Bellarmine · Judicium de Libro Concordiae · Judgement on the Book of Concord
Chapter 6: Lies XVI to XXIV: Cyprian on Vows, the Mass, Private Masses, Satisfaction, and Monastic Vows
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. VII, Judicium de Libro Concordiae, a judgement of 1585 on the Lutheran Formula of Concord. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
The Sixteenth Lie
Page 25, in the same article: “Cyprian,” they say, “advises that women who do not keep the chastity they promised should marry. His words are these, book 1, Letter 2: But if they will not or cannot persevere, it is better that they marry than that they fall into the fire by their pleasures.” That this is a lie, and that Cyprian is not speaking of those who have vowed continence but of those who are still deliberating what they will do, and meanwhile live unchastely outside marriage, the same Cyprian teaches in many ways.
First, because he does not say, if they will not or cannot persevere who have promised continence to Christ; but simply, if they will not or cannot persevere, it is better that they marry than that they fall into the fire by their pleasures: that is, if they will not persevere, it is better that they do not vow than that they vow and do not fulfil the vow. Second, because in the words that follow the same Cyprian detests the marriages of those who had dedicated themselves to Christ: “When Christ,” he says, “our Lord and judge, sees his virgin dedicated to himself lying with another, how indignant he is, and how angry, and what punishments he threatens against such incestuous unions!” Third, because, since Cyprian speaks with a disjunction and says, if they will not or cannot persevere, if he were speaking of those who promised continence he would seem to mean that it is lawful for them to violate their vows at will if they merely will not persevere, even though they could; which certainly no sane man will admit.
Add that it is in no way credible that Cyprian thought otherwise about that place of the Apostle, It is better to marry than to burn, than Augustine afterwards thought, who, treating the same place in book 1 On adulterous marriages, chapter 15, says: “For those who do not contain themselves it is expedient to marry, and what is lawful is expedient; but for those who have vowed continence it is neither lawful nor expedient.” And it is much less credible that Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, taught otherwise about the vow of continence than Tertullian taught before him, and all the Fathers after him, and especially the 214 African Bishops who met in the fourth council of Carthage, whose testimonies we cited a little before.
The Seventeenth Lie
Page 25, in the article on the Mass: “Our Churches,” they say, “are falsely accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is kept among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence.” Let the authors of this Concord make these words of theirs agree, if they can, with those other words of theirs which are found on page 279 among the Smalcald articles: “Let care be taken that it be shown publicly to men that the Mass, as a thing invented, or a human fiction, can be left out without sin.” And page 280: “The Mass is rightly to be abolished.” And page 281: “But that tail of the Dragon (I mean the Mass) has brought forth many abominations and idolatries.” If, then, the Mass is for you an invented thing, a fiction of men, the tail of the dragon, and rightly to be abolished, why do you not abolish it? Or if you abolished it long ago, and no place is allowed it among you, why do you lie so splendidly?
They will say perhaps that the Papal Mass, that is, the offering of the Lord's body for the living and the dead, has been abolished by them, but the Lutheran one, that is, the distribution of the Eucharist, is kept and celebrated with the highest reverence. But your Churches are not accused of abolishing the distribution of the Eucharist, but of taking away the sacrifice which has been in the Church in all ages. So if by the Mass you understand the Lord's Supper, it is a lie that you are accused; but if the sacrifice, it is a lie that you are falsely accused.
The Eighteenth Lie
Page 27, in the same article: “There was added,” they say, “the opinion that Christ by his passion made satisfaction for original sin, and instituted the Mass, in which an offering should be made for daily sins, mortal and venial. Hence it flowed that the Mass is a work taking away the sins of the living and the dead ex opere operato.” There are many things in these few words that are either absurd, or lies, or in conflict with the earlier parts of this book.
For first, who before this time heard mortal sins called daily faults? St. Augustine, in the Enchiridion, chapter 71, distinguishes daily sins from crimes, and calls them light, brief and very small. Next, by a shameless lie that division is attributed to the Catholic doctors, that Christ by his passion made satisfaction only for original sin, and instituted the Mass for actual sins. For no Catholic ever taught so. But we believe and profess that Christ on the cross made satisfaction for absolutely all sins, original as well as actual. Yet because the merit of his passion does not profit unless it is applied in some definite way (for if no application is required, why are not all men saved, since the blood of Christ was the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, 1 John 2? Nor can it be applied by faith alone, otherwise he lied who said: Unless one be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God, John 3): for this reason the Catholic Church teaches that for expiating sins, or for applying the merit of Christ's passion to men, various sacraments were instituted, and also the very sacrifice of the Lord's body; all of which are useful ex opere operato and help toward the cleansing of sins, though not equally nor in the same way.
But Philip's denial here that the Mass avails ex opere operato, and Luther's more open denial in the Smalcald articles, which are inserted in this very work, is contrary to article 8 of the Confession and renews the heresy of the Donatists. For since in this article on the Mass they say the Mass is kept by them and celebrated with the highest reverence, certainly they believe the Mass is useful. But they do not want it to be useful ex opere operato; so they think its force depends on the work of the one working. But this is the heresy of the Donatists, which the Augsburg Confession condemned by name in article 8, where it also asserted: “The Word and the sacraments are useful and effective by the institution of God, whether they are given by good or by bad ministers.” And this is the very thing our Theologians mean by the opus operatum and distinguish from the opus operantis.
But I see where Philip seized the occasion for lying and slandering: namely, that St. Thomas in the little work On the sacrament of the altar, chapter 1, teaches that the Lord's body, offered once on the cross for the original debt, is continually offered on the altar for the daily debts. But St. Thomas does not say that the body of Christ was offered on the cross for the original debt alone; indeed he teaches that it was offered also for actual sins, part 3, question 1, article 4, and question 49, article 1, reply to 4. What St. Thomas meant in that little work, then, is this: because original sin, once forgiven, never comes back, daily sacrifices are not necessary to expiate it, but the sacrifice of the cross, once carried out and once applied through Baptism, is enough; but for actual sins, which are committed often, daily remedies were instituted besides Baptism, among which the sacrifice of the altar is rightly counted. Not that it at once justifies sinners (as the adversaries falsely say we say), but that it helps to appease God and to obtain from him that he may look kindly on sinners, breathe into them the desire of conversion, and dispose them to seek and obtain justification.
The Nineteenth Lie
Page 28, in the same article: “The ancients,” they say, “before Gregory make no mention of private Mass.” The same is repeated in the Apology, page 225. If by private Mass is understood a Mass which is done in a private name, or is done by one alone and profits one alone, it is a lie that after Gregory Masses of this kind began to be in the Church. For there is not, and never was, a private Mass in the Church; but every Mass is public, since every Mass is done by the priest as he is a public minister, and for the common and public good of the whole Church. But if by private Mass they understand one which is not in a public place, or to which a crowd of people does not come, or in which the Sacrament is not distributed to the people, it is false that among the ancients there is no record of such Masses before the times of Gregory.
Certainly Augustine was nearly two hundred years before Gregory, and yet in book 22 of the City of God, chapter 8, he writes these words: “Hesperius, a man of tribunician rank, who lives among us, has in the territory of Fussala an estate called Zubedi [“Cupedi” printed]. When he found that his house was suffering the harmful force of evil spirits, with affliction of his animals and his servants, he asked our priests, in my absence, that one of them should go there, at whose prayers they might give way. One went, offered there the sacrifice of the body of Christ, praying as much as he could that that vexation might cease; and, God having mercy, it ceased at once.” You have here a Mass in a private place, celebrated by one, without distribution of the Eucharist made to the people, and yet useful and pleasing to God, as the miracle that followed made clear.
The Twentieth Lie
Page 29, in the article on Confession: “Before,” they say, “satisfactions were extolled beyond measure; but of faith and the merit of Christ and the righteousness of faith no mention was made.” This lie is refuted by all the books of Catholics, in which faith is preached everywhere, and the power of the sacraments, and of the satisfactions themselves too, is referred to the merit of Christ. For now one place of St. Thomas will suffice, part 3, question 62, article 5: “Christ,” says St. Thomas, “freed us from our sins chiefly by his passion, not only effectively and meritoriously, but also by way of satisfaction. Likewise by his passion he began the rite of the Christian religion, offering himself an offering and victim to God, as it is said in Ephesians 5. Hence it is manifest that the sacraments of the Church have their power especially from the passion of Christ,” and so on. And below: “By faith Christ dwells in us, as it is said in Ephesians 3, and so the power of Christ is joined to us by faith,” and so on. So he lies who says that before these times no mention was made in the Church of faith and the merit of Christ.
The Twenty-first Lie
Page 34, in the article on monastic vows: “In Augustine's time,” they say, “monasteries were free colleges; afterwards, discipline having been corrupted, vows were added everywhere, so that, as by a prison thought up, discipline might be restored.” This lie is surely most worthy that not only eight thousand Lutherans should subscribe to it, but so many famous cities and so many most illustrious princes should add their vote. For what? Did Augustine not live in Augustine's time? He, then, writing on Psalm 75, spoke thus: “Let no brother placed in a monastery say, I leave the monastery; for neither are only those who are in the monastery going to reach the kingdom of heaven, nor do those who are not there not belong to God. The answer is given him: But they did not vow; you vowed.” And on Psalm 99, speaking of apostate Monks: “While he does not persevere in fulfilling what he vowed,” he says, “he becomes a deserter of so holy a purpose, and guilty of a vow not paid.”
But perhaps one is not enough; for in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand. St. John Chrysostom, who lived in Augustine's age, so that he even died before Augustine, in letter 6, which is to Theodore, who had left the Monastery and wanted to take a wife (as those do everywhere at this time who fall away from the Church to the Lutherans): “Marriage is honourable,” he says, “but it is no longer fitting for you to keep the privileges of marriage; although you often call this very thing marriage, yet I think it worse than adultery,” and so on. But why, I ask, are the marriages of Monks worse than adulteries, if they are bound by no vows? St. Jerome, himself older than Augustine, in the letter to Sabinianus [“Sabinum” printed]: “It is the custom,” he says, “in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria that both a virgin and a widow who have vowed themselves to God, and renouncing the world have trampled all its pleasures underfoot, offer their hair to the mothers of the monasteries to be cut off.” St. Epiphanius, writing against the sixty-first heresy: “The holy Apostles,” he says, “handed down that it is a sin, after virginity has been decreed, to turn to marriage.”
St. Basil, who was somewhat older than the Fathers named, in the preface of the monastic constitutions: “So,” he says, “he who wishes to be free of the bonds of the world flees marriage as a kind of fetter; and, these left behind, he consecrates his life to God and professes chastity, so that he has no longer the power of turning to marriage.” And below, chapter 22 of the Constitutions, he mentions the vow of obedience, and in the last chapter the vow of poverty. The same in the book On virginity, a little past the middle: “When,” he says, “having professed virginity to the Lord, they have afterwards been held and overcome by the wickedly flattering pleasure of the flesh, they wish to cover the crime of lust with the honest name of marriage.” Let these words be thought said to Catherine, Luther's wife; but to Luther himself fits what he has a little before: “By a horrible sacrilege,” says Basil, “he becomes the adulterer of the bride of Christ.” Lastly the same Basil, in the last letter, which is to a fallen virgin: “And because,” he says, “the ungodly man, fallen into the depth, despises evils thereafter, you too deny the very covenant made with the true bridegroom, crying out that you neither are a virgin nor ever promised. Call back to memory the honourable profession which you professed before God and the Angels and men,” and so on.
The Twenty-second Lie
In the same place they say thus: “They taught that vows are equal to Baptism; they taught that by this kind of life they merited the remission of sins and justification before God.” And below: “So they persuaded men that the monastic life is better than Baptism.” And Philip adds in the Apology, page 250: “They taught that these, applied to others, save others.” But which Catholic ever taught so? We do say that the works of religion, that is, to live chastely, to possess nothing of one's own, to obey superiors, are good works, and meritorious of eternal life if done by the righteous, and that they help toward making satisfaction for sins, like all other good works. But that they merit that justification by which from ungodly we are made righteous, no Catholic teaches. For we know that not by works of righteousness which we have done, but because of the great mercy of God, all who are truly justified are made righteous. We add, indeed, that Monks can make other men sharers in their good works, as all other faithful can, since there is communion among the members of the same body. But that a Monk can by his works save others, meriting grace and glory for them, is mere slander; none of us says it.
Lastly, we do not deny that there is a certain likeness between Baptism and the monastic state: that as in Baptism all punishment due to sins is remitted, so too it is credible that this happens in the taking up of the monastic life. But we do not therefore put the monastic state before Baptism, or make it equal. For Baptism remits both guilt and punishment, and makes a man pious from ungodly, and a son of God from a son of the devil; but monastic profession remits only the punishment which sometimes remains after the guilt has been remitted. Nor is this the teaching of St. Thomas alone (as Philip thinks), but also of the ancient holy Fathers.
St. Athanasius writes in the life of blessed Antony that an Angelic voice was once heard, testifying that all his sins were forgiven St. Antony when through the monastic life he renounced the world. St. Jerome too, in letter 25, on the death of Blesilla: “Since, by the favour of Christ, nearly four months ago she washed herself in a kind of second Baptism of her resolve, and lived thereafter so that, the world trampled underfoot, she always thought of the Monastery,” and so on. St. Bernard, in the book On precept and dispensation, not far from the end: “You want to hear from me this too: why, beyond the other institutions of penance, monastic discipline has deserved this prerogative, to be called a second Baptism? I think it is because of the perfect renunciation of the world and the singular excellence of the spiritual life, by which this manner of living, standing above all kinds of human life, makes its professors and lovers like Angels and unlike men; indeed it reforms the divine image in man, conforming us to Christ like Baptism; and we are as it were baptized a second time, while, by mortifying our members which are upon the earth, we put on Christ, planted again together in the likeness of his death.” So St. Bernard, whose testimony Philip ought not to reject, since in the Apology he both counts him among holy men and brings forward his testimonies for himself as most weighty. Yet this is not to be passed over: neither St. Bernard nor St. Thomas nor any Catholic put the monastic life before Baptism, which yet Philip attributes to Catholics.
The Twenty-third Lie
Page 34: “What was done in the Monasteries?” they say. “Once they were Schools of sacred letters and of other disciplines.” But this is not how the exercises of the monasteries are described to us by Jerome in the letter to Eustochium on keeping virginity and in the other to Rusticus on the formation of a Monk; by Augustine in the book On the ways of the Catholic Church; by John Cassian in the book On the institutes of the monasteries; by Benedict in the Rule; and before all these by Basil in the monastic constitutions. For these mention obedience, continence, poverty, fasts, vigils, silence, psalmody, solitude, hair shirts and like things; but of human disciplines, physics, dialectic, the art of oratory and of poetry, they make not even a word of mention. Let Philip see, then, where he dreamed up his scholastic and civic monasteries.
The Twenty-fourth Lie
Page 45, in the article on church power: “The Bishops,” they say, “could easily keep lawful obedience if they did not press the keeping of traditions which cannot be kept with a good conscience. Now they command celibacy; they receive no one unless he swears that he will not teach the pure doctrine of the Gospel.” Let them show, if they can, what Bishop ever required an oath not to teach the pure doctrine of the Gospel; unless perhaps by the name of pure doctrine they want heresies understood. For the practice of the Church is that an oath is required of Pastors not to teach heresies, and not to explain Scripture except according to the consensus of the holy Fathers; and this so that the way may be shut to errors and impurity of doctrine. Nor is it true that celibacy is commanded; it is only required as a condition necessary for the priesthood. For just as each one is free not to receive holy orders, so too each one is free not to keep celibacy.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
XVI. MENDACIUM. Pag. 25. in eodem articulo : « Cyprianus, inquiunt, suadet ut mulieres nubant, quae non servant promissam castitatem. Verba ejus haec sunt lib. i. Epist. 2. Si autem per¬ severare nolunt, aut non possunt, melius est ut nubant, quam ut in ignem deliciis suis cadant.» Mendacium- hoc esse, et Cypria¬ num non de iis loqui , quae continentiam voverunt, sed de iis, quae ad huc deliberant, quid sint facturae, et interim extra matrimo¬ nium impudice vivunt, multis modis idem Cyprianus docet. Primo, quia non ait, si perseverare nolunt, aut non possunt, quae 122 MENDACIA CONCORDIA. promiserunt Christo continentiam ; sed sim¬ pliciter, si perseverare nolunt, aut non pos¬ sunt, melius est ut nubant, quam ut in ignem deliciis suis cadant : id est, si perseverare nolunt, melius est, ut non voveant, quam ut voveant, et votum non impleant. Secundo quia in sequentibus verbis idem Cyprianus conjugia detestatur earum, quae se Christo dicaverant : Christus, inquit, Dominus, el judex noster, cum virginem suam sibi dica¬ tam jacere cum altero cernit, quam indigna¬ tur, et irascitur, et quas poenas incestis ejus¬ modi conjunctionibus comminatur ? Tertio, quia cum Cyprianus sub disjunctione loqua¬ tur, et dicat, si perseverare nolunt, aut non possunt ; Si de iis loqueretur, quse continen¬ tiam promiserunt, videretur velle dicere, li¬ citum esse iis, pro arbitrio vota violare, si tantum nolunt perseverare, etiamsi possint : quod certe nemo sanus admittet. Accedit, quod non est ullo modo credibile, aliud sen¬ sisse Cyprianum de isto loco Apostoli ; Me¬ lius est nubere, quam uri, quam quod postea sensit August. qui tractans eumdem locum lib. i. de adulterinis conjugiis cap. 15. Illis, inquit, quae se non continent, expedit nube¬ re, et quod licet, expedit ; Quae autem vove¬ runt continentiam, nec licet, nec expedit. Multo vero minus credibile est, aliud Cy¬ prianum Carthag. episc. de voto continen¬ tiae docuisse, quam ante eum Tertull. docue¬ rit, et post eum omnes Patres, ac praecipue 214. Episcopi Afric. qui in IV Carthag. concilio, convenerunt, quorum testiihonia paulo ante citavimus. XVII MENDACIUM. Pag. 25. in articulo de Missa : « Falso, inquiunt, accusantur Ecclesiae nostrae, quod Missam aboleant : retinetur enim Missa apud nos, et summa reverentia celebratur. » Con¬ cordent, si possunt, hujus Concordiae aucto¬ res haec sua verba, cum illis aliisverbis suis, quae habentur pag. 279. inter articulos Smalcaldicos. « Curetur, ut publice homini¬ bus ostendatur, Missam ut rem commenti¬ tiam, seu humanum figmentum, posse sine peccato omitti. » Et pag. 280 : « abroganda merito Missa est » . Et pag. 281 : « Caeterum Draconis cauda ista (Missam intelligo) pepe- rit multiplices abominationes, et idololatri¬ as. » Si igitur Missa res est vobis commen¬ titia, et hominum figmentum, et cauda dra¬ conis, et merito abroganda, cur eam non abrogatis ? Aut si eam jamdudum abrogas¬ tis, nec ullus ei apud vos locus conceditur, cur tam splendide mentimini ? Dicent fortas- v. se, Pontificiam Missam, id est, oblationem corporis Dominici pro vivis et mortuis, a se abrogatam, Lutheranam autem, id est, Eu¬ charistiae distributionem, retineri, et summa reverentia celebrari. At non accusantur Ec¬ clesiae vestrae quod Eucharistiae distributio¬ nem aboleant; sed quod sacrificium e medio tollant, quod omnibus saeculis in Ecclesia fuit. Itaque si per Missam intelligitis Coenam Dominicam, mendacium est quod accusemi¬ ni : Si vero sacrificium, mendacium est quod falso accusemini. XVIII. MENDACIUM. Pag. 27. in eodem articulo : « Accessit, inquiunt, opinio, quod Christus satisfecerit sua passione pro peccato originis; et insti¬ tuerit Missam, in qua fieret oblatio pro quo¬ tidianis delictis mortalibus et venialibus. Hinc manavit, quod Missa sit opus tollens peccata vivorum et mortuorum ex opere o- perato. » Multa sunt in his paucis verbis, vel absurda, vel mendacia, vel pugnantia cum superioribus partibus hujus libri. Pri¬ mum enim, quis ante hoc tempus audivit, peccata mortalia vocari delicta quotidiana. Sane D. Augustinus in Enchirid. cap. 71. distinguit peccata quotidiana a sceleribus, et illa levia, brevia, et minima vocat. Dein¬ de impudenti mendacio tribuitur Catholicis doctoribus illa divisio quod Christus passio¬ ne sua satisfecerit solum pro peccato origi¬ nis ; pro actualibus autem instituerit Missam. Nemo enim Catholicorum unquam sic do¬ cuit, sed credimus, et profitemur, Christum in cruce pro omnibus omnino peccatis sa¬ tisfecisse, tam originalibus, quam actuali¬ bus ; quia tamen meritum passionis ejus non prodest, nisi certa aliqua ratione applicetur, (si enim nulla requiritur applicatio, cur non omnes homines salvantur, cum sanguis Chri¬ sti fuerit propitiatio pro peccatis totius mun¬ di, 1 Joan. ii, neque vero sola fide applicari potest, alioqui mentiretur, qui dixit : Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu sancto, non potest intrare in regnum Dei. Joan. m. ) . Propterea docet Ecclesia Catholica, ad pec¬ cata expianda, sive ad meritum passionis Christi, hominibus applicandum, instituta esse varia sacramenta, et ipsum etiam cor¬ poris Domini sacrificium, quae omnia ex o- XX. MENDACIUM. 123 pere operato utilia sint, et ad peccatorum purgationem conducant, licet non aequaliter, nec eodem modo. Quod vero hic negat Phi¬ lippus Missam valere ex opere operato, et apertius Lutherus in articulis Smalcaldicis, qui huic ipsi operi inserti sunt, repugnat articulo Confessionis 8. et haeresin Donatis- tarum renovat. Nam cum in hoc artic. de Missa, Missam a se retineri, et summa reve¬ rentia celebrari dicunt, certe Missam utilem esse credunt. Non autem volunt utilem esse ex opere operato; ergo ex opere operantis vim illius pendere existimant. At haec haere- sis est Donatistarum, quam nominatim artic. 8. damnavit August. Confessio. Ubi etiam asseruit : « Verbum, et sacramenta, utilia et efficacia esse ex institutione Dei, sive per¬ bonos, sive per malos ministros exhibean¬ tur ». Et hoc ipsum est, quod Theologi nos¬ tri per opus operatum intelligunt, et ab o- pere operantis distinguunt. Sed video unde Philippus occasionem arripuerit mentiendi, et calumniandi, quia videlicet S. Thomas in opusculo, de Sacramento altaris cap. 1. do¬ cet : Corpus Domini semel oblatum in cruce pro debito originali, jugiter offerri in altari pro debitis quotidianis. At S. Thomas non dicit, in cruce pro solo debito originali obla¬ tum Christi coipus, immo etiam pro actua¬ libus oblatum docet 3. par. quaest i. art. 4. et quaest. 49. art. i. ad 4. Id ergo in eo o- pusculo sibi voluit S. Thomas, quia pecca¬ tum originale semel dimissum numquam repetitur, ideo ad illud expiandum non esse necessaria quotidiana sacrificia, sed suffice¬ re sacrificium crucis semel peractum, et se¬ mel per Baptismum applicatum ; at pro pec¬ catis actualibus, quas saepius committuntur, instituta esse, praeter Baptismum, quotidia¬ na remedia, in quibus sacrificium altaris merito numeratur. Non quod statim pecca¬ tores justificet ( ut adversarii nos dicere mentiuntur;) sed quod juvet ad placandum Deum, et ab eo impetrandum, ut super pec¬ catores clementer respiciat, eisque deside¬ rium conversionis inspiret, atque ad justifi¬ cationem quaerendam, et obtinendam, dis¬ ponat. XIX. MENDACIUM. Pag. 28. in eodem articulo : Veteres, in¬ quiunt, « ante Gregorium, non faciant men¬ tionem privatae Missse ». Quod idem repeti¬ tur in Apologia pag. 225. Si per Missam privatam i ntelligatur Missa, quae privato no- mme fiat, sive ab uno tantum fuit, et uni soli prosit. Mendacium est, quod post Gre¬ gorium, ejusmodi Missse in Ecclesia esse coeperint. Nulla est enim, nec unquam fuit in Ecclesia Missa privata ; sed omnis Missa publica est, cum omnis Missa liat a sacerdo¬ te, ut publicus minister est, et pro communi et publica utilitate totius Ecclesiae. Si vero per Missam privatam intelligant eam, quae non sit in loco publico, vel ad quam non convenit populi multitudo, vel in qua non distribuitur populo Sacramentum, falsum est apud veteres non exstare memoriam ejusmodi Missarum, ante tempora Gregorii. Certe Augustinus Gregorium, ducentis fere annis antecessit, et tamen lib. xxii. de Civ. Dei cap. 8. scribit haec verba : Vir tribuni- tius Hesperius, qui apud nos est, habet in territorio Fussalensi fundum Cupedi appel¬ latum, ubi cum afflictione animalium, et servorum suorum, domum suam spirituum malignorum vim noxiam perpeti comperis- set, rogavit nostros, me absente, presbyte¬ ros, ut aliquis eorum illo pergeret, cujus o- rationibus cederent. Perrexit unus, obtulit ibi sacrificium corporis Christi, orans quan¬ tum potuit, ut cessaret illa vexatio, Deoque protinus miserante cessavit. Habes hic Mis¬ sam in loco privato, ab uno celebratam, si¬ ne distributione Eucharistiae populo facta, et tamen utilem, et Deo gratam, ut miracu¬ lum subsequens declaravit. XX. MENDACIUM. Pag. 29. in articulo de Confessione. « An¬ tea, inquiunt, immodice extollebantur satis¬ factiones ; fidei vero et meriti Christi, ac ju¬ stitiae fidei, nulla fiebat mentio. » Hoc men¬ dacium refellunt omnes libri catholicorum, in quibus et fides passim praedicatur, et vir¬ tus sacramentorum, et ipsarum etiam satis¬ factionum, ad meritum Christi refertur. Nunc unus locus S. Thomse sufficiet 3. par. quaest. 62. art. 5. Christus, inquit S. Thomas, libe¬ ravit nos a peccatis nostris, praecipue per suam passionem, non solum efficienter, et meritorie, sed etiam satisfactorie. Similiter etiam per suam passionem initiavit ritum Christianae religionis, offerens seipsum obla¬ tionem, et hostiam Deo, ut dicitur adEphes. v. Unde manifestum est, quod sacrame 124 MENDACIA CONCORDIAE. Ecclesiae specialiter habent virtutem ex pas¬ sione Christi etc. Et infra : Per fidem Chri¬ stus habitat in nobis, ut dicitur ad Ephes. m. et ideo virtus Christi copulatur nobis per fi¬ dem etc. Mentitur ergo qui dicit, ante haec tempora nullam factam esse ,in Ecclesia fidei et meriti Christi mentionem. XXI. MENDACIUM. Pag. 34. in articulo de votis monasticis : «(Augustini, inquiunt, tempore monasteria erant libera collegia, postea, corrupta disci¬ plina, ubique addita sunt vota, ut tamquam excogitato carcere, disciplina restitueretur. » Mendacium est hoc sane dignissimum. Cui non solum octo millia Lutheranorum subscriberent ; sed etiam tot illustres civita¬ tes, totque illustrissimi principes, suffragium suufii adjungerent. Quid enim ? An non vi¬ xit Augustinus tempore Augustini ? Is igitur scribens in Psalm. lxxv. ita loquutus est : Nemo positus in monasterio frater dicat, re¬ cedo de monasterio, neque enim soli, qui sunt in monasterio, perventuri sunt ad re¬ gnum coelorum ; et illi qui ibi non sunt, ad Deum non pertinent. Respondetur ei, sed illi non voverunt, tu vovisti. Et in Psalm. xcix. de Monachis apostatis loquens : Dum non perseveraverit, inquit, implere quod vo¬ vit, fit desertor tam sancti propositi, et reus- voti non redditi. Sed forte non sufficit unus : Nam in ore duorum vel trium testium stabit omne verbum. S. Joan. Chrysost. qui eetate Augustini ita vixit, ut etiam ante Augusti¬ num mortuus sit, in epist. 6. quae est ad Theodorum, qui deserto Monasterio uxorem ducere voluerat (ut hoc tempore passim fa¬ ciunt, qui ab Ecclesia ad Lutheranos defi¬ ciunt). Honorabiles, inquit, nuptiae, sed te jam servare non convenit privilegia nuptiarum ; quamvis frequenter hoc ipsum nuptias vo¬ ces, ego tamen adulterio illud pejus existi¬ mo, etc. At cur, obsecro, nuptiae Monacho¬ rum, adulteriis sunt pejores, si nullis votis tenentur ? S. Hieronymus, et ipse Augustino senior, in epist. ad Sabinum. Moris est, in¬ quit, in iEgypti et Syri;e monasteriis, ut tam virgo, quam vidua, quee se Deo voverint, et saeculo renunciantes, omnes delicias saeculi conculcarint, crinem monasteriorum matri¬ bus offerant desecandum. S. Epiphanius scribens contra haeresim sexagesimam pri¬ mam. Tradiderunt, inquit, sancti Apostoli, peccatum esse, post decretam virginitatem. ad nuptias converti. S. Rasilius, qui nomi¬ natis Patribus aliquanto vetustior fuit, in prooemio monasticarum constitutionum. Ita¬ que, inquit, qui a mundi vinculis liber esse cupit, nuptias veluti pedicas quasdam fugit, his autem relictis, vitam suam Deo conse¬ crat, et castitatem profitetur, ut neque fa¬ cultas ipsi sit conversionis ad nuptias. Et infra cap. 22. Constitut. meminit voti obe- dientiee, et cap. ult. voti paupertatis. Idem inlib. de virginitate, parum a medio : Cum, inquit, Domino virginitatem professae sint, carnali post modum voluptate male blanda definitae, ac devictae, stupri scelus honesto conjugii nomine obtegere cupiunt. Haec di¬ cta putentur Catharinae conjugi Lutheri, ipsi autem Luthero convenit, quod paulo ante habet : Horrendo, inquit Basilius, sacrilegio Christi sponsae adulter efficitur. Denique idem Basilius in epist. ult. quae est ad vir¬ ginem lapsam : Et quia, inquit, impius in profundum collapsus, mala de caetero con¬ temnit, etiam ipsa abnegas ad verum spon¬ sum pacta, neque esse virgo, neque unquam promisisse clamans. Revoca in memoriam honestam professionem, quam professa es coram Deo, et Angelis, et hominibus, etc. XXII. MENDACIUM. Ibidem sic aiunt : « Docebant vota paria esse Baptismo ; docebant se hoc vitee genere mereri remissionem peccatorum et justifica¬ tionem coram Deo. Et infra : Ita. persuade¬ bant vitam monasticam esse meliorem Ba¬ ptismo. Et addit Philippus in Apologia pag. 250. « docebant, applicata aliis, alios salvare » At quis Catholicorum unquam ita docuit ? Dicimus quidem opera religionis, id est, caste vivere, nihil proprii possidere, obedire majoribus, opera esse bona, et me¬ ritoria vitee aeternae, si a justis fiant, et con¬ ducere, ad satisfaciendum pro peccatis, sic¬ ut ceetera omnia opera bona : At mereri justificationem illam, qua ex impiis effici¬ mur justi, nullus Catholicorum docet. Sci¬ mus enim non ex operibus justitiae, quae fe¬ cimus nos, sed propter magnam Dei miseri¬ cordiam, justos fieri, quotquot vere justifi¬ cantur. Addimus vero, posse Monachos fa¬ cere alios homines operum suorum bono¬ rum participes, ut possunt omnes alii fideles, cum sit communicatio inter membra ejus¬ dem corporis. At quod possit Monachus suis XXIV. MENDACIUM. 125 operibus alios salvos facere, merendo eis gratiam et gloriam, mera calumnia est, nemo nostrum dicit. Denique non negamus, inter Baptismum et Monachatum esse quamdam similitudinem ; quod sicut in Baptismo re¬ mittitur omnis poena peccatis debita , ita quoque in susceptione vitee monasticae fieri credibile est. At non continuo anteponimus, vel aequamus Monachatum Baptismo, Bapti¬ smus enim, et culpam, et poenam remittit, et hominem de impio facit pium, ct de filio diaboli filium Dei ; Professio vero monastica, solam poenam remittit, quae post remissam culpam aliquando remanet. Neque haec est solius S. Thomae doctrina (ut Philippus exi¬ stimat) sed etiam veterum SS. Patrum. Scribit S. Athanasius, in vita B. Antonii, Angelicam vocem aliquando auditam, quae testaretur, D. Antonio omnia peccata di¬ missa, cum per vitam monasticam saeculo r enunciavit. Sanctusquoque Hieron. in epist. 25. de obitu Blesillae : Cum, inquit, propitio Christo ante quatuor ferme menses, secundo quodam modo se propositi Baptismo lave- rit, et ita deinceps vixerit, ut calcato mundo semper Monasterium cogitaverit etc. S. Ber- nardus lib. de praecepto et dispensatione, non procul a fine : Audire, inquit, et hoc vultis a me, unde, praeter caetera poeniten¬ tiae instituta, monasterialis disciplina merue¬ rit hanc praerogativam, ut secundum Ba¬ ptisma nuncupetur ? Arbitror, ob perfectam mundi renunciationem, ac singularem ex¬ cellentiam vitae spiritualis, qua pra3eminens universis vitae humanae generibus hujusce¬ modi conversatio , professores et amatores suos Angelis similes, dissimiles hominibus facit, immo divinam in homine reformat imaginem, configurans nos Christo instar Baptismi ; et quasi denique secundo bapti¬ zamur, dum per id, quod mortificamus membra nostra, quae sunt super terram, Christum induimus, complantati denuo si¬ militudini mortis ejus. Haec S. Bernardus, cujus testimonium Philippus rejicere non deberet, eum in Apologia eum, tum inter sanctos viros numeret, tum ejus testimonia tamquam gravissima, pro se adducat. Illud tamen non est praetereundum, nec S. Ber- nardum, nec S. Thomam, nec ullum Catho¬ licorum vitam monasticam Baptismo ante¬ posuisse, quod tamen Philippus Catholicis attribuit. , XXIII. MENDACIUM. Pag. 34: a Quidfiebat, inquiunt, in Monaste riis ? olim erant Scholae sacrarum litterarum, et aliarum disciplinarum : At non ita descri¬ bunt nobis monasteriorum exercitationes. Hieron. in epist. ad Eustochium, de servanda virginitate, et in altera ad Rusticum de in¬ stitutione Monachi ; Augustinus in libro de moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae ; Joan. Cassianus in lib. de institutis coenobiorum ; Benedi¬ ctus in Regula; et ante hos omnes Basilius, in monasticis constitutionibus ; Hi siquidem, meminerunt obedientiae, continentiae, pau¬ pertatis, jejuniorum, vigiliarum, silentii, psalmodiae, solitudinis, ciliciorum, et simi¬ lium rerum : At humanarum disciplinarum, physicae, dialecticae, oratoriae, ac poeticae artis, ne verbo quidem meminerunt. Vide¬ rit ergo Philippus, ubi scholastica et politica monasteria somniarit. XXIV. MEMDAC1UM. Pag. 45. in articulo de potestate eccle¬ siastica. Facile, inquiunt, possent Episcopi legitimam obedientiam retinere, si non ur¬ gerent servari tradititiones, quae bona con¬ scientia servari non possunt. Nunc imperant coelibatum, nullos recipiunt nisi jurent se puram Evangelii doctrinam nolle docere. Ostendant si possunt, quis unquam Episco¬ pus exegerit juramentum de non docenda pura Evangelii doctrina. Nisi forte nomine purae doctrinae, haereses intelligi velint. Praxis enim Ecclesiae habet, ut exigatur a Pastoribus juramentum, de non docendis haeresibus, et de Scriptura non explicanda nisi juxta consensum sanctorum Patrum, et hoc, ut erroribus, et^impuritati doctrinae aditus praecludatur. Neque verum est, coeli¬ batum imperari, sed tantum exigi ut condi¬ tionem ad sacerdotium necessariam. Quem¬ admodum enim liberum est unicuique sa¬ cros ordines non suscipere, ita quoque libe¬ rum est coelibatum non servare.