The Relics of Rome, Part 20
Of the Lordes Supper, commonly called of the papistes, The sacrament of the altare.
Unleauened breade.POpe Alexander the fyrste commaunded, that only vnleuended bread shuld be vsed at the Lords supper. In the yeare, &c. 119. Lib, Concil. Grat. Plat. Sabell.
☞Before that time the bread appoynted for the Lords Supper was indifferent, whether it wer leuended or vnleuended. Notwithstanding the Grekes from the Apostles tyme vntounto this daye hauehave euer vsed leuended bread in the ministration of the Lordes Supper, as they vse also wine only in their cuppe, where as suche as be vnderunder the Pope customably mingle water wt the wine according to Pope Alexanders decree.
Pope Nicolas the seconde decreed,The carnal presence of Christ published by pope Nicolas in the sacrament. yt the bread and the wine, whiche are set vponupon the altare, are not only after the conseeration, the sacramentes of ye bodye and bloud of Christ, but they ar also the very self same body and bloud of our Lord & sauiour Iesu Christ, yt was borne of Mary the Uirgine, so that the very bodye of Christ is there truly and vnfaynedly handled of the priests handes, broken and torne on peces with ye teeth of ye faithfull. In the yere, &c. 1961. De consecrat. Dist. 2. Ego. Berengarius.
Pope Innocent the third assembled at Rome in the councell Laterane a wonderfullTrāsubstā tiatiō deuised and cō fyrmed. swarme of spirituall smeared shorelinges to the number of .xii. hundred and odde, wherof .viii. hundred at the least wer monkes, fryers, chanons, and such other monkyshe monstures, which with one consent for ye maintenaunce of theyr beastly idlenesse & idle beastlinesse, deuised & confyrmed ye doctrine of transubstātiatiō, making it an article of our faith to beleue in payn of damnation, that after the prieste hath whispered ouer ye bread & wine a fewe latine words, as Hoc est enim corpus meum. Hic est enim sanguis meus &c: the bread is turned into the natural bodye of Christ, fleshe, bloud & bone, sinowes, guttes & loynes, euen as he was borne of Mary the Uirgine, and hanged on ye crosse. Agayne the wine is turned into ye very naturall bloud of Christ, which he receaued of Mary the Uirgine, as it was shedde for our redemption on the crosse, no substance of bread and wine remayning, but the very substance of bread & wine turned vntounto the naturall substance of the body & bloud of Christ, onelyonly ye accidentss of bread & wine remaining, this monsture of transubstā tiation was hatched and brought forth by Antichrist and his chaplaynes. In the yeare, &c. 1215. Decret. de summa trinitate, Cap. Firmiter.
But as this doctrine of transubstantiation was vnknowen to the Church of Christ before ye wicked and vnlawfull assemblye of ye venimous dragon pope Innocent & hys pestilent papistes: euen so lykewyse from ye beginnyng, vntounto thys daye would ye churche of the Grekes neuer receaue it, but alwayes hauehave abhorred it as a newe & straunge,The Grekes would neuer admit trāsubstantiation. yea, a deuelysh and damnable tradition of Antichrist,☜ as they in lyke manner woulde neuer admit that wicked & exe…rable traditiō of receauing the sacrament of Christes bodye and bloude vnderunder one kynde contrary to the institution of Christ, nor the damnable and deuelyshe decree of the syngle lyfe of priestes, althoughe that Romyshe Antichrist with the Satanicall Sectaryes hauehave soughte all meanes possible to bring it to passe.
Pope Honorius the thyrd dyd not only commaunde,The sacrament worshipped▪ & car…ed about to the sicke, &c. yt the sacrament of the altare (as the papistes terme it) should be worshipped and kneled vntounto of the people, but also that it should be borne vntounto the sycke after a most comely sort with al reuerence and honour, yea and that with candlelight also, thoughe it be at hye noone dayes. In the yere, &c. 1214. D. 3, Tit. 1. Cap. 10. Lib. Concil. Pant.
Pope Innocent the thyrde ordayned,The sacrament reserued. that the sacrament of the altare should be kept in ye churches cōtinually vnderunder locke and keye, to the entent to be in a redinesse at al times, least, saith he, thei that are sicke, should want ye spirituall cōfort in ye troublesome tyme of death. In the yere,Agaynste ye reseruation of the Sacrament. &c. Lib. Concil. Chron. Pant. But in ye primatiue church there was no such reseruation and kepyng of the sacramental bread eyther for the sicke or for the hole, as it is at this presente. For in the Apostles tyme and manye yeares after, if any bread remayned of the communion, it was not reserued & hanged vp in the Pixe to be worshipped, as the vse is among the papistes, brought in by the deuil and Antichrist, but it was geuen to the poore people to eate. And in the tyme of Hesichius & of Origen (as their commentaries vponupon Leuiticus do testifye) the bread that remayned after the cōmunion, was brent to ashes. And Clement Pope of Rome made a decree, that if any of the sacramentall breade remayned, after the Lordes Supper was once done, the clarkes should not reserue it to be hanged vp and worshipped, but consume and eate it.Li 4, ca. 3, 6 The old custome was this sayth Euagrius in hys ecclesiasticall historie, that when much of the holy partes of the vndefyled body of Christ our God did remayne, that the young children, whiche were wonte to goe to schole, shoulde bee called to eate them, And Saint Hierome witnesseth also in hys commentarye vppon Sainte Paules Epistle to the Corinthians, that after the communion, whatsoeuer they lefte, sayth he, of the sacrifices (he meaneth the sacramentall breade and wine) they consumed it there together in the Churche,In i. Cor. cap. xi. eatyng their common Supper.
Pope Iulius the fyrst appointed, that the Sacramente of the altare shoulde not be ministred with milke. In the yeare of oure Lorde .338. Guili. Durand. Notwithstanding we read, that in the tyme of Pope Innocent the eyghte, it was suffered, that the priestes of Norduegia mighte syng Masse with water for lacke of wine. In the yeare, &c. 1484 Math. Palmer. Pantal.
Pope Innocent the third bearing rule it was ordained in the councel Laterane yt when soeuer the Sacramente of the altare is caryed aboute,A vile & a wicked decree. there shoulde be borne before it a bel ringing with a light to cause the people to knele down and worship it. In the yeare, &c. 1195. Iacobus de visaco.
Can the mouse or any other beast eate ye body of Christ.In the councell Arelatense it was decreed, yt if any priest were negligent in keping the bodye of Christ, so yt eyther mouse or any other beaste did eate it, yt priest for hys offence shuld do penance fortye dayes. Dist. 3. De. consecrat.
Priests only must carry the sacrament to the sicke.In the coūcell Remense it was enacted, yt whereas afore the manner was for the priests oftentymes to deliuer ye sacrament of Christes body and bloud to Laymen and to Laywomen, yea to childrē for to beare it vntounto the sicke: the priestes from thenceforth shoulde no more so do, but beare it themselues vntounto them, saying, that it is an horrible and detestable thing for such to carye the holy body of the Lord to ye sicke:Except it be to offer. whiche are forbidden to come into the Chauncel, or to approche nye vntounto the altare. De consec. Dist. 2.
Lay people may not touche ye sacrament with theyr handes.In a certayne councel holden at Rotomage, it was decreed, yt the sacrament should be geuen from henceforth neyther to Laymen, nor to Laywomen in their handes any more, but yt the priest should put it in their mouthes, contrary to the vse and practise of the primatiue church and many hundred yeares after. Lib. Concil.
Pope Boniface the second made a decree,A good decree. that at the ministration of the Lordes Supper the people & the Clergy should be present, not to be gasers, but partakers of those holy mysteries. In the yeare. &c. 529. Ioan. Stella.
Pope Anacletus decreed,A godlye lawe and worthye to be practised yt a priest, whensoeuer he doth cōmunicate, shall hauehave two at the least to be partakers with him: and that such as be present, and will not communicate shal as vngodly persons be excommunicate, and put out of the cōgregatiō. In the yeare &c. 101. Grat. Plat. Phil. Bergom.
In the c…ūsell Antiochen it was like wise agreed,☜ that suche as were in the Churche, and present at the common prayers, & heard the preaching of gods worde, and yet refused to receaue the Lordes Sacrament, they should be taken for none of the number of the true Christians. Lib. Concil.
Pope Zepherinus appoynted, that all that professe christ, or beare the names of Christiās,The age of the communicantes. being of the age of twelue or thirtene yeres or vpwarde, should at the least once in the yere (as at Easter) receaue the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christe. In the yeare. &c. 208. Plat. Sabell. Volat. Laziard. &c.
Thrice in the yeare, the holy cō munion is to be receaued.Pope Fabiane commaūded, that eueryevery Christian should receaue the Sacrament of Christes body and bloud thrice in the yeare, that is to say, at Easter, at Witsontide, and at Christmasse. In the yere of our lord .242. Eusebius, Plat. Sabell. Volat. Ioan. Stella. Pantaleon.
In the Councell Agathense it was decreed, that those seculare men, which did not receaue the Communion at Christmasse, Easter and Witsontide, shoulde not be taken for true Catholikes. Lib. Concil.
A fonde decree.There is a decree, as Guilihelmus Durandus writeth, that suche as ought to receaue the Sacrament at Easter, muste abstayne ab amplexibus, that is to saye, from gyuing their wiues the due beneuolence, as Sainct Paule calleth it, three dayes afore, and three, or fiue, or vii, dayes after, as though the acte of Matrimonye were vncleane, when notwithstandyng the holy Apostle calleth Wedlocke honorable,Heb. 1…. and the bedde vndefiled. Rationale di. off.