THE EPICURES FAST: OR: A SHORT DISCOURSE, DISCOVERING THE LICENCIOVSnesse of the ROMAN Church in her religious FASTS.  
BY HENRY MASON, Parson of St. Andrews Vndershaft, London.  
LONDON: Printed by G. P. for john Clarke, and are to be sold at his Shop, under St. Peter's Church in Cornhill. 1626.   

TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL, Dr. JOHN KING, one of the Canons of Christ-Church in Oxford, and second Son to the worthy Prelate, Dr. KING, late Bishop of LONDON. (* ⁎ *)  
Good Sir,  
I Did heretofore offer to your 
* Dr. Hen●y King.  elder Brother a little Book of the right use of Fasting: and now I bring unto yourself one much less, of the abuses of Fasting. My intention in both is the same; to testify towards your deceased FATHER, now with the Lord, my thanks, service, duty, and whatsoever a Domestic could owe to a loving, wise and virtuous Lord: and withal to express, according to my power, the love and affection which I shall ever bear to his surviving Posterity; praying also, that you who have received from him life and being, may follow him, and, if it may be, even exceed him in his virtues. Which intention and desire of mine, if you shall please to accept of in this small Treatise, as your Brother did in the other; I shall esteem it in you both, as a token of your Father's continued love unto me in his succeeding Issue.  
My purpose in this small Treatise is, to lay open the several abuses, which in these later years have corrupted this holy exercise of fasting, and made it both odious to God, and less passeable among men. And this I did for two causes. First, to admonish good Christians, that they beware of formality & empty shows in religious duties: and more especially, that when they fast, they be not like the Hypocrites of our time, who in so foul a manner have defiled so good a work. Secondly, I undertook this Discovery, thereby to detect the superstition & the pride of the Roman Church; in hope that some, even amongst them, may be moved to lay these things to heart. And first, for their superstition, that is hereby detected, that neglecting the power and virtue of a religious Fast, and whatsoever hath any goodness or efficacy in it, yet they do place religion and merit in the empty name, and the bare outside, which they only have retained. And again for their pride, that appeareth in this, that finding many corruptions crept into their practice of fasting, contrary to the custom both of Scriptures and the ancient Church, as themselves cannot but confess; yet they had rather defend their gross practices, then acknowledge that the Church of Rome can do any thing amiss. Which two foul faults, as they are usual with that Church in other things; so they are palpable in this exercise of fasting, as will clearly appear by the particulars in this ensuing Treatise. Would GOD, our seduced Countrymen, 
Rom. 10.2.  who have a zeal of GOD, but not according to knowledge, would hereby learn, that all are not ancient customs that carry the old name: but that the Church of Rome can retain the titles of Antiquity, when she hath utterly abolished the things which were afore time meant by them. And my prayer to God is for such among them, as desire to know the truth to salvation, that God at length will open their eyes, to discern between things that differ; and will move their hearts to consider how unsafe it is for them to commit their souls to those men's guiding, who make the corrupt practice of their Church, the unquestionable rule of their Doctrine. And with this Prayer I end my Preface; commending myself to your love, my labours to your acceptance, and you and all yours to GOD'S blessing and gracious protection. june 12. 1626.  
Your loving and obliged Friend, HENRY MASON.   

To the Reader.  
IN the Authorities alleged, beside the quoting of the Books, Chapters, numbers, etc. I have most times named the leaf or page, where the words are to be found. I did it for 2. causes. 1. That when I should have occasion to review any Authority, I might with the more speed be directed to the place. 2. That if there should happen any error in the number of the Books, Chapters, etc. the addition of the leaf or page might be an help to amend it. And because the Reader may make the like benefit of these quotations, if he chance upon the same Impression that I have used; I thought it not amiss to specify what Edition I followed in the several Authors: Which is, as followeth.  

josephi Angles Flores theologic. Qq. Part. 1. in 4o. Burgis. 1585.  
Antiquitates Liturgicae. A Book in three tomes in 8o. without the name of the Author, Printer, place or year: but it was licenced by Petrus Lintrensis of Douai, 1604. and granted with privilege to Bellerus the Douai Printer, by the Archdukes, 1603.  
Io. Azorij Institut. part. 1. Coloniae. 1602.  
Bellarmini Controversiae. in fol. Paris. 1608.  
Beyerlinck. Promptuar. Moral. part. 3. Colon. in 8ᵒ. 1616.  
Martin. Bonacinae Opera in folio. Lugduni, 1624.  
Cajetani Summula in 8o. Paris. 1539.  
Cassiani Opera in 8o. Duaci, 1616.  
Euseb. Histor. Graecolat. in fol. Coloniae Allobrogum, 1612.  
Anton. Fernandes Examen Theologiae in 8o. Colon. 1621.  
joan. Filesaci Opera, in 8o. Paris. 1614  
Vincentij Filliucij Morales quaest. Lugduni, 1622.  
Barthol. Fumi Aurea armilla, 8o. Lugduni, 1596.  
Matthaei Galeni Catecheses' in 4 to. Lugd. 1593.  
jac. de Graffijs Decisiones aureae in 4 to. Antwerp. 1604.  
S. Hieronymi Opera. Paris, 1609.  
joan. Hofmeisteri Loci communes, in 16o. Paris. 1573.  
Hieron. Llamas Summa ecclesiastica in 8o. Mogunt. 1605.  
Cornel. à Lapide, in Prophetas majores. Antwer. 1621.  
Leonar. Leffius, de justitia & jure. Antw. 1612.  
Guliel. Lindani Panoplia. Colon. 1575.  
jodoci Lorichij Thesaurus. Friburgi. 1609.  
Barthel. Medinaes Instructie Confessari●rum in 8o. Venet. 1601.  
joan. Medinae Cod. de jejunio. 4o. Brixiae. 1606.  
Alphon. Pisanus de Continentia & Abstinentia. 8o. Colon. 1579.  
Valer. Reginaldi Praxis fori poenit. fol. Coloniae. 1622.  
Emman. Roderiquez Summa Casuum. Colon. 1620.  
Franc. Toleti Instr. Sacerd. 8o. Rothomagi, 1609.  
Greg. de Valentia in Thomam. Venet. 1608.    

THE EPICURES FAST.  
Our Saviour, in his Sermon on the Mount, among other lessons tending to Religion and an holy life, doth instruct his Hearers in the right use of Fasting. 
(a) Mat. 6.16, 17, 18.  When ye fast, saith he, be not as the Hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast: Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, etc. In which words our Lord doth two things. 1. He giveth a Caveat, to beware of an abuse in fasting, such as the Scribes and Pharises did defile this holy work with; Be not as the Hypocrites, of a sad countenance, etc. And secondly, he giveth us counsel to take the right way in fasting; But thou,— anoint thy head, etc. According to which example of my Lord and Master, I did heretofore endeavour to give some rules for the right use of fasting; and now I am led by the same example, to give warning of some abuses that may defile it. For, the Scribes and Pharises of our time, I mean the Doctors of the Church of Rome, have by their doctrine much more corrupted this holy exercise, than the Scribes and Pharises in our Saviour's time did corrupt it by their practice. And for the detection of these abuses, I have thought it requisite to consider of these two points in the Popish doctrine of fasting.  

1. How the Church of Rome doth describe a Fast.  
2. What Indulgence or liberty they give and take, contrary to the custom of Scriptures, practice of the ancient Church, and their own rules of Fasting.   

CHAP. I. The Description of a Fast, given by Popish Doctors.  
THe first point considerable, is, How the Church of Rome doth describe a Fast; or wherein the nature of a Fast, according to their doctrine, doth consist. The answer whereto is to be fetched from their own words and writings. And from thence for this purpose I note these 2. things.  
1. They distinguish the several sorts of fasting, that it may be known what kind of Fast it is, whereof they speak. So Bellarmine doth; 
(a) Accipitur vox [ieiunium] quatuor modis, etc. Bellar. de bon. oper. in party. l. 2. cap. 1. §. Igitur nomen.  This word [jejunium] or a Fast, saith he, is taken four ways, out of which do arise, as it were, four sorts of Fasts; 1. a spiritual Fast, 2. a moral Fast, 3. a natural Fast, and 4. an Ecclesiastical Fast. The spiritual Fast is an abstinence from sin: The moral is temperance and sobriety in diet: The natural is an abstinence from all meat and drink: And the Ecclesiastical is such an abstinence as the Church doth prescribe. And of this last kind of Fast only, is all the question in this place. Thus, or to this effect, speaketh Bellarmine. And to the same purpose, but more distinctly, speaketh Gregory de Valentia, another jesuite: 
(a) Greg. de Valentia in secundam secundae, Disput. 9 q. 2. punct. 1. in initio. pa. 1751. A.  The Schooledoctors (saith he) do use to distinguish of four kinds of Fasts. The first is called jeiunium generale, a general Fast, which is an abstinence from all unlawful pleasures, or sinful delights. The second is called jeiunium naturae seu naturale; a natural Fast, which consisteth in an utter abstinence from meat & drink, in the sense that he is said to be fasting, who hath taken no meat or drink at all, that day. The third kind may be called jeiunium morale, a moral Fast, which consisteth in a right and moderate use of meat and drink, according to the rules of sobriety or temperance. The fourth kind is jeiunium aliud quoddam peculiar, a certain peculiar kind of fasting, which is not to be used of all men, nor at all times; and it consisteth both in a longer forbearing of meat and drink, than the common rule of temperance doth require; and also in a more sparing and strict or rigid use of meat and drink, then is necessary by the common rules of sobriety. And this kind of abstinence is most properly called a Fast: and is that (saith he) which is commended in Scriptures, and acknowledged by Caluin and Kemnitius. And when it is kept by the rule and prescript of the Church, it is called by the Schooledoctors, jeiunium Ecclesiasticum seu sacrum, the Churches Fast, or an holy Fast. And this is it which all sides do mean, when they entreat or dispute of a Christian Fast. And to like purpose speak others of them; whom I shall not need to allege: because by this that hath been said out of these two learned jesuites, it is evident, what they mean by the name of a Fast, namely this Fast of the Church, or this peculiar and straight kind of abstinence and fasting, as it is prescribed and practised by the Church.  
2. Secondly, having distinguished the kinds of fasting, and thence singled out that which fitted their purpose, in the next place they do describe or declare the nature of this Ecclesiastical Fast, and tell us what are the essential or necessary properties of it. And for this purpose, Bellarmine defineth this Fast to be 
(a) Bellarm. de bonis oper. in partic. l. 2. c. 1. §. jeiunium Ecclesiast.  Abstinentia cibi, secundùm Ecclesiae regulam assumpta; an abstinence from meat, undertaken according to the rule of the Church, or that rule, which the Church doth prescribe to be observed in a Fast. And the things required by the Church's rule, he 
(b) Ibid. §. vlt.  telleth us, are three: 1.  qui jeiunat, semel tantùm in die cibum sumat; That he who fasteth, do take meat but once only in the day. 2.  una illa refectio sit coena, non prandium; that that one meal or refection be a supper, not a dinner. 3.  habeatur ciborum delectus; that there be observed a choice of meats, especially that men forbear flesh, when they fast according to the Orders of the Church. Thus Bellarmine. And Valentia he noteth 
(a) Lo. citat. pag. 1753. C.  3. things as essential to this Fast: 1. Quòd per illud diutiùs quàm exigit communis regula temperantiae, abstinetur à cibo; that men do then forbear meat longer than the common rule of temperance doth require. 2. Quòd in ipso usu cibi, abstinetur à quibusdam escis, etc. that when men do eat, they abstain from some certain meats, flesh, eggs, and milke-meates. 3. Quòd hujusmodi abstinentia, tum quoad diuturnitatem, tum etiam quoad ciborum qualitatem, ordinatur ad finem ipsum temperantiae, qui est edomatio carnis, & refraenatio concupiscentiae; that this abstinence, both for the continuance of it, and for the quality of the meat at the end of it, be referred and ordained for the taming of the flesh, and the bridling of lust, that it do not too violently withstand reason. These things Valentia requireth, & thence frameth an essential definition of a Fast, consisting on these three things, as the essential parts or properties of it. And Pisanus, another jesuite, agreeing with his fellows for the substance, describeth this kind of Fast thus; 
(b) Est igitur ieiunium abstinentia quaedam arctior, qua home ab omnibus cibis, aut saltem à quibusdam lautioribus se abstinet, qua et semel duntaxat in die, nempe post consuetam prandtorū horam corpus reficit Pisan. de Abstinent. ca 1. pa. 98.  It is a straighter kind of abstinence, [to wit, than the rules of temperance do require] by which a man doth forbear all meats, or at least some of the finer or more dainty meats; in which abstinence also he doth feed or refresh his body but once only in the day, namely, after the accustomed hour of dinner. Thus he; and so do others more; who though they may vary in their manner of speech, or in some circumstantial point, yet do for the most part speak in the like manner, of the nature of this Fast, as these three jesuites do.  
In which sayings and Descriptions of theirs, I desire the Reader to take notice of two things by the way, which being well remembered, may serve for further use hereafter.  
1. That these Descriptions are in part so fitted to their own Fasts, as that they disagree with the Fasts both mentioned in Scriptures, and practised in the Primitive Church: as when they define a Fast to be an abstinence from meat only: for so it is used in the Church of Rome: but it was not so in the ancient Church of God. For the practice of God's people in the Scriptures, and of the ancient Fathers in the Primitive Church, was as well to forbear drink as meat, during the time of their abstinence: as hereafter may appear more fully.  
2. That these Descriptions of a Fast, are in other things so fitted to the practice of Antiquity, that they do condemn the Fasts of the Roman Church: as for example, When they say, that in an holy Fast, men must have but one refection, and that must be a supper, not a dinner; & that both their abstinence, and their choice of meats when they eat, must be such, as may tame the flesh, and bridle the lusts of it. For all these things are most true in true and sincere Fasts, such as the Scriptures do commend, and the ancient Church did practise; but in Popish Fasts they find no place at all: as shall be manifest (God willing) in the due place.  
And the reason of this medley or mixture of ancient and latter customs in their definition of a Fast, I take to be this; because our new Roman Doctors do so describe fasting, as their elder Schooledoctors, Thomas and Hales, had done before them: and these men did so describe a Fast, as the Roman Church did then practice and prescribe it. And their custom then was, to drink at all times, but not to eat save once in the day, and not sooner than three of the clock in the afternoon. For as for the noontide dinner, and the evening Collation, things now allowable in a Popish Fast, they are abuses of later times, since Hales and Thomas were departed this life. And this shall suffice to be said of the first point, namely how the Roman Church doth define a religious Fast.  

THe next point to be considered is, What Indulgence or liberty they take and grant, contrary to the practice of Scriptures, customs of the ancient Church, and these rules of their own. And this may be considered or observed in five particulars: 1. In their choice of meats. 2. In the number of their Refections. 3. In the time of their eating, or breaking up of their Fast. 4. In the quantity of their meat and drink. And 5. in their dispensations with the Rules or Laws of Fasting.    

CHAP. II. Choice of meats in a Popish Fast.  
OF the five particulars, the first is, their choice of meats. Concerning which, I note these things for the present purpose.  
I. They do not require in any Fast of theirs, a total abstinence from all meat and drink. For first they define 
(a) jeiunium est abstmentia quae dam ar●●ior, quae homo ab omnibus cibis, aut saltem à quibusdam lautioribus se abstinet, etc. Pisan. de Abstinent. cap. 1. pag. 98.  a Fast to be an abstinence from all meats, or at least from the more delicate or dainty meats. In which speech I note two things. 1. That they allow a total abstinence in Fasts: and therefore the Fasts in the reformed Churches are in this respect warrantable, even our enemies being judges. 2. That in their Fasts it is held sufficient abstinence, if a man forbear some meats, though he feed on others. Secondly, they allow men any sort of drink in the time of their fasting. For, 
(b) De cibi tantum, non de poeûs abstinentia datum est praecepeum ecclesiasticum. Reginal. prax. fori Poenitent. l. 4. num. 173. pag. 155.  the precept of the Church for fasting, was made and meant of abstinence from meat only, and not from drink; saith Reginaldus. And Azorius, 
(c) Ecclesiae ieiuniun est, quo non à potione, sed à cibo abstinemus. Azor. Instit. part. 1. l. 7. c. 8. pa. 555. 1. joseph. Angel's Flor. in 4. Sententiarun, part. 1. de jejunio, q. 9 Difficult. 2. pag. 433. Alijque passim.  The Fast of the Church (saith he) is that, in which we do abstain, not from drink, but from meat. And by this it appeareth, that they do not require a total abstinence in their Fasts, either from all meats, or from any drink.  
II. They do allow of wine, hot waters, and any other strong drinks on their fasting day. So Azorius saith, 
(a) Consentiens est opinio, potion● vini, five manè ante prandium, sive post prandi●● vesperè ieiunium non soluere. Azo. Instit. part. 1. l. 7. c. 10. q. 7. pag. 562.  It is an uniform opinion of Divines and Canonists, that the drinking of Wine, whether it be in the morning before dinner, or after dinner in the evening, doth not break a man's fast. And so say others also: but it will be needless to allege them, seeing the jesuite saith, that it is an opinion, in which they generally agree.  
III. They allow Electuaries and spices, and whatsoever else doth principally serve to help infirmity, or to further digestion. So Lessius saith, 
(b) Insertur secundò non probiberi usum Electuariorum & conditerum, etc. Lesle. de Iust. & jure, l. 4. c. 2. nu. 10. pag. 719.  that the use of Electuaries and condited things is not forbidden in the time of a Fast. And Reginaldus, having said that a man breaketh not his Fast by drinking, addeth, 
(c) Nec etiam frangitur sumpts one Electuariorun, nisi sumantur in fraudem ieiunij. Reginald. l. 4. nu. 173. pa. 155. v. Bellar. de jeiun. cap. 1. pag. 168, 169.  Neither is the Fast broken by taking of Electuaries. And because no man should be ignorant how fare they stretch the use of this word, he saith, they mean by it, 
(d) N̂ec itêm Electuariae. Quo nomine Palud. ipse quid intelligat, exprimit his verbis; Dico antem omnia buiusmodi, quae consiseverunt, sicut species, sumi post prandium ad invandam digestionem, etc. Reginald. l. 4. num. 152. pag. 151.  all manner of things which are used, as spices are, to be eaten after meals, to help digestion. And to like purpose josephus' Angles, 
(e) Ea, quae per modum medicinae tradisolent, quanquam saepe accipiantur, Ecclesiae ieiunium minime soluunt. Haec conclusio intelligitur non solum de syrupis & pharmacis, verum etiam de quibuscunque alijs condimēti● & Electuarijs, quae verè per modum medicinae assumuntur, etc. joseph. Angles in 4. Sencent. part. 1. q. 9 art. 2. Difficult. 3. pag. 434.  Those things (saith he) which are given by way of medicine, though they be often taken on a fasting day, do not break the Fast of the Church. He addeth, that this Conclusion is not only meant of syrups and physical drugs, but also of all other preserved things and electuaries, which are truly taken by way of medicine. Besides, in their Fasts, they say, that abstinence from meat only is required, not from drink nor medicine. And what they mean by these words, they explain in this manner: 
(a) Id quod principaliter institutum est ad nutritionem, dicitur cibus:— id verò quod principaliter facit ad bonam nutrimenti dispositionem● & ciborum digeflionem, vocatur potus: & id quod principaliter est contra morbos,— vocatur medicina. Reginald. l. 4. nu. 125. p. 147.  That which is principally ordained for nourishment, that is called Meat; that which is principally for the good disposition of the food, and the digestion of meats, that is called Drink; and that which is principally against diseases and infirmities, that is called Medicine. And so in the conclusion, Spicery, Confections, Electuaries, Preserves, and such like juncates, commonly used at the end of meals, these they approve as lawful and warantable enough, without any danger of breaking their Fast, though they be used many times in one day, and without any just cause of infirmity in the party that taketh them: for by their doctrine, if the things so taken be ordinarily meant for drink or medicine, they may lawfully be used by any man, whether for this or for other ends.  
FOUR Though 
(b) Secunda propositio est, in Quadragesimali ieiunio prohibitum esse non tantùm carnium usum, sed etiam eorum quae ex carne originem habent; ut lactis, butyri, casei, ovorum: in alijs autem ieiunijs, prohibitum tantùm esse carnium usum. Reginald. l. 4. nu. 144 pag. 150.  in Lent time, they forbidden the use of eggs, cheese, butter, etc. yet in other Fasts, the use of flesh only is forbidden by their Laws. So Reginaldus saith, and he giveth this reason for it; because non datur in lure textus, there is no Text in the Law, to forbid other meats in their ordinary Fasts. And to like purpose others of them speak also; unless (as some add) the custom of some place do perhaps require more than the Canon of the Church doth. And so, when all is laid together, it is clear, that the Church of Rome in her ordinary Fasts, doth forbid no other meat but flesh only; and in her strictest Fasts, alloweth the best wines, and the finest juncates, and the hottest spices, and whatsoever else is of the like nature. And this is it which they teach for their choice of meats.  
But herein they swerve not a little, both from the practice of Antiquity, and the right uses of a religious Fast. And first, that they swerve from the practice of Antiquity, recorded as well in the Scriptures, as in the writings of the ancient Fathers, may appear by these two considerations. 1. That the Ancients, during the time of their abstinence, did forbear all as well drink as meat, not allowing themselves for that time any kind of sustenance. To this purpose it is that Moses his Fast in the Mount is thus described; He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. Exod. 34.28. and Deut. 9.9, 18. And so, when David fasted for Abner, So do God to me, (saith he) and more also, if I taste bread or aught else till the Sun be down. 2. Sam. 3.35. And when Esther appointed the jews to fast, Fast ye for me (said she) and neither eate nor drink three days, night nor day. Esther 4.16. And the King of Niniveh proclaiming a public Fast through the City, Let neither man nor beast, (said he) heard nor flock taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water. jon. 3.7. Nor can there be found any example in the Scriptures, in which any drink was used or allowed during their fasting day, till eventide, when their Fast broke up. For as for that place of Daniel, where he saith of himself, I was mourning three full weeks: I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, etc. Dan. 10.2, 3. which the Doctors of Rome do so frequently urge for their choice of meats, it maketh nothing for the purpose. For Daniel did not fast with those meats, but rather broke his Fast with them: I mean, that daniel's Fast was a total abstinence from all meat and drink for the whole day; and the course far there spoken of, was the diet that he used at night, when his days Fast was ended: as I have proved 
* Treatise of Fasting, cap. 1.  elsewhere. And as this was the practice of holy men in Scriptures, so the like was the practice of religious men mentioned in ancient Writers. Eusebius relating the History of certain religious men about Alexandria in Egypt, telleth out of Philo, 
(a) Cibum aut potionem ante solis occasum nemo illorum capit. Euseb. Hist. l. 2. c. 16.  that none of them did take any either meat or drink before the Sun setting. And Cassian prescribing rules of abstinence for the religious men of his time, 
(b) Hanc inprimis cautionem sibimet indicat, ut non potûs quicquam, non osûs ulla oblectatione devictus, ante flationem legitimam, communemque refectionis horam, extra mensam percipere sibimet prorsus indulgeat. Cassian. Institut. l. 5. cap. 20. p. 216.  Let every one (saith he) impose upon himself this caution, that he do not any way permit himself to taste any drink or meat, before the set time of fasting be accomplished, and the usual hour of feeding be come. By all which it may appear, that the ancient custom of God's servants in their Fasts was, to forbear all, as well drink as meat, during the time of their abstinence. Secondly, It is to be considered, that the Ancients, when they did refresh themselves on their fasting days, which was in the evening, they used not wines, nor spices, nor juncates, but course and unpleasant fare, such as might at once both refresh nature and afflict it. So Daniel speaking of his diet, while the days of his fasting continued, saith of himself, 
(c) Dan. 10.3.  I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth. Where we may note, that Daniel upon his fasting days abstained as well from strong drink and fine bread, as he did from flesh. And therefore, as before I shown that this place doth make nothing for Popish choice of meats; so hereby it appeareth, that it doth utterly overthrew it. And so in the ancient Church of Christ, St. Hierom teaching Nepotianus the true properties of an holy Fast, 
(a) Sint tibi pura, casta, simplicia, moderata, & non superstitiosa iciunia. Quid prodest oleo non vesci, & molestias quasdam difficultatesque ciborum quaerere, caricas, piper, nuces, palmarum fructus, similam, mel, piflacia? Tota hortorum cultura vexatur ut cibario non vescamur pane: et dum delicias sectamur, à regno Coelorum retrabimur. Hieron. ep. 2. add Nepotian. pa. 18. A.  Let thy Fasts (saith he) be pure, chaste, sincere, moderate, and not superstitious. For what availeth it (saith he) to forbear oil, and to seek after fare fetched and dear bought niceties, as dry Figgs, Pepper, Nuts, Dates, Simnels, Honey, Pistace nuts? Wel-dressed Gardens are tumbled over, that we may not feed on brown bread: and while we follow after delicates, we are drawn back from the Kingdom of Heaven. And if this holy Father do not allow of these so mean delicates in comparison, how would he thunder against sweet wines, and sweet meats, marchpanes, preserved stuff, and condited juncates, all of them very warrantable on a Roman fasting day? And this custom of the ancient Church, is so clear and well known to all that know any thing in Antiquity, that the Writers of the Church of Rome do confess it to be true. The Author of the Book called Antiquitates Liturgicae, saith, 
(b) Antiq. Liturg. to. ● feriâ quarta quatuor temporum. cap. 1. pag. 101.  [Fuit olim par ratio vini, quae carnis;] There was anciently the same reaso of wine, that was of flesh. And not long after he addeth, that the meats forbidden by the Canons in time of fasting, were delicate meats, either by nature, or made such by Arte. 
(c) Postremum à quo abstinere inbent canon's, sunt cibi delicati, sive naturâ, sive arte conditi. Ibid. pag. 105.  Lindan saith, that 
(a) Jeiunia nostra, quae— dum olei stammas, vini aestum, omnisque aromatum generis ignes Helluoni infarciunt stomacho, veteribus Christianis omnino fuisse non modò incognita, sed & intolerabilia, atque adeò abominanda, pijs omnibus vetera cogitantibus arbitramur notius, quàm ut de ea re ulla sint verba profundenda. Lind. Panopl. l. 3. c. 11. pag. 89.  Wines, and Spices, and Confections, now familiar in their Fasts, would have seemed intalerable to the ancient Church. Beyerlynck saith, that 
(b) Abstinebant illi piscibus, omnique potu, qui inebriare potest: nunc in solis carnibus ciborum delectus fere consistit. Beyerlinck. prompt. in festo Cinerum, tex. 3. pag. 64.  they (the Ancients) did abstain from fish, and all drink that might overturn the brain; but that now among them, their choice of meats consisteth almost in flesh only. Reginaldus saith, 
(c) Licet vinum olim fuerit de numero rerum quae in die ieiunij sumi prohibentur, nunc tamen non esse. Reginald. l. 4. num. 151. pag. 151.  Though wine anciently was in the number of those things which are forbidden on fasting days, yet it is not now so. Matthaeus Galenus saith, 
(d) Vinum vix puerperis concedebatur: sanos autem & valentes illudgustare in Quadragesima & quartis, sextisque feriis, nefas fuisse testantur Epiphan. Timotheus & Balsamon. Mat. Galenus Catech. 93. pag. 291.  Wine was scarce permitted to women in childbed: but that men in health should taste it in Lent, or on Wednesdays and Fridays, was held as an heinous thing. And Pisanus, 
(e) Veteres Canon's non solum vinum, sed etiam siceram interdixere, & omne quod inebriare potest, & mulsam ac ceruisiam: olera tantum concedebant in esum, seclusis etiam ipsis piscibus. Pisan. de Abstinent. cap. 14. pag. 162.  The ancient Canons (saith he) did not only forbid wine, but strong drink, and Meath, and Ale, and all that might overcome the brain: they only allowed herbs for meat; fishes being forbidden also. And Hofmeister citeth a saying out of Theophilus Alexandrinus, that 
(f) Qui legum praecepta custodiunt, ignorant vinum in ieiunijs, carnium esum repudiant. Hof. Loc. come. cap. 17. fol. 176. pa. 2.  they who keep the rules of the Laws, know not any wine in their Fasts. It is a clear case then, that the Ancients did forbear wine and strong drink, and pleasant meats, when they refreshed themselves upon their fasting days. And consequently, the choice of meats, which the Church of Rome doth make, is most opposite to the practice of God's people in elder and purer times.  
Secondly, the choice that the Church of Rome doth make of her meats for a fasting day, doth overthrew the very use of a religious Fast. For by their own definitions and determinations, the use of a right Fast is for afflicting of the body, and subduing of lust, and elevating of the mind to God-ward: but their choice of meats overthroweth these ends and uses. For, spices, and sweetmeats, and preserved stuff, and confectionary ware, and strong wines, (all which, and much more, are allowable with them in their religious Fasts: nay, they do ordinarily provide the best wines, or where wines are not so usual, Braggot & Meath, & other choice drinks, to keep Lent Fast withal:) these, I say, do please nature, inflame the blood, fill the head, and provoke lust; so fare are they from helping to clear the brain, elevate the mind, cool lust, and afflict the body. This truth, besides the evidence of it in reason, is acknowledged by the Adversaries also. jacobus de Graff is, 
(a) Etsi vinum sit nutritiwm; & ad concupiscentiam magis provocet potus vini, quàm esus carnium,— tamen, etc. jaco. de Graff. part. 1. lib. 2. c. 37. num. 24. pag. 215.  Although (saith he) wine be nutritive or of a nourishing nature, and the drinking of wine doth more provoke men to lust then the eating of flesh doth; yet, etc. Pisanus, 
(b) A quibusdam terrae fructibus abstinebant olim Catholici, in Quadragesima, ut docuit Augustinus contra Faustum, nempo ab Aromatis, aut ijs quae venerem excitant. Pisan. de Abstinent. cap. 14. pag. 165.  Catholics (saith he) in times past, did abstain from some fruits of the earth in Lent time, as Augustine doth witness; as namely from spices, and such things as stir up or provoke lust. And so speak others: but I will content myself with one testimony more, and that is of Cornelius à Lapide, a late learned jesuite. He writing on these words of Daniel, Neither came there flesh nor wine in my mouth; noteth, that the 
(a) Veteres Christiani usi sunt Xerophagiâ i cibis aridis, uti teflantur Tertul. Cypr. Basil. & alij. Idque faciebant triplici de causa. Primò, ad poenitentiam. Sicut enim potus, quia liquidus & subtilis & penetrans intima, intimiùs singulas corporis partes afficit & recreate; ita abflinere à potu et à liquidis, vescique aridis, maior est poenitentia, quàm vesci liquidis & abstinere aridis. Sis, sitis magis affligit hominem quàm fames: ac proinde faciliùs est esurienti abstinere à cibo, quàm sitienti abstinere à potu. Secundò, ad castitatem. Cibi enim aridi arefaciunt corpus, & humorem venereum consumunt. Tertiò, ad sapientiam, studium & orationem. Qui enim liquidis abstinet, caret vaporibus & fumis, qui caput, rationem & iudicium offuscont, obscurant & bebetant. Hinc vetus dictum, Anima suca est sapientissima. Corn. à Lapide in Daniel. 10.3.  Ancients did use a dry kind of food, (consisting of bread, salt, water, and raw roots, and such like) which they called Xerophagia, i a dry feeding. And they did it, (as he saith) for three causes. 1. Ad paenitentiam; for an act of repentance, or (to use their own phrase) for doing of penance. For, as drink, because it is liquid, and of a subtle substance, and easily piercing into the inward parts, doth more affect and refresh all the parts of the body; so abstinence from drink, and liquid things, and eating of dry food, is a greater penance, then if a man should eat moist things, and abstain from dry. So, thirst doth more afflict or chasten a man, than hunger doth; and therefore it is more easy for an hungry man to forbear meat, then for a thirsty man to forbear drink. Secondly, They used this dry feeding (saith he) ad castitatem; for preserving of chastity. For dry meats do dry the body, and consume venereous moisture. Thirdly, Adsapientiam, studium & orationem; for furthering of wisdom, meditation and prayer. For he that refraineth moist meats, is free from vapours and fumes, which do darken and dull reason and judgement. And hence came the old saying, Anima sicca est sapientissima; The dry soul is the most wise. And if this be true, as both reason doth teach, and learned men of the Roman Church do acknowledge; we have two conclusions from hence for our purpose.  
1. Concl. Seeing Daniel and the ancient Christians, upon good ground and reason, did forbear wine and moist meats, and eat dry things, when they refreshed themselves upon their fasting days: therefore Papists, who permit all sorts of wine, and do use to chasten the body, by filling it with strong drinks, are most unlike to the holy men of elder times. And therefore it is an idle flourish, when they allege Antiquity for the bolstering up of their choice of meats: the custom of the Ancients being herein no more like to the custom of the present Roman Church, than Chalk is to Cheese.  
2. Concl. Seeing wine and drinks, and moist things, and spicery wares, do more provoke lust, and more dull the brain, and more refresh and content nature, than dry meats do: therefore Papists make a mad choice of meats; when on their fasting days, which should serve for abating of lust, and afflicting of the body, and elevating of the mind in prayer and meditation, they allow all sorts of wine and strong drinks; and add to their drinks, sweetmeats, and conserves and confections, and spices, and what else may either please the taste, or content nature, so it be not flesh. Let them cease then to boast of their mortifying of the flesh by prescribing of many fasts: for the Drunkard and the Glutton would, to choose, wish such a fasting day once or twice a week, for the satisfying of their appetite, as these men do prescribe and practise for the macerating and crucifying of their flesh.   

CHAP. III. The number of refections allowed in a Popish Fast.  
THe second particular, wherein the liberty, or licentiousness rather, which the Roman Church doth take and use in her Fasts, is, the number of refections allowable with them on a fasting day. And for this purpose, I find, that they allow, first, a set meal, which is their Dinner. Secondly, a little meal, which they call, Coenulam, a little Supper; and Refectiunculam, a small refection; or Collationem vespertinam, a Collation in the evening. And thirdly, they allow Drink all day long, as many as ye will; which we may call their continual or all-day Bevers.  
And for the first of these, that is, their Dinner, they acknowledge that to be a full meal; & they say that it is the only refection which they allow upon a fasting day. And therefore I shall not need upon this occasion, to say any more of it; all that herein I do intent, being only to show how many refections they do allow. But for the other two, they do so mince the matter when they speak of them, as if these deserved not the name of any Refreshing or Refection. And therefore it will be requisite to insist upon these a little longer: that we may see what they say, and what we may think of them.  
1. To begin then with the former, which is their evening Collation, or little Supper, as they call it; we may, for discovering of their indulgence therein, consider three things. First, the quality of the meat then allowed. Secondly, The quantity of it. And thirdly, the reason and grounds, from whence this indulgence did arise. In all which, that no man may think them to be charged wrongfully, I will deliver their opinion in their own words.  
And first, for the quality of the meat, or the kinds of things allowed by them, Azorius saith, 
(a) Communi iam usu receptum est, ut parum panis etiam edatur, vel seorsim solum, vel unà cum fructibus, herbis, vel alijs cibis levioribus, cuiusmodi sunt ficus, vua passa, nuces, pira, poma, vel alia ex saccharo vel melle confecta, vel pisciculus paruulus. Azor. Instit. part. 1. l. 7. cap. 8. q 7. pa. 557.  that the common custom is, (and that both he and the rest do approve of) for men to eat a little bread, either by itself alone, or together with fruits, herbs, or other lighter meats, such as are figs, raisins of the sun, pears, apples, or other things made of sugar, or of honey, or a little small fish. Filliucius saith, 
(b) Dico omnes convenire, quòd licitè sumi possint ea, quae communiter in ientaculis & collatiunculis apponi solent: qualia sunt arborum fructus, herbae, & cibi leviores; ut ficus, amygdalae, vuae passae, nuces, pirae, poma, olivae, bellaria. Filliuc. Moral Qq. Tract. 27. part. 2. c. 2. num. 29. pag. 280.  that all do agree, that those things which commonly are brought to table at breakfasts and banquets, may lawfully be used; such as are the fruits of trees, herbs, and lighter meats, as figs, almonds, raisins of the sun, nuts, pears, apples, olives, juncates, or banqueting stuff. And 
(c) De pane, quamuis aliqui dubitarint; securè tamen adhiberi potest ex consuetudinne. Ibid.  as for bread, though some have made question of it, yet it may be taken without fear, and without danger. Bonacina saith, 
(d) Quamuis communiori usu receptum sit, ut in secunda refectione ij sumantur cibi, quibus in die ieiunij vescimur ante vel past prandium, ut sunt vua, nuces, 'pon a, vel alia ex saccharo aut melle confecta; licitè tamen etiam sumi potest iusculum, ●odò ron sit ex coctis cibis, qui tempore ieiunij interdicuntur. Posset etiam comedi pisciculus, aut exigua pars piscis maioris. Martin. Bonacina Sum. Moralis, to. 2. de Legib. Disput. vlt. q. 1. punct. 3. num. 3. pag. 320.  Although it be received by the more common custom, that in the second refection, those meats may be taken, which on a fasting day we eat either before or after dinner; such as are raisins, nuts, apples, or other things made of sugar or honey: Yet broth also may lawfully be taken, so it be not of such boiled meats, as are forbidden in the time of the Fast. A little fish also may be eaten, or a little portion of a greater fish. These and such like be the meats, which they allow men to feed on in the evening of their fasting day; and by eating of these in stead of their usual supper, they macerate the body mightily, and pull down the pride of the flesh, that it shall never dare to kick against the spirit any more.  
Secondly, for the quantity of meat in their evening Collation, they say, it may be such and so great, as the custom of the place is. Fernandes saith, that the custom of the Country is to be observed. For, 
(a) Non est mortale talem consuetudinem seruare, licet quantitas sit aliquantulum gravis. Fernand. Exam. part. 2. §. 2. cap. 8. nu. 9 pa. 389.  it is no mortal sin to follow that, though the quantity be somewhat great. Fumus saith, 
(b) Facientes Collationem grossam secundum consuetudinem Rom. Curia vel tinelli, non frangunt ieiunium. Aur. Armill. v. jeiun. nu. 12. pag. 541.  that they which make a gross or great Collation, according to the custom of the Court of Rome, do not violate their Fast. Filliucius saith, 
(c) Etiamsi paruitas cibi, qui sumitur, non excusaret, adhuc tamen inducta consuctudo liberat à culpa.— Non ergo adaequata ratio liciti usus Resectiunculae est, quia sit exigua, sed quia consuetudo iam induxit. Filliuc. Moral. Qq. Tract. 27. part. 2. c. 2. nu. 26. pag. 279.  that the proper or adequate reason for the lawful use of the evening Refection, is not because it is little, but because custom hath brought it in: and that though the small quantity of meat should not excuse it, yet the received custom doth free it from fault. Tolet saith, that 
(d) In Collatione verò est mensura: non debet enim esse tanta, ut potius sit Coena; tunc enim solueretur ieiunium. Quanta tamen debeat esse, consideranda est consuetudo communis patriae, quae viget communiter apud homines bonos & timoratos. Non enim est peccatum mortale, talem consuetudinem seruare, licet quantitas sit aliquantulum grandis. Tolet Instruct. Sacer. l. 6. c. 2. nu. 6. pa. 738.  a measure is to be kept: for it may not be so great, as that it do rather become a Supper, than a Collation; for than it were a breaking of a man's fast. But to know how great it may be, respect is to be had to the common custom of the country, used by men of tender conscience. For it is no mortal sin, to observe that, though the quantity be somewhat great. Where we may observe by the way, that in this jesuites judgement, men of tender consciences among them, may use a great quantity of meat in their little Supper. But if ye desire further to know what quantity men of tender conscience in the Roman Church do use, Azorius telleth us, 
(b) De Collatione noctis Nativitatis Domini respondes,— quòd consuetudo non solùm hominum parum de sua salute spirituali curantium Secularium;— Sed omnium Clericorum, imò Religiosorum & Praelatorum, etiam Episcoporum & Archiepiscoporun bonorum invaluit, ut illa nocte opuientas Collationes fructuum et conseruarum— & rerum ex saccharo confectarum in suis mensis ministrentur: quorum mensis adfui, & testis sum, & sic dico posse fieri illa nocte cum talibus, non seruata mensura ieiunij. Llamas Summ. Ecllesiast. part. 3. c. 5. §. 25. pa. 392, 393.  that in the Pope's Court (and there I trow there be men of tender conscience: sure I am, their learned Doctors do approve of the custom there) that 
(a) In Curia Romana & Pontificia solet Refectiuncula sumi panlo maior. Azor. Instit. part. 1. l. 7. c. 8. q. 8. pag. 557.  in the Pope's Court they use to take a somewhat greater nights refection, than elsewhere is used. And therefore the common custom abroad cannot be excepted against, for being greater than men of tender consciences do approve. Llamas a Spanish Friar and Doctor saith, that on Christmas Eve it is the custom not only of Laymen careless of their salvation, but of all the Clergy, yea, of religious persons and Prelates, yea, and of good Bishops and Archbishops, to be served at their tables with plentiful Collations of fruits, and conserves, and confections of Sugar: that himself hath been at their tables, and is an eye winesse of it, and that it may at that time lawfully be done by such men, without observing a measure of Fasting. And for the common custom of other men, Beyerlinck speaking of themselves of the Roman Church, saith, 
(a) Nos longo et pleno prandio vespertinam adijctmus Refectiunculam, quae saepenumero in coenam degeneret. Beyerlinck. Prompt. Moral. in festo Cinerum, text. 3. in fine, pag. 64.  We to a long and full dinner do add an evening refection, which oftentimes doth degenerate into a Supper. And this he mentioneth as a motherly indulgence which the Church of Rome doth permit unto her children. And Lindan saith, That such hath been the licentiousness of people, that beside the drinking of Wine and eating of Fish, things not used among the Ancients, 
(b) Immo & canulam,— postremò etiam iustam adderent Coenam, quae veteribus procul dubio iustum fuisset prandium. Lindan. Panopl. l. 3. c. 11. pag. 89.  they added also Coenulam, a little Supper, and last of all, a full Supper, which the Ancients out of all question would have esteemed a full dinner. Nor may any man except against this last testimony, because he speaketh not of men of tender Consciences, but of the ordinary multitude, who as he saith, had taken an irreligious liberty against the strict Rules of their forefathers. For that limitation of Tolets, when he approveth only that custom which is allowed by tender consciences, is but a flourish, or a varnish to colour over their licentious dealing and doctrine with. For otherwise in deed and in truth, their Doctrine is, that in this case of Fasting, custom, whether it be reasonable or unreasonable, yet doth still make the practice lawful, as I shall have occasion to show more fully when I come to the last particular. And by this it may appear, what quantity of meat is allowable in their little Supper, as they call it.  
In the third place now, we are to consider of the reason or ground of this Supper on Fasting-days; for it was not so from the beginning: and therefore it will be worth the labour to search how it came in. But we need not to bestow any great pains: themselves do tell us, that 
(a) Quanquam olim sumerentur [Collationes] tantum per modum medicinae ad captandum somnum; iam tamen consuetudo obtinuit, ut etiam aliquid per modum nutritionis sumatur. Fernand. Exam. part. 2. c. 8. §. 2. nu. 9 pag. 389.  in former time, when it first began, it was allowed only by way of medicine to procure sleep, when men through abstinence and emptiness could not take their natural rest: but that now custom hath prevailed, that it may be used for nourishment or to feed the body. And (as another saith) 
(b) Verius mihi videntur sentire, qui eiusmodi Refectiunculam absolutè & simpliciter esselicitam arbrtrantur, tametsi indigentiae excusationem non habeat. Eam enim à peccato defendit & liberat non somni velnaturae necessitas, sed consuetudo recepta: &— fateor quidem illam primò coepisse causam somni capiendi, & idcirco etiam indigentiae; more tamen & consuetudine est introductum, ut eâ absolutè et simpliciter utamur. Azor. Inst part. 1. l. 7 c. 8. q. 4. p. 556.  at the beginning it was brought in to make men sleep, and so upon a kind of necessity: but now it is by custom warranted, that we may use it without any such respect. And so, or to the same purpose speak 
(c) Fillinc. Moral. Qq. Tract. 27. part 2. c. 2. nu. 25. pag. 279. Lesle de justit. & jure, l. 4. c. 2. Dubit. 2. §. Item sumentes. pag. 719. Llamas Sum Eccles. part. 3. c. 5. §. 24. pag. 391, 392. joseph. Angles in 4. de Iejun. q. 9 art. 2. diffic. 4. pag. 435.  others also. So in conclusion we see, that besides their set meal at noontide, they allow a little meal (as they call it) in the evening, consisting of bread, fruits, herbs, spices, confections, and a small fish, and that in such measure or quantity, be it small or great, as by the custom of the place is made usual; and all this for refreshing and nourishing of the body. And thus much they say.  
Now I say to the contrary, that this rule and custom of theirs doth both swerve from all practice of Antiquity, and doth cross the rules and properties of an holy Fast, even such as themselves do require.  
First, it is repugnant to Antiquity. 
(d) Olim quum in diebus ieiuntorū ad nonam coenassent omnes, nulla vespertiná refectionculâ utebantur: sed postquam edere seu coenare coeperunt ad sextam, qui iei●…um seruabant, introducla est refectiuncula vespertina. Azor instit. l. 7. c. 8. q 5. pag. 556.  For anciently. (saith a jesuite) when all men fasted till three of the clock, they used not any evening Refection: but after that men on their fasting days began to eat their Supper at midday, (which was but a few years ago, and more than a thousand years after Christ) then was the evening Refection brought up. And as another jesuite confesseth, 
(a) Quia Canones teiunantibus cibum prohibent, potum no prohibent; subingressa sunt, conniventibus Hierarcbis, nostrae nocturnae refectiunculae veteribus prorsus ignotae, eo videlicet praetextu, ne potus noceat. Pisa. de Abstinent. ca 14. pa. 167.  Because the Canons of the Church do forbid meat, but do not forbid drink: by the connivance of the Prelates, our evening Refections utterly unknown to the Ancients entered in, upon pretence, for sooth, lest drink alone should do hurt to the stomach. And Beyerlinck more freely & plainly 
(b) Illi unicam vefectionem, eamque tenuem ieiunantibus indulgebant; nos longe et pleno prandio vespertinam adijcimus Refectiunculam, quae saepenumero in Coenam degeneret. Beyerl. Prompt. Moral. in festo Cinerum, text. 3. pag. 63. 64.  They, saith he, (he meaneth the Ancients) permitted one only Refection, and that a spare one too: but we to a long and full dinner do add a small Refection more, which oftentimes doth degenerate into a Supper. Thus themselves confess (as indeed they cannot with any face deny so clear and evident a truth) that their evening Collation is a novel custom, unheard of in the primitive Church, or among good Christians in the purer times.  
Secondly, this custom of theirs in taking an evening Collation after a full noontide Dinner, doth cross and overthrew the nature and right use of a religious Fast. For themselves describe a Fast to consist of one Refection only; and they add by way of reason, that if more were granted, it would take away the end aimed at in an holy Fast, which is the afflicting of the body, 
(c) Probatur ex universali consuetudine, quae sic interpretatae est praeceptum ieiunij, ut non nisi femel in die comedendum sit. Silvester, Medina, Azorius, & alij. Et iure meritoque quia si pluries Refectio sumeretur, non castigaretur corpus; passim enim bomines contenti sunt duplici refectione. Filliuc. Tract. 27. part. 2. c. 2. nu. 22. pag. 279. Quum homines communiter bis in die comedant, volens iciunare debet tantùm semel in die comedere. Atque ob id unica comestio in die ieiunij (à media nocte in mediam usque nostem) est necessaria ad essentiam ieiunij. Ideoque bis parum comedens non censetar ieiunâsse. Lorichius Thesaur. v. jeiunium nu. 6.  because men ordinarily are contented and satisfied with two Refections in a day; and consequently, more than one, would be no affliction or chastisement to the body. And they say true: and the truth of it is verified in this case. For who cannot without feeling any want of meat, go to bed with such a Collation in the evening, after he hath eaten a good dinner before? By their own rules than it followeth, that the allowing of such an evening Collation after a noontide dinner, is an abolishing of the right use of an holy Fast.  
And thus much for their evening Refection or Collation: I come now to consider their custom of drinking on their fasting days, which I call a continual Beaver. For they do allow a man in their Fasts to drink what drink he will, and as often as he will. 
(a) In Ecclesiastica Quadragesima unica refectio tantum est concessa, & in potatione nulla est apposita limitatio. Io. Medina Cod. de jeiunio. q. 2. in fine pag. 329.  In drinking in Lent fasts there is no limitation or restraint, how often it may be used, saith Medina. And Fernandes, having first propounded the question, 
(b) Poterítne quis in die ieiunij saepius bibere, quamuis sciat se potu maximè all? Resp. Poterit. Fernand. Exam. p. 2. c. 8. nu. 17. pa. 392.  Whether upon a fasting day a man may drink oftentimes, although he do know he shall be nourished very much by it: he answereth readily and roundly, Poterit, he may do it. And so Filliucius, 
(c) Dico potum aquae vel vini vel ceruisiae, sive ante sive post prandium; sive sumatur ad sustentatienem, sive non, haud frangere ieiunium.  I say. (saith he) that drinking of water, or wine, or beer, whether it be before or after dinner; whether it be taken for nourishmen or not, doth no way break a man's fast. And agreeably hereunto the rest of their Doctors do teach, as I shown before out of AZorius.  
Now lay these things together, that upon a Fasting day a man may eat a full dinner, and after that in the evening take a little Supper, which by virtue of common custom doth grow to a true or just meal many times; and besides all this, 
(a) Colligitur, quòd non prohib●tur bibere quantum quis voluerit ante & post comestionem. Sequitur praetereaeum non infringere te●un●ū, qu●sumit Collationem: nam am plius quàm sen el in die non comedit. Barthol. Medina Instruct. Confessariorum, l. 1. c. 14 §. 10. pag. 142. Nondicitur Refectio, sed Refectiuncula. Bonacina Moral. Theol. to. 2. disp. vlt. q. 1. punct. 3. pag. 320.  may drink sweet wines and strong drinks, what he will, at all times of the day, and then tell me, what great penance is to be found in a Popish Fast? They say, that drinking of the best wines, is no feeding; and that eating a Collation in the evening, and spices and conserves at other times of the day, is no Refection. But jonathan, when he tasted a little honey upon the point of his spear, felt himself much refreshed by it; as it is 1 Sam. 14.27, 28, 29. And we find it in experience, that strong drinks, spicery and confections, do so satisfy the desire of nature, that they take away a man's appetite from his meat; and themselves confess, that wines, and strong drinks, and Electuaries, do nourish the body, and breed blood and spirits. What gluttons then are they in their religious Fasts, that esteem all this as no refection of the body? And if it be a 
(b) Voco Refectionem, sumptionem cibi ad alendum corpus, Filliuc. Tract. 27. part. 2. cap. 2 nu. 22. pag. 279 & Sumere tenraculum si rotinum ad sustentationem naturae, est procul dubio iterum comedere. Caiet. Summula, v. jeiunium. fol. 120. pag. 2.  Refection, (as they which use it do feel, and all that consider it, even themselves not excepted, will confess it;) then a Popish Fast is not contained in the definition of a true Fast, one essential part whereof is this, that there be taken one only Refection for the space of a whole day.   

CHAP. FOUR The Time of refection in a Popish Fast.  
THus I have done with the second particular, concerning their Indulgence, namely, the Number of their Refections: the third is, the time that they prescribe or allow for the breaking of their Fast. For in the ordinary Fasts of the Church, one refection in the day hath ever been allowed, but that in times past, when Religion was not defaced with superstition and hypocrisy, was towards the end of the day; that so nature might be chastened, and yet not destroyed. But in the Fasts of the Church of Rome, this usage of the Ancients is perverted also. For clearing of which point, I will set down their own sayings and conclusions.  
1. They say in the general, that that time for breaking of a man's Fast is lawful, which custom doth approve. So Medina saith, 
(a) Hic taman non est immor endum, nec opus est scrupulos infer. Seruetur in hoc, sicut in alijs multis patria consuetudo, joh. Medina Cod. de ieiun. q. 6. pag. 338. Col. 2.  that concerning this point we are not to make any stop, nor is it needful to move any scruples: but let the custom of the Country be observed herein, as in many other things. Fernandes first propoundeth the question: 
(b) Interr. Quae est hora competens sumendi cibum? Resp. Ea, quae secundum consuetudinem loci seruari solet paulò plus minusue. Fernand. Exam. part. 2. c. 8. §. 2. nu. 4. pag. 388.  What is a competent hour for receiving of meat on a fasting day? and than he shapeth the answer to it, That hour which is used to be kept according to the custom of the place; or thereabouts not much under or over. And Cajetan, 
(a) Hora quidem conveniens, ante quam non est comedendum, est meridies grossâ aestimatione. Sed ubi communiter non seruatur à ieiunantibus, potest quis comedere illâ horâ, quâ communiter ieiunantes ibi comedunt. Caie. Summul. v. jeiun. fol. 120. pag. 1.  The convenient hour (saith he) before which we must not eat, is midday: But where that is not commonly observed, a man may eat at that hour, at which those that do fast, do commonly eat in that place. And to the same purpose speak others also.  
Secondly, for more particular determination of the time, they say, that the custom among them is, to dine on their fasting days about midday, or an hour or two sooner. Cajetan saith, that 
(b) Nunc autem Religiosi, etiam multum ante meridiem aestivo tempore & in Quadragesima videntur comedere. Caietan. Ibid.  even their religious men, in summer and in Lent do eat their meal long before midday. And Azorius telleth us, that their 
(c) Seculares reiunium laxant ac soluant, hyeme quidem unâ ante meridiem horâ; aestate verò duabus fere horis anre meridiem: Monachi verò & caeteri religiosi, hyeme aut semi horâ ante meridiem, aut in meridie, aut etiam horâ ante meridiem; aestate verò unâ horâ integrâ, aut etiam unâ & semi borâ ante meridiem. Azor. Instit part. 1. l. 7. c. 11. pag. 564. Col. 1.2.  Seculars do break off their Fast in winter, one hour before midday, and in summer almost two hours: and that Monckes and other religious persons do it, in winter, about midday, or half an hour, or a whole hour before; and in summer, a whole hour, or an hour & an half before midday. And to him agree 
(d) Filliuc. Tract. 27. part. 2. c. 4. nu 73. pa. 284.  Filliucius, and 
(e) Reginald, Prax. l. 4. nu. 156. pag. 152.  Reginaldus.  
Thirdly, They think it not unlawful, to break Fast longer before noonetide, if so it be used. Barthol. Medina saith, 
(f) De hoc non est scrupulus habendus. Nam videtur mos esseinter Christianos introductus, quòd edere sufficit quasi borâ ante meridiem; suntque nonnulli Doctores sentientes seruari ieiunium, si manè comeditur tribus aut quatuor anticipatis horis ante aneridicm, modò non comedatur niagis quàm semel. Barthol. Medina Instruct. Confess. l. 1. c. 14. §. 10. pag. 143.  that we are not to stand scrupulously upon this point, because the custom is brought in among Christians, that it sufficeth to eat about an hour before noon: and that some Doctors think that a Fast is kept, if men eat in the morning, three or four hours before midday, so they eat not oftener than once. And he and they speak according to their own grounds and principles. For seeing custom is of such power with them, both in this and in other things, that it may dissanul and cancel the Church's orders in greater matters than this is, as 
(a) Reginald. l. 4. nu. 156. pa. 152.  Reginaldus saith it may; then if custom have prevailed to have Dinner many hours before noon, it will be safe enough to use it.  
Fourthly, because the rules and Canons of the Church did require, that their afternoon service, which they call Officium Nonae, their noon or ninth-houre Service, which was at three of the Clock after midday, should be said in their Churches, before they did break off their Fast; they translated their afternoon Service to the forenoon, that so they might eat their Supper about midday, or sooner. And though they altered the time, in this manner, from the ninth hour to the sixth, or sooner, that is, from three of the Clock to twelve; yet they kept the old name of their Service still, and called it Preces Nonae, the noon or ninth-houre Prayers. And from hence a learned man of their own Church observeth, that 
(b) Est hoc nostris moribus receptum in officio Ecclesiastico, ut diebus ieiuniorum Preces Nonae, & quas horâ nonâ dicere oportebat, ante prandium recitentur. Et vulgus Rusticorum apud Walones meridiem vocant Nonam, & Flandri tàm Rustici quàm Cives meridiem suo idiomate vocant Nonam; & ad pulsum duodecimae, quae est nobis hora meridiei, obtinuit vetus proborum Catholicorum consuetudo, ut detecto capite oretur Deus & cogitetur mors Christi, quae accidit hord nonâ Antiq. Liturg. to. 1. feriâ 4 quatuor Temporum cap. 1. pa. 100  in Flanders, and among the Walloons, midday or twelve of the Clock hath been used to be called Noon. And so we see it is called among us here in England. Nor did they rest contented with this; but because the 
(a) Tempore Quadragesima non manducant ieiunantes ante dictas vesperas: sed dicunt illas omnes Ecclesiae decimâ horâ, ut undecimâ comedant. Hieron. Llamas Summ. Eccles. part. 3. c. 5. § 26. pa. 394. Erat illa consuetudo in Quadragesima, ut horá nonâ, hoc est, nostro more, horâ tertiâ post meridiem, inciperent fieri missae, & post missas Officium Vespertinum, ac deinde solueretur ieiunium. Cui legi nostri mores fraudem faciunt. Ita enim dicimus missas ut unà cum Vespertinali Officio, quod illis in Quadragesima continuò rectè subiungimus, finiantur hora sexta, quae respondet nostrae duedecimae seu meridiei, & tunc soluimus ietunium. Antiq. Liturg. to. 2. feriâ sextâ post Cineres. pag. 105.  Canons required, that in Lent time they should fast till after the Vespers or Evening Service was ended, which was toward night; they said their Vespers or Evening Service in the morning, that having dispatched them, they might go to meat at 11. or 10. of the clock. And so 
(b) Quum ieiunium, quod antea non nisi ad nonam horam, sive ad tertiam nobis po eridianam soluebatur, ante meridiem interrumperetur, atque eam in rem non modò mysteria, sed & vesperae suum mentientes tempus anticiparentur; factum est ut— horae ieiuniorum labore molestiores praeciderentur. Lindan. Panopl. lib. 3. cap. 11. pag. 89.  their Evening Service (as a learned Bishop of their own doth observe) belly his time, being performed long before that time of the day. And the reason of all this was, because (as 
(c) Tunc vespertinae borae post horam tertiam post meridiem celebrabantur; quam horam quum multis esset difficile expe●tare ut coenam sumerent; postea usu mductum est, ut ante vel iuxta meridiem celebrarentur, ut illis finitis, competens ad co edendum tempus fidelibus relinqueretur. Io. Medina Cod. de jeiun. q. 6 pag. 338. Col. 2.  themselves do tell us) it was too long for many to stay till three of the clock for their supper; and therefore it was brought in by custom, that the Evening Service should be said before or about midday, that that being ended, there might be left a competent hour, for God's faithful people to eat on their fasting day. The sum is, they made haste with their Service, that they might not stay long for their Dinner.  
Now against this part of their Indulgence, I say,  
1. That it is against all practice of Antiquity in Scriptures. For, the custom related there, was to abstain till Evening, or the Sunne-setting; as may appear by the examples of Fasts recorded in Scriptures, and gathered and alleged by Bellarmine to that purpose. 
(a) In Testamento veteri quum de ieiuniis agitar, borae vespertinae fit mentio, Jud. 20. jeiunaverunt illa die usque ad vesperam. Idem babetur. 2 Reg. 1. & 3. & alibi. Ex quo intelligimus apud Patres Veteris Testamenti ieiunium fuisse semel tantùm, idque ad vesperam eibum capere. Bellar. de bo. oper. in partic. l. 2. c. 2. §. unam igitur.  In the Old Testament, (saith he) where there is speech of fasting, there is mention made of the eventide, as the time when they broke off their Fast: as judg. 20.26. They fasted that day until even. And the like is said, 2. Sam. 1.12. They mourned and wept and fasted until even for Saul and for jonathan, and 2 Sam. 3.35. So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread or aught else, till the sun be down. And so else where. Whereby we understand (saith he) that among the Fathers of the Old Testament, a Fast was, to eat meat but once only, and that in the evening. The case is both clear and confessed; and therefore needeth no further proof.  
2. I say, that it is against the practice of the ancient Christian Church. For 
(b) In principio n●sientis Ecclesiae ieiunium usque ad solis occasum tendebatur. Et ratio est, quia Apostoli formam ieiunandi acceperunt ab antiquis Patribus, quibus praeceptum erat, usque ad vesperam ieiunium seruare: & ita Discipuli Apostolorum per multa tempora seruaue ut. Lege Euseb. l. 2. Hist. Eccl. c. 17. & Basil. Serm. 1. de jeiun. & D. Ambros. Serm. 33 & B. Aug. Ep. 86. joseph. Angles in 4. Sent part. 1. de jej. q. 9 ar. 3. Diff. 1. pa. 440. v. Antiq. Liturg. to, 2 feriâ 6. post Cineres. p. 104.  in the beginning of the Church, Fasts were continued till the Sunne-setting, saith joseph Angles. He addeth, that the reason thereof was, because the Apostles received their form of fasting from the Fathers of the Old Testament, who were commanded to keep their Fast till evening. And so the Apostles Scholars kept it for many years after. And for proof thereof, he biddeth us read Eusebius, Basil, Ambrose, and Augustine. And if he had pleased, he might have added others more. Bellarmine citeth Tertullian, Athanasius, Basil, Epiphan. Ambrose, Hierom, Prudentius, Paulinus, Chrysostome, Augustine, Cassian, Benedict, Gregory, Bernard, Micrologus, Gratian. Out of which Authors he concludeth, that 
(a) Christiani Veteres ieiunia non soluebant, nisi horâ nonâ ab ortusolis, vel etiam horâ vesportmâ in Quadragesima.— St. August. in Epist. 86. ad Casulanum, passim accipit non prandere pro co quod est ieiunare, & contra non ieiunare, pro eo quod est prandere.— apud Veteres— inauditum est prorsus, ut ante horam nonam, quae est tertia post meridiem, ieiunium quodcunque soluatur: quemadmodum etiam nulla est apud Veteres mentio binae Refectionis, quam de ieiunijs agitur. Bellar. de bonis operibus in part. l. 2. cap. 2.  The Ancients did not break off their Fasts till three of the clock in the afternoon, or till evening in Lent time: that in S. Augustine's dialect, Not to fast, and to dine; or to fast, and not to dine, is all one: and that it is a thing never heard of among the Ancients, that any Fast should be broke off before three of the clock in the afternoon. And (as another learned man noteth) 
(b) Tanta fuit alim cura non comedendi ante nonam tempore ieiunij, ut prandêre & non ieiunare passim omnibus Veterum libris sint synonyma. Antiq. Liturg. to. 1. feria quarta, 4. temporum. cap. 1. pag. 99  So great was the care in old time, not to eat before three of the clock on their fasting days, that to dine, and not to fast, are everywhere in all the Books of the Ancients, words of the same signification. And the like is acknowledged generally by the rest of their learned men: as indeed the case is so clear, that it cannot be denied, or any way shifted off. And herewith we may rest satisfied for this point: Only I will add one consideration more, that the Ancients, though they did eat but one only meal, and that a sparing one; yet they esteemed it not the keeping of a fasting day, if they took that meal about noontide or dinner time. And hence it was, that because the Church did forbid any fasting days to be kept between Easter and Whitsunday, that they might express their joy for Christ's Resurrection; the ancient Monks, not willing to use any fuller diet than they were accustomed unto at other times, did only change their supper into a dinner, without altering the quantity of their meat. So St. Hierome, relating the customs of the Coenobitae, that is, such-religious persons as lived together in a Collegiate life, saith among other things, 
(a) A Pascha ad Pentecosten Coenae mutantur in Prandia; quò & traditioni Ecclesiasticae satisfiat, & ventrem cibe non onerent duplicate. Hieron. Epist. 22. add Eust. pa. 186. F.  From Easter to Pentecost, their Suppers are changed into Dinners, that so they may both satisfy the Orders of the Church, and yet not stuff the belly with a double portion of meat. And in Cassian we find, that one having moved a doubt, how a religious man, accustomed to fasting and spare diet, might pass this long time of Festivitie between Easter and Whitsuntide, without making the flesh too wanton, if he should feed more fully or finely than before; answer was made, to this purpose; that 
(b)  ergo & diebus festivis statutae consuetudo solennitatis consernetur, & saluberrimus parcimoniae modus minimè transcendatur; sufficit ut indulgentiam remissionis eò usque progredi patiamur, ut cibus, qui horâ diei n●nâ fuerat capiendus, paulò citiùs, id est, sextà horâ pro festivitatis tempore capiatur, ea ratione duntaxat, ut escarum solitus modus vel qualitas non mutetur. Cassian. Collat. 21. cap. 23. pag. 1030.  for the keeping of this festival solemnity appointed by the Church, without breaking of the wholesome order of their spare diet; it would suffice so fare only to remit of their rigour, that the meat which was used to be taken at three of the clock in the afternoon, should for that space of time be taken somewhat sooner, that is, about twelve of the clock, in that manner only, that neither the wented measure, nor the quality of their meat be changed. By which places it is apparent, that Antiquity thought a man's Fast to be broken, if there were nothing else in it, but only this, that he did eat about midday; though the quantity and quality of his meat were altogether the same that is usual on fasting days. And this may serve to show how unlike the Church of Rome is in this point also, to all Antiquity both of the jewish and Christian Church.  
Thirdly, I say, it is against the nature of a Fast, as it is described by Popish Doctors. For, a Fast is for afflicting of the body by subtraction of food. And therefore, (as Thomas speaking of this very point, saith,) 
(a) Vnde aportet, quòd aliquid addat supra communem consuetudinem; ita tamen quòd per hoc non multùm natura gravetur. Est autem debita & communis consuetudo comedendi hominibus circa horam sextam; tum quia iam videtur esse completa digestio nocturno tempore, naturali calore interiùs revocato propter frigus noctis circumstans; & diffusio humoris per membra, coöperante ad hoc calore diei, usque ad summum solis ascensum: tum etiam, quia tunc praecipuè natura corporis humani indiget iuvari contra exteriorem aeris calorem, ne humores interiùs adurantur. Et idea ut ieiunans aliquam affictionem sentiat pro culpae satisfactione, conveniens hora comedendi taxaturieiunantibus circa horam nonem. Aquin. 2.2. q. 147. art. 7. in C.  Something must be added, above the common custom; yet so, that nature hereby be not burdened overmuch. But the custom of eating about midday, is the due and common time; both because now digestion seemeth to be fully ended in the night season, natural heat being called inward, because of the external cold about, and the diffusion of the moisture or juice by the members of the body seemeth now also complete, the heat of the day cooperating thereunto, until the highest ascent of the Sun. And also because man's nature doth especially then stand in need to be relieved against the external heat of the air, lest the humours within be burned by it. And therefore that he that fasteth may feel some affliction, a convenient hour of eating is imposed about three of the clock. And Bellarmine, and Valentia, and Pisanus, besides other more, in their definitions of a Fast, or among the essential things belonging to it, do (as I shown in the beginning) require this for one, that in a Fast, the abstinence is to be longer then at other times, and the refection is to be later and after the usual time of Dinner, that by this forbearance of meat, nature may feel a want of food, and the body may be afflicted by it. But the usual time of feeding on ordinary days, is about noon, or eleven of the clock, or not before ten at the soon. And therefore when the Church of Rome doth allow mento eat their dinner on fasting days at those hours or sooner; it doth by this indulgence overthrew the essence of a Fast.  
To this Bellarmine answers, 
(a) Quando Veteres definierunt horam nonam pro solutione ieiunij, tempus ordinarium cibum sumendi solebat esse meridies. Satis enim esse putaverunt ad carnis afflictionem & castigationem, si ad spatium trium borarum, id est, ab bora sexta, usque ad nonam refectio differretur. Nostro verò tempore magna pars hominum non horâ sextâ, sed tertiá prandere solet. Ex quo sequitur, ut si tempore ieiunij cibum sumant horâ sextâ, ho est, ad meridiem, tribus horis seriùs ad reficiendum corpus accedant, quàm ordinariè soleant; ac per hoc ab antiqua consuetudine non recedant. Bellar. de bo. oper. in part. l. 2. c. 2. §. Addimus.  that when the Ancients did prescribe three of the clock for the breaking of a man's Fast, men than did use to dine about mid day. For they thought that this was sufficient affliction for the flesh, if the refection of the body were deferred for three hours' space, namely, from twelve, till three of the clock in the afternoon. But nowadays, (saith he) the greatest part of men is accustomed to dine, not at twelve, but at nine of the clock in the morning. Whence it followeth, that if men do now in the time of their fast, dine about noontide, they come to feed the body three hours later than ordinary: and so they keep the old custom still. Thus the Cardinal. But Filliucius saith, 
(b)  omittam communiter ieiunandi difficultatem sentiri in Refectiuncula Vespertina, non autem in prorogatione prandij, quae vix differre solet ab hora consueta prandendi in diebus communibus. Fil. tract. 27. p. 2. c. 4. nu. 71. p. 284.  that commonly the difficulty or hardness which is in fasting, is felt in the evening refection, and not in the forbearing of dinner, which doth scarce differ from the ordinary hour of dinner on other days. Which answers of theirs do indeed deserve no reply, because they are evidently frivolous. For where do men nowadays ordinarily dine at nine of the clock, as Bellarmine saith? Or if they do so in some places, yet certainly in most places it is not so; and what will he say for the Fasts that be there used? Or if it were so in most Countries, yet they do allow men to dine on their fasting days, at eleven or ten of the clock, or sooner. And then what great penance were there in that forbearance, longer than which every man must and will yield unto at their greatest Feasts, before the Cooks can be ready? And for their little refection at night, that sure pincheth the body but easily, being such as before was declared, and after a full meal at noontide before. These frivolous answers than deserve no serious reply; nor would I fear lest any man should be persuaded or misled by them: yet I thought it not amiss to relate them, that men might see both what poor and miserable shifts they are driven to, for defence of their lose and licentious Fasts: and also how in things evident to the eye, the one doth cross and contradict the other; Bellarmine saying that the customary hour of dinner is nowadays about nine of the clock; and Filliucius affirming, that there is small difference between their dinnerhoure on their fasting day, and on another day. But a desperate cause requireth such miserable shifts.  
Fourthly, I say, that this dining at noon upon fasting days, sprang from indevorion & want of zeal, or from Epicurism, & a love of the belly. I presume in reason I may well think so, seeing no other probable cause can be imagined, why it should otherwise be admitted and received. But I shall not need to stand upon conjectures or surmises, how probable soever otherwise they be. For themselves do acknowledge as much as I say. Filliucius saith, 
(a) Oline apud Hebraeos ieiunia produce bantur usque ad occasum solis & apud Veteres Christianos idem erat in more positum.— Quamuis deinde, feruore intepescente; coeperit etiam quoad horam temitti. Fillive. Tract. 27 part. 2. c. 4. nu. 64. pag. 28.  that in old time, the jews fasted till sunne-seting, and that the same was the custom of the ancient Christians also; although afterward, zeal waxing cold, they began to abate of the hour. And to the same purpose speaketh Azorius. For having first said, that the Hebrews did use to fast till night; and that thence the old Christians were accustomed to keep the same order, he addeth; 
(a) Deinde tepescente sensim vetere illo feruere, coeptum est solui ieiunium primò quidem antequam sol occideret, deinde verò etiam paucis horis ante solis abscessum. Nam coena sumi coepit ad horam nonam, hoc est, tribus horis post meridiem exactis, & totidem ante solem occidentem. Azor. Instit. part. 1. l. 7. c. 11. q 1. pag. 563, 564.  Afterward, the old zeal waxing cold by degrees, the Fast began first to be broke off before the Sun went down; and after that, a few hours before sunne-setting. For they began to eat their supper at three of the clock, that is, three hours after midday, and as many hours before the sun set. And if zeal may be said then to wax cold, when they prevented the old time, by taking their supper at 3. of the clock in the afternoon, than we may boldly say, that now zeal is keycold, or quite quenched in the Church of Rome, seeing she alloweth her children on their fasting days, to eat their dinner before the midday. And so, or more sharply than so, doth Filesacus censure this disorder; 
(b) Nostrâ imbecillitate irreligiosâ (ut ita dicam) factum est, ut ad meridiem cibum sumamus, soluamusque ieiunium. Filesac. de Quadrag. cap. 6. pag. 437.  It is come to pass (saith he) by our irreligious infirmity, that we take meat at midday, and so break off the Fast. He meaneth, that men did pretend infirmity, because it was too long for their feeble bodies to forbear meat, as the Ancients did; but that the true reason was not weakness and indisposition of body, but irreligion and deadness of soul. And this may suffice to be noted for the time of their eating on fasting days.   

CHAP. V The Quantity of meat and drink in a Popish Fast.  
THe fourth particular is the quantity of meat and drink allowable in the Church of Rome in their holy Fasts. And for that, I find no stint among them, but that every man measure himself by the belly. But that their meaning may more plainly and distinctly appear, I will first consider the quantity that they allow in their dinner, and then in their drink.  
And first, for their dinner on fasting days, they say, That he 
(a) Excedeus in quantitate cibi, utcunque recedens ab aequalitate quantitat is determinatae, non frangit ieiunium. Ios. Angles in 4. de jeiun. q. 9 dub. 5. Concl. 2. pag. 432.  who exceedeth in the quantity of meat, how much soever he swerve from the equality or even measure of the set quantity, breaketh not his fast. They say, 
(b) Sequitur, quòd si quis in die ieiunij illa tria ex intente seruet, & tamen in unica refectione quam sumit, regulam temperantiae per gulam excedat, satisfaciat praecepto de ieiunando, quandoquidem sub illo praecepto non cadit quantitas refectionis. joh. Medina. Cod. de jeiun. q. 11. pag. 354.  that if a man do with intent and purpose keep the three things which they require in a Fast, and yet in that one refection or dinner which he taketh, do through gluttony exceed the rule of temperance; yet he doth satisfy or sufficiently keep the Precept of fasting; because the quantity of the dinner doth not fall under that precept, or is not comprised in it. Again they say, 
(c) Quandocunque quis semel tantum in die horâ praescriptâ comederit, & à cibis vetitis abstinuerit; quicquid aliud comedat vel bibat, sive moderatè sive immoderatè, & sive delectabiliter, sive aliter, nonfrangit ieinnium Ecclesiasticum. Reginald. lib. 4. nu. 163 pag. 154.  Whensoever a man doth eat but once in the day, at the appointed hour, and abstaineth from forbidden meats; whatsoever else he either eateth or drinketh, whether moderately or immoderately, and whether to delight appetite or otherwise, he breaketh not the Fast of the Church. Yea, 
(a) Interrog. Quantum licet comedere die ieiunij? Resp. Quantum quis edere poterit, loquendo de ratione praecepti. Fern. Exam. part. 2. c. 8. §. 2. pag. 389.  but is there no measure how much a man may eat? Yes. He may eat as much as he can, for aught that the Precept of the Church doth require. Yea, but say that a man do gourmandise, how then? 
(b) Qui usque ad ingurgitationem comederet, talis excessus illicitus esset, sed non ex hoc soluitur ieiunium. jac. de Graff. decision. aur. part. 2. l. 2. c. 16. nu. 22. pa. 158.  If a man should eat till he glut himself, that excess were unlawful, but hereby his Fast is not broken. Well: but 
(c) Sed an high servant praecepta ieiunij, qui semel comedendo tantum cibi sumunt, tot cibarijs & condimentis utuntur adingluuiem usque, ut nullam carnis afflictionem sentiant, immò gulam impensissimè irritent, libidinem excitent tantum cibi sumentes unico prandiò quantum sit tribus hominibus satis ad congruam eorum sustentationem? Resp. Quòd ●onsideratis considerandis, haec quaestio potest ita decidi, quòd si nos loquimur quoad substantiam praecepti, ieiunium non dissoluitur, & ita potest habere locum communis opinie, scilicet hosee homines ieiunij precepto satisfecisse.— Aut verò loquimur de ieiunio quoad meritum, & ita nonsatisfaciunt. jacob. Graff. part. 1. l. 2. c. 37. nu. 39 pag. 217.  what if a man at his meal take so much meat, use so many dishes and sauces, even to gluttony and gormandizing, that he feeleth no affliction of the flesh, yea that he doth exceedingly provoke his gluttonous appetite, stir up lust, and take so much meat at one dinner, as may be sufficient for three men to feed upon in a convenient sort; doth this man keep the Laws of fasting? I answer (saith jacobus de Graffijs) that if we speak according to the substance of the Precept, his Fast is not broken: and in this sense the common opinion may be admitted, which is, that these men do satisfy the Precept of the Church concerning fasting. Or else we may speak of Fasting, with respect to the merit of it; and so these men do not satisfy or fulfil the Precept. Thus these men speak for the quantity of their meat at dinner. And their practice is not unlike their doctrine. For, 
(d) Nos prandia sumimus, eaque talia, ut praeteritam abstinentiam copiâ & varietate ciborum facilè compensemus. Beyerl. prompt. in festo Cinerum, tex. 3. pag. 63.  We (saith Beyerlinck) take our dinners on our fasting days, and they such, that we may easily by the store and variety of meats, make amends for the abstinence that is past. But Lindan speaketh more broad, and saith that the fasts of their Catholics are every where such Fasts as Epicures do keep. To which purpose I have cited his words 
* Treatise of Fasting. cap. 4.  elsewhere.  
The like they say for the quantity or measure of their drinking all times of the day. For, 
(a) Bene potest bibere ante prandium & post prandium, quantum videbitur illi absque peccato non ieiunandi● Verum est, quòd peccabit peccalo gulae, etc. Rod. Summ. Cas. part. 1. c. 23. nu. 1. pag. 28.  a man may drink well enough before dinner and after dinner, as much as he thinketh good, without any sin of not fasting: it is true, that he shall sinne by intemperance. So speaketh Rodriquez. And to the like purpose Lessius; 
(b) Ex his infertur primò, Potûs sumptionem crebriorem non ●etari;— quare etiam si quis eo fine utatur, etiam immoderatè, non violabit praeceptum Ecclesiae de ieiunio, e●si contra temperantiam peccet. Les. de justit. & jure, l. 4. c. 2. Dubitat. 2. nu. 10. pag. 718.  from hence. (saith he) it followeth, that often drinking is not forbidden in the time of a Fast, etc.— that although a man do use drink for that end, (namely for nourishment) and that immoderately, he doth not violate the Church's Precept of fasting, though he sin against temperance. And to like purpose speak others. So in sum their doctrine consisteth in two points;  
1. That a man by playing the Glutton or the Drunkard on a fasting day, may sinne by intemperancy or excess, in the like manner as he should do on any other day, if he used the like excess.  
2. That no excess in the measure either of meat or drink, is any offence or sin against the rules of a Roman Fast: so that a man may play both the glutton and the drunkard upon a fasting-day, and yet keep all the rules of a Popish Fast. Only the question further is, Whether a man sinning by intemperance in gluttony and drunkenness, and yet at the same time keeping their rules of fasting, do merit at God's hands by his Fast? And their answer hereto is, That 
(a) Si tantus sa excessus, ut peccet mortiferè, amittit meritum ieiunij, sicut & aliorum bonorum operum. Si autem non peccot mortiferè, non amittit absolutè, sed solum ex parte. Quia qua parte voluntariè abstinet à cibis vetitis & à second refectione propter Ecclesiae praceplum, meretur; quod meritum non eliditur, eliamsi in usu cibi vel petûs non seruet debitam moderationem: qua tamen parte excedie, non meretur. Lesle. de Iust. & jure, l. 4. c. 2. dubitat. 2. nu. 10. p. 718, 719.  if the excess be so great, that it be a deadly or mortal sin, than he loseth the merit of his fast, as he doth of all other his good works: but if the man do not sinne mortally, (by this excess) than he doth not absolutely lose the merit of his Fast, but only in part. For in that he doth volun tarily forbear forbidden meats and a second refection for the Church's commandment, he doth so fare forth merit by his fasting; which merit is not done away, though he keep not due moderation in the use of meat or drink: but so fare forth as he useth excess, he doth not merit. The meaning of which speech is to this purpose; that his fasting is a good work, though at the time of his fasting, he do surfeit and be drunk: and if his surfeiting and drunkenness be such and so great, that it putteth him out of the state of grace, than he cannot merit by it, because a man that is not in the state of grace, cannot merit by any work at all, how good soever otherwise it be: but if his gluttony and excess be not such and so great, that it doth exclude him out of the state of grace; then he meriteth still by his glutionous and drunken Fast. And thus ye have the sum of what they say in this case, concerning the quantity of their meat and drink on their fasting days: Which is a most drunken conceit, and unworthy the profession of learned men or Christians. But the vanity may appear by these considerations.  
First, it is against the practice and opinion of all Antiquity. For their faying are, 
(a) Sint tibi quotidiana iciunia, & refectio satietatem fugiens. Nibil prodest biduo triduoque transmisso, vacuum portare ventrem, si pariter obruatur, si compensetur saturitale ieiunium. Hier. Ep. 22. add Eust. pag. 175. B.  Let thy Fasts be daily, and thy refection without satiety. For it profiteth it nothing to carry an empty pauch for two or three days together, if at once it be overcharged, if the Fast be recompensed by fullness after. So writeth Saint Hierom to Eustochium, giving her rules of a religious Fast. And the same Father writing to Rusticus, a man that had devoted himself to a religious life, he giveth him this counsel concerning fasting; 
(b) Quae & ipsa (ielunia) moderata sint, ne nimia debilitent stomachum, & maiorem refectionem poscentia, erumpant in cruditatem, quae parens libidinum est. Modicus ac temperatus cibus, & carni & animae utilis est. Hier. Ep. 4. ad Rustic. pa. 43. A.  Let Fasts be moderate; lest being immoderate, they weaken the stomach, and requiring greater refection afterward, they break out into crudity and inconcoction, which is the mother of lust. Sparing and temperate diet is good both for body and soul. And yet again the same Father, 
(c) Nonnulli vitam pudicam appetentium, in medio itinere corruum, dum solam abstinentiam carnium putant, & leguminibus onerant stomachum, quae moderatè parcéque sumpta innoxia sunt. Et, ut quod sentio loquar, nihil sic inslammat corpora & litillat membra genitalia, sicut indigestus cibus, ructusque convulsus.— Parcus cibus & venture semper esuriens triduanis ieiunijs praefertur. Hieron. Ep. 10. ad Furiam, pag. 93. D. E.  Many (saith he) who do desire a chaste life, do fall in the midway, while they think that abstinence is only in forbearing of flesh, and fill the belly with pulse, which being taken moderately and sparingly is without harm. And to speak what I think, (saith he) nothing doth so inflame men's bodies, and stir up lust, as undigested meat. He yet addeth, Sparing diet, and a stomach still hungry, is better than Fasts three days long. From which speeches of this learned and religious Father, any man may collect, that if he thought a full meal after immoderate abstinence would engender lust, then sure he never could imagine, that surfeiting on a fasting day can be a means to cool lust, and to beat down the body. And if he thought, that it was in vain and without profit, to fast much, if a man did make amends for his abstinence by fullness afterward; then certainly he would never yield, that men did a meritorious work, if abstaining from flesh, they did on the very day load themselves with excess of any meats and drinks. But to proceed, Cassian saith, that 
(a) Non qualitas sola, sed etiam quantitas escarum aciem cordis obtundit, ac ment cum corne pariter impinguatae noxium vitiorum fomitem igneumque succendit. Cassian. Inst. l. 5. c. 5. pag. 195  not only the quality of meats, but the quantity also, doth blunt the edge or vigour of the heart, and fatting the mind with the body, it doth kindle a noxious and fiery fuel of vices. And a little after he addeth, 
(b) Esculentiores cibi, ut procurant corporis sanitatem, ita castitatis non adimunt puritatem, si cum moderatione sumantur. Cassian. ibid. cap. 7. pag. 198.  that the more nourishing meats, as they breed health to the body, so they do not take away the purity of chastity, if they be taken moderately. By which speeches we see, that this ancient Father is so far from allowing excess in a Fast, that he preferreth a sparing meal of the best meats, before a full meal of the coursest: as also in the former testimony of St. Hierome we may observe, that that Father preferreth a moderate refection of flesh, before a plentiful refection of pulse; and (as if he had meant to reprove the error of the present Roman Churth) he derideth them who think to preserve chastity, while they abstain from flesh, and fill themselves with pulse. To the same purpose it is, that 
(c) Malunt by, qui perfectionem discretionis ignorant, etiam bidus protelare ieiunia, idque quod hodie sumpluri fuer●t, in crastinum reseru●re: dummodo ad refectionem pervenientes, desideratâ satietate potianantur. Quod nuper Beniamin civem vestrum pertinaciter tenuisse cognoscitis, qui ne quotidiè paximacia duo percipiens, aequali castigatione continuam parcitatem iugiter retentaret, maluit biduana ieiunia semper continuare, dummode ad refectionem veniens, duplicatâ mensurârepleret ventris ingluviem, etc. Cassian. Collatine, 2. c. 24. pag. 125.  Cassian telleth us of a young Monk named Benjamin, who after his days fast, finding his evening refection to be fare short of satisfying his hunger, desired to fast two days together, without any thing at all: so that at the end of the second day he might have his allowance for the two days together, and so satisfy his hunger for the time. But the religious Fathers of that time would not consent unto it. And Cassian setteth us down this fact of Benjamin, as an example of indiscretion, which he warneth all wise Christians to beware of. Thus fare were these truely-religious Fathers from giving way to this gluttonous feeding, and intemperate drinking, now allowed in the Church of Rome to consist with the observance of an holy Fast.  
Secondly, this excessive quantity of meat and drink on a fasting day, is against the nature and use of a Fast, and the description which they of the Roman Church do give of it. For, (as hath been declared already out of Valentia) one essential thing in a religious fast is this, that the abstinence then used, be ordained to the taming of the flesh, and bridling of concupiscence. But he that drinketh wine to the full all day, and feedeth at noon by the belly, and eateth as much as might suffice three moderate men, doth afftict the body but a little: such a one, I suppose, might go supperless to bed, and feel no hunger, though he did forbear his evening Collation. And upon this ground (as I conceive) one of their own faith, 
(a) Postremum, à quo abstinere iubent Canones sunt cibi delicati— sum cibi multi, licèt semel sumpti. Scio quid hac de re dicant multi, qui ad nostros m●res tolerandos, quam ad velerem disciplinam exp●candam rectiùs loquuntur: tamen, si quod res est, licet prefiteri, qui possit dic● ieiunus, qui non sit temperans, non equidem intelligo: tam non, quàm non id esse hominem, quod animal non sit. Ant. Liturg. to. 1. ferin quartâ quatuor temporum, p. 105.  that one thing which the Canons of the Church did forbid, was [●ibi multi, licèt semel sumpti,] much meat, or many meats, though but taken once in the day. He addeth, that notwithstanding this excessive eating have his patroness among them, yet (faith he) If I may profess that which is the truth, I cannot tell how he may be said to be fasting, that is not temperate; no more than how he can be a man, that is not a living creature.  
And this shall serve for the fourth particular.   

CHAP. VI Dispensations in the Roman Church, against the rules offasting.  
THe last is their Dispensations; and they be of two sorts: some are explicit, and others are implicit. The explicit or express Dispensations are, when the Pope or other Prelates do by word or writing, give leave or licence to some men, not to observe their rules of fasting; as for example, when they dispense with men to eat cheese & eggs in Lent; or such like. Their implicit Dispensations are, when the people take liberty in their practice against the rules or precepts of the Church, and their Bishops or Prelates seeing it, say nothing to the contrary, but wink at it: for this connivance in the Prelates, especially in the Pope, they hold as good as an express Dispensation. Now concerning these two kinds of Dispensations, we are to consider 2. things 11. What power they are of in the Roman Church to dissolve the rules of fasting; and 2. What way is given to them in the practice of that Church.  
And first, for their express Dispensations, they say, 
(a) Summus Pontifex potest dispensare in praecepto ieiunij, quomuis fuit ab Apostolis institutum. Ratio est; quia in hac lege ferenda Apostoli usi fuere potestate gubernandi sibi à Christo concessâ; & in ijs quae periment ad gubernationem Ecclesiae summus Pontifex habet aequalem potestatem, sicut Apostoli babuerunt. Ios. Angels in 4. de jeiunio. q. 5. diffic. 2. concl. 1 p. 394. v. joh. Medin. in Cod. de jeiunio. q. 3.  that the Pope may dispense in the Precept of fasting, although it were made by the Apostles. The reason is, because in making of this Law, the Apostles used the power of government, which Christ did grant them; and in those things, which pertain to the government of the Church, the Pope hath as much power as the Apostles had. They say also, that the 
(b) Dicò primò Papam posse dispensare quemcunque etiam per tolam vitam. Communis Doctorum in Rubricis de obseruatione ieiunij, sylvest jeiun. 47. Navar. nu. 21. Est enim supra hoc praeceptum, quum sit tantum de iure canonico; vude etiam sine causa valida esset dispensatio. Fill. tract. 27. pa●t. 2. c. 6 nu. 126. pa. 290.  Pope may dispense with a man for his whole life. For he is above this Law of Fasts, seeing it is only enjoined by the Canon Law 
(c) Ibid. nu. 127. : and from hence it followeth also, that his Dispensation is good, though it be granted without cause. And for inferior Bishops and Prelates, they may dispense with those which are under them, upon just cause, etc. Bartholomew Medina saith, 
(d) Quando habet quis iustè aut iniuslè dispensationem non iciunandi, non tenetur; quamuis peccaret huiusmodi dispensationem sine occasione petendo: at si eam obtinuerit, valida crit. Ratio est: nam quum humana sit lex ista, potest ●amsilmus Pontifex aut alius toll●re. Barth. Med. Inst. Conf. l. 1. c. 14. §. 10. p. 150.  that when a man hath a Dispensation for not fasting, whether justly or unjustly, he is not tied to the Law; though he sinned in ask such a Dispensation without cause. But if he obtain it, the Dispensation is good. For seeing that Law is only positive, and of man's making, the Pope or an other Bishop may dissanul it. So, their express Dispensations are omnipotent against all Laws of fasting. And the like they say in a manner for their implicit Dispensations, or the connivance of the Pope and Prelates at the people's practice. For, 
(e) Consuetudo Tinelli Romanae Curiae in omnibus ieiunys no improbatur à Caietan●. Fil. Tra. 27. par. 2. c. 2. nu. 34. p. 280.  the custom used in the Pope's Court on fasting days, is, not to be disallowed in any thing, as Caietan saith. The like they say of customs in other places also. 
(a)  consuetudo priorem legis obligationem tollat, non opus est ut sit rationabilis & praescripta; sed satis est, si per tantum tempus sit buiusmodi consuetudo inducta & obseruata, ut ad notitiam Maiorum pervenerit, qui quum came sciant, minimè contradicunt, quum commode si vellent, contradicere possent, & pravaricatores punire, etc. Io. Medina Cod. de jeiun. q. 8. pag. 347.  Nor is it needful in this case, that the custom be reasonable and by prescription; it is sufficient, if it have been kept so long, that it do come to the knowledge of Superiors, who when they know it, do not contradict or gainsay it, when they might conveniently gainsay it if they would. They be the words of Medina, subscribed unto by 
(b) Prax. fori Penitent l 4. nu. 134. p. 148, 149.  josephus' Angles, that he hath transcribed them out of him word for word, and published them for his own. By this it may be seen, what power they place in their Dispensations, whether they be given by express words, or only brought in by the custom of the people, and the connivance of the Bishops.  
And all this were not so great a matter; if Pope and Prelates were wary in granting Dispensations, and winking at licentious customs. But it is fare otherwise. For 
(d) Fuit praeceptum de abstinetia à carnibus, primùm Clericis impositum, deinde ad fideles omnes fuit diffusum: in omni autem loco cibus quadragesimalis intelligitur absque ovis & lacticinijs. jam verò est communissima dispensatio, quam qui obtinuerunt, sine scrupulo possunt uti praemissis. joseph. Angles in 4. de jeiunio. q. 9 difficult. 2. concl. 4. pag. 424.  a Dispensation against the rules of Lent is most common; which he that hath obtained, may without scruple of conscience use the premises; that is, he may eat flesh and white meats. And 
(e) Papa in Bullis suis concedit pussim facul●atem comedendi ova, caseum & lac in Quadragesima, & carnem ex solo medici consilio, & parum deest, quin generaliter cum omnibus dispenset, ut ieiunent carnes comedendo; sicut dicitur cum multis Nobilibus dispensasse. joh. Med. Cod. de jeiun. q. 2. pa. 328.  the Pope (saith Medina) doth every where in his Bulls grant licence to eate eggs, cheese and milk in Lent time, yea and flesh too, by the alone advice of a Physician: and there wanteth but a little of dispensing generally with all men, that they may fast with eating of flesh, as it is said that he hath dispensed with many Noblemen. And Beyerlinck showing the easiness of a Roman Fast nowadays, over that it was in time past, saith, that 
(a) Veteres Christiani quoad hanc ieiunandi legem admodum rigidi, paucissim●s ab illius obseruatione eximebant. Nunc infiniti aut imbecillitatis aut necessitatis titulo hac obligatione liberantur. Beyer. in festo Cine●um, tex. 3. in fine pag. 64.  the ancient Christians being very strict and rigid about this Law of fasting, did release very few from the observation and keeping of it: but now an infinite number, upon pretence either of weakness or necessity, are freed from the bond of it. So they are very liberal of their Dispensations, & that not only in ordinary Fasts, and at common times; but even in the holy and strict time of Lent. Nor have these Dispensations gone so fare, but their customs, by which the rules of abstinence are abrogated, have extended much further. For, 
(b) Consuetudo abrogavit ieiunium Rogationum, quod praecipitur in Cap. Rogationes de Consecrat. Dist. 3. Item ieiunium quartae & sextae feriae, iam inde ab Apostolorum temporibus in praecepto positum, constat consuetudine abrogatum esse, & arbitrio nostro relictum.— Denique ieiunium Aduentus, alias solitum seruari in Ecclesia Romana— contraria consueludo iam sustulit. Reginald. Prax. l. 4. nu. 133. pag 148.  custom [not controlled by the Prelates] hath abrogated the Fast of the Rogation week, which was commanded by the Canon Law: as also the Wednesday and Friday Fast, which, as they say, was enjoined by Precept ever since the Apostles time: and so likewise it hath taken away the Fast of Aduent, which otherwise was used to be kept in the Roman Church by virtue of the Canon. And custom 
(c) Hinc excusantur a Doctoribus, qui iuxta morem & consuetudinem patriae, in die ieiunij longiores Collationes faciunt, etc. Hinc etiam Mediolanenses excusantur, non ieiunantes primis quatuer diebus Quadragesimae.— Hine etiam excusantur ante horam vesperarum manducantes.— Hire britons excusantur, qui in Quadragesima butyro utuntur, ubi talis viget consuetudo, aut ovis, alissque ex carne originem trabentibus, quum contrarium sit iure definitum. Hinc à peccato liberantur comedentes carnes in aliquibus locis in die Sabbathi. joseph. Angles in 4. de jeiun q. 5. Diffic. 1. pag. 393. Who hath transcribed Medina. Cod. de jeiun. q. 8. pag. 346.  it is that brought in long Collations at night, and made them lawful: and custom that excuseth the inhabitants of Milane, for not fasting the four first days in Lent: and that excuseth men for eating their Supper before Even song: and custom that excuseth the Britons for eating of butter in the Lent time, where that custom is on foot, or eggs and other things which come of flesh. And finally, custom hath made it lawful to eat before noon on a fasting day, to use a gross Collation on Christmas Eve, as before I shown: as also, 
(a) In nostra Hispania,- invaluit consuetudo maiori ex parte, ut comedantur in Sabbatho omnia interiora animalium & extrema, ut pedes & capita, & omnia lardasagimina, etiam porcinum crassum, etc. Llamas part. 3. c. 5. §. vlt. pa. 399.  on Saturday to eat the entrales of beasts, with their heads and feet, and beside, bacon and swine's flesh also: Yea, 
(b) Statutum de abstinendo à carnibus in dominicis diebus Quadragesime olim obligatorium non fuit, quia non fuit utentium moribus approbatum, ut ait Greg. in Epist. ad Episcop. Anglorum. joh. Medina. Cod. de jeiun. q. 8. p. 346. Col. 2.  to eat flesh on Sundays in Lent, contrary to the Law, where the use of men was to the contrary. Thus, and in this manner custom with them hath prevailed, to the abrogating both of the ancient Laws, and their own rules: and to the bringing in and justifying of strange liberty, contrary to the practice of God's ancient people, and the descriptions of fasting approved by the Church of Rome. And how fare further it may grow, we could not imagine, saving that we see there is little or nothing in a manner left, that is worth the dispensing with. For what with their doctrine, and what with their Dispensations and customs, fasting with them is become so easy and pleasant a course, that an Epicure may satisfy his voluptuous appetite, and yet keep a Roman Fast.  
And this may suffice for manifesting their Indulgence and licentiousness.  
Out of all which, we may further deduce and observe these Collections following.  
1. That a Popish Fast, in most points of moment, is most unlike to the ancient Fasts. For the Ancients abstained from Wine, and Spices, and juncates; the Papists allow these, as most innocent on a fasting day. The Ancients had one only refection in the day of their Fast; the Papists have two or three, or more; for the all days drinking is more than one refection. The Ancients did fast till evening, or when zeal was somewhat decayed, till three of the clock at least; the Papists break off their Fasts at noon, or an hour or two sooner. The Ancients were sparing in their one refection, and fed on course fare; the Papists in their set refection feed by the belly, and choose such meats and sauces as best please the appetite, provided only that they eat not flesh. And finally, the Ancients were strict and rigid observers of their rules and orders of fasting; the Papists are most lose in dispensing with all men, and in all things that have any show of hardness or affliction in them. These contrarieties between our new Doctors and the old Fathers, I have proved already, as I passed thorough the Particulars: but if any man desire to see them all together in one heap, he may find them collected and acknowledged by the friends and wellwillers of the Church of Rome: who reckon up these, not to their Mother's shame, but for the praise of her love and tenderness to her children, whom she would not chasten so severely, as the old Church of Christ was wont to chasten her children. Pisanuc then the jesuite, thus commendeth the tender love of the Roman Church to her babes and sucklings. 
(a) Si qua in redisciplina Ecclesiastica laxata & & lapsa est, id maximè in ieiuniorum ratione videre licet, ac ex huius lectione libelli fatis animaduertetur. Sanè pia matter Ecclesia, imbecillitati nostrae se accommodat, cuius proinde pietatem commendare debemus.— Ad Veterem & Apostolicam Ecclesiam plerique omnes provocant, sed huius ieiunia s●ata & solennia vel non probant, vel ne per somnium quidem sequuntur. Pisan. Praefat. ad Lector. praefixâ libro de Abstinent. pag. 96, 97.  If (saith he) the Discipline of the Church be any where relaxed and fall'n down, it is most of all to be seen in the matter of Fasts, and may be well enough perceived by the reading of this book. Forsooth, our holy Mother the Church doth apply herself to our weakness, whose motherly care we ought therefore to commend. And again; All men for the most part, do appeal to the ancient and Apostolic Church: but her set and solemn Fasts they either do not allow, or do never a whit follow her in them. And the same Author, 
(b) Non est— quòd aliquis ieiunij difficultate deterreatur. Siquidem tanta moderatio est adhibita, per Ecclesiae praxin, antiquorum Canonum perfectioni, ut qui hodie sciens praeceptum absque necessitate ieiunium negligit, non leue profectò crimen incurrat. Ecce enim veteres Canon's non solùm vin●m, sed etiam siceram interdixére, & omne quod inebriare potest, & mulsam ac ceruisiam. Olera tantùm concedebant in esum, seclusit etiam ipsis piscibus, etc. Hodiè & vino & piscibus uti licet. Nec ampliùs, ut olim, semel tantum vesperi reficimur; sed coenae in prandia sunt commutatae, etc. Quid? quòd à quibusdam terrae fructibus abstinebant olim Catholici in Quadragesuna (ut docuit Augustinus contra Faustum) nempe ab aromatis, aut ijs quae Venerem excitant, iuxta praeceptum Apostolerum, sola Olera admittentium: in quo etiam Ecclesia Catholica potestatem habens Apostolicam, ut & in alijs multis benignè nobiscum dispensavit, etc. Postremò, quia Canones ieiunantibus cibum prohibent, potum non prohibent; subingressae sunt, conviventibus Hierarchis, nostrae nocturnae Refectiunculae, Veteribus prorsus ignotae, eo videlicet praetextu, ne potus noceat, etc. Pisan. de Abstinent. cap. 14. pag. 162, etc.  There is no cause (saith he) why any man should be deterred with the difficulty of fasting. For the practice of the Church hath so moderated and mitigated the perfection of the old Canons, that whosoever now doth wittingly neglect the Fast that is required without necessity, out of doubt he shall incur no small crime. Yea, but what is that mitigation, which the Church hath used in tempering the old Canons? He goeth on to tell us that in these words: Behold, (saith he, and sure the thing deserveth attention) the old Canons did not only forbid wine, but all strong drink that might trouble the brain, and Meath, and Ale or Beer: they allowed only herbs to be eaten on their fasting days, forbidding even fish also, etc. But nowadays, we may lawfully use both fish and wine. Nor do we any longer, as aforetime they were wont, refresh ourselves once only in the evening; but suppers are turned with us into dinners, etc. Nay, the Catholics of ancient time did in Lent abstain from some fruits of the earth, (as Augustine teacheth against Faustus) namely from spices, and such things as stir up lust, according to the precept of the Apostles, who admit herbs alone: wherein, as in many other things, the Catholic Church, having Apostolic authority, hath favourably dispensed with us, etc. Lastly, because the Church's Canons do forbid meat, but not drink; our evening Refections, unknown to the Ancients, have, by the connivency of the Prelates, privily crept in; upon pretence, forsooth, lest drink alone should do harm. Thus he: and in like sort another: 
(a) Quantum de prima illa Veterum ieiuniorum severitate bact●nus detractum est? Maiores nostri feria 4, 6. & plerique etiam Sabbatho, non solum carnibus abslinebant, sed etiam ieiunabant: nunc feriam sextam & Sabbathum in Dominicae passionis & mortis memoriam, delectu tantùm ciborum celebramus. Illi ieiunijs adiungebant vigilias, & nocturnos ad orandum deum agebant conventus: nos unius exiguum specimen retinuimus, scilicet, Nativitatis Domini. Jlli in horam nonam, imo usque ad vesperam ieiunia extendebant, nec prandere, sed canare soliti: nos cadem statim in meridie relaxamus, & prandia sumimus, eamque talia, ut praeteritam abstinentiam copiâ & varietate ciborum facilè compensemus. Illi unicam refeetiunculam, eámque ten●em ieiunantibus indulgebant: nos longo & pleno prandio vespertinam adijcimus refectiunculam, quae saepenumerè in coenam degeneret. Abstinebant illi etiam piscibue, omnique potu, qui inebriare potest: nunc in solis carnibus ciborum delectus ferè consistit. Denique veteres Christiani, quoad hanc ieiunandi legem admodum rigidi, paucissi● os ab illius obseruatione eximebant: nunc infiniti, aut imbecillitatis aut necessitatis titulo bac obl'gatione l'berantur. Laurent. Beyerl. prompt moral. part. 3. in festo Cinerum, tex. 3. pag. 63, 64.  How much (saith he) hath hitherto been abated of the former severity of the ancient Fasts? Our forefathers, on Wednesday, Friday, and most of them on Saturday also, did not only abstain from flesh meats, but did also fast: but now we keep Friday and Saturday for the memory of Christ's Passion and death, only with forbearing some meats, [without intermitting any meal.] They to their fastings joined watchings, and had night-assemblies for prayer unto God; we have only kept a little semblance of one of them, namely of Christmas Eue. They continued their Fasts till three of the clock, yea till evening; nor were they wont to dine, but to sup: we break off our Fasts at midday, and take our dinners, and them such, that we do easily recompense the foregoing abstinence with plenty and variety of meats. They allowed but one only Refection, and that a slender one: we to a long and full Dinner, do add an evening Refection, which many times doth degenerate into a Supper. They abstained from fish, and all drink that may intoxicate the brain: now our choice of meats consisteth for the most part in the forbearing of flesh alone. Finally, the ancient Christians, being very strict about the rules of fasting, did exempt very few from the observance thereof: but now the number is infinite of them, that upon pretence of weakness or necessity are freed from this bond. And from all this he inferreth, 
(a) Vnde quum dominum habeamus tam mansuetum, Ecclesiam matrem tam benignam, quae infirmitatibus nostris condolere non negligit, nihilque quod supra vires sit, exigal: exhibeamus nos etiam dicto eorum audientes, etc. Beyer. l. c.  that seeing we have so mild a Lord, (I suppose he meaneth the Pope) and so tender a mother, the Church, which is not backward to condole our infirmities, and requireth nothing of us above our strength; let us yield ourselves obedient to their command, etc. And surely, he that will not yield to so easy a penance, deserveth to pay for it in Purgatory. But the thing that I intent in transcribing these two Authors, is, at one view to let the world see, how much the Church of Rome, even by the confession of her own flatterers, is degenerated from the practice of the Primitive and purer Church. And therefore when they allege unto us the sayings and doings of Fathers and ancient Writers, for defence and commendation of their Fasts, they do therein play the Gibeonites with us. They tell us of old fasting days aforetime, of choice of meats used in the Primitive Church, and what account the Fathers made of the Fast of Lent; but when they put these names upon their own Fasts, they show us but their own worn rags and broken bottles, and clouted shoes, which they would make us believe came afar off, even from the first times of the Primitive Church: and if we will believe them upon their own word, as the Israelites believed the smooth tale of the Gibeonites, than we may be deceived by these jebusites, as they were by those Gibeonites. But if we ask counsel at the mouth of the Lord, or if we advice with the ancient Fathers of the Church, we shall find that all this stuff is but counterfeit trash; no more like to the Fasts of the Prophets, Apostles, ancient Fathers and Christians of former times, than an Ape is like to a man.  
Secondly, We may note out of the former passages, that they know not how to define a Fast, but so, as that they must withal contradict their own rules, and condemn their own practice. For in their definition of a Fast, they say, that it is a straighter abstinence than the rules of Temperance do require: and yet by their rules a man may eat and drink excessively, without breaking of a Roman Fast. They say in their definition, that in a Fast there must be but one Refection; and yet by their rules, a man may eat a full Dinner, and a little Collation, which proveth a just supper, and drink what he will all day long. They say in the definition, that a Fast is a longer abstinence then ordinary, and that the time of refection than must be later: and yet by their rules a man may take his meal at twelve, eleven, or ten of the clock; which is, I think, as soon as any man useth to dine on ordinary days. And lastly, in the definition they say, that a Fast, both for the continuance of the abstinence, and for the quality of the meat when the abstinence is ended, must be such as may beat down the body, tame the flesh, and bridle concupiscence; and yet by their rules, a man may eat & drink so much and so often, as will breed no affliction to any man living. Thus their doctrine is crossed by their own definition. Nor could it well be otherwise. For both their doctrine in the particulars, and their practice in the use of a Fast is such, as that if they had framed a general definition of a Fast, that had been agreeable thereunto, it would plainly have appeared, that they had bidden open defiance to all Antiquity, yea, and to their elder Schoolmen too. And therefore they thought it better in general to profess conformity to Scriptures and the ancient Church, and in particular so to mould it by distinctions and considerations and congruities of a reasonable alteration, as might serve to blear their eyes that are wilfully blind. But a wise man, who hath his eyes in his head, will easily see the disproportion between their general definition and their particular doctrines.  
Thirdly, we may gather from the premises, that the religious Fasts of Rome are nothing but a superstitious foppery; and a mere mocking both of God and men. For all is but an outside, there is no pith nor virtue within: a Fast in name, but in deed nothing less. I shall not need to declare this further in this place; it is sufficiently demonstrated already: and if need be, we have the witness of one of their own Prophets, who confesseth in a manner as much as I have said. For, 
(a) Et sanè non multùm ieiunat, qui in diebus ieiuniorum non ●rctiùs ieiunat, quàm Ecclesia iubet; hoc est, qui edit & bibit omnia quae Ecclesia permittit, vel quae non punit. Lorich. Thesaur. v. jeiun. nu. 10. pag. 1130.  to say the truth, (saith he) he fasteth not much, who on fasting days fasteth not more straitely than the Church doth command: that is, who eateth and drinketh all things which the Church doth permit, or which it doth not punish. By which last words, added (as I conceive) by some Censor before he licenced the Book to the Press; though he mayseeme to sup up again his own breath, and only to say, that the Church doth tolerate these things without giving allowance to them: yet this qualification will not help the matter. For whatsoever they suffer to go uncontrolled, that they allow as lawful and without fault; as hath already been declared. But Lindan is plain, and speaketh home, when he calleth their Fasts [jeiunia Epicurea,] Epicures Fasts. And indeed they have more affinity with the feeding of an Epicure, then with the fasting of a devout Christian. In respect of all which, as our Saviour said to his Disciples, When ye fast, be not as the Hypocrites, of a sad countenance, &c, so let me say to all sincere Christians, When ye fast, be not as these Hypocrites, all for show and nothing for substance. But when ye fast, use a true abstinence, such as may afflict the body, master the flesh, elevate the soul, and humble the whole man by repentance and sorrow: and together with outward abstinence join inward exercises of devotion, examining your consciences, acknowledging your sins, condemning your own selves, as unworthy to taste of any of God's creatures; and running to the Throne of grace for mercy and forgiveness: that your sins being pardoned, your consciences may be comforted, and your souls better enabled for God's service.  
Fourthly, we may gather, what a smooth and easy way the Church of Rome doth pave for men unto heaven and happiness. For these lose and licentious Fasts of theirs, they say that they have great power both to merit heaven, and to free a man from Purgatory. But if they can merit and satisfy in this manner, and by this means; they may with much ease have many merits, and great store of satisfactions: nor is it any wonder that they talk of such a multitude of these things laid up in the Church's Treasury. It is a wonder rather, if the Treasury of the Church be not long since so full, that they want souls to bestow them upon. Yea, and a wonder it may well seem, if on the other side, there be any man so careless of himself, as to stand in need of them. For he that for his soul's health will not fast (as they call fastnig) so often and so much as they do require, is a most negligent man of his salvation; and it is pity that ever he should go to heaven, or be delivered from Purgatory or hell. But those who hear Christ say, and consider what he meaneth, when he saith, Strive to enter in at the straight gate; cannot think to buy heaven at so easy a rate, nor to make satisfaction for their sins with so slight a penance. They will think all little enough, though with David, and Daniel, and Ezrah, they chasten and afflict their souls with fasting. Nor will they think when all is done, to merit heaven, or to satisfy God's justice by it. Let Papists preach their merits while they will, true Christians will be both more penitent, and less proud.  
FINIS.    

Errata.  
PAg. 9 in mark lit. c. Bellar.— pag. 168, 169, r. pag. 1068, 1069. Pag. 10. in mark lit. a. distositionem & ciborum digestionem. r. dispositionem & digestionem. Pag. 14. in mark lit. a. flammas. r. flammas. Pag. 25. in mark lit. c. add in the end, Filliuc. Tract. 27. part. 2. c. 2. num. 42. pag. 281. Pag. 28. in mark lit. c. soluant. r. soluunt. Pag. 35. in mark lin. vlt. prandedi. r. prandendi.