to be given because with the benefit thereof our Soul is consecrated and joyn'd to God Wherefore to shew more fully what a Sacrament is X. A more full explication of a Sacrament it should be taught that it is a thing subject to Sense which by Gods appointment has vertue both to signifie and to work holiness and righteousness Whence it follows that any one may easily understand that the Images of the Saints Crosses and such like things tho they are Signs of Holy Things yet they are not to be call'd Sacraments Now the truth of this Doctrin it will be easie to prove by the example of all the Sacraments as before we observ'd of Baptism when we said that That solemn washing of the Body is a Sign and has the efficacy of a Holy Thing which is inwardly wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost any one may do the same thing in the other Sacraments But then this also specially belongs to these mystical Signs XI Every Sacrament signifies at least three things Present Grace the Passion of Christ and Life Everlasting which are instituted of God that by Gods appointment they signifie not any one thing only but more things together Which thing may be seen in all the Sacraments which shew not only our Holiness and Righteousness but declare two other things besides very nearly joyn'd with that Holiness to wit Christ our Redeemer's Passion which is the cause of our Holiness and Life Everlasting and the Bliss of Heaven to which our Holiness ought to be referr'd as to the End And this may be observ'd in all the Sacraments Rightly have the Holy Doctors taught that every Sacrament has in it a threefold vertue of signifying both because it brings to remembrance something already past and because it points at and shews another thing present and also because it foreshews something yet to come Nor is it to be suppos'd that these things have been thus taught of them as that it cannot be prov'd by testimony of Holy Scripture For when the Apostle says Rom 6.3 As many of us as have bin baptiz'd in Christ Jesus have bin baptiz'd in his death he plainly shews that Baptism is therefore to be call'd a Sign because it puts us in mind of the Death and Passion of our Lord. And then when he says We are bury'd together with him by Baptism into Death that as Christ rose again from the dead by the glory of the Father so also should we walk in newness of life From these words it is plain that Baptism is a Sign whereby the Divine Grace is shew'd to be pour'd into us by verture whereof is given to us that leading a new life we can easily and cheerfully perform all Offices of true Piety Lastly Rom. 6.5 when he adds For if we are planted together in the likeness of his Death we shall be also of his Resurrection it appears that Baptism has no dark signification of the Life Everlasting also which through it we shall obtain But besides these XII A Sacrament â—ometimes signifies not one thing only present divers kinds and ways of signifying which we have mention'd it oft happens that a Sacrament shews and notes not One thing only as present but more This is easie to be observ'd by any that consider the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist Wherein is signifi'd the presence of the true Body and Blood of the Lord which those who receive those Holy Mysteries not impurely do perceive From what has been said therefore the Pastors cannot want Arguments whereby to shew How great a Divine Power how many hidden Miracles are in the Sacraments of the New Law to prevail with all to revernce them and receive them with the greatest Devotioâ— But to teach the true use of the Sacraments XIII for what reason the Sacraments were instituted there can nothing seem more proper than diligently to explain the Reasons Why it was needful the Sacraments should be instituted Of these there are many Whereof the First is The First The weakness of Human Vnderstanding which by nature we see to be so fram'd that no One can aspire to the knowledg of those things which are comprehended by the mind and understanding unless by those things which are perceiv'd by some sense That therefore we might the more easily understand those things which are wrought by the hidden power of God the same supream Maker of all things has most wisely order'd that of his Good-will towards us he declares that very Power by some Signs which fall under some Sense For as S. Chrysostom excellently says Chrysost hom 83. in Matt. hom 60. ad pop Antioch If Man were but free from the conjunction of the Body those goon things would be offer'd him naked and not wrapp'd up in coverings But because the Soul is joyn'd with the Body it was altogether needful to use the help of sensible things to understand them Another Reason is The Second Aug l. 4. de Baptis con tra c. 24. Because our Minds are not easily wrought upon to believe those things which are promis'd us And therefore from the very beginning of the World God has bin us'd very frequently to shew by Words what he intended to do and sometimes also when he intended any work the Greatness whereof might shake the Belief of the Promise he add'd to the words some Signs alsso which had a kind of miracle in them sometimes For when God sent Moses to deliver the people of Israel Exod. 3.10 Exod. 3.42 but he not being assur'd of Gods assistance who sent him fear'd lest too heavy a burden should be laid upon him which he could not be able to hear or lest the people would not give credit to the Divine Oracles and Sayings The Lord confirm'd his promise by a great variety of Signs As therefore in the Old Testament God so ordered it that the Constancy or Truth of some great Promise might be testified by Signs so also â—n the New Law our Savior Christ when he promis'd us Forgiveness of Sins Heavenly Grace the Communion of the Holy Ghost instituted some certain Signs subject to our Eys and Senses by which as by pledges we might esteem him as it were oblig'd and so for the future might never doubt of the Faithfulness of the Promise A Third Reason was The Third â— mâ— .. â— de Saâ—â— â— 4. as S. Ambrose writes That the Soul might have ready at hand the remedies and medicines as it were of the Evangelical Samaritan for the recovery and preservation of her Health For the vertue which flows from Christ's Passion i. e. the Grace which he merited for us upon the Altar of the Cross must be deriv'd upon our selves by the Sacraments as it were by certain Pipes otherwise no one can have any hope of Salvation Wherefore our most merciful Lord would leave in his Church Sacraments firmly establish'd by his Word and Promise by which
him to attain to by any human understanding it was necessary that he receive the knowledg thereof from God Now this knowledg is nothing else but Faith by vertue whereof it comes to pass that we assuredly hold that for truth which the authority of our most holy mother the Church approves as deliver'd by God For the faithful can by no means doubt of those things whereof God who is the very truth it self is the author Whence we perceive how great a difference there is betwixt this Faith which we have towards God and that which we bear towards the writers of human stories Now tho Faith extends very far and disters both in greatness and dignity for thus we read in holy Scripture Matt. 14.31 Luc. 17.5 Gal. 5.6 Jam. 2 14. Wherefore didst thou doubt O thou of little Faith and Great is thy Faith And Increase our Faith So Faith without works is dead And Faith which works by charity Yet in kind it is the same thing And the same definition or description and reason does agree to the different Degrees of Faith But how fruitful and advantagious it is to us will be said in the explication of the Articles of Faith Those things therefore which Christians ought chiefly to hold are the same which the Captains and Doctors of Faith the holy Apostles who were inspir'd by the holy Ghost have distinguish'd in the twelve articles of the Creed For when they receiv'd commandment from the Lord to go his Ambassadors into all the World XXVIII Why the creed was composed Mar. 16.15 and to preach the Gospel to every creature they thought fit to compose a form of Christian Faith to the end that all might think and speak the same thing and that there might be no schism or division amongst them 1 Cor. 1.10 whom they call'd to the unity of the Faith But that they might be made perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment This profession of Christian Faith and hope compos'd by themselves the Apostles call'd a Symbol either because it was made up of the various sentences which they severally cast into the common stock or because they wou'd use it as a certain kind of note or character whereby they might easily discover those false brethren who having deserted and withdrawn themselves corrupted the Gospel from those who had bound themselves by oath to fight under Christs Banner THE CATECHISM FOR THE CURATES BY THE DECREE OF THE Council of TRENT PART I. Of the twelve Articles of the Creed I Believ in God There are in Christian Religion many things propos'd to the faithful I. What the Creed contains whereof there must be had either severally or universally an assur'd and firm Faith But then This first of all and necessarily all are bound to believe which as the very foundation of truth God himself has taught us to wit concerning the Unity of the divine Essence and Distinction of the three Persons and their actions and for what special reason they are attributed to them The Curate is to teach that the doctrin of this mystery is briefly comprehended in the Apostles Creed For as our fore-fathers II. The division of the Creed who were both piously and learnedly skill'd in this point have observ'd it seems to be divided into Three principal parts so as in one The First person of the divine nature and wonderful work of the creation is describ'd In the other the Second person and the mystery of man's redemption In the third part is concluded the doctrin of the Third person the head and fountain of our holiness all in various and fit sentences Now those sentences by a kind of similitude often us'd by our fore-fathers we call Articles For as the members of our body are distinguisht by joynts So also in this confession of Faith whatsoever is to be believ'd by us separately and distinctly from another thing we rightly and fitly call an Article ARTICLE I. I Believ in God the Father Almighty I. What this article contains maker of Heav'n and Earth The meaning of these words is this I certainly believ and without any doubting do profess God the Father to wit the first person in the Trinity who by his Almighty power created out of nothing the very Heav'ns and the Earth and all things contain'd in them and having created them he defends and governs them all Nor do I only in heart believ or by my mouth profess but with my utmost endeavour and strongest affection I reach towards him as my supreme and most compleat good This then is a short account of the first Article But because in almost every one of these words there lies hid mighty mysteries the Curate ought to weigh them more diligently that as far as God shall permit the faithful may be brought with fear and trembling to the contemplation of the glory of his Majesty The word Believ does not therefore in this place signifie II. What it is to believ to think to suppose to be of opinion but as the holy Scriptures teach it signifies a most firm and sure assent whereby the mind does firmly and constantly adhere to God in the revelation of his mysteries Wherefore he does rightly believ in the sense here meant who is fully and certainly perswaded of a thing without any doubt or wavering Nor ought any one to think that the knowledg of Faith is less certain III. The assurance of faith because those things which Faith offers to us to be believ'd are not presently beheld For the divine light by which only we perceiv those things although it makes them not so very clear yet it suffers us not to doubt of them For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness 2 Cor. 4.6 Ibid. 3. he has shin'd in our hearts that the Gospel might not be hid to us as it is to them that perish And now from what has bin already said IV. Faith excludes curiosity it follows That he that has this heav'nly knowledg of Faith is freed from all curious enquiry For when God commanded us to Believ he did not require of us to search narrowly into his divine judgments or to pry into the reason or cause of them but commands us firmly and immutably to Believ And this Belief makes the mind contented in the knowledg of his eternal truth And indeed since the Apostle witnesses That God is true but every man a lyar and since none but an arrogant or impudent fellow will refuse to give credit to a grave and wise person when he affirms any thing for truth but presses him further to prove what he said by reason and witnesses What rashness and folly must it needs be for one that hears the very word of God himself to demand reasons for the heav'nly doctrin of salvation Faith therefore must be held free not only from all doubtfulness but even from the very desire of more certain evidence or
the Lord all thy Oaths But I say to you Swear not at all neither by Heaven because it is God's Throne neither by the Earth because it is his Footstool neither by Jerusalnm because it is the City of the great King neither shalt thou swear by thy Head because thou canst not make one Hair white or black but let your speech be Yea yea Nay nay for whatsoever is more than this comes of evil For in these Words an Oath is not said to be condemn'd generally and universally Answer'd since we have already seen that our Lord himself and his Apostles did frequently swear But our Lord would reprove the perverse Judgment of the Jews whereby they thought that nothing was to be regarded in Swearing but to beware of Lying They did therefore both swear very commonly themselves and requir'd an Oath of others and that in Matters very trivial and of no moment This Custom our Saviour reproves and condemns and teaches wholly to abstain from Swearing unless Necessity require it For an Oath was appointed because of human Frailty XXIV Why an Oath was instituted and indeed it came of evil because it shews Inconstancy either in him that swears or the Contumacy of him for whose sake we swear who cannot otherwise be brought to believe Note But yet the Necessity of Swearing has an Excuse And indeed when our Saviour says XXV That place of the Gospel explain'd Mat. 5.37 Let your speech be Yea yea Nay nay by this manner of speaking he sufficiently declares that he forbids the Custom of swearing in our Discourses of ordinary and trivial Matters Wherefore our Lord warns us of this especially that we be not so easie and prone to swear And this must diligently be taught and inculcated into the Ears of the Faithful for that almost infinite Mischiefs do come from the too frequent Custom of Swearing is prov'd from the Authority of Sacred Scripture and from the Testimonies of the most H. Fathers In Ecclesiasticus it is written Ecclus 23. Accustom not thy mouth to swear for there are many hazards therein Again A Man accustomed to swear shall be filled with iniquity and sorrow shall not depart from his house Much more may be read concerning this Matter in S. Basil and S. Austin in his Books contra Mendacium And thus far of what is Commanded Now we are to speak of what is Forbidden Basil in Psal 14. ad haec verba Qui jurat proximo suo Aug. lib. de Mendac 14. Vide 22. q. 2. c. primum est We are forbidden to take the Name of God in vain XXVI A great Fault to swear rashly For it appears that he binds himself under a grievous Sin who is hurried by Rashness not led by Counsel to swear Now that this is a very grievous Sin these words also shew Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain as tho he would shew a Reason why this is so heinous and wicked a Sin to wit because thereby his Majesty is disrespected whom we profess to be our God and Lord. By this Commandment therefore Men are foridden to swear falsly XXVII When he that swears falsly do's injury to God for he that will not take heed to escape so great a Sin as falsly to call God as a Witness do's notable injury to God because he would charge him either with Ignorance while he thinks that the Truth of any thing can be kept secret from him or else of Dishonesty and Ill-affection as to confirm a Lie with his Testimony Now XXVIII Sins against this Commandment First not only He swears falsly who with an Oath affirms that to be true which he knows to be false Vide Aug. de Verbis Apost Serm. 28. citatur 21. q. 2. c. homines But he also Secondly who with an Oath asserts that which Note tho it be true yet he believes it to be false For since a Lie is therefore a Lie What a Lie is because it is produc'd contrary to the mind and meaning of the Soul it is manifest that such an one evidently lies and is perjur'd For the like reason He also is perjur'd Thirdly who swears that which he thinks to be true and yet indeed it is false unless he us'd what care and diligence he could fully to know and understand the matter for tho his Words agree to the sense of his Mind yet he is guilty of this Commandment And He is to be thought guilty of this Sin Fourthly who promises with an Oath to do something when notwithstanding he either intended not to fulfil his Promise or if he did yet he do's not indeed perform it And this belongs to those also Note who having oblig'd themselves by Vow to God perform it not Moreover Fifthly Sin is committed against this Commandment if Justice be wanting which is One of the Three Companions of an Oath Therefore if any one swear that he will do some Mortal Sin for example that he will kill a Man he is guilty of this Commandment altho he declare it seriously and from his Heart and his Oath be true which we said in the first place that an Oath ought to be To these may be added that kind of Oaths which proceed from a kind of Contempt Sixthly as when one swears that he will not obey the Evangelical Counsels such as are Exhortations to the Unmarried Life and Poverty for tho no one is needs bound to follow those Counsels yet if any one swear that he will not obey them by that very Oath he despises and violates those Divine Counsels Besides Seventhly He violats this Law and Sins in Judgment who Swears what is true and believes it to be so but is led thereto only by light and far-fetch't Conjectures For altho the Truth do accompany an Oath of this kind yet in the bottom there is in a certain manner a Falshood for he that swears so carelesly is in great danger of Perjury Besides Eigthly he Swears falsly who swears by false Gods For what is more contrary to Truth than to call as VVitnesses lying and false Gods as tho they were the true God Vide Aug. Ep. 54. But because the Scripture when it forbids Perjury Ninthly Levit. 19.22 says Neither shalt thou pollute the Name of thy God Disrespect is forbidd'n which is to be avoided in the other things to which by Authority of this Commandment Honor is due such as is the Word of God The Majesty whereof not only pious Men but even the Wicked too somtimes reverence Judic 3.20 as it is recorded of Eglon King of the Moabites in the History of Judges Now he does highly wrong God's Word whoever he be that stretches the Sacred Scripture from its true and proper meaning to establish the Opinions and Heresies of impious Men Of which Wickedness the Prince of Apostles warns us in these Words 2 Pet. 3. There are
cast out far from the sight of God nor can they receive any comfort from any Hope that they shall ever enjoy so great a Good And This by Divines is call'd the Pain of Loss viz. That the Wicked in Hell shall for ever want the Light of the Vision of God But that which is added ye Cursed does wonderfully increase their misery and calamity For if when they are to be driven out from the presence of God they might be thought worthy of some small Blessing this might truly be some considerable comfort to them But for as much as they must expect nothing that can alleviate their misery when they are cast out the Divine Justice will rightly follow them with every Malediction and Curse And then follows Into everlasting-fire which other kind of Pain Divines call the Pain of Sense because it can be felt by the bodily Senses as in Stripes Buffetings and other more grievous kinds of punishments among which there can be no doubt that the torments of Fire do cause the most exquisite sense of Pain to which evil when it is added that all this wilt be For ever it is thereby shew'd that the pains of the Damn'd will be loaded with all kinds of punishments And This those words which are plac'd in the latter part of the Sentence more fully declare Which is prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels For whereas so it is that we can more easily endure all troubles if we have some Companion and Consort of our Calamity by whose prudence and humanity we may in some measure be reliev'd what at last will be the Misery of the Damn'd who tho loaded with so great Torments shall notwithstanding never be deliver'd from the company of the most accursed Devils And this indeed is the Sentence that shall most justly be denounc'd by our Lord and Savior upon the Wicked as being they who neglected all works of true Piety and gave neither Meat nor Drink to the Hungry and Thirsty took not in the Stranger cloath'd not the Naked and visited not the Sick and Imprison'd These are the things which the Curats ought often to inculcate into the ears of the Faithful XI Discourse of the last Judgment should be frequent and why Eccles 40. Aug. Ser. 120. de Temp. Greg. Hom. 3 9. in Eâ—â—â—ng Bernaâ—â— Serm. 1. in sesto omnium sanctorum For the Truth of this Article being rightly believ'd will have great force to bridle the wicked desires of the mind and hold men back from sinning Wherefore in Ecclesiasticus it is said In all thy works remember thy latter end and thou wilt not sin forever And indeed hardly will any one be carri'd head-long into wickedness whom this Consideration cannot recal to the study of Piety That sometime or other he must give an Account before the most just Judge not only of all his Actions and Words but also of his most hidden Thoughts and must suffer Punishment according to his desert But it must needs be that the Just will be more stirr'd up to do Justice and to rejoyce exceedingly tho he here lead his life in Want in Disgrace and Afflictions when he thinks in his mind of that Day when after the combat of this troublesome life he shall in the hearing of all Men be proclaim'd a Conquerer and shall be receiv'd into his heav'nly Country and adorn'd with Divine Honour What remains therefore but that the Faithful be exhorted to take the best manner of life and exercise themselves in the study of all Piety that so they may with the greater Joy and Security of Mind wait for and expect the coming of that great Day of the Lord and so as becomes Children with the greatest Earnestness to desire it ARTICLE VIII I Believ in the Holy Ghost Hitherto those things have bin expounded I. Fith in the Holy Ghost necessary so far as the Reason of the Argument seem'd to require which belong'd to the First and Second Person of the Holy Trinity Now it follows That those things also which in the Creed are deliver'd concerning the Third Person that is the Holy Ghost shou'd be explain'd In treating of which matter the Pastors shou'd use their utmost Endeavor and Diligence Act. 19.2 seeing it is to be suppos'd That a Christian Man may no more be ignorant of This part or not believe rightly concerning it than of the other former Articles Wherefore the Apostle would not suffer certain of the Ephesians to be ignorant of the Person of the Holy Ghost Of whom when he ask'd Whether they had receiv'd the Holy Ghost and when they answer'd That they knew not whether there was an Holy Ghost he presently ask'd them In whom therefore were ye baptiz'd In which words he signify'd That the distinct knowledg of this Article is necessary to the Faithful from which they have this Fruit especially that when they consider attentively That whatsoever they have they have it of the Gift and Bounty of the Holy Ghost then do they begin to think more modestly and humbly of themselves and to place all their Hope in Gods Protection which ought to be the First Step of a Christian to the highest Wisdom and Happiness We must therefore begin the explanation of this Article from the Force and Notion which here is included in that Name of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit for the very same may indifferently and rightly be said both of the Father and of the Son II What the Holy Ghost properly signifies for either of them is a Spirit and Holy for we confess that God is a Spirit and besides that the Angels and the Souls of the Pious are signify'd by this word there must care be taken lest the people by the ambiguity of the Word be led into Eror In this Article therefore it must be taught That the Third Person of the Trinity is understood by the name of the Holy Ghost after which manner in the Holy Scriptures both of the Old Testament sometimes and of the New Testament very frequently he is taken for David prays Ps 50.12 Wisd 9 17. 〈◊〉 1.9 Matt. 1.20 Luc. 1.35 And take not thy Holy Spirit from me In the Book of Wisdom we read Who has known thy counsel except thou give Wisdom and send thy Holy Spirit from above And elsewhere He created it by his Holy Spirit And in the New Testament we are commanded to be baptiz d In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And we read That the most Holy Virgin did conceive by the Holy Ghost and we are also sent by S. John to Christ Joh. 1.15 who baptizes us with the Holy Ghost and in many other places besides in reading we may meet with this Word And no one ought to wonder III. Why the H ly Ghost hâ—s no proper name That a proper name is not giv'n to the Third Person as there is to the First and Second for the Second Person
has therefore a proper name and is call'd Son because his eternal Birth of the Father is properly call'd Generation as has bin explain'd in the former Article As therefore that Birth is signify'd by the name os Generation So that Person which flows we properly call Son and him from whom he flows we properly call Father Now whereas there is no proper name giv'n to the production of the Third Person but is call'd Spiration and Procession it follows That the Person also which is produc'd want his own proper name Now his Emanation has no proper name because we are forc'd to borrow from creat'd things those Names which are giv'n to God Wherein because we know no other way of communicating of Nature and Being but by vertue of Generation for this cause it is that we cannot express by any proper word the way whereby God communicates his whole self by vertue of his Love Wherefore the Third Person is call'd by the common name of Holy Spirit which verily we understand very well to suit with him from hence because he pours spiritual Life into us and without the inspiration of his most Holy Deity we can do nothing worthy of eternal Life And now the signification of the Name being explain'd IV. The Holy Ghost prov'd God equal with the Father and Son the people are first of all to be taught That the Holy Ghost is equally God with the Father and the Son that he is equal with him equally Almighty Eternal and of infinite Perfection the supreme Good and most Wise and of the and same Nature with the Father and the Son Which also the propriety of the word In sufficiently shews First when we say I believe in the Holy Ghost which is fitted to express the force of our Faith in the several persons of the Trinity And this also is confirm'd by plain Testimonies of Holy Scripture Secondly for when S. Peter in the Acts of the Apostles had said Act. 5. Ananias why has Satan tempted thy Heart to lye to the Holy Ghost he presently says Thou hast not ly'd to Men but to God Whom before he call'd Holy Ghost the same he presently after calls God And the Apostle to the Corinthians interprets him to be the Holy Ghost Thirdly 1 Cor. 12.6 whom he had call'd God There are says he divisions of operations but the same God which works all in all and then he subjoyns But all these things works that One and the selfsame Spirit dividing to every one severally as he will Besides in the Acts of the Apostles Fourâ—hly that which the Prophets attribute to God only he ascribes to the Holy Ghost For Esayah had said Isay 6.8 I heard the voice of the Lord saying Whom shall I send and he said to me Go thou and say to this people Harden the heart of this people and make heavy their ears and close up their eyes lest haply they see with their eyes and bear with their ears Which words when the Apostle had cited Act. 28.25 Well says he did the Holy Ghost speak by Esayas the Prophet And then Fifthly when the Scripture joyns the Person of the Holy Ghost with the Father and the Son that when he commands That the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost should be mention'd in Baptism there is no room left us to doubt of the Truth of this Mystery For if the Father be God and the Son God we must be forc'd to confess that the Holy Ghost who is joyn'd with them in the same Degree of Honour is God also And this may be added Sixthly That he who is baptiz'd in the name of any created thing can reap no fruit thereby Were ye 1 Cor. 13. says he baptiz'd in the name of Paul to shew that this cou'd profit them nothing to the attaining Salvation When therefore we are baptiz'd in the name of the Holy Ghost we must needs confess that he is God And we may observe this order of the Three Persons in S. John's Epistle also Seventhly whereby is prov'd the Divinity of the Holy Ghost 1 Joh. 5.7 There are Three which bear record in Heav'n the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One. And also in that famous Elogy or Hymn or Praise of the Holy Trinity wherewith the Divine Lands and Psalms are concluded Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost Lastly Eighthly And which most of all belongs to the confirmation of this Truth whatsoever we believe to be proper to God the same the Holy Scriptures testifie to agree to the Holy Ghost And therefore they attribute to him the honour of Temples 1 Cor. 6.19 2 Thess 2.13 Joh. 6.63 2 Cor. 3.6 2 Cor. 2.10 As when the Apostle says Know ye not that your Members are the Temple of the Holy Ghost so also Sanctification and Vivification or quick'ning and to search into the Depths of God And to speak by the Prophets and to be every where All which things are to be attributed only to the Divine Deity And this moreover is carefully to be explain'd V. The Holy Ghost a distinct person from the Father and the Son That the Holy Ghost is God so as that we must confess him to be the Third Person in the Divine Nature distinct from the Father and the Son and produc'd by their Will For to omit other Testimonies of Scripture the Form of Baptism which our Savior has taught most plainly shews Matt. 28.19 That the Holy Ghost is the Third Person which in the Divine Nature stands of it self and is distinct from the rest Which also the words of the Apostle declare when he says 1 Cor. 13.15 The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Communication of the Holy Ghost be with you all Amen The same thing but much more plainly do those things evidence which the Fathers in the first council of Constantinople have added in this place to confute the impious madness of Macedonius And in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of Life who proceeds from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son together is worshipp'd and glorified Who spake by the Prophets That therefore they confess the Holy Ghost to be Lord they declare in this how much he excels the Angels which yet are most noble Spirits created of God For S. Paul witnesses That they all are ministring Spirits Heb. 1.14 sent forth to minister for them who receive the Inheritance of Salvation And they call him the Giver of Life VI. Why the Holy Ghost call'd the Giver of life because the Soul being joyn'd with God does more truly live than the Body when it is nourish'd and sustain'd by conjunction with the Soul And because the Holy Scriptures attribute to the Holy Ghost this Conjunction of the Soul with God it appears plainly that he is most
truly call'd Spirit that gives Life or quick'ning Spirit And now what follows VII How the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son Who proceeds from the Father and the Son the Faithful are to be taught That the Holy Ghost by eternal procession proceeds from the Father and the Son as from One Principle For this the Rule of the Church from which a Christian may not wander proposes to us to believe and it is confirm'd by the authority of Holy Scripture and Councils For Christ our Lord speaking of the Holy Ghost said Joh. 16.14 He shall glorifie me because he shall receive of mine This same thing is gather'd hence that in Holy Scripture the Holy Spirit is sometimes call'd the Spirit of Christ sometimes the Spirit of the Father One while he is said to be sent by the Father another while by the Son that it may be plainly signify'd that he does equally proceed from the Father Rom. 8.9 and the Son He that has not the Spirit of Christ Gal. 4.6 says S. Paul he is none of his And the same he calls the Spirit of Christ when he says to the Galatians God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father In S. Matthew he is call'd the Spirit of the Father Mat. 10.20 It is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father Joh. 15.25 And our Lord at his Supper said the Paraclet or Comforter whom I will send to you even the Spirit of Truth which proceeds from the Father he shall bear witness of me And elsewhere That the same Holy Ghost shou'd be sent from the Father Joh. 14.21 he affirms in these words Whom the Father will send in my name From whence when we understand the Procession of the Holy Ghost it is plain That the same Holy Ghost proceeds from Both. And these are the things which must be taught concerning the Person of the Holy Ghost It is needful moreover to teach VIII Of the Attributes of the Holy Ghost that there are certain wonderful Effects and some bountiful Gifts of the Holy Ghost which are said to spring and flow front him as from the everlasting Fountain of Good For tho the works of the most Holy Trinity which are done extrinsically are common to the Three Persons yet many of them are ascrib'd as proper to the Holy Ghost that we may know that they come to us of the immense Love of God For seeing that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Divine Will as being inflam'd with Love it may be perceiv'd That those Effects which are properly referr'd to the Holy Ghost do spring from the exceeding Love of God towards us Wherefore IX Why the Holy Ghost is call'd a Gift hence it follows That the Holy Ghost is call'd a Gift For by the word Gift is signify'd that which is kindly and freely given without any hope of Reward And then whatsoever good things or benefits are bestow'd on us from God for what have we as the Apostle says 1 Cor. 4.7 which we have not receiv'd of God those things we ought with a pious and thankful Heart to acknowledg were given us by the grant and gift of the Holy Ghost But there are other effects of his For to omit the Creation of the World and the Propagation and Government of created things of which we have made mention in the First Article it was a little before shew'd That the giving of Life is properly attributed to the Holy Ghost and it is so confirm'd by the Testimony of Ezekiel Ezek. 31.6 I will give you Spirit says he and ye shall live And yet the Prophet reckons up the principal Effects of the Holy Ghost X. The Gifts of the Holy Ghost Isa 11.3 Aug. lib. 15. de Trin. c. 18 19. and those which are most especially proper to him The Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Fortitude the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety and the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. Sometimes also the name of the Holy Ghost is given to those things which are call'd the Gifts of the Holy Ghost Wherefore wisely does S. Austin admonish us to observe when in Holy Scripture there is mention made of this word Holy Spirit that we may discern whether it signifies the Third Person of the Trinity or his Effects and Operations For these two are to he distinguish'd with the same difference wherewith we believe also that the Creator differs from the things he created And these things are by so much the more diligently to be explain'd because from these Gifts of the Holy Ghost we draw Rules of Christian Life and may know whether the Holy Ghost be in us But above all other his bountiful Gifts XI Justifying Grace the Gift of the Holy Ghost that Grace is to be valued which justifies us and signs us with the Holy Spirit of Promise which is the Earnest of our Inheritance for this joyns our Mind to God in the most strict bond of Love whence it comes to pass That being inflam'd with the most ardent study of Piety we begin a new Life and being made partakers of the Divine Nature we are call'd and truly are the Children of God ARTICLE IX J Believe the Holy Catholic Church With how great diligence the Pastors ought to take care to explain the truth of this Ninth Article to the Faithful I. Why this Article is diligently to be explain'd S Aug. in Ps 30. v. 15. it may easily be understood if two things chiefly be consider'd For first as S. Austin witnesses The Prophets have spoken more plainly and openly of the Church than of Christ forasmuch as they foresaw That many more might err and be deceiv'd in this point than in the Mystery of the Incarnation Nor will there be wanting wicked Men who after the imitation of the Ape which fancies it self a Man wou'd profess that they are Catholics and no less wickedly than proudly would affirm the Catholic Church to be only with them And then he who has this Truth settled in a sound Mind shall easily avoid the horrible danger of Heresie For not every one II. Who is truly to be call'd a Heretick so soon as he has err'd in Faith is to be call'd a Heretic But he who neglecting the Authority of the Church stiffly defends his impious Opinions Since therefore it cannot be that any one can defile himself with the Plague of Heresie if he believe those things which in this Article are propos'd to be believ'd let the Pastors be very careful That the Faithful knowing this Mystery and being fortify'd against the Wiles of the Adversary persevere in the Truth of the Faith Now This Article depends upon the Truth of the Former Note Because seeing it has been already shew'd That the Holy Ghost is the Fountain and Giver of all Holiness we now confess That it is He who bestows Holiness on the church
very rapture Death shall seize us and as it were by a deep Sleep so soon as the Soul goes out it shall return in a moment for when they shall be carry'd up they shall dye that coming to the Lord at the Lords presence they may receive their Souls because with the Lord they cannot be dead And the same Opinion is approv'd by the Authority of S. Austin lib. 20. c. 20. in his Books concerning the City of God Seeing therefore it much concerns us to be throughly perswaded that this very and therefore the same Body which is each of our own tho it be corrupted and reduc'd to Ashes yet that it shall be rais'd to Life the Curate shall diligently undertake to teach this point This is the Apostles meaning when he says This corruptible must put on incorruption 1 Cor. 13.25 plainly shewing by the word This every ones own proper Body Job also has most clearly propheci'd hereof Job â—9 26 And in my flesh says he shall I see God whom I my self shall see and my Eyes shall behold and not another This very thing is gather'd from the Definition of the Resurrection Damasâ—n l. 4. de Fide Oâ—â—h â— 28. For the Resurrection as Damascen defines it is a Recalling back to the state from which you fell Lastly if we consider for what reason there will be a Resurrection as a little before has been shew'd 1 Cor. 5.10 we shall have no ground to doubt of this matter For therefore as we have taught will the Body be rais'd again that every one might give an account of his own works done in the Body whether Good or Evil. Man therefore must rise again with that very Body with the help whereof he has serv'd God or the Devil that with the same Body he might either receive his reward and Crown of Victory or else endure the most miserable pains and punishments Nor will the Body only rise again IX In what state the Body shall rise again S. Aug. l 22. de Civit. Dei c. 19 20 21. â—â—ch c. 86 87 88 89. Hier. Ep st 59. 6â— but whatsoever does belong to the Truth of its Nature and to the comliness and ornament of Man shall be restor'd Very excellent is the Testimony of S. Austin in this matter There shall then be no deformity or fault in our Bodies if any have been loaded or grown unweildy with Fat he shall not assume that Load of his Body but whatsoever exceeds the true measure thereof will be accounted supertiuous And on the contrary whatsoever either Sickness or Old Age has done in the Body shall by Christ's Divine Power be repair'd as if any have been overpin'd and made thin by Leanness baecause Christ not only has repair'd our Body but whatsover elses has been taken from us through the Miseries of this life And in another place S. Aug. Enâ—h c. 89. Man shall not have again that Hair which he had but that which would best become him according to that The hairs of your head are all number'd which according to the Divine Wisdom shall be repair'd And first X None mâ—â—'d after the Resurrection All the Members because they belong to the Truth of Humane Nature shall be restor'd together for those who were Blind even from their very Birth or by any Disease had lost their Sight the Lame and the Creeples and those who were impotent in any of their Members shall rise again with intire and perfect Bodies for otherwise the Desire of the Soul which is prone to conjunction with the Body would be dissatisfi'd whose desire notwithstanding in the Resurrection we believe without doubt shall be fulfill'd Besides it is sufficiently apparent that the Resurrection no less than the Creation is to be reckon'd among the Special works of God As therefore in the beginning of the Creation all things were made perfect by God so also we must affirm that it will be in the Resurrection Nor ought this to be allow'd concerning the Martyrs only XI Scars of the Martyrs wounds will remain after the Resurrection to their Glory but of the Wicked to their Msery S. Aug. lib. 22 de Civit. Dei c. 20. of whom S. Austin thus testifies They will not be without their Members for Martyrs that Dismembring which they suffer'd can be no blemish to the Body otherwise they who are Beheaded should rise again without a Head but yet in the parts of those Members shall remain the Scars of the Sword shining far above the Gold and Pretious Stones even as do the Scars of Christ's Wounds And this also is truly said of the Wicked tho their Members were cut off by their own fault for by how much the more Members they shall have with so much the more bitter Torment of Grief shall they be loaded Wherefore this restitution of Members will redound not to their Happiness but to their Calamity and Misery when their Merits will not be ascrib'd to the particular Members but to the Person to whose Body they were joyn'd For to those who have done Penance they shall be restor'd to be Rewarded but to those who neglected it to be punish'd Now if these things be seriously consider'd by the Curats they will never want Sentences and matter enough to stir up and inflame the minds of the Faithful to the study of Piety that considering the Troubles and Afflictions of this Life they may earnestly long for that blessed Glory of the Resurrection which is propos'd to the Just and Pious Now it remains that the Faithful understand XII The Body will rise again immortal in the consideration of those things which constitute or make up the substance of the Body altho that very same Body shall be rais'd from the dead which before dy'd yet the Condition thereof shall be far different For to omit other things all the Bodies at the Resurrection shall differ from themselves very much in this thing that whereas before they were subject to Death after their Resurrection to Life they shall all be Immortal without any difference of Good and Bad. And this admirable Restitution of Nature Christs famous Victory has merited XIII Whence our Bodys made immortal Esa 25.8 Oâ—c 13.14 1 Cor. 15.26 Apoc. 21.4 Apoc. 9.4 which he got over Death as the Holy Scripture testifies for it is written He shall throw down Death headlong for ever And elsewhere O Death I will be thy death Which the Apostle explaining says In the last place The enemy Death shall be destroy'd And we read in S. John Death shall be no more For it was very fit that by Christ's merit whereby the power of Death was overthrown the Sin of Adam at the long run should be overpower'd And it was agreeable to the same Divine Justice That the Good should for ever enjoy a bless'd Life And the Bad suffering eternal Torments should seek for Death but should not find it Should wish to dye but
Death should fly from them This Immortality then is common to the Good and to the Bad. Furthermore XIV Four Gifts of the Glory of our Bodys the reviv'd Bodies of the Saints will have some signal and excellent Oraments whereby they shall be render'd much more Noble than ever they were before and specially these Four which are call'd Dowers or Gifts and have been observ'd by the Fathers from the very Doctrin of the Apostles Of these see S. Austin Serm 99. de Temp. Ambr. in Com. in 1. ad Cor. c. 15. The First of these is Impassibility Impassibility to wit a Dower or Gift which makes them that they cannot suffer any trouble nor be affected with any grief or inconvenience For the force of Cold the heat of Fire or the violence of Water cannot hurt them It is sown says the Apostle in Corruption but it shall rise in Incorruption But the Schoolmen call this Impassbility rather than Incorruption for this reason to shew that it belongs properly to the Glorious Body For Impassibility is not common to them with the Damn'd whose Bodies tho they be incorruptible yet they can burn and freez and be afflicted with divers Torments After this follows Brightness Brightness Matt. 13.33 Matt. 17.2 Phil. 3.21 1 Co. 13.4 wherewith the Bodies of the Saints shall shine as the Sun for so testifies our Savior in S. Matthew The Just says he shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father And lest any one may doubt thereof he has declar'd the same by the example of his own Transfiguration This the Apostle sometimes calls Glory Exod. 34.9 and sometimes Brightness Exod. 34.9 He will reform says he the Body of our Humility that it be made like to the Body of his Brightness It is sown in Dishonor it rises in Glory Of this Glory the people of Israel in the Wilderness saw a kind of resemblance when Moses's Face 2 Cor. 3.7 by talking with God and being in his presence did so shine that the Children of Israel could not stedfastly look upon it Now this Brightness is a kind of shining Glory redounding to the Body from the most transcendent Happiness of the Soul so that it is a kind of Communication of that Bliss which the Soul enjoys after which manner also the Soul herself is made happy because on her part of the divine Happiness is deriv'd But with This Gift we are not to believe That all are alike adorn'd as they are with the former For all the Bodies of the Saints shall be indeed equally impassible but the same Splendor they shall not have For as the Apostle Testifies 1 Cor. 15.41 There is one Brightness of the Sun and another Brightness of the Moon and another Brightness of the Stars for Star differs from Star in Brightness so also is the Resurrection of the Dead With this Gift is joyn'd that which they call Agility or Swiftness Agility whereby the Body shall be freed from that weight wherewith it is now press'd And may with the greatest ease be so mov'd into what part soever the Soul would have it that there can nothing be swifter than that motion Aug. de Civit Dei l. 13. c. 18. 20. l. 22. c. 11. Hier. in Enc. c. 40. Subtilty even as S. Austin in his book De Civitate Dei and Hierom in Esaiam have taught Wherefore the Apostle says It is sown in Weakness it is rais'd in Power And to these is added that which is call'd Subtilty by vertue whereof the Body is wholly made subject to the government of the Soul serves her and is ready at her commands And this is shew'd by the Words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.44 It is sown an Animal Body it is rais'd a Spiritual Body These are in a manner the chief heads which are to be taught in the explaining of this Article But that the Faithful may know what Fruit they may gather from the knowledg of so many XV. How many and what Fruits may be had from this Article The First and so great Mysteries First we must declare That we must give the greatest Thanks to God who has hid these things from the Wife and reveal'd them to little ones For how many Men have there been exceedingly commendable for Prudence or furnish'd with singular Learning who yet as to this most certain Truth have been stark blind That therefore he has made known these things to us who could not aspire to that understanding there is reason enough that with perpetual praises we celebrate his good-will and Mercy And then this great Fruit will follow from the Meditation of this Article The Second to wit That in the Death of them who are joyn'd to us either by kindred or friendship we can easily comfort both our selves and others which kind of comfort it 's manifest the Apostle us'd when he wrote to the Thessalonians concerning those that slept And also in all other afflictions and calamities 1 Thess 4 13. The Third the thought of the Resurrection to come brings us the greatest ease of our grief Job 19.24 as we have learn'd by Jobs example who by this only Hope bore up his afflicted and troubled mind that there would be a Time when at the Resurrection he should behold the Lord his God Besides this will very much prevail with the Faithful The Fourth to take great care to lead an upright and a just life and wholly clean from all pollution of sin For if they but consider those exceeding great riches which at the Resurrection shall be given and now are offer'd them they will easily be drawn to the study of vertue and piety And on the contrary The Fifth Joh. 5 29. There is nothing will have a greater force to bridle the Lusts of the mind and restrain Men from wickedness than to be often put in mind with what mischiefs and torments the wicked shall be punish'd who at that last day shall come to the Resurrection of Judgment ARTICLE XII THe Life everlasting The Holy Apostles our Leaders would conclude and shut up the Creed I. Why this is the last Article of the Creed wherein the sum of our Faith is contained with the Article of Life Everlasting both because after the Resurrection of the Flesh the Faithful are to expect nothing else but the reward of Everlasting Life and also that that perfect Happiness and which is full of all good things should be always before our Eyes and to teach us to fix our whole mind and all our thoughts thereupon Wherefore in teaching the Faithful the Curats shall never intermit to inflame their minds with the propos'd rewards of Eternal Life and shall teach them that all things yea even the most difficult are to be endur'd for the Christian names sake are to be esteem'd as easie and pleasant and that they should be render'd more ready and chearful to obey God But because
XXVII The same confirm'd by consent of Fathers and first it must be taught that there is nothing doubtful or uncertain in them Especially since the authority of Gods Church has thus interpreted them To the knowledg of which sense we may come by a twofold way and means The first is by consulting the Fathers who flourish'd both in the beginning and so down through every Age of the Church and were the best Witnesses of the Doctrin of the Church But all these by an exact consent and agreement have most plainly taught the truth of this Opinion Of which to bring the several Testimonies because it would be a most tedious labor it shall be sufficient to mark or rather to shew a few things whereby a judgment may easily be made of the rest S. Ambrose therefore first produces his Faith who in his Book of those that are initiated in the Mysteries testifies Lib. 4. de Sacra de tis qui Myster init c. 9. vide de consec dist 2. plutib in locis Chrys ad Popul Antioch homil 60 61. That the true Body of Christ is taken in this Sacrament as his true Body was taken of the Virgin and this is to be held with most certain Faith And in another place he teaches That there is Bread before the Consecration but after the consecration the Body of Christ Another witness hereof is S. Chrysostom one of no less Fidelity and Gravity who professes and teaches this Truth both in many other places and especially in his 60th Homily of those who unworthily receive the Sacred Mysteries as also in his 41 and 45. Homilies upon S. John For he says Let us obey and not contradict God tho that which is spoken seem to be contrary to our Reason and our very Eyes for his Word is infallible our Senses are easily deceiv'd To these exactly agrees what S. Austin the vigorous defender of Catholic Faith always taught And first expounding the Title of the 33. Psalm he writes To carry himself in his own hands is to Man an impossible thing and is proper to Christ alone For He was carri'd in his own hands when giving that Body of his he said This is my Body And besides Cyril Justin and Irenaeus in his fourth Book upon S. John so plainly affirm the true Flesh of Christ to be in this Sacrament that his words cannot be rendred obscure by any sallacies or captious interpretations But if the Pastors want any other Testimonies of the Fathers it is easie to add more as S. Dennys Hilary Hierom Damascen and innumerable others The grave Sentences of whom concerning this matter we may read collected and gather'd together by the Labor and Industry of learn'd and pious Men. Divus Augustinus in Ps 33. Conc. 1. a medio ad finera usque Cyril l. 4. in Joan. c. 33. 14. l. c. 13. Just Apolog. 2. sub finem ad Antonium l'ium lren l. 5. cont haeret c. l. 5. in Joan. c. 34. Dionys Eccles Hier. c. 3. Hilar. l. 8. de Trinit Hierom Epist ad Damasum Damasc l. 4. de Orthod fid c. 14. There remains another way whereby we may find out the judgment of Holy Church in those things which belong to Faith to wit the contrary Doctrin and Opinion being condemn'd And it is manifest that the Truth of the Body of Christ in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist was so scatter'd and spread abroad through the whole Church XXVIII The same further confirm'd by Decrees of Councils and willingly embrac'd by all the Faithful that when Berengarius five hundred years ago presum'd to deny it and asserted That there was only a Sign he was forthwith condemn'd by the Sentence of all in the Council of Verceils which by Authority of Leo IX was conven'd and himself retracted his Opinion and condemn'd it with an Anathema Who afterwards returning to the same impiety was condemn'd in three other Councils one at Tours and two at Rome whereof the one was call'd together by Pope Nicholas II. and the other by Pope Gregory VII And afterwards the Faith of the same Truth was more fully declar'd and settl'd in the Councils of Florence and Trent If therefore the Pastors shall diligently have explain'd these things not to say any thing of those XXIX And by Reason who being blinded and harden'd in their Errors hate nothing more than the Light of Truth they will be able to confirm the weak and to affect the Souls of the devout with the greatest joy and delight Especially since the Faithful may not doubt but that the Belief of this Perswasion is to be reckon'd among the other Articles of Faith For when they believe and confess God's Power to be supream over all things The First they must needs believe that he wants not Power to effect this great Work which we admire and worship in the Sacrament of the Eucharist And then The Second when they believe the Catholic Church it must needs follow that they believe also that this is the truth of this Sacrament as we have explain'd it And indeed there can be no greater sweetness and profit to the Faithful XXX How great the Churches Dignity by reason of the Sacrament of the Eucharist than to contemplate the dignity of this most profound Sacrament For first they perceive how great the Perfection of the Law of the Gospel is which has the priviledge to have that thing in Truth and Reality which in the time of the Mosaical Law was only shadow'd by Signs and Figures Wherefore it was divinely said of S. Dennys De Eccl. Hier. c. 3 p. 1. That our Church is in the middle between the Synagogue and the upper Jerusalem and participates of both And indeed the Faithful can never sufficiently admire the perfection of Holy Church and the height of her Glory seeing there seems to be but one step or degree only betwixt her and the Bliss of Heaven For This we have common with those in Heaven that both of us have Christ God and Man present with us But we are below them this one step They being present there enjoy the blessed Vision But We with a firm and constant Faith worship him being present with us but hiding himself far from the sense of our Eyes under the admirable cloathing of the Sacred Mysteries Besides in this Sacrament the Faithful experience the most perfect Love of our Savior Christ For it highly became his goodness never to withdraw from us that Nature which he took of us but as much as may be to be and to be conversant among us That at all times that might seem to be truly and properly said Prov. 8. My delight is to be with the Children of Men. And now in this place the Pastors must explain XXXI Whole Christ as God and Man contain'd in the Eucharist not only that the true Body of Christ and whatsoever belongs to the true Nature of a Body as
were therefore created to honor God which the Faithful especially who have obtain'd the Grace of Baptism ought to do with all their Heart with all their Soul and with all their strength But those who will be initiated in the Sacrament of Order VIII The Intention of those to be Ordain'd ought to be higher than of others must needs propose This to themselves not only to seek the Glory of God in all things which thing is common to all but especicially to the Faithful but also that some being dedicated to any Ministry of the Church might serve him in holiness and righteousness For as in an Army all the Soldiers do indeed obey the command of the General But among them One is a Colonel and another a Captain and others have other Offices So altho all the Faithful ought to follow Piety and Innocence with all their study with which things God is most worshipp'd yet they who are initiated in the Sacrament of Order must perform some special Offices and Functions in the Church For they perform Sacred things both for themselves and for all the People IX Wherein those that are initiated Sacred Orders excel others and teach the Efficacy of the Divine Law and exhort and instruct the Faithful readily and chearfully to observe it and administer the Sacraments of Christ the Lord whereby all Grace is bestow'd and increas'd and to say all in a Word being separated from the rest of the people they exercise themselves in the far greatest and most excellent Ministry of all These things being explain'd X. Ecclesiastical Power double viz of Order and Jurisdiction the Curats shall come to the handling of those things which are proper to this Sacrament that the Faithful who desire to be receiv'd into Ecclesiastical Order may know to what kind of Office they are call'd and how great a Power is given of God to his Church and to the Ministers thereof Now this Power is double Of Order and of Jurisdiction The Power of Order is referr'd to the true Body of Christ the Lord in the Holy Eucharist But the whole Power of Jurisdiction is in the Mystic Body of Christ for to this Power belongs the Rule and Government of Christian people and to direct them to eternal and heavenly Bliss Now the Power of Order does contain not only the power of Consecrating the Eucharist XI To what things the Power of Order extends it self but fits and prepares the Souls of men to receive it and contains all those other things which may any way be referr'd to the Eucharist And hereof many testimonies may be brought out of Sacred Scripture XII This Power prov'd But those are very clear and weighty which we find in S. John and S. Matthew for the Lord said Joâ— 21.22 As the Father sent me even so send I you Receive ye the Holy Ghost whose sins ye remit they are remitted to them and whose sins ye retain they are retained And Verily I say to you whatsoever things ye shall hind on earth shall be bound in heaven Matth. 18.18 and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loos'd in heaven Which places being by the Pastors explain'd from the Doctrin and Authority of the Holy Fathers may bring very much Light to this Truth But this Power very much excels that XIII How great this Power of Order is which in the Law of Nature is given to other Men who took care of Sacred Matters Vide de Consecr dist 2. cap. Nihil in Sacrific Conc. Trid. Sess 22. c. 1. Iren. lib. 4. c. 34. Aug. lib. 19. de Civit. Dei cap. 23. For it must needs be that that Age XIV There were Priests by the Law of Nature which was before the Law was written had her Priesthood and her spiritual Power since it is sufficiently manifest that she had a Law For these Two are so closely join'd together as the Apostle testifies that the One being taken away it must needs be that the other must be taken away also Seeing therefore that by natural Instinct Men know that God is to be worshipp'd it consequently follow'd that in every Common-wealth some should be plac'd over the charge of Sacred Things and the Worship of God whose Power in some sort might be call'd Spiritual This Power the Israelites had XV. Christ's Priesthood higher than that of Moses Let the Priests mark which tho it were higher in Dignity than that wherewith the Priests were indu'd by the Law of Nature yet is it to be thought far below the Spiritual Power of the Gospel For this is Heavenly and excels even all the Power of Angels For it has its beginning not from the Mosaical Priesthood XVI This Power is deriv'd from Christ but from Christ the Lord who was a Priest not according to the Order of Aaron but of Melchizedech For he it is that being indu'd with the supream Power of Giving Grace and Forgiving sins has left this Power altho definite in Vertue and ty'd to the Sacraments to his Church Wherefore to exercise or perform this Matter XVII The Consecration of the Ministers of the Church call'd the Sacrament of Order certain Ministers are appointed and consecrated in a solemn religious manner which Consecration is call'd The Sacrament of Order or Sacred Ordination But it pleas'd the Holy Fathers to use This Word because it has a very large signification to shew the Dignity and Excellency of the Ministers of God For Order XVIII What Order is if we take the proper Force and Notion of it is the Disposition of Superior and Inferior things which are so suited among themselves as that One may be referr'd to another Whereas therefore in this Ministry there are many Degrees and divers Functions XIX Why this Sacrament call'd Order but all things distributed and plac'd in a certain Rule rightly and conveniently does the name of Order seem to be given to it But that Sacred Ordination is to be reckon'd among the other Sacraments of the Church XX. Order is a Sacrament Sess 23. de Ordine the Holy Synod of Trent has prov'd by that reason which has often bin repeated For whereas a Sacrament is a sign of a Sacred Thing but that which in this Consecration is outward signifies Grace and Power which is given to him that is consecrated it very plainly follows that Order is truly and properly to be call'd a Sacrament That Order is a Sacrament see Trid. Sess 23. de Ordine c. 1. 3. can 3 4.5 Conc. Florent in decret de Sacr. Aug. lib. 2. contra Epist Parmen c. 13. de bono conjug c. 24. lib. 1. de Bap. contra Donat. c. 1. Leo Epist 18. Greg. in c. 10. lib. 1. Reg. Wherefore the Bishop reaching forth a Chalice with Wine and Water XXI When and by whom this Power is conferr'd and a Paten with Bread to him that is to be Ordain'd a Priest saying
of God tho they durst write it as tho the Divine Power were in those Letters and not in the thing But tho this be put in the singular Number Thou shalt not take the Name of God VII The same honor to be given to all the Names of God This is not to be understood of any one Name but of all the Names which are us'd to be attributed to God for there are many Names ascrib'd to God as Lord Almighty Lord of hosts King of Kings Strong and others of the like sort which we read in Scripture all which have the like and the same Veneration And then it must be taught VIII We are bound to know and to honor Gods Name after what manner due Honor is to be given to Gods Name for it is not fit that any should be ignorant how very profitable and necessary it is to Christian People in whose mouth the Prayers of God are daily celebrated Now tho there be many ways of honoring Gods Name IX By what means Gods Name to be honor'd First yet in those whereof we are presently to speak the whole force and weight of all seems to be First therefore God is honor'd when in the face of all the World we faithfully confess him to be God and our Lord and both acknowledge and declare Christ to be the Author of Salvation As also when we give holy and diligent heed to Gods Word Secondly wherein his Will is reveal'd and are daily meditating thereon and studiously learn it according to every ones Ability and Imployment And again Thirdly we honor and worship Gods Name when for Duty and Religion sake we celebrate Gods Praises and render him singular Thanks for all things Psal 20.2 as well for Adversity as for Prosperity For thus says the Prophet Bless the Lord ô my Soul and forget not all his Benefits And there are very many of Davids Psalms wherein with an excellent kind of Piety toward God he most sweetly sings the Divine Praises There is the Admirable Example of the Patience of Job who when he fell into those exceeding great and horrible Calamities yet he never forbore to praise God with an exalted and unconquer'd Soul When therefore we are afflicted with grief of Mind or Body with Miseries and Troubles let us presently turn all our Study and all the Powers of our Souls to praise God saying that of Job Job 1.21 The Lords Name be praised Nor is Gods Name less honor'd if we faithfully implore his help Fourthly to wit that either he would free us from them or else would give us Constancy and Strength couragiously to endure them Psal 49.15 For this the Lord requires Call upon me says he in the day of tribulation and I will deliver thee and thou shalt honor me Clear Examples of which kind of Imploring God are found both in many other places and especially in the 26.13 and 118 Psalms Moreover Fifthly we honor Gods Name when for more assurance and belief we call God to be a witness and this way differs much from the former For those things which we mentioned before are of their own nature so good and excellent that to Man nothing can be more happy nothing can be more desirable than diligently to exercise himself Night and Day in performing them I will bless the Lord Psal 33.1 says David at all times his praise shall ever be in my mouth But tho an Oath be good X. Why the frequent use of Swearing forbidd'n yet the frequent use thereof is not commendable Now the reason of this difference lies herein that an Oath is appointed for this cause only to be a kind of Remedy of Human Frailty and a necessary means to prove what we say For as it is not fit to take Physick for the Body A Similitude unless there be need and the frequent use thereof is very hurtful so also it is not good to use any Oath but when there is some just and weighty cause which to use frequently is so far from being profitable that indeed it is very hurtful Wherefore S. Chrysostom excellently teaches XI Whence the Custom of Swearing Ad pop Antioch hom 26. That Not at the beginning of the World but when it began to grow old and when Wickedness had far and wide spread it self over the whole Earth and when nothing contain'd it self in its own Place and Order but all things being jumbled together and troubled were tumbled upside down and brought into utter Confusion then at last after a long time that Custom of Swearing broke in upon Men For when Mens Perfidiousness and Wickedness was grown to that pass that no one could easily be brought to believe one another then did they call God as a Witness But whereas in this part of the Commandment XII The first way of Swearing the best way is to teach the Faithful how they ought to Swear piously and holily it must first be said That to Swear is nothing else but to call God as a Witness by what Form or Conception of Words soever it be done For to say God it Witness and by God is the same thing That is also an Oath XIII The second way of Swearing when for more Belief we swear by Creatures as by the Holy Gospel of God by the Cross by the Relics of the Saints their Name and such like Yet these things of themselves give not any Strength or Authority to an Oath but it is God himself that does it the Splendor of whose Divine Majesty shines forth in those things VVhence it follows that they who Swear by the Gospel Swear by God himself whose Truth is contain'd and declar'd in the Gospel And in like manner they that do Swear by the Saints who are the Temple of God and who believ'd the Truth of the Gospel and with all Reverence obey'd it and dispers'd it abroad in all Countries and Nations That Oath that is made with a Curse XIV The third way of Swearing is of the same nature such as is that of S. Paul I call God to witness upon my Soul For by this means he that swears thus subjects himself to the Judgment of God as to the Revenger of a Lye Yet we deny not therefore that some of these Forms may so be tak'n as not to have the Force of an Oath but yet it is useful even in these cases also to observe what was said concerning an Oath and wholly to direct and reduce them to the same Rule and Order Now there are two kinds of an Oath XV. An Oath Twofold Assertory The First is that which is Assertory to wit when we religiously affirm any thing concerning any Matter present or past as the Apostle in the Epistles to the Galatians Gal. 1.20 Behold before God I lye not But the other is call'd Promissory Promissory to which also belong Threatnings and have Ralation to the Time to
unlucky XIII To bear false Witness is injurious even to the person that gives it that he is known to him whom by his Oath he did help and assist to be false and perjur'd and which evil succeeds to him of Sentence he daily takes a greater Practice and Custom of Lewdness and Impudence As therefore the Vanities XIV The lies of Lawyers forbidd'n Lies and Perjuries of Witnesses so also of Accusers of the Guilty of Patrons Kinsfolks Proctors and Advocates and even of all that are concern'd in Judgment are forbidd'n Lastly XV. To Witness a Falshood every where forbidd'n Levit. 19.11 God forbids all Testimony not only in Judgment but out of Judgment that may bring any wrong or hurt to another For in Leviticus where these Commandments are repeated we read thus Ye shall not steal ye shall not lye neither shall any one deceive his Neighbor So that no one can doubt but that every Lye is rejected of God and condemn'd in this Commandment VVhich thing David very plainly testifies in this manner Psal 5.7 Thou shalt destroy all them that speak lies Now by this Commandment is forbidd'n XVI The vice of Detraction detestable not only false Testimony but even the hateful Will and practice of speaking ill or another from which Plague it is incredible how many and how grievous Inconveniences and Evils do spring This Vice of Reviling and disparaging another secretly the Holy Scripture in many places reproves I did not so much as eat with such a One Psal 100.5 says David And S. James Jac. 4.11 Speak not evil one of another my Brethren But the Sacred Scriptures do not only afford us Precepts An Example Hester 13. but Examples also whereby the greatness of this Sin is shewn for Aman by forg'd Crimes had so incens'd Assuerus against the Jews that he commanded all that Nation to be kill'd Sacred History is full of Examples of this kind by remembrance whereof the Priests shall endeavour to deter the Faithful from the foulness of this thing But that the greatness of this Sin XVII Who are Detractors whereby anothers Credit is injur'd may evidently appear We must know that Mens Reputation is hurt First not only by Calumny or Slander But by increasing and amplifying their Faults Secondly and if any thing secretly has by any one bin committed which when it comes to be known becomes dangerous and hurtful to a Man's Credit he that publishes that matter where when and to whom there is no need so to do is truly call'd a Reviler and Slanderer But of all Slander there is none more deadly than that of those Thirdly who slander the Catholic Doctrin and the Preachers of it Fourthly They are in the same Fault that commend the Teachers of Errors and false Doctrins Nor are they to be left out of the Number of these Men Fifthly nor are they free from this Fault who lending their Ears to Revilers and Slanderers reprove them not but willingly assent to or belive them For to slander or to hearken to a Slanderer as S. Hierom and S. Bernard write it is not easily manifest whether of the two is more damnable For there would be no Slanderers if there were none to listen to their Slanders S. Hierom. Epist. ad Nepotianum circa finem D. Bernard lib. 2. de Consider ad Eugen. in fine Of the same sort are those Sixthly who by their Artifices cause Men to fall out and quarrel among themselves and are greatly delighted in keeping Differences So that breaking the strictest Friendships and Societies by their feigned words they compel the most friendly Men in the World to immortal Hatred and Quarrels This Plague the Lord exceedingly hates Lev. 19.6 Thou shalt not be a Tale-carrier nor Whisperer among the People Such were many of Sauls Counsellers who strove to estrange his Love from David and to provoke the King against him Lastly meer fair-spoken Men and Flatterers Seventhly Flatterers who by their smoothing and dissembling Praises buzz into those men's Ears and Minds whose Favors Mony and Honor they would purchase calling as the Prophet has it Isa 5.20 Evil good and good Evil offend against this part whom to drive away and rid our doors of them David admonishes us in that Saying Ps 140.5 Let the Just Man reprove me with mercy and let him chide me but let not the Oyl of the wicked anoint my Head For tho they revile not their Neighbor yet they wound him grievously who even by commending his Sins afford him a cause of persevering in his vices as long as he lives And indeed of this kind of Flattery The First kind of Flattery that is worst which is us'd for the Calamity and Hurt of our Neighbors So Saul when he desir'd to expose David to the Fury and Sword of the Philistines he sooth'd him with these words Behold my eldest Daughter Moreb 1. Reg. her will I give thee to wife only be thou valiant and fight the Lords battels So the Jews in that treacherous Speech of theirs thus spake to Christ our Lord Master Marc. 12.14 we know that thou art true and teachest the way of God in Truth But far more hurtful is the Speech of those Friends The worst sort of Flattery Relations and Kinsfolks which they sometimes flatteringly use to those who being sick to Death are now at their last Breath while they tell them that even then they are in no danger of Death and bid them be merry and cheerful and keep them from Confession of their Sins as from a sad melancholy Thought And lastly while they divert their Minds from all Care and Thought of their utmost Dangers in which they are very greatly involv'd Wherefore all kinds of Lyes are to be avoided But especially that whereby any one may be most damnifi'd But most wicked of all is that Lye which is made against Religion Note or about Religion God is also grievously offended with those Slanders and Reproaches which are committed by Libels Eighthly The Author of Libels such as they call Libellous Pamphlets and other Contumelies of the like kind De libel famos Vide Bull. Pij V. 147. datam Ann. 1572. Bull. Greg. XIII 4. datam eodem anno Besides XVIII A merry Lie forbidden either for Sport or for Office sake to deceive by a Lye altho no one thereby have any Gain or Loss yet it is altogether unworthy a Man For so the Apostle admonishes us Ephes 4.25 Putting away lying speak ye the Truth Vide D. Thom. 2.2 q. 110. art 3 4. For thereby comes a great Proneness to frequent and more grievous Lying Note the Reason and from telling of Lyes for Mirth Men take a custom of Lying whence they fall into a Reputation of not speaking Truth at all wherefore to gain Belief they are necessitated to swear at all times Lastly XIX All
dissembling forbidd'n in the former part of this Commandment Dissembling is forbidden and not only those things which are spoken dissemblingly but which are done so are joyn'd with this Sin For as well Words as Actions are Notes and certain Signs of those things which are in the Mind of any one and for this Reason our Lord often chiding the Pharisees calls them Hypocrites And thus much of the former Law of this Commandment which has relation to things forbidden Vide. D. Thom. 2.2 q. 211. per totam Now we will explain what the Lord commands in the other And the force and vertue of this part of this Commandment tends hither XX. The other part of the Commandment That all Judgments of Courts be justly exercis'd and according to Law and that Men do not wrest and usurp Judgment For it would not be fit to judg another Man's Servant XXI A Judg cannot condemn one not subject to him Rom. 14.4 as the Apostle writes lest they give Sentence before the Matter or Cause be known In which respect the Counsel of the Priests and Scribes was fault y who gave Judgment concerning S. Stephen and this was the Fault also of the Philippian Magistrates of whom the Apostle says Act. 7 59. Act. 16.37 They have sent us after having bin publickly beaten into Prison being Romans and uncondemned and now they would thrust us away privily Vide in 6 lib. 5. titul 7. de privilegiis c. 1. ibid. lib. 2. lit 2. de foro competenti Let them not condemn the Innocent XXII What is required of Judges or discharge the Guilty let them not be mov'd with Reward or Favor with Hatred or Love For so Moses admonishes the Elders whom he had made Judges of the People John 7.19 Judg ye what is just whether he be citizen or stranger there shall be no difference of persons so shall ye bear the Little as the Great neither shall ye accept any ones person because the Judgment is Gods Now concerning the Guilty XXIII The Guilty being ask'd by the Judg ought not to lye God will have them confess the Truth when they are ask'd according to the Form of Judgment For that Testimony and Declaring is a kind of Confession of the Praise and Glory of God as appears from Joshuah's Sentence who exhorting Achan to the Confession of the Truth Jos 7.19 says My Son give glory to the Lord the God of Israel Vide. D. Thom. 2.2 q. 96. per totos 4. Articulos But because this Commandment chiefly concerns the Witnesses XXIV The Witnesses chiefly concern'd here the Curat shall diligently treat concerning them also For such is the Force of the Commandment that it not only forbids false Testimony but also commands the Truth to be told For in human Affairs there is very great Use of the Testimony of Truth XXV The chief use of Witness-bearing because there are innumerable things whereof we must needs be ignorant unless we know them by the Credit of Witnesses Wherefore there is nothing so necessary as the Truth of Testimonies in those things which we neither know of our selves and yet ought not to be ignorant of Concerning which the Sentence of S. Austin is memorable He that conceals the Truth and he that utters a Lye are each of them guilty the one because he will do no good the other because he would do hurt Haec Sententia citabatur olim a Gratiano ex August sed apud August non est inventa Similiter legitur apud Isidorrm Lib. 3. c. 59. Yet sometimes it is lawful to conceal the Truth XXVI When we may conceal the Truth but out of Judgment For in Judgment when the Witness is lawfully ask'd by the Judg the Truth is wholly to be laid open Yet here the Witnesses are to take heed XXVII lest trusting too much to their own Memory Note they affirm that for certain which they are not well assur'd of The rest are Counsellors and Advocates Atturneys and Sollicitors XXVIII What is requir'd of Counsellors these therefore ought not to be wanting in their Labor and Defence when Men have need of them and kindly to help those that are needy not to undertake to defend unjust Causes nor by Calumny to prolong Suits nor for gains sake to encourage them And as to the Reward of their Labor and Service Note let them measure it according to Justice and Equity Vide 14. q. 5. c. non sane D. Thom. 2.2 q. 71. Art 5. Sollicitors and Accusers are to be admonish'd not to create danger to any one by unjustly charging them with Crimes XXIX What requir'd of Officers and Sollicitors being led thereto either by Love or Hatred or any other Lust Lastly this Commandment is given of God to all pious Persons that in all their Entertainments and Discourses they always speak the Truth from their Heart to say nothing that may hurt anothers Reputation no not even of those by whom they know themselves to have bin provoked and injur'd since they ought always to remember that there is between them so great a Nearness and Society that they are Members of the same Body But that the Faithful may the more freely take heed of this Vice of Lying XXX Things to be aganst Lying the Curat shall propose to them the exceeding great Misery and Baseness of this Sin For in Sacred Scripture the Devil is call'd Joh. 8.44 The Father of Lyes For because the Devil stood not in Truth he is a Lyar and the Father of Lyes And to overthrow this so great a Sin Secondly he shall add those Mischiefs which follow a Lye and because they are innumerable he shall shew the Fountains and Heads of those Inconveniences and Calamities And First Thirdly so far as it is an Offence to God and how far a vain and lying Person incurrs his Hatred he shall declare from Solomon's Authority in that place Prov. 6. There are Six things which the Lord hates and the Seventh his Soul abhors a proud Look a lying Tongue Hands that shed innocent Blood a Heart devising evil Thoughts Feet that are swift to run to Mischief him that tells Lyes and a deceitful Witness and so forth Who is there therefore that can promise him Safety Fourthly who is so notably hated of God that he shall not be most grievously punish'd And what is there more base or foul Fifthly as S. James says Jac. 3.6 Than with the same Tongue wherewith we bless God and the Father to slander Men that are made after the Image and Likeness of God So that out of the same Fountain does flow sweet and bitter Water For the Tongue Sixthly which before gave Praise and Glory to God afterward as much as in it lies does disgrace and reproch it by Lying Wherefore it comes to pass Seventhly That Lyars are excluded from the Possession of the Bliss of Heaven For when David
ask'd thus of God Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle The Holy Spirit answers He that speaks the Truth from his Heart and has us'd no Deceit in his Tongue There is in a Lye this further very great Disadvantage Eighthly That this Disease of the Mind is almost incurable For when a Sin is committed by falsly laying a Crime to any ones Charge XXXI How a Lye is incurable or by slandering his Fame or Reputation it cannot be pardon'd unless the Slanderer satisfie the Person whom he slander'd for the wrong he did him But this is very hard to be done as we learn'd before by Men deterr'd with vain shame and a certain Opinion of their Dignity So that there is no doubt that he is destin'd to the eternal Punishments of the Damned who remains in this Sin Nor may any one hope to obtain Pardon for his Calumnies or Slanders Let Slanderers observe this unless he first satisfie him whose Worth and Credit he has wrong'd either publicly in Judgment or in private and familiar Conversation Besides this Damage spreads it self very wide XXXII How great hurt comes of Lying and falls upon others whereby thro Vanity and Lyes Faith and Truth which are the straitest Bands of human Society are taken away and these being once gone Life's greatest Confusion follows so that Men seem to differ nothing at all from Devils The Curat shall further teach XXXIII Pratling discommended That Pratling is to be avoided by shunning whereof both other Sins will be escaped and also great Security against Lying from which Vice Pratlers cannot easily restrain themselves Lastly XXXIV The first Excuse of a Lye to be rejected the Curat shall take away that Error from them that excuse themselves for vain Babling and defend their Lyes by the Example of Wise-men whose part it is say they to lye in season He shall tell them what is most true That the Wisdom of the flesh is Death He shall exhort his Hearers in their Difficulties and Streights to trust in God Note and not to fly to the Artifice of Lying For those that use a cover plainly declare That they put more Confidence in their own Prudence than in God's Providence Those that charge others with the cause of their Lyes The second Excuse null by whom they were deceiv'd by Lyes are to be taught That it is not lawful for Men to revenge themselves and that Evil is not to be recompens'd with Evil Rom. 12.17 but rather That Evil is to be overcome with Good But if it were meet to make such a Return yet this could not be profitable to any one to be reveng'd to his own loss but this would be the greatest Damage which we do by telling a Lye To those that bring in the Frailty and Weakness of human Nature The third Excuse vain this Precept of Duty shall be taught to wit To implore Gods help and not to yield to human Infirmity Those that alledge Custom The fourth Excuse foolish are to be admonish'd if they have bin us'd to Lye that they endeavour to take the contrary custom of speaking Truth and especially seeing that they that Sin by Use and Custom sin more grievously than others And because there are some that cover themselves with the excuse of other Men The fifth Excuse ridiculous whom they say do commonly lye and forswear themselves they are to be drawn from this Opinion by this means that ill Men are not to be imitated but to be reprov'd and corrected but when we our selves lye our Admonition will have less Authority in reproving and correcting of another As for others thus defending themselves The Sixth Excuse evil that by speaking Truth Men oftentimes have brought Inconvenience on themselves or others the Priests shall deal thus with them That this is an Excuse not a Defence Since it is the Duty of a Christian to suffer any Loss rather than to Lye There remains two sorts of those that excuse themselves in Lyes The one is of those that say Two other Excuses to be remov'd they tell Lyes for Mirth's sake the other is of those that do it for Advantage sake because they can neither buy nor sell without the Use of Lyes Both these sorts the Curat ought to turn from their Error And the former of them he shall draw from this Vice both by teaching how much the Use of Lying increases the Practice in that kind of Sin and by often inculcating Matth. 12.26 that Of every idle word an account is to be given But the last sort he shall chide more sharply in whose very Excuse there is their greater Accusation that make their boast that they give no Credit or Authority to those Words of God Seek first the kingdom of God and the justice thereof and all these things shall be added to you The Ninth and Tenth COMMANDMENTS of the DECALOGVE Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbors House Nor shalt thou desire thy Neighbors Wife nor his Servant nor his Maid nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is his IN these two Commandments I. The force and extent of these Commandments which are delivered in the last place we are to know first of all that the same Order in a manner is followed as was observed in the other Commandments For that which is here appointed in these words tends hither That if any one be careful to keep the former Commandments of the Law let him chiefly do this let him not covet because he that does not covet being content with that that is his own seeks not what is anothers rejoyces at other Mens welfare he will give Glory to the immortal God and will offer him the greatest Thanks will honor the Sabbath i. e. he will enjoy a perpetual rest and he will reverence his Betters Lastly he will hurt no body either in Deed or in Word or any other way For the root and seed of all Evils is evil Concupiscence wherewith those that are inflam'd are carried headlong into every kind of Wickedness and Mischief Vide Aug. lib. 1. Retract c. 15. Epist 200. lib. 9. de Civit. Dei c. 4 5. These things being observ'd Note the Curat will be more diligent in teaching that which follows and the Faithful will be more attentive to hear it But tho we have therefore joyn'd these two Commandments together II. Why these two Commandments here deliver'd together because since the Argument of them is not unlike they have the same way of teaching yet the Curat in exhorting and admonishing may handle them either together or apart as he shall think more convenient But if he undertake the Office of Interpreting the Decalogue or Ten Commandments he shall shew what the Dissimilitude of these Two Commandments is and how the one Concupiscence or Covetousness differs from the other which difference S. Austin declares in his Book of Questions upon Exodus Quaest 77.
study and desire to God who is the chiefest Good And then we must desire those things that unite us most with God but those things that separate us from him or any way cause us to be disjoyn'd from him are utterly to be remov'd far from our studies and desires Hence we gather how all other things The Third which are call'd Good next after that chiefest and perfect Good are both to be wish'd and pray'd for of God our Father for those Goods that are outward and belong to the Body as Health Strength Beauty Riches Honors Glory which oftentimes afford matter and occasion to Sin for which cause it is that they are not at all devoutly and piously to be pray'd for that Petition shall be limited in these Bounds that we pray for the Conveniences of this Life for necessitie's sake which ground of Prayer is refer'd to God For tho we may in our Prayers ask those things which Jacob and Solomon pray'd for III. How bodily Goods are to be desir'd Gen. 28 20. Prov. 30.8 Jacob thus If he will give me Bread to eat and Clothes to put on the Lord shall be my God And Solomon thus Only give me necessary food Now since of Gods Liberality we are suppli'd with Food and Raiment It is but meet that we remember that Exhortation of the Apostle 1 Cor 7.30 Let them that buy be as tho they possess'd not and those that use this World as tho they us'd it not for the figure of this World passes away Again Psal 61.11 If Riches increase set not your heart upon them Whose fruit and use is only ours but yet so as that we communicate with others as we are taught by God himself If we have Ability IV. The true use of outward Goods if we abound with other outward Goods of the Body let us remember that they are therfore given us that we may serve God with more ease and lend our Neighbor all things of this kind And then for the Goods and Ornaments of the Understanding V. Under what condition Arts and Sciences to be pray'd for of which kind are Learning and Arts we may not pray for them but on this condition only if they will be profitable to us for God's Glory and our Salvation but that which is absolutely and without any adjunct or condition to be pray'd for wish'd and begg'd as we said before is the Glory of God and after that all things else that may joyn us to that most excellent Good as Faith the Fear of God and his Love of which we will speak more fully in the explication of the Petitions For whom we are to Pray NOw it being known what things are to be pray'd for I. There is no sort of Men which are not to be pray'd for the Faithful are to be taught for whom they are to pray Prayer contains Petition and Thanksgiving wherefore we will first speak concerning Petition We must therefore pray for all without any Exception either of Differences of Favour or of Religion For whether he be Enemy Stranger or Infidel he is our Neighbor whom because by God's Command we ought to love it follows that we ought to make Prayers also for them which is the Office of Love for thither tends that Exhortation of the Apostle 1 Tim. 2.1 I beseech you that Prayers be made for all Men. In which Prayer we are first to beg those things which concern the Welfare of the Soul Note and then that of the Body Now we ought to perform this Office first for the Pastors of our Souls II. First We must pray for the Pastors of our Souls Col. 4.3 whereof we admonish'd by the Apostle from his own Example for he writes to the Colossians to pray for him that God would open him a Door of Speech which also he do's to the Thessalonians And in the Acts of the Apostles we read Acts 12.5 That Prayer was made by the Church without ceasing for Peter Of which Duty also we are admonish'd by S. Basil in his Books de Moribus For says he we must pray for them that are over us in the Word of Truth Basil lib. Moral Reg. 56. c. 5. item Homil. in Isaiam In the second place Secondly For Princes we must pray for Princes according to the Sentence of the same Apostle For how great Public Good we enjoy by just and pious Princes there is no one ignorant God therefore is to be entreated that those that are above other Men may be such kind of Persons as they ought to be Vide Tertul. Apolog. 30. ad Scap. c. 2. There are Examples of Holy Men Thirdly For Pious Men. whereby we are admonish'd to pray for good and pious Men for they also stand in need of the Prayers of others Which is so order'd of God that they may not be puff'd up with Pride while they see that they want the Prayers of their Inferiors Besides Fourthly For Enemies Our Lord has commanded us to pray for our Persecuters and Slanderers Matth. 5.44 For Fifthly For Strangers from the Church it is well known from the Testimony of S. Austin that this Practice of making Supplications and Prayers for those that were without the Church was receiv'd from the Apostles That Faith might be given to Infidels that Idol-worshippers might be deliver'd from the Error of their Impiety that the Jews the Darkness of their Souls being dispell'd might receive the Light of Truth that Heretics returning to Soundness of Mind might be instructed in the Precepts of Catholic Doctrin that Schismatics being bound with the Band of true Charity might be joyn'd in Communion with our most Holy Mother the Church from whom they fell away Now how great a force hearty Prayers made for this kind of Men has appears by so many Examples of Men of all sorts which God daily carries being snatch'd out of the Power of Darkness into the Kingdom of the Son of his Love and of Vessels of Wrath he makes them Vessels of Mercy In which Case no one in his right Mind can doubt that the Intercession of Devout Men prevails very much Vide S. Aug Epist 107. ad Vitel. Cyprian de Orat. Domin Item Caelestinum Papam Epist 1. c. 11. And Prayers for the Dead Sixthly For the Dead that they may be delivered from the Fire of Purgatory did flow from the Doctrin of the Apostles concerning which enough was said when we spake of the Sacrifice of the Mass Dionys cap. lib. de Eccles Hierarch c. 6 7. Clem. Pap. Epist 1. lib. Constit Apost Tert. de Coron Milit. in Exhort ad Castit in lib. de Monog Cypr. Epist 66. But those that are said to sin unto Death Seventhly For Sinners Intercessions and Prayers profit them but little yet it is the part of Christian Charity both to pray for them and even with Tears to wrestle for them if by any means they can render
the greatest efficacy 136 The Sacraments of the New Law have a form of words prescrib'd without which there is no true Sacrament Ibid. The Ceremonies of the Sacraments cannot be omitted without sin 137 If the Ceremonies of the Sacrament should be omitted the nature of the Sacrament is not lessen'd Ibid. Why the Sacraments administred with solemn Ceremonies Ibid. The necessity of the Sacraments 138 The number of the Sacraments 137 The excellency of the Sacraments 139 The difference of the Sacraments among themselves Ibid. Christ the Author of the Sacraments Ibid. Why God would have the Sacraments administred by men 140 The Ministers of the Sacraments represent the person of Christ Ibid. The Sacraments confer justifying Grace 142 How dangerous it is to such Ministers as minister the Sacraments of the New Law with polluted consciences 141 The effects of the Sacraments Ibid. The excellencie of the Sacraments of the New Law compar'd with those of the Old 143 Three Sacraments imprint a Character Ibid. By the use of the Sacrament the Edifice of Christians is propp'd up 145 Wicked men may minister the Sacraments if they observe what belongs to the nature and truth of the Sacraments 140 The difference between a Sacrament and a Sacrifice 234 A Sacrifice is offer'd to God not to the Saints 235 The bloody and unbloody Sacrifice is one and the same 236 The Sacrifice offer'd on the Cross and that in the Mass is one and the same Ibid. The Communion of Saints how profitable and what it signifies 99 By Communion of all Christians are made one Body 100 The members of Christ's body tho dead do not cease to be his members Ibid. What things in the Church are common to Christians 101 God's Glory is not diminish'd by the worship of the Saints but increas'd 345 The Patronage of the Saints is not superfluous 346 Tho Christ be offer'd to us as our Mediator yet it does not follow but that we may have recourse to the favour of the Saints 347 It is not forbidden by God's Law to paint the Images of the Saints 348 Satan's Attempts See Devil The necesity of Satisfaction 274 Whence the name of Satisfaction 272 Satisfaction variously taken Ibid. c. What Satisfaction reconciles God to us 252 253 Christ's Satisfaction is for almost all sins 273 Canonical Satisfaction Ibid. Satisfaction taken of us Ibid. Satisfaction as a part of the Sacrament Ibid. Satisfaction defin'd 272 The virtue of Satisfaction 298 Our Satisfaction does not obscure Christ's Satisfaction but rather illustrates it Ibid. Painful and afflictive works undertaken in satisfaction 279 280 All kinds of satisfaction referr'd to 3 chief heads 279 True Satisfaction requires that he that satisfies be himself just 279 Inconveniences and labors sent of God have a virtue of satisfying if born with patience 280 One may satisfie for another Ib. Before a Penitent that has wrong'd his Neighbor in his Goods or Repute be absolved he ought to promise to make satisfaction 281 In appointing the punishment of satisfaction what is to be observed 282 The manner of satisfaction shou'd answer to the degree of the fault Ibid. The Penitent ought of his own accord often to repeat the works of satisfaction which the Priest appointed him Ib. The Seal of the Lord's Prayer 550. Some Sins irremissible how to be understood 248 The punishment of sin and sinners flows to us from Adam 29 VVe ought to confess our sins of thought 265 Two consequences of sin 277 God is so provok'd by our sins that he blesses not our labors 522 All are subject to sin 520 VVhat our acknowledgment of sin ought to be 521 The baseness of sin Ibid. The plague of sin 522 Tho the act of sin pass away yet the guilt of it remains 523 God's anger always follows sin Ibid. How necessary the sense of and grief for sin is 521 God is always ready to forgive the sins of Penitents 524 VVe cannot avoid sin without God's help 505 Swearing See Perjury T BEing tost with the waves of Temptation we must fly to the Port of Prayer 540 VVe must pray God that we be not led into Temptation 532 VVhat Temptation is 536 The many kinds of Temptations 533 God tempts and how 537 Men tempted for evil Ibid. VVhy the Devil is call'd the Tempter Ibid. VVhen we are led into Temptation ibid. He tempts that does not hinder Temptation 538 Man 's whole life a Temptation on Earth 539 Temptations to be patiently endur'd 540 VVhat we beg of God in Temptation 539. c. The Commandment about Theft is as a Protection whereby our outward goods are defended 413 This Commandment divided into two parts Ibid. VVhy the 7th Commandment makes mention of Theft and not of Robbery 414 VVhat is understood by the word Theft Ibid. God's great love shew'd to us in this Commandment about Theft 413. Theft which is an unjust possession and use of other mens things known by divers names 414 The will of stealing forbidden in this Command 415 How grievous a sin Theft is Ibid. The consequences of Theft manifest the greatness of the sin Ibid. Many kinds of Thefts 416 The various kinds of Thieves Ibid. God accepts no excuse for Theft 423 Theft not excusable Ibid. The excuses which men use to defend their Theft withal Ibid. c. The Thief dishonors God's Name 424 V THe Vice of the Tongue very extensive 326 Of the Vice of the Tongue come innumerable mischiefs ibid. Vnction See Extreme-Vnction W WAtching overcomes Temptations 541 The Wife to be subject to her Husband 328 The Wife must abide at home 328 The Duties of a Wife 327 c. Why Woman was taken out of the side of man Ibid. Why we pray God's Will be done 505 VVho especially ought to pray God's Will be done 503 VVho says thy Will be done what he ought to think 505 The Commandment of not bearing false Witness 426 The Command of not bearing false Witness restrains the Vice of the Tongue Ibid. In the Command against false Witness are containd two Precepts one commanding the other forbidding 427 What is forbidden in false Witness Ibid. A Judge cannot well reject sworn Witness Ibid. VVhat false Witness is 428 429 The mischiefs of false Witness 429 False Witness forbidden not only in Judgment but out of Judgment Ibid. How many ways a man's esteem is wounded by Lies 429 c. Witness-bearing is a confession of God's Praise 433 True Witness-bearing of very great use in human affairs Ibid. Witnesses to be very careful not to affirm for truth what they are not very sure of 434 The Word of God the Food of the Soul 517 The Word of the Pastors of the Church to be receiv'd as the VVord of God See the Preface Words of all signs have the greatest Virtue See Sacrament By the preaching of the Word and use of the Sacraments the Christian Building is firmly lay'd 145 Incarnation of the Word See Incarnation Z WHat Zeal to be attributed to God 354 FINIS