consideration, may alter as they see cause, in rites, ceremonics and Henry sacraments. VIII. 1540. Answer: The institution of this sacrament standeth upon the A.D. order, example, and commandment of Christ. This order he took: first, he divided the bread severally from the cup; and afterwards, Order. the cup severally from the bread. Secondly, this he did not for any Example. need on his behalf, but only to give us example how to do the same after him, in remembrance of his death, to the world's end. Thirdly, combesides this order taken, and example left, he added also an express mandcommandment, "Hoc facite," "Do this:" "Bibite ex hoc omnes,' "Drink ye all of this," &c. Against this order, example, and commandment of the gospel, no church, nor council of men, nor angel in heaven, hath any power or authority to change or alter; according as we are warned: "If any bring unto you any other gospel beside that ye have received, hold him accursed," &c." ment Item, Another objection: And why may not the church (say Another they) as well alter the form of this sacrament, as the apostles did the objection. form of baptism? where, in the Acts, St. Peter saith, "Let every one be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ," &c.2 changed form of Answer:-This text saith not that the apostles used this form of The baptizing, "I baptize thee in the name of Christ," &c.; but they used Apostles many times this manner of speech, "to be baptized in the name of not the Christ," not as expressing thereby the formal words of baptizing, but baptism. as meaning this: that they would have them to become members of Christ, and to be baptized as Christians, entering into his baptism, and not only to the baptism of John: and therefore, although the apostles thus spake to the people, yet, notwithstanding, when they baptized any themselves, they used, no doubt, the form of Christ prescribed, and no other. curiosity Item, Among many other objections, they allege certain perils Man's and causes of weight and importance, as spilling, shedding, or in magnishaking the blood out of the cup, or souring, or else sticking upon fying his men's beards, &c.; for which, they say, it is well provided the half vices communion to suffice. Whereunto it is soon answered, that as these causes were no let to Christ, to the apostles, to the Corinthians, and to the brethren of the primitive church, but that in the public assemblies they received all the whole communion, as well in the one part as in the other; so neither be the said causes so important now, to annul and evacuate the necessary commandment of the Gospel, if we were as careful to obey the Lord, as we are curious to magnify our own devices, to strain at gnats, to stumble at straws, and to seek knots in rushes, which rather are in our own fantasies growing, than there, where they are sought. In summa: Divers other objections and cavillations are in popish books to be found, as in Gabriel, the difference made between the laity and priests; also the distinction used to be made between the priests' communion, and the laical communion: where is to be understood, that when priests were bid to use the laical communion, own de above God's. VIII. example instance against public usages Henry thereby was meant, not receiving under one kind, as laymen do now, but to abstain from consecrating, and only to receive as the A. D. laymen then did. Some also allege certain special or particular 1540. examples, as of the cup only serving for the bread, or of the bread Private only sent to certain sick folk for the cup. And here they do infer makes no the story of Sozomenus, touching the woman in whose mouth the sacrament of bread, which she only received without the cup, was turned to a stone, &c. Others allege other private examples likewise of infants, aged men, sick persons, men excommunicated, frantics, and madmen, or men dwelling far off from churches, in All must mountains or wildernesses, &c. All which private examples neither give place make any instance against the ancient custom of public congregations obedience frequented from the apostles' time; and much less ought they to derogate from the express and necessary precept of the Gospel, which saith to all men without exception, "Hoc facite," &c. "Bibite ex hoc omnes," &c. of the church. to the of the word. of the mass. THE THIRD ARTICLE; OF PRIVATE MASSES, TRENTAL MASSES. Private masses, trental masses, and dirige masses, as they were never used before the time of Gregory, six hundred years after Christ, so the same do fight directly against our christian doctrine, Definition as by the definition thereof may well appear. The mass is a work or action of the priest, applied unto men for meriting of grace, "ex opere operato;" in which action the sacrament is first worshipped, and then offered up for a sacrifice for remission of sins, "à pœna et culpa," for the quick and the dead. Of this definition as there is no part but it agreeth with their own teaching, so there is no part thereof which disagreeth not from the rules of christian doctrine; especially these, as follow. Rule of doctrine. I. The first rule is : Sacraments be instituted for some principal end christian and use, out of which use they are no sacraments: as the sacrament of baptism is a sacrament of regeneration and forgiveness of sins to the person that is baptized; but if it be carried about to be worshipped and showed to others, as meritorious for their remission and regeneration, to them it is no sacrament. II. No sacrament or ceremony doth profit or conduce but to them only, who take and use the same. III. Only the death of Christ, and the work of his sacrifice upon the cross, is to be applied to every man by faith, for salvation and health of his soul. Besides this work alone, to apply any action or work of priest or any other person, as meritorious of itself, and conducible to salvation, to soul's health, or to remission of sins, it is idolatry, and derogatory to the testament of God, and to the blood of Christ prejudicial. IV. To make idols of sacraments, and to worship dumb things for the living God, it is idolatry; "Fugite idola," &c. V. Every good work, whatsoever it be, that a man doth, profiteth only himself, and cannot be applied to other men, 66 ex opere operato," to profit them unto merit or remissions; only the actions of Christ excepted. (1) Hist. Eccle. lib. viii. cap. 5. (2) 1 Cor. x. VIII. VI. No man can apply to another the sacrifice of Christ's death Henry by any work-doing, but every man must apply it to himself by his own believing: "Justus ex fide sua vivet.' VII. The sacrifice of Christ's death doth save us freely by itself, and not by the means of any man's working for us. VIII. The passion of Christ once done, and no more, is a full and a perfect oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, both original and actual: by virtue of which passion the wrath of God is pacified towards mankind for ever, Amen. IX. The passion of Christ once done, is only the object of that faith of ours which justifieth us, and nothing else. And therefore, whosoever setteth up any other object beside that passion once done, for our faith to apprehend and behold the same, teacheth damnable doctrine, and leadeth to idolatry. A. D. 1540. crament of the supper its right masses. Against all these rules private masses directly do repugn. For first, The sabesides that they transgress the order, example, and commandment of Christ (who divided the bread and cup to them all), they also Lord's bring the sacrament out of the right use whereunto, principally, it put out of was ordained. For whereas the use of that sacrament is principally use, by instituted for a testimonial and remembrance of Christ's death, the private private mass transferreth the same to another purpose, either to make of it a gazing idol, or a work of application meritorious, or a sacrifice propitiatory for remission of sins, or a commemoration for souls departed in purgatory: according as it is written in their mass book, Pro quorum memoria corpus Christi, sumitur: pro quorum memoria sanguis Christi sumitur," &c., whereas Christ saith contrary, "Hoc facietis in meam commemorationem." 66 Furthermore, the institution of Christ is broken in this, that whereas the communion was given in common, the private mass suffereth the priest alone to eat and drink up all; and when he hath done, to bless the people with the empty cup. put out in Secondly, whereas sacraments properly profit none but them that Christ's use the same, in the private mass the sacrament is received in the memory behoof not only of him that executeth, but of them also that stand dirige looking on, and of them also that be far off, or dead and in purgatory. masses. cation. Thirdly, when by the Scripture nothing is to be applied for An appliremission of our sins, but only the death of Christ, cometh in the private mass, as a work meritorious done by the priest; which being applied to others, is available "ex opere operato," both to him that doth it, and to them for whom it is done, "ad remissionem peccatorum." tion. Fourthly, private masses, and all other masses now used, of the Adoration sacrament make an idol; of commemoration make adoration; in- and oblastead of receiving, make a deceiving; in place of showing forth Christ's death, make new oblations of his death; and of a communion make a single sole supping, &c. Fifthly, whereas, in this general frailty of man's nature, no man Meriting can merit by any worthiness of working for himself, the priest, in his for others. private mass, taketh upon him to merit both for himself, and for many others. (1) Hab. il. Henry VIII. Sixthly, it standeth against Scripture, that the sacrifice and death of Christ can be applied any otherwise to our benefit and justification, A.D. than by faith: wherefore it is false that the action of the mass can apply the benefit of Christ's death unto us, ex opere operato, sine 1540. Private masses the free grace of God. bono motu utentis vel sacrificantis." 66 Seventhly, whereas the benefit of our salvation and justifying against standeth by the free gift and grace of God, through our faith in Christ; contrarily, the application of these popish masses stoppeth the freeness of God's grace, and maketh that this benefit must first come through the priests' hands, and his "opus operatum," unto us. The eighth contrariety between private mass and God's word is in this; that where the Scripture saith,1 "With one oblation he hath made perfect them that be sanctified for ever:" against this rule the private mass proceedeth in a contrary doctrine, making of one oblation a daily oblation, and that which is perfectly done and finished, anew to be done again: and finally, that which was instituted only for eating, and for a remembrance of that oblation of Christ once done, the popish mass maketh an oblation, and a new satisfaction daily to be done for the quick and the dead. They turn our Christ's To conclude, these both private and public masses of priests, turn faith from away the object of our faith from the body of Christ sacrificed, to body cru- the body of Christ in their masses. And whereas God annexeth cified, to no promise of justification, but only to our faith in the body of crificed in Christ crucified, they do annex promise of remission "à pœna et culpa," Christ sa their masses. to the body in their masses sacrificed, by their application; besides divers other horrible and intolerable corruptions which spring of their private and public masses, which here I leave to others at their leisure further to conceive and to consider. Now let us proceed to the other articles following. THE FOURTH AND FIFTH ARTICLES; OF VOWS AND PRIESTS' MARRIAGE. As we have discoursed before, by stories and order of time, the antiquity of the three former articles above mentioned, to wit, of transubstantiation, of the half communion, and of private masses; so now, coming to the article of vows, and that of priests' marriage, the reader will look, perchance, to be satisfied in this likewise, as in the other before, and to be certified from what continuance of time these vows and unmarried life of priests have continued; wherein, although sufficient hath been said before in the former process of this history, as in the life of Anselm, also of pope Hildebrand, &c., yet, for the better establishing of the reader's mind against this wicked article of priests' marriage, it shall be no great labour lost, here briefly to recapitulate in the tractation of this matter, either what before hath been said, or what is more to be added. And to the intent that the world may see and judge the said law and decree of priests' single sole life, to be a doctrine of no ancient standing here within this realm, but only since the time of Anselm, I will first allege for me the words of Henry of Huntingdon,' here following: (1) Unica oblatione consummavit eos, qui sanctificantur in perpetuum.' Heb. x. (2) Eodem anno ad festum Michaelis tenuit Anselmus archiepiscopus concilium apud Londomas: in quo prohibuit sacerdotibus Anglorum uxores antea non prohibitas. Quod quibusdam A. D. The same year, at the feast of St. Michael, Anselm, the archbishop of Can- Henry terbury, held a synod at London; in which synod he forefended priests here VIII. in England to have wives, which they were not inhibited before to have: which constitution seemed to some persons very pure and chaste. To others again it seemed very dangerous, lest while that men should take upon them such chastity, more than they should be able to bear, by that occasion they might haply fall into horrible filthiness, which should redound to the exceeding slander of christian profession,' &c. 1 1540. Albeit I deny not but before the time also of Anselm, both Odo, and after him Dunstan archbishop of Canterbury, and Ethelwold bishop of Winchester, and Oswald bishop of Worcester, in the days of king Edgar, A.D. 959, as they were all monks themselves, so were they great doers against the marriage of priests, placing monks in churches and colleges, and putting out the married priests, as ye may read before; yet, notwithstanding, neither was that in many churches, and also the priests then married were not constrained to leave their wives, or their rooms, but only at their own choice. For so writeth Malmesbury, "Therefore divers and sundry clerks of many churches, being put to their choice, whether to change their weed, or to part from their places, went their ways," &c. So also Elfric, after them (of whom mention was made before), was somewhat busy in setting forward the single life of priests, and Lanfranc likewise. But yet this restraint of priests' lawful marriage was Priests never publicly established for a law here, in the church of England, strained before the coming of Anselm, in the days of William Rufus and from their king Henry I., writing in these words: "Boldly I command, by the nerally in authority which I have by my archbishopric, not only within my archbishopric, but also throughout England, that all priests that keep women, shall be deprived of their churches, and all ecclesiastical benefices," &c.; as ye may read more at large before: which was much about the same time when Hildebrand also, at Rome, began to attempt the same matter, as before hath been showed; and also besides him were other popes more, as pope Innocent III., Nicholas II., and Calixtus II., by whom the act against priests' marriage was brought at length to its full perfection, and so hath continued ever since. Long it were, and tedious, to recite here all such constitutions of councils provincial and general, namely, of the council of Carthage and of Toledo, which seemed to work something in that behalf against the matrimony of priests. Again, longer it were to number up the names of all such bishops and priests, who, notwithstanding, have been married since that time in divers countries, as more amply shall be showed (the Lord willing) in the sequel hereof. In the mean season, as touching the age and time of this devilish prohibition for priests to have their wives, this is to be found by credible proofs and conferring of histories, that about the year of our Saviour 1067,2 at what time pope Hildebrand began first to occupy the papal chair, this oath began first to be taken of archbishops and bishops, that they should suffer none to enter into mundissimum visum est, quibusdam periculosum: ne dum munditias viribus majores appeterent, in immunditias horribiles ad Christiani nominis summum dedecus inciderent,' &c. De Historia Anglorum, lib. vii. (1) Itaque clerici multarum ecclesiarum, data optione ut aut amictum mutarent aut locis valedicerent,' &c. Malmesb. in Vita Dunstani. (2) Hildebrand became pope, A.D. 1073.-ED. X VOL. V. first re wives ge England. |