consilii Angelus per incarnationis mysterium venit in mundum stetitqae ante Altare id est in conspectu Ecclesia Dionys Carthus in Apoc. 8. Catholick Doctors c. by this Angel understand Christ who is the Angel of the great Counsel and which by the mystery of his incarnation came into the world and stood upon the Altar of the Cross Blasius (b) Nec vero rectè quidam è recentioribus argumentantur Angelum istum Christum esse non posse quod Christus nunquam Angelus absolute dicitur satis enim est ut ex consequentibus facile intelligi potest Christum esse quae nifi Christe alteri aptè accommodari non possunt Cujus enim alterius est universae Ecclesiae incensa hoc est orationes in Thuribulo aurto tanta Majestatis specie patri offerre Cujus praeterquam Christi fuit de igne quo Thuribulum aureum eaat impletum partem in terras misisse easque divini amoris igne inflammasse c. Apuaret autem Christus sacerdotis personam gerens ut ejus pro nobis apud patrem intercessio atque interpellatio monstretur Vieg in Apoc. 8. Sec. 2. Viegas a Jesuit We may easily perceive that this Angel is Christ because the thing here spoken of him can agree to no other but Christ for who but he can with so great Majesty offer up to God the incense that is the Prayers of the Vniversal Church who besides him is able out of the perfuming pann to send down into the Earth the fiery Coals of Divine Charity and to inflame People with the burning Graces of the holy Spirit With these agree (c) Ambros super Apoc. Vis 3. Cap. 8. Ambrose (d) Primas in Apoc. 8. Biblioth Sanct. Colon. to 9. p. 2. Primasius (e) Ansbert in Apoc. 8. Bibl. Sanct. Col. to 9. p. 393. Authertus (f) Bed 5. super Apoc. lib. 2. Beda (g) Haimo in Apoc. 8. Haimo (h) Hugo Card. Hugo Cardinalis and the Glosses (i) Glossae totum legunt hoc de Christe But if it were granted that this Angel were a created or ministring Spirit it cannot be proved that Angels understand the secret cogitations of mans heart any farther then the same are manifested by signs neither is it consequent that people ought to pray unto them for Priests offer up the Prayers of the Church to God and yet no man doth therefore invocate Priests It is recorded of the Saints enjoying the same blissfull vision with the Angels Object ibid. that they had golden Vials full of odours which are the Prayers of Saints that is of the faithful upon earth 1. Answ The Reverend Dr. Hammond and many other Expositors Ancient and Modern tell us that the four and twenty Elders are not the Members of the Church triumphant as T. G. without proof asserts but the Bishops and the Elders of the Church militant whose office it is to present the Prayers and Praises of the Church to God Here it is more plainly declared saith Beda that the Beasts and the Elders are the Church redeemed by the blood of Christ and gathered from the Nations also he showeth in what Heaven they are saying they shall reign upon earth So Ambrose on the Apcalyps and Haimo 2. Vossius will tell you That here is nothing intended but Eucharistal Prayers not Petitory and that the four and twenty Elders only intimate that the whole Family of Christians in Earth and Heaven did render continual Doxologies to God for the Redemption of the world by his Son The Psalmist saith I will sing unto thee in the sight or presence of the Angels Psal 137.2 Object p. 418. The Angel of the Lord said O Lord of Hosts how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had Indignation these threescore and ten years And Michael is a great Prince which standeth for the Children of Gods people Ergo The Angels know the secrets of the heart and are acquainted with the Prayers that men in any place put up unto them To these Objections I answer Ha Ha He Answ Valentianus Fieri ne potest ut homo qui sic ratiocinatur homo sit The Psalmist also saith I will pay my vows in the presence of thy people Ergo All Gods people knew the secrets of the heart c. The Phanatick saith How long Lord wilt thou not remember and have mercy upon the Godly Party who have been under persecution fourteen years Ergo The Phanaticks know the secrets of the heart c. And blessed be God King Charles the Second is a great Prince who standeth for his People against the Whore of Babylon He therefore knows the Prayers and necessities of all his People he is acquainted with the secrets of the heart and we may put up mental Prayers unto him If T. G. have an estate worth begging he may well fear that his performance here and P. 222 223. will rob him of it CHAP. VII The Contents The Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome touching the invocation of the Saints departed delivered from their own Catechism and Liturgies and the decree of the Trent Councel Sect. 1. the Question stated in seven Particulars Sect. 2. The Idolatry of this practice proved 1. Because it doth ascribe unto them the knowledge of the heart and of our confessions 2. Because Prayer to an absent Being is the oblation of that Worship to it which is proper to God And so are Vows and Hymns Sect. 3.3 Because the Apostles gave us no Precept or Example so to do Sect. 4. The sequel of this Argument is confirmed and the Objections answered Sect. 5. And the Argument from Miracles confuted Sect. 6. HAving laid down these Propositions let us now view the Doctrine and Practise of the Church of Rome which the Trent Councel hath delivered in these words viz. * Mandat Sancta Synodus omnibus Episcopis clerieis docendi munuscurámque sustinentibus ut fideles diligenter instruant docentes eos Bonum atque utile esse suppliciter eos invocare ad eorum orationes opem auxiliúmque confugere Illos verò qui negant Sanctos aeterna felicitate in calo fruentes invocandos esse aut qui asserunt eorum ut pro nobis singulis orent invocationem esse Idololatricam vel pugnare cum verbo Dei adversi ique honori unius Mediatoris Dei Hominis Jesu Christi vel stultum esse in coele regantibus voce vel mente suppliâ—are impié sentire St quis autem his Decretis contraria docuerit aut senserit Anath ma sit Sess 25. c. 1. That it is good and profitable humbly to invoke the Saints and fly unto their prayers and help and that whosoever doth deny that Saints who do enjoy eternal happiness in heaven ought to be invoked or do assert that to intreat them to pray for any single person is Idolatry or is
Romana Ecclesia casura interitura penitus videri potuisset tot improbis sceleratis impudicis Praedonibus invasorbus sanguinariis grassatoribus hoc seculo ut audisti sedem Apostolicam invadentibus Cbron. 1000. Tenth and c Cent. 11. Quam tunc deploratus fuerit status Ecclesiae ferme monstro simillimus cernere licet apud sigebertum Vincent Antoni sacerdotes crant moribus depravatissim is propterea ipsi res sacrae populo contemptibiles quilibet ex plebe audebat de sacris mysteriis disputare Sacramenta etiam ab Infantibus turpiter tractabantur in extremo vitae viaticum Dominicum contemnebatur decimae presbyteris debitae igne cremabantur Corpus domini saepe pedibus conculcabatur sanguis effundebatur multaque alia scclera in Ecclesia patrabantur Genebrard Chron. 1079. Eleventh Ages The Priests and Bishops of the Roman Church were so abominably wicked that Tongue cannot express sufficiently their vileness that by their own confession 50 succeeding Popes were rather Devils and Apostates than Apostolick Persons that their Sacrificators were d Sacrificuli principibus a Deo datis non solum non parendum esse verum etiam fraude vi quov is modo tollendos populum Christianum docere audent per juria homicidia civilia bella caedes perfidiam pietatem vocant fidem frangentes faedera dissolventes pactum praevaricantes juramentum vjolantes perfidos atque perjuros non esse sibi credi postulant Quin cos qui fideles sunt qui rebellionem incendia facere stup a incestus committere praedas agitare proximos opprimere occidere compilaâ—e sanguinem Christianum effundere summopere cavent in numero sceleratorum atque impiorum computant c. Aventinus Annal. Bojar lib. 5 pag. 591. Antichrists Magicians Invaders of the holy Function guilty of Simony and Perjury Monsters and Prodigies of vice and that on those accounts the Ages mentioned are called the unhappy and the most desperate times wherein the very e Praefari aliquid necessarium duximus ne quid scandali pusillus auimo pateatur si quando videre contigerit abominationem desolationis in Templo Baron a An. 900. Abomination of Desolation had usurped the Temple If we consider that their ignorance was so exceeding great that f Multo jam Tempore indoluit paternitas tua tantam in Ecelesia Dei invalescere inscitiam atque tam Crassam corum qui Sancto ministrant altari divinas ex officio personant laudes ignorantiam ut rari admodum inveniantur qui exactè integrè quae legunt aut canunt intelligant aut corum quae ore expromunt sensum capiant aut rectam teneant percipiantve sententiam Clichto v. preâ—at Elucidat Eccles vid. Nich. de Cleman p. 16. Hotting de necess Reform p. 65. few knew what it was they read I say if these things be impartially considered it must be highly probable to men of ordinary reason that if the forementioned defects do certainly obstruct the Sacrament of Ordination there is not any Priest now living in the whole Church of Rome This answer also shews that all his other instances are also wretchedly impertinent and therefore cannot possibly deserve to be particularly considered Were it most certain that every particular Host were duly Consecrated Prop. 4. Sect. 4. and certainly contained Christs real Body yet have we no good warrant upon that supposition to Adore it with Latria P. 127. For as the Dr. excellently argues the reason of all Adoration given to the Sacrament is this that Christ hath said this is my Body which words if they imply Transubstantiation cannot be understood of any other change than of the Bread into Christs Body and if this sense were to be put upon them why mhy I not imagine much more agreeably to the nature of the Institution That the mere humane nature of Christ is there then that his Divinity should be there in a particular manner present to no end and where it makes not the least manifestation of it self To this discourse T. G. returns this Ansvver P. 23â— That where there is a General command without exception to Worship the word made Flesh there he hath given a sufficient indication of doing it wherever we are certain by faith that he is so present Ansvver But what is this to the Doctors Argument which proceeds upon this ground that the presence of Christs Body in the Eucharist is no sufficient evidence that in the Eucharist it is united to the word for if Christs Body may be eaten and not eaten eaten by them who have received the Host and not eaten by them who have not yet received it If it may be under the species of Bread and not under the species of Bread under the species of Bread as it is in the Sacrament and not under the species of Bread as it is in Heaven why may it not be united to the word and not united to the word united to the word as it is in Heaven but not united to the word as it lyes senseless on the Altar And therefore the belief of Catholicks that the Divinity is thus united to the Sacrament is no sufficient motive to Adore it with Latria because I can have no sufficient reason to think it true Secondly P. 113. The Dr. Argues thus if the Bread be converted into that Body of Christ which is hypostatically united with the Divine nature then the conversion is not merely into the Body but into the person of Christ and then Christ hath as many bodies hypostatically united to him as there are Elements consecrated This clear perspicuous Argument is saith T. G. A notable piece of new mystical Divinity p. 141. and expres'd in hard words and attended with a contradiction Answer can it be expected that any man should speak of a Subject that is it self made up of infinite contradictions and not speak sutably to the Subject if T. G. would assert the contrary to what the Dr. argues must he not say that all the Consecrated Elements perhaps a 1000 are but one Body and seeing all these Elements are Christs Body must not he say that a 1000 Christs bodys are but one Christs body is it not impudence and disingenuity to cry out of hard words upon the mention of Consecrated Elements and Conversion into the person of Christ when we are speaking of that change which they all Transubstantiation and say that it is made by Consecration of the Elements or because we use that term of hypostatick union when we are speaking of that union which is so called by all Divines that treat upon that Subject and is delivered to us in that very word by the whole Church of Christ P. 241.242 It doth not follow saith T. G. any more then because the Bread the Flesh the Fish which he eat upon Earth were converted into the substance of his Body and hypostatically united to him it follows That
tenuisti Idem Tract 50. in Joh. T. eod p. 358 371. thou hast Christ present by faith and in the sign by the Sacrament of Baptism and the meat and drink of the Altar According to his carnal presence it is truly said to his Disciples me you shall not have alwayes how shall I send my hand to Heaven that I may hold him sitting there †send thy faith and thou dost hold him To conclude the Fathers po expresly say that Christ pronounced of the Bread this is my body and of the Wine this is my Blood which say the R. Doctors had our Lord affirmed we must have understood him figuratively and metaphorically For proof hereof B. Morton of the Mass l. 2. chap. 6. § 6 behold a Torrent of ancient Fathers pressing upon you Irenaeus Tertullian Origen Hierom Ambrose Agustine Cyril of Hierusalem Cyril of Alexandria Theodoret Gaudentius Cyprian Clemens of Alexandria and Isidore thirteen to the dozen whose sayings we may best know by their own Idiom and Tenure of speech 1. Accipiens panem corpus suum esse confitebatur Irenaeus l. 4. c. 57 The first noting Christ to have confessed Bread to have been his body The second Christ to have called Bread his body Third that Christs speech was spoken of Bread The fourth that that which he brake was Bread The fifth 2. Christus panem corpuâ— suum appellat Tertullianus adv Judeos that it was Bread which he brake The sixth that it was Bread of the Lord not Bread the Lord. The seventh that the words my Body were spoken of the Bread The eighth that Christ saith of the Bread this is my Body And the same Father as if he had studied to take away all scales of doubtfulness from the eyes of our minds 3 Nec matteria panis est sed super illum dâ—ctus sermo qui prodest non indigne comedent i. Orig in mat 15. illustrates the matter thus So saith he did Christ call his Body Bread as elsewhere he calleth his Flesh a grain of Wheat except the grain of Wheat die it bringeth forth no fruit The ninth that Christ gave to the Bread the name of his Body The tenth that Christ said of the consecrated Bread this is my 4 Nos audiamus panem quem fregit Dominus esse corpus servatoris Hieron Ep. ad Helvid Qu. 2. 5. Panem fractum tradidit disâ—lpulis suis dicens Accipite hoc c. Ambrose l. 4. de Sacrament cap. 5. 6. Judas manducavit panem Domini c. Augustinus Tract 59. in Joh. Cyril Hieros 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Catech Myst 4 p 528. 8. Cum ipse Christus sic affirmat ac dicat de pane Hoc est corput meum c. Cyril Alez Catech. 4 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theod. Dial. 1. c. 8. 10. Gaudent tract de rat sacra Body The eleventh 11. Vinum fuisse quod sanguinem suum dixit Christus Cyprian Ep. 63. that it was Wine which he called his Blood The twelfth that he blessed Wine when he said drink and the last the Bread strengthning mans Body was therefore called the Body of Christ To these citations add that of Cyprian and †Theophilus the Lord calleth Bread his Body which is made up of many grains 12. Clem. Alex. Paedag l. 2. c. 3. and that of Tatian or †Ammonius having taken the Bread then afterward the cup of Wine and testified it to be his Body and Blood 13. Panis quia confirmat corpus ideo corpus Christi nuncupatur I st dor l. 1. de officiis cap. 8. be commanded them to eat and drink thereof Forasmuch as it was the memorial of his future Passion and Death That also of * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dial. 1 T. 4 p 17 Theodoret that in the institution of the mysteries Christ called Bread his Body and that which was mixt his blood And as if this was beyond all dispute he puts this question to the Heretique * ΟΡΘ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 EPAN 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΕΡΑΠId. ibid. knowest thou that God called Bread his proper Body and makes him answer yea I know it By all which passages a Dominus corpus suum punem vocat Ep. 76. and many more that might be cited it appeareth that in those elder times the words of the institution were no otherwise conceived than as if Christ had plainly said this Bread is my Body and this Wine is my Blood b In Evan l 1 p 152 L. 2. and therefore that they did as certainly conceive the sense and meaning of these words c Mox accepto pane deinde vini calice corpus esse suum ac sanguinem restatus manducare illos jussit c. Ammon Harmon Evang. T. 3. Biblioth Patr. p. 28. this is my Body to be Metaphorical and figurative as any Protestant now doth note also by the way that this sufficiently checks the clamors of T. G. against the Doctor for saying they believe Bread to be God for let him put what sense he can upon the Fathers words the same will justifie the words of Dr. Stilling fleet which being Written to a Protestant Lady were very proper and lyable to no exception since they import this only that the Romanist believes that to be a God which we believe is Bread and to one of that perswasion the Doctors argument is a most powerful disuasive from the embracing of the Roman faith but to proceed To all these Fathers we will adjoyn three Councils The first is that of Carthage held An. Dom. 397. by above Two hundred Bishops whereof St. Austin and Aurelius were two which thus decrees that a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cod. Can. Eccles Afr. c. 37. in the Holy mysteries nothing be offered but only the body and blood of the Lord. as also the Lord commanded it that is the Bread and the Wine mingled with water The second is that of Trull whose judgment Balsamon relateth in these words b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bals. in Can. 40. Syn. Carthag p. 653. The 32 Canon of the Synod of Trull giveth an ordinance at large that the unbloody Sacrifice be made with Bread and Wine mingled with water because Bread is the figure of the Lords body and the Wine a figure of his blood c In Can. 40. Concil Carthag p. 426 427. Zonaras saith the same In the Seventh Council of Constantinople held An. Dom. 754. by Three hundred thirty eight Bishops the Bread is called d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy Image of Christ and the true Image of his natural body and the Image of his flesh given by God And this was certainly the Doctrine of the Church of England about 650 years agoe witness the Homily appointed publickly to be read to the People upon Easter-day before they did receive the Sacrament where we have these words viz. * Aeifrick Saxon Homily v.
body that sustains that loss will tell us where this lost Cloak is If God doth either from the Law of Friendship or for our profit reveal the secrets of mens hearts unto them and inform both Saints and Angels of our Prayers and our Necessities why should we not conceive that he is as ready to inform them of those hidden and contingent things which it as much concerneth us to be informed of as to receive an Answer to our Prayers v. g. if he informed the twenty Martyrs of Florentius his Petition that his Cloak might be given to him T. G. p. 423 424. why should he not inform them where it was or if those blessed Spirits do by virtue of the beatifick Vision see our Prayers and Wants why should they not be thought to view our Losses and our future state in the same beatifick Vision If that could represent unto the twenty Martyrs Florentius's Prayer why not his Cloak and where it was They who see God see all things in him which belong unto him say the Roman Doctors therefore they see the Prayers directed to him for they objectively must be in God they that see God saith the Magitian see all things in him and therefore they must see things future and concealed for they objectively must be in God and with what shew of reason can any man reject the latter inference who doth allow the former for to be the Searcher of the Heart is not less proper to God then is the Knowledge of what is future and contingent Nay Holy Scripture seemes more clearly to appropriate to God the Knowledge of the Heart then of things future and contingent for it expresly saith thou only knowest the Hearts of men but doth not so expresly say thou only knowest what is to come Moreover the secret motions of our Heart do equally depend upon our will which is uncertain and very subject unto change if therefore it be truly said that what is future and contingent cannot be known by any creature because it doth depend on what is mutable and therefore to expect this knowledge from a Creature or to ascribe it to him is to be Guilty of Idolatry the like must be affirmed of the thoughts and inward motions of the Heart which equally depending on the free motions of the will must be obnoxious to the same uncertaintyes CHAP. XI The CONTENTS The Canon of the Councel of Laodicea de iis qui Angelos Colunt is laid down and the Judgment of Theodoret and Photius upon it Sect. 1. And it is proved 1. That it contains the Sentence and belief of the whole Church of Christ Sect. 2. That it forbids the Invocation and Worship of Angels Sect. 3. That the Angels whose Invocation and Worship it forbids were blessed Spirits and not evil Angels Sect. 4. That it forbids what is the Practice of the Church of Rome Sect. 5. That it pronounceth the Worship and Invocation of the holy Angels to be Idolatry Sect. 6. That in the Judgment of the Fathers this was the Worship which St. Paul condemned 2 Coloss Sect. 7. The evasions of T. G. confuted ibid. And all the other Answers of the Romanists Sect. 8. THat what we have thus confirmed from Scripture and the voice of Reason § 1. hath also the consent and the concurrent suffrage of Antiquity we shall demonstrate not from the words of any single Father but from the clear decision of the whole Church of God which is delivered to us in these words viz. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Codex Canonum Eccles Univers Can. 139. That Christians ought not to forsake the Church of God and depart a side and invocate Angels and make meetings which are things forbidden If any man therefore be found to give himself to this privy Idolatry let him be accursed Because he hath forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and betaken himself to Idolatry In the Epitomy of Canons collected by Dionisius Exiguus and which Pope Adrian delivered to Charles the great this Decree is thus entitled (a) Jusâ—el Cod. Can Eccles p. 106. Canon de his qui Angelos colunt a Decree concerning those that worship Angels (b) Brev. Canon 90. Crisconius hath the like Theodoret who lived in the next Century upon those words of the Apostle Let no man defraud you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of Angels writes that (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodoret. in Coloss c. 2. They who were zealous for the Law perswaded men to worship Angels because say they the Law was given by them This did they councel to be done pretending himility and saying that the God of all things was invisible and inaccessible and incomprehensible and that it was fit we should procure Gods favor by the means of Angels And again (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. in Col. 2. Because they commanded men to worship Angels saith Theoderet he enjoyneth the contrary that they should adorn their words and deeds with the Commemoration of our Lord Christ and send up thanksgiving to God and the Father by him and not by the Angels The Synod of Laodicea also following this Rule and desiring to heal that old disease made a Law that they should not pray to Angels nor forsake our Lord Jesus Christ And lastly (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. in Col. 2. This vice saith he continued in Phrygia and Pisidia for a long time For which cause also the Synod assembled in Laodicea the chief City of Phrygia forbad them by a Law to pray to Angels and even to this day among them and their Borderers there are Oratories of St. Michael to be Seen The like hath Oecumenius upon the same place saying that (b) Oecumen MS. in Coloss 2. apud Hoechelium in Origenem contra Celfum In libris editis desideratur this Custom continued in Phrygia insomuch that the Councel of Laodicea did by a Law forbid to come to Angels and to pray unto them From whence it is also that there be many Churches of Michael the Cheif Captain of Gods Host among them This Canon of the Laodicean Fathers Photius doth note to have been made against the (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phot. Nomocanon tit 12. c. 9. Angelites or the Angelicks rather For so St. (a) Angelici in Angelorum cultum inclinati Aug. de haeres c. 39. Augustin names those Hereticks that were inclined to the worship of Angles being from thence called (b) Angelici vocati quia Angelos colunt Isidor Orig. l. 8. c. 5. Angelici as Isidorus noteth because they did worship Angels Now that the strength of what we argue from this Canon And that the vanity of what the Romanists except against it may appear 1. Let it be noted that the forementioned Canon containeth the Sentence and Belief of the whole Church of Christ 5 2. for it is a Canon of that Code which the whole Christian World did use
both in their Councils and Ecclesiastical Judicatures untill the Seventh Century and which is cited both by the Council of Calcedon and of Ephesus as (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex Concil Ephes act 1. p. 2. p. 327. To. 1. Concil General Edit Rom. the order of Canons the series of Ecclesiastical Laws the Ecclesastical constitutions and (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 act 2. p. 400. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 426. v. p. 425. p. 491. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex Concil Calced act 3. p. 241. Tom. 2. Concil the Code It is a Canon of that Code to which the Council of Calcedon gave the force and the Authority of an universal Law in these Expressions (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 act 4. p. 297. vic Justel Cod. Canon p. 6. 12. we think it equal that the Canons made by Holy Fathers in every Synod untill now should be observed Can. 1. 2. Observe that what the Canon thus expresseth § 3. viz. that Christians should not name the Angels is an Anathema directed against those which pray to Angels so Theodoret and Photius who call upon them for help or introduction to God So Zonaras and Aristenus who worshipt them In locum So Theodoret Dionysius Christonius and the Epitome of Canons presented by Pope Adrian to Charles the great who said we must be brought to God by Angels so Aristenus and the Amerbachian Scholiast In locum and that to cure that Disease the Council did command all Christians not to pray unto them so Theodoret and Oecumenius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And therefore evident it is that Zonaras doth truly say that to name Angels in this Canon was as much as to invoke them whence it will follow that the whole Church of Christ for two whole Centuries and upwards did forbid all Christians to Invoke Angels to worship or to call upon them and did pronounce Anathema's on them that did so 3. Observe that what this Canon doth forbid § 4. was not the Invocation of wicked Daemons or of Damned Spirits but of the Blessed Angels For 1. According to Theodoret and Photius they did condemn the worshipers of Michael the Archangel and those that went unto the Oratories or Churches of St. Michael 2. The Canon doth relate to Christians who surely would not meet to worship Devils nor doth it recall them to good Angels but to Jesus Christ 3. The persons reprehended are said to have took up this Custom of going thus to good Daemons from a pretence of their unworthiness to go to God or Christ immediately and from an appearance of humility So Chrysostome Theodoret and others but to expect the help of Devils to introduce them to God and to pretend humility in doing such an horrid act is to be guilty of the highest madness 4. Theodoret and Photius inform us that they who brought up that forbidden practice were zealous for the Law now that most strictly did forbid the worship of all evil spirits it was delivered not by them but by the Blessed Angels 4. That which is here forbidden § 4. is what the Church of Rome doth daily practice for they do worship Angels saith the Roman Catechism Part 3. p. 434. this is and hath been their perpetual Custom to call upon them and to expect their help and patronage by vertue of those supplications Hence that Expression of the Roman Missal (a) Hos fidenter deprecemur ut ab ipsis adjuvemur apud deum jugiter Prosa ad S. Angelos f. 32. B. To them with confidence let 's pray for Gods assistance every day They do expect Salvation from their intercession in that very sense in which Theophylact asserts the Hereticks expected to be saved by Angels viz 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as persons ministring unto our Introduction to God and Christ Hence their petitions that (b) Hostias tibi Domine laudis offerimus suppliciter deprecantes ut easdem Angelico interveniente suffragio placatus accipta ad salutem nostram provenire concedas Missa votiva de Angelis p. 5.36 Ed. Aut. fol. Gaudium erit tibi Angele dei super me peccatore tuis intercessionibus deum obtinente Missa in honorem proprii Angelif 16. B. Ed. Antuerp So. 1577. Angelorum concio sacra Archangelorum turma inclyta nostra diluant jam peccata praestando superacaeli Gaudia Prosa de omnibus sanctis ibid. f. 33. B. by the intercessions of the blessed Angels they may obtain Gods favour and may be brought to Life Eternal If then that Invocation which is here forbidden be Idolatry the practice of the Church of Rome must be so too 5. This Invocation of the Blessed Angels §. 6. is expresly said to be Idolatry and therefore if it be not truly so this Synod and the Church of Christ must be pronounced false accusers now of this enormity they could not justly be accused for deserting Christ for notwithstanding this they did not look upon those Angels they invoked as Gods but as inferiour Creatures and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or presons instrumental and subservient unto our Introduction to God and therefore thought we should procure Gods favour by the means of Angels because that God himself was not to be approached or apprehended and because Christ was so exalted that they durst not make their immediate addresses to him now to think Christ greater than that we sinful Creatures should make addresses to him maketh some shew of our humility but cannot possibly be charged with Idolatry For should any Man conceive himself unworthy to appear before God or look upon him as unaccessable by one of so defiled a spirit and therefore should entreat the Prayers of his pious Neighbors we might conclude that he was very ignorant and vain in his imaginations but could not thence conclude that he was guilty of Idolatry And so the Reader sees that notwithstanding these mistakes of the Angelicks the Church of Rome hath no wrong done them when we charge their Invocation of the blessed Angels with Idolatry for if the Invocation of them when absent were not guilty of this Crime these by-mistakes could never make it guilty of that imputation Besides the Synod and Theodoret do put a clear distinction betwixt these two particulars which by the Exposition of the Roman Doctors are confounded and made to signify the same viz. desertion of Christ and being guilty of Idolatry by praying to the blessed Angels as is apparent from this expression of Theodoret the Synod of Laodicea made a Law that Christians should not pray to Angels nor forsake the Lord Christ whosoever doth such things say they accursed let him be because he hath deserted Christ and given up himself unto Idolatry Lastly we do not find that they did so reject or desert Christ as to deny his intercession in the Heavens but only upon this account because they did not make immediate addresses to him For as St. Paul asserts