Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A61552
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The doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome truly represented in answer to a book intituled, A papist misrepresented, and represented, &c.
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Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing S5590; ESTC R21928
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99,480
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174
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Divine Worship to it And St. Jerom as hot as he was against Vigâ—antius yet he utterly denied giving any Adoration to the Reliques of Martyrs It seems then it is very possible to exceed that way 2. The Question then is Whether those Acts of Worship which are allowed in the Church of Rome do not go beyond due Veneration For it is unreasonable to suppose those who give it to believe those Reliques to be Gods and therefore it must be such a Worship as is given to them supposing them to be only Reliques of such Persons The Council of Trent decrees Honour and Veneration to be given to them but never determines what is due and what not it forbids all Excesses in drinking and eating in the visiting of Reliques but not a word of Excesses in worshipping of them unless it be comprehended under the name of Superstition But Superstition lies in something forbidden according to their notion of it therefore if there be no Prohibition by the Church there can be no Superstition in the Worship of them And if they had thought there had been any in the known Practices of the Church they would certainly have mentioned them and because they did not we ought in Reason to look on them as allowed And yet not only Cassander complains of the great Superstition about them but even the Walenbergii lately confess that the Abuses therein have not only been offensive to us but to themselves too But what saith our Representer to them He believes it damnable to think there 's any Divinity in the Reliques of Saints or to adore them with Divine Honour P. 7. But what is this adoring them with Divine Honour A true Representer ought to have told us what he meant by it when the whole Controversy depends upon it Is it only saying Mass to Reliques or believing them to be Gods Is there no giving Divine Honour by Prostration burning of Incense c. Nothing in expecting help from them Yes if it be from any hidden Power of their own But here is a very hard Question If a Man doth not believe it to be an intrinsick Power in the Reliques may a Man safely go to them Opis impetrandae causà as the Council of Trent saith in hopes of Relief from them Is it not possible for the Devil to appear with Samuel's true Body and make use of the Relique of a Saint to a very bad end Then say I no Reliques can secure Men against the Imposture of Evil Spirits who by God's Permission may do strange things with the very Reliques of Saints But God hath visibly worked by them saith our Author by making them Instruments of many Miracles and it is as easie for him to do it now P. 8 9. This is the force of all he saith To which I answer 1. It is a very bold thing to call in God's Omnipotency where God himself hath never declared he will use his Power for it is under his own Command and not ours But there is no Reason to deduce the Consequence of using it now because he hath done it formerly And that they may not think this is cavilling in us I desire them to read Pere Annat's Answer to the Jansenists pretended Miracle at Port Royal viz. of the Cure wrought by one of our Saviour's Thorns There he gives another account of such Miracles than would be taken from us But where he saith It is as much for the Honour of God's Name to work such Miracles now their own Authors will tell him the contrary and that there is no such Reason now as in former times when Religion was to be confirmed by them and when Martyrs suffered upon the sole account of the Truth of it and therefore their Reputation had a great Influence upon converting the unbelieving World 2. Suppose it be granted yet it proves not any Religious Worship to be given to them For I shall seriously ask an important Question Whether they do really believe any greater Miracles have ever been done by Reliques than were done by the Brazen Serpent And yet altho that was set up by God's own Appointment when it began to be worshipped after an undue manner it was thought fit by Hezekiah to be broken in pieces What now was the undue Worship they gave to it Did they believe the Serpent which could neither move nor understand was it self a God But they did burn Incense to it And did that make a God of it Suppose Men burn Incense to Reliques What then are they made Gods presently Suppose they do not but place them upon Altars carry them in Procession fall down before them with intention to shew the Honour they do them are not these as much as burning a little Incense which could not signifie so much Honour as the other do and it is hard then to make the one unlawful and not the other V. Of the Eucharist THere are two material Points under this Head which are to be examined because he endeavours to set them off with all the advantage he can viz. Adoration of the Host and Transubstantiation I. Of the Adoration of the Host. 1. The Question is far enough from being Whether it be lawful to commit Idolatry as our Representer puts it For the Misrepresenter saith That a Papist believes it lawful to commit Idolatry and to clear this our Author gravely saith He believes it unlawful to commit Idolatry Pag. 9. As tho any Men ever owned it to be lawful Which is as if the Question were Whether such a Man committed Adultery and he should think to clear himself by saying he believed it unlawful to commit Adultery 2. The Question is not Whether Christ may be lawfully adored by us in the Celebration of the Eucharist which we are so far from denying that our Church requires our receiving it in the posture of Adoration 3. The true Question is Whether the Body of Christ being supposed to be present in the Host by Transubstantiation be a sufficient ground to give the same Adoration to the Host which they would do to the Person of Christ And that this is the true state of the Question will appear by these things 1. The Council of Trent first defined Transubstantiation and from thence inferred Adoration of the Host as is most evident to any one that will read the fourth and fifth Decrees of the 13th Session Nullus itaque dubitandi locus c. i. e. If Transubstantiation be true then Adoration follows It 's true the sixth Canon only speaks of Christ being there worshipped but that ought to be compared with the first second and fourth Canons where the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is fully set down as the Foundation of that Adoration 2. The Adoration is not fixed on the Person of Christ as separate from the Host but as making one Object of Worship together with it And so the Council of Trent declares in the sixth Decree when it saith The Sacrament is never the less to be
innumerable Titles she claims the utmost Duty of every Christian as a proper Homage to her Greatness What can be said more of the Son of God in our Nature In the Book it self she is said to be Queen of Angels Patroness of the Church Advocate of Sinners that the Power of Mary in the Kingdom of Jesus is suitable to her Maternity and other Priviledges of Grace and therefore by it she justly claims a Servitude from all pure Creatures But wherein doth this special Devotion to her consist He names several Particulars 1. In having an inward cordial and passionate value of the Maternity of Mary and all other Excellencies proper to and inseparable from the Mother of God 2. In External Acts of Worship of eminent Servitude towards her by reason of the Amplitude of her Power in the Empire of Jesus And can we imagine these should go no farther than a poor Ora pro Nobis He instances in these External Acts of her Worship 1. Frequent visiting holy Places dedicated to her Honour And are not those her Temples then which Bellarmin confesses to be a peculiar part of the Worship due to God And the Distinction of Basilicae cannot hold here because he believes the Assumption of the B. Virgin and he will not pretend to her Honour is only for Discrimination 2. A special Reverence towards Images representing her Person 3. Performing some daily Devotions containing her Praises congratulating her Excellency or imploring her Mediation and by oft calling upon the Sacred Name of holy Mary c. 3. In having a firm and unshaken Confidence in her Patronage amidst the greatest of our inward Conflicts and outward Tribulations through a strong Judgment of her eminent Power within the Empire of Jesus grounded upon the singular Prerogative of her Divine Maternity I have not Patience to transcribe more but refer the Reader to the Book it self only the eighth Particular of special Devotion is so remarkable that it ought not to be passed over viz. Entring a solemn Covenant with Holy Mary to be for ever her Servant Client and Devote under some special Rule Society or Form of Life and thereby dedicating our Persons Concerns Actions and all the Moments and Events of our Life to Jesus under the Protection of his Divine Mother choosing her to be our Adoptive Mother Patroness and Advocate and entrusting her with what we are have do or hope in Life Death and through all Eternity And is all this no more than an Ora pro Nobis And it follows Put your self wholly under her Protection What a pitiful thing was the old Collyridian Cake in comparison of these special Acts of Devotion to her But there are some extraordinary strains of Devotion afterwards which it is pity to pass over As I will ever observe thee as my Soveraign Lady Adoptive Mother and most powerful Patroness relying on thy Bowels of Mercy in all my Wants Petitions and Tribulations of Body and Mind Could any thing greater be said to the Eternal Son of God And in the Praise Vers. Open my Lips O Mother of Jesus Resp. And my Soul shall speak forth thy Praise Vers. Divine Lady be intent to my Aid Resp. Graciously make haste to help me Vers. Glory be to Iesus and Mary Resp. As it was is and ever shall be Then follows the eighth Psalm applied thus to her Mary Mother of Jesus how wonderful is thy Name even unto the Ends of the Earth All Magnificence be given to Mary and let her be exalted above the Stars and Angels Reign on high as Queen of Seraphims and Saints and be thou crowned with Honour and Glory c. Glory be to Jesus and Mary c. In the next Page follows a Cantique in imitation of the Te Deum Let us praise thee O Mother of Jesus Let us acknowledge thee our Soveraign Lady Let Men and Angels give Honour to thee the first conceived of all pure Creatures c. I think I need mention no more only three things I shall observe 1. That this is now printed Permissis Superiorum and we thank them for the seasonableness of it in helping us in true Representing what their allowed Doctrines and Practices are 2. That this is published English that our People as well as theirs may be convinced how far we have been from unjust charging them as to such things as these 3. That at the same time they plead for keeping the Bible out of the hands of the People wherein their Discretion is so far to be commended since the Scripture and this new Scheme of Devotion can never stand together There being not one word in the Bible towards it but very much against it and the Psalms and Hymns must be burlesqu'd to found that way But what saith our Author to their Rosaries wherein there are ten Ave Maries to one Pater noster which is accounted a special piece Devotion and great things are said of the Effects of it by Alanus de Rupe and many others 1. As to the Ave Maries he saith there is no more Dishonour to God in reciting the Angelical Salutation than in the first pronouncing it by the Angel Gabriel and Elizabeth But it may not be altogether so pertinent But doth he really think they said the whole Ave Maria as it is used among them Did the Angel and Elizabeth say Sancta Maria Mater Dei 〈◊〉 or a pro nobis peccatoribus nunc in hora mortis nostrae If not to what purpose are they mentioned here 2. As to the Repetition that he saith is no more an idle Superstition than David ' s repeating the same words 26 times in the 136 Psalm But what is this to the Question why more Supplications to the Blessed Virgin than to Christ And not one word of Answer is given to it But Alanus de Rupe answers it roundly Because the Blessed Virgin is our Mediatrix to Christ the Mother of Mercy and the special Patroness of Sinners This is indeed true representing IV. Of paying Divine Worship to Reliques FOR the right understanding this Controversy we are to consider 1. That there is a due Veneration to the Bodies of Saints and Martyrs allowed on both sides and there is an undue Worship of them which is disowned on both sides The due Veneration is a Religious Decency to be observed towards them which lies in avoiding any thing like Contempt or Dishonour to them and using all such Testimonies of Respect and Decency which becomes the Remains of Excellent Persons provided we are satisfied of their Sincerity without having recourse to Divine Omnipotency to prove them which Ferrandus the Jesuit runs so much to to prove the Truth of many Reliques worshipped in the Church of Rome in many places at once But that it is possible to exeeed in the Worship of true Reliques even Bellarmin confesseth who says that God took away the Body of Moses lest the People should give