FOrasmuch as we are come now to the time of Quene Mary, when as so many were put to death for the cause especially of the Masse, & the sacrament of thaltar (as they cal it) I thought it conuenient vpon thoccasion geuē, in the ingresse of this foresaid storie, first to prefixe before, by the way of preface, some declaratiõ collected out of diuers writers and autors, wherby to set forth to the reader the great absurditie, wicked abuse, and perilous idolatry of the Popish masse, declaring how & by whom it came in, clouted & patched vp of diuers additions, to the intēt that the reader, seing the vaine institutiõ therof, & waying the true causes why it is to be exploded out of al churches, may the better therby iudge of their death, whiche gaue their liues for þ^e testimony & the word of truth.

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First cõcerning the origine of this word Missa, whether it came of Missath in Hebrue. Deu. 16. or Mincha, Leui. 6 which signifieth oblatiõ: or whether it came of sending away the Catechumeni, & persons vnworthy out of the place of ministratiõ (as certain writers suppose) MarginaliaIsidorus libr. 6. Erym. Hugo in speculo eccles. Tertull. cõtra Marc. l. 3. Cipria. de bono patient.or els, ex missis donariis & symbolis quæ in offertorio proponebantur: that is, of giftes & oblations wont to bee offred before the communion: or whether Missa is deriued of Remissa, which in the former writers was vsed pro remissione: or whether Missa, pro licentia dimittendi populum, is takē of sending away the cõgregation by the wordes of the deacon, Ite missa est: or whether Missa hath his denomination of that which the Grecians call ἄφεοιο τομ λὰον, dimissiõ of the people, alluding to the story of the Hebrues, licēsed of Pharao to depart out of captiuitie after the eating of the Pasche lamb, as I read in an old Popish boke, intituled de Sacramētis Sacerdotalibus: or what terme soeuer it be els, either Laten, Siriã, Doutch, or French: or how so euer els it taketh his appellation, as there is no certainty emonges thēselues that most magnify the masse, so it is no matter to vs that stãd against it. To my iudgement and cõiecture this latter exposition of the word semeth more probable: both for that it is ioyned with the word Ite, which signifieth departing: & also the time & order in speaking the same agreeth wel therunto. For as the olde Hebrues after the supper of the lamb, & not before, wer set at liberty streight way, to depart out of captiuitie: so belyke to declare our mistical deliuerance by Christ, offred & slain for vs, first goeth before the actiõ of the holy supper, that done, thē the prest or deacõ saith, Ite missa est: meaning therby the deliuerance & liberty which is spiritually wrought in vs, after that the body of Christ hath bene offered for vs. Or els, if Missa otherwyse should signify the celebratiõ of the action of the supper, it would not be said Ite, but venite, missa est &c. Moreouer besides other argumēts, there be certain places in MarginaliaCassianus de canonicis orationibus. li. 3. c. 7.Cassianus which seme to declare that Missa signifieth dimissiõ of the cõgregation: as where he writeth of him which cõmeth not in time to the howers of praier, saying it not to be lawfull for him to enter into the oratory, sed stãtē pro foribus cõgregationis, missa præstolari debere. i. that he ought

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stãding without the dores to wait for the misse of the cõgregatiõ. And again in the next chapter folowing, he inferreth the same vocable Missa in like sense: Cõtēti, inquit sõno qui nobis post vigiliarum missa vsque ad lucis indulgetur aduētū. i. Cõtēted (saieth he) with so much slepe as serueth vs for the misse, or breaking vp of the nighte MarginaliaVigils wer called in the olde time the assēblies of the congregatiõ in the night in cõmõ prayer & fastyng.vigill, vnto the comming of the day &c.

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Marginalia
Socra. eccl. hist. 1. 2 c. 13
Epiph. trip. hist. li. 4. c. 13.
Sozom. li. 2 cap. 32.
Epiph trip. hist. 1. 3. c. Marginalia
Socrat.. 1. 3. cap. 9.
Epiph. trip. hist. 1. 6. c. 23. Marginalia
Socrat. 1.5. cap. 15.
Χαὶ χαδξ αυτὃς εχχλκοὶαςεὶν
Epiph. trip. hist. li. 7. ca. 13 & apud seipsos missarum celebrari solēnia &c.
Item collectas agūt & quod Socrates græce li. 5. cap. 22. inquit.
ῶερὶ δὲ συ νάξεὶον συνάξοὶςπο ιὃσιν But to let passe these cõiectures, this by þ^e way I geue to the reader to note & vnderstãd, that as this word Misssa neuer yet entred into the church nor vsage amõg the Grekes: so it is to be obserued emõg our Laten interpretors, such as haue trãslated of old time the anciēt greke autors, as Eusebius, & the Tripartite history, and others: that wher the Greke writers haue these terms σμνὰγειν, σμνὰξεισ ποὶεῖν εχχλκσιὰςειν þ^t is, to call the cõgregatiõ, to conuēt assēblies & to frequēt together, the old translator of Epiphanius and other trãslate vpõ the same Missas facere, collectas agere, missas celebrare &c. wherby it is not obscure to be sene, that this word masse in the old time, was not only & peculiarly applied to the action of consecration, but aswel to al christē assēblies collected, or congregations conuēted, according as in the doutch lãguage this name (Messe) signifieth any solēne frequēcy, or panagyrie, or gathering together of the people. But of the name inough, and to muche.

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To expresse now the absurdity of the said masse & the irreligious applicatiõ therof, vnsemely, & perilous for christiãs to vse, I wil bring two or thre reasons of the worthy seruant and Martir of god Iohn Bradford, to whiche manye more may be also added out of others.MarginaliaThe masse a double enemi agaynst christ The masse iniuriouse to the priesthod of christ.

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First the masse, saith he, is a most subtile & perniciouse enemy agaynst Christe, & that double waies: namely agaynst his priesthode, & against his sacrifice, which he proueth by this way. For the priesthod of christ, saith he, is an euerlasting priesthod, and such an one as cannot go to another But the masse vtterly putteth hym out of place, as thouh he were dead for euer: and so god wer a lier, which said that christ should be a priest for euer: which briefly commeth vnto this argument.

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Fes.	That thing is not perpetual, nor standeth not a- lone which admitteth succession of other to do the same thing, that was done before.
ti.	But the masse priests succede after christ, doing the same sacrifice (as they saye) which he dyd before.
no.	Ergo the masse priests make Christs priesthode not to be perpetuall.

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MarginaliaMaior. Ba.

Al priestes either be after the order of Aron, or after thorder of Melchisedech, or after the order of the apos- tles. or after that sprituall sorte wherof it is written, vos estis spirituale sacerdotium. &c.

MarginaliaMinor. ro.

But our masse priests neither be after the ordre of Aaron, (for that is to resume that which christ hath a- bolyshed:) neither after the order of Melchisedech (for that is peculiar onely to Christ:) neither after thorder of the Apostles (for then should they be mynisters, not massers, not priestes but preachers: (and which of the Apostles was euer named by the title of a prest?) Again neither ar they after þe general sort of the spritual pryest hod. For after that prerogatiue, euery true christiã is a spiritual priest as wel as they, offering vp spiritual, not

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