An apology or answer in defence of the Church of England with a brief…An apologie or answere in defence of the Churche of Englande with a briefe…

Pope Gelasius saith, it is a wicked deed and sib to sacrilege in any man to divide the Communion, and when he received one kind, to abstain from the other. These men contrary to God's ⟨image 84⟩word and contrary to Pope Gelasius• command that one kind only of the holy Communion be given to the people, & by so doing, they make their priests guilty of sacrilege.

Pope Gelasius sayth, it is a wicked deed and sibb to sacriledge in any man to diuide the Communiō, and when he receiued one kinde, to absteine from the other. These menne contrarie to Goddes ⟨image 84⟩worde and contrarie to Pope Gelasius• commaunde that one kinde onely of the holy Communiō be giuen to the people, & by so doing, they make their preistes gilty of sacriledge.

But if they will say that all these things are worn now out of ure, and nigh dead, and pertain nothing to these present times, yet to the end all folk may understand what faith is to be given to these men, and upon what hope they call together their general Councils, let us see in few words what good heed they take to the self same things, which they them selves these very last years (& the remembrance thereof is yet new & fresh) in their own general Council that they had by order called, decreed and commanded to be devoutly kept. In the last Council at Trident, scant fourteen years paste, it was ordained by the common consent of all degrees, that one man should not have two benefices at one time. What is become now of that ⟨image 84⟩ordinance? is the same to so soon worn but of mind and clean consumed? For these men ye see give to one man not two benefices only, but sundry Abbeys many times, sometime also two Bishoprics, sometime three, sometime four, and that not only to an unlearned man, but often times even to a man of war.