and practised in the spiritual courts. This is the origin of what is called the canon law. Gratian, who arranged this new collection of ecclesiastical laws at Bologna, was a Benedictine, or, according to another account, a Camaldulensian monk.1 Gratian's doctrine, as to the authority of this law, was-"The holy Roman church gives authority to the canons; but she is not bound by the canons, nor does she submit herself to them. As Jesus Christ, who made the law, accomplished the law to sanctify it to himself, and, afterwards, in order to show that he was its Master, dispensed with it, and freed his apostles from its bondage." The historian, Fleury, records these extravagant claims to demonstrate their falsity.2 A.D. 1160.—Alexander III. decreed the canonization of saints, and ordered that none should from that date be acknowledged a saint unless declared to be such by a pope. Polydore Vergil said :— "The fashion to deify men that had done any benefits to the commonwealth is one of the most ancient usages that I read of. For antiquity, even from the beginning, was accustomed to make gods of their kings, which, either by abundance of benefits, or notable qualities of prowess, had won the hearts of the commons. And specially the Romans did that with great pomp and circumstance, and with many observances. Of them our bishops learned, as by a pattern, their rite of canonizing saints; and the yearly sacrifices that Gregory and Felix appointed concerned nothing else but to declare that those martyrs were saints, and of the household of God. Last of all, Alexander III. ordained that no such divine solemnities should be given to any man openly, without he were canonized and admitted to be a saint by the bishop of Rome in his bull; because no man 1 Neander's Church History, vol. vii. p. 282. London, 1852. should himself choose any private saint, or commit any peculiar idolatry."1 Pagans were not allowed to offer up their prayers but to such as the senate, by their suffrages, had placed among the gods. Tertullian, in the thirteenth chapter of his Apology, referring to these heathen deities, said : : "The condition of each of your gods depends upon the approbation of the senate; those are not gods whom men have not decreed to be." Is this not exactly the case with Romish saints? It is worthy of remark here, that, in 1165, Charlemagne was canonized as a saint by the anti-pope Pascal III., and though this canonization was made by an usurper, an antipope, the act has never been repudiated, and his name is still found in many calendars.3 This same pope (Alexander III.) is said to be the first who issued indulgences. A.D. 1182—3.—An important innovation took place in the election of the pope (Lucius III.) Hitherto the clergy and people had a voice in the election; but now, by virtue of a decree of the Third Lateran Council (a.d. 1179), under Alexander III., the election was made by the cardinals alone. It was determined that the individual chosen by two thirds of the cardinals should be lawful pope.5 1 B. vi. c. vi. p. 122. London, 1551. See ante, A.D. 884, p. 140. 2 Tertullian, Apologeticus adversus gentes," c. xiii. vol. v. p. 38. Edit. Halæ Madg. 1783. 3 "Ce n'est que depuis cette canonisation de Frideric Barberousse, que Charlemagne à commencé d'etre honoré comme saint, d'un culte public en quelques églises particulières, et quoique cette canonisation fut faite de l'autorité d'un antipape, les papes legitimes ne s'y sont pas opposes." Fleury, tom. xv. p. 192. Paris, 1769, and p. 219. Paris, 1719. 4 Labb. et Coss. Concl. tom. viii. col. 1526. Paris, 1671. Fleury, vol. xv. p. 437. Paris, 1769. Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. cent. xi. pt. ii. p. 226, vol. ii. London, 1768. 5 See Neander's Church History, vol. vii. p. 233. London, 1852. THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. A.D. 1215.-Auricular confession was, by the Fourth Lateran Council, now first authoritatively required of all persons of years of discretion, under pain of mortal sin.1 Confession was to be made at least once a year. Fleury says, "This is the first canon that I know of which has commanded general confession." 2 We have already noted under date A.D. 329 the first introduction of secret or private confession to a priest, and the suppression of the custom, and its subsequent reintroduction, A.D. 763. We now have the custom converted into a doctrine of the Roman church. This was another reintroduction into the Christian church of the heathen custom, and in this she has followed out the Babylonian system, which required a secret confession to the priest, according to a prescribed form, of all who were admitted to the "Mysteries," and till such confession had been made, no complete initiation could take place. Eusèbe Salverte refers to this confession as observed in Greece, in rites that can clearly be traced to a Babylonian origin. He says: 3 "All the Greeks, from Delphi to Thermophylæ, were initiated in the mysteries of the Temple of Delphi. Their silence in regard to everything they were commanded to keep secret, was secured both by the fear of the penalties threatened to a perjured revelation, and by the general confession exacted of 1 Labb. et Coss. Concl. tom. xi. pt. 1. Concl. Lat. IV. Decret. xxi. cols. 171, 173. Paris, 1671, and see Neander's Church History, vol. vii. p. 491. London, 1852. Paris, 1769. 2 Fleury's Eccl. Hist. tom. xvi. p. 375. 3 See a very remarkable book, "The Two Babylons; or, the Papal Worship proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and his Wife," by Alexander Hislop. London and Edinburgh, 1862. Third Edition, p. 12. 4 Des Sciences Occultes, cap. xxvi. p. 428. Paris, 1856. the aspirants after initiation-a confession which caused them greater dread of the indiscretion of the priest, than gave him reason to dread their indiscretion." Potter, in his "Greek Antiquities," refers to this confession in his account of the Eleusinian mysteries, though from fear of offending he clothes under the word "etcetera the various subjects exacted from the penitent or postulant in the confessional. Thus modern Romanism vies with ancient paganism even in the obscenity which it suggests, and which is equally characteristic of the modern system. A.D. 1215.-The Council of Trent, at the twenty-second session, declared that "although the mass do contain in it great instruction for the people, yet it doth not seem expedient to the fathers of the council that it should be everywhere celebrated in the vulgar tongue." 2 And they proceeded to decree that "whosoever shall say that the mass ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue only, let him be accursed." 3 When, how, and why, this strange custom came to pass, is difficult to say; but this is the first canon on record which, so far from making the use of the vulgar tongue compulsory, anathematises those who should declare that the service should be performed in the language known to the people. We conceive the decree of Trent to be directly contradictory to the previous canon passed at the Fourth Lateran Council in A.D. 1215; and which council is 1 Potter, vol. i. "Eleusinia," p. 356. Oxford, 1697. 2 Etsi Missa magnam contineat populi fidelis eruditionem, non tamen expedire visum est patribus ut vulgari passim lingua celebraretur." Concl. Trid. Sess. xxii. c. 8, p. 156. Paris, 1832. 3 Si quis dixerit,-lingua tantum vulgari Missam celebrari debere-anathema sit. Ibid. can. 9, de Sacrificio Missæ, p. 150. Paris, 1832. esteemed among Romanists as a general council. The words of the ninth canon are as follows: : "Because in most parts there are within the same state or diocese people of different languages mixed together, having under one faith various rites and customs; we distinctly charge that the bishops of these states or dioceses provide proper persons to celebrate the divine offices, and administer the sacraments of the church according to the differences of rites and languages, instructing them both by word and by example." 1 Here, then, is a decree of a reputed general council, in a most emphatic and clear manner, directing the divine offices and sacraments of the church to be administered in the language understood by the people. We may add that the pope in his own decretals publicly declared to the same effect : "We command that the bishops of such cities and dioceses where nations are mingled together, provide meet men to minister the holy service according to the diversities of their manners and languages.” ” And Cassander certified that the prayers, and especially the words of consecration, were so read by the ancient Christians that all the people might understand.3 That modern Romanists have changed the ancient custom, 1 Can. IX. "Quoniam in plerisque partibus intra eamdem civitatem sive diœcesim permixti sunt populi diversarum linguarum, habentes sub una fide varios ritus et mores; districte præcipimus, ut pontifices hujusmodi civitatum sive diœcesium providebant viros idoneos, qui secundum diversitates rituum et linguarum divina officia illis celebrent, et ecclesiastica sacramenta ministrent instruendo eos verbo pariter et exemplo." Labb. et Coss. Concl. tom. xi. p. 161. Paris, 1671. 2 Decret. Gregor. lib. 3, tit. 31, de offic. Jud. Ord. c. 14, see Cassander Liturg. p. 87. Paris, 1610. 3 Canonicum precem, et imprimis Dominici corpori set sanguinis consecrationem ita veteras legebunt, ut à populo intelligi, et amen declamari posset." Cassand. Liturg. c. 28, p. 17. Colon. 1558. |