in the last supper saing to the Corynthyans Hoc n accepi a DnoÌ„ ê™ tradidi nobis c. 1. Chorin 11. That is that wich I receiued of the lord deliuered I vnto you That pure and holy order geuin by Christ and kept with so great reuerence by his apostels ought to haue suffised vs and not to make so many addicions which blemissh I wil not say beray the purenes of the sacrameÌ„t as thei haue done of baptym to which they haue ioyned salt oyle spyttel coniuring which things neither Iohn Baptist whan he baptised Christ nor the apostels did euer vse And thes which with reuerence doo kepe Christes appointment and with humblenes doo obey him are now cownted for heretikes as though thei were more bownd to obey men than god Let euery faithfull Christyan iudge iff we say the treuth This fift part of the canon geueth to vnderstand clerely that by thes wordes offerings sacryfices and giftes is vnderstand the wine not yet consecrated And that thei be none other but breade and wyne ffor he desireth that thei may become the body and blood of Christ So that according to the canon the bare simple breade and the bare simple wyne are a sacrifice for the redempcion of sowles and for saluacyon as in the ij part hath bene sayd We may not here glose that the Canon intendeth that the breade and wyne whan they shall be turned in to the body and blood as thei say shall be a sacrifice for the raunsominge of sowles for it meaneth of that breade and of that wyne which are to become the body and blode Now is it certen yea affter their own mind that that breade and that wyne which are yet to become the body and blood of Christ are bare playne breade and bare wyne And yet the Canon sayth that thei be a sacrifice for the raunsominge of sowles which is a plaine wickednes The syxt part of the Canon saith The which that is to say Chryst of whom is made mencion in the former part the day before he suffered The sixt parte of the canoÌ„ of the masse whith the consecration toke the bread in his holy and honorable handes here the priest taketh the host in his handes and addeth And his eies beinge lift vp into heauen to the god his father almyghty yelding to the thanckes he blessed And here is made a crosse vpon the host and is added he brake and gaue to his discyples saing Take and eate all of this ffor this is my body And here the host is liffted vp and caused to be honored a thing which christ hath not appointed But why is not the breade than broken as Christ did seing he commanded that thei shuld doo this in his rememberance And not to cause the breade or wine to be honored Whan this is done the host is laid down vpon the aulter and the cupp is taken in hand and the other part which is the seauenth part is said that is to say Likewise whan thei had supped taking this noble cupp in his holy and honorable handes The vij parte of the CanoÌ„ of the masse rendring thanckes again vnto the he blessed and heâ—…e is made a crosse ouer the cupp and added And â—…aue to his disciples saing Take and drinck all of â—…his for this is the cupp of my blood of the newe â—…nd euerlasting testament a mistery of the faith â—…he which shall be shed for yow and for many for â—…he remission of sinnes so offt as yow shall doo thes things yow shall doo them in my remembraÌ„ce And saing thes last wordes the cupp is lifft vp and caused to be honored as we haue said of the host that is to say all to gether contrary to christes ordinance In thes ij partes is made the consecracion of the breade and wine And in the consecracion of the bread are added ij wordes that are not in the euaÌ„gelistes that is to say that word enim and that other Ex hoc oeÌ„s And in the coÌ„secracioÌ„ of the wine are added ij other that is eterni aÌ„d misteriuÌ„ fidei which likewise are not in theeuaÌ„gelistes And it is to be marueled seing the defeÌ„ders of the masse say that with Christes wordes the consecracion is made and that thei ought not to add or minissh them and so moch the rather as thei them selues say that Christ gaue the powre of consecracion to thos wordes that he spake not to any other how durst thei be bold to ad any one word I will not now say that by this the sentence is changed Neuertheles seing we ought not to vse any other wordes than thos same that Christ spake because he gaue the powr of consecracion to thos only and not to any other as thei say and that we caÌ„not knowe certenly what wordes thei shuld be but by the euaÌ„gelistes or by paule And finding thos wordes that the canon doth add neither in theuangelistes nor in paule it is a great rasshnes to add them Here the Rational or cause teller of diuine officis saith that the apostels had the maner of the consecration from Christ and we from thapostels And that it is not to be merueled though these wordes which seme added be not fownd in the euangelistes and yet spokeÌ„ by christ For the euangelistes for shortnes haue past ouer many things which the apostels haue supplied And he giueth thexample of the visioÌ„ which Paul declareth in the 1. to the corinthiaÌ„s 1. Cor. 15 that Christ affter his resurrection appeared to moo than v. hondreth brethern of which vision theuangelistes make no mencyon at all and yet it was trewe He alledgeth also that amoÌ„g theuangelistes one declareth one thing and a nother leauith owt the same c. All this is trewe that theuaÌ„gelistes haue leffe owt certeÌ„ things which were done aÌ„d allthoughe the one supplieth that which the other leaueth owt this maketh not that we ought to add to the wordes of the euangelistes chefely to them of the consecracion to which wordes only Christ according to their oppinion hath geuen powr to change the breade in to the body and the wine in to the blood and not to any other Who doth asserten vs that Christ spake this word enim aÌ„d thes other words aded that is to say Ex hoc oeÌ„s aÌ„d thos other ij that is to say aeterni and misteriuÌ„ fidei We be certeÌ„ of the appearing of Christ to moo than v. hondreth brethern because Paul to whom christ did reueale it hath writon it But if Paul had not writon it and finding it not in the gospell how could it be certenly known And how shall we be bownd to beleue it Likewise this is the cause why things lefft owt by one euangelist are knowen because a nother doth tell them but if all had lefft them owt how could we certenly knowe theÌ„ O sai thei the church had it froÌ„ the Apostels Saist thow so how doest thow knowe it I will not beleue
the substance of the forme albeit that comonly the doctors agree with Bonauenture And here is to be noted that according to the opinion of Scotus it is not yet knowē what shuld be the wordes of cōsecracion of the wine but in part It is sure that he said the truth that neither he nor Bonauenture nor Thomas of Aquina nor as many moo scole doctors as be defenders of the masse euer knewe certenly the very poinctt which shuld be the partes of consecracion And this is the profe theroff For iff thei had knowen it there shuld not haue bene so great a diuersitie and confusion of opinions as we haue sene And we could yet iff we wold speake of others This their so gret diuersitie sheweth plainely that thei neuer knewe it nor neuer were certen of the matter And it is most certen that iff the opinion that thei defend were trewe there shuld neuer haue bene so many and so diuers opinions What a vaine thing is it than to say that by the vertu of certen wordes shuld be made a changing of the breade and the wyne in to the body and blood of Christ which thing not withstonding by the holy scripture cānot be shewed that is that by the vertu of certen wordes the substance of things shuld be chāged and of the other part not to knowe or not to be certen which shuld be thos wordes Thei speake also in such sort of this consecratoin that affter their owne opinion the church or the peple that heare the masse are neuer certen whether the consecracion be made or not For the master of sentencis saith in the iiij that the heretikes can not bring it to passe that is to say to consecrate And also he saith yow must haue the intent for otherwise yow consecrate not And who can be certen either of the faith or of the intēt of him that celebrateth Surely no man being such things in the consciens of man which none seith but god and he that celebrateth Therfor the peple that heare the masse is neuer certen whan the consecracion is made and whan not The cause whi this confusiō is amōg them first is because thei knowe not properly what maner of thing consecracion is For consecracion meaneth one thing and thei thinck it shuld haue a nother meaning Besides thei beleue or at the least cause mē to thinck that thei beleue and thei preach the same as an article of the faith that that breade and that wine is changed th one in to the trew ād substāciall body of Christ that is to say the breade the other that is to say the wyne in to his blood And thei say that Christ really in body ād sowle as gret and as thick as he was vpon the wood of the crosse and as now he is in heauen is wholly in that litle host and wholly in that cupp where the wine was And thei will that here there shuld come to gether many miracles and thei hold that this meruelos change which thei call transsubstanciaciō shuld be done by the vertu of thos wordes of the consecracion And thei will that consecraciō doth meane changing of breade in to the body and of wine in to the blood made with thes wordes So that they make this consecracyon as the inchanters were wont to make their inchantmēts with certē wordes wich they being deceiued by the deuel thinck to haue vertu to worke certen wōderfull effectys So doo they that thinck with thes wordes spoken softly ouer the breade and the wyne to change by vertu of the same the bread and the wyne in the body and blood of Iesus Christ Thes ij be the causes why they know not with what wordes the consecratyō is made nor whā it is made ffor hauing that opinyon that they haue that is to say that there is made that meruelous change of bread ād wine thes wordes hoc est corpus meum make than the difficultye and they knowe not what thing is shwesd by this word hoc For iff the breade be shewed the saing appeareth falss vnto them because the breade is not the body of Christ tyll all the wordes be spoken and whan they shewe the breade the wordes be not yet spoken Than seing the body is not yet there there can not be shewed by this word hoc the body which yet is not And if they say they shewe the body by this hoc that saing hoc est corpus meum semyth to them vntrew likewise for seing the body is not yet there in that host it can not be shwed in it And thus not knowing how to make trewe that saing what soeuer sort they shuld speake it they goo abowt writhing it a thowsand maner of ways ād wold fayne help the matter if they could but they fynd not the way for god will not As it chāced to Pharaos coniurers that could not doo that they wold Exo. ◅ So thei wold yet for all that holding that opinyon they hold and for to geue credyt to the masse they wold yet I say make that saing agree with this theyr opinion but there is no meanes how Let them turne it yet as they will theyr opynyon standing Christes saing hoc est corpus meum cannot be made trewe Thā theyr opynynō is most false which cānot stād with gods truth that is to say his word It is chanced also to them as to thos that wold haue bylded the gret tower of Babilon and haue made it meruelos high as it is writon in Genesis Gene. ◅ but god confused their tonges that one dyd not vnderstand a nother allthough that all did agre to the bylding of it Euē so it hapnyth to thes carpēters or builders of the masse wich also wold if they could lifft it vp euen to heauen and make it be cownted as a godly thing and an high worship And thei all are agreed to this workmanship And because they see that iff thei hold not that the trew body of Christ is in the host ād his trew ād naturall blood in the cupp the masse shuld not be in price or any estimacion but rather by and by shuld decay therfor aboue all things thei take hede to this to persuade and by all meanes thei can to make the peple beleue that Christ is really and bodily in that host and that cup. Neuertheles god hath confused their tōgs ād their mindes in to so many waies and opiniōs in to so diuers fansies ād spechis that the one is disagreing ād cōtrary to the other This is now a plain and a manifest tokē that this workmāship pleaseth not god and finally shall fall to the grownd to the intent that the saing of Iesus Christ may be verified that eueri plantinge which the heauinly father hath not planted shall be rooted vp Mat. 15. We doo not now intend to goo abowt to proue here that that their opinion is false that is to say that the breade and wine shuld be changed
not said with a lowd voice to signifie that christ sometime cried owt Mathei 27. as whā he cried on the crosse Heli Heli ād whā also preaching he cried if any be thirst let him come to me and drinck And the rationall a litle affter saith that be cause we be not worthy to deserue the forgiuenes of the things past present and to come except it be geuen vs by the praier of the blessed virgin Mary and of the blessed Peter ād Paul ād thother saintes therfor we do call them here to our help But I aske by whos intercession are sinnes forgeuen by Peters Paulis or the sainctes all which had their sin̄es Iff this praier intend that that the rationall saith it is blasphemos as though we deserue not pardon eycept by the blissed virgin and of the blessed Peter Paule Andrewe and other saintes And where is this sownd in the holy scripture that we deserue not forgiuenes of sinnes but by the praiers of saintes How doth this rationall knowe this How can we surely speake of the remission of sinnes iff not by the word of god The word of god thorowowtly saith that sinnes are forgeuen vs by christes intreating and that Iesus Christ is our meane aduocate and intreater and it appointeth no nother but him nor maketh no mention of ani other And this praier will haue that by saintes praiers sinnes are forgeuen vs. Why saith he not by Christis intercession Why do we than faine to our selues of our fansy other aduocates and other intreaters But let the rationall with his masse tell me a litle the forenamed saintes and all the rest by whos intercession deserued thei pardon hauing all had one sinn or others Sureli all had nede of pardon It is necessari iff thei will answer well that thei say bi Christ Iff it be soo why do thei allege other than him in the forgeuenes of sinnes What man so euer he be in the world for so moch as by one only way the sinnes of the world are forgeuen as S. Iohn saith in his 1. pistell that he is the propycyacion for our sinnes and not only for ours but for all thos of the world Whā this praier is done the host is broken ouer the cupp in 2. partes and one of thos partys is laid vpon the pa◅en and the other also is broken in 2. partes and the one of thes 2. second partis is laid also vpon the paten With the other that first was put there And affter holding in his hand that other of the 2. pecys also ouer the cupp he saith per omnia secula seculorum And Amen is answered And affter he addeth pax domini sit semper uo biscum And saing thes wordes there are made 3. crossis with that pece of the host ouer the cupp Whē the wordes be spoken and the crossis made the prest saith thes wordes that is to say Let the mixing and consecracion of the body of our lord Iesus Christ be vnto vs that do or shall receiue them vnto euerlastinge life And all thes things haue their significacions and their misteries that is to say their supersticions But why doo thei not handle the sacrament as Christ taught Christ did nat put any part of the breade in to the cupp but seuerally gaue it to his disciples first the bread which signified the body after the wine which signifyed the blood ech one a part by it selff And dyd not mingle them together as men are wōt to doo sometymes with comon breade that is eaten sopt in wyne This is not conuenyent in the holy sacramēt the which ought not to be hādeled otherwyse thā as Christ hath taught vs. Here the racyonall sayth that this mixture is made for iij. causes The first is to signifye that the body is not withowt the blood nor the blood withowt the body The second is to signifye that there is not but one sacrament The third is to declare the returne of the sowle to the body And what meaneth it that the Apostels and the prymatyue church the which kept the singlenes of the institucyon of the sacrament haue not added thes mynglings What is this but to handell the diuyne misteryes affter our owne fasshion yea rather to make a mock at them And euen as they them selues haue added why also may not we make other addicyon and gyue them their significacyōs and add eueri day to this masse euen tyll the day of iudgement and make it so long that thei shuld stand an hole yeare in saing it Than what meaneth this word cōsecracyon whan the prest sayth let this mixture and consecracyon of the body and blode of our lord Ihesus Christ be mades Is not the consecracyon made allredy and the bread turned in to the body and the wyne in to the blood as thei say what nedeth it more that it shuld be made agayne a newe iff it be made allready Except thei wold vnderstand and golfe affter this fasshō that is to say let the comixcyon of the body and the bloode that we make and the consecracyon allready made become to vs that shal take it the body and blood of Christ to the profite of euerlasting liffe But I can not tell if this were his mynd or no that ordeyned this part of the masse THE SECOND CHAPTER Of the Agnus Dei of the iiij prayers that goo before the receauyng of the sacrament and of ij that folow How gret a part of the last prayers in the masse be wicked and some of them speake against the pryuate masse THe agnus dei foloweth which is said iij. times Affter that are said iij. praiers the first destreth that god wold not looke vpon the sinnes of him that saith the masse and that he wold according to his will agree and make one the church The second destreth that by the most holy body and blood of Christ he wold deliuer him from iniquitie and from all his euels And praith that he may be brought nerer to the commandments of god and that he may neuer be sondered from him The third desireth that the sacrament shuld not become his iudgement and cōdemnacion but that it might be a defence of his sowle and body Whan thes iij praiers are said he taketh the host in his hand saing I will take the heuenly breade and wil call vp on the name of the lord and knocketh his brest iij. times saing also thrise Domine non sum dignus that is lord I ā vnworthie And affter he hath takē the host in his hād he saith the body of our lord Iesus Christ kepe my sowle to euerlasting life Amen And whan he hath said thus he receiueth the host And affter he taketh the cupp in his hand saing Quid retribuam Domino c. that is what shall I render to the lord And he saith thus The blood of our lord Iesus Christ kepe my sowle to euerlasting life and receiueth the cupp Thone and thother being receiued the prest affterwardes
the sacrament and not of the hole masse either thei meane of the breade and wine not yet consecrated or els affter that thei be cōsecrated Wich way so euer thei take it it is fals that thei shuld be a sacrifice for sin̄es Although I know that affter both sortis thei wold it shuld be a sacrifice both affter the consecration and before There is no dowt but affter the cōsecration folowing their opinion the bread and the wine be a sacrice For as thei think Christ all hole is there in body and in sowle and that there is no more neither bread nor wine but only Christ the which is the trew sacrifice Also that thei hold that that bread and wine is a sacrifice before the consecratiō how can thei denie it so many praiers secrets and chefely the canon affirming it The which canon in the first part praith god that he wold blesse that bread and wine and calleth them holy vntasted sacrifices in the plural nomber And in the second part that is to say in the memento he calleth them a sacrifice of praise The which is offered for the saluation of sowles And in the fourth part he calleth them an oblacyon And in the fifft he praith god that he wold vouchsafe taccept this oblacion so that it might becōe the body and blood of his best beloued sonn So that than they will that that breade and wine which are not yet cōsecrated shuld be a sacrifice for the ransoming of sowles And they pray that they may becom Christes body ād blood Iff they pray that they may become then be they not yet consecrated For whan they be cōsecrated they are become Christs body ād blood as they think and it nedeth not any more to pray that they shuld become soo becaus they be allready soo becomne That this bread and wine vncōsecrated shuld not be a sacrifice for sinnes it is an easy thing to proue For that according to tholy scripture the sacrifice for sinnes is that that hath redemed vs. For so moch as the redempcion is as moch to say as the forgeuenes of sinnes according to Paul as it is writton to the Ephesians and to the Colossians Eph. 1. Collos 1. But we be not redemed neyther with bread nor wyne but only with the blood of the vnspotted lamb christ as Peter saith in his first pistle 1. Petri 1 Yow knowe that yow were not redemed from yowr vayne conuersacion which yow toke by the tradicion of yowr elders with fadeable things as gold ād siluer but with Christes precios blood as of an hole and vndefyled lamb Is not the bread and wine vncōsecrated things fade able and corruptible How vile doth this masse make Christes redēpcion Of how litle valew his blessed blood God wold not pardon sin̄e but that there was paid so gret a price so gret a passiō so high a blood and so gret a death as that was of his sonn And they will that sinnes shuld be pardoned with bread and wine which yet are no nother but plaine breade ād plaine wine That the bread and the wine whā the consecraciō is made shuld be no sacrifice although there were no more neither bread nor wine but the body and blood of Christ Ihesus as they wold haue it I say that they be no sacrifice They be so moch lesse a sacrifice iff the bread ād the wine remaine And that they shuld be the sacrament as without dowt the Sacramēt is no nother in substās but bread and wyne consecrated that is to say appointed to the vse to which Christ appointed thē that is to sai to bring in to remembrans his body and blood That the sacrament I say is no sacrifice in what so euer sort it be a sacrament I proue it by Paul in his pistle to the hebrews Hebre. 7.8.9.10 The which if the fauorers of the masse had but supperficially vnderstand they wold neuer so boldly haue vttered that the masse or let it be the sacrament shuld be a sacrifice It is writton first in that pistle that there were in the lawe many prystes becaus thei were mortall but Christ who is immortall hath now theuerlasting pristhode and therfor can saue for euer all thos that goo to god by him alweys liuyng to that end that he may intreate god for vs. And he addeth a none affter that thos prestes or els bysshops had nede toffer sacryfyces not only for the sinnes of the peple but for their own also But it behoued that Christ shuld be vndefyled innocent the which shuld not haue nede eueri dai toffer for him selffe and affter for the peple because he dyd this ones whan he offred hym selffe For so moch as that the lawe appointeth men bisshops that haue weakenessys Psal 110. but the word of the oth that is to sai the word of god and of which Dauyd spake in the Psalme appointeth the son for euer consummate that is to say perfite By thes wordes ij things are geuen vs to be vnderstand First that none can offer a sacrifice that may auaile as before god for sinnes except Christ that is pure innocent separated from sinners perfite and euerlasting bishop who hath in such sort offered him selff that the sacrifice is the prest him selff and the priest the sacrifice it selff For that toffer sacrifice for sinnes it behoueth not only that the sacrifice shuld be cleane pure and withowt spott but it is necessary that he that offereth it shuld be him selff also cleane and that he shuld not haue nede toffer for his own sinnes It is knowen off old that among men also whan a thing is presented by the handes of one that is in displeasure of any gret lord allthough that the thing be good yet it shall not be acceptable because that he which presenteth it is not fauored Iff it be so than that he who offereth must be cleane and no sinner the prestes that say masse can not offer sacrifice for sinnes because thei be vncleane and sinners And albeit thei shuld in deede offer Christ ones again that offring could not auaile for sinnes because it is nedefull for the bringing to passe of such an effect that both th one and thother shuld be cleane and withowt spott not only the sacrfice but also the sacrificer a thing that can not be among as many as be but men in the whole world And for this cause it behoued that Christ him selff shuld be he that shuld offer and make sacrifice to god and no nother but him selff because he alone is without sinne and all the rest be sinners Than it geuyth also tunderstand that it nedeth not any more to doo sacrifice for sinnes becaus he that hath done sacrifice Christ hath satisfied hauing done ones for euer because it was perfite being the same Christ theuerlasting bisshop that offred him selff Iff that haue suffised being ones done what nedeth it to make other sacrifices or to make againe the same at other times Surely
say that he is not there is the euel vnderstanding of Christes own wordes the which he spake whā he instituted the same sacrament For one opinyon vnderstandeth them after one sort and thother after a nother so that the controuersy ād contraryetye of the opinyons is because they vnderstand not Christes wordes as they ought to be vnderstand Matth. 26. Marci 14. Luk. 22. 1. Cor. 11. Whan Christ dyd institute this sacrament he toke first the breade and called it his body saing this is my body ▪ After he toke the wine ād called it his bloode They of the first opinyō say that seing the wordes be christes in dede they cā not be fals seing he hath playnely sayd this is my body shewing the breade ād this is my bloode shewing the wyne We must nedes say that christes body ād blood be there for els his wordes should not be trewe but fals which cā not be for somoch as that Christ being the chefe trouth can not say an vntrouth He hathe sayd that the breade is his body ād the wyne is his bloode ther for it must nedes be soo And in this opinyon there be also ij diuers myndes One sayth that Iesus Christ is not only in the sacrament but wil that neyther breade nor wyne shuld remayne in the sacramēt but that both of thē should be chāged and should be cownted turnkynded that is to say transsubstātiated as they call it the which meaneth turned in to Christes body ād blood The bread in to Chrystes trew ād natural body the wyne in to his blood And thei call this turnīg or chāging trāssubstātiacyō that is to say turning of the substances in such sort as there remayneth nothing of the bread ād the wyne but the withcommes or accydētes that is to say the whytenes of the breade the rowndnes the tast the sauor And so of the wyne there remayneth the rednes if it be redd the swetenes or the sharpnes according as the tast is and so of the other withcommes the which remayne withowt any subiect that is withowt any body to be in But the substances of th one ād thother be turned in to the substāces of christes body ād blood ād this is done by myracle becaus god can doo all things And this is the opinion of the prystes and fryres of the romish church And they haue in such sort preached it that the worlde in tyme past from certen hondreth yeares hetherto haue beleued it ād cownted it as an article of the faith And woo to hym that had sayd the contrary For they wold haue cōdemned ād burnt him as an heretik And that because the pope who was taken for god on earth for Christes lefetenant and had auctoritie to make men beleue what so euer liked hym and euery man was brought to his determinacion wold nedes haue it so Certen other of the first opinion too the which holdeth that Christ is realli and bodily in the Sacrament doo saie that not witstanding that Christes body is wholly in the breade and his blood wholli in the wine yet the breade and the wine abide in their substance as before and be not turned nor changed in to a nother thing as the former opinion saith And thes maner of mē must nedes saie that at the least .iij. very great miracles must come to passe in this Sacrament The first is that Christ is wholli under that breade ād under that wine as great ād as thick as he was on the crosse and as presentli as he is in heauen This is a gret thing that a great body continewyng great shuld be inclosed in a litle thing moch lesse then the same bodi The second miracle is that Christes whole bodi and his wholle blood is in the whole bread and in the whole wine and in eueri yea the least part of th one and the other as it is said of our reasonable sowle that it is whole in the whole bodi and whole in euery part of the body in such sort as if there shuld be made x. thowsand partes of the breade ād the wine whole Christ ād his whole blood shuld be in eueri of thos diuided partes which is yea a greater thing withowt cōparison thā that of the being of the sowle in the whole bodi ād in eueri part of the bodi For allthough the sowle be in eueri part of the bodi whilest that the partes abide yoined together yet it is not in all the partes of the bodi whan thei be separated For whan one part is diuided from the body the sowle is no more in the same But Christes bodi and blood according to this opinion be in all the partis of the bread ād of the wine whan thei be yoined to gether and whan thei be diuided or sondred The third miracle is that the same body and the same blood is in heauen and in earth both at a time and is in all places of the world where the sacrament is In France in Spayne in England in Almainy in Flanders in Italy in the east in the west in this in that citie In this in that church on this The tabernacle is a litle-closet wherein the sacrament is kept nere the altare on that Altare In this in that tabernale as thei say Yea and that thei say that Christ is euery where and filleth euery thing But it is behouefull for them that put or will haue the changing of the substances of the bread and the wine that is to say that their transsubstantion to put besides thes .iij. miracles others also and to make a better marcket of miracles than thei that put it not yea a better market than the holy scripture and god maketh to whom notwithstonding belongeth to make miracles who is not so liberall of mirakels as thei be The chefe grownd worck of this first opinion is that Christ said This is my bodi shewing the breade ād This is my blood shewing the wine And therfor Christ must be in the same sacramēt For els he shuld haue spokē falsely the which cā not be Thei bring furth in dede other reasōs but thei all doo litle auaile as that same that if Christ were not in the sacrament it shuld not haue bene so gret a fawt to him that had receiued it vnworthely as Paul saith that is to say who euer eateth that breade and drinketh that wine unworthyle he eateth and drinketh Iudgement that is to say cōdemnation If Christ were not there say they it shuld not be condemnation to eate that breade and to drink that wine But the condemnacion is to him that eateth and drinketh vnworthily Therfor Iesus Christes very body and blood is there And the same Paul in the self same chapter doth call the consecrated bread the lords body and therfor they say that Christ is in that breade and in that wine Thei of this opinion to my Iudgemēt doo make no other reasons that be any thing worth Not withstanding whan
And therfore Christ reprouid the Capernaties because thei vnderstode him euel fauoredly and not as he wold be vnderstand This answer is nothinge for whan Christ said that the flesh helpeth nothinge but the spirite is that which geueth life he ment that the only spirituall eating the which is done with the harte and with the minde thorow belefe was that which helped but the bodily and fleshly eating helped nothing after what so euer sort it should be done There is no doubt but though that Christ be not eaten in peeces and partes orels chawed as other flesh is chawed and eaten as the Capernaites did vnderstand it Yet not with standinge after what so eauer sort he should be eaten by the bodily mouth whether it were by parts or whole as they of the first opinion beleue the which will that Christ great and thick as he was vpon the wood of the crosse shuld be wholy in the sacrament that is to say in that litle host as they call it This is a fleshly aÌ„d bodely eating for so much as that a thing is no whit lesse bodely eaten whan it is put all hole into the mouth and sent into the stomake as Ionas was wholy swalowed by the whale or as the pills that be receauid whole It is no whitlesse bodely eaten I say theÌ„ if it were eateÌ„ by partes I therfor by the bodily eatiÌ„g do meane that which is not of the spirite This of the whiche they speak that is done by the mouthe is not with the minde therfor it is bodely If it be bodelie it helpeth nothiÌ„ge I wil say to be shorte that if Christ were bodily preasent in the sacrameÌ„t that his being there should be nothinge ê“fitable at all althoughe that we should eat his flesh aÌ„d driÌ„k his bluode a thousaÌ„d times for so much as that the spiritual eating and drinkinge onely the which is by faith beleuinge truely in him is that whiche helpeth The bodely and fleshly eating and drinking his body and blood the which is done by the mouth helpeth nothing They then do litle honour to Christ that wold that he should be really in the sacrament because they wold bringe to passe that Christ should haue made vnprofitable thinges the whiche we may not think much lesse speake But because we haue said that the onely spirituall eating and drinking Christs flesh and bluode is that which helpeth and not the bodely some man might saye to what purpose then did Christ institute the sacramentall eatinge and drinkinge the which is not spirituall but bodelye c. To this I answer that the sacrameÌ„t was therfore iÌ„stituted by Christ because that although the eatinge and drinkiÌ„ge of it be not spirituall but bodely yet not with standing it serueth and is profitable to the spirituall eating and drinking the whiche is by faith for so much as the sacrament doth confirme vs in faith because it is ordeyned to this end Not that it shuld already haue this power of it self but because it is an instrument or els a ministerie of the spirite ioined to the word of the holye gospell with which instrument and ministerie the same spirite worketh in vs And it is not necessarye that Christ should be bodelye in the sacrameÌ„t to serue for the eating and drinkinge spiritually and by faith it is enoughe that the bread and the wyne as holye signes be there for vs as we will better tell you in the last reason And whan I say that the spirituall eating and drinkinge onelye is proffitable and not the bodelie I meane of the bodely eating of the same trew bodye and of the bodely drinking of the trew bloude of Christ put into the mouth as the Capernaites did meane and as they affirme the which wold haue Christ to be really in the sacrameÌ„t both in bodye aÌ„d soule I do not meane of the sacramentall eating the which without doubt is profitable when it is ioyned with the spirituall And whan it is not ioyned it is not onely not profitable but it is damnable as Saint Paule saieth in the first to the Corinthians because it is vnworthelie receaued 1. Corin. 11. If Christ then be not really in the sacrament the substances of the bread and the wine be much lesse chaunged but do both abyde in substance as be fore The fourth reason Another reason is this and it is particularlie against the opinion of transsubstanciation that is to saye of them that would that the bread and the wine shuld be chaunged into Iesu Christes bodye aÌ„d blode aÌ„d that there shuld remaine no more of the bread and the wine but the withcommes that is to saye the white coloure of the bread the coloure of the wine the taste of the one and the other the roundnes or other forme of the same bread And so we will saie of the other withcommes that is to saie of the moystines drines heat and could This opinion cannot stand with those effectes that we may manifestlie see and that experience it self doth shew vs. First the sacrament is hable to norishe bodelie wherfore if there were one that should eat a quantitie of hostes and wine consecrated they wold norishe as other bread and wine not consecrated Further it is seen by experience that the sacrament somtimes is corrupted and wormes be ingendered in it as in other bread and wine not consecrated But how caÌ„ these effects be wrought this opinioÌ„ standinge of the chaunginge of the bread and the wine into Christs body and blood the onely withcommes of the bread and the wine remayning How can the withcommes norish without the substance What is to norishe but that the substance of the meat and drink is turned into his substance that eateth and drinketh it Seurly the withcommes without substance cannot norishe because that norishing meaneth chauÌ„ging of the substaÌ„ce of the meat into the substaÌ„ce of the thinge norished we caÌ„not now say that the substaÌ„ce of Christs bodie aÌ„d blood should be that which should norishe because that the thiÌ„ge that norisheth is as we haue said coÌ„uerted iÌ„to the substaÌ„ce of hiÌ„ that receaueth it Christes body aÌ„d bluod â—â—iÌ„g iÌ„mortal aÌ„d vncorruptible be not receiueable of such chaunges Like as we haue said of the norishemeÌ„t we wil say of the ingeÌ„deringe the which we may see is made in the sacrameÌ„t wheÌ„ the wormes be engeÌ„dered How caÌ„ a substance be engendered of the only withcommes Here thy of this opinion be intangled and they answer some after one sorte and some after another Innocentius the thirde in his booke of the office of the masse saith that euen as the substance of the bread is miraculously turned into the substance of Christs body the withcommes only of the bread and the wine remaininge so the substance of the bread of the which the wormes or any other thinge might be engeÌ„dered may miraculouslie returne Egidius Romanus in his Theoremes of Christs bodie saith that such an engeÌ„deriÌ„ge is nat miraculous but natural for
these as those except luke and paule did tell a lye which is not to be spoken Therfore we must nedes graunt that that cupp was turned into the new Testamēt or els at the least that the new Testament was in that cup the which is not trew for the new Testamēt is not the cupp nor is not in it but it is the ordinaunce or disposition the which god made to leaue to his elect childrē the euer lasting wealth that is to say the forgeuenes of sinnes the freing frō all euell the euerlasting lyfe ād the possessiō of euery good thing If thes be incōueniēces as we may see thē their opiniō is false The last reason is this The tenth reason Christ mai be eatē ād his bluod drōk onely two waies that is to say spiritually and sacramentally the which sacramentall eating therfore as we haue said serueth and is profitable to the spirituall eating I do not fynde after what other sort except these two we may eat Christ and drink his bluod But to eat Christ and drink his bluod after thes two sortes we nede not to put him really into the mouth nother his body nor his bluod therfore it is not necessary that Christ shuld be really in the sacrament That Christ may be eaten and his bluod dronk after these two sortes though that he really in body ād in soule be not in the sacrament I proue it thus First to receaue his body and his bluode spiritually we nede not to receaue hym by the bodely mouth it sufficeth to receaue him by faith that is to say to beleue in him as we proued before in the third reason nor it nedeth not I say for to eate his body ād drink his bluode after this sort that we should put ether the one or thother into the bodely mouth this is plaine because that such eating and drinking is done with the spirite and with the mynde And this the aduersary will not deny That also it is not necessary for the receauing him sacramētally that he shuld be really in the sacrament I proue it by the Apostle paule who saith to the Cor. that the hebrue is he people were baptised aswel they 1 Corin. 10 as we althoughe vnder other signes then oures because that we be baptised with water and that people sayth paule was baptised with the cloude dni with the sea passing thorow the middest of the read sea and that cloude that couered them and the red sea thorow the middest wherof thei al passed was to thē baptisinge where we may note that according to paule not onely they of full age were baptised but the children also because that all were couered with the cloude ād all passed thorow the middest of the sea I desired to say these few words for their sakes that be seduced by the wicked spirit of the Anabaptisticall error who being led about by sathan do denye the baptisme of children If the hebrues children were baptised in token that they were also of gods people for what cause should not now our childrē be baptised being no lesse of gods people thē they and being no lesse redemed by Christ thē they of full age this I desired to say by the waye After paule addeth in the same place that all did eat the self same spirituall food ād dronk all the self same spirituall drink And he calleth that spirituall meat or els foode whether you wil call it the paschal lamb and chefely the manna the which meates they all did eat and he calleth the spirituall drink that water which came out of the rock And he addeth that that rock was Christ that is to say did signifie Christ That spirituall foode that is to say the paschall lamb and the Manna did also signifie Christ as the water did betoken him although paule doth not expresly speake it And to be short he meaneth that the hebrueish people did aswell cōmunicate with those signes as we do that eat the sacramentall bread and sacramentall wyne And paule meaneth in his tong that all did eat and drink Christ sacramentally for so much as that to eat a thing sacramentally is none other but to eat the sacrament of the same Well now if that people did eat Christ and drinke his blood sacramentally when they did eat the paschall lamb and the manna and drunk that water that rann out of the rock the which things were a sacrament of Christ as the bread and the wyne be to vs and did signifie the same as paule sayth and Austen expoundeth it in the 45. treatyse vpon Iohn saing that those sacraments did signifie the self same that oures doo althoughe after an other sort And yet not withstanding they did not eat Christs body nor drink his bluod really putting thē in to the mouth What is the cause that we mai not also eate his body and drink his bluod sacramētally without eating or drinkinge him really and bodely forso much as that to eat or drink Christ sacramentally is none other but to receaue with the mouth his sacramēt And to be à sacrament it is not nedefull that the thing signified should be in the same sacrament and much lesse that there should be made any turninge of the substāces of the signes And it is enoughe that the sacrament should be a signe of the same that is to sai that it should signifie it according to the definition of a sacramēt which sayth Sacramentum est sacrae rei signum that is to say A sacrament is a signe of a holy thinge It is plaine that Christ as man was not really in the hebrues sacraments because he was not yet ether borne or incarnated And how could his body and his bluod be in those sacraments seing his body and bluod were not yet And yet paule saieth that they did eat the self same spiritual meat ād the self same spiritual drink that is to say Christ spiritually Certein expound paules text of the spirituall eating and drinking of that people that is to saye by faith but because that all did not eat and drink spiritually and by faith for so much as that a great parte of them as paule affirmeth in the text were vnbeleuers ād yet he sayth that all did eat the self same spirituall meat ād drink the self same spirituall drink I haue therfore expounded it of the sacramentall eating and drinkinge of the which all aswel beleuers as vnbeleuers did eat ād drink and not of the spiritual that is to saie by faith the which belōged to the beleuers onely And thoughe paule calleth that meat and drink spirituall yet he meaneth not that it should be spirituall in it self as that which is of faith is in dede spirituall but he calleth it spirituall as to the signification and as to the vse that is to say that it was apointed to signifie Christ who is a spirituall and an holy thinge as oure sacraments may be called spirituall things be cause they be appointed to spirituall
wyne not to meane that the bread should be in dede Christes body and the wyne Christes bluod He meaneth not this But he meaneth that therfore the bread is called Christes body and the wyne his bluod because thei be sacramētes and signes of Christes body ād bluod Also in a boke the which is against Adimantus the Maniche in the xij chapter Augustine sayth Against Adimantus ca. 12 The lord doubteth not to sai and he speaketh of Christ this is my body when he gaue the signe of his body Here Austen plainly expoundeth this sainge of Christ that is to say this is my bodye that is as muche to saye as this is the signe of my body The 3. boke cap. 16. And in the third boke called de doctrina Christiana in the xvi he sayth that if that thinge whiche Christ commaundeth shall seme strange inconuenient or euell done then we ought not to vnderstand such speach accordinge to the letter but figuratyuely And geuinge the examples of these words of Christ that is to say If you eat not the fleshe of the sonne of man and drink not his bluod you shall not haue lyfe in you He saith that such speche ought not to be vnderstand accordinge to the letter because that vnderstanding it according to the letter it is a disagreable and an inconuenient thinge that is to say that the flesh of a man should be eaten and his bluod dronk And therfore it ought to be vnderstand soundly that is to say that Christ did not meane of the eating of his flesh and drinkinge his bluode fleshly but spiritually beleuinge in him and hauinge remembraunce of so great a benefit as he hath wrought vs sufferinge and dyinge for vs. And this is the eatinge and drinking that Christ ment of And to eat and drinke after this sorte It nedeth not that Christ should be really in the consecrated bread and wyne The thirty treatise vpō Ihon. but onely that the faith of Christ should be in vs. And in the xxx treatise vpon Iohn he sayth The lord is aboue that is to say in heauen but the lord that is the trueth is also here Christes body in the which he rose must nedes be in one place but his troth is euery where and he meaneth by the troth Christes godhead And in the epistle which he wryteth to dardanus he sayth he shall come for to iudge the lyuinge and the dead in the self same forme that he ascēded into heauen to the which forme he hath seurly geuen immortalitie but he hath not taken away the nature of it we may not thinke that according to this maner of forme that is to sai mans he should be spred abrode euery where For we must take hede that we do not so affirme his god head that we take away the truth of his body for it followeth not that that which is in god should be so euery where as god Of these two saings of Austen the which before we haue also alledged in the seauenth reason is concluded that Austen wil not that Christes body may be in more then one place at one tyme he will in dede that his god head should be euery where but not his manhode the whiche is in one onely place that is to say in heauen The master of the sentences glosinge or els expounding certeyn sainges of Augustine in the fourth of his sentences the tenth distinction where he bringeth furth amongst his other sainges this In the 4. of the sentences the tenth distinction that is to say that Christs body may be in one place but the trueth is spred abrode euery where he sayth that Christes body may be in one placeseable in mans forme but his truth that is to say his godhed is euery where vpon Ihon the sixt And he addeth the truth also of the same that is to say his very body is on euery aultare in euery place where men celebrate Sauinge his reuerēce this is not to set forth Austen mynd but it is to geue it straūge senses that he neauer ment and it is in dede a maiminge of his saings Austē by that word troth meaneth Christes godhed the whiche is powred abrode euery where and doth not meane the bodye and yet he doth notwithstāding expounde it for the body the whiche is as he sayth on all the aultares where thei celebrat And so he doth with many other saings of S. Augustine in the sayd distinction and in other where he speaketh of the matter of the thanks geuing mayming S. Augustines sainges and calling those heretikes that say the contrary that is to say that hold not that Christes bodyly presence is in the sacrament But we will let him glose at his will and say what pleaseth him And it is to be maruelled-at that he should so lightly and without reason pronounce these to be heretiks that speak nothinge contrary to gods word but they do in such sorte honoure it as they do not alow in the matter of religion and faith any more then so muche as the same word speaketh not mindinge to stand to mens opinions except they be agreable with the holy scripture The master of the sentences here geueth an vniust and a wicked iudgement But in the third boke of the trinitie The third boke of the trinite ca. 10. Augustine sayth that no myracle happeneth about the sacrament of Christes body and bluod If it be so that according to Saint Augustine there chaunceth no myracle about that sacrament he then beleued not that Christ shuld be bodelye in the sacrament for if he had beleued it he wold neauer haue sayd that there was no myracle but he wold haue sayd that there happened many and most great myracles as before in the fifth reason we haue seene Well it is playne then after Austens mynde that Christ is not really in bodye and in soule in the sacramēt but he calleth the cōsecrated bread ād wyne Christs bodye ād bluod because they be signes of his bodye and bluod not that they should be really and in dede his true body and bluod because he will that those should be in heauen and not on the earth in the sacrament We might if we wold alledge the other old doctours as Ireneus Tertullian Origen Cyprian Ambrose Ierome and Chrysostome all the whiche be of the self same opinion but let S. Austen suffise vs who amonge all the rest is the most faythfull witnes of all the auntientie And this we do to be shorte not withstandinge if any wold see these doctours sainges let him loke vpon Ireneus who herd Policarp Ihō the Euāgelistes disciple in the fourth ād fift boke that he maketh against heresies Let him loke vpon Tertullian that was next to Ireneus in the first fourth and fift boke against Martian the heretike Let him loke vpon Origen vpon leuiticus the seauenth and nynth homely Let him loke vpon Ambrose in the eleuenth chapter vpō the first epistle to the
is red in the lyfe of Saint Gregorie that the consecrated bread maruelouslye chaunged into a mans finger It is red that that the brute beastes did knele doune at the presence of the thankes geuinge And somtyme there apered a childe when the host was listed vp What shall be sayde to these great myracles sewerlye if Christ were not in the sacrament god wold neauer haue wrought these great signes This reason is nothinge worth and it is like the reason that they make that defended purgatorie with saing that there was heard certaine lamentable voices of the soules of the dead which desired help of there parents or frends that they wold cause to be sayd masses and chefely those masses that be called Saint Gregories and as sone as they were sayd those voyces were heard no more It is told also in the lyfe of a certeyne seinct but in dede a fryars saincte that he saw ones a valley full of soules the which desired help and that seinct was moued to pytye of those poore soules I leaue to you to thinke how many those soules ought to be that filled that valleye when he had sayd I cannot tell how many masses because I do not well remember the storye he returned to se the vally and he found them no more there because they were delyuered out of purgatorye I do much maruell that all the soules in purgatorye went not thether into that vally that thei all might haue bene deliuered by that sainctes Masses Ergo there is a purgatorye What will the lutheranes that denye purgatorye say here what will they saie Thei that you call lutherans will sai that you be a blynde sorte of superstitious I will not sai ignoraunt Idiots of gods causes and that you haue no faith in Christe thinkinge that the materiall fier can do that to the soules that onely Christ hath done with his pretious bluod that is to saye to purge them and perfectly to satiffie gods iustice for all the sinnes of the beleuers And they will saye that you deserue to be begyled and mocked by the deuell that leadeth you to think that the soules of the dead do lament and desire masses and ye perceaue not that he is the same wicked spirite the which fayneth himself to be the soules of the dead and desireth help and caryeth aboute youre brayne and maketh you beleue that glow wormes be lanternes The soules of the dead go not a solasinge here ād there as Chrisostome vpon S. Mathew saith very well but thei abyde in there places apointed vnto thē those soules of the faithfull and godlye abyde with Christ the other abyde in there place lokinge for there finall condemnation Euen so I saye of these maner myracles thoughe thei weare in dede that thei be none other but illusions and disceyts of sathan for to geue credit to the Masse and to beinge to passe that we should not beleue sewerly in Christe And god by his iust iudgement doth suffer these disceyts because we will not receaue the knowledge of the troth nor beleue the holy gospell And for this most great sinne he will that we shall beleue lyes and be deceaued Nor sewerly we deserue none other but to receaue and allow Antichristes myracles as sainct paule sayth to the Thessalonicenses 2. Thess 2. seing that we will not stand to gods worde The holy scripture and gods worde ought without any doubt to be in much more credit with vs then as many such myracles the which in dede be all lyes yea then as many myracles althoughe they be true as can be wrought in the world The whiche worde of god doth affirme and say that Christ Iesus is in heauen Mar. 16. Luc. 24. and that from thence he shall come to Iudge the lyuing and dead and there he shall abyde Act. 3. as peter sayth in the Acts of the Apostels vntill the tyme of the restitution of all thinges and it maketh vs likewise to vnderstand that the sacramentes be signes and be not the thinges signified let vs take hede and geue credit to these thinges that be clere and plaine If we will not be disceaued and not to the opiniōs and phantasies of mē which be not founde in the scripture but be clerely against them the fourthe reason They make another reason the which I wold haue sayd nothinge of because it is allready answered yet for so much as they bringein with the same certeine examples or similitudes to geue a coloure to their opinion of the which we haue not yet spoken we will saie of them a few words to the greather and more plentifull clerenes of the truthe They saye that god can bringe it to passe that is to saie that whole Christ great ād thick as he was on the Crosse should be in the sacramēt and that he should be whole in euery parte of the same as the soule is whole in the whole bodye and whole in euery parte of the bodye and that he should be as man in many places in heuen on earth vpon all altares and in euery other place where the sacrament of thanks geuinge is He can turne one body into another as shall seme good and lik him because he is almighty then he can make that the bread shal be turned into his bodye and the wyne into his bluod Seing he could create the world of nothinge he can much easelyer chaunge one thinge into another They geue eyample of Moyses rodd the which was turned into a serpent and then the serpent was turned againe into the rod likewise the waters of Egypt were turned into bluod Concerninge the being of whole Christ in the sacrament as great and thick as he is in heauen they geue the similitude of the heauen which we see the which being so great is not withstandinge whole in oure litle eye Likewise oure whole face apereth in a glasse that is much lesse then the face is yea the whole man is seen in a litle glasse Concerning the being of whole Christ in euery parte of the sacrament they gyue the similitude of oure soule as we haue already sayd the which is whole in the whole and whole in euery parte of the body Oure face also is whole in the whole glasse and whole in euery parte of the glasse after this sorte that is to saye that if the glasse should be broken in many partes oure whole face wold apere in euery one of them Concerning Christes bodely beinge in many places that is to say in heauen on the earth and in euery place where the sacrament is they geue the similitude of a man the which should haue about him many glasses in euery one of these glasses the forme of a man will apere Likwise if one speak in the presence of many persons his voice is but one and yet it is whole in dyuers mens eares If nature bringe this to passe that is to saye that one thinge may be in dyuers places much more Christ who
which to passe it was nedefull that the son of god shuld become man shuld be borne in our miseryes shuld suffer so many trobles shuld be of wicked men persecuted delyuered taken beaton mocked spytefully handled whipt Iudged hy thuniust crucified deade and that he shuld goo downe to the grettest lowlines And here he sayth that with the asshes is made the redempcyon of sinnes How can the godly ād Christen eares heare this Looke vp on this yow that goo to the mass Looke vp on it yowr selues Reade what I tell yow is in the masse boke Thei that vnderstand the latyn haue not consydred it Thoter knowe not what is sayd because the hole is sayd in a tong not vnderstand of the vnlerned And thei may blaspheme and say what they will at their pleasure And be thes things to be born to close vp our redempcyon within thasshes of woode the which only Christ hath brougth to passe with his hlood and death That of the candels which is done on candelmes day in the first prayer it desyreth that god wold by the calling vp on of his most holy name and by thintreatyes of the blessed Mary allweys virgyn and by the prayers of all sayntes blesse and make holy thos cādels for mans vse ād helth of bodyes and of sowles whether it be vp on the land or in the waters And where fynd we in the hole scripture that any bodyly creature fasshoned by mē as the cādels ād the weekis be shuld haue this vse to geue the helt of sowles The helth of sowles is the forgeuenes of sinnes and the holy making Thes so gret and godly things are done by thonly fauor of god and by Christ Esay 53.61 1. Pet. 2. Luk. 4. Esa 61. and are not wrought with wax candells Yea this prayer speaketh against it selff because in th end it sayth that we be redemed with the precyos blood of the son of god And before he sayth that thes cādles be for mens vse and for helth of sowles that is to say for remissyon of syn̄es And how cā thes ij things stand to gether that is to say that we be redemed with the precyos blood of the sonn of god which is most trewe and that the candels shuld be the helth of our sowles that is tho say the forgeuenes of synnes Seing that forgeuenes of syn̄es is redempcyon it selff as Paul witnesseth in many places Surely iff the cādels forgyue synnes than they worck our redēpcyon Roma 3. Ephes 1. collo 1. But Christ only hath wrought our redempcyon and hath not wrought it with candels I knowe well that the wranglyng and supersticyous parsons will not want answers and glosts Notwithstanding let euery faithful and godly man wey and iudge whether the candels cā work such effectis or no. whan the candels be blessed and the holy water cast on thē and that they be censyd certē verses are song Affter they goo on processiō and they sing iij. songes of praise which they call Anthemes And one of thē which is the second sayth Adorna thalamū tuum Syon suscipe regem Christum amplectere mariā quae est coelestis porta ipsa enim portat regem gloriae And here this Antē confessith that mari is the heuēly gate And though I shall say somwhat here to defēd gods honor ād christis let no mā meruell I speake to thos that haue no knowlege of the holi scripture For I ā sure that thei which haue wil not meruel There is no dowt but the most blessid mother was ād is blessed aboue all wemē ād is in that gretnes ād worthines that cā not be estemed because she is Christes mother And yet for all that we ought not to geue hir thos praises that be not fitt for hir and that belōg only to christ For so thin king to honor hir we dishonor hir ād do hir most greatest wrong ād iff she were nere vs ād hard vs whā we geue hir such titles that is to say gate of heauē mother of merci whā we call hir our hope our aduocate and such like titles which be lōg to christ ōly or to god she wold spitt in our facis ād wold not suffer that the honor of god ād of christ the which she ād all tho her saintes doo more esteme with owt cōparison than theit own shuld be geuē to plaine creatures were thei neuer so excellent Onli Christ is our liffe and hope Io. 1.6.11.14 Collossen 3. 1. Timot. 2. Iohann 10 1. Iohan. 2. Actor 4 the gate of heauē our aduocate fowntane king ād father of mercy Thes names be namis for god ād Christ To be the gate of heauē ād to be the aduocate belōgeth to Christ god and man but the other belong to god and to Christ as god So that they thā cōmitt a gret error that to honor the saintes ād chefely the blessed mother doo sing thes Antēs as the Salue regina the Aue maris stella and as many other as geue godly honor to plaine creatures Fom hens it comith that the deuocion to christ and god is lost and it comith to passe that where we shuld call vp on god and Christ ād ron̄e to thē in our nede we ron̄e to mē ād we place thē in our redemer ād makers place The blessing of the boughes in the first praier affter the preface of the same blessing destreth that thos that shall take of thos boughes that thei may be vnto them a defence both of sowle and ād body a remedy of our safetie through Christ our lord The fourth praier which beginnith Deus qui per oliuae ramum desireth that god wold blesse and make holy thos boughes of the olife ād of other trees so that thei may be profitable for sowle helth to all the peple Surely thes be very great effectis that is to say to be a protection of sowle and body and to be a remedy or to be profitable for our sowle helth God doth noth vse thes meanes to defend our sowles and to saue vs. We haue not in any place of the scripture āy of thes things Paul thapostel to the colossians Coloss 2. saith that in Christ we be furnisshed that is to say that as concerning the things perteining to the sowle helth we haue no nother but Christ god excepted For in Christ and by Christ we haue all things whether we speake of forgeuenes of sinnes of Iustificacion of repentans of holy making or of sowl helth We haue all thes things in Christ and bi Christ and not by the boughes of oliue palme or of any other thing And beside it is a gret supersticion to be content to beleue that the boughes of oliues palmes or other treis shuld by reason of thos blessings made with thos words crossis and other ceremonies that are made take any powr to bring to passe such ād so great effectis We find not that the Prophetis thapostels or Christ himselff