Imatges de pàgina
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And Becanus, in the third part of his Scholaftical Divinity, Chap. 26. of the Sacrament of Order, has as follows: Concilium Florentinum in inftructione Armenórum folum meminit materiæ accidentalis, que ab Ecclefià fuit inftituta, which was the delivering of the Bread and Cup, non autem Subftantialis, quam Chriftus prafcripfit, which is the impofition of hands, Quia hac ex Scripturis & antiquis Patribus erat fatis cognita, non autem illa. Addo, fi hoc argumentum valeret, poffe optimè retorqueri ita, Antiqua concilia non affignant aliam materiam nifi impofitionem manuum, ergo, &c. He concludes thus, Nota antiqua concilia assignâsse materiam à Chrifto inftitutam, Florentinum verò mateam affignaffe, quam Ecclefia introduxit, that is the Latin only. By this one may fee, that the Church of Rome is not fo uniform a Body as the pretends to be, being thus inconfiftent with her felf in a thing of fo high a nature, as that, of what is, and what is not effential to Orders: and we may fee likewife, how she will break thorow all ancient Doctrines and Rules, rather than not difgrace all Bodies of Christians, which deny her Obedience, by unchurching them by fome fubtilty or other; and indeed, thorow the clearest evidences of matter of Fact, as the does in the cafe of the Orders of the Church of England. And furthermore, how apt fhe is to look upon her own novel Inventions as the main Substantials of Religion.

To whom I fhall only add Morinus, whofe judgment in a cafe of this nature is of more weight

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in the Sacrament, may make her Communion imperfect and ineffectual, than that this alone fhould make Ordinations fo.

But after all this ftir, the Doctrine of the delivering the Bread and Cup into the hands of those who are to be ordained Priests, being effential to Orders, is fo far from being true, that it is owned to be a Novelty by all the Modern Learned Divines of the Church of Rome, and is moreover contradicted by her daily Practice, who, as all the World knows, allows the Greek Orders to be good, in the Collation whereof she knows, the Bread and Cup is not put into the hands of those who are ordained Priests.

It is true, the Council of Florence, in her Inftructions to the Armenians, feems to have doted into the fame Error with this of the Portuguezes, in making that new Ceremony effential to Orders. But let that be as it will, it is certain that both the present practice of the Roman Church, and all her truly Learned Sons, the Modern Schoolmen not excepted, do condemn it as an Error; for which I fhall only quote two of her most eminent Schoolmen, and one of her ableft Criticks.

Cardinal Lugo, in his 2 Difp. de Sacramentis, faith as followeth, Aliunde autem habemus, non porrectionem panis & vini determinatè requiri ex divinâ inftitutione, cum Græci abfque illa porrectione ordinentur; ergo fatendum eft Chriftum folum voluiffe pro materià aliquod fignum proportionatum boc vel illud.

And

And Becanus, in the third part of his Scholaftical Divinity, Chap. 26. of the Sacrament of Order, has as follows: Concilium Florentinum in inftructione Armenórum folum meminit materiæ accidentalis, que ab Ecclefia fuit inftituta, which was the delivering of the Bread and Cup, non autem fubftantialis, quam Chriftus præfcripfit, which is the impofition of hands, Quia hac ex Scripturis & antiquis Patribus erat fatis cognita, non autem illa. Addo, fi hoc argumentum valeret, poffe optimè retorqueri ita, Antiqua concilia non assignant aliam materiam nifi impofitionem manuum, ergo, &c. He concludes thus, Nota antiqua concilia assignâsse materiam à Chrifto inftitutam, Florentinum verò mateam affignaffe, quam Ecclefia introduxit, that is the Latin only. By this one may fee, that the Church of Rome is not fo uniform a Body as the pretends to be, being thus inconfiftent with her felf in a thing of fo high a nature, as that, of what is, and what is not effential to Orders: and we may fee likewise, how she will break thorow all ancient Doctrines and Rules, rather than not disgrace all Bodies of Chriftians, which deny her Obedience, by unchurching them by fome fubtilty or other; and indeed, thorow the clearest evidences of matter of Fact, as the does in the cafe of the Orders of the Church of England. And furthermore, how apt fhe is to look upon her own novel Inventions as the main Substantials of Religion.

To whom I fhall only add Morinus, whofe judgment in a cafe of this nature is of more

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weight

weight, than that of the whole Tribe of Schoolmen. Who in the I Chap. of his first Exercitation, De Sacris Ordinationibus, faith, Nemo, ut mihi videtur, dubitare poteft, antiquos Latinos, à quibus accepimus & Ordinationes, & quod facerdotes fumus, legitimè & validè facerdotes confecraffe, & cætera facrarum Ordinationum munia contuliffe: Eadem antiquorum Græcorum ratio. Certiffimum enim eft & evidentissimum, neminem Ordinationes Græcas criminari poffe, quin crimen in Latinas redundet, cum utrique mutuo alterius Ordinationes próbaverint: Græcufque apud Latinos, & Latinus apud Græcos fine ullâ unquam Ordinationis querelà facra Myfteria celebraverit: pari veritatis evidentia certum eft recentiores Latinos in hunc ufque diem legitimas Ordinationes celebraffe & celebrare, eadem ratio hodiernorum Græcorum, cum ut ex iis que manifeftiffimè n avrofiz quadam demonftrata funt, ab antiquis non differant, eofque publicè in fuis Ordinibus miniftrantes fufcipiat Ecclefia Romana, femperque fufceperit. And in his feventh Exercitation, fpeaking of the delivering the Bread and Cup into the hands of thofe that are ordained Priests, he acknowledgeth it to be a late Céremony in the Roman Church. Antiqui Rituales Latini, non fecus ac Graci, istam inftrumentorum traditionem nobis non exhibent: Quidquid Spectat ad illam materiam & formam ab iis abeft. Duo ritus Ordinationis editi, unus Roma in fancti Gregorii facramentario ex Bibliotheca Vaticana, alter Parifiis ab Hugone Mainardo, ex Bibliotheca Corbeienfi, ifta omnia nobis non repræfentant duo antiquissimi

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Petaviani literis uncialibus fcripti qui præ cæteris eminent, duo alii fecundum iftos antiquissimi & egregiè fplendidéque fcripti, qui ampli funt, & multa Ordinationibus illis exhibent, quæ videri poffunt non neceffaria, quorum unus eft Rotomagenfis, alter Rhemenfis. Tres alii, quorum primus Senonenfis eft, dno alii Corbeienfes, unus à Rodrado fcriptus, nunc vertitur annus octogentefimus primus, alter a Rotaldo præcedente multo junior, fed copiofiffimus, qui quæcunque noverat ad Ordinationes pertinere, iis ditavit Sacramentarium fuum ; denique unus è Bibliothecâ Thuana perantiquus, & alter Bellovacenfis. In all which ancient Rituals, he faith, there is a profound filence of this Ceremony.

The Council being ended, Mar Abraham returned to his Bishoprick, where he obferved nothing of what he had promifed and fwore, fave that of ordaining his Priests again the third time, at which Ordinations there were several Jefuites, who were skilled in the Syriack Tongue, that af fifted to fee that nothing was omitted that was effential.

Not long after a Letter of Mar Abraham to the Patriarch of Babylon was intercepted, wherein he informed him of his having been at a Council of the Bishops of the Indies at Goa, whither he had gone purely out of fear of the Portuguezes, who, he faid, were over his Head,as a Hammer over an Anvil: but when he was there, that he had delivered in a Profeffion of his Faith, which none of the Latin Bishops were able to contradict, profeffing B 3

him

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