sayd The Sextan or porter sayd it should presently bee done Then went out a Father to say the Masse and tooke money of her to whom better had it beene to haue giuen then taken it from her for God knoweth the pouertie that remayned in the house of this old woman and the riches and superfluity that was in the monasterie And a faire thing it was that they sayd it not for her for oftentimes it happeneth that more Masses are receiued for in one day then all the Priestes of the monastery can say in a moneth And this is the cause why they cannot say all the Masses they receiue for But thou wilt say vnto mee Why do these reuerend men take of them more money for Masses then they well can say Me seemeth they rob in doing this which thou sayest Hereunto I answer that they reckon not of this nor make they any conscience thus to rob and deceiue And that which is worse this their theft and robberie do they sanctifie saying that is very well done and that necessity so requireth that the deuotion of the people be not despised Ad the Pope for the cause aforesayd a proueth and maketh good this theft and commandeth them to say two Masses at euery moneths end one for the quicke another for the dead which two Masses saith he are as auayleable as all those how many soeuer they haue omitted to say Did the Magistrates their dutie they would seeke and in the chests of their Monasteries should find such Bulles such mockeries and such licenses to steale Purgatorie haue they made a new article of faith so that he which beleeueth it not is therefore an heretike If it be heresie not to beleeue that which neither in the doctrine of the old or new Testament is confirmed Nor is in any of the three Creedes of the Apostles the Nicen nor of Athanasius being a Summarie token out of the scripture which a Christian ought to beleeue conteyned The 6. domage is that suppose the sacrifice of the Masse or sacrament of the altar As they call it had bene such As they paint it out Yet should it not be wel administred sith the Christian people are defrauded and depriued of the one halfe of the sacrament because they giue them not the sacramentall wine which is the sacrament of the bloud of Christ shed for vs vpon the Crosse when the other halfe is receiued they giue it seldome once in the yeare wickedly with so many superstitions and Idolatries As we haue already proued In bread and wine did Iesus Christ institute this sacrament for the high signification and allusion which the bread and wine holde with his bodie and with his bloud and commaunded his Apostles in the selfe same maner As they had seene him celebrate the supper in memoriall of his death to celebrate it When he gaue thē the bread he said Take