Decree I.

Orafmuch as it is of great moment, that all things belonging to the Sacrifice of the Mafs, Thould be preferv'd pure and undefiled,and whereas this Church has been for *1200 years from under the Obedience of the Holy Roman Church, the Mistress of all the other Churches, and from whence all good Government and true Doctrines do come, all the Bishops that came hither from Babylon having been Schifmaticks and Neftorian Hereticks, who have added to, and taken from the Mafs at their pleasure without any order; from whence it has come to pass, that several things are foisted into the Syrian Mafs which is faid in this Diocefs, without any confideration, and fuch things too as may give occafion to many Impious and Heretical Errors:. For which, if due Order were obferved, all the Miffals of this Bishoprick ought to be burned, as alfo for their having been of Neftorian ufe, and compiled by Neftorian Hereticks; but being there are no other at prefent, they are tolerated, until fuch time as our Lord the Pope shall take fome Order therein, and there

*1200 Bears.] It would puzzle them to prove that they had ever been at any time under her obedience, however this fhows what a Cheat that fubmiffion of the Patriarch of Babylon, in his own name, and in the name of all the Churches that were subject to him,

fhall be Miffals fent by him printed in the Chaldee Tongue, which is what this Synod humbly and earnestly defires may be done: And in the mean time it doth command, that the Miffals now in ufe be purged and reformed as to all the following Matters, and that till fuch time as they are fo purged, which the moft Illuftrious Metropolitan, with the affiftance of fome Perfons well verfed in the Chaldee Tongue will fee done the next Vifitation, no Priest shall presume to make use of them any more.

Whereas from the above declared Doctrine of this Sacrament it is evident, that the Prieft does not Confecrate with his own words, but with thofe of our Lord Chrift, the Author and Inftitutor of the faid Divine Sacrament; it is not therefore lawful to add any Claufe, how good foever in it felf to the Form of Confecration, or to what our Lord Chrift faid therein; in which we do not comprehend the word Enim, which the Church of Rome adds to the Confecration of the Body and Blood; for befides that, there is the † Tradition of the Holy Apostles, for our Lord Chrift's having ufed it in the Confecration

tradition] This is what The confidently pretends to have for all her Novelties. Cardinal Bina in the 23 Chap. of his firft Book of Liturgies, paffeth the following true judgment upon the common practice of the Church of Rome in all fuch Matters; Orta deinde eft 4 ferè feculis poft 6 Synodum controverfia de

Azymo fermentato, & diu agitata inter Gracos & Latinos, partium potius quam veritatis invenienda ftudic, ut in fimilibus fieri folet, atque bine fa&tum eft ut pertinaciter contenderint fuam quifque confuetudinem, à Chrifto & ab Apoftolis ad noftra ufque tempora derivari: fed fi omiffis hac de re Scholafticorum fubtilitatibus & argumentis que apud

of

of the Body; and that St. Matthew also relates it in the Confecration of the Cup, it is no Clause or distinct Sentence, but a conjunction to a Sentence of the words of Chrift which immediately follow. As alfo the word Æterni in the Confecration of the Cup; and the words Myfterium Fidei, which tho' not mentioned by the Evangelifts, yet as it is proved by Apoftolical Tradition, were ufed by our Lord Chrift in the Confecration of the Cup, and for that reafon the Holy Church continues to use them in the fame; but as for the words added to the Confecration of the Cup in the Syrian Miffal, Et hoc erit vobis pignus in facula feculorum, they being no where in any of the four Evangelifts, nor in any Book of the New Teftament; and it not appearing to the Church by Apoftolical Tradition, that Chrift used them in that Confecration, the Synod doth prohibit them to be used therein any more; but the words in themselves being good and Holy, and agreeable

ipfos legi poffunt, veritatem fincerè & fine affe&u ad alterutram partem ex veterum Patrum monumentis & ex praxi Ecclefia inveftigare volueri mus, inveniemus proculdubio, quam parvi momenti fint in re, qua à facto pendet, Doctorum fpeculationes; tum perfpicuè cognofcemis multum intereffe inter tempora que præcefferunt, & qua poftea fecuta funt, eofque turpiter errare, qui ex præfenti rerum ftaru omnem æftimant antiquitatem; which is what the Church of Rome has done above thefe 600 Years, and will do for all that Cardinal Bona or any body elfe can tell her of the unreasonableness of it. But

the Cardinal goes on, Quiran videt Scholafticos ad hanc rem pertractandam præoccupatis mentibus acceffiffe, cum enim ab infantia fola azyma offerri viderint, eaque fola in fcholis & in exedris prædicari audierint, ea fola femper in ufu fuiffe crediderunt, & hoc pofito varias subinde convenientias, variaque argumenta excogâitrunt, ut quad femel conceperant, firmius ftabilirent. Never was there a truer defcription given of any thing, than this the Cardinal gives of the Genius of the People that defend the Novelties of the Church of Rome.

to what Holy Church fingeth of this Divine Sacrament, that it is the pledge of the Glory that we expect, that we may keep to the Old Miffal fo far as the fincerity of the Faith, and the purity of this Divine Sacrifice will permit, the Priest fhall fay them after the elevation of the Cup, where making a profound Reverence, he shall begin the following Prayers with them, only changing the word Vobis, which was used as fpoke by Christ, for Nobis, as fpoke by himself, faying, Hoc erit nobis pignus; and for the words in fæcula fæculorum which follow, they being commonly faid in the Church of fuch Matters only as are to last for ever or are wished to be Eternal, seeing the ufe of this Divine Sacrament as well as of the reft, is to continue but to the end of the World, (they having been instituted only as a remedy for our Spiritual neceffities in this life, for in the other we are to see our Lord no more under Sacramental Species, but clearly as he is, neither fhall we in Heaven eat this Divine Bread of Angels Sacramentally, but fhall eat as the Angels do in the Vision of the Divine Word.) The words in fæcula fæculorum fhall be therefore left out, and instead thereof fhall be put ufque ad confummationem fæculi, say. ing, hoc erit nobis pignus ufque ad confummationem, feculi, the Sacrament being a pledge only for fo long as we do not fee the Glory that we hope for, but is and ever will be fuch a pledge in this life, Chrift having promised to his Church, that he will be with her to the end of the World;

fa

so that the Divine Sacraments, which were instituted for our benefit, can never fail till then; after these words the Priest shall go on with what immediately follows in the Mafs, Gloria tibi, Domine, gloria tibi, and so on.

Furthermore in the Confecration of the Cup there is added to the words of Chrift, novi tefta menti qui pro vobis, &c. novi & æterni teftamenti myfterium fidei, qui pro vobis & pro multis, &c. Therefore the Synod doth command, That the words of Confecration of the Body and Blood be reformed, and put in all their Missals, according to the Canon of the Roman Miffal used in the Univerfal Church without the least addition or diminution, and with the fame Adorations, Inclinations, and Ceremonies as are in the Roman Miffal.

Furthermore, where the Priest faith Dominus Deus nofter quando fpirabit in nobis odor fuavissi mus, it is faid in the fame Prayer, & cum anima noftræ veritatis tuæ fcientiâ fuerint illuftrata, tunc occurremus dilecto filio tuo, &c. fpeaking of the day of Judgment, it shall be faid, Cum corpora noftra veritatis tuæ fplendore fuerint illuftrata, tunc occurremus dilecto filio tuo, the Souls of the Juft being illuminated and glorified in Heaven before the day of Judgment, which is the time when the Bodies receive their Glory; this Paffage feeming to allude to the Neftorian Herefie, which teacheth that the Souls of the Juft do not fee God, nor are Glorified, nor are in Blifs, before the day of Judgment,

Further