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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