Councils have Condemn'd of Error the Opinion of those who maintain'd that the particular Churches of Alexandria or of Constantinople were true Churches without being United to the Bishop of Rome the common Head of the Catholick Church out of which have descended in a continual Succession all the Popes from St. Peter to this day who by the relation of St. Marcellus the Martyr fix'd his Chair at Rome by order from Jesus Christ and cemented it with his own Blood These Popes have been held without Controversie to be the Vicars of Jesus Christ by innumerable holy Doctors Greek and Latin and of all Nations they have been acknowledg'd by Anchortes Bishops and other Confessors Illustrious for Sanctity Lastly they have been Authenticated by an infinity of Miracles and by innumerable Martyrs who have dy'd in the Union and for the Faith of the holy Roman Church It was therefore with good reason that in the Council of Calcedon all the Bishops cry'd with one Voice in Saluting the holy Pope St. Leo Most Holy Apostolick Universal and that in the Council of Constance those were Anathematiz'd who deny'd the Primacy and Authority of the Bishop of Rome over all the Churches of the World These Decrees so Express and so Authentick are farther confirm'd by the Council of Florence which was held under Eugenius the Fourth and in which were present the Greeks the Armenians the Jacobites and other Nations We Define say the Fathers of this Council that the holy See Apostolick and the Bishop of Rome hath the Primacy over all the Churches in the World that he is Successor of St. Peter the Vicar of Jesus Christ the Head of the whole Church the Father and Doctor of all the Faithful that our Lord Jesus Christ hath given him in the person of St. Peter a full power to instruct to direct and to govern the Universal Church Wherefore the most Serene King David Father to your Highness with great right did formerly acknowledge by a sollemn Embassy the Church of Rome for the Mother and Mistress of all Churches And amongst the many illustrious Actions by which both he and you have recommended your Names to Posterity two there are which will outshine all the rest and for which your People ought to render immortal thanks to God Your Father is the first King of the Abyssins who put himself under the Obedience of him who holds the place of Jesus Christ upon Earth and you are the first who hath brought into your Dominions a true Patriarch a Legitimate Son of the holy See and deputed by the Vicar of Jesus Christ For if it ought to be reckon'd the highest Blessing as in effect it is to be United to the Mystical Body of the Catholick Church which is enliven'd and directed by the Holy Ghost teaching her all Truths according to the Testimony of the Evangelist If it be a great happiness to be enlightned with sound Doctrine to be settl'd and to rest upon the Foundations of the Church which the Apostle St. Paul writing to Timothy calls the House of God the Pillar and Basis of Truth to which our Lord Jesus Christ hath promis'd an Everlasting Assistance when he said to his Apostles Behold I am always with you to the end of the World as we read in the Gospel of St. Matthew These Nations have certainly great reason to thank their Saviour and Creator whose merciful Providence has made use of your Father and of your self to bestow such benefits upon them and their acknowledgment should the more shew it self in regard also of the Temporal Advantages which are likely to follow these Spiritual Blessings For we may justly hope that by the means of this Reunion with the Church your Enemies will soon be vanquish'd and your Empire enlarg'd The Priests which are sent you are indeed all but principally the Patriarch and the two Bishops of try'd Vertue and selected out of our Society for so important a Function in regard of their eminent Learning and of their perfect Charity They want neither Courage nor Zeal well to acquit themselves of their Ministry hoping that they shall Labour usefully for the Glory of God for the Conversion of Souls and for the Service of your Highness Their only desire is to imitate in some sort the Son of God who willingly suffer'd death to redeem Mankind from Eternal Damnation and who saith by the Mouth of the Evangelist I am the good Shepherd the good Shepherd gives his Life for his Sheep The Patriarch and the rest animated by the Example of our Saviour come dispos'd to relieve and gain Souls by their Counsels by their Labours and even by their Death if need shall require The more freely your Highness shall be pleas'd to open your mind and to communicate your thoughts to them the greater I hope your inward Consolation will be And for what regards the Credit to be given to what they shall say either in private or in publick your Highness is not Ignorant that the words of these Missioners sent by the Holy See and chiefly those of the Patriarch have Apostolical Authority and in some sort are no less to be credited then the voice of the Church whose Interpreters they are And in regard that all the Faithful ought to adhere to the Sentiments of the Church obey her Decrees and consult her in doubtful Cases I am perswaded that your Piety will lead you to make an Edict which may oblige all your Subjects to follow without resistance the Orders and Constitutions both of the Patriarch and of those whom he shall substitute in his place The Deuteronomy teaches us that it was the Custom among the Jews in the Controversies and Difficulties which occur'd to have recourse to the Synagogue which was the Figure and Forerunner of the Christian Church For this reason it was that Jesus Christ said in the Gospel the Scribes and Pharisees are seated on the Chair of Moses the wise Man teaches the same thing in the Proverbs Do not neglect the Precepts of your Mother This Mother is the Church And in another place pass not the bounds which your Fathers have set these Fathers are the Prelates of the Church In conclusion Jesus Christ requires of us to have so great deference to his Church that he plainly tells us by the Evangelist St. Luke He who hears you hears me and he who contemns you contemns me And by St. Matthew If he hears not the Church let him be to you as a Heathen and a Publican Hence it follows that we must not hearken to those who hold forth any thing that is not conformable to the Sense and the Interpretation of the Catholick Church of which we are admonish'd by those words of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians But altho ' we or any Angel from Heaven should Evangelize to you otherwise then we have Evangeliz'd to you be he Anathema In fine the Testimony of the Holy Doctors the Canons of Councils the Consent and
was that the Body it self of the Deceased seem'd to give some assurance of the glorious state of his Soul for Hozez who living was of a swarthy Complexion and very hard-featur'd becaMe so handsom and well-colour'd after his Death that Codurus who never left him could hardly know him for the same Man To increase his comfort Ignatius stay'd not long without finding another Companion to fill his room whom he newly had lost or rather whom it pleas'd God to take into his own Kingdom Nor could he reckon it a loss to himself that this holy Man should be the first to take possession of Heaven out of that Society which was hardly yet well establish'd upon Earth and from whom he hop'd for more protection in that blessed State he had seen him then he could have had service or assistance from him if he had continu'd longer in the World Coming back from Monte-Cassino he met a young Spaniard of his Acquaintance call'd Francis Strada who was come to Rome to make his Fortune Doctor Ortiz had plac'd him with Cardinal John Peter Caraffa But Strada who was full of spirit and fire grew quickly weary of a Court where all things go slowly on He therefore resolv'd to turn Soldier to advance himself that way and he was then going to find Employment at Naples It is the custom for Men uneasie in their Fortunes to be always complaining He told Ignatius his Disgusts against the Court of Rome call'd it Deceitful and Ungrateful but still he comforted himself with the prospect of a freer Life in which at least he should gain Reputation You have no reason to complain said Ignatius to him The World in deceiving you has only done what it useth to do you have rather cause to rejoyce then to complain for it was rather a Kindness then a Deceit to let you know at first what the Court is and how ill-grounded all Hopes are there This ingrateful World which has so ill recompenc'd your Services doth in a manner it self admonish you to leave it but you do like him who suffers Shipwrack upon one Sea and presently Embarques again upon another You leave Rome for Naples as if the Court were not still the Court as well at Naples as at Rome For my part I have pity of you not so much for the Hopes you have already lost as for those you have still before you If you will not be deceiv'd renounce all your vain Pretensions upon Earth and trust only to God who is only faithful and can only make you happy These words made such Impressions upon the young Soldier that he laid down his new Profession to make himself a Disciple of Ignatius He went back with him to Rome and in process of time became one of the most famous Preachers of Europe Other young Men considerable for their natural Parts and for their Piety almost at the same time follow'd the Example of Strada At this time God bestow'd upon Ignatius more distinct Notions of the Institute of which he was to be the Founder together with a strong desire of Establishing it out of hand He conferr'd with Faber and Laynez about it and he sent for the rest of his Companions who were dispersed up and down Italy Upon his first Order they came to Rome about the end of Lent in the Year 1538. They Lodg'd all together with a Roman Gentleman call'd Guirino Garzonio whom Ignatius had brought into the Service of God and whose House he accepted of that he might Treat more commodiously with his Companions about the great Business in hand Having one day call'd them together Can you think Brethren said he that Providence has gather'd us out of so many different Countries and united us with so strait a band of perfect Charity with intention that after so long Studies and such painful Voyages every one should go home again at his pleasure No no he added God would have us engag'd in his Service for ever and even that we leave behind us Successors that shall embrace the same manner of Life Heaven has been pleas'd to stop our Entrance into Palestine and yet I can say it to the glory of God that our zeal for his Service has still increased from day to day Ought we not to judge from thence that we are call'd to enlarge the Kingdom of Jesus Christ not with a single Nation or Country but with all the Nations and Countries of the World The small number which we were at first did not suffice for so vast an Enterprize New Succours are now come in to us and more are daily coming But what benefit shall we receive from those who associate with us if we all live in an Independency and what great thing can we perform if our Company be not Erected into a Religious Order capable of multiplying it self in all Places and subsisting to the end of the World I doubt not but this Design will meet with great opposition The Contradiction of Men is a Character and Mark of the Works of God But neither Earth nor Hell can prevail against the Decrees of the Eternal Wisdom Jesus Christ has promis'd us to be favourable to us and what may we not hope upon his Word and what can we fear with his Assistance After all I am if opinion that you and I should take a little time to prepare our selves by Prayer to make a farther discovery of his Divine Will and faithfully to Execute it when it shall appear to us This Discourse of Ignatius fully convinc'd the whole Company yet in Obedience to him they did not deliver their Opinions upon the Matter till they had taken some time to recommend it to God in the manner by him prescribed which being done they assembled a second time and agree'd by a common consent that their Society should be Erected into a Religious Order that no time ought to be lost in undertaking it and that the first step to be made should be to prepare the Mind of the Pope which seem'd to be averse from these new Establishments While they sought out means to bring this to effect Paul the Third parted from Rome for Nice a Maritime Town in Provence where there was to be an Interview between Francis the First and Charles the Fifth The Design of the Pope was to Compose the Differences of those two Princes by a Treaty of Peace or at least to obtain of them a long Truce for he had reason to fear that their Divisions would hinder the progress of the League made against Soliman It was a great pain to Ignatius to see the Business of God retarded he drew his comfort only from him who permitted this delay and in the mean time he employ'd himself in the Service of his Neighbour Having obtain'd leave of Cardinal Caraffa whom the Pope had made his Legate in Rome to Preach in what Places he would he distributed his Companions into several Churches of the Town He chose for himself
our Ladies of Montserrat out of the Devotion which he always conserv'd towards the miraculous Image which is honor'd at the Place of Montserrat where he made his Renunciation of secular Warfare He Preach'd very feelingly and his Talent was to make the Truths of the Gospel enter into the Heart by laying them forth in a plain manner such as they are in themselves and as he himself relish'd them so that pious Persons and of good sence who us'd to hear his Sermons were wont to say That the Word of God naked and plain had in the Mouth of Ignatius its full Majesty and force Faber Xaverius Laynez and the rest did also Preach with great fervour and with no other aim but the good of Souls From their first Sermons there was observ'd a remarkable change in the Manners of the People The frequentation of the Sacraments which was then little in use was restor'd according to the Model of the first Ages of Christianity and 't is since that time that so holy a Custom has been introduced into all Catholick Countries as well as that of making Catechisms to the Children and Sermons to the People every Sunday and Holy-day This Eavngelical Ministry did not hinder Ignatius from often Treating with his Companions concerning the Project of his Institute for tho' he had the Model of it within him yet he would do nothing in it without their concurrence Being employ'd all the day either in instructing the People in publick or in directing Consciences in private they took the Night for the time of their Consults They resolv'd in one of their Assemblies by the direction of Ignatius that besides the Vows of Poverty and Chastity which they had made at Venice they should make another of perpetual Obedience the more to conform themselves to the Son of God who was obedient even to death That to this end they should elect a Superior General whom they must all obey as God himself That this Superior should be perpetual and that his Authority should be absolute At another Meeting they agree'd That such as were Profess'd in their Society should add to the three Vows of Poverty Chastity and Obedience an express Vow of going wheresoever the Vicar of Jesus Christ should send them to labour in the Salvation of Souls and even to go without any Viaticum and living upon Alms if his Holiness should think it fit They had also other Conferences where they resolv'd That the Profess'd should possess nothing neither in particular nor in common but that in the Universities they might have Colleges with Revenues and Rents for the subsistence of those who Study After this manner they were employ'd in expectation of the Pope's return and the Blessing which God bestow'd upon their Labours made them hope for a happy success in their grand Design when on the sudden a Tempest was rais'd which almost over-turn'd all their hopes There was at Rome a famous Preacher by Nation a Piemontese and a Religious of the Order of the Augustine Hermits a reform'd Man in appearance but unworthy of the holy Habit which he wore and a Lutheran in his heart The absence of his Holiness gave him confidence from his Pulpit to vent the Errors of that Heresiarch The better to surprize the People he mightily lamented the relaxation of Discipline and of Doctrine in point of Manners and Christian Morals And thereupon he would insinuate some ambiguous Proposition which he fail'd not seemingly to back with the Authority of holy Fathers and with the Example of the first Ages Ignatius could not imagine that a Religious Man should be capable of Preaching Heresie in the middle of Rome and he believ'd at first that they had put a wrong sence upon the words of the Preacher or that the Propositions which made so much noise had negligently slipt from him without design However to be throughly inform'd of the truth he order'd Salmeron and Laynez who had formerly Disputed with the Hereticks in Germany and knew the bottom of Lutheranism to go at several times to hear him Being ascertain'd by them that he taught the very Doctrine of Luther under a specious pretence of teaching that of the Primitive Church he procur'd him to be admonish'd in secret that his Doctrine had caus'd a great deal of scandal and this Advice was given him with all the precautions which Prudence and Charity require But 't is the nature of Heresie to affect Moderation when 't is undisturb'd and let alone and to be violent in the highest degree upon any opposition made against it The Preacher whom all Rome follow'd as an Oracle made haughty by his Reputation and so much the more irritated by the Remonstrances which had been made him by how much they were founded upon Truth he vented his rage against those who suspected his Doctrine and boldly maintain'd all those Propositions which he had advanced Ignatius seeing that a secret Admonition had been unprofitable and that sweet Remedies increased the Disease thought it his duty publickly to oppose the Enterprize of a Man who made it his Business to corrupt the purity of Faith in the Capital City of Christendom Wherefore he and his Companions went into the Pulpit and with all their might confuted his Errors by defending the necessity of Good-works the Vows of Religion the Authority of the Church and such other Catholick Articles as are Impugned by the Lutherans The ten Preachers did not Preach in vain the Fryar became suspected of Heresie but being a Man very dextrous and intriguing he wanted neither Artifice to justifie himself nor Credit to be supported His first Address was to retort upon Ignatius the suspicion of Heresie saying aloud That it was the custom of cunning Hereticks to impute Errors to whom they pleas'd that by raising a dust they might undiscover'd and with Impunity vent worse themselves But the better to corroborate what he would have believ'd he drew into his Cabal three Spaniards who had an honest and sober out-side very proper to authorize a Calumny One of them was call'd Mudarra another Barrera and the third Castilla They were not contented to defame Ignatius only as a Lutheran and a wicked Man but they suborn'd Michael Navarr and engag'd him to depose something of a heinous nature against him This is that Navarr who at Paris being inrag'd at the Conversion of Xaverius made an attempt upon the Life of Ignatius He was come to Rome after he had run about the greatest part of Europe and he hated Ignatius the more for that having offer'd himself to be one of his Disciples he was not judg'd worthy This Man then declar'd before the Governor of Rome that the Ring-leader of certain Spanish Priests was an Heretick and a Sorcerer who had been burnt in Effigie at Alcala at Paris and at Venice He protested upon Oath That nothing but his Conscience forc'd him to accuse a Man of his own Nation that he averr'd nothing but what he had