A treatise of the sibyls so highly celebrated, as well by the antient heathens, as the holy fathers of the church : giving an accompt of the names, and number of the sibyls, of their qualities, the form and matter of their verses : as also of the books now extant under their names, and the errours crept into Christian religion, from the impostures contained therein, particularly, concerning the state of the just, and unjust after death / written originally by David Blondel ; Englished by J.D.

CHAP. LII. Of the Prayers contained in the Missal, and Breviary used by the Church of Rome; and that Purgatory cannot be necessarily in∣ferred from any one of them.

FOr as much as in the Book, intituled Ordo Romanus, there is not any mention made of the Dead; that in the Canon of the Mass, which is inserted into it, the Memento is not to be found; and that in the other Ritual Books of the Latines, there is not any Lesson, obliging to the belief of Purgatory, screwed up, since the year 1439. by the Councels of Flo∣rence, and Trent, into an Article of Faith: the Church of Rome, who hath at this day, in favour of Prayer for the Dead, but one onely Lesson, to wit that of the second of Maccabees, a Book held by her self to be A∣pocryphal, till after the year 590. the Church of Rome, I say, is forced to confess, that it must have been inserted so much the later into her Mis∣sals, and Breviaries, though upon no other accompt then this, that the Greeks use it not in their Office even to this day, and that from her whole service it necessarily results, that she met not, in the holy Scriptures, with any foundation of the opinion either of Purgatory, which she maintains, or of the custom, which she practises in praying for the Dead, upon Motives unknown to Primitive Antiquity. It remains therefore, that we see what can be gathered, of any consequence, from the Prayers,

which we read in the publick Forms of Service, of her prescription.

We have, in the first place, such as desire of God, that the sins of the a 1.1 deceased Person may be pardoned: as, for instance, this, Fidelium Deus omnium conditor, & Redemptor, animabus famulorum famularúmque tua∣rum remissionem cunctorum tribue peccatorum, ut indulgentiam, quam semper optaverunt, piis supplicationibus consequantur, &c. O God, Creatour and Re∣deemer of all the Faithfull, grant unto the Souls of thy Servants of the one and the other Sex, the remission of all their sins, that by pious Supplications they may obtain the indulgence they have ever desired. And this, We beseech thee, O Lord, that this Supplication of ours may be beneficial to the Souls of thy Ser∣vants of both Sexes, intreating thee, that thou wouldest cleanse them of all their sins, and make them partakers of thy Redemption. And this, We beseech thee, O Almighty God, that the Soul of thy Servant, purged by these Sacrifices, may obtain admission to indulgence, and eternal remedy. And this, Vouchsafe, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the Soul of thy Servant, and the Souls of thy Ser∣vants of both Sexes, the Anniversarie-day of whose Interment we now comme∣morate, being purged by these Sacrifices, may be received as well into indulgence, as eternal rest. And this, O God, who hast commanded that we should honour our Father and Mother, be pleased out of thy mercy, to have compassion on the Souls of my Father and Mother, and pardon their sins, and make me to live with them in the joy of eternal light. And this, We beseech thee, O Lord, be mer∣cifull unto the Soul of thy Servant, and being freed from the contagion of Mor∣tality, restore her to the portion of eternal salvation. And this, We beseech thee, O Lord, that by these Sacrifices, without which no man is guiltless, the Soul of thy Servant may be cleansed from all sins, that by these offices of pious pla∣cation, she may obtain eternal mercy. And this, O God, in whose mercy the Souls of the faithfull are at rest, be graciously pleased to pardon the sins of thy Servants of both Sexes, whereever resting in Christ, that, being freed from all their sins, they may rejoyce with thee world without end. And this, O merci∣full God, receive this Hoast offered for the Souls of thy Servants of both Sexes, whereever resting in Christ, that, delivered by this super-excellent Sacrifice out of the Chains of dreadfull death, they may obtain eternal life. And this, O God, whose property it is ever to have mercy, and to forgive, be favourable unto the Souls of thy Servants of both Sexes, and pardon all their sins, that, being loosed from the Chains of Death, they may obtain passage into life. And this, Free, O Lord, we beseech thee, the Souls of thy Servants of both Sexes from all the bands of sin, that, being raised up among thy Saints and Elect, they may live again in the glory of the Resurrection. And this, O Almighty and everlast∣ing God, who rulest as well over the living as the dead, and shewest mercy unto all those, whom thy fore-knowledge seeth will be thine in faith and good works, we humbly beseech thee, that those, for whom we have appointed to pour out our Prayers, and whom either this world does still detain in the flesh, or the next hath already received uncloathed of the body, may through the greatness of thy cle∣mency be made worthy to obtain the forgiveness of all their sins, and joy ever∣lasting. And this, O Almighty and most mercifull God, we humbly beseech thee, that the Sacraments, which we have received, may purifie us, and grant, that this thy Sacrament be not unto us an obligation to punishment, but a comfortable intercession for pardon; that it be the cleansing of crimes; that it be the strength of the fainting; that it be a Bulwark against the dangers of the World; that it be

the remission of all the sins of the faithfull living, and dead, through Jesus Christ.

It might seem, at the first sight, that all these Prayers in general, and every one in particular, upon this very accompt, that they speak of the forgiveness of sins for those, who are departed this life, do presuppose, if not a Purgatory, such as the Church of Rome hath imagined, and de∣scribed it some Ages since, at least, a certain necessity incumbent on the deceased, to make satisfaction to the justice of God after their death. But we must necessarily infer the contrary. For (not to take notice that to punish an evil doer is not to purge him) if, according to the te∣nour of the Prayers contained in the Mass of the Dead, God forgives the sin of the deceased, he does not require he should be punished for it▪ if he loose the Chains, he suffers him not to be still bound thereby; if he exercises towards him his mercy through Jesus Christ, he does not exe∣cute against him the rigour of his Justice, such, as it is conceived, is felt by the Souls, which they pretend are to pass through the fire of Purgatory. Whence it follows, that the design of those prayers, which desire of God the effect of his mercy in the remission of their sins, whom he hath called hence, never was, nor could be to procure their deliverance out of the torment, which they are imagined at this day to suffer; and whoever would finde the true meaning thereof, is to reflect on the per∣swasions of those, who were the first Authours thereof; for they held, that all those, of whom they made a Commemoration, were (in as much as they were b 1.2 dead in the Lord) gathered by him into c 1.3 A∣braham's Bosom, where they rested in a sleep of peace, as it is expresly set down in the Memento. So that no man well-informed prayed for them, as for wretched Criminals, and such as are deprived of the feli∣city, which God hath prepared for his Saints, but as for Champions al∣ready triumphant and glorious. And yet (out of a consideration, that the perpetuity of the bliss, into which every one presupposed them introduced, proceeded from the continuation of the mercy, accord∣ing to which God had at first bestowed it, and that it comprehended in it self the ratification of the pardon once granted to the deceased, in pursuance whereof they were entred into, and continued in the posses∣sion of celestial peace and joy) the surviving thought fit to desire on their behalf mercy, and remission of sins, not absolutely, as if they were still under the weight of God's wrath; but upon a certain accompt, to wit, in as much as it is necessary, that even in Heaven the mercy of God should be perpetually communicated to those, whom it had alrea∣dy visited, incessantly assuring them of the free gift he had made them, first of his grace, and afterwards, of his glory, as believing that those, who enjoy so great a happiness, are nevertheless, to expect a more solemn sentence of Remission, and Absolution, in that great Day, whereof we are all obliged, both for our selves, and on the behalf of our Brethren living upon Earth, and reigning in Heaven, to desire the blessed coming.

In this sence, indeed, the Antients never made any difficulty, to desire, on the behalf of the Blessed in Heaven, the Pardon they had already obtained, in as much as they were to obtain it again, after a more glori∣ous manner at the Day of Judgment; whereto are particularly referred

many of their Prayers: As for instance, that which we have already cited, wherein they desire, that their Souls, d 1.4 freed from all the Bands of sin, may be raised up again among the Saints in the Glory of the Resurrection. And again, thus; Non intres, &c. e 1.5 Enter not into Judgment with tthy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight, shal no man be justified, unless thou grantest him the remission of all his sins. We beseech therefore, that the Sentence of thy Judgment may not lie heavy on him, whom the sincere supplication of Christian Faith recommends, but grant, that he, who, while he lived, was signed with the Sign of the blessed Tri∣nity, may, by the assistance of thy Grace, avoid the Judgment of Vengeance. Again, Oremus, Fratres charissimi, &c. Let us pray, dear Brethren, for the spirit of our Brother, whom the Lord God hath been pleased to deliver out of the snares of this world, whose body is this day put into the Ground, that the Lord would, out of his goodness, vouchsafe to place him in the Bosom of Abra∣ham, Isaac, and Jacob, that, when the day of Judgment comes, he may be placed among the Saints and Elect, raised up again on the right hand. And this, taken out of the Ceremonial, Deus, cui omnia vivunt, &c. O God, to whom all things live; and to whom our bodies, though they die, perish not, but are changed for the better, we humbly beseech thee, that thou command, that the soul of thy servant N. be carried into the bosom of the Patriarch Abraham, by the hands of thy holy Angels, to be raised up again, the last day of the great Judgment, that what imperfections soever it hath, through the deceit of the Devil, contracted, thou out of thy goodness and compassion mayst mercifully wash away.

To the same end are referred also the following Prosopopoeias, where∣in the Soul of every deceased Person is represented with motions of fear suitable to such, as it might have had, during the couse of this Life: As, for instance, Libera me, Domine, &c. O Lord, deliver me from eternal death, in that dreadfull day, when f 1.6 the heavens, and the earth shall be shaken, when thou shalt come to Judge the World by Fire; I am become trembling, and fear, till the discussion, and wrath to come shall be over. That day is a day of wrath, calamity, and misery, a great day, and very bitter, when thou shalt come. Again, this; Domine, quando veneris, &c. O Lord, where shall I hide my self from the countenance of thy wrath, when thou comest to Judge the Earth? For I have sinned extremely, during my life; I am frightened at the things I have committed, and blush before thee; when thou comest to Judge, do not condemn me. And this, Memento mei, Deus, &c. O God, have me in remembrance, because g 1.7 my life is but wind, let the eye of him that hath seen me, see me no more, h 1.8 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord; i 1.9 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. And this, Hei mihi! &c. Wo unto me, O Lord, for I have sinned overmuch in my life! What shall I do, Wretch that I am? Whither shall I flie, if not unto my God? Have compassion on me, when thou shalt come at the Last day; k 1.10 My soul is sore vexed, but do thou, Lord, deliver it, be mercifull, &c. And this, Legem pone, &c. l 1.11 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy Commandments, m 1.12 and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies; n 1.13 Deliver me not into the will of mine enemies, for false Witnesses are risen up against me, and iniquity hath belyed it self, yet I believe to see the goodness of the Lord, in the land of the living. And this, Peccantem me quotidie, &c. Sinnning daily, and not repenting, the fear of death distracts me, in regard o 1.14 There is no redemption in Hell, p 1.15 O God, be mercifull unto me, and save me; q 1.16 O God, save me,

for thy Name sake, and deliver me in thy Power. And this other, Domine, secundùm actum meum noli me judicare, &c. O Lord, Judge me not according to what I have done, I have done nothing in thy presence worthy it; I therefore beseech thy Majesty, to do away mine iniquity; r 1.17 O Lord, wash me from my injustice more, and more, and cleanse me from my sin. And this other, Sitivit anima mea, &c. s 1.18 My soul thirsteth for God, when shall I come, and ap∣pear before the Lord? t 1.19 Deliver not the soul of thy Turtle-dove unto the multitude, forget not the Congregation of thy poor for ever. Our Father, &c. And Lastly this, Libera me, Domine, &c. O Lord, u 1.20 who hast broken the Gates of Brass, and visited Hell, and given light, that they might see thee, to those, who were in the Torments of darkness, crying, and saying, Thou ar•• come, O our Redeemer, deliver me out of the ways of Hell. For there is not any Body so weakly instructed, as not easily to comprehend, that the Authours of these Complaints, and Lamentations, meant them rather for the advan∣tage, and edification of the living, by putting them in minde of the fear, and trembling, wherein they should be in the presence of their Lord, then to represent the State of the Dead, which they have been forced to express after their Fancy as such as had some resemblance with that of poor Wayfaring-men, who yet walk in the Flesh, because they had not any manifest knowledg thereof, but onely Conjectures, and presumptions, and those many times, not very conformable to the Rule of Faith, and the Sentiments of the purest Antiquity: Since it is absolutely impossible, that he, who makes a Prayer for his Soul, should be any other thing, then that Soul, for which he Prays, and that the Wish he makes, that God would teach him the way of his Statutes, (which is onely in this Life) and the Confession of sinning daily, and the Prayer, to be delivered out of the ways of Hell, should suit with any but Travellers, who walk yet in the Flesh, struggling, as they go, with their own imper∣fections, and the Infernal Powers, and by continued endeavours tend∣ing to their rest, whereof the separated Souls of the Faithfull departed, who have finished their course in Faith, and Hope, must necessarily be possessed, from the very moment of their separation.

The same moderation is required, to finde out the true sense of the Prayers, which seem to presuppose a certain deliverance out of Infernal pains, wherein the deceased are ready to be tormented, as when we read in the Missal; Domine Jesu Christe, &c. O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver the Souls of all the Faithfull departed out of the power of Hell, and out of the bottomless Lake; deliver them out of the mouth of the Lyon; Let not Hell swallow them up; let them not fall into the obscure places of darkness; but let the Standard-bearer, St. Michael, bring them into that holy light, which thou didst sometime promise to Abraham, and to his Seed. We offer unto thee, O Lord, •…•…oasts and Prayers for them, receive the same for those Souls, whom we this day commemorate, grant them, O Lord, to pass from Death to an holy life. And in the Office of the Dead, A portâ inferni erus, Domine, animas eorum, requiescant in pace, Amen, &c. O Lord, deliver their Souls from the Gate of Hell, may they rest in peace, Amen. For though, upon the first glance, these words seem to revive the Hypothesis, which Justin Martyr had drawn up out of the Quagmire of the counterfeit Sibyl, imagining, that the Soul of the greatest Saints were, afer their departure out of the body,

sent to Hell, and were subject to the power of evil Spirits; yet must they necessarily have another signification, and onely induce, that God alone preserves those, whom he calls, so as that they fall not into the power of Hell, but are, by the Ministery of his holy Angels, introduced into ce∣lestial light, and that they are delivered, not as escaping out of some Torment, which they had for some time indured, but as avoiding the necessity of enduring it. And whereas it is said, that the Hoasts, men∣tioned in those Prayers, are offered to Jesus Christ, it necessarily induces, that they neither are, nor can be Jesus Christ himself, as the Church of Rome imagines at this day, but Gifts presented to God by his people, as an expression of their gratitude. And since, what is said, without any exception, viz. That they are offered for the Souls of all the departed, whose commemoration is celebrated, it demonstratively proves, that they are, and were (according to the intention of the Antients) offered for the bles∣sed then sleeping a sleep of Peace, in as much as the Commemoration made in the Church comprehends all. Which is further confirmed in that St. x 1.21 Cyprian expresly observes, that that of his time always offered Sacri∣fices for the Martyrs, of whose glory she neither made, nor could make a∣ny question; that St. y 1.22 Augustine both offered, and caused to be offered the like for his Mother, of whose bliss he thought himself so confident, that he said to God, I believe, that thou hast already done it; and that Saint Ambrose, comforting Faustinus, afflicted at the death of his Sister, gave him this advice, z 1.23 Non tam deplorandam, &c. I think she ought not to be so much lamented, as attended with Prayers; I conceive we ought not to con∣dole at thy Tears, but rather by Oblations recommend her soul to the Lord, &c. What should oblige us to sigh for the dead, when the reconciliation of the World hath been already made with God the Father by the Lord Jesus? For from all this, and particularly from Faustinus's affirmation, that he was a 1.24 confi∣dent of the Works and Faith of his Sister, for whom St. Ambrose exhorted him to make Prayers, and Oblations, it necessarily results, that those Ob∣lations were not properly Propitiations, but Thanksgivings for, and Ac∣knowledgments of the Propitiation made by Jesus Christ on the Cross, and, as the Forms used by the Church of Rome express it, b 1.25 Sacrifices of Praise. So that, if they were sometimes called Hostiae placationis, Hoasts of appeasment, and if it be said, that the Souls are per hujus virtutem Sacra∣menti à peccatis omnibus expiatae, expiated from all sin by the virtue of this Sa∣crament, which it is desired should be to him, who participates thereof, ablutio scelerum, &c. the washing away of his offences, presupposing that it is celebrated by the Faithfull pro redemptione animarum suarum, &c. for the redemption of their souls; this is to be understood rationally, and in the same sense, as when St. Peter teaches us concerning Baptism, that it saves us, and Antiquity sayes, that it washes away sins, in as much as it is the sa∣cred Sign, and the Pledge of the washing away, which was made thereof once by the onely blood of Jesus Christ spilt on the Cross. For, accord∣ing to the Sentiment of the primitive Christians, the Sacraments re∣ceived by the Faithfull crimina omnia detergunt, &c. do away all offences, in as much as they are Memorials of the blood of Christ, by the aspersi∣on whereof mens c 1.26 Consciences are purged from dead works to serve the living God, and are said to be d 1.27 offered for their salvation, not to be pur∣chased,

but already purchased by the price of the same blood, and for the Redemption of their Souls already accomplished in the death of the Son of God, but whereof the Application is continually made in the preaching of the Gospel, and Administration of the Sacraments, to all those, who embrace it through Faith.

There are also other e 1.28 Prayers, wherein is desired, for the Faith∣full departed, the felicity, which they have hoped, and wished for, during the course of their life, as appears by these following Forms; Vitam ae∣ternam habere mereantur in coelis, &c. In tuae redemptionis parte numerentur, &c. May they obtain eternal life in Heaven, &c. May they be numbred in the part of thy Redemption, &c. O Lord give them eternal rest, and let everlast∣ing light shine upon them, &c. P••••••••im in the Region of Peace, and Light, and grant him the Fellowship of thy Saints, &c. Grant him admittance into the society of eternal bliss, &c. To those, on whom thou didst bestow the Merit, or Honour, of Christian Faith, give also the Reward, &c. that, through thy Com∣passion, they may receive the bliss of eternal light, &c. Make them partakers of thy Redemption, let them be added to the number of thy Saints, &c. Let them have their reward in the Life to come, &c. Let them be conveyed into the Habitations, which thou hast prepared for the Blessed: let them have the perpe∣tual enjoyment of their Society, &c. Command, that they have eternal joys in the Region of the Living, &c. Grant them the Habitation of refreshment, blessed rest, and the clearest light, &c. Vouchsafe to associate them to thy Saints, &c. May they receive eternal rest, &c. Grant them eternal joy in the Region of the living, &c. May he obtain eternal rest, and light, &c. Restore them to the Portion of eternal salvation, &c. We beseech thee, O Lord, that be may come into the Fellowship of Eternal light, &c. That they may rejoyce with thee, World without end, &c. May they obtain passage into life, &c. That they may obtain eternal joys.

Though it might seem, that those, for whom these Prayers are made, were considered, as deprived of Peace, Light, Joy, Bliss, Rest, the Society of the Saints in Glory, and the Eternal Reward promised their good Works, and that, to facilitate their entrance into the possession of future happiness, some had conceived, and inserted the foregoing Prayers into the Service of the Churches; yet that it never was the intention of those, who drew the first draught thereof, to insinuate, that the dead were actually excluded the things demanded for them, is manifest, in as much, as the Memento was made onely in favour of those, who rest in a sleep of Peace, and, consequently, are already in Peace and Joy with the Lord. For the surviving Believers thought it became them to speak of the Beati∣tude of their Brethren deceased before them with a kind of hesitation, as if it were delayed, and that not without some colour, for as much the good things, prepared by the Lord for those, who love him, consist in things, which f 1.29 Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, neither have entred into the heart of Man, and that they had not any evident knowledg thereof, and could not frame to themselves any Idea suitable to the state, where∣to those are advanced, who enjoy them, they represented it after their manner, with some conformity, and proportion to that, wherein they had left this World; and as they have been for the most part forced there∣to by the Imaginations, wherewith the counterfeit Sibyl had dazled

their minds, so from the same hand is it also come, that among those, who, some time after, took the courage to disclaim them, some did it not so resolutely, as they should have done, but thought it enough to compare their departed Brethren, translated into the rest of God, to g 1.30 Travellers, who want somewhat of compleating their Journey. O∣thers, considering, that the enjoyment of the good things, which follow this life, and the exemption from the evils, which sinners are to expect, are for all eternity, and that the continuance of that enjoyment to those, who are once entred thereinto, does so far depend on the goodness and favour of God ever faithful in his promises, and whose h 1.31 Gifts are with∣out Repentance; that in this very regard, that he continually conserves them, he seems to make a new distrib•…•…on thereof every moment, and by the perpetual influence of his benediction on those, whom he hath received into glory, to assure them more and more of their possession thereof: others, I say, out of such, or the like Considerations, were per∣swaded, that there was no inconvenience in demanding, for the de∣parted, what they already had, their own reason telling them, that the Authour of so good a gift ceases not to give it, in continuing, and con∣serving it to those, whom he had once made partakers thereof. For as those, on whom he here below bestows abundance of temporal goods, are not less obliged to beg of him every day their i 1.32 daily Bread, then if (as he sometime did to the Israelites in the Desert) he dealt them one∣ly one day's Provision at a time; the plenty, which they had so liberally received from his hand, though such as might suffice for their whole life, and that with so much certainty in appearance, as nothing could re∣duce them to want, no way hindring, but that they should acknowledg their indigence, and natural insufficiency, and have a constant recourse to his Grace, to desire (as the most unworthy) that he would give them their Bread, for as much as though they have enough lying by them, yet is it their evident concernment, that he, who hath given them, should every day renew his Donation, in conserving them, and sanctifying them to their use: So the Saints, who in the other life are possessed of Celestial goods, are (by the necessity of the same reason) obliged to make per∣petual acknowledgments, notwithstanding that the immutability of the Counsel, according to which he bestows them for ever, and the nature of those very goods, not subject to perish, and decay, seems not any way to hinder, but that they should, every one for himself, and the surviving upon Earth for them all, desire the conservation and continuance of them, though that be so much the more certain, and infallible, in as much as it is grounded on the unchangeable Decree of k 1.33 the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. In this sense it might be thought, that l 1.34 Jesus, the Head and finisher of our Faith, who was yester∣day, is to day, and shall be the same for ever, though he were confident of the issue of his combats, and was so much the more certain, that nothing could prevail against him, that he m 1.35 sustained himself by his own Power yet forbore not to recommend himself to his Father, and to desire of him the n 1.36 glory he was possessed of, and had had with him before the World was: and consequently, that the antient Church neither made, nor ought to have made any difficulty to pray for all the blessed, whose

State she knew to be unchangeable, and whose Felicity unalterable; and accordingly is it, that, as she does in general make a Commemo∣ration of all those, who sleep the Sleep of Peace; so hath she particularly comprehended in her Prayers the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, without any regard to the inconvenience, which some have alledged since, that o 1.37 to pray for a Martyr, is to be injurious to him. Nay, the Church of Rome her self, to shew that she could not recede from the Sen∣timent of Primitive Antiquity, as we have above represented it, hath not ceased, nor does, to this day, cease to make this Prayer, contained in her Missal; Deus, cui soli cognitus est numerus Electorum in superna feli∣citate locandus, tribue, quaesumus, ut univer sorum, quos Oratione p 1.38 commen∣datos suscepimus, & omnium fidelium vivorum, atque mortuorum nomina beatae praedestinationis liber adscripta retineat, per Dominum, &c. O God, to whom alone is known the number of the Elect, who are to be placed above in Felicity, we beseech thee to grant, that the Book of blessed Predestination may retain written the name of all those, whom we have taken upon us to recommend in our Prayers, as also those of all the Faithfull, both dead, and living, through our Lord, &c. I seriously ask, whether it be possible any thing should be q 1.39 blotted out of the Book of Life, which is God himself, r 1.40 whose Coun∣sel shall stand eternally? And since there is no danger should make us fear, that s 1.41 God will deny himself, and that the Book of his Predestina∣tion should not retain the Names, which his Hand hath written in it, to desire of him, that it might retain them, is it not to pray him to do what it is absolutely impossible but he should, and (after the Example of the Antient Christians) to make a Prayer for the Blessed, that they might be blessed, not indeed, as if they were to pass from misery to the possession of Bliss; but in persisting (as it must of necessity be) in the enjoyment of the Bliss, which hath been once for all communicated to them?

Lastly, The Antients, considering that the Felicity, which the Faithfull enjoy from the instant of their departure, is not that absolute Fulness of Glory, wherewith they expect to be Crowned at t 1.42 the Resurrection of the Just, and that they might justly desire of God the accomplishment of what is expected (according to the Word of his Grace) as well for themselves, as for others, since it is a signification of the u 1.43 coming of his Kingdom; that we are all taught by the Lord himself, earnestly to desire, and hasten it, as much as may be, by our Wishes.

Secondly, That the Motion x 1.44 of all the Creation, groaning, and tra∣velling till such time, as it is delivered from the bondage of Corruption, into the glorious liberty of the Children of God, is expressed to us by St. Paul, as a great and violent desire inclining the Creatures to expect the manifestation of the Sons of God, and incites us so much the more, by how much we, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, are all together waiting for the Re∣demption of our Body.

Thirdly, That in that Noble desire is shewn the principal Effect of the Sympathy, which ought to be beween all the Saints, Members of the same mystical Body, and Members one of another (for if the Holy Spirit, to rejoyce the spirits of the Just in Glory, and y 1.45 crying with a loud voyce, that the Lord would judge, and revenge their Blood on them, that dwell on the Earth, proposes to them, as the principal Subject of their Joy, the ap∣proaching

accomplishment of their Fellow-servants, and Brethren, yet engaged against the Militia of Satan, & the world, here below, why should not these Champions, who are still sweating, and out of breath in the Field, where they are all covered with Blood, and Dust, have their cou∣rage heigthned, by reflecting on their advantages, who had gone be∣fore them; that, as they aspire to those White Robes of Glory, wherein their Brethren are for a little Season to rest above, and further consider, as the highest point of their pretension, that admirable perfection, which the first shall not attain without the last, one and the same day (to wit, that of the General Resurrection, and the Last Judgment) be∣ing appointed to make an eternal assurance of the full Perfection of their Glory? The Antients, I say, upon these Considerations, might, and, after their Example, the Faithfull still may, and do, continually de∣sire, and beg it, as well for themselves, as for all those, who before them, z 1.46 had served their generations by the will of God, and happily a 1.47 finish∣ed their course in this life.

Fourthly, It may be observed, that, in this kinde of Prayer, they seem to follow the Example of the Apostle, praying for Onesiphorus, b 1.48 that the Lord would grant, that he might finde mercy with the Lord in that day, in which c 1.49 he shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and to be admired in all them, that believe. For whatever may be presupposed concerning the State of Onesiphorus, and whether it be said, that that good Person was, or was not discharged, as to the necessities of this life, when the Wish, set down in the Second Epistle to Timothy, was made for him, it will make no difference in the main, and it will still be certain, that the good, ex∣pressed by St. Paul's Prayer, hath not been hitherto accomplished in any one; that it is of no less importance at this day to Onesiphorus, then when St. Paul prayed for him; that St. Paul, and Onesiphorus, and all the Saints, who are with God, wait for, as much as we do, who d 1.50 are saved by Hope onely, the Day of the Lord, and the Mercy, which Onesiphorus, and all the rest of the Elect shall finde, when that day comes; and that he, who prays his Friend may obtain what cannot be conferred on him, till ma∣ny Ages after his Introduction into celestial Beatitude, seems necessarily to pray for one, that is Blessed, if not effectually, when he conceived his Prayer, at least, for one considered, as such, when he shall see the Effect thereof: so that whensover a man undertakes to pray for him, whe∣ther while he is alive, or after his death, or both before, and after his death, he still makes the same Prayer for him, which not onely does not, but canot change its nature in the revolution of Ages, since that its foundation still unchangeably subsists, and that it is impossible it shall have its Effect in any, but a Person, that hath been already a long time in Glory with God, and who stands in need, not of Beati∣tude, in it self, which he is already possessed of, but the last Perfecti∣on of it, and, as it may be expressed in vulgar Terms, the Over-weight, which is necessarily to be added thereunto.

Thus the Fathers (not without some Ground) conceived they had pertinent Reasons to pray for those. whom they thought gathered into the eternal Rest of God; nay, some (out of a Motive of extraordina∣ry compassion) took the liberty to pray, and advised others to make

Prayers, and give Alms for the Damned; yet so, as that, (for ought we know) it hath not happened, that, for the space of six hundred years together, any one of them laid it down as a Tenent of Catholique Faith, That the Souls of those, who ended their Lives in the Profession of that Faith, were reduced, immediately upon their departure, to endure any temporal Punishment for their sins, and to make full satisfaction to the Justice of God, before they took possession of their Bliss. The Antient Liturgies are so far from teaching any such thing, that they have formally expressed the contrary, and, even to this day, the Form of Prayer for the Recommendation of Persons in Agony, expresly presupposes, that their Souls, at their departure out of the Bodies, are to be carried by the An∣gels into Abraham's Bosom, a Mansion of Rest, and Felicity, and not of Torment. For after the Litanies, whereby the Mercy of God is im∣plored, they say to the sick Person; Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc Mundo, &c. Depart out of this World, O Christian Soul, in the Name of God, the Father Almighty, who hath created thee; in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who hath suffered for thee; in the Name of the Holy Ghost, which is shed into thee, &c. May thy place be this day in Peace, and thy habitation in Holy Sion, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. To this Wish there is added a Prayer, which demands for the sick Person the Remission of his sins, the Renewing of whatever there was corrupt in him, and his reconciliation with God: and then this Discourse is addressed to him, Commendo te, &c. I recommend thee, most dear Brother, to God Almighty, and cōmit thee to him; whose creature thou art, that when, by the interposition of death, thou shalt have cancelled the Obligation of humanity, thou mayst return to thy Authour, who hath formed thee out of the slime of the Earth. May therefore a bright Assembly of Angels meet thy soul at its departure out of the body, &c. May the embraces of the Patriarchs confine thee to the Bosom of a blissfull rest, &c. Mayest thou be delivered from e 1.51 Torment by Christ, who was crucifi∣ed for thee; mayst thou be delivered from eternal death by Christ, who vouchsafed to die for the; May Christ the Son of the living God place thee in the ever-pleasant verdures of his Paradise, and may that true Shepheard own thee among his Sheep; May he forgive thee all thy sins, and place thee in the portion of his Elect on his right hand; Mayst thou, face to face, see thy Redeemer, and being ever pre∣sent behold with thy blessed eyes the most manifest truth. Being then placed among the Quires of the blessed; mayst thou enjoy the sweetness of divine con∣templation, world without end. Amen. After such a Discourse, there is made this Prayer; Suscipe, Domine, servum tuum, &c. O Lord, Receive thy servant into the place, where he is to hope salvation from thy mercy, Amen. O Lord, deliver the soul of thy servant from all dangers of Hell, and from the snares of Torments, and from all Tribulations. Amen. Then, having made a recital of the Deliverances of Enoch, and Elias, of Noë, Abra∣ham, Joab, Isaac, Lot, Moses, Daniel, and his three Companions, David, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul, they conclude with these words: And, as thou hast delivered from three most grievous Torments the most blessed Virgin, and Mar∣tyr, Thecla; in like manner, mayest thou be pleased to deliver the soul of this this thy servant, and grant, that he may rejoyce with thee in the enjoyment of ce∣lestial goods. Amen. At last, follow two Prayers; whereof the former begins with these words: Commendamus animam Famuli tui, &c. O Lord,

we recommend unto thee the soul of thy servant, and we humbly beseech thee, O Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World, that thou wouldest not refuse to place in the bosoms of thy Patriarchs her, for whose sake thou mercifully didst descend upon Earth. In the later it is said, Be mindfull of him, O Lord, in the glory of thy brightness; let the Heavens be open to him; let the Angels rejoyce with him. Lord, receive thy Servant into thy Kingdom; Let St. Michael, the Arch-angel of God, and General of the Celestial Militia, entertain him; let the holy Angels of God meet him, and carry him into the Heavenly Jerusalem, &c. Loosed from the Chains of flesh, may he be received into the glory of the ce∣lestial Kingdom, &c. If, after all these Prayers, the Agony continue, there are at several times read the one hundred and sixth, and one hundred and eighteenth Psalms, according to the Greeks, and Latines, that is, the one hundred and seventh, and one hundred and nineteenth, according to the Hebrews, who are therein followed by the Protestants; and, when the Soul is departed, they say, Afford your assistance, O ye Saints of God, meet him, O ye Angels of the Lord, receiving his Soul, and presenting it to the most high. May Christ, who hath called thee, entertain thee, and may the Angels conduct thee into the Bosom of Abraham, &c. O Lord, give him eter∣nal rest, and let everlasting light shine upon him; Lord, deliver his Soul from the Gate of Hell, let him rest in peace.

In the Mass for the sick, who are in Agony, besides two Lessons out of the Scripture, whereof the former comprehends from the sixth Verse of the five and fiftieth Chapter of Isaiah, to the twelfth, with these words fasten∣ed in the beginning by I know not whom, In diebus illis locutus est Esaias Propheta dicens, and at the end, Ait Dominus omnipotens; and the later consists of the twentieth, twenty first, and twenty second Verses of the sixteenth Chapter of St. John, with these words added at the beginning, In illo tempore dixit Jesus Discipulis suis. We have several Texts alledged, containing Thanksgiving to God for his deliverances, as the second, sixth, and seventh Verses of the eighteenth Psalm, according to the He∣brews, the fourth of the fifty seventh, with Confessions of sins, and Im∣plorations of his mercy, and assistance, as the second Verse of the fifty seventh Psalm, the first and second of the one hundred and thirtieth, the eighth and ninth of the seventy ninth, the first of the fifty first, and the two and twentieth of the five and twentieth, and, in conclusion, three Prayers, in the first whereof we read these words, Grant him, O Lord, thy grace, that his Soul, at the hour of its departure out of the body, may be re∣presented without the blemish of any sin, by the hands of the holy Angels, to thee, who art the proper bestower thereof, through our Lord, &c. The second is closed with this conclusion, not much unlike the former, That, received by the Angels, he may arrive at the Kingdom of thy glory, through our Lord. And the third is laid down in these Terms, O Lord, we give thee thanks for thy manifold kindnesses, wherewith thou art wont to satisfie the Souls of those, who put their trust in thee; we, now confident of thy compassion, do humbly be∣seech thee, that thou wouldest vouchsafe to shew mercy on thy Servant, lest, at the hour of his departure out of the body, the enemy, prevail against him, but that he may be thought worthy to pass to life, through our Lord.

If the Latine Church had from the beginning been imbued with this Sentiment, that the Souls of the Faithfull are, for the most part, at their

departure out of the Body, confined to a place of Torment, where they perfect the expiation of their sins, through what misfortune is it come to pass, that she so far forgot her self, as not to have expressed any such thing in all their Service, and that her Encouragements, and Remonstran∣ces to those, that lie at the point of death, who are (as it is at this day pre∣supposed) in so great a necessity to prepare themselves for it, and the Wishes, and Prayers, which she makes, and appoints to be made, as well for them, as for the Dead, whom a Superstitious perswasion imagines alrea∣dy set upon, and invaded by Infernal flames in Purgatory, do not onely not contain any remark thereof, but formally teach the contrary? And that they do so, we are onely to instance out of what hath been newly alledged, what they say of all without exception, viz. that, after death, they have their place in Holy Sion, that the Angels come to meet them; that they convey them into the Kingdom of Glory, into the bosom of a blessed Rest, into the bosom of Abraham, into the pleasant Verdures of Paradise, that they might with the Quires of the Blessed contemplate Truth with their blessed eyes, and enjoy the sweetness of divine contemplation eternally; that the Lord places them in the Portion of the Elect, in the place where they hoped for salvation, opens the heavens to them, gives them an eternal Rest, and makes them pass into life; which Expressions are such, as that the Protestants could not (according to the Hypotheses of their Belief) either say, or think any thing beyond them. Shall we imagine her un∣fortunately seised by a Vertigo so extraordinary, as that she would be guilty of such an Extravagance in favour of the Adversaries of her Sen∣timent, so far as to furnish them with all the Expressions capable to ruine it, and that she should be so unnatural, and cruel towards those of her children, whom death snatched away daily from her, as not to vouch∣safe to let them know, by the last word, that she had a Resentment of their Trouble, or that it was her desire to procure their Deliverance out of it by her Prayers, and to fortifie others, whom she saw to fall in∣to the like, by communicating to them her Advertisements, and Re∣monstrances, and representing to them on the one side the necessity, which the Justice of God imposed on them, as is pretended, to pass through the Fire, and, on the other, the Hope, which his Promise gave them to be preserved therein by his care till such time, as his Goodness should grant them a glorious deliverance out of it? Nay, though we should be inclined to excuse in her so shamefull a want of compassion, and memory, could we free her from Prevarication, charging her, that, instead of stirring up in her children the care of preparing themselves for Death, and the temporal Pains, which (according to the Opinion of Purgatory) were to follow upon it, she hath treacherously permitted, that (to be rid of it with more ease) they should run into erroneous perswa∣sions, and presume to promise themselves, upon the very start out of this Life, a passage into Abraham's Bosom, and the Paradise of God; or rather, that she was resolved to lay them asleep her self, by deceitfull Ex∣pressions, in the Bosom of a prejudicial Security, which smothers the ap∣prehension they should have conceived of the Severity of that great Judg, who intends to examine them with all rigour? And though we should endeavour to reconcile these kinds of Expressions, which mu∣tually

destroy one the other, would it be in our power to perswade any, that those, who, after they have said of the Dead, that they are, immedi∣ately upon their departure, carried by the Angels into the Bosom of the Pa∣triarchs, hold withall, that they are before-hand sent into a place of Torments, speak more rationally, then those, who durst affirm, that the King lodges near himself in his Palace, the Malefactours, whom he keeps in restraint, in the most loathsom Dungeons, and holes of his Prisons?

And that no man may imagine that this Wish, May Christ, who was cru∣cified for thee, deliver thee out of Torment, hath any relation to the Torment of the pretended Purgatory, we need onely to observe, that it is made for a sick Person, overwhelmed with the Torment of the last Agony, im∣mediately preceding his Death. To which may be added, that, though it were understood of the Torments, which wicked Spirits are to expect af∣ter Death, Reason would force us to avow, that the Believer, recom∣mended to the Grace of God, is exempted from them after Death, in the same manner, as he is delivered from eternal Death, from the dangers of Hell, and from the snares of his Torments, which he never felt, nor ever shall feel, for as much as Christ, crucified, and dead for him, preserves, and frees him from them. And as to the Prayers, which the Church of Rome makes, and appoints to be made, for the Dead, desiring, that God would pardon their Sins, deliver them from the Gates of Hell, and from the Last Judgment, and put them into the possession of eternal Bliss, they cannot (according to the intention of Antiquity) be taken in any other sence, then what we have already alledged; nay, this very Circumstance, that the Modern Greeks, and others, who deny Purgatory no less, then the Protestants, do daily make those Prayers, irrefutably proves, that Purga∣tory cannot necessarily be inferred from them.

Notes

• a 1.1

  Prayers for Remission of the sins of the Deceased.
• b 1.2

  Apoc. xiv. 13.
• c 1.3

  Luc. xvi. 22.
• d 1.4

  Prayers for the Absolu∣tion of the departed at the day of Judg∣ment.
• e 1.5

  Psal. cxliii. 2.
• f 1.6

  Joel iii. 16.
• g 1.7

  Job vii. 7, 8.
• h 1.8

  Psal. cxxx. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• i 1.9

  Psal. xxvii. 7.
• k 1.10

  Psal. vi. 3.
• l 1.11

  Psal. cxix. 33.
• m 1.12

  Psal. xxvii. 11.
• n 1.13

  Psal. xxvii. 12, 13.
• o 1.14

  Eccl. xli. 7.
• p 1.15

  Psal.
• q 1.16

  Psal.
• r 1.17

  Psal. li. 1, 2.
• s 1.18

  Psal. xlii. 2.
• t 1.19

  Psal. lxxiv. 19.
• u 1.20

  Psal. cvii. 16.
• x 1.21

  Epist. xxxiv. xxxvii.
• y 1.22

  Confes. lib. ix. c. 13.
• z 1.23

  Lib. 2. Epist. 8.
• a 1.24

  Verum for∣te asseras cer∣tum te de meri∣tis ejus, de fide.
• b 1.25

  In Canone, Qui••ibi afferunt hoc Sacrifici¦um Laudis, &c. placatus accipias, &c. Praestae, ut hoc Sacrificium Laudis, quod oculis Majesta∣tis tuae indignus obtuli, &c. pro anima famuli tui, pro qua of∣ferimus hoc Sa∣crificium Lau∣dis, &c. pro quibus tibi of∣ferimus hoc Sacrificium Laudis.
• c 1.26

  Heb. ix. 14.
• d 1.27

  Pet. iii. 21.
• e 1.28

  Prayers desiring the De∣ceased may be received into Bliss.
• f 1.29

  1 Cor. ii. 9.
• g 1.30

  Epiphan.
• h 1.31

  Rom. xi. 29.
• i 1.32

  Matth. vi. 11.
• k 1.33

  Jam. i. 17.
• l 1.34

  Heb. xiii. 8.
• m 1.35

  Isa. lix. 16.
• n 1.36

  Joh. xvii. 5.
• o 1.37

  Augustine.
• p 1.38

  I think it should be com∣mendandos.
• q 1.39

  Apoc. xxi. 27.
• r 1.40

  Isa. xlvi. 10.
• s 1.41

  2 Tim. ii. 13.
• t 1.42

  Luc. xiv. 14.
• u 1.43

  Matth. vi. 10.
• x 1.44

  Rom. viii. 19, &c.
• y 1.45

  Apoc. vi. 10.
• z 1.46

  Acts xiii. 36.
• a 1.47

  2 Tim. iv. 7.
• b 1.48

  2 Tim. i. 18.
• c 1.49

  2 Thess. i. 10.
• d 1.50

  Rom. viii. 24.
• e 1.51

  Viz. that of the Agony.