Canterburys Doom, Branch 1 · Evidence 2 · Floating text 2 · Popish error 19 – Popish error 20
19. That Ave Maries are to be now ſaid to the Virgin Mary: That ſhee and other Saints; and our Angells Gardians are to be invoked and prayed to, as our Patrons; Popiſh Saints to be imitated: and the Virgin Mary, extolled, deiſied, by Proteſtants as ſhe is by Papiſts.
CHriſts Epiſtle to a devout Soule, Page 237. Say with the ſame intention, the prayer at leaſt which I taught my Diſciples, and the Salutation of the Angell, to my bleſſed Mother; and offer me up to my Father in thy heart, and with me all thoſe good workes which I and my ſervants either do or have done for thee, and the vniverſall Church, pag. 252. Doe not omit every night to intreat my glorious Mother to pray unto me to pardon thee (at her requeſt) all ſuch negligences as thou haſt ignorantly committed, and which thou doſt not remember: She hath performed the office of a tender Mother NOTE.to mee, I have received nouriſhment from her bleſſed Duggs, and therefore I cannot nor will not (my love to Her is ſo great) deny any Petition that ſhe preſents: and therefore entreat me daily by her interceſſion for the amendment of thy life, perſeverance in vertue and obtaining of my grace, pag. 253. Thou ſhalt further intreat me by her Interceſſion, that the worſhiping and honouring of me may be daily amplified, inlarged, augmented and increaſed, either by this rule and inſtruction which I have now preſcribed and commended to thee, or by what other meanes ſoever that ſhall ſeeme beſt unto thee, p. 262. By the compaſſion of thy Mother &c. What can be more Popiſh then this?
Francis Sales in his Introduction to a devout life, writes thus page 19. Saint Lydia and Saint Chriſpian were perfectly devout in their open ſhopps; Saint Anne, Saint Martha, Saint Monicha amongſt their families, &c. page 89. Thou being placed upon thy knees before thy good Angell, Conſider, that God deſireth thou wouldſt make choiſe of Paradice, and thy good Angell alſo urgeth expreſly thee with all his power, offering thee on Gods behalfe a thouſand ſuccours, page 91. In like manner accept the favours which all the bleſſed Saints preſent unto thee; promiſe them that thou wilt make towards them, and give thy hand to the good Angell that he may guide thee thither, and encourage thy ſoule to make this choyce, page 97. O ſacred Virgin and all you bleſſed Saints of Heaven, I chuſe you for my guides and Patrons, I render my ſelfe under your colours. O my Guide and Gardian in heaven unite me unto this glorious and ſacred aſſembly: Page 194. We muſt pray for the whole Church NOTE.of God, employing and imploring to that end the interceſsion of our bleſſed Lady, Page 165. O Father of Goodneſſe, &c. Then think upon our bleſſed Lady, upon the good Angells and the Saints that are gone before thee, to the end that thou maiſt inſiſt in their ſteps, and be partaker of their happy interceſsions: page 197. The holy Soules of the Saints in Heaven, in company of the bleſſed Angells, they likewiſe doe good Oſhces and helpe to aſſiſtus by their ſacred interceſſion. Honour, Reverence and reſpect the ſacred and glorious Virgin Mary with an eſpeciall Love: ſhe is the Mother NOTE.of our Soveraigne Lord and heavenly Father Chriſt Ieſus, and conſequently our Grand-Mother. page 198. Chuſe ſome particular Saints amongſt the reſt whoſe lives thou maiſt more particularly read, taſt and imitate, page 200. Read alſo the lives of the Saints in which as in a mirror, thou maiſt ſee the pon…traiture of Chriſtian perfectiſon. The ſolitarineſſe of Saint Paul, the firſt Hermit, is imitated in ſome ſorts, by the ſpirituall retreates of which we have ſpoken; and the extreme poverty of Saint Francis may be imitated, &c. There be ſome Saints which more directly ſerve to guide and order our lives then others doe; as that of Saint Gregory our Apoſtle of England, as the life of the bleſſed Martyer Tereſſa, the lives of Saint Thomas of Aquine, Saint Francis, Saint Benuet, and ſuch like, page 201. Other Saints lives there are which containe more matter of admiration then of imitation, as the life of Saint Mary of Egypt, of Saint Simeon Stilites, of the two St. Katherins of Sienna and of Genua, and Saint Angla, and which never the leſſe do miniſter unto us great occaſions to taſt the ſweetneſſe of the love of God.
Biſhop Mountague his Amid. page 20. Non abnuerim, Sanctos eſſe Orationis & Interceſſionis (ut loqui ſoletis) Mediatores, ſed univerſim univerſos praecibus ſuis apud Deum interveniunt, & orationibus mediantur, page 22. Meminerunt amicorum ſuorum et rerum a ſi quondam in terris geſtarum quocirca ad Chriſtum in caelo recollecti, poterint de viae ordinaria per Jeſum Chriſtum apud deum Patrem amicos familiares foreign praecibus commendare, et adjuvare. Which hee thus further proſecutes in his Gagge, page 203. Now the caſe of Angell keepers in point of advocation and invocation is much different from other Angells, not Guardians; as being continually attendant, always at hand though inviſible, and therefore though we might ſay; Sancte Angele Cuſtes Ora pro me, it followeth not, we may ſay Sancte Gabriell ora pro m…, page 207. Angels are to bee beſeeched who are deputed our Gardians, therefore not all Angells but onelyonly Guardian, Page 214. The Saints pray for us in particular, ſome particular Saint for ſome particular man, in ſome ſpeciall caſe, ſome time. And to come more particularly to it. The queſtion is not, whether Saints departed doe pray unto God that is confeſſed on both ſides, &c.
Anthony Stafford in his Femall Glory, (in the Front whereof there is the Picture of the Virgin Mary encompaſſed with a Glory holding Chriſt a little Infant in her Armes) thus extolls, nay juſtifies the Invocation of the Virgin, and ſaying Aves to her, Med: Poetica. Ave Maria. Tu gaudi verbum peperiſti, & dicit Avete Omnibus: atque omnis terra revibrat Ave. He proceedes thus in the Reverſe. The Houſe of Gold, the gate of heavens power, great Queene of Queenes moſt milde, moſt meeke, moſt wiſe, moſt venerable, cauſe of all our joy, &c. In the Panegyrick of her he addes, To whom doe bow—The Soules of all the juſt, whoſe place is next to God.
Pag. 2. 3. He ſtiles her. Moſt Excellent Princeſſe; The Virgin Mother of God: Empreſſe of the lower world: The alone faire, the alone lovely, P. 32. Glorious Empreſſe Pag. 21. White ſpotleſſe Soule, illuminated with Revelations by the divine Object of her chaſt vowes. Pag. 150. Womans deareſt Miſtreſſe. Pag. 197. Our ſweeteſt Lady. P. 158. In all things the very figure and reſemblance of Sanctity it ſelfe, P. 148. 149. he thus approves of Nunneries, and prayers on Beads to the Virgin, before her Image with Chriſt in her Armes. You who have lived ſpirituall Amouriſts, whoſe ſpirits have triumphed over the fleſh, on whoſe cheekes ſolitude, prayers, faſts, and auſterity have left an amiable pale: you who ply your ſacred Arithmeticke, and have thoughts cold and cleare as the Chriſtall Beads you pray by: you who have voud Virginitie mentall, and corporall, you ſhall not only have ingreſſe here, but welcome. Approach with comfort, and kneele downe before the Grand Immaculate Abbeſſe of your Snowy Nunneries, and preſent the all-ſaving Babe in her Armes with due veneration. Never thinke more of the Faecunditie of Wedlocke, ſince you ſee here that God himſelfe is the fruit of Virginity. P. 153, 154. He thus commends the burning of Tapers, and ſaying Maſſes on Candlemaſſe day, in honour of the Virgin Mary: This day is called Candlemaſſe, as much to ſay, the day of lights, on which (while Maſſe was ſinging) very many Tapers were burning in the Church. Innocentius thus propounds and ſolves the Queſtion.
What is the reaſon that on this day we uſe ſo many lights in the Church? The cauſe of this inſtitution is twofold. The firſt is, that a heatheniſh cuſtom may bee converted into a Chriſtian Right or Ordinance, and that which was performed by ſuperſtitious Idolaters, in honour of Ceres and Proſerpina, may be turned into the praiſe and glory of the Virgin Mary. The ſecond is, that they who by Grace are purified, by this Ceremony may be admoniſhed to imitate thoſe prudent Virgins, who (as the Evangelicall parable teſtifieth) came not without their Tapers lighted to the Nuptialls of Chriſt their Spouſe. Pag. 209. There is the Picture of her fabulous aſſumption into heaven, cut in Braſſe after the popiſh forme, with men and women devoutly kneeling and praying to her, and theſe verſes written under the ſame.
What Honour could to this GREAT QƲEENE be done,
More then be taken up to Heaven high.
And there have God for Father, Spouſe, and Sonne,
The Angels wayte, the world ſtand wondring by?
After which, hee ſpends many pages to prove the Verity, or probability at leaſt of her Aſſumption into Heaven, Soule and Body; which (ſaith he) by many of the Fathers, all of the Romiſh Church, and ſome of the Reformd is held for an undoubted truth: (when as indeed it is a meere Popiſh ridiculous falſe Legend.) And to prove this, hee makes her to be borne without ſinne.
Pag. 212. Dammianus argues, That as conceiving without ſinne, ſhee brought forth her ſonne, without paine, a curſe laid on all, other women: ſo might it well be that ſhe who was without ſin, might overcome death, the reward of it; P. 119. 120. hee writes. That the Virgin is not to bee conſidered as a meere Woman, but as a Type or Idaea of an accompliſht piety. Adding: They erre not ſo much, in my judgment, in the adoring extreame as ſome too ſevere maintaines of the former, doe in the neglecting. They are ſo farre from praiſing her themſelves, that they moſt unjuſtly deprive her of the praiſe given her by others. They reject all teſtimonies of her worth; as Haile Mary full of Grace, &c. They abhor to heare her called Domina &c. Concluding this point in theſe termes, pag. 223. Of one thing I will aſſure them, till they are GOOD MARIANS, they ſhall never be good Chriſtians: while they derogate from the dignity of the Mother, they cannot truely honour the Son, pag. 228. 229. Eraſmus ſtiles her, His SAVIORESSE, which NOTE.he cites with approbation p. 230. to 237. He proceeds thus in her prayſes. All parts of the world have produced admirers of her worth; Syria hath brought forth Eph…aim; Antiochia, Saint Chryſoſtome, Capadocia, Saint Baſill, and Saint Nazianzen; Conſtantinople, Germanus, and Proclus; Dalmatia, Saint Hierome; Germany, Rupertus, Albertus, and Agrippa; England Beda, France, Bernard, Spaine, Alphonſus; Italy, Aquinas, and Bonaventure; Africke, Saint Cyprian, and Saint Auſtine; Greece, Dioniſius Areopagita, &c. To theſe ſucceede famous Chriſtian Poets, ancient and moderne, who have written Pannegrricks upon her; as Beda Gregorius Nazianzenus, Innocentius Pontifex, Actius Sanazarius▪ Adam de Sancto Victore, Alcimus A… tus, Antonius Muretus. Aurelius Prudentius, Baptiſta Mantuanus, Clandiarus, Franciſcus Petrarcha, Godfridus Viterbienſis, Hieronymus Vide, Paulinus; D. Philippus Menzelins, Rudolphus Agricola, Sedulius, Venantius Fortunatus.
To theſe I add many Emperours, Princes and Princeſſes and a world of devoute great ones, who have beene her proſeſſed admirers; as Conſtantine the Great, Charles, the Great Pulcheria Auguſta, Henry the ſecond Emperor, Alphonſus the Chaſt in SPAINE, Edwardus in Hungaria, Boliſlaus in Polonia. Venceſlaus in Bohemia.
All which are Canonized for Saints, and have erected and dedicated Temples to her memory: Neither have the Princes of this our Ile bin defective in doing her all poſſible honour, and in conſecrating Chappells and Tempells to her memorie: Fredericke the third Emperour made the contemplation of her almoſt his onelyonly foode. Stephanus, King of Hungarie, called his Kingdome, the Marian Family: In this glorious Family, whole Kingdoms and Common-Wealths have NOTE.enrolled themſelves. My Arithmeticke wil not ſerve me to number all thoſe who have regiſtred their names in the Sodalitie of the Roſary of this our Bleſſed Lady the Originall of which is derived from the battaile of Naupactun, gained by Iohn of Auſtria, and the Chriſtians, which Victory was attributed to her interceſſion with her ſonne. The Colonian Sodallity firſt Inſtituted, had out of Lovaine, 4000. of Brabant, 30000. out of Gueldria, 4000. out of Holland and Zeland 7000. &c. Many holy Orders alſo are of this Sodallity, as the Benedictines, the Franciſcans and Carthuſians and many others. If all theſe Teſtimonies and examples of great worthy people will not move us to honour her, we ſhal be judged, both unworthy of this life, and ignorant of that better to come. For ſhame let not us alone deny NOTE.her that honour, and praiſe with all the world allowes her. Pag. 247. Hee Invocates her ſaying: O pardon Gracious Princeſſe, my weake indeavours to ſum up thy value, &c. And Pag. 248. Thou deſerveſt a quire of Queenes here, and another of Angells, in Heaven, to ſing thy praiſe, &c. And I confeſſe my ſweeteſt Lady. Page 249. To give thee an eſtimation anſwerable to thy merit, is a thing impoſſible: I muſt therfore be content to do by thee, as the Ancient Heathen did by the Images of the gods; when by reaſon of their height they could not place the Crowns on their heads they humbly laid them at their feet. In his Epiſtle to his Feminine Reader, ſpeaking of the Virgin Mary: This is ſhe who was on earth a confirmer of the good, and a reformer of the Reprobate; all her viſitants were but ſo many converts, whoſe bad affections and erronious opinions, the ſweetnes of her diſcourſe had rectefied: the Leproſie of ſin was her daily cure, and they, whom vice had blinded, were by her reſtored to their inward light, and their proſtrate Soules adored Divine, Majeſticall vertue reſiding in this ſacred Temple: the knowledge of her humbled the moſt … Natures, for the luſtre of her merits rendered their owne obſcure, And in his Epiſtle to the Maſculine Reader: But this I will ſay, that though I impute not the late troubles and afflictions of the Proteſtant party in Germany to the ſmall Reverence there paid her (many of Gods judgments according to Saint Augustine, being ſecret, none unjuſt) yet truly I beleeve, that the under-valuing of one ſo great and deare in Chriſts eſteeme, (as his Mother; cannot but bee diſpleaſing to him; and that the more we aſcribe to her, (ſetting Invocation a part) the more gracious we appeare in his ſight. He concludes it thus; I will only adde this, that ſince the finiſhing of this ſtory, I have read a Booke of the now Biſhop of Chiceſter, intituled Apparacus, &c. And I am glad to finde that I have not digreſſed from him in any one particular: Soe he, Loe therefore what a Metomorphoſis of our Religion is here. Here is a new Goddeſſe, brought in among us, the Virgin Mary adorned extolled deified with Titles, Courtſhips, Encomium, Hymnes: taken out of Popiſh Miſſalis, Houres, Breviaries, Poems. The Author glorieth, that he is the firſt who hath written, (as he ſaith) in our Vulgar tongue, on this our bleſſed Virgin: And God grant he be the laſt: But he beares himſelfe in all this upon the Church of England: where wee pray you? at laſt wee perceive this Church of England is the (then) Biſhop of Chiheſter (Mountague) in his Apparatus, from whom hee hath not digreſſed in any particular.
This Booke of Staffords giving very great ſcandall to Proteſtants, and encouragement to Papiſts, Mr. Henry Burton, in his Sermon intituled: For God and the King, page 123. 124. 125. diſcovered, cenſured theſe extravagant Popiſh Paſſages in it, adviſing the people to beware of it. For which, among other things, he was brought into the Star-Chamber and there cenſured: But on the contrary, this Popiſh Booke of Staffords with the forementioned ſcandalous Paſſages in it, were by the Archbiſhops ſpeciall direction profeſſedly juſtified, both by Doctor Heylin in his Moderate Anſwer to Mr. Burton (licenſed by the Arch-biſhops owne Chaplaine, and written by his command) pag. 123. 124. and by Chriſtopher Dow, in his Innovations unjustly charged, page 51. 54. and this Booke neither called in nor corrected, ſo audatiouſly Popiſhwas he growne, in this particular, among many others.
20. That the Church is alwayes Ʋiſible:
Biſhop Mountague his Appeale: Page 139. The Church of Rome hath ever beene viſible. The Church of Rome is and ever was a true Church ſince it was a Church. Therfore the true Church hath ever bin viſible. Which he thus ſeconds Orig. Eccleſiaſticarum Tomi prio: pars poster. page 463. Sanctè credimus, defendimus, &c. Eccleſiam nullis interceptam, interciſam intercapedinibus, perpetuô extantem, alicubi viſibilem, oculis uſurpandam, in eum finem et eo modo ut intelligere poſſint quibus curae illud eſt apud quos habeatur verbum vitae, &c.