of this particular is plaine and apparant out of his owne writings resolued and dogmaticall In his Funerall Oration vpon his Sister Gorgonia In his Funerall Oration vpon his Sister pag 190. he commeth off directly with this conclusion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now if thou haue any regard or apprehension of our Actions here and if GOD doth permit and giue that power to the Holy Soules in Heauen to haue any vnderstanding of such passages as these Receiue at my hands this Oration of mine in leiue of and before many Funerals The Interpreter doth somewhat draw off his meaning vnto a shorter scantling as if in Gregory Nazianzens opinion those blessed Saints did happily take notice of honour done vnto them and happily not Whereas his meaning is and so his speech runneth generally concerning all things and any thing whatsoeuer Bellarmine vsed a better Translation Si tibi aliqua nostri sermonis est ratio but answereth poorely and falsly that Si there is not Dubitantis sed affirmantis And though Bellarmine striue to helpe it forward with a criticisme as in the Epistle vnto Philemon Si habes me Socium suscipe illum In effect Quoniam habes me socium Indeed as true the one as the other For Saint Paul not doubting of Philemons willing Obedience proposeth this as a Condition Spoiled in the illustration that should haue confirmed it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If you respect me as a Friend If you desire to hold friendship and fellowship with me then receiue him Not receiue him because thou art my companion A foolish Exposition in common sence and reason But be the folly of that glosse what it will be Yet to end all Nazianzen doth elsewhere better interpret himselfe Nazianzen elsewhere declareth what his opinion was plainly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And heare Pag. 30. oh thou soule of great Constantius if yet thou haue any sense or apprehension hereof and likewise yee the soules of all Christian Emperours before him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If there be any sense is not I suppose Affirmatiue that they haue vnderstanding but meerly dubitatiue whether they haue any apprehension or not Hee was not resolued himselfe confesseth and what may wee thinke then of all other passages alleaged whether the soules of the Righteous at rest with God in Heauen and in that number he rancked Constantius whom Athanasius sendeth to another place had any ordinary notice of things done here indeed any notice at all Rather it appeareth he thought no and then what aduantage from him for Inuocation of Saints or Angels in the Church of Rome Another passage yet they haue out of the same Oration vpon S. Cyprian by them not sufficiently explained of Iustin .. But at length we haue it home in a second passage selected out of the same Oration vpon Saint Cyprian where Iustina a Christian Virgin Virginem Mariam rogauit vt periâ—litanti virgini opem ferret Thus the Master of Controuersies without any more adoe or farther enlarging vpon the passage The Story is thus The Greeke Church had gotten vp a strange Story of Saint Cyprian Bishop of Carthage and Martyr neuer heard of nor dreampt of in the Westerne or African Church in which he liued and dyed not remembred by Pontius his Deacon who liued with him and wrote his life And yet it is certaine and cannot be denyed the Grecian Tradition can be referred vnto no other Cyprian but this That Tradition is this That Cyprian formerly was a Pagan and a Conjurer That durante his Paganisme he fell in loue with Iustina a Christian Virgin of Antioch whom when as by woing and ordinary meanes he could not winne vnto his will he went about to intice and preuaile with by Magicall spels and Coniurations Which the Damosell perceiuing fell to worke against him with the ordinary armes of Christians in those times Prayer and Fasting and the signe of the Crosse Puella simul at que persentit desperatis alijs rebus Who after prayer and fasting without any Mediator commenceth her owne suite ad Deum confugit Sponsum suum Christum defensorem assumit recounteth vp and putteth God in minde of his workes of old the wonders hee had wrought in times long agoe Hac atque his plura commemorans Virginemque Mariam supplex obsecrans vt periclitanti Virgini suppetias ferret jeiunij chameuniae pharmaco sese communiret This is the state of that story in Nazianzene In relating of it they first commit crimen falsi For in the Controuersies it is so reported as if Iustina in her exigency had had recourse onely vnto the Virgin Mary who nor principally nor primarily had recourse vnto her That indeed had beene home to the practice in the present Church of Rome that take vp that course indeed Runne first vnto her solely vnto her not so much as taking in Christ Iesus by the way in mumbling their Martins and deuotions But this Virgin Iustina had beene better brought vp and taught better things then so First shee prepareth her selfe by fasting and Scleragogie to dispose his prayers and her deuotions aright Then shee addresseth her selfe vnto GOD immediately according to direction Addresseth her selfe first and immediately vnto God and Christ her Patron Call vpon me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As if there were no helpe for her but in GOD. Secondly Shee taketh Christ her Patron that was her Spouse for it is more then probable she was a Votary Thirdly she taketh in tanquam ex abundanti And then â—akes in the blessed Virgin ex abundanti as a second or third the blessed Virgin by the way as if resoluing thus what she can doe I know not if any thing she can doe a virgin to Christ a virgin her helpe and assistance also I implore So it is to small purpose for that Inuocation which addresseth Saints to God as Mediators where men forsooth dare not commence their owne suites themselues the contrary being instanced in this particular And whereas she taketh in the blessed Virgin vpon the by as a second or a third it leadeth to opinion Which onely shewes the opinion of those times that Saints departed could peraduenture vnderstand them and but opinion of those times that the blessed Virgin or other Saints departed could peraduenture vnderstand some passages here and therefore if they could they might assist if they would if nor so nor so there was no hurt done Againe not opinion of the Church peraduenture but onely of some few in the Church and if those some in extremity And the practice of men in extremity that lay hold vpon any thing to saue their liues when where as those that are sincking and now to be swallowed in the streame doe catch at any thing to saue their liues so parties distressed vse any meanes though it helpe them not hauing no time in exigence to dispute or resolue quam bene quam male with what
hope of successe they fall vpon it And the rather so And this is the onely example of such practice in antiquitie and as weake to helpe them as she was then to helpe her selfe because this is the onely example of such practice in Antiquity a good inducement to suppose the Custome was not farre growen in nor the opinion much preuailing So that here is but a single practise of one onely Maide in fearefull extremity vpon some vncertaine perswasion that the virgin Mary happily might by extraordinary dispensation haue some speciall Patronage by assignment ouer Virgines Which is no absurdity much lesse impiety was grounded on a more generall perswasion of the Church that the Saints though in heauen had interest some way in the state of their friends allies and companions especially for Professions of life Societies of men Countries and Churches whereof themselues were A perswasion then but of opinion not Religion no man compelled to beleeue or to practice it Nor it selfe nor the consequents thereof points of faith commanded Grant vs this liberty and we contend not If they in all assayes practice it themselues would teach their Nouices and Proselites so to doe as this Virgin doth Haue recourse to God and Christ to God in Christ and then ex abundanti vpon the By helpe or helpe not take in Saint Mary Saint Peter Saint Paul so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzen phrased it if they can heare vnderstand or helpe there is no more but this If they assist good and well if not no hurt or harme done God can and will to whom principally primarily and before all we haue recourse in Christ Iesus with full hope and confidence of assured deliuerance ad voluntatem or salutem But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Church of Rome it is otherwise Our Lady hath all Prayer and Deuotion addressed vnto her All Saints there attend vpon her Our Lord hath but reuersion at second hand Our God hath few suppliants or none at all euery man running to our Ladies shrine or Saint Curlos And an example onely related by Nazianzen and no more And yet farther I adde Nazianzen is but Narrator of this story and no more that which he hath is diegematicall not by way of conclusion or of approbation He passeth no censure to it any way nor letteth vs vnderstand what his owne opinion was in the point And yet by the Master of Controuersies it is alleaged as dogmaticall a proofe from Nazianzen and for his iudgement in the case For so was his proposall for the conclusion that Sancti are Inuocandi Probatur quartò testimonijs Graecorum Latinorum Patrum So that we find a manifest collusion in our great Master here Beside the Narration was but an heare-say Nazianzen was no eare witnesse thereof nor doth report it of his certaine knowledge So that peraduenture it was nor so nor so And the learned know that this narration of Saint Cyprian howsoeuer taken vp in the Easterne Church and beleeued hath nor view nor appearance of Fact in the West Nor can be clearely resolued by all the Annalists in the World Their great Dictator Baronius is plainely buzzarded in the point and wisely concealing that which hee could not reconcile passeth it ouer as in a dreame So that the whole story for ought we know or can conceiue is but Apocryphall I know not whether meerly Apocryphal and this particular narration must needs come vnder the same verge and rancke Or if not But if authenticall not of authority enough to confirme their tenet but we admit it for authenticall yet singularia haue no warrant to be rules of actions vnto others No more this then that other of Gorgonia related also and with better credit because ex certá scientiá by the same Nazianzen she being his owne sister So it was that she being desperately sicke when all Physick and hope of helpe from man failed as Iustina in extremity Ad mortalium omnium medicum confugit But how in a peculiar and strange manner Hauing some remission of her sicknesse from the violence thereof on a night at midnight she getteth vp and out of her chamber into the Church she goeth falleth on her knees downe before the Altar intreateth him that was worshipped vpon the Altar of all loues mercies works of wonder to restore her vnto her health at last hauing prayed long wept much watched a good space she layeth her head down vpon the Alter and threatneth God so Nazianzen phraseth it she wil neuer rise vp from that place vntill hee send her health and strength againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wonder as it was See instantly she felt her selfe perfectly whole and sound This might be done and doubtlesse was so For we beleeue the publike protestation vpon knowledge of such a Reporter as was Gregory Nazianzen But this is no precedent for imitation No more then that fact of Iustina was exemplary though we yeeld him the Euidence to be true Priuate humours Singular actions vpon sudden motions of some speciall instinct must end where they began though excusable tolerable or auailable in particular dangerous they may bee for directions vnto others that haue no such speciall warrant as they might peraduenture haue vpon occasion Their equall in time deare friend and neere alliance in blood Gregory Nyssen is yet more plainely Panegyricall in that which they cite Gregory Nyssene commeth to speak next Who performeth more apparently the part of a Panegyrist in that Encomium of Theodorus remembred by the Controuersor Intercede as deprecare pro patriâ apud communem Regem ac Dominum Timemus afflictiones expectamus pericula non longè absunt scelesti Scythae A plaine Rhetoricall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the very carriage of his Oration no dogmaticall resolution of his faith yet one such testimony could our Masters afford vs one or find vs one out is worth an hundred of these that insinuate but prooue not because they do not vnderstand Nyssen spake it as an Orator not as a Diuine In a popular Sermon of Commemoration not in a Doctrinall determination as appeareth by that which is added for exaggeration As appeareth by his following exaggeration Quod si majori quoque opus fuerit aduocatione ac deprecatione fratruratuorū Martyrum roga chorum cum omnibus vnà deprecare Multorum justorum preces multitudinum populorum peccata luant Admone Petrum excita Paulum vt pro ecclesijs quas constituerunt soliciti sint pro quibus catenas gestauerunt pro quibus pericula ac mortes tulerunt They will not I imagine presse vs to beleeue that when any Saint inuocated cannot preuaile alone and by himselfe for their owne assertion is God heareth them alway hee goeth vnto others and desireth their assistance yet such a case is put by Nyssen here as if Theodorus not being in such grace with God to obtaine he must be forced to take to himselfe seconds
I intreate and beseech you sir by our Lord Iesus Christ that you speake vnto the rest of your Collegues and Fellow Confessors my Brethren and Masters in Christ and intreate them that whosoeuer shall first obtain the Crowne of Martyrdome aske and procure forgiuennesse of this Sinne vnto our Sisters Candida and Numeria This indeed Cyprian hath by way of Relation remembring the practice of another man but He himselfe in another place out of his owne iudgement maketh this request for himselfe Mementote tunc mej cum in vobis virginitas honoratur And hee maketh this agreement and compact with Cornelius Bishop of Rome and holy Martyr That whether of them twain should depart this life first should remember his companion left behinde and recommend his estate vnto God in Heauen In his 57. Epistle thus Concordes atque vnanimes vtrobique pro nobis semper oremus pressuras angustias mutuâ charitate releuemus Et siquis isthine nostrum prior diuinae dignationis celeritate praecesserit perseueret apud Dominum nostra dilectio pro fratribus ac sororibus apud misericordiam Patris non cesset Oratio And answerable to this out of the same perswasion is that of Hierome where he putteth Heliodorus in mind what hee would haue him doe for him after death Tunc parentibus eiusdem ciuitatis scispetes pro me rogabis qui te vt vinceres induxi Hee prayeth not to him being dead but aduiseth him what to doe when hee is dead Remember his Friend vpon Earth left behinde and Recommend his Cause vnto the Almightie which is nothing to the Romane Inuocation of Saints if yet Saints altogether vnknowen and vnacquainted with any of vs in their Life time Thus farre wee may goe peraduenture safely in Negotiation betwixt the Saints dead and aliue and that through euery species and kinde of Prayer and Supplication Intercession for good to bee obtained Neither doe we onely grant this memory but if they wil a more peculiar care and charge of their friends here Deprecation of euill to be auoyded giuing God thankes for good obtained and receiued I adde yet further peraduenture some Saint or Saints departed may haue more speciall care of interest in charge ouer some men or man Country or Countries then is vsed ordinarily or others commonly haue by vsuall disposition out of some speciall dispensation peculiar deputation out of ardent affection religious deuotion or some like other regard best knowen and approoued vnto God in his secret counsell and purpose in some extraordinary course Leo had this opinion of Saint Peter as appeareth in his Epistles in sundry places as specially superuising and patronising the Church of Rome Nos experti sumus saith hee nostri probauere majores Serm 1. de S. Petro Paulo credimus confidimus inter omnes labores istius vitae ad obtinendam misericordiam Dei semper nos specialium Patronorum orationibus adjunandos And it may be admitted that as opinion hath beene some certaine Saints haue more speciall Care and a peculiar Patronage Custodie and protecting Power as Angels also haue ouer certaine Persons and Countries by especiall deputation Not for employment to bee sent è tabernaculis beatorum the Office of Angels in their Ministery but for aduancement of their good in generall intercession for the Bodie not in speciall mediation for any part or member occasionally Examples hereof are frequent and many Saint George is accounted the Patron of England And this also as we did the other de Angelo Custode we doe but grant we doe not vrge de fide Saint Andrew of Scotland Saint Iames for Spaine others for other People and Countries anciently chosen and deputed It needs not bee tendred or held as de fide it is no point of necessitie to Saluation it may bee true there is no Impietie in beleeuing so or so nor doth this opinion of a generall Protection inferre any speciall Intercession This I am sure the Ancients supposed it and were of opinion yet neuer said to any such Patron Saint Ora pro Nobis or Pro me Leo had that opinion for Saint Peter ouer Rome Nor doe we thence inferre Intercession Basil imagined the like for those fortie Martyrs of Caesarea Nazianzene relateth a storie done whereby the most blessed Mother of God may seeme to haue speciall Care of holy Virgins De Cura pro mort Cap. 16. And S. Augustine supposeth not much differently Deus suorum merita Martyrum vbi vult quando vult quomodo vult maximè per eorum memorias quoniam hoc nouit nobis expedire ad aedificandam fidem Christi pro cujus illi confessione passi sunt bonitate mirabili ineffabill commendat So Saint Augustine opined and I see nothing to the contrary but so may wee For no support is hence no direction no colour at all for Call vnto them ordinarily Incident occasions newly arising euery day haue no dependencie vpon nor correspondencie with these Precedents Though Cyprian and Cornelius might so agree in time of Life while ordinarily they could speake or intimate their Necessities one vnto another though hee that dyed first of them two Cornelius was the man first martyred might and doubtlesse did recommend Saint Cyprian left behinde him vnto God in his prayers and so strengthen his Faith confirme his Loue aduance his desires and deserts in suffering and that according vnto compact and promise betwixt them two in Earth yet was this no warrant for Saint Cyprian remaining behinde some yeeres after him to direct his addresses vnto Saint Cornelius for after occasions not knowne vnto him before his death Nor did hee euer after put him in minde of his promise or commend his Case vnto him with Sancte Corneli ora pro me For how could hee giue him notice thereof which is in this Case all in all And though it may bee for wee are not ascertained nor can so bee nor euer were any so resolued that the Martyrs had some interest in some occasions in some places toward some persons extraordinarily that some Saints haue peculiar dispensations yet I say with Saint Augustine in the place before remembred Ista diuinitùs exhibentur longè aliter quà m se habet vsitatus ordo singulis Creaturarum generibus attributus as euen the opposites must confesse Because we are to bee ruled by ordinary course not by extraordinary dispensation And we are to be regulated and directed by that Ordo in rebus vsitatus not to addresse our selues for Practice vnto vnusuall courses of extraordinary dispensation Non omni quia in vinum aqua cum voluit Dominus repentè conuersa est ideo non debemus quid aqua valeat in Elementâ—rum ordine proprio ab istius diuini operis raritate vel potiùs singularitate discernere Nec quoniam Lazarus resurrexit iccirco mortuus omnis quando vult resurget aut eo modo exanimis à viuente quomodo Dormiens à vigilante
vnresolued Nor doth he so much as say Doe this but oh that thou wouldest doe this for me Secondly it is but a point of his rhetorique and no more And meerely Rhetoricall and so is all that conclusion directed vnto him as present there an ordinary straine of wit and inuention in such passages Nazianzen was not of opinion I suppose that Saint Basil really and actiuely did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in the phrase of the Church at that time offer the holy Eucharist or consecrate it in Heauen No more was he resolued that those other parts and particulars here specified by him were then at that time really and actually performed Lastly it is a precedent of a particular case And at the best it is but a particular case of a friend to a friend of a friend to a friend then lately dead and also concerning that which he might very well remember and concerning which it had peraduenture passed by contract betwixt them as was betwixt Cyprian and Cornelius touching 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a stabbe in the flesh some certaine tentation or other for remouing of which Saint Basil is put in mind to entreat God Very likely according vnto promise and stipulation So in effect it is a particular case And so proueth no generall practice of one friend to another which can be no precedent for generall practice and example It is grounded meerely vpon peraduentures not resolued positiuely It concerneth remembrance of things formerly passed and not intimation of things newly done Vpon the selfe-same termes runneth that which is said to be directed vnto Athanasius by the same Nazianzene The next directed to Athanasius by Nazian is better interpreted onely the Interpreter is there the honester man and maketh him speake in the Optatiue as out of opinion not in the Imperatiue as out of Iudgement thus Nos autem vtinam ipse benignus desuper placidus aspicias atque hunc populum gubernes meque siquidem res pacatae futurae sint in vitâ adbuc teneas gregemque vnà mecum pascas sin autem Ecclesia sit bellis flagratura reducas aut assumas tecumque cum tui similibus colloces tametsi magnum sit quod postulo Which if we take it literally and dogmatically Athanasius is made therein much more then a Mediator of Intercession He could haue said no more vnto Christ Iesus himselfe And if it bee as well vnderstood But Gregory was too well grounded in Diuinity and had not his name Theologus for naught thus to erre and too religious thus to fall soule vpon Gods owne prerogatiues It is a Prayer directed vnto God that Athanasius then in rest It is either directed vnto God might doe for him thus and thus as a speciall friend as interessed in that common cause of the Church wherein no man had his part so deepe as he hauing beene in his life the principall defender of Christian verity and opposer of hereticall impiety Athanasius against all the World and all the World against Athanasius Or if to Athanasius alone addressed no more but a rhetoricall flourish with a figure Or if directed to Athanasius to be taken as a Rhetoricall flourish I neede not seeke farre for warrant to this exposition In the same passage wee haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doe thou breake off my present Oration here His meaning is not that Athanasius should either really come downe from Heauen or actually by some extraordinary course and meanes from Heauen make him to desist and breake off his Oration and stop his mouth But in effect thus and no more Let mee here conclude and make an end Such proofes hath Nazianzene for this Inuocation that Rhetoricall Figures Apostrophees Prosopoiees and such like must goe for demonstrations That Oration of his vpon Saint Cyprian commeth last to pay for all And so may we take that also in this Oration vpon Saint Cyprian The first allegation wherout is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same and may receiue the selfe-same answere which that did out of the other vpon Athanasius whereto an ancient Scholiast and Commentor whom I haue seene and vsed in written hand doth accord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Conclusion according vnto Rules of Art is cast into the forme of a wish Therefore to be discussed in Hermogenes Schoole and not pressed in disputes of Dogmaticall and Positiue Diuinity Nazianzene concludeth his Oration vpon Saint Cyprian thus At tu nos è caelo benignus aspicias sermonesque nostros vitam gubernes sacrumque hunc gregem pascentem adjuues cùm in caeteris rebus quoad eius fieri potuerit Eum ad optima quaeque dirigens tùm graues lupos syllabarum verborum captatores amoliens This passage will not reach home to Ora pro nobis with confidence in perswasion He speakes to one that laâ—ely knew the persons and passages of the Church to parties vnknowne and not interessed particularly He desireth it might be so that Cyprian might doe it he doth not desire Cyprian to doe it For he was not resolued Cyprian could doe it He beleeued that the Saints departed vnderstood Yet he desires him not to do what he knew whether hee could doe or no. and tooke notice of things done here But by credibility not by Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the phrase he putteth on it and though in two places hee seemeth to goe farther vnto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet it is but in some onely cases that he so speaketh nor is that with ordinary resolution In some Cases as to those that were but lately departed acquainted with the persons and the practice and passages of things in the Church or of priuate men the memory whereof may cause in them a fellow feeling and procure a carefull respect to them in Heauen and so recommendation vnto the Almighty Thus in his 24 Oration touching Athanasius then with God he pronounceth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I know right well and am perswaded saith he that now at this present Athanasius being in Heauen doth from thence behold vs and helpeth those that suffer for Righteousnesse sake He meaneth by interceding vnto God for them being a man that in his life had suffered much for Piety and Christs cause and drunke as deepe of tribulation as euer did any Out of this compassion from a fellow-feeling vpon experience Athanasius hee thought and so doe I recommended the cause of the Church vnto God But Nazianzene thought not no more doe I that Athanasius did or could vnderstand euery priuate mans passages or needs in the Church And therefore neither doth he himselfe pray vnto him nor aduiseth vs or any for to doe it As for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I know right well it doth often inferre no more then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Opinion vncertaine Aâ— appeares by the like doubtfull speach not Resolution And what Nazianzene indeed did thinke