Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	angel_n	holy_a	praise_v	2,203	5	9.2962	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61294	A discourse concerning the devotions of the Church of Rome, especially, as compared with those of the Church of England in which it is shewn, that whatever the Romanists pretend, there is not so true devotion among them, nor such rational provision for it, nor encouragement to it, as in the church established by law among us.	Stanley, William, 1647-1731.	1685 (1685)	Wing S5244; ESTC R1838	44,628	70

Dead Now if they Print such things in English what do they Print in Spanish If they do such things in a Green Tree what shall be done in the dry And I fear that even their nicest Casuists give too much Countenance to this so gross Practice For they have determined that Honour 's above Civil cuitus Hyperduliae are due to the Virgin Mary that is in plain English Divine Honours must be paid to her For it must be a very Metaphysical Head that can in this Sense apprehend a kind of Honour above Civil and yet not Divine it must be somewhat like his that would pretend to find a mean between Creator and Creature between Finite and Infinite Lastly this is most notorious that they enjoyn acts to be used and propose Objects of Worship which they themselves cannot deny but there is danger of offending in them and even of falling into that Idolatry and yet take little or no care of giving caution concerning them and if the grossest abuse should happen there is scarcely any possibility of redress Indeed wherever they speak of Veneration due to Reliques and Images of worshipping of Saints and especially the Virgin Mary they always seem as if they cared not how much Honour were paid to them only they must make as if they put some Restriction on it for the sake of the reformed who would exclaim against them And therefore their Command for the worshipping of them is general and absolute but the Limitations are so nice and forced that one may easily see that they very unwillingly deny any Worship to be paid to them For so the wary Council of Trent speaking of Images says They are to be kept and due Honour and Veneration paid to them And though by and by they seem as if they would limit this Honour yet presently they put in such words as make that pretended Limitation to signifie nothing For they tell you That whatever Honor you pay to the Image goes to the person represented v. g. to our Saviour it seems the Honor is paid to him whether we intend so or no And hence you may easily gather what Honor is due to the Image of our Saviour and how little fear there is of paying too much Honour to it For I suppose we are all agreed there is no fear of paying too much Honour to our Blessed Saviour and whatever Honour is paid to his Image is paid to him if we can believe these Gentlemen And agreeably hereunto it is very rare to hear of any person censured or blamed for paying too much Honour to Images though surely it is as possible for men to be Idolaters now as in the former Ages and I suppose that neither the common people nor all the Priests are Men of such extraordinary Understanding and Learning as to be altogether free from the like Temptation Nay the Caution which is given seems only to concern Imagines falsi dogmatis Rudibus periculosi Erroris Occasionem praebentes but there is not one word concerning the abuse which may be made of the Image of Christ or of a true Saint There is no Provision made that Men be warned not to perform too much Devotion in their Minds to a good Image And by what this Council says the Priest understands well enough what it intends and therefore scarcely ever dare preach against the excess and abuse of Images Reliques c. tho they cannot but see it actually committed every day And now if there should happen to be any Idolatrous Worship pay'd to an Image tho the Bishop hath power indeed to set the Image up yet he hath not power to pull it down or to correct any abuse concerning it without the leave of the Archbishop and other Bishops of the Province and even of the Pope himself So unwilling do they seem that any Provision should be made for redressing abuses in so great and common a Case as the excess in Worship of Images must needs be v. Concil Trid. Sess 25. Lastly as we have seen how deficient and very faulty the Church of Rome is in her pretences to Devotion wee 'll now consider what Provision is made for the due Exercise of Devotion among our selves that we may thank God for our being settled in the Communion of the Church of England and may learn to be conscientiously strict and regular in our own as well as to despise the Romish Devotions And in order hereunto I reckon that these four things are especially to be regarded First That among us none but the true Object of Devotion is proposed to be worshipped God the Father Son and Holy Ghost none of the most blessed Angels or Saints in Heaven being ever invoked or adored by us For we look on them only as our Brethren and Members of the same Church with us triumphing indeed whilst we are here below still in our Warfare We thank God for them and keep Feasts in the Memory of them at the same time praising God for his Goodness and Grace bestowed on them and shining forth in them and also stirring up our selves by such Commemorations to follow their good Example and this we think is as much as is due from us to our fellow Creatures and believe that neither God allows nor do they expect more from us Secondly Only proper Expressions of Devotion are commanded or allowed by our Church For the matter of them they are such as God himself hath required to be served by are significant of that disposition of Mind which we know God accepts and have an aptness to the producing of that temper in us which God intends to work us up to by them We use all the Instances of Devotion which they of the Church of Rome use if they be either necessary or fit though indeed often to other and better purpose We pray constantly but only for the living for we look on the Dead as past the means of Grace and consequently past the benefit of our Prayers We praise God for his Excellencies in himself and thank him for his Goodness to others as well as to our selves We practise Confession of Sins to God in publick and in private and advise it to be made also to the Ministers of Gods Word when it is necessary for Ghostly Counsel and Advice for the satisfying of their Consciences and the removal of Scruple and Doubtfulness but we cannot say it is necessary to be made to Men in order to the Pardon of God We reckon it rather as a priviledg or advantage than a Duty And if Men will not make use of this priviledg as often as there is Occasion unless we tell a lye to advance the credit of it we cannot help that We enjoyn Fastings and disallow not of Penances but advise People to take an holy revenge on themselves when they have sinned but not as the Papists do to satisfie for their Sins or merit at Gods hand but to shew the sincerity of their Repentance and to

such as these 1. They blame the Reformation in general as well as the Church of England for the want of Monasteries and such other Religious Houses which are so numerous in the Popish Countries where Holy Men and Women being shut up and having bid adieu to the World live as in Heaven in constant Exercise of praising of God Night and Day and of praying to him for the Church and State and particular Christians as well as themselves and who are not only so beneficial to the World by the constancy of their Prayers but also by their Example putting others in mind of Religion and of doing likewise and by the severity of their lives as to Diet Garbe and other Circumstances live in a constant Practice of that self-denyal which is commanded in Scripture and was so practised by Holy Men almost from the beginning of Christianity and are as it were constant Preachers of Holiness and Mortification who tho' they do indeed stay here in the World below yet converse not in it but are in some Sense out of it and live above it 2. They sometimes also boast of the extraordinary Charity and Liberality to all good and Holy Uses pressed and practised among them which is but sparingly used say they among the Protestants Especially their excessive Expence and Cost in building and endowing Monasteries erecting Churches Chappels and Crosses their so pompous adorning the Places dedicated to the Worship of God besides their Charitable Assistance and relief which they afford to the Bodies of the Living and the Souls of the Dead and no Man can deny but Charity is a certain Evidence as well as a great branch and duty of true Religion and Devotion 3. Sometimes they glory in the great number of Saints commemorated in their Church and dying in the Communion of it and urge them as a forcible Example to others and a mighty incentive to Devotion they think also it redounds much to the Honour and Commendation of their Church to have had such glorious Members of it and twit us as they think severely when they ask us what Saints we have of our Church and wonder especially that we should observe so few Festivals and Holidays whereas the very many days set apart in their Church in memory of their several Saints they think not only afford proper Occasions for all Acts of Religion but are a sign of their being less addicted to this World when so great a part of their time is spent in the Service of God and that Piety and Devotion are a considerable part of their Business and Employment 4. They urge also the multitude of Pictures and Images of several Famous Men and Women who have in an eminent manner served and pleased God and been instrumental in converting the World as very proper Assistances of a Mans Devotion instructing some they being the Books of the Unlearned and sensibly affecting and alluring all to the Imitation of the Persons whom they represent 5. Sometimes they commend their Church for the Fastings and other Acts of Severity and Mortification used not only by the Monks and Regulars but by all sorts of Men according to the Rules of their Church on set days of the Week or Seasons of the Year as well as such Austerities as are enjoyned by their Confessors by way of Penance their going bare-foot and bare-headed in Processions their whipping and lashing themselves their drawing great Chains and Weights after them as great and proper Instances of Self-denial and Devotion 6. They place also a great Deal of Religion in Philgrimages which the more Devout sort take and spend their Estates and sometimes their Lives in to Jerusalem Rome Loretto Mount-ferrat to St. Thomas at Canterbury St. Winefrid's Well or some such other places where some extraordinary Person hath lived or some strange Relique is left or where they reckon God hath on some Occasion or other wonderfully manifested himself and they reckon that the very visiting or kissing these are either an argument of truly Devout Minds or that which will make them so And their Manuals or Books which their Priests give into the Peoples Hands do not fail by all the art imaginable to endeavour to screw up Mens Devotion even to rapture and extasie in Commendation of these Practises and Orders even as if they would have us believe that there is no true Religion and Devotion without these and that where there are these things practised it is a certain Sign that the mind is affected as it ought and Piety flourisheth in the highest Degree And besides these Matters of Practice there are also several Doctrines and Opinions peculiar to themselves whichthey reckon do naturally tend to the Advancement of true Devotion As 7. Their Doctrine concerning the Intercession of Saints for us and the Advantage of Invocation or Prayer to them and that we of the Church of England want one of the greatest Encouragements to Prayer and Devotion that can be who neither own nor make use of these Helps and therefore that we cannot have such hope of Success and Blessing as they have 8. Their Doctrine concerning the Merit of Good Works and Supererogation is of the same Nature in their esteem For the more Worth you suppose in any Action the greater Incouragement is there to the Performance of it and therefore surely it must be a most irresistible motive to Devotion to perswade men that the worth and value of it is such as that you may by it purchase Heaven not only for your selves but for others also 9. Their belief of Purgatory and of the validity of Prayers for the Dead doth naturally tend to excite men to Devotion say they for here is a greater Scope and Occasion for our Prayers we may hope to be instrumental to more good more Persons to be relieved and helped by our Prayers than are supposed in the Devotions of the Church of England 10. And especially their Doctrine and Practice of Confession Penance and Absolution they look on as so necessary to Devotion that it is a wonder with them that there should be any show of it where these are not received and practised For a particular Confession of all Sins to a Priest being so strictly required they say is the readiest way to bring men to a Sense of and shame for their Sins and Penance being also imposed presently on them will surely make Men to be more afraid of sinning again when they see it must cost them so dear and that they may not despair or despond by Reason of the Multitude or Weight of their former Sins but may be encouraged to strive more earnestly against Sin for the future the Priest gives them Absolution of what is passed at the same time encouraging their hope as well as exciting their fear and endeavouring by the same Method both to allure to force and to shame Men into Amendment Lastly they insist much also on the Validity of their Ordinations the Truth and Succession Unity