great Sacrament and no more question the works of God but conclude with that holy man Thomas de Kempes That if the wonderful works of God were to be understood by our reason they could not be said to be wonderful and unspeakable Thus have I shewed the truth of this Sacrament by the Protestants own Bible which though it work not my desired effects in the belief of it yet I hope it will reduce them to a more charitable opinion of us who think our selves bound to believe it because it is inserted in Holy Scripture according to that of our Saviour Search the Scriptures for therein you shall finde eternal life Chap. 2. Proving Sacramental Confession both by Holy Scripture and Reason against the Opinion of Protestants HAd we the prudence of our Predecessors in submitting our Judgements to Gods Church both as concerning this verity and all others we should not have so much peevish wrangling continually as we have in points of Faith but contrariwise we should joyn hand in hand in one uniform Doctrine of Christian Religion but being far from that happiness in this age we are possest with quite contrary for every one will be his own Judge and pass sentence though it be against Scripture and Reasont too and this will plainly appear when we consider that Confession hath been the practice of all Ages since Christ to this day I shall not need to produce the Authority of every Age which might easily be done it being out of my design because it is so plainly commanded in Holy Writ which ought not by any that professeth himself a Christian to be denied and if not so of necessity to be put in practice The first place I shall prove it from is out of the Gospel of Saint Matthew who speaking of Saint Johns Baptism Mat. 3. v. 5.6 saith They came from Jerusalem and Judea and were Baptized of him confessing their Sins Now to evade this Text the Protestants say That the people confessed themselves in general to be sinners But how poor this shift is let every one judge that hath a minde to know the truth for St. John knew and we all know that every man in general is a sinner without their saying so but the Text saith They confessed their sins which plainly argueth every ones particular sins Again you shall see what another Evangelist saith to the same purpose Mark 1. v. 5. And there went out to him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan confessing their sins It may justly bring an asTonishment on the souls of true Christians to consider that those people which say they will believe nothing but the Bible yet when they come to the touchstone of it will believe never a word more then what their own fancies please But now as I have shown you how this was practised amongst the Jews in our Saviours time so now you shall be shown how Christs Apostle from him doth command the same Saint James saith James 5. v. 16. Confess your sins one to another and in all reason and duty since it is thus commanded we are bound under the penalty of damnation to do all the commands of the New Testament at least to believe them to be lawful Many examples of this practice have we in the Old Testament commanded by God himself as in Numbers he saith Numb 5. v. 6.7 That if any man or woman had committed any sins that then they shall confess their sin and he shall recompence his trespass committed So David used Confession to Nathan the Prophet 2 Sam. 12. v. 13. and if there were no Scripture at all Reason might tell us that it is a Divine Institution First in regard of the goodness that is in it self for we finde nothing more repugnant to our corrupt natures then to confess our sins to a Priest from which we may gather that the more it is against our frail natures the more it hath conformity to Gods will in regard by sad experience we all finde how difficult it is for us to comply with Gods will in those things that concerns our salvation Secondly The thought of confessing our sins to a Priest oftentimes hinders our design in committing sins Thirdly by confessing our sins to a Priest to whom God hath given our souls in charge Heb. 13. v. 17. and must give an account for them he knows what sins we are infected with and knows the better what Doctrine to preach to us for the remedy of our spiritual distempers And can any reasonable man think that if it were not a Divine Law that so many Emperours and Kings and Princes as are and have been would stoop on their knees to a poor Priest in a gray course Gown to make their Confession No we may well imagine they would not being men that commonly follow the dictates of their own will did not their consciences tell them it was from God and not of mans invention Now by this you may plainly see what reason the Catholick Church hath to propose Confession to her Children and likewise what madness 't is for Protestants and others to impugne so naked a Truth and so good a principle of Faith as Confession is My advice therefore is to all that enjoy not this benefit That they would beseech the giver of all goodness to unite them in communion with his holy Catholick Church and make them obedient Members thereof if they expect salvation from his hands according to that of Saint Augustine That he that will not acknowledge the Church for his Mother cannot lawfully call God his Father and that out of the Catholic Church there is no salvation Chap. 3. Proving Purgatory or a temporal satisfaction to Gods Justice for our sins committed here against the Belief of Protestants DId we not by the irregular passions of our mindes throw down Reason the Queen of our souls and set up an Idol in her place called Opinion we should with much facility imbrace this verity so long practised by Gods Church though it were for no other reason but because it is practised there but since nothing but Scripture will serve the turns of many in the world I shall plainly set it forth by that rule that they may have no excuse to deceive themselves But first it is necessary to let you know that as God hath these two Attributes to wit Mercy and Justice so he is to have them both satisfied As to the first he satisfies himself in pouring down his Spiritual and Temporal Blessings into our Souls and Bodies for the good of both And the second must be satisfied either in our doing or suffering according as our sins deserve Agreeable to this truth is that satisfaction which God hath required in Scripture so often for example Gen. 3. that of our first Parents for so soon as they had abused the mercy of God which placed them there presently his
To the Reader AMongst all the Miseries that attend our Humane Frailty there is none to be so much bewailed as the stupidity of our mindes which renders us worse then beasts and deprives us of that felicity for which we were Created which was to fill up the glorious places of the Lapsed Angels and so have been happy to all eternity the verity of this will plainly appear when we consider the madness of this our present Age where People suck in Errour as Children do Milk from their Mothers Breasts and unadvisedly repel Truth as one would do a Serpent that attempts their ruine they hiss at those that invites them to Happiness and hug the Preachers of their Misery that imbrace all kindes of Novelties and kick against ancient verities that cry out the Bible the Bible and yet believe nothing in it more then their own Fancies dictate to them Now that these people of which there is too many may a little see and know their own Errours I shall in this following Discourse prove that their own Bibles which they pretend to confide in both is and shall be their assured Judge to condemn their erroneous opinions as also their guide being rightly understood to the knowledge of the Truth as also make it appear that all the chief points of Religion which Protestants deny and Roman Catholicks practice is found and commanded in their own Bibles by which will appear with what partial eyes they have looked upon Scripture that read it over so often and cannot see those places which pointeth Gods Church and the Faith thereof so plainly to them for it is indeed with these kinde of people as it is with the Jews to this day who though they read in the Old Testament the Prophecies which plainly foretold Christs coming his Life and dolorous Death yet are so blinded with unbelief that they cannot understand the same so all that are now out of Gods Church read and tumble over the Old and New Testament and yet cannot see the plain places which all Christians are bound to believe under the peril of damnation and all this is because men have presumptuous mindes in trusting to their own understandings and will not relye on Gods Church which plainly shews them to her Members when none else can because she onely is guided in all truth by the Holy Ghost to the end of the world All therefore that I shall desire of every Protestant Reader is onely this that he minde and look closely to every Text of Scripture here quoted and what is said with an impartial eye and observe well how Scripture and reason concur in the truth of what is treated of concerning our Faith which is so much slandered by their teachers and others for though it be lightly made on by some yet they shall one day finde that the diligent search after truth was one of the main things for which we were sent into the world which truth being practised in Gods Church is here plainly proved which though not delicately dressed with crafty Sentences but in poor and simple style may I hope produce the desired effects for which it was intended that is that all deceived people may finde the way to Gods Church that all Ignorance and Errours may be banished and Truth take place that true Religion may flourish as a green Bay-Tree and Heresies and Factions wither as Plants without rain that living all our lives in communion with Gods Church we may at last enjoy that blessed end for which we were created THE Catholick Mirrour Chap. 1. This is to prove the Verity of the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour and that it is really so contrary to Protestants Opinion THe Misbelief of these times is such that it may give a just astonishment to all true Christians especially when they consider how little Faith many have in this most Blessed Sacrament and that there is no one thing our Blessed Saviour did so much inculcate to us in his whole life concerning any point of Faith as this he very well knowing the greatness of the Mystery and the smallness of our Faith it is in Holy Scripture often mentioned to be really his Body and Blood because we may plead no excuse by any mistake of one place alone and first you shall see how this Blessed Sacrament was prefigured to us in the Old Testament by the holy men of God and his Prophets as in Exodus 16.15 concerning the Manna which came down from Heaven to the Israelites to feed their Bodies so that foretold of this Spiritual Manna which feeds our Souls for should not this Blessed Sacrament be of greater value then Protestants make of it who say it is barely Bread and a Figure onely of Christ his Body then this Manna which was indeed a Figure would be of greater validity then that which it prefigured which is very absurd to think A second Figure we finde in Scripture is that Holy Bread of Proposition Exod. 25 Lev. 24. v. 5.6 7. or Shew-Bread which because it was a Figure of this most Holy Sacrament was to be made and eaten with such purity that none but sanctified persons was to eat of it to shew with what purity and reverence we ought to approach these Holy Mysteries The third Figure in Holy Writ is the Paschal Lamb Exod. 12. v. 3.4 5 6 c. an eminent Figure of this Sacrament wherein you may observe what Ceremonies God exacted from the Jews in the eating of it although but a Type of this from whence we may gather that this which Christ hath Instituted is to be had in a far higher esteem amongst Christians as requiring greater Faith in the believing of it and reverence in the receiving The fourth Figure was the Ark Exod. 25.10.11 12. whereof the Holy Doctor Saint Thomas saith 1.2 q. 102. ar That even as the Ark was made of the Wood of Sethim that is of pure and shining Cedar even so the Body of our Lord consisteth of most pure Members Again the Ark was gilded both within and without the which gilding signifieth the Wisdom and Charity of Christ our Lord. In the Ark were three things 1. There was a golden Pot wherein was kept Manna and was a figure of the Soul of Christ which containeth all plenitude of Sanctity and Divinity 2. There was the Rod of Aaron which signified the Priestly Power of Christ and as the Ark stood in the Tabernacle covered with a Vail even so Christ lyeth hidden in this Divine Sacrament under the Forms and Accidents of Bread and Wine which we must discover with the eyes of Divine Faith according to Saint Paul That Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen 3. There was in the Arke the two tables of Stone to signifie that Christ should be a Law-giver and this being one of his greatest Laws to believe in him let us take him at his word and thank
for the pardon of his enemies that did not desire it we need not question but his charity is much more now and will be infinitely more ready to pray to God for those that are his friends and Members of the same Church which do heartily beg it of him and as we see his prayer then took effect with God for the conversion of his chiefest enemy Saul which was presently after so we may justly hope that God will bestow his graces upon us by his holy Intercession But for your further instruction consider what knowledge God gave to all the Prophets of old time to foretell all those great things that happened in the world in our Saviours time and since which we know were all true and if God gave such power to men when they were upon earth do we think that God deprives Angels or those Prophets that are now in heavenly glory of that power or that Christs blessed Mother which prophesied that all generations should call her blessed Luke 1. ver 48. doth not know that she is so called by all generations it were a madness beyond compare to imagine such a foolish thing which is so contrary to the express word of God I shall now conclude my discourse of this subject with one example which I think had there been no Scripture to have proved what I have said would be of force enough with any reasonable person to induce them to the belief of it We all know by our faith that the Devil was once an Angel of heaven and since his fall from that happy place it is all his design to make us miserable and we all by sad experience know that he knows all our actions as when we would do good he strives to hinder us and when we intend to do evil he sets us forward in the performance of it Nay when we do not intend evil he puts it into our mindes to do it and all the sins we commit is from the Devil and I pray how came he by this power but only as he was once an Angel of heaven let us not think God gave him this power since he was a Devil of Hell or that God which dearly loves our salvation as is plainly shown by him in the Death of his Son for us would give more power to the Devil to work our destruction then he doth to the good Angels which desire and assist us in our salvation we know too well that he leads thousands to sin at one time and do we not think the holy Angels endeavour the same to lead us to vertue we know or may know to our costs that he is watchful and diligent to bring us to ruine and do we not think the Angels are as careful to guard us from it so that for any one to deny this truth must certainly be possest with an heathenish spirit which will shut its eyes against all Christian verities Now what hath been said chiefly of the Angels is the same of the Saints in heaven which are in the same place and glory and esteem with God according to that of our blessed Saviour speaking to the Sadduces about the Resurrection Luke 20. ver 36. That they which should be worthy to obtain heaven should dye no more but should be equal to the Angels Thus having as I think shown sufficiently the truth of this point I shall next proceed to shew you how we may lawfully without derogation to Christs Intercession desire them to pray to God for us and with this conclude that certainly God will never permit those the society of Angels that live and dye in so poor and beggarly esteem of those glorious spirits Chap. 6. Proving that since it is evident that Angels and Saints can hear our prayers we may lawfully pray to them as Intercessours for us to God IT is a thing not a little to be admired when we consider that man which by nature loveth those things which may make him happy should yet himself be the onely obstacle of his not being truly so we all naturally desire heaven but through the corruption of that nature in us we take the wrong course to obtain it for what wise man can think that they which hate society with Angels and Saints whilst they are on earth can ever attain that happiness in heaven since those that touch at the honour of them touches the apple of Gods eye as our Blessed Saviour said to his Disciples when they were upon earth He that hateth you hateth me and he that loveth you loveth me Mat. 10. v. 42. And if any one give but a cup of cold water in the name of a Disciple he should not lose his reward so dear are all his servants to him and if so while they are on this dunghill earth sure they are much more dear to him in his Palace of Heaven and we can no wayes bonour God more next to the Worship of himself then by respecting and having communion with his heavenly Citizens whilst we are on earth and besides it is an Article of our Faith in the Creed I believe the Communion of Saints which we that are on earth can no wayes do but by our praying to them and their praying for us and this is the true Communion of Saints Gen. 48. v. 16. Agreeable to this shall you finde in Holy Scripture how Jacob after he blessed his Son Joseph he invokes an Angel to bless Josephs Sons saying The Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless these lads so here you see it was the practice of this holy man by which we may have the less reason to scruple it but observe what he saith more And let my name and the names of my Fathers Abaham and Isaac be named by them which infers that they should invoke their names in the behalf of their obtaining any thing from God and it is frequently mentioned in Scripture of desiring mercy from God for Abraham Isaac and Jacobs sake and for thy servant Davids sake all this we know to be true and will it think you displease God to desire mercy from him for the Blessed Virgin Maries sake or St. Peter or St. Pauls sake Job 5. v. 1. who were as holy persons as ever the other were so we may see in holy Jobs time it was practised for Eliphaz upbraiding of him saith Call now Zach. 1. ver 1. if there be any that will answer thee and to which of the Saints wilt thou turn so in the Prophet Zachariah we finde an Angel praying for Jerusalem Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said O Lord of Hosts how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years now what can be desired more plain then these places are if we are not wilfully blinde It will cause every one both to the belief and practice of this sacred Communion with those blessed spirits
Council Nice We do not offer worship to the matter as Wood or Stone or painting in colours but through these being brought to the person represented by them we give due honour to him knowing accordingly that the respect to the Image passes to him who is represented by it Chap. 9. Proving that Man hath Free Will to do Good or not to do it contrary to the Opinion of Protestants DId those men which deny this point of Faith but admit in the height of their passions either of reason or consideration they would blush for shame when they shewed them what Traytors they are to themselves in robbing their natures of one prime quality which God hath given them for an ornament to the same for take from man his free-will and you may turn him like a Nebuchadnezzar amongst the beasts for God by Miracle can make him do good actions in that form and nature but for the want of prudent considering the actions of their lives they run into as many disorders as their giddy fancies pleases to suggest to them but this is the misery of most men that when the Devil tempts them to these evils they will not resist but entertain all and amongst al his hellish deceits he hath none that takes more with weak understandings then this sly trick of his seeming to attribute all to God as he tempts Hereticks to believe that Angels must not be reverenced nor Saints respected nor prayed too but all to God which is his devillish slight to hinder that service to God as I proved before and that all mens good works done by Gods holy Grace are sinful and merit nothing onely to hinder and make men carefuless to do such good works and that man hath no free-will onely to make man idle and not strive to imploy those graces that God hath been pleased to bestow upon us so that did all men but once discover these tricks of Satan we should easily see that God is honoured by these things because they are his gifts and benefits which he hath been pleased to bestow on us to enrich our souls and make us more capable of serving him The truth of this shall be as plainly proved by Scripture and Reason as any thing before treated of that so we may lay open the shameful hypocrisie of those that work their self-ends from ignorant people meerly through the blinde pretence of Scripture which being so done you will finde hem rotten at the very heat And first of all concerning Cain where God tells him Gen. 4. v. 7. If thou do well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou dost not well sin lyeth at thy door so here it is plain that God left it to his choice to do well or not to do it Again God said unto Moses Behold I will rain bread from Heaven Exod. 16. v. 4. and the people shall go out and gather it every day that I may prove them whether they will walk in my way or no now if they had not had a free-will why should God say he owuld try them so that you see God left them to their free-will to see whether they would serve him better or no. Again God saith to them in Deuteronomy Deut. 11. v. 26. Behold I set before you a blessing and a curse a blessing if you will obey the Commandments of your God and a curse if you will not obey Now consider that as this is plainly and truly Gods word so plainly and truly doth it show free-will to be in man Again God saith to them in the same Book Chap. 28. v. 1.2 If you will hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all his Commandments I will set thee on high above all the Nations and so tells them how many sorts of blessing he will bestow upon them if they will keep his Commandments but if they would no Ver. 15. he tells them how many curses should light upon them And in the same Book again he saith to them in a very strange manner I call heaven and earth to record this day against you Chap. 30. v. 19. that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that thou and thy seed may live I might justly stand amazed here at these Texts of Gods word and admire with what face men can say they believe the Bible and not tremble when they say so considering how they deny this free-will in man which God hath given him and other principles of Christian Religion proved before for here we see God himself layes it before us and leaves it to us and what would we have God do more unless he should work Miracles daily and we lye like beasts or stones and do nothing The same did God offer to David by his Prophet Gad saying 2 sam 24. v. 12. God and say unto David thus saith the Lord I offer thee three things choose the one of them that I might do it unto thee Now here God would not execute his Justice on David till he had chosen what punishment he would himself that might be most for his good And to his Son Solomon God saith likewise 1 King 6. v. 12. If thou wilt walk in my Statutes and execute my Judgements and keep all my Commandments then will I perform my word with thee by all which is still more plain that Solomon had a free-will Now though this that hath been said might serve sufficiently to convince those that have held the contrary and desire to imbrace the truth of Gods word in reality yet I will proceed for their further satisfaction and knowledg of the truth in this point and first out of the Gospel of Saint Matthew where our Saviour cryes out Mat. 23. v. 37. O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered you together as a hen doth her Chickens but you would not see here how Christ complains of them because they would not imploy their wills in his holy service as he would have had them done for saith he I would but you would not and in another place he saith I thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments so that in every place it is referred to our free-will to do and not to do any good action as is plain by all these places of Scripture by which you may see what folly they are guilty of that say we have none or that it takes away the honour from God which can no wayes be for since we say that free-will in us is a gift from God and the good actions we do by that will is inspired into us by God then is God the Original of all and we onely the instruments of doing it or not doing it for we all know that God often inspires us to good actions which we never do to our shame we may say it and that he would have us to do them is clear or else he would not inspire us