himselfe yet they obstinately maintaine the contrarie and that oft times against the feeling of their owne consciences withholding the truth in vnrighteousnesse and shutting their eyes and eares against this admonition of the Apostle S. Paul in his second Epistle to the Corinthians chap. 13. vers 8. That wee cannot doe any thing against the truth but for the truth Which Truth although that in these latter daies it is represented vnto vs more cleerer then euer it was yet notwithstanding of many it is vnknowne and abandoned which follow on apace the foolish deuotion of their blind leaders and who to please and obey them rather then our Soueraigne Doctor and Master Iesus Christ will not vouchsafe to take so much paines as to informe themselues of this truth by reading of the holy Scripture but like better to depend wholly vpon the Traditions of their Teachers despising through their voluntarie ignorance the exhortatioÌ„ which the Apostle S Iohn giueth vnto al Christians in his first epistle 4. vers 1. Dearely beloued beleeue not euery spirit but trie the spirits whether they are of God for many false Prophets are gone out into the world Now the more furiously the Truth is assaulted by Satan and his slaues so much the more couragiously ought it to be maintained and defended by the zealous louers of pure religion but especially by the Ministers and Pastors of the holy Gospel who according to that rule which the Apostle S. Paul prescribeth them in his Epistle to Titus 1. 9 ought to employ themselues diligently to exhort with wholesome doctrine those which are willing to bee instructed and to improoue the gainsaiers I then being called by God into the labour of his holy Ministerie haue employed my self amidst you according to that talent which it hath pleased him to bestow vpon me for the space of sixteene yeeres on these two parts of my vocation and hauing respect to the multitude and sufficiencie of my predecessors who haue taken penne in hand to instruct the ignorant and to refute false Teachers by their writings I haue contented my selfe hitherto to follow their traces in my publique Sermons and priuate Conferences with such as were desirous to profit with me in knowledge of the fundamentall points of our Christian faith according to the occasions which were presented But of late hauing seene an Epistle written by a certaine Doctor of the Augustins Order touching the inuocation of Saints sent vnto one of my Auditours to seduce thereby the sheepe which our Soueraigne Shepheard Iesus Christ hath recommended to me I held it my dutie to returne it backe againe to Leige with my answere to satisfie the desire of one of his disciples by whoÌ„ the said Doctor hauing receiued my answere promised him that shortly after he would write back vnto me againe and that effectually But seeing there are almost two yeeres past since he held my refutation and that in all y â— time he could not make some small Treatise to fulfill and accomplish his promise his silence maketh me to thinke that he hauing considered well examined and weighed the arguments of my replie hath repented himself for his foolish boasting and that if his conscience be not â—eared he feeleth himselfe alreadie checked by the truth that shineth in my Refutation which in the meane time I haue amplified and now published with his Epistle following the counsell of some excellent learned personages with hope that I shall see it bring foorth some fruite if not in the abouesaid Doctor or in some of his obstinate scholars yet at least in such as are teachable and especially in you my most deare and worthie brethren of whom I haue conceiued this hope that whereas heretofore ye haue willingly heard me to entreat of this subiect aswell in my Sermons as in my familiar discourses with you so ye will now take no lesse delight in hearing me to discourse of it in this small booke which here I present you as appertaining vnto you by a double right For first of all being consecrated to your seruice from the beginning of my ministerie the proprietie of euery instruction which through Gods grace I propound vnto men is wholly yours Besides seeing that the intention of my dispute is to shew the difference between a true and a false adoration and to perswade euery man by all possible meanes to stand fast in the true and to reiect the false to whom could I better appropriate it then to you to whom aboue all things I am bound to teach the first point and fruit of our faith which is to worship God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ in spirit and truth and to call vpon none but him in our necessities Whereunto as I seeke to giue you some helpe by this present Treatise so doe I giue thankes to the Lord for that alreadie ye are so well grounded and instructed in this principle of true religion assuring my self that he which hath sowne this good seed in your soules wil make it abundantly to grow vp and to fructifie in such a sort that thereby his name shall be glorified your neighbour edified and your hearts fortified against all manner of tentations Finally if I perceiue that this small Treatise which I publish vnder your names be acceptable and pleasing vnto you your courtesie will serue as a spurre to pricke me more cheerfully forward in my commenced Career and one day hereafter to entreat more at large vpon this subiect through the grace of our blessed God and heauenly Father to whom I recommend you beseeching him with all my heart that it will please him most deare and worthy Brethren to maintaine you euen to the end in the profession of his truth and to replenish you with his temporall and eternall blessings for the aduancement of his glorie and the saluation of your soules From my Studie this 4. of August 1607. Your no lesse affectionated then seruiceable Pastor and brother in the Lord Iohn Polyander A small Table of the principall points contained in this Treatise FIrst Papists themselues acknowledge and confesse that the inuocatioÌ„ of Saints cannot be proued by Scripture pag. 18 Praying to Saints cannot be prooued by Scripture but absolutely disproued 19 We must call vpon God only not the Saints 19. 20. 21. 22 Christ is our only Mediatour the Saints are no Mediatours pag. 22. 23 Christ is our only Mediatour aswell of intercession as redemption 23 Saints are no Mediatours of redemption 25 Papists reiect Christ placing the Saints in his place 26 Papists exalt the Virgin Mary into the place of Christ. pag. 29. 30. 31 Papists place the Virgin Mary aboue Christ. 32. 33 The Papists place Franciscus Dominicus in Christs roome 34. 35. 36 Priests and Prophets may erre 38 The Church may erre 38. 39 Councels haue erred 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45 Variance and contradiction among the ancient Councels 46 The holy Scripture is the touchstone of doctrine 47 The Fathers haue
erred 49. 50 The Fathers inuocated the name of God only 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59 The Fathers prayed not to the Saints 61. 62. 63. 64 The Fathers called vpon God alone 65. 66. 67. 68. c. The Fathers condēned the worshippers of angels 57. 58. 59. 60 The ancient Fathers condemned the Adorers of Marie 61. 62. 63. 64 The ancient Doctors condemned the worshippers of creatures 52. 53. 54. c. 59. c. Bookes of the Fathers falsely fathered on them 81. 82. 83 An answere to his testimonie taken out of the writings of Irenaeus 85 An answere vpon his testimonie taken from Athanasius and Basil. 85. 86 An answere to his testimonie of Damascenus 88 Answere to his allegation of Hierome 88. 89 90 An answere to his allegation out of Anselmus and Bernard 91. 92 A particular answere vpon S. Bernards testimonie 94. 95 An answere vpon his citations out of Origen 96. 97 Books peruerted and altered by the Iesuites 98. 99. 100. 101 We ought to follow that forme of prayer which Christ hath taught vs. 102 False Prophets haue done miracles 103. 104 Sorcerers haue done miracles 105 The Saints departed cannot heare our prayers 105 The inuocation of Saints hath no ground nor foundation in the holy Scripture 107. 108 Touching his example of Abraham 111. 112. 113 What is to be vnderstood by Abrahams bosome 112. 113 There are but two waies 112 Of Lazarus and the rich Glutton 111. 112. 113. 14. 15 The departed doe not busie nor trouble themselues with our affaires 119. 120 The Saints deceased cannot heare vs. 122 AN EPISTLE WRITTEN BY A CERTAINE DOCTOR OF THE AVGVSTINS ORDER WITHIN THE CITIE OF LEIGE AND sent to a Leigois Merchant at DORT AFter my most humble salutations this present may serue according to my small power for to make cleere vnto you some certaine doubt which I vnderstood you haue to wit Whether it is true or how it is possible that the Saints which are aboue in heauen can heare our Prayers which we make to them here beneath on earth For the better cleering then of your demand wee will here handle two points as briefly as wee can beseeching you at your leisure you will be pleased to reade them ouer attentiuely The first will shew that it can be no otherwise then very good to pray and recommend vs to the Saints The second will declare the maner how they may heare our praiers and supplications For the first you must know that this hath alwaies been the doctrine of the Catholike Church to say and teach that this was a thing more then reasonable yea and most profitable for man to inuocate the Saints which the Church hath taught for the space of 1605 yeeres euen vnto this day But you must know this also that certaine heretikes which are sprung vp within this fortie or fiftie yeeres haue meant to teach and preach the cleane contrarir to wit the Lutherans and Caluinists who within a few yeeres seeking to ouerthrow so ancient a doctrine say that we must not pray vnto the Saints but vnto God onely Now let vs see whether these nouell Doctors haue been cleerer sighted wiser or better replenished with the spirit of God then all the Ancients The reason and most ordinary argument which they bring against this doctrine is this It is say they to doe wrong and iniurie vnto God to addresse our selues to any other then to him Loe this is that great peece of Canon wherewith they thunder against the walles of the towne and citie of God which is his Church For proofe whereof they alleage Saint Paul in his first Epistle to Timotheus the second Chapter and fifth verse saying that he calleth Iesus Christ our one and onely Mediator our Intercessor and our Bishop Let vs cite the words of the Apostle For There is saith he one God and one Mediator betweene God and man which is the man Christ Iesus These words of Saint Paul will say that there is one soueraigne Mediator which is Iesus Christ in that he is man but that hindereth not but there may bee moe which are subordinate and not soueraigne though that Iesus Christ be truly our onely Mediator sole Aduocate and only Redeemer My masters the Ministers and Preachers will reply and answer vs But how can these things agree together that Iesus Christ should be the onely Mediator and sole Intercessor for vs and yet neuerthelesse wee should haue some others namely the Saints If he be alone how hath he so many companions To answere this obiection we euermore confessse that Iesus Christ is our true Mediator and Intercessor vnto God for vs but we say also on the other side that the Saints may be likewise Mediators and Intercessors for vs. And if you aske me againe If the Saints may also be called Mediators and be so indeed how is it then that wee call Iesus Christ the onely Mediator I answere thereunto that it is for certaine causes and reasons which my masters the Ministers are either ignorant of or malitiouslie hide and conceale them from the people They are three in number The first cause why our Lord Iesus Christ is called the onely Mediator though the Saints be likewise after their manner is because he alone hath trod vpon the grapes in the wine presse and with the price of his bloud hath paid our ransome and hath reconciled vs vnto God his eternall father not only in praying as the Saints may doe but also in paying that which wee did owe which the Saints haue not done nor cannot doe for he alone hath redeemed vs. And for this cause we call him the only Mediator that is of ransome and of redemption And this is that which the Apostle Saint Paul would haue said in the place alleaged For after he had said that we haue one Mediator betweene God and man which is the man Christ he explaning himselfe presently addeth these words Qui dedit redemptionem semetipsum pro omnibus that is to say Who gaue himselfe a ransome for all men The second cause wherefore our Lord Iesus Christ is called the only Mediator is because he is not onely such by reason of the office whereby he mediats for vs and reconcileth vs to God but also by reason of his nature for he is in the midst betweene God and man being both God and man together which the Saints are not And for this cause he is called the only Intercessor like as the good and holy Fathers haue in times past taught vs to wit S. Austin in his 9. booke of the Citie of God and 17. Chapter S. Cyril in his 12. book S. Fulgence in hi◠2. booke ad Petrum chap. 2. and S. Theodoret vpon that very place of S. Paul with many others Thirdly Iesus Christ is called the only Mediator because that he is Mediator for all men in such a sort that he hath no need of any other Mediator either for himselfe or for other men
Now the Saints as well in this world as in the other although they be mediators and intercessors for vs in reconciling vs vnto God through their praiers yet neuerthelesse haue had need of Iesus Christ to be reconciled vnto God themselues through his intercession and in his name they obtaine all whatsoeuer they doe obtaine for vs. But Iesus Christ saith S. Paul of himselfe without the interposition of any man approcheth vnto God to make intercession for vs. This reason hath beeen noted by S. Austin that great Doctor of the Church when he speaketh thus The Christians saith he pray for one another but he for whom no man maketh intercession and who maketh intercession for all men is the onely and true Mediator We then which are Catholikes doe confesse that according to these abouesaid significations Iesus Christ is truly the sole and true Mediator onely Aduocate and Intercessor But wee say also againe and that with all truth against these heretikes that that hindereth not but the Saints liuing or departed may be so also after their manner For truth whereof I will refer my selfe to the holy scripture For in the fifth Chapter of Deuteronomie Moses calleth himselfe a Mediator saying thus I haue been an vmperer and a Mediator betweene God and you that is speaking of the Hebrewes Vnto which words S. Paul making an allusion in the 9. Chapter of the Hebrewes calleth Iesus Christ Mediator of the new Testament to make a difference betweene him and Moses which had been so of the old And S. Gregory Nazianzenus calleth the Martyrs Mediators betweene God and vs and Saint Cyril saith the same of the Apostles and Prophets For more ample confirmation thereof is it not certaine that we haue but one Sauiour of the world which is the same Iesus Christ Verily there is nothing more sure And neuerthelesse the scripture which cannot lie giueth the same title of honour to others though it be not for the same reason without doing wrong or dishonour to Iesus Christ as namely to Othoniel in the third chapter of the booke of Iudges and Nehemiah also in the 9. Chapter of his booke confirmeth the same King Pharaoh likewise as appeareth in the 41. Chapter of the booke of Genesis calleth Ioseph in the Egyptian tongue not onely Sauiour but Sauiour of the world Therefore by these three small reasons it is easie to be vnderstood how the Saints may also be Mediators and Intercessors vnto God for vs. And if they are so wee may and ought to call vpon them in our necessities and humane miseries Neither will follow from thence that we doe reiect the Sonne of God seeing we alwaies giue vnto him the first ranke of being the true and only Mediator according to the fashion aboue said and the Saints in their sort and maner So then it can be no otherwise then exceeding good to call vpon them as euermore they haue done in our Catholike Church which we will shew you by the authoritie of generall Councels and by the holy Fathers and Doctors which haue all approued the inuocation of Saints Let vs come to the Councels First in the Epistle sent to all the Bishops of Europe which is annexed to the Councell of Chalcedonie and solemnized vnder the Emperor Leo you snall there finde these words We put the most holy Father Proterius into the ranke of the Martyrs crauing the mercy of God Secondly in the eleuenth Action of that Councell the holy Fathers being there assembled and treating vpon Flauian the Martyr say all with one consent as followeth Flauian Martyr which liuest after thy death pray for vs. Thirdly in that generall Councell cap. 7. it is thus said The Christian hauing adored one onely God let him pray vnto the Saints that they might vouchsafe to make intercercession for him to the diuine Maiestie Furthermore in the seuenth general Councell the holy Fathers speake in this maner Let vs do all things with a conuenient feare crauing the intercessions of the most pure mother of God of the holy Angels and of the Saints Behold therefore we say the Letanies which are certaine praiers addressing our selues to the Saints first to the most holy Trinitie to the glorious Virgin Mary to the Apostles to the Martyrs to the Confessors and to the Virgins And these aboue said Letanies haue been commanded by many generall Councels as by that of Gerund by the fifth and sixth of Toledo in Spaine by the eleuenth of Brachara in Portugall by the first of Orleans in France and finally by that of Magence in Germany which was solemnized vnder Charles the Great All which Councels being graced with a number of excellent and learned personages commanded for the good and vtilitie of the Christians to say these aboue said Letanies three daies before our Lords ascension and also at other times appointed Which commandement and ordinance is for vs that are Catholikes a cleere euident and a generall testimonie of the inuocation of Saints as a thing which for a long time hath been beleeued receiued approued and practised in the Church of God For as much as these aboue said Councels haue all of them been solemnized almost a thousand yeeres agoe Let vs now shew that the holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church haue all of them with one consent taught the same Saint Denis the disciple of S. Paul cap. 7. Eccle. Hierarc saith thus He which requireth the intercession of Saints and will not imitate their holy works is like vnto the man that putteth out his eies and yet would be partaker of the beames of the Sunne The same doctrine S. Irenaeus teacheth in his 5. booke against Haeres cap. 19. treating of the virgin Mary and Eue. S. Athanasius in his most deuote sermon de aâ—nunt of the most glorious Virgin praieth thus vnto her Mary incline thine eare to our praiers and forget not thy people And presently after he saith We cry vnto thee Remember vs most holy Virgin And a little lower he addeth Make intercession for vs our Mistris our Lady our Queene Mother of God Saint Basil in his sermon of the Martyrs saith If any man be in tribulation let him haue his recourse to these Saints He which is in ioy let him call vpon them also the one to be deliuered from his euill the other to bee confirmed in his good And S. Iohn Chrysostome in his 66. Hom. ad Populum The Emperor saith he which is clothed in scarlet commeth for to imbrace the sepulchers and laying aside all pompe standeth vp to intreat the Saints to make intercession for him and hee which marcheth crowned with a diademe praieth vnto a tent-maker and a fisher-man as protectors of the diademe Saint Iohn Damascenus lib. 4. des fide cap. 16. treating of the profit and benefit that commeth vnto vs through the inuocation of Saints saith By the Saints the diuels are chased away the sicke healed the blinde see the leprous cleansed tentations and vexations ouercome and
we haue forgotten the name of our God and holden vp our hands to a strange god shall not God search this out for hee knoweth the secrets of the heart And when the Apostle S. Paul maketh this demaund in his Epistle to the Romanes How shall they call on him in whom they haue not beleeued he sheweth thereby that as man is forbidden to beleeue in any other but in God only so is he not permitted to pray vnto any other then to the Creator of heauen and earth seeing that inuocation is the companion of faith And therefore King Dauid in his Psalmes addresseth his prayers to none but onely vnto God with a full assurance of faith oftentimes calling him his buckler his shield his retreat his foundation his deliuerer his tower his fortresse his defender and the horne of his saluation According to which the Prophet Asaph in the 73 Psalme and 25 verse signifieth That God only is his refuge in his distresses For saith hee whom haue I in heauen but thee and I haue desired none in the earth with thee Also it is written in the 2. of the Chron. 20. 9. that King Iehoshaphat being afraid of the Moabites and Ammonites which were come to assaile him disposed himselfe to pray vnto the Lord and in the prayer which he made in the temple in the name of his people saith If euill come vpon vs as the sword of iudgement or pestilence or famine we will stand before this house and in thy presence for thy name is in this house and will crie vnto thee in our tribulation and thou wilt heare and helpe But to come now vnto your Argument which scornfully you call The great peece of Canon wherewith wee thunder against the walles of the towne and city of God which is his Church this it is That whosoeuer addresseth himself to any other but to God doth wrong to God For proofe whereof you adde that which wee alleage out of the first Epistle of S. Paul to Timotheus the second chapter and fifth verse That as there is but one God so there is but one Mediatour betweene God and men to wit the man Christ Iesus You shuffle together either through ignorance or malice the Questions that are distinct and seuerally handled by our Diuines The first is Who is it that we ought to call vpon whereunto wee answere God only The second In whose name whereunto we answere In the name of Iesus Christ who is our onely Aduocate and Intercessor For confirmation not of the first as you presuppose but of the second answere wee alleage the abouesaid text out of the first Epistle to Timotheus in the second chapter and fifth verse which I pray you against an other time to note and to take better aduice and consideration vpon our Arguments that you may propound them more sincerely Touching your exception though the Apostle S. Paul teacheth vs in that very text which I haue named that there is but one Mediatour yet you say that That hindreth not but there may be some which are subordinate and not soueraigne It shewes from what a spirit it commeth foorth euen from the spirit of lying and contradiction Of lying because you adde thereto that which is not found nor can bee gathered from that abouesaid text of the Apostle to wit that Iesus Christ is the soueraigne Mediatour onely in regard of others which are inferiour Of contradiction because you your selfe say thus Though that Iesus Christ be truly our only Mediatour sole Aduocate and only Redeemer that that hindreth not but there may be moe which are subordinate and not soueraigne For to be only Mediatour to haue some others besides as subordinate are things contradictorie And if you will that we should admit of such a glosse you must then grant to vs that out of this very text will follow that when the Apostle saith There is but one God he meaneth one soueraigne God and albeit that verely hee is onely God yet notwithstanding there be others subordinate which one can neither speake nor thinke without blasphemie Heereupon you alleage two replies of our Ministers The first How can these things agree together that Christ is our onely Mediatour and sole Intercessor for vs and neuerthelesse there are some others besides him to wit the Saints The second If the Saints may also be called Mediatours and are so indeede how then is it that Iesus Christ is called the only Mediatour To speake properly these two replies are but one now let vs see your answere vpon the latter and the answere which you alleage therein with share reproch that our Ministers are either ignorant of them or maliciously hide and conceale them from the people Now what are they The first is that Iesus Christ is called the only Mediatour because that hee alone hath troâ—de vpon the grapes in the wine-presse and through the price of his blood hath paid our ransome and hath reconciled vs vnto God his eternall father not only in praying but also in paying that which wee did owe which the Saints haue not done nor cannot doe All this is true but that which you adde is false that Iesus Christ is the onely Mediatour that is to say only of Ransome and Redemption and this is that which S. Paul meanes in the place alleaged for after he saith We haue one Mediatour betweene God and men which is the man Christ Iesus in explaining himselfe hee presently addeth these words Quit dedit redemptionem semetipsâ—m pro omnibus that is who gaue himselfe a ransome for all men For although the Apostle maketh no mention in this place but of the first effect of the mediation of our Lord Iesus Christ it followeth not from thence that his intent was to exclude the second which he setteth downe elsewhere expressely and namely in his Epistle to the Romanes and 8. chapter vers 34. where hee ioyneth together those two fruites of the mediation of our Redeemer for when he first demaudeth this Who shall condemne vs and answereth himselfe It is Christ which is dead yea or rather which is risen againe to wit for to deliuer vs from condemnation in those words he setteth downe the first effect and going forward in answering who is also at the right hand of God and maketh request also for vs hee likewise setteth downe the second and giueth vs sufficiently to vnderstand that Iesus Christ is our Mediatour and Aduocate towards God not only in so much as he hath redeemed vs but also in so much that hee maketh intercession vnto God his father for vs and presents to him our supplications And albeit that the Apostle in the abouesaid text to Tim. chap. 2. speaketh nothing of the intercession of Iesus Christ yet neuerthelesse S. Austin hauing respect to that which the Apostle admonisheth vs of in the verses going before that is to make requests vnto God for all men and that in the name
of his sonne Iesus Christ he expounded it as though the Apostle had there made an expresse mention of our Saviours intercession as you may perceiue by those words of his second booke contra Parm. cap. 8. The mutuall prayers saith he of all the members which yet labour vpon the earth ought to ascend vp to the Head which is gone before into Heauen in whom we haue the remission of our sinnes For if S. Paul were a Mediatour the other Apostles would be so also and so there would be many mediatours which would not agree with that which elsewhere he saith That there is one mediatour betweene God and men The second cause why you confesse that Iesus Christ is called the only Mediatour is because he is not only so by reason of that office whereby he mediates for vs and reconceleth vs vnto God but by reason also of his nature for he is in the midst betweene God and man being both God and man together which the Saints are not And for this cause he is called the only Intercessour like as the good and holy Fathers in time past haue taught vs to wit S. Austin in the ninth booke of the Citie of God and 17. chapter S. Cyril in his 12. booke S. Fulgence in his second booke ad Petrum chap. 2. and S. Theodoret vpon that very place of S. Paul with many others We grant you this second reason and besides we say that it maketh wholly for vs. And Tertullian or as some thinke Nouatianus which in those daies was Priest to the Romane Church proposeth vs this reason incommunicable to the Saints in the booke of the Trinitie chap 13. 16. to shew vs that if Christ were only Man as the Saints are he could not be out Mediatour not heare and succour vs vnto God his father through his intercession If saith he Christ were man only how is he present every where being called vpon seeing it is not the nature of man but of God that he can be present in all places And if Christ were man only why is a man inuocated in our prayers for a Mediatour seeing the inuocation of a man is iudged to be forcelesse to performe saluation If Christ also be only man why is confidence put in him seeing that the hope which is placed in man is accursed Wherefore hee which is declared to be made Medtatour betweene God and men is found to haue vnited in himselfe both God and Man The third reason which you alleage that Iesus Christ is called the only Mediatour is because that he is mediatour in such a sort for all men that he hath no neede of any mediatour either for himselfe or for others Now the Saints aswell in this world as in the other though they are Mediatours and Intercessours for vs in reconciling vs to God through their prayer haue neverthelesse needs of Iesus Christ themselues to be reconciled 〈◊〉 God through his intercession and in his name they 〈◊〉 all that which they doe obtaine for vs. But Iesus Christ saith S. Paul without the interposition of any other goeth vnto God of himselfe to make intercession for vs. This reason hath been noted by Saint Austin that great doctour of the Church when he saith thus The Christians pray one for another but be for whom no man maketh intercession and who maketh intercession for all is the true and only Mediatour We also admit of this third reason that Iesus Christ is the only Mediatour because that he hath no need of any other Mediatour either for himselfe or for others But we denie that which you affirme without any proofe out of the holie Scripture to wit that the Saints aswell in this world as in the other are our mediators and Intercessors For albeit the Scripture commandeth the Saints liuing in this world to pray the one for the other yet you can in no wise from thence conclude that they are our mediators and intercessors but that they are our companions and fellow-helpers who to assist vs ioyne their prayers with ours to mooue as much as in them lieth our heauenly father to mercie as being fellow-brethren and members with vs of one selfesame spirituall bodie whereof Christ is the head And this is that which S. Austin vnderstood in saying That all the members pray the one for the other but the head is Mediatour for all Now touching the Saints departed I am astonished that you dare maintaine they are our mediators seeing the holy Scripture expresseth nothing thereof but concontrariwise S. Iohn including himselfe in the rancke of all the other faithfull members dispersed in this world for whom Iesus Christ was made a Propitiation and for whom he maketh intercession to God his father teacheth vs in his first epistle second chapter and first verse that If any man sinne wee haue an Aduocat with the father to wit Iesus Christ the iust And our Lord Iesus Christ calling himselfe The way The truth and the life saith expresly that No man commeth vnto the Father but by him in the Gospell written according to S. Iohn c. 14. and 6. v. Whereunto the Apostle S. Paul conformablie saith that by the faith which wee haue in Christ wee haue boldnesse and entrance to the Father with confidence Ephes. 3. 12. to the end that we may receiue mercie and find grace to helpe in time of neede And that by the bloud of Iesus we may be bold to enter into the holy place by the new and liuing may which he hath prepared for vs through the vaile that is his flesh Heb. 10. 19. 20. In fine that his priesthood is euerlasting Wherefore he is able also perfectly to saue them that come vnto God by him seeing hee euerlineth to make intercession for them Heb. 7. 24. 25. But to come to your conclusion we which are Catholikes say you confesse well that according to those significations abouesaid that Iesus Christ is truely the Sole Mediatour only Aduocate and Intercessour but we also say and that in all truth against these heretikes that that hindereth not but the Saints liuing or departed may be so also in their fashion But now what wil you say if I should shew you by the Formulary of your prayers that according to those significations abouesaid you doe not hold Iesus Christ for your only Mediator and Intercessor Say you not Precibus meritis beate semperque virginis Mariae amnium sanctorum perducat nos dominus ad regna caelorum That is to say By the prayers and merits of the most blessed and alwaies virgin Mary and of all the Saints the Lord bring vs into the kingdome of heauen What is that I pray you but to attribute to the virgin Mary and the rest of all the Saints departed not only that they should pray for vs but also that they haue merited for vs and so consequently that they are our Mediators not onlie of Intercession but also of ransome
instructions of those Doctors touching the inuocation of one only God the intercession of one only Mediatour Iesus Christ the leauen of the inuocation of Saints to corrupt the pure seruiâ—e instituted by our Lord Iesus Christ in the Apostolicall Church euen so the successors of these enemies of the ancient puritie perceiuing that the zealous followers thereof made vse of the good bookes of the ancient Fathers to encounter their superstitions haue continued in falsifying more and more their bookes And to make vp the measure of their Fathers being assembled in the Councell of Trent they enioyned some to change cut off and condemne whatsoeuer they should finde and iudge offensiue and contrarie to their errors Vpon which the Iesuits are diligently employed following therein the example of the idolatrous Gentiles who perceiuing as Aâ—nebius complaineth thereof in his third booke that they might be conuicted of falsehood by Ciceroes bookes touching the nature of the Gods formerly published corrupted them and maliciously concealed them that no more mention might be made of them For the Iesuites haue made two Registers imprinted at Naples Madril and Antwerp wherein they haue not only put sundrie words and sentences of the Fathers which expressely they commanded to chaunge and deface out of their bookes but also added certaine annotations to their writings by some great personages to helpe and ease the memorie of the Reader yea without sparing their owne Teachers who haue laboured asmuch to impart vnto vs the true exposition of the Fathers doctrine as they to bereaue and rob vs of it Now to cosen the world they haue intituled these fiâ—e bookes Indices expurgatorij that is to say Purgatiue Indices or Registers which more aptly may bee tearmed Putrefactiues For so farre off is it that these scullions haue laboured to purge the booke of the ancient Fathers and their expositors from staines and filth that contrariwise they haue defiled them wheresoeuer they laid their clutches on them full of stench and putrifaction I am ashamed to discover their villanies but seeing I haue begun I must proceed at once in manifesting it to them In their Index of Spaine they haue ordained to deface these words of S. Hillaries whereby he declareth the reason why the wise virgins answered the foolish that they could not guie theÌ„ of their oyle to wit because none ought to be succored with the works and merits of another In that very Index they command to race out of S. Anselmus booke of the manner of visiting the sicke these words of great consolation Beleeuest thou that thou canst attaine vnto glorie not through thine owne merits but by the vertue and merit of Iesus Christ Beleeuest thou y â— he died for our saluation and that none can be saued through his own merits nor no otherwise then by his death and passion They iudge also in that Index that these words annexed to S. Chrysostoms Register of his bookes ought to be defaced to wit that faith only iustifieth and faith only saueth grounded on certainâ— sentences of S. Chrysostoms noted in y â— said Register It admonisheth the Reader also to reiect this glosse that There are no more workes in the world to come nor any calling to repentance c. Which was receiued froÌ„ the discourse of Epiphanius in his treatise of Heresie 59. Likewise it ordaineth that this proposition be raced out that Prayer be made for the liuing but not for the dead Which was taken from S. Ieromes admonition vpon the third chapter of the Epistle to the Galathians whereupon he noteth this sentence of the Apostle that euery one shall beare his owne burthen Whilest we are in this present world we may succour each other either by prayers or counsels but when wee shall appeare before the iudiciall thronâ— of Christ neither Iob Dauid nor Noah can pray for vs c. What else haue not the Iesuits commanded in the two Indices of Spaine and the Low-Countries to cut out of the Register added to S. Chrysostoms bookes these words That all the Prophets haue bin married whereby the Reader is sent to that which S. Chrysostome speaketh thereof in his 56. Sermon vpon S. Matthew where he proueth by the examples of Moses Esay and Ezechiel that all the Prophets had wiues and houses In the Low-Countrie Index they condemne the sentences of one of their principall writers called Faber Stapulensis whereby hee maintaineth that S. Ierome and Chrysostome haue taught that inuocation appertaineth to none but vnto God only Also they would haue one to purge the writings of George Cassander touching the naturall exposition of the word merit and of whatsoeuer hee alleageth in his bookes concerning the custome of the Apostles first successors to wit that they haue communicated in the Lords Supper for more then a thousand yeeres vnder the two signes of bread and wine They haue also commanded to race out the annotations of Erasmus of Rotterdam vpon the third chapter of the first Epist. to Timothy and in like maner those of S. Chrysostoms That a Bishop must be the husband of one onely wife Finally as many lines so many corruptions and as many infallable markes of their vngodlinesse and ill consciences For albeit they seek to couer their impietie vnder that false mask the title of purgation yet so it is y â— they do most manifeâ—tly discouer it by the soueraigne authority which they take to themselues in censuring and condemning as Iudges the instructions of their ancestors conformable to the word which God himselfe hath inspired into his Prophets and Apostles And if they had made no doubt of the testimonie of truth which shined in the books of those first lights of the Church they would not haue inforced themselues to quench then so much but might thereby haue been armed to haue defended and preserued themselves On the other part if they had been faithfull keepers of their writings which were put into their hands they would haue altered nothing neither concerning the matter nor the forme thereof but would haue been carefull to haue preserued them in their originall puritie But knowing now that these falsaries haue not kept the treasure committed to their charge but haue mixed among them their lead with the pure gold which they receiued from their ancestors what man is it among vs which will dare to assure himself of the sinceritie of those authors and sentences which they alleage against vs and of the integritie of the interpretations which they recoÌ„mend vnto vs and of the truth of those examples which they propound vnto vs And sith I haue quoted so many excellent sentences of the Fathers manifestly contrarie to those which you haue produced in your epistle vnder the name and authoritie of the same Doctors what should we doe in so great a contradiction of those sundrie rules of prayers cited aswell in the one part as on the other as alreadie wee haue vnderstood that there is nothing more
by them euery good thing commeth from the Father of lights in fauour of those that craue it with a stedfast faith Furthermore S. Ambrose saith in his booke Deviduis that It behoueth vs to inuocate the Angels which are giuen vs for our sauegards and to pray to the Martyrs also whose fauour we pretend through the alliance of the same nature that they make intercession for our sinnes hauing by their owne blood washed off those which themselues might haue These the Martyrs of God are our Prelats and beholders of our liues and actions Let vs not then be afraid to take as Intercessors those which in the midst of their victories knew their owne infirmitie Saint Hierom in his Epitaph to Paula inuocating this holy Lady Paula said Farewell O Paula helpe by thy praiers the later age of thy deuoted seruant thy faith and thy works associat thee with Iesus Christ and being there present thou maiest more easily obtaine thy request And the most learned and most deuout Doctor S. Austin in his Mediations cap. 40. calling vpon the Virgin saith Holy and immaculate Virgin mother of God Mary the mother of our Lord Iesus Christ deigne to make intercession for mee vnto him of whom thou hast been made the holy temple through thy vertues and merits And afterward hauing inuocated all the Saints in order he concludeth I am become so bold to beseech thee that it may please thee to pray for me to the end that I may merit to bee plucked out of Satans throte and from eternall death I let slip many other excellent speeches which this Doctor hath written in his 18. sermon made of Saints I will not here recite S. Leo and S. Gregory which were Popes neither S. Gregory of Tours S. Anfelmus S. Bernard and many moe which teach the same in this matter for the confirmation of our faith of whom the halfe were more then too sufficient to make all Lutherans and Caluinists to blush if they had any bloud in their hearts I will let passe in silence the many miracles done through the inuocation of Saints which the holy Father S. Austin of whom my masters the Ministers so willingly doe helpe themselues but would to God it were to a good end setteth downe before vs in his 22. booke of the Citie of God cap. 8. I cite the booke because they might reade them and to the intent they would cease from calling vs Idolaters seeing we doe it after the example of all these holy and wise Doctors with whom these new Doctors deserue not to be compared In the yeare two hundred and twentie when Doctor Origen prayed vnto the holy Prophet Iob was he an Idolater In the yeare three hundred and sixtie when S. Gregory Nazaanzeâ—us prayed vnto S. Basil in the Oration which he made for him was he an Idolater At that time as S. Basil cryed to the 40. Martyrs when S. Hierome recommended himselfe to the prayers of the holy Lady Paula and likewise S. Austin to those of the Virgin Maries were all these excellent and learned men Idolaters I beleeue no. Why then should these new Reformers or rather deformers of the Church call vs Idolaters seeing we do the same after all these holy Doctors But there is one thing you will tell me which troubleth much these Heretikes that is that they cannot vnderstand nor imagine that the Saints can heare vs affirming it is impossible that a man which is praying vpon the earth can be heard of them into Heauen Behold this is the second point which in the beginning of this Epistle we haue propounded let vs now come to examine it Know then that the Ministers and Preachers among some of their arguments which in them I haue noted and in their writings this of all other they esteeme the most strongest and that which they most set by Their Captaine Caluin in the third booke of his Institutions Chap. 20. sect 24. thinking to alledge some rare and new-found thing against vs setteth downe one thing which is most ridiculous and vnmeete I say not of a Doctour in Diuinitie but euen for a simple Scholar discoursing in this manner Who hath reueiled to vs saith he that they haue eares so long as to reach downe vnto our words and eyes so sharp that they can consider of our necessities By these words he would say that the Saints to vnderstand our prayers ought not only to haue both eyes and eares as they had vpon the earth but besides that they must haue long eares and great eyes which should penetrate downe vnto the earth Wherin this good Doctour shewes that he hath failed as well in Philosophie as in Diuinitie and that he himselfe neuer had either eyes or eares in his soule to know the truth It was pitie that he had not spoke this in some of the ancient Philosophers Schoole how had he bene mocked For what a folly or what an ignorance is it to thinke that Soules being separated from their bodies cannot vnderstand without the instruments of the bodie Men neuer yet found Philosophie which acknowledgeth not euen by naturall light only that the soule being freed from the body knoweth more yea better and much more easily then when it was within the bodie Therefore to account that one should haue long eares to heare the better it is to bring Asses eares into great request And if so be that all Asses could speake as well as that Asse which was the false Prophet Balaams I beleeue they would confesse that the length of their eares makes them neuer a whit the quicker of hearing but would say that such as thinke it so are greater Asses then themselues So then this great Doctor Master Caluin hath abused himselfe in his doctrine And since his time his and Luthers schollers to shew themselues wiser then their Masters haue begun to require of the Catholiques some expresse texts and examples taken out of the holy Bible whereby it might appeare that the Saints which are aboue in Paradise can vnderstand and heare our prayers But he that will answere them well should demaund also of them because they referre the deciding of euery question to the Scripture some certaine places and texts by which the contrarie might appeare to wit that the Saints cannot heare our prayers and were not this enough would they not be confounded and ouerthrowne yes vndoubtedly for they could neuer be able to produce so much as one onely text either out of the old or new Testament let them reade ouer the Bible as oft as they list and this were an excellent way to conuict them by answering them in this maner But to the end they should not thinke that we would vse shifts as they do in this point and in all other occurrences rather then by giuing a good answere we will shew them that the Scripture faileth vs not in this point and that it maketh for vs seeing they will haue it so Note then how this is one expresse text
and redemption Doe you not teach in your Catechisme made by the authoritie of the Councell of Trent That men ought to inuocat the Saints inasmuch as God through their merit and grace doth vs good Approue you not that which Barnardine de Busto writeth in his Marial of the virgin Mary That first of all she is Mediatrix of our saluation 2. Mediatrix of our coniunction and vnion 3. Mediatrix of our iustification 4. Mediatrix of our reconciliation 5. Mediatrix of our intercession and 6. Mediatrix of our communication Sing ye not O pia puerpera nostra pians scelera iure matris impera Redemptori that is O godly Child-bearer thou which purgest vs from our sins command our Redeemer by the authoritie of a mother Allow you not also the sentence of Lombard who saith in the 4 booke of his Sentences Dist 45. That the Saints make intercession for vs both by their merits in that they supply the defect of ours and by their affection in that they ioyne themselues to our prayers and therefore saith hee â—e pray vnto them that they might make intercession for vs to wit that their merits may be allowed vs and that they might wish our good because that they wishing it Godwils it also See now how your owne words and those of your Doctors conuince you of contradiction and manifest falsehood As for the other part of your Conclusion it is weakly grounded and euen by your owne reasons is easie to bee ouerthrowne that is seeing with vs you confesse that Iesus Christ only hath redeemed vs through the merit of his death and passion and that hee is only true God and true man that he alone hath no neede of any other Mediatour either for himselfe or for others you cannot maintaine against vs with truth that the Saints liuing or dead are in any fashion our Mediatours and Intercessors yet you seeke neuerthelesse to proue it by some texts out of the Bible For truth whereof say you I referre my selfe to the holy Scripture for in the fifth Chapter of Deâ—terenomie Moses calleth himselfe a Mediatour saying I haue been an Vmperer and a Mediatour between God and you speaking to the Hebrewes Vnto which words S. Paul making an allusion in the 9. Chapter and 15. verse to the Hebrewes calleth Iesus Christ the Mediator of the new Testament to put a difference between him and Moses which had been of the old Howbeit this example of Moses will not serue your turne as a proofe but to the first part of your Affirmation to wit that the liuing are Mediatours and Aduocates for others I tell you moreouer that in this lense Moses neuer calleth himselfe a Mediatour betweene God and men but as himself hath well interpreted it hee bore messages betweene both the parties that is between God and the children of Israel For in the Hebrew tongue you shall there finde these very words of Moses saying At that time I stood betweene the Lord and you to declare vnto you the word of the Lord. If you replie hereupon that Moses is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a Mediatour in the Epistle to the Galathians the third chapter and nineteenth verse I answer that sometimes this Greek word signifieth an Interpretour which goes and comes to and fro betweene two parties and that in this signification it is said by the Apostle to the Galathians that the Law was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediatour to wit Moses who twice went vp to the mountaine and came downe againe with the two Tables of the law of God to reade and expound them to the Israelites In which sense wee grant you that hee the high Priests and the ancient Prophets who haue interpreted the will of God and haue offered vp vnto him in the name of our Fathers may be called Mediatours and the Apostles also but not in that sense in which heretofore we haue declared that the Apostle S. Paul calleth Iesus Christ the onely Mediatour in the first epistle to Timothie the second chapter and fifth verse where the Apostle taketh this word of Mediatour for a Reconciler as himselfe expoundeth it saying That hee gaue himselfe a ransome for vs in which sense this title beseemeth none properly but Iesus Christ onely neither can it be attributed without blasphemie to the members of his Church But let vs examine a little your proofe that followeth Is it not true you demand me that wee haue but one Sauiour of the world which is Iesus Christ Wherunto you answere that there is nothing more true And neuerthelesse the scripture which cannot lie giueth the same title of honor to others without doing wrong or dishonor to Iesus Christ as to Othoniel in the third chapter of the booke of Iudges and ninth verse And Nehemiah in the ninth chapter of his booke confirmeth the same King Pharaoh also as appeareth in the 41. chapter of Genesis calleth Ioseph in the Egyptian tongue not onely Sauiour but Sauiour of the world From whence with a long circumlocution of words you conclude that by these three small reasons it is easie to be vnderstood how the Saints may also be mediators and intercessors vnto God for vâ— and if they are so then wee may and ought to call vpon 〈…〉 our humaine necessities and that it will not follow from thenceâ— that you should reiect the sonne of God for as much as you alwaies giue to him the first rancke of being the true and onâ—ly mediator according to the fashion as you haue said and the Saints is their sort anâ—â—manâ—r So then it will be exceeding well done to inuocate them as they alwaies haue done in your catholike church It goes well with you when you your selfe tearme your reasons small and confesse beside that the holy scripture giueth this title of honor to others then to our Lord Iesus Christ though it be neuerthelesse for some other reason And indeed those which you haue named in the old Testament are called sauiours or deliuerors yet was it in regard that God had ordained them as instruments of deliuerance for his people and for types and figures of the Sauiour which was to come But the holy scripture in no maner calleth the deceased Saints mediators neither doth it teach vs that they are established by God for instruments of mediation betweene God and vs so that this argument of yours drawne from the name of sauiour makes nothing for your cause As touching your Anticipation and excuse that although you pray vnto the Saints yet neuerthelesse you doe not reiect the sonne of God because you alwaies giue vnto him the first ranke of being the true and onely mediator according to that fashion which formerly you haue spoken of it is easie to answere and proue the contrarie by the maner custome of youâ— catholike church wherupon you ground your superstitions So it is then that in the houres Rosarie appointed for the virgin Mary
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
and heare our supplications And albeit that God in his word hath coÌ„manded vs to succour one another with our mutuall prayers with promise to heare vs notwithstanding hee sheweth vs that to purchase the fauour of God wee haue no neede of any other helpe then by addressing our selues to our only Sauiour Iesus Christ we haue free accesse vnto his grace and stand sure in the same God saith he in his fifth sermon vpon the 8. chapter of S. Matthew will not grant vs so much of his grace at the request of them which pray for vs as when wee our selues pray to the end wee might vse freedome in speaking to him and that desiring to reconcile him vnto vs we may reforme our selues For so tooke he pitie on the Canaanitish woman so on the theefe without either the intercession of aduocate or mediatour And wilt thou learne this that we in praying for our selues do more good with God then when others pray for vs The Canaanitish woman cried and as the disciples came vnto him they besought Christ saying Send her away for she crieth after vs and Christ Iesus answered I am not sent but vnto the lost sheepe of the house of Israel but when she came her selfe and continued on her crying saying Truth Lord yet indeed the whelps eate of the crummes which fall from their masters table then hee did her good and said Be it vnto thee as thou desirest Thou maist see hoâ— hee put her off when others prayed for her and heard her when she her selfe prayed In like manner in his 16. sermon vpon certain texts of the Gospel according to S. Matthew he saith Is God farre from thee that thou goest to seeke him in some place He is not shut vp in any place but alwaies he is by thee And he which no place can containe faith will containe him For if thou wilt pray vnto a man thou enquirest what he doth and he to whom thou speakest heareth thee dreamingly or hath not the leisure or will not vouchsafe to answere thee With God all this is needlesse but in what place soeuer thou art if thou callest on him hee is at hand Thou â—ast no neede of an vsher mediatour or seruant doe but say take pitie on me and as soone as thou hast spoken he is there neither canst thou haue finished thy speech but hee will say here I am Againe in his discourse vpon the Canaanitish woman Tell me woman how durst thou addresse thy selfe to Iesus Christ thou which art sinfull and wicked I knew well what I doe answered she Behold the wisedome of the woman she prayeth not to Iames she addresseth not her selfe to Peter she cares not for all the Apostles she seeketh no Mediatour but in stead of all these she taketh repentance along with her for her conâ—vanion which was in place of a Mediatour for her and so is gone vnto the souraigne fountaine For said she therefore is he descended from heauen therefore tooke he flesh vpon him and made himselfe man that I might dare to speake to him aboue in heauen the Cherubims tremble before him the Seraphiâ—s feare him and heere beneath on earth a woman of a wicked life speaketh vnto him and saith haue mercie on me ô admirable aboue trembling beneath boldnesse haue mercie on me I haue no need of a Mediatour He repeateth this doctrine in his treatise of Repentance God only saith he can cure the heart who hath made the heart of euery one and who euery day vnderstandeth our affaires He then can enter into our consciences which is not possible for the Angels and Saints departed to touch our spirits and bow our soules Knowing then these things let vs haue our recourse vnto God who will and can separate our vexations For when wee haue to doe with men to obtaine any thing at their hands we must first meete with porters then perswade flatterers and oftentimes take a great iourney With God there is no such thing without either mediatour or spokesman he is inclined to heare thee without either money or charge he yeeldeth to thy prayer It is sufficient if thou criest only to him with thy heart or sheadest thy teares he is then quickly moued to mercie He addeth vpon the fourth Psalme Thou canst not say I am afraid to come neere and pray vnto God for thou hast no need of any vshers which should bring thee vnto him nor guards nor friends but when thou art alone by thy selfe then is the principall time in which he will heare thee for euen so did he with the Canaanitish woman when Peter and Iames came vnto him he did not grant her request but when she persisted on then he gaue her that which she craued From whence he draweth this conclusion in his sermon of the profit and aduancement of the Gospell Thou hast no need of any aduocates vnto God nor of any long discourse but although thou beest alone without an aduocate and praiest thy selfe vnto God thou shalt obtaine thy desire Touching the intercession of the Saints departed he determineth nothing thereof particularly but writing to Râ—parius he admonisheth vs in generalâ— that we ought not to worship neither Reliques Angels nor any other creature whatsoeuer And so oft as he treateth of prayer he exhorteth vs not to haue our recourse to any creature but vnto God only and to follow in our prayers that forme of prayer and instruction of our Lord Iesus Christ which hee recommendeth vnto vs in his 14 Sermon vpon S. Matthew where hee saith that hee which prayeth not as Christ hath taught is none of Christs disciples and that the Father willingly heareth the prayer which his Sonne hath indited because the Father knoweth the intention and words of his Sonne neither receiueth any thing but what his wisedome hath expounded reiecting all that men haue inuented and followed through custome and vsurpation So is it then that Iesus Christ the only Sonne of God hath taught vs to call vpon our heauenly Father but in his name And S. Chrysostome expounding the fifth verse of the first Epistle to Timothy Chap. 2. There is one God and one Mediatour betweene God and man which is the man Christ Iesus noteth vpon this place that Christ to be our Mediatour ought to be ioyned with God and Man and that if hee were separated from the substance of the Father and had no naturall communion therewith he could in no wise be our Mediatour And to the end wee should not thinke that God is pleased with doing vs good and giuing â—are to our requests for the sake and merit of any other Saint he signifieth to vs that all men except our Redeemer Iesus Christ haue been defiled here with some sinne God saith he in his 40. Sermon on Genesis permitted that sometimes the righteous through their owne will should fall into sinne to the intent that he alone should be without sinne From hence it chanced that Abraham hath sinned
Bernard who was Abbat of the Cloister of Claitual liued in Burgundie one of the principall Prouinces of France and was there in greater reputation then al the other Monkes of his Order His bookes doe plainly witnesse that hee was more inclined to the inuocation of our only God and celestiall Father then to the adoration of Saints and that he beleeued that no man could haue sure accesse vnto his throne of grace but by the merit of the death of our only Sauiour Iesus Christ. Your Fathers haue brought in and receiued his bookes in their Church without any contradiction and euen vnto this present you haue them in your Cloisters and handle them daily And yet for all this you loue rather to affirme against your owne consciences that S. Bernard constantly maintained the inuocation of Saints then roundly to confesse that he spake thereof with some scruple of conscience and very doubtfully as appeareth by his writings In the repetition of the prayers which our Fathers haue addressed to the departed Saints you nominate that prayer of Origens and aske me whether Origen that Doctor praying to the Prophet Iob about the yeere of Christ 220 Was an Idolater But sith that Origen was before S. Ieromes time S. Chrysostomes S. Cyprians S. Austins S. Iohn Damascenus and many other Doctors of the Primitiue Church according to S. Ieromes testimonie who saith that in the yeere of Christ 203 Origen was then of the age of seuenteene yeeres it is maruell why you haue not done him that honour to place him in his ranke and to cite his prayers aswell as others Moreouer it is a wonder that you doe this wrong to Origen to attribute this prayer to him O S. Iob pray for vs miserable wretches that the mercie of God may deliuer vs. True it is that Origen had many strange and dangerous opinions in such sort that S. Ierome saith of him that hee commended his spirit but not his faith that he set greatly by his translations but not by his doctrines and expositions which hee tearmeth venomous and farre from the sense of holy Scriptures and doing them violence but howbeit as wee haue alreadie proued by his disputations against Celsus the Philosopher that he spake well of the inuocation of Gods name and maintained that religious adoration appertaineth onely to God and the presentation of out prayers to our only Mediatour and Intercessor Iesus Christ. If Celsus reproched Origen that he and the other Christians worshipped our Lord Iesus Christ and from thence sought to conclude that the Christians worshipped after the fashion of the Gentiles some other then God would not he Celsus also haue replied that hee and his followers called vpon the Prophet Iob and that they beleeued they offended not God in seruing religiously his seruant would hee not likewife in good earnest haue flouted at this distinction of Origens that the Christians worshipped no other but God in calling on the name of Iesus Christ forasmuch as Christ was not a simple man as the Prophets other departed Saints were nor likewise a simple creature as the Angels but forasmuch as hee was also one God with the Father and Lord of all things And what likelihood is there that hee besought Iob to pray for him when he himselfe prescribed this rule to all Christians to offer their prayers only to God through his only Sonne and protesteth in his eighth booke against Celsus to haue followed it with the other Christians His rule is That wee must adore the only soueraigne God and present our prayers to the only Sonne of God who is his Word and the first borne of all creatures that as a high priest he might offer them vp to his God and to our God to his Father and according to his word the father of all liuing The practise agreeable to this rule is expressed in these words We worship as much as we can through supplications and seruices one only God and his only Sonne his word and his image offering our prayers to God the Lord of all things by his only Sonne to whom first we doe addresse them beseeching him that being propitiatour far our sinnes he would vouchsafe as high priest to offer vnto God our prayers sacrifices and intercessions and therefore our faith lieth in God through his Son who hath confirmed it in vs. It is not credible then that Origen hath inuocated Iob not the other departed Saints not the Virgin Mary likewise sith that hee himselfe in his sermons comprehendeth them all together in the number of sinners which are not entred into heauen through their owne merits but by the only faith in Iesus Christ. Shall we thinke saith he in his 27. Sermon and 2. tome that all the Apostles were offended in our Lord and that his mother was exempted If she hath suffered no scandall in the passion of the Lord then Iesus died not for her sinnes But if all haue sinned and haue all need of the glorie of God to be iustified and redeemed through his grace surely Mary was offended in that very houre And this is it which Simeon prophecied saying And thy soule also which knowest thou hast conceiued without a man and who hast heard by Gabriel that the holy Ghost should come vpon thee and the power of the most High should ouershadow thee euen thine shall a sword pearce thorow and thou shalt bee smitten with the blade of doubtfulnesse and thy thoughts shall distract thee when thou shalt see him to be crucified and put to death whom thou hast heard called the Son of God and knewest to be begotten without the seede of man But what will you say if I should shew you that your owne men haue not held these Commentaries vpon Iob nor Origens Lamentations wherein hee praieth the Saints to prostrate themselues for him to the mercies of God for authenticall bookes For as Pope Gelasius hath reiected the booke of Lamentations attributed to Origen and iudged to be Apocrypha so Sixtus Senensis sheweth in his fourth booke that the Treatise vpon Iob and some such like books were not composed by him but by some other author which certaine of our Fathers suspected of heresie For in his second booke he compareth these three diuine persons to wit the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost to three hornes of the Diuell and tearmeth the doctrine of the holie Trinitie a sect and a heresie of three Gods All men of reason and discretion taking heede to the falsehood of these allegations will they not haue in abomination your audaciousnesse and impudencie to proue the anciencie of the adoration of Saints by witnesses of no credit and by depraued bookes cast off a long while agoe by your predecessors Moreouer as the Arrians Montanists and sundrie other heretikes haue mixed their poyson among the sound doctrine contained in the bookes of the ancient Fathers and like as diuers superstitious persons haue annexed to the wholesome
answere I neuer knew you To this end also S. Gregorie Bishop of Rome saith Because oft times miracles are done through the inspiration of the diuell my brethren loue not those signes as are common with the reprobate And S. Austin saith The diuels doe miracles like vnto those which were done by the seruants of God c. Considering therefore that the wicked Spirit hath often times done miracles among the Iewes and Gentiles and that it was foretold that Antichrist and his supporters shall in great number doe them in the latter daies to establish their errors and seduce the elect of God if it were possible it is a follie in you to conclude that the miracles done through the inuocation of the departed Saints is a seruice pure and approued by God But to reproue the course of your fine discourse adorned with this figure of preuention There is one thing will some man say which troubleth much these heretikes and what is it how they cannot vnderstand nor imagine that the Saints doe heare vs affirming that it is vnpossible for a man praying beneath on earth to be heard of the departed Saints into heauen Which according to the scope of your writing is the second point which wee haue yet to examine It were to be wished that in this examination you were more discreet and sincere You consider not that in tearming vs heretikes because we will not beleeue that the Saints deceased vnderstand and heare the prayers of those which call vpon them you also reproue Salomon the wise of heresie who teacheth vs in the first booke of Kings and 8. chapter that there is none but God only who knoweth the hearts of all men and that that is one of the principall causes wherefore we should call vpon him and to expect from him alone the accomplishment of our desires Lord saith he what prayer and supplication soeuer shall be made of any man or of all thy people Israel when euery one shall know the plague in his owne heart and stretch foorth his hand in this house Heare thou then in heauen in thy dwelling place and be mercifull and doe and giue euery man according to all his waies as thou knowest his heart for thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men Moreouer in stead of speaking seriously you at your pleasure flout at Caluin and our arguments You say that our strongest arguments and that which we most set by is that which wee hold from our Captaine Caluin who asketh you in the third booke of his Institutions chap. 20. sect 24. Who hath reuealed to you this secret that the departed Saints haue so long eares to stretch them downe vnto your words and so sharp eyes that they can behold your necessities It is maruell that you who so diligently set foorth your tongue with the colours of Rhetorique vnderstand not that hee maketh this demaund of you by an Ironia or manner of mockage and laugheth at your foolish imagination that the Saints which are aboue in heauen heare and see what is done here beneath on earth For without searching any further Caluin confesseth in that very section that the soules of the blessed albeit they are separated from their bodies and vse no more the instruments of eyes and eares yet vnderstand many things which concerne the aduancement of the glorie of God and his kingdome Yea and that they seeke it with a setled and vnmoued will which may bee proued by some texts out of the Bible but hee condemneth the boldnesse of your Sophists who without any testimonie of holie Scripture dare affirme that the brightnesse of Gods face is so great that in the contemplation thereof the Saints may behold as in a mirrour the things which in this world do happen But whilest you bark against this demand of Caluins you dissemble our arguments and accuse your selues of falsehood and deliberate malice seeing you vaunt that you haue read the writings of our Ministers and haue therein obserued the reasons which they propound against the second point of your doctrine If it be true that you haue perused the principall reasons of our Pastors why then do you let passe in silence that which they haue drawne out of the fountaine of the holy Scriptures and namely in the 9. chapter of Ecclesiastes vers 6. That the loue and the hatred of the dead is now perished and they haue no more portion for euer in all that is done vnder the Sunne And in the 63. chapter of Esay and 16. verse Lord thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of vs and Israel know vs not Whereupon this argument of our Teachers is grounded The holy Scripture manifestly instructeth vs in those aboue said texts y ◠the Saints deceased this world haue no more portion in the things which are done vnder the cope of heauen nor any knowledge of our affaires Therfore it is a folly in them which yet walk in this vaile of miserie to call vpon them But to proceed on with the course of your inuectiue you say that the disciples of Caluin and Luther to shew themselues wiser then their Masters haue begun since that to demaund of the Catholiques some expresse texts and examples taken out of the holy Scripture whereby it might appeare that the Saints aboue in Paradise vnderstand heare our prayers Whereunto I replie that Luther and Caluin haue not required of you any expresse texts by the which it might appeare that the deceased Saints heare our Prayers because they knew exceeding well that there could not be found for it so much as one only word in the Word of God For what saith Caluin thereof in his 3. booke and 20. chapter sect 21 What angell or diuell euer reueiled to any man any one syllable of this intercessiō of Saints which these men haue forged For in the Scripture there is nothing said thereof What reason had he then to seeke it there And as for vs which are none of Luthers or Caluins disciples but Christs wee require of you some proofes taken out of the marrow of the holy Scripture not for that wee thinke it is possible for you but because wee might haue the greater occasion to confute you of leasing euen by your own consciences And when all is said and when we come to that ye feare the blowes to saue your selues from them you answere vs reciprocally by a demaund whether wee can proue our negatiue by some text to wit that the Scripture teacheth vs not that the Saints which are in heauen can heare our prayers In your inuectiue against Caluin you reproch him in that hee wanteth Philosophie but herein I may rebuke you by an argument farre more forcible that you haue not learned the lawes Dialecticae that is of Logick which teacheth vs Quod affirmanti incumbat probatio to wit that he which affirmeth any thing is bound to proue his affirmation So it is