nor absolue anie and those which were so ordained ought to be againe ordained yet the grace of the Sacrament did she obtaine for those that with a good faith by an inuincible ignorance did receiue it I answer he deceiues himselfe for those are not Sacraments which are not administred by those whom God hath ordained albeit they haue many imperfections yea although they be hypocrites as by the Priestes that liued in the time of Iesus Christ appeareth which albeit they were wicked yet because they were of the tribe of Leui and so outwardly called their Sacrifices were Sacrifices and their Sacraments were Sacraments And so the Lord and his Apostles when they found them sacrificing and celebrating in the Temple held them for such Contrariwise the Sacrifices which the Priestes of Ierohoam did offer and the Sacraments by them administred were no Sacrifices nor Sacraments because they were not administred by those of the Tribe of Leuie whome God himselfe had ordained Ione then being a woman I say was no Priest and being no Priest had authoritie neither to ordeine nor yet to consecrate and therefore the Priestes by her authoritie ordained were not the Priestes of God but of Ieroboam or of Baal And these I say that receaued their sacrament had no sounde faith for Faith is founded vpon the word of God Faith saith the Apostle commeth by hearing and heariing by the word of Christ Other maner of consolation and quietnes of conscience haue they which beleeue that Iesus Christ euer was is and shal be the head and foundation of his Church and that there is no other head nor foundation but he alone as saith Saint Paule 1. Cor. 3. 11. Other foundation saith he then that which is Iesus Christ can no man lay he onely is the foundation he onely is the head of his Church whose Vicar generall is his Spirit as he himselfe witnesseth That Comforter the holie Spirit whom the Father shall sende in my name he shall teache you all thingâ—s and bring to your remembrance all that whatsoeuer I haue said vnto you Pero Mexia by a good faith meaneth that faith as they call it of the Collier This Collier being at point to die a learned man the diuell say some others came to tempt him demanding of him what he beleeued I beleeue answered he that which the holy mother the church beleueth The deuill replying and what beleeueth the Church That answered the Collier which I beleeue And so often as the diuill demanded the veriâ— same did the collier answer For the poore man knew not what he beleeued much lesse what the Church beleeued Of that sort was he which not knowing what they beleeue sayd they beleeue in God à pies Iuntillos fully Hosius Bishop of Varmiens intreating in his third booke of or against the authoritie of holy scripture doth hold it a very safe thing to followe the example of this Colliar Oh fearefull ignorance which shall not excuse sinne God commaundeth to reade and search the scriptures and they will neither reade nor search theÌ„ what excuse wil they haue with their ignorance Saint Peter exhorteth euâ—rie faithfull Christian to be readie to yeeld accompte of his hope And who shall giue accompt of his hope or faith that neither readeth nor heareth the word of God For knowe this that as the wyke in a candle or Lampe no longer burneth then oile continueth no more also can faith liue but whiles it is nourished with the word of God He that neither readeth nor heareth nor meditateth vpon the worde of God what faith can he haue that which they call fully to beleâ—ued in God and that of the Colliar which neither knewe what the Church nor he himselfe beleeued But returne we now to our Pope Ione The Emperour Lewes 2. sonne of Lotharius in the time of this Ione came to Rome at her handes receiued his septer and crowne Imperiall together as they call it with Saint Peters blessing In her time also Don Alonso the third reigned in Spaine as Don Rodrigo Sanchez Bishop of Palencia describing the life of Don Alonso the third saith In his time saith he at Rome sate Leo the fourth Iohn the eight Benedict the third and Nicholas the first And Don Alonso of Carthagena speaking in his Concurrence of this Don Alonso the third saith there was Leo the fourth and Iohn the English Pope Ione dying in sort as before said Benedict the third was chosen He was the first that sate in holed seate c. The cause why vpon the life of Ione we haue before declared Lewes the Emperor sent his Embassadours to confirme this election At this time Don Alonso the third raigned in Spainâ— The thirteenth Sisme was betweene this Benedict and Anastasius but Anastaâ—sius renounced In the the presence of Lewes the Emperour Nicholas the first was chosen but when the Emperour was departed out of Italie the Pope made many â—â—nstitutions and among others these That the life of the Clergie should not be iudged by the Laytie that none should any way dispute of the Popes authoritie That the Christian magistrate had no authoritie ouer the chiefe Bishop because the chiefe Bishop say they is called God Anton. tit 16. The constitution that the diuine office should be celebrate in Latine he renewed Yet dispensed with them of Slauonia and Polonia which did celebrate it in their vulgar tongue He ordeined that the constitutions of the Popes should be equall in authoritie with those of the Apostles The Beastes hornes growe very seuere was this beast against married Priestes To which impietie Huldricke Bishop of Augusta oposed himselfe and wrote an Epistle which excellently shewed the cursed fruites of constrained single life The summe whereof speaking of Gregorie the first we haue before declared This Nicholas with other Bishops forbad all faithfull Christians to heare Masse said by a wenching Priest If this were obserued few Masses would be heard because the greatest parte of priestes be wenchers In the 867. yeare dyed Nicholas In whose time in Spaine reigned Don Alonso 3. and Don Garcia his sonne After Nicholas succeeded Adrian 2. and after Adrian Iohn 9. whom others omitting Ione call Iohn 8. Martin 2. by deceit and wicked arts was made Pope with the ceremony of the seat c. and confirmed without any authoâ—itie or consent of the Emperor For now the hornes of the Popes were growne and of the Emperour they nothing esteemed he dyed in the yeare 884. Adcian 3. being Pope made a decree that in the election of the chiefe Bishop the Emperour should not be regarded but that the Clergie people of Rome might freely make choise without any confirmation at all of the Emperour Thus lost the Emperour his right in Rome and in the choise of the chiefe Bishop And by reason of the Emperours then warres with the Normans the Pope swayed the matter Adrian dyed
ninth Session Where in as little then did they For the Spaniards and the rest except the Italians stayed at Trent willing to end the Councell where it was begun The 10. Session was held in Bologna wherein was nothing done For those of Trent there abode expecting them of Bologna and those of Bologna expected them of Trent And so in this 10 Session was there no other thing done but a prolongation to the 15. of September Which day being come they did nothing also so the one and the other for a long time brake vp the Councell In this time died Paule 3. and Iulius 3. succeeded him who at the importunity of the Emperour being much displeased at the translation and discontinuance of the Councel commanded that the Session following should the first day of May 1557. be holded at Trent wherein nothing else was concluded but that the twelfth Session should be holden the first day of September which day being come As little was ought done For the prelates were not yet come In the thirteenth Session were found fourtie Bishops and fourty two diuines In the 15. Session was there nothing done In the 16. Session no other thing was concluded but the suspension of the Councell for two yeares And so Iulius 3. Marcellus 2. Paul 4. Pius 4. was elected in whose time the rest of the Sessions were holden The number of Bishoppes then increased the Councell was ended and confirmed by the Pope For knowe this that all is nought woorth whatsoeuer the Councell decreeth if it bee not confirmed by the Pope Knowe also that so subiect was this Councell to the Pope that it made a decree Wherein it was ordayned that all whatsoeuer was in the Councell ordayned was intended So that it nothing derogated from the Authoritie and commodity of the Pope and the Councell was not only subiect to the Pope but to whatsoeuer other Bishops also And so in the 18 decree it was ordayned that the Bishops and the rest to whom it should appertayne might dispense with whatsoeuer decree or decrees of this Councell so that he knew the cause commoditie so required This decree was it which gaue most content to the Ecclesiasticall persons For by vertue of this decree each thing remayneth polluted as before and so nothing reformed So that the ecclesiasticall Lordes take courage reioyce because if there be any thing in this Councell that seemeth ouer harsh hard or bitter irksome they reioyce I say For that by vertue of this decree shall they easily for money haue dispensation of the Bishop or of the Pope Which dispensation will make them so tender and so as a peece of soft bread and so sweete as the honie Moreouer this Councell was not admitted of the kings of England and Denmarke nor of the Protestant princes nor of the common wealthes of Germany All these be one good part of Christendome inhabiting in Europe But they will say vnto me that these which I haue named be heretiques Whereunto I answere that if they hold them for heretiques for the same cause are they to be suffered to speake freely that which they thinke in the Councell Their sayings being heard they ought to dispute with them and conuince them by the bookes of holy scripture And by that which the Doctors and auncient Councels gouerned by Gods word belieued and maintayned And now that they say the foresayd protestants to be heretiques What will they tell me of kings of Fraunce whom the Pope himselfe calleth most Christian for the great seruice they haue done to the seat Apostolique which tooke not this of Trent for a generall Councel nor lawfully called And so Frauncis 1. sent not of all his kingdome one prelate or diuine to the Councel No more did his sonne Henry that succeeded him in his kingdome he tooke it not for a generall Councell As by the protestation which this king in the 1551. yeare by his Embassadours made in the Councell was proued The report is this Iames de Annot Abbot de Bellosana Embassadours of the king came sodainely vnto Trent presented to the Councell a letter from his king The superscription whereof sayd To the assembly of Trent Asmuch to say As to the meeting at Trent This superscription being read the Spanish Bishops spake saying that such a letter was in contempt of the Councell and that it ought not to be read nor yet opened But notwithstanding the rest of the Councel after they had well debated the buisines concluded that the letter ought be opened and read presupposing that most Christian king had not vsed such a superscription either for contempt of the Councel nor to derogate from it authority and so was it read The some of this letter was that he protested as before he had protested in Rome that he could not send to Trent by reason of the warres the Bishops of his kingdome He said also that he held not this Councel for general or lawful but for a particular meeting calnot for the publique good of Christendome the which ought led togither for the profit cōmoditie of some particular persō to be the principal cause of the calling togither of a Councel That he thought neither himselfe nor his subiects bound to obserue the decrees that there in should be made But that concerning the same he will vse if need should be the remedies which his progenitors had in the like cases vsed c. And the king of Fraunce not contented to haue made this protestation in Rome and in the Councell but passed yet further and sent an Embassadour called Marlot and of his Councell to the assembly which the Cantons of the Swizers held at Bade to persuade them not to take this of Trent for a Councel nor to make any reckoning thereof Whereunto he persuaded also the same Cantons which were papists The Grisons also which had sent Thomas Planta their Bishop to the Councell nor approuing the Councell caused him to returne home They will not say Frauncis and Henry his sonne kings of Fraunce to be Lutherans but most Christen as our aduersaries the papists themselues cal them which hold not for a Councell the Councell of Trent but an assembly of particular persons for their particular profit The same account then that so many Nations kings mightie princes and great States of Europe not of the protestants onely but also of the papists without passing to the Christians of Affrique and Asia none of whom doe I know or haue read to be found in this Councell made of this Councell make wee also so demand we a Councel general lawfull free where each one may freely speake his opinion Let the Councell and not the Bishops onely who only with a deliberate voice haue tyrannically lift vp themselues examine iudge what euerie one shall say according to the word of God Were there such a Councell God we trust would giue vs speech and wisdome to maintaine defend
with him 30000. men and onely Saint Barnard without any payne flew to heauen 3. descended into purgatorie and all the rest into hell perpetually to be damned Thus far Venero He that reporteth this was no Ideot but a preacher and of the order of preachers Who will not beleeue an holy hermite come from another world a Bishop and a preacher also O happie Bishop which knew what passed in Heauen Purgatorie and hell Blessed be our God which hath opened our eyes and made vs to vnderstand such apparitions to be illusions of the diuell For confirmation of this our Doctrine Reade the Parable which our Sauiour propoundeth of the rich worldling who prayed Abraham to send Lazarus before deceased to the house of his father that he might declare to his fiue brethren that which he passed But Abraham answered they haue Moses and the Prophets let them heare them whom if they will not heare neither will they bee perswaded though a man should rise from the dead Luke 16. So that euery Christian which readeth searcheth and meditateth the holy scripture doth know that all this which they say concerning Purgatorie is lies albeit the Pope will haue it an Article of faith Were it an article of faith it should be founded vpon the scripture On the scripture it is not founded therefore it is no Article of faith Also were it an Artticle of faith it should be one of the twelue of the Apostles creede but it is not therefore it is not an Article of faith But it is as saith Doctour Constantine the head of the wolfe It serueth to mainetayne idle bellies Conclude wee this then of the false myracles of Antichrist with that which the Lord saith False Christes and false Prophetes shall arise and shall worke signes great and wonderfull so that if it were possible the verie elect should be deceiued Well hath our Redemer forewarned vs well hath his Apostle Saint Paule foretold vs. See we now to our selues for of ignorance now shall we not sinne we are forewarned And as Daniel for our consolation foretold vs of the miserable end of Antichrist so also saith Saint Paule and that more plainely then Daniel that the Lord will destroy him with the spirit of his mouth and consume him with the brightnesse of his comming which we see dayly more and more accomplished How many kingdomes and prouinces do now know the Pope to be Antichrist And how came they by this knowledge not forced but by reading and hearing the word of God Very wise was the Pope in forbidding the Bible in forbidding the reading of the holy Scripture well did he vnderstand that all his euill his whole ruine and destruction should there thence proceede But I commaund it The Lord saith Saint Paule will destroy him with the Spirit of his mouth with his word with the holy Scripture with the doctrine of the olde and new Testament with the Bible which he so much abhorreth Many nations haue forsaken him onely Spaine and Italy giue him life But albeit they so do yet is his sicknesse vncurable and doubtlesse shall he die thereof The third and last passage wherewith we confirme the Pope to be Antichrist is taken out of the seuenteenth chapter of the Reuelation of Saint Iohn Reade the whole chapter Here will we note the principall points Saint Iohn saith hee saw a woman sit vppon a beast the woman and the beast with their quallities and attire he depainteth The woman saith hee was the great whore which sitteth vpon manie waters with whom the kings of the earth haue committed fornication He saith that she was set vppon a beast That this woman was clothed with purple and Scarlet and guilded with golde and adorned with precious stones c. Who had in her forehead a name wriâ—ten A Mysterie Great Babylon mother of fornications and abhominations of the earth that this woman was drunken with the bloud of the Saints and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Iesus And concluding the chapter he saith that this woman is the great citie whâ—ch reigneth ouer all the kings of the earth Concerning the beast saith he which was of the colour of Scarlet full of the names of blasphemie which had seuen heades and ten hornes Saint Iohn saith that when he saw this woman ride vpon the beast he greatly wondered The Angell declareth vnto him the secret of the woman and of the beast The beast saith the Angell which thou hast seene was and is not c. He saith vnto him that the seuen heades be seuen mountaines whereupon the woman sitteth He saith that the ten hornes be ten kinges subiect to the beast That these kings shall fight against the Lambe but the Lambe shall oueâ—come them That the waters whereupon the Whoore sitteth bee peoples and kindreds and nations and tongues Hee saieth that the ten hornes of the beast shall hate the whore shall make her desolate and destroy her Who seeth not Antichrist the Pope of Rome here figured and liuely painted out to whom can all these things be applied but to him alone The whore is the Pope the beast is the Romane Empire whereupon the Pope sitteth aâ—d wherewith hee hath lifted vp himselfe It is a common pâ—rase of speech in the Scrâ—pture to call Idolatrie and superstition fornication and tâ—e Idolaters it calleth strumpets and whoores Reade the sâ—cond chapter of Ieremie and 3. verse Ezech. 16. chap. Of 〈◊〉 chap. 1. 2. and 3. The Pope then is called Whore and greâ—t whore for his idolatrie and superstition which he committeth and teacheth to so many people and nations Note that which we haue said in the passage cited out of the 11. chapter of Daniel How much more yet by the great prouidence of God hath this thing fully and plainely happened seing a Pope hath bin which was a woman and a greate whoore Reade the life which we haue recited of Iohn 8. where he saith that the woman was clothed with purple and scarlet and gold c. Euen so is the Pope in his pontificall habite and chiefly the day of his coronation fully clothed Platina speaking of Pope Clement the fifth as in his lâ—fe we haue declaâ—ed saith that at his coronation fell a wall which killed many and that the Pope falling from his horse lost a Carbuncle which fell from his Miter or as they call it Reyno that was worth sâ—xe thousand Florences D. Illescas chap. 24. speaking of the coroantion of Leo the tenth saith these words The day of this coronation in Rome was so solemne and ioyfull that any hardly remembred to haue seene the like thing For besides the other feastes made which should be tedious to recount they affirme aboue an hundred thousand duckets to haue bene cast among the people c. How could this Pope say that which said Saint Peter Siluer and gold haue I none This woman he calleth Babylon as much to say as confusion He calleth
that the Images do weepe laugh sweate and doe other great Miracles Moses declareth that when God spake with his people the people hard the voice of his wordes but they sawe no figure sauing only a voice what God would haue vs to vnderstand hereby the same Moses there declareth Take good heede then to your Soules for ye sawe no figure c. and then That ye corrupt not your selues nor make you any grauē Image or representation of any figure whether it be the likenes of Male or female The common edition which the Roman church alloweth saith Ne fortè decepti faciatis vobis sculptam similitudinem aut Imaginem masculi vel feminae That is to say least being deceaued ye make to your selues a grauen similitude or Image of man or woman Let our aduersaries behold if they make to themselues Images of hee and shee Saints which be of men and women And suppose that the making of Images were not against the expresse comanndement of God but that to make thē or not to make them were a thing indifferent yet ought the good magistrate seeing the superstition and Idolatrie which the ignorant common people commit to forbid Images and breake them notwithstanding imitating therein the holy king Ezechiah that brake the brasen serpent which Moses had made when he sawe the Israelites to burne incense vnto it as in the 2. Kings 18. 4. appeareth Read the chapter See if our aduersaries adorne their Images with flowers with garlandes with crownes decke them cloth them girde them hang vpon them purses light tapers candles and lampes before them perfume incense carry them vpon mens shoulders in procession kneele before them and in their necessities craue helpe and succor of them Reade for this purpose the epistle of Ieremy recited to Baruc in his 6. chap. and thou shalt fully see the same that nowe is done in Spaine Italy and manie other places of the world besides If this be not Idolatrie and superstition what shall be If that good king Ezechiah nowe liued what would he doe to these Images That which he did to the brasen Serpent breake and bray them in peeces Our Aduersaries excuse the matter The same might the Israelites also and it may be they did so yet for all their excuses the good king brake it And thinke not that this Serpent set vp on high which Ezechias brake was of small signification Knowe thou that it was a figure of the same Christ that was to be lift vp and placed as an Ensigne which all those might followe that should beleeue in him beleeuing in him might haue euerlasting life euen as those which beheld the Brasen serpent were cuted of their bodily infirmities So they which behold Christ beleeue in him and follow him are no lesse healed of their spirituall infirmities This is not mine but Saint Iohns interpretation whose words be these And as Moses lift vp the serpent in the vvildernesse so must the Sonne of man be lifted vp that all that beleeue in him c. Ioh. 3. 14. Although this Serpent was made by Moses and by the commandement of God and with so high a signification as Saint Iohn giues it making it the image and figure of Christ And albeit it had so many yeares remained among the people of God from the Israelites being in the wildernesse vntill the reigne of Ezekiah all this notwithstanding this good king seeing the superstition of the people that burned incense to it cast it to the earth and brake it This good zeale of his is commended in the Scripture And in the second booke of Kings chap. 18. 3. these words are vsed He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Dauid had done Hee tooke away the high places and brake the Images and cut downe the groues and brake in peeces the brasen serpent which Moses had made For vntill that time the children of Israell burned incense vnto it and he called it Nehustan as much to say as a peece of brasse Would God the Christian and Catholike kings would imitate the holie zeale of this good king Would God they would seeke to be truly informed and see with their eyes what be the relikes and Images which they haue in their kingdomes and their miracles and the truth or falshood of them But ô griefe that the old prouerbe in our dayes is verified Sease Milagro y hagado el diablo A miracle it is and the diuell doth it Would God they would take count of the great riches that is offered vnto images Oh what should be found The Romistes excuse them by a distinction which they make An idoll say they is one thing and an image is another That the law of God forbideth Idols and permittteh images that the Idoll is an abomination but not an image That they detest Idols and honour Images Let vs now proue this their distinction of Idoles and Images to be vaine God Exod. 20. 4. Deut. 5 8. saith Thou shalt not make to thy selfe Pesel All the difficulty is to knowe what this word Pesel is Pesel is an Hebrewe word deriued of the verbe Pasal that is to engraue carue hew And lest we should thinke as thought the Grecians that onely Pesel which is a carued picture statue or grauen Image is onely forbidden God presently addeth Temuna that is any figure forme shape or painted Image He then forbiddeth grauen carued hewed or painted Images And commandeth vs not to worship nor do reuerence to them Call them as you wil Idols or Images Idoll is a Greeke word and is the same which in Latine is Simulachrum or Imago Simulachrum or Imago is that which in Spanish we called Imagen These foure wordes Pesel Eidolon Simulachrum and Imagen be all one thing and of one selfe signification but that the first is Hebrewe the second Greeke the third Latine and the fourth Spanish And Saint Ambrose as noteth Erasmus in his Annotations vpon the 1. Cor. 8. chap. for Idolum euer readeth Simulachrum Lactantius deriueth Simulachrū of Simulando Eidolon of Eidos asmuch to say as apparance or shew It appeareth to be a person is none It hath eyes and seeth not eares and heareth not feete and walketh not Dauid in the 115. Psalme doth liuely depaint them let our aduersaries behold if their Images haue eyes and see not eares and heare not c. Saint Augustin lib. 4. de Ciuitate Dei cap. 9. and 31. Origen lib. 8. contra Celsum S. Ciprian Tract contra Demetrianum and S. Epiphanius and S. Ambrose make no difference betweene an Idoll and an Image Thomas Aquinus that great captaine of the Dominickes putteth this difference betweene Idolum and Simulachrum as noteth Erasmus in the place a little before alleaged Simulachrum saith he is a thing made to the likenes of some naturall thing but Idolum is Si corpori humano addatur caput equinum to
Elephant fell to the ground vppon him and there he dyed Iudith cutte of the head of Holophernes The warre that Antiochus and Holophernes made against the people of God was vniust but the warre which Henry the third made against the league which had conspired against him to kill him and take from him his kingdome was most iust So that herein was hee no tyrant Besides this both liuing and dying hee was of the same religion of the league as at his end appeared For in that small time that he liued after he was wounded hee confessed communicated and was anoynted But leauing these humane reasons come we to the holy scripture It appeareth by the scripture that Saule was a wicked king an hypocrite a tyrant forsaken of God and so hath God to Samuel How long doest thou morne for Saul seeing I haue forsaken him and that he shall not reigne ouer Israell And commanded him to goe and anoynt for king one of the sonnes of Issai which was Dauid and in the same chap. verse 14. it is said The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and the euill spirit of the Lord did torment him Albeit such a one was Saul yet did not God commaund Samuel or any other to kill him And so Dauid although God had chosen him and Samuell annointed him for king when manifest occasion and meanes were twise offered him to kill Saul yet killed he him not Also when Dauid and his followers were hid in a caue for feare of Saul as 1. Sam. 24. appeareth Saul entred the same caue to doe his needs then did Dauids men aduise him not to let slippe occasion but to kill Saule But Dauid instructed in a better schoole then were they answered The Lord keepe me from doeing such a thing against my maister and the annointed of the Lord that I stretch not out my hand against him for he is the Lordes annointed And not only did not kil him but grieued to haue cut of the lap of his garment as if herein he had done some great disgrace And in the 26. chap. of the same booke it is reported that Dauid Abisai came by night to the camp of Saule found him sleeping c. Then Abisai said to Dauid God hath closed thine enemy into thine hands this day now therfore I pray thee let me smite him once with a speare vnto the earth and I will not smite him agayne And Dauid said to Abisai Destroy him not for who can lay his hand on the Lords Annoynted and be guiltlesse Moreouer Dauid said As the Lord liueth either the Lord shall simite him or his day shall come to dye or he shall descend into battayle and perish The Lord keepe me from laying myne handes vpon the Lordes annoynted c. And when one brought newes of the death of Saule saying that hee had slaine him what gaue Dauid vnto him for his good tidings He said vnto him How wast thou not affraid to put forth thy hand to destroy the Annointed of the Lord Then Dauid commanded one to kill him who wounded him and so he died And Dauid said vnto him Thy bloud be vpon thine owne head for thine owne mouth hath testified against thee saying I haue slaine the Lords annointed And Dauid mourned for Saule c. Whereupon we will conclude that wickedly did this Friar and those of his counsell in murthering their king and that wickedly did the Pope in praising and cannonising this fact What reuelation had Sistus 5. that God had wholly cast off Henrie the third that he should forbid any obsequies and honours accustomed to be made for the dead should be made for him commanded also that they should not pray for him Samuel and Dauid had most sure reuelation that Saule was forsaken of God and that as such a one was he fallen into a reprobate sence yet notwithstanding did they let him liue coÌ„spired not his death If a Prince in our time be he heretike as they call him or Catholike shall not fully obey whatsoeuer the Pope commandeth him albeit it be to the depriuing him of his kingdome and giuing it to another then shall he be cursed and excommunicate both in bodie and soule and the most vile person if we beleeue Sistus 5. with good conscience may kill him And such a one that shall murther him shall haue done an act very meritorious and holy for the which he deserueth to be cannonized What Christian religion is this that one shall be cannonized for committing that which by the word of God as by exaÌ„ples we already haue proued is expresly forbidden Oh times oh customes But vpon such will his day come these swine shall not escape as they say without their Saint Martin With Sistus 5. conclude we saying that in the moneth of September and 1590. yeare he died whom Vrban 7. which poped 12 dayes succeeded At the end of the yeare 1590. Gregorie 14. succeeded him and died in September 1591. Innocent 9. succeeded Gregorie 14. who a small time poped So that in the space of 14. moneths foure Popes died Sistus Vrban Gregorie and Innocent and it is to be thought the most or all of them died of poyson For Brazuto is not dead that giueth theÌ„ poyson This Brazuto killed 6 Popes with poison as vpon the life of Damasus 2. we haue declared In the 1592. yeare Innocent 9. being dead Clement 8. or 9. or 10. succeeded This Clement poping in the 1599. yeare a Friar Capuchan incited by the Iesuits attempted to kill the French king Henry 4. but his treason was discouered and so was he caught In the time of this Pope in September 1598. died the king Don Philip 2. aged 70 yeares Don Philip 3. sonne of the forenamed Don Philip 2. and of the daughter of Maximillian the Emperour and of the Empresse Dona Maria de Austria sister of the king Don Philip 2. succeeded him God grant him grace as the dutie office of a king requireth night and day to meditate in the law of the Lord accomplish that which God Deut. 17. 18. commandeth a king shuld do When he shall sit saith God speaking of the king vpon the throne of his kingdome he shall cause to be written the booke of this law c. And it shall be with him and he shall reade therein all the dayes of his life Note ye Spaniards that God commandeth the king to reade the holy Scriptures and then saith he he is to reade them that he may learne to feare the Lord his God that he may keepe all the words of this Law and these ordinances to do them That he lift not vp his heart aboue his brethren nor turne fâ—rm the commandement to the right hand nor to the left that he may prolong his dayes in his kingdome he and his sonnes c. And God not onely comaundeth the king to reade the holy scripture but his captaines also when they be in warres to reade the
the more thou of all other nations of the world in these last times hast abased and deiected thy selfe to serue and adore this monster this man of sinne this sonne of perdition this whore clothed with scarlet purple adorned with so great store of gold precious stoâ—s this beast this Antichrist this thy Pope this thy God vpon earth by so much the more holding thy selfe ashamed confounded for that which thou hast done because thou so much louest and more esteemest honor then other nations thou shalt abandon abhorre him and shalt practise his vtter ruine and destruction God giue thee that grace that quickly for the sacrifice sake which Iesus Christ his sonne our chiefe and only high Bishop our redeemer and Lord vnto him hath offered Amen For the healpe of memorie haue we heare placed a table wherein is plainely declared the Pope to be Antichrist which is the summe of of this first Treatise An end of the first Treatise A briefe table wherein most clearely euidently is declared who Antichrist is and by what markes he may bee knowne The necessitie of this Doctrine is first declared AS it behoueth the Christian Church and euery faithfull member thereof to know Iesus Christ the Lord and followe his Doctrine with all obedience So is it meete that euery faithfull Christian should perceiue and know what the holy scripture doth teach concerning Antichrist to the end that all the faithfull may truly know him and knowing him flie from him and beware his deceites And if the Apostles themselues in the Primitiue Church forewarned the faithfull of the daunger and comming of the great woolfe as in the 2. Thes 2. 3. 4. c. 1 Ioh. 2. 18. c. appeareth How much more now in this old age of the world wherein all iniquitie aboundeth the end of all thinges approcheth ought we to esteeme this Doctrine necessarie 2 Concerning the name of Antichrist and how the holie scripture speaketh touching the same Antichrist is a Greeke word and asmuch to say as contrarie to Christ For as Antipapa is hee who not beeing Pope attributeth to himselfe the whole authoritie and power of the Pope So is he Antichrist that opposeth himselfe to Christ attributing to himselfe that which is proper to Christ The holie scripture of Antichrist speaketh two manner of waies For as this word Christ or anointed is sometimes generally taken Psalme 105. verse 15. Touch not mine Annointed where by annointed all the faithfull that hold Communion with Christ are vnderstoode And properly againe when Christ our Lord is mencioned So by this word Antichrist is some time generally vnderstoode all such as in Doctrine oppose themselues to Christ 1. Iohn 2. 22. and cap. 4. 3. But then properly it mentioneth Antichrist when it noteth an head of an abominable kingdome which head lifteth vp it selfe against Christ as in 1. Ioh. 2. chap. 18. where the Apostle saith that Antichrist should come It is to be noted that as many things in the scripture foretold of Christ are applyed to some persons which were types and figures of Christ as Dauid Salomon Zerubbabel c. Which properly and truly are meant of Christ and in him accomplished so many things also foretold of Antichrist Dan. 7. 8. 20. 21. 25. chap. 8. 23. 24. 25. chap. 11. 36. and 1. Timoth. 4. 1. 2. 3. are applyed to certaine tyrants and heretikes as forerunners and types of Antichrist but properly to Antichrist in him are fulfilled 3 Whether Antichrist be come The Papists say that Antichrist is not yet come but shal come teach they of the race of the Iewes of the Tribe of Dan be borne in Babylon brought vp in Chorazain and Bethsaida and shall reigne in Ierusalem c. with sundrie such like inuentions of man not warranted by authoritie of holie Scriptures But wee say that Antichrist is alreadie come and that will wee prooue by the testimonies of the holy Scriptures For the same thing nowe is befallen the Papistes which in time past when Christ Iesus our redeemer did manifest himselfe in the world happened to the Iewes For as the Iewes with the Apostles did beleeue and confesse the Prophetes to haue spoken manie things touching the Messias but not beleeued nor confessed that the promised Messias then was come nor that Iesus borne of the Virgin Mary in Bethelem was that true Messiah Euen so doe the Papistes at this day fully confesse with vs that many thinges in holy Scripture are foretolde concerning Antichrist yet beleeue they not nor confesse that he is come but say he shall come as the Iewes did of the Messias We say then that Antichrist is already come Let vs see now who he is and by what marks he may be knowne 4 Who Antichrist is and by what markes he may be knowne This question in former time was hard and obscure but now Antichrist being reuealed is Verie cleere and easie For as this is the true Messias in whom all things foretold by the holie Ghost concerning the Messias are fulfilled So is and ought this to be truly Antichrist in whom all thinges foretold of Antichrist by the Prophets and Apostles do properly belong and are fulfilled Let vs then consider what the holie Ghost in holie scripture hath spoken of Antichrist which we will deuide into three points 1 Of the time of his reuelation 2 Of the place of his seate and being 3 Of his estate life and Doctrine The time of Antichrists reuelation is signified by Dan. cap. 7. 5. 8. when he saieth A litle horne arose vp among the other hornes in the heade of the fourth Beast The Prophet declareth that the kingdome of Antichrist should rise vp in the Romane Empire which was the fourth Monarchie signified by the fourth Beast The Apostle Saint Paule well noteth the time of the reuelation and comming of Antichrist when he writeth 2. Thestal 2. 3. Let no man deceaue you by any meanes for that day shall not come except there come a departing first that that man of sinne bee disclosed euen the sonne of perdition Cleerely signifieth the Apostle that after an Apostasie Antichrist shall come True it is that from the Appostles time haue bene some forerunners of Antichrist of whom we read Io. 1. 18. 22 c. And that then the Mysterie of iniquitie did worke 2. Thes 2. 7. yet could not the kingdome of Antichrist increase whiles the Roman Empire flourished But when the Roman Empire should be weakened then should Antichrist be cheife as the same Apostle declareth when he saieth 2. Thes 2. 7. 8. Only he which now withholdeth shall let till he be taken out of the waie And then shall that wicked man be reuealed The place where Antichrist shall holde his seate is noted by Daniel â—1 45. when he sayth And he shall place the Tabernacles of his Palace betwene the seas Saint Iohn also in his Apoc. ca. 17. when he signified Antichrist by a woman arrayed with purple and
and answered to the prayers in it was neither the sacrament of the bread nor wine adored But in the Masses of our aduersaries are all things contrarie wherein the people do not but once in the yeare communicate this once that they do communicate they take from them halfe by the middle they take frō them the sacrament of the bloud of Christ which Christ cōmanded that all should drink their Masses they say in a strange tongue which the people vnderstand not and oftentimes he himselfe that saith it neither knoweth nor vnderstādeth that which he saith The people are silēt as though they shuld heare an Enterlude The people adore the bread wine as though it were Christ and not the sacrament of the body bloud of Christ That which Iesus Christ instituted was his holy supper he commanded his Apostles who represented the vniuersal or catholike Church that they shuld afterwards do the same which they had seene him do Do this saith he in remembrance of me And S. Paul speaking to the Corinthians among whō Satan had already bestirred himself bringing some abuses into the Church concerning the supper of the Lord saith For I receiued of the Lord that which also I deliuered vnto you That the Lord the night c. And what agreemēt hath the masse with this which the Apostle saith Nothing at all Let our aduersaries then cease to cōfoūd things togither Let them cease to change their names Let thē not call the supper of the Lord the Masse nor the Masse the supper of the Lord Because it is not so This supper of the Lord a very smal time cōtinued in it being perfection For euen thē whiles the Apostles yet liued arose vp dissentions scismes heresies about the same The which S. Paul willing to reforme reduced the supper to it first institution as the Lord had instituted celebrated it cōmanded that the faithful shuld celebrate the same After these times came others the busines went frō il to worse Men not cōtented with the simplicity wherwith the Lord had celebrated his supper sought to be famous shewing thēselues more wise more prudent and aduised thē Christ himself And so they began to ad diminish in the supper of the Lord. But notwithstāding al this for a 1000. yeares space the substāce of the supper was not touched Albeit as touching outward shew they vsed many ceremonies which Christ Iesus neuer vsed attired themselues with other then cōmon ornaments the which Christ nor his Apostles neuer did The 1000. years passed mē dared to touch the to quick the substance of the holy supper They begā to say that the bread was not bread and that the wine was not wine but that they were cōuerted trāsformed transsubstantiated into the body and bloud of Christ And this gainsaying the holy Scripture and the Fathers as well of the Greeke as Latine Church which wee will afterwards very sufficiently proue The matter thus going in the Councell of Vercele Leo the ninth being Pope Transubstantiation was concluded This Pope condemned the doctrine of Berengarius as speaking of the fourth domage we will afterwards declare Berengarius beleeued what the holy scripture had taught him and in the Fathers hee had read to wit that the Sacrament of the Lords supper in two things consisted in matter as they cal it and in forme the matter is that which is seene touched tasted which is the bread and wine The forme is that which is not seene but beleeued the body and bloud of Christ You see here the great herefie of Berengarius which the Pope and the Councell gouerned by the Pope condemned Afterwards speaking against transubstantiation by manifest authorities of the Scripture and by the sayings of ancient Doctors will we proue true bread and true wine visible and tangible to be in the Sacrament and the true body and bloud of Christ to be iuuisible and beleeued by faith And albeit the Pope commanded that Transubstantiation should be beleeued and the Councell decreed it yet were there in those times manie learned and godly men who giuing credit to that which the holy Scripture and ancient Doctors said nought esteemed that which the Pope and his Councell commanded And yet as constantly passed they further they wrote against such doctrine as impugning the word of God and the Fathers Afterwards in the yeare of our Lord 1200. Pope Innocent 3. confirmed this decree and Vrban 4. in honor of this sacrament at the request of a recluse with whom in times past he had bin ouermuch familiar inuented the solemne feast which they call Corpus Christs Read the life which we haue written of this Vrban 4. And the diuel not contented to haue so euilly intreated the most holy Sacrament of the body bloud of Christ nor to haue giuen it so mortal a wound passed yet further He cut off the sacrament half in halfe he took away say I the sacramentall wine which represented sealed and ioyntly gaue receiuing it by faith the bloud of Christ And so was it decreed in the Councell of Constance where were three Popes deposed that the Sacrament not sub vtraque specie in both kinds but in one only should be giuen True it is they yeeld their excuses why they departe from the institution of Christ that which in the Church was vsed but their excuses be very friuolous to be laughed at As more hereafter we shall see intreating of the sixt domage which the masse causeth And a faire thing it is that they condemne those for heretiques which in both kinds receiue the Sacrament according to the Institution of Christ himselfe If they seeke antiquitie This manner of communicating sub vtraque specie vnder both kinds continued in the Church for the space almost 400. yeares Their communion in one kinde is newe and hath not bene but 180 yeares for so long is it since was held the Councell of Constance One thing had I forgotten that it is many yeares sithence they began to say their Masse without cōmunicating of the People for the priest alone eateth and drincketh it vp all without giuing any parte thereof to any How can this be said to be the supper of the Lord a communion a common banquet set forth and prepared for all the faithfull These maner of Masses call they priuie Masses and with fauor speaking very priuie True it is that many Canons and decrees haue bene made against these priuie Masses but behold how they are kept The priuies haue so evilly smelled that each one thought good to stoppe their noses and passe by them Priuate be these Masses called not for that they be priuately or secretly said which publiquely are in the Churches and hearing of all men that will But so they are called Because not the people but the Priest alone doth communicate And yet haue they gone further The Pope giueth license to say these priuie Masses in the corners of
many and very strange miracles in them shall wee find that there ran riuers of bloud that bloud flowed from the thumbe of Iupiter Titus Liuius reporteth that it rained flesh in Rome Quintus Curtius saith that when Alexander besieged Tyre the bread commonly did sweat bloud And other infinit miracles to confirme their idol worship may the Gentils alleage notwithstanding these miracles their idoll worship is wicked detestable And such be the miracles which our aduersaries recount to confirme their Masse their transubstantiation their idolatrie wrought by arte of the diuell to confirme false doctrin deceiue the simple and if it were possible the verie elect The sixt reason wherewith they confirme their Masse is to say that in the Masse are many good things taken out of the holy scripture as are the Epistle the Gospell the Hoc est corpus meum c. To this obiection we may answere That suppose that in the Masse there bee some good things taken out of the holy scripture it followeth not therfore that the Masse is good for so should sorceries witchcrafts and inchantments be very good For in them the name of God the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost is very often named And no sorcerie witcherie or inchantment is there wherin these names with many epithites and properties are not named And the witches that these names may haue the more efficacy doe name them in tongues which they themselues vnderstand not in Hebrue Greeke and Latine All goeth backward wherein our aduersaries do imitate the witches For all the Masse almost they say in Latine mingling with it some Greeke words as Kyrie-eleyson Christe-eleyson He brue do they also mingle with it as Sabaoth Hosanna Alleluia But Christ when hee celebrated his supper all whatsoeuer he spake in the vulgar tongue did he speake it that all the Apostles simple men might vnderstand and speake the same From hence we conclude that it sufficeth not that the Masse because it hath some good thinges in it should therefore be holy and good how much more good then this there is in the Masse is so corrupted and endomaged with superstition and idolatrie that it can do no good but much euil or as a litle leuen doth leuen the wholle lumpe of dough as a litle poyson doth corrupt the best meate that is in the worlde and the most excellent wyne yf neuer so litle they cast into yt killeth him that drinketh it as Examples wee haue in our Spanish Alexander 6. who by the errour of his seruitour drunke the poysoned wine which he had prepared to kill some Cardinals that he had inuited and thereof dyed euen so also the same things which of their owne nature be good placed in the Masse are poyson which destroy This will we afterwards examine and chiefly that which our aduersaries themselues affirme to be most holy and of the Masse the holinesse it selfe which is Hoc est corpus meum For now say I they apply it not to the purpose that Christ sayd So contrarie say they it to the institution of Christ and in a strange tongue which the people vnderstand not that it infecteth him that heareth it And if you beleeue their Hoc est corpus meâ—m as they vnderstand it into a terrible heresie shall yee fall As a little beneath when we shall speake of the fourth domage of the Masse we will declare That which our aduersaries conclude that the Masse is good because many good things be in it euidently appeareth by that we haue said to be false The seuenth reason wherewith they maintaine their masse is that the sacrifice of the Masse was figured in the sacrifice which Melchisedech made who being Priest of the most high God offered vnto God bread and wine They say also that Malachy chap. 1. vers 11. speaketh thereof as wee haue before alleaged Concerning that which they say of Melchisedech it shall bee needfull that they reade and consider the historie as Moses setteth it downe Whereof the Apostle maketh mention and applyeth it to Christ whose figure saith hee Melchisedech was Moses declareth that Abraham returning from that notable victorie which against foure kings God had giuen him Melchisedech king of Salem brought forth bread and wine he saith that Melchisedech was Priest of the high God Our Aduersaries hearing that Melchisedech was a priest and that he offered bread and wine from hence they conclude that this bread and wine he offered in sacrifice vnto God and that this was a figure of the sacrifice of the Masse Whereunto we answere that Melchisedech offered not bread nor wine vnto God but brought it forth or to speake better caused it to be brought forth for this is the force of the word which Moses here vseth which very well agreeth with our Spanish maner of speaking Hee brought forth or caused to be brought forth bread and wine If you will aske me why made he bread and wine to bee brought forth I will tell you to refresh Abraham and his people that came wearied from the slaughter and hungry in the way which he made For confirmation of that which I say I will content my selfe to alleage Saint Ambrose and Saint Ierome Thus then saith Saint Ambrose vpon the seuenth chapter to the Hebrues No new thing should it be if Melchisedech went out to meet Abraham the Conqueror brought him bread and wine for the refreshing as well of him as his fellow souldiers The same word for word saith Saint Ierome You see heere wherefore serued the bread and wine which Melchisedech caused to bee brought forth What agreement then hath the bread and wine of Melchisedech with the accidents I say Because they denie any substance of the bread and wine in the Masse Melchisedech saith the Apostle was the figure of Christ and sheweth wherein but hee maketh at all no mention of the sacrifice of bread nor of wine for in this Melchisedech was not the figure of Christ sith neither the one nor the other offered the â—acrifice of bread and wine In three things if we note well that which the Apostle saith shall wee finde that Melchisedech was the figure of Christ the first in that Melchisedech was a king and not after a sort but King of Righteoufnesse and Peace in this was he the figure of Christ who onely is the true King of righteousnesse and peace The second is that Melchisedech was a Priest not as the Leuiticall priests which being mortall one died and another succeded him but Melchisedech was eternall and therefore his sacrifice was eternall as of him the Apostle thus speaking doth say Without father without mother without kindred which neither hath beginning of dayes nor end of life But is likened vnto the Sonne of God and doth continue a priest for euer You see here how Dauid speaking with his Lord the Messiah which is Christ saith vnto him Thou art a Priest for
for otherwise one may and ought to pray to God for another And so S. Paul recommendeth himselfe to the prayers of those to whom hee wrote that they should pray to God for him And the same Apostle besought God for them Should the Priest say that in saying his Masse he so prayed to God as the Apostle prayed for them to whom he wrote such a prayer were it done in faith should be good But to presume to be an intercessour and to sell his sacrifice for as much vertue and efficacie as the death and passion of Christ it selfe This is intollerable ouermuch pride Let them begin to hūble thēselues to giue glory to God who only pardoneth sins this doth he by the only intercession of Christ by the vertue of that only sacrifice which he once no more offred to his father The fourth domage which we say the Masse worketh and this passeth and ought no way to be supportted That is the Priest which sayeth it and the People that heare it commit Idolatry How great a sinne is Idolatry and how much more God abhorreth it then any other we haue already declared in our first Treatise The Priest ordayned for the Masse say our Aduersaries hath authoritie and power from Christ and his vicar the Pope that in saying the words of consecration as they call them Hoc est enim corpus meum so that hee say them super debitam materiam ouer a competent matter and with intention to consecrate he changeth conuerteth transformeth and transubstantiateth this last word is it that best pleaseth them the bread into the body of Christ and the wine into his bloud In such sort that be the Priest what ye will liue hee a letcher in mortall sinne as the most part of them do be he the greatest and most infamous villaine of the world yet for al this say they that this authoritie he hath to bring Christ from heauen in finishing the words Hoc est corpus meum and to put him into the place where the bread and wine were so that no more bread nor no more wine remaine for the substance of the bread and of the wine is vanished and gone to nought but the body and bloud of Christ the which is there trulie really corporally and carnally these be their proper termes as bigge and as great as corpulent and as large as hee was vpon the crosse when hee dyed for vs sinners This is their doctrine And because we beleeue not these straunge things which be contrarie to the word of God and contrarie to that which the ancient Doctors haue taught as we will prooue it they condemne vs for heretikes they persecute vs most cruelly with fire and bloud worse then were wee Iewes or Turkes But another more strong then they to their griefe hath defended doth defend and will defend vs from them Who listeth to know more of the roote of this doctrine let him reade their new Councels wherein the Popes by their Legats tyrannically haue gouerned Let him reade their Decrees Decretals Sextos Clementines and Extrauagants there shall hee find it at fall Let him not reade the Scripture for in it shall hee finde nothing at all to confirme such wonders Scotus one of the chiefe and principall pillers of their Church sayth That albeyt the priest were not attyred to celebrate nor in the state of grace nor ouer any Altar but should saye the fiue wordes or the foure leauing out Enim ouer all the bread that is in the market or in the Pantry and ouer all the wyne that is in the Sellar how much bread so euer should be in the pantrie or in the market so that he had intention to consecrate should be in that very moment conuerted transubstantiated into the body of Iesus Christ and all the wine of the sellar by the vertue of the wordes spoken and pronounced by the Priest should be conuerted into the bloud of Christ Herehence it commeth that no bread but the body of Christ remayning in the sacrament in their Sagrarios or pixes do they keepe it that when anie shall be sicke they may with torch-light carie it in procession that the diseased may adore and receiue it for the saluation of his soule Iesus Christ say they is in sort as we haue said not onely in one Masse but in an hundred thousand more also if so many could bee said in one moment And whole Christ is not in all the Host only but also in euery small parcell how little soeuer it be so that Christ is in the host as the soule is in the body all in all and all in euery part thereof This their doctrine of Transubstantiation they confirme first with the omnipotencie of God that seeing God of nothing could create something the heauen and the earth and whatsoeuer is therein contained how much more can he cause one thing to be conuerted and transubstantiated into another 2. They say that seeing Iesus Christ is the infallible truth it is meete that that which he saith must be in sort as hee spake it and sith he saith Hoc est corpus meum This is my body they now inferre that the bread is no bread but the body of Christ 3. For confirmation of their opinion they also alleage the sayings of Doctors In answering to these three reasons wherewith they confirme their Transubstantiation me seemeth wee shall haue answered to all whatsoeuer in this matter they can obiect vnto vs. That which they say of the omnipotency of God God forbid that we should once denie we confesse it and it may be and also without may be much better then they With all our heart we do also confesse that which the Creed saith I beleeue in God the Father almightie all sufficient that which we say is that from the power to the deede is no good maner of argument God in that he is omnipotent may eftsoones drowne the world as he did drowne it in the time of Noah and the malice of our times is no lesse but much more then that of that time Notwithstanding his omnipotencie and notwithstanding our extreme malice we know that he will not drown it because so promised he to Noah when he sayd My couenant will I establish witb you that from henceforth all flesh shal not be rooted out by the waters of the floud c. And to seale and confirme this promise God gaue him the Bow in the cloudes for a signe of this couenant c. Reade the historie To this same purpose is it sayd in the Psalm 140. 9. that God set a bound for the waters ouer which they shal not passe nor turne againe to couer the earth And God speaking to Iob concerning the sea chap. 38. 10. saith I established my commaundement vpon it and set barres and doores and said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and there shall it stay thy proud waues Here you see that
him he saw him free and safe without hurt of the fire These foure so straunge wonders besides others which we passe ouer shall you finde in his sermon of the dead You see heere the Textes of holie Scripture wherewith hee confirmeth his Purgatorie Also to proue the resurrection he citeth the place of Genesis the ninth chapter and the fourth verse where God commaunded Noah The flesh with the bloud shalt thou not eate Also another straunge thing in the chapter of Virginitie he saith that had not Adam sinned men for generation should not carnally haue coupled with their wiues And because hee saw the Text of Scripture to bee against him God might sayth hee by other meanes multiply men without the coniunction of man and woman Also seeing that Saint Basil calleth the bread and the wine of the Sacrament examples of the bodie and bloud of Christ which was opposite to him This saying of S. Basil said he ought to bee vnderstood of the bread and of the wine before sanctification which is not so for the bread and wine before consecration as already wee haue proued by the Fathers are common bread and wine as the rest and be no symbols nor figures of the body and bloud of Christ vntill and not before these words Take and eate this is my body bee sayd Sith such a one then is Damascen leaue we him and let vs followe that which the hole Scripture doth teach vs that which the Fathers whom against Transubstantiation we haue alleaged doe tell vs and that also which experience it selfe of that which we see touch and tast in the sacrament doth shew vs. To Theophilact Anselme Hugo Richardo c. whom they cite against vs and liued in the time that the holy Supper of the Lord was now falling the Popes then tyrannizing the consciences of men who neuer stayed vntill the holy supper destroyed they had made of some reliques patches and remnants of their Masse such as now it is full of abuses superstitions and idolatries do we answer the same He of these late writers which least erred in this matter of Transubstantiation is Scotus who saith as before we haue said that neither by Scripture nor reason it can be proued but would yet be deceiued because the Church so commaundeth How could his Church which is the Pope and his Cardinals make new articles of faith besides those which Iesus Christ our king our Prophet and priest ordained and taught us which be contained in the Creed of the Apostles Let vs now answer to the Councels which our aduersaries alleage against vs. As touching that which they obiect against vs of the Councell of Ephesus wherein Cirillus gouerned and Theodoret who is so appaparantly against Transubstantiation was present therein they doe vs great wrong For the same do wee confesse that the Councell confesseth We say that receiuing this Sacrament we receiue not common flesh but flesh sanctifying which by an inseparable vnion is conioyned with the diuine word But how do we receiue it Spiritually by faith not carnally as say our aduersaries that they receiue eat and digest it For vntil it be digested they affirm it to be the flesh of Christ They obiect the councel of Vercell in the time of Leo the ninth where Berengarius was condemned They obiect the Councel of Lateran in the tyme of Nicholas 2. which caused Berengarius to recant The Lateran Councel also in the time of Innocent 3. Also the Councell of Constance Anno. 1516. The Trident also of our time in the time whereof so many Popes as Paule 3. Iulius 3. Marcellus 2. Paulus 4. Pius 4. and none of these for the causes that speaking of the Popes wee haue shewed were present in it poped But examine wee the recantation which Pope Nicholas the second that poped about the yeare 1060. commaunded Berengarius to make in the Councell of Lateran as it is written in the Decrees de consecrat dist 2. cap. Ego Berengarius Wherein hee was constrained to confesse that the body of Christ is handled or sensnally felt with the hands of Priests that it is broken that it is chewed with the teeth I demand of them how can the body of Christ which now is glorified and therefore impossible and no way subiect to these humane miseries suffer these things Which the Pope and his Councell do say The Glosser of the Decrees himselfe although not verie wise could not but see so great an absurditie as this and therefore sayd that this verie warily and aduisedly ought to be vnderstood for if thou doest not so saith he thou shalt fall into an error farre greater then that of Berengrius The Glossor then vnderstood it much better then Pope Nicholas or his Councell whose holy spirit the Pope was that the body of Christ in the Sacrament could no wayes bee touched with the handes nor broken nor chawed with the teeth For this cause the Maister of Sentences in the fourth willing to amend or conceale this so notable a fault saith That this which was commāded Berengarius to say ought not to be vnderstood of the body of Christ but of the Symbols which say they be the accidents And so in that manner of speaking admitteth a trope or figure according whereunto is attributed to the thing that which is of the symbols But should we vse this figure they would eat out our eyes Now shalt thou vnderstand the account which is to be made of such a Councel and of the other Councels that followed this in which the Pope or his Legates haue gouerned and nothing aught worthy was in them determined albeit the Fathers had broken their heads about it if the Pope approued it not So that the Pope only is hee which maketh and vnmaketh decrees and articles of faith and not the Councel Whē a Councell is celebrated the which from many to many yeares is done as though there were no euill life of the Prelates to be amended nor abuses superstitions heresies nor idolatries in the Church to bee corrected the Legates of the Pope which commonly are three for such is his cause that hee trusteth not one with it haue great regard to write to the Pope this or that is determined in the Councel how liketh it your Holinesse Then doth the Pope either approue it or blotting it out disalow it If he blot it out there is then no more treaty of that matter how true soeuer it be how profitable soeuer for the Church That which he approueth he writeth to his Legats This letter which the Pope sendeth is the holy spirit which now gouerneth the Councels This holy Spirit descendeth not from heauē but commeth inclosed in a budget or wallet Thus is the Councell not free but a seruant and of whom of the Pope Who as before by many most sufficient reasons we haue proued to be Antichrist So necessarie an article to saluation is
nor his Apostles who in all simplicitie did celebrate the holy supper The wisdome of the flesh being enemy to God hath brought them into the Church to make vs forget the memorie of the benefite of Christs death and passion Moreouer we wil cite certaine histories by which the Christian Reader shall clearely see what account the Pope and his Cleargie make of their Sacrament of the Altar which they affirme to be God Gregory 7. for that he demanded a reuelation of the Host against the Emperour and had no answer cast it into the fire burned it Victor 3. died of poyson which his subdeacon in saying of Masse put into the chalice A Dominicke Friar gaue poyson in the Sacrament to the Emperour Henry 7. Sixtus 4. commanded that at the time of the eleuation the-murder should begin and so it was performed at Florence A certaine Inquisitor at Barcelona called Molon clipped the Host with a paire of sheers Foure Augustine Friars which were hanged at Seuill said Masse without any intention of consecration The same haue many other Priests done also and so by their owne Cannons haue caused all that heard their Masse to commit idolatrie That being as it is true which we haue said and proued of the Masse with very iust title and good and sound conscience do we detest it as a prophanatiō of the holy supper of the Lord There is then no cause why any shuld condemne vs for sedicious heretikes or schismatikes if abhorring the Masse flying the same we follow and imbrace the holy supper which Iesus Christ iustituted his Apostles and our forefathers for the space of a thousand yeares celebrated Would God for that onely sacrifice sake which his sonne our high and onely Priest offered vnto him that all our Spaniards would know as other nations do already know what the Pope is what things are his Buls which be nought els but mockeries which he maketh of vs what is his authoritie which is nought els but vanitie wherewith he hath many yeares deceiued vs that they would know that when the Pope curseth vs then God doth blesse vs would God they would know the holinesse of the masse to be diuelishnesse seeing it is a prophanation of the holy Supper of the Lord. Very hard will it be for them I know well to do this because they haue bene borne brought vp growne old in the contrary But if the holy spirit giue them grace to reade compare conferre cōfront that which we haue sayd in these two Treatises with the holy Scripture which is the word of God very easie it shall be vnto them wherby euery faithfull and catholike Christian in particular and the whole Church in generall ought to be ruled gouerned Our Spaniards in this should imitate those of Berea who as saith S. Luke in his history of the Acts of the Apostles searched the Scriptures to know if that which Paul preached were the word of God or no. If that wee haue said be the word of God no time no custome how ancient soeuer ought to preuaile against it And if for our sins lies falshood and error haue for a little or long time oppressed and darkened the truth the errour ought to giue place as maugre the same it shall giue and so truth iure Postliminij as say the lawes shall reenter his possession And albeit an olde custome is very hardly left yet none ought to preferre such custome to reason and truth do euer exclude and expell custome Therefore when with reason and truth for reason and truth we constraine and conuince our aduersaries In vaine do they oppose ancient custome vnto vs saying in this were our forefathers brought vp in this did they die In this were wee borne and brought vp in this then will we die As if custome were greater then the truth This is euen like the saying of another A Moore was my father a Moore also will I be hauing no other reason to giue but custome Custome without truth is an olde errour and errour the elder the more dangerous it is Therefore leauing as saith Saint Cyprian in his epistle ad Pompeium errour let vs follow the truth knowing as saith Esdras Truth ouercommeth as it is written Truth doth shall euer preuaile and liue and raigne eternally And then saith the same S. Cyprian Blessed be the God of truth The which truth Christ shewing in his Gospell vnto vs saith I am the Truth wherefore if we be in Christ and haue Christ in vs if we abide in the truth and the truth abide in vs. Let vs hold that which is the truth And a little lower If the truth in any thing shall stagger or seeme doubtfull meete it is that we runne backe to the originall which the Lord ordained and to the Euangelicall and Apostolicall instruction and thence ariseth the reason of that which wee doe from whence the order and originall was raised And as he himselfe in another place saith What men haue formerly done ought wee not to looke but to that which Christ who is the first of all hath done The holy Scripture is the most certaine and infallible rule and squire whereby all our actions ought to be ruled and squired as witnesse these places which we will alleage and manie others Dauid Psal 119. vers 105. sayth Thy word is a lanterne to my feete and a light vnto my pathes Esay chap. 8. and 20. we are commanded to repaire to the Law and to the testimonies and sayth that they which do not so it is because there is no light in them It is because they be in darkenesse it is because they are blind and as blind men goe groping Saint Peter speaking of the word or doctrine of the Prophets saith Whereunto yee shall doe well to giue eare as to a candle burning in an obscure place c. The holy Scripitures doe teach vs that Iesus Christ is our high and onelie Priest It teacheth vs that hee once offered vp himselfe with which sacrifice being of infinite vertue he sanctifieth vs for euer And teacheth vs that there is no other sacrifice nor was nor shal be but this alone by which remission of sinnes is obtained it teacheth vs that whosoeuer shall offer another sacrifice be sides this or reiterate this doth most great iniurie to Christ As though his sacrifice which was Christ himselfe were insufficient It teacheth vs that Iesus Christ ordained his holy supper which he commandeth vs to celebrat in remembrance of that sacrifice which he one only time offered to the father all this in generall and euery thing in particuler by the grace of God to him be the glory haue we sufficiently proued This is the trueth for it is the word of God This then we beleeue his Maiestie graunt vs grace not onely with the heart to beleeue this which he in his holy Gospell he hath reuealed vnto vs but also strength and constancie with the mouth to confesse it and
beginning of the yeare 1588. not lightly to beleeue that which was reported of this Nunne My words are these Pag. 419. Another Franciscan I should haue sayd Dominican a few yeares since rose vp in Lisbon who they sayd had the fiue wounds of Christ as had S. Francis many other things they say of her But I appeale to him for witnes she shall discouer her hipocrisie as the rest haue done In the meane time beleeue not lightly euery spirit but as S. Iohn 1. Ioh. 4. 1. warneth vs Try the spirits whether they be of God For many false Prophets as himselfe aduiseth vs are gone out into the world c. God will that I should write this and that it should be imprinted at the charge of two Christian Flemmish merchants who for the great zeale they haue that the Spanish natiō shuld be partaker of the benefit of the reformed professiō of the gospell whereby God hath shewed mercie to other nations will spare neither cost nor trauaile The Lord enrich them with his spirituall gifts increase their faith For two causes then was this imprinted the one to admonish those which were of God that they shuld not suffer themselues to be deceiued with false miracles the other to make all those inexcusable that notwithstāding the light of the Gospell which God of his great goodnes hath in these our last times reuealed beleeue lies cōfirmed by dreames and false miracles and not the Gospell written in the holy scripture He that is of God faith the Lord Ioh. 8. 47. heareth Gods word These of the second sort therfore which will not heare them are not of God His Maiestie if he haue chosen thē to life eternall if he haue made them vessels of honor vpon whom he will shew his mercy conuert them And if they bee vessels of wrath prepared to destruction confound them Many haue spoken written of this holy Nun. But he which hath entreated of her most to the purpose Of all those which I haue heard of or read is one Stephen de Lusignan a Dominican Friar who collecting all he could get to extoll her compiled a book in French dedicated the same to the Queen of France imprinted at Paris by Iohn Bessaut 1586. In the beginning of the booke she is pictured like a Dominican Nun with a blacke mantle and a white coule a coat white loose habit vpon the mantle on her head she hath a crowne of thornes the crucifixe on high set ouer her and falling towards her with rayes from the wounds which reach to the feet and hands of the Nun that out of the side commeth to a hart which she holdeth betweene the fingers of her right hand a Dragon she hath vnder her feet a Dominican friar before her kneeling a secular man woman at her left side a paire of beads hanging The Title of the booke is this which followeth The great miracles and the most holy wounds which this present yeare 1586. haue happened to the right renerend mother now Prioresse of the Monastery de la Annuntiada in the city of Lisbon in the kingdom of Portugal of the order of preaching Friars approued by the reuerend father Fryar Lewes de Granada and by other persons worthy of credit as shall be seene at the end of the Discourse In Paris by Iohn Bessaut 1586. The Epistle dedicatory sayth thus To the most Christian Queene Luisa de Lorena Queene of France mirrour of all vertue godlinesse and sweetnesse Health Madam hauing seene your Maiestie most deuoted to the most holy sacrament of the altar to the Angelicall Doctor S. Thomas of Aquine in whose Chappel you haue instituted euery moneth a solemne procession with carrying the most holy sacrament and a Masse sung by all the religious of our Colledge hauing considered that because of your great deuotion of the greatnes of your rare vertues perfections euery man of any worth borne enforceth himselfe to offer you most pleasing things I albeit the least of thē am also willing to rāge my selfe into the number of these Therefore hauing found certaine writings printed in diuerse cities I haue collected put them all together In which I haue found the greatest miracles and effects that euer Almighty God in our times wrought in the person of a most noble most vertuous most religious virgin mother Mary de la Visitacion Prioresse de la Anunciada of Lisbon in the kingdom of Portugall most deuoted to the holy Sacrament and the sayd Saint Thomas of Aquine by whose merits and intercessions she hath deserued to haue visibly for her husband Iesus Christ crucified and his fiue most holie wounds by means whereof the diuine Maiesty doth continually diuers miracles the which in this booke I humbly offer to your Maiestie to the end that you so much the more feruently may follow continue these your deuotions which you haue begun and that it would please your maiestie to accept of this most holy virgin a speciall seruant of our Lord that by her merits intercession your Maiesty may obtaine that you desire as well concerning this whole kingdom as all Christendōe besides And if I for my part Madam beseech God to grant that which your M. desireth with a most happy long life From the couent of S. Dominick at Paris the 20. of August 1586. Your most humble obediēt seruant F. Stephen de Lusignan of the order of S. Dom. This Lusignan for confirmation of that which he saith setteth downe 3 letters the 1. is frō the Prouincial F. Antonio de la Cerda sent to F. Ferdinando de Castro Proctor in Rome for the sayd prouince of Portugal that he should shew it vnto the pope The date is frō Lisbon 14. of March 1584. This letter trāslated into Italian was with license of the holy inquisitiō printed in Rome Plazencia afterwards translated into French All this saith Lusignan Come we now to the letter which was to be shewed to the Pope Pag. 8. it saith Mother Mary de la Visitacion at 11 yeares of age entred into the Monasterie de la Anunciada at 16. years made profession In which time our Lord Iesus Christ appeared to this Religious to recompence her merits tooke her to his wise saying to her the words of the Prophet Ieremie I haue loued thee with an euerlasting loue therfore with mercy haue I drawne thee And from that time forward he still appeared to her granting her very many particular graces fauours speaking conuersing familiarly with her as one friend doth with another in such sort as God talked discoursed with Moses oftentimes appeared he to her accompanied with he and shee Saints as with Mary Magdalen for much deuoted was this Religious to Magdalen and wontedly called her her faire and accōpanied with our father S Dominicke with S. Tho. of Aquin Saint Katherin of Sene and other times appeared he alone and very familiar helping
of our Saluation and call vpon the name of the Lord. No other willeth God for all his benefites but that we be thankfull and call vpon his name Thus shall the number of those whom God hath elected to life eternall encrease and so the kingdome of sinne death the diuell which is the kingdome of lies of false new doctrine confirmed with dreames false miracles and illusions of the diuell shal be destroied and that of grace life and of Christ which is the kingdome of truth the true and old doctrin confirmed with the word of God shal abide for euer To whom which is one God Father Sonne and holy Spirit who liueth and raigneth be perpetuall honâ—â— and glory Amen An Addition I In the moneth of Aprill 1588. Philip the second of that name king of Spaine pretending to send his inuincible fleet for the Conquest of England made choise by the aduise of the Prioresse of the monastery of the Anunciada whose name was Mary of the Visitacion as most worthie for her holinesse to blesse his Standard royall the which she did with vsing diuers other câ—remonies in the deliuery thereof to the Duke of Medina Sedonia who was appointed chiefe Generall she did pronounce openlie good successe and victory to the Duke in saying he should return a victorious Prince This standard was carried in procession by Don Francisco de Cordoua who was a Spaniard the tallest Gentl. that could be found he being on horse backe to the end it might be the better seen at the solemnzing wherof there was such a number of people assembled that diuers of them perished with the throng There was present the Archduke Albertus which then was Cardinall and Gouernor of the kingdom of Portugal the Popes Nuncio the Archbishop who was head inquisitor with diuers other Nobles Prelates Gentlemen This solemnization dured so long that Albertus fainted with fasting and this holy Nunne to comfort him caused a messe of the broth which was for her owne diet to be brought presenting it to him which he accepted most willingly coÌ„ming from the handes of so holy a Nun as then she was holden to be but about the beginning of DeceÌ„ber next after all her holines false miracles and great dissimulations was then found out and she condemned punished for the same according as is râ—bersed in this booke About the end of this yeare 1588 that this holy Nun was discouered in Lisbon there was also discouered in Seuil one father â—yon who was counted to be a most deuour and religious man but by his owne fellowes of his profession he was discouered to be a great hypocrite and a most vicious 〈◊〉 giuen to carnall lustes and for this and diuers other causes he was committed to the prison which is in the Cardinals house of 〈◊〉 A Table wherein by certaine Antitheses is declared the difference and contrarietie which is betweene the ancient doctrine of God contained in the holy scripture and taught in the reformed Churches and the new doctrine of men â—aught and maintained in the Roman or Popish Church Ierem. 6. 16. Thus saith the Lord stand in the wayes and behold and aske for the old way which is the good way and walke therein ye shall find rest for your soules THe ancient doctrine of God doth teach that the holy Scripture being the word of God diuinely inspired hath most sufficient authority of it selfe containeth all necessary doctrin to pietie and our saluation as S. Paul clearly teacheth 2. Tim. 3. 15. 16. 17. The new doctrin of meâ— teacheth that the holy Scripture although it be the word of God should haue no authority were it not for the approbation of the Church and that it is an vnperfect and maimed doctrine which containeth not doctrine sufficient to pietie nor our saluation but that this defect must be supplied by vnwritteÌ„ traditions Belar de verb. Deâ— noÌ„ scrip l. 4. The ancient doctrin of God doth teach that ignorance of the holy scriptures is the cause and mother of errors as Iesus Christ our Lord doth witnesse Mat 22. 19. saying to the Sadduces Ye erre because yee know not the Scriptures nor the power of God and therefore the duty of euerie faithfull Christian is to reade meditate and search the holy scripture as God commandeth his people Deut. 6. 7. chap. 12. 32. chap. 17. 19. Iosua 18. Esa 8. 20. And Christ our Lord in the new Testament Ioh. 5. 39. And as did the faithfull in the time of the Apostles Act 17. 11. 2 Tim. 3. 15. The new doctrin of men doth teach that ignorance is the mother of deuotion and that to keepe religion safe it is needful to forbid the lay or secular men the reading of the holy scriptures seeing it is the cause of many heresies Bellarm. de verbo Dei lib. 2 cap. 15 16. cens col f. 19. The ancient doctrin of God doth teach that many deceiuers and false Prophets are gone out into the world and that the faithfull therfore are to proue the spirits whether they be of God 1. Io. 4. 1. And that the holy scripture is the touch whereby this proofe and examination ought to be made Ioh. 5. 39. Act 17. 11. So that all doctrine contrary and repugnant to holy Scripture be it of Councels Fathers Doctors old or new and that as saith the Apostle of himselfe or of an Angel from heauen ought not to be receiued nor taught in the Christian Church Gal. 1. 8. 1. Tim. 1. 3. chap. 6. 3. 1. Pet. 4. 11. 2. Ioh. 10. The new doctrin of men doth teach that whosoeuer coÌ„tradict the Pope his decrees human traditions be false teachers that the Pope hath authority to iudge of all controuersies and of the true sense of holy Scriptures and that from his iudgment it is not lawfull to appeale Bellar. de verbo Dâ—â— interp lib. 3. cap. 3. c. The ancient doctrine of God doth teach that we ought to serue God alone which is the Creator and gouernour of all the world following the doctrin of Christ which saith Matt. 4. 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God him only shalt thou serue The new doctrine of men doth teach that we ought not to serue God alone but also the Saints that they hold them for patrons of kingdoms people cities societies and infirmities Bellarm. de Sanct. beat lib. 1. cap 12. Cens Col. fol. 230. The ancient doctrine of God doth teach that the lawful worship of God is to be founded vpon the holy Scripture that God will be serued according to his will and word in spirit and truth Ioh. 4. 24. and not after the opinion nor by the traditions nor customes of men as God by his prophet Eze. 20. 18. doth very expresly teach vs saying Walk not in the ordinances of your fathers nor obserue their lawes nor defile your selues with their idols I am the Lord your God Walke in mine ordinances and