tained, especially in churches, and that due honour and veneration be given to them, &c., and when we kiss them, uncover the head, and fall down before them, we do adore Christ, and venerate the saints, whose similitude they bear. "They are altogether to be condemned, and the church doth condemn them, that do deny the bodies of the saints and martyrs are to be venerated by the faithful; and that affirm that veneration and honour is not due to their relics, or that they are unprofitably honoured, &c. "Whosoever shall teach or think any thing contrary to these decrees, let him be accursed." Invocation of saints is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of scripture, &c. Second part of the Homily concerning Prayer. “There are certain conditions most requisite to be found in every one that must be called upon; which if not found, our prayer doth avail us nothing. As, 1. That he to whom we pray be able to help us; 2. That he will; 3. That he hear our prayer; 4. That he understand better than we ourselves what we lack. If these things be to be found in any other, saving only in God, then may we lawfully call upon some other besides God. But what man is so gross, but that he well understandeth that those things are only proper to him which is omnipotent, and knoweth all things, that is to say, only to God alone? whereof it followeth, that we must call neither upon angel nor yet upon saint, but only and solely upon God." Third part of the Homily against Idolatry. "If answer be made, that they make such saints but intercessors to God, &c.; that is, after the Gentiles' idolatrous usage, to make them of saints, gods, called dii medioxumi," &c. The Church of Rome. The Council of Trent. "The holy synod doth command bishops and others, that have the office of teaching, that they teach the faithful, that the saints reigning with Christ do offer prayers to God for men, and that it is good and profitable to invoke them ; and for the obtaining of benefits to have recourse by Jesus Christ, our only Redeemer, to their prayers, aid, and help. But those that deny that they are to be invocated, or affirm that they do not pray for us; or that the invocation of them, that they may pray for every one of us, is idolatry, and is contrary to the word of God, and the honour of one Mediator Jesus Christ, do think wickedly. "If any one doth think or teach contrary to these doctrines, let him be accursed." The Catechism of Trent. ❝g We do fly to the most holy Mother of God, that by her intercession she may reconcile God to sinners.--We ought to call upon her, the Mother of mercy and Advocatress of faithful people, that she may pray for us sinners, &c. of which no one can, unless impiously and cursedly, doubt." The 23d Article of the Church of England. Of Ministering in the Congregation. The Opposition. The Church of England. "It is not lawful for any man to take upon himself the office, &c. of ministering the sacraments in the congregation, before he be lawfully called, and sent to execute the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent, which be chosen, and called to this work by men who have public authority, &c." The Church of Rome. "In necessity, any of the people may baptize, whether men or women, of whatsoever sect, Jews, infidels, and heretics; if they intend thereby to do that which the catholic church intends to do.” Catechism of Trent, part 2. cap. 11. sect. 24. The 24th Article of the Church of England. Of Speaking in the Congregation in such a Tongue as the People understandeth. The Opposition. The Church of England. "It is a thing plainly repugnant to the word of God, and the custom of the primitive church, to have public prayer in the church, or to minister the sacraments, in a tongue not understood of the people." See the homily of Common Prayer and the Sacraments. The Church of Rome. "It seemed not fit to the Fathers that the mass be every where celebrated in the vulgar tongue. Wherefore the ancient rite is every where to be retained. Whosoever shall say that the mass ought to be celebrated only in the vulgar tongue, let him be accursed." Council of Trent, sess. 22. cap. 8. and can. 9. The 25th Article of the Church of England. Of the Sacraments. "There are two sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the gospel; that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. ❝h Those five commonly called sacraments, that is to say, h See the Homily of Common Prayer and the Sacraments. Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are not to be counted for sacraments of the gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the scriptures, but yet have not like nature of sacraments with baptism and the Lord's supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God. The sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation, &c. There shall be no celebration of the Lord's supper, except there be a convenient number to communicate with the priesti," &c. The Church of Rome. The Council of Trent. "k If any one shall say, that the sacraments of the new law have not been all instituted by Christ, or that they are more or fewer than seven, viz. Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony; or that any of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament, let him be accursed. “If any one shall say that grace is not conferred [ex opere operato] by the work done in the sacraments of the new law; but that only faith in the Divine promise is sufficient to obtain grace; let him be accursed. ❝m The synod doth approve and commend those masses in which the priest doth communicate alone; forasmuch as they ought to be esteemed truly common; partly, because the people do spiritually communicate; and partly they are celebrated for all the faithful by a public minister of the church. "n If any one shall say, that the masses in which the priest alone doth sacramentally communicate are unlawful, and so to be abrogated, let him be accursed." 2. The other called sacraments are either corruptions or states of life, but have not the nature of sacraments. 3. The sacraments in such only as worthily receive the same have a wholesome effect and operation. 4. The sacraments were not ordained to be gazed upon, but to be used. 2. Whosoever shall say, that any of the seven are not properly and truly sacraments, is accursed. 3. The sacraments do confer grace ex opere operato, and whosoever denies it, is accursed. 4. Masses in which the priest alone sacramentally communicates to be approved: and whosoever doth say they are unlawful, is accursed. The 28th Article of the Church of England. "Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine) in the supper of the Lord cannot be proved by holy writ; but it is repugnant to the plain words of scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the supper only after an heavenly and spiritual manner: and the mean, whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the supper, is faith. "The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, and worshipped. Rubric at the end of the Communion Service. "No adoration ought to be done, either unto the sacramental bread and wine there bodily received, or unto any corporal presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood. For the sacramental bread and wine remain still in their very natural substances, and therefore may not be adored (for that were idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians). And the natural body and blood of our Saviour Christ are in heaven, and not here; it being against the truth of Christ's natural body to be at one time in more places than one." The Church of Rome. The 4th General Council of Lateran. "The body and blood of Christ are truly contained in the o Can. 1. |