Continued from Part I. Chapter II. The Preaching Of The Word.

CHAPTER III. PRAYER, OR DIVINE WORSHIP.

The charge of prohibiting the Word of God, and that of neglecting or shamefully perverting all public preaching, have already been established against the Church of Rome. It now remains to show in what manner they have rendered nugatory the only other great means of grace under the Christian dispensation; viz., Prayer.

That prayer constitutes one of the most important means of growing in grace every Christian will readily admit. Consisting as it does in the communion of the soul with its reconciled God—it must in its very nature exert a most beneficial influence. It tends to assimilate the heart to God. It brings before the mind the holiness, the love, the mercy, and all the other perfections of Jehovah. It calls forth those gracious affections which the contemplation of the character and works of God and of Christ are fitted to produce. The Christian is thus “strengthened with might in the inner man”; and “beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, he is changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Similarly, the expression of our feelings and desires in reference to our own state, to our Father which seeth in secret—in which prayer so largely consists—is also a most important means of grace. If we confess our sins, we are humbled; if we set forth our own helplessness—when we are weak, then are we strong; if we “hunger and thirst after righteousness,” the mere aspiration after righteousness is in its very nature sanctifying; and hereafter the full import of the blessing shall be realized—“we shall be filled.”

The chief advantage, however, of prayer, undoubtedly is its power to bring down spiritual blessings from heaven. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much,” and our blessed Lord Himself assures us, “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” Here, then, is an unfailing and ever-available means of acquiring spiritual nourishment for the “inner man,” if we earnestly implore grace and strength from the Lord. If, in our supplications to the Most High, we “ask in faith, nothing doubting,” then whatsoever we ask of Him we receive, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Hence the repeated exhortations of our Lord and His apostles “always to pray and not to faint”—to “pray without ceasing”—to “be instant in prayer”—and to “pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

Such is the nature, and such the beneficial tendency of Christian prayer—whether in the closet or in the public assemblies of believers for divine worship. If, therefore, in the midst of its corruptions of Christianity, the true character of prayer had been taught by the Church of Rome, it is difficult to say what benefit might have been exerted by this important means of grace. Had only this single opening been left, to admit the light and air of heaven into the charnel-house of Popery, how much of the darkness and corruption which reigned there might have been dispelled!

True, however, to the commission given to it by the enemy of souls, Popery has supplanted all true devotion wherever it prevails, and substituted in its place idolatry or mere formality—and thus closing another great source of life to the millions who are perishing in its fold. In order to substantiate this charge, let us now examine the devotions, so called, of the Church of Rome.

SECTION I.
THE INTELLECTUAL WORSHIP OF ROME.

Much of the worship of the Romish Church is so purely mechanical that no spiritual good can reasonably be expected from its performance. There is, however, a great deal which may be considered as intellectual. Let us first examine this intellectual worship of Rome in order to point out its lamentable inefficiency as to the great object of all worship, the edification of the worshippers.

The prayers, then, of the Romish Church are incapable of raising devotional feelings in the soul, for two principal reasons; the first of which is found in their matter; the second in their language.

I. THE MATTER OF POPISH PRAYERS IS SUCH AS TO RENDER THEM, ALMOST WHOLLY, INCAPABLE OF IMPARTING SPIRITUAL GOOD.

Every one acquainted with the service of the Church of Rome must be aware that there is little in that imposing ritual calculated to awaken holy affections and spiritual desires in the hearts of the worshippers. The glory of the Most High—the person and work of our Lord—the blessings both spiritual and temporal which His people are ever receiving at His hands—these and other kindred topics, which naturally call forth the liveliest and most hallowed feelings of love and gratitude towards a redeeming God, occupy none or scarcely any place in the service-books of Rome. On the contrary, the chief and never-failing subjects of Popish praise are the merits and virtues of creatures—the so-called mother of God—the archangels and angels of God, the martyrs, bishops, popes, confessors, and saints—their mighty and unfailing power to save and to bless, and the wondrous miracles they have performed. These have ever constituted the chief topics of Romish praise, and the eloquence and fervor with which they are dwelt upon show how truly Papists have been guilty of “worshipping the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forevermore.”

The ecclesiastical historian Spanheim, speaking of the age before Luther, says:

“Divine worship consisted in the adoration of the Host, in the feast of the Virgin Mary, in confession to the priest, in seeking the protection of saints and angels and the crucifix, in vain vows and oblations, in the recitation of hourly prayers in Latin, in counting beads, and in entering into a cloister.” (Cent. xvi. §1.)

The actual extent to which this abuse proceeded in the Middle Ages may be judged from the following statement. The “Hours of the Virgin Mary” was the prayer book of the laity—the only religious book which a jealous hierarchy, for centuries, allowed them to possess. In these Hours, according to the use of Salisbury, which was almost universally adopted throughout England, about one-half of the prayers have reference, not to God, but to archangels, angels, saints, and mere dumb idols! The following is an exact list of the contents of the latter part of this idolatrous book:

Matins of our Lady, with prime and the hours, with the hours of the passion of our Lord and of the compassion of our Lady.

Salve Regina with the verses. Gaude Virgo Mater Christi. Gaude flore Virginali. (Hymns to the Virgin).
De profundis, for all christen soules.
A prayer to our Lady, and to St. John Evangelist.
O Intemerata. Sancte Maria Regina. Stella Coeli. (Hymns to the Virgin).
Prayers to the Sacrament at the elevation.
Ave verum corpus.
Another to the Trinity. Deus qui superbis. Deus qui liberasti.
Two little prayers which King Harry the sixth made.
Two prayers with two collects to the 3 Kings of Coleyn (Rex Jaspar, et trium regum, trium munus).
The XV hours of the passion of our Lord.
Adoro te domine, etc., with indulgences.
A devout prayer to our Lord crucified, and to his five wounds.
The prayer of St. Bernardine.
To the Cross.
To the proper Angel.
Commemoration to St. James the more.
— to St. Sebastian.
— to St. George.
— to St. Antony.
— to St. Anne.
— to the Six thousand Virgins.
— to all saints.
— to St. James the less.
— to St. Christopher.
— to St. Martin.
— to St. Francis.
— to St. Barbara.
— to St. Apollonia.
Several devout prayers.
A special prayer late showed to a monk.
God be propitious, with a Collect to St. Michael.
An anthem, with a collect to St. Gabriel.
Another to St. Raphael.
A devout blessing.
Two devout prayers in English.
The Seven Psalms.
Fifteen Psalms with the Litany and suffrages.
The 8 verses of St. Bernard.
Three short prayers taught by our Lady to St. Bridget.
A prayer against Thunder and Tempest showed by an angel to St. Edward.
Titulus triumphalis Jesus.
Placebo—Dirge—and commendation.
A devout prayer to the cross.
Psalms of the passion.
A devout prayer to the Trinity, made by St. Gregory.
An anthem with a collect of St. Jerome.
St. Jerome’s Psalter.
The Rosary.[1]

Such was the character of Popish devotion in the sixteenth century, nor has it changed during subsequent ages. The Missal, the Breviary, and the other devotional books of Rome still abound with such prayers and praises. In fact, whole books of devotion are exclusively occupied with adorations and addresses to the Virgin, or some other saint. It must be plain then, that the worship of Popery can exercise little or no influence in sanctifying the heart and fitting it for “the inheritance of the saints in light,” since it is occupied to so fearful an extent with the praises of saints and angels, the miracles they have performed, or the powers which they possess.

But the benefit of Christian prayer is not confined to its direct influence upon the heart. It likewise blesses by bringing down “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” And here too, alas! the utter inefficiency of Popish prayer is obvious. First, because the all-important fact, that the merits of Christ constitute the sole ground of acceptance with God, is forgotten; and secondly, because the prayers of Papists are to a great extent addressed to creatures, who can neither hear nor answer them.

1. The Only Ground on Which the Prayers of the People of God are Heard is the Merits of Christ’s Death and Sufferings. “If ye shall ask anything in my name,” said the Lord, “I will do it.” And the apostle speaks of “having boldness to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” (Heb. x. 19, 20.)

The prayers of the Church of Rome proceed upon almost total forgetfulness of this fact. No one acquainted with their service books can ever suppose that the writers believed in Christ as the great mediator between God and man; through whose infinite merits, our worthless and imperfect supplications are heard and answered in heaven. Nothing is more common than to find the salvation of the soul, the blessedness of heaven, and deliverance from “the wrath to come” solicited through the merits of some saint, and if the merits of Christ the Lord are at all brought in, it is only as a sort of make-weight. This fearful charge we shall now establish by citing the authorized prayers of the Church of Rome, from its ancient and modern Missals and Breviaries.

Prayers offered up to God through the merits of the saints:

“God that with innumerable miracles hast glorified St. Nicholas the blessed bishop; we pray thee, grant to us, through his prayers and his deservings, we be delivered from the burnings of hell. By Christ.” (Prymer of Salisbury, A.D. 1538.)

“God that [&c.] St. Katherine; grant us we pray thee that through her deservings and her mediation, we be worthy to come to the hill, that is Christ.” (Ibid. MS, published Rev. W. Maskell.)

“O God, who givest us leave to celebrate the translation of St. Thomas, thy martyr and bishop, we humbly beseech thee, that, by his merits and prayers, we may be translated from vice to virtues, and from the prison to the kingdom.” (Brev. Sar. 7 Julii.)

“O man in all things praise-worthy, by whose merits, they are delivered from all destruction who seek him with their whole heart.” (Brev. Sarum. Dec. 6.)

“Grant we beseech thee, Almighty and merciful God, that we who keep the memorial of St. Christopher, thy martyr, may by his holy merits and intercession, [&c.]” (Missal Sar. de St. Christ.)

The modern reformed missal is quite as full of this blasphemy as the ancient books. The following will suffice:

“O God, who by innumerable miracles hast honored blessed Nicholas the bishop, grant, we beseech thee, that by his merits and intercession we may be delivered from eternal flames. Through the Lord.”[2] (Dec. 6. St. Nicholas.)

“O God, who for the salvation of souls was pleased that blessed Francis, thy confessor and bishop, should become all to all, mercifully grant that being plentifully enriched with the sweetness of thy charity, by following his directions and by the help of his merits we may obtain life everlasting. Through the Lord.” (29 Jan. St. Francis de Sales.)

“O God, who hast translated the Bishop Dunstan thy high priest, to thy heavenly kingdom, grant that we, by his glorious merits, may pass from hence to never-ending joys. Through the Lord.”[2]

“Grant, oh Almighty God, that the merits of blessed Venantius may render this oblation acceptable to thee; that we being assisted by his prayers may become partakers of his glory. Through the Lord.” (Miss. Rom. in die. 18 Maii. Dublinii typ. Pat. Cogan. 1795.)

“We beseech thee, O Lord, by the merits of thy saints whose relics are here, and of all the saints, that thou wouldest vouchsafe to forgive me all my sins. Amen.” (Rom. Missal for use of the Laity, p. 18. London: Keating and Brown, 1813.)

“O Lord Jesus, who didst pour forth into the heart of blessed Bernardine thy confessor, a singular love of thy holy name, by his merits and intercession, we beseech thee, kindly pour into us the spirit of thy love.” (Miss. Rom. in die. XX Mai. In the English missal the words in italics are quite omitted.)

“O God, who exaltest the humble and who didst raise blessed Francis to the glory of the saints; grant we beseech thee, that by his merits, and by following his example we may happily obtain the rewards thou hast promised to the humble. Through our Lord.” (Ibid. Die II. Aprilis.)

“O God, who hast raised the blessed Lewis thy confessor, from an earthly kingdom to the heavenly kingdom; we pray thee to make us, by his merits and intercession, to be the companions of the King of kings, thy Son Jesus Christ. Who with thee liveth and reigneth.” (Die XXV August.)

Such is the trust and confidence reposed by Papists in mere creatures—in fact, in imaginary beings, for some of these saints never existed. And with these proofs before our eyes, we know what value to attach to other prayers which speak the language of faith in Christ. A church which authorizes its members, as the Romish Church does on the festivals of these saints, to ask for the greatest of all blessings through the merits of creatures—once fallen creatures like ourselves—can no more be called a Christian church than a traitor who recognizes the claim of a pretender to the crown can be called a loyal subject just because he styles himself so.

2. It is a Well-Known Fact That the Supplications of Papists are addressed to creatures more frequently than to the Creator.

On opening the service books and devotional works of Popery, we find prayers to all imaginable sorts of beings; some real, some fictitious, some intelligent, some mere inanimate objects, and that in greater number than to the Supreme Being.

In the “Litanies of Saints,” as they are still sung in the Romish Church on the three Rogation days, the Virgin is invoked with the form, “Pray for us.” Then St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and all angels are called upon to “pray for us.” Next, St. John Baptist, and the Apostles and Evangelists are severally invoked; then St. Stephen and other martyrs; then St. Sylvester, Gregory, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Martin, and Nicholas, with all other bishops and confessors; then all holy doctors, St. Anthony, Benedict, Bernard, Dominic, and Francis, all holy priests and levites, holy monks and hermits; then the female saints, Mary Magdalen, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Catherine, and Anastasia, with all holy widows and virgins. I have before me a litany taken from a Psalter printed in London, A.D. 1503, in which no less than two hundred and sixty-seven different angels or classes of angels and saints are invoked “for the help of the faithful!”

The benediction appointed to be pronounced by the priest over the dying, after extreme unction, affords also a lamentable proof of the extent to which creatures were allowed to supplant the Creator in the Church of Rome:

God the Father who created thee, bless thee. Amen.
The Son of God, who suffered for thee, bless thee. Amen.
The Holy Spirit poured out upon thee, bless thee. Amen.
The Virgin and Mother of the Eternal King, bless thee. Amen.
The Angels and Archangels, and Principalities and Powers, bless thee. Amen.
The nine orders of Angels of the Celestial Kingdom, bless thee. Amen.
The twenty-four Elders who are before the throne of God, bless thee. Amen.
The virtues and dominions, bless thee. Amen.
The thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim, bless thee. Amen.
The Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles of the Lord, bless thee. Amen.
The Martyrs and Confessors, bless thee. Amen.
The Monks and Virgins of God, bless thee. Amen.
The Heavens, and Earth, and Sea, and all therein, bless thee. Amen.
The Sun and Moon bless thee, and every blessing which is in Scripture come upon thee. Amen.

(Manuale secund. usum Eboracen. in Monument. Ritual. Eccles. Angl., by Rev. W. Maskell. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1846.)

This is the case with modern works of Popery, as well as the more ancient service-books. In the Missal and the Breviary, the Hours of the Virgin, the Horae Diurnae, as well as in such books as Jesus, Maria and Joseph, The Glories of Mary, The Scapular, The Office of the Sacred Heart, etc., L’Ange Conducteur, La Via del Paradiso, with a hundred others, addresses to the Virgin, to the saints, and to the guardian angel, without number, continually occur. And as may be readily supposed, in consequence of the immense number of the demi-gods thus set up for worship by the “Man of Sin,” but little room is left for the Infinite Jehovah.

In addition to this, it is well known that many of the Popish gods and goddesses have each their particular province assigned them, so that in certain difficulties or wants, a Papist instead of going to God, betakes himself to the patron saint:

“St. Anthony the Abbot secures his votaries from fire, and St. Anthony of Padua delivers them from water; St. Barbara is the refuge of the timid in times of thunder and of war; St. Blaise cures the diseases of the throat; St. Lucia heals all diseases of the eyes; St. Nicholas is the patron of young women who desire to be married; St. Ramon is their powerful protector during pregnancy, and St. Lazaro assists them when in labor; St. Apollonia preserves the teeth; St. Dominic cures the fever; and St. Roch is the saint invoked under apprehension of the plague; and thus in all diseases, under every pressure of affliction, some saint is accessible by prayer, whose peculiar province it is to relieve the object of distress.” (Townsend’s Travels in Spain, vol. 3, p. 215.)

The old primers and breviaries contain special “offices” to these patron saints, which recognize the peculiar powers which they possess. The following are some examples:

“Blessed Apollonia sustained great torment, for the Lord; first of all, the tyrants drew out her teeth, with iron hammers; and when she was in that torment, she prayed devoutly to the Lord Jesus Christ, that every one who should devoutly invocate her name, might feel no pain in their teeth.

Vers.—Pray for us, O blessed Apollonia.
Ans.—That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” (Horae B. Virg. sec. usum. Rom. Paris, 1570.)

“O Saint Apollonia, by thy passion obtain for us the remission of all the sins which with teeth and mouth, we have committed, through gluttony and speech; that we may be delivered from pain and gnashing of teeth, here and hereafter, and by loving cleanness of heart, through the grace of our lips, we may have the King of angels for our friend. Amen.” (Apud. Bollandum, ad Feb. 9, p. 282.)

“O Sebastian, thou famous martyr of Christ, the prince and propagator of most holy precepts, behold thy name is written in the book of heavenly life, and thy memorial shall not be blotted out forever.

Vers.—O blessed martyr Sebastian, pray for us.
Ans.—That we may merit to pass through the plague unhurt.” (Horae B. Virg. sec. usum. Rom.)

“O blessed Roch how magnificent is thy name, who by thy intercession, knowest how to save a multitude of languishing people, and to show thyself propitious to all that commemorate thy glorious name; come and save us from the plague, and grant to us a good temperature of air.”

In a book printed in the seventeenth century, a similar address occurs, in Latin verse, thus Englished:

All hail, St. Roch, to noble blood allied,
Marked with the sign of the cross on thy left side,
Plagues felt thy virtue in a foreign land,
The sick were cured, touch’d by thy saving hand:
Farewell, great saint, whom angels greet, we pray;
Whose power like God’s, does drive all plagues away.

(Office of the Bl. Virg. Paris, 1617, quoted in Devotions of Ro. Ch.)

Great Cosmas and Blest Damian, all Hail!
Whose heads are graced with martyrs’ glorious bays,
Receive the tribute of our joyful praise,
And bring your medicines healing every ail.

Almighty God, look we beseech thee, upon our infirmities both of mind and body, and vouchsafe upon the intercession of thy holy martyrs, Cosmas and Damian, to heal our diseases. By our Lord, etc. (Horae sec. us. Rom. Paris, 1570.)

The Salisbury Breviary informs us that when this saint came to be beheaded, he prayed to God in this manner:

“O God, hear me, thy servant, that if any one remembering me, shall fall down and worship thee; if any fish-bone or any other bone shall stick in his throat; or if he fall into any infirmity, tribulation, or danger, receive O Lord, I beseech thee, his request.” The Lord said “I will fulfill all thy petition.”[3]

“The invocation of this saint is a present remedy in such cases, prescribed by a Greek physician,” says the celebrated Ribadeneira, who also directs that taking such persons by the throat, these words should be pronounced aloud: “Blaise, the martyr and servant of Christ, says, either come up or else go down.” (Devotions of Rom. Ch., p. 278.)

It is therefore manifest from the foregoing account that a very large proportion of the prayers of Papists, being addressed to creatures who neither hear nor possess any power to help their worshippers, must necessarily be altogether useless, whilst the insult thus offered to God in placing His creatures on a level with Himself must render nugatory even those prayers which are addressed to God Himself.

We have thus, then, established the important fact that the devotions of the Romish Church are most lamentably inefficient in promoting holiness of heart, or purity of life, on account of their matter. We now proceed to show that:

II. THE LANGUAGE OF THE ROMISH SERVICE RENDERS IT WHOLLY USELESS AS TO THE EDIFICATION OF THE WORSHIPPER.

Were the prayers of the Church of Rome ever so spiritual and edifying in their nature, the language in which they are uniformly uttered would of itself be sufficient to render them vain and worthless. For upwards of a thousand years, the Latin tongue, which was formerly understood throughout the Western Empire, has been a dead language, known only to the learned. Yet, incredible as it appears, the churchmen of the Middle Ages never suffered the public worship to be celebrated in any other tongue. Aware that an unknown language would impart an air of mystery to their religious services and increase the veneration and awe which belonged to the priestly character, the hierarchy of Rome have ever since steadily refused any innovation upon the ancient practice; and now, in the nineteenth century, the Mass-book and the Breviary are still in the same language as they were a thousand years ago.

“When the laity assist at divine service or hear mass,” says Mr. Gavin, “they only hear what the priest says in Latin, and answer Amen. Generally speaking, they do not understand Latin, and especially in towns of three hundred houses, and in villages, there scarcely can be found one latinist except the curate; and even he doth not understand perfectly well what he reads in Latin. By this universal ignorance we may say, that they do not know what they pray for; nay if a priest was so wicked in heart as to curse the people in church, and damn them all in Latin, the poor idiots must answer Amen, knowing not what the priest says.” (Gavin’s Master Key, vol. 1, p. 221.)

Such was the state of things described by a writer of the eighteenth century. It is true that in Protestant countries of late years, the people have been provided with translations of parts of the Mass. In papal kingdoms, however, they are still compelled to worship in entire ignorance of what is going on.

To say much on the gross absurdity of this practice, or to dwell upon its utter inconsistency with the spiritual edification of the people, would be a waste of time. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:16, 17 has expressly condemned it. “Else,” says that inspired writer, “when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.”

The performance of worship in an unknown tongue can only be defended on the principle that the prayers of the priest, like the incantations and charms of the fabled sorcerers, possess in themselves a kind of magic efficacy. As well indeed might we invite the hungry to a feast at which the table was overspread with dishes, but the covers immovably fixed, as call together the people and carry on the service of God in a language of which they are ignorant. Cardinal Bellarmine himself, the great champion of Rome, distinctly admits that “the minds of the common people are not instructed by service in an unknown tongue.” It will require, therefore, no more words to convict the Romish Church of famine in celebrating the worship of God in the Latin language.[4]

Footnotes:

[1] Horae B. Virg. sec. usum. Rom. Paris. 8vo. 1507.

[2] Missal for the use of the laity. Keating and Brown. London.

[3] Brev. Sar. Lec. 8. S. Blasii ad Feb. 3.

[4] The learned Dr. White assures us on his knowledge and observation that many of the common people of his time thus pronounced the creed which they ignorantly thought was a prayer:

Creezum zuum Patrum Onitentum Creatorum ejus anicum Dominum nostrum qui cum sops, Virgina Maric; Crixus fixus Ponchi Pilati audubitiers monti by sonday, Father afernes sccler est un Judicarum, fivis 8 mortibus creezum spirituum sanctum ecli Catholi remissurum Peceaturum Communiorum obliviorum, bitam and aeturnam agen.

(White’s Safe Way, etc., in Weekly Pacquet of Advice from Rome.)

(To be continued.)