Primitive Christian Worship

preceding the reformation. Very far from entertaining a wish to fasten upon the Church of Rome now, what then deformed religion among us, in any de

e both to illustrate the great danger of allowing ourselves to countenance the very first stages of superstition, and also to impress upon our minds the duty of checking in its germ any the least deviation from the primitive principles of faith and worship; convinced that by the general tendency of human

two works, which have been in an especial manner forced upon my notice. Many other testimonies of a similar tendency might readily be adduced; but these wi

TIO

under other circumstances, have reserved all allusion to it for our separate inquiry into the faith and practice of the Church of Rome with regard to her. But its historical position and general character seemed to recommend our reference to it here. Without anticipati

e motion, others at the request of influential persons. They guarantee remission of punishment for different spaces of time, varying from forty days to ninety thousand years; they undertake to secure freedom from hell; they promise pardon for de

en imposed on the people of England; and it was from such dreadful enormities, that our Reformation, to whatever secondary cause that reformation is to be attributed-by the providence of Almighty God rescued us. No one laments more than I do, the extremes into which many opponents of papal Rome have allowed themselves to run; but no one can feel a more anxious desire than myself to preserve our Church and people from a return of such spiritual degradation and wretchedn

el does not require a total rejection, even in its less startling forms, of every departure from the principle of invoking God alone; and of looking for acceptance with Him solely to the mediation of his Son, without the i

overabundant supply, will justify the several pa

ll them that devoutly say this prayer in the worship of our blessed Lady, being penitent, and truly confess

ion, was made Bishop of St. Asaph, June 18, 1382. He is called als

m her blessed visage, and warn them the day and the hour of death; and in their last end the angels of God shall yield their souls to

f these passages is very imperfect; but I h

sweetest and acceptablest to me: and in her appearing she had this salutation and prayer written

r before the image of our Lady the sum of XI.M. [eleven thousand] years of pardon. 'Ave Sanctissima

clock in the morning 3 Ave Maria, at 12 the clock at noon 3 Ave M., and at 6 the clock at even, for every time so doing is granted of the SPIRITUAL TREASURE OF HOLY CHURCH 300 days of pardon totiens quotiens; and also our holy father, the Archbishop of Canterbury and York, with other nine Bishops of this realm, have granted 3 times in the day 40 days of pardon to all them that be in the state of grace able to receive pa

n) Henry VII. bega

have a singular reward of our blessed Lady, and her sweet Son Jesus. 'Ave,' &c. Hail, Mary, most humble handmaid of the Trinity, &c. Hail, Mary, most prompt Comforter of the living and the dead. Be thou with me i

ur blessed Lady, standing under the Cross weeping, and having compassion with her sweet Son Jesus, 7 years of pardon an

holding these arms of Christ's passion, are granted XXXII.M.VII hondred, and LV (32755) years of pardon; and S

that devoutly say this prayer, after the elevation of our Lo

die of sudden death, and no venom shall poison him that day, and what he asketh of God he shall obtain if it be to the salvation of his soul; and when thy soul shall depart from thy body it shall not enter hell." This prayer ends with t

l them that say these III prayers following devoutly, remi

lum Sanct? Crucis septem Romanorum; who that devoutly say them shall obtain X.C.M. [ninety thous

X [thirty] other popes of the Church of Rome, successors after him; and our holy Father, Pope John 22, hath granted unto all them very contrite and truly confessed, that say the

eart daily say this orison, if he be that day in a state of eternal damnation, then this eternal pain shall be changed him in temporal

s granted now, relate only to the remission of the penances imposed by the Church in this life, and presume not to interfere with the province of the Most High in the rewards and punishments of the next. But, I repeat it, what has been in former days may be again; and whenever Christians dep

AS BECKET, ON THE ANNIVERSA

s throughout immediately on the subject of our present inquiry, it supplies us at the same time with the strong views entertained by the authors of the service, on points which gave rise to great and repeated discussion, not only in England, but in various parts also of continental Europe, with regard to the moral and spiritual merits or demerits of Becket, as a subject of the realm and a Christian minister. It is, moreover, only by becoming familiar in all their details with some such remain

l part begins at Lesson the First, and continues throughout, only interspersed wit

E OF THOMA

e Harleian MSS. in the British Museum. The service commences about the 49th page, B. of No. 2785. This MS. is considered to be of a date somewhere about 1430. The first parts of the serv

s in their hands, proceed to the altar of St. Thomas t

lies buried ben

slain by the spe

the vine falls

camp, the husbandman

y all who choose, in sur

rd sound his tr

t of the prose after every verse,

ard of Christ

med under a r

it by the p

ary, the e

ed by the slaughte

pavements

ruddy with

ented with the

cleansed fr

d to the div

r, and then the image of the blessed Thomas the Martyr; and afterwa

fell beneath the swords of the wicked, grant, we beseech thee, that all who im

day of the glorious high-priest, Thomas, with the joys of thy nativity, by the intervention of his merits" (ipsius mentis intervenientibus), "make these thy servants venerate thy majesty with the reverence of due honour. Amen. And as he, according to the rule of a good shepherd, gave his life for his sheep, so grant thou to thy faithful ones, to fear no tyrannical madness to the prejudice of Catholic truth. Amen. We ask that they, by his example, for obedience to the holy laws, may learn to despise persons, and by suffering

ain in the mids

e at the price

ef, in mourn

hes when the sh

ing, sings for

s under the swo

of Thomas the

Mother, the C

ised to the hig

changed into

of?] a clerk, secretly

flesh subdues the a

the Lord's field pu

banishes the foxes

irst

e entirely compelled the flesh to obey the spirit; studying by the exercise of every virtue without intermission to please God. Knowing, therefore, that he was placed a husbandman in the field of the Lord, a shepherd in the fold, he carefully discharged the ministry entrusted to him. The rights and dignities of the Church, which the public authority had usurped, he deemed it right to restore, and to recall to their proper state. Whence a grave question on the ecclesiastical law and the customs of the realm, having arisen between him and the king of the English, a council being convened, those customs were proposed which the king pertinaciously required to be confirmed by the

ime residing as a refugee at Sens, having been driven

on the punish

nishment the r

mily goes fo

sex, age,

oys any

the S

as well the old and decrepit, as infants in the cradle and women lying in childbirth, were driven into banishment; whilst as many as had reached the years of discretion were compelled to swear upon the holy [Gospels]73 that immediately on crossing the sea they would present themselves to the Archbishop of Canterbury; in order that being so oftentimes pierced even by the sword of sympathy, he would bend his stre

acrosanctis. It may mean reli

hands to deed

sses, he despi

breaks d

of Thomas exc

s the brave m

d Le

disturbed and sent from his retreat at Pontinea, Louis, the most Christian king of the French, received him with the greatest honour, and supported him most courteously till peace was restored. But even he too was often, though in vain, urged not to show any grace of kindness towards a traitor to the king of England. The hand of fury proceeded further, and a cruelty dreadful for pious ears to hear. For whereas the Catholic Church prays even for heretics, and schismatics, and faithless Jews, it was forbidden that any one should assist him

holy, and renow

the Church should yi

xiled man are the sp

n the fire, the f

th L

lms indeed rejoiced, that the King had been reconciled to the Archbishop, whilst some believed that the affair was carried on in good faith, and others formed different conjectures. Consequently in the seventh year of his exile the noble pastor returned into England, that he might either rescue the sheep of Christ from the jaws of the wolves, or sacrifice himself for the flock intrusted to his care. He is received by the clergy and the people with incalculable joy; all shedding tears, and saying, Blessed

eatest joy

wailing is

nce of so gr

the mirac

he peopl

f sick floc

the grace o

h Le

t, were disturbed by this, and having loudly given utterance to their iniquity they forthwith went out. On their retiring, the prelate proceeded to the Church, to offer the evening praises to Christ. The mail-clad satellites of Satan followed him from behind with drawn swords, a large band of armed men accompanying them. On the monks barring the entrance to the Church, the priest of God, destined soon to become a victim of Christ, running up re-opened the door to the enemy; "For," said he, "a Church must not be barricaded like a castle." As they burst in, and some shouted with a voice of phrenzy, "Where is the traitor?" others, "Where is the Archbishop?" t

raw press down t

guard of the viney

the camp, the shep

in the thre

by the unjust, has

a heavenl

ng, now cease

f the world is br

Thomas is borne

succeeds

, the voice of his

n with a ma

h Le

ad bent towards the swords, unmoved till the consummation came; prostrated as if for prayer, he fell asleep in the Lord. The perpetrators of the crime, returning into the palace of the holy prelate, that they might make the passion of the servant more fully resemble the passion of his Lord, divided among them his garments, the gold and silver and precious vessels, choice horses, and whatever of value they could find, allotting what each should take. These things therefore the soldiers did. Who, without weeping, can r

a comparison between this prayer and the comme

75, BY THE WOU

sins whic

he world, or the

captive

EE, O T

t hand of Go

of Satan rushin

unexampled, un

s to meet thei

hreats, to swords,

ace! Hap

memory of T

nd which gav

which support

r! succour

appy, and joined

rn) Christe Jesu

igant rel

os ferant

dus, vel ca

rn) Per te, Thoma

r nos Dei

th Le

the good shepherd. The good shepherd

OF S. GRE

of his flesh, the sheep which he had redeemed. Here is shown to us the way, concerning the contempt of death, which we should follow; the character is placed before us to which we should conform. [In the first place, we should of our pity sacrifice our external good for his sheep; and at last, if it be necessary, give up our own life for the same sheep. From that smallest point we proceed to this last and greater. But since the soul by which we live is incomparably better than the earthly substance which we outwardly possess, who would not give for the s

een brackets are no

things yield a

eases, death

r, land,

ed the worl

ers obeisance

urn) Thom? cedun

rbi, mors,

r, tellus

dum replev

us pr?stat

th L

utors, and stain their name with never-ending infamy. But so did the divine vengeance rage against the persecutors of the martyr, that in a short time, being carried away from the midst, they nowhere appeared. And some, without confession, or the viaticum, were suddenly snatched away; others tearing piecemeal their own fingers or tongues; others pining with hunger, and corrupting in their whole body, and racked with unheard-of tortures before their death, and broken up by paralysis; others bereft of their intellects; others expiring with madness;-left manifes

nes with n

ght those who had

o were stained with

at were bound with

h Le

the dropsy, and all kinds of incurable diseases; restoring the dead to life; in a wonderful manner commanding the devils and all the elements: he also put forth his hand to unwonted and unheard-of signs of his own power; for persons deprived of their eyes merited by his merits to obtain new members. But some who presumed to disparage his miracles, struck on a sudden, were compelled to publish them even unwillingly. At length, against all his enemies the martyr so far prevailed, that almost every day you might see that to be repeated in the servant which is read of th

, BY THE MER

us our

use, the gat

from the th

lost by act, i

ith thy w

s, O bless

homas Becket78; and at this point another service seems to commence

sons between this passage and "I

ast was kept in honour of his t

irst

e Church of Canterbury, is solemnly chosen, in the name of the Holy Trinity, to be archbishop and primate of a

te morally. The Latin is this: "Erat autem piis mentibus spes firma et fiducia in Domino, quod idem consecratus utriusque hominis, habitu mutato moribus melioratus pr?sideret. Probatis

nd L

anifold grace of the Holy Spirit. For walking in newness of life, a new man, he was changed into another man, all things belonging to whom were changed for the better; a

d Le

a most rough hair shirt. He added, moreover, hair drawers, that he might the more effectually mortify the flesh, and make the spirit live. But these, as also the other exercises of his spiritual life, very few indeed being aware of it, he removed from the eyes and knowledge of men by superadding other garments, because he sought glory not from man, but from G

other commencement, for the ne

on F

in the office of the altar his appearance was as though he was witnessing the Lord's passion in the flesh. Knowing also that mercy softens justice, and that pity hath the promise of the life

on S

tion. Towards such servants and soldiers of Christ this merciful man preferred to be liberal and abundant in food and raiment, he who determined in himself to be moderate and sparing. For what would he deny to Christ, who for Christ

on T

ertainly; but He supplied grace more abundantly. For with the temptation He made a way to escape, that he might be able to bear it. Therefore, the envious enemy, considering that the new prelate and the new man was flourishing with so manifold a grace of virtues, devi

s, O bless

Lau

gives birth to an

x is broken, and

t is po

d vies in love

igns strike all w

omas five times

into milk, four

of Thomas four

e d

of the saint kind

BLOOD OF THOM

FOR

O CHRIS

homas has

ccour to us

hose wh

those w

morals, acti

s into the

return) Ad Th

uinem quem pro te impendit, Fac nos, C

urn) Opem nobis,

tes, jace

us, et vit

is nos vi

l An

as, the Rod

tness of

gth of th

e of th

ght of t

us Guardian

ho rejoice i

ndi Jubar, Robur Ecclesi?, Plebis Amor, Cleri Delicia.

service of Thom

sity, tend to withdraw them from contemplating Christ, and to fix their thoughts on the powers, the glory, the exaltation, the merits of a fellow-sinner? It will be said, that they will look beyond the martyr, and trace the blessings, here enumerated, to Christ, as their primary cause, and will think of the merits of Thomas as

raised to an equality with Christ our Lord; many passages in this service have the tendency also of withdrawing the minds of the worshippers from an implicit and exclusive dependence on the merits of Christ

They are shown here

ipt

ppeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done

up for us all, how shall he not with him a

rist cleanseth us fro

tor.-1 Ti

ntercession for u

ake intercession fo

of Thoma

wounds of Thomas loosen

s our debts, raise us from the threefold death, and

homas, which he shed for thee, make

mas, pra

that mortal as the giver of good things temporal and spiritual, very awfully trespasses on that high, exclusive, and incommunicable prerogative of the one Lord God

. Service

flesh come.- Ps. lxv. [vulg. lxiv.] 2. 1. For they

thanksgiving, let your requests b

.-Ps. xxx. [xxix.] 10. 2.

ounsel.-Ps. lxxiii. [lxxii.] 24

hall guide you into al

seth up all those that be bowed down.-Psalm

O God.-Ps. li. [l.] 10. 5. Corr

ll, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth hi

visited us, to guide our feet int

ge which can fitly be used only in our hymns and praises to the supreme Lord of our d

omas. Languag

ome a rod out of the stem of Jesse. Ye denied the

brightness of his glory. I am the light

hrough Christ, that strengthened me. Christ loved the C

ce be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in since

sus, that great Shepherd of the sheep. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel; come and save us. He

come Christians to offer to the Giver of all good, trusting solely and exclusively to the mediation of Christ Jesus our Lord for acceptance; and pleading-only the merits of his most precious blood. And yet I am bound to confess, that in

these prayers and praises. The test I would apply is, to try with the change only of the name, substituting the holiest name ever named in heaven or in earth for the name of Thomas of Cant

ghty) all things bo

Fire, air, land, and sea. (Thomas/Th

obeisance to (Tho

b; cleansing to the lepers [Matt. xi. 5]; making the paralytic sound [Matt. iv. 24]; healing the dropsy [Luke xiv. 4]; and all kinds of incurable diseases [Luke iv. 40]; restoring the dead to life [Luke viii.

ist) has ascended. (O Thomas/O God), send help to us. Guide those who stand; raise up t

ength of the Church, the Love of the people, the Delight of the Clergy. Hai

God forbid that we should charge our fellow-creatures with idolatry, who declare that they offer divine worship to the Supreme Being only; or that we should pronounce any professed Christian to have cast off his dependence on the merits of Christ alone, who assures us that he looks for mercy only through those merits. But

on long and often discussed among the exercises of the masters of Paris in the full assembly of the Sorbonne86,) or on the motives which influenced Henry the Eighth, I intend not to say one word: those points belong not to

on and sacrifice for our lives to God the Father, except peradventure we will admit for good payment these and such like blasphemies, which were wont full solemnly to be sung in the temples unto the great ignominy of the glorious name of God, and the dishonour of Christ's most precious blood." Then quo

after his death, the masters of Paris disputed whether

16th November, in the thirtieth year of his reign, prin

rnesse, and to avoyde the commocion of the people, rysen up for that rescue. And he not only callyd the one of them bawde, but also toke Tracy by the bosome, and violently shoke and plucked hym in suche maner, that he had almoste overthrowen hym to the pavement of the Churche; so that upon this fray one of their company, perceivynge the same, strake hym, and so in the thronge Becket was slayne. And further that his canonization was made onely by the bysshop of Rome, bycause he had ben a champion of maynteyne his usurped auctoritie, and a bearer of the iniquitie of the clergie, for these and for other great and urgent causes, longe to recyte, the Kynge's Maiestie, by the advyse of his counsayle, hath thought expedient to declare to his lovynge subje

bishop and martyr," interspersed with canticles. In one of these we read, "This is truly a martyr, who, for the name of Christ, shed blood; w