Above all, the Sacrament of the Mass, the centre of the Catholic system of faith and worship, and which still remained sacred to the bulk of Englishmen, was attacked with a scurrility and profaneness which passes belief.

The doctrine of Transubstantiation, which was as yet recognized by law, was held up to scorn in ballads and mystery plays.

In one church a Protestant lawyer raised a dog in his hands when the priest elevated the Host.

The most sacred words of the old worship, the words of consecration, "Hoc est corpus," were travestied into a nickname for jugglery as "Hocus-pocus." [Sidenote: The Six Articles] It was by this attack on the Mass, even more than by the other outrages, that the temper both of Henry and the nation was stirred to a deep resentment.

With the Protestants Henry had no sympathy whatever.