Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

316 SPREAD OF HERESY.
Wycliffe himself always maintained a certain
veneration for our Lady, though his views contained
germs which were bound to lead to her dishonour.
This was soon apparent in his descendants. White
taught that " no honour is to be shown to the
Crucifix, nor to the image of any saint or of our
Lady". His own life showed that the Wycliffites
had destroyed as far as might be the ideal of holiness,
. and placed a wretched counterfeit before the eyes of
men.
" One Margaret Wright confessed that, if any
saints were to be prayed to, she would rather pray to
him (White) than any other."1 Another Lollard
woman declared that the same William White " is
now a great saint in heaven ; that he was a most
holy doctor, ordained and sent by God ; that she
prayed daily to the same St. William White, . . .
begging that he would vouchsafe to intercede with
the God of Heaven 'V2 These were the men whom
the Lollards substituted for God's holy ones. It was
the Communion of Saints perverted into the Communion
of Sinners.
The Lollards were not confined to the Eastern
counties. They penetrated into Scotland, which is
a sufficient proof that they had spread more or less
in the North. In 1431 a convocation of the Southern
province dealt with the vicar of Maldon, Thomas
Bagley, who was found guilty of heresy respecting
the Holy Eucharist, prayers for the dead, vows, and
pilgrimages. He said he would rather trust John
1 Stevenson, p. 146. - Ibi