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
Reverend Fathers What signifies it with the Bishop of Meaux in the Fourth Section of his Exposition to say That in what Terms soever those Prayers which we Address to Saints are couch'd it is the Intention of the Church and of her Faithful to reduce them always to this form Pray for us Can the Intention of the Church and of her Faithful alter the nature of things and the universal meaning of plain words or is any such declaration of Intention to be admitted against the plain literal and grammatical Sence of the Prayers But if the Sence and Intention of the Church be no more than to Pray for us then why are not the Prayers and Hymns in our Publik Offices Breviaries c. at least alter'd to the Sence and Intention of our Church And why are any other Books of Devotion suffer'd to come out contrary to the Sence and Intention of the Church What a ridiculous proceeding to say no worse of it is this of our Church both to compose and set out Prayers to the Saints herself and also permit others to do so too couch'd and express'd in such Words Titles and Phrases as all sensible Mankind make use of to express their Thoughts and Desires in their Prayers to GOD and the Holy Trinity and then cry out That in what terms soevâ—â— those Prayers which we make to the Saints are couch'd it is the Intention of the Church c. Is the Latin Tongue or any Vulgar Language so barren of Words that when our Church would Invocate the Saints and Angels c. she can do it in no other manner words or terms than such in which she constantly and properly addresses herself to GOD and the Holy Trinity Are there not in every Language and particularly in ours apt and proper words and terms in which to express our Souls to GOD and the Holy Trinity And likewise when we would desire the Saints and Angels to Pray for us What folly as well as wickedness is it then to confound these Objects so infinitly different in the same terms and words and to use those to the Saints and Angels which are proper to GOD only Again Reverend Fathers Do not Men generally understand words as they sound and usually signifie And does not the very natural sence of words raise proper and suitable Ideas in Mens minds Now I would fain know of you Reverend Fathers What Thoughts or Idea's a Man can be suppos'd to have who after this manner and for these things thus addresses himself to the Virgin Mary Sacred Majesty Mother of Unlimited Power the only hope of Sinners ador'd and call'd upon by the whole Universe and who by innumerable Titles claim the Utmost Duty of every Christian as a Proper Homage to your Greatness Let the greatness of your Mercy blot out the multitude of mine Offences and deliver me from all Dangers I entrust you with whatever I am have do or hope in Life and Death and through all Eternity I own my self in your Presence and that you survey the present state of my Soul all my Thoughts and Projects and every tract of my Conversation and therefore I put my self wholly under your Protection and will observe you as my Soveraign Lady relying on your Bowels of Mercy in all my Wants of Body and Mind Protect me from the Enemy and when my Soul departs from my Body receive it into the Glory of Paradice c. Now do ye think Reverend Fathers that Invocating the Virgin Mary in such words as these would not make any Men and Women very apt to entertain such an Idea of her as is only fit and proper to be thought of GOD Would not the continual use of such a Prayer make a man insensibly to forget especially in the act and heat of Devotion that she is but a Creature and fancy that he is a praying to some Being of Divine Excellency and Perfections Would not the interior Sentiments of his Mind think ye grow like his exterior Words and Expressions when in any Publick Place of Divine Worship or but in his Closet he is upon his Knees with Hands and Eyes lifted up and in a perfect posture of Adoration But if such a Man should not insensibly by the meer force of using such Words and Expressions fall into the thoughts of her being a GOD and so be guilty of flat Idolatry yet can you deny that he is upon the very brink of that Danger And must it not be esteem'd a Miracle if such a Person is preserv'd from falling into that Precipice Quere II. But Reverend Fathers I am not ignorant that our Disputers think they sufficiently clear their hands of such Writers as the Author of the Contemplation c. Father Crasset Cardinals Bona and Bonaventure Bernardin de Busts c. by saying that such things as they teach and such Prayers and Expressions as they compose and publish are not the Doctrines and Practices of our Church but the extravagant Sayings and Flights of Devotion of some particular Men. Now that this Plea has no place and is of no force against such Prayers as are found in the Offices Breviaries Missals c. of our Church I humbly conceive you 'll easily grant and therefore all such Prayers and that strange Language and Expressions found in them must unavoidably be charg'd upon our Church But then concerning these others I humbly enquire Why the Church if your Order Reverend Fathers be a part of the Church allows and permits such in particular the Contemplations c. and Father Crasset's Book and the same I might ask concerning the other Authors I have but now nam'd for I am told they are all publish'd by the Authority of the Church or by the permission of those appointed by the Church And does not such permission amount to the Churches approbation And does the Church use to approve of any thing that is not the Doctrine of the Church And if it be the Doctrine of our Church Why do ye not speak out and declare so and prove it to be the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles But if you still deny it to be the Doctrine of our Church then pray Why are not the Books call'd in censur'd and forbid to be read and the Men who writ them punisht for False Teachers and Deceivers Again Reverend Fathers if such be not the Doctrine of our Church as I would now fain hope for a very material reason it is not then pray Reverend Fathers let me humbly ask you again Why are these Books let alone to deceive our poor ignorant People into such gross Errors And here also it will be pertinent to enquire of you Reverend Fathers Why such Books as corrupt the Doctrines of Repentance and destroy the necessity of a Holy Life speaking Truth and doing Justice and in a word all the Moral Duties and Practice of a Christian are permitted to walk freely and boldly abroad in the World and debauch Mens Principles and Practices
A LETTER OF ENQUIRY TO The Reverend Fathers OF THE Society of Iesus Written in the Person of a Dissatisfied Roman Catholick Imprimatur Hen. Wharton Rmo in Christo P. ac D.D. Wilhelmo Archiep. Cant. a Sacris Domest Octob. 26. 1688. LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun in Fleet-street and Samuel Smith at the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXIX Advertisement COuld I believe it fit to Lye for GOD or that Truth needed the service of Falshood I might have been tempted to imitate the Tricks and Deceiving Arts of the Romish Factors for in Charity we must suppose some of them at least to believe what they say to be Truth and that their Cause is that of GOD and boldly have sent this Letter abroad as really writ by a Romanist But as I am a Member of a Church whose Superstructures as well as her Foundation is the pure Truth and one that is resolv'd to follow Truth and Charity wherever they lead me so I should think that I deserv'd the severe punishment of being depriv'd of the happiness of her Communion if I endeavour'd to serve her Interests by any means so contrary to her Nature and Manner of dealing with Mankind But as 't is no improbable supposition that there should be some Dissatisfied or Doubting or Inquisitive Person in the Romish Communion so neither can it I hope be injurious or offensive to any openly to declare That I who make these Enquiries am a Layman of the Church of England and that I make them in the Person of a Roman Catholick is for no other reason but only to preserve a better Decorum and the more to affect the Persons for whose sake I chiefly Publish this Letter And with all the Charity and Good-will that one Christian owes to another I do humbly beseech every Roman Catholick that believes he has a Soul to be sav'd and values its Salvation above being of this or that Party or serving a Cause or the greatest worldly Interest seriously for once to suppose himself this Dissatisfied or Doubting or Inquiring Person and let him in the Name of GOD lay his Hand upon his Heart and consider whether these Enquiries are not pertinent and rational and if they be I beg him impartially and as he will answer it at the Great Day to weigh the Answers that may by his Party be return'd to them whether he be really and fully satisfied that they are just and rational I confess Dissatisfied Doubting and Inquisitive Persons cannot be so frequent in a Church where they are taught solely and blindly to rely upon their Pastors and Spiritual Guides and generally speaking do so as in a Church which gives a modest liberty of trying the Spirits and of examining and enquiring into the reason and truth of things But yet for all that my Conversation with Persons of that Communion is not so little as to suffer me to believe but that there are a great many whose Vnderstandings are not so muffled nor so far enslav'd but that sometimes they entertain serious Thoughts and take a free View of Religion and the nature of it and reflect with what artifice and fraud it is manag'd in the Church of Rome and that they do believe when they think soberly that the Reformation is not an effect of Pride or Folly or Worldly Interest as their crafty designing Priests would perswade them This granted me such Persons then may reasonably be presum'd that if either they would give themselves the trouble or durst to think it necessary thus to Address themselves to the Jesuits who have assum'd to themselves the Reputation of the best Spiritual Guides Reverend Fathers SINCE 't is thought by a great many that you are the only Oracles of Learning and Knowledge of any Order in our Church it will not be wondred at that I particularly Address this Letter of Enquiry to you Faith no more then Love can be forc'd they are both free Agents I am dissatisfied doubt and am at a stand about many Points in our Religion I have a just reverence for the Antiquity of our Church but yet I know Error is older than she and Truth than either of them I have no worldly Interest to serve by being of this or that Party or Church But if I had I hope I should prefer the Happiness of a Life that is Eternal before that of a short and uncertain stay here For this reason 't is possible I may want one great and moving Argument which at this Juncture especially many have for 't is not this World's Riches or Honours that I look after so that if I were even at Rome itself the great and splendid Allurements there would not operate upon me No Reverend Fathers 't is pure Truth and Holiness which I am in search of for I am strongly perswaded that without the possession of these it is a most unreasonable confidence for any Man to hope to see GOD who is Truth and Holiness itself and therefore their Contraries must needs be odious to his Divine Majesty In a word Reverend Fathers my whole Design here in this World is first to know God's Will and then to obey and please him that through the Merits of my dear Saviour I may be admitted into some degree of his Glories hereafter Now if you can remove my Doubts and satisfie me by a just Answer to every Enquiry in this my Letter I shall rejoyce to remain where I have been born and bred But if you cannot I hope I shall despise the hard and unjust Thoughts and Censures of Men and so far overcome the Power and Prejudices of Education and Custom as to search for and embrace Truth in what Communion soever I find her in spight of all temptations and hinderances Our Representer says That every Man must work out his own Salvation with fear and trembling if so Reverend Fathers you must pardon me if hereafter I take a more particular care of mine even to the forsaking of your Communion in case I cannot meet with satisfaction in it and by following the clear Commands of Holy Scripture the Dictates of right Reason and the assistances of the honest and knowing Guides of another Church But before I come to the main business of my Letter give me leave Reverend Fathers to acquaint you with the ground and occasion of it and that was my reading the English Translation of the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent lately by some of our Church set out here For indeed till then and as I had not the perfect use of the Latin Tongue and always living in a blind and stupid obedience and reliance upon the honesty and learning of my Guides I was ignorant of many necessary things and thought our Church never had nor never could have any thing in her Doctrines Worship and Service either Idolatrous or Superstitious or that any of her Children ever was or ever could possibly be guilty of either or that any Errors or
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
little too big for a Creature to devise SECT III. Quere I. REverend Fathers as I am excessively dissatisfy'd in my Conscience about this Invocation of the Virgin Mary and other Saints so I cannot leave off making larger Enquiries into the matter my next therefore shall be Whether we Catholicks do not exceed the Bounds and Rules which the Catechism of the Council of Trent and other Books set out or allow'd by our Church does prescribe us about Praying to Saints c. Now I humbly conceive the Truth in this matter will be best discover'd First by seeing how far Authority says we may go and Secondly how far we do actually go in this Practice The Catechism p. 464. says We do not pray to GOD and to the Saints after the same manner To God we pray either to give us the good things we want or to deliver us from evil But to the Saints we pray because they are in favour with GOD to undertake our Patronage and to beg of GOD those things we want Hence we have two ways of Praying differing in the manner for we properly say to GOD Have mercy upon us hear us but to the Saints Pray for us and it adds That we must take heed that what is proper to GOD we give not to any besides him And the Bishop of Meaux who by some of us is thought to have given the true sence of our Church in the Advertisement of his Exposition p. 11. says That we pray to them with the same mind we pray to our Brethren who are upon Earth with us that is to pray with us and for us to our Common Master in the Name of our Common Mediator who is Jesus Christ. And in his Exposition Sect. 4. he says That the Church teaches us to pray to the Saints in the same Spirit of Charity and according to the same Order of Fraternal Society which moves us to demand assistance of our Brethren living upon Earth And our Representer p. 4 5. says That as almost every sick Man desires the Congregation to be his Mediators i. e. to be remembred in their Prayers so he desires the Blessed in Heaven to be his Mediators that is that they would pray to GOD for him And is not this Reverend Fathers and the utmost that by our Church we are allow'd to do Shall we now see whether neither many of our Pastors and Guides Teach nor our People and Church itself Practice a great deal more in their Devotions to the Saints and principally to the B. Virgin And will not this be best known by our Publick Offices and other allow'd Books of Devotion I begin then with the Offices of our Church which I hope will be allow'd of as an Authentick Proof for if they may not be admitted to prove our Worship and Practice I know not how it can be done but by being present with every individual Man when he is at his Prayers and Devotion which I humbly conceive is next to impossible In the Office then of St. Mar. ad Nives in the Second Day of the Octave of her Nativity my aforesaid Friend English'd to me this Expression out of the Lesson or Prayer to the B. Virgin O admit our Prayers within the Sanctuary of thy Audience And out of the Offic. Parv. B. Mariae this Prayer of our Church to her We fly unto thy Protection and Safe-guard O Holy Mother of GOD despise not our Prayers in our Necessities but always deliver us from all dangers O Glorious and B. Virgin. Likewise out of the Office B. M. in Sabbato c. and the Hymn which begins Ave Maris Stella this Prayer Hail Star of the World c. Loose the Bonds of guilty Sinners enlighten the eyes of the Blind drive away all Sins from us make us humble and chast and free from the Bonds of our Sins give us purity of Life and grant us a safe passage into the next World. And in the aforesaid Office Parv. B. M. this Prayer Protect us from the Enemy and receive us at the hour of Death Likewise out of the Brev. Rom. he English'd to me this Lesson or Prayer to the B. Virgin Accept that we offer give that we ask and pardon that we fear because thou art the Only hope of Sinners We hope for the pardon of our Sins by thee and in thee is the most blessed expectation of our Reward And in the proper Mass of her Seven Sorrows and the Solemn Hymn which begins Stabat Mater dolorosa this other strange Prayer Make our Hearts to burn with the Love of Christ Defend us in the Day of Judgment And grant that when our Souls depart from our Bodies they may go into the Glory of Paradice By my Friend's help I could have produced several other Prayers and Expressions to the B. V. and other Saints in as high strains as these but I suppose these may suffice for my purpose Let me now Reverend Fathers see what some of our eminent and allow'd of Writers and Guides teach our People I begin with Cardinal Bonaventure and who is also a Canoniz'd Saint Out of the Office he has compos'd call'd Coroná B. V. the Grown of the B. Virgin which is found in his Sixth Tome and the Edition of Rome 1588 my Friend English'd to me this Orizon O Empress and our most kind Lady by the Authority of a Mother Command thy most beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ that he would vouchsafe to lift up our minds c. And in his 35 Psalm of his Lady's Psalter he hath these Words Incline the Countenance of GOD upon us Compel him to have Mercy upon us Sinners The next I shall produce is a Little Book which I have by me and which till of late that my Understanding is a little better inform'd I constantly us'd it is call'd The Psalter of the B. Virgin it was Compos'd first in French by a Father of your Society and after in the Year 1624 Translated into English and Printed with Allowance the Translator assures the Lady to whom he Dedicated it that it was well approv'd of by the better sort of Catholicks and was presented to one of the greatest Queens in Europe in the French Tongue In the First Petition there are these Expressions O Glorious Virgin grant me Grace that I may receive pardon for my Sins I have this only Refuge to cast myself under the Shadow of your Wings Give my Soul entrance into Paradice when it shall leave the Body And let all that is due unto me for my Sins be cancell'd by your Merits Let the greatness of your Mercy blot out the multitude of mine Offences supplying by your Merits what in Justice I dare not demand Turn not your Face away from me for I put my Trust in you I will humble my heart before you for I know that the Proud shall not be entertain'd near unto your Sacred Majesty In the Second Petition these As soon as you extend your Hand upon
our Saviour you do not believe many thousands in our Communion either through gross Ignorance some fond Opinions or an excessive and extravagant Devotion are not hugely guilty of Superstition and Idolatry And whether in plain English this is not laying Snares and digging Pits for human Souls 5. Whether these Passages and Expressions which I have cited out of our Offices Breviaries and other allow'd Books of Devotion do not abundantly prove that we Catholicks do horribly exceed the Bounds and Rules which the Catechism the Bishop of Meaux and our Representer set us about Praying to Saints c. And in good earnest Reverend Fathers Is it not manifest that we address our selves to the B. Virgin in the same manner and words as unto GOD and directly ask of her those Gifts and Graces Good Things and Spiritual Blessings which none but GOD can give Do not we express as much trust hope and confidence in her as 't is possible for Men by Words to express to GOD and our B. Saviour Would not the very same words which are here us'd to her serve to signifie the greatest sence awe and reverence and to offer up the greatest and most passionate Desires of our Souls to GOD and our dear Saviour only changing Lady into Lord Mother into Father and sweetest blessed glorious Virgin into sweetest blessed and glorious GOD and Saviour And is this in good truth no more than a manner of Praying Do men upon Earth thus pray for one another or desire others to pray for them And is it no more than to fay Pray for us What Wit of Man and without doing open violence to the plain and natural sense of Words is able to reconcile our Church to herself or these Prayers to this Form Pray for us And is there not here downright saying Have mercy upon us hear us And is not this giving to the Saints what is proper to GOD What man in his Senses ever pray'd in this manner to his absent or present Friends or Brethren upon Earth What sick Mon that was not also absolutely Distracted ever thus desir'd either his Friend or the Congregation to pray for him Or whoever yet pray'd to his Friend or his Brethren or to any Congregation upon Earth thus O Sacred Majesty and Soveraign Lord of Unlimited Power Most merciful Brother c. and the Only hope of Sinners admit me into the Sanctuary of your Audience I fly unto your Protection for I have this Only Refuge to cast my self under the shadow of your Wings I rely on the Bowels of your Mercy in all my Wants Petitions and Tribulations of Body and Mind despise not my Prayers in my Necessities but deliver me from all Dangers Grant me Grace that I may receive pardon for my Sins drive away all Sins from me make me humble and chast and give me purity of Life make my Heart to burn with Love to Christ let all that is due unto me for my Sins be cancell'd by your Merits let the greatness of your Mercy blot out the multitude of mine Offences turn not away your face from me for my trust is in you What can I do without you Or what would become of me if you should turn away your face from me If you should have forsaken me to whom should I then have repair'd that would have lookt upon me with pity and compassion O our most kind Brother Command Compel GOD to have Mercy upon me a Sinner protect me from the Enemy receive me at the hour of Death give me a safe passage into the next World receive my Soul into your hands when it shall leave this Mortal Body take it into your Protection and give it entrance into Paradise and defend me in the Day of Judgment V. Open my Lips O dear Friend c. R. And my Soul shall speak forth thy Praise V. Divine Friend c. be intent to my Aid R. Graciously make hast to help me V. Glory be to Jesus and my Friend c. R. As it was is and ever shall be Now Reverend Fathers deal plainly with me Does not this sort of Prayer thus offer'd to a Creature make even You tremble with horror And yet it is every word taken out of these Prayers and Books I have but just now quoted Tell me then sincerely I beseech you Was ever such a Prayer made by any Person well or sick that was in his Senses either to his Friend his Brethren or any Congregation upon Earth Or is such a Prayer fit to be made to any of them Nay I ask Is such a Prayer fit to be made to any Saint or Angel or to the B. Virgin herself Nay farther Ought we or is it possible for us to Address our selves to GOD and our B. Saviour in any Manner or Words more suitable to that Soveraign Being and our dependance on him And lastly What greater things can be said to the Eternal and ever Blessed Trinity With what face then do we maintain against the Protestants that we do not Pray to the Saints as unto GOD nor ask those things of them which ought only to be ask'd of GOD and our Saviour because they only can give them And that we only pray to them as one Friend desires another upon Earth And with what Justice do we of late complain of them for charging us with these Practices and would make the World believe that they Misrepresent us When it is plain that we are highly guilty of them and are our selves indeed the very Misrepresenters For the Love of GOD our own and our Neighbours Souls Why should we any longer palliate and disguise the matter or by any means defend a Worship for which we can shew no Law of GOD or Nature and which by our own confession is very apt to betray Men into these heinous Sins of Superstition and Idolatry Why should we Reverend Fathers any longer wrong our own Consciences and deceive the World in so important a matter meerly to support the vile Worldly Interest and Honour of a Church that 's afraid to confess herself in an Error Because for base ends she once assum'd the Title of Infallible Without dissembling Reverend Fathers would it not be more for the Honour of our Church and the good and security of Souls not only to condemn and lay aside these but all Prayers whatever to Saints and Angels and ingenuously confess that in this particular however we have been in an Error and the Reformed in the right And that it is abundantly sufficient for Salvation to pray to GOD alone through the Merits Mediation and Intercession only of Jesus Christ our Blessed Redeemer because GOD has commanded no more And if neither our Church nor you for her will acknowledge an Error in so plain a matter and of such vast concern must not we needs be thought People of a monstrous Courage to trust our own Souls and the Souls of our Children in such a Church and in the hands of such Guides Again