THE REFVTATION OF AN EPISTLE WRITTEN BY A CERTAIN DOCTOR OF the Augustins Order within the Citie of Leige TOGETHER WITH THE ARGVMENTS which he hath borrowed from Robert Bellarmine to proue the inuocation of Saints By IOHN POLYANDER Minister vnto the French Church in Dort And now translated by HENRY HEXHAM out of French into English 1. PETER 4. 11. If any man speake let him talke as the words of God AT LONDON Imprinted by F. K. for Thomas Man 1610. TO THE HONORABLE AND RIGHT WORTHIE SIR HORACE VERE Knight Lord Gouernour of his Maiesties Cautionarie Towne of Briel in Holland and chiefe Commander vnder his Excellencie of all the English Forces in the seruice of the Lords the States of the vnited Prouinces RIght Honourable and my best Lord it shal not offend any that know your Lordship how God hath honoured you with the eminent markes of Honour in your noble Birth great Exploits true vertues and vnfained godlinesse so much the greater by how much the rarer dignities that I stile you right Honourable and I trust it will not offend you that I call you my best Lord whom I haue long followed and next vnder God doe depend vpon If ought need excuse it is then this boldnesse that I presume vpon your fauour so much as to dedicate this Treatise vnto your name and that without your Lordships priuitie The Treatise right worthy being considered in it selfe is not vnworthie a noble Patron being written of a notable argument and by a notable Minister and in my opinion so much the more agreeable vnto you by how much you declare your self a zealous louer of that Truth which this author maintaineth and haue with losse of blood and hazard of life defended with your sword what this man by his pen. As touching my part therein which is the least and the translation though it be not so well worthie of you yet because it is due to you being done by one of your Lordships Companie and in the towne of your Garrison where it was also penned and by me that haue deuoted my selfe vnto your seruice in any dutie I can performe I hope your Lordship will not only pardon my boldnesse but accept my dutifull affections in this which in my prayers to God for you shall euer shew themselues to be such as becommeth me Your Lordships Souldier euer to be commanded Henry Hexham TO THE CHRISTIAN READER THe extreame libertie which this scribling age taketh of writing and publishing idle and vnprofitable pamphlets and the double diligence of Popish Writers in painting the old and withered face of their Iezabel not onely may but ought to prouoke those that can dee it to set forth wholesome things as counter-poysons or preseruatiues against the foresaid poysons of manners and doctrine Hereupon I confesse to haue encouraged the translator of this present Treatise to publish the same in our language into which hee had and so farre as I can indge both faithfully and fitly turned it out of French that our countrey-men might see how the Ministers of other Churches are assaulted and do make their iust defence with the same weapons with which our owne Touching the author of this booke I may not conceale that he is a man of singular note for his learning grauity pietie and conuersation and hath so stood in the seruice of the French Church at Dort in Holland for the space of eighteene yeeres to the praise of God Concerning the worke I will not so much ouervalew my selfe or vndervalew it as to recommend it vpon my word vnto the Churches of God for who am I but signifie that the seuerall impressions of it in French the translating thereof into the Dutch tongue and the good respect thereof in the French and Dutch Churches doe more then sufficiently commend it vnto all men wherefore good Reader I leaue it thus commended vnto thee and pray God to make it profitable to thee as it hath bin to many others Thine in the Lord Iohn Burges Preacher to the English at the Hagâ—â—e in Holland TO THE FRENCH CHVRCH ASSEMBLED together at Dort THere is no exercise most deare and worthie Brethren in the Lord more needfull nor more conuenient for a Christian man then to call vpon his Creator and Sauiour For sith that hee receiueth from his hand all manner of blessings aswell for this present life as for that which is to come he is therefore bound continually to inuocate and call vpon him for aide who is the Father of lights from whom commeth downe euery good giuing and euery perfect gift Beside it is also that marke by which the children of light are discerned from the children of this world who as it is written in the 14 Psalme haue no care to call vpon the Lord. Moreouer it is one of the parts of that Christian acknowledgement whereby wee make profession to beleeue that God is and that he is a rewarder of them that seeke him as the Apostle witnesseth in the 11. Chapter to the Hebrewes and sixth verse It is a sweete communication and a familiar discourse with God whereby wee freely declare to him our necessities and beseech him to returne an answere to our petitions in due time It may also be called an ambassage or a trusty Post which swiftly mounting vp to heauen knocketh at the gate of Gods palace there to present before him all our requests Finally it is the very soule of our soules and like as our bodies cannot liue nor subsist without our soules so likewise cannot our soules perseuere in the faith and hope of the grace of God which is the fountaine of life without the exercise of prayer Which point the Fathers of the old Testament considering ere they betooke themselues to any of their affaires began them euermore by calling vpon the name of God saying Our helpe is in the name of the Lord which hath made heauen and earth Which also the Iewes from the godlinesse of their forefathers hold yet vnto this day and obserue it so carefully that they addresse their prayers to none but to that sole Creator of all things Wherein these ignorant people which neither know the Sonne nor the Father shew themselues farre more wise and religious then the Papists which call themselues Christians and Catholikes and yet notwithstanding are so blockish and superstitious that in stead of addressing themselues to the only God Almightie immortall they implore the aide of the dead and their Idols not considering what the Lord speaketh by his Prophet Esay in the 42. chap. and 8. verse that his glorie he will not giue to another neither his praise to grauen Images But what the diuell sworne enemie against the honour of God and mans saluation hath with such an efficacy breathed this impiety into the hearts of those lying Doctors that albeit they are conuicted by an infinit number of sentences of holy Scripture by which God expressely forbiddeth vs not to worship any but
is thy request it shall be giuen thee euen to the halfe of the kingdome This Empresse saith he figured the Empresse of heauen to whom God hath giuen the halfe of his kingdom for God hauing his iustice and his mercy hath reserueah is iustice to exercise it in this world and hath left mercis to his Mother Therefore if any one feele himselfe grieued as the Court of Gods iustice let him appeale to the Court of the mercie of his Mother c. Whereunto is also conformable that which Anthonine the Archbishop writeth in his summe par 3. tit 12. chap. 8. par 4. tit 15. chap. 14. 44. That as it is impossible that they from whom the Virgin Mary â—â—rneth the eyes of her mercie should be saued so is it necessarie that those vpon whom she turneth them praying for them should be iustified and glorified because Christ is not onely an Aduocate but also a Iudge who will examine all things in rigour and will leaue nothing vnpunished So the good God hath prouided vs such an Aduocatesse in whom there is nothing but benignitie and gentlenesse Hereupon abusing impudentlie the exhortation of the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hâ—brewes in the 4. chapter and 16 verse he admonisheth vs to goe boldly vnto the throne of God which is saith he the Virgin Mary in whom he hath placed it let vs goe concludeth he vnto her with assurance as the Apostle saith to the Hebrewes to the end we may obtaine mercie and finde grace in time of need Whereunto to bring the ignorant he likewise is not ashamed to tell this fable that the blessed Seraphins and angels would haue withheld the Virgin Mary as she ascended vp into heauen to haue enioyed her company and to haue placed her in the highest degree of their order as she which surpassed and excelled them both in glorie and in the flame of charitie But what said she to them I take pleasure in your order and congratulate you most affectionately for your diuine fâ—râ—encie But the Scripture must be accomplished saying It is not good that man should be alone let vs make him a helpe like to himselfe so then it is not good that my Sonne should be alone but that I must assist him seeing I am his mother and haue been giuen him for an aide in redemption through compassion in glorification through intercession for mankinde to the intent that if God should threaten to drowne the earth and to punish the sinnes of man by the flood of his scourges I may appeare before him as the Rain-bow that hee may call to minde his coueâ—â—t and may reconcile himselfe with them and not destroy the world You speake not so audaciously of the other Saints departed howbeit Viues the Spaniard confesseth plainly in his discourse on S. Austins 8. book of the City of God that he cannot perceiue that there is any difference betweene the opinion you hold of your Saints and that which the Pagans held of their goods considering you doe vnto them the same honours as vnto God himselfe and to his Sonne Iesus Christ. And indeed your Master of Sentences and his disciples makes no bones to call the Saints the Mediatours of our saluation to teach how they through their works of supererogation haue purchased so great credit in heauen that they haue not onely merited eternall glorie and happinesse for themselues but by those workes also may succour those which yet walke in this vale of miserie and to helpe their necessities The praeyers of the Saints saith Bonauenture in the 4. booke of his Sentences dist 45. qu. 2 may obtaine us many good things as the Master to wit of Scholasticall sentences saith by their affection and through their former merits by which readily and promptly they hauâ— serued God On the other side Our dutie is saith Alexander of Ales in his fourth sentence and 92 question to pray vnto the Saints for three reasons Because of our necessitie the glorie of the Saints and the reuerence to God I say because of the want and defect of our owne merits to the end that when we haue not sufficient and enough of our owne the merits of others may helpe and defend vs. I would willingly come foorth of that bottomlesse pit of your execrable blatphemies but my conscience will not suffer me to dissemble those great praises which you attribute vnto S. Francis who was condemned of impietie by Pope Iohn the 22. and to S. Dominiâ—â—s as it were in despite of God and of his Sonne Iesus Christ neuerthelesse because I will not be too redious I will not here cite all that is found written of them in the bookes allowed by your Church onely I will draw foorth some drafts and principall points whereof the first is that it is written in the book of Conformities How the Virgin Marie and the rest of the Saints in heauen goe in procession euerâ—e one in their order but as for Saint Francis he is harboured in Christs side and commeth forth through his wound is Ensigâ—e bearer to conduct them with the banner of his Crosse in his hand And in the Prose of S. Francis that hee is The figuratiue Sauiour the way the life and a singular one crucified who hauing receiued in a vision the same wounds as Christ had according to the Diuels attestation which heerein is your Doctor purgeth you from your sins Wherefore in good 〈◊〉 he may say that which is sung in the Gospell vpon his feast day All things are giuen to me of my father for as much as through his merites hee hath been made the sonne of God and hath receiued a billet from heauen wherein was written This man is the grace of God So that now through the merits of his works which are so holy that if an Angell had done them they could not haue bin more admirable He is the modell of all perfectioÌ„ in whom we may ioyntly see all the vertues of the Saints aswell of the old as of the new Testament for hee hath obserued the Gospell to a letter and hath accomplished all the commandements of God In such sort that according to the prophecie of Ieremie in the 50 Chap. vers 20. Men shall seeke for his sinne but they shall not finde it And of him the Psalmist hath spoken Thou hast crowned him with glorie and honor and hast set him euer all the workes of thine hands For according to your beliefe he is in the glorie of the Father as it is written Phil. 2. he is deified and in the glorie of God But which is more he maketh one selfesame spirit with God he sitteth aboue in heauen as Aduocate of all the Church militant he is most neerely knit vnto God and beareth rule ouer euery creature By one Masse he hath appeased God towards all the world And to alleage your own words Christus â—rauit Franciscus exorauit that is to say Christ hath prayed Francis hath obtained Let vs now
Whosoeuer is called ought to come vnto God without waiting for any other name The sighes of the heart penetrate the heauens We ought to woâ—ship in the Temple but not the TeÌ„ple The Father hath exalted his Sonne aboue all creatures by that voyce which speake fâ—oÌ„ heauen Heare him The sinne of those which pray in another name then Iesus participates not so much of ignorance as of scorne God will neuer reiect the requests which himselfe hath commanded vs to addresse vnto him It is the humanitie in our Mediatour which prayeth for vs and his Godhead which decreeeth vpon our prayers Christ being true man commeth vnto his equals and through his righteousnes he reuniteth theÌ„ with God There is no way to come vnto God but by the Sonne of God himself The Apostle saith we haue and not you haue to shew that he himself hath need of a Mediatour The dignitie of the Apostles hath not exempted them from the necessitie of falling downe at the feete of God The Apostle desired to be assisted with the prayer of the Saints for asmuch as they were addressed to him who is the head of the Saints It is to dishonor the Saints and to grieue them â—o attribute to them that which they know appertaines vnto God Reuel 19. 10. The Angels and the faithful which know that God will not giue his â—onor to another of which he is iealous will neuer present theÌ„selues to haue part thereof If Iesus Christ were but simply men hee could not be capable to bring vs vnto God By the vaile of Christs humanitie we enter into the Sanctuary We ought not to flie from the meanes of him who hath suffred for our miseries As from ill manner good lawes are proceeded so are calumnies against the truth of the constitutions of Councels and good Doctors What prudeÌ„ce cannot take away patience doth beare withall Satan letteth slip no opportunitie to sow his cockle Satan seekeâ—h euermore to authorize his Ragins to the preiudice of the truth The time wherein S. Denys Areopagite liued The celebration of the vertues of some is charitable but it is impietie to pray vnto theÌ„ The conâ—ereÌ„nce of these words of S. Irenaeus with that which the Iesuite imposeth discouereth more plainly his impudency Impudencie discouered We ought not to alleage that which is done for that which ought to be done Leasings would faine couer themselues Iohn Damâ—soenus S. Ambrose and S. Ierome c. haue passed their limits and we ought to note but not to imitate that which they haue said As the ancieÌ„ts did often bring in the Saints speaking so spake they sometimes to them as if they had been present The aduersary is driuen into absurditie by good strong reasons The soule of him which shal haue sinned shall be that which shal die Wise words of two women in great extremitie The Papistical Doctors make no conscience to discouer the shame of their fathers seeing they attribute to them such shamefull matters We auouch that superstition got the vpper hand but we denie that we ought to cleaue vnto it A formular of Anselmus his prayers A similitude Our demerits are forgiuen through the merit of the Sonne of God Another forme of Anselmus to comfort the sick S. Bernard sends vs to Christ. As we are of Christ and not of another so ought we to stay with Christ. The Virgin Mary seeketh not to disrobe her sonne or to be clothed with his robes The wel-spring of our merits is in the grace of God and not in the righteousnesse of meÌ„ The time and place when S. Bernard florished A double dishonor done to Origen Albeit that Origen was an impure writer in some other points yet he hath shewed himselfe pure in the article of inuocation There is no likelihood that Origen who sent vs vnto God only should addresse himself to meÌ„ The words of Origen are very expresse against the inuocation of Saints What might haue been the offence of the Vrgin Mary The Papists imposture appeareth not only in that they aâ—de and diminish to the word of God but in that they make the Doctors of the Church to say what iâ— pleaseth them The Papists take delight in troubling the â—ountaine of liuing waters The mysterie of Satan appeaâ—eth notably in the lesuits Index exâ—urgatory Shreds of the abouesaid Index whereby one may haue knowledge of the whole peece As Rauâ—ns turne aside froÌ„ the sound parts of a carkesse and fall vpon the rotten so the Iâ—suâ—ts reiect that which is most holy in the writings of the Fathers and stand vpon the impure It is an easie matter for the Iesuits to fight with the bones of the dead which cannot speake Those which are proued falsiâ—iers ought to be no more reputed as worthie of credit and beleefe Mariners in the obscuritie of a tempest haue their recourse to their compasse and needle and Christians to the law A saying of S. Austins very worthie to be noted Deut. 13. 1. The reprobats theÌ„selues haue done guilefull miracles Matth. 24. 23. 24. 25. 2. Thess. 2. By how many meanes Satan shal exalt himselâ—e against the faithfull Why Antichrists signes are called lies A notable sentence of Charles the Great touching miracles The pretended miracles of Popedome are rather a presumption of a false then of a true seruice The subiect for which the Papists tearme vs heretikeâ— declareth them to be imposters and heretikes themselues 1. Kings 8. 38. Caluin speaketh to the foolish according to their folly If the Saints see all things within the mirrour of eternitie it would follow that they should see the day of the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ which is false Eccles. 9. 6. Esay 63. 16. Luther and Caluin haue not bound their aduersaries to proue the inuocation of Saints by the Scripture The Papists are to make good that which they affirme and not in vs which denie disproue the inuocation of Saints We neither denie nor affirme any thing of our own sense but from the authoritie of the holy Scripture Eccle. 9. 16. Esâ—y 63. 16. Two false principles and grounds of the Papisticall Doctors The Papists caÌ„ neuer proue that the Angels are the reporters of the prayers of the Saints before God Our conformitie with the Angels is not yet but when we shal be glorified From things or persons which are vnlike we ought not to draw like conclusions An argument from the least to the greatest which hath more colour then strength It is impietie to say Abraham was in Limbo Matth. 8. 11. Lactantius Origen Epiphanius S. Ierome A notable saying of Iustine the Martyr An excellent doctrine of S. Ambroses The doctrine of S. Austin touching the place of our retreate at our departing this world Neither the holy Scripture nor the Catholike Fathers giue any third places to soules after their decease The historie of Lazarus is parabolicall Though Abraham should haue heard the complaints of the rich Glutton it followeth not from thence that the Saints heare our prayers The Trinitie serueth not as a mirror in heauen to coÌ„template all things therein Albert Master vnto Thomas of Aquin denieth that which other of the Popish Doctors his successors doe affirme Charitie is the marke of the children of God and not of the reprobate The aduersaries argument retorted VpoÌ„ bad foundation theâ—e can be made no good building Places suspected of S. Austins S. Austin doth absolutely deny that the Saints meddle with our affaires A good argument from the greater to the lesser Absurdities that followe if we should grant that the Saints departed haue to do with our affaires Three pretended meanes of the Papists whereby the Saints might heare our prayers There is no likelihood that S. Gregorie took pleasure in coÌ„tradicting himselfe The examination of those three meanes abouesaid of the vnderstanding of our prayers
of Scripture that the Angels in heauen vnderstand our prayers considering they are the reporters of them to the Diuine Maiestie Now this is also another expresse text of Scripture that the Saints in heauen shall be like to the Angels according to the saying of the Sonne of God in the holy Gospell We must then conclude that the Saints heare our prayers seeing the Angels vnto whom they are likened heare them Me thinks I heare alreadie my Masters the Ministers to answere and say that this similitude of the Angels and Saints of which our Lord speaketh in the Gospell consisteth but only in their felicitie and blessednesse and not in their nature or office that is our Lord would say that the Angels and the Saints should be equall and like to each other in heauen because both of them should be blessed enioying one selfesame glory and felicitie But let vs suppose that the case were so let vs grant and admit that the answere of these my Masters be true yet notwithstanding euen by the same we can ensnare and entrap them For seeing the estate and happines of future life hindreth not the Angels from hearing the prayers of mortall men wherefore or how can it be but the Saints being in the selfe-same felicitie as the Angels are may not also heare our prayers as well as they this text then of Scripture sheweth that the Saints heare our prayers they heare vs they see vs neither are ignorant of that which is done vpon the earth which once more I will shew you out of the Scripture For the holy Patriarch Abraham being dead and in Limbo knew many things which were done among the children of Israel as you may see in the sixteenth Chapter of S. Luke First he knew that the people had the bookes of Moses and the Prophets of whom the auncientest was Moses who had written more then foure hundred yeares after the death of Abraham Secondly he knew the life that the rich Glutton had led vpon the earth and the miserie which poore Lazarus had there endured Thirdly he saw and knew the estate and condition of that vnhappie wretch and heard his prayer though he was not heard when he cryed Father Abraham haue mercy on me and send Lazarus c. And yet neuerthelesse there was a great distance betweene the one and the other as Abraham plainly told him Finally the rich Glutton though he was damned saw he not Abraham heard he not his answere gaue he not his replyes for all there was the distance of a great Gulfe betweene them Now I hope there is no man that dareth deny all this for it is written in the holy Gospell and is a historie pronounced by the mouth of him which cannot lye but is the truth himselfe euen Iesus Christ. If this thing and story be true as it is I then charge all the Caluinian and Lutherian Ministers and say vnto them in this manner If Abraham my masters shut vp in Limbo not enioying at that time the sight of God and being not yet blessed but through hope notwithstanding knew the things of this world knew the state and miserie of that rich Glutton and heard him make his prayer and request will you thinke then that the Saints in Paradise beholding God and enioying his most bright sight are lesse priuiledged then Abraham therefore the father S. Austine saith excellent well Quid non vident qui videntem omnia vident that is What is it saith he that the Saints aboue in heauen see not seeing they see him that seeth all things which is God And that which seemeth more If the damned themselues heare those speake which are afarre off from them as the rich man heard Abraham and by those words shewed himselfe mindfull and carefull of his brethren which were yet in the world being afraid lest they should come into the same place of torment wherein he was as you may see what he spake vnto Abraham in the Gospell shall we imagine that the Saints and all those which are in the kingdome of heauen see and know not that which we do vpon the earth And if the Saints and all the blessed ones that are departed this life know the things of this world what ought they to heare or know more then the prayers which are made vnto them And if they vnderstand and can heare the voice of the damned is it possible in your opinion that they should not vnderstand the prayers and requests of those which desire to be saued If the damned themselues as appeareth by the story of the rich Glutton would procure that no harme might happen to their brethren and friends will those which are saued be lesse charitable will not they aduance and help forward as much as in them lieth the saluation of their friends and Christian brethren and that so much the more if they see and heare that one requireth them thereunto Sir now you may demaund of me and say If so be I should conesse that the Saints heare our prayers yet faine would I know how and in what manner they heare vs To say the truth this is a very hard thing to be vnderstood and neuerthelesse it is true The father S. Austine acknowledging the hardnes of this question and through humilitie the small capacitie of his spirit though it was very great in his booke which he hath made and intituled De cura pro mortuis agenda c. 16. saith that In truth this question surpasseth the force of my vnderstanding being not able to conceaue after what a fashion the Martyrs help those which we know to be entirely helped by them By these words S. Austin acknowledgeth well that it is hard for him to vnderstand how they know the things of this world neuerthelesse he beleeueth that they know them and that indeed and certainely as he saith wee are succoured by them Wherein it may please you to note one difference among the rest that there is betweene our Catholicall Doctours and the Hereticall Doctours that is Ours if they cannot attaine to the totall and perfect knowledge of that matter or question which they handle they will not dispute it so farre as to denie the question and thing because they find it hard and surpassing their vnderstandings but admitting of the thing with humilitie they acknowledge only the smalnes of their capacitie as with very great modestie the most learned father S. Austin hath done in this point But these new hereticall Doctours which are come vp with and after Luther and Caluin though the thing or question disputed be true and grounded vpon good reason because they cannot comprehend nor compasse it within their vnderstandings flatly denie and reiect the thing as we see them daily doe in many other points and articles of religion seeking alwaies to reduce them within the capacitie of their spirits which very often is but small and ruinating the nature of faith which consisteth in beleeuing things that surpasse the reason and
you equal hir with our redeemer in calling hit Reparatrix and Salâ—atrix of mankind The queene of mercy the valiant woman which hath broken the serpents head and she alone that hath rooted out all the heresiâ—s in the world Cardinall Bâ—nauenture makes no conscience to appropriate to hit all that Dauid in his psalmes hath attributed to God the father the sonne and the holy Ghost Blessedâ— is that man saith he which liueth Mary which giueth praise vnto 〈◊〉 name which putteth his trust in hir which hopeth in hit Come vnto hir all ye that are wearie and she will giue rest vnto your soules The heauens declare thy glorie The earth and hir fulnesse is thine thou raignest eternally with God blessed are those which make much of thee because in thy mercies thou wilt wash their sins haue mercie on me mother of mercie and according to the bowels of thy mercies wash me from all mine iniquities Wicked serpent whereof bostest thou thy selfe put thy necke vnder Mary ô Ladie bruse him by the vertue of thy foot cast him down by thy force into the bottomlesse pu Saue me in thy name and deliuer me from mine vnrighteousnesse take pitie on me for my heart is readie to receiue thy will Lord for our sinnes thou hast repulsed vs and because of the virgin Marie hast taken pitie on vs. Let Marie arise and all hir enemies shall be destroyed Lord giue thy iudgement to thy sonne and thy mercy to the queene his mother God is the God of vengance Ladie saluation and life consists in thy hand O how good is God vnto them that worship his mother Come and let vs adore the Ladie let us giue praise vnto the virgin that hath saued vs. Let vs worship hir and confesse vnto hir our sinnes The Lord reigneth Mary fitteth vpon the Cherubins at his right hand whâ— dwelleth vnder hir wing is vnder a safe protection haue remembrance ô Ladie of Dauid and of all those which call vpon thy name The Lord said to my Ladie sit my mother at my right hand thou hast taken pleasure in goodnesse and holinesse and therefore shalt thou raigne with me Praise the Lord because he is good for his mercie is giuen by Mary You transferre in like manner to the Virgin that which in all humilitie of heart she sung to the honor of her Creator and Sauiour And in stead of that which she sung as the Euangelist S. Luke witnesseth in the first chapter and 45. verse My soule magnifieth the Lord and my spirit reioyceth in God my Sauiour c. Because he that is mighty hath done for me great things c. you say My soule magnifieth my Ladie and my heart reioyceth in my Ladie because hee that is mightie hath done for mee great things through Mary his mother What should I say more You celebrate in your Canticles the Virgin Mary as Lady of the Angels espouse and Mother of the eternall king Promise of the Patriarches Veritie of the Prophets Teacher of the Apostles Mistrâ—s of the Euangelists Lady of the Word and Queene of Heauen And hereupon you beseech her that she would saue her people Likewise you craue of her in expresse tearmes all that which God himselfe will or can giue vnto vs by his onely sonne Iesus Christ Impetra nobis veniam applica nobis grattam praparâ— nobis gloriam that is to say Obtaine pardon for vs applie grace vnto vs prepare glorie for vs. You haue corrupted Simeons song and in stead of that which the Euangelist Saint Luke reciteth in the second chapter and 29 verse how this good Father holding the Sauiour of the world in his armes blesseth God and saith Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes haue seene thy saluation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people you misturne these his words to the handmaide of the Virgin Mary saying Lord now lettest thou depart in peace the handmaid of the Virgin Mary for mine eyes haue seene the saluation of Mary which thou hast prepared before the face of all people a light to inlighten the Gentiles c. You hold her for the true saluation the true felicitie the greatnesse of charitie the largenesse of pietie vnto whom the Angels obey as by one of your Letanies appeareth Which is worse your Cardinals and Bishops assembled in the Councel of Constance in which they condemned to death Iohn Hus and Ierome of Prague both of them Bohemians constant in the true faith to adde vnto the heape of their crueltie against these Martyrs some token of their impietie and hatred against the holy Ghost which had endowed these two witnesses with his truth and with such a mouth and wisedome against which these good fathers were not able to resist they thought good to applie vnto the Virgin Mary that prayer which is made to the honour of the holie Ghost and in stead of saying as before Veni sancte Spiritus c. to haue made them sing Veni maier gratiae fons misericordiae miseris remedium veni lux Ecclesiae tristibus laetitiâ— â—â—ne infundâ— radium Simonis nanicula fiâ—y tunicula 〈◊〉 scindatur prohibe quae DeuÌ„ hominibus 〈◊〉 inngis ô puerpera Hereses interime schismataque reprime firmâ— pacis fâ—â—era That is to say Come mother of grace fountains of mercie remedie of the wretched câ—â—e light of the Church shed vpon these heauie soules the beame of ioy the small ship of Simon surnamed Peter suffer not the little coatâ— of thy sonne to be torne in peeces ô mother in childbed which coâ—ioynest God with men and the inferiour creatures with the celestiall abâ—lish Heresies represse Schismes and establish the couenants of peace I am astonished at the blasphemies of Barnardine de Busto and Anthonine Archbishop of Florence who set the Virgin Mary aboue the onely sonne of God for see what Barnardinâ— saith of her in his Mariall Men may say of the Virgin Mary that she is the light of the Genâ—les and the glory of her people Israel For God at her natiuitie said vnto her I haue giuen thee as a light to the Gentiles to the end thou maist be our saluation to the ends of the earth a light to lighten the Gentiles All graces saith he come downe vpon vs from the Father and the Sonne by the Virgin Mary mediatrix between God and men no grace coÌ„meth from heauen but by her hands All graces enter into her and come foorth from her They are in Christ â—s in the head from whence they flow they are in Mary as in the neck which distributeth them Moreouer If any man feele himselfe grieued at Gods iustice hee may appeale to the Virgin Mary which hath been signified in the booke of Ester chap. 5. where it is said that King Abashuerosâ— being in anger and wroth against the Iewes Queene Ester came to appease him and found such fauour with the King that hee said vnto her What
come to S. Dominicus who hath been like vnto the Lord as Authonine the Archbishop writeth and consequently hath been Dominicus in name and in deed being that in possession which Christ is in authority Which Anthonme sheweth by many comparisons betweene Christ and Dominicus alleaging first that as Christ said I am the light of the world euen so the Church singeth of Dominicus Thou art the light of the world Secondly like as Iesus Christ praying vnto God his father was alwaies heard when he would so likewise Dominicus neuer demanded any thing of God but â—e obtained it entirely according to his desire This neuerthelesse is not to be omitted that herein he preferreth his Dominicus before Iesus Christ that hee hath demanded no thing of God as Iesus Christ did in the garden according to sensualiâ—â—â— that is to say according to the infirmitie of the flesh but all things according to reason and for this respect his prayer was alwaies heard as Dominicus a witnesse not worthie of beliefe in his owne cause recounted it himselfe to one of his familiar friends To proceed vnto the comparisons of this Adorator of Dominicus As Christ before his departure out of this world bad his Disciples farewel promised them the great Comforter the Spirit of truth and shewed them that it was expedient he should depart euen so saith this brauing fellow Dominicus answered his welbeloued friends Weepe not my welbeloued and let not my bodily departure these are his very words trouble you where I goe I shall be more profitable to you then I haue been here and after my death you shall haue mee for the best Aduocate you can haue in this life These fine fables haue been verified by your Friers and authorized by your Popes who haue canonized these holy Fathers and ranked them with those which haue merited to bee adored Is it not then with false shewes and against your conscience that thus you doe boast your selues that praying to the Saints you doe no wrong nor dishonour to Iesus Christ whoÌ„ ignominiously you cast out of his place setting him beneath the Virgin Mary these two seducers of the people which I haue named And yet this is not all for the Euangelists make mention that the souldiers of Pontius Pilate to expose our Sauiour to open reproch and scorne before all the world nailed him on the Crosse betweene two theeues as captaine of the malefactors but you as though it were a vertue in you to doe worse place him in heauen amidst many seditious fellowes and murtherers canonized by your Popes and too well knowne by your Iacobins and Iesuites What would Bonauenture say at this who at last corrected his owne excessiue praises aswell to the Virgin Mary as to the other Saints departed confessing in his 3. sentence dist 3. quest 2. Sith that Iesus Christ is the Sauiour and vniuersall Redeemer of all mankinde who hath opened the gates of heauen hee onely dying for all therefore one ought not to shut out of this generallitie that is to say from the companie of all those which Christ hath saued the blessed virgin Mary nor to amplifie the excellencie of the Mother to diminish the glorie of the Sonne because that in so doing wee should prouoke her to wrath as she who being but a creature and he a Creator had rather that her Sonne should be exalted then her selfe Would he not say the same which Iohn Wicliffe did whom God shortly after raised vp to awaken the world buried in the dreames of your vaine Traditions that it was a great folly yea and a detestable impietie to make a scurram that is to say a bouffon or a base fellow his Mediatour And as for the authoritie of the Catholike Church of generall Councels of holy Fathers and Doctors whereby you thinke to dazle our eyes and to amaze vs First of all I answere that you are of the same humor as the high Priests and inhabitants of Ierusalem were extreamely rebellious to the doctrine of the Prophet Ieremy who in time past did say the same as you doe at this day and maintained also obstinately as you doe that they could not erre The law said they shall not perish from the Priest nor counsell from the wise nor the word from the Prophet Come and let vs smite Ieremie with the tongue and let vs not giue heed to any of his words according to the complaint which the Prophet Ieremie maketh thereof in the 18. chap. and 18. verse But what did the Lord answere them by the mouth of his Prophet Trust not in lying words saying The temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord this is the temple of the Lord. Is this house become a denne of theeues whereupon my name is called before your eyes behold euen I see it saith the Lord. But goe ye now vnto my place which was in Shilo where I set my name at the beginning and behold what I did to it for the wickednesse of my people Israel Therefore will I doe vnto this house whereupon my name is called wherein also yee trust euen vnto the place that I gaue to you and to your fathers as I haue done vnto Shilo And I will cast you out of my sight as I haue cast out all your brethren euen the whole seed of Ephraim The Priests said not where is the Lord and they that should minister the law knew me not and the Pastours also offended against me and the Prophets prophecied in Baal and went after things that did not profit Moreouer From the least euen vnto the greatest euery one is giuen to couetousnes and froÌ„ the Prophet euen vnto the Priest euery one dealeth falsly Likewise by the Prophet Ezekâ—el chap. 22. vers 26. 28. Her Priests haue broken my law and haue defiled mine holy things they haue put no difference betweene the holy and prophane And her Prophets haue seene vanities and diumed 〈◊〉 vnto them saying Thus saith the Lord God when the Lord hath not spoken In like manner the Prophet Azariah 2. Chron. 15. vers 2. 3. The Lord is with you while ye be with him and if yee seeke him hee will be found of you but if ye forsake him he will forsake you Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God and without Priest to teach and without law Where wee are to note that God promised to the conductors of Israel that thee would remaine with them not simply but with this condition if they would abide with him and follow his holy Commandements And he addeth euermore this condition to the promises of his Couenant with the children of Israel If yee will heare my voyce indeed saith the Lord by Moses in the 19. chapter of Exod. 5. 6. verses and keepe my couenant then ye shall be my chiefe treasure aboue all people though all the earth be mine Yee shall be vnto me also a kingdome of Priests and
that in his daies the Church was exercised in workes of pietie and charitie and not by the inuocation of Angels and Saints departed nor in inchantments or any other wicked curiositie but addressing purely and manifestly their prayers to the Lord who made all things and in the name of Iesus Christ according to the necessitie of euery one Clement Alexandrine treating vpon this subiect was sore grieued at the Christians which worshipped the spirits of the deceased saying in his 7. booke that it is a great brutishnes to craue any thing of those which were not Gods And hereupon hauing respect vnto the true rule of inuocation the which hee followeth with the rest of all the Christians after the imitation of the Angels hee addeth That whereas there is but one only good that is God both wee and the Angels pray vnto him either to giue vs or to let vs haue such blessings as he knoweth to be healthfull for vs. And in his first booke of Pedagogie chap. 7. Iesus Christ saith he is our schoolemaster who as children hath led vs vnto euerlasting life and hath taken care of vs. And if we suffer our selues to be instructed by this schoolemaster and conductor we shall obtaine all things of God which we can iustly demaund of him The Church also with S. Tertullian hath followed this rule who speaking of his fashion and of all the Christian Church in his Apologie chap. 3. We pray saith he for the welfare of Emperours vnto the eternall God the true God the liuing God and lift vp our hands to heauen for them beseeching God that it would please him to giue vnto them a long life and empire without feare a safe Court a strong armie a faithfull Magistrate a loyall people and a peaceable world These things can I demand of none in my prayers but of him from whom I know I can obtaine them because hee only hath made them and I am his seruant which lookes vp to him alone and vnto whom he will grant them The like also saith Origen against Celsus lib. 8. We present saith he the first fruits only vnto him to whom wee addresse our prayers to wit vnto God hauing an high Priest which is entred the heauens euen Iesus Christ the Sonne of God and we shall hold constantly the profession of this faith so long as through the blessednesse of God and of his Sonne who hath manifested himselfe amongst vs we doe remaine aliue And although we know that not the diuels but the Angels ouer see the abundance of fruites and the multiplication of cattell yet neuer thelesse wee must not giue vnto them that honour which is due only vnto God for God will not haue it so nor they vnto whom such charges are committed but they loue vs because wee offer no sacrifices vnto them nor haue they any need of his odours and we are but to pray vnto one only God and to appease him who is the Lord of all things and to seeke only his fauour through pietie and other vertues In that prayer which S. Cyprian hath composed and repeated so many times in memorie of the benefit of the death and passion of our Lord Iesus he betaketh himself to none but to God the Father the Sonne and the holie Ghost without making any mention therein either of Angels or of Saints I should be too long and troublesome to recite it at length only wee will content our selues to propound briefly the conclusion thereof to the Reader to the intent he may censure thereof Through thy name Lord Iesus saith this good Father in the end of his prayer deliuer me from the power of the aduersarie thou that are a mightie deliuerer and the aduocate of our prayers for the requests of our soules solicite night and day for my sins present my prayer to thy Father and thou Lord O holy Father deigne to behold and looke vpon my prayers as vpon the offerings of Abel Vouchsafe to deliuer me from fire and eternall paine and from all torments that thou hast prepared for the wicked through our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ through whom be all praise glorie and honour to thee for euer and euer In that most excellent prayer which S. Hilarie made vnto God to beseech him to giue him his grace to expound well the great mysterie of the holy Trinitie he addresseth himself to none but vnto God building vpon his promise that to him which asketh hee shall receiue to him which seeketh hee shall finde and to him which knocketh it shall be opened Also Eusebius in his bookes of preparation sheweth that in his daies the Christians worshipped only God in spirit and truth For what writeth hee thereof in his 4. booke of Preparation We are taught saith he to serue religiously the only God of all creatures and for this cause wee attribute to him alone the worship that appertaines vnto him seruing him only by way of religion Afterward treating in another place of the intercession of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ and the reasons wherefore the Christians call vpon God in the name of his only Sonne first he rehearseth that it is because hee being become man and taken our flesh vpon him hath suffered for our sakes all manner of wrongs and reproches Secondly because hee prayeth vnto his Father for vs and through his request which hee makes vnto his Father for vs repulseth behinde vs all our enemies both visible and inuisible Thirdly because neither S. Paul S. Peter nor any of the other Saints haue been crucified for vs but our only Redeemer Iesus Christ from whence he concludeth that the intercession which he maketh vnto his Father is proper to him and incommunicable to the Saints seeing he is the only high Priest who once hath offered himselfe in a sacrifice to God his Father both for vs for himselfe and for man which he had taken out of the earth who is ascended vp into heauen there to celebrate for vs the spirituall sacrifices to wit our supplications which hee presenteth vnto God his Father praying him with vs that for his sake hee will be mercifull and fauourable vnto vs. According to which he giueth vs this testimonie of S. Denys Bishop of Alexandria in his Ecclesiastical storie lib. 7. cap. 10. who being called before Aemilian Gouernour of Egypt to render an account of his faith and to answere vnto his demands and among the rest vnto this vnto what God he and the other Christians addresse their prayers He answereth him freely that himselfe nor the rest of the Christians did neither worship or serue religiously any other but that God which only is hee who hath created of nothing the heauens the sea the earth and all things which are in them Moreouer he repeateth in this very historie lib. 10. cap. 4. that Paulin Bishop of Tyre taught publikely both by mouth and writing that Christ is our only Aduocate the only author of life the
then that you affirme that the holy Scripture teacheth vs that the departed Saints heare our prayers and wee contrariwise denie it then it is not in vs to confirme our negation but in you to ratifie your negation which is vnpossible for you notwithstanding you are so imprudent or rather so impudent as to say that wee may reade ouer the Bible as oft as we list yet we shall neuer produce thereout one only text contrary to your opinion If your conscience be not seared it hath alreadie conuicted you of falsehood by the reading of those two places which alreadie I haue quoted out of the 9. chapter and 16. verse of Eccle. and Esay 63. vers 16. where the holy Ghost guiding the pen of these two men of God teacheth vs that they which are departed this life haue no portion in our businesses which are done vnder the Sunne but that they are ignorant thereof Let vs now come to your demonstration that the Scripture faileth you not in this point for to awaken our spirits you first command vs to note this expresse text of Scripture that the Angels in heauen vnderstand our prayers seeing they are the reporters of then to the diuine Maiestie as appeareth by the same scripture Secondly it is an expresse text of scripture that the Saints shall be in heauen as the Angels according to the saying of the Sonne of God in the Gospell Whereunto you adde your conclusion that the Saints heare our prayers sith the Angels vnto whom they are likened heare them If some one should propound this your argument borrowed from Bellarmine to Scholars which haue heard the rules of Logick they would quickly smell out your deceit and would replie that you doe not aptlie appropriate it to the Saints departed because to conclude from thence according to the right forme and rule of Logicians that the Saints departed vnderstand our prayers you must first haue proued that Iesus Christ saith in the 20. chapter of S. Luke that the departed Saints are Angels and not as you make them like vnto Angels They would likewise reiect your reason and confirmation which you annex vnto this sentence that the Angels vnderstand our prayers because they are the reporters of them to the diuine Maiestie as appeareth by the holy Scripture Mark you not here a fine proofe to say it appeareth by the Scripture that the Angels report our prayers to God without quoting so much as one testimonie From hence it comes that hauing taken your principall peeces from Bellarmine you durst not alleage that place of holy Scripture which is in the 12. chapter and 15. verse of Toby where the Angel Raphael saith That hee is one of those seuen holy Angels which presents before the Maiestie of God the prayers of the Saints If it be in regard that you make conscience to confirme your proposition out of a booke which is Apocrypha I commend you and in that I preferre you before your Master Or if it be because you haue not read nor remembred well that text which he alleageth in his book of the blessednesse of the Saints I pardon you for it Touching the rest it seemes at the first sight that you make some stop at falsifying the 36. verse of the 20 chapter of S. Luke and of following therein the example of Bellarmine Richeome who in stead of saying as Christ did in answering the Sadduces that the Saints shall be to wit in the resurrection of the flesh like the Angels they turne this text as if Christ had said that they are like to the Angels But in the repetition of your argument trussed to your conclusion you shew your selfe to be of the same humour as your School-masters aboue said are seeing you change the future tense into the present to maintaine with them that the Saints are like to the Angels and that against the intention of our Soueraigne Lord and Master Iesus Christ who disputing against the Sadduces which denied the resurrection of the bodie and had propounded this question to him worthie to be laughed at touching a woman which had had seuen husbands whose wife she should be in the resurrection sheweth them vpon this occasion that the faithfull shall then be glorified euen in regard of their bodies which shall not bee mortall nor corruptible no more but as the spirits of the Angels are and consequently shall not be enclined to mariage for the maintaining of their race and posteritie but shall be like to the Angels which doe not marrie Now foreseeing through the agilitie of your spirit what we might replie on that aboue said place you thinke that you heare vs alreadie answere that this similitude of the Angels and Saints whereof our Lord speaketh in the Gospell consisteth only in their felicitie and blessednesse and not in their nature and office that is to say as it hath pleased you to expound it that the Angels and the Saints shall be in heauen equall and like each other because both of them shall be blessed enioying one selfesame glorie and felicitie Now as you can finde nothing therein to chaw vpon you grant vs this answere and make it to serue your turne as a fowler with his net to take and ensnare vs. For behold the argument which you ground vpon our answere is that seeing the felicitie and state of future life hindreth not the Angels from hearing the prayers of the mortall why is it not possible that the Saints being in the same felicitie with the Angels and like vnto them may not heare likewise our prayers aswell as they This text of scripture them sheweth that the Saints heare our prayers We denie the consequence of this argument If the felicitie of the Angels hindreth them not from hearing our prayers that it followeth from thence that the felicitie of the departed Saints hindreth not them also from the vnderstanding of our Supplications the reason is because the Angels notwithstanding their present felicitie haue receiued from God this charge to watch ouer vs and our safetie as it is written in the 34. Psalme For which cause the Apostle S. Paul calleth them administring spirits sent for their sakes that are to receiue the inheritance of saluation which the Scripture speaketh in no place of the Saints departed You repeate afterward your affirmation that the Saints deceased heare vs see vs and are not ignorant of that which is done vpon the earth For confirmation whereof you propound vs the example of Abraham who being dead and in Limbo knew many things which happened among the people of the children of Israel as one may perceiue by the 16. chapter of S. Luke For first of all he knew that the people had the bookes of Moses and the Prophets the ancientest whereof was Moses which had been written more then foure hundred yeares after the death of Abraham Secondly he knew the life which the rich Glutton led vpon the earth and what miserie
authority of Councels An Argument from the least to the greatest Three reasons whereby the dead vnderstand We are not of Paul nor Apollo but of Christ. * Exod 20. 3. A particular refutatioÌ„ from the authoritie of holy Scripture Deut. 6. 13. Psal. 50. 14. 15. Isaiah 42. 8. Isaiah 45. 21. Anticipation Matth. 4. 10. Psal. 44. 20. 21. Rom 10. 14. Inuocation ought to haue the same object as faith Psal. 73. 25. 2. Chron. 20. 9. 1. Tim. 2. â— Transition for the examinatioÌ„ and true vnderstanding of our ArgumeÌ„ts The distinction of Mediatours subordinate and not soueraigne refuted as vaine The examination of the Sophists first reason Although that Christ onely hath redeemed vs with his precious blood it followeth not from thence that he is only the Mediatour of redemption Rom. 8. 34. A forcible reason to shew that Christ is our only Mediatour aswell of intercession as of Redemption The examination of the Sophist second reason by concession The examination of the third reason Partly by concession and partly by Negation Anticipation 1. Iohn 2. 1. Ephes. 3. 12. Heb. 4. 16. Heb. 10. 19. 10. Heb. 7. 24. 25. Reâ—uâ—atâ— on of the Sophists conclusion against vs. Here is shewed how our aduersaries cut the throat of their owne cause with their owne kniues Sequestre The Popists do wrong vnto the word of Mediatour either through ignorance or malice Deut. 5. 5. It is 〈…〉 from the 〈◊〉 of a Sauiour giuen to some as types of the Sauiour himselfe In vaine doe the papists boast of giuing lesus Christ the first ranke of innocation Execrable blaspâ—â—mies of the Romish church Deprauation of an expresse text of Scripture by those in popedome These whole pages shew how the pretended Caâ—holikes which differ much from the words of lesus Christ doe indeed bereaue him of his most sweet flowers of honour to adorne the Virgin with them Blasphematory praises attributed by Papists to two wicked fellowes Saint Francis and S. Dominic An excellent comparison betweene the Prelats of these daies and the Priests of old time Ierem. 18. 18. Ierem. 7. 4. Verse 11. Verse 18. Verse 14. Verse 15. Ierem. 2. 8. Iere. 8. 10. Ezek. 22. 26. 28. 2. Chron. 15. 2 Generall Councels Fathers and great Doctors hâ—ue no authoritie if they doe not conforme theÌ„selues vnto the word of God Exod. 19. 5. 6. The example of the Saints ought to be reformed to the law and not the law to their exaÌ„ples Gal. â— 14. Gal. 1. 6. Gal. 3. 3. 1. Cor. 10. vers 6. 11 12. 1. Cor. 1. 2. 2. Cor. 11. 3. It is a foolish reason that Papists hold that general Councels cannot erre 1. King 22. * As humane infirmitie is perpetuall so men at al times haue been and will be in danger of error 1. Cor. 7. 27. 28. 1. Tim. 5. 14. Councels are subiect to the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles and to no doctrine contrary to them 1. Tim. 3. 2. That which is hapned to one or many CouÌ„cels may happen to vs if we doe nâ—t hold our selues to the rules of holy Scripture Note 1. Cor. 7. 12. verse 13. verse 14. All these examples of abominable errors shew how necessarie it is to trie the spirits The Papisticall Doctors agree not among themselues and neuerthelesse they hold vnitie and consent for the marke of their Church A graue and a religious iudgment of Charles the greaâ— touching y e Councâ—ll of Nice Councels refuted by othâ—r Councels Truth is one and that which is one cannot be contradicted We are bound to hearken to the Church in the things wherein she giueth eare vnto her Master All the doctrine of men â—ath no authority but in that which is borrowed from the Scripture Our faith is not of eloquence or humane perswasion We must trie the spirits Godly and excellent texts out of the Fathers We ought not to be ashamed to subiect our selues vnto that which the Apostles and the Angels are subiect vnto Galath 1. 8. The Papists are condemned by those which they cite against vs as aduersaries A graâ—e exhortation of Ignatius to pray only vnto God A testimonie giuen by Polycarpus who would not addâ—efle himselfe to any but God An excellent prayer The pietie of Clement A testimonie of Ireuaeus A reproch of Clement Alexandrine Tertullians testimonie Testimonie from Origen An example of S. Cyprians An example of S. Hilaries Forcible reasons of Eusebius to proue that wee are to inuocate none but God A testimonie giuen by Constatine not to addresse our prayers but to God only A necessarie doctrine to refute the seruice of Angels Gen. 48. 15. 16. Gen. 32. 26. A graue exhortation of Arnobius The inuocation of one only God hath remained entire after the natiuitie of Christ notwithstanding the assaults of Satan Coloss. 2. 18. A sentence of S. Theâ—dorets Not to erre in points of Religion we must not giue eare but to the pure word of God The doctrine of Epiphanius an ancient Doctor for the true inuocation A graue censure of the feminine superstition The virgin Mary is sanctified but not de fied and ought to be honoured but not worshipped None was able to know better then Iesus Christ how much the virgin ought to be glorified The Saints are more to be honored for hauing beleeued then the virgin Mary who bore the Son of God in her belly or as Simeon which bore him betweene his armes The end wherefore Iesus Christ would take his flesh of woman was not to the intent that she should be worshipped but that the world might beleeue that he had taken out nature vpon him She which is bound to worship is not capable of being worshipped Honor beseemeth all the Saints but adoration belongeth to God only If the Virgin could speake from heauen she would rebuke these blasphen atory voâ—ves pâ—ayers which they make vnto her Our prayers one for another be witnesses only of our obedience to God and the chaâ—itie wee beate vnto our neighbour which cannot be 〈◊〉 into the intercession of the Sonne of God We haue no need or â—ny other Intercessors tâ—en we our selues â—n that we pray in the name of the Sonne of God A contrite heart is that which can lead vs vnto God It is a great folly in men to addresse themselues to their equals which often pase theÌ„ with excuses in stead of bringing them straight vnto God who is ready to hold his armes open to receiue theÌ„ The faithfull man is neuer better accompaniâ—d then when he prayeth alone in his closet None can doe more with the Father then the Sonne A lie giuen to Iulian the Apostate To depriue the Saints of vnmeete adoration is not to frustrate them from their due reuerence Seeing Christ commandeth vs to pray vnto the Father in his name he excludeth all other names The Father wil neuer yeeld vnto any but 〈◊〉 in whoÌ„ he hath taken his good pleasure The Saints haue receiued the crownes of righteousness but they cannot giue them