An English officer, who was lately in Valenciennes, states the following fact, which came under his own observation. A number of Bibles, in French, had been sent from England to the above city, for sale or distribution. Many of the people received them with gratitude, and read them with avidity; but the priest getting information of the matter, ordered all the Bibles to be returned. The English officer, who was acquainted with him, asked the reason of this: to which he gave this truly Catholic reply;-" I teach the people every thing that is necessary for them to know." CHAPTER XL. THE CHURCH OF ROME GUILTY OF IDOLATRY IN THE WORSHIP OF CREATURES. PARTICULARLY THE VIRGIN MARY. SPECIMENS OF THESE FORMS OF WORSHIP. SATURDAY, April 17th, 1819. AMICUS VERITATIS tells us that "it would be almost endless to answer all the charges which THE PROTESTANT may bring against Catholics, as the fertility of his genius appears to be very little inferior to the original declaimers against popery." (Part I. p. 30.) I suppose the writer refers to Luther, Calvin, and Knox, as the original declaimers against popery; and, when he compares THE PROTESTANT to such men, he probably intends it as a compliment; and as such, no doubt, it ought to be received with all due acknowledgment. In point of fact, however, there is no subject with regard to which fertility of genius is less necessary. It scarcely admits of imagination at all. The only faculty that is necessary for the investigation of such a subject, is patience. The materials, by which the church of Rome is convicted of all the bad things which I have laid to her charge, are so abundant, that there is no room for invention, or the exercise of imagination. If I am so happy as to possess this faculty, I suppose my readers will not easily find it out from any thing that I have written; but if they knew the quantity of blasphemous and impure matter which I am obliged to turn over, in exploring the writings of Romish saints and fathers, in order to exhibit the true character of popery, they would, I am sure, give me credit for some degree of patience. It would be easy to find enough to fill some ponderous folios: the difficulty is to select and condense such matter as will engage general attention, in this age of light and superficial reading. I have undertaken to prove the church of Rome guilty of idolatry ; and so far from being at a loss for matter,-so far from being obliged to have recourse to the fertility of genius, I feel that, amidst the variety of subjects which claim attention, it is difficult to decide which to present to my readers first. In my last number, I gave a particular account of two of Rome's female idols: namely, the Virgin Mary, upon the authority of the learned doctors of Rheims; and the mother of the said Mary, from a work approved by the doctors of the Sorbonne, at Paris: but, lest it should be pleaded, that these authorities are obsolete, and that more rational sentiments are now entertained, (for Papists can change their sentiments often enough, and disavow the sentiments of their fathers, when they have a purpose to serve,) I shall give the doctrine of the church of Rome, as held in the present day, in the words of Mr. Andrews, in his school book, which has the high apostolical sanction and recommendation of Bishop Milner, "than whom a firmer or more orthodox divine never breathed." "Of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. "One of the last means which I assign, but also one of the most effectual, for acquiring virtue in youth, is devotion to the blessed virgin. It is infallible to such who assiduously employ it, because it affords, at the same time, the most powerful intercession in the sight of God for obtaining his favour, and the most perfect model for our imitation. "Next to God, and the most adorable humanity of his Son Jesus Christ, it is she whom we must chiefly honour and love, by reason of that most sublime and excellent dignity of mother of God, which raises her above all creatures that God ever created. us. "By her we may receive all the assistance which is necessary for She is most powerful with God, to obtain from him all that she shall ask of him. She is all goodness in regard of us, by applying to God for us. Being mother of God, he cannot refuse her request: being our mother, she cannot deny us her intercession, when we have recourse to her. Our miseries move her; our necessities urge her; the prayers we offer her for our salvation bring to us all that we desire: and St. Bernard is not afraid to say, 'That never any person invoked that mother of mercy, in his necessities, who has not been sensible of the effects of her assistance.' "Although the blessed virgin extends her goodness to all men, yet we may say she has a particular regard for young people, whose frailty she knows to be the greatest, and necessities the most urgent, especially for the preservation of chastity, which is most assaulted in that age, and of which she is a singular protectress. History is full of examples of saints who have preserved this great virtue in their youth, by the assistance of this queen of virgins, and experience affords daily examples of those who have gained great victories, by the recourse they have had to her intercession, and who have happily advanced themselves in virtue, under the protection, and by the graces she obtains of God for them. "Be therefore devout to the blessed virgin, dear Theotime; but let it not be the devotion of many, who think themselves so, in offering some prayer to her, more by custom than devotion; and on the other side exceedingly displease her by a life full of mortal sin, which they commit without remorse. What devotion is this, to desire to please the mother, and daily crucify the Son, trampling his blood under their feet, and contemning his grace and favour? Is not this to be an enemy both to Son and mother? "O dear Theotime, your devotion to the blessed virgin must not be like that, it must be more generous and more holy; and to speak plainly, if you will be a true child, and a sincere servant of the blessed virgin, you must he careful to perform four things: "1. Have a good apprehension of displeasing her by mortal sin, and of afflicting her motherly heart by dishonouring her Son, and destroy ing your soul; and if you chance to fall into that misfortune, have recourse readily to her, that she may be your intercessor, in reconciling you to her Son, whom you have extremely provoked. She is the refuge of sinners as well as of the just, on condition they have recourse to her with a true desire of converting themselves,' as St. Bernard says. "2. Love and imitate her virtues, principally her humility and chastity. These two virtues among others rendered her most pleasing to God; she loves them particularly in children, and is pleased to assist with her prayers those whom she finds particularly inclined to those virtues, according to the same saint. "3. Have recourse to her in all your spiritual necessities: and for that end offer to her daily some particular prayers, say your beads, or the little office sometimes in the week, perform something in her honour on every Saturday, whether prayer, abstinence, or alms; honour particularly her feasts, by confession and communion. "4. Be mindful to invoke her in temptations, and in the dangers you find yourselves in of offending God. You cannot show your, respect better than by applying yourself to her in these urgent necessities, and you can find no succour more ready and favourable than hers. It is the counsel of St. Bernard, If the winds of temptations be raised. against you, if you run upon the rocks of adversity, lift up your eyes towards that star, invoke the blessed virgin. In dangers, in extremities, in doubtful affairs, think upon the blessed virgin, let her not depart from your mouth, nor from your heart; and that you may obtain the assistance of her intercession, be sure to follow her example.' 'If you perform this, you will have a true devotion to the blessed virgin, you will be of the number of her real children, and she will be your mother, under whose protection you shall never perish. Remember well that excellent sentence of St. Anselm, who presumed to say, That as he must unavoidably perish who has no affection to the blessed Virgin Mary, and who forsakes her; so it is impossible he should perish who has recourse to her, and whom she regards with the eyes of mercy.' : "I shall conclude with an excellent example which I shall produce for a proof of this truth. St. Bridget had a son who followed the profession of a soldier, and died in the wars. Hearing the news of his death, she was much concerned for the salvation of her son, dead in so dangerous a condition and as she was often favoured by God with revelations of which she has composed a book, she was assured of the salvation of her son by two subsequent revelations. In the first, the blessed virgin revealed to her that she had assisted her son with a particular protection at the hour of death, having strengthened him against temptations, and obtained all necessary graces for him to make a holy and happy end. In the following she declared the cause of that singular assistance she gave her son, and said it was in recompense of his great and sincere devotion he had testified to her during his life, wherein he had loved her with a very ardent affection, and had endeavoured to please her in all things. "This, Theotime, is what real devotion to the blessed virgin did merit for this young man, and for many others: she will be as powerful in your behalf, if you have a devotion to her; if you love and honour the blessed virgin in the manner we have mentioned." Such is the doctrine of my opponent, THE CATHOLIC VINDICATOR; and such, we may presume, is the doctrine of modern Papists, not only in Spain, but in enlightened England, and even in enlightened Glasgow. Such is the doctrine which, by the authority and recommendation of a bishop and vicar apostolic, is taught in the "Catholic schools" in England, for the purpose of training up the rising generation, not to the knowledge of Christ and his gospel, but to the worship of a vain idol for let it be remembered that this school book is declared, in the author's Orthodox Journal, to be so excellent, that one will learn more of religion from it, at a single reading, than he will derive from the Bible, in a whole life. Now I defy all the heathens in the whole world, to produce from the writings of their poets or priests, a piece of more direct idol worship than that furnished by Mr. Andrews, which is recommended by Bishop Milner and inculcated upon the infant minds of those who are taught to read, in the schools of English Papists. The religion of such is unquestionably that of heathenism and idolatry; for it is the knowledge of religion which this book is said to be eminently calculated to impart; and this religion is the worship of a fellow-creature. It is to no purpose to reply that, in the same book, the existence of a supreme Deity is admitted, and that he also is to be worshipped. Idolatry consists not so much in denying this truth, as in giving to a creature that worship which is due to God alone. Mr. Andrews invests this idol with the attributes of a deity. The Virgin Mary must be omniscient; she must see and know the hearts and thoughts of all that worship her; she must know the particular temptation to which every young man and woman is exposed, that she may provide a remedy to preserve them from sin. She must be omnipresent, to hear the prayers, and answer the requests of all that call upon her; and she must be omnipotent, to preserve the lives of those who trust in her; or, if she should not choose to do this, on all occasions, she must have power over all the spirits of darkness, so that not one of them shall touch the soul of one that dies calling upon her, in any part of the world. Common sense tells us that one, to whom prayer is addressed by millions of needy creatures, with a belief that such prayers are heard, and will be answered, must be present every where, must know all things, and must have almighty power, to do all that his worshippers call on him for. Such knowledge and power belong to the living and true God, and to him alone. To ascribe such perfection to a creature, and to worship a creature, is that very idolatry, and opposition to the authority of the true God, of which the Almighty declares his abhorrence throughout the Bible, for which he sent his ancient church into captivity in Babylon; and for which he has not only sent the church of Rome into a worse captivity, but has made her the antitype of that very Babylon itself, and the oppressor of the true church of God. To trust in God for salvation, or for any spiritual blessing, is one of the highest acts of religious worship. He positively challenges this for himself; and pronounces a curse upon the man that trusts in any other. "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord: for he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is," &c. Jer. xvii. 5—8. But Mr. Andrews urgently advises his young pupils to trust in a woman, not only for the perservation of their chastity, but also as a sure refuge to which they may fly in a dying hour. If it shall be said, that this is rather implied than plainly expressed by Mr. Andrews, I shall proceed to cite other authorities, in which it is expressed plainly enough. The following short prayer to the Virgin Mary is extracted from a book of devotion, entitled, the "Garden of the Soul," which is, I believe, ascribed to the late Dr. Challoner, a bishop and vicar apostolic in England. "Holy Mary, succour the miserable, help the fainthearted, comfort the afflicted, pray for the people, intercede for the clergy, make supplication for the devout female sex: let all be sensible of thy help, who celebrate thy holy commemoration. V. pray for us, O holy mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, that we thy servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body, and, by the glorious intercession of blessed Mary, ever virgin, may be delivered from present sorrows, and come to eternal joys, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Though the latter part of the above professes to be a prayer to God, and though Mary stands only as an intercessor, the first part is a direct prayer to Mary herself; and she is solicited to grant such things as God alone can grant. It is He alone that can hear the prayer of the miserable and afflicted throughout the world, and grant succour and comfort. The following is from the same "Garden of the Soul." "HYMN TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN. "Ave Maris Stella. "Hail thou resplendent star, Which shinest o'er the main; Blest mother of our God, And ever virgin queen. "Hail happy gate of bliss, Greeted by Gabriel's tongue; And cancel Eva's wrong. "Loosen the sinners' bands; And us thy children own; |