John — Chapter 21

And because the Protestants would make the vnlearned thinke, that S. Gregorie deemed the Popes Supremacie to be wholy vnlawful and Antichristian, for that he condemneth Iohn of Constantinople for vsurping the name of vniuersal Bishop, resembling his insolence therein to the pride of Antichrist; note wel the wordes of this Holy Father in the very same place and Epistle against the B. of Constantinople, by which you shal easily see that to deny him to be vniuersal Bishop, is not to deny Peter or the Pope to be Head of the Church, or supreme Gouerner of the same, as our Aduersaries fraudulently pretend. ***It is plaine to al men, saith he, that euer read the Ghospel, that by our Lordes mouth the charge of the whole Church was committed to S. Peter Prince of the Apostles. For to him it was said: Feed my sheep: for him was the prayer made that his faith should not faile: to him were the keies of Heauen giuen, and authoritie to bind and loose: to him the care of the Church and principalitie was deliuered: and yet he was not called the vniuersal Apostle. This title indeed was offered for the honour of S. Peter Prince of the Apostles, to the Pope of Rome by the holy Councel of Chalcedon: but none of that See did euer vse it or consent to take it. The title of vniuersal Bishop refused, but vniuersal iurisdiction alwaies acknowledged and practised. Thus much S. Gregorie, aWho though he both practised iurisdiction throughout al Christendom, as other of that See haue euer done, and also acknowledged the Principalitie and Soueraigntie to be in Peter and his Successours: yet would he not for iust causes vse that title subiect to vanitie and misconstruction. But both he & al the Popes since haue rather called themselues, Seruos seruorum Dei, the Seruants of Gods seruants. Though the word, vniuersal Bishop, in that sense wherein the holy Councel of Chalcedon offered it to the See of Rome, was true & Lawful. For that Councel would not have giuen any Antichristian or vniust title to any man. Only in the B. of Constantinople and other, which in no sense had any right to it, and who vsurped it in a very false & tyrannical meaning, it was insolent, vniust, & Antichristian. See also the Epistles of S. Leo the Great concerning his practise of vniuersal iurisdiction, though he refused the title of vniuersal Bishop. And S. Bernard b(that you may better perceiue that the general charge of Christs sheep was not only giuen to Peters Person, but also to his Successours the Popes of Rome, as S. Chrysostom also before alleaged doth testifie) writeth thus to Eugenius: Thou art he to whom the keies of Heauen are deliuered, & to whom the sheep are committed. The Pope is the Pastour of al Pastours. There be other Porters of Heauen, & other Pastours of flockes: but thou hast inherited in more glorious and different sort. For they haue euery one their particular flocke, but to thee al vniuersally, as one flocke to one man, are credited, being not only the Pastour of the sheep, but the one Pastour of al the Pastours themselues. But thou wilt aske me how I proue that euen by our Lordes word. For to whom of al, I say not only Bishops, but Apostles, were the sheep so absolutely & without limitation committed? If thou loue me Peter, feed my sheep. He saith not, the people of this Kingdom or that citie, but, my sheep, Without al distinction. So S. Bernard. And hereunto may be added that the second, cfeed, is in Greek a word that signifieth withal to gouern and rule, as Ps. 2. Mich. 5. Mat. 2. Apoc. 2. & therfore it is spoken of Dauid also & other temporal Gouerners (as the Hebrew word answering thereunto) in the dScriptures often & the Greek in profane writers also. *Cypr. de vnit. Ec. **Lib. 2. de Sacerd. ***Greg. li. 4, ep. 76. aSee li. 1. ep. 73. 75, li. 2. ep. 37. 45. li. 4. ep. 95. li, 7. ep. 63. bBernar. li. 2. c. 8. de consid. cποίμαινε. d2. King. c. 5. Psa. 77.

Gentes Chriff us te Dew, roote, Doeft thou fee how wharfoeuer he hath builr, no man {hal deftroy : and whatfoeuer he P7°P! ints hath deftroyed,no man (hal build? He builded the Church,and no man fhal be able to deftroy ir: he deftroyed the Temple, andno manis able to buildir, and thatin fo longtime. Por they haue endeuoured both to deftroy thar, and could not: and they haue attempted to build vp this, and they could not doe that neither. & c.

mans, and fodenly made the colt fitte to be ridden on, neuer broken before.

counuies, or thachaue and doe reconcile men to the Church, Ita aes atcer Pentecoft, y. One te hue farme.) Such as refufe to be reconciled co Chriftes Church, allezge often vaizie hate a impediments and Worldly excufes, which at the day of iudgement wil nor {eruc them, eonciliation. HOLY 64 THE GOSPEL Cua. XX weeke. 1, Aman not actyred.} It profitech not much co be Within the Church and co bea Catholike, except a man be of good tife,fur uch an one Chal be damned, becaufe with faith he hath not good The Churchc6- Workes: as i$ enident by the example of this man, Who was Within, and at the fea(t as the reff, but {itech of good. lacked the garment of chariue and good Workes, And by this man are reprefented alzhe bad that and bad, arecalled. andchertore chey alfo arein the Church, as this man Was at che feaft : but becaufe he was called, and yet none of theele@, itis euidenc thacthe Church doth nor conlift of the elect only.contraric to our Adueriaries, Neither mult ,_ 2/.T¢ Cafar,) Temporal duties and payments exacted by worldly Princes muft be payed,to that temporal Prin- God be nor defrauden: of his more foueraine durie, And therfore Princes haue ro take heede,how ces exad , nor they exa@: and others, how they geuero Cafar, tharis,co their Prince,the things thac are dewe to their Subiedts God, thatis, to his Ecclefiaftical minitters, Wherevpon S, Athanafius reciteth thefe goodly wordes ue vneo them, Out of an epiftle ofche ancient and famous Céfeifor Hofius Cordubenfis to C6ftantius the Arian Ecclefialticaliu- Emperour:Ceafe I befeche thee,and remember thar thou art mortal,feare the day of iudgementin- rifdiction. termedle not Wich Eccletiaftical maccers, neither doe thou commaund vs in this kinde , buc rather learne them of ys, to thee God hach committed the Empire, to vs he hach cémitted the things chat belong to the Church: and as he that. With maticious eies carpeth thine Empire,gainelayeth the cr- dinance of God: {6 doe thou alfo beware, left'in drawing ynto thee Eccleiiattical matters, thou be made guilty ofa grear crime, Itis Written, Geue ye the things that are Cztars, to Cafar: and the things that are Gods,to God. Therfore neither is ig lawtul for vsin earth to hold the Empire, neither hat thou(© Emperour)power ouer incenfe ‘dnd facred things. Athan. Ep.ad Solit.vitd agentes, And $.Ambrofe co Valentinian the Emperour(whoy the il counfel of his mother [uttina an Arian,re- quired of S. Ambrofe co haue one Church in Millan deputed co the Arian Heretikes)(aith: we pay thar which is Czfars,to Czfar:and that which is Gods,to God, Tribure is Cztars itis noc denied: the Church is Gods, it may not verely be yelded to Czfar : becaule the Ternple of God can not be Cefars right. Which no man can deny bur itis fpoken With the honour of the Emperour. for what is more bonorable then thar the Emperour be {aid to be the fonne ot the Church? For a good Em. perour is Within che Church,nocaboue the Churcts, Amsbr. (26.1. Epi Oras. de Bafil. trad. The Saints hea- 30. As wdngels.) As Chrilt proucth here, thar in heauen they neither marry nor are married, ge our prayers. ecaufe there they {hal be as Angels:by the very fame reafon,is proued, that Saints may heare our prayers and helpe vs,be they neere or farre of, becauie the Angels do fo, and in euery moment are preienc yvhere they lift, and neede nor to be neere vs, w hen they heare or helpe vs. 30, As Angels.) Not to marry nor be married, isto be like to Angels: therfore is the (tare of Religious men and women and Priefts,for not marrying, Werthely called of the Fachers,an Ange- lical life. Cyp.lib.ade difcipl. co hab. Uirg. {uh finem,

ancient people: the yong colt now firft ridden on by Chriit, Gignifieth the Gentiles, wilde hicherto and not broken, soW to be called to the faith and to receiue our Sauiours yoke, And therfore the chree lait Euangelifts writing {pecially to the Gentils , make mention of the colt only. 4, Garment; in the Way.) Thefe offices of honour done to our Sauiour extraordinarily, Were Proceifion on very acceptable: and for amemory hereof the holy Church maketh a folemne Proceffion every Palme-funday yere vpon this day, {pecially in our Countrie When it Was Catholike, With the B, Sacrament reue- with the B. Sa rencly caried,as it Were Chnift vpon the affe,and ftrawing of rufhes aud floures, bearing of Palmes, crament, fering VP boughes, fpredding and hanging vp the richeft clothes,the quire and querifters finging 28 41 gd uour off here che children and the people. al done ina very goodly ceremonie to the honour of Chrift and ces in that ki i the memonie of his wiumphe vpon this day. The like (eruice and the like duties done ro him in al d on din n- other folemne Proceffions of the B.Sacrament,and otherwife,be vndoubredly no leffe grateful. tefl seen ae

the Preface of the Malle, as ic were the voice of the Prielt HOTANNA, and al the people (who then (pecially are arent and deuout) immediatly before the Confecrauon and Eleuation,as ic were expecting, and reioycing at his comming.

For he {peaketh of the Temple, Which was builded properly and principally for facrifice,

or of other {imple folke now in the Church,though them vnderitood of {clues vnderttand not particularly What they fay,be marvelous grateful to Chrift. the partie , are

17. Feed my sheep.) Peter is here made the general Pastour, & the Church is builded vpon him. As it was promised him Mat. 16. that the Church should be builded vpon him, & that the keies of heauen should be giuen to him: so here it is performed, & he is actually made the general Pastour and Gouerner of al Christs sheep. For though the other ten (as Matthias & Paul also afterward) were Apostles, Bishops, Priests, & had authoritie to bind and loose, to remit & retaine, to preach, baptize, and such like, as wel as he: Yet in these things & al other Gouernment, Christ would haue him to be their Head, and they to depend of him as Head of their Colledge, & consequently of the whole flocke of Christ: no Apostle, nor no Prince in earth (if he acknowledge himself to be a sheep of Christ) exempted from his charge. The Protestants otherwise denying this preeminence of Peter, yet to vp-hold their Archbishops, doe auouch & proue it against the Puritanes. And that Christ maketh a difference betwixt Peter and the rest, and giueth him some greater preeminence and regiment then the rest, it is plaine by that he is asked whether he loue our Lord more then the other Apostles doe: where, for equal charge no difference of loue had been required. To Peter (saith S. Cyprian*) our Lord after his Resurrection said, Feed my sheep, and builded his Church vpon him alone, & to him he giueth the charge of feeding his sheep. For although after his Resurrection he gaue his power alike to al, saying, As my Father sent me, so I send you, take the Holy Ghost, if you remit to any their sinnes, they shal be remitted &c. Yet so manifest vnitie, be constituted one Chaire, & so disposed by his authoritie that vnitie should haue origine of one. The rest of the Apostles were that Peter was, in equal fellowship of honour and power, but the beginning commeth of vnitie: the Primacie is giuen to Peter, that the Church of Christ may be showed to be one, & one Chaire. S. Chrysostom **also saith thus: Why did our Lord sheed his blood? truly to redeeme those sheep, the cure of which he committed both to Peter and also to his Successours. Peters successours succeede him in vniuersal authoritie. And a litle after, Christ would haue Peter indowed with such authoritie, and to be far aboue al his other Apostles. For he saith: Peter, dost thou loue me more then al these do? Wherevpon our Maister might haue inferred, If thou loue me Peter, vse much fasting, sleep on the hard floore, watch much, be patrone to the oppressed, father to the orphans, and husband to the widowes: but omitting al these things, he saith, Feed my sheep. For, al the foresaid vertues certes may be done easily of many subiects, not only men but women: but when it commeth to the government of the Church and committing the charge of so many soules, al woman-kind must needes wholy giue place to the burden and greatnes thereof, and a great number of men also. So writeth he. S. Gregorie though he misliked the title of vniuersal Bishop, yet is most plaine both in his writings & doings for the Popes Supremacie, as also S. Leo the great. And because the Protestants would make the vnlearned thinke, that S. Gregorie deemed the Popes Supremacie to be wholy vnlawful and Antichristian, for that he condemneth Iohn of Constantinople for vsurping the name of vniuersal Bishop, resembling his insolence therein to the pride of Antichrist; note wel the wordes of this Holy Father in the very same place and Epistle against the B. of Constantinople, by which you shal easily see that to deny him to be vniuersal Bishop, is not to deny Peter or the Pope to be Head of the Church, or supreme Gouerner of the same, as our Aduersaries fraudulently pretend. ***It is plaine to al men, saith he, that euer read the Ghospel, that by our Lordes mouth the charge of the whole Church was committed to S. Peter Prince of the Apostles. For to him it was said: Feed my sheep: for him was the prayer made that his faith should not faile: to him were the keies of Heauen giuen, and authoritie to bind and loose: to him the care of the Church and principalitie was deliuered: and yet he was not called the vniuersal Apostle. This title indeed was offered for the honour of S. Peter Prince of the Apostles, to the Pope of Rome by the holy Councel of Chalcedon: but none of that See did euer vse it or consent to take it. The title of vniuersal Bishop refused, but vniuersal iurisdiction alwaies acknowledged and practised. Thus much S. Gregorie, aWho though he both practised iurisdiction throughout al Christendom, as other of that See haue euer done, and also acknowledged the Principalitie and Soueraigntie to be in Peter and his Successours: yet would he not for iust causes vse that title subiect to vanitie and misconstruction. But both he & al the Popes since haue rather called themselues, Seruos seruorum Dei, the Seruants of Gods seruants. Though the word, vniuersal Bishop, in that sense wherein the holy Councel of Chalcedon offered it to the See of Rome, was true & Lawful. For that Councel would not have giuen any Antichristian or vniust title to any man. Only in the B. of Constantinople and other, which in no sense had any right to it, and who vsurped it in a very false & tyrannical meaning, it was insolent, vniust, & Antichristian. See also the Epistles of S. Leo the Great concerning his practise of vniuersal iurisdiction, though he refused the title of vniuersal Bishop. And S. Bernard b(that you may better perceiue that the general charge of Christs sheep was not only giuen to Peters Person, but also to his Successours the Popes of Rome, as S. Chrysostom also before alleaged doth testifie) writeth thus to Eugenius: Thou art he to whom the keies of Heauen are deliuered, & to whom the sheep are committed. The Pope is the Pastour of al Pastours. There be other Porters of Heauen, & other Pastours of flockes: but thou hast inherited in more glorious and different sort. For they haue euery one their particular flocke, but to thee al vniuersally, as one flocke to one man, are credited, being not only the Pastour of the sheep, but the one Pastour of al the Pastours themselues. But thou wilt aske me how I proue that euen by our Lordes word. For to whom of al, I say not only Bishops, but Apostles, were the sheep so absolutely & without limitation committed? If thou loue me Peter, feed my sheep. He saith not, the people of this Kingdom or that citie, but, my sheep, Without al distinction. So S. Bernard. And hereunto may be added that the second, cfeed, is in Greek a word that signifieth withal to gouern and rule, as Ps. 2. Mich. 5. Mat. 2. Apoc. 2. & therfore it is spoken of Dauid also & other temporal Gouerners (as the Hebrew word answering thereunto) in the dScriptures often & the Greek in profane writers also. *Cypr. de vnit. Ec. **Lib. 2. de Sacerd. ***Greg. li. 4, ep. 76. aSee li. 1. ep. 73. 75, li. 2. ep. 37. 45. li. 4. ep. 95. li, 7. ep. 63. bBernar. li. 2. c. 8. de consid. cποίμαινε. d2. King. c. 5. Psa. 77.

18. Another shal gird thee.) Peter Crucified at Rome. He prophecieth of Peters Martyrdom, and of the kind of death which he should suffer, that was, crucifying. Which *the Heretikes, fearing that it were a step to proue he was martyred in Rome, deny: whereas the Fathers and ancient Writers are as plaine in this, as that he was at Rome. Origen apud. Euseb. li. 3. c. 1. Euseb. li. 2. c. 24. Hist. Ec. Tertul. de præscript. nu. 14. Aug. tract. 123. in Ioan. Chrysost. Beda in hunc locum. *Beza in hunc locum.

We pray, Whether We {hal obtaine or no:but on Gods part we mutt beleeue,that is, we muft haue no diffidence or miftruft either of his power or of his wil, if we be w orthy,and the thing expedient. And therfore $. Marke hath thus, Hane ye faith of God.

What power chey come,and Who fent them:but When they haue ne, not fen, an{wered this queftion as tully as Chritt did here by thar Which he infinuareth of Iohns teftimonie for hisauthority , they fhalbe heard, and cil chen they {hal be ftil taken for thofe ot whom God fpeaketh by the Prophete, They ranne, and / fent them not.

elect fromthe toure 3ar. bo. 77. It vvindes, from the furtheft partes of heauen even to the endes thal bene leffe 32 thereof. t And of the figtree learne a parable: When novv Heretikes gaat ; ~ can not abide the bough thereof is tender, and the leaues come forth, you ihe tigne there- 33 knovv that fommer is nigh. ¢ So youalfo, yvhen you thal % fee thefe things, knovv ye thatit is nigh euen at the doores. 34 t Amen fay to you,thar this generation fhal not paife, til al 35 thefethings bedone. + Heauen and earth fhal paife, but my vvordes {hal not paffe, 4 36 t But ofthat day and houre no body knovveth, neither 37 the Angels of heauen,but the Fatheralone. tAndas*in the dayes of Noe, fo fhal alfo the comming of the Sonne of man 38 be. tForasthey vvere in the dayes before the Aoud, eating and drinking,marying and giuing to mariage, euen vnto that 39 day invvhich Noe entred inco the arke, tand kneyve nor til I iij the: HOLY 70 THE GOSPEL CHa. XXILILL weeke. the loud came,and tookethem al: fo al(o (hal the céming of the Sonne of man be. tThentwo fhal be inthe field:onefhal 40 be taken, and one (hal beleft. trvvo vvomen grinding in 4t the mill: one fhal beraken, and one fhal beleft. twacch 42 therfore becaule you knovv not vvhat houre your Lord vvil The Govpel fr come. t Butthis knovv:ye,that* ifthe good man of the houfe 43 is a Bihop. did Knovv vvhachourethe theefe vvould come, he vvould anal {urely vvatch ,and vvould not fuffer his houfe to be broken Nouemb. 23. vp. tTherfore be you alfo teady , becaufeatvvhat houre 44 you knovv not,rhe Sonne of man vvil come. t who,thinkeft thou,is.a faithful and vvife feruant,vvhom 45 his lord hath appointed ouer his familie, to giue them meate in feafon? t Bleiled is that feruant , vvhom vvhen his lord 46 comerh,he fhal finde fo doing. fAmen I fay to you, that over 47 al his goods {hal he appoinc him. 4 t Bur if that naughtie 48 feruant {hal fay in his hart, My lord is longacomming:tand 49 fhal beginne to ftrike his felovv-(eruants , andeateth, and drinketh vvich drunkards : +the lord of that feruant {hal 50 come in a day that he hopeth nor , and an houre that he knovveth noc, tandfhal deuide him, and appoint his por- 51 tion vvith the hypocrites : there {hal be vveeping and gna- fhing of teeth.

We that can not fee Within men, may not prefums to call mens external good doings, hypocrifie: but iudge of men as we feeand know, —