Foxe - The Book of Martyrs
The mystery of history is not completely dark, since it is a veil which only partially conceals the creative activity and spiritual forces and the operation of spiritual laws. It is commonplace to say that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church yet what we are asserting is simply that individual acts of spiritual decision bear social fruit …For the great cultural changes and historic revolutions that decide the fate of nations or the character of an age is the cumulative result of a number of spiritual decisions … the faith and insight, or the refusal and blindness, of individuals. No one can put his finger on the ultimate spiritual act that tilts the balance, and makes the external order of society assume a new form… Persecution, powerless to destroy or even to shake this new community, made it only the more sensible of its own strength, and pressed it into a more compact body.
The mystery of history is not completely dark, since it is a veil which only partially conceals the creative activity and spiritual forces and the operation of spiritual laws. It is commonplace to say that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church yet what we are asserting is simply that individual acts of spiritual decision bear social fruit …For the great cultural changes and historic revolutions that decide the fate of nations or the character of an age is the cumulative result of a number of spiritual decisions … the faith and insight, or the refusal and blindness, of individuals. No one can put his finger on the ultimate spiritual act that tilts the balance, and makes the external order of society assume a new form… Persecution, powerless to destroy or even to shake this new community, made it only the more sensible of its own strength, and pressed it into a more compact body.
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<strong>Foxe</strong>’s <strong>Book</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Martyrs</strong><br />
temper that he was soon dismissed; and though Molinos' examination was much longer, it<br />
was generally expected he would have been likewise discharged: but this was not the case.<br />
Though the inquisitors had not any just accusation against him, yet they strained every nerve<br />
to find him guilty <strong>of</strong> heresy. <strong>The</strong>y first objected to his holding a correspondence in different<br />
parts <strong>of</strong> Europe; but <strong>of</strong> this he was acquitted, as the matter <strong>of</strong> that correspondence could not<br />
be made criminal. <strong>The</strong>y then directed their attention to some suspicious papers found in his<br />
chamber; but Molinos so clearly explained their meaning that nothing could be made <strong>of</strong> them<br />
to his prejudice. At length, Cardinal d'Estrees, after producing the order sent him by the king<br />
<strong>of</strong> France for prosecuting Molinos, said he could prove against him more than was necessary<br />
to convince them he was guilty <strong>of</strong> heresy. To do this he perverted the meaning <strong>of</strong> some<br />
passages in Molinos' books and papers, and related many false and aggravating<br />
circumstances relative to the prisoner. He acknowledged he had lived with him under the<br />
appearance <strong>of</strong> friendship, but that it was only to discover his principles and intentions: that<br />
he had found them to be <strong>of</strong> a bad nature, and that dangerous consequences werre likely to<br />
ensue; but in order to make a full discovery, he had assented to several things, which, in his<br />
heart, he detested; and that, by these means, he saw into the secrets <strong>of</strong> Molinos, but<br />
determined not to take any notice, until a proper opportunity should <strong>of</strong>fer <strong>of</strong> crushing him<br />
and his followers.<br />
In consequence <strong>of</strong> d'Estree's evidence, Molinos was closely confined by the Inquisition,<br />
where he continued for some time, during which period all was quiet, and his followers<br />
prosecuted their mode without interruption. But on a sudden the Jesuits determined to<br />
extirpate them, and the storm broke out with the most inveterate vehemence.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Count Vespiniani and his lady, Don Paulo Rocchi, confessor to the prince Borghese,<br />
and some <strong>of</strong> his family, with several others, (in all seventy persons) were put into the<br />
Inquisition, among whom many were highly esteemed for their learning and piety. <strong>The</strong><br />
accusation laid against the clergy was their neglecting to say the breviary; and the rest were<br />
accused <strong>of</strong> going to the Communion without first attending confession. In a word, it was<br />
said, they neglected all the exterior parts <strong>of</strong> religion, and gave themselves up wholly to<br />
solitude and inward prayer.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Countess Vespiniani exerted herself in a very particular manner on her examination<br />
before the inquisitors. She said she had never revealed her method <strong>of</strong> devotion to any mortal<br />
but her confessor, and that it was impossible they should know it without his discovering the<br />
secret; that, therefore it was time to give over going to confession, if priests made this use <strong>of</strong><br />
it, to discover the most secret thoughts intrusted to them; and that, for the future, she would<br />
only make her confession to God.<br />
From this spirited speech, and the great noise made in consequence <strong>of</strong> the countess's<br />
situation, the inquisitors thought it most prudent to dismiss both her and her husband, lest<br />
the people might be incensed, and what she said might lessen the credit <strong>of</strong> confession. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
were, therefore, both discharged, but bound to appear whenever they should be called upon.<br />
Besides those already mentioned, such was the inveteracy <strong>of</strong> the Jesuits against the<br />
Quietists, that, within the space <strong>of</strong> a month, upwards <strong>of</strong> two hundred persons were put into<br />
the Inquisition; and that method <strong>of</strong> devotion which had passed in Italy as the most elevated<br />
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