The interpretacyon, and sygnyfycacyon of the Masse Here begynneth a good deuoute boke to the honoure of god, of our lady his mother, [and] of all sayntes, and ryght profytable to all good Catholyke persones, to knowe howe they shall deuoutly here masse. And how salutaryly they shal confesse them. And how reuerently and honourably they shall go to the holy sacrament or table of our sauyour Ihesu chryste, with dyuerse other profytable documents and oraysons or prayers here conteyned, composed and ordeyned by frere Gararde, frere mynoure, of the ordre of the Obseruauntes.

¶ The .xxiii. Chapytre / howe the mā shall dyspose hym selfe to here masse.

HE that wyll deuoutly and me¦rytoryously here masse in the temple of god / he shall mount or ascēde .vi. steppes or degrees that is to say: that he shall haue in hym selfe

syxe vertues / the whiche be fygured vnto vs in the temple of Salomon / whiche had syxe degrees or steppes goynge vpwarde. ¶ The fyrste degre or condycyon is / to desy¦re to be incontynent and without any tary¦enge at the seruyce of god / That is to saye / that as soone as ye here that they rynge the fyrste pele to masse / ye shall cast downe all maner of thynges out of your handes / and shall go to the seruyce of god / takyng exam¦ple at the thre kynges / whiche dyde leue all maner of thynge / and came from the Eest parte serchyng the lytell chylde ī Bethleem at the fyrste token & warnynge of the sterre. Wherfore all busynes that come and chaun¦ce to man goynge towardes the churche / & that he maye well let it passe / he shall let it be vndone vnto another tyme. And yf he can not let it passe without shame / he shall answere quyckely / as Dauid the prophete sayd. Good lorde thou haste made my fete lyke to the fete of a harte. Vpon this saynt Gregorye saythe / that whan a harte dothe renne vpon a hygh mountayne / he doth le∣pe ouer all that he dothe mete / and so shall we do in lykewyse. For the enemye of god and man whiche is the deuyll of hell / doth serche somtymes many wayes for to drawe

man from the seruyce of god / as from the masse / sermon / euen songe / and other dyuy∣ne seruyce. Or elles yf he can not lette hym from the hole / yet he wyll let hym from as moche as he maye: so that many folkes do tary in the waye talkynge or chydynge / or otherwyse occupyed tyll that the seruyce of god is halfe done. Therfore our lorde god dyd forbyd his dyscyples / to talke or reason with any person in the hygh waye. Wherfo¦re it is good that the man erely in the mor∣nynge do go to masse afore that any person maye let hym. For as Iob sayth / he that ere¦ly in the mornynge dothe serche for god / he shall fynde hym: for than man hath greater deuocyon / thā at any other tyme of the daye whan the wyttes be occupyed.

¶ The seconde degre or condycion is humy¦lyte: so that the {per}son ought not to entre in to the churche or temple of god / by great pom∣pe and pryde as the Pharazen dyd. For ma¦ny folkes (which god amēde) go to the chur¦che more to be seen or to se other / than for de¦uocyon or the helth of theyr soules / the whi∣che be afore god: as the proude Lucyfer was in heuen and Adam in paradyse. Therfore man shall come to the churche with humy∣lyte / as dyd the Publycane knockynge on

his brest sayenge. O good lorde haue mercy of me poore synner. And than god shall he∣re & exalte his prayer. For saynt Bernarde speketh a notable worde / sayeng that man that doth humylyate & meke hym selfe here in erth as lowe as he can / god wyll exalte hym as hygh as he can in heuen. And he y^t doth exalt hym selfe here in erth as hygh as he can / god shall humylyate and caste hym as depe in hell as he can. O mercyfull god / howe depe shall some folkes descende in to hell / which be ashamed through theyr great pryde to humylyate them self afore the. So that ī heryng masse / some persones do wal¦ke vp and downe in the churche: other some do sytte at theyr most case / and other some do knele but of one kne / theyr bonettes fast nayled to theyr heddes / & so dyd the Iewes knele of one kne / whan they mocked oure lorde and dyd spytte in his face. O what ly¦tell knowlege / loue and fere haue suche fol¦kes of god: for the holy aūgelles be standyn¦ge vpryght with great reuerence and fere / afore the face of god. And the proude & styn¦kynge creature of god the man / doth swell with pryde and without any fere or drede. Ye do se that whan a man shall be hedded / that he doth knele on bothe his knees / with

his handes ioyned togyther afore hym that shall do the execucyon: and the poore & wret¦ched synner / is ashamed to humylyate hym selfe afore god. Here what our lorde Ihesu doth speke of the man / he that is ashamed to serue me afore the worlde / I wyll be a∣shamed of hym afore my father celestyall. Wherfore the man as soone as he is entred in to the churche: shal knele on both his knees with great humylyte and mekenes of herte in showynge to god his synnes / sayenge. O good lorde haue mercy of me poore syn∣ner / or other lyke wordes as ye shall fynde hereafter wryten / in the .xxx. Chapytre: for suche prayer god doth exalte / and doth ascē¦de in to heuen afore the face of god / & dothe not departe from thens / vnto it hath obtey¦ned all thynge that it doth demaūde for the helth of the soule.

¶ The thyrde degre or condycyon / to here masse deuoutly / is contrycyon or repentaū∣ce of al the deedly synnes that the man hath done. And whan the man shall thus haue mekened & humylyate hym selfe afore god / he shal haue made his peace with god: afore that he wyl praye for any thynge / For god doth hate the syn̄ers / & cannot se them whi¦che do not repent them of theyr syn̄es with

all theyr hertes. Therfore our lorde speketh by the prophete Esaye and sayth. Whan ye entre in to the churche and do lyft your han¦des on hyghe to me / I wyll tourne myne iyes from you: and whan ye crye to me / I wyll not here you / for your handes be full of blode: that is to say full of syn̄e. Of this ye maye haue example / yf ye wyll desyre & obteyne any thyng of a prynce or of a great lorde / the whiche is angry with you & doth hate you: so that he can not abyde the syght of you / ye muste fyrste fynde the meanes to content and pacyfye hym. And that done / desyre what ye wyll reasonably & ye shall obteyne. For otherwyse as saynt Gregory sayth / ye shulde prouoke hym to be more an¦gry and dyspleased with you. Therfore as Iohan Gerson chaunceller of Parys doth wryte / euery man oughte one tyme of the daye saye this orayson & prayer folowynge with all deuoute premedytacyon. For yf it do chaunce that the man dye sodaynly that same daye or nyght: he shal not be dampned nor pryuate of the syght of the gloryous fa∣ce of god / in case that he do saye this prayer with all his herte / and with cōtrycyon and repentaunce of his synnes.

¶ The prayer.

O Most benygne and mercyful god / I knowlege & confesse that I haue greuously syn∣ned agaynst thy wyl and cō¦maūdement / aboue the nom¦bre of sterres. Wherof I am very sory and contryte ī my herte / and am sory that I can not repent me a hondreth tymes more than I do. Wherfore good lorde / I vndertake from hensforth / that yf I do lyue a hōdreth yeres more / I wyll kepe me (with thy gra∣ce) from all deedly synne. And also I haue a good and a ferme wyll to confesse all my synnes at the tyme ordeyned by the churche / & wyll also do penaunce for all my synnes after the counceyll of my confessoure.

¶ The fourth degre or condycyon is / to con¦sydre that the man beynge ī the churche shal cast all temporall & worldly busynes from his herte / in as moche as he can possyble / & onely shal occupye hym selfe with god and that thynge that he doth rede or saye / to the entent that he maye saye with Dauyd. O good lorde I haue cryed vnto the with all my herte. And that is y^t thynge / to the whi¦che the preest dothe monysshe & exhorte vs in the masse sayenge / Sursum corda / that

is to saye / lyft vp your hertes to almyghty god. And than the clerke doth answere in the name of all them that do here the masse / Habemus ad dominum / whiche is to saye / we haue our hert{is} towardes god. O wold to god that it myghte be alwayes so: for yf we dyd praye as we ought to do / we shuld obteyne all thynge that we wolde desyre. And therfore god doth not regarde the wor¦des that we do speke in prayenge / but he de¦syre the herte of the mā. Wherfore Isodorus sayth: that a prayer made and sayd onely of the mouthe withoute any premedytacyon / doth as moche preuayle as the kackelynge of a henne. Wherfore whā ye wyll rede any thynge in prayenge to god for grace ye shal say thus. O good lord gyue me thy dyuyne grace to rede & saye my prayer deuoutly / to the entēt that it may be exalted of the. And yf any other thynge come in my mynde / I do reuoke now as for thā: this prayer sayd. God (as saynt Thomas doth wryte) shall receyue it all for the beste. And therfore the man shall not coueyte to rede moche / as so∣me do whiche haue sackes full of bokes / & great longe bedes / as they wolde tarye all the daye in the churche. Yet neuertheles they wyll rede all in one masse tyme / not regar∣dynge

what they do rede. But the mā must praye with a very pure herte / for the prayer ought to be feruēt deuout / & shorte of word{is} as our lorde doth showe vs in the gospell. Therfore saynt Ierome saith: y^t one Pater nr̄ / sayd with deuocion / is better & more pro¦fytable thā an hondreth without deuocion. ¶ The fyfth degre or condycyon is scylence so y^t the man ought to kepe hym from moch talkynge in the churche / as many folkes do not / as well men as women / yonge & olde great and small / but there do talke and ian¦gle as they were ī the hygh strete. And other some do walke vp and downe in the chur∣che showyng them selfe as they were in the market / wherby they do let & trouble other of theyr deuocyon / the whiche they haue not in them selfe. And other some there be / whi∣che do speke vnhonest & vycyous wordes / no more regardyng the temple of god than a tauerne / wherof the deuyll doth reioyse & is glad. Nowe is accōplysshed that Dauid doth speke of the Infydels and Sarazyns sayenge. Deus venetūt gentes / hoc est gen¦tiliter viuentes. &c. that is to saye: the Sara¦zyns and Infydels / that is to saye / the cry∣sten people lyuynge lyke vnto Infydels / become in to your herytage: that is io saye /

in the catholyke fayth / and haue maculate the holy temple. And without doubte / the Iewes haue greater reuerence in theyr syna¦goge / than many chrysten people haue ī the tēple of god: where god is alwayes {pre}sent in the holy sacrament of the aulter / cōsyderyn∣ge / seynge / and herynge all your wordes & thoughtes. Wherfore whan ye do entre in to the churche which is the temple of god / tour¦ne your iyes from the people and remembre your synnes / and the passyon of our lorde / and rede some good thynge.

¶ The syxte degre or condycyon that man shall haue to here masse deuoutly / is perse∣ueraūce / so that ye shall here the hole masse from the begynnynge to the endynge / and shall not out of the churche vnto it be fynys¦shed / and that the preest haue gyuen the blys¦synge / excepte great necessyte requyre it / & specyally on sondayes and other holy dayes for it is so cōmaūded by the lawe. Agaynst this some do offende which do walke in the churcheyarde there talkynge and iangelyn¦ge / and whan the preest doth lyft oure lorde in the blyssed sacrament / they do renne and entre in to the churche / as the dogge in to the kechynge / and incontynent they do go out agayne. All those that so do by custome &

doth not regarde the cōmaundement of the holy churche / they do cōmyt a deedly synne at euery tyme. O good lorde what small de¦uocyon / loue / & fere haue the people of god: they be lothe to bestowe one houre to here masse / serue god / and norysshe the soule: but they be not lothe to myspende thre or foure houres at the table in eatynge and drynkyn¦ge / for to norysshe the body the whiche shall rote and be eten with wormes. O man re∣membre of what vertue the blyssynge whi¦che the preest dothe gyue after the masse is / for his hādes haue mynystred at the aulter: the blyssed body of our lorde Ihesu chryste. So god in the olde Testament dyde blysse the chyldren / whiche were blyssed of theyr fathers / as Abrahā blyssed his sone Isaac: Isaac blyssed his sone Iacob / and Iacob all his chyldren of the .xii. generacyons of Israell / by the whiche blyssynge god oft ty¦mes dyd saue and delyuer them from many perylles and euylles. Moche more god wyl be mercyful vnto vs and kepe vs from so dayne deth: yf we do receyue with all humy¦lyte the blyssynge of the preest / at the ende of his masse / for his handes be moche more holy / thā were the hādes of the olde fathers. And by the blyssynge of the preest / we be

made worthy of the blyssynge of our lorde god in heuen. Therfore whan the preest gy¦ueth the blyssynge after masse / ye shall kne¦le downe vpon your knees: with your heed bare and inclyned towardes the grounde / in receyuynge the same. Wherof we haue many fayre examples / the whiche shuld be to prolyxe and longe to descrybe. Yet neuer theles ye shall haue twayne in shorte wor¦des here declared.

¶ Example.

WE rede that there was a coue¦reur of howses: whiche beyn¦ge vpon the toppe or hyghte of a howse there workynge / sodaynly fell downe to the grounde / without hurtyng hym selfe or ha∣uynge any maner of harme. The people se∣ynge this dyd renne vnto hym / thynkynge that he was dede / and they dyd fynde hym hole & sounde: and they dyd say vnto hym. Thou haste ben well blyssed this daye / He answered and sayd it is true: for I had this daye the blyssynge / whiche the preest gaue after the masse / whose handes had touched the body of our lord Ihesu chryste. And my fayth & byleue was / that after the blyssyn∣ge which I receyued hūbly after the masse

I shulde not dye sodaynly without confes∣syon / as nowe ye maye se.

¶ Example.

WE rede moreouer of two men whiche were cōpaygnons & felowes in mar¦chaundyse / of the whiche the one receyued alwayes the blyssynge of the preest / and the other neuer dyd regarde nor care for it. And one day as they were goynge in theyr iourney / there came a great tempest of thon¦dre and lyghtnynge / of the whiche tempest he that was neuer wont to receyue the blys¦synge of the preest nor to regarde it / was stryken to deth / and the other whiche was alwayes wonte to receyue the blyssynge / was saued and not hurte.