The Reckoning and Declaration of Faith and Belief, Prayer – Colophon
¶The complaynynge Prayers of the pore persecuted maried priestes with theyr wyues and chyldren chased out of Englande into sondry places of Germanie: cryinge vntounto God in theyr harde desolate exyle and greuous affliction thus.
HOwe nowe happeneth it (oh Lorde) that thou standest so farre of,Psal x. and art hyden frō vsus in this tyme of our troubles anxte and heuye dystres? we thy afflycte lytle flocke are chased & scatred abrode by the wealy pryde of the vngodlye: oh wolde God they were once take & trapped in their owne cōspirisons which they so craftelye conspire. This vngodlye maketh but a gaudye at the fulfyllynge of his myscheuous entente, the blasphemous theues whiche robbe the lytle fearfull flocke and blaspheme thy name are praysed & exalted of men.psal. x.ii Helpe lorde, for holynes is lost / faythfulnes is banyshed from the chyldrē of men. They are but vayne lyes whiche one speaketh to another, it is but flatery and glauerynge speache that eueryevery hart imageneth. The Lorde once cut oute all glauerynge tongues oute of these proude mouthes, whiche saye / let vsus stablyshe our tōgues with oure owne auctorite let vsus stycke to our page missing …ippe, and then who shall be lordes ouer vsus? For the calamite of the oppressed & waylyng of the afflycted / I wyl aryse nowe (sayth the Lorde) & restore them to health & reuyue thē. How longe (lorde) wylt thou forget vsus? wylt thou forget vsus for euer?Psal. xiii. Howe longe wylte thou hyde thy face from vsus, howe longe shall we reuolue thoughtes in our heuie myndes? How longe shal this laborious heuynes wast our hartes, Howe longe shall this enemye be exalted ouer vsus. &c. Helpe lorde, & se to theyr wyckednes. For the vngodly hauehave bent their bowes & fastened in theyr arowes priuely to smyte the pure īnocent hartes. Thy feare is not before theyr eyes. They hauehave conspyred amōgest thē selues blody myscheif,Psal▪ lxiii. euē theyr secrete snares pryuely for vsus to be set saying hauehave done, who shall se vsus. The anticristen deuilishe dragon, nowe at last reueled,Apo. xii. by cruell persecuciō chaseth thy churche out of Englande into the deserte, he spouteth out of his mouth great and myghtye waters after vsus to drowne vsus, straightly cōmaundyng that noman shuld socour nor helpe vsus. Let thy earth therfore (oh lorde) open her mouth & preache vsus oute the sauyour, oh sone of god and man deuour and drye vp these troublous waters open thy mouth with incessante intercession nowe before thy father into our sauegarde & saluacion defendynge thy churche vntounto oure present consolacion. Now ye Dragons whelpes and sede of the serpent, which nowe sorbyde the mercyfull christen brestes to fulfyll the godly workes of charite,Ma…he. xxv. euen to fede the hungry, to gyue drynke to the thyrstie, cloth the naked, visite the syke, comforte the carefull comfortles tossed and hunted from place to place, chased from cyte to cite into vnknowen countries amonge chorlyshe and fyerce ba…barous people (a lasse for that we dwell altolong amonge these boisteous rude men,Psalm. C.xx. we are weary of our lyues thus to wandre amonge the haters of peace, whiche when we wolde hauehave rest, they rustle theyr harnes to batayll. But what shall the dragon with his seade saye when they shortly stonde before theyr terrible iudge Christe whom yet in his membres they ceasse not to slaye, what shall they saye when they heare hym pronoūce his swete sentence to his chosen churche. Come ye my blessed into my kyngdome / For when I was hūgrye, ye fed me, when I was thyrstye ye gaue me drynke. &c. Vvhat shall ye saye when our Sauiour pronounce agaynst you this terrible and dampnable sentēce. Auoyd from me ye cursed into perpetuall paynes of hell prepared for you for the deuyll & his aungels. For when I was hungry, thyrstie, naked sorowfull, harbourles▪ &c. Youre selues, not onelye wolde ye not fede me, nor gyue me drynke, ne cloth nor comforte nor harboure me in any one of these my lytle sely membres, but ye bytterly cōmaunded all the Englyshe hostes in Anwerpe, in no wyse to suffre vsus to come into theyr howses for anye releyse and socour. Oh crull seade serpētyne whē wylt thou feare god more then mā. Wylt thou dissemble with god & dampne thy owne bodye and soule for a transitorye cōmaundement or pleasure of any mortall man. Fearest thou not, haste thou not a soule, is there no hel, is thy soule mortal, is there no wo…lde of soules after this, is there no God to whō hertes, reynes and thoughtes are layde wyde open. Suerlye at your departynge, and as soone as your soules shall be cyted to apeare before youre iudge Christe,Sapiēc. iiii. &. v. ye shall seale the moste bytterest remorse of cōscience & also at your generall iudgemēt with moste horrible feare shall ye be so smyten,Lucke. xxiii. that ye shall byd the mountains to fall downe vponupon you to couer you from the fearfull face of your iudge. Then shal we stande agaynst you ī great cō stancy for that ye hauehave thus cruelly persecutedSapi. v. vsus. Vvhiche thyng your selues beholdīge you shall be troubled with horible feare, waylynge for the anguishe of your myndes saying within your selues, beyng sorowful (but all to late) lo these are they whō once we had in decision & reuyled spytefully: oure selues then madde, had wente theyr synes and learnynge to be madnes and heresie, so puttyng them to death moste cruelly & shamefully: but se howe they be noumbred amonge the chosen of God, and we our selues thē were heretykes & erred from the waye of the truth, the lyghte of the iustifyinge by fayth onelyonly, shyned not vponupon vsus: but we wearied oure selues in our owne wicked vyle workes, but ye waye of the lorde we knewe not. Repēt ye therfore in tyme yf ye wyll not be dampned, for it is gods cause and his worde whiche you persecute & we defende with peryll of oure lyues. Vvherfore we dayly praye in fayth that h… wolde cōuerte you or els take you away that his churche myght breath a lytle in rest. If there be any feare of God in you ye shall repent, or els our praiers are promysed shortly to be herde of hym whiche stereth vsus vp with his spirite thus to praye.Psalm …i. Amen.
¶Quod impii cupiūt, irritum fiet.
¶Imprynted by me Rycharde wyer.
End of the text · Ulrich Zwingli, The Reckoning and Declaration of Faith and Belief (1548)