that believes he has a Soul to be saved she has not a vast advantage of our Church since 't is so manifest that even the Fathers of the Council of Trent were sensible and confest that there were then Superstitious and Idolatrous Practices in our Church and that the Members of it might very easily and without extraordinary care of the Bishops and Pastors fall into Superstition and Idolatry Quere XII Pray Reverend Fathers What Original Treatise Book of Directions or Sermon is there set out by our Church to preserve our People from Idolatry and Superstition Some such thing seems to me to be extream necessary after what the Fathers of the Council of Trent have said of the danger of the Peoples falling into these Sins by their use of our Service and Worship Unless you can give some good reason why the People of our Communion in this Age are wiser then in the Age of the Council of Trent Quere XIII But to conclude this Section I humbly enquire of you Reverend Fathers What is the true Definition of Idolatry and Superstition Pray give me such an one of each distinctly and severally as you 'll abide by and answer to our Learned Adversaries and be content that all our Doctrines and Worship and Practice shall be try'd by Also such an one as is exactly agreeable to the Holy Scriptures and Definitions of the Fathers and Doctors of the Ancient Church For I consider that the nature of Idolatry and Superstition is the same now as it was then Be pleas'd likewise to let your Definition be so full clear and certain as may infallibly which sure I may request from the Priests of an Infallible Church guide and direct me in my Thoughts Worship and Adoration of the Holy Sacrament or Host and of the Angels and Saints and of the Cross and Relicks that so I may be safe from all danger of committing or falling into these grievous Sins or any degree of them For I infinitely desire to have a right Notion of GOD and his Worship and would not offend and affront him while I think I am pleasing and doing him honour SECT II. Quere I. THE Catechism of the Council of Trent now lately Publish'd in English p. 344 says That there is an Honour which is due to GOD alone and is not to be given to an Angel and p. 464 there is a great Charge given That what is proper to GOD be not given to any besides him Now to me it seems not a little strange that in so weighty a matter and wherein both GOD and Mankind is so much concern'd that neither the Council of Trent nor this Catechism when they had so fair occasions should not I say freely and plainly tell what that Honour and Worship is which is proper and due to GOD alone and wherein it consists and by what it is signified and express'd This omission is apt to create no very honourable thoughts either of the Catechism or Council but since neither the Fathers of the Council nor the Composers of the Catechism thought convenient to do so just and honest a piece of Service to the Christian World suffer me here Reverend Fathers humbly to enquire of you What is that Honour and Worship which is proper and due to God only Wherein does it consist And by what Words and Acts is it signified and express'd Quere II. How and in what does that Religious Worship which by our Church we are commanded and which we do give to the Angels and Saints and particularly to the B. Virgin differ from that Worship which is proper to GOD alone Quere III. How and in what does that Honour Worship or Veneration which we give to Angels and Saints and particularly to the B. Virgin differ from that Honour Respect or Reverence we pay to Kings and Princes and good Men upon Earth By what Words Acts or Signs do you distinguish this from that Quere IV. Whether the ground and reason of our Worship of GOD he not his Divine his Infinite and Incommunicable Attributes and Perfections such as his Omnipotence his Omniscience and Omnipresence c. Quere V. Whether Prayer or Religious Invocation has not been always lookt on as and is not an essential part of that Worship which is due to GOD alone Insomuch that Prayer is usually put for the whole and the publick Place of GOD's Worship from hence is by GOD himself in Scripture call'd The House of Prayer Quere VI. If Religious Worship is due only to GOD and that upon the account 〈◊〉 his Infinite and Incommunicable Perfections are not all Kinds and Degrees also of Religious Worship for the same reason peculiar and due to GOD alone unless there be some other Being besides GOD who has those Infinite Attributes and Perfections But if all Kinds and Degrees of Religious Worship be not due to GOD alone I consider that our Saviour's Answer to the Devil in the 4 Chapter and 10 Verse of St. Matthew had been very imperfect For when the Devil would have been adored by him to what purpose was that Answer of the Holy Jesus It is written the Lord thy God shalt thou adore and him only shalt thou serve unless our B. Saviour had intended by it and by using of those two words adore and serve which I am told in the Original Greek signifie and comprehend the meanest and lowest as well as the highest kind and degree of Honour and Service to include and appropriate all manner parts and degrees of Religious Worship to GOD For who can imagine but that the Devil would have been content and very glad if our Saviour would but have worshipp'd him in any kind and with the most inferiour degree of Worship Quere VII But besides Reverend Fathers I farther enquire of you that if our Blessed Saviour had not by this Answer of his to the Devil also intended to exclude all the Worship of good as well as bad Spirits whether 't is not rational to think he would have answer'd the Devil thus The Lord thy God and good Spirits shalt thou adore and them only shalt thou serve And whether our Saviour's not mentioning of good Spirits either Angels or Saints or the B. Virgin but on the contrary confining Religious Worship and Service to GOD Only is not an unanswerable Objection and Argument against our Worshipping of Saints and Angels together with GOD and so makes us guilty of Idolatry For till you oblige me with a perfect Definition of Idolatry and convince me of an Error at present I humbly conceive Idolatry does not consist meerly in forsaking the Worship of the Supreme GOD but also in Worshipping any Being or thing else together with the Supreme GOD or while we continue to Worship the Supreme GOD. But if what I have now discours'd from this Answer of our Saviour be not the true meaning I beg you then to give me the true sence of it and prove your Interpretation by Vincentius Lirinensis's Rule Quere VIII If
Will of GOD Or is the one of a quite different nature and kind from the other And if they be then pray By what Names do ye distinguish them By what Acts and Signs are they express'd and known I have yet heard but of two sorts or kinds of Worship and Honour c. either Religious and Divine or Civil Now Reverend Fathers I take Religious and Civil Honour to be as different in their natures and kinds as GOD and Men are therefore I humbly enquire of You Which of these two sorts of Honour does this Trent-Catechism say The Angels refus'd as not theirs but GOD's due only And what Honour was it that the Angels were willing to have receiv'd was it Religious or Civil And whatever Honour it was can you prove from Scripture that the same kind and degree of Honour is due to the Saints also And is the same Honour both kinds and degrees which is due to Angels and Saints also due to our Parents and Elders and to Kings This Catechism in my opinion seems to say so But to deal freely the darkness and confusion I observe in this Book about so important a matter does not look well I appeal to you Reverend Fathers Whether it had not really been more fair and honest intelligible and instructive when the Authors of this Catechism were treating of honouring GOD the Angels c. plainly to have told us what kind and degree of Honour was proper and due to GOD what to the Angels and Saints and what to our Parents Elders and Kings and by what Words and Acts such Honour is to be express'd But since they have not I humbly beg it of you and till I receive your Information I shall conclude that we are only to pay such an Honour to Angels and Saints as we do to our Parents c. which I think we call Civil and not Religious Honour which I think consists in Love Respect c. But was it ever heard that any body here in England for example and in their Senses ever put up formal and solemn Prayer either Vocal or Mental in the Church or in their Closets to their Parents c. which might be in China or Virginia or but in France I shall therefore henceforward pay a great degree of Love and Respect for the B. Angels and Saints but I shall forbear Religiously to Invoke or Pray to them 1. Because they are but my Fellow-Creatures And 2. Because 't is much more absurd and unreasonable to call upon them then to call upon my Parents in a far Country because their distance from me is suppos'd to be incomparably greater and that I have no more assurance that they hear me than I have that my Parents hear me and so my Prayers are equally vain and impertinent Quere XI But Reverend Fathers Does not that place of the Prophet David Psal 65. ver 2. O thou that hearest prayer unto thee shall all flesh come and that other Text in the 10 Chapter of Rom. v. 14. How then shall they invocate in whom they have not believ'd very plainly prove these things 1. That none but GOD can hear our Prayers And 2. For that very reason all Mankind is directed to offer up their Prayers to him alone 3. That we cannot nor ought not to invocate or pray to any Being but what we Believe in And do we use to say that we Believe in any but in GOD In the Creed we say I believe in GOD c. But who says that knows what he says I Believe in the Arch Angel St. Michael or I Believe in St. Peter or I Believe in the Virgin Mary If then we do not Believe in i. e. put our hope trust and confidence in the Virgin Mary or any other Saints which are but Creatures as we do Believe in GOD the Creator why should we invocate and pray unto them What Sacriledge as well as Folly is this But Reverend Fathers if this be not the true meaning of these two Texts I humbly enquire of you what is the Infallible Sence of them and how I may be infallibly certain that what you say is the Sence is indeed so Quere XII But Reverend Fathers I am not ignorant that some of our Church argue that we ought to pray to Saints and Angels because they pray for us Now not to dispute with you about this consequence let me only humbly ask you Whether the Jews under the Law either in their publick or private Worship pray'd to the Angels Surely the Angels were in Heaven before as well as since the coming of our Saviour and pray'd for Mankind too and yet if you cannot prove that the Jews pray'd to and invocated them as we now do them and the Blessed Saints I beseech you how does it follow that because Angels and Saints pray for us men that therefore we are to pray to them But in good earnest Reverend Fathers Is not the true question in this matter not whether those Blessed Spirits pray for us but whether we are to pray to them Now we say that they are to be pray'd unto but can we prove it either from any Principles of Natural Reason or any positive Divine Law of GOD The Protestants say they are not to be pray'd unto and think they sufficiently prove what they say when they produce not only an express Law of GOD deliver'd by Moses to the Jews which forbids any other Being to be Worshipp'd but the Supreme GOD but also our Saviour's Answer to the Devil That GOD only is to be adored or worshipp'd and serv'd as also from other places of Holy Scripture that Prayer is an essential part of that Worship which is peculiar to GOD. So that Reverend Fathers if we cannot prove some of these things following have not the Protestants infinitly the better of us in this weighty matter either 1. That GOD gave no such Law to the Jews or 2. That he has Repeal'd it or 3. That our Saviour when he told the Devil that GOD only was to be Worshipp'd yet he meant that Good Spirits but not Evil were likewise to be Worshipp'd together with GOD So that I humbly ask What signifies to any rational Man that Argument of the Council of Trent viz. That it is good and profitable humbly to pray to the Saints unless we can shew plainly that GOD has commanded it Is the Authority of a Council tho' never so General sufficient to repeal an express Law of GOD which says GOD only is to be Worshipp'd Quere XIII Besides Reverend Fathers I observe that when the Authors of the Catechism of the Council of Trent p. 464. go about to prove who is to be pray'd to and that GOD is to be pray'd to they do it not only by Scripture viz. Psal 49.15 Call upon me in the day of tribulation but affirm That the very Light of Nature implanted in the Souls of Men teaches it But in the very next Section when they come to treat of Praying to
you say as I hope for the Honour of GOD and the Love of Truth you will that all kinds parts and degrees of Religious Worship are due only to GOD and that Prayer or Religious Invocation is a part of that Worship then Reverend Fathers I enquire of you Whether 't is not too plain that we Catholicks in our Religious Invocation of and Praying to the Saints and Angels are highly guilty of Idolatry since the most excellent Saint or Angel or even the B. Virgin herself is but a Creature and we give part of that Honour to it which is due to GOD who created that Angel or Saint And do not we likewise in Inovocating and Praying to the Saints and Angels attribute to them at least Omniscience or Omnipresence or else what superlative Nonsence is it to pray to them at all What shall we answer to GOD for thus robbing him of those Perfections peculiar to his infinite Essence And what will it avail us at the Great Day to say Lord we gave but an inferior degree of Religious Worship to some of thy Creatures which we believ'd more excellent than others and thy dear Friends when at the same time the Angry and Jealous GOD shall tell us That he had plainly reveal'd to us that every part and degree of Religious Worship was due only to him and that Prayer was a principal part of that Worship that was peculiar to him I say Reverend Fathers what will become of us when we shall be charg'd with giving part of that Honour and Worship tho' never so inferiour and for GOD's sake too to the Creatures which was only due to GOD the Creator This is a matter of vast consequence and therefore I humbly and earnestly beg you to give me a full Answer for my Mind and Conscience is extreamly perplex'd about it I have a great respect for the Authority of our Church but I must needs tell you Reverend Fathers that I begin to have a far greater regard to the Authority of GOD. Quere IX But Reverend Fathers I must trouble you with more Enquiries into this Affair for I look upon 't to be of far greater concern than the generality of our People do To deal freely with you till I am much better satisfied about the lawfulness of it I shall forbear offering up any Prayers either Vocal or Mental to the greatest and most glorious Saint or Angel in Heaven or even to the B. Virgin herself for doubtless as slight as we make of the matter yet a right Object of Worship is of infinite concern and I am now fully convinc'd not only that this Article of Invocation c. is one of the most essential in Religion but also that no less then our Eternal Salvation or Damnation depends on 't and therefore let no man think strange that I should cease Invocating Saints till I meet with ample satisfaction to my Doubts and Scruples For I have learnt of St. Paul That all that is not of faith is sin And of another Spiritual Guide That when a man's mind is in doubt the safer part is to be chosen and in Religious Doubts that which is most for the Honour of GOD which at present I am perswaded praying to and depending upon him alone is But I enquire Reverend Fathers Whether any Creature tho' never so excellent whether it be Angel or Saint or even the B. Virgin herself has any natural and inherent Right to any kind or degree of Religious Worship If it has I desire you to make it out if it has not then I enquire Whether to justifie a Practice of such vast moment we are not bound to shew an express positive Law of GOD And if there be such an express Divine Command I beseech you Reverend Fathers for mine and the quiet of other mens Consciences in this weighty matter to produce it But if you can neither shew that the most excellent Creature imaginable has a natural Right nor an express Command from GOD for any kind or part of Religious Worship then I further ask How can our Church in commanding and we in giving Religious Worship to Saints and Angels be acquitted from gross Idolatry And how can the Protestants be guilty of the least Sin for refusing and not doing an Action for which there is neither a Law of GOD or Nature But I further enquire Reverend Fathers and supposing the Protestants are mistaken and are over nice and curious in refusing to give any Divine Worship to Angels and excellent Saints c. Whether they are not in a much more innocent and pardonable condition than we of the Church of Rome since they do not give that Religious Worship to the Angels and Saints which innocently they might have done but were not bound to it by any Law of GOD and refus'd to do it not out of any contempt or disrespect to those excellent Spirits but purely through a mighty reverence to GOD and fear of giving his incommunicable Glory to a Creature But Reverend Fathers I have a mighty dread upon me that at the Great Day we shall have nothing to plead for our selves in case we be mistaken in giving any degree of Religious Worship tho' never so small to Creatures which is all due only to the Supreme GOD For tell me sincerely what can we offer in our excuse No positive Law of GOD for that I doubt forbids all Creature-Worship nor the Principles of Natural Reason for a very small measure of Natural Light tells us we cannot and we ought not Religiously to Worship any other Being than that which guides us and preserves our Being Quere X. Though I have already Reverend Fathers in this Section made some Enquiries concerning the Nature of that Worship which is due to GOD only and that which is due to his Excellent Creatures yet I cannot forbear enquiring further upon my meeting since with what the Catechism of the Council of Trent says in p. 344 concerning the Worship and Invocation of Saints viz. That whereas we read that the Angels refus'd to be worshipp'd by Men it must be understood that they did so because they would not have that Honour done to them which was due to GOD alone For the Holy Spirit who says Honour and Glory be to GOD Only the same has commanded to honour our Parents and Elders Besides Holy Men who Worshipped one GOD only did adore Kings also i. e. did humbly reverence them Now here Reverend Fathers give me leave humbly to enquire of you Whether that Honour which is due to GOD alone and this Honour which we are commanded to give to our Parents and Elders and to Kings is of the same kind and nature and differ only in Degrees If it differs only in degrees how many degrees are due to GOD alone and how many to his excellent Creatures such as Angels and Saints and where is this determin'd in Scripture for that I must tell you I take to be the only external Revelation of the
Saints they only say We fly to the Assistance of the Saints that are in Heaven to whom also that Prayers are to be made has been held so certain in the Church of GOD that to pious Men there can arise no doubt Now Reverend Fathers I humbly enquire of you that if either in this place or in the 344 p. where they also treated of this matter they could have produced any direct proofs either from Scripture or the Light of Nature is it imaginable that they would have omitted them here and have contented themselves with only saying That Prayers to Saints has been held so certain in the Church of GOD that to pious Men there can be no doubt And whether this ample proof of theirs for Prayer to GOD and their no proof for Prayer to Saints is not a loud confession of our Church that we cannot prove Invocation of Saints lawful especially too when a Man considers that the very best proof and argument the great Council of Trent was able to produce was only this That it is good and profitable but not a word that it is either commanded by GOD or dictated to us by the Light of Nature Will not any man that believes it to be of vast moment to have a right Object of Worship consider these things Quere XIV When our B. Lord set us a pattern how to Pray he directs us only to say Our Father c. and to present our Petitions to GOD alone Now if Christ would have had us pray to Saints and Angels also I humbly enquire of you Reverend Fathers Whether so mean a thought can enter into any sober Man's Head as to think that our B. Saviour would have conceal'd or omitted That or any thing else in so important a matter as Prayer which either had been our Duty or had been but good and profitable to us in our way to Heaven And whether our Lord 's not having done this i. e. not advis'd us to pray to Saints and Angels as well as to GOD is not a good negative Argument against our Practice Quere XV. Farther I enquire of you Reverend Fathers Whether GOD intended by the coming of Christ to root Idolatry out of the World If he did as I hope you 'll say he did Whether 't is possible for a rational Man to think that as one effectual means to that end our Saviour ever design'd to set up the Religious Worship of Saints and Angels and praying before Images and Pictures Can I say a rational man be of so extravagant Faith as to believe that the Blessed Jesus who came to destroy all Creature-Worship then so much practis'd in the Heathen World intended to set up a new kind of Creature and Image-Worship only rectifying Mens Notions and Opinions about it and changing their Country Gods into Heavenly Saints and Angels and the B. Virgin and giving new Names to their Statues and Images If a man I say can once bring himself to believe that our Saviour intended by this means to cure mens inclinations towards Idolatry I desire to know of you Reverend Fathers what can come amiss to such a Man's Faith Quere XVI Again Reverend Fathers I read in the 344. p. of our Trent Catechism that the Holy Spirit says Honour and Glory be to GOD only But pray then How comes it to pass that many of our Authors of Devotion and particularly a late one that has set forth the Contemplations on the Life and Glory of Holy Mary c. say Glory be to Jesus and Mary Methinks Reverend Fathers this joyning the Blessed Virgin with the Holy Jesus and Saviour of the World and giving her equal Praise Honour and Glory with GOD at best looks a little disobedient to the Holy Spirit and is very undecent But if Glory c. be due to GOD only as you own the Holy Spirit itself says What bold blasphemous Wretches are we then to give it to a Creature And this Author I observe makes no difference between Jesus and Mary in his giving Honour and Glory must not any one conclude then that the same Honour and Glory is given to Mary as to Jesus The horrour of which makes me tremble Quere XVII But further I enquire of you Reverend Fathers Whether Religious Praise as well as Prayer is not an essential part of the Worship of GOD And whether by it we poor Creatures do not pay that Homage which is proper and due to the Divine Majesty only And whether this Hymn of Glory be c. has not from the very first Ages always been us'd as a peculiar Form of giving Praise Honour and Glory to GOD and the Holy Trinity And if so Whether by our saying Glory be to Jesus and Mary we do not equally Worship Her with Jesus Give equal Glory and Honour and Praise to a Creature as to GOD the Almighty Creator and one of the Persons of the B. Trinity And whether this is not both downright Sacriledge and Idolatry Quere XVIII But Reverend Fathers upon a Friend of mine with whom I often confer about these matters and who is as much dissatisfied as myself I say upon his Englishing to me this Versicle in the Office for the Festival of St. Mar. ad Nives viz. Make me worthy to praise thee O Holy Virgin and also out of the same Office this Prayer or Lesson which is said upon the Second Day of the Octave of the Nativity of the B. Virgin viz. O B. Mary who can sufficiently give thee Praise and Thanks who by thy singular assent didst succour the World when it was undone What Praises sufficient can frail Mankind pay unto thee who has found a way of recovery only by thy commerce with GOD We therefore pray thee receive our Thanksgivings how mean soever they be and unequal to thy Merits I say I yet farther enquire of you Whether Religious Praise has not always been counted the Sacrifice of a Christian And if Sacrifice which the Bishop of Meaux acknowledges to be a * Exposition Sect. 3. p. 4. principal part of that interiour Adoration which is due to GOD and cannot be offer'd to any but to him because by it we make a publick Acknowledgment and a solemn Protestation of GOD's Soveraignty and our absolute dependance How can we without being guilty of Blasphemy and Idolatry by this Prayer and that Hymn before mention'd viz. Glory be to c. which by all other Christians at least except us was ever us'd as a peculiar and appropriated Form of Praising GOD and the Holy Trinity offer up this Sacrifice of Praise c. to the Virgin Mary who is confessedly but a Creature But besides Reverend Fathers Pray How comes it to pass that in this Prayer we attribute to the Virgin Mary the finding out the Recovery of lost Mankind I profess I always thought that we Christians at least made the Holy Trinity the sole Contriver of the Redemption and Salvation of Mankind Is not so mighty a Work a
Why are they not I say call'd in or forbid or the Doctrines by the highest Authority condemn'd and the Authors who are alive severely punisht A Collection of these Doctrines I am told is made by one or more of the Doctors of Sorbonne who are esteem'd by most wise and good Men as Orthodon Catholicks as any and is Entituled The Morals of your Society Now Reverend Fathers to a Man that is never so little touch'd with the true spirit of a Christian must it not needs be a sad consideration to think how many poor ignorant People in our Communion fall into the misery of such Guides And ought not this to make all us Catholicks very careful and cautious about the choice of our Spiritual Guides and Ghostly Fathers since it seems there are so many in our Church that if we follow'd them would lead us into such pernitious and damnable Errors And here upon this consideration I cannot omit in this place enquiring of you and I humbly beg you to give me a particular answer to it What signifies it to us ignorant Lay People whether the Pope or a General Council or both together be Infallible if the Parish Priest Fryar or Jesuit who has the management of our Souls be not Infallible also For since he is our immediate Teacher and not the General Council nor the Pope is it not plain that if he should be either a Fool or a Knave he may either through ignorance or to serve some carnal and worldly Interest lead us into damnable Errors I could be much larger in my Thoughts on this Enquiry but I consider that I may have a fitter occasion for it and therefore shall make no further digression Quere III. But Reverend Fathers I must needs yet be plainer with you and tell you That whether such things as Cardinal Bonaventare and others have taught about the Virgin Mary be or be not the Doctrine of our Church I am nevertheless infinitely disturb'd in my mind If what Bonaventure has writ be not the Doctrine of our Church then I am infinitely scandaliz'd that our Church should Canonize for a Saint a Person guilty of such horrid and blasphemous Doctrine And then again suppose you could satisfie me which I fear you cannot that our Church has actually condemn'd these Books and Writings of his and others yet certainly is it not a most dangerous thing to be in our Communion where such Spiritual Guides are so frequent Lord say I to myself what a deal of mischief may they do and how many Souls may they poyson and ruin eternally before their damnable Errors and pernicious Doctrines are discover'd and condemn'd Whatever you may think on 't Reverend Fathers I do profess that I am deeply sensible that we Catholicks run a desperate hazard in the choice and use of our Spiritual Guides And does not this frequency of False Teachers among us make it highly reasonable and necessary that we People should have the liberty to examine their Doctrines whether true or false And if we must examine them as I do not see but we are bound unless you can prove that we must blindly follow our Guides then I desire to know of you By what Rule and by what Means and Faculties Surely there is not only some certain Rule but some certain means to use that Rule by in our Church for us Lay People or else to what purpose is the liberty you give us of examining and trying your Doctrines But I fancy I may have room to make a particular Enquiry concerning this matter and therefore shall step no farther from my present subject Quere IV. But Reverend Fathers the two words Command and Compel which our Cardinal and Saint Bonaventure us'd in his Orizon to the Virgin Mary and quoted in the First Query of this Section are so excessive harsh and horrid that I could not forbear enquiring of you Whether these Words do not with a witness elevate the Virgin Mary above the condition of a Creature Exposition Sect. 4. p. 7. which yet the Bishop of Meanx is so modest to say our Church does not And does it not only make her equal but also set her infinitly above GOD her Creator Unless that Person who Commands and Compels be inferior to the Person Commanded and Compelld Quere V. If I mistake not Reverend Fathers we account the Rosary a special Piece of Devotion and great things are said of its effects by many of our Eminent Writers and Guides in Devotion Now I will not at present enquire into these things nor into the great Mysteries said to be in it but will only humbly ask you 1. What Antiquity or what Reason can you shew for turning the Angel's Salutation of the Virgin Mary into a direct Prayer to her Did the Angel Gabriel say Holy Mother of GOD pray for us Sinners now and in the Hour of Death if the Angel did not How comes it to be pertinent for us to do it But 2. What is the true reason that in the Rosary we are to say Ten Ave Maries to One Pater Noster I have often askt this Question of some of our Priests but could never get a satisfactory Answer Now if in this matter I had Courage enough to follow my Reason I profess I think I should say Ten Pater Nosters to One Ave Marie For seriously Reverend Fathers has not GOD given us incomparably far greater Evidence both of his Love and Power than ever the Virgin Mary did 3. Why do our Preachers immediately before their Sermons say an Ave Marie Why do they address themselves to the Virgin Mary upon that occasion Is she the Fountain and Giver of all good and perfect Gifts Does Wisdom and Eloquence come from her Would it not think ye be far more decent and reasonable to address to GOD or to the Holy Ghost at such a time But after all What Reason or Antiquity can you produce for this strange Practice Quere VI. Can you Reverend Fathers prove by Vincentius Lirinensis's Rule that departed Souls do enjoy Beatifical Vision before the Day of Judgment If you can I humbly beg you would do it As also that the Saints departed do certainly hear our Prayers You perceive well enough I doubt not why I make this Enquiry For if the departed Saints neither enjoy Beatifical Vision nor hear our Prayers Is it not yet more absurd for us to pray to them Quere VII I think that we assert that all Certainty in Matters of Religion must be Infallible or else it is nothing worth because we can never rely upon it Now pray Reverend Fathers What Infallible Assurance have we Catholicks that all those who are Canoniz'd Saints by his Holiness are indeed Saints and in Heaven If we have not Infallible Assurance what reason have we Religiously to Invocate them Quere VIII Our Representer p. 4. distinguishes between Mediators of Redemption and Mediators of Intercession of this last he says He does not at all doubt but 't