by his chosen servants reigning with him in glory? Most assuredly the catechist will be perfectly reconciled to the practice of invoking the saints as friends of God, when he reflects, what his own practice is with respect to the holy angels. For in the Collect for the festival of St. Michael and the holy angels', he fervently says to God: Mercifully grant that as thy holy angels always do thee service in heaven, so by appointment they may succour and defend us on earth.

St. Paul, in his various epistles, is continually soliciting the prayers of the faithful; and is it less honourable to God, to ask for the powerful interest of the saints who are reigning with him in heaven! Where is the difference, as to the principle on which the practice is founded? Unless this devotion to the saints were perfectly agreeable to God, we should not have been encouraged to resort to it by the instances here produced nor would the prayers of the saints have been represented in that marked manner in the New Testament. In the great prophetic work of St. John are these words: Grace be unto you, and peace from him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits, which are before the throne. Again, the four and twenty elders are represented fall

'See the Book of Common Prayer.

2 Rev. i. 4.

3 Ibid. v. 8.

ing down, with golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. And afterwards1, the prayers of all the saints are offered up, and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints, ascend before God. To what To what purpose is all this introduced, but to describe the charity of the saints, and the advantages of obtaining their powerful aid?

Hence, in every age of the church, the practice of honouring and invoking the saints has unceasingly prevailed. Of the piety of Christians in the first century, in this particular, St. Dionysius is an ample voucher, who, in his great work, clearly refers to it. St. Irenæus, the ornament of the second age, introduces, in his celebrated performance, a comparison between Eve and Mary; the first was seduced and avoided God, the second was obedient and became an advocate3. Similar language is repeatedly used by the holy fathers and eminent writers of every age; and so decisive is their testimony on the subject, that Dr. Montague, a Protestant bishop of Norwich, makes this candid acknowledgment: "I grant Christ is not wronged in his mediation; it is no impiety to say as they do, 'Holy Mary pray for me-holy Peter pray for me!'" and again, "I see no absurdity in nature -no incongruity unto analogy of faith-no repug

' Rev. viii. 3, 4.

2 Eccles. Hierch. vii.

3 Lib. v. contra Hores. cir. med. 4 The Catholics.

nance at all to Scripture, much less impiety for any man to say, Holy angel guardian, pray for me1!" Such is the language of this venerable Protestant divine, who, in the same work, acknowledges this to have been the practice of the earliest and most venerable period of the church2.

But the catechist and his friends seem peculiarly displeased at the honour and veneration shown by the holy Catholic church to the ever Blessed Virgin Mary. I am literally ashamed to witness this feeling in persons calling themselves Christians; for it betrays the most gross ignorance of the principles of religion, or else it discovers an invincible proof of the most deplorable impiety. To attain correct ideas on this part of the subject, let the catechist know, that whatever honours, prerogatives, and privileges this blessed and favoured Virgin received from God, she, no less than the other friends of heaven, is honoured as a pure creature ; and that all the veneration shown her by the Catholic church, arises from the sublime dignity, with which she was invested by God, and the extraordinary virtue with which she was adorned. Of the transcendant dignity of the Blessed Virgin, and of her unparalleled merit, the catechist, as a Christian, ought not to be ignorant. Is it not predicted of our Redeemer3, that he was to be 2 Ibid. pp. 97-103.

Invoc. of Saints, p. 118.

Isaiah, vii. 14.

born of a virgin? Is it not said of him in the Apostles' creed, that he was born of the Virgin Mary? Is she not, therefore, mother of God, and the Virgin by excellence? When it pleased Almighty God to carry into effect the sublime prediction of his prophet, was not a distinguished embassy sent from heaven, to this most favoured Virgin, to reveal the particulars of this most unprecedented, and, to us, most interesting event1? Turn to this passage, catechist, and read with attention what you and your friends appear always disposed to pass over in sullen silence. You there see that she is treated by the angel with the greatest possible distinction-that she is styled, full of grace, or as you think proper to translate the Greek term xexapitwμivn, highly favoured: it is stated that the Lord is with herthat she is blessed among women-that she has found grace before God, and that she was to conceive and bring forth the Saviour of the world. St. Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Ghost, gives her the appellation of mother of her Lord, recounting, at the same time, her distinguished elevation. The holy Virgin, in a canticle, which has never been surpassed, ascribes the whole event to the power, mercy, and goodness of God, agreeably to the promises made to the seed of Abraham. Here, let me ask, can any one read

St. Luke i. 26, et seq.

2 Ibid. 43.

this detail, contained in the holy Scripture, without being impressed with the sublime elevation of Mary, and her most pure and transcendant virtue? and if, beyond all doubt, those are to be honoured whom God honours, the Catholic church performs but a sacred duty, by showing honour, respect, and veneration, to this most sacred Virgin. Hence the celebrated Dr. Pearson, a Protestant divine, in his Exposition of the Creed, says, with the utmost candour1: "that we cannot bear too reverend a regard for the mother of our Lord, so long as we give her not that worship which is due unto the Lord himself." As to the notion of giving to this distinguished Virgin, any portion of divine worship, such an idea never entered the contemplation of the Catholic church. The sole purpose and object of this devotion to Mary, is to honour her prerogatives and virtues, which were the effects of divine grace, and to invoke her powerful aid and intercession. Hence the great Athanasius, the champion of orthodoxy against the Arians, in the beginning of the fourth century, used to exclaim: "Intercede for us, O mistress, lady, queen, and mother of God!"

But no holy father has left so distinguished a proof of a constant and unremitted devotion to the ever Blessed Virgin Mary as the great St.

1 P. 179.

2 St. Athana. Serm. de Annunt. vers. fin.