Ceremonies of the Monstrous Popish Mass, Part 1 · Chapter 8
The maner that is to be obſerued in ſaying of Maſſe. CHAPTER VIII.
QVamuis autē Miſſa deuotiſſimè ſit celebranda, contemplationis cauſa, eſt tamen modus habendus, ne protractione nimia, vel acceleratione fiat homo notabilis, nam acceleratio ſignum eſt incuriae. Protractio eſt occaſio diſtractionis quando que ſibi & auditoribus, quos arguit Guilliel. Pariſien. in Libro Rethoricae diuinae. Sed medio tutiſſimus ibit.
Eo autem affectu eſt quaelibet Miſſa habenda & dicenda à quocunque ſacerdote quaſi prima dicatur, & nunquam amplius ſit dicenda. Tam magnum enim donū ſemper debet eſſe nouum.
Habeat ita que Sacerdos diligentiā ad conficiendum reuerentiam ad tā gendum, & deuotionē ad ſumendum. Sic ſentiendo & agendo digne tractabitur Sacramentum, rite peragetur officiū: at que pericula & ſcandala euitabuntur.
ANd a although the Maſſe is very deuoutly to be celebrated, by reaſon of the contemplatiō that is to be vſed therein, yet for all that he muſt obſerue a meane, for feare the man be noted to be either ouer long, or elſe too ſhort. For, haſtineſſe is a token of negligence. b And to be ouer long, cauſeth both him ſelfe and his Auditorie to be forgetfull: either of which, William of Paris in his booke of diuine Rhetoricke findeth fault with all. But he that walketh in the middeſt goeth ſafeſt.
Now eueryevery prieſt ought to hauehave this regard, as to ſay eueryevery Maſſe with ſuch an affection, as if he ſaid his firſt Maſſe, and as if he ſhould neuer ſay more. For eueryevery ſuch great gift, ought euer to be rare and ſtraunge.
Wherfore the Prieſt muſt hauehave a great care in his conſecration, great reuerence in his handlinge, and be very deuout in the receauing of this Sacrament. And in his ſo feeling and doing, he ſhall adminiſter it worthely, and with all, auoide all perilles and offences.
a Here is one very hard queſtion to be reſolued as touching one thing that is propounded in this Cautell, eſpecially when Maſſes for the dead are ſpoken of. For, if the ſoules of the dead be not deliuered, vntill ſuch time as the Maſſe which is ſaid for them be ended, then, without doubt, the ſhorteſt Maſſes are moſt auaileable. And therfore poore mens ſoules herein, hauehave the aduantage ouer the rich mens. For they diſpatch the poore mens ſoules with a ſhort and quicke Requiem, which carieth them to heauen in poſt, whereas the rich mens ſoules, are faire and eaſily caried, with a long Requiē in an horſe litter. But becauſe we hauehave already handled this matter, in one part of our Chriſtian diſputations, intituled, The office for the dead, I will buſie my ſelfe no further with it at this time.
b Herein it behoueth vsus to note what difference there is betweene the Hunters & Souldiers Maſſes, and ſuch other like. In very deede the Hū ters maſſes are moſt commonly beſt liked of, by reaſon they are ſhort. Wherupon we are to note, that foraſmuch as the Prieſtes are for the more part ignorant, therefore they ought to ſay Maſſe more deliberately and with greater deuotion, becauſe they can not ſo readily diſpatch them, nor ſo lightly huddle them ouer, as they which are better learned.
c He is ſo ſtrange,Deut. 32. as that we may verie well ſay as it is written, That through ſtrange Goddes they hauehave prouoked the Lord, and through their abominations, ſtirred him vntounto wrath. They hauehave ſacrificed vntounto deuilles and not vntounto God, and vntounto ſuch Gods as they neuer knewe; euen verie ſtrange ones, and ſuch as came next to hand, and ſuch as their fathers neuer feared. Thou haſt forgotten the mighty God which begot thee, & put out of remembraunce him, who faſhioned thee. For, was there euer a more ſtraunge God, then that God, which the Prieſts made in their Maſſe? And from whence, I beſeech you, came he? Surely not farre of. Will you know then from whence he came, forſooth firſt out of the field, then from the mill, next from the fire, laſt of all, made by the Prieſt, cauſing him whome he him ſelfe made & faſhioned with his owne hands, and breath, to be worſhipped, in ſtead of that God which hath framed & made vsus all: and therefore is iuſtly faſhioned into the forme of a ſinging cake, becauſe that by his meanes, the true God & right Sauiour who ſaid, do ye this in remembraunce of me, is turned into a cake. This is ſuch a God, as neither the true fathers the Patriarks, neither yet the Prophets, Apoſtles, nor any other of the Auncient Church, euer feared or knewe,Dan. 11. This is the God Moaſim of Antichriſt, of whom Daniell propheſied, whome the fathers knewe not: and ſuch a one as is honored with golde and ſiluer.