Selected quad for the lemma: prayer_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prayer_n	altar_n	golden_a	incense_n	3,134	5	12.0529	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78369	The Catholick mirrour. Or, a looking-glasse for Protestants Wherein they may plainly see the errours of their church, and the truth of the Roman Catholick. Which is divided into seventeen chapters, containing the principle points in dispute between Catholicks and Protestants, and all proved by their own Bible, for the satisfaction of those that desire to imbrace true religion.		1662 (1662)	Wing C1494A; ESTC R229524	59,266	156

which is in some measure an anticipation of the fruition of heaven But yet to make it more manifest to the intent that either you must deny Scripture or confess this truth see what Saint Luke saith in his Gospel that the rich man being in hell prayed to Abraham which I hope you will say is a Saint And he cryed Luke 16. v. 24. and said Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame from which we may gather that if this damned man prayed and hoped for mercy to be obtained for him by Abraham to whom he chiefly applyed himself is it not unreasonable to think that Christians which are in hopes of heaven and in the state of Grace may not do the same to Abraham or any the other Saints Ver. 25. with more hopes then he could have and better success and you may read here that Abraham heard him where ere he was and told him it could not be done because he had enjoyed his pleasures in this world and the other pains so by this we may see that the practice of this Article of Faith is not grounded upon weak foundations but on the Infallible Word of God which cannot deceive us unless we deceive our selves by the misapplying of it Besides let every Christian consider what a great folly they are guilty of when they say the Angels do not know this nor the Saints do not know that and so must not be prayed to when we do not know the nature of our own sinful souls that is within us and yet will be so vain as pretend to know the power and nature of those glorious Spirits who in knowing God do know all things and by our having Communion with them we have fellowship with the Blessed Trinity by our praying to them God is so much the more honoured as they are in Dignity and Desert above us and as we know by experience that a King granteth sooner the desires of a mean Subject by the Mediation of his grand Favourite so in reason we may believe that the King of Heaven will do the same to us by the Mediation of his Saints in Heaven The common objection by Protestants and others is that our Saviour faith Come unto me all ye that are laden and I will refresh you This was Christs goodness to invite us to come to him and how poor a shift this is for them to prove that we must not pray to Angels and Saints shall appear plainly for if because Christ invites us to come to him we must not apply our selves to any others then we must not pray one for another as Saint James commands us Jam. 5. v. 16. then why do we desire Priests or Ministers to pray for us when we are sick and upon many other occasions wherein we have need enough onely because we think their prayers to God is more acceptable then our own now all this is done without derogation to Christ nay you know it is to his honour and glory to pray one for another we all account it a great charity and if it be so then there is no doubt but that we may desire the blessed Saints to pray for us to God through the merits of Christ and it will redound more to his glory then our praying one for another can possibly do Rev. 5. v. 18. One Text more I shall shew you and not of small concern as to this point in Saint Johns Revelations where he saith the four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb or Christ having their harps and golden vials full of Odours which are the Prayers of Saints by which it is plain that they offered up their Prayers to Christ Ver. 3.4 for so Saint John expounds it himself that these vials full of Odours were the prayers of Saints and in the eighth Chapter he saith And another Angel came and stood at the Altar having a golden Censer and there was given to him much Incense that he should offer it with the Prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was before the Throne and the smoke of the Incense which came with the Prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand so by this it is apparent that we may pray to them and that they do offer up our prayers to God and pray for us Now it will be necessary to clear that mistake in Protestants who think we make no difference between our praying to Christ and our Intercession to Saints It would be a great Heresie for any one to hold 1 John 2. v. 1. that the Power and Mediation of Christ should not be far above all that of Angels or Arch-Angels and Saints in heaven Rhem. Test on this place therefore we are to understand what kinde of Mediatour Christ is and how he is our Advocate to the Father The Calling and Office of an Advocate is in many things proper to Christ and to him onely it appertains to procure us Mercy from his heavenly Father by the general ransome price and payment of his Blood for our delivery as is in the Sentence following He is the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins onely but for the sins of the whole world in which sort he is our onely Advocate because he is our onely Redeemer and hereupon he alone immediately by his own Merits without the aid or assistance of any man or Angel in his own Name and right confidently dealeth in our Causes before God our Judge and so procureth our pardon and this is the highest degree of Advocation that can be by all which you may see that we Catholicks attribute to Christ in a more excellent sort his power in his Mediatorship then Protestants do or imagine who make poor ignorants believe that none must mediate for us but Christ thinking meerly by a bare show of zeal to Christ to null all other mediations when by that means they dishonour him by comparing or valuing his Mediation at no higher a price then we do Angels Saints and Mens Now when we pray to an Angel or Saint we desire them to pray for us to God the Father or the Blessed Trinity that they would obtain for us of God this or that favour through our Lord Jesus Christ so that all is desired through the Merits of our Saviour And when we pray to Christ for any thing we ought to pray to him as he is God and not to say O Christ pray for me as we do to an Angel or Saint for that were a dishonour to him in making him of less power then the two other Divine persons of the blessed Trinity who is equal to both and who in three persons makes but one true and ever-living God blessed to all eternity Should I produce the Authority and Practice of Gods Church and the ancient Fathers I might