Divine Indulgence and the Priestly gifts of the Holy Ghost by the priviledg of his Vertue lest he be found unfit for his Place Item Benedictio SAnctificationum omnium Autor cujus vera Consecratio plena Benedictio est Tu Domine super hunc samulum ill quem Prebyterii honore dedicamus manum tuae Benedictionis eum insunde ut gravitate actuum censura vivendi probet se esse seniorem his institutus disciplinis quas Tito Timotheo Paulus exposuit ut in lege tua die ac nocte omnipotens meditans quod elegerit credat quod crediderit doceat quod docuerit meditetur justitiam constantiam miscricordiam fortitudinem in se ostendat exemplum probet admonitionem confirmet ut purum atque immaculatum ministerii tui domum custodiat per obsequium plebis tuae corpus sanguinem filii tui imma culata Benedictione transformet inviolabili caritate in virum perfectum in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi in die justitiae aeterni judicii conscientia pura side plena Spiritu Sancto plenus persolvat Per Dominum The Benediction THou the Author of all Sanctifications whose true Consecration is a full Benediction Thou O Lord lay the hand of thy Blessing upon this thy Servant whom we have dedicated to the honor of Priesthood that by the gravity of his actions and the rule of living he may prove himself to be an Elder instructed in those Disciplines which Saint Paul delivered to Titus and Timothy that meditating in thy Law O Almighty God day and night he may believe what he reads and teach what he believes and follow what he teaches and may shew forth Righteousness Constancy Mercy and Courage in himself and approve himself a Pattern and confirm his Admonitions and may preserve the gift of thy Ministry undefiled and through the obedience of thy people may transform the Body and Blood of thy Son with an undefiled Blessing and may finish all by an inviolable Charity in a perfect man in the measure of the Statute of the fulness of Christ in the day of the justice of Eternal Judgment with a pure Conscience and a full Faith being full of the Holy Ghost The follows the Consecration of their Hands in these words Consecratio Manus COnsecrentur Manus istae sanctificentur per istam Unctionem nostram Benedictionem ut quaecunque benedixerint benedicta sint quaecunque sanctificaverint sanctificentur Per Dominum Item Alia UNgantur Manus istae de Oleo Sanctifica Chrismate Sanctificationis sicut unxit Samuel David in Regem Prophetam ita unguentur consummentur in nomine Dei Patris Filii Spiritus Sancti sacientes Imaginem Sanctae Crucis Salvatoris Domini nostri Iesu Christi qui nos à morte redemit ad regna coelorum perducit Exaudi nos Pie Pater Omnipotens Aeterne Deus praesta quod tâ—… Rogamus Orames Per Dominum In English thus LEt these hands be Consecrated and Sanctified by this Unction and our Blessing that whatsoever they Bless be Blessed and whatsoever they Sanctifie be Sanctified through our Lord. And Another LET these hands be annointed with the Sanctified Oyl and the Chrism of Sanctification as Samuel annointed David to be both King and Prophet So let them be annointed and perfected in the Name of God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost making the Image of the Holy Cross of our Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ who redeemed us from Death and brings us to the Kingdome of Heaven Hear us O Holy Father Almighty and Eternal God and grant what we desire and Pray for Through our Lord. There is neither more nor less in that Ritual about the Ordination of a Priest For this last of the Annointing the Priests with Oyl it cannot be called essential to the Priesthood for the Greek Church never used it and tho Nazianzen tells us that his Father had anointed St. Basil and that himself was also Annointed yet neither the Apostolick Constitutions nor Dionystus the Areopagite nor Simeon of Thessalonica nor Cabasilas tho they have delivered to us the Rites of Ordination in the Greek Church ever mention it And it is in no Greek Ritual So that what ever places are found in any Greek Author of Annointing in Ordination must be understood Allegorically and Mystically of the effusion of the Holy Ghost So both Elias Cretensis and Nicetas the Scholiasts on Nazianzen expound his words and there are some Passages near the end of his Fourth Oration that shew these other places of his are to be understood Metaphorically This Rite is not mentioned by the Council of Carthage and it seems was not received in Spain a great while after the Age of this Ritual for Isidor tho very particular in other things as the Staff and Ring does not mention it neither when He speaks of the Ordination of Priests nor Bishops Nor do the Councils in Spain mention it and Alcuine speaks nothing of it but it was only as seems used in the Gallicane Church and the first that I find clearly mention it is Amalarius but Gildas intimates it for he speak of the benediction qua initiantur Sacerdotum manus by which the Priests hands are initiated Pope Nicolas the first expresly says that at Rome neither Priests nor Deacons were annointed His words are Praeterea sciscitaris utrum solis Presbyteris an Diaconibus debeant cum Ordinantur manus Chrismatis liquore perungi quod in Sancta hac Romana cui Deo auctore deservimus Ecclesia neutris agitur Sed quia sit à novis legis ministris actum nusquam nisi nos fallat oblivio legimus You ask me further if only the Priests or the Deacons likewise when they are Ordained should have their hands anointed with the Chrism this is done to neither of them in this Holy Roman Church where by Gods appointment we serve and if our memory fails us not we no where read that this was done by the Ministers of the new Law The Second Ritual published by the same Author is as he believes Nine hundred year Old and has been compiled for the Church of Rome being that which is commonly called Sacramentarium Gelasianum in which the Rubricks and Prayers are the same with the Former only the Annointing is not mentioned in that part of it that relates to the Ordination of Priests but the Transcriber after the Office of the Ordination of the Subdeacon adds the Rite and Collects for the Annointing the Priests which Morinus believes he did to accommodate it to the French Rites The third Ritual is as Morinus believes antienter than Eight hundred years in which the Rites and Collects are the same with the Former only the Consummation and Blessing is wanting and a new Rite is added of giving the Vestiments with these words which are in stead of the
Pool to have been a righteous Arch-Bishop and so confesses Catholick Ordination and Jurisdiction to be lawful valid and good which was necessary by the Laws of England as appears from her Mandate in which she supplies any Defects they might have been under Now all the Authority the Queen had flowed from the Parliament which annexed all Jurisdiction Spiritual or Temporal over the Ecclesiastical State of this Realm to the Crown by which they made her Pope So that by the very words of the Act Matthew Parker had his Jurisdiction from the Queen and she hers from the Parliament Therefore the Protestant Priests and Bishops are only Parliamentary Priests and Bishops and are not from Christ and his Church but from their Kings Queen and Parliaments Here is such a heap of things so unjustly and weakly said that it must needs grieve all honest men to see a company of Priests going up and down the Kingdom studying to abuse weak and unlearned persons with such disingenuous Stories or Writings Which I hope will appear more fully if you consider the following particulars First It is certain that King and Parliament have the Supream Legislative Authority in this Realm and this they have from the Laws of God Nature and Society confirmed by the Gospel which commands us to be subject to the Higher Powers Therefore whatever they Enact that is within the Limits of their Jurisdiction is Law and if it be not sinful is to be obeyed if it be sinful it is to be submitted to For instance if they set up a false Religion by Law it does not make it a true Religion but adds the sanction of Law and is the civil Warrant and Security for the Subject therefore the Civil Power cannot change the nature of things to make Good Evil or Evil Good but only gives Authority and Security and in this they are restrained in things Civil as well as Spiritual for if they make unjust Laws in Civil things the case is the same with their unjust Laws about Spirituals Therefore it is to be concluded as the Fundamental Maxim of Civil Government that whatever may be done lawfully and without Sin ought to be done when the Supream Civil Authority commands it and that the Subjects ought to obey Secondly Whosoever is empowered by the King and Parliament to execute this their Supream Authority has a full Right and Title to apply that Power so given or committed to him having the execution of that Law put in his hands and if any shall without their Warrant or Authority from them usurp or assume any sort of Power or Jurisdiction within this Kingdom they are Intruders and Usurpers and the success they have in it does no more justifie that Force than a Robber's does his Title to Goods unjustly taken And although some weak Princes in hard times did yield it up to the Pope yet both the Clergy themselves and the Parliaments did often assert their own Authority which was most eminently done by King Edward the First and King Edward the Third So that the Popes power here had no just Title but was a violent Invasion for that they neither had it from Christ nor Saint Peter nor by any Decree of General Councils and that for 800 years after Christ it was never allowed them that they never had it in the Eastern Churches and that what they had in the Western Churches was only extorted by force and fraud from the Princes and States of Europe and that they had no Law for it in England are things so certain that for proof of this I shall refer my self to the Writers of their own Church De Marca Launoy and Balusius with many others And at this very day the Pope has neither more nor less power in the other Kingdoms of Europe than the Connivence of Princes or the Laws give him Therefore the Pope had no power in England but what was unjustly usurped from the King and Parliament Thirdly When the Supream Authority the King and Parliament have long endured an Encroachment upon them that gives no just Title to it nor hinders them from asserting their own Rights when they find a fit opportunity for it and neither devests them of their Authority nor the Subjects of their due Rights and Freedoms Therefore the Government of the Kingdom and all the exercise of coercive Jurisdiction being inseparably annexed to the Supream Authority it was incumbent on them to shake off all Forrein Jurisdict they should have done it sooner but could never do it too soon Fourthly The King and Parliament asserting their Authority in this Particular and condemning the Popes Usurpations they might commit the execution of it to whom they would Therefore they putting it into the Queens hands and her Successors she had a good Right to exercise it having a Law for it This then being annexed to the Imperial Crown of the Realm by the Supream Authority of King and Parliament the King hath the power of exercising it fully and only in his hands and is to be obeyed in all his Injunctions that are not sinful by the Laws of the Supream Authority in this Kingdom which comes from God and is confirmed by the Gospel Fifthly Though the power of the Ministers of the Gospel comes only from Christ yet the exercise of that Power and this or that person being put in this or that Living or Preferment and having the right to the Tythes and all the Jurisdiction of the Spiritual and Prerogative Courts being things not appointed in the Gospel the King having the Supremacy over the Ecclesiastical State does not exceed his Limits when he reserves to himself such power that no person shall be vested with the Legal Authority for those things but by his knowledg or upon his Order It is true he cannot make a man a Bishop or a Priest nor can he take away Orders for if Bishops should Ordain or Consecrate without or against his pleasure he may proceed against both the Ordainers and Ordained and can hinder their exercising any Function in his Dominions by Banishing or Imprisoning them but â—…he cannot destroy or annul their Orders So that the power of Ordination comes from Christ and has a Spiritual Effect whatever opposition the King may make but the exercise of that power must be had from him If the King commands an Heretick or a Scandalous person to be Elected or Ordained Churchmen may well demur and offer their reasons why they cannot give Obedience not for the want of Authority in the King but because the matter is Morally evil As they must also do if the King should command them to commit Theft or Murther So that all Consecrations in this Land are made by Bishops by the power that is inherent in them only the King gives orders for the execution of that their power Therefore all that the Queen did in the Case of Matthew Parker and the Kings do since was to command so many Bishops to exercise a power they
them thy Blessing and grace that being fitted by thy gift always to implore thy mercy they may be devout by thy Grace Through our Lord Iesus Christ. There follow some Collects that are called in the Rubrick Super Oblata which belong to the Office of the Communion and are Prayers for the Bishop and this is all in that Ritual that relates to the Ordination of a Bishop The Second Ritual in all things agrees with the former The Third Ritual begins that Office with the second Canon of the Fourth Council of Carthage about the Consecration of Bishops then follow the Collects Oremus Adesto and Propitiare as in the first then the Prayer of Consecration Deus Honorum omnium And at the word Comple the Bishop takes the Chrism and at the words Hoc Domine he pours it on the head of the person to be Consecrated but all from Sinceritas Pacis to Tribuas ei Domine is left out then follow the Collects Super oblata there is no more in that Ritual For the Annointing of Bishops tho it was neither used in the Eastern nor African Churches yet both Pope Leo and Gregory the Great mention it as a Rite then received in the Roman Church Amalarius gives an accout of it but cites no ancienter Author for it than Beda for some other Authorities that are brought to prove the greater Antiquity of this Rite are either Allegorical or relate to the Chrism with which all were annointed at their Confirmation The Fourth Ritual has first the Questions that are put to the Bishop that is to be Ordained which has begun it seems from the time of the fourth Council of Carthage where by the first Canon the Bishop was to be examined both about his Faith and Manners I shall only set down two of these the one is Vis ea quae ex Divinis scripturis intelligis plebem cui Ordinandus es verbis docere exemplis Wilt thou both by the words and example instruct the people for whom thou art to be Ordained in those things which thou dost understand out of the Holy Scriptures To which he answers I will And this alone were there no more may serve to justify those Bishops who got Orders in the Church of Rome and afterwards received the Reformation since by the very Sponsions given in their Ordination they had engaged themselves to instruct their Flocks according to the Scriptures Another Question is Vis esse subditus huic nostrae Sedi atque Obediens Wilt thou be subject and obedient to this our See Which was no other than what every Metropolitan demanded of all the Bishops under him and yet this is all the obedience then promised to the Pope far different from the Oaths which were afterwards exacted But I go on to give an account of the rest of the Office according to this Ritual in the Rubrick the Second Canon of the fourth Council of Carthage is set down to which is added Hoc facto accipiat patinam cum Oblatis Calicem cum vino det ei dicens Accipe Potestatem offerre Sacrificium c. Which being done he shall take the Paten with the Hosties and the Chalice with the Wine and shall give him saying Receive Power to offer Sacrifice c. So that this was used in the Consecration of Bishops long before it was in the making of Priests then follow Oremus Adesto and Propitiare as they are before set down then two new Rites are set down the Rubrick is Ad Annulum dandum MEmor sponsionis desponsationis Ecclesiasticae Dilectionis domini Dei tui in die qua assecutus es hunc honorem cave ne obliviscaris illius Accipe ergo annulum discretionis honoris fidei signum ut quae signâ—…nda sunt signes Et quae aperienda sunt prodas Quae liganda sunt liges quae solvenda sunt solvas utque credentibus per fidem baptismatis lapsis autem sed poenitentibus per mysterium reconciliationis januas regni coelestis aperias Cunctis verò de thesauro dominico nova vetera proferas ut ad aeternam salutem omnibus consulas gratia Domini nostri Iesu Christi cui cum Patre Spiritu Sancto est honor gloria in saecula saeculorum Amen For giving the Ring BEing mindful of the sponsion and Ecclesiastical wedding and of the Love of the Lord God in the day in which thou hast attained this honour beware least thou forget it Receive therefore the Ring the Seal of discretion and of the honour of Faith that thon maist seal the things that are to be sealed and maist open the things that are to be opened and maist bind the things that are to be bound and maist loose the things that are to be loosed and maist open the Gates of the heavenly Kingdom to the believers by the Faith of Baptism and to those that have fallen but are Penitent by the mysterie of Reconciliation and that thou maist bring forth to all Men out of the treasure of the Lord things new and old and that thou maist take care of all their Eternal Salvation Through the Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ to whom c. Ad Baculum dandum ACcipe Baculum sacri Regiminis signum ut imbecilles consolides titubantes confirmes praves corrigas in viam salutis aeternae habeasque potestatem aâ—…trahendi dignos corrigendi indignos cooperante Domino nostro Iesu Christo cui cum patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti est virtus imperium per omnia saecula saeculorum Amen For giving the Staff REceive the Staff the sign of the sacred Government that thou maist strengthen the weak confirme them that stagger correct the wicked in the way of Eternal salvation and may have power to attract the worthy and correct the unworthy through the assistance of our Lord Iesus Christ to whom c. Then follows the Prayer of Consecration and at the words Hoc Domine the Rubrick appoints the Chrism to be put on his head and what is left out in the former Ritual is also left out in this after that Prayer follows the Collect Super Oblata and there is no more in that Ritual For these rites of the Ring and Staff the first I find that mentions them is â—…dore who both speaks of them and 〈◊〉 sets down some of the words used in the former Ritual Yet Alcuinus speaks not a word of it tho he entitles his Chapâ—…er The manner in which a Bishop is Ordained in the Roman Church But iâ—… seems he has only lookt on some more Antient Rituals in which there was no such Rite for it is most certain that it was used in his time Amalarius tho he does at a great length insist on the annointing of the Bishop yet speaks not a word of the Staff or Ring But Rabanus Maurus who lived in that time does mention it or rather sets down Isidores words without citing