Baillie’s Parallel. Chapter II.
James Dodson
CHAP. II.
Proving the preparation or first part of the Mass with all the 12. particles of it, to be in our Book, either actually or virtually.
The ten Particles of the introitus are but all late inventions of Popes, and yet all are in our Book.
The preparation is subdivided in a number of parcels. 1. The Pater Noster. 2. The Ave Maria. 3. The Oration. 4. The Introitus. 5. The Versicle, Gloria Patri. 6. The Confession. 7. The Misereatur. 8. The Absolution. 9. The Litany Kyrie eleison. 10. The Angelic hymn, Gloria in excelsis. 11. The Salutation, Dominus vobiscum, with the responsory & cum Spiritu tuo. 12. The Collects. All these go oft under one name of introitus, being but the beginning and ingress to that
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which follows. All these ten or twelve parts of the Mass, are but so many patches put in by the superstition of several Popes, the truth of this, who pleases to see, let them read Morney de Missa, c. 1. p. 80. and c. 3. p. 107. And especially his Authors Walafridus, Berno, Albinus, Tungirensis, &c. In the eleventh Tome of Bibliotheca Patrum, Hittorpius his auctarium. For the present I cite but two testimonies which will not admit Bellarmines elusion from two Popes which laboured as much to understand the Mass as any of their Colleagues either before or after, Gregory ep. l. 7. Epist. 63. Mos Apostolorum fuit ut ad ipsam solummodo Orationem Dominicam oblationis hostiam consecrarent & valde mihi inconveniens visum est, ut precem quam Scholasticus composuerat super oblationem diceremus, & ipsam traditionem quam Dominus composuerat non diceremus [It was the custom of the Apostles that they consecrated the sacrificial offering by the Lord’s Prayer alone; and it seemed to me very unsuitable that we should say over the oblation a prayer which a scholastic had composed, and not say that very tradition which the Lord himself had composed]. He avows that the Apostolic times had no other order of Communion but to say the Lord’s Prayer with the institution from the Gospel, and Saint Paul’s Epistles as I take it, also that the very Canon it self, let be the preparation, was made by a late Scholar, Innocent 3. de Mysteriis Missæ Lib. 2. c. 18. Celestinus Papa constituit ut Psalmi ante sacrificium canerentur antiphonatim, quod antea non fiebat, sed Epistola tantum & Evangelium legebantur [Pope Celestine ordained that Psalms should be sung antiphonally before the sacrifice, which was not done before; rather, only the Epistle and the Gospel were read]. So before Celestine none of these ten or twelve parts of the introitus were extant, nothing was read or sung before the Epistle or the Gospel: of the Church of Rome Bellarmine grants this, but he hath better reason to grant it of other Churches, for read these Liturgies which falsely are ascribed to James, to Basil, to Chrysostom, composed as it seems in the very late and corrupt times of the Eastern Church, ye will find at most but some Psalms and prayers for confession of sins, all diverse from these in the Mass, and diverse also among themselves. So then we may take all the parcels of this first part of the Mass to be the Pope’s invention, which either for antiquity or universality are not much considerable, yet such pieces must be obtruded on us, for try which of them our Books do not bear.
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1. The Pater Noster.
The first, the Pater Noster, not that whereby the Apostles are said to consecrate, for that followeth in the Missal, and our book also long thereafter, but that which the order of Sarum puts immediately after the introitus, with this our Communion begins, it is the first words the Priest says at the Altar after the Roman order of the Pontifical Mass, where this Pater Noster is the first speech which the Pope reads at the altar, for thus doth the Pontifical printed at Lions 1542. testify, fol. 119. p. 2. Quibus indutus surgit Pontifex & ad altare stans detecto capite, dicit, Pater Noster qui es in cælis [Being clothed with these, the Pontiff rises, and standing at the altar with uncovered head, says, “Our Father, who art in heaven”], &c. And this as it seems according to the Canon before the Breviary rubrica generalis. c. 32. Pater Noster & Ave Maria semper dicuntur secretò ante omnes horas [The Our Father and the Hail Mary are always said secretly before all the hours], so we see that our Matins must begin with it, and our Mass also.
2. The Ave Maria.
As for the second parcel, the Angelic salutation, Ave Maria, it is not actually in our Book; but may we not say it is in it potentially? when my L. of Canterbury (in whose power it will be to put it into it at the next edition these passages of antiquity which will be found expedient for our further union with other Christians) hath permitted Mr. Stafford to print at London of late the defence of the Popish use of this salutation to sing in his Poems omnis terra revibrat ave [all the earth resounds again with “Hail”], and to inveigh in his Prose against Puritans, who have left the practice of their ancestors. These are his words towards the end of his female glory. [The Puritans reject all testimonies of her worth, as Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee; they challenge to themselves a greater measure of knowledge, but a lesser of piety then had their ancestors, by disclaiming words and phrases familiar to antiquity, of one thing I will assure them, till they be good Marians, they shall never be good Christians, while they derogate from the dignity of the mother, they cannot honour the Son.] When these words are challenged, Peter Heylen appointed by Canterbury to answer, and Christopher Dow allowed in the answer, he was pleased to make, doth not retract or disallow any thing in these
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sayings: What then shall we expect from our Bishops, but a Canon to injoune [enjoin] those who will not be Puritans, who will not leave the piety of their Ancestors, who will not be contemners of CHRIST; That they become at last so good Marians as to join hereafter, their Ave Maria [Hail Mary] at the back of their Pater noster [Our Father].
3. The Oration.
The third part of the preparation, is the First Collect, the very name is little less then the Mass, if we believe Bellarmine; he counts the Collects the chief parts of the Mass: for the which the Mass it self uses to be called a Collect, eadem collecta dicuntur Missæ, quia sunt pars quædam eaque non minima Missæ [The same collects are called Masses, because they are a certain part—and not the least part—of the Mass]. L. 2. de Missa. cap. 16. This first Collect in the Missal of Sarum, is the same with our first Prayer after the Pater noster to a Letter. Thus speaks the Priest in the Mass. Deus cui omne cor patet & omnis voluntas loquitur——quem nullum latet secretum, purifica per infusionem S. Spiritus cogitationes cordis nostri, ut te perfecte diligere, & dignè laudare mereamur, per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum [O God, to whom every heart is open, and every will speaks, from whom no secret is hidden, purify the thoughts of our heart by the infusion of the Holy Spirit, that we may be worthy perfectly to love thee and worthily to praise thee; through our Lord Jesus Christ], Amen. Missale ad usum Ecclesiæ Sarisburiensis Parisiis 1555. fol. 141. And we turn it Almighty GOD, &c.
4. The Introitus [Entrance].
The Fourth part is the Introitus, the 43. Psalm so called, because sung by the Choir antiphonatim [antiphonally], while the Priest is coming in, or rather for that fourth versicle of its, introibo ad altare Dei [I will go in unto the altar of God] which is most chanted: This is not in our Book actually, yea, we think it was put out of the English expressly, both for the great impertinency of its, and also the evident abuse, which was made of that introibo ad altare [I will go in unto the altar], meaning it, of the ingoing of a Priest to a proper Altar, for as proper sacrificing as was in the old Testament; yet we may take it virtually to be in our Book, for it’s a part of the Mass which Canterbury professeth he likes well, and says, (but not truly) that it is in the Church of England, these are his words in his Speech before the Star-Chamber p. 44. [After the Judaical worship was ended, as far upward as there is any tract of a Liturgy, this was the introitus of the Priest all the Latin-Church over, and in the daily prayers of the Church of England, this was retained at the Reforma-
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tion.] I think his Grace is mistaken in that he says, venite [come ye] was the introitus [entrance] in the Latin-Church, for all the Missals I have seen of the Romish-Church, which to him are the Liturgies of the Latin-Church, have never venite [come ye] for the introitus [entrance, or going in], only in the Breviary, it is the invitatorie [way of invitation] for the Matins, and so the English retained it, indeed the Greek-Church uses it for the introitus, as we read in Fortunatus Antiphonarie Cap. 21: But never the Latin. I grant the Papists could be content to change, and take in this venite in place of their old introibo, for Heigam in his exposition of the Mass, approved by the Doctours of Doway [Douay], printed at S. Omers, 1622. p. 33. avows that the Angels were heard to sing in Constantinople, this venite adoremus [Come, let us worship] for the Introitus, but most falsely: for all that his Author Fortunatus says, in the forenamed place, in their own edition at Paris, 1610. is, hunc Psalmum audivi Constantinopoli, in Ecclesia S. Sophiæ in principio Missæ celebrari [I heard this Psalm being performed at Constantinople, in the Church of Hagia Sophia, at the beginning of the Mass], the singing of it by the Angels, is Heigam’s false addition to Fortunatus. However my Lord of Canterbury shows his good liking of the Latin introits, and, albeit he mistake the Psalm, yet that which we most except against in the Latin true Entroitus, he does approve of it; for he to approve the Priest’s introibo ad altare [I will go in unto the altar], he adds the convenience, not only to go in to the Altar, but to adore even the Altar it self; Domino & altari ejus [to the Lord and to his altar], which he alleges, the English-Book imports: albeit authority too loose here, does not constrain the practice. This is much more than the Romish introitus, albeit no more than the Papists practice, according to other parts of their Mass.
5. The Gloria Patri.
The Fifth part, is their Gloria Patri. This we have more formally than they; for according to our Rubric, it must be sung at the back of every Psalm; yea, of every Hymn: but the Roman Rubric admits sundry dispensations. Breviarium Roman. Rubrica generales, cap. 21. In fine Psalmorum semper dicitur, Gloria Patri præterquam [At the end of the Psalms, “Glory be to the Father” is always said, except], &c. For the matter of this Hymn, let it be as old as Bellarmine can make it, yet the first Author who can be alleged for putting it in the Mass, is Pope Damasus,
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and that as Bellarmine avoures [asserts] on false grounds; yea, the joining of it to the back of any psalms, seems later, let be the putting of it in the Mass, but the singing of it after the fashion of our Book, is a new invention to hinder the people to sing, Gloria to the Father, and to the Son, to hinder the Minister to sing, as it was in the beginning, to make the first, the Priest’s song alone, the second, the people’s responsory only, is the Romanists very late invention: We are told by Isidor, and the rest of the old Rationalists that the answering of the people was the invention of the Italians, as the Reciprocations and Antiphonies was the invention of the Greeks: but this answering of the people, which in our Book is ordained at the back of Gloria Patri, is a Novelty much later than any of these old Writers on the Mass: for Walafridus cap. 25. shews, that the Hymn was no ways divided in his days; but in all Churches it was one passage, sung without division of parts, albeit with variety, the Spanish Church keeping this form Gloria & honor Patri, & filio, & Spiritui sancto in secula seculorum, Amen. Latini verò eodem ordine & ijsdem verbis hunc hymnum decantant, addentes tantùm in medio, sicut erat in principio [Glory and honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, unto ages of ages. Amen. But the Latins chant this hymn in the same order and with the same words, only adding in the middle: “As it was in the beginning”]. Berno hath the same observation. So that this part of our Book, seems to follow the late Roman orders against the practice, not only of all the Reformed Churches, but all the ancient also; yea, more precise are we here, than the Romanists themselves, as I have said.
6 The Kyrie eleison.
The sixth part, is the Kyrie eleison, this is a very powerful and efficacious part of the Mass, Magna est istorum verborum efficacia [Great is the force of those words] says Durand the Rationale lib. 4. on this Rubric, legitur enim quòd dum beatus Basilius Kyrie eleison clamasset, portæ vicinæ Ecclesiæ sunt apertæ, rursus cùm B. Geminianus Kyrie eleison clamoret quinque Reges conversi dicuntur in fugam, unde fortè significat aliud quam Domine miserere, quod tamen nos ignoramus [For it is read that when blessed Basil had cried “Kyrie eleison,” the doors of a neighboring church were opened. Again, when blessed Geminianus cried “Kyrie eleison,” five kings are said to have been turned to flight. From this, perhaps, it signifies something other than “Lord, have mercy,” though we do not know what]. These so miraculous words are used in the Mass, and put at the back of the song of Introitus, mainly to obtain mercy to the Quiristers [i.e., Choristers], whose mind by the melody of their song was puffed up to vain Pride, so does Amalarius
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shew us. Kyrie eleison necessariò constitutum est à præceptoribus Ecclesiæ, ut cantores post finitam antiphonam, deprecentur Domini misericordiam, quæ deprimat inanem jactantiam quæ solet sequi cantores: habent enim quandam exultationem propter egregiam compositionem melodiarum [“Kyrie eleison” was necessarily appointed by the rulers of the Church, so that the singers, after the antiphon is finished, might implore the Lord’s mercy, which would suppress the vain boasting that is wont to follow singers; for they have a certain exultation because of the excellent composition of the melodies]. This was put into the Mass by Pope Gregory, a Father of many other Superstitions, he confesseth in his 63. Epistle of the seventh Book, that he changed the Greek form; for it was their custom, when their Priest did make the prayer for the people, by way of assent, to subjoin κύριε ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς [Lord, have mercy on us] as you have it in Morney de Missa. lib. 1. cap. 7. from Sidonius Apollinaris. Gregory would keep the Greek words, he would have them thrice repeated, he would make them to be said by the Clergy, and the people only to answer, he would have the Name of Christ put in the midst, thus far he counselled. But his successor Innocent the third, tells us more; that the intention of these three sentences, is to call on God the Father, Son and holy Ghost, for to obtain mercy for three kinds of sins, Original, Mortal, and Venial: yea, to obtain from the Father, mercy for sins of Infirmities which are against him, from the Son, sins of Ignorance which are against him, from the Holy Ghost, sins of Malice which are against him. Est peccatum fragilitatis per impotentiam, simplicitatis, per ignorantiam, malignitatis, per invidentiam, hoc est, peccatum in Patrem, peccatum in Filium, peccatum in Spiritum Sanctum. B. Gregorius Kyrie eleison ad Missam cantari præcepit à Clero quod apud Græcos ab omni populo cantabatur [There is a sin of frailty, through weakness; a sin of simplicity, through ignorance; and a sin of malignity, through envy. That is: a sin against the Father, a sin against the Son, and a sin against the Holy Spirit. Blessed Gregory ordered that “Kyrie eleison” be sung at Mass by the clergy, whereas among the Greeks it was sung by all the people]. This order our Book follows, the Presbyter saying, let us pray: Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon us. For the language they will make no scruple, they keep Latin words enough as obscure as these Greek ones, to wit, Benedicite, Magnificat, Venite, &c. Andrews in his Sermon of Imaginations, after the beginning, maintains the lawfulness of this practice, in these words. [Some will hear no Greek or Latin, yet S. Paul cared not to use terms as strange to the Corinthians as Maranatha, Belial, Abba which easily he might
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have expounded: but it liked him to retain his Liberty in this point.] Neither will the Papists stand much in this point to the Greeks, for they grant that the Greeks themselves, pronounce these words in Latin. So Albinus de celebratione Missæ [on the celebration of the Mass], Kyrie eleison Latinè Græci, & Græcè Latini proferunt [The Greeks pronounce “Kyrie eleison” in Latin, and the Latins pronounce it in Greek]. Biblio. patr. auctar. pag. 278. E.
7. The Confiteor [Confession].
7. After the Introitus, Gloria Patri, Kyrie eleison follows the Confiteor, where first the Priest confesseth his sins, and the people say, Misereatur. Then the people confess their sins, and the Priest says, Misereatur, praying for Mercy and Absolution. This Confession is general, no particular enumeration; it is only of Venial sins, and the Absolution is not Sacramental: for the particular Confession is in secret before the Mass, and to this auricular Confession, the Priest pronounceth the Sacramental Absolution. Innocen. lib. 2. 13. Pontifex de peccatis suis cum astantibus confitetur. Illud autem in hac confessione notandum est, quia non in specie sed in genere confitenda sunt peccata, quoniam ista confessio non est occulta sed manifesta [The pontiff confesses his sins together with those standing by. But this is to be noted in this confession: that sins are to be confessed not specifically, but generally, because this confession is not hidden/private, but public/open]; To this Durand adds, that the Psalm of Confession was put in the Mass by Pope Celestine, Rubrica de confessione. Heigam’s exposition of the Mass. cap. 22. [As the Confession was general, so the Absolution is general which the Priest gives only by way of Prayer, and not of Sacrament, as that ego te absolve [I absolve thee], and extendeth it self no farther than to the taking away of Venial sins.] This he learned from Hugo de Sancto Victore, fit communis confessio ut mundemur à peccatis venialibus, sine quibus communis vita non facile ducitur [A common confession is made, that we may be cleansed from venial sins, without which common life is not easily carried on]. Consider whether all these three parts may be said to be actually in our Book; both the Confiteor, the Misereatur, and the Absolution, the Confiteor and the Misereatur is twice in the Mass, the Absolution but once, so is it with us. The Confession of sins in the Mass, is shorter, confiteor quod peccavi nimis cogitatione, loquutione, & opere [I confess that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, speech, and deed] which we say, not only thus shortly; [We acknowledge our manifold sins which we have grievously committed, in thought, word, and deed.] But
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in our first Confession, we go through all the ten Commandments, and craves a Misereatur for every one of them.
And this form of Confession we have learned from the hours of the Virgin Mary, after the order of Sarum, printed at Paris 1533. where, after the Latine prayer is subjoined a form of Confession in English, going through all the 10. Commandments, & acknowledging the breach of every one with this conclusion: [whereof I cry God mercy] that this our Confession is so general, that it excludes mortal sins to the auricular confession before the Sacrament, I can hardly think: yet we see that the Rubric expressly calls this Confession general: Also we know that the English Divines of the faction, do now distinguish betwixt Mortal & Venial sins, and that the special Confession whereto the Rubric in the visitation of the sick refers, is applied now by them to an auricular Confession, to be made by all the Communicants before the Communion: However this double Confession of the Mass, and our double Confession, seems to be really one.
8. The Misereatur.
8. As for the Misereatur, it’s one word by word in both Books; for so the Missal of Sarum. pag. 141. Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, & dimittat vobis omnia peccata vestra, liberet vos ab omni malo, & confirmet in bono, & ad vitam perducat æternam, Amen. This we turn [i.e., translate], [Almighty GOD have mercy upon you, pardon & deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.]
9. The Absolution.
9. The Absolution of the Priest in the Mass, and of the Priest in the Liturgy, differeth not in the matter; there it is, deinde dicat sacerdos absolutionem & remissionem omnium peccatorum vestrorum, spatium veræ pœnitentiæ & emendationem vitæ, gratiam & consolationem Sp. sancti tribuat vobis omnipotens & misericors Deus. Sciendum est quotiens sacerdos officium frequentat, semper Episcopus si præsens fuerit dicat absolutionem. With us [then shall the Presbyter, or the Bishop being present, pronounce this Absolu-
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tion. Almighty GOD have mercy, &c.] Both the Absolutions are nought but a prayer for Remission. There is indeed in the Confiteor of Sarum, two clauses about the Saints, which our Confession wants; for it says thus: Confiteor Deo, beatæ Mariæ, omnibus sanctis & vobis, quod peccavi nimis, precor sanctam Mariam, omnes sanctos Dei, & vos orate pro me [I confess to God, to blessed Mary, to all the saints, and to you, that I have sinned exceedingly; I beseech holy Mary, all the saints of God, and you: pray for me], the last clause of the prayer to Mary and the Saints, no marvel that our Book leaves it out, for the Roman Missal hath put it out before us. See fol. 26. Micrologus also hath put it away in the Parish Edition of Labiogne. 1609. In his 23 chap. Thus he recites that portion; Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, istis Sanctis, & omnibus Sanctis, & tibi frater quia peccavi in cogitatione, loquutione, & opere, ideo precor te, ora pro me [I confess to Almighty God, to these saints, and to all the saints, and to thee, brother, that I have sinned in thought, speech, and deed; therefore I pray thee, pray for me]. But our men will not care much, in their Confession to put in both these clauses. For as shall be shown when we come to the Canon, they do defend the lawfulness of praying to the Saints and Angels, yea they pray by the Merits of the Saints, to obtain grace from GOD. So Field writes, but ye must remember it is a posthume [posthumous] appendix, which the World saw not, till the 1628 When my Lord of Canterbury sat in London and made that same year Bishop Andrews tell us many strange tales after his death, as a little after Bishop Mountague made Doctour Overall after his death also speak to the World, very uncouth language, as we shall hear hereafter.
10. The Angelic hymn.
10. The next part is the Angelic-Hymn which is in our Book, word by word: Thus speaks the Priest after the order of Sarum: Gloria in excelsis Deo, & in terra pax hominibus bonæ voluntatis, laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te, gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam Domine Deus Rex cœlestis, Deus pater omnipotens, Domine fili unigenite Jesu Christe, Domine Deus agnus Dei, filius Patris qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis, qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram, qui sedes ad dextram patris, miserere nobis, quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus Jesu Christe cum S. Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris, Amen [Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will. We praise thee, we bless thee, we adore thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us; who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us. For thou only art holy; thou only art the Lord; thou only art most high, O Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen]. Confer [compare] this
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with our Book, you will find it translated to a Letter. This piece of the Mass, is a patch of many hands; the first words of it are Scripture, the words of the Angel in Christ’s nativity. This was put in the Mass as Albinus alleges, by Telesphorus, and was ordained to be sung every Sunday by Symmachus long thereafter: the rest of these words after the Angel’s words, are ascribed to Hilarie, but this Albinus proves by no authority, and himself lived in so late and fabulous a time, that we may not lean to his writ. It is confessed that a number of the Church’s hymns, which used to be ascribed to Hilarie and Ambrose, are the fruit of dull and base Spirits, many hundred years after the death of these Fathers. The words of Alcuin are; Telesphorus natione Græcus ex anachoreta, constituit ut hymnus diceretur Angelicus (ante sacrificium ad Missam nocturnam natalis Domini, as Innocent comments it) Symmachus post Telesphorum quadragesimus quintus constituit, ut omni die Dominico & natalitiis Martyrum idem hymnus diceretur. Auct. Bibl. patr. p. 276. & Incipit sacerdos hymnum ab Angelis decantatum, seu a beato Hilario Pictaviense postea auctum & consummatum, & hoc ipsum ad imitationem Angelorum [Telesphorus, a Greek by nation and formerly an anchorite, ordained that the Angelic Hymn should be said (before the sacrifice at the night Mass of the Lord’s Nativity, as Innocent explains it.) Symmachus, the forty-fifth after Telesphorus, ordained that the same hymn should be said on every Lord’s Day and on the birthdays/festivals of the martyrs. Author, Bibliotheca Patrum, p. 276. And the priest begins the hymn sung by the angels, or afterwards enlarged and completed by blessed Hilary of Poitiers; and this also in imitation of the angels]: From this place this tale by the rest of the Rationalists, is chanted and re-chanted, according to their custom of transcribing one another’s words, with dissimulation of their Authors. Innocentius puts to this addition, that the Priest in this Song represents the Angels; yea, Christ the great Angel, Mox sequitur hymnus Angelicus, quem ille primus inchoando pronunciat qui Angelum magni consilii repræsentat [Immediately there follows the Angelic Hymn, which he first pronounces by beginning it, who represents the Angel of great counsel]. This Durand and the rest of the later take from Innocent’s hand. In this hymn the Missal makes mention of Mary, but neither for invocation nor adoration, and so our men will make no bones of that commemoration.
11. The Salutation.
The next part is the Salutation which Sarum fol. 143. thus expresses [vertat se sacerdos ad populum, dicens, Dominus vobiscum, & chorus respondeat, & cum Spiritu tuo.] Our Book hath it thus [the Presbyter with a loud voice pronouncing, the Lord be with you. Answer, and with thy Spirit.] The words of this Salutation, the people
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may not utter, no not the Deacon, and Durand gives a good reason in Rubrica de Salutatione, Lib. 4. [Sane Diaconus non dicit Dominus vobiscum per horas eo quod non ita gerit personam Christi sicut sacerdos, qui ea in persona Christi utitur (Certainly the deacon does not say “The Lord be with you” during the hours, because he does not bear the person of Christ in the same way as the priest, who uses those words in the person of Christ).] Howsoever it seems a mocking of God and man, that this salutation of the people should be used where no people is, and Innocent, besides many other Popish writers, doth confess the acts of the Church, which are yet extant in the distinction of consecrations, never to say this part of the Mass but where the people at least two persons are with the Priest, yet now it is otherwise resolved from P. Damianus reasons, that the Priest in his chamber alone may well say Dominus vobiscum [The Lord be with you] albeit none be with him, because he must say no other prayers than these which are in the form appointed by the Church, which must be inviolably kept without any change, also in that his person which for the Church he says to God, the whole Church with whom he is one in faith, is supposed to be present, and to reap the benefit of his prayer; so speaks he in his treatise of Dominus vobiscum. c. 7. [Ecclesiasticæ traditionis regulam sive soli, sive cum pluribus uniformiter observate, si enim Doctores Ecclesiæ id expedire decernerent in Ecclesiasticis officiis, alium multis ordinem tradidissent, sed unum concenti remota diversitate composuere, unum nos docuerunt ordinem inviolabili semper observatione tenere, providerunt enim quia quicquid in divinis obsequiis à quolibet Ecclesiæ membro reverenter offertur, id etiam fide & devotione cunctorum universaliter exhibetur. (Observe uniformly the rule of ecclesiastical tradition, whether alone or with many. For if the doctors of the Church had judged that some other order was expedient in ecclesiastical offices, they would have handed down many different orders. But, removing diversity, they composed one order with one consent, and taught us always to keep one order by inviolable observance. For they foresaw that whatever is reverently offered in divine services by any member of the Church is also universally presented by the faith and devotion of all)] Which most idle superstition our Book seems to approve, for the first Rubric obliges every Presbyter to say the morning prayers, whereof Dominus vobiscum [The Lord be with you] is a part, and gives liberty to say it in private in their secret chambers, as well as in public in their families or Church.
In the people’s answer, and with thy Spirit; their meaning is that God may direct the Priest’s mind, that he may have an intention to pray, and to consecrate the sacrifice, else their prayers would not be accepted, nor the host be transubstantiated: for this see Durand Lib. 4.
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fol. [Hac responsione populus se refert solum ad actionem immolationis ad quam sacerdos accedit, & in qua per Spiritum totaliter elevatus, & ab omni terrenitate prorsus abstractus esse debet. (In this response, the people direct their attention solely to the act of sacrifice which the priest is about to approach; and in that act he ought to be wholly lifted up by the Spirit and completely abstracted from every earthly thing)] For this salutation no author in the time of purer antiquity can be alleged, Bellarmine his eldest citations are but trash in the late and corrupter times.
12. The Oremus.
12. The last part of the preparation is the Oremus, the posterior Collects that stand before the Epistle, of this more or fewer may be used at the Priest’s discretion, one, three, five, seven, keeping always an unequal number. [Sacerdotes in Missa septenarium numerum non excedant, nam Christus septem petitionibus omnia corporis & animæ necessaria comprehendit, quia vero Deus numero impari gaudet summopere, quidam observant ut impares dicant orationes in Missa vel unam, vel tres, vel quinque, vel septem, unam vel tres propter unitatis Sacramentum vel Trinitatis mysterium (Priests in the Mass should not exceed the number seven; for Christ, in the seven petitions, comprehended all things necessary for body and soul. And because God is said to delight especially in an odd number, some observe the custom of saying an odd number of prayers in the Mass—either one, three, five, or seven: one or three on account of the sacrament of unity or the mystery of the Trinity).] This we observe, for at the beginning we use after the Pater Noster [Our Father] but one, and that word by word from the Mass, here before the Epistle we use three. The first is that of the day which for common is word by word from Sarum, as we shall see in due time; for the present take but one example. In the day of Epiphany, see if our Collect before the Epistle be not the English of this Oremus. [Deus qui hodierno die unigenitum tuum gentibus stellâ revelasti, concede propitius, ut qui jam te ex fide cognovimus usque ad contemplandam speciem tuæ celsitudinis perducamur per eundem Dominum, &c. (O God, who on this day revealed thine only-begotten Son to the Gentiles by a star, mercifully grant that we, who now know thee by faith, may be brought even unto the contemplation of the glory of thy majesty; through the same Lord, etc)] The other two are for the King according to the pattern of Sarum also, there is nought in them which a Papist will not subscribe to see their Oremus in Sarum, concludiones Missarium. [Da quæsumus omnipotens Deus famulo tuo Regi nostro salutem mentis & corporis, ut bonis operibus inhærendo, tuæ semper virtutis mereatur protectione defendi, per eundem Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, Amen. (Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, to thy servant our King health of mind and body, that, cleaving to good works, he may ever deserve to be defended by the protection of thy power; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen)]