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truth_n	divine_a	force_n	great_a	218	4	2.0707	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07609	A treatise of the holy sacrifice of the masse, and excellencies therof. Written in Spanish by the R. F. Ant. de Molina, a Carthusian monke, & translated into English by I.R. of the Society of Iesus. VVith order, hovv to be present at the said Holy Mystery, vvith deuotion & profit	Molina, Antonio de, d. 1619?; Floyd, John, 1572-1649, attributed name.; Wilson, John, ca. 1575-ca. 1645?	1623 (1623)	STC 18001; ESTC S112780	50,509	307

this strange thing he found by conferring togeather the dayes and houres that it was the very time that Masse was sayd for him Hence the holy Doctour inferres what greate force and efficacy is in this most Diuine Sacrifice to release men from the spirituall fetters of sin wherin was so great strength to vndoe and breake the chaynes of the body The auncient formes of Masse deliuer the same truth that of S. Iames speaking with GOD thus prayeth that the sinnes we haue committed may be abolished that thou o Lord be propitious and mercifull vnto thy people that by the Oblation of this gratious Diuine Sacrifice we may be held worthy of eternall life The Masse of S. Basil sayth Let this Sacrifice be acceptable for our sinnes for the ignorances of the people S. Chrysostomes Make vs worthy to offer the gifts and this speciall Sacrifice for our sinnes grant that we may find fauour in thy sight And now in the Canon of the Masse we say that we offer this Sacrifice for the Redemption of our Soules That the Masse is a most efficacious Sacrifice to obtayne whatsoeuer we demand CHAP. X. AS cōcerning the fourth title and reason of offering Sacrifices to the end to obtayne of God that which we demaund it is cleere that our Sacrifice doth farre excell all other For if the offering vnto God of a lambe or kidd or some other bruite creature was so efficacious a meanes to obtayne the thing desired and therefore such kind of Sacrifices were ordinarily offered how much greater efficacy is there in the offering vnto him his very Son with the whole treasure of his merits Without doubt this is greater beyond cōparisō If God made such promises vnto Abrahā cōfirmed by Oath to do fauours vnto him and to all his posterity only in regard of the will he had to sacrifice his Sonne what benefits and graces will he bestow on thē that offer and sacrifice vnto him really truly his only begottē Sonne what fauours will he not grant what can one aske with such a present that he will not giue with reason we may heere vse the wordes of the Apostle Saint Paul He that spared not his only Sonne but gaue him for vs all how can it be that he hath not giuen vs all togeather with him Or how can he deny vs any thing that we can aske If the Lawes both human and Diuine so strictly prohibite vnto Iudges and Princes whose office is to gouerne the affayres of the Commō-wealth to pronounce sentence in cases of difference to receaue gifts or presents because receauing them they remaine euen in nature obliged to requite them and to gratify such as gaue them so that it seemes impossible that they should not fauour them why may we not presume that God is in a certaine māner bound to do vs fauours hauing receaued of vs a gift so great and precious as we offer him in the Masse And if the Prouerbe that Gifts breake rocks be true as experiēce shewes it is there being no hart so hard which presents do not make relent yield vnto the giuer how can we thinke that God hauing an hart not of stone nor hard but most sweet louing mercifull inclined to do vs fauours will forbeare to do vs any thing we shall request hauing taken of vs such a rich gift as we present him in our sacrifice Certayne it is that the holy Sacrifice of the Masse is a most efficacious meanes to obtayne of God all that we desire so that the Church did euer vse to say Masses to aske of God Health Peace prosperity other benefits generall and particular as well corporall as spirituall neither need I stay lōger in prouing so cleere and receaued a truth Wherefore I will only here set downe a most prudent and pious consideratiō of a graue and learned Diuine of our age most true conformable both vnto Theology holy scripture This is that Christ our Lord now in Heauen though he be not in the state to merit or satisfy for vs a new yet he is in a state where he may pray and make intercession for mē as in verity he doth according as the Apostle doth witnesse that he doth pleade for vs and at the iudgment seate of God is our sollicitour and as S. Iohn sayth We haue an Aduocate vnto God the Father Christ Iesus the Iust. Hereupon this learned Authour sayth that it is a thing very credible likely that Christ our Lord as often as the Sacrifice of the Masse is offered doth intercede and pray for them that offer it and also for thē for whome it is offered A consideration most true For seing it is most certayne that Christ our Lord doth actually and in truth exercise the office of our Priest and Aduocate seing also that the proper office of Priest is to pray intercede for the people we may rest in this persuasion without any doubt that our Lord being in all his actiōs most perfect will completly performe this office not only by offering the Sacrifice particularly for them for whome it is offered whereof there is no questiō but also by praying interceding actually for thē that they may obtaine what they request and desire if the same agree with their Saluation and Gods glory And it may seeme that the Apostle S. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews doth signify or insinuate this truth where treating of the Eternall Priest-hood of Christ he sayth That he can saue for euer them that by him haue accesse vnto God who liues euer to intercede and pleade for vs and thereupon he straight addeth It was conuenient that we should haue such an High-Priest Where he seemes to conioyne praying and interceding for vs with the office of Priesthood signifying that to discharge that duty perfectly it is necessary that he pray and intercede for them that are vnder his charge and more particularly for them for whome he offers his Sacrifice which thing is no wayes inconuenient in Christ but very agreeing with reason as the Venerable Father Dionysius Carthusianus notes in his declaration of this speech of the Apostle Qui etiam interpellat pro nobis Which also is the Doctrine of that great Saint Laurēce Patriarch who wrytes thus in a certayne Sermon When Christ is sacrificed vpon the Aultar our sayd Redeemer cryeth for vs vnto his Father shewing the sacred marks of his Woundes to saue men from eternall punishments by his intercession This being so as I do firmely belieue it is what a soueraigne and excellent thing and full of reuerence and veneration is the holy Sacrifice of the Masse If we do highly esteeme that some Saints in Heauen pray particularly actually for vs or some person liuing vpon earth whome we know to be vertuous in singular fauour with God how much more ought we to prize the only Son of God his praying and intercession for vs vnto his eternall Father Out

the figure was to cease Therefore Christ Iesus our Lord the day before he offered this bloudy Sacrifice vpon the Aultar of the Crosse in his last supper with his Disciples doing the office of the true Priest according to the order of Melchisedech as the Councell of Trent noteth ordained that perpetually in his Church should be offered the same sacrifice he was to offer on the Crosse notwithstanding he would not haue this perpetuall sacrifice bloudy nor with those fits and accidents of death but vnbloudy vnder the formes and accidents of bread and wine yet in such māner that in substance and in essence it should be the very same And to the end that the defects and vnworthynes of Priests might not preiudice in any kind or diminish the value and dignity of a sacrifice so high and Diuine he would himselfs still remayne with the office and stile of eternall Priest really and in truth sacrificing by himselfe as principal Priest other Priests being but his instruments performing the exteriour ministery and this is that we do in the Masse offer vnto the eternall Father as Ministers of Christ the same sacrifice his sonne offered on the Crosse. And in saying We offer the same sacrifices we say a world of magnificēces dignities excellēcies For being the same it must needs haue the same vertue the same value the same sufficiency the same merit as it then had other innumerable honours worthy of much consideration Now that the Masse is the same sacrifice really essentially is a truth most certaine seing the same victime is offered the same Priest is the principall offerent the same God vnto whome it is offered and the same reason of offering as the Councell of Trent defineth only the manner of offering being different that of the Crosse being bloudy and with the extremities of death this vnbloudy couered with the externalls of bread wine without woundes or sores or accidents of mortality To this purpose pertaine the wordes of S. Ambrose saying One and the same is our sacrifice with that Christ offered For he is our High-Priest who offered the cleansing victime for vs the same we offer now that was offered then Do this sayth he in remēbrance not another sacrifice as did the Priests in the old Law but the same we still offer And S Chrysostome The sacred Oblation what Priest soeuer offers it is still the same with that Christ gaue his Disciples neyther hath this any thing lesse then that had For men do not sanctify this Victime but Christ himself who consecrated that doth in lyke manner sanctify this which are wordes of great comfort and worthy of the noting And for this reason S. Paul affirmes so many tymes in his Epistle to the Hebrews that we haue not in the Church and that we haue no other sacrifice besides that which Christ offered on the Crosse. And it is the truth that that sacrifice was most sufficient and that we neyther need nor haue any other but the same sacrifice we daily repeate and renew on the sacred Aultar for a continuall memoriall and thankesgiuing as our Lord himself ordayned to the end that the vertue of that most sufficient sacrifice may be in particular with efficacity applyed to euery one as the Councell of Trēt faith That the holesome vertue thereof be imployed applyed for the remission of such sinnes as we dayly commit That the sacrifice of the Masse hath all the titles and reasons for which sacrifices are offered vnto God CHAP. VI. THAT we may better vnderstand the dignity and excellency of the Masse we must note that besides the reason alleadged why men did aunciently offer sacrifices vnto God to wit to figure and represent the true most perfect sacrifice that was to be offered for the redemption of mankind in which reasō the Masse without comparison surpasseth them all as being not a meere representation but to the very workes of our redemption mystically performed as hath been sayd Besides this reason I say there were many other binding men euen by the law of Nature to offer sacrifices vnto God as they were taught by the very instinct of the light of naturall reasō as also by the speciall inspiratiō releuation made to some iust and holy men Which reasons gathered out of S. Thomas and other graue Authours though in themselues they be many yet they may be reduced vnto fower The first to acknowledge and professe the Maiesty soueraignty and Excellency of God and the supreme absolute Dominion he hath ouer all as being the Creatour and vniuersall Lord of all and to pay him the tribute of honour and veneration due vnto him for these respects This is the highest and most perfect reason of offering sacrifices vnto God which only regardes him according to that he is in himself and for this respect is due to him all honour and veneration that creatures can possibly yield And for the satisfying of this reason was instituted peculiarly that kind of sacrifice tearmed Holocauste in which some brute beast was offered burnt consumed with fyre wholly entirely nothing remayning therof to signify that whatsoeuer a creature is all is due vnto God and all to be offered for his honour and glory And if God would vse his vttermost rigour not regard men with a louing and gratious eye he might most iustly chalēg that they should offer him in sacrifice their very liues or the liues of their deerest children or other things if they haue any more deare and pretious vnto thē For this cause he commanded in his law that to him should be offered all the first begotten of man or beast in acknowledgment that he is Lord of all and the best and most beloued thing is due vnto him often repeating this reason thereof Mea enim sunt omnia For all is mine Thus he charged his friend Abraham to offer in holocaust his only Sonne whome he loued as his owne soule yet being satisfied with the promptitude of his obedience and readines to offer euen his owne life if had God made request thereof he procured him a Ramme to be offered in liew of his Sonne And with his people he was contented with that complement and ceremony of offering their first begotten Sonnes with protestation that they were Gods and due vnto him and his Maiesty tooke possession of them and receaued them as his owne but straight restored them backe againe to their parents neuer permitting that in effect any humā person should be sacrificed vnto him Only God gaue his consent that in his only begotten Sonne this rigour should be vsed of being offered in sacrifice because he alone did suffice for all as being the first begotten of all creatures On the other side the Diuell as being proud and ambitious of Diuine worshipp and a cruel enemy of mankind required of people deceaued and brought vnder his tyranny that they should adore him by sacrificing

fiant in vobis Let all things be don with order amongst you which shewes that it is requisite that the Church should ordayne appoynt order to be kept euen about the least thinges that concernes this most holy Sacrifice For if this were left to the choyce iudgment of euery one many indiscreet and vnseemly ceremonies would be vsed neyther ought any thinge that cōcernes so high a Mystery be thought little or of small esteeme as not to be done with grauity and decency the direction S. Cyprian giues being here of speciall vse we ought to endeauour the pleasing of the Diuine eyes euen in the outward gate and composition of our body And this vniformity in externall ceremonies serues more to set forth the Maiesty of the Ecclesiasticall office shewes the vnity and consent of the Church togeather with the care and sollicitude of her Pastours And if God in the old Testament did with such rigour and seuerity exact the perfect keeping of the ceremonies thereof as appeares by the words of Deuteronomy the 7. Chap. verse 11. Keepe my Precepts Statutes and Ceremonies which I this day commaund vnto thee And in the 8· Chapter the 11. Verse Take heed thou do not forget thy Lord God nor neglect his Commandments Ceremonies and Iudgmēts the same Precept is in other places repeated and inculcated If I say God did require so perfect and punctuall obseruance of those auncient Rites and Ceremonies that were but figures and shadowes of the mysteries of the new Testament how Sacred Venerable and worthy of obseruance are these ceremonies of the Church which wayte and attend immediatly vpō the most sacred Mysteries themselues now present effectuated These Ceremonies were vsed to the end that with due exteriour decency might be performed the sacrifice of a lambe or calfe or of some other bruite beast or were exercised about the handling and honoring of the Arke of Couenāt the bread-loues of Propositiō other such things but our ceremonies are vsed about the sacrifycing cōsecrating the most holy Body of Iesus Christ and his pretious Bloud and to handle and worship with due religious reuerēce the same true and liuing mysteries which by those dead figures shadowes were signified Wherfore looke what excellency truth challengeth aboue the figure the body aboue the shadow the prototype aboue the picture the new Testament aboue the old the same excellency haue the ceremonies now vsed aboue those that then were receaued And so we may ought to reason that that if of those ceremonyes the obseruation of them God made so great an account greater account without question he makes of these seing they are as hath byn sayd in many respects much more excellent then the other were We may also giue a ghesse at great and Diuine thinges by consideration of what passeth human thinges that in respect of them are vayne vile and childish It is a wonder to see Noblemen Knights that liue in the Court how perfect they are in the knowledge of Ceremonies how curious and punctuall to keepe them All is reduced vnto Rules and Principles euery one knowes who is to be couered in the presence of the King and who is to be bareheaded the termes of salutations and courtesies that are to be vsed and many other curiosityes then reason it is that in them and their exact obseruance we learne what is to be done and kept in a thing of truth and importance such as are the ceremonies of the holy Masse Whē the King drinks it is a sight to behold the respect the order the leasure the attention vsed one of the greatest Princes takes the goblet and with a certayn number of ceremonyes he makes his reuerence and kneeles whylest the Prince is drinking with such an humble kind of reuerence that it may seeme he would euen put himself vnder the ground And yet what is a King compared with God Surely but a corruptible worme that hath the name of King made fast vnto him as it were with pins which yet are not so stronge but a little blast of infectious ayre is able to take it from him On the other side cōsidering what we doe or rather what we omit to do through negligence rudenes want of carefull exactnes in the worship and seruice of the immortall King of all worldes ages who hath not imbrodered in his garments but also written in his flancke King of Kinges and Lord of Lordes serued by thousandes and thousandes before whome ten tymes an hundred thousandes of Angels and Seraphims and Princes of glory assist all with great reuerence and most profound humiliation as before their Creatour and the vniuersall and true Lord of all Let all these prayse him for euer seing notwithstanding this his so great Maiesty highnes he doth not disdaine to choose such poore creatures as are men for the exercise and celebration of mysteries so soueraigne and Diuine Of the Reuerence due vnto Churches and holy Places CHAP. XV. I will conclude this Treatise with this poynt of the respect and Reuerence that is due vnto Temples Churches and other holy places where the holy Sacrifice of the Masse is offered To stire vp in vs this Reuerend affection it may suffice that we open our eyes of fayth and consideration marke that Churches are truly properly the houses of God By this title they are honoured by our Lord himselfe in many places of holy Scripture and particularly in the second Chapter of S. Iohn where he saith Make not the house of my Father an house of negotiation And in the one twentith Chapter of S. Matthew our Sauiour alleadgeth in confirmation hereof the saying of the Prophet My house is the house of prayer The fact of our Sauiour related by both these Euangelists in those places is very notable and of great consideration for our purpose For the modesty and mildnes of Christ IESVS being exceeding great and wonderfull that in all the tyme of his lyfe we do not reade that he chastised any offence with his owne handes hauing seen and dayly seeing so many and so grieuous and hauing had so many occasions to doe it that once they would haue cast him downe headlong from a mountayne and an other tyme they tooke stones to stone him to death diuers tymes they vsed vnto him rude and blasphemous wordes In all these and many other like occasions our Sauiour behaued himselfe with very great modesty and mildnes towardes all sinners in generall he shewed this meekenes in great excesse scarse euer in any occasion shewing displeasure or indignation Yea he did sharply rebuke at a certayne tyme some of his Disciples because they asked him leaue that they might make fire come downe from Heauen vpō the Samaritās that had byn so discourteous towardes him as not to let him haue any lodging or entrance into their Citty All this being so yet the first tyme that he ascended vnto Hierusalem with