Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	charity_n	patience_n	temperance_n	2,284	5	11.1077	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61530	The Bishop of Worcester's charge to the clergy of his diocese, in his primary visitation begun at Worcester, Sept. 11, 1690	Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1691 (1691)	Wing S5565A; ESTC R17405	34,012	60

Life than others who withdrew from the common Conversation of Mankind and so by degrees from joining in the Acts of Publick Worship with them Which did unspeakable Mischief to Christianity for then the Perfection of the Christian Life was not supposed to consist in the active part of it but in Retirement and Contemplation As tho our highest imitation of Christ lay in following him into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil and not in walking as he walked who frequented the Synagogues and went about doing good But this way of Retirement happening to be admired by some great Men the Publick Worship came to be in less esteem and others upon Reasons of a different Nature withdrew themselves from such Acts of Devotion as required a stricter Attendance and a more prepared Temper of Mind And there were some who did abstain because they were not so well satisfied with themselves as to their own Preparations and such as these S. Chrysostom seems to favor rather than such who came often without due care as to the whole Course of their Lives only out of custom or out of regard to the Orders of the Church From hence many thought it better to forbear as long as they did it not out of Contempt And so by degrees the People were content to look on it as a Sacrifice for them to be performed by others rather than as an Office wherein they were to bear a part themselves at least they thought once or thrice a year sufficient for them And to this as appears by our old Provincial Constitutions they were forced by severe Canons When the Reformation began this Disuse of this holy Sacrament was looked on by the chief Reformers as a great Abuse and Corruption crept into the Church which ought by all means to be Reformed and the frequent Celebration of it set up in the Reformed Churches But unreasonable Scruples in some and Misapprehensions in others and a general Coldness and Indifference as to matters of Religion have hitherto hindered the Reviving this Primitive Part of Devotion among us I do not go about to determine the Frequency in your Parishes which the Scripture doth not as to the Christian Church but supposes it to be often done but I may require you to take Care that Christ's Institution be observed among you and that with your utmost Care both as to the Decency and Purity of it The last thing I recommend to you all is To have a great Care of your Conversations I do not speak it out of a distrust of you I hope you do it already and your Case will be so much worse if you do it not because you very well know how much you ought to do it For the Honor of God and Religion and the Success of your Ministry as well as your own Salvation depend very much upon it Lead your Flock by your Example as well as by your Doctrine and then you may much better hope that they will follow you for the People are naturally Spies upon their Ministers and if they observe them to mind nothing but the World all the Week they will not believe them in earnest when on the Lord's Days they persuade them against it And it takes off the Weight of all Reproof of other Mens Faults if those they reprove have reason to believe them guilty of the same I do not think it enough for a Preacher of Righteousness merely to avoid open and scandalous Sins but he ought to be a great Example to others in the most excellent Virtues which adorn our Profession not only in Temperance and Chastity in Justice and ordinary Charity but in a readiness to do good to all in forgiving Injuries in loving Enemies in evenness of Temper in Humility and Meekness and Patience and Submission to God's Will and in frequent Retirements from the World not merely for Study but for Devotion If by these and such things you shine as Lights among your People they will be more ready to follow your Conduct and in probability you will not only stop their Mouths but gain their Hearts For among all the Ways of advancing the Credit and Interest of the Church of England one of the most successful will be the diligent Labors and the exemplary Lives of the Clergy in it But if Men will not regard their own or the Churches Interest in this matter if they will break their Rules in such a manner as to dishonor God and the Church and themselves by it then you are to consider the next thing I was to speak to which is II. What Authority is given to us for the punishing Offenders in our Diocesses by the Ecclesiastical Law of this Realm For this we are to consider that our Authority herein is not derived from any modern Canons or Constitutions of this Church altho due Regard ought to be shewed to them but from the ancient Common Law Ecclesiastical in this Realm which still continues in force For as there is a Common Law with respect to Civil Rights which depends not on the Feudal Constitutions altho in many things it be the same with them but upon ancient Practice and general Consent of the People from Age to Age. So I say there is a Common Law Ecclesiastical which altho in many things it may be the same with the Canon Law which is read in the Books yet it hath not its force from any Papal or Legatine Constitutions but from the Acceptance and Practice of it in our Church I could easily shew if the time would permit that Papal and Legatine Constitutions were not received here altho directed hither that some Provincial Constitutions never obtained the Force of Ecclesiastical Laws but my business is to shew what did obtain and continue still to have the force of such Ecclesiastical Laws among us By the Statute of 25. H. 8. c. 19. it is declared That such Canons Constitutions Ordinances and Synodals Provincial being already made which be not contrariant nor repugnant to the Laws Statutes and Customs of this Realm nor to the Damage or Hurt of the King's Prerogative Royal shall now still be used and executed as they were afore the making of this Act c. It 's true a Review was appointed but such Difficulties were found in it as to the shaking the Foundations of the Ecclesiastical Law here that nothing was ever legally established in it and therefore this Law is still in force In the Statute 25. H. 8. c. 21. it is said That this Realm Recognising no Superior under God but the King hath been and is free from Subjection to any Mans Laws but only to such as have been Devised Made and Observed within this Realm for the Wealth of the same or to such other as by the sufferance of the King and his Progenitors the People of this Realm have taken at their free Liberty by their own consent to be used amongst them and have bound themselves by long use and

Diocesses at fit times Correcting and Reforming what was amiss and sowing the Word of Life in the Lord's Field and to put them the more in mind of it they were twice in the year to have their solemn Profession read to them It seems then that Profession contained these things in it or else the reading that could not stir them up to do these things What the Profession was which Presbyters then made at their Ordination we have not so clear an Account but in the same Council at Oxford 8 H. 3. it is strictly enjoined that all Rectors and Vicars should instruct the People committed to their Charge and Feed them Pabulo Verbi Dei with the Food of Gods Word and it is introduced with that Expression that they might excite the Parochial Clergy to be more diligent in what was most proper for those times And if they do it not they are there called Canes muti and Lyndwood bestows many other hard Terms upon them which I shall not mention but he saith afterward those who do it not are but like Idols which bear the similitude of a Man but do not the Offices proper to Men. Nay he goes so far as to say That the Spiritual Food of God's Word is as necessary to the Health of the Soul as Corporal Food is to the Health of the Body Which words are taken out of a Preface to a Canon in the Decretals De Officio Jud. Ordinarii inter Caetera But they serve very well to shew how much even in the dark times of Popery they were then convinced of the necessity and usefulness of Preaching These Constitutions were slighted so much that in 9 Edw. I the Offices of Preaching was sunk so low that in a Provincial Constitution at that time great complaint is made of the Ignorance and Stupidity of the Parochial Clergy that they rather made the people worse than better But at that time the Preaching Friers had got that Work into their hands by particular Privileges where it is well observed that they did not go to places which most needed their help but to Cities and Corporations where they found most Incouragement But what Remedy was found by this Provincial Council Truly every Parochial Priest four times a year was bound to read an Explication of the Creed Ten Commandments the Two Precepts of Charity the Seven Works of Mercy the Seven deadly Sins the Seven principal Vertues and the Seven Sacraments This was renewed in the Province of York which hath distinct Provincial Constitutions in the Time of Edw. 4. And here was all they were bound to by these Constitutions But when Wicliff and his Followers had awakened the People so far that there was no satisfying them without Preaching then a new Provinciat Constitution was made under Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury and the former Constitution was restrained to Parochial Priests who officiated as Curates but several others were Authorised to Preach as 1. The Mendicant Friars were said to be authorised Jure Communi or rather Privilegio Speciali but therefore Lyndwood saith it is said to be Jure Communi because that Privilege is recorded in the Text of the Canon Law These were not only allowed to Preach in their own Churches but in Plateis publicis saith Lyndwood out of the Canon Law wherein those words were expressed and at any Hour unless it were the Time of Preaching in other Churches but other Orders as Augustinians and Carmelites had no such general Licence Those Preaching Friars were a sort of Licensed Preachers at that time who had no Cures of Souls but they were then accounted a kind of Pastors For Jo. de Athon distinguisheth Two sorts of Pastors Those who had Ecclesiastical Offices and those who had none but were such only Verbo Exemplo but they gave very great Disturbance to the Clergy as the Pope himself confesses in the Canon Law 2. Legal Incumbents authorised to Preach in their own Parishes Jure Scripto All Persons who had Cures of Souls and legal Titles were said to be missi à jure ad locum Populum Curae suae and therefore might preach to their own People without a special Licence but if any one Preached in other Parts of the Diocess or were a Stranger in it then he was to be examined by the Diocesan and if he were found tam Moribus quam Scientia idoneus he might send him to Preach to one or more Parishes as he thought meet and he was to shew his Licence to the Incumbent of the Place before he was to be permitted to Preach under the Episcopal Seal And thus as far as I can find the Matter stood as to Preaching before the Reformation After it when the Office of Ordination was reviewed and brought nearer to the Primitive Form and instead of delivering the Chalice and Patten with these words Accipe potestatem offerre Deo Sacrificium c. the Bishop delivered the Bible with these words Take thou Authority to Preach the Word of God and to minister the Holy Sacraments in the Congregation c. The Priests Exhortation was made agreeable thereto wherein he exhorts the Persons in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ to consider the weight and importance of the Office and Charge they are called to not barely to instruct those who are already of Christ's Flock but to endeavour the Salvation of those who are in the midst of this naughty World And therefore he perswades and charges them from a due regard to Christ who suffered for his Sheep and to the Church of Christ which is so dear to him to omit no Labor Care or Diligence in instructing and reforming those who are committed to their Charge And the better to enable them to perform these things there are some Duties especially recommended to them viz. Prayer and Study of the Holy Scriptures according to which that they are to instruct others and to order their own Lives and of those who belong to them And that they might the better attend so great a Work they are required to forsake and set aside as much as they may all worldly Cares and Studies and apply themselves wholly to this one thing that they may save themselves and them that hear them After which follows the solemn Profession wherein they undertake to do these things This is that my Brethren which I earnestly desire of you that you would often consider You are not at liberty now whether you will do these things or not for you are under a most solemn Engagement to it You have put your hands to the Plow and it is too late to think of looking back and you all know the Husbandman's Work is laborious and painful and continually Returning It is possible after all his pains the Harvest may not answer his expectation but yet if he neither plows nor sows he can expect no Return if he be idle and careless and puts off the main