couenant is certaine that they in particular are comprehended and contained in the same c. And which more is they worke within a faith of the free promises of the Creator of the remission of sinne in his Sonne c. a confirmation of that most neere coniunction that is betwixt the faithfull and God an vnion with Christ by the bond of his holy spirit such as the members haue with the head from which they draw saluation and life Whereupon it followeth that they are made new men for so much as the power and efficacie of the spirit of Christ dooth conuert and turne them into his nature draw them from their owne regenerate and cast them anew by little and little and that both in their affections as also in their actions to put their trust in God through Iesus Christ to renounce and forsake themselues for the loue of him and to wish well and doe well vnto their neighbours but especially to the members of the same bodie both in him and for him Now therefore this is the office and part of the Sacraments What a sacrament is and thereupon a Sacrament to define it properly is a holy ceremonie instituted of God added to the promise of grace made in Iesus Christ to be an earnest penie and certaine testimonie vnto all the faithfull that this promise of grace expounded explaned in the word of God is particularly exhibited ratified applied to him vnto saluation And such were amongst the old people from the time of Abraham and Moyses vnto the comming of our Lord Circumcision and the Passe-ouer instituted of God to such end in stead wherof there were ordained for vs by our Lord holy Baptisme and the holy supper to continue to the end of the world It consisteth of a signe a thing and the word Genes 17.10 13. Rom. 4. Of these Sacraments the Scripture speaketh after this sort Of Circumcision It shall be vnto you saith the Lord for a signe of the couenant betwixt me and you and my couenant shall be in your flesh for an euerlasting couenant Thus of the signe And S. Paul Abraham saith he receiued the signe of the Circumcision 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the seale of the righteousnesse of faith And we know that the righteousnesse of faith is that which is freely promised giuen in Iesus Christ our Lord. Now behold the effect and so by consequent a perfect Sacrament Deutr. 10. â—oâ— 2 28. Exod. 12. according to that which Moyses saith Circumcise the foreskinne of your heart And S. Paul Circumcision is not that which is made in the flesh but of the heart in the spirit Of the Passe-ouer The bloud of the Lambe is vnto you for a signe in the houses wherein you shall be 1. Corinth 5. I will see this bloud and passe ouer But this bloud saith the Apostle is the bloud of Christ Christ our Passe-ouer was slaine for vs c. Behold here againe both the signe and the thing and both the one and the other by the word that is to say by the institution of Christ who hath ordained the signe for the thing and giuen the thing with the signe otherwise naked and vnprofitable not answering the effect that is expected thereof This word in the Circumcision is this I am the Lord Almightie c. I will set my couenant betwixt thee and me Genes 17. Exodus 12. c. In the Passe-ouer The tenth day of the month let euerie man take a Lambe c. In which places God instituteth and ordaineth these Sacraments and giueth them by his institution perpetuall power in his Church as by these words once spoken Increase and multiplie he hath giuen for euer his blessing vnto holy marriage The same is that of the Sacraments of the new Testament Baptisme receiueth vs into the couenant of God in stead of Circumcision the holy Supper in stead of the Passe-ouer dooth nourish and maintaine vs therein whereupon the one is properly called Regeneration as a man would say a new birth and the other The communion of the bodie and bloud of our Lord to our nourishing vnto eternall life In Baptisme water is the signe the bloud of Christ is the thing signified water which washeth away the spots of the body bloud which cleanseth and wipeth away the sinnes of the soule namely by the mediation of the word or institution of God accompanied with his holy spirit which giueth efficacie and power vnto the Sacrament Of the signe S. Iohn Baptist saith Mat. 5. Act 1. 1 Cor. 12.13 Coloss 2.11 Rom. 3. â— Galat. 3.27 Tit. 3 5. I baptise you with water but as concerning the thing Hee will baptise you with the holy Ghost namely the Lord. Of both together the Apostle saith Wee are baptised into one spirit buried in baptisme into the death of Christ and raised againe into his resurrection and saued by the washing of regeneration and of the renewing of the holy Ghost In so much as that the word that is to say the institution of the Lord added to the element of water worketh supernaturally in our soules by the holy Ghost the same that water doth in our bodies by his naturall propertie Baptise yee in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost c. And we shall say the same hereafter but more largely of the holy Supper The new Testament of the Lord in his bloud Which being instituted to the same end is also of the same nature with the other Sacraments the bread wine for signes and tokens most fitly agreeing with the true and perfect nourishment of the faithfull that is in Christ a foode and nourishment that cannot better be expressed then by that of our bodies which turne into their substance that which they eate and drinke saue onely that the communion of the body and bloud of Christ hath this ouer and aboue because of his power which is infinitely more mightie then that of ours namely that it conuerteth and chaungeth vs into his substance maketh vs flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones and causeth vs to liue in him and by him c. Whereas our bodies being stronger then the thing which they eate doe cause and make the same to liue after a certaine manner in them turning it into their substance The signes therefore are bread and wine and by that name they are continually called of S. Paul and that euen after the words as they cal them of consecration The thing that is the Communion of the bodie of Christ broken for vs and of his bloud shed for our sins 1 Cor. 10. 11. The word that is the institution of the Lord which commeth thereunto Doe this in remembrance of me shew forth the death of the Lord vnto his comming c. This is the same that the old writers say that Christ is the onely saluation of the Church The Israelites were partakers of one and tâ—e same thing with vs.
by his grace with him And thus haue both the holy Scriptures as also the olde writers spoken and written Our Lord saith According to the holy scriptures He that commeth to me he that beleeueth in me he that eateth me be that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him he hath eternal life he liueth through me I will raise him vp againe at the last day c. This maner of communication participation ceaseth not spiritually to be performed and effected without the Sacrament but our Lorde as helpes vnto vs against our infirmitie hath prouided and appointed these Sacraments for vs in the eating and drinking whereof it pleaseth him to set out vnto vs the certaintie of this spirituall life which is in his bodie and bloud and that as verely as the corporall consisteth in the bread and wine And as for the bread he hath saide of it Iohn 6. This is my bodie But my bodie saith he which is giuen for you That bodie whereof hee had saide in Saint Iohn My flesh is meate in deed That flesh whereof he had saide The bread which I will giue you is my flesh and this I will giue for the life of the worlde For this bodie this flesh doe nothing auaile vs saue in that they are giuen and deliuered for vs for the remission of our sinnes and for the redemption of our soules And therfore he expoundeth himselfe vnto the Capernaites The flesh profiteth nothing the wordes which I speake vnto you are spirit and life Of the Cuppe also hee hath saide This is my bloud the bloud of the newe Testament c. And in another place This Cup is the new Testament in my bloud Not of his bloud onely but also of the Cup to the ende wee should not stay our selues or rest in the elements of this Cuppe in deede which he was to drinke for vs euen in the elements of that bitter death whereof hee had saide Let this Cup passe from me For this Cup this Passion is the newe Testament the newe couenant of God with vs. And in my bloud saith hee which is shed for you For the bloud of our Lorde entereth not into our stomackes neither yet is it shed or powred into our bowels and entrailes for to what ende should there bee any such thing done and acted in this Sacrament where the question is of the nourishment of our soules and of a feeding vnto eternall life This bloud likewise simplie considered maketh not for the profite of our soules neither as it is bloud neither as yet in that it is the bloud of Christ but herein onely for that it is the bloud of Christ crucified for vs the bloud of the sonne of God shed for the remission of our sinnes and for the saluation of our soules To eate this flesh to drinke this bloud is to draw by faith our spirituall life out of the fountaine of his flesh broken for vs of his blood shed for vs of Christ the sonne of God crucified for vs. This is to liue by him this is to liue in him this is to be with him that is to say to liue by his righteouâ—nesse whereas wee die by our owne sinne by the redemption which hee hath wrought where as wee lay in bondage and thraldome and finallie to bee iustified by him and sanctified in him that so wee may bee quickened and glorified also in him Neither haue the ancient fathers otherwise vnderstoode this communicating of Christ Saint Cyprian Our coniunction with Christ doth not make any mixture of persons According to the old writers Cypr. de Caen. Dom. it vniteth not substances but it effecteth a fellowship and correspondencie in affections it bindeth the willes togither by a firme and faithfull league c. He had said that if wee eate not his flesh c. we shall not haue life in him Teaching vs by a spirituall instruction and opening vnto vs the spirit to the conceyuing of so hidde and secret a thing to the ende that wee might know that our abiding in him is an eating of him and our incorporating into him a drinking of him And all this is wrought by our submitting of our selues in obedience ioyning of our selues vnto him in will and vniting of our selues vnto him in our affections Wherefore the eating of this flesh is a greedinesse or a feruent desire to abide and dwell in him As by eating and drinking the substaunce of the bodie liueth and is nourished euen so the life of the spirit is nourished by this proper nourishment For looke what eating is vnto the bodie the same is faith vnto the soule And looke what meate is vnto the bodie the same is the worde vnto the spirit accomplishing and working for euer and that by a more excellent power and efficacie that which carnall nourishment woorketh but for a time c. And again In the celebrating of these Sacraments wee are taught to haue the Pascion alwayes in our remembrance Again Wee are made of this bodie that is to say of the bodie of Christ in asmuch as by the Sacrament and the thing of the Sacrament wee are ioyned and knit vnto our head Nowe it is most certaine and true that such doe liue as touch the bodie of Christ Saint Hillarie These thinges taken and drunke Hylar de Trinit that is to say the bread and wine doe cause and bring to passe that Christ is in vs and wee in him Not verilie as he there teacheth that his bodie entereth into ours but by a similitude drawne from nature for that wee are ioyned together as members to the heade to his humaine bodie holie and glorious And this vnion is wrought by the faith of the death and passion of the Lorde in his spirit Saint Augustine August Ep. ad Iren. De Consecr D. 2. Christ is the bread whereof who so eateth liueth eternally and whereof hee hath saide And the bread which I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the worlde Hee determineth and setteth downe howe hee is bread not onely according to the worde by the which all thinges liue but according to the flesh taken for the life of the worlde For man which was dead in sinne being vnited and made one with the fleshe which is pure and vndefiled and incorporated into the same doth liue by the spirit of Christ as a bodie liueth by his soule but he that is not of the body of Christ doth not liue by his spirit c. Of this body Christ is the head Idem Ep. 57. ad Dardan the vnitie of this bodie is recommended vnto vs by this sacrifice c. By our head we are reconciled vnto God because that in it is the Diuinitie of the onely begotten Sonne made partaker of our mortalitie to the end that we might also become partakers of his immortalitie Again Idem de ciuit Dei l. 21. c 25. Compage He that
this venome as it were by a fire Marke this word As then the speeches here vsed do not deale with the fire of that materiall purgatorie And in deed he setteth downe S. Cyp. l. 3. testim aduers Iud. c. 57. Cyrill in Esa l. 1. c. 4. orat 3. Barnabas as one of this number S. Cyprian likewise The Lord hath reformed and amended me not giuing me ouer vnto death according to that which is written in Malachie c. For saith he God amendeth and preserueth his faithfull S. Cyrill expoundeth it of the operation of the holy Ghost in the regnerating and sanctifying of the faithfull and according to the same expoundeth the place of Esay 4. When the Lord shall wash the daughters of Sion c. But yet and if wee marke the text Behold the Lord saith he quasi ignis as a fire This then cannot be purgatorie but God which maketh this purging and not properly a fire but as a fire hee meaneth doubtlesse the fire of the spirit of Christ which purifieth our soules by his doctrine And so S. Ierome hath expounded it Hugo in Esa c. 4. in Malac. c. 3. Cardinall Hugo in like manner saith He will purge sinnes by the fire of his passion or of his spirit And by this meanes we conclude that there is no place throughout all the canonical bookes of the old Testament from which may bee gathered or proued this their purgatorie or any of the praiers or Masses for the dead neither yet according to the exposition of the fathers and that the most worthie and renowned amongst them any such torment as is giuen to them And this is freely acknowledged by Perion the Monke and thereof there is as yet some iarre and disagreement remaining amongst those of the Church of Rome namely whether there were any purgatorie in the time of the olde Testament or not There remaine the booke of Tobiah and the second of the Machabees both Apocrypha which we are to examine howbeit that wee could answere them in a word that all doctrines that haue no other ground approbation but in the Apocrypha bookes must needs themselues be Apocrypha Tobiah saith Tob. c. 4. v. 18. Cast thy bread liberally vppon the graues of the iust but giue nothing vnto the wicked The Israelites had beene amongst the Gentiles and so had Tobiah also now the Gentiles were wont to make feastes at the funeralles of their neere kinsmen Vnde parentare et parentatum The Iewes that they might not seeme to be behind the Gentiles in honouring of their parentes distributed victualles vnto the poore In like manner saith Saint Ierome they caried victualles to such as were sorrowful pensiue and which wept about the graues of their dead which hee gathereth out of the 31. of the Prouerbes And Cardinall Hugo Hee speaketh here of some fashion not knowne vnto vs or rather for the comforting of the kinsfolkes hee commanded feastes to be made after the buriall c. This is all that can be gathered out of this place That of the Machabees may seeme to minister vnto them some better matter for their purpose This is saith he a oly cogitation to pray for the dead 2. Micab 12. to the ende that they may bee deliuered from their sinnes c. First it is pittie that this doctrine of their pretended fire whereof they make so great accounts and for the defence whereof they haue kindled so many fires throughout Christendome should haue no other foundation then one only place and that out of the Apocripha bookes and that the rather in as much as they haue beene acknowledged such by all antiquitie and by the most auncient Doctors and Councels witnesse S. Cyprian S. Ierome S. Augustine S. Gregorie c. The primitiue Church gouerned by the holy Ghost Cypr. in Symbol Hieronym in lib. Sapient August contr Gaudentium Gregor l. 8. Moralium hath not iudged the books of the Machabees to be such without cause if afterward they haue been permitted to be read in the Church it was as S. Augustine telleth vs For the example sake of vertue and not for the grounding of any doctrines vpon them Saint Ierome saith They are read for the instruction of the people and not to authorize any doctrine c. S. Gregorie likewise They are not produced or alleadged for to testifie or confirme any thing as canonicall but onely for edification There are whole volumes to this effect And when as the Church hath not touched or had any dealing with the reportes and narrations contained in the second booke partly as not agreeing vppon the same matters with that of the first and partly for their being detected and conuinced of falshood by the whole storie of the ancient gestes of the Iewes as in that matter of the hidden fire of the Arke c. which Nehemiah and Esdras would not haue concealed c. We cannot but haue them suspected as also it fared with Pope Gelasius who would not admit of the first c. yea the Author himselfe giueth sentence of condemnation against himselfe as crauing pardon if he haue written amisse The holy Ghost who hath inspired and enlightened the authors of the canonicall scriptures would neuer haue written so In the second book it is certaine that from the time of the Machabees 2. Machab. 4.7.12 the Iewes by means of the familiaritie that they had with the Grecians began mightily to incline to Paganisme Now wee will shew hereafter that this doctrine is taken from the Paganes and it appeareth so to be by Iason who in fauour of Antiochus prouided an vniuersitie of paganisme in Ierusalem by other priestes who turned the sacrifices of the law into the manner of vsage that was amongst the Paganes 2. Machab. 3.13 sacrificing for the idolatrous kings for the Lacedemonians for the health of Heliodorus a piller and spoiler of the temple also by their suffering of the Paganes contrarie to the law to offer therein as namely vnto Antiochus Eupator the Emperor Augustus c. Philo de legatione ad Caium By the historie of Razias who laid violent hands vpon himselfe that so he might not fall into the enemies hands the opinion of al Paganes yet commended by this author of the second book of Machabees But after all this let vs come to the storie which is the same with that which is mentioned in the 1. book and 5. chap. Ioseph the sonne of Zachary and Azarias priestes 1. Mach. 5.57 in the emulation which the prowesse and valiantnesse of Iuda had stirred vp in thē contrarie to his inhibition made an enterprise against Iamnia but Gorgias comming out against them discomfited them so that there remained 2000. vpon the place And Israel had receiued a sore ouerthrow Because saith he that hee had not obeied Iuda and that they were not of those whom God had stirred vp for the deliuerance of Israel that is to say because they
say in the Sacrament but in the reading of the scriptures for the true meat the true drinke which is receiued of the worde of God is the knowledge of the Scriptures And therefore sayth S. Augustine That Iesus Christ is preached by tongues by Epistles and by the Sacraments of his bodie and blood c. That is to say that the Sacrament is a dumme worde or as hee himselfe calleth it a visible worde the worde a speaking Sacrament a Sacrament receyued by hearing that is to say Christ and life by Christ in them both The third that euerie Sacrament consisteth in three things in the signe A sacrament consisteth of the signe of the thing and of the word in the thing signified and in the worde and institution of God The signe giuen by the Pastor and receiued by the hand of the faithfull which goeth into the stomacke the thing giuen of God and receiued by the faith of the faithful which goeth vnto the soule and that by the mediation of the worde and working of the holy Ghost which accompanieth it which goeth together with the thing signified in the signe and yet not changing it in his nature but rather making it of a bare Element a Sacrament of a common creature a sacred and of an earthly an heauenly one to be short the instrument of our regeneration coniunction and vnion with Christ wherein lieth our life The signe which is visible the thing that is to say grace which is inuisible the operation of the worde and of the spirit incomprehensible And againe the signe which hath properly his analogie and proportionall relation to the outward man Grace that is to say the thing signified to the inward man inasmuch as he is renued nourished and fostered by the spirit in his spirit vnto which the Sacrament is properly offered vnto the soule I meane not vnto the bodie vnto the inward spirit August in serm ad Infant ad alt de sacram Idem de cruit 〈◊〉 10. c. 5. Idem in Quaest super Leuit. q 84. Idem de Corp. Christ Chrysost hom 83. in Mat. Anno 900. Raban l. de Sacr. Euchar. c 9. Pach. de Corp. Sang. Christ Lombard l. 4. d. 1. Bernard in Serm. de Caen. Dom. The signe called of the Fathers by the name of the Sacrament Tertul. cont Marc. l. 4. Hilar de consecr d. 2. Chrysost in Mat. hom 83. August in Ioh tract 26. Idem apud Grat. exsenten Prosper Rom. 2. and not to the outward senses And this thing also we shall be throughly instructed in by the fathers S. Augustine saith A Sacrament is a visible signe of an inuisible grace a signe of a sacred thing wherein is seene one thing with the outward sense and an other thing is vnderstood of the spirit Againe The Lord sanctifieth by an inuisible grace by the holie Ghost and there lieth the whole fruit of the visible Sacraments without this what are men able to profit c. Againe A Sacrament is a ceremonie wherein vnder the couert of visible things the diuine power worketh more secretly and priuily our saluation Chrysostome Christ hath giuen vs insensible things insensible ones Rabanus A sacrament is called all that which by the ordinance of God is giuen vnto vs for a pledge of our saluation when the thing visibly done doth inuisibly worke within vs all maner of other things c. And Paschasius Lombard in the verie same tearmes And Saint Bernard intreating vpon this matter giueth vs an example A Sacrament saith he is a sacred signe A Iewell may be giuen onely for a Iewell but it may bee giuen also to inuest and set a man in possession of an inheritance And then we say the Iewell is of small value and that it is the inheritance that we looke and seeke for And thus saith he our Lord drawing neere his death had care to inuest his elect and put them in possession of his grace for which cause this inuisible grace was giuen vnto them by some visible signe c. Where we are to obserue that the worde pledge and the similitude of the Iewell or ring are of antiquitie And this for our definition That which we call the signe the fathers do sometimes call the Sacrament how soeuer ordinarily this whole holy action is so called As wheÌ„ they say That the Sacrament is diuerse and differing from the thing of the Sacrament that is to say that the thing is one and the Sacrament of the same another that is to say again that the signe is one thing and the grace which is the thing signified is an other The figure is one thing saith Tertullian but the thing of the figure another The figure is one thing saith Saint Hillarie and the truth another The figure that which is seene without the truth is that which is belieued within The sensible thing saith Saint Chrysostome is one thing and the intelligible another The Sacrament saith saint Augustine is one thing and the power of the Sacrament another The Sacrament of the thing saith he is that which some take receiue to life others to destruction The thing that is to say grace whereof the Sacrament becommeth a Sacrament that is to say a signe that no man doth communicate to his ruine and destruction but euerie man to life and saluation And hereof we haue examples In Circumcision vnder which many had the signe and not the thing wherupon we see that the Prophets call the Israelites Of vncircumcised hearts And saint Paule saith That Circumcision became to them vncircumcision And in the Manna wherein some saith saint Augustine did eat nothing but Manna alone but others did tast and feed vpon the bodie of Christ In Baptisme which he saith that Simon the Magitian receiued without thâ— iâ—uisible grace the signe without the thing The signe and the thing notwithstanding The neare coÌ„iunction betwixt the sign and the thing for asmuch as they cannot be considered the one without the other being correlatiues and so the one presupposing the other are so conioyned and coupled togither that the one is oftentimes named for the other wherein the fathers do solemnly forewarne vs to take good heed that wee take not the signe for the thing nor the thing for the signe For the signe is the signe of the thing signified for but in regard thereof it cannot be a signe and on the contrarie it cannot be both the signe the thing togither neither in whole nor in part no more then a sonne is not a sonne but in respect of a father and cannot notwithstanding be a sonne and a father at once in one and the same respect so Circumcision the signe of the couenant is called the Couenant and the Passage or Pascal Lambe the Passeouer or Passage the rocke Christ and the water of Baptisme Regeneration c. All of them being but signes or remembrances of the couenant Circumcision of the heart communion with Christ Regeneration of man
c. which could not be both the signes and the things at one and the same time August ad Bonisacium Ep. 23. And therefore saith Saint Augustine The Sacraments that is to say the signes for the similitude and likenesse which they haue with the things doe take the names of the things themselues And he giueth this example To morrow shall be the passion of our Lord to day Christ is risen againe we are buried with Christ by Baptisme c. In like maner he saith not saith he we signifie the buriall but plainly and absolutely we are buried calling the Sacrament of the thing that is to say the signe by the name of the thing it selfe Againe Idem in Leuit. l. 3. q. 7. cōt Adimant c. 12 Ep. 102. The thing which signifieth hath bin accustomed to be named by the name of that which it signifieth As the seuen eares are seuen yeares hee saith not signifie the rocke was Christ hee saith not signifieth Christ as though it were that in substance which it is not but in signification c. Which thing Theodoret calleth a commutation of names of the signe or Symbole to the thing Seeing saith he that God would that those which receiue the diuine mysteries should not rest and content themselues with the things which they see but that they should beleeue through the change of names the transmutation that is made of grace Not saith he that the nature is changed but that grace is added thereunto That which is brought in as said by Saint Gregorie Gregor in Dial l. 4. may we also say together with him That in the celebration of the Sacrament the high and heauenly things are ioyned to the low and earthly and the visible to the inuisible c. But Saint Augustine giueth vs a rule which wee are not to exceede or passe August in doct Christ l. 3 c. 5. It is saith he a miserable seruitude and slauerie of the soule to take the signes for the things This is Carnaliter sapere not to taste any thing but flesh to be carnally wise which is the verie death of the soule c. The Iewes did obstinately pitch and rest themselues vpon the signes Christian libertie reuerenceth not a profitable signe instituted of God but that whereunto such signes are to be referred c. that is to say for that the signe and the thing are Correlatiues And as saith he it is a slauish weakenesse and a point of seruile infirmitie to take the signes for the things signified Idem de Trin. l. 9. quaest ex Nou. Test c. 59. Idem cont Maxim l 3. c. 22. Idem in 1. Cor. c. 10. Idem in 2. Cor. 3. Tho. in tract de differ verb. diuin Lum Summ. q. 1. art 6. vbi allegat Petra erat Christus so it is a verie deepe deceipt and errour to interpret them vnprofitably And by name he taketh for an example the Sacraments of the Christian Church especially Baptisme in an other place We see therein saith he water but the spirit which is not seene worketh therein which washeth away the sinnes of the soule and as visible things becom profitable to such as are able to see so the spirit to the spirituall c. And in another place In the Sacraments we are to regard not that which they are but that which they signifie sunt enim signa rerum saith he aliud existentia aliud significantia for they are signes of things which are another maner of thing in themselues then that which they signifie And Anselme in the same sense The holie Scriptures call the things signifying as the signified for that the signes seeme to make representation of the things they signifie whereupon it is said The rocke was Christ which was onely by the way of signification and not of substance And in another place It must bee carefully anoyded that a figuratiue speech be not expounded and taken according to the letter for this were carnaliter sapere to haue a carnall taste c. and Thomas in like maner And indeed the difference betwixt them is so great as that they cannot be made one For Saint Augustine saith oftentimes God onely giueth the thing but both the good and the euill may giue the signe And Chrysostome When thou art baptised August contr Maxim l. 3. c. 22 in Ioh. tract 5. con liter Petil. l. 3. c. 4.9 Chrysost in Mat. hom 51. Le◠de Natiuit serm 4. it is not the Minister which baptiseth thee it is God himselfe who holdeth thy head by an inuisible power neither Angell nor Archangell durst once touch thee therein And Leo the first Christ gaue to the water the same which hee gaue to his mother the same that made her to conceiue the Sauiour namely the operation of the holy Ghost giueth the power of the regenerating of man vnto the water c. And Anselme who is not one of the oldest writers Wherefore dooth God alone saith hee giue the thing and men the signe Verily because that without the mediation of his worde the signe is a meere naked and bare signe yea it ought to loose and forgoe the name of signe in as much as the thing whereof it is the signe cannot bee ioyned thereto So the Circumcision of the Turkes is nothing for it is without the institution of the Lord and as little is that of the Moores worth notwithstanding they be Christians and yet the signe is there intire the ceremonie intire And so although that Manna should raine downe to morowe yea and albeit water should gush out of the rocke yet this should be but Manna and water this should not likewise bee to Christians the participating of Christ it was that vnto the Iewes In the apple which Adam did eate in the Garden there was no venime and notwithstanding it was deadly vnto him for that the transgressing of the word of the Lord doth beget and bring forth death In these Sacraments how precious so euer they be there is no gaine or good to bee got without the institution of God for his word is the life therof And this is that which S. Augustine saith The signes of diuine things are visible wherein we honour the inuisible things Signacula August de Catech. rud c 26 and yet notwithstanding we must not hold the kind which is sanctified by the blessing thereof as that which is of common vse for there must regard and consideration be had what the word doth signifie which hath beene pronounced vpon it as also that which lieth hidden in the same and wherof it beareth the similitude likenesse Iren. likewise Iren. l. 4. c. 34. The bread hauing receiued his stile of the word of God is not any more common bread but it becommeth an Eucharist which consisteth in two things the one earthly and the other heauenly And the same had beene said by him of all the Sacraments S. Ambrose What hast thou seene
grace And Saint Augustine That the signes are common to the good and euill but the thing proper vnto the faithfull alone That although they shut vp within their teeth tantae reâ— Sacramentum that is to say the signe of so excellent a thing Idem de ciuit Dei l. 21. c. 25. In sent Prosper 318. tract 59. in Iob. yet they eate but their owne condemnaion That none abide in him but such as beleeue in him that such as abide in him eate him that the rest eate Sacramento tenus non re vera the signe not the thing That the Apostles did eate panem Dominum the bread which was the Lord but Iudas the bread of the Lord against the Lord c. Although Saint Hillarie say that he communicated not at all and the Canon Qui discordat drawne out of Saint Augustine is cleare and euident therein Wheras on the contrarie it should proue most plain and manifest that if their opinion take place that the vnbeleeuers and hypocrites shall receiue the bodie of Christ Christ shal dwell in their bodies corporally such as are dead in their sinnes shal receiue the bread of life and in it eternal life Thus then they destroy the Sacrament of the Supper both in the thing and in the signe prostituting holinesse and sanctimonie vnto the prophane casting the childrens bread vnto dogges and bestowing the spiritual life vpon the vnbeleeuers In the signes causing them to cease to be substances and signes of a most substantiall substance turning them into vaine and imaginarie accidents accidents subsisting without any subiect and yet hauing taste and apt to feed and sustaine and to beget excrements and wormes that is to say substances yea and to be turned into ashes that is to say into matter doe we consent and agree vnto the contradictions contained in these things yea and to be brused and broken in peeces For if this be not bread which is broken shall it be the bodie They are not able to affirme it Iohn 19. Exod. 12. The scripture is verie cleare and plaine His bones shall not be broken Thus then you see how they go about to make them accidents without any bodie Thirdly the nature of one Sacrament is vnderstood by the other It destroyeth the conformity and correspondency that is betwixt the holy supper and the other sacraments We haue affirmed it heretofore out of the old writers with the Apostle That in the Sacraments of the old Testament the fathers receiued the same meate and the same drinke and yet notwithstanding without transubstantiation euen Christ And namely in the comparing of the holy Supper they haue â—o vnderstood it S. Augustine The same faith abideth but the signes are chaunged There the rocke was Christ here that which is set vpon the Altar There they drunke the water that ranne out of the rocke and we the faithfull know that which we drinke c. And Bertram They did eate and drinke the same meate which the people of the beleeuers doth eate and drinke in the Church euen the flesh and blood of our Lord and infinit others Let vs speake now of those of the new Testament Of Baptisme it is said Bee baptised in the name of Christ for the remission of sinnes Of the Supper This is my bodie which is broken my bloud which is shed for you for the remission of sinnes Of the one If a man be not regenerate and borne againe of water and of the spirit hee cannot enter into the kingdome of God Of the other If you eate not the flesh of the Sonne of man drinke not his blood you haue no life in you In a word it is said that in the one We put on Christ we are baptised into his death established and â—ssured into his resurrection regenerate renewed saued c. That in the other We dwell in Christ and that we are in him nourished vnto eternall life c. And Saint Paule seemeth to haue ioyned them together in one verse 1. Cor. 12.13 We were all baptised into one selfe same spirit and we haue all drunke of one selfe same spirit that we might become one and the same bodie c. For the like effects proceeding from the same power and tending to the same end wherefore then wil we in these Sacraments find out diuerse natures Tit. 2. 2. Pet. 1. And why dooth water continue still to be water and neuerthelesse the sprinckling saith the Apostle of the bloud of Christ washing vnto regeneration and remission of sinnes and to saluation by the operation of the holy Ghost when as the bread and wine by the verie same cannot become instruments to nourish our soules with the bodie and bloud of Christ but that it must first come to passe that they be made of no reckoning that the bodie and bloud doe enter into and take possession of their places and that the nature of all both wordes and things holie and not holie be turned topsie turuie As though the power of God were weaker in the one then in the other And it is likewise most certaine that there is nothing more familiar amongst the fathers Epiph. cont haeres l 3. c. 2. in Anchorat Chrysost in Mat. hom 83. August in Io. tract l. 25. 26. Euseb Emiss then to reason from Baptisme vnto the Supper of the Lord. As when Epiphanius saith That the strength of the bread and vertue of the water are made powerfull in Christ c. And Chrysostome speaking of the Supper The Lord saith hee hath not giuen vs here anie sensible thing wee must see and looke vpon the same with the eies of our vnderstanding c. And thus saith hee by the water in Baptisme which is a sensible thing he hath giuen vs regeneration which is a gift apprehended by the vnderstanding And S. Augustine vpon the same matter The Christian is made fat inuisibly namely in the holie Supper as also he is begotten and borne againe inuisibly namely in Baptisme And Eusebius Emissenus labouring to declare and shew what manner of change it is that is made in the bread and wine laieth out the same in plaine sort by that which is wrought in the regeneration of man saying which continueth idem idem the verie same and yet notwithstanding quite another maner of man through the growth and increase of faith Damascene also in like maner Damasc l. 4. c. 14. D. 2. C. Quia corpus de consecr C. vtruÌ„ though one that hath written after the grossest sort in this matter Gratian likewise in the Canon Vtrum which is taken out of Saint Augustine and manie other Certes the Councell of Nice saith of Baptisme Our Baptisme is not to be considered with the eies of the bodie but with the eies of the spirit and so of the Supper Let not your eies stay themselues vpon these signes but lift theÌ„ vp on high c. And he letteth not to say of Baptisme Seest thou water
yeeld him thanks calling to mind the shedding of his blood And in the second Apologie Idem in Apol 2. after he hath described the whole ceremony of the holy supper This meat saith he is called the Eucharist wherof no man is to be permitted to be partaker but those which belieue that which we teach c. For we receiue not these things as common bread and drinke c. But as our sauiour hauing taken flesh by the word of God hath both flesh bloud for our saluation so we are taught that this meate sanctified of him by the word of prayer wherewith our bloud our flesh are nourished by changing alteration is the flesh and bloud of the same Iesus Christ made flesh c. But Bellarmine doth arme and fortifie himselfe with this place and let vs see how This is not saith he bread nor common drinke And who doubteth thereof seeing it is sanctified by the institution of the Lord But so it is that it is bread drinke which is not become an accident but continueth a substance and therefore hath only changed his vse and not his nature It is sanctified from God by the word of praier This is not then by the fiue pretended words of transubstantiues but by the ordinary common maner of praying made vnto God according to his institution thereto all the people answered Amen And with this meat sanctified Our flesh bloud are nourished by mutatioÌ„ change Now it must needs follow that this is either really or sacramentally Really dare they say so of the flesh bloud of our Lord And that sith Bellarmine himselfe denieth it For thereupon saith he it would follow that the Eucharist should be the nourishment of the body not of the spirit theÌ„ which there is nothing more absurd It remaineth then that it is sacramentally to giue place to his similitude That as our flesh bloud are nourished by the alteration of sanctified bread wine turned into our substance so are our soules by the flesh bloud of Christ made flesh and bloud for vs communicated vnto vs vnto a spirituall life by the operation of the holy Ghost Idem expurg p. 75. at the same instant that the signes are coÌ„municated Note that the Index hath not forgotten to note that whatsoeuer Langus hath writteÌ„ vpon these places must be raced because that he doth not therein acknowledge the doctrine of transubstantiation And yet hee is a professed Romish Catholike Ireneus Iren. l. 4. contr haeres c. 34. The earthly bread receiuing the name whereby God calleth it is not any longer common bread but the Eucharist composed of two things an earthly and a heauenly and thus our bodies receiuing the Eucharist are not any longer corruptible hauing the hope of the resurrection Let vs ponder and weigh all these wordes The bread taketh his calling of God that is to say by his institution of common is made sacred it is made the Eucharist the same compounded of two things an earthly and a heauenly Not then of the accidents of one earthly thing and one heauenly thing but both the two must remaine the earthly that is the sanctified bread appointed to a holy vse and the heauenly that is the bread of heauen the liuing breade c. that liuing breade which of corruptible ones maketh vs incorruptible by the faith of the resurrection notwithstanding we as yet creepe vpon the earth here below subiect to corruption after the same sort verily that the earthly bread becommeth heauenly becommeth liuing vnto vs not by any reall change that is made in his nature but by the faith in which wee receiue it and by the vocation which it hath receiued of the institution Whereupon Ireneus doth not doubt to say speaking of the Marcionites heretickes of his time Idem l. 4. c. 34â— 57. How should our Lord haue iustly confessed that is to say declared the bread huius conditionis quae est secundum nos of this earthly nature and condition his body temperamentum caliâ—is that which was in the cup his bloud Namely if our Lord were not verie man Againe Taking the bread which is a creature the Lord said that it was his body the cup his bloud c. And we say the same also that is sacramentally And as for our aduersaries Thom. p. 3. q. 75. art 8. if they will haue it to be really let them remember themselues of Thomas his Maxime That it cannot be auouched in sound Diuinitie That the bread is the reall bodie of Christ but that it is an assertion of their owne That the Catholike Church did neuer speak so c. For as concerning that which Bellarmine alleadgeth out of Ireneus against vs How will they say Râ—latm l. 2. c. 5. 6. that the flesh falleth into corruption and receiueth not life which is nourished of the bodie and bloud of our Lord taking it in such grosse manner hee ought to call to his remembrance that which he said handling the place of Iustine That there is not a fowler errour then to say That the bodie and bloud of our Lorde ordained for the nourishment of our soules do turne and worke to the nourishment of our bodies Clement of Alexandria Clem. Alex. in â—edag l. 1. The flesh and bloud of Christ that is the nourishment of faith of the promise Againe That that which was blessed was wine and not Accidents he sheweth it saying I will not drinke any more of the fruit of this vine c. And againe There is a double bloud of Christ Hoc est bibere c. the one carnall by the which wee are redeemed the other spirituall by the which we are annointed And This is to drinke the blood of Christ to be partakers of the incorruption of the Lord c. Tertullian Tertul. l. 4. aduers Marcion c. 40. He made the bread which he tooke and distributed to his Apostles his bodie saying This is my bodie that is to say the figure of my bodie Where we haue to note that by this Hoc this he vnderstandeth not an Indiuiduum vagum as our aduersaries doe but the bread and not a bread either vanished away of it selfe or transformed into an other nature but a bread of a sacramentall condition and qualitie in that it is the signe of the bodie of Christ yea the signe of a true bodie saith he For there could not possibly bee any figure if there were not a true bodie And from thence he reasoneth against Marcion which denyed the truth of his bodie Againe Come saith Ieremie let vs cast the wood into his bread verily into his bodie for God hath so reuealed it in our Gospell that is to say Idem ibid. l. 3. c. 19. Idem aduers cund l. 1. c. 14. the Gospell of Saint Thomas calling the bread his bodie to the ende that from thence thou mayest know that hee hath giuen
the redemption being perpetuall went for the saluation of all that so also the oblation of that redemption should stand perpetuall that is saith the Glose Gloss ibid. the preaching of this onely sacrifice after which there is not any other to come And that this perpetuall sacrifice might liue in our remembrance and might alwaies be present with vs in the grace thereof Asacrifice saith he which must be iudged of by faith and not by the outward appearance or kind by the inward affection not by the outward sight Here now you may behold a manifest opposition of the mystery against the realitie of the remembrance against the presence of the presence of grace against the reall presence of faith against apparance and of affection against sight But notwithstanding say they there is a change And what change verily such a one as hee there describeth and setteth downe for he compareth the change that is made therein first with the creation For as saith he in the twinckling of the Lords eyes there were incontinently subsisting and extant the heauen the sea and the earth although of nothing by the same power also in the sacramentes whereas this vertue commandeth the effect doth incontinently follow Now would they say that by the consecration Christ was created anew And to bring forth nothing is this to chaunge and turne is this to transubstantiate And what can they then inferre but that the same spirite which made the heauen and the earth doth conioyne and vnite them together in the holy supper as we haue diuerse and sundrie times said And secondly with the change which is made in vs by our regeneration in Christ into which saith this Eusebius Non viuendo sed credendo transiliisti we enter not by liuing but by belieuing we are made of the children of perdition the adopted children of God by a hidden and secret purenes continuing and abiding idem atque idem one and the same in substance but otherwise much altered and chaunged by the proceeding and growth of faith Changed saith Bellarmine accidentallie and not substantiallie And therefore the bread the wine in the holy supper in like maner changed said Theodoret in a word Not in their nature but by addition of grace c. And how then shall wee there receiue the bodie of Christ verily in a manner proportionable to this change and correspondent to this obiect When saith he thou commest to the altar to be fed of these spirituall meates looke by faith vpon the bodie and blood of thy Lord touch him there with thy mind and spirit mente continge take him by the hand with thy hart drinke him haustu interioris hominis with the full and large draughtes of thy soule with all thine inward man c. And yet this is the man amongst all the rest by whom they take themselues best vnderpropped Procopius Gazaeus saith also Procop. Gazeus in Genes c. 49. Macar Egypt Anachor The Lord gaue the image figure or tipe of his bodie to his disciples not admitting any more the bloudie sacrifices of the law Macarius an Egyptian more clearely saying That there ought to be offered in the Church bread and wine the resemblances and representations exhibiting the bodie and blood of Christ the fathers of the olde Testament knew it not how that they that should receiue the inuisible bread should also spirituallie eate the flesh of Christ c. Figures then euermore and types and representations of the bodie and bloud which forbid and exclude all manner of realnesse in the kinds as likewise all change in the substances in that they alwaies call them bread and wine c. And thus wee are come to the time of Gregory the first about the yeare of our Lord 600. CHAP. VI. That of a long time also after Gregorie transubstantiation was not knowne And further that all the most famous liturgies receiued of our aduersaries are repugnant thereunto NOw Gregorie 1. Anno 600. Gregor dial 4. c. 58. Et in registro had not as yet beene infected with this errour howbeit he had inwrapped himselfe in many other Who is there saith he of all the faithfull that doubteth that at the houre of the sacrifice at the voice of the minister the heauens are opened or that the heauens are ioyned to the earth c. and we will bee readie to tell it them at all times if they will heare And heauen is not onely ioyned to the earth but God to man and righteousnesse to a sinner c. They say that this is vnder the Accidentes of bread wee in the nature of our soule Which is the more beseeming diuinitie But when S. Gregorie saith When we take the bread whether it be heaued vp or not heaued we are made one bodie with the Lord our Sauiour To what end should he say heaued or not heaued if there be nothing but accidents And is there not any great difference whether we our selues be made the bodie of our Lord or els the bread and wine the Indiuiduum vagum accidents hanging in the aire Idem hom 22. in Euang. But saith he The bloude is sprinkled vpon the two postes when it is not taken of the mouth of the body onely but also with the mouth of the heart That is to say say they when it is taken also in at the mouth of the bodie But we say that this is according to the rule aboue specified which giueth to the signe the name of the thing That is that the sacrament is taken in at the mouth of the bodie the thing by the mouth of the soule and in the faithfull the one with the other Which S. Gregorie layeth open elsewhere in these wordes speaking of the vngodly Howbeit Idem l. 2. expos in l. 1. Reg. c. 1. that they receiue the Sacrament with their mouth yet they are not replenished with the vertue of the Sacrament And therefore say wee they did not take the flesh and bloud For he that receiueth them saith the Lord hath eternall life Beda followeth S. Augustin step by step Bed 1. Cor. 10. and it may be that Bellarmine for the same cause hath left him out He teacheth them that the sacramentes of the old and new testament are the same in substance That in all sacraments the sacrament is one thing and the vertue of the sacrament another and particularly in that of the holy Supper that that which is seene hath a corporall figure but that which is vnderstood a spirituall fruit That the bread is said to be the bodie of Christ after the same manner that we are called his members c. To be short saith he The creature of bread wine Idem in Luc. l. 6. c. 2â— by the vnspeakeable sanctification of the holy Ghost is translated into the Sacrament of his flesh and bloud Into the sacrament saith he not into the thing it selfe that is to say of elements they are made Sacraments they are made
Saint Ambrose saide to the water of baptisme O water which washest the worlde by the bloude of Christ which hast merited that is to say hast beene made worthie to bee a Sacrament of Christ c. shall hee be thought to haue adored shall he be iudged to haue transubstantiated it into Christ And when their pretended Amphilochius crieth O worshipfull and reuerende conception meaning of the virgine make vs inheritors of eternall life preserue thy people and thine heritage c. shall hee haue crowned this conception with the Godhead And when themselues say to the oyle Aue sanctum oleum sanctam Chrisma I salute thee O holy oyle or holy vnction To the Crosse Aue Rex noster due spes vnica I salute and pray God blesse thee O our King our onelie hope shall they bee thought to haue really transubstantiated him Nay rather let them acknowledge that this place concludeth nothing Epiphan in Anchor let them remember that Epiphanius did heretofore name this mysterie vnto vs An insensible thing that Pachymeres compareth it to Nazianzene his Passeouer And therefore that this manner of speech is an Apostrophe a Rhetoricall figure that in other points they do not agree amongst themselues as whether the body of Christ be there dead or aliue hauing a soule or not hauing a soule sensible or insensible c. And therefore that they are first to agree themselues before they go about to fortifie themselues from this place Origen When saith hee thou eatest and drinkest the bodie and bloud of our Lorde Orig. in diuers euang loc hom 5. the Lorde entereth in and commeth vnder thy roofe and therefore humble thy selfe with the Centurion c. Hee meaneth then that the Sacrament is adored and then he meaneth also that wee adore the Saintes that is to say vertuous people when they come to see vs. For hee teacheth in the same place two waies by which Christ entreth into the faithfull the one when the Minister of the Church visiteth them the other when they receiue the incorruptible meat of the Sacrament And this is that which he saith elsewhere That God is in vs by the preaching of the Apostles and by the Sacrament of his bloud Idem Lom â— And that this visitation is wrought in vs by the word and spirit he declareth and maketh plaine there also Speake onely the word saith he come onely with thy word Thy word is a looking glasse it is a perfect worke shew forth in this thy bodily absence the power of thy spirit c. If then according to Origen wee ought to adore the Sacraments and ministers then with as good right such men as are godly and vertuous but if these then it must be onely with a ciuill worship and adoration and so must that wherewith wee worship the other And if the adoration due to God alone being giuen to good men maketh idolatrie then also if it be giuen to Sacraments or ministeres or els this place concludeth nothing Chrysostome The wise men worshipped this bodie in the manger Chrysost in 1. Cor. 10. they worshipped it with feare and trembling Let vs at the least follow these barbarous and rude men wee which are citizens of heauen He speaketh of the bodie of Christ represented in the Sacrament and exhorteth the people to come thereunto with reuerence But the wise men verily did not worship him as God but as a king And therefore this is but to returne to that which Saint Clement sayeth Clem. l. 2. constit Draw neere vnto this Sacrament with the same reuerence that you would doe vnto a King that is to say vnto some honorable person He addeth Thou seest him not in the armes of a woman but thou seest the Minister present the spirite aboundantly shedde vppon this sacrifice The Priest verily with the eyes of the bodie but the spirite with the eyes of the spirite For was it not more readie otherwise if hee had had any such purpose to say as following the opposition Not in the armes of a woman but in the handes of a Priest Not the spirite shedde vppon the thinges set before them that is to say vppon the Sacraments But Christ sacrificed himselfe But the coherence and scope of the matter doth carrie vs to conceiue That Chrysostome laboured to raise the heartes of those that were present from base and lowe thinges vnto high and heauenly thinges when hee saith vnto them That there are not anie but Eagles that approach and come neere vnto this bodie Those saith hee that haue nothing to doe with the earth that haue the eyes of the vnderstanding sharpe clearely seeing and bent vpon the Sunne of righteousnesse Hee transporteth and conueigheth them as much as in him lyeth aboue the heauens when hee sayeth vnto them also Wee must with the wise men worship this bodie This bodie verilie which is no more on earth but on high at the right hand of God And then verilie after all these Hyperboles in spirite and not in bodie that is saith hee In as much as this mysterie causeth that the earth is a heauen vnto thee that the gates of heauen are open vnto thee that thou hast accesse and entrance thereinto c. And afterward how Verily In purging thy soule in preparing thy spirite to receiue these mysteries to see touch and eate this bodie After the same manner verilie that Saint Ierome saide of Paula Thou hast offered by faith the same offeringes that the wise men did offer thou hast worshipped with them God in the cribbe Chrysost in Lithurg c. But say they hee prayeth vnto him in his Liturgie I meane that which is attributed vnto him as Christ truely and not the Sacrament Heare saith hee O Lorde from the seate of the glorie of thy kingdome which art set with the father who aidest succourest and relieuest vs here below inuisiblie c. O Lord haue pittie vppon mee poore sinner c. Here I appeale to their owne consciences whether hee frame this his prayer vnto God or the Sacrament Is this to draw vs to gaze and looke vpon the Altar or to raise vs vp vnto the heauens of heauens Saint Ambrose Ambr. de spirit sanct l. 3. c. 12. Psal 95. 98. Worship his footstoole that is the flesh of Christ saith he which we worship in the mysteries which the Apostles worshipped in Iesus c. And Saint Augustine in like manner No man eateth this flesh except hee haue first worshipped it Who doubteth that wee ought to worshippe the flesh of Christ Christ inseparablie God and man Who doubteth likewise that no man can eate this flesh if hee haue not first worshipped it worshipped it by a true faith worshipped it with heart and affection c. But wee worshippe it after the same manner that wee eate it Wee eate it as wee take it and wee take it as wee touch it In truth but in spirite in spirite but in truth And God forbid that
there members owe yea what doe they not owe one to an other Seeing also that this head most liuely feeling all that which these members doe or suffer doe not disdaine to declare and manifest vnto vs that what is done or denied vnto the least is done or denied vnto himselfe and from him hath either reward or punishment And this is the cause why the Fathers haue called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an assemblie a Communion And this second fruit and effect is also wanting in the Masse where there is no Communion betwixt the members nor any signification of this coniunction of Christ with vs of our selues together all men vsing of so many cornes to make but one Loafe and one wine and al of vs sucking life out of the same death nourishment from the same meate of the fleshe and bloud of our Lord But particularly in respect of our selues we being members of Christ and quickned by Christ are there nourished and strengthned both in Christ and of Christ And it is not more sure that the Minister doth giue vs the bread and wine that wee take them with our hands that we eate and drinke them that they are conuerted into our substance and become nourishment for our bodies to maintaine and strengthen this life then it ought to be sure and certaine to euerie Christian that our Lord in the holy Supper celebrated according to his institution dooth giue vnto vs at the same instant his flesh and bloud That we take them by faith that we eate and drinke them that they are turned into the life and substance of our soules becomming the foode of the same to maintaine and strengthen vs vnto eternall life Yea and which more is that by the predominant and ouer-ruling power that they haue they turne our soules both to Christ and into Christ vniting them vnto him and making them one with him and our bodies consequently and proportionablie after the manner of our soules doe make vs bones of his bones flesh of his flesh members of that head gouerned by his spirit and one with him to raise againe one day our bodies and soules to be glorified and raigne with him And this fruit also of the holy Supper is lacking in the Masse of the Church of Rome wherein there is not any thing at all representing this straite and neere coniunction with Christ or that true eating by the which it is cherished and maintained wherein such as are present doe neither eate nor drinke corporally nor spiritually wherein they become all together idle gasers and starers vpon the Priest which eateth and drinketh and vpon a pretended mysterie both deafe and dumbe and wherein in a word there is not any one action which stirreth vp their consciences nor any manner of instruction to helpe forward and ad vnto their knowledge These are the principall ends for which our Lord instituted his holy Supper and whereof wee haue beene altogether destitute vnder the Church of Rome which in steed of this sacred meate which we were wont to eate at our Fathers table hath fed vs with huskes apish toyes and mummeries intertaining in stead of all that which was the old fashion of Rome the poore people with vaine pompes and ceremonies and therefore famished with the want of the grace of God From that farre countrie whether our humane fancies had transported and led vs wee are put in mind of our Fathers table and become resolued to returne againe home vnto him from these abuses and deceits so farre differing from his institution to his truth and from our sinnes to his grace and that by his grace Father haue we said We haue sinned against heauen and against thee we are not worthie any more to be called thy children And hee hath according to the same euen his wonted mercie put a ring vpon our finger cloathed vs with Christ and caused vs to eate his flesh and his bloud They were dead hath hee said but they are returned to life they were lost and they are found againe c. To God bee praise and glorie for euer by the same his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord Amen Let vs now runne ouer and briefely rehearse againe all that which we haue handled and intreated of in this whole worke In the first Booke we haue handled the rearing and raising vp of the Masse A briefe rehearsal of the whole worke from time to time and from parcel to parcell we haue shewed that the old seruice did consist of a publike confession of sinnes in the reading of the old new Testament and that of whole bookes of the same in singing of Psalmes by the whole Congregation in a Sermon vnto the people which was made by the Bishop or Pastor expounding either some place that had beene read or some such other as hee iudged fit for the edifying of the Church in offerings which were offered by the people for the poore and other vses of the same in a generall praier for all the necessities of the Church state in the institution of the holy Supper taken out of the Gospell or the Apostle in a witnessing of the sincere loue of the faithfull one towards an other before they should draw neere vnto the holy Table and in a denunciation vnto such as were not of this number to the wishing of them to abstaine in the distribution of the holy Supper vnto all the people vnder both kindes during the time of which action they ceased not to sing Psalmes or to read the Scriptures and finally in a solemne thankesgiuing for the benefit receiued as well in the death and Passion of our Lord as in the Communion of his body and bloud in the holy supper Which done the Bishop or Pastor sent the people away with a holy blessing And it is not to be forgotten as we haue seene that all this was done in an vnderstood and knowne tongue As for prayers for the dead praying vnto Saints the Canon of the pretended sacrifice and all the parts whereof it is framed wee haue seene them brought in many ages after and that at seuerall times and great distaunces betwixt one and an other and still impairing and growing worse from time to time Retaining therfore for our seruice that which we well perceiue to bee truely auncient and reiecting that which is notoriously new what shall such seruice bee to speake according to a good conscience but the same that is now vsed in the reformed Churches In the second Booke we haue compared the circumstances of the old seruice and those of the Masse First we haue found the Church vnder persecution without publike places to call vpon the name of God in Afterward wee did see Churches built for the same but without any manner of Images with tables let vs call them if you will Altars for the communicating of the holy supper but without Lampes burning of Incense Consecrations Dedications c. We haue obserued the lawfull election and calling of
from the Gospel the same is not ioyned to the Church for this is all one saith he after the maner whereby Antichrist was brought in vnder the name of Christ by counterfetting things likely thereby subtilly to frustrate the truth where as it had behooued him to haue returned to the originall of truth haue hasted back to the spring-head to see at what place the pipes conueying the water vnto vs were broken by this meanes to haue lent his eare vnto the doctrine of the heauenly Master For saith Nazianzene vnto the Arrians The church is not defined by multitude if they haue the people we haue the faith if they haue the golde and siluer we haue the true doctrine succession must be valued by pietie and not by Sea or seate Who so retaineth the same doctrine of faith hee possesseth the same Sea as he that retaineth the contrarie in the same Sea is to be helde as an enemy Because saith Saint Chrysostome The Church consisteth not in walles but in faith so that where faith is there the Church is where faith is not there the Church is not This is the true Ierusalem whose foundations are placed vpon the mountaines of the Scriptures As also saith he he goeth not out from the Church that goeth out from the bodie but rather he that forsaketh the spirit the foundation of the ecclesiasticall truth We then saith he are gone out from them in respect of the place but they froÌ„ vs in respect of faith we haue left with them the foundations of the walles but they haue left with vs the foundations of the Scriptures Saint Ambrose Christ alone is he whom no man ought to forsake or change away to whom it is by good right said Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the wordes of life It is then giuen vs in charge aboue all things to seeke out the faith of the Church in which if Christ dwell howe that then wee must make choise thereof namely for our habitation but if wee finde therein either an vnfaithfull people or an hereticall teacher that spoileth the dwelling such Synagogue is to be auoided And if to be briefe a Church forsake the faith it behooueth vs to forsake and abandon it c. And he yeeldeth a reason Christ saith he is the rocke Petra non Petrus S. Ambr. l. 1 de paenit c. 9. the foundation of the Church that is faith if thou be in the rocke thou art also in the church But to the end we may not take one rocke for another Know saith he that they which haue not Peters faith can neither haue Peters portion and inheritance Saint Ierome expounding the Creede He hath not said I beleeue in the holie catholike church but I beleeue the holie church The holie church is that which keepeth the faith of Christ in the integritie and soundnesse thereof It consisteth not of walles but vpon the veritie of doctrine VVhere faith is there is it also and there it was at such time as heretikes possessed all these churches In Psal 133. VVouldst thou enter into this church and that by the right way In Psal 5. It is the reading of the Scriptures Do thou O Lord so lay out and fit my way as that I may not fall or take offence in these Scriptures seeing that by them I desire to enter into thy church Yea saith he these Scriptures they are the kingdome of God himselfe In S. Mat c. 21. And when it is said that the Lord hath translated the kingdom of heauen from the Iewes vnto vs it is as much as to say that he hath taken the Scriptures from them to giue them vnto vs. In them saith Saint Augustine we finde Christ in them wee are to seeke and search for the Church in them and by them it is shewed vnto vs. Aug de vnit Eccles And let vs not once imagine that we haue and hold the church because we are in that wherein Ambrosius or Optatus haue beene before vs no nor yet because there are miracles wrought therein for euen our Lord himselfe woulde that his disciples should be confirmed by the Scriptures more then by any other meanes and of that nature are the titles precepts and foundations of our cause Cont. Petil. l. 3. c. 6. in Psalm 69. If then saith he there be any question either of Christ or of the church or of any thing whatsoeuer that belongeth either to life or faith cursed bee hee that goeth out of the Scriptures To the ende that thou maist not be deceiued and that no man may cause thee to take him for Christ that is not Christ that for the church which should not be the church hearken vnto the voice of the shepheard he hath shewed himselfe vnto thee he hath shewed thee the church In Ioh. ser 131 My sheepe heare my voyce c. The church is the house of God but it is not God wee beleeue the church but we beleeue not in the church It is the mother In Epist Ioh. tract 3. In Psal 103. Obpubilatur Epist 48. Sâ—rm 237. de Temp. ad Lucernam Ber. in conuer S. Paul ser 1. but the two testaments are her teates from them we must sucke the milke of all the mysteries of our saluation The Bishops may erre there haue beene of them authours both of schismes and heresies The church in like maner is sometimes eclipsed and marred with wet and tempestuous weather The surest course is to make the Scriptures our looking-glasse as also for vs to walke in the torch-light of the scriptures O Lord our good God said Saint Bernard such as seeme to holde the Primacie in the church Iâ— Cant. ser 76 are the formost most forward to persecute thee It is not inough for such as should be our guard and watchmen to giue ouer their care of protection and vigilancie except they further worke our spoile At the least saith he elsewhere let him abound in his sense vnderstanding that will Epist 77. but as for vs I could wish that they would let vs abound in the sense of the Scriptures In the meane time Durand appellat mensuram fidei in prefat Sentent Thomas regulam intel ectus in â— ad Tim. cap. 6 lect 1. Scot. mensur Theol. in l. 1. Sent. q. 1 Gerson regulaÌ„ fid de coÌ„munic sub vtraque against these Scriptures the law of the Church the measure of faith the rule and bridle of all maner of vnderstanding I speake according to the Schoolemen themselues Thomas Durand Scotus Gerson c. These miserable Doctors and teachers either of this world or of the Prince of this world enemies of the true light children of darknesse seeing they please themselues so greatly therein doe not cease to furnish vs with appeales being imployed euer and anon more in making of such then of any other bookes So that if we had nothing else against them but that we might iustly suspect
Lord God The people It is meete and conuenient c. And then the Minister did handle in manner of a briefe preface the causes why they gaue thankes as namely for that he had created man after his owne image for that he hauing reuolted and forsaken him it pleased him to recouer and recall him in Iesus Christ for the giuing of his Law vnto him for hauing admonished him by his Prophets for hauing sent them his onely begotten Sonne in the fulnes of time to fulfill the law in his owne person for quickning by his death those that were dead in Adam to make them capable of eternall life and for that to this ende hee had dyed risen againe and ascended into heauen and for that also hee gaue himselfe freene to the death readie to deliuer vp his life for the life of the world and for hauing left vs a liuelie representation of this so great a benefite and for that he had taken the bread in his holie handes blessing sanctifying breaking and distributing it vnto his Disciples and Apostles saying Take eate This is my bodie c. and for hauing done in like manner with the cuppe saying Drinke yee all This is the cup of the new Testament in my blood c. And in this place in the processe of this goodlie Preface was read in a briefe manner the institution of the holie Supper as it is to be seene also in all the Lithurgies The Lithurgie of S. Basill The Lithurgie of S. Denys and this action was shut vp and ended with the answere of the people in these wordes Lord wee remember herein thy death and passion and do emfesse thy resurrection vntil the time of thy comming or as it is read in S. Denys with a protestation Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast said Do this in remembrance of me which done the bread and the wine were held consecrate sanctified and for sacraments by vertue of the institution of our Lord which is alwaies powerfull and hath his efficacie and not by vertue of certaine wordes spoken ouer the elementes Of which thing as shall bee declared in his place the purest old Churches neuer dreamed Then there followed a praier that it would please God to shew them all the mercie as that they may communicate the bodie and blood of his Sonne by a true and liuelie faith and not to their condemnation and iudgement as also that it would please him to knitte them altogether in true charity and loue in the communion of his Sonne by his holy spirit euen in so effectuall a manner as they did certainely eate and drinke all of the same bread and cuppe then the conclusion followed with the ioyning thereunto of the Lordes Prayer and after that for a signe of this holy vnion of their spirites and wils in Christ a mutuall kisse the signe and testimonie eyther of true and vnuiolate amitie or else of an vnfained reconciliation and that they had not vainely and for a fashion spoken The kisse of peace Forgiue vs our sinnes as wee forgiue them c. and thereupon also it was called Osculum pacis the kisse of peace as also further to signifie that this knot of the vnitie of the faithfull did not end in this world After this peace there was mention made of them who either had liued wel or which were dead in Christ especially of the Martyrs whose names were read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is out of a certaine register or catalogue partlie sayeth S. Denys to signifie that they were not dead but verilie liuing and therefore the Primitiue Church called the death of man by the name of birth natiuitie and partly to stirre vs vp to the same constancie by their example Now when this was finished the Pastors and Deacons which were to distribute the holie Supper did first communicate themselues and after deliuered the bread and the cuppe to the faithfull and gaue it them in their hands speaking the significatiue wordes of this holy Mysterie but so as that they did not all binde themselues to vtter them in the same tearmes And during this whole action Psalmes were sung by the people and that such as concerned the thing in hand and the same in the end was shut vppe with a solemne thankesgiuing and before that it was not lawfull for anie man to depart and goe away and all this was alwaies done in a tongue which the people vnderstoode and with so loude a voice as might be that so the people might bee able to say Amen And this order will wee runne ouer againe particularlie according to euery parte of same Of the Preface speaketh Chrysostome saying when we beginne to say The Lord bee with you Of the Preface Chrysost in 1. ad Corint hom 36. in 2. hom 18. Chrysost hom de Eucharist ad Heb. hom 22. the people doth aunswere And with thy spirite Againe In the holie and reuerende Misteries the Pastor praieth for the people and the people for the Pastor for these wordes and with thy spirit can not tell vs or giue vs to vnderstand any other thing The councell of Nice 1. sayth Let vs not rest our selues in the bread and wine which are set vpon the Table but let vs lift vp our heartes on high that is Sursum Corda namelie to the Lambe of God c. Chrysostome Hast not thou promised to the Priest who saieth Lift vâ—â—o your hâ—artes and mindes on high we haue them fixed and setled in the Lord This table is altogether furnished with mysteries the Lambe of God is offred for thee c. And in an other place Wee lift vp our mindes on high This is a table for Eagles and not for Crowes to feede at c. S. Augustine August de bono perseuer cap. 13. de vera elig c. 3. de bono vid. cap. 16. Epist 15. in Psalm 85. c. Chrysost in hom 26. in Genes That which is saide in the sacrament of the faithfull namely that wee should haue our heartes raysed vppe to God on high Vt sursum corda habeamus ad Dominum sheweth that it is a gift of God as also in asmuch as the Pastor saieth vnto vs afterwarde that we are to yeelde him thankes and that wee make answere that it is meete and right that we should so doe c. And these wordes are repeated in an infinite sort of places And yet sayeth Chrysostome not because hee hath neede of our thankes doe wee say vnto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c for who is able sufficientlie and worthilie to performe such a seruice seeing the Cherubius cannot attaine vnto it but he willeth it to the end that the gaine may redound to our selues c. And the reasons of this thankesgiuing laid downe by the Minister of the Church in the short abridgement of the historie of the redemption of mankinde or rather of the Church are no lesse to bee noted and marked of vs. Chrysostome We
thanke God sayeth hee in this Sacrament for that hee hath deliuered vs from errour Chrysost in hom 24. in 1. ad Cor. for that hee hath adopted vs for brethren so far off as we were from al hope by reason of our impieties and therfore we call it the cup of blessing and the Eucharist In the lithurgie likewise which is attributed vnto S. Basill is wholie set downe the storie of our redemption and in the verie place of the Canon of the Romish Masse Of the Canon and endeth with the institution of the holie Supper no word or mention made of anie propitiatorie Sacrifice other then of our Lord himselfe to bee short it is worth the noting that we cannot by tracing out find or meete with anie one step or footing of the Canon of this Masse in the olde Writers though otherwise diligent inough to anotomize vnto vs the partes and prices of their seruice if it were not for one onelie place in S. Ambrose in his bookes of the Sacramentes and yet those bookes not acknowledged of all men to be his howsoeuer vnder his name for the foresaide end abused most notoriously S. Ambrose sayeth S. Ambrose l. 4. 67. de Sacr. Fac nobis hanc oblationem adscriptam rationabilem acceptabilem quod est figura corporis sanguinis Domini c. that is vouchsafe O Lord to make this our oblation and offring to bee allowed vs in our account and hold it as acceptable because it is the figure of the bodie and blood of our Lord who the day before he suffered tooke bread in his holie hands c. And wee haue said inough hereof before namely in what sence they vsed this word oblation according to the imitation of the Iewish Church which is likewise plainely seene by this prayer framed according vnto that of the law Let the offring of their gifts be acceptable But whereas S. Ambrose vseth this word figure their Canon sayeth Grant that it may be vnto vs the bodie and blood of Christ Againe of this oblation that is to say of the elements of bread and wine taken from the Masse and whole lumpe of the same set before and presented vnto the belieuers for Sacraments and vnto God for a sacrifice of thankesgiuing in remembrance of the passion death and resurrection of Christ Saint Ambrose saide Vnde memores eius passionis c. precamur vt hanc oblationem suscipias c. We pray thee that in remembrance of his death and passion c. thou wouldest receiue this oblation vpon thine heauenlie altar by the hands of thine Angels as thou didst vouchsafe to receiue the gifts of Abell thy seruant and deare child and the sacrifice of the Patriarch Abraham c. Now that which he speaketh of the oblation of the Elements made Sacraments by the word the Romish Canon vpon the insuing of the first corruptions and deprauing of thinges tooke occasion to speake it of Iesus Christ himselfe so that what the one said of the figure the other spake of the thing it self so by consequent make the sacrifice of Christ inferiour to those of Abell Abraham and Melchisedech Acceptable sayth he as those which indeed we know by the vniform consent of the whole Scriptures to haue been acceptable to God by no other meanes saue onelie in Iesus Christ And let vs further note by the way that in the Lithurgie which they attribute vnto S. Ambrose they haue razed and scraped out the worde figure that so they might fit the Canon the better to that of the Romish Masse As for the consecration or blessing it was not attributed vnto certaine wordes Of the consecration or blessing and much lesse vnto a prefixt and set number of wordes but onelie to the institution of the Lord and to the effectuall power thereof And this appeareth in that the olde Doctors did neuer teach otherwise and in that diuerse men haue vsed diuerse and different wordes herein also for that in diuerse Lithurgies the wordes are diuerse and herein likewise for that the Latines doubted not but that the Greciās as they speak did consecrate and yet notwithstanding the Greeks did not make account that their consecration was accomplished till afterthe prayer which followeth the institution of the holy Supper the Latines on the contrarie defend at this day that it was accomplished in these onelie wordes Hoc est enim corpus meum c. Let it bee so In these Lithurgies wherewith they would dazell our eyes and which they attribute to S. Iames S. Clement S. Basill S. Chrysostome c. according to the translations of their interpreters In S. Clement his Lithurgie Ostendat the wordes of consecration are these in the praier which they make after the reading of the institution of the Supper We O Lord mindfull of the passion of thy deare Son do beseech thee according to thy institution that it will please thee to send thy holie spirit vpon the Sacrament here present and set before vs who may cause and manifestly declare that the bread is the bodie of Christ and the wine his blood shed and powred out for the life of the world And so likewise speaketh Cyrill in steade that in the Church of Rome the consecration is neyther attributed vnto the institution that goeth before nor vnto the prayer that followeth but vnto the onely pronuntiation or speaking of their wordes giuen and deliuered by strict accountes without interruption as though forsooth it were some precise forme of wordes for the passing of some bargaine in the ciuill law as the Schoolemen are wont to reason notwithstanding that the Cardinall Caietan doth hold that when it is said Benedixit it was Benedictione laudis non consecrationis and that hee was neuer willing to make any exposition vppon the pretended wordes of consecration because hee coulde not finde therein anie ground or foundation laide vppon antiquitie Now as for these wordes how they should bee vnderstoode wee will handle that point when we come to speake of the question of Transubstantiation so that here it shall suffice to haue spoken of it by way of historie The prayer The praier that it would please God to make the faithfull communicating to become more and more one bodie and one spirit that is to say the misticall bodie of Christ is in all the Lithurgies aboue named according to that which Saint Augustine teacheth That the Sacrifice of Christians is their being of manie one bodie in Christ That which is most worthy sayeth hee and notable in the Sacrament of the Altar August Epist 59. is for that in the oblation which the Church offreth shee is offred vppe her selfe vnto God and to bee offred sayeth hee in an other place is as much as to bee vowed and dedicated vnto him seeing that in this Sacrament we protest by a sacred and soueraigne vow to dwell in Christ and in his bond and couenant And therefore he addeth I suppose that
the sacraments as not accompting it perfect without the cup. Yea and he himselfe did neuer seperate the bread from the cup Thou hast saith hee vnto the people receiued the heauenly Sacraments the body and blood of our Lord c. And thereto applyeth the words of the Canticles I haue eaten my bread with my hony Canticl ch 5. and drunke my wine with my milke c. Againe If as oft as the blood is powred out it be vnto the remission of sinnes â—e consecrat â—st 2. c. Si â—uotiescuÌ„que Ambr. in epist â— ad Cor. I ought to receiue it euerie day to the end that euery day my sinnes may bee forgiuen me And in another place to the end that we may not thinke that he speaketh of himselfe he speaketh vnto euery faithfull one Thou receiuest the remission of sinnes and art drunke with the spirit c. And yet more plainely for hee will giue a reason although it be but a bad one Because saith he that that which we take serueth for the defence of the bodie and of the soule for the flesh of Christ is offered for the saluation of the bodie and the blood for the saluation of our soules as Moyses did foreshew The flesh saith he is offered for your bodie Ambr. in 1. ad Cor. 11. and the blood for your soule c. Which agreeth well with the rule which he giueth intreating of this sacrament Hee is vnworthy sayeth he of the Lord which celeb rateth this mysterie otherwise then it hath beene giuen him for hee cannot bee deuout therein who presumeth to giue it otherwise then it hath beene deliuered vnto him by the author c. And yet notwithstanding impudent and shamelesse dealing hath so raigned heretofore Officium Ambrosianum as that in the office going vnder his name there is no mention made of the communion of the bodie against the expresse doctrine of S. Ambrose S. Ierome vpon Sophonie Hieron in Soph. cap. 3. The Priestes which serue in the administration of the Eucharist and which distribute vnto the people of the Lord his blood do transgresse wickedly against the law of Christ in supposing that the wordes and not the life do make the Eucharist c. He speaketh by name of the people Ad Damas And vnto Damasus We are fed euery day with the flesh of the Lord we are watered with his blood this banquet is celebrated euerie day Saint Augustine August in lib. sentent Prosper de consecr d. 1. canon Du frangitur Can. Qui manducant August in Leuit c. 57. When the host is broken when the blood is powred out of the cup into the mouthes of the faithfull that is of all the communicants what can be ment or signified therby but the bodie of the Lord offered vpon the crosse and the blood shed out of his side Againe They which eate drinke Christ do eat and drinke life To eate him is to make himselfe again to drinke him is to liue And the Glosse doth say excellent well vpon that place Vnder the kinds of bread wine And in another place he proceedeth further So far is it off saith he that it should be forbidden any man to take for spirituall nourishment the bloud of this sacrifice seeing it was so taken of the old Churches that on the contrarie all they which will haue eternall life are exhorted to drinke the same The Grecians haue not spoken otherwise at any time and yet to this day they practise no lesse The consent of the fathers of the Greeke Church communicating all of them vnder both kinds holding it for a horrible sacriledge to doe otherwise notwithstanding whatsoeuer our sophisticall schoolemen vnder colour of some fables or cold and foolish histories would go about to make them belieue The lithurgie of S. Denis is verie plaine for the communicating and distributing of the sacraments vnder both kindes vnto all the people in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. S. Basil saith Basil de Bapt. l. 1. c. 3. It behooueth them that shal approch draw neere to the body blood of the Lord to proue themselues c. He speaketh simply of all the faithful not of the priests De accedente non de offerente For feare saith he least he should eate and drinke to his iudgement In the lithurgy which they vse wheÌ„ it pleaseth them he did not administer otherwise vnto his people Basil in ep ad Caesar And as for that which they alleadge out of him that there were certain hermits in Egypt which had no priest but kept the communioÌ„ in their hermitages taking it by themselues our aduersaries striuing to conclude froÌ„ thence that they had nothing in their coÌ„munions but bread in asmuch as wine wil hardly be kept in Egypt assuredly in stead of deciding this tauerne case as they do I answere that whether wine keep well in Egypt or not it were better for theÌ„ to conforme fashion theÌ„selues both vnto S. Basil the holy assemblies of the church of his time theÌ„ vnto these hermits and yet they should haue done far better then so if they had learned the sharp seuere sentence Basil in Moral Summa c. 14. Nazian in oratione in sanct Pascha which he telleth them of in that place which is He that commandeth what God forbiddeth or forbiddeth what God commandeth let him be accursed vnto all them that loue the Lord. Nazianzene in the prayer of Easter saith vnto the people Without shame and without doubt eate the bodie drinke the blood if at the least thou desire eternal life The example of his sister Gorgonia doth not proue the contrary being but the deuotion of one priuate person which cannot make against the publike vse practise of a church but in deed to proue the quite contrary there is mention made of both kinds as thus That she did mingle her teares with the types or figures of the precious body and blood of Christ c. Saint Chrysostome will yet giue vs in a clearer testimonie himselfe administring the Sacraments in that famous citie of Constantinople for wee may not imagine to finde in him this Maxime grounded Chrysost in 8. ad Cor. ho. 18. that it behoueth that in the sacramentes the priestes should be priuiledged to receiue one kind more then the laitie seeing euen in the entrance he giueth vs an other rule cleane contrarie There is a thing saith he wherin the priest differeth nothing from him ouer whom he hath charge that is from the lay man as for example when the enioying and receiuing of the high and reuerent mysteries is called in question for we are all alike thought worthy to receiue them and not as in the old law Hom. 84. in Matth. where the priest did eate his part alone and the people theirs by themselues so as that it was not lawfull to take part of that which was appointed
concealed and kept backe Concil Tolet. 1. c. 14. Concil Caesar August c. 3. Liturg. PraesanctificatoruÌ„ Interprete Genebrardo that they were condemned by the Councels The first of Toledo saith If any man do receiue the Eucharist of the Minister and doe not eate it let him be put backe and excommunicate as a Church robber And that of Saragosa If hee doe not eate it in the Church that is in the verie place let him be accursed for euer Whereas Bellarmine alleadgeth the lithurgie of the presanctified amongst the Grecians which was said in Lent pretending that therin they did not consecrate or take any moe then one kind for certaine the lithurgie saith expressly that after that the Minister hath sanctified the bread he powred out the wine and water into the cup pronounced the accustomed words And the praier of the faithfull saith For behold his bodie without spot and his quickning blood c. which are set vpon this table And in the Post-communion they giue thankes vnto God for the receiuing of the one and the other That which is more speciall proper herein is that they consecrate for many in one day whereof they alleadge some one or other tradition But these are their cold and friuolous arguments vpon this point and in deed how can they be otherwise against the expresse word of God But we against these particular deuotions so endles and bottomles doe set this Maxime and generall rule In vaine do you serue me after your owne fancies being properly called in the scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will worship And against that custome Tertul. de virg veland Cypr. ad Quin. ad Iubaâ—â—num August lib. 2. contra Donatist c. 6. de Bapt. cont Donat. lib. 2. c. 14. that euerie man frameth and fashioneth to himselfe whether new or old as best pleaseth him let vs set the true antiquitie Iesus Christ saith Tertullian and S. Cyprian hath said I am the Truth and not Custome And whereas Custome hath preuailed against the law let vs say with S. Augustine We must waigh and ponder the doctrines in the right balance of the scriptures and not in the false and deceiptfull scales of Custome But let vs draw all vnto a conclusion and let vs not be ashamed with S. Cyprian his saying That what others before vs haue erred in and done amisse let vs correct at the admonition and warning of the Lord and where doth he speake lowder and more clearely then in his word to the end that when he shall come in his glorie and heauenly Maiestie he may find vs holding fast such admonitions as hee hath giuen vs obseruing that which he hath taught vs and doing that which he hath done So be it And now by this time wee haue looked into all the partes thereof A Recapitulation how and by what degrees the holy Supper of our Lord is degenerate and turned into the Masse how of the corrupting of the one the other was first begotten then nourished and afterward brought vp to that state wherein it hath stood for these certaine ages and that so long as vntill it hath vtterly brought the other to nothing in the Church of Rome So straunge an alteration as that in the whole frame and booke of nature there is not the like to bee met withall seeing the Masse now retaineth no more of the holy Supper either in his outward or inward partes seeing that the best sighted hauing considered the one could not obserue or find so much as one step or note of the other because also it is to go against and exceede the lawes of nature to passe from one extremitie to another a thing not credible not possible to be acknowledged if the diligent obseruation of histories did not point out vnto vs both the first proceedings and also the growing of the same till it came at the midst The holy supper was an assemblie a bodie of the faithfull vnited and knit together in one spirite strengthning the faith stirring vp the charity and kindling the zeale one of another in one common manner of celebrating of the seruice of God The Masse what containeth it being said by a priest in some corner of the church shuffled vp by a cleark who vnderstandeth not for the most part of the time one word that he speaketh The holy supper did resound with songs to the praise of God sung indifferently by all the people it taught them by the reading expounding of the holy scriptures it lifted them vp vnto God raised them out of themselues by feruent ardent praier But what impression can the Masse make in the heartes of men being a certaine kind of muttering noise posted ouer by one man alone not vnderstood of those which are present yea hardly vnderstood of himselfe where the scriptures are read of purpose so as they may not be vnderstood the praiers vttered with a low voice in an vnknown tongue that so they may not be heard with attention and lesse followed deuoutly by the people where by consequent they abide fixt vpoÌ„ that which they see not minding any higher matters it hath signes without any signification it hath pretended mysteries without any thing misticall in them except it be the muttered hums artificially affected by him that consecrateth and the carefull regard of a premeditated ignorance to be wrought and effected by such meanes vpon and in the poore silly people In the holy Supper was celebrated the memory of the death and passion of our Lord by a plaine and open rehearsall of the cause manner and benefites of the same and thereby the faithfull were taught to acknowledge and call to minde the greatnesse of their sinnes and to admire and magnifie the great and vnspeakeable mercies of God stirred vp consequently to renounce and forsake themselues to giue themselues vnto God to die vnto their lusts and concupiscences to liue vnto Christ to Christ I say who hauing once deliuered himselfe to the death of the Crosse for to giue them life did yet further vouchsafe to giue himselfe to them in his sacramentes euerie day as meate and drinke vnto their soules to the feeding of them vp vnto eternall life In the Masse I appeale vnto the consciences of all those that eyther say or see the same who of them it is that can say by being at the same euerie daye that hee can learne or carrie away any of all this that the infidell can thence playe the diuine that thence hee can receiue any instruction either of the deadly fall of Adam or of the quickning death of Christ that the Christian can profit therby any thing be it neuer so little in the true acknowledging of the mercies of God or in the knowledge of himselfe or in briefe that he can therein perceiue his transgressions that so he may run to seeke the remedie or this drynes alteration of the soule and mind which our Lord calleth the thirst of righteousnes
to quench the same in the welspring of life this reuiuing water gushing out vnto eternall life this precious blood of our Lord which is made our iustification yea our iustice Againe in the holy Supper all the faithfull did communicate together in bread and in the cuppe in the bodie and in the blood of our Lord being taught thereby that they were but one bodie euen the bodie of Christ but diuers members quickened moued and gouerned by one spirite euen by his spirit liuing one life and consequently taught mutually to loue one another mutually to imbrace one another the greater becomming seruants to the lesser the strong vnto the weake the learned to the ignorant and the wise and prudent to the foolish and simple referring all their actions to the glorie of their head to the seruice of the bodie and to the saluation of his members In the Masse what is there that may imprint this brotherly loue and charitie in vs or expresse and teach vs any such instruction yea on the contrarie which doth not suppresse and burie charitie which doth not oppresse and smother that in all dispightfull manner such lessons and doctrine where the Priest if hee may be lawfully so called communicateth alone one for all where the auncient bread of the communion of the bodie of Christ great according to the proportion of the communicants is brought to one wafer that in some places no greater then a penie being for the priest alone whereas our Lord deliuered himselfe to death for all and gaue himselfe to all where also so oft as any are admitted thereunto they are depriued of the cup of the communion so much as in them lyeth of the blood of Christ Then what proportion holdeth it with the supper yea what opposition and contrarietie is there that it maintaineth not against the Apostle We are one onely bread 1. Cor. 10.17 and one onely bodie c. To be short in the holy supper man was taught how he was indebted vnto one onely God for his creation as likewise that hee was not bound to any for the work of his regeneration iustification sanctificatiō saluation but to one only Christ the eternall son of God the beginning midst and end of our spirituall life in so much as that he which doth regenerate vs in baptisme and doth nourish and feed vs in the holy supper is made our meat himselfe and in so much as that he which washeth vs from our sinnes doth cloath and couer vs with his righteousnesse In the Masse what shall wee say where of the holy table of our Lord they haue made vs an Altar of all sortes of saints where of the remembrance of his death they haue made vs a legend of the Saintes their sufferinges and passions where in stead of his blood the onely propitiation for our sinnes they pretend to administer vnto vs their praiers intercessions and merites where to shut vp all in a word is pretended to sacrifice in honor of the Saints him for whose glorie and names sake all the Saintes haue offered whatsoeuer they haue sacrificed yea and for whose names sake they ought to sacrifice themselues To bee short let vs set before vs on the one side an assemblie of faithfull people praying vnto God singing his praises hearing his worde and attentiue to the expounding of the same a seruant of God in all simplicitie so ripping vp their sinnes as that hee maketh them to haue a sence and feeling of the same by the worde declaring thereupon the remission thereof in the death and passion of our Lorde distributing vnto them rounde about the table his bodie and his blood in the sacrament of bread and wine which he hath instituted and prouoking and stirring of them vp to the giuing of all heartie and euerlasting praise vnto him for this so great a benefite This was the holy supper of the faithfull in the old Church this is ours And now set before your eyes on the other side a Priest with a straunge garment his face fixt vppon an Altar with a Clearke standing behind him muttering in an vnknowne language interlarded with signes lifting vppe a Wafer in an affected and ceremoniall sorte causing it to bee worshipped dippping it in his wine eating it alone vsing no word of interpretation or exhortation neither yet giuing the people any other taste thereof by any manner of instruction perswading them notwithstanding that by thus much as hath beene done being at their or his request and bought with some peece of money he hath sacrificed our Lord for them or him that hee hath with this his one labour set his father in Paradice drawne him out of Purgatorie c. This is the Masse of Rome that same which wee so greatly complaine of and whereof there is so much talke but how differing and disagreeing both for manner and effect I call their owne soules to witnes from the seruice of the fathers how farre off then from the institution of Christ and how farre off from the order of the Apostles But it is now time to finish this discourse let vs leaue the partes and looke into the circumstances and so we shall come to behold the truth of this matter in more cleare and euident manner The end of the first booke The Second Booke WHEREIN ARE HANDLED THE CIRCVMSTANCES AND APPERTINANCES BELONGING TO THE Diuine seruice as those also which belong vnto the Masse CHAP. I. Of Churches and Altars and of their originall and proceeding IT followeth after wee haue spoken of the parts of seruice their first originall and beginning as also of their increase and proceeding deprauing corrupting c. that we now examine the circumstances thereof And therefore let vs beginne with the Churches Altars and images and therein consider how by the good husbanding of the matter by the Sea of Rome the circumstances haue taken the place of the substance and the accidents of the subiect in such manner as that in Papistrie there is more regard had of a pretended adorning beautifying of places thē to the forme substance of that which is to be done therein for the saluation instruction of men The ancient Iewes by the commandement of God had built a temple for sacrifices Act. 2.5.21 Act. 9.13 after that many Sinagogues like parish Churches therein to reade and expound the word of God Our Lord did often vse to go into the same to draw the Iewes to the knowledge of the truth his Apostles likewise did imitate his example But in as much as it was not lawfull for them to doe the seruice ordained in the new Testament therein they are content to doe it in their owne priuate houses Act. 1.2.4.5.10.12.20.28 no lesse consecrate and dedicate then the temple and the synagogues seeing it is the seruice that sanctifieth the place and not the place that sanctifieth the seruice yea so much the rather in that the voice of Gods owne Sonne manifested in
vsing euer amongst certaine prayers hanging together like sand-ropes And for the making vp of the full measure of his superstition he vttereth these wordes Sanctificetur hoc tēplum in nomine patris filii spiritus sancti Amen halowed and consecrated be this temple in the name of the Father and of the Sonne of the holy Ghost And yet neuerthelesse Durandus hath taken the paines to allegorise vpon all these apish trickes which haue no other foundation but fickle mans fansie Anno 1300. Thom. test 1. Summae q. 83 art 3. vnto good purpose And Thomas is not ashamed to say That Churches and other thinges without life consecrated as before do put vpon them a spirituall power by the which they are made the more apt for the seruice of God Let euerie man here iudge and consider how auailable vnto edification all this can bee and withall what grounde or foundation it hath in Iesus Christ If in brief this haue not beene the same that S. Paule saide that is to builde vpon it wood haye and stubble Let vs come to the Altars Of Altars or Tables Behold the honour behold the reuerence that is done vnto them is there any man that can bee so blind or harde hearted as to thinke that these were vnknowne in the old church assuredly and without all doubt together with the accomplishing of the sacrifice of our Sauiour Christ all other sacrifices were complete and fullie finished this same being euermore new fresh before the eyes of God must serue suffice Neither need we doubt but that in his Crosse are abolished all Altars whatsoeuer Heb. 13.10 there being one onelie left vnto vs euen that whereof the Apostle speaketh saying We haue an Altar whereupon they may not eate which serue in the Tabernacle that is Iesus Christ our Lord. The Pagans did ordinarily reproach and vpbraide the Christians for their not hauing of any Altars and wee see how they iustified their doinges It had beene a more easie and readie thing for them to haue aunswered that they had Altars and that in saying that they had none it should seeme that they were mis-informed Clem. Alexan. l. 7. strom Clemens Alexādrinus sayth Yea rather we haue an Altar what maner of one The earthlie congregation and company of those who bow themselues in prayers which haue one voice and one common intention And againe one holie Altar one iust soule one holy smell of a sweete sauour which proceedeth out when we are in prayer but they belieue it not Origen hath the same thing obiected vnto him by Celsus hee telleth him not that he abuseth him Orig. l. 8 cont Celsum but he sayeth Yea rather our Altars and our Temples are the spirites of good men which smell as sweete incense and the vowes and prayers of a good conscience What comparison is there betwixt those of thine and these O Celsus thine are perishable and subiect to corruption but these of ours as immortal as the soule it selfe Minutius Felix likewise in his Octauius bringeth in one Cecilius a Pagan mouing this question Wherefore haue not the Christians Altars Arno. l. 2. 4 Temples nor Images And this reproach continued in the time of Arnobius that is neare 300. yeares after our Lord for hee sayeth You accuse vs that wee haue no Temples no Images nor Altars And these are the most auncient Doctors of the church Our aduersaries say that seeing there were Altars there were propitiatory sacrifices of the Masse also c. but we reason to the contrarie There was neuer a Masse in all this time because we cannot see that there were any Altars It is obiected against vs that Sixtus the first ordayned that the Masse should bee saide vppon an Altar These forenamed Fathers haue tolde vs that for 200. yeares after him there was not any Tertul. de paenit c. 9. Cyp. l. 1. Ep. 7. 9. l. 3. Ep. 13. and I haue proued vnto them that for 400. yeares after him the name of the Masse was not knowne then I woulde haue them giue vs leaue not to belieue them They replie with greater likelyhood and appearance that Tertulliā maketh mentiō Adgeniculationis panitentiū aris Dei of penitent persons kneeling at Altars That S. Cypriā likewise speaketh sometimes of the Altar Certainly they cannot be contrarie being all of one faith al of one time there must then be admitted somedistinction Now as concerning the place of Tertullian Pamelius Archd. of S. Omer correcteth it by the copies of Vatican wherein there is a mutuall harmonie and concord Caris Dei adgeniculari non aris and they maintaine this correction by a verie plaine and euident reason That the Penitents were not suffered to come vsque ad Pastophoria virorum mulierum vntill the men and women were departed much lesse to the grates of the Cleargie and least of all neare vnto the Altars As for the place of S. Cyprian it is certaine that in the Primitiue Church there was presenting bringing of offrings as we haue said partlie for the vse of the holie supper and partlie for the reliefe of the poore and that in the middest of the saide assemblie there stoode a Table whereupon they were laide or whereto they were brought And because that these offringes which the people brought of their fruites vnto God were by them called sacrifices imitating therein the olde law yea and by S. Paule himself who calleth the almes sacrifices this Table by consequence did likewise sometimes beare the name of the Altar at such a Table did our Lord celebrate his first supper with his Apostles and of such a like one S. Paule sayeth 1. Cor. 10. ver 11. 1 8. You cannot participate at the Table of Christ and at the table of Diuels Now hee in that place speaketh of the Communion which wee haue with Christ in his holie supper and before hee had saide Those which eate of the sacrifices are not they partakers of the Altar drawing his reason from the olde Altar vnto this Table Of the Tables that were ordinarilie of wood the olde writers haue made mention to haue beene in the Church long before The first Councell of Nice intituled the Article of the holy supper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas in Epist ad Orthodox that is of the holy supper Athanasius speaking of the furies of the Arrians and Macedonians sayeth It is not credible what impieties they commit and what outragious speeches they cast out against the holie Table as you shall see there sacrificed and offered birdes pine-aples c. And in his Epistle to such as liued a solitarie life hee sayeth plainelie Idem in Ep. ad solitariam vitam agentes Theodor. l. 3. c. 11. Idem l. 5. c. 18. August in Iohan tract 26. that they were of wood So Theodoret amongst the insolencies of Iulian the vncle of Iulian the Apostata sayeth that being at the Temple builded by
reproued Marcellina because she burned incense to the Image of Christ what would hee haue saide to them which burne incense euerie day vnto the Images of the Saintes And hereupon also it came that the Spaniard Peresius found fault with this distinction And as for the other namelie That they doe not worship the Image but the thing whereof it is a signe can they deny that the Pagans said not asmuch vnto S. Augustine Lactantius Arnobius and Tertullian who yet did not therefore surcease or giue ouer to reproue and condemne them And if they coulde not tell how to excuse the matter or defende themselues against those Fathers Idem l. 3. de doctr Christi c. 7.8 9. what hope is there left that our Idolaters can speed any better in the same cause and matter But S. Augustine cutteth off al excuse by a generall proposition saying The signes of the Iewes are profitable because they are ordained of God but those of the Gentiles vnprofitable as their Images pictures c. notwithstanding that in them they bee properlie giuen to honour their Gods Afterwarde hee speaking of the one and the other saith If thou honour the signes in stead of the thing signified intending the honour vnto these and not to them yet this is notwithstanding a carnal scruitude wheras Christian libertie hath euen deliuered the Iewes And so by this meanes this respectiue kinde of worship goeth downe the streame Cassand in consultatione which Cassander likewise sincerelie acknowledgeth neuer to haue had anie place nor yet to haue found any reason to pleade for it in the olde Church But after this they speake a great deale more plainelie The growth proceeding of Idolatrie and Idolatrie beginneth to lift vp her Maske Theodore Bishoppe of Myra had said in the second Councell of Nice There are not two sorts of worshipping Latria and Dulia there is but one There is likewise no question to bee made of relation or respectiue regard the resembling thing and the thing resembled are worshipped both the one and the other in one and the same degree and measure But this proposition was not wel and equallie liked of all Thom. in 3. sent D. 2. Idem Scoâ—us But beholde the Schoolemen haue now found out the meanes to remoue the blocke out of the way by vertue of a place out of Aristotle but what hath he to do with our Diuinitie saying The thought that is bent vpon the Image and that which is bent vpon the thing signified by the Image are both alike and therefore the worship of the one and the other is alike And therfore they con clude and resolue that the Crosse and Image of Christ must be worshipped with Latria And therefore they vse to sing to the Crosse in the Church of Rome Behold the wood of the Crosse we worship it O holie Crosse graunt that Iustice may grow and increase in good men and pardon thou the transgressors and the sinners c. And of this opinion are likewise Thomas Iacob Nancl. Clugiens Epis Anno 1557. Scotus and Bonauentura c. so long as till that Iacobus Nanclantus Bb. of Chioggia in Italie did sharplie reproue them which said that Images ought to be worshipped and would haue had the wordes to worship Images to bee cut out But what increase insued there vpon these goodlie principles Surely thus much that eueÌ„ as they held their Images by the tenure of imitation counterfeyting therein the Pagans so they borrowed of them all the fashions which they vsed to worship their Gods withall as to offer offringes vnto them to make vowes Temples Altars and Sacrifices to say also their Masses that is to say to sacrifice the Sonne of God Tertul. in lib. de Idololatria Germanus in Ep. ad Thom. in Nice conc 2 so far as in them laye vnto them and afterward gorgeous apparrell garlandes of flowers burning of incense wax-candles burning lampes fastinges solemne feastes in honour of them the carrying about of their pictures and a worshipping of their bones What one thing is there of al these that was euer practised in the Church of Israel or in the Primitiue Christian church Or on the contrarie what one is there amongst them al which is not coÌ„firmed both by testimony example in the stories of the Pagans And what then can they haue reserued as proper and peculiar vnto God himselfe vnder the name Latria Or what becommeth of Lyranus with his distinction That we are not to bow or kneele vpon both our knees to any but to God alone when as it is in this seruice done vnto the creatures made by God and the workes of mens hands But neither haue they yet contented themselues and stayed here for after the manner of the Pagans they haue likewise so consecrated these Images in such blasphemous sort as that Paganisme it selfe would haue been ashamed and blusht to haue done the like a thing as appeareth by the Councell of Francford vtterlie vnknowne at such time as it was held and kept For in consecrating of the Crosse they pray vnto God That all such as shall kneele downe vnto the same may haue remorse and compunction of heart and remission of their sinnes Now what remaineth besides this for the true Crosse that is for the mysterie of our redemption accomplished in that death vpon the Crosse suffered by Christ Againe That this wood of the Crosse so they call it may besaluation vnto the soule health to the bodie and a remedie vnto mankinde for the strengthning of faith the increase of good works the ransome of soules and for a defensatiue against the Diuell What shall now bee left behinde for the power of the holy Ghost to effect and work for the spirit of Christ which regenerateth vs sanctifieth and strengthneth vs making vs inheritors of eternall saluation c Pope Iohn the 22. In Antidotar Animae ordained a prayer to bee said that to the Veronique that pretended Image of Christ which was imprinted in a handkerchife Salue sancta facies Redemptoris nostri c. And in the same place it is praied vnto To cleanse and wipe away all the staines of whatsoeuer vices to vouchsafe to infuse light into the heart to increase and adde vnto the merites of such as doe belieue therein to destroye heretikes to defende the Christian faith to conduct and guide those which pray vnto it to the fruition of eternall life to the beholding of God to their coniunction and ioyning with Christ who of bread is made God c. And the Pope last aboue named granteth in the same place ten thousand dayes indulgences to him that obserueth the same And what doe they reserue more for Christ himselfe Or who shall alledge and say that this is but some particular mans deuotion when the pope himselfe is author thereof Pius 2. comment l 8. And when as likewise Pius the second ordained that vpon Easter day it should be
spoken in the scriptures but of the fruite of the wine shewing thereby how much dearer their owne inuentions bee vnto them then the institution of our Lorde in asmuch as they haue made the wine of the holie supper according to their doctrine to bee superfluous hee hauing by his institution made it necessarie and the water on the contrarie which is of their owne inuention necessarie which the institution of our Lord hath left indifferent It is certaine that the Churches of Armenia vnto the time of the Councell of Ferrara which was vnder Eugenius the fourth did not vse any thing but onelie pure wine and yet were neuer excommunicated therefore and as yet to this day they doe not obey vnto that which they were made subscribe vnto in the Councell And the Abyssines stand so strictlie vpon the point as that they wold neuer consent that the daughter of their Prince should bee married to any that receiued the Communion without the wine And as for the Grecians Durandus Scotus and Innocentius doe saye that in their time for the most part they did the like howbeit that in the Lithurgies which we can come by Niceph. l. 8. c. 54. Concil Aurel. 4. c. 4. it is mingled and delaied and that with warme water which thing sayth Cabasilas is That it may represent the blood the more fullie so deepely is the spirite and minde of man tickled and delighted with his owne inuentions And as for the Churches of the Latines the Councel of Orleance forbiddeth to offer wine delaied with water adding the reason thereto Because it is sacriledge to offer anie other thing then what our Sauiour hath instituted Conc. Worm c. 4. Concil Tiburt c. 19. C. Sicut D. 2. de Consecr ibi gl Thom. 3. part q. 74 art 7. q. 8◠art 6. ad 4. Sentent D. 11. q 2. art 4. in 1. Cor. c. 11. Iohan. Scot. D. 11. q. 6 l. 4. Sentent Innocent◠de Offic Miss Bonauent D. 11. q. 3. Richard D. ead art 3. Vessels Hieronym ad Rusticum And this was in the time of King Childebert when as Pelagius liued that is before S. Gregorie The Councell of Wormes more then 200. yeares after ordained the contrarie after which followed the Councell of Tiuoli or Tibur a Citie of the Sabines wherein it was ordained that there should be one third part of water put to two third partes of wine And these differences may at the least suffice to shew the indifferentnesse But the Glosse of the decree saith that this is De honestate tantum onely in regard of honestie And Thomas that this is not fetcht or deriued from the Gospell but that it hath some apparant shew for it selfe as that by reason of the strength of the wine it is delaied in some countries And Hales Scotus and Bonauentura say It hath no hold or warrant in the scriptures And Richardus Non de necessitate sed de congruitate not for any necessitie but for seemelines And thereupon it followeth that the councell of Trent doth excommunicate and cut off from saluation as farre as lyeth in it for fantasies and things nothing making vnto saluation That more is that this mingling of wine and water is not any whit significatiue or respecting the misteries which are therein sought and searched for but growing onely eyther of the custome of the countrie or of some apparant seemelinesse Now the bread prouided and prepared for the holy Supper was carried either in a linnen cloth or in a small chest as we reade in S. Ierome and set vpon the holy table couered with some table napkin for to keep it cleane without any other ceremony Men and women did touch it without any superstitious scrupulousnes according as they brought their offeringes yea and after the blessing or consecrating of it It was distributed vnto the faithfull not into their mouthes as we haue seene it but into their owne hands And as for the wine it was carried as we reade in the same S. Ierome in vessels of all sorts euen of glasse notwithstanding the daunger of breaking of them yea and sometimes it was sent in that sort in signe of vnitie and agreement from one to another Vaine curious superstition came in afterward first forbidding women and then afterward men also to touch either the linnen clothes Concil Altisiodor c. 36.37 wherein the bread was wrapped or els the cups Transubstantiation was set at a higher price and rate then all the rest for in respect therof the cups must be halowed as also the patines of the same with vnctions and wordes expresly vttered because of it all the instruments and vessels of this sacrament were turned into Sacraments the Altar stone was called the sepulcher or graue and the linnens the shroude wherein the bodie of our Lord was inwrapped that from thenceforth the cuppes should be of mettal that siluer not any longer of glasse Things which antiquity more regarding the things thē their signs did neuer so much as once dreame of because that she could neuer once bethinke her self or conceiue any thing of this monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation the fountaine and welspring of so many and so foolish vanities And in deed whereas the Primitiue and ancient church had care according to the admonition of S. Paul that the faithfull the proper vessels of the body and bloud of our Lord shold receiue thē worthily we see the councels after these times to conuert and turne all this zeale all this care from the spirit to the flesh from spirituall temples to materiall ones from the vessels of God elect vnto saluation to the implements instruments onely which they vsed in the administration hereof Witnes hereto let be the Councell of Rhemes held about this time Concil Rhemens as the decrees thereof which are extant do shew Let the cups or chalices be if not of gold yet at the least of siluer and let the people be exhorted to contribute thereunto as for the tabernacle in the time of Moyses not of copper neither of brasse for feare they should prouoke men to vomit the wine being apt to make them rust but in any case neither of wood nor glasse Let the clothes wherein it is wrapped be a verie faire and cleane linnen cloth After the Masse let them be put into a booke of the Sacraments and before they be deliuered to be scoured and washed cleane with lee let them be washed in the Church by the Priest Deacon or Subdeacon because saith he that they be spotted stained with the blood of our Lord. Conc. Colon. c. 7. We reade the same and something worse in a Councell held at Collen about the yeare 1300. Let the prieste smell diligently the little pots that he may know the water from the wine by the smell therof and then let him so marke them as that he may know afterward the one frō the other not be deceiued let the cup haue a
the breade giuen to those that were catechised which wee call the hallowed breade to the washing of feete practised vppon the Apostles c. which neuerthelesse do shew vnto vs at large in their treatises that howsoeuer they abuse the word yet they doe not let as need requireth to take and vnderstand it in the right vse and signification And as for the worde Sacrifice the Grammarians likewise say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the priesthood that is the care or administratiō of holy things And this is the cause that euery consecrated action hath beene called by this name likewise it hath purposely beene vsed to signifie the diuine seruice because that the Iewes and the Gentiles did vse it so Rom. 15. Phil. 2. Orig. ad Rom. l. 10. Chrysost ad Rom. hom 29 Epiph. haeres 79. Angust de ciuit Det. l. 10. c. 6 Tertul in Apolog Idem ad Scapul Iren. l. 4. contr haeres c. 34. Psal 50.69 Ecclesiastic 35 Ad. Heb. c. 13. August epist 120. ad Honorat Euseb de Demonstr l. 1. c. 10. Tertul. c. 4. contr Marciō Philip. 4. Hebr. 3. Iren. l. 4. c. 32. 34. Cypr. serm 1. de cleemos August ep 122 Psalm 51. Ecclesiastic 35. Rom. 12.2 who placed all their seruices in Sacrifices Thus wee see that Saint Paul called all the ministerie of the Gospell a Sacrifice And Origen saith This is a very worke of the Priesthood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to preach the Gospell Chrysostome My Priesthood or sacrificing office is to preach the Gospell Epiphanius speaking of them which were chosen in the thirteenth of the Actes saith They did sacrifice the Gospell And in the same sence Saint Augustine likewise hath said We call a sacrifice euery worke that hath relation vnto God being done to the end that wee may cleaue and sticke vnto him in a holy societie As Tertullian speaking of prayers I offer vnto him the fattest sacrifice that I am able euen prayer which hee hath commanded proceeding from a chaste bodie from a harmelesse soule from a holy spirite c. Ireneus Our altar is in heauen whither our prayers and offeringes are directed And the praises of God and giuing of thankes are called by the name of Sacrifices in the Psalmes Whereupon Saint Augustine saith Wee giue thankes to the Lord our God which is the great Sacrament in the sacrifice of the New Testament c. And Eusebius We sacrifice and burne the memorie of this great sacrifice c. rendring thankes to the God of our saluation c. And Tertullian The Samaritane intended to offer a true sacrifice euen the sacrifice of praise and thankesgiuing in the true temple and to the true sacrificer Iesus Christ c. The offeringes likewise which are made in the Christian assemblies for the reliefe of the poore haue had this name giuen them in Saint Paule A smell of a sweete sauour a sacrifice acceptable vnto God offeringes wherewith hee is well pleased In Ireneus We offer vnto God the first fruites of his giftes feeding the hungrie and cloathing the naked c. In Saint Cyprian where he reprocheth a rich widow Comest thou to the Lords banquet without a sacrifice And Saint Augustine which calleth the almes of certaine matrons sacrifices the table of the Temple whereuppon they were laide an Altar and to bee briefe a broken and contrite heart is a sacrifice vnto God Psalme 51. so is charitie towardes a mans neighbour and the vowes which wee make of consecrating and dedicating of our liues vnto the Lord Rom. 12. And why then should any man make it strange that the olde writers haue called the holy Supper a Sacrifice seeing that all these actions doe meete together in it namely a holy office a remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ vppon the Crosse the reading and preaching of his worde feruent praiers a serious and deepe meditation of sinne and of the grace of God both together the contrition of hart the vow of sacrificing from thence forward soule and bodie vnto God and the opening of the bowelles of compassion towardes the brethren all of them such actions as euerie one whereof by it selfe is called both in the holy scriptures as also in the fathers Oblations and Sacrifices and how much more then that which doth comprise them all in it selfe alone But that we may not contend about wordes let vs come to the question which is If the Masse bee a propitiatorie Sacrifice and also if the holy Supper in his puritie were instituted for the same end if our Lord Iesus bee there sacrificed a new really and in very deed for a propitiation of our sinnes that is to say for the sinnes of the quicke and the dead by the Ministers or Priestes which things we denie and our aduersaries affirme The scripture telleth vs That there are no propitiatory sacrifices in the new Testament besides that of Iesus Christ himselfe That the lambe was slaine before the foundation of the worlde And this lambe is the eternall Sonne of God whose sacrifice cannot chuse but be almighty all-sufficient absolutely perfect in respect of the desired end namely the saluation of men And therefore for the saluation of man wee haue no need neither of reiterating any sacrifice neither of any other new and neuer before offered Sacrifice whatsoeuer on the contrary all the Sacrifices of the lawe in their imperfections doe leade vs to the perfection of this same in their being often reiterated they shew vs their insufficiencie and weaknesse to bee cut off and ended in the strength and efficacie of this onely one Whereuppon it commeth that in the new Testament we heare not any more of Sacrifices or Sacrificing Priestes Of Sacrificing Priestes saue where as it is taught to bee the name and office of all and euerie Christian You are saith Saint Peter a royall priesthood a holy priesthood a holy people 1. Pet. 2. Apocal. 1. c. And Saint Iohn Christ hath made vs kinges and priestes vnto God his father to offer saith the Glosse acceptable sacrifices vnto God by him Of sacrifices also in like manner saue that wee render continuall thankes vnto God for this great sacrifice by the consecrating of whatsoeuer is in vs To offer vnto God sayeth the Apostle spirituall sacrifices which may bee acceptable vnto him in Iesus Christ 1. Pet. 2. Rom. 2. euen our selues a liuing sacrifice which is our reasonable seruing c. Likewise in the holy Supper from whence they woulde deriue the Masse there is no worke of sacrifice for sinne The sacrifice of Iesus Christ was accomplished vppon the Crosse where hee was slaine for vs and not in the holy Supper but the remembrance of that sacrifice offered vppon the Crosse is renewed in the Supper according to the institution of the Lorde vntil his comming that is without the being of any other sacrifices for sinne that partition wall and to the vtter cutting off of all expectation or further looking after of
Testament wherein there remaineth not anie more question of shadowes and figures and wherein if it bee nothing but a sillie sleight representation if it be nothing but an intricate and infolded thing if it bee not altogether plaine and cleare assuredlie wee may bee bolde to say and that without any doubt that it is but an humaine inuention yea and therefore that it is not there to bee found at all CHAP. III. That the pretended propitiatorie sacrifice of the Masse hath no foundation in the newe Testament OVr aduersaries say Our Lord saide to the woman of Samaria The howre is come that you shall not worship the Father anie more Iohn 4. either in this mountaine or in Ierusalem but the true worshippers shal worshippe in spirite and truth And what proue they from thence To adore say they is to sacrifice but if they said that it were to serue God they said somewhat to the purpose But yet what followeth of this Certainelie that the seruing of God shall not bee any more tyed to one place but spread all ouer the worlde according to the saying of Malachie And as assuredlie that in steade of the more carnall manner of seruice wherewith he was serued vnder the law hee shall hereafter bee spirituallie serued and in a worde that after the materiall sacrifices as saye the Fathers the spirituall sacrifices shall succeede Saint Augustine sayeth Doest thou seeke for anie holy place August in Iohan t. 15. make thy selfe in thine inwarde partes a Temple vnto God for the Temple of God is holie and that are you Wouldest thou pray in a Temple Pray within thy selfe c. chaunging all this outward and materiall seruice into an inwarde and spiritual Cyrill Cyrill in Ioan. l. 2. c. 93. He signifieth and setteth forth the time of his comming which chaungeth the figures of the lawe into truth the shadowes into a spirituall seruice according to the doctrine of the Gospell c. And Origen in like manner Chrysost aduers Iud. hom 2. Chrysostome sayeth That is there shall bee no more Sacrifices nor Priesthoode neyther yet kingdome in Iudea that so they may bee wayned from the receiued custome of the necessitie of worshipping in one certaine place and to bring them to a kinde of seruice that is more spirituall and full of Maiestie Idem de cruce de spiritu hom 3. in hom veniet hora c. In like manner expounding this place in an Homilie for the purpose hee coulde not finde anie Sacrifice but that of prayer grounded vppon the doctrine of veritie neither anie worde tending that waye Cardinall Caietan in the same sence In spirite that is to saye not in the Mountaine not at Ierusalem not in anie one certaine place nor with a temporall seruice but with an inwarde and spirituall c. And in faith that is in knowledge c. Ferus likewise In spirite in asmuch as they shall haue receiued the spirite of adoption crying in him Abba Father In truth in asmuch as they shall call vppon him in his Sonne which is Truth it selfe Offering sayeth hee afterwarde no more anie quicke or liue creatures but their owne bodies in Sacrifice a holie oblation and offering and not the Sacrifice of the Masse But how will they possibly now frame themselues to make their conclusions from this place God shall bee adored and serued in spirite no more in one place but euerie where no more in the sacrificing of beastes but in the sacrificing of our selues Therefore the Masse is a sacrifice propitiatorie for the sinnes of men therefore the Masse must bee saide euerie where c. But they come nearer vnto the point and giue an instance from the institution of the holy supper and this is also our proper part and possession It is said Luke 22. 1. Cor. 11. Doe this in remembrance of mee and to doe in the scripture signifieth sometimes to sacrifice Therefore the matter here in hand must needes bee a sacrifice And our Lord had taken the bread and the cup and had saide This is my bodie This is my blood therefore he did sacrifice vnder the kindes of bread and wine his body and his blood vnto God his Father and by vertue of these wordes iuioyneth all succeeding Priestes to doe the like a worlde of errors cauillations and false surmises in a verie few wordes And the long time since they were confuted and ouerthrowne in all these their argumentes might haue bin sufficient to haue caused them to cease from the vsing of thē any more Facere in Latine signifieth to sacrifice but by an abridging of the language to doe some holie thing but that this is more vsuall in the writinges and workes of Poets then of Orators and that seldome not often and onely then when the mater in question doth manifestlie appeare to be about a sacrifice as I say may euidentlie bee seene needeth not to be gessed at And here therefore we stand vppon the quite contrarie As that the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is neuer vsed to sacrifice as far off is faire in the French tongue but the Euangelists and Apostles writ in Greeke So that the controuersie here is about an ordinarie or common and not anie picked or vnwonted phrase the contention is not euidentlie and manifestlie of a sacrifice for it is so farre from apparatiues as that the sharpest sighted Fathers did know nothing therof And further the Hebrew word Asa and how much more the Greeke doth neuer signifie to sacrifice but when a sacrifice or oblation doth follow it as facere haedum agnū c. or facere haedo agno c. to offer a kyd a lambe c. their interlineall Glose is not acquainted with this subtill shift Hoc facite that is saith it At oft as you shal eate this bread and drinke this cup shew forth the death of the Lord vntill his comming But let vs admit that it is so Hoc facite sacrifice this what shall we make then of it To sacrifice the bodie of Christ But Christ saith Which is giuen for you and to giue is not to sacrifice Wherefore it is not the same action which Christ performed for a man to sacrifice if Christ did not sacrifice And afterwarde Which is giuen that is which is now at this present instant giuen and deliuered vp to bee crucified for vs. The olde translation approued by the Councell of Trent hath translated it Dabitur and not Datur referring the same to his suffering vpon the Crosse and not to the holy supper Chrysostome and Origen Dabitur effundetur which shal be giuen which shall bee shedde and offered vppe And Chrysostome addeth the reason how that for the comforte of his Disciples our Lord taught them that his passion was the mysterie of the saluation of mankind the Masse also enemie vnto it selfe in this point hath read it so Let vs say then that these wordes Hoc facite haue relation to the institution of
the same Amen CHAP. IIII. That the old fathers haue not acknowledged any other propitiatorie sacrifice then that onely one made vpon the Crosse THus you cannot deny say they that the old fathers haue called the Masse a Sacrifice yes we haue flatly denyed them the whole plainly proued that the olde fathers did not so much as knowe it by name But they reply at the least they doe vnfold vnto vs the celebrating of the sacrament of the Eucharist or holy Supper of the Lord. And surely vpon good cause warrant seeing it is a holy consecrate action and that the spirituall sacrifices of our heartes are thereby sacrificed to God vnto repentance as also seeing that the incense of our praiers and the calues of our lips and the Gospell the word of God as saith S. Paul is therein sacrificed seeing that our bowels tanquam per viscerationem doe therein open inlarge and spread abroad and distribute themselues by our almes deedes vnto our neighbours seeing likewise that the death of Iesus Christ is therein declared the onely sacrifice of the Crosse and that by the expresse commandement of the sacrificer And thus and no otherwise haue they all vnderstood it But we denie that euer they said any thing of it as a sacrifice properly so called of the new offering vp of the Sonne of God to God by the priest of his bodie and of his blood vpon an altar for our sinnes Neither must they here go about to abuse vs with a distinction of Sacrificium cruentum aut incruentum of a bloodie or vnbloodie sacrifice For this distinction wil not be receiued or admitted of against the vniuersal propositions of the scripture which tell vs that where remission and forgiuenes of sinnes is purchased there needeth no more sacrifice or offering Againe that there is no remission purchased where there is no shedding of blood But so it is that wee haue forgiuenesse in the blood of Christ much more then an oblation But so it is that in their pretended sacrifice there is no shedding of blood and therefore much lesse pardon and forgiuenesse or any effectuall grace that may procure vs Gods fauour But yet it is further to be considered that the old fathers did neuer name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bloodlesse or vnbloodie sacrifices to make distinction thereby betwixt the sacrifice of the crosse and the sacrament or pretended sacrifice of the altar but rather to set downe a difference betwixt the sacrifices of the law and the sacrifices of Christians Whereupon Oecumenius saith Oecumen ad Heb. c. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Sacrifices without blood those saith he of the lippes as praiers hymnes and supplications vnto God by Iesus Christ c. And others after the same manner which wee shall see farre better by tracing them from age to age Clemens Alexandrinus next succeeding the time of the Apostles saith Clem. l. 3. Paedag c. 2. in strom We sacrifice not vnto God and that vpon good consideration for he hath no need of any thing but hath giuen all thinges vnto vs and therefore we do glorifie him who was sacrificed for vs in sacrificing offering vp of our selues Againe God would be honoured though he haue no need of any thing and therefore doe we honour him with our praiers and this is the best and most holy sacrifice when wee send them vp into his presence in iustice c. Our Altar then is the congregation of such as are attentiue in prayers and haue all of them one common spirit and one common voice c. Againe Our Altar that is one holy soule our perfume and incense euen our praiers So that he doth not acknowledge or make any mention of a Sacrament properly so called when he saith We do not sacrifice hee acknowledgeth another manner of fashion namely the prayers of the faithful the sacrificing of themselues vnto God c. And yet herein hee is not behind with speaking honourably of the Eucharist For saith he this is that speciall good grace whereof those are partakers which communicate therein in faith and are sanctified both in body and soule Ireneus we haue seene heretofore how he speaketh Iren. l. 4. c. 34. and yet you may perceiue him to deale more plainly We must saith he offer vp a sacrifice to God and in all thinges bee found to acknowledge our creator by a pure and vpright opinion and iudgement by faith without hipocrisie by certaine hope by feruent loue offering vnto him the first fruits of his creatures And this is that pure oblation which the Church onely doth offer vnto the creator offering vnto him of his creatures with thankesgiuing Therefore saith he he would haue vs to be continually offering our oblations vpon the altar And what Altar This also he teacheth saying There is an altar in heauen thither our prayers and sacrifices are directed and in the temple according to that which Saint Iohn hath said in the Apocalips and the temple of God was open and the tabernacle For behold saith he the tabernacle of God where hee will dwell with men Here then is no sacrifice but that of man vnto God in the acknowledgement of his benefits by continuall prayers as also of the first fruits of the goods which he giueth him and that by communicating them charitablie with his brethren Iustinus Martyr speaketh highly honorably in commendation of the Lords Supper he describeth and setteth out vnto vs the holy ceremony wholly intirely Iustin Martyr in Tryphon and yet not a word of the propitiatorie sacrifice in all that he saith But on the contrarie he saith I dare be bolde to affirme that there are no other sacrifices that are perfect and acceptable vnto God then the supplications and thankesgiuing of good people and Christians haue learned that they are not to offer any other c. Againe Idem in exposit fidei Tertul. aduers Iud. We sacrifice vnto God without ceasing the sacrifice of praise sincere praiers and of the sweet sauour of good workes c. We haue heard heretofore what Tertullian hath said vpon the first Chapter of Malachie but yet behold what he saith further It behoued that Christ should be made a sacrifice for all the Gentiles who was led as a sheepe to the slaughter Behold here the onely sacrifice Idem aduers Marc. l. 4. ad Scapul Againe The prophecies of the lawe did signifie that man otherwise a sinner presently after that hee was cleansed by the worde of God did offer an oblation in the Temple that is praier and thankesgiuing in the Church and congregation of the faithfull by Iesus Christ the catholike that is the vniuersall Priest of the father Behold now and see here an vniuersall and onely priest by whom wee offer vnto God our sacrifices and our praiers And therefore hee saith Wee must not sacrifice vnto God any thing but that which is spirituall for it is written a
The sacrifice and oblation is Christ for Christ our Passeouer hath beene slaine c. Againe Melchisedec offered to Abraham bread and wine Christ hauing taken mans nature offered the priesthood it selfe vnto the father that so he might become our priest after the order of Melchisedec which hath no succession for he abideth and continueth for euer offering sacrifices and giftes for vs. And first hee offered himselfe to vndoe and loosen the sacrifices of the old Testament he becomming the oblation sacrifice priest and altar c. Not appointing any longer the successions of this priesthood vnto any tribe or stocke What then It may be making them able to succeed by the calling of priestes Nay rather he saith Giuing them freely to bee saued according to that righteousnesse which is by the holy Ghost And this is spoken generally for all Christians Then let our aduersaries note and obserue here by this place how ill fauouredly they alleadge the sacrifice of Melchisedec the Paschall lambe c. to bee accomplished and perfected in the pretended sacrifice of the Supper seeing that vpon the crosse of Christ as saith Epiphanius both these and all others going before are made perfect and fulfilled Chrysostome Christ is not crucified euerie day for hee hath vndergone but one sacrificing Chrysost aduers Iud. at 4. Idem in Ioha hom 17. et ad Heb. hom 13. but once onely to be offered for our sinnes but by that once hee doth continually purge and cleanse vs. Againe If Christ be perfect then he neuer sinneth and liueth euer wherefore then should hee offer many sacrifices for vs c. There is but one sacrifice one onely hath purged vs besides this there is nothing but fire and deuouring hell Wherefore the Apostle doeth throughly view and behold the same on euerie side alwaies saying one priest one sacrifice least that any man thinking that there were moe might grow the more secure and void of all suspicion of being deceiued And in another place In the heauens wee haue Sacrarium a holy and consecrated place in heauen wee haue a priest in heauen an oblation where is also our sacrifice Idâ—m hom de cruce spirit 3. Let vs then offer such sacrifices as may find place of receipt in this holy consecrated place not any more sheepe or oxen these thinges are come to an end but our reasonable seruice And what reasonable seruice The thinges that are offered by the soule and according to the spirit Iohn 4. because that God is a spirit and those that worship him must worship him in spirite and truth c. How farre doth this differ from the interpretation which Bellarmine doth giue vnto vs vpon this place That is spirituall thinges and such as sauour nothing of the bodie as gentlenesse patience temperance mercifulnesse c. Thus thou seest the sacrifices which are past away and gone as also the others succeeding them and comming in their roomes then let vs offer these Those are of our goods but these are of our vertues those are without vs but these are within vs c. Againe Christ was the sacrifice and the Priest the offerer and oblation The Altar that was the Crosse not vnder any roofe other then the whole cope of heauen that so all the putrifaction and infection of the aire might bee purged away Behold here the one onely priest and propitiatorie sacrifice of the Church But the particular and speciall Sacrifice of euerie Christian as also Sacrificer to offer vp the same sacrifice vnto God is euerie particular person in his place as hee teacheth vs saying What is then thine Altar surely thy spirituall vnderstandinge And what is thy spirituall sacrifice All thy good workes And what is thy Temple A pure heart wherein God taketh pleasure to dwell c. What then Idem in Mat. hom 83. Hom. 26. in ep ad Heb. hom 17. And saith hee nothing of the Eucharist in that place Yes verie excellently If Christ bee not dead saith hee whereof should this sacrifice bee a signe or seale Againe Wee offer but in remembrance of his death And againe That which God did long ago for the saluation of the Iewes in bringing of his benefites to their remembraunce by many feastes and solemne meetinges the same doeth hee now but more aboundantly in vs by this kinde of sacrifice stirring vs vppe to a continuall thankesgiuing for his benefites towardes vs. Where briefly wee haue thus much to note that there is not any sacrifice but one that doeth really purge and cleanse vs that is the bloode of Christ the Eucharist in as much as it is a sacrifice is a pledge a recording and a remembrance Hom. 7. ad Hebr. Some obiect and alledge against vs these wordes Wee offer the same Sacrifice nowe a daies that wee offered then for it wasteth not in offering Not an other Sacrifice as the high priest did but the same But let vs listen a while vnto that which followeth Or rather sayeth hee wee recorde and call to minde this Sacrifice Cyrill handleth this matter at large Iulian reproached the Christians Cyril 10. cont Iulian. because they had no moe Sacrifices Nay sayth hee wee haue farre better then yours or then those of the law For wee offer vnto God the spirituall sacrifices of vertues as Faith Hope Charitie c. spirituall praises And to this purpose hee alleadgeth Sainte Paule Offer vppe your bodies vnto God a liuing sacrifice c. God sayeth hee hath commaunded the lambe but for a figure of Christ but for to shew that this was a transitorie sacrifice hee commaunded them to eate it in hast a great oddes and difference in respect of that which our aduersaries themselues would inferre That the sacrifice of the Paschall lambe must bee dayly and still continued in the reall sacrifice of the true lambe that is in the Masse Idem in ep ad Hebr. hom 11. In another place Art thou ignorant howe that the whole priesthoode is giuen to the whole Church of God to all the faithfull people Giue eare vnto Sainte Peter who speaking of the faithfull sayeth you are a chosen generation a royall priesthoode c. Thou hast therefore the priesthoode because thou art a priestly nation and therefore also thou must offer vnto God the sacrifice of praise the Sacrifice of prayers the sacrifice of mercie the sacrifice of chastitie the srcrifice of righteousnesse the sacrifice of holinesse c. Againe Our true high priest Iesus Christ is then as yet standing vpright Idem in Leuit l. 9. and will fill his handes with small brayed incense Hee pondereth and wayeth what euerie Church vnder the Sunne doeth offer how well it bestoweth and imployeth her perfume how skilfull shee is in braying of the same that is to say how euerie one of vs doeth frame his actions how wee doe spiritually search and wade into the secreate deapthes and wholesome streames of the holy scriptures Where likewise he may seeme
necessarie and requisite Wherefore there is no cause why we should meruaile if manie of the Church of Rome haue liked it better to say and hold That there was no Purgatorie in the time of the Iewish Church CHAP. VII That Purgatorie hath no foundation in the new Testament IT may be that this Purgatory so famous in the church of Rome will haue some better foundation and proofe in the newe Testament seeing that they haue made it an Article of faith and seeing that such great buildinges and so many foundations are laide thereupon Which thing wee haue now to examine and trie by taking a proof of all the places which they alleadge for the same In S. Mathew 3. S. Iohn Baptist sayeth Mat. 3. I baptize you with water vnto amendement of life but hee that commeth after mee is stronger then I c. Hee shall baptize you with the holy Ghost and with fire Hee hath his fanne in his hand and will make cleane his floore and gather his corne into his garner but hee will burne the chaffe with vnquenchable fire Of these two fires mentioned in this place which of them will they chuse to make a Purgatorie of That which shall neuer bee quenched hangeth not for their mowing seeing they holde that by the vertue of holie water and Masses theirs may bee quenched It must needes then bee that fire wherewith Iesus Christ baptizeth Acts 15. And what sense shall wee then make of this that hee baptizeth vs with the holie Ghost and with Purgatorie Here wee see water is euidentlie opposed and set against fire and the outward washing to the inwarde purifying But our Lord without our further seeking of any other expounder maketh it cleare inough elsewhere saying Iohn hath baptized you with water but you shall bee baptized with the holie Ghost within these few dayes And beholde the accomplishment thereof in the Actes 2. Actes 2. And the tongues saieth hee were seene vpon them clouen like fire which did sit vpon euerie one of them and they were all filled with the holy Ghost Then it followeth that the baptizing with the holy Ghost and the baptising with fire is all one And that is the cause why S. Marke contenteth himselfe to say Mark 1.7 Hee will baptise you with the holie Ghost The word fire adding nothing which was not contained in the former but onelie to expresse and set out the effectuall power thereof Hieronym in Matth. 3. Saint Ierome vpon this place And it is because that the holy Ghost is a fire Actes 1. Or it is because that in this world wee are baptized with the holie Ghost and in the world to come with fire 1. Cor. 3. And thus our aduersaries hauing chosen the second as they alwaies chuse the worst they will needes haue it to signifie Purgatorie whereas hee speaketh as all the olde writers doe of the last iudgement S. Basill against Eunomius He baptizeth with the holy Ghost Basil Contra Eunomium li. 5. Chrisost c. 3. in oper imper Euch. in quest in Nou. Testa those whome hee sanctifieth he sendeth them which are vnworthie into the fire deliuering them ouer to that euill one being themselues Diuelles Chrysostome He baptizeth the faithfull with water and the Infidels with fire and in an other place hee doth vnderstand it of temptations Theophilact expoundeth it better He will ouerflow vs with the graces of the holie Ghost Eucherius sayeth Because that sinne is burnt vppe in vs by the holie Ghost whereby there is giuen vnto vs sanctification whereby charitie is kindled in vs c. Lyranus He saith fire because that oftentimes in the Primitiue Church Caietan in Math. it appeared in visible forme as vpon the Apostles c. Caietanus Where it must be vnderstood of the holy Ghost the beginning of regeneration in euerie one or else of tribulations whervnto the professing of Christ is subiect Ferus likewise By how much the spirit is more pure then the body Ferus in Math. and fire more actiue then water by so much is his Baptisme more excellent then mine c. The sence then is He will translate and transforme vs by his holy spirit and rauish vs with heauenly things by the fire And these are their best and most famous Expositors for this time of all which not so much as one hath found Purgatorie in that place Let vs reason after a better manner The Baptisme of fire say they is Purgatorie and none Baptiseth with this fire but Iesus Christ no not Saint Iohn Baptist◠himselfe No man therefore can purge vs but Iesus Christ he alone and not any other is our Purgatorie In S. Mathew Math. 5.15 Luk. 12.52 5. Agree betimes with thine enemie whiles thou art in the way with him least he deliuer thee to the iudge and the Iudge to the Sergeant and so thou be cast into prison Verily I say vnto thee that thou shalt not come foorth thence before thou hast paide the vttermost farthing This prison they will haue to bee Purgatorie Now the literall sence is verie cleare and agreed vpon amongst all where our Lord exhorteth the faithfull to agree with their brethren with all speede setting before them the mischiefe and euill that happeneth or dinaril◠by being obstinately giuen to goe to the law And this is Chrysostome his Exposition in these words Chrysost in Math. hom 16 Hieronim in in Math. li. 1. It seemeth vnto me saith he that he speaketh of ordinarie and accustomed iurisdictions and prisons c. And S. Ierome likewise The sence and meaning is manifest namely that our Lord exhorteth vs to haue peace with all men in this world c. And yet there are some saith he which expound it either of the flesh and soule Hillar in Mat. or of the soule and spirit which cannot be maintained And the same saith Saint Hil◠arie and others also who by the aduersarie vnderstand the Diuell As if saith hee our Lord had purposed and decreed with himselfe in this place to commaund vs to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verie watchfull and well aduised that the Diuell doe not seduce and deceiue vs c. But this is too absurd August de Salut document cap. 64. Idem de Doct. Christ l. 3 c. 10 And the same saith S. Chrysostome S. Augustine is of the number of those that expound it of the flesh and the spirit condemned here by Saint Ierome and sent backe to compare his dealings with his owne Law which is that a man should not hunt after or affect a figuratiue sence in that which easily affordeth a literall And yet it maketh nothing for them seeing hee referreth the same in plaine words vnto the last iudgement But and if we must needes fall to allegorize yet let vs learne to do it as our Lord himselfe who saith If you forgiue not men their sinnes your father will not forgiue you yours But on the contrarie hee will handle
and that is it which galleth them most S. Paul to the Romaines alleadgeth Esay I liue saith the Lord that euerie knee shall bow before me Rom. 14. Esay 45.13 and euerie tongue shall giue praise vnto God There was greater show why it should be vnderstood of worshipping and adoration and yet he expoundeth it of the iudiciall throne of Christ Tertull. ca 17 1. de Trinit Thom in Ep. ad Philip. c. 2. and of his last iudgement And indeed Tertullian vnderstandeth it of subiection and not of adoration The ordinarie Glose saith here As well the Angels as men and the Diuell Thomas likewise The Angels willingly and freely the Diuels will they nill they That is saith hee according to that which S. Iames saith that euen the Diuels themselues doe tremble Rom. 9. S. Ambrose interpreteth it by this place of the Epistle to the Romaines Which is God blessed aboue all things c. For saith he there is nothing in the world but heauenly earthly or infernall things and referreth it to the authoritie that Christ holdeth of the Father Chrysost ad Philip. c. 2. Haimo Caict in Ep. ad Philip. c. Chrysostome to the glorie of Christ vnder which both men and Angels and Diuels doe bow and stoupe euen all both iust and righteous as also the sinners and rebellious And Haimo Hugo and Caietan after the same manner And in deed Bellarmine dare not vrge this place neither yet that of the Apocalips but confesseth that they proue not the matter Neither hath it beene alleadged by any certaine Monkes onely of this time and age excepted who make vp their Purgatorie of whatsoeuer commeth to their hands euen as franticke men who sansie euerie thing that is said vnto them For how was it possible for the old writers to find it here vnder the earth when as Saint Gregorie sought it in hotte waters in bathes and in the shadowes of trees When Alcuinus seated it in the ayre betwixt heauen and earth When the certaine place where it was was vncertaine vnto them vntill the time of Beda to whome I know not what spirit did reueale it to bee vnder the earth In the first of S. Peter Christ saith he hath suffered once for sinnes 1 Pet 3.18 c. being mortified in the flesh but quickned by the spirit by the which he also went and preached to the spirits that were in prison This prison say they is Purgatorie Let them reade that which followeth and then they will vnsay it againe Hauing beene disobedient in times past when as the patience of God did once attend and waite in the daies of Noe c. The question then is about matters happening in the daies of Noe Now they are not yet resolued that there was any Purgatorie in the time of the olde Testament And in deed they haue euermore expounded this place of the limbes so that by building their Purgatory vpon this place they haue broken downe the partition wall Againe the Gospell is preached to be heard vnderstood and receiued in faith And they themselues doe affirme that faith is not begotten or to be come by in Purgatorie To what end or vse then should this preaching serue in Purgatorie Againe to the vnbelieuing disobedient for whome according to their owne doctrine purgatorie was neuer builded Now in deed the true sence and meaning is that the spirit of Christ at all times hath called men to repentance yea euen in the daies of Noe those rebellious persons who abused the patience and long suffering of God and who notwithstanding standing out disobedient vnto the same are therefore holden captiues in prison that is to say in eternall punishment And the Greeke article leadeth vs hereunto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prison when the question is of spirites is ordinarily taken for here In the Apocalyps Sathan shal be let loose from his prison and elsewhere Apoc. 20. 2. Pet. 2. Iude 1. The Deuils are tyed vp in chaines of darknesse in euerlasting bondes c. But seeing they will not accept of our expositions yet at the least I would haue them to stand to the fathers Clement Alexandrine saith Clem. l. 6 that Christ and the Apostles did preach the Gospell vnto the damned but this hee taketh out of certaine Apocrypha writinges attributed vnto Saint Peter and S. Paule who had corruptly vnderstood this place In ep ad Epict. Athanasius saith that during the time that the bodie was in the graue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word went to preach to the spirites that were in hell that is to say saith Damascene Damasc l. 3. de Orthod fid c 6. Not for to conuert them to the faith but to conuince them of their vnbeliefe this preaching being no other thing but a manifesting of his deitie vnto the infernall powers by the descending of Christ into hell S. Augustine ad Euodium handleth this verie place August ad Euod epist 99. and turneth it into all the waies that it may bee taken and vnderstood that so hee might come by the true sence and yet hath not remembred Purgatorie in any one small word in the end he concludeth thus That to the end that hee may auoide the inconueniences that follow other expositions it must bee vnderstood not of any going downe into hell but of the operation and powerfull working of his deitie which he exercised from the beginning of the world that is to say that he preached vnto them which liued here below imprisoned in this mortall bodie by the spirit of his diuine nature sometimes by inward and secret inspirations and sometimes by outward admonitions proceeding from the mouth of the iust And thus it is to bee seene how that for Purgatorie hee vnderstandeth this present life Thom. 3. p. ◠62. art 2. And Thomas doeth likewise approue the same handling this question of purpose To bee shorte Cardinall Hugo saith In carcere in the prison of sinne and vnbeliefe c. And their Glosse Of the darknesse of infidelitie or of carnall desires c. And Lyranus bound and chained with the common custome of sinne And as concerning the whole place they vnderstand it Of the preaching of Noe which he practised amongst the infidels of his time Heb. 13. to draw them to repentance by the spirit of Christ for saith he Christ is yesterday and to day the same and for euer and euer what maketh all this then for Purgatorie In the first of S. Iohn If any man see his brother sinne a sinne that is not to death 1. Iohn 5.16 let him aske of God and he will gine him life to all them I say which doe not sinne vnto death There is a sinne vnto death I doe not say that thou shouldest pray for it c. From hence they inferre those which sinne vnto death Are those that persist in infidelitie saith Saint Augustine euen vnto
Hell and Purgatorie That all whatsoeuer miserie all the men in this world had indured from Adam vnto that time did not come any thing neere vnto the paines and punishment that is therein c. And that had not Saint Ierome come in the meane time they had beene neere to haue receiued the sentence of condemnation for not hauing belieued it c. Thus we may see a thing then which nothing is more naturall the doctrine of lyes maintained and nourished by a lie it selfe CHAP. X. What prosperous proceeding Purgatorie attained vnto in the Church of Rome and by what degrees IN the ende after that our aduersaries cannot all this while make choyse of any one of the Fathers to whose opinion they may trust and hold themselues in this matter of Purgatorie for wee freely permit and allow them their choyse out of them all notwithstanding that wee haue runne through the space of those fiue hundred yeares next after our Lord Purgatorie affirmed and avouched by Gregorie Anno. 600. Deut. 18.11 Esay 8.19 August de cura pro mortuis gerend Vpon what foundation he buildeth his doctrine Gregor Magn. in Dialog they are constrained to haue recourse to Gregorie Bb. of Rome liuing about the yeare 600 euen vnto that Gregorie which of the custome of the Gentiles made a Law in the Church of Christ of Origen his curiosities a necessarie deuotion of the speculations of the olde Fathers who had gone before him a grounded principle and firme Maxim and of S. Augustines doubt an affirmatiue doctrine but grounded also altogether vpon other raasons then had bene alleadged by the former as reuelations apparitions of spirits and others such like delusions directly contrarie to that which is said in the Law Who so goeth to aske counsell of the dead is an abhomination vnto the Lord as also against the Maxim which S. Augustine is so carefull for to proue That the soules of the dead intermeddle not with the affaires of those that are aliue The doctrin then of S. Gregorie in brief is That as at the breake of the day and in a browne colour the darke is mingled with the light is called the twylight so the neerer we come to the day of iudgement so much the more inter-course and communitie shall there bee betwixt spirits and men What solide or sound stuffe can hee picke out of this foundation seeing hee presupposeth and setteth downe the end of the world to bee as then And this is the cause why saith hee that men doe attaine speaking of his owne time to know the estate and condition of Soules a thing lesse knowne to such as went before Of Paschasius his soule he learneth how that it indured his Purgatorie amidst the scaldings of hotte waters because that in a certaine schisme falling out amongst the Popes he tooke part with Laurence not with Symmachus And thereupon he inferreth that good soules which halt and come short be it neuer so little in the workes of righteousnesse are detained kept backe for a like proportion of time from the inioying of heauen From the soule of a certaine Lord how that it serued at the bathes to pull off the hose and shoes of all such as came to them vntill the time that a certain Priest to whom it made it selfe knowne had offered two loaues such as had beene accustomed to bee offered for it As also from the soule of a Monke who died hauing in store the summe of three Crownes how when there was a holy day kept in his name it receiued the Communion in Purgatorie c. Hee inferreth that when the trespasses are not vnpardonable there is meanes to procure a remedy and helpe for the same by the offering of a sacrifice c. And his Dialogues are full of such friuolous tales Howsoeuer that Schoolemen doe not admit into Purgatorie any faults or sinnes how sleight so euer but the paines and punishment only he concludeth notwithstanding that there is no way to be followed but to do well so long as we are here without trusting to that which may be done afterward But what manner of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what steadfastnes of faith is there in all this Or rather what hath it but it may giue vs to belieue that these were spirits of deceipt watchfull and painefull in their craft and occupation euen in perswading the world to that which might deceiue them Tertullian saith Tertull. de Anima c. 5.7 These apparitions are but the mockeries and deceits of the euill spirit who carrieth himselfe priuily vnder the shapes of liuing men or masked and disguised after the manner of men deceased c. God hath sufficiently declared vnto vs in the parable of the poore and rich man that Hell is not open for any to come forth c. no not to winne credite to Moyses and the Prophets c. To be short all manner of representation or apparition of soules that is without body is nothing else but a delusion nothing else but witchcraft Chrysostome after the same manner Chrysost hom 29. in Math. hom 13. Idem de Lazaro hom 4. The possessed with Diuels will crie sometimes vnto thee and say I am the soule of such a one but wilt thou belieue it No not so saith hee for this speech commeth of the fraud and deceipt of the Diuell It is not the soule of any dead person that speaketh so but it is the Diuell that counterfeiteth the deepelier to deceiue and abuse the people For of a certaintie the soule seperated from the body goeth not vp and down wandring in these lower regions the soules of the righteous are in the hand of God those of the sinners after this life are quickly by force carried away The historie of Lazarus and the rich man doth proue the same vnto vs. And againe Wouldest thousee that the doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Prophets is of an other manner of weight then that of the dead which rise againe consider and know that whosoeuer the dead partie may be yet he is a seruant but as for the Scriptures it is the Lord which speaketh in them And therefore though a dead man reuine and liue againe though an Angell come downe from heauen yet let vs principally belieue the Scriptures For the Author of them is as wel the Lord of the dead as of the liuing of men and of Angels And therefore what the Scriptures teach vs most clearely let vs not goe about to learne of the dead c. And there is an Article in the auncient Synodes That such visions vnder the colour of soules are of the Diuell But what then may we thinke that Tertullian or Chrysostome would haue said to Gregorie Verily that these visions had beene of the Diuell Verily and his Purgatorie also a doctrine of Diuels And againe some haue doubted of these Dialogues that they were not his because that in the rest of his bookes hee seemeth to be more graue And
Sabinian his next successor caused so many of them to be burnt as he could But some on the contrarie haue sought by all the wayes they can to make them to bee belieued for the procuring of the greater authoritie to Purgatorie And by name Anno. 730. Gregorie the thirde caused them to bee published throughout all Christendome to the same ende Damascen Damascen confirmeth it if a man will lend his eare vnto them hath not smally aduaunced this building but alwayes with the selfe same Argumentes for in a certaine prayer which they attribute vnto him S. Steuen by his prayers saueth Falcouilla a Pagan deceased in Idolatrie God also made the head of a certaine Priest that was dead and a Gentile borne for such a one doth Durandus describe him to bee to speake to Macarius and declare to him the consolations that they in Purgatorie receiue by the suffrages of the liuing Againe at the prayer of Gregorie passing through Traian his Countrie God deliuered Traian out of hell c. But I maruaile that they are not ashamed of these fables or why at the least they set them not in better order Seeing that out of hell there is no redemption Seeing also that according to their doctrines the Gentiles cannot be in Purgatorie But it seemeth that this pretended Damascen is ashamed of himselfe when he concludeth saying that he speaketh not any thing that he meaneth to stand vnto and that what hee saith is but by way of discourse but such is his discourse as that they make a Creed of it And yet it is not credible that this was his prayer seeing that in his Bookes de Orthodoxa fide in which it is his drift to comprise the Christian faith he maketh no mention of Purgatorie Anno. 750. Now this fell out about the yeare 750. From this time forward the opinion of the sacrifice The growth of Purgatorie through the opinion of a sacrifice as also that of Purgatorie began mutually wittingly to lend their hands the one to the other ignorance groweth grosser and grosser and that sensibly and to the sight of the eye throughout all Christendome and in this darknesse the spirit of darknesse dispatcheth and bestirreth himselfe about his busines Once to looke into the Scriptures was by no meanes to be heard of but to hearken after myracles was the whole imployment of the mind One man had seene the soules tormented vpon the Gridyron an other vpon a Spit this man had seene them burning in the fire that man had espied them dipt in the Ice one was hung vp to be dried in the chimney smoake an other to vnderlay the washing raine distilling and dryuing downe a Gutter one liuing but in a traunce an other returning againe after death Further more this man had discouered one of the Gulfs in Ireland an other that in Sicilia and a third that in Pozzuolo the one by the conduct and guidance of an Angell the other by reuelation from the Diuell And all the bookes of those times are full of such fooleries other instructions then these there was not any currant amongst the people namely the Legends the Lombardicke historie and such like In a word whereas the Fathers had practised the remembrance of the dead as we haue seene for the comfort and consolation of the liuing they begin to turne all to the contrarie For those said that they were in Abrahams bosome in a place of blessed and happie rest these said they were in extreame torments nothing differing from those of hel c. And in stead that those knew how to teach them to die in an assurance of eternall life these tooke the way to make them apprehend conceiue of death as of the doore opening to an vnauoidable fire if they redeeme not themselues from thence by suffrages for now there was no more leaning vnto the mercie of God God was become a rigorous mercilesse tyrant and tormentor neither was any thing to be looked for from the satisfaction of our Lord for hee had paid no debt but what was answerable for the meere faults and transgressions the infinite merite of his passion was become vnable to satisfie for our demerits his paines and punishment for ours But Aut satis faciendum in hac vita say they or Satis patiendum in altera Either a man must prouide to make satisfaction in this life by doing sufficiently well or in the other by suffering sufficiently euill So that this is nothing else but to say let the suffrages of those that liue after vs ransome and redeeme vs from our paines And thereupon a man must cause great store of Masses to bee said for the dead for them also men must found yearely feasts Obits Chapels or Monasteries And the ordinarie clause of these foundations is Anno. 800. Anno. 1000. Anton. l. 15. c. 15. Violater l. 2. Lombar hist l. 8. Polyd. l. 6. c. 9. We giue bequeath c. such or such a thing for the saluation or redemption of our soules of the soules of our predecessors and successors c. And these fashions of doing and speaking began since the yeare 800. Toward the yeare 1000. there was a vision set out to be knowne of the people How that a man guided by an Angell had seene a number of Soules diuersly handled and intreated some lying vpon Gold some vpon Chaffe or straw some in aboundance some in want and penurie according as they were helped there by the suffrages of their friends or otherwise neglected and finding no bodie to care for them Whereupon sprung a deuotion of ordaining that vpon some certaine day in the yeare there should be generall prayers made for all soules And that is it which is called Dies omnium animarum the day of the dead attributed by the most to Odilo the fourth Abbot of Clugni perswaded by the flames of the mountaine Etna in Sicilia of the certainty of the tormentes of Purgatorie But by other some to Boniface the fourth a little after the time of Gregory the great after the fashion and imitation of a certaine feast of the Romaines celebrated yearely in the month of Februarie for the soules of the deceased that is to purchase rest for them by sacrifices night praiers waxe candles Plutarch in Romulo Anton. ut 13. S. I. Histor Lombard leg 157. Polyd. l. 6. c. 9. Canones Reform a Card. Camp propositi Not generally all at once Synod Tolet. 3 Epist Bonif. ad Gregor 3. Gregor 3. ad Bonifac. and torches light vp amongst al the people c. And thereupon it commeth that Plutarch calleth the moneth of Februarie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 purgatiue or purgatorie Now in the meane time it is not to be forgotten that in the councel of Lyon 1244. it was not receiued hauing rooted it selfe no where else but within the Monasteries of the order of Clugni as also that in the yeare 1524. Cardinall Campegius propounding certaine Canons of reformation was
hauing these giftes either of Saints or Angels but on the contrarie this doctrine was then noted to be the doctrine of heretickes as of the Basilidians and Ophites c. Who praied vnto Angels in their workes and that by set formes of praier Idem l. 1. c. 23. 35. which Ireneus rehearseth O tu Angele ab a te or opere tuo c. And these had likewise their pretended Saints Iudas Cain c. Against whom Ireneus doth not oppose either Abell or S. Peter but onely Iesus Christ our Lord. But in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna Idem in Ep. ad Sâ—â—yâ—nens apud Euseb l. 4. c. 15. we haue this whole question handled the Martyrs were much honoured in the Church and they deeply condemned that did not honour them and not without cause being vessels chosen of God to seale and assure by their testimonie the resurrection of the Lord. But how far did this honour extend They were buried with great regard and there is made yearely a rehersall of their martyrdome vppon a certaine day the day of their death is celebrated and solemnized by the name of the day of their natiuitie in stead of the Paynims their Genethliacks or birth-daies the Church commeth together into the common place of buriall there to praie vnto God that by the sight of their bones they may be stirred vp to the like constancie for at that time they had not yet any Churches Now in respect of any of al this may they iustly be said to haue either worshipped or praied vnto them Nay rather saith this Epistle The Iewes and the Gentiles came to intrcate the gouernour that the body of Polycarpus might not be deliuered to the Christians least they should honour it in stead of Christ. But how doth the Church defend it selfe They are abused through ignorance saith it for we can neuer forsake Christ who hath suffered for the saluation of all them which are to bee saued in the whole world neither can we euer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 colere honour any other And note how it vseth the word which coÌ„prehendeth the seruice which was accustomed according to godlines to be giuen vnto Christ that is to say the seruing of him in calling vpon him seeking of our saluation in him But some said vnto them so greatly do you honour your Martyrs Yea saith the Church of Smyrna but we worship Christ as the true and naturall Sonne of God and we loue the Martyrs as his Disciples and followers and not without good cause for the incomparable loue which they haue borne to their king Schoolemaster we our selues greatly longing and earnestly desiring to become their companions and Schoole fellowes c. Finally We celebrate the natiuitie that is to say the day of the death and Martyrdome of Polycarpus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in remembrance of them that haue finished the combat before vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for the preparing and exercising of them which are to come thereto that is to say to stirre vp such as are present to the like constancie for the name of Christ Who giueth vs the grace say they and not the Martyrs to bee partakers of the like crowne Tertull. in Apol. c. And this Epistle was written about the yeare 160. Tertullian saith J pray not to any but him of whome I know that I may obtaine because it is hee onely which doth and giueth all things and I am one that haue need to beg and craue his seruant to honour him alone and to offer vnto him the best fattest sacrifice as he hath commanded euen a praier and supplication which proceedeth from a chast body an innocent soule and a holy spirit c. And in the booke of the Trinitie he yeeldeth a reason why hee praieth vnto him alone It is not proper or pertinent to any but God to know our secrets but Christ knoweth the secrets of our harts Jt belongeth not to any but God to forgiue sins but Christ forgiueth sinnes Reasoning from his all-seeing knowledge and from his Almightie power to proue his Deitie Godhead and froÌ„ the Godhead to the seruice of inuocation Againe Else how should a man be sought sued vnto in our praiers as our mediator seing that the inuocating of one only man is without any power or efficacie to saluation seeing also it is said cursed is that coÌ„fidence that is put in man c. To that aboue said they oppose and bring a place of Ireneus Obiections where there is comparison made betwixt Eue and the Virgine Marie As Eue saith he was seduced by the words of an Angell that is a wicked Angell to runne from God by transgressing of his word so the Virgine Marie receiued ioyfull tidings by the word of an Angell that is a good Angell to heare God by obeying vnto his word And as the first was seduced and drawne away to runne and flie from God so the second was perswaded to obey him to the end that of the Virgine Eue the Virgin Mary fieret aduocata might become say they the aduocate Here saith Belarmine what can be more cleare Yea rather say we vnto him what can be more obscure That the Virgine Marie should be Eue her aduocate with God being borne 4000. yeares after Eue and receiued likewise a long time after her into heauen when as likewise we shall haue regard to their opinion of the Limbes But in deed that which goeth before as also that which followeth sheweth clearely that Ireneus had no other drift but to oppose the good that came to mankind by the meanes ministerie of Marie to the maladie and mischiefe wherwith the same became infected by that transgression of Eue. And as for the word Aduocate some are of iudgement that Ireneus was translated out of Greeke into Latine for we haue great peeces of him as yet in Greeke and further it cannot possibly bee that euer any Latine writer would haue written in such a stile 2. Cor. 7. passim Ioh. 16 And in other places also hee is verie absurdly translated by his interpreter Now the case so standeth that in the Greeke one and the same word dooth signifie both an aduocate and a comforter that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and one and the same Verbe to comfort and to exhort as is often and commonly to be seene in the Scriptures So in S. Iohn that which is translated in the Gospell Comforter according to the old translation speaking of the holy Ghost the comforter of our soules is interpreted Aduocate in the Epistle of S. Iohn 1. Ioh. 2.11 Tertul. de Trinit c. 29. speaking of Christ the mediatour Likewise Tertullian where he speaketh of the holy Ghost translateth it Aduocatum so indifferently hath it beene taken either for the one or for the other And so the sence is as if Ireneus should say that as Eue was the ruine and ouerthrow of mankind so the
Virgine Marie was for his comfort and consolation yea and that amongst the rest vnto Eue her selfe which had sinned in as much as God had chosen this vessell to beare and bring forth the comfort of mankind from the first man euen to the last They abuse in a higher degree of vnfaithfull dealing a place in Iustinus Martyr Iustin Martyr Apol 2. The Gentiles reproach the Christians saying that they were Atheists that is to say without God The Christians answere Yea without Gods whom you take to be Gods but not without the true God For as concerning him we worship him that is the father and the Son which is of him who is come and hath taught vs these things and all the host of good Angels that follow him and the propheticall spirit that is to say we worship the father the sonne and the holy Ghost Now these words which yet are not found in many copies must vpon euident and apparant necessitie be read with a Parenthesis for there he alludeth to that Ephes 3.10 which S. Paul saith to the Ephesians That the mysterie of our Redemption which was hid from all time in God was manifested vnto principalities and powers in heauenly places c. Otherwise what should this meane We worship the father the Sonne the Angels and the holy Ghost And the holy Ghost himselfe after the Angels And by this meanes to saue the Saints they make no conscience to blaspheme the holy Ghost But in the meane time this is the Monke Perion his translation and from thence this errour hath beene dispersed into many bookes in these daies Origen commeth About the yeare 260. Hieronym ad Pammach Ocean Epiphan t. 2. l. 1. haeres 63. hauing a bold spirit Whome I loue saith S. Ierome as hee is a translator but not as he is an author of straunge opinions for his spirit and ingeniousnesse but not for his faith because his writings are venemous without any warrant of Scriptures and offering violence vnto the same c. And of this iudgement is the whole Church After this then to whome may he not iustly be suspected For as heretofore he laid the foundations of Purgatorie vpon the opinions of the Platonists so from the same he gathereth the first stone wherupon afterward was laid the inuocation of Saints The Platonists said that the vpper and higher things must bee ioyned with the inferiour and lower by a middle comming betwixt both God with men by Angels that is by their mediation and comming betwixt But Christians must not lend their eares to this as those that haue a far deeper secret and mysterie reuealed vnto them hauing giuen them his Son God and man and ioyned together in one person for the saluation of mankind that which was farre remooued and set asunder by our sinnes so that the Platonists could not comprehend or conceiue the same Notwithstanding wee see that mans inuentions do commonly please vs better then the reuelations of God and flesh and bloud doth more freely and willingly imbrace them because it smelleth and findeth something of it owne therein Euseb â—e preparat Euang. l. 12. 13. August de Ciuit. Dei l 8. c. 14.18.20 22 23.25.26 Now the summe thereof was that betwixt the greatnesse of God and the infirmitie of man there were two orders of Mediators the blessed spirits or the separated intelligences and the soules of the blessed wee call them in our Christian language Angels and Saints That these Angels offer vp mens suites and petitions to God in reporting them vnto him and obtaining a graunt thereof by their intercession c. That for this cause we must praie vnto and honour them partly as Aduocates partly as more excellent in their merits then men And that such also do the same who for their merits being men whiles they were here vpon earth haue beene exalted and extolled as Gods in heauen such a one was Aesculapius who wrought the same effects in heauen by his Diuinitie which he wrought here below by his Art such a one also was Hermes which succoured and conserued generally all those who directed their praiers vnto him c. Who is hee that cannot behold and clearely perceiue the opinions of the Church of Rome in these points of Paganisme Now they did not all enter with a full sea into the Christian Church but for certaine it is that the Gentils which were receiued into the same being seasoned with this doctrine could not be so little cherished and vpheld either by being winckt at or otherwise by the sufferance of the Pastors but that they by and by tooke great footing and that in a small time What is it then that Origen saith Origen hom 3 in Cant. The Saintes saith he which are departed out of this life bearing stil their wonted loue and charitable affections to such as remaine behind in the world if any man say that they are carefull for their saluation and that they helpe them with their praiers and intercessions towards God he doth not runne into any inconuenience for it is written in the booke of the Machabees This same is Ieremie the prophet of God that prayeth daily for the people c. Marke There is no inconuenience in it And further some are of opinion those also of the learned that these Homelies vpon the Canticles were made by some latin writer and not by Origen Vpon Iosue Ego sic arbitror I am mightilie drawne to be perswaded that all the fathers which haue fallen asleepe before vs doe still in part beare some portion of the combat with vs and doe helpe vs with their praiers thus much I haue heard said of some of our old maisters Vpon the booke of Numbers he groweth more hot for saith he Quis enim dubitat who doubteth but that they helpe vs with their praiers and confirme vs by their examples c. Where it is to bee considered how that he speaketh doubtfully of this opinion that he which had the scriptures at his fingers ends if hee had had in store euer a place to haue confirmed and setled it vpon he would neuer haue had recourse to an Apocrypha place of the second booke of Machabees neither to the report of his old maisters But yet moreouer it appeareth by Origen himselfe that this was but a discourse of his and not the faith of his time If saith he the Saintes that haue left this bodie and are with Christ do any thing for vs after the manner of Angels that take charge of our safetie let it be accompted amongst the secrets that are hidden and kept close by God and are not to be intermedled withall by any writer that is to say in a word inter Apocrypha for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke doeth not signifie any other thing But of this priuate discourse of this pretended secret misterie that the Saints pray for the faithfull gathereth he this consequent it
spoken of in the song of the three children in the furnace Daniel 3. ex Graeco Ye spirits and soules of the righteous blesse ye the Lord c. All these false couers and colourings notwithstanding being euident testimonies not so much of an vnwillingnesse to come to reformation as of a shamefastnesse to be ouertaken and detected of this spirituall whoredome Cassander therfore and Hofmeisterus more freely if so be they had but practised it in the Church as they belieued held it in their harts Cassander verily who after hee had excused the Church of Rome to Maximilian the Emperour as much as he could euen vpon this article that Orate was as much as Vtinam oretis Pray ye that is I wish and desire that you would pray saith notwithstanding That he maketh not in his owne behalfe any praier but vnto God by Iesus Christ and that he accompteth that the most infallible way Hofmeister who after he had gathered whatsoeuer hee could out of the old writers August de visâ—tâ—t infirmotu si eius est l. 1. c. 2. concludeth with these words of Saint Augustine I shall speake more boldly and ioyfully to my Iesus then vnto anie one of the holy spirits of God c. But what do our fathers of Trent say here after the long looking wherewith they haue made vs to looke for reformation Do they allow at the least these expositions these mitigations or do they bring some better of their owne Neither but on the contrarie they institute and ordaine that we should call vpon the Saintes by praier to help vs Suppliciter humblie beseeching them vpon our knees and that we should betake our selues not to their praiers onely but to their helpe and succour declaring all such as haue any other opinion to be wicked impious And the Catechisme made by the authoritie of the said Councell saith plainly Christians worship Angels but not as God is worshipped we must pray vnto the Saints in as much as by the grace and merit purchased by them God doth deale wel with vs c. And Cardinal Hosius a man approued of them Rom. 8. to such as alleadge S. Paul That we cannot call vpon any but him in whom we belieue answereth lustily That we must also credere in Sanctos belieue in Saints What reformation can there be from theÌ„ who after such enormous faults laid open discouered by the light of Christendome doe wilfully make themselues blind and yet will not haue themselues accompted of as hauing failed in any point And yet furthermore they ioyne thereunto another notorious pranke of maliciousnesse which is their causing to bee raced out in good bookes Index pag. 8.10.24 25.30.31.36.38.47.49.50 whatsoeuer might checke or controll their proceedings for so they haue resolued and set it downe as appeareth by their Index Expurgatorius As for examples The place where S. Augustine distinguisheth betwixt the honour due vnto God and that of Saints the interpreter hath giuen this note This that is to say that which is to be reserued to God alone is now giuen to all the Saintes Deleatur let it be raced and put out In the Tables of S. Augustine S. Chrysostome and S. Ierome their works there were many places noted which directed vs vnto such sayings in their works all speaking against the inuocation of Saints vpon the heads whereof were set Deleantur In Erasmus and Faber Stapulensis famous worthy men in their profession when they say Deum solum omnis oratio adoratio decet Vnto God alone belongeth all praier and worship is it not written Torcular calcaui solus Index pag. 49.50.55.59.61.255 I haue troden the wine presse alone All the Saints are nothing if the question bee once of true worship all our owne workes and those of our fathers from the beginning of the world are no better c. Deleantur And Cassander likewise where he sheweth how the old father did vse the words Merite and to merite That When they said Orate this was as if they had said Vtinam oretis c. Deleatur But what reasons will there satisfie these men if they need not any other answer to them but the racing and vtter blotting of them out or what witnesses if there be nothing but away with them to burning CHAP. XVI That man cannot merite eternall life for himselfe much lesse for another where the consideration is first of mans state before regeneration OVr aduersaries as they say do pray vnto Saints because they make intercession for them vnto God but we haue alreadie destroied this foundation And they make intercession for them say they by the power of their merites and that not onely for the procuring of them gifts and graces in this life but also eternall happines in that to come For which cause wee haue next to shew vnto them that so we may not leaue any thing doubtfull That no man can merite with God not eternal life or rather not the least grace of this fraile transitorie life not for any other man no not for himselfe And this we will deale in according to the three estates of man Man in his first estate could not merite Genes 1. Ephes 4. Colos 3. Psalme 19. his integritie or innocencie his fall or transgression and his regeneration Of his integritie it is said That God had created him according to his own image and S. Paul expoundeth it to consist in righteousnesse holinesse and the knoweldge of God c. That he had placed him in Paradise in a place abounding with all felicitie which Dauid calleth placed in honor In so much that he held had both his being his graces and his glorie at the good pleasure of his Creator of his meere free and vndescrued goodnes The abilitie to merite might haue beene great the good deeds only considered but then what abilitie or power can there be to merite of him of whom he holdeth all of him for whom a man can do nothing Let vs admit then that our first father had vsed all these graces perfectly well that he had possessed them in such feare 〈◊〉 awe as he should yea and that he had fulfilled the law as naturally he might yet had he beene able to say after all this but with the same pride which cast him down from his high glorious estate it selfe alone I haue deserued that God should yet further giue me this yea that he should continue vnto me what he hath alreadie giuen mee If we do not wrongfully name and call our merit that pleasure which it pleaseth God to take in adding and bestowing graces vpon his euen grace for grace and glory for glorie to deserue well of vs if I may so say and that so exceeding bountifully and liberallie as that we are not able to merite any thing of him So then here is place for that Iob. 41.1 which God saith in Iob Who is it that gaue me first I wil
repay him againe The same also which S. Paul saith What is it that thou hast which thou hast not receiued And if thou hast receiued it 1. Cor. 4.7 why boastest thou thy selfe as if thou hadst not receiued it c. And the second Councel of Orange held about the yeare 450. doth conclude in these words Mans nature Concil Arans c. Can. 19. Man a great deale lesseable after his fall euen in his integritie could not keep his integritie without the help of God c. But after he had fallen and corrupted his waies being the second state that our first father fell into we became in farre worse and harder case Man euen in his integrity could not in respect of God merite or deserue any good thing but now in the daies of his corruption hee cannot chuse but merite yea he cannot merite any thing but the wrath of God his curse and eternall death For being become sinne and transgression it hath corrupted the most noble partes both of his humane bodie and diuine soule making the will to bee the slaue of vnbridled appetite vnderstanding of imagination vnto all euill and both of them faultie and corrupted in themselues the will estranged from the loue of God and the vnderstanding from the hauing of the knowledge of him both the one and the other carried from their naturall and one onely good state to the contrarie with all their power and abilitie euen to will and know that which is displeasing vnto him and hurtfull to themselues Man now in this estate what can he doe what can he but do amisse And notwithstanding this is the state of all men in themselues since the fall no man to be excepted God pronounceth this generall sentence in Genesis Genel 6. Iob. 14. Psal 51. All the thoughtes of the heart of man are set vpon euill continually The most holy do most freely confesse it Iob Who can draw any thing that is pure from that which is defiled Not one Dauid Behold I was begotten in iniquitie and my mother hath conceiued me in sinne and therefore he prayeth vnto God to create in him a new hart Ioh. 3.6 Christ in the Gospell That which is begotten of flesh is flesh and that which is begotten of the spirit is spirit If a man be not borne againe hee cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Rom. 7.18 2. Cor. 3.5 Ephes 1. And Saint Paule expoundeth it Because that in the flesh dwelleth no good seeing that the naturall man doth not comprehend that which is of the spirite of God And because That we are naturally deadin sinnes our workes then are both dead and deadly and to bring vs to bring out any other it cannot bee without the working of a miracle Ephes 2.5 Rom. 6.8 it is requisite that wee should bee raised againe And it is God onely that must doe this Because saith he moreouer that We are children of wrath That All the desires and all the vnderstanding also of our flesh which we make so much of is enmitie against God Prou. 10. And without exception For There is no man saith Salomon that can say Rom. 5.17 1. Cor. 15. My heart is cleane I am without sinne And the Apostle more expresly All men haue sinned and are dead in Adam By a man sinne entred into the world into all men and by sinne death c. Yea into Moyses the meekest of all other men Thou hast sette before thy face Absconditum nostrum our sinne that was hidden from vs. This naturall viciousnesse which like vnto a naturall disease is hidden from vs is lesse perceiued or felt of vs. Pâ— l. 51. Psal 116. Rom. 7. 14. reâ—â— 23. And into Dauid a man according to Gods owne hearte Create saith hee in mee a new heart Because the hearte of man is altogether peruerted Ab occultis meis mundame Cleanse mee from that which is hidden from mee And into S. Paule an elect vessell of God The law saith he is spirituall and I am carnall sold vnder sinne I see a law in my members fighting against the law of my vnderstanding and leading me captiue to the law of sinne which is in my members Wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death c. Into S. Iohn Baptist Luke 2. the greatest amongst them that are borne of women who saith vnto our Lord I haue need to be baptized of thee that is to say to be washed to be regenerate by thy spirit c. And into the holy virgin likewise for she acknowledged her low and base estate she magnified nothing but the onely mercy of God she placed her selfe amongst them that being hungrie are filled with good things she reioyceth in God which is her Sauiour so farre is she off from disclaiming her parte in the saluation promised in Iesus Christ the author of the saluation which is in her And in deed the Apostle to the Hebr. Hebr. 7. hath not seperated or excepted from sin any besides Iesus Christ alone The holy virgine likewise was subiect to the law of purification ordained in the Church a signe of the inward purification which God requireth in all our actions Rom. 11.32 to the end that this word may abide true That God hath shut vp all vnder sinne That no man also should thinke to be excluded from that which followeth That he hath notwithstanding shewed mercie vnto all That this that all the Saints haue beene saued euen the virgin Marie her selfe commeth of his free grace of the riches and bountifulnesse of his great mercies Now our aduersaries that will not be called Pelagians How the aduersaries do extenuate originall sinne doe agree in outward shew vnto this corruption of mankind but when we come to lay the sore open and naked they are as it were afraid of taking some harme they make the maladie as light and little as they can fearing to be too much bound vnto God not considering how that for a man to lay open his wounds before him is to heale them to confesse our sinnes freely and franckly to him is to haue them quit forgiuen whereas the hiding and couering of them doth make them mortall to denie conceale or smooth them ouer is to cast himselfe prisoner and captiue into hell and eternall fire vntill hee haue paid the vttermost farthing Pighius therefore letteth not shamelesly to say Albert Pigh de peccat orig that the punishment of Adam seized vpon all his posteritie as one bond man begetteth another but that his sinne was not transfused and conueighed into his children What is there more contrarie vnto the whole scripture then this Yea how is it possible that this man should haue so little profited in the knowledge of himselfe Andradius a true interpreter of the ambiguities and doubtes arising in the Councell of Trent teacheth That concupiscence is in nature corrupted altogether such as it was when nature
Serm. de verit mater 27. by the same grace the meanes to cause it to become and prooue such And therefore saith he Man is not onely said to haue the grace of God because he is beloued of God vnto eternall life but also because he giueth him a gift by the which he maketh him wore thie of eternall life which we cal gratiam gratum facientem Grace which maketh a man acceptable that is to wit this faith infused by the holie Ghost into our hearts by the which saith he all the fathers of the olde Testament became acceptable to God and iustified and whereby wee also are deliuered from sinne and death And this fayth saith hee quickeneth the soule by grace Galat. 2. It purgeth it from sinnes Actes 17. c. It giueth righteousnesse vnto the soule Rom. 3. It betrotheth and affianceth vs vnto God Osee 2. Iden in 1.2 q. 102 art 5 Idem in expos 1. Decret In offic de corp Christ In Hymno Tert. summ q. 4.49 arr 1. AEgid Fom c. 12. l. Examer l. 2. c. 4. It adopteth men to be the sonnes of God 1. Iohn 2. It causeth vs to approch and draw neere vnto God Heb. 11. Finally by it men attaine the hire of eternall life Iohn 6. c. Againe To establish and strengthen a sincere heart onelie faith sufficeth c. By faith the passion of Christ is applied vnto vs that so wee may be able to receiue the fruits thereof Rom. 3. It is vnto vs both the beginning and cause of righteousnesse Rom. 8. That righteousnesse which is by the faith of Christ c. Yea and yet Aegidius saith further That all our good workes are the workes of God Thou hast O Lord saith Esai wrought and brought to passe our workes And wee are not sufficient saith the Apostle to thinke anie good of our selues it is he which maketh vs righteous and which effecteth in vs the workes of righteousnesse Nowe were it not better to holde him to these Maximes and to the conclusions necessarily insuing heereof as that wee owe vnto the infinite grace of God our iustification to the perfect and absolute righteousnesse of Christ our righteousnesse to God by Iesus Christ the beginning middest and ende of our saluation according to the Scriptures then according to the curious Meditations which happen vnto the most excellent wittes when the drie and barren veine ouertaketh them to seeke our saluation in our selues in whome there is nothing to bee found but destruction or for any thing wherewith we may pay God or wherewith we may purchase eternall life both for our selues and others out of our owne stocks and prouision In the meane time wee see howe the succeeding ages learned to build vpon these strawie and stubblie foundations Thomas had said That free-will mooued by the grace of God proceeded vnto good workes and became fellow-worker with his grace These men say That free-will of his owne nature dooth such workes as that they merit that God should illuminate the worker with his grace giue him faith c. In such sort as that the vnbeleeuers doe merit of God by their workes not any more the gift of faith and righteousnesse but faith and righteousnesse for a hire which they call Meritum de congruo as a man would say of well beseeming meaning thereby that if not for righteousnesse yet at the least for seemlinesse sake God is bound to giue them his grace See I pray you how this matter agreeth with the Scripture Whatsoeuer is done without faith cannot please God With Saint Augustine The workes of all vnbeleeuers considered in them are sinnes As also with Thomas Whereas God is mooued to distribute his grace it is not in consideration of ante merits gone before or to come but of his free grace and good will sed ex mera gratia And this is the same likewise which the Schoole-men say in their dunsicall doctrine That man by his naturall power doing that which is in himselfe without faith and without the holy Ghost is able to merit de congruo that God should giue him grace And Gabriel Biel expoundeth these woordes Gab. Biel. in 3. sent d. 27. In 4. Sent. d. 14 q. 1. d. 14 l. 3. q. 2. That which is in himselfe louing God saith he aboue all things And this he affirmeth that Man may doe of his owne naturall power Whereas notwithstanding in deed the case standeth thus that loue proceedeth from knowledge and that imperfect knowledge cannot beget perfect loue Yea hee passeth further for saith he as no subiect receiueth anie forme except it be prepared and fitted thereunto euen so it is requisite that our soule should bee prepared for the infusion of grace which is our formall righteousnesse before God and this it commeth to be by the meanes of free-will which maketh a man to know his sinne and to be displeased with himselfe for the same which he calleth dispositionem praeuiam after which he resolueth to loue God aboue all which he calleth dispositionem concomitantem which maketh the soule apt to receiue the stampe and marke namely the infusion of his grace by this act so meriting the same euen so farre foorth as that grace of necessitie and that verie speedilie is infused into it Neither more nor lesse saith hee then in naturall things vltima immediata dispositio necessitat ad formam Which is as much to say in plaine English as that our free-will dooth not onely merit grace at Gods hande for seemelinesse sake but euen of necessitie and perforce Quite contrarie to that which Saint Paule repeateth so often times By grace Thomas likewise Mera liberalitate meragratia c. As also cleane contrarie to that that hee maketh Grace the beginning of our saluation in intention and the effectiue in the execution c. Thomas againe had saide That free-will deliuereth by the grace of God and worketh certaine actions auailable to the purging and taking away of veniall sinnes as also to the stirring vp of the increase of grace But such as come after staie not there For this infused grace of God by the merit of the free-will of man is turned by them into a state and disposition of the spirit made conformable to the Law and will of God by which Man saith this Gabriell also is not onely deliuered from bond of damnation but also is made worthie of life and eternall glorie And the soule saith he informed and taught by this grace by an action drawne partly from this grace and partly from a mans owne will doth merit eternall life not any more de congruo that is to say of congruitie or for seemelinesse sake but de condig no for hauing done a deed worthie of the same that is to say by righteousnesse For euen so doe they define it That the workes of the regenerate done in charitie in this life deserue eternall life in as much as it is to be rendred and giuen to good workes
them from natural sense and vnderstanding to the spirit from an opinion to faith and from the earth vnto heauen c. And therfore we see not that euer the Scripture doth lead vs to obserue and marke any miracles in the signes of his Mysteries notwithstanding that it is a dutie to be most carefully discharged to publish set forth the maruailous works of the Lord in the church It teacheth vs the famous and worthie passing of the destroying Angell ouer the houses of the Israelits without touching of theÌ„ The lamb was the memoriall therof and that so cleare and euident a one as that it was called by the name of the Passouer it self In this passing ouer then ther is pointed out vnto vs a miracle namely in the difference which the Angel made betwixt the Israelits and the Egyptians and in the lambe it recoÌ„mendeth vnto vs a mysterie So likewise of Manna the rock in that the one was rained the other dissolued into water it is a miracle but in that they feed queÌ„ch the thirst of the true Israelits spiritually there lies a mystery And of the water conuerted into wine in Cana S. Iohn maketh mention vnto vs of a myracle Of Iorden turned dayly into bloud by reason of so many persons as daily confessed their sinnes and were baptised how much more famous had it beene and worthie of renowne And yet this was no myracle but a misterie Verie excellently thereforefore hath a certaine Schooleman said That wee must not looke for myracles Aegyd l. 2. examer c. 13. but where they are That where and so oft as euer we can discharge and free the holy Scriptures by the things that we naturally see that there and so oft wee ought not to haue recourse vnto the power of God nor vnto myracles Now we may free them most easily when wee vnderstand misteries mistically Sacraments Sacramentally figures figuratiuely Chrys in Ioh. c. 6. â—om 46. spiritual things spiritually c. Chrysostome saith What is it to vnderstand things carnally Simply according to the letter without conceiuing and taking any further thing to be meant and contained therein But it is requisite saith hee to consider and looke vpon all misteries with inward eyes that is to say spiritually And as we conceiue them spiritually euen so wee receiue them in like manner namely by faith For saith he Idem in c. 11. ad Hetr hom 21 Theophyl ibid. Theod. dial 1. Thoâ—â— 3. part summ q. 78. art 2. We thinke that the things that rest in hope are without substance but faith giueth them a substance and yet not as though it gaue them any thing more but because it becommeth vnto them their verie essence and being c. Theodoret The things that are misticall are spoken mistically and the things which are not knowne vnto all are openly declared Thomas likewise The word of Christ worketh effectually and Sacramentally Sacramentally that is to say saith hee according to the force of the signification CHAP. II. That the doctrine of the holy Supper must be examined by the rules aboue handled as also all that which is deliuered of all other the Sacraments as well of the old as of the new Testament NOw wee are for the most part of this mind that the rules aboue named may be practised and vsed in other Sacraments but our Aduersaries wil not agree that they are so in the explication and vnfoulding of the doctrine of the holy supper and therefore wee are consequently to see if the holy Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers doe tolerate and admit yea or rather necessarily presse and vrge that the doctrine of the holy supper be examined and tried by these same rules which wee reduce into a few words in these manner of tearmes That a Sacrament is a visible signe of a thing that is to say of an inuisible grace That the signe and the thing are Correlatiues and that therefore the one is not the other That the signe is giuen by the Minister or Pastour but the thing by God alone That the signe is receiued by the hand both of true belieuers and hypocrites but the thing by faith of the belieuers onely That the likenesse that is betwixt the signe and the thing hath caused the name of the one to be attributed vnto the other that is to say the name of the thing to the signe but that thereis not therfore any changing of the one into the other neither by way of myracle nor yet of any supernaturall worke c. but onely of names the more plainely to point out the mysterie That Sacraments and misteries haue one proper stile which must bee vnderstood mistically and Sacramentally c. which hath beene verified and approued in all the other Sacraments as well of the old Testament wherof the Apostle saith That our Fathers did eate the same meare and drinke the same drinke as also in Baptisme a Sacrament of the new Testament Let vs come therefore vnto the holy supper of our Lord. We belieue that in it In what sort aâ—d manner the faithfull communicate and receiue the Lordes supper the belieuer receiueth drinketh eateth not only bread and wine but also the verie flesh of Christ and the true verie bloud of Christ the flesh giuen for the life of the world the bloud shed for the remission of our sinnes That it is not more true that the bread is broken and the wine powred out or that they become nourishment vnto our bodies for the sustaining of this fraile and brittle life then it is true that the flesh of our Lord is broken and his bloud shed for vs and that they become nourishment for our soules drie and barren that they are of themselues but watered and altered by his righteousnesse to nourish them vnto eternall life Much more then whereas the bread and wine are turned into our substance by the operation of our naturall heate to bee incorporated into vs doe the flesh and bloud of our Lord by the operation of the holy Ghost incorporate vs more and more into him wee communicate his substance and in the same his life and all his benefits as members of Christ bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh to be crucified iustified sanctified and glorified in him insomuch that our heat being more strong then the bread and wine doth turne and alter them into our substance the holie Ghost being stronger and more mightier then we doth conuert and turne vs both to him and into him And by that meanes wee receiue not onely Christ really and substantially in the holy Supper celebrated according to his institution but we are wrought into one bodie more and more amongst our selues of which body he is the head and we the members the faithfull I meane that draw their spirituall life the sense motion and spirituall action of their soules from him a liuely and quickened body by his spirit one togither by him one
is in the vnitie of this bodie that is to say in the coniunction and setting together of the members of Christ of the Sacrament of whose body the faithfull in communicating are accustomed to receiue from the Altar may truely bee said to bee such a one as eateth the bodie of Christ and drinketh his bloud And those on the contrarie that are not his members cannot eate him For hee hath said He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud he dwelleth in me and J in him Who so therfore dwelleth not in me I in him cannot eat my flesh nor drink my bloud he eateth it Sacramēto tenus and not re vera that is to say he taketh and receiueth but the signe and not the thing For saith he They which abide not in him are not his members And in an other place Seeing he hath recommended vnto vs the eating of his flesh c. that is to say our abiding in him Idem in Ioh. tract 27. and his in vs now wee abide and dwell in him when we are his members and he in vs when wee are his temple Which thing is much more clearely laid out by Christ himselfe I am the vine and you are the branches c. The branches sucke their life out of the Vine not to the end verily that they may be branches but because they are such alreadie and yet in so sucking they become more faire and beautifull braunches euen so the faithfull doe eate Christ in the Supper not to the end that they may become his members but because they are his members alreadie and to the ende that in deriuing and sucking their life from him they may become the better growing and thriuing members Saint Chrysostome The bread which wee breake Chrysost in 1. Cor. c. 11. is it not the Communion of the bodie of Christ Why did not the Apostle as well say participation Because that he would declare and point out some further matter and shew the great and close coniunction For we doe not communicate onely for that we receiue and are made partakers but for that we are vnited and made one for as this bodie which he hath once taken vpon him is vnited vnto Christ so by this bread we are vnited and made one with him c. For saith he what signifieth the bread The bodie of Christ. And what are they made which doe receiue it The bodie of Christ c. Whereby wee learne that the Communion is not a carnall eating 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but a coherence and vniting of the faithfull vnto the body of Christ which could not be better represented then by eating which is the most strict and vnseparable way Leo. ad Cler. pleb Constant whereby one nature may naturally be ioined vnto another Leo the first to the same sense This is so currant in all mens mouthes as that the verie children cease not to speake amongst the Sacraments of our common faith of the truth of the bodie and blood of Christ seeing that in the mysticall distribution of the spirituall food it is both giuen and taken to the end that receiuing the efficacie power of the spiritual meat we may be translated and changed into his flesh who became our flesh c. that is to say let vs be fed of him as it hath beene said as flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones c. Wherefore to eate the flesh and to drinke the bloud of Christ is to fetch and sucke our spiritual nourishment from him and that from him dead for vs to the ende that the similitude may haue his full course as the corporall man draweth not forth the meanes of the maintenance of his life from things any otherwise then by the dying for the same To bee bidden vnto this banket and eating is to bee exhorted to maintaine and cherish our coniunction with Christ and our life in Christ by the continuing of this nourishment and this coniunction with Christ worketh a coniunction amongst our selues as members of one and the same bodie The coniunction and vnion of the faithful amongst them selues in the holy Supper 1. Cor. 10. which is more and more neerely and closely wrought in the holy supper which S. Paul expresseth in these words We which are many are one onely bread and one onely body for we are partakers of one and the same bread c. that is to say sucking the iuice of life from one and the same Vine we are quickned by one and the same spirit c. which is the second end of the Lords supper but yet depending vpon the first in as much as we cannot be ioyned by faith to Christ except we be also vnited and ioyned by loue and charitie vnto our brethren Ignatius making this coniunction plaine saith There is but one flesh of our Lord Iesus and one bloud of his shed for vs one bread broken for all Ignat. ad Philadelph Iren. l. 3. c. 10. and one Cup of the whole Church Ireneus The Lord promiseth to send the comforter that is to say the holy Ghost For as of drie Corne there cannot bee made any paste neither yet any bread without licour so we cannot of many be made one in Christ without that water which is from heauen Saint Cyprian Cypr. l. 1. Ep. 6 ad Magn. l. 2. Ep. 3. ad Caecil When as our Lord calleth his body bread made into dough by the mixing together of many graines he sheweth that our people the image whereof hee resembled is vnited together and made one And when he calleth the wine his bloud pressed out into one from diuers Grapes be signifieth in like manner our flocke ioyned together and made into one by the mixture Adunate multitudinis of an vnited multitude Now this vnion said Ireneus as it is spirituall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 August de Consecr D 2. c Qu a passus Ep. 57. ad Dardan so it is wrought by the spirit S. Denis The Minister saith he vncouering the bread that is couered and vndiuided and parting it into many peeces and distributing the Cup vnto all multiplieth and distributeth the vnitie mystically c. Saint Augustine And you saith hee are there at the Table and in the Cup you are with vs. Againe Christ is the head of this body This is the communion which the members haue with the head The vnitie of this body is recommended vnto vs by our sacrifice this is the communion of the members amongst themselues Being the same that the Apostle hath signified saying We are all one bread and one bodie c. Chrysostome What doe I speaking of Communion wee are the body it selfe For what is the bread Chrysost in 1. Cor. 10. the body of Christ And what are they made which receiue the same The body of Christ not many bodies but one body For as the bread is made into one lumpe by the kneading of many graines together and that in
such sort as that they are not apparant or to bee discerned notwithstanding that they be there neither yet any manner of distinction to bee made of them by reason of their incorporation euen so are we all incorporate both amongst our selues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also with Christ for wee are not nourished and fed this man of one bodie and that man of an other but all ioyntly of one and the same These are then the two principall endes of the Sacrament euen the growth and helping forwarde of our vnitie with Christ our head and of our vnitie with the brethren which with vs doe make one body in him which cannot bee accomplished more effectually then by the remembrance of the death of Christ which stirreth vp in vs a loue towards him who hath loued vs so much as to giue himselfe to death for vs euen that death which was due and iustly belonging to sinners c. So that wee not being able either to liue or die for any his emolument or profit for what good can there arise from vs to him we are incited and stirred vp to liue and die for his body which is the Church and not to spare any thing that is in vs no not our owne bloud for the edifying of the same or for the good and saluation of our brethren either begotten of Basil de Baptis in Moral or redeemed by the same bloud And this is the cause why Saint Basill saith What profit is there in these words Take this is my body To the end that drinking and eating we may euermore bee mindfull of him which is dead and risen againe for vs Who so calleth not to mind this remembrance is said to eate vnworthily c. And in another place What is the dutie of such as eate the bread and drinke the Cup of Christ Verily saith he to keep the remembrance of him which is dead and risen againe for vs perpetually c. Seeing saith likewise S. Ambrose Ambros de iis qui myst intiantur c. 3. That the Sacrament serueth not for any vse vnto saluation without the preaching that is to say the remembrance and commemoration of the crosse of Christ. And hitherto it may be that both wee and our aduersaries are of one mind in as much as we both the one and the other say That the bodie and bloud of Christ are in the Supper celebrated according to his institution and are truly and verily drunken and eaten in the same by the faithfull members of Christ in assurance of remission of sinnes and eternall life But the difference and disagreement betwixt vs is Wherein the maine difference lyeth for that wee say that they are receiued in the supper of the Lord with the Sacraments of the bread and wine They vnder the accidents of the whitenes roundnesse c. of the bread and vnder the rednesse and moysture c. of the wine the substance therof being at the verie instant of the vttering of the words by the Priest quite vanished and become nothing that so there may be place made for the bodie and bloud yea conuerted and turned into the bodie and bloud of Christ which they call Transubstantiation Againe that wee say that the bodie and bloud of Christ the nourishment of our soule which is spirituall are communicated with vs by the efficacie and power of the spirit of God and receiued of vs in like manner spiritually and by faith They that they are giuen by the hand of the Priest vnder the accidents of bread and wine and conuerted into flesh bloud by the pronouncing of the words which they call Sacramentall receiued into the mouth and swallowed downe into the stomack corporally and really c. and that not of the faithfull onely but of all both good and bad which receiue them c. So that the question or controuersie betwixt vs is not Whether there be a communicating of the body and bloud of Christ in the holy supper but How And this How is not raised by vs It proceedeth of the curiosity of our aduersaries neither yet by our incredulitie or curiositie but by our aduersaries who in stead of resting themselues in the simplicitie of the old writers haue so curiously pried into the same as that they haue wrapt themselues in an infinite sort of absurdities thereby causing doubts to arise yea and doubting themselues also of If in stead of making it plaine vnto themselues and others of the manner How Verily Saint Cyprian saith That it is an Apostolike thing and appertaining to the sinceritie of the truth to declare how the bread wine are the flesh bloud of our Lord. Saint Augustine likewise feareth not to demaund How the bread is made the bodie of Christ seeing that our Lord in the day of the Ascention caried vp his bodie into heauen But he hath also giuen vs rules by which these kinds of speeches ought to be expounded But this holy scanning and sifting out of the truth is verie farre from the prophane curiositie of our aduersaries they seeke the deciding of the matter in the nature of the Sacraments by comparing of Scripture with Scripture and by the analogie of faith and of the Creed according to the true and vndoubted rules of Diuinitie but these our aduersaries by destroying of the Sacraments the nature of Christ and the Articles of our faith our onely Diuinitie by destroying also the Lawes which God hath set in nature by a false kind of Philosophie So deeply haue they delighted and rooted themselues in an opinion contrarie to faith in the flesh which profiteth nothing contrarie to the word which is spirit and life and in the letter which is dead and killeth contrarie to the spirit which is liuing and quickning They say The literall sence neither can nor ought to be followed alwayes what is there any thing more cleare or plaine This is my bodie this is my bloud But againe is there any thing more plaine The rocke was Christ And of circumcision This is my couenant Againe The Lambe is the Passeouer These bones are the house of Israell Iohn is Elias I am the true Vine I am the bread of life which came downe from heauen c. And if the plainnesse and clearenesse of places should bee tied vnto the words and not to the sence and meaning then what clearer places can there possibly be then these Let vs make man according to our owne image and similitude And the Anthropomorphites haue heereupon concluded that God hath the shape of a man Genes 1. Luke 22 Who so hath not a sword let him sell his Coate and buy one And what then saith Origen Shall the Bishops put their hand to the sword thereupon I and my Father are one And Sabellius hath concluded thereupon that the Father hath suffered in the flesh I am the bread of life August de ciuit Dei l. 21. c. 25. he that shall eate this
much saith the Apostle as That he hath not taken vpon him the Angels that is to say the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham that is to say the nature of man taking part with flesh and bloud c. to destroy the kingdom of death by his death c. For in presupposing without the word of God that this body may be in a thousand places at once they conclude against the word of God that this body hath not that which is of the very nature of a body against that which our Lord said after his resurrection reprouing the vnbeliefe of S. Thomas A spirit hath neither flesh nor bone c. and against that which all antiquitie teacheth That what he once tooke vpon him he neuer leaueth or casteth off That in putting on glorie he did not put off either nature or yet the conditions and qualities of nature c. Christ verily in taking our nature hath taken both our flesh our bloud and this bloud distributed throughout his veines c. What doth then this Transubstantiation which shutteth vp this his body by it selfe vnder the accidents of bread and his bloud by it selfe vnder the accidents of wine He hath taken likewise both our flesh and our soule and shall then a corporall substance bee turned into a spirituall The bread into the soule of our Lord c. Or if it bee not changed thereinto shall it remaine a body without a soule And if this body which was giuen to the Apostles were liuing was not then this bread changed into a soule But they denie it And if he were dead then should he not be dead and liuing both at once Dead and inuisible as he was giuen but aliue and visible as he did giue and distribute it And how many are the absurdities begotten of one absurditie And who seeth not how the auncient heretickes which called in question the truth of the humane nature of Christ did not a little ground themselues and their assertions vpon these Maxims Verily Iesus Christ our Lord after his resurrection That Christ is absent according to his humaine nature but euery where present as concerning his diuine nature According to the scriptures Iohn 7 Iohn 3. Mathew 26. Mark 6. Luke 24. Acts 1.3 ascended in his body into heauen and left this world vntill the time of his comming againe to iudge the world according as he did instruct his Apostles as hee had made them visible to behold see and as they in like maner after him did aduertise and teach vs You shall not haue me alwaies with you I am here for a while It is expedient for you that I goe I am come into the world and againe I leaue the world I goe to him that sent me from whome I am also come and if I goe not the comforter will not come You shall seeke me but as I haue said vnto the Jewes whither I goe they cannot come And now also I tell it you that is to say in one word looke not for me any more hereafter in this humane nature And in deed hee blesseth them withdraweth himselfe from them and is taken vp on high into heauen and set at the right hand of his father From whence he shall come againe say the Angels euen as he was seene to goe vp into heauen And it must needes be saith S Peter That the heauens doe containe him vnto the time of the restauration of all things And yet notwithstanding hee saith I will not leaue you orphanes I am with you vnto the end of the world I will send you the comforter which shall teach you c. Likewise whensoeuer you shal be two or three gathered together in my name I will be in the miast of you that is according to my diuine nature And thus haue al the auncient Fathers spoken Origen It is not the man that is euerie where According to the Fathers Orig in Mat. tract 33. where two or three bee gathered together in his name or yet alwaies with vs vnto the end of the world or which is in euerie place where the faithfull are assembled but it is the diuine power which is in Iesus Athanasius I goe to the Father But doth he not fill all things euen heauen earth and hell And did he neuer withdraw him selfe from the Father And to goe and come are not these properties belonging to such as are finite and limited within their lists and bounds of time and place by departing from the place where he was not to the place where he was c. But saith he This is because he speaketh of the humane nature which he tooke vpon him in which it behoueth him to goe vnto the father and come from thence againe to iudge the quicke and the dead c. S. Augustine in an infinite sort of places and that very largely You shall haue the poore alwaies with you c. Let not good men saith he be troubled In respect of his maiestie prouidence grace c. it is fulfilled which he said I am alwaies with you c. In respect of the flesh which the word tooke vpon it August in Ioh. tract â—0 as also in respect that he was borne of the Virgine apprehended of the Iewes fastned to the tree taken from off the Crosse wrapped in linnen laid in the Sepulchre manifested at the resurrection it is the same which is said You shall not haue mee alwaies c. The Church inioyed him but a few daies in respect of his bodily presence but now it possesseth him by faith seeth him no more with these bodily eyes c. Idem ad Dardan Ep. 57. What then Said one vnto him is he not euerie where Yes he is euerie where saith he but as a man is soule and flesh so Christ is the word that is to say God as also man and wee must alwaies distinguish in the Scriptures that which is spoken of the one from that which is spoken of the other By reason of the one he is the Creator and in consideration of the other a creature In the one he was here vpon earth and not in heauen when he said No man ascendeth vp into heauen c. In the other he was in heauen notwithstanding that he was not yet ascended vp into heauen notwithstanding that he was yet conuersant and abiding here vpon earth c. And therefore stand fast and irremoueable in thy Christian confession That hee is ascended vp into heauen That he sitteth at the right hand That from thence and not from elsewhere he shal come to iudge the quicke and the dead and that in the very same forme and substance of flesh whereto for certaine saith he he hath granted and freely giuen immortalitie and yet hath not bereft it of his nature And according to this nature we must not make accompt that hee is shed abroad euerie where but rather beware least we in such sort establish the Diuinitie of the
man as that we destroy and take away the veritie of the body For it is no good consequent that all that which is in God Idem in Iohn tract 78. is euerie where as God is c. And in an other place vppon these words Vado Venio ad vos He went saith he as man he staied behind in as much as he was God hee went in as much as he was but in one place he staied and abode still in as much as he was euerie where Againe Idem de verb. Dom. Serm. 60. de Tem. Serm. 40. It is expedient for you that I goe although saith he that he bee alwaies with vs by his Diainitie But and if hee had not gone away from vs corporally we should haue seene him daily with these carnall eyes and should neuer haue belieued in him spiritually c. And for this cause hee hath absented himselfe in body from all the Church to the end that faith might bee edified and builded vp Cyril Alex. in Ioh. 9. c. 21. l. 10. c. 39. S. Cyrill It is meete that all the faithfull belieue that howsoeuer our Lord bee absent in body yet he is present by his power to all them that loue him c. And reciprocally no man doubteth seeing he is ascended into heauen but that he is absent in the flesh though present in body c. What is this then I will not leaue you comfortlesse That is how that after he is ascended into heauen risen from the dead Idem l. 6. dial de Trinit he is in vs by his spirit c. And againe what is the meaning of this I am in the midst of two or three assembled in my name Verily saith he when as man he was conuersant here vpon earth he filled notwithstanding the heauens not leauing therfore the companie of the Angels And on the otherside likewise where as now he is in hraue Idem l. 11. c. 3. li. de Incarn c. 21. Fulgent ad Thrasimund l 2. he ceaseth not to fil the earth with his power c. He appeared for vs on high before the father and he ceaseth not to dwel here below in the Saints by his spirit c. being absent according to his humanitie but present according to his Diuinitie Fulgentius One and the same Christ saith he is a locall man that is to say tied to one place in as much as he was borne a man that is to say of the Virgine and notwithstanding God infinite that is to say without limitation of place measure or bounds in as much as he is of the Father according to his humane nature absent from heauen when he was vpon earth and leauing the earth when he ascended into heauen according to his diuine nature notwithstanding not leauing the heauens when hee descended nor the earth when he ascended into heauen Vigil l. 1. cont Eutych c. Vigilius B. of Trent It is expedient for you saith he that I goe c. And how will he goe saith he vnto the father who neuer is from him He which is all in all with the father and of whome all things are full c. But saith he This is because he caried out of this world his humane nature which he had taken of vs c. He is then gone from vs according to this humanitie but in respect of his Diuinitie hee saith vnto vs I am with you vnto the end of the world Idem l. 4. But againe now the daies will come that you shall desire to see the Sonne of man and shall not see him c. Verily because he is after a certaine manner both absent from vs and present with vs By the forme of a seruant which he carried from vs into heauen he is absent from vs and by the forme of God which remoueth not from vs here on earth hee is present with vs Circumscribi loco and so by this meanes he but one the same becommeth present with vs and absent from vs c. But seeing saith he that the word is euery where wherefore is not the flesh also euery where These certainly are things very diuers different to be limited bounded within one place and to be euery where The Son of God had a beginning as cōcerning the nature of his flesh but he had not any if you consider the nature of his diuinitie In regard of that he is a creature but in regard of this the Creator In respect of that he is a subiect to be contained in one place but in respect of this it is not possible for him to be contained in any place c. And this is the Catholike faith fession which the Apostles haue deliuered vnto vs which the Martyrs haue confirmed and ratified and which the faithfull haue conserued and maintained euen vnto this present c. And that in such sort that although the founders of Transubstantiation haue laide such doctrines as are contrarie to the succeeding ages Bed in hom Paschah Bernard in 1◠Serm. de Caen. Dom. serm 6.9.10 Hugo part 8. c 13. memit theol Cyril 9. in Io. c. 21. yet this foundation hath alwaies remained firme In Beda Christ ascending vp to heauen after the resurrection left his Disciples corporally how be it the presence of his diuine maiestie did neuer leaue them In S. Bernard I goe from you saith the Lord according to my humanitie but I do not goe away from you according to my Diuinitie I leaue you without my corporall presence but J arde and assist you with the presence of my spirit And thus haue all the old Schoolemen spoken so farre as that he which hath said otherwise hath beene reputed for an Eutichian or Nestorian according to the saying of S. Cyrill Ne quis in duos filios Christum diuidere auderet To the end that no man might be so bold as to diuide Christ into two Sonnes c. And of such like places a man might make vp a whole volume But followeth it that to the end it may retaine the humane nature that the bodie of Christ must needes bee bounded and made subiect to one certaine place What other thing is it that all these Doctors haue said in their making of it a locall and circumscriptible bodie and subiect to locall motions c. S. Ambrose saith Ambros Ep. 22. l. de Incarn Domini de spir sanct There was in Christ the same truth of body that is in vs. Againe Euerie creature is bounded within certaine limits of his nature and that that hath not a bounded and limited power cannot be called a creature If then thou consider the Son of man as man why doest thou not leaue him that which belongeth vnto man If as a creature for so we call him according to the phrase of antiquitie in as much as hee is man what doest thou cal in question his circumscriptiblenes if thou be not purposely minded to
confound the Creator with the creature And not any more to diuide and seperate with Nestorius but with Eutiches to confound and couple together the two natures In like maner S. Ierome Didimus l. 1 de spir sanct or rather Didimus translated by him goeth further Yea if the holy Ghost saith he were a creature euen he should haue a circumscriptible substance that is to say a substance restrained kept within certaine limits Yea saith S. Cyril The Diuinitie could not possibly auoid limitation Cyril de Trinit c. 2 if it were within the reach of any quantitie And then will the fathers exempt and except his glorified body from these rules Can you once thinke how seeing they do not exempt the Diuinity it self if it were possible for it to come vnder any presupposed quantitie Theod. Dial. 2 Verily not Theodoret who saith It is glorified with diuine glorie adored of the celestial powers but notwithstanding a body but notwithstanding subiect to that limitation which it was before c. I heard the Lord who said You shall see the Sonne of man comming in the clouds c. But I know that that which is seene of men is finite and limited August ad Dard. Idem ad q. 35. q. 65. 20. Idem de diuers quaest q. 83. Ep. 6. Idem in Ioh. tract 30. de Consecr d. 2. C. prima quidem Idem ad Dar. Ep. 57. ad Consent 46. Nazianz. ad Theod. dial 1. Concil Chalced apud Damasc l. 3. c. 3. Euagr. l. 2. c. 4 Concil Constant aecumenic 6. for neuer could any man see that nature which is infinite and vnlimited Not S. Augustine For saith hee take from bodies space of place and so you shall make thē not existant and if not existant then not to be any thing at all Againe Euerie body is locall and euerie locall thing is a body whatsoeuer is locall is in one place and not in many and it occupieth with his least part the least place with his greatest the greatest c. Againe The Lord is on high but the Lord which is veritie and truth that is to say in as much as hee is God is also here It must needs be that the body wherin he rose againe marke how he speaketh of his glorified body should continue in one place albeit that his truth bee dispersed and shed abroad euerie where Againe Let vs not be so insolent as to say that the body hath not onely put off mortalitie and corruption by the glory of the resurrection but also that it is now become spirit where it was a body For I belieue and esteeme it to be such a one in heauen as it was here on earth when he ascended into heauen c. For a spirituall body is that which is alreadie immortal with the spirit but not that it is changed into a spirit c. Not Gregorie Nazianzene We teach saith hee the same Christ consisting of a circumscriptible body and of an incircumscriptible spirit of a body which may be contained in a place of a spirit which no place is able to contain c. Not the Orthodox and purer Church in the Councels of Chalcedon Constantinople III. The two natures after the vnion haue verily their owne natures their naturall properties for either of thē doth retaine his natural property so as that it cannot possibly be changed But in the meane time we haue here to obserue that the heretickes of that time against whom the fathers disputed doe not aleadge for themselues any thing of transubstantiation but is not the bodie of Christ in diuers places at one the same time in the holy supper and then is it not either changed or cōfounded with the diuinitie or the properties of the one nature become communicable with the other which no doubt they would not haue forgotten if the Church of that time had taught either transubstantiation or any doctrine which had come neere therto They obiect yea but our Lord came forth of the virgins wombe Tertul. de car Christ c. 4. 20. 23. aduers Marcion l. 3. c. 11. l. 4. c. 21. l. 5. c. 19. Quod communi parefacti corporis lege pepetit Orig. in Luc. hom 14. Ambr. in Luc. l. 2. Hieron ad Eustoch de cast virg Luke 2. Durand l. 4. in l. 4. Sent. D. 44. q. 6 Nu. 21. Leo 1. ad Epis Palaest Hilar. de Trin l. 3. ad Constant August Hieronym ad Pammach Iustin Martyr in quaest q 120 Cyril Alex. in Ioh. l. 12. c. 53. that was closed and shut vp he rise againe the sepulcher fast he went into his discipls the dores made c. Wherfore there is a penetrating of dimensions and a concurrence of bodies in one and the very same place c. Tertullian Origen S. Ambrose and S. Ierome did answere them That Christ being borne did open the wombe of the virgine And S. Luke alleadgeth the law to this purpose Euerie male opening the matrix shal be holy vnto the Lord c. Out of which Theophilact gathereth altogether an other manner of doctrine For saith hee this law properly hath beene accomplished in Christ alone who onely opened the wombe of the virgin for as concerning other mothers their husbands and not their children doe open them And Durand likewise is farre from finding this miracle To the stone rolled vpon the sepulcher Iustinus Martyr would tell them That the diuine power caused it to make way for him or that the Angell rolled it away And Pope Leo the first likewise That Christ rise againe the stone of the sepulcher being rolled away And S. Hilarie in generall That all closed and shut thinges are open to the power of God S. Ierome That the creature giueth place to the Creator c. But yet his entrance the dores being shut is vnanswered Iustinus Martyr answering purposely this verie question This was not saith he by chaunging his bodie into a spirit but by the same reason that our Lord walked vpon the sea causing by his diuine power the sea to befit to walk vpon which of it owne nature was not so in so much as that it did not onely beare vp his bodie but that of Peters also The miracle then was in the sea not in the bodie in the dores which opened by a speciall power and not in the subtlenes as they speake of his bodie Then he addeth For this is the same with the walking of his body vpon the sea without being chaunged for euen so without any manner of change in his bodie he entred in at the dores being shut And therefore he would saith he that his disciples should touch him to the end that they might know that he entred not by changing of his bodie into a spirite but that by diuine power which bringeth thinges to passe beyond the course of nature this bodie of his consisting of grosse parts was entered and come into them Saint
Cyrill The Lord went in to his disciples the dores being shut and that by surpassing through his omnipotencie the nature of things And therefore let no man trouble himself with seeking out of the cause but let him rather consider that the question is not here of a meere man like to our selues but of the Almightie Sonne of God to whome whole nature is subiect This was therefore after the same manner that his walking vpon the sea was which naturally is not giuen to beare vp our feet and note that this was before his bodie was glorified and therefore when thou readest this beware that thou be not turned aside to forsake the true faith c. And if thou bee not able to comprehend the same blame the defects and wantes of thy spirit and say rather That whereas hee thus entred in at the dores being shut it is because he is God and yet not any other then he was at the time of his being conuersant as men amongst his disciples before his passion And in deed the better sort of their expositors of the later writers do not abuse these places to the prouing of the said pearsing through of dimensions imagined and deuised by our aduersaries which maketh that two bodies should occupie but one place The dores say they were opened Ferus in Ioh. c. 20. and why not after the same manner that God caused the earth to open and swallow vp Dathan and his confederates the sea to make way for the Israelites and to drowne the Egiptians or the gates of the prison for the deliuerance of his Apostles And if God say they were able to bring them out of a prison fast shut mortall and corruptible men at they were why should he not himselfe be as able to go in the dores close shut The miracle euermore proceeding by this meanes from the diuine power vnited vnto his humane nature and not from any change made or pretended in the same and the change also whensoeuer any is resting in the things which suffer and obey this power without any extending of it selfe by any manner of way vnto the person Durand That our Lord went in the dores being shut by some other priuie secret place but not through the dores shut c. But if any one amongst so many haue found out this denne or lurking hole wherefore of so many sundrie expositions would they haue vs to make choise of that which is most harsh and obscure And when all is done what hath this to doe with the Sacrament of the holy Supper But we answere them two thinges In the first place That in the matter of the Sacraments as also of this same as Saint Augustine hath taught vs before there is no question to be made concerning any miracle And in the second place That this Maxime abideth euer firme that in God there is not yea and no toge ther and therefore that no miracle how great soeuer can imply any contradiction For the one S. Thomas telleth vs That a miracle commeth of admiration Tho. in 1. parte Summ. q. 105. art 7. that admiration falleth out when the effects are manifest but the cause hidden secret But here we all agree that the effects are hidden secret wherupon they are called mysteries And hereupon also S. Augustine doth roundly cut off all the controuersies saying That the Sacraments are things of great note estimation amongst men August de Trinit li. 5. c. 10 that they may be reuerenced as religious things but that they ought not to worke any admiration in vs as if they were miracles And by name he speaketh there of the holy supper As in deede there was neuer any miracle read of whose effectes were not cleare and manifest to the sences And to the second S. Thomas telleth vs God is not Almightie in respect of the things wherein there is contradiction because that they cannot be accounted of as possible things Thom. 1. p. Summ q. 25. art 3. 4. aduer ger t. l. 1 c. 84. l. 2. c. 25 August de Trini l. 15. c. 14 And he layeth downe for an example That he cannot make one thing and that which is contrarie to the definition of the same as a man vnreasonable a triangle and not three angles or three lines c. Because saith he This should be to haue them and not to haue them And to speake in better tearmes with Saint Augustine Because that This shoulde bee an vnablenesse and want of power for great is the power of the word sayeth hee in that it cannot lie for that therein there cannot bee Est non est but Est est Non non c. But are wee not in Saint Thomas his tearmes when there is made and set before vs a bodie without quantitie a quantitie without dimensions and a locall thing without any place a quantitie therefore without quantitie a bodie without a bodie And thus then they destroy the humane nature of Christ wherein lyeth the principall consolation of mankind the article also of his ascention into heauen of his sitting at the right hand c. that is to say euen our Creed In the sixt place let vs see how they deale with his diuinitie Transubstantiation iniurious to the diuine nature of the Sonne of God It is a rule amongst all the ancient fathers as we haue seene that men should distribute the Sacraments that is to say the signes but that God alone is the giuer of the thing but more particularly in this wherein it pleaseth the Sonne of God to giue himselfe vnto vs his flesh and his blood for our nourishment vnto eternall life But with what reuerence can we say that another giueth it vs and that in such sort as that it dependeth not vpon the institution of the Sacrament in it selfe neither yet of the vertue of the wordes which they call sacramentall but as in the workes and feates of Magicke in which strong imagination worketh the effect of the intention of the priest which vttereth them Whereupon it followeth that God must needs haue tyed his grace to the intention of the confecrating priest and not to his owne institution accompanied with his holy spirit And the Sonne of God shall not be ours that is to say the life which is in him shall not distribute it selfe vnto the faithfull further then the discretion of this intention shall extend And it shall bee in the power or rather in the weaknes of the Priest to frustrate and send away emptie a whole assemblie and companie of Christians gathered together in the name of Christ feruently desiring in a true faith and longing after his grace which hee hath included in this precious gift which he hath vouchsafed freely to bestow vpon them of himself in stead that he hath so graciously declared his good will vnto vs saying When two or three of you shall be gathered together in my â—ame J will bee in the
midst of you c. Yea to frustrate and disapoint them euerie manner of way whether his purpose and intention stand good or not For if he be nothing bent that way then according to their doctrine hee consecrateth not neither is the Sonne of God communicated And neuerthelesse if he do consecrate yet they doe not communicate therein for they are alwaies subiect to doubt whether hee had any purpose and intention or not And whereas there is doubting there is no faith and where there is no faith there is nothing but sinne Now themselues are of this iudgement that hee cannot receiue the bodie of Christ which doth not belieue in him Now then what priuiledge hath the vertuous and godly man more then the wicked seeing that the intention or not intention of the Priest transubstantiateth or leaueth vntransubstantiated seeing that both the one the other are subiect to doubt of the intention therefore of the effect seeing that both the one and the other whether doubting or assured thereof do equally receiue or not receiue Likewise what shall become of their doctrine De opere operato That the thing profiteth and is auaileable in asmuch as it is onely performed and done not in regard of the person which doth it seeing that this whole mysterie dependeth now Ex opere operantis of the working and operation of the sacrificer Moreouer where shall the excellencie of this Sacrament aboue all other Sacraments bee found if the rest depend vppon the grace of God without any such necessitie of the intention of him that consecrateth as the greatest part of them doth hold of baptisme and of that pretended Sacrament of mariage c. On God I say whose intention and purpose neuer halteth or faileth neither yet by consequent the obiect of our faith the same not to speake any thing more sharpely and grieuously of the infirmity of man being subiect to faile euerie moment But further I would know what shal become of their priuate Masses Bonauent in Comp. Sacr. Theol. rubr 11. l. 8. Gabr. Biel. lect 6. lit C. seeing that Bonauenture Biel hold That besides the intent of him that consicrateth there is required the intent and purpose of him that instituteth and ordaineth that it is not sufficient for the Priest to haue an intent to consecrate if hee follow not the intent of Christ in this sacrament But Hugo and Biel the most part of the schoolmen are they not of iudgement that priuate Masse wherein there is no publike remembrance made of the death of Christ doth nothing at all agree with the mind of the institutor what consolation then can they of the Church of Rome haue in the Sacrament when in stead of nourishing of their faith they maintaine and feed doubt and vncertaintie when as after they haue beene well prepared they know not what they receiue the efficacie of the consecration being vnable to penetrate and pearce according to their doctrine in the Sacrament without this intention and purpose the man likewise not being able to pearce and see into the intent of the consecrating Priest by any meanes Thus in seeking to giue too much to the worthinesse of the Priest they haue taken away the effect of the Sacrament from God who onely worketh the same and from the people the profit and fruit which should come to them thereby Stella clericoruÌ„ and for which it was ordained And all this that they might be honoured in the dispensation of the mysteries of God more then God himselfe more then the Creator whose Creators and makers since the time of the entring of the doctrine of transubstantiation they haue not beene ashamed to professe themselues to be Now the old Church had neuer any such doctrine they did not at any time once thinke of calling of Christ out of heauen by multitude of wordes What is meant by consecrating they did attribute the communion of the bodie of Christ to the institution of our Lord to the operation of the holy Ghost and to the faith of the faithfull To consecrate in their language was to sanctifie that is to blesse that is to change a thing from the common vse to a holy and from a profane to a sacred which is accomplished by the word that is to say by the institution of the Lord which giueth it his efficacie Thus speaketh Saint Cyprian ordinarily That the bread and the wine of the holy Supper are sanctified by the word And S. Augustine expoundeth it saying Not for that it is spoken but for that it is belieued not the sound that flâ—eth away but the permanent and abiding power that is to say the operation of the spirit of God c. After the same manner haue all the ancient fathers written as S. Hillarie Isidor l. 6. Ambrose Ierome Gregorie c. Isidore in like sort By the commandement of Christ we call his bodie and his bloud that which is sanctified of the fruites of the earth and made a Sacrament by the inuisible operation of the spirit of God c. In which sence the prophane Authors vsed also the word Consecration Promiscui vsus Cornelius Fronto saith Consecrated that is that which is made holy or turned to a holy vse being before prophane that is to say of a common vse But God forbid that our Lord should make the communion of his bodie which he offereth vnto vs subiect either to the sound of words or to the intent mind of him that vttereth them The ministers as were also the Apostles are made for the church not the church for them yea they are the ministers and not the Lords thereof they are not dispensers of their owne mysteries but of Christs yet which is more not of Christes mysteries but of the signes of his mysteries onely 1. Cor. 13. no more then they are of faith which commeth of the hearing of the worde notwithstanding that they minister the word to vs God hauing reserued vnto himselfe the gift of faith to worke the same by the effectuall power of his spirit as a dispensation only from his grace being no more depending on him that ministreth then tied to the signes which hee ministreth c. God verily saith to Moses And thou shalt sanctifie it c. Leuit 3. August in quaest in Leui. But he saith also in another place I am the Lord which do sanctifie it S. Augustine demandeth thereupon How can it be that both the Lord and Moses should do it Verily saith he Moses by the visible sacraments by his ministerie but the Lord by his inuisible grace by his spirit as that wherein lieth all the fruit and benefit of the visible sacraments So Iohn Baptist the greatest amongst those that are borne of women saith the Lord baptised with water but the gift of the spirit was of Christ And by the ministerie of Paul and Apollos many belieued but the gift of faith by which man belieueth
Mathew S. Marke and S. Luke doe all of them make mention how our Lord tooke the bread blessed it gaue it to his disciples saying vnto them Take eate this is my bodie how commeth it that S. Iohn maketh no mention thereof in this place that is to say in the rehearsing of that which goeth before the passion of our Lord Verily saith he It is a testimonie that our Lord hath spoken of that point a great deale more largely elswhere and where then but in this sermon of Capernaum Chrysost in Mat. hom 83. And Chrysostome saith How came it to passe that his disciples were not much troubled when they heard this Namely these words This is my bodie c. Verily saith he Because he had handled the great and waightie points of this thing before hand he laboured not to confirme that which they did alreadie vnderstand c. And againe And he drurke saith he himselfe least the hearing these words should haue said what then Doe we drinke blood and eate we flesh c. For when he first spake of these things manie were offended onely for the wordes sake to the end therefore that this might not come to passe againe he first performed the action himselfe that so he might take away whatsoeuer might trouble their spirits or perplexe their mindes in the communicating of the misteries Whereby it appeareth that those excellent olde fathers haue referred the place of S. Iohn to the interpretation of the holy supper instituted afterward that is to say that the eating which is ordained in the vse of the sacrament in the holy supper is the same that without the sacrament is declared in that place If then it bee spirituall here let it bee so likewise there And therefore let vs heare what the fathers say vpon the same Tertullian Notwithstanding that he saith That the flesh profiteth nothing Tertul. de resurrect carn wee must gather the sence from the matter of that which is spoken For in as much as they accounted his speeches to be harsh and intollerable as if he had determined in deed to haue giuen them his flesh to eate to direct and bring the state of their saluation to the spirite hee did set downe aforehand It is the spirit that quickeneth Marke that he saith Verily which cannot be expounded and taken there for Visiblie but for Carnally c. Athanasius â—pon this place Whosoeuer shal haue spoken a word against the Son of man De peccat contr spirit whereunto by consequent we haue to oppose Spirituallie Athanasius The Lord disputing in S. Iohn of the eating of his bodie and seeing that many were offended said vnto them what will this bee then if you see the Sonne of man ascend and go where he was before c. It is the spirit which quickneth c. For be hath spoken there both of the one and the other of the flesh and of the spirit and hath distinguished the spirit from the flesh to the end that belieuing not in that onely which appeareth to the eyes but also in the inuisible nature wee may learne that those thinges which hee spake are not carnall but spirituall For to how many men should his bodie bee able to be sufficient meate that so it might bee the foode and nourishment of the whole worlde But to draw them from vnderst anding of him carnally he made mention of his ascention and to make them to vnderstand afterward that the flesh whereof he had spoken was a spirituall meate and heauenly food that he was to giue it them from aboue For the thinges saith he which I haue told you are spirit and life As if he said My bodie which is shewed and giuen for the world is giuen for meate to the ende that it may be giuen spiritually to euerie one and that it may become a defensatiue and preseruatiue to all in the resurrection vnto eternall life S. Augustine expounding these wordes August in psal 98. The wordes which I speake vnto you are spirit and life bringeth in our Lord expounding those of the holy Supper in these tearmes Vnderstand saith he spiritually that which J haue said You shal not eate this bodie which you see you shall not drinke that blood which they shall shed that shall crucifie mee I haue recommended vnto you a certaine Sacrament which spiritually vnderstood will quicken and make you aliue Idem tract 27. in Ioh. and if necessitie require that it be visiblie celebrated yet it must be vnderstood inuisiblie Againe What meaneth this saying They are spirite and life that wee may vnderstande them spirituallie they are spirite and life hast thou vnderstoode them carnally they are notwithstanding spirite and life but not to thee And spiritually that is to say figuratiuely mistically Carnally is as much as to say literally really For saith he Thou hast to obserue this rule Idem de doct Christ l. 3. c. 16 If in the scripture a word or phrase of speech doe for bid thee some vile and wicked thing or command thee some honest and good worke that then it is not figuratiue but if on the contrarie c. thou must then make account of it to be figuratiue If you eate not the flesh c. it may seeme to command a trespasse c. it must needes then be a figuratiue speech a phrase and manner of speech commanding vs to be partakers of the death and passion of our Lord Cyril Cateches mystag Idem in Leuit. l. 7. and sweetly and profitablie to call to our remembrance that his flesh was crucified and pearced through for vs. S. Cyril Bishop of Ierusalem If you eate not c. Not vnderstanding these things according to the spirit they went away offended supposing that he had inuited them to a banket of mans flesh Saint Cyrill Bishop of Alexandria If you eate not c. But if you bee the children of the Church and instructed in the mysteries of the Gospell If the word which is made flesh dwell in you c. know that the thinges which are written in diuine bookes are figures c. For there is also in the new Testament and Gospels the killing letter c. as he shall find that doth not spiritually apprehend the thinges that are there spoken c. and hee bringeth forth this place for an example Theoph. in Ioh. c. 6. Whereupon also Theophilact though he were of that time wherein transubstantiation was set vp saith vpon this place In as much as we vnderstand it spiritually wee are no prophane deuourers of flesh but rather we are sanctified by this meate Againe For that they vnderstood it carnally he saith vnto them That which I tell you must be vnderstood spiritually and that is the way to profite thereby But to expound and take them carnally that profiteth nothing but turneth into matter of grosse offence Therefore he addeth The words that I say are spirit that is to say spirituall and life that is
the figure of his bodie in bread c. In breadâ— saith he elsewhere Quo ipsum corpus suum representat whereby he representeth his owne bodie And not In quo as Bellarmine woulde haue it which shoulde bee after his sence Idem de resurrect carn Wherein he giueth his bodie present He obiecteth a place like to that of Ireneus The flesh is nourished of the bodie and blood of Christ to the end that the soule may bee fedde or fatted of God An ordinarie argument amongst the fathers to proue the resurrection That God hath euidently shewed that hee woulde saue the soule and the bodie when as in the principall ceremonies of the Church hee hath alwayes ioyned them together as in the Eucharist giuing the Sacrament to the bodie the grace to the soule and sometimes they speake hyperbolicallie But let him here againe call to minde that which he lately said That to take it so would make a maruellous grosse error And then that he must vnderstande it sacramentally which is as much as to say expounding Tertullian by himselfe by these words contained in the same booke Idem ibid. c. 37. Although our Lorde saide that the flesh profiteth nothing yet wee must bee carefull to make the sence answerable to the matter there spoken of for they accompted his wordes hard as if hee had verily determined to haue giuen them his flesh to eate To the end therefore that he might settle the estate of saluation in the spirit he hath mentioned before how that it is the spirite that quickeneth c. Verily saith Pamelius that is to say rawlie From what place may not a man bee able to escape and defend himselfe from if such figures be receiued in disputations Origen giueth vs these Maximes which doe quite ouerturne transubstantiation Orig. in Mat. c. 15. That which is sanctified by the word of God and prayer doth not sanctifie of it owne nature him that vseth it Againe This meate also thus sanctified as concerning his materiall portion goeth downe into the bellie and from thence into the draught according to that which our Lord hath said That which entreth in at the mouth goeth downe into the bellie and is cast out into the draught c. What can a man imagine that may be spoken more clearely If as some doe a man would say that hee speaketh not of the Eucharist it appeareth to the contrarie by these words taken out of Saint Paule handling this matter against them which did abuse it And therefore many are weake amongst you c. 1. Cor. 11. If any man say with Bellarmine that by the matter which goeth into the draught is vnderstood the accidents what Grammer or what Rhetoricke did euer teach this figure which taketh the matter for the accidents What is it then saith hee that profiteth in this meate Verily not the matter of bread but the word spoken ouer the same to him that eateth it worthily And these thinges are spoken of his figuratiue and symbolicall bodie c. Of this meate which whosoeuer shall eate he shall liue for euer which no wicked man can eate c. Againe Wee drinke the blood of Christ not onely in the ceremonie of the Sacramentes Orig. in Numer hom 16. In Mat. c. 26. but also when we receiue his wordes wherein life consisteth according to that which himselfe hath said The wordes that I haue said vnto you are spirite and life c. And expounding the same wordes of the holy Supper This bread which the worde of God confesseth to bee his bodie is the nursing worde of our soules c. But saith Bellarmine Idem in Exod. hom 13. Idem hom 5. in diuers euang loc So that wee take heede saith he that wee let not any part of the consecrated gift to fall And what is that which wee doe not our selues for the reuerence due vnto the Sacramentes And that receiuing the breade of life and the cuppe wee ought humblie to cast downe our selues and say with the Centurion Lord I am not worthie that thou shouldest enter vnder my roofe c. This roofe I aske them in conscience what it is whether it be our bellie or our soule seeing it is our soule and not our bellie that must be humbled Saint Cyprian The Lord calleth his bodie bread made vp of many cornes and his blood Cypr. l. 1. ep 5. wine pressed out of manie grapes Then Hoc that is to say This bread this wine against our aduersaries And in another place he yeeldeth the reason Idem de vnct Chrismat Idem l. 2. cp 3. Because that in the table of the Lord the thinges signifying and the signified are called by the same name He saith not because that the signe is transformed into the thing or that the thing taketh the place of the signe Againe The bloud of him by whome we are redeemed and quickned can not bee seene seeing the wine is not in the cuppe by the which the blood of Christ ostenditur is shewed A little after he saith Exprimitur is expressed which is declared by the testimony and sacrament of all scriptures Hee disputeth against them which vsed not anie thing but water in the Sacrament contesting and solemnely affirming the necessarie and vnauoidable vse of wine because that the proportion of the life and corporall sustentation compared with the spirituall is not otherwise well signified and represented therein And how then shall the argument bee able to maintaine it selfe if there bee nothing but Accidentes In his sermon of the Supper yet some doubt that it was not his Before these wordes this meate was not commodious for anie other thing then to nourish the bodie but after that the Lorde had sayde Doe this in remembrance of me This is my flesh this is my bloud As oft as it is celebrated with this forme of wordes and substance of faith this substantiall bread and this cup consecrated by a solemne blessing profiteth vnto life and to the saluation of euerie man the whole together being a medicine to heale infirmities and a burnt sacrifice to purge iniquities Note first that he attributeth not the consecration to the fiue wordes but to the institution Secondly That the wordes themselues which they call Sacramentall are not those which they determine of and affirme to bee but Haec est caro mea hic est sanguis meus In the third place That faith is necessarie thereunto Fourthly That it euer continueth to bee bread and the cuppe blessed and consecrated not transubstantiated And fiftly That they doe not chaunge their nature the signes still continuing their power and vertue to nourish the bodie and grace accompanying the same by the operation of the worde to nourish the soule This is that which hee vnfoldeth and layeth open in the same treatise in other wordes which they faine would but can not abuse to make for their purpose The bread saith he which the Lorde set before his
vnderstanding by faith that is to say not to see but to belieue That the lambe which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde is there offered is there eaten Offered saith he without being offered that is to say as the Canon expoundeth it selfe mystically for the Table is mysticall C. iteratur C. Hoc est D. 2. de consecr Non rei veritate sed significante mysterio And therefore eaten without being eaten and yet truely sacrificed and truely eaten in asmuch as wee beleeue and call to minde there that hee hath beene sacrificed for vs in as much also as we are certaine that we are partakers of this sacrifice which is ours that his flesh is our meate vnto our resurrection vnto eternall life for he hath said vnto vs that he hath giuen it for vs. The Councell therefore hath saide truely because there is nothing more true then the promise of God nothing more certaine then his effect when it is receiued in faith and notiwthstanding that the bread and the wine are but tokens or signes to the ende that following the exhortation accustomed in the olde liturgies Sursum corda 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Life vp your harts on high c. We may waite and looke for the receiuing of our spirituall food at the hand of God and not at the hand of man yea we lift them vp verie high and farre aboue these signes and this table before which if the doctrine of our aduersaries at that time had had any place the Councel should haue said vnto vs as they say at this day Cast your selues downe before this table settle and fixe your eyes vpon your God that descendeth commeth downe vpon it see that you kneele downe vnto and worship him there Saint Athanasius which was of this time Athanas de verbo quicunque dixcrit c. will manifest and make cleare the purpose of this Councell I haue seene saith hee the like Character in the Gospell of Saint Iohn where the Lorde entreating of the cating of his bodie and seeing that manie were offended thereat speake in this sorte Doth this thing offend you what will you say then if you see the Sonne of man ascend and go vp to the place where he was afore time It is the spirite which quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing c. For hee hath spoken here of the one and the other of his flesh and of his spirite and hath distinguished the spirite from the flesh to the and that beleeuing not onely that which appeareth vnto the eyes but the inuisible nature also wee might learne that the thinges which hee spoke are not carnall but spirituall Where wee shall marke that hee expoundeth these wordes of the Councell Let vs not settle our minds vpon the signes set before vs but let vs vnderstand and know by faith c. By these That we beleeue not that onely which appeareth vnto the eies c. Hee addeth For to what an infinit multitude of men should his bodie haue become sufficient meate being ordained to bee the foode of all the world shewing thereby that wee must alwaies iudge and make accompt of the bodie of Christ as of a true bodie And in this sence the Councell said This is the cause why wee receiue in a small quantitie c. Seeing the scope and drift of the action is the sanctification of the spirite and not the filling of the bodie And afterward And therefore he made mention of his ascention into heauen thereby to draw them backe from vnderstanding of him corporally and to the end that from thence forwarde they might learne that the flesh whereof he had spoken was a heauenly and spirituall meate which hee must giâ—e them from aboue Whereby wee learne that this eating must in such sorte bee vnderstoode as that it euermore include the truth of Christes bodie and of his locall ascention For saith he that which I haue spoken vnto you is spirit and life as if he said This bodie which is shewed and giuen for the world shall bee giuen for meate to bee attributed to euerie one spiritually and to be made vnto them a defensatiue and preseruatiue vnto the resurrection of eternall life Setting against the badges and notes which the Councell had spoken of the spirituall distribution of this celestiall meate that is to say the thing it selfe And this is the cause why in another place he calleth it The mysticall table as the Councell The holy Table At which saith he Who so is partaker doth enter into the companie of God that is such as receiue the thing signified by the Sacrament that is to say the inward grace The thing then contrarie to the doctrine of our aduersaries is not receiued by the wicked and vngodly as those that neuer come in the company of God neither then is it receiued by the hand either of the faithfull or of the minister incorporated with the signe c. For as concerning the place that Bellarmine alleadgeth of Athanasius Thedor dial 2 ex orat Athan. de fide cited by Theodoret where he saith That it is saide of the true bodie Sit thou at my right hande Likewise This is my bodie which is deliuered for you and that by this bodie he was made our high priest c. It is to good purpose against those hereticks that denie the truth of the humane nature of our Lord but not against vs as also it is still to this day against the maisters of transubstantiation which destroy the same S. Hillarie In C. Corpus Christi de consecrat d. 2. Bishop of Poictiers of the same time cited by Gratian The bodie of Christ which is taken from the Altar is a figure in that the bread and wine are seene outwardly but truth in that the bodie and blood of Christ are receiued inwardly in truth Others attribute this to Hillarie Bishop of Rome Againe We doe verily receiue vnder a mysterie the flesh of his bodie and therefore we shall be one with him And To the end that he may be belieued to be in vs by the mysterie of the Sacraments And againe There is no place to doubt of the truth of the bodie and blood of Christ for both by the profession of our Lorde himselfe and by our faith it is truelie flesh and truely blood which being eaten and drunken doe bring to passe that Christ is in vs and we in him Now wee are to note the figure opposed and set against the truth the mysterie against the reall presence the profession of our Lord ioyntly with our own faith for the making of vs partakers of this truth being the effect which followeth of the coniunction of the partakers of this truth with Christ from which coniunction the wicked are excluded and therefore also from the receiuing of this truth Hilar. in Mat. c. 30. l. 8. de Trinitate which is accomplished by faith therefore the reall chaunge can take no place there And in
deed elsewhere he saith plainly That Iudas did not sup with our Lord For saith he he could not drink there with him which should not drinke with him in his kingdome seeing that he promised to al theÌ„ that drunk then of the fruit of this vine that they should drinke afterward with him The same that S. Clement hath said vnto vs before from the report of the Apostles Note of the fruit of this Vine not of the accidents of wine not of the bloud of Christ really but Sacramentally But they obiect a place vnto vs wherein I heartily wish more conscience in them and vnto the Reader that he would take the pains to reade it through for the better obseruing of the rule of this same Doctor therein That the things which are said must bee vnderstood by the causes that moued and procured such things to be said So saith he the word was truely made flesh Idem ibid. and we as verily and truly doe receiue the word flesh by the meate of the Lord How can we but iudge that he abideth naturally in vs Where they vnderstand by Cibum Dominiâ— The meate of the Lord the Eucharist and by abiding or dwelling naturally in vs to receiue the bodie of Christ really at our mouthes And these are the points which we are to examine Saint Hillarie dealeth here against the Arrians The Father saith S. Hillarie and the Sonne are one Euen so said they but yet so one as we are one with Christ Now that we are one with Christ it is of his free will not of our nature and in will not in nature the Father and the Sonne are also one Saint Hillarie then to proue vnto them that the Father and the Sonne were one in nature proueth vnto them that we are one in nature with Christ and he handleth it after this sort First that there is the same humane nature in Christ and in vs by the incarnation of the Sonne of God which he calleth the Sacrament of perfect vnitie the Sacrament of flesh and bloud and by which Naturalis communionis propriet as nobis indulgetur The propertie of the naturall communion is giuen vnto vs by our Lord Vsing the word Sacrament for the Mysterie in the worke of the incarnation as it is his ordinarie vse to doe a manner of speech verie familiar at that time as we reade in the conference betwixt the Catholiks and Donatists where Marcelline who did sit as President and chiefe Iudge for the Emperour Honorius doth sweare By the misterie of the Trinitie and by the Sacrament of the Lords incarnation c. In the second place that besides this nature which the faithfull and vnfaithfull are alike partakers of with our Lord there is a special and more particular coniunction which is wrought by the spirit of Christ dwelling in the faithfull which regenerateth quickneth sanctifieth maketh them conformable vnto him and transformeth them into him for proofe whereof he alleadgeth the 6.14 and 17. of S. Iohn which our aduersaries will not denie to belong to the spirituall eating of the faithfull onely And this he maketh more cleare when hee addeth that the cause of our life is by Christ dwelling naturally in vs by his fleshe vniting vs vnto himselfe and by himselfe vnto God the father That Christ is in vs by the truth of his nature that hee dwelleth in vs naturally we being made by this most strait bond of vnion flesh of his flesh sucking our life from his spirit And this he further declareth by sundrie sorts of speeches tending all to one sence and meaning That we communicate his flesh To mingle in vs the nature of his flesh To be naturally in vs and we in him And this our aduersaries themselues wil confesse that it cannot be said of the vngodly and by consequent that it cannot appertaine to the Sacramentall or orall eating that is to say to the eating of the mouth Ad hereunto that he which saith that he is naturally in vs saith also Hilar. de Trinit l. 8. That we are naturally in him But naturally we are not in him as being in him carnally or really but as grafted by faith into his body so neither is Christ by this argument carnally and corporally in vs. Thirdly he alleadgeth vnto vs as a testimonie of his holy vnion the supper of our Lord when he saith that we receiue verily and truely the word flesh Cibo Dominico By the meate of the Lord that is to say the flesh of the word the word incarnate the flesh of the Sonne of God by the instrument of the bread of the Eucharist that is because it is a Sacrament exhibiting this flesh exhibiting the grace represented by the signe which consisteth in this vniting of vs with Christ The same which he calleth Sub mysterio Christi carnem sumere To receiue the flesh of Christ in a misterie that is to say signified in this misticall pledge And thus all this maketh nothing for the matter of bread or the Indiuiduum vagum transubstantiated into the body For otherwise it would fall out that throughout all Saint Hillarie his discourse Christ should be auouched and taught to abide in the bread naturally and corporally And if corporally and naturally then verily contrarie to the nature and properties of a body yea contrarie to the coÌ„dition of those which S. Hillarie acknowledgeth to be in the body of Christ For saith he in an other place He taketh away the foolish sottish rashnesse of some who contend that our Lord was seene in the flesh Idem in Psal 137. in the shape of a counterfeit body c. Not remembring themselues that after the Resurrection of the body it was said to the Apostles who thought it had beene a spirit See my hands my feet c. And by a false or counterfeit body he meaneth one that hath not all the ordinarie conditions of a body For in an other place expounding these words The Sonne of man which is in heauen c. hee euidently putteth difference betwixt the natures in Christ Idem de Trinit l. 10. Idem in Psal 1â—4 l. 8. de Trinit by finite and infinite being in one place and being euerie where c. That he is the Sonne of man saith he it is of the birth and bringing forth of that flesh which he tooke of the Virgine That he is in heauen and yet neuerthelesse vpon earth it is through the power of that nature which abideth for euer Againe Hee is present to them which call vpon him faithfully but by his diuine nature and spirit that pearceth and containeth all things He is in vs but we haue to vnderstand that this is by the holy Ghost c. And after the same manner hee expoundeth the place I am with you vnto the end of the world c. And thus wee are come without any Transubstantiation or doctrine comming neere therunto euen to the time of the first generall
heauenly word c. What is there saith Bellarmine more cleare then this But and if it bee so cleare a case let him answere vs why Thomas of Aquin Thom. part 3. Summ. q. 75. art 8. and all those after him condemne this Proposition of Saint Ambrose That the flesh or body of Christ is made of the bread It being obserued saith hee That it cannot be properly said that of a not essence an essence may bee made c. And if it cannot be said properly must it not then needes be improperly And who can or ought to make this impropernesse propernesse better then himselfe Therefore he addeth But seest thou the efficacie of the word of Christ And if then it haue such vertue in it selfe that the things that were not doe thereby beginne to be as namely in the creation Vt sint quae erant in aliud commutentur How much more effectually shall it worke and bring to passe that things be againe that which they were before and that they may bee changed into an other thing Now then what meaneth this To be that which they were but to continue in their nature And by consequent To be changed into an other thing but to change their condition vse Bellarmine taketh himself to haue plaid the tall fellow when he aunswereth that Saint Ambrose vnderstandeth that they are the same that they were without but not within And is it enough to say so But Saint Ambrose himselfe easeth vs of all these cauils in an other place Ambros de iis qui myster initiant The true flesh of Christ saith hee is that which was crueified and buried Of this true flesh the Sacrament is a Sacrament and our Lord doth proclaime it This is my bodie before the blessing of the heauenly words an other kind is named after the consecration the bodie of Christ is signified and before the consecration another thing is said after the consecration it is named bloud What is that then in Saint Ambrose by Saint Ambrose himselfe The bread by the consecration to bee made the bodie of Christ the Cup his bloud Euen to be made Sacraments to signifie to point out the bodie and bloud of Christ But he must not plaie the wrangler here and say That by the word Kinds he vnderstandeth the apparant accidents of bread and wine as the transubstantiators haue afterward said For when he saith Before the blessing of words another kind is named by kinds he cannot but vnderstand the substances of bread wine for are they not as yet according to their owne speeches bread and wine And againe this age of the world had not yet learned that Accidents are called Kinds But he doth yet further explaine himselfe Ambros de Sacram. l. 4. c 4 by the comparison of Baptisme Peraduenture thou sayest I see not the kind of bloud But saith he it hath the resemblance of it And what manner of resemblance For euen as thou hast receiued the resemblance of death Viz. in the dipping that is in Baptisme so hast thou drunke the resemblance of his precious bloud to the ende that there may not remaine any horrour of bloud and notwithstanding that it worketh the price of redemption Againe Thou thy selfe wast but thou wast an olde creature after thou wast consecrated thou didst beginne to become a new creature c. Now wee are of this iudgement with our aduersaries that there is not any Transubstantiation in Baptisme neither in the water which washeth Idem de sacr l. 6. c. 1. nor in the creature that is washed And this is the same that is said in an other place Thou tookest the Sacrament for a similitude or resemblance but thou inioyest in truth the grace and vertue of the nature I am saith he the bread of life that came downe from heauen but the flesh is not come downe from heauen Hee tooke flesh in earth of the Virgine Idem in 1. Cor. 11. c. Againe The Testament is ordained by bloud bloud is the restimonie of the gracious worke of God for a figure of the same we receiue the misticall Cup of bloud c. Saint Basill What doe these words profit vs Take eate This is my bodie To the end that eating and drinking Basil de Baptis in Moral we should remember our selues of him who is dead and risen againe for vs And he that recalleth not to his memorie thus much is said to eate vnworthily And he maketh mention againe of the same in his Morals In the Lithurgie attributed vnto him likewise after the consecration We draw neere saith he with assured confidence vnto thy holy Altar and setting thereupon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the resemblances of the holy body and bloud of thy Christ we praie thee that it would please thee of thy mercifulnesse and great bountie to cause thy holy spirit to come downe vpon vs and vppon the gifts there vnfolded and laid open and the same to blesse and sanctifie c. Now they could not before the consecration bee called resemblances or figures for they were but common bread and wine wee are of the same mind and further that they are so also after the consecration And neuerthelesse they are so called by Saint Basill Wherefore they are not really the body and bloud Bellarmine of three aunsweres made heereunto reiecteth two and cleaueth to the third That the body and bloud in the Eucharist are signes of the body bloud vpon the Crosse May we iudge that Saint Basill had euer any such intent that hee euer called the accidents Gifts vncouered and laid open that hee praied to GOD in the same tearmes to haue him to send downe his holy spirit vpon the assistants and vpon the bodie and bloud of his Sonne and that hee would blesse and sanctifie them by him c. Is it possible without blasphemie And after all was it not more readie for him to say simply Wee set before thee the holy body and bloud of thy Sonne c. They obiect these words vnto vs Basil de Spir. S. ad Amphiloc Who is he amongst the holy Fathers that hath left vnto vs in writing the words of inuocation at such time as the bread of the Eucharist and Cup of blessing are shewed Men praied vnto them saith Bellarmine and then they are not figures But hee saith not that they were praied vnto but rather that God was praied vnto at such time as men prepared themselues to be receiuers of the Sacraments Namely to this end that he wold giue vnto them to present thēselues to the same with reuerence humilitie repentance an approued faith c. And frō this place they should rather haue learned that after the consecration it is euermore bread it is euermore a cup. But say they wherfore should it be accompted rashnesse to touch thē there For S. Basil saith If such as present themselues rashly to the participating of things sanctified by men
Idem Serm. 2. de Baptisme c. 3. lie open to such great and grieuous threatnings what shall we say of him that sheweth himselfe rash and vnaduisedly carying himselfe against so great a misterie Verily wee will say with Saint Paul That he eateth and drinketh his owne condemnation not discerning the Lords body But wee may learne of the said Saint Basill in the same place that such touching is not meant of the body but of the soule For saith he By so much the more as he is greater then the Temple c. so much the more is it to be feared to approach rashly to touch with an impure and filthy soule the body of Christ then to come neere vnto sheepe and Oxen c. Out of Gregorius Nyssenus the brother of Saint Basill they cite a place Gregor de vita Mosis but it maketh nothing at all for them for hee intreating of the Manna saith The bread that came downe from heauen which is the true mâ—ate which is signified in this historie is not a thing without a body For how should a thing without a body become foode and sustenance to a body This would be to purpose against such as should denie the veritie of the body of Christ and further can it not serue But and if they should gather from it that common bread by consecrating may be made the heauenly bread and the heauenly bread a body to nourish our bodies they should sinne many waies against themselues for they will not graunt that either the bread may bee made a body neither yet that it entreth into the nourishment of the body whereupon it remaineth that wee vnderstand this place by the Councell of Nice That the Sacrament to become profitable both to soule and bodie is made vnto vs a seale of the resurrection c. But will wee plainely know this Fathers meaning The bread saith he in the beginning is common Idem de Bapt. but the misterie hauing made it sacred it is called and is the body of Christ and so the wine and beeing things of small accompt before the blessing after the same which proceedeth of the spirit they worke excellently What then is there any transmutation of the substance Thus saith he by the newnesse of the blessing the same power that is to say of the holy Ghost maketh the Minister reuerend and seperated from the vulgar sort for of one of the multitude of the people which he was yesterday he is sudainely become a Master and teacher of pietie and a super-intendent of the hidden and pro found misteries and al this without any maner of change made either in his body or forme Thus againe the Altar is holy and yet it is but a common stone not differing from others that walles are made of but this commeth to passe by the dedicating of it to God Let vs reason from thence therfore neither the bread nor the wine are changed in themselues neither in their bodies or formes but onely in that of common ones they are made sacred and sanctified instruments of God to exhibite vnto vs his grace c. Gregorius Nazianzenus Eate the body and drinke the bloud without beeing confounded and doubting c. and denie not faith vnto the things which are named of the flesh and Passion of our Lord c. that is to say Bee not offended as are the Iewes and Gentiles at the Crosse and infirmities of Christ But say they hee calleth it Eating and drinking c. And who will doubt of that We doe not contend about the thing but the manner Verily saith he let vs become partakers of the Passeouer and yet notwithstanding spiritually Greg. Nazianz in orat 2. de Pasch although this Passeouer bee more manifest then the old For the Passeouer of the Law I speake it boldly was a more obscure figure of a figure c. And then ours also is but a figure but yet a more cleare and plaine figure And in the funerals of his sister Gorgonia Idem in funere Gorg. If said he her hand had in any part clasped and laid close hold vppon any thing of the representations and resemblances of the precious body or bloud of Christ c. Then they continued resemblances that is to say figures after the consecration For otherwise who would belieue that these holy persons more zealous verily and bearing more reuerence vnto sacred things then they of this age would haue permitted these women to touch them thus with their hands and so to carie traile them vp and downe their houses Optatus doth agrauate the furious outrages of the Donatists in these words Optat. aduers Parm. l. 2. You haue broken downe the Altars whereupon heretofore you haue offered whereupon the vowes of the people and the members of Christ haue beene carried from whereof many haue receiued the pledges of eternall saluation the protection of faith and the hope of the resurrection you haue broken the cups the bearers of the bloud of Christ c. The Altar which is the seate of his bodie and of his bloud c. Who seeth not that all this must be figuratiuely taken and that the first figures doe binde vs to the others Verily after the same manner that the members of Christ that is to say the faithfull and their vowes haue beene carried vpon the Altar that is to say in spirit in the same the body and bloud haue beene set there also the Cups haue beene the bearers c. And in like maner when he saith The pledge of eternall life the hope of the resurrection what other thing is this then that which the Councell of Nice said Pledges of our resurrection And at the least of that which he saith afterward What offence hath Christ done you whose body and bloud at certaine moments dwelt in these Altars They should haue learned that this could not bee spoken or vnderstood but of the vse celebration of the holy supper and that at that time they had not kept them in a tabernacle vpon the Altar that they might be there still resident and worshipped continually And as little dooth that proue Ephrem l. de natur Dei nimium scrutanda which they alleadge of Saint Ephrem Why seekest and searchest thou saith he for things that are past finding out Thou wilt leaue off to be faithfull any longer and fall to becurious For whome may this saying better fit then the embracers of transubstantiation for they haue vndertakeÌ„ to examine these misteries by Auerrhoes and Aristotle But rather saith hee be faithfull and innocent be partaker of the immaculate bodie of thy Lord by a most euen faith Assure thy selfe that thou eatest the same Lambe whole and intire c. These things surpasse all admiration he hath giuen vs fire and spirit to eate and drinke that is his bodie and his bloud c. Fire then and spirit which are not laid hold on or taken with the hand but spiritually but
of God is the true bread which giueth life to euerie thing As the earthly bread sustaineth the weaknesse of our flesh so he quickneth our spirits by the holy Ghost and deliuereth the body from corruption that is to say according to that which hath beene said so oft to make vs partakers of the resurrection of life Againe This flesh Idem l. 4. c. 14. 16.17 or this body is made aliue because it is by a certaine vnspeakable maner ioyned to the Sonne of God by whom al things are quickned made aliue And hereupon when we eate this flesh we haue life in vs in as much as we be ioyned vnto him in that we are the body and members of Christ in that by the blessing of the misterie we receiue the Sonne of God himselfe And it is necessarie if any man receiue the flesh and bloud of Christ that he bee so coupled to him as that Christ be found in him and hee in Christ c. To eate then the flesh of Christ with S. Cyril is to belieue in Christ it is to haue him dwelling in him liuing in him by his spirit to bee a member of Christ and one with Christ c. And he that hath not Christ in him doth not eate his flesh neither yet drink his bloud c. How can this agree with the pretended eating of the mouth They obiect vnto vs that he saith vpon S. Iohn Idem in Ioh. l. 11. Wee are vnited and made one with God the Father by the mediation of our Sautour for wee receiue corporally and substantially the Sonne of God naturally vnited to the Father and thus we are glorified beeing made partakers of the supreme nature c. which is properly spoken of the incarnation which he calleth a misterie as S. Hillarie a Sacrament And withall let them not dissemble and passe ouer S. Cyril his Exposition vpon this sentence I am the Vine and you are the braunches which is in such sort as S. Hillarie hath expounded it before and to the same sence That the drift that Cyril shoteth at is very cleare and euident to them that will reade the place And that as to be vnited to Christ according to the spirit is to haue the spirit of Christ regenerating his so to be corporally vnited vnto him or according to the body is to bee ioyned to his body and to become members of his body made conformable to him in this life by the beginning of sanctification and spirituall life waiting and attending till we bee perfected in him that is to say glorified in the celestiall life Now saith hee this vnion is made by faith and cherished and strengthned by the eating of his flesh and drinking of his bloud and that he that eateth and drinketh them is in Christ and Christ in him c. Hee vnderstandeth then that this corporall and substantiall vnion is wrought by a spirituall eating by that pure and exquisite faith which he requireth and not by the corporall which is common to vs with many drie rotten members euen the vngodly infidels of whom it cannot be said that Christ is in theÌ„ or they in Christ And in deed he hath ther to deale against heretiks which pretended Christ was not called a Vine according to his humanitie but according to his deitie He holding on the contrarie that the faithfull are made partakers of the nature of Christ as the braunches doe communicate with the Vine by the participation of his spirit Affiâ—i c. And this is that which he saith That they are fastned to Christ as the braunches to the Vine firmely and substantially ioyned and glued to him by his spirit That they are made braunches in as much as they are regenerate and in as much as the roote doth impart vnto them his qualities They bring foorth fruit in as much as they hang vppon the Vine ioyned to the same by faith and holinesse Idem in Ioh. l. 10. c. 13. and nourished and fed vp to eueâ—ie vertue by his holy spirit c. In a word altogether as he saith That Christ is corporally in vs in like manner saith he as wee are corporally in Christ Now our bodies are not corporally in Christ but wee are grafted thereinto by faith neither then is the body of Christ corporally in vs but spiritually receiued by faith Now of conscience can this be vnderstood of an eating which is made by the mouth or that can be done but by those that are truely faithfull So that in Cyrill to be corporally ioyned is not after the manner as they are wont vsually to take it in the Schooles Ratione modi sed ratione obiecti that is to say to bee conioyned by the meanes of the body but to be ioyned to the body And in deed he declareth this coniunction by a place in the Corinthians where the faithfull are called the members of Christ that is to say inseparably ioyned to the body of Christ and not verily by the body but saith he by the mediation of his spirit As also by that place of Saint Iohn where wee agree and are of iudgement that it is spoken of the spirituall eating and not of the corporall But I would intreate the Reader to reade the whole place that hee may the better iudge of counterfeited and cloaked dealing They obiect in the meane time the Synod of Ephesus wherein Cyrill was president We come saith hee vnto the misticall blessings and are sanctified being made partakers of the holy body and precious bloud of Christ c. not receiuing it as a common flesh which God forbid neither yet as the flesh of a sanctified man c. but as that which is become the verie flesh of the word or eternall Sonne of God And who would haue them to doubt of this But the question is not of the obiect of our Communion but of the manner And behold thus he expoundeth it When saith hee they had heard If you eate not my flesh c. they were troubled c. Because saith he they had not as yet bene made acquainted with the forme and most goodly administration of this misterie Idem in Ioh. l. 12. c 58. That is as he saith to Euoptius That we must not handle or deale with that which is not gotten but by pure and onely faith according to the conceipts of mans braine That the bodie of our Lord is not common although the nature of the diuine word bee not eaten That the participation of this misterie is a true confession and remembrance that the Lord is dead for the loue of vs and that he is risen againe for vs and that by occasion thereof he filleth vs with his diuine blessings Finally that the operation of the Sacrament is not wrought in the bread Idem in Leuit. 15. or wine but in vs but in our soules For saith hee in an other place the Lord saith Take eate and not keepe it reserue it till
that booke of the Gospell or as though that booke were God But here is to bee noted that out of all the Latine Church which is made the mother of all these goodly ceremonies they cannot bring forth any thing for their purpose and therefore are constrained to runne to the Greeke Church They doe likewise agree and consent that in the Churches of Ethiopia in which there is neuer any seruice done without a communion Aluares in the historie of Ethiopia there is not vsed any eleuation at all But the truth is that this bread did not begin to bee thus eleuated amongst themselues before such time that two foule abuses transubstantiation the alone eating of the minister did iumpe fal out together For then as we shal see hereafter they began to bend themselues to feed the eies of the people in stead of their spirites and soules Durand l. 4. in 6. parte Can. Ioh. 12. Leuit. 7. In the meane time Durand ceaseth not to bee so shamelesse as to apply those words of our Lord in S. Iohn to that end When I shall be exalted or lifted vp I will draw all men vnto me this being spoken of the lifting vp of our Lord vppon the crosse In another place with some more probabilitie he saith That this custome was taken from the eleuation and shaking of the offeringes that was made in the Iewish law as we haue touched in his place Now it is also certaine that the Sacraments were ordinarily taken of the offerings of the people That it must not be worshipped Of adoration wee say likewise That the commandement of God is most plaine and expresse Thou shalt worshippe one onely God The difference also from elsewhere is found so great being from a bread dedicated to the seruice of God to God himselfe as that there is no apparance but that if it had beene our duties to haue worshipped it the holy scriptures woulde not haue concealed the same from vs And the daunger also so great either to do it without subiect for that were idolatrie or to omit it the subiect being there seeing this might grow to a contempt of God Seeing then the Euangelistes seeing Saint Paule who is so carefull in exhorting vs to proue our selues and who reproueth the Corinthians so sharpely for that they did not tarrie one for another saith not one worde thereof vnto vs seeing further that no old writers rightly vnderstood doe speake of any worship to be giuen to the Sacraments as no more vnto the bread or wine of the holy Supper then to the water in baptisme what followeth to bee concluded vpon but that it was because transubstantiation was not knowne For who can in any Christian sort doubt that Iesus Christ is to be worshipped where he is both with that honour that is due to God and also to the vttermost of mans power by deed word and thought Who seeth not also what a strong and mightie argument this had beene for the Orthodoxes against the Arrians and Arrius himselfe when to proue the eternall diuinitie of the Sonne of God they gathered all the places where it is said that hee was worshipped if they had beene able to haue alleadged vnto them and that from the vse or tradition of the Church That this is true we proue because we worship him yea both you and we in the Sacrament vnder the Accidentes of bread and wine c. To the Arrians I meane with whom we reade not that there was any disagreement for the Sacrament And on the contrarie what a prize had it beene for Eutyches against the Orthodoxes seeing he vndertooke to maintaine that the humane nature of Christ is confusedly mixt with his diuine if he had beene able to say And that it is true wee worship the bodie and bloud c. in the Sacrament which thing ought not so to be if they bee not really there and there they cannot be if they be not in all places and to bee in all places is an incommunicable propertie of the diuine nature c. I leaue to speake how that the holy Supper was wont of old to be celebrated after the manner of a banquet wherein they vsed to sit where we see againe a barre crossing the Mandatum of the Monkes of the order of Saint Bennet According to that which Saint Augustine telleth vs That many euen in his time vpon the day that the Lord made his Supper did celebrate the same wherein they did one feast another to shew forth the death of the Lorde and to testifie their vnion Not in a temple not vppon an Altar but in a priuate house vpon a table nothing the lesse holy notwithstanding seeing this gift that is to say this action sanctified the Altar Now herein wee agree That Christ God and man must bee worshipped euerie where That at the name of Iesus euerie knee must bow That euerie tongue must confesse that hee is vnto the glorie of the father wee honour his holy worde his holy Sacraments wee heare him with all attention and wee draw neere vnto him with reuerence let our aduersaries call it honour worshipping yea and adoration if they will prouided that we be agreed vpon the thing But we say That we must put a difference betwixt the Sacrament and our God himselfe That the same honour is not due to the one that is due to the other That that same which we giue to the Sacraments is for that they bee instrumentes and vessels of his grace and not because of themselues not vpon any consideration of their being reallie and substantiallie himselfe not saith Bonauenture As though they did containe grace but for that they signifie and set it out They alleadge vnto vs againe their pretended Areopagite Answere to the places obiected out of the fathers No inuocatioÌ„ Claud. â—â—spens de ador Euchat l. 1. c. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Donys Hier. c. 3. vbi Pachym 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He say they doth inuocate and pray vnto this sacrament for he saith O holy and diuine ceremonie shew vnto vs openly that which is concealed and kept close from vs in these obscure and enigmaticall signes c. Replenish the eyes of our spirites with a singular light c. But let them listen a little to his expositor Pachymeres thereupon Hee speaketh vnto this ceremonie saith hee as if it had a soule and that not without apparance as Gregorie the diuine saith O holy and great Passeouer For our Passeouer and this holy ceremonie is our Lord Iesus vnto whom he directeth his speech Our Lord verily which is the substance of the holy Supper as hee was of the Passeouer as hee is of Baptisme and as hee is of all the Sacramentes And if thou wouldest further knowe where hee seketh him Verily in heauen not vpon the table for he called them signes and said vnto vs a little before Let vs passe from the effectes to the causes c. And then when
visibiliter to put inuisibiliter for substances accidents for temporall eternall c. And this is further to be noted therewithall that he was not taxed of heresie for the same that the Abbotte Trithemius which forgot not to set the brand vpon others when there was cause hath not once pointed at any such thing in him Haimo Bishop of Halberstat and one of Alcuinus his hearers Haim in 1 Cor. 11 in Sabbarh post Iudic. who was Schoolemaster to Charlemaine This is my bodie saith he that is the bread that Christ gaue to his Disciples and to all the predestinated vnto eternall life and that that which the Ministers do consecrate daily in the Church by the power of the Diuinitie which filleth this bread is the bodie of Christ Now I would know if they wil approue of this Proposition That this hoc is the bread Then it is not their Iudiniduum vagum nor yet their accidents Giuen to the elect or predestinated not then to the wicked and vngodly and not by the mouth Filled with the diuine power not then with Christ really who is that fulnesse And in the end This bread the body of Christ And how according to their owne speeches without heresie How then but Sacramentally by the neere coÌ„iunction of the thing with the signe Againe The flesh that Christ tooke in vnity of person and this bread are not two bodies but one And how can this be otherwise then by this Sacramental vnion The one then as saith the Canon In truth the other in a mysterie Againe At the same instant that this bread is broken and eaten Christ is offered and eaten whole notwithstanding and liuing Then it is the bread that is broken and not the body and not the accidents And therefore according to that which he saith afterward Hoc facite Sanctifie this body in remembrance of me in remembrance saith hee of my passion of your redemption that I haue redemed you with my bloud He addeth The Lord therefore hath left this sauing Sacrament to all the faithfull that so he may imprint in their harts that he died for their redemption So some man being about to die leaueth vnto his friend a gift and saith vnto him keepe that in remembrance of me he is heauie and pensiue when he seeth it and we when we are partakers of this eternall gift in the Sacrament must come to it with reuerence remembring our selues with what loue he hath loued vs giuing himselfe a ransome for vs. The bread therfore is a Sacrament of the gift and not the gift it selfe and that vpon far stronger reasons then any hee toucheth which assureth vs more and more of the reall possession of our life nourishment in Christ In whom saith he in an other place to abide and dwell is to eate him is to liue by him is to be bone of his bones flesh of his flesh and one with himselfe Rabanus Maurus Archbishop of Maguntia The creator of things redeemer of men Raban in eccl l. 7. c. 8. making of the fruits of the earth that is to say of Corne and wine a fit and conuenient mysterie turned them to Sacraments of his bodie bloud He saith not into his body and bloud Idem l. 1. c. 5. de proprie rerum verb. He would saith he in an other place that these Sacraments should bee receiued into the mouthes of the faithfull and become their foode to the end that by the visible worke the inuisible might be shewed that is to say by the true corporall eating the true spiritual eating What is now become of our accidents For euen saith he as the materiall meate doth nourish refresh the body outwardly so the word of God doth comfort and nourish the soule inwardly c. Where he layeth downe before vs the agreement and analogie which once comming to cease as in deede it ceaseth by Transubstantiation there followeth the destruction of the Sacrament Some obiect But are they not the bodie and bloud Let vs heare him Because that bread dooth confirme and make strong the bodie it is verie fitly called the bodie of Christ and the Wine because that it maketh the bloud in the fleshe is referred to bloud Note also That they are named But when they are sanctified then by the holy Ghost they become the Sacraments of the diuine bodie Idem de sacrâ—m Euchar. c. 10. 41. And then not into the verie thing of the Sacrament Which saith he in an other place hee hath left vnto vs because it must needes be that he should ascend vp into heauen to the end that they might bee figures Characters of his flesh and bloud vnto vs and that our spirit and our flesh might bee by these things the more aboundantly nourished to the receiuing by faith of the things that are inuisible and spirituall So by this it appeareth that the thing of the Sacraments is spirituall and receiued by faith that is to say spiritually And so in deed it is not receiued but of the faithfull euen by such as haue the spirit of Christ dwelling in their hearts For saith he The Sacrament is one thing Idem de prop. Serm l. 5. c 11. Idem l. 1. c. 3. and the power and vertue of the Sacrament is another thing The Sacrament is taken in at the mouth but the vertue of the Sacrament by the inward man The Sacrament is turned into the nourishment of the bodie but the vertue of the Sacrament worketh in vs vnto eternall life The Sacrament by some is taken to their destruction but the thing alwayes vnto saluation If they say that the wicked in the Sacrament doe receiue the bodie of Christ but not the power and vertue of the same how can they without blasphemie seperate the bodie of Christ from his soule Or the one or other from his Diuinitie From his spirit And who can receiue that but to his saluation They replie againe It is as he saith That the figure and Character is verily the same which it is outwardly perceiued to be Idem de Sacr. Euchar. c. 14. but that which is taken inwardly is altogether truth without any shaddow And without doubt also we say and himselfe dooth lay it open We participate the flesh of Christ which was crucified for vs verily and truely and the Sacraments of the same in deed are there And thus there is truth and veritie in euerie thing whether it bee the thing or else the Sacrament of the thing Paschasius Pasch Ratpert de Corp. Sang. Domini c. 1.19 50. Abbot of Corbie in Saxonie held the contrarie opinion for the Schooles and Monasteries were diuided concerning this point And yet so new was this doctrine as that we may see that he was not able to vtter his mind or to speake what he would seeme to meane in the booke which he made He saith The Lord hath done in heauen and in earth whatsoeuer
that they are yet notwithstanding they are turned into another thing Note They continue the thing that they are And he expoundeth it by way of consequence For as thou hast taken the similitude of death so also dost thou drinke the similitude of bloud Then not the bodie reallie nor the bloud But the Glose saith In as much as they signifie them In briefe The sacrifice of the Church consisteth in the Sacrament and the thing of the Sacrament as Christ consisteth of God and man Constat ex Deo homine c. Seeing that euerie thing containeth the nature and truth of those things whereof it is made Now then reason thus Christ to bee God ceaseth not to be man neither therefore the bread and wine to be bread and wine notwithstanding that they bee Sacraments And thus you may see how by the decree it selfe made by Gratian the Monke and authorised by the Popes there cannot bee any transubstantiation Let vs come to Peter Lombard Lombard commonly called the Maister of the Sentences How oft is he troubled to shift himselfe of the fathers And so much the more hardly because he would needes broach his owne opinion whereas Gratian for the most parte contented himselfe to report what other men thought To the ende therefore that he may establish the receiued opinion of his time he cutteth off by the foundation Idem l. 1. d. 2. that which the first and ancient ages had embraced and allowed concealing keeping backe such parte of that which he alleadged out of the fathers as might hurt him August in psal 73. not making mention of any thing as farre as in him lay saue that which hee thought might serue his turne First S. Augustine had said in a hundred places after S. Paule That the Fathers vnder the law had eaten in their Sacraments the same spirituall meate that we doe eate in ours He teacheth that those did onely signifie and shadow out saluation but that these do giue it alleadging a lame and maimed place out of Saint Augustine which he ordinarily expoundeth by these words That they were Sacraments of Christ to come and ours of Christ alreadie come c. Secondly S. Augustine after Saint Paule hath taught vs That we put on Christ in Baptisme That therein wee are made partakers also of the bodie and bloud of Christ And all the fathers were wont to reason from Baptisme to the holy Supper from the water to the bread and wine acknowledging the power of the holy Ghost alike in the one and in the other Lombard perceiuing how this might seeme preiudiciall vnto him in the pretended transubstantiation more sparingly and pinchingly Baptisme saith he washeth vs the Eucharist doth perfect vs in goodnesse Lombard l. 4. d. 3. c. euen so farre as that he letteth not to preferre and set confirmation before it Thirdly the Fathers had not acknowledged in the Sacrament any thing besides the signe and the thing of the Sacrament in the holy Supper namely the bread and wine sanctified for signes and the bodie and bloud for the thinges Now Lombard against the nature of a Sacrament acknowledged in all other Sacraments to lay the foundation for his transubstantiation acknowledgeth therein a double signe and a double thing The double signe The kinds which he calleth bread and wine before the consecration And after the same The inuisible bodie and blood signes of the visible bodie and bloud of our Lord And for the double signes One contained and signified that is the flesh of Christ which he tooke of the virgine and the bloud which he did shed for vs and another not contained and notwithstanding signified the vnitie of the Church and the coniunction thereof with Christ which hee calleth the mysticall flesh of Christ C. Non hoc C. Dupliciter directly contrarie to Saint Augustine and the Canon which saith You shall not eate the flesh which the Iewes shall fasten to the crosse neither shall ye drinke the bloud which they shall shed c. Fourthly All antiquitie did tell vs that the signes abide in their nature Saint Augustine and S. Ambrose in speciall After the consecration they are the same that they were Lombard l. 4. d. 8. Lombard subtillie They retaine the names of that which they were before Contrarie to the Canons Non oportet In Sacrament Cum omne Panis hoc est quod dicimus c. Fiftly The Fathers by consequent did teach That the faithfull receiued Sacramentum De consecr d. 2 rem Sacramenti the signe and the thing the vnbelieuers the Sacrament onely He then that maketh a double signe a double thing the thing which he calleth contained and signified a signe after the consecration of the signified and not contained that is to say the bodie and bloud of Christ inuisible vnder the appearances of bread and wine signes of the visible and sensible bodie of Christ teacheth as it were by the spirit of contradiction That the wicked eate the thing of the Sacrament and not the Sacrament They eate not the Sacrament so did the Fathers call the bread and the wine for according to Lombard there remaineth nothing but Accidents which are not subiect to the teeth And notwithstanding our Lord hath said Take eate And the Apostle He that shall eate of this bread c. And notwithstanding if we beleeue him they eate the inuisible bodie and bloud of Christ but without being partakers of the visible bodie and bloud whereof it is the signe Against the Canons Qui discordat Christus Qui mandacant c. And that which is worse against the Sonne of God himselfe who saith vnto vs He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud he dwelleth in me and I in him he hath eternall life c. Take this for remission of your sinnes c. Whereas certainly he doth not distinguish by inuisible and visible And against the true Diuinitie also which teacheth vs That the flesh and bloud of the Sonne of God are not without his soule without his spirit or without his diuinitie Neither then without eternall life or without nourishment to them that receiue him and that vnto life to the resurrection vnto life And this is it that Lombard saith in these words Lombard l. 4. d. 9. The wicked receiue sacramentallie that is to say vnder the sacrament that is to say vnder the visible kind the flesh of Christ taken of the virgine c. but not the mysticall which is not receiued of any but the good that is to say the vnitie which is betwixt Christ and his members that which they call the proper and naturall bodie this the spirituall bodie whereas the old Church did neuer know in our Lord any moe bodies then one and that a verie true and naturall bodie And also he hath not a little to doe to cleare quite himselfe of Saint Augustine yea and when he hath done his best yet hee
and drinking the bloud of Christ in the holy Supper Sine conuersione panis in corpus Christi vel paneitatis adnihilatione without chaunging of the bread into the bodie and the reducing of the bread into nothing that is saith hee in as much as God can quamcunque creaturam suppositare chaunge or vnite himselfe hypostatically vnto any creature whatsoeuer c. In which meane time saith hee The breade shoulde continue breade and the bodie should bee with the bread c. And yet notwithstanding this his Chymera and monstrous broode hee was not published an hereticke Card. Caiet t. 2. tr 2 c. 3. 5 because that euerie one was as yet admitted and suffered to bring his determination and conclusion concerning the same The Cardinall Caietan clearely and plainely It is a most manifest and notorious vntruth that the bodie of Christ may bee taken corporally but in deede Diuines teach that hee is taken or receiued spiritually and yet not by taking or receiuing but by belieuing Fisher Bishop of Rochester otherwise called Roffensis writing against Luther Ioh. Fisher cont Captiuit Babilonie Hitherto saith hee S. Mathew speaketh who alone hath spoken of the new Testament Neither hath he therein any one word by which it may bee proued that in our Masse there is wrought a true presence of the flesh and bloud of Christ. Nay saith he a little after It cannot bee proued by any part in all the Scripture The Cardinall Contaron in the Colloque of Ratisbone in the yeare 1541. vpon this that the place of Pope Gelasius was alleadged vnto him That the nature and substance of bread and wine continue in the Sacrament was not able to answere any thing to the contrarie In the Colloque of Poissi in this Realme holden in the yeare 1561. betwixt the Bishops and the Doctors of the Church of Rome and the Ministers of the reformed Churches it was agreed vpon in these words We confesse that Iesus Christ in his holy supper dooth set before giue and exhibite vnto vs verily and truely the substance of his bodie and bloud by the operation of his holy spirit and that wee receiue and eate Sacramentally spiritually and by faith that verie body which aied for vs to bee bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh to the end we may be quickned and apprehend all that which shall bee requisite for our saluation And for as much as faith resting it selfe vpon the word of God effecteth and maketh present the things that are promised and that by this faith truely and in deed wee take the true naturall body and bloud of Iesus Christ by the power of the holy Ghost In this respect we confesse the presence of the body and bloud of the same Iesus Christ in the holy supper But the Vniuersitie of Sorbone at the Cardinall of Tournon his prouoking and pricking of them forward did disclaime and disauow such as did speake for them onely to the end that they might not giue this aduantage namely to haue failed by any maner of meanes Notwithstanding that those which had beene chosen for the conference and which had giuen their consent to vndertake this incounter were the most famous and notable men of the Cleargie as Charles Cardinall of Lorraine Cass in co nsult the Bishops of Valence and Sees and the Doctors Salignac Bouteiller and Despense Cassander in his consultation to the Emperour Maximilian the second vpon the controuersies of this time acknowledgeth That Transubstantiation both in name and effect is new and that it had beene better to haue held the auncient tearmes of the fathers And that also the abuses therein were come to that head as that they were verie neere vnto Idolatrie And in other of his writings hee deliuereth his mind to the like effect Index expurg p 36 37. 38. It is verie true that the fathers of Trent did appoint that all such should be raced out and defaced as did displease them To be short the Popes Legates from the time of Luther his first protestations being sent at sundrie times into Almainie Campegius Contaren and Caietan did make open profession of their dislike of this doctrine both to the Emperour and to the Princes as also in their conferences saying That things were miscaried both in this Article and in many others Onely the Councell of Trent that is to say the Pope in that Councell to make quicke dispatch and to the ende that there might not be any thing found that stood in need to be reformed would not haue it that there was any thing therein amis doing herein as in al other things cleane contrarie to Saint Peter who knowing acknowledged his fault and shewing himselfe most euidently thereby to bee the Sonne of perdition as one that in the brauerie of his mind would himselfe become a reprobate and draw all the world after him vnto destruction knowing it in the eminent and high place wherein he is The Doctors of this time do not agree amongst themselues Bellarm. l. 1 de sacr c. 18. l. 1 de Euchar. c. 10 11. Turrian sibi ipsi contrar 1 c 22. tract but not acknowledging it What then From the time of the holding of this Councell haue they agreed together and haue beene of one iudgement The Iesuites the stighlers of this doctrine yea amongst themselues This is the only thing which remaineth for vs now to looke vnto They stand exceedingly vpon these words Hoc est corpus meum and yet they are not agreed either amongst themselues nor euerie man in himselfe Bellarmine in one place calleth them Principtum productinum the producing principle Namely the body of Christ of bread And in an other place hee will not that Hoc should signifie the bread but the body of Christ by an identical proposition by a fond and foolish consequent But how can this thing be if he bee not hatcht but by the vertue of these words And not as he saith by the beginning but by the end of them Againe Hoc est Bellarme l. 1 de Euch. c. 11. is a word operatiue It followeth then that Hoe est is as much as to say hoc fiat this is that is to say This may bee made my bodie And yet for all this they will not graunt that it is any figuratiue speech neither yet will they that Est dooth signifie fiat but Est simply Who seeth not then that it must be a simple Enunciatiue and not a practicke as they speake or operatiue any longer Againe who saith that Hoc doth signifie the bread or the Cup Scarg l. 1. c. 5. pro sacrat Euchar Veget. de Miss f. 13. thes 23. fol. 7 thes 11. Bellarm l 3 Euchar. c 18 Veg. de re ali praesent thes 133. Scarg art 7. Turr. tr 1. c 22 Bellarm. l. 3. de Euch c 15 l. 1 c. 2 l 3. c 20. l 3 c. 6. Turr tr i. c. 18. who on the
contrarie saith that it signifieth that which is secret and hidden vnder the formes thereof What difference is heere betwixt the forme and the body the substance and the accidents Againe some say that the body of Christ is made of the bread and his bloud of the wine as of his matter others denie it And Bellarmine doth affirme and denie both together Againe sometimes vrged out of Tertullian and Saint Augustine they acknowledge that there is a figure and sometimes they doe wholly and flatly denie it c. And they speake as vncertainly of the chaunge and transmutation Sometimes Bellarmine saith that the substance of bread is turned into whole Christ body and soule God and man sometimes into the body onely c. And sometimes that hee is there hypostatically or personally and as he speaketh with his personalitie that he may not fall into Rupertus Tuitiensis his errour sometimes that hee is not And there are that say that the substance of bread is turned into the truth of the body and others into the power and vertue of the same onely Besides others which in diuers places affirme sometimes the one sometimes the other Now what becommeth of this body afterward Their answeres herein haue no lesse vncertaintie and ambiguitie For one saith after that the kindes be altered and corrupted it withdraweth it selfe Nay saith an other it still continueth and abideth there Idem tr 1 c 19 Veg assert 205 Bellâ—rm l 3 de Euchar. c. 10 24. l. 1 c. 14 Veg. de reâ—l Praesent c. 58 Turr. tr 1 c 11 19 Scarg art 12 pro sacratiss Euchar. c 6. c Cont. Vel. Vega de Miss fol. 11 thes 19. 20. Idem de real praesent thes 84 Scarg in art 11. Turr. tr 1. c. 7 tr 2. c. 11. 8 Stel. Clericor for an incorruptible seede of the resurrection and that if not in substance yet in power and effectuall operation Let vs reason thus then If the efficacie and powerfulnesse be sufficient for the seede of the resurrection and incorruption Wherefore the body in our body And wherefore doe we admit this absurditie of hauing so many bodies within our bodies a thing contrarie to reason nature and all Diuinitie An absurditie wherein as yet they infold and wrap themselues For if the glorified body be supernaturally euerie where wherefore say they that he commeth downe vpon the Altar and why doe they say that hee departeth and goeth his way in respect of his body If he come downe if he goe vp why doe they say that he is not circumscript and tied to place and that he is corporally euerie where Againe sometimes they say We set our teeth in the flesh of our Lord wee deuour and feede vpon him with our teeth c. We chew him wee breake him c. And sometimes they are angrie that one should obiect it against them as their reproach they vexe themselues they denie it To bee short for we should neuer haue done if wee should goe about to gather together all their contradictions and this shall suffice for a taste when shame seaseth vpon them they are offended that a man should laye it to their charge that they haue saide That the Priests are creators of their Creator c. And by and by they come againe to their mutuall byace and doe freely vtter it That the Eucharist is no creature That it is the Creator himselfe That it is an Hypostaticall grace That it deserueth to bee adored and praied vnto c. And yet the same neuerthelesse say they that dependeth vppon the intent and purpose of him that consecrateth Now wee haue finished the whole historie of the doctrine of Transubstantiation taught in the Church of Rome The comparing of the holy supper and the Masse together But how farre is it off from the auncient simplicitie of the Christian Church and how farre from the institution made by our Lord of the holy supper The Summe wherof is thus That in the holy supper we are seriously admonished of our bond and obligation vnto our Lord and of our dutie towards our neighbour likewise nourished and strengthned in our coniunction with Christ our head whereupon dependeth our true life which approueth and maketh it self manifestly knowne as the soule doth it selfe by his motions by our zeale towards God and our behauiour towards our neighbours Therein we cal to mind our obligation when we remember according to his commandement the death and Passion of our Lord That we were dead in our sinnes dead verily and eternally seeing it was requisite and necessarie that the eternall Sonne of God should expose and giue himselfe to death euen to the death of the Crosse to redeeme and set vs free from that death therefore eternall death And thence is that action of praise and thankesgiuing that followeth solemnely obserued and performed in this action and perpetuall in our soules if we be truely faithfull For hee that willingly belieueth this great and vnspeakable benefit how can he possibly forget it How can it possibly be but that he should occupie and as it were powre forth himselfe in a continuall exercising of praise and thankesgiuing Seeing I say he sinneth euerie moment he cannot bee without matter to humble himselfe euerie moment and to haue his eye both vpon death and also vpon hell and accordingly againe he hath matter euerie moment to raise vp him selfe againe in hope by the remembrance of this eternall Sacrifice vpon the mention that is made namely in this Sacrament How that the Sonne of God hath giuen his bodie for him hath beene broken with cares and griefes and how that his bloud was shed for the remission of his sinnes And this is the cause why this Sacrament is called both a remembrance and an Eucharist or action of thankesgiuing For of the remembraunce of this benefite of this gift of saluation and by this vnspeakable meanes there followeth in euerie Christan heart a serious and heartie Eucharist or thankesgiuing But this effect by name is wanting in the Papists their Masse For this remembrance is not practised in it at all the death of the Lord is not shewed foorth there at all vnto the people This is in steed of whatsoeuer it should bee a heape of words and a varietie of gestures neither the one nor the other vnderstood Wee are taught likewise in the holy Supper our duties towards our neighbours for wee are not only created of one and the same Masse but regenerate and begotten again but redeemed and bought with one price euen bloud but made members of the same bodie and quickned by one and the same spirit but liuing mouing and feeling from one and the same head One with him through the grace of his good pleasure and will One therefore amongst our selues both by his commaundement and by naturall dutie And if the head the eternall Sonne of God haue giuen his life for vs to make vs I say his members what do