Section 3

SECTION 3

OF DIVINE WORSHIP.

Question 29. OF what doth the service in the Roman Church consist? Answer. It consists of prayers and hymns offered to God, angels, and saints; of lessons taken out of the Scriptures, and legends; and of profession of faith in the creeds.

REPLY. Cardinal Quignonius, at the instance of Pope Paul the Third, reformed the Breviary; and instead of legends, set Scriptures for the lessons. But Pope Pius Quintus, who afterward undertook to reform it also, prohibited that of Quignonius, (Bulla Prefixa Breviar. Rom. Jussu Pii V. Edit.) and instead of the Scriptures, placed legends again; and so it continues.

Q. 30. In what language is their service performed?

A. It is performed in all places among them in the Latin tongue, which is in no place vulgarly understood.

Q. 31. Is the having the service in an unknown tongue enjoined in the Church of Rome?

A. Yes: It is required that it should be celebrated in the Latin tongue; and whosoever shall say that it ought only to be administered in the vulgar tongue is accursed. (Concil. Trid., Sess. 23, c. 8, & Can. 9.) Hence, when of late years the Missal, or Mass-book, was translated into French, it was declared, by Pope Alexander the Seventh, to be a “seed-plot of disobedience, rashness, and schism;” and he calls them that did it, “sons of perdition;” and doth “condemn, reprobate, and forbid” that Missal. REPLY. In divine worship, (as in all other actions,) the first thing to be considered is the end, and the next thing is the means conducing to that end. The end is the honor of God, and the edification of the Church; and then God is honored, when the Church is edified. The means conducing to that end, are to have the service so administered as may inform the mind, engage the affections, and increase devotion: But that cannot be done, where the tongue it is celebrated in is not understood.

Thus we are taught by the Apostle: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men.” (1 Corinthians 14:2.) “If I know not the meaning of the voice, he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.” (Verse 11.) “If thou shalt bless with the Spirit,” (by the gift of an unknown tongue,) “how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks?” (Verse 16.) How can the people be attentive to the lessons, answer at the responses, be devout in the prayers, profess their faith in the creeds, when they do not understand what is read, prayed, or professed? Thus St. Ambrose, on 1 Corinthians 14:1 1 Corinthians 14: “It is evident that the mind is ignorant where the tongue is not understood. The unskillful person, hearing what he doth not understand, knows not the conclusion of the prayer, and doth not answer, Amen.”

Q. 32. What are the objects of worship in the Church of Rome? A. Besides the blessed Trinity, angels, the Virgin Mary, and saints. REPLY. Our Savior says, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matthew 4:10.) As divine worship is due to God, so it is not lawful to give it to any other.

The Church of Rome doth acknowledge this, but says the worship they give to saints and angels is not of that kind (Catech. Rom., par. 3 c. 2, n. 8, par. 4, c. 6, n. 3.)

But what worship is peculiar to God, if prayer is not? So thought St. Ambrose: “Thou only art to be invocated.” (De Obitu Theodos.) For God alone can receive our prayer, or can give what we pray for, or be the object of our faith and trust.

Q. 33. What honor do they give to the angels?

A.

(1.) The Church of Rome teaches that angels are to be worshipped, (Catech. Rom., par. 3, c. 2, n. 8, 9, venerari, adorare, colere,) involved, and prayed to. (Ibid., n. 10.) And they have litanies and prayers composed for this purpose. (Litaniae, sec. Angelorum, vid. Horologium Tutelaris Angeli a Drexelio. p. 84, Duac. 1623.)

(2.) They teach, that as every particular person hath a guardian angel from his birth, (Catech. Rom., par. 4, cap. 9, sec. 1, n. 4, 6,) so it is fit to commit themselves more particularly to him, (Horolog. Drex., p. 108,) after this manner: “Blessed angel! to whose care our loving Creator hath committed me, defend me this day, I beseech you, from all dangers, and direct me in the way I ought to walk.” (The Child’s Catechism, 1678.)

REPLY. We honor the holy angels, as they are God’s ministers, and are “sent forth to minister unto them that shall be heirs of salvation.” (Hebrews 1:14.) But, to worship or pray to them, we dare not, as it is what they themselves refuse and abhor, (Revelation 19:10,) and the Scripture doth condemn as “a sign of a fleshly mind, vainly intruding into those things which we have not seen.” (Colossians 2:18.) Theodoret, upon this text, saith, that the practice of worshipping angels continued a long time in Phrygia and Pisidia; wherefore the Synod of Laodicea doth forbid praying to angels: “For Christians ought not to forsake the Church of God, and depart aside and invocate angels, which are things forbidden.” (Conc. Laod., Can. 35.)

Q. 34. What religious honor do they give to the saints?

A. They pray to them as their intercessors, make confessions to them, offer incense, and make vows to them, venerate their images and relics. Q. 35. For what reason do they pray to saints?

A. That by their help they may obtain benefits from God, (Concil. Trid., Sess. 25, de Invocat.,) who doth confer many favors upon mankind, by their merit, and grace, and intercession. (Catech. Rom., par. 3, c. 2, sec.

12. — Missal. Rom. proprium Missarum de Sanctis.)

Q. 36. After what manner do they pray to saints?

A. They pray to them as favorites with God, that they would take them into their protection, and would obtain those things of God for them which they want. Therefore they plead that they have two different forms of prayers; for to God they properly say, “Have mercy upon us, hear us:” To a saint, “Pray for us.” (Catech. Rom., par. 4, c. 6, n. 3.) Q. 37. But have they not those forms in their Missals, Breviaries, and common books of devotion, which are particularly and immediately applied to the saints for obtaining what they want?

A. Yes; it is too manifest to be denied; and though they have been more sparing of late years, yet nothing formerly more frequent. As, for instance: In a Missal printed at Paris, an. 1520, fol. 51, there is this prayer to St. Agnes: —

“O Agnes, woman of the Lamb, do thou enlighten us within! Destroy the roots of sin, O excellent Lady. After the grievances of the world, do thou translate us to the company of the blessed!” REPLY. “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all.” (1 Timothy 2:5, 6.)

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Romans 8:34.)

As there is but one God to us, though “there are gods many, and lords many;” (1 Corinthians 8:6;) so to us there is but “one Mediator,” or Intercessor, though we should grant there are many intercessors and mediators. For though the angels and saints may intercede for us in heaven, that no more makes them such intercessors as we may pray to, than because there are gods many, we may pray to them, as we do to the true God.

The Scripture knows no difference between a Mediator of intercession and redemption: He alone makes intercession for us that died and rose, and is at the right hand of God. And He alone has a right to our prayers, and to Him alone may we address them.

So Origen: “All prayers, and supplications, and thanksgivings, are to be sent up to God the Lord of all, by that High Priest who is above all angels, being the living Word of God.” (Lib. 5, Cont. Cels., pp. 233, 239.) So again: “We ought to pray only to the God over all, and his only Son, the first-born of every creature, who, as our High Priest, offers his prayers to his God, and our God.” (Lib. 8, pp. 395, 402.)

To have other mediators and intercessors is “not to hold the Head,” (Colossians 2:19,) in the judgment of the Apostle, and the Council of Laodicea, where it is said, “Christians ought not to forsake the Church and invocate angels. If any man, therefore, be found to give himself to this privy idolatry, let him be anathema; because he hath forsaken our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, and betaken himself to idolatry.” Q. 38. What is the worship they give to the Virgin Mary? A. They fly unto her as the advocatrix of the faithful, the mother of God; that by prayer to her they may obtain help through her most excellent merits with God. (Catech. Rom., par. 4, cap. 5, n. 8.)

REPLY. We honor this blessed Virgin as the mother of the holy Jesus, and as she was a person of eminent piety; but we do not think it lawful to give that honor to her which belongs not to a creature, and doth equal her with her Redeemer.

Q. 39. Have they not some singular forms of devotion to her? A. Yes; for apprehending her to be in glory superior to all created beings, they offer a service to her, beyond what they give either to angels or saints. Q. 40. After what manner do they apply themselves to her? A. According to some Missals, they ask her to command her Son, by the right and authority of a mother; (Missal. Paris. Anno 1520, folio 65;) or, as it is in the Breviaries used at this day, “Show thyself a mother.” (Brev. Rom. Fest. Assump.) they pray to her, that she would loose the bands of the guilty, bring light to the blind, would make them mild and chaste, and cause their hearts to burn in love to Christ. (Officium B. M. in the hymn called Planctus B. M., Antwerp, 1641.)

In a book printed lately in London, the author saith, that “whatever gifts are bestowed upon us by Jesus, we receive them by the mediation of Mary; no one being gracious to Jesus that is not devoted to Mary; that the power of Mary in the kingdom of Jesus is suitable to her maternity; and though the condition of some great sinners may be so deplorable, that the limited excellency and merits cannot effectually bend the mercies of Jesus to relieve them; yet such is the acceptableness of the mother of Jesus to Jesus, that whosoever is under the verge of her protection, may confide in her intercession to Jesus;” that the person devoted to her, is to beg of her to accompany him as his “sacred guide, advocate, and champion, against the assaults of sin and sensuality.” (Contemplations of the Life and Glory of Holy Mary, etc., pp. 7-9, 14. Printed anno 1685.)

Much after the fore-cited manner did the Council of Constance invoke the blessed Virgin, as other Councils used to do the Holy Ghost, calling her the “mother of grace, the fountain of mercy;” and they call on her for “light from heaven.”

REPLY. We cannot but wonder at the applications made to the blessed Virgin in the Church of Rome, whose acts on earth, and whose power in heaven, the Scripture doth very sparingly relate, or is altogether silent in. We read nothing there of her bodily assumption into heaven, nor of her exaltation to a throne above angels and archangels. (Brev. Rom. Aestiv. Fest. Assump.) We read nothing there of her being the mother of grace and mercy, (Officium parvum B. M. ad Matutin., Catech. par. 4, c. 5, n. 8,) the queen and gate of heaven, the advocatrix of sinners; (Completor. Catech. par. 4, c. 5, n. 8;) and of her power in destroying all heresies in the world, (Fest. Assump.,) and being all things to all. (Missale Paris. ibid. & Le Psaultier de Jesus. Paris, 1620, p. 126.)

When we read so much of the blessed Virgin in books of this kind, and so little of her in the divine writings, we cannot but reflect upon what is said by Epiphanius, of a certain sect of women that in his time offered cakes to the Virgin Mary, which he calls an “impious thing,” and altogether “contrary to the doctrine of the Holy Ghost.” (Haeres. 78, p. 1054. Par. 1622.) And he further adds, “This the Holy Ghost doth warn us of, in that Christ saith, ‘Woman, what have I to do with thee?’ where he calls her woman, and as it were prophesying, to refute those schisms and heresies which he knew would arise in the world; and that no one, being moved by a certain admiration of the blessed Virgin, might turn himself to those dotages of heresies.” And he adds, “Let the Virgin Mary be honored, but the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be adored.” (Haeres., 79, n. 4, 7, etc.) Much more hath that Father there to this purpose.

But what would this Father have said, if, instead of a chair adorned and set forth in honor of the Virgin Mary, (as those women did,) he had found her advanced to a throne of a mediatrix in heaven? What, if instead of cakes, there had been litanies and prayers offered to her, and that in more abundance than to Christ himself? What, if he had found them praying, “O holy mother, succor the miserable, help the weak, comfort those that mourn?” (Breviar. Rom. Aestiv. Suffragia.) I doubt not but he would have said of this, what he doth of the other, that they “would obtrude her upon us for God;” and have called it “heresy and idolatry.”

Q. 41. What external representations or memorials have they in the Church of Rome, which they give veneration and worship to? A. They have the relics and images of the Virgin Mary and saints (Concil. Trid., Sess. 25, de Invoc.)

Q. 42. What do they mean by relics?

A. The bodies or remainders of them, or particular things belonging or relating to them when alive, as an arm, or thigh, bones, or ashes; (Ex Decret. Regist. Praefix. Brev. Rom.;) and the part in which they suffered; (Catech. Rom, par. 3, c. 2, n. 15;) or the things by which they suffered; as the chains with which St. Peter was bound. (Brev. Rom. Par. Aestiv., Aug. Fest. Petri ad Vinc.)

REPLY. “He” (God by Michael) “buried Moses; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” (Deuteronomy 34:6.) S. Barradas the Jesuit, upon the place, saith, “It is the common opinion of Lyra, Abulensis, Cajetan, and others, that the sepulchre was hid, lest the Israelites, who were inclined to the worship of idols, should worship Moses as God. For they say, that when the devil would for that reason have showed the grave and the body of Moses to the Israelites, St. Michael hindered; and this was the contention spoken of Jude 9.” (Seb. Barrad. Itinerar. Fil. Israel.) They could give no greater honor to the body of Moses, than is given to relics in the Church of Rome; and if that was idolatry, and Moses’s body was concealed to prevent it, then there is as much reason to think it unlawful now in this case, as it was then in that.

Q. 43. For what cause do they show this regard to relics? A. By the veneration of them they obtain the help of the saints (Concil. Trid., Sess. 25, de Invocat.) whom the relics relate to; and many benefits are thereby conferred by God upon mankind; for by these the dead have been raised, the infirm cured, and devils cast out. (Catech. Rom., ibid.; Breviar. Rom., ibid.)

REPLY. We read of Hezekiah, (2 Kings 18:4,) that he “brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made:” And the reason was, because the children of Israel did burn incense to it. The brazen serpent was of God’s own institution; (Numbers 21:8;) by looking up to which, the people were formerly cured. And though it was preserved as a memorial of that divine operation; yet, when abused to idolatry, he cut it in pieces. And were these truly relics of saints, and did work those miracles they pretend, it would be no reason for that reverence and worship they give to them; but the reverence and worship given to them should, according to good King Hezekiah’s practice, be a reason to give them a decent interment. Q. 44. What kind of reverence or worship is required to be given to images and pictures in the Church of Rome?

A. They kiss them, uncover the head, and fall down, before them; offer incense, and pray to them, and use all such postures of worship as they would do to the person or persons thereby represented, (whether Christ, the virgin Mary, or other saints,) if they were present: And whosoever doth think otherwise, is accursed. (Concil. Trid., Sess. 25, de Invocat. Catech. Rom., par. 4, c. 6, n. 4.) And accordingly, the Priest is to direct the people to them, that they may be worshipped. (Ut Colantur, Catech. Rom., par. 3, c. 2, n. 24)

REPLY. On the contrary, the Second Commandment teaches us, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,” etc. “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.” In which there are two words to be considered: The one, pesel, which we rightly translate graven image; for it properly signifies any thing carved and cut out of wood or stone; and so it is about forty times rendered in the Greek translation, glupton, “a graven thing.” So that an idol and an image are there forbidden. The next word is themunah, which doth properly signify a similitude or likeness, (as is confessed,) and is always so translated. And thus it was understood by the Fathers. So Justin Martyr, when he recites this law, saith, “God forbad every image and similitude,” eikona kai omoiwma. And therefore Cassander grants that the ancient Christians “abhorred all veneration of images.” (Consult., art. 21, de Imagin.) Indeed, the command is so express against this practice, that there has been a kind of self-condemnation in the Church of Rome; whilst they commonly either altogether leave out this Commandment, (The Child’s Catechism, printed 1678,) or render it imperfectly and by halves: “Thou shalt not make to thee an idol.”

Q. 45. What do they profess is their intention in the reverence they give to images and pictures?

A. They declare that the honor given to images and pictures is referred to the prototypes, (Concil. Trid., ibid.,) or the persons represented by them, whether God the Father, Christ, angels, or saints; and when they fall down before the image or picture, they worship God, or Christ, the angel, or saint.

REPLY. If an image be a representation of a divine person, and worship be due to the image for the sake of the person represented in it; then, such as the person is, such must the worship be that is due to his image; and what is due to the person, if present, is due to the image in his absence. For to give one honor to the person, and another to the image; a superior to the person, and an inferior to the image; is to terminate the worship in the image, and not pass it from thence to the person, as Gretser, the Jesuit, argues: (De Cruce, 1. 1, c. 49, sec., Secundo itaque:) But if it be to pass from the image unto the person, then we know what they do when they kiss, and uncover their heads, and bow down to, and worship, an image; and have reason to remember the Apostle’s advice: “Keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21.)

Q. 46. What regard have they to the material cross or crucifix? A.

(1.) They ascribe peculiar virtue to it, and pray that God would make the wood of the cross to “be the stability of faith, an increase of good works, the redemption of souls.” (Pontificale in Bened. Novae Crucis.)

(2.) They use all expressions of outward adoration, by kissing and prostrations, etc. (Missale Fer. 6, In Parasc.)

(3.) They pray directly to it, to “increase grace in the godly, and blot out the sins of the guilty.” (Ibid., Sub Ante Domin. Pass. et Fest. Invent. Crucis.)

(4.) They give latria to it, which is the sovereign worship that is peculiar to God. (Pontif. Rom. Ordo ad Recep. Imper. Rubr. 1, et Gretser de Cruce, 1. 1, c. 49.)

REPLY. The Church of Rome, though without any authority from Scripture, (which uses the words promiscuously,) f27 makes a distinction between latria and doulia: The former is the worship they give to God; the latter the worship they give to saints. Now, they grant, that to give latria, or sovereign worship, to any besides God, is idolatry; and that, were not the host the very body and blood of Christ, it would be no less than idolatry to give that honor to the host, which they give to Christ: We understand, then, how to call that worship they give to the cross: They themselves call it latria; so we may, by their leave, call it idolatry. For whatever the host is, the cross is but a representation, and not the person worshipped.

Q. 47. Do they think it lawful to represent God and the blessed Trinity by pictures and images, and to worship them?

A. Such pictures are not only almost everywhere received in the Church of Rome, but universally tolerated; (Bellarm. de Imag., 1. 2, c. 8, sec. Ultimo probatur;) and are both recommended as expedient for the people (Concil. Trid., Sess. 25, de Sacr. Imag. Catech. Rom., par. 3, c. 2, n. 20,) and proposed to them to be worshipped. (Cajetan. in Aquin., q. 25, art. 3.) REPLY. There is nothing more expressly forbidden in Scripture, than the making any image or representation of God: “Take ye good heed unto yourselves, (for ye saw no manner of similitude,) lest ye corrupt yourselves; and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure.” (Deuteronomy 4:15, 16.) If it had been acceptable to God, he would have chosen a similitude to appear in; but seeing he did not, they were not to presume to make one for him. This is to “change his glory.” (Romans 1:21, etc.) And “to place such an image in a Christian temple is abominable,” saith St. Austin (De Fide et Symb., c. 7.) And “thus to describe the Trinity, is a deformation of it,” saith Cassander. (Art. 21, sec. de Imag.)

Q. 48. Upon what pretense do they make such representations of God? A. They say, they thereby represent not God, but some of his properties and actions, after the manner they are described in Scripture; as when “the Ancient of days” is said to “sit on a throne, having the books opened before him;” (Daniel 7:9, 10;) thereby signifying his eternity and infinite wisdom. (Catech. Rom., ibid.)

REPLY. But what is this to those images and pictures used by them which have no resemblance in Scripture? Such are their descriptions of the Trinity in Unity, as of God the father like an old man, having the Son lying in his bosom, and the Holy Ghost over his head like a dove.

(2.) God himself never appeared in any form; and so the resemblance in Daniel was only a prophetical scheme, and did no more belong to God than the eyes and ears that are ascribed to him in Scripture.

(3.) God cannot be represented at all, but by such properties and effects: But if an image of God be forbidden to be worshipped, then the image, even by such properties and effects, is forbidden to be worshipped.

Q. 49. But are not such descriptions of God, the way to represent him, as if he was like unto one of us?

A. Such pictures are not without danger to be exposed to such as cannot read the Scriptures, if they are not taught that they are to be taken metaphorically. (Bellarm. de Imag., 1. 2, c. 8, sec. Respondent.) REPLY. Cassander saith, “I wish those from whom this information is to be received, were not the authors of these superstitions;” and he adds, “That the teaching is not enough, without the occasions be removed.” (Art. 21, de Imag.) This he saith of all images, but more especially of such as are made to represent God.