So that it is no wonder that pope Leo' the Xth calls her a goddess; and Turcelin" the jesuit, "Divinæ majestatis, potestatisque sociam. Huic olim cœlestium mortaliumque principatum detulit. Ad hujus arbitrium (quoad hominum tutela postulat) terras, maria, cœlum, naturamque moderatur. Hâc annuente, et per hanc, divinos thesauros, et cœlestia dona largitur;" "The companion or partner of the Divine Majesty and power. To her he long since gave the principality of all heavenly and mortal things. At her will (so far as the guardianship of men requires) he rules the earth and seas, heaven and nature: and she consenting, he gives Divine treasures and celestial gifts." Nay, in the mass books penned 1538, and used in the Polonian churches, they call the blessed Virgin Mary, "Viam ad vitam, totius mundi gubernatricem, peccatorum cum Deo reconciliatricem, fontem remissionis peccatorum, lumen luminum;" "the way to life, the governess of all the world, the reconciler of sinners with God, the fountain of remission of sins, light of light";" and at last salute her with an Ave universæ trinitatis mater,' 'Hail thou mother of the whole trinity°.? We do not pick out these only, as the most singular, or the worst forms; for such as these are very numerous, as is to be seen in their breviaries, missalls, Hours of our Lady, Rosary of our Lady, the Litany of our Lady, called Litania Mariæ,' the Speculum rosariorum,' the hymns of saints, portuises, and manuals. These only are the instances which amongst many others presently occur. Two things only we shall add, instead of many more that might be represented. 6 The first is, that in a hymn which they (from what reason or etymology we know not, neither are we concerned) call a 'sequence,' the council of Constance did invocate the blessed Virgin, in the same manner as councils did use to invocate the Holy Ghost; they call her the "Mother of grace, the remedy to the miserable, the fountain of mercy, and the light of the church:" attributes proper to God, and incommunicable; They sing her praises, and pray to her for graces, they sing to her with the heart, they call them 1 Ad Recanatenses de Lauretana imagine, apud Rembum, lib. viii. ep. 17. In epist. dedicat. histor. Lauretan. n Fol. 323, 324, 325. • Fol. 327.- Vide epist. Andr. Dudithii quinque Eccles. episc. edit. A. D. 1590, sine loci et typographi nomine. selves her sons, they declare her to be their health and comfort in all doubts, and call on her for light from heaven, and trust in her for the destruction of heresies, and the repression of schisms, and for the lasting confederations of peace." The other thing we tell of, is, that there is a psalter of our lady, of great and ancient account in the church of Rome; it hath been several times printed, at Venice, at Paris, at Leipsic; and the title is, "The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin, compiled by the seraphical doctor St. Bonaventure, bishop of Alba, and presbyter cardinal of the holy church of Rome." But of the book itself, the account is soon made; for it is nothing but the psalms of David, an hundred and fifty in number are set down; altered indeed, to make as much of it as could be sense so reduced: in which the name of Lord' is left out, and that of 'Lady' put in; so that whatever David said of God and Christ, the same prayers and the same praises they say of the blessed Virgin Mary; and whether all that can be said without intolerable blasphemy, we suppose needs not much disputation. The same things, but in a less proportion and frequency, they say to other saints. "O Mary Magdalen, hear our prayers, which are full of praises, and most clemently reconcile this company unto Christ that the fountain of supreme piety, who cleansed thee from thy sins, giving pardon, may cleanse us who are his servants and thine P." These things are too bad already, we shall not aggravate them by any further commentary; but apply the premises. Now, therefore, we desire it may be considered, that P In Canticis quæ vocant Sequentia. Dominic. ante Ascensionem Domini. there are as the effects of Christ's death for us, three great products, which are the rule and measure of our prayers, and our confidence; 1. Christ's merits. 2. His satisfaction. 3. His intercession. By these three we come boldly to the throne of grace, and pray to God through Jesus Christ, But if we pray to God through the saints too, and rely upon their 1. merits, 2. satisfaction, 3. and intercession; is it not plain that we make them equal with Christ, in kind, though not in degree? For it is publicly avowed and practised in the church of Rome, to rely upon the saints' intercession; and this intercession to be made valid by the merits of the saints: "We pray thee, O St. Jude, the apostle, that by thy merits thou wouldst draw me from the custom of my sins, and snatch me from the power of the devil, and advance me to the invisible powers?;" and they say as much to others. And for their satisfactions,' the treasure of the church for indulgences is made up with them, and the satisfactions of Christ: so that there is nothing remaining of the honour due to Christ our Redeemer, and our confidence in him, but the same in every kind is by the church of Rome imputed to the saints: and, therefore, the very being and economy of Christianity is destroyed by these prayers; and the people are not, cannot be, good Christians in these devotions; and what hopes are laid up for them, who repent to no purpose, and pray with derogation to Christ's honour, is a matter of deepest consideration. And, therefore, we desire our charges not to be seduced by little tricks and artifices of useless and laborious distinctions, and protestations against evidence of fact, and with fear and trembling to consider, what God said by the prophet", "My people have done two great evils, they have forsaken me, fortem, vivum,' the strong and the living' God;" fontem vivum,' so some copies read it,— "The living fountain,' and have digged for themselves cisterns," that is, little fantastic helps, "that hold no water," that give no refreshment; or as St. Paul' expresses it, they worship and invocate the creature παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα, “ besides the Creator;" so the word properly signifies, and so it is used by the apostle in other places'. And at least let us 6 4 Vide speculum Rosarior. Sequentias ; et Breviar. Rom. Jerem. ii. 13. • Rom. i. 25. t1 Cor. iii. 11. Gal, i. 8. remember those excellent words of St. Austin, “Tutius et jucundius loquar ad meum Jesum, quàm ad aliquem sanctorum spirituum Dei;" "I can speak safer and more pleasantly or cheerfully to my Lord Jesus, than to any of the saints and spirits of God"." For that we have commandment, for this we have none; for that we have example in Scriptures, for this we have none; there are many promises made to that, but to this there is none at all; and therefore we cannot in faith pray to them, or at all rely upon them for helps. Which consideration is greatly heightened by that prostitution of devotion usual in the church of Rome, Tavonuel, to every upstart, to every old and new saint. And although they have a story among themselves, that it is ominous for a pope to canonize a saint, and he never survives it above a twelve-month, as Pierre Mathieu observes in the instances of Clement IV. and Adrian VI.; yet this hinders not, but that they are tempted to do it frequently. But concerning the thing itself, the best we can say, is what Christ said of the Samaritans, "They worship they know not what*." Such are St. Fingare, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Christopher, Charles Borromæus, Ignatius Loyola, Xaverius, and many others of whom Cardinal Bessarion complained, that many of them were such persons whose life he could not approve; and such, concerning whom they knew nothing, but from their parties, and by pretended revelations made to particular and hypochondriacal persons. It is a famous saying of St. Gregory,' that the bodies of many persons are worshipped on earth, whose souls are tormented in hell:' and Augustinus Triumphus affirms, 'that all who are canonized by the pope, cannot be said to be in heaven.' And this matter is beyond dispute; for Prateolus tells, that Herman, the author of the heresy of the Fratricelli, was for twenty years together after his death honoured for a saint, but afterwards his body was taken and burnt. But then since (as Ambrosius Catha up " Lib. i. c. 2. de Visitatione infirmorum: ascript. St. Aug. * John, iv. 22. y Vide libr. de Sanctis Hibernicis nuper Latinè edit. per D. Picardum Parisiensem. z Apud Bodin. in Method. Histor. lib. iv. Apud August. Triumphum de Ancona, q. 14. ad 4. et quæst. 17. ad 4. verb. Hermannus. rinus and Vivaldus observe), if one saint be called in question, then the rest may; what will become of the devotions which are paid to such saints which have been canonized within these last five centuries? Concerning whom we can have but slender evidence that they are in heaven at all. And therefore the cardinal of Cambray, Petrus de Alliaco, wishes that so many new saints were not canonized. They are indeed so many, that in the church of Rome, the holydays, which are called their 'greater doubles,' are threescore and four, besides the feasts of Christ and our lady, and the holydays which they call half-double festivals, together with the Sundays, are above one hundred and thirty. So that besides many holydays kept in particular places, there are, in the whole year, about two hundred holydays, if we may believe their own Gavantus; which, besides that it is an intolerable burden to the poor labourer, who must keep so many of them, that on the rest he can scarce earn his bread, they do also turn religion into superstition, and habituate the people to idleness, and disorderly festivities, and impious celebrations of the day with unchristian merriments and licentiousness. We conclude this with those words of St. Paul," How shall we call on him, on whom we have not believed?" Christ said, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." But he never said, Ye have believed in me, believe also in my saints. No: "For there is but one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus"." And therefore we must come to God, not by saints, but only by Jesus Christ our Lord. SECTION IX. THERE is, in the church of Rome, a horrible impiety taught and practised, which, so far as it goes, must needs destroy that part of holy life which consists in the holiness of our prayers; and indeed is a conjugation of evils, of such evils, of which in the whole world a society of Christians should be least suspected; we mean the infinite superstitions and a Lib. de Reform. Eccles. b De Fastis Sanctor. 7. 10. d 1 Tim. ii. 5. |