should offer the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God, from the hand of the angels."* And not only the angels, but the twenty-four elders, cast themselves before the throne of God, and, as I before remarked, pour out vials of sweet odours, which are the prayers of the saints. What does all this signify, but that they do present our prayers to God, and become our intercessors with Him?

From all this it is proved, that the saints and angels know what passes on earth-that they are aware of what we do and suffer; otherwise they could not rejoice in any good that we do, nor resent any misfortune that befals us. In the second place, we have it sufficiently proved, that the saints do more than barely know and interest themselves about us; for they actually present our prayers to God, and intercede in our behalf with Him. Here, then, is a basis, and a sufficient one, for the Catholic belief,—such a basis as surely should give rise to some doctrine or other in the true religion. But where is this doctrine to be found, in those religious systems which reject and exclude all intercession of the saints, all intercourse between those on earth and their brethren already in bliss? Assuredly these texts prove something. For if all contained in the word of God is true, and must form a rule of faith, such clear testimony as this, regarding the connexion between mankind and the blessed, must form the subject of a doctrine. Where then is this found? No where but in the Catholic belief that prayers are offered for us by the saints, and that, therefore, we may apply to them for their supplications.

To establish this more fully, it is necessary to look into the doctrine of the Church in the earliest ages; and I can have only one fear, one motive of hesitation, in laying before you passages on this subject. It is not that I may weary you by the number of my quotations; for that, I fear, may have

Rev. viii. 3, 4.

been the case with regard to almost every doctrine that I have supported by tradition, and the testimony of the Fathers; yet in every case though I have read a great number of texts I have in reality given you only a selection from many more. But my reason for apprehension at present is that, in the authorities from the Fathers on this subject, their expressions are so much stronger than those used by the Catholics at the present day, that there is danger, if I may so say, of proving too much. They go far beyond us; and consequently, if we are to be considered idolators, God knows what terms must be found to qualify their expressions. Let us begin with the very first ages of the Church, and let us not take ambiguous words, but the simplest and most natural expressions of the feelings of the earliest Christians.

Every part of Rome is undermined with catacombs, in which the bodies of saints and martyrs were deposited after their deaths. The tombs are even some of them as yet sealed up and unbroken; some with inscriptions on them, or perhaps a palm branch rudely sculptured, to show that there repose the martyrs of Christ. We have phials adhering, and fastened, to the covers of the tombs, in the walls of the catacombs, in which are sponges, or sediment, still tinged with the colour of blood: indeed, the very instruments of martyrdom are constantly found in tombs. Certainly, these were men who knew Christianity, who fully appreciated what was due to Christ, for whom they died, who were fully convinced that nothing on earth was to be preferred before Him, and that no creature could pretend to one particle of the honour reserved by Him to Himself! Surely we cannot want purer or more satisfactory witnesses to what Christ instituted, than they who shed their blood to seal its truth; we cannot want teachers better imbued with the spirit of His religion, than those who were ready to lay down their lives to defend it! Let us see what was their belief regarding their brethren, when they deposited them in these tombs, and sealed them up and inscribed on them their regrets or their hopes. No

thing is more common than to find on them a supplication, a prayer to the saints or martyrs, to intercede for the survivors with God. In the year 1694, was discovered a remarkable tomb of the martyr Sabbatius, in the cemetery of Gordian and Epimachus. On the one side was the palm branch, the emblem of martyrdom, and on the other, the wreath or crown given to conquerors, with this inscription, in a rude latinity:-

66

SABBATI DVLCIS ANIMA PETE ET ROGA

PRO FRATRES ET SODALES TVOS

Sabbatius, sweet soul, pray and entreat for thy brethren and comrades." These early Christians, then, pray to the martyr to intercede for his brethren on earth.

In the cemetery of Cailixtus, is another inscription of the same antiquity, which runs thus:

ATTICE SPIRITVS TVVS

IN BONV ORA PRO PAREN

TIBVS TVIS

"Atticus, thy spirit is in bliss: pray for thy parents.

In that of Cyriaca, we have an inscription in much the

"Jovianus, may you live in God and pray."

In that of Pricilla, we have another, very touching and eautiful in the original:

ANATOLINVS FILIO · BENEMERENTI· FECIT

"Anatolinus made this monument to his well-deserving son,
who lived seven years. May thy spirit rest well in
God, and thou pray for thy sister."

Marini gives us another old Christian inscription, to this effect:

ROGES PRO · NOBIS · QVIA · SCIMVS TE IN

CHRISTO

"Pray for us. because we know that thou art in Christ."

These are most of them inscriptions on the tombs of martyrs, whose bodies were deposited therein during the very first centuries of Christianity, when men were ready to die for the faith of Christ.* They were inscribed by those who saw them suffer, and who were, perhaps, themselves to be the next to lay down their lives; and yet did they not think, that by entreating their prayers, they were derogating from the glory of God, or the mediatorship of Christ.

If from these monuments, which are of the greatest interest, because they exist as they did when first erected, and cannot have been subject to the slightest change, we descend to the recorded opinions of the fathers, we have precisely the same sentiments. And I beg particularly to direct your attention to the following circumstances in these authorities. In the first place, they directly ask the saints to pray for them; secondly, in speaking of the saints, they mention the way in which they are to be assisted by them, through interccasion; and thirdly, they make use of expressions apparently requesting from the saints themselves, those blessings which were to come from God. They do not simply say, "pray for us, intercede for us:" but "deliver us, grant us:" not because they believed the saints could do so of themselves, but because in common parlance it is usual to ask directly from an intercessor, the favour which we believe his influence can obtain. I insist on this point, because it is charged against Catholics, that they ask of the Blessed Virgin "deliverance;" saying, in the introduction to her Litany, "deliver us from all danger;" that they beg of the saints to help them: although this is nothing more than the same form of speech as the fathers use. And in the fourth place, I request you to observe how they distinguished, as Catholics do, between worship due to God, and the homage due to His saints, using the self-same terms

as we.

* See my learned friend Dr. Rock's Hierurgia, where these inscriptions have been collected. Vol. ii. [A more striking inscription than any of those given in the text has been lately found in the Cemetery of St. Agnes, and will soon be published.]

In the second century, we have St. Irenæus telling us that, as Eve was seduced to fly from God, so was the Virgin Mary induced to obey Him, that She might become the advocate of her that had fallen."* In the third century we have the testimony of several fathers; but I will select two, one from the Greek and one from the Latin Church. Origen says: "And of all the holy men who have quitted this life, retaining their charity towards those whom they left behind, we may be allowed to say, that they are anxious for their salvation, and that they assist them by their prayers and their mediation with God. For it is written in the books of the Maccabees: This is Jeremiah the prophet of God, who always prays for the people." Again he thus writes, on the Lamentations: "I will fall down on my knees, and not presuming, on account of my crimes, to present my prayer to God, I will invoke all the saints to my assistance. O ye saints of heaven, I beseech you with sorrow full of sighs and tears; fall at the feet of the Lord of mercies for me, a miserable sinner." St. Cyprian in the same century; "Let us be mindful of one another in our prayers; with one mind and with one heart, in this world and in the next, let us always pray, with mutual charity relieving our sufferings and afflictions. And may the charity of him, who, by the divine favour, shall first depart hence, still persevere before the Lord; may his prayer, for our brethren and sisters, not cease."§ Therefore, after our departure from this life, the same offices of charity are to continue, by our praying for those who remain on earth.

In the fourth century, Eusebius of Cæsarea thus writes: "May we be found worthy by the prayers and intercession of all the saints." In the same century, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, speaking of the Liturgy, thus expresses himself: "We next commemorate those who are gone before us; the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs; begging that, through their * Adver. Hæres. L. v. c. xix. p. 361. Lib. iii. in Cant. Cantic. T. iii. p. 75, Ep. lvii. p. 96.

Lib. 11. de Job. Com. in Isai. T, 11. p. 593. Ed. Par. 1706.