A Double-Faced Creed

The following is a double-faced creed first published in The Weekly Pacquet of Advice from Rome in 1679. This was called the “Jesuits’ Creed” in England.

Why is it called a double-faced creed?

This creed would suit either the Catholics or the Protestants depending on how the lines are read. For Catholics, read downward in single columns, and Protestants, each line straight across the double columns. Thus, this is also known as cross-reading.

I hold for sound faith	What England’s church allows,
What Rome’s faith saith	My conscience disavows.
Where the king’s head	The flock can take no shame,
The flock’s misled	Who hold the Pope supreme.
Where th’altar’s dress’d	The worship’s scarce divine,
The people’s bless’d	Whose table’s bread and wine.
He’s but an ass	Who their communion flies,
Who shuns the Mass	Is Catholic and wise.

Here is the Latin version:

Pro fide teneo sana	Quae docet Anglicana,
Affirmat quæ Romana	Videntur mihi vana.
Supremus quando rex est	Tum plebs est fortunata,
Erratiecus tum Grex est	Cum caput fiat papa.
Altari cum ornatur	Hunc morem qui non capit,
Populus tum beatur	Cum mensa vina panis.
Cum mensa vina panis.	Who their communion flies
Missam qui deseruit	Catholicus est et sapit.

10 thoughts on “A Double-Faced Creed”

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Fascinating, and very clever. Thank you for visiting my book blog earlier.

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I’ve never heard of this before. Pretty clever.

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Edmark M. Law says:

2017, August 11 at 4:16 PM

Thanks for reading.

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