Saul and Samuel at Endor, or The new waies of salvation and service, which usually temt [sic] men to Rome, and detain them there Truly represented, and refuted. By Dan. Brevint, D.D. As also a brief account of R.F. his Missale vindicatum, or Vindication of the Roman Mass. By the same author.

SAUL and SAMUEL AT ENDOR , &c.

CHAP. I. A General Account of the new Waies to Salvation , and Services of the Roman Church .

WELL may the Church of Rome look Full and Rich , since what the Church of Christ hath single , she still hath double , and of different sorts ; keeping in her Bosom as much of good and bad together , as can both furnish true Catholics with the Fundamentals of Christian Faith , and lend to others , thereon to build whole heaps of ruinous Superstitions and Abuses . Here you shall find under one Roof , the Eternal God of Israel , and a Mortal Woman , standing very near upon the same ground , both for your Worship and Praiers : Two sorts of Christs called upon in the same way ; the one born of a Virgin , and the other made by a Mass Priest : two necessary Sacrifices for the Salvation of Mankind ; one once offered up to God on the Cross , and another which is offered up every day upon an Altar : Two sorts of Mediators and Advocates , worshipped and surrounded with an equal number of Clients ; our Blessed Savior , and Canoniz'd Saints . Suitably to these two different sorts of Patrons , you shall find in the same Church two different waies of obtaining pardon of sins ; the one by the Evangelical Mercy of God upon all men , whosoever shall repent , and believe on his Son ; and another by the Bulls of the Pope , for them who will either pray before an Image , or without any mention of Praiers , look devoutly towards an Altar : Two Ladders to get up to Heaven , one white with the milk of Mary , the other red with the Blood of Jesus ; both equally puzling poor Worshippers about the choice : Two sorts of sufferings to be allow'd to sinners for their behoof and benefit , the Passion of the same Savior , and the Mortifications and Services of the Saints : Finally , two sorts of Spiritual Kindred , and Ghostly Fraternity ; that of Christ , by a partaking in Faith and Holiness , and that of the Rosary for instance , or S. Francis , and twenty more , by turning Beads , or wearing Frocks or Girdles , and by such other new Performances . To join and keep all this together , the Roman Church submits to two Heads ; the Son of God in Heaven , and his Holiness in Italy ; and Preaches two different , and sometimes contrary words of God , which you must embrace both together with the same Devotion and Faith , namely , the written word of God , which you may find in the Holy Scripture , and the unwritten Tradition , which you must seek in that Churches Breast .

In this unhappy conjuncture of true Catholic Christianity , and of mere Roman Popery , that happens which you may observe , either in unnatural and beastly Copulations , the baser kind spoils the better ; or in the Dreams of Pharaoh , the ugly destroies the well-favor'd . We find by sad experiences in these last times of the Gospel , what heretofore was typified by Ceremonies , and also expressed ever after , by unhappy Examples under the Law ; the Flesh which was consecrated and made holy at Gods Altar , had not the same vertue to sanctifie the unclean , as the unclean had to defile that which was Holy . Nor were the Israelites so powerful to convert the Idolatrous Jebusites to God ( when Married together ) as were the Jebusites , to seduce them to their Idols : and for this consideration the Law forbad such Societies . Corrupt Nature , we know , hath of it self both a strange tendency to frivolous and unlawful , and no less aversness from truly good and holy things : so , tho the power of both were equal , as to sanctifying , or corrupting , our inward Inclinations are more likely to determine us to the worst side . Never were Women so ready to part with their choicest Jewels , as when 't was to make a Golden Calf : nor could ever so many Fathers have bin perswaded to be so cruel , as to pass their Children thro the fire , had it not bin to serve Molock .

The Kingdom of Heaven is by our Savior compar'd to Seed ; now one handful of Tare is enough to poison and over-run a whole Field . Hence it is , that tho the ten Tribes of Israel retained the Law of Moses , as well as the Papists do at this present the Gospel ; yet the holy Prophets mention no other Religion , whether in Dan , or Beer sheba , but the waies of Jeroboam , and the Ordinances of Omry . And tho the Samaritans did make profession to serve the Lord God of Israel , among the gods of other Nations , 2 Kings 17.33 . Yet their service to these so immediatly takes up their whole Devotion , that in the following Verse you find , that they do not fear God at all .

It is by this fatal prevalency of evil over good , and the corrupt readiness of Men to yield to this prevalency , that the Roman superstition hath not only over-topped , but even over-whelmed the Catholic Faith , to that degree , as any Christian may both see it , if he have Eies , and must deplore it too , if he have any sense or fear of God . What the Blessed Evangelists have set down in the four Gospels , and what the Blessed Apostles have Preached upon it thro the whole World , is yet at Rome as to its being ; but as to its condition , there it is as miserably buried under the confused heap of other new & unchristian services , as ever was that Book of the Law , 2 Kings 22.8 . under the Ruines of the Temple . Their Masses , Legends , Auricular Confessions , Bulls , Praiers to Saints , and the Worshipping of Images fill up the Churches , and make the main Bulk of all visible Religion . There if some good Praiers to God Almighty appear by chance among the Croud , it is as one Pater noster among many Ave Maria's , that is , one among ten in their Beads ; and if you take the pains to compare how many Praiers , Proses , Panegyrics , and other expressions of the deepest Devotion , are bestowed on the Virgin , with what is left for our Savior ; there you shall find somewhat the same proportion between them two , as you may see both in the Images that represent them in their Churches , and in the most Authentic Visions , which are pretended to shew them together to their Monks , where she appears still with all the Pomp that can attend a glorious Queen , whil'st Christ her Son is still represented but as a Child . Thus Papists have the Common Faith ( and I wish to God they had no more ) and their own proper Romanism , to the very same or like purpose , as the Jews have the Law and the Prophets , and the Talmud of their Rabbies ; and as the Turks have both much of Moses , and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ , and all the Impieties of Mahomet , this latter to choak the former , as the Tares in the Parable did the good Seed ; or to dishonor and abuse it , as the Babylonians in Dan. 5. did the holy Vessels of Gods house .

To make all these sins more sinful , and Popery more dangerous ; these unhappy Superstructures , which lie as a heavy Encumbrance upon the holy Foundation of God , are now adaies used as so many Snares and Attractives to draw Men to the Church of Rome . Protestants have among themselves neither better , nor other waies of saving distressed Sinners , then by charging them to forsake sin , to believe and to live according to the Gospel , and with this Faith , & the use of Divine Ordinances , to cast their burden and themselves on the Mercies of God in Christ ; whereas over and above all this , the Papists have a great deal more , which others do lay no claim to . First , they have the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Compassions , who is unknown on this account to the best Churches . And this Goddess is represented , as such a Tresurer of all Graces , and a Favorer of such Persons , and upon such good and easie terms , as without her it were absolutely vain to expect advantage from the aid even of the whole Trinity . In the second place , they have millions of Saints , who whensoever called upon , make it their business to help , as much as in them lies , every condition , sort , and profession of Men. There is never a small Parish , nor Trade , no nor any exigence , want , or disease , but hath some favorable and proper Saint . The very Images of Wood and Stone are instrumental to great Blessings : their Churches and Altars are consecrated in such a manner , that the very coming near them , forgives some sins . The sound and ringing of Bells , if Christned after their way , hath much vertue . Who knows not how much devout persons are benefited by Holy Water , and devout Praiers improved to high Merits by holy Beads ? It were infinite to say all that is pretended of the Agnus Dei Medals , and a numberless store of Relics , and how they are working every day up and down the World for believing Catholics , more Cures then you can ever imagine . The Milk , the Hairs , the Shift , the Shoes , but especially the Girdle of the Virgin Mary , are to this purpose tried and well known . What shall we say of those swelling Streams , which , tho they do not sanctifie Sinners , yet overflow them with Pardons ? I mean the Bulls and Indulgences , the Confraternities , the Masses upon priviledged Altars , Pr●iers before certain Images , Stations and Jubilees upon visiting of certain Churches , great and extraordinary Powers conferred on certain Priests , whensoever occasion requires it , for dispensing with ugly things at easie rates : poor Protestants , I say , want altogether all these Blessings , and blessed Catholics abound with them . And if any of these waies of attaining Salvation seem to some Men inconceivable ; this very inconceivableness is thought by others a proper Character to set out all for Mysteries . And if that do not fully satisfie all Mens Consciences , this must , namely that their Roman is the undoubted Catholic Church , and that the Catholic Church cannot err .

Such things as these have a great weight with Ignorant , and sometimes too with intelligent Sinners , who find themselves both loaden with their sins , and unwilling to part with them . And who could blame poor Creatures for going to Rome for such Pardons , as it is certain they can never find among us , nor in the Gospel , nor in Heaven , nor any where else but at Rome ? Therefore I think it charity to undeceive men in these matters ; and convince unhappy Saul , if his obdurate Heart be not altogether incapable of reasonable Instruction , that what he sees or hears at Endor , tho perhaps sounding like the Voice , and looking like the Appearance of Samuel in the night time , will be found in the day light , not to be any thing but the Enchantment or Cheat of a poor and silly Witch . I will begin with the Catholic Church , because it is the first Varnish that they adorn their Errors with , and the general Illusion , whereby they inveigle both themselves and others .

CHAP. II. How far , and in what sense Papisls may be called Catholics , and how the Roman Church is neither the true Catholic , nor a truly Catholic Church .

THE Papists are much pleased with calling themselves Catholics , and take it a a Bellarm. de Eccles. l. 4. c. 4. for the first Mark and Acknowledgment of their Church , when sometimes others call them so ; not considering in the mean while , that Titles in all kinds of Tongues do continue most commonly long after the things signified by them are gon : and that we may call Rome the Catholic , upon the same account that St. Matthew 4.5 . calls still Jerusalem the Holy City , tho this hath lost her Holiness , as that hath depraved her Religion .

Catholic Doctrine and Service , rightly applied , and called so , is the most essential Jewel , and the very Soul of true Churches . The first Title they ever had , after Christ was gon up to Heaven , was to be called Christian : the second was , after the blessed Apostles had planted them in most Countries , to be called Apostolical : the third , if Churches did keep faithfully that Gospel , which had bin Preached by the Apostles every where , both such Churches and such Doctrines were entitled Catholic . This last Title is the essential Seal and Character of the two other : for whatsoever is thus Catholic , that is thus grown Universal thro-out all Churches , and in all times , since the preaching of Christ and his Apostles , let it be where it will , at Rome , or at Jerusalem , is both Apostolical and Christian : and therefore S. Paul Coloss. 1.6 . and 23. uses it twice , as an infallible evidence to demonstrate , that the Doctrine which the Colossians had heard either from him , or from Epaphras , was the true Gospel of Christ , because it was come to them and all the world , and was preached to every Creature under Heaven . Men may set up small Candles , that can fill with light private Rooms , and if carried about , lead Travellers some part of their way : but none but God alone can make such a Light as the Sun is , that can in a moment , as the Sun doth , spread a bright day over the whole world . No Philosophers that we know , were ever able with all their wit , to extend their Opinions beyond their Scholes ; nor the greatest Kings with their might , settle their Laws beyond their Dominions ; nor the worst Heretics spread their Errors much farther then their several Abodes . The true Doctrine of Christ only , and all such other holy Precepts , Ordinances , and Traditions , as are proper to his Gospel ; as they went forth with a divine commission , had sutable Power to carry them , and to maintain them thro-out all parts , and to all Creatures every where ( whom God would call ) in the whole world . Matth. 26.13 . Mark . 14.9 . Hence come such Doctrines , and the Churches on their account to be called Catholic . As for all other private Tenets , Customes , and Traditions whatsoever , however intended by their Authors to follow close after them , they could never reach half the way : they staied behind ; they wanted breath ; they had not the Arm of the Lord , nor the power of his Spirit , which the Gospel had , to carry and convey them so far . Thus without any exception , whatsoever you can find has bin made thus general among Christians from its very beginning , ( and nothing else ) is Christian , and Apostolical , and truly Catholic , by this infallible token , and upon this account , because it had the strength and Almighty Spirit of God to make it so , and without which it could not be so .

Thus one may judg of the Catholicness , which Romanists brag of , and challenge on two accounts , the first , when they give it to their Church , and themselves the honor of being the Catholic Church ; the second , when they give it to their new Doctrines , and Traditions , and obtrude all as Catholic . By the Catholic Church in the first sense , nothing else can be understood , but an Universal Collection of all the Churches in the world , and of all Christians in those Churches , which by the same faith join together into one Communion of Christ their Savior and their Head ; as all the Boughs of a Tree , however spread and scattered one from the other , unite into one stem ; as all Rivers into one Sea ; and as the twelve Tribes of Israel into one Kingdom . After this rate , if the Pope be the Universal or Catholic Bishop , you must needs conclude thence against him , as Pope Gregory the great did several b b Gregor. Magn. l. 4. Indict . 13. Ep. 32. item Ep. 36. item l. 7. Ind. 1. Ep. 30. times against the Constantinopolitan Patriarch : if one , saith he , be called the Universal Bishop , this one hath all , and all the other Bishops have nothing left : and thus if Rome be the Catholic Church , the other Churches are no Churches : Rome alone is the whole World , and this Tiber the whole Ocean .

To this some are pleased to say , that the Roman is the Catholic Church , not collectively or extensively , that is not by being in her self the collective and extended body of all the Churches , but virtually , and as the eminent Cardinal Du Perron expresses it , eminently , that is , the Roman hath an eminent Power Influence and Empire over other Churches . Thus Rome is all Christendom ; as if one should say London is all England , when the King and the Parliament sit at Westminster ; & the Tribe of Levi all Israel , when the High Priest and his Sanhedrin keep their Courts there : Which is to say , not that all Christendom is contained in the precinct and bosome of Rome , but under its hand and power . Thus to be the Catholic , is not to be the Universal , but only the Domineering Church , and so far Roman Catholic ; which many wise men take for a Bull : perhaps it sounds better then they are aware of , since the Romans love to be Masters , and since the Mastering Power hath bin a great while under their hand . But there is a reply against all this , that no Roman Power or wit can well shift off , First , this notion of Catholic , to signifie commanding or Monarchical , is altogether unusual , and unheard of among the Fathers ; especially St Cyprian and St Austin , who are all for keeping close to the Catholic Church and Faith ; and all , at the same time , for keeping themselves and their Churches free from the Monarchy of Rome . Secondly , it is , tho it were true , impertinent to such purposes as the Papists apply it to . For suppose Rome hath the Power ; hath she therefore the Holiness , the Infallibity , the Promises of being led into all truth by the Spirit ? Hath she all such other great advantages which are made to the Catholic Universal , and not to the Catholic Reigning Church ? Did Aaron never make an Idol , altho he was the Lords high Priest ? Were either the Scribes ever kept from inventing idle Traditions , by being Rulers in Jerusalem ? or St Peter , from cursing himself , and denying his own Master , by that Jurisdiction , they say , he had over the rest of the Apostles ? Is his Holiness , for instance , John the twelfth , or Sylvester the 2d , the one less effeminate , the other less a sorcerer , or either of them more holy , for all the power they say they have both over all the Kings of the Earth , and over all the Churches of Christ ? And may not the holy City of Jerusalem be turned both into a Den of Thieves , or into a Synagogue of Devils , altho you believe her to have a very great and eminent sway over all the Tribes of Israel ? Therefore it is not the Catholic , that is , the Monarchical , but the Catholic in a better sense , that is , the Universal Church of Christ , that hath the Promises of God , and this excellent Privilege , which both Papists and others look for , of bringing all its truly Catholic Members to Eternal Salvation .

But admit all what they would have , that their Church may be said to be the Catholic , because it has dominion over all other Churches : whence comes this Catholic Power , that can make her as really to be , as to be said so ? It comes , they say , by lawful succession from Saint Peter , who had it , and so bequeath'd it to their Popes . This is , I confess , easily said , but hardly maintained or understood . For first , St Paul knew nothing of it , when he resisted this Soveraign both publicly and to his Face , Galat. 2.11 . Nor did the whole College of Apostles , when they sent him with John as freely , as now the Pope sends his Legats , to settle the Church at Cesarea , Acts 8.14 . Nor the whole Church of Jerusalem , when they called him to an account about his behavior with the Gentiles , Acts 11.2.3 . Nor the holiest Fathers of the Church , when they did call his Successors , that is , their own Soveraigns , by the familiar name of Brothers : Nor the whole Church of God with them , when , as it appears c c Aen. sylv . Epist. l. 1. Epist. 288. pag. 202. Basil . by the very Confession of one who afterwards came to be Pope , they took little notice of this sort of Catholicness , Ante Nicenam , &c. that is , Before the Nicene Council they regarded little the Roman Church : and by the Interpretation of Ruffinus a Roman Priest , who lived but few years after it , its sixth Canon restrains this pretended Universal Power , within the adjacent Towns of Rome . I will say more , even two hundred Years after , Pope Gregory the first was so little acquainted with this pretended Prerogative , that he could not suffer the hearing e e Greg. Magn. Regist. l. 7. Ind. 1. Ep. 33. ad Eulog . of it , no not in a Compliment ( altho bestowed sometimes on others ) and so little as to this point skilled in Scripture , that tho he insists often on these words , Thou art Peter , &c. Feed my Flock , and I will give thee the Keies , &c. ( the present great Supporters and Demonstrations of Universal Monarchy ) this blind Doctor could see in them nothing tending to such a Catholic Latitude .

If Christ had intended any such Power for Saint Peter , 't was not a business to be whisper'd privatly d d Ruffin . Hist. l. 1. c. 6. in the Ear , as the Treason he told Judas of : it was to be proclamed on the House tops , and in the hearing of all the World ; according to the practice of Moses and Elisha , when they made choice of their Successors in the face of all Israel . Such a public Declaration might have presently both quelled the dangerous and undecided Contention among the Disciples , to wit , Who should be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven ; & prevented all the Disorders , which have ever since troubled the Church for want of knowing this supreme and infallible Governor . Then might the Roman Church have spared forging f f Binius in Donat & Edict . Constant . Conc. Tom. 1. pag. 313. & 314. Edit. Par. 1636. Donations & Decretals to her own shame , to assert her Power in Europe : And the Popes might have reserved that massy weight of Gold , which they gathered from the Christians under the ordinary pretences of Holy War , for holier uses , then were either g g Avent. Annal. Bocor . l. 7. the arming Turks against such Churches , as would not acknowledg his Grandeur , or driving distressed Bishops on this account by Persecution h h Vid. Quillem . Tyrium . l. 15. c. 15. &c. and hard usage , to seek for shelter among the Turks . All Nations , without either fraud or force , might then have learned their duty towards S. Peters Chair , at the same time when they heard of S. Peters Gospel : and if this pretended Tradition , whether written or not written , had waited but at a distance on the first Preaching of Christian Faith ; they would certainly have submitted to it , that is , to that Universal Empire , as they did to Episcopacy .

Secondly , Suppose , against all what I have said , that St Peter had , during his life , an Universal Monarchy ; What sound Reason , what clear Text of the holy Scripture , or what undoubted Tradition , can any one allege to shew he left it to a Successor ? Did he leave him also his other Gifts and Privileges , and among them his Faith of Miracles , his Apostolical Rod to strike men with , some to the ground , as they say he did at Rome Simon Magus ; and others to their very Graves , as he did certainly Ananias and Saphira ? Did he pass to his Successor his special Commission and Apostleship over the Jews ? Did St Paul leave either at Rome , or in any other Cities he was in , proper Apostles to succeed him in all his Prerogatives among the Gentiles ? Let any one shew me , where the twelve are whom James , John , and Thomas , and all the rest of the Apostles , left endued with equal Power in their rooms ; and then let , if you please , the Popes , in quality of Peters Successors , reign over them .

Thirdly , Suppose there were any where in the World such an Apostolical Sacred College ; What claim hath Rome , more then another place , to the Headship of this College ? Is it not as likely , that St. Peter would have left his Throne at Antioch , where he made the first Christians , as at Rome , where no Scripture saies he was ever to make any ? Would not one think that his first Chair , namely that of Antioch , which alwaies hath bin honored with a kind of Holy-day thro Christendom , should assoon be the Seat of their Universal Empire , as his other second Chair at Rome ; which if it have now the same Honor , hath it but i i Bell. de Rom. Pontif. l. 2. c. 6. since the other day ? They say , that this was k k Ibid. c. 12. his last Throne , wherein he died , and never removed any whither else : but they should prove that this was his last Will also it should stand there . He removed this Seat no whither else , because there he was put to death : Thus Nero made it his last Throne ; as about six hundred Years after , Phocas made l l Paul . Diacon . Gest. Longob . l. 4. c. 11. Vet. Edit. Platina in Pelagio . 3. Anastas . ibid. it Universal . This last did it to vex his Bishop Cyriacus , for having m m Theophanes , & Graecorum Annal. apud Baron . ad An. 606. saved out of his Bloody Hands the Empress Constantina , and her two Daughters : and to gratifie the Bishops of Rome , who were so base as to flatter him . So these two renowned Worthies , the Murderer of his own Mother , and the Murderer of his own King , have first founded that Universal Eminence , which hath made Rome thus Catholic .

The Foundation being thus laid down , both for Primacy over other Churches , and for Reverence and Dignity among most Christian Potentates , who ever shewed themselves exceeding liberal on these accounts ( for as yet the Roman Papacy went but thus far ; ) the next task was to raise it up from this degree to in absolute Monarchy . Both the Invasions of Turks , and the Broils and Dissentions that happened among the Christian Princes , helped the Popes to shake off all Subjection : and Gregory the seventh understood and practiced so well the Art of Building upon Ruins , that he left to his Successors , partly in Design , partly in actual Usurpation , very fair ground to advance farther by these Rules , commonly called the Popes Dictates . n n Dictatus Papae Greg. l. 2. post . Ep. 55. 1. That the Pope alone is the Universal Bishop . 2. The Pope alone can make new Laws . 3. That the Pope alone can take the Arms of Empire and Soveraignty . 4. That the Pope alone must have his Feet kissed by all Princes . 5. That the Pope alone hath the Power to Depose Kings . 6. That the Pope alone can release Subjects from Allegiance . 7. That the Pope cannot be judged by any Man . 8. That the Roman Church never erred hitherto , nor can ever err hereafter . 9. That he is not a Catholic , that is , a Christian , whosoever dissents from Rome . There are many more Dictates of the same sort ; but these are enough to intimate , how Popes would master the whole World . After Gregory the Seventh , comes Pope Boniface the 8th , to hoist this immense Power from this World both up towards Heaven , thence fetching Angels o o Wessel . Groning . de Potest . Papae . c. 8. sect. Neque parum . by his Bulls for the care of his dead Pilgrims ; and then down to Purgatory , thence pulling p p Ibid. up such tormented Souls ( some three or four at one bout ) as his Croisado-men shall require . Hell it self is related to the Popes Dominions : for if he be pleased by negligence , or otherwise , q q Gratian Dist. 40. Si Papa . to send whole Nations to Hell , and to deliver them as well as himself to the Prince of the Devils , many are of an Opinion , that no Man ought to rebuke him for it .

The Project of this vast Empire comes fully either to the Infernal Pride , that St. Gregory r r Registr. l. 4. Ind. 13. Ep. 34. charges him with , who would be call'd Universal Bishop : I will , saith he , exalt my Throne above the Stars of God , and I will ascend unto Heaven , Isa. 14.13 . or to their Bedlam Distemper , who , whatsoever they hear or see , imagine it to be their own . But take the whole work as you please , either as mad , or as impious , it becomes well its three Builders : The first is Phocas , a Villain , who s s Theophan . Miscell . l. 17. Murthered both his own Master and Emperor , & his Masters Roial Family , his Wife , his six Sons and two Daughters . His Holiness , I say , ows his first Title of Universal Bishop to this abominable Massacre . The second is Gregory the Seventh , before called Hildebrand , who is branded among many for a Magician of the worst fort , and for a pestilent Incendiary , both in arming Subjects against their Princes , and ( which is more unnatural ) the very Children against their Fathers : And at last , being at the point of death , he himself confessed in the presence u u Matth Paris , Willelm . 2. Anno 1086. of his Cardinals , That by the Devils perswasion he had provoked the wrath of God against Mankind . The third is Boniface the Eighth , who is reported in the x x Fasciculus Temporum . in Bonifac. 8. Chronicles , To have crept up to the Popedom like a Fox , and there reigned like a Lyon , and at the last died like a Dog . These are the Men that have preferred the Church of Rome to the Dignity she takes upon her , of being the Catholic Church . Thus it appears , that the Church of Rome is the Catholic Church in no sense , neither formally or properly , as it signifies the whole Universal Church of Christ ; nor virtually or eminently , in their unproper and unusual notion , by having any lawful universal Dominion and Headship over all other Churches . t t Benno Cardinalis . de Gest. Hildebr .

Now I come to the second part of the matter in question , to demonstrate , That the Church of Rome is no truly Catholic Church at all ( much less the Catholic Church ) further then it agrees with ours : and that the proper notion of Catholic , excludes as inconsistent with the Apostolical and Christian Religion , whatsoever she pretends as proper to the Popish Faith .

First , I begin with the Doctrine concerning St. Peter and the Roman Dominion . Ask them that know , what is properly Catholic , they will tell you after honest Lirinensis , x x Vincent . Lirin . c. 3. 'T is that which is believed by all Christians in all ages , and every where . I have demonstrated already , that St Peters Roial Power was not believed by the Apostles , nor in any Apostolical times ; and made it good out of Acts and Evidences altogether incompatible with , & destructive of this Belief : namely , His being rebuked by St. Paul , both to the Face and publicly ; his being called to account by his Brethren ; his being sent to Cesarea , &c. Can you think , that if at his return , they had found him guilty of such a foul miscarriage as would send whole Nations to Hell , they had thought it presumtion , as the Canon Law saies it is , to ask wherefore he did so ? Was it ever heard among the twelve , that besides the general Commission of Preaching Christ , St. Peter had another more special and proper Power of degrading all such Princes , as would not be ruled by his Bulls ? And if he had it not ; Is it likely that the present Roman Popes have more Secular Power from Christ then he , for compensation of their having less Holiness ? To come lower to the holy Fathers ; read their Epistles to the then Popes , and judg whether St. Cyprian , St. Basil , &c. did believe them to be their Monarchs , when they call them ( as commonly they do ) their Brethren and Fellow-servants . Did St. Augustin and his Brethren , the worthiest Prelats of that Age , submit themselves very modestly to the Roman Papal Power , of controlling by their Legats and Officers the African Church Affairs , when they called it again and again Secular y y Conc. Afric . sub Bonif. Ep. ad Bonif. & Ep. ad Celest . Pride ? and do the African z z Codex Canon . Afric . Can. 28 sect. Item placuit ut Presbyteri . Canons ( the best Ecclesiastical Rules that the Church hath ) look upon Popes as their lawful supreme Visitors , when they do forbid all Church-men , under pain of Excommunication , in any Church business , to appeal to Rome ? During this long misunderstanding , which lasted the lives of three Popes , did Sozimus , Boniface , and Celestin , ( Learned and Wise Roman Bishops ) believe , that clear Texts of Scripture did sufficiently assert the Papacy , when they were afraid of their Cause , unless they could help it up better , by forging false Nicene Canons ? And on the other side : What meant the honest African Fathers in sending a a Concil. Afric . ibid. to Constantinople , to Alexandria and Nicea , for true Copies , with profession of a readiness of submitting to all the true Nicene Canons , if they had thought , That feed my flock , and Thou art Peter , and such other Texts of Scriptures ( better worth then all the Councils ) had so much as nodded the Roman way ? Or if the Papists say ( for I know not what they can say else ) that these places of Scripture , which they now mainly stand upon , are not so clear to their purpose , without the help of Tradition ; Did St. Augustin , and all the rest of Africa , not yet know what Tradition was or what it said ? Was the ancient Tradition of the Universa Church then quite lost , among the eighty Nicene Canons , which some b b Alph. Pisan . l. 3. in Conc. Nic. Ep. ad Marcum . fondly suppose to have bin burnt by the Arrians ? Books and Papers indeed may have bin burnt ; but Christian Faith , and Tradition written no where so legibly as in Mens hearts , could not be so , unless the whole Church had bin burnt also . Besides , the general Practice , whatsoever becomes of Tradition , must remain still : for you cannot imagin that the Church of Rome could actually exercise an universal Jurisdiction over all the Churches of the World , without imagining in these an universal submission to that Power . To this purpose , tell me I pray , Whether and where S. Chrysostom or St. Basil , did swear Canonical Obedience to his Holiness when they were consecrated ? What sums of Money did they send to Rome , when they had thence got their Pallium ? And when or where among a thousand Prelats in the old Times , do you find one either subscribing himself , or being called by others , as now they do , and are Arch-Bishops or Bishops of Milan , of Constantinople , or any other Diocess , by the Grace of God , and of the Holy Apostolical See ; fairly acknowledging themselves thereby , little better then what they are now , meer Suffragans , Vicars , or Curats of that Universal Bishop ? I am sure that Pope Gregory abhorred , as long as he lived , that very Title ( and much more the Usurpation ) as c c Greg. Magn. Regist. l. 4. Ind. 13. Ep. 33. Item . l. 5. Indict . 14. Epist. 39. a Mark of Antichrist , and as a Destruction of the Faith . Now it is cherished at Rome , not only as a Catholic Doctrine , but as the very Fundamental that makes the Catholic Church . Thus Knaves grow great upon cheating , and Rebels become Kings upon a Murther , and Mens Crimes prove sometimes their Pride and Exaltation .

2. From the Roman Supremacy , go on , and look upon the Roman Mass ; you know what great proportion that Sacrifice has among them . Whole Popery depends or tends that way , as on its Center : and if the Roman Pope is that Churches Head , this Roman Service is its Body . I say then in the second place , that this vast and comprehensive Bulk is nothing less then Catholic . Catholic is , By all Mens acknowledgment , that which hath bin alwaies believ'd ( if a Doctrine ) or observed and practiced ( if a Service ) since Christian Antiquity , in all Christian Churches and Ages . Go therefore and seek , when and where the twelve Apostles ever offered in Preaching their Savior to men , to offer him up , and to make him a Victime to God . Enquire of all the Holy Fathers , when and where they sung any Mass publicly without any Communicants except the Priests ? When and where they ever solemnly and publicly administred the holy Communion under one kind ? When and where they ever heard one single syllable of those Unchristian Doctrines , that now a daies make the Main Fundamentals of the Romish Religion ? to wit , that Christ offered up himself to God as an Expiatory Sacrifice any where else but on the Cross ; that the Natural Body of Christ is both in Heaven upon a Throne , and on Earth on a thousand Altars ; that here his Body contracts & shrinks it self into the compass of a small Crumb of Bread , or any the least drop of Wine ; that these appearing Crumbs and Drops , altho emtied to all Substance , and attenuated to meer Accidents , can both well subsist by themselves , and whithersoever they be driven , pull along with them the Flesh of Christ . If these and other like Doctrines , which now are essential to Roman Mass , had in Ancient time bin Preach'd and heard as essential to Christian Faith ; Where was all the wit of Celsus , or the malice of Julian , and such Enemies of Christ Jesus , when they fell foul upon the Blessed Trinity , the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ , and all such other Articles as seemed to them ridiculous , to spare both the Mass-Sacrifice and the Transubstantiation , that both are , and seem to be so ? Where was either the wisdom or the care of Origen , Eusebius , St. Augustin , and other Christian Champions , whil'st they were writing large Volumes in defence of Religion , where it seemed subject to reproach , to leave this part alone undefended , which by all Mens confession had , if then in being , the greatest need of defence ? If the Church of God had in those daies a most real and continual Mass-Sacrifice ; How came S. Cyrill of Alexandria to be so dull against his Custom , as when Julian laughed at Christians for having neither Altars nor Sacrifices , to stop his mouth with nothing else then Metaphorical Oblations ? And was this Apostate such a Sot , as to object at every turn such meer Falshoods ( if Mass be true ) wherein he knew ( having bin long a Christian ) that any Body might stop his mouth ? It seems ( as some of their best Authors d d Alphons . de Cast. l. 8. tit . Indulgentia . confess ) the Mystery of Transubstantiation was yet in the Church incognito , and came to appear , as it doth now , but a long while ( as they say e e Gabr. Biel. in Can. Sect. 41. I. too ) after Christ had instituted it : So it is not Catholic at all .

3. Go you down to Purgatory , that vast and wide subterranean Rome , as great at least as this above-ground ; who also in a very great mesure is her Mother and Nurse : for if this pretends to send down any kind of relief to that , by her Masses and Massoffices ; yet 't is that which maintains and helps up this , with Wealth , Honors , Monasteries , and all imaginable affluence of Riches . In the mean time , this commerce , how mutual and great soever , is nothing less then Catholic , having not followed the Gospel through all the Countries , nor times of the Church . Whensoever and wheresoever the Christian Faith was Preached , there is left an Impression in the Heart of all Believers , that there is after this Life a Heaven prepared for Faithful Souls , and an everlasting Hell for those that shall be found not to be so . Purgatory , which is a third place , and should of course , if true , have gon in the same company with these two , never followed them half the way : no Apostle , so far as we can see in their holy Writings , ever Preached it : it was not blown by Gods Spirit thro-out the whole World , as other Catholic Doctrines were ; it lodg'd in some corners only , and that late , or upon a Heathenish account : and where by chance it was admitted , it found no better entertainment then a wavering Opinion : Such a thing may be , saies one : It is not unlikely , saies another . The Greek and Armenian Churches , larger then the Roman is , do not believe it , f f Alfon. di Castro . l. 12. tit . Purgatorium . saies one of the most learned Papists . It was believed but somewhat late , saies g g Fisher . cont . Luther . Art. item . one of their Cardinal Bishops , and tho Bellarmin turns over and over all the Scriptures to search it out , many of his own Church do confess , that they h h Fisher . ibid. Pet. à Solv . Assert . 8. Mart. Peresius de Traditione . cannot find it there .

4. Indulgences , that vast revenue , and staple Merchandize of Rome , is neither more ancient nor Universal then its correspondent Purgatory . For , saies i i Polyd Virgil. de Invent. l. 8. c. 1. a good Roman Author after Cardinal Fisher , no body thought of Indulgences , before Purgatory was set a foot : these without this being of no value . But a while after men had bin affrighted with the Purgatory Torments ; then began Indulgences to be of use . If you will know why both came in late , they will endeavor to k k Gab. Biel. in Can. Lect. 57. M. Alfons . à Castro . l. 8. ●it . Indulgentia . satisfie you with two Reasons ; the first is , because Christians in primitive time had few sins to trouble them after their death ; when they had any , they needed no other flames then their own Zeal to burn them out , and their great i i Gregor. de Valent. de Indulg punct. 2. Mortifications besides , left nothing to do for Indulgences . The second is , because the Ancient Church did not know all , however , much less , then now we do . The first reason stands upon mere inconsideration of what men were for the most part in the best times . The second stands fair for new lights : and upon this account you must exclude Purgatory , Indulgences , and Fanaticism , from being Catholic Doctrines .

5. You may join with those three , all the Roman Praiers and Devotions to Saints . This recommended daily , and reputedly devout Emploiment hath not so much as the shadow of Catholic ; for it crept in among Christians , ( as the Baalim did in Israel , when the Holy men that had seen Moses and Joshua , and the elders of that generation were all departed Jud. 2.10.11.12 . ) when our Savior and his Apostles and the first Preachers of the Gospel had left the world . During above four thousand years , when God had undoubted Saints living on Earth among his People , you shall not find one , who ever call'd , praied , or worshipped any other Saint in Heaven , then the Holy one of Israel . Salmero , one of the learned Disputants at Trent , confesses , m m Salmero . 1. ad Timoth. Disp . 7. Sect. Nec obiter . such Invocations have no express ground in all the Scriptures . Bellarmin n n Bell. de Beat Sanct l. 1. c. 19. Sect. Item ex c. 32. Suar. p. 3. q. 52. Salm. 1. Tim. 2. Disput. 8. Eckius . Enchirid. c. 15. and others must yeild it , as to the 4000 and odd years , that preceded the Ascension . And as for the years that followed it , Would to God saies Stapulensis o o Faber . Stapul . Praefat. in Evang. we would conform our waies of Faith and Devotion to the example of the Primitive Church , who never lookt but on one Christ ; and never Worshipped any other then , he Holy Trinity . Eckius p p Eckius in Enchirid. c●de Venerat . SS. also is clear for this . Read for your better satisfaction Origen . contra Cels . l. 8. Euseb. Eccles. Hist. l. 4. c. 15. S. Epiphanius his whole Tract against the worshippers of the blessed Virgin . S. Ambros . 1. Rom. S. Austin de Civit. l. 8. c. 27. l. 22. c. 10. item contra Faust. l. 20. c. 21.

The whole business of Image worship ( the most visible part of the Roman Religion ) came in later then the Saints worship , and therefore appears to be less Catholic . If Ancient Authors mention once as it were by chance , q q Euseb. Eccl Hist. l. 7. c. 18. a Statue made by the Woman ( and a Heathenish Woman was she ) whom Christ had cured of a bloody Flux ; or the Picture of some Apostles , which had bin seen on private walls ; or the Figure of a Shepherd with a Lamb upon his shoulders , ingraved in a Cummunion s s Tertull. de Pudicitia . Cup ; or a Representation of Histories and t t Gregor. Nyssen . Tom. 3. Martyr . Theodor. p. 579. Edit. Paris . 1638. Martyrdoms in one or two Oratories ; yet where is the Prophet , the Apostle , or the Holy Father , who ever lookt on such Figures , otherwise then common representations or Pieces of Antiquity ? or ever consecrated them in Churches , where they are now u u Alex. Alens 3. Part. q. 3. a. ult. Tho. 3. part. q 25. q. 3. Cajet. ibid. Bell. l. 2. de Imag. proper means to serve Saints by , and fit Objects to have for themselves a considerable part of this service ? That one Hanging with St. Epiphanius x x Epist. ad Johan . Hierosol . apud Hieron . Tom. 1. Ep. 6. p. 449. Edit. Paris . 1643. tore to pieces , because it represented a Saint , at the entring into a Church , might well serve for a winding sheet to wrap up all such Images , and to bury them out of the precincts of Gods Church .

7. All other Tools and impliments of Popery , as Rosaries , Beads , holy Medals , Agnus Dei's , Blessed Grains , Privileged Altars , Christening of Bells , all the three sorts , of holy water , and such Furnitures of the Roman Church , may very well go the same way , as rather the dirt then the Doctrine of any true Catholic Church . r r Ibid.

8. Auricular Confession , that is the continual work of Priests and People , is not much better ; and , as it is sometimes practised , is a great deal worse . Of all their more sober and intelligent writers , y y Gratian. de Poenit. Dist . 1. Sect. Quib. Authoritatib . Nicol. de Othel. 4. Sect. Sent. Dict. 17. Gab. Biel. ibid. some doubt much , whether it be a Catholic Practice : and others adventure to say , z z Panormit . C. Omnis utriusque Sexus . Beat. Rhenanus in Tertul . de Poenit. that it is not . The Eastern Churches , where the Gospel was first preached * * Gloss. de Poenit. Dict. 15. Theod. Gent. apud Gratian. de Paenit . Dict. 1. Sect. Quidam deo . never had it : and it came among the Romans , † † Beat. Rhenan . Sup. when public Confessions and other good customes grew out of date .

I forbear to bring more instances , because these , being the chief materials , which compose this Roman Body , may suffice to shew what it is . As a dry skin filled with straw can never make a true Lion ; nor the hollow bark of an Oak stuffed up never so industriously with moss and dirt , ever make a fruitful Tree ; so neither can now the Church of Rome , to what bigness soever it swells , or what face soever it may put on , make with these pitiful Ingredients a Catholic , much less the true Catholic Church . Let Papists try by these undeniable Characters , namely Christian Antiquity of Beginning , Continuance of Duration , and Universality of reception , what is properly Catholic ; and then turn out of their doors what is not so ; you shall presently see Rome without Popes , Churches without Image-worship and Mass service : all new Doctrines and old Idols will fall immediately down to the ground , and the manifest novelty of what they brag of , and give out as old , shall soon betray the Imposture .

I confess that Popery wants not as much Age and Antiquity , as may deceive ignorant men ; their Doctrine of Purgatory is as old as Homer himself , who lived many years afore Christ ; and their worshipping of Images , as old among the Christians , as is Simon the sorcerer , who both had and adored them , and therefore * * S. Iren. adv. Haeres . l. 1. c. 24. is branded for it in the very Apostles times : only some difference may be , that Simon had his from Pilates Brush ; and Rome had theirs , as they do think from St. Nicodemus , or St. Lukes hand . There was a worshipping of Angels , ( as bad it may be , as as the Popish is at this day ) of no lesser date then all the writings of S. Paul . a a B. Theodoret. Coloss. 2. Coloss. 2.18 . and condemned † † Concil. Laodic . Can. 35. by the Ancient Fathers . Transubstantiation is not so new as many think : for Marcus , an old Enchanter , endeavored somewhat like it by b b Iren. cont . Haeres . l. 1. c. 19. turning the Wine into Blood , which he called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 somthing like Transubstantiation . That the same Body might be , and was at the same time in several places , was a Doctrine plainly taught by the Manichees , c c August . cont . Faust. l. 20. c. 6. many hundred years before all the Councils of Lateran or Trent . Those Laws forced on mens Consciences , since Christ and his Apostles had left them to their Liberty , concerning Meats , and Marrying , are not less Ancient then d d Theodor. Haeret. Fabul . l. 5. c. 24. Cerdon , Marcion , Tatian , and the Encratites , who were very Ancient Heretics . Extreme Unction bestowed by the Mass Priests on dying persons , was prescribed by e e S. August . cont . Haereses . c. 16. Heracleon , about an hundred and ten years after Christ . Not to multiply instances , the very source and fountain , whence all errors were derived to Rome , namely the magnifying f f Hieron . ad Dametam . an unwritten Tradition , and the vilifying the Holy Scripture g g Iren. l. 1. c. 24. & l. 3. c. 2. for an uncertain and obscure Rule , hath no later Authors then the Scribes were , long before Christ , and the Gnostics , soon after him . Thus the Papists are not without Antiquity , such as it is : for I may say in general , and prove too by many Instances , that Jews , Gentils , and old Heretics scarce ever had any famous and general Abuse among them , but Rome woud have somewhat of it . But as for truly Christian and Apostolical Antiquity , such as can be the only Root , and essential Character of Catholic Doctrine ; I may safely defie the best of them to name me any one Article proper to their own Roman Faith , that is ancient in this sense . And as to those Articles of Christian Faith , which they have in common with us , and are truly Apostolical and Catholic ; it is most pitiful to think , how shamefully they abuse and poison them by the mixture of their own peculiar Roman ones . Therefore if you take this mixt and confused Body together , that is the Roman Church at the best side , as it holds yet the fundamental Ground of Christianity , which we profess ; thus far I grant it is a true Church : and if you take it at the worst , as to its proper Roman Doctrines , wherein it differs no more from us , then from all true Catholic and Apostolical Antiquity ; thus far it is , if a Church at all , a most corrupt , and desperately infected one . But if you come to huddle up these two heterogeneous and incompatible Parts together , in order to an absolute estimate and denomination of the whole ( as at the great day of the Lord one shall not appear without the other ) then it were most unreasonable that the lesser and weaker part should give the Title ; and that the Cities of Sodoma , Gomorrha , Admah and Zeboim should be called holy Cities because they have one Lot among them . The Mountain that has many Grains of Gold lying under it , is rock or sand nevertheless : & the Ocean is still salt water , tho some Rivers , and some Shipwracks mix with it other liquors . Thus Papists are ridiculously vain , who brag as they do of our acknowledging their Church , to have the Essentials of Christian Religion . For these essentials are not saving but where they have the Prevalency : and they can but aggravate sin and leave it more inexcusable , where they are baffled and opprest . Can any man think that Pilats Judgment Hall becomes a Church , for having Christ standing there to be condemned ? or that Dagons Temple becomes Gods house for having the Ark there shut up ? No wise man looks for any Harvest from a few handfulls of Wheat choaked with all manner of weeds : nor takes it to be good Pasture , which he sees to be overgrown with Thorns . No sincere Israelite can ever think of being saved by the Religion of Dan and Bethel , because it keeps still Moses his Law ; nor by the Samaritan Religion , because they serve God as well as Baal . Mixt and corrupt Religions are not to be valued so much in what is trodden under mens feet , as by what is predominant , and set upon their high Altars . The great Building raised at Jerusalem by Adrian , did not cease to be Jupiters Temple , for being raised upon holy Foundations ; and the best Altars of the Lord can procure no Atonement tho they be kept in good repair , when they serve for burning Swines Flesh . Thus what expect you from the whole Bible , while what is in it is but a Pedestal to hundeeds of false Superstitions ? or from the Preaching of Christ , and himself crucified , the chiefest learnin of S. Paul , and the Salvation of Jews and Gentiles ; as long as it is made a Foundation for an abominable Mass Service ?

In the mean while , if Papists will still bless themselves , and think that all is safe at home , because they are called Catholics abroad ( and for my part , I can but wonder to find here Bellarmin so weak ) let them remember , that in the ancient times , Men , as erroneous as they are , were called Gnostics , Apostolics , and Angelics , that is , Sublime and Angelical Christians : and thus the very Turks may bless themselves , whensoever we call them Musulmans , that is , Men of true saving Faith . The Papists may give to themselves such Titles as they are best pleased with ; but when Protestants call them Catholics , it is either out of ignorance ( for many are not acquainted with the true signification of that Word ) or a ciuil Complement , or a meer Jest and Mockery 〈…〉 as to the truth it self , the Roman Church 〈…〉 the true , nor a truly Catholic Church 〈…〉 the true Catholic Church , for this 〈…〉 pretend to , but upon the account of 〈…〉 Jurisdiction over all the Churches of 〈◊〉 ; which Pretension , where it prevails , is a Sacrilegious Encroachment ; and where it doth not , is a meer Fable . Nor is she truly Catholic , either by her own proper Doctrines , Laws , and Worship , which all are new ( as to Christian Antiquity ) Local , and unapostolical : or by the common Principles of Christianity that she detains , since she detains them in Unrighteousness , over-whelmed , oppressed , and groaning under many heavy massy Burthens of Superstitions and Abuses , beneath which she kept them , and that not like the Oracles of God in a Church , but as Captives in a Dungeon : There , both God in his Law , and Jesus Christ in his Gospel , are in a manner close Prisoners , under a cruel Band of Soldiers : not one Commandment among the ten ; few , if any , of the twelve Articles of the Creed , but there are in the Church of Rome some special Errors and Impieties wickedly set to abuse them . And this is both the Sanctuary that Rome opens for Salvation , and the first fundamental Allurement she serves men with , to entice them to Popery .

CHAP. III. Concerning the second Inducement to Popery , The Roman Miracles .

NExt to the pretended Catholic Church , Roman Miracles are the main Pride of Popery , and its strange Wonders , such as they be , of Lauretta , Montserrat , and other places , give as much countenance to the Roman , as Delphi , Delos , Dodona , and such other Seats of Heathenish Gods , did to the Heathenish Religion . The truth is , Miracles will carry a great weight , both with the unlearned and Learned Men , when they are right ; and therefore it much concerns every one that hath no mind to be cheated , well to know the right from the wrong .

All true Christian Miracles are supernatural , or extraordinary Works wrought for a time , either by the immediate Hand of God , or by the Mediation of Men and Angels , when moved or strengthned thereto by him , for the farther authorizing and confirming true Catholic and Christian Truth , especially among Infidels .

First , I say , true Christian Miracles ; not only to oppose them to all Cheating and Fabulous , but also to distinguish them from other more common supernatural Effects , which God is pleased sometimes to shew promiscuously among all sorts of Nations for the asserting of his Power , Justice , Mercy ; or more generally , his Divine Being in the course of his Providence : There is not a Nation in the whole World , but may find , if they will search , many such admirable Passages in their Chronicles ; nor scarce any private Man , but may observe somwhat of these , as he calls them , strange Accidents in his own time . It is most certain , that God sent his Angels , and with them his great Judgments and Powers among the Persians , and Greeks called Javan , Dan. 10. as well as among the Israelites : and besides , what either the Earth or the Heavens can do by their proper Influence , and what Man-kind can add unto it , by their own good or bad conduct , in the ordinary course of things , the miraculous Hand of God often times over-rules so visibly , that no sober man can doubt of his interposition and guidance . Of this kind are the stupendous and unexpected rises and falls of great Estates : the slaughters of many thousands , mention'd in divers Histories , by an inconsiderable handful of men : the raising of Princes among Pagans to an extraordinary pitch of Moral Vertue , and Heroical Courage : the terrible Prodigies , Blazing-stars , and Predictions before great Desolations and Plagues ; somtimes Curses , somtimes Blessings fastned as it were to some Houses , &c. No judicious Man will fancy , that Cyrus for example , or Alexander either , would undertake , or could perform their vast Designs amidst their Disadvantages , without some singular influence and help from above : and whosoever will consider , what Plato was , and what he makes a a Plato in Apolog. Socrat. Socrates say before his death , can hardly forbear thinking , but that this Heroical Pagan had commonly the Assistance of a good Angel . These , and other such great Examples taken notice of by all sorts of Historians , confirm the truth of Gods special care ; about the conservation of Societies , and signifie nothing at all about their true or untrue Religion in Churches or Temples . If they did , where is that pitiful Sect or Country , but might allege sundry Miracles to justifie its own Pagan or Heretical Perswasion ? The Emperors Vespatian and Adrian , might have authorized , by this means , the Worshipping of Roman Eagles : for both are said b b Corn. Tacitus , Hist. l. 4. to have restor'd sight to blind men : the Vestal in Valerius , with her holding of Water in a Sieve , or drawing a Ship with her Girdle , might as well have asserted her Heathenish Religion , as her Personal Innocency . There is nothing so absurd with the Donatists , nor so impious with the Manichees , which some Miracle or other wrought among them , might not countenance in some mesure . And without looking back towards old times , the Kings of England , and the Kings of France , with that gift which it is said they have , of healing an otherwise scarcely curable Disease , might come near to justifie at once ( which is both absurd and impossible ) both Protestancy and Popery : So far do these Providential , differ from Christian Miracles , as to the confirming of any Christian Truth .

Secondly , I say , that these true Christian Miracles are commonly but for a time , and for the first authorizing , &c. For the Gift of working Miracles is , as that of speaking Languages , 1 Cor. 14.12 . intended for the Conversion of Unbelievers , and for assisting the Gospel , wheresoever it should be first Preach'd . Therefore the first Evangelists , and other first Planters of Churches , as well as the Holy Apostles , had as long this help of Miracles , as God had Nations in the World , to whom he would revele his Will : which , being a work of many Years , this supernatural Hand of God help'd it forward , both in confounding Pagan Idols , and strengthning Men against Pagan Persecutions , till God had sent Christian Princes , to whose care he then committed the work ( both of countenancing the Church throout all their Dominions , and of mastering her Enemies ) which till then he did by his own hand . After this , 't is certain Miracles ceased apace , if not to be , yet to be common , being thenceforth not so necessary as before : Those that continued the longest , were about the healing of Sicknesses , and about the casting out of Devils : and the corners where they continued , were those wilde Deserts and remote Places ( the refuge of the Primitive Christians from the Face of their Enemies ) where there was more need of such continued Wonders , because that more Infidels did lurk there . And by the way , it may be imagin'd , that God inclined those last Workers of Miracles , whose austere Life and Devotion now adaies seems to us so strange , * to leave the more cultivated World and retreat to Deserts , in order to convert barbarous men in their most barbarous Countries .

All this being done , and all known Parts and Creeks of the World being either mostly converted , or sufficiently called to the Christian Faith , the Holy Fathers tell us , that Miracles c c S. Chrysost. 2 Thess. c. 2. Hom. 4. ceased ; that they were d d Idem 1 Cor. c. 2. Hom. 6. Author Quaest. ex Nov. Test. apud Aug. unnecessary ; that to expect e e S. Crysost . in Joh. c. 3. v. 25. Hom. 23. of God any other then the old ones , by which the Gospel had bin already most sufficiently confirmed , was no less then temting of him ; that if any were wrought in their times , they could not be well look'd upon , but as a suspicious kind of Signs ( and not infallible proofs of Faith ) because the true f f Author Operis Imperf. Hom. 49. Servants of Christ having confirm'd their Preaching by true signs , call'd Men away from their Infidelity , to the Faith : now this first calling being over , the Devil will set up himself , by the means of his own Miracles , in order to draw Men back again from Faith to Infidelity .

And as to this , God was pleased to take the same course in the publishing of the Gospel , as he had bin pleased to take in the publishing of the Law . In this first he asserted the Glory of Israel , the redemtion out of Egypt , and his own Law under Moses , by such Miracles as no Egyptian at last could question , and no false God could counterfeit . For altho most of them , as for example , the producing of Lice , the dividing an Arm of the Sea , the making Thunders and Earth-quakes , &c. seemed not much to exceed that compass , which created Causes might have reach'd to : yet God so visibly confounded both the skill of all Magicians , and the power of all Devils , that his Almighty Power and stretched-out Arm , did not appear so much in the very working of these Wonders , as in restraining the contrary Powers both of the Air , and of Hell , from attemting to any purpose the like performances . Lastly , God having sufficiently evidenced both the Power of his Laws , and the Truth of his Promises , he thenceforth both withdraws his Hand from working his former continually appearing Miracles , and takes off that restraint that alone kept the Devils from either doing or counterfeiting any like them . And then , the Evil Spirits being let loose again to their former Liberty , God gives his People this fair warning , against all Revelations and Miracles whatsoever : If there arise among you a Prophet , and give thee a Sign or a Wonder , &c. Deut. 13.1 . In like manner those Miracles which ushered the Holy Gospel , and spread it over all the World , were in all respects unquestionable . First , they were mark'd out before-hand , by clear infallible Prophecies , both of Isaiah 35.5 , 6. The eyes of the blind , &c. And of Joel 3.28 . I will pour my Spirit , &c. Secondly , to remove farther out of the way , both all suspicion and possibility of Error in those first times , all the Devils and all their Ministers were tied generally from all false and considerable Miracles : I beheld , saies our Savior very much to this purpose , Satan falling as Lightning from Heaven . His Oracles were over the World all upon a sudden * * Plutarch . de Orac. defect . suppressed , Magicians and Seducers , if they attemted any thing , were either struck blind , as Elymas in the Acts ; or silenced , as so many Demoniacs were in the Gospel ; or confounded , and even beaten down , when they thought to exalt themselves , as Simon Magus was by St. Peter , as we find both in the Acts , and in the Ecclesiastical History . Then , after a long course of true and infallible Miracles , sufficient in all respects both to perswade men through all the World , and to seal the Holiness and Importance of the Gospel to all Ages ; Satan is permitted to use his ancient Power again , both for the trial of the Believers , and the punishment of the Rebels . Then all sorts of Seductions , false Revelations , and false Miracles , could not but return back again by an infallible Consequence , and with greater Violence then ever , because after a longer restraint . Hereupon come the often repeted and serious and merciful warnings of Christ : There shall arise false Christs , &c. Matth. 24. Thus both in the Law and the Gospel , the first times and sorts of Miracles do carry alwaies along with them , and as it were in their Foreheads , such express Characters of Gods hand , as is most proper and most sufficient to put the Truth above all doubt : Therefore Christ often doth make use of them , John 5.36 . and 9.37 . And so do the Holy Prophets most celebrate and insist upon those Principal and Primitive ones , that had bin wrought by Moses , by Joshua , and by the first Judges . Whereas the second sort of Miracles are all branded with such black Marks , and discredited in all respects with such heavy Charges and Warnings , as must needs affright all Christians from being mis-led , but those who are pleased , or given over to be seduced by them . Maricon g g Tertull. cont Marcion . l. 3. c. 3. , and Donatus h h August . de Vnitate Eccl. c. 16. , and other worse i i Hieron . Ep. ad Galat. c. 3. v. 5. Tertull. de Praescript . c. 44. sorts of Heretics , seldom wanted these last Miracles .

Thirdly , I say , True Christian Miracles are intended for the confirming of Christian Truth . This is their chief and ultimate end , tho in order to it they may and do serve commonly for other more immediate accounts . Thus , when Christ cured the Sick , and cast out Devils , these Miracles were to be lookt on both as extraordinary effects of his Divine Power , and most signal Expressions of his Mercy to those persons whom he did cure . Yet the main thing Christ aimed at , was this , that both those who were cured , and those who saw that they were so , might be perswaded by such wonders , that the expected Messias was come , that it was He ; and that whatsoever he said and commanded , was to be believed and obeied . So Miracles were both to Christ & Christs Ministers , what Credential letters , badges and robes are to all Public Officers : and also were to the Gospel , which they preached , what Signs and Seals are to the Articles , Patents , and other Commissions , which are brought by those Officers ; that is to say , such Confirmations and Evidences , that if all those , to whom they were expresly sent would not believe them upon their word , or upon the hearing of their Doctrine , ( which many did without more ado ) they might do it by seeing their works . Hence it is that both our Savior , and his Apostles ever preached the Gospel in the first place , and confirmed it by the words taken from the Law or the Prophets ; and in the second place , if what they said , required in the hearers any farther Confirmation , then in that case they shewed Miracles . They went forth , saies St. Mark 16.20 . and preached every where , the Lord working with them , ( inwardly by his spirit , ) and confirming the word with the Signs that followed . Therefore the following Signs having such a special dependence and proper aspect on the Gospel , which went before ; if no Gospel , nor any thing essential to it is preached or delivered some other way , these Miracles are just like Seals and Signs , that are merely put to a Blank ; and , as to Christian Doctrine can signifie nothing at all . And so these Signs , if true , are merely Providential . If they be put to any true and real Deed , but enterlined afterwards with Clauses , that cannot well agree with it ; you may be sure those Seals relate not to any one of the forged Additions . And if all was blank before , & all afterwards be filled with a whole false Commission , the Seals and Miracles pretended for it , must needs be utterly false , and if real , utterly Devilish ; it being utterly impossible , that God the God of Truth , would put either his own hand , or the hand of his good Angels to the countenancing of an untruth , and to the contradicting any Truth which he hath confirmed before .

So , to prevent Delusion , some care and skill must be used in understanding and construing the voice and Signification of Miracles . For instance when God sent Lions among those Heathenish Colonies , who used no other Religion in Israel , then what they had learned in Babel or in Ava . 2 Kings 17.25 . this extraordinary Judgment said nothing at all to countenance what Jeroboam and the ten Tribes had adulterated in Gods Service ; for such language in a Miracle should contradict , and not confirm the clear Voice of God in his Law : it declared nothing but this truth , to wit , that God would have alway the Memorial of his Name kept in that Land ; and that in order to this will of his , he would rather bear with any Corruption , then with the utter Abolition of his Service in that Country , till his Son should come to reform it . Thus the Angel moving the water once every year at Bethesda . S. John 5. or the other Angel that at one time dried up or removed twice the water , which a Novatian k k Socrat. Hist. Eccles. l. 1. c. 17. Bishop had consecrated for the Christening of a Jew , who had bin Christened already , & who thought of nothing else then of surprizing by this means the Liberality of Christians , which then was very great upon such occasions ; neither of these true Miracles I say are understood , if you draw them , either to favor the Traditions which the Scribes then taught in the Temple ; or to countenance the long Schism , which this Novatian Bishop with others did keep and foment in the Church . These two Miracles must be applied to their own proper and fit ends , or to such things as Christian Truth can allow of . That of Bethesda to declare the continuance of some temporal Mercies upon a corrupted then , but before an elected People : and to signifie to all men the Blessing of holy Baptism , and the admittance into the Christian Church , which was , fitly represented by the said Pool of Bethesda , that is the Laver of Regeneration in the House of Gods Mercies . And the other , to vindicate the Honor of this same holy Baptism , which the Novatians kept entire , and which this wandering Jew thought to abuse . By this means the true Miracles done in Christs Name ( and power too ) sometimes by false men Matth. 7.22 . shall recommend only Christs Gospel , not their Iniquity who work them . No simple Ignorants shall turn the wonderful Acts of God as S. Peter saies , some do the Scriptures to their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3.6 . nor the foulest Hereties , as otherwise they may ) toward their foulest Blasphemies , and whatever be don or reported to be so , among men of mixt and corrupted Religions , shall give them no ground of bragging in their Error , or Heresie . Thus suppose ( which for my part I might very well wish it were true ) that the great Cures done anciently at the Graves of the holy Martyrs , were yet to be seen every day ; these Acts of God , how great soever , wrought at the touching the Relics of St. Stephen in Africa , or of St. Andrew at Constantinople , or of Gervasius and Protasius at Milan , would justifie neither Turcism , nor any other Impiety now believed or practised in those Countries ; they could attest nothing but this , that those Martyrs howsoever killed , and cast out like Dogs , were holy men : and that what they taught and died for , when they were taken for Seducers , is proved by these great works , to be most true . Thereupon enquire what they taught , what they did , and what they believed ; for this certainly ( and this only ) is attested by those Miracles : and if the Heads of Peter or Paul shewed yet yearly upon great holy daies at Rome , did really the greatest Cures ; these would assert S. Peter and S. Pauls Epistles which the Papists now contradict in many Points ; and not the Popes Roial Power , nor the Roman Purgatory , nor the works of congruity , condignity , or supererogation , nor any other like Doctrines which are contradicted by these Epistles . But if you meet , as oft you may , with another sort of Miracles , which , what way soever you turn them , do not look towards any Doctrine delivered by Christ or his Apostles ; these can be none of those , we may be sure , which S. Mark calls following Miracles , such as are properly the Christian ones . They may be from God nevertheless , and true , and good , and thankfully to be accepted , as the Providential Miracles are . But if they look or go plainly a quite cross or contrary way ; be sure they are Antichristian , and are designed either to sow , or to improve some other Seed , then was at the first Sown by Christs Preaching , and cultivated by his Miracles . And such were those true Prophecies , which Moses bids us to take heed of , Deuter. 13.1 . to draw Israel after strange Gods : such were the many Signs and wonders , which Jansenius Bishop of Gant affirms l l Cornel. Jansen . Conc. Evang. c. 123. to have bin don in his time , to seduce men after a false Christ . Nor matters it that these Miracles seem not much less , then those first were , wherewith the Gospel was confirmed ; For the Beast can perform great wonders . Revel. 13.13 . Devils by Gods permission come very neer that which good Angels attain unto , by Gods Command : and tho there are many Miracles beyond the reach of good and bad Angels , as for instance the Reviving of dead Bodies , &c. Yet there are none , but by some illusion or other , may be so exactly counterfeited , that tho they have no Reality , yet will they have as much appearance to confirm Lies , as the other have to confirm the Truth . Hence comes in these last times ( when the Devil hath no restraint to keep him from making the utmost use of his Power ) the absolute impossibility of discerning those from these any other way , then by the end , which they aim at , to wit the reveled will of God , and the manifestation of his Truth . There are some of the Devils Miracles , * * August . de Civit. l. 10. c. 16. saies S. Austin , that as to the work it self seem not to be lesser then Gods are , but their End must distinguish them . And therefore , he will have the Miracles of later times to be tried by the true Church † † Idem de Vnitat . Eccles. c. 19. as we find it in the Scriptures : and not the Church , by these Miracles .

Bring Roman Miracles to this Rule , you may divide them into three Ranks ; for some of them are but mere Tales ; some are counterfeit Impostures , and artificial tricks of Juglers : others have a real Being ; but the question is , Whence they have it .

As for the first sort of Miracles : the Papists have by little and little , heaped them to such an Extravagancy , that divers of their communion , who have some modesty left them , can scarce forbear blushing m m Melch. Canus . Loc. l. 11. c. 6. at their relation . Gregory of Tours , and Gregory the first Bishop of Rome ( if the four Books of Dialogues be truly his ) did begin pretty well to tell stories : But it is nothing to the advances made by some other Prelats and great Roman Doctors , in the following Ages : And I may say confidently , that these Romanists are not much short of the most extravagant Romancers . There you shall read of Constantine the great being a Leper , and transferring his Roman Empire upon that Pope that made him clean ; of Wolves and Lions bringing back Lambs , and restoring them out of their Entrails , after they had torn them to pieces ; of Birds flocking about to hear Sermons ; and of Asses becoming Roman Catholics , at least kneeling to adore the Mass-Sacrament , &c. They cannot conceive any great Man to be a Saint , unless he hath an extraordinary Gift for the working of such Miracles . How true they be , you may best learn of the very Saints , who deny them : as for Example , n n Bernard . Serm , de Benedict . Berard , o o S. Chrysost. passim . St. Chrysostom , and p p S. Gregory , Hom. 29. in Evang. St. Gregory , and yet they are forced upon them : and you can hardly pass for a true Catholic , unless you believe ; that St. Bernard q q Chronic. Deip. an. 1152. was saluted and suckled several times by our Lady in her Image ; that r r Simeon Metaph. in vita Chrysost. Sigeb . an . 606. St. Chrysostom did raise the dead , did cure all sorts of incurable Diseases ; and had every night St. Paul himself whispering continually in his Ears , what he did write on his Epistles . And as to St. Gregory the Great , he had no meaner Whisperer r r Simeon Metaph. in vita Chrysost. Sigeb . an . 606. then the Holy Ghost in Person , under the shape of a Pigeon sitting quietly upon his Head , and sometimes stretching down her Bill s s Petrus apud Vossium de Historic . Lat. l. 2. c. 23. into his Mouth , when he was Preaching . And we know that the grand Impostor Mahomet pretended somwhat the alike about the same time . Now you may be sure all this is merely Fabulous , since it is disown'd by the very Men who are pretended to have had it , & who therefore knew best the truth of all these Works and Assistances . Much like to these are the Miracles and Revelations of Ignatius Loyola , when he cures Women in their Travel , if you but set his Seal t t Valderama Serm. de Canon . Ignat. or Signet on their Belly ; when he makes u u Ibid. pag. 10. the House where he happens to be , horribly shake ; and when himself grows as hot and as terrible as Mount Aetna , by the fierce motion of that Spirit , which from a debauch'd Soldier made him a Holy Jesuit : or when he sees the Soul of his deerest Friend Hosius x x Ribadaneira in vita Ignat. mounting up into the sky , far more gorgeous then the Soul of any other : or when he works greater Miracles , with his own name in a little piece of Paper y y Valderama , ut sup. p. 51. , Cum nomine suo Chartae inscripto , then Moses and the Apostles did in Gods Name . We cannot deny ( saies the Bishop of Canaries ) but somtimes very grave Men write and leave to posterity such reports about Saints Miracles , humoring hereby both themselves and the People , whom they perceive both prone to believe , and importunate to have them do so .

There is a second sort of Roman Miracles , which are somewhat , but have it all from Artifice and Imposture . Pope Boniface in this matter once behaved himself like a Man , when thro a Pipe or Sarbatane he conveied so dexterously this a a Platina Bonifac. 3. Bergom . Supplem . l. 13. in vita Bonif. Oracle , Celèstin get thee away , if thou hast a mind to be saved ; that Pope Celestin took it , it seems , notwithstanding his Infallibility , for an Angelical Warning , and so left his Popedom to the Cheat. Pope Hildebrand had once another as good intention of Cheating , but as it was much more cruel , it had not so happy a success ; when he had ready a huge Stone b b Card. Benno de Gestis Hildebr . , which should have faln from a high Vault , like a Judgment out of Heaven , upon the Emperor Henry the Third's Head ; but the poor wretch , who was emploied in that good affair , made too much hast , for he fell down with his great Stone , wherewith he was crusht all to pieces , before the Emperor came under that place where he used to kneel at Praier . It was a prettier trick of the Country Curate , b b Card. Benno de Gestis Hildebr . who getting Crabs , with little candies fastned to their backs , set them a crawling up and down his Church-yard at night ; and perswaded his People in the morning , after he had taken them again , that they were poor distressed Souls which wanted z z Melch. Canus , Loc. Com. l. 11. c. 6. c c Erasm . in Epist. Masses . Images and Crucifixes are very commodious for working this kind of Miracles , especially when they are ser up close to thick Walls , as the great Serapis of Alexandria was once ; for then 't is an easie matter to get up behind , by secret waies , to anoint the Face of the Saint , and to put in a Chafing dish , that shall make him both sweat and weep , by heating and melting that Liquor . Springs , and Wheels . and such like Engines , are of great use to move and bow , and make them speak . By such a Miracle , the married Clergy unhappily lost once their good Cause at Winchester ; for when they were upon the point of winning it , d d Polyd. Virgil. Hist. l. 6. sub . fin . a Crucifix started at it , and declared against the Priests . This Voice in the Synod being well seconded by the Monks , went presently for an Oracle : So either simple were the men , or strong the Impostures of those daies ; nor are they now much less in many places . Altho Lyranus tells all the World , That great e e Lyranus c. 14. in Daniel . Delusions are often put upon the People by Mass-Priests , and their counterfeited Wonders and Signs .

Besides these two , I will not deny , but the Roman Church may be granted to have another third kind of Miracles , which neither are fancied by Historians , nor counterfeited by Juglers , but really wrought by higher Causes . For my part , when I do read in grave & famous Roman Writers , that a Consecrated Host will flie and flutter in the Air sometimes , till a Mass-Priest holds up his Pix to receive it ; that shapes of Flesh , and young Children , have appear'd on their Altars , at the Elevation of the said Host ; that by many good Experiences , Horses , and Mules , and Cows , have bin cured of their Diseases , when some Masses were sung for them , to the honor of St. Barbara ; that St. Dominic did write Books , which , upon several Trials , no fire could ever Burn ; that once he was seen perfectly in the shape of a Crucifix f f Boet. Alan . Rediv. part. 2. c. 60. , with the five Wounds in his Body , and a Crown of Thorns on his Head ; that at the Consecration at Mass , somthing like Christ was seen hard by him , with the same signs of his cruel Passion , dropping out of his own Wounds , some of his dear Blood on this dear Saint ; that the Blessed Virgin beheld all this , & of her own accord plaied the Mass-Priest , and administred the very Body of her Son in one moiety of a Consecrated Wafer to this same Saint , in token of special Friendship : and all this averred and sworn as true , by a formal Oath in the Name of the Blessed Trinity , and under pain of all kinds of Gods Curses , in case of a lie or a mistake , with five hundred such , and greater Marvels : I think it a kinder and safer part in me , to take them for something , then for mere Tale But for my pains of believing so , let me , who by Gods grace am a Protestant , have the liberty which the Papists allow themselves , when they controle what is done by Pagans ; to say , as perhaps it is true , that g g Bell. de Eccl. l. 4. c. 14. sect. ad quartum . when the Emperor Vespasian once cured a blind and a lame man , it was the Devil , who hindring the sight of the one , and the motion of the other , seemed really to heal both , when really he did but cease from hurting and annoying them . Somtimes Papists will come so far , as to suspect their own Miracles , h h Biel. in Canon . Lect. 51. and to take them but for sportings of unhappy and wicked Spirits . Those extrordinary shows of a young Child , or of a Man of complete stature , that appear somtimes , as they say , among their holiest Mysteries , and upon the Fists of their best Priests . They might as well , if their Interest would suffer it , find the like flaws in all the rest : And you may easily do it , if you compare their own Roman , with all averted Christian Miracles . For ,

The Miracles of Christ and of his Apostles , had in them three prime Characters , which set them past all doubt . 1. In themselves all were very substantial and serious Works , and of a suitable nature besides , both to promote the Glory of God , and to procure some very considerable good to men . 2. They did tend , and were also proper , to rouse the dullest Infidels to the belief of some Fundamental Article of Christian Religion , as the Resurrection , or coming of Christ ; the accomplishment of Prophecies , and the establishment of the Gospel . 3. And for this end , God had them wrought mostly in such remarkable times , as were set out by most express Predictions , and freed by Gods restraining hand , from all mixture and possibility of Lying Wonders . The Roman Miracles , contrary-wise carry with them three such sad marks ( or at the least some of the three ) as both visibly distinguish them from the Christian ones , and must needs render them suspicious to all Christians . First , By their own intrinsecal Impertinency and Frivolousness . Secondly , By their general Aptness and Tendency to confirm rather any piece of trifling Superstition , then any fundamental Point of Christian Faith , Thirdly , By being done late , after the Gospel of Jesus Christ had bin thus abundantly confirmed over all the world by the former true Miracles , that the farther continuance of them had bin useless ; which times were reserved for false Miracles , and are branded accordingly by Christ himself and his Apostles , with this woful Prediction , that Antichrist should then come , and enchant men with strong Delusions , and lying Wonders , 2 Thess. 2. Revel. 13.13 .

As to the first black Character , whereas the Ancient Miracles of God are grave and serious works , and do carry along with them both some Image of Gods Wisdom , and some holy Impression of the Divine hand that causes them ; the modern and Roman Miracles are commonly such Sports and Pranks , as can become but Fairies or Hobgoblins . What is there in the whole world more impertinent , then to make the most blessed and holy Virgin Mary come purposely out of Heaven , whence it was not heard she came before , to drudg here and there about Monks , about sick Wives , about Images & such like things ? Who could take for a holy Soul , or a good Angel ( much less for that ever Blessed Saint ) that which appears under her Name like a Woman shewing her Breast , * * Alan . Rediv. part. 2. c. 4. embracing men , giving them suck , enticing them with her Favors , Hoods , Vests , and somtimes fine Rings , which she makes for them of her own hairs ? for whensoever she is pleased to come down , and to bring her Heavenly Train about her , it is commonly for such purposes . Once St. Ildephonse met her at Church i i Jul. Pomer . in vita Ildeph . ap. Sur. 23 Jan. sitting gravely in his own Throne , with thousands of other Virgins , that stood singing round about her , and about the reading Pulpit . This great Appearance was for nothing else then for complimenting that Bishop ; and for presenting him with a white Robe . Come to me , saies she , thou Servant of God , and accept of my hand this small Present , which I have taken out of my Sons Ward-robe . Thou maiest wear it upon my day ( that is , her Assumtion , or Conception , &c. ) and not at any other time ; and because thou holdest the eies of thy Faith continually bent to my Service ; ( for this is the best Eie of Roman Faith ) thou shalt use it here in this Church , and hereafter in my Closets , in Promtuariis meis , thou shalt have joy . They shew yet this Gown at Toledo . At Magdeburg another time she came to Church upon a more serious affair . She k k Chronic. Deipar . an. 985. had the goodness before , it seems , often to chide Vdo , ( the then Bishop ) for lying so often , as he did , with her Virgins the Nuns . Thou hast had , saies she , sport enough , do so no more . Notwithstanding this fair warning , she found him afterwards a Bed with no meaner Miss , then the Mother Abbess her self : then indeed was she sore vexed ; so she calls down her Son to her ( you may be sure it was not Christ ) and they both by their Angels pulled him off out of the Bed from his Abbess , and soundly beat him for his pains . At every blow Vdo vomited out one of those Hosts , which he had consecrated , being in that sin : and because of her Sons dirty lying ( if Transubstantiation be true ) in that stinking , she held the Chalice to take both the wafers & her Son in it . Then the Quen of Heaven , saies the Historian , takes up these vomited Wafers , and washes them clean with great care , and laies them up reverently on the Altar . It would never be don to tell you of all her other strange passages ; as , when she goes to Orleans l l Leander . in vita Reginald . with a Box of precious Ointment , there to anoint the back of a Dean ; when she m m Chronic. Deip. an. 598. gives special Pills to a Monk , to purge his choler : when she feeds S. Albert n n Robert . Archid. in vita S. Albert. ap. Sur. 7 Apr. with a kind of Bread , after which he resolved ever after to feed upon nothing but Roots and Herbs : when she comes down out of Heaven ( that is , I think from the Powers of the Air ) purposely to uncover her Breast ) and to put her Paps into mens mouths ; as for example to o o Histor. Eccl. Carnot . an. 1020. S. Fulberts , but more effectually p p Chronic. Deip. an. 1152. to S. Bernards ; for since this Virgins milk went down his Throat , his Words and Eloquence , saies the same Author , were much sweeter : when after these familiar visits , this obliging Lady comes to woe Sweet-hearts , and to desire their Marriage . Thus when once she had made a Ring q q Ibid. an. 1476. of her own Hair , and given it to S. Alain , a most filthy companion before , and in the presence of her Saints and Angels ( all Spirits of the like nature ) she then took him after for her Husband . But before him she had another , who deserves to be remembred ; it was the pretty S. Harman . This Gentleman was from his youth much devoted to her Service , and she to his . At last , after many sweet Conversations and Visits , under the notion of our Lady , and her Chaplain ( for she used to call him so ) once she appears r r Chronic. Deip. an. 1235. to him ( being at his Devotions ) led by two Angels ; who being come within the distance , where S. Harman did well hear them ; one of them cries out , To whom shall we give and marry this Virgin ? the other answered quite as loud ; To whom should we , rather then to this young man ? meaning Harman . Then the Angel took him by the hand , and joined it with the said Virgin , with these solemn Expressions , O Harman , I give thee this Virgin to be thy Spouse , in the same manner as once she was to Joseph ; and hereafter be thou her Husband , and upon these terms be called Joseph . Then at night when he was asleep , this Queen of Heaven comes to his Bed side , and laying her Child , whom she carried on her left Arm , into this new Bridegrooms hands , Take you charge of him , saies she , hereafter , as once my other Joseph did , when we three fled into Egypt : but after all these good Kindnesses , there ( as 't is usual among Lovers ) happened an unlucky distaste : for this Joseph being intrusted with the Guardianship of a Convent , she grew Jealous of her new Joseph ( which she never was of the old ) as if he had taken greater care of his Convent , then of her self : and being in that musty humor , she appears to him under such an old ugly Face , that poor Harman thought ( as well he might ) it was the same Devil , who in former times used to haunt him : and cryed out frightfully , Who art thou ? I am , saies the Apparation , I am the Keeper of this place , as you know , I was so before ; then Joseph Harman knowing who she was by her sweet Voice , tho much troubled at her sowre Face . O my Rose ; quoth he , for he was used to call her so ; art thou the same , and how camest thou by this old Face . I had a mind , replied she , to appear in your Eies , such as I fear I am in your heart ; where I perceive I am accounted no better then if I were an old Woman : Where are now the frequent Praiers , which I used to receive of thee , and which did heretofore render us young one to the other ? With these , and many more reproches , she so mortified her poor Joseph , that he quite laid aside all the care he had of his Convent ; and since that time had no other thought , then of making his Queen younger by rehearsing her Ave Maries , and other-like Angelical Prizes , till poor Harman got a mischance : for when he was running too fast , he fell down flat upon his Face , and struck out two of his best Fore-teeth by that fall ; but his Lady put them in again , both so fast , and so dexterously , where they had bin , that he was well of them ever after . At another time she came to his Bed , and finding him lying on that side , where he had bin let Blood in the Arm , she turned him upon the other , and shew'd him how to lie and sleep without fear of farther danger . If these evil Spirits dare thus appear , under the name of Christs blessed Mother , whereof Scripture gives no warning , it is no wonder if they do it under the name of Christ himself , after so many Prophecies . It is not the true Christ certainly , that being Immortal in Heaven , comes down either at every Mass , there to lie as if he were dead , under the hand of any Priest ; or to shew tricks of Activity under the shape of a young Child , and act among Nuns and Novices twenty silly Pranks in their Churches . We are not bound to believe all ; but it were hard to believe nothing , when so many and great Doctors , and among them some great Saints too , aver for truth one and the same thing . One , saies he , hath seen this little Child creeping out s s Matth. Paris , in vita S. Godric . at the mouth of a Crucifix ( 't is all that a Sparrow could do , but the Devil can do much more ) and thence jumping into the Lap of an Image , and thence flying up again the way that he came . Another saies , That St Ida t t Menol. Cisters . 29 , Octob. had him , and kissed him , and embraced him , ut sponsa sponsum , that is , as you may think , as a young Wife kisses and embraces her young Husband . The worst is , that once when being to sing , and by her order to stretch out her arm , she was put to a great distress lest he should fall , Cogitate , &c. Look to it my Lord , saies the young Nun to the Baby , for I must obey my Order : but the Baby was a strong Child , and so twisted himself about her neck , that he had no need of her holding him , till she had don with her Anthemn , and so she took him in her Lap. St Agnes u u Bov. 14. Annal. an. 1317. n. 2. had him too , witness the little Cross which in a loving way she stole at the same time out of his bosom . And so had St Catharine , of the Order of St. Clara x x Flamin . in vita S. Cathar . , being brought to her by his own Mother to kiss upon a Christmas Eve . St Boniface y y Henriquez . Fascicul . SS. had him likewise brought to his Bed in Swadling-clothes , by the same Dame . As for St. Lucia , of the Order of St Dominic z z Chronic. Ord. Praedic . , she had him three daies and three nights ; during which time , it is remarkable , that the Virgin Maries Image had no Baby on its left Arm. At last , Dominus Jesus , the Lord Jesus , ( God have mercy on the Blasphemer ) took her to Wife , ( when he look'd as if he had bin but seven years old ) in the presence of all his Saints . What shall I say of St. Hostradus and others , who mistook these enchanting Devils for real Appearances of the Infant Christ : and upon this Illusion , a a Henriquez . 3. Jan. some did offer him , as we do to Children , something to eat ; some did take him b b Chronic. Deip. an. 1285. upon their knees ; others did c c Ibid. an. 1235. play with him , and with St. John who was his Companion at it . These few Instances may serve the turn , to let pious Souls see with grief , that as according to the Prophesies , Jerusalem was troden and danced upon by ugly Owles and wild Satyrs , Isa. 13.21 . So the Roman Church is made a Stage for vile Spirits to act upon . If some say , these were Visions , I grant they were , and Divelish ones too : For where are the good Saints or Angels that will represent , much lest act Christ and the Blessed Virgin , under such shameful Personages ?

If you are for sounder Miracles ( tho good Catholics must take these for very real and true ones , or most of their Saints are but Cheats ) go to the Founders of their Orders , you shall find about St. Francis , d d S. Bonavent . In vita S. Francisci . Sheep and Asses running to hear his Sermon ; Swine falling dead under his Curse , for having hurt a poor Lamb ; all sorts of Cattel recovering , with the Water he washt his feet in ; Women presently eas'd of the hardest Travel , by applying to them some of the Hay which his Mule was used to eat . This don , go to St. Dominic , you shall find him either at Mass , e e Joh. Gargo , in vita S. Dominic . ac Lipom. hanging in the Air like a Bird ; or at the Bed-side of a sick Woman , transubstantiating Worms into Pearls ; or by the Water-side , raising the River into a Flood ; or at his Devotions , forcing the Devil to hold a light , and to burn his Fingers in that Service ; or it may be , changing the Sex of a young Girl into a Boy .

Lastly , If you will know what Feats Women also can do sometimes ; read me but the Life f f Tho Cantapr . in vita S. Christinae ap Sur. Jun. an . 1160. item Jacob. de Vitriaco , in vita S. Mariae Oeigniar . of Saint Christina : to say nothing of St. Brigitta , St. Juliana , St. Clara , Saint Vrsula , with hundreds more , known and famous in the Roman Church . This great Saint arose from the dead twice , before she died for good and all , and so died thrice . All her Life long she had a very extraordinary gift of Miracles ; for having taken upon her to save Souls from Purgatory , by suffering here what they did there ; she loved to throw her self into all the hot Ovens or burning Fires she could find , & yet met with none that could burn her ; she would attone for Gluttons , by resolving to starve her self : and while she felt the great pains of a sharp hunger , this Virgin got Milk in her Paps , and so found ease by sucking her self ; she did satisfie for proud Souls , by applying her self to the worst way of common Begging : and herein she had this comfort , that when honest Men did give her Bread , it tasted in her mouth like Bread ; otherwise , it tasted like Toads flesh . To expiate all sorts of Sins contracted by much company , this Saint resolved to forsake Man-kind , and to come near none , but Beasts ; and at last , that she might be the safer from all Contagion of Flesh and Blood , she parch'd her self on the tops of Trees : There her thin Body being made thinner , both by continual Fasting , and great fervency of Spirit , she did at her Praier contract her self into a round form , that was somwhat like a Hedg-hog . She could climb up the highest Trees like a Squirrel , and swim in Rivers like a Fish , till her Friends barbarous , it seems , and not believing all these Miracles , put her in Chains as a mad Woman ; and there she tore sadly her poor Body with strugling hard to free her self : and this strugling in her Prison , gave occasion to more Miracles , for the Milk she had in her Breast , turned into Oil , wherewith she did anoint her sores ; and somtimes also she used it as Butter to sweeten her Bread . Cardinals , and whole Towns besides , can aver these Extravagancies , and make therewith the first kind of Roman Miracles .

A second Evidence against Roman Miracles , is their looking quite another way , and their being design'd for the confirmation of quite different Doctrines , then ancient Miracles were . The last Primitive Christian Miracles , being wrought for the most part at the Graves of Holy Martyrs , never confirmed more then this Truth , That the Death , the Souls , and the very Ashes of those Saints were precious before the Lord ; and therefore , that the Christian Faith which they had believed , taught , and died for , was very true . So it remained only to enquire , what this Faith was , and what kind of Doctrine St. Stephen and other Martyrs believed and Preach'd : for nothing else but this can be asserted by their Miracles : What is it , saith St. Augustin , g g Aug de Civit. l. 22. c 9. that these Miracles will attest but the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ ? The Holy Apostles being alive , never confirmed by their Miracles , but what they taught ; and what they taught , St. Paul tells you is concluded within the Law and the Prophets . You may be sure , it went no farther then what you find in Christs Gospel . This is that Faith , which once ( and but once ) being delivered to the Saints , was carried thro all Nations , ( and thus made Catholic ) by the Almighty Breath of God , and there setled by his Almighty Hand , and the Miracles that followed it , Mark 16.20 . So at this very day , tho all sorts of Operations were continually seen at the Sepulcher of S. Paul at Rome , they would rather confirm his Epistles , then the Popes Bulls . As for Roman Miracles , they do follow likewise Roman Doctrines , which sometimes are quite contrary to , and alwaies quite different from the true Christian Gospel . They would be huge books , that could contain all the Revelations and strange Wonders that encourage Men in general to the worship of the Virgin Mary . As many more are bestowed upon the doing it by special waies , and at special Feasts : for what else mean those swarms of Monks , who lie hid h h S. Anton. 3. part Hist. t. 23. c. 3. sect. 1. under her Coat ? or those Ladders whited with her Milk i i Chronic. Deip. an. 1231. , from which no body taking that way to go up to Heaven , can tumble down ? or those Quires of k k Histor. Carnat . an. 1116. Angels heard in the bottom of a deep Well to sing her Praises ? What can you make of those Images , that l l Archiv . Buburg . in Frand . an . 1383. bleed , or m m Menol. Cisterc . 28. April . speak , or fly as light n n Leand. in vita Hyacinthi . ap. Sur. 16. August . as Feathers , unless they serve to bring Mankind to the worshipping of Wood and Stone ? What aile those thousands of sad Souls to ramble up and down the whole World , since the times of Pope Gregory , but to revele Purgatory , and to recommend Masses for the dead ? How many strange Feats have bin wrought by the hands of S. Dominic , and S. Francis , to no better end , then to confirm the new Orders and waies of these Saints ? All those heaps of Excommunicated p p Specul . Exemp : Tit. Excommunicatio . Exemp. 5. Flies , and that q q Ibid. Exemp. 4. poor Raven pining to death under the same Fate , for having fled away with a Bishops Ring ; What else can they signifie , but the terror of the Roman Keies ? What shall I say of those both small , and huge great Toads , crawling r r Ibid. Tit. Confessio . Exempl. 22. out and into Mens mouths , when they do observe ill or well the Rules of Auricular Confession ? or of the many little Children s s Ibid. Tit. Eucharistia . standing upon Consecrated Wafers , there purposely to justifie the real Transubstantiation at Mass ? or of the many Cures wrought every where , partly in the behalf t t S. Bonav . in vit. Franc. of the five Wounds , which St. Francis had in his Body , or of the Rope he did wear about his Loins ? And since we are about this great Saint , tell me what you think of this Miracle . † † Hieron . Platus de Bono statu Relig. l. 5. c. 33. A Bishop moved with Passion against a Convent of Franciscans , had resolved to turn them out of his City , and was to do it the next day : the Night before , behold their Sacrist sees in a Vision the Image of St. Paul and the Image of St. Francis , both painted in the Church Window , talking earnestly one with the other . He hears St. Paul extremely blaming St. Francis o o Gregor. in Dialog. passim . for no better defending his own Order ; and St. Francis answering to him , What shall I do , saies he , I have but a Cross , and that is no defensive Weapon ; but had I a Sword as you have ( for commonly they represent them so ) perhaps I might do somewhat more . The man being awak'd , starts off his Bed , and his Imagination being full of this , runs to the Church , finds the two Pictures had exchang'd their Arms : Paul in the Window had the Cross , and St. Francis had the Sword . This amaz'd the whole Convent ; but that which is more then all the rest , St. Francis had not St. Pauls Sword in vain , for that same night the Bishop had his Throat cut . What Evangelical Doctrine can be confirm'd by these three Wonders ; Pictures , that can speak and move ; St. Paul , that exhorts to revenge ; and a Saint , who during his Life made conscience , as they say , to kill a Louse , now can cut his Bishops Throat : What , I say , can you make of this , unless it be this wholesome Doctrine , That Bishops are not Jure Divino , but Fryers are ? All these , and whole Millions of other such Roman Miracles , are not fit for Christs Kalender , because they never were fitted for perswading Men of the truth of Christs Gospel , and therefore upon that account must needs proceed from any other then Christs Spirit .

The third foul mark of Roman Miracles , is , that besides their unchristian ends , they happen in such suspicious times , as may discredit the best that are . The Gift of Miracles being to Teachers , what both Credential Letters and Roial Colors are to public Officers , which signifie much with good Subjects , whilst they know them granted to none but such as the King doth really send ; but very little , after they see those in the hands , these on the backs of every dirty Carrier , who hath a mind for his own ends to counterfeit them , and rant with them . No wise man takes for good paiment , whatsoever hath Cesars Image , after he hears of false Coiners who have dispersed vast sums abroad , and marked them with the same Stamp . We are not now in the privileged daies either of Moses , or Elias , or Jesus Christ , or his Apostles , when neither all the Magicians could make one Louse ; nor all the Baalims could light Fire on one Altar ; nor all the Workers of false wonders open their Mouth against Jesus Christ . We live in times , when the Devils , in all Mens account , are let loose from such a restraint , and the Church left unguarded of such a Protection : when false Prophets may arise with such Prophesies , Deut. 13. and false Christs with such Miracles , as , if it were possible , might deceive the very Elect , Mark 13.22 . Now the Mirabilarians u u Aug. in Joh. Tract. 13. sub fin . as S. August . calls them , are abroad , against whom Christ , saies he , already ( and we much more , that are 1200 years after him ) cautum me fecit Dominus , the Lord himself ( & his Apostles after him ) have given us all sufficient warning : And so it were a great folly to take notice of a Painted Cloth , when we are told of so many that * * Ibidem . run away with Christs Colours , ( that is , with a permitted power of counterfeiting true Miracles ) and therewith amaze poor Country People ; but whosoever hath no mind to be either affrighted or cheated with this , may look to it . The glorious Works of Christ , of Christs Disciples , and other Apostolical Fathers , were don in such clear daies , as scattered and dissipated all suspicions and imaginable Clouds of Imposture ; the Devils had not so much as the liberty to preach the Truth , Mark 1.25 . If either Simon , or Elymas , tho Sorcerers of the highest rank , did but offer to play their old game , you read in the Acts , how they were kept in . Thus this mighty restraining hand , rather then the intrinsecal greatness of the work was an infallible Evidence , which in those daies shined about all true Miracles ; whereas the Revelations and Feats of Rome must needs be full of suspition , and noted for such by all Christians , since they came forth , when all false Christs and false Prophets have the liberty to work them . In this horrible Confusion either of Miracles , or Actors , none but God or a good Angel can well discern by the work it self , which is the Impostors , and with the Saints . If the restoring life to a dead man , or giving sight to one born blind , be thought to be proper to God ; this may be without much ado counterfeited by any Devil : and as Brass sometimes out shines Gold , lying wonders may dazle our Eies as strongly , as most true Miracles .

This dark and dubious conjuncture is the season and the very point of time , when Roman Miracles swatm abroad . Then the Apparitions of sad Souls first begin by thousands to come up , and to acquaint their friends with their condition underneath : and what neither Moses , nor the Prophets , nor Jesus Christ , nor his Apostles ever thought to mind us of , sad groaning Spirits make it their principal business to express , and throng about , craving for help , for Pilgrimages , and for Masses . Then come Images after them , to bleed , or sing , or mourn as occasion requires : and the consecrated Elements , the better to justifie what they are not , appear with blood , with flesh , and even sometimes with whole children . It passes all understanding , how the Virgin Mary , who kept her self so long above , would not come down among us men , both sooner and in fitter times . She passed all her daies on Earth , alwaies keeping close and quiet at home : and since her happy departure , I can account five hundred years , when all good Authors will justifie , that she continued as quiet above . Here then are two huge great Marvels , the first , how the blessed Virgin , after so many years of rest , comes to have new Inclinations to bestir her self among men : and the second , that she should consent to take this suspicious unlucky time of shewing her Activity , when the Devil and all his Spirits are permitted to play their Pranks . How is this Change imaginable , that she , who never did appear to any one of the primitive holy Fathers ( when she could do it , without any suspicion ) would in these last and branded times shew her self to a dirty Monk ? Did not S. Augustin , before he died , being besieged by Barbarians , deserve as well her Protection , and a guard of her armed Angels , as S. Dominic did , whilest he held with his Rosary x x Specul . Exemp. Tit. Rosar . Exem . 1. about the neck one poor pitiful Heretic ? wherefore never had these holy men , S. Athanasius , S. Hilary , S. Cyprian as well the comfort of a kiss , or an Embrace , as y y Ribaden . in vita Ignat. Loyola , as z z Attich . Chron. Ord. Minim . an . 1612. Stephen the Minime , and thousand more , less deserving it ? And how comes she who never was known to take notice of any trouble , disease , or Imprisonment of true Saints , as the Head-ach of S. Chrysostom , the sickliness of S. Basil , the infirm Body of S. Gregory Nazianzen , the Prisons and Tortures of all the Martyrs ; now to be running up and down , to relieve all sorts of persons : to cure a Jesuite with her a a Chronic. Deip. an. 1561. Child , whom she put by him in his bed : to cure whole Countries b b Oliver . L. Mirac . Mar. Montis . of purple feavers ; and to free several Rogues , that had well deserved c c Albert. De Viris Illust. Ord. Praedic . hanging . from the Gallows , from Dungeons , and from all Imaginable sorts of Dangers ? How comes this fancy to take her so late , of bringing down out of Heaven , Crosses , Hoods , Books , Robes , Holy water and such other utensils , which the Fathers in former times never had , nor expected from her ? the truth is , this kind of Apparitions , and Miracles were most advisedly reserved till such times , as these later are , dark and confused , and more propitious to Imposture , and these strange new doings have another reason besides , which I wish Roman Catholics would seriously take notice of , and it is this .

As long as the blessed Virgin , had no more honor in the Church , then what became a Creature , and was allowed to her by the Fathers , to be d d Epiphan. contr. Haeres . l. 3. adv. Collyrid . honored , not adored ; no ancient Author will tell you , that she ever appeared among men . But assoon as the later times brought in Public Services to pray with to her , and new Images to pray to her by ; then she ( or rather some other Spirit under her Name ) began first to bestir her self : then she and all other Saints with her , seemed to come down and appear at the voice of these new Praiers , just as the Soul of Samuel did , ( or rather seemed ) to come up at the Mysteries of Endor . Sam. 28. Ever after , the pretended Queen was seen in the Roman Church , as in her Heavenly Palace ; and she had more Angels , to wait on her in the least of her ordinary progresses , then Christ himself ever had in any one of his most Solemn Appearings . But as the Circumstance of a base witch , who did order Sauls business , was a sufficient Evidence , that the Appearance of Samuel , had not the Soul of Samuel : and , as when Devils will look like Angels ; you may still , they say , either perceive a Cloven Foot , or smell a stinking vapor , that betraies the pretending glorious appearance ; Roman Miracles and Visions have most commonly some black Mark , which may convince any sober man , that they are not what they seem to be . Consider in the holy Scriptures what all the true Saints of God both holy Angels and Apostles , say or do whensoever they meet with more honor , then is their due ; and ask S. Austin , what Spirits those are , who take it whensoever given , or call for it , when it is not . No Saints or Angels , saies this holy Father e e August . cont . Faust . l. 20. c. 21. & 22. will take of others what they know to be due only to God ; as it appears by Paul and Barnabas , who tore their clothes to shew they were mere men . Act. 14. and by that Angel , who rejected adoration ; Unclean Spirits are for Worship ; and tho they care little for Flesh , yet they pride themselves with Sacrifices , only because they are due to God . And in another Place , f f Idem . De vera Relig. c. 55. Good Angels are for this one thing , namely that with them we may serve God , in whose contemplation they are happy : but those , who invite us to serve themselves , are like proud men , &c. only the serving of proud Devils , is more hurtful . And in another place , g g Idem de Civit. l. 10. c. 7. Celestial and happy h h Ibid. c. 16. Spirits will have us Sacrifice ( not to themselves but ) unto God whose Oblation they are , as well as we ; and therefore all Revelations and Miracles that invite us to serve more then one God , are such Seductions of Devils , as any pious and prudent men must needs throw off ; for this is their proud malice , who by that token are noted to be neither good Angels in themselves , nor the Angels of a good God . For the i i Ibid c. 7. item l. 9. c. 23. good Angels love us so well , that they will not have us serve them , but serve the true God .

Bring now to these Christian Rules , most of the Roman Apparitions and Miracles . Shew me where this humble Spirit , whom they worship , did the like good Angel , ever reject one worshipping or devout Adoration : shew me where she tore once her clothes at the hearing the Te Deum , and the whole Psalter of David sung and applied most blasphemously from God , to her . I am sure I find in her waies , for several centuries of years , the steps of another Spirit , seeking continually for more honor . We shall behold one who strokes k k Caesarius l. 7. Hist. c. 55. and kisses pious men , because they both l l Leandr de vrt is Illustrib . Chron. Deip. an . 1372. begin and end their best Devotions with her Praises : who teaches in what godly form they must m m Chronic. Deip. an. 1178. pray to her for all Blessing , : who calls them into brakes n n Franc. Hierasc . in Vit. Henr. Sylvice . of Thornes and Nettles , and sometimes into holes under ground , to find and adore her Images : one who can put on the shape either of a o o Odo Gissaeus Histor. Virg. Aniciensis . Stag or p p In vita Manaveri ap. sur . 5. Jun. a Pigeon , or a great r r Arch. Gian . Cent. 3. Annal. l. 4. c. 9. Queen , purposely to shew the place and stone , where she must needs have an Altar , or a Chappel , or a great Church , that there she s s Od. Gissaeus . supra . may be served and worshipped to the worlds end ; and there t t Niceph Eccl. Hist. l. 15. c. 25. walk and delight her self : one I say who in all these Churches brags among men , as if she were the u u Blosius in Monili . Mother of Campassions , the Lady x x Menol Cisterc . 22. Dec. of the House of Praier , and the fountain y y Chronic. Deip. an. 1467. of all Blessings : lastly one who spreads forth about her a great Mantle , therewith to betoken the great z z Tho. Malvenda Tom. 1. Annal. Ord. Praedic . an. 1221. largeness of her mercies and favors , which , she saies , she denies to none that will come to her with faith . Hereupon let S. Austin judg what kind of Creatures these Spirits are : and what great difference there is , between those which among Pagans did perpetually labor for Sacrifices , and these which now among Papists are all for Masses , and the greatest Oblations that can be set on Romes Altars . Mean while we may be confident , that none but God alone can own Sacrifices , Altars , and Churches to be served with ; and that none but Devils ever owned Images to speak , move , or in any wise to work in . Such Spirits as these may be the Authors of all the Roman Apparitions and Miracles ; and such Apparitions and Miracles are very fit for such Spirits : and both foretold and reserved for the last times . And so you may guess what that Church is , that hath her proper establishment both from such Wonders and such Saints .

CHAP. IV. Concerning the Protection , and Assistance of Roman Saints ,

THIS pretended help of men and women , who after their departure out of this world , and their being Canonized by some Pope , are called Saints ; are another great Enchantment to keep and draw People to Rome . Their Souls are conceived to be still ready to go about any business , which their worshippers have in Heaven : and their Bodies , even to the least of their Bones , their Clothes and their Shoes withal , can at every good occasion work great Cures and Feats on Earth . Thus one Saint is upon this account worth as much or more then any two Angels . What sober man therefore would not be temted , to turn a Roman Catholic ? and who would turn from being so ; tho there were no other reason for either , then the getting , and losing such Friends ? The perswasion of Romanists is , that all such Souls as deserve their Canonization at Rome , go up directly to Heaven as to a place , where , their happy Rest from all their Labors , and an happy Possession of an eternal Glory with God , is not all what they expect : they must have also Government , and Regencies a a Bell. de Sanct. Beati t. l. 1. c. 18. over the whole world ; wherefore they fancy them sometimes like so many great Captains marshalling all the Natione under Christ , with an Iron Rod: sometimes like great Pillars above , holding all Churches under them . And because so much were too much for any one Saint , to manage it well ; and that no Creature is capable of such an Universal Burden , except the Virgin Mary above , and the Pope of Rome , here below ; to facilitate b b Gab. Biel. in Can. Lect 32. N. the business , they divide the whole among themselves ; that every one may be troubled with no more , then his proper share .

First by this imaginary Distribution , they divide their Saints into Countries . c c Salmero . 1. ad Tim. c. 2. Disp. 7. S. James is to take care of Spain : S. Sebastian of Portugall : S. Denys of France : S. Mark of the Venetians : S. Nicolas of the Moscovites : S. Ambrose of Milan : the three Kings of the Electorat of Cologne : S. Barbara of Germany , &c. and before the happy Reformation , S. George , S. Andrew , and S. Patrick had the respective charges of England , Scotland , and Ireland .

Secondly they subdivide their Emploiments in these and other Countries , after the several sorts of Professions and Trades extant therein . For S. Nicolas , and S. Christopher are thought to look to the Seamen ; S. Catharine to the Scholars ; S. Austin to the Divines ; S. Luke to the Painters : S. Ivo to the Lawiers ; S. Eustachius to the Hunters ; S. Chrispin to the Shoemakers . The very Whores have their proper Saints , and they are S. Magdalen and S. Afra who look to them . Some others are put to equally vile Services ; as St. Anthony about Swine ; St. Pelagius about Cows ; St. Eulogius about Horses ; Saint Vendeline and S. Gallus , have the care both of Sheep and Geese . Judg you how gladly these happy Souls leave the Bosom of Abraham , to drudg about these sorts of Cattel .

Thirdly , In these distinct Provinces , and about these ranks of Men and Beasts , the Roman Saints are for the most part appointed to distinct Works , and Helps , Non omnia possumus omnes , that is , Every one cannot do all , saies one of the † † Biel. sup. Learned Catholics ; and therefore will they sometimes direct Clients to other , altho possibly inferior Saints ; as once St. Peter sent a d d Gregor. Dialog. l. 3. c. 25. Woman to a Sacrist he had at Rome , for the cure of her Palsie ; and it is upon this ground , that devout Persons are directed to several Saints , for their several Exigencies , to the end that both every Saint may have his share in the Worship , and every Client in the Relief . This is it which they e e Idem . in Can. Lect. 32. N. call the discreet Variety , so honorable to their Church , and so advantageous to her poor Members ; when you shall see one pray to St. Peter , for the Gift of Submission : to St. Agnes , for Continency : to our Lady S. Anna for Wealth : to S. Margarite for Child-bearing : to St. Rochus against the Plague : to St. Petronilla against an Ague : to Saint Apollonia against the Tooth-ach : to St. Liberius against the Stone : and so to every Saint for that help that is in his way . Let no Batchellors go to St. Peter , because a married Man : nor no married Man to St. John , because he was a Batchellor : but † † Salazar . Proverb . c. 8. v. 18. n. 172. let every one go to a Saint of his on Tribe ; a Widow to a Widow-Saint , and a Soldier to one of his Trade , for this is the humor of Roman Saints , to favor better their own Companions .

According to this Oeconomy , there is not one Romanist but may pretend to march under the colors of several Saints . For example , a French Catholic born at Paris , hath as fair title as Rome can give , to the protection of St. Michael , St. Denis , and our Lady , who generally rule that Kingdom : of St. Genevefa , that more specially looks to Paris ; of St. Germain or St. Thomas , or St. Sulpice , if he either be born , or reside in those Parishes : of St. Cosmus , and St. Damian , in case he do practice Physic : of St. Ottilia and St. Lucia , when his Ears and Eies trouble him , and of St. Mathur in also , if he be troubled with folly . Over and above these , he may be sure of other Saints , St. Dominic , S. Celestin , S. Francis , and twenty more , by matriculating his Name into their Confraternities ; which he may do for a small matter .

It is great pitty that this fancy of distributing Presidencies and Powers thus among Roman Saints , hath no better ground then that had which Julian * * Julian . ap. Cyrill . Alexand. l. 4. sub init . the Apostat alleges , and S. Augustin observes f f Augustin . de Civitate l. 6 , 7 , 8. to have bin constantly practiced among the ancient Pagan Gods . What signifies , saies the holy Father elsewhere , g g Idem de Civit. l. 6. c. 9. that trifling Division of Offices among your Gods , wherefore must they be severally praied to , but to make it rather a Play fit for a Stage , then any thing which may become the worth and gravity of a true God ? This new Comedy is still the same , only the Actors wear better Clothes , or rather borrow better Names ; and the Roman People that stand about it , adore the Virgin for Juno , and S. George instead of Mars ; and as a Learned Romanist h h Lud. Vives , de Civ . l. 8. c. 27. saies , another kind of he and she Saints , instead of the old Gods and Goddesses . But as to any honest ground and precedent for such practices , these two things may , and must be said , to the everlasting shame of the Roman Church ; The first is , That whereas , as long as either the Patriarchs , or the Prophets , or the Apostles , or any Holy and Apostolical Men ordered the Church , there never appeared one soul that offered to speak to Men , unless the soul of Samuel , 1 Sam. 28. ( and in the judgment both of the Fathers , and of many Roman Doctors , that appearing soul was a Devil ; ) the Church of Rome brags in her time of above ten thousand souls , all coming down to talk with Men , which souls she believes to be Saints . The second is , That whereas neither Patriarchs , nor Prophets , nor any Apostles , or any Apostolical Holy Men , in all their dangers and distresses ever Praied to , or Worshipped any Creature whatsoever , whether holy Angel , or holy Soul ; the Church of Rome in a great mesure praies to , and worships nothing else .

And the truth is , this unusual praying to departed Saints , and this new appearing of Mens souls , may very well meet together . It is the constant practice of evil spirits , tho neither called nor thought on , to meet Men in unlawful waies . When the Pagans did consult Fowls of the Air about their good or bad success , and so did bird for Prophesies ; the Devils moved Ravens and Eaglesto signifie somewhat , by either flying or croaking ; the same did actuate stocks & stones , when they did call upon Images : they made the Votaries often to see Visions , when they watched for them about Tombs . And it is both very just with the true God to suffer , and pleasing to false gods to do , that they , who run after dead Saints , should find the same thing that Saul and the Witch did , when they sought after dead Prophets .

First , It is a great presumption to pretend to more Wisdom , in point of serving God and saving our selves , then either God hath appointed , or all the holy Prophets and Apostles have known and taught : and it is most just and likely , that Men should meet with strong Delusions , and with the Devils themselves , when they venture upon slippery , & unknown , and dark by-paths , where not one of Gods Saints ever durst walk .

Secondly , Admit what we know not , that the Souls of Holy Men are not confined to Heaven , and fixt there to their happy rest ; but ( which i i Origen . ad Rom. c. 2. l. 2. any discreet Man , tho he suspected it , would not affirm ) that they may come down now and then , and take some care of our Affairs . Admit that these few Apparitions , which I find recorded by good Authors , 1. Of Potamiena k k Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 6. c. 5. to Basilides . 2. Of a Father , l l August de Curapro Mort. c. 11. who after his death , brings the true Acquittance of a Debt , that his poor Son was troubled for . 3. Of something like Felix the Confessor m m Ibid. c. 16. appearing to relieve Nola 4. Of something like Spiridians daughter , that n n Socrat. Hist. Eccl. l. 1. c. 12. offered to the good Bishop her Father , to shew him where she had laid the Jewels , which a Friend had entrusted her with . 5. Of somthing like John Monachus , ( a Holy Man ) that o o Aug. sup. c. 17. appeared to a really pious Woman , when once she longed to see him . 6. And of something like St. Augustin , that once appeared to his p p Ibid. c. 11. Disciple Eulogius , and another time q q Idem c. 12. to one Curma about Hippo , when both this John and St. Augustin were yet alive , and knew nothing of this appearing ( at the least St. Augustin did not ) but what he heard other Men say ; Suppose , I say , both against all probability , and the s s Ibid. c. 16. &c. positive judgment of St. Augustin himself , that these were not Angels , but real Souls ; What are some few extraordinary Apparitions , to ground an universal and perpetual way of Worship ? And suppose that not few , but whole thousands of Souls should swarm down amongst us , as we know the Angels do ; the Angels we also know , were never called upon , nor praied to , by any true Servant of God , as long as the Church was ordered by any Prophet , Apostle , or Apostolical Men : and after their departure , it is well known , how the Fathers who next succeeded them , alwaies voted both against Worshipping and Praying to any one created Angel . The Disciples of Christ , saies St. Ireneus , t t Iren. cont . Haeres . l. 2. c. 57. sub fin . do nothing by praying to Angels , but by directing holy and undefiled Praiers to the Lord , who hath created all things . Praiers directed to others , it seems , are defiled with something . And tho the blessed Angels u u Orig. Cont. Celsum . l. 5. p. 233. Edit. Cantabr . , ( saies Origen , a most authentic Author in this Point ) are sometimes called Gods , and convey down to us the favors of God , yet we do not serve them as Gods ; for all our Praiers , Supplications , Addresses , and givings of Thanks ( which he makes to be all one with the true Service of God ) must be directed to God , who is the Master of all things , thro our High Priest the living Word and God , who is greater then all the Angels . And as for the Angels themselves , we have no reason to pray to them , because we do not understand them well ; and tho we did , this very knowing of both their Nature , and Offices , would not afford us the confidence of offering our Vows and Praiers to any other then to the All-sufficient and Supreme God , by his Son our Savior . Not to trouble my self , or others , with any more clear and direct Citations to this purpose , I will only add the Verdict of two and thirty Fathers , who find x x Concil. Laodic . Can. 35. in a full Council , that the praying to Angels ( for so St. Theodoret y y Theodor. Colossens . c. 2. v. 18. interprets the Word , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) to be both a hidden Idolatry , and a forsaking of Christ and his Church .

The true reason which makes these and other Fathers so sharp against Praying to Angels ( much more against Praying to Saints ) as to call it Idolatry , is not because the Angels cannot hear alwaies , the Saints never ; for this would make praying to them no more then an idle and useless act : but mainly and principally , because Praier , Vows , and giving of Thanks , is a main part of Gods service ; and therefore Saint z z Iren. Sup. Ireneus , and a a Orig. sup. Origen , take Praier and Worship promiscuously for the same thing . And 't is upon this same account , that both b b Psalm . 50 14.15 . Scripture , and the Ancient c c Tertullian . Apol. c. 30. Euseb Demonst. Evang. c. ult. sub fin . Orig. in Rom. c. 10. v. 14. p. 382. Edit. Paris , 1619. Fathers , still reckon Praier and Thanksgiving among the truest Sacrifices , and which can belong to none but God . Now Praier is part of Gods service , because , if serious and devout ( and I am sure Roman praying to Saints is no jest ) it presupposes and acknowleges in the Saint which is praied to , such an infinite knowledg of Mens hearts , such an Universal and extensive Capacity , or rather Being , in hearing them all , alwaies , every where , and such an immense sufficiency and power of helping them accordingly , that to make , or to presuppose , created either Saints or Angels fit persons for to be praied to , is to make or to presuppose them to be Gods . And this is the true account , wherefore calling upon God , is reputed an Honor given to God , Call upon me , and thou shalt glorifie me , Psal. 50.15.23 . because it implies , and in very deed acknowledgeth the Immensity , the Knowlege , the Mercy and Power of God : not calling upon him , is Atheism , Psalm . 79.6 . And so calling on them , who are not Gods , is down-right Idolatry .

The truth is , you may call upon a Saint , without any danger of Idolatry , if he be in such a distance whence intelligent Creatures may without Miracle hear one another : thus the Prophets were not afraid to speak to Angels , Dan. Ch. 10. and Ch. 22. Zachar. 1.9 . If you did pray a Holy Man whil'st he is with you , to pray for you , and to recommend you to God after he is dead , perhaps this exceeds not much the ordinary power of a Saint . Thus St. Cyprian d d Cyprian . l. 1. Ep. 1. sub . fin . intreated his Friend Cornelius , then Bishop of Rome , that he of them two who should , by suffering Martyrdom , step the formost to Jesus Christ , would being with him there , continue his wonted Praiers for his poor Brother , whom he knew to be left behind . And , as I take it , the same Father asks the same favor of his Holy and Devout Virgins , against the time when their Virgin Zeal and Piety e e Idem . de Habitu Virg. Tract . 2. sub fin . should be crowned with its due Honor. Thus far I see nothing at all , that an humble Christian may not wish , and a created Saint may not perform : and if such Praiers have any defect , it is not Idolatry , nor Superstition perhaps , 't is only they want an Example . Nor is it any Idolatry to pray to your Friends by letters at any distant whatsoever , for St. Paul in his Epistles doth often so : and therefore I would not blame our learned Papists for dedicating their Books , and writing Dedicatory Letters to the most Blessed Virgin Mary , if they had Expresses to carry them . But if you can fancy a Saint of such an unlimitted and universal Intelligence , as , tho he be but in one place , yet to be able to see , and hear what all Mankind can say or do , or think , or write , or suffer , all the World over : and that St. Nicholas for example , hearkens and provides where he is ( in Heaven I hope ) to what one Sea-man praies in a Shipwrack at the Streets of Magellan ; to what another wishes for , when he is becalmed in the South-sea ; to the cries of another , who sees a Hurrican by the Barbado's ; to the private desires or another , who fishes for Pearls by the Guyney shore , or Herrings by our English Coast , or for Whales hard by Green-land , or for Trouts in our small Rivers ; and whole thousands of Passengers , who cry to him being Catholics , and perishing in as many places both at once , and alwaies , as he is called upon in all these places , and in all these times , and by all at once ; and if you do fancy withal , that he understands besides all this , in these both numberless places and exigencies , what they do both think and deserve , in order to the returning of suitable reliefs and helps : I say , you fancy in St. Nicolas an infinite Omniscience : wherefore they that pray to him on this account , do give him what belongs to God , and make him a complete Idol .

Here Roman and sacred Authors are at a great distance the one from the other . Those will have the Saints being departed , to know whatsoever is said , thought and done under the Sun : and these nothing ; or if something , besides that which they must needs remember , both of the Church and of themselves , in order to their Holiness and Thankfulness to God Almighty ; St. Augustin f f Aug. de Cura pro Mort. c. 15. thinks that they have it , either of those Angels who of course converse here and there among Men , or from the souls of the Righteous whom God takes up to them ; or immediatly from God himself , reveling to his Saints above as he doth to his Saints below , that which is necessary they should know . But alas ! all this comes far short of what is required in this case : For the Papists themselves confess , that g g Bell. de Sanct. Beatif . l. 1. c. 20. neither the Angels , nor separated Souls , can be present every where , to know and report the Praiers sent up to every Saint , and by every Worshipper at one time , and from all Countries ; and tho they were , yet could they not tell what , or whether Men pray when they pray to them sincerely and in their hearts : Therefore they must make use of God , and turn , as much as in them lies , his Essence into a Looking-glass , where without any more ado , Angels and Saints may see what they please . And when they have thus taught the simple People , and amused them with their Gregorian h h Greg. Magn. Dialog. l. 4. c. 33. Motto , that , Whosoever sees him that sees all , sees all himself : they laugh at it among themselves , and say plainly ( as well they may ) i i Occam . 4. Sent. q. 13. That created things have not a Being , which may be seen in God , as an Object that shines in a Glass ; witness the Angels that see God , and yet are ignorant of many things , but as Effects in the k k Thom. part. 1. q. 12. a 8. virtue of their own causes , which indeed could be seen in God , by him who could know him perfectly , which no Man can : and so it is not true , that whosoever looks in a Glass , sees all in the Glass . And it is fair , if the Saints see in God the things that l l Idem p. 3 q. 10. a , 2. are proper to their Happiness : And such certainly are not the cries of Men perishing in a storm . In a Word , they all come to this , that when they say that the Saints see all things in God , it must be understood , m m Greg. de Valent. De modo quo Deus cognoscit . Disp. 1. q. 12. Punct. 6. sect. Concesso igitur . as far only as God is pleased to represent it to them .

Now let the Roman Catholics shew us , either out of Scripture , or some infallible Author , that God reveles to St. Nicolas ( to insist in the same example ) all the Rocks , the Billows and Storms , which may put his Sea-men to pray ; and that the hearing of their Cries , and the sight of all their Ship-wracks , is to this second Neptune a great addition of Happiness .

This looking-glass being thus broken , they run as to their best Refuge , to new Revelations , which , if sufficient to the purpose which they are invented for , must swarm up in Heaven , as thick and as continually as there are Praiers made to Saints under the Dominion of Rome . At this rate , whensoever one saies Ave Maria , or another St. Aegidi , or another some other Praier , God must inform the Saint who it is that praies to him , to what purpose , and with what Heart , or else it is a hundred to one if the Saint hears a word of it . And as the whole Trinity must be ready for a million of Miracles to do the business at Mass , so must it be for as many , or rather more Revelations Night and Day , Morning and Evening , to wait on the Roman Litanies : Only there is this difference , that at the Mass the Priests are so civil , as to pray to God for his Miracles ; and so rude at the Litany , as never once in their whole life to ask for a Revelation , wherewith he may be pleased to inform them all , whom it may concern . A very great rudeness indeed , and such a prodigious over-sight , that whole Rome , as well as great Bellarmin n n Bell. de Sanct. Beatit . l. 1. c. 20. sect. atque ex his . , may most justly be puzled at ; that a Pious and Infallible Church should not remember , that so many , so continual , and so absolutely necessary Revelations , if true , are true continual Favors ; and that God , once in an Age , might be as well supplicated to shew and expose their Praiers , as continually as every petty Saint is importun'd to recommend them .

But here is a far worse , and I doubt not , a more impious Absurdity . I cannot tell whether it be more lawful for Papists to set up new Mediators ( without any warrant ) in Heaven , then it was for Jeroboam to make new Priests in Israel : nor whether the making Mediatores ad Mediatorem , Grandees , who thro their own Merits , and not by their Praiers only , shall promote our Concerns with Christ , be a lesser temerity then it had bin , if Abraham had obtruded all his servants as Officers and Levites to serve under Melchisedec . But see how Babel can set and unset , and over-turn all things up-side down ; Christ the only Mediator , the Advocate , and the Intercessor above to God the Father , must lay this his Office aside , and become a kind of Mediator and Intercessor for Men with the Saints . All the supplications and addresses which the Papists send up to these Souls , signifie to them nothing at all , unless Christ be there in the stead of either a Prophet to revele , or of a Messenger to bring , or of a kind of Clerk , to read to them all these Praiers . Here to make use of those Examples , wherewith both o o Bell. de Beatit . Sanct. l. 1. c. 20. sect. Respondeo , quemadmodum . Papists and p p S. Ambros . ad Rom. c. 1. Pagans will perswade Men to call upon their Saints ; the King alone must be the Master of Requests to his Courtiers , and the Speaker to his Commons , to inform them of every great , and every petty trifling thing that their respective Relations , Countries and Towns will have them put in a Bill , and then present it to his own self . Whensoever the Pope calls on S. Peter , or a Cardinal on S. Jerom , or a Monk on St. Cutbert , or any Catholic Man or Woman upon the Virgin ; nothing is done , till God himself calls for these Saints , and tells them , Hear you Peter , Jerome , and you Cuthert , such and such People now pray to you , that you would pray to me , and perswade me , thro your Merits , to grant them such and such things : And to dispose you the better to be forward in this Office , I must tell you , the Pope is old , the Cardinal wants an Estate suitable to his Eminence , and unless you make hast to solicit me for more Grace , such Monks or Maidens , your humble Suiters , are at this very nick of time in great danger of Incontinency . Then ( and not a moment before ) come up the Saints with these Praiers , to press and solicit with God , the very same things and circumstances which God hath reveled to his Saints before . Such Wheelings and Impertinencies as these , were ridiculous upon a Stage , much more are they so in a Church ; and how much more with God in Heaven ? And what can you think of the Comedians , who dare bring both God and his Saints as chief Actors in such a Play ? Well , Praier to Saints includes these sins in its most plausible Practice , when 't is no more then calling on the blessed Saints , that they be pleased to mediate , and to intercede in their Praiers for us to God , which is the cheating notion under which Men , ashamed of what they do , would fain disguise their Praying to Souls and Angels with the colour of doing q q Bell. de Sanct. Beat. l. 1. c. 17. &c. 20. no more , then when we pray here our Friends and Pastors to pray to God Almighty for us . But , when they pray and beg at their hands , not only for Praiers , but ( as it is apparent by their real practice , and the stories of their best Saints ) for effectual Deliverances , such praying is without excuse : for instead of the former Drudgery , which the other puts upon God , this attributes Ubiquity , Omnipotency , and other infinite and Divine Powers to Saints ; that is , the Church of Rome cannot expect , and upon that expectation cannot Pray , as they do , every where at the same time to the Virgin Mary , for example to bless and help them , unless she be conceived as being both present every where , and potent to bless them and help them every where . And this is a double Immensity , that of being present where they pray , especially where they pray more devoutly , and of being present where she helps . For without this Ubiquity , how could she be seen at Harvest , wiping the Faces of r r Vincent . Sperat . Hist. l. 8. c 17. of reaping Monks ; or in a Chamber , rubbing s s Menol. Cisterc. 22. Decemb. the Head of the good honest Father Adam , whilest she is elsewhere t t Chronicon . Ord. Min. Tom. 2. l. 5. burning Villages , or in a rich Abby u u De Mirac . B. M. 2 Tem. Serm. Discipuli , Moguntiae , 1612. Mid-wiving an Abbess , whom her Steward had unfortunatly gotten with Child ? Is it not unimaginable , that during either of the two daies , when she was under a Gallows x x Chronic. Deip. an. 1358. holding up a Thief under the Feet , for fear his own weight should strangle him , she could be then in a River y y Ib. an. 1134. riding Prince Pocoldas his Horse , or upon the Walls of Poictiers beating the English off from that Town ? Or if she be so nimble as to be at the same time under a Gallows , upon a Wall , and in the middle of a River , because all these places are in Europe ? Can she run both the East and West Indies at the same moment of time , there to a a Beretar . invita Anachoretae , l. 1. c. 1. make a Jesuit more chast , and here to comfort b b Bal nghem . 11. Apr. a poor Captain ? Thus far what Bellarmin saies , c c Bell. de Beat. Sanct. l. 1. c. 20. sect. Alii dicunt . may very well pass for certain truth , that , to help Men in the point of need , at z z Ibid. an. 1200. the same time , and in so many distant Countries , no nimbleness can serve the turn , nor any thing less , saies he , then a true Omnipresence , which is an Attribute proper to God . Every Saturday in the Week requires in a special manner this Universal Presence , for then the Virgin Mary is in her own Person undoubtedly , and by their most solemn Devotions upon that day , exalted besides others above the highest Heavens . She is at the same time conceived to be most present , and beneficial by her Miracles and other waies , to her Worshippers upon Earth ; and according to the promises which she hath d d Bull. Sabbath . passed to Pope John the 22d , she goes down to Purgatory upon that day , and therefore she is then under ground .

This same Universal Presence , the clearest Character of God , is in a very great mesure required in all other Saints , for she goes seldom without them ; & then they are praied to nevertheless from all parts , not only to intercede in Heaven ( which there they might being in one place ) but to assist them by Sea and Land , in Spain , and in Armenia , which no man believes they can do , without believing them every where . For no created Causes whatsoever , can work any thing but where they are . If our Savior did help some sick , at a distance from him ; as Matth. 8.12 . He did it with that Divine immense Nature , that his human was united to . And Holy Souls are not likely to have more power then the Angels , who are personally present , wheresoever they work any thing .

If any one say , that the Saints may out of Heaven do on Earth whatever they please , not by their coming down themselves , but by their sending down some Angels . First , let him shew , That the Saints are not only equal to , but superiors to the Angels , and then that they have the disposal of this Celestial Hierarchy . Secondly , tho they , or at the least the Virgin had it , yet this sending of Angels could not be applied but to some few private Services ; as when some say , 't was not her self but some Angel , whom she had sent for her , but to counterfeit the Devotions , and to save the credit of a Nun for the space of nine whole Years , when she was all the while rambling up and down in Bawdy-houses ; that it was not her self , but an Angel who ran Races , and fought Battels in the shape of her Worshippers being then at Mass . Some are also pleased to say , that every Saturday she goes down to Purgatory , not by her self , but by her Proxy , for the rescuing thence of some Souls . But none of her Historians will aver , that it was a Deputy , or any other but her self who did hug and kiss St. Bernard , St. Dominic , and St. Alain , upon several occasions ; who did once ride behind a Knight , in the shape of a Woman , in order to surprize the Devil ; or who in a dark tempestuous night was really met by two wandering Travellers in a Forrest , with St. Michael , and St. Peter . It is she , and not another , if you will believe what she saies , who now and then will call her self the Mother of Grace and Mercies ; who comes often to visit Churches with sweet Perfumes , or Holy Waters , or whole Baskets of Holy Roses , or white and black Hoods for her Chaplains . And accordingly it is she her self , and not her Angel , that is adored in all the places where she appears . No man praies either to her , or to any other Saint or Angel , upon any considerable occasion , but thinks to have her and them present , and so the very same conceit of an Universal Power and Presence ( essential Attributes of God ) which makes them willing to pray to Saints , must needs make them Idolaters in praying thus .

This impious worship is an Abuse of what was don sometimes to God , in the primitive times , at the Graves of his own Martyrs : and no wonder , if ignorant men could turn the Miracles and Mercies of God , as they can all other good things , to their own destruction . It is well known , how many wonders were wrought at the Sepulchers of holy Martyrs , as one at the shadow of S. Peter Act. 13. and at the Bones of the holy Prophet Elisha 2 Kin. 13.21 . These Miracles were to those Saints in some mesure , what the glorious Resurrection , and Ascension had bin before to their Savior , to wit , high Declarations from above , that their Souls and Bodies , however they had appeared vile in the Eies of their Murderers , were pretious in the sight of God ; and that what they had believed , taught and signed as it were with their own Blood , were both true Doctrines , & good Examples in order to Salvation . And these extraordinary Marks of Gods favor on their Persons , and Seals of truth to their belief , as they were principally intended in behalfs of Infidels , so they mostly and longest continued in those parts of the world , as Africa e e Lege Aug. de Civit. l. 22. for example where more Pagans remained not called , or not converted to the Faith . It is well known also , how at the same time , which was a time of generall and cruel persecutions , the holy Zeal and Death of the Martyrs , as it was marked out , as it were , by the finger of God in his Miracles ; so it was exalted both to their own praise and to the encouragement of others , by the Christians in all Churches . The highest strains of Eloquence , which the Fathers had , were spent in the magnifying of Martyrs . They set down their Names in their best Church Records ; and rehearsed them duly in their solemn Eucharists and public praises to their Savior : They gave the most honorable Burial they could in those sad times to their bodies : and having no Churches then , they made their graves their most ordinary Places of Meeting , to declare before all the world , that by this resorting to their Sepulchers , they prepared themselves to their Death . In a word they did what they could to bring both themselves and their Flocks to love and admire those holy Souls , that so both themselves and others might be encouraged to follow them . Bless and esteem most sincerely , saies S. Basil , f f Basil . in 40. Martyr . the holy Martyrs , that you may in your course do as they did : in the mean while in your real intention be accounted as good as real Martyrs already : that you may without the blows & cruelties , which they suffered , attain to the rewards which they enjoy . These zealous exhortations in times of Persecution , and the visible hand of God confirming whatever they said , as to this point , prevailed so far upon the People , that * * S. Basil . ibid. at every particulat occasion , as well as upon solemn daies , they did go and pray hard by their Graves , and did take for a great honor to be buried , where they had praied : till at last their Pagan Foes began to take notice of it , and to believe , at least to say , g g Cyril . Alexand. cont . Jul. l. 6. p. 202. Ed. Paris . 1638. Maximus Madaur . ap. August . Ep. 43. that Christians did adore dead men , as themselves did adore their Gods . This gave an Occasion to the holy Fathers to wipe off all suspicions of this kind from Christian Religion : and to declare to all the world ( I wish that Roman Catholics would take better notice of it ) first that they did not worship c c Hieron contr. Vigilant . Martyrs at all , neither as Gods , nor as Presidents and Vice Roys d d Cyrill . Alex. contr. Julian . l. 6. of any Town or Country . Secondly , that the blessed Saints have neither particular notice , e e August . de cura pro Mort. c. 13. nor care of the Affairs of this world ; and if by chance they medled with it , it was as extraordinary to them to do so , as f f August . ibid. c. 16. as to the Water to become Wine ; or to a dead Body to rise up . Thirdly , that the Veneration and Reverence which they did bear to holy Martyrs , exceeded not that degree of honor , which in former times was deferred to * * Cyrill . sup. pag. 204. valiant men , after they had spent their lives for the defence of their Country : or that is due to all the Friends g g Smyrnensis ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l. 4. c. 15. and true Disciples of Jesus Christ : and is of no other h h August . cont . Faust . l. 20. c. 21. sort , then is that which in this life we give to other holy men , whom we think to be endued with the same piety that Martyrs were : only our Devotion for the Dead Saints is more confident then it can be for living ; because these are yet fighting , and those have got the victory . Fourthly that when they builded i i Idem . De Civitat . l. 22. c. 10. Monuments , and Houses of Praier where these Martyrs were buried ; the Monuments were for the Dead Saints , and the Houses of Praier were only for the living God . Fifthly , that when the names of the Martyrs were there mentioned , it was neither to pray for them , nor to them : but to keep up after k k Dionys. Areop. de Eccl. Hierar . c. 3. their death an Authentic Declaration of their continual being with God ; and ( specially in these great Mysteries , where Christ is both signified , and received ) of their continuing Sacred communion with Christ . Sixthly , that these Honors were all bestowed on them , l l Scriptum Smyrn . ap. Eus. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 5. both for the more solemn celebrating of their faith thro-out all Churches , and for the encouraging of all Christians , to their Example .

This was enough to vindicate the Truth of God , and the true meaning of his Church , as to the Honor due to his Saints . It might have bin enough also to smother in the very birth the growing superstitions of some private men in this case , ( that St. Austin doth complain of ) or at the least to restrain them from growing worse , and endangering the after Ages ; if the Pagans being confuted , some partly seduced , partly seducing Christians had not revived their quarrel , and gon about to justify as much as in them did lie , their old Reproches , by propping their praying to Saints upon the two main Points , whereon the Pagans worshipt their Gods .

The first is taken from the prudence , that humble or wise Sutors must use at Court . You shall hardly find one Papist , but will tell you , that it is rashness to go bluntly and directly to great Persons , unless you be presented to them by their Officers and favorites : and why should any man pretend any easier a a Chrisost. in S. Philogon tom . 5 p. 505. Ed. t. Eton. admittance to God , without their intercession and favor , who as the Saints and the Angels do stand continually about him ? This is the very self same Argument , which the heathenish Philosophers mainly objected to the Fathers : and to which the Fathers gave two such Answers as at once may stop equally both the Pagan and Roman Mouths ; the one is that m m Ambros . ad Rom. c. 1. V. Dicentes se esse sapientes . of S. Ambrose . We are forced to go to the King , saies he , by the mediation of his Nobles , because great Kings are men , as we are ; and have this Infirmity along with their condition , that they must hear , and understand with the help of others besides themselves ; whereas God understands every thing , which every supplicant asks , and deserves : and as for the obtaining of his favor , we can employ no better friend , then an honest and pious Soul . The other is most singular , and I have it from Origen . But if you have a mind also to have the concurrence of the Angels , n n Origen cont . Cels . l. 8. p. 420. Edit. Cantah . saies he , we have it , when by pious lives and praiers , we do address our selves to God . For as the motion of the shadow must needs follow that of the Bodies , what way soever these will turn ; let us know this , that if we move God towards us , we shall get by the same means all the good Angels , Souls , and Spirits to be our Friends ; and which is more , actual helpers , both by praiers and other waies ; for these blessed Spirits take most especial notice of men qualified for Gods favor . And I dare say confidently , that whosoever praies to God devoutly , hath whole Legions of holy Angels at the same time praying for him , without his desiring them to do so . This antient Author is the first who ventured to say , That the Saints might perhaps pray and act for us : and yet he is as express as any other , to direct men to God by Christ alone , and to keep them from Praying to Angels and Saints .

The other main Ground common to Pagans and Papists , for Praying , those to their Gods , these to their Saints , is either the false Allegation , or the false Construction of Miracles . This every one knows , who knows them both . Whereas when the Miracles of the Saints were at the best , that is , during the three Primitive hundred years , they never temted Christians any farther , then to go and to pray to God in those places where they were wrought , and where Praiers had somtimes very extraordinary returns ; there they might perhaps wish to God , that he would hear in their behalf , the general Praiers which these Souls most probably offer to God , for the afflicted members of his Church . But where is the worthy Prelate or Christian ( saith o o S. August , contra Faust . l. 21. c. 21. Id. De Civit. l. 8. c. 27. St. Augustin ) who being by the Grave of a Martyr , ever said , Peter , or Paul , or Cyprian , I offer to you this Sacrifice , whether of Praier , or Praise , or Vow , 't is all one . The Miracles don by Holy Men did set , as it were , the Seal of God upon the Gospel which they believed , and upon the Worship which they both promoted and died for , therefore we must believe and worship as they did . If they did set also , as certainly they did , some Marks of Reverence on their Persons , and their Memory , 't was not to this purpose , that they should be either adored or praied to . We do not read that true Israelites ever praied to the dead Prophet , for the great Miracle wrought at his Tomb ; nor that Christians ever worship'd the living Apostles , for all the signs wrought by their hands , and sometimes at their very shadow . S. Chrysostom p p S. Chrysost. ad Pop. Antioch . Hom. 1. assures me , that God kept them most commonly under some sensible Infirmity , which they could not ease themselves of , as the ill Stomach of Timothy , and the troublesom Angel about St. Paul , that the Glory of their Miracles might wholly reflect on Christs Power , and that nothing of it might be abused to the admiration of their Persons . But all is in vain to save those Men , who have a mind to lose themselves . Pagans in spight of all will worship the living Apostles , Acts 14. and Papists will pray to dead Saints . The Miracles of God must be wrested , to countenance these Mens folly ; and to use the words of an ancient Father q q S. Chrys. Ibid. to this purpose , here observe the Wiles of Satan ; Christ emploies both at once , his Apostles , and his Miracles to destroy all Idolatry from among Men ; and Pagans and Papists make use of both to bring it in .

This manner of calling on Saints , is both unchristian and unjust , on all the sides that you can take it . First , It transfers on Creatures that Prerogative of Gods glory , and that special part of his Worship , which in Holy Scriptures doth comprehend his whole Service . Secondly , It makes Saints to be what the Holy Ghost alone is , searchers of Mens Hearts and Thoughts , and present over all the World ; if not , How can they perceive mental Praiers ? Thirdly , if you suppose , that night and day God is reveling to them what Men do , and what they would have , it forges another Impiety , and make God a perpetual Clerk , Mediator , and Drudg to his own Saints . Fourthly , It intrudes into Christs Office , as many Mediators to intercede with God for Men , both by their Sufferings and their Merits , as there are with him Saints and Angels , whereas the Church knows none but one . Fifthly , It quite disables the Church from all possibility of asserting Christ , and the Holy Ghosts Divine Nature , by their usual Demonstrations , to wit , That God is in Scripture praied to , and , that the Holy Ghost is every where ; or it proves Saints to have it also . Sixthly , As it is practiced by the devoutest Persons of Rome , it complements the Saints with such Praiers , such Expressions , and such Services , as you may safely challenge Melchisedec , Moses , David , and all the Prophets and Apostles , to magnifie God Almighty with any better .

You may be sure that the Papists will disown this , because their own discretion suffers them not to avow more among strangers then they think themselves able to make good . But where Mass is the reigning Service , there Books , and Mouths , and if these should hold their peace , the very stones of their Altars , Churches , and Images do speak it out : and judg what Religious Worship that is , which modest Men must flatly deny , or palliate and excuse . Some will tell you , r r Georg. Cassand . Hym. Eccles. in Vigil Pontec . Schol. pag. 242. Edit. Paris . 1016. that all their Praiers to the Saints are but such Apostrophes , or Rhetorical Figures , as was that of David to Heaven and Angels , Psalm 103. and that their Litanies , Peter , Paul , &c. Pray for me , come but to this wishing , Would to God , or how I do wish , that all these Saints should pray for me . Others who see , what either blindness or impudence it is to say so , plainly confess , that they directly s s Bell. de Sanct. Beat. l. 1. c. 19. sect. Praeterea in utroque . pray to Saints , but mince it as it were but as to Friends , only to desire them to pray ( which yet at that distance were bad enough ) & not as to principal Benefactors : and it is upon this ground , they say , that praying to Saints in Heaven , and praying to Friends in my House to pray for me , comes both to one . These Men are so confident at Rome , and do think us to be so blind to all ends and purposes here in England , that they shall perswade us these two things . The first , That all their Breviaries and Psalters signifie nothing , but what they please : The other , That they make Saints * * Ibid. c. 18. sect. Nos autem facile . to be Rulers and Princes over Nations , with an Iron Rod in their Hands , only to pray .

This desperate Cause forces Bellarmin at every turn ( the honestest and wisest Papist of his time ) to forsake upon this account both all Knowledg and Conscience : For here you shall find him sometimes offering t t Bell. ibid. c. 19. Athanasius Sermone . proofs out of some Books , under the name of St. Athanasius , which , when he needs them not , u u Id. De Scriptorib Eccl. observat. in Tom. 3. Athanasis . he acknowledgeth to be false : sometimes most willingly and grosly satisfying x x Bell. de Beatit . Sanct. l. 1. c. 19. sect. Eusebius , lib. 13. Eusebius : sometimes insisting y y Ibidem . sect. Deinde in sexta Synodo upon such Canons and Decrees ( ascribed to the sixth Council ) as in his Heart he knows to be z z Binius infin . 6. Synod . pag. 360. Edit. Paris . 1636. meer Forgeries : somtimes siding with the a a Cyrill . Alexand. Thesaur . p. 115. Edit. Paris . 1638. Arians , and leaving the b b Ibid. pag. 116. Athanas . cont . Arian . Orat. 4. pag. 260. Edit. Commel . 1600. Chrysost. in Genes. Hom. 66. Fathers , thereby to get some little thing , that may favor the Praying to Angels : sometimes he saies , that the Roman Church praying to Saints , makes c c Bell. sup. c. 19 , & 20. them no more then Holy Men ; and in the point of Vows , and such other Divine Honors , that mere Men are in no wise fit for , he himself d d Id. De Cultu Sanct. c. 9. sect Tertio , quia Sancti . makes them to be by participation nothing less then Gods . And thus the Papists must own at last , what they did dissemble at the first . And what can you make of such shifts , turnings , and contradictions , but that there is most plain untruth , as well as jugling in the case ? Either let them shew out of Scripture , or out of any true Record written in true Primitive Times , that any Prophet , any Apostle , or any Martyr , have in any one of their many and great Distresses called upon any other Saint , but God alone : or else let them shew , they have found some new Lights , and some better waies , then all these Saints ever did . St. Chrysostom e e S. Chrysost. in Lazar. Orat. 2. S. Epiph. contr. Collyrid . pag. 447. Edit. Basil . takes for mere Devils , those Spirits who even in his time did appear under human Shapes , and did go under such and such Mens names . And St. Epiphanius adds more to this , that these Devils will , under Religious and plausible pretences , both make Men to appear like Gods , and induce People to believe it . And who can warrant , that all those Souls that come creeping in Bellarmin , first , under the notion of Gods Friends , and afterwards as Gods themselves , are none of these ? However , in point of serving them , let the pretences be never so fair , it is not safe to venture on waies which none of Gods ancient Servants have trac'd before . But the following Chapter shall tell us more : for certainly the name of the Blessed Virgin , is unworthily abused now adaies , to complete in all respects the full mesure of Idolatry .

CHAP. V. Of the Worship deferred to the Virgin : and all the Blessings expected from this Worship .

THat which Rome adores under this name , deserves a Chapter by it self : It is both the great Allurement to , and the great Diana of that Church . It is with them the Head of all the Saints , the very † † Vid. infra . Crown and Accomplishment of the ever Blessed Trinity , and therefore such a Divinity in the Eies of thorough Catholics , that some that had denied both their Baptism and God himself , could never * * Scala Coeli . be temted so far as to deny , and leave this Goddess .

Between the two contrary Extremes , to wit , the looking with some indiscreet Arabians on the Blessed Virgin , as an ordinary Woman ; and the Worshipping her , as a Goddess : the Holy Fathers keep the middle way . Let the Virgin Mary be honored , saies St. Epiphanius , a a Epiphan. contra Collyrid . but let God alone be worshipped . The Holy Scripture doth the same , calling her in opposition to all profane Persons , Blessed ; & against all Superstitious Adorers , leaving her among the Women , Blessed art thou among Women , Luke 1.28 . Elizabeth likewise calls her , The Mother of the Lord ; as the Fathers do upon another account , The Mother of God ; that is , Mother of that Savior , ( as to the flesh ) who by the Hypostatical Union is also God . And lest this Title should seem to exalt her , as it doth commonly other Mothers , to the same dignity with her Son , the Holy Scripture sets her alwaies by Christ ( since the time of his public appearing to Israel ) rather like a Disciple , then like a Mother ; witness the manner he uses her , or answers her , at all the times when they appear both together ; as when she seeks him in the Temple , Luke 2.49 . or when she put him in mind of what they wanted in Cana , John 2.13 . or when she stood without and sent for him , Mark 3.34 . or lastly ( for I do not find them any more meeting and speaking together ) when he saw her standing by his Cross , John 19.26 . for there you cannot chuse but observe , how little this great God and Savior was moved with all those Concerns , even during the daies of his flesh , that had their ground in flesh and blood ; and that , if this Blessed Woman deserved any b b Chrysost. in Matth. c. 12. Hom. 44. Blessedness , and had a gracious access to her Son , it was by being a Believer , rather then by being a Mother . These four Passages cannot well bear any other sense : and the severity , which some of them express besides , as some Fathers do c c Epiph. cont . Haeres . l. 3. p. 447. Edit. Basil . well observe it , stands upon Record , for a warning to keep the Church from thinking better of Mary , then her being a Blessed Virgin , and perhaps a Holy Martyr . Christ by this short Reply , Woman , what have I to do with thee ? John 2.3 . having branded that great Impiety , which he foresaw in after Ages , and which we see to our great grief scandalously reigning in our daies .

For now , at the head of ten thousand Saints , of whom some were never in being ( as far as any true Authors can tell ) as St. Christopher , St. Catharine , St. Longis ; some were no better then Villains , as Thomas Becket , James Clement , and such like , which the Pope pleases to Canonize ; some are very true and blessed Saints , but were never praied for , nor praied to , as long as Israel had a Prophet , or the Church of Christ an Apostle : at the Head , I say , of all these , appears now in the Church of Rome ( what all both Prophets and Apostles may justly rend their Garments at ) the Virgin Mary under the Pomp and the very name of Goddess . Not to mention the Worshippers , how many and famous soever , who in their Devotions * * Ambros . Cathar . de Consummata Gloria , pag. 112. and 115. Bernarden . Meriale 3. p. S. 5. de Nominatione Mariae . Lugdun . Francisc . Mendos . Virid . l. 2. Probl. 2. call her so , one Pope or two may serve for all . Leo the tenth , in an Epistle that was published , and therefore confirmed by the Command of Paul the third , demands some better Timber for the repair of one of her Churches , Ne tumnos , tum Deam ipsam , &c. d d Petr. Bemb . Epist. l. 8. Epist. 17. Lest by sending some useless sticks , you seem , saies he , to delude both his Holiness , and the Goddess her self .

This pretended God-head , Deification , e e Petr. Damian . Serm. 1. in Nativ . Virg. and Divine f f Mart. Delrius de Divin . Milit. p. 886. Lips . de Virgine Hall . passim . Gononus Chronic. an . 1356. Majesty , which under several Titles is attributed to this Goddess , is not a thin Participation , such as they allow to other Saints , whom upon this score they call Gods : but g g S. Bernardin . Serm. 61. a kind of Equality with God , and an Infinity of Perfections , which no Creature ever had . Some do call it h h Argentensis . De Sept. Excellentiis . identity ; others more plainly i i B. Alanus . part. 2. c. 6. Esse Dei , that is the very same thing , or the very Being of God , besides her other three Beings , 1. of Grace , 2. of Glory , 3. and of the Mother of God . Hereupon the Jesuites infer ( as well they may ) 1. that k k Mendosa de Florib . l. 2. Problem . 2. n. 11. there is an infinite distance between the Mother , and the Servants . 2. That the greatness l l Viegas Apocal. 12. Comm. 1. Sect. 4. n. 3. of this Goddess is a Mesure in a manner of Gods own Immensity . 3. And that therefore 't is impossible to know well Gods Immensity without understanding the Virgins greatness .

Now , if you will know , how the blessed Virgin , who was and is confessedly a finite Creature , hath attained to this real Godhead , and to the Infinity , that attends it ; they will tell you , that this great Miracle of being made Goddess , was wrought in her ,

1. By a Singular Glorification and mutation in her , proceeding from the whole Trinity . For when once m m Alan . suprà . c. 8. pag. 130. she presented her self to the Blessed Trinity in behalf both of her self , and her devout servants ; God Almighty , they say , spoke to her thus . Esto , &c. Be thou the noble and threefold Room , where the Trinity shall inhabit . I will be thoroughly changed into thee : and thou shalt be thoroughly changed into me , by special and singular Glorification .

2. More especially , by an entire and essential Communication from the second Person ; for thus they make Christ speaking n n Guerricus ap. Mendos . Virid . l. 2. Probl. 2. n. 11. to her ; Thou hast given me to be man ; I will also give thee my being God .

3. Most specially , by such a large Effusion of all Divine Excellencies , as may o o Quir. Salazar . in Prov. c. 8. v. 23. n. 302. hold up proportion with the infinite Goodness and Appetency , which the holy Ghost hath to be diffused to others . So , that as the Father did satisfie his own desire , in bestowing his whole Divine Being on his Son : and the Son with the Father , in bestowing all what they have upon the Holy Ghost ; so likewise the Holy Ghost hath the same satisfaction , for want of a fourth Person , to spend and to pour himself in gifts and Graces , upon Mary , whom upon this account they dare all ( and God forgive them for calling her so ) Totius Trinitatis Complementum , that is , the Perfection and Accomplishment of the whole Trinity ; and to this purpose belongs what they say , that in Heaven she hath her Throne by the Father , as his only Daughter and Mignion ; or as others say , p p Argentens . De Septem Excell. 7. in quality of Gods Lady , above the Son , q q Ibid. as being his Mother ; and close to the Holy Ghost , in quality of his dear Spouse .

I have no mind to trouble my Reader and my self with rehearsing what here they babble , or rather most ridiculously blaspheme concerning the r r Salar , in Prov. c. 31. n. 55 , 56 , 57. Jealousie between the Holy Ghost and Joseph upon the point of serving and pleasing her best . It is enough , which they will tell you and insist upon twenty times , that this Virgin was the chief Allurement , which in the beginning moved God Almighty , s s Idem . c. 8 , v. 25. n. 317. to make the world ; t t Bernard . Serm. 1. in Salv. and that Heaven and Earth were created , and all the holy Scriptures written ob hanc & propter hanc , for her sake , and upon her account . That when in the eternal Decree and Prevision u u Salazar . Prov. c. 8. v. 23. n. 269. of God , all other things did appear but as Molehills , the great worth of this Virgin stood before him as a Mountain . That when he put his hand to the making of Creatures , Heaven , and Earth , Stars , Angels and Thrones , x x Ibid. v. 22. n. 269. he had still this woman in his thought , to pick and chuse out of every Creature , as it came out , the very best of it for this true Pandora and true Abbreviate of all his works . That then she was the very y y Ard. Hierosolymit . Serm. de Annunc . Perspective thro which from all Eternity God both foresaw and predestinated all Christians , S. Peter , S. Paul and all the rest ; because they were not predestinated to any Grace , but such as should be conveied to them thro her hands . That when God did order the Springs , and course of Water , z z Salazar . c. 8. v. 27. n. 363. then he but studied , what way it were possible , to make Mary an Aqueduct of all Blessings upon Mankind . That God had not set up so many Princes in the world , nor so many a a Rupert . ap. Salaz . p. 246. Kings in Israel , had it not bin to procure her a more Roial Extraction . And finally that he made Eve , b b Salaz . Prov. c. 31. n. 418. the Ark , the Tabernacle , and other Ceremonial Figures , to pass his time in those Images and Representations of Mary ; and so to amuse as well as he could the extreme longing that he had , to possess the Original .

At last this blessed Creature being come forth , she appears at her very c c Idem c. 8. v. 25. n. 321. Birth , when she was lying in her Cradle , above all both Angels and Saints , like a Mountain above small Hills , far holier , as they say , then Mount d d Joh. Damascen . Sina , but somwhat like e e Bernard . Serm. de Annunc . the Mount Sion , in which God was pleased to dwell ; all the Angells f f Gabr. Biel. in Can. lect. 80. that are in Heaven , all the Souls that are in Hell , all the Saints and Prophets that ever were , and all men that are or shall be , must by all means look towards Her , as the Center and Support of the whole world ; as the very Ark of God , as the Cause of all Creatures , as the g g Bonavent . in Psalter . founder of all Blessings , as the Fountain h h Bernard . apud Salaz . c. 8. v. 35. n. 450. and Vein of life , and the Author of i i Petr. Dam. Serm. 1. de Annunciat . Salvation . Now lest you should think , that these great Titles ( as great as God himself and our Savior can ever have ) are given her chiefly upon the account of Christ , whose Mother she was , after the Flesh ; thorough Catholics will tell you , that before she was the Mother of Christ , she k k Anselm . de Excell . Virg. c. 12. had deserved to be so : that by her own Goodness l l Ozor . Tom. 3. Conc. 1. in Annunc . & Conc. 1. in Nativ . and Grace , she had drawn God down towards her , and induced him m m Bernardin . de Bust. 2. part . Serm. 2. de Coronat . Mariae . to take her Flesh : and that being as commonly they do term her , Negotium omnium Seculorum , the work of four thousand years ; and possessing eminently within her self all the Perfections that lie scattered up and down in all Celestial and subcelestial Creatures ; such a complete Hostess could not but procure , or o o Salaz Proverb . c. 8. v. 16. n. 106. at least hasten the coming in of the best Guest . The Founder of the Jesuites did commonly p p Salaz . Prov c. 9. v. 4. & 5. n. 144. bless himself , whensoever it came to his mind , that swallowing down Christ at Mass , he had also by the same means some of the Flesh of this Goddess . And they say , that on this same account Christ takes delight q q Judoc . Clictov . Serm. de Visitat . to lie hidden under transubstantiated wafers , and to fall down into mens stomacs ; because it represents and reminds him of his Ancient being in her womb : and that therefore she r r An●nymus apud Metaphrast . would not miss a day , without taking the Sacrament after her Son was in Heaven , that he might have that sweet satisfaction every day . But when at the Salutation of Gabriel , she opened her Heart and her Breast to take him in , and therein to make him her Son ; that one Act of humble Obedience expressed in nine Latin words , Ecce Ancilla , &c. Behold the Handmaid of the Lord , &c. that one Act of hers they say , is more Meritorious , then God himself in a manner can recompense . Christians may think 't was no Merit of hers , but rather a favor of God ; and that all which she could do towards it , was her Duty ; but Roman Catholic Authors , and Saints too , teach otherwise . 1. That by that one Act , she had fully s s Stellarum Coron● B. V. l. 11. part. 2. c. 11. repaied to God , for n n Bernard . Serm. 2. de Pentecost . all the things , that he ever bestowed upon men ; and this they call Retribution , and take it for the eleventh of those twelve Stars , which shine continually about her Head . 2. That by that Act , she repaied more then she ever received her self : and so that t t Methodius Constantin , Serm. de Purificat . God is in her debt . 3. That by that Act , she hath done more u u S. Bernardin . Serm. 61. Bernardin . de Bust. Marial . part . 6. Serm. 2. de Visitatione Mar. for God , ( or as much at the least ) then God for her , and all Mankind : and that men may say to their comfort ( rather blaspheme to their confusion ) that upon the Virgins account God is more obliged to them , then they to God . This is the most stupendous Merit , which they say , x x Salazar . Prov. 4. v. 13. n. 53. Christ insisted upon , to shelter himself against the wrath of his own Father ; when , after their interpretation , he praied thus upon the Cross . O turn thee unto me , and have mercy on me : give the Kingdom to thy Servant , and save the Son of thy Handmaid ; that is , if thou wilt not save me from off this Cross for thy sake , or for my sake ; save me for her great Merits sake , who said Behold the Handmaid of the Lord : and give me also that Kingdom , the Monarchy of the whole World , which she hath y y Ildelph . Serm. de Assumt . deserved by that Act , and which devolves to me , as being her Son . So let all men here consider both how admirable those Merits , must be which Christ makes his own shelter of : and how useful to a poor sinner , since they are thus needful to Christ . We have not yet don . The Virgin Mary appears as great at her Sons Death , as at his Conception ; and if some talk of her saving men , only because she hath brought forth their Savior ; thorough Catholics will inform you , that z z Quir. Salazar . c 8. v. 19. n. 207. Conceiving and Bringing forth , are two Acts , which of themselves being Natural , and not Voluntary , cannot be much Meritorious : and therefore besides all what she contributes , either by her Interceding , or by her having brought forth a Savior , towards the Salvation of mankind ; she hath a good and proper share with Christ himself , in the very Act of saving them ; for first , as God so loved the world , that he gave them his only Son , &c. Joh. 3.16 . So , if you believe these Roman a a S. Bonaventur . in verb. Sic Deus , &c. Doctors and Saints too , the Virgin Mary can say as much : for Christ was hers and under her Dominion , as b b Anselm . de Excell . Virg. c. 3. well as under that of his Father : therefore when she gave him , she gave what was properly her own . Secondly , she herein did more then God himself ; since she not only gave him to the world , as God did , by consenting , but by offering him her self most really ; for there , they say , she stood by the Cross , not as a Mother to pitty her Son , or as a Disciple to believe on him ; but as a Priest c c Salazar . supr. n. 211 , 212 , 213. to offer him in Sacrifice ; to help him in his Sacerdotal Function : and ( mark how far this folly goes ) if the Murtherers had failed , * * Aloys . Novarin . Sacrorum Elect. l. 4. Excursu 49. to Sacrifice him with her own hands . O Virgin saies the supposititious Epiphanius , † † Sermone de Laudib . Mariae . the Stupendous Tresure of the Church ! She is both the Priest and the Altar . She brings both the Table , and the Bread , &c. Thirdly , they say , that she stood there to Sacrifice her self with him . Her very standing up with her stretcht Armes was d d Guillelm . in Cant. 7. Statura tua , &c. n. 7. her Cross : and the Anguish of her heart , e e Bonavent . de Compass . Virg. Lect. 1. greater , as they say , or at the least more sensibly felt , then any pain which her Son did suffer then in his Body , was her Passion . Thus both Christ and his Mother ( saies another famous Doctor ) had one design ; and both offered to God one and the same Burnt-Sacrifice , He the Blood of his Flesh , and she the Blood of her Heart . Now believe them who say that Saints , and she especially , are Mediators and Saviors only by Praying , and not by giving and working by their very suffering the Grace and Salvation which we pray for . She was ( saies Salmeron , a main Supporter of the Roman Church among the Tridentine Fathers ) cooperatrix g g Salm. Tom. 6. Tract. 6. sect. secundus sensus , p. 39. Edit. Col. 1613. , that is , Christs Fellow-laborer in the very Passion to the end , that as a Man and a Woman did work out the utter ruine of Man-kind , so a Man and a Woman might perfect their Salvation ; and as well here as there , the Woman should be the Instigatrix , or the first Sollicitress , Eve to temt , and Mary to set the Man to work . Thus she is , saies another , h h Gabr. Biel. in Festo Visitat . Serm. 1. the Mother of Redemtion , by shedding her Soul into compassion under , as Christ did his in Passion upon the Cross . And if Christ seem to baffle away this Partnership , and vindicate the whole work to himself alone , in the Prophesie of Isaiah , 63.3 . I have troden the Wine-press alone , and of the People there was no Man with me . They have a ready Answer for him ; It is true † † Ricard . de laudib . Mariae V. l. 2. part. 2. , saith one , O Lord , there f f Arnold . Carnotens . De laud. Virg. Biblioth. Patr. Tom. 1. is no Man with thee , but there is a Woman with thee , who suffers in her very Heart , all the blows and wounds which thou receivest in thy Body . These great Sufferings and Satisfactions being her own , she may i i Mendosa Virid . l. 2. Problem . 5. n. 30. apply them to whom she pleases , without troubling her Son about it , even so far sometimes as the Salvation , and the very rescuing damned Men from † † Petr. Dam. Serm. 2. de Nativ . Virginis . Hell can come to ; besides what some other Divines think she may do , by offering still ( in Heaven ) both her self and her Son for k k Manual . Sodalitat . B. M. c. 2. part. 4. pag. 91. the Redemtion of all Men. However , if upon this foundation , that she is by the Roman Catholics l l Salazar . Prov. c. 8. v. 19. n. 215 , & 222. called and conceived to be ( which otherwise they m m Ibid. n. 222. think she could not ) the very Redeemer , the Cause and Author of Eternal Salvation ; the Restorer of Mankind ; the n n Albertus Magnus , Bibl. pag. 88. Mercy-seat ; the Queen , o o Antonin . in Sum. part . 4. T. 15. c. 3. sect. 3. the Priest and the Prophet ; the Hope of the whole World ; the Gate of Heaven ; the p p Bibl. Mar. p. 89. Altar of Burnt-sacrifices ; the Cherub q q Mendosa . Virid . l. 2. Probl. 2. n. 13. of equal light with the other that represented Christ ; in a word , any thing that Blasphemers can think of , to make her , upon her proper account , quite parallel unto Christ ; and as well in the act of Salvation , as in their own ordinary Praiers , to huddle up both the Hand-maid , and the Savior , into one Jesu Maria together .

Last of all , the Virgin Mary having so well plaied her Priestly part in Sacrificing both her self and her Son here upon Earth , she was in all reason , after the manner of Oblations , to have ascended along with Christ into Heaven ; and it is much wonder'd by some , † † Anselm . de Excell . B. V. c. 7. as at a kind of unkindness , wherefore Christ would , when he went up , leave his afflicted Mother behind . But they presently satisfie this scruple , by attributing it to a kind of State Policy : For if both had made their public entry into Heaven at the same time * * Ibid. , it had puzled the Angels , whether of the two to adore first : So it was conceived more prudent , that he should go up before , both to prevent all Jealousie , and to prepare for her coming the whole Celestial Court ( which had bin divided otherwise ) to a more noble Reception .

Now she is there , Gods Throne is not too good for her , and her glory is not so much equal to , as the very same r r Arnold . Carnotens . supra . with that of Christ : for ( if you can hear a Blasphemy ) because she , as well as Christ , humbled her self to the death of the Cross , s s Idiota de Laud. Mar. c. 5. therefore hath God highly exalted her , and given her the Name of Mary , ( that is , as they say , Lady and Mistress ) which is above all Names , that at this Name every knee should bow , &c. There she sits , as it becomes both the t t Missal . Paris . in Purificatione . Empress of Heaven , and the Conqueress of Hell . There both the Angelical , and the human Nature wait on her , u u Bonavent . in specul . c. 3. as the two Maids did on Queen Esther . There Saints , and Angels , and Arch-angels , are all in their several Capacities her Courtiers , or her Nobles , her Officers , or her Soldiers , and generally all one with another x x Salazar . Prov. c. 8. v. 15. n. 136. her Servants and her Salves .

The best is , that this large and wide Empire is not setled on her by God , as a mere Donation y y Ibid. n. 121. Mendosa Virid . l. 2. Problem . 1. n 1. and Favor ; it is , they say , a just and proper Right of her own , grounded upon natural z z Ibid. n. 131. Equity , both as being the a a Anselm . de Excell . Virg. c. 4. Spouse of the Holy Ghost : ( on which account they say , b b Pseudepiphan . de Laud. Mar. she had Spiritual Gifts , upon the Title of the Wedding present , and afterwards she was to have what she hath now , Heaven and Earth for her Jointure : ) and as having c c Anselm . ibid. c. 11. by her own Merits saved and restored all things ; or d d Damascen . de Fide Orthod. l. 4. c. 15. as being the Mother of Christ , and therefore Queen e e Salazar . supra n. 132. upon as good a Title as he is King , and even as God himself . For , saies another Blasphemer , As God the * * Ludolphus de Saxonia , de vita Christi . part . 2. c. 86. Father is Lord of all , because he hath created all thro his Power ; so is the Mother Mary the Lady of all , because she hath repared and re-establish'd all things by her Merits . These things being so , as no true Roman Catholic must doubt but they are ; it concerns us all next to enquire , First , What use this Queen of the World is pleased to make of her Power . Secondly , What kind of Homage Men must return to that high and Soveraign Majesty , for the great Favors and Blessings that flow continually from that use .

As to the use of her Grandeur , both old and new Papists will tell you , That since all Power is given to f f Petr. Damian . Serm. 1. de Nativ . Virg. her , as to Christ , it is to this Blessed purpose , that all Men may receive , as well of g g Antonin . 4. part . T. 15. c. 6. sect. 3. her , as his Fulness , Grace for Grace ; and that every one may take out of her Bosome , h h Bernard . Serm. de Aquae ducti . all such Blessings as he most desires . Here the Sinner shall find Mercy ; the Righteous , all increase of Grace ; the Angels , happiness and Joy ; and the whole Trinity , Glory . Among all others , Kings and Warriers are much concern'd on this account . She hath a Temporal Power , both of taking and giving away of Estates . Thus , by her help , both the Spaniards and the Portugeses discovered and i i Petr. Maffaeus . Hist. Indic . l. 2. got a good part of the East Indies . She turns Armies and Victories to what side she pleases . Read what they say she did for Philip k k Nicol. Aegidius , Annal. Franc. in Philippo Aug. King of France , against Otho the Emperor ; for l l Histor. Carnot . An. 1328. Philip de Valois , and m m Ibid. An. 1304. Philip le Bell against the Flemings ; and for the Cities of n n Annal. Flandr . l. 12. Tournay , o o Meyer . Annal. Fland. An. 1386. Ipres , † † Nic. Aegidius , Annal. Franc. in Carol. 7. Orleans , and p p Chronic. Deip. An. 1200. Poictiers , against the English . This last is considerable ; for there , they say , she stood like a great Queen , and the Keys were conveied away by night ( no Body can tell how ) from under the Governors Pillow , and found hanging in the morning by her Image . Her very Shift being once set up as a Banner upon a Wall , q q Antonin . 2 part . Hist. tit. 16. c. 2. sect. 5. routed a great Army ; and if any ones Shirt chance but to touch that Blessed Shift , it may go near to make the whole Body ( as once it r r Anton. Solerius de Venerat . SS. did ) invulnerable . Her very Images will inspire strength ; for when King Arthurus was tired , s s Robert . Holc . Sapient Sect. 35. c. 3. some say , that he had one of her Images , which was painted upon his Shield , that when he look'd on it , did recover him from fainting Fits . You may guess by these Shifts and Images , what the Lady her self can do .

By virtue of this same Power about Temporal Affairs , she sends , or removes all Temporal Blessings and Curses ; Honors , Riches , and all manner of Earthly Prosperities are in her hand ; and what Gods Eternal and uncreated Wisdom is in Scripture , Prov. 8.18 . the same by a foolish Impiety now is the Virgin Mary in Popery . Read their Sermons , and see what good use they make of all the Power given to Christ : † † Vid. Quirin Salazar . in Proverb . Solom . See the eighth Chapter of the Proverbs , she is now made blasphemously what Christ was then , the Tresuress t t Idiota de Contempl. Virg. in Prolegom . of all Gods Graces , and the very Tresure * * Ricard . a S. Laurentio , de Laudib . Virg. l. 10. of the Church . It is out of this new Store house , that the greatest Scholars of Rome , if you will believe them , had their Learning . Albert the Great was a u u Leander de viris Illustrib . dull Fellow , and Duns Scotus a very x x Wadd . Tom. 1. Annal. Minor . An. 1304. Dunce , till the Virgin Mary gave them more wit . Vdo Arch-bishop of y y Canisius de B V. l. 5. c. 20. Magdeburg , and St. Rupert z z Eradenbach . Sacr. Collect. l. 2. c. 7. Abbot of Tuits had it the same way . But St. Thomas Aquinas , and S. Tharlevarct are in this Point most admirable , that one a a Surius , F. Mart. became an Angelical Doctor , by swallowing down his Throat a Paper that Ave Maria was written upon ; and this other got the full understanding of the whole Bible , by drinking out of a Silver Cup , a sweet Liquor b b Balanghem . 25 Dec. which she gave him . Not to trouble you with more Instances , what can you add to what they say , that She is the very c c Bonavent . inspecul . c. 3. Ahysse and Ocean , * * Salazar . Prov. 8. v. 27 n. 364. from whence all Blessings flow , like so many streams into the Church : that she is the true Mother , who keeps us alwaies like Embrions in her d d Ibid. v. 18. n. 190. Bowels , and makes us live with her own Breath : that she is both the Neck and the Hand e e Idem , c. 31. n. 118. , that is , both the passage and only means thro which our cries may go up to God , and his Blessings come down to us . They who will speak at a soberer rate , compare the Virgin f f Georg. Venet. Hav . Cant. 1. T. 4. c. 38. to the Moon , which both qualifies and transmits all the Influences that come to us from the Sun and other Planets , that is , from Christ and all his Saints . But here to speak the plain Truth , without terms of Astrology , they do find an absolute Decree , made by all the three Persons together ( and God knows where they can find it ) whereby g g Salazar . Prov. c. 8. v. 18. n. 193. God the Father hath obliged himself to his Daughter ; and the Son , to his Mother ; and the Holy Ghost , to his Spouse , to shew no favor to Man-kind , but what she shall please to bestow on them . Through her , they say , h h Pet. Dam. Serm. de Annunc . with her , and in her , all must be don : and as nothing was ever made without her Son , so nothing is made now without her self .

The better to perform this vast Work , and to scatter up and down far and near her Graces upon all sorts of Creatures , they fancy in her four i i Jacobus Episcop. Genuensis . De nativ . gloriosiss . Virg. Serm. 3. Laps or Bosoms , which like four great Magazins , furnish the Church with all Blessings . 1. A Lap , or Bosom of Favor for the Righteous . 2. That of Meekness , for the Oppressed . 3. That of Mercy , for the desperate Sinners . 4. And that of Glory , for them who die in her Service . The Bosom of Favor is reserved for few Persons ; such as are Prophets , orderly Monks , and all other devout Men and Women , who may without any scandal be hidden k k Idem ut sup. under her Mantle . The Bosom of Glory belongs to another Life : But the other two , namely of Meekness and Mercy , are of a marvelous use for this .

Her Bosom of Meekness is open to all such Persons , as either groan under Oppression , or are in eminent danger . As when she was pleased to come down her self to break the Goal to l l Odo Gissaeus , Histor. Virginis Anic . l. 3. c. 38. Prisoners ; to sew , and to put up again the torn m m Astolf . de Miraculis B. M. 1. 1. Bowels of Valentin ; to refit and set on again Heads n n Vincent . in specul . l. 29. c. 4. cut off , and hanging only by a very small skin ; or to set new o o Bzovius , Tom. 13. Annal. an. 122. 1210. n. 9. Eies , and new p p Caesarius , l 7. c. 24. Tongues , instead of those that were bored out or pulled off ; or to break the Hangmans Halters , q q Hist. B. V. Montisserrati . to save her Servants from being hang'd . So when you take her to be above , she is about some work of Meekness , either in a r r Chronic. Deip. an. 1116. deep Well , to save a Boy ; in a River , to lead a s s Miraeus . Chronic. Ord. Praemonstrat . Horse ; or on a dark pair of stairs , t t Chronic. Deip. an. 400. to keep St. Martin from tumbling down , where the Devil had scatter'd Pease .

To this Meekness , you may refer some other charitable Works , not indeed so necessary , as the saving Men from the Gallows , and the healing of burst Entrails ; but yet very useful and comfortable in the way of Roman Piety ; and in this way thus far that may be true , which otherwise were blasphemous ; that , u u Anselm . de Excell . Virg. as they say , the Virgin , ( such as they conceive her to be ) , shews to the world greater Examples of kindness , and Humility , then Christ our Savior ever did ; that is , whereas Christ is not known to have come down out of Heaven , in any visible manner , ( such as is necessary to give Example ) ever since his Ascension ; their Virgin Mary doth nothing else . For ever since the time , that Popery was spread in the World , every day is blessed with some Examples of her great Condescention , when she or something else under her Name , is as often seen in their Convents , as if Heaven was not her Abode : when she comes down from the height of all her Glory , to present s s Chronic. Deip. an. 119. S. Alberic with a white Hood , instead of the black one that he had before : to mortifie the wanton Reins of t t Leander . de Viris Illust. Ord. Praedic . Conradin , or u u Idem in vita Reginaldi . Reginald : to help Women in a * * Chronicon . Deip. an. 1529. hard travel : to give suck to aged Persons : to mend clothes x x Id. an. 1170. under a Bed : to treat Travellers in y y Bover . Tom. 1. Annal. Capuc . a wood : to serve fasting Monks with c c Henriquez . Fascicul . SS. Cister● . l. 1. dict. 5. c. 12. Sweet-Meats : to hug z z Caesarius Histor. l. 7. c. 55. and kiss , and marry sometimes † † Chronic. Deip. an. 1235. one , sometimes another . And brutish men cannot perceive , that these kindnessess are much below the mean Condition of an ordinary civil Woman , much more below the high Estate of the blessed Virgin Mary .

The Bosom , or Lap of Mercy carries them farther . It is upon a quite other account , then the having born the Savior , that they call her d d Missal . Rom. Miss. de B. V. the Queen of Heaven ; the Fountain of Compassion : the spring and Dispenser of Mercy ; the Gate e e Missal . Paris . in Vigil . Purific . of Heaven : the f f Miss. de B. V. Vein of Pardon ; the Hope g g Miss. in Octav. Nativ . of the World : and the h h Octav. Assumt . Mother of Mercy . For it is believed amongst them , that just as King Ahasuerus did promise i i Gabr. Biel. in Can. Sect. 80. E. once the half of his Kingdom to Queen Esther , when she appeared for the Jews ; Esth. c. 5. v. 6. God the Father hath really settled the disposal of his Mercy , ( the better half of his Kingdom here in the Church ) upon the Virgin Mary now appearing for Catholics . And as they are pleased to imagine Christ and his Mother , to be represented in Genes. 1. by the two great k k Viegas in Apocal. e. 12. Lights in Heaven , they do leave Christ the Sun to rule the Day , that is the Children of Light : but the Virgin Mary must be the Moon , to rule the Night , and to provide for the poor Children of Darkness . And therefore Innocent the 3d , the best Scholar of all the Popes , may be thought the wisest also , when he advises , l l Innoc. 3 Fest. Assumt . Serm. 2. sinners lying in the Night of their sins , well to look up toward the Moon . For the Light of the Sun is too piercing : and tho , say m m Anselm . de Excell . V. c. 6. they , Christ be the Savior ; yet is he the Judg also : and so enquires after mens Deserts ; scorning to n n Salazar . Prov. c. 8. v 30. n. 394. be the Father of any other , but just men ; whereas the Mother o o Bernard . in Verba . Signum magnum . scruples at nothing ; but like the Sun , which she is clothed with , Apoc. 12.1 . shines equally on good and bad : and what is most wanting to these , she supplies it with her Merits .

This unchristian Mercifulness , and damnable Encouragement to go for Salvation to a Creature rather then to God and his Christ , is grounded by these Catholics upon this threefold account . 1. The Virgin Mary is a Woman , and therefore p p Richard . de Laud. Mariae . l. 1. c. 2. is by her Sex , more kind , and tender hearted : Whereas one may fear in Jesus the Severity both of his Godhead , and Manhood . 2. She is a real Mother , not to Christ alone , but to us all : and so more q q Antonin . in sum . maj. p. 4. titu . 150. 2. indulgent to all her poor sinful Children : and these more familiar and bold with her . 3. But there is a third reason beyond all this , which in good equity makes her to be good and kind to them all , and especially to the worst of them ; because r r Salaz suprà . their Sins have made Her Mother , have made her Queen , and have made all what she is above the simple Daughter , as she was once , of Eliakim , and of Anna. If therefore , saies s s Anselm de Excell . Virg. c. 1. & 12. their S. Anselm , She hath bin made Mother because of me , why should she not be Mother to me , and other worse sinners , then I ? And with what Equity could she forbear to succor us in all our sins ; since it is for us , and for our sins that she hath bin elevated to her Greatness ? Upon this most filthy suggestion , they build this most impious Doctrine ; that it * * Mendosa Virid . l. 2. Probl. 2. n. 14. is a much safer way for sinners to go to the Virgin , then to Christ ; witness her white t t Chronic. Deip. an. 1231. Ladder , that could presently help up to Heaven those whom his red one did shake off and tumble down : witness the heavy Plagues , which , as they u u Mendosa ibid n. 16. say , she often stops if you do but carry about her dear Image , when all Devotions and Praiers to God did but prove vain : witness whole Hundreds of loose Examples scattered up and down in her Chronicles , which Christ being about to punish , this indulgent Mother did dispense with . Mater mea , &c. She is the x x Chronic. Deip. an. 1360. Soveraign in such Matters , and can dispense with the Laws of Christ , when she sees Cause ; And if she be severe , and even almost cruel sometimes , it is commonly but in some light matters , that Crucifie neither Flesh nor Blood , and where it is easy to please her . For example , she used to plague Alexander Alensis , y y Bust . Marial . 1. p. Serm. 7. an honest and learned Schoolman , with a great pain in his head , yearly upon her Conception day , because he did not observe it . Once she struck down dead a Preacher , at the very z z Henr. de Hassia ap. Gonon . an . 1477. end of his Sermon : and she would have damned a a Chronic. Deip. an. 1430. eternally Francis Milet upon somwhat the like account ; both were very fools for their pains ; for what needed the one , to preach , and the other to hear Discourses , and keep Papers against her immaculate Conception ? Thus when she killed b b Bzov. 15. Annal. an. 1383. n. n. one once , and scratcht c c Chronic. Deip. an. 781. out the Eie of another ; what plesure temted them to abuse her poor Image ? I pitty more d d Ibid. an. 1538. the honest Painter whom she struck blind , for having once but touched it : or the e e Vincent . Specul . Hist. l. 7. c. 89. maid , and f f Vita S. Otton . ap. Sur. 2. Jul. poor Labourer ; when I read , how the ones Thred did intangle it self about , and stick pittifully to her tongue , for moistening and spinning it upon the Annunciation : and the other fell down flat in his Field for cutting Corn upon the Assumtion day : as also the rich Citizen's Wife , and Child , whom she destroied one after another ; and damned the Husband besides , for having hanged g g Sigebert . Chronic. p. 154. Edit. Paris . 1512. about his Wives Bed ( then lying in ) a kind of Tapistry , that belonged once to her Church . These few Persons , I say may give warning to thousands not to displease this Goddess in trifling things , where it is so easy to humor her . But in all other great matters more difficult to flesh and Blood , and more essential to Holiness , let all Catholics be sure of this to their encouragement to serve her , that there is no Sin against the Gospel , nor no Abomination against Nature , that this Indulgent Mother cannot overcome and pardon with her great Mercifulness . Let a Robber but hold his hand , and fast upon a Saturday ; and fall again to killing and plundering all the whole week ; if he chance to suffer for it , she will force Nature h h Th. Cantiprat . de Apib. l. 2. c. 29. to make him live with his head off , till he confess , and be saved ; it may be she will go also to his Burial , i i Caesarius Histor. Memorab . l. 7. c. 59. as once she did at Trent , to have it honorably don . Upon the like or easier terms she will rescu a Blasphemer k k Johannes Bareleta . Serm. Ter. 4 Hebdom . 2. Quadr. from perishing by the fall of a House , and leave others more honest , but not so devout towards her , crusht thereby . She will be so merciful , as to undertake any Drudgery even during fifteen whole years , to save a whore , l l Menolol . Cisterc . 6. Nov. not from sin , but Infamy . The worst sort of Incest , and Murder m m Vincent . Specul . Hist. l. 7. c , 93. cannot overtop her Compassion : nor make her Modesty ashamed of appearing at the Bar , in behalf of her guilty , but otherwise devout Client . She will go her self to the Gallows , and there hold up the feet n n Chronic. Deip. an. 1358. of a Thief , being a humble Servant of hers , for fear the Halter may hurt his neck , when he is hanging at the Gallows . At last , when such worshippers as these come to die ; she will take such care of their Souls , as either to keep them safe , whole o o Bonfinius Rerum Hungar. Decad. 3. l. 3. years , in their dead , drowned , and torn Bodies , till some Priest come to absolve them : or if Divine Vengeance prevent the Priest ; she will apply to them p p Mendosa . Virid . l. 2. Probl. 5. n. 30. her own Merits , and command her Son to do the like , ( for she praies him as q q Petr. Damian . Serm. 1. de Nativ . Virg. a Mistress not a Servant ) and keep them from going to Hell . However some good way or other ( and let Ruffians be sure of this , having the grace of being Catholics ) it is morally impossible , I have a good r r Mendosa . Virid . l. 2. Probl. 9. Author for what I say , it is morally impossible , that any one , who hath any true devotion for this good Lady , can be damned . For if she do not come down purposely to make them Chast , whether by laying her s s Chronic. Ordin . Min. part. 4. l. 10 , hand on their Brest ; or rubbing their backs t t Leander . de Viris illust. Ord. Praedic . in vita Conradi . with somthing , ( as I said before , she doth sometimes ) ; she will save them with that Almighty Power which she hath in Hell , as well as in their Church , of being , as she is called , u u Pseudon . Ephrem . Syr. in Threno Virg. the Hope , and Advocate of damned Persons . Do not trouble your self with this question that your best Doctors are puzled at , x x Richard . de Laudib . Virg. 1. 4. with what Justice t is possible for her to save damned or damnable men ; and to save them after they are dead without Repentance ? It is enough for you to know y y Rich. ibid. she doth it . And what might she not do for these Villains , since she can with her two Angels be a Midwife z z Discipulus . De Miracul . Mar. Tom. 2. Serm. Exempl . 25. Palbart . l. 21. c. 13. to very whores ; your main Interest is to see , in return of these great Mercies , Kindnesses , and Protections , what Services now she will have .

CHAP. VI. Concerning the Adoration and new Waies of serving the Virgin Mary .

WHEN the Roman Doctors are among themselves , either worshipping at their Altars , or discoursing in their Pulpits , or teaching in their public Scholes , they freely talk of adoring a a Vid. Concil. Nicenum . 2. the blessed Saints ; they think them to be Canonized most principally for this end , that they may publicly b b Antonin . Sum. part. 3. l. 22. c. 8. be adored and praied to : and they highly commend the Greek , who at his first Conversion professed that he did c c Salazar . Prov. c. 8. v. 15. n. 114. adore from his heart our Lady the Queen of the world . And their S. Damascen is herein their great Goliah driving before him all the Fathers with this weapon . Decet enim , &c. It must be so , f f Damasc . 1. De Nativ . & 2. de Assumt . or t is fitting that this Mother of God should enjoy that which belongs to her Son ; and therefore the Glory of being adored by all men .

But when the Papists are amongst us , tho they keep still their hearty thoughts , they do quite reform their Language ; they are ashamed to say in England , what they are proud to do at Rome . If you believe what they say here , it was never heard in their Church , that they must adore any Saint , g g Censura Colon. p. 228. unless by chance it be in that sense , in which Jacob adored his Brother , and Abigail , King David : which is no Divine honor at all ; but only such a reverence , as is deferred h h Coster . in Enchirid. to Kings , or Fathers , or such honorable Persons ; and therefore , ( and justly too ) why not to Saints ? And if you be inquisitive , and press them farther about this Point , then they will run out into so many Distinctions and terms of Art as will puzle any Lay-man : Dulia , Latria , hyperdulia ; Absolute and Relative Worship ; Divine Adoration , and bordering upon Divine ; Godhead essential , and Godhead participated : so that it will go very hard with them , if they do not leave him whom they pretend to satisfie , as ignorant , and more confounded , then he was before . They will tell you , that they intend not , either to adore the Virgin , or to adore her otherwise then respectively ; that it is in a mere relation to her Son : and those Intentions being in their hearts , it is impossible there to search out , either the Truth , or the untruth of what they say . But if you look to what they do , instead of hearkning to what they say ; their most solemn and practical Devotions have such a plain and real language , as must declare to all the world , both what their Religion is in it self , and what you may best think of it .

1. First they bestow and accumulate upon the Virgin all the best Titles , which both in the Church , and in the Scripture are proper to God . For in their most solemn Devotions , she is a She God , a She Savior ; the Queen of Queens , the Fountain of Salvation , the Ladder , and Gate of Heaven , &c. And it were great folly in us , to think that they do not worship her , according to what they call her ; since it is not in such Rencounters , that men use to play the Hypocrites .

2. Secondly , in their ordinary Praiers , and Praises and Giving of Thanks , they do most commonly join her with God : Jesu Maria comes in one word out of their Mouths ; and Glory be to God , and to the blessed Virgin ; is but one compleat Doxologie , at the end of most of their Books . Now such an Association as this , is in the judgment of the Fathers , a clear Evidence of being God . Thus they prove i i Athanas . Orat. 4. contr. Arian . pag. 260. Edit. Comel . against the Arians , that the Angel , whom Jacob praied to , when he blessed his Grand-children , Gen. 48.16 . is the Lord Christ ; because in that praier he is joined with the God of his Fathers : and that this Christ is very God , k k Ibid. p. 159. because the Apostles join him with God , both in their Praiers and their Praises . Grace be to you , and Peace from God the Father , and the Lord Jesus Christ . Rom. 1.7 . &c. The strength of their Demonstration consists in this , that in all those daies , both when the Prophets and Apostles did write the Holy Scriptures ; and when the holy Fathers did maintain the Faith which is contained in them ; no man was seen or heard praying l l Athanas . suprà . Cyrill . Alexand. Tom. 5. in Thesaur . pag. 115. Ed. Paris . 1638. for any thing both to the Father , and to an Angel , or to any other Creature : ( for Popery was not yet abroad ) nor wishing , that God , or his Angel , or any greater Creature whatsoever , would grant or give him any thing . And they take it for an insufferable piece of m m Cyrill . Alex. ibid. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Sawciness , when the Arians dare couple , ( as upon their Principles they do ) any Creature , with the Lord God . Such was the known Catholic Faith , and Profession of the Primitive times ; for otherwise judicious and learned Men would not have produced it in that manner , as an undoubted Evidence against such subtil and dangerous adversaries . Now both the Roman Faith and practice taking a quite contrary way ; we , I hope , are more bound to think , that the Papists , who follow this , are Idolaters ; then that the holy Fathers , who went on in that , were very Fools .

3. Thirdly , The Papists apply to the Virgin the most illustrious Places of Scripture , that belong directly to Christ : and by this means , either disable all true Christians , from the possibility of proving by the Scriptures , that He is God ; or prove as well , that She is so too . I will mention out of many , but few Instances . Every word almost of the eighth Chapter of the Proverbs , which doth describe the Eternal Wisdom of God , which by the Fathers is applied to Christ alone ; and which is none of the least cogent Mediums they stand upon , to demonstrate him to be that true essential and uncreated Wisdom , is now turned another way , n n Vid. Salazar . in Prov. to deifie their Virgin . It is by her , namely the Virgin , if you believe those Abusers of Holy Scripture , that Kings reign , and that Princes decree Justice . v. 15. By her Princes rule , and Nobles , and all Judges of the Earth . 16. Riches and honor are with her , true durable Riches and Righteousness . 18. She leads in the way of Righteousness , she causes them who love her to have substance . The Lord , ( saies she , out of these Blasphemers mouths ) possessed me in the beginning of his waies ; I was set up from everlasting ; when he prepared the Heavens , I was there , &c. and so all along . They scruple not o o Bust . Marial . Serm. de Nomin. Mariae . to say of her , what God Almighty saies of himself , Malach. 1.11 . From the rising up of the Sun , unto the going down of the same , my Name shall be great among the Gentils . And that of Christ , Matth. 28.18 . * * Novarin . Vmbra Virgin . l. 4. excurs . 122. n. 1149. All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth ; and what John the Baptist saies , p p Antonin . 4. part . tit. 15. c. 6. sect. 3. of her Fulness have all received , &c. namely , q q Salazar . Prov. c. 3. v. 29. n. 200. the Sinner Pardon : the Righteous , Grace : the Angels , joy : and the whole Trinity , Glory . And therefore , r r Idiot . Contempl. 1. say they as blasphemously , God hath highly exalted her , and given her a name above all names , that in her name all knees should bow , &c. Phil. 2.9 , 10. And after the same rate , what God saies of his only begotten Son , Heb. 1.6 . Let s s Vitis Florig . Lect. 27. all the Angels of God worship her ; and let Men boldly come unto the Throne of Grace ( from him to her ) that we may obtain Mercy , and find Grace to help us in time of need , Hebr. 4.16 . It were endless to rehearse all .

4. Fourthly , They allow her a whole Psalter , * * Vid. Psalter . S. Bondvent . as the Church doth to God Almighty : And whatever David could say in the Highest strein of his Zeal , towards the magnifying of Gods Glory , or the imploring of his Mercy , or the expressing his Faith in him ( Gods name being out , and that of the Virgin in ) they both transfer and improve it towards the magnifying of this Lady . For Example , in the first Psalm , instead of Blessed be the Man , &c. it begins thus , Blessed be the Man that loves thy name , O Virgin Mary : Thy mercy shall comfort his Soul , &c. The second , Why do the Heathen , & c ? hath it thus , Why do our Enemies imagine vain things against us ? Thy right hand , O Mother of God , shall protect us : Come ye to her , all ye that Travel , and are heavy laden , and you shall find rest for your Souls , &c. The fourth thus , When I did call , thou O Lady heardest me : Thou wert pleased to remember me , out of thy high Throne ; for thy mercy is on all them that call upon thy holy Name , and thy Majesty be blessed thro out all Generations . Glorifie her , O all ye Nations , &c. The 16. thus , Save me , O Lady , for I have put my trust in thee , &c. The 19. thus , The Heavens do declare thy glory , O Virgin , &c. The 29. thus , Bring to our Lady , O ye Sons of God , bring praise and worship to our Lady . Give strength to thy Servants , O holy Mother , and bless them that magnifie thee . Let Heaven and Earth bless thee , the Sea , and all the corners of the World , &c. The 42. thus , Like as the Hart desires the water Brooks , so longs my Soul after thy love , O holy Virgin : for thou art the Mother of my life , the Nurse and restauration of my flesh , and both the beginning and end of my Salvation , &c. The 44. thus , We have heard with our ears , O Lady , and our Fathers have told us , that thy Merits are ineffable , and thy Miracles wonderful : Thy Virtues are innumerable , and thy Mercies inestimable . Rejoice in her , O my soul , for many good things are laid up for them that praise her . Blessed be thou , O Queen of Angels , &c. The 51. thus , Have mercy on me , Lady , who art call'd the Mother of Mercies , and according to the Bowels of thy Compassions , make me clean from all mine Iniquities . Pour thy Grace upon me , and withdraw not thy usual Mercies from me , &c. The 68. thus , Let Mary arise , and let all her Enemies be crush'd under her feet , &c. The 72. thus , Give the King thy judgments , O Lord , and thy Mercy to the Queen his Mother : Salvation and life , O Lady , are in thy hand , perpetual Joy and glorious Eternity , &c. The 73. thus , Truly God is loving unto Israel , even to such as worship his Mother , &c. The 84. O how amiable are thy Dwellings , O Lady of Hosts , &c. The 92. It is a good thing to give thanks , and confess to the Virgin Mary , and to sing Praises to her Glory : to tell of her Merits that rejoice the heart , and to imitate her Works , which rejoice the Angels , &c. The 94. It is the Lord God , to whom Vengeance belongs , but thou art the Mother of Mercy , who turnest him to compassion . The 95. thus , O come , let us sing to our Lady , let us heartily rejoice in the Virgin our she Savior . The 103. Praise the Virgin Mary , O my Soul , and all that is in me , praise and glorifie her name , &c. The 110. thus , The Lord said unto my Lady , Mother , sit thou at my right hand . Be thou reigning with me . Have mercy upon me , O Lady , Mother of splendor : enlighten me O thou Mother of Truth and Virtue , &c. The 117. O praise the Lady , all ye Heathen ; glorifie her , all ye Nations , for her Merciful kindness remains upon us for ever : whosoever will serve her , shall be justified : but whosoever neglects her , shall die in his sins , &c. The 144. begins thus , Blessed be our Lady , who teaches her Servants to fight , &c. The 148. thus , O praise our Lady of Heaven , praise her in the height . Praise her Sun and Moon . And so all along to the very last , O praise the Lady in her Holiness : praise her in her Virtues and Miracles . Let every Spirit , or every thing that hath breath , praise our Lady . This Service goes under the name of a Superangelical and Seraphical Doctor , a Roman Saint , and a Cardinal besides , whom they call St. Bonaventura ? Give this Worship what name you please , it is all that David , and Moses , and other Prophets , could bestow on the Lord God of Israel . Now when the same is bestowed upon a holy Creature , how great and holy soever , yet a Creature , judge what it is .

5. Fifthly , Lest the Lord God of Israel should receive any kind of honor from Men , where the Lady had not her share : what ever more eminent pieces of Divine Service they can find scattered in Holy Scripture , they will be sure to give it her . For example , that of Moses , Deut. 32. Give ear , O ye Heavens , to what I will speak of the Virgin Mary . Magnifie her with me , &c. O perverse and crooked Generation ! acknowledg our Lady for thy she Savior : Is she not thy Mother , that hath begotten thee in Faith ? If thou forsakest her , thou art no friend unto our Soveraign Cesar . O that thou wert wise , and wouldest consider thy last end . As an Infant cannot live without his Nurse , no more canst thou be saved without this our Lady . Therefore let thy Soul thirst after her , and do not leave her till she hath blessed thee . Let thy mouth be filled with her praise , and sing of her greatness all the day long . That of the same Moses at the red Sea , Exod. 15. Let us sing to our glorious Lady the Virgin Mary : Our Lady is Almighty : Her name is next to God : She hath thrown into the Sea the Chariots of Pharaoh & his Host , &c. O Lady , thou hast delivered my Soul from the Lion . O my dearest Lady , cover thou me , as a Hen doth , &c. I am all thine , and all I have is thine : I will put thee as a signet upon my heart , &c. That of Isaiah 12. I will sing to thee , O Lady , &c. for thou hast comforted me : my Lady is my Savior , I will trust in thee , and will not fear . Thou art my strength in the Lord , and art become my Salvation : with joy will I draw Waters out of thy brook , and I will call upon thy name alwaies , &c. That of King Hezekias , in the same Prophet , 38.9 . when he was recovered from his mortal Disease . I said , in the midst of my daies I will go to Mary , &c. Father , Mother , and Friends did forsake me . but Mary hath holden me up . I will put my trust in her , in the morning , in the evening , and at noon-day . ( God ) had , as it were a Lion , broken my bones : but thou , our Lady , hast delivered my Soul from perishing ; my Darling , from the hand of the Dog , &c. That of the three Children , commonly so called , All the works of the Lord , bless our Lady : praise and magnifie her for ever : O ye Angels , bless our Lady , &c. Blessed be thou , O Crown of Kings : Let every knee in Heaven , in Earth , and in Hell , bow unto thy Name , &c. That of Zachary , Luke 1.38 . Blessed be thou , Lady Mother , &c. Save us from all our Enemies , &c. and perform the Mercy promised to our Fathers and us , that we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies , may serve thee without fear , &c. And thou Mary shalt be called the Prophetess of the Highest , by whom he hath given the knowledg of Salvation , &c. By the Bowels of thy Mercy , O Morning Star , do thou visit us from on high . To complete Idolatry with absurdity , that very Hymn , wherewith she adored once her God , is with some parcels of the Song of Annah , 1 Sam. 2. now turned into an Office to adore her : My Soul doth magnifie the Lord , and my spirit hath rejoiced in my Lady , &c. There is no Saint like our Lady , &c. Let Sion and Jerusalem rejoice and praise Mary , for she is the greatest among the Ladies of Israel : She makes poor , and she makes rich : She brings low , and she lifts up on high . This Lady of ours is higher then the Heavens , broader then the Earth , and purer then the very Stars .

6. Sixthly , She is adored with the most solemn and elevated Office , that the ancient Church could worship God with , namely , Te Deum . We praise thee , O Mary , we a a Melch. Inchofern . Ep. B.M. ad finem . acknowledg thee to be the Lady . All the Earth doth worship thee , as the Spouse of the everlasting Father . To thee all Angels , &c. continually do cry , Holy , holy , holy , Mary the Mother of God . The holy Church thro out all the world doth acknowledg thee , Mother of an Infinite Majesty : Thou art the Queen of Glory , O Mary , the Ark of Grace , and the Ladder of Heaven : Thou art the hope of all the world ; the Salvation of them that call on thee ; the Teacheress of the Apostles ; the strength of the Martyrs , &c. O Lady , save thy People , &c. Vouchsafe , O Lady , to keep us this day and for ever . O Lady , have mercy upon us , have mercy upon us . O Lady , let thy mercy lighten upon us , as our trust in thee , &c. Lastly , there is added to her Honor , that Praier which belongs to the Holy Ghost , Veni Creator ; and which , some say , the Council of Constance at their meeting , were pleased to present the Virgin with . Come Mother of Grace , Spring of Mercy , Light of the Church , Queen , Star , &c. come to defend the Church , to destroy Heresie , and to make peace , &c. And in a word , to do any thing that an honest and pious Council may better expect of the holy Ghost .

7. Seventhly , There is a whole Bible made and Printed to her Honor , Biblia Mariae . Albertus Magnus , both a great Scholar , and a great Bishop , and a kind of Roman Saint , is the Prophet who , as it is thought , composed it . This Holy Book gives the Virgin all or b b Biblia Mariae , Tit. Pag. Omnia fere . most part of what was in the true Bible either said or intended for God and Christ . As for Example , in Genesis , She is the truth both of the Altar , which Noah built , and of the Sacrifice which he offered : and the Sweet savor which there was smelled , is nothing else then her Praier . She is the Ladder which Jacob saw , Gen. 28. wherewith Christ is to come down to us , and we are to come up to him . In Exodus , she is said to be both the true Mercy-seat , and the great Altar of Burnt-offerings . In Leviticus and Numbers , she is the Ark of the Covenant , the Rock whence flow the Waters of Grace ; and the Star , which Balaam saw , &c. In Joshuah , she is the Border of our Heavenly Inheritance ; the Window , through which we must escape and be saved from Jericho , that is , from perishing in and with the World ; the Ark , which marches before us to Canaan , that is , Heaven , there to prepare us a resting place ; the City of Refuge , where those must seek shelter whosoever flee from the Wrath of God , &c. In the Book of Judges , she is the true and great Captain , in whose hand our Celestial Father puts the whole Land , Heaven , all Power , and Himself . Therefore take heed , saies this Godly Bible , from going to war without her . In Ruth , she is the true Ruth ( with more probability then the Captain ) who goes to the Field , that is the Church , there to glean ears of corn left in the Field by the Reapers , that is , some few which she rescues from Devils : Thus she gleans whomsoever she pleases , for Boaz hath charged the reaping Angels not to to touch her , Ruth 2.9.15 , 16. When she hath gleaned them , she takes them up into the Bosom of her Mercy , and carries them into the City , v. 8. that is , into the Celestial Jerusalem . In the 1. Kings 1.2 , 3. She is the fair and young Virgin , who is to lie in the Kings or Gods Bosom : and inflames him to love and compassion towards his People . Thus this Bible running all along to the Revelation after this rate ; at last ends with this Praier , instead of , the Grace of our Lord , &c. O Queen of Mercy , Grace and Glory ; Emperess of all the Creatures , blot out all my Transgressions , and lead me to the life everlasting .

8. The Virgin having Bibles , and Psalmes and other Instruments of Devotion , wherewith Christians serve God and Christ ; there is no reason she should want Churches . And she hath them in so great a number , consecrated to her Service , and Visited to her honor ; and all in such a special manner , that as they impiously are used to say , c c Salazar . Prov. ε. 31. v. 11. n. 55. that the Holy Ghost is jealous of Joseph on her account , because they both are her Husbands ; God Almighty the Father , the Son , and the Holy Ghost , may justly be Jealous of that Idol , which appearing under her Name , gets more Churches to its Service , then God to his .

Those men cover this Shame but with Figleaves , who give out these Churches , to be but d d Bell. de Cult. Sanct. l. 3. c. 4. sect. Altera solutie . Palaces : and herein as well their own Church Books , as their very Goddess gives them the lie . Their own Church Books ; For they have not one Church consecrated to God , since Poperie , that is not with the same words and order consecrated to the Virgin . e e Pontifical . Rom. Tit. de Dedication . Eccles. Sanctificetur , &c. Let this Church be Sanctified and consecrated , in the Name of the Father , the Son , and the Holy Ghost to the Honor of God and of the Glorious Virgin : and to the memory of such a Saint . By which words it appears , that , tho the Palace be pretended to be but a Memorial , to such a Saint , talis Sancti ; it must be a Church to the Virgin ; or not to God . Since He an She have the same Rank and Interest , in that main End , that the Church is consecrated to . I say that their very Goddess also confutes their distinction between a Palace and a Church , whensoever she appears abroad for the building either of them . Witness the Celestial f f Chronic. Deip. an. 1274. Ladder , and the ascending Angels , and her self above them all , to mark the very Ground , where she would have a Church built to her Honor. Witness S. Balduin the Ermite ; whom this evil Spirit ( for the g g S. August . contra Faust. l. 20. c. 21. item de Civit. l. 20 passim . good Spirits abhor such things ) chid severely h h Chronic. Deip. an. 1112. for not building a Church so fast , as she did wish , in a place that She had chosen , for them that would serve her . Witness that large and square Stone of Anis , where she declared , what she intended for her self , both in that and all other places . k k Odo Gissaus . Histor. Virg. Anic . This is the Place , saies she , which I have chosen to this purpose , that here , and hereafter mortal men may worship me and serve me throughout all Generations . Now , I hope , such houses for Devotion , Praier and Worship , by what name soever you call them , are just that which we use to call Churches : by making them stately and Roial , you may make them Palaces also : but this Magnificency cannot unchurch them . The Jesuite Canisius is plain and downright , ( and herein more sincere then his good Brother Bellarmin ) , for he calls them Templa Mariana l l Canisius . De B. V. l. 5. c. 23. the Temples , or the Churches of Mary .

In those Churches they say that she will appear sometimes in a created capacity only , either to sing her part among the Nuns like a Chorister : or to burn Incense to Perfume n n Bover . Tom. 1. Annal. Capucin . the Church , like a Diacon : or to give the Sacrament o o Chronic. Deip. an. 1248. like a Priest . Visne , &c. that is , My Son Sylvester , wilt thou take the Body of my Son ? or to Confirm her worshippers , and cross them p p Leand. Albert. in vita Jordan . all with her Sons hand : or to sit in an Episcopal Throne , like a Bishop . But at last her main purpose is to appear there more like her self : to proclame before all the world that she is the x x Blosius in Monili . Mother of God , and the Queen both of men and Angels : ( and upon this account Bellarmins Palace well becomes her ) to swear y y Henriquez in Guntelin . 13. Sept. Catholics to her Service : to promise them z z Nicephor . Eccles. Hist. l. 15. c. 25. protection , and all spiritual Blessings , upon condition , they shall pray to her heartily , and at the Service of God both begin a a Chronic. Deip. 221. and end with her Praises . Sometimes she will take this trouble upon her , of teaching them how to do it . And this is the Model she gave and sung once to S. Godrick , S. Maria , &c. b b Matth. Paris . in vita Godric . Holy Mary Mother of Christ , blot out my Sins , reign in my heart ; and bring me up to Happiness with God alone . God himself cannot have more , and Churches by their usual Consecration promise no less . And to render this Consecration yet more solemn , as the Ground where these Churches stand is commonly markt outby the Virgin : so the Consecrating of them to her Service is now and then c c Odo Gissaeus Histor. B. V. Anic . performed by her Angels .

9. Ninthly , These Churches of hers have Altars , which are no part of a Palace ; and which are dedicated to her Service . Every Altar , even in Christs own Church , is consecrated to this double use , to wit d d Pontificat . Roman . supra . to the Honor of God ; and to that of the Glorious Virgin : and this on several respects , either e e Ibid. as a Stone , or a Table , or a Sepulcher , or a complete Altar , twenty times . But besides this , She hath as many other Altars , which are proper to her alone ; where if God have any share , it is as it were , but by the by . Such as the Rosary Altars ; Mariana Altaria , the Altars of the good Mary ; and sometimes under several Titles ; f f Chronic. Deip. an. 1287. five such in one and the same Church . The Holy God of Israel never had so many in his own Temple . It is both a great disingenuity to disguise , and as great an impudence to face out this gross and open Idolatry , with saying as they will , sometimes , that these belong to God alone , as Altars : and to the blessed Saints , as Sepulchers . For , first the Virgin Mary left no Bones ; if that be true , which they say , that her whole Body was taken up , and carried by the Angels into Heaven . And if you be so simple to believe , what they talk of that great Abundance of milk , which they have got of her , since she is above , to wit when she is pleased to come down , and give suck ( for having a Child on her Arm ; she must needs have milk to give him ) these Altars are not sepulchers , for they do not bury this milk under them , but keep it among the other Relicks they have of her , Combes , Gloves , Hairs , Shifts and Slippers , very safe as in wardrobes . 2. It is not a Grave , it is an Altar which she ( or rather a quite other Spirit under her Name ) calls for . Go , saies that Ambitious Spirit , and get me g g Chronic. Deip. an. 1467. an Altar built by such an Image , that it may be a spring of all Graces to them , who shall call on my Name . Never Saint in the whole Bible spake near this rate .

10. All Altars being made by their general institution , both to receive , and to sanctifie the Sacrifices and Offerings which are daily laid upon them ; the Virgin hath these also , and in an immense abundance . Gods Temple at Jerusalem was scarce richer then Lauretta is on this account . Neither Gold , nor pretious Stones are too good for her Majesty . If his Holiness fear the French , as Alexander the third once did , he will secure himself from that danger , by h h Gianius Chronic. Servitor . Mar. an . 1495. offering her a Silver statue : or as Innocent the 8th . by offering Golden i i Job . Burch . in Diarie . 1492. Medals , and Clothes embroidered with Pearls : or , as the Recineti did for securing themselves from the plague , by offering her a Massy Crown k k Tursel . Lamet . Hist. l. 2. c. 8. of Gold , and pretious Stones . They that have not so much , may offer less , tho it were but a wax-candle , as common an Offering under this new Religion , as was a pair of Turtle Doves under Moses . They that have nothing at all , must make a vow of visiting some of her Churches . Such vows they say have saved many from the Gallows , from Shipwracks , Falls , Fires , and all imaginable Dangers ; tho vows before Popery came up , were never heard to have bin made to any Saint , but God alone . But which is more Sacrilegious then all either Vows and Sacrifices , that which they call the Holy Mass must be celebrated on her Altars ; that is , the Son of God and God himself , as they take it , must be sacrificed to her honor : and in that impious service , as I have demonstrated l l Mystery and Depth of the Roman Mass . elsewhere , suffer more shame and Infamy to please her , then he ever suffered on the Cross , to save the whole world besides .

11. They allow her in every year eight holy daies . Christ hath no more of his Christians ; nor are they so religiously observed . Nothing but death , or some other Judgment as bad , threatens the Profaner of them . Witness the Hill , m m Bancius Annal. an. 1580. which they say fell on the Villain , who offered to dig upon her Assumtion day : and the terrible pain , * * Bust . Marial . 1. part . Serm. 7. p. 2. which ever troubled honest Alensis as long as he read his Schole-Divinity upon the day of her Conception . Contrarywise , great Miracles and great Blessings , will attend the holy keeping of these Daies ; for wax-candles and Tapers n n Petr. Abbas Cluniac . Miracul . l. 2. c. 30. will burn then a whole night without wasting : And Bishop Bernard may fall down with his horse thro a broken Bridge without harm , if he do but vow , while he tumbles , that o o Chronic. Deip. an. 1436. he will observe the Immaculate Conception day .

12. And lastly , The Papists bestow upon the Virgin Mary , Proper Masses , Litanies , Canonical Hours , and both great and small Offices , in all Churches , on all Altars , and upon proper Holy daies .

Thus the Virgin , or that Goddess which they take for the blessed Virgin , hath all the Religious Services , ( and more ) from the Papists , that God and Christ have or ever had from the best sort of Israelites , and Christians . If God and Christ have not enough , then Moses and the Prophets , the Apostles , and the Holy Fathers are much to blame , who gave no more : and if they did and gave as much as could make up all the service , which God then required at their hands ; and which now another Spirit , being certainly a Creature , requires at the hands of Papists ; let the Israel of God be the Judge , both what that proud Creature is that craves as much as God ever had : and what these Catholics are , that will give it . For what they plead , is soon wiped off .

Here a Woman stands accused of lying every night with her Neighbor : She cannot at all deny the Fact ; but she maintains , that the Fact is not Adultery ; because she never lies with him , as with her Husband , but alwaies as her dear Husbands Cozen and dear Relation . There stands a Jew , publicly impeached of Idol-worship by the Prophet , because he burns Incense to the Queen of Heaven . Jerem. 44.25 . The Jew for his Justification avows this ; but utterly denies that : because he burns not his Incense to the Queen , as to the King : and understands very well , that this Queen is a Creature . Between these two guilty Persons stands also the Roman Catholic charged with the same ; he cannot deny but he hath Churches , Altars , Vows , Bibles , Psalters , Oblations and Holy daies , and universally all those kinds of Worship , which Christians can bestow on God ; which for his part he bestows also on the Virgin . But this moves him not at all ; he stoutly clears himself ( he thinks ) of all , by once saying , that he neither honors nor adores with all these things the Blessed Virgin , as he doth God , whom he knows to be her Creator , but as a holy Woman , whom he knows to be his Creature . By this Reckoning none of the three , let them do whatever they will in the way of either Carnal or Spiritual whoredom , can be convinced of being guilty ; as long as they have but so much wit , as to distinguish , the first , a Cozen from a Husband : the second , a Moon , from a Sun : and the third ; a Woman , from God Almighty . Whereas , by their very pleading and excusing of themselves , they are found to be twice Idolaters . 1. By their Act , which they confess ; for they transfer on the Creature , what is due to God alone . 2. Secondly by their own knowledg ; for all what can be don to God ( in point of visible worship , which is all that men can take notice of ) they willingly and voluntarily impart to others , whom they know to be Creatures . By what they do , they stand guilty ; and by what they know , unexcusable .

Never simple men were more grossly drawn and inveigled into such sins then Papists are . To begin first , where I ended last ; of these eight Holy Daies kept and set out for the Marian Worship , not one can be called Catholic , nor bear any primitive Date . The very Papists p p Bell. De Cultu Sanctor . l. 3. c. 16. sect. Ad tertium dico duo cannot deny it ; and among them the two greatest , namely the pretended Conception , and Assumtion , as they were the fittest to crown a most compleat Idolatry , so they came in the latest of all .

That glorious Feast of the Immaculate Conception , now so blissfull to them that observe it , and so terrible to them that do not , was never thought on by their Virgin , nor by themselves , to any considerable purpose , sooner then above twelve hundred years , after the Virgin her self was conceived . It was about the year 1300 , when this Marian Goddess appeared like a Queen , both of Heaven and all the Angels , both to revele it to S. Peter the Cistercian , who q q Gononus Chronic. an. 1292. knew nothing of it before ; and to take him for her Husband , upon condition he should keep it : which he gladly undertaking , her Son came down to the wedding ; and in facie Ecclesiae being in a Priestly Habit , and in the face of the whole Church joined this holy Monk and his Mother in a Roman Wedlock together .

Her other Solemn and great Feast , which they call the Assumtion , and which in the Roman account makes the Virgin as much a Goddess , as the blessed Ascension , among the Socinians , can make Christ God , is scarce older . One of the most skilful of all the Fathers , in Sacred Antiquity , I mean St. Epiphanius had not yet in his time heard of it : nor had , a great many years after , pious and learned Pulcheria ; when she sought s s Nicephor . Eccles. Hist. b , 5. c. 14. the Virgins Corps in the Holy Land , not dreaming it was in Heaven . Neither could Venerable t t Beda de Locis Sacr. c. 6. Bede , or Arch-Bishop * * Martyrol . Adon. 18. Cal. Sept. Ado , ( men the best versed both in all true and untrue stories ) tell much more : nor had Ludulphus de Saxonia tho a great Adorer of the Virgin , † † Devita Christ . part . c. 186. yet heard of that Legend . Nicephorus , is the first u u Niceph. ibid. Romancer , that can distinctly tell with what Triumph of men and Angles She went up , twelve hundred years after it was don . The Blessed Virgin Mary kept her self during that interval close and happy , like other Souls in the Bosom of Abraham , and under the wings of her Savior . She never thought yet of coming forth , either to throw x x Mag. Speculum . Tit. Festum . Exemp. 2. Gold or Medals into their hand , who kept this Feast ; or to bury y y Bencius supra . them under ground , who kept it not . Neither mortal Ears had heard till then in the blindest times of the Church , the Angels z z Cantiprat . l. 2. c. 4. n. 7. singing their Mattins to celebrate that Festival : nor mortal Eies seen Trees * * Gonon . ex Annalib . Colmar . an . 1276. both to blossom and bear Fruit against nature ; nor Hoods and a a Cantiprat . l. 2. c. 29. n. 26. Frocks becoming as good as strong Boats , to ferry Monks over a great River , when they would preach the Glory of that day . In good earnest , can an infallible Church , can a true Church be drawn away to new Services , upon the account of such Tales ? Or if these Tales and hundred other , as bad or worse , be true stories , ( as they may be , and I am not he that will dispute it ) what must we think of that Spirit , which is pleased to entice us to his Service upon such Grounds ?

This matter proves as bad again , in the Point of Altars and Churches . First it cannot be a good Spirit , if created , that calls for either Altars , or Churches . Secondly , it is not a good Spirit neither , that calls for them , by unbecoming , ridiculous , and jugling waies . Thirdly , 'T is not a true Religion , or a true Church that yields to that Spirit what he calls for , both on those accounts , and by those waies .

First , Such Spirits , what name soever they take , are to be shrewdly suspected , who call for Churches , Vows , Altars , Offerings , and all such other sacred services , as clearly belong to God alone . And in express terms , Saint Augustin makes no doubt b b August . de Civit. l. 10. c. 19. but that they are Devils . Good Angels , saies this holy Father , do then love us , and for our sakes do rejoice , when we worship the only God ; but if we do the like to them , they are not pleased with it at all , but openly cast it from them . And when some have thought of deferring also to them that honor , they forbad them , and commanded them to do it to him , to whom alone they know that it can be lawfully done . Herein the Holy Men of God do imitate the Holy Angels . &c. Therefore , saies and concludes the c c Ibidem . same Father , ( as well he may ) when some ( of those Spirits or Saints ) have a mind to be served with holy Rites and Sacrifices ; and others avert it from themselves , and order it for God alone ; the very sense of true Piety may teach any Man , how to discern between that which proceeds from true Religion , and what from a Spirit of pride : for proud Spirits are neither good Angels , nor the Angels of a good God . And let d d Ibid. c. 11. them do what Miracles they will , even beyond the course of Nature , these are but seducing Tricks of wicked Devils , which true Piety must take heed of . Here the Papists cannot answer St. Augustin , nor satisfie him at all , by saying , That no Roman Saint or Spirit was ever found calling for any Sacrifices , that is , for the Blood of Bulls , or Goats , which here St. Augustin understands ; for then the Father will reply ( and out of Porphyrius , an authentic Pagan Author ) that these proud c c Ibid. c. 19. Devils never cared for the Blood or smell of slain Beasts , upon any other account , then because such Sacrifices were in those daies the Expressions of Divine Worship ; as now surely Churches and Masses are destined to the same end , and therefore as much at the least , if not more desirable and pleasing to them . Who doubts , but all the Gold and Silver Utensils , which you shall find at Lauretta , may be as rich Oblations , as all that was once at Delphi ? And let any Jeweller tell me , whether one of those many precious Stones , which are daily by formal Vows sent and presented to that Goddess , would not buy the best Bull or Ram , that ever was at any time Sacrificed at Jerusalem ? To follow the Roman accounts , one Mass is better then all what both Delphi and Jerusalem had together : and if the Devils anciently craved for the slaughter of silly Beasts , because such was the solemn worship of Israel ; how proud may they be now , to see upon their Altars the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ , which tho in very deed but a Wafer , yet in the Opinion of Papists , is the most solemn Worship of Rome ? You will say , that this Flesh or Wafer is not sacrificed to the Virgin Mary : true indeed , but it is worse ; for it is sacrificed to God for her sake , in honorem Mariae . Thus , when I make much of a Stranger for my Friends sake , the Stranger hath the entertainment : and God , upon the Roman Principles , hath the Sacrifice or the Mass : but the Friend , and the good Lady , are the main end , and the main Persons I look upon , he in the Entertainment , and she in the Sacrifice . a a Gonon . Chronic. an. 1372. Thus this she Ghost understands it : Thou art my servant , saies she to a Priest , offering the First-fruits of his Mass Priesthood , when he was singing his first Mass : Thou art my servant , for I have chosen thee ( God uses to speak so to his Prophets ) and I will be glorified in thee : I dearly love them of your b b Leand. Albert. in vita Jordan . de viris Illustr. Order ( saies she to her St. Jordanes that succeeded St. Dominic ) because in all their Divine Services , they both begin and end with my Praises . So , c c Gonon . ib. Go and say to that Bishop , because he begins his Sermons alwaies with my Praises , that I will be a Mother to him . I could bring to the same purpose a hundred like , or worse Examples . Let the Roman Catholics shew me but one , where any good Angel ever said as much , or where any Devil ever spoke for more : If they cannot , who may not fear , what their best Monks d d Chronic. Deip. an. 1476. oftentimes do , lest the Spirits of former times , which seduced Men under the name of God , of Christ , of Angels , and Apostles , now may do worse under the name and the apparition of the ever Blessed and Holy Virgin ?

Secondly , This fear and suspicion is sufficiently evidenced to be plain truth , by the undecent and foolish waies which this pretended Goddess takes , to allure Men to these Services . Commonly , to compass her ends , she comes down from Heaven it seems , but however from above the Clouds , either with new Hoods for Friars ; or Miters and Gowns for Bishops ; or Roses and Garlands for Maids ; or Pots of Holy Water to sprinkle them all . When she hath overjoied them with these Favors , that they may not want what to sing , nor what to preach and do in her service , she tells them she is the Queen of Heaven , and the very Mother of Grace ; and that they shall find her to be so , if they go but to such an Image , and there build for her an Altar , or sing to her honor Sancta Maria , &c. or some other-like Godly Anthem . Often times before she leaves them , she will kiss them , or shew them her fine Breasts ; somtimes give a tast of her Milk , or acknowledg them for her Husbands ; at the least , before her parting , she is sure to perfume the Room , and stroak them on their Heads , and leave them some good Books that will teach them to sing her Praises . The ordinary conclusion of all , is this : after she hath well bewitched them , what with favor , what with perfumes , they must pray to her both day and night ; and , if they can , build her a Church or a Chappel , or do something to her honor . To promote this , Devout People shall meet with Images lying here and there among Brambles , under Trees , and under Ground , either crying , or laughing , or doing some other wonder that needs must be taken notice of : and when Men think , that these Images call on them merely for succor , to help them out of those obscure places into some neighboring Church , it proves commonly a mistake ; for either the little Image grows so heavy that it is impossible to remove it ; or if you remove it twenty times , you shall find it the next Morning in the same place where it was before : and this is the ordinary token , that there is the place where a Convent , or a great Church , or at the least an Altar , must needs be builded . This good Lady hath in the World hundreds of Churches and Chappels , both made and served by this device . I need not tell you where I learn this , for no wise Catholic will deny it , or he shall do it to his shame . When the Building must be a work of greater charge and importance , then will she take the trouble of bestirring her self more vigorously about it ; for in that case , either she will set up some great Ladder , reaching from the ground up to Heaven , and there bespeak a e e Gonon . Chronic. an 1274. Church to her worship , or she will come down to some Wall , and there sit like a Shepherdess , stroaking with her hand * * Menolog . Cisterc. 7 Octob. a flock of Sheep , which shall turn speckled with black and white under her hand , thereby to give a fair intimation , that there she must have a Convent of Monks wearing these two colours . Or she will make Snow in f f Idem an. 363. Summer , and tell the Pope of Rome in a Dream , that John the opulent Citizen must there bury his whole Estate , for the building of St. Maria major , the seventh great Church now at Rome . She will sometimes also shew the compass her Church must have , either by the means of a strange Stag , which she will inspire g g Odo Gissaeus , Hist. Virg. Amic . to run about , or she will shew it her self with a thred h h Balinghem . in Calend. B. M. 1 April . , which at this very day is kept for a very great Relic . She counts it no disparagement to be found roosting on the ground i i Vita S. Menuverci . ap. Sur. 5 Jan. , under the figure of a Dove ; or sitting down by a k k Pyraeus . Coron. B. V. Tract . 1. c. 12. poor Girls scrip , whilest she goes from her to tell the People where she would have a new Church stand . Her Churches of Montserrati and Lauretta , stand upon harder accounts : for that is built upon a Hill , where she had taken the l l Hist. Miracul B. V. Montis Serrat . pains to keep a Maid alive in her Grave six whole Months , when her Throat was cut : and this which stands at Lauretta , was at first a private Room in Nazareth ; but the Goddess being somewhat grieved m m Gonon . Chronic. an. 1292. pag. 179. Edit. Lugd. 1637. for not being so well worshipped in that Country , as she deserved , transported it thence to n n Turselin Laretan . Hist. l. 1. Dalmatia , that is farther then from London to Rome , all in one night ; thence she made it jump over the Sea to Recineti ; thence back upon a little Hill ; whence upon a fourth jump , it got and setled in that place where now all Catholic Pilgrims do resort , to be cured of all Diseases . This admirable House had bin hidden hundreds of Years out of Mens sight ( otherwise o o Beda de Locis Sanct. c. 16. Venerable Bede and Arculphus might have found it : ) at last , after more then 1200 Years burial , it started up again into that part of Italy , where now it is . Most of the Marian Churches , as they call them , stand all upon such Fabulous Foundations : and Men must not be taken for Catholics , unless they will serve the Spirits who will play such Pranks to get them Churches .

Thirdly , I said that it is a strange Religion , that steers it self , and is guided by such absurd Impertinencies . The very ridiculousness essential and inherent to these Passages , might serve better then the Cloven foot , to discover these kinds of Spirits . Men who would hearken to their own Reason , and lay Prepossession aside , could not take her for a most holy , and a most vertuous Virgin , that could at any time brag amongst Men of what she is , and allure them with Smiles and Kisses , to Worship her as a Goddess . Or in case their Reason were so weak , and so inveigled with Custom , as not to be able to see so much ; if instead of Consecrated Wafers , Holy Water , and Signs of the Cross , which they try Evil Spirits with , and which those Devils do not care for , they would but consult the Example of the former Ages , and the practice of all Faithful People , much above four thousand Years ; there they might see that the Church of God ever had Angels , had Saints , had Deliverers , and sometimes Workers of great Miracles , and yet never had one Altar , nor one Chappel , nor one Image to serve them with : And that if the very best of all their either Saints or Angels , had called for any such Service , they would have thought him qualified rather for Execration , then for Worship . The Women of Arabia did come far short of the Papists in their Devotions to the Virgin , yet St. Epiphanius calls what they did p p Epiphanius cont . Antidicomar , pag. 445. Edit. Basil . Diabolical ; and plainly tells them , That the Devil had put them upon the conferring of such Honors . What manner of Spirit must it be then , that falls himself , and puts the others upon seeking and craving them . If the Blessed Virgin , saies the Pious and Learned q q Ibidem . Father , have had a natural death and burial , let her sleep and rest in peace : If she have bin slain by the sword , let her be celebrated among the Martyrs : ( for in those daies , it seems , her end was not known ) If she hath seen no death at all ( for no man , saies he , knows her end ) then let her be as Elias , who also was a Virgin , and was taken up into Heaven . None of these Saints was ever adored ; and if r r Id. contr. Collyrid . pag. 448. God will not have the Angels , much less Anna's Daughter , that is , the Virgin to be so . Churches , Altars , public Praiers , Vows and Sacrifices , do betoken by their own nature , and set out a supreme Adoration , to the highest degree that it can reach to . For if Adoration , or Bowing and Worshipping in general , may sometimes signifie no more then a kind of Civil Honor , as when 't is said , Abraham adored or bowed himself before the People , Gen. 23. Vowing , Sacrificing , and erecting of Altars or Churches , denotes alwaies Soveraign Worship : these Acts , as the Jesuits themselves confess s s Bellarm. de Sanct. Beatitud . l. 1. c. 12. sect. Tertia species Coster . in Enchirid. , having in themselves this inherent and proper sense , which no private Intention can make lower , as sometimes it doth Bowing and Kneeling . Therefore they take it for a good evidence , to prove our Savior Christ to be God , because the Church t t Bell. de Christo. l. 1. c. 8. sect. Denique omnes . honors him with Temples , Altars , and Oblations : and so , saies Bellarmin , if Christ were not truly God , never such an Idol were in the world . And by the same reason , if the Virgin be not a Goddess with all her Churches & Oblations , in good earnest what shall she be ? Here no Grove , nor hardly the shade of a green Leaf , covers their sin . The Whore may kiss hard her Neighbor , and say , she kisses him as a dear Friend ; but she cannot lie with him , and put it off in the same way , saying , she doth it meerly upon her dear Husbands account , because the other was his Kinsman : this saying proclames her to be a most bold impudent Woman , as the very Act proclames her light and guilty in all the rest . For my part , I like them better , who tell ingenuously what they do , and following the Trade of Idolaters , think they may use as well their Language . Sacrificemus , &c. say some of them u u Abbas Livriacensis in Roset . Exercit. Spiritual . Tit. 4. c. 6. , that is , Let us Sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven , and pour out to her Drink-offerings , Jerem. 44.17 . Here both Jews and Romans hit just upon the same Idol : the Moon for those ; the Virgin Mary ( whom they represent by the Moon ) for these ; and the Queen of Heaven for both .

CHAP. VII . Concerning the daily Services bestowed upon the Virgin Mary .

THE Virgin Mary , that is , the Ghost that walks and appears under her name , doth not possess these Churches in vain : For first , They must serve for keeping eight great and universal Holy-daies , which she is allowed every Year ; the Annunciation , Conception , &c. God the Father , under the Law , had but three such ; and God and Christ at Rome have but eight . So she and her Son , are as to this , both of them pretty equal sharers . 2. So are they too in every Week ; for if Christ hath the Sunday , she hath the Saturday before it , and therein that Weekly Office , so famous among them for Miracles , and so plentiful of Blessings ; which Service is called , Officium Sabbatinum , that is the Office of the Saturday . But do not think that there is one day , in which you may excuse your self from some other more private daily Praiers and daily Praises to her Honor.

1. Not from Praiers ; For the best Masters of Popery say , a a Salazar . Proverb . c. 8. v. 34. n. 435. that as you cannot live any one day in the week , without the Influences of some of the Planets : so can you neither , without the special Assistance of the Saints : and that the Virgin Mary being the true , or the Original and super-celestial Moon , Luna archetypa & Supramundana , that both qualifies , and immediatly pours down all the Blessings , which you can expect from other Saints , as the other Moon doth the good Influences , which you receive from the other Planets ; t is more then fit you should pray to her every Day , and order your Devotions suitably to the Temper and strength of the Star , that rules the same day . For example , they say that upon Munday the Moon hath a proper faculty of tempering the Heat of the Blood ; then come with an office short or long , that is proper to that and every Munday ; and pray to the Virgin for Modesty and Chastity . Upon Tuesday , wherein Mars reigns , you must pray to the Virgin again , but not so much for Modesty , as for Zeal and Strength and Courage . Upon Wednesday , which is the day of Mercury , the Merchants must pray to her for good Trade ; and the Lawiers , for Eloquence . Upon Thursday , which is the day of Jupiter , call on the Virgin for high Designs . Upon the Friday , because of Venus , for loving kindness , and Charity . Upon the Saturday , because of Saturn , for Prudence . And finally upon Sunday , because the Sun is conceived to rule that day ; you are directed to pray to her , for clear and bright understanding about Supernatural Mysteries . You may likewise upon any of the seven daies pray for one of the seven Gifts ; for tho they proceed originally from the Holy Ghost , they do not think they come to you otherwise then through the Virgin . In doing this , they warrant you , * * Salazar . ibid. that you shall find both the Virgin Mary propitious , and the Scripture true , which saies ( when most impiously misapplied from Christ to a Creature ) Blessed is the man , or , all sorts of Blessings will light upon the man , who hears the Virgin Mary , and watches every day at Her Gates . Prov. 8.34 .

2. This Goddess expects also after your Praiers , your daily Praises ; and herein this is the Method , which great men of the Papal Communion b b Joh. Mauburnes in Roseto Exerc. Spirit . Tit. 4. c. 6. mind you to observe : Meditate say they upon the Munday , those Things , that preceded Her Birth ; how she was conceived without original Sin : how she was adored by Angels : and how c c S. Bernardin . Serm. De Nativ . B. M. a. 1. c. 2. she had sublimer thoughts , and a better use of her Reason , being yet in her Mothers womb , then men and women use to have , when they are come to a full age . Upon Tuesday , you must mind her Education and Course of life ; how she was at three years of age brought to the Temple : how there she was shut up like a Nun ; how there in the Sanctuary , where by Gods Law the very High Priest is not suffered to come in oftener , then once in a year , She was fed by the Cherubims , till she was fit for a Husband : then how much the Priests were perplexed about either keeping her there any longer against the Law , or marrying her against her Vow ; and how being ravishingly fair , such a bright Light d d Dionys. Carthus l. 1. de Land . Mariae . c. 39. sparkled about her Face , that without some help from above , no mans Eies durst look upon her . On the Wednesday ; your task is her Fulness of Grace , and how she is an unfathomable Abysse , whence all Angels , and Saints , and sinners must draw whatever they want . On Thursday , you must admire her singular Priviledges ; her Immaculate Conception ; her Impossibility of sinning : her Dominion over all the world , Men and Angels , Saints and Devils , &c. On Friday , make it your business to meditate on her Passion , and on her concurring with our Savior , while he was upon the Cross , towards the Redemtion of Mankind . On Saturday ; admire all her Joies upon Earth ; when the Archangel fell on his knees , and sung to her Ave Maria , &c. but remember that this joiful Devotion must not excuse you from one Syllable of her weekly Sabbatin Office . On Sunday , you have a fit time to admire her Assumtion , and all her glorious Joies in Heaven . What these are she may best tell you them her self . First , saies e e Henriquez Menol. Cestero . 3. Jun. she to S. Arnalphus a huge great mignion of this Ghost , my first joy is , that at my Assumtion there , I found a greater Glory then can be uttered or thought of : and that my Glorious fulness goes beyond that of both Saints and Angels . My second Joy is , when I do see the whole Celestial Hierarchy irradiated about by me , just as the day is by the Sun . My third Joy is , to see both the Hosts of Heaven to obey me : and the whole Trinity to agree kindly with me . My fift Joy is ( for my Author hath not the fourth ) to see my devout worshippers thriving both in this and the other life , according to my hearts desire . My sixt Joy is , to find my self highly exalted above all Angels , and by a singular Priviledg , set close to the Trinity . My seventh Joy is , to be sure , that this great Glory of mine shall never fail . She confirmed the self same thing , f f Chronic. Deip. an. 1228. to S. Thomas of Canturbury . So upon the credit of two distinct Apparitions , all this is as true as the rest ; and you have work enough for a whole week .

3. But here is more ; when you have sufficiently discharged all the Duties , which belong to the Year , to the Week , and to the Day ; you must think of the Seven Hours . In former times , of twelve hours in the day , the Church had appointed Seven , called the seven Canonical hours for the public Service of God ; and now since Mary is come abroad , and the Monks g g Dominic à Soto l. 10. de Justit . à Jure . q. 5. a. 4. are in request ; The Roman Church thinks it no robbery to make her Lady as to this , ( tho with lesser obligation ) equal to God . Pope Vrban the second is the first , that , as their h h Baron . Tom. 11 an. 1095. best Historians say , instituted a proper Office to her honor upon these hours : and if you believe their best Divines in these matters ; it were great pity we should do less . For since the Psalmist , saies i i Al. Gazaeus de Offic. B. M. pag. 69. & 70. Gazaeus , did bless himself for praising the Lord seven times a day , because of his Righteous Judgments . Psal. 119. why should not Roman Catholics do as much for their Lady , their good Mother , and Protectrix , because of her loving Mercies ; knowing this that the Eternal God , as well as the King Ahasuerus , Esther 6. will have her whom he honors , thus honored , that is at his seven Canonical hours . And plain Catholic Reason , say their great k k Quell . Durand . Ration . l. 5 c. 1. sub fin . Masters of Mysteries , will have it so . 1. At Night , that is very early in the Morning ; because then appears in Heaven a certain Star , which they do call Transmontana , which guides Sea-men in the Right way : and so doth the Virgin , Roman Sailers , the true Sea l l Missal Paris . An. Domin . Star , Stella Maris , who , if they praise her devoutly , will steer them safe out of this World into the Haven where they would be . 2. At prime , when there appears another called Diana , that goes before the Sun : and so doth also the Virgin Mary . 3. At Tierce , ad Tertiam , that is in our account about nine of the Clock ; because we then begin to be hungry : and t is she , as they say , that provides for us the Bread of life . 4. At the sixth , that is at Noon , because then the Sun is very hot : and therefore we must then praise her , and pray to her ( but why not him : ) that she be pleased to inflame us with Charity . 5. At Nine , that is at three in the Afternoon ; because the Sun declines then towards setting : and t is she that takes care of us , when we decay . 6. At Vespers , after Sun-set ; because cur life being at an end , they say she then mainly succors her Worshippers at the dangerous time of death . 7. Lastly at Completory , when t is quite dark ; because when our life is quite gon , then she intercedes for her dead Servants , and procures them good admittance into her heavenly Mansions .

So by this ( which they call officium parvum ) hourly Office , the Marian and the Christian Service , like so many Veins and Arteries , run both together through all the Parts of the Roman life . Night and day , and at every hour , the Praiers and Praises of the Virgin Mary never must depart from their hearts , nor if it be possible from their Mouths too . And in the Monasteries , the great Scholes of Piety , there is no Service for God Almighty , nor any time left for his worship , but the Lady hath a share in it . And here learn from a Saint , and a Cardinal besides , how far this Marianism , ( for it is no Christianity ) might well go farther . m m Damian . Epist. l. 2. Ep. 14. His Brother Marinus being full of this Roman Spirit , when yet he was but a young man , puts off his Clothes , and instead of a halter about his Neck , with a lethern Girdle , which before he had about his loines : he ties himself to the Altar : Vowes and gives himself up to the Virgin Mary upon the account of being her slave : then whips him self in such a manner , as one would hardly whip a wicked wretch : and in these words resigns himself into her hands . My glorious Mistress and Lady , and the true Model of all Vertues , whom I have offended by the rottenness of my Flesh ; All I have more wherewith to help my self , I give it up to thee to serve thee with . I submit the neck of my heart to the Dominion of thy Dignity . Order thou my rebellious self : undertake the stubborn : and let not thy Mercy reject the sinner . By this small Offering ( 't was a sum of mony which he laid down at her Altar ) I do now give over to thee whole Estate : and from this time ever hereafter , I will pay to thee the yearly Rent , or Tribute , of the same , as long as I shall live . Papists may call this as they please ; the best Israelites in their most solemn Adorations never did and said half so much before the Lord . Deuter. 26.12 . and the best Christians , can do and say nothing to God the Savior , that expresses more .

This height of palpable Idolatry procured at several occasions , remorse and shame to its Authors , in the very darkest Ignorance before it could be well settled . For few years after some had brought in this Office , n n Gonon . Chronic. an. 1056. Gozo , an eloquent and acute Monk , prevailed so far with his reason upon the whole Monastery , that these solemn Praiers and Praises of the Virgin were quite voted out of Gods Service . But alas ! presently after this voting , it fared just with these poor Monks , as it had don once with the Jews , when they had left worshipping the Moon . Jerem. 44.18 . Since we , say they , left off to burn Incense to the Queen of Heaven , we have wanted all things : and have been consumed by the Sword , & by the Famine . For then it seems , there fell upon the Country , where the Convent was situated , such a complication of wars , and troubles ( which Cardinal Damian , moved with a quite other Spirit then Jeremy was , in the like case , interpreted to be Judgments inflicted on them by the same Queen ) , that they were perswaded to worship her again : and then presently all was well . Whosoever ( then preached S. Damian ) hath turned o o Chronicon . ibid. out of this monastery the blessed Mother of true Piety , it is fit he should be turned out , and whirled about with tribulations , and Stormes . But turn ye unto me again saies the Lord by the Prophet , and I will return unto you saies the Lord ; he should have said , saies the Lady ; and then the Impertinency had been complete . The like but more hellish Illusion , ( if their story be true ) happened to the Carthusian p p Surius in vita Brunon . 6. Octob. Order . For when they were as poor , as they are now rich ; some of them lookt on this new Marian Worship , as nothing less then pernicious : and the others were so much perplexed , what with it , what with the horror of the wild place wherein they were , that they thought of leaving both the Place , and the Miracle of the seven Stars . But then comes to them an old man , with long white and curled Hair who assured them from God , ( as he pretended ) that the Virgin Mary would protect them , if they would but read every day Preces ejus Horarias , that is her small Office at the due hours . So without any more ado they took her for their Patroness , and consequently for their she God : and since that time her Praiers went on . A while after the old man , came an Angel , q q Chronic. Carthus . l. 5. c. 5. who advised them to put in between the first and the third hour , Ave sanct a Parens , and one Mass more to her Glory ; and if you please to believe all , Christ himself r r Anton. Caracciol . ap. Al. Gaz. pag. 108. dictated a Rule to S. Briget , where he commands them of that Order , to repete every day the said Service .

No mortal tongue can express , how much that ambitious Spirit , who assum the Virgin Maries Name , is delighted with the hearing of those Praiers . She now and then will come to say s s Al. Gazaeus . de Offic. B. M. pag. 94. Edit. Atrebat . 1622. them her self , when tired or sick Friers , as Herman was once , cannot do it . She will come down also and leave Heaven and all to hear them , and in a t t Chronic. Deip. an 1230. Majestic Apparel will smile upon , and kiss the Choristers , if they happen to sing them well ; and if this be not encouragement enough , She will make her Son ( a Baby whom she commonly carries about ) , run about them , and exhort them x x Wadd . Annal Min. Tom. 3. an. 1338. to be fervent in her Service : and tell them that nothing can ever be more acceptable to God Almighty , then is the honor which they shall bestow on his Mother : especially when they fall upon some verses , as is in singing the Te Deum , When thou tookest , &c. thou didst not abhor the Virgins Womb , y y Gaz. Ibid. p. 99. her heart jumps and leaps with joy , and so St. Ludgard advises his friend then to bow down to the very ground . At the words Eja Advocata , ᶻ she promises to speak to her Son . At these words of the Antiphone , Pulcra es , & decora , a a Stell . B. V. l. 12. c. 10. Gazaeus . p. 91. that is , thou art fair and gracious , She presently came with two Angels , and proud with hearing her Beauty praised , she took a young man from the Altar , and perswaded him to take her for his Wife , since she was so beautiful . Hence her Roman Chaplains argue well , b b Al. Gazaeus de Offic. B. V. pag. 8. that if she be so taken with some Parcels of her Office , how much must she be with the whole . It is upon this account , and her being charmed with these Caresses , that she hath nothing about her too dear for her Spiritual Courtiers . She leaves all her Nobles above , to converse veiled and c c Gonon . Chronic. an. 234. hooded , and sing like a devout Nun , among her white and black Friers ; she feigns to admire them , when they sing ; she kisses them when they have sung ; and whilst she is hot and busy with an excessive Passion to divert , by all means possible , these supreme and Divine Services from God to a mere Creature , nothing discovers the Devil more , then this foolish overdoing .

But to lay aside these fond kindnesses of kissing , suckling , and marrying men , and hiding them under her Coat , which a Fairess , or a white witch could better do ; the Magnificency of her Promises , backt as they are by the Roman Church , must be a greater Temtation . For what would you have more temting then this ? By this saving Office , say they , h h Al. Gazaeus supra . pag. 69. if you use it now , especially when his Holiness hath improved it with Apostolical Indulgences ; 1. You may lay claim to Heaven , not merely upon the title of mercy from God , but by that of Justice and Condignity , as your own Right . 2 You may satisfy Divine Justice , both for your sins and the sins of others . 3. What would you have more ? by these Praiers whatsoever you can ask in the Name of the Savior , and in the name of the Savioress Mary too , you shall receive it . For who can be so incredulous , as not to be sure to have all , in order to his real Good and Salvation , by this form of Praier , thus approved of by the Church ; recommended by God himself : ( they mean the little Baby , who bids men to pray to his Mother ) and in an especial manner consecrated to the Virgin Maries Service ?

What a hot friend she proves to be , and how Zealous to undertake for the silliest Fellow , that is her Client , S. Damian can best tell you i i Cardin. Damian . l. 2. Ep. 14. . A pitiful sottish Man , who had no spark of Grace in him , but that he could sing Ave Maria , and bow , passing by her Altar , had bin deprived of his Pension by a Bishop , who thought himself bound in Conscience to free the Church from such a Wretch . But then the Goddess comes by night , and falls foul upon the Prelat ; and being seconded by an Angel , who had a burning Taper in one hand , and a lusty whip in the other : What , saies he , wrong'st thou my Chaplain , and takest thou from him what thou didst not give ? At last , after many sound stripes , the Bishop being taught good manners , was glad to cry out peccavi , and to restore to that worthy Man , the stipends which he had kept from him .

This is but a temporal Concern ; but here is one which is Eternal . It is somewhat long , but it concerns all Men to know it , and I have it from the same Saint k k Card. Damian . supra . . An ugly Fellow named Bassus , who died a sudden death , had the good luck to die so in coming from one of our Ladies Churches . He having bin in his Coffin the greatest part of the night after his death , rose up out of it suddenly , both affrighted , and affrighting others : for with a terrible tone he cried for Praiers & Litanies , to scare away those ugly Spirits who watch'd for him about the Room : and at last being come to himself ( for Ave Maria , and Holy Water , had soon frighted the Devils away ) when my poor Soul , saies he , parted from me , presently came on some black Troopers ; this Fellow , said they , is our prize , for he hath ever lived after the Flesh , and never knew what the Spirit was . His good Angel could say nothing , but that he was dead in the service of their Mistress the Queen of Heaven , and that whosoever hath her favor , cannot perish by the power of any Judg. To this they make bold to reply , that God being Just , would do nothing for a Sinner to their prejudice ; and thereupon the Devils grew so earnest after their Prey , and the Angels , on the other side , so remiss in keeping their charge , that the Wretch was upon the point of being given up , as he deserved ; when , behold the Queen of Heaven came among them , and an Army of Celestial Soldiers with her , and with such a splendor besides , that the Devils durst not look up . Nevertheless , with reverence they protested against the wrong which the former Angels had done them , in detaining from them their just Prey ; and that if God and she were just , they could not rescue such a sinner out of their hands . The Queen confessed he had bin so , but yet her Son and Lord would never suffer , that one , who had ended his daies in her service , as this Fellow had done in going to visit her Church , should ever suffer their Cruelty : and withal he had confessed , tho he had not the time to do Penance . Hence the Devil took a fit time to tell her what a Villain he was , and what ugly Abomination he had never confessed ( and that is true , saies the revived Man of himself ) at which the Mother of Mercy started : but at last , after a kind of modest silence in reverence to this plain truth , having somewhat recovered her self ; It is as you say , saies she , but yet of course Mercy goes before Judgment . Go back again to thy Body , saies she to him , and then confess to such a Priest ( whom she named ) what these Spirits lay to thy charge ; and in my name charge such Friars , ( whom she named also ) to take upon them thy Penance . Then come again without delay , for I will not stir hence till thou come . The Rascal being confessed , saies the Cardinal Damian , and the Holy Friars having taken upon themselves the satisfaction enjoined him by the Confessor , died again , but as sweetly , as if he had but fallen asleep . A happy Sinner indeed , who can find such a Savioress , as will give way to all his Crimes , and secure him from punishment . Men troubled in their Consciences , and unwilling to leave their sins , do not consider the Absurdity , tho visible , in all such Stories , but see their own conveniency ; and what could please and fit then better , then such a protecting Goddess ?

Add to this Enchantment of daily Praiers to the Virgin , the Devotion of Fasting and Hearing one Mass to her Honor every Saturday ; the Temtation will be ended , and your Soul safe . This weekly piece of Devotion on Saturday , Officium Sabbatinum , is grounded , as they say , l l Durand . Rational . l. 4. c. 1. upon three Reasons . 1. Because the Saturday and the Sunday , or the Ladies day and the Lords day , as do the Lord and the Lady , go together . 2. Because as God the Father rested upon that day , and kept it holy under the Law , so must the Goddess his Daughter and Wife do the like under the Gospel . 3. Because she is an entrance to Eternal Life , as Saturday is to the Sunday . But if you will be so refractory as not to acquiesce in these Reasons , be you satisfied with a Miracle . They say , m m Gonon . Chron. an. 770. that in the Year 770. ( it is pity it did not happen sooner , that the Holy Apostles and the Fathers might have observ'd it ) a great Cortin , that hanged before our Ladies Image all the Week long , was miraculously drawn up , as they suppose , into Heaven , from Friday at Vespers , to Sunday Night ; so that the People could see her Face for the space of 24 hours , and adore her accordingly . This Miracle constantly veiling and unveiling the Virgin Mary on Saturday , as well as the other , that the Night of her Assumtion made all sorts of Lights burn without wasting , is quite abolish'd : But the Benefit , and the Charm to induce you to hear her Mass , Missa de S. Maria in Sabbato , is still the same if you believe them , and , by what Men find since , far greater . It may be now they will not be so plain with you , as the poor Widdow n n Thom. Cantiprat . de Apib. l. 2. c. 29. n. 24. was with the Robber one day , to tell you ; Sir , do what you please all the Week long , only abstain from doing so on Saturday ; this one daies Abstinence will so far expiate all , that either dead or alive , you shall have time both to confess and to escape : but they will induce you to fast then , and to hear Mass to the Honor of their Goddess , by such miraculous Passages , as must oblige you if hearkened to , to believe more . Witness the Head of that Villain , which being * * Ibidem cut off , tumbled down a Hill to the very door of a Mass Priest , and there both cried for , and obtained accordingly , Confession and Salvation together . Witness also the Rose o o Vincent . Bellaar . l. 7. c. 102. & 103. growing in sign of Salvation out of the Mouth , and appearing upon the Tomb of that other debauched Fellow , who escaped Hell merely upon the account of not having ravished a Maid , both because her name was Mary , and that it was on a Saturday . So thankful and sensible is this Goddess for mean Services ; and so either blind and indulgent to great Abominations . I forbear the producing of more instances to this purpose , because they may be both too well known , and too great snares to our Catholic Proselytes . Here the Carnal and the Spiritual Whoredom , sufficiently help one another .

CHAP. VIII . Of another special Inducement to Popery , by a more easie way of serving the Virgin by Beads , which they call the Rosary .

THE Rosary must needs come in , after the good Ladies hourly Service . For they a a Al. Gazaeus . de Offic. B. V. pag. 67. & 68. hold , that these two are the Wings in Ezek. 1. that carry up the Cherubims , that is , the Devotions of Pious Souls into Heaven : and the two golden staves , Exod. 25. wherewith the Ark of the Lord , or rather our Ladies Covenant is carried over the whole World . And if they seem to carnal Eies but contemtible , thereby the better they resemble the two celebrated Gospel Mites , which being devoutly offered to the merciful Queen of Heaven , and cast into her Tresury , Luk. 21. go far beyond all the richest Gifts . The Rosary , otherwise called the Virgins Psalter , is a new manner of praying , which , saies Navarrus , b b Mart. Navar. De Rosar . Miscell . 1. n. 1. never was , nor can ever be valued at what it is worth : for it is made up of 150 Ave Maries , and 15 Paters tacked together with little buttons upon a string . There was before in the Roman Church a lesser set of 50 Aves and 5 Paters , which they call Beads ; and a middle one of 63 , in memory of all the years which , they say , the Virgin lived here upon Earth ; which is called the Virgins Crown , Corona Mariae . These had bin * * Guilielm . Tyrius de Bello sacro . intended by an Eremite for the use of Soldiers , who had no better Books , nor could conveniently carry them to the Holy war. But this of 150 Aves , and 15 Paters , both run over devoutly , and meditated on together , is a quite other kind of thing , as well in worth , as Extent . They say that the Goddess her self inspired it to St. Dominic about the year 1200. and blazed it abroad into the world in the sight of 12000 men , with both the sound and the splendor of such wonderful Miracles , as , if true , must needs make it most Authentic . I am as unwilling as any man to trouble my self with Romances . But let us not be loth to hear , what men turning Papists are given over to believe .

When first St. Dominic began to preach this Rosary , there fell a Demoniac d d Legenda S. Dominici ex Jordan . Constantin . Vmberto , &c. at his feet , and craved his aid against the Devils , who did then make him roar and blaspheme . Wherefore the Saint being well pleased with this occasion of confirming by some strange Feats , what he had Preached , leaves his Sermon ; and in the Name , saies he , both of the Virgin Mary , and of her Service , which I stand for , O Hellish Spirits I command you , to answer me to these Questions . 1. You must tell me , wherefore you torment this poor Man , and how many you are in him . Wo unto us , say the Spirits , it is not in our power to resist this Adjuration : We have taken hold of him , both because of his Irreverence to the Virgin Mother of God , ( tho we hate her as much as he doth ) & because of his unbelief : for ever since this Month and more , that thou art Preaching the Rosary , this Heretic hath continued as incredulous as before . Now we are fifteen thousand Devils in him , because he did blaspheme against the Rosary , whereof the Ave contains five words , and the whole Psalter fifteen Paters , that this Rascal offered to laugh at . 2. Saies St. Dominic , by this Rosary you must tell me , Whether all that I have Preached concerning it , be true or not . Then all the Devils began to fall to fearful Cursings and Howlings , why did we not choak this base Fellow when we took him ? Now it is too late , for this Holy Man holds us in fiery Chains , ignitis Catenis , and forces us to speak the truth . So hear ye all Men and Women , Whatever this our bitter enemy hath spoken , either of Mary , or of her Rosary , is very true ; and unless ye believe it , you shall perish . 3. Thirdly , saies S. Dominic , you must tell me , Who is the Man whom you hate most . Thee , say the Devils , for with thy Sermons and Praiers , thou shewest every one the way of getting to Paradise , and escaping out of our Hands . Then the Saint being modest at this , and confessing himself a great sinner : Cursed be , say they , this civility , which puts us all to this torture . 4. Fourthly , S. Dominic throwing his Mantle about this Demoniacs Neck , which made him spue ugly matter ; I must , saies he , know of you , who is the greatest Saint in Heaven , whom you fear most , and whom Men ought to love and serve best . At this Query , the Devils roared so horribly , that all the People fell to the ground : O Dominic , Dominic , said they , have some compassion ; be content with what Hell makes us suffer , and do not put us to new Torments . At the least , we beseech thee , do not force us to answer to this publicly . ( it seems they would have condescended to an Auricular Confession . ) Nay , saies Dominic , but you shall give a clear and public answer . But they being a little stubborn , St. Dominic falls on his knees , and thus praies to the Virgin Mary : O most excellent Virgin , by the Power of this thy Psalter , I beseech thee make these Enemies of Mankind to satisfy my Question . At this Praier , presently Flames of Fire burst out at the Mouth of the poor Wretch : and all the Devils cried out , by the Passion of Christ , the Merits of the Virgin Mary , and the Suffrages of the Holy Church , we beseech thee , O Dominic , do not keep us here any longer . The Holy Angels can revele to thee at any time what thou wilt know ; and as for us , we are such Liars , as no Christian can believe us . But the Saint fell to another Praier , O worthiest Mother of Wisdom , for the Salvation of this good People , who have learned in this Rosary to salute thee , force thou these Enemies to declare to us the plain truth . He had scarce made an end of Praying , when behold , she comes with a Troop of above an hundred Angels armed with golden weapons ; and in the midst of them the Virgin with a golden Rod fell foul on the Devils Backs . Then fell all the Devils to new howlings ; O Damning foe , who emtiest Hell , and makest the best way to Heaven ; thou dost force us against our will to speak out truth , and our own Confusion . Hear ye therefore , O Christians ; This Mother of Christ is too potent to preserve her devout Servants from ever falling into our hands . It is she , who breaks all our Plots : and we confess , that whosoever keeps to her Adoration and Service , can never be damned with us ; we never can prevail against any one of her People . She saves many against our Rights , at the very moment of Death ; and were it not that she frustrates all our Designs , we might have long ago made all her Church fall from the Faith . To say all in a word ; no man who makes use of her Rosary , can be damned . S. Dominic having by this time what he lookt for , bids the People to say the Rosary ; then O Miracle never to be forgotten ! at every Ave Maria , a Troop of Devils under the figure of burning Coals , breaks out of that Heretics Body : and being all out , The Virgin gives them her Blessing , and goes her way . The Conclusion and design of all this is , all sorts of People from that time applied themselves in good earnest to the use of the Rosary , and to the worship of Mary . Christ and all his Apostles never thought of making thus the Devils to preach his Gospel ; no more did Moses , or Elias employ them so , to confirm the Law . It seems the Rosary , as to its end , hath neither Christ , nor Elias , nor Moses , nor any true Saint to favor it ; and therefore t is no wonder , if it was helped by other waies .

Nevertheless all the World was not so generally blind and sottish , as not to see , that the Devil could tell a ly , and juggle then with S. Dominic ; and so this new sort of service having no better ground to stand upon , then the warranty of the Devil , made so little Progress in the world , that the same sprite under the Name of the Virgin Mary 400 years after was fain to appear e e Gonon . Chronic. an. 1476. to another Saint , and with extraordinary Favors , ( as Rings made of her own hair ; and milk which she Drew out of her own Brest ) to enchant him to the same Service .

At the first it was called our Ladies f f Bulla Sext. 4. Psalter : because the Lady hath there 150 Salutations , as in the Bible the Lord hath 150 Psalmes . Now it is called the Rosary , either because of the Sweet Comforts , that , g g Martin . Navar. De Rosar . Miscell . 1. as they say , it perfumes Devout Hearts with : or more probably , because of a sweet odour , sweeter then that of any Roses , which devout worshippers pretend to smell , at such Praiers . Herman , this Ladies great Mignion , did smell it so perfectly , that at each naming of Mary , h h Chronic. Deip. an. 1235. he stooped his nose to the very ground , that so he might have it the fresher : and they tell us of an old man of the same Confraternity , that at any time or place soever , when and where he said his Rosary , i i Ibid. an. 1594. he was revived with this Aromatical Fragrancy . Nay the very hand of Saint Caecilia , k k Ibid. an. 1507. even after she was quite dead , did smell , they say , better then any Rose , by often touching her Rosary .

This smell is invented to perswade men of the Excellency of the matter ; which Excellency is quite other , as they take it , then could be had , either from the breath of an Arch-angel , or the mouth of a Prophet . For the Roman Church hath improved it to such a form , to such an end , and to such a signification , that , now it hath a hundred Mysteries in the mouth of a Catholic , which it never had in that of the Angel , tho you should grant as they will have it , that he l l Gonon . Chronicon . pag. 10. sung it upon his knees . For as they take it Ave , that is , sine vae , that is without any thing that hath any smell of Curse , is such m m Martin . Navar. de Oratione Dom. c. 19. n. 131. a Salutation , as proclams the Virgin Mary to have bin free from all kind of sin whatsoever , from the Original in her passive Conception ; from all Actual , whether mortal or venial in her life time ; and from any decay or corruption in her Body either at , or after her death . Maria , in their Roman Construction , raises the heart of a Worshipper to adore her both Soverain and Universal Monarchy over all men and Angels , sometimes n n Missal . Paris . in Sab. Missae de S. Maria. over God himself too . They take and construe o o Navar. De Orat. Domin . c. 19. Maria also , for that special Star , that guides poor Travellers upon the Sea . Stella Maris , the surest defense against all storms : the best Leader into Heaven , both by her Example and Merits : the Light of them that sit in darkness : and the great Star , that Balaam saw . Gratiaplena , makes her in the same Grammar , * * Navar. ibid. a whole Sea and Ocean , whence the Sinners have their Pardon , the just men all Increase of Grace , the Angels joy , and the whole Trinity Glory ; here they find in particular the seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost , the nine Miraculous Powers , and the twelve p p Antonin . 4 part . Tit. 15. c. 20. special Privileges of being the Mother of us all , the Gate of Heaven , &c.

Therefore this Ave Maria , when specially thus understood , makes the sweetest Melody , by * * Chronic. Deip. an. 1303. her own confession , that ever you can sing in her Ears . Christ himself , as they think , or at the least say , sings q q Vita S. Margaritae . Chronic. S. Franc. c. 3. it sometimes upon the Altar : and the Virgin hath it written in letters of Gold , upon r r Gonon . Chron. an. 294. her brest . Many People , who knew nothing but the three or four first words of this Angelical Salutation , s s Chronic. Deip. an. 1149. Ren. Benedict . de Vit. SS. 1. Nov. Th. Cantiprat . l. 2. c. 29. sect. 9. have bin , as they say , as well saved therewith , as if they had known the whole Gospel . And all the t t Molan . Indic . SS. Belg. Roses , and white Lilies , nay † † Chronic. Deip. an. 1149. Trees sometimes with these letters upon their leaves , which the Virgin Mary , or rather some other Spirit makes often grow upon their Graves , and out of their very Mouths , Noses , and Ears , who did make it their business and their whole Religion to sing it , are among Roman Catholics , a most sufficient Evidence both of the Excellency of those words , and of the esteem she makes of them . Besides all this Depth and pregnancy , which these words bear in their signification ; they think them to carry often also such a miraculous n n Ren. Bened. ibid. strength in the sound , they are spoken with , and in the very Ink and Paper , they are written in , that no Charm can be stronger . What do you think of that x x Ibid. an. 1598. Infant , which , being yet not above six months old , did sing it out in a full Church , when there was neither Clerk , nor other Choristers to do it ? Was it not a clear inspiration , that moved your Angelical S. Thomas , being yet an Infant , as the other was , to take up y y Vita S. Thom. ap. Sur. 7. Mart. a loose Paper , where this Salutation was written ; and to hold it in spight of his Mother , till he had swallowed it down ? But what do you say to the little Bird , that z z Bust. in Marial . 12. Serm. 1. having bin taught by a Nun , to prate Ave Maria , and being snatcht away by a Hawk ; assoon as the Bird cried the two words ( with what understanding or devotion you may think ) presently the Hawk fell down dead ; and the poor Bird fled back again to her Mistress .

Now , if these few words , an inconsiderable part of the Rosary , can do such Feats ; what may not one hope of the whole ? when S. Dominic had put it all in a Packthred , and cast it about a a Magn. Specul . Tit. Rosarium Exemp . 1. ones Neck , he could overmaster any Devil . One of his Captains named Antony ( for S. Dominic was a Warrior ) could b b Alanus de Insulis in Rosa B. M. cause the Clouds to rain hot burning Bullets upon his Heretical Foes , by hanging it to his Banner . And it is confidently reported , that Brave Montford c c Chronic. Deip. an. 1213. once routed an hundred thousand of them , with this Weapon .

Now you must know , ( otherwise you do not deserve the Name of a true Roman Catholic ) that the Rosary with the hundred and fifty Angelical Salutations , well rehearsed and minded together , besides the sense of every word , ( which reaches high ) contains in its whole Contexture the fifteen great Mysteries , which are d d Missal . Rom. in Missa Rosar . celebrated by special Masses . What these Mysteries are , is a Mystery to Protestants , as it was to the holy Fathers ; but of late times the Roman Catholics have got them all by special Revelations from the Virgin .

Of these 15 Mysteries , the first 5 e e Navar. de Rosar . Miscell. 20. n. 1. are called Gaudiosa ; the 5 next Dolorosa ; & the last 5 Gloriosa Gaudiosa ; that is , the first five joiful Mysteries , are the five great Joies , that , the Virgin had upon earth , as they say she hath reveled to some of her friends ; the first was , when the Archangel Gabriel got into the Sanctuary , the doors being shut , to salute her with an Ave. 2. The second , when Elizabeth saluted her by the title of Mother of the Lord . 3. The third , when she was delivered of her Travel . 4. The fourth , when she presented both her and Gods child in the Temple . 5. And the fift , when she found him twelve years after , disputing among the Doctors . What the remembring of these Joies is worth , you may learn by the Experience of that holy Monk , who whilst he was muttering them by an Altar , heard an Oracle from Heaven , f f Card. Damian . an. 1360. in these words , Gaud●um , &c. thou hast celebrated my Joies on Earth : Thou shalt have great Joies hereafter .

The second 5 Dolorosa , or full of Grief , are about the Passion , as at the last farwell , when Christ went to Jerusalem : At the sight of the Crown of Thorns : At the hearing of the Hammer beating the Nails upon the Cross , &c. They say that a very lew'd Raskal , and a Magician besides , was saved from Hell upon this one account , that tho he cared neither for God , nor for his Mother , g g Chronic Deip. an. 1360. yet he had the grace to think of these Griess , whensoever he passed by her Image .

The last five Mysteries , which are called Gloriosa , or glorious Joies are 1. When she saw her Son arising out of his Grave . 2. Going to Heaven . 3. When she at the Pentecost received the Holy Ghost . 4. When she saw her self above waited upon and courted by Christ , &c. Now if any third part of these fifteen Mysteries , can , as you have Examples for it , sometimes rescue a Soul out of Hell ; sometimes bring down the Virgin Mary from heaven ; and sometimes make Altars speak out ; how strong are the fifteen together ?

Nor is this all . The Rosary one way or other involves within its proper Extent , besides the 15 Mysteries , 165 Contemplations ; ʰ about what both Christ , and his Mother did together : and every one of these Contemplations must be applied to every Pater or Ave. So no man living can say how far the holy Rosary can reach . It is but a small trial of it , to see it sheltering i i Chronic. S. Franc. l. 1. c. 36. Monks against a storm , as well as the Roof of a strong house could : or to see Angels gathering k k Autor Method . Admirab . fol. 210. Lilies at every Pater , and a Rose at every Ave that is said ; and making Garlands and Posies for them , l l Chronic. Ord. Minor . par. 3. who are careful to pray that way . It is somewhat more to see horrible Blasphemers carried m m Lipez . de Rosar . l. 1. c. 10. away by stupid Asses from the Gallows into Holy Churches , for once undertaking the Rosary : or to see the Virgin her self breaking on this account n n Chronic. Deip. an. 1495. all the Halters that should strangle condemned persons ; or keeping them o o Pat. Archang . Gian . de Rosar . so slack and loose that they could never stop their breath . But what can a Villain wish for better , or a holy man find more horrible , then is what they say of dead Whores , p p Alan . 5. part . c. 62. arising out of their Graves by the power of their Rosary , an hundred and fifty daies ( answerable to the 150 Aves ) after their heads had bin cut off ? The Woman lived but two daies after ; for she came merely to confess her sins , and to have Absolution , then being dead : after 15 daies more ( answerable to the 15 Mysteries , and to the 15 Paters ) being in the form q q Ibid. of a bright Star , ( you see what wanton Ladies may come to ) she appeared to St. Dominic , to tell him what he knew before , ( but such Things cannot be too well known ) that there was nothing in the world comparable to the Rosary , both to save all sorts of sinners , and to please the Holy Virgin . I say St. Dominic knew it before ; for when he praied against the Albigenses , r r Bovius Tom. 13. an. 1213. the Queen of Mercy appeared to him , and bad him to set up the Rosary , and to teach all men that form of Praier as most acceptable Service both to her self and to her Son . And besides this Instrument , saies she , shall be a singular weapon to destroy Heresies and Vices : to advance all sorts of Vertue : and to obtain both the Divine Mercy , and my help .

All this was farther represented by two notable Visions , which a Bishop saw in a Dream . In one he saw S. Dominic , s s Gonon . Chronic. an. 1315. making a Bridg with 150 Towers upon it , to bring sinners into a Garden , where the Queen of mercy was giving Crowns to others , but to himself a sharp Censure , for his being not sound in the Faith , concerning that Article of Catholic Religion . But in the other , this prelat being grown very little better , by what he had seen in the former ; he found himself and many more in a most stinking t t Ibid. Lake , and Puddle , where certainly they had bin choakt , but that both the Goddess , and the Apostle of the Rosary let down from above a long Chain made of 150 small Rings , and some few others bigger among them , by means whereof all were drawn out . Thus far you see , what the Holy Rosary can do ; now you must learn how to use it .

1. It is needful to begin it deliberately , u u Mart. Navar. de Horis Canon . c. 13. n. 15. that is , saies the best and surest Author you can find in that Church , not to do it like men in a dream , who may walk , and kneel and say their praiers , altho they sleep : but to begin it with a set purpose of doing what the Church enjoines . For tho there are several Examples of men that were saved out of Hell for either wearing x x Alan . Rediv. part. 5. c. 43. a Rosary , or for giving it to y y Id. part. 1. c. 21. a friend , without using it otherwise ; these are extraordinary Blessings rather granted to some , to recommend the Excellency of Rosaries , then to encourage holy men to that abuse .

2. Tho of course , as it appears by the ordinary Gloss z z Clement . in Concil. Vien . de Celebrat . Misserum . Tit. 13. upon the Council of Vienna , Rosaries might be used as well as other forms of Praiers are , without actual attention , which manner of Praying without the mind , is called by them the fruit † † Ibid. of the Lips : and thus the Lips may do the work in reading the hourly Praiers , whilst the heart runs another way ; yet besides the first Deliberation and set purpose in the Beginning , my more sober and severe director requires a kind of General attention in the Progress of this Service ; that is to say , you are not bound to attend what words you say , nor to care much what sense they bear ; since neither of these two , can be well done , without some help of the Latin tongue , which you have not . But whilest you dispatch your Aves , and tumble over and over your Beades , you must have what they call the Third , or the * * Paul . Layman Theol. Moral . l. 4. Tract. 1. c. 5. n. 9. Spiritual Attention , that is a a Navàrrus . De Hor. Can. c. 13. n. 4. to remember for example , that you are at Mass : there to fancy the Real Presence , and to pray heartily that what the Mass Priest doth or saies for you ( tho you do not know what it is ) may be granted . My good God , or my sweet Lady ( saies the Catholic worshipper , as b b Navar. Ibidem . this severe Divine advises him ) I do not understand what I hear : and I as little understand what I say ; yet I believe , that I both hear and say thy Praises : and that I pray for my self , and all other Christians , after the intention of the Holy Church . Grant me O Dear Lord , or Lady , what I desire , not knowing what . This being done , and the men , being thus well disposed ; let Mass , hourly Praiers , and Rosaries be what they will , Greek , or Latin , Pater noster , or la , sol , fa ; all is one to Roman Worshippers . And as to the 15 Mysteries , and 165 Contemplations , all this must not trouble his head , as it might most really do , and it may be , ᶜ turn his Brain too , if he were oblig'd to care for it : for it seems these Contemplations and Mysteries are involved in the Rosary , as a great Tresure under Walls , to make it vastly rich and powerful , altho the owner perceive it not . Thus their consecrating Words , Hoc est enim corpus meum , can work Miracles from the mouth of an Ignorant ; and so do mostly Spells , and Characters in the mouth of a Conjurer . Origen observes somewhere , that the words of Abraham , Isaac , and Sabaoth , that Magicians did enchant with , did work far better in that Tongue which was unknown to them , then in their own . You may hear of strange Fears also don by words taken out of the Latin Psalms , which the Witches do not understand . And so must at this rate Ave Maria , Pater noster , good and holy words otherwise , if they do such Miracles as they say , contract likewise a strange Virtue from some Extrinsecal Principle , which is neither understood nor thought of . Mean while , what Church is this , and where can the Papists find such another , that dispatches the Divine Service , as Conjurers do their mischief , in a strange Tongue ?

3. To say the Rosary after the best way without distracting your self about Contemplations and Mysteries ; take me the Virgin d d Navar. de Rosar . Miscell. 26. n. 2. by her self , that so the whole strength of your Soul may the better mind her alone : And fancy her the best you can in some of those Conditions , which her Images can help you to ; either as hearing with reverence the Message of the Angel Gabriel , Ave Maria , &c. or looking stedfastly on her Baby , whom she hath commonly on her left Arm ; or else sitting like a great Queen close to God upon a high Throne , and there hearkening to what we say . To use your fancy to this way , you must salute her thrice a day , at Morning , Noon , and Sun-setting , when you hear the Bell Salve Regina ; and at each time e e Ibid. adore one of those three Members or parts of her , which were the seats of the greatest Wonders . 1. Her Belly , in these or such Words : O most glorious Queen of Mercy , I do salute the venerable Temple of thy Womb , Ave Maria. 2. Her Heart : O most glorious Queen of Mercy , I salute thy Virgin Heart , which never had any tincture of sin , Ave Maria. 3. Her Soul : O most glorious Mother of Mercy , I salute your most noble Soul , deckt as it is with all the pretious Ornaments of Gifts , of Vertues , and of Graces , Ave Maria .

4. Thus having got your self into some f f Ibid. familiarity with the Virgin , and thereby learned to look her full in the face ; now fall to the first g g Ibid. Miscell. 24. n. 3. Decad , or the first ten Ave Maria's of your Rosary , Ave Maria Gratia plena , Dominus &c. And at the end of each Decad , fastening alwaies your Eies on her in one of the three postures aforesaid , adore her with this Doxology ( instead of Glory be to the Father ) Virgin Mother , Glorious Mary , let all the Angels and Arch-angels , all Principalities , Dominations and Powers , the Thrones , the Cherubims and Seraphins , now glorifie you a thousand times . And we hope to see you and adore you once in Heaven , as well as they . Amen . Then take your breath , and at the end of the second Decad , or ten other Ave Maria's , tell her this : O glorious Virgin Mother , let Adam and Eve , Elias and Enoch , the Patriarchs and the Prophets , St. John Baptist , the Innocents , and all the Saints of the Old Testament , with whom we hope one of these daies to see and adore you , now bless you twenty thousand times . Amen . At the end of the third Decad , that is as far as to 30. Aves : O glorious Queen , &c. Let Peter , and Paul , and John , and all the Apostles and Evangelists ; let Stephen , and all the Lords Disciples ; Sebastian , and all the Martyrs with whom , &c. now praise and bless you thirty thousand times . At the end of the fourth Decad , that reaches to 40 Aves : Let all the Confessors , Sylvester , Gregory , Jerome , Isidor , Martin and Nicolas , Benedict and Bernard , Dominic and Francis , all the Bishops , Monks and Eremits , &c. bless you now forty thousand times . Ave Maria. And at the end of the fifth Decad , O most glorious Virgin Mother , let your Mother Anna , and your two sisters , Maries ; let Magdalen , and your dearest Martha , and Marcella ; let your dear waiting Maids , Agnes , Catharina , and Agatha ; let all holy Maids , Wives and Widows , with whom we hope , &c. now bless you fifty thousand times . Amen . By this time you have done the third part of your Rosary , and now you may take breath a while .

5. When you shall come to it again , ( for the first part is enough to some for a day , and to others for a whole Week ) that you may both recreate and improve Devotion with some variety : A wise and holy Man advises you h h Navar. De Orat. c. 10. n. 36. to say but 5 Aves , and to put a Pater to each , and apply all to the five Wounds which Christ suffered in his Body ( for it is ordinary with these Men to say Our Father to the Virgin , and Ave Maria to God ) with this Preface : Go too , let us sing five Pater nosters , and five Aves , to the honor of the five Wounds ; and first , in memory of the right Hand , Ave Maria gratia , &c. next , in memory of the right Foot wounded , Ave Maria , &c. then of the left Hand and Foot in the same way : finally of his side , concluding all the five Paters at every wounded Member , with an Ave Maria by all means , that being as pertinent to his Body , as a Pater can be to her Image .

6. When you have done with applying your Ave Maria's to Christ , apply them now , which is more proper , to her self . And by all means stick close to the direction of St. Herman ( not Herman the second Joseph and Husband of the Virgin Mary , but the Dominican , and therefore the best acquainted with Rosaries . ) His advice is , that having the Virgins Image before you , you k k Chronic. Deip. an. 1243. take her whole Body piece by piece , and apply to each an Ave , beginning first with her Bowels ; then proceed to her Heart ; then her Paps ; after her Arms ; then her Hands ; then her Mouth : in a Word , every Member that you can civilly name and look upon in a Woman , that so all your Aves may get more Merit and Holiness , by being applied to every part of her Body ; as the Beads or little Buttons of your Rosary do , you know , by being touched at her Image . For this piece of Devotion , she once on a Saturday gave a gracious visit to this l l Ibidem . Harman , and enriched him then with Eloquence , the gift of Tongues , and all other Graces imaginable .

7. Another thing you may do more , which Jordan m m Gonon . Chronic. an. 1222. the Dominican , and a great Saint , gave in Counsil to Bertholdus . When you are pouring your Praiers before the Mother of Mercies , take notice of how many Letters the name Maria is made of : it consists of five ; the first is M. therefore seek for some holy Song or Psalm , of which the first Letter is an M. such is for example Magnificat , &c. The second Letter is an A. then say , Ad te levavi , &c. The third is R. therefore have at Retribue , &c. and so to the very last . After which , you must dispatch your Aves , provided ( which you may omit by no means ) that before any one of the five Psalms , you sing or say , Ave Maris stella : I salute you , O star of the Sea , &c. And at the end of every such Song , you make a Leg , or a Courtesie , and then end with Ave Maria. This parcel of special Worship once pleased so well this Spirit ( for God forbid I should think it to be the blessed Virgin ) that leaving all work in Heaven , she came down with a Pot full of Holy Water , to sprinkle it on these Worshippers with her own n n Gonon . ibid. hand , and to bid one of them tell all the others as from her , that she was the Mother of God ; that she loved dearly their Order for thus beginning and ending the Service of God with her Praises ; and that for her doing so , she obtained of her Son , that no Dominican Friar shall ever defile that holy Order , by lying long in mortal Sins . A very great Privilege indeed , and given to Monks from a good hand . You might also do what St. Joane the Carmelite used to do * * Benedict . Mattus . in vita Johannae Carmel . , but not to that prodigious number ; for she did dispatch ( I hope it was not at one time ) fifteen thousand Aves ; ( fifteen score is enough for you ) and at the end of each hundred , she said a Salve Regina , and seven times Ave Stella , or , O gloriosa Domina , all prime Songs to adore her with ; and she called this , Our Ladies Shift ; this being her Ladiships goodness to account it , as so many Crowns , or Ornaments , and rich Garments bestowed on her , when she is adored in this manner . It is by the strength of such Hymns , and well ordered Repetitions and Rosaries , that S. Dominic o o Flaminius in vita S. Dominic . and S. Francis were predestinated , as they say , both to restore Piety , and to keep the World from perishing ; that in all probability , so many black Friars were admitted under the p p Antonin . 3. part . Hist. tit. 23. c. 3. Robe of their Goddess ; that with continual repeting the Rosary Salutation , Eustachius q q Menol. Cister . 27 Mar. the Cistercian had it miraculously written in plain Characters on his Tongue ; that with continual using and kissing holy Beads , r r Chronic. Deip. an. 1212. Alanus the Captain had a brightness like that of Crystal about his Mouth , and in his Hands ; and that many Monks of all Orders , had Roses and Lilies , with Ave Maria's in Golden Letters growing on them , or their Graves . S. s s Mayer . Annal. Fland. l. 5. ad an. 1138. Jossion , and S. t t Cantiprat . de Ap. l. 2. c. 29. sect. 15. Josbert , are upon this last account great examples of her kindness .

But and if your thoughts will not flie higher then to the common Glory of Heaven , the ordinary use of the Rosary needs not put you to half this trouble . It is certain , that St. Dominic , the first Patriarch of this Device , and St. Alanus de Rupe the worthy Restorer of it , both inspired by the same Spirit , intended it u u Navar de Rosar . Miscell. 22. n. 1. for the common People , Men , Women and Children together , whom they knew unable to reach so far . And therefore these indulgent Fathers are likely to dispense with them , who will use it at easier rates . Read it but once in a whole Week , and at several times and parcels , that will abundantly serve your turn . Read it with no more attention , then such as you are capable of when you x x Ibid. Miscell. 32. go to the Market , or walk in a Procession , or ride abroad , or prune your Vine * * Paul . Layman . de Hor. Canon . c. 5. n. 11 , & 12. , or put on or off your clothes , &c. provided that you neither read nor write . If furthermore by chance you have lost your Beads , either you may take y y Navar. de Psalter . Miscell 28. n. 1. your Fingers , that will presently make a Decad ; or observe by how many steps you go up to such a Chappel , and run your Paters and Aves after that number ; such cursory Devotions will be enough for to save you . St. Alanus z z Alan . Rediv. par. 5. c. 51. c. 59 , &c. c. 62. alone , the great Mignion of this Virgin , can give you a whole set of Blasphemers , and Rogues , and Whores , who did not the half of all this , yet were all saved one way or other . Now who is the habitual Sinner , who being conscious of his waies , and of his unwillingness to amend them , would not part with any thing rather then with such an Indulgent Mother , Rosary and Religion ? But here is yet more , if more can be .

CHAP. IX . Of the vast Tresure of the Roman Church , and her Power to dispose of it .

BEsides the Virgin Mary , whom the Papists do look upon as their sure Tresure in Heaven , and the most immediate Store-house whence they get one way or other all both extraordinary and easie means in order to Salvation ; they also enrich themselves and others with another as great Tresure , which their Church dispenses on Earth . In Heaven , as they take it , Mary is the great Ocean , into which all the Heavenly Blessings and Vertues , like so many Rivers do flow : Omnia Flumina , &c. saies a a S. Bonavent . in Specul . one of their most Learned Saints , that is , All Rivers and Floods run into the Sea , when all Gifts and Graces meet in Mary , to wit , the Streams of Graces that the Angels are watered with ; the Rivers of all the other Blessings , which all the Saints of God ever had , &c. And as another of their Saints expresses it , God hath placed in the Virgin b b S. Bernard . Serm. de Aquaeduct . Mary , the fulness of all that is good , so that if we have any hope , any Blessing and Salvation , we may be sure it comes from her . If this fulness be not enough with what she hath on her account , she can fill it up , and make it run over with what all the Saints may add to it . For the Saints , they say , are to c c Georg. Venetus , ap. Salaz . Prov. c. 8. v. 34. n. 435. the Virgin , what the Stars are to the Moon ; and those load her with all the Fruits of their Intercessions , as these do this with their Influences , before either of them come down to us .

In Earth , they have the use and disposal of another stock , as rich and as necessary to Sinners , which they call the Churches Tresury . And if you compare it as the other , to a Sea , four great Rivers continually do fill it up , or keep it full . The first is , d d Mart. Bonacin . De Indulg . q. 1. punct. 1. n. 6. the satisfactions of all the Saints from Adam and Abel , to Christ . For as the Roman Doctors teach us , they suffered more then need was ; and no use was made of their sufferings , because during the 4000 years to Christs Ascension , Heaven , they think , was not open ; nor had Christ impowered any Man to take ought of this Tresure , in order to any Pardons . The second is , the Passion of Jesus Christ , whose Blood they say , e e Clem. 6. Extravag . Vnigenitus . had it bin but one drop , was enough to save all Mankind : therefore all the surplusage , either before or at his Passion , is reserved ( unless lost ) in this vast Tresury . The third , all the meritorious Sufferings and Passions of the Virgin Mary , which , as they think f f Bellarm. de Indulg . l. 1. c. 2. sect. Quarta Propositio . , she needed not for her self ; and so the Church applies to others . This one River may make a Sea . The fourth is , the Sufferings , the Martydoms , and the Penances of all the Saints , since the Gospel , Peter , Paul , S. Dominic , and S. Francis , and all holy Monks and Eremits , who , tho perhaps not quite sinless , yet had no need to do so much ( as for themselves ) to satisfie Divine Justice .

Here then you have to make use of , first , all the Blood which the Martyrs from Abel to Barachias , under the Old , and from him to the last Sufferer under the New Testament could shed , in above five thousand years . Secondly , We have of Christs Blood , all he ever shed upon the Cross , saving one drop ; all that whole Flood , I say , that from his Head down to his Feet gushed from his Wounds , and the opening of all his Veins , even since his Circumcision : and by this guess , how many thousand ▪ of Roman Churches may be redeemed with this Tresure , if well applied . Thirdly , You have in the same store , the hard Penances , the cruel Persecutions , and the voluntary Whippings , whether bloody or unbloody of all other Saints , Monks and Eremits : whatever either S. Anthony , or S. Hilarion , or S. Paulus , so much celebrated by S. Jerome : whatever S. Zebinas , S. Julian , S. Simeon , S. Maris , or S. Masymas , and others , celebrated by S. Theodoret , Palladius , &c. could gain by their hard usages and Iron Chains : whatever the great St. Francis could deserve of God Almighty , by leaving g g Lippom. in vita Francisc . all he had in the World , even to his very drawers and breeches , by rambling naked like a Mad-man , or by quenching his Lust upon Maids and Women of Snow ; all this I say , and a great deal more , is to be disposed of at Rome for the use of good Catholics : and yet all this is but one half of this Tresure . For besides all these sufferings , all the meritorious Works of pious men from the very first to the last Saint are gathered in ; and the Roman Church hath found the way of parting a good work in two , namely , h h Navar. de Jubil . Bellarm. de Indulg . l. 1. c. 2. sect. Postreme potest . Bonacina de Indulg . q. 1. punct. 1. n 3. the meritorious deserving side , which makes Supererogations , and gains extraordinary Rewards : and another laborious and painful side ( for the Saints could not Preach or Pray , on do any manner of good , without taking some trouble about it ) which is put up and kept very safe for expiating other mens sins . Hereupon Rome may safely swear , that no other Church in the whole World enjoies the like ( if real and true ) privilege with her ; and that she is the only that pretends to be able to ease poor sinners from the necessity of repenting , or at the least i i Bell. de Paenitent , l. 4. c. 14. sect. Respondeo Indulgentia . from doing works meet for Repentance .

This great Tresure and Privilege , hath bin lost and buried out of the notice of Christs Church , above thirteen hundred Years . No Christian ever thought of it , till Pope Clement found it out . For tho there were Indulgences before , yet they were a quite other thing , as in the time of the Latin Fathers ; or they were not taken out of this Tresure , but either out of the pretended strength of their Blessings , or out * * Cajetan . & Medina . ap. Suarem de Thesaur . sect. 3. Parag. his ergo rejectis . of the Keys , which then Popes turned backward and forward , to shut in or let out whom they pleased . Such were the Indulgences wherewith Innocent the third for example did encourage the Christians against the Turks ; and Gregory the seventh , his k k Baron . To. n. An. 1084. n. 15. Soldiers against the Emperors of Germany , which were but Letters of Favor , and Testimonials and Passes as it were to God Almighty , which ( however much sought after , and sometimes dearly paid for , even in those daies ) cost nothing but the Popes blessing or credit ; whereas in these later times , Indulgences are Bills of Exchange for hundreds and thousands of Years , really , as it is supposed , paied out of this Tresury ; that is , either out of that vast abundance of Blood , which Papists say , Christ might have spar'd ; or out of the Blood and Penances of other Saints , which are reserved in this Tresury , and thence by vertue of these Indulgences allowed to the sinner , as much to all ends and purposes , as if the sinner were the Saint that had done and suffered for himself . Here are two very great Wonders for Men and Angels to look upon : The first , How all this Blood and Sufferings are from the remotest parts of the World , and through the distance of all Ages fetch'd and gathered into this Tresury . The second , How , when thus got home , the Pope can disperse them so well abroad .

1. To get all in , the Blood of Christ and his Martyrs cannot be conveied into the Roman Tresury , as Rivers are down their Chanels into the Sea ; or as lesser Waters are by Pipes and Spouts conveied into a Cistern : No more also can they be kept in Bottles , as they say our Ladies Milk is ; nor in Ward-robes , or other Rooms , as they say also her shoes and shifts are ; and by that means it were possible to fetch up all from Nazareth , or from Rome , or from Venice , or from any other Country . But as if you should see these said Bottles , Shifts , Shoes , and other Relics , leave all of them upon their own accord their respective usual Abodes , and flock together into one place , you would take it for a strange Miracle , as strange at the least , as when the Chamber where they say the Virgin was born , jumped with the Doors , Chimney , Windows and all , from Nazareth to Lauretta ; the Satisfactions and Scourgings , and other Penances of the Saints , to meet under the hand of his Holiness , must not do less . Whether we be bound to imagine such an Attractive Vertu at Rome , which is the Center of their Church , to draw satisfactions to her Tresury , as there is imagin'd in the Center of the World , to draw heavy Bodies to its bottom ; or whether all this be done by some other strange Conveiances : however , all the satisfactory Works and Penances , let them be what they can , do tend , and unless hindered and stopt in some passage , take their course towards this Store-house . Insomuch , that l l Greg. de Valent. de Indulg . Punct. 3. sect. Secundo , quia . Bonacin . de Ind. Quaest. 1. punct. 3. Proposit . 3. Layman . de Ind. c. 4. n● 5. sect. Dico secundo . Suarez . To. 4. Disput. 51. sect. 4. Parag. Nonnulla . unless a Man , by a special intention , applies to his own benefit the satisfactoriness of his Work , before it parts out of his hand , it runs forthwith to the Tresury ; and thence in vain would he have it again , tho never so much for his own need , unless the Pope will give it him .

2. The second Wonder is about the getting out what is thus got in , and the scattering it far and near upon all manner of Persons , Families , Buildings , and other things whatsoever his Holiness can think upon . Let the Pope of Rome but turn the Cock , this Fountain will cast forth its Waters what way , how much , and how far he will ; and as he may chuse what he pleases , nothing hinders him to pick out for example the works of Abel , that have bin kept close five or six thousand years , and apply them to Gardiner : or all the Merits of austere John Baptist , and bestow them upon the course of some wanton Catholic Lady . 'T is indeed an admirable Magazine , or Store-house , that can keep things so long for so good ends . And , which is another great Wonder , what thing soever they be clapt to , there they shall be as long , or longer , then the very matter which they stick to . Let his Holiness for example , apply one of these Blessings by way of local Indulgence to an Altar or a Church , it will outlast the very Stones ( unless recalled ; ) and tho Thunder or time beats them down m m Paul . Layman . de Indulg . c. 13. n. 3. Suarez . To. 7. de Ind. Sect. 1. n. 8. & 9. , it will stick to the very ground , and there be as good for a new Church , if the Parishoners will build it up , as ever it was for the old one . Nay , the lightest and moveablest things , as Beads , Medals , Pieces of Wax , Holy Grains , &c. what way soever you toss them , cannot shake it off . Navarrus , a great holy Man among all the Fathers of Trent n n Navar. de Jubil . Notab 15. n. 15. , saies , That he hath seen the Pope bestowing out of this Tresure , as much upon alittle Button of Wood , Globulo ligneo , as could save any one Soul , if in saying the Lords Praier he will but hold it in his hand ; now this Blessing will stick to it , though you throw it into the Sea : and if you did throw it into the Fire , this admirable saving Vertu would probably stick to the Ashes : I am sure it will lay hold upon the very ringing of Bells ; and whensoever o o Richard Cluniacens . in Papa Joh. 22. you hear them , in the Morning especially , at Noon , and at Sun-setting , and have the grace to put off your Hat to say an Ave Maria , you may thereby expiate some sins . Happy sinners , whose Churches , Altars , and the very Bells can do so much , and the Tresure shall pay for all . But this is a fitter matter to be abhorred , then jested at .

As this Tresure is best contrived , both for the Interest of Covetous , and the Lust of lewd Persons , it is made up of Blasphemies , and impertinent lies against God . The first Pope who invented it , maintain'd it upon this ground , That p p Clemens 6. Extravag . Vnigenitus . one drop of Christs Blood could save man-kind : whence follows , that he had no need to die . Hereupon the Blasphemer concludes , That since God spared not his Son , but put him to such a violent death , as forced out of him not one single drop , but q q Ibid. a whole stream and Flood of Blood , there must be somewhere a Tresury to receive this most precious , but superfluous quantity , lest it be lost . But ,

First , This impious untruth destroies the necessity of Christs satisfaction and sufferings , and countenances all what the old , and the new , and worse Arrians will say against his Sacrifice upon the Cross . For if one drop of Blood was sufficient , he shed that and more at his Circumcision , and thus far his Passion was useless .

Secondly , It charges the Justice of God with such a foul Reproch , as can never be wash'd off , as long as this Roman Tresury shall stand : For since it stands merely to receive that Blood , which might have bin spared at our dear Saviors Passion ; it stands up as an Evidence , that whatsoever is therein kept , was demanded of , and paied by Christ , as a tyrannous rigor above what was due , to afflict and torment him ; and that the same Eternal Judg , who , as they say , is so merciful , even in Hell , as to take * * Aloys . Novarin . Vmbra Virg. To. 2. l. 4. Excurs . 43. n. 799. less of damned men then they deserve , was in the very acts of Grace , and the Redemtion of Man-kind , so severe against his own Son , as by most insufferable Punishments to extort from him a thousand times more , then it was strictly just he should suffer .

Thirdly , It throws the same Dirt upon that Love , which God bears to his only beloved Son . For Christ never sought for Torments , farther then they were necessary for the saving of his own Flesh , that is , Man-kind . Contrariwise , with Praiers and Tears he wish'd , That that Cup might pass from him : And therefore , what kindness had this bin in God the Father , to put his Son to vain Tortures , and to plunge his very Soul into a most shameful kind of death , when one drop of Blood had done as much , the Popes Interest being laid aside ? And what Bowels , and natural Compassions were these , in both a Just and Loving Father , to draw so much Blood out of his Son , as should bring him to a cruel Death , merely to fill up Roman Purses ?

Fourthly , Nothing less then blind Covetousness , could betray Men into that blind Opinion . For what could perswade the Popes , that one drop of Christs Blood was enough to save all the World out of Hell , but the pretence of having all the rest in their disposal , to save Men from Purgatory ? Can any ordinary Divine , unless blinded by that Interest , be so fundamentally ignorant , as not to know , that what sinners deserve , the Law demands , the Sacrifices for sin did threaten , and therefore either we , or our surety for us was to suffer , was a real and cursed Death ? And can any other then a mad-men think , that a Drop of Blood shed without Death is a real and cursed Death ? It is true , one Drop of that Blood was of an infinite value : and t is perhaps with this pretense , that Popes blind themselves , and others , or unconsidering men in their harangues have talkt unwarily , but there are many more things in Christ , which are of an infinite value , as for example his Praiers , his Groanings , his Tears , &c. which yet are not sufficient for our Ransom ; for no infinite thing could be it , but such as were an infinite death : and certanly a Drop of Blood , is neither death , nor a death of infinite worth .

Popes , or at the least Popish Divines r r Bellar. de Indulg . l. 1. c. 2. sect. Tertia Propositio . Becan . de I●●ulg . q. 1. sect. Prima Conclusio . have another Foundation to set their Church Tresure upon ; which I confess is not so impious as the former ; but is as much or more impertinent . They say , and they say well , that the Death of Jesus Christ was abundantly sufficient , not only to save those few , who are saved out of the World ; but to save all men besides , and twenty thousand both men and worlds more , if God had created them ; and if they had corrupted themselves . Hereupon , and this is their foolish Impertinency , they part Christs death and infinite Ransom into two ; Namely that which hath bin really applied and made use of ; and that which hath not bin so . The former , they think well bestowed on them , who are or shall be really saved ; and therefore lay no claim to it . But the other , which is the far greater part , that never was applied , because it was rejected ; for fear it should fall to the ground , they challenge it for their Tresure ; and that is it , which they apply every 25th year in a Jubilee , and every day in Indulgences .

After this rate Rome may provide for new store-houses ; for they may part as well in two , the Infinite Wisdom or power or Providence of God ; and leaving that part he makes use of , for Creating and Ordering this one world , wherein we live ; take for themselves that other share , which might have served , and yet did not , for creating and ordering of thousand more . Did one ever hear of mad-men , that went about to tresure up that part of sun-shine , that might shew the way to a whole Army , when but one man makes use of it ? or to reserve that part of Christs Voice , as far as it might have bin heard by the seventy , where it was heard but by the twelve Disciples ? the Papists in this Poin are very little wiser then so . The same Wisdom and Power of God , which is all-sufficient both to create and order many worlds , is all necessary ; and therefore indivisibly and wholly set to order one : the same Sun-shine which at one time fills a whole Hemisphere , or the voice , and Sermon , which fills a great Auditory , do not use to subdivide themselves into greater or lesser shares after the number of Eies , or Ears of more or fewer present persons . One Ear hath as much of the voice , ( being in a convenient distance ) as hath the whole Auditory : and one Eie takes as much of the light for its own use , as twenty do : and both the voice and the light impart themselves wholly and indivisibly , whether to one , or to fourscore . Much more doth the al-sufficient satisfaction and Ransom of Christ our Savior , which being by it self infinite , must needs therefore be indivisible . For if you part it into shares ; either these shares are finite and limited ; and so they cannot make an Infinite : or if they be infinite and immense ; then every one of these Parcels , must be conceived as great as the whole ; which is absurd , contradictory , and impossible . And tho this infinite satisfaction and Ransom were such as could be divided ; yet every one man hath need of all . As every mans sin is infinite , that is , deserves an infinite Punishment , so must the satisfaction for it , be infinite in the same way , that is as great as can be presented to an infinite Majesty , by an infinitely worthy Savior . By consequent , the unconceavable Mercies of God in Christ Jesus , and the infinite Price offered to the Divine Justice by this Savior , cannot be distributed , as the price he was sold for , in thirty Pieces . Whosoever applies to himself that immense value of Christs Blood , applies it all : and all being not too much for him ; he hath nothing of it to spare . This is plain and demonstrative to any unconcerned Christian , that hath but learned well his Catechism . Now when Popes came with their new and strange Dividend ; so much to God , for them , whom this Blood saves : and so much , which is twenty thousand times more to me , from them , whom it doth not ; and out of this large portion so much must go for so many years of pardon to one , and for so many daies to another ; they so tear the Sacrifice and Body of Christ , as the other Romans would have torn his Garment ; and as themselves part and distribute their own Relics . Here is an Arm of some Saint for his Imperial , and there a skull for his most Catholic Majesty . The most Christian King must have something ; and the devout and Holy Queen Christina likewise , a Hand , a Toe , a Tooth , a Jawbone or what you please . This is the great Roman Wisdom ; let the Jubilee come when it will ; Europe shall find in this Tresury enough to buy , and Rome to sell . And if Protestants offer to scruple at this new Divinity ; great Scholars will spend all their wit , and the Vatican all its learning and all its Books , to justifie what Bedlam saies .

The Virgin Mary's and other Saints numberless Satisfactions fill up also a considerable Corner in this Store-house : and the same Villains , who make God so unnatural to his own Son as to make him suffer far more grievous Punishments , then the severest Justice did require ; make him in some proportion as bad , and in another respect , worse to his Sons friends ; as bad , if he makes them also pay more then they owe : and worse , if he make them pay it for debts , namely for temporal Punishments , which the blood of Jesus Christ had most sufficiently paied for already . And the Drift of charging God with this rigor both against Christ and against his Saints in taking of them more then the due , is to bestow this Overplus , and superfluous satisfactions into the Roman Magazine .

First then I say , if all these second Paiments , and Satisfactions of the Saints be conceived necessary for the satisfying Divine Vengeance ; they either wrong the Justice of God , or undervalue the Satisfaction of Christ ; for if they must satisfy again for a Debt , which Christ had already most sufficiently satisfied for ; this not only wrongs , but destroies all the best known Rules of Justice : or if Justice demands yet any farther satisfaction , it presupposes that it was not yet sufficiently satisfied ; and this undervalues and maimes in a very great mesure Christs infinite satisfaction . What the Papists have here to say , is , 1. That the Satisfaction of Christ is infinite , and therefore most sufficient to discharge all scores whatsoever ; but that s s Bellarm. de Indulg . l. 1. c. 4. sect. Tertia objectio . Suares de Paenit . Disput. 10. sect. 3. n. 6. Bonacin . de Sacram. Paenit . q. 6. punct. 4. Secunda propositio . it is applied finito modo , that is , is not applied by the Roman Church to its full worth ; as far as it could reach , but only to the satisfying for sins before our Baptism most fully , but for the sins committed afterwards , not so . But now let them give an account , wherefore it is not : and what Power Christ ever gave them of restraining the true immense value of his satisfaction and sacrifice , in such a mesure as may reserve both for Popes and Mass Priests as much as they can sell both in Masses , and in Indulgences . 2. They are pleased to say , or rather they are not afraid to blaspheme , that our Saviors immense satisfaction , as they presume to restrain it , is but a remote and t t Layman . de Indulg . c. 1. n. 3. Suarez . de Thesaur . Disput. 51. Sect. 3. n. 17. general Cause to help and qualifie what we do , when we satisfy for our selves ( which they may say as well of the Father and the Holy Ghost , who satisfy not at all ) and that mens good works and Penances when applied either by themselves during their life ; or by others , when they are dead , are the proper and immediate * * ibid. Causes , which do the Deed. Only the satisfaction of Christ helps mens good and satisfactory works , somwhat like as Ambregris can help Sweet Drugs rather by actuating and reviving them to perfume , then by perfuming of it self . For here Bellarmin will tell you , that there are not two u u Bellarm. de Purgat . l. 1. c. 14. sect. Tertius modus . satisfactions , the one of Christ , the other our own : but one actual Satisfaction only , and that is ours . Thus far either men or Saints are more properly Redeemers to themselves and others , then is Christ himself : and thus full this Roman Tresury must be filled up with mens Blasphemies , and Christs merits plundred from him . Secondly , from this Blasphemy our Tresury comes to a squib or cracker , and what stinks so in mens Nostrils , bursts as an emty sound in their Ears . They say , that these human and superfluous satisfactions , which their Magazasine is furnisht with , to satisfy Divine Justice , are only that Redundancy and overplus of great labors and hard penances , which their Saints first had no need of , for expiating their own sins ; and secondly which they made no use of , for expiating the sins of others . Now first , who warrants them that their Saints had no need of this Surplusage ? It is certain , that S. Francis hath bin sometimes troubled with lust ; and who can tell whether * * S. Bonavent . invita Franc. the Wife , and the two Daughters , and the two Maids he made of snow to ly with them , was more then he needed to cool himself ? who knows but the five Stigmes , that is the wounds , which a Seraphim as they say , made in his thin Body may have bin a fitter devise , to asswage burnings , then to make him blasphemously a Parallel and companion in Christs work of Redemtion ? Can the Popes give an exact account , what quantity of satisfactions might have bin spent about those sins , that their Predecessors were guilty of , when Victor a a Euseb. Eccles. Hist. l. 5. c. 25. turned Photinian : that is denied that Christ was God ) and Zepherin b b Tertull. contr. Prax. a Montanist ; and Marcellin c c Damasus . Libr Pontif. in vita Marcell . an Idolater : and both Liberius d d Id. in Vita Liber . and Foelix e e Hieronymus de Scriptorib . Eccles. Acacius . were Arians : and Honorius f f Concil. 6. Act. 16.17.18 . Conc. 7. Act. 7. Definit . Synod . a Monothelite ? Do they know better , how much must go for the expiating of ugly sins , as for applauding Bloody Phocas , g g Greg. Magn Regist. l. 11. Epist. 38. which was the sin of Great Gregory : or for following the Devils Advise , which was h h Matth. Paris . an. 1086. the Guilt and the public confession of another great Gregory and great Founder of their Papacy ? The truth is no man can tells us , neither what those Saints did owe ; nor what they were able to pay ; nor therefore how great Legacies they might leave for this Roman Cash . Secondly , but suppose , that some owed little , and may leave much , as for Example the Blessed Virgin , John the Baptist , &c. who knows whether they have have left it , for this Tresury ; or whether they have not applied and spent it all , about their poor Friends , who wanted it . They say , that she converted St. Paul i i Chronic. Deip. an . 34 from a Persecutor to an Apostle , both by her Praier and her Merits ; and why not with a considerable part also of her own Satisfaction ? Or if she would do so much for one , who was not of her own Tribe ; how in conscience and charity could she spare them from her nearest Relations , the Sons of Joseph her Husband , who all incurred great Penalties , before they would believe in Christ ? I appeal to the best Catholics , whether the Mother of Mercies could keep long by her self that overplus of Satisfactions and Merits , which to her were superfluous , and not bestow them upon those , to whom they might be of so great use ? not upon her most dear Abbess , 1 1 Pelbartus l. 21. c. 3. to whom she would be a Midwife , when her Steward had lien with her ? nor to her 2 2 Maphaeus . Devita Ignat. l. 1. c. 2. Ribadeneira . Vita Loyolae . l. 1. c 7. Dear Loyola , for his former Debaucheries and Vanities before he came to be a Saint ? nor to either of her Dear devoted Servants , whom she protected so visibly ; the one from being burned by course of Law , for 3 3 Magn. Specul . Titul . Confessio . Exemp. 7. having destroied her own Child after she had got him by Incest ; and the other from being 4 4 Pelbart . Stellarii Coronae . l. 12. c. 3. troubled at all for enticing her Neighbors Husband ? As these Creatures had all along to their lives end , a very great share in her Favor , can you think they had none at all in her satisfactions for their sins ? Is there any reason to think , that she would throw all the satisfactions she had into the Roman Tresury for the use of unknown Persons ? could she foresee that the Roman Popes might a thousand and three hundred years after her abode on earth better dispose of them then she could her self ? There is the same improbability concerning all other true Saints , S. John , S. Paul , S. Peter , all the blessed Martyrs , &c. The Roman Saints may come in too ; For who reads the earnest Addresses , that S. Dominic k k S. Briget Revelat. l. 13. c. 17. makes to his Goddess , for his dear Children the black Preachers ; and can believe , he could forbear the applying all what he had to the necessary wants of his Order ? or if he had reserved any of his great satisfactions , and daily Whippings for some others ; is it not more then probable , that he bestowed them on such Persons as the Whore was , ( I mean his dear Miss Catharina ) l l Bovius Tom. 3. Annal. an. 1221. n. 10. who heard all his Sermons so devoutly , and yet continued a Trade that had need of all he could do ? Was St. Bernard unkind , or St. Francis unnatural , that , not to apply to his Nephew all he could spare , for preventing all those Torments , which he saw did attend him in Hell , because he had left his Convent ? and this , not to do the like to his own Father , who certainly could not fare better , tho there had bin no sin in him , but this of beating St. Francis , and turning him naked out of doors for a mad Fool ? In all likelihood the Roman Cash is quite emty , if there is nothing else to fill it up , then the satisfactions of such Saints ; and his Holiness deals not truly in either selling or giving away to some , that which the Saints have bestowed on others .

Thirdly , it is the like , or rather a greater folly , to think as o o Vid. supra . they do , to scrape off from every good Work don by the Saints , the labor and pains they took in doing it ; and so , to think of filling their store with such scrapings , instead of good satisfactions . For first , not to scruple at their Language , that which is Meritorious , and that which is Satisfactory in a good Work , are commonly so close together , that it is impossible to part them asunder otherwise then you may part one and the self-same thing , in some considerations and respects . Thus the same gallant Action in an Officer for example , who was cashiered for some mis-behavior , will be satisfactory in respect of his former Guilt , for the procuring of his Pardon ; and in another who is guiltless , it will be Meritorious by way of Service only , and 't will procure him not a Pardon , which he needs not , but it may be , some considerable preferment . And if the Service of the Guilty be much greater then his Offence was , and such it may be , Abners case was , when being in a Rebellion before , he brought the ten Tribes to the King ; the overplus of this satisfaction , shall be allowed by David to be thus far Meritorious , and thus far also to have a Reward . After this rate , no part of the gallant Service shall remain behind for the Tresury , but the whole shall be taken up and accepted for its full worth , tho partially , so much to procure his Pardon by a Commutative ; and so much to procure him another Reward , by a distributive Justice . A good King , I say , will observe these Proportions with his Subjects : and I hope , at the last Day , God will not deal worse with his Children . 2. When it happens , as it doth sometimes , that the laborious and painful part is so extrinsecal to the good work , as to be easily severed from it ; as when S. Paul Preaches in the Chain , or when S. John looses his Head in a Prison for his Preaching ; altho the Chain and the Preaching be two different things in their nature , yet they cohere and are close together in the Eies of God Almighty : there the holy Work of Preaching shall sanctifie the cruel Chain ; & the hard Chain shall improve the price of the Holy or Meritorious Preaching . And if David can well consider not only what Service Abner did him , in bringing Israel to him ; but also , that he lost an Army , or part of his Estate in doing it ; there is no fear , but God is a good God , and will extend his Mercies as far , both on what his Servants do in his Name , and what they suffer in those Services : For I say unto you , that every one that hath forsaken Houses , or Children , or Lands , &c. shall receive an hundred fold more , &c. Matth. 19. And when every little parcel of the Suffering is recompensed , as well as the Meritorious part , with so liberal a Reward ; What can Popes scrape off from it , that remains unrewarded , to spend in satisfactions for more , and to lay up in their Tresury ? It seems these crafty Shavers would have the Meritoriousness for one thing , and the pain of performing it for another : or in more homely terms , they would give the Money for the Purchase , and the trouble of telling and paying it , for the discharge of some other Debts ; whereas the sum well told and paid , can scarce suffice to buy the first , much less to leave any over-plus to satisfie the second Account . 3. Lastly , Whenever Crosses and Hardships fall upon one , not in order to any good Work which they do precede or follow , but because they are sent from God , for Chastisements , or Curbs , or Trials ; as the Tribulations of Job , the buffeting Angel of Paul , and the Sickliness of Timotheus were : or because they are voluntarily fetch'd in , and undertaken by some Saints ; as the hard Diet of John the Baptist , the often Fastings of Anna , the low and narrow Lodge of Hilarion , the seeming barbarous Mortifications of some ancient Holy Persons : What is all this to the Popes Tresure ? Did ever God at any time lay these Afflictions on the Righteous , in order to make the Pope richer , or his own Children humble and better ? And when these laied them on themselves , can the Roman Church well think , but that they intended them rather for mortifying their own Bodies , and securing their own Salvation , then for discharging other Mens sins ? What and if God and they laied more then was necessary for these true ends , Are Roman Divines ignorant , that God , who made Job twice as rich as he was before he made him poor , will most abundantly remunerate all such hard surplusage , if there is any ? And when all accounts are made even , whatsoever Burthens are charged either by their Savior , or themselves ; St. Paul tells them , That the sufferings of this present life ( and 't is with these , if some could be found unrewarded , that this Tresury should be stuffed up ) are so far from superabounding , or equalling , that they are not to be compared with that Glory ( immense reward of all Sufferings , and not only of all good Works ) which shall be reveled in us , Ro. 8.18 . Or if by chance Clement the 6th , and the first Founder of this Tresure , better understood this Balance , and saw in some corner or other about S. Mary , S. Stephen , and other Martyrs , some unrewarded Afflictions which S. Paul took no notice of ; in Conscience are we come to this , that Roman Popes may fetch them out , and apply them to whom they please ? That poor John the Baptist shall see from Heaven his austere Life and hairy Clothes , shelter Herods and Herodias lying securely together ? That most vile and unclean Persons , shall with the unspotted Holiness and Chastity of the Blessed Virgin Mary , buy off out of Purgatory , and sometimes out of Hell it self , the very Whores who * * Luitpr . l. 2. c. 13. Vid. Ieron . ad an. 908. made them Popes ? And that the Martyrs shall be in the disposal , and for the use of so many dissolute Monsters ? And to this comes the Church Tresury , that makes so much noise in the World ; and like a Drum , is as emty as it is loud . Let us see what they draw out of it .

CHAP. X. Concerning Roman Indulgences , the most general Inducement to Popery .

THE Church Tresury , the Jubilee , the Indulgences , are words capable of a good sense , if the Roman Church would allow of it . For really , the Church of God possesses a very great Tresure , namely , Jesus Christ in Heaven , and in his Holy Ordinances . All sinners , whosoever they be , if contriti & confessi after Gods way , that is , really and truly penitent , and turning from their sins to good Works , such as become true Christian Faith and Repentance , may without the Keies of the Pope open this Heavenly Tresure , and thence take out as much of Christs Blood , or , to make use of the Roman terms , as much of the satisfactions of Christ , as will make up a full and a most plenary Indulgence ; that is , Mercy and Pardon without Mony , and plenteous Redemtion both from the Spot and the punishment of all their Sins . John the Baptist , Jesus Christ , and the Apostles , are the first Men , who at the very Birth of the Christian Church did Preach abroad these Indulgences : and among them Peter is the first ( not Boniface ) who proclamed at Jerusalem the great Christian Jubilee . You have his Bull in his Sermon , Acts 2.38 , 39.

The Church of Rome , for her own ends , hath much abused this good Tresure , as well as these great Indulgences : and if you look into what she hath to brag of , you shall find her Tresury to be but a broken Cistern , and her Indulging Bulls , instead of Living Waters , to be but Puddles . With all the Blood shed on the Cross , one drop whereof in their judgement could have saved all , they say that Christ hath not fully satisfied for any actual sins after our Baptism ; and that besides the Eternal Torments in Hell , for which he hath immediatly satisfied , there remain other not less grievous , tho not so long , for which we our selves must needs satisfie , either in this Life , or near about Hell , in a place under Ground which they call Purgatory . Their Mass Priests and Bishops , with all their ordinary Power , cannot absolve their Penitents , tho never so contrite , farther then this : and to have more , they must either procure it to themselves , by their own works , or send to Rome for Indulgences .

All this is pack'd and contrived with great Wisdom for the best advantage of Rome . His Holiness gains much by it , for all that Blood which might have paid for all the pains , as well as for the vicious Acts of sin , is spared for his Tresury : and all Catholic Souls being affrighted with Purgatory , out of which Christ hath not redeemed them , and which none but Saints or Martyrs are likely to escape ; there is no fear he can want Money , as long as he will help Men out with his Tresure and Indulgences . The other inferior Clergy also are not loosers , for tho their Power be much shortned from giving full Absolution , this Restraint may be look'd upon as a rule of good Husbandry ; for if they did pardon all at once by their Keies , as God doth by his Ministers in his Gospel , who , unless some simple Ignorant , would care for any of their Masses ? But both Christ , and all Christian Souls suffer much , by what others gain . Christ is visibly defrauded of the Honor that he ever had of being the only Redeemer , which he is not at the least at Rome , ᵃ but in a large fense ; since both others and we , may very well redeem our selves , and satisfie Divine Vengeance in a very considerable mesure by our own personal Sufferings . Christ also suffers a second and gross Injury , to see the most part of his Blood under the indiscreet hand of a Pope , who squanders it at their pleasure who will buy out his Indulgences . Christian Souls are not used better , being by these Indulgences drawn aside from the true waies of Salvation , to spend their Devotion and their Mony upon that which avails nothing ; and which , if relied upon , will certainly prove a great deal worse in the event .

The main ground of all these Devises , is a Complication of Blasphemies , and an open Profession , that Christ hath not by his Sacrifice on the Cross , fully satisfied Divine Justice ; or that God demands from Penitents and Believers , that which he was satisfied for ; and that our sins are neither fully nor properly remitted in the Blood of Christ . These three Antichristian Assertions , being involved and wrapt up in this , which both their Purgatory , and all their Indulgences stand upon , that God in Christ remits the sins , without remitting the punishment ; that is , that God in Christ remits our sins without remitting them at all . For if God in Christ remits sins , why , being fully and properly remitted , are they ( unless redeemed by Indulgences ) punished in Purgatory ? How comes God to demand of his Children that they be burned and tormented in order to satisfie his Justice , if the Sacrifice of his Son hath satisfied it fully and properly on that account ? And what Justice is this to exact of me the same satisfaction and payment , that Christ my Surety hath fully given already ? They say that Christ hath fully satisfied Divine Justice for our sins , but not for that part of the punishment , which either Purgatory doth inflict , or the Popes Indulgences must dispense with . Against this , it is easie to prove , and common sense will tell them so , that both Christ hath satisfied Justice on all accounts , and God remitted sins likewise as to the satisfying of Justice , if Justice have in Christs Sufferings all it requires from guilty Persons , upon the score of suffering . For what is it , that Divine Justice can demand of the worst and guiltiest sinner ? Is it that the sins which he hath committed , may never have bin committed ? that is impossible , & a plain contradiction ; and if God remits sins upon such terms , he remits none . Is it that the sinner may not sin hereafter ? So much did Justice demand of Adam before his fall ; and so much demands it yet of the blessed Angels , to whom nevertheless God remits or forgives nothing , because Adam was not yet , and these are never Trespassers . The Question is , What it is which the severe and holy Justice of God can demand of Trespassers ? Sin , as to this , denotes two things , to wit , the Vice or Illness of the Act , and the punishment due by the trespass for that ill Act. Divine Justice requires not the ill Act , or the Iniquity of it ; contrariwise , it shuns , detests , and forbids it : What therefore Justice doth and can demand , is all due , and sufficient punishment . Now pardoning , or forgiving , or remitting , is to pardon , or to forgive , or to remit , what Justice demands of the sinner and for his sin , and this is the punishment only . And so when Christ did on the Cross satisfie Justice for our sins , and did take our sins from us upon himself , it was not by taking upon him our Vices , or ugly Acts and Dispositions , God forbid ! Christ took all our sins upon himself , when he took and paied fully all the punishment due for our sins : and God remits and forgives our sins in Christ , when he accepts of that punishment of his in lieu of ours . Therefore whensoever Papists talk of sins remitted , as to the trespass of the Fault , & not as to the punishments due for the fault ; or that Christ hath fully satisfied for those & not forthese , it is either such a piece of non-sense , as if one should say , That he forgives me all my Debts , on condition I shall pay them : or a Blasphemous Raillery put upon Christ , as if he did fully satisfie Divine Vengeance for all our sins , when , except those before Baptism , he satisfies so for none of them . And so the whole Frame of Purgatory for punishing , and all the Jubilees , and Indulgences , and daily Masses , for absolving Men from the punishment of remitted sins , that is , the whole Fabric of the Roman Church , is built upon these impious Bulls .

It is true , God may , and often doth lay heavy Chastisements ( call them Punishments if you please ) on his Children , even after he hath pardoned their sins , but it is never to satisfy Divine Justice in any punishment it requires more ; but either to keep the forgiven sinner , by what he feels , from sinning more ; or to affright others from it by such Examples ; or for removing the scandal , which otherwise might well arise from all unchastised sins . Which considerations agree not at all with the Torments of Purgatory , where Souls , a a Bellar. de Indulg . l. 1. c. 7. sect. Quarta Propositio . as they confess themselves , are neither better in themselves , nor either more exemplary , or a whit less scandalous to others by what they suffer . There these poor Souls burn and howl in long and terrible torments , with the Faith of Christ above them , and the Blood of his Sacrifice upon their pretended remitted sins , just as notable Rogues are hanged and quartered somtimes with their Pardons about their Necks . Papists would be much displeased to hear that any of their devout and contrite Dames should suffer so much in spight of one plenary Indulgence ; and Christ must not be so , to see his true and lively Members tortured in Purgatory in spight of his Redemtion .

These Indulgences were never heard of , till the silly World had bin frighted with these Flames of Purgatory , which as their most ingenious Authors confess , was very late : and then the Roman Clergy had a fair opportunity from the false Apparitions of Souls , and tremblings of simple People , to look to their own private profits , by selling vain Securities to protect against vain dangers & fears . The very sound of a Latin word , Indulgentia , without its proper sense and use , was ground enough for crafty men , to build what they would upon it ; and how far they have abused it , and more abused their Church with it , one may guess by what here follows .

It was , and should be still , the Practise of the Holy Church , to expell from their Society Scandalous and known sinners : and since the Church could not alwaies keep Hypocrites from coming in ; she could not take a better course for asserting both her detestation against all sin , and her credit with God and men , then to keep them off , when duly known ; and to shun them , in their holy Meetings especially , till many and great Evidences both of their sorrow for what they had done , and of their Amendment for the time to come , had procured them Readmittance . They were y y Concil. Ancyran . Can. 16. Concil. Nicen. Can. 11. enjoined to pray , to fast , to curb and to mortifie their Flesh , to afflict their Souls for their sins , and to apply themselves to all such works , as might both improve and declare their inward sincere Repentance . These long and holy Exercises did pass among all Christians for Satisfactions to the Church ; and in some manner z z Cyprian . l. 1. Ep. 3. to God too . Before the Church most properly ; because that was all which the Church Discipline , and Ecclesiastical Canons did require ; and before God in a lower , yet a very true and proper sense ; because , tho all such works of Repentance be far from being a price equivalent to what Divine Justice demands ( which can never be had , but either from the eternal death of the sinner , or from the infinite satisfactions of Christ for him ) yet it is the main Condition , which God requires of Offenders , before the grant of his Pardon , and which he is in his Mercy both satisfied and pleased with , when they sincerely perform it .

This was not all , 't was not enough to have don it , they must do it a long * * Concil. Ancyr. supra . while ; some a whole year some two , some ten , some according to the Enormity of the sin all their life long : and the surest Proof the Church could take of their real sincerity , was in the length of their Performances . By this , it seems , the holy Fathers had a great care , that in the management of their keies , whether to shut out , or to let in , their Church might keep time with Heaven : so that they might neither retein , nor remit here upon Earth , but what and when they might well judg , God would retein , or remit above . It was not then , as now at Rome , where Dispensations , and Licences are presently got at a small Rate ; a Ravisher of a Virgin was in the year 1520 ( I hear it is now much raised , as well as the Rate of Monies ) about six a a Taxa Cancellar. Apostol. Fol. 36. pag. 2. Edit. Paris . 1520. Groats : the Ravisher of his own Sister was but at five : and the heaviest severity , that these Villains must undergo , is that 't is impossible for them , how penitent and contrite soever , to be released without some Mony . Pauperibus , &c. b b Ibid. fol. 23. p. 1. that is , they cannot have the Comfort of these Mercies , whosoever brings in no Mony . In such Occasions of Scandal the Roman Church , whilst a Virgin , was as severe , as now she is become remiss : and what the Whore gives for twelve pence , the honest Virgin had scarce granted for a penance of twenty years . So careful were they in those daies to clear the Church from foul Scandals : and so afraid were they withal in the exercise of their Power , to break correspondencie with Gods Justice ; to unloose them whom he kept bound ; and to bind themselves before God , * * S. Ambros . De Paenit . l. 2. c. 2. by a rash unbinding of others . You may read in S. Cyprian c c Cyprian . l. 3. Ep. 14. Ep. 15. Ep. 16. item Serm. de lapsis . and Ambrose how both sinful and dangerous , this loose and remiss indulgence is in their opinion .

Nevertheless there now and then happened such causes as not only permitted , but moved them also to be more free . As when the excommunicated Sinner gave signal proofs of an extraordinary sorrow : when upon dangerous occasions he stoutly owned and defended the Christian Faith : when in times of Persecutions all Christians were to be encouraged , and strengthened to Martyrdom : and when valiant Confessors ( who ever before their Death , were reputed for true Martyrs ) did intercede for some of their friends ; on these and other like rational and pious Inducements , the holy Fathers thought they might , d d Conc. Ancyran . Can. 5. & 12. Conc. Nic. Can. 12. either ease such Penitents of the length , or sometimes quite discharge them of the whole Burthen , that excommunicated , but withal contrite persons did lie under ; and so before the time prescribed , readmit them into the Church . And this Relaxation of Ecclesiastical Severity , some Latin Fathers e e Cyprian . de Lapsis Sub sin . Tertull. de Exhortat . Castit . call once or twice in their writings , by the Name of Indulgence .

Tbis was enough for cunning Cheats , to ground their Indulgences upon ; and for silly men , to entertain them . So that as one word Missa could serve their turn , as I have shew'd in another Book , for introducing that great Abomination , which they call Mass : so doth this other Latin word Indulgentia , used once or twice by some ancient Authors in a good sense , and now turned to a quite other ; for countenancing all the Impostures , that now a daies are bought and sold under the name of Indulgences . Here you may whensoever you please , discover Romes either Knavery , or Folly , or both by these two distinct Characters . The first is , that when the Fathers thought good to use any Indulgence , it was to shorten , or to moderate their Ecclesiastical Censures , before Reconciliation and pardon : whereas the Roman Indulgence is for another sort of Punishments , which Mass Priest are pleased both to inflict on the Penitents , and to moderate or quite take off after their Absolution . The second is , that the holy Fathers never either thought , or attemted to moderate or to take off any other Censures or Punishments , then such as had bin imposed : whereas the Pope by his Indulgences offers to moderate or take off all , bo● what is laid on by his Church , and what is or shall be laid on by God himself .

As to the first Mark , to distinguish the Primitive Relaxations , from the present Roman Indulgences ; The Church of Christ never used upon any occasion whatsoever , this unnatural and popish way of inflicting punishments or Ecclesiastical Censures , after Pardon : and therefore they could not have occasion of ever granting such Indulgences , as should ease men after pardon , from such Censures . When notorious and public Offences had turned the sinner out of dores ; the Holy Fathers did lay on him several Degrees of Rigor , before they would take him in again , as antecedent Preparations to make him fit to be taken in . 1. The Sinner was enjoined a a Greg. Neocaesar . Epist. Canon . to stand without ; and there with cries and tears b b Ambrosius . De Paenit . l. 1. c. 19. to beg them who came in , to pray to God for him . 2. Some years or months after , he was admitted within Doors , but in a remote Corner of the Church , behind the Catechumens , that is , the not Christened Proselytes , where they might hear Sermons , but not Praiers . 3. After such other time as they thought fit ; he was suffered to hear and pray with the Christians , but not to take the Holy Mysteries . These with some other Mortifications and trials were all the Penalties inflicted by the Church upon scandalous Offenders ; the Satisfactions , when undergon , given by the Offenders to the Church ; and when humbly and sincerely performed , upon good grounds were also thought in the sense above said , acceptable to God himself . And here among these performances was the only time of Indulgence , either to shorten the time , or to mitigate the Rigor of the Hardship , that they were under . 4. This don , either with , or without favor ; at last the sinner was at the time appointed for his Readmission , brought in into the Church ; there he kneeled , and there the Bishop coming to him , as the good Father in the Gospel to the lost Child , fell both himself and all the People upon their knees : then after holy Praiers and a holy laying on of hands , gave him Sacerdotal Blessing , and complete Absolution : raised him up from kneeling : for conclusion of all , he was admitted at the same time , both to the holy Communion , and the Churches Peace . The Penitents being thus reconcil'd neither under-went other Punishments , nor needed other Indulgences . And if that Holy Mother the Primitive Church used to chastise her stubborn Children , and upon their amendment to kiss and embrace them afterwards ; we do not read in any Father , that it was ever her Method , first to kiss , then to correct and punish . It is an extravagance proper to Rome , to absolve her Penitents and after Absolution , to have them punisht thereby to satisfie Divine Justice : and so consequently are all her Indulgences , to ease men of such Punishments , Tricks of their own invention . Our Savior did not plague sinners , after he had bid them , go in Peace : and if God kept them afterwards humble , and sensible of their former sins by Fatherly Corrections , as you read often that he did ; Psal. 89. Hebr. 12. 1 Corinth . 11. Roman Indulgences are but both idle and sawcy Toies to take them off . And this brings to the second visible Character , by which you may discern the Primitve Relaxations , from the present Roman Indulgences .

1. Therefore as to this second ; the Fathers of the Primitive Church never intended with their Condescensions or favors to moderate or to take off any other Punishments , then that which they had laid on by their own sentence and Censure : They knew that the Power of reteining , and the Power of remitting , which God allowed them in his Church , are both i i Suares de Indulg . Disp . 50. Sect. 2. n. 5. proportioned and relative , the one to the other : and that they could remit nothing , but when they had bin able to bind . This appears so by the very Contents , and Form of their Warrant , Whatsoever you shall bind on Earth , &c. Matth. 1.16.19 . and 18.18 . and John 20.23 . Where the power of Loosing and Remitting , follows close to that of Retaining and Binding . This is exercised by Excommunications and Censures , that , by taking them away in the reconciling of Offenders ; and both Keies turn in the same wards , that is , within the same compass , within the Ministerial Pale of the Church , and within the bounds of this Life . Roman Popes are the first Hectors , who durst break out beyond these Lines , and roving into Purgatory , there over-rule Divine Justice , and pull out thence out of Gods hands the Souls , whom , they say , his Vengeance doth burn and torment . This is then the drift of the Popes , and the second visible Mark of their best and most authentic Indulgences ; that whereas the Fathers of the Church never attemted to dispose of any other punishments , then such as they had inflicted : the Popes stretch their hands much farther , even as far as to reverse the Judgments , which , ( as they presuppose it ) God inflicts . Now let Rome ransack their Learning , and procure from any corner of good and known Antiquity , one precedent for such Indulgences .

In the mean while laying aside Antiquity , which in true Conscience cannot but shame this new attemt ; it is a business worth enquiring , what these Roman Indulgences ( whether new or old ) are in themselves . They are intended for these c c Bellarm. de Indulg . l. 1. c. 7. two ends . 1. The easing of true Penitents from the Penalties laid on them by their Confessors , after their Absolution here in the Church . 2. And the removing of more grievous punishments , laied on them by God Almighty , yonder in Purgatory . And certainly it is hard to say , in the which of these two you shall find less , both Impiety and Extravagancy .

1. The Indulgences for the first end , are both foolish and impious upon several accounts : What rebellious attemt is this , to bind to punishment those ( Men , as it is supposed , contrite and truly penitent for their sins ) whom the Gospel of Christ looses and absolves ? May not one as well curse , whom God blesses , as retain or bind whom God remits ? And if one may bind the Penitents , whom God absolves ; may he not as well unbind the Faithless and Impenitents whom God hath bound ? If so , we know where the Antichrist lies ; yet he should go and learn Manners from the Example of Balaam , Num. 23.8 . They say , that what they bind their Penitents to , is not a Punishment only , but an useful Correction also . Then , I say , what they do in binding them whom God doth loose , shall be as far a Rebellion , as it is a punishment ; and as far unlawful and unchristian to take off , as 't is an useful Correction , and as it was good to lay it on . And have the Popes no better waies to fill their Coffers , and to maintain their Holinesses , then by such a Trade of Indulgences , as dispense with Men against their own good ? 2. There is yet more ; to justifie their Penalties from being a resisting of God , and a retaining what he remits ; they say , that after Absolution they lay no more on any Man , then what a sincere Penitent ᵈ is both willing to undergo , and obliged by the fear of God , and the sense of his Conscience to do or suffer ; and that this is it properly and directly , what the Indulgences do ease Men from . Do not then call this , if you please , Rebellion or Resisting God : but you cannot choose but perceive , that if this same penitent Soul lies not between a cruel binding Confessor , and a gracious remitting God ; she now falls into another as bad or worse condition . For here is within the sense of Conscience , that charges her to do or suffer such a thing ; and there is without , a Bull from Rome , that discharges her from both doing and suffering it : Do you not think to see this Soul , as the Body of Moses was once , between a good and a bad Angel ? Here God impresses a pious Fear , in order that the Penitent may do ot suffer such a thing ; and there the Pope shews an Indulgence , that he may do but what he pleases : Do you not see God , and the Pope contesting still about Moses , & strugling one against the other , what way shall be taken by this honest Soul ? If the Pope have the better of it , then his Indulgences come to this , and the Satisfactions and Blood of Christ , which the Pope wraps up in these Bulls , have this good end , namely , that Men need not be perplexed for Gods Fear , nor for the motions of Conscience . Certainly , not to do what both the fear of God , and the sense of an honest Conscience do move us to , is a fearful omission : and if any Indulgence can wash it off , it must exemt Men not only from a punishment , as they pretend , but from a very great sin also , which they do not . 3. This scattering and abusing the Blood of Christ by Indulgences , will better appear , if you consider in retail what these Penalties are , which this Blood applied to us by them , must free us from . These Penalties are chiefly these three , c c Bellarm. de Poenitent . l. 4. c. 6. Fasting , Praier , and Almes-giving . The very * * Aristot. Moral . ad Nicomach . l. 1 Pagans can tell you , that the exercise of Moral Vertues is even a Soveraign Happiness : How then come good Catholics to imagine , that the exercise of Christian ones may be to them a punishment ? In conscience , is Praying , Fasting , and giving of Alms , the punishment , or part of it , which sin deserves ? Did ever Gods Law reckon Praier and Charity amongst its Curses ? Or did ever the Gospel of Christ impose this Holy and Blessed Exercise , under the notion of Chastening ? Is it likely , that the Apostles , who often plagued Men with Blindness , with Death , with delivering them over to Satan , ever inflicted Praiers , and Exercises of Alms-giving , as strokes of their Apostolical Rod ? Did the Lord Jesus shed his Blood to be applied in Indulgences , that you should not Pray , or Fast at all ? Or that we should not Pray , or Fast so much ? And if this be none of the true ends of Christs Death and Satisfaction ; I do not say , how unprofitable , but how both unchristian and Antichristian are the Indulgences , that trifle away this Sacred Blood to such contrary purposes ? 4. Lastly , to lay this impious abuse aside , and to let Fasting , Praying , and charitable giving of Alms , pass at Rome for hard and painful Punishments ; yet they are , neither the Death that the Law threatens sinners with , nor the Hellish burning in Purgatory , which , as they say , the Justice of God requires , that they should suffer when they are dead : they can be at the most , but an emty shadow of these pains . And tho they were ( what they are not ) a full Equivalent for them ; yet are they no satisfaction in any Balance of Justice , unless God will accept of them for due paiment . Therefore let Roman Confessors shew now to their poor Penitents , either when , and where God hath told them , that he will accept of their Praiers , &c. instead of Purgatory Burnings , which is their proper punishment : and let the other greater Cheats , the Popes and Bull-sellers of Rome , assure any others but Fools , upon any probable ground , that God is both pleased and resolved to accept of their Indulgences , in lieu of Fastings and Praiers , and good and Christian giving of Alms.

2. The second end , that Roman Indulgences are intended , and so bought for , is the removing of that Judgment , which condemns Roman Catholics after this Life to dreadful Burnings and Tortures , unless ( which few besides Saints and Martyrs can do ) they can satisfie otherwise . This hot and terrible Torment is not imposed on departing Souls by Popes or Priests ; for if it were , it would be no wonder that Popes and Priests could remove it . It is none of those voluntary Chastisements , which one may take upon himself to prepare him for Gods Mercies , since it is confessed by them all , that no Body grows better for them . It is an unavoidable Punishment lying on them for the satisfaction of Justice . It is , they say , decreed by God f f Navar. de Jubil . Notabil. 15. n. 11. himself due and demanded by Gods Law , grounded and radicated upon the essential right of Nature : and by this you may judg how indispensable this Purgatory punishment is , since , as they say , God Almighty will rather see his own Children burning many hundreds of years in hellish Flames , when even their sins are pardoned , then to break his Law to take it off . Yet the Almighty Pope dares do it : and if you cannot go so far as to Rome , Rome will in a manner come to you ; and give you such an Indulgence , that is in their own language , such a juridical Absolution , as shall reverse all Judgments whether of natural Justice , or God himself : and thus get you clear on all hands . Heaven and Earth cannot afford the like Example . A Hostler , or a Porter making Acts of Oblivion ; or a Prisoner at New-Gate granting Decrees to stop the Judges , and their Proceedings at Westminster , are nothing to Pope Sixtus the 4th , nor to Alexander the fixt , nor to any of those Villains , who send Indulgences from Rome , and from the Embraces of their Harlots , to obstruct the Course of Divine Justice , and to order judicially , to what degrees of Punishment it may proceed ; or whether it shall proceed at all . This is far worse then what they say the Russians do , when upon the breast f f Wolfius Cent. 16. an. 1580. of their dead Friends , they send a Mandat to S. Peter , charging him , that at the same moment , when he shall have received their letter , he fail not to admit the Bearer thereof , whom they have absolved from all sins . For the Popes Indulgence is a formal Sentence , and as they call it , a Juridical Absolution directed to and served upon God himself against the usual course , as they conceive , of this ordinary Supreme Justice .

I have read of a conceited man , who , even to the endangering of his life , keeping himself from making water , for fear of drowning the whole World , at last was perswaded , it would not be so , by the experience of his weakness upon a poor small Cottage , set on fire , which his friends had called him to quench . If His Holiness in this respect were not twenty times more incurable ; twenty thousand experiments of the like nature might have cured him . Let him and all Papists but consider , what a most plenary Indulgence , or even a whole Jubilee can do towards the preventing of the least other temporal punishment for sin , for example , want , sickness , or death ; and thence let them guess , what it can do against the greatest , and , as they conceive the most fatal , the burning of Souls after Pardon . Let them try , what kind of Relief these Bulls can afford to contrite and repenting Robbers against hanging , in an human Judicature ; and then hope or despair of what they are boasted to do , against the Soveraign Divine Justice . Nay let the wisest of all the Papists hearken to their own sense and reason . If an g g Bellar. de Indulg . l. 2. c. 1. sect. Quarta Objectio . Indulgence , saies Bellarmin , cannot so much as take away the Punishment , which an Inferior Magistrate condemns a Thief , or a Murderer to ; how much less able shall it be , to take of that Punishment , which God hath decreed against Sinners ? And what do they conceive Purgatory Burning to be else ? They * * Ibid. acknowledg also , that , the Pope by his Indulgences cannot pardon any Punishment , which is inflicted by God as Judg , in an Exterior and criminal Judicature . If so , in good earnest doth not God Almighty act as a Judg , when he condemns men to Punishment in order to satisfy his Justice ? And is not that an exterior and Criminal Court of Justice , wheresoever men are condemned to such grievous and long , and outward Punishments ? Or if you call it inward ; why should the Judgment of God be less , and the Power of the Pope more regarded , in Gods own internal , then in his external Judicature ?

Here the Popes are pleased to juggle , as the Fellow used to do , who bragged , how far he could jump at Rhodes , where he knew no man had seen him . But saies one , if it be so ; come friend , here is as good ground as at Rhodes , let us therefore see what you can do . The Popes brag much , how bravely they can save men from all the dangers in a Place , where no body tells us the truth of what they are pleased to brag of . But here in the Course of this mortal life , where we see so many temporal Judgments of God , so many Plagues and Penalties inflicted by God Almighty upon absolved sinners for their sins , my Rhodian Boaster cannot jump : the Popes Bulls save from none of them : and by their own Confession , their Indulgences h h Bellar. de Indulg . l. 1. c. 8. can help no man against any kind of Miseries , whether for Original sins such as are Infirmities , Diseases and Death ; or for any actual sins , such as Plagues upon men , and Countries . It is in vain , when men go to Rome for a Bull against any kind of Tribulations whatsoever , either in their Soul , or Body , Relations or Fortune . No Indulgence can reprive from any Punishments that we can see : only that one which we see not , the being tormented in Purgatory for sins which God hath forgiven ; and there only my Jumpers can work wonders , and their Indulgences are worth Gold .

If the compassing of these two Ends , namely the easing you from pious Exercises , whensoever you are troubled with them ; and the removing of Gods purgatory Justice , be both impious and impossible ; the manner of attemting it by laying out the blood of Christ in Indulgences , is not much better . At first , when the Fathers of Trent talk magnificently of opening their great i i Concil. Trident. Sess. 21. c. 9. Celestial Magazines , and of drawing out thence , by the means of their Indulgences , Christs Blood , and all sorts of Blessings ; all this makes shew of a great matter . But if you will come but somewhat near , you shall find it what Eneas did , when being in the Heathenish Limbus , he thought to see and embrace his Father ; it is but an emty Phantome , which hath neither flesh nor bones , that you can hold . 1. For first this Celestial Magazine is not lockt and opened at Rome , as the Vatican Library is , whence the Pope and his Officers may lend to Baronius what Ancient Records he calls for , there to find tales for his purpose ; and sometimes Truth against himself . Nor is it like the Tresury where His Holiness keeps his Monies , when it comes in from selling Bulls , under the pretense of Holy Wars , &c. and goes out as they k k Aventin . Annal. Boior . l. 7. say sometimes it doth , in real truth , to arm Turks against Chrians . Nor is it like those more holy consecrated Repositories , where their holy Relics are kept ; and whence they may at any time shew all what you have a mind to see , the Head , or the Toe of a Saint , the Milk , or the Hairs of the Virgin . It were fair , if this Tresury , where Christs Blood and Ransom is kept , were but like their Holy Mass Pyx ; where the whole Body lies still at hand , for any man that may want it ; for then it were easy for the Pope , to take in and out what he pleases . They say that this whole Tresure is laid up in mente & acceptatione Divina , l l Suarez . De Thesaur . Deip. 51. Sect. 1. n. 6. that is , in the very mind and acceptation of God himself , where no sober man will imagine , that any Roman Pope can reach , as he must in the present Case . The Case is this . The Pope must have to dispose of , as much , or as little of the blood of Christ , as he intends to make his Indulgence to be worth . If it be an Indulgence for 40 daies , any Bishop may take as much ; so very little of this blood may serve : if the Indulgence be for 40 , or for 4 , or 500 years , he must proportionably take so much the more ; for all Indulgences being supposed to be really fraught with Christs Blood ; and to be effective Paiments made by the Pope , to God himself , out of his Sons satisfactions and Sufferings ; here first you must admit another such business as in the Mass Sacrifice . First the Pope reaches to part of this Celestial Tresure , which is with God ( above any human reach one should think ) otherwise how could he pay it , and having it ( I leave to others to determine what way the Pope can come it ) supply all Exigencies , especially at the Jubilee , and generally at any time . I ask any Christian Conscience , whether these satisfactions and this Blood , supposing true what they fancy , should not be much better left in the hand of Christ himself ; then in the disposal of a Pope , who , when we may have the greatest need , namely when after Death we must all stand above at the Bar , is at a great distance from us ; knows neither our Danger , nor our sins : nor what Judgment shall pass on us ; nor what we want to secure against that danger . Were not this better in his hand , who hath shed it , and presented it already to God , who sees our need , and who stands there to help out ? Were it not better left in Gods own hand to whom Christ first presented it ? And who is the Judg to whom , they say , the Pope must present it back again ? Is the Pope being at Rome more willing or more able , having this Blood under his key , to help with it remote and unknown Souls , then Christ who is present , to save his Members ? And whether of the two is more merciful and more likely to use it best to our Salvation , the Pope at a distance , in applying it to strangers , or God the Father being there present , in applying it to his Children ? Is it that Christs Redemtion must come to Rome , and there be ratified by some Bull , before it be good against Burning ? Secondly , this Paiment , however reacht to , is , they say , presented to God by the Pope . It is so in all Indulgences , but in those especially , which his Holiness grants for the dead . For there the Pope rescues no man from what he suffers , but by offering as much to God , of Christs Sufferings , that so Justice , they say , n n Bellarmin . de Indulg . l. 1. c. 14. sect. Tertia Quaestio . may be satisfied by the exchange . And herein lies a most impious Absurdity . 1. For what is this , to offer up again what Christ , by his eternal Spirit offered before ? Was not Christs once offering it , sufficient ? Is the Popes Offering more acceptable ? and since Christ alone can by the Law of Mechisedecs Priest-hood , offer up his Body , and Blood ; what is the Popes second Offering in every Bull , but a most sacrilegious Boldness ? Will they say , that this Offering is merely intentional , such as every Christian may do by praier ? then say I , the Indulgence which the Pope sells with this kind of Offering , is a mere Cheat ; if it be more , it is the Sacrilege . 2. Secondly what a rude extravagancy , is it to offer to God for Paiment his own Mony ? and to present him with that which he had already from an incompatably better hand ? Is this fair and honest dealing , to pay one out of his own Purse ? and what Piece of Courtship is it in a Subject , to present his Prince with nothing else , then his own proper Roial Jewels ?

This is the truth of Christs Satisfaction : and Pope and Papists should either learn , or teach it better . Christ having once offered to God a Ransom most sufficient to redeem all men , both from all sins and all the Penalties which attend them ; God the Father hath accepted of it , for such , at the hands of his Dear Son . Now the way of applying this great and infinite Sacrifice : and of rendring it as well all Efficacious to us , as it is al-sufficient in it self , is not to return it up to God , either by ordinary Priests at Mass , or by Popes pretending to repay it him in Indulgences ; ( for this were rather the way of applying it to God , who gives , then to us who must receive it ) but to beg it of God through Christ by continual Praiers ; to thirst and long after it , by the sense of our wants , and unworthiness ; to qualify our selves towards the receiving of it , by repenting ; and then to embrace what God according to his mercies and promises will give ; to embrace it , I say , with faith , and secure it to our selves by a constant course of holy life . Or to say the same in Roman terms . The Church hath an infinite Tresure , both of Satisfactions and Merits : out of which you may have as many Jubilees and Plenary Indulgences for all your Sins , and all the Penalties , whether eternal or temporal that attend sin , as you shall want . This Tresure of Satisfactions hath already bin both so sufficiently , and so efficaciously offered to God , by Christ and accepted of by God for you , that without any farther Offering by Mass Oblations or Popes Bulls , it stands alwaies before God , in his mind , and acceptation . God is pleased to offer it you , full as it is in his Gospel ; His Holy Sacraments , and his gracious Promises are both his Bulls and Indulgences , and be sure that you shall gain them , if you are but willing and earnest to have them : Only know this , that Christ , who is the Steward , and the Dispenser of the Tresure , throws it not a way undiscreetly on every sinner , that bids mony . None of his Indulgences are to be had sine Causa rationabili , as the Bull-mongers use to speak , without some reasonable cause , which is leaving the Pope , to come with repentance and Faith to Christ : instead of bowing to a Rosary Altar or an Image , to humble your self , and walk uprightly both before God and before men . Now have you got the whole Tresure upon these reasonable terms ; you have the keies along with it , as far as your private concern reaches . Impepenitency , or continuing in any sin , are the two ordinary keies , that lock it up : holy Faith , and true Charity are the keies that get it open . There are keies of another kind , that belong to public Persons , S. Peter , S. Paul , and all the Lawful Officers in the house of God . These public keies are to lock out of it all such wretches , as stand in the Church to shame it : and to open it to them again , when after due proofs of Amendment , they shall watch and knock at her Gates . And this is more then perhaps you think ; for altho directly they belong only to the Church , they do also consequently both lock or open Gods good Tresure , and in some manner Heaven it self . For tho Christ properly be the keeper of , as well as the way and the Gate of this Celestial Palace ; take it for certain , that his Keies do shut or open his Kingdom , whensoever Paul or Apollos , or any other Lawful Bishop , Lawfully shuts or opens the Church ; and whensoever also your private ones shut or open your own Tresure . If Rome trespass against the rule ( as her keies may turn wrong , and not in the wards of the Catholic Church ) your private ones shall serve your turn , and the keies of Christ will second them . These keies every true Christian , as Tertullian ᵖ saies very well , doth keep and carry about him : and may with them attain unto the tender Mercies of God , and the satisfaction of Christ for all his sins , without the Bull of any Pope . The very Papists do confess it , tho they do it in other words , when they say , r r Becan . de Sacram. c. 31. sect. 1. Parag. Tertia Conclusio . Lay-man . de Sacram. Poenit. c. 1. n. 8. That there is no mortal sin but may be remitted by true Co trition , without the Sacrament of Penance . Only for fear of beggering themselves , they keep in their own Power the remitting of Temporal Pains .

This one Reservation makes all the trouble about Pardons , and so secures all the profit . It makes all the trouble for Pardons ; for let the foulest sinner go and confess , the meanest Mass Priest can absolve him from all his sins , and from all the eternal punishments in Hell : and if some Repentance be required ( tho some s s Sylvester . Verb. Confess. 1. c. 21. Soto . in 4. Sent. d. 14. q. 4. a. 3. think it scarce necessary ) it will go hard with the Penitent , if a very small sorrow be not counted Attrition , and by the power of their Keies be not elevated , that is made to pass into such a degree of Contrition , or Roman Repentance , as shall secure the worst Livers from Eternal Destruction . And God knows , how many Wretches both are drawn away to that Church , and there emboldened to sin by this sweer Enchantment . But when you think to have done all ( for who is the honest Penitent that might not think to have done enough , when he hath freed himself from sin , and from the eternal Misery that follows it ) there remains still the temporal , which may make you burn for every one of these sins you think pardoned , in a Fire as hot as Hell , some say seven , some ten , others twenty Years , for every one of your Mortal Sins . You may hear God protesting by most of the Holy Prophets , That if you turn and believe , He will not so much as remember your sins any more . But Romes Purgatory Vengeance tells quite the contrary . You hear an Apostle preaching among the ancient Romans , That there is no condemnation at all for them that are in Christ Jesus , Rom. 8.1 . That is true for Hell , say now the Modern Romans , but not for Purgatory . You hear another Apostle telling you , That the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth you from all sins , when you have committed any , 1 John 1.5 . but not , saies the Roman Church , from all the Punishments and Burnings which you must suffer . Nay more , these will tell you also , that t t Bell. de Indulg . l. 2. c. 7. Christ hath most fully satisfied for all Sins and Punishments , both in Hell and in Purgatory : What can they say , and you wish more ? one should think so ; but they only mock you . For Christ , say they , hath satisfied so for you , but 't is upon condition , that you shall satisfie also for your self . Good God! I thought my Savior had satisfied fully for all my Debts , if by Repenting and Believing , and leading a Christian Life , I should make my self capable of his full Satisfaction . Now it seems he hath satisfied Divine Justice , in case I do satisfie it my self ; he hath freed me of all my Debts , if I pay them ; he hath obtained the full pardon of all my sins , if I be sufficiently punish'd for them . So I receive and may expect this favor , that I shall not be punish'd neither so long , nor in Hell ; and that I shall not be drawn and quartered on Tower-hill , if I be hang'd at Tiborn . This certainly is no full Pardon , nor full Satisfaction , nor full Paiment . They say , it is , if you apply it well . It is full to all ends and purposes , when it is applied by Baptism ; it is full after Baptism for all Mortal Sins and Eternal Punishments in Hell , if it be well applied by temporal and worldly pains . So I need not trouble my self for Hell or Sin : But what must I do to free my self from Purgatory ? Here therefore is the Corner , where you must pay the utmost Farthing : Here in good earnest lies all the trouble , and hence the Roman Clergy gains the profit .

For after you have bin at the trouble of continual Pilgrimages , Fastings , Scourgings , and great Expences , no body can well assure you , that seven Years of such hardships in this sad Life , shall x x Soto , in 4. Dist. 21. q. 2. a. 1. save in Purgatory one hours burning . You must have your recourse to Masses , and redeem your self out of that terrible Fire with whole thousands of these , as they call them , Celestial Victimes , for they properly are intended for that purpose : and many rich Men every day grudg not to destitute their Children , and to bestow their vast Estates to this good end . How much this hath raised up the Roman Church , you may see by those vast Lands and Patrimonies which she enjoies : and how little it can help poor Souls , you may see also by this , that after Millions of Masses so dearly bought , none of the Priests will think their Founders Souls so free from the pains of Purgatory , but they will sell and sing as many more , for their greater security .

In a word , after all is done which both Mass and Mass-Priests can do , there is no safety but in the Pope and Indulgences . If you will know what they Blaspheme ; Christ himself with his whole Body and all his Blood , tho a hundred times Sacrificed in a hundred Masses , is far short of what the Pope can do in one plenary Indulgence ; and , what Heaven and Earth may tremble at , his Roman Holiness sometimes applies more of Christs Blood in a single piece of Parchment , then Christ himself will do in three or four thousand Mass-Sacrifices . Therefore besides all you can get of the Mass-Priests , with their Supercelestial Victims , the Pope promises you far more out of his Celestial Store-house . This he can open as wide or little as he thinks fit : So you may have Bulls of all sizes ; some for 40 daies , Quadragens . Afterward they grew to one Year , as that solemn one which * * Baron . an. 1177. n. 49. Alexander the third bestowed in Ferraria upon St. Georges high Altar : Some other grew to seven , some to ten , some to twenty years ; but all things well considered , these small Indulgences proved too weak and insignificant to help one out of Purgatory : For alas ! who can tell us , whether one sin may not require as much or more , to be burnt out ? therefore you may have larger Indulgences , even for hundreds and for thousands of Years : such is that which Pope Boniface † † Job . Diacon ap. Caes . Reston . l. 2. c. 14. granted , when he dedicated the Chappel Misericordia , being worth one thousand Years to the Romans , two thousand to remoter Neighbors , and three thousand to them who came to it from beyond Sea .

This is nothing ; ten and twenty thousand Years came to be an usual rate for every Month in the Year , and sometimes y y Indulgentiae Rom. Italice . Edit. Veterb . 1645. for many daies in some Months . Read the Account of Roman * * Ibid. Indulgences , there you shal find some of thirty three thousand Years . In one of the Altars of the Lateran Church , which they call Ara Maxima , z z Caes . Reston . de Basil . Lateran . l. 2. c. 14. p. 207. there is one of 48000 for every day . They say the Venetians have one granted to them by Benedict the 11th , which extends to above fourscore thousand ; at last they are grown , and in one Church , for example in the Lateran , to a a a Ibidem . pag 204. number beyond all calculation : and they who think to guess best at it , do not find them less then the many small grains which you may find in a good handful of Sand ; or the many small drops of Water that can fall in three whole daies and nights of Rain .

This way of mesuring Indulgences by a greater or lesser number of Years , is , as it were an old Rag of the old Relaxations , which the Popes are pleased to tear off , either to blind or to countenance the newness of their Indulgences . The Primitive Church sometimes did punish scandalous Men with Censures , that lasted , some five , some ten , some fifteen , and some twenty Years : and if she saw reason for it , she used to remit more or less of this time of humiliation , according as the Penitent seemed to make better use of it . Now the Pope by his Indulgences remits another kind of Punishent , not that which the Church had laid , but that which God himself will lay on them ; not in this life and in the Church , but after death and in Purgatory ; not to make them a whit the better , but only to please his Justice . So because they know well enough , that these new Indulgences of theirs are quite another thing then b b Navar. de Jubil . Notab. 11. n. 7. Suarez . de Indulg . Disput. 49. Sect. 2. n. 7 , 8 , 9. what the ancient Relaxations were , they will borrow somthing of those to cover with it the newness of these ; and having changed the very Substance , they do what they can to inveigle themselves and others with some emty Shadows and Forms . Only they must betray themselves , when to make Indulgences more precious , they multiply twenties into thousands , a number as inconsistent with the Censures , as with the Lives of Penitents in the Church of God , but compatible with their new waies of Penance in Purgatory . For whereas one , or two , or some few Years of Ecclesiastical Relaxation , did tend only to take off some Years of their Ecclesiastical Censure ; our Roman Relaxations and Indulgences intend to take off quite , or to abridge Gods Judgment , which may last upon burning Souls longer then the longest Bulls . And this is the sense and meaning of their extravagant Calculation . Sir , you have from his Holiness a Bull of forty thousand Years ; that is , a holy Privilege , by which you shall be c c Layman . de Indulg . c. 3. n. 1. Suarez de Ind. Disput. 50. Sect. 5. n. 12. exemted from as long and as hot Burnings in the other World , as you might have freed your self from , not only by scourging your back every day of your natural life , but every day of forty thousand Years , if you were able to live so long . Every one of your Mortal Sins deserves by some ancient Canons a d d Bellar. de Indulg . l. 1. c. 9. Mortification of three , of seven , and some of ten Years and more : think how many such lie upon you , and then peradventure you shal find , that tho an Indulgence of forty thousand Years goes very far , it may be yet too short for you .

But if you be not pleased with this mesuring of Indulgences , because how long and wide soever , it is upon many e e Suarez . supra . accounts uncertain , whereas the sum which you pay for them is not so : take at your choice either partial , or plenary Indulgences , and then you shall know what you take . If you take a partial one , chuse what piece of Pardon you please , whether to be freed from the Penances that your Confessor puts you to , or from the punishment of venial , or for half , a third or fourth part of Mortal Sins . I say this , because beyond Sea I have known some great Persons , who would not take Pardon for all , being informed by their Directors , that God would be better glorified , if they should expiate some part of them by Burning themselves along with them in the Purgatory Fire . However , the Pope now hath the Blood and the Satisfactions of Christ so perfectly at his command , that he may & will let you have of it , for as much and as little as you please . But if you have a mind to make clear work , and to be quit with Gods Justice upon all scores , take a total or a plenary Indulgence . A plenary Indulgence , ( God in his great mercy forgive , and undeceive them who Blaspheme so ) is thought equivalent to Holy Baptism , and able to convey as much of Christs Blood upon you , as will wash you clean from all your Sins ; or at the least , clear you from all Debts , from the very date of your Baptism , to the taking of the Indulgence .

Yet this total or full Indulgence , admits of several degrees . For in Pope f f Extravag . Antiquorum . Boniface's account , there are some that are more then full , Pleniores ; some others yet fuller then these , Plenissimae . Some of the Roman Champions are puzled at this gradation , and do not know how to take it , unless it be for an exaggerating Expression , to swell somewhat the business , and to lighten the Buyers purse . Nevertheless there is in the case ground enough for these , and more Gradations . 1. You may think to have gained a total Indulgence , because it releases you of all the Punishment which can be laid on you by the Church ; when you want another , to release you from all other punishments , which may , either in Purgatory , or in some other place be laid on you , by God himself . 2. Suppose your plenary Indulgence remits both these , Ab injunct is , & debitis ; it commonly remits them no farther , then the time when it is applied to you , when being in great danger of dying , you are absolv'd by it . But in case you live longer , tho it were but a Fortnight , your total Indulgence is spent ; you want another , that may remit the sins which you may fall into before you die . Therefore there is a fuller one , Plenior , that may serve you to your last breath . 3. There must be another yet fuller then this , for when you are in such an extremity of either sickness or danger , that apparently you cannot live , Articulus mortis praesumtus , that is , the point g g Felin . de Indulg . n. 16. Antonin 1. part . Tit. 10. c. 13. and last term when you must use it ; then if you escape this danger , you see you are to seek of another , against both the point presumed , h h Navar. de Jubil . Notabil. 3. n. 18. and the point real , when you shall die ; unless you take their good advise i i Id. Notabil. 11. n. 7. , who are for two distinct Indulgences ; one for the presumed end of your life , which for greater security you may use in any danger ; and the other for the real term , when you shall die in good earnest : for thus , they say , you cannot fail to end your daies in a Baptismal Innocency . 4. But yet you may perhaps want a Priest to say your Absolution : For tho these kind of Officers be common enough , even five or six in a Parish , yet they may be all singing their Mass , when you are at home groaning to death . And in those barbarous Countries , where Mass-Priests are not so frequent , what will avail all your Indulgences , if you chance to die at Durham , when your Mass-Priest is at New-castle ? Therefore there are other fuller then those , and most full and fullest , Pleniores & Plenissimae , that can secure you from being burned , tho you want a Priest : which is done two manner of waies , either by impowering you to make your Groom , or the next Man or Woman that you meet with , a lawful Officer to absolve you , because these Indulgences are such unsacramental Pardons , which may be as well applied k k Suarez . de Indulg . Deip. 49. Sect. 3. n. 6. as granted , without any Priestly Character ; or by wording your Indulgence in such terms , as shall require no Body at all l l Ibid. Disput. 56. Sect. 1. n. 3. to apply it ; and in that case , they say , the Pope himself is the immediate Priest , who absolves you at any distance . 5. When you have this , you have not yet all ; for there is another sort of sins that this Indulgence , how large soever , takes , it may be , no notice of ; to wit , all the sins which you may hazard your self into , by presuming on the strength of this Indulgence . Some of your best Directors tell you , m m Navar. de Jubil . Notab. 34. n. 6. that nothing is a sin , which you are emboldened to do by the hope of the next Jubilee , or of a most plenary Bull , such as Friends and Money can easily procure you from Rome ; or at the least , that what you do , tho the venturing were a sin , yet it cannot at all debar you from the benefit of this Pool , that washes all your filth away . Yet I hear of some other great ones , and Saints too , who will except presumtuous sins , when they apply these large Pardons . For thus runs the Absolution , n n Archiep. Flor. 1. p. tit. 10. c. 3. Authoritate , &c. that is , By the authority of the Apostolical See committed to me , I absolve thee of all thy sins , excepting those which thou hast committed by relying on this Indulgence . Get therefore your most full Indulgence to be made fuller , by the addition of those sins , and then die when and how you please , your Soul is safe . 6. But and if you would be so good , as to get in by the same means somewhat to pleasure your Friends with , call for an Indulgence , such as you find one o o Rosar . Viterb. 1645. p. 216. at St. Laurence without the Walls of Rome , on Easter Wednesday ; or at St. Athanasia p p Ibid. pag. 212. the day before , an Indulgence with 18 or 28 thousand Years of true Pardon , and as many Quarantins : and withal , the power of rescuing any Soul from out of the Flames of Purgatory . Thus by this large accumulation of good and Ghostly Privileges , you may take the full Indulgence for your self , save Father or Mother out of Burning , and bestow the Quarantins and other odd Years on your Friends . 7. If his Roman Holiness be graciously pleased to add to it these two Clauses , Ad instar Jubilaei , and , Quantum se Claves extendunt ; that is , After the manner of a Jubilee , and , As far as the Keies of the Church can reach ; this is absolutely a Plenary , and more Plenary , and most Plenary Indulgence . With this , for ought I know , you may save all the World and your self : however , you may secure all the Crimes , and Incests , and Sodomies , which you find expiated , and paid for in the Popes Apostolical q q Taxa Cancellariae . Chamber . For who can tell what that is , which St. Peters Keies cannot fetch in ? And what is too much to be taken out of an infinite Tresure ? and to be given r r Suarez . Disp . 50. Sect. 1. n. 2. out of it , by an unlimited Power ? Quaecunque solveris , &c. The main difficulty of the business is , that such a large and comprehensive Indulgence is like to stand you at a high price . For such gracious Concessions , as you may see at large in the Roman s s Taxa Cancellariae . Edit. Paris , 1520. Chancery Office , must all be granted after the proportion of what they give : So much for having killed t t Ibid. Pag. 58. your Father ; and so much for him that hath ravished u u Ibid. p. 57. Sister and Mother : but there 's no Dispensation or Mercy for him who hath a mind to pay x x S. Antonin. 1. p. tit. 10. c. 3. nothing . You may be absolved from sins , which you have not actually confessed , if you had a mind to confess them ; and your Indulgence on this account will accept of an intended Confession : But so cannot the Roman Office of an intended paiment ; the sum , such as it is , must be laid down . Papa non debet , &c. saies a great z z August . de Anron . de Potest . Pap. q. 3. ad 3. Man , The Pope ought not so to grant Indulgences to them who would fain pay , as to them who pay actually . And in this case , saies he , the rich Men have the a a Ibid. better Title to the Blessedness which the Pope gives ; as our Savior saies , The poor have it , to that which he is pleased to give himself , Luke 6.20 . Quia b b Taxa Cancell . fol. 23. non sunt , &c. saies his Holiness , Book of Rates . Whosoever hath no Money , cannot be comforted with Pardons : and if you will have it in other terms , Such full Indulgences are Jewels for Kings and great Persons , let them be never so profane : not for poor and private Men , let them be never so pious .

But nevertheless , do not despond in this good Catholic way , for the Pope takes care of you , in the care he takes for himself . You must not think that some few Grandees are able to make up the vast sums which he raiseth out of Indulgences : It is all that whole Europe can do . Therefore besides those few Indulgences , which you shall find in some great Houses ; as in Corporations and Cities , not only for the Lord , the Lady , the Children , Male and Female who are living , but for many Generations , and hundreds of Years after them , so the Protestant Heresie may never creep into these Houses ; besides these great and hereditary Indulgences , I say , which are proper to some Families ; the Pope scatters others as good for their present occasion , throout all the Catholic Countries .

1. Sometimes Princes will engage for all , and accommodate his Holiness with c c Histor. Concil. Trid. l. 8. a good lusty sum of ready Money , suppose 200 thousand Ducats , that they may sell them in retail , and at small rates among their Subjects ; or the Pope will engage those Princes with some d d Polyd. Virgil. l. 26. pag. 602. Edit. Basil . 1534. considerable share in the Profits , to countenance his Officers , if he will retail them himself . Thus all passages being made free , Friers will run all over the World , of whom you and every Man else may have their Merchandise for a small matter . If your Parson will take as much as he thinks may serve his Parish ( as heretofore Rectors e e Flor. Raemund . de Orat. & Progress . Haeres . l. 1. c. 8. and Curats used to do , in hope of gaining somthing for their pains , and for the ease of their poor Flock ) you are like to have it cheaper . Whether the Blood of Jesus Christ follows both forward and backward all the motions of these Merchants , or whether God , in whose hand is the Church Tresure , will punctually send as much of it , as makes the Indulgence worth the buying , whether and whensoever the Pope of Rome , for his own ends , will send his Bulls , is not the Point in question . But however , these great Indulgences , full or emty , such as they are , can by the means of these Hucksters , both return Millions back to Rome , and come home ready to your hands for eighteen pence . Over all Spain , and the Kingdoms appertaining , saies f f Navar. de Jubil . Notabil. 15. n 5. Navarrus ( and think not that England fares worse ) a full Indulgence of all Sins , with many other Faculties and Privileges added to it , such as the liberty of eating Cheese on Saturday , &c. may be had by every one ( Prince or Pesant it matters not ) for two small pieces of Silver .

2. There is not any poor country Church or Chappel , but , as it hath a Saint for its special Patron , and an anniversary Feast for the day on which it was consecrated , hath also some special Graces out of the Roman Tresury , to wait both upon the Saint and the Feast . Thus one needs not to go farther then the Parish , to get at the least twice in a Year the benefit of Indulgences .

3. If you be not content with what your Parish can afford , the Pope hath so judiciously scattered great Sanctuaries over all his Catholic World , like the Moazim in Daniel , and the High places in Israel ; that there is scarce any Country so unfortunatly seated , but it can supply all Catholic Inhabitants with all they can want in this case . In Spain you have the Chappel of Angels g g Conformit . S. Franc. Conf. 14. , where by the Virgins special favor , you may save one Soul every Year ( you might have done it every day , if the Pope had not grudged at it ) if you will but step into the Church . At Venice you have the Chappel called The Lords Sepulcher , and therein some think , fourscore thousand Years of Pardon . Padua , Perusium , Florence , Montserrat , Lauretta , &c. do not come much short of this . In France you shall find it may be more , if you go to St. Denis , St. Michael , Limoges , and a hundred other famous Places , which it were needless to mention here . You may be sure that Germany , and the Low Countries , do not want such Commodities as these are .

4. Besides these local Indulgences that are fixed to Altars and Churches , which you may easily resort to , his Holiness hath taken care to fasten some other , and large ones too , upon certain moveable h h Suarez . de Indulg . Disp. 52. Sect. 1. n. 3. things , which are brought ready to your hand . For as there are privileged Altars , Masses , and Churches , made fast to certain pieces of ground ; there are Praiers enrich'd with the like Favors and Indulgences , flying up and down the Roman World , as light and nimble as Paper can be , that can afford you upon this score more then you can need . Buy but a little Book , such as I have an old one by me , containing the Suffrages of the Saints ; there you shall find in one short Ave Maria i i Suffrag . fol. 74. alias 85. said to the honor of St. Anna , St. Mary and her Son , ten thousand Years for your Mortal , and twenty thousand more for your Venial Sins . In another Salutation , k k Suffrag . fol. 9. Ave Valnus 4000 daies ; in the Praier Dirupisti 6000 ; in the Praier a a Suffrag . fol. 64. Domine Jesu , ten hundred thousand Years ; in the Praier Adoro te , l l Suffrag . fol. 52. 32755 Years of Pardon . And if this be not enough , Pope Sixtus the 4th was pleased to add to it a great deal more , even so much as to double it , and the 15 Oo's of St. Brigit , that is , in a Praier made of 15 Ejaculations m m Suffrag . fol. 49. , all beginning by O Jesu ; forty five huge great Indulgences , and extraordinary Powers , namely , fifteen to deliver from Purgatory any fifteen Souls you please to name of your kindred ; fifteen , to convert to a good Life any fifteen Men or Women , that you may find among sinners ; and fifteen , to keep fifteen more honest Persons , safe and constant in a good way . And the Rubric adds more , n n Ibid. that whatsoever you shall desire , if it be for the good of your Soul , you shall have it . And what can you not expect of Salve Regina , Ave spes , and such other more solemn Praiers ? When you are weary of Praiers , take your Beads . Videmus , &c. a a Navar. de Jubil . Notabil. 15. n. 5. saies a most Learned and Pious Author in the Roman way , I my self , saies he , have seen small Buttons , or Beads of Wood , so powerfully blessed by the Pope , that whosoever had one in his hand , in saying but the Lords Praier , was therewith enabled to save a Soul . Any Meddal , when rightly consecrated , can do as much ; 't is but getting some of those rusty Pieces , which Pope Sixtus the Fifth found once under the rubbish of an old Wall , then presently you are b b Cardinal . Raspon . l. 4. c. 11. pag. 347. fitted with * * Suffrag . fol. 6. rare Indulgential Privileges . The Agnus-Dei's , as I will shew you anon , that is , pieces of Wax sealed with the Image of a Lamb , and consecrated accordingly , go beyond this . But observe what I tell you , and admire the blessedness of being a Roman Catholic ; by that time you are grown so weak , or so lazy , as not to stretch your hand to a Book , in order to the gaining these Indulgences ; the very Bell of the Parish will sound them int● your Ears . Pope John the 22d is the first I know , who c c Ricard . Cluniac . in Joh. 22. being at Avignion , assured twenty daies of Pardon upon the toling about Sun-set ; and since that time , these 20 were out of the Church Tresure d d Suffrag . de Beat. Mar. fol. 42. by Pope Sixtus improved here in England , into 300 daies of pardon at every daies toling 3 times ; this they call the Ave Bell. Thus , unless you stop both Heart and Ears , you can't want every day a fair proportion of Indulgences .

4. If you will drink at the Fountain of all these good things , go to Rome . As that Town is by the Testimony of her e e Alvar. Pelagius de Planctu Eccles. l. 2. Art. 2. Platina in vita Marcel . S. Bernard . de Considerat . l. 4. own Friends acknowledged to be the durtiest Nest of all sorts of uncleanness ; she hath , to wash all clean , a whole Ocean of Indulgences . There the seven great Churches , not to name a hundred more , can upon their own account afford more Propitiations , then the greatest Villains can commit sins : for there is Scala Sancta , that is , those 28 Steps , or Marble Stones , that once belonged to Pilate ; but now have in them such a measure of Holiness , that the Popes think it Devotion to kneel on them : And that of late , Queen Christina is much celebrated f f Card Reston l. 4. c. 10. by some for having bent her Roial knees , and , what she never had done in her Country , expressed much Devotion , by creeping up those Holy Stairs . There is that most Holy Chappel , which they call Sancta Sanctorum , where Men at the first stepping into , find wherewith g g Ibid. c. 19. pag 373. to expiate all sins : and Women , at the very looking into it ( for they are not suffered to come in ) get even as much through an Iron Grate . This is the most Holy Sanctuary , more Holy then Heaven it self , since it is too Sacred and Holy for his Holiness h h Ibid. p. g. 384. to approach near its Altar , and for the very Body and Blood of Christ there to be offered at Mass . Agreat Holiness , you may think , which will admit neither of Christs Vicar , nor Christ himself . There finally are the four Gates , Portae Sanctae , which stand open all the Jubilee long , to let all People into Heaven . The way of it is admirable , and I have it i i Martin . Navar. de Jubil . ad fin . from good Authors . His Holiness comes to St. Peters , with a silver Hammer in his hand ; and being followed by a great Pomp and Procession of Cardinals , and best Grandees of the City , he strikes the Wall with his Hammer , and bids the Temple to lay open its eternal or everlasting Gates , that the Righteous Nation may come in . Then presently Masons appear to pull down the Stones , that that Holy Gate was Walled with . The Roman people throngs to help , and thrice happy is the poor Wretch , who gets one bit of the Ho●y Materials , which was touched with the Popes Hammer . * * Ibid.

What is don by the Pope at S. Peters , the same is don at the same time by some of the best Cardinals , at S. Pauls , S. Johns of Lateran , and S. Maries the Major . And the 4 Breaches are the four strait Gates , through which the Roman Catholics by the strength of their Indulgences break into the Kingdom of God . It is beyond the power of men , saies the Cardinal k k Cardinall . Raspon . l. 2. c. 14 item l. 4. c. 19. Rasponi , to tell what an infinite deal of Indulgences is given by Popes on these accounts . But without these Extraordinaries , the ordinary and daily Allowance of these Ghostly Helps comes to that point , ( unless my Italian Authors , and Public Authority deceive me ) that there is neither a Month in the year , l l Arch. Carract . de Rosario . part . 4. but Rome can afford you out of her very walls and stones , wherewith to save 25 or 30 Souls besides your own ; nor a Day in the Month where any one may not with little trouble , gain Hundreds and Thousands , and ten , and twenty , and sometime three and thirty thousands of years ; besides the many Quarantins , Moities , and thirds , and half Moities of forgiven sins , over and above .

You may justly wonder at this vast Affluency of Indulgences : but you may better wonder at and bless the Pope for the light and easy terms , that he throws upon you his Tresure at . You do purchase all these Pardons , neither at the rate of the Gospel , Pluck out thine Eie that offends thee ; Cut off the Hand , and be renewed in the inner Man : nor at the old rate of the first Popes , who began with these Indulgences ; Go , and fight against the Turks , or against excommunicated Heretics : or if you will not be at the hazard of Loosing your life ; go and be at the charges of keeping Soldiers for this Service . But Attritus , & Confessus , with a small tincture of Sorrow , which the Sacrament of Confession changes presently into Repentance , go to which Confessor you please : eat or rather swallow down one piece of a consecrated wafer ; then go and bow to such an Altar ; or if you must salute five , you may stand in such a Place , whence you may see , and salute , and say your Ave Maria before all the l l Arch. Carraccio . De Rosar . part . 2. c. 9. five at one time . This is enough in conscience ; for you may find almost everywhere , saies Navarrus , Indulgences with all the Pardons , that Rome affords , ( consider what a deal that is ) without m m Navar. de Jubil . Notab. 15. n. 5. any mention of Praier ; if you will but visit three Churches , or three Altars . Nay , stand but at a convenient distance from one of them , as for example before S. Peter at Rome . When his Holiness like o o Suarez . de Indulg . Disput. 49. Sect. 5. n. 3. a great King scatters his Roial Blessings and Favors among his Catholic Subjects : or p p Carraccio . De Rosar . part . 2. c. 8. carry hallowed Beads at your Girdle ( one day perhaps you may be bidden as well to wear a Feather in your hat , or to cock your Beaver , or to cut a Caper , or to dance a civil Sarabrand ) these and such like are the Conditions put upon you as proper Means , for gaining the greatest Pardons .

In the mean time , to compleat the Impertinency , and to crown it with Impiety ; God and his Christ must be called in , not as Spectators only of , but as Actors subservient to these Doings ; there to provide , and to distribute a proportionable Quantity of his Satisfactions , that lie by him , whensoever , and what way soever the Popes of Rome utter their Bulls . For , if you believe what they are at , Christ ordinarily meddles but little with applying to any man his own Blood or satisfactions . If he did so , there might be some danger indeed , lest Saints , when importunatly called upon , or undiscreetly merciful , might intercept , and make use of the Tresury , without the help of Popes , and Masses : and by that means praying to Saints would ingross all ; and , as to the Churches interest , would most really undo all . Therefore it is thought more * * Suarez . De Suffrag . Sect. 5. n. 10. convenient , that Christ of Course should do nothing in the management of these Affairs , but by the intervention of his Ordinary Instruments ; and when it happens otherwise , as when once the Virgin , as they say took a drop of Blood from her Sons side to apply to one of her ugly Chaplains ; it is lookt upon , as one of those very strange things , which if she doth , it is seldome . Witness the case of Pope Innocent the 3d whom , she would never pull out of the direful Flames , where S. Ludgardis saw him † † Surius in vita S. Ludgard . burning , for three fearful Crimes he was dead in , and in good justice had bin damned for , had not the Mother of Mercy saved him ; She would not I say take him out thence , but by obtaining , ( which is the ordinary course , she takes , in the Salvation of damned men ) that he might come up abroad a while , for to acquaint his Friends with his Pains , and to beg mercy by their Suffrages . So the ordinary course is this , that tho God have the Church Tresury by him , yet he dispenses not the good things which it contains , specially in the matter of Indulgences , but according as the Pope his Deputy is willing to dispense his Bulls . There God somewhat like a Factor sits by the Cash , to pay out of it , great and small sums , according as the Chief Merchant draws upon him great or small Bills . In order to this Law , you may remember , that when the Queen of Heaven once had a mind to invest the Monks called Carmelites , with a privilege that doth free them every Saturday without failing , out of Purgatory , She q q Vid. Bull. Sabbat. first addressed her self to the Pope John 22. Christ himself , ( that is , the Spirit , who took Christs name ) did the like for S. Francis ; for before he would grant what the Saint would have , namely the saving of every Soul , that after Confession should step into his little Chappel ; he sent him to Pope r r Lib. Conform . S. Franc. Conform . 14. Honorius 3d , who much disputed the case in a full College of Cardinals : and after a long debate whether he should ratifie that favor ; at last he thought more convenient to restrain it , from every day in the year , to the first in the Month of May. Whereas we never read , that Christ ever took upon him to restrain any Popes Bulls , no not the most exorbitant of them . Here then both God , and Christ are made the Drudges , as well of every Pope at every Bull , as of every Mass-Priest , at every Mass . At Mass , whensoever the Priest saies the words , Hoc est enim Corpus meum , Christ by their Law yields his Body , and God the Father , his Miracles , to make the Transubstantiation : and tho the Priest minds nothing more , then Witchcraft , Mischief , and Profaneness , as I have shewed it in another Book , both Christs Body , and Gods Power must be rather subservient to the Abuse , then not subservient to the Mass . And in the case of Indulgences , which , if worth any thing , are nothing else then gracious Favors of the Pope , and real paiments out of Christs Purse ; Christ is supposed to be ready to part with his Blood , whensoever the Pope parts with his Bull ; and tho these Bulls be intended , as it happens very often for quite other Ends then they pretend ; Christs Blood and Satisfactions must wait on them , whether for pardoning mens Sins , or for ˢ emtying poor German Purses ; for arming Christians against the Turks ; or the Turks against ᵗ the Christians : for the Building up of Palaces , or for enriching the ᵘ Nepotism : for indulging Divorcements , Adulteries , and very Incests ; for these and such other good Ends I say , Christ is presupposed to be as free to make good such Bulls with his Blood , as the Pope is , when his own interest will have it so , to make them pass under his Seal ; However good Catholics when they buy them , believe it so . And this Belief is one of the greatest Allurements , that draw new Proselytes to Rome .

CHAP. XI . Concerning the procuring Pardon of sins , by the means of holy Confraternities , and Friends .

NEXT to the Popes Bulls and Indulgences , the help of any honest Friend , that will take our Guilt upon himself : and the having ones Name entered into a Holy Confraternity , are two ready and easie waies of procuring Atonement . And the Roman Religion is commodious in nothing more , then in finding out expedients either for removing quite away ; or for shifting from one to another all personal Punishments . Have you committed Adultery , Extortion , or any Crime of this nature ? Such grand Sins in the Auricular Confession deserve at the least Fasting , and giving of Alms : but if you are not either willing , or able to do it your self ; it is enough , if some of your kindred will do it for you . One shall fast , a a Medin . de Satisfact. q. 5. Sotus in 4. d. 19. q. 1. a. 4. the other give some small relief ; if they intend it for you when they do it , it shall all turn for your own use : and God , they say will take it so , as well , and in some cases , even better , then if you had don it your self . And this is the best of all ; others shall suffer all the hardship , when you enjoy the sweet of sins . And if you want such honest Friends , as will do it out of kindness ; you cannot want them , who will do much more for mony . All the World knows , what upon this account is don at Rome , in Spaine , and other Catholic Countries ; there men are publicly hired to do Penance , and to whip themselves to the blood , for the discharge of other mens sins . Only , look well to these two things . 1. That the poor fellow , whom you hire to perform this Service for you , be an honest likely fellow to be in the estate of Grace ; in statu Gratiae ; for fear his Fastings and Lashings otherwise , may chance not to be accepted either for you or for himself . 2. Get you before hand ᵇ the Consent of your Confessor , who in that Case both will and may capacitate the self-whipper : and by the Power of his keies , improve every lash he gives himself , into an expiatory and ᶜ Sacramental Satisfaction for you . The custom is in some Countries to get a miserable Raskal on Ashwednesday to d d Volateran . Geograph . l. 7. Sect. Vltra Albim . turn himself out of the Church : and to walk all that day and night bare-footed about the Streets . After that , every Body invites him home , gives him mony , and lastly he is brought again , and absolved in the Church . After the Absolution , the man , whom they have thus made their Proxy , is called by them Adam , e e Belforest . Hist. Mund. l. 3. and is thought to be made again by this Penance both as innocent in himself , as Adam was before the fall : and as able to expiate the whole Town , into as spotless a Condition , as Adam had left his Posterity in , without that fall .

These good Services and Suffrages done in behalf of Catholics , either by Friends or Hirelings , are of Suarez . Tom. 4. ln 3m. Disput. 38. Sect. 9. n 2. k k Medina . Tract. 2. q. 84. a quite other importance , then all the best helps which Christians ever begged or expected one from another , by Praiers , Intercessions , and any Endeavors whatsoever , that are usual among Fellow Members in the communion of one Body ; which at the most , come to no more then to pray day and night to God , for what is unknown and uncertain , whether they shall obtain it or no. Some few f f Ap. Suarem de Suffrag Dis● . 48. Sect. 2. n. 1. more sober Papists indeed would fain understand it so ; and this is it which they call in their School Language , Ferre Suffragium , &c. to Vote for their Friends towards God , by way of Impetration , or Petition , or meer Congruity . But alas ! what these simple Men suggest at Rome as a Cloak for their modesty , is to be baffled by all the rest as dangerous g g Ibid. n. 4. Innovation . These Suffrages , as the Catholic current Tenet takes them , are nothing else then good , real , and lawful Paiments or Satisfactions , which both the Sinner may rely on , and which God is obliged to accept of , in lieu or exchange of all other punishment . For here the kind Undertaker addresses not himself to God for his Client , with a meer Petition to beg favor ; but as if I went my self to the severest Creditor with ready Money in my hand , not to defire him to spare my Friend , or to release him gratis , but fully to discharge his Debt , and thus by course of Law to get him out . For it were an idle thing , as these Catholic Divines do think , h h Ibid. supra , ● . 9. to sue for Mercy and a gratuitous Release , as long as Men have suitable Penances , and satisfactory Works , wherewith they may discharge what their Friends owe , and thus acquit them with Justice . And least , Presumtion should want Blasphemy ; they dare compare these Suffragants with Christ i i Ibidem . himself , who redeemed us from punishment no other way , then by satisfying and paying down that punishment . So the Roman Catholics have the happiness ( and 't is a huge one if it be true ) to have as many Redeemers as Friends . Now that God will accept of the Ransom , which these Friends offer in behalf of guilty Persons , they put it above all doubt , and allege these two grounds for it . 1. Because the Penance which the kind Neighbor is pleas'd to offer , is equivalent k k Ibid Sect. 3 n. 5. to the punishment , which the guilty person should suffer . 2. Because , as they pretend , God hath bound himself by his own special l l Ibid. n. 10 , 11 , 12. Order and Promise , infallibly to accept of as due satisfaction , that which shall be thus offered for the Sinner , by the Sinners Friend . And if you should think to beat them off from this perswasion by plain Scripture , That every one shall bear his own burthen , Galat. 6. That every one shall receive the things done in his flesh , according as he hath done , whether it be good or bad , 2 Cor. 5.10 , &c. They will grant you this to be true m m Ibid. sect. 2. n. 16. , when he hath no Friend that will bear the burthen for him , or undertake for what he hath don amiss ; but if he have , they make no question at all , but honest Men. n n Catechism . Pii . 5. De Sacram. Poenit. n. 61. may pay to God what others owe , and so bear the burthen one of another . Yet more , they do not scruple to say , That the good Work being offered for another with true kindness , is more o o Thom. 3. cont. Gent. c. 58. acceptable to God in some respects , then when it is offered for ones self .

Here if you desire to enquire into the ground , which , by their own confession , the whole business depends upon ; to wit , whence they have , or know any such Law as should admit of a Proxy in personal Punishments , and enable a Man against Scripture to deliver his Brother , and to make agreement unto God for him , Psal. 49. they will answer you , p p Suarez . sup. sect. 2. n 5. that they have it not from any Reason or Justice ; that it must be thus ordered of God by some special Constitution of his ; that this special Constitution q q Ibid. n 6. cannot be evidenced by any convincing Text of Scripture , because whatever is brought out of Scripture to this purpose , proves no more , then a mutual help of Praiers to God by way of Impetration and Favor , which God may either grant or deny , as he pleaseth ; and not by way of a sufficient Satisfaction or Paiment , which he is obliged to accept of . In a Word , that the common Opinion and sense of the Church , ( that is , the present Roman Clergy ) is the only Evidence they have for this Constitution . But if this ground seem too Sandy , to bear any great weight with wise Men , several Revelations will be brought in to strengthen it ; and tho these Revelations be neither from Christ nor his Apostles , what would you have better then the Virgin ? I have told you already , how among many of her dear Villains , whom often she suffers to live and to die most disorderly , she rescued Bassus out of Hell , and brought him up to life again , that he might have time to confess , and to get Friars in her Name , to undertake r r Al. Gazaeus . de Officio B. M. for him the Penance ; which the Godly Monks did presently , and so the Raskal was freed of all .

Upon this , and such other Examples , the Roman Priests are directed s s Layman . de Sacram. Penit. c. 15 n. 13. , when they have heard their weak Penitents ; to exhort their Friends to such Works and Penances in their behalf , who cannot do so much for themselves . And the Confessor being desired , may , upon due consideration , undergo all the Penalties , which , being best transferred on others with his consent , as it is said , are better born out by himself . And that which is a great deal more , and may better please the Sinner , some Confessors will go so far , as to take upon themselves the very sin . Thus did , for Example , that both skilful and charitable Jesuit t t Vid. Practice of the Jesuits , Edit Lond. p. 123. , who meeting with an old Sinner , but withal a Rich Noble-man , notoriously loaden with Crimes , and resolved to confess none , eased him of all , both by charging himself with all his sins , and transferring over upon him in exchange , all the Satisfactions and Merits of his good Works . So upon a sudden , here is the Villain in the former case of the Holy Jesuit , and there the Jesuit in the case of the Villain ; and both happy , as it appeared soon after in a clear Revelation , that assured them whom it concerned , that the dead Noble-man had not any the least Offence to answer for ; and that the charitable Jesuit had all both sins and penalties clean wiped off , and a great deal of thanks given him besides , for his extraordinary kindness . I know by what I have heard and seen my self in great Houses , that the ordinary Complement of Directors among Ladies , is , Icharge my self , and lay upon me your sin , Madam . So familiar and easie means Rome can afford for expediting poor Sinners .

It is in this management of sins , and transmitting and borrowing at discretion mutual Helps , Satisfactions and Merits , that consists most principally the great use of Confraternities .

The Confraternities are in the Roman Church , what Corporations are in a Commonwealth , to wit , Companies and Societies , both of Monks , and other devout Catholics , united together by free consent , and encouraged by great Indulgences and Spiritual Privileges , toward the undertaking or improving some special piece of Roman Devotion . There is scarce any Order of Monks , or any petty Roman Saint , but hath a Confraternity ; and if the Saint be more famous , it is hard if one Confraternity can serve his turn . The Virgin Mary alone hath as many , which are scattered over Europe under several notions , as may people the largest Kingdom . Where she is believ'd to have appear'd , there commonly she hath a Church , or a Chappel , or an Altar , or an Image , and a Confraternity to honor her . The very Courtiers u u Vrban . 8. Constit . 31. Pastoris aterni . and Musicians x x Id. Constitit . 33. Pietatis . at Rome , two holy Orders of Men you know , have their proper Confraternities , and consequently their proper Spiritual Privileges , and extraordinary Indulgences .

Now the Benefit of any one of those Societies is such , as must needs please any Sinner , who stands in any fear of Hell . The whole business comes principally to these three Heads . First , The Duty which must be performed , such is for example , the saying de Profundis , * * Clemens 8. Constit . 29. Ex debito nostri . for Souls vexed in Purgatory ; in the Arch-confraternity of the Blessed Mary de Suffragio , allowed by Pope Clement the 8th ; or Worshipping an Arm of S. Andrew , a Toe of St. Paul , and a Finger of S. Catharine y y Sixt. 4. Constitut. 14. , in the Confraternity of the Holy Ghost ; or in visiting a certain Altar and Chappel z z Pius 4. Constitut. 16. , as in the Confraternity of St. Rochus ; or in kneeling with an Ave , when you hear a certain Bell a a Paul . 3. Constit . 20 , as in the Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament ; or praying before a little Image found by a Shepherd in an old Tree b b Lipsius . Virg. Hall . & Astericoll . , as in the Confraternity of our Lady Hallensis , and of Montague . And who can doubt , but these and other such elevated Devotions about Bones , Bells , and old Images , may much Spiritualize Christian Souls , and advance them to Heavenly Things ?

2. The second advantage of these Holy Confraternities , consists in an infinite heap of Indulgences , which the Popes call , c c Gregor. 13. Constit. 38. Pastoris aeterni . the Spiritual Sweet-Meats , Spiritualium Alimentorum Esca , wherewith Men are allured and baited to Christian Perfection . At your first step into a Confraternity , all your sins whatsoever ( Heresie and Rebellion against the Pope alwaies excepted ) shall be most fully forgiven : at your stepping out of it by death , you have as much ; and as long as you live in it , you scarce can do any the least thing , as to go to Church , walk after a Procession ; or in case you must keep your Chamber , say a short d d Paul . 3. Constit. 20. Dominus noster . Paul . 5. Constit . 29. Postulat ratio . Ave when it passes , or when the little Bell rings , but you shall be rewarded for what you do , with seven , or ten , and sometimes a hundred Years of true Pardon . Besides all this , by entring into a Confraternity , you enter at the same time under the Protection and special Favor of some great Saints , St. Sebastian , St. Hubert , &c. and most commonly our Lady her self , who , you may be sure , will look well to her Family , and make good what true Catholics daily teach and hope of her , c c Franc. Mendosa . Viridar . l. 2. c. 9. namely , That it is absolutly impossible for any one of her Servants to be damned . And hence swarm out most , if not all , yet most of the Revelations , the Miracles , and wonderful Deliverances wrought in behalf of the Brethren , whether Monkish , or Lay and Secular Persons of every Confraternity .

3. But the main Benefit indeed , and the most earnestly sued after , by them who give their names to these admirable Companies , is that of exchanging their Guilt and Sins , with other Mens Satisfactions and good Works . The Protestants never understood well , how the Roman Church is skilful in shifting on and off good and bad Deeds from one Man over to another . First , There are in every Confraternity Saints , and other more common Brethren , endued with so many and great Merits , and satisfactory Works , that they have much to spare to others . Secondly , There are , as they say , in every one of these good Works two several distinct Virtues , to accommodate a poor Friend with ; to wit , a Meritorious Influence , to procure him Grace , and an Expiatory Quality , to secure him from Punishment . Thirdly , they can order both Influences to go just what way , and upon what Person they direct them . If the Owner feels any need of them for his own use , it is fit they should stay at home ; but if he wishes them for a Neighbor , this very wishing and actual Intention will so appropriate the whole business to whomsoever he pleases , that when he Praies , Fasts , Whips himself , and doth any act of like Piety ; all this shall make the poor Sinner both as acceptable to God , ex Congruo , that is in equity , and as safe from Punishment , ex Condigno , that is , in due course of Justice , as if he had done all himself . But in case the Holy Man designs by his work nothing else but to please God , and so thinks neither of his Friend nor of Himself ; then it must be presupposed , that he is alwaies for the good of his Corporation : and this , which they call Implicit or Virtual Intention , conveies all the Merit and Satisfaction of what he doth , not into the public Tresury , whence the Pope takes his Indulgences ; but into these more private Magazins , which are proper to each Company , whence every Member takes what he wants . And if you compare these two together , the Tresure of the Church may afford more Satisfactions to shelter one against Purgatory : but the stock of Confraternities is more proper for investing him with Merits , and advancing him to Gods Favor : Therefore Papal Indulgences , f f Navar. de Jubil . Notabil. 31. n. 24. saies their best Doctor upon this Matter , may be more certain to keep off vengeance ; but the entring into a Fraternity ( which all Catholics of all Ages and sorts may do ) is the better way to procure Grace . For whatsoever great Saints have ever deserved of God in their life times , as S. Francis in teaching of Birds , and St. Dominic in making Beads , and all others in like holy Feats ( besides their Intercession and Patronage ) is reserved in , or hath a direct Influence upon their respective Societies ; that is the reason wherefore now adaies all sorts of People , both high and low , Husbands and Wives , Nobles , and common Trades-men , throng to get in , and to have their names entred into these visible Sanctuaries . And who is the ignorant or mad Sinner , that would not there provide himself with other Mens Satisfactions and Merits , when he knows he wants his own ? Tho these saving Harbors be grown , and growing more and more beyond numbring , I will recommend to my Catholic Friends but these three . Namely , 1. The Confraternity of St. Francis his Holy Rope . 2. That of St. Simon 's Scapulary . 3. And that of S. Dominic's 150 Beads .

CHAP. XII . Concerning three special Means of Salvation ; the Holy Girdle of St. Francis ; the 150 Beads of St. Dominic ; and the Scapulary of St. Simon Stock , in their respective Fraternities . First , Concerning the Holy Rope , or Girdle of St. Francis .

PIOUS and Learned Authors have of late sufficiently informed the World , what kind of Saint S. Francis is . He is the Man , whom the Pope in a Prophetical Dream saw a a S. Bonaventur in vita S. Franc. ap. Lippom. c. 13. supporting his Lateran Church from falling . He is the Man , whose Soul roving abroad as bright as the Sun in darkness , and like Phaethon in a Chariot , whil'st he was at his Praiers , gave from that time b b Ibidem c. 4. a clear Omen , that he was born to be the Light and the Chariot of the Roman World . He is the Man , who taking on himself this vast Province , as he was by two special Revelations directed to save it , not by Praying only , ( to which his simple Genius inclined more ) but by Preaching . First , c c Ibidem c. 12. He began stoutly with teaching Beasts , and with Catechizing Swallows and Larks : And d d Ibidem c. 8. the Sheep , which he instructed first to bleat when they sang the Canonical Hours ; and afterwards to kneel also at the Elevation of the Host , was an indubitable proof of his extraordinary skill in Teaching . Lastly , When he had rambled over the World by the space of eighteen Years with many such Fabulous Wonders , living all the while with his Followers on what they begged , and so eating , as he did call it , the Bread of Angels ; he was , as they say , carried upon a certain Hill in Avergne , Alverniae Mons , at the time when he was Fasting to the honor of St. Michael ; and there and then a Seraphim e e Ibidem c. 13. shewed him a Crucifix brought from Heaven , and wrapt about with six bright and burning Wings . This glorious Apparition soon rendred good S. Francis perfectly like this Seraphical Crucifix , and gave him those five famous Wounds , to the Memory and Honor whereof , the Popes have granted several Bulls , and all the Roman Church scruples not to sacrifice her own God by an Anniversary g g Missal . Paris . & Rom 17 Septemb. Mass in November . These Noble Sores troubled him two Years , and made him pine away to skin and bones : till at last , finding himself disabled to live any longer , he lay flat and naked on the bare ground , that all the World might be witness , how he died just as he was born . Then came the Fowls , but more especially the Larks to this spectacle , not to feed on his Flesh , for he had none , but to take their leave of their Tutor ; and by their fluttering and singing about him , gave him thanks f f Gregorius 9. Constit . 12. Alexander 4. Constit. 4. * * Bonav . in vita Franc. c. 14. for his good instructions . Thus this Superangelical Doctor in the year 1226 ended his daies : but so did not the strange stories of his Miracles . During his life , which was a time , when Beasts could learn Christianity , and men discourse of any thing ; among all the wonders he did , he had a special faculty to render pregnant and powerful any thing that had bin near him . I can justifie by h h Sanctus Bonav . in vita Franc. good Authors , ( however the best that wrote his life ) that his spittle restored sight to a blind Maid : that the water , where he had washt his Feet , could cure all sorts of diseased Cattle : that any Crumb of Bread , which he had bit , did prove a Remedy against all Evils : that a small Piece of Paper written with his hand , did preserve an honest man , as long as he had it about him , from being disquieted in his mind : that the Sign of the Cross with the stroking of his finger , did expel all infirmities from the Body , that he had touched : that a small handful of the Hey devoutly taken from his Mule , delivered once a woman , who was dying in hard Travel . But the Frock , the Rope and the long Breeches , which had touched his holy wounds , were the most wonderful of all . I will lay aside both Frock and Breeches , the Rope or Girdle being more pertinent to this purpose : and more then sufficient besides , to amaze men at Gods Judgments against those , who leave plain Truth , to seek after Superstitious waies .

This is the Cord , that St. Francis had about him , wherewith one of his Disciples , and which is more wonderful , a very discreet man withal , made once a shift to cure a whole Multitude of sick people . His Method was , to dip in i i Bonavent . ibid. c. 12. water the end of this Rope , and which you may well wonder at , the water suckt in out of the Rope , if you believe them , such a Blessing , that being carried from house to house , and some few drops of it taken inwardly , it clear'd the Town at once of all manner of Diseases . This was don when he was alive ; when he was dead blessed was the Franciscan , that had a small piece of the Rope , for then it had rubbed against the wound he had in his side ; and this Rubbing , ( you may well think ) added great Vertue to the Relic . Poor Beatrix had a happy proof of it . For she , after k k Ibid. c. 13. fearful pains and pangs , having her Child dead in her Womb about 4 daies , and her self being even at Deaths door , after a devout motion called for some Relic of S. Francis ; by good chance a small bit of this Girdle of his was brought to her : and it was no sooner applied to her Belly , but she was presently well : the Child came forth of it self , and I cannot tell whether it came not to life also .

Well then , it is to the Memory of this Rope , and to the Honor of the great Saint who made it his Girdle , that his Holiness Pope Sixtus the fift thought himself bound in conscience , and by the l l Sixtus 5. Constit. 13. care he had of all Christian people , to erect a famous Confraternity of men and women , whosoever will vow and give their Names for the wearing of a Rope in outward fashion somewhat like to his .

The End , which this Institution aims at , as it is expressed in the Bull , is the greater Worship and Veneration of S. Francis . Gregory the Ninth is the first who made him a Saint ; with this Character besides , that by his illiterate m m Gregor. 9. Constit . 2. and simple Preaching and as Samson did before him , with the Jaw-bone of an Asse , he had don all . Sixtus 4th and Alexander the 4th afterwards thought good to Canonize his five Sores also , but with a handsomer Character , n n Alexand. 4. Constit. 4. to wit of a Giant pulling up all men out of hell . Now Pope Sixtus o o Suprà . the fift has honor'd his Rope : hereafter it may be , his Holiness will do as much for his old Shoes , or for his Breeches . Mean while , the work and task of this Confraternity in order both to conferring greater honor upon the Saint , and the better facilitating the * * Sixtus 5. Constit. 13. n. 2. Eternal Salvation of our poor Souls , is to wear insteed of a silk Girdle , such a Cord as he did , about our Loines .

This venerable Badge of being ( as well as Sheep , and Asses were ) some of S. Francis his Disciples , is to them that wear it , a Cord twisted of three infallible Blessings . 1. The Protection of a great Saint . 2. The Title to all the Pardons , granted by Popes . 3. The happiness of being accommodated in time of need , with all the Satisfactions and Merits of this great Confraternity .

1. Their hope is , that the Protection of S. Francis cannot fail them , who wear this Rope . For altho it be not the self same that rubbed against his Flesh and Wounds : yet it is thought to be like it : and the devotion of wearing it upon this account , may enough and enough supply the want of being the same . Saint Cardinal Bonaventure , who was one of his best Disciples , can inform you sufficiently , how great a lover this Saint was in his life time of any thing that came near him ; be it man or Beast , Hare or Partridge , Sheep or Lamb or Wolf , or what you will . And at his Death this Love increased , according as his Power did ; so that you can scarce think of any Miracle , that he would not do , to help a Friend upon this score . I am not good at telling stories , and if I were , I would not thus trifle away time ; but you may take it on my credit , that if the best popish Authors be true ; it is but crying out , S. Francis help : or trying , whether he can help , when other Saints can , or will not : or Giving a poor man any thing , when you need it as much as he : or promising to cover his Altar with a clean Cloth ; or to keep his holy Day , or to do some such like pretty thing to any thing that relates to him ; if he be still as kind , as he was when the Pope Canonized him ; you may safely look for at his hands the greatest deliverances . It is upon such and meaner terms , that he was used to p p Aloys . Lippom. ad Finem vitae S. Francisici . raise the Dead : to enable Women being fourscore years old , to be milch-nurses : and to help men and Beasts promiscuously from the most desperate Dangers . Among other things you may admire his Nimbleness to come , when called . For how many men and Children hath he saved from touching the Ground tho they were fallen q q Ibid. already from the high Loft or the window , before he was called ? Commend me now to such a Saint for all sudden purposes and turns ; and doubt not , but he that can but say , S. Francis look here , I wear your Girdle , may be as sure of his Favor , as he that said , O good Father remember now , that once I lent you mine Asse .

2. The second great Blessing in order to Salvation , which this Cord can pull down on the Catholics who wear it , is the great Abundance of Pardons , even as great , as both the greatest sinner can want , and the Roman Tresure can afford . It seems the Popes having some ground to be jealous , lest wiser Ages should neglect either such a Saint as S. Francis , or such a means of Salvation as this Rope ; have secured both , the best they could by encouraging men towards both , by large supplies of Indulgences . 1. At the first taking of this Cord ( when it is blessed and consecrated by the Superior of the Order ) a Catholic may be as sure to have all his sins r r Sixtus 5. Institut. Archiconfrat . Choxdiger . n. 3. forgiven him , as any faithful Proselyte may be at his Going to the holy Baptism . 2. Let one relapse to his old sins , or fall to new ; he is sure of a new Jordan streaming all along down the Streets , where Naaman may wash , and be clean ; I mean a most plenary Indulgence s s Id. Extens . de Constit . n. 3. waiting on them , who walk after the Monthly Procession . 3. If this be not enough , ( which it is impossible , but it should , ) they have for greater security all the Pardons , that ever were granted to the whole Order . And this is not a simple Jordan , but a whole Sea ; since by this means all the Privileges and Indulgences , which upon any account whatsoever , are granted to the Recollects and Capucins , and to the very Chappel of Angels , may run into this Channel . So the sinner being let down with his Cord , hath wherewith to wash over head , and ears both himself , and whom he pleases . 4. Moreover and above all these Pardons , which belong to the Franciscan Order ; they may accommodate themselves with all those , that are granted to the Confraternity t t Idem Constitut . n. 3. of Confalo ; and the Stations of Rome besides ; which is heaping Sea upon Sea ; however more then a thousand times enough , to wash Rome and Sodom , and whatever may be therein proper Fewel for the Purgatory Fire . 5. Finally to make all this safe ; these full Expiations attend the Rope , and the persons who do wear it , to the last moment , they can sin in u u Ibid. n. 3. Mortis Articulo . And now let the Devil if he dare , venture upon true Catholics , having about their Loins such a preservative .

3. The third great Benefit , and therefore the most lookt after by this Corded Fraternity , is that which the Brethren and Sisters have , of accommodating themselves every day with the Merits of other men , as the Jackdaw did it once with the Feathers of other Birds ; when they have none of their own . This great Arch Confraternity hath ever bin blessed with great Saints , and consequently with great stores of satisfactions and Merits . It is likely their first Founder alone , great S. Francis , hath by his prodigious Mortifications merited more , then the most dissolute can ever need , to secure their worst Debauches ; and if you consider well , what an heroical Feat that was in him to throw and rub himself against Bundles of Thorns , and Women made of Snow , merely to tame or cool his Flesh ; you will confess that a great deal of this must needs come to their share , who cannot do so . Hereafter Catholic Ladies may safely exchange Churches for Play-houses ; S. Rose , and Santa Clara , the first Virgins , who took this Order have left Devotions for them more then they want . And suppose that the Well could ever come to be drawn dry ; this Confraternity never wants great and living Saints , who supply it daily with fresh Waters . And he is an unlucky Ruffian , who cannot get one of these Fathers , to lash and cut his poor old skin , for all what young Flesh may deserve . Only let the young Villain , and the Sweet Misses be devoted to S. Francis ; have his Image in their Closets ; and wear his Girdle . But and if this wearing be troublesom , especially to tender Ladies under their long and streight Bodies ; a prudent Confessor can soon put them in another way of attaining Salvation , which shall hurt neither Back , nor Sides : and that is the Scapulary , the gentle wearing of S. Simon , which of my especial knowledge the nicest Persons now beyond Sea , have commonly about their Shoulders .

CHAP. XIII . Concerning the second special Means of Salvation in the Confraternity of Mount Carmel , by wearing the little Mantle or Scapulary of S. Simon Stock .

THIS Confraternity , among Persons of Quality passes for the most gentile , as , I am sure , 't is the easiest . The Badg it gives which is call'd the Holy Scapulary , is made of two small Pieces of woollen Stuff , about the extent of a hand , hanging by two little laces down from the Neck upon both the Back and the Brest of the devout person who wears it . They say that among a great many Things , which the Virgin Mary brings from Heaven , when she appears , as Books , Gloves , Images , &c. once she was pleased to come down with this Tool of Salvation : and to bestow it upon S. Simon , an English Saint , in the year 1265. This Simon was , they say , a a Johan . Pitsaeus . De Illustrib . Angliae Script . an . 1265. a most retired Eremite ; and so great an Enemy to all human Conversation , that to the age of 80 years he kept himself most of his time in an old hollow rotten Oak , & hence he was called S. Simon Stock , or Stoch , because this Stock was his lodging . All this while in his old Tree , he was night and day entreating sometimes God , sometimes the Virgin , that they would be pleased to direct him , what kind of men he might more safely join himself to . At length , as the story saies , there came over to England a Company of Monks from Mount Carmel , who made him their General , that is the General of their Order . Never since that time did the good Saint miss one day , without praying his Patroness for some special Mark of her Favor upon his Flock . Flos Carmeli , b b Fasti Carmelit . an. 1250. Carmelitis , &c. that is , Flower of Carmel , Star of the Sea , send a token to thy Servants the Carmelites .

Monks will tell you of thousands of Apparitions , whereby she uses to come to kiss them , or give them some other favor and expression of kindness . Whether this Lady who appears to them to be so free and profuse of her Favors , be the Virgin ; or rather some wanton Devil , that takes her Name as it is usual , to countenance Superstition ; is not the present Quere . Certain it is that the Spirit which commonly appears for her , will bring them sometimes very fine Things : Lightsom shining Garments , as to c c Myraeus . Chronic. Praemonstrat . the Bernardin Friers : Scarlet-Robes d d Carthagen . Tom. 4. de Mirand . Deip. sect. 233. shut up in a Box , as to Thomas of Canterbury : Rich Drinking e e Balinghem , de Viris Illustr . 25. Decemb. Cups , as of late to St. Tharlavaret : sometimes , but more seldom , good f f Gregor. 1. Dialog. l. 1. c. 9. Mony , as to Bishop Bonifacius : fine ever burning and never wasting g g Pyraeus . in Corona . Tract . 1. c. 12. Lights and Tapers , as to the Procession of Arras : Fine bread , open Lilies , and Books , as to the h h Archang . Gian . De Initio Servit . seven Servites : and among others the story is remarkable , when the Cistercian Order was yet in its Infancy , and had need of this Patroness , She appeared among them all , when they were singing their Mattens , i i Gonon . Chronic. an . 1109 with a fine white Hood in her hand , wherewith she hooded their Abbot : and as soon as he had it on , to their great joy and amazement , they presently saw their former black Hoods or Capuchions turn pure milk white ; and the good Lady added besides these words . Ego ordinem , &c. I do undertake to favor and defend this Order to the worlds end . Well , old Simon was day and night begging for some such favor , till he had it . For after much praying to this Flower of Carmel , at last she appeared unto him with a great multitude of Angels , having the 2d Scapulary or little Rocket in her hand ; and This shall be , said she , * * G●nonus ex Fastis Carmel . Chronic. an . 1250. both to Thee , and to all the Carmelites a Privilege . Whosoever dies in this Habit , shall not suffer the Eternal Fire . Whosoever dies in this , shall be saved .

This was Encouragement enough to allure People , to this happy Confraternity ; yet these Carmelites were strangers , and as it is usual , envied by the Mendicant Orders growing much about the same time , they had much ado to take root , till the Virgin Mary appear'd for them a second time and to a much better purpose . The Roman Catholics , for the most part , if they have but time to confess , are not much afraid of the eternal fire in Hell : but they terribly fear the Temporal Purgatory ; to this effect therefore came the same Lady from above ; and declared in the presence of Pope John the 22th , then residing at Avignion , that once a week , about every Saturday night , she hereafter would not fail to come down * * Bull. Sabb. to Purgatory ; and thence pull all and every Soul , which she shall find to have worn that sacred Habit. This being proclamed by an Authentic Bull , and by a Pope , for those daies of great Learning , brought the Scapulary into great request . And since that time men may be thought to deserve well all the Purgatory Burnings , whosoever would be so untoward , as not to prevent that danger , when they can do it upon so reasonable terms : Especially now , when it is made most easy and commodious in behalf of Persons of the greatest quality , for wearing , under the gentilest Doublets or Bodies . There are some words , and Forms of Blessing , to consecrate this little Habit into a saving Apparel . There are also some few Restraints put upon them that do wear it ; a Maid must keep her Virginity : a Wife , Conjugal Faith , and a Widow , her Chastity , &c. But if they happen to trespass ; they all know , when and how and where , to be easily absolved . For the putting on of this Habit , procures a threefold advantage in the way of Roman Salvation . 1. An Indulgence and Pardon of sins . 2. All the Favor and Protection of the Virgin of Mount Carmel . 3. A plentiful supply of all the Meritorious and Satisfactory works belonging to the Society .

1. As to the Benefit of Indulgences most Confraternities equal or exceed this ; and here you may find the Popes backward , or much saving , in the distribution of their Pardons . For , whereas other Confraternities have seldom less then a full Indulgence of all sins , at the Entrance ; this hath but a third part of them in the great Sabbatine Bull. They allow but 40 daies Pardon for saying seven Paters and Aves to the honor of the seven Joies : but 100 , for the little Office : but 300 , for eating no flesh on Saturdaies : but 500 , and some few Quarantains , for waiting on the consecrated Host . Many other Confraternities of far lesser importance then that is , have much more . Witness that of S. Benedict , S. Scholastica , and S. Rochus . And yet tho the Popes on this account did so little ; they did it for the most part , but when they were forced to it by strong and irresistible Impulses . The Virgin Mary , as they say , l l Palconydor . Antiquit. Carmelit . l. 3. was fain to threaten Honorius the 3d , and to tell him of two chief Officers of his , who had bin already destroied by Gods Vengeance , for neglecting her Carmelites , before this Pope could be brought to confirm their Order : and Innocent the 4th had an Express a while after from the same Lady , before he would do them Right against their envying Neighbors . By this it seems the Lady had done for them so much before , that the Popes were unwilling , for their own profit , as in the case of the Chappel of Angels , to do much more .

2. And the truth is , if these Apparitions to S. Simon and to John the 22th be true ; the Scapulary Confraternity hath abundantly enough in her Bosom , to enrich all her neediest Members , without any begging from Rome . The Scapulary alone well applied to the Breast and Back , is by it self a great Jewel . It may , as they say , preserve mens lives better then the strongest Armor , against all temporal Dangers : and if you hearken to them all , they will come to you with hundred stories , what of women deliver'd , some m m Vid. The French Book intituled . Alliance spirituelle avec la Vierge . of Childbed , some of a Cancer , some of Leprosie , some of a Feaver by appling this blessed Badg unto their Flesh : what of men , who could not be choaked by Devils , n n Fasti Carmel . an. 1368. nor drowned after they were bound hand and foot , and thrown into the bottom of the Sea , because they had the Scapulary . But neither God nor the Pope ever gave the Church any thing comparable to it , in all Spiritual Concerns . They are not ashamed to call it a Mark of Eternal Salvation , and a Spiritual Covenant with Gods Mother ; by which Covenant you have a clear Title to all what in favor and Mercy she can do for you . But without resting on mens sayings , because the honestest Monks we know are sometimes temted to say strange things , you have as much from her own Mouth . In hoc moriens , &c. i.e. He that dies with this Habit , shall be saved , and shall not suffer eternal Fire . S. Simon , and a great many Angels are Witnesses that she said so : and , as to Purgatory , the terror of Roman Catholic Souls , she her self engages solemnly , Ego Mater Gloriosa , &c. I the Glorious Mother of God will come down in Person and fetch them out . And of this you have no meaner witness , then the Monarch and visible Head of your Church , Pope John the 22d. Here is his Authentic Testimony in a Bull of his , called the Sabbatina , or Saturday Bull , as I find it in Latin , in an Authentic * * Benedict . Gononus . Chronic. An. 1321. Roman Author , with the approbation of both the Dominican , and the Carmelitan Order . And I thought fit to English it , that every one may take notice what Spiritual waies Rome can afford for saving Men , beyond what Christ and his Apostles were ever known to be able to do .

The Bull of Pope John the XXII . for the Confirmation and Approbation of the Holy Scapulary .

JOHN , Bishop and Servant of the Servants of Jesus Christ , to all and every Faithful , &c. While I was Praying upon my Knees , the Virgin of Mount Carmel appears to me , and spake unto me in these Words . O John , O John , the Vicar of my dear Son , as I will deliver thee out of the hand of thine Adversary ( the Emperor Lewis the 4th , whom he had Excommunicated ) and make thee Pope , so I will , that thou shouldest grant to my Holy and Devout Order of Mount Carmel , founded by Elias and Elisha , the grace of a full Confirmation ; namely , That whosoever being profest , will observe the Rule given by my Servant Albert the Patriarch , and approved of by my well-beloved Innocent , the true Vicar of my Son , giving his consent upon Earth to what my Son had decreed in Heaven ; viz. That whosoever shall persevere in that Holy Obedience , Poverty and Chastity , and shall enter into this Order , shall he saved . And that any other Men or Women , whosoever shall enter into this Holy Religion , wearing the sign of the Holy Habit ( to wit , the Scapulary ) calling themselves by the Name of Brethren and Sisters of the said Order and Confraternity , shall be delivered and absolved from the third part of their Sins , from the day of their admittance ; promising withal , Chastity , if she be Widow ; Virginity , if a Maid ; and Conjugal Fidelity , if she be a Married Woman . And as to the profest Brethren of this said Order , they shall be delivered both from Punishment and Sin . And when they shall part out of this World , making speed to Purgatory , I the Glorious Mother of God will come down thither the next Saturday after their death , and will rescue whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory , and will bring them up into the holy Hill of Eternal Life . But these Brethren and Sisters of the said Confraternity , must say the Canonical hours , after the Rule of St. Albert ; and if they be ignorant , they must abstain from eating Flesh every Wednesday and Saturday , unless some necessity hinder them , except on my Sons Nativity . Having said thus much , that holy Apparition vanished away . Therefore I John aforesaid , accept of this Holy Indulgence , and do confirm and strengthen it on Earth , just as Jesus Christ hath by the Merits of his glorious Mother granted it in Heaven . Therefore let no Man presume to annul or contradict this Page or Writ of our Indulgence : or if he dare , let him know , that he shall incur the indignation of God Almighty , and of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul . Given at Avignion , Indict . 3. and the first Year of our Pontificat . This being so , I wonder who would wish for more , or who would not leave all , to have so much .

3. Nevertheless , altho the best Indulgences of Rome , or all other such Roman Pullies cannot do more then this ; viz. to pull a burning Soul out of the Purgatory Fire , up to the Hill of Eternal Life ; yet if this happy Soul had a mind to appear there more Gentile , then her own Works will allow her , she hath the advantage of borrowing from the Confraternity wherewith to make her self as spruce and neat as one can wish . Let but any Man imagine , what stock of Mortifications and holy Works Elias did leave behind for Jezebel , and John the Baptist for Herod and Herodias ; or our Country-man S. Simon for all other such as those three were , in case they will all humbly come , and devoutly wear about them this holy Scapulary ; Who is the ignorant or blind Buzard , that wil not leave any Religion , Gospel , and Protestant Churches , to run himself and all his sins under this blessed shelter ?

CHAP. XIV . Concerning the third means of obtaining Salvation by the Confraternity and 150 Beads of St. Dominic .

SAint Dominic and S. Francis are the two Saints , which , as they say , our Lady Mary pacified a a Flaminius in vita S. Dominic . her own Son with , being about to destroy Mankind ; for there she past her honest Word , that these two Doctors should , without fail , reform the three sorts of Sinners , the Proud , the Covetous , and the Carnal , whom he hated , and so set up again true Holiness thro the whole World . You may guess what Francis hath don on that account , by what I have said of his Girdle ; and you may hope likewise , that S. Dominic may do as much or more with his 150 Beads . However , these two are , by his Holiness b b Bulla Aurea . Sacri Praedicatorum . Sixtus the Fourth , voted to be both the two great Seraphims , that help Men to flee up to Heaven upon the Wings of Divine Contemplations and Raptures , and the two loud Trumpets which fill Heaven and Earth with their Holy sound ; and therefore to their honor is this Privilege duly granted , that whosoever will but visit any of their Churches or Chappels , shall receive Pardon c c Ibid. sect. 6. for a hundred Years ; and if any of them being dead d d Ibid. sect. 9. , will be wrapt up in Frocks , or be buried in a Church yard belonging to either of their Orders , shall in all probability have as much more . Judg you by this , what these Confraternities of theirs be worth , and what value you may well set upon their two most Sacred Standards or Bodies , the Rope or Girdle of St. Francis , whereof enough ; and the 150 Beads or Rosary of S. Dominic ; of which you must now learn somthing .

This new and admirable way of praying to God , by saying Ave Maria , hath , as they say , proved in their Church so successful , for raising Hearts to Devotion , sanctifying Men , extirpating all Heresies , and propagating Catholic Light , as it appears by e e Pius 5. Constit . Consueverunt . many Bulls , that most Popes from Sixtus the Fourth , 1479. have thought themselves concerned in their Consciences , to raise it to a Confraternity as Universal as their Church ; and to make it as the Sun is , ( to use their words ) common to all Men in the whole World . For this brave Corporation is not as the most part of others are , some for Men only , and not for Women ; some for great Men , and not for mean People ; some for the Religious , and not for the Secular ; some for the sound , and not for the weak : * * Archang . Caraccius . De Rosar . 1. par. c. 1. this great and comprehensive Society takes in all sorts and conditions of Men ; and to say all , as it shall appear hereafter , even the very dead may come to it .

Whosoever will be admitted as a Member of this vast Body , and march f f Idem 3. par. c. 5. , as they love to speak , under the B. Virgin and St. Dominic's great Standard , he must go first to Confession , and take the Consecrated Wafer , then he must appear in Person , if he can ; or by a Proxy , if he cannot ; and there either himself or his Proxy being prostrated before the Altar Del Santissimo Rosario , of the most holy Rosary , declare what great desire he hath , to be enrolled under St. Dominic's Banner . So the Officers , being duly qualified to that purpose , shall take his name , and acquaint him with what he the new Brother is to do ; especially how he must once every . Week run over the whole Rosary , that is , the 150 Beads , Ave Maria , and the 15 Pater nosters , solacing him at the same time with this most gracious assurance , that he must not think it a Sin , * * Ibidem . nor a breach upon his Conscience , if at any time he shall fail in the performance ; and that the whole duty consists of such things , as never were commanded by God , nor practiced by his Apostles ; so the omitting of them must not disquiet his mind , only he must be content to lose the good Indulgences , which his Roman Holiness was pleased to grant upon such terms . After this , he gives him a Consecrated Rosary of Beads , and the Consecrating of them comes to this . After some short Praiers and Responsals , the Mass-Priest begs at the hands of God , this great and Blasphemous Favor ; g g Idem part. 3. c. 5. namely , That to the honor and praise of his Sons Mother , would he be pleased to infuse into those Beads , so much strength of his Holy Ghost , that whosoever shall either carry them abroad , or reverently keep them at home , and there devoutly pray with them after the way of the holy Confraternity , may abound in Devotion , may have his share in all the Graces , Privileges and Indulgences granted to the said Society ; may as long as he lives be protected every where , against all Enemies whatsoever ; and at last , may be presented full of good works to God by the Blessed Virgin Mary . To which is added , the other Blessing by Holy Water , and as it were a second Baptism , In the Name of the Father , &c. Next to the holy Beads thus impiously Consecrated , and devoutly delivered into the hand of the new Brother or Sister , comes the Holy Candle . This Holy Candle is of great use , when you walk in Procession , when you go to Burial , when any one of the 15 Mysteries ( you may remember what that is ) is solemnly celebrated , and especially when you die ; for there , but especially here , if you do hold this holy Candle lighted in your hand , you may be sure that all your sins are forgiven , because Pope Adrian the h h Breve . Illius qui Dominicam . Sixth hath ordered it so . But the Candle must be Consecrated , as solemnly as your Beads were , and with a Form to this purpose : That thro the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary , and the 15 great Mysteries contained in the aforesaid Beads , Christ the true Light , that enlightens every Man that comes into the World , will enlighten also this Candle , with the true light of his Grace , &c. Then is the Candle sprinkled with Holy Water , in Nomine Patris , &c. This is not all , you must have a Holy Rose , for it is of a singular Vertue ; and besides , Rose and Rosary are of a kin , especially as soon as it is Consecrated with this execrable Form of Blessing , Deus Creator , &c. the sense is , That God the Creator and Giver of spiritual Grace and eternal Salvation , be pleased to bless the said Rose , which is presented unto i i Archang . Caraccius . de Rosar . part . 3 c. 6. him , for the worship of his Mother : and to infuse into the Rose by the vertue of the sign of the Cross , such a Celestial Blessing , that to what Infirmities soever it be applied , and in what houses and places soever it be devoutly kept or carried , the said Infirmities may be cured : & that thence all Devils may flee away . This Charm is likewise compleated with the usual Baptism of Holy water . With these Tacklings you may hereafter reckon your self most fully incorporated into this Heavenly Body . What you have next to think upon , is well to discharge those duties that belong to a Heavenly Member : and to fall lustily to that incredible and strange way which S. Mary and S. Dominic her Husband have in the latter times brought into the Roman Church , of serving God , by saying Ave Maria.

To the great encouragement of the said Brethren and Sisters , this way of Devotion is called the Crown , the Psalter , and the Rosary ; the Crown , because whensoever you say fifty times Ave Maria ( as my Italian k k Caraccio . Part. 1. c. 13. Author observes , and I may prove it many waies ) the so saluted Goddess , is pleased to take it , for so many Crowns , and Garlands of fine Flowers , that you do adorn her Head with . 2. The Psalter ; because the Church of Rome doth think it fit , to worship the Lady of the most Holy Rosary , with 150 Salutations , as King David the Prophet did , to adore the Lord God of Israel with 150 Psalms ; and because , as Davids Psalter was an Instrument , wherewith he could ease the Spirit of Saul , when it was troubled by the Devil ; so do Catholics with these Aves , defend themselves , and charm all the Powers of Hell from doing any harm to their Souls . 3. It is call'd the Rosary ; because as with Roses you make Rose-water , Oil , Sugar and Hony Rosal ; so do the Brethren and Sisters of the Rosary make with it admirable Confections , Drugs and Syrops to Physic their poor sick Souls ; to soften the hardness of sin ; to dispose Roman Catholic Hearts , towards all Graces ; and to say all with them , Caelum ridet , &c. that is , the Heavens laugh , the Angels dance , the Church keeps her joiful Festivals , Hell trembles , and all the Devils run away , when they say or sing Ave Maria. I much wonder they should excuse or exclude all the prisoners in Purgatory from jumping or cutting Capers ; since they hold , that the Dead are as much concerned as the Living . Therefore when one goes to enter a Name , he may s s Caraccio . De Rosar . Part. 1. c. 13. put in as well any Soul of Father , Son , Uncle , or any other Relation , as his own . Only thereby he binds himself to say the holy Rosary , and to perform all other Duties for them he puts in ; that so they may wheresoever they be , above or under ground , receive all the Profits and Pardons of the Society . And if he put in two Names ; he must perform the Duty twice , once for himself and once for his Friend . This double work is less troublesom because you may speed it away at any time you have little else to do , as when m m Id. parte 3. c. 3. you dress and undress your self ; when you walk , stand , sit , ride abroad , or wait : and for more ease and more Merit too , you may join more hands to one work , when for example you are with two or three Neighbors walking and travelling together .

I did forget another Duty , which you must by no means forget , it being as indispensable as it is easie ; and it is this : both the Poorest and the Richest must needs contribute to the Charges of setting up a near Altar , n n Id. part. 3. c. 12. and adorning it with a Standard , bearing the Picture both of our Lady giving , and S. Dominic receiving on the other side the holy Psalter from her Hand . They must be likewise at the Charges of having the fifteen great Mysteries fairly painted both over and on each side of the great Altar . Besides , you must pay your small share for both the wax and the Oil , that burns night and day before the Rosary Lady : and least you should grumble at such expenses , be you sure , that one Mass upon , or one Ave , or one Pater before such a privileged Altar , especially on solemn Daies , is better worth then a thousand whether Masses , or Aves that you may hear or say elsewhere .

This being done , you may confidently look for all sorts of Blessings , and Privileges must needs from all parts flow towards you .

1. Rome opens in your behalf her whole Celestial Tresure ; a full Pardon of all your sins at your first coming to this Society : at your going out , when you dy : at all and every holy Day kept to the Ladies Honor , through the whole year : at all and every solemn Day kept for any one of the fifteen great Mysteries : at Christmas : the Sunday before Epiphany : holy Thursday , and good Friday : the 3 holy daies at Easter : at the Ascension : the three Holy Daies at Whitsuntide : all the first Sundaies of every Month , &c. And all this , both for sick , and sound , for the absent , as well as present , at Sea or Land , in prison , and at Liberty , so that there be a just Impediment , that detains you from the Duty , and from visiting the Altar ; you can hardly make three or four steps , or open the o o Caraccius de Rosar . part. 2. c. 7. Mouth to say Jesu , or Maria , but you shall get by it a considerable Indulgence . When you devoutly * * Ibid. c. 8. take your Beads : When you hear Salve Regina ( t is a short song to the Ladies Honor : ) when you walk after the Procession : when you march after the Banner , at a Burial : when you visit a sick Brother or Sister : when you wait upon the Host in the street , &c. you gain hundreds of Daies , of years , and some Quarantains or Quadragenes to boot . And if all this be not enough ; all the Stations and daily Indulgences of Rome are at your command and mercy , if you will but visit a Rosary Church , with saying three Aves in it : or in case of too much throng , stand at a distance before one , or the five Rosary Altars ; ( and you may stand sometimes before them five , tho you do not stir from one Place : ) however my Italian p p Ibid. c. 10. Author , assures me that divers Popes have granted all these huge Pardons both by Bulls , and by word of Mouth , Oraculo vivae vocis , which is the Roman Church's Oracle , upon these terms .

I hope that by this time you have enough for your own use . But if you please also to plesure your Friends , you may weekly rescue out of Purgatory two of their Souls , one on the Sunday , q q Ibid. c. 5. the other upon the Wednesday following , and Eleven other souls more upon other special daies ; which I leave out to spare you trouble . Only you must take the pains to visit the Rosary Altar , and of saying at it this short praier . O Lord , I pray you to accept of the Indulgence , which hath bin granted by your High Priest , the Steward of the holy Tresure , to the soul of John , or James : or if he the said John or James have none or little use of it , to such a soul in Purgatory , which I am most obliged to ; concluding all with a Requiescant in pace , thereupon let them rest in peace . This way one may help in one year some 115 souls ; and she is a woman of large correspondence that hath more friends yearly to care for .

2. Besides this incredible abundance of Privileges , and Pardons coming upon you from without , they say that this Rosary Confraternity enjoies within it self the greatest Tresure of the whole World , namely a real and perpetual Participation of the Merits and Penances of all and every one of the greatest Saints since Adam . Consider what vast Abundance of Good works S. Dominic left in this Magazine , by whipping r r Caraccio . De Rosario . Part. 1. c. 3. himself to the Blood thrice every day ; once for his own sins , which , it is verily thought , he had none : once for the sins of the World : and once for the sins of the souls burning in Purgatory . Calculate what Saint Vincent might hoard up for the use of his Brethren by converting 8000 Turks , and 25000 Jews . Think what Tresure might Agnes bequeath to her Society , with those incomparable Jewels which s s Bov. Tom. 13. Annal. an. 1317. n. 9. she had partly received from the Virgin Mary ; and partly got and stolen from her Son , when he had bin in her own lap . What can you not hope of S. Osanna , another sister of this holy Confraternity , who being yet t t Balinghen . Calendar . B. M. 17. Jun. a Child , had the Virgin for her School-Mistress : and being come to riper years had the Holy Babe for her Husband ? What shall I say of St. Alanus of Dinam , for whose Deliverance the u u Chronic. Deip. an. 1212. Rosary Goddess destroied his Enemies at land with 150 Thunderbolts ; and raised out of the deep Sea , as many Mountains , ( an equal number to his Beads ) to make him a Bridg to run away ? and what of the other S. Alanus de Rupe , the Restorer of Rosaries , the true x x Ibid. an. 1476. Husband of this Goddess , and withal her bosom sucker ? Have these and all , whom I could name , Popes , Cardinals , and other Grandees of the same Confraternity cast nothing into the Tresury ? And if all these did not cast in enough ; take all Gods Saints from the very beginning of the World , to the year 1431. for if Roman Revelations be at all true , they y y Arch. Caraccius . De Rosar . part . 4. c. 35. all without exception use and sing out the Rosary . Take along with them all the Angels , and as they love to speak , the whole Celestial Court ; for every good Roman Catholic is perswaded ( unless they offer to contradict z z B. Alan . parf. 1. c. 19. both S. Alan and his Virgin ) that they also sing in Heaven the Rosary : and that both these , to wit , Saints and Angels , make up but one Arch-Confraternity together .

Now the Custom of this Society a a Navar. de Psalter . Miscellan. 9. n. 4. being so free , as to limit no favors at all ( as others most commonly do ) but to allow to every Member , a full Communication of all ; what a huge deal of wealth is all this to every one , be he otherwise never so poor ? All the Intercessions of Saints above : all the Merits of more Saints below : all the extraordinary showers of Privileges , and full Indulgences from Rome : all the watchings and helps of the good Angels : and that which must be reckoned above all things , the continual favor and Countenance of the Queen of Heaven her self ; in this vast Concurrence of all the Saints and holy things from Heaven and Earth together , what can the wit of man fancy , that both this Confraternity may not contain , and the Rosary Brother well expect ? Are you for a shelter against public Calamities ? The Holy Rosary is good for it . They think that by the strength of this Weapon the b b Gregor. 13. Bull. Monet Apostolus . Turks were beaten from Europe : the war ceased from d d Leo 10. Bull. Pastoris aeterni . Cologne , and e e Arch. Carac . de Ros. part . 1. c. 17. Genua : and the great Plague f f Id. part . 4. Miracul . 19. from Pavia . Are you troubled with private Distresses ? Frier Amat had no better way to g g Chronic. Deip. an. 1538. choak a Devil , nor S. Salvator h h Ibid. an. 1567. to cure the deaf , nor S. Dominic i i Bov. tom. 13. an. 1213. n. 9. to procure Children , and cure Barrenness ; nor General Montfort and Captain Anthony , k k Alanus de Insulis in Rosar . to rout Armies ; nor the two Spanish Women l l Archang . in Rosario . part . 4. to escape hanging . What they say of the Spanish Ass , is most pertinent to this purpose : This Beast is often in that Country made use of to carry condemned Persons to the place of Execution , and 't is not heard , but the innocent stupid Animal performs quietly this Office , except one time , m m Lopaz . de Rosar . l. 1. c. 10. when it grew so intelligent , as to perceive , that the Wretch who was on its back , related to the Rosary : then it was wonderful to see , how quick and nimble this slow Beast turns back again from the Gallows , and galloping through all the Guards , who attended the Execution , and all the common People , which then was thronging to see it , carries her dear charge to the Church , there laies it down most devoutly before a Rosary Altar . You must conceive , that either the Grace infused into these Beads at their Consecration , works out these ordinary Miracles ; or that the Rosary Queen , whom they call the Mistress of the World , and the General of this Order , is alwaies present and active upon all great Exigencies , wherein her Officers are concerned , especially when she sees them bearing up , or marching under that which she takes n n Caraccius de Rosar . part. 1. c. 10. for her Banner . Nevertheless , tho the essential Riches of this potent Confraternity be so extremely considerable in all Secular advantages ( even sometimes so as o o Navar. de Horis Canon . c. 19. n. 160. to make Men fortunate in Wives , and all other Bargains ) yet it s great worth lies more in all Spiritual and Eternal Concerns . St. Alain , who never was seen without the Ring , which our Lady p p Gonon . Chronic. an. 1476. twisted for him of her own Hair ; nor without that Heavenly Chain of Beads , which she put about his Neck at the same time , doth assure us upon this account , that to be enrolled in the Book of this happy Confraternity , is q q Beat. Alan . part. 1. c. 17. to be enrolled in the very Book of Life : that the benefit which they receive from being thus registred r r Id. c. 18. , is no less then to be chosen and adopted for Gods Children : that such registred Persons are much better , then the hundred forty four thousand were , in the seventh of St. Johns Revelation : and that all Friends and Promoters of this admirable Society , do set up for all sinners as good as the Ladder , in Jacobs Vision , to scale Heaven . And as for themselves , they shall be there glorified , not only as Abel and Abraham , and the other Patriarchs are , but as the noblest Angels of God . And let none be discouraged from this great Hope , for feeling himself but a sinful Wretch , since as the same Father saies , if true , Qui propriis , &c. that the very Reprobates , as to their proper and personal Demerits , are made the Children of God by the communion and benefit of this Society . For as a Rosary had in the hand of S. Salvator the vertu of curing Quartan Agues , when it was laid t t Chronic. Min. l. 5. tit. 4. upon ones head ; so it had in the hand of St. Dominic a greater Gift , namely , that of infusing Grace ; or however , expelling Vice , when laid u u Bovius Annal. to. 13. an. 219. n. 12. at Night under ones Pillow . For my part , I know no fowler Villain , then that Noble Man at Paris was , who was sanctified by this means . Where ever was a more prostitute Whore , then fair Catharina at Rome , who both in the heat of her Lust , and her Zeal for this blessed Rosary , was converted also ; and in such an extraordinary manner x x Chronic. Deip. an. 1221. , as is not fit for me to relate ?

But tho Registred Brethren or Sisters should not care much for Conversion ; and tho their good Goddess f f Id. c. 33. and Mistress would Indulge them their liberty , as she often doth , as long as they shall enjoy their life , yet , which is the sweetest of all , none of these worthy Members can perish , but either the strength of their Beads , or the kindness of their Lady , or some like thing or other , shall save them from Hell when they are dead . Who can be more wanton then Alexandra of Aragon was ? And yet she was raised from the dead , absolved , and visibly saved , as they say , 150 daies ( the just number of her Rosary Beads ) after her Head had bin chopt off , and thrown into a deep Well ? Was ever a Man in the whole World more fit and likely to fall into Hell , then was the desperate Robber , whom some others stronger then he , had suddenly kill'd in his Sin , and whom the Rosary Princess reviv'd and kept so long under z z Archang . Caracc . de Rosar . part . 4. Miracul . 16. ground , till St. Dominic heard him calling for help , and both digged him up and absolved him , two whole Years after he had bin buried ? This High-way Man , it seems , had heard of Saint Dominic's Preaching , and therefore had made use of his Rosary , purposely to venture himself more safely , to all the hazards of his Trade ; and he did well , for as soon as he was absolved , his Body fell down to the Grave , and his Soul fled up to Heaven . An Indulgent Mistress indeed , who will allow her dearest Mignions , during their life , their Belly full of all Plesures ; and when they die , all the Joies of her Paradice . Let good Catholics have but as much Devotion as a public Robber , or a common Whore are capable of , then a Scapulary , a Rosary , or St. Francis Girdle , all three together , or any one of y y Chronic. ibid. them by it self , shall save them all . And among all these Impertinencies , sober Papists cannot perceive their own weakness , or the irresistible Charm of a besotting Religion .

CHAP. XV. Concerning divers other Instruments of Blessing and Salvation .

SAint Simous Rocket , S. Francis Girdle , and S. Dominic's Rosary , are but three of the numberless Inventions , which the Church of Rome hath found of late to promote Grace and Salvation : The poor Protestants have no waies to help themselves with , but such as Christ and his Apostles did leave to all the World besides , Faith , Repentance , Perseverance in well doing , &c. happy Catholics have an hundred other , both more commodious and more taking ; and it is fit , that all Christendom should know them , since they do prove such useful means , both to keep and to draw the common People to their Faith .

These gracious Tools are of two sorts ; some are supposed to have had a being a good while ago , but were of late discovered , or however put to the new use which now they have . The others are made new every day , by Roman Popes , Bishops and Priests , in the same way that other Tools are made , and brought to what they are , by the Master of every Craft .

Of the first sort , are the Tacklings which now the Roman Church gives out for Relics , and which of late have got the credit of procuring what every one asks . For if the vast store of supposed old holy stuff , which S. Peters , S. Pauls , S. Laurence , and other Churches keep in their Sanctuaries at a a Job . Diacon . de supr. Sanctit . Eccl. Lateran . Rome , had a being in ancient times , it was unknown . Neither Josephus , nor Philo , nor Origen , nor St. Jerome , nor any other of those great Men , and most versed in Antiquity , can tell us where to find the Rod , wherewith Moses did strike out Water ; nor the Altar , where Melchisedec presented to God Bread and Wine ; nor the Golden Censer of Aaron ; nor the Ark of the ancient Covenant , &c. which now they shew in the Vatican . The most pious and ancient Fathers had bin amazed to hear Men speak of the first Shirt that Christ put on ; or of the Bottles which the Virgin used to fill with her own Milk ; or of the Hair , the Shift , the Shoes , and the very pareings of her Nails , which she left with them when she went up . If all these things , I say , had a being , either it was hidden somewhere with those many Crosses and Images , which the Monks have digged up from under ground , or in the bottom of some deep Well , where none but Angels b b Gonon . Chronic. an. 1116. are heard to sing ; or it was kept in some of those Ward-robes , whence the Virgin brings out her Veils , Hoods , and such other Favors , when she hath a mind to hearten her Monks . And tho some Men had known somthing of their Being , which is not true , yet no Man ever had hitherto any experience of their Virtu . For who of all the Fathers ever knew , that any Shift which the Virgin had left behind , had the power which that of Chartres , as they say hath , of disabling c c S. Anthonin. 2. p. Hist. tit. 16. c. 2. sect. 5. an Enemy from going backwards or forwards , and of imparting the same quality to any Shirt , d d Histor. Carnot . an. 1060. which toucheth the Box wherein 't is kept ? Did ever Men dream , before Pope John the 22d , e e Medida del Pie Sanctissimo , &c. impress . cum Licentia . that her Slipper being kissed and adored with some Aves , should procure Atonement for many sins , and a Pardon for 700 Years ? Who may not wonder that these Utensils should have bin kept so long , that is , above a thousand Years in the dark , and now in these last Ages should swarm abroad so thick , and admirable , to all ends and purposes every where ? Most of them , f f Baptist . Laurus . De Annulo pronubo . saies the Popes Protonotary , have bin kept hidden a great while , and from hand to hand delivered , either to ignorant persons , who knew not how to value them ; or to profane and negligent Trustees , who did not care . They think 't was upon this account , g g Horat. Tursel . Lauret . Hist. l. 1. that our now Lauretan Lady kept her self above 1200 Years obscure and unactive in Nazareth , till at last she forsook her Country to shew her self in Italy , where she meets with more pious People , and worthier to see hir Miracles , then the Apostolical and Primitive Golden Age was .

1. First begin , if you please , with this prodigious Relic , a whole Room with Walls , Roof , Windows , where the said Lauretan Lady assures a Bishop , that she was born , and had received the Salutation of the Arch-angel . There also they shew the Altar , which , they say , St. Peter consecrated ; a Crucifix , which the other Apostles had set up , and chiefly her own Picture , which , as she saies , her admirable Painter Luke had drawn . This famous Domicile was brought with these Appurtenances in one Night from Nazareth over Seas and Lands by mighty Angles ; and can , if honored with a Visit , with an Offering , or with a Vow , cure in a moment all Diseases .

2. Hence walk to Perusia , there you shall find the Virgin Maries Wedding Ring ; a very homely one indeed ( such as might be expected from a Carpenter ) of Iron , & a small whitish Stone to it ; but having passed through many hands , and at last being discovered what it was by three great Wonders ; namely , 1. The Apparition of the Virgin , who owned it . 2. The Destruction of a young Prince , because it was not valued enough . 3. And the Resurrection of the same , at the time of his Burial , both to chide his own Father , for his profaness in neglecting that Sacred Ring , and to give all the World warning how they should use it afterwards . This blessed Ring shall make h h Joh. Baptist Laur. de Annulo Pronub . your Finger as stiff and as dry as a very stick , if you dare rashly put it on ; but it will restore the sight , reconcile the greatest Foes , drive out all fears of ill Spirits , if you adore it reverently . And that you may never doubt of this , take but a Ring of Ivory ( it must be of the same bigness ) and let it ●ouch this Virgins Ring , it will contract from it such a Vertu , as to ease one of the Sciatica , and to help Women to an easie Travel , if they put it on their right Finger . By this , judg what her shift can do , what her Gloves , what her Comb , what the broken pieces of her Glass , what her Girdle , much more precious then the Cord of St. Francis , and the * * German . Orat. in Advocat . Zion . Virg. very Heaven it self , what the vast quantity of Milk , which she gave when she was a Nurse , and which she hath given to forty Persons , Men and Women , out of her own Breast , since the Papists have made her Queen . Catholics may look on us all , like as so many poor Raskals , who have none of these Jewels .

3. They may do it much better upon the account of Christ himself : for tho all other Christians have his Gospel , and his active and passive Justice by his Passion and Holiness ; the Roman Catholics look upon this as the common Materials , and do believe them as things of course ; but in the mean while , they mind quite other things , and make use of quite other means of going up to Heaven , which certainly Protestants have not . As besides the Blood of Christ shed on the Cross , which no body hath nor can have ; being , as one of their Learned Saints affirms , i i Thom part. 3. q. 54. art. 2. re-entred into his Veins , and ascended to Heaven with him : they have to shew a great deal more of other Blood , all that which St. Nicodemus took in his Glove , all that which hath bin received in Bottles , and now they say is carefully kept at Mantua ; and without going any farther , all that which is upon Easter-day k k Biel. in Canon . Lect. 5. L. B. most solemnly adored at Rome . Now to argue according to Pope Clements l l Bull. Vnigenitas . Divinity , if one drop of this Blood was enough to save all the world ; What obdurate Papist must he be , whom now m m Joh. Diaconus . ap. Respon. l. 1. c. 10. pag. 48. Bottles full of the same both Blood and Water could not save ? What will you think of the Cradle , the Shirt , the n n Ibid. l. 4. Coat without seam , the Coat of Purple , the Barly Loaves , the Table , the Stool , the Towel , the Communion Bread , the Spear , the Sponge , the Nails , and other Utensils relating to his Life and Passion , which a Romanist hath all , and looks upon both as Objects of his best Worship , and great Instruments of Blessing ? Do not forget the Holy Rood , nor all the great and small pieces of Wood , scattered and adored over the Roman World , whereof as much as a small crumb , when hanged about a Catholic Neck , is in their conceit all in all .

How far these and other Relics set one forward towards Heaven , you may judg by two Characters ; namely , both by the Opinion that the Papists , and the care that sometimes the very Devils have of them . In the Opinion of the Papists , they are able to sanctifie what or whomsoever they can touch ; o o Coster . Enchirid. c. 15. so that whosoever toucheth the Bones of a Martyr , becomes in a manner a partaker of his Justice and Holiness , through the Grace issuing out of their Bodies ; which surely is a great encouragement for one to keep such things close to his skin . And besides this , they are look'd upon as a great means of engaging the Saints to mind and favor them who kiss these Bones , or any thing else relating to their first estate : and therefore those are in the right , who do bestow p p Stapleton . Promtuar . part. 1. p. 292. the like honor on the Relic , as on the Saints ; since from both , they hope to receive ( as they shall ) the like advantage . Thus if you kiss St. Thomas Beckets Breeches , ( they say you may q q Navar. de Horis Canon . c. 18. n. 26 , 27 , 28. adore them too ) you are forthwith sure of a Saint , who shall thus make you twice happy , both by his Soul protecting above , and his Relics which sanctifie and save below . And how were it possible for these Saints not to befriend them , whom they see kissing and worshipping their very Shoes ? Upon this reason are these Relics devoutly laid under the Altars , and there as devoutly called upon : insomuch , that you can hardly tell , which of the two Papists do pray to ; whether the Saint , as assistant to his Relics , or the Relics as nearly relating to the Saints . Sub Altare Dei , &c. * * Pontific . Rom. sect. De Consecratione Eccles. O you ( whether Saints or Relics that are seated under Gods Altar , intercede ye to God for us . If you make the least doubt of it , read the public Office of the Church ; what better Author can you wish ? and by what this Church solemnly praies in behalf of the very boxes or shrines , see what you may hope of the Relics . We beseech * * Ibid : sect. De Benedict . Capsaram . you ( saies the High Priest , and the Praier of the Church you know cannot be in vain ) so to sanctifie these small Vessels , ( Vascula ) by your free Grace ; and so liquor them ( perfundere ) with your Celestial Blessing , that whosoever requires the protection of your Saints , and imbrace their here inclosed Relics ( here is their use ) against the devil and his angels ; against all Thunders , Lightnings and Storms ; against the corruption of the Air , and the Plagues of Men and Beasts ; against Thefts , Roberies , Invasions ; against all sorts of evil Beasts , and against the devices of wicked Men , may obtain of you through their Propitiations and Praiers , strength both to overcome all harms , and to find all profitable things .

This is in all likelihood ( to come to the other Character of saving Relics ) what the Devils at Rome did consider , when , r r Pauius de Angelis . Descript. Basil . Vatican . c. 55. as an Authentic Roman Author reports it , they took once especial pious care , lest these saving means should be stolen away from Rome . The History is remarkable , and it runs thus : About the Year 250 , under the Popedom of Cornelius , some Greeks who were at Rome attemted to steal thence away St. Peter and St. Pauls Bodies ; then happened a great Earth-quake , and all the Devils soon perceiving what these Sacrilegious Thieves were doing , presently bestirred themselves out of their Temples and Images , running up and down through the Streets , and crying with a mighty Voice ( as concerned in the business ) Come out Romans , come out , for the Greeks in all haste are now carrying away your gods . At this huge Cry met together both the Christians , for the securing of their Apostles ( for so they took the Devils Language , as now the Papists do speak it ) and the Pagans for their Heathenish gods . So the Greeks being closely pursued , ran away , and threw their Booty into a Well , whence Pope Cornelius soon took it up . But hereupon a main difficulty troubled the Church , to know which was the Body of St. Peter , and which the Body of St. Paul ; at last , after much Fasting and Praying , a great Voice was heard from above ( whence the Queen of Heaven uses to appear ) Majora Ossa , &c. The bigger Bones belong to the Preacher , and the other to the Fisher .

By this good care of ill Spirits , both all the Bones and other Relics , which the Roman Church hath now , are since multiplied to such a number , as may deservedly call again both the Christians and Pagans together , to wonder at this Improvement . No Rats or Mice can multiply so fast in nasty Houses , as Relics will in foolish Churches . Erasmus saies , s s In Matth. 23. That the true Cross , which once a Man could well carry upon his back , is since that time multiplied to so many pieces , that , if they were all put together , might very well load a good Barge . It is most certain , that our Savior was never Circumcised but once , that St. Peter had but one Body , and St. Denis but one Head , while they lived : the same is true of the Wise men , or the three Kings . But now see where their Relics are best kept , to wit , at Rome , Bruxels , Paris , Milan , Ratisbone , and other places , whether now , when they are dead , they have no more . It seems the Roman Church hath a notable faculty of making Bodies , Heads , and Teeth , and all other such things to breed , while she keeps them in her Bosom . This faculty is neither by Transubstantiation , as when they put one individual Body in a thousand places : nor by simple Division , as when they break one of their Consecrated Wafers into parcels , whereof one , and even the least , conteins as much as the whole doth ; this is performed by a certain Efflux & Transmigration of Roman Grace , such as you see in a burning Candle , when it lights as many others as you are pleas'd to bring to it .

For the Roman Church thinks to know by infallible Experiences , the gift , which their Holy things have of imparting their good Talent , to any thing which comes near them . If they but put their Beads , or any such little thing on their long stick , as the Jews did their Sponge on a Reed , and then with a low bowing , make it kiss our Ladies Image ; this gentle touch is a Blessing : and I am sure all Medals and Beads , which have had it , are bought and sold at a good price . If this touch be between such things , as are of the same or like nature , then the Transfusion of Holiness is much stronger : and for example , a burning Taper , which will perhaps but heat the finger , will presently light a Candle . And to this purpose is the Danish Suffragan Matthias's public acknowledgment , when he declared solemnly , That he had from his Holiness a Commission to hallow , or to consecrate any Bone , even of a Hog or a Sheep , if it were of the like member with that one which he had , into Relics fit for Altars . Here I cannot forget that t t Monsieur de Cerisy . In Low Normvndy . Honorable Gentleman , whose prosperous and pious Family is still in Normandy , a great Ornament to that Church ; whose Father , as he told me , had the first distast of Popery , when , being with the French Ambassador at Rome , he saw a heap of Bones , taken out of a very common Church-yard , and solemnly Consecrated for the Altars of Hungary , which the Turks , much wiser then they , had cleared of such pitiful Trash . This large Transfusion of Grace was sufficiently tried by the Noble Knight u u Chronic. Deip. an. 1060. , whose Shirt kept him Invulnerable against all blows and wounds whatsoever , after it had touched our Ladies Shift : and by many Men and Women , who are cured in Italy both of the x x Platu . supra . Gout , and many other painful Diseases , by Rings of Wax and Ivory gently rubbed against our Ladies Wedding Ring . Doubt not , but that if you can get some , either of that y y Biel. in Canon . Lect. 50. Straw which St. Martin did lie upon , or of the Hey * * Bonavent in vita Franc. , which St. Francis Horse was sadled with ; and if you did mingle other with it , both shall prove to be fit alike , either for working Roman Miracles , or being Objects of Roman Worship . Thus Rome is guilty of no Cheat , whensoever she gives more then one Head to one Body , and many Bodies to one Saint , to be worship'd in several places . And whether Queen Isabella , or Pope Clement the Fourth , have the right Head , which S. Paul had on his Neck ; this hath very small reason to grumble as he doth z z Clem. 4 ap. Caesar . Raspon l. 4. c. 19. at that , or that to complain at all of this , since they have both , if not the same , at least as good .

2. But and if by chance neither the care of the Pagan Gods could save , nor the craft of Roman Monks invent as many Relics , as may satisfie all the World , the new Romans shall supply that want , with other as good means of Grace , which are of their proper making .

First , They will give you an Agnus Dei , that is , a godly Lamb made of Wax . The Original of this new Device , was first found out by the Masons , who laied the Vatican Foundations . For , as they say , a a Marian. ap. Cardin. Raspon . l. 2. with much digging , they met among many Medals and Rings , the Figure of a Lamb made with Wax , enclosed in a Golden Case , engraved with these conjuring Words , Maria nostra Florentissima , Michael , Gabriel , Raphael . Archangel . & Vriel . The Pope then Reigning ( they cannot tell who , nor when it was ) presented the Empress with this Relic ; and a good while after , the Popes being not able to find more such Subterranean Jewels , were fain to counterfeit some like them . Vrban the First , is the first Pope who sent one of his own making to the Emperor of Constantinople , commending the Vertues thereof in a fine Copy of Latin Verses , Balsamus & cera , &c. The way of making such an Agnus , is this , Take Virgin Wax , charm it with the b b Cardin. Raspon . de Basilic . Lateran . l. 2. c. 8. usual Blessing ; mingle it with the Ointment which they call Chrisma , and some Balsom added to it : put this Past into the shape of Lambs , carry them in a Silver Bason to the Pope at Procession , saying these Words , c c Ibid. Holy Father , these are the young Lambs that bring the good Tidings . Allelujah , now they are going to the Fonts , ad Fontes . At which the Clergy is to answer , Thanks be to God . Allelujah . Then his Roman Holiness , abusing most horribly the Holy Ceremonies of Baptism , dips d d Ceremonial . Rom. them all into the Water , out of which , he , or some other present Bishop , takes them ; and thus all being Baptized , Omnibus Baptisatis , the Pope himself Consecrates them with a Praier to the Holy Ghost , O Alme Spiritus . &c. that is , as He ( the Holy Ghost ) hath ordained the Holy Sacrament of Baptism , to wash all sins away ; so these Lambs ( pretty Children to bring to Christ ) being washt with the holy and living Water , and anoiated with the holy Ointment , may be blessed and sanctified with the abundance of his Grace , against all Devils , and ill Spirits . And that whosoever will devoutly carry about him one of these Lambs , may never be troubled with any storms ; nor overcome with any Adversity , nor Plague , nor ill Air , nor Shipwrack , nor Fire ; that no man may ever have the Dominion over him . ( So Catholics must have still the better . ) And that if a woman wear it in Childbed , the Child may be kept safe with the Mother . The great Sacraments of Christs own institution , namely the Holy Baptism , and Communion have not the half of this : and yet , both for the great encouragement of Poperie , and the greater horror of all true Christianity , you may have more ; for the first Pope who made them , and therefore knew best what they were good for , makes their vertue like to Christs Blood . e e Raspon . suprà . Balsamus & Cera , &c. I present you , ( saies he to the above said Empress ) with an Agnus or Lamb of God as a great Gift ; for it scatters away Devils , and storms , &c. ( as in the consecrating Praier ) and besides all this , it breaks and choaks all mortal sins , as the very Blood of Christ doth . Commend me now to such a Church , that can upon her own account make for her friends such Sacraments .

Secondly , Hear what she can make in another way , of this same wax , especially upon Easter Eve . In the Morning f f Pontificat . Rom. sect. De Off●c . Sabbath . San● . at six a Clock , strike you as much Fire out of a Flint , as may serve you to light CharCoales without the Church : put the lighted Coales in a Censer : and throw on them , five Grains of Franckincense , while this Incense is a burning , put out all the Lights of the Church : put three wax Candles at some triangular distance upon the top of a long Pole . At the first stepping into the Church , light one of them at the new Fire : then lift it up : and let the People say Deo gratias , God be thanked , there is Christs light . When you come to the middle of the Church ; light the Second ; and falling down upon your knees repete the same words somewhat louder : and when you are come in so far , as to the High Altar ; then light me the third Candle , and cry out as loud as you can , Here is Christs light . This done , go up to the Pulpit ; and there with one of the three afore said Candles , light a fourth , but a huge one , which is called Cereus , and must be burning the whole night . This great Candle , or Cereus is good as they say on Easter Eve to bring the holy Ghost into that water , which it is thrice dipped into ; the first time it must no more then touch the water : the second , it must go in somewhat deeper ; but the third g g Missal . Rom. Sabbath . Sanct. time , it must sink unto the Bottom . Now sprinkle a little of this holy water upon your self , or whom , or whatsoever you will ; it will do Marvails . Once the Virgin brought down from Heaven one such Taper , h h Pyraeus . Coron. B. M. Tract . 1. c. 12. to dip in water ; whether she learned it from the Roman Church , or this from her , I cannot tell ; but however all the Inhabitants of Arras , who drunk but a little of this water , being troubled afore with sore diseases , were upon their drinking thereof , on a sudden recovered . It were exceeding worth trying , whether the other lesser Candles could do the same , if they were dipt ; for Roman Catholics find in the water a marveilously great aptness , to impregnate it self with all the vertu of Holy things . Witness that water , ( whereof mention was made before ) where S. Francis did wash his feet : and the other water in Flanders , which did cure i i Balinghem . Calend. B. M. 10. Sept. the Palsie , when the little Image of Montague , Montis acuti , had soakt in it . But however without any water , these small Candles do great Effects , if the praier to hallow them , be not as vain , as , I am sure , it is extravagant ; namely k k Misal Roman . Fest. Purificat . that God would be pleased to Sanctifie all these Candles thro the Intercession of the Virgin , and the Praiers of all his Saints , for the health of Souls and Bodies by Sea and Land : and to this purpose to kindle them with the light of his Celestial Blessing , and the infusion of his Grace , that all the People who have a mind to carry them devoutly and decently in their hands , may have their Praier heard in Heaven . This said and don , then presently come up the People to the high Altar : and there down on their knees do kiss the hand of the Mass-Priest , who gives to every one of them one of these Candles . When some Body is like to dy , this blessed light is held before him , when he cannot hold it himself ; and the benefit of it is this , that whosoever holds , or hath this Candle held before him , when he dies , especially if a Rosary Brother , dies l l Archangel . de Rosar . part . 3. c. 6. with the Pardon of all his sins ; what would you have more ?

Thirdly , from the Wax you go to the Oil ; for the Church of Rome makes of it three other great Organs of Grace ; 1. One to prepare and qualifie young People to all spiritual Graces ; Oleum Catechumenorum . 2. Another to introduce the Old , or the Sick into Heaven ; Oleum Infirmorum . And the third , to strengthen both young and old , from the time of their Baptism through their whole life , against all Temtations whatsoever , Chrisma . For the making of these three Means of Salvation , which are best don on holy Thursday ; m m Pontifical . Roman . in Caena Domini . ℞ Take me three Bottles full of the best and purest Virgin Oil you can get : cover them well ; the two former , with silk of any Golor : but the third by all means with white ; then when the Bells have rung a while , and all things are ready for the Office ; let one Sub-Deacon , or more , bring the three Bottles orderly one after another , on his left Arm , ( where the Lady carries her Babe ) and deliver them being decently covered , into the hand of a more noble Officer , who shall name what Bottle it is ; as for Example Oleum Infirmorum , Here is the Oil for dying People : and so set it before the Bishop , upon a little Table near the Altar . At that moment the Bishop shall rise up : and with a pretty low voice ( not so low nevertheless , as when he changes Bread into Flesh ) thus conjure and consecrate the Bottle set before him . I conjure thee , shall he say , O thou most unclean Spirit , and all you Apparitions , and Incursions of the Devil , to get forth out of this Oil in the Name of the Father , &c. that it may become a Ghostly Vnction , fit to strengthen the Temple of the living God . Then follows the solemn Consecration ; that God would be pleased to send down the holy Comforter , out of Heaven into this Fatness of Olives , that it may scatter all the Pains , all the Infirmities , and all the sorrows both of the Soul and Body : and that it may be a safeguard and restauration to them , who shall be anointed with it . After this , must the two other Bottles be brought up , on the left arm likewise , but with more Ceremony ; for the Chorus must sing the Verse or as they call it the Charm , O Redemtor , &c. four or five times : and the high Mass Priest must consecrate the Balsam , and mingle it with some of the Oil , in a lesser Dish or Patin . This don , he blows three times cross-wise over the Mouth of the greater , otherwise called the Chrismal Bottle . After him twelve other Mass Priests , but of an inferior Dignity , who stand ready for the same purpose , blow each in order thrice , and cross-wise on the said Bottle . Then here follows the Conjuring Consecration . Exorcizo te , &c. that is , I do exercise thee by God the Father Almighty O thou Creature of Oil , that all the Armies of the Devil , and all the Incursions of Satan may flee away out of thee : and that thou maiest become to them , who shall be anointed with thee , an Adoption of Sons , by the Holy Ghost ; in the Name of the Father , &c. Having thus conjured and praied , he falls upon singing the Praises of this Chrismal Oil , calling upon the Trinity , as impertinently , as before , that the Vertue of the Holy Ghost may be mingled with the Fatness of this Oil , just as he ( the High Mass Priest ) mingles what is upon the little Dish , or Patin , and lets it in into the Bottle , with a Fiat , that is wishing or commanding , that this mixture of Liquors be a saving Propitiation , and safe guard to them , who shall anoint themselves with it . And in full assurance that it is so , the Inferior Priest takes off the white Veil , which this Bottle was hooded with ; then the High Priest with a threefold humble kneeling , worships the Bottle three times together , saying at every kneeling and salute , Ave Sanctum Chrisma ; but raising his voice by set degrees ( for this belongs to the Mystery ) at the second , and the third time : the rest of the present Clergy do somewhat more ; for at every Ave in several notes , as before , instead of bowing , where they stood , they must approach , and kneel before the Bottle ; call it worship , or Idolatry , or what you please . Lastly both the High and low Mass Priests do most reverently kiss in order not the Mouth , as before , but only the Lip of the Bottle , Labium Ampullae . Nothing of all this is don in vain ; and nothing can be don too much ; for this is the great Chrismal Ointment , which supplies the want of Baptism : and which arms the true Catholics with all Graces , not one excepted , against all Temtations whatsoever .

The third Bottle conteins what they call , the Oil of the Catechumens : which , laying Balsam aside , is consecrated as the former ; for the High and the 12 low Mass-Priests , blow thrice on it ; then it is conjured and praied over , that all the Devils may flee from it : and that so many Graces may come into their Places , as both to adopt and to purifie the Flesh and the Spirit of all , who shall therewith be liquored . For the Conclusion they all worship the third Bottle as they did the second , with their repeting Ave Sanctum Oleum , I worship or Salute thee O Holy Oil. So you have all you can desire to set your Salvation forward against the world , the Flesh , and the Devil .

Fourthly , the Church of Rome knows how to advance Salt , and water , either each by it self , or both together , by Conjuring , them into another n n Pontifical . Rom. sect. De Benedict . primi Lapiddis . saving Sacrament ; the Salt , to be both the Health and the Salvation of the Body and Soul . Salus Mentis & Corporis : and the water by it self , no less : but when both are mixt together , then you are safe on every side : then all ill Spirits , and uncleanness must fly away : and then the assisting Presence of the Holy Ghost comes in good earnest about you . That is the reason , that no wise Catholic will pass one day , if he can help it , without sprinkling himself with this water ; nor let the Chamber , where he lies , be without a little Bottle full of this holy Preservative .

Fiftly , the Roman Church affords two other great Saving o o Pontifical . Rom. ibid. sol. 114. Devises by blessing Wine , and conjuring Ashes . These Ashes , if it be possible , must be taken p p Id. sect. De Officio 4 Ter. Cinerum . out of the burning of such Boughs as had served the year before for Palm-Sunday . What vertu these Ashes have , ( especially on a Catholic , when troubled in his Conscience ) guess by the praier of the Church , who sends expressly for q q Ibid. Gods Angel , to infuse strength and blessing into them . The Wine , ( not that of the Holy Communion , for this is a Mysterie , which neither Christ , nor his Apostles ever thought of ) as it appears by its consecrating Praier , hath a great deal of vertue too . But it shews it especially , when the Mass Bishop hath mixed it with the said Ashes , Salt and Holy water , therewith to hallow Churches , Altars , and all other Instruments of Catholic Devotion , with such admirable Properties , as can make all Services more acceptable .

Sixtly , this is one of the greatest Perfections and Allurements of Rome ; that over and above the many Means of Inherent Blessings , to enable the deadest Souls towards something ; she can enable Marble , Wood and Stone , to raise and quicken the least Performance . And for my mony give me such a Master , as can both animate my hand with skill and motion to play upon an Instrument , and help me to such an Instrument , as can make most sweet harmony of the least touch of my finger , when I come near ; and this is the Case of the Roman Church , and the great Attractive she hath to make blind Souls look towards her . All , even the meanest Country Churches , what with this admirable Confection made of Ashes , Salt , Wine , and holy Water ; what with Greek and Latin r r Pontifical . Rom sect . De Consecr. Eccles. Characters , drawn in Ashes upon the Ground cross-wise , with a Mass Bishops pastoral Staff ; what with Processions about the walls ; what with hard knocking and singing at the Doors , are enchanted to that degree of holiness , as that the first step into them , and the least good word or thought in them , may * * Thom. p. 3. q. 83. a. 3. wipe off clear your venial fins : and that some Churches if no more then lookt upon at a Distance , will clear you from s s Supra . De Rosar . mortal too . All , even the most common Mass Altars , what with little t t Pontifical . Rom. sect. De Consecrat. Altar . Candles burnt cross-wise ; what with several sorts of Ointments ; what with Signs of the Cross ; what with seven turnings about ; what with old Bones , or consecrated wafers , are conceived to have no less vertue , then the light of the holy Ghost , and a general capacity to make all holy and acceptable , which the Priest offers thereon : and many have the Privilege , if they be seen at certain times , but a far off , to procure general Pardons without any Mass , u u Navar. de Jubil , Notabil. 15. n. 5. or Praier . All Images what by being washt with holy water ; what by being smoak'd and suffumigated with the burning of Frankincense ; are advanced to this blessing , that whosoever makes a short Praier to our Lady , before x x Pontifical . Rom. De Benedict . Imaginis . such an Image of hers , for example , shall be saved here from all dangers : and shall in the presence of God hereafter be released of all his sins . Some such Images there are which go as far , and require less , even but a simple bowing , when you pass by . All Crosses , whether of wood , or stone being washt , and smoak'd in the like manner , promise the same , or greater Effects ; namely y y Ibid. to be a Foundation of ones Faith , a Defense in affliction , a help in Prosperity , a Bulwark in the City , a shelter in the Field ; in a word by Consecration z z Id. De Benedict . Imaginis . a Cross becomes a fit Object to be adored , kissed , and kneeled unto , even by him , who did make it : especially when there is a Crucifix nailed to it ; for then 't is both a Cross and an Image : and who , upon this double account would not be easily temted , to adore and to kneel before the work of his own hands ? A small woodden Button , such as you may have many hundreds for two pence , ( as I have observed already ) is by the Roman Popes Blessing made a sufficient Instrument to raise one Pater to that Price , as to be a sufficient Ransom for the buying of a Soul out of Purgatory . All Bells , and of all sorts ( which in the Roman account a a Durand . Rational . l. 1. Rubric . de Campanis . amount to six ) what with their Chrismal Ointment and another Oil for the sick ; what with abused Parcels of Scripture , and terrible b b Pontifical . Rom. de Benedict . Signi . Conjurations ; what with other Roman and distorted Rags of Baptism , are thought to have the faculty as well of scattering storms and Devils from , as of calling the People to Church : and of working true compunction , in the Heart , as well as a sound or noise in the Ear. However the Roman Church among her solemn Consecrations praies to God for no less , in behalf of her Bells , then in behalf of Christian Souls ; that these ( Bells ) may be blessed with all Heavenly Grace , and throughly moistened with the Dew of the Holy Ghost . Moreover to oblige the Country , they are said to be mightily useful , for the preserving c c Ibidem . Omnipotens Dominator . Durand . Rubr. de Campanis . of Corn , and Cattel .

Sixtly , and lastly ( for I am loth to trouble both my self and others with relating more Enchantments ) besides these Universal Attractives , Rome hath or pretends to have , wherewith to accommodate every particular sort of Christians in their private Relations . His Roman Holiness doth consecrate d d Pontifical . Rom. sect. de Coronation . Reg. Crowns for Soveraigns : Banners for Princes , and great Generals : Swords and other weapons for Captains or common Soldiers . He knows also how to please Queens , Princesses , and other great Ladies with Relics , and Godly Lambs of his own making . He will part sometimes with the whole Carcass of a Roman Saint . When they happen to be with Child , they may be sure of holy Clouts . As for his own ●elf , his custom was to consecrate * * Cardin. Raspon . l. 2. c. 9. a Bit of a patch either of Silk , or of Cotton : and to do it in this manner . At the end of every Station , an Acolythe ( an inferior kind of Officer dips this pittiful patch , into the Oil of a burning Lamp : and having wiped it as clean as he can , comes to the Pope for a Blessing , Jube Domine benedicere : who doth so , and gives it him again ; then the fellow cries out at another station at such a time , and in such a Church which now salutes your Holiness , &c. and so presents the blessed patch : which his said Holiness joifully accepts of , and heartily kisses , in veneration of the Saint , who happens to be the Patron of the Church , where they are to meet . The Chamberlain laies all these Bits one upon another in a safe place , herewith to make a little soft Pillow for his Holiness to rest his head upon , when he is dead . And why may not this pretty Devise , as well be thought a Saving e e Pontifical . Rom. de Benedict . agni . Sacrament for a dead Corps , as the mixing of Salt , and water is , in the Consecration of a senseless Bell ? and why may not silk or Cotton under a Roman Popes head , as well as Gold , Silver and Steel upon and about a Princes Head , be raised , by the same Power , to strange Spiritual Performances ?

These , and many more of like nature consecrated Inventions coming from Rome , and being recommended by men of parts , as so many special favors of an Infallible Church , may very well take , and enchant both wise and unwise Romanists : and for my part I do much wonder , how all such of our Protestants , as have more Conscience then knowledge , are not more temted then yet they are with these Means of Salvation . We all know how much Flesh and Blood is apt to be drawn with Objects , and Operations of its own kind : and how far it is easier for men and women of loose lives , to amuse themselves with Scapularies , Beads , Ropes , Agnusses , and sprinkling their Bodies with Holy Water , then to lift up pure Hearts to God . And what hard matter can it be for an old Sinner on his Death-bed , either to kiss a Crucifix , or to hold a consecrated Candle , when contrariwise he finds it an unsufferable task to repent ? Who , in the daies of Romulus , would have run the hazard of being hang'd , when he really might , or at least thought to escape it by running into his Asylum ? And who of all the Sons of Adam , if they do see their nakedness , and hear the Thunder , will not again seek Fig-leaves ? Such imaginary means of Grace , both keep Papists nailed to Rome , and might draw more People that way , were it not for some remainder of common Sense left in Mankind , and even somtime in the worst Sinners , which in part discovers the Folly , the Profaneness , and if there is any reality , the visible Witchcraft of these Babels .

1. I say the Folly : For what is there more impertinent , then to think either of scaring the Devils with Salt , Ashes , and Water , or of inviting the Holy Ghost with Perfumes , Balsam & Oil ? These weak Ingredients , I do confess , might have some use in the Levitical Service ; but yet this use was to signifie and to represent ; it was not to perform , or to bring any thing to pass . If the Papists did intend nothing , but for example to represent Innocency , by their Holy Water ; or the Glory and Joy of Heaven , by their Burning Candles and Lamps : Men are allowed sometimes to express things by such Emblems . And if their Ceremonious framing and scrupulous Christning of Bells , or their Mystical burning of great Torches did tend to nothing else , then those many Allegories , which Durand f f Durand Ration . l. 1. de Campanis . l. 6. de Bened. Cerea . and others seek about them ; the only great abuse , for ought I know , were in exceeding all sober use ; and by that excess , in filling the Church with an intolerable Pageantry . But I pray you , What hath this Bell more then a Drum , proper to working Repentance ? Or this Taper , more then a Tallow Candle , to cure Diseases ? Or this Rose more then a Tulip , to ease of the Quartain Ague ? If this Wax , or Roses , or Boughs , had bin brought down to us from Paradise , as they say that admirable Branch of the Palm-Tree g g Cosmas Ves●itor . ap. Pelbart . de Obit . V.M. was , which an Angel gave to St. John , to adorn the Virgin Maries Funeral ; the Celestial Ground where they grew , might dispose one as well to believe , that the Leaves of that Branch did glitter like Stars , and that its Fruit did restore the sight , or raise the dead , as to believe the whole story . Or else if this Wax , and Roses , and Boughs , had bin recommended to the Church by God , or any undoubted Prophet , as Water is in Baptism ; and as the Rod , the Lamb , the Blood , &c. were in Moses his daies , it were very easie to conceive , that the same God , who had instituted these Signs , would by some way or other , however unknown to us , make good their signification . But since these begarly Elements , as the Apostle calls like and better things , have neither Institution from God , nor Original from an unknown place , nor any thing in the whole Earth , to recommend themselves withal , but that they grew in my Garden , and were taken out of my Hives , and then were blown upon by a Pope : upon this pitiful ground , if I think they can do great Feats , I may promise my self as well very great Wonders from the Juglers , Hocus , P●cus , which I am sure were great folly : or if some great things usually happen at such pitiful Ceremonies , as there is neither strength of Nature , nor Ordinance of God to cause them , my Belief is worse then Folly ; there must be some Devil in the case , whom an open Abuse and Profaness in taking in vain Gods holy Name , doth usher in .

2. For what worse abuse can there be , then to call on the Holy Ghost to infuse his Light , his Grace , and the Dew of his Blessing into Ashes , Stones , and Morter made of Water , Lime and Sand ? In Conscience , are these dirty things capable of any Grace , and Spiritual Infusion ? Or is the blessed Spirit of God become to us so contemtible , as to be called into this Dirt ? 2. What impudent attemt is this , to pretend , either by our Praiers , or by the help of light Gestures , to raise up filly Elements to high prodigious Effects ? And what visible temting of God is it , to call on him for Help , Grace and Blessing , upon this prostitute boldness ? For when we call upon him to Bless or to Sanctifie what we have , it is to improve it to those uses , which by its nature it is fit for . And when we bless the Elements , either for holy Baptism , or for the holy Communion ; it is to procure then a Blessing in order to those Spiritual Ends , that he himself hath ordained both Baptism and holy Communion to . So whensoever we Bless or Pray , we have alwaies a Natural , or a Supernatural ground of God , to bear us up in what we ask . So had Moses , when with a Rod he offered to divide the Sea 〈◊〉 Joshua , when he bid the Sun to stand still : and all the holy servants of God , when by the laying on of their Hands , or any other weak Ceremonies , they wrought some Wonders . There and then the Men of God neither spoke nor did any thing , but when moved by his Spirit : and without such Grounds and Principles , whether natural , or better , all our Praiers are but Faithless , and our Blessngs and Consecrations unchristian . Now what of all this , can a Mass-Priest or Bishop pretend for all his Conjurings ? If Lights and Lamps can by their Natural propriety scatter Darkness , or by an human Institution represent Glory and Joy : Can they also procure Blessings , and cure Diseases ? Is there any ground in Nature , whereupon one may pray to God , that such a Bell ( call and Christen it as you please ) may work Compunction of Heart , or preserve the Cattel and the Corn , otherwise then by scattering perhaps some Clouds ? Is a rag either of Silk , or of Cotton , being at a certain time dipt in Oil , like to give ease and refreshment to a dead Pope lying on it ? Or if Nature fail them in this : What Divine Institution , what true Revelation have they to make them think , that their three Bottles , if a Mass-Bishop will breath on them , shall fetch down Graces from above ? and that one little drop of this Oil , mingled with Wax and Balsam , shall save People against all Dangers ? Why should one think that his Parish Church is better freed from ill Spirits , by some few Greek and Latin Letters made with a stick upon spread Ashes , then his Room is , if he writes Slut with his Finger upon a nasty or dirty Board ? And what ails a Tulip more then a Rose , or an old Shoe more then a Girdle , not to be as well consecrated to great Marvels ? 3. As 't is to these and other such idle purposes , that the Holy and Dreadful Name of God is by them all taken up , and called upon at every turn ; if in truth , as it should , in Justice and Judgment , let them shew by some good Precept , Promise , or clear Revelation that it is so : and if not , let them now tremble both at the horror of their attemt , and at the dreadful Voice of God threatning , that he will not hold them guiltless , but look on them alwaies as Sinners , and abominable guilty Persons , whosoever do take his Name in vain . Read who will Roman Service Books , there he shall find the whole Trinity as frequently and as formally called down on Bells , as on Children ; as dreadfully named and conjured , ( Per Deum vivum , &c. By the true God , the living God , the Holy and Almighty God ) upon Salt , Stones , Ashes , and such Trash , as on his Sacred Ordinances . The whole Service of Rome , from end to end , is pestered with such Conjurings .

3. But if such Conjurings be not thought to be taking Gods Name in vain , but seem somtimes to work out somthing , you may justly fear that they be worse . The Jews had an Art of casting out Devils , and curing many Diseases , some with Rings , and Roots of r r Joseph . Antiquit. l. 8. c. 2. Herbs , which , they said , they had from Solomon ; some by Suffumigations s s Justin . Martyr . cont . Tryph. p. 91. Edit. Steph. 1551. and Conjurings . The ancient Pagans did the same with Flowers t t Euseb. Praepar . Evang. l. 5. p. 117. Edit. Rob. Steph. , with Figures , and with Words , which themselves did not understand . These for the most part were Scripture names , Sabaoth , u u Origens ê cont. Celsum . l. 1. Adonai , God of Abraham , Isaac and Israel , &c. The truth is , abused Scripture and Medicine have ever bin the two common Ingredients of Black Arts : this finds out Herbs , Roots , Gums , Perfumes , &c. that furnishes sacred Words , sacred Figures , and holy Daies , to make up the Enchantment . Thus the Devils are best pleased , when they trample both on Nature and Grace , both on Gods good Creatures , and Christs sacred Ordinances . You can no where find more of this then both in the Jewish Talmud , and in the Consecrations of Rome . No Salt , no Wine , no Smoak , no sound of strange Words and Characters , can be out of their way and use , in order to true Popery : and if Christ , and the Primitive Fathers , ever used any of these Creatures to a Moral and Mystical sense , the Papists will first stretch it out to extravagant Allegories , and at the conclusion will abuse it for the working out of strange Feats . Thus the use of Oil , which by the Fathers was applied to represent the Graces of the Holy Ghost , falls into the hands of Papists to cure Diseases . Thus the ringing of the Bells is improved from calling the People to Church , to make Corn prosper in the Fields : and thus the Bones of dead Saints , and the very Sacrament of the Lord , from being kept as holy Memorials ; to be thrown to quench the Fire , and to save Houses . And as the Lord of Hosts , the God of Israel , and such other Names of God proper to his ancient People ; so must the Holy Trinity , the Living God , and such other Expressions of the blessed Divine Nature , which are more proper to the Christians , among other names of Saints and Angels be now brought in , with many Crossings and Figures to conjure their Business , and , as Cardinal Rasponi ingeniously expresses it , to make a x x Respon. de Lateran . Basilic . l. 2. c. 8. p. 147. Charm of Blessing . With this , a little Bottle of Holy Water , hanged at or by the Beds Tester , is conceived to keep the whole Chamber both from Fire and evil Spirits ; and as much as a small Peper corn of Wax , sowed and wrapt up with Silk in the Figure of a Heart , and carried about ones Neck , is a stronger Preservative then all the forbidden y y Concil. Laodicen . Can. 36. Phylacteries . And as these great and sacred Names did not conjure so well , as when pronounced in Hebrew ; ( for the Devil did not care for the word , unless it was said Sabaoth , or Adonai , as Learned Origen well z z Lib. 1. cont. Celsum . p. 20. Edit. Cantab. observes ) all the Pontifical Consecrations and Exorcisms are in Latin , Per Deum Vivum , &c. and this may he thought a good reason for celebrating their Mass in a Tongue that few understand , for fear the Consecrating words in English , or other known and common Languages , might not work out the great Miracle , which they call Transubstantiation . Therefore whensoever Serpents , or Floods , or Quartan Agues are conjured ; or when to the same good purpose Spells and Papers are given out , all is said and written in Latin , out of their vulgar Version . See their Book called Flagellum Daemonum , full of Enchantments to scourge the Devils ; or their other Book , called The Tresure of the dreadful Conjurings . Thus , 't is the Fate of corrupted Religions , whether Jewish , or Mahometan , or Roman , to end in Witchcraft and Sorcery : and who can wonder , if such continual abusing Gods Holy Name , and Scripture , proves a strong Invitation to any other Spirit rather then his own . But of this , you shall hear more about Images .

CHAP. XVI . Concerning the most general , and most sensible Inducement to Popery , by the means and in the use of Consecrated Images .

BOTH the first scope and most difficult work of Christian Religion concerning Mankind , is to raise up their Souls from low and gross visible Creatures , to God himself and all Spiritual Objects . Contrariwise , the main business of Heathenish Superstitions , was ever observed to consist in depressing Men from God , and all supercelestial thoughts , down as low as ever they could , to gross and sensual Idols . This second is the easier Task , because human corrupt Nature ( all good or bad Religions being laid aside ) is apt and prone to move downwards , by the very weight of its Principles . Men naturally do love as little to look up , or to employ themselves about invisible Matters , as to gaze at random on emty Air : and being guided only by their Senses , it is exceeding hard for them to take any other way , but towards what they see and touch . Hence Rome hath taken the advantage to fit her own Religion from what true Christianity prescribes , to what sensual Men can or will do . For as to what they can ; if to love God with all their hearts , and to adore him in Spirit , be much above their Moral strength ; to bow passing by an Altar , or to sprinkle themselves with Holy Water , or to stand or kneel demurely at the lifting up of a Wafer , are such acts of Devotion , as any one , who hath but some health , and the natural use of his Members , hath sufficient ability to perform . And as to what they affect , altho all spiritual Exercises and mental Elevations , be to them unpleasing ; and all pure and eternal Objects very far above their sight , and farther yet above their care ; yet they will kiss a Crucifix , salute a Cross , carry most devoutly a Scapulary , an Agnus , or a set of Beads about them : and these and other like Devotions , as I have shewed in many Instances , go far in the Roman Account . And as to the great Zeal and Passion which the Gospel of Christ requires , tho few Men can force themselves so much , as patiently to hear one Preaching upon any Essential Article of the Christian Faith ; yet all of their own accord , especially upon certain daies , will throng both to see and to worship St. Paul's Head , or St. Peter's Tooth . And without any great teaching , Men learn presently any where , what most Israelites learn'd in Egypt ; when they care little for God or for Moses , whom they see not , they will gape and run lustily after the Calf , or any thing which they can see . Thus evidently , Let us make Gods to go before us , is the most corrupt natural wish , and the most universal Religion of all Mankind . To this purpose , the Holy Fathers have observed this Enchantment in Images , that the very Men that should best know what stuff these Idols are made of , yet will stand in some a a S. August . Epist. 49. Quaest. 3. awe of them , when they see them bravely seated over the Heads of a multitude ; and that either such is the Charm of these dead figures b b Idem in Psal. 113. Conc. 2. , to make Mens Souls stoop unto them ; or the natural weakness of Men , to let themselves stoop to these shapes ; that the very Men who see the Sun , and believe it to be their God , will turn c c Ibidem . their back to their own God , and turn their Face to his Image . The truth is , carnal Worshippers , such as naturally all Men are , are all for present carnal Objects : and if these have also human shapes , in St. Augustins Judgment , this likeness becomes to them so great a Charm , that , as the same Father observes , Men shall not be discouraged from following after Images , by seeing them both Deaf , Blind , and Dumb , but will take them for friendly Gods , because they see them have Ears , Eyes , and Mouths . Whatever this Reason be worth , this Experience is most certain , that , the People of God excepted , all the World besides hath bin drawn to their respective Religions , by the help of these gross Images : and if by chance , any Temple or Nation happened to have none , that is observed by most Historians as extraordinary and singular . All the Provinces of China , however full as they say of Teachers , who think of God , much above all what an Image can represent ; yet never draw up their Train'd Bands to any Religious solemn purpose , but still march with such Standards ; and the true Israel of God , and the Primitive Church of Christ , are the only two Societies that both had not , and detested Image Worship . Not to speak of the Israelites according to the Flesh , of which there is no question , the Church of Christ , as well at Rome as every where else hath , for above six hundred Years after her first Institution , best lived , and best served her Savior without Images , as to any Worshipping account . If there were Images at all to be seen among Christians , during the three first and most Virgin Centuries , they were either kept useless in private hands , or used by the Followers of Simon the d d Iren. l. 1. c. 23. Magician , Carpocrates e e Ibid. c. 24. , and such Infamous Heretics : and if by any Christians , it was by such weak Superstitious ones , as in S. Augustins f f Augustin . de Consens . Evangel. l. 1. c. 9. Judgment deserved well to be deceived , for their offering to learn Christian and Apostolical Faith from painted Walls . When first Images crept into Churches , which was about the sixth Century , it was on a civil account , either as Ornaments of Christian Temples , or as Memorials of Holy Stories . Pope Gregory the first , and the first Patron of Images , * * Gregorins Magn. supr. never pleaded farther then this against Serenus for his Clients , which stood 200 Years in this posture ; till the second Nicene Council , with much opposition , and more scandal , advanced them a step higher . Then soon after came the ninth Century , noted by all for the worst , the saddest , and the ignorantest Age of the Church , which drowned the Gospel with Popery , and which , as their best Authors g g Baronius , an 900. n. 1. confess , began in good earnest to set up the Abominable Desolation foretold by Dan. 9. in the Roman Church . And so Images had a fair opportunity to come in , when both the Holy Scriptures were kept unknown , under the Bushel of Ignorance : and when all other things were managed by new Revelations and new Miracles . Here I do not undertake to shew , how far Roman Images lead worshippers into the way of plain Pagan Idolatry ; since able men have done it before . But what is proper to my purpose , and is not so generally known ; I will insist 1. upon their Roman Original . Secondly , upon their use among Papists . Thirdly , and most principally , upon what good , or bad accounts , Roman Images are grown so lovely and so taking .

1. First , as to the Original of Roman Images , it imitates that of Roman Relics . So the Papists have them two waies ; for some are made by the Roman Church ; others have an unknown Extraction , as being supposed either made by some Saint ; or brought down from Heaven by Angels ; or however found out one way or other by some extraordinary Providence . The Images made by the Roman Church , are made this way ; the Carpenter cuts down a Tree , or the Mason digs out a Stone : then a Carver works this Stone , or Tree into an Image : and the Mass-Bishop consecrates both , into a Saint , or a Virgin , or a Crucifix . In the joint labor and concurrence of these three Craftsmen ; the first finds the Materials : the second adds the shape and Figure : and the third , that is the Mass Bishop , puts in the Essential form , the very Soul ; and by his powerful Consecration introduces it into the Body of the Image , in this manner .

When the Church wants a Crucifix , the Bishop puts off his Miter ; and in a pretty long Office , declares or explains to God , what he would have , that is , what it is that he hath a mind to set up ; namely Singulare Signum , a a Pontifical . Rom. sect. De Benedict . Nov. Crucis . a special Standard , which by a special Blessing may be a saving help to Mankind ; a supporter to Faith ; a Means of Proficiency in good works ; a Redeeming Instrument for Souls ; and both in the Town , and in the Field a protecting Shelter against all Enemies , whensoever a good Catholic shall come , and humbly kneel before it . If the Crucifix be made of some better matter then common Wood , as of some fine Stone , Brass , or Silver ; it is intended and praied for , that by the Merits of this Crucifix , all devout Worshippers may be cleansed from all their sins , as the world was by the Holiness of Christs Cross . In order to these great Designs , the Bishop makes use of Holy Water ; not such ordinary holy water , as Mass Priests make every Sunday , for every body to keep off Devils and Diseases : nor such , tho nobler , as is used at every Christening of Children : but that noblest sort of holy water , which a Pope , b b Layman . l. 5. tract●t . 9. c. 13. n. 12. or a Bishop only can make , to consecrate Altars and Churches ; with this admirable Water , I say , the Bishop washes and Hallows the Cross ; next he takes Fire and Frankincense ( a Drug able in their judgment after it hath had three crost Blessings , to cure all manner of Diseases , and to drive away all manner of Devils , if they but smell the Smoke of it ) and perfumes it well with the vapor ; and both in the Name of the Trinity , and the vertue of three Crossings , he commands the Grace of the true Cross , where Christ had once his holy Members , to come & rest on the Crucifix , to this effect , that whosoever will bow before it , may thereby find a sure Relief , both for his Body , and his Soul . For conclusion , the Mass Bishop devoutly c c Pontifical . Rom. supra . kneels before this his new Crucifix , and both adores and kisses it : so do all other Catholics in their greatest Devotions , specially in time of Distress : and so all may , if Crucifixes be such helpers .

All other Images , especially that d d Pontif. Rom. de Bened. Imag. B. M. of our Lady , are consecrated in the same way , with the same noblest holy water , and the burning of Incense ; only they have this special Praier more ; to wit , that God e e Ibid. Item sect . Bened. Imag. aliorum . S. S. Almighty would be pleased so to sanctifie the said Images , that whosoever shall pray before them , may never want the Mediation and Intercession of that Saint , who owns the Image , to promote all what he praies for . Where by the bie you may discern Blasphemy and Impertinence coupled together ; A Blasphemy , in calling upon God to bless that which in his service he so professedly curses and detests ; and the Impertinency , in praying Backward and forward ; forward to God , to move or get his Saints to mediate : and backward to move or get their God to the hearing of all the Requests , that shall be made before their Image . A Mathematical Device indeed an Image is ( and who would not have such an Instrument ) to turn God down to any Saint : and to turn up any Saint to God ; and both God and Saints , to what one saies , when he kneels before that Figure .

To spare Gods Name out of the Case , ( for it is both a most fearful boldness to go to God for a Blessing upon what he hates and condemns , and a most desperate folly , to believe that He will grant it ) a very Child might see both in the drift , and the manner of these Consecrations , that the main design of Images is not , to set up Resemblances or Memorials ( as Pope Gregory * * Regist. l. 9. Epist. 9. said to Serenus ) where unlearned People might see , what they could not read ; but to contrive such kind of Engins , wherewith Christians might call in and presentiate their Saints , as the Pagans had to call in their Gods . For Holy water , and Frankincense are quite extrinsecal , you know , and impertinent as to the procuring of representation , and likeness : but they may perhaps conduce much to making and procuring such a neat and sweet Abode , as both in the Papists and Pagans opinion , might invite to it a great Saint . But if you will go to the practice ; the common use made of Images shall tell you most plainly , what is the true end that they are made for . No Worshipper goes to Lauretto , to S. Denys , to S. Michael , &c. there to learn and read upon Images the Face , or the Mine of such Saints : nor would he think it worth the trouble and the charges of a long Journy , to go so far merely to instruct himself more fully , whether our Lady hath an Aquiline Nose ; or whether S. Michael hath wings in his back ; or S. Francis , a deep long Hood , or S. Dominic , a bald Pate : the main Motive , that drives Pilgrims to those Churches , where Images are , is to find , not the Resemblance , but the very Presence of the Saint . So when they say , as they may truly , that these Images are consecrated to represent Saints ; it is in a much higher sense , then when we say , that Pictures do represent Faces ; for it is also , ( and chiefly too ) as when we say , that Embassadors and Nuncios represent Kings , and e e Bellar. De Imaginib . l. 2 c. 20. sect. 3. Distinctio . Roman Popes ; and upon this account it is that if you chance to misuse the Image , thereby you do misuse the Saint as really , as they did whip Henry the great , whosoever whipt stout du Perron , representing at Rome that Kings Person . Contrariwise , kneeling , praying , and bowing before the Image , thereby you kneel , and pray , and bow as really before the Saint , as our Kings under Popery did submit all to his Holiness , when they did it to his Legats : or as poor Frederic the Emperor thought really to put his Neck under the Feet of S. Peter himself , when he put it under the Popes . Thus are Images set up in Churches with a twofold Capacity ; the one , as formal Representatives to be served with all the Worship , Praiers , Masses , burning Lamps , consecrated Tapers , and Candles , and all such other Formalities , as the very Saints can be served with : and the other , as Sacred Seats of their assisting Presence and Power ( Divum Numen ) so that whensoever you touch or pray to the Image , this must be don as with the same Devotion , so with the same hope of Relief , as if you did touch and pray personally and immediately to the very he or she Saints themselves : the Images in such occasions being joined , f f Ibid. c. 23. sect. Quod autem . as they say , or even identified with the Saints , and the Saints clothed , with their Images .

Now , how Saints , and Images come to be so nearly related , and concern'd one with another , is a Mystery , that goes beyond any Christian Apprehension . When Princes allow or resent what is don to their Embassadors , ill or Good , as don to themselves ; t is because they out of their own plesure , have chosen and sent them abroad as their own Representatives : and if they concern themselves in the wrong don to their Statues , as the Emperor Theodosius once , which Bellarmin g g Bellar. De Imag. l. 2. c. 12. sect. Theodosius . stands much upon ; it is because they did set them up as Roial Marks of their Soveraignty : And if God would have those Israelites that had bin bitten by Serpents , to look up toward the Brazen Figure of a Serpent in the Desart ; or in their public services to turn their Faces towards the Ark ; as now Christ will have Christians come with reverence to his Table ; it is because God for certain Reasons , Typical , and proper to the Law , had ordained those Ceremonies , as now Christ under the Gospel hath ordained his Sacraments . But what is all this to this Roman purpose ? and for Gods sake what is the connexion between Gods Saints , and Romes Images ? First did ever any one of Gods Saints , express any desire of being served , or praied unto , after his death ? Secondly , suppose this untruth , that they did ? have they declared in what , and by what sort of Representatives they would be served at a distance ? Can any Papist shew , that the Virgin ever cared more for Images , then God doth , who abhors them ? And should we not suspect those Saints , if by chance were found any such , who had any love for that worship , which in all the times of true Saints , none but Devils were pleased with ? And if for any thing that we can certainly tell , the Saints of God are altogether strangers to Images ; why should we think Image-worship to be so dear , and so Charming a Service to Saints ? and therefore when the Mass Bishop praies , and believes after his Praier , that all Blessings may and do light on them , who bow or kneel before an Image or a Crucifix ; can he not pray and believe as well , that they may and do light on them , who to the great honor of those Saints either whip a Top about a Room , or drink claret in a Tavern ? Since these last waies of Worshipping , are not more destitute of Gods word , and Institution then those : and those more unlawful , and more expressly forbidden in all holy writings then these . And so much of the first known Original of made and consecrated Images .

2. There is a second sort of Roman Images , which need no Consecration ; being , as it is thought , sufficiently consecrated , either by the hand that made them , or by some other extraordinary Extraction . Such are ,

1. That Image , which Christ , as they say , made of himself , when King Abagarus sent him a letter , and a Painter , h h Joh Damase . De Fide Orthod. l. 4. c. De Imaginib . who being not able to look Him in the Face , much less to draw well his Picture , because of the Glorious light which dazled his Eies ; Christ , saies the Romancer , took his own Cloak , and by applying it to his Face , took a perfect Copy of it , and sent it to Abagarus . But long before Images were used in the Roman Church , Pope Gelasius accounting this pretended i i Gelas . Conc. Rom. Decret. de Libris Apocryph . letter to be false : it is much , the story of the Painter , and of the Picture can be true .

2. You have another Image of the same worth , and of the same Impression , which Christ , as they say , gave to Berenice , called otherwise Veronica . The story goes , that this woman gave a Handkerchief , wherewith he wiped off the Sweat and Blood , which was on his Face ; and thus his Resemblance stuck to the Cloth ; and it is this which at this day is both so solemnly shewed , and so devoutly adored at Rome ; and you have to this purpose the whole legend k k Baron . An. 34. n. 139. carefully kept in the Vatican .

3. To these may be added that wonderful Image , which they call , l l Caes . Raspon . l. 4. c. 19. made without hand ; which Catholics keep , and adore at Rome in the Chappel of S. Laurence .

4. All those Images which of late times are supposed to have bin either made by God himself , or however brought down by his Angels . Witness that fine Picture of the Virgin , m m Balinghem Calend. B. M. 27. Maii. wrought curiously in a Saphir stone , with her Baby on her left Arm , which Pope John saw first in the Skie , and then all the Bells of the Town rung of themselves , while the Angels put it in his hand . Witness another brave Image , which two French-men being in Prison , found in n n Chronic. Deip. an. 1100. a night made to their hand , when the evening before they were thinking how to make one . Witness that other more glorious one , at Tungres , o o Pyraeus . Tripl . Coron. Tract . 1. c. 12. which the Angels left in a Garden . If you ask what good it did there ; they will tell you , how coming down , it turned the Night into a bright day : and cured the Earl , who owned the Ground where it was left , from an inveterate blindness . Witness that other Miraculous Image near Florence , which the p p Archang . Gian de Initio Ordin . Servitarum . Painter thinking to make , found in the Morning made to his hand , and to all the Worlds amazement .

5. All the Images , which at this day are believed to have bin made by St. Lukes hand , both of our * Lord , and our Lady , and given q q Sim. Metaphr . in vita Lucae . away to his Friends , and so dispersed r r Niceph. Catist . Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 43. over the World . Some think that St. Luke made them of Wax ; others , that he did it in Colours ; but take it either way you please , he is as like to have bin a Plaisterer as a Painter ; and both , as either of the two . Some are so curious , s s Bened. Gonon . Chronic. an. 33. as to enquire both after the places and the time , where and when he handled the Brush : and so they find , that in the last Year of Christs Life he made two fine ones ; at Malta three , and in two Years at Rome many more : one of them with a Ring in the hand , is , they say , at St. Maries seated over the high Altar , just in that place where his Chamber was , when he made it ; another at the greater St. Maries , S. Maria major , which Pope Gregory had about him , when there he stopt the raging Plague : another , the most t t Bovius Tom. 16. an. 1433. miraculous of all , which came from Constantinople , and now is adored in Mont Guardia in Italy . It is a great pity , and a greater wonder , that these Images were yet unknown to all the Churches in the World about 800 Years at the least , when the second Council of Nice met together to set up Image-worship . For if these Fathers had had the least hint that St. Luke had bin a Painter , and that the Virgin Mary had blessed some u u Benedict . Gonon . supra . of his Pictures , they might have left abusing and even profaning holy Scriptures , to introduce their strange Worship : this one Precedent of St. Lukes Preaching the Gospel one day , and the next Morning Painting Images , had bin ( if true and known to be so ) a ground more then sufficient both to confound their Adversaries , whom they called Breakers of Images ; and to justifie upon some probability , what they offered to say as the Papists do now , upon a meer account of boldness , that the ancient Tradition of the Catholic Church stood for Images . Therefore since they did allege nothing of such a visible Importance for their own Cause , it is a Demonstration they did not know it ; and that S. Lukes skill either in Painting , or in Sculpture , was not yet so much as heard of , no more then all his Images which it seems were kept in the dark , and as it were under the heap of those thousands which durst not appear abroad , till far worse times .

6. For the greatest part of those Images , which now the Papists set up and adore on their Altars , sprung and started up from under ground in the darkest times of the Church , like so many Toad-stools and Mushroms in a foggy Night . Such is that Marble Statue of Christ , which was so long x x Cardim . Kastpon . l. 1. c. 14. unregarded , sine Cultu , under a Porch , and now is so bravely set up and adored for its Miracles in the Lateran Church . Such is that old rotten piece of Timber , which the Sacrist of S. Roman thought only good to burn , and to bake his Mass-wafers with , till it cried out , y y Bovius Annal. Tom. 19. an. 1513. What thou Villain , dost thou not fear the Queen of Heaven ? Not to speak of that which z z Baronius . an. 57. n. 112. Baronius saith he hath seen at Rome , Images digged out of Church-yards , to the great amazement of the Romans ; such is ( and of a deeper Extraction ) that a a Archang . Gian . Cent. 3. Annal. Servit . l. 5. c. 13. Stone-Image , which the strength and swelling of Water bubled up once by Night from the bottom of a deep Well upon dry ground , and which now they do worship under the notion of that Stone that our Savior , they say , stood upon by Jacobs Well . Of the like worth and extraction are all those miraculous Images , which , they say , were found by poor Herds-men , some among Thorns , where their Cattel b b Pyraeus . Coron. B. M. Tract . 1 c. 12. would be still feeding ; some upon the tops of Mountains , where c c Ibid. Grass grew faster then it was eaten ; some within deep holes under ground , above which Cows did die d d Bovius Annal. Tom. 14. an. 1313. and rise again ; some under good arable Fields , where the best e e Astolf . Hist. Vnivers . Imag. B. M. l. 10. Oxen could not draw the Plough . Others have bin found by Shepherds , some in f f Chronic. Deip. an. 1620. Vallies full of fine Flowers just at Christmass ; some among Thorns g g Franc Hierasc . in vita Hen. Sylv. where those Images did cry for help ; some among Nettles , working h h Trithem . l. 2. de Miracal . B. V. Viteciti . Miracles among an unexpected Flock of Pilgrims . Poor Colliers have i i Balinghem . Calend. B. M. 19. Maii. had the grace also of finding some among old Woods : Therefore it is no great wonder , if Hunters having lost the Hare , met with some , k k Chronic. Deip. an. 1150. hard by dangerous Clifts , & Precipices . Eremites have bin somtimes Inspired to go and to take up some l l Gonon . de Patrib . Occident . in vita S. Manion . Oniez . out of hollow Trees ; and some out m m Niceph. Eccl. Hist. l. 14. c. 46. of the thick boughs of a Cypress . The 38 Knights of Navar have their Noble Order from those fine Images , which were found by n n Pyraeus supra . Night growing upon the Stalks of white Lilies . As for old doting Lipsius , he found his two dear o o Just. Lipsius . Diva Hallens . & Diva Aspericol . Goddesses in no better place then an old Oak . But what a thrice happy Rencounter was it , to find three Stone Images at once in the Bowels p p Michael Pius de Viris Illust. Ordin . Praedic . of a dead Woman ? The first was the Queen of Heaven , with a Golden Diadem about her Head ; the second was little Jesus , lying between two Beasts in a Manger ; and the third was old Saint Joseph , with a Dominican Virgin at his Feet .

These , and all such Images , were not known to ; and if known , had bin detested by all Primitive Antiquity , as to any Religious use . If you read in Tertullian q q Tertull. de Pudicitia . , of the Figure of a Shepherd carrying a Lamb on his shoulders ; that Figure was in the bottom of a Cup , no fit place to worship Images in . If Eusebius tells you of a Statue r r Euseb. Histor. Eccl. l. 7. c. 18. of Christ , and a Woman kneeling before him ; he tells you withal , that it was not seated in a Church , and that it had bin made and placed where it stood , both by an Heathen Woman , and after an Heathenish custom . What Bellarmin s s Bellarm. de Imag. l. 2. c. 9. is pleased to bring both out of S. Nazianzen , and S. Basil , is on my certain knowledg either a very weak mistake , ill becoming a good Scholar ; or a most perfect lie , worse becoming an honest Man . St. Epiphanius came many Years after those two , and yet Images were to him so strange , when seated in a place of Worship , that when by chance in his Travels he found one in a Country Church , he presently tore it to pieces , and desired the Bishop of that Diocess to look better to such Abuses . St. Jerome , whom the Papists take for their first Roman Cardinal , liked so well both the Admonition and the Censure , that he put in Latin the Greek Epistle which contains both . St. Augustin , somewhat junior to St. Jerome , declares abundantly , in the place which I have already cited out of him , how he thought this use of Jmages both dangerous and unlawful .

But after those great Lights were out , Pictures came to be more frequent , and to be ushered into public Places , upon this double civil account , both of being a kind of Instruction to Ignorants , and a considerable Ornament to Walls ; a most lawful use certainly , as long as it could be kept harmless : and harmless also in it self , when made use of in times and places , and among Men not likely to misapply such things . Images stood upon this foot some hundred Years ( as yet they are among the Lutherans ) till the Empress Irene , who , after she had blinded her Son ( an usual Cruelty in those daies ) blinded both her self , and some hundreds of her Bishops ( the Pope of Rome was one of them ) in a worse and more Spiritual way . For in a great Meeting of hir Clergy , now called the second Nicene Council , she brought out these Images , from their civil Historical and harmless use , to a down-right Image worship ; and made , as well she might , most of her ignorant Subjects as generally Idolaters , in the account of other Councils , and of the Truth it self , as the Emperor Constantius had before her made them Arrians . Ever since those daies , things grew worse and worse , until at last both Christian Estates , and Churches , fall into such a general and horrible Disorder , as made most sober Men to cry out , That the t t Matth. Parisiensis . Additam . Antichrist was surely coming , and that the World could not last long . This thick Darkness having put out all Light and true knowledge of the Gospel , proved to be a most fruitful Womb for all new upstart Saints and Images ; and the Black , Grey , and White Friers , Midwived them out so dexterously , with their Revelations and Miracles , that the Original of whole thousands , I mean of these Saints and Images , is among their very Worshippers at this day , either as unknown or uncertain , as the breeding of Romulus was , whether of a Wolf or a Whore ; whether of seducing of Spirits , or pitifully seduced Monks . Only this you have for certain , as I have shewed by some Instances , that these Monks found out their Images , where the Prophet fore-tells that the Babylonians should throw their gods , among Bats , and Moles under ground : and hence pulling them up as fast as the present occasions required , out of their Holes , and , as the Crocodiles were out of the Mud , both had the same good luck ; these in Egypt , and those at Rome , to be preferred to Temples and Churches .

Now , what holy use and purpose these Venerable Images stand in Chappels and Churches for , appears upon a double account . 1. Of the great Honor they receive . 2. And of the great Blessings which they are thought commonly to procure .

As to the first account , I may the better speak of the great Honors done to Images , because I understood those Mysteries , as much by sight , as by reading . The Image , that of our Lady , for example , whether found by a poor Shepherd under a Tree , or brought and bought by a Pilgrim in the Holy Land , is set up over the Altar , which in their account is no less then the Tribunal and Throne of Christ . Lamps and Tapers burn before it ; and if great Churches are often built from the very ground in their behalf , it is no wonder if Mass-Priests , and other Officers , are kept also to attend their immediate Service . At your coming into the Church , the first Object you bow before , is the High Altar and this Image ; next , if you be well disposed , a Holy fear and trembling u u Lipsius . Diva Hallens . seises on you , as when Jacob saw Heaven opened , x x Tursel . Histor. Lauret . l. 2. c. 6. and said , How dreadful is this place , &c. And Men , as they say , * * Idem l. 1. c. 6. can never feel a greater apprehension of the very Presence of God ( praesentius Dei Numen ) then when they appear in that place . If you come nearer , look what you do ; for many have bin sore plagued for not behaving themselves as they should . Witness that wretched Jew at Rome , whose Face was turned back to his Neck y y Jov. in Epitom . l. 21. , and so stood ever after , because he had not look'd reverently enough to the Image . Witness the Painter z z Oliver . de Miracul . B. M. Montser . , who lost his sight for three whole Months , because under the pretence of mending , he had rashly touched with his Brush , the Lady of Montserat in the Face . And take you here for a good warning , that sign of Indignation against the Scholars of Doway , when a very Statue of Stone did stretch a a Chronic. Deip. an. 1563. out her hand against them , because they plaied where they should kneel . So the Roman and surer way is for Worshippers , when they come near ( and for Pilgrims at any distance , where first they can but see any part of the Steeple of the Church ) looking up devoutly on the Image , to pour out to the Lady their Heart and Soul with a Salutation , Ave Maria , &c. or with some other Praier , as Salve Regina , &c. O Intemerata , &c. or a Pater noster ; that is , to say Our Father , to our good Lady : for grave Doctors approve of this seeming Absurdity . If the Image be the Veronic , that is , that wonderful Copy which our Savior left of his Face , when he wiped it with a Handkerchief , you must look the Image in the Face , and say to it or her , Salve Sancta facies , &c. I worship thee , O thou holy Face , make me clean of all my sins . O thou happy Figure , lead up to Heaven , there to see the pure Face of Christ : Be thou to us a safe shelter , asweet Comfort , &c. If it be that other Image of Christ , when he was just 33 Years old , which , they say , was made d d Caes . Raspon . l. 4. c. 19. pag. 369. by St. Luke at the earnest desire of his Mother , and since improved and perfected by some Angels , because this same Image is upon good experience believed to be , tutissimum e e Ibid pag. 374. Propitiatorium , both a most sure Seat of Mercy , and an infallible Instrument to procure it ; you must , especially upon solemn daies , proceed with more Formality . At the first opening of the place where it is kept , serve the Image with this Praier , Salvator f f Ibid. p. 383 , 384. Mundi , &c. O Savior of the World , save us all thy poor Servants , and grant us all , that by the Merits of the two Johns , the Baptist , and the Evangelist , we may appear guiltless before thee . Moreover , serve it with a yet greater Pomp , when carried in Procession to the other Image of St. Lukes making , at S. Maria major . There its Tabernacle is adorned with g g Ibid. p. 375. very rich Tapistry , rich Garpets and Cushions , Deorum Pulvinaria ( both for the Holy Image to lie , and for the devout Worshippers to kneel upon ) which cover the Seats and the Ground ; there h h Bened. Canonic . S. Petr. ap Raspon . the Pope and his Cardinals must approach upon their bare Feet , kneel seven times , or at the least make seven bowings , facit septem Genua , and so kiss the Feet of the Lord ; that is , of this said Image . Then all sing the Te Deum ( as well they may if this Image be the Lord indeed ) We praise thee , O God , we acknowledg thee to be the Lord . Among all these Divine Honors the Cardinals take up the Image , and 24 great Lights marching before , and the best Roman Nobility coming after ; they carry it from S. Laurence , through all those streets , where they say the evil Spirits were used to plague and infest Rome , to the other Image at St. Maries , which as they say was also made by the same Painter . These two Images being together , are so well pleased with their meeting , and with the Divine Honors which attend it , that ( as 't is confidently i i Petr. Abbas Cluniac . Miracul l. 2. c. 30. Caesar Raspon . l. 4. c. 19. believed by People , who mistrust nothing but the Word of God in the Scripture ) all that Night they do most miraculously either provide or multiply more Wax , then all the Lights or Flames can burn : so that in the Morning all the Tapers and Candles being weighed , prove often-times much heavier then they were , when lighted the Eve before . All this service is very little to what another Image of our Lady was used to receive near Tungres . This Image for two Daies and Nights , namely every Monday and Tuesday in Easter Week , is ( or at least was before the Protestants came to disturb Devotion ) adored after this manner . As soon as this Sacred Image hath bin brought out with Divine Hymns and Paschal Songs , from its Chappel into the midst of the great Church , k k Henr. Sedulius . de Virgine . Mosae Traject . c. 21. whole thousands of People fall to their Praiers about it ; and in that huge thronging , thrice happy is that devout Soul , that can creep under , or somewhat near to worship it . In the solemn Procession , which is a considerable long way , the People are marshalled into an Army . First , march as it were in the Van , whole Regiments of Men and Women , girded about with the long Ropes of St. Francis : After them , other Troops follow , of Men , Women , and Children together , running both forward and backward all bare-footed , and in Drawers , with lighted Candles in their hands : After them quite naked Bodies , loaden with Iron Armors and Chains , and in that cruel Equipage , crawling on their Knees most part of the way : Then come another Train of People , whose Order and Confraternity is , as the Jesuits do teach them , to scourge themselves ; the very Nurses , with their poor Babes ; and old Wives , not being able to crawle , are carried upon little Beds , rather , then to lose the Blessing that doth attend as they think , their appearing before the Image . Close before it , and after these march both the Order of St. Francis , singing Praises , and Benedicta es , &c. to the Goddess ; and other Officers with Torches . At last comes the Goddess her self , being carried upon the shoulders of the best and noblest Virgins , which the Country can afford . Next to them follows the Troop of true Penitents wishing no more , but that the good Image may see their unfeigned Contrition , in their poor Members torn , as they are , and bleeding most pittifully , under the hard weight of their Chains . Then follow the Magistracy ; the Lieutenants , and Nobles of the Country , who bear up the consecrate Host under a brave Silk Canopy , being followed in the Rear with Multitudes of all conditions . Yet after this long Procession is gone and come , the Zeal and Devotion is not over ; for during eight daies and nights more , the People will run to and fro upon the Track , which they guess the Holy Image was carried over : thus to gather up the Blessings , which they hope the good Lady hath scattered in that way . Now call you this Devotion , as you please , whether Duly , or Hyperduly , or Indirect , or Reductive , or Reflected , or Anogogical worship , which is bestowed on such Images ; and puzle into Idolatry poor ignorant Souls , with what words and distinctions you think fittest ; this worship is for certain so great , that none so great was ever so visibly bestowed on Christ : and if all Gods Saints should appear , no greater could be bestowed on God himself .

2. As to the other use of Images , which consists in procuring Graces ; you may be sure that the Blessings , and Advantages both spiritual , and temporal , which the worshipper expects from them , are at the least both as numerous , and as great , as the Devotions which he bestows . I could tell of hundreds of Images adored here and there by Papists , which are more regarded and trusted to , then ever was the Image of Pallas at Troy ; or that of Diana at Ephesus , or any one of the greatest Pagan God any where else . When Turks prevail on Christians , as when they infested Negro Pont ; or if Rome her self be sore distrest , as when once Aistulphus came to take it ; His Holiness Paul the second 's best Refuge was to supplicate the Image of l l Raspon . lib. 4. c. 19. pag. 374. Christ , Effigiem Salvatoris , and to carry it about a Church in a solemn Procession . Pope Stephen the third shewed himself yet more devout in the same way , as being concerned nearer home ; for m m Ibid. pag. 375.376 . he walked upon his bare feet , and carried the Image on his own Shoulders ; the Covenants which had bin broken by the Enemies hanging upon a Cross before it , that it or she might better see , and upon the sight be more sensible of the wrong don . So by this means , saies my Author , ( and with the help of the French too ) Aistulphus his Forces were soon routed , and Romes honor and Interest kept safe . But if in the most desperate necessity you will apply yourself to both Images ; there is no furer way , n n Ibid. saies the same Cardinal , in the whole world , of attaining the Peace of Heaven , and the greatest Mercies of God . It were a long tedious work , to relate here the hundredth part of great Blessings , and both public and private Deliverances , that Roman Images have bin , and still are admirable for , when devoutly served and adored . It was with carrying Images about , that Rome the Mother and Nurse of Images , was once o o Antonin . 4. part . t. 15. c. 24. freed from a raging Plague , Health and pureness of wholesom Air following the Procession most visibly : Witness the Pope , who both saw the Angel sheathing his Sword over the Castle of S. Angelo , and heard a Troop of other Angels , applauding the Queen of Heaven , when her Image made by S. Luke was so processionally followed about . It was by setting up , and worshipping of an Image , whereof no notice was taken before , that in the year 1570. another such most p p Hierascus in vita Sylv. fearful Plague , was suddenly stopt at Padua ; and lest you should take this for a chance , or for a religious mistake ; the Virgin her self appeared to some holy men , at the same time , and assured them , it should be so . What shall I say of the Images at q q Chronic. Deip. an. 1529. Bayeux , r r Caesarius . Dialog l. 7. c. 2. Montpellier , and s s Chronic. Deip. an. 1529. Sens , which constantly , they say , cure all Diseases , and ease the poor Physitians of all practice ? Ask the Mass Priests of Lauretta , Monserrat , Florence , S. Denis , Compostella , Ardilliers , Halls , Tungres , and thousand like Places , whether they know any sickness too hard and desperate for their Saints , when praied and adored at their Images . No Tongue so perfectly t t Manuus . Histor. Rev. Memorab . c. 86. cut off , no Breasts u u Tursel . Lauret . Histor. l. 2. c. 18. so cruelly run through , no Bodies x x Ibid. so quite unbowelled , and emtied of their Entrails , but the praying before an Image , or even bowing at a distance to a Saint , which the Image stands for , shall restore , and make all whole again . But in the wars , and great Conquests , their Images shew best what they are . For as Images carried about , so it be with devotion , will in time of need both bring in y y Villan . l. 4. c. 6. showers , and keep off z z Ciaccon . in Paul 2. Storms : so will they now and then defend Towns , and drive away Enemies . Witness the often mentioned defeat of the poor English men a a Chronic. Deip. an 1200. at Poitiers , when the Ladies Image had the keies : Witness also the fearful Cloud , whence Angels broke out against the Tartars , as soon b b Id. an. 1385. as they had hurt an Image . They say that the Emperor Heraclius with two Images , which were carried alwaies c c Baron an 622. before him , defeated once the Persians , whom the Romans could never beat . The brave Emperor Comnenus with the same conquering Machins did no less d d Nicetas ap. Baron . an . 1123. n. 617. against the Tartars : and so he publicly professed , what he owed this Victory to , when he set both these Images in his triumphing Chariot , and walked by them himself a foot . A considerable Part of the East-Indies is said to have bin conquered this same way . Witness the great Island Cuba , where one of their petty Kings is thought to have won great Battles , e e Cartagena De Mirand . Deip. sect. 70. because he kept among his Captives , one , who wore still about his Neck a small Image of the Virgin . Many hundred years before him , old King Arthur most successfully used the same Devise : for he had still a shield most curiously painted with the Image of the same Saint , * * Gononus Chronic. an. 640. which revived his Spirits and strength , whensoever he found himself fainting . And doubtless this is the reason , why S. Lewis , when tired with hunting , or otherwise distrest , used to alight , and to hang f f Eened . Gonon . Chronic. an . 815. an Image , which he carried still about him , to the first Tree he met with , and there kneeling and praying to it , had presently what he wanted : and it is believed that by this Means he recovered his Estate , which his Children had taken from him , when they kept him close in a Cloister .

3. Now , which is the third , and the last , and the most considerable Point to examine ; what is or may be the matter in or about all these Images , which can procure these quick Returns , and herewith , upon all occasions , temt men to pray and worship them , is more then the Roman worshippers can or dare distinctly tell .

All that you find in an Image , must come to some of these three Things . 1. The substance that it is made off . 2. The outward g g Bellarm. de Imag. l. 2. c. 21. sect. Quarto , in Shape or Resemblance , that makes it in mens conceit the Image of such an Angel , or such a Saint . 3. The Consecration , that makes it a holy Image .

As to the first , the matter or substance it self , to wit Marble , Brass , or Silver , &c. can do no more , then to make the Image more or less fine , rich and costly : and tho it were a Saint Christopher ( that is a huge great statue , like a Giant , which stands in most of their Churches ) of Massy Gold ; it might draw men to admire the Price , but not the vertue of the Image . For when Images are consecrated , it is not as in the case of Mass-wafers , which in five words are presently transubstantiated from what they were ; the Marble or Brass or any substance whatsoever remains still the same : and thus far Pagans and Papists may be equally credited , when , whatsoever their worshipping be , they solemnly disown Gold , Wood or Stone , for being either their Saints , or their Gods .

The second considerable thing in an Image , is the outward form and figure intended to represent either among the Pagans a God , or among the Papists a Saint . Upon this Point , tho Roman Images were so ancient and so happy as to be undoubtedly acknowledged for Pictures of S. Nicodemus , or S. Luke , or a very Angels drawing : and tho they should most truly represent the Blessed Virgins-Face and Features ; the utmost they could temt men to by this most exact Resemblance , were perhaps to go a good way purposely to see and view them : yet no sober men on such accounts could be temted to worship them , much less to hope any great matter , from having seen and worshipt them . Figures , Shapes , and Proportions which make Images like , or unlike , are of themselves , you know as uneffectual and unactive on other scores , as bare words , Cyphers , or letters are : and therefore the Resemblances which result from them , can produce no effect at all , but , as sacred or profane signs may , by some either Divine , or human Institution . Thus once the Israelites might well hope to keep off the Destroier , by sprinkling their Lintels with Blood ; or to recover their former health , by looking up toward the Serpent , because God had instituted these two signs , and had promised such Blessings , if the People did use them so . Thus the subjects of the ancient Roman Empire might hope , besides the performance of their Duty , to get the favor of their Princes , by standing about their Statues , or by their low and civil kneeling , when their first Ministers ( as once Joseph was in Egypt , or Mordecai under Assuerus ) chance to pass by ; because these Soveraigns had resolved and declared , it should be so : and because it is in their power , as to challenge their Peoples Duty , so to dispense their own Favors , at any time , at any Place , and at any mark , sign , or token , which they will chuse . For tho great Kings cannot appear in their own persons every where ; yet will they some other way appear as Soveraigns , and be acknowledged so every where : and if any private person , or any unruly Multitude take down what they were pleased to set up as the Ensigns of their Empire , or of their declared Plesure ( as they did , who pulled down the Statue of Eudocia , which Bellarmin h h Bellar. de Imag. l. 2. c. 12. sect. Theodosius quoque . is pleased to make a foolish plea for Images ) they do affront the Emperors and Kings themselves .

Now to bring all this home to the Case ; 1. Who knows that Roman Images , are either drawn by a Saint , whom no Scripture saies , to have bin a Painter , rather then by Pilate , or by Simon the Sorcerer , who perhaps i i Iren. cont . Haeres . l. 1. c. 20. &c. 24. were ? or drawn so true , as to invite so much as sober Curiosity to look on them ? Is it certain that Christ , or his Mother were just such as they are now represented , she with a delicate Italian Face ; he with the Corpulency of a Dutch Boy ? 2. When there is little to satisfie a curious Eie , is there more for a pious heart ? what Sacred Institution of either Christ , or his Apostles about Images can either give ground to a due lawful worship , or supply the expected Blessings , which neither shape , nor likeness can ? Did ever any one of Gods Saints intimate some where in their lives , that they would take it very kindly , if they were praied to before Images ? and did ever the Virgin promise to any Body , that she would either come , or send to save Towns and Countries from plagues and wars , when ever they would set up her Statues ? whether of the two waies is more likely , to bring her to what we desire ; the carrying her Pictures about , or as it hath bin successfully don sometimes , the plain k k Antonin . 2. part . Tit. 14. c. 2. sect. 3. threatening her with drowning it ? Are the saints come to be of the Devils mind , who perform most effectually what Magicians enjoin , when they treat l l Chaeremon . ap. Euseb. de Praepar . Ev. l. 4. p. 117. him with rough Language ? If both supplicating and threatening be alike uncommanded , and impertinent for this Purpose ; is the looking toward the Ark , or the looking up to the Brazen Serpent , which had both a Commandment and a Promise , so fit a Precedent , as they m m Bellarm. de Imag. l. 2. c. 12. pretend , to countenance praying or looking to Images , which for certain had neither of these ? Therefore since neither the Matter , nor the external Form of Images have any strength , either themselves or of any known help conferr'd by God , to enable them towards any manner of work ; let us see what the consecrating of this Matter and Form can do . For if this last can do little , or nothing in order to those great and extraordinary Operations , which are attributed to Roman Images , you must needs seek farther for some other both as great and extraordinary Principles .

The Consecrating of Images , as the Roman Church practises it , may be considered either as a Praier , or as an ordinary , or extraordinary Power . If you take it as a Praier ; 1. What Ground of faith have they for venturing upon such Praiers ? and what Promise , Precept or Precedent for Blessing Images , in hope of being afterwards blessed by them ? 2. With what Christian and sober modesty , can they wish and devise Instruments , which no holy man , or Scripture ever thought of , to put both God upon hearing , or his Saints upon mediating and promoting , what we shall pray for , before Images ? 3. And as to more special Blessings , which are lookt for at the devout using of these Engines ; what silly fancy is this to call upon God , for making wood , stone or any other materials that Images are commonly made of , after they have shaped it after their own way , happy and powerful Instruments to keep houses and Vineyards ; to keep off Hail and Devils ; to give women an easie labor ; to procure good Husbands to Maidens ; or to kill them who are not so ? For I am sure many Images are renowned and sought after for such Blessings . 4. But what horrible Boldness is this to conjure God in these consecrating Praiers thro his holy Names and Titles in behalf of such strange Purposes , so far against the ordinary Course of his Providence , and farther beyond his Promises ? And what Returns can they expect of such faithless sinful Praiers , but Vanity ? and if something else , but Gods wrath and their own Confusion ?

If you take this Consecration , as a Power ; I pray , when and where appears it , that God ever bestowed this Power either on his , or the Popes Church ? Christ in the first times of the Church invested both his Apostles , and other Servants with many great and extraordinary Gifts , for casting out Devils , for curing all sorts of Diseases , for removing even Mountains ; but where , either for enabling Images , or for the doing either good or harm with Images ? They bestowed the Gifts of the Holy Ghost very often , and as it were of course upon Believers at their Baptism ; but when and where upon Marbles , or curiously wrought Pieces of Timber at their Consecration ? Where and when did they consecrate Pictures , to sink Ships , to rout Armies , to raise storms , and thunders , and Hails , as Roman Images will do sometimes ? When the blessed Apostles , with the laying on of their hands , could endue other men besides themselves with miraculous Power from above , in order to prophesying , and speaking Mysteries in strange Languages ; did they endue carved stones also , with power to speak , and to play , to sing or weep , and to do all those handsom Feats which are said of Roman Images ? Did ever S. Peter leave this Power with Simon Magus , or the Pope , or any consecrating Bishop , that on what statue or Picture soever he should lay his hand , and sprinkle water , and pour Oil , and burn Frankincense , it should be forthwith elevated to high and mighty Performances ? If Peter and Paul had this Power , and left it to succession ; God , and his Saints must look to it : for as Christ is at every turn liable by Consecration to be shut up in a Mass wafer , God and his Saints are not quite free from consecrated Shapes and Images . For the Consecration , as a Power , obliges God in a considerable manner to hear and report to his Saints , whatsoever is praied for at their Images : and ties as considerably the Saints , to sollicite and intercede with God , for the Request which he reports ; and often to come down themselves , to execute and dispatch it . God is bound I say by this consecrating Power which he is supposed to grant , both he to hear and to report what is said before the Image ; for otherwise , how could the Saints concerned in the Case understand it ? and what were the Power good for ? And the Saint is put to so much trouble ; For besides the trouble of solliciting the business , which they understand they are praied for , at their consecated Images ; how many Ramblings to and fro are they in equity obliged to , ( unless all their Apparitions , and Activities about their Images be mere Lies ) either to hear it the sooner , or to give it a quicker dispatch ? And who knows not that Roman Images , and Roman Saints , ( in famous Churches especially ) are never or seldom asunder ? I call to witness all the long and holy Pilgrimages undertaken upon this score , to Lauretta , to Montserrat , to S. Michael , &c. there purposely to meet either with the respective Saints , or their assisting Vertue , Divorum & Divarum Numen , that is the Godhead of the He or She Saint , which is supposed to watch somewhere , in , or about his dear Image . I call to witness the many Vows , which are directed from all parts to these said Saints , not in Heaven , their proper Abode , as one should think ; but to the Lady at Lauretta , or Montaigue , or to the good Saint at Padua , Ardilliers , Montegardia , &c. there helping men and women by their Images , in such Churches . And it is to this purpose , that both these Images , and Churches are consecrated with the greatest Pomp ; washt with the best sort of Holy water ; made sweet with the choicest Perfumes ; lighted day and night , with the clearest Lamps and Candles ; dressed with the costliest Clothes and Laces ; served with the Curiousest Music ; the Images specially seated on the Eminentest Places of the Church , and ( what would you have more ) honor'd with the compleatest Mass , to invite thither out of Heaven these Holy guests . And let Rome search out her Vatican , and try whether in all Antiquity she can find an honest Example for such Consecrations and Attractives , but either among old heathenish Priests , or among old and new Sorcerers .

Now , tho by this which I have said , it appears clearly enough , that the Matter , the Form , the Likeness , the Power of Consecration , or any thing else , which you can find intrinsecal to an Image , is both uneffectual , and unchristian , both as to make it a fit Object for any Religious service , or to make it a sufficient Cause of any wonderful Blessing ; Nevertheless it is found by experience , and however it is most certain in the common Apprehension of Roman Catholics , that a very great number of Images by being consecrated and worshipped , have attained to such a great degree and improvement of strength and Action above what either they are in their Nature , or can be raised to by Art , that it highly concerns all Christians , seriously to inquire into the hidden Causes and Principles of such Extraordinary Atchievements . For my part I do not believe , ( and many Papists do not ) that all and every particular thing commonly reported of these Roman Images , is true ; and , of the other side , I do not believe that all is false . However , if all were false , they should do well to burn out of their Church their great Pontifical , Ceremonial , and Missal Books : and to throw away their Images back again into the same Holes , whence they were pleased to dig them out . But if any part of what they say concerning them be true ; I make no question it will prove worse then if it were false : and to make it good I require only the patient attention of an understanding , and unprepossessed Reader .

Not to make Pagans , or Papists in any degree worse then they are ; both disown in the consecrating of their Images all such a a Cellus ap. Origen . l. 7. substantial Change , as in the transubstantiating of Mass wafers : both acknowlege the material part of their Images , however called , and adored by those as Gods , by these as Saints , to be still stone , or wood , or silver , or viler stuff : And in this case the Papists deal disingenuously with the Pagans , when they b b Bellar. de Imag. l. 2. c. 3. make these worse then they are , that they may seem worse then themselves . But that within , neer , or about the Roman or Pagan Images either by consecrating , or worshipping them , are imported such Additionals of either inherent , or wonderful assisting vertues , as may both help out worshippers , and well deserve Adoration and Service ; is an Article of Heathenish Faith , which the Pagans publicly declare : and which the Papists do as really presuppose in all their practice and Histories : nor can in truth , without belying both their Devotions and Consciences plainly deny , however they think it more convenient to mince and palliate it for mere shame . This is the down-right Confession of the Heathenish Philosophers . You must not wonder ( saies c c Ap. Sozomen . Eccles. Hist. l. 7. c. 15. Olympius to his persecuted Pagans ) if you see the pulling down , and the breaking of your Images , since they are made of vile matter , and therefore easie to be bruised to dust . But once were within them those Immortal and Invisible Powers , which are now gone up to Heaven . For ( as another adds more fully ) d d Ap. Arnob. Contr. Gent. l. 6. We take not Brass , Gold , or Silver , properly to be our Gods ; only we worship in them what holy Consecration hath called into , and seated within those Images . And this is the Religion of Roman Doctors and Saints . 1. e e Thom. 3. part . q. 83. a. 3. That these dead and inanimate things ( Wood , Stone , &c. ) by being Consecrated , receive a kind of Spiritual Vertue , which makes them fit for Gods Service , and for the Peoples Adoration . So 2. f f Bellarm de Imag. l. 2. c. 23. sect. Quod autem possit . That both the Saint , and his Image being joined together , may be Praied to , and Adored together also . 3. And g g Ibid. c. 21. sect. Nunc juxta , if they be taken asunder , the very Images may lawfully be worshipped , both by themselves and for themselves , besides the Worship due to the Saint . No Pagan Idolater , for all I know ever said so much , and the Roman Practice goes yet much farther .

First , In their ordinary Language , the Image is called and taken for the very Saint ; and in that ordinary Devotion the Image is adored , kissed , embraced and spoken to , just as if they had the Saint in their arms . 'T is you ( saies the Preacher , speaking to a Crucifix ) h h Bellarm. De Imag. l. 2. c. 23. that have redeemed us : it is you that have reconciled us with God the Father , &c. Just as the cursed Idolater in the Prophets , Isa. 44.9 . Habakkuk 2.15 . praies to the Wood , Rowse now thy self and rescue me . There both the Devil and his Idol , and there the Saint and his Image are hudled up in the same Adoration . And as when the Host is carried along , all that see the Mass-Priest at any distance , fall on their knees ; and if they hear only the little Bell , they cry , There is the good God , who passes by : whosoever goes to , or comes from a Church , saies , Either I will go and pray , or now I come from visiting and praying to our good Lady : because as he really believes that there the Mass-Wafer is , by Transubstantiation , become the Lord ; so he believes , that the Image which he hath seen , is either by Consubstantiation , Inhabitation , or some other assisting mode , become to him the good Lady . And I defie all the Roman Preachers to say any thing to justifie what they do upon this account , which the Pagans may not say as well or better for themselves .

Secondly , Lest you should think , that Wood and Stone are thus adored , spoken , and praied to , upon the mere account of Resemblance ; ( in which case , any one of our Ladies Pictures might be adored and praied to as well at a Painters , as in a Church ) is is generally done upon the Faith and Belief of an inclosed , or at least assisting Vertue . It is this strong perswasion that makes a Catholic Worshipper creep reverently and trembling to our Lady , to get a touch for the little Image , which he hath newly bought of a Shop : and all Men know how much the better their Beads will sell , when the Pedler can stoutly swear that they have touched such a Saint , that is , his Image . By this it doth appear evidently , that the Image is conceived by them to have some prime Vertue in it self , since it imparts it to another : and I would know , who of them all dares say any of those Images , which he dares not scarce look in the Face , that it hath besides resemblance , nothing more then another stone . They that go to touch the Chin , or the Toe , or some other Bone of a Saint , think it endued with some vertue , above that of ordinary Bones , because it was , and is still the part of a Holy Body . They who go a long Pilgrimage to rub their Clothes against the Shift of our Lady , or their Stockings against the Breeches of Thomas Becket , must think that the warmth of their holy Flesh have left in them some hidden Blessing , which they do hope may be in some mesure communicated to other things . Ask the Papists , why that Image which they do call Veronica , should have such extraordinary vertues ; they will tell you , that Christ made it himself ; and that besides this , he made it of the Sweat and Blood in his Face . But what have other Images in their carved pieces of Wood , which may temt sober Men to seek after , to touch , to kiss , in hope of being Blessed by such Embraces , unless it be the assisting , or inhabitation , or some other like commerce of Holy Powers , which the Papists call Numina , which are either therein , or thereabout ?

Thirdly , If you will have more convincing Proofs , go for example , to the Image of our Lady in Mount Gardia i i Bened. Gononus Chron. an. 1433. , which keeps Whores off , and perfumes all that comes near it , with a most Celestial Fragrancy : or to another Image of hers , once adored in Sozopolis , which k k Bozius de Sig. Eccles. t. 1. l. 9. c. 9. sweats out of its hand a kind of Oil , to cure them who are anointed with it . Go to a third Image of hers l l Baron . an. 446. n. 16. , which , when hidden and unseen , discovers it self by its own light . Just such another you have in Spain m m Ant. Yepes . Ord. S. Bened. an . 574. , which was perceived in the same manner shining under the root of an old Oak . But nothing can be brought more demonstrative to this purpose , then the Image of Bardenarda : it had bin bought by a Pilgrim at Jerusalem , out of a Shop , consecrated , when , and where , or whether at all , I cannot tell : However , after much service and adoration , the Image it self , n n Baronius . An. 87. n. 63. from a coloured Board at the Painters , is grown Fleshy in its Chappel ; its Breast from being flat , is swelled perfectly into the Figure of two Paps , whence flows such odoriferous Oil , as no Balsam is like it ; and so Miraculous withal , that it cures all sorts of Diseases . This , however it comes to pass , is Intrinsecal and Inherent in the Image , and may draw Pilgrims to worship it , without the consideration of its Saint . And the truth is , it is so Holy by its self , if you believe Baronius , that no Worshipper dares touch it .

Fourthly , What will you say to such Images as have an invisible Faculty within themselves , of either crawling or flying back - to that place which they like better , in case you offer to remove them ? And such are the most part of them , which now a daies are reported to work Miracles . Such is that of Montegardia for example , o o Bened. Gonon . supra . which fled away out of the Ship , when Thieves thought to carry it to Venice . Such is that other of Rachietta in Savoy , which being p p Hierasc . in vita Sylv removed from whence it was , into a very handsom Chappel , was found the next Morning in its old Room . Such is that of the Servites , near Lamo q q Chronic. Deip. an 1492. , which made nothing to jump from one side of the River to the other . And to insist upon no more , such is that famous one of Lauretta , which r r Turselin . Lauret . Hist. being displeased ( at least the Saint dwelling therein ) that it was not more regarded in its Country at Nazareth , transported it self , with House and all , to Italy , where now it is served to some purpose .

Fifthly , What can you say to common Stone and Marble Images ( dead and senseless things , as one should think ) that have in them all sorts of seeming Natural and Organical Motions ? Such is that , which one of your s s Vincent . Belluar . Spec. Hist. l. 7. c. 87. Mass-Bishops speaks of , which crook'd its Finger to hold a Ring . Such is that which another Learned Man mentions too t t Caesarius . l. 7. c. 34. , which stretch'd out its hand to strike a Nun. Such is that at Orleans u u Vincent . Hist. l. 8. c. 83. , which held up its knee , to stop the Arrow that otherwise had killed a Soldier . And such was that here in the North , which held forth x x Matth Paris , in vita S. Godric . both its Arms to receive a sweet Baby , creeping out at the Mouth of a Consecrated Crucifix .

Sixthly , These and many more Images have , besides these Motions of all their Members , the use of all inward Faculties which can be perceived in living Men. They will shew you that they have Blood , if you wound them ; witness y y Chronic Deip an 1418. our Lady at Paris , which a mad Fellow pierced with a Sword , and was whipt to death for it ; and Milk somtimes , if you touch them too hard z z Trithem . in Chronic. an. 1302. about their Paps , as once did a rude Soldier in plucking off a rich Jewel . Some a a Hierasc in vita Henr. Sylv. weep , some b b Menol. Cisterc. 11 April . laugh , some c c Ibid. can do both , some ᵈ sing : all e e Leand. in vita Hiacynthi . ap. Sur. 16 Aug. speak , when occasion offers it self . And , which is more , all this they do with so much reason , and to such special purposes , that it doth most clearly appear , that they are moved to what they say , by much higher then human Souls . When a Holy Man passes by , the Image sees his Holiness ; and so one f f Menolog . Cisterc. 18 Octob. several times used to salute Holy Bernard , Salve Bernarde , and to offer him the Babe out of its left Arm. Bernarde , &c. g g Henriquez . in Chronic. an. 1152. that is , O Bernard , take you this Child , the Redeemer of the whole World , said once our Ladies Holy Image . Another did the like honor to St. Lucia h h Chronic. Praedicat . an. 1543. , who very carefully carried it home . Contrariwise , when wicked Men approach too near , some Images will soon perceive their wickedness ; witness that i i Bened. Gonon . Chronic. an. 1476. , which said to one who had a murtherous intention , with a threatning Voice and Face , What art thou here for , O thou Villain ? Wilt thou kill my Servant in my presence ? They say , that there is an Image in a Convent of Carmelites in Sicily , which , assoon as any Worshipper comes near , doth presently discern , whether he be in the state of Grace , or in mortal Sin ; and so accordingly smiles or frowns , as the Man or Woman deserves . And it is this sort of Images , that piercing into Mens hearts , by a Prophetical Spirit , will either turn their Backs to Apostates and Hypocrites , as once one did to † † Chronic. Deip. an. 1353. that unhappy Carthusian Novice , who afterward forsook the Order , and perish'd no Man can tell how : or smell out Whores , and keep them off with Thundrings and Lightnings * * Idem . an. 1588. somtimes ; as the abovesaid Image of Montegardia in Italy ; or be troubled , and sweat and blow at some eminent , tho never so remote dangers ; as was † † Ibid. an. 1160. that Image in Germany , when all was ready above to come down , and to destroy this Universe . St. Peter of Verona , as they say , being once in danger of being baffled by an Heretic in a Dispute , an Holy Image helped l l S. Anthonin. 3 Part. Hist. tit. 23. c. 6. him out how to answer the Argument that puzled him , Petre , &c. Peter ( saies this admirable Teacher ) I have praied for thee , that thy Faith may never fail . k k Franc. Hierasc . in vita Sylv. And another S. Peter Caralt m m Eened . Gonon . Chron. an . 1474. , had bin worse confounded by the Devil , who appeared to him under the notion of a Divine ; when having not a word to say , he begged help of a little Image , which by good chance hanged on the Wall ; and assoon as he had but lookt somwhat devoutly towards it , presently the Image turned to him , and enlightned his Soul with such Reasons , that forthwith the Devil left him . These , and five hundred more Images , which I could produce , if need were , are the usual Oracles of Rome , and the ordinary Seats of Roman Saints : and when Bellarmin , with some others say , that they do honor these Images as signs only representing , and and not as Seats and Instruments inhabited or assisted by the invisible Spirit of their Saints ; they are confuted by these two waies , the visible Practice of their Church , and the invisible Testimony of their own private Consciences .

What might be said more probably both in behalf of these Images , and of their zealous Devotion in worshipping them , is what frees them from the reproach which Holy Scripture casts on Idols ; that they have Eies , and see withal ; they have Hands , wherewith they handle , and somtimes give terrible blows : if they have Mouths , it is not in vain , since they can cry , and laugh , and speak , and somtimes also Prophesie : Feet have they , and thereon leap , and walk , and flee : and if they have Noses , they smell therewith , and can tell where the wanton and the wicked Persons are : All this , I say , from their own approved Authors . Only the main difficulty remains ( and I conjure all sober Men , as they tender their Salvation , to look how to satisfie it well ) to know what is the inward Principle , Spirit , or Soul , which moves and animates these dead Figures , to all and more then what living Bodies can perform with the help of their living Souls . Here let the Roman Catholics well consider , whether to justifie them by these acts of activity from being Idols , doth not by the same means both accuse and convince them of being Devils .

The Holy Scripture warns Men often against false Christs , and , false Prophets , against false Apostles and false Spirits : it were strange , if we had no need of warning , or of being wary against false Saints . I find somtimes the best Roman Monks much puzled , what to think of their most celebrated Apparitions : and tho they trust too much their Holy Water ( a pitiful trial God knows ) in the discernment of the good from the bad Spirits , yet they do not think it uncatholic to demur somtimes in such matters . It is neither want of Learning , nor want of Faith in the School-men , the Primitive Fathers of Popery , which makes them dispute now and then , whether that which they see at Mass under the Figure of raw Flesh , or a young Child , be Christ himself , or a Phantome : and certainly , we have no ground either in Scripture , or in Reason , or in Experience to secure us , but that the Devils , which play such pranks both in Apparitions , and on Altars , may juggle as well , and play worse tricks about consecrated Images .

First , It is no small prejudice against these Roman Images , and the Roman way of using them , that both came so late into the Church : and that in the best Primitive Times , when the Church was a purer Virgin , none but Heretics had Images ; whereas in these later and worse Ages , when the Church is confessedly worse too , no Roman Catholics are without them . It is also no small prejudice against the best , as it is supposed , and the most famous of these Images , that when they were admitted at first , as either visible Records of Ecclesiastical Antiquity , or as Ornaments of new Walls , not one of them did work Miracles ; or if it did , 't was in behalf of Infidels and Pagans only , as it is presupposed by Patriarch Tharasius n n Nicaen . Synod . secund. Act. 4. pag. 626. Edit. Bin. Paris . 1634. , the great Promoter of Image Worship : whereas now since they are become both the Objects and the Instruments of Roman Devotion and Blessing , they generally work all Miracles in behalf of the Romanists . The alteration in the Church , as it is now full of Images , from the Church as it was then without any Image Worship , as it is visible and great , must have some visible and great Cause . Is it because the Pagans and the Heretics then , and the Mass-Priests and Papists now understand the worth of Images , and the right use of Image-worship , better then the Holy Apostles did ? Or is it because the Holy Apostles had neither Patriarchs , nor Prophets , nor Martyrs , to make Saints of , or to consecrate Images to ? Is it not more probable to think , that this Alteration hath thus happened , because both Pagans and Papists are of the same mind as to Images ? And because the Spirits , which Christ and his Blessed Apostles had silenced and beaten off from most of their Pagan Quarters , having long wandered among the Heathen , and in dry places , have at last found better shelter and emploiment at Lauretta , Montserat , and other great Roman Oracles ? What can one think else of Images , which having kept themselves close , dumb and obscure , in the best and Primitive daies , take now their advantage to start up , and to make a noise , and to shew Miracles in these later times of the Church , when both by Christ and his Apostles Predictions , and the Judgment p p Joseph . Acosta de Temporib . Novissim . l. 3. c. 3. & 14. of sober Papists , all must be full of false Prophesies , of strong Illusions , and lying Wonders ?

Secondly , That which aggravates the suspition of appearing in unhappy Times , like the coming of Thieves and unexpected Straglers in dark Nights , is the ugly and pitiful Holes where most of these Images were at first found . For these Images ( I mean those wonderful and famous ones which the Roman Church runs most after ) were neither lately made by common Painters , nor consecrated by ordinary Roman Bishops : they are supposed to have bin made and consecrated by no meaner Workmen then God himself , his Christ , his Angels , and such of his Saints ; as S. Luke , S. Nicodemus , &c. were , and so left and deposited to the Christian Church , and Catholic Tradition . Hereupon let me ask two things absolutely necessary for any sober satisfaction . The first , When and where , if ever at all , these Saints made these Images ; and by laying on of their Hands , or otherwise , conferred on them the Gifts of Speaking , of Prophecying , and working Miracles ; or put in them an inward or assisting Spirit , to make them speak , foretel , and do strange things ? The second , When and where having used them , as it is supposed they have , they thought fit to bury them under Ground , and to hide some among Thorns , some under Brambles , all in most pitiful places ; as dark Holes , and hollow Trees , where they were found , and where any wise Man would rather look for Worms or Toads ? If you say they hid them in those places , for fear of the Pagan Persecuters ; Pagans were not haters at all , nor destroiers of Images ; contrariwise , they loved Images , as Papists do . But since they were great Burners and Destroiers of Holy Scriptures : Why would the Apostolical Men rather hide their Books under ground , which were most principally both hated and sought after , then their Images , which were not so ? And if they hid both Images and Books together , by what universal Mischance did they never find any of these , where they found those ? How came the Holy Scriptures to discover themselves so soon , ever in cruellest times of the Primitive Persecutions ; and Roman Images so late , and so many hundred Years after all these Persecutions were over ? Why did not Images howl or sing under their Nettles as well in the fourth and fifth Age , when S. Epiphanius , S. Jerome , S. Chrysostom , and such Learned Fathers might have best judged of their worth , as they did many hundred Years after , when Antichrist was expected , and when all the Learning and Holiness of the Gospel was under the thickest Cloud ? If you go to Tradition , which , is what the second Nicene Council , and now the Papists go too : as if Roman Images were come from hand to hand immediatly from the Apostles : By what misfortune comes it to pass , that the many hundreds of Greek Prelats , all great Admirers of Images , and Boasters of Tradition , had never one of St. Luke's Pictures , nor of Nicodemus , nor of Christ , and that now Rome hath got them all ? But since these Images never came to us through their hands , as it is certain they came not that way , Rome hath got them , either flying like Birds and Fowls over their Heads , or creeping along silently like Moles and Vermin under their Feet . The truth is , when this second Council of Nice was held , it was somwhat too soon for such Roman Novelties , as the prating and howling of Images , to appear above Christian Ground ; it was not then yet quite so dark , but the Church could see about her , altho it was toward Sun-setting : Hobgodlings venture not to dance at any Light , but the Moon-shine . A deep Mid-night of Ignorance , and of all other Confusions besides , which soon after over-whelmed the following Ages , was by much a fitter time for Stones and Images to speak , and for Spirits to delude Men. And you may judg what Ghosts they are , who hide their Heads during the times of the Apostles , and all the Primitive Fathers , and take their times to shew them , when all is full of new Revelations , and Dreams , and Monks ; and yet shew themselves in such a manner , as marks both their Original and their Nature , appearing forth from under ground , and watching under Bushes and Brambles , like those Spirits in Isa. 29.4 . which were not heard , but muttering out of the dust . Certainly , those blessed Spirits who are imagined to speak thus , are not in Hell , whence damned Souls in Romes account will somtimes howl : nor in that other place , which in their Opinion , is about it , and which they call Purgatory , whence they say that tortured Spirits will come up to bemoan themselves ; they have a most happy and glorious abode in Heaven , whence it is not imaginable they will come down , unless thrust out , to lurk and weep here under Hedges . The Scripture speaks of some false Gods , which , you may be sure of it , were true Devils , who loved to be courted under green Trees ; and of some other wicked Spirits , which either whisper with a low voice , as from the Earth , or are met with and spoken to in some Sepulcher , and love to keep themselves and others in Wildernesses , and about Tombs . The Heathen Rome had familiar Spirits , or Demons , Dii Lares , and Dii Penates , which watch'd and fluttered about their Hearths and Houses . I have heard of some who had travelled in the East , that in those vast Desarts between the Holy Land and the Red Sea , especially about Mount Sina , there are many unhappy Phantomes , that will watch and kill Men somtimes , when they find them single , and stragling from their Convoies or Caravans . And I am satisfied by some noble and living Eye-witnesses , that often in some Silver Mines , as for example , near Befo rt in the Frontiers of France and Germany , are seen a sort of seeming little Men , in red or blue Juppa's , Genii Metallici , playing and trifling about Work-men , especially in the deepest Holes . These are both fit and likely Juglers , to act their part in hollow Trees and dark Corners : But who could expect it of Moses , of Elias , or of any Glorious and Blessed Saints or Angels , that instead of waiting upon Christ in their Robes , about his Throne ( or if need be , as at his Glorification , upon the glorious Mount ) they would come down into base Holes , and there become Pupetplaiers , to make Images whistle under Nettles ? Let Rome find us one such Example , and second it with some reason why the Blessed Saints and Angels , whosoever appear in Holy Scriptures , detest and wave Adoration for themselves ; and now a daies under Popery come down purposely to crave and beg it , for their Images .

Thirdly , in the judgment of the holy Fathers a a Eusebius . De Praepar . Evang. l. 5. p. 120. Edit. Rob. Steph. 1544. in their Controversies against Pagans , it was a sufficient Evidence and Demonstration against false Gods , ( and it can be no less against false Saints ) to shew that they did teach men , to make Images : and that they did love these & the like Figures . And the truth is , if holy Souls may be allowed in that elevated condition wherein they live , to fancy yet dead and gross things ; it were rather their Bones and Relics , wherewith they have fought the good Fight , then carved Wood , and painted Boards , wherewith they never had any commerce . For , as to Pieces of stone or wood , which are nothing to their Nature , and as little to their Happiness ; it were most strange , to see them taken with such Things , and upon such poor silly accounts , because therein forsooth they see somewhat like either their Form , or their Faces . Tho good and sober men may love sometimes their Friends Pictures , none but vain fools dote on their own : and they that laugh to see young Cats turning about , and admiring their Resemblance in looking-Glasses , would be sorry to see their old and venerable Friends doing the like in their Pictures . Let the great Devil Serapis brag among his other Pagan Gods , b b Euseb. supra p. 119. of the fine Head , brave Locks , and Beard , and golden Feet , which he then had in his Statues ; How mean and unbecoming such a great Saint , as certainly the Blessed Virgin is , were it , to see her pleasing her self , as doth the Laurettan Lady , with acquainting sometimes a c c Horat. Tursel . Laur. Hist. l 1. sick Mass Bishop , and sometimes an d d Ibid. c. 6. old Eremite , with the value of what she had in her Chamber at Lauretta : and shewing here the very Altar , where S. Peter did officiate ; and there , the very Crucifix , which the Apostles had set over it . But especially , saies she , here is our Image of Cedar , which Luke the Evangelist made with his own hand , to represent my Face , as much to the life , as it was possible for a Mortal ; and all this is a Dear Jewel , both to God Almighty , and to my self . She accuaints them withall , that it had bin long honored and with the highest degree of worship in her Town of Nazareth : But at last their Faith and Devotion decaying , she had removed all from thence , to receive more Honor in Italie . In good earnest will a true Saint make such discourses ? and will a true Saint tell such a lie , as that S. Luke had bin a Painter ? S. Luke was an honest Jew : and therefore drove no dishonest Trade , such as that of making either Pictures , or Statues was e e Origen . cont . Cels . l 4. pag. 181. Edit. Cantab. among Jews . But will a grave and glorified Saint ever make so much of a trifle ? and leave her Station near Gods Throne , to be fluttering continually , or at least the best part of her time , about a miserable painted Board ? she might upon a better account come down purposely from heaven to admire her Hair , her Milk , her Combs and Gloves , her pared Nails , and all , wherein she had a nearer Concern . But suppose that the Saints had alwaies a fond inclination for such Toies ; can you think them also so fierce , as the Roman Saints are commonly , to revenge them ? What do you think of those poor Jews , f f Jovius in Epitom . l. 21. who had their Faces wrencht to their Backs , for following the Law of their Fore-fathers , and turning their Eies aside in detestation of an Image ? Do you not pity the case g g Chronic. Deip. an. 1490. of the honest Prebend at Florence , whom this said Lady suddenly destroied with Thunder , because he chanced to smile a little when he saw the Rosary Confraternity carrying in solemn Procession her dear Image through his own Church ? How lamentable was the reward of that good Lady , who being sorry h h Bened. Gonon . ex Vetusto Cod. an . 1310. to see one of our Ladies Images , both Worm-eaten and ugly shaped as it was , and wishing for a better one , happened but to say , What is this old Dame doing here ? Few daies after appears the said Goddess in Person , and taking the affront done to her Image , as if it had bin done to her self , revenged it accordingly , Whosoever , saies she , calls me old Dame , shall be unhappy , and shall not live long : and so it was with the Gentlewoman , for presently she was stript off , by her own Son , of her Estate , inspired to it it seems by our Lady , and lived begging from door to door until she died . If these , and a hundred more like Stories be true , as Catholics believe they are , Whether is it a Saint or a Devil , that destroies Gods living Image , to save dead Stones and Stocks from any shew of Injury ? And is this the Mother of Mercy , or not rather one of those sworn haters of Men , that love alike both the destruction of Men , and the preservation of Images ? Take the Images at their best side , the Blessed Saints are more earnest and serious , then to be taken with such Trifles ; and if you take them at the worst , the Blessed Saints are more holy , then to be such zealous Hectors in the defence of what God hates .

Fourthly , Another shrewd Evidence to prove , that such seeming Saints are real Devils , is the Magical Sympathy and usual Correspondency , that binds them and their Images together ; and this is what Image-worship is come to . The first Christians had neither Image-worship , nor Images . Afterwards , about the Year 600 , Pope Gregory the first would have Images , * * Regist. l. 9. Epist. 9. But no worship ; and thus they stood awhile only as Ornaments to Walls , and as a kind of Book to Ignorant People . About some 200 Years after , Gregory , by the Forwardness of Pope Adrian ( a bold Gazetteer of old Tales , as I can prove whensoever I will ) and by the blind Zeal of Irene ( a cruel Mother to her own Son , and more cruel to Gods Service ) Worship was fastened upon Images : and both were in a Council pack'd up , as the Empress pleased , and regulated to these terms , that the honor or dishonor done to the Images , should redound upon the Saint ; and that Saints might be conceived to have such a moral Being , or civil Capacity in their Images , as Princes have in their Ambassadors , and private Men in their Proxies . Hitherto the Roman Doctors dare not own or advance more then this , in their Disputations and Schools . But alas , in their Practises , and in their Sermons , and devout Discourses and Histories , the true Food of their Roman People , this Moral Capacity is grown into a true Natural Inexistency or Conjunction , both of the Saint acting and doing all in his Image , and of the Image , as a subservient Instrument , or beloved Seat to the Saint . And from hence comes the true fellow-feeling and mutual Sympathy between Roman Images and Roman Saints , such as have bin alwaies observed to be between Pagan Idols and Pagan Gods . For proof whereof you may observe , 1. That when the Roman Saint is either hardly used , or hard at work , his Image suffers the Symptoms of it . Thus , if the Lady be in great distress , as they say , that she was once , to see her Son ready to destroy all Man-kind , i i Chronic. Deip. an. 1160. and her self scarce able to hold him , her dear Image was seen sweating . If she is terribly provoked , as once she was against a Preacher , who said , that she was conceived in Sin ; her Image , tho made of cold Marble , will be sensible of that affront , k k Ibid. an. 1460. and with a fierce and angry look , turn its back to him when he passes . If she have a mind to a certain Day , as when she would chuse the Saturday in every Week , her l l Ibid. an. 770. Image will correspond to her secret Intention , and constantly upon that day put off its Veil , that all the World may thereby know , that both the Saint and the Image have a desire to be then seen . On the other side , the Saint is neither unthankful , nor backward in returning with advantage all good Offices to his ( or her ) Images , not only by countenancing them , for that he or she doth most zealously ; but also in any way that may bespeak a strict Partnership , and friendly mutual Intelligence . For example , if one will be wedded to the Roman Lady , let him but do * * Rob. Rich. in vita S. Edmund . c. 6. as Edmund of Canterbury did , take any Ring , and with that intention put it upon her Images Finger , she will wear the same on her own , and accept him for her Husband . If you will well secure your Town against Wars and Invasions , trust her sweet Image with the Keies , and you shall see , by what she did † † Vid. supra . once at Poitiers , and at Tournay , how she will lustily bestir her self to make good the Trust . If the Image be hurt or maimed , the Saint commonly lends it some Blood to bleed , that Men may see , that t is not a Stone that they strike at , but a Body which is ( or some other for it ) sensible . Sometimes the Saint will take on himself the very Marks of all the Injuries which have bin offered to his Image : as when a Jew had bin so impious , as to strike one full in the Face , and then being troubled to see it bleed , and upon that fear hiding himself , the next day m m Mag. Specul . Tit. Ira ego . Exempl . 19. the Saint ( the R. Lady ) appears pittifully black and blew , where her Image had bin abused , and inspires a Black-Smith both with Intelligence , where to seek out the hidden Jew , and with skill and spirit to fight with him in a Duel ( for it was an affront she had received , that was to be repair'd by her Hectors valor ) and kill him . This one instance ( and many more that might be had to this purpose ) doth plainly shew , that Roman Saints concern themselves in their Images , not in a civil regard only , as Kings abused in their Envoies , or Nobles beheaded in their Pictures or Effigies ; but in a far more real manner , as if Catholic Kings did find their Backs excoriated , when some Pope scourges their Ambassadors ; and , as if Gentlemen had their Heads really cut off from their shoulders , when the Hang-man strikes their Pictures . There is such an effectual Correspondency between Roman Saints and Images , as is observed between Twins , who most commonly are either well or ill together : or to come somewhat nearer the case , as between enchanted Images of Wax , and the Persons intended by them , who freez , or burn accordingly , as the Magician manages the business . After this rate , as they speak n n Plutarch . de Defect . Oracul . ap. Euseb. de Prepar . Evang. l. 5. pag. 122. of the Howlings of Devils , when Christs Passion and Sacrifice turned them all out from their old Seats ; you may hear somtimes these Roman Saints weep and bemoan themselves , sometimes in the o o Vincent . Specul . Hist. l. 7. c. 81. Clouds , sometimes under Walls , when they are abused in their Images . It is upon this same account of care and sympathy for their dear Receptacles , that as Pagans did with threatning force their Gods to what they had a mind they should do , Roman Saints may be led that way , if you tell them , unless they do it , that either q q Mart. Polon . ad an. 715. pet. Canisius de Deip. l. 5. c. 24. you will drown their Images , or take r r Caesarius . l. 7. c 46. away the sweet Baby ; as did really the Woman , who kept him so long in her Chest , upon the loss of her Child s s Ibid. whom a Wolf had run away with , till with wonderful humility the Queen of Heaven commanded the Wolf to bring again and restore his prey , her Majesty seeming to be exceedingly afraid of being deprived of her Son , that is , the little Cherub whom she hath commonly on her left Arm. Hence you may learn upon what ground the Tyrians once being besieged , kept their chief Image * * Quint. Curt. in obsidione Tyri . in Chains ; the Trojans secured their Palladium ; the Romans their Ancile ; and now the Roman Catholics have so great care of their Images . Those were once what these are now , dear Pawns , and as it were Hostages , to draw on any side the Gods and Saints p p Franc. Hierasc . in vita Henr. Sylv. whom these Images do relate to . Never fear that the good Lady can forget her ancient Friend at Lauretta , at Maria major , or at Montserrat ; and if she be sometimes out of the way when Pilgrims adore those Images , it is because she looks to some others . But if the Image be deeply engaged , either in its Reputation , as when it had bin intrusted with the Keies and keeping of t t Annal. Flandr . l. 12. an. 1340. Tournay ; or in its own preservation , as that was which the Sextan u u Bov. supra . would burn to bake his Wafers ; then read what Apollo did x x Herodot . Vrania . for Delphi , and Minerva for her little Chappel , when both were assaulted by Xerxes ; compare it with what in the like occasion our Lady did for y y Tursel . Lauret . Hist. l. 2. c. 20. Lauretta , for z z Annal. Fland. sup. Tournay , for an old Image : and so upon this whole matter , judg whether Pagan Gods and Roman Saints be not alike , as to their care and kindness to their Images ; and how unreasonable it were , if you take those for very Devils , to take these for any true Saints .

Fifthly , The very acts of making Images to speak , is an irrefragable Evidence of their being both ungodlike and unsaint-like Spirits . God , and his Blessed Angels , have in times past expressed themselves several waies by Visions , Dreams , Vrim and Thummim , Signs , Judgments , Fires , and Thunders . I leave out Gods speaking by Men , because it is his most ordinary way of Revelation . But let the Roman Catholics turn over either the Holy Scripture , or the genuine Writings of any ancient Father ; and then shew me , where ever God , or Saints , or Angels spake either in the Church , or abroad in the World , a a Balinghem . 28. May. by Stocks or Stones , or any kind of dead Pictures ; and after they have consulted their Consciences , if instructed with any degree of Learning , let them pronounce , whether both speaking and working through Images , be or be not the most universal and most constant way of Devils . Hereupon let Rome consider , that tho Devils may and do often countenance themselves with counterfeiting the waies of of God , God or his Saints never have disparaged themselves with using the waies of Devils ; much less such a way as the use of Images is , which God hath so earnestly and constantly disowned , and declared himself against .

Sixthly , Their own Speeches and Actings may convince any sober Man , by their own Ridiculousness or Impiety , what kind of Spirits set them on work . To be short , consider but this one instance , namely , the Image of our good Lady , with a young Child on her left arm , the great Goddess and God of Rome ; and at the first entring into a Roman Church , the first and most conspicuous Object of the Roman Adoration . Consider in this double Image . 1. The Roman Lady . 2. The Roman , or as they call it , the sweet Baby , each by themselves . 3. Both the Mother and the Babe together .

First , As to the main and Mother Image : What is it , do you think , that makes Images sometimes as light as any Feather ; sometimes as heavy and immovable as any Rock ; sometimes to fly ; sometimes to dance ; sometimes to sing ; sometimes to weep ; sometimes to sweat ; sometimes to tear themselves to pieces ? For if all the Pranks be true , as 't is certain they are possible , do they not become somewhat better those wild silly Spirits , that use to tumble stools and dishes , or to skip up and down in a house ; then the most Holy , the most serious , and the most truly glorified Virgin Mary ? Whosoever will be at the trouble of summing up the Hours and Daies , which since these six or seven hundred years have bin mispent about such doings , shall find , both that this spirit ( whosoever it is ) that animates this Roman Image , is oftner below , then above ; and that against the condition of all true glorified Saints , he or she fidles away more of his time about Visions , and Drudgeries , about Gallows , Whores , and Prisons , and about Monks , and their Images , then is left him or her to spend with the Blessed Saints about Gods Throne , and in the Beatifical Vision .

Seeondly , what do you think of those Spirits , which help Images to be Nurses : and which so press their Breasts with their hands , that as much Milk shall run out thence , as an ordinary Child can well drink ? They say that Abbot Bernard hath twice or thrice suckt of this Milk : and that it did sweeten his Tongue into plesant Eloquence , wherewith he praised the Holy Virgin . b b Bened. Gonon . Chronic. an. 1152. This story is true , or all are false ; for it is reported by so many , and confirmed by so many more , that it were folly to doubt of it , unless one resolves to doubt of all . But the question is whence comes that Milk , and what sort of Spirit that is , which moves and animates the hand of an Image , to squeese the same milk out of its Paps . Boards , Marbles , and Pictures , you know , have neither Blood nor Milk of their own . Glorified Saints have none likewise : however S. Augustin , one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church , and a very great Doctor indeed , knows none ; and takes it as an impertinent Question , c c August . ad Consent . Epist. 146. to ask , whether the Body of Christ in Heaven hath any Blood ; much more , whether that of the Virgin hath any Milk . But whether it hath some , or hath none ; it is certain that the Blessed Virgin , for we ought know , hath kept her self above in Heaven , during above a thousand years , without coming down to show it . By a most just Judgment of God , the same Enchantment which is happened about the Graves , and generally about all unlawful Endeavors of seeking God out of his way , doth visibly attend Images . When men applied themselves , as I have said once already , to Birds , in order to know things to come , some Spirits met them in that way , moving Ravens , Vulturs , and Eagles , to croak , to fly , and to turn about in that manner , by which men might guess and learn as much , as the spirits themselves could teach . Assoon as they applied themselves to consulting , and watching Graves ; these same spirits came up to them , under the shape and notion of the dead , who were called upon . And thus by the acknowledgment of all , as well learned Pagans , as Christians , the Sepulchers , that , if not used this way , had nothing but their own Ashes ; came to be Temples , and to have Gods . In the like manner when men began to guess , and to attend much to Images ( harmless things , God knows , in their proper use , but very pernicious otherwise ) these proved the most general Abode , and as it were the very Nest of Hellish Birds : and assoon as the Heathen consecrated them in their way , in order to find God therein , the Devils met with them in this way , making Images to move , to speak , and often to be as quick at their Miracles , as the worshippers were at their Praiers . So it is most generally true , that men cannot devise for themselves any Religion so absurd , to serve God with , but these Spirits are concerned in it : and will like best , what God hates most . I can shew all this out of the Fathers in their Disputes against Pagans : and a great deal of it , out of the Pagans themselves . To bring this home ; Before the Saints were invoked , and their Images adored at all ; the Blessed Virgin staid where she is , in the Glory and Happiness that she is possest of , and before the Face and Throne of God . But as soon as her Image came in , ( and Image worship came soon after ) first she , or rather some other Spirit under her form , appears as a Private Person sometimes in visions , sometimes in Dreams . As soon as the gray and black Friers came to be strong in the Latin Church , and yet stronger in her Service ; this private spirit appears just as she was praied and sought after , as the Vniversal Queen of Heaven , and the Governess of the whole world , with Crowns , and Saints , and Angels to attend her ; and the better to encourage her devoted Monks to her service , she came with Books , or Gowns , or Hoods , or something else proper to their Order ; and this most commonly at their solemn Devotions in their Chappels . After , she made bold to come in nearer , by day sometimes into their Refectory , and by night into their Cells ; there to sprinkle them with holy water , or to observe their modest lying in their Beds . Being come thus far , the next step is to feel their Pulse , if they be sick : to rub the Backs of some , to cure their Diseases ; of others , to remove Incontinency , the most general Disease of Monks . At last this Spirit came to embracing , to kissing , to marrying , and for the last favor ( for I dare not go any farther ) to shewing those Mignions her Breast , and to refreshing them with her Milk . Thus went she in to S. Dominic , whom she found once naked , scourging himself in a Cavern . Here d d B. Alan . Rediv. parf. 2. c. 3. she takes him into her Virgin Arms , saies my holy Author , She fastens a close kiss on him , opens her Breast , and gives him suck . Another time , when as it seems in lieu of scourging the Devil had fallen foul on him ; She washt e e Ibid. c. 4. all his sores with her Milk : she took him for her own Husband : she put a wedding Ring on his Finger , and a Chain of 150 Jewels tied with a curious string , about his Neck , both Ring and String made of her own Virgin Hair : Lastly she kissed him , and made him drink out of her Breast such goodly Milk , as restored him to his full strength . S. Alain , who tells this story , f f Chronic. Deip. an. 1476. had in his time the like favor : S. Herman g g Gonon . De Patrib . Occident . l. 6. more . This is the Milk , which uses to flow out of her Images . And now let others decide the Case ; whether the true and most pure Virgin forgets her self , and all Modesty , to become I do not know what to Monks , and to turn milk-maid to Images ? Or whether that kind of Spirits , which of course are used to provide Meat , Wine , and Dainties at their Meetings , be not fitter also to provide Milk : and with this and other Miracles , to delude men , when by seeking God in painted walls , or carved Boards , in the judgment h h August . de Consens . Evangel. l. 1. c. 9. & 10. of the best Fathers , they deserve to be deluded . And God forbid , but I should take all shews and Miracles whatsoever in these last times , rather for Diabolical Enchantments , then the Blessed Virgin Mary for a servile Drudg .

This Drudg is for marrying too , ( an inclination ill becoming a pure Virgin : ) and as Venus had besides Vulcan , so this pretended Virgin can admit of more Husbands at the same time . If they be old , they must seek her : if they be young , she seeks for them : and in order to contracting with either young or old , her dear Image is the Proxy , that must first receive the wedding Ring , which the Bridegroom puts upon its finger , saying ( I am sure Israel , k k Chronic. Deip. an. 1348. St Brigits Brother did so ) I take thee for my Dame ; and therefore I hereby do give and engage my self and my Soul to thy good Plesure . That simple young Prince l l Al. Gazaeus . De Offic. M. p. 91. of Hungary said much less , without Ring or Intention , only reading of course the words of an Antiphone , Thou m m Stellar . Beat. Virg. l. 12. c. 10. art fair and Beautiful , &c. This was enough for the Lady , to make her come down to him ; and what , said she , if I am so fair , why leavest thou me , to take another ? Thus the young man being astonisht ( for he was in the Church already upon the very point of taking a wife ) at these words , and deluded with fine Promises of becoming a great Monarch in this Devils Heavenly Kingdom ; left his other Bride at the Altar , to the great scandal of all the world , and to his own far greater shame . Now commend me to such a Saint , who can free men from just Promises , and put asunder to some purpose them whom God would have join'd together . If this instance be not enough ; Take this other from a grave Bishop . n n Vincent . Bell. Specul . Histor. l. 7. c. 87. A young Gallant , being about to play in a Place , where the same Virgin had a Statue ; puts a Ring he had on its Finger , and after he had don playing , thinking to take his Ring again , the Image had closed her Finger ; so being unwilling to struggle too much , for t is not safe to be too bold with some Images , he left it there ; and some few years after , he happened to get an honest Match , with a considerable Fortune : but he is not sooner with her a Bed , then presently another Bride fairer then she , appears to him , shews him his Ring , which he had left on the Statue , and , as she took it , had engaged himself to her with it before . The man takes this for a Phantome , ( and so it was , and a devillish one too ) but when he thought again to sleep , the same Lady comes in again , but much more terrible then before : and what with her angry look , what with her fearful Threatnings ( for this Mother of Mercy will prove sometimes a dangerous Dame ) she frighted him away out of his Bed , from his lawful Wife , & his good Estate , into a pittiful Cloister . Now to judg how grave and holy this is , and how likely to come from a Saint ; compare it with this Parallel , which I have o o Matthaeus Westmonaster . Flor. Hist. ad an . 1058. from a good Author . In the year 1058. a young Nobleman of Rome , after a magnificent wedding Dinner , goes with his Guests to Campus Martius ; and being at a hot Exercise puts his Ring into the finger of a stately brazen Image which stood hard by , and had in former times bin consecrated to Venus : an hour after my Gentleman being to return home , goes for his Ring ; but the Statue had miraculously shut its hand : so being loth to speak of it , for fear of being laughed at by his Friends , he leaves it there ; and when it was night , coming back again with tools and men to get it off , the hand was open , but the Ring gon . So , the best he could make of a clear loss , was to concele it , and to go to Bed with his Bride . As soon as they were in Bed he felt a big soft Bundle , as it had bin a sack of Wool , tumbling between them , and hindering them from ever coming near one another : he heard withal a voice , Lie thou with me . I am Venus , whom thou hast taken to Wife this afternoon with this Ring , which here is on my finger . To make short , the same both Bundle and Voice kept them ever asunder , as often as they offered to touch one another , till with the advice of their Friends , they went to one named Palumbus a skilful Necromancer and Priest , who for a good sum of Mony meeting the Devil in his own way , got the Ring out of Venus hand . These two Cases are so like , that one might think them to have bin transcribed the one from the other ; the same manner of wedding Apparitions : the same Correspondency , and Proxiship between these Spirits , and their Images : the same Malice and opposition against Faith and Gods Ordinance : the same base and low trifling , beneath the condition of any Noble Creature . Hereupon in Cases so like , so unholy , so ungodly , so unseemly , let the Church of Rome breed such fools , as to think , that the one can be a great Saint , when the other is a downright Devil .

2. In the second place comes the Baby , whom most commonly you shall see doing some foolish thing or other upon the left Arm of this Dame . For this little Image is known to act as many Parts , as the great one can . It weeps , it prates , it sings , it turns its back , it jumps from one hand to another , it stretches out its little hand . And whereas at first it was intended , that this little thing should stand still , as an Historical Memorial of Christs Birth ; it hath bin , since these last Ages , so well animated and warmed with the heat of Roman worship , that it shews all the life and Activity sometimes , that can be expected of a true natural Child , besides what Juglers can do . The inward Soul and Principle , which actuates and moves this Image certainly cannot be a good Angel : for good Angels are too serious for such mere Childish Motitions : Good Angels in all the Scriptures , since their Creation till Popery , are not known to speak in Images : and when they speak in any way , they do neither lie , nor blaspheme ; as this woodden pupet must needs , whensoever he takes on himself the name of God , Christ , and Savior . The true Mover , and as it were the Soul of this Infantine Image , can be no other , then that Spirit , which often in the Roman Church appears acting that by himself , which he acts by his Image : and none is fitter nor likelier to prate with a woodden Parrot , then he that can do it with his own Lips . For setting a side the little Image ; the Papists have a little God , whom they call in English the Sweet Babe , and more blasphemously in Latin Puer Jesus , the Child Jesus ; and whom another Spirit under the name of Queen of Heaven in all great Apparitions carries commonly on her left Arm , t t Bened. Gonon ex Antiquo Cod. ad an . 1285. and gives to many People u u Flaminius in vita S. Cathar . Bonon . Menol. Cisterc. 29. Octob. Chronic. Deip. an. 1508. Balinghem . 17. Jun. to kiss ; to carry about , x x Gonon . Patr. Occident . l. 6. in vita Harman . Praem . as S. Joseph did ; to lay by them in their y y Chronic. Deip. an. 1561. beds . S. Lucia z z Chronic. Grdin . Praedic . an . 1543. had him once three night : and when S. Arnulphus , a a Chronic. Deip. an. 1228. they say , had him but a quarter of an hour , he was so overcome with Joy , that he was forced to give him back . Sometimes this sweet Baby will leave his Mother and walk alone , either to publish at Mass , what b b Ibid. an. 1297. he is , and to sing Ave Maria : or to run about c c Wadd . an. 1338. the Church , as little Children use to do , but upon another account , for inviting all the Congregation to praise his Mother , and so to spread a great many Roses , and sweet Perfumes among them all . Sometimes the Child will venture farther , and jump , or fly like a winged Cherub , as when he d d Matth. Paris . in vita S. Godric . crawled out of the mouth of a Crucifix , and jumped thence into an Images Bosom , and hence back into his first Hole . When S. Herman was a Novice , he did use to give e e Chronic. Deip. an. 1235. him Apples , and to be his play fellow , between Services ; his Mother and S. John the Evangelist did come down purposely to see them play . Here take my Son , * * Henric. Gran. Ex Diversis . Distinct 9. Exemp. 74. saies the Lady , and play with him ; a grave Divertisement , for glorious Saints . Once a devout woman f f Magn. Specul . Tit. Humilitas . Exempl . 23. found him alone , walking at Church : and thinking the poor Child had bin left and forgotten there ( for he lookt , but as three years old ) she asked , whether he could say his Pater , the Lords Praier ? to which he having nothing to say ; the good Gentlewoman thought , that he was yet too young to speak : but when she tried him again , with an Ave Maria , he found his tongue . The strangest of all his Fortunes , was to be found g g Cantiprat . de Apib. l. 2. c. 1. sect. 13. naked in the Snow , crying and bemoaning himself , because he was starved with the cold weather , and that there was none that would help him . At last nevertheless when a Charitable Traveller would take him up , and had him already on his horse , the sweet Babe vanished away . The Pagan Jupiter transforming himself into what shape he will , cannot be worse , then this Popish God , lying thus and wailing in the Snow . However this is the Spirit ( and God forbid we should think him worth a better Name ) that helps the Roman Crucifixes , and the sweet wooden Babes to stir , to speak , to work Miracles , at last to become the God of a special Confraternity called now adaies the Religion or Confraternity of the little Jesus .

The first founder of this Religion , as far as I can trace it up , was their Fanatic S. Francis . This giddy Saint having a special Licence from the Pope , for what he meant to do ( that you should not think it a private folly ) h h Bonavent . in vita Francisc . ap. Lipom. got upon Christmas Eve an Ox , and an Ass , and Hey and Oats in a Stable ; there a Multitude of Country People , besides his ordinary Disciples , flockt from all Parts about to see the new Ceremony . The Mass is said : the Stable was the Church , and the Manger was the High Altar . There S. Francis , after he had read the Gospel , preacht with many tears and sobs a most pathetical Sermon upon the Duty of that Night : and at that time never called Christ otherwise , then this sweet Babe of Bethlehem . My good Author informs me not , whether he had provided for , and so pointed at a woodden Babe in the Manger . But however there he found more ; for it is * * Bonavent . ibid. credibly reported ( God permitting the Operation of Error , and the Devil of course deluding men , who seek for God , out of Gods way ) that a brave and lusty Boy was there found lying a sleep ; then you may guess , with what transported devotion S. Francis fell to kissing , to hugging , and to worshipping the sweet Babe , thus sleeping sweetly upon the Hey ; where † † Chronic. Deip. an. 1508. Michel Pius Chronic. an. 1510. others likewise have found him since . He is the same Lad , who cried when he was half buried in the Snow : who used to skip and play about Churches : the very same , that doth appear standing , or lying sometimes upon Mass wafers : and who by the Mass Priests themselves is partly suspected , partly judged to be a Devil . But let them judg , or suspect what they please ; It is as far from Jesus Christ our Glorious Savior in Heaven , to come down now to play the Child , as to be so : and not so much as a wise grave and moral man ( much less a Saint , much less an Angel , much less our Immortal Savior ) would condescend to appear in a fools Coat . But however , this Enchantment has bin attended with such Miracles , as have bin i i Ibid. able to make it pass into a Piece of Roman Religion , for holy Truth : And the same Hey ( whereupon the sweet Baby slept ) that had the vertue , as they say , to cure sick Cattle , and to preserve Men from all Diseases , had the vertue to bring them too into a new Confraternity , which consists much in washing , starching , and sowing Laces , wherewith at Christ-mass to deck the Babe : a proper employment at this very day for good Ladies . And we that have lived among them from the Persecution of both the long Parliament , and Cromwel , had leisure enough in twenty Years to see , and wonder at their folly , who think to make their Peace with God for the whole Year , by dressing and undressing , rocking , and worshipping this Child that Night .

3. Now lastly , take both Mother and Child together , you shall find between them two , as much Witchcraft and Superstition again . These Images were not long adored in the Churches , but there went Stories abroad ( true or untrue I decide not ) that they did stir and work Miracles . The Worshipping and Adoration , of course invited the Spirit to come in ; and , by a recompence fit for Error , the stirring Spirit brought more Worship . These seeming vital Motions , ( however extrinsecal to Images in their harmless use , when they were but Memorials either of things past , or of Friends absent ) have ever bin most proper and most essential to Idols ; and you can hardly find any one among the Pagans that is famous , but I can shew you , that upon fit occasions it did speak or move , or seemingly do greater Wonders . All this , and in this case , hath proved to be most advantageous to the advancing of Roman Worship . For besides the first account , which is harmless enough , when it goes no farther then representing Christ made Man , and born of a Woman ; this Image , as now it is used and continually look'd on , fixes in the simple Worshipper a sottish notion of what he gazes upon continually , to wit , here of Christs being still a little Child , and there the Virgin being a great Queen . Hereupon their Speeches and Miracles improving this imagination , and Christ appearing in very deed prating and acting , as a dutiful Child under his Mother ; or as an Infant with the Queen Regent : and at the same time great and glorious Apparitions of seeming Angels and Saints from Heaven , speaking and acting seemingly in their own Persons , what these Images speak and act in Churches ; the Church of Rome hath bin pleased to make her own public Praiers suitable to these three Patterns , Apparitions , Actings , and Images . Jure Matris , impera . * * Missal . Paris . Miss. de B. M. Impera sublimiter , & imperiosissima , &c. Command the Son like a Mother , &c. Thus the Virgin is adored as the Goddess and Queen of all ; and thus at last these fine Images recommended † † Gregor. Epist. ad Serenum . by Pope Gregory , as an useful Book for Ignorants , have proved among the Papists to be what the Prophet said they were , Teachers of lies . For this Mother Image , when provoked , will k k Bryaeus Chronic. B. M. shift and toss its sweet Baby like a Tennis-ball , from hand to hand , then give it suck ; and when St. Paula was kissing it , she once had the happiness to tast some few drops of the Milk , that was l l Fesulin . in vita Paulae . yet left between his Lips . Then the Child being full , goes to play , till the Mother calls him back again ; and in requital of the good Milk , runs about like a little Rat , bidding all m m Chronic. Deip. an. 1338. Men to praise its Dame , and telling them , how they n n Gononus in vita Merthildis . must do it . When he had done , she gets him Wives , o o Balingben . 4 Decem. whom she calls Daughters , and gives him Rings for his dear Brides . S. Mary Razia , S. Catharine , and S. Brigit , &c. are known Instances of what I say . The sweet Baby sometimes makes sweet returns in the same kind . For when the Mother gets Husbands , the Child acts the part of a Priest : and , as it appears in S. Peter the Cestercian , whom p p Chronic. Deip. an. 1292. she would be espoused to , he marries and blesses them together . All these Passages are to be seen , both in the visible Motion , and in the audible Language of Images : and these Images are animated both to move , and to speak as they do , by those Spirits who call themselves the Queen of Heaven , and her sweet Babe . Now that these are but evil Spirits , what title soever they may take ( unless possibly Imposture , and the knavery of Priests may claim a share ) the very ridiculousness and unseemliness of their doings , are their Heralds to proclaim it : and as to their being Queen of Heaven , or a Savior , or any good Angel , none besides the Papists , but a Lucian , or a Jew , or some like Blasphemer of Christs Name , will have People believe they are , to shame with this Belief , Christs Holy Name and Religion . After that , how far these Spirits will proceed beyond their giving and being given in Marriage , I cannot tell , as to the act : but as to the possibility of worse , it is certain , that Spirits , who offer to be both unholy and untrue , may be unclean too . Learned Men know , what other Demons , Mars , and Venus , and Jupiter , and other Pagan Gods and Goddesses have proved to be in the very heat of their most seemingly Sacred and Religious Mysteries . For my part , I have lived too long beyond Sea , to take Convents and Monasteries , which these Apparitions use most to haunt , for Schools of any Chastity . Besides what I know by Books , I know particularly by above twenty little Skulls , digged out of the Ditches of a ruinated Nunnery ( called Font-some , near St. Quintin , where we camped a while in the Year 1658. ) sad Evidences , that besides most cruel , most impure Spirits had bin there : and it is upon a long continued Experience , that the Sins of the Flesh , and the Worshipping of Idols , go both under one name in the Scripture , Psal. 106. Thus they defiled themselves with their own works , and went a whoring after their own Inventions . To lay aside the unclean part of this Whoring , there is another as Devilish that attends it , the Worshipping of Devils or Ghosts of dead Men , instead of Saints ; which most real and pitiful , tho most unperceived Sorcery , hath ever bin the common fate of Image-worshipping , and corrupted Religion ; and hardly ever Men left God , and turned aside from his waies , without meeting with ill Spirits . Thus did the two Sons of Noah , when in their Posterity they turned the Religion of their Father into an Heathenish Image Service : thus did also the Israelites , as soon as they fell to their Idols : and thus after them have the Jews done , by falling to their Conjurings . And , how were it now possible for Men to escape it , who fall to both ; to wit , Image Service , and strange Exorcisms ? I do not love to aggravate Burthens , which of themselves are too heavy . But without aggravation , it is most certain , that the Roman Church serves more Images then all the Heathens did together : she hath evidently more Conjurings , both public and privat ones , then all the Jews . And so accordingly I may challenge the best Scholar , and best vers'd in Antiquity , to shew me such droves of Spirits running after Men and Women , among either Jews or Pagans , as I can shew him , false Saints haunting and courting , sometimes Monks , sometimes Nuns , sometimes other Superstitious Persons among the Papists . This being so , no Man must wonder , if he sees Rome , since she is turned Roman Catholic , both more defiled with all Uncleannesses , and more enraged to Bloody Massacres , and owning both impudently , then ever she was when mere Pagan . And without these two sad Effects , that could never have bin influenced upon Christianity , but from Hell ; the Great and Glorious God and Savior Christ , is , as much as in Rome lies , degraded out of Heaven , by the same Devils , into a Boy that sleeps on straw , or cries and tumbles in deep Snow , or runs and plaies with other Lads , or is every day kept in a Wafer , which a Mass-Priest hath enchanted . And the ever Blessed , ever Holy , and ever Glorious Virgin Mary , is traduced likewise by these Spirits , into a shameless Vagabond Woman , rambling the most part of her time after some Suiters or Husbands . O Lord , how long ! How long shall this Transgression , both make desolate thy Sanctuary , and trample it under foot ? Dan. 8.13 .

FINIS .