Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A27340
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The belief of praying for the dead
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Belhaven, John Hamilton, Baron, 1656-1708.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing B1787; ESTC R16794
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35,862
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72
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intent these Obblations were made Tertullian teaches us elsewhere for lesser Faults for which the dead are imprison'd he GOD will cast thee into the infernal Goal Tertull. de Anima c. 35. Ille te in Carcerem mandet infernum unde non dimitteris nisi modico quoque delicto mora Resurrectionis expenso whence thou shalt not go forth until the smallest Fault be expiated in the delay of Resurrection And finally Tertullian affirms this middle state or prison where smaller Faults are to be expiated before the detained go to Heaven into the delay of Resurrection to be part of what the Church believ'd in these Words If you ask a Command for this in Scripture there is none to be found Lib. de Coron Mil. c. 4. Traditio tibi pretendetur auctrix consuetudo confirmatrix fides observator Tradition from the Apostles has increas'd this into a Precept Custom confirms it Faith observes it Dionysius Areopagita Makes mention of Three States of Men after death De Hierar Eccles. tom 1. c. 7. Edit Paris 1644. Pag 352. 357. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The First are the Wicked who die miserably and go straightway to Hell and for whom the Priest never prays at the Altar For the Wicked deceased he never prays The Second State is of the Just who go straightway to Heaven and of these he recounts two degrees Some liv'd a divine Life upon earth others not so fervent in Charity a holy Life both after death enjoy the sight of God. The Prelate prays for neither They want not his Prayers For both of them he gives Thanks to God Ib. pag. 352. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who leads here a divine says S. Denis and most holy Life as much as 't is possible for man to imitate God shall in the next World enjoy divine and happy Rest And whose Life is inferiour to this divine one yet likewise holy he will receive equal recompence for his Merits The blessed Prelate giving Thanks for this divine Justice goes on with the holy Sacrifice Thus the Roman Catholick Church holds prayers offer'd with reference to the Saints a Thanks-giving to GOD. Besides these Two States we find mention of a Third This cannot be Hell the place admits of Mercy It cannot be Heaven the detained are not yet fully purg'd from sin or lesser Faults And it is for the remission of these that the Prelate prays The Prayer of the Holy Prelate implores the Divine Goodness to pardon the deceased of all his sins committed by humane frailty Ib. Parag. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to transfer him into the light and region of the Living and to seat him in the Bosom of Abraham Isaac and Jacob in a place where there is no more any pain sorrow or sighing S. Maximus in his exposition of this passage S. Max. in Dionys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calls these Faults of human frailty little Sins and these are those venial Offences which accompanyed the dead to Purgatory there to be expiated before the detained change sorrow grief or weeping into joy and eternal felicity and of which the Church of ROME begs pardon in her Prayers for Souls departed And lest succeeding Ages should be forgetful of the dead or oppose this pious Devotion of the Faithful for them S. Denis guided with a Prophetick Spirit left in few words Three strong Motives which are of themselves proper to remind the Forgetful of this duty and able to convince any unbyas'd Understanding of it First he says That this Doctrine is divinely reveal'd Secondly That it is grateful to Heaven Thirdly That these Prayers will prove effectual to relieve the Dead Ib. Pag. 357 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The holy Bishop concludes this ancient FATHER asks what is divinely promis'd what is acceptable to God and what will certainly be granted And after this can any one pretend to be exempted from praying with intent to help Souls departed in a middle state of pain sorrow and sighing or of Purgatory where lesser Faults are expiated This is the sense the Greeks gave of Dionysius Areopagite and they understood his Language Mich. in Ep. ad Nilum Mona 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You have says Michael Glyca chiefly Dionysius the Great banishing the Opinion of no middle State and openly teaching what sins may and what may not be pardon'd For discoursing of those who died in Sin he adds this if they be small they receive help from Good Works which are done for them if they be notorious Faults GOD has concluded against them And Gabriel Severus a Greek Schismatick writing against the Latins about the being of real Fire in Purgatory which is no matter of Faith declares the Greeks agree with the Latins In as much as we the Greeks likewise affirm That the Souls of those who piously departed are help'd in those places in which they are kept Gab. Tract de Purgat adu Lat. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and set free by Alms-deeds and Prayers which are offer'd for them as Dionysius Areopagite says The Discourser apprehended very much the pressing of this ancient Father's Authority and therefore would have us doubt of his Works and calls him the pretended Dionysius But the two Greeks above-mentined call him the true Areopagite so does S. Gregory the Great S. Greg. hom 34. Evang. Conc. 6. Gen. Act. 5. Relatio est aliud Testimonium è Codicillo S. Dionysij Episcopi Atheniensis Martyris Apud Niceph. l. 15. c 14. S. Greg. Naz. orat 42. in Pascha so does the sixth OEcumenical Council Juvenalis Bishop of Jerusalem who Liv'd at the Time of the fourth OEcumenical Synod affirms the same S. Gregory Nazianzen makes use of this Authority Dionysius Alexandrinus Commented upon him in the Third Age as S. Maximus assures us And the Monotholite Hereticks citing his Authority 't was explicated by the Fathers of the Church as that of Dionysius And I think these grave and weighty Authorities will easily sink down the light Pretension of a Discourser CHAP. VIII Of Scriptures recommending Prayers for the DEAD HOly Scriptures have in many places recommended this pious Office to the Faithful I 'le content my self with three or four Instances The First shall be what we read in the Second Book and Twelth Chapter of The Maccabees And the day following Judas came with his Company to take away the bodies of them that were overthrown and with their Kins-men to lay them in the Sepulchres of their Fathers And they found under the Coats of the slain some of the Donaries of the Idols that were in Jamnia from which the Law forbideth the Jews therefore it was made plain to all that for that cause they were slain All therefore Blessed the just Judgment of our Lord who had made manifest the hidden things And turn'd to Prayers they beg'd of him that the Sin committed might be perfectly blotted out Then Judas exhorted the People to keep themselves from