of Scripture that the Angels in heauen vnderstand our prayers considering they are the reporters of them to the Diuine Maiestie Now this is also another expresse text of Scripture that the Saints in heauen shall be like to the Angels according to the saying of the Sonne of God in the holy Gospell We must then conclude that the Saints heare our prayers seeing the Angels vnto whom they are likened heare them Me thinks I heare alreadie my Masters the Ministers to answere and say that this similitude of the Angels and Saints of which our Lord speaketh in the Gospell consisteth but only in their felicitie and blessednesse and not in their nature or office that is our Lord would say that the Angels and the Saints should be equall and like to each other in heauen because both of them should be blessed enioying one selfesame glory and felicitie But let vs suppose that the case were so let vs grant and admit that the answere of these my Masters be true yet notwithstanding euen by the same we can ensnare and entrap them For seeing the estate and happines of future life hindreth not the Angels from hearing the prayers of mortall men wherefore or how can it be but the Saints being in the selfe-same felicitie as the Angels are may not also heare our prayers as well as they this text then of Scripture sheweth that the Saints heare our prayers they heare vs they see vs neither are ignorant of that which is done vpon the earth which once more I will shew you out of the Scripture For the holy Patriarch Abraham being dead and in Limbo knew many things which were done among the children of Israel as you may see in the sixteenth Chapter of S. Luke First he knew that the people had the bookes of Moses and the Prophets of whom the auncientest was Moses who had written more then foure hundred yeares after the death of Abraham Secondly he knew the life that the rich Glutton had led vpon the earth and the miserie which poore Lazarus had there endured Thirdly he saw and knew the estate and condition of that vnhappie wretch and heard his prayer though he was not heard when he cryed Father Abraham haue mercy on me and send Lazarus c. And yet neuerthelesse there was a great distance betweene the one and the other as Abraham plainly told him Finally the rich Glutton though he was damned saw he not Abraham heard he not his answere gaue he not his replyes for all there was the distance of a great Gulfe betweene them Now I hope there is no man that dareth deny all this for it is written in the holy Gospell and is a historie pronounced by the mouth of him which cannot lye but is the truth himselfe euen Iesus Christ. If this thing and story be true as it is I then charge all the Caluinian and Lutherian Ministers and say vnto them in this manner If Abraham my masters shut vp in Limbo not enioying at that time the sight of God and being not yet blessed but through hope notwithstanding knew the things of this world knew the state and miserie of that rich Glutton and heard him make his prayer and request will you thinke then that the Saints in Paradise beholding God and enioying his most bright sight are lesse priuiledged then Abraham therefore the father S. Austine saith excellent well Quid non vident qui videntem omnia vident that is What is it saith he that the Saints aboue in heauen see not seeing they see him that seeth all things which is God And that which seemeth more If the damned themselues heare those speake which are afarre off from them as the rich man heard Abraham and by those words shewed himselfe mindfull and carefull of his brethren which were yet in the world being afraid lest they should come into the same place of torment wherein he was as you may see what he spake vnto Abraham in the Gospell shall we imagine that the Saints and all those which are in the kingdome of heauen see and know not that which we do vpon the earth And if the Saints and all the blessed ones that are departed this life know the things of this world what ought they to heare or know more then the prayers which are made vnto them And if they vnderstand and can heare the voice of the damned is it possible in your opinion that they should not vnderstand the prayers and requests of those which desire to be saued If the damned themselues as appeareth by the story of the rich Glutton would procure that no harme might happen to their brethren and friends will those which are saued be lesse charitable will not they aduance and help forward as much as in them lieth the saluation of their friends and Christian brethren and that so much the more if they see and heare that one requireth them thereunto Sir now you may demaund of me and say If so be I should conesse that the Saints heare our prayers yet faine would I know how and in what manner they heare vs To say the truth this is a very hard thing to be vnderstood and neuerthelesse it is true The father S. Austine acknowledging the hardnes of this question and through humilitie the small capacitie of his spirit though it was very great in his booke which he hath made and intituled De cura pro mortuis agenda c. 16. saith that In truth this question surpasseth the force of my vnderstanding being not able to conceaue after what a fashion the Martyrs help those which we know to be entirely helped by them By these words S. Austin acknowledgeth well that it is hard for him to vnderstand how they know the things of this world neuerthelesse he beleeueth that they know them and that indeed and certainely as he saith wee are succoured by them Wherein it may please you to note one difference among the rest that there is betweene our Catholicall Doctours and the Hereticall Doctours that is Ours if they cannot attaine to the totall and perfect knowledge of that matter or question which they handle they will not dispute it so farre as to denie the question and thing because they find it hard and surpassing their vnderstandings but admitting of the thing with humilitie they acknowledge only the smalnes of their capacitie as with very great modestie the most learned father S. Austin hath done in this point But these new hereticall Doctours which are come vp with and after Luther and Caluin though the thing or question disputed be true and grounded vpon good reason because they cannot comprehend nor compasse it within their vnderstandings flatly denie and reiect the thing as we see them daily doe in many other points and articles of religion seeking alwaies to reduce them within the capacitie of their spirits which very often is but small and ruinating the nature of faith which consisteth in beleeuing things that surpasse the reason and
then that you affirme that the holy Scripture teacheth vs that the departed Saints heare our prayers and wee contrariwise denie it then it is not in vs to confirme our negation but in you to ratifie your negation which is vnpossible for you notwithstanding you are so imprudent or rather so impudent as to say that wee may reade ouer the Bible as oft as we list yet we shall neuer produce thereout one only text contrary to your opinion If your conscience be not seared it hath alreadie conuicted you of falsehood by the reading of those two places which alreadie I haue quoted out of the 9. chapter and 16. verse of Eccle. and Esay 63. vers 16. where the holy Ghost guiding the pen of these two men of God teacheth vs that they which are departed this life haue no portion in our businesses which are done vnder the Sunne but that they are ignorant thereof Let vs now come to your demonstration that the Scripture faileth you not in this point for to awaken our spirits you first command vs to note this expresse text of Scripture that the Angels in heauen vnderstand our prayers seeing they are the reporters of then to the diuine Maiestie as appeareth by the same scripture Secondly it is an expresse text of scripture that the Saints shall be in heauen as the Angels according to the saying of the Sonne of God in the Gospell Whereunto you adde your conclusion that the Saints heare our prayers sith the Angels vnto whom they are likened heare them If some one should propound this your argument borrowed from Bellarmine to Scholars which haue heard the rules of Logick they would quickly smell out your deceit and would replie that you doe not aptlie appropriate it to the Saints departed because to conclude from thence according to the right forme and rule of Logicians that the Saints departed vnderstand our prayers you must first haue proued that Iesus Christ saith in the 20. chapter of S. Luke that the departed Saints are Angels and not as you make them like vnto Angels They would likewise reiect your reason and confirmation which you annex vnto this sentence that the Angels vnderstand our prayers because they are the reporters of them to the diuine Maiestie as appeareth by the holy Scripture Mark you not here a fine proofe to say it appeareth by the Scripture that the Angels report our prayers to God without quoting so much as one testimonie From hence it comes that hauing taken your principall peeces from Bellarmine you durst not alleage that place of holy Scripture which is in the 12. chapter and 15. verse of Toby where the Angel Raphael saith That hee is one of those seuen holy Angels which presents before the Maiestie of God the prayers of the Saints If it be in regard that you make conscience to confirme your proposition out of a booke which is Apocrypha I commend you and in that I preferre you before your Master Or if it be because you haue not read nor remembred well that text which he alleageth in his book of the blessednesse of the Saints I pardon you for it Touching the rest it seemes at the first sight that you make some stop at falsifying the 36. verse of the 20 chapter of S. Luke and of following therein the example of Bellarmine Richeome who in stead of saying as Christ did in answering the Sadduces that the Saints shall be to wit in the resurrection of the flesh like the Angels they turne this text as if Christ had said that they are like to the Angels But in the repetition of your argument trussed to your conclusion you shew your selfe to be of the same humour as your School-masters aboue said are seeing you change the future tense into the present to maintaine with them that the Saints are like to the Angels and that against the intention of our Soueraigne Lord and Master Iesus Christ who disputing against the Sadduces which denied the resurrection of the bodie and had propounded this question to him worthie to be laughed at touching a woman which had had seuen husbands whose wife she should be in the resurrection sheweth them vpon this occasion that the faithfull shall then be glorified euen in regard of their bodies which shall not bee mortall nor corruptible no more but as the spirits of the Angels are and consequently shall not be enclined to mariage for the maintaining of their race and posteritie but shall be like to the Angels which doe not marrie Now foreseeing through the agilitie of your spirit what we might replie on that aboue said place you thinke that you heare vs alreadie answere that this similitude of the Angels and Saints whereof our Lord speaketh in the Gospell consisteth only in their felicitie and blessednesse and not in their nature and office that is to say as it hath pleased you to expound it that the Angels and the Saints shall be in heauen equall and like each other because both of them shall be blessed enioying one selfesame glorie and felicitie Now as you can finde nothing therein to chaw vpon you grant vs this answere and make it to serue your turne as a fowler with his net to take and ensnare vs. For behold the argument which you ground vpon our answere is that seeing the felicitie and state of future life hindreth not the Angels from hearing the prayers of the mortall why is it not possible that the Saints being in the same felicitie with the Angels and like vnto them may not heare likewise our prayers aswell as they This text of scripture them sheweth that the Saints heare our prayers We denie the consequence of this argument If the felicitie of the Angels hindreth them not from hearing our prayers that it followeth from thence that the felicitie of the departed Saints hindreth not them also from the vnderstanding of our Supplications the reason is because the Angels notwithstanding their present felicitie haue receiued from God this charge to watch ouer vs and our safetie as it is written in the 34. Psalme For which cause the Apostle S. Paul calleth them administring spirits sent for their sakes that are to receiue the inheritance of saluation which the Scripture speaketh in no place of the Saints departed You repeate afterward your affirmation that the Saints deceased heare vs see vs and are not ignorant of that which is done vpon the earth For confirmation whereof you propound vs the example of Abraham who being dead and in Limbo knew many things which happened among the people of the children of Israel as one may perceiue by the 16. chapter of S. Luke For first of all he knew that the people had the bookes of Moses and the Prophets the ancientest whereof was Moses which had been written more then foure hundred yeares after the death of Abraham Secondly he knew the life which the rich Glutton led vpon the earth and what miserie
poore Lazarus had there endured Thirdly hee saw and knew the estate and condition of that wicked wretch and heard his prayer although he was not heard when he cried Father Abraham haue mercie on me and send Lazarus c. Notwithstanding there was a great distance betweene the one and the other as Abraham answered him finally albeit that the rich Glutton was damned saw he not Abraham heard he not his answere gaue he not his replies albeit there was a great gulfe set betweene them Now there is no man that dares deny all this because it is the Gospell and a storie pronounced by the mouth of him which cannot lie but is the very truth himselfe euen Iesus Christ. And if this thing and storie be true as it is I now charge all the Caluinian and Lutherian Ministers and say vnto them If Abrahâ—m my Masters being shut vp in Limbo and not enioying at that time the sight of God nor being blessed but through hope knew notwithstanding the things of this world the estate and miserie of the rich Glutton and heard him make his prayer and demaund will you thinke that the Saints in Paradise beholding God and his most bright sight are better priuiledged then Abraham I will reduce your paradox and superfluitie of words into this summarie If say you Abraham in Limbo being not yet blessed but through hope knew the things of this world as appeareth by the historie thereof contained in the 16. chapter of S. Luke the Saints in paradise enioying the most glorious countenance of God are not lesse priuiledged in that then Abraham Now you presuppose that this is a sure foundation that Abraham after his death knew the affaires of this world and from thence you conclude that the consequence which you draw from it is good and true I say that in your discourse you interlarde many things false and vncertaine For first you presuppose that Abraham was in Limbo and in the place of such as are not blessed but through hope when Christ spake of him and Lazarus to his disciples Whereof we can shew you the contrarie in the 8. chapter of S. Matthew and eleuenth verse where Christ saith that many shall come from the East and West and shall sit downe with Abraham and Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heauen In which text you may see that Iesus Christ promiseth all those which shall beleeue in his doctrine that their soules shall be transported into the kingdome of heauen where were then at that time the soules of Abraham Isaac and Iacob From whence one may easily gather that Iesus Christ vnderstood in S. Luke by the bosome of Abraham that which in S. Matthew hee calleth the kingdome of heauen In consideration whereof sundrie of the ancient Fathers haue expressed those words of Abrahams bosome by the name of Paradise Likewise there are some of them which haue concluded from the abouesaid chapter of S. Luke and some other places of holy Scripture that men at their departure out of this life enter as touching their soules either into eternall rest or into eternal torment and so consequently there is neither Limbo or Purgatorie There are two waies saith Lactantius in his sixth booke of Baptisme by which it is necessary that humane life must passe the one will carrie and lift men vp into heauen the other will cast them downe headlong into hell And Origen saith in his booke of Workes that soules which depart this world are either distributed into hell or into the bosome of Abraham In like manner S. Epiphanius in his Treatise of Heresie saith in his 19. chapter that after death there is no succour no pitie no repentance For Lazarus commeth not to the rich Glutton nor the rich Glutton to Lazarus neither doth Abraham let fall his robes from on high to inrich that wofull wretch nor the rich Glutton obtaineth not also his request though hee besought it of pitifull Abraham with many prayers For the chambers are sealed vp the time accomplished the combat atchieued the lists made voide the Crowne giuen and those which haue fought doe rest and those which haue not gained before are departed from thence and those which haue not fought cannot offer themselues any more for that purpose and those which haue lost it in the lists are put out and all things are fully accomplished after our departure out of this world S. Ierome teacheth vs the like in his discourse vpon the death of Paula Let it not grieue vs saith he for hauing lost her or rather for hauing her still for all things liue to God and all they which returne to the Lord be as in the number of his familie we account that we haue lost her but she is lodged in heauen For when Paula was in her bodie she was absent from the Lord saying I am a pilgrim and a stranger here as all my Fathers were I desire to be separated from this body and to bee with Christ. She now enioyeth the blessings which no eye hath seene no eare hath heard nor which euer could enter into the heart of man Whereof Iustine the Martyr also speaketh very cleerely in his 60 and 75. questions In the storie saith hee of Lazarus and the rich Glutton there is a declaration which conteineth this doctrine that after the soule is issued foorth of the body men cannot receiue any further succour by any care or prudence After the soule is dislodged from the body there is presently a distinction made betweene the righteous and the vnrighteous For the soules of the righteous are carried by the Angels into the places of Paradise whereof they are worthy where they haue the conuersation and view of Angels and Archangels yea euen the sight of our Lord Iesus Christ according to that which is said Being absent from the body we are present with the Lord But the soules of the vnrighteous goe into the places of hell as it is said of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon Hell beneath is moued against thy comming and that which followeth And all soules are kept in these two places till the houre of the resurrection Whereunto S. Ambrose subscribeth by the exhortation which hee made to Christians in his Treatise of the Good of Death chap. 12. When the day of our death shal come saith he let vs march straight forward without feare into the companie of the Saints for we shall goe to our fathers and to those which haue taught vs the faith to the intent that if our workes doe faile vs our faith may succour vs and our inheritance may defend vs. Also the soule flies from hence on high she goeth to dwell with that pure good which is both perpetuall and immortall c. The soules rest is in the land of the liuing whereunto no sinnes can penetrate where liueth the glorie of vertues According to which saying S. Austine giueth vs this remonstrance in his 80. Epistle to
and in what manner they may heare your Prayers and Supplications For to build the first point you lay downe two Articles and principles most false The one That this hath alwaies beene the doctrine of the Christian Church to say and teach that this was a thing more then reasonable and most profitable to man to inuocate the Saints yea that the Church hath taught the same for the space of 1605 year unto this day The other How certaine Heretikes which are sprung vp within this fortie or fiftie yeares haue meant to preach and teach the cleane contrarie to wit those whom you call Lutherans and Caluinists who but a few yeares ago endeuoring to â—uerthrow so auncient a doctrine according to your opinion haue said and say still that we must not call vpon any of the Saints but vpon God onely I say that your first foundation is false because as Eckius one of your principall Doctours plainely confesseth in his booke of the worshipping of Saints that it is impossible for you to alledge one onely text either out of the old or new Testament whereby you can prooue that either Christ his Euangelists or Apostles haue commanded vs to adore the Saints or haue recommended this seruice to vs as very profitable or reasonable Also Petrus à Scoto confesseth that the inuocation of Saints is not taught in the bookes of the Prophets and Apostles but is there insinuated And likewise some of the Iesuits say that it is not manifestly represented in them but obscurely and mystically or by certaine consequences which are pretended and not well grounded And for this cause the Councell of Trent recommending it vnto the Christians makes no mention of the authority of the holy Scripture but of the ancient custome only of the consent of fathers and of the decreâ—s of holy Councels From whence followeth that this commandement of inuocating the Saints hath not bene giuen to the Christians as you write a thousand sixe hundred and fiue yeares ago or thereabouts but hath bene a long time after forged as I will prooue in due place by your Predecessors who haue made no conscience to teach for doctrine of saluation their owne traditions and humaine inuentions Which hauing shewed your second foundatioÌ„ wil tumble downe of it selfe that is how this rule of worshipping God alone hath bene inuented by those whom wrongfully you terme Lutherans and Caluinists for wee acknowledge none for our soueraigne Doctour and Master but our Lord Iesus Christ the only perfect wisedome and essential word of his Father who hath spoken heretofore to our Fathers by the auncient Prophets and since being manifested in our flesh hath spoken himselfe by his sacred mouth to his Disciples and after his Ascension by his Apostles who as faithful Secretaries and dispensators of the secrets of God haue left vs in writing the fundamentall points of pure Religion and touching this point haue taught vs that God only and no other ought to bee called vpon by vs in our necessities And although this is as cleere as the Sun shine in a bright day at noone yet because you are blinde and leaders of the blinde as your predecessors the Scribes and Pharisies were in the time of Iesus Christ wee will alleage against you some certaine proofes for that which is abouesaid to the end they may serue as a cleere light to those which wink not with their eyes that they might not see in seeing but open them with a holy desire to behold this light When God saith in the first Commandement of his law giuen by Moses to our Fathers * Thou shalt haue none* other Gods before me what doth hee signifie by this prohibition but only that we ought not to acknowledge any other God and Sauiour but him nor to attribute to any one that honour which is proper to him that is to call vpon him only in our anguishes according to that expresse command which he giueth vs in Deuteronom Thou shall worship the Lord thy God and serue him And by the Prophet Asaph in the 50 Psalme verses 14. 15. Offer vnto God praise and pay thy vowes vnto the most high and call vpon me in the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me And to stirre vs vp the more thereunto he denounceth by the Prophet Esay chap. 42. and 8 verse I am the Lord this is my name and my glorie will I not giue to another neither my praise to grauen Images And in the 45 chap. and 21 verse Haue not I the Lord and there is none other God beside me a iust God and a Sauiour there is none beside me And in the 22 verse Looke vnto me and yee shall be saued all the ends of the earth shall be saued for I am God and there is none other If hereupon you object against me that God commandeth not by these places that wee should only worship him and none other beside him The answere is cleere to wit that this commandement of God was so interpreted by the Prophet Samuel and in the fulnesse of time by our Soueraigne Doctor Iesus Christ himselfe For therefore you may see how the Prophet warneth all the house of Israel in the 7 chapter of his booke and third verse where he saith If ye be come againe vnto the Lord with all your heart put away the strange gods from among you and Ashtoroth and direct your hearts vnto the Lord and serue him only and hee shall deliuer you out of the hand of the Philistims By which you may see that the Prophet Samuel sheweth vnto the children of Israel that the meanes and way to conuert and direct themselues vnto the Lord with all their hearts is to serue him only and to take away from before his eyes the Idols of the Heathen which hee calleth the gods of the strangers Euen so also our Lord Iesus Christ being tempted in the wildernesse by the wicked spirit which had transported him vpon a high mountaine and shewed him all the kingdomes of the world and the glorie of them with promise that he would giue them all vnto him if so be he would fall down and worship him he alleageth against Satan that which is written in the sixt chapter of the book of Moses called Deuteronomie expounding the intention of his father as he which is his Counsellour witnesse the Prophet Isaiah in his ninth chapter and fifth verse he addeth thereto this word only when hee answereth Satan that in that place it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serue as though he would haue said That the seruice which is due vnto God only is to worship him and to prostrate our selues before him And to this end and purpose the sonnes of Korah who composed the 44 Psalme teach vs in the 20 and 21 verses that to call vpon any other besides God is to forget and denie him If say they
is thy request it shall be giuen thee euen to the halfe of the kingdome This Empresse saith he figured the Empresse of heauen to whom God hath giuen the halfe of his kingdom for God hauing his iustice and his mercy hath reserueah is iustice to exercise it in this world and hath left mercis to his Mother Therefore if any one feele himselfe grieued as the Court of Gods iustice let him appeale to the Court of the mercie of his Mother c. Whereunto is also conformable that which Anthonine the Archbishop writeth in his summe par 3. tit 12. chap. 8. par 4. tit 15. chap. 14. 44. That as it is impossible that they from whom the Virgin Mary â—â—rneth the eyes of her mercie should be saued so is it necessarie that those vpon whom she turneth them praying for them should be iustified and glorified because Christ is not onely an Aduocate but also a Iudge who will examine all things in rigour and will leaue nothing vnpunished So the good God hath prouided vs such an Aduocatesse in whom there is nothing but benignitie and gentlenesse Hereupon abusing impudentlie the exhortation of the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hâ—brewes in the 4. chapter and 16 verse he admonisheth vs to goe boldly vnto the throne of God which is saith he the Virgin Mary in whom he hath placed it let vs goe concludeth he vnto her with assurance as the Apostle saith to the Hebrewes to the end we may obtaine mercie and finde grace in time of need Whereunto to bring the ignorant he likewise is not ashamed to tell this fable that the blessed Seraphins and angels would haue withheld the Virgin Mary as she ascended vp into heauen to haue enioyed her company and to haue placed her in the highest degree of their order as she which surpassed and excelled them both in glorie and in the flame of charitie But what said she to them I take pleasure in your order and congratulate you most affectionately for your diuine fâ—râ—encie But the Scripture must be accomplished saying It is not good that man should be alone let vs make him a helpe like to himselfe so then it is not good that my Sonne should be alone but that I must assist him seeing I am his mother and haue been giuen him for an aide in redemption through compassion in glorification through intercession for mankinde to the intent that if God should threaten to drowne the earth and to punish the sinnes of man by the flood of his scourges I may appeare before him as the Rain-bow that hee may call to minde his coueâ—â—t and may reconcile himselfe with them and not destroy the world You speake not so audaciously of the other Saints departed howbeit Viues the Spaniard confesseth plainly in his discourse on S. Austins 8. book of the City of God that he cannot perceiue that there is any difference betweene the opinion you hold of your Saints and that which the Pagans held of their goods considering you doe vnto them the same honours as vnto God himselfe and to his Sonne Iesus Christ. And indeed your Master of Sentences and his disciples makes no bones to call the Saints the Mediatours of our saluation to teach how they through their works of supererogation haue purchased so great credit in heauen that they haue not onely merited eternall glorie and happinesse for themselues but by those workes also may succour those which yet walke in this vale of miserie and to helpe their necessities The praeyers of the Saints saith Bonauenture in the 4. booke of his Sentences dist 45. qu. 2 may obtaine us many good things as the Master to wit of Scholasticall sentences saith by their affection and through their former merits by which readily and promptly they hauâ— serued God On the other side Our dutie is saith Alexander of Ales in his fourth sentence and 92 question to pray vnto the Saints for three reasons Because of our necessitie the glorie of the Saints and the reuerence to God I say because of the want and defect of our owne merits to the end that when we haue not sufficient and enough of our owne the merits of others may helpe and defend vs. I would willingly come foorth of that bottomlesse pit of your execrable blatphemies but my conscience will not suffer me to dissemble those great praises which you attribute vnto S. Francis who was condemned of impietie by Pope Iohn the 22. and to S. Dominiâ—â—s as it were in despite of God and of his Sonne Iesus Christ neuerthelesse because I will not be too redious I will not here cite all that is found written of them in the bookes allowed by your Church onely I will draw foorth some drafts and principall points whereof the first is that it is written in the book of Conformities How the Virgin Marie and the rest of the Saints in heauen goe in procession euerâ—e one in their order but as for Saint Francis he is harboured in Christs side and commeth forth through his wound is Ensigâ—e bearer to conduct them with the banner of his Crosse in his hand And in the Prose of S. Francis that hee is The figuratiue Sauiour the way the life and a singular one crucified who hauing receiued in a vision the same wounds as Christ had according to the Diuels attestation which heerein is your Doctor purgeth you from your sins Wherefore in good 〈◊〉 he may say that which is sung in the Gospell vpon his feast day All things are giuen to me of my father for as much as through his merites hee hath been made the sonne of God and hath receiued a billet from heauen wherein was written This man is the grace of God So that now through the merits of his works which are so holy that if an Angell had done them they could not haue bin more admirable He is the modell of all perfectioÌ„ in whom we may ioyntly see all the vertues of the Saints aswell of the old as of the new Testament for hee hath obserued the Gospell to a letter and hath accomplished all the commandements of God In such sort that according to the prophecie of Ieremie in the 50 Chap. vers 20. Men shall seeke for his sinne but they shall not finde it And of him the Psalmist hath spoken Thou hast crowned him with glorie and honor and hast set him euer all the workes of thine hands For according to your beliefe he is in the glorie of the Father as it is written Phil. 2. he is deified and in the glorie of God But which is more he maketh one selfesame spirit with God he sitteth aboue in heauen as Aduocate of all the Church militant he is most neerely knit vnto God and beareth rule ouer euery creature By one Masse he hath appeased God towards all the world And to alleage your own words Christus â—rauit Franciscus exorauit that is to say Christ hath prayed Francis hath obtained Let vs now
saith he rauished with all my affection there will I attend with my deuotion There through loue do I take all my delight and thereunto will I hold my selfe by consent Now although this zeale of S. Austin and S. Bernard hath been followed and obserued badly by their successors who since their time gaue too much credit to their owne Councels and humane fantasies yet Gerson neuerthelesle sought to remedie this abuse through his wholesome aduertisements For in his booke of the spirituall life of the soule he sheweth that the sayings of the Apostles and their disciples were of another kinde of authoritie namely in things which purely concerne our faith then the instructions of their successors and consequently that the authoritie of the Primitiue Church is farre greater then that which is at this day and that there is neither Pope nor Councell that can abate any thing of that which was giuen vs by the Euangelists and S. Paul or which hath the like authoritie to make that any thing should bee of faith as some men dreame And in another place vpon this question if in points of faith one might be called before the Pope No particular man saith he not the Pope himselfe neither the Bishops can make a proposition which is hereticall to be catholicall or which is catholicall to be hereticall And againe in the triall of doctrines Consider 5. Tom. 1. That in case of doctrine more credit is to be giuen to one simple lay man excellently skilfull in the Scripture then to the Popes declaration insomuch as it is certaine that one ought to beleeue the Gospell rather then the Pope Also that such a learned man ought to oppose himselfe against a whole Councell if he be there present and seeth the greater partie to be inclined either through malice or ignorance to that which is contrarie to the Gospell according to the example of S. Hilary Whereunto doth agree that which the Abbat Panorma wrote in his chapter intituled Significat extra de Elect. to wit that in things which concerne faith the saying of a priuate person ought to be preferred before the saying of the Pope if so be it is fortified with better reasons out of the old and new Testament Franciscus Picus de Mirandula saith If in a whole Councell the greater partie would ordaine some things which are â—ontrarie to the holy Scriptures and against things that are not lawfull to bee violated the other which are of the lesser number opposing themselues against the greater wee must rather cleaue vnto the lesser number as it happened in the Councels of Rimini and the second of Ephesus Yea euen a simple countriman a childe or an old woman are more worthie to bee beleeued then the Pope and a thousand Bishops if they should speake against the Gospell Now that which wee haue spoken of the authoritie of Councels ought to be appropriated to the censure of our fathers pastors of the ancient Church to wit that wee ought not to receiue their writings with such a reuerence and obedience of faith as wee receiue the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles but to iudge and examine them by the Scriptures according to that good counsell and example of some faithfull Doctors of the Primitiue Church We ought not saith S. Ierome inter cap. 9 on the 98. Psalme to follow the errors of our Fathers but the Scriptures authoritie and the commandements of God which â—nctruct vs. Euery other thing which shall be spoken after the Apostles time ought to bee cut off let it haue no authoritie then though the author thereof be holy or eloquent Reade me those things saith S. Austin in his booke of the Church chap. 6. in the Law in the Prophets in the Psalmes or in the Epistles reade them there and we will beleeue them All others saith he how holy or learned soeuer they be I may reade them not to beleeue what they say is true because they say it but in so much as they proue it by those canonicall authors or by probable reason And in his epistle to Fortunatus We ought not saith he to esteeme of all disputes though they proceed from praise worthie and catholike men as the canonicall Scripture but that in such a sort as is lawfull with the honour due vnto such men to gainsay them or to reiect some things in their writings if per aduenture we finde they iudged otherwise then stands with the truth found out through the helpe of God either by others or by our selues For I am such a one in the writings of other men as I would they should be in mine Doe not stand saith he in his preface of the third booke of the Trinitie vpon my words and writings as vpon the canonical Scripture What soeuer in them thou shalt finde beleeue it without doubting but in my writings that which thou holdest not for very certaine or if thou vnderstaÌ„dest it not hold it not as firme The like saith he of S. Cyprians bookes in his second booke against Crescon chap. 32. I hold not S. Cyprians bookes for canonicall that which agreeth with the authoritie of holy Scripture I receiue it with his praise but that which agreeth not with them I reiect by his good leaue and we doe him no wrong to make a distinction betweene his writings and the canonicall For this wholesome canon of the Church was not without cause established whereunto were brought certain bookes of the Prophets and Apostles which wee dare not at all iudge and according vnto which we freely iudge of all other bookes either of beleeuers or Infidels The like saith he also of S. Ieroms books of S. Ambroses and of the rest of the Fathers which haue written since the Apostles time in his epistle 112 and 11 booke against Faustus Manichean cap. 5. I would not bring in the opinions of those great personages lest thou shouldest thinke that it behoueth me to follow the iudgement of any man as the authoritie of the Scripture In all their bookes the reader or hearer hath a free iudgement to approue or reiect them without the necessitie of beleeuing them but with freedome to iudge thereof From thence it commeth that hee exhorteth Vincent his friend in his 48. epistle that hee should take heed of gathering against so many holy cleere and vndoubted testimonies some cauils out of the writings of the Bishops whether saith he of our owne or of Hilaries Cyprians or Agrippines for such writings ought to be distinguished from the authoritie of the canon for men reade them not so is it were to draw any testimonie from them contrary to which it should not be lawfull to deeme if peraduenture their opinion were otherwise then the truth requires Wherewith the sentences of our Fathers agree We haue no commandement frÌ„o Christ saith Iustine the Martyr in Triph. pag. 207 to beleeue in humane doctrines but in those which his Apostles haue preached and himselfe hath taught Therefore
that in his daies the Church was exercised in workes of pietie and charitie and not by the inuocation of Angels and Saints departed nor in inchantments or any other wicked curiositie but addressing purely and manifestly their prayers to the Lord who made all things and in the name of Iesus Christ according to the necessitie of euery one Clement Alexandrine treating vpon this subiect was sore grieued at the Christians which worshipped the spirits of the deceased saying in his 7. booke that it is a great brutishnes to craue any thing of those which were not Gods And hereupon hauing respect vnto the true rule of inuocation the which hee followeth with the rest of all the Christians after the imitation of the Angels hee addeth That whereas there is but one only good that is God both wee and the Angels pray vnto him either to giue vs or to let vs haue such blessings as he knoweth to be healthfull for vs. And in his first booke of Pedagogie chap. 7. Iesus Christ saith he is our schoolemaster who as children hath led vs vnto euerlasting life and hath taken care of vs. And if we suffer our selues to be instructed by this schoolemaster and conductor we shall obtaine all things of God which we can iustly demaund of him The Church also with S. Tertullian hath followed this rule who speaking of his fashion and of all the Christian Church in his Apologie chap. 3. We pray saith he for the welfare of Emperours vnto the eternall God the true God the liuing God and lift vp our hands to heauen for them beseeching God that it would please him to giue vnto them a long life and empire without feare a safe Court a strong armie a faithfull Magistrate a loyall people and a peaceable world These things can I demand of none in my prayers but of him from whom I know I can obtaine them because hee only hath made them and I am his seruant which lookes vp to him alone and vnto whom he will grant them The like also saith Origen against Celsus lib. 8. We present saith he the first fruits only vnto him to whom wee addresse our prayers to wit vnto God hauing an high Priest which is entred the heauens euen Iesus Christ the Sonne of God and we shall hold constantly the profession of this faith so long as through the blessednesse of God and of his Sonne who hath manifested himselfe amongst vs we doe remaine aliue And although we know that not the diuels but the Angels ouer see the abundance of fruites and the multiplication of cattell yet neuer thelesse wee must not giue vnto them that honour which is due only vnto God for God will not haue it so nor they vnto whom such charges are committed but they loue vs because wee offer no sacrifices vnto them nor haue they any need of his odours and we are but to pray vnto one only God and to appease him who is the Lord of all things and to seeke only his fauour through pietie and other vertues In that prayer which S. Cyprian hath composed and repeated so many times in memorie of the benefit of the death and passion of our Lord Iesus he betaketh himself to none but to God the Father the Sonne and the holie Ghost without making any mention therein either of Angels or of Saints I should be too long and troublesome to recite it at length only wee will content our selues to propound briefly the conclusion thereof to the Reader to the intent he may censure thereof Through thy name Lord Iesus saith this good Father in the end of his prayer deliuer me from the power of the aduersarie thou that are a mightie deliuerer and the aduocate of our prayers for the requests of our soules solicite night and day for my sins present my prayer to thy Father and thou Lord O holy Father deigne to behold and looke vpon my prayers as vpon the offerings of Abel Vouchsafe to deliuer me from fire and eternall paine and from all torments that thou hast prepared for the wicked through our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ through whom be all praise glorie and honour to thee for euer and euer In that most excellent prayer which S. Hilarie made vnto God to beseech him to giue him his grace to expound well the great mysterie of the holy Trinitie he addresseth himself to none but vnto God building vpon his promise that to him which asketh hee shall receiue to him which seeketh hee shall finde and to him which knocketh it shall be opened Also Eusebius in his bookes of preparation sheweth that in his daies the Christians worshipped only God in spirit and truth For what writeth hee thereof in his 4. booke of Preparation We are taught saith he to serue religiously the only God of all creatures and for this cause wee attribute to him alone the worship that appertaines vnto him seruing him only by way of religion Afterward treating in another place of the intercession of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ and the reasons wherefore the Christians call vpon God in the name of his only Sonne first he rehearseth that it is because hee being become man and taken our flesh vpon him hath suffered for our sakes all manner of wrongs and reproches Secondly because hee prayeth vnto his Father for vs and through his request which hee makes vnto his Father for vs repulseth behinde vs all our enemies both visible and inuisible Thirdly because neither S. Paul S. Peter nor any of the other Saints haue been crucified for vs but our only Redeemer Iesus Christ from whence he concludeth that the intercession which he maketh vnto his Father is proper to him and incommunicable to the Saints seeing he is the only high Priest who once hath offered himselfe in a sacrifice to God his Father both for vs for himselfe and for man which he had taken out of the earth who is ascended vp into heauen there to celebrate for vs the spirituall sacrifices to wit our supplications which hee presenteth vnto God his Father praying him with vs that for his sake hee will be mercifull and fauourable vnto vs. According to which he giueth vs this testimonie of S. Denys Bishop of Alexandria in his Ecclesiastical storie lib. 7. cap. 10. who being called before Aemilian Gouernour of Egypt to render an account of his faith and to answere vnto his demands and among the rest vnto this vnto what God he and the other Christians addresse their prayers He answereth him freely that himselfe nor the rest of the Christians did neither worship or serue religiously any other but that God which only is hee who hath created of nothing the heauens the sea the earth and all things which are in them Moreouer he repeateth in this very historie lib. 10. cap. 4. that Paulin Bishop of Tyre taught publikely both by mouth and writing that Christ is our only Aduocate the only author of life the
themselues wise saith he they became fooles and when they were ashamed that they had forsaken God they accustomed to vse a miserable excuse for themselues saying they had accesse vnto God through them as in a Court by the Earles and Lords one hath accesse vnto the King But I pray you is there any man so foolish and so carelesse of his preseruation as to attribute to an Earle the honour of his King sith that in vsing him so it is by right high treason and will not those men think themselues to be guiltie which attribute to the creature the honour due vnto his Creator and abandon their Lord to adore their fellow seruants For surely the reason why men come vnto the King by officers or Earles is because the King is a man and knoweth not whom to trust vnto in his Common-weale But to procure God to be fauourable vnto vs from whom nothing is hid and who knoweth what is in euery one of vs there is no need of any intercessor or spokesman but of a deuout spirit for in what place soeuer such a man will speake vnto him he answereth him And in his third booke of the Holy Ghost and 12. chapter We must not adore any thing beside God for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serue If then the mysterie of the incarnation is to be adored as a worke of the holy Ghost according as it is written The holy Ghost shall come vpon thee and the power of the most high shall ouershadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be borne of thee shall be called the Sonne of God without all doubt the holy Ghost also ought to be worshipped seeing wee worship him who according to the flesh was conceiued by the holy Ghost But let no man straine that vnto the Virgin Mary she was the temple of God but not the God of the Temple and therefore he only ought to be adored which wrought in that temple And vpon the first chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians The Apostle saith he hath declared from the beginning how exceeding great and infinite the omnipotence of Christ is to the intent to teach vs that it is he alone in whom wee must put our trust because that through him all things are and nothing can liue without him either in heauen or earth So that if any one thinke he ought to affectate his deuotion to some one of the elements to the Angels or to the superiour powers let him know that he erreth Therefore Christ ought only to be heard and only serued by way of religion and none ought to be esteemed of in respect of him because he which is the head hath all others subiect to him for he which humbleth himselfe before his subiects erreth because that in holding not on the head he is a stocke that is he is like vnto a twigge cut off from the tree and which hath no roote in such sort that such a man is without the head whereof saith he dependeth the life of the rest of that body Also vpon his admonition of S. Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians chap. 2. vers 8. Beware lest there be any man that spoile you through Philosophie and vaine deceit through the traditions of men according to the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. Hee declareth that through vaine deceit and traditions of men we must vnderstand the superstition which serueth the world for a Religion and not God which is one and which leadeth vs not to Iesus Christ in whom is the perfection of the Godhead Moreouer Saint Ierome in his disputes against Vigilantius speaking generally of the Christians in his time We shorship not saith he nor serue by way of Religion neither Angels nor Archangels nor Châ—rubins nor Seraphins nor any name which is named neither in this present world nor in the world to come lest wee should rather serue the creature then the Creator which is blessed eternally S. Cyprian proceedeth further and saith in his fifth Sermon of such as are falne Cursed is the man which putteth his hope in man We must pray vnto the Lord and call vpon God the Father in the name of his Sonne Iesus Christ as he himselfe expoundeth it in his excellent discourse vpon the Lords Prayer where he admonisheth vs that there is no prayer more certaine or more pleasing to the Father then that which by the mouth of his Sonne hath been pronounced who is the Truth and that to pray otherwise theÌ„ hee hath taught vs is not only ignorance but an absurd fault and like to that of the Iewes whom the Lord rebuketh that they did reiect the commandement of God to establish their owne traditions Let vs pray then saith hee euen as our Lord hath taught vs. Prayer is acceptable to God when as we pray with a prayer which is his owne and that wee send vp into his eares the words of his Son The Father knowes the language of his Sonne when wee make to him our prayer Lâ—t him that dwelleth in your harts be in your voice and vpon your tongue And seeing that the Sonne is our Aduocate whensoeuer we craue pardon for our faults let vs take our Aduocates words 〈◊〉 our mouth for sith he saith that whatsoeuer wee shall aske of the Father in his name it shall be granted vs when can our prayers then take greater force if not when wee call vpon him with that prayer which himselfe hath made According to which S. Cyril teacheth vs in his 16 book vpon the 17 chapter of S. Iohn That if we would be heard of the Father we must pray in the name of our Sauiour And S. Lactantius saith That they which pray vnto the dead shall beare the paine of their impietie and wickednesse Likewise S. Ambrose That those which forsake the liuing God to seeke after the dead are accounted among the dead For as hee expoundeth it himselfe in his booke of Isaac and of the blessed life saith that Iesus is our mouth by which we speake vnto the Father our eye by which wee behold the Father and our right hand whereby we offer our selues vnto the Father without the which Mediatour these is no approching vnto God neither for vs nor for any of the Saints And S. Austin who sometimes was an Auditour of S. Ambroses Sermons saith the like therof vpon the 105. Psalme to wit that the prayer which is not made through Christ Christ not only cannot blot out the sinne but turneth it also into sinne Also on the 29. Psalme If we consider saith he what God thundreth foorth by S. Iohn as it were out of a cloud saying do the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and that Word was God 〈…〉 was in the beginning with God All things were made by it and without it was made nothing that was made In it was life and the life was the
the Deitie any thing which by God hath been made and created but the only God who hath made and created all things From whence appeareth that the inuocation of Saints bore not any sway in those daies nor any degree or title of diuine seruice in the Christian Church in the time of Saint Austine and his predecessors True it is hee complaineth that in his daies the Church began to lose her virginitie and that they obscured not those most wholesome things which in the diuine books are commanded but that there were instituted some other ceremonies beyond the custome He confesseth also that the Church being setled among much chaffe and tares did beare with many things which themselues durst not reproue nor condemne to auoid the scandals of some persons whereof some were holie and others seditious But howbeit on the other side hee declareth that neither hee nor the Church hath allowed the things which were against the faith and a godly life There is a difference saith he in his 119 epistle to Ianuarius betweene the things that we teach and the things which we suffer betweene the things that wee are commanded to teach and between the things that we are commanded to amend and constrained to support them till we haue reformed them And yet notwithstanding ye would make vs beleeue that S. Austin S. Ierome S. Ambrose S. Chrysostome S. Basil S. Athanasius S. Origen S. Irenaeus and Denys the disciple of S. Paul haue not only approued the superstition of those which worshipped the departed Saints but that euen themselues haue recommended it to the people aswell by their prayers addressed to the Virgin Mary and some other Saints as by the recitall of their vertues and merits Whereunto first of all I answere that many sentences haue been falsified and many annexed to the writings of the Fathers against their intention Which was easie to bee done because in their time the Art of Printing was not found out but copies only in written hand Secondly where as many books haue bin falsely published vnder the names of the Apostles which had been receiued if the Apostle S. Iohn who suruiued the others according to the testimony of S. Tertullian and Ierome had not foreseene it so many Treatises haue been deceitfully attributed to their successors as by their complaints appeareth To begin then with the writings of S. Clement Bishop of Rome S. Ierome in his Apologie against Ruffinus saith of him that hee made some bookes intituled Recognitions among which although there was a doctrine truly Apostolicall exposed in many texts vnder the person of the Apostle S. Peter yet they had mixed among them the doctrine of the Heretike Eumonius So that it seemed in sundrie places of them there is none but he that speaketh Eusebius also saith in his third booke and 35. chapter that it cannot bee cleerely knowne that the second Epistle and the Commentaries which are attributed to him be his because the ancient Fathers made no vse of this Epistle and that these Commentaries kept in no wise neither the stile nor the forme of the pure doctrine of the Apostles and containe in them the communication betweene Peter and Appion of which the ancients make no mention S. Epiphanius addeth that the Ebonians did vse certaine bookes intituled The Peregrinations of S. Peter written by S. Clement stuffed with falsehood and that S. Clement himselfe controlled theÌ„ by his owne epistles written to the Enoclycians Eusebius speaking of the booke intituled the Pastor in his third booke and third chapter saith That it is Apocrypha and that they were deceiued who thought that that Hermes which the Apostle S. Paul greeteth in his 16. chapter of the Epistle to the Romanes was the author thereof So likewise Erasmus of Roterdam saith that many bookes badly patched together haue bin annexed to S. Cyprians bookes to wit the Treatise of the Reuelation of S. Iohn Baptists head which is full of fables and superstitions that reciteth sundrie things happened a long while after S. Cyprians time The treatise of Sina and Sion against the Iewes which in no wise representeth neither the knowledge nor zeale of S. Cyprian They haue also mingled among S. Austins bookes the booke intituled The true and false penance which containeth that fine fable how S. Andrew seeing that the people would haue taken him away from the crosse whereunto they had bound him began to make this prayer to God Lord it is time that thou laiest my bodie in the graue suffer them not to take me downe aliue from this crosse It is time that my bodie should be interred c. In like manner Lewes Viues Valentine one of your best Catholikes complaineth in his annotations vpon the bookes of the Citie of God that many sentences are annexed to them which are not S. Austins They haue put into the books of S. Ierome the Commentaries of some of the Epistles of the New Testament which as S. Austin testifieth was composed by a Monke and a hereâ—ike called Pelagus Robert Bellarmine also maintaineth in his disputations that the booke written to Orosus and attributed to be Saint Austins is not his And many other bookes base and illegitimate and which euen your selues confesse to haue been falsely fathered on our Fathers and in no wise receiueable But to answere more particularly to your allegations You deceiue your selues in that you thinke your S. Denys Areopagite was the disciple of the Apostle S. Paul For in the booke of Celestial Hierarchies which you attribute to him he speaketh of his predecessors Clement and Ignatius which liued and suffered martyrdome vnder Traian the third persecutor of the Christians after Nero and the 14. Emperor which began to raigne about the yeere of Christ 100 and the thirtieth yeere after the decease of the Apostle S. Paul according to the calculation of your Bishop Treculphus This booke we haue also in suspition because wee finde in it no marke of the true disciple of the Apostle S. Paul neither in his language nor in his doctrine For there is no mention made therein for the abolishing of the ancient ceremonies of which the Apostle S. Paul very often disputeth in his Epistles neither doth hee say in any place thereof that that which he wrote he did it by his masters authoritie Therein hee doth but sport himselfe with deliberate discourses to teach the doctrine of the holy Gospell by obscure subtilties vaine speculations and very intricate He there treateth of Popes Prelats Priests Monks and of many other Orders which in the Apostles time were not in the Church nor a long while after Likewise to shew that he did dissent from the Apostles he applaudeth therein the Order of Monkes as the highest and most excellent of all others Causes wherefore Laurence Valla one of your chiefest Doctors flouts at such as thought this S. Denys to be the disciple of S. Paul and the author of this booke As Erasmus of Roterdam noteth in
his Annotations vpon the 17 chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Now as for that which you cite out of the 7. chapter of his said booke he himselfe expoundeth it and exhorteth the faithfull to seeke after not the Saints departed but the Saints conuersant in this world to make request for them I iudge saith he with the diuine Scriptures that the prayers of the Saints in this life are very profitable and in this manner to wit if any man desire diuine gifts and acknowledging his simplicitie and infirmitie let him go finde out some holy personage and pray him to assist and succour him through his prayers I grant you that hee recounteth in the third chapter of the same booke that they made mention of the Saints departed when they celebrated the Sacrament of the vnion of Iesus Christ with his members because they are one part of the Catholike Church and of the companie of those which are elected to eternall life But there is a great difference betweene the recitall of the vertues of the Saints deceased this world and the inuocation of them And you will not shew vs that S. Denys propounding to vs the end wherefore mention is made of their good liues doth there speake of the inuocation of Saints but of the imitation of their godlinesse and perseuerance in the Christian faith saying that they prayed those which holily and religiously had liued in this world to the end that their suruiuers might by their examples learne to liue and die well in God and might bee admonished that they which die in him liue out of this world in a better life and that God hath them in his memorie according as it is written That God knoweth such as are his and that the death of the Saints is precious before him Secondly you produce the comparison which S. Irenaeus maketh betweene Eue and the Virgin Mary in his 5. booke and 16. chapter I wonder why you represent not heere vnto vs S. Irenaeus words which according to Bellarmines iudgement doe cleerely shew that S. Irenaeus beleeued and taught that the Virgin Mary ought to be adored by vs as an Aduocatesse of our first Mother Eue towards God Therefore to encounter you with your owne weapons I will here make S. Irenaeus to speake As Eue saith he was seduced by the words of the wicked angel to flie from God in transgressing his word so the Virgin Mary receiued the good tidings by the word of an angel to beare God in being obedient to his word and as this Eue was seduced to flie from God so was this Mary perswaded to obey him to the intent that the Virgin Mary might be made an Aduocatesse of the Virgin Eue. What man is it that perceiueth not that by this comparison S. Irenaeus opposeth the male diction come vpon all mankinde through Euâ—s transgression to the blessing which afterward is come to them by the faith and obedience of the Virgin Mary Touching this word Aduocatesse from whence Bellarmine draweth his argument against vs yee know well that it commeth not from Irenaeus who wrote in Greek but from the translator of his booke And albeit yee may take heere this name for a Mediatrix yet you are not ignorant that this Greeke word paracletos signifieth sometimes also a Comforter and is so interpreted by S. Tertullian and many others of the Fathers by the name of an aduocate in the same signification as appeareth by the translation of those which haue traÌ„slated the promise of our Lord Iesus Christ described by S. Iohn in his 14. chapter and 16. verse I will pray the Father and hee will giue you another Aduocate that is to say another Comforter So whosoeuer will take heed vnto the meaning of Irenaeus and his translator and to the proper signification of this name Aduocate in this place shall perceiue that the author meant to say no other thing but that the Virgin Mary was chosen by God to beare the Redeemer of the world and brought foorth the Consolation to Eue according to the promise which God made to her in paradise that the seed of the woman should breake the head of the Serpent who had seduced her Thirdly you are not ashamed to vtter the Sermon of the Virgin Mother of God imprinted vnder the name of Saint Athanasius calling the Virgin Mary Lady Mother Regeneratrix and Mistris saying besides Incline thine eare to our prayers and forget not thy people wee crie vnto thee haue remembrance of vs c. An euident signe either that you haue not read the first volume of his writings wherein he sheweth by many examples and testimonies of the Bible that none ought to haue his refuge neither to the Angels nor any humane creature but only to God through the addresse of his Sonne Iesus Christ or if you haue read them that you make lesse account of his first volume which was approued and receiued by the ancient Church then of the third which containeth as you confesse this prayer made to the Virgin Mary In which volume to conuict you by your owne Doctors Petrus Nannius Professor in the Vniuersitie of Louain hath annexed a preface whereby hee aduertiseth the reader that hee hath put into this second tome the bookes suspected of falsehood and which according to his judgement were not composed by S. Athanasius Fourthly you cite the prayer which S. Basil made to the fortie Martyrs and you annex to it false Glosses and interpretations For S. Basil commandeth not there the Christians as you affirme to haue there recourse vnto these holy Martyrs nor to call vpon them but declareth in commendations of those Martyrs what they did in his time He which is saith he in affliction goeth to those fortie Martyrs he which is in ioy runneth to them O what audaciousnesse is it to belie a Historie and to make of a simple declaration of the custome of the vulgar people an expresse exhortation and what an impudencie is it to dare to impose that vpon this holy Father which neuer he thought to say His intention was not so as to stirre vp the hearts of his auditorie to inuocate these Martyrs but admonisheth them contrariwise to moue one another through the remembrance of the Saints to imitate their zeale and to worship and implore God in the assembliâ— of many to appease him and to render him thanks for his benefits and to edifie each other by sermons of exhortation You alleage more faithfully the words of the 16. Homily made by S. Chrysostome to the people of Antioch where S. Chrysostome speaking of the manner of the common people to celebrate the memorie of the Martyrs and to make their prayers vnto God neere vnto their graues The Emperour saith he which is arraiâ—d in purple goeth to the sepulchrâ—â— that is of the Martyrs and laying aside all pompe and magnificence presenteth himselfe to supplicate the Saints to make intercession vnto God for him and he which beareth
sure when any point of doctrine is to be disputed or of the true sense of some texts in the Bible then to hold our selues to Gods law which is a faithfull witnesse according to the counsell of the Prophet Esay chap 8. verse 20. to giue the exposition of the law of God in expounding it by the Scripture it selfe imitating the example of Esdras and some other Doctors of the old Testament which is represented by Nehemiah before our eies in the 8. chapter and 2. verse Euen so when a question is of the true rule and manner of prayer there is nothing more expedient then to follow in all our prayers that only forme of prayer which our Lord Iesus Christ taught his Apostles as S. Tertullian and S. Cyprian shew vs by their excellent discourses touching the excellencie and perfection of this prayer And S. Austin in his epistle which he wrote to a Christian widow called Proba Wee say no other thing saith he then that which is contained in the Lords Prayer if we pray rightly and conueniently And whosoeuer should say any thing which is not agreeable with this Euangelicall prayer though he prayeth not vnlawfully yet he prayeth carnally and I know no reason why but that one may say he prayeth vnlawfully sith that such as are regenerated by the holy Ghost ought to pray spiritually By which admonition S. Austin signifieth to all Christians that all prayers which haue not their foundation in the prayer of our Lord Iesus Christ as are such which be addressed to the Saints departed are carnall and vnlawfull But to returne to your obiections where you say that you â—et slip in silence the miracles done through the inuocation of Saints and yet you send vs to the 22 booke of the Citie of God and we send you back againe to that which wee haue formerly noted to wit that Viues testifieth that many sentences haue been annexed to that booke of the Citie of God and for that reason we ought to giue no beleefe thereunto But rather as Origen witnesseth vpon Ieremiah it behoueth vs to call for witnesses the holy Scriptures forasmuch as without those witnesses our sense and discourses are of no credit which S. Austin also giueth vs to vnderstand by this exhortation that whatsoeuer wee would haue men to beleeue we must proue it by cleere testimonies of holy Scripture and vse them against the enemies of the Church And if we should grant you that many miracles haue been done by the inuocation of Saints yet you cannot with a good conscience gather froÌ„ thence that this seruice was pleasing to God seeing that the false prophets and ministers of Satan haue sought to set vp their impieties through the lustre of many miracles Thereupon Moses aduertiseth the people of his time saying in Deut. â—3 1. If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreames and give thee a signe or wander and the signe and the wonder which he hath told thee come to passe saying Let vs go after other gods which thou hast not known 〈◊〉 let vs serue them Thou shalt not hearken vnto the words of that prophet or vnto that dreamer of dreames for the Lord your God proueth you to know whether you loue the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soule And Iesus Christ in the 24 of Matthew and 23 verse saith If any shall say vnto you loe here is Christ or there beleeue it not for there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signes and wonders so that if it were possible they should deceiue the very elect Behold I haue told you before according to which Saint Paul writeth in the â— of Thesâ— 2. that the comming of the Sonne of perdition who sâ—â—ll sit as God in the temple of God and shall exalt himselfe against God and shall be by the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and in all 〈◊〉 of vnrighteousnesse among them that 〈◊〉 Whereupon S. Austin grounding himselfe saith on the 9. Psalme That Antichrist shall vse force in his empire and deceit in his miracles And in the treatise of Antichrist which is added to his bookes Antichrist saith he shall rise vp against the elect by three manner of waies by terrors by gifts and by miracles And Chrysostome speaking of the false Doctors on the seuenth chapter of S. Matthew They cast forth diuels saith he in the name of Christ hauing the spirit of the enemie or they rather doe not cast them foorth but seeme to cast them foorth through the collusion which they haue with the diuels and so alwaies they cast them foorth and neuer doe heale The diuels euermore crie before them as if they were chastized and they neuer come foorth of them as though they were afraid Behold therefore Theophylact teacheth vs in the explication of the seuenth chapter of S. Luke and namely on the second verse that preaching is confirmed by miracles and miracles by preaching for oftentimes diuers haue done wonders by the diuels but their preaching was not sound therefore their miracles also were not of God Which Anselmus appropriating to the miracles of Antichrist in his Commentaries vpon the second Epistle to the Thessalonians and second chapter These signes and wonders saith he shall be lying either because they should deceiue the mortall through magicall visions or else because that although they should be wonders and prodigious signes yet they should draw vnto lies such as beleeue in them Moreouer Meses recounteth in the booke of Exodus that Pharaohs Magicians haue imitated and counterfeited many miracles which he formerly had done in the countrie of Egypt Also Hippocrates reciteth in his book de Morbo Sacro that some Sorcerers in his time healed many of the falling sicknesse in making sacrifices and certaine prayers because they would be reputed as holy personages The like writeth Bodin of Appolonius Thyaneus and of some other Sorcerers which chased away diuels and did many other wonders through fainednesse and collusion This is that also whereof the Emperour Charles the Great would aduertise vs by his third and fourth bookes made vnder his owne name and approued by Pope Adrians Legats and many other Bishops of France Germany and Italie which were present in the Councel of Frankford in the yeere 794. There is great danger saith he in many miracles because there may be in them some craft of that crooked Serpent which doth transfigure himself into an Angel of light for many miracles are done by those Angels reuolted by Powers or rather by spirituall subtilties which communicate to diuers miserable wretches the gift of prophecying and doe many strange things through their officers of which sort those shal be which shall say Lord Lord haue we not prophecied in thy name and haue wee not cast out diuels in thy name and by thy name done many great workes To whom the Iudge will