Testimonies of the holy Fathers of this second Age, That we should honour the Saints in heauen, and that they pray for vs. The first Section.

S. Iustine a famous, and holy Martyr, witnesseth that the Catholikes worshipped the true God with Diuine worship only, and worshipped the Angells with a religi∣ous worship called Dulia:(a) Quinimò & illum verum Deum, & Filium qui ab eo venit, nos{que} haec docuit, & aliorum sequentium, assimilatorum{que} bonorum Angelorum exercitum, & spiritum prophe∣ticum colimus & adoramus, verbo, & veritate venerantes; id{que} omnibus, qui dicere velint, vt edocti sumus, candidè tradentes. And agayne he witnesseth that good(b) Angells are giuen vs by God to assist vs, help vs, heare our prayer, pray for vs, & defēd vs from dangers of body & soule, & to accompany at our dying day our soule to that eternall felicity, where the Saints in heauen pray for vs. Truly no reason can be giuen why mortall men may be prayed vnto, and not immortall Saints in heauen, whose charity is greater without compa∣rison, then ours heere, sayth S. Bernard:(c) That blessed coūtry doth not change charity, but augment it. S. Hierome:(d) If the A∣postles, and Martyrs dwelling in corruptible flesh could pray for others, when they ought to be carefull for themselues; how much more after their crownes, victories, and triumphes?

2. S. Irenaeus a holy Martyr, and famous writer of this age could not more playnly auowe the Inuocation of Saints, then calling them our Aduocats, and Intercessours, which title he giueth in playne termes to the Blessed Vir∣gin mother of Christ:(e) Sicut Eua seducta est (sayth he) vt effugeret Deum, sic Maria suasa est obedire Deo, vti Virginis Euae Virgo Maria fieret Aduocata. That is, as Eua was seduced to disobey God, so Mary was persuaded to obey God, to the end that of the Virgin Eua, the Virgin Mary might be Ad∣uocate. Which is conforme to that famous saying of S. Ber∣nard:(f) We need a Mediatour to our Mediatour, and who more profitable then the Blessed Virgin Mary? Not that we need any Page  40 mediatour besides God, in respect of his inhability or litle power, but in respect of our imbecillity, indignity, and base vnworthines: & thus meaned some auncient Fathers saying, that we should not call vpon the Saints in heauen as thinking God not to be sufficient to help vs.

3. Yea it was a common custome in the primitiue Church amongst the Catholikes, to make a couenant in their life tyme, that whether of them went to heauen be∣fore the other, he should pray for his fryend yet in life, as witnesseth S. Cypriā who speaketh to the Catholikes thus:(g) Let vs pray mutually one for another, and whether of vs two shall by Gods clemency be first called, let his loue continue, and his prayers not cease for his brethren, and sisters in the world. And againe this holy Father exhorteth the holy Virgins and Nunnes in his tyme to pray for him after their departure:(h) Only then haue vs in remembrance, when your virginity shall begin to be honoured: that is in heauē. Conforme to the which custom the Vir∣gin and Martyr(i) Potamiaena promised at the houre of her Martyrdome, that after her death she would procure mercy of God for Basilides, one of the souldiers that led her to execu∣tion: and so she did.(k) S. Augustine lykewise in playne termes desireth to be helped by S. Cyprians prayers. And(l) S. Hierome intreateth the holy Matron Paula after her death to pray for him in his old age, affirming that she will the more easily obtayne, the nearer she is now ioyned to Christ in heauen. It is well knowne that the receyued cu∣stome among the Iewes, before the comming of Christ, was to pray to the Saints deceased, as witnes those wordes of the Bible: Iudas thought that,(m) He saw Onias (which had bene the high Priest, a vertuous, and a good man, reuerend in behauiour▪ and of sober conuersation, well spoken, and one that had bene exercised in all points of godlines from a child holding vp his hāds towards heauen, and praying for the whole people of the Iewes. A∣gayne, Onias speaking of Hieremy the Prophet who was dead foure hūdreth yeares before, said thus:(n) This is a louer of the brethren, who prayeth much for the people and for the holy citty, to wit, Hieremias the Prophet of God. Which place auncient O∣rigen, with other Fathers, citeth to proue the Inuocation Page  41 of Saints: which holy custome being familiar and vsuall, made the Iewes to thinke that our Sauiour Christ Iesus be∣ing on the Crosse did inuocate the Prophet Elias saying,(o) Eloi, Eloi, & some of the Iewes when they heard Christ vse those wordes sayd,(p) This man calleth Elias. Finally a fa∣mous Protestant witnesseth:(q) That almost all the Bishops, and writers of the Greeke, and Latin Church for the most part were spotted with the doctrine of Free-will, of Merite, of Inuocation of Saints.

4. Origen speaketh playnly, and plentifully of this matter teaching vs first the custome, which was in his time to pray for those in Purgatory, and that those in heauen do pray for vs:(a) Propterea & memorias Sanctorum facimus, & Pa∣rentum nostrorum, vel amicorum in fide morientium deuotè memoriā agimus, tam illorum refrigerio gaudentes, quàm etiam nobis piam con∣summationem in fide postulantes. 2. He auoweth that this point of Faith was out of doubt amongst the Catholikes:(b) Quis enim (sayth he,) dubitat, quòd sancti qui{que} Patrum, & orationi∣bus nos iuuent, & gestorum suorum confirment, atque hortentur ex∣emplis. 3. In conformation of this, he citeth the bookes of the Machabees as canonicall, and true Scripture:(c) Sed & omnes Sancti (sayth he,) qui de hac vita de cesserunt, habentes ad∣huc charitatem erga eos qui in hoc mundo sunt, si dicantur curam ge∣rere salutis eorum & iuuare eos precibus suis, at{que} interuentu suo apud Deum non erit inconueniens. Scriptum est nam{que} in Machabaeorum li∣bris,(d) Hic est Ieremias Propheta Dei, qui semper orat pro populo. 4. Origen himselfe praieth to the holy Angels after this forme:(e) Obsecrat te Dominus omnis Angelorum chorus propter me qui pessima consummaui, vt miserearis super ouem, quae errauit.

5. Not only he prayeth to the Angels, but also to holy Iob then in heauen saying:(f) O beate Iob viuens in per∣petuum apud Deum, & victor permanens in conspectu Regis Domini, ora pro nobis miseris, vt etiam nos terribilis Dei misericordia protegat in omnibus tribulationibus &c. 6. Not only he prayeth to Iob to pray for him, but lykewise to all the Saints in heauen:(g) Inciptam me genibus prosternere, & deprecare vniuersos Sanctos, vt mihi non audenti petere Deum prop•er nimietatem peccati, succur∣rant: O Sancti Dei, vos lachrymis, & fletu pleno dolore deprecor, vt Page  42 procidatis misericordijs eius pro me misero, and in especial he prai∣eth to S. Abraham thus: Hei mihi Pater Abraham, deprecare pro me, ne de sinibus tuis aliener, quos valde cupiui, nec condignè quidem propter ingens peccatum meum.

5. S. Cyprian auoweth lykewise the constant, and Catholike beliefe of this Age concerning this point saying, that the holy Innocents, which were put to death by He∣rod, in heauen pray for vs:(h) In ordine Sanctorum Protomar∣tyres primum habent locum, & secretorum conscij diuinorum propin∣quitate familiarissima clementiam Dei pro nostris exorant laboribus, quae vs{que} hodie funestus Herodes prosequitur, quorum sanguine mor∣te Diabolus delectatur. Agayne, he witnesseth that the dayes of the departure of the holy Martyres, and of others, who dyed in prison for the Catholike Religion were remarked, and in regard therof Sacrifices offered to God in thankes∣giuing:(i) Quanquam Tertullus fidelissimus, & doctissimus frater noster pro caetera solicitudine, & cura sua scripserit, & scribat, ac significet mihi dies quibus in carcere beati fratres nostri ad immortali∣tatem gloriosae mortis exitu transeunt, & celebrentur hic à nobis O∣blationes, & Sacrificia ob commemorationes eorum, quae ci•ò vobiscum Domino protegente celebrauimus. This is then the beliefe & Re∣ligiō of our holy, & auncient predecessours of the Church of God through the whole world. Now,(k) any thing that the whole Church doth practice & obserue throughout the whole world, to dispute therof, as though it were not to be done, is most insolent mad∣nes, sayth S. Augustine.