4. Epist 5. or heresie In this sense therefore are we hereticks and Sectaries sith that now-a-dayes to acknowledge no other Mediator then Iesus Christ nor any expiation but by his blood or any propitiatorie sacrifice but his death nor any satisfaction of Gods iustice but by his obedience nor any rule to guide vs to saluation but his Worde conteyned in the holy Scriptures is accounted heresie But more clearely to purge himselfe of this crime his Maiesty of England following the commaundent of the Apostle S. Peter which is to be alwayes ready to yeeld an account of the hope that is in vs doth set downe at large a confession of his faith agreeable to the holy Scripture and al vncorrupted antiquity Who shal henceforward be ashamed to confesse the name of God or defend the truth of the Gospell being thus ensampled by a mighty King but this confession conceiued in choyse and significant wordes full of euidence and of power doth worthily challenge a seuerall Discourse And besides it is that against which Coeffeteau doth principally discharge his choller THE DEFENCE OF THE CONFESSION Of the Faith of IAMES the first King of Great BRITAINE THE SECOND BOOKE ARTICLE I. Touching the Creede The KINGS Confession I Am such a Catholicke Christian as beleeueth the three Creedes That of the Apostles that of the Councel of Nice and that of Athanasius the two latter being Paraphrases to the former And I beleeue them in that sense as the Auncient Fathers and Councels that made them did vnderstand them To which three Creedes all the Ministers of England do subscribe at their Ordination And I also acknowledge for Orthodoxe all those other formes of Creedes that eyther were deuised by Councels or particular Fathers against such Heresies as most raigned in their times To this Article Coeffeteau findeth nothing to reply and holding his peace thereupon hee iustifieth vs by his silence ARTICLE II. Touching the Fathers in generall AS for the Fathers I reuerence them as much and more then the Iesuits doe The KINGS Confession and as much as themselues euer craued For what euer the Fathers for the first fiue hundred yeares did with an vnaâ—ime consent agree upon to be beleeued as a necessary point of saluation I eyther will beleeue it also or at least will be humbly silent not taking vpon me to condemne the same Here againe Coeffeteau is silent and knoweth not what to reprehend The Reader may please to call to minde that the points in which his Maiesty of England doth abstaine to condemne the Fathers albeit his beleefe is not bound to follow them are eyther points not necessary to saluation or opinions in which as well our Church as the Church of Rome doth condemne them The Auncients for the most part held that the fall of the Diuels came to passe by reason of their cohabitation with women This is altogether false and a point little important to our saluation They held also for the most part that the soules shall all be purged by the fire of the last iudgement in the expectation of which day the soules as well of the good as of the bad are shut vp in certaine receptacles And in this point they are neyther followed by vs nor by our Aduersaries ARTICLE III. Touching the Authority of the Fathers in particular The KINGS Confession BVt for euery priuate Fathers opinion it bindes not my conscience more then Bellarmines euery on of the Fathers vsually contradicting others I will therefore in that case follow S. * Lib. 2. cont Cresconium cap. 32. Augustines rule in iudging of their opinions as I finde them agree with the Scriptures what I finde agreeable thereunto I will gladly embrace what is otherwise I will with their reuerence reiect Doctor Coeffeteau dooth yet approue of all this for good seeing he saith nothing to the contrary He acknowledgeth then that the Fathers often disagree among themselues and that they doe not alwayes accord with the word of God neyther must we settle our selues alwayes vpon what some one Father hath taught Causa 12. Quaest 1. Canon Dilectissimi Denique quidam Graecorum sapientissimus haec ita sciens esse colam debeatur ait Amicorum comia esse omnia In omnibus autem sunt sine du bio Coniuges And indeed his Maiesty of England saith this with iust reason for not we alone but also the Church of Rome doth not allow the opinion of Pope Clement the first who would that mens goods and their wiues should be common among Christians Neyther doth the Church of Rome approue the opinion of Ignatius who in the Epistle to the Philippians saith that to fast on the Saterday or on the Sunday it is to be a murtherer of Iesus Christ nor the doctrine of Iustin Martyr who saith in his Dialogue against Tryphon That God in the beginning gaue the Sunne to be adored Nor the opinion of Athanagoras in his Apologie that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That second marriage is but a handsome Kinde exercise of Adulterie Also the Church of Rome doth not beleeue with Origen that the Diuels shall be saued Nor with Clemens Alexandrinus in the sixth booke of his Stromata that the Greeks were saued by their Philosophy Nor with Arnobius in his second booke that God is not the Creator of soules And that the soules of the wicked are reduced to nothing Nor with Ireneus Lib. 2. cap. 63.64 that the soules separated from the body haue feete and handes Iustin was a Chiliast Tertullian a Montanist S. Cyprian an Anabaptist Saint Hilary in his tenth booke of the Trinity mayntaineth in diuers places Virtus corporis sine sensu paenae vim paenae in se desaeuientis excepit Christus cum cibuÌ„ potum accepit non necessitati corporis sed consuetudmi tribuet Secundam ducere secundum praeceptumo Apostoli licitum est ecundum autem veritatis rationem verè fornicatio est He saith the same about the end of his booke De fide Symholo that Iesus Christ in his death suffered no paine And that he did not eate because his body had neede of sustenance but onely by custome Chrysostome alleadged in the Canon Hac Ratione in the Cause 31. Question 1. he saith that S. Paul commaunding second mariages hath spoken against truth and reason and that is truely fornication Saint Austin in his fift booke of his Hypognosticks and in his Epistles 93. and 106. held that the Eucharist is necessary for young children newly borne that they may be saued And in his booke De Dogmatis Eccles cap. 11. He saith that the Angels are Corporeal and in his booke of the Christian combat cap. 32. he sayth that our bodies after the Resurrection shal be no longer flesh nor blood but an heauenly body Gregory of Nyssa in his first Sermon of the resurrection teacheth a prodigious errour namely that the soule of Iesus Christ was already in the graue euen then whiles
last iudgement that doth refine and purifie vs. And in the same place he maketh the Virgine Mary with the rest of the Saints to passe through this fire of the last iudgement saying An cum ex omni otioso verbo rationem simus prae stituri diem iudicij concupiscimus in quo nobis est inde fessus ille ignis obeundus inquo subeund a sunt grauia illa expiandae a peccatis animae supplicia St in iudicij seueritatem capax illa Dei vir go ventura est desiderare quis aude bit à Deo iudecari Seeing that wee shall giue an account of cuery idle word doe we desire the day of iudgement in which we shall paesse through that indefatigable fire and in which we shall vndergoe those grieuous torments by which the soules are to be hallowed and cleansed from their sinnes And a little after If that holy Virgine her selfe be to suffer the seuerity of that iudgement who will dare desire to bee iudged of God And vpon Matth 2. To them that are Baptized by the holy Ghost there yet remaineth that they be made perfect by the fire of the last iudgement S. Austine de Ciuit. Dei lib. 20. cap. 25. exempteth some soules from this fire By this which hath bin spoken it seemeth euidently to appeare that in that iudgement Ex his quae dicta sunt videtur enidentius apparere in illo iudicio quasdam quorundam poenas purgatorias suturas some shall be punished by these Purgatorie paines Now it appeareth both by the drift of the place and by the title of the Chapter that he speaketh of the day of the last iudgement So in the 16 booke chap. 24. This fire which appeared to Abraham signifieth the day of iudgement which shall discerne what earnall men are to be saued by the fire Significatur isto igne dies iudicij dirimens carnales per ignem jalhandos igne damuandus and who to be condemned in the fire But vpon the. 1. Cor. 3. he speaketh of this fire of Purgatory doubtfully saying that it is a thing hidden and of which a man may well doubt And lib. 21. cap. 16. he saith Non redarguo quia for sitan verum est I do not gainesay it for peraduenture the thing may be true Origen was the inuentor of this fire a man condemned by other of the Fathers for that he did not acknowledge Hell nor eternall fire and holdeth that the diuels and wicked men shall after a time of Purgation be finally saued But in this hee hath beene followed that he holdeth that the purgation of soules beginneth at the day of the resurrection and is done by the fire of the last day of iudgement That is the Purgatory of the Fathers of which S. Ierome speaketh in the last lines of his Commentary vpon Esay and vpon the 46. of Ezechiel and Gregory Nyssenus in his Oration of them that are fallen asleepe For so farre were they from beleeuing that the soules separated from the body were purged by the fire before the day of iudgement that euen a good many of them haue thought that the soule sequestred from the body could not suffer any harme Neque pati quicquam potest anima sola sine stabili materia id est carne And in his booke de Testimonio animae cap. 4. neyther be tormented without the body So Tertullian in Apologet. cap. 48. The soule alone cannot suffer any thing without solide matter that is without flesh And this is the reason why he thinketh the resurrectioÌ„ necessary to the end that the soule may be tormented saying indeed that the punishment of the soule without the body should be vniust seeing that they haue sinned together Gregory Nissen Orat. 3. of the resurrection of Christ saith in like manner * Animam vero per se separatim ignis nunquam attigerit nec tenebrae quidem ei molestoe fuerint vt pote quae oculis caret The fire can neuer touch the soule separated from the body neyther can the darkenesse be troublesome vnto it forasmuch as it hath no eyes Atque idcirco consentaneis his considerationibus ratiocinationibê° compellimur ad comprobandam resurrectionem mortuorum And for these forcible reasons we are induced to embrace the resurrection of the dead It would be infinite here to produce that which we haue else-where done the authorities of the Fathers who affirme that there are but two places for the soules to wit Heauen for the damned and Paradice or a place of rest for the Beleeuers and that the soules immediately after their departure out of the body goe into a place of rest or into celestiall glory Reade aboue the rest the Sermon of S. Cyprian de mortalitate And his Treatise against Demetrius the booke of S. Ambrose de bono mortis The Oration of Gregory Nyssenus Of the that sleepe Epiphanius in his second booke of Heresies Heresie 39. which is of the Cathari or Nouatians S. Austen in his fift Hypognosticke In his fourteene and eighteenth Sermon de verbis Apostoli and in diuers other places This place of Austin shall suffice for all in his booke of the vanity of the world Cum anima à corpore euellitur statim aut in Paradiso pro meritis bonis collecatur aut certè pro peccatis in inferni Tartara praecipitatur Nec est vllê° vlli mediê° locus vt possit esse nisi cuÌ„ diabolo qui non est cum Christo chap. 1. Know that when the soule is separated from the body it is in an Instant placed in Paradice for its good works or cast into the pit of hell for its sinnes A place which hath seemed to our aduersaries so strong that in their last Edition printed at Paris they haue put these wordes in the Margent Vbi nunc Purgatorium What is now become of Purgatorie And as touching that point that there are but two places these be his wordes in his booke of sinnes and the remission of them chapt 28. There is no middle place for any man insomuch that he that is not with Christ can be no where else but with the diuell Tertium penitus ignoramus immo nec esse in scripturis sanctis inuenimus And in his second Hypognosticke we are altogether ignorant of any third place neyther doe we finde any at all in the holy Scriptures Let not any man say that he speaketh onely of places eternall that are to continue for euer for he saith in expresse wordes penitus not at all not excepting any thing And you shall not finde that S. Austin eyther in this place or in any other makes this Distinction of places eternall and temporall for the soules seeing that S. Austin in those places doth of purpose dispute against the Limbus puerorum and relecting all temporary places he acknowledgeth no other third place Out of all that hitherto hath beene spoken I draw these two conclusions 1. The one
he celebrated the Eucharist and that his body was already dead Lactantius in his fourth booke and fourteenth Chapter dooth formally denie the Diuinity of Iesus Christ and in his seuenth booke and one and twenty chapter he saith that the soules of men as well good as bad In vna communique custodia detinentur are detained in one common prison Saint Gregory Nazianzen in his Sermon of Baptisme willeth that vnlesse it be in case of vrgent necessity the Baptisme of young children be deferred vntill such time as they may be capable to aunswere and to yeeld account of their faith Himselfe in his Epitaph vpon Basill doth preferre him before Enoch Contemninus n. Phegor omnem ignominiam eius scientes quod qui in carne sunt non possunt placere Deo and compareth him to Abraham Saint Ierome in his first booke against Iouinian often calleth marriage an vnchast state of life and an ignominy and that the fruite of it is death and that a woman that doth marry the second time ought not to participate of the Almes no nor of the body of the Lord. The Church of Rome doth no longer beleeue the Purgatorie of Gregory the first which hee placeth sometimes in Bathes sometimes in the winde sometime in the water Nor the opinion of Honorius Bishop of Rome who was a Monothelite the Epistles whereof are inserted in the fift and sixt generall Councels For all these good seruants of God were subiect to mistaking and had their faults and vices like warts in a faire face to the end that in reading them a man should haue alwayes in his hand the Compasse of the holy Scripture and the rule of the word of God And that a man should beleeue that which they haue well said not because they haue said it but because it is found in the word of God if they erre in any thing Antiquity cannot authorize an errour There can be no prescription against the truth And a time there was when these Fathers were no Fathers and before they wrote the Christians were ruled by the word of God As touching that which the King of great Britaine saith that they doe contradict one another the verification of it is easie For euery man knoweth the contentions betweene Chrysostome and Epiphanius the Disputes betweene Cyrill and Theodoret the sharpe Epistles and full of gall of Saint Ierome to Saint Austin And S. Austin speaketh farre otherwise of Free-wil of Predestination and of the gift of Perseuerance then all the Greeke Fathers of his age He that will haue a cleare mirrour of this their discord let him compare the Commentaries of S. Austin vpon the Psalmes with those of Saint Ierome and he shall scarcely finde them to agree in two verses together It is then with very iust reason that Coeffeteau doth graunt this to the King of great Britaine and doth acknowledge the faults and contradictions of the auncients whom notwithstanding we ought to loue and honour as great lights in their times and worthy seruants of God who hauing combatted Heresies in their life time doe yet beat downe Popery after their deaths For we maintaine against whosoeuer he be that in the foure first ages and yet wee might discend much lower there shall not be found out any one man who hath had a Religion not so much as approaching to that of the Romish Church now-a-dayes And in this challenge I will lay downe my Ministers cloake ready to be frocked and cladde in a Monks-coule if I shall finde a man that will satisfie me in this point And to the end to expresse my selfe more clearly I say that betweene vs and our aduersaries there be two kindes of Controuersies for some there be vpon which they are wont to produce some passages for proofes But eyther they be quotations altogether false or maimed and curtalled or of no vse to proue the point in question or else places taken contrary to the authours meaning Yet being a thing ordinary with these Messieus to put the ancient Fathers vpon the racke to make them speake in fauour of an vntruth Such is the question of transubstantiation of praying for the dead or Purgatory and of the Sacrifice of the Masse But there are other Controuersies no lesse important and more in number In which they are cleane destitute of all authority of the auncient Church and vpon which being interrogated they answere besides the matter For changing the question they endeauour to proue that which is not demaunded of them See here some examples 1. They cannot shew that any auncient Church did celebrate the eucharist without communicants as it is done ordinarily in the Church of Rome yea and sometimes also without any assistants 2. They cannot shew that any ancient Church hath excluded that people from the communion of the cuppe or chalice 3. Or that in any ancient Church the publike seruice was done in a language not vnderstood of the people 4 Or that any ancient Church hath hindered the people from reading the holy Scripture As it is no way permitted in those Countries where the Pope is absolutely obeyed without speciall priuilege 5. Or that in any ancient Church they haue made Images of God and representations of the Trinity in stone or in picture 6. Also they cannot proue vnto vs that in any ancient Church the people hath beene instructed to pray without vnderstanding that which they say speaking in a tongue not vnderstood of himselfe that prayeth 7. Or that any ancient Church did yeeld worship or religious seruice to the Images of creatures kissing them decking them with robes kneeling before them and presenting them gifts and offerings c. 8. Or that the ancient Church hath beleeued that the Virgin Mary is crowned Queene of the heauens and Lady of the world as this is painted throughout all their Churches 9. Or that the ancient Church hath giuen to the Saints diuers charges as to one the commaund euer such a country to another the cure ouer such a maladie to a third to be Patron ouer such a trade and mysterie 10. Or that the ancient Church hath beleeued that the Pope can giue and take away Kingdomes And dispense with subiects for the oath of their alleageance Can canonize Saints and dispense with Vowes and promises solemnly made to God c. 11. Or that in the ancient Church the Pope by his pardons did distribute supererogatory satisfactions of the Saints for the remission of paine and punishment of other mens sinnes 12. Or that the Pope did then place his pardons in one Church and not in another In one Towne and not in another and that sometimes for an hundred and two hundred thousand yeares of pardon 13. Or that the auncient Church hath beleeued the Limbe of little children 14. Or that the auncient Church hath adored the host which the Priest holdeth vp with the worship of Latria which is done to God alone And to this end the Priest hath caused the Eleuation of
lesser Gods For the Iewes since the Captiuity of Babylon haue not held this opinion And if it were so so is it notwithstanding that Saint Paule condemning in generall the worship giuen to Angels condemneth by a consequent that which the Church of Rome yeeldeth vnto them All that which before hath beene alleaged should suffice to ouerthrowe the inuocation of Saints For after the will of God Basill in Ethicis regu 80. quicquid extra diuinam scripturā est cum ex fide non sit peccatū est in vaine doe wee waite for the testimony of men The word of God is as strong when it is alone as when it is accompanyed the Law of God is not established by custome it is full of strength and force euen from the spring Haec ab alio orare non possumus quā a que scio me cosecuturum quoniam ipse est qui solus praestat egosum cui impet rare dehetur famulus eius qui cum solum obsecro Jam vero si etiam extra corpus positi sancti qui cum Christo sunt agunt aliquid laborant pro nobis habeatur hoc quoque inter occulta Dei nec chartulae commit tenda mysteria as tract of time doth not bring it any authority so is there prescription of time against it How beit let vs graunt this to the Malady of time and to the depraued taste of our age which bringeth the Fathers vpon the Theator with pompe and hideth the Lampe of the Gospell vnder the bushell Tertullian in his Apologetico chap. 30. speaking of the prayer made vnto God Wee cannot demaund these things of any other then of him of whom I know I shall obtaine it for so it is he alone which graunteth and I am he who ought to be heard to wit his seruaunt who doe inuocate him alone Origen in his 2 booke and second Chapter vpon the Epistle to the Romanes If the Saints who being out of their bodies with Christ doe any thing to imploy themselues for vs let that remaine among the hidden secrets of God neither let it be committed to prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same writing against Celsus in his fift Tome We must addresse all our requests prayers supplications and giuing of thankes to him who is God aboue all by the liuing word who is also God c. that is to say by Iesus Christ And a little after we hold that we ought not a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. to call vpon them who them selues doe inuocate for that they had rather that we should addresse our prayers to God whom themselues doe call vpon And in the eight Tome b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We ought to pray to none but God alone and his onely Sonne And in the same place c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we ought to make God alone fauourable and mercifull towards vs who is Lord of all things We must seeke his fauor by piety and by the other vertues but if any man think that beside him we ought further to seeke the fauours of some others let him consider that as the body mouing the shadow doth stirre with it in like manner when any man hath God propitious and fauorable vnto him he hath by a consequent all the Angells and soules and spirits for his friends Which is so much the more to be considered because in that very place he saith that the Angells haue care of good men and yet he will not that we inuocate any other but God Athanasius and all the Fathers who disputed against the Arrians prooue the diuinity of Iesus Christ by that we ought to inuocate him and accuse the Arians of Idolatry for that they adored prayed vnto him whom they thought to haue beene created Read the Booke of the life of Saint Anthony and the booke of the Incarnation of the word Therfore saith he d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If thou adore the man Christ because the diuine word dwelleth in him Adore by like reason the Saints because of God who dwelleth in them The same Athanasius in his fourth Sermon against the Arians Iacob did not inuocate any other but God e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deliuer mee O Lord said he from the my brother Esau againe Dauid did not call vpon any other but God to be deliuered And a little after it is a thing cleare and plaine that the Patriarke did not adioyne any other in his prayers with God but hee which is the word which he calleth Angel because it is he alone who doth manifest the Father vnto vs. Which hath also beene practised by the Apostle when he saith Grace bee vnto you and peace from God our Father and from IESVS CHRIST And a little before he mocketh at him who prayeth thus God and his Angell helpe thee Now a dayes wee heare no other thing then these wordes to pray vnto God and his mother againe recommend your selfe to God and Monsieur Saint Rock or Saint Fiacre Chrysostome in the Homily of the aduancement of the Gospel f Tom. 3. col 1046 Non opus est bi patronis apud t Deum neque multo discursu sed licet solus sis patronoque careas per te ipsum Deū preceris omnino tamen voti compos eris Nequeenim tam facile Deus annuit cum alij pro nob is orant vt cum ipsimet oramus etiāsi plurimis pleni simus malis Thou hast no need of aduocates towards God nor of much discourse for albeit thou art alone and haue no aduocate and that thou pray vnto God by thy selfe thou shalt obtaine thy desire for God doth not heare so willingly when others pray for vs as when wee pray our selues although we be full of many euills And he sheweth it by the example of the Woman of Canaan who was not heard when the Apostles prayed for her but when she prayed her selfe The same in his 16. Homily vpon diuers passages of Saint Matthew If thou meane to make supplicatiō to a man thou askest what he is doing he perhaps falls asleepe in hearing thee or hath not the leisure or else some seruant will not daigne to aunswere thee But towards God there is no neede of all this but in what part soeuer thou be and thou call vpon him he heareth * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. thee There is no need of a Porter nor of a mediator nor of a seruant or Officer but onely say haue pitty vpon me Then he addeth this Woman saith I know no good workes in my selfe I cannot repose confidence vpon my good life I haue recourse to thy mercy who art the safe harbour for sinners Tell me woman how durst thou being a sinner and wicked approach vnto him I know saith she what I will doe See the wisedome of this woman she prayeth not Iames She doth not beseech Ioh. she goeth not to Peter she doth not
bodie c Wherupon the question is asked to whom the Priest speakes when he saith Brethren pray for me Pope Innocent the third doth answere finely in the second booke of the mysteries of the Masse chap. 25. It must saith he be religiously beleeued that the Angels doe beare them companie that pray according to the saying of the Prophet I will sing vnto thee in the presence of the Angels Which will also serue to resolue other doubts presuming that when the Priest saith Take eate he doth invite the Angels to eate for they come with good stomackes And so of the rest At length the place of Austin is brought which is the onely passage of antiquity that Coeffeteau can finde This Father lib. 22. De ciuit Dei speaking of a place haunted with euill spirits saith that one of his Priests went and offered a Sacrifice there wherupon Coeffeteau saith that this could not be done but priuately and without solemnity but he dares not to affirme that he had no assistants or communicants which is that which he should or else the place makes not to the purpose And indeede we may presume the contrary forasmuch as S Austin speakes of a great house and of some great person of quality that sent not for a Minister of the Church of Carthage to celebrate the holy Sacrament Nusquam expresse legimus a veter ibus oblatum sacrificium sine communione alâ—cuius ve aliquorum to leaue him alone without assistants or communicants and indeede Bellarmine confesseth the impertinency of this place lib. 2. de Missa cap. 9. where he acknowledgeth That there is no expresse place sound where the auncrents haue offered the Sacrifice without some Communicants The common excuse and the same which the Councel of Trent vseth in the seuenth Session is that it comes to passe through the indeuotion of the people which speech doth both confes and yet approue the abuse for the same Councell addeth The holy Councell doth not forbid those Masses wherein the Priest alone doth communicate sacramentally as priuate and vnlawfull but doth approue and commend them which their practise doth proue for if it be through the want of deuotion in the people why doe they not endeauour the remedie for if there be any question of casting into the boxe if any busines fall out concerning tithes and offerings they easily finde the meanes to holde the people in the humor of contribution neither do I finde that the Cardinalls and Bishops doe communicate ofâ—ener then the people For the Priests hinder the people from assisting them because they say an infinite number of Masses in priuate and vpon the sudden of which they giue no warning For three sundry persons will one Priest dispatch three Masses to euery one his own that each of them may pay for a whole Masse And they that will haue yearely Masses doe found yearely Pensions for neuer was any priuate Masse said for him that gaue nothing they vse not to make God for nothing Masses are sold for more or lesse according to the prouision that is made if one pay for one Masse is it any reason that another should equally share with him Yea they buy Masses for the soules of young children dying soone after baptisme which they hold must needes be in Paradice for if Masses doe no good to them that are dead yet they profite those that are aliue Doubtlesse it is couereousnesse that hath hatched this abuse and superstition hath fomented it These men do againe reply although but weakly for say they if no Communicants offer themselues must the Sacrifice be therefore discontinued Let them heare S. Chrysostome thundring thereupon in the third Homily vpon the Ephesians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O custome O presumption in vaine is Sacrifice daily offered in vaine doe we stand at the Altar and none communicate And a little after Whosoeuer doth not communicate in these mysteries is impudent and rash in standing by And further adde that they do falsly presume that the holy supper is a Sacrifice in that sense which they take the word Sacrifice as we shal presently see Now let vs heare the testimonies of the Auncients Peracta consecratione omnes communic ent qui noluerint Ecclesiasticis carere liminibus Sic enim Apostoli sta tuerunt Sancta Romana tenet Ecclesia Tanta in altario holocausta offerantur quanta populo sufficere debeant c. The auncient rule of the Church of the Citie of Rome which is found in the second Distinction of the consecration vnder the name of Anaclet in the Canon Peracta is this The consecration being ended let all those communicate that will not be excluded out of the bounds of the Church for so haue the Apostles ordained and the Church of Rome obserueth And in the Canon Tribus gradibus of the same Distinction Let as many offerings be laid vpon the Table as will serue for all the people to communicate and if any doe remaine let them not be kept vntill the morrow And in the first Distinction of the Consecration in the Canon Hoc quoque the Pope speakes thus It is ordained that no Priest presume to celebrate the solemnities of the Masse if he haue not two others that may answere him and that the Priest be the third because when he saith in the plurall number The Lord be with you and that which he saith in secret pray for me it is apparantly requisite that answere be made to his salutation Iustin Martyr in the second of his Apologie The Deacons doe disiribute the bread to euery one that is present Ignatius in the Epistle to the Philadelphians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dominica Coena omnibus debet esse communis One loafe hath beene broken to all S. Ierome vpon the first to the Corinth cap. II. The supper of the Lord ought to be common vnto all The Reader may compare this word the common Supper with the priuate Masse The Authour of the Constitutions ascribed vnto Clement lib. 2. cap. 61. Let euery one receiue the bodie of the Lord. And so haue all the auncient Liturgies Accipiant singuli per se Dominicum corpus although they be much falsified yea and some traces thereof are to be seene in the Masse where the Priest though he be alone doth alwaies speake as vnto many communicants Cum ex more Diaconus clamaret Si quis non communi at det locum Gregory the first Bishop of Rome in the second booke of his Dialogues chap. 13. saith that the Deacon according to the custome crieth if there be any that doth not communicate let him depart And this was sixe hundred yeares after Christ and we could disscend lower But this sufficeth against a man that feares the triall who being not able to alleadge against the King of great Britaine any syllable of Scripture no nor any of the Auncients that speake of priuate Masses doth flie from the matter and desperately
runnes into the disputation of the Sacrifice of the Masse We may let him runne seeing he betakes himselfe to his heeles yet let vs giue him this aboue his bargaine Of the Sacrifice of the Masse AS all errours goe hand in hand and are linked together so the opinion of the Sacrifice of the Masse hath drawne priuate Masses after it for after it began to be beleeued that in the Masse the Priest doth really sacrifice Christ Iesus for the price and ransome of our soules mans reason witty to deceiue it selfe hath presumed that this payment cannot but be good though made in a corner and that payment may be made for vs without our assistance for to celebrate the Sacrament of the Communion which we haue together with Iesus Christ a communion of many is necessarily required but to offer a payment vnto God retchlesse ignorance hath held it lesse requisite for many to be assistants this is the reason why this wound must be searched to the quicke and this abuse carefully discouered besides this point troubles vs the more because to goe to Masse and be a Romane Catholicke are taken in one signification The Councell of Trent in the two and twentieth Session declareth that in the Masse Christ is really sacrificed as a true propitiatory sacrifice for the sinnes of the liuing and the dead by reason whereof when the Bishop ordereth a Priest after he hath annointed him in sundry places of his bodie he laieth his handes vpon him and saith Accipe potestatem offerendi sacrificium Deo Missasque celebrandi tam pro viuis quam pro defunctis Receiue power to offer Sacrifice vnto God and to celebrate Masse both for the liuing and the dead So hee confirmes him a Sacrificer to sacrifice Christ Iesus really for a propitiatory sacrifice And this sacrifiice is called the Masse which is celebrated by a Priest clad with aenigmaticall and allegoricall robes with a thousand feates and gesticulations by tale and in wordes not intelligible therefore the people vse to say Let vs goe heare a Masse but if one should phrase it thus as the Apostles doe Act. 2. 20. Let vs goe breake bread or Let vs goe to the Lords Supper he should be thought eyther to be out of his wits or to deserue the Inquisition for in this admirable age the language of the Holy Ghost is become eyther ridiculous or prodigious or vnseasonable Being then armed with the word of God let vs gently sift out the falshood that here offers it selfe more then halfe vnmasked for the errours are palpable 1 First we demaund of our Masters who hath authorised the Bishops to establish Sacrificers in the Church of Christ Here they are silent and can neuer answere to the purpose and so the Priests are conuinced to haue no calling but an imaginary charge brought into the Church without the commandement of God as if one should bring in Fidlers or Fencers among the Counsellors of State to make them sit in the Kings Courts and place Sacrificers in equall ranke with faithfull Pastors and Bishops of the flocke 2 Againe we aske of them who hath instituted this propitiatory sacrifice of the Masse where Iesus Christ is really sacrificed They answere that Christ hath instituted it Enquire farther where and in what wordes of the Institution of the Eucharist they alleadge these words Do this in remembrance of me An admirable proofe Doe this that is to say Sacrifice me really vnder the forms of the bread and wine is a Sacrifice propitiatory for the liuing and the dead O fruitfull words in consequences which like ringing bels may be made speake answerably to euery mans imagination 3 But let vs take them according to their own words for they themselues confesse that by these words do this Christ hath commanded to do that which himselfe did then must they shew vs that Christ in this Sacrament offered his body for a sacrifice and there are they grauelled and put to silence it is easie to finde what Christ offered to his Disciples when he said Take eate but it appeares not that he offered any thing vnto God 4 Neyther did Christ vse any eleuation a Ceremony vsed in Sacrifices which the Priest obserueth also in the Masse 5 Also the Apostles performe no adoration against the nature of euery Sacrifice which doth necessarily require adoration in those that offer 6 Besides whosoeuer doth offer vnto God addresseth himselfe by speech and otherwise vnto God but Christ in the whole forme of the institution of the Eucharist neyther addresseth himselfe vnto God nor speakes to any but his Apostles 7 Yea these wordes Do this in remembrance of me doe call our aduersaries to a triall for if Doe this signifie Sacrifice me it then followes that Doe this in remembrance of me signifies Sacrifice me in memory of me which is a sense absurd and incompatible for the memoriall of a thing cannot be the thing it selfe no man offers a present in remembrance of the present not would sacrifice a Lambe in memory of the Lambe so doth he not sacrifice Iesus Christ in remembrance of Christ 8 But will we haue these wordes Doe this expounded Let vs then learne them of the Apostle 1. Cor. 11.25.26 Iesus tooke the cup saying This cup is the new Testament in my blood doe this as oft as yee drinke it in remembrance of me for as often as ye shal eate this bread and drinke this cup ye shew the Lords death till that he come Then to doe this in remembrance of Iesus Christ is to eate the bread and drinke the cup to shew or celebrate his death 9 Some thinking here to shew their wits argue thus Euery powring out of blood for the remission of sinnes is a sacrifice but Christ saith that in the Eucharist his blood is shed for the remission of sinnes therefore the Eucharist is a sacrifice Whereunto I answere that both the propositions of this Argumunt are false yea the second is contrary to the Church of Rome It is false that the shedding of blood for the remission of sinnes is a sacrifice vnlesse this blood be offered vnto God for an Oblation and with the death of the Sacrifice the blood whereof is shed Now here you see not that Iesus Christ did offer any thing vnto God nor that he suffered death in the Eucharist The second proposition is also false for it is true that Christ saith in this Sacrament that his blood is shed but saith not that it is shed in this Sacrament He speaks of the effusion of his blood vpon the Crosse which he was to doe immediately after for Christ doth often speake of his death approaching as if it were at hand as in the tenth of Iohn ver 17. I lay downe my life that I may take it vp againe And a little before I giue downe my life for my sheepe S. Paul saith in like manner 2. Tim 4 6. For I am now offered because he should be sacrificed soone
of Iesus Christ is not destroyed in the Masse it followes that the naturall essence of Iesus Christ is not offered in the Masse and then is it another sacrifice then that of the Crosse where he offered his essentiall being Secondly For it is certaine that that is the destruction of Christs naturall being which is the price of our redemption and then if the Masse doe offer and sacrifice another essence of Christ then doth it not offer the price of our redemption Thirdly Besides this Sacramentall essence is a meere Chimera for one man can haue but one being 2. de Consecrat Can. Sacrificium This is taken out of S. Austin l. 10. de Ciuit. Dei cap. 5. Epist 5 Scotus in 4. dist 10. Quest 5. Oculi Christi subspecie panis non recipiunt obiecta c. Quaest 7. Corpus Christi vt hic non respirat aerem c. §. Aly vi verborum Hoc est corpus meum solum Christi corpus sine anima sine sanguine incipit esse inaltari vi aliorum verborum Hic est sangurs incipit sanguis solus seorsim a corpore esse in altari because it is the being that makes him to be one man Fourthly And seeing the Sacrament by the definition of the Church of Rome doth signifie a holy signe then a Sacramental being must signifie a being significatiue which is open mockerie Fiftly Yea this Sacramentall being of Iesus Christ which is said to be in the Masse cannot be significatiue or representatiue for whatsoeuer representeth any thing ought to be visible but this Sacramentall being is altogether inuisible Sixtly And that which representeth a thing ought to resemble it but this sacramental being is contrary to the naturall being for the natural being giues vnto Christ longitude latitude situation of partes power of mouing seeing speaking and breathing but contratiwise the Sacramentall being depriues him of all these 16 I would willingly know if this speech of Bellarmines be allowed also by their other Doctors namely that By vertue of these wordes hoc est corpus meum the bodie of Christ begins to be vpon the altar without the soule and without blood And that by the vertue of these wordes Hic est sanguis This is the bloud that the bloud begins to be alone and diuided from the body vpon the Altar For if this be so the Masse doth sacrifice a dead body but a liuing and passiue body was offered vpon the Crosse therefore is it not one and the same sacrifice 17 Our aduersaries being thus vrged and extremely perplexed at length they are forced to yeeld and as the Stagge being tyred doth sometimes yeelde himselfe to the Hunters so they vnable to resist so euident a truth they fairely come ouer to our side which is a point whereof I pray the Reader to consider Our aduersaries say that the sacrifice of the Crosse and the sacrifice of the Masse are one sacrifice and that the sacrifice of the Crosse is re-iterated in the Masse but the truth is so strong and the euidence thereof so plaine to the contrary that oftentimes it slips from them and they giue sentence against themselues For the Councell of Trent Ses 22. cap. 1. saith that Christ hath left vnto his Church a sacrifice by which the bloudy sacrifice which he was to make vpon the Crosse was represented and the memory thereof perpetuated The same Councell addeth that the sacrifice of the Crosse and the vertue thereof is applyed vnto vs by this sacrifice And this doe we beleeue and many of ours haue beene burned for so saying And indeed if the Eucharist be the commemoration and application of the Sacrifice of the Crosse it is then certaine that it is not the same sacrifice with that of the Crosse and that it cannot be a sacrifice propitiatory First for the commemoration of a thing is not the thing it selfe the commemoration of a battell is not a battell the commemoration of a sacrifice is not the same sacrifice Secondly In like manner the application of a thing is not the thing it selfe the application of a fashion is not the fashion the application of a Plaister is not the Playster the application of the propitiatory sacrifice of Iesus Christ is not the propitiatory sacrifice of Iesus Christ Thidly Which is most true in matter of payment for the Sacrifice of Christ is the payment ransome for our soules being cleare that the commemoration of a payment is not the payment to remember a payment it needes not to begin it againe and the Priest doth but mocke with God if he thinke eyther to pay him or redeeme vs by a commemoration Fourthly if the sacrifice propitiatory of Iesus Christ be applyed in the Masse then certainly it is not re-iterated for a thing is not reiterated by the application thereof a medicine is not re-iterated by applying it to re-iterate a writing or a sacrifice to apply it this needes purgation more then refutation Let them learne then to speake things in congruity for they must of necessity eyther say that the Masse is neyther application nor commemoration of the Sacrifice of the Crosse or if in that point they be vnremoueable let them confesse that it is not the Sacrifice of Christ nor a sacrifice propitiatory Fiftly and finally if they will needes haue that the death of Christ is applied vnto vs by sacrificing they must shew out of the Scripture that God will haue it so applyed We finde in the Scripture that Iesus Christ is applyed vnto vs and that wee haue communion with him by baptisme Gal. 3.27 1. Cor. 10 16. Ioh. 14.23 Ephes 3.17 by breaking of bread by the word and by faith but of application by sacrificing not a word All which already said is more then sufficient to discouer the abuse and conuince the falshood If they will yet haue any ouer-measure to make the strangenesse of their errour more plaine Then if the Masse be truely and properly a Sacrifice wherin Christ Iesus is sacrificed for a Sacrifice propitiatory for our redemption they must of necessity tell vs in what action this Sacrifice consisteth and that they shewe vs in the institution of the Eucharist which is comprized in the Gospell what were the actions by which Iesus was sacrificed Cardinall Bellarmine after hee hath beene a long while tormented about the matter §. Haec mihi in the last chapter of the first booke of the Masse in the end he fals vpon the opinion of Thomas who sayth that the sacrifice consisteth in these three things in the breaking blessing and eating of the bread But he attributes the principall essence of the Sacrifice to the blessing or consecration which is worthy the examination Of the breaking Touching the fraction or the action of breaking the host it is not onely not of the essence of the sacrifice but also it cannot be an action necessarily in the sacrifice 1. for if by chaunce the Priest let fall
nothus de passione Clauis sacros pedes terebrantibus It is a thing also to be wondred how the nailes were found in the same place with the Crosse Seing that the custome of the Aunciens was to burie togither with the bodies of malefactors Inueniuntur ossa inserta catenis implicita the chains and yrons wherewith they suffered as appeareth in Plinies Epistles lib. 7. Epist. 27. where he reciteth the stories of a Ghost that appeared to the Philosopher Athenodorus And in Chrysostome in his Oration against the Gentils And Welserus * In coÌ„mentarijs rerum Vindelicarum coÌ„firmeth it in his seauenth booke of his Commentaries of Ausbourge In the meane time it appeareth by the place of Athanasius heretofore alleaged and by the simplicity of Constantine that this abuse began from that time to slide on and increase which was so farre growne in some places 400. yeares after Christ Noui multos esse sepulcrorum picturarum adoratores Noui multos esse qui super mortuos luxuriosissimè bibant that S. Austin in his first booke de Moribus Eccles doth greatly complaine of it I know saith he that there are many that adore Sepulchres and Pictures I know that there are many that drinke at large ouer the dead The same Austin in the 28. chapter of his booke of the labour of Monkes for in those daies they had each man his trade complaineth of some gadders vp and downe Membra martyrum Si tamen martyrum carriers about of reliques which they reported to be the limmes of Martyrs Yea saith he if so be that they be members of Martyrs The auncient Christians in the three first ages were wont to warme their zeale by the imbers of the Martyrs And because they had no Temples they assembled together in the Church-yardes where the Tombes of the Martyrs serued them for a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tables to administer the Lords Supper This being at the first done onely as occasion and the present opportunity would permit was afterward made a law For in the fift Councell of Carthage the Altars are called Monuments or Tombes Where is to be noted that the Councel complaineth that many such false monuments were erected vpon dreames and vaine illusions and commaundeth to plucke them downe if the tumult of the people shall not hinder them which sheweth that superstition was already growne strong in this point Gregorie Bishop of Rome in the first booke of his Dialogues chap. 2. speaketh of one called Libertinus who alwaies carried about a hose of S. Honorate In those times our Kinges planted their whole Religion in founding of Monasteries and getting Relikes together thinking by these means to be saued King Dagobert tooke away all the Reliques from the other Saints to enrich the Temple of S. Denis S. Rusticus and S. Eleutherius whereupon there fell out great strife and debate among the Saints if wee beleeue the Chronicles of France For the Saints whom he had robbed and riffled as S. Hilarie S. Fremin c. adioyned themselues to the Deuils See this Story in Nicolas Gilles anno 645. and it is taken out of Turpin craued their helpe to carry the soule of this good King to hell But hee cal ed to the Saints whom he had enriched for succour who so valiantly resisted the other Saints and the Deuils that they plucked away his soule from them and carried it into Paradise Now a daies many superstitious persons are ashamed of their reliques and mocke at them And yet for all that it is held for an absolute and inuiolable Decree that euery Altar must haue his Reliques vnderneath it otherwise they cannot consecrate For after the Introite of the Masse the Priest bowing himselfe ouer the Altar asketh of God pardon of al his sins through the merits of those Saints whose bones lie hidde vnder the Altar This greatly auaileth to strike the people with a superstitious horrour and astonishment of hart and with a trembling deuotion it being done out of singular wisdome and vpon great consideration For it is credible that when Christ did administer his last supper that he closely conueighed vnder the table some bones of Samuel or some tooth of Sampsons Asses law bone And if Christ did not seeke saluation throgh their merits it was because those old Saints were worse stored and prouided of merits then they whom the Pope hath Canonized for Saints as S. Iuniper or S. Thomas of CaÌ„terbury defender of the crowne of England Concerning the Fathers whom Coeffeteau opposeth hereunto Chrysostome Ambrose and Austin are of the minde that the bodies of the Saints ought indeede to be honored and their sepulchres beautified and adorned But what is this against the King of England who saith asmuch As for those miracles which were done at those Sepulchres of which S. Austin speaketh God by them did authorize the doctrine of the Gospell which his faithfull seruants had vttered in word and signed with their bloud Such were the miracles wrought by the touch of Elizeus his body and by the Kerchiefes of S. Paul But it followeth not thereupon that they adored or yeelded any religious seruice to those Reliques Vnlesse perhaps we must adore the shadow of S. Peters body as Bellarmine will haue it Bell. lib. de reliquijs cap 4 §. Ad tertium Scriptura approbat cultuÌ„ vmbrae Petri. of which shadow doubtlesse some peece may bee found stored vp among the Reliques aswell as at Cour-chiuerni neare Blois they keepe the Labour of S. Ioseph when hee cleft wood for hee was a Carpenter Howbeit there be two thinges which I will not here dissemble the one is that Heretikes at that time Doctores haereticos maximè doctrinae suae fidem onfirmasse mortuos suscitasse de bilâ—s reformasse futura significasse vt Apostoli crederentur Nunquid non Africa sanctoruÌ„ Martyrum corporibus plena est Et tamen nusquam hic scimus talia fieri did more miracles as Tertullian witnesseth lib. 3. against Marcion cap. 3. and in his 44 chapter of his Prescript where he saith that the Heretikes did raise the dead heale the sicke foretell thinges to come The other is that the place in S. Austin De Ciuitai Dei lib. 22. cap. 8. is to be suspected For he speaketh of miracles done in Africa and neare vnto Hippo where he was Bishop by touching the Reliques of Saints Whereas himselfe Epist 137. saith that in some places of Italie as at Nola and at Millan such miracles were done neare vnto the monuments of the Saints but that in Africa there were not any wroght in any place And that which is more to be obserued is that this Epistle was written to the people and clergie of Hippo who would easilie haue controuled him if such miracles had beene wrought in Africa What shall we now beleeue Here is S. Austin who saith in one place that many miracles were done in Africa neare vnto the place of
Carmeli alumnus disputauit has Theses sub auspicijs sapientissimi Domini nostri Bartolomaei Girart Nauarrici as the Carmelite Friers which haue this priuiledge of being in Purgatory no longer then the Saterday following their departure Which priuiledge the Carmelites of Paris haue lately published in certaine Theses printed oct o Octobris 1601. And Doctor Cayer stoutly defends this priuiledge in his booke intituled Le four de Reuerbere to the end whereof the Carmelite Doctors haue adioyned their subscriptions Those also which die immediately after they haue beene at the Iubile goe not at all into Purgatorie and those which the Pope exempteth by his Indulgences from this purging fire are excepted from the rule of the Gospell which saith Of a truth thou shalt not depart thence vntill thou hast paide the vttermost farthing This purging being ended then the soules after a little refreshing taken in the fielde of Flowers which is of one side goe directly into Paradice In the time of Gregory the first sixe hundred years after Christ this Purgatory was in another place for the said Pope in the fourth of his Dialogues placeth the Purgatory of some soules in Bathes of others vnder the leaues of trees and some vnder ice Petrus Damianus speakes of a soule that had his Purgatory in a Riuer and it is to be presumed that to wash himselfe the cleaner he went against the streame of the water The first Councell of the Romish Church that contriued this matter of Purgatory into an Article of faith was the Florentine Councell in the last Session held in the yeare 1439. where it was decreede against the Greeke Churches which denied and doe still denie this fire that a Purgatorie must be beleeued indeede former Councels do speake of prayer for the dead but we shall proue that this prayer that hath beene vsed for the dead doth make against this Purgatory The decision of this difference by the word of God 1 IN the first place it is to bee wondered that God who in his law appointed sacrifices and expiations for all sorts of sinnes and pollutions euen for the leaprosie issues of blood and the touching of the dead that he ordained neither expiation nor sacrifice nor satisfaction for soules in Purgatorie The faithfull in those dayes wept ouer the dead but neuer mingled their teares with prayers for their deliuerance from this fire Did God suffer the faithfull then to make a compleat and full satisfaction Had he then lesse care for his children then he hath now Had he then no priuiledged Altar Had he then no worship for the dead Had he then no Church-treasurie wherinto the Priests might gather the satisfactions of Noah or Abraham to giue some parte thereof to these roasted soules There appeares no such matter or that God had yet bethought himselfe of it And yet the Church had continued foure thousand yeares when Christ came into the world for touching that in the twelfth chapter of the second of Maccabees besides that wee haue proued in the fift Article that the booke is Apocryphall we shall hereafter see that the prayer for the dead which is there mentioned makes against Purgatory 2 In the Gospell and the writings of the Apostles there is no shew of this matter no Indulgences graunted for the dead no prayer for any departed nor any commaundement to pray for them nor any colour whereby it may be gathered that the soules of the faithfull are yet in torments 3 Contrariwise we finde many examples of men that by death haue entred into Paradice and haue beene gathered to their Fathers in peace good old Simeon was promised that he should depart in peace after that he had seene the Messias Luke 2. Saint Paul saith that after he had fought a good fight there was nothing left for him but to receiue a Crowne of glory 2. Tim 4. The soule of Lazarus Luke 16. was carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome where he was comforted while the wicked rich man was tormented but of going in or comming out of Purgatory there is nothing spoken Christ saith vnto the good theefe To day shalt thou be with me in Paradice then hee went not to Purgatory for first his faith could not deserue this priuiledge for hee had no other faith then that which Christ gaue him for it can be no merite to receiue grace from God Secondly And he that giues Paradise to him that had but a weake faith doth consequently say that if wee haue a strong faith in Christ wee shall not goe to Purgatorie Thirdly besides no vertues can be satisfactory punishments but should rather mitigate the penalty so then faith which is a vertue cannot satisfie the iustice of God which requireth punishment satisfactory Fourthly if any shal cal this a priuiledge to be exempted from Purgatory he is bound to produce some other examples to prooue that others doe ordinarily goe into Purgatory Fiftly Againe the torments which he then suffered could not be his Purgatorie for our aduersaries say that this satisfaction must be voluntary and done with a purpose to satisfie God Now this theefe was brought to his punishment against his will and had no intention to satisfie Gods iustice to free himselfe from Purgatory Sixtly and lastly there is no proportion betweene the bodily paines of a few howers and a fire that lasteth thousands of yeares out of all peraduenture Purgatory was crucified with this theefe 4 The Angell of the Lord Apoc. 14.13 saith thus Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord Amen So saith the spirit that they rest from their labors and their workes follow them If they rest from their labours they doe not frie in a burning fire He that shall read the whole chapter will confesse that hee speakes not onely of Martyrs who are not mentioned in any part thereof but of those that keepe the commaundements of God and the faith of Iesus For if Martyrs alone die in the Lord in whom do the rest of the faithfull die 5 The Prophet Esay cap. 57. v. 1 2. saith that the righteous is taken away from the euil to come and that he resteth in peace S. Paul 2. Cor. 5.1 saith that if our earthly Tabernacle bec destroyed wee haue an house eternall in the heauens And the Apostle Heb. 9. saith that it is appointed for all men to die once and after that commeth the iudgement Why then doe they forget to mention Purgatory which is betweene them both 6 In the eighteenth chapter of Ezechiel God saith that if the wicked shall turne from his sinnes which he hath committed hee will no more remember his iniquities is this to remember them no more to plague them with a long and burning fire and to make the sinner pay the vttermost farthing 7 In the twentieth of S. Matthew all the labourers which wrought in the Lords Vineyard receiued their salary at the end of the day which is this life and when they had done their worke But the Church of
soules of the old testament He further saith that it is an humane necessity which Iesus Christ did vndergoe to show himselfe to haue bin truly man to the end that none should be exempted therefrom He saith the same vpon the second Psalme Chrysostome vpon Matthew Hom. 32. speaketh thus to those who prayed and wept ouer the dead I know that thou wilt aunswer that it is to the end that the deceased may find rest and the Iudge fauourable and thou thinkest that thou oughtest to weepe for these things but doest thou not see how thou art his hindrance seeing that thou beleeuest that he is retired into the hauen and yet thou raisest great surges against him Read also Hom. the 39. vpon the 1 Cor and the 28. vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes S. Augustine in some places putteth the soules of the faithfull immediately after death in heauenly blisse but most commonly beeing carried away by the common opinion of his time hee deferreth their entry into heauen vntill the resurrection and lodgeth them in certaine receptacles that are hid and shut vp vntil the last day Vpon the Psal 36. he saith that the soule departed from the body shall not be in the kingdome of heauen but with Lazarus in Abrahams bosome then hee addeth Post vitam banc paruam nondum eric vbi erunt sancti quib dicetur venite benedicti Nondum ibis eris Quis nescit Tempus quod inter hominis mortem vltimam resurrectionem interpositum est animas abditis receptaculis continet c. after this short life thou shalt not presently bee in that place where the Saints are to whome it shall bee said Come ye blessed c. Thou shalt not yet be there who knoweth not this In his manuall to Laurentius chap. 108. The time which is betweene death and the last resurrection retaineth the soules in certaine secret receptacles according as each man shall be worthy of rest or affliction such like things he vttereth in his 9. booke of Confessions cap. 3. and in the 12. of the Cittie of God chap. 9. and in his third Epistle to Fortunatian Euthymius vpon Luk. 16. saith that the narration of Lazarus is a parable by which is designed vnto vs what shall be done in the last iudgement and vpon chap. 23. hee saith that none of the righteous hath yet receiued the promises where also Iohn Hentenius a Monke of the order of S. Ierome hath noted in the margent that Euthymius being a greek followeth the error of the greekes Likewise Theophilact imitater of Chrysostome vppon Hebrewes the 11. The Saints haue obtained nothing of the heauenly promises Bernard himselfe was tainted with this errour for in his third Sermon of all Saints he maketh three lodges of the soules Primum in tabernaculis Secundum in atrijs Tertium in Coelis The first in Tabernacles meaning the body The second in halles or anti-chambers The third in heauen He calleth these receptacles by the name of Halles Wee haue also alleadged the text of the Masse which saith the soules for which we pray doe quietly sleepe out the time They who omit Pope Ioane doe reckon this Iohn for the 22. Which is that which mooued Pope Iohn 23. to maintaine that the soules shall not see God before the day of Iudgement as Gerson witnesseth Serm. de Pasch and Iohannes Villanus in the 10. book of his Story And Erasmus in his Preface vpon the fifth booke of Irenaeus Iohannes coactus opera Theologorum Parisiorum ad palinodiam coram Galliarum Rege Philippo non sine buccina This is then one reason why the Fathers allowed prayer for the dead seeing that they thought that their soules were either in hell or els did sleepe or lay in certain receptacles in a word that they were yet in suspense and in doubt of their saluation and that in those cells and dortours they receiued some comfort refreshing by the prayers of the liuing Tertullian hath his opinion apart for he would haue men to pray for the dead to the end that they might rise the sooner For he beleeued that the resurrection should not be all in one day And in the last chapter of his booke of the soule he maketh this to be a punishment of the faithfull who haue sinned more then others that they shall rise later Modico quoque delicto mora resurrectionis expensa And pursuing his opinion he would haue the wife to pray for her deceased husband Refrigerium ei adpostulet in prima resurrectione consortium that shee pray for his release and refreshing that shee may rise with him in the first resurrection In the tenth chapter of his booke of Monogamie Another reason why they prayed for the dead was that they beleeued that the faithfull at their departure out of these places of durance were to be purged and singed as it were by the fire of the last iudgement some more some lesse These good Fathers who were drenched in this errour trembled with an apprehension of it calling the fire of the last day which should purge the soules the flaming sword placed at the entrance of Paradise Iustos cum indi cauerit Deus igni eos examinabit Tum quorum peccata vel pondere vel numero proeualuerint perstringentur atque amburentur Lactantius lib. 7. cap. 21. When God shall haue iudged the iust he will trie them by fire then they whose sins shall haue prenailed eyther for weight or number shall lightly passe through and feele the fire S. Ambrose vpon Ps 36. * Igne purgabuntur filij Leui igne Ezechiel igne Daniel Sed bi etsi per ignem examinabuntur dicent tamen Transiuimus per ignem aquam The sonnes of Leui shall be purged by fire Ezechiel also and Daniel and although they shall be examined and tried by fire yet they shall say we haue passed both through fire and water He maketh the most holy Saints to passe through this fire and speaketh in the future tense they shall be purged to the end we should not thinke that he speaketh of a purgation already passed And Serm. 20. vpon Psal 118. * Omnes opor tet transire per flam mas siue ille Iohannes Euangelista siue ille sit Petrus c. ALL must passe through the flames were it Iohn the Euangelist whom our Sauiour loued or were it S. Peter c. He speaketh manifestly of a fire which yet is not and which is prepared for all men In his booke of Widowes he calleth the Christian vertues Aurum quod Iudicij die nequeat ignis exurere Gold which the fire shall not be able to wast in the day of iudgement S. Hilarie vpon Psal 118. in the pause Gimel declaring how many things besides Baptisme doe serue to purge our sinnes setteth downe the holy Ghost that doth sanctifie vs Emundatio quae nos Sancti Spiritus sanctificet aduentu Iudicij igne nos decoquat and the fire of the
Thom. in 4. Dist 45. quaest 2. doe testifie that the soule of Traian a heathen Emperour was deliuered our of hell by the praiers of Pope Gregorie Gabriel Biel holdes the same in the fifty sixe Lecture vpon the Canon of the Masse and Ciacconus hath particularly written an Apology for this Story This Pope then prayed not for Traians soule to the end he might bring him out of Purgatorie 10 In the Masse there are among many new patches some auncient clauses and among others the Memento for the dead of which these wordes are a part The Reader shall note that in this place where the two letters N N are the Priest doth softly name some persons deceased for whom their parents haue payde Memento Domine famulorum famularumque tuarum N N. qui nos praecesserunt cum signo fidei dormiunt in somno pacis That is Remember Lord thy seruants which haue gone before vs with the signe of faith and doe sleepe in the rest of peace The words are very remarkable clearely euidencing that when these prayers were made Purgatory was not beleeued but it was beleeued that the soules did sleepe in a peaceable rest waiting for the resurrection and that in this sleepe they receiued some ioyfull refreshing by their prayers that were aliue 11 But aboue all haue I often wondred at the forme of the prayer ordinarily vsed for the dead for it makes no wordes of Purgatory but onely desireth of God that the soules of the dead may be deliuered from euerlasting death and from the last iudgement Libera Domine de morte aeterna in die illa tremenda Quando caeli mouendi sunt terra Cum veneris iudicare saeculum per ignem Trèmens factus sum c. Obserue this whole prayer Deliuer O Lord from eternall death in that dreadfull day when the heauens and the earth shall be mooued when thou shalt come to iudge the world by fire I feare and tremble when the triall and wrath to come shall be at hand this day of wrath of calamity and misery this great and wonderfull bitter day And note that this prayer wherein the soule of the departed is brought in apprehending that it shall be sent to Hell at the day of iudgement is said also for the soule of the Pope Lib. 1. Sacrarum Cerem Sect. 15. cap. 1. in the solemnization of his obsequies by which it appeareth that there is some feare that he may be in hell but of Purgatory there is nothing mentioned no more then in all the publique prayers of the Church of Rome for the dead for they onely craue deliuerance from eternall death and to rise in glory as in this Absolue quaesumus Domine animam famuli tui N. ab omni vinculo delictorum vt in resurrectionis gloria inter sanctos electos tuos resuscilatus respiret I beseech thee O Lord to loose the soule of thy seruant from the bond of all his sinnes that beeing raised vp among the Saints I may reioyce and be lifted vp in the glory of the resurrection which is the prayer for the dead in the second book of Machabees made only for the resurrection 12 What will we haue more let our aduersaries be iudges in this cause doe not the Priests oftentimes take money for saying Masses and seruice for young children dying soone after Baptisme which yet they beleeue not to be either in hell or in Purgatory doe they this through ignorance or auariâ—â— for want of science or of conscience for by theâ—â— owne rules the prayers made for children are to no purpose forasmuch as they are in Paradise By these many examples it appears that many do pray for the dead without beleeuing purgatory and that Coeff by admitting no prayer for the dead but only to draw men out of purgatory condeÌ„neth not onely the auncient Church but also the Romish and the second booke of Macchabees which himselfe doth ranke among the sacred canonicall bookes This shal more euidently appeare vnto vs when we shall haue learned what was the opinion of the Fathers touching the condition of the dead and to what end they prayed for them The common opinion of the most part of the Fathers is that the soules of the faithfull after they are gone out of the body doe not yet enioy heauenly beatitude but either they remaine in the earthly Paradise as Irenaeus teacheth in his fifth booke About the end of the booke and Origen in his second booke de principijs else they lie in hell or in some hidden receptacles vntill the day of the generall resurrection before which they shall not see God And although sometimes they be forced through the truth to say that the dead after the departure of the soule from the body do enter into heauenly felicity yet for the most part they are carried away with the current of the common opinion Constituimus omnem animam apud inferos sequestrari in diem Domini Quae infra terram iacent neque ipsa sunt digestis ordinatis potestatibus vacua Locus enim est quo piorum animae impiorum ducuntur c. Omnes in vna communique custodia detinentur donec tempus adueniat quo maximus iudex meritorum faciat examen Tertullian chap. 55. of his booke of the soule We hould for certaine that euery soule is sequestred into hell vntil the day of the Lord. He saith the same more at large in his fourth booke against Marcioâ—â— c. 34. Nouatian in the first chapter of his booke of the Trinitie those things which are vnder the earth are not without their powers and well digested orders for it is the place whither the soules of the faithfull as well as of the wicked are led as feeling already the fore-apprehensions of the iudgement to come Lactantius in his seauenth booke c. 21. let no man thinke that the soules are iudged immediately after death for they are all detained in one common prison vntill the time come that the great Iudge bring them to an examination of what they haue deserued Victorin the Martyr saith vpon Apo. 6. that S. Iohn saw vnder the Altar the soules of the Martyrs and them that were slaine expounding these wordes vnder the Altar Sub ara id est subterra that is to say vnder the earth Hee then placeth the soules of Saints and Martyrs vnder the earth Haec humanae lex necessitatis est vt sepultis corporibus animae ad inferos descendant Quam descensionem Dominus ad consummationem veri hominis non recusauit S. Hilarie vpon the Psal 138. It is the law of necessitie whereunto men are subiect that the soules should descend vnto hell after that the bodies are buried which descent Iesus Christ himselfe did not refuse to shew him selfe a compleate man He doth not say Haec lex fuit but Haec lex est to the end that a man should not say that he speaketh of the