The Parable of the Pilgrim, Parable · Chapter 35
CAP. XXXV.
A Diſcourſe with ſome Pilgrims that were going to Loretto, the Holy Land, or ſuch like places. How much ſuch perſons are abuſed and cheated. The judgment of St. Gregory Nyſſen of theſe Pilgrimages. The Priviledges which Rome boaſts of above all other places. And what a Market is there held continually for Pardons. Of which a Leaſe may be bought of many thouſand years, for a ſmall matter.
WHen the two Champions (for ſo they eſteemed themſelves) ſaw that there was no ground to be won of theſe men, they thought it beſt to quit the field, eſpecially ſince the night was coming on a pace to part them. They made therefore but a ſhort return to what had been objected to them, and then both ſides expreſſing all the kindneſs that might be towards each other and promiſing to live in Charity, they took their ſeveral courſes. And as for our two friends, they did but rid themſelves of this company, to make room for a new. For having bequeathed their wearied bones to reſt in ſuch a bed as they could get, betimes the next morning they met with a cluſter of Pilgrims (as they called themſelves) in a very poor habit and much weather-beaten; who were got together under a tree, relating their ſeveral Pilgrimages which either they intended, or had already performed. To this company they were very deſirous to joyn themſelves a while; and it being admitted, they found one of them telling how holy a place Mount Sinai was which he was going to viſit with great devotion. And I, ſaid another, ſhall go your way; for there is a Vow upon me to go and ſee the Oak of Mamre under which Abraham entertained the Angels. But firſt, ſaid a third, let us go to Jeruſalem whither I am bound, to ſee the ſanctified places which our Saviours feet have trod. The place where he made the Pater noſter, and where the Apoſtles made the Creed. The Olive tree alſo ſtill ſtanding hard by the houſe of Annas, to which Chriſt was tyed when they brought him to be examined by him. For you muſt know, by the way, that Annas being faſt aſleep when he was taken and they being loath to awake him, they got a cord and bound our Saviour to this tree leſt he ſhould ſlip away before the High Prieſt aroſe. But eſpecially I intend to viſit the Holy Sepulchre, and to behold the place where he lay, which I have heard is an action very meritorious. And I, ſaid a fourth, am ingaged to go to our Lady of Loretto to ſee the very Chamber where ſhe was born, and where ſhe was educated by Joachim her Father and Ann her Mother; and where the Angels came to her and ſhe conceived our Lord. This I hope is as meritorious if not more, as to travel to his grave (and beſides it is a ſhorter journey) for I have heard one ſay of this place as I believe you never heard any ſay of the other, that the words of Jacob do well befit it, This place is dreadful, it is no other then the Houſe of God, and the gate of Heaven. You ſpeak ſo highly of theſe holy places, ſaid a fifth, that I ſhould have a great mind to accompany you to ſome of them, were I not now returning turning home from a Pilgrimage which I have made to St. James of Compoſtella, wherein I have ſpent more time then I could well ſpare from my neceſſary affairs. O then ſaid the Father (who had liſtned attentively all this while to them without ſpeaking a word) you have brought home I preſume to your family one Feather at leaſt of the Holy Cock or Hen which are kept in a certain Church of an ancient City not far from that place. I hope you will favour us with a ſight of it, for here is no air ſtirring to blow it away if it ſhould chance to fall; and this company I believe would be glad if you would bleſs their lips with a kiſs of it. I do not know well what you mean ſaid the man, for I never ſo much as heard of any ſuch thing. That is very ſtrange replyed the Father, that they ſhould either ſuffer ſo ſacred a breed to periſh, or that the fame of them ſhould not come to your ears. There is ſcarce any Pilgrim who paſſes that way who doth not go to ſee them, and therefore I may well marvel that you ſhould hear no news of them: though I ſhall ſooner believe that; than that they ſhould be ſo careleſs as to let thoſe Holy Chickens dye, whoſe great Grandfather and Grandmother were ſo miraculous an inſtance of the Vertue of St. James of Compoſtella! I pray Sir ſaid another of them be pleaſed to let us hear the ſtory of theſe Sacred Creatures, for we are all I believe very ignorant of it. I will tell it you then ſaid he juſt as I received it from a perſon of no mean account that lived in Sicily but was well acquainted with all theſe Countryes.Luc. Marinaeus de Reliq. There was on a time a certain man, a great friend of God (whoſe name he was pleaſed to conceal) who undertook a Pilgrimage, together with his wife and ſon to the Saint forenamed. It was their fortune being in their journey thither to take up their Quarters one night in an old City not many miles from it, they being not able that day to reach as far as Compoſtella. Now in the houſe that entertained them you muſt know there was a maid not ſo good as ſhe was pretty, who beholding the beauty of their ſon fell in love with him: and made ſuch undecent expreſſions of it, that he was forced to be more uncivil to her then otherwiſe he ſhould have been. This turned her love into a great hatred, and made her ſtudy a revenge, which ſhe took in this manner. There being a little ſilver cup which they uſed in their Chamber, ſhe neatly conveighed it into his Capouch, and when they were gone out of the City cauſed them to be purſued by the Alcalde or Juſtice of the place and accuſed them of theft. When the Father and Mother had been ſearched and nothing was found they were ſome thing troubled at the moleſtation which they had given them; but as ſoon as ever they came to the ſon, they happened to feel it there, where they little expected to have found it; and ſo carried them back again. The young man being brought before the Juſtice could only deny the fact, but was no way able to purge himſelf, and therefore was condemned to be hang'd. On the Gallows then his Father and Mother were fain to leave him, and as the ſtory goes there he hung by the neck till they had been at Compoſtella, and performed all their vows to the Saint. And his Mother going to viſit the Gibbet at her return, and to ſpend a few tears at the place of execution, found him in the very ſame poſture wherein they left him. But ſhe had not poured out many complaints, nor lookt upon him long with her eyes full of tears, before he called out to her and ſaid; Dear Mother, weep no more I beſeech you for me, for I am not dead as you imagine but alive; being preſerved by the Mother of God and the interceſſion of St. James whom you went to honour, from ſuffering the death which my enemies intended me. Go to the Judge therefore and make no longer ſtay here: Let him know how it is, that I was accuſed out of meer malice, unjuſtly condemned, and thus miraculouſly ſaved by them that protect the innocent and are grateful to their Worſhippers. She did ſo, without examining him any further about the matter; and the Judge was juſt ſate down to dinner when ſhe came running in ſaying, Sir, I beſeech you cauſe my ſon to be taken down and let him hang yonder no longer, for though I muſt confeſs that he is ſtill alive, yet it is by the power of God and his Saints. At which news he ſmiling ſaid, Good woman be content; thy Son is as much alive, as theſe two Birds; pointing to a Cock and Hen which were ready roaſted upon the Table before him. He had no ſooner ſaid the word, but they both leapt out of the diſh and walkt about the Table, being as ready for a dinner as himſelf. And as for the Cock, he moreover clapped his wings and fell a Crowing for joy to find them unpinion'd, and to feel that he did not carry his giſcern thereabouts any longer. Which when the Judge beheld, he was the moſt aſtoniſhed man that ever was ſeen, and could not of a good while recover himſelf to ſpeak a word. But as ſoon as ever the paſſion was over, away he went without ſo much as thinking of his dinner, and called the Prieſt with the Principal men of the City, who all went together to the place where the Youth was hang'd; and found it to their no ſmall wonderment, juſt as the good Woman had ſaid. Whereupon he was cut down and reſtored to his Parents; but the Cock and Hen as more Sacred things were carried in much ſolemnity to the great Church; and there a Coop was made for them, that they might be preſerved as a monument of the great power of God. Of what colour they were before, my Author ſaid, he did not know; but after their reſurrection they were of a pure white ſnow-like colour. It is uncertain alſo what they did while the Judge was gone to the place of Execution, but afterward it is not to be doubted they lived very purely. For ſeven years being prefixed by God for the term of this new life which they had received, they left no more then two Chickens behind them when they dyed; nor had they ever any more iſſue. Theſe two alſo lived juſt the ſame number of years, and had the like poſterity; and ſo it hath continued in that order to this day. Now all knowing men judge it no leſs then a Miracle, that the Cock ſhould never tread the Hen above once in his life. And then that he begets juſt two Eggs. And that one of theſe alwayes brings forth a Cock, and the other an Hen. And that at the punctual time of ſeven years end, which you know is a perfect number, they leave the World, and reſt in peace. For though the reporter of this did not tell me what became of their bodies, yet you may be ſure, that they never came upon the Spit more. And as for their Feathers, the mention of which occaſioned the telling of this ſtory, you muſt know that they are preſerved as an holy Relique, and all people that paſs to S. James through this City, uſe to viſit this Church and obtain one of them. And here now is another wonder, that though there are innumerable perſons which paſs through it, yet they never want feathers; as he tells me who was at the place, and himſelf wore one of them continually about him.
O Sir, ſaid he that had been at Compoſtella, how happy a man ſhould I have thought my ſelf if it had been my fortune to meet with you before I took this long journey. I had then been a great deal richer then I am; and brought a treaſure home with me which now alas! I want. I could be tempted if my occaſions would yield to it to return back, if it were but to ſee the faces of this chaſte Pair, who never come together, but only to beget ſuch another bleſſed couple as themſelves. Who knows what vertue it might infuſe into ones mind? Or of what power ſo holy a relique is againſt all the aſſaults of the enemy? Well, I ſhall never ſee a roaſted Pullet more, but I ſhall ſigh at my loſs: And yet I believe I ſhall ſee one very often, for it is a diſh I love very well. But I pray Sir, did you ever meet with any body that had one of thoſe pretious Feathers?
The good man was ſorely grieved to ſee the ſimplicity and innocence of ſuch perſons as they ſeemed to be ſo eaſily abuſed; and therefore he thought good to undiſguiſe himſelf and anſwered him in plain manner to this effect. No truly, nor do I care one ſtraw whether I ever do or no. For though I have heard this Story very confidently related, yet I would be ſorry if you ſhould think me ſo credulous as to receive it for a truth. Nay I ſhould hold my ſelf worthy to be Chronicled for a fool, ſhould I value one of thoſe feathers any more, then ſuch an one as a Fool wears in his Cap. And I cannot but wonder that men with ſuch Reverend Beards as yours, ſhould ſurrender your belief to ſuch ſottiſh tales. You ſeem otherwiſe ſagacious enough, and therefore whence is it that your heads are fraught with ſuch that they cannot diſcern the groſsneſs of theſe cheats? If you can ſwallow a lye ſo great as this; ſure the ſtory of Gargantua will not ſtick with you, but go down eaſily. Who cutting up a miraculouſly great Colewort in his Garden, within the leaves of which ſix Pilgrims like your ſelves lay aſleep; eat it and them one morning for his Breakfaſt in a Sallet. Nay you will be able to digeſt what follows, how that one of theſe got into an hollow tooth that was in his Mouth, and ſo ſaved himſelf. For wondring into what Gulph it was that he was faln, he tryed if it were poſſible to feel any bottom; and at laſt gave his tooth ſuch a prick with the pike-end of his Staff, that the Giant immediatly ſpit him out. At leaſt I may well think that if you had lived an Age or two agone, you would have gone to do your devotion to Thomas à Becket; reverently kiſſing his Breeches, and laying your lipps with much affection to the Handkercheif wherewith he was wont to wipe his ſnotty Noſe. Nay, be not offended I beſeech you at the expreſſion, nor think that I ſpeak with too much rudeneſs;Eraſm. Colloq. peregr. Rell. ergò. for they thought it none I'le aſſure you heretofore, to offer to the peoples ſalutation, ſuch an holy relique, as had the very prints and footſteps of the Snot ſtill remaining upon it.
I cannot but be offended ſaid one of the company at theſe reflections of yours upon the Story you have told us, and me thinks you do very ill to laugh at ſuch ſerious things; which are alſo atteſted by ſo many and ſo good Authors, that if your heart was not very ſtony and hard to entertain any thing, you could not but admit them for truth. If they were worthy of a ſerious confutation replyed the Father, I ſhould but render my ſelf ridiculous by laughing at them. But ſince they appear to all unprejudiced men to be meer fopperies, it is I think our duty to ſmile at them. For the Holy Scripture it ſelf doth plainly mock at the folly and abſurdneſs of ſome mens opinions and doings.1 King 18.27. & v. Iſa. 44.1 52 16, 17. You remember ſure how Elijah flouted at Baal and his Worſhippers, when he ſaid, perhaps their God was a talking with ſome body, and could not hear them both together; or he might not be at home and ſo could give no anſwer; or elſe ſo faſt aſleep (having eaten perhaps too much the night before of the Sacrifices which they brought him) except they called ſtill louder he would not awake. And ſo the Mount of Olives is called by way of contempt, not Har Miſcheh the Mount of Unction,2 Kings 23.13. but Har Maſhchith the Mount of Corruption. And the place which Jacob had called Bethel the houſe of God, is called by the Prophet in ſcorn by the name of Beth-aven the houſe of Iniquity.Hoſ. 4.15. And thus a wiſe man hath long ago taught us whom you reverence as well as I, that many things are thus to be refelled, Tertul. adv. Valent.leſt by our ſeriouſneſs they ſhould be at all honoured. They ought to be laught out of countenance, leſt we do them too much reſpect by our grave handling of them. And yet I have not done ſo much, becauſe I think theſe things are ſo groſly ridiculous, that they laugh themſelves to ſcorn. I have only told the plain ſtory of them, and that confutes it ſelf ſufficiently. To expoſe things of this nature to the world is abundantly to diſprove them. To bring them into view is to put them to ſhame, and make them hide their face. To make mention of them, is enough to ſilence them. We need not be at the trouble to abuſe them, for they make Invectives againſt themſelves, and carry their own Satyrs in their boſome. Not to ſpeak of them is the only Civility we can do them. It is neceſſary to ſhut our eyes if you would not have us ſmile at the folly which they reveal to us. We do not firſt ſtrip them and then lay the laſh upon them; for as ſoon as they appear, they diſcover their own nakedneſs, and carry a whip at their own backs. But ſuppoſe any of them be more neatly contrived and cunningly painted the better to deceive; would you not have us pull off the Mask or waſh off the paint, that we may ſhew things in their proper colours? That is all that we intend; and therefore be not angry at it. If we ſhould throw never ſo much ſalt in your face, you would receive no harm, unleſs you be raw and ulcerous. But I beſeech you what are the Authors you ſpeak of, upon whoſe credit we are to receive theſe things; are they not ſuch as need ſome body of more credit to be their Vouchers? To cite the authority of ſuch men, is as if you ſhould bring thoſe for your ſureties; for whoſe honeſty not only Certificates, but alſo pawns and engagements of Bodies would be required from other men that are better known then themſelves. Not only we, but ſome that believe as you do in other things, have the honeſty to accuſe the fraud of the firſt beginners of theſe ſtories, and the folly of them that follow their Sotteries. They do not ſtick to ſay that they are very dull people and ſuch as never are wont to blow their Noſes, who do not ſmell the forgery of them that firſt ſtuff their Sermons, and then their Writings with ſuchlike tales. Nay, in plain words they tell us, that all Hiſtories within ſeven or eight hundred years laſt paſt, are ſo hydropically ſwoln with lying Legends, that a man would think the Authors of them had made it their main ſtrife, who ſhould advance the greateſt number.
Then, ſaid one of the Pilgrims, you do not believe I warrant, the ſtory of St. John the Evangeliſt appearing to St. Edward the Confeſſor in ſuch an habit as you now ſee us wear, and craving an Alms of him: who gave him his Ring off from his finger, knowing nothing but that he was a poor man that ſtood in need of a great Charity. Did not God do a great honour herein to Pilgrimages and the holy Reliques which they went to viſit? Indeed, ſaid the Father again, I have not faith enough to believe it; and I wonder much how you came to know that St. John went a begging to that pious Prince. O, ſaid the other, that is a thing not hard to know, for as a certain Abbot hath told us, St. John himſelf revealed it to two Engliſh men as they were going to viſit the Holy Sepulchre. For they being in danger to looſe themſelves in an unknown Countrey, were directed in their way by that bleſſed Apoſtle. Who told them they ſhould have a proſperous Voyage, and that God and he would be propitious to them for their good Kings ſake; whom I loved (ſaid he) very tenderly for the excellency of his Chaſtity. I am John the Apoſtle, and you ſhall carry back this Ring to him which he gave me ſome dayes ſince; and let him know that the day of his death approaches, and that ſix moneths ſhall not paſs over his head, ere I put him into the company of thoſe Virgins which follow the Lamb whereſoever he goes. Truly, replyed the Father with a ſmile, I am no more ſatisfied then I was before; and cannot poſſibly reſign up my belief to any ſuch relations of the droniſh Monks of thoſe days. This ſtory ſeems to me to be juſt as true as another which the ſame Abbot reports; how that St. Edward one day ſaw Jeſus Chriſt himſelf upon the Altar, ſtretching forth his hand to bleſs him with the ſign of the Croſs, as he was worſhipping of the Hoſt and adoring the Divine preſence there. A thing that was never talkt of till he was dead as the Author of it acknowledges: and then it was pretended, that he had given it in charge to the Earl that ſaw this apparition with him, and conjured him moſt ſacredly that he ſhould ſay nothing of it while he lived. Which is as much as to ſay, that it ſhould not be told while it could be confuted by that Good King, who would have made this lye to have ſtuck in the Authors throat.
I perceive, ſaid another of the Pilgrims, that you have obſtinately bolted your heart againſt all theſe pious Stories; but yet I hope you do not diſallow of all Pilgrimages; nor think it unprofitable for the ſouls health to go to Jeruſalem to worſhip at the Sepulchre of our Lord. To tell you the truth, replyed he, all is alike to me. I do not imagine there is any holineſs in that Land more then in any other; nor can I have an opinion of any Sanctity that I ſhall bring away with me if I ſhould go thither. And therefore it is far better to employ our ſelves well at home, then to take ſo long a journey to do that which may as well be done in any other place. That's ſtrange, anſwered the other, I ſee now you matter not though you disbelieve the Scriptures themſelves, which give us many examples of Holy Pilgrimages. As the Lame you know and the blind went up to Jeruſalem to be healed in the Pool of Betheſda. v. Rhem. Teſt.And the Eunuch came out of Ethiopia to Worſhip in that City; and at certain times all the people of Jeruſalem went up to their Feaſts, which I have been told, were all ſo many Pilgrimages. But howſoever that be, you may ſee if you will that they are as old as Chriſt himſelf, and were conceived as Wiſe men judge at the very ſame time with him. For he went a Pilgrimage in the Womb of his Mother to ſee Elizabeth in the Hill Countrey. And after that he went from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem Judah when ſhe was near the time of her travel.Pitſ. l. 3. cap. 2. de peregr. And as he honoured Pilgrimages thus in his Mothers belly, ſo afterward when he hung on her breaſt he travelled into Egypt, and after that returned into Judaea, and every year went up to the Temple of Jeruſalem.
I have waited a great while, ſaid the Father, who here interrupted him, for ſome word or other that ſhould drop from your mouth to the purpoſe; but I have no hopes to meet with it. Sure you have forgot what you were ſpeaking about, and ſome holy Feather or Toy hath taken you in the head, which you dreamt you ſhould find at laſt in ſome of theſe places. Do you think that we go a pilgrimage every time we take a journey, or go to the next Church, or make a friend a Viſit, or are carried to the Bath in a Litter for our health? Or was there ſomething ſacred in Auguſtus his Officers, or any holy reliques in Egypt, which the Bleſſed Virgin, and our Saviour went to do ſome adoration unto? Yes, ſaid the other, who was glad to catch hold of this laſt word, there were the Bones of Jeremiah the Prophet to which perhaps they paid a reſpect, for be lay buried in the Royal City and was alwayes honoured by the Egyptians for the ſingular benefits which they received from him. You are ignorant perhaps that the Crocodiles, and many hurtful Serpents were baniſhed their coaſts by his interceſſion; and that in the dayes of our fore-fathers the faithful were wont to go to his Tomb and ſay their prayers; and bringing away ſome of the duſt of that place, it was a certain cure for thoſe who were hurt by any venemous beaſt. Indeed, replyed He, we are much indebted to the Author of this Legend, who hath acquainted us with ſome other things which the Holy Writers forgot to tell us. As that the Prophet Jeremiah foretold to the Egyptians that all their Images ſhould fall to the ground when a Virgin and her Son ſhould come into that Land. Which was the cauſe, ſaith he, that even in thoſe dayes they placed a Virgin in her Bed, and an Infant in a Manger, and gave adoration to them. Of which when the reaſon was demanded by King Ptolomy (you muſt not enquire which of them) the Prieſts anſwered that it was a Myſtery delivered by their Elders, which they received from the Holy Prophet. Perhaps then you think that the Bleſſed Virgin went to let her Son ſee theſe ſine Pictures of himſelf and her. Or that they took this Journey to provide themſelves with a Boxfull of that holy duſt againſt a time of need. Sure if the Jews had but known any thing of that knack, it would have ſerved them very much; and they would have maintain'd that he did many of his Miracles in the Vertue of their great Prophet. Was this the reaſon think you that they ſaid Jeremiah was riſen from the dead? What do you think of us that you ſhould imagine it poſſible to captivate our belief to ſuch lubberly lyes as theſe? Certainly you take us for very thickſkull'd people; or elſe they are ſo themſelves, who beſtowing their time rather in gleaning what is ſcattered up and down in every place, than in weighing the authority of the men from whom they borrow their Notes; have filled their Books and the World with whole Cart-loads of theſe Chimerical Stories.
Here the man having continued mute a while, at laſt burſt out into theſe words not without ſome paſſion, well, I will produce an unanſwerable place; Where the Body is, there will the Eagles be gathered together. What ſay you now?V. P…tſ. p. 105. is this alſo to no purpoſe? muſt we not all go thither where the body of our Saviour is? Alas! replyed the Father, what an ignorance have I lived in ever ſince I was born? Is the Body of Chriſt then in the poſſeſſion of the Turks? Have thoſe Infidels got our Lord into their hands? Was that the end of the Holy War to redeem him from Captivity, and reſcue him out of the power of his enemies? I poor Soul verily believed all this while that he had been in the Heavens, in the Jeruſalem which is above: whither I and my Companion are travelling as faſt as we can. Thither if you have a mind to go, come along with us. We will flye if you pleaſe like ſo many Eagles. We will run and not be weary, we will walk and not faint; we will ſtretch our wings to their utmoſt extent and not be tyred. In this Pilgrimage we are content to ſpend our whole lives, but ſhall think that we are very much out of our way, ſhould we enter with you upon any other. Here he gave them a ſhort deſcription of the manner of their life, and ſhewed them how and where they ſought for Jeſus. He diſcourſed of Humility, of Charity, and the reſt of the Vertues which are ſo eminent in our Saviours Example: The imitation of whom, ſaid he, was ever held the higheſt honour and worſhip that could be given him. By this he continues ſtill in the World. He is every where to be ſeen in his faithful followers. They bring his living, walking Image into every place. They expoſe him to open view at home and abroad. They endeavour to have their houſes, and their ſhops in ſuch good order, that you need not go to Jeruſalem to find an holy place. They would ſave men the labour of taking a long Pilgrimage to viſit the Shrines of the Saints. For they become ſuch themſelves, and are the beſt reliques of them which the World affords. And leſt you ſhould think, added he, that we adhere too much to our own opinions, and put too great a ſleight upon the Pilgrimages in which you are ingaged, let me intreat you patiently to hear what a perſon of great authority with you ſpeaks of them, in an Age when they had but newly begun to gain a reputation among men.
A man may think perhaps, ſaith St. Gregory Nyſſen, Orat. foreign.that he doth a thing of great note, and much to be valued, when he takes a Journey to the place where our Lord was buried. But he himſelf, when he ſpeaks of thoſe that ſhall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, doth not mention the Pilgrimages to Jeruſalem as a worthy undertaking. Nor when he pronounces his Beatitudes, doth he at all commend this labour and diligence. Why ſhould any man therefore trouble himſelf about that which will not make him Bleſſed, nor diſpoſe him at all for his Coeleſtial Inheritance? And if there were no dangers (as there are too many) of being defiled and corrupted in the paſſage thither by ſundry vices, yet what ſhall a man be the better when he arrives in ſafety there? Is our Lord to be found there, more than in the place where at preſent we are? Or is there a greater meaſure of the Holy Spirit at Jeruſalem, which will not vouchſafe to come hither? Muſt we go ſo far to fetch its comforts, and will it not be intreated to impart them nearer at hand? Truly I muſt needs ſay that I ſee more devotion, more piety, more of all divine Vertues in this very place, than there is to be found. I my ſelf went thither once upon my occaſions, yet I did not feel my ſelf a whit the wiſer, or the better by it. What I believed then, I believed before; what I did there, I could do before I went thither; and I reaped no greater benefit by my Journey, than to find that the places where we live are more holy, than thoſe that we ſo much admire. You therefore that fear God, praiſe him there where you have your preſent abode, and trouble not your ſelves to ſeek any other place wherein to do him honour. The change of place will never bring you nearer to him. But be you where you will, there God will be too, if your ſouls be fit to give him lodging, and receive ſo Holy a Gueſt. If you have your inward man full of perverſe and evil thoughts, though you were in Golgotha, though you ſtood upon Mount Olivet, though you lay even under the Monument of the Reſurrection; you are as far from entertaining Chriſt as the Stones that incloſed him. I adviſe therefore all the Brethren, that they travel out of the Body to the Lord, and not go out of Cappadocia to Palaeſtine.
And in another place writing to certain devout perſons, he tells them that there is nothing more pleaſant than to converſe with pious Souls, and to behold what things the Grace of our Lord hath done for them. It is no leſs, ſaith he, than a Feſtival, and preſents us with ſuch goodly ſpectacles, that one cannot but think he ſees in an heart full of God, both Bethlehem, and Golgotha, and the Mount of Olives, and the place of the Reſurrection. Shew me a man in whom Chriſt is formed by a good Conſcience, who by the fear of God is nailed to the Croſs. Who hath rolled away the burdenſome Stone of Worldly Vanity, and being got out of the Tomb of his Body, walks in newneſs of life. Who leaving the low and creeping life of the World in which he was buried, aſcends by the force of lofty deſires to the Coeleſtial Converſation. Who ſetting his affections on things above, is not weighed down by the weight of his Body, but made ſo light and aetherial by a purer life, that his fleſh becomes like a bright cloud which is willing to mount up with him to the things on high. This perſon in my judgment deſerves to be numbred among thoſe ſo much celebrated things, in which we may plainly ſee the Monuments of the kindneſs of our Lord towards us.
Thus that great Man delivers his opinion to us, and we cannot but readily yield him our aſſent. Theſe are the Holy Places which we deſire to behold. A man dying unto ſin, preſents us with the faireſt ſight of Chriſts Sepulchre. It ſets us upon Mount Olivet when we meet with a Soul of a Coeleſtial Converſation. And I thank our Lord very much that I ſee ſuch manifeſt marks and footſteps of theſe things in this my friend, in whom the burying, the riſing again, and the aſcention of Chriſt is moſt lively pictured before mine eyes. As for thoſe places in Paleſtine where you are going to adore, if they were ſo little worth in thoſe dayes, I think their price is more faln now: and if they that lived nearer to them thought good to ſtay at home, it will be a ſilly piece of ſuperſtition in us to travel ſo far in devotion to them.
It is very true, ſaid one of the company, I am convinced by what this perſon hath diſcourſed that we need not go to Jeruſalem. There is a place nearer at hand of greater Sanctity and richer in all Spiritual treaſures, and that is Rome. There as I have been informed you may ſee ſeveral Pilgrims (and in time may have that honour your ſelf) who dine every day in the preſence of the Vicar of Chriſt, & that of meat from his own Table, & bleſſed by his own moſt holy hands. This methinks is a great deal better then to kiſs a cold ſtone, or to take a mouth full of air on the top of a Mountain. And beſides this which is the leaſt part of their entertainment, there is more excellent proviſion made for their Souls;Fiſcus Papalis. cap. 2. the Church of St. John Lateran affording no leſs then forty eight years of pardon every day in the year, together with the pardon of the third part of all a mans ſins. And if you would have ſome other kind of food for your ſouls which is more viſible, there is in that Church to be beheld among other reliques, ſome of the fragments of the five barly loaves and the two fiſhes wherewith Chriſt fed five thouſand men. Some poor body I ſuppoſe on whom they might be beſtow'd after dinner brought them thither, being ſatiſfied by the meer ſight of them, and hoping that others might be ſo in after times. But the more probable opinion is (ſince the poor and rich were admitted to that feaſt) that the fragments falling to the ſhare of thoſe that waited at the Table, and there being juſt twelve Baskets full in all, each of the twelve Apoſtles had one for his portion; and that St. Peter ſaved his that he might bring it to Rome of which he foreſaw that he ſhould be made Biſhop. But to return to what I began to ſay concerning the pardon of ſin which I ſuppoſe you all moſt earneſtly deſire. The liberal grant already mentioned is but a mite to thoſe vaſt treaſures which two Popes indowed that Church withall, who gave thereto ſo many Indulgences as none can number ſave God alone. So my Author tells me, and if you doubt of it Pope Boniface witneſſes to the truth of it in theſe words; If men, ſaith he, did but know the Indulgences belonging to the Church of St. John and how many they were, they would never go ſo far beyond the Sea as to the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruſalem, but would rather ſpare ſo great a labour. For grant that they are abſolved there both from the guilt and alſo from the puniſhment of their ſins, this is no more then they have nearer at hand in the Church of St. John. And do you not think it is a good bargain for a man to forſake totally his riches and lands and ſuch like things, that he may purchaſe ſuch an incredible maſs of Spiritual and Divine riches? And yet you need not do ſo much; it is but going thither and leaving your goods for a time, and then beſides all theſe bleſſings, you ſhall come loadned home with a great deal more pretious commodities, ſuch as Agnus Dei's, Holy Pictures, Bleſſed Bread, Sanctified Wood, and a great many other invaluable Jewels.
To this diſcourſe when one liſtned very devoutly and aſkt him if a man might have all this Wealth at no greater charges but only going for it; He was a little at a ſtand. And told him that his words were not ſo to be interpreted as if he might go fetch ſuch great bleſſings and carry no money with him; for there is nothing to be had at Rome unleſs you buy it. It is not to be expected that they ſhould make Holy things ſo cheap as to give them away for aſking. It never was ſo ſince there were Pilgrimages: But the good men that undertook them carried their purſes full of money, and exchanged it for holy Croſſes, bleſſed Grains and ſuch like things as I now mentioned. For elſe how could it be that one Monaſtery in Helvetia ſhould be inriched ſo much by the offerings of Pilgrims who came thither, that it was able to take away the Tiles that covered it and inſtead thereof to lay on plates of Gold and Silver? But I hope then, replyed the other, that I ſhall find all that true which you have ſaid and obtain ſo many pardons as you promiſe which indeed I am willing to purchaſe at any rate. O Sir, ſaid He again, you need not doubt at all of it. I have told you nothing yet of the Holineſs of that place and the beauty of the Church. Which is not ſo much the Miſtreſs of the World, as the Mother of the Faithful, the moſt indulgent Mother that ever was. There is none can tell the vaſtneſs of her Exchequer and the liberal ſums which iſſue out thence unto her children: in compare with which all that ſhe receives from them is not worth the naming. In a little Chappel of that Church of St. John forementioned, there is remiſſion for all ſins to be had every day. And not far from it, there is a place of that holineſs that you may have no leſs then three and thirty thouſand years of pardon, for once going up a pair of ſtairs. Is it poſſible ſaid the other? Sure this is either not believed, or not known, for otherwiſe all the World would go thither to be delivered from their ſins. There is none I aſſure you replyed he, but Hereticks who queſtion the truth of it, and I cannot tell why men are ſo negligent of their Salvation as not to flock more then they do to that Holy City. The thing is plain enough, or was ſo not long ago (and I doubt not of the care of the Church to preſerve things of ſuch value) for there is an aſcent of three and thirty ſteps, and how oft ſoever any man devoutly goes up to the top of it, for every ſtep he hath a thouſand years of pardon. And wonder not at the thing, for theſe ſteps you muſt know were brought from Jeruſalem and are the very ſame which Chriſt aſcended when he went up before Pontius Pilate to be judged by him. The women indeed may take it ill that they are not ſuffered to come into this Chappel (it being called the Holy of Holies); and to ſay the truth I was much grieved for them when I firſt heard this, becauſe I know that they have Souls as well as we, and Sins too. But afterward having more diligently ſearched into the matter I found that they will be no great loſers by being ſhut out of this very Sacred place. For though I do not know where they can get ſo many years of pardon at once, yet it is provided that they may have enough; and leſt they ſhould murmur, I can tell them this for their comfort, that they may obtain them without the labour of going up a pair of ſtairs. For let but any Pilgrim of either ſex, and at any time of the year go to viſit the Church of St. Paul and there are granted to all and every of them by three gracious Popes no leſs then nine thouſand years of Pardon.Ib cap. 5. But if any one be ſo great a ſinner that he thinks all this is not ſufficient, he may know that there are in the Church of St. Peter ſo m ny Indulgences that they are paſt numbring. And yet in the Holy time of Lent, how many ſoever they be,Cap. 4. they are all doubled. I ſuppoſe that you will think it needleſs to have any more then all theſe, but if you are afraid, and would be ſtill furniſhed with ſome additional Indulgences; it is but going to the Church of St. Mary of the People, and to thoſe of St. Vitus, Modeſtus, Cap. 14.and a thouſand Martyrs, and there you may have a great many thouſand years of pardon more for every day, and beſides as many fortieth parts if you think them of any worth, after ſo large a ſtock which ſure you will never be able to ſpend.
Perhaps, ſaid the Father, it was intended that he ſhould lend ſome to his poor neighbours if he have no uſe of all this treaſure himſelf, for ſome of them may not be able to go thither. And therefore in my mind (if all this be true) a man ought not to refuſe the leaſt bit of the Charity of the Church, but go to all theſe places and bring away as many Ages of Pardon as ever he can; that ſo he may be charitable unto others. No ſuch matter, anſwered the other, they will do no good to thoſe that do not go to fetch them; being the reward of the labour and pains that a man takes in a tedious Pilgrimage. But then, ſaid he again, me thinks the Church ſhould be ſo charitable as to ſend greater ſtore then it doth of theſe bleſſings to them that are not able to take a journey for them. And it hath made me wonder very much that Rome ſhould be ſo holy a place, and that a pair of ſtairs there ſhould be of ſo great vertue, as to procure greater favours then the blood of Jeſus Chriſt himſelf in any other Country. For I have read that a little glaſs full of it was procured from the Patriarch of Jeruſalem and the Maſter of the Templars and ſent to Henry the third King of England, Math. Pariſ. & Math. Weſt. An. 1247. …t. 1250.and by him carried in great devotion on his bare feet and in a beggars habit from the Church of St. Paul to that of St. Peters at Weſtminſter: and yet there were but ſix years of pardon and an hundred and ſixteen (or at the moſt forty) dayes, granted to thoſe that ſhould come to worſhip that holy Relique. Doth it not ſeem to you very unreaſonable that the ſteps on which he trod ſhould exceed ſo much in efficacy the blood which he ſhed? Is there not a vaſt diſproportion between three and thirty thouſand years of pardon which the former procures, and ſix poor years which the later beſtows? How comes it to paſs that the Pope would do no greater honour to his blood, eſpecially ſince they paid ſo dearly for it? For you muſt know that it was ſent to comfort the people of England after he had miſerably oppreſſed them, by levying huge ſums of money and excommunicating all that refuſed to pay them. It ſeems to me as if the Blood of Chriſt it ſelf could do little or nothing unleſs it be at Rome. And yet that is not the buſineſs neither, for ſmaller things can do greater matters when the Pope pleaſeth. It is not many years agone ſince Clement 8. ſent ſome bags full of little Croſſes and bleſſed Grains to be diſtributed among the people of France, accompanied with this Indulgence; that whoſoever had ſome of theſe grains in his Beads, ſhould obtain an hundred years of pardon for every kiſs that he ſhould at any time beſtow upon them. Here was a liberal grant indeed. You ſee what your holy Father can do if he liſt by little trifles of his own making. And therefore all that I am able to conclude is only this, that nothing can work any more then the Pope will let it, no not the blood of Jeſus Chriſt. And that he was more ſtern in thoſe dayes when the Engliſh were enſlaved to him; and now he is grown better natur'd, and ſtudies by his kindneſs to oblige his ſubjects; leſt they ſhould all ſhake off the yoke he layes upon them. Or if you had rather ſo conceive it, there is nothing that he can part withall unleſs you pay for it: only now and then he affords you a better pennyworth and lets you have more for your money then at other times, that he may gain your cuſtom and induce you to truſt him ſo much as to ſuffer him to uſe you as he pleaſes. And truly he uſed our forefathers ſo hardly, that I wonder they continued his chapmen ſo long. He put ſuch baſe commodities, ſuch counterfeit ware into their hands that I cannot tell what ſhould keep them from diſcovering the cheat. I am aſhamed when I think what fools he made of them: and how he uſed them like little infants, impoſing what he thought good upon their belief. It makes me bluſh to reflect on all the toyes wherewith he gull'd them of their money. He ſeems to have had them in ſuch ſervitude that he had ſcarce left them any Souls of their own, but rifled them of all their reaſon. For was it not a ſtrange ſottiſhneſs to believe that he had bottled up the blood of Chriſt, which we know was carried into the Heavens with Him, that He might appear therewith before God for us and perfect our expiation? And yet there were a thouſand of theſe tales that paſſed for currant truth. Nay a Frier of Gaunt was wont to ſay that theſe godly frauds and coſenages were the Milk which St. Paul gave to Babes, as being unable to digeſt the harder meat. Since He intended therefore to keep the World alwayes in its ſwadling clouts, thoſe Nurſes to whom he committed his children fed them with little elſe but this Milk. Of which their Bottles were ſo full, that it was held by wiſe men as good an argument to ſay,Walſingh. Rich. 2. He is a Frier, therefore he is a Lyer; as to ſay, This is White, therefore it hath a colour. It would be only to deflowre the time, or elſe I could give you a large catalogue of their forgeries. And if this little that hath been ſaid will not ſerve to open your eyes to ſee the fraud, you may go on to traffique with Rome as thoſe before you have done. But if it vend ſuch Merchandiſe as this me-thinks you ſhould judge it no more to your profit to go thither then into Turky; and that City ſhould be as little in your thoughts as the earthly Jeruſalem.