LXXIX.—To Madame the Duchess of Ferrara.[310]

Instructions on the subject of the Mass, and on the necessity of avoiding scandal.

Geneva, [October] 1541.

Madame,—I humbly beseech you that you would take in good part my boldness in writing these present, deeming that, should you find therein a too great plainness, it proceeds not so much from rashness, or from overweening self-conceit, as from pure and true affection for your service in our Lord. For albeit that I do acknowledge myself a very unprofitable servant of the Church, it hath, notwithstanding, been found expedient to employ me in that station, according to the grace which the Lord has imparted to me; and it has even occurred to me that there was a need-be for my doing so, if I wished to acquit myself of my duty, not merely because I feel myself obliged, in regard to you, to seek, in so far as is possible for me, and in the way of duty, your welfare and advantage, howbeit that such motive is alone sufficient to stir me up to action, but rather that, considering the state and pre-eminence in which the Lord has set you, it seems to us all, we whom the Lord by his goodness has called to be ministers of his holy word, ought to keep in special remembrance, to apply ourselves to the bestowal of some pains for you, and the more so because, more than most princely persons, you are able to promote and advance the kingdom of Christ. I have, besides, observed in you such fear of God and such disposed faithfulness of obedience, that independently of the high rank which he has vouchsafed you among men, I do so value the graces which he hath put upon you, even to such a degree, that I would think myself accursed should I have omitted the occasions of any profitable service, in so far as they might be presented to me. This is certainly what I can say without any feigning or flattery, but in sincerity of heart, and speaking as in His presence who knows all our secret thoughts.

Madame, by other worthy persons who have passed through here at different times, I have been given to understand how Master François, whom you have appointed preacher to your household, after having acquitted himself well in preaching, as well at least as could be expected of him, had persuaded you that it would not be a bad thing, after having heard mass, to hold some sort of communion, which must be somehow the Supper of our Lord; this proceeding, which was not approved of by one of your ladies, who, according to the knowledge which she had received of God, did not wish against her conscience to meddle with what she considered to be wrong in itself, and has been the occasion, on the representation of the said Master François, to have some way or other turned away from her the good-will which you have been wont to bear her; so that matters have reached such a height, that you have intimated that all those who do as she does, ought not to be supported, inasmuch as, by their importunity, they give birth to scandals to no purpose among the faithful. Wherefore, concluding that a thing of so much importance must not be concealed, seeing that you had been given to understand that matters were otherwise than they are, according as it has pleased the Lord to reveal himself to me in Scripture, I have thought it right to communicate to you what the Lord has given me of understanding in that matter. But while I have been in some doubt and hesitation about doing so, I have been given to understand, on the part of Madame de Pons,[311] that you wished very much to be more fully instructed, the more so that, besides the many difficulties which you see, on the other hand, it is very difficult to come to a satisfactory solution of them. This message has all the more confirmed me in my purpose to venture to essay the giving you a faithful exposition so far as I know, in order that afterward you may judge for yourself, and in so far as you shall have fully understood God's truth, that you may follow in all obedience, seeing that your zeal is not of the kind that rebels against it, but receives the truth in love and with all benign affection. Yet all this notwithstanding, Madame, before that I begin, I beseech you not to take up any suspicion of me, as though I did this, having been put up to it by some persons of your household, or to favour any one in particular; for I can assure you, before God, that I do so without having been requested by any one, and only on the advertisement, as I have already assured you, of persons passing through this way, who never thought that I could have the means of any direct communication. On the other hand, I would rather desire to be cast down into the lowest depths of the abyss, than to twist about or wrest the truth of God, to make it suit the hatred or to procure the favour of any creature whatsoever. But what makes me speak out is, that I cannot bear that the word of God should be thus to you concealed, perverted, depraved, and corrupted in such essential things, by those in whom you have some confidence, to whom you have given authority.

Touching Master François, to speak soberly, I would to a certainty put you upon your guard not to confide too unreservedly in his doctrine. Should I do so, I need have no reason to fear, that mayhap you may entertain some bad opinion of me, as though I might speak from hatred or envy of this personage. For I have neither matter nor occasion of envy in any way toward him; and the hatred which, up to the present hour, I have felt toward him, is such, that I have at all times, to the utmost of my power, made it my business to edify him in well doing. But when I perceive that any one, owing to an ill-informed conscience, sets himself to overthrow the word of the Lord, and to extinguish the light of Truth, I could by no means pardon him, even were he my own father a hundred times over. As for this same individual, I have been aware, from having long known him, that whatsoever small understanding of the Scripture God has vouchsafed him, he has always made subserve his own profit and ambition, preaching wherever he saw that it would be a help to gratify his avarice, forbearing to preach wherever he found that it began to be troublesome to him; and then for all that, as often as he could procure hearers, persons of credit to countenance him, and the wealthy to fill his wallet or his purse, who required him to give glory to God, he has taken the trouble to satisfy them by almost always selling them his word. On the other hand, again, wherever he met with any trouble or persecution, he had always his denial ready to escape from it, to such a degree, that one could not know in regard to him whether the holy and sacred word of God was but a sport and mockery; insomuch that he turned it into a farce, playing at one time one character, and at another the part of another, according to the pastime he finds in it. As to his life, I do not touch upon that, except that one could desire that it were better in a minister of the word. I know, Madame, that the duty of a Christian man is not to detract from his neighbour; and that is what I have not wished to do, for had I been desirous to speak ill of him, I have plenty of other material concerning him which I conceal. But our Lord does not mean, when we see a wolf, under the colour and appearance of a pastor, scattering his flock, that we should quail in silence through fear of speaking evil of him. He rather commands us to discover the perversity of those who, like the pestilence, corrupt by their infection, and mar the face of the Church. And as for myself, neither would I have taken that method here if I saw any better remedy, taking into account the mortal fury of that sort of people which I do thereby provoke against myself. For I have not at this day so fierce warfare with any as with those who, under the shadow of the Gospel, wear a rough garment outwardly toward princes, amazing and entertaining them by their finesse and subtilty, enshrouded in some cloud, as it were, without ever leading them to the right object. But how could I do otherwise? If I do not address myself to them, it is because I see their heart to be so divested of all fear of God, that speaking of his judgment to them, is but a mere fable or a pleasant tale. But when I describe them such as they are, to make them aware that they could carry their abuse no farther, I find that by this method they are more restrained from further seduction and abuse. This very person I have oftentimes set about trying to bring back into the good way, so far even as to make him confess his iniquity; albeit, that impudently he would excuse himself before men, being convicted in his own conscience before God. Notwithstanding, with a horrible obstinacy and hardness of heart, he would persist in saying, that he could not desist from doing that which he knew to be bad, except that on one occasion, after having seen some treatise of mine, with grievous imprecations on himself he protested that he would never assist at the mass, because it was such a gross abomination. But I know my man so well, that I scarcely count more on his oath than upon the chattering of a magpie. Howsoever, Madame, as I would not that he did persevere in ill-doing, to the great detriment of yourself and of the people of God, I feel constrained to warn you by my intimation, seeing that as regarded him, he would not profit by taking advantage of it. What I have told you about him is so certain, that I do not wish you to give credit to it until you have first of all found out by experience that it is true; for if you pay attention, you will see at a glance that he preaches the word of God only in so far as he wishes to gratify you, in order to catch benefices or other prey, and in the meantime not to displease any one who can do him hurt.

Now, Madame, having done with this personage, I come to the present matter. He gives you to understand that the mass is neither so wicked nor abominable, but that it is allowable to say it, and to the faithful to hear it, so that those who make this a matter of conscience are the disturbers of the Church, stirring up scandals among the weak, whom we are commanded to strengthen. As regards the first point, I doubt whether I ought to stop to argue it, inasmuch as I reckon that you are so fully resolved, already, that the mass is a sacrilege, the most execrable that one can imagine, that I fear to make myself appear ridiculous to you in taking the pains to prove to you a thing about which you can be nowise in doubt. And, besides, the small compass of a letter cannot comprise that which is enough to fill a large book. Yet, notwithstanding, I will touch briefly upon it, and, as it were, in a cursory way, in order that you may not have any doubt. In so far as the mass is a sacrifice, appointed by men for the redemption and salvation of the living and the dead, as their canon bears, it is an unbearable blasphemy by which the passion of Jesus Christ is quite overthrown and set aside, as if it were of no effect whatever. For that we say, the faithful have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, have obtained thereby the remission of their sins, righteousness, and the hope of eternal life, that belief must imply so far that the blessed Saviour, in offering up himself to the Father, and presenting himself to be sacrificed, has offered himself an eternal sacrifice by which our iniquities have been purged and cleansed, ourselves received into the grace of the Father, and made partakers of the heavenly inheritance, as the Apostle declares very fully in the Epistle to the Hebrews. If, then, the death of Jesus be not acknowledged as the only sacrifice which has been once made for all, in order that it might have an eternal efficacy, what more remains except that it be effaced entirely, as being altogether ineffectual? I know well, that these liars, to cover their abomination, say, that they make the same sacrifice which Jesus has made; but from that statement there arise several blasphemies. For that sacrifice could be made by no one except by himself. And the Apostle says,[312] that if he is now sacrificed, it follows, that he must suffer still. Therefore, you can see, that one of two things must here take place: either to acknowledge the horrible blasphemy of the mass, and to detest it; or, in approving it, to trample under foot the cross of Jesus. How much it is contrary to the Supper of Christ, I leave you to consider with yourself, after that you have read in Scripture the words of institution.[313] But the crowning desecration which they commit, is the idolatry which they perpetrate by adoring a creature instead of God, a thing which is altogether inexcusable. Taking these considerations into view, let us look well to it, since we can neither speak nor hear such things without grievously offending God by communicating in such abominations. For how can we pretend that we are not justly reproved for having consented to such iniquities, since we do receive them with greater honour and reverence than we do the word of God? If you wish to know how far that is pleasing to the Lord God, he declares by his prophet Ezekiel, in the 20th chapter, where he tells the people of Israel, that they love to practise open idolatry like the Gentiles, that they made mention of his name along with the name of their idols, as wishing to compass their own ends contrary to his statutes, by which he was to be served in worship, and by setting up their own foolish inventions, by which they were made to fall away from his word; on the other hand, the Prophet telling them that he will scatter all those who swear by his name, avouching him as their God, while, at the same time, they witness against themselves in adoring some other than him alone. Should some one object, that externals in religion are quite indifferent, that what is required is only that the heart within should be upright, to that our Lord answers, that he will be glorified in our body, which he has purchased with his blood, that he requires the confession of the mouth, and that all our prayers should be consecrated to his honour, without being any way contaminated or defiled by anything displeasing to him. But, because this would be too long to treat of here, as it ought to be, you can have recourse, for your more full information, to the treatise, where I hope that you will find reasons enough to satisfy you. The scandal still remains, which your almoner says troubles the consciences of the weak, when any one esteemed a believer holds the mass in such horror that he would not in any way come in contact with it, that he neither wished to find it here nor to meet with it elsewhere.[314] But he does not consider that, in reference to those things which are either commanded or forbidden of God, although it might offend the whole world, we must not go beyond his ordinances. That which is commanded us, to support and strengthen our weak brethren, by doing nothing which may wound or offend them, refers to lesser things of no great consequence, which are of themselves indifferent and permitted of our Christian liberty, as the whole of Scripture bears. Besides, all those commands about not scandalizing our neighbour, tend to his edification in welldoing, as St. Paul points out in the 15th of the Romans. It follows, therefore, that we must not seek to please him in those things which do not tend to edification, but to destruction. And thence we have the doctrine of St. Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapters viii. and x., where he says, that if by any external action of ours our neighbour is built up in wrong-doing, albeit on our part there may have been no violation of conscience, yet that we sin against God and destroy our brother. As is here the case: we know the mass to be cursed and execrable; we assist thereat to content the ignorant; those who see us assisting at it conclude that we approve by so doing, and they then follow our example. St. Paul counts that a great crime, although we make no difficulty about it. Wherefore, Madame, I do beseech you not to permit that under the name of scandal any one should beguile you; for there is not a more pernicious scandal in this world than when our Christian brother, by our example, is entrapped in ruin and driven forward into error. If we would avoid all scandal we must cast Jesus Christ behind us, who is the stone of offence at which the most part of the world trips and stumbles. And even thus has he been a scandal to the Jews and Israelites to whom he was sent, as always a large portion of that nation has been offended and stumbled in the worship of their God. We must, therefore, hold fast by this rule, that, in reference to things which are either commanded or forbidden of God, it is mainly requisite in the doing or forbearing that he may not be baulked of his due obedience, though we should offend the whole world. But since it is so, that Christ and his Evangel are a scandal to the evil-disposed and malignant, we must expect, if we would follow him, that they must always be a scandal to us. As for things which are free and indifferent, that is to say, which, according to our opportunity, we can either do or omit the doing of, we ought to suit ourselves to the convenience of our Christian brethren, in order that our liberty may be subject to choice; and even in doing so, regard must be had so to support their infirmity as that they may be built up in God; for if, by our example, we lead them on and draw them in to do what they consider to be wrong, we are the means of their destruction. There are few, indeed, who have had experience of the truth of God, who do not know in some measure the iniquity of the mass. When they well know what sort of a thing it is, it is impossible that they should not desire to flee from it. While they scruple and are in doubt about it, whenever they perceive that we communicate, they follow our example, without caring for being further resolved in the matter. Here is the worst scandal that can happen them, seeing that their consciences are wrung unto death. If what I hear is true, that he would have you to believe that affair to be of so small importance that German Churches make no question at all about it, that is, that those of one persuasion let alone and permit the other to have the mass, in this he inflicts a great damage and injury upon the Churches of God, in charging them with a practice which you will acknowledge to be false whenever you shall be pleased to make inquiry for yourself. For not only among all the Churches which have received the Evangel, but in the judgment of private individuals, this article is quite agreed on, that the abomination of the mass must not continue. And to that effect Capito, who is one of those who set themselves to moderate the zeal of others in these matters, has written a book of late, which he has dedicated[315] to the King of England, wherein he teaches that it is the duty of Christian princes to abolish in their country such execrable idolatry, if they wish to do their duty as might be expected of them. There is, in short, in our day, no man of any renown who is not quite agreed on that point.

Well, then, Madame, seeing that it has pleased the Lord God, of his goodness and infinite compassion, to visit you with the knowledge of his name, and to enlighten you in the truth of his holy Evangel, acknowledge your calling to which he has called you. For he has drawn us forth out of the depths of darkness, where we were detained captives, in order that we may follow uprightly the light of his word, without declining either to the one side or to the other, and that we seek more and more to be instructed by him, so that we may profit more abundantly in that holy wisdom wherein he has made some beginning among us; and, above all, to look to it carefully that we do not restrain his Spirit, as do those who shut their eyes and ears to the evident plain truth, being content to remain ignorant of that which the Lord would have them know and understand. It is not thus that he would have us to do, out of mere dread that the Lord will punish such contempt and ingratitude; but rather we ought to study to profit continually in the school of this good Master, until we shall have attained perfection in his doctrine, which will be when we are free from this downweighing and earthly coil of the flesh, praying, with good David, that he would instruct us in the doing of his will. Surely, if we go forward advancing therein with zealous affection, he will so guide us that he will not let us go astray out of the right path. And although there are still some remains of ignorance in us, he will vouchsafe a more full revelation, when there is need for it, seeing that he knows the right season better than do we. The main point is to understand how his holy doctrine ought to become fruitful, and so bring forth fruit in us, and that is when it so transforms us by the renewal of our heart and mind, that his radiant glory, which consists in innocence, integrity, and holiness, relumes the soul within us. If it be not thus with us, we take the name of God in vain when we glorify ourselves by making our boast that we know the Evangel. I do not say this to admonish you to do what you do not do at present, but on purpose that the work of God, which is already begun in you, may be confirmed from day to day.

But only, as I have already at the commencement, I beseech you to pardon my simplicity. Should it be your pleasure to have more full instruction in this argument, and especially how a Christian person ought to govern himself in regard to scandals, I will attempt, so far as the Lord shall enable me, to satisfy you. In the meantime, I send you an epistle[316] upon the subject, as you will see, if you think it worth your while to devote some hours to it at your leisure; and besides that, a little tract,[317] which I have put together lately, which, as I hope, by reason of its brevity, may serve as a help to consolation, inasmuch as it contains full enough doctrine.[318] [That the Lord may have a care over you in this your infirmity, and that he would manifest in you the efficacy of his Spirit in such a way that you may be as much honoured in his household as he has elevated you in station and dignity among men.]

[Fr. autogr. minute.—Library of Geneva. Vol. 196.]