Ecclesiam non Communicant What the Cardinal saith here of these two Practices makes almost the whole Roman Worship at this time to be a meer Novelty the whole of that Worship consisting almost now in Peoples going o Mass upon Sundays and Holy-days which the Church obliges them to not obliging them at the same time to communicate above once a Year and in adoring the Host when the Priest elevates it As to the Priest's putting the Sacrament into the mouth of the Communicants the same Cardinal in the 17th Chap. of his second Book saith Sacra Communio antiquo ritu non ore excipi solebat ut hodiè fit sed manu quam qui susceperat Ori reverenter admovebat As to the Priest's speaking the words of Consecration so low that no body can hear him in his 12th Chap. of the same Book he saith Graeci alii Orientales verba consecrationis elatâ voce pronunciant populus respondet Amen Eundem morem servabat olim Ecclesia Occidentalis omnes enim audiebant verba consecrationis postea statutum est ut Canon submissa voce recitaretur sic desiit ea consuetudo seculo decimo ut conjicio As to the usage of her denying the Cup to the People in the 18th Chap. of his second Book he saith Semper enim ubique ab Ecclesiae primordiis usque ad saeculum duodecimum sub specie panis Vini in Ecclesiis communicârunt fideles coepitque paulatim ejus saeculi initio usus calicis obsolescere plerisque Episcopis eum populo interdicentibus sic paulatim introducta est Communio sub solâ specie panis quod à nullo negari potest qui vel levissimâ rerum Ecclesiasticarum notitiâ imbutus est And as to her making use of Unleavened Bread in the 23d Chap. of his first Book he saith Quod si Veteres Patres percurrere omnem evolvere antiquitatem libeat inveniemus proculdubio sic à tempore Apostolorum de inceps de pane Eucharistico omnes loqui ut non nisi de communi fermentato commodè intelligi explicari queant As to her giving the Sacrament in Wafers in the 23d Chap. of the same Book he saith Vivente Humberto qui floruit Anno 1245. panis consecrandus in Eucharistiâ tantae magnitudinis erat ut ex eo consecratae tot particulae frangi possent quot erant necessariae ad populum communicandum panis qui tradebatur talis fuit ut deglutiri non posset nisi dentibus comminutus And as to her keeping the consecrated Bread or Hosts as she calls them after the Communion is over he saith in the same Book Ne reliquiae Sacramenti superessent saepe decretum est ut tot particulae consecrarentur quot erant parati ad communionem si quid residuum foret à sacerdete seu Ministris commederetur quod si contigerit ut Ministrorum incuria putrescerent statuit Concilium Arelatense apud Joan. X. 2. Cap. 56. ut igne comburatur cinis juxta Altare sepeliatur idque in usu fuisse docet Algerus Lib. 2. Cap. 1. Now I take this acknowledged change of Rites in the Administration of the Eucharist to be a very great Evidence that there has been a Change of belief about it and indeed to have been the Natural Consequence of such a Change and so I believe will any body else that shall consider it impartially changed for others without a great Sin notwithstanding they do not appertain to the Integrity or Essence of the Sacraments there are three that imprint a Spiritual sign on the Soul that can never be blotted out it is called a Character which is the reason why those Sacraments are never to be repeated they are Baptism Confirmation and Orders the other four that is Penitence the Eucharist Extream Vnction and Matrimony imprint no Spiritual Sign in the Soul and so may be repeated with due Order but tho' these seven Sacraments are all Divine and do contain Grace and dispense it to their worthy Receivers deserving our most profound Reverence and Adoration on the account of the Majesty of their Institutor who was our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God as also for the assistance of the Holy Spirit who operates in conjunction with them and for the virtue that is in them for the curing of Souls the Treasure of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ being deposited in them and dispensed to us by their means Nevertheless this does not hinder but that in some respects some of them may be more worthy than others and may deserve a greater reverence and veneration These Sacraments were all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ before his Ascention into Heaven that so by their means he might communicate Grace and other Spiritual Benefits he had merited for us by his Death on the Cross confirming them to the faithful by his Word and Promises that so by using them lawfully and with due dispositions we might be ascertained of his communicating himself and all the fruits of his Passion to us in every one of them in such a manner as he represents himself in them The Doctrine of the Holy Sacrament of Baptism THe first of all the Sacraments is that of Baptism which is the Gate of the Spiritual Life and that whereby we are made capable of the other Sacraments of which without it we are no ways capable for as a Man must first be born before he can enjoy the good things of the Natural Life so Men before they are born again in Baptism are not capable of enjoying the heavenly advantages of a Spiritual Life it being by Baptism that we are made Members of Christ and are incorporated into the Christian Common-wealth and the Mystical Body of the Church for as by the first man Death came upon all for the Sin of Disobedience committed by him and us for which Sin we were excluded the Kingdom of Heaven and were born Children of Wrath and separated from God so that without being born again of Water and the Spirit we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven as Christ himself has taught us so that as we were born Children of Wrath by Baptism we return to be Children of Grace and as we were born in sin the Sons of Men in Baptism we are born the Sons of God all that are baptized in Christ as St. Paul hath it having put on Christ The Matter of this Sacrament is true natural and common Water as of the Sea Rivers Fountains Lakes or Rain and no other tho' never so pure and clean all others being Liquors and not natural Water The Form is I Baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost The Minister of this Sacrament is a Priest to whom it belongs by virtue of his Office but in case of necessity not only a Priest or Deacon but a Lay-man or Woman nay an Infidel a Mahometan a Heretick or Jew
nor no need of any created assistance to help her to bring forth or afterwards there being nothing in her but what was pure the Eternal Word made Flesh springing out of her Womb the Claustrum of her pure Virginity being shut when the time determined in the Consistory of the Holy Trinity was come to the great Spiritual Joy and satisfaction of the said Blessed Virgin for which reason she ought truly to be stiled the Mother of God and not only the Mother of Christ and that when she departed this Life she was immediately carried up into Heaven where by a particular privilege due to her Merits she enjoys God both in Body and Soul without waiting for the general Resurrection there being no reason why that Body out of which there was most Holy Flesh formed for the Son of God made Man should as other Bodies be dissolved into Dust and Ashes but that it should be immediately exalted and glorified and placed high above all the Quires of Angels as Holy Mother Church sings and confesseth concerning the whole of which matter the Impious Nestorian Hereticks have spoke and writ even in the Breviaries used in this Bishoprick a great many Blasphemies and Heresies Decree VII THe Synod is with great sorrow sensible of that Heresy and perverse Error sown by the Schismaticks in this Diocess to the great prejudice of Souls which is That there was one Law of St. Thomas and another of St. Peter which made * Two different By all this which the Synod calls Two Laws the Christians of St. Thomas meant only That the Churches planted by the Apostles in divers Regions had nothing of Superiority or Jurisdiction over one another which is a most certain and ancient truth two different and distinct Churches and both immediately from Christ and that the one had nothing to do with the other neither did the Prelate of the one owe any obedience to the Prelate of the other and that they who had followed the Law of St. Peter had endeavoured to destroy the Law of St. Thomas for which they had been punished by him all which is a manifest Error Schism and Heresy there being but one Law to all Christians which is that which was given and declared by Jesus Christ the Son of God and preached by the Holy Apostles all over the World as one Faith one Baptism there being but one Lord of all and one Catholick and Apostolick Church of which our Lord Christ God and Man who Founded it is the only Spouse and one only Universal Pastor to whom all other Prelates owe obedience the Pope and Bishop of Rome Successor in the Chair of St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles to whom our Lord Jesus Christ bequeathed that Supream Authority and by him to his Successors which Catholick Doctrine is necessary to Eternal Life Wherefore the Synod doth command all Parish Priests and Preachers to Treat often of this matter by reason of the great need there is of having this Bishoprick well instructed therein Decree VIII FOr that till the very time of the most Illustrious Metropolitan entring into this Diocess there was a certain Heresy twice repeated in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and twice more in the Divine Office in calling the Patriarch of Babylon the Universal Pastor and Head of the Catholick Church in all places and as often as they happen to name him a Title that is due only to the most Holy Father the Bishop of Rome Successor of the Prince of the Apostles St. Peter and Vicar of Christ on Earth the Synod doth therefore command in virtue of Obedience and upon pain of Excommunication to be ipso facto incurred that no Person of this Bishoprick Secular or Ecclesiastical shall from henceforward presume by Word or Writing either in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or in the Divine Office or in any other occasion to bestow that Title on the said Patriarch of Babylon or on any other Prelate besides our Lord the Bishop of Rome and whosoever shall dare to contravene this Order shall be declared Excommunicate and held for a Schismatick and Heretick and shall be punished as such according to the Holy Canons And whereas the Patriarchs of Babylon to whom this Church was subject are Nestorians the Heads of that cursed Sect and Schismaticks out of the Obedience of the Holy Roman Church and Aliens from our Holy Catholick Faith and are for that reason Excommunicate and accursed and it not being lawful to joyn with such in the Church in publick as stand Excommunicate Wherefore this Bishoprick upon its having now yielded a perfect Obedience to the most Holy Father the Pope Christ's Vicar upon Earth to which it was obliged by Divine Authority and upon pain of Damnation shall not from henceforward have any manner of dependance upon the said Patriarch of Babylon and the present Synod does under the said precept of Obedience and upon pain of Excommunication to be ipso facto incurred prohibit all Priests and Curates from henceforward to name the said Patriarch of Babylon in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or in any other Divine Office in the Prayers of the Church even without the false Title of Universal Pastor but instead thereof shall name our Lord the Pope who is our true Pastor as also of the whole Church and after him the Lord Bishop of the Diocess for the time being and whosoever shall maliciously and knowingly act the contrary shall be declared Excommunicate and otherwise punish'd at the pleasure of his Prelate according to his contumacy Decree IX WHereas all the Breviaries used in this Church are Nestorian and by the commands of Prelates of the same Sect on a certain day the impious and false Heretick Nestorius is Commemorated in this Bishoprick and a Day is kept to his Honour and at other times Theodorus Diodorus Abbaratho Abraham Narsai Barchauma Johanan Hormisda and Michael who are also Nestorian Hereticks were likewise Commemorated Nestorius Theodorus and Diodorus being commemorated on the Friday after the Nativity and on the seventh Friday after that Abraham and Narsai and all the above-named and all of them on every Thursday in the Year in the said Nestorian Office and every day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Divine Office and notwithstanding in some places they have not of late named Nestorius Theodorus and Diodorus but do still continue to name Abraham Narsai Abba Barchauma Johanan Hormisda and Michael in the Blessing that the Priest gives to the People at the end of the Mass wherein they desire Hormisda to deliver them from evil being his Disciples as also on all Fridays in the Year they commemorate as Saints the said Hormisda Joseph Michael Johanan Barchauma Barianda Rabba Hedsa Machai Hixoiau Caurixo Avahixo Lixo Xaulixo Barmun Lixo Metidor Cohada Israel Ezekiah Lixo David Lixo Barai Israel Julianus Haudixo c. who were all Nestorian Hereticks and as is evident from the said Masses and from their Lives Commemorations
whole Christianity into that for some time none of them were found so hardy as to venture to go among them The news of this great and unexpected Heat as it did strangely afflict the Arch-Bishop who had set his Heart so much on the reducing of those Christians so it was the thing that made him resolve to go in Person to the Serra to try what his Presence and Authority would do Not only the Viceroy but the whole Clergy and Laity and particularly the whole Chapter of Goa together in a body did all they could as it is said to disswade him from so dangerous an enterprise but tho' he was deaf to all the Remonstrances of his Friends yet upon a War breaking out suddenly in the Year 1598. betwixt the Kings of Mangate and Paru in whose Territories most of these Christian Churches stand he thought fit to put off his Journey for that Year satisfying himself with writing a Letter to the Arch-Deacon to perswade him to reconcile himself and his Church to that of Rome and acquainting him with his Intentions to visit all the Churches in the Serra in Person so soon as the forementioned War was over which he believed would be very speedily The Arch-Deacon when he received this Letter dreading nothing so much as the Arch-Bishop's coming in Person among them declared that he had refused to Subscribe the forementioned Profession of Faith for no other reason but because he was Commanded to do it before the Rector of the Jesuites College of Vaipicotta with whom and his whole Order he pretended to be justly dissatisfied giving the Arch-Bishop to understand at the same time that if he would order any other Priest or Friar to take his Subscription that he was ready to make it But the Arch-Bishop looking upon this only as a Trick to throw an Odium upon the whole Order of Jesuites and that for no other reason but because they were the most industrious in the reduction of those Christians to the Roman Faith would not comply with the Arch-Deacon's Request in naming some body else to take his Subscription for which Conduct the Arch-Bishop was very much blamed most People and especially the other Orders of Friars murmuring against him as one grown so fond of the Jesuites as to lose the reduction of so many thousand Souls rather than displease the Jesuites But the Jesuites who sacrifice all Interests and Obligations to the Honour of their Order have requited the Arch-Bishop but very ill for this his great kindness for them in having reported this Affair so here in Europe as to rob him of that which he esteemed his chief Glory to wit the Reduction of this Church to the Roman Faith For in the History of the Jesuites in the Indies published by Pieire du Jarri a Jesuite and printed at Bourdeaux in the Year 1608. we have all that is said by the Portuguezes of Mar Abraham and his Arch-Deacon's great aversion to the Roman Church and particularly to the whole Order of Jesuites flatly contradicted for in that History we are told that Mar Abraham had such an extraordinary kindness for the Jesuites that for some time before his Death he put himself so entirely into their hands as to be governed by them in all things and that the Arch-Deacon George had such an high Opinion of their worth as to declare to all the World that without their aid and assistance he should not know after the Arch-Bishop's Death how to Govern the Diocess It is furthermore said that Mar Abraham when he was upon his Death-bed called the Rector of the College of Vaipicotta to him and having all his Clergy about him declared that he committed his Flock to the Bishop of Rome as the chief Pastor and Prelate of the whole Church and Commanded the Arch-Deacon and all his Priests to obey the Jesuites whom his Holiness had sent to cultivate that Vineyard in all things and to be sure to follow the Doctrines that they taught which were the whole truth and nothing but the truth after which Charge he is said furthermore to have beseeched and conjured the Rector by the love of Christ and the great friendship there had been always between them to take care of the Government of his Church after his Death and to have ordered an authentick instrument to be made of all this to remain as a Testimony of his last Will and of the Faith he died in The same History furthermore tells us That this Church was so far reconciled to the Pope in the Year 1596. that when the Jubile of Clement VIII was published among them by the Jesuites they gave his Holiness a thousand Blessings for it and took a singular pleasure in pronouncing his Name and that during the whole time of the Jubile they were at Church from Morning to Night without taking any refection and were so zealous to confess themselves to the Fathers that they waited in the Church till Midnight in great Crowds to do it Now according to this report of things the Arch-Bishop when he came into the Serra had little more to do than to open his Arms to embrace a People who being before hand prepared by the Jesuites were ready to throw themselves into them But to leave Romance and return to History having only observed by the way that it is visible from this gross misrepresentation of those Affairs how little regard is to be had to the Jesuites Reports of their Feats in the Indies since to support a Story purely invented for the Honour of their Order they do not boggle to pretend to have an authentick instrument of the truth of it and that drawn up by the Order of a dying Prelate But a thing happened at this time which tho' in it self not considerable did abundantly manifest how little disposed the Clergy of this Church was to submit to the Pope A Boy that went to School to the Jesuites at Vaipicotta having been taught by them to name the Pope in his Prayers before the Patriarch of Babylon being over-heard doing it in the Church by some of the Malabar Priests was after they had beat him severely turned out of the Church they spoke also to his Father to whip him out of praying for the Pope who they said was none of their Prelate nor had any thing to do with them The Arch-Bishop being informed thereof writ immediately to the Arch Deacon commanding him to make Examples of those impudent Hereticks for what they had said and done to the Boy which the Arch-Deacon was so far from doing that he Honoured them the more for it By the way the Jesuites teaching their Scholars to pray for the Patriarch of Babylon tho' after the Pope is one instance among others of their Conscience in those Parts being subservient to their Policy But the World continuing still to blame the Arch-Bishop for not putting the Affairs of the Serra into some other hands than those of the Jesuites against whose order that whole
desired may be handled publickly and in the Congregation those Meetings only excepted which are kept by the People in order to their proposing of Matters to be consulted about according to ancient Custom and the Order of the said Metropolitan ACTION II. ON the second Day after the singing of the Antiphony Psalm Prayers and Hymn as they are in the Roman Pontifical the most Reverend Metropolitan being seated in his Chair said Venerable and Beloved Brethren the Priests and you my dearest Sons in Christ the Procurators and Representatives of the People We having done little more Yesterday than celebrate the Divine Offices and Preach to the People it is fit we should begin to Day to Treat of Matters appertaining to the Synod In the first place of those that belong to the Integrity and Truth of our Holy Catholick Faith and the Profession of the same which before we go about I do again admonish you in our Lord Jesus Christ that all such things as you shall judge to stand in need of Reformation in this Bishoprick or any part thereof may be signified to us or to the Congregation that so with the Divine favour and assistance all things by your Diligence and Charity may be brought into so good Estate as is desired for the praise of the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ Decree II. THat this Synod may in all things Govern it self according to the Directions of the Holy Canons and tread in the Footsteps of the Holy General Councils and particularly of the Holy Council of Trent upon the knowledge it has of the Necessities of this Church and of the diversity of Opinions that have been hitherto therein concerning Matters of our Holy Catholick Faith and of the Errors contrary thereunto which have been sowed in this Diocess by Hereticks and Schismaticks it doth command all Persons Ecclesiasticks and Seculars called hither either in their own Name or in the Name of others Ecclesiasticks or Laicks of this Bishoprick to make Profession and Oath of the following Faith in the hands of the most Illustrious Metropolitan President of this Synod And for the more effectual execution of this Decree and to provoke others by his own Example the most Illustrious Metropolitan having robed himself in his Pontificals but without his Mitre kneeling down before the Altar and having laid his hands upon a Cross that was upon a Book of the Gospels did in his own Name as the present Prelate and Metropolitan of the Diocess and in the Name of all the Christians belonging to the same and every Person thereof Secular and Ecclesiastick make Profession and Oath of the Faith following which was immediately declared to all that were present The Profession and Oath of the Faith IN the Name of the most Holy and undivided Trinity the Father Son and Holy Ghost one only true God in the Year of our Lord 1599 in the Seventh Year of the Pontificate of our most Holy Lord Clement VIII Bishop of Rome in the Town of Diamper in the Kingdom of Malabar in the East-Indies in the Church of All Saints on the 21st of June in a Diocesan Synod of the Bishoprick of Serra Assembled by the most Illustrious and Reverend Lord Dom Frey Aleixo de Menezes Arch-Bishop Metropolitan of Goa and the Oriental Parts and the See being vacant of the said Bishoprick I N. do of my own free Will without any manner of force and constraint for the Salvation of my Soul believing it in my heart protest that with a firm Faith I do believe and confess all and every one of the Articles contained in the Symbol of Faith which is used in Holy Mother Roman Church I believe in one God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible And in one Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God begotten of his Father before all Worlds God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made Who for us Men and for our Salvation came down from Heaven and was Incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made Man and was Crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate He suffered and was buried and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of the Father and he shall come again with Glory to Judge both the Quick and the Dead whose Kingdom shall have no end And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of Life who proceedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets And I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of Sins and I look for the Resurrection of the Dead and the Life of the World to come I do firmly receive and embrace all Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions and all the Observances and Constitutions of the said Church I admit the Holy Scriptures in that sence wherein it has ever been and is still held by Mother Church to whom it belongeth to judge of the true Sence and Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures neither will I either receive or interpret it but according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers I do confess likewise that there are Seven true and proper Sacraments of the New Testament instituted by Christ our Lord which are all necessary to the health of Mankind tho' not to every particular Person they are Baptism Confirmation the Eucharist Order Penance Matrimony and Extream Unction which do all conferr Grace on those that receive them worthily and of these seven Sacraments that Baptism Confirmation and Orders are to be received but once neither can they be repeated without great Sacrilege I admit and receive all the Customs Rites and Ceremonies received and approved of in the Roman Church in the solemn Administration of the said seven Sacraments and do also receive and embrace all in general and every thing in particular that has been defined and declared concerning Original Sin and Justification in the Holy Council of Trent I do likewise confess that in the Mass there is offer'd to God a true and proper Sacrifice of Pardon both for the Quick and the Dead and that in the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there is the true real and substantial Body and Blood together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and that the whole substance of the Bread is by Consecration turned into the Body of Christ and the whole substance of the Wine into his Blood which Conversion the Catholick Church calls Transubstantiation Moreover I do confess that under each Species Christ is entire and the true Sacrament is received I do constantly hold and confess that there is a * Purgatory John Fisher Bishop of Rochester in his 18th Article against Luther does acknowledge the Doctrine
of Religion the Greek and Alexandrian Christians have them in such detestation as to reckon an Altar defiled by a Roman Priest's having celebrated thereon And for the Muscovites Possevinus tells us their greatest imprecation is I hope to live to see thee so far abandoned as to turn Papist The Abbyssin Christians as Godinus tells us do not only condemn the Romanists as Hereticks but do affirm that they are worse than Mahometans and in the 28th Chap. of the first Book of Archbishop Menezes's Visitation it is said that the Chaldaean and Malabar Christians did so abhorr the Pope that they could not endure so much as to hear him named and Head of all the Churches in the World and confess that all that were not obedient to her were out of a state of Salvation and if they did promise and swear true Obedience and subjection to the most Holy Father the Pope and Bishop of Rome as Universal Pastor of the Church and Successor of St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles and Vicar of Christ upon Earth without any manner of dependance upon the Schismatical Patriarch of Babylon to whom tho' contrary to Justice they had hitherto been subject and if they did promise never to receive any other Bishop into this Diocess but what shall be sent by the Holy Roman Church by the appointment of our Lord the Pope and that whomsoever he shall ordain they will acknowledge and obey for their Prelate as becomes true Catholicks and Sons of the Church anathematizing the Patriarch of Babylon as a Nestorian Heretick out of the Obedience of the Holy Roman Church and promising and swearing never to obey him more in any matter nor to have any further Commerce or Communion with him in things appertaining to the Church To all which and every particular they did all and every one of them for themselves with their hands upon the Cross and the Gospel swear and protest to God by the Holy Gospel and the Cross of Christ After the Ecclesiasticks had made this Profession and Oath the Procurators and Representatives of the People by virtue of the Powers they had made the same in their own Name and in the Name of the People of the Bishroprick as did also all the other Christians that were present Decree III. THe Synod doth command all Priests Deacons and Sub-Deacons of this Bishoprick that were not present at this Solemnity to make the foresaid Oath and profession of Faith in the hands of the most Illustrious Metropolitan at the Visitation of their Churches which he intends to make speedily or in the hands of such as he shall depute for those that shall be absent at the time of the Visitation that so there may be none in Holy Orders in this Bishoprick but what has made this Profession in the manner aforesaid The Synod doth likewise declare That hereafter none shall be capable of undertaking any Vicaridge or Cure of a Church until they have made the said Profession in the hands of their Prelate or of some Commissionated by him for that purpose as also that all that take Holy Orders do first make the said Profession in the same manner and if any of the forementioned which God forbid shall refuse to do it that they shall thereupon be declared Excommunicate until they comply and withal be vehemently suspected of Heresy and be punished according to the Sacred Canons ACTION III. BEcause without Faith it is impossible to please God and the Holy Catholick Faith without which none can be saved is the beginning of true Life and the foundation of all our Good the Purity thereof being that that distinguishes Christians and Catholicks from all other People wherefore the Synod being sensible that by means of some Heretical Persons and Books scattered all over this Bishoprick many Errors and Falsities have been sown therein with which many are poisoned and more may be doth judge it necessary besides the profession of Faith that has been made further to declare to the People in some Chapters the chief Articles of our Holy Catholick Faith and to point at and observe the Errors contained in their Books and to have them Preached against in this Bishoprick that so knowing the mischief and falsehood of them they may avoid them CHAP. I. The Doctrine of Faith OUr Holy Faith that is believed with one unanimous consent by the Catholick Church spread all over the World is That we believe in One only True Almighty Immutable Incomprehensible and Ineffable God the Eternal Father Son and Holy Ghost One in Essence and Three in Persons the Father not begotten the Son begotten of the Father and of the same substance with him and equal to him and the Holy Ghost proceeding eternally from the Father and the Son not as from two Principals or two Inspirations but from both as from one only Principal and one only Inspiration the Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor the Son but the Father is only the Father the Son is only the Son and the Holy Spirit is only the Holy Spirit none of them being before another in Eternity nor superiour to another in Majesty nor inferiour to another in Power but were all without beginning or end the Father is he who begot the Son is he who was born and the Holy Ghost he who proceedeth Consubstantial Equal alike Almighty and alike Eternal These three Persons are one only God and not three Gods one only Essence and Substance one Nature one Immensity one Principal one Creator of all things Visible and Invisible Corporal and Spiritual who when he pleased created all things with his goodness and would that they should be all very good CHAP. II. FUrthermore That the only begotten Son of God who is always with the Father and the Holy Spirit Consubstantial to the Father at the time appointed by the profound Wisdom of the Divine Mercy for the redeeming of Men from the sin of Adam and from all other sins was truly Incarnate by the operation of the Holy Spirit in the pure Womb of our Lady the most Blessed Virgin Mary and in her took our true and intire Nature of Man that is a Body and rational Soul into the Unity of the Divine Person which Unity was such that our Lord Jesus Christ is God and Man and the Son of God and the Son of Man in as much as he was the Son of the Blessed Virgin so that the one Nature is not confounded with the other neither did the one pass into nor mix it self with the other neither did either of them vanish or cease to be but in one only Person or in one Divine Suppositum there are two perfect Natures a Divine and Humane but so that the properties of both Natures are still preserved there being two Wills the Divine and Humane and two Operations Christ still continuing one for as the Form of God does not destroy the Form of a Servant so the
Form of a Servant does not diminish the Form of God because he who is true God is also true Man God because in the beginning he was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word Man because the Word was made Flesh and died among us God because by his own Power he satisfied five Thousand Men with five Loaves and promised the Water of Eternal Life to the Samaritan Woman and raised Lazarus from the Grave when he had been dead four days and gave sight to the Blind cured the Sick and commanded the Winds and the Seas Man because he suffered Hunger and Thirst was weary in the Way was fastned with Nails to the Cross and died thereon Equal to the Eternal Father as to the Divinity and Inferior to the Father as to the Humanity and Mortal and Passible CHAP. III. FUrthermore That the same Son of God that was Incarnate was truly born of the Virgin Mary and had his Sacred Body formed of the pure Blood of the same most Blessed Virgin and is truly her Son for which reason we confess her to be truly the Mother of God and that she ought to be so called and invocated by the whole Catholick Church for that she really and truly brought forth according to the Flesh tho' without any Pain or Passion the true Son of God made Man and that the said Son of God Incarnate truly suffered for us and was truly dead and buried and in his Soul truly descended into Hell or Limbo to redeem the Souls of the Holy Fathers which were therein and did truly rise again from the dead the third day and afterwards for forty days taught his Disciples speaking with them of the Kingdom of Heaven and immediately by his own Power ascended into the Heavens where he sits at the right hand of the Majesty Glory and Power of the Father from whence he shall come to Judge the quick and the dead and to give to every one according to their Works CHAP. IV. FUrthermore That none that are descended from Adam ever were or can be saved by any other means than by Faith in the Mediator betwixt God and Man our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God who by his Blood and Death reconciled us to the Eternal Father by having satisfied him for our Debts the Faith before our Saviour appeared in the World being to believe in him who was to come as after his appearance to believe in him who is come and by his Blood and Death has saved us CHAP. V. FUrthermore That all we who are born of Adam by the way of Natural Generation are born Children of Wrath with the guilt of Original Sin incurred by the disobedience of Adam in whom we all sinned and which we all committed in him for which sin Adam lost for himself and us Holiness and Righteousness and so that guilt of sin is derived to all of us by Generation we having all sinned in him as the Apostle St. Paul tells us that by one Man Sin entred into the World and by Sin Death and so Death passed upon all Men all having sinned in him but notwithstanding this guilt is derived to us by Generation nevertheless our Souls are not derived by Generation as our Bodies are but are created by God of nothing and by the Divine Ordination infused into our Bodies at the time when they are perfectly formed and organized and in the instant in which they are infused into our Bodies they contract the guilt of Original Sin which we committed in Adam and for which we were all expelled the Kingdom of Heaven and deprived of God for ever but which is now pardoned by Holy Baptism by which our Souls are cleansed from the guilt of that sin and of Children of Wrath and Aliens from Glory we are made the blessed Sons of God and Heirs of Heaven wherein likewise all our other sins and actual transgressions where there are any together with all the punishments due to the same are forgiven CHAP. VI. FUrthermore That the Souls of all those that have committed no sin after Baptism and of those who having committed sins have done condign Penance and have made an entire and equal satisfaction for them are carried immediately into Heaven where they behold God Three and One as he is and do partake of the Divine Vision in proportion to the diversity of their Merits some more perfectly than others and in the same manner they who die in any Actual Mortal sin without having done condign punishment for it or only in Original sin do go straightway down into Hell there to be tormented with Eternal punishments though unequal according to the measure of their guilt CHAP. VII FUrthermore That all Christians departing this life in Charity and having truly repented of the sins they have committed before they have made full satisfaction to the Divine Justice for the same are at their death carried into Purgatory where their guilt is purged away by Fire and other punishments in such a space of time as by the Divine Ordination is suitable to their Quality or until they have entirely satisfied for them after which they are carried up into Glory there to enjoy God and that in Purgatory the Prayers Alms and other Works of Piety that are performed by the Faithful that are alive for the Faithful that are dead are profitable to them but above all the holy Sacrifice of the Mass for their being relaxed from the punishments that they suffer and for the shortning of their banishment from Heaven CHAP. VIII FUrthermore That at the day of Judgment our Bodies tho' crumbled into dust and ashes shall be raised up the same that they were in this Life and be reunited to their Souls those of the Righteous to be cloathed with Glory and to reign with Christ for ever in the Heavens and those of the Wicked to be together with their souls tormented for ever in the Company of Devils in the Eternal and real Fire of Hell CHAP. IX FUrthermore That in the beginning and in Time God created all things Visible and Invisible Corporeal and Spiritual and the Empyrean Heavens full of Angels of whom those that continued subject to God were confirmed in Grace enjoying God with all the perfections and Gifts wherewith they were created as those who disobeyed him fell into Hell which God so soon as they sinned made for them where they are tormented for ever with the rigour of Justice not only with punishments of loss in being Eternally deprived of the Divine Vision which they were created to have enjoyed but with real Fire and other Eternal Torments also and do tempt men endeavouring to do them all the mischief they are able out of envy for the Blessings that are reserved for the Just and which they have forfeited by their sins and out of hatred they have for God and his Works and that intrinsical Malice they are hardned in CHAP. X. FUrthermore That the Blessed Angels and Saints that
all that are subject to her are immediately under Christ without owing any reverence to the Roman Bishop they say likewise That the Roman Church is fallen from the Faith having perverted the Canons of the Apostles by the force of Heretical Emperors Arms and that the Romans are Hereticks for not celebrating in leavened Bread which has been the inviolable Custom of the Church derived from our Saviour and his Holy Apostles that all the Bishops that followed Nestorius ought to be much esteemed and when named to be stiled Saints and to have their Reliques reverenced That Matrimony is not a Sacrament that it may be dissolved for the bad conditions of the Parties That Vsury is Lawful and there is no Sin in it Also the Book of Timothy the Patriarch where in three Chapters The most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is blasphemed it being impiously asserted in them That the true Body of our Lord Christ is not there but only the Figure thereof Also the Letter which they pretend came down from Heaven called the Letter of the Lord's day wherein the Roman Church is accused of having fallen from the Faith and having violated the Domingo or Lord's-day Letter Also the Book called Maclamatas wherein the distinction of two Persons in Christ and the accedental Union of the Incarnation are pretended to be proved at large and are confirmed with several false and Blasphemous Similitudes Also the Book intituled Vguarda or the Rose wherein it is said That there are two Persons in Christ that the Union of the Incarnation was Accidental that our Lady brought forth with Pain and the Sons of Joseph which he had by his other Wife being in company went for a Midwife to her with other Blasphemies Also the Book intituled Camiz wherein it is said That the Divine Word and the Son of the Virgin are not the same and that our Lady brought forth with Pain Also the Book intituled Menra wherein it is said That our Lord Christ is only the Image of the Word that the Substance of God dwelt in Christ as in a Temple that Christ is next to the Divinity that Christ was made the Companion of God Also the Book of Orders wherein it is said That the Form and not the Matter is necessary to Orders and the Forms therein are likewise Erroneous that there are only two Orders Diaconate and Priesthood that Altars of Wood and not of Stone are to be Consecrated there are also Prayers in it for those that are converted from any other Sect to Nestorianism in form of an Absolution from the Excommunication they had incurred for not having followed Nestorius and of a reconciliation to the Church Also the Book of Homilies wherein it is said That the Holy Eucharist is only the Image of Christ and is distinguished from him as an Image is from a true Man and that the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ is not there nor no where else but in Heaven That the whole Trinity was Incarnate that Christ is only the Temple of the Divinity and God only by Representation that the Soul of Christ descended not into Hell but was carried to the Paradise of Eden that whosoever affirms the contrary errs and that we therefore err in our Creed There are therein likewise some Letters of some Heretical Synods in which it is said That the Patriarch of Babylon is not subject to the Roman Bishop with an Oath to be taken to the said Patriarch as the Head of the Church wherein People Swear to obey him and him only and not the Bishop of Rome Also a Book intituled An Exposition of the Gospels wherein it is every where pretended to be proved That there are two Persons in Christ and that Christ as a pure Creature was obliged to adore God and stood in need of Prayer that he was the Temple of the most Holy Trinity that Christ's Soul when he died descended not into Hell but was carried to the Paradise of Eden which was the place he promised to the Thief on the Cross That our Lady the Virgin deserved to be reproved for having vainly imagined that she was Mother to one that was to be a great King looking upon Christ as no other than a pure Man and presuming that he was to have a Temporal Empire as well as the resâ— of the Jews That the Evangelists did not Record all Christ's Actions in Truth as they were they not having been present at several of them which was the reason why they differed from one another so much That the Wise Men that came from the East received no favour from God for the Journey they took neither did they believe in Christ that Christ was the adopted Son of God it being as impossible that he should be Gods Natural Son as it is that Just Men should be so that he received new Grace in Baptism which he had not before that he is only the Image of the Word and the pure Temple of the Holy Spirit that the Holy Eucharist is only the Image of the Body of Christ which is only in Heaven at the right hand of the Father and not here on Earth That Christ as pure Man did not know when the day of Judgment was to be That when St. Thomas put his Hand into Christ's Side and said My Lord and my God! he did not speak to Christ for that he that was raised was not God but it was only an Exclamation made to God upon his beholding such a Miracle That the Authority that Christ gave to St. Peter over the Church was the same that he gave to other Priests so that his Successors have no more Power or Jurisdiction than other Bishops That our Lady the Virgin is not the Mother of God That the first Epistle of St. John and that of St. James are not the Writings of thole Holy Apostles but of some other Persons of the same Name and therefore are not Canonical Also the Book of Hormisda Raban who is stiled a Saint wherein it is said That Nestorius was a Saint and Martyr and suffered for the Truth and that St. Cyril who persecuted him was the Priest and Minister of the Devil and is now in Hell That Images are filthy and abominable Idols and ought not to be adored and that St. Cyril as a Heretick invented and introduced them There are also many false Miracles Recorded in this Book which are said to have been wrought by Hormisda in confirmation of the Nestorian Doctrine with an Account of what he suffered from the Catholicks for being obstinate in his Heresy Also the Book of Lots into which they put that they call the Ring of Solomon with a great many more Superstitions for the choice of good Days to Marry upon and for several other uses wherein are contained many Blasphemies and Heathenish Observances as also all other Books of Lots and for chusing of Days the Synod prohibits under the same Censure Also the Book written after the manner of â€
Matters may not be so in the dark as they have been formerly when there was no certain way of coming to the knowledge of Peoples Age which must needs create great scruples in the Minds of such as were to be Married or Ordained The Doctrine of the Sacrament of Confirmation THe Second Sacrament is Confirmation which our Lord Christ instituted in order to the confirming and establishing of Christians in the Faith so that nothing might be able to separate them from it through the Power of the Holy Ghost which is given therein particularly to that effect besides the sanctifying Grace which it gives in common with the other Divine Sacraments the Matter of this Sacrament is the Holy Oyl of Chrism made of the Oyl of the Olive-tree signifying the light and purity of the Conscience and of Balsam which signifies the sweet smell of a good Name both mixed together and blessed by the hand of the Bishop the Form are the words spoke by the Bishop when he dips his Thumb into the said Chrism making therewith the Sign of the Cross on the Forehead of the Person that is confirmed saying I sign thee with the sign of the Cross and do confirm thee with the Chrism of Health in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost to which the Bishop subjoyns three holy and wholsome Prayers wherein he beseeches God to fill those that are confirmed with his Divine Spirit The ordinary Minister of * The English Jesuits who could not endure that the Pope should put a Bishop over them here in England in their Books wherein they laboured to prove that there was no need of one spoke very slightingly of Confirmation affirming it to be a Sacrament that was not enjoyned but only where it might be had very easily that the effects thereof might be abundantly supplyed by the other Sacraments nay by ordinary Assistances that the Chrism in Baptism had not only the signification but all the effects of Confirmation so far at least as to make it not to be very necessary In a word that Confirmation was not simply necessary neither Necessitate Medii nor Necessitate Praecepti so that it was not likely that the want of it in Eâ—â—land was the cause of so many Peoples apostatizing from the Catholick Faith So little do either the Sacraments or the Hierarchy not excepting the Papacy it self signifie when they stand in the way of the Jesuits ambition I do not except the Papacy because when it was generally believed that Clement the VIIIth was resolved to condemn Molina's Book of Scientia Media the Spanish Jesuits endeavoured to ward off that blow by affirming in their publick Conclusions in their College at Complutum that it was not a matter of Faith to believe that Clement the VIIIth was true Pope for which Luisius Turrianus the President of the Disputation the Rector of the College and Vasquez who were present at the Act were all summoned to appear before the Inquisition of Toledo as Gaspar Hortadus Gregory de la Camara and Alvarez de Villegas were to appear at Rome before the Pope for having defended the same Conclusion publickly in the said University much about the same time so that had Clement the VIIIth condemned Molina's Book after the whole order of the Jesuits had espoused the merits thereof so publickly which the Dominicans say he would certainly have done had he but lived a few Months longer Ignatius Loyola appearing to some Jesuits in Spain and assuring them that Molina's Book would never be condemned by any Pope notwithstanding we should have had Simony or some other Nullity found in his Election by the Jesuits before this time By this we see that Jesuits have wherewith to intimidate Popes as well as Princes and Bishops Confirmation is the Bishop for tho' simple Priests may perform several other Unctions this can be done only by a Bishop the Bishops being the Successors of the Apostles by the imposition of whose hands the Holy Ghost was given in the place of which imposition of hands the Church gives Confirmation Christ having so ordained it wherein the Holy Ghost is given likewise Nevertheless by a dispensation from the Holy See and by no other way when there is any very urgent Occasion or when it happens to be necessary for the good of the Faithful simple Priests may confirm with Chrism that has been consecrated by a Bishop in the forementioned Form the effect of this Sacrament is that therein the Holy Ghost is given to the strengthening and fortifying of the Soul as it was given to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost that Christians may with boldness confess the Name of Christ and his Catholick Faith for which reason the Person confirmed is anointed on the forehead with the Sign of the Cross that being the most open place of the Body and the Seat of Shame and Confusion which is very different from what is done to People when they are baptized who are anointed on the Head People are confirmed on the forehead that they may not be ashamed to confess the Name of Jesus Christ and his Cross which as the Apostle saith is to the Jews an Offence and to the Heathens foolishness this Sacrament differs much from that of Baptism for as by Baptism we are born into the Faith so by this we are confirmed therein for as in the Natural Life to be born is different from growing so in the Spiritual Life it is one thing to be born to Grace and Faith which is done in Baptism and another to encrease and grow stronger therein which is done in Confirmation and so in Baptism we are born to a Spiritual Life and are afterwards prepared and confirmed for our Warfare and do receive so much strength that no dangers or terrors of Punishments or Losses or Torments or Deaths are able to separate us from the Confession of the Name of Christ and of the true Faith we profess Decree I. FOrasmuch as hitherto there has been no use nor so much as Knowledge of the Holy Sacrament of Confirmation among the Christians of this Bishoprick the Heretical Prelates that governed it having neglected to feed the People in a great many cases with wholsome Catholick Food therefore the Synod doth declare That all Persons who are come to the use of reason ought to receive this Holy Sacrament having the opportunity of receiving it at the hands of a Bishop and that all Masters of Families and others having the Charge of Children are in Duty bound to command their Children and Slaves to receive the said Sacrament and that all who out of contumacy or contempt shall refuse to receive it or to order such as belong to them to go to it are guilty of a Mortal Sin and if they neglect it out of a conceit of it 's not being a Sacrament they are Hereticks and Aliens from the true Catholick Faith wherefore the Synod doth command that in the Visitation that is
to be made speedily by the most Illustrious Metropolitan in the Churches of this Bishoprick all Men and Women that are above seven years old do come to be Christen'd or Confirmed those only excepted who were confirmed by the said Lord in his former Visitation or at some other or on some other occasion by some other Bishop this Sacrament as well as that of Baptism being never to be repeated in so much that all that receive it a second time wittingly are guilty of a great piece of Sacrilege besides that they receive no Sacrament thereby But in case any are doubtful whether they have ever been confirmed or not or should not remember that they were ever they shall declare so much to the said Lord or to the Bishop that is to confirm them that they may order the matter according to the merit of their doubts But if any which God forbid should sacrilegiously and obstinately despise the said Sacrament it being proved upon them they shall be declared Excommunicate until such time as they have done condign Penance and shall be punished at the pleasure of the Prelate Decree II. THe Synod to its great sorrow having been informed that some ignorant Persons in Sacred Matters and the Doctrine of the Holy Sacraments of the Church being instigated by the Devil to persist in their cursed Schism did in several places resist the most Illustrious Metropolitan in his former Visitation of these Churches so far as not only to refuse to receive the Holy Sacrament of Confirmation from him but did also oppose him publickly in the Churches and that many did absent themselves some whereof excused themselves by pretending that it was an unnecessary thing and that they had never seen nor heard of it before and others that they should be affronted by the Holy Ceremony of the Prelates touching their Cheek scurrilously upbraiding those that had received it with base provoking words telling them that they had suffer'd themselves to be affronted and buffeted with other such Sacrilegious Expressions full of Infidelity and Heresy arising from the Schism wherein they have been brought up Whole Towns conspiring together so far in this Mutiny that the despising or receiving this Holy Sacrament became the Test of their obedience or disobedience to the said Metropolitan doth therefore notwithstanding it knows they have all in common and every one in particular repented of this and being sensible of the greatness of the error they committed therein have beg'd pardon for it and upon their having confess'd their Ignorance have been graciously received by the said Lord Metropolitan and having submitted themselves to the obedience of the Holy Roman Church are ready to do all that shall be enjoyned them to prevent the life however that none for the time coming may commit the like faults or Sacrileges command That if any which God forbid shall dare to do or say any such thing against this Sacrament or the Holy Ceremonies and Rites wherewith it is administred to the Faithful that they be declared Excommunicate and be separated from the Church and the Communion of the Faithful until such time as they have undergone condign Penance at the pleasure of the Prelate and shall demonstrate their due subjection to the obedience of the Holy Church and have taken the Oath of the Faith contained in this Synod and declared that all that reject and despise the Rites and Ceremonies approved of and received in the Church in the solemn administration of this and the other Sacraments are Hereticks and Apostates from our Holy Catholick Faith as was determin'd in the Holy Council of Trent and ought to be proceeded against and punished as such according to the Sacred Canons Decree III. THe Synod doth declare That in the Sacrament of Confirmation or Chrism there must be a Godfather and Godmother as well as in Baptism to present such as are to be Confirmed according to the ancient Custom of Holy Mother Church but there shall be but only one Godfather and Godmother who must themselves have been Confirmed it being very indecent that any Person should present one to have that done to him which they have not had done to themselves and that the Man shall be above 14 and the Woman above 12 Years Old or one of them at least shall be of that Age and in this Case the Godfathers and Godmothers do contract the same Spiritual Affinities and the same Impediments that the others do in Baptism the said Spiritual Affinity being equally contracted in both these Sacraments ACTION V. Of the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist and of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass The Doctrine of the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist THe third Sacrament in the Order of the Spiritual Life is the Holy Eucharist tho' in Veneration Sanctity and Dignity it is the first and most excellent for containing in it the true real and substantial Body and Blood together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God true God and true Man our Saviour and Redeemer which was instituted by him the day before he suffer'd for us as the most sweet Remate or Conclusion of all his Works and a Memorial of his Passion the fulfilling of all the ancient Figures the greatest of all the Miracles that ever he wrought and for the singular Consolation of the Faithful in his absence The Matter of this Sacrament is Bread of Wheat and Wine of the Grape only so that all that Consecrate in Bread made of Rice or of any thing else but the Flower of Wheat or of Wine that was not pressed out of the ripe Grape of the Vine do not make the Sacrament there must also be Water mixed with the Wine before it is Consecrated but in a much smaller quantity than the Wine that so it may easily * Turn For Water to turn it self into Wine is as great a Miracle as for the Priest to turn Wine into Blood turn it self into Wine before the Consecration which mixture is therefore made because from the Testimony of Holy Fathers Holy Mother Church believes that our Lord Christ himself did so whose having mixed Water with the Wine that he Consecrated makes it a great Sin to omit to do it It is also agreeable to the representation of the Mystery of what passed on the Cross and of our Lord Christ out of whose precious Side flowed Water and Blood as also to signifie the Effect of this Sacrament which is the Vnion of the Faithful with Christ the Water signifying the Faithful and the Wine our Lord Christ and the conversion of the Water into the Wine the Union of our Souls with Christ by means of this Divine Sacrament according to what our Lord said He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him The Form of this Sacrament is the words of our Saviour by which the Sacrament is made for tho' the Priest pronounceth many and divers words in the Mass and
makes many Prayers and Petitions to God yet when he comes to Consecrate he useth only the words of Christ none others belonging to the substance of Consecration so the Priest speaking in the Person of Christ makes this Divine Sacrament because by virtue of those words he turneth the substance of Bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and the whole substance of the Wine into his Blood there remaining nothing of Bread and Wine after that but only the Accidents or Species of them and that after such a manner that the whole of Christ's Body and Soul and Divinity are contained under every Particle of both tho' never so small when separated so that in every crumb of the Host tho' never so small there is Christ intire and in every drop of the Species of Wine that is separated there is Christ entire so that in each of the Species whole Christ God and Man is received as also the true Sacrament for which reason Holy Mother Church does not use to Communicate the Faithful but †Vnder one Species What makes the Sacrilege of denying the Cup to the People in the Sacrament to be something the greater is that most of the Roman Doctors do hold that there is more Grace convey'd to People by communicating under both the Species of Bread and Wine than under that of Bread only Vasquez Cap. 2. Quaest 80. Art 12. Disp 215. Nay Pope Clement the VIth in his Bull to the King of England in the Year 1341 acknowledgeth as much wherein he tells that King that he granted him the privilege of communicating under both kinds that he might receive the more Grace by receiving the Sacrament so under one Species because in that they receive Christ entire To this Divine Sacrament the Worship Veneration and ‖ Adoration The Primitive Christians must have been People of a strange confidence in triumphing as they did over the stupidity of the Heathen Worship for being directed to Objects that were subject to all the Accidents and Casualties that any other Bodies are subject to had they themselves at the same time Worshiped the Host which is subject to more Accidents than the Stone Wood or Brass of the Heathen Images for they that do Worship it cannot deny but that the Host may be Stole Burnt eat by Mice or other Vermine and if kepâ— too long will of it self Mould and Corrupt They must certainly have the privilege of believing what they have a mind to that can believe That if the Primitive Christians had had any such Doctrine as this of Transubstantiation among them considering how many especially in times of Persecution apostatized from the Faith that it was possible for them to have concealed it from Celsus Lucian Porphyry and above all from Julian the Apostate or that those Heathens if they had but had the least inkling thereof would not have made the World to have rung with the noise of it wherefore their having never mentioned any such thing considering the Wit and Spite of the Men is a demonstration that there could be no such Doctrine among Christians in their days neither can Schelstrat's Doctrina Arcani considering the great numbers quality and temper of Renegado's do any service in this case Adoration of Latria is due or the same that is due to God who is contained therein and is really present there The Effect that this Sacrament worketh on the Souls of those that receive it worthily is the Vnion of the Man with Christ and by it through Grace the Man is incorporated into Christ and joyned to his Members Moreover by this Sacrament Grace is increased in all such as receive it worthily so that whatever effects Carnal eating and drinking works upon a Man as to his Corporal Life the same are wrought upon Man by this Divine Sacrament as to a Spiritual Life Decree I. THere being nothing so necessary for the Faithful as the acknowledgement of and thankfulness for so profound a Blessing and so excellent a Mercy as that which our Lord Christ did for us in leaving himself under the Sacramental Species to be the true Food of our Souls and for the consolation support and remedy of the Spiritual Life of Believers we ought therefore wholly to occupy our selves in the Veneration of that Divine Mystery In order whereunto Holy Mother Church besides the continual Thanks and Veneration which she always gives and shews hath ordained a particular Day in the Year for the celebration of the Memory of so great a Blessing which not being * Observed in this This Feast is of later standing by at least 100 Years than the Doctrine of Transubstantiation It was Instituted in the Year 1240 by Pope Vrban as is commonly said upon a Vision a Nun had of the Church's being Imperfect for want of it but the Spaniards will have a Miracle that was wrought in Spain at thâ—â— time which is both too long and too ridiculous to relate to have given occasion to the Pope's instituting it The Indulgences granted to it by Pope Vrban Martin and Eugenius are 500 days Pardon to all that shall be present at its first Vespers 500 to all that shall be present at the Mass of the day 500 to all that shall be at its second Vespers and 500 to every day of its Octaves as also 500 to every hour of them and wheresoever it finds any place interdicted it takes off the Interdict for eight days observed in this Diocess the Synod desiring that in all things this Church may conform her self to the Customs of the Holy Mother the Universal Church of Rome doth command the Festivity of the most Holy Sacrament to be Celebrated in all the Churches of this Diocess on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday according to the Stile of these Parts and the said Day to be kept by all sorts of People and that thereon either before or after Mass they make a Procession through the Town or in some convenient place with all possible Solemnity in the same manner as they do upon Easter-day Decree II. THe Synod doth declare That every faithful Christian so soon as he attains to the Years of perfect Discretion that is to say Men at the Age of fourteen more or less according as their Confessors shall think fit and Women having a Capacity to know what they do at the Age of twelve are obliged to receive the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist once a Year in Lent or at Easter from the hands of their own Vicar or Curate of their Church and that whosoever does not receive it being capable betwixt the beginning of Lent and the second Sunday after Easter shall be declared Excommunicate on the third Sunday and be held as such untill they have confessed themselves and Communicated Nevertheless the Synod gives Licence to such Vicars as know their Parishes to be of that Nature that it is not possible for the People to comply with this Obligation in so short a time
least scruple of Mortal Sin and having an opportunity of a Confessor shall say Mass tho' under an Obligation to do it without having first confessed themselves But besides that such when under any scruple are obliged to confess for the greater purity of their Souls tho' under no scruple the Synod commands all Priests to confess at least once a Week Decree IX THe Synod doth furthermore command all Deacons and Sub-Deacons that Minister solemnly in the solemn Masses on Sundays and Saints-days to receive the most Holy Sacrament at those times and on the Festivity of our Lord Christ our Lady and the Holy Apostles all the Chamazes or Clergy that are in the Church of which the Vicars ought to take special care and the Prelate in his Visitations is to make diligent Inquiry how these things are observed The Doctrine of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass THe great Love of God to Mankind does not only appear in the Institution of the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist and in the putting of his Divine Body and Blood under the Sacramental Species to be the heavenly Food of our Souls by which the Spiritual Life is maintained and preserved but in his having likewise so instituted it that the Catholick Church Militant might have a perpetual and visible Sacrifice for the purging away of our sins and for turning the Wrath of our Heavenly Father who is many times offended with our wickedness into Mercy and the rigour of his just punishment into Clemency So in the Mass there is offered unto God a true and proper Sacrifice for the pardon both of the Living and of the Dead by the offering of the which Sacrifice the Lord is so far appealed as to give Grace and the Gift of Repentance to Sinners and by means thereof does forgive Men their Sins and Offences tho' never so enormous the Host that is offered by the Ministry of the Priest on the Altar of the Church being one and the same that was offered for us on the Cross with no other difference besides that of the reason of their being offered And so it is not only offered for the Sins Punishments Satisfactions and other Necessities of the Faithful that are Living but also for the Dead departed in Christ and that are in the Torments of Purgatory being not as yet fully purged by reason of their not having made a compleat satisfaction for the punishments due to their sins it being but just and reasonable that all should be benefited by a Sacrifice which was instituted for the Remedy and Health of all Mankind which Oblation is of that purity that no indignity or wickedness in the Offerers is able to defile it so that as to the substance value and acceptation it is the same when offered by a wicked and unclean sinner as when by a pure and holy Priest because it does not derive its Dignity from the Offerer but from the Majesty and excellency of what is offered neither does the Eternal Father accept thereof for the Merits and Vertue of the Priest that offers it but for the value of the Sacrifice it self and the infinite Merits of Christ who is offered therein so that our Saviour being about to offer himself to God the Father on the Altar of the Cross could not possibly have given us a greater expression of his immense Love for us than by leaving us this visible Sacrifice in his Church in which the Blood which was presently to be once offered upon the Altar of the Cross was to be renewed every day upon the Altar of the Church and the Memory thereof to our great profit was to be adored every where in the Church until the end of the World which Divine Sacrifice is offered to God only notwithstanding it is sometimes celebrated in Memory and Honour of the Martyrs and other Saints in Bliss it not being offered to them but to God only who has been pleased to Crown them with Immortal Honour rendring him thereby our bounden thanks for the notable Victory of the Martyrs and the publick Mercies and Blessings he has vouchsafed to other Saints and for the Victories which by these means they obtained over the World the Flesh and the Devil beseeching the said Saints to be pleased to intercede for us in Heaven whose Memories we celebrate on Earth and tho' the Divine Eucharist does still continue to be a Sacrament yet it is never a Sacrifice but as it is offered in the Mass Decree I. FOrasmuch as it is of great moment that all things belonging to the Sacrifice of the Mass should be preserv'd pure and undefiled and whereas this Church has been for * 1200 Years It would puzzle them to prove that they had ever been at any time under her obedience however this shows what a Cheat that submission of the Patriarch of Babylon in his own name and in the name of all the Churches that were subject to him to the Pope at the Council of Trent was which Father Paul tells us made a mighty noise in the World the Court of Rome boasting thereupon that the Pope had got more new Subjects by that submission than he had lost by the Reformation 1200 years from under the Obedience of the Holy Roman Church the Mistress of all the other Churches and from whence all good Government and true Doctrines do come all the Bishops that came hither from Babylon having been Schismaticks and Nestorian Hereticks who have added to and taken from the Mass at their pleasure without any order from whence it has come to pass that several things are foisted into the Syrian Mass which is said in this Diocess without any consideration and such things too as may give occasion to many Impious and Heretical Errors For which if due Order were observed all the Missals of this Bishoprick ought to be burned as also for their having been of Nestorian use and compiled by Nestorian Hereticks but being there are no other at present they are tolerated until such time as our Lord the Pope shall take some Order therein and there shall be Missals sent by him printed in the Chaldee Tongue which is what this Synod humbly and earnestly desires may be done And in the mean time it doth command that the Missals now in use be purged and reformed as to all the following Matters and that till such time as they are so purged which the most Illustrious Metropolitan with the assistance of some Persons well versed in the Chaldee Tongue will see done the next Visitation no Priest shall presume to make use of them any more Whereas from the above declared Doctrine of this Sacrament it is evident that the Priest does not Consecrate with his own words but with those of our Lord Christ the Author and Institutor of the said Divine Sacrament it is not therefore lawful to add any Clause how good soever in it self to the Form of Consecration or to what our Lord Christ said therein in which we do not
comprehend the word Enim which the Church of Rome adds to the Consecration of the Body and Blood for besides that there is the †Tradition This is what she confidenâ—ly pretends to have for all her Nâ—â—elties Cardinal Bâ—â—a in the 23 Chap. of his first Book of Litargies passeth the following true judgment upon the common practice of the Church of Rome in all such Matters Orta deinde est 4 ferè seculis post 6 Synod â—mconâ—roveâ—sia de Azymo fermentato diu agitata inter Graecâ—s Latinos partium potius quam veritatis inveniende studio ut in similibus fieri solet atque hinc factum est ut pertinaciter contenderint suam quisque consuetudinem à Christo ab Apostolis ad nostra usque tempora derivari sed si omissis hac de re Scholasticorum subtilitatibus argumentis quae apud ipsos legi possunt veritatem sincerè sine affectu ad alterutram partem ex veterum Patrum monumentis ex praxi Ecclesiae investigare voluerimus inveniemus proculdubio quam parvi momenti sint in re quae à facto pendet Doctorum speculationes tum perspicuè cognoscemus multum interesse inter tempora quae praecesserunt quae postea secuta sunt eâ—sque turpiter errare qui ex praesenti rerum statu omnem aestimant antiquitatem which is what the Church of Rome has done above these 600 Years and will do for all that Cardinal Bona or any body else can tell her of the unreasonableness of it But the Cardinal goes on Quis non videt Scholasticos ad hanc rem pertractandam prâ—occupatis mentibus accessisse cum enim ab infantia sola azyma offerri viderint eaque sola in scholis in exedris praedicari audierint ea sola semper in usu fuisse crediderunt hoc posito varias subinde convenientias variaque argumenta excogâitrunt ut quod semel conceperant firmius stabilirent Never was there a truer description given of any thing than this the Cardinal gives of the Genius of the People that defend the Novelties of the Church of Rome Tradition of the Holy Apostles for our Lord Christ's having used it in the Consecration of the Body and that St. Matthew also relates it in the Consecration of the Cup it is no Clause or distinct Sentence but a conjunction to a Sentence of the words of Christ which immediately follow As also the word Aeterni in the Consecration of the Cup and the words Mysterium Fidei which tho' not mentioned by the Evangelists yet as it is proved by Apostolical Tradition were used by our Lord Christ in the Consecration of the Cup and for that reason the Holy Church continues to use them in the same but as for the words added to the Consecration of the Cup in the Syrian Missal Et hoc erit vobis pignus in saecula saeculorum they being no where in any of the four Evangelists nor in any Book of the New Testament and it not appearing to the Church by Apostolical Tradition that Christ used them in that Consecration the Synod doth prohibit them to be used therein any more but the words in themselves being good and Holy and agreeable to what Holy Church singeth of this Divine Sacrament that it is the pledge of the Glory that we expect that we may keep to the Old Missal so far as the sincerity of the Faith and the purity of this Divine Sacrifice will permit the Priest shall say them after the elevation of the Cup where making a profound Reverence he shall begin the following Prayers with them only changing the word Vobis which was used as spoke by Christ for Nobis as spoke by himself saying Hoc erit nobis pignus and for the words in saecula saeculorum which follow they being commonly said in the Church of such Matters only as are to last for ever or are wished to be Eternal seeing the use of this Divine Sacrament as well as of the rest is to continue but to the end of the World they having been instituted only as a remedy for our Spiritual necessities in this life for in the other we are to see our Lord no more under Sacramental Species but clearly as he is neither shall we in Heaven eat this Divine Bread of Angels Sacramentally but shall eat as the Angels do in the Vision of the Divine Word The words in saecula saeculorum shall be therefore left out and instead thereof shall be put usque ad consummationem saeculi saying hoc erit nobis pignus usque ad consummationem saeculi the Sacrament being a pledge only for so long as we do not see the Glory that we hope for but is and ever will be such a pledge in this life Christ having promised to his Church that he will be with her to the end of the World so that the Divine Sacraments which were instituted for our benefit can never fail till then after these words the Priest shall go on with what immediately follows in the Mass Gloria tibi Domine gloria tibi and so on Furthermore in the Consecration of the Cup there is added to the words of Christ novi testamenti qui pro vobis c. novi aeterni testamenti mysterium fidei qui pro vobis pro multis c. Therefore the Synod doth command That the words of Consecration of the Body and Blood be reformed and put in all their Missals according to the Canon of the Roman Missal used in the Universal Church without the least addition or diminution and with the same Adorations Inclinations and Ceremonies as are in the Roman Missal Furthermore where the Priest saith Dominus Deus noster quando spirabit in nobis odor suavissimus it is said in the same Prayer cum animae nostrae veritatis tuae scientiâ fuerint illustratae tunc occurremus dilecto filio tuo c. speaking of the day of Judgment it shall be said Cum corporae nostra veritatis tuae splendore fuerint illustrata tunc occurremus dilecto filio tuo the Souls of the Just being illuminated and glorified in Heaven before the day of Judgment which is the time when the Bodies receive their Glory this Passage seeming to allude to the Nestorian Heresie which teacheth that the Souls of the Just do not see God nor are Glorified nor are in Bliss before the day of Judgment Furthermore where the Deacon saith Orando pro sanctis patribus nostris Patriarchâ nostro pastore universalis totius Ecclesiae Catholicae meaning the Schismatick of Babylon Episcopo hujus Metropolis it shall be said Pro sanctis Patribus nostris beatissimo Papâ nostro totius Ecclesiae Catholicae pastore naming him by his Name Episcopo hujus Metropolis naming him also Ministris ipsorum and a little lower where the Deacon praying saith praecipuè nos oportet orare pro incolumitate Patrum nostrorum sanctorum domini
or of any other by whom they are authorized after having heard the Sins of their Penitents do carry them to the said Prelate to be absolved by him in the Sacramental Court which was what happened to the most Illustrious Metropolitan in these parts the Synod doth therefore teach and declare That none can absolve the Penitent in the Sacramental Court but the Priest only that heard his Sins for whereas he is the Judge it is he that ought to pass sentence and absolve in conformity to what he has heard confessed the contrary being a gross and manifest Error Decree XV. FOrasmuch as there are some ignorant Clergymen who being desired by Christians to read the Gospels and Prayers to them or to give them the Blessing on their heads do ignorantly use the form of Sacramental Absolution saying I absolve thee from thy Sins in the Name of the Father c. wherefore the Synod doth advertise and admonish them not to commit such an Error it being a most grievous Sacrilege to apply the Sacramental form where it ought not to be wherefore they shall only read the Gospels and Prayers allowed ending with the Blessing In the Name of the Father c. The Doctrine of the Sacrament of Extream Unction THe fifth Sacrament of Extream Vnction has for its matter the Oyl of Olive blessed by a Bishop it is called Extream Vnction because it is the last of all the Holy Unctions instituted by our Lord Christ in his Church and the last that is received by a Christian this Sacrament is to be administred to an adult Person that is sick when apprehended to be in probable danger of death who is to be anointed by the Priest the only minister of this Sacrament on those parts wherewith he hath offended God chiefly that is to say on the Eyes because of Sins committed by the sight on both the Ears because of Sins committed by hearing on the mouth because of Sins committed by tasting and speaking on both the hands for the sins committed in feeling and touching on both the Feet for the Sins committed in walking on the Loins and Reins for being the chief seat of Carnal pleasure every one of which parts must be anointed by the Priest making the sign of the Cross upon them with his Thumb dipt in Holy Oil and at the same time repeating the words of the form which are By this Holy Vnction and his most tender mercy may our Lord forgive thee all the Sins thou hast committed by thy sight and so on naming every part or sense as it is anointed The effect of this Sacrament is the Health of the Soul and of the Body also so far as it is convenient and necessary to the Soul which is the chief moreover it washeth away the Reliques of sin if there are any remaining in the Soul comforting the Soul of the Sick withall and confirming and exciting in it a great confidence in the Divine Mercy by virtue of which Consolation it suffers the troubles of Sickness with the more patience and with the greater ease resists the Temptations of Satan whose custom it is to assault the Soul with extraordinary violence in its last Hour It likewise cherishes and succours the Body so far as it is convenient for the salvation of the Soul as S. James teacheth us in his Canonical Epistle saying Is any one Sick let him call for the Priests of the Church and they shall pray over him anointing him with Oyl in the Name of the Lord and the Prayer of Faith shall save the Sick and the Lord shall give him ease and if he be in Sins they shall be forgiven him The Apostle in saying they shall be pardoned demonstrates it to be a Sacrament whose Virtue and Nature is to conferr Grace that pardoneth Sins and in saying If any are sick among you he declares the time when this Sacrament is to be received that is in time of dangerous Sickness and in saying they shall call the Priests of the Church he sheweth that the Priests are the only Ministers of this Sacrament and in saying they shall be anointed with Oil in the Name of the Lord he sheweth that Holy Oil is the matter of this Sacrament and in saying they shall pray over the Sick anointing he sheweth that the form of this Sacrament is to be pronounced by way of deprecation or Prayer and in saying the Lord shall give him ease he sheweth also that the effect of this Sacrament is to give health to the Body so far as it is convenient and necessary to the health of the Soul And whereas this Sacrament was instituted for the use of the Sick none but what are dangerously so must take it and a Person who shall recover after having received it may when dangerously sick receive it again it having been instituted by our Lord for that end and to prepare defend and fortifie us at the time of our departure out of this life whensoever it is Decree I. WHereas in this Bishoprick there has not been hitherto any use of the Sacrament of Extream Vnction in which for want of Catholick Instruction there has been no knowledge of the Institution Effects or Efficacy thereof therefore the Synod does most earnestly recommend the use of this Sacrament commanding the Vicars to be vigilant over the Sick of their Parishes where-ever they live whether in the Villages or in the Heaths and whenever they shall hear of any in danger of Death to carry the most Holy Sacrament of Vnction and administer it to them according to the Roman Ceremonial which is to be translated into Syrian and kept in all Churches anointing them with Oil and making the sign of the Cross with Holy Oil on both their Eyes shut doing the right first and then the left upon the Eye-lashes and upon both the Ears the Nostrils and the Mouth being shut on both the Lips but if the Distemper should be such that the Sick Person 's Mouth cannot be shut or not without danger then the upper Lip shall be anointed making the sign of the Cross upon it as also both the Palms of the Hands the Balls of the Feet and the Loins ordering the Sick Person to be moved gently neither is it necessary that any more of these parts should be anointed than what is convenient for the making the sign of the Cross with the Holy Oil and the Priest must be sure to remember in this as in all other Sacraments to join the Form with the Matter repeating the words of the Form as he anoints the parts If the Sick Person shall happen to expire while the Priest is anointing the Priest being satisfied that he is dead shall proceed no further with the Office and the Vicar through whose negligence any Parishioner shall die without having received this Sacrament shall be suspended from his Office and Benefice for six Months Decree II. FOrasmuch as the Troubles the Sick are in together with the want of good Instructions in
shall meet with no Priests in the Church they shall then assemble as many Christians together as conveniently they can and bury the Corps in the Church-yard praying for their Souls with Christian Charity And whosoever shall neglect to bring their Dead to the Church and shall bury them in Profane Ground shall be severely punished by the Bishop Decree XXXIII WHereas the Small-Pox is looked upon in these parts as a very dangerous and infectious Distemper for which reason a great many Christians dying thereof are not carried to the Church nor buried in Holy ground herefore the Synod doth very much recommend it to the Vicars to take order that the Corps of such as die of that Sickness may be brought with due caution to the Church-yard where they with the rest of the Clergy at some distance are to recommend them and pray for them as they do for others and to see them interr'd all which Christian Charity will teach them to do according to the Obligation of their Office Decree XXXIV THe Synod doth order that no Town or Village wherein there is a Church dedicated to any Saint shall dedicate the same to any other or if they do they shall appoint another Orago or Wake so as to have two Festivals to prevent those Emulations that are common in these parts The Synod also condemns the * Ignorance Upon S. Teresa being joyned with St. James in the Patronage of Spain by Pope Vrban the VIIIth how loud did a great many people complain of the Indignity done to St. James their old Patron and General in all their Wars by that Partnership Among others Quivedo as in Honour bound being a Knight of the Order of St. James drew his pen in his Patron 's Quarrel and having laid down this as an undeniable position That St. James must necessarily be disparaged by having one joyned with him and especially a Woman in a Patronage he had enjoyed solely for so many Ages did manfully maintain that its being said in the Pope's Bull That nothing was granted therein to S. Teresa that should be in any wise to the prejudice or diminution of St. James did make that whole grant null and void for that joyning her with St. James in such an Office must necessarily lessen him 2dly That the Saints in Heaven did resent such Affronts 3. That it was monstrous Ingratitude in Spain to treat a Patron thus who had fought personally on Horseback for her in all her Battels with the Moors among whom to this day the Captain on the Whitehorse was formidable As to the Text in Scripture urged by S. Teresa's Friends for such a partnership viz. It is not good for man to be alone I will make him an help meet for him He saith That considering what was the true intent of those words when they were spoke such an application of them was profane and Heretical Ignorance of those Christians who imagine that they do an injury to a Church in dedicating a New one in the same Country to a different Saint from whence it is that all the Churches in the same Country are as it were called by the same Name and doth furthermore command That upon the Orago's of Churches where there are Sermons people having no Sermon in their own Parish do repair thither that so there may be no divisions among Churches to the prejudice of Charity and Christian Unity as the Synod is informed there is in many places all which it is desirous to remove as not becoming Christians and for the further service of the Church commands Fraternities to be erected but especially for the festivities by which means such things as are necessary for the Church may be greatly advanced Decree XXXV THe Synod doth very much recommend it to the Vicars of Churches and other Priests to labour much in the Conversion of Infidels and that by just and gentle methods namely by the preaching of the Gospel to bring them to the Catholick Faith and to omit no opportunity of instructing as well the Naires as the Chegos or baser sort of People in the knowledge of the Truth but above all the poor Malleans who live in the Heaths who as the Synod is informed are less wedded to their Errors particularly that of the Adoration of Idols and are much better disposed to receive the Evangelical Doctrine than others and whensoever any Infidel is converted the Priest shall advise the Prelate thereof that he may take such order therein as he shall judge most convenient and to be most for the service of Christ earnestly entreating that the Conversions that are begun in some parts by the most Reverend Metropolitan may be carried on by the Clergy of this Diocess by providing themselves continually of such Priests as are fit to advance the same and where-ever there is any considerable number of Converts they shall immediately build Churches and appoint Vicars to take the Cure of their Souls Decree XXXVI VVHereas the Synod is informed That the meaner sort of People are much better disposed to receive the Faith than the Naires or Nobles and being extreamly desirous to find some way whereby such well disposed People may be made Christians so as to assemble together with the old Christians as why should they not since they all adore the same God with whom there is no distinction of Persons and are all of the same Faith and do all use the same Sacraments and whereas after mature deliberation and having oftentimes recommended the matter to God and conferred about the most proper methods for the effecting of it in the Congregations we have not been able to find any that are effectual by reason of the Heathen Kings and Lords to whom all the Christians in these parts are subject who if they should observe that we withdraw their common Subjects from their Religion would correspond with us no longer to the loss of the Trade and Commerce we do at present maintain with them all which being observed by the Synod it doth command that if any of the poorer sort of People shall desire to turn Christian that they be received to Baptism and the Prelate shall be advised thereof that he may give order for the building of distinct Churches for them and may appoint Priests to take the Cure thereof that so the meaner sort of People may not have the Gate of Christianity and Salvation shut against them as it has been hitherto in this Church and in case they have not a Church to themselves they shall then hear Mass without doors in the Porch until Christ shall provide some better way for them and the Heathen Kings shall be brought to allow the mean People that turn Christians to be esteemed as Noble upon the account of the Relation that all Christians stand in to one another and the Synod doth beg it of His Majesty the King of Portugal that by means of the great Power he has in these parts he would procure this privilege of
Bishoprick and Condemned by the forementioned and other following Councils and Banished by the Sentence of the Emperour Theodosius the II. who then Reigned in the Desarts of Aegypt and his having his Books â—â—rned by the command of the said Emperour before his death his Tongue with which he hâ—d uttered such great Blasphemies rotted in his Mouth as did also his whole Body and being eat up with Lice he expired surrendring his Soul to the Devil as Evagrius a Noble Writer who lived at the same time relates and the same is reported of him by Nicephorus Cedrenus and other Greek Writers The Disciples of this cursed Heretick being brought into this Church by the Devil sowed their Errours in it without being observed by you who were a simple sincere People insomuch that St. Thomas when he was on Earth might have said the same that St. Paul did to those of Ephesus where Nestorius was afterwards Condemned I know that after my departure greedy Wolves shall come among you not sparing the Flock And well might the Pastors you have had among you be called devouring Wolves who being a base and inconsiderable People had no other intent but to rob you of all they could taking Money for Orders * Dispensations What could the poor Malavars conclude from hence but that either no such thing as the taking of Money for Dispensations c. was ever heard of in the Roman Church or that the Declamer was one of a strange assurance to condemn the doing of it at such a Tragical rare as he does Dispensations for Absolutions and for all Sacraments and Sacred things as you very well know a thing so abominable in the sight of God that St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles for this Sin only threw Simon Magus out of the Church and Excommunicated him as you may see in the Acts of the Apostles insomuch Brethren that we see that fulfill'd in you and in your Prelates who came from Babylon which was foretold by God so many Years before by the Prophet Isaiah The Shepherds themselves had no understanding they have all gone out of the Way and from the first to the last are all turned to Covetousness For God's sake Brethren tell me what sort of Prelates and Bishops could they be who sought nothing but their own Interest and who gave Orders and Dispensations and did every thing that belongs to a Bishop without being Bishops themselves or so much as Priests or Clerks but were pure Laicks as they themselves afterwards confessed What Dispensation what Sacrament what Grace could he who was dispensed with and ordained receive from those who were no Bishops nor so much as Clerks but pure Laicks nay Lascares in whose Habit they came out of their own Country Brethren this is the Fruit which they send you from Babylon Hereticks and pure Laicks and Barbarians for Bishops Tell me what has Malabar to do with Babylon and what correspondence is there betwixt the most pure Doctrine of Christ which was preached to you by the great Apostle St. Thomas and the barbarous Errours which were brought hither by Arabians and Chaldeans from Babylon and from their Master the Apostate Nestorius Believe me Brethren these are they of whom St. Paul spoke in his Epistle to his Scholar Titus That there should come Men teaching what they ought not to teach for filthy lucre And so it fell out for these Men that they might not lose the Profits and Honours they were unjustly possessed of did all they could to put into your heads that the Doctrine of St. Peter was different from that which had been taught you by St. Thomas It is true that the Doctrine of the Apostle St. Peter is contrary to the Heresies that have been brought hither from Babylon but not what was preached here by St. Thomas For what St. Thomas that also St. Peter taught and Christ himself and all his other Disciples taught for as St. Paul saith there is one Lord one Faith one Baptism and one Church of which Christ is the Head and that on Earth St. Peter and his Successors the Bishops of Rome For that St. Peter and his Successors are the Head of the whole Church * On earth Bishop Andre did not so fair in quoting And on Earth St. Peter and his Successors the Bishops of Rome c. as St. Paul's words on Earth is plain from what Christ before his Passion promised St. Peter as it is recorded in the 16. Chap. of St. Matthew where Christ after having examined his Faith said to him Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven c. Words which he spoke to ‖ None This is a mistake for he gave the same Commission to all his Apostles after his Resurrection none of the rest of the Apostles but to St. Peter only And St. John in the last Chapter of his Gospel tells us That Christ after his Resurrection having asked St. Peter if he loved him more than all other things and St. Peter had answered that he knew very well that he did said to him three several times Feed my Lambs feed my Lambs feed my Sheep By which words he made him the universal Pastor of his Sheep and after him all the Bishops of Rome who were to succeed him in that Office for Christ hâ—s but one Fold for all his Sheep and one only Church and so in the Creed that is sung in the Mass we say I believe in one Holy and Apostolical Church and so Christ her Spouse said of his Church in the Canticles My Dove my perfect is but one that is to say my Dove my perfect which is the Church is but one And St. John in his 10th Chapter tells us that the Son of God speaking to his Disciples concerning his intent of calling the Gentiles to his Faith said I have other Sheep which are not of this Fold whom I must bring in that there may be one Fold and one Shepherd Now that Fold wherein the Jews and Gentiles were to concurr in one only Faith is the Catholick Church and that Shepherd was St. Peter and all his Successors the Bishops of Rome every one of which as he is Bishop of Rome is the universal Pastor of the * Whole If this had been the Faith of the whole Christian Church at the time when the Creeds were made the compilers of them would and ought to have added Roman to Catholick in the Creed whole Church of God insomuch as that all who will not be subject to him are not of the number of the Sheep of Christ but are without the Fold of the Church being Schismaticks and Hereticks for such are all who are disobedient to the Roman Church in which Roman Church there never was nor will be any error in Faith by reason of Christ's promise who as St. Luke reports speaking to St. Peter said to him I have prayed for
St. Mark St. Luke and St. John the Acts of the Apostles writ by St. Luke the fourteen Epistles of St. Paul viz. One to the Romans two to the Corinthians one to the Galatians one to the Ephesians one to the Philippians one to the Colossians two to the Thessalonians two to Timothy one to Titus one to Philemon and to the Hebrews two of the Apostle St. Peter three of the Apostle St. John one of the Apostle St. James one of the Apostle St. Jude and the Revelation of the Apostle St. John all which Books with all their parts are Canonical and contain in them nothing but what is infallibly true Decree II. THe Synod declareth that in the Books of the New Testament used in this Church and writ in the Syrian or Syriack Tongue there is wanting in the Gospel of St. John the beginning of the 8th Chapter the History of the Adulteress that was carried before our Lord Christ as also in the 10th of St. Luke where it is said that Christ sent seventy two Disciples it is said he sent seventy Disciples and in the 6th of St. Matthew the words For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever is added to the end of the Lord's Prayer there is also wanting in the said Books the second Epistle of St. Peter the second and third Epistles of St. John and that of Jude and the Revelation of St. John and in the 4th Chapter of the first Epistle of St. John this Verse is wanting having been impiously left out Qui solvit Jesum non est ex Deo and in the 5th Chapter of the same Epistle these words are wanting There are three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are One and in the Old Testament there are wanting the Books of Esther Tobit and Wisdom all which the Synod commandeth to be translated and the passages that are wanting to be restored to their Purity according to the Chaldee Copies which are emended and the Vulgar Latin Edition made use of by holy Mother Church that so this Church may have the Holy Scriptures entire and may use it with all its parts as it was written and as it is to be used in the Universal Church to which end the Synod desireth the Reverend Father Francisco Roz of the Society of Jesus and Professor of the Syrian Tongue in the College of Vaipicotta in this Bishoprick that he would be pleased to take the trouble thereof upon him for which he is so well qualified by reason of his great skill both in the Syrian Language and the Scripture Decree III. WHereas the Holy Scriptures are the Pillars that support our Holy Faith and as it were the Foundations whereon it stands and wherein the Truth and Purity thereof is to be met with which has made all Hereticks in their endeavours to destroy the said Faith constantly and industriously to corrupt the Text of the Divine Scriptures partly by taking away such passages as did manifestly contradict their Errors and by perverting other places so as to make them * Seem to favour them It is hard to give any other reason than this why the Church of Rome tho' since the time of the Council of Trent she has corrected some hundreds of Errors in the Vulgar Latin did not think fit to correct that in the 3d. of Genesis which they apply to the Virgin Mary nor that in the 11th of Isaiah which they make use of to promote Pilgrimages to Jerusalem nor that in the 11th to the Hebrews which seems to make for the Adoration of Images nor that in the first Chapter of the 2d Epist of St. Peter which seems to give some countenance to the Invocation of Saints seem to favour them which hath also happened in this Bishoprick through its having been governed by Bishops who were Nestorian Hereticks and that used the same practices upon the Holy Scriptures that were in their hands in favour of their Heresies as in the 20th of the Acts of the Apostles where St. Paul saith Take heed to your selves and the whole Church over which the Holy Spirit hath made you Bishops to rule the Church of God which he purchased with his Blood the word God is impiously changed for that of Christ and it is said that Christ hath made them to govern his Church which he purchased with his own Blood because the Nestorians being instigated by the Devil will not acknowledge according to the Catholick Truth that God suffered and shed his Blood for us and in the fourth Chapter of the first Epistle of St. John this Verse is left out Qui solvit Jesum non est ex Deo because it contradicts the Nestorians who do impiously divide Christ by making him to have two Persons and in the 3d. Chap. of the same Epistle where it is said In this we know the Love of God because he laid down his Life for us the word God is maliciously left out and that of Christ put in its stead saying That in this we know the Love of Christ c. and so it favours the Nestorian Heresie which denies God to have dyed for us and in the 2d Chap. of the Epistle to the Hebrews where the Apostle saith We have seen Jesus for the Passion of his Death crowned with glory and honour that he by the Grace of God should taste death foâ— all men the Surian the better to make a difference of Persons in Christ which was what Nestorius taught has impiously added VVe have seen Jesus for the passion of his death crowned with honour and glory that the Grace of God praeter Deum or besides God might taste death for all and in the 6th of St. Luke where our Lord Christ saith Lend hoping for nothing again to favour and justifie their Usury they have made it Lend and from thence hope for something All which places being depraved and corrupted by Hereticks the Synod commandeth to be corrected in all their Books and to be restored according to the Purity and Truth of the Vulgar Edition used by Holy Mother Church entreating the most Illustrious Metropolitan forthwith to visit the Churches of this Diocess either in Person or by some well skilled in the Syrian Tongue whom he shall be pleased to depute Decree IV. THe Synod being informed that the Christians of this Diocess by reason of the Communication they have with Infidels and by living among them have imbibed several of their Errors and Ignorances namely three that are the common Errors of all the Infidels of these parts the first is That there is a * Transmigration This was not the Doctrine of this Church as appears plainly from what is said in twenty places of this Synod of her believing that the Souls of the Just departed this Life were in a Terrestrial Paradise where they were to remain till the day of Judgment Transmigration of Souls which after Death go either into the Bodies
of Beasts or of some other Men which besides that it is a great Ignorance is also an Error contrary to the Catholick Faith which teacheth That our Souls after Death are carried to Heaven or Hell or Purgatory or Limbus according to every ones Merits and that there is no such fabulous and false Transmigration The second is That all things come necessarily to pass or through * I am very apt to believe that they are here falsely accused of attributing all things to Fate for no other reason but because they believed Predestination which if it was so Arch-Bishop Menezes who was himself an Austin Fryar shewed but little respect to the Memory of his pretended Father in making Predestination and Fate to be equally destructive of humane Liberty Fate or Fortune which they call the Nativity of Men who they say are compelled to be what they are and that there is no help for it which is a manifest Error and condemned by Holy Mother Church for as much as it destroys that Liberty of Will with which God created us leaving us in the power of our own Will to do Good or Evil to obey his Holy Inspirations and Internal Motions by which he excites to Good or to resist Evil so that as it depends on his Divine mercy and goodness to move us to Good so it depends on our Free-Will whether by his assistance we will obey those Inspirations and will profit our selves of his Internal Motions or of our own free Will refuse to do it or in a word do Well or Ill so that if we perish for doing any thing that is Ill it is the fault of our own Free-Will as the Catholick Faith teaches us and not from the fate of our Nativity as the ignorant Heathens will have it The third is †This is an Error that Justin Martyr Clemens Alexandrinus and others of the Philosophical Fathers seem to have been in That every one may be saved in his own Law all which are Good and lead Men to Heaven Now this is a manifest Heresy there being no other Law upon earth in which Salvation is to be found besides that of our Saviour Christ for that he only teacheth the Truth so that all that live in any other Sect are out of a state of Salvation and shall be condemned to Hell there being no other Name given to Men by which we can be saved but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God who was Crucified for us All which Errors the Synod commandeth the Vicars and Preachers often to preach against in the hearing of the ignorant People and all Confessors to examine their Penitents concerning them and to teach them the Catholick Truth Decree V. THis Synod being informed that there is a dangerous Heresy and very injurious to our Lord Jesus Christ sown and preached through this Diocess which is That it is a * Grievous Sin How does this consist with their having so many Crosses in their Churches and Houses as they tell us they had or with their administring the Sacrament of the Eucharist or with their Preaching that it was Christ and not the Son of God that suffered upon the Cross grievous sin so much as to think or speak of our Saviour's Holy Passion and as there are a great many of this Opinion so the doing of it has formerly been prohibited by impious Censures all which is a manifest Error and extreamly prejudicial to the Souls of all faithful Christians and the fruit and profit of Souls arising from such Considerations and Discourses which is very great as well for that love and affection which they beget in us for our Saviour who suffer'd for our Salvation as for the Example of those Vertues which were so Illustrious in his Holy Passion and the hatred of Sin for which he suffer'd so much and the fear of the Divine Justice which he so rigorously satisfied and the confidence of our Salvation by such a plenteous Redemption and the use of the Sacraments to which he applyed the virtue of his Holy Passion and other infinite benefits which are derived from thence to our Souls which Error included another no less prejudicial and which is also common among the Nestorians the condemning of Holy Images for that if it were an Impiety to think of the Passion of our Lord Christ it must follow that all those things are unlawful that move or contribute thereunto as the Sign of the Holy Cross and all Images of the Holy Passion all which is a gross and manifest Heresy Wherefore the Synod doth recommend it to all Preachers Confessors and Rectors of Churches frequently to perswade their People to the consideration of those Divine Mysteries and to that end they shall advise them to the Devotion of the Rosary of our Lady the most Blessed Virgin Mary wherein are contained all the principal Mysteries of the Life of our Lord Christ with profitable Meditations upon them Decree VI. AMong the many Errors sown in this Diocess and left in the Books thereof by the perfidious Nestorian Hereticks there being several against our Lady the most Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of God the only Remedy of Christians the Mother of Mercy and the Advocate of Sinners the Queen of Angels The Synod doth therefore declare That it is the Doctrine of the Catholick Faith that the Holy Virgin was never at any time stained with the guilt of any actual sin and that it is Pious to believe that she was also Conceived without Original Sin it seeming to be most agreeable to the Dignity of the Mother of God that it should be so tho' it is true that Holy Mother Church †Has not as yet determined It is much she has not since the Invention of the Holy Reliques in the Mountains of Granada among which there was a Book in Arabick of S. Cecilius who was consecrated Bishop of Eliberis by St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome with this Title De Dono Gloriae Dono Tormenti in which there is the following Definition of the Immaculate Conception made by all the Apostles being met together to Solemnize the Exequies of the Blessed Virgin Illa Virgo Maria Illa Sancta Illa electa à primo Originarioque peccato praeservata fuit ab omni culpâ libera atque haec veritas Apostolorum Concilium est quam qui negaverit maledictus excommunicatus erit salutem non consequetur sed in aeternum damnabitur All which Reliques and this Book among the rest were after a severe and impartial Examination approved of and received as genuine by a late Provincial Synod in Spain has not as yet determined any thing about that matter Furthermore the Catholick Faith teacheth that she was always before in and after Child-birth a most pure Virgin and that she brought forth the Son of God made Man without any Pain or Passion having none of those things which are common to other Women after Child-birth