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way from church, do go to church but once a year, on the SESSION three days before Lent, which they call Monorbo, and then rather to fill their bellies with what is given by Christians at that time, than to hear mass; and that there are others who content themselves with going to hear mass twice or thrice in the year, and so have no opportunity of being instructed in matters of faith and religion as they ought to be, nor of complying with their obligations, doth command all Christians living within two leagues of the church to go to mass at least once a month, and on the principal festivities of our Lord and lady, commanding the vicars also to constrain them to do it; and all such as are but one league, to hear mass once a fortnight, and such as are less than a league, to hear it every Sunday and holyday; commanding all that shall transgress herein, being obstinate, after the third admonition, to be thrown out of the church when they come thither; neither shall the priest go to their houses, or give them the casture, or blessing, until they shall come to hear mass, more or less, in the form aforesaid; and besides, they shall be punished by the prelate as he shall think good.

DECREE XIV.

FORBIDS HEATHEN MUSICIANS AND OTHER PAGANS TO REMAIN
IN CHURCH WHEN THE SACRAMENT IS ADMINISTERED.

Whereas upon several festivals of the church there are musicians called to the celebration thereof, according to the custom of the country, who are all heathens, small care being taken in what part of the church they are placed, or to hinder them from playing during the time of the holy sacrifice, at which no excommunicate person or infidel ought to be present, therefore the Synod doth command, that great care be taken not to suffer them to remain in the church after the creed is said, or the sermon, if there be one, is ended, that so they may not behold the holy sacrament; the vicar shall also be careful to drive all heathens who may come upon such occasion, from the doors and windows of the church.

DECREE XV.

MASSES TO BE SAID FOR THE DEAD.

Whereas there is nothing that is so great a help to the souls of the faithful that are in the fire of purgatory as the holy

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SESSION sacrifice of the mass, of which there is no memory remaining in this diocese; that holy sacrifice having been instituted for the health and remedy of the living and of the dead: wherefore the Synod doth exhort all the faithful of this bishopric to accustom themselves to procure masses to be said for the souls of their deceased friends, and to leave something by will that they may have masses said for their own souls, which will be much more profitable for them than the feasts that they used to make for their kindred and others invited to their funerals; which custom shall be left off, and instead thereof, they shall give a dole to the poor, which is also very profitable to the souls of the departed. And that the decree relating to such masses may have its due effect, the Synod doth command, that all that shall be found to have died worth two thousand fanams, and have left nothing for a certain number of masses to be said for their souls, shall bave so much taken out of their estates before they shall be divided among the heirs, as shall procure the saying of five masses for their souls, which shall be deposited by the executors in the hands of the churchwardens, by them to be distributed among five priests, that they may be the sooner said; and where there are more than five priests, the alms shall be given to the five eldest, there not being sufficient to divide among them all; and where there is only the vicar of the church, the whole shall be given to him: which custom of procuring masses to be said for the souls of the faithful departed this life, as it is used in the universal church, so it is what this Synod is extremely desirous to introduce into this bishopric, wherein it has been totally disused, recommending this matter earnestly to the preachers and confessors, to persuade all Christians to it in their sermons and confessions, and to the vicars to do the same in their admonitions.

SESSION VI.

OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND EXTREME UNCTION.

The fourth sacrament is that of penance, in which the acts of the penitent are, as it were, the matter, and are distinguished into these three parts, contrition of heart, confession of the mouth, and satisfaction for sins, according to the direction of the confessor. It belongs to the contrition of the heart, that

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the penitent be sorry at his soul for the sins that he has com- SESSION mitted, and detesting them, is firmly resolved not to commit them any more: which contrition, though it sometimes happen to be perfect through charity, so as to reconcile one to God even before he has actually received the sacrament of confession, yet it can never be perfect, nor a means of reconciliation with God, if not attended with a readiness and purpose of mind to confess those very sins which it is conversant about; such sins being no less subject than others, to the keys and the engagements to confession. It belongs to the confession of the mouth, that the penitent confess himself entirely to his own priest, as to all the sins that he remembers, using all due diligence according to the length of the time, since he last confessed himself; and this confession is not to be only of sins in general, nor only of the species of them, but of every sin in particular, and as far as the penitent is able to remember of their number; declaring withal, all the aggravating circumstances, and all such as change the species; in a word, all mortal sins, how secret soever, though only in thoughts and wicked desires; as also all faults committed against the two last commandments; "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife: thou shalt not covet any thing that is another's;" such sins being at some times more dangerous for the soul, than others that are open; all which we are commanded to do by the Divine law; our Saviour when he ascended into heaven, leaving the priests for his vicars upon earth, and constituting them judges, before whom all mortal sins committed by Christians were to be brought, that by the power of the keys which he committed to them to forgive or retain sins, they may pronounce sentence, which cannot be just and righteous, neither can the punishments they impose be equal or proportionated to the nature of the faults, without their having a full knowledge of the same, as of the matter that they pass sentence upon; which knowledge cannot be had but by the penitents confessing all and every mortal sin, whereon judgment is to pass, not only in general, but in specie and number, making mention of every such sin in particular, with all its necessary circumstances, that so a just sentence of absolution or retention may be pronounced upon them. And as to venial sins which we frequently fall into, and for which we are not excluded from the grace of God, though the confessing of, and being absolved from them, is very profitable to the soul, yet we are not under any such precise obligation of confessing them, there being other ways by which they may be pardoned, so that it is no sin not to discover them. The third part of penitence, is, satisfaction for sins according to the judgment of the confessor; which satisfaction is chiefly performed by prayer, fasting and

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SESSION alms, the penitent being obliged to comply with the penance imposed upon him by the priest, who being as a judge in the place of God, ought to impose what he thinks to be necessary, not only with respect to the amendment of sin for the future, but chiefly with respect to the satisfaction and penance of past sins. The form of this sacrament is, I absolve thee;' to which necessary words the church has thought fit to add the words following, 'from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' There are also some prayers which the priest saith immediately after over the penitent, which, though they are not essential to the form, yet are very profitable and healthful for the penitent. Now by pronouncing the form, not only all the sins that are confessed, but all those likewise which after a due diligence and examination of the conscience do not occur to the memory, so as to be discovered, all such being included in the said confession, are all pardoned; though with an obligation of confessing them, if they should ever after come to be remembered, sins being as it were chains to the soul, from which it is delivered by the absolution of the priest, which is applicable to such, as by virtue of contrition joined with a desire of confessing, have obtained pardon of God for their sins, which they were under an obligation to have confessed: as also to those sins which were never

confessed, because not remembered after a due diligence, and to those likewise which having been once lawfully confessed and truly pardoned, are by the penitent of his own accord, and for the greater penance confessed and submitted to the keys several times. The minister of this sacrament is a priest, who hath authority to absolve, and is either the ordinary, as the prelates, or such as are commissioned and approved of by them. The effect of this sacrament is, the absolution and pardon of sins, and for that reason it is by the doctors properly called the table after shipwreck,' because the grace which was given to us in baptism, being lost by the commission of mortal sin, by which we make shipwreck thereof, and of all the other virtues and gifts, which together therewith were poured down upon us, there remains no other remedy or means whereby we can be saved, but only by the plank of penance, or the sacrament of confession; for that without this either actually received, or firmly purposed according to the com mand of holy mother church with contrition, wherein such a purpose is always included, we cannot be saved nor enter into the kingdom of heaven; for which reason this sacrament ought to be much reverenced and frequented, as the only remedy that sinners have for all their evils.

DECREE I.

THE SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION, THE NEGLECT OF WHICH
DECLARED A MORTAL SIN.

Whereas an entire sacramental confession is of Divine right, and necessary to all those who after baptism fall into any mortal sin, and holy mother church doth command all faithful Christians who are come to the use of reason, upon pain of mortal sin, to confess at least once a year in the time of Lent, or at Easter, when all that are capable are bound likewise to receive the most holy sacrament of the altar, declaring all that neglect to do it, to be excommunicate; and notwithstanding, this precept has not hitherto been in use in this bishopric, in which no Christian has ever confessed upon obligation, and a great many not at all, which was occasioned through their ignorance of this healthful precept, and of the necessity of this Divine sacrament, this church having been governed by schismatical Chaldæns and Nestorian heretics, the particular enemies of this sacrament, being the cause of their being totally unacquainted with the virtue, efficacy, and necessity thereof. Some not using it all, others being persuaded by the devil into a vain and superstitious opinion, that if they should confess themselves, they should die immediately, all which having been made known to the most illustrious Metropolitan in his first visitation of these churches, he at that time persuaded a great many that had never done it before to confess themselves, having undeceived them as to the unreasonable and pernicious mistakes which they lay under, therefore the Synod the more to further this, doth declare that it is the duty of every faithful Christian, upon penalty of mortal sin, to observe the precept of the church concerning confession, at the time by her determined and founded on the Divine precept of confession, for all such as are fallen from grace, by the commission of any mortal sin, and doth command all faithful Christians, men and women, that are arrived at the years of discretion, to confess themselves to their own vicar, or to such priests as are licensed by the prelate to hear confessions, at the time of Lent, or against Easter, and that whosoever shall not have complied with this precept, or is not confessed sometime betwixt the beginning of Lent, and the second Sunday after Easter, shall be in the church declared excommunicate by the vicar without waiting for any order from the prelate to do it, until he has effectually confessed himself, and has undergone the punish

SESSION
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