Imatges de pàgina
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practised by the primitive church); which at least is a whole change of life, a conversion of the whole man to God. And it is as bad, when a notorious criminal is put to shame one day, for such a sin which could not have obtained the peace of the church, under the severity and strictness of fifteen years, amongst the holy primitives. Such public ecclesiastical penances may suffice to remove the scandal from the church, when the church will be content upon so easy terms; for she only can tell what will please herself. But then such discipline must not be esteemed a sufficient ministry of repentance, nor a just disposition to pardon. For the church ought not to give pardon, or to promise the peace of God upon easier terms than God himself requires : and, therefore, when repentance comes to be conducted by her, she must require so much as will extinguish the sin, and reform the man, and make him and represent him good.

All the liberty that the church hath in this, is what is given her by the latitude of the judgment of charity; and yet oftentimes a too easy judgment is the greatest uncharitableness in the world, and makes men confident, and careless, and deceived. And, therefore, although gentle sentences are useful, when there is danger of despair or contumacy, yet that is rather a palliation of a disease than a cure; and, therefore, the method must be changed as soon as it can, and the severe and true sermons of the Gospel must be either proclaimed aloud, or insinuated prudently and secretly, and men be taught to rely upon them and their consequents, and upon nothing else; for they will not deceive us. But the corrupt manners of men, and the corrupt doctrines of some schools, have made it almost impossible to govern souls as they need to be governed.

The church may indeed choose, whether she will impose on criminals any exterior significations of repentance, but accept them to the communion upon their own accounts of

Si cito rediret homo ad pristinam beatitudinem, ludus illi esset cadere in mortem. S. Aug. Serm. 34. de Diversis.

In ipsa ecclesia, ubi maxime misereri decet, quam maxime deeet forma justitiæ, ne quis, a communionis consortio abstentus, brevi lachrymula atque ad tempus parata, vel etiam uberioribus fletibus, communionem, quam plurimis debet postulare temporibus, facilitate sacerdotis extorqueat.- S. Ambros. in Psal. 118., in hæc verba, Miserere mei, secundum eloquium_täum.*

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a sincere conversion and inward contrition; but then she ought to do this upon such accounts, as are indeed real and sufficient, and effective and allowed; that is, when she can understand that such an emendation is made, and the man is really reformed, she can pronounce him pardoned; or, which is all one, she may communicate him. And further yet, she can, by sermons, declare all the necessary parts of repentance, and the conditions of pardon, and can pronounce limited and hypothetical or conditional pardons; concerning which, the penitent must take care that they do belong to him. But if she does undertake to conduct any repentances exteriously, it is to very little purpose to any way, that is not commensurate to that true internal repentance, which is effective of pardon. Indeed every single act of penance does something towards it; but why something should be enjoined that is not sufficient, and that falls infinitely short of the end of its designation, though the church may use her liberty, yet it is not easy to understand the reason. But I leave this to the consideration of those, who are concerned in governments public, or in the private conduct of souls, to whom I earnestly and humbly recommend it: and I add this only, that when the ancient churches did absolve and communicate dying penitents, though but newly returned from sin, they did it de bene esse,' or with a hope it might do some good, and because they thought it a case of necessity, and because there was no time left to do better but when they did as well as they could, they could not tell what God would do; and though the church did well, it may be, it was very ill with the souls departed. But because that is left to God, it is certain some things were done, upon pious confidence and venture, for which there was no promise in the Gospel.

That which the church is to take care of, is, that all her children be sufficiently taught, what are the just measures of preparation and worthy disposition to these divine mysteries; and that she admits none, of whom she can tell that they are not worthy; such as are notorious adulterers, homicides, incestuous, perjurers, habitually peevish to evil effects, and permanently angry (for this I find reckoned amongst the primitive catalogues of persons to be excluded from the

b Si permansissemus illâ in munditiâ, quæ nobis per baptismum data est,

communion), rapines, theft, sacrilege, false witness, pride, covetousness, and envy. It would be hard to reduce this rule to practice in all these instances, unless it be by consent and voluntary submission of penitent persons. But that which I remark, is this; that proud persons and the covetous, the envious and the angry, were esteemed fit to be excommunicate; that is, infinitely unfit to be admitted to the blessed sacrament; and that, by the rules of their discipline, they were to do many actions of public and severe penance and mortifications, before they would admit them,

Now, then, the case is this: they did esteem more things to be required to the integrity of repentance, and God not to be so soon reconciled, and the devil not so soon dispossessed, and men's resolutions not so fit to be trusted, and more to be required to pardon than confession, and the pronouncing absolution; all this otherwise, than we do; and, therefore, so long as they did conduct repentances, they required it as it should be; being sure that no repentance, that was joined with hope and charity, could be too much, but it might quickly be too little; and, therefore, although the church may take as little as she please for a testimonial of repent ance, and suppose the rest is right, though it be not signi fied, yet when she, either in public or in private, is to manage repentances, she must use no measure but that which will procure pardon, and extinguish. both the guilt and dominion of sin. The first may be of some use in government, but of little avail to souls, and to their eternal interest: therefore, in the first, she may use her liberty, and give herself measures; in the latter, she hath no other but what are given her by the nature of repentance, and its efficacy and order to pardon, and the designs of God, for the reformation of our souls, and the extermination of sin.

vere felices essemus; sed non permansimus. Cecidimus enim, per nostram culpam, non solum in peccata, sed etiam in crimina, propter quæ peccatores ab ecclesia separantur: qualia sunt homicidia, adulteria, fornicationes, sacrilegia, rapinæ, furta, falsa testimonia, superbia, invidia, avaritia, diutina iracundia, ebrietas assidua. - Fulbert. Carnot. Ser. 2. ad Populum.

SECTION VI.

Whether may every Minister of the Church and Curate of Souls reject impenitent Persons, or any Criminals from the holy Sacrament, until themselves be satisfied of their Repentance and Amends?

SEPARATION of sinners from the blessed sacrament, was either done upon confession and voluntary submission of the penitent, or by public conviction and notoriety. Every minister of religion can do the first, for he that submits to my judgment, does choose my sentence; and if he makes me judge, he is become my subject in a voluntary govern ment; and, therefore, I am to judge for him, when it is fit that he should communicate: only, if when he hath made me judge, he refuses to obey my counsel, he hath dissolved my government, and, therefore, will receive no further benefit by me. But concerning the latter of these, a separation upon public conviction or notoriety; that requires an authority that is not precarious and changeable. Now this is done two ways; either by authority forbidding, or by authority restraining and compelling; that is, by the word of our proper ministry, dissuading him that is unworthy from coming, and threatening him with divine judgments if he does come; or else rejecting of him in case that he fears not these threatenings, but persists in his desires of having it.

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Now of the first of these, every minister of the word and sacraments is a competent minister; for all that minister to souls, are to tell them of their dangers, and, by all the effects of their office, to present them pure and spotless unto God. The seers must take care that the people may see, lest, by their blindness, they fall into the bottomless pit. And when the curates of souls have declared the will of God in this instance, and denounced his judgments to unworthy communicants, and told to all that present themselves, who are worthy, and who are not, they have delivered their own souls; all that remains, is, that every person take care con cerning his own affairs.

For the second, viz. denying to minister to criminals, though demanding it with importunity; that is an act of

prudence and caution in some cases, and of authority in others. When it is matter of caution, it is not a punishment, but a medicine; according to those excellent words of St. Cyprian," To be cast out" (viz. for a time, from the communion)" is a remedy and degree towards the recovery of our spiritual health :" and because it is no more, it cannot be pretended to be any man's right to do it; but it may be in his duty when he can; but, therefore, this must depend upon the consent of the penitent. For a physician must not, in despite of a man, cut off his leg to save his life; the sick man may choose, whether he shall or no. But sometimes it is an act of authority: as when the people have consented to such a discipline; or when the secular arm, by assisting the ecclesiastical, hath given to it a power of mixed jurisdiction; that is, when the spiritual power of paternal regiment, which Christ hath given to his ministers, the supreme curates, is made operative upon the persons and external societies of men. Now of this power the bishops are the prime and immediate subjects, partly under Christ, and partly under kings; and of this power, inferior ministers are capable by delegation, but no otherwise, they being but deputies and vicars in the cure of souls, under their superiors, from whom they have received their order and their charge. And thus I suppose we are to understand the rubrick before our communion office; which warrants the curate not to suffer " open and notorious" evil livers, by whom the congregation is offended, and those between whom he perceiveth malice and hatred to reign, to be partakers of the Lord's table. In the first, the case is of notorious criminals, and is to be understood of a notoriety of law; and, in this, the curate is but a publisher of the judge's sentence; in the second, the criminal is, ipso facto,' excommunicate; and, therefore, in this the curate is but the minister of the sentence of the law, or, at least, hath a delegate authority to pass the church's sentence in a matter that is evident. But this is seldom practised otherwise, than by rejecting such persons by way of denunciation of the divine judgments; and if it be so

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a Nam ejici remedium est et gradus ad recuperandam sauitatem. Lib. de dupl. Martyr.

See Rule of Conscience, lib. iii. c. 3 et 4.

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