adays any Prayers directed to the Saints for the Mass being the Christian Oblation of Christ's Sacrifice and Sacrifice belonging to God only as a Divine Worship the Catholic Church and particularly in the latter Ages hath been so cautious of giving occasion to any Error that not the least Collect or Prayer in holy Mass is directed to any Saint or Angel but all to God through Christ tho' he be pray'd in them to accept of the Saints Prayers for us If he means that Commemorations of Saints were not us'd in the ancient Liturgies or their Prayers were not craved in them or offered to God for us all the Liturgies extant will convince him of an Error which he could scarce fall into but only pretend to deceive others I shall not cite the Liturgies of S. Peter S. James S. Mark c. because that by reason of several Additions made to them they are no more properly theirs I will offer only such unquestionable Liturgies as cannot be rejected or other Testimonies of the Fathers Greek and Latin as are undoubtedly theirs S. Cyril Patriarch of Jerusalem bears witness to this Prayer in the Liturgy Catech. 5. We Pray to thee all of us and offer thee this Sacrifice so as to make a Commemoration also of those who have slept before us first of the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs that GOD THROVGH THEIR PRAYERS AND INTERCESSIONS accept of our Prayers Where he calls the holy Mass the unbloody Divine Worship over the Victim of Propitiation S. Basil's Liturgy hath this Prayer Sanctifie our Souls and Bodies and grant us O most Holy that we may serve you all the days of our Life through the Intercession of the holy Mother of God and of all the Saints which from the beginning have glorified you S. Chrysostom's Liturgy hath the following Prayers In honor and memory of the most blessed glorious Mother of God our Lady and ever Virgin Mary through whose Intercession receive O Lord this Sacrifice on thy heavenly Altar Visit us O Lord by the Supplications of S. John the Prophet and Precursor and Baptist of thy holy and most famous Apostles and of the Saint we make a Commemoration of and of all your blessed Saints There the Deacon thus speaks to the People Celebrating the Memory of the most holy and immaculate most blessed Mother of God our Lady the ever Virgin Mary with all the Saints let us recommend our selves to one anothers Prayers and our whole Life to Christ our God. And the Priest prays thus We humbly magnifie thee O undefiled Virgin according to our bounden Duty having obtain'd thy help and being delivered from Evil by thy Intercession and evermore defended by the Cross and Passion of thy Son. Holy Mother of unspeakable Light we honor and magnifie thee with Angelical Hymns Thus the Greek Liturgies For the Latin S. Augustin assures us That we do not Commemorate the Tract 84. in Joan. Saints at the holy Table as we do others who rest in Peace that we may also Pray for those but more that they may Pray for us Pelagius the second Predecessor to S. Gregory the Great certifies that Ep. 4. Decrer ad Epist Germ. Et Gall. to 2. CC. this following Preface had been of a most long continuance diutissime ever us'd-in the Latin Liturgies We most humbly beg of you that O Eternal Shepherd you abandon not your Flock but by your holy Apostles that you conserve it by a continual Protection that it may be Govern'd by those same Rectors which as Vicars of your Action you have granted to be over it as Pastors To which S. Leo seems to allude in these following words Peter now more fully and Serm. 2. de anni suae assumpt Serm. 3. more powerfully do's effect those things committed to him and he performs now and undergoes all the Offices and Cares in him by whom he is glorified never ceasing to Pray for us I omit many more like Instances these being sufficient to convince any unprepossess'd and unbiass'd Reader that my Challenge is not at all Answer'd by my Adversary but the reasonableness of it evidently confirm'd and also because a longer Discourse would over-burden the Attention of most Readers on which account I shall refer the full view of my Adversaries gross and continual Mistakes to another Sheet I have slighted all the little Arts of Rhetoric which are necessary only to a bad Cause or a doubtful one I have not endeavor'd to blacken my Adversary a very unchristian tho' usual Method with those of his Party but expos'd him and Truth naked to my Reader 's Judgment to which I appeal Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam SVPERIORVM PERMISSV LONDON Printed by Henry Hills Printer to the King 's Most Excellent Majesty for His Houshold and Chappel And are to be sold at his Printing-house on the Ditch-side in Black-Fryers 1688.
of God Hearken Daughter of David and Abraham and stoop thy Ears to our Prayers and forget not thy People We lift up our Voice to thee remember us holy Virgin which didst remain after Childbirth a Virgin and return us for these inconsiderable Speeches great Gifts and the Riches of thy Graces you who are full of Grace Hail most Gracious the Lord is with thee Intercede O Mistress O Lady O Queen and Mother of God. I know not what he will say to this Prayer without he shares in the Impudence of his Brethren the Centuriators of Magdeburge who arraign for it S. Athanasius saying 'T is wonderful that so great a Doctor could write thus These words breathe Idolatry St. Cyril in his own Name and of the whole General Council of Ephesus Hom. 6. cont Nestorium thus Prays to the Mother of God Hail in all our Names holy Mother of God precious Thresor of the whole World ever shining Lamp Crown of Virginity Hail Virgin by whose Mediation the holy Trinity is glorified and honor'd through the whole World in whom Heaven exults Angels and Archangels rejoyce by whom the Devils are put to flight St. Gregory Nyssen thus Prays to St. Theodore Martyr use the liberty you Orat. de S. Theodor enjoy to speak for your Fellow-Servants You have conquer'd the World but you have not forgotten the Passions and the Necessities our human condition is liable unto Ask for Peace that these public Meetings may continue that the enraged and wicked Barbarians may not plunder and destroy our Churches and Altars that no prophane and impious Man tread the Holy things under foot For we that have been preserv'd untoucht and alive do own our selves oblig'd to you for that Blessing and we ask your Protection and Security for the future The holy Father S. Gregory Nazianzen Prays thus to S. Basil O sacred and Divine Man look down on us from Heaven and either by your Prayers mortifie that Sting of the Flesh which God hath given us for our Instruction or move us to bear it with a couragious Mind and direct our whole Life to all that is most fitting and when we part out of this Life receive us there in your Tabernacles I know not whether he will replyto this Prayer what his Brethren the Calv. in Clyp Dial. 8. Reformed Churches of France did I will inform you that Gregory when he spoke thus knew not what he said The same Father Prays thus to S. Cyprian But you look benignly on us from Heaven feed this holy Flock or help him that feeds it both by directing us as much as may be to the best in all other things and by removing from us those dangerous Wolves that catch at each word and syllable and obtaining for us a more full and clear Light from that holy Trinity whose Presence you enjoy The holy Bishop Maximus thus Pray'd to S. Agnes O most shining to the Max. Taurin de S. Agn. Eyes of Christ most beautiful to the Eyes of the Son of God most acceptable to the Angels and Archangels WITH WHAT FERVENT PRAYER WE CAN we beg of you that you will vouchsafe to remember us that he may grant us forgiveness of our Sins who hath bestowed on you the reward of your Labors S. Hilary Bishop of Arles thus Prays to S. Honorius Ever remember us In vitâ S. Honor in the Presence of that God which you attend singing that new Song and following the Lamb whether ever he goes You are OVR PATRON the Interpreter of our Prayers an acceptable and powerful Protector present the Prayers of your Flock offer'd at your Monument and obtain that in a perfect union both Bishop and People may attain what you have ordered and delivered Nectarius who preceded S. Chrysostom in the Patriarchal See of Constantinople Orat. in S. Theodor frighted with the Threats of Julian thus Prays for help to S. Theodore O splendor of the Martyrs and glory of the Saints O worthy Gift of God O unconquer'd Keeper and Defender of the Faithful be not unmindful of our Poverty and Dejectedness but vouchsafe thou always to Pray for us nor do thou O most admirable Man neglect us assaulted by Julian the Enemy of our Souls for we believe that thou dost live after Death Thou then who art yet alive in Christ and standest near unto him endeavor by thy Prayer to make him propitious unto us thy Servants I omit the most fervent Prayers offer'd to the Virgin Mary frequently by S. Methodius who suffer'd Martyrdom in Diocletian's Persecution S. Ephrem the Syrian S. Athanasius S Leo and many others The unquestionable Instances which I have offer'd being as devout Invocations as humble and fervent Prayers as any now extant amongst Catholics and most of them recited in the presence of the fullest Congregations to move them to make the like I cannot omit S. Gregory Nazianzen's Prayer to the Blessed Virgin it being of the same mould with that part of the Hail-Mary which the Reformers so abhor O venerable Virgin chast and most happy hear my Voice benignly and grant In trag chr pat me that which is chief of all to wit that departing from this Life I may find thee to be my Patron But lest this Author should Retrench himself in that hard Cramp-word Invocation tho' I could cite him all the holy Fathers Alphabetically practising and recommending it in the very Term yet because I offer this Sheet to unprejudiced Readers I conceive two or three will be a sufficient Evidence St. Gregory Nazianzen I produce first and this his Evidence The Christians Orat in S. Theodor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 call on the Martyr as on God's Minister who being INVOCATED by them is able to impetrate for them what Favors he pleases Next tho' he hath precedency in Death S. Basil The Martyr call'd by his Name sheweth himself present to as many as call by his Works He uses the same words by which the Prophet Zachary expresses the Invocation of God They shall call my Name and I will hear them S. Augustin observing those words of Jacob blessing his Children And Lib. loquut in Gen. Gen. 48. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Name shall be called over them bids us Note that not only the word Exaudition but also Invocation is used in reference to Men as well as to God. As for the Text How shall they invocated him in whom they have not believe d I am ashamed to rely so little upon the Capacity of the meanest of my Readers as to suggest an Answer No one can Invocate God as God who believes not in him true but what then Will you infer therefore whoever is Invocated is believed to be God Then because no one can love God who believes not in him whoever loves his Neighbor makes him a God. And indeed since God is as infinitely Good as Great and expresly challenges that we love him with all our Heart with all our
Soul with all our Strength whoever pretends that an inferior Religious Worship or Invocation gives to Creatures the Worship we owe to God must equally hold that Charity to our Neighbor is injurious to God and deprives him of the Love which we owe him As to his Second Difference 'T is most false that Saints and Martyrs were call'd upon only where they were suppos'd to be present tho' invisibly at their Shrines This I prove thus unanswerably S. Augustin is so far from this Belief that he assures us of the contrary De Curâ pro Mort. c. 16. The Solution of this Question is beyond the reach of my Vnderstanding how the Martyrs help those WHICH MOST CERTAINLY ARE HELPED BY THEM Whether or no they be themselves present at one time in so different places c. S. Gregory Nazianzen in a Sermon Preach'd before Fifty Bishops Orat. 32. teaches the contrary assuring us that not only the Martyrs who cure Diseases and put the Devils to flight appear and bestow Revelations but that where their Bodies only are the same Effect is bad as from their Souls whether they be touched or worshipped S. Ambrose condemns this prodigious if not wilful Mistake in these In nat S. Naz Celsi words Have you Invocated the Martyr He hears you every where who is honor'd in the Martyr according to his Dispensation who weighs your Vows and dispenses his Gifts in so much is a nearer Presence of the Intercessor granted as the Faith of the Client is more devout In these words is fully exprest the Catholic Faith on this Point and how the charging this with the giving to the Martyrs an Omnipresence can be excus'd from a black Calumny I do not see In fine S. Gregory the Great is of so opposite a Belief that he holds Dial. lib. 2. cap. ult greater Miracles to be often wrought where the Saints Bodies are not that our Mind being fixed upon God our Faith may have a greater Merit forasmuch as we know they repose not there and yet believe that they fail not to hear end grant our Requests But 't is here observable how the Answerer makes the Fathers of the first Ages to attribute an Omnipresence to the Saints by boldly asserting that they call'd upon them only where they suppos'd them tho' invisibly present for he cannot be so throughly ignorant as not to know that the Saints Bodies were divided into different distant Places honor'd in each and that they wrought Miracles in all or if he be he cites Fathers whom he never saw who all assert this frequently I will cite one Instance or two S. Greg. Naz. Truth is in such Veneration that a little Dust the least Splinter Jambic de ve ritat of their decayed Bones a Lock of their Hair their Cloaths some Drops tho' almost worn off of their Blood have as much Worship paid them as the whole Body Nay the calling a Place by the Martyrs Name I know to have been of as much efficacy as if the whole Martyr had lay'n there Theodoret. Their Bodies are not each in their own Monument but being divided Serm. 8. cont Grec among the Cities and Villages are by them esteem'd the Preservers of their Souls and Bodies and call'd their Physicians and honor'd as their Protectors and Guards and making use of their Intercession to God they by them obtain divine Benefits and the divided Bodies retain their Power entire S. Aug. l. 2. c. 8. de Civit. rehearses several Miracles wrought at the Relics of S. Stephen in the different Places they were honor'd at S. German to whom this Island ow'd the Expulsion of the Pelagian Heresie Beda Hist l. 1. c. 18. carry'd about him for his Protection in a Reliquary the Relics of all the Apostles and many Martyrs and took of the Dust that lay by S. Alban's Monument By the Intercession of those Saints whose precious Dust he had and a touch of the Relic case they were in he restor'd Sight to a blind Woman As to the Third Difference he imposes First on his Readers when he says the Church of Rome Enjoyns Prayers to Saints I defie him to shew any Canon of the Council of Trent or of any other that Commands it as an Obligation of Catholic Faith. Yet this Man wonders that we accuse him and his Brethren of continual Misrepresentations Secondly His Assertion that no Councils in the Primitive Church authorised Praying to Saints is very false I offer these following Proofs thereof to which many more might be added The General Council of Calcedon authorised Invocation of Saints by Act. 21. practising it These were the Words and the general Voice of all those Holy Bishops there assembled to the number of 630. Behold the Truth Flavianus lives after Death that the Martyr Pray for us Our Letanies to which this Answerer owes so ill a will exceed not this Invocation S. Hierom tracing the Heretical Oppositions made to the Invocation of Hier. cont Vigil Socrat. l. 2. Saints finds its original in Valentin the Heretic whose Error Eustathius or Eutactus renew'd in Armenia about the time of the First General Council of Nice The Council of Gangrae in Paphlagonia depos'd him from his Episcopal Dignity tho' he offer'd at several Excuses to colour his Error and condemn'd him and his Followers in these words If any one through Conc. Gangrense Can. 20. Pride as believing himself perfect that is not needing the Intercession of Saints accuses those Meetings which are had at the Places where holy Martyrs repose or in their Churches or believes that such Oblations as are made there ought to be slighted Be he accursed The Council of Laodicea in the Year 320. four years before that of Can. 6. 34. Gangrae allows the Worshiping of the true Martyrs of Christ mentions Churches built in their Honor over their Monument whither the Christians resorted In fine the Fourth usually call'd the Fifth Council of Carthage in the Can. 14. Year 368. by the Voices of Thirty seven Bishops authorises the Meeting of Christians not only in Churches dedicated to Martyrs but whereever any Monument or certain Relics of a Martyr shall be and commands those Altars to be demolished if of the Relics over which they are built there be not an evident certainty which evidently proves that it was to honor the Martyrs and to beg Favor through their Intercession that the Christians met at those Altars S. Augustin the best Witness for the Devotion of his Age in his 137th Epistle commends at large the Concourse of People to the Monuments of Martyrs there to ask miraculous Favors and to some particular Saints for such and such peculiar Graces to others again for different ones The Last Part of this third Difference to wit that the Interpellations of Saints were not used in the publick Liturgies or Masses is a slie Imposture if he means to insinuate that in the holy Mass we use now