which they hold in Religion and to the Account which God makes of them The last Sorts of Religious Acts are those that are commanded by Religion it self as for Example the Submission and Honour we owe to Parents and Magistrates But if these Controversies were fairly manag'd all the Dispute would be about the first Sort of these Acts of Religion which are call'd in the Language of the Schools Elicite and Immediate and such as God reserves peculiarly to himself with exclusion of the noblest and most exalted Rank of Created Beings such for instance as Invocation Psal 50. v. 15 Trust and Affiance Jer. 17. v. 17. Vows Isa 19. v. 21. Worship Sacrifice and Adoration Exod. 20. v. 50. Act. 10. v. 26. Apocal. 19. vers 10. These are the Acts of Religion which we accuse the Roman Church of giving to the Saints Those amongst them who pretended to devotion make Vows to the Saints upon every occasion though St. Thomas hath said that a Vow is an Act of Latria But however this be the Equivocal Sense of the term Adoration can do them no service where they are accused of paying a Religious Worship to Supposititious Saints such as St. Christopher St. Longine St. Catharine the eleven thousand Virgins and the Souldiers of the Theb. Legion They cannot pretend that they pay these Saints only a Worship of Dulia Honours much inferior to the Supream They ought therefore to confess that they have erred and do still persist in their error Fifthly the Roman Church speaking by the Mouth of the Bishop of Meaux saith that she instructeth her Children to make a great deal of difference between the affections that accompany the Prayers they make to Saints and the Zeal Piety and profound Humility they ought to be possessed with when they direct their Devotions immediately to God himself But to this have not we just reason to reply that God alone knows the Affections of the Heart and that we cannot judge of them but by Mens Words and Actions We don't pretend to usurp the Prerogative of God and should be very unwilling to pass a rash Judgment upon Men. Moses hath taught us that secret things belong to the Lord our God and Christ hath told us that we shall know Men by their Fruits that is by their Words and Actions This way of passing Judgment upon Mens Hearts is so common a notion and so universal a Principle that all Men in the World do follow it in the judgments they make of others So that it is very unjustly done by those of the French Clergy who accuse us of calumny in finding fault with their Church for its paying to Saints a prohibited Worship since our Accusation is founded upon their Words and Actions For let them say what they please that they do not form the same Idea of the Saints as they do of an Infinite and Supream Being and that their Prayers to God are accompanied with Affections far more lively ardent and humble than those they address to the Saints This is known to none but God and discernable only by his all-seeing Eye And all that we see and hear of their Performance towards the Saints as Prayers Temples Festivals Illuminations Burning of Incense Processions Prostrations all these things I say are the proper and formal Characters of the Supream Worship which God hath in a peculiar manner reserved to himself Are we then in the wrong to conclude that they carry the honours they render to the Saints too far The Jansenists in that Book of theirs intituled the imaginary Heresie charged the Jesuites with making the Pope a God by their Tenet that the Pope is infallible because Infallibility is a property belonging only to God But we have yet more reason to reproach the Roman Church for dealing with Saints as if they were Gods not only upon account of the external Worship she pays to them but also because of the good things she asks of them which suppose that they know the Hearts of Men are present every where and have an unlimited power all which are Properties belonging only to the Supream being But after all suppose it should be true that the Romish Church puts a great difference between the Thoughts that accompany the Prayers to God and those addressed to the Saints we leave every wise Man to consider whether this distinction in the Thoughts does not raise in the Mind troublesome Scruples and hinder its due application and adherence to God These Theological Principles leave one always unquiet and uneasie for fear of going beyond or stopping short of the Mark. Thus far in their Opinion the Worship is lawful and right but to go ever so little further is Idolatry When those who repeat after the Priest the Confession of Sins at the beginning of the Mass hear him say I confess to God Almighty they must mind to do an Act of Latria but when he adds and to the Blessed Virgin they must take care to descend lower to Hyperdulia and when he goes on saying to the Angels and to the Saints to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul c. it would be a Crime should they offer to them any of the Two former kinds of Worship and therefore they must pass to that of Dulia If an Image be presented to them they are to offer but a relative honour to it but let it be a little piece of the true Cross they may go as far as the indirect Latria And because these different Worships are often mix'd in the same Service and Litanies we leave it again to Wise Men to consider whether all those who are present at these Church-Services have in that instant of time all these distinctions present in their Minds whether they be all capable of these nice and refined subtilties of the Schools and whether all this be proper to raise the heart and to inflame true piety At least our Religion hath this advantage above theirs that God alone being proposed to us as the Object of our Worship and Prayers we need not busie our Minds about any of these Distinctions no scruple arises to disturb our Zeal we embrace the Divine Object with all our Heart and with all our Soul free from fears and danger of running beyond the Mark But after all this difference of Thoughts in their Prayers will do them no Service as to the worship which they render to Saints that never existed such as St. Christopher St. Catharine the Eleven Thousand Virgins and the Souldiers of the Thebean Legion These being mere Chimeras and groundless fancies which deserve not any the least respect they who pay any sort of Religious Worship to them ought to confess that they have been and are yet in Error The Sixth Subterfuge of the Roman Church is that they make great difference between Christ's Mediation and that of the Saints For say they Christ is a Mediator of Redemption and the Saints are only Mediators of Intercession But in answer to this
all the Functions of the Mediator of Redemption may be reduced to these Three principal ones First Christ hath taught Men the true and only way that leadeth to Heaven having brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel Secondly Christ by his Death hath reconciled God to Men and the Merits of his Cross are the source of their Peace and Righteousness God having made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we should be the Righteousness of God in him In the Third Place Christ is the Dispenser of all those good things which are the effects and consequences of that eternal and new Covenant which he hath brought into the World and sealed with his own Blood upon the Cross all power being giveâ— him both in Heaven and Earth that he might save to the uttermost all that come to God by him Now we think we have great reason to accuse the Roman Church of attributing to the Saints these Functions of the High Priest of the New Covenant For as if the Gospel were not a sufficient Rule to direct us the way to Heaven the Romish Church teaches that her Dominicks Francis's Loyola's c. have received from Heaven Rules more certain and powerful to raise those who follow them to a higher Perfection than those of the Gospel it self And for the proof hereof they produce the Heavenly Visions Divine Apparitions and other Miracles wherewith they pretend God hath honoured the calling of these Founders of Orders Moreover the Romish Church holds that by Christ's Death only our Mortal Sins and the eternal punishment due to them were expiated so that Men must have recourse to other ways of Expiation both for their Venial Sins and the temporal Punishments due to their Mortal ones Therefore was Purgatory invented and to that purpose are likewise applied the Fasts the disciplining Whips the Obits or Offices for the Dead the pious Foundations the Masses and the Canonical Penances injoyned by the Confessors at the Tribunal of Penitence as they call it But the most powerful Machine is the Treasury of Indulgences that Treasury which hath drawn so much Money into the Pope's Exchequer and which they say is silled up with the Overplus of the Satisfactions and Merits of Saints which superabundance is by Indulgences applied either for the expiation of Venial Sins or for a compensation for the temporal Penalties due to Mortal Sins This is the ground of that Prayer which the Priest saith in the Mass when he asks of God the forgiveness of Sins by the Merits of those Saints whose Reliques are at rest under the Altar Finally the Roman Church makes her Addresses to the Saints as to the Dispensers of Heavenly Graces and we might observe a Hundred Places in their Prayer-Books Rituals Breviaries and other Books of their Religion where it plainly appears that they ask of them the forgiveness of Sins the Grace of Perseverance and good Dispositions for Dying well But here perhaps it may be objected that the Church of Rome makes a great difference in its Practice between Christ's Mediation and that of the Saints which is so far from being true that one of her most famous Writers sadly complains that it is evident that most of the People put more trust in the Intercession of the Saints than in Christ's Intercession and that they have recourse with more zeal to their Protection than to the Patronage of that great Redeemer And after all this distinction of Mediator of Redemption and Mediator of Intercession is very injurious to Christ and to the fulness of his Priesthood The Apostle willing to condemn the partialities of the Corinthians some saying they were of Paul and others of Cephas asked them with indignation Have Paul Apollos or Cephas been Crucified for you And may not we then with more reason ask the Doctors of the Romish Church have Francis Dominick or Ignatius Loyola been Crucified for you For Christ's Priesthood comprehends two parts namely Sacrifice and Intercession one upon the Earth and the other in Heaven one on the Cross and the other beyond the Vail in the true and incorruptible Sanctuary that 's to say that his Intercession is nothing but a continuation of his Priesthood and that the reason why he is our Advocate is because he was crucifi'd for us But in what order of Mediators can the Romish Church put St. Christopher St. Longine St. Catharine the eleven thousand Virgins and the Thebean Souldiers since it is plain that at the best they are nothing but meer figments They will not sure offer to own them Mediators of Intercession and therefore they must confess that they have errâ—d and are still in error The Seventh device of the Church of Rome to excuse the Worship they render to Saints iâ— That they would fain perswade us That the Council of Trent hath not determined this Worship to be necessary but only simply declared that it was a good and profitable practice To which it will suffice to oppose this Argument That Practice must needs be held necessary to Salvation for the not observing of which People are declared to be damned Now it is evident that the Church of Rome damns all those who believe that Saints ought not to be prayed to from whence it ought to be inferr'd that the Worship of Saints is according to the Principles of the Roman Church a practice necessary to Salvation The proof for the Minor of this Argument is found in the 25th Session of the Council of Trent where is a Canon that Anathematizeth all those who deny the lawfulness of calling upon Saints conformably to the use and practice of the Roman Church Unless they would say that the Council of Trent did pronounce these Anathemas notwithstanding they were of Opinion that the worshiping of Saints is not a practice necessary to Salvation But while they go about to set off the Wisdom of the Fathers assembled in that Council they are not aware that they accuse them both of Levity and want of Charity in damning Men for things that may be either done or let alone without prejudice to Salvation The Doctors of the Church are hardly put to it to know what things the Council of Trent hath judged Ceremonial and what Dogmatical and Essential to Religion That which gives occasion to these Disputes is That in some States that submitted to the Pope's Authority the Decisions of the Council of Trent have been recieved as to the Dogmatical part of Religion though they will not acknowledge them as to Rites and Ecclesiastical Discipline I shall observe by the by that the Illustrious Peter de Maâ—ca frequently lays iâ— down as a certain Truth That France approved of and received the Council of Trent in the year 79 of the last Age. However we find in the History of the Cardinal Duke of Joyeuse compos'd by Haberi a Barester at the Parliament of Paris a Brief of Pope Paul the V. sent to the Cardinal of
good foundation I don't see why she might not as well have put an Arrian Creed into her Liturgy with a warning to her Children to follow her Intentions and give an Orthodox sense to that Heretical-Creed It would prove a hard matter to reduce to an Orate pro nobis that Prayer used at the Consecration of their Altars Sanctify O Lord this Stone to thine Honour to the Honour of the Virgin Mary and to the Honour of all Saints You see here the Saints and the Blessed Virgin joyn'd equally with God Mons de le Habespine Bishop of Orleans hath laboured in vain to justify this Prayer And from hence we must necessarily conclude that the Romish Church pays to the Saints a Religious Worship of the same nature with that which she gives to God For otherwise Bellarmine does not argue well when he proves from the Form of Baptism that the Holy Ghost being joined therein with the Father and the Son ought therefore to be esteemed God as well as the Father and the Son Go and Baptise all Nations in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost But what can the Romish Church reply when it is objected that she prays to Saints who never had any being as St. Christopher St. Catharine the eleven thousand Virgins and the Souldiers of the Theb. Legion Let these Prayers be reduced as much as they please to the general Spirit of the Church yet she cannot justify them and therefore she must confess that she hath erred and is yet in error Thirdly They of the Church of Rome to excuse the Worship they pay to the Saints say That they pray to them in the same manner as we pray our living Brethren to intercede for us But had they not thus explain'd their meaning by the Bishop of Meaux's Pen we would hardly believe that they were in good earnest What! Is there then no difference between the Prayers which the Sick Protestants desire to be made for them in their Churches that God would comfort and relieve them in their several necessities and those which the Papists direct to their Saints When the Protestants desire these Offices of Charity of their Brethren do they ask them after the same manner and in the same order as the Romish Church implores the Intercession and Assistance of her Saints Do they consecrate Holy-days and Altars to them Build them Churches Make Vows and Pilgrimages to their Honour Do they light Wax-candles before their Images Approach them with Censers Present them with Offering And make Processions and Confraternities in honour of their Memories Quite contrary Our Brethren are there present with us where they see our necessities with their own Eyes and we desire them to joyn with us in Prayer We don't look upon them as if they were of a superior Order to us but as Fellow Labourers subject to the same weaknesses and infirmities as we are and thereby ingaged to compassionate our sufferings Our practice is authorized by the Example of the Faithful of all Ages and by the express command of the Apostle St. James who exhorteth us to Pray one for another But the Romish practice is very far from having a Title to any of these advantages Under the Old Testament no Prayers were ever made to the deceased Saints though the Faithful prayed one for another as we do Notwithstanding they had at that time Saints whose Holiness could not be call'd in question since God himself had if I may so speak canonized Elias and Enoch All these Answers are solid and good But how can they apply this Or what other Answer can they make when we charge them with praying to such Saints as never were in the World such as St. Christopher St. Catharine the eleven thousand Virgins and the Souldiers of the Theb. Legion seeing these Saints were only meer fictions and the invention of Legend-Writers They cannot sure answer that they Pray to these after the same Manner as we do to our living Brethren and therefore they ought to confess that they have erred and do remain still in error The Fourth Evasion of the Romish Church is to have recourse to the equivocal Sense of the Terms Worship and Adoration They say that there is a Supream Worship and Adoration of Latria and that God alone deserves this Worship and Adoration but that there is an inferiour Worship and a Service of Dulia which we ought to pay to Angels and Saints But this Distinction is not in nor is it grounded upon Scripture For St. Paul makes use of the Term Dulia when he speaks of the Supream Worship telling the Thessalonians That they turn'd to God from Idols to serve the Living and True God And the Septuagint have used it in the same Sense 1. Sam. c. 7. v. 3. and Ps 11. v. 11. and on the contrary they have expressed by that of Latria the Services which Men do one to another in that Threatning which God makes to his People That they should servetheir Enemies which God would send against them in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness But besides this Distinction is very insignificant for let the Terms be never so Equivocal yet the things expressed by them are not so For Churches Festivals Altars Vows Offerings Lights and Processions are not Equivocal things but determined to the highest sort of Religious Worship To prove this let an Indian or a Chinese go into a Popish Church tell him That this Temple is consecrated to Francis of Assise that this is his Holy-day and that they are going to make a Procession to his Honour That the Image which he seeth adorned with so many flowers and illuminated with so many Torches is his Representation And let him see afterwards all the People prostrating themselves before it in order to the Addressing their Prayers to it And then ask him what this People is a doing He will answer that they adore St. Francis or his Image the simple Notions of Nature leading him to that Answer because all the Actions of this People are determined to Religion which being taken altogether are the formal and distinct Signs of the Supreme Worship And therefore it is in vain for them to endeavour to palliate the Matter by a pretended equivocal use of Words Had the Romish Doctors been pleased to express themselves more clearly there would have been no wrangling about the Terms We acknowledg that the Acts of Religion are not all of the same Weight and Importance The first are those that are call'd Elicite and Immediate which are referred only to God The second are grounded upon the reference or relation which certain Things and Persons have to Religion In this Rank we place the reverence due to Pastors to Churches Holy Vessels to the Elements of the Sacraments to Saints to Angels to the blessed Mother of God That is That there are some Degrees of respect due to each of these in proportion to the Rank
they had been actually alive But however the Veneration they had then for them came nothing near to the Worship which the Romish Church pays to them now adays Gregory the First who died in the Seventh Century began in his time to innovate in the publick Worship of the Church by inserting in the Litanies the Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary those of the Saints having not been introduced till a long time after And we defy the Doctors of the Church of Rome to shew us that the Worship which they render to Saints is mentioned in any of the Ecclesiastical Writers who lived before the Year of our Lord 350. Martin Perez Hiala Bishop of Cadiz confesses that they cannot justify by ancient authority the Invocation and Intercession of Saints before the time of Cornelius who lived towards the end of the Third Century And this good Prelate would have descended yet a Hundred Years lower had he seen the Reasons which Blondel alledges to prove that that which is cited of Cornelius is meerly spurious Had the Invocation of Saints been in use in the times of St. Athanasius and St. Hilary we must confess that the Arrians had but very little wit when it being objected as it was by these Fathers to them that they were down-right Idolaters in praying as they did to Christ whom they thought to be but a Creature they did not reply that this Accusation ought to rebound on their Adversaries also since notwithstanding they did not believe their Saints to be Gods yet they made Prayers and Supplications to them But how is it possible to believe that in those first Ages of Christianity the Christians made their Addresses to the deceased Saints seeing they were of Opinion that the Souls of the Faithful did not enjoy the Beatifick Vision before the general Resurrection of the Dead If we ask Cardinal Bellarmine why the Saints were not invoked under the Old Testament he answers Because the Souls of the Just were then in Limbo and did not yet behold the Face of God For which very Reason we may likewise conclude that the Christians of the first Ages did not pray to Saints since they believed that their Souls were not to be admitted into the presence of God till the General Resurrection Which Opinion of theirs hath forced Cardinal Richlieu to make this Confession That several Fathers in the First Ages held for certain that the Souls of the Faithful deceased in the Grace of God those of Martyrs only excepted should not enjoy the Beatifick Vision till after the Resurrection of the Dead and therefore ' its no wonder that they spoke in those times of the Veneration and Invocation of Saints with more caution and wariness than it hath been done since it hath been commonly believed that the Souls of the Faithful who have departed this Life in the fear of God did not wait till the Resurrection for the enjoyment of the Beatifick Vision In the Church of the first Ages they observed another Practice inconsistent with that Worship which the present Church of Rome renders to the Saints For now a days the Living Pray to the Dead whereas formerly the Living pray'd for them Cardinal Richelieu as you have seen in the place above quoted hath excepted the Martyrs from the general Rule but in this case there was no exception made of any for according to the Liturgy ascrib'd to St. Mark the Christians us'd to say Remember O Lord Our Ancestors the Patriarcks the Prophets the Martyrs and all the Spirits who are perfect in the Faith of Jesus Christ and grant that their Souls may rest in the Sanctuary of thy Saints This practice of praying for all the Saints was yet in use in Hinkmar's time And in the Rubrick upon the Decretals at the Title of the Celebration of Masses ch 6. sect Oratio quae dicitur c. we find this curious Remark in the Gloss on the Margent It was formerly said Grant O Lord that this Prayer may be profitable to the Soul of thy Servant Leo But now it is said Grant that this Prayer may be profitable to us by the Intercession of thy Servant Leo. So little distinction was made in those times between the Martyrs and the Saints of the first Order That they used to pray even for the Blessed Mother of God For in the Liturgy attributed to St. Chrysostom we find these Words Let us pray to the Lord for all those who have heretofore administred and fulfilled the Duties of Priesthood for the eternal remission of their Sins and for the memory of all those who are deceased in hope of the Resurrection Forgive them O Merciful Lord. And we offer also this reasonable Service unto thee for our Ancestors who rest in the Faith the Fathers the Patriarâ—s the Prophets the Apostles the Martyrs and especially for the most Blessed and Immaculate Mary After this do ye think it well done of the Romanists to accuse us of condemning the Primitive Church and all the Ancient Fathers because we condemn the Worship which they pay in our days to the Saints Certain it is that in this we don 't condemn Origen who wrote thus against Celsus We ought not to pray to Creatures who have as much need to make Prayers and Supplications for themselves and do therefore rather by their calling upon him admonish us to make our addresses to God only and not to debase our selves before them by dividing between God and them the honour of Prayer God forbid that we should follow Celsus's advice who would have us to pray to Angels We ought to pray to none but God who is the Paramount Lord of aâ—l things We do not condemn St. Austin who saith That were St. Paul and the other Apostles our Mediators we should have many of them but then this Apostle had not been in the right who saith that there is but one God and one Mediator between God and Man who is Jesus Christ. And he declares in another place That in offering the Sacrifice mention was made of the Martyrs as of Men of God who by the Confession of his Name had triumphed over the World but that they were not invocated We don't condemn Ignatius a Disciple of the Apostles who recommended this to the Christians to have none before their Eyes when they pray but Christ Jesus and his Father We do not condemn St. Irenaeus that Holy Bishop of Lions who had framed himself both upon the Lessons and Examples of Polycarp and who saith That the Church does not mix in her Service either the Invocation of Angels or any other criminal Curiosity but does direct her Prayers meerly purely and openly to God the maker of all things by calling upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ We do not condemn Tertullian who giving an Account of the Faith and Hope of the Christians before the Roman Emperors saith That they do Invocate none but the true
God and do pray for the prosperity of the Emperor but that they ask it of him whom they know alone to be able to grant it Nor do we condemn Lactantius who declares That those who pray to deceased Saints do Sin both against Reason and Piety revolt against God break all sorts of Laws and in Worshiping dead Men do commit an unpardonable Fault But if the Romish Church does side with those Ancient Hereticks who as Theodore◠informs us held That whosoever will have a free Access to God ought first to endeavour to secure to himself the Favour of Angels and if we find fault with that Church for doing the same we leave it to our Readers to examin whether we do condemn also that Ancient Doctor who answered these Hereticks That it is but a pitiful subterfuge to say that we make our addresses to the Creatures only upon the account of making by their means our Approaches to God as they are us'd to do who desire to be introduced to the King by making first their Application to his Officers True it is that to be admitted to the audience of a King and to be promoted by him it is necessary first to speak to and court those who do attend him because a King being but a Man cannot of himself know whom to trust with the administration of his Affairs but as he receives information from those that are about him But that we may approach God who is Omniscient there is no need of imploring the Patronage of Men. It is enough if we have a sincere and upright heart and a religious mind for God will answer in any place of the Vniverse whosoever speaks to him in that holy disposition How unjustly then are we condemned by the Romanists for holding Opinions contrary to those of the Ancient Church concerning the Saints since in conformity to that Church of the first Ages we do not address our Prayers to any but God through Jesus Christ We do as she did honour the Saints and reverence their memory we propose their Examples to our Imitation we applaud their Triumph and do Crown them with praise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imitation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Praise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Love 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Commemoration were all the duties which the Piety of the Primitive Christians pay'd to the Saints And if we do restrain our selves within the same bounds we have for us the most Authentick Acts of Antiquity as the 34. and 57. Epistles of St. Cyprian wherein this blessed Martyr speaks of the Commemoration which the Church made of Martyrs and the 3. ch of the Book Corona militis by Tertullian in which are mentioned the Oblations which in those times were offered for the dead especially for Relations and Friends But chiefly we have on our side the Declaration of the Ancient Church of Smyrna concerning St. Polycarp's Body related by Eusebius and in the Acts of this Blessed Martyr Printed byVsserius and which are quoted by Mr. de Valois in his Notes It is a very memorable Fact and which happened about the year of Our Lord 167 and is as follows The Jews being unwilling that the Christians should have the comfort of burying their Polycarp represented to the Pagan Magistrates that if the Christians were permitted to keep the Body of that Holy Martyr they would soon forsake their Master to serve his Disciple not knowing said the whole Church of Smyrna That it is impossible we should leave Christ who hath suffered for the Redemption of all those who are saved through the whole World and that we should pay a religious Worship or address our Prayers to any other but him For as to Christ we adore him as being the Son of God whereas we love the Martyrs as the Disciples and Imitators of the Lord. And certainly this is nothing but what is very just considering the Zeal and fervent Love they had for their own King and Master God grant that we may so imitate their Piety that we may be partakers of their Glory Which discourse of the Church of Smyrna as it is our Apology so it is a condemnation of the Worship which the Romish Church renders now a days to Saints And if the Ancient Church speaks thus of true Martyrs we may easily judge how it would have behaved it self towards false and supposititious ones such as are the Souldiers of the Theb. Legion Tenthly Father Malbranche is without contradiction one of the greatest Wits of our Age did he not too much affect to be an Original His System concerning the Worship of Saints and the way he takes to defend the Practice of his Church is as follows First he lays down for a Foundation that all our good things come from God and that he is the only cause and dispenser of them Secondly He saith That when we receive from him any thing that is good Christ is the occasional Cause thereof God by an Eternal Law having decreed not to communicate any Good to Mankind but at Christ's Desire and Request Which Tenet of his is set forth more largely both in his Christian Meditations and his Treatise of Nature and Grace Thirdly He declares That it is not in the Power of the Saints to impart any of these Goods unto us and that we ought not so much as to say That they are the occasional Causes of them it being a Privilege that belongs to none but Christ as he is the Mediator of the New Covenant and the High Priest of Things Eternal It is at the Desire of Christ and not at those of the Saints that God by an Eternal Law hath bound himself to communicate his Graces Fourthly Nevertheless he adds that the Saints do excite and incline the Desires of Christ toward us in which chiefly he makes the force of their Intercession to consist Fifthly and lastly He believes that they have the Power to heal Sicknesses and to bless with fertility our Fields because the Order of the Universe seems to require that inferior things be made Subject to the Power of the Superior Beings I know not how Father Malbranche with all the Sagacity and Sharpness of his Wit can reconcile these Principles of his both with the Doctrine and Practice of his Church For having Established in the First That God is the only Dispenser of all good things hence it follows that the asking the Saints for Graces which come only from the hand of God is down-right Idolatry And when he saith secondly That God does not dispense his Graces but at the Desire of Christ who is established by him the Mediatour of the New Covenant and the High-Priest of Things Eternal and that he alone can make Intercession for us to his Father in determining and contracting by his desires the general Laws of God's Mercy to some particular Sinners whom he hath more kindness for we may easily conclude that the imploring the Mediation of Saints and asking them to pray directly and