cum felle mixtum Item ibi sunt duo sophiri quorum vnus est plenus sanguine Christi alter plenus lacte Mariae Virginis Item caput Innocentij Martiris Item in dextro latere altaris est liguum crucis latronis conuersi Item ibi est vnus digitus Beati Thomae Apostoli Item ibi est titulus Iesu Christi appositus cruci scilicet Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum Item in eadem Ecclesia iacent corpora xlij summorum pontificum quorum vnusquisque suam dedit Indulgentiam CHAP. 9 6 The sixth principall and patriarchall Church is the Church of Saint Crosse Indulgences of the Church of Saint Crosse IN the Church of Saint Crosse there are euery day eight and forty yeares of pardon and as many quarentens and remission of the third part of all a mans sinnes Also a little lower on the side of the Church there is a Chappell called Hierusalem into which women may not enter but onely vpon Saint Benets day 1 Blessed Saint Benet was the good womans friend who got them leaue on his day to come into the holy Chappell which is one reason doubtlesse why women are so deuout to the Benedictins And then there is in that Chappell full remission of all sinnes both a paena a culpa Further Constaniina the Empresse builded this Church to the honour of the holy Crosse 2 Bawling heretikes doe here make a stirre and wonder that wee dare build Churches in honour of the dead Crosse But they be fooles and know nothing But all deuout and learned Catholickes doe know that the holy Roman Church teacheth to pray to the Crosse and hath a praier to it in the holy Masse booke or Breuiary O cruxaue spes vnica hoc passionis tempore auge pijs Iusticiam Reisque dona veniam and least some should thinke who haue too nice and spiced consciences as some Catholickes haue that this praier is to him that died on the Crosse and not to the Crosse our approoued Doctors haue handled the case and resolued it that ipsam Crucem alloquimur ipsam Crucem deprecamur quasi ipsum Crucifixum If wee may speake to the Crosse and pray to the Crosse it selfe as to Christ Then surely no man will deny but wee may build Churches to it and Pope Siluester did Consecrate it at the instance and praiers of Saint Hellen. Likewise vpon euery Sunday and euery Wednesday there bee in this Church two hundred fiftie and foure yeares of pardon and vpon euery other day an hundred thirty eight yeares and as many quarentens And there bee many other pardons and indulgences here which wee dare not set downe 3 Let the heretikes here see to their shame First the great modesty of the Roman Church who forbeares to put downe the Indulgences when they are so exceeding many as they cannot bee counted and behold also the bounty of our spirituall mother who grants Indulgences so plentifully as modesty forbids to expresse them what good Catholicke can stay from going to Rome that there hee may diue into the middest of this sea and partake of this bottomlesse Treasure for vpon euery Lords day and euery Wednesday Saint Siluester doubled all the Indulgences The reliques of the same Church IN the foresaid Church of Saint Crosse there is the rope 4 Behold a pretious relicke the Rope that Christ was led in for though the Gospells speake of none yet here is as good warrant for it as the Gospell to all good Catholickes where in Christ Iesus was led to his death when hee bare his Crosse There is also one of the nailes with which he was nailed to the Crosse Also a great deale of Saint Iohn Baptists coate and two of the teeth of Saint Blase the Bishop And two armes of the Apostles 5 Here bee two armes of Peter and Paul in this Church and yet we are to beleeue that the whole halfe of them both is in Saint Peters and the other whole halfe in Saint Pauls Church for these two arraes the Pope created by his power Peter and Paul And vnder the high altar of that Church doe lie the bodies of Saint Anastatius Caesar Saint Prothatius Also there is in that Church some of the wood of the true Crosse 6 Here is some of the wood of the true Crosse to put a difference betwixt too many that are counterfeits by which good deuout Catholickes are darly cozened to their great discomfort Also a lamp full of baulme wherein lies the head of Saint Vincentius Martire Also there is the Spung with which the Iewes gaue Iesus Christ vinegar mingled with gaule to drinke Likewise there bee two glasses whereof the one is ful of the bloud of Christ and the other full of the milke of Marie 7 God Catholickes doe greatly wonder seeing the holy virgin had no child after Christ how this milke of hers was preserued for sure shee would not keepe it her selfe and in those daies few regarded either her or her sonne for thirty yeares wee hope therefore his Holinesse will let vs know this great secret for sure there is some great miracle and mysterie in it But seeing in that Church there is both of the milke the bloud wee now see the reason why father Scribanius the Iesuite writers that hee so longs for the milke of the mother and bloud of the Sonne that he knowes not whether to desire more and saith that therefore he will mingle them both together and of that mixture make a pretious soueraign medicine for his soule Indeed we doe easily beleeue Iesuites to bee such extardinary men that they haue some extraordinary spirituall phisicke for their soules which others haue not yet as great and as good as he is he may now be beholding to vs that publish this blessed booke for now hee knowes where hee may haue both his simples to make his confection both the milke and bloud and let him not feare that they at Rome can spare none of it for if he pay well for it he shall haue it and yet by the supreme power of the Pope though neuer so much be taken continually yet they multiply againe and the last is as good as the first and all of like vertue the Virgin Also there is the head of Innocentius the Martire And vpon the right side of the altar there is the wood of the Crosse wherupon the good theefe died And there is also one of the fingers of Saint Thomas the Apostle There is also the title of Iesus Christ which was set vpon his Crosse namely Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes Moreouer in the same Church there lieth the bodies of two and fortie Popes or chiefe Bishops whereof euery one bestowed their indulgence vpon this Church CAP. 10 Indulgentiae Ecclesiae Sancti Laeurencij ITem Papa Pallagius qui hanc Ecclesiam consecrauit concessit ibi in quatuor temporibus anni in omnibus festiuitatibus Stephani
other Princes nay he is to giue example to all but to take of none and they may see that the fact that would haue beene foule in another Prince is in him not onely iustifiable but commendable And though they babble and say that if the wise and iudicious reader make himselfe the reader of that Bull for it is inrolled in the publique Register and inserted for a perpetuall president in the continuation of the corps of his Canon law he will see in that one alone the compleat and liuely picture of the great Antichrist yet all good Catholiques know that therein they doe but shew themselues open Heretickes that dare call in question the facts of their holy Father who though he should draw millions of soules into hell yet no mortall creature ought to say Sir why doe you so And also it did little hurt for that Conrade euen maugre the Popes malice as the heretickes say was chosen Emperour yet shewed it the Popes good will and godly care ouer kingdomes that they may be prouided of such successors as may be to his liking and it shewes in what holy and mortified cogitations and actions he spends his time namely in disposing the Crownes and Kingdomes of the earth Now then put all these together are not these fit and proper imployments for the Popes Maiesty A Figge therefore or rather a Fagot for these foolish Heretiques that will tie his Holinesse to preach What is it fit his soueraignty should forbeare and forsake these supreame prerogatiues and stoope downe to so base a businesse as preaching is No no Aquila non capit muscas Indeed the case was otherwise heretofore in former ages but they are gone Preaching might beseeme Gregory or Leo the great or their Predecessors and no maruell for seeing then there were Emperours that would gouerne the world and Italy it selfe and set peace betweene kingdomes call generall Councels keepe the Pope within compasse and command him to his duty What therefore had the Popes to doe but to Preach But Haec aetas alios mores postulat then the Popes called and acknowledged the Emperours their Soueraigne Lords now they be their seruants and if they please them well their beloued white sonnes and shall haue the honor to hold his stirrop leade his horse hold the basen when he washeth and bring vp the first dish when his Holinesse eates Then therefore they had time and leasure to preach but now as we haue shewed they haue so farre better businesses to attend and so farre higher imployments to manage that they haue no leasure Non vacat exieuis rebus adesse Ioui Againe these idle and adle-headed Heretickes that would tie the Pope to the Pulpit neuer consider that euery man is to be disposed to that which he is fittest for and which thriueth best in his hands Now doe we not know that Pope Iohn the 22. who would needs be so busie with preaching which indeed he vsed more then many before him and all after him hath giuen a president to all his successors for did not he fall vpon the rocks of strange opinions little lesse then heresies in the iudgement of his owne friends And hath not Occham the famous Franciscan Frier written an accusation against him that not in one but in many Sermons he taught not one or two but many seuerall and some condemned heresies Such was the successe of his preaching and so ill hath preaching succeeded in the hands and mouthes of Popes Whereas contrariwise when they goe about the consecration of Biships coronation of Emperours deposing of Hereticke Kings disposing of their Kingdomes granting dispensations sending out Indulgences receiuing appeales answering Embassadors taking of homages releasing of oathes dissoluing of leagues intermedling in the affaires and interposing in the elections of Princes In these and such as these which so well beseeme the Maiesty of the Pope he proceds and prospers and hereby he hath aduanced and magnified his seate in the eyes of all his friends and fauourers whereas when Pope Iohn the 22. forgetting himselfe and the honour and Maiesty of his place would fall a preaching he incurd at the least so strong a suspition of Heresie as neither his Penitentiary Pelagius with all his teares could wash away nor his successor Benedict with his interpretatiue Bull to that purpose set out could remoue nor Bellarmine and all his beloued friends with their best wits and learning can wipe off to this day nor euer will whilst the works of learned Ocham doe liue in the world Is it not therefore an idle conceit of these bawling heretickes that will haue the Pope to preach which in these latter times of the world doth so ill beseeme them and prospers so badly in their hands And if they obiect that Preaching is a principall part of diuine seruice and of Gods worship and therfore best of all beseems the Pope that is Gods vicar neerest to him Let them know busie fooles as they be that it is not determined among the Schoolemen and Casuists whether hearing a Sermon bee at all commanded or rather but counselled and aduised so that herein they doe but shew their owne Ignorance But the great learned Iesuite Azorius can teach them and beside him Molanus that it may well be a counsell to heare a Sermon on the holy day but they are assured there is no commandement for it so that the doing of it may be a worke of supererogation but cannot be a dutie of necessity But if it were allowed to these hereticks that it were a necessary dutie to make and heare Sermons and a part of Gods worship yet sure they cannot bee so ignorant as not to know nor so prophane as once to doubt but that the saying and seeing of a Masse is farre before it For thus doe all the best approued Schoolemen and Casuists teach with one voyce and do reproue the elder Doctors or doaters rather for their presumption in holding the contrary For Summa Angelica and Summa Rosella doe both teach that where it falles out which these Heretickes ought to know falls not often out in Popish Churches that on one day a Sermon and a Masse so come together as both cannot be heard but the one must necessarily be omitted in this case the Masse is to be left and the Sermon preferred And these sottish fellowes seeme to proue their assertion out of the Canon-law and out of Bernard and out of Austine and it 's maruell they brought not Scripture for them also as all these heretickes and maintainers of new opinions vse to doe But let all these stoope for a Iesuite comes in place let the Canon-law vanish like smoake let the Doctors goe to the Schoole againe and learne and let the Scripture that dumbe Iudge stand aside in a corner and let vs hearken to the irrefragable vnanswerable soueraigne and superexcellent determination of the Iesuits The men that were borne to blesse the world to saue it from sinking to purge it
but good Catholickes seeing they know not what to say to it they are silent and hope all is well and for the matter doe beleeue as the Church beleeues Also in the same Chappell there is the third part of that pillar at which our Lord Iesus was whipped in Pilats house And in this Chappell there is euery day to bee had remission of all a mans sinnes But into this Chappell women may not enter 6 It seemes strange that still women may not come in the the holy places where remission of all sinnes is seeing the good natured courtizans of Rome are so kinde to the Clergy of Rome that they bid them welcome whether they come by day or by night Or else belike women there need not to goe to these holy places for remission for that the Priests when they goe from them doe giue them absolution as part of their wages I say as part for seeing the poore women doe pay a rent to his holinesse weekely good reason they haue some thing else by which to raise their rents and to liue by their trade But let these goe good Catholickes doe more wonder why honest and godly Matrons may not enter into those places seeing Paul tels vs that in Christ there is no difference betwixt Male and Female But no matter what Saint Paul saith that must not trouble the conscience of a good Catholicke Hee must consider what the Church deliuers and what the Pope teacheth that must hee harken and trust vnto and not trouble his head further with Scripture matters for that is very dangerous But howsoeuer the dames of Rome maynot go in yet it is credibly hoped that if our English Catholicke Ladies would leaue this hereticall dunghill of England and come themselues to the holy City of Rome his holinesse would be so fauourable and gratious to them as to giue them leaue to enter into those most holy places for great is the loue that his holinesse beares to our nation for hee loues our men our women nay for baser things hee loues our siluer and gold and any thing that comes from thence Oh that our Catholicke Ladies would goe thither CAP. 12. Indulgentiae Beatae Mariae maioris IN Ecclesia Beatae Mariae maioris ibi sunt omni die xlviij anni Indulgent tot carenae terciae partis omnium peccatorum remissio Item in omnibus festiuitatibus virginis Mariae in Natiuitate domini in Resurrectione domini in festo Laurencij sunt ibi mille anni Indulgent Etiam in festo omnium Sanctorum est ibi omnium peccatorum remissio Itē in festo assūptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis vsque ad eius natiuitatē sunt omni die xiiij anni Indulgentiarum tot carenae tertiae partis omnium peccatorum remissio Omnes istae Indulgentiae in quadragesima duplicantur Reliquiae predicta Ecclesiae ITem in summo altari requiescit corpus Sancti Mathai Apostoli in alio altari a dextro latere corpus Sancti Hieronimi ibi sunt aliae multae reliquiae quiae in die paschae ostenduntur Item ibi est cunabulum Christi Item de ligno sanctae Crueis Item de lacte capillis ac vestimentis Beatae Mariae Virginis alia vestis in qua Sanctus Hieronimus celebrauit missam Item brachium sancti Lucae Euangelistae Itam de reliquijs Sanctorum Cosmae Damiani Itaem brachium sancti Thomae Cantuarien Martiris de vestibus eiusdem Item ibi est vna Image Beatae Mariae Virginis facta per manus Beati Lucae Item panniculus sanctissimi corporis Virginis Mariae quem filius eius Dominus noster Iesus Christus nascendo secum adduxit in illo velut in quodam pallio inuolutus qui in Tabernaculo argenteo lapidibus preciosis ornatus retinetur inclusus Item de feno in quo iacuit Iesus in presepio siti ortus CHAP. 12. Indulgences belonging to the Church of Saint Marie the greater IN the Church of Saint Marie the greater there be euery day eight and fortie yeares of pardon and as manie quarentens and remission of the third part of all a mans sinnes Also vpon all and euery the feast daies of Saint Marie and of the birth and resurrection of our Lord and vpon the feast day of Saint Laurence in all and euery of these daies there are to be had in this Church a thousand yeares of pardon and vpon the feast of all Saints there is full remission of all sinnes Also in the feast of the assumption of our Ladie and so from thence vntill the feast of her Natiuitie there are euery day foureteene yeares of pardon and as many quarentens and remission of the third part of all a mans sinnes And all these Indulgences how many or how great soeuer are doubled in Lent Relikes in the said Church IN the high altar of that Church lieth the body of Saint Mathew the Apostle and in another altar on the right side thereof the body of Saint Hierome and there be also many other relikes which are alwaies shewed openly to the people on Easter day Also there is the Cradle that Christ lay in Also some of the wood of the holy Crosse Also some of the milke and of the haire and of the apparell of the blessed Virgin Mary there is also the vestment in which Saint Hieorme vsed to say Masse Also there is an arme of Saint Luke the Euangelist Also some of the relikes of the holy Saints Cosmus and Damian Furthermore there is in the same Church an arme of Saint Thomas the Martire of Canterbury and some of his rayment 7 See how his holinesse loues the English nation euen so much as he makes great account of an arme of Thomas a Becket who you know in England is held a traytor Moreouer there is an Image of the blessed Virgin Marie with Saint Luke tooke and made with his owne hands Also there is the very skinne or pannikle that came out of the most holy body of the Virgin Mary which her sonne Iesus Christ our Lord in his birth brought with him from her in which he was wrapt as in a coate 8 Heere is a strange relike for where as all women vse to burne that skinne as soone as the child is borne its maruailous that the Virgin Mary preserued hers and if she would it is strange how shee could doe it But it is to be thought by all good Catholikes that some Angell tooke it and laide it vp safe till the time came that the holy father of Rome knewe how to make profitable vse of it which Christ himselfe that brought it into the world with him nor his Apostles neuer knew and this pannickle is laide vp and kept close in a siluer Tabernacle or Cabinet set with many pretious stones Also there is some of that very hay it selfe in which Iesus lay in the Cratch or Manger when he was borne 9 Good Catholickes must not doubt but
will doe vs little good hee is so set against vs and transported with zeale to his owne religion which He good soule thinkes verily to bee the true Gospell of Christ Iesus as now all the gold we can keepe from Rome will scarce purchase vs a protector or finde one that dare once open his mouth to speake a word for vs. Oh then deere Catholikes what doe wee here what stay we for what can you hope or looke for here but for a heauier yoke and more grieuous persecution euery day why then doe we not get vs all to Rome out of the stormy and tempestuous England into the happy hauen and sweete sun-shine of his holinesse fauours where should the Children be but with their father where the Seruants waite but on their Lord where the Sheepe feede but with their Shepheard where can you drinke so pure as at the Fountaine where graze so daintily as vpon the Seauen hills where sucke so sweetely as at your Mothers teats Is not his Holinesse your father and the holy Roman Church your mother why then can you bee kept from them vnlesse you bee bastards and not children But if you feare to finde him a hard father or a step-mother of her bee not deceiued how deerely he loues all his children aske Venice Naples Sauoy and Sicily who euer committed themselues to his care that repented but once And for her most louing mother that she is she neuer receiued more then came to her nor deceiued any that trusted her not her lappe was euer open to receiue and her treasure to disbuse againe but marke the difference and magnifie her bountie for she takes from you but your siluer or gold or such like temporall trash but opens you her treasure and lades you againe with better blessings spirituall riches holy pictures blessed graines Agnus deis holy bones holy stones holy wood holy bloud holy relikes holy ragges glorious pardons gratious Indulgences and other inualuable Iewells and well may I call them so for no liuing man can tell the value of them leaue then these Heretikes who grosse heads know not the vertue of these riches leaue them I say to their Onions and Garlike their word and Sacraments their Psalmes and Sermons their praying and preaching like Dogs to their crusts or Swine to their akornes Let vs as more refined spirits seeke for purer feeding and therefore hasten to the seuen hils where holinesse dwels and where we shall at easie rates bee made partakers of such riches as the poore Protestants neuer tasted of witnesse this booke that here I send you venerable only for the antiquitie of it For as to the truth of it it cannot be questioned seeing Onuphrius and many other great and well Onuphrius de 7 vrbis Ecclesijs approued Authors confirme the same and all trauellers finde it to be true as their purses will testifie if they should deny it Oh then what a worthy change shall you make Italy for England Rome for London Tiber for Thames Masse bookes for Bibles seauen Sacraments for two and many other great blessings to boote you shall be deliuered from Sermons and Psalmes singing and Praiers in a knowne tongue and many other such superstitious ceremonies which heere you are combred withall and whereas here you can scarce walke in Pauls nor make a bargaine in the Temple Church without being offended with Psalmes singing Bells ringing to serue hereticall deuotions nor walke scarce by any Church but shall bee scandalized and tormented with a Sermon There you shall bee quite deliuered from all such purgatories and contrariwise you shall not peepe into a Church nor creepe into a Cloister where you shall not finde more bounties and blessings and more thousands yeares of pardon then all the Churches of England are able to giue as you shall well perceiue by this ensuing Booke And if you haue such quesie and tender stomackes as you cannot bee without a Sermon his Holinesse herein also condiscends to your infirmitie and prouides therefore you shall haue store of them in Lent when like Fish they be in the best season And if the feare of Purgatory happe to trouble you Rome is the onely place in the world for you for you will perceiue by this booke so many fine and easie waies to escape it as you will hold him more then worthy to goe to hell that euer suffers himselfe or any hee loues to come within the sent or smoake of purgatory And for your Clergy and confessors and young men vnmaried feare not they will be in better plight then they euer were in England for the stewes are there in euery streete which his Holinesse out of his owne former experience no doubt of the necessity thereof in great wisdome tollerats both for Clergy and Layetie for eschewing of greater inconueniences but espetially that his Clergie may auoide that fowle and detestable sinne of mariage which with vs is held a greater Costerus in Euchirid Gretsecus Ignatius c. sinne then to lie with other mens wiues or twenty whores And if any thing doe afterward trouble the conscience you haue there at euery houre a Confessor at hand and are not to seeke him a farre off send for him with cost keepe him with danger and send him away in secret as you doe in England and he is as readie to giue you absolution as you to pay him and as able to discharge you of all your sinnes as of his owne And as for worldly wants feare them not how can so tender a father and so louing a mother see their children want who knowes not the rich and royall entertainment that Westmerland had when hauing lost all for his Holinesse he fled to them and least the English should plead it as their priuiledge call to minde how the Scottish Bishop of Rosse was receiued rewarded first with Vnde laesleum in sua congratulatione ad Albertum Archiducem de Seipso the title of the Bishopricke of Constance in France and afterward because Constance by reason of the warres was little worth with a promise of the Archbishoprike of Macklin and that hee might not starue in the meane time hee had a pension assigned him of fiftie scutes a moneth which though it was most ill fauouredly paide him yet was it most fairely and frankely bestowed on him And howsoeuer you be not such Arch-traitors to your owne states nor such wel-deseruing fauorits of the Roman Church as these two were yet feare not for you shall at your first comming be welcome and well refreshed at the English Colledge and after that know for your comforts that euery day certaine pilgrimes of seuerall nations dine in the Popes presence of meate from his owne table blessed with his owne most holy hands oh who were not worthy to want it that would not post from England to Rome for such a dinner And it is but a reasonable sute to some Cardinall or the fathers of the Colledge to be often made
of Hereticall bookes and rid it of hereticall Kings to restore learning and preserue the truth which without them had perished to make plaine and perfect the Scriptures which till their time lay neglected to compose all controuersies reade all riddles know all secrets heare all confessions and to discouer no more then makes for their purpose censure all questions satisfie all consciences resolue all doubts and in a word to be the very Oracles of the Christian world as holy as true and as infallible as euer was that of Delphos or Iupiter Hamon I say let vs hearken how those reuerend Iesuits and for them all how renoumed Azor one of their most glorious Fathers and founders of that blessed company handles this question It 's moued saith hee and made a question if on one day a Masse and a Sermon doe so concurre as both cannot bee heard whether is to be omitted with lesse losse and sinne The fore-named Doctors and many other more Dunses as they be doe teach that the Masse must yeeld to the Sermon And the good Iesuit ingenuously confesseth which hee doth not for that hee holds Iesuits tied to speake truth who can speake nothing but truth and whatsoeuer they speake is therefore truth because they speake it but because the more and greater his Aduersaries be the more glorious is the victory Therefore he freely confesseth that many of the Popish Doctors be of the same opinion and that they ground this their opinion upon the Decrees and vpon S. Bernard and S. Augustine But what are all these to such sincere learned and iuditious men as the Iesuits euen nothing at all when once the truth comes in question for then downe goe Doctors Fathers Councels Scriptures and all to make roome for the holy Catholique Romish Truth out of the Iesuites holy mouthes In which Catholique zeale the noble Iesuit thus resolues the question But whatsoeuer saith he these or any of these or all these or any other doe thinke It is to bee said Marke yee dull Heretiques with what maiesty a Iesuit concludes against Canon-law Schoole-men and Fathers and tremble when you see what potent aduersaries you haue of them It is saith he to be held without controll That the Masse which is to be heard by the Churches commandement is to be preferred before the hearing of the holy word of God And marke his reason whereby hee proues it for though it bee no reason to expect a reason from so great so graue so godly men as the Fathers of the Society who by their nature and constitution will not thinke speake nor doe any thing without a reason yet is his Father-hood here pleased to giue vs a reason but marke it I say againe for it 's as good as honest and as religious a reason and as well-beseeming a Iesuit as the opinion it selfe The Masse saith he is to be preferred before the Sermon and the Sermon is to be omitted for the Masse for that saith he there is great difference betwixt that that is due by Commandement and that that 's due by Counsell for that that 's due by Commandement may not bee omitted nor can be vnder paine of mortall sinne But it is no sinne to omit that that 's due onely by Counsell Now the Masse is commanded Preaching is but counselled to heare a Masse a man is tied by vertue of the commandement to heare a Sermon he is but counselled or aduised therefore it 's apparant that a man is bound to preferre the Masse before a Sermon and to omit or loose a Sermon for a Masse And thus so learnedly so holily so irrefragably is this question resolued that none but professed foes to the holy Romish Church and open enemies to the Masse and aduancers of that dangerous booke called the Scriptures and who therefore are iustly condemned for Heretickes can or will or dare gainesay it And as for those that durst hold the contrary though they were none of them of these vp-start Heretickes yet it 's not fit that they passe without reproofe and iust censure for this their so grosse ignorance or so foule impiety as to perfer a Sermon before a Masse and therefore saith the Iesuite religiously and learnedly like himselfe If this be so It will bee here demanded whether Angelus and the rest that hold this Detestable Error that a Sermon is to bee heard rather then a Masse bee to bee condemned as holders of a Timerariouse opinion Some saith he absolutely condemne it and them so to be Others hold it to bee a false Opinion but not Temerariouse And thus they excuse them and they glosse it ouer with some shewes and shadows of argument as if it were a hard case for the Church to tye a man for the gazing of a masse to loose so great a matter as a Sermon But this is idle saith the Iesuite and therfore for you shall alwaies see Iesuites take the better part seeing they haue no good reason for their opinion in my iudgement the opinion is to be holden Temerariouse and they to bee condemned to haue spoken Temerariously that is rashly vnaduisedly and without iudgement So then these Heretickes might see if they were not blind that in the holy Romane Church it is so firmely holden that a Sermon is not so good so holy so necessary as a Masse That whoeuer holds the contrary be it Caluinist or Schooleman Father or Councell they are subiect to censure and punishment for it And euen Bernard and Augustine may be glad they had so good hap to bee made Saints by that Romane Church for otherwise for this their impious conceit to preferre a Sermon before a Masse they had beene sure and that very worthily to be condemned for Heretickes But seeing the Church that cannot erre hath vouchsafed to Canonize them for Saints she will therefore deale more mercifully with them then their impiety deserues and at the humble mediation of the charitable Iesuites will onely pronounce them temerariouse but not condemne them for Heretickes If this then bee cleere that by the resolued Doctrine and Definition of the Romane Church A Masse is the principall part if not the whole worship of God and that onely the Masse is strictly commanded and hearing of Gods word preached is but conditionally aduised And that therefore a Masse is farre more excellent in it selfe more auaileable with God more profitable and comfortable to the soule then is the hearing of sermons then who sees not but if the Popes holinesse praies but seldome or not at all Yet doe often and continually say Masse that then he hath stopped the mouthes of all heretickes that like curres doe bawle and barke against him and call him and his great Bishops Dumbe Dogges that cannot barke O silly fooles these Heretickes that bring these words of the Prophet against his Holinesse For doe they not know that when the Prophet complained of those dumbe dogges that could not barke there were then no Masses in the world for if
there had hee would haue blamed their negligence in them rather then of preaching and this I say by the warrant and president of the Mariale which saith that whereas Salomon writes thus The name of the Lord is a strong Tower the righteous flye vnto it and are helped Salomon saith he knew little of the Virgin Mary for if he had he would haue said The name of our Lady is a strong Tower the righteous flye vnto it and are helped And surely with as good right may I say the Prophet knew little of the dignitie vertue and efficacie of the holy Masse for if he had hee would not haue blamed them for not preaching but for negligence in saying Masse But Salomon and Esay are both to be pardoned because of the times they liued in but as for these Heretickes that liue in these times and cannot but see the great vertue and high price that Masses are at and how beneficiall they bee to the Catholicke Romane Church and consequently how good cause the Church hath to magnifie Masses aboue Preaching they are without all excuse and their fault vnpardonable But though they be so madde to moue it and so malicious to presse it that the Pope and all his Cleargy ought rather to preach then say Masses yet hee is too wise to hearken to it nay though sometime some of his owne Catholicke children are bewitched with this poyson and are harping on this string that preaching is the greater and worthier of the two yet he hath wit enough to discouer and power to suppresse them in time therefore if any of them write so he commands it to be razed out of their bookes that hereafter it may not testifie against them and if any be so bold to preach it his holinesse takes such order with them as few dare follow their example Witnesse Frier Lobo of whom wee spake before whose iudgement was so iust and sentence so sharpe by Pope Gregories owne holy mouth for that his impious presumption in preferring a Sermon before a Masse and that also in Rome where like a foole that he was he might haue remembred that preaching hath been out of season these 500 yeares that from that day we haue not heard of any that durst attempt the like in Rome and if the like course had beene taken in Germany France and England these new heresies had neuer spred as they do For it is nothing but hearing Sermons reading the Bible that hath bred fed and still feeds and disperseth those heresies of the Lutherans and Caluinists as daily and lamentable experience lets vs see and feele For his Holinesse knowes full well that if he could but rid the world of the Bibles in the vulgar tongues and pull downe this talking trade of Preaching we should soone see these Heresies and this new Gospell of Luther and Caluin melt away and come to nothing for take away the meanes and cause and the effect will follow And full well spoke a wise Cardinall to the Pope when in a priuate consultation there was complaint of the growing and spreading of Lutheranisme Wee may thanke our selues saith he and our owne sloth and carelesnesse for this who let the Scriptures flye abroad and become so common for we ought to haue kept them vnder colour of Maiesty and to procure them greater Generation in the learned tongues and laid them vp in safe and secret Libraries so should neither they haue beene corrupted by heretickes and Iewes as they haue beene nor they haue corrupted and made so many Hereticks as they haue done A wise and worthy speech doubtlesse and well beseeming a Cardinall and a full deuout soule I warrant him was he of the Romish Mother Church And from that day forward hath the Pope beene more carefull in this poynt and hath set on worke his darlings the Iesuits who haue done him faithfull seruice in this kinde as may appear to their great honor to al them that wil loose a litle time to reade their bookes for by their bookes their Sermons and their perswasions they haue so preuailed that where euer any of them do remain or but lurk you shall not finde a Romish Catholicke but he can learnedly prate against the Scriptures whereof he heartily thanks his God he neuer read one booke and can tell you what a dangerous booke it is and how many haue beene made Heretickes by it and by this meanes their Disciples bogle at it and auoyd it as snare or a pit in the way or a rocke in the sea Now if this bee true that the Scripture is so dangerous a booke and that preaching must be out of that booke who sees not that therefore in good Popish reason and Pope-holy religion it followeth that it beseemes all men to be wary tender and dainty euen how they make or heare too many Sermons For if the Scripture be a dangerous booke surely preaching cannot but be a dangerous exercise in which regard appeares the wisedome of the holy Romish Church who hath ordained there shall be Sermons daily in the Lent in most great Cities and so by making them proper to Lent she makes them seeme to be out of season all the yeare besides and in most places neuer expected neuer thought of till Lent come againe wheras contrariwise the holy and blessed Masse is alwayes in season and by the strict order of the holy Roman Church is daily to be said without omission nay some dayes two or three and euery day the more the better So then sermons are but the Lent prouision but Masses are the daily bread of the holy Roman Catholikes And howsoeuer the holy fathers the Popes and his Cardinals doe not trouble their heads nor disturbe the peoples mindes with much preaching yet they make them a bountifull amends with the multitude of Masses wherein all good Catholikes know they doe but as if a housholder kept away course bread and gaue his people store of fine Manchets for it for what bee sermons but as course bread but the Masses these bee the fine Manchers they be the dainty feeding for the refined stomackes of all Romish Catholikes Therefore let these bawling heretickes know that because the Popes Holinesse sawe the olde Church in former times surfetted of Sermons and that euery hereticke brought Scripture presently for his heresie therefore in these latter more prudent times they haue made a blessed exchange and for poore homely vestments wodden Chalices and a golden Cleargy haue giuen the people goodly rich Copes and golden Chalices good store to make amends for their leaden Bishops and wodden Priests which we cannot deny but are plentifull in many Catholique countries For the Scripture in the vulgar tongues which thereby was made too common and exposed to contempt haue giuen them the Latine Gospell in the Masse which is read so solemnly so stately and with such glorious ceremonies that all the people stand stricken with admiration and amazement and are oftentimes edified as much by
it as he that reads it because he that reads it oftentimes vnderstands it as well as they that heare it And for that vnreasonable much preaching with which S. Chrysostome S. Basill S. Augustine Origen Ambrose Leo Gregory and other fathers did consume their time good simple plaine meaning men they were for those times but full silly God wot if they bee compared with the holy Roman Father of these daies and with which they did fill the peoples heads they haue giuen them the celestiall foode of the blessed Masse and hauing appointed preaching to the hard time of Lent that so both the body and soule may fast feed hardly and doe penance together and hauing commended it to Princes Courts and great Cities and Cathedrall Churches and that so it might be vsed and respected as a state ceremony they made Masses common and vulgar commanding for the holy Mother Romane Church is euer so gracious and mercifull and such are the bowels of her bounty as she neuer takes any thing from her children but she giues them a better that the people should haue euery day a Masse or two one for their breakfast and another or two or three for their dinner and such dainty feeding being so continuall will make them not finde the want of such homely fare as preaching is And to that end for the peoples better content and satisfaction shee hath holily and bountifully ordained that not onely in Kings Courts and great places but in euery Church euery Chappell nay at euery altar in euery Church shall be euery day a Sermon A Sermon said I oh forgiue me holy father forgiue mee so foule an error I should haue said a Masse and not euery day onely but sometimes more In so much as in diuerse great Churches there are by the Popes bounty so many altars that there bee oftimes twenty thirty forty fifty Masses of a day in one Church as the people there doe finde to their great edification and trauellers to their great admiration who when they see twenty or thirty or more maiesticall Masses like so many glorious Maskes all in one great Church in one forenoone in euery I le and euery corner one No maruell if it astonish them and make them say fie vpon these foolish silly poore plaine heretikes the Protestants Who in steed of all these besides the ordinary diuine seruice which is also made so common with them that euery one can say it at home when they list are faine to bee content with one silly Sermon or one plaine Communion and hereupon it comes to passe that many one who trauells out of Protestant into Popish coūtries though they went away no great good Protestants yet returne againe fine zealous Popish Catholikes for the holy pictures and goodly gilded Images whereof many are made so artificially as they can smile and laugh and speake by the mighty power of the Pope and his Priests and the gorgeous ceremonies and the pompous Vestments and the stately processions and the many maiesticall Masses and the glorious light of the tapers burning day and night in their darke Churches are all strong and excellent well made cobwebs to catch such flies in And that all this may haue the more credit his holinesse hath wisely ordained that howsoeuer great men as Bishops and Cardinalls haue little or no time to preach and therefore and for the good reasons aforesaid shall not bee tied to it but at their pleasures or at visitation or certaine great daies that so the sermon may come in as a third course it a feast neither certainely expected afore it come nor much regarded when it s come yet none are so great but that being Priests they are tied to the continuall saying of Masse whereeuer they bee and to that end hee hath appointed it because the Masse in a sacrifice and no sacrifice can bee without an altar if there want an altar consecrated they shall haue altars made of a little square stone which they may carry about with them This is called Altare portatile and shall serue at all occasions and these little moueable altars by vertue of the Popes blessings haue as much vertue as the great standing altars and the cake consecrated at these shall be as truely transubstantiated and made as really the body and flesh of Christ as at the other And least that this God of the holy father and his Priests making should like the Heathen Gods in continuance of time come into contempt or least that his Maozim the Masse should become of lesse account by the common continuall and vulgar vse Or because the generality of the Masse makers namely of the Monkes Friers and secular Priests are held contemptible men His Holinesse therefore in whose brest all wisdome that is not from aboue doth reside and dwell hath politikely and worthily ordained that in all great feast daies Coronations of Princes Consecration of Bishops Dedication of Churches translation of relikes confirmation of leagues Canonization of Saints and in all publike meetings roiall assemblies and euen in Generall Counsells the chiefe of all or one of the chiefe shall say the Masse Nay often times himselfe will vouchsafe to doe it kindely and thankefully giuing some honour to it that yeilds him so much profit and fills his coffers with so many millions of Crownes And such is the deuotion of his holinesse and so great his neglect of all the matters of this world which hee with all his heart as willingly treds vnder his feete as his predecessor Alexander trode vpon the necke of great Fredericke the Emperour that in the morning when other great men and Princes of the world are making them ready for their recreations then is his holinesse full deuoutly fitting himselfe to say Masse And this hee doth not sometime and seldome But continually euery morning as not onely his bookes tell vs but as trauellors also testifie Some whereof haue had the happinesse and honour to bee present at the Popes morning Masse Oh happy men to receiue so high and vnualuable a reward for their trauell and cost For what though they went two thousand miles spent twise two thousand pounds what is that in comparison of this honour these miles may be counted and these pounds numbred But the benefits they shall receiue by hearing the Pope say Masse are without number I can name but one that is this Hee that heares the Pope say Masse escapes hell as he can but I dare warrant him hee shall neuer come in Purgatory Are not they therefore to be commended for their deuotion and held for wise men in their countries when they returne that willingly bee at the cost and labour to trauell to Rome to bee partaker of so blessed a Breakfast Or rather were it not good that they might stay in Rome and neuer bee suffered to returne that so they might neuer bee depriued of that blessednesse and in steed of the homely fare in their countries bee fed with the excellent
day of the month of Nouember and there is there vpon that day remission of all sins which was obtained at the supplication of Constantine the Emperor For saith hee after that Constantine the Emperor was healed of his leprosie by receiuing holy Baptisme he said to S. Siluester the Pope holy Father I haue ordained or consecrated my owne house to bee a Church thou therfore infuse and powre vpon this Church thy plentifull blessings for all that shall repaire and come vnto it Hereunto S. Siluester answering said our Lord Iesus Christ who of his own mercy hath healed thee cleansed thee from thy leprosie cleanse purifie from all their sins all that come to this place without mortall sinne 10 This is most vndoubtedly true that whosoeuer comes to that Church without mortall sin shall obtaine all these Indulgences and the very Caluinists and Lutherans will not for shame deny this But if they be so curious as to reply and say that none can come without mortall sin and therefore by this grant none at all shal get any good let them goe like busie heretickes as they are for being Heretickes they are not worthy to be censured but by fire and fagot at what time of the yeare so euer they come to it And we by the authority of S. Peter and S. Paul and our owne do remit pardon them and do grant vnto them remission of all their sinnes Likewise S. Gregory who also consecrated this said Church after it was repaired hauing been defaced by Heretickes confirmed all the aforesaid Indulgences formerly founded by S. Siluester Moreouer Boniface the Pope once said The Indulgences that are to bee had in the Church of Laterane no man can number 11 Here againe the heretickes will laugh say that it is most true they that are not at all cannot bee numbred as no man can number or count the gold in a beggars purse because there is none But these shew themselues bold heretickes indeede that dare suppose holy Pope Boniface especially the 8. would aequiuocate yet I confirme them euery one CHAP. 2. Reliquiae eiusdem Ecclesiae IN illa Ecclesia est quaedam Capella quae vocatur Sacristia ibi est Altare sancti Iohānis quod habuit in Deserto ibi tabula super quam cenauit Christus cum suis discipulis in cena Domini Ibidem est testamentum vetus scilieet virga Moysi et archa foederis Ista omnia apportauerunt Titus Vespasianus de Ierusalem cum quatuor columnis aeris quae stant circa summum Altare vbi sunt capita beatorum Apostolorum Petri Pauli Et quando ista capita monstrantur tunc sunt ibi tot indulgentiae quot sunt ad sanctum Petrum in ostentione Veronicae Item imago Domini quae depicta est in pariete non per manus hominum sed Diuino opere coram omni populo Romano apparuit quinto Idus Nouembris Item Candelae aureae quae fuerunt in priori tabernaculo Item mensa in quae lex est scripta digito Dei Item de quinque panibus ordeaceis duobus piscibus ex quibus saturati fuerunt quinque millia hominum Item tunica inconsutilis quam fecit Maria virgo mater Domini nostri Iesu Christi Item est ibi vestimentum purpureum quod Maria sibi fecit Item est ibi de sanguine aqua fluente de latere Chricit Item de loco ascenfionis domini in coelum Item de crinibus sanguine beati Iohannis Baptistae Item de puluere cinere corporis eius combusti Item cilicium eius quod fuit de pellibus Camelorum Item tunica sancti Iohannis cum qua duos mortuos resuseitauit Item de Manna sepulturae Iohannis Baptistae quod fuit inuentum in sepultura sua magna pulla plena Item Imago Domini nostri Iesu Christi quam fecit Nichodemus sicut Iudei Christum percusserunt Item ibi est linteum cum quo Christus pedes suorum Discipulorum tersit in coena Domini Item praeputium Domini Iesu Christi quod sibi abscissum fuerat in Circumcisione Domini Item caput Zaechariae Prophetae caput sancti Pancracij de quo sanguis emanauit ad tres dies quum Ecclesia Lateranensis combusta fuit Item stapula sancti Laurentij Item vna Capsa plena reliquijs Mariae Magdalenae Item sudarum Christi Item Cyphus ex quo sanctus Iohanne bibit venenum Item Camisia quam beata Maria virgo fecerat mhristo Item pannus ille quem beata Maria dedit filio suo pendente in cruce circa femur Item magna pars de cruce Domint Item duo dentes de sancto Petro. Item in eadem Ecclesia est vna Capella quae vocatur ad sancta sanctorum in quam mulieres non intrant vbi est vna facies saluatoris quando fuit quatuor decem annorum Et ibi est omnibus diebus remissio omnium peccatorum à poena à culpa circa eandem Capellam est vnus assensus triginta trium graduum quoties homo aliquis illos devote ascenderit de quolibet gradu habet mille annos Indulgentiarū qui gradus apportati sunt de Ierusalem quos etiam gradus Iesus ascendit ad Pilatum presidem Item Cathena cum qua venit sanctus Iohannes de Epheso Romam forpices cum quibus fuit tonsus de mandato Domitiani Item velum quod portauit beata Maria in capite Item de arundine cum quo percusserunt Christum in domo Pilati Item tabula plena de reliquijs Martirum Confessorum atque virginum magna pars verae crucis Item de vestimentis lacte capillis beatae Mariae virginis Item de capillis sancti Iohannis baptistae Item iuxta lauaecrum omni die est remissio omnium peccatorum in quem locum non intrant mulieres Item in Aula domini Papae sunt tria ostia cuilibet intro eunti per vnum exeunti per aliud concedūtur xliiij anni indulgentiae tot carenae Et in parte orientali Ecclesiae capitalis sunt tria ostia quae portata fuerunt de Ierusalem CHAP. 2. Of the Reliques in the said Church of Laterane IN this Church of the Laterane there is a certaine Chappell which is called the Sacrist or the Vestry in it there is S. Iohns Altar 12 Here the Heretickes may see how ancient Altars be for as sure as this is true Altars bee as old as since S. Iohn Baptist Now whether this be that very Altar or no whether those vnder-named be not the very Table that Christ supped at and Moses his rod the right Arke of the couenant Heretickes will make question but good Catholicks will as firmely beleeue it and more then they will that the booke of the Reuelation is Canonical Scripture euen that very Altar which he had in the Wildernesse And there is also that very Table vpon which Christ supped with his
voluit fugere de Roma tunc obuiabat domino Iesu Christo dixit domine quo vadis iuxta paruam capellam modicum extra ciuitatem scituatam respondeus Iesus vado Romam iterum crucifigi illa capella vocatur capella Beatae Mariae de Palmae Item in Ecclesia sancti Iohannis ante portam latinam vbi coctus fuit sanctus Iohannes in oleo est liberatio vnius animae in die sancti Iohannis a purgatorio CHAP. 7 5 The fifth principall and Patriarchall Church namely of Saint Sebastian Of the Indulgences belonging to the Church of Saint Sebastian IT is registred in the 1 The presumptuous Caluinists say this is a foule stinking lie For an Angel say they would neuer tell a lie but to say that in any Church in Rome or any place on earth is or can be euerlasting light and without end is not onely false but plaine Atheisme and intimates that the world shall neuer haue end Oh shamelesse heretikes that dare call in question the sayings or doings of the Pope as though his holinesse can either speake ought but truth or doe ought but good So there haue beene some heretofore like to these Caluinists that durst be so bold with the Popes as to bring them vnder censure accusing Liberius for an Arrian condemning Honorius for a Monothelite and them and Iohn the 22 for heretikes as did the sixth generall Councell and Occham and many more but what got they some of them are condemned and all of them reproued for their labour by the Popes holinesse as be also the Caluinists who were pronounced heretikes in the Councell of Trent and excommunicate euery passion weeke in Bulla Caenae and therefore no matter what they obiect Church of Saint Sebastian that an Angell of the Lord appeared in that Church to Saint Gregory as he was a saying Masse at the Altar of Saint Sebastian the Martir and said to him these words In this place there is true remission of all sinnes brightnesse and light euer lasting ioy and gladnesse without end This Indulgence did Saint Sebastian merit to the Church and thereupon that glorious Pope did grant and ratifie it Also vpon euery first Sunday or Lords day of the Month of May there is in the same Church remission of all sinnes Likewise from the ascension of our Lord vntill the Kalends of August there be for euery day in that Church a thousand yeares of pardon and as many quarantens and remission of the third part of all a mans sinnes And moreouer all the yeare long there is daily and for euery day seauen and forty yeares of pardon and as many quarantens Furthermore in the Church there is a certaine Vault or hollow passage vnder the earth and it is called the Church-yard of Saint Calixtus the Pope In this the holy Martires of God in times past vsed to hide themselues when they were persecuted by the Romans to this Vault there doe belong so many Indulgences and pardons as none can number but onely God 2 Seeing there belongs to that vault so many Indulgences it seemes that our holy fathers the Abbots of England held vaults to be very holy places and therefore it was doubtlesse that they made at so many Abbaies vaults vnder the ground leading from the Abbay to the Nunnery which was neuer very far off that so the Nuns might meete the Friers get their part of these blessed Indulgences Many of these holy vaults are yet to bee seene in England to the shame and confutation of the Caluinists And though those vaults haue beene deerely loued of the Romish Clergy and so are still where they yet be and are therefore partakers of the Popes Indulgences which made the Nunnes frequent them so willingly yet was there one vault in England which was of greater value and expectation then all these and which if the pouder there laid by those deuout and zealous Catholickes had blowne vp the heretikes according to the minde and desire of them that laid it and the hope of his holinesse and the Iesuites should certainely haue had as many blessings and Indulgences bestowed on it as the bottomlesse treasure of the holy Roman Church could haue affoorded But that worke was too good to prosper as some of themselues said the day before they died Also in the same Church there is the pit or hole wherein the bodies of Saint Peter and Paul laie hid for an hundreth yeares before they were found and at this hole there are three hundreth yeares of pardon Likewise in the same Church there is yet a pit or hole scituate a little without the Church and therein doe rest the bodies of seauen and fortie Popes euery one whereof graunted to this Church Indulgences as great and ample as they could or might To conclude there is in this Church as great and large Indulgence as there is in the Church of Peter the Apostle Relikes in the Church of Saint Sebastian IN the high altar of this Church there is the body of Saint Sebastian himselfe and in another lower altar the body of Saint Fabian and vnder the altar that is at the end of the Church resteth the body of Pope Stephen Also in the backside of the same Church there is another passage which is round hard by the altar vnder which Saint Peter and Saint Paul lay for a hundreth yeares and in the same place to this day there lie the bodies of many holy Confessors Virgins Also in the same Church there is the post or piller at which Saint Sebastian was thrust through with darts There is also the head of Calixtus and many bodies of other Saints Moreouer in the Church-yard of Saint Calixtus so called as afore which is in the same Church there stands a certaine altar and that is the very altar whereat Saint Peter vsed to say Masse 3 The Caluinists say this is an idle tale for say they if Peter had had an altar or said Masse the Scriptures would not haue concealed it But a figge or rather a fagot for these heretikes and their Scripture also for what care Catholikes though it be not it the Scripture as long as the holy Roman Church saith it here and elsewhere at such times as the Romans persecuted those holy Martires that vsed to flie thither and are now there buried Likewise in same Church-yard of Calixtus there is a certaine great stone vpon which is drawne out the length of one of the nailes with which Iesus was nailed to the tree of the crosse 4 This was doubtlesse a great naile for out of one of them haue beene fince made at least a thousand more nailes and which is more strange the first is stil as great as it was Further in the same Church there be yet to be seene the steepes of eleuen foote and they bee vpon an altar that is in a Chappel scituate on one side of the Church what these steppes are how they
came there we are to know that when Saint Peter would haue fled out of Rome Iesus met him at a little Chappel 5 Here againe the Caluinists cauill and say that this is surely a cozn'd tale For Saint Peter say they spake it Acts 3. 21. that the heauens must hold Christ till the end of the world and therefore say they though it might well bee that Saint Peter might see Christ in a vision sitting in heauen as Saint Stephen did Act. 7. 55. yet it s not credible that he saw Christ so really standing by him that the steppes of his feete should remaine in the earth but wee haue a short answere for them and that is this let them and such fooles as they rely vpon that vncertaine rule the Scripture which therefore our Catholicke Doctors Eccius Pighius Hosius c. haue iustly called a nose of waxe and a shipmans hose a dumbe Iudge and a leaden rule we Catholickes will hold the sure certaine and vnfallible rule that can neuer deceiue vs namely the determination of the holy Roman Church that is the rocke that Catholickes rest vpon and therefore though the Scripture say neuer a word of it yet by vertue of that determination wee beleeue that Christ is really and corporally in the Sacrament and that the bread is turned into his body and wee beleeue that this story is true and what euer else the Roman Church shall teach vs. somewhat out of the City then Peter meeting Christ asked him Lord whether goest thou And Iesus answered I goe to Rome to be crucified againe and these steppes of Iesus and Peter as they stood talking there are here to be seene to this day and that Chappel where they thus met is called the Chappell of our blessed Lady Mary of the palme Likewise in the Church of Saint Iohn before the Port Latine where Saint Iohn was boiled in hot scalding oile is euery Saint Iohns day deliuerance for one soule out of purgatory CHAP. 8 Indulgentiae Eccleclesiae sancti Thomae Apostoli IN Ecclesia eius scribitur quotienscunque homo visitauerit illam Ecclesiam videlicet manus ponendo adiutrices ad sustentationem Pauperum liberationem Captiuorum in sancta terra incarceratorum in Ecclesia quae dedicata est in honore sancti Michaelis Archangeli sancti Thomae Apostoli conceduntur per multos pontifices tria millia annorum Indulgent xl dies vota fracta offensa patrum Matrum sine mannuum violentarum iniectione relaxantur illi vt permittitur predictam Ecclesiam visitanti Item summi tres pontifices viz. Alexander Inocentius Vrbanus quilibet eorum concessit septimam partem anni omnium peccatorum remissionem vnum annum quadraginta dies plenamque participationem omnium stationum dedicationum Romunae Ecclesiae quae facit xlix annorum Indulgent tot Carenas Ac etiam participationē terrae Sanctae vbi Indulgentiae mirabiles conceduntur CHAP. 8 Indulgences belonging to the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle 6 This Church though it beare the name of one of the Apostles yet is it none of the seauen principall and Patriarchall because as Onuphrius freely tells vs those Churches are most dignified by the Pope which he gaines most by and hee gaines most by them that are in the way betwixt the great Churches of Saint Iohn Laterane Saint Peter and Saint Paul therefore Saint Sebastians is one which stands in the way betwixt Saint Pauls and the Lateran and not this of Saint Thomas which stands out of the way IN the Church of Saint Thomas it is written and recorded that how oft soeuer any man shall visite that Church putting to his helping hand for the sustentation of the poore or for the redeeming and deliuerance of captiues imprisoned in the holy land so oft there bee in that Church which is consecrated to the honour of Saint Michael the Archangell and Saint Thomas the Apostle three thousand yeares of pardon granted thereunto by diuerse Popes And for xl daies long vowes that be broken and offences against father and mother excepting laying violent hands vpon them 7 Still the heretikes prate and say that the Pope forgiues the offences committed against father and mother poore fooles why should he not is not he the father of fathers and supreme father of vs all good reason then that he ouerrule our fathers and mothers and those that please his holinesse let them not care though they displease father mother master mistresse nay Prince or Soueraigne for hee can and will release the punishment as well as he can forgiue the fault are three released to him that shall visite the Church as is aforesaid Moreouer three chiefe Bishops or Popes as namely Alexander Innocentius and Vrbanus euery of them gaue and granted thereunto the seauenth part of the yeare and remission of all sinnes and one yeare 8 It s very hard to know the meaning of these bountifull Indulgences they are so many that wee may say Copia ipsa nocet therefore deuout Cathikes that desire to know them distinctly had best goe to Rome and there they may both know them and haue them and forty daies and full participation of all stations and dedications of the Roman Church which make vp nine and fortie yeares of pardon and as many quarentens and also they graunted hereunto participation with the Holy Land where strang and wonderfull Indulgences be granted CAP. 9 Indulgentiae Ecclesiae Sanctae Crucis IN Ecclesia Sanctae Crucis sunt omni die xlviij anni Indulgent tot carenae tertiae partis omnium peccatorum remissio Item ibi modicum inferiùs a latare est vna capella que vocatur Ierusalem in quam mulieres non possunt intrare nisi in die sancti Benedicti Et tunc est ibi omnium peccatorum remissio a paena a culpa Item hanc Ecclesiam Constantina Imperatrix edificauit in honorem santae Crucis ad preces sanctae Helenae Papa Siluester consecrauit Item omnibus diebus dominicis mercurij sunt ibi CCliiij anni Indulgent omnibus alijs diebus Cxxx viij anni tot carenae Et multae aliae plures Indulgentiae sunt quas explicare non audemus nam omni die dominica die mercurij Sanctus Siluester omnes indulgēt duplicauit Reliquiae predictae Ecclesiae IN praedicta Ecclesia sanctae Crucis est funis cum quo Christus Iesus fuit ductus portans siue baiulans crucem Item clauis vnus cum quo cruci fuit affixus Item magna pars vestis sancti Iohannis Baptistae Item duo dentes de sancto Blasio Episcopo Item duo lacerti Apostolorum Petri Pauli sub maiore altari requiesunt corpora sanctorum Anastasij Caesaris Prothasij Item ibi est de ligno verae Crucis Item vna lampa plena Balsomo in quo iacet caput Vincentij Martiris Item spongia cum qua Iudaei dederunt Christo Iesus acetum bibere
day seauen thousand yeares of pardon 20 Here is yet one Indulgence greater then any of the former 7000. yeares euery day which is in one yeere more then two millions of yeares Oh how endlesse and infinite is the loue of our holy father the Pope to his deuout children and as many quarentens and remission of the third part of a mans sinnes Also in the Church of Saint Potentiana there is the stoole or bench or forme whereupon Christ sate at his last supper with his Disciples 21 For good reason seeing the table came the stoole should come also In this Church there are euery day a thousand yeares of pardon Also in the Church of Saint Anthonie there is graunted remission of the sixt part of all a mans sins Also in the Church of Saint Peter ad Vincula there bee the Chaines with which Saint Peter was bound in prison which the sonne of Theodosius the Emperour did bring with him from Ierusalem 22 But who kept these holy chaines in Ierusalem all those foure hundred yeares long from Saint Peters time to the daies of Theodosius the booke tells vs not therefore let not good Catholicks bee too curious to inquire this is not fit to bee written but let them goe to Rome and there they may learne it in priuate for this is the wisdome of his holinesse and the holy fathers of the society not to make all things plaine by writing that so they may inuite deuout Catholickes to come to Rome to aske what is not elsewhere reuealed that so in Rome they may be partakers of all the vnualuable riches of the Popes treasure and of the holinesse of the pure Clergie and of the vertue of the many pretious relickes that be there This Church did Pope Pellagius consecrate the first day of August and granted vnto it full remission of all sinnes Relickes in the Church that is called Ara Caeli or the altar of heauen IN the Church of the Friers Minors which is called the Altar of Heauen there bee the foote-steppes of the Angell that stood vpon the stone and sung Regina Caeli laetare or reioyce the Queene of Heauen in the Castle of Saint Angell 23 This is very likely that Angels haue so grosse and heauy bodies that they leaue their foote-steppes in stones where they treade But is not this a great miracle that when the Angels sung Gloria in excelsis to God they left no print behinde them But when they sung to the praise of a creature then they made and left the impression of their footesteppes Also in the same Church there is the first altar that euer was made in the whole world Concerning which altar thus it is said that on a time Octauian the Emperour saw a Circle in the Heauens and in the Circle the most beautifull and glorious Virgin Mary standing vpon an Altar in her armes holding a childe The Emperour amased at this sight heard a voice that said to him from Heauen This is the Altar of Heauen of Gods Sonne Octanian hearing this instantly fell downe vpon the earth and worshipped Christ to come This vision was seene in the chamber of Octauian the Emperour and in that chamber he built the first Altar 24 Must not this be an holy Altar that was made by so great a Saint as the Heathen Emperour Augustus But if any aske how this can bee the first Altar when as wee herd afore there is in Saint Iohns Church the Altar that Saint Iohn Baptist said Masse on in the wildernesse Let not this trouble the good Catholike for is it not likely that Saint Octauian would send this his new made Altar to Iohn Baptist from Rome Yes verily as likely as that he made any And at this Altar there is euery Sunday and vpon the assumption of our Lady the blessed Virgin pardon and remission of all sinnes Also there is a worshipfull Image of Mary the Virgin painted by the hands of blessed Luke 25 See what good hap the holy Roman Church hath that all the pictures shee hath of the Virgin Mary were drawne by the hands of Saint Luke himselfe but he forgot to tell vs this when hee wrote his Gospell or rather hee left it for the Pope to teach in aftertimes when greater points are to bee reueiled then the Scripture teacheth or then were fit for those times which worshipfull Image whilst blessed Gregorie caried in procession with great solemnity at that time when there was a horrible pestilence in Rome that it was called the great plague as the procession came neere the Castle of Saint Angello the Angell of Marble as often times before it had bowed it selfe to this venerable Image 26 Caluinists and Lutherans will not worship Images But wee see here that the Image of marble did worshippe the Image of our Ladie Is it not strange that a grauen Image should bow to a painted Image But such and so wonderfull are the miracles in the holy Roman Church and so deepe are the mysteries of her piety Away therfore to the fire with these cursed Heretiques that will worship no images More hard hearted are they then the Marble Angell which full deuoutly bowed it selfe to the Venerable image But no maruell though they be worse then marble when it is apparant as the Iesuites haue learnedly of late prooued from France that they be worse then the diuell For they deny purgatory but the diuells confesse it they say the Roman Church is not the true Church but the diuells dare sweare it by all the faith and truth that is in them Nay they haue renounced God and their part in heauen if the Roman Church bee not the true Church So farre better are they then these Heretiques And therefore it is great maruell that some nice Catholikes hold that wee may not equiuocate with these Heretiques nor delude them nor deceiue nor oppresse them but that it must bee called cruelty For what can bee hard or sharpe inough towards such beasts as are worse then diuells and harder hearted then marble stones or what good Catholickes care what they doe to such base and vile Heretiques who it is certaine are greater enemies to the Roman faith and Church that now bee then the diuell him Let them therefore goe as they bee But whereas some tender hearted Catholikes doe here make a question how the marble Image was made straight againe when it had bowed it selfe alasse that they should bee so scrupulous for could not the holy Image as easily reare vp it selfe againe as it bowed it selfe downe Yes assuredly and I thinke the very Heretique will not deny it Therefore that needes not to mooue you But the other doubt I confesse is of more difficulty namely that a goodly grauen Image should bow to an Image that was but painted and the Image of an Angell to the Image of a woman or to any but the Image of GOD. This is certainely some great mysterie I haue asked of the holy fathers and priests that come thither of it but they answere mee diuersely and no maruell though the best wittes differ in so darke and difficult and deepe a question Therefore the best aduise is that till his Holinesse call another Councell if any man list to bee resolued Let him goe to Rome and repaire to the Chaire that cannot erre and besides an infallible resolution hee may happily finde such excellent instructors and such good examples there as may make him as deuout as holy as tender hearted as is the marble Image that stands at the gate of the Castle of Saint Angell of the blessed Virgin Mary so now in the presence of many that saw heard it it sung out aloud Alleluia Regina caeli laetare and thereupon Saint Gregory made the praier Ora pro nobis Deum Alleluia FINIS LONDON Printed by Nicholas Okes for George Norton and are to be sold at his Shop neere Temple-barre Gate 1617.