him signing their Mission with these following words Healthe Sick raise the Dead cleanse the Leprous cast out Devils And that we might not believe these singular Graces to attend only the first Apostles he assures us without any limitation of Time or Place That those who believe in him John 14. shall do the same Works which He did and greater than those that such Signs and Wonders shall follow those who believe From this clear Method and plain Doctrin of Christ and his Apostles and from this following unquestionable Truth grounded on God's Goodness and Justice to wit That as men are bound to receive the Doctrin which God sends his Servants to preach to them so he cannot induce them into an Error by permitting it to be proposed in his Name and upheld by Prodigies which may prudently be believed to be wrought by his hand it follows First That Miracles are clear proofs by which may be resolved all doubts about questioned Revelations and consequently that there be undoubted Marks to know them by otherwise they would be useless Secondly That God in his Mercy cannot permit that a man slily covering his false Doctrin pretending to be sent by him and to teach only what is conformable to what he hath hitherto revealed in holy Scripture should work Miracles to uphold Falshood and that no one of those who oppose him should work greater in defence of Truth These Principles being thus cleared and settled I form this Argument for Christianity against a Jew or Pagan to which I crave your attention that you may observe if it faulters in any part or whether it concludes not rather in favour of Us Christians an impossibility of being mistaken in adoring Christ and an evident Obligation to it If there were such Persons as Christ and his Apostles and if they wrought such clear Miracles in Proof of the Doctrin which they taught as are related in the Testament it is certain that all men sufficiently informed of those Miracles are bound to receive their Doctrin as a Truth revealed by God. But there were such Men and such Miracles wrought by them and we are all sufficiently informed of them therefore we are all bound to believe and profess the Doctrin taught by Christ and his Apostles that is to be Christians Is this Argument plain and convincing or no May not the Major Proposition if deny'd be easily proved beyond the possibility of a Reply out of the two Principles before laid open As for the Minor no one can refuse his assent to it who considers how those Miracles were wrought in the sight of great Multitudes of which most were declared Enemies to Christ and his Disclples how the Records we find them in were handed to us from Eye-witnesses without any probable Objection ever being opposed to their Truth how they were owned by the very Enemies of Christ for true Records how the miraculous Effects of those Prodigies remain in the wonderful Conversion of the World to Christianity how they have equally been sealed with the Blood of Martyrs the Virtues and Heavenly Gifts of Confessors how these Persons and their miraculous Works were prophesied before and such Prophecies preserved in the hands of their Enemies did point out all the Circumstances that attended their Persons and Miracles how to conclude no other Religion or Belief was ever thus evidently attested by the Omnipotency of God ever thus visibly subscribed unto with his Hand and marked with his Seal Say Christians are these Proofs clear and convincing Yea or No Do you believe your selves strictly bound under pain of Eternal Damnation to believe God speaking to you as plainly as these Miraculous Proofs convince you that 't is He who spoke by Christ and his Apostles Yes or No Yes we may then well conclude our selves all bound to be Christians and we may convince Jews and Gentiles such as are not wilfully obstinate of their obligation to become Proselyâ—es to our Religion But now we are at variance amongst our selves These Arguments I have offered convince indeed each of us that what Christ and his Apostles did teach was the Truth that all who can come to the Knowledge of that Faith which they preach'd that Religion which they setl'd that Church which they form'd are bound under pain of Eternal Damnation to embrace that Faith to profess that Religion and to be Members of that Church but we differ as to the other main Point to wit what Faith they did preach what Religion they settled what Church they formed To reduce then all dissenting Christians to one Faith one Religion one Church what can be a more infallible and unquestionable Motive than to use the same Argument which moves us all to be Christians Which I thus offer altering only such words in it which fit it to our Case without taking away any thing from its force If there was such a man as Xaverius and if he wrought such clear Miracles in proof of the Doctrin which he taught as are related in all the Histories of the Indies and of Japan and in his Life written in all Countries and Languages it is certain that all men sufficiently inform'd of those Miracles are bound to receive his Doctrin as a Truth revealed by God. But there was such a Man and such Miracles wrought by him and we are all or may be when we please sufficiently informed of them therefore we are all bound to believe and profess the Doctrin taught by him that is to be Roman Catholics Is this Argument clear and convincing If so why are we not Catholics If not how are we Christians induced to it by the former which is the very same with this All that needs then to be attempted is only to evince the parity which I shall do first by exposing in short to your view those admirable Miracles of Xaverius which will appear to be the same with those that were wrought by the Prophets by Christ by his Apostles next by shewing that no Objection can be made against them which may not be of equal force in a Pagan's or a Jew's mouth in opposition to the Miracles and Prodigies wrought by the Prophets by Christ by his Apostles If I make good these two Points this Conclusion will unavoidable follow Whoever is a Christian on the true grounds of Christianity must also be a Catholic or if no Catholic no Christian The Prodigies which God wrought by St. Xaverius were such that I dare say of them in general they are the best Instance the Church of God hath had from the first Apostles time of the truth of two Promises of Christ the first * Ecce ego vobiscum sum usque ad consummationem saeculi Mat. 28. Behold I shall be with you to the consummation of Ages the second †John 14. The Works which I do they shall do and greater than these they shall do What greater Miracles can be an evident proof of a Prophet's or an Apostle's Mission than to command
A SERMON Preach'd in the Chappel of HIS EXCELLENCY THE SPANISH EMBASSADOR On the Second Sunday of ADVENT December 4. 1687. On which was Solemniz'd the Feast of St. Francis Xaverius of the Society of JESVS Apostle of the INDIES and Kingdom of JAPAN By the R. F. LEWIS SABRAâ— of the same Society PERMISSU SVPERIORVM LONDON Printed by Henry Hills Printer to the King 's Most Excellent Majesty for His Houshold and Chappel And are sold at his Printing-house on the Ditch-side in Black-Fryers 1687. A SERMON Preach'd in the Chappel of his Excellency The SPANISH Embassador On the Second Sunday of Advent December 4. 1687. Caeci vident claudi ambulant leprosi mudantur surdi audiunt mortui resurgunt pauperes Evangelizantur beatus qui non fuerit scandalizatus in me Matt. 11. 5 6. The blind see the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead rise to life the poor have the Gospel preached to them and happy is he who is not scandalized in me IT is a weighty Doubt which in this Sundays Gospel St. John moves by his Disciples his Chains not allowing him the liberty to offer it himself to our Blessed Lord to be resolved a Tu es qui venturus es Matt. 11. Are you he who is to come Are you that Saviour whom for so many Ages the sighing Prophets have asked gracious Heaven hath promised the longing Earth expected An Important Quaere For what can be of a nearer concern than not to mistake our God b Haec est vita aeterna ut cognoscant te solum Deum verum quem misisti Jesum Christum Joan. 17. 'T is that Life everlasting which we hope for to know by the light of Glory our sole true God and him he hath sent Jesus Christ And 't is the only way leading to that Life to know Both here by the light of Faith. But doth the Voice then question the Word that formed and sent it Is that Head-Mystery concealed from St. John than whom a greater Prophet is not born of a Woman No certainly The Eternal Father lately bore in his presence witness to Christ at the Bank of the River Jordan Even when yet inclos'd in his Mothers Womb he owned his Lord and Prophesied of him before he could speak Lately he proclaimed him to be the Lamb of God which takes away the Sins of the World T is at the very proposal of this Doubt that he receives that high Character of c Major inter natos mulierum propheta Joanne Baptista nemo est Luc. 7. Joan. 1. More than a Prophet becoming by this his Embassy also an Apostle for d Ut sibi quaerens illis disceret Hier ad Aglas as St. Jerom observes St. John proposes the Doubt of his mistaken Disciples that they may be instructed by Jesus his Answer 'T is their Ignorance e Non suae sed discipulorum ignorantiae Joannes consulit Hil. sup Matt. says S. Hilary that he designs to remove not his own Knowledge that he would improve Christians of England if I may call by one Name People of so different a Belief of such opposit Persuasions the Church of God asks in her Gospel the same Question this Day Tu es Are you the Lord And well she may when she finds her Subjects so divided about him * Matt. 24. Here is Christ says one with my Band only No There is Christ in that other different Party says a Second He is within says a Third this Private Spirit of mine singles him from amongst the false ones He was in the Wilderness another pretends there he had been hidden for many Ages till we lately discover'd him Thus each Sect each Party each Division challenges him He is not in all these so different so opposite Beliefs for he is not f Non enim est dissentionis Deus sed pacis 1 Cor. 14. the God of Dissention but of Peace and Unity To correct these various Errors to redress so dangerous Mistakes the true Church in imitation of St. John asks him this Day the same Question Tu es Are you the Lord you that are Adored by my Children Worshipped on my Altars I know each Sect will answer Here he is this is his true Worship which I pay But we are never the nearer some unquestionable and potent Proof must be offered Hence our Blessed Lord answered not the Disciples of St. John by a bare Assertion I am he All Deceivers and Antichristian Cheats could give in that Answer for themselves each false Prophet was ever the readiest to cry out The Word of the Lord the pure Word of the Lord. Jesus brought Facts in lieu of Words and elsewhere assures us that if he had g Si ego testimonium perhibeo de meipso testimonium meum non est verum Joan. 5. 31. with bare words born witness to himself and challenged thereupon to be believed it ought to have been held as a false one and not to have been regarded This was his Answer The blind see the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead rise to life Behold the First Proof and Mark Miracles unquestionable by reason of their greatness number evidence The poor are preached unto behold the Second to wit those unusual Means humanly of no force used to convert and subdue the World by poor silly ignorant Men and again their refusal of all human Helps towards so vast an Enterprise And happy is he who is not scandalized in me behold the Third to wit those eminent supernatural Gifts and Blessings bestowed on those who embraced his Poverty and Abjection so unknown unto or despised by the World which were undeniable Proofs of his Apostles Holiness We agree all about the Messias convinced by those undoubted Marks now observed but many are the more miserable and guilty whilst they debate about his Doctrin and Law and so neither receive the one nor obey the other How shall a well-meaning Man clear these Doubts and find out his true Doctrin Church Worship whom he owns to be his God and Redeemer Could any of this Churches Witnesses give the same Evidence and Proofs which Christ gave for himself our Differences would be at an end our Doubts cleared our Faith setled Christian Auditors God most mercifully offers us many one I will produce this Day the great Apostle of the Indies and the Kingdoms of Japan Xaverius All things concur to move me to speak of him First my Text for I intend to prove that his Life and Actions give the same Answer the same Proofs for the truth of the Catholic Church which Christ gave to evince himself to be the true Messias So that if we proceed on those Motives which Christ himself judged the clearest and safest we must all be Catholics or no Christians Next the general Devotion of the pious World towards this great Apostle of our Days during this Octave of his Feast exacts it of me Again the
possessing and guiding our Hearts said therefore by Christ to be c Regnum Dei intra nos est within us d Regnum Dei vim patitur violenti rapiunt illud suffers violence and those only attain to it who use such force that who loves his Soul will lose it and who hates his Soul seemingly by a severe and hard usage will preserve it to Eternal Life and esteemed those happy with S. Augustin e Si male amantris tunc odisti si bene oderis tunc amasti felices qui custodiunt odiendo perdant amanda Aug. Tract 51. in Joan. who support by that holy hatred what by an indulging love they had destroyed he knew that such Mortifications serve to stop those violent Inclinations which bear away our Souls from all attention to our Spiritual and Eternal Concerns riveting them as it were in Temporal and Sensual ones that such Affections being by those exterior checks driven back into our Hearts increase mightily the strength of a Soul moving with united Forces towards God. Therefore in imitation of Gods holy Servants with a S. Paul f Perimat amittar usum ejus scilicet perversum quo inclinatur temporalibus ut aeterna non quaerat De Doct. Chr. l. 3. c. 16. he chastized his Body with frequent bloody Disciplines with St. Benedict he tore his Flesh with Brambles and Thorny Rods g Per cutis vulnera eduxit à corpore vulnus mentis quia voluptatem traxit in dolorem G. G. l. Dial. c. 2. by those wounds of his Body applying a Salve to those of his Mind and driving away dangerous Pleasures by Pains With holy Judith and vertuous Anna he covered himself with a rude Hair Shirt and passed his Life in long continued Watching and Praying with Gregory Nazianzen he lay on the bare Ground or Cables or when most at ease on a Matt. 'T was by the same Principle he acted when aplying his Mouth to the purulent Ulcers of the Sick he attended he sucked the filthy Matter out of them Led away by the same he refused passing near the Castle of Xavier to see his loving Mother before he begun his Mission to a new World. And our Blessed Lord confirmed by a continued Miracle how acceptable the Sufferings and Toils of Xaverius were for a large Crucifix to be yet seen in the said Castle the Side Arms and Feet remaining yet covered with a Crust of Blood did from those Wounds yield abundance of it whenever Xaverius was in imminent Dangers or extraordinary Toils in the Indies That Year the Saint died it issued every Friday to that which fell on the Second of December An. 1552. the Forty sixth of his the last Day of his Life on Earth and the first of his Happiness in Heaven But if Xaverius during the Course of his Missions to the end of that of his Life was ever attended by those singular Graces from Heaven which authorised so many different Nations to give him the Title of Apostle God by a singular Providence equally glorifying himself in this Saint after his Death hath added such an unquestionable Proof of his Mission that no false Prophet nor Impostor was ever followed beyond Life by any shadow of it Both Worlds know the frequent Miracles wrought the innumerable Blessings obtained through his Intercession from Heaven His Body left on Earth entire after it had been buried near three Months in quick Lime and after at Malaca above five more in dampish Earth bleeding afresh several Years after when hurt in the Foot ever yielding a sweet Perfume is a sufficient Instance how glorious in the sight of God his Soul is in Heaven If Elizaeus's his Bones were said in holy Writ to Prophetize after Death by reason of the Miracle wrought at their touching a dead Corps to which Life was restored may I not say that in Boubours To. 2. V. X. Xaverius's dead Body still dwells an Apostle so great Prodigies having ever waited on it A raging Plague ceased suddenly at Malaca when it was received there Rocks split and divided themselves to make way for the Ship it was conveyed in All the Sick who saw it when brought to Goa received their Health at that instant And ever since this Apostle hath favored with miraculous Graces obtained by his Intercession all Nations in the old and his new World which have brought even Mahometans Jews and Infidels to his Sepulchre to view that miraculous Body of a more miraculous Soul which must force all that shall stand to that most impartial Trial which our most Blessed Lord recommends to us By their Fruits you shall know them to own Ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos Xaverius an Apostle most highly favored by Almighty God with most unquestionable Miracles and equally prodigious Virtues You are then still great Saint you are to this Age to our Kingdom an Apostle the Miracles you wrought when on Earth and obtained since still Preach the truth of that Catholic Religion which you Planted in so many Kingdoms We are all forced to use those words to you which Nicodemus spoke to our Blessed Lord when he owned him as yet but a Prophet Scimus Rabbi scimus quia à Deo venisti Magister Joan. 3. We know God sent you to Preach and Teach for no one can do those Wonders which you work if God be not with him Obtain great Saint obtain for this Nation a due Acknowledgment of this Truth a pious Assent to it This Kingdom hath a particular Title to your Protection since the Alms which your holy Father St. Ignatius gathered here enabled him to win himself into your Acquaintance and Favor and so to work under God your total Conversion to a pious Life One Favor more then a Neighboring Kingdom that obtained the like through your Intercession minds me to crave through your Merits by the joynt Prayers of this pious Assembly Marguerit of Austria after twenty years Barrenness obtained from Heaven a Son who sits now on the Throne of France and she ever owned that you were the Saint by whose Intercession she sought chiefly that great Blessing for her and her Kingdom These three Kingdoms expect a like Happiness from our Most Gracious and Pious Queen Permit not great Saint that your devout Clients be disappointed in their Expectation of a Prince May we owe to your Intercession so great a Blessing a Prince who may equal in Learning the great Alfred in Piety St. Edward in Prowess the Third and First of that Name in Victories Henry the Fifth the Seventh in Wisdom that is in a word who may inherit soon his Royal Father's Virtues and late his Throne Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam FINIS