doth receiue profit by the sacrifice preaching doth instruct whosoeuer will heare euery man in the church may assist his companion by prayer the liuing do assist the dead in purgatorie by almes and good deeds and the blessed in heauen do assist the liuing vpon earth by their continuall intercession for them to allmighty God ARTICLE X. 45. DEclare the tenth Article Forgiuenesse of sinnes I belieue that to the holy Catholike church only and to no other society there is giuen by God power for true forgiuenesse of sinnes by meanes of the holy sacraments whereby men from being children of the diuell and guilty of eternall damnation do become the children of God and heires of Paradise 46. How doth the Church forgiue sinnes By the meanes of Priests who as God his Ministers haue power to forgiue sinne by vertue of the sacraments and particularly of Baptisme and of Pennance by Baptisme only once but by Pennance as often as man sinneth and truly repenteth for it And this benefit is so much the greater because it is particular to the law of grace for no man either in the law of nature or in the law of Moyses euer had power to remit sinne ARTICLE XI 47. DEclare the eleuenth Article Resurrection of the flesh I belieue that in the end of the world all men shall rise taking againe the selfe same bodies which they had when they were liuing and this by the power of God to whom nothing is impossible but the elect shall haue their bodies glorious and beautifull and shall be lifted vp with their bodies into the aire to meete Christ at the day of iudgement whereas the cursed shall remaine on earth hideous and woefull to behold 48. Why did not the Apostles say the resurrection of man but the resurrection of the flesh To shew to vs that whereas man doth consist of two parts soule and body the body is only that which perisheth by death the soule being immortall and consequently vncapable of resurrectiō for nothing is reuiued but that which is first dead 49. Shall we rise in the same bodies that we had whilst we liued Yes to the end that the same body which contributed in this world to our good or euill life may likewise receiue an eternall recompense or punishment And in effect if we did not receiue the same body which dyed it would not be a resurrection but a new production for since that to be resuscitated signifyeth to take life againe that which is resuscitated must be the same which dyed before 50. How shall this be done We are sure that it shall be done and S. Paul is so certaine of it that he telleth vs that if the dead shall not rise Christ hath not risen We are sure also that it shall not be done by our owne forces for Philosophers teach vs that that which is once corrupted cannot be naturally reproduced but it shall be done by the hand of allmighty God who can make againe when he pleaseth that same thing which he hath once made 51. Shall all bodies rise with the same defects they had whilst they lived as being dwarfes giants lame monsters and the like No for these defects and deformities proceed only from the excesse or defect of nature whose worke they properly were But the worke of their resurrection being properly the worke only of God it must needs be perfect and without all defeat and therefore it is generally belieued that all the blessed shall rise in that perfect stature which nature should haue giuen them at the three and thirtith yeare of their age at which age our blessed Sauiour did rise himselfe ARTICLE XII 52. DEclare the twelfth Article Life euerlasting I belieue that there is reserued for good Christians life euerlasting by enioying the sight of God full of felicity and free frō all kinde of euill as contrarywise for infidelles and bad Christians there is a life full of eternall punishment ouerwhelmed with misery and voide of all good 53. In what doth the happinesse of this eternall life consist In knowing and louing God for knowledge and loue are the pleasures of the soule or minde which must needs be greater then the pleasures of the body since that the body hath pleasure by the mīde for take away the mīde or reflexion vpon the obiect and it hath none Now the content of loue encreaseth to the proportion of knowledge and amongst knowledges the most vniuersall giueth the greatest pleasure What pleasure then must it be to see God in himselfe who is beyond all causes and in whom all thinges are conteined We shall discerne in him the essences and reasons of euery particular thing from the creation of the heauens and millions of Angells to the parting of two dusts in the high way so that no variety can be sought which is not found in him Neither can we desire any change for no body desireth a change or variety vntill he hath a satiety of what he enioyeth that is vntill he hath perfectly knowne it and found it lesse then his desires for till then he hath rest content and quiet in the obiect he enioyeth Now God is farre beyond the capacity of our desires so that for all eternity we shall finde in him more then we can desire and consequently for all eternity haue vnspeakable content and rest in him Besides euery ones memory shall contribute to this contentment by remembring the dangers they haue escaped of loosing so great a good and by calling to minde their owne good actions wrought by them through God his grace in this world especially those great ones martyrdome teaching and virginity which speciall contents caused by the memorie of those vertuous heroike actions are called by some Diuines Aureolae 54. In what shall the paine of the damned consist It will consist likewise chiefely in the soule for as pleasure cometh to the body from the soule so doth griefe and therefore as the pleasure of the soule is greater then the pleasure of the body so must the griefe of the soule by being depriued of this pleasure needes be a paine surpassing without comparison all corporall paines 55. Must this next life needs be eternall Yes for those who see God cānot choose but loue him aboue all thinges God as we sayd before doth neuer faile to blisse them that loue him wherefore since that nether the blessed can leaue to loue nor God will leaue to blisse those that loue him their happinesse can haue no end And as for the damned they can neuer begin to loue because they want God his grace without which we cannot loue God aboue all thinges and therefore they must needs remaine for all eternity in the same miserable state into which they haue cast them selues through their owne fault 56. Shall the glorie of the Saints be equall in heauen No some shall haue greater glorie then others according as they haue serued God more or lesse in this world Yet all shall be equally content in
we demand that he deliuer vs from all euills both past present and to come and so absolutely frō all euills whatsoeuer 3. Declare those first wordes which goe before the first petition Our father which art in heauen This is a little preface which teacheth vs three thinges first that it is the prayer of the children of God and therefore that we are to pronounce it with a sincere confidence and affection such as true children do beare towards their father Secondly that we ought to say it with a generall intention and charity towards all our brothren vnited in one body of the Church for we do not say my father but our father Thirdly that we ought to addresse our selues to him as to our heauēly father and so to seeke nothing but heauēly thinges or what conduceth thereunto 4. To whom is this prayer addressed It is addressed particularly to the first person of the blessed Trinity because it was composed by Iesus Christ who is the second person himselfe the only sonne of his father and our mediatour towards his father yet this doth not hinder but that it is addressed also to all the three persones of the blessed Trinity because all three are but one God 5. Why is God and particularly the first person of the blessed Trinity called our father Because he hath created vs and doth nourish and conserue vs but chiefly because he doth loue and embrace vs with a fatherly loue whereby we are truly his adopted children for no body would giue his owne sonne to ransome others if he did not esteeme those others also as if they were his owne children 6. Why is he sayed to be in heauen Although he be euery where yet he is sayed particularly to be in heauen because he is seen there perfectly by the blessed and so our hope is at last accomplished there In the same manner as we may say that a mans soule is seated in his head though it be also in his whole body because all his fiue senses are found there for by his head he seeth he heareth he smelleth he tasteth and also toucheth 7. Declare the first petition Hallowed be thy name In the first petition we demand that God be known of all the world and that so his holy name be honoured and glorifyed by all as it becommeth him who is infinitely holy in himselfe and who is our Creatour our last end and our soueraine good 8. Why do we say hallowed be thy name and not hallowed be thou Because euery thing is known by its name and by this petition we demand that God be known to the whole world and all idolatry and false religion destroyed And so it is worthyly placed in the first place both because all the euills in the world proceed from not knowing God and also because no body can pray to him vnlesse they first know him and therefore this knowledge is the first thing to be demanded for those who want it and lastly to teach vs that the first thing which a Christian ought to seeke is the glorie of God for although our owne interest cannot be separated from the glorie of God because it is impossible to seeke God his glory without sauing ourselues or saue ourselues without glorifying God yet these two ends ought to be one subordinate to the other and the glorie of God to be preferred before our owne proper interest And for this reason also we say in the two following petitions thy kingdome come and thy will be done to shew that we ought to seeke our owne good chiefely with relation to his glory 9. Declare the second Thy kingdome come We demand in the second that the kingdome which he hath promised vs come speedily that is to say that the batails being ended which we haue with the world the flesh and the deuill we may arriue to euerlasting felicity where we shall enioy God without impedimēt and he shall raigne in and ouer vs for all eternity 10. Why is our finall happinesse in heauen called the kingdome of God or how can any thing be to come that belongs to God Because when those places which the elect are chose to shall all be filled vp then all motions and alterations shall cease and allmighty God shall raigne by a constant emanation or conseruation of the same vnuariable being for euer and euer in all thinges which kinde of raigne is most proper and sutable to God his immutability And we do wish that it may come because this kingdome is now as it were a making as that king who is going vpon a conquest either of rebells or of other enimies is making himselfe a kingdome 11. Declare the third Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen We demand in the third that we may perfectly obey his holy commandements as the angells do allwayse obey him in heauen because it is the meanes to obtaine the former petition for the ladder to mount vp to heauen is the obedience of his commandements and it is the height of all happinesse vpon earth 12. Why do we say thy will be done in earth and not rather do thou thy will in earth Because the obseruing of Gods commandements and liuing vertuously dependeth ioyntly both on ourselues by our free will and also on God by giuing vs his grace and so we nether say do thy will in earth that is in vs nor let vs do thy will but thy will be done in earth to shew that nether God alone doth do his will in vs nor man alone in himselfe but that both do concurre to it God by preuenting vs by his grace and man by consenting with his free will And we do wish that it may be done in earth as in heauen that is with all perfection and by a full subietion without resistance 13. Declare the fourth Giue vs this day our dayly bread We demand in the fourth our dayly bread and chiefely our spirituall bread that is the grace of God and his holy inspirations which we haue need of euery day and moment and secondarily our corporall sustenance and apparell 14. Doth he permit vs then to aske for temporall thinges Yes but it is by way of condescending to our infirmitie and therefore our prayer for them ought allwayse to be cōditionall that is if God doth see them to be profitable for vs because we ourselues do often mistake in our desire of temporall thinges and seldome know what is good or bad for vs. 15 Is he content that we should aske in this manner all sorts of temporall commodities No for his condescendance doth not permit vs to aske any thing but only our dayly bread that is to say that we should not aske superfluous thīges but such thinges as are necessary as that is which we haue need of euery day nor this nether but after that we haue first demanded our spirituall bread which is chiefely vnderstood by this petition 16. Why do we call this bread which we aske for
encreaseth humility and feare for how can one be continually asking and humbling himselfe like a begger but that he must needs perceiue his owne pouerty and stand in feare of offending him of whom he hath continuall need Fifthly it produceth a contempt of the world and a delight in spirituall and celestiall thinges Sixthly to omit many others it maketh one honoured and respected by the Angells themselues who cannot choose but beare reuerence to him whom they see familiar with God himselfe 3. What be the conditions required in praier that it may produce these happy effects The be seuen The first is discretion that we demand nothing but such thinges as are either necessary or conducing to eternall saluation for it is certaine that he who demandeth thinges that are vnprofitable or hurtfull to his soule deserueth not to be heard but to be chastised The second is faith that we do firmely belieue that God to whom we addresse our praiers is good and able to grant what we demand The third is hope by which we do confide in God his goodnesse that he will grant what we demand The fourth is charity that is that we be in the state of grace or at least that we haue a hearty desire of repentance and amendment The fifth is humility for it it most reasonable that he who is a begger should humble himselfe before him from whom he desireth reliefe and that he should relie meerely vpon his goodnesse and not vpon his owne merit The sixth is deuotion for it is not enough to aske with his lipps but he must aske from his heart with care and solicitude and with an ardent desire to obteine what he asketh The seuenth is perseuerance for God will not haue vs to aske once only but oftentimes that so triall may be made of our constancy 4. Must not our praier also be continuall Yes for as our want of diuine assistance is continuall so must we pray continually to God for it and our Sauiour doth command vs to do so 5. Must we then be allwayes vpon our knees No for there are many sortes of praiers the first by words the second by thoughts only the third by actions the fourth by sufferings and it is sufficient that a man be allwayes praying one of these foure wayes 6. How must we pray by words By so putting our selues in the presence of God that if he please to assist vs we may lift vp our hearts and thoughts to him 7. How must we pray by actions By doing good workes to a good end and by leading a good life through the light of faith in Gods seruice For if our good workes haue force to merit for vs eternall glory in heauen they may well be thought to haue force enought to obteine any thing that is necessary for vs in this life 8. How must we pray by suffering By bearing with patience the euills misfortunes and afflictioÌ„s which it shall please God to send vs this being an excellent way to draw vpon vs his blessings and graces for as actions are more powerfull towards God then words so are sufferings much more powerfull then actions 9. Shâ—w how we ought allwayes to pray By doing one of these foure thinges with a sincere desire to serue God thereby and to obteine his grace for that end for this desire is the thing wherein praier doth principally consist 10. Is there no other way to pray to God but one of these foure Yes we may pray also by hearing sermons reading good bookes and the like And when all the former wayes faile vs we may yet pray by presenting our selues simply before God and only shewing him our misery as beggers vse to do who lye along in the streets without speaking a word exposing only their misery and pouerty to the view of the people that so they may be moued by compassion to assist them LESSON XXXIII Of Mentall Praier 1. WHich of all the former sorts of praier is most vsefull and necessary for vs We haue sayd already that the most perfect kinde of praier is to pray by suffering and the next to that is praying by action for both these do include praying by thought But because we can scarcely pray either of these wayes as we ought to do vnlesse we be first well prepared and disposed to performe them with deuotion which preparation or disposition is chiefly got by that kinde of praying by thought which is commonly called mentall praier or meditation it followeth that mentall praier or meditation is ordinarily the most necessary to those who are able to meditate 2. How are we prepared by mentall praier to pray by action and suffering You must know that a vertuous life is a continuall praier which life doth consist in doing good with charitie and in suffering euill with patience now mentall praier is the consideration of thinges necessary to those ends and not a drie consideration but a mouing of our will out of it that thereby we may exercise our affectioÌ„s towards God allmighty which exercise of our affections is the only thing that giueth life to our actioÌ„s and sufferings for how do you thiÌ„ke we come to practise a vertuous life but by our affections So that meditation is the direct right way that leadeth vs to do and suffer vertuously And we may easily perceiue how necessary meditation is for vs if we consider the extreme ignorance into which we are cast by sinne and how our soule is euermore carried backward from doing vertuous actions vnlesse by due consideration it be forced against the streame so that we must needs liue blindely and do very little good without the vse of mentall praier or something equiualent to it as the hearing of sermons reading good bookes and the like 3. How many partes be there of mentall praier They are three the first is to know and to be sure of the truth you are to consider and this rather belongeth to him who prescribeth the meditation in our present purpose for it belongeth to him to giue a strong and plaine coÌ„sideration that he who cometh to praier need not much adoe to be conuinced of the truth The next part is the making of a resolutioÌ„ according to the knowledge proposed by exhorting himselfe out of the weightinesse of the consideration to rectify his will and inclinations and this is properly that which is called Meditation for Meditari signifieth to often thinke of or to conne or exercise somethiÌ„g The third part is the turning our heart to God for whose sake we are to do all thinges and from whom we are to expect the encrease of our labours For as all the husbandmans labour is to little purpose vnlesse God sends raine heare and faire weather at due seasons so likewise vnlesse God direct our life it is to little purpose whatsoeuer our endeauours go about 4. What preparation is necessary for Meditation That which is most substantiall is that your thoughts be not preoccupated by any other care
the same manner as we see in a feast a Giant eateth more then a dwarfe and a man more then an infant and yet all are equally satisfyed because euery one is fed fully to his capacity 57. Shall not this happy life of the blessed bring some perfection to their bodies as well as to their soules Yes for first in regard of health they shall haue their bodies vncapable of any harme so that nothing shall be able to hurt them which perfection is called impassibility For strength they shall haue a power to the which nothing can resist which is called Penetrability For agility they shall haue a power to go in any neuer so short a time as farre as they list without limitation though it be from one end of the world to the other in one moment and this without paine or labour And lastly for beauty they shall haue power to shine brighter then the sunne and to shew them selues in what glory they please so that finally they shall haue whatsoeuer they can desire by possessing God who is all thinges to them 58. What signifieth Amen Amen is vsed to expresse an agreement and consent to that which hath been sayd which signifieth as much as if one should say it is so so it is in truth 59. Doth the Creed conteine all that Christians are obliged to belieue It doth not conteine all in expresse words but only in substance and this supposing that it be vnderstood as the Apostles and their Successours did vnderstand it But Heretikes hauing oftentimes corrupted it by their errours the church hath been forced to adde many explications to it contained in seuerall Creeds a in that which is read in the Masse and others 60. What be the thinges which are not conteined expressely in the Creed They be many which Christians learne by litle and litle according to the diligence they vse in seeking to be instructed as the holy Eucharist and the other sacraments which the church thought not good to discouer but only to those who had been first well instructed in the beliefe of the Creed 61. Are we obliged equally to belieue all those thinges No for the thinges which we belieue are of two kindes some we are bound to belieue explicitely others it is sufficient to belieue implicitely by the faith of the Roman Catholike church which is done by saying within our selues that we belieue all that which the church belieueth though we do not know distinctly what it is Againe amongst those thinges which we are bound to belieue explicitely some are absolutely necessary for saluation others are so necessary as that although we may in 〈◊〉 case be saued without the knowledge of them yet we are obliged to seeke to be instructed in them so that we shall sinne if we know them not through our owne negligence That which is absolutely necessary for all Christians to belieue is the misterie of the blessed Trinitie the Incarnation of the Sonne of God and that he hath redeemed mankinde by his sacred death that God will reward the good and punish the wicked and all other thinges which we haue notice of with assurance that the Church proposeth them So that generally speaking no Christian after that he is come to the vse of reason can be excused by ignorance from belieuing these points explicitely for the case of inuincible ignorance can scarcely happen in these points if euer one reflect that he is a Christian That in which we are obliged to seeke to be instructed is all that which is contained in the former Articles of the Creed and likewise the Sacrament of Baptisme the Sacrifice of the Masse the holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Pennāce and such other thinges as are ordinarily taught the people by the Pastours of the Church yet so that we shall be excused before God as long as our ignorance of them proceedeth not through our owne fault 62. Is faith alone sufficient for our saluation No Hope also is required LESSON XIV Of Hope 1. WHat is hope Hope is a vertue that giueth vs an humble and firme confidence in God that he will make vs happy for euer in the next world by seeing and possessing him there fully whom here we know only obscurely by faith and also that he will giue vs all thinges requisite and necessary in this world for that end both corporall and spirituall 2. What reason hath man to haue such confidence in God He hath very good reason considering the infinite goodnesse of God and his loue towards man whom he hath created out of nothing and also redeemed with his owne bloud only to make him capable on this happinesse besides the promises which he hath made of eternall blisse to those who loue him and his fidelity in performing what he hath promised and lastly the infinite desire which in the holy scripture he hath often expressed himselfe to haue to saue all sinners and to see them truly conuerted 3. The greatest sinner in the world then may haue hope Yes he is bound to haue it for otherwise he would do a great wrong to allmighty God if he should think that his mercy and goodnesse were not infinite and consequently greater then all the sinnes of the world 4. Cannot a man haue to much hope or confidence in God No as long as he vseth his diligence to do what is required on his part for the obtaining of that which he hopeth for and relieth more vpon God his grace then vpon himselfe But to rely vpon God without vsing his diligence to do that which is required on his part would not be hope but presumption for God giueth not blisse vnto any but to those who vse the meanes prescribed by him to obtaine it 5. Where are we taught what we are to hope for and how to aske it We are taught this in our Lord his prayer called the Pater noster which is an abridgement of all what we are to hope for and to aske of allmighty God And it is vsually diuided into seuen petitions or demands LESSON XV. Of the Pater noster 1. SAy the Pater noster Our Father which art in heauen 1. Hallowed be thy name 3. Thy kingdome come 3. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen 4. Giue vs this day our dayly bread 5. And forgiue vs our debts as we also forgiue our debters 6. And lead vs not into temptation 7. But deliuer vs from euill Amen 2. What is contained in the Pater noster All that which we can demand and hope for from God for in the first foure petitions we demand all necessary good in the three following that he deliuer vs from all euill And againe as concerning what is good we first demand the glory of God Secondly our owne finall and greatest good in heauen Thirdly our greatest good on earth which is a vertuous life Fourthly the meanes to get and keepe the said good which is Gods actuall grace And touching that which is euill