The Anatomy of the Mass, Book 1 · Chapter 21
CHAP. XXI. Of the dignitie of Prieſts. And that our Adverſaries debaſe and viliſie the utilitie and efficacie o… Maſſes, and make them unprofitable for the remiſsion of ſinnes. And of the trafficke of Maſſes.
THe Doctors of the Roman Church do ſpeake of the Euchariſt as of the higheſt myſtery of Chriſtian Religion, and extoll with ſuch bigge tearmes the power of prieſts in making Chriſt with a few words, that they call them Gods and Creators of their Creator, having a power above the bleſſed Virgin Mary, and above all the Angels, who cannot make Chriſt, becauſe he is made already. So ſaith Gabriel Biel in his 4 leſſon upon the Canon of the Maſſe.*Ad Sacerdotii authoritatem Angeli coelorum cives nō audent aſpira…e. The Angels, Citizens of Heaven, dare not aſpire to the authority of Prieſthood. And a little after:†Tranſgrediendo perinde agmina Angetorum, ad ipſam eoeli Reg…nā, & mundi Dom nam veniamus. Haec etſi in gratiae pl… nitudine …aturas ſupergrediatur, univerſas, Hierarch…s tamen cedit it commiſſi myſterii executione. Paſſing by the bands of Angels, let us come to the Queene of Heaven and Lady of the World. The ſame, though in pleni…de of grace ſhee goes beyond all the crea…ures, yet ſhee yeelds to the Hierarchs of …he Church, (he cals the Prieſts ſo) in the …xecution of the Myſtery committed unto …em. And it is in the ſame leſſon where …e ſaith, that Chriſt in incarnate and made …eſh in the hands of Prieſts, as in the Vir…ins wombe, and that Prieſts doe create …heir Creator, and have power over the …ody of Chriſt.
Peter de Beſſe in his Booke of the Royall Prieſthood, chapter 2. ſpeakes thus, Saint Peter addeth that all Prieſts are Kings, in token whereof they weare the crowne. And in the 3 chapter: The Prieſthood and the Godhead are in ſome things to be parallell'd, and are almoſt of equall greatneſſe, ſince they have equall power, Matth. 16. & 18. Againe, Seeing that the Prieſthood walketh hand in hand with the Godhead, & that Prieſts are Gods: it goes farre beyond the kingly authority, and Prieſts are farre above Kings. And in the ſame place, hee calls them Maſters of Kings, ſurpaſſing as much in dignitie the royall office, as the Soule ſurpaſses the body. Which hee hath taken out of*Baron. annal. An. 57. §. 31. At verò longe praeſtare ſacerdotes regibus ar… gumento quo utitur plane ſignificat. Et paulo poſt, Regem ſacris miniſtris minorem gerere ordinē certum eſt. And ſhewes it by the example of S. Martin, who made a Prieſt drinke before the Emperour, at the Emperour his owne table. Baronius. He addes: Incredible things (ſaith he) but yet true, that the power of Prieſts is ſo great, and their excellencie ſo noble, that heaven depends on them. Item in the ſame place comparing the Prieſts with Joſuah, at whoſe Prayer the Sunne ſtood ſtill, he ſaith: Joſuah ſtopped but the Sunne, but theſe (to wit the Prieſts) ſtay Chriſt being in heaven, in the midſt of an Altar. The creature obeyed to the firſt, but the Creator obeyes to theſe laſt: The Sunne to the one, and God to the other, as often as they pronounce the ſacred words. To be ſhort, he concludes that whatſoever God is in heaven, the Prieſt is the ſame on earth. And all that with the approbation of the Faculty of Divinity at Paris, prefixed in the front of the Booke.
It is good to know that England having beene a long time without a Biſhop ſubject to the Pope, the Engliſh Papiſts complained lately they had no body to conferre them the Orders, and to miniſter unto them the confirmation, without which the Canons ſay that a man cannot be wholy a Chriſtian. VntoUnto whoſe deſire Ʋrhan now raigning being willing to ſatisfie, ſent them a titular Biſhop which hee hath called Biſhop of Calcedon. But the Jeſuits, t…at are in poſſeſſion of ruling and governing among the Engliſh Papiſts, would not receive that Biſhop, ſaying that Confirmation is not neceſſary, and that the Baptiſmall Vnction may ſupply the want of Epiſcopall Criſome and that a Church may bee without a Biſhop. Againſt whom the Sorbonne of Paris did caſt ſome Cenſures, calling their doctrine hereticall and ſcandalous. Of which cenſures theſe Jeſuites made a laughing ſtock, in a Booke full of bitterneſſe, which they have titled Spongia. For to refute this Spongia, the Sorbonne made uſe of the penne of a Sorboniſt called Petrus Aurelius. In whoſe Booke printed at Paris by Charles Morell, I finde theſe words in the page 175. The Biſhops have the power to produce Chriſt, Anno. 1634.that is to ſay, God himſelfe, &c. Which vertue is in a manner infinite, and equivalent not onelyonly to the fecunditie of the Virgin Mother of God, inaſmuch as the Virgin-Prieſts procreate upon the Altar the ſame God whom the Virgin procreated firſt in her moſt holy wombe: But alſ… hath ſome …ulation with the eternall operationes by which the divine perſons are produced, and with the eternall generation, by which the F… ther produceth with his divine mouth the ſame Word which the Prieſts produce with their ſacred mouthes. And gathers from thence, that the power of Prieſts ſurpaſſes very farre all the Angelicall power. And in the page 177. he ſaith that Prieſts doe perfect and accompliſh the Redemption of mankinde. And in the page 187. he ſaith that the power of Prieſts is moſt like unto the Divine power, and that they have power over the reall body of Chriſt, and over his myſticall body which is the Church: and that with the Approbation of the Sorbon ſet in the front of the Booke.
Long before, Pope Ʋrban the ſecond,*Simeon Dunelmenſis. lib. …. Chron. Vignier in his Eccleſiaſtiall Hiſtory pag. 310. in the yeare 1097. called a Councell at Rome againſt the Emperour Henry the fourth, in which he did thunder againſt earthly Princes who challenged to themſelves the inveſtiture of Benefices, alleadging it is a thing abhominable that the hands of thoſe which create God their Creator by their Character, ſhould be bound to this ignominie to be as drudges or ſervants to the hands that are night and day polluted with filthy and diſhoneſt attractations. If theſe things be true, reaſon requires that ſo great a power hath not beene given unto Prieſts without great neceſſity, and without ſome great profit ſhould come thereby unto the Chriſtian Church, and that ſo many wonders as our Adverſaries pile up in the Euchariſt, be greatly uſefull and profitable to the faithfull. Yet when we come to examine what the fruit is that comes from Tranſubſtantiation and from the Sacrifice of the Maſſe, we find they reduce it almoſt to nothing, and make the Maſſe almoſt needleſſe and unprofitable.
That appeares as cleare as the day, by comparing it with Baptiſme. For in Baptiſme there is no Tranſubſtantiation made. After theſe words I baptiſe thee in the name of the Father, &c. the water remaines in its owne nature, and is not turned into blood. Yet notwithſtanding, according to the doctrine of the Roman Church, Baptiſme is a thouſand times more profitable and beneficiall, and of a more excellent nature, For in the Roman Church they hold Baptiſme with water abſolutely neceſſary to Salvation. But as for the Euchariſt, our Adverſaries hold that many are ſaved without being partakers thereof: as appeareth by the example of John the Baptiſt, and of the Theife crucified with Chriſt our Lord, and of many faithfull people that dye without having partaked thereof, ſpecially of thoſe which the Ancient Church did call Catechumenes.
Secondly our Adverſaries ſay, that by Baptiſme not onelyonly originall ſinne is pardoned, but even wholly taken away, ſo that thoſe which are Baptiſed, have no more originall ſinne, nor nothing (to ſpeake properly) that may be called ſinne. But concerning the Euchariſt, the Roman Church doth not beleeve that it wipes away the vices, nor vicious cuſtomes in ſuch ſort as it may bee ſayd that all thoſe which are made partakers of the Euchariſt, bee without pride, or without covetoueſneſſe, or without laſcivious luſts.
The principall is, that our Adverſaries teach that by Baptiſme is remitted and aboliſhed all the guilt and puniſhment, both eternall and temporall, of all the ſinnes as well veniall as mortall, committed before Baptiſme. But as for the Euchariſt, they ſay it availeth but againſt venial I ſinnes, which they make to be ſo light, that a man needs not ſo much as to have and contrition or repentance for them. Vaſquez the Jeſuite:*Vaſquez Tomo III. in 3 partē Thomae Diſp. 179. cap 3. num. 26. Rudes non deb…nt hude ar t…ulum ſeire, neque virtutem hujus Sacrament…, prou…are… ad remit… dum v…ia l…, qui… haec …iſſi… non eſt ad ſ…lutem ne…eſſar…. The rude and vulgar ſort ought not to know the particular vertue of this Sacrament in remitting veniall ſinnes, for that remiſſion is not neceſſary unto ſalvation. And the Catechiſme of the Councell of Trent, in the chapter of the Sacrament of the Euchariſt:*Catechiſ. Trident. Remitt… Euchariſti…i. & condonari leviora peccat a quae venialia dici ſolent, nō eſt quod dubitar… debeat It muſt not be doubted but by the Euchariſt, light ſinnes, which are called veniall, are remitted and forgiven, which remiſſion Vaſquez told us juſt now not to be neceſſary. Bellarmin in the ſeventeenth Chapter of his fourth Booke of the Euchariſt, putteth this among Luthers errors, to have ſaid that the firſt effect of this Sacrament is the remiſſion of mortall ſinnes. And about the end of the ſame Chapter: The whole queſtion is reduced to this article, Whether the Sacrament of the Euchariſt doe conferre the forgiveneſſe of mortall ſinnes wherewith a mans conſcience is charged, or elſe (for it comes all to one) if for to receive the Communion worthily, it be required that a mans conſcience be not charged with any mortall ſinne: For all Catholicks teach that the Euchariſt remits not ſuch ſinnes wherewith a mans conſcience is loaden, and therefore it is requiſite they ſhould be purged before. And in the beginning of the eighteenth Chapter: In this chapter it is not taught that the Euchariſt be inſtituted for the remiſſion of ſinnes, but onelyonly for to preſerve ſpirituall life.
And though even theſe Doctors were not ſo expreſſe upon this ſubject, Yet the practiſe of the Roman Church ſhewes evidently that the Euchariſt and the Maſſe availes nothing for the remiſſion of ſinnes. For he that will receive the communion, muſt be confeſſed before, and after confeſſion he receives of the Prieſt the abſolution and forgiveneſſe of all his ſinnes. Whereupon it followeth, that when a little after he receives the hoſte, there is nothing at all to be pardoned: and that the Euchariſt is a plaiſter for a healed wound, and a remedie for a diſeaſe which is not.
Of how ſmall efficacy likewiſe the Sacrifice of the Maſſe is in the Romane Church, appeares in that they ſing or ſay tenne thouſand Maſſes for to draw one Soule out of Purgatory, and yet after ſo many Maſſes, they doubte ſtill whether that Soule be in Heaven, and are ſtill uncertaine of its condition.
They Sacrifice in private Maſſes the body of Chriſt in a corner of a Church, for the eaſing of a ſicke body, or for the curing of a horſe; but it fals out very often that both man and horſe dye, and that the Prieſt hath created his Creator and Sacrificed Chriſt for naught. Whence ariſeth a great occaſion of doubting whether Maſſes ſerve for drawing of Soules out of Purgatory. For if Maſſes cannot obtaine ſo ſmall a thing, what aſſurance have we they ſhall obtaine a greater? ſeeing that no Soule comes out of that Countrey for to thanke thoſe who in cauſing Maſſes to be ſaid, have eaſed it with their money. For theſe private Maſſes are payed by ſuch as cauſe them to be ſayd at their intention. The Prieſt in his Memento names none of thoſe for whom nothing was given. Of particular Maſſes for the Soule of a Beggar, there is no ſpeech of it. Therefore Gabriel Biel in his 25 Leſſon upon the Canon of the Maſſe, warnes the Teſtators*Attendere debent haec teſtat… res, ut non deſidibus & torpētibus aut alias minus timoratis executiones ſuarum ſtudeant committere voluntatum, ne per executionis negligentiā dum non ſiunt quae ordinarunt ſuffragijs preventur, &c. that bequeath any thing to the Church for the eaſing of their Soules, to chuſe faithfull executors, leaſt their Soules be fruſtrated of the Suffrages of the Church, for lacke of payment. That is to ſay, that Maſſes are not ſaid if they be not paid for before hand.
And ſeeing that our Adverſaries hold with us that our Saviour Chriſt, ſitting at the right hand of God, maketh requeſt for all the faithfull: it follows that he makes requeſt alſo for the Soules that are in Purgatory. If they of me out of that fire through his Interceſſion, Maſſes are unprofitable. But if they come not out; who will beleeve that a Maſſe or a Papall Indulgence can doe that which Chriſts Interceſſion hath not done?
This is a Maxime received among the Romiſh Doctors, that a*Eman. Sa Aphotiſm. verbo Miſſ…. Si miſſapro mulus offer…tur non tan…undom ſingulis prodeſſe…, ac ſi pro allis ſolis offerretur. Sylocſier, Navorrus, Tolerus, Suarez, Scotus. Maſſe ſaid for three or foure perſons that joyn and pay for it together, is not ſo available and profitable unto them, as if every one ſhould cauſe a Maſſe to be ſaid for himſelfe alone. By this meanes the gaine encreaſes three or foure fold Emanuel Sa the Jeſuite, in his Aphoriſmes, gives this rule full of great equity:†Idem Ibidem. cus datur certa peeunae ſumma pro M…ſſis à ſed…endas poteſt alios pro…minore pretuo conducere qua adjuvent, … reliquit fibs relinere. That if a Prieſt hath received a ſumme of money for to ſay a certaine number of Maſſes, be may hire other Prieſts that will ſay them at a lower rate, and keepe to himſelfe the reſt of the money.
And it is marvellous and ſtrange, that Prieſts, which are thought to have the power to make a God with a few words, and to carry Chriſt every day ſhut up in a Pixe or Boxe, and in their ſtomaks, are in the meane while in ſuch contempt, and that the Country Prieſts are the reproach and the very dregs of the people: And that a Cardinall Deacon, who hath no power to make Chriſt, ſhould equall in magnificence the Kings of the Earth, whilſt a wretched Prieſt is tipling in an Alehouſe, and of his ſinging of Maſſes makes his onelyonly living. Who when he maketh Chriſt in a private Maſſe for two or three groats, may juſtly ſay with Judas, What will you give me and I will deliver him unto you? Men boaſt to give or deliver God unto others, and cannot give Salvation. And our Adverſaries confeſſe, that there are ſome Prieſts damned: Whereupon it will follow, that a man which hath carried God ſo many times, is himſelfe carryed away by the Devill.