not to be conferred as a spiritual happiness But if one desires a Faculty in singing dancing or agility of body if he desires beauty and modesty in a Wife wisdom sincerity of Friends or any thing else that is vertuous or commendable he shall be endued with a voice like a Seraphim be active as an Olympick Gamester have a Wife as chaste as Penelope be wife as Solomon and in fine obtain any one thing which he can desire being of good report But in case any one miss of these blessings as many do who go on these Errands as one may well believe and return as little improved as some of those do whom we send to Paris there is something in the way which interrupted this blessing and no doubt but the man was either not fitly prepared or had not Faith enough to receive the blessing They say farther that some of those Pythonick Spirits which formerly inhabited under the cavities of these three Rocks were permitted by Christ to keep their Stations with intention to make them slaves and drudges to the Monastery where now invisibly they wash the Dishes sweep the House and do all the Offices of good Servants so that the good Fathers take no care of those homely services for what is in the day fouled and disordered is by next morning found cleansed and well disposed by the ministry and diligence of those careful and officious Spirits All these things and much more is believed by the Armenians of Etchmeasin so easie it is to obtrude vain and superstitious fancies on ignorant and illiterate people In their Monasteries the whole Psalter of David is read over every 24 hours but in the Cities and Parochial Churches it is otherwise observed For the Psalter is divided into eight divisions and every division into eight parts at the end of every one of which is said the Gloria Patri Filio c. Their manner of Worship is performed after the Eastern fashion by prostrating their bodies and kissing the ground three times which the Turks likewise practise in their Prayers At their first entrance into the Church they uncover their heads and corss themselves three times but afterwards cover their heads and sit cross-leg'd on Carpets after the manner of the Turks The most part of their publick Divine Service they perform in the morning before day which is very commendable and I have been greatly pleased to meet hundreds of Armenians in a Summer morning about Sun-rising returning from their Devotions at the Church wherein perhaps they had spent two hours before not only on Festival but on ordinary days of work in like manner they are very devout on Vigils to Feasts and Saturday Evenings when they all go to Church and returning home perfume their Houses with Incense and adorn their little Pictures with Lamps CHAP. IV. The Confession of Faith in the Armenian Church THEY allow and accept the Articles of Faith according to the Council of Nice and are also acquainted with that which we call the Apostles Creed which likewise they have in use As to the Doctrine concerning the Trinity they accord with the Greeks acknowledging three Persons in one Divine Nature and that the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father I have read in many Books which treat of this Church an accusation against it that it admits but of one Person and one Nature in Christ according to the Doctrine of Eutyches of which I my self was once of opinion until I read and well considered of the Articles of their Faith They believe that Christ descended into Hell and that he freed the Souls of all the damned from thence by the grace and favour of his glorious presence but not for ever or by a plenary pardon or remission but only as reprieved until the end of the World at which time they shall again be returned unto Eternal Flames But that we may take a more clear view of their Faith I have thought fit to represent that which they call their Tavananck or Symbolum different from the Apostles and Nicene Creed which for those words follwing viz. where the Deity was mixed with the Humanity without spot seems to be calculated for maintenance of the Herisie of Eutyches and in opposition to the Catholick Doctrine as that of Athanasius is to the Heresie of Arrius But these words though they look ill at first yet if well considered and compared with the same expression which the Greeks use on the same subject it will amount unto no more than what the Greeks declare in the Anatolian Confession That the Body of Christ was a true not a fantastick Body that it was formed in the Womb of the blessed Virgin and was made a perfect man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. his rational Soul mixed with the Divinity Now the words of their Creed are Verbatim as followeth I Consess that I believe with all my heart in God the Father uncreated and not begotten and that God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost were from all Eternity the Son begotten of the Father and the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father I believe in God the Son increated and begotten from Eternity The Father is Eternal the Son is Eternal and equal to the Father whatsoever the Father contains the Son contains I believe in the Holy Ghost which was from Eternity not begotten of the Father but proceeding three Persons but one God Such as the Son as to the Deity such is the Holy Ghost I believe in the Holy Trinity not three Gods but one God one in Will in Government and in Judgment Creator both of visible and invisible I believe in the Holy Church in the remission of sins and the Communion of Saints I believe that of those three persons one was begotten of the Father before all eternity but descended in time from Heaven unto Mary of whom he took blood and was formed in her Womb where the Deity was mixed with the Humanity without spot or blemish He patiently remained in the Womb of Mary nine Months and was afterwards born as man with soul intellect judgment and body Having but one body and one countenance And of this mixture or union resulted one composition of Person God was made man without any change in himself born without Humane Generation his Mother remaining still a Virgin And as none knows his eternity so none can conceive his being or essence for as he was Jesus Christ from all eternity so he is to day and shall be for ever I believe in Jesus Christ who conversed in this world and after thirty years was baptized according to his own good will and pleasure his Father bearing witness of him and said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and the Holy Ghost in form of a Dove descended upon him he was tempted of the Devil and overcame was preached to the Gentiles was troubled in his body being wearied enduring hunger and thirst was crucified with
with this Prayer O Lord who with the Oyl of thy Mercies hast healed the Wounds of our Souls and of our Bodies do thou sanctifie this Oyl in that manner that those who are anointed therewith may be freed from their Infirmities and from all Corporal and Spiritual Evils that the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost may be glorifyed therein This Sacrament as they call it of the Holy Oyl is by some said to be different from that which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is administred unto healthful persons who are fallen into mortal sins which pollute the Body as well as the Soul and takes its Original from the parable of the good Samaritan in the Gospel who poured Oyl into the Wounds of him who fell amongst Thieves But this Unction is not applicable to those who are guilty of Rapine and Violence whose sins are only purged and expiated by Restitution and Satisfaction This Oyl of Prayer is pure and unmixed Oyl without any other composition a quantity whereof sufficient to serve for the whole year is consecrated on Wednesday in the holy Week by the Arch-Bishop or Bishop though it may be administred or application made thereof by three Priests This is the same with that which in the Roman Church is called Extreme Unction grounded on the words of St. James Cap. 5. 14. Is any sick amongst you let him call for the Elders the Church and let them pray over him anointing him with Oyl in the name of the Lord. In the administration of this Oyl of Prayer the Priest dips some Cotton at the end of a stick into the Oyl and therewith anoints the Penitent in the form of a Cross on the Fore-head on the Chin on each Cheek on the backs and palms of the Hands and then recites this Prayer Holy Father Physitian of Souls and Bodies who hast sent thine only Son Jesus Christ healing infirmities and sins to free us from death heal this thy Servant of corporal and spiritual infirmities and give him salvation and the grace of thy Christ through the Prayers of our more than holy Lady the Mother of God the Eternal Virgin through the assistance of the glorious celestial and incorporeal Powers through the Vertue of the life-giving Cross of the holy and glorious Prophet the fore-runner John the Baptist and of the holy and glorious Apostles and triumphant Martyrs of the holy and just Fathers and of the holy and life-giving Anargiri Amen Confession of Sins verbally and particularly to a Priest is esteemed a necessary duty for constituting a perfect Contrition though they do not deny but a person dying in a state of Regeneration that is to say with a Repentance proceeding from the love of God and having not opportunity by the suddenness of death or some other accident to confess and receive Absolution may yet through the mercies of God and bounty of the Saints have these necessary Sacraments conferred and mysteriously supplyed and the contrite Soul saved But yet that the omission thereof in a place where it may be obtained is a sin which as they say can no otherwise be pardoned in the next World than by the Prayers Intercessions of the Saints in Heaven and by the Alms and Oblations of good men on Earth of which Opinion of theirs we shall have occasion to speak more particularly hereafter CHAP. XIII Of the Power of Excommunication and upon what frivolous occasions it is made use of THE Third Command of the Church is Obedience towards their Spiritual Pastors and Teachers 1 Cor. 4. 1. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God which is a Text that they often repeat in their Churches and raise consequences from thence of the sublimity of their Office and of the reverence and honour due from the people toward their Clergy so that though they want the advantages of Riches and Ornament to render them respected in the Eyes of the Vulgar yet their People being affected with their divine and separated Qualifications do not submit only in Spiritual matters but even in Temporals refer themselves to the determination of their Bishop or Metropolite according to that of S. Paul 1 Cor. 6. 1. Dare any of you having a matter against another go to Law before the unjust and not before the Saints But that which most enforces this Duty of Obedience is a sense of the Power of Excommunication which rests in the Church of which they so generally stand in fear that the most profligate and obdurate conscience in other matters startles at this sentence to which whilst any is subjected he is not only expelled the limits of the Church but his conversation is scandalous and his person denied the common benefits of Charity and assistance to which Christian or Humane duty doth oblige us In the Exercise of this censure of Excommunication the Greek Church is so ready and frequent that the common use of it might seem to render it the more contemptible but that the Sentence is pronounced with so much horrour and the sad effects which have ensued thereupon not only to the living but also to the Corps and Carcasses of such who have dyed under Excommunication are related with that evidence and certainty as still confirms in the people the efficacy of that Authority which the Church exercises therein The form of Excommunication is either expressive of the party with his name and condition secluding him from the use of Divine Ordinances or otherwise indefinite of any person who is guilty of such or such a Crime or Misdemeanour As for Example If any person is guilty of Theft which is not discovered an Excommunication is taken out against him whosoever he be that hath committed the Theft which is not to be remitted until Restitution is made and so the fault is published and repeated at a full Congregation and then follows the Sentence of Excommunication in this form If they restore not to him that which is his own and possess him peaceably of it but suffer him to remain injured and damnifyed let him be separated from the Lord God Creatour and be accursed and unpardoned and undissolvable after death in this World and in the other which is to come Let Wood Stones and Iron be dissolved but not they May they inherit the Leprosie of Gehazi and the Confusion of Judas may the Earth be divided and devour them like Dathan and Abiram may they sigh and tremble on earth like Cain and the wrath of God be upon their heads and Countenances may they see nothing of that for which they labour and beg their Bread all the days of their lives may their Works Possessions Labours and Services be accursed always without effect or success and blown away like dust may they have the Curses of the holy and righteous Patriarchs Abram Isaac and Jacob of the 318 Saints who were the Divine Fathers of
Licenses to eat flesh is a scruple grounded on that Government which is agreeable to the present state of things rather than want of power in the Church to grant Dispensations for it CHAP. VI. Of Feasts observed in the Greek Church THE Greeks begin their Year in September observing the first day thereof with jollity and feasting esteeming a chearful spirit to be a good Omen that the succeeding year shall be prosperous though not being dedicated to the memory and honour of any Saint it is no point of Religion to abstain from labour yet it is esteemed undecent arguing either covetousness or a necessitous poverty The grand Feast of the Year as amongst all other Christians is Easter or the Festival of the Resurrection at which time the Greeks have this ancient and laudable Custom When they meet their acquaintance in the Morning or at any time within the three days of Easter they salute with these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ is risen and then the other answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is risen indeed and so they kiss three times once on each Cheek and on the Mouth and so depart The second day of September is the Feast of S. John the abstemious not of Precept but of Devotion and therefore is only celebrated by Kaloires and other Religious in honour of the holy S. John Baptist who by his severe and abstemious life in the Wilderness set the first Example of holy Fasts to such as would be Disciples of the holy Jesus The twenty sixth is dedicated with great honour and devotion to the Translation of the Body of S. John the Evangelist into Heaven for they maintain that this S. John being banished by Trajan the Emperour into the Isle of Patmos and there having wrote the Apocalypse he passed over unto Ephesus where ending his glorious life he was interred but after some days burial his Disciples searching for his Body in the Grave found it not from whence immediately arose a belief that his Body was assumed into Heaven and placed in the Mansion of Enoch and Elias who in company together shall again return to converse on Earth before Antichrist is perfectly revealed and made known unto the World And this they partly ground on the words of our Saviour to S. Peter If I will that he stay till I come what is that to thee The Greeks as they delight in the Histories of their Saints and recount them with as much variety and fancy as the Latines do their Legends so I might in this place recite long and tedious Histories of them but because the lives of most of them are recorded in Holy Scripture and of the later of them in the Synaxarion of which Book we shall hereafter speak we shall only here mention Cosma and Damianus and St. George the Cappadocian which are persons who after the Apostles and immediate Disciples of Jesus with some Fathers of the Church such as St. Basil St. Chrysostom c. take up a principal place in the Greek Kalendar The first two are called the Holy Anargiri to whom I found a poor Oratory erected at Ephesus which was thrown up of late with a few loose stones encircling a little Altar without Roof in the place of a more ancient Church whither the Greeks resort on the first of November to say Mass and sing Hymns in praise and commemoration of these Saints whom they report to have been born in Asia their father a Gentile and their mother a Christian called Thedosa who educated these her two Sons in Religious Piety and laudable Sciences but they principally addicting themselves to the studies of Physick did by the Divine assistance cooperating with the means of Herbs and Medicines become such perfect Practitioners that they cured all Diseases incident to Man and Beast without Money or other consideration of Interest for which cause they were called the Anargiri or those that took no Money They farther report That Damianus was so strict in this point that he dissented greatly from his Brother Cosma for having only accepted of two Eggs from a poor Widow though employed on her self for an Unguent or Cataplasm for the Sciatica that he ever after avoided all society and converse with him and at his death gave order that his Brother should not be interred in the same Vault or Grave with him the which resolution of Damianus the Friends of both designed to perform but that carrying the Corps of Cosma to burial they were met by a Camel which opening his mouth as miraculously as Balaam's Ass admonished the Bearers to lay the Brothers in the same Tomb together for that neither the Crime of Cosma was so great nor the difference so lasting but that both their Bodies might be contained in the same Sepulchre whose Souls were already united in the same heavenly Mansion The Kaloires also farther boasting of the Miracles of these Saints tell us that at Athens there is a Well adjoining to the Porch of that Church which is dedicated to them which is dry the whole year excepting only on that day when their Festival is celebrated and begins to flow at the first words of the Mass which seem to have the same Efficacy on this Spring as Moses's Rod had upon the Rock to produce a Flood of sweet and delicious water not only pleasant to the taste but wholesom for the Body but dries up and fails with the Evening of the Festival St. George the Capadocian is in like manner highly reverenced by this People there being scarce a Town where are two Churches but one of them is dedicated to this Saint of whom they recount many and various stories and what is most strange they believe them all They say that he was born of noble Blood and lived in the time of Dioclesian the Emperour under whom arising a bloody persecution this Saint as a Champion of undaunted Courage publickly presented himself owning and avouching the Gospel to be the only true and saving Faith inveighing against Idolatry and superstitious Customs and belief of Gentilism This Christian boldness sharpened the Arms of persecution against the Saint so that the Executioner struck him into the Belly with a Lance which though a great effusion of Blood followed yet the Wound closed and immediately became whole They tell us of his being thrown into a Pit of Lime and his walking bare-foot on Planks studded with sharp Nails of his remaining unconsumed and untouched amidst the flames of his raising the dead of his slaying a Dragon on the Banks of Euphrates near a place now called by the Turks Barut which the Greeks and Christians of those parts show unto Travellers to this day by which variety of Miracles many were converted unto the Christian Faith amongst which was the Queen Alexandra Wife of Dioclesian At length the time being come that this Saint was to dye the power of his persecutors prevailed against him by whom his head being struck off his soul ascended into
Heaven to receive the Crown of Martyrdom The Greeks as I said have divers Chappels dedicated to St. George amongst which at an obscure Village called by the Turks Boschioi not far from Magnasia there is one where on the 23th of April they carry his Picture in Procession accompanied by Multitudes of Turks as well as Greeks who resort thither the first for pass-time the others for mirth company and devotion This Picture which is drawn in Colours upon a Board is much of that bigness as a sign which we hang before a Shop and much of that sort of Painting This Picture they report and many believe it especially the Women being carried by a notorious sinner is endued with so much mettle and courage of that Champion as soundly to belabour his Back and Shoulders but is more civil and mild to the innocent or to the less scandalous in the wickedness of life I had once the curiosity to see this Fury in a Board of which the Greeks related such strange Stories so that arriving the Night before at the Village the next morning all things were provided for the Solemnity when one of the Papases took up the Champion on his Shoulder accompanied also with two others of the like bigness I think one was the Picture of the Virgin Mary with these all the Company proceeded in a procession with much quietness and gravity until they came under a large Chinar Tree or Platanus where remained the ruines of an old Chappel dedicated to this Saint Mass being here celebrated and ended the Priests returning in their Habiliments left the Pictures to be carried home by the Laity when one more forward than the rest with fear and reverence took the Champion on his Shoulder which at first began a little to move and turn itself but at length came to down-right blows giving the Fellow who managed the business very artificially so many knocks that it seemed to have beat him to the Ground when another immediately relieves him and takes it from him and then the other two Pictures begin the like rage buffeting and beating those that carry them with which there is so much noise and confusion that I never saw any piece of Bear-Garden-like or comparable to it This ridiculous piece of folly and superstition pleases the humour of the ignorant Greeks and scandalizes the Enemies of our Faith which when I saw I wonder'd at it and blamed the remissness of the Bishop in presence of the Priests who managed the solemnity of the day I asked one of them in private whether he really believed that the Pictures were inspired with life and motion to beat sinners to which making some pause as being unwilling to impose upon me whom he judged difficult to give credence to such matters he answered that it was a thing doubtful and hard to be believed by any other than the Vulgar sort And in other occasions discoursing with the Prelates and Bishops of this Church on the same subject I seemed to be concerned and transported with some little passion that in the sight of Turks and Infidels they should give countenance to so great a Cheat to the dishonour of our Holy Faith and Gospel which is supported on a better foundation than such idle and profane imaginations to which they gave me this answer That Custom had prevailed and that for some Ages this belief had taken so deep root in the minds of the ignorant that it was hard to undeceive them without dishonour to the Saint and danger to the whole Fabrick of the Christian Religion for this belief being equally fixed with the Doctrins of necessary Faith the confutation of this one would bring the others into question and perhaps perswade the people that they were now parting with the main Principles of the Gospel and that therefore it was thought necessary to let the Tares of false Doctrine to grow up with the Wheat of Orthodox Belief until God who knows the time shall separate them and pluck up the one without raising or extirpating the other And now that the Reader may better understand the Feasts in the Greek Church without the help of a Kalendar I shall present him with them beginning with the first Month according to their Account SEPTEMBER 8. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin 14. The Exaltation of the Cross. 23. The Conception of St. John the Baptist. 26. The Translation of St. John the Evangelist into Heaven OCTOBER 6. St. Thomas 18. St. Luke the Evangelist 23. St. James the Brother of John 26. St. Demetrio which is a day of great Devotion noted in the Kalendar with Red Letters and esteem'd amongst the Seamen both of Greeks and Truks to be stormy and tempestuous at Sea the Turks call it Cassim Gheun and will not go to Sea either ten days before or ten days after and before this day commonly the Fleet of Gallies return into Harbour and lay themselves up for the whole Winter NOVEMBER 1. The Holy Anargyri Cosma and Damianus 8. The Congregation and Seraphical Order of the Holy Angels noted with red Letters in the Kalendar 13. St. John Chrysostom 14. S. Phillip the Apostle which we celebrate the first of May. 16. S. Matthew the Apostle which we observe on the 21. of September 21. The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin in the Temple 25. S. Katherine Virgin and Martyr and the Martyr Mercurius 30. S. Andrew the Apostle DECEMBER 4. S. Barbara and S. John Damascen 5. S. Sabba Abbate 6. S. Nicholas * 7. S. Ambrosius Medio-Lanensis * 9. The Conception of S. Anne 12. S. Spiridon 13. The Martyrs Eustratius Auxentius Eugenius Mardarius Orestes c. * 15. S. Liberal and Eleutherius 17. The Prophet Daniel and the three Holy Children Ananias Azarias and Misaliel 20. S. Ignatius 25. The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 26. St. Stephen JANUARY The first day is celebrated in remembrance of the Circumcision of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and in honour of S. Basil. 6. The Epiphany and gathering together of Disciples to the Baptist in the Wilderness The 5th of January is the Vigil preceding this Festival dedicated to the day when Christ was Baptized wherefore on that day the Priests consecrate their Waters and the people drink of the same to which they are to come pure and with fasting 11. The holy Father Theodosius Caenobiarchus 17. S. Anthony the Abbot 16. The adoration of Alysius and the Apostle S. Peter 18. S. Athanasius and Cyril the Patriarchs of Alexandria 22. Timothy and Anastasius 25. S. Gregory Nazianzen 27. The Reliques of S. John Crysostom carried in procession 30. The three holy Oecumenical Divines or Doctors of the Church viz. Basil the great Gregory the Divine and John Chrysostom FEBRUARY 2. The presentation of Christ in the Temple 16. Theodorus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 23. The invention of the head of S. John Baptist. MARCH 9. The 40 holy Martyrs starved with cold in the Vally of Sebastia 25. The
it was judged necessary in those days to super-add this Ceremony to the more material parts of Baptism Before Baptism the Priest blows three times upon the Child to dispossess the Devil of his Seat then he pours Oyl on the Water in form of a Cross as a token of peace and reconciliation between God and Man and of regeneration by the Spirit as appears by this Prayer immediately following that Ceremony O Lord the God of our Fathers who sentest to those in Noah's Ark a Dove bearing in her mouth an Olive-Leafe the token of reconciliation denoting the mystery of Salvation and Grace by the flood and bestowing the fruit of the Olive for perfecting the mysteries of thy Saints by which thou satisfyest those who are in the Law of the Holy Spirit and in the Grace of Perfection do thou bless this Oyl with Power †Energy †and Illumination of the Holy Spirit that it may be the Chrism against all Filthiness the Armour of Righteousness and the renewing of the Spirit †and conversion of the Body from all Diabolical Works Immediately before the Act of Baptism the Priest takes the Child from the Arms of the God-father or Surety of which the Greek Church requires but one and making the sign of the Cross with Oyl on the Forehead Breast and reins of the back saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Servant of the Lord is anointed when he seals the Breast as they call it he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for cure of soul and body then he anoints the Ears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that by hearing Faith may be received the Feet that they may walk in the ways of God the hands that they may perform good Actions and thus the Child being anointed the Priest dippeth it three times into the Water and looking towards the East saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Servant of God is baptized And these are the Principal Ceremonies observed in Baptism by the Greek Church In Baptism one God-father stands at the Font if it be a Male-child and one God-mother if it be a Female which Gossips or compari and as they call them in Greek comparos esteem themselves to have the same duty incumbent on them in the Care and Education of the Child as hath the natural Father and hereby so great a Friendship is contracted between the two Gossips that ever after they are concerned for each others interest and they fancy that imaginary relation of a sacred consanguinity arising hence that the God-father cannot marry the Wife of his deceased Compare nor his Son the Daughter of him nor can they mix Blood for several descents after but under the censure of Incest and condemnation of the Church all which did arise at first from the undecency of the Godfather marrying the Child to which he was a Father in Baptism The Georgians which in some manner depend on the Greek Church baptize not their Children until they be eight years of Age they formerly did not admit them to Baptism until 14 but by means of such Preachers as the Patriarch of Antioch sends amongst them yearly they were taught how necessary it was to baptize Infants and how agreeable it was to the practice of the ancient Church but these being a people very tenacious of the Doctrines they once received could hardly be perswaded out of this errour till at length being wearied with the importunate Arguments of the Greeks they consented as it were to a middle way and so came down from 14 to 8 years of Age and cannot as yet be perswaded to a nearer complyance CHAP. VI. Of the second Mystery called Chrism in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 CHRISM though used in Baptism is yet different from it being the Seal or Confirmation of the party baptized in order to a performance of those Vows which he then makes The Oriental Confession declares that as the Spirit of God descended on the Apostles in form of Fire enduing them with supernatural graces and gifts agreeable to that employment whereunto they are called so this Chrism which is an anointing of the Infant with Oyl in most parts of the Body as before mentioned using these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Seal of the Spirit of God is instituted by Gods Church as a means to convey Grace and Strength to the Receiver the authority whereof is grounded on the 2 Cor. c. 1. v. 21 22. Now he which established us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts And as their Oriental Confession hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is as formerly the Spirit of God was conveyed by the imposition of hands so now it is by this Chrism or anointing with Oyl And the Greeks farther say That Dionysius the Areopagite Schollar of S. Paul testifies so much In this manner we may perceive how symbolical and proper Oyl is esteemed in the Greek Church to represent the mysteries of Grace being used in Baptism Confirmation in all their solemn Acts of blessing in extreme Unction or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we have already declared and it is here to be observed that the Greeks do baptize and confirm at the same time and for that reason this anointing is used On Good-Fryday the Arch-Bishop or Bishop makes and sanctifies the Chrism or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hallowing a quantity of Oyl sufficient to supply all the manners of anointing for the whole year the which is worked to a consistency as thick as Butter The Composition of which together with the Oyl are Xylobalsamum Echinanthes Myrrhe Xylocatia Carpobalsamum Ladanum and several other odoriferous Gums and Spices The manner of the consecration of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is very ceremonious for the Oyl being as before prepared the Curate carries it in an Alablaster-Box with a Covering to it and sets it upon the Altar being accompanied with his Deacons Then the Curate taking it from thence and being attended likewise with his Deacons who carry Lamps in their hands he meets the Patriarch or Bishop at the Gate of the Church and there delivers the Alablaster-Box into his hand who having received it places it at the left hand of the Communion-Table and then one of the Deacons says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us perform our Prayers unto the Lord. Then the Patriarch if present or else the Bishop ascends to the foot of the Communion-Table and covering the Holy Oyl with a Vail signs it three times with the sign of the Cross adding with a low voice this Prayer Merciful Lord and Father of Lights from whom every perfect good and gift proceeds bestow upon us unworthy grace to perform this great and life-giving Mystery in the same manner as thou gavest to Moses thy faithful Servant and Samuel thy Servant and all the Holy Apostles And send thy holy Spirit on this Ointment Make it a Royal Chrism a Spiritual Chrism conserving
life and an Oyl of joy sanctifying our Souls and Bodies That which preceeded in the old Law was made more evident and clear in the new Testament wherewith the Priests and high Priests Prophets and Kings were anointed Wherewith also thou didst anoint thine Apostles and all hitherto have been baptized by them and their Successors the Bishops and Presbyters by the laver of Regeneration And thou Almighty Lord God by the coming of the holy and adored Spirit make this the Garment of Incorruption an efficacious Seal which may imprint on those who are to be baptized the Divine Nomination of thy only Son and of the Holy Ghost that they may be known before thee to be of thy Houshold Citizens Servants and thy Children sanctifyed in soul and body and freed from all Malice washed from sin and being clothed with the Vestment of thy Immortal glory may be acknowledged through this signal by the Holy Angels Arch-Angels and all the Heavenly Powers and may become formidable to all evil and impure Devils and may become a peculiar People a Royal Priesthood a Holy Nation being signed by this thy immaculate Mystery and having thy Christ in their hearts in which thou God the Father in the holy Ghost mayest fix thy habitation because thou our God art holy and rests in the Saints and to thee the Father the Son and the holy Ghost we return glory for ever and ever Amen By this Prayer we may collect and observe the Doctrine of Chrism and for what reason and on what grounds it is practised in this Church CHAP. IX The third Mystery called the Holy Eucharist as also of the Blessed Bread or Panis Benedictus The Sacrament of the Holy Communion is as by all the Churches of God so particularly by the Greeks celebrated with singular Devotion their four Offices or Services relating to the administration of this Sacrament being of long Antiquity the Greeks argue to be agreeable to the Original Institution of our blessed Saviour The question about Transubstantiation hath not been long controverted in the Greek Church but like other abstruse notions not necessary to be determined hath lain quiet and dissentangled wound upon the bottom of its own Thread until Faction and Malice and the Schooles have so twisted and ravelled the twine that the end will never be found Nor after so many Volumes wrote by the most learned on both sides for some Ages until the World be better informed or satisfyed until the wise God by the illumination of his Divine Grace disperse those Clouds of Prejudice Interest and Ignorance which blinds the Minds and prepossesses the Spirits of the greatest part of Mankind It hath been a question very dubitable and not meanly controverted what side the Greek Church hath maintained in this dispute For if you will believe Cyrillus the Patriarch of Constantinople in the 17th Article of his Confession of Faith wrote about the year 1630 and printed 1633. his Sence and Words are wholly agreeable to the Tenents of the Reformed Churches in this particular from which those whose Education is purely of the Greek Literature instructed and taught in their own Monasteries do not seem much to deviate for when they carry this Sacrament to the sick they do not prostrate themselves before it nor do they expose it publickly to be adored unless in the very Act of Administration nor do they carry it in procession nor have they instituted any particular Feast in honour of it all which are Arguments that had this belief of Transubstantiation been agreeable to the Faith of the ancient Eastern Councils they would not have been less careful in ordaining those particular notes of honour in the Administration than the Western have done Howsoever such as have had their Education in Italy as he who wrote the Oriental Confession together with those who subscribed it seem to concur wholly with the Church of Rome in this Tenent having these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is When the Priest consecrates the Elements the very substance of the Bread and of the Wine is transformed into the true substance of the Body and Blood of Christ. And a little farther they proceed in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which we perceive that the Greeks have lately formed a word which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie or express Transubstantiation which they never read in their ancient Fathers though they may have found Metaphorically used in some times before the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the truth is it is difficult to make the Greeks understand the right state of this question for observing that there is a Sacramental Change granted to be of the Bread they immediately consider it as no other than a change which is substantial Nor is it a wonder that the Greeks follow the Latines in this Doctrine since as we have said before the most learned men amongst them taking their Education in Italy have in all points wherein neither custom nor Councils have determined taken up their Doctrines according to the positions of the Roman Schooles whom therefore they name by the distinction of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For really others which have had their Education in Greece only do not follow this Novelty and they which do contradict their own Liturgy viz. that of S. Chrysostom which is common to them both wherein after the compleat consecration these words follow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is that all we who partake of this Bread and this Cup may be united together in the Fellowship of the holy Ghost neither to our damnation or condemnation the which agrees with what the Apostle S. Paul writes in 1 Cor. c. 11. where after the words which we and they use for Consecration v. 24 25. he adds v. 26. For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup c. and V. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself Nay in that very Book where they have formed and used the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they mollifie it in a few lines after in these words viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who gave his own flesh and blood for meat and drink to the faithful under the Covering of Bread and Wine and not under the covering of Accidents only as maintained in the Roman Church And farther those words before mentioned viz 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot be meant of the mere Accidents but of the Elementary species of Bread and Wine as appears by these words of the same Authors following the words before cited 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. the Communication of the Mystery ought to be celebrated under the two species of Bread and Wine and the same words repeated 11 lines after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now no man ever called the Accidents of Bread and Wine the Objects of our five Senses only two Accidents The Laity as well as the Priests communicate in both kinds
taking the Bread and the Wine together in a Spoon from the hand of the Priest The Bread is made of the finest Wheaten Flower with Leaven from whence arises a sharp Dispute between them and the Latines the latter of which argues That it ought to be without Leaven in regard that it is more than probably presumed that the Institution of this Sacrament being ordained at the time of the Passeover it was administred with unleavened Bread which was only lawful on that occasion The Wine in the Sacrament before Consecration they mix with Water in representation of the Blood and Water which issued out of the side of our blessed Saviour opened by the Spear of the Roman Souldier The mixing of Wine with Water in this Holy Sacrament is no question of great Antiquity in the Church being acknowledged by most of the ancient Writers Fathers and Councils and particularly by Cyprian who believes it to have been so practised by Christ himself Others judge it an Ordinance of the Church only but all agree and assent unto it as to a Custom derived from a long Antiquity The Modern Writers of the Reformed Religion such as Vossius and othersâ— do not deny but that the Primitive Church mixed Waterâ— with their Wine in this Sacrament because drinking the same Wine at the Agapae or Love-Feasts as they did at the Lords Supper they might give occasion to the World to censure their Intemperance were their Wines which in the Eastern parts of the World are generous and strong not tempered and their force abated with Water This probably may be the Reason hereof rather than any Inference that can be made from the Example of our Saviour declared in the Holy Evangelists or the practice of the Church specified by the Apostles But because this Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is an essential part of the Christian Worship and greatly controverted between the Reformed and Roman Churches it will not be impertinent to set down distinctly the form and manner how it is celebrated in the Greek Church In the next place the Priest cuts off a second part from the Loaf before mentioned and forms it in the fashion of a Triangle Δ saying In honour and memory of our blessed Lady Mother of God and perpetual Virgin Mary through whose Prayers O Lord accept this Sacrifice to thy Celestial Altar and this Triangular is placed on the left hand of the formen with these words the Queen stood by in a Vesture of Gold c. Then the Priest takes the third part of the Loaf from which with his Lance in like manner he cuts out a small piece and places it under the first which he designed for himself and says of the honoured and glorious prophet the fore-runner of Christ John the Baptist then takes out a second and places it under the former saying of the holy glorious Prophets Moses Aaron Elias and all the other holy Prophets then taking out a third places it under the second and says of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and of all the twelve Apostles and so is finished the first Order Next the Priest cuts another small piece from the remaining parts of the Bread and places it near the first part and says of our Holy Fathers and Prelates of Basil the great of Gregory the Divine of John Chrysostom Athanasius Cyril and of all the Holy Doctors then he takes another piece and places it under that immediately before going and says of the Apostle first Martyr and Arch-Deacon Stephen and of the holy Martyrs Demetrius Gregory and all the other Martyrs then he takes a third and places it under the second saying of the holy Confessors Antonius Euthymius Sabba and Onuphrius Then is taken out another particle and placed under the left Angle of that part which the Priest is to receive who proceeds and says of the holy and miraculous Anargyri Cosma †Damianus Cyrus and John the merciful under which is also placed another particle of the holy Progenitors of the blessed Virgin Joachim and Anna and last of all is taken out a ninth particle in honour of S. Chrysostom whose Liturgy is that day read naming with him the Saint whose Festival is that day celebrated which nine particles of Bread represent the nine Hierarchies of Angels and are adjoyned to this Office in honour and commemoration of the Saints and Martyrs departed Then follows the Offertory for the living The Priest taking another small piece from the Bread says Remember O Lord who art a Lover of Mankind every Christian Prelate naming particularly the Bishop of the Diocess and of him who ordained him unto Ecclesiastical Orders and places it on his right hand names all those living which are recommended to their Prayers especially those who paid for that Mass. Then last of all is taken out another small piece of Bread which is laid on the left haâ—â— in commemoration of the Founders of the Church and of the Parents and Friends of those who are departed which paid for the Mass the meaning and nature of which Commemoration we shall declare more particularly in the Chapter wherein we treat of the Office for the Dead Things thus prepared in order for the Sacrament the Priest raises the form of a Star in Silver and holds it over that Bread which is ordained for Consecration in the Eucharist saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Star stood over the place where the young Child was and repeating some short Prayers and Ejaculations that God would purifie him and make him worthy to offer this glorious Sacrifice he goes forth from the place of the Offertory and reads the Epistle and Gospel for the day in representation of the Apostles going forth into the world to preach and propagate the Christian Faith Then the Priest returning takes the Bread and Wine covers it and before the Consecration is completed and as they say themselves not yet transubstantiated sets it on his head and goes in Procession with it through all the Church at which time the people bow worship and make the Sign of the Cross casting the sick and infirm in the way that the Priest striding over them they may receive some miraculous benefit and remedy by the direct beams and influx of the Sacrament which when I have objected to some Priests as a thing strange to see the Elements adored before Consecration till which time they could not pretend them to be transubstantiated They knew not well how to answer otherwise than that they adored the Elements as being in immediate capacity and disposition to be converted into the true Body and Blood of Christ. The Creed or Symbolum Apostolicum is next repeated and then the Cover or Vail is taken off called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and then over the Bread the air is moved with a Fan signifying the wind and breath of the Spirit which illuminated and inspired the Apostles when they composed the Articles of this holy Faith Then are
by not painting Pictures to the life or not using engraven Images or by not drawing them farther than to the Waste with an ill-favoured sort of flat painting as if they would thereby excuse the inconvenience which may be objected Yet certainly the use of them is so scandalous amongst Turks who have scarce any thing good in their Religion but that they profess one God and are Enemies to Idolatry that though Pictures and Images may be allowed indifferently in other Churches yet being no essential part of Gods Worship they ought wholly to be rejected and wiped out in Turkey and all the Eastern parts of the World CHAP. XVIII Of Prayers to Saints and Adoration of Angels THE Greek Church in their Prayers to Saints in Heaven and Angels which enjoy the Beatifical Vision of God Almighty differ little or nothing in Doctrine from the Roman which we shall best understand by that which they call The Orthodox Confession of the Anatolian Church in which we have these words We crave the intercession of Saints with God that they should pray for us and we invoke them not as Gods but as his friends who serve him and praise him and adore him and we crave their assistance not as if they were able to assist us by their own Power but that they should procure for us the Grace of God by means of their administrations They say farther But some will say that they do not know nor understand our Prayers To whom we answer that they of themselves do not know nor hear our Prayers but only by Revelation and the Divine Grace which God hath richly bestowed on them they both understand and hear us In like manner we invoke Angels that they would mediate for us by their Ministry with God wherefore they offer to the Majesty of God the Prayers Alms and good works of men And farther they say That as God commanded the Friends of Job that they should bring their Sacrifices and offer them for themselves and that Job should pray for them for that him God would accept so we bringing our Sacrifices of Prayer to the Footstool of the Throne of Grace have them there tendered to the Majesty of God by the Saints and Angels his accepted and beloved Ministers Who sees not here that the Greeks have learned the distinction of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the Roman Schools of whose Doctrine as we have said before they have extracted the Principles by their studies and Conversation in Italy which is the sole Gymnasion and Library of their knowledge and learning for in most points of Controversie where the Patriarchal Autority is not concerned they exactly concur with the sense of the Roman Schools But yet I do not find that their Prayers to Saints and Angels are so frequently enjoyned as they are in the Roman Offices and Rosaries but scattered here and there in their Breviaries of which for satisfaction of the Reader I have made some Collections Forms of Prayers to Saintsused in the Greek Church Holy Martyrs who have stoutly fought and are Crowned pray to the Lord to have mercy on our souls Holy Apostles beseech the merciful God to grant remission of sins to our souls These following are short Prayers appointed to be learned by Children and are commonly the Morning and Evening Devotions of private persons All holy Lady ' Mother of God pray for us Sinners All Celestial Powers of Angels and Arch-Angels pray for us Sinners Holy John Prophet and Fore-runner and Baptist of our Lord Jesus Christ pray for us Sinners Holy Orthodox Apostles Prophets and Martyrs and all Saints pray for us Sinners O sacred Ministers of God our Fathers Shepheards and Teachers of the World pray for us Sinners O invincible indissolvable and Divine Power of the Reverend and life-giving Cross forsake us not Sinners These particulars shall serve for instances that in the Greek Church Prayers are made to Saints in the same manner as in the Roman CHAP. XIX Of the Greek Islands in the AEgean Sea now called the Arche-Pelago and the devision there of Religion between the Greek and Latin Churches AMongst the many Isles in the Arche-pelago since the Conquest of Candia by the Turks none remains subjected to Christian Government but only Tino which belongs to the Venetians Tenedos Myteline Scio Negropont and some others are thought worthy of the Fortresses and defence of the Ottoman Sword The others lye open and ungarded and are the possession and prize of every Pyrate and Rover but yet according to the last Peace concluded between Venice and the G. Signor they are all annexed to the Dominions of the Turk to whom they pay a yearly Harach or Poll-money which is four Dollars per head whereas in the time of the War they paid the same both to the Venetians and the Turk The Turk looking on the Inhabitants of those Isles like out-lying Deer lodged without pale or defence and rather such who afford harbour and succour to Pyrates and Enemies than strength or Riches to the Borders of his Empire hath of late entered into consultation for dispeopling those Islands and transporting the Inhabitants into more secure Enclosures where they may render greater benefit and improvement to their Grand Landlord than they do at present but as yet no resolution hath been taken therein The Greeks are greatly divided in their Religion and consequently alienated each from other in their humour and inclinations some acknowledging the Patriarchal See at Constantinople some at Rome It is not to be doubted but that the Romanists possessing most of Wit and Money are always too hard for the Ignorance and Poverty of the Greeks by which and the convenient shortness of the Latin Mass they draw many of the Greeks from attendance on their own tedious Services to better ordered and more easie Devotions though as yet they cannot perswade them to renounce their obedience to their Church and Patriarch Moreover whilest the Venetians exercised an Authority over many of these Islands which was before they were constrained to render them to the Turk the Church of Rome enjoyed an opportunity of fixing a deep Foundation for that Religion and thereby so far encroached into the possessions of the Greeks that their Religion remained under great discouragements their Rites being suppressed in all the Isles of that Sea for want of protection and redress of their aggrievances until the Greek Bishop or Metropolite of Scio called Ignatius Neochori in the year 1664 being a person of an active Spirit and reported by his Adversaries to be of a proud and haughty disposition inclined to Covetousness and versed in crafty and subtle Arts endeavoured to buckle with the Power and Jurisdiction of the Latines To effect which he at first cunningly suggested to the Turks the danger of that people by reason of their nearness and affinity with the Venetians and constant correspondence with the Enemies
call them or Governours to whom they refer all their Causes in Civil Differences and who are the Representatives of the Island and gather in the Poll-money getting it ready against the time that the Turkish Gallies and Captain Pasha come to demand it which they yearly do But in case any person be guilty of a Capital Fault which deserves death he is reserved till the arrival of the Commander in chief of the Gallies who executes justice upon him These Governors are chosen yearly by the people or they confirm the old ones which is most commonly done for amongst them are few who are ambitious of Rule and Soveraignty In some of these Islands are found the most expert Divers under Water in the World the best of which are of Samos and of Simo. One of which I saw employed in very cold Weather on occasion of an English Boat which was sunk by a Ships side laden with Tin and Lead in the Port of Smyrna in about eight fathom of Water who for want of heat rather than breath the Weather being very cold in the month of January was forced to dive four times to fix four Ropes to the Boat two of which he hooked within the Rings of the Head and Stern and two at each side in the mid-ships which he acted very dexterously not missing at any time of that which he went about Upon discourse with him afterwards he told me That he was born at Simo where at the Age of three or four years his Father brought him to the Sea and taught him to swim and then to dive which by degrees he so well learned with other young Companions that their common practise was to try who could stay longest under the Water in which they are very emulous to exceed because it is the sole trade of their poor Island to cut Spunges and he that is the most expert therein gets the handsomest Wife and the best Portion This man farther informed me That he never could stay under Water when his Belly was full but that in a Morning or at any time of the day fasting in warm Weather and in a calm Sea he could stay three quarters of an hour under Water He never heard of Spunges dipped in Oyl to hold in their mouths as we vulgarly report nor used they any other help than before they dived into the Water to fill their Lungs with as much Air as they could draw in If they staid long under Water they felt a pain in their Ears and many times blood issued thence and from their Noses their Eyes were always open so that they could almost see as well under as above the Water and indeed I observed that his Eyes were glazed and burnt with the Sea that they looked like Glass or the Eyes of Fish And this shall serve at present for what we have to relate of the Grecian Islands CHAP. XX. Of other Matters and Tenents held by the Greek Church not comprised in the premises and of particular Customes amongst them THEY earnestly deny the procession of the Holy Ghost from God the Son but only from the Father through the Son which they argue with more subtlety than usually they do any other Controverted Point in Religion They seem to retain something which savours of ancient Gentilism particularly their Belief of a certain holiness in some Fountains attributing miraculous operations to Waters and by reason of the favour of some Saint to whom the same is dedicated in the same manner as the Pagans did who believed their Fountains to be guarded by some Nymph or Deity to whom they were consecrated When they lay the Foundation of a new Building the Priest comes and blesses the Work and Workmen with Prayer for which they have an Office in their Liturgy which is very laudable and becoming Christians But when the Priest is departed the Workmen have another piece of their own Devotion to perform which they do by killing a Cock or a Sheep the Blood of which they bury under the first stone they lay It is not always but very frequently practised in which they imagine that there is some lucky Magick or some spell to attract good fortune to the Threshold they call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Sacrifice and therefore I believe that this is a piece of ancient Heathenism They think it not lawful to eat Blood or things strangled though they are not very nice or scrupulous in the examination of what Provisions are set before them The Apochryphal Books they esteem for Apocryphe and of no greater Authority than they are reputed for in England but yet they hold that some Traditions are of equal Authority with the written word The Doctrine of Justification by faith or good works is not a Problem controverted amongst them they are not as yet it seems so far proceeded in Polemick Learning but believe that both are very necessary to salvation and that he whose faith produces good works out-does him whose life is buried in notions and arrests it self in a bare disputation They believe Faith to be an active and prolifick Grace and that which cannot remain in idleness but must operate and employ that heavenly heat it receives from above but whether our Justification be beholding to our Faith or to our Works or to both together they leave the Query to the discussion of such who have more leisure and money and perhaps more curiosity than the ordinary Monks of Greece Those who have a Malice or Quarrel to any particular person do oftentimes bring the breadth and length in Thread or Wood of him against whom they entertain Malice to a Carpenter or Mason who is ready to lay the Foundation of a house the which for a little money is buried under one of the first stones after which they say the person dyes or at least macerates away as the Thread or Wood decays which is a most certain piece of Magick of the ancient Gentilism They really believe that on or about the 15th day of August which is the day that they celebrate the Assumption of our Blessed Lady that all Streams in the World retire into Egypt to do homage and obeysance to that Grand River of Nylus which is the cause as they say of the innundation of that Country And of this perswasion they are because they perceive that in August the Springs and Rivers are every where low and the Nilus full and over-flowing its Banks which they attribute as a blessing to that River and its Country where the Saviour of the World and his Blessed Mother were secured from the Malice and Treachery of impious Herod And this fond fancy the Vulgar have taken up not considering that the Nilus overflows in June and July and that the Waters decrease in August I have now done with the History of the Greek Church to which I shall only add this remarkable passage in the Conclusion which though it be a matter not more relating to the Greeks than other Christians