The Religion Anciently Professed by the Irish and British, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
Of the Worship of God, the publicke forme of Liturgie, the Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Lords Supper.
TOuching the worship of God, Sedulius delivereth this generall rule: thataAdorare alium praeter Patrem & Filium, & Spiritum sanctum, impietatis crimen est. Sedul. in Rom. 1. to adore any other beside the Father, and the Sonne, and the holy Ghost, is the crime of impiety; and thatbTotum quod debet Deo anima, si alicui praeter Deum reddiderit, moechatur. Id. in Rom. 2. all that the soule oweth unto God, if it bestow it upon any beside God, it committeth adultery. More particularly, in the matter of Images, cRecedentes à lumine veritatis sapientes; quasi qui invenissent, quo modo invisibilis Deus per simulacrum visibile coleretur. Id. in. Rom. 1.hee reproveth the wise men of the heathen, for thinking that they had found out a way, how the invisible God might bee worshipped by a visible image: with whom also accordeth Claudius; thatdDeus non in manufactis habitat, nec in metallo aut saxo cognoscitur. Claud. lib. 2. in Matth. God is to bee knowne, neither in mettall nor in stone. and for Oathes, there is a Canon ascribed to Saint Patricke; wherein it is determined, thateNon adjurandam esse crea…uram aliam, nisi creatorem. yaod. Patricij. can. 23. MS. no creature is to bee sworne by, but onelyonly the Creator. As for the forme of the Litugrie or publicke service of God, which the same St. Patrick brought into this country: it is said, that hee received it from Germanus and Lupus; and that it originally descended from S. Marke the Evangelist. for so have I seene it set downe in an ancient fragment, written wellnigh 900. yeeres since: remaining now in the Library of Sir Robert Cotton, my worthy friend; who can never sufficiently bee commended, for his extraordinary care, in preserving all rare monuments of this kinde. Yea St. Hieromes authority is there vouched for proofe hereof. Beatus Hieronymus adfirmat, quòd ipsum cursum, qui dicitur praesente tempore Scottorum, beatus Marcus decanta…it. which being not now to bee found in any of Saint Hieroms workes, the truth thereof I leave unto the credit of the reporter.
But whatsoever Liturgie was used here at first: this is sure, that in the succeeding ages no one generall forme of divine service was retained, but diverse rites and manners of celebrations were observed in diverse parts of this Kingdome; untill the Romane use was brought in at last by Gillebertus, and Malachias, and Christianus, who were the Popes Legates here about 500. yeeres agoe. This Gillebertus (an old acquaintance of fAuselm. lib. 3. epist. 143.Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury) in the Prologue of his booke De usu Ecclesiastico, directed to the whole Clergie of Ireland, writeth in this manner. gEpiscopis, presbyteris totius Hiberniae, infimus praesulum Gille Lunicensis in Christo salutē. Roga…, nec non & praecepto multorum ex vobis (Charissimi) canonicalem consuetudinem in dicencis Horis, & peragendo totius Ecclesiastici ordinis officio, scribere conatus sum; non praesumptivo, sed vestrae cupiens piissimae servire jusstoni… ut diversi & schismatici illi Ordines, quibus Hibernia penè tota delusa est, uni Catholico & Roma…o ced…nt officio. Quid enim magis indecens aut schismaticum dici poterit; quàm doctiss…mum unius ordinis in alterius Ecclesiâ idiotam & laicum fieri? &c. Prolog Gille five Gilleberti Lummicensis epise. De usu Ecclesiastic. MS. in Colleg. S. Benedict. & public… academiae Cantabrigiensis Bibliothecâ.At the request, yea and at the command of many of you (dearely beloved) I endevoured to set downe in writing the Canonicall custome in saying of Houres, and performing the Office of the whole Ecclesiasticall Order; not presumptuously, but in desire to serve your most godly command: to the end that those diverse and schismaticall Orders, wherewith in a manner all Ireland is deluded, may give place to one Catholicke and Romane Office. For what may bee said to bee more undecent or schismaticall; than that the most learned in one order, should bee made as a private and lay man in another mans Church?
These beginnings were presently seconded by Malachias: in whose life, written by Bernard, wee reade as followeth. hApostolicas sanctiones as decreta sanctorum patrum, praecipueque consuetudines sanctae Romanae ecclesiae in cunctis eccle…iis statuebat. Hinc est quòd hodieque in illis ad horas canonicas cantatur & psallitur juxta motem universae terrae: nam minimè id antè f…bat, ne in civitate quidem. Ipse verò in adolescentiâ cantum didicerat, & in suo coenobio mox cantati fecit; cùm necdum in civitate seu in episcopatu universo cantare scirent, vel vellent, Bernard. in vitâ Mal…thia.The Apostolicall constitutions, and the decrees of the holy Fathers, but especially the customes of the holy Church of Rome, did he establish in all Churches. And hence it is, that at this day the Canonicall Houres are chanted and sung therein, according to the manner of the whole earth: whereas before that, this was not done, no not in the Citie it selfe. (the poore city of Ardmagh he meaneth.) But Malachias had learned song in his youth, and shortly after caused singing to be used in his own Monasterie; when as yet, aswell in the citie as in the whole Bishoprick, they eyther knew not, or would not sing. Lastly, the worke was brought to perfection, when Christianus Bishop of Lismore, as Legate to the Pope, was President in the Councell of Casshell: wherein a speciall order was taken for iOfficium etiam Ecclesiasticum ritè modulandum statuerunt. Iohan. Brampto…, in Ioralanensi historiâ. MS.the right singing of the Ecclesiasticall Office; and a generall act established, that kOmnia divina ad instar sa …osanctae Ecclesiae, iuxta quod Anglicana observat Ecclesia, in om…ibus pa…tibus Hiberniae amodo tractentur. Girald. Cambr. Hibern. exp…gnat. lib. 1. cap. 34.all divine offices of holy Church should from thenceforth be handled in all parts of Ireland, according as the Church of England d…d observe them. The statutes of which Councell were lConci… statuta sub…cripta sunt, & Regiae sublimitatis authoritate firmata Id. ibid.confirmed by the Regall authoritie of King Henry the second;mEx ipsius triumphatoris mandato, in civitate Cassiliensi convenerunt. Id. ibid. by whose mandate, the Bishops that met therein were assembled, in the yeare of our Lord 1171. as Giraldus Cambrensis▪ witnesseth, in his historie of the Conquest of Ireland. And thus late was it, before the Romane use was fully settled in this Kingdome.
That the Britons used another manner in the administration of the Sacrament of Baptisme than the Romanes did: appeareth by the proposition made unto them by Austin the Monke;nVt ministerium baptizandi, quo Deo renascimur, iuxta morem Sanctae Romanae & Apostolicae Ecclesiae compleatis, Bed. lib. 2. Histor cap. 2. that they should performe the ministerie of baptisme, according to the custome of the Church of Rome. That their forme of Liturgie was the same with that which was received by their neighbours the Galls, is intimated by the Author of that ancient fragment before alledged: who also addeth, that theoPer universum orbè terra…um, in Ecclesiâ ordo cursus Gallorum diffusus est. Fragment. de Ecclesiasticorum officiorum origine. MS. Bibliothecâ C…ttonianâ. Gallican Order was received in the Church throughout the whole world. Yet elsewhere doe I meete with a sentence alledged out of Gildas; thatpGildas ait. Britones toti mundo contrarii, moribus Romanis inimici non solùm in Missâ, sed etiam in tonsurâ. Cod. Ca… titulorum 66. MS. in eâdem Bibliothecâ. the Britons were contrary to the whole world, and enemies to the Roman customes, aswell in their Masse, as in their Tonsure.
Where to let passe what I have collected touching the difference of these tonsures (as a matter of very small moment eyther way) and to speake somewhat of the Masse (for which so great adoe is now adayes made by our Romanists) wee may observe in the first place, that the publike Liturgie or service of the Church, was of old named the Masse: even then also, when prayers only were said, without the celebration of the holy Communion. So the last Masse that S. Colme was ever present at, is noted byqAdamnan. Vit. columb. lib. 3. cap. 31. Adamnanus to have beene vespertinalis Dominica noctis Missa. He dyed the mid-night following; whence the Lords day tooke his beginning (9… viz. Iunii, Anno Dom. 597.) according to the account of the Romanes: which the Scottish and Irish seeme to have begunne from the evening going before. and then was that evening-Masse said: which in all likelihood, differed not from those foreign mentioned byr… Tactic. cap. 11. sect. 18. Leo the Emperour in his Tacticks, that is to say, from that which we call Even-song, or Evening prayer. But the name of the Masse was in those daies more specially applied to the administration fo the Lords Supper: & therfore in the samesAdamnan. Vit. Columb. lib. …. 15. Adamnanus we see that Sacra Eucharistiae ministeria and Missarum solemnia, the sacred ministerie of the Eucharist and the solemnities of the Masse, are taken for the same thing. So likewise in thetWalafrid. Strab. Vit. Gall. lib. 1. cap. 26. Theodor. Campidonens. vel quicun que author. fuit Vit. Magni, lib. 1. cap. 9. edit. Goldast. cap. 12. Conis…i. relation of the passages that concerne the obsequies of Columbanus, performed by Gallus and Magnoaldus; we finde that Missam celebrare and Missas agere, is made to be the same with Divina celebrare mysteria and Salutis hostiam (or salutare sacrificium) immolare: the saying of Masse, the same with the celebration of the divine mysteries and the oblation of the healthfull sacrifice. for by that terme was the administration of the sacrament of the Lords Supper at that time usually designed.
For as in ouruHeb. 13. 16. beneficence, and communicating unto the necessities of the poore (which are sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased) wee are taught to x2 Cor. …5.give both our selves and our almes, first unto the Lord, and after unto our brethren by the will of God: so is it in this ministery of the blessed Sacrament. the service is first presented unto God, (from which, as from a most principall part of the dutie, the sacrament it selfe is called the Eucharist; because therein weeyHeb. 13. 15. offer a speciall sacrifice of praise and thankesgiving alwaies unto God) and then communicated unto the use of Gods people. in the performance of which part of the service, both the minister was said to give, and the communicant to receive the sacrifice: as well as in respect of the former part, they were said to offer the same unto the Lord. For they did not distinguish the Sacrifice from the Sacrament, as the Romanists doe now adayes: but used the name of Sacrifice indifferently, both of that which was offered unto God, and of that which was given to and received by the communicant. Therefore wee read of offring the sacrifice to God: as in that speech of Gallus to his scholler Magnoaldus; zPraeceptor mens B. Columbanus in vasis aeneis Domino solet sacrificium offerre salutis. walafrid. Strab. Vit. Gall. lib. 1. cap. 19.My master Columbanus is accustomed to offer unto the Lord the sacrifice of salvation in brasen vessels. Of giving the sacrifice to man: as when it is said in one of the ancient Synods of Ireland, thataTestamentū Episcopi sive principis est; 10. scripuli Sacerdoti danti sibi sacrificium. Synod. Hibern. in vet. lib. Can…num Cotte…nious, titulorum 66. a Bishop by his Testament may bequeath a certaine proportion of his goods for a legacie to the Priest that giveth him the sacrifice. and of receiving the sacrifice from the hands of the minister: as in that sentence of the Synod attributed unto S. Patrick; bQui in vitâ suâ non merebi… sacrificū accipere: quomodo post mortem illi potest adjuvare? Synod Patric. cap. 12. MS.He who deserveth not to receive the sacrifice in his life, how can it helpe him after his death? and in that glosse of Sedulius upon 1. Cor. 11. 33.cInvicem expectate, id est, usque quo sacrificium accipiatis. Sedul. in 1 Cor. 11. Tarry one for another, that is, (saith he) untill you doe receive the sacrifice. and in the Brittish antiquities: where we reade of Amon a noble man in Wales (father to Samson the Saint of Dole in little Brittain) thatdGravi infirmitate depressus, à suis commonitus est vicinis, ut iuxta morem susciperet sacrificium communienis. Ex vitâ S. Samsonis MS. in libro … Eccles… … Tilo. being taken with a grievous sicknesse, hee was admonished by his neighbours, that according to the usuall manner he should receive the sacrifice of the communion. Whereby it doth appeare, that the sacrifice of the elder times was not like unto the new Masse of the Romanists, wherein the Priest alone doth all; but unto our Communion, where others also have free libertie given unto them toeHebr. 13. 10. eat of the Altar, as well as they that serve that Altar.
Again, they that are communicants in the Romish sacrament, receive the Eucharist in one kinde onelyonly: the Priest in offering of the sacrifice receiveth the same distinctly, both by way of meat and by way of drinke; which they tell usfId fit potissimùm ob…acrificii, non ob Sacramenti integtitatem. Bellarmin. de sacrament. Eucharist. lib. 4. cap. 22. in fine. is chiefly done, for the integritie of the Sacrifice and not of the Sacrament. For in the Sacrifice, they say,gRhem. annotat. in Matth. 26. 26. the severall elements be consecrated, not into Christs whole person as it was borne of the Virgin or now is in heaven: but the bread into his body apart, as betrayed, broken, and given for us; the wine into his bloud apart, as shed out of his bodie for remission of sinnes and dedication fo the new Testament, which bee conditions of his person as hee was in sacrifice and oblation. But our ancestours, in the use of their Sacrament, received the Eucharist in both kinds: not being so acute as to discerne betwixt the things that belonged unto the integritie of the sacrifice and of the sacrament, because in very truth, they tooke the one to be the other.
Thus Bede relateth, that one Hildmer, an officer of Egfrid King of Northumberland, intreated our Cuthbert hMittas presbyterum qui illam, priusquam moriatur, visitet; eique Dominici corporis & sanguinis sacramenta ministret Bed. de Vit. Cuthbert. pros. cap. 15.to send a Priest that might minister the sacraments of the Lords body and bloud unto his wife that then lay a dying: and Cuthbert himselfe, immediately before his owne departure out of this life, received the communion of the Lords body and bloud; asiAcceptis è me sacramentis salutaribus exin… suum, quem iam venisse cognovit, Dominici corporis & sanguinis com…un… munivit. Ibid. cap. 39. Herefride Abbat of the monsterie of Lindisfarne (who was the man that at that time ministred the sacrament unto him) made report unto the same Bede. who elsewhere also particularly noteth, that he then tasted of the cup. kBed. de Vit. Cuthbert. corm. cap. 36.Pocula degustat vitae, Christique supinum Sanguine munit iter. lest any man should thinke, that under the formes of bread alone he might be said to have been partaker of the body and bloud of the Lord, by way of Concomitance: which is a toy, that was not once dreamed of in those daies. So that we need not to doubt, what is meant by that which wee reade in the booke of the life of Furseus (which was written before the time of Bede) thatlPetivitque & accepit sacri corporis & sanguinis communionem. Author antiqu. Vitae Fursaei. he received the communion of the holy body and bloud; and that hee was wished to admonish mPrincipes & doctores Ecclesiae Christi, animas fidelium ad poenitentiae lamentum post culpas pro…ocent; & eas spirituall pastis doctrinae, ac sacri corporis & sanguinis participatione solidis reddant. Ibid.the Pastors of the Church, that they should strengthen the soules of the faithfull with the spirituall food of doctrine, and the participation of the holy body and bloud, or of that which Cogitosus writeth in the life of Saint Brigid, touching the place in the Church of Kildare; nPe… alterum …stium Abbati… cu…suis puellis & vid…is fidelibus … convivio corporis & sanguinis fruantur Iesu Christi. Cogitos. vit. Brigid.whereunto the Abbatesse with her maidens and widowes used to resort, that they might enioy the banquet of the body and bloud of Iesus Christ. which was agreeable to the practice, not only of the Nunneries founded beyond the seas according to the rule of Columbanus; where the Virgins oQuadam ex his nomine Domna, cùm jam corpus Domini accepisset, ac sanguinem libâffet. I…n. Vit. Burgundofor.received the body of the Lord, and sipped his bloud (as appeareth by that which Ionas relateth of Domnae, in the life of Burgundofora:) but also of S. Brigid her selfe, who was the foundresse of the monasterie of Kildare; one of whose miracles is reported, even in the later Legends, to have happened when shee was about to drinke out of the Chalice, at the time of her receiving of the Eucharist. which they that list to looke after, may finde in the collections of Capgrave, Surius, and such like.
But, you will say; these testimonies that have beene alledged, make not so much for us, in proving the use of the communion under both kindes, as they make against us, in confirming the opinion of Transubstantiation: seeing they all specifie the receiving, not of bread and wine, but of the body and bloud of Christ. I answer, that forasmuch as Christ himselfe at the first institution of his holy Supper did say expresly; This is my body, and, This is my bloud: hee deserveth not the name of a Christian, that will question the truth of that saying, or refuse to speake in that language, which hee hath heard his Lord and Master use before him. The question onelyonly is, in what sense, and after what manner, these things must bee conceived to bee his body and bloud. Of which there needed to be little question: if men would bee pleased to take into their consideration these two things; which were never doubted of by the ancient, and have most evident ground in the context of the Gospel. First, that the subject of those sacramentall propositions delivered by our Saviour (that is to say, the demonstrative particle THIS) can have reference to no other substance, but that which hee then held in his sacred hands, namely, bread & wines which are of so different a nature from the body and bloud of Christ, that the one cannot possibly in proper sense be said to be the other; as the light of common reason doth force the Romanists themselves to confesse. Secondly, that in the Predicate, or latter part of the same propositions, there is not mention made only of Christs body and bloud; but of his body broken, and his bloud shed: to shew, that his body is to be considered here apart, not as it was borne of the Virgin, or now is in heaven, but as it was broken and crucified for us; and his bloud likewise apart, not as running in his veines, but as shed out of his body; which the Rhemists have told us to be conditions of his person, as hee was in sacrifice and oblation.
And lest wee should imagine, that his body were otherwise to bee considered in the sacrament than in the sacrifice; in the one alive, as it is now in heaven, in the other dead, as it was offered upon the Crosse: the Apostle putteth the matter out of doubt, that not onelyonly the minister in offering, but also the people in receiving, evenp1 Cor. 11. 26. as often as they eate this bread, and drinke this cup, doe shew the Lords death untill hee come. Our elders surely, that held the sacrifice to bee given and received (for so we have heard themselves speak) as well as offered; did not consider otherwise of Christ in the sacrament, than as hee was in sacrifice and oblation. If here therefore, Christs body be presented as broken and livelesse, and his bloud as shed forth and severed from his body; and it be most certaine, that there are no such things now really existent any where (as is confessed on all hands:) then must it follow necessarily, that the bread and wine are not converted into these things really. TheqRhem. in Mat. 26. 26. Rhemists indeede tell us, that when the Church doth offer and sacrifice Christ daily; hee in mysterie and sacrament dyeth. Further than this they durst not goe: for if they had said, hee dyed really; they should thereby not only make themselves daily killers of Christ, but also directly crosse that principle of the Apostle, Rom. 6. 9. Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more. If then the body of Christ in the administration of the Eucharist be propounded as dead (as hath been shewed) and dye it cannot really, but onelyonly in mysterie and sacrament: how can it be thought to bee contained under the outward elements, otherwise than in sacrament and mysterie? and such as in times past were said to have received the sacrifice from the hand of the Priest; what other body and bloud could they expect to receive therein, but such as was sutable to the nature of that sacrifice, to wit, mysticall and sacramentall?
Coelius Sedulius (to whom Gelasius Bishop of Rome, with his Synod of LXX. Bishops, giveth the title of rVenerabilis viri Sedulii Paschale opus, quod heroicis descripsit versibus, insigni laude praeferimus. Synod. Roman. sub Gelasi….venerable Sedulius; as Venantius Fortunatus ofsHinc quoque conspicui radiavit lingua Seduli. Venant. Fortunat. de vitâ S. Martini, lib. 1. conspicuous Sedulius; and Hildephonsus Toletanus of the tBonus Sedulius, poëta Evangelicus, Orator facundus, scriptor catholicus. Hildephons. Toletan. serm. 5. de assumpt. Maria.good Sedulius, the Evangelicall Poet, the eloquent Orator, and the Catholicke Writer) is by Trithemius and others supposed to be the same with ouruSedulii Scoti Hiberniensis, in omnes epistolas Pauli Collectan: excus. Basil. an. 1528. Sedulius of Scotland (or Ireland) whose Collections are extant upon St. Pauls Epistles: although I have forborne hitherto to use any of his testimonies, because I have some reason to doubt, whether hee were the same with our Sedulius or no. But Coelius Sedulius (whatsoever countryman hee was) intimateth plainly, that the things offered in the Christian sacrifice, are the fruit of the corne and of the vine:
(xSedul. Carm. Paschal. lib. 4. Denique Pontificum princeps summusque Sacerdos
Quis nisi Christus adest? gemini libaminis author,
Ordine Melchisedech, cui dantur munera semper
Quae sua sunt, segetis fructus, & gaudia vitis.
or, as hee expresseth it in his prose;yTriticeae sementis cibus suavis, & amoenae vitis potus amabilis. Id. pros. lib. 4. ca. 14. the sweete meate of the seede of wheate, and the lovely drinke of the pleasant vine. Of Melch…sedek (according to whose order Christ, and he onelyonly, was Priest) our owne Sedulius writeth thus:zMelchisedech vinum & panem obtulit Abraham, in figuram Christi, corpus & sanguinem suum Deo patri in cruce offerentis. Secul…n Heb. 5. Melchisedek offered wine & bread to Abraham for a figure of Christ, offering his body and bloud unto God his Father upon the Crosse. Where note, that first hee saith, Melch sedek offered bread and wine to Abraham, not to God: and secondly, that hee was a figure of Christ offering his body and bloud upon the crosse, not in the Eucharist. But we (saithaNos verò in commemorationem Dominicae semel passionis quotidie nostraeque salutis offerimus. Id… Heb. 10. he) doe offer daily, for a commemoration of the Lords passion (once performed) and our owne salvation. and elsewhere, expounding those words of our Saviour, Doe this in remembrance of me; hee bringeth in this similitude, used before and after him by others.bSuam memoriam nobis reliquit: quemadmodum si quis peregrè proficiscens aliquod pignus ei quem diligit derelinquat; ut quotiescunque illud viderit, possit ejus beneficia & amicitias recordari. Id. in 1 Cor. 11. He left a memory of himselfe unto us: even as if one that were going a farre journey, should leave some token with him whom hee loved; that as oft as hee beheld it, hee might call to remembrance his benefits and friendship.
Claudius noteth, that our SaviourscVoluit antè discipulis suis tradere sacramentum corporis & sanguinis sui, quod significavit in fractione corporis & effusione calicis, & posteà ipsum corpus immolari in ara Crucis. Claud. lib. 3. in Matth. pleasure was, first to deliver unto his Disciples the sacrament of his bodie and bloud; and afterwards to offer up the body it selfe upon the altar of the crosse. Where at the first sight I did verily thinke, that in the words fractione corporis an error had beene committed in my transcript (corporis being miswritten for panis) but afterwards comparing it with the originall, whence I tooke my copie, I found that the author retained the manner of speaking used bothdSee Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Ephraemius Antiochenus, in the Answer to the Iesuit, pag. 66, 67. of the last edition. before andeApud Rathrannum (sive Bertramum) & Aelfricum, passim. after his time; in giving the name of the thing signified unto the signe, even there where the direct intention of the speech was to distinguish the one from the other. For hee doth expresly here distinguish the sacrament of the bodie, which was delivered unto the Disciples, from the body it selfe, which was afterwards offered upon the Crosse: and for the sacramentall relation betwixt them both, hee rendreth this reason.fQuia panis corpus confirmat, vinum verò sanguinem operatur in carne: hic ad corpus Christi mysticè, illud refertur ad sanguinem. Id. ibid. Because bread doth confirme the body, and wine doth worke bloud in the flesh: therefore the one is mystically referred to the body of Christ, the other to his bloud. Which doctrine of his (that the sacrament is in it owne nature bread and wine, but the body and bloud of Christ by mysticall relation) was in effect the same with that which long afterwards was here in Ireland delivered by Henry Crumpe the Monke of Baltinglas, gQuòd corpus Christi in altaris sacramento est solum speculum ad corpus Christi in coelo. Ex actis … illelmi Andreae Midensis episcopi contra Henr. Crumpe, anno 1384. que MS a. hab…o.that the bodie of Christ in the sacrament of the altar was onelyonly a looking glasse to the body of Christ in heaven: yea and within fifty or threescore yeeres of the time of Claudius Scotus himselfe, was so fully maintained by Iohannes Scotus in a booke that hee purposely wrote of that argument; that when it was alledged and extolled by Berengarius, Pope Leo (the ninth) with his Bishops assembled in Synodo Vercellensi, an…. Domini, 1050 (which was 235. yeeres after the time that Claudius wrote his commentaries upon St. Matthew) had no other meanes to avoide it, but by flathIohannis Scoti liber de Eucharistiâ lectus est, ac damnatus. Lanfranc. de Eucharist. contr. Berengar. condemning of it. Of what great esteeme this Iohn was with king Alfred, may be seene in William of Malmesbury, Roger Hoveden, Matthew of Westminster, and other writers of the English history. The king himselfe, in the Preface before his Saxon translation of St. Gregories Pastorall, professeth that he was holpen in that worke byiIohanne mjnū foreign Alfred. praefat. in Gregor. Pastoral. Saxonic. Iohn his Masse-priest. By whom if he did meane this Iohn of ours: you may see, how in those dayes a man might be held a Masse-priest, who was far enough from thinking that he offered up the very body and bloud of Christ really present under the formes of bread and wine; which is the onelyonly Masse that our Romanists take knowledge of.
Of which wonderfull point how ignorant our elders were, even this also may be one argument: that the author of the booke of the wonderfull things of the holy Scripture (before alledged) passeth this quite over, which is now esteemed to be the wonder of all wonders. And yet doth he professe, that hekPraefertim cùm ex mirabilibus Scripturae Dominicae nil praeterire disposui, in quibus à ministerio quotidian… excellere in aliis videntur. Lib. 2. de mirabilib. Scriptur. cap. 21. purposed to passe over nothing of the wonders of the Scripture, wherein they might seeme notably to swerve from the ordinary administration in other things.