The Anatomy of the Mass, Book 1 · Chapter 6 – Chapter 9
CHAP. VI. How much Chriſt is diſhonoured by this Doctrine. And of the character indelible: And of the power of creating ones Creator.
THe very cauteles of the Maſſe doe ſufficiently diſcover the abuſe, and maketh every man that loveth Chriſt ſhake with horror: At the end of the old editions of the Roman Decree, are added many penitentiall Canons, whereof the nine and thirtieth is ſuch:*Quando mus corrodit aut comedit corpus Chriſti. When a mouſe eateth or gnaweth the body of Chriſt, for the penance in this caſe, look… for the ſecond diſtinction of the Conſecration, towards the end.
In the new Maſſe-Booke reviewed and amended by the Popes authority, there is in the beginning a treatiſe of the defects that happen in the Maſſe, where theſe rules are found in the third chapter:†De defectibus circa Maſſam occu… étibus, cap. 3. §. 7. Si hoſt a conſecrata diſpareat v… caſie aliquo, ut venlo, aut miraculo, velab liquo a…mali accepta, & acqueat repe…eri, tunc alterra conſecretur ab …o loco incipiendo, Qu… pridie, &c. If the conſecrated hoſte vaniſh away by ſome accident, as if it be carried away with the winde or by ſome miracle: or eaten up by ſome beaſt, and cannot be found, then let another be conſecrated, beginning again about the place of the Maſſe, Qui pridie, &c. And in the tenth chapter:*Cap. 10. Si muſca vel aranea cecîderit in calicem, & non fuerit Sacerdoti nauſea, nee ullum periculum … meat, ſumat cum ſangu…ne. If a Flye or Spider fall into the chalice, and that the Prieſts Stomack riſe not againſt, and feare not any danger thereby, let him ſwallow the Flye or Spider with the blood. And in the ſame Chapter:†Cap. 10. § 11. Si in hieme congelat… ſanguis in calice, involvatur calix pannis calefact…s. If in winter the blood doe freeze in the chalice, let the chalice be wrapped up in ho… clothes. Note theſe words, If the blood doe freeze. Whileſt Chriſt is full of glory in heaven, they thaw him here upon earth. Let them tell us what body or what ſubſtance is frozen in the chalice: For all Ice is a body.
But above all is to be noted, that which is found in the ſame Chapter:*Cap. 10. §. 14. Si Sacerdos evomat Euchariſtiam, ſi ſpecies integrae appareant, reverenter ſumantur, niſi nauſea ſiat. Tunc enim ſpecies conſecratae caute ſeparentur, & in loto ſacro reponantur. If the Prieſt vomit up the Euchariſt, and that the ſpecies appeare whole, they muſt be chewd againe with reverence: unleſſe the ſtomack ſhould loath them. For then the conſecrated ſpecies muſt bee carefully ſevered, and put into a ſacred place, and after that be caſt into the reliquary or ſhrine wherein reliques are kept.
Pope Innocent the third in the fourth Booke of the Myſteries of the Maſſe, Chapter 16, moveth a very important queſtion. He asketh that if a flux or looſeneſſe takes a Prieſt that hath nothing in his ſtomack but conſecrated hoſtes, what is the matter that comes out of his body? Of which difficulty the Pope rids himſelfe wiſely, ſaying with the Apoſtle: Be not wiſer than it behooveth, but bee wiſe unto ſobriety.
By theſe things it appeareth that God, ſtirred up with anger againſt men that have rejected his word, hath ſtrucken them with giddines. For who would ever have thought that Chriſtian men would have come to that point as to worſhip a God which may bee ſtolne, or carried away with the winde, ſo that one may ſay God is loſt. A God that may be gnawed by mice, and devoured by brute beaſts. A God that is wrapped in the middeſt of vomiting and ſpuing, and that muſt be eaten and chewed againe. A God who being fallen downe cannot riſe up againe: Of whom their Doctors*Vaſquez in 3 partem Thamae Tomo 3. …ſp. 191. cap. 3. Neque agere▪ ne que pati po…eſt corpus Chriſti prout eſt in hoc Sacramento, corpo…ea actione neque paſſione. ſay, that under the hoſte he cannot open his eyes, nor ſtirre his hands: and that he is neither lieing, ſitting, nor ſtanding.
Our Adverſaries doe anſwer that when Mice have gnawed or carryed away the conſecrated hoſte, or that a beaſte hath devoured it, Chriſt ſuffereth no paine nor hurt thereby. But they cannot deny but that Chriſt there by is expoſed to laughter, and ſuffers a greater ignominie than that of the Croſſe. To be eaten by beaſts and vomited up, and wrapped among vomiting and ſpuing, is a thing more ſhamefull than to be crucified. The Turks and Pagans will ſay, Is that the God of the Chriſtians that could not defend himſelfe againſt Mice, and which is devoured by Dogs? Certain it is, that God would never make the glorious body of his Son to be ſubject to ſo many ignominies, without it were very beneficiall and uſefull unto the Church. And yet our Adverſaries cannot tell us what good it doth to our Salvation that Chriſt ſhould be thus carried away by a mouſe, or devoured by brute beaſts.
Cardinal Tolet the Jeſuit, in the ſecond Booke of the Inſtitution of Prieſts, chapter 25. ſaith,†Poteſt conſecrare Sacerdos multos cophinos panis & vini dolium. The Prieſts can conſecrate many baskets of bread, and a Tunne of wine. If he can conſecrate one Tun, he may alſo conſecrate two, yea tenne or twentie, and ſo may turne into blood all the Wine of a Market.
Whereupon tis neceſſary to know that the Church of Rome holdeth, that by conferring of the order of Prieſthood, an Indelible character is engraven into the Soule of the Prieſt, So that the Pope himſelfe cannot blot it out: And that a Prieſt degraded for Hereſie, or other crime, may conſecrate and tranſubſtantiate bread into fleſh, and wine into blood, by vertue of that character remaining in him, though the function of his office be interdicted unto him. By that meanes, a Prieſt that hath forſaken the Roman Religion, yea a Prieſt*Vaſquez Tomo Ill. in 3. partē Thomae Diſp. 171. Cap. 3. Cum conſtet Sacerdo… bus cōmiſſam fuiſſe poteſtatem conſecrandi, ita ut licet conſecrare velit in malum uſum, nempe pro veneficijs & incantationibus, conſceratio corum effectum haberet. Sorcerer and Magician, may tranſubſtantiate whole tuns of wine into blood, and make Chriſts blood to be carried up and downe in pints and bottles over al the taverns & tipling houſes of a town: which is truly to make Chriſt the ſport of Magicians and drunkards, and expoſe him to great ignominy.
By the ſame doctrine Chriſt is in the power of Prieſts, who make him, and pin him up, and walke him, and may if they will, caſt him into the fire: As Gabriel Biel a famous Doctor ſaith, in the firſt Leſſon upon the Canon of the Maſſe:†Biel Lect. 1. in Canonem Miſſae. Super utrumque corpus Chriſti Sacerdos inſignes habet poteſiates. The Prieſt hath great power over the one and the other body of Chriſt, that is to ſay, over the Church, and over the conſecrated hoſte. Whereupon he addeth:*Quis hujus rei …nd…t ſimilia? Qui creavit me (ſi fas eſt dicere) dedit mihi creare ſe. E… qui creavit me, creatur mediante me. Who ever ſaw things like unto this? He that hath created me (if I may ſay ſo) hath given me to create him; And he that hath created mee without me, is created by my meanes. Thus Prieſts doe create Chriſt in the Maſſe, and make Chriſt who is made already: As if one ſhould beget a man already born.
CHAP. VII. That the very words of the Maſſe are contrary to Tranſubſtantiation.
IN the midſt of this alteration of the Lords Inſtitution, God hath permitted that in the Maſſe ſome clauſes ſhould remaine, which manifeſtly condemne the Tranſubſtantiation. For a great part of the Canon of the Maſſe are prayers, which have beene added when they did not yet beleeve the Tranſubſtantiation. As when the Prieſt, having before him the conſecrated hoſte, ſaith,*Oſſerimus praeclarae …uae Majeſtati de tuis domis & datis hoſtiam puram. Wee offer to thine excellent Majeſty of thy gifts and preſents a pure hoſte. By theſe gifts, they underſtand at this day Chriſt himſelfe. Surely, never a man in his right ſenſe called Chriſt gifts and preſents in the plurall: But that agrees very well with the bread and wine.
The Prieſt goes on, ſaying,†Supra quae propitio a… ſereno vuliu reſpicere digneris, & accepta habere, ſicut accepta habere d gnatus es munera pueri tui juſti Abel. Ʋpon which things vouchſafe to looke with a cheerefull eye. Is it not a jeaſt to call Chriſt theſe things? and for a full meaſure of abuſe, to aske of God that he may looke upon Chriſt with a gracious eye: as if Chriſt had need of our recommendation?
Moreover, the Prieſt demandeth of God afterward, that he would be pleaſed to have theſe gifts and preſents as acceptable, as he had acceptable the preſents of Abel. That is to ſay, that Chriſt may be as acceptable unto God, as the beaſts ſacrificed by Abel. This prayer is good being ſaid upon the bread and the wine, but being ſaid upon Chriſt, it is altogether blaſphemous.
Chiefly, this is evident, in that the Prieſt looking upon the conſecrated hoſte and the chalice, ſaith, that*Per Chriſtum Dominum noſtrum, per quem haec omnia, Domine, ſemper bona creas, ſanctificas, vivificas, henedicis. by Chriſt our Lord, God creates alwayes for us theſe good things, ſanctifies them, and vivifies them. Can Chriſt be called theſe good things? Doth God create and vivifie Chriſt alwayes? And ſince God creates theſe things through Jeſus Chriſt, as the Maſſe ſaith, it is certaine theſe things are not Chriſt. But all that agrees very well with the bread and wine.
We muſt not omit that Chriſt giveing the bread to his Diſciples, ſaid ſimply, Take, Eate,: But in the Canon of the Maſſe there is, Accipite & manducate ex hoc omnes: Take and eate all of it. Whoſoever added theſe words E X HOC, lie did not beleeve that in the Euchariſt the Lords body was really eaten by the mouth of the body. For to eate of that, is to eate a part thereof, and not all. Which cannot be ſaid of Chriſts naturall body.
CHAP. VIII. Recrimination of our Adverſaries.
THe Prophet Eliſha accuſed the Iſraelites of Idolatry, and of forſaking Gods Covenant. They out of revenge called him bald-pate, which was a reproach nothing belonging to the doctrine. We ſtand upon the like termes with our Adverſaries. We accuſe the Roman Church to have brough in Idolatry in the Maſſe, worſhipping of the Sacrament, and a Sacrifice of Chriſts body, which Chriſt hath not inſtituted: To have taken away from the people the halfe of the Sacrament: To have changed the nature of the Sacrament yea of Chriſt himſelfe: which are thing of importance, and altogether eſſentiall to the Euchariſt and to Chriſtian Religion. But they, out of recrimination, tell us, that we have likewiſe changed many things in the Lords Inſtitutution. For (ſay they) ye ſolemniz… the Supper in the morning: but Chri… inſtituted it after Supper. Ye celebrate it in a Temple: but Chriſt did celebrate it in an upper Chamber. Yee receive women to the Communion: But when Chriſt inſtituted the Euchariſt, there were none but men. Things, whereof the two firſt are indifferent, and all three not onelyonly are not of the eſſence of that Sacrament, but even make no part of that action.
To this objection, Chriſt affords us an anſwer. For hee ſaid, Doe this in remembrance of mee. Hee ſaid not Doe this in ſuch a place, nor at ſuch an houre, nor with ſuch a Sexe or ſuch perſons: But hee ſaid, Doe this, commanding us to doe as hee hath done, and to imitate his action. Chriſt did not exclude women. If any had beene there preſent, worthy to be partakers of the holy Supper, he would not have rejected them.
CHAP. IX. Cauſes why the Pope admitteth not of any alteration in the Maſſe, and will not conforme himſelfe to the Lords Inſtitution.
THough the abuſe be ſo apparent, yet the Church of Rome and the Pope will not let goe their hold, and ſuffer any change or alteration to be made in the Maſſe. The cauſe of that is eaſie to be knowne. For if the Church of Rome ſhould yeeld to the leaſt alteration, it would overthrow the three Maximes that are the baſis whereon all Popery is grounded, whereof the firſt is, that the Church of Rome cannot erre: the ſecond, that the Pope and Church of Rome are not ſubject to the holy Scripture, and have greater authority than the holy Scripture: the third, that the Pope and Church of Rome have power to change Gods Commandemens, and make new Articles of Faith. All which things are ſeene not one by practice, in that all the doctrine … the Roman Church is contrary to th… holy Scripture, but alſo by example of Popiſh Councels, and open profe… ſion of the principall Doctors of tha… Church: whereof I will alleadge ſo… places in the next chapter.