CHAPTER XVI.

POPULAR RELIGION.

In Saxon times, the Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and Ten Commandments were taught to the people in their own tongue, sometimes in metrical paraphrases, that they might the more easily be remembered, and every parent was required to teach them to his children.

A canon of the Synod of Clovesho, in 747, required the priest to explain everything in the Divine service to the people, and the Gospel for the day was read to them in the vernacular. The poem of Cædmon, which paraphrased large portions of the Old Testament history, was not the only use of the native poetry for the purpose of popularizing the truths of religion; we call to mind how Aldhelm used to sit on the parapet of the bridge over which the country-people must needs pass into Malmesbury, and sing to them religious poems, to the accompaniment of his harp. King Alfred translated the psalms, and there were various other versions of the psalms and other portions of Scripture.

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Education was much more common among the laity of the Middle Ages than is sometimes supposed. The French books of piety and of romance in the thirteenth century presuppose people capable of reading them. Grostete’s “Castle of Love” was a religious allegory, in which, under the ideas of chivalry, the fundamental articles of Christian belief are represented. By the middle of the fourteenth century, English had become a literary language, and works of all kinds were written in it. Wiclif did not translate the Bible from Latin into English for the clergy; they would rightly prefer to continue to read it in the Latin of the Vulgate; he wrote it for the laity, and we know that it was largely circulated among them. The poems of Lydgate and Gower, “Piers Plowman,” and the Canterbury Tales, the numerous romances, and the religious tracts of Wiclif and Robert of Hampole, had numerous readers; and for those readers books of devotion were largely provided.

Robert de Brunne’s “Handlyng of Synne,” in 1303, was a translation of the French “Manuel des Pechiez” of the previous century. The “Meditacyuns of the Soper of oure Lorde Ihesu,” in 1303, was a translation of the “Meditationes Vitæ Christi” of Cardinal Bonaventure.

“The Pricke of Conscience,” by Richard Rolle, the Hermit of Hampole, and “The Ayenbite of Inwit” (Remorse of Conscience), completed in 1340,[237] are translations of “Le Somme des Vices et des Vertus,” composed in 1279. The “Parson’s Tale” in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Pilgrims,” is in part a translation from the same book. The “Lay Folks’ Mass-book,” or manner of hearing mass, with rubrics and devotions for the people, and offices in English according to the Use of York, is an evidence that pains was taken to enable the people to enter intelligently into the Latin service. It was written in French by Dan Jeremy, Canon of Rouen, afterwards Archdeacon of Cleveland, in about the year 1170, and was translated into English towards the close of the thirteenth century.

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The “Lay Folks’ Mass-book” is well worth more space than we can afford it here, as a curious illustration of the popular religion. It explains the meaning of the service, and of the ritual, tells the worshipper when to stand and kneel, and puts private devotions into his mouth in rhyme, for their better remembrance. There are numerous MSS. of these books still existing, and when the art of printing was discovered, they were among the books early printed, so that we have reason to believe that they were in general demand and use among the laity.

We learn that it was the custom for the parish priest to vest at the altar--the old parish churches seldom had vestries:

When the altar is all dight, And the priest is washed right, Then he takes in both his hands A chesepull[238] cloth on the altar hangs, And comes aback a little down, And does it upon him all aboune. All men kneeling, but he stands, And holds to God up both his handes.

When the priest and clerks confess to one another, the worshipper is directed also to make his confession in a form given.

After the confession the people stand, and the priest begins the service; the worshipper is told to pray for him, and the hearers, and their friends, and for “peace and rest that lastes ay to Christian souls passed away,” and to all men. Next is given a rhyming English version of the _Gloria in Excelsis_, to be said while the priest is saying it in Latin. The people kneel and say _Pater nosters_ through the Collect and Epistle; when the priest crosses to the south corner of the altar to read the Gospel, then the people are to stand and make a cross, and take good heed, and say this prayer--

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, One steadfast God of might most, Be God’s word welcome to me, Joy and love, Lord, be to Thee.

Again at the end of the Gospel make another cross and kiss it. While the Mass (Nicene) Creed is being said, say the Apostles’ Creed, as given in a rhymed version--

I trow[239] in God, father of might That all has wrought, Heaven and earth, day and night, And all of nought, etc.

At the end is a very curious perversion of the clause of the Communion of Saints: _Communio Sanctorum_ is translated as if it were _Concomitantia Sanctorum_--

And so I trow that housel is Both flesh and blood.

After that comes the offertory; offer or not, as you please;[240] but in either case say the following prayer--

Jesu, that wast in Bethlem bore, Three kings once kneeled Thee before, And offered gold, myrrh, and incense; Thou disdained not their presents, But didst guide them all the three Home again to their country. So our offerings that we offer, And our prayers that we proffer, Take them, Lord, to Thy praise, And be our help through all our days.

Then when the priest turns to the people and asks their prayers, kneel and pray for him. When the priest comes to the middle of the altar and says _sursum corda_, then lift up your heart and body, and praise God with the angels--

Sweet Jesu grant me now this That I may come to Thy bliss, There with angels for to sing, The sweet song of Thy loving, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, God Grant that it be thus.

Kneel when the canon of the mass begins, and offer thanksgivings for talents of nature, right mind, grace in perils, etc.; pray for pardon, grace, strength for the future; make intercessions for church, king, nobility, kinsmen, friends, servants, for the afflicted, sick, captive, poor, banished, dispossessed; pray for God’s ordering of the world, for good weather, that He will

The fruits of the earth make plenteous; All Thou seest best ordain for us, Such grace to us Thou send, That in our last end, When this world and we shall sever, Bring us to joy that lasts for ever. Amen.

At the sacring bell do reverence to Jesus Christ’s presence, holding up both hands, and looking upon the elevation;[241] and if you have nothing better prepared to say, say this which follows--

Loved be Thou, king, And blessed be Thou, king, Of all thy giftes good; And thanked be Thou, king, Jesu, all my joying, That for me spilt Thy blood. And died upon the rood. Thou give me grace to sing, The song of thy loving.

Pater noster. Ave maria. Credo.

After the sacring, pray for the dead, that they may have part in this mass:--

When the priest the elevation has made He will spread his arms on-brade,[242] Then is the time to pray for the dead, Father’s soul, mother’s soul, brother dear, Sister’s souls, sibmen, and other sere,[243] That us good would, or us good did, Or any kindness unto us kyd. And to all in purgatory pine This mass be mede and medicine; To all Christian souls holy Grant Thy grace and Thy mercy; Forgive them all their trespass, Loose their bonds and let them pass From all pine and care, Into the joy lasting evermore. Amen.

Listen for the priest to begin _Pater noster_, and be ready to answer at _temptationem_, _Sed libera nos a malo. Amen._ And then say the Lord’s Prayer to yourself as here given--

Fader our, that is in heaven, Blessed be Thy name to neven.[244] Come to us Thy kingdom. In heaven and earth Thy will be done. Our ilk-day bread grant us to-day, And our misdeeds forgive us aye, As we do them that trespass us Right so have mercy upon us, And lead us in no founding, But shield us from all wicked thing. Amen.

At the _Pax_ pray for peace and charity. Lastly, he is to pray for the grace of having heard the mass, making it a kind of spiritual communion--

Jesu my King, I pray to Thee, Bow down thine ears of pity, And hear my prayer in this place.

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We pray this mass us stand in stead Of shrift and als[245] of housel bread. And Jesu, for Thy woundes five, Teach us the way of right-wise live. Amen.

After all is over, he is to utter a final thanksgiving:--

God be thanked of all his works, God be thanked for priests and clerks, God be thanked for ilk a man. And I thank God all I can, etc.

Then there follows an example of the superstition with which sound doctrine was vitiated. Every step, this book teaches, that a man makes to attendance at mass is noted by the guardian angel, that day a man does not age nor become blind, he has God’s pardon if he goes to confession, and if he die it avails him as the viaticum.

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The Primers were books for the private devotion of the laity. They began at an early period, and from the fourteenth century onward they were often wholly or in part translated into English. The latest of them put forth by the king’s authority, in 1545, contained “the Kalendre, the king’s highnesse Injunction, the Salutation of the Angel, the Crede or Articles of the Faith, the Ten Commandments, certain graces, the matyns, the evensong, the complen, the seven [penitential] psalmes, the commendations, the psalmes of the passion, the passion of our Lorde, certeine godly prayers for sundry purposes.”

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The “Myrroure of our Ladye,” written for the nuns of Sion, is a translation of their services into English, with an explanation of their meaning. It became a favourite book of devotion to the laity, and was printed at an early period. The writer explains that he has thought it necessary to translate only a few of the psalms, because they may be found in Hampole’s Version, or in the English Bibles, a passing testimony to the accessibility of these books. The tone of the book may be indicated by one extract. “There is neither reading nor singing that may please God of itself, but after the disposition of the reader or singer, thereafter it pleaseth or displeaseth.”

“Dives and Pauper” was another of the popular English books, written probably about the middle of the fifteenth century, and early printed. It is in the form of a dialogue between a rich man and a poor man, in which the poor man occupies the place of teacher. It begins with an essay on Holy Poverty, and then goes on to an excursive exposition of the Ten Commandments; for example, under the first commandment, the author shows how imagery is lawful, and how images were ordained for three causes. 1. To stir men’s minds to think on Christ and the saints. 2. To stir their affections; and 3. To be a book for the unlearned. He explains that “worship to God and the Lamb, done before images, should properly not be done to such images.” “Christ is the cross that men creep to on Good Friday.” “For this reason,” he says, “be crosses by the way that when folk passing see the crosses they should think on Him that died on the cross, and worship Him above all thing.” And, similarly, he gives the rationale of a number of practices.

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The Anglo-Saxon poems attributed to Cædmon are said by the critics to be, in their present form, probably not of earlier date than the eleventh century. In any case, they are very remarkable productions of a school of native poetry; and we think it worth while to give some examples of them. The first is taken from the account of the Creation--

Here the eternal Lord, Head of Creation In the beginning shaped the universe, The sky upreared, and this fair spacious earth By His strong might was stablished evermore. As yet no verdure decked the new-born world; The ocean far and wide in deepest night Concealed the universe. Then o’er the deep Was swiftly borne on bright and radiant wing, The spirit of the Lord. The mighty King Bade Light come forth far o’er the spacious deep, And instantly His high behest was done, And holy Light shone brightly o’er the waste, Fulfilling His command. In triumph then He severed light from darkness, and to both The Lord of Life gave names; and holy light Firstborn of all created things, beauteous And bright, above all creatures fair, He called the Day ... Then time past o’er the quivering face of earth, And Even, first at God’s command dispelled The radiant Day, till onward rolled the dark And murky cloud which God Himself called Night, Chasing away the Even’s twilight gleam.

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Next we take the poet’s conception of Satan and his fall--

Of old The King eternal by His sovereign might Ordained ten Angel tribes, of equal rank, With beauty, power and wisdom richly dowered; And in the host Angelic, whom, in love, He moulded in His own similitude, He evermore reposed a holy trust To work His will in loving loyalty, And added by His grace, celestial wit And bliss unspeakable.

One of the host Angelic He endowed with peerless might And arch intelligence. To him alone The Lord of Hosts gave undisputed sway O’er all the Angel tribes, exalted high, Above all Principalities and Powers, That next to God omnipotent he stood O’er all created things, lone and supreme. So heavenly fair and beauteous was his form, Fashioned by God Himself, that by compare, Less glorious spirits grew dim; e’en as the stars In God’s fixed belt, pale in the glowing light Of nine resplendent spheres.

Long had he reigned, August Vicegerent of the Heavenly King, But for presumptuous pride which filled the heart With dire ingratitude and hostile thoughts Against the eternal throne. Nor was it hid from God’s omniscient eye That this archangel, though beloved still, Began to harbour dark presumptuous thoughts, And in rebellion rise against his God With words of pride and hate.

For thus he spake Within his traitorous heart:

“No longer I, With radiant form endowed and heavenly mien, Will brook subjection to a tyrant God, Or be His willing slave. Such power is mine, Such goodly fellowship, I well believe ’Tis greater e’en than God’s own following.” With many a word of bold defiance spake The Angel of Presumption; for he hoped In heaven to rear a more exalted throne And stronger, than the seats he now possessed. Then moved by traitorous guile he built in thought Vast palaces within the northern realm, And richer western plains of Paradise, And evermore he dwelled in doubtful mood Whether ’twere better in acknowledged war To risk his high estate, or prostrate fall Mock-loyal as his God’s inferior.

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When the All-Powerful in secret knew The great presumption of His Angel-chief,

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Heavenly Justice hurled him from his throne, And cast him headlong down the burning gulf Which leads to deepest hell.

For three long days And three successive nights the apostate falls Forgotten with his lone rebellious tribe.

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Then Satan sorrowing spake-- “This straitened place, O how unlike those heavenly seats where once In heaven’s high kingdom we as princes reigned.

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’Tis this most grieves My anxious heart, that earthborn man should hold My glorious seat and dwell in endless joy, While we in Hell’s avenging horrors pine.

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Here then lies Our only hope of adequate revenge-- To ruin, if we may, this new-born man, And on his race eternal woe entail.”

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Next a brief fragment from the account of Satan’s invasion of Paradise--

Without delay the Apostate Angel donned His glistening arms, and lightly on his head His helmet bound, secured with many a clasp, And started toward his fatal enterprise. High toward the fiery concave first he shot, A spiry column, bright with lurid flame, Showed where he took his flight. The gates of Hell Were quickly left behind as lion-like In strength, and desperate in fiendish mood He dashed the fire aside.

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Onward he took his way, and soon descried Far off the trembling light of this fair world.

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Ere long amid the shade Of Eden’s fair wide-spreading foliage He saw the Parents of Mankind; the man Whose comely form bespoke a wise design, And by his side, radiant with guileless youth, His God-created spouse. Above them spread Two trees rich laden with immortal fruit.[246]

The parallelism with the “Paradise Lost” is, in many places, so striking that we should conclude that Milton knew the work of his predecessor by so many centuries, if we were not assured that the work was unknown in Milton’s day.

The publications of the Early English Text Society have made known a considerable number of religious treatises, tracts, poems, and short pieces in the English language, which throw light upon the popular religion of the three centuries from the thirteenth to the fifteenth.

Legendary histories of saints and apocryphal stories indicate the general acceptance of the marvellous; addresses to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or by her to the soul, bear witness to the existence of a general veneration for the virgin mother, but the tone of them is more calm and chastened than the addresses in some of the popular Italian devotions; there are others which give sound teaching; and others which reveal the existence of a strain of profound and pathetic religious sentiment in the heart of the people.

Here from a MS. of the fifteenth century[247] is a poem of six stanzas, every stanza ending with the line, “Why art thou froward since I am merciable?” It begins--

Upon a cross nailed I was for thee, I suffered death to pay thy raunison;[248] Forsake thy synne for the love of Me, Be repentant, make plain confession. To contrite hearts I give remission; Be not despaired, for I am not vengeable; ’Gainst ghostly enemies, think on my Passion; Why art thou froward since I am merciable?

Another fifteenth-century poem, whose theme is taken from Solomon’s Song, the love of Christ for man’s soul, concludes every eight-line stanza with the text, _Quia amore langueo_.[249] Here are two stanzas--

Upon this mount I found a tree, Under this tree a man sitting; From head to foot wounded was he. His heart’s blood I saw bleeding; A seemly man to be a king, A gracious face to look unto; I asked him how he had paining,[250] He said _Quia amore langueo_.

I am true-love that false was never, My sister, man’s soul, I loved her thus, Because I would not from her dissever I left my kingdom glorious; I provide for her a palace precious; She fleeth, I follow, I sought her so. I suffered the pain piteous, _Quia amore langueo_.

I crowned her with bliss, and she me with scorn, I led her to chamber, and she me to die; I brought her to worship, and she me to scorn, I did her reverence, and she me villainy, etc.

Another favourite theme was a pathetic “Complaint of Christ,” in which He sets before man all that He has done for him, in creation, in providence, in redemption, and appeals against his unkindness. The refrain of every stanza is, “Why art thou to thy friend unkind?” Here is a stanza of it--

Man, I love thee! Whom lovest thou? I am thy friend, why wilt thou feign? I forgave, and thou Me slew; Who hath de-parted our love in twain? Turne to Me! Bethink thee how Thou hast gone amiss! Come home again! And thou shalt be as welcome now As he that synne never did stain. Man! bethink thee what thou art; From whence thou come, and whither thou move, For though thou to-day be in health and quarte,[251] To-morrow I may put thee adown. I forgave, and thou sayest nay, Why art thou to thy friend unkind? I have bought thy love full dear, Unkind! why forsakest thou mine? I gave thee mine heart and blood in fere, Unkind! why wilt thou not give Me thine?