As for poverty, he spoke, as he said, what he knew when he declared that there “were among the priests hawkers and hucksters who sold horses, wine, and other goods and at higher prices than the usual layman did and were moved by greater cupidity. To gather moneys for palatial churches, dedicated to saints and all too ornate, festivals were held and pilgrimages instituted as if the very festivals of the Apostles were being celebrated, and at these, as it is said, the purses of the poor are emptied more by lies than by humble entreaties. Prelates should be told that at one lie, which is deserving of damnation, God takes more offense than He is pleased by the erection of a large church, even though it be built of gold.”
In the last synodal sermon, preached 1407, on Eph. 6: 14,[1] “Having your loins girt about with truth and having on the helmet of salvation,” he urged the clergy to be at the forefront of the spiritual battle, popes, cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots, archdeacons, as well as simple priests and friars. He adduced as heretics the sons of Eli who forgot the duties of their priestly office. With the aid of quotations from Bernard, Augustine, Matthias of Janow and others, and texts of Scripture he assailed the vices of the clergy—neglect and sacrilege, cupidity and plural livings. He condemned “the quest for money by the offer of special indulgences, spurious relics, and garish pictures. In these ways and in others, by playing upon the fears and ignorance of the people, they minister to their own self-indulgence and ease. Of all heretics, the simonist who traffics in holy things is the worst. More tolerable than such heresy is the heresy of Macedonius and the Pneumatichoi. For these continue to recognize the Holy Ghost as a creature and a servant of God, the Father and the Son. But the simonist makes the Holy Ghost his own personal servant by trafficking in spiritual things. May they shrink back from their wickedness who imitate Jeroboam in selling the priesthood and consecrate
- ↑ Monumenta, 2: 47 sqq.
