Constituite diem solemnem
in condensis, vsq3 ad cornu altaris.

HOnorable, worshipfull,
and deuout
christia~ audience,
the holy
prophet Dauid,
in his hundreth
and .xvii. psalme
whe~ce the wordes of my theme
are taken out dothe intreate of
foure pointes moste mete to bee
duely co~sidered, and effectually
of vs all practised at this prese~t.
Fyrst he declareth that himselfe
had been in extreme perill and
daunger of life, and in great affliction
& tribulation of mynde.
Secondely, he acknowledgeth
that God of his infinite mercye
and goodnes did deliuer him.

A.ii.

Thirdelye that he doeth esteme
those daungers and veracions
as a scourge for synne. Fourthlye
and laste he geueth thankes
vnto GOD his deliuerer, and
exhorteth al other to do the like.
Concerning the perill he was
in, he sayth: Circundantes circundederunt
me sicut apes. My enemies
compassed me round about
as thicke as it had ben a swarm
of Bees. And againe within a
while after. Impulsus euersus sum
ut caderem, I was thruste at so
sore, that I was lyke to be ouerthrowne:
and after that he calleth
him selfe, lapide~ quem reprobauerunt
edifica~tes. A ston which
the builders did refuse and cast
awaye: meaning in those .iii. places,
the persecution whiche he
susteyned at the handes of wicked
Saul, who as it is written
in the fyrst booke of the kinges
sometime threwe a darte at Dauid:
sometyme sent men sodenlye
to Dauids house, to take him
in his beed and bringe him vnto
him, that he might be slain: somtime,
persecuted him with an ope~
armye. Concerning the seconde
pointe, whiche is how Dauid in
the forsaied Psalme dothe confesse
and acknowledge that god
of his mere goodnes miraculouslye
protected and deliuered hym,
it is there written, Dominus suscepit
me, God was my help. Fortitudo
& laus mea dominus, & factus
est mihi in salutem, God is my
strength & my reioysing, and is
become my saluatio~. Dextera domini
fecit uirtutem, dextera domini
exaltauit me, dextera domine fecit

A.iii.

3

virtutem. The ryght hande of
God hathe done myghtelye, the
right hande of God hath exalted
me, the right hande of God hath
done myghtely. Concerning the
thirde pointe, whiche is that the
prophet Dauid cou~teth his troubles
and persecutions as a chastisement
for sinne, he sayth. Castigans
casigauit me dominus. God
hathe chastened & corrected me.
The laste and fourthe pointe is
thankes geuing & prouoking all
other to the like. This point is
to be fou~d in many places of the
Psalme, but most notably in the
wordes of my theme when he
saieth: Constituite diem solennem
in condensis vsq3 ad cornu altaris.
Appoint you to kepe a solempne
feaste, in great frequencies or
multitudes, & co~course of people
euen reachinge to the corners of
the alter. It was commaunded
in the old lawe that at solempne
feastes the people should bringe
Oxen, Calues, lambes, or Goates,
to be offred vp vpon the aulter
in sacrifice, and that the preist
shoulde sprynkell of the bloude
vpo~ the corners of the aultar: &
he nowe exhorteth them so to do,
in geuynge thankes to God, for
that he had deliuered him out of
the handes of Saul: and he moueth
them to kepe a newe solemnetie
for this purpose, besides
the accustomed feastes commau~ded
in the lawe. Accordynge to
this example geuen vs by kynge
Dauid, it is our parte to vse our
selfes this present daye. First to
remember what miserable and
parilous case we were in of late

A.iiii.

yeres. Nexte to consider howe
God by his myghtye hande, and
thoroughe hys infinite mercye
hathe deliuered vs. Thirdlye to
perswade oure selues, that wee
worthely suffered those miseries
for oure synnes. Fourthlye to be
thankefull, and induce other to
tha~kes geuing for our deliuery.
Whiche that ye may the rather
do, I intende by Goddes grace
and your patience, to stande vpon
the twoo fyrste pointes, and
to set forth the excedinge greate
benefite of oure reconciliation to
the vnitie of the catholike churche,
and the horrible miseries
which we were in, in the tyme of
schisme and diuision, & then no
more, but touche the other two
partes, and so committe you to
God. And that the thinges to be
vttered at this presente by me,
may be to Gods honour, to your
edification and comforte, I desyre
you fyrste to helpe me with
your prayers.

The prayers.

I fynde in holye scripture
that there wer two comen
weales, instituted, ordeined,
and appoynted by God him
selfe. The one emonge the chyldren
of Israell, the other emong
the christians. The co~mon weale
of the Israelites or Iewes, was
in tyme before the comminaltie
of christendome. But this in worthines
is farre before it. For the
thinges belo~ging to that estate,
were figures, types, and shadowes
of thynges belonginge too
christianitie. The children of Israel
were vnder cruel Pharao, in

A.v.

great captiuitie & thraldom, vntil
such time as god of his goodnes
called them oute of Egypte,
and drowned their enemyes in
the redde Sea: lykewise is all
mankinde thralt to the spiritual
Pharao, that is the deuil, before
they comme to passe thoroughe
baptisme, whiche because it taketh
his force and strength of the
bloud of our sauiour, and is ministred
in water, maye well be
lykened to the read Sea, and in
it all power of the deuill is quite
ouerwhelmed and destroyed.
The chyldren of Israell hauing
passed the read Sea, were not
furth We directly conueied to the
lande of promise: but were faine
to traueill in the baren & vnpleasaunt
wyldernes, a longe space,
there abiding muche trouble and
vexation. Euen so christen people
after their Baptisme are left
in this vale of miserie, here to endure
many sharp & perilous stormes,
and are not immediatly fro~
the font, had vp to the lande of
the liuyng, whiche is the lande
promised to the iust. In many
other pointes the lawe of Moyses
was a shadowe of christianitie,
but moste especially in the
kynd & maner of gouernement,
is liuely represented the gouernment
vsed in Christes churche:
whiche is the matter I specially
purpose to set furth vnto you, &
therfore desire you to geue good
eare vnto it. The co~men weale
of the Iewes, in that their passage
from Egypt to the lande of
promise, hadde twoo rulers, by
Gods own appointme~t set ouer
them, Moyses and Aaron both
preistes: but the one, that is
Moyses, which was the higher,
made preist immediatly by God,
the other, that is Aaron, made
preist at Goddes commaundement
by Moyses. Of those two
rulers, the higher and worthier
receiued at Gods hande all that
God woulde haue sayed to the
people, and he deliuered it to Aaron,
and then Aaron deliuered it
to the people, or at the least instructed
the people therin. Contrariwise
whe~ the people would
haue any question demaunded of
God, Aaron did moue that question
to Moyses, and Moyses to
God: So that Moyses was Aaro~s
mouth, in thinges to be moued
from the people to God: and
Aaron was Moyses mouth in
thinges to be reueled from God
to the people: as it is written in
the .iiii. of Exodus, where god speketh
thus to Moyses. Ipse loquetur
pro te ad populum & erit os
tuum. Tu autem eris ei in his quæ
ad deum pertinent, that is. Thy
brother Aaron shalbe thy spokesman
to the people, he shalbe thy
mouthe. And thou shalte be hys
spokesman, and hys mouthe in
thinges that come from GOD.
Againe Moyses went vp to the
toppe of mount Sinay, & there
talked face to face with GOD:
but Aaron in the meane season
taried beneth at the foote of the
hyll emonge the people to instructe
and guyde them. These
iii. pointes in Moyses & Aaron,
as they were thinges fulfilled
in dede in their persons, so were
they significations of thynges
to come, in the state of christianitie.
For as S. Paule saieth in
the first to the Corinthyans the
te~th chapitre. Hæc omnia in figura
contingebant illis. All these thinges
chaunced to the Iewes in a
type of figure. And in the tenthe
to the Hebreues he alsoo saieth,
Vmbram habens lex futuroru~ non
ipsa~ imaginem reru~. The lawe of
Moyses hadde but a shadowe of
thinges to come, & not the true
shape of those thinges in dede.
To come therfore to the publike
weale of Christendome, and the
gouernement therof: There are
in the churche of Christ alwayes
two head rulers, bothe preistes,
that is, Christ oure hyghe preist
made by God the father immediatlye,
accordinge as we reed in
the hundreth and ninth psalme,
Tu es sacerdos ineterum secundii
ordinem Melchisedech. The other
preist inferior to Christ and yet
gouernour of the whole church,
first was saint Peter, and now
is his successor. Now Peter was
made preist by Christ, as Aaron
was by Moyses: and his successours
are made preistes by men
as Aarons successours were.
Christe is Peters spokesman to
God, and Peter was Christes
mouthe to the church: as appeareth
in the .xxii. of Luke, in these
wordes, Simon, Simon, ecce Sathanas
expetiuit uos, ut cribraret, sicut
triticum. Ego autem rogaui pro te
ut non deficiat fides tua. Tu autem
aliquando conuertus, confirma fratres
tuos. Simon, Simon, behold
Sathan hathe desired you

13

to sifte you as it were wheate:
but I haue prayed for the, that
thy faieth faile not: & when thou
shalt be conuerted, confirme thy
brethren. In that Christe praieth
for Peter to God the father,
that Peters faieth shoulde not
faile, he is Peters mouth to god
ward, as Moyses was Aaro~s.
Agayne in that Peter confirmeth
his brethren, in the trueth
of christes religion, he is christes
mouthe to the people. Christ is
ascended in to the highe mount
of heauen, Vt appareat nunc vultui
dei pro nobis. That he might
appeare before the face of God
for vs. But the other ruler that
is christes vicar, remaineth here
on earth, to gouerne the churche
militaunt, as did Aaron emong
the Israelites, as shall anone
appere mooste euidently by ineuitable
authorities of the new
testame~t. Now when God had
placed those to priestes in the
gouernment of the Iewes, hee
would such obedience to be giue~
vnto, them of the whole people,
that none might once repine againste
the authoritie of either
of them, as is euide~t in the .xvi.
of Numbres, where Chore, Dathan,
and Abiron, for making
rebellion against Moises, and
Aaron, were swalowed vp in to
the earth aliue, and most terribly
perished, that the rest myght
by their example, feare at any
time to attempt the like. And in
the .xvii. of Numbres, GOD to
declare, that hee had appointed
Aaron as wel as Moises, to be
rular ouer the Israelites, caused

B.i.

euery captain of the twelue tribes
to bring in a rodde to Moyses,
and al the twelue roddes to
bee layed in the tabernacle all
night, and whose rodde shoulde
burgin on the morowe, that he
was the chefe gouernour vnder
Moyses. Which being done, on
the morow, Aarons rodde was
founde with buddes on it. The
same authoritie that was in
Aaro~ at that time, and thus co~firmed
miraculously, remained
in the high priest, Aarons successour
from tyme to tyme so
long as the estate of that co~mon
welth endured. Euen so is it in
Christendome. Peter fyrst was
placed in the chief gouernement
vnder Christ, and after Peter
his successours continue in the
same, and haue the rule of the
whole church. But you wil peradue~ture
require farther proofe
hereof, and woulde gladly here
whether this may be established
by the ghospel, and the auncient
fathers: wherin for your conte~tacio~
I will so~what say. And fyrst
touching Peter and his authoritie
wee reade in the .xvii. of
Mathew, how the gatherers
of the tribute money came to
aske the tribute of Christ, and
how Christ bade Peter cast hys
angle into the see, & looke what
fishe he tooke first, he tolde him
that in his mouth he should find
so much money as two me~ were
bound to pay and said, da eis pro
me et te. Paye that money to the~
for me and thy selfe. Upon this
facte of Christe S. Augustine
saith Didrachma capitum solurio

B.ii.

17

intelligitur. Saluator cum pro se et
Petro dari iubet, pro omnibus exoluisse
videtur: quod sicut in saluatore
erant omnes causa magisterii,
ira et post saluatore~ in Petro omnes
continentur: ipsum enim constituit
caput eoru~: that is to say, The
tribute money was hed money
or paiment which euery hed or
ruler was bound to pay. Wherfore
when our sauiour co~maunded
the tribute to be paied for
himself and for Peter, he semeth
to haue paied for them all. For
as they were all in our sauiour
by reason he was their maister,
so after our sauiour they were
all conteined in Peter. For he
had made Peter their hed or ruler.
The same S. Austine writing
vpo~ that place of S. Luke
in his .xxii. chapter where Christ
saieth that he praied for Peter,
hath these wordes, Non orauit
pro Iacobo et Ioanne et reliquis,
sed pro Petro in quo reliqui continentur
Christe did not pray
for Iames and Iohn and for
the rest of his Apostles, but for
Peter, in whome the rest are co~tained.
In the .xxi. of Mathew
we finde how our sauiour sayed
vnto Peter in most speciall and
earnest maner, pasce agnos, pasce
agnos, pasce oues, fede my lambes
fede my lambes, fede my shepe:
And though certe~ of the other apostles,
& thei also the most notablest,
were then present, yet he
gaue the charge onely to Peter.
Wherupo~ Cipria~, Christostome,
Ambrose, Austine, gather that
Peter was made rular aboue &
ouer them all. Now as concerning
Peters successours, where
they are to be found and of their
authoritie writeth the auncie~t
father Ireneus, in his third boke
against ye heresies of Valentinus,
and other heretikes, and in the
thirde chapiter of the same boke
in this maner. Quoniam valde
longum est omnium ecclesiarum
enumerare successiones, maximæ
et antiquissemæ et o~nibus cognitæ
a gloriosissimis duobus Apostolis
Petro et paulo Romæ fundatæ et
constitutæ ecclesiæ, eam qua~ habet
ab apostolis traditione~ et annu~ciata~
hominibus fidem per successiones
episcoporu~ peruenie~tem vsque ad
nos, indicantes confundimus eos
omnes qui quoquo modo vel per
sui complacentiam malam, vel vanam
gloriam, vel per cæcitatem et
mala~ sententia~, preterquam oportet

20

colligunt. Ad ha~c enim ecclesia~
propter potentiorem principalitatem
necesse est omnem co~uenire
ecclesiam, hoc est eos qui su~t vndiq3
fideles, that is to say. Forasmuch
as it were a long processe to recite
the succession of all christen
seas, we showe the succession of
Bishoppes in the greatest, the
most aunciente, and the moste
knowen sea, founded and stablished
at Rome by the most glorie
apostles Petre & Paule: and we
declare what is the tradicion,
which that sea hath receiued fro~
the apostles and what faith hath
ben preached to men there, and
is comen by succession of byshoppes
euen vnto vs, and so doing
we confound and put to sylence
al those, which by any meanes
either by standing to muche

B.iiii.

in their own co~ceife, or for vaine
glorye, or through blinde ignoraunce,
or throughe wrong opinion,
dooe gather otherwise in
matters of religion then is behouable.
For vnto this sea, by
reson of the higher gouernment,
euery sea, that is, all faithful,
whersoeuer they dwel, must nedes
haue recourse. The like is
also in Sainct Austine in hys,
xxiv. epistle, where he improuing
the secte of the Donatistes writeth
in this maner, Si ordo episco
poru~ sibi succedentium co~siderandus
est, qua~to citius et vere salubriter
ab ipso Petro numeramus, cui
totius ecclesiæ figuram gerenti dominus
ait. Tu es Petrus, et super
hanc Petra~ ædificabo ecclesia~ mea~,
If the order of Bishops succeding
one a nother is to be considered,
howe much inore soner &
in dede more wholsomly doe we
recken from Peter himself, vnto
whom bearing the figure of
the whole church, our lord saith:
Thou art Peter, and vpon this
rocke will I builde my churche.
And whithin a litle after he saith
In hoc ordine successionis nullus
Donatista inuenitur. In this order
of succession no Donatist is
founde. Thus concerning the
primacye of S. Peter and hys
successours, we haue matter sufficient
both in scripture and in
the fathers to content vs. But
it may not here be omitted, that
though in the numbre of many
successours of Sainct Peter it
might somtime chau~ce some one
or mo to be euil: yet that nothing
can preiudicate to the authorite
nor me~ ought therfore to withdraw
their obedience. And that
in this point also ye may se good
mater to content you: I shal recite
a notable sayeng of Sainct
Austin in his forsaied epistle to
this effecte, where he writeth in
this maner. In illu~ autem ordine~
episcoporu~ qui ducitur ab ipso Petro
vsq3 ad Anastasiu~, qui nu~c ea~de~
sedet cathedram, etia~ si quisquam
traditor per illa tempora surrepsisset,
nihil præiudicaret ecclesiæ, et
innoce~tibus christianis, quibus dn~s
prouidens ait de præpositis malis:
Quæ dicu~t facite, quæ aute~ faciunt
nolite facere. Dicunt enim & non
faciunt, vt certa sit spes fidelis quæ
no~ in homine, sed in deo collocata
nunquam tempestate sacrilegi scismatis
dissipetur, that is to saye.
Thoughe some traitour had by
these days crept into that order,
or numbre of Bishoppes, which
is reckened from Peter vnto
Anastasius, which now sitteth
in that sea, yet were it not preiudicial
to the church, and to the
innocent christen folke, for who~
our lord prouiding saieth. Doe
the thinges which they say, but
that they do, do ye not: for they
saye and doe not, that the hope
of a christen man might be sure,
and being set not on man, but
on god, should neuer be shaken
with any tempest or storme of
wicked scisme. Nowe that ye
haue heard how necessarye it is
for al christendome to be vnder
ye gouerneme~t of the Apostolike
sea, and thereby must needes
perceiue that the benefite of our
reconciliation and reduction to
that sea, is a most excellent and
exceadyng gret benefit: I think
good to note vnto you the circu~stances
incident with the same,
wherby the benefit is made the
more notable. This most ioyful
reconciliacion came vnto this
realme on the first feastiual day
in the whole yeare, by the order
of the ecclesiasticall seruice, that
is, on sainct Andrewes day. It
came in the feast of S. Andrew
brother to S. Peter, to whose
sea we are reconciled, in the day
of such a saint as was crucified,
as bothe Peter was, the firste
that enioyed this autoritie, and
as Christe was, whoe gaue the
autoritie vnto Peter. It chau~ced
in the tyme of a parliament,
and by the full consent and glad
approbatio~ of the whole realme,
in that parliament represented:
It came vnto vs by oure owne
countrey man the most honorable
lorde Legates grace, who
neuer swarued from that sea:
In the raigne of our soueraines
kynge Phylip and quene Mary,
who alwayes continued in their
obedyence to that supremicye.
It came by see vnto vs, a mete
passage for the authoritye of
hym, whiche was called to that
autoritie frome the see, and in
his feast, who was made an apostle
from the see, that is of a
fysher. I shall not nede muche
to speake of the great euils that
this realme is ryd from by this
benefit. Euery ma~ feleth in him
self the great relife, that he hath
by his reconciliation: I meane
not onely for the temporall cruelte,
myserye, tumult, feare, and
tyrannye, whiche ceasse by this
benefyte, but most of all for the
inwarde ghostly relyfe, of which
saincte Paule speakynge in the
seconde chapiter of his first epistle
to the Corinthians, sayeth:
Quis scit hominu~ quæ su~t hominis,
nisi spiritus hominis qui ipso est: Ita
et quæ dei sunt nemo nouit nisi spiritus
dei. what man knoweth the
thinges whiche are in man, but
the spirite of manne whiche is
within him? Euen so those thinges
whiche longe to god, none
knoweth but onely the spirite of
god. In whiche wordes saincte
Paule geueth vs to wete, that
who so hath not ye spirite of god
in him, knoweth not gods truth.
Now the spirite of god can not
be but in them that are of the
body, whiche is gouerned with
goddes spirite, and this bodye is
the Churche: whereof they are
not, whiche deuyde theim selues
from the gouernment appointed
by god to be in the churche, whiche
gouernment is as you haue
hearde, the obedience to the sea
of Rome, from whiche we haue
deuided our selues of late yeres:
and whervnto we were by thys
dayes benefit vnited and reconciled
againe. We were I say rid
from that mysery, which sainct
Paule speaketh of in the second
chapiter of his Epistle of the Ephesians,
sayinge: Eratis illo in
tempore sine christo, alienati a conuersatione
Israel, et hospites testamentorum,
promissionis spem
non habentes, et sine deo in hoc
mundo. Ye were at that tyme
without Christe: Ye were strainge
from the conuersacion of
Israel, ye were strangers from
the testamentes hauyng no hope
of the promysse, and men without
god in this worlde. Yf wee
nowe perceaue these two pointes
whiche I haue declared, the
one of goddes singular benefyte
as this day conferred and bestowed
vpon vs, the other touching
the dredfull daungers we were
in before, we haue then a thirde
parte to playe with kynge Dauyd,
that is, to acknoweledge
these miseries to haue comen vpon
vs for oure offences in sayinge
euery one of vs. Castigans
castigauit me dominus, et morti
non tradidit me. God hath chastened
me, but he hath not delyuered
me into death. The fourthe
poynt also is to be ioyned to the
other three, that is to giue thankes
as Dauid dyd, and to exhort
all other to do the same, whiche
for my parte I shall do with the
wordes of my theme, sayinge
vnto you.Constituite diem solennem
in condensis vsque; ad cornu altaris.
Of late men pulled downe
aultars, contempned the seruice
and sacrifice of the aultar, but
now we must come in gret multitudes
to the aultar, to the seruice
of the aultar, and the sacrifice
of the aultar, I meane to the
Masse. And in consideracion of
the highe worke of god done on
the aultar, we must make great
solempnity, specially on this day
And beholde besides the benefyt
of our reconciliacion chauncyng
on this daye, we haue yet by S.
Andrewe a confirmacion of our
beliefe in the sacrament and sacrifice

C.i.

of the aulter by that hee
saide and did this daye. For amonge
other aunsweres whiche
the blessed apostle S. Andrewe
made to the cruel Aegeas, he said:
Omnipote~ti deo qui vnus & ver=9=
est, ego omni die sacrifico, Non
thuris fumu~, nec taurorum mugientium
carnes, nec hircorum sanguine~,
sed immaculatum agnum
quotidie in altari sacrifico cuius carnes
posteaquam omnis popul=9= ma~ducauerit,
& sanguine~ eius biberit,
tamen integer parmanet & immaculatus,
that is. I do offer sacrifice
euery day to God almighty,
not the smoke of franckencens,
nor the fleshe of roring bulles or
the blood of goates, but I sacrifice
euery daye on the aultar the
immaculate lambe, whose flesh
after that al the people hath eaten
and hath dronke his bloud,
yet he abideth whole and immaculate.
What can bee plainer
spoken either of the presence of
Christes body & bloud in the sacrament
of the aultar, or of the
sacrifice of the Masse, then here
is spoken? And as plainely the
same blessed apostle vttereth in
that that foloweth, a nother
point worthy to be considered.
For when Aegeas maruailinge
at his talke saied vnto him:
Quomodo potest hoc fieri? howe
can this bee done? S. Andrewe
auswered. Si vis scire quomodo
potest fieri, assume forma~ discipuli
vt possis discernere quod quæris,
If thou wilt know how it may
be done, take vpo~ thee the shape
of fourme of a disciple or lerner,
that thou may discerne ye thing
that thou askest. Which because
Aegeas would not do, he could
not vndersta~d the mistery, as in
our days, so many as would presu~pteously
teache themselfes, &
not lerne of Christes church, erred
in the truthe of Christes sacramentes.
Wherfore I exhorte
you with the woordes of my
theme: kepe this day a solemne
day: kepe solempne procession,
make great sole~nitie, so as your
deuotion may stretch euen to the
aultar: or rather the prophete
Dauid foreseyng in spirite the
benefite of christian vnitie, doth
exhort you therto, and with the
prophete Dauid, S. Peter the
prince of the Apostles to whose
authoritie wee are recouered exhorteth
you, and with Dauid &
S. Peter, Peters brother saint
Andrewe, whose feast we kepe,
exhorteth you: and with the~, &
aboue them, Christ our sauiour
exhorteth you, to reioyce and be
thankeful for the great benefite
of god comen this day vnto you,
that we keping our selues with
in his folde on earth, maye bee
found in the numbre of those la~bes,
which sta~ding on his right
hand at the daye of Dome shall
heare our lorde say vnto them.
Come ye blessed children of my
father possesse the kyngdome
which was prepared for you fro~
the beginning of the worlde.
Which send vnto vs al, the
father, the sonne, and the
holy ghost, to whome
be al honour & glory
world without
ende,
Amen.