Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.

to preche to þe peple & leue here solitarie [solarie X.] preiere, hou dore we fonnyd heretikys seie þat it is betre to be stille & preie oure owen fonnyd ordynaunce þan to preche cristis gospel? Lord, what cursed spirit of lesyngis stiriþ prestis to close hem in stonys or wallis for al here lif, siþ crist comaundiþ to alle his apostlis & prestis to goo in-to alle þe world & preche þe gospel. certis þei ben opyn foolis & don pleynly aȝenst cristis gospel &, ȝif þei meyntenen þis errour, þei ben cursed of god [omitted X.] & ben perilous ypocritis & heretikis also; & siþ men ben holden heretikis þat done aȝenst þe popis lawe,3 & þe beste part of þe popis lawe3 [3_3 omitted X.] seiþ pleynly þat eche þat comeþ to presthod takiþ þe office of a bedele or criere to goo bifore domesday [page 166] to crie to þe peple here synnes & vengaunce of god, whi ben not þo prestis heretikis þat leuen to preche cristis gospel, & compelle oþere treue men to leue prechynge of þe gospel, siþ þis lawe is seynt gregoryes lawe, groundid opynly in goddis lawe & reson & charite, & oþere lawes of þe peple ben contrarie to holy writt & reson & charite for to meyntene pride & coueitise of anticristis worldly clerkis. but ypocritis allegen þe gospel, þat magdaleyne chees to hereself þe beste part whanne she saat bisiden cristis feet & herde his word; soþ [seiþ AA.] it is þat þis meke sittynge & deuout herynge of cristis wordis was best to magdeleyne, for sche hadde not office of prechynge as prestis han, siþ sche was a womman þat hadde not auctorite of goddis lawe to teche & preche opynly. but what is þis dede to prestis þat han expresse þe comaundement of god & men to preche þe gospel? where þei wolen alle be wommen in ydelnesse, & suen not ihū crist in lif & prechynge þe gospel þat he comaundiþ hym self boþe in þo olde lawe and newe. ¶ Also þis peisible [posible X.] herynge of cristis word & brennynge loue þat magdeleyne hadde was þe beste part, for it schal be ende in heuene of good lif in þis world; but in þis world [lif X.] þe beste lif for prestis is holy lif in kepynge goddis hestis & trewe prechynge of þe gospel, as crist dide &
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 189
Publication
London,: Pub. for the Early English text society, by Trübner & co.,
1880.

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"The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/aeh6713.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 10, 2025.
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