Of the institution of the sacrament of the blessed bodie and blood of Christ, (by some called) the masse of Christ eight bookes; discovering the superstitious, sacrilegious, and idolatrous abominations of the Romish masse. Together with the consequent obstinacies, overtures of perjuries, and the heresies discernable in the defenders thereof. By the R. Father in God Thomas L. Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield.

The third Romish Transgression of the Canon of Christ his Masse; contradicting the sence of the next words of Christs Command, viz. [—GAVE IT VNTO THEM.]

SECT. V.

IT followeth in the Canon of Christ his Masse, [And hee gaue it vnto them;] euen to THEM, to whom hee said, [Take yee, eate yee.] By which pluralitie of persons is excluded all private Massing; forasmuch as our High Priest Christ Iesus (who in insti∣tuting and administring of this Sacrament would not be alone) said hereof, as of the other Circumstances, [Doe this.]

The Contrarie Canon of the (now) Romane Masse.

This holy Synod (saith your a Councell of Trent) doth approue and commend the Masses, wherein the Priest doth Sacramentally communicate alone. So your Church.

CHALLENGE.

BVt who shall iustifie that her Commendation of the alone-com∣municating of your Priest? which we may iustly condemne by the liberall b Confessions of your owne Doctors; who grant,

first, that this is not according to the Institution of Christ, saying in the Plurall, [To them.] Secondly, nor to the practice of the Apo∣stles, who were Communicating together in prayer and breaking of bread. Act. 2. 46. that is (say they) aswell in the Eucharist as in Prayer. Thirdly, Nor to the ancient Custome of the whole Church, both Greek and Romane. Fourthly, neither to Two c Councels, the one called Na∣netense, the other Papiense, decre••ing against Priuate Masse. Fiftly, nor to the very names of the true d Sacramentall Masse: which, by way of Excellencie, was sometime called [Synaxis] signifying (as S. Basil saith) the Congregation of the faithfull: somtimes 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Communion, or Communicating: and sometimes the Prayers, vsed in euery holy Masse, were e called [Collectae] Collects, because the people vsed to be collected to the celebration of the Masse it selfe. Sixtly, Nor to the very Canon of the now Romane Masse, saying in the Plurall [Sumpsimus] we haue receiued. And thereupon (seuenth∣ly) repugnant to the Complaints of your owne men, against your Abuse; who calling the ioynt Communion, instituted by Christ, the f Legitimate Masse; doe wonder how your Priests sole Com∣municating euer crept into the Church; and also deplore the con∣tempt, which your priuate Masse hath brought vpon your Church. Hitherto (see the Marginals) from your owne Confessions.

Let vs adde the absurditie of the Commendation of your Coun∣cell of Trent, in saying, We commend the Priest's communicating a∣lone. A man may indeed possibly talke alone, fret alone, play the Traytor alone: but this Communicating alone, without any other, is no better Grammar than to say that a man can conferre alone, conspire alone, contend, or Couenant alone. Caluine saith indeed of spirituall Eating, which may be without the Sacrament (as you also g confesse) that a faithfull man may feede alone of the Body and Blood of Christ: But our dispute is of the Sacramentall Communica∣ting thereof.

A SECOND CHALLENGE

Against the former Prevarication, condemning this Romane Custome by the Romane Masse it selfe.

VVEe make bold yet againe to condemne your Custome of Priuate Masse, and consequently the Commendation giuen

thereof by the Councel of Trent. For by the Canon of your owne Masse, wherein there are Interlocutorie speeches betweene Priest and People at the Celebration of this Sacrament, the Priest saying [Dominus vobiscum: The Lord be with you;] and the People answe∣ring the Priest, and saying [And with thy Spirit] your Cl. Espencaeus, sometimes a Parisian Doctor (one commended by h Genebrard for his Treatise vpon this same Subiect of the Priuate Masse) albeit he agreeth with the execrable Execration and Anathema of the Coun∣cell of Trent, against them that hold Solitarie Masses to be vnlawfull; yet after the expence of much paper, to prove that some private Masse must needs haue anciently beene, because Primitiuely Masse was celebrated almost in all Churches euery day; and that S. Chrysostome did complaine of the absence of the people: yet comming to determine of the poynt, i This Reason (saith hee) is onely probable, but not euident; for although they affirme a dayly cele∣bration of the Masse, yet doe they not denie a daily Communion.

Afterwards he seeketh the Originall and beginning of priuate Masse out of priuate k Monasteries: yet, not able to satisfie himselfe there, he commeth at length to debate a Controversie, where∣with many were then perplexed, to wit; how it could bee said by a Priest, being alone, [The Lord be with you;] or Answere be made to, and by the said Priest, being then alone, [And with thy Spirit.]

To this end he propoundeth many l Answeres, which I referre to your Choice; whether you will beleeue with Gratian, that the words [Dominus vobiscum: The Lord be with you] spoken by the Priest, being alone, may be thought to haue beene spoken to An∣gels: or, with Cameracensis, vnto Stones: or, with the Heremites in their Celles, vnto formes and Stooles: or else, with the Deane of the Cardinals, teaching any Heremite being alone, to say, [The Lord be with you] as spoken to himselfe. All which imaginarie fooleries are so vnworthy the Conceptions of but reasonable men, that we may feare to be held inconsiderate, if we should in∣deavor to confute them. Only we can say no lesse, than that if the Apostle did condemne them, who speake with strange languages

in the publike assemblie (although they that spake vnderstood themselues) because that in such a Case If (saith hee) there be none to interpret, and there come in an Ignorant or Infidel obseruing this, will hee not say, you are madde? how much more extreame Madnes must wee iudge this to be, where men either talke to themselues, or els (as if they were metamorphosed into the things, whereunto they speake) vnto formes, stones, stooles, and the like?

For Conclusion, heare the said Deane of the Romane Cardinals (from whom a m Greeke Archbishop shall not dissent) speake reason, and withall tell you that the Correspondencie of speech vsed be∣twixt Priest and People, was to vnite the hearts of both Priest and People together. Wee say, with him, to vnite them, not (as you doe) to separate People from Priest by your solitarie Masses; and yet to confound their speech by your [Dominus vobiscum.] And if this may not preuaile with you, yet me thinkes the authoritie of Pope Gregorie, sirnamed the Great, may command your beleefe. He vp∣on the forme of the Romane service, by an interchangeable speech betweene Priest and People, concludeth that n Therefore the Priest should not celebrate Masse alone. And yet behold a Greater Pope than hee, euen Soter, more ancient by 400. yeares, and also a Martyr, o decreeing, as most conuenient, (for Answere vnto the Priest's Vobiscum, and Orate) that there be two at least besides the Priest.

An Anonymus, not long since, would needs perswade his Reader that by [Vobiscum] was meant the Clerke of the Pa∣rish. But why was it then not said, Dominus tecum, The Lord be with thee? O, this forsooth, was spoken to the Clerke in civili∣ty, according to the ordinary Custome of intitling singular persons in the plurall number: and this Answere hee called Saluing of a doubt.

But any may replie, that if it were good manners in the Priest to call vpon the Clerke with [Vobiscum] in the plurall num∣ber for Civility-sake, it must then be rusticitie in your Church, to teach your Clerke to answere your Priest [Et cum Spiritu tuo: And with thy Spirit.] And againe, the Answere is impertinent, for where the Priest is found thus parling with the Clerke, he can∣not be said to be Alone. And so the Answere of this man must be indeed not Saluing, but (as the rest of his manner of answering) a Quack-saluing rather, and a meere Delusion.

A THIRD CHALLENGE Against the same Custome.

A Custome Commendable, say your Fathers of Trent; Condem∣nable, say wee, euen from your owne Consciences, because you were neuer hitherto able to produce either any Commendable, yea or Tollerable example, expresly recorded within the many Volumes of Antiquitie, of any celebration of the Eucharist, without a Communion; no, not in that only obiected place of p Chrysostome, whose Speech is not a Grant, that absolutely All were absent from his administration of the Eucharist: but certain∣ly it is a vehement Invective against all wilfull Absents. So farre was he from allowing, much more from Commending Communica∣ting alone, who else-where, against such as neglected to Communi∣cate with the poore, taking his Argument from the example of Christ, That Supper (q saith he) was common to All. The very Ar∣gument of Saint Hierome, saying (yet more obligatorily) r The Lord's Supper ought to bee common to All. Such Reverencers were the Primitive Fathers of the Ordinances of Christ. And as tou∣ching [Nemo, No man] in the testimonie of Chrysostome, it is knowne to be taken restrainedly, for Few; and so s acknowledged by your selves in the place objected.

Notes

• a

  Missas illas, in quibus solus Sacer∣dos sacramentaliter cōmunicat—probar atque adeò commen∣dat. Concil. Trid. Sess. 22. cap. 6.
• b

  Sunt qui in Mis∣sa communionem re∣quirunt: sic, fateor, à Christo institutum fuit, & ita olim fieri consuevit. Eras. Concord. Eccles. vers. finem. [Act. 2. Erant communicantes in Oratione & communicatione fractionis Panis] id est, in Eucharistia non minùs quàm oratione. Lorinus Ies. in Act. 2. 46. Odo Camera cens. in Canonem scribit, Missas solitarias antiquitùsi•• vsu Ecclesiae non fuisse.—Et hunc fuisse antiquum Ecclesiae Rom. morem, ••t plures de eodem Sacrificio participent, doctiss••••i quique agnoscunt.—Itáque hac nostra ae∣tate R. Pater, & vir doctiss▪ Ioh Hoffmeisterus his verbis suam sententiam declaravit. Res, inquit, clamat, tàm in Graeca quà•• in Latina Ecclesia non solùm Sacerdotem sacrificantem, sed & reliquos Presbyteros & Diaco∣nos, necnon & reliquam plebem, aut••altem plebis aliquam partem communicâsse, quod quomodò cessavit mi∣randum est.—Et aliquos cùm Sacerdote adfuisse, qui sacrificia laudis offerebant, & Sacramentorum participa∣bant, Canonis (Romani) verba manifestè significant: viz. Quot ex hac Altaris participatione sacrosanctum cor∣pus & sanguinem filij tui s••mpserimus, &c. Item, Prosint nobis divina Sacrificia, quae sumpsimus. Teste G. Cassan∣dro Consult. Art. 24. pag. 216, 217,—223. &c.
• c

  Idem Ioh: Hoff∣meisterus; Quomo∣dò (inquit) ordo an∣tiquus cessauerit, mi∣randum est, & ut bo∣nus ille usus reuo∣cetur laborandum. Nunc verò post∣quàm communionis ordo à nobis obser∣uari desijt, id{que} per negligentiam tàm plebis quàm Sacer∣dotum, ut ait Hospin.—Ex Canone quodam Cone Nan∣netensis, Sacerdos solus Missam cele∣brare vetatur: absur∣dum n. est ut dicat, [Dominus vobiscum: &, Sursum corda: &, gratias agimus Deo Domino nostro] cùm nullus est qui respon∣deat: aut ut dicat [Oremus] cùm nul∣lus adest qui secum oret.—Et simile Decretum reperitur in Conc. Papiensi, ut nullus Presby∣ter Missam celebra∣re praesumat—Cur autem Canon noster [Speaking of the forme of the Romane Masse] alijs in superstitio∣nem, alijs in contemptum adductus sit, in causa potissimum est mutatio prisci ritus. Georg. Cassand. quo sup.
• d

  Act. 2. 42. [Erant communicantes▪ &c.] Vsus fuit quondam frequentandae quotidiè Eucharistiae, non minùs quàm Orationis.—〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 sumitur pro usu istius Sacramenti 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Eadem est vis etiam vo∣cis 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 pro congregatione fidelium, ut interpretatur Basilius. Lorin. Ies. loco supra-citato.
• e

  Collectae, per figuram, dicebantur Preces, ab ipsa celebratione Missae, quum ad eam populus colligebatur. Bellar. l. 2. de Missa cap. 16. §. Post salutationem.
• See aboue at (b.)
• f

  Generaliter autem dicendum est, quòd illa est legitima Mis••a, in qua sunt Sacerdotes, Respondens, Offerens, at{que} Communicans, sicut ipsa precum compositio evidenti ratione demonstrat. Durand. l. 4. c. 1. pag. 174. Walf••idus Strabo, etiam aliqui antiqui∣ores Scholasticorum Interpretessolam legitimam Missam fatentur, cui interfuit Sacerdos, Respondentes, Of∣ferentes, at{que} Communicantes. Cassand. quo supra.
• g

  Qui dicunt Christum manducari spiritualiter à fidelibus posse, etiamsi Sacramentaliter non manducetur, at{que} eo cibo animam ali, ve∣ra quidem asserunt. Acosta Jes. de procur. Indorum Salut. c. 7. p. 532.
• See aboue at the letter (a)
• h

  Claudij Espen∣caei Theologi Parisi∣ensis Tractatus de u∣tra{que} Missa: quarum alteram publicam, al∣teram priuatam ap∣pe••lant. Operâ Gil∣berti Theologi Pari∣siensis. Genebrard.
• See below at the let∣ter (p.)
• i

  Haec & similia pro priuatarū Missarum usu & vetustate pro∣babilia quidem sunt, sed minus aperta, nec n. qui oblatum dicunt communicatum ne∣gant, &c. Espen. Tract. de vtra{que} Missa fol. 226. [where also had beene obiected the com∣plaint of Chrysostome, sc. fol. 222.]
• k

  Monachos, plus alioqui iam satis gra∣uatos invidiâ, pri∣mos prinatarum Mis∣sarum Authores fu∣isse, quidam faciunt. Espenc. ibid. fol. 227. Non est quòd ex pub∣licarum Missarum Monachis cùm in∣terdictione colliga∣mus Privatarum ab eis inventionem. Ib. fol. 228.
• l

  Dominus vobis∣cum, &c. Quarè salu∣tatio non Cleri mo∣dò sed & plebis fuit. Ex horum verborum occasione mota olim iam tanta quaestio, quâ non alia sit in hodiernis de religione contro∣versijs grauior au•• magis agitata.—Gratianus rospondet, piè credi, Angolorum in Missa praesentiam, & nobis orantibus assistentiam: ad Angelos igitur, cum deessent homines, salutationem hîc videtur retulisse. Ecquò n. aliò melius referret? An vel ad lapides? ut videtur ante illum Odo Cameracens. Episc. ad id Canonis [Et om∣nium circumastantium] cùm postea, inquit, mos inolevit solitarias Missas, & maximè in Coenobijs fieri, ubi non habeant quàm pluraliter Collectam salutent, nec plures mutare possunt salutationes, convertunt se ad Ecclesiam, dicentes, se Ecclesiam in Ecclesia salutare, & in corpore totum corpus colloqui. Exercuerat & ante hos Cardina∣lium Decanum à fratribus Eremitis proposita quaestio, utrum singulares in cellulis, & orantes iuxta morem Ec∣clesiaicum, sibimet dicere deberent [Dominus vobiscum] quando nemo sit qui responde••t? quidam etiam inter se sic rationabantur, Hoc lapidibus▪ aut tabulis dicendum. Respondet peculiari opusculo, quod & ideò in∣scriptum, Dominus vobiscum.—Ca. 4. In his docuit seruandam Ecclesiae consuetudinem, & hanc Sacerdotalem salutationem nec per traditionem permutari licere: Ecclesia siquidem Christiana tanta charitatis inter se com∣page invicem connectitur, ut in pluribus una, & in singulis sit per mysterium tota; & unaquae{que} electa anima per Sacramenti mysterium plena esse credatur Ecclesia. Thus far Espen. quo sup fol. 212, 213. & Gers. Tract. Qu••stion. cum Resp. Quid Sacerdos gerit vicem popull.
• 1. Cor. 14. 23.
• m

  Sacerdos di∣cit [Pax omnibus vobis:] quoniam au∣tem pro se invicem precari est praecep∣tum Apostolicum, propterea populus quo{que} ei ipsam pa∣cem precatur, di∣cens, [Et cum spi∣ritu tuo.] Nic. cabas. Archiep. Thessal. Ann. Dom. 1350. Exposit. Liturg. cap. 25.
• n

  Greg. Papa. Sa∣cerdos Missam solus nequaquam celebret; quià sicut illa cele∣brari non potest sine salutatione Sacerdo∣tis, & responsione plebis: ità nequa∣quàm ab uno debet celebrari, esse n. de∣bent qui ei circum∣stent, quos ille salu∣tet, ad reducendum in memoriam illud Dominicum [Vbi∣cun{que} sunt duo aut tres congregati.] Teste Cassandro Li∣turg. fol. 96.
• o

  Soter B. of Rome Ann. 170. [who suffe∣red Martyrdome, made this Decree for cele∣brating of Masse:] Vt nullus Presbytero∣rum praesumat, nisi duobus praesentibus, & ipse tertius habe∣atur: quià cùm plu∣raliter ibi dicitur [Dominus vobiscum] & illud in secret is [Orate pro me] apertissimè convenit, ut ipsius respondeatur salu∣tationi. Witnes M. Harding Art. 1. Divis. 29. apud Iuellum.
• One that of late writ to a Popish Ladie, not discouering his name.
• p

  Chrysost. in E∣phes. Hom. 3. Frustrà habetur quotidiana oblatio, frustra sta∣mus ad altare, cum nemo est qui parti∣cipet. Ob. à Bellar. lib. 2. de Missa, cap. 9. [Not that in these dai∣ly Celebrations None at all did communicate with the Priest: for he was accompanied, at least, with some Eccle∣siastiques; as is implyed in the words, (Stam{us} ad Altare) And it is no rare Hyperbole in Chrysostome to vse the word, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, for, a Paucitie.]
• q

  Chrysost. Illa coena (Christi) communiter omnes accumbentes habuit. Tom. 4. in illum locum Pauli; Oportet Haereses esse. 1. Cor. 11. 19.
• r

  Hieron. Coena Domini dicitur, quia Dominus in coena tradi∣dit Sacramenta. Dominica coena debet omnibus esse communis. In 1. Cor. cap 11.
• [For againe, if it should be strictly racked, so should he himselfe not have participated, and then was it no Masse at all. But Chrysostom's Rheto∣rique, in Hyperbolizing, is noted especially by your Senensis; as may be obserued in Chrysostome's like Invectiue against the carnall securitie of men, even in the word, Nemo: Nemo divina sapit: nemo terrena contemnit: nemo ad coe∣lum attendit. Hom. 12. ad Heb. Now, None is so sencelesse as to thinke hereby that Chrysostome thought himselfe abso∣lutely to be wholy alone.]
• s

  [Frustrà stamus, &c.] Ex quibus verbis apparet, in his quotidianis Missis solos ferè Ministros & Clericos, paucos verò autnullos à populis communicâsse. G. Cassander de Liturg. Chrysost•• [Yea and Epenseus durst not relie vpon this Testimonie.