or such as are present at the ministration of Baptisme And so likewise may wee say of the Sacrament of Christs body and bloud Take away the word and what is Bread but Bread What is wine but wine that is to say Take away the preaching of the Lords death from the holy Cōmunion and what doth it profit to eat drinke the Sacramentall bread and wine seeing the mystery is not knowne nor understood But put the preaching of the word to the Elements water bread and wine and so are they made holy and honourable Sacraments full of singular joy and great comfort as Saint Augustine saith Let the word be added to the Element and it is made a Sacrament Therefore where the Lords Supper is rightly ministred there is declared the death and passion of Christ there is shewed forth the misery of man from the which hee could have beene no otherwise released but only by the death of Christ there is taught what the Sacrament is what it signifyeth and to what use Christ our Saviour did institute it there are the people exhorted not rashly nor with unwashed feet as they use to say to come unto the Lords Table but to prove trie and examin themselves whether they come with such faith and love unto that most worthy mystery as they ought least they eat and drinke their own damnation there are they stored up unto the workes of mercie toward the poore and unto hearty thankesgiving to God the Father for the death of his Son Christ there also are they put in remembrance that after they have tasted those heavenly mysteries have spiritually fed upon the body bloud of Christ which through faith are present and truly received in spirit of faithful Cōmunicants and are become one body with Christ they ought no more to returne unto their old sinfull wicked conversation but from henceforth to serve their Lord God in holines righteousnes all the daies of their life Is there any such thing done in the popish Masse Who preacheth Who maketh the exhortation Who moveth the people to repentance faith love and amendment of life mutuall recōciliation workes of mercie or unto thankesgiving to God the Father for the death of his Sonne Christ Who playeth the Schoolmaster and giveth the people such exhortations that they goe home from your Masses better learned than they came thither What theese ever lest his theft What false lawyer gave over his bribing what whore forsooke her whordome what wicked man at any time repented him of his wickednesse by comming unto your Masse Yea rather they goe from your Masse so well instructed that they thinke that now they have heard a Masse they may doe all the day after what they will Amends is made beforehand If they bribe poll pill steale lye slander blaspheme kill murder runne on whoring play the harlot fall to drunkennesse to dicing to carding and doe all other unlawfull things it maketh no matter for they have heard Masse They have satisfyed for the sinne before it be committed The hearing of masse hath dispatcht al the matter aforehand And what marvaile is it though such abomination followeth of your massing seeing the people heareth no goodnesse at it but rather are confirmed in all kind of ungodlinesse The chiefest jewell of all I meane the preaching of Gods word is utterly exiled from your Masse as all goodnesse is besides There is none of you all that stand up in the pulpit that lift up your voice to declare unto the people either their wickednesse or preach unto them the most joyfull pleasant and comfortable Gospel of our Saviour Christ. If there bee any preaching at all the Bells make it when the popish Clark ringeth to Masse The Bells being hanged up tell the people somewhat which they understand namely that there is a popish masse ready at hand come heare it who list and be never the better when yee have done But ye speake nothing at all that the people understand and so are yee worse than the Bells Oh how often have I seene here in England at the ministration of the holy Communion people sitting at the Lords table after they have heard the sermon or the godly exhortation set forth in the Booke of Common prayer read unto them by the minister bitterly weep heartily repent and sorrowfully lament their too much unkindnesse and unthankfulnesse toward the Lord God for the death of his Sonne Christ and for his other benefits againe their negligence in doing their duty toward their poore neighbours what free and large gifts also have I seene given to the poore mens boxe what laying aside of al enmity and renewing of unfained mutuall reconciliation what loving embracing and holy kissing of one another What assurance of heartytty friendship for ever to continue where immortall hatred was before what godlinesse also of life have I seen afterward practised by them that were the Communicants what alteration of manners What newnesse of conversation The covetous man to abhorre his covetousnesse the Adulterer to leave his adultery the Whore to defie her whoredom the Proud man to detest his pride the Vsurer to give over his usury and so forth by hearing the word of God preached and by the worthy receiving of the holy Communion hath full oft bin seen in England when the doctrine of the Gospell flourished among us Never saw I one point of like godlinesse practised of any man by hearing your popish Masses but as they have come thither wicked and ungodly so have they departed againe with the same ungodlines and wickednes rather being the worse than the better by hearing that your Idolatrous masse and yet Oh God be mercifull unto us and forgive us our sinnes the glorious and blessed Cōmunion is now through the craft and subtilty of the devil and through the wilinesse of his sturdy stout champions that filthy Synagogue of Sathan utterly banished out of this Realme unto the great dishonour of God and unspeakable sorrow of all true Christians and that most vile most stinking most pestiferous most abominable most wicked most devillish most idolatrous popish private Masse received again set up and magnifyed above the starres yea and above God and his holy ordinance when indeed of all Idols the Masse is most to be abhorred of such as feare and love God But though your Masse were never so good as indeed it is starke naught without comparison yet forasmuch as it is done without the preaching of the word and in a strange it is altogether unprofitable yea and abominable Notwithstanding behold the hypocrisie and counterfeit holinesse yea rather your double dissimulation and devillish deceiving of the simple people when yee have stood awhile pattering like a sort of asses yee know not what at the lower end of the Altar saying the Introite or office of the Masse as they call it the Kyrrys the Gloria in Excelsis the Collects
that there must bee prepared for him every day twelve cakes forty sheepe and sixe great pots of wine to eate and drinke so doe yee make the Queene her Counsell the Nobility and commons of this Realme for the most part beleeve that the little thin round white cake which ye hold up above your head at your abominable Masse after yee once said these five words over it Hoc est corpus meum and have blowed blasted and breathed over it is straightwayes both a living God and a very living man even Christ God and man as he was borne of Marie the Virgine But full falsely doe ye lie and dissemble with the Queene with her Couunsell and with the commons of this Realme even as those Idolatrous priests of Babylon did with the King and with hiâ— subjects For as that Idol Bel was not a living god but an Image made of clay within and of metall without so likewise for all your consecrating blowing blasting and breathing your little Cake is neither a living God nor a living man but as it was bread before yee brought it to your Idolatrous Altar so is it when yee both hold it up and eat it But as the Idolatrous priests of Babylon taught the people plainely that Bel was a living God that they by that meanes might live in wealth and idlenesse so do ye likewise stoutly both at Pauls Crosse and else where preach unto the people that the Sacrament of the Altar is the true naturall reall corporall carnall and substantiall body of Christ God and man even he was borne of Virgin Marie hung on the Altar of the crosse flesh bloud and bone that ye by this meanes may maintaine your popish kingdome and live idly and pleasantly of the labours of other mens hands But if a Daniel might sit at the Queens Table talke with the Nobility and preach to the Commons of England the jugling of the Papists should soone be espyed God for his mercies sake for the deare heart-bloud of his most deare Son send us a Daniel and open the eyes of the Queene of her Councell and of all the Inhabitants of this Realme that they perceiving your subtle iugling and crafty daubing may know you to be as yee are even very Antichrists hisse you out of all honest company and for ever after beware of your pestilent damnable doctrine Amen Amen After that our Saviour Christ was set downe at the Table with his Disciples and had eaten the Paschall Lambe willing to institute an holy memoriall of his passion and death he tooke bread and gave thanks saith the Scripture Now let us see what yee doe First ye come solemnly forth in your gay galant and game players garments which as Isidore and Polidore write was the invention of pope Stephâ—nus about the yeare of our Lord two hundred fifty and six borrowed as it may seeme of the Iewish Priests Ye come to the Altar with your Masse-book Corporasse Chalice Bread with such other trinkets Your altars brought into the Church first of all Pope Sixtus the secoÌ„d about the yeare of our Lord two hundred threescore and five And Pope Felix the first adioyned the hallowing of altars commanding that no masse should bee sung upon any altar except it were first hallowed In the yeare of our Lord two hundred seventy and sixe And P. Boniface appointed white linnen clothes to be laid upon the altars about the yeare of our Lord 610. The Corporasse was the devise of Pope Sixtus as Platina and Sabellicus write about the yeare of our Lord an hundred and twenty and five The Cup wherein the Sacrament of Christs bloud was ministred which wee now commonly call the Chalice was in the time of the Apostles and the primitive Church made of wood but Pope Zepheriâ—us commanded chalices of glasse to be used in the yeare of our Lord 202. And afterward Pope Vrbanus enjoyned that the chalices should be made either of silver or of gold in the yeare of our Lord 227. The bread appointed for the Communion was indifferent whether it were leavened or unlea vened till Pope Alexander came which aâ— they write in the yeare of our Lord III. commanded that onely unleavened bread should bee used at the Lords Supper Notwithstanding the Greekes from the Apostles time unto this day have ever used leavened bread in the ministration of the holy Communion as they use also wine onely in their cup whereas the Latine Church customably mingle water with the wine which was also Pope Alexanders device Now standing before the Altar after yee have crossed your selves upon your forheads and breasts for feare of wicked spirits ye say the Confiteor and make your confession which was the ordinance of Pope Damâ—sus about the yeare of our Lord 370. But to whom do you make your confession To God alone none of that But to blessed Mary and all the Saints of heaven and vâ—bis ye might say bobus well enough For many times besides the boy and Parish clerke that wait upon you there bee in the Church as many white bulls and fat oxen as there bee men and women But where have yee learned to confesse your sinnes to the blessed Mary and to all the company of heaven which heare not one word that yee speake Ye have sinned against God and you confesse your faults to Mary Peter 〈◊〉 Thâ—mas Aâ—an Abel Niâ—â— Abrahâ—m Iohâ— Baptist And I know not to whom not to how many This is new Catholike Divinity found in Portasse and Mâ—ssâ—ll but in no part of Gods blessed Booâ—e Divinity meete for such Divines Again whom doe you desire to pray for you Our Sâ—viour Christ which alone is our Intercessour Mediatouâ— and Advocate Nothing lesse Yee make no mention of him He is utterly forgotten Yee desire holy Mary and all the Saints of God to pray for you But where learned â—ou this tyrologie For Theologie it is not Even of your father Antichrist of Rome But as Mary and the other heavenly citizens heare your confession so pray they for you But they heare not your confession neither do they pray for you O vaine bablers and talkers of trifles your Masse having so good a beginning must have a glorious ending It beginngth with lies wee shall find it also to proceed with lies yea and to end with lies that it may bee prooved a monster of lies After that you have made your confession to God and to our Lady and to all the holy company of heaven and have given your selfe absolution for lacke of a ghostly father yee approach to the Altar and making a crosse upon it yee kisse it in stead of some other whom you love better Then fall yee in hand with your Massing and ye beginne the Introite or office of the Masse which Pope Celestinus brought in about the yeare of our Lord 430 That done ye say the Kyry
saved by such trifling oblations what needed the Son of God to have died for us If a morsell of bread and a full of wine offered up of an idolatrous Priest bee of such vertue that it may obtaine salvation for the quicke and the dead was not Christ greatly overseene to suffer so great paines for the redemption of man If thousands of great oxen bulls kine calves goats sheepe lambes doves c. in the old Law could not take away the sinnes of the people although they were offered at the commandement of God is it to be thought that a wafer cake and a spoonefull of wine mingled with water and appointed to bee offered by Antichrist is a sufficient oblation to purchase salvation for the living and rest and quietnesse for the dead O Damnable Idolatrie There is no Sacrifice that can save us but the glorious Passion and precious Death of our Lord and Saviour Christ Iesus alone as Saint Paul saith God forbid that I should rejoyce in anything but in the Crosse that is to say in the passion and death of our Lord Iesus Christ. And to whom doe yee offer your new solemne Sacrifice To God alone Nay but to blessed Mary also and to all the company of heaven In this also if your oblation and sacrifice were good doe ye grievously offend For yee may offer Sacrifice to none but to God alone Therefore you making your oblation to Mary to Peter to Paul to Magdalen to Iohn to Iames to Erkeâ—â—ald to Grymbald and I cannot tell to how many thousands more are abominable Idolaters seeing that as much as lyeth in you ye make of the Saints gods and so doe ye rob God of his glorie God saith by the Prophet I am the Lord this is my Name I will give my glory to none other And the Saints themselves crie in this manner Not to us O Lord not to us but to thy Name give the glory After that your prayer yee set your Chalice downe againe saying these words Acceptuâ—s sit omnipotenti Deo hoc sacrificium novuns That is to say O that this new Sacrifice might be thankfully taken of almighty God! Why d ee yee doubt of the matter Is your prayer so good and your faith so strong that yee doubt whether God will heare you and receive your sacrifice or no Indeed you may right well call it a new Sacrifice for it was never heard of afore that a wafer cake and a spoonefull of wine mingled with water should be an oblation and Sacrifice for the salvation of the living and for the rest and quietnesse of all the faithfull that are dead But notable is your doing afterward When ye have thus sacrificed and offered yee trudge straight-wayes to the Altars end and wash your hands To what end I know not except it bee that you have defiled your selves with your new stinking Sacrifice W ch you even now offered unto God to blessed Mary and to all the company of heaven for the salvation of the quicke and for the rest and quietnesse of all the faithfull that are dead and thinke by the washing of your hands to be cleansed from the abominable spirituall whoredome which yee have committed against God I suppose yee learned this washing of your hands of Pilate which when for favour of the Iewes and for feare of Caesar he had unjustly condemned CHRIST unto death called for a bason of water to wash his hands and said I am cleane from the bloud of this righteous man But as he for all his washing escaped not the vengeance of God but dyed a most miserable death even so may yee bee sure though yee wash your hands never so oft not to escape the heavie hand of God for speaking such blasphemies against the Lord and his annointed except yee out of hand cease from your abominable Massing which is nothing else but very Idolatry meere blasphemy great dishonour to God and extreme injury to the precious bloud of Christ while yee ascribe that unto bread wine and water which only appertaineth unto the passon and death of our Saviour Christ. After ye have washed your hands ye returne again to the Altar holding your hands before you like maidenly Priests and manerly bowing your selves to your little great god that shal be ye make a crosse upon the Altar and kisse it in stead of your pretty Petronilla and then having peradveÌ„ture a good mind to behold some shee Saint in the Church yee turne your selves looking downe to the people and saying Orate pro me Fratres Sorores O pray for mee ye Brethren and Sisters when many times there is no bodie in the Church but the Boy that helpeth you to say Masse and so making solemn courtesie like womanly Ioue ye returne unto your accustomed pattering What ye say no man can tell For now comes in your subtill secrets And they may right well bee called Secrets for they are so Secret and so secretly spoken that no man is the wiser for them But whatsoever they are good stuffe I warrant you they are And for as much as they bee certaine Collects they father them upon Pope Gelasius and Pope Gregory of whom we spake before When ye have once done with your subtill solemne sleepy secrets ye burst out into open words and exhort the people to lift up their hearts unto God and to consider the mysteries that are now in hand and to be thankefull to God for the benefits of their redemption Ah would God yee so spake the words that the people might bee edified by them But ye speake in such sort that it were much better for you to hold your peace and the people to be at home asleepe For yee doe nothing else than beat the ayre with your breath The people understand nothing at all neither doe they consider any thing but only are there present as vaine gasers These admonitions to the people of lifting up their hearts unto God and to be thankfull to him for his benefits set forth in the death of his Son Christ were used in the Primative Church as we may see in Saint Cyprian and Saint Augustine The Authour of these godly exhortations is not knowne Immediately followeth the Preface and because there bee divers they father them upon Pope Gelasius and Pope Gregory as they doe all other things whereof they can finde no certaine Authour But this is most certaine that the ancient Church used but one Preface which is called the quotidian or daily Preface These things passed over yee fall in hand with the Sanctus W ch lifting up your hands ye speake with a loud voice that ended ye kisse the Masse-booke because some other is not at hand The Sâ—â—ctus as they say was brought in by Pope Sixtus which was about the yeare of our Lord 125. and commanded to be sung in the Church Now commeth in your holy Masse Canon whereof be diverse
which as some report Pope Gregorius the first put to the Masse about the yeare of our Lord 600. Some ascribe it to Pope Silvester which lived about the yeare of our Lord 330. But it seemeth to bee borrowed of the Greeke Church forasmuch as the words are Greeke and sound in English Lord have mercie on us After these things ye goe unto the midst of the Altar and look up to the pixe where you thinke your God to be and making solemne curtesie like womanly Ioane ye say the Gloria in excelsis a godly both thankesgiving prayer very fruitfull and comfortable if it were spoken in the English tongue The Author hereof some affirme Pope Stephanus to be who lived in the yeare of our Lord seven hundred and seventy Some ascribe it to Pope Telesphâ—rus which was in the yeare of our Lord one hundred and thirty Some to Pope Symachus who lived in the yeare of our Lord five hundred Some to Saint Hilarie Bishop of Pictâ—ve about the yeare of our Lord three hundred forty and five These things dispatched out of the way yee have a pleasure to see who is in the Church and how well your Masse is frequented and therfore yee turne yee to the people if any bee there and bid them God speed in Latine with Dominus vobiscum because they understand nothing but English Turning againe to the Altar yee say certaine Collects wherof although some of them bee good yet many of them bee very superstitious and starke staring naught For in them yee set foorth before God the intercessions and merits of Saints and yee desire for the nity and worthinesse of them to be heard to have forgivenesse of sinnes and everlasting life O blasphemous Idolaters what is it to robbe Christ of his Priesthood if this be not What spoileth Christ of his merits if this doe not What treadeth under foot the pretious bloud of our Saviour Christ if the saying of such abominable blasphemous Collects doe it not The Authour of the Collects some make Pope Gelasius which lived in the yeare of our Lord three hundred ninetie Some P. Gregorie of whom ye heard before The Collects once done yee reade the Epistle but in such a tongue as the people understand nothing as yee doe all other things Some say that Pope Telesphorus of whom wee spake before added the Epistle to the Masse Some make Hierome the Authour of it which lived about the yeare of our Lord three hundred eighty seven Then doe ye say the Grayle whereof they make Pope Gelasius the Authour of whom wee spake before Immediately followeth the Allelujah which they say pope Gregorie brought in of whom also wee spake before Some say it was borrowed of the Church of Ierusalem and so brought into the Church of Rome in the time of pope Dâ—masus It soundeth in English O praise the Lord. Here is Latine Greeke and Hebrew in your popish Masse wherof the people understand nothing but as for English which the people understand yee meddle nothing with-all because you will make them your riding fools and keep them still in blindnes Then followeth the Tract or the Sequence one brought in by pope Telesphorus the other by Abbot Nothgâ—rus who lived in the yeare of our Lord 845. After that yee have mumbled over all these things yee take up your Masse-booke and away ye goe to the other end of the Altar to reade the Gospel But first of all yee uncover the chalice and look whether your drinke bee there or no least you should chance to bee deceived when the time of your repast come If it bee there you make solemn curtesie to your little Idoll that hangeth over the Altar and so goe in hand with the Gospel And all in Latine because it shall doe no man good The Authour of adding the Gospel to the Masse some make pope Telesphorus some Saint Hierome of whom wee spake before Pope Anastasius who lived in the yeare of our Lord 404. ordayned that the people should stand up when the Gospel is read that they might heare and understand the Doctrine of the Gospell and frame their lives according to the same This use is observed at this day in the popish Masses I meane the people stâ—â—d up and make courtesie when they heare the name of Iesus but they understand not one word It were as good in such sort to bee read to Swine and Dogges as to the Christian people seeing they understand it not The Gospel ended with another kisse upon the Booke yee say the Creed which as they write Pope Marcus made about the yeare of our Lord 335 coÌ„manded that the Clergie the people should sing it together for the confirmation of their faith After the Creed upon solemne Feasts ye use to Cense the Altar which was first brought in by Pope Leo about the yeare of our Lord 876. These things done with all solemnitie ye turne you again into the Church to see whether your customers bee come or no and so bidding them God-speed yee turne again to the Altar and goe forth with your businesse Then doe you say your Offertory which Pope Eutichiâ—â—â— brought in who lived about the yeare of our LORD 285. After the Offertory is said yee take the Chalice up in your hands with the little round cake lying upon the pâ—tine or cover of the Chalice and lifting up your eyes yee pray on this manner Suscipe sancta Trinitâ—s c. Take O holy Trinitie this oblation which I unworthy sinner offer in the honour of thee of blessed Mary the Virgin and of all thy Saluâ—s for the salvation of the living and for the rest and quietnesse of all the faithfull that are dead The Authour of this prayer I cannot finde It is so good that I thinke hee was ashamed to tell his Name But what thinke yee of this prayer Bee judges your selves whether any thing may be uttered more unto the dishonour of GOD and the utter defacing of CHRISTS bloud than this your popish and blasphemous orison First of all what offer ye Yee must answer either the little round cake or else the Chalice or the wine and water that is in it To whom doe yee offer it To Mary the Virgin and to all the Saints of heaven because yee will lacke no company but gratifie a multitude with a thing of nought Wherefore doe ye offer that oblation For the salvation of the living and for the rest or quietnesse of all the faithfull that are dead Ah who ever heard of such a sacrifice or oblation A wafer cake which is yet but meere bread and no Sacrament and a Chalice with a spoonefull of wine mingled with two or three drops of water to be offred for the salvation of the living and for the rest or quietnesse of all the faithful that are dead O abomination O intollerable blasphemie If Adams Posteritie might have beene
ground straightwayes And then welcome again hard fare greasy cap threadbare gowne broken shooe torne hose empty purse and all that beggerly is Make much therefore of praying for the dead and wish that your Masse which of late yee have to your great joy recovered againe may long continue in her great prosperty or els your cake is dough and all your fat lye in the fire What shall I speake of dancing of your little great God about the Chalice with Per Ip cum Ip In Ip Sum which followeth the praying for the dead That is so holy a thing that it is called the second Sakering and may by no meanes bee left undone Your Childe must needs bee dandled and playd withall a little while least hee chance to sleepe too long After that yee have layd your young God to rest againe you say your Pater noster like good devout men That done yee take up the patine of the chalice and afterward yee crosse your selves withall both upon your brests and upon your bald crownes and lay it downe againe I thinke yee doe this either to fray away spirits or else to enarme your selves with the signe of the croose that they may bee the more able to bring to passe your butchery that is now at hand For straightwayes yee strike up your sleves yee uncover the chalice yee lay downe the Corporasse cloth ye take up your little God yee hold him up over the chalice and ye cruelly teare plucke and breake him in three pieces according to Pope Sergiâ—s commandement about the yeare of our Lord 700. When yee have so done ye keepe two parts of your Christs body which yee your selves made and have now destroyed again in your hands holding them over the chalice and the third part yee let downe into the wine that it may bee the tenderer when yee eat it The myâ—ticall mysteries hereof I declared a little before Then doe ye say the Agnus which Pope Sergius also commanded that it should bee said at Masse a little before the receiving of the host And here againe yee play the abominable Idolaters For looking upon the bread yee looke your selves and worship it saying in Latine Agnus Dei qui tollis c. O Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world have mercie upon us Thrice doe yee call that Bread which yee hold in your hands the Lamb of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world O intollerable blasphemy Was there ever Idolater that worshipped a piece of broken bread for God What marvell is it though the Iewes the Turkes and all other Infidels bee so loth to come to the Christian religion when they see so manifest Idolatrie committed when they behold a piece of a thinne wafer Cake honoured for God Certainly this abominable Idolatry which yee Masse-mongers maintaine and commit at your Masse hath beene and is the occasion that innumerable thousands have beene and are daily damned Yea these your wicked doings are the cause why so many doe abhorre the Christian religion defie the Name of Christ as wee reade of a certaine Emperour of Turky which when hee was demanded why hee and his people did so greatly abhorre the Religion of Christ answered that hee coead by no mulnes approove or allow the religion service and honour of that God whom men at their pleasure doe make and straightwayes eat him when they have done Better were it for you O ye Masse-mongers to have a Mil-stone tied about your neckes and to be cast into the sea than thus with your abominable massing and God-making to drive so many from Christ and provoke so great multitudes unto Idolatry and finally unto everlasting damnation and with what a conscience can yee say to the bread which is a dumbe and insensible creature without all life or spirit O Lambe of God which takest away the sinnes of the world have â—â—ercie â—pon us Is that bread which a little before was corn in the Plough-mans barne meale in the Millers trough flower in the Bakers boulting tubbe and afterwards tempered with a little water and baked of the waferman betweene a paire of hot printing irons come now suddainely through your charming unto such dignity that it is the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world that men must pray unto that to have mercie forgivenes of sins O Lord thou living God have mercie upon us and destroy this abominable Idoll of the masse In the worshipping of Baal Astaroth Moloch Bel-Peor Melchom Dagon Chames the Queene of heaven Saturnus Iupiter Priapus Iuno Venus and such other Idolls was never so great a blasphemy and dishonour to God as is the setting up of this broken bread to bee worshipped for God And the matter is so much the more to bee abhorred because yee colour your abominable Idolatrie with Gods word Faigned holines saith Saint Gregorie is double iniquity Ah is that polluted and defiled bread the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world Then was that your bread also borne of Mary the Virgine and nourished with the milke of her breasts Then did that bread live upon the earth speake eate drinke sleepe preach woâ—ke miracles c. Then was that bread betrayed accused beaten buffeted spitted on crowned with a crowne of thornes clad wtâ—h a garment of purple crucifyed and nailed to the Crosse. Yea then did that bread offer himselfe on the Altar of the Crosse a Sacrifice to God the Father for the sinnes of the world dyed and rose again for our Iustification Hath your broken bread done all these things Christ the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world hath done all these things alone alone Bee ashamed once Oye wicked Papists thus to blaspheme God and to deceive the people through your abominable Massing Again is grace mercie favor and remission of sins to bee craved of these fragments of bread which ye hold in your hands So is it that true living immortal and everlasting God which hath bin without beginning which made heaven earth and all things contained in them For none can forgive us our sins but God alone Hath your broken bread bin without beginning hath it made al things Yea it is a creature it selfe vile and devillish as yee use or rather abuse it Be ashamed O ye shamelesse hypocrites thus to deface the glory of God and to leade the people in damnable blindenesse Shortly after the Agnus yee kisse the Pax whch was the ordinance of Pope Innocentius in the yeare of our Lord 310. And while the boy or Parish Clerke carryeth the Pax about yee your selves alone eat up all and drinke up all Ah what riding fools and very dolts make yee the people yee send them a piece of wood or of glasse or of some metal to kisse and in the meane season yee eat and drinke up all together Is not this a pageant
but had in an everlasting remembrance first of all preached a most fruitfull and comfortable Sermon to his Disciples and afterward as he sate at the table with them hee tooke bread into his hands and after he had given thankes to his heavenly Father as his manner was for his corporall gifts but specially for the deare love that hee of his owne meere mercie and free heartie good will bare toward mankind he brake bread and gave bread unto his disciples saying Take yee eat yee this is my body which is betrayed for you Doe this in remembrance of me And as hee tooke the bread and made it a Sacrament that is to say an holy signe figure token and Memoriall of his Body breaking so likewise he took the wine and made that a Sacrament holy signe figure token and Memoriall of his bloud shedding and after thankesgiving to his heavenly Father for the benefits aforesaid he delivered the Cup unto his Disciples saying Drinke of this all ye This Cup is a new Testament in my bloud which is shed for many for the remission of sins Doe this so oft as yee shall drinke it in the remembrance of me And this heavenly banket once done they said grace that is to say they praised God by saying either certaine Psalmes of David or some other thankesgivings and so departed Here is the whole institution of the Lords Supper Now let us compare Christs Supper with your Popish and Idolatrous Masse and see how well Christs doings and yours agree together If ye be the Ministers of Christ and not of Antichtist the servants of God and not of the Divell then will you follow your Master Christ which saith I have given you an example that as I have done so likewise yee should doe Let us now then goe in hand with the matter First we reade that Christ before hee fed his Disciples with the mysticall food of his body and bloud made a Sermon unto them wherewith as with a certaine most wholesome preparative hee made meet the minds of his Disciples unto so worthy a banket giving all faithfull Ministers an example that whensoever they with the congregation doe come together to celebrate the Lords Supper there should be some Sermon or exhortation made unto the people that they might the better examine themselves and the more deepely consider the thing that they goe about And according to the example of Christ not only the Apostle but all the holy Fathers also of the Primitive church used the trade and so did it continue in the Church of Christ till Antichrist the Bishop of Rome had driven Christ out of place and set up himselfe as God Againe till hee had expulsed the Supper of the Lord and set up his owne peevish yea theevish Idolatrous Masse as wee may see in the monuments of the ancient Writers They continued saith blessed Luke in the Apostles doctrine and fellowshippe and in breaking of bread and in prayers And Saint Paul saith As often as ye shall eat this bread and drinke of the cup shew set forth declare and preach the Lords death till he come A practise hereof have we in the Acts of the Apostles where wee reade That upon one of the Sabbath dayes when the Disciples came together for to breake bread so termeth S. Luke the receiving of the Sacrament of Christs body and blood blessed Paul preached unto them and continued the preaching unto midnight And the Sermon ended they brake bread ate thanked God and departed For if the Sacrament of Christ be never so comfortable yet if they bee not known what they are to what use they were instituted what joyfull promises are annexed unto them what they signifie and preach unto the faithfull receivers c. What other things are they to us thaÌ„ the pretious stone was to Aesops Cock A SacrameÌ„t ministred without preaching of the word is but a dumb ceremony a glasse offered to a blind man and a tale told to one that is deafe The Apostles before the ministration of any Sacrament preached and so did the holy Fathers of the primitive Church Saint Iohn Baptist the sonne of the Priest Zachary preached unto the people before hee baptized them Our Saviour Christ a little before his ascension said to his Apostles â—oe and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost Here is Baptism the preaching of the word joyned together And as concerning the blessed Sacrament of Christs body and blood did not our Saviour Christ preach at the institution and ministration of it Are we not also commanded by the holy Apostle that whensoever wee come to receive the blessed Communion the death of the Lord should be preached declared and set forth Did not the Apostles of Christ and all the godly Bishops of the primitive Church observe the same order They considered right well how little the ministration of the Sacraments availeth without the preaching of the Word For as S. Paul saith how shall they believe without a Preacher Faith commeth by hearing and hearing commeth by the Word of God None therefore of the Lords Sacraments ought publickely to be administred without preaching of the word yea that not in a strange tongue but in such a speech as the people understand or else it were as good to speake the words unto a sâ—rt of sheepe or geese as unto them that are gathered together at the ministration of any Sacrament And this meant Saint Augustine when hee said Take away the Word and what is Water but water But let the word bee added to the ElemeÌ„t it is made a SacrameÌ„t Whence hath the water such a power that it should touch body and wash the heart but by the vertue of working of the word not because it is spoken but because it is beleeved The word signifyeth here not only the speaking of Ego baptizote c. or Hoc est corpus meum c. pronounced by the Priest in a strange tongue but the preaching of the word of God uttered by the mouth of the Ministers in such a language as the people understand or else how shall they beleeve It is not the utterance of Gods word in an unknowne speech that bringeth faith but when it is so spoken that it is understood of them that heare it and that faith through the operation of the holy Ghost ensueth which otherwise is cold lyeth idle and worketh nothing in the heart of the hearer for as S. Augustine saith Take away the Word and what is Water but water that is to say take away the preaching of Gods word from the SacrameÌ„t of Baptism which declareth what Baptisme is who instituted it to what use it was ordained what fruits and commodities wee receive by it c. And what doth the water of Baptisme profit I speake concerning such as are come to the use of reason