all thinges Allthoughe this mannes workes haue bene bothe named Origen Athan. Damascen Nicenum 2 and certeyne sentēcies alleaged oute of theyme by most auncient doctors and councelles With whome the aduersaries yf they list be busie shall wrestle for I will seeke oute as my purpose was whether in other times and vsageis of celebration this kind memoriall of the deade hathe not bene kept S. Cipriane shal not be called to recorde for the Church of Aphrike or Carthage bicause we hearde his iudgement before who plainely cōmaunding the priestes vnder his iurisdiction not to celebrate for certeyne notoriouse offenders Epi. 9. li. 1 geueth vs to witte that of right and custom it belonged in his prouince to others that passed hense in obedience and pietye The which was continued in that parte of the worlde till Augustines time De cura pro mortuis et alibi saepè being about .cc. yeares after him Thus breffely he telleth yow the practise of his Church In praecibus sacerdotis quae domino deo ad eius altare funduntur locum suum habet etiam cōmendatio animarum In the prayers of the priest which are made to oure Lorde God at his altare the commendation of the departed hathe a place Nowe for the greeke Churchies and the easte S. Chrisostom and Basill in theire Massies for so nowe the worde lyturgia is vsed of all the diuine writers and so Erasmus translateth it and so it muste needes be taken beare sufficiēt witnesse of the Apostolike traditiō in this point For in S. Chrisostoms seruice thus the prayer is made for the deade Lyturgia Chrisosto Remēbre good Lorde oure spirituall father and all the brotherhoodde in Christe and all those that are departed hense in faithe oure fathers and oure bretherne cae And agayne in the same Masse after warde thus he praythe Remembre all those good Lorde which haue taken theire slepe in the hope of resurrection and liefe euerlastinge Cause theim to take rest wher the lighte of thy cowntenaunce is shewed Lyturgia Basilia In S. Basilles Masse which the Syrians vse ther is also prayers for the departed in which the minister desirethe God to remembre all theime which be passed oute of this worlde and that he woulde refresshe theim in his holy tabernacle saffely leade theime through the horrible and fearefull dwellinges and place theime in quiet and ioyfull abydinge that he would deliuer theim from the lande of darkenesse troble and sorowe that he entre not in to iudgement with theime finallye that he woulde mercifully remitte and pardon what so euer they committed throughe the vesture of the flesshe that was woorthye punishment This prayer was pithie and toucheth the placies of poonishment and purgation in the next liefe So there is extant an other ordre of diuine seruice and Celebration of the communion called the general Canon vniuersalis Canon vsed in Aethiopia which lately with the rest was set forthe in latine in that so generall an vsage there is supplication made to God for the soules also Remembre Lord saith the minister all those which are a slepe and rest in the faithe of Christe place theire soules we besiche the in the bosom of oure fathers Abraham Isaac and Iacob So likewise in the seruice of the Armenians Lyturgia Amentorū consonant for the most parte to the greeke vsage after supplication in the time of the holy oblation for the lyuinge streght way praiers be deuoutly made for the deade First the deacon saithe Rogate dominum pro animabus quae requiescunt in pace inprimis episcoporum hic quiescentium That is to say pray vnto oure Lorde for the soules which rest in peace namely and before al other for the Bishoppes resting in this place And thē he prayeth thus Remembre Lord and haue mercy and shewe thy fauourable grace to all the soules deceased pacifie and illuminate theime adioyne theime to the company of holy sanctes in heauē and make theime woorthy of thy loue But S. Ambrose in his praeparatory prayer towardes the holy oblation In prima prece praeparatoria ad missam geuethe vs an excellent token of his churchies faith and a singulare exāple to folowe in the time of the dreadfull misteries when we remembre oure frindes departed thus he saithe Rogamus te sancte pater pro spiritibus fideliū defunctorū vt sit illis salus aeterna ac perpetua sanitas gaudium refrigerium sempiternum hoc magnum pietatis sacramentum domine Deus meus sit illis hodie magnum plenum gaudium de te pane viuo vero qui de coelo descendisti das vitam mundo A notable solemne prayer of S. Ambrose for the soules departed de carne sancta benedicta agni videlicet immaculati qui tollis peccatū mundi potare de fonte pietatis tuae qui per lanceam militis de latere emanauit crucifixi Christi domini nostri vt consolati exultent in laude gloria tua sancta This in englishe we beseche the most holy father for the soules of al faithefull departed that this highe and greate sacrament of piety may be vnto theime helthe and salfty for euer ioye release and perpetuall refresshinge O my Lorde God geue theime this daye greate and perfect comforte of thee which arte the bread that came downe from heauen and geuest liefe to the worlde Let theim take ioye of thy holy and blessed flessh that is to say of the lambe that takethe a waie the sinnes of the world Geue theim to drinke of the springe of thy piety which by the prick of the souldiers speare did abundantly isshue out of the side of oure sauiour Christe and lorde crucified that they being so comforted may reioyse in thy lande and glory euerlastinglie To be briefe al the Christian world agreeing as Isiodorus saithe vpon one waie for the celebratiō of diuine mysteries makethe intercessiō for the faithfull departed De ecclesi officijs li. 1 Cap. 15. that by the blessed sacrifice they may obteine pardon and remission of theire sinnes For I assure the good reader that all realmes which nowe by Goddes grace are in true faithe and theire Christianity continuing or elles before haue bene and nowe by schisme do forsake the same that all those nations as they receiued one faithe so in substance they haue euer agreede vniformely in ordre of seruice which they receiued at theire first conuersion from the waie of gentilitie by the good prouision of suche as wrought vnder God in theire happy turne to the Christian faithe and religion The same men that brought in the faith of Iesus with all brought in this way of worshipping Christe in the same faithe take away then this ordre of worship and solempne supplication which they planted thowe must needes ouerthrowe the faithe whiche they taught also This I say was euer fownd in the celebration of the fearefull mysterie of Christes body an bloode besides
inioyned by the vnaptnesse off â—he earthe to serue his tourne by rebellioune of the inferiour creatures by the trooblesom motions of his owne affections and bryefely in all poyntes by a lothsom lyefe and a dredfull deathe Yea and that his pounishment ceased not in this worlde by his deathe but many hundrethe yeres after remayned as forther condemnation of his disobedience I shall more conuenyently a none declare Nowe sekyng forther to haue cleare and open euidence in this case we can not wisshe more proufe then may bee had by the straunge workyng and dispensation of God in the many foulde affaires of that sanctified people and chosen nation of the Israelites In whiche peoples perpetuall peotection a man might fiend a perfecte platte off mercy and iudgement So often they faule so sodenly they rise so greuously they offende suche mercy they fynd that it is maruelous to consider Of this electe family therfore thus God speakethe Psal 88. Si autem dereliquerint filij eius legem meam in iudicijs meis non ambulauerint visitabo in virga iniquitates eoruÌ„ in verberibus peccata eorum misericordiam autem meam non dispergam ab eo neque nocebo in veritate mea Yf his children reiect my lawe and waulke not in my iudgementes withe rodde will I viset theire wickednes and in stripes they re sinnes yet will I not take my mercy froÌ„ him or theyme as it is allso redde nor harme him in my trauthe Goddes penple first pardoned vvas then after poonished This people at theire first passage oute of Egipte commytting horrible Idolatrye was pardoned therof at the instaunce of Moises yet so saithe oure lorde God vnto him Ego autem in die vltionis Exod. 32. visitabo hoc peccatum eorum But yet in the day of reuengement I will viset this theire offense also The same people offending greuously ageine by murmoure and mistrust of goddes carefull prouidence towardes theyme at theire Gouernours humble sute were expressely forgiuen in these wordes Numer 14 Dimisi iuxta verbum tuum I haue pardoned theime according to thy worde But after theire assured warraunt for the full remission of the fault and the aeternall payne due to that greuous sinne behoulde yet theire ponishment temporall for the same Attamen omnes homines qui viderunt maiestatem c. For all that saithe oure lord euery one that hathe seene my maiesty and the woonders whiche I wroght in Egipte and in the wildernesse and yet hathe notwythstanding tempted me tenne tymes shall not behoulde the land for whiche I bounde my selfe by othe to theire forefathers But passing the peoples sinne Moises and Aron theime sellfe in many poyntes minister abundant proufe of this mater Who bothe dying in perfecte fauoure of God yet for theire mistrust weare discharged of gieding goddes people Num. 20. or entringe theime sellfe in to the lande so hartely desired and so long looked for before â–ª of these two the prophet saith thus Custodiebant testimonia eius et praeceptum quod dedit illis Psal 98. Deus tu propitius fuisti eis vlciscens in omnes adinuentiones eorum They obserued his testimonyes and the charge that he gaue vnto theime Lord God thou wast mercifull vnto theime and sharply reuenged they re owne inuentions The lyke ordinaunce of goddes iustice in poonishment of suche as he highly fauoured may appeare in Samson in Holy Iudic. 16. 1. Reg. 3. and all other notarious personages in the whole scripture But the heartely beloued of God kinge Dauids example so bearethe doune oure aduersaryes that I can not well omit it thoughe I nowe longe to be nearer my mater This prophet had an eypresse pardon withe a plaine prouiso that he shulde notwithstanding beare the heuy hand of God for the poonishment of his former sinne Once for taking priede in the multitude and numbryng of his people God thoughe he pardoned him 2. Reg. vlt. yet by the Prophet Gad gaue him leaue to chuese of three named skourges whiche he woulde to whome he answhered Coarctor nimis sed melius est incidere in manus domini multae enim sunt misericordiae eius I am sore vrged but better it is to faule in to Goddes handes for his mercyes be exceding many And so according to his election he had many thousandes of his people perished by Goddes plage Off whose case S. Gregory saithe maruailous muche in these fewe wordes Deus delictum delet sed inultum non deserit peccato non parcitur quia sine vindicta non laxatur Li. 9. in Iob. ca. 82. God wyepeth a way mannes offense but he leauethe it not vnpoonished sinne is not spared because it is not withe oute reuenge released But before this he had a full warraunt off remission of his horrible mourder and adoultery by the prophet Nathan saing vnto him thus after his repentaunce 2. Reg. 12. Dominus quoque transtulit peccatum tuum non morieris veruntamen quoniam blasphemare fecisti inimicos nomen domini propter verbum hoc filius qui natus est tibi morte morietur Oure lorde hathe remoued thy sinne neuerthelesse bicause thou hast made thenimyes blaspheme our lordes name by this woorde thy sonne whiche is borne vnto the shall dye the deathe Off whiche mater S. Augustine by occasion taulking ageinst Fanstus asketh what maner of pardon it was Lib. 23. cap. 67. that the prophet brought from God vnto Dauid And he answhereth thus Ad quam rem nisi ad sempiternam salutim neque enim praetermissa est in illo secundum Dei comminationem flagelli paterni disciplina To what ende elles had he his pardon but to euerlasting saluation For he scaped not the skourge of his fathers discipline according as the threatning of God before did portend All the forsaide examples then being so euident they must nedes conclude this assuredly that after oure offenses be remitted there commonly yet remaineth summe payne and righte debt to be discharged by the offenders ponishement before he receiue the ample benefite of aeternall saluation The double and doubtefull shiftes of our aduersaries pressed by this conclusion are remoued and it is proued ageynst one sort that these foresaiyde skourgies vvere in dede pounishements for sinnes remitted And ageynst thother secte that this transitory payne hathe often endured in the nexte liefe Cap. 2. ANd the weght of this foresaide grounde hathe euer pressed the aduersaries of truethe so sore that behoulding as it were a farre of what inconuenience this might importe they euer busely endeuoured to staye the beginning of they re likly ouerthrow But yet as it was and wil be for euer noted in faulse teachers they seke diuers escapes so disagreable that one hindereth an other and nether of theyme helpes theire owne cause One sorte not so impudeÌ„t but agreate deale more foulishe then theire felowes agree by force of the places mamed and euideÌ„ce of the examples that there is
here in the worlde benethe which is a straunge case hath force and effect in heaueÌ„ aboue The poure of all potentates vnder the maiesty of the blessed Trinity in heauen and earthe is extreme basenesse compared to this By this graue authority therfore the pastors and priestes imitating goddes iustice haue exercised continually poonishement froÌ„ the springe of Christian religion downe till these daies vppon al sinners perpetually enioyning for satisfiyng of goddes wrathe poenaunce and woorkes of correction ether before they would absolue theime as the oulde vsage was or elles after the release of theire offensies wiche now of late for graue causes hath bene more vfed In whiche sentence of theire iudgment we plainely see that as there was euer accompt made emongest all the faithfull of paine due vnto sinne thoughe the very offense it selfe and the giltinesse as yow woulde saye thereof were forgiuen before so we maye gather that it was euer enioyned by the priestes holy ministery after the quality and quantity of the faulte committed Whereupon they charged som meaner offenders with certaine praiers onely other with large allmose diuerse with longe fasting many withe perilous peregrinations sum with suspending froÌ„ the sacramentes and very greuous offenders with curse and excommunication Wherby thou maiste not onely proue that there is paine to be suffred for thy sinnes Excommunication hath the image of goddes iustice in the vvorld to coom but allso haue a very image of that misery whiche in the next lyefe may faule not only to the damned for euer but allso to all other whiche neglected in this tyme of grace the fructes of poenaunce and woorkes of satisfaction for thanswer of they re lieues past This greate correction of excommunication and separation from the sacramentes Virgam S. Paule termeth the rodde wherwith he often threatened offenders 1. ad Timo. yea and somtymes thoughe it was with greate sorowe the pounishment was so extreame he mightely in Goddes steade occupied the same Cap. 2. 1. Cor. 5. As once ageinst Himemeus and Alexander and another tyme towardes a Corinthian vpon whome being absent he gaue sentence of theire delyuery vppe to Satan not to be vexed off him as Iob was for thencrease of merite In 1. ad Cor. ca. 5. saithe Chrisostom but in theire flesshe meruelously to be tormented for paiment for theire greuous offensyes and as the Apostle writeth of the Corinthian that his soule might be false in the day of oure lorde This poonishment was euer by cutting of from the Christiane society and often ioyned with torment of body or sicknesse And sumtymes withe deathe Act. 5. Note As in thexcommunication off Ananias and Zaphiras Whiche Christes vicar S. Petre to the greate terrour euen of the faithfull grauely pronounced on theyme for retayning backe certayne Churche gooddes whiche by promesse they had before dedicated vnto god and thapastles distribution August de Carrep gra ca. 5. This kinde of poonishment of sinners was euer counted so terrible that we fiend it caulled of the oulde fathers damnation Ita Gregâ— Nis orat de Castigatione as one that most resembles the paynes of the worlde to coom off all other And iff man coulde see withe corporall eyes the misery of the party so condemned in Goddes church his hearte would brast and it would moue terroure of forther damnation euen to the stubborne contemners off the Churches authoritye The which censure of goddes priestes thoughe it was sumtymes to the euerlasting woe off suche offenders as neglected the benefite of that present payne yet commonly it was but chastisement and louing correction of oure deare moother for theire deliuery from greater greefe in the lyefe to coom And for this cause as thexample off all agies past may sufficiently proue Aug. Euch cap. 65. were certeyne tymes and ordinary termes of poenaunce apoynted for iuste satisfaction for euery offense and by the holy Canons so limited that no sinne weetingly might be reserued to Goddes â—euy reuenge in the end of oure short dayes It were to longe to reporte the rueles and prescription of poenaunce out of Nice Councell or Ancyre â—icen c â–ª 12. Ancyre 5 or out of S. Cyprian for theire pounishment that fell to Idolatry in the tyme of Decius and Diocletianus or out of Ambrose the notable excommunication of Theodosius themperour By al whiche and the lyke in the historys of the ecclesiasticall affaires he that can not see what payne is due vnto sinne euen after the remission therof I houlde him bothe ignorant and malitious blinde And if any man yet doubt why or to what ende the Church of Christ thus greuously tormenteth her oune children by so many meanes of heuy correction whome she might by good authoritye freely release of theire sinnes let him assuredly know that she coulde not so satisfye goddes iustice alwayes by whome she houldeth hâ— authoritye to edifye and not to destroie to byind as well as to lowse Althoughe suche dolour for offensyes committed and so ernest zele may she sum tymes finde in thoffender that her chiefe and principall pastors may by theire soueraigne authoritye wholy discharge him of all paines to coom But elles in the common case of Christian men this poenaunce is for no other cause enioyned Ibidem but to saue theime from the more greuous torment in the worlde folowing In the whiche sense S. Augustine bothe speake the him self and proueth his meaning by thapostles wordes as foloweth Propterea de quibusdam temporalibus poenis 1. Cor. 11. quae in hac vita peccantibus irrogantur eis quorum peccata delentur ne reseruentur in finem ait Apostolus si enim nosmetipsos iudicaremus a domino non iudicaremur Cum iudicamur autem a domino corripimur ne cuÌ„ hoc mundo damnemur Therfore saithe he it is of certaine temporall afflictions whiche be laide vpon theire neckes that being sinners haue theire trespasses pardoned lest they be called to an accompt for theime at the latter ende that the Apostle meaneth by when he saith Iff we would iudge oure selues we shulde not then be iudged of oure lorde And when we be iudged of oure lorde then are we chastened that we be not damned with the worlde This onely carefull kyndnesse of oure moother therfore that neuer remitted sinne that was notorious in any age but after sharpe poonishment or ernest charge withe sum proportionall poenaunce for the same doothe not onely geue vs a louing warning to be ware and preuent that heuy correction of the world to coom whiche S. Paule callethe the iudgement of God because it is a sentence of iustice but allso in her owne practise here in earth of mercy in pardoning of iustice in poonishement she geueth vs a very cleare example off bothe the same to be vndoubtedly loked for at thandes of God him selfe by whome in the kingdom of the church these bothe in his behallfe be proffitably practised â–ª for iff there
obteyned Wherin yet mercy at th ende hathe the chieff stroke by whiche the soule that was the principall vessell of sinne and no lesse abased then the body shall oute of hand in the perfectest sort obteyne the purity of Angelles and felowship with theime for euer I maruell not nowe to see the Prophet seeke not onely for the remission of his greuous sinnes but to be better cleansed to haue theime wholy blotted owte to be made as white as snowe behoulding the purity that is requisite for a citizen of the coelestiall Hierusalem And I note this the rather of the soule bicause I see that the body allso before it can shake of the stroke and plage of sinne must be driuen by the common course to doust and elementes that being at the ende raised vppe ageine in the same substance may yet wholy in condicion and quality be so straungely altered that in honoure and immortality it may euerlastingly ioyne with the soule ageyne To the newnesse wherof August li. 20. de ciuit ca. 16. 1. Cor. 15. the very elements that before answered it in qualityes off corruption shall be perfectly by fyre reformed and serue in beauty and incorruption aeternall Yff sinne then be so reuenged and throughly tryed oute of mannes body and all corruption owte of these elements for the glory of that newe and aeternall kingdom shall we doubte of Goddes iustice in the perfect reuenge of sinne in the soul or purifying that nature whiche as it was most corrupted and was the very seate of sinne Note so namely apperteyneth to the company of Angelles and glory euerlasting It were not otherwise agreeable to Goddes iustice suerely nor conuenyent for the glorious estate to coom it were nether right nor reason He will then where man neglecteth the day of mercy sharply viset with torment him sellfe and bothe pourge and purifye the drosse of oure impure natures defiled and stayned by sinne with iudgement and rightuousnesse Isaie 4. A bluet Dominus sordes filiarū Syō sanguinem Hierusalem lauabit de medio eius in spiritu iudicij spiritu ardoris Oure lord shall wasshe oute the filthe of the doghters of Syon and will cleanse blodde from the middest of Hierusalem in the spirite of iudgement and the spirite of burnyng But bicause we will not stand vpon coniectures in so necessary a poynt yowe shall see by what scriptures the graue and learned fathers haue to my hand confirmed this beleued trueth And first I will recyte those placyes whiche doo set furthe bothe the quality and condicion of that poonishment whiche God taketh vpon man for sinne in the other worlde and also did geue iust occasion to our forefathers of the name of Purgatory There be two textes of scripture to this purpose so like that many of the doctours for better conference in so weghty a case haue ioyned theime together to make their proufe full and so will I doo by theire example The first is in the thirde chapter of the Prophet Malachie in these wordes Malach. 3. Ecce venit dicit Dominus exercituum quis poterit cogitare diem aduentus eius Et quis stabit ad videndum eum Ipse enim quasi ignis conflans quasi herba fullonum sedebit conflans emundans argentum purgabit filios Leui colabit eos quasi aurum argentum erunt Domino offerentes sacrificia in iustitia Et placebit Domino sacrificium Iuda Hierusalem caetera Beholde he commeth saith the Lorde of hostes And who maye abyde the daye of his comming Who can stand and endure his sight For he is like melting and casting fier and as the wasshers herbe Sope And he shal sit casting and trying oute siluer and shall pourge the children of Leui and clense theime as goulde or siluer And then shal they offer sacrifice in righteousnesse and the offeringes of Iuda and Hierusalem shall be acceptable vnto our Lorde And thus farre spake the prophet The second is this Cap. 3. taken out of the first epistle to the Corinthians Secundum gratiam Dei quae data est mihi vt sapiens architectus fundamentum posui alius autem superaedificat Vnusquisque autem videat quomodo superadificet Fundamentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere praeter id quod est positum quod est Christus Iesus Si quis autem superaedificat super fundamentum hoc aurum argentum lapides preciosos ligna foenum stipulam vniuscuiusque opus manifestum erit dies enim Domini declarabit quia in igne reuelabitur vniuscuiusque opus quale sit ignis probabit Si cuius opus manserit quod superaedificauit mercedem accipiet si cuius opus arserit detrimentum patietur ipse autem saluus erit sic tamen quasi per ignem Thus in english According to the grace of God geuen vnto me as a discriete builder I haue laide the groundewark but another buildeth theron Let euery man be circumspect howe he buildeth on it For no fundation can be laide but Christe Iesus which is allready laide Yff any man builde vppon this groundewark gould siluer preciouse stones wodde hay or stooble euery mannes worke shall be laide open For the daye of oure Lorde will declare it bicause it shall appeare in fiere And that fiere shal trye euery mannes woorke what it is yf anye mannes woorke erected vpon that foundation doo abide he shall receiue rewarde but if his worke burne he shall susteine losse or it shall susteine losse meaning by the worke it self as the text well serueth also but him sellfe shall be saued notwithstandinge and that yet as throughe fire These be S. Pauls wordes Nowe as men studious of the truth careful of oure faithe and saluation and fully free from contention and partaking let vs entre into the searche off the meaning of these two textes withe suche plainesse and sinceritye that I dare saie the aduersaries theime selues shall not mislyke our dealing Plaine de aling We will folowe all lyklyhoodes by comparing the scriptures together and admit with all the counsell and iudgement of such our elders as hy theire confession shall be taken for holy learned and wise First the Prophet and Apostle bothe make mention of purging and of purifying sinne and corruption of mannes impure or defiled workes they bothe agree this cleansing or trying oute off the filthy drosse gathered by corruption of sinne to be doone by fier they bothe throughly folowe the similitude of the fornace and gouldsmith in finyng his metalles and trying oute the drosse and base matter from the perfect finesse of more worthy substaunce they bothe plainely vtter theire meaninges of suche as shall afterward be saued though it be with losse geuing vs to vnderstande that the partyes so purged shall be after theire triall worthy to offer a pure sacrifice in holynesse and righteousnes They bothe note this purgation to be wrought by the hande of God All these
must neades be confessed euen of the contrary teachers whiche thinges together conteine more probability for the proufe of oure purpose then they can for any other sense finde But nowe touchinge the texte nearer and finding that this woorke of mannes amending shall be wrought in the next liefe then it must nedes so induce this sense that no meaning may well be admitted whiche euidently setteth not forth the truthe of Purgatory And that this worke is not properly taken for any suche trouble or vexation that may fall to man in this liefe but for a very torment praepared for the next worlde firste the quality of the iudgement and meanes in the execution of that sentence of God whiche is named to be doone by fiere seemeth rather to import that then any other vexation the poonishement of the worlde folowing allwaies lightely so termed Then man is in this purging only asufferer which belongeth namely to the nexte worlde But especially that this sentence shall be executed in the day of our Lorde which properly signifieth ether the day of our death or the sentence of God whiche streghte foloweth vpon death or the laste and generall iudgement All the tyme off mans liefe wherein he foloweth his freedom is called Dies Hominis the daie of man bicause as man in this liefe for the most parte serueth his owne will so he often neglecteth Goddes but at his deathe there beginneth Dies Domini Where God executeth his ordinaunce and will vpon man This triall then of mannes misdeedes and impure workes must ether be at his deathe or after his departure by one of the two iudgementes But if we note diligently the circumstances of the saide letter it shall appeare vnto vs that this purgatiō was not ment to be onely at mannes death both bicause it shall be done by fyre whiche as is saide commonly noteth the torment of the next liefe and then S. Paule expressely warneth vs to take hede what we builde in respect of the difference that may fall to suche as builde fine workes and other that erecte vppon the foundation impure or mixte mater of corruption but the paines of deathe being common to the best as well as to the worst or indifferent and no lesse greuous in it sellfe to one then the other can not be imported by the fire whiche shall bring losse to th one sort and not paine thother Besides all this that day which the prophet speaketh of shall be notorious in the sight of the worlde and very terrible to many And S. Paule plainely affirmeth that in this iudgement there shall be made an open shewe of suche woorkes as were hidde before from man and not discerned by the iudgement of this world whiche the priuate deathe of one manne can not doo And lightely thapostle warning man of the sentence of God in the next lyefe 2. Cor. 5. admonisheth him that oure dedes must be laide open before the iudgemēt seate of God so here Dies domini declarabit quia in igne reuelabitur the day of oure lord will open the matter bicause it shall be shewde in fyre Last of all the Prophet nameth the tyme off this sharpe tryal Diem aduentus domini whiche is a proper calling of one of the iudgements ether that whiche shall be generall at the last day or elles that whiche euery manne must first abyde streghte after his departure when he shall be called to the peculiare reckoning for his owne actes In ether of whiche iudgements Magis l. 4 dist 47. this purging and amending fire shall be fownde For as in that generall wast of the whole world by the fyre of conflagration 2. Petri. Cap. 3. whiche is called ignis praecedeus faciem iudicis because it awaiteth to fulfill Christes ordinance in the day of his second comming as in that fier the whole man both body and soule may suffer losse and extreme payne for his poonishment or purgation and yet by that same fyre be saued euen so oute of doubt at this particulare iudgement streght vpon euery mannes death the soule of the departed if it be not before free must suffer paines and Purgation by the like vehement torment woorking onely vpon the soule as the other shall doo on the whole man And the prophets wordes now alleaged do meane principally of the purgation that shall be made of the faithfuls corrupted woorkes by the fiere of conflagration in the seconde comming of Christe thoughe his wordes well proue the other also as S. Paule too meaneth by theyme bothe That there is a particulare iudgement and priuate accompte to be made at euery mannes departure off his seuerall actes and dedes vvith certaine of the fathers mindes touching the textes of scripture alleaged before Cap. 7. ANd though such as shal liue at the comming of the iudge in the later daye shall then be purged of they re corruption and base workes of infirmity by the fyre that shall abetter and alter the impure nature of these corruptible elements or otherwise according to goddes ordinaunce yet the common sort of all men whiche in the meane tyme depart this worlde must not tary for theire purgation till that general amending of all natures no more then the very good in whome after theire baptisme no filthe of sinne is fownde or if any were was wiped a way by poenaunce muste awayte for they re saluation or the wicked tary for they re iuste iudgement to damnation The particulare iudgemēt But streght this sentence ether off iudgement or mercy must be pronounced and therfore it is called the particulare iudgement by whiche the soule onely shall receyue well the or woe as at the day of the greate accompt bothe body and soule must doo Of this seuerall triall the holy Apostle S. Paule saith Ad haebr 9 statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori post hoc iudicium It is determined that euery man once must dye and after that commeth iudgement And a nother scripture more expressely thus Eccles 11. Facile est coram domino reddere vnicuique in die obitus sui secundum vias suas It is an easy matter before oure lorde that euery man at the day of his death shulde be rewarded according to his lyefe and ways Agayne in the same place Memor isto iudicij mei sic enim erit tuum mihi heri tibi hodie Haue in remembraunce my iudgement for such shal thy nowne be yester day was myne to day may be thyne And therfore S. Ambrose saith that with oute delay the good poore man was caryed to rest and the wicked riche owte of hand suffered torments That euery man saith he may feele before the day of iudgement Super 5. ad Roman what he muste then looke for And in another place the same holy man writeth that Iohn the beloued of Iesus is allredy gone to the paradise of euerlasting blesse In psa 118 ser 20. passing as fewe shall doo the fiery
swhorde at the entraunce off ioy with oute all stoppe or tariaunce because the fiere of loue in his lyefe tyme had such force in him that the amending fyer after his chaunge should take no houlde of him at all so saith Ambrose But of this priuate iudgement the Reuerent Bede hathe a goodly sentence in the fyfte of his historye Cap. 14 Meminerimus facta cogitationes nostras non in ventum diffluere sed ad examen summi Iudicis cuncta seruari siue per amicos Angelos in fine nobis ostendenda siue per hostes Let vs remembre saithe he that al oure dedes and thoghtes shall abide and not be caried a way with the winde but be reserued to the examination of the highe Iudge and so shall be laide before oure face at oure ending ether by our good or aduersary Angells By all whiche it is euident The soules be not in doubte of theire damnatiō or saluation til the day of iudgement that the soules sleape not of which errour Luther was allso noted nor be reserued in doubte of their damnation ether perpetuall or temporall tyll the latter day but streght waye receyue as they deserued before in theire lyefe ether welth or wofull paines In this day of oure lorde then this Purgatory paines must beginne to all suche as haue after they re Baptisme where they layde the foundation off Christes faith builded the workes off lesser sinnes and imperfection and not wasshed theyme a way by paenaunce in they re lyfe nor obteyned mercy for the same The whiche trueth the places of the Prophet and Apostle before alleaged with out al vnsemely wrething or wraesting doo so plainely beare that if ours were a sense neuer hearde of before yet the onely comparing off the textes and necessary circumstancies off the letter might rather dryue vs to that meaning then any other that they can euer alleage or proue But now as Catholikes euer doo keping the owlde meaning and fourging no newe geuing no other sense then that whiche the persuation of all Christian people both learned and simple hath driuen from the beginning of oure faith downe to oure dayes and framyng no other vnderstanding then that whiche we finde expressely in the learning and faith off our fathers bothe set forth and proued who is so rude in iudgement or so entāgled with any contrary opinion that will not acknouledge the trueth and doctrine euery way so compassed with proufe and all liklihoods But as reason is and my promesse was at the beginnyng I will lett the good Christian see the wordes of most notable auncyent writers that he may reioyse his faithe to be so suerly grownded First then yowe shall perceiue that S. Augustine expoundeth the texte off the prophet Malachie before recited Cap. 3. for purgatory paynes euen as I saide I am certeyne he may muche moue our aduersaries as one whome they chaleng to be patrone of som of theire opinions but howe vniustly in all poyntes God knoweth and in this matter especially yowe shall nowe perceiue After the rehersall of the Prophets wordes and wel weying the matter he thus writeth Lib. 20. de ciuit Cap. 25. Ex ijs quae dicta sunt videtur euidentius apparere in illo iudicio quasdam quorumdam purgatorias poenas futuras Vbi enim dicitur Quis sustinebit diem introitus eius aut quis ferre poterit vt aspiciat eum quia ipse ingreditur quasi ignis conflatorij quasi herba lauantium sedebit conflans emundans sicut argentum aurum emundabit filios Leui fundet eos sicut aurum et sicut argentum quid aliud intelligendum est dicit tale aliquid Isaias Lauabit dominus sordes filiorū filiarum Sion sanguinē emundabit de medio eorum spiritu iudicij spiritu combustionis Nisi fortè sic eos dicendum est emundari à sordibus eliquari quodam modo cum ab eis mali per poenale iudicium separantur vt illorum segregatio atque damnatio purgatio sit istorum quia sine talium de coetero commixtione victuri sunt sed cum dicit emundabit filios Leui fundet eos sicut aurum argentum erunt domino offerentes hostias in iusticia placebit domino sacrificium Iuda Hierusalem Vtique ostendit eos ipsos qui emundabuntur deinceps in sacrificijs iustitiae domino esse placituros ac per hoc ipsi a sua iniustitia emundabuntur in qua domino hostiae displicebant ▪ porro in plena perfectaque iustitia ipsi erunt cum mundati fuerint quid enim acceptius deo tales offerūt quà m seipsos verum ista quaestio de Purgatorijs poenis vt diligentius pertractetur in tempus aliud differenda est thus in Englishe By the foresayde wordes it semeth very euident that in the tyme of that iudgement there shall be certeyne Purgatory paynes for sum sorte off men For when it is saide VVho can be able to susteyne the day of his comming who can stande in his sight bicause he shall sitte trying owte and purifiyng as it were gould and siluer and entre in lyke the fier of the fornace and as wasshers sope he shal make cleane the sōnes of Leui and shall trye theime as goulde and siluer What other thing by all these words cā be ment Cap. 4. but purgatory paines Namely seeing the prophet Esay hath the like in these wordes God shal wasshe a waye the filthe of the sonnes and doghters of Syon and purge blodde frō the middest of theime in the spirite of iudgement and fier Except a mā might conueniently say that they shal be wasshed from filthe and as yowe woulde saye newe fourged when the wicked by finall iudgement are seuered owte of theire company that so theire departure and damnation may be the purgation of the rest bicause after that daye they shall lieue for euer without the company of the badde But when the Prophet saith more that he will clense the childrē of Leuy and purify theime as gould and siluer that they may offer they re oblations in rightuousnesse and the sacrifice of Iuda and Hierusalem shall pleace oure Lorde He surely giueth vs to wiet that euen the same selfe men whiche shall be purged must afterwarde offer to God the sacrifice of iustice that being once thus amended of theire vnrightuousnesse in whiche theire offeringes could not be acceptable vnto God may afterwarde in pure and perfect iustice offer theime selues as a most pleasaunte hoste and oblation vnto our Lord. But this quaestion of purgatory paines I will differ to a further treaty hereafter All this hathe S. Augustine Whereby we may both acknowledge his minde and the Prophets meaning whiche according to the grace geuen vnto him in the expounding of scriptures he hathe sought owte by conference of that place with other the like owte of Esay by weiyng discretely the whole circunstance of the letter
apperteyne at all to the capitall and deadely crimes that man often tymes doothe comitte Therfore to be as plaine as may be necessary for the vnlerned or any other that is godly curious in thinges muche tending to the quiet rest off mannes conscience it is to be noted that this ordinary iustice of God in the lyefe folowing for the purgation of the electe can not discharge any man of mortall sinne A mortal sin not remitted in this lief is not discharged by purgatory whiche was not pardoned before in the Churche militant vpon earthe And therfore what crime so euer deserueth damnation and was not in mannes lyefe remitted it can not by purgatory paynes be released in the next bicause it deserueth death euerlasting and staith the offender from the kingdom of heauen for euer no paine temporall in this worlde or the next but Christes passion alone the benefite wherof is not by the sufferers will extended to any that sinneth vnto death being able to satisfy for the same As often then as thou hearest any Catholike man affirme Purgatory to poonishe or pourge greuous and deadly offenses be assured his meaning is off the temporall paine due vnto wicked men and theire sinnes after their bonde and debt of euerlasting death with the very faulte it selfe be in Goddes Churche remitted A deadly sinne remitted is in case of a veniall sinne For as S. Augustine saith a mortall sinne forgiuen is becomne a veniall trespasse and so deserueth no more paine then a veniall sinne which by transitory poonishment may be fully and perfitely released ▪ thus he saithe Quaedam enim sunt peccata quae mortalia sunt De vera et falsa poenitent c. 18. in poenitentia fiunt venialia non tamen statim sanata There be sinnes saith he which being deadly off theire owne nature be yet by poenaunce made veniall thoughe not allwayes streght healed Then by this ruele what so euer is spoken of veniall sinnes or the purgation therof it is ment bothe by the smaule offenseis whiche of theire owne nature are veniall and allso of the greater so that they be forgeuen in Goddes church before wherby they are becomne veniall as the other and deserue propertionally as the other and may be taken a way as the same man affirmeth ether in this worlde or the next Euch. c. 71 by the same remedyes as the othere thoughe not alwayes so speedely Well then to close vp brefely all this haue we fownde by these scriptures alleaged that being diuerse degrees off men Purgatory apperteineth but to one sort Firste not to suche as lacke the faithe of Christe for they hauing no foundation are allredy iudged nether to suche as haue not builded vpon the foundation but rather defaced it withe woorkes of deathe and deuelishe doctrine For all these must lyke widdred branches be cast in to the fiere not to be purged but vtterly wasted There be yet other that kepe theire foundation faste and woorke there vpon bothe goulde and siluer but yet abased and sumwhat defiled by the mixture of other infirmityes not sufficiently redressed in this lyefe these must of necessity by Goddes ordinaunce suffer the Purgation by fire that theire woorkes purifyed and amended by the sentence of his iuste iudgement may at lengthe by mercy and grace bringe theyme to their desired end Nowe the perfect estate whiche hauing this groundewarcke and building thereuppon nothing for the most part but the tried fyne workes of heauenly doctrine and perfect charity can not feare the fyre as in whome it shall finde no matter of waste For if any drosse of seculare desires or worldly weakenesse was in theire frailty contracted they re fructefull poenaunce in theire liefe washed that away by the force of Christes bloude before the daie of oure Lorde greate and fearefull came vpon theime In whiche case God will not poonishe twise for one faulte Naum. 1. nor entre into iudgement with suche 1. Cor. 11. as haue iudged theime selues to his hand These therefore thus guarded by goddes grace in whom onely they chalenge this Priuilege can not feele anye daunger theire woorkes as S. Paul saithe abiding the brounte of the fiere thoughe they were in place of torment with the reste For if suche doo passe the fyrie sworde before they entre into the ioyes of heauen yet they shall euen there be so shadowed that to theim it can nether be any whit molestious nor one moments staye from the rewarde of theire pure gouldē woorkes whiche by fire can not perishe For off suche we muste beleue withe Goddes Churche that they go streght to heauen vpon theire departure with owte stay or poonishement in the next liefe Althoughe Christe onely of his owne force being not subiecte to any spotte of sinne did passe this fyre and entre in to heauen the aeternall gates opening theime selues vnto him as to the king of glory Who being before in the places of paine also Act. 2. yet coulde not possibly be touched thereby as the Apostle saith And that is S. Ambrose his meaning as I suppose whē he saide Vnus ille ignē hūc sentire nō potuit Christ only was he that could not fiele this fire He speakethe of the fire through whiche euen the good must passe before they coom to aeternall ioy Where he doubteth not to auouche that many a man that thinkes him selfe gould and is taken so to be of others too shall yet there be proued full of drosse and impurity long to be cleansed before his finall freedom and deliuery and yet to be saued throughe fyre But for those that be in dede perfect menne as Iohn the beloued of Iesus and Petre with the rest this holy doctoure was so sure of Purgatory that he thought these also to go throughe the same and yet the fiery flamme to haue geuē place as it did to the three childrē and as S. Augustin supposeth it shall do in the generall conflagration to the bodies of vertuous men Dan. 4. when at the very same time it shall bothe waste the wicked and purge the meane the workes of one sorte withstanding the flamme the drosse of the other in a maner feeding the same S. Ambrose therefore thus writeth of the holy Apostle De morte Ioannis aliqui dubitarunt Ser. 20. in psa 118. de transitu per ignem dubitare non possumus quia in paradiso est à Christo non separatur som doubt of Iohns death but of his passage by the fire bicause he is in ioy with Christ we can not doubt And of S. Peter he saith ▪ siue ille sit Petrus qui claues accepit regni coelorum Psal 65. oportet dicat transiuimus per ignem aquam induxisti nos in refrigerium Yea iff it be Peter him selfe to whome the keyes of heauen were commited he must say we passed by fyre and water and thowe haste brought vs into the place of
refresshing But howe so euer God worketh in this case with the perfyte sort this the churche beleueth and so this doctoure teacheth and therfore I dare be boulde to say it that suche nether suffer any payne nor taryaunce by the waye Though by nature that fyre or torment praepared for the amendment and poonishing of sinne or the drosse therof might of force and right take hould there where corruption of sinne by any meanes hath bene thath is not wholy purified before Therfore the soule of our sauiour being alltogether vnspotted coulde not be subiect to any sufferance in the worlde to com by any ordinaunce praepared for the poonishment of sinne that fyre hauing no further graunt by creation and naturall property but to waste there where sinne is fownd to haue bene Vpon other it woulde worke til all corruption were consumed if mercy did not praeuent bothe in purifyng those singulare elect vesselles and in repressing the nature of the flame praepared that it practise not iustice where God hath abundantly shewed grace and mercy before All beit I doo not say that the fyry sworde is in the passage of euery soule towardes heauen for that is Goddes secret and I will with S. Ambrose in the same place say Quod legi praesumo Ibidem quod non legi scientibus relinquo That whiche I haue redd in graue authority that will I bouldely auouche that whiche I haue not redde with feare and reuerence I commit to men of more knouledge As with owte exception I submit my sellfe to the determination of Goddes church in all these poyntes of mysteries whiche in this deape matter course of taulke may driue me vnto But now for the meaner sorte that with Christian faith and good workes haue yet som baser building of infirmity or lighter trespasses allso those must nedes be tried by the fire of iuste iudgemēt in the worlde to come And this is that which S. Augustin calleth so often the Amending fyre Vide Ruper tum in 3. ca genes In ser de s Nicolao S. Ambrose the fyry sword S. Bernarde termeth it the place of expiation In quo pater benignus examinat filios rubiginosos sicut examinatur argentum In whiche oure mercifull father trieth his rusty children as siluer is tried Whiche all these holy fathers with the rest oftentimes doo name by the common calling of Purgatory Reade all these place is named if thow haste occasion thy sellfe and there thow shalte finde to thy singulare comforth sufficient proufe of thy faithe greate motion of godly lyefe withe necessary feare of Goddes iudgements Thowe shalte maruell at the ignorance of oure time that could euer doubt of so plaine a matter thow shalt pity with all thy harte the vnworthy deceiuing of the vnlerned and haue large matter to withstand the deceiuers and to help the simple home againe A place alleaged for Purgatory ovvte off S. Matthevv vvith certeyne of the Auncient fathers iudgements vpon the same Cap. 10. ANd yet it shall be conuenient that I helpe the studious reader with further proufe oute of the holy scripture that he may be fully established in his faithe and the aduersary haeretike wholy confounded in his misbelife Yf he list not rather as I heartely pray to God that he may geue ouer that vnnatural plea houlden too longe ageinst the Catholyke Churche oure moother Geue eare then vnto the woordes of oure sauioure writen in the Ghospell of S. Matthew Esto consentiens aduersario tuo cito dum es in via cum eo Cap. 5. ne forte tradat te aduersarius iudici Lucae 12. iudex tradat te ministro in carcerem mittaris A men dico tibi nō exies inde donec reddas nouissimum quadrantem Be att agreemente with thyne aduersary speedely whiles thow arte with him in the waie Lest that aduersary deliuer the vpp to the iudge and the iudge committe the to an officer by whom thow may be cast into prison surely I say vnto the thow shalte not gett oute till thow haue discharged the vttermost farthing Now being desirous of the truethe and true meaning of this letter for the vnderstanding maketh all bicause there may arise by the darkenesse of that figuratiue speache some diuersity of sense let vs indifferently wey euery word and with diligence examine the circumstances of the texte wherby any light may appeare And first being admonished to agree with oure aduersary we may right wel knowe that he meaneth not by the cōmon enimy of oure kind 1. Petri. 5. that rometh about seeking whom he may deuoure for his cruell assaultes must onely by resistaunce be withstand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nether the worde whiche the Euangelistes there vsed can properly signifye any malicious enymy Litigator seu actor that by hatered of oure person is become oure deadly foe as those whiche be skillfull in the languageis wherin they wrote doo confesse But rather as well the worde as the iust consideration of the place dryueth vs to acknouledge that this oure aduersary here signifieth our brother whiche hathe iuste quarel against vs in iudgement for that we woulde not geue eare vnto him sharply admonishing vs of oure faultes being therfore an aduersary to our vicies and fleshly conuersation In which sort to vs that are flesshe and bloodde and redy to euel from oure youth all be aduersaryes that preache Christe the amendment of licentious maners repentaunce of oure lothsom lyefe past Vide Bern. ser 85. super cantit or elles vse ageinst vs the rodde of correction and bodyly poonishment that our soules may be saued in the day of thappearing of oure lorde To this kinde of aduersary Christe councelleth and commaundeth vs for our greate good to agree and consent whiles we be here in the way of this oure pilgramage and transitory lyefe lest all these meanes whiche he wroght to reduce vs to the perfection off a Christian godly lyefe be as it were a witnesse of oure contempte and him selfe oure accuser before the iudge that shall so iustely rewarde euery man according to his deedes Act. 10. that is Christe him sellfe to whome the father hathe geuen all iudgement Whose ministers being Angelles ether good or badde for th execution of iustice vpō sinners shall at his appointment cast vs into the prison and dongion there to be howlden from lyefe and lyberty till we haue payde the last farthing the toleration of whiche bondes shall recompense the debtes whiche by well dooyng and muche mourning in the way off this world we refused to pay as S. Augustin piththely speaketh in these wordes Si non reddit faciendo iustitiam De libero Arbitrio lib. 3. c. 15 reddet patiendo miseriam he that paithe not his debt by dooing that whiche is iuste and right he shall pay it by suffering misery Whiche we trust the pitifull paynes of that prison through the onely desertes and merites of Christe our lorde and God
shall so discharge that after the payment ether pardoned or fully made we may haue ioyfull accesse to his blessed presence For the forme of speache vsed in lyke ordre of wordes by bothe the Euangelistes dothe vs plainely to vnderstand that we may through Christe make ful payment therof Elles he would not by liklyhoodd haue sayde that we shoulde not escape fourthe tyll we had discharged the vtmost farthing but rather that seuere iudge woulde haue geuen charge that thoffender shoulde be bond hand and foutte and cast into the dark doungion of euerlasting damnation praepared for the deuill and his Angells whiche is the second and euerlasting deathe Namely the worde off Imprisonment so well agreing therunto Carcâ—r that it may not well admit any other meaning but a place of temporall torment For a prison is a place of correction and chastisement of suche as be on lyue in which as longe as lyefe lasteth a man may be in hope of liberty thoughe his bondage for a tyme be neuer so vntollerable but when sentence of deathe is once pronounced in this worlde or damnation in the nexte then we may right wel knowe Goddes mercy to be shutte vppe and the party desperate of all recouery Nether the name off imprisonment in scripture is lightly taken for the place of euerlasting pounishment nor can by conference of the sundry partes of this letter haue here conuenyently any suche sense And these notes well and diligently considered may geue greate light to the alleaged wordes otherwise somwhat obscure and therwith prooue our matter too They be not of my scanning onely as for som parte thowe shallte pecceiue by these wordes of Rupert Super. 5. cap. Matt. an excellent good author Aduersarius eorum qui erant eiusmodi sermo fuit euangelij omnis praedicator euangelicae veritatis potestatem habens non consentientem sibi tradere iudici non solum iudici verum etiam malo ministro quemadmodum vnus eorum tradidit hominem satanae The aduersary of suche men was the woorde of the gospel and eche preacher of the trueth who had powre to delyuer him that woulde not agree vnto him to the iudge yea further then that he had authority to committe him to an euil minister as one of theime gaue vpp a man to SataÌ„ Here we see what that aduersary is to whom we must consent in this lyefe and withall we haue an example in this iudgemeÌ„t of Goddes ministers howe man may be committed in the next lyfe to a tormenter that may vexe him then at Goddes prescripsion as he doothe nowe at the charge onely of his minister then in fauoure and mercy of the iudge as it is nowe in loue and charity of the vicegerent then for the atteyning of heauens blesse as it is nowe for the saluation of the person poonished For the execution of Goddes sentence may be ether by a good spirite Lib. 21. de ciuit Dei cap. 13. or oure aduersary Angel or by his wil and worde onely to whome all creatures serue and obey In this sense Paulinus who was S. Augustines peare writeth that the holy Gost and Goddes worde be mannes aduersaryes in earthe to whome if we applye oure selues obediently in this worlde our sorowe can not be long in the next lyefe But these be his owne wordes Ad AmaÌ„dum epi. 1. Neque septem dies luctus noster excedat si consentiamus in huius vitae via aduersario nostro id est spiritui ac verbo dei quod nobis peccantibus aduersatur c. Oure grefe can not be muche longer then seuen dayes he meaneth it shall be a temporall payne and not very longe yff we consent in the way of this lyefe to oure aduersary that is to witte the spirite and worde of God For they be oure aduersaryes when we sinne bicause the holy Gost chargeth the world with sinne and the word of God if we obey not will be oure accuser and promotour vpp vnto the Iudge who will haue an accompte of his talent to the vttermost farthinge Thus farre spake this Author and in lyke sense many moe whome I neade not nowe name Bicause there is such store of testimonyes that not onely in som part make for the opening of this scripture but alltogether for Purgatory And one or two of theime I will briefly recite bicause I determined with my sellfe and bounde my selfe for my discharge and the readers more safe warraunt to bring no texte of scripture for the proufe off my purpose excepte I might fynd som holy writers of the antiquity that vsed the same directly in that sense that if any man would repreheÌ„d my meaning yet he shoulde not be so bowlde withe suche as I can name and prooue to be my authors therin But whome may I more safely alleage for the contentation of sober wittes and repressyng the aduersaryes bowldenesse then the blessed martyr S. Ciprian Who in the fourth booke of his Epistles for the declaration that euery one whiche here is pardoned of his sinnes shall not streght be exalted to the glory of sanctes and martyrs after theire deathe vseth very fetly as he dothe all other placeis of scripture the forsayde text by these wordes Aliud est ad veniam stare aliud ad gloriam peruenire Epist. 2. aliud missum in carcereÌ„ non exire donec soluat nouissimum quadrantem aliud statim fidei virtutis accipere mercedem aliud pro peccato longo dolore cruciari purgari diu igne aliud peccata omnia passione purgari aliud denique pendere in die iudicij ad sententiam domini aliud statim a domino coronari In English it is another thinge to stande at a pardon then owte of hand to atteyne to glory it is a nother maner of matter to be commited to prison See hovve fully he expresseth bothe the vvord and meaning of purgatory thense not to depart tyl the last farthing be discharged and to receiue owte of hand the reward of faithe and vertue It is one thinge by greate sorowe to be tormented for oure sinnes He calleth the sentence off God in the next life iudgement and by longe fyre amended and pourged of the same and another to haue sufficiently pourged theim by martyrdom in fyne it is not all one to hange on Goddes sentence in the day of iudgement and owte of hand to be crowned of oure lorde These wordes as yowe see expressely prooue oure matter open the meaning of the scripture whereon we nowe stoode and doo clearely sett forth the ordre of Goddes iustice in the next lyefe And they shall content the reader better if he marke vpon what occasion this blessed man spake these wordes There were many in the persecution of that tyme that for feare or worldly respectes denyed theire faithe and offered to idolles who afterward the storme off tyranny somwhat being caulmed coÌ„fessed their faulte and did penaunce for the same by S. Ciprian
sense to the texte and whole circumstance off the letter But as soone as Origen went aboute to prooue by the same scripture that all wicked men shoulde at lengthe be saued after due purgation by fier then this pillar of truethe seeing an open faulshod gathered by the scripture of goddes worde coulde susteyne no longer She set vpp against this errour her pastors the graue fathers of our faithe ▪ who ceased not as occasion serued to geue men warninge of the deceite intended not onely stille mainteining the doctryne of Purgatory but allso expressely condemnyng all the reprehenders thereof as hereafter it shall be better declared and so misliking no sense that in it selfe was true the meaning of Purgatory yet hath bene of all the learned counted so certaine that in geuing any other lykly exposition that was euer added with all as most consonant to the will and wordes off the writers So dothe Theodoretus so dothe S. Augustine and so in a maner did they all And as the saide holy doctour saith with whose wordes I am much delited bycause he of all other maketh trueth stand most plainely vpon it self One texte of scripture may well haue so many vnderstandings as may stand withe truethe 12. Confes and be not repugnaunt to good lyefe and manners And he hedgeth the diuersity of mennes wittes in the exposition of scripture with in the dooble knott of loue which is towards God and our brother De doctri Christiana li. 1. c. 36. VVho so euer saith he takethe him selfe to vnderstande scripture or anye parte thereof and in that meaning aedifieth nothing at all the dooble loue of God and oure neightbour he misseth the true meaning thereof Butt who so euer can fiend owt such a sense that may be commodious to the increase of charitie althoughe it were not directly intended by the writer yet he is not harmefully deceiued nor fownde a lyar therein so saith he Nowe as for oure matter I am well assured there dare no man thoughe he were destitute of Goddes grace yet not for shame of him selfe affirme that the doctrine of Purgatory is hourtfull to vertuous liefe the onely miscreditt wherof hath vtterly banished al good Christian condicions oriniurious to the faithe of Goddes Churche whiche is not onely agreable but principally intended by the plaine letter of Goddes worde and consonaunt to all other meanings that may be gathered by any such scripture as we haue alleaged there for and to be short receiued of so many fathers so wise and so well learned as we haue named for that purpouse as a truethe moste reasonable most naturall and most agreeable to Goddes iustice Well then the misbeleuers can haue no shifte nor escape by the chalenge of Goddes worde or doctures or diuersity of sensies here is no houlde for erroure all I trust be safe and sure on euery saide Obiectiō Theire extreme and onely refuge is that the paine of Christes passion and his sufficient payment for oure sinnes standeth not with oure satisfaction or poenaunce in this liefe nor with paine or purgatory in the next O lorde howe farre may mannes malice reache that not contented to abuse theire reason and the worde of God in persuasion of erroure but are bowlde to referre Christes blessed deathe allso to cloke together with faulshood ansvver wanton and licentious lieuing Many vertuous persons haue ben prouoked by the meditation of oure sauiours sorowes to leaue the flattering welthe of this worlde and to charge theime selues with perpetuall vexation of body but that any did euer so rest vpon Christes passion that in respecte thereof they might passe theire dayes midle welthe off lust and liberty that was I trowe vnhearde of before this sinfull secte These felowes argue thus Christe hath paide the full price of our sinnes ergo we must doo no poenaunce nor suffer any paine for theime But S. Paule thus Christe by paine and passion is entred into the glory of his kingdome Rom. 8. ergo if we looke to be his felowe heires or partakers of his glory we must suffer affliction with him and ioyne with him in paines and passion S. Peter also thus Christe hathe suffered leauing you an example that ye should folowe his steppes 1. Petri. 2. therefore all his blessed liefe passed in paine muste be a perpetuall sturring vppe of toleration Matth. 3. and gladde suffering for his name agayne Iohn oure masters messenger praepared the way of Christes deathe and doctrine by worthy fructes of poenaunce Mat. 4. and that was the beginning off Christes owne preaching therefore I dare be boulde to say these thinges are not abrogated by the teaching of the Ghospell nor voide by Christes passion whiche onely maketh oure workes and merites to be of that value and acceptation that all catholike men counte theime of whiche elles to the satisfying for sinne shoulde be nothing auaileable nor to to the atteining of heauen any thing profitable But it is foly to make ouer many wordes in a case so plaine seeing the example of both God and good mennes dealing abundantely proueth mannes poonishment ether temporall or aeternall to stand well withe the excellent value of oure sauioures deathe For if paine for sinne were iniurious to Christes death then the holy prophet Dauid that liued long in greuous poenaunce were iniurious to his Lordes deathe then the Churche were iniurious to her owne spouse his deathe that chargethe all offenders with poenaunce then God him sellfe were iniurious to his owne sonnes deathe that sharply poonisheth sinne forgeuen then Christe him felfe were iniurious to his owne death that bothe by his example and holy preaching dyd euer commend sharpe poenaunce and paine These delicate teachers of oure time that vnder praetence of preaching the Ghospell auouching the glory of God and the grace of oure redemption haue serued mennes lustes abandoned the owlde austerity of Christian liefe and rased oute of the peoples hartes the feare of Goddes iudgementes were foreseene by the holy Apostle Iudas And he calleth theime Iudas in epist Impios transferentes Domini nostri gratiam in luxuriam Wicked men turning the grace of our Lorde vnto wantonnesse and lust Ageinst whome allso S. Paule made this exception Ad Gal. 5. that they shoulde not in any wise by the freedom of our redemption chalenge any liberty of the fleshe Notwithstanding Christes passion then we must not otherwise thinke but to suffer for oure owne sinnes not as helping the insufficiencie of his merites but as making our selues apte to receiue that blessed benefite which effectually worketh vpon no man but by meanes nor serueth any to saluation but by obedience of his will and worde Ad Haebr cap. 5. For if Christes death shoulde woorke accordinge to the full force of it selfe it woulde doubtlesse supp vpp all sinne and al paine for sinne it might wype away death bothe of this praesent lyefe and aeternall it woulde leaue nether Hell Purgatory nor paine the price and
contynually criethe for helpe at theire hādes in heauen aboue Nowe the mēbres of Christes Church here yet trauelling in earthe they pray together they faste to gether they desire together they deserue together Christe oure heade in whose bloude this city and socyety standeth wil haue no woorke nor way of saluation that is not common to the whole body in generall and perculierly proffitable to supply the neede of euery parte thereof He whiche instituted the blessed sacraments will haue theyme in this vnity to woork in cōmon as farre as th end of eche of they re institutions requirethe and owt of it to haue no force at al he that maketh al our woorkes acceptable thoughe they be doone of one will haue theyme perteyn to all the holy sacrifice of the Churche by the will of the author and the liknesse of th'xemplare as in dede being in another maner the very selfe same is made so common that it ioyneth the sanctes and Angelles in heauen to the chosen and elect people ether in earthe or vnder the earthe benethe The soules departed in piety are of oure churche and felovvship And that this holy cōsent of good woorkes and mutuall agreement of prayer to the continuall supplying of eche others lackes doothe also apperteine to the soules departed no man that hathe any sense of this happy community can denie ▪ for being membres of our common body they must nedes be partakers of the cōmon vtilitye li. 20. de ciuit Cap. 9. And so saith S. Augustin in these wordes Neque enim piorum animae mortuorum separantur ab ecclesia quae nunc est regnum Christi alioquin nec ad altare dei fieret eorum memoria in communione Corporis Christi for the soules off the faythfull deceased be not seuered from the Churche wich is allredy the kingdom of Christe elles there shulde be no memory kepte for theime at the altare in the cōmunion of the body of Christe By the force of this vnity what so euer is proffitably practised in this worlde one for a nother as prayer allmose fasting Sacrifice the same thinges may and ought by thexample of the Churche to be carefully and withe owte ceasing procured for the helpe of our frendes and Christian brytherne departed And Athanasius that greate pillar he by a meruelouse fitt example setteth furthe howe the soules in another worlde may haue the benefites of the Church or Christiā people deriued downe vnto them Quaest ad Ant. 34. and what sensible feele of release they haue when we desire God for theyme Quemadmodum cum in campo vinea virescit vinum in vase occlusum rebullit ac propemodum feruet ita etiam sentimus quod peccatorū animae diuinis beneficijs incruentae Hostiae gratiarum actionis pro ipsis habitae gaudeant vt idem solus nouit ordinat deus noster The communion expressed betvvixte the lyue and the deade by the naturall agreement betvvixt the vine in the fielde and the vvyne in the vessel qui in viuos mortuos dominium exercet As when the vyne abrode in the fyelde dothe spring and waxe greene the wyne salfely kepte in barells at home doothe allso woorke in it sellfe and in a maner buyle euen so as we iudge the soules of sinners throughe the benefite of the vnbloudy hoste and sacrifice of thankes gyuing doone for theyme may waxe ioyfull and gladde as the same Lorde and God only knoweth howe and hathe ordeyned who exercyseth his might vpon the lyeue and the deade See I pray you how he by the actiō of goddes Churche in the holy Masse in which the vnbloudy hoste and oblation is bestowed hathe founde som way of cariyng downe the benefite of Christes passion vpon the membres of his body benethe And though sum haue wickedly sought vtterly to breake the band of peace betwixt theyme and vs as they haue cursedly shaken thunytie of the liuing emongest theimeselues yet theire moother Christes spouse acknouledgeth her owne children stille she seethe by the spirite of god whereby she seethe all truthe the sorowe of her dearest so farre oute of sight but neuer oute of mynde she in a maner feeleth a parte of her owne body in paine And can not otherwise doo but by all possible meanes and approued waies assay Goddes mercy for theire deliuery And this naturall compassion of the Churche passeth throughe euery membre thereof and ought to moue euery man by the lawe of nature to procure as muche helpe as he may And so much the more do we owe this natural duety vnto theyme bicause they now cā not help theim selues being out of the state of deseruing and place of wel working onely abiding goddes mercy in the sore sufferance of paines vntollerable They theime selues as yet your brethern and a portion of your body require to be partakers of your benefites They feele ease of euery prayer your allmose quenshethe theire heate your fasting releaseth theire paine your sacrifice wipethe theire sinnes and sores so strong is the communion of sanctes that what so euer yowe doo that is acceptable it isshuethe abundātly downe to theyme Onely he that is cutte of from this happy society hathe no compassion of theime nor feelethe not howe they are knitt vnto vs by loue and vnity of one heade and one body Yow shal heare his vnnatural and worse then heathen wordes Dum mortuos a nostro contubernio subduxit dominus Cal. inst nullum nobis cum illis reliquit commercium ac ne illis quidem nobiscum When the Lord hathe taken the deade owte of our company he hath dispatched vs of al intermedleyng with theime or they withe vs. This man was borne to breake the bande of vnity which he hated bothe in the lyue and deade By whose meanes it is nowe comde to passe that those which of reason might clame oure aide are vnnaturally disapointed of al suche remedies wherby any conforte might to theyme arise Suche lacke of compassion is driuen into oure heades that we feele not the wo of our owne felowes oure kinne oure brethern and our owne membres It is a thowsand yere and more sith a holy father not hauing hallfe the cause that wee nowe haue yet noted the peoples lacke of compassion towardes the departed Ad frat in herem 44 in these wordes They that lie in torment vntollerable crie out for succoure and fewe there be that make answer they wofully caule but ther is none to comforte theyme O Bretherne what a kind of cruellty is this O howe much inhumanity is this those that in theire liefe time suffered muche sorowe for our sakes nowe crie ageyne for our ayde and we regard theyme not Lo howe the sicke caules and the phisitions are att hande the hogge gronethe and the whole hearde grontleth with all the poore asse fallethe and euery man helpes him vppe in hast but the faithfull alone caulethe in his greuous torments and there is none that
beare vnto truethe that they wyll geue credet to the manifest wordes off scriptur which so plainely do set forthe not onely the benefite that arisethe to the departed by prayers but allso witnesse that there was practise at Hierusalem by oblation and sacrifice for the same purpose by ordre of their lawe Iudas folovved the ordre of the Churche and not praescribed to the Churche any nevv sacrifice or caeremony For otherwise would that good knight so higly commended neuer haue praesumed to bring in any superstiouse new vsage contrary to the rule of that churche nether woulde the priestes at Hierusalem haue offered for the deade with owt contradiction vnder the gouernemēt of so good a bisshop nether would the Author of the booke vpon so light a beginning haue praysed the facte or otherwise made mention of it then as of a newe diuise of the same mā Whom I doubt not therfor rather to haue folowed the continuall coostom of the Churche then to haue inuented any newe vnknowne ordre of his owne Wich may wel appeare at this day by the ceremonyes and sacrificies of the owlde lawe De vniuersa indeorū fide recitatura Grappero in lib. de Eucharist yet superstiously obserued emongest the dispersed Iewes where emōgest other rites of their lawe they offer and make solemne supplication for the soules departed as Antonius Margarita a Iew that forsooke his profession and became Christian witnesseth in a booke that he made of the faithe of the Iewes Where he reportethe owte of they re sacrifice this prayer Deus Animarum fidelium recordetur in paradisum cum Abraham Isaac Iacob alijsque integerrimis sanctis collocet that is Lord remembre the faythfull soules and place theyme in paradise wyth Abraham Isaac and Iacob and other thy perfecte sanctes and holy men And for that purpose they haue a memoriall booke as he saith owte of which the names of the departed are yerely recyted But we muche neede not his report herin for that may well appeare to haue bene vsed long before Iudas Machabeus his dayes For what other thinge dothe that long mourning fasting charitable releuing of the poore and other commō afflictions whiche men tooke vpon theime at the obites of theire frendes and fathers as well in the lawe of nature as afterwarde continually in Moyses time what elles can they meane but perpetuall practise for the rest of theire soules Genes 23. Looke howe religiously Abraham celebrated the rites of his wiues funerall whiche the scripture calleth Officium funeris the office of the Burial which he fullfilled by weeping and lamentation made ouer the corps Nether can I thinke that the office and iuste funeralls stoude in mourning or sorowing with oute praying or other remedies of reliefe towardes the departed seeing especially that office off mourning by solemne dirigies as we nowe tearme theim had place time and ordre by rule appointed to be executed yea and were not ended by many daies together nor at one time nother As it appeareth that Ioseph and his brethern Gene. 50. executed theire fathers funeralls first fourty daies in Aegipte and then in theire owne coontry celebrabant exequias saithe the text seuen daies together So the children of Israell celebrated Moyses obsequies Deut. 34. withe thirty daies solēne mourning in the downes of Moab Not by that weeping which procedeth of priuate affection towardes a mannes frende for that can not be limited nor yet prescribed by rule as all these solemne dirigies wer But questionlesse this office conteined for the relieffe of the deceased almose prayer fastes and teares al which may wel be termed mourning songes or weeping ouer the dead Ecclesi 22. for that time most cōuenient Of which the wise mā geueth this precept Super mortuū plora Weepe ouer the departed And that thowe maist wel perceiue these publike rites of solemne dirigies to perteine properly to the due helpe of those for whome they be exercised Super obit Theod. S. Ambrose doubteth not to affirme that of those burialls in the lawe of nature the necessary obseruation of our Christian daies monthes and yeares mindes kepte for the deade hadde theire beginning saying thus in his funerall sermone made the fourtith daye solemnely kept for the memory of the noble Emperoure Theodosius Eius Principis proxime conclamauimus obitum nunc quadragesimum celebramus assistente sacris altaribus Honorio principe quia sicut sanctus Ioseph patri suo Iacob quadraginta diebus humationis officia detulit ita hic Theodosio patri iusta persoluit quia alij tertiū trigesimū alij septimum quadragesimum obseruare consueuerunt quid doceat lectio consideremus defuncto inquit Iacob praecepit Ioseph pueris sepultoribus vt sepelirent eum repleti sunt ei quadraginta dies Haec ergo sequenda solemnitas quam praescribit lectio Bonus itaque Ioseph qui formam pio muneri dedit cae We kept of late the day of this noble kinges buriall And nowe againe we celebrate his fourtithe daies minde the prince Honorius his sonne assisting vs before the holy altares for as holy Ioseph bestowed vpon his fathers funerall fourty daies duetie euen so doth this prince procure his fathers obsequies And because sum obserue the thirde day and the thirtithe other kepe customably the vij and the fourtith let vs looke vpon the text which readeth thus Iacob being departed Ioseph commaundeth the prouisours of the sepulture to bury him and so they did and made vp full fourty daies in that obite this solemnely then must we folowe praescribed by the scripture Good was this Ioseph that first gaue vs the forme and fashiō of so holy a function By these wordes we see the antiquity of our Christiā dirigies and diuersitie of daies as yet it is vsed in mounthes or twelue-mounthes mindes to haue isshued downe from S. Ambrose time to oures from the lawe of nature by the patriarches praescription to his daies not by mourning and mumchaunse as the buriall of Geneuas booke appointeth Geneua booke appointeth a still buriall but at the holy altares these obites were kepte as with deuoute praiers and sacrifice Whereof in better place I shall speake more anone He alludeth there also to oure dilexi and other psalmes which we yett singe in Goddes Churche ouer the departed But in the second booke of the kinges the example of the holy king Dauid is a plaine proufe that they fasted also for the deceased Cap. 1. Apprehendens Dauid vestimenta sua scidit omnesque viri qui cum eo erant planxerunt Fasting for the departed ieiunauerunt vsque ad vesperam super Saul Ionathan filium eius super populum super domum Israel eo quod corruissent gladio And Dauid taking hould of his garments tore theime and so did the men withe him and they houled wepte and fasted vpon Saul and Ionathas his sonne with the residew of Goddes
the vnworthinesse of these our dooleful daies and bewailed his own misery as we shoulde doo oures Ita Policarp ex Iren. crying owt with an oulde blessed father O Deus bone in quae me seruasti tēpora vt ista blasphema sustineā O Lorde that I shoulde be reserued for these times to abide suche blasphemie victor de persecut vandal Victor reporteth in his history of the persecution of the vandalles that were Arians that the Gouernour of that cursed company of cruel haeretikes would not suffer the christian men whome he had slaine to be broght home withe seruice and sacrifice but then the good people woonderfully bewailed theire case seeing theim practise cruelty vpon theire soules allso in that they would not suffer theime to enioye at their departure and buriall the rites of goddes church Thus saithe that Author Quis vero sustineat atque possit sine lachrimis recordari dum praeciperet nostrorum corpora defunctorum sine solemnitatehimnorū cum silentio ad sepulchra perduci O Lord who coulde haue fownd in his heart to be houlde then or could yet once thinke of it withe owte teares how he gaue in charge that the bodies of our brethern departed should be broght to the graue and buried with owte all solemnity of himnes in silence and sorowe Ecclesi Cap. 7. It was euer giuen to wicked hard harted haeretiques to prohibere gratiam mortuis to be vnmercifull and to staie the fauoure of good men from the departed epist 8. li. 2. Nouatus as S. Cyprian chargeth him noluit patrem fame defunctū sepelire would not bury his owne father deade of honger bane But to let suche men passe withe the praesent bewayling of our vnhappy dayes let vs with more conforte behould the steppes of good men past how kindely and brotherlyke they haue principally procured the holy sacrifice for they re frendes and felowes gone before For seeing the onely prayers of good men haue bene proued so profitable and the repraesentation of som holy workes of almose hath often moued God to pity as we haue proued towards the release of the departed his payne what may we not hope to obteyne for oure britherne deceased when we shal ioyne in prayers withe the holy angelles with the blessed sanctes with Goddes holy ministers in the representation of Christes most blessed body and bloude before the face of his father when the whole churche of god in that honorable action prayethe and Christe him selfe is both the sacrifice and the priest both the asker and the geuer of pardon when the maiesty of God the blessed trinitye is passingly pleaced by the merites of Christes deathe so liuely set out in these honorable but vnspeakable mysteries what may we not here procure for the soule of the churchies childe what shal be denied to so humble askers in the praesence of goddes own son and begging mercy for his deathes sake And so doth S. Chrisostom assure the faithfull in these goulden wordes Non frustra ab apostolis sancitum est vt in celebratione vener andorū mysteriorum memoria fiat eorum qui hinc discesserunt Homil. 3. in epistolā ad philipp nouerunt quippe illis multum hinc emolumenti fieri multū vtilitatis stante siquidem vniuerso populo manus in coelos extendente coetu item sacerdotali verendoque proposito sacrificio quomodo deum non placaremus pro istis orantes Yt was not for noght that the apostles decried and ordeined that in the celebratiō of the honorable mysteries there should be an especiall memoriall of the departed for they right well knewe greate commodity and benefite to arise ther vpon For the whole multitude houlding vp theire handes towards heauen together with the company and quiere of priestes and the dreadfull sacrifice set furth before all men howe is it possible but we shoulde appeace goddes wrath praying for theim loke ye what this mannes iudgement was and see from whense he had it euē of the holy apostles I warraunt yowe and no worse nor latter fownders But of that pointe for the full deriuing of our christian vsage frō the first fathers of our faith more cōuenient place shal be geuen herafter Nowe I wil serue the cause and the readers desire first withe certaine peculiare examples of most learned and godly fathers worthy of all credet in the godly prouision for certeine of theire dearest frendes by sacrifice and praier both made by theim selues and procured by others That we may haue here not onely whom to beleeue teaching the truethe but whome to folowe practising the same with deuotion which they preached withe cōstancye before That the practise of any pointe in religion maketh the most open shevve of the fathers faith And that all holy men haue in plaine vvordes and most godly praiers vttered their beliefe in our matter Cap. 9. ANd I take the open practise of any point to be a more pithy protestation of a mānes faithe thē by words cā be made Therfore if a mā were doubtful ether of the trueth of any article or of the meaning of sum doctours wordes looke the same mannes practise and it shall put him owt of doubt thereof streght wayes as for an example seeme sum wordes of S. Augustin to make for the sacramentaries haeresie that Christe is in the honourable sacrament but by a figure or Theodoretus or any other auncient fathers declaratiō are their wordes doubtful to the reader leaue the wordes thē if thowe syncerely seeke for truethe with owte contention and seeke owte if thowe can sum practise of those same men and that Churche where they liued for the same point But what way of worke in this matter consisting in doctrine may assure vs of theire beliefe of whose wordes we doubted before Theodor. dial 2. August super psal 98. Dionis ecclesiast hierarch Cap. 3. Basil de spiritu sanct Cap. 27. Mary sir this looke howe they behaued theime selues in the receiuing of it in the ministering of it in the carefull keping of it whether they did adore it with godly honoure whether they solemnely shewed it to the people to be worshipped whether they praide by solemne and formall wordes vnto it whether they taughte theire children to caulle it God and Christe Lib. 3. de Trin. c.. 10 yea so farre that Augustine affirmeth that the children in his daies till they were after instructed thought that God appeared in the shappe of breade as all these yongers seeing the honour and reuerence of theire elders and theime selues nurtered to houlde vppe theire handes and knocke theire brestes must yet needes meruaile how these owtwarde formes came to so holy an vse further whether the Christiā people were not sclaundered for worshipping and doing sacrifice to Ceres and Bacchus Lib. 20. cōtra Faustū Cap. 13. when the wicked infidelles sawe theire behauiour towardes the holy Hoste whether it was not vsed in woorking of miracles in driuing away deuilles in daungerouse times of
call Masse whiche they call sacrifice Bicause S. Hierō vseth it in the same sense in these wordes Super 11. cap prouer Sunt qui de leuioribus peccatis cum quibus obligati defuncti sunt post mortem possunt absolui vel poenis videlicet castigati vel suorum praecibus eleemosinis missarumque celebrationibus caet There be sum which after theire deathe may haue absolution of theire lighter offensies in the debt whereof they passed owte of this liefe ether after iust punishement for the same suffered or elles through the praiers and allmose of theire frendes with the celebration of Masses So saith S. Hierom or elles as sum thinke the reuerent Beda ether of theire graue iudgements weieth more with me then any one mans alyeue Well therfore Masse oblation or sacrifice Masse allvvaie said for the departed call it as you will all is one for oure purpose and lyke hated of heretikes howe so euer it be named it was practised with prayers for the rest of the departed throughe owte the Christian worlde S. Ambrose exhorteth other men to doo it for they re frendes he did it for his owne Writing therfor a lettre of cōforte to one Faustinus that ouer much bewailed the deathe of his sister thus with comforte he geueth counsel Ambros epist 8. l. 2 Non tam deplorandam quà m prosequendam orationibus reor nec maestificandam lachrimis tuis sed magis oblationibus animam eius Domino commendandam arbitror I suppose thy sisters case should not so much be lamented as she by thy praiers ought to be relieued Thowe must not sadden her soule by teares but by oblations commende her to oure Lorde Howe many bishoppes nowe in England of the new gise would folow this kinde of consolation by letters If the nevve bishoppes vvere like S. Ambro their teaching vvoulde not be cōtrary to his Howe many would exhorte theire frendes to gotte Masse saide or praiers for they re louers reste So many as be like good Ambrose surely woulde so doo that is neuer a one make theire accompte as neare as they can But will yow see howe he practised vpon his owne prince the Emperour Theodosius Super obit Theodosij Imperatoris Da requiem perfecto seruo tuo Theodosio requiem quam praeparasti sanctis tuis Illò conuertatur anima eius vnde descendit dilexi ideo prosequar eum vsque ad regionem viuorum nec deseram donec fletu praecibus inducam virum quô sua merita vocant in montem Domini sanctum Giue rest good Lord vnto thy good seruaunt Theodosius euen that reste whiche thow hast praepared for the holy Sanctes Let his soule ascende from whense it came I loued him and therfore I will prosecute him vnto the land of the liuing I will neuer leaue him till withe teares and praiers I bringe that man according to his deseruinge to the holy hille of Godde This man knewe his duety towardes his prince whome he loued a lieue and forsooke not being deade Super obitu Valentiniani So did he pray and offer for Gratianus and Valentinianus so did he vse the same for his owne deare brother the worthy Satyrus in these wordes muche to be noted Now Lord almightye to the doo I commende the good soule of my brother Satyrus now lately departed In oratione funebr super Satyr to the O Lord doo I make my oblation accepte I besiche the this due office of a broother and mercifully looke vpon the sacrifice of a prieste See lo this good father vsed of brotherhood praiers and bicause he was a prieste he did sacrifice in that respecte and sayde Masse for his brothers soules rest Whome in his funerall oration he setteth forthe with many singulare praises and commendations especially that he was bothe Christianed and buried in the vnity of the Romane Churche that is to saye as him selfe expoundethe it of the Catholike faithe Paulinus one off the same time and Bishop of Nola declareth him self to be of the same faith by the like practise He prayethe bitterly him selfe for a brother departed and besecheth Amandus a holy man of his acquaintaunce to ioyne withe him for the helpe of the departed soule By his wordes the paine of Purgatory is noted and the benefite of oure praiers is proued thus he saithe Epist 1. ad Amandū Imperse rogamus vt quaesi frater vnanimos fratres iuuans hanc meritis fidei tuae mercedē ac cumules vt pro eo infirmitati nostrae compatiaris orandi ab ore conspires vt misericors miserator Deus qui facit omnia in coelo in terra in mari abyssis refrigeret animam stillicidijs misericordiae suae per orationes vestras quia sicut ignis accensus ab eo ardebit vsque ad inferni nouissima ita proculdubiò etiā ros indulgentiae inferna penetrabit vt roscido pietatis eius lumine in tenebris ardentibus aestuantes refrigeremur I hartely beseke ye that as one brother helping an other you woulde increase the desertes of your holy faithe by taking compassion with me and ioyning prayers with me for the departed soule that the God of pity and compassion who woorkethe all thinges in heauen and earthe in the sea and the depthe would at the contemplation of your prayers refreshe and coole his soule with sum droppe of his mercy For as the fyre kyndled by him will burne to the bottom of hell benethe so doublesse the dewe of his grace and mercie shall passe downe to the nether partes that by the comfortable louely lighte of his piety the soules broyling in burnig darknes may be refreshed And writing allso to Delphinus Epist 3. he alludethe to the feruent heate that the riche man suffered in hell when he craued for Lazarus helpe And praiethe him to refresshe the mānes soule deceased with sum droppe of pyty and his holy prayers This man was very deare to Paulinus in his lyfe time for whome he was so carefull after his death he doubted not of his saluatiō thoughe as he saith he went owte of this worlde a debter and therfore feared him to be in great paine So certaine was the doctrine of purgatory in the primitiue churche and so profitable were the praiers counted for the deceased in Christe But if yowe will haue an examplare and a full waraūt of youre duety and deuotion with vnderstanding the vsage of the auncient Churche in suche abundance of many the like yowe shall I thinke be fully satisfied for this parte by S. Augustine Ex li. 9. Confess Ca. 11.13 vlt. in the goodly historye of his mothers deathe a blessed wooman and worthy of suche a sonne Her name was Monica wel knowne in goddes Churche and numbred emongest the sanctes This good matrone prouided especially by her testament that she might not be forgotten at the altare of God when the names of the faithfull departed were in the sacrifice remembred For
that was coÌ„mon in all Churchies as partly is and yet shall be better declared anone The which her worthy wll her sonne Augustine so allowethe that he setteth it forthe in the ninth of his confessioÌ„s to her aeternal memorie in these wordes My mother saieth he when the day of her passing hense was nowe at hande much regarded not howe her body might curiously be couered or with costly spiceis powdered nether did she counte vpoÌ„ any gorgious tumbe or sepulchre Note the vvhole History and feare not to folovv it these thinges she charged vs not will all But her whole and onely desire was that a memory might be kept for her at thy holy altare good Lorde at which she missed no day to serue the where she knewe the holy hoste was bestowed by which the bonde obligatory that was ageinst vs was cancelled Marke good reader as we go by the waie what that is which in the blessed sacrifice of thaultare is offered howe cleare a confession this man and his moother doo make of theire faithe and the Churchies belife concerning the blessed host of our daily oblation behoulde that weemen in those daies knewe by the grounde of theire constante faith that which our superintendents in theire incredulity nowe a daies can not confesse CoÌ„sider howe carefull all vertuous people were in the primityue Church bothe lerned and simple as to be present at the altare in they re lyfe time so after theire death to be remembred at the same Whose woorthy indeuours as often as I consider and often truely I doo consider theyme I can not but lament our contrary affection which can nether abyde the sacrifice the hoste nor the altare in oure daies and therfore can looke for no benefite therby after the day of oure deathe once coom vpon vs as oure fore fathers bothe looked for and oute of doubt had But leauing the peculiare consideration of suche thinges to the good and well disposed let vs go forwarde in the fathers pathes and see whether this so well lerned a clerk counted this zele of his oulde moother blinde deuotion as we brutes thinke of oure fathers holynesse now a daies For which matter we shall find The cursed ChaÌ„ hathe many children in oure daies that first eueÌ„ as she desired the sacrifice of the masse was offered for her not onely for thaccomplishent of her godly request but bicause the Church of god did that office for al that was departed in Christe as we reade in sundry placies of this maÌ„nes workes and as in the same booke of confessions he thus declareth and testifieth I leaue the Latine because the treatise growes to greater lengthe then I was aware of at the beginning yf I corrupte the meaning or intent of the writer let my aduersaries take it for an aduauntage thus he saith therfore Nether did I weepe in the tyme of the praiers wheÌ„ the sacrifice of our price was offered for her nor yet afterwarde when we weere at oure praiers lykewise the corps standing at the graue side c. Cap. 13. Lib. 9. vltimo Wherby euery reasonable man must needes acknouledge that bothe praiers and sacrifice was made for her as her meanig and godly request was before her passage she being thus therfore broght home with supplication and sacrifice solemnely Maister Grindall looke in youre grammer vvhat figure S. Augustine vsed here was not yet forgotten of her happy childe But afterwarde he thus very deuoutly maketh intercession for her quiett reste Nowe I call vpon the gratious Lorde for my deare moothers offensies geue eare vnto me for his sake that was the sallue for oure sinnes and was hanged vpon the crosse who sittethe on the right haÌ„d of God and makethe intercession for vs. I knowe she wroght mercyfully and forgaue those that did offend her and nowe good God pardoÌ„ her of her offensies which she by any meanes after her baptisme committed forgeue her mercifull god forgeue her I humbly for Christes sake pray the and entre not into iudgemeÌ„t with her but let thy mercy passe thy iustice bicause thy wordes are true and hast promised mercy to the mercifull And in the same chapter a little afterwarde he thus bothe praieth him selfe for her and ernestly inuitethe other men to do the same in these wordes Inspire my lord God inspire thy seruantes my bretherne thy children and my masters whome withe will worde and penne I serue that as many as shall reade these may remembre at thyne altare thy hand mayden Monica And her laite husband Patricius throughe whose bodies thowe broght me into this liefe and worlde Thus was that holy matrone by her good childe made partaker after her deathe of the thing which she most desired in her liefe And him selfe afterwarde in his owne see of Hippo in Aphrick had sacrifice saide for him at his departure though the day of his deathe fell at the pityfull hauocke which the Vandalles kâ—pt being Arians in those parties coÌ„maunding the christian Catholikes to be buried with owt seruice as I saide before This blessed Bishop departing owt of this liefe in the besiege of his owne Citye had notwithstanding oblation for his rest as Possidonius writing his life Possidonius in vita August and praesent at his passage dooth testifie Augustinus meÌ„bris omnibus sui corporis incolumis integro aspectu atque auditu nobis astantibus videntibus ac cum eo pariter orantibus obdormiuit in pace cuÌ„ patribus suis enutritus in bona senectute nobis corà m positis pro eius commendanda corporis depositione sacrificium deo oblatum est sepultus est Augustine saith he being sownde in his limmes nether his sight nor hearing failing him I being then praesent and in his sight and praying together with him departed this worlde in peaâ—e vnto his elders being continued till a fare age And so we being praesent the sacrifice for the commendacion of his rest was offered vnto God first and streght vpon that was he buried Thus lo all these fathers taughte thus they practised thus they liued and thus they died none was saued then but in this faithe lett no man looke to be saued in any other nowe That vve and all nations receyued this vsage of praing and sacrificing for the departed at our first conuersion to Christes faithe And that this article vvas not onely confirmed by miracle amongest the rest but seuerally by signes and vvoonders approued by it sellfe An that the Church is grovvne to suche beauty by the fructes of this faithe Cap. 10. MAny moe examples of these matters might be broght oute of S. Gregorye diuerse owte of Damascene enowe out of what writer so euer yowe lyke best such choise we haue in so good a cause wherof euery mannes workes are full But I wil passe ouer the rest that I may onely reporte one history owte of our own Church in the pure spring wherof the apostolick faith abundantly isshued downe from the
churche hathe customablye taken in hand for al men passed in the Christian Catholike society by the way of a generall commemoration theire names not particularely expressed that suche thinges may be prouided by oure common kinde moother to all those which doo lacke parents children kinsfolke or frendes for the due prouision of suche necessary dueties By this holy mannes wordes we may see the difference betwixte oure owne tender natural moother and the cursed cruell steppe dame The one folowethe her children withe loue and affectiō in to the next world with ful sorowful sighes many deuout praiers and al holy workes whiche she vseth to theire needeful helpe the other being but an vnnaturall steppemoother and all the children of that adoulterouse seede hath theim no longer in mind thē they be in sight whether they sinke or swhim she maketh no accompte she hathe no blessinge of her owne she hinderethe the mercy of other But lette vs vewe all the orders that we finde extant or vsed throughe the Christian worlde for the celebration of the blessed Sacrament and sacrifice whiche nowe commonly in oure vulgare speache we caull the Masse and see whether as Augustin said there hathe not bene in all agies an especiall supplication of the prieste and people for the dead as wel as for the lieue First S. Clement Cōstitut l. 8. cap. 47. the Apostles owne scholare reportethe howe they prescribed this solemne praier in theire holy ministery for the departed Pro quiescentibus in Christo fratres nostri rogemus c. Let vs pray saith the deacon brethern for all those that rest in peace that oure mercifull Lorde that hath taken theire soules in to his hande would forgiue them al theire offensies whether they were willinglye or negligently committed and so hauing compassion vpon theim would bringe theime to the land off the holy ones and happy rest with Abraham Isaac and Iacob and all other that pleaced him from the beginning ▪ where there is nether sighing sorowe nor sadnesse And a litle after in the same holy action the Bishop praieth him selfe in this forme O Lorde looke downe vpon this thy seruaunt whome thowe hast receiued in to another lyfe and pitefully pardon him yf ether willingly or vnweetingly he hathe offended Let him be guarded by peaceable Angells and broght to the Patriarches Prophettes and Apostles and the rest of all theime that haue pleaced the sith the worlde began Thus reporteth Clement being one of the apostles companie and continually praesent in the celebration of theire mysteries Againe Eccles hierarch Cap. 17. Dyonisius Ariopagita of whome mention is mayde in the actes so auncient be the recordes of our faith hathe not onely left in writinge what he thoughte in this matter whiche had ben enoughe but allso what the Church Apostolike in that spring of religion and pure deuotion taught and ordeyned to be vsed and that by the Apostles prescription whom he there termeth the heauēly gides and capitaines of trueth For in the laste chapter of his booke titled of the Ecclesiasticall soueraintye he telleth in ordre howe first the body is placed before the holy altare howe the solempne misteries withe heuenly psalmes and sonets be songe and saide ouer the corps howe the holy Bisshop geueth thankes to god makethe comfortable exhortation to the assembly to continue in assured hope off the resurrection howe he anoyntethe the bodye withe holy oyle and laste of all makethe praiyers for him and so committethe hym to God The whiche whole ordre off the sacrifice ceremonies and misticall praiers exercised as well in burialls as at other times in the reuerent misteries this author would not fully sett owte in writing for theire sakes that coulde not for the weaknesse of faith atteine to the worthy holynesse of so highe matters as he him sellfe professethe in these wordes Praecationes quae in misterijs adhibentur nephas est scripto interpretari misticam eorum intelligentiam aut vim quae in eis deo authore efficacitatatem habent ex adyto in publicum efferre sed quemadmodū a maioribus nostris traditum accepimus c The prayers which be vsed in the misteries may not in anywyes be sett out to the worlde in writinge nether may the singulare efficacie and grace of theime be made common to all men but euen as we haue receiued by thandes of oure eldres And as longe as this ordre was religiously kept in goddes Churche the solempne secretes of the blessed sacraments were not so contēptible as oure newe oppen communion hathe of late made theime where there is nothing so holy but it may abyde the sighte and handeling of whoso euer is the worst The holy and heuenly misteries of Christ his spouse were not thē prophaned by the praesumptiouse babling of euery idle heade Thē were not the soueraigne weghty matters handeled in alehowses but vsed at the holy altares Then the idle contentious vngodly and vnproffitable quirkes and quaestions had no other solution but sharpe discipline and worthy correctiō then were not the Gydes of goddes people countrowled by euery restlesse felowe In homil contra Sabellian Athan ad Epictetum that coulde cracke of goddes worde but it was enoghe for a faithfull mannes contentatiō to say with Basil the greate Dominus ita docuit apostoli predicauerūt patres obseruauerūt cōfirmauerūt martyres sufficiat dicere ita doctus sum Our Lord taught so the apostles so preched our fathers obserued the same the holy martyrs haue sealed it It is sufficient for me to say so was I taught O Lord that this simple sincere fidelitie might once take place againe in oure daies for the coomforte of the poore faithfull flocke that are nowe so burdened with questions of infidelitye that the sely simples soules cā not tell howe to turne theime selues nor finde meanes to kepe theire faithe inuiolated in such a multitude of misbeleuers Which I surely hope the earnest and pitiful praiers of so many good men that doo bewaile this miserie shall at lengthe after due poonishment of oure sinnes obteyne at goddes gratiouse handes But what shifte doo the aduersaries here make with this euidēt testimonie of this so auncient a writer mary sir they indeuoure with all theire mighte to robbe this excellent auncient and diuine writer of all his workes which haue borne the title of his name euer sithe theye were writē Ita Suidas testatur which chalēge theire own author by that graue stile that no other man as the skilfull in that languange doo testifie coulde euer lightly atteyne vnto which so sauore of the antiquity and the apostolike spirit that thowe woulde deeme theyme to be indited by sum of the cōtinuall hearers of Christe Iesus But it were vaine to stand in contention for this matter for we shoulde neuer haue ende if we should be put to proue that euery man made the bookes which be extant in his name it weere to muche miscredit of antiquitie and vncertainty of
man may auouche withe salfety of his belefe that she or any other raysed againe miraculously was reuoked from the desperate estate of the damned soules then she muste necessarily be called from some meane condicion of her present abode and perhappes from paine too to this former state of lyfe againe But as in this secrett of god no man with owte iust reprehension may deeply wade so it may reasonably be gathered â—hat the faule of the tree before mentiâ—ned can not induce withe any probaâ—ilitie the necessity of the soules abiâ—ing in all respectes where it first lighâ—e Marye we freely graunt with diuers of the auncient fathers that the faule of the tree into the southe parte may â—ignifie vnto vs the departure of maÌ„ in the happy state of grace and the norâ—he side lykewise the cursed and damnable state of the wicked and that he which passethe hense in ether of these estates and condicions as euery lyuing man doothe can not procure by other nether deserue by him sellfe the chaunge of his happy lote or his vnlucky happe otherwise then in his lyfe time he deserued That is to say if he passe this worlde an electe person in the loue and grace of God he is oute of doubt of all damnation or rather oute of possibilitye to be reiected and so the case of the forsakeÌ„ is vtterly remedilesse And further by that figuratiue speache yowe had not best on your owne heade be ouer boulde least som Saduceie of your secte gather the perpetuall reste of the body with owte all hope of resurrection I can not tell howe it faulethe but yet so it doothe that your doctrine and arguments minister ouer muche occasion of erroure and that to the deceiued in the depest matters of our faithe But I will rubbe yow no more on thatsore I warned yowe before to take heede to the resurrection An Ansvver to the secoÌ„d text Nowe for the other text recited oute of S. Matthewes gospell of the double waie th one to perdicion an the other to saluation there is allmost none so simple but he seeth that it maketh no more for your purpose then the other For there as oure aduersary can not but knowe though to deceiue he liste dissemble mentioÌ„ is made and the meaning is onelye of these ij waies in this worlde and lyfe in one of which being full of ease and libertye the wicked waulkethe towardes hell or damnation In the which way the riche maÌ„ and vnmercifull tooke his tyme of whome Abraham saide that he had receiued good in his dayes In the other being bothe straite and harde the smal numbre of the chosen take their iourney towardes heauen And yet if yowe thinke good yowe may ioyne the place of temporall punishment for sinne in the worlde to coom to the straite and painefull passage of the electe though perhappes all they entre not therby And so shall yowe find this place not onely nothing to forther theire cause but sumwhat to helpe oures And so for the other taken oute of the fyft to the Corinth S. Augustine shal answer yowe and beare me witnesse An Ansvver to the thirdâ— argumeÌ„t it makethe nothing for yowe his wordes be these in his Encheridion This practise that Goddes Churche vseth in the commendations of the deade Cn. is nothing repugnaÌ„t to the sentence of the Apostle where he saithe that we all shall stand before the iudgement seate of Christe that euery one may receiue according to his desertes in the bodye ether good or euill for this in his lyfe and before deathe he deserued that these woorkes after his death might be profitable vnto him for in deede they be not profitable for allmen and why so but bicause of the difference and diuersitye of mens liues whilest they were in this flesh c. And this same sentence the Doctor often repeteth allmost in the same forme of wordes in diuers placies bothe to correcte theire ignorance that might take a way praiers for the dead bicause they finde the sentence of goddes iudgement to be executed on man according to the deseruing of this lyefe and no lesse to geue monition to the carelesse that they omitte not to doo well in this lyfe vppoÌ„ hope or presumtioÌ„ of other mennes works after their decease which as they be exceding beneficial to many so they helpe none suche as in their owne lyfe woulde not helpe theime selues The lyke declaration of this pointe hathe S. Denyse in the 7. chapter of his Ecclesiastical soueraignty whiche I omitte lest in this point by S. Augustine sufficiently auouched I weerye the reader without cause The last obiection An ansvver to the last scripture of the angelles words in the Apocalipse affirming the state of all those that dye in our Lorde to be happy to be past trauel and in rest and peace they be properly spoken there of holy men that sheede theire bloude in the times of persecution for Christes sake to geue theime assured comforte after a litle toleration and patience in the rage of Antichrist of blessed and aeternal rest and so the circumstance of the letter plainely geueth and so dooth S. Augustin expounde it Cap. 9. lib. 20. de ciui And for suche holy martyrs it is needlesse to pray as to pray vnto theime is most profitable Albeit the wordes are true and may be wel verified of all that passe hense in the happy state of grace being past the cares of this troblesom world and which is the greatest trauell of all other vtterly dispatched of the toile that sinners take in theire waies of wickednesse with freedoÌ„ froÌ„ sin and al feare of sinne and damnation for euermore So that this rest froÌ„ laboure is no more but a happy ioy of conscience with securitye of saluatioÌ„ and peace in Christe Iesu For which cause in the holy Canon of the Masse it is saide Christianos dormire in somno pacis in Christo quiescere That Christian folkes doo sleepe in the sleape of peace and rest in Christ thoughe for all that in the same place we aske Requiem refrigerium rest and refreshing for theyme And this holy peace from all toyle of the worlde and woorme of tormented conscience the electe children of God in theire fathers correction being assured of his aeternall loue do blessedly enioye But the wicked be in contrary case of whome it is saide non est pax impijs there is no rest or quietnesse to the wicked no not in theire daies of ioye much lesse in their infinite miserie of their euerlasting torments in the world to coom Of whose vnhappy state Isai 57. the prophet warneth vs thus againe Impij quasi mare feruens quod quiescere non potest The wicked be right like vnto the toomblinge and tossinge sea that neuer restethe The place of S. Iohn then being namely spoken of holy martyrs that streght with owte all paine after this lyfe passe to heauen may yet very fitly stand with