Continued from Part I. Chapter III. Prayer, Or Divine Worship

SECTION SECOND.
THE MECHANICAL WORSHIP OF ROME.

We have thus considered that part of the worship of Rome which claims to be rational; but, as already observed, the principal part of it is altogether mechanical, and addressed to the senses. It, therefore, now remains to notice—the gross material nature of the Romish worship.

One of the most striking features of Popery, as distinguished from Christianity, is its gross, earthly character. Rome has materialized the religion of Christ, and thus formed a religion suited to man in his natural condition. So that whilst Christianity is heavenly, spiritual, and divine; Popery is “earthly, sensual, and devilish.” For the one universal, invisible, and spiritual church of Christ, for example, Popery substitutes the external church of Rome. For “godly sorrow that worketh repentance,”—the sacrament of penance. For feeding by faith on the body and blood of Christ,—Transubstantiation. For confession and humiliation before God,—auricular confession to the priest. For “the fervent effectual prayer” of faith,—the chattering of Ave Marias and Paternosters. For love to Christ,—the adoration of crucifixes and images. And for holiness of heart,—the external sanctity of fastings and flagellations. This tendency to materialize what is spiritual, is observable throughout the whole system of Popery. Nor has its worship escaped; which instead of being rational and spiritual, is for the most part material and sensual, full of external pomp and bodily movements.

In no part of the popish worship is this feature of antichrist so strikingly exemplified as in the Mass—that “prodigious monster of all impiety,” as an old writer terms it, “the great Dagon or Diana of the Romanists.” Originally, as is well known, this “mystery of iniquity” was the Supper of the Lord, at which Christians met together to break bread and drink wine, in remembrance of a crucified Savior. In the course of a few ages, however, the nature of this simple rite was altogether changed; and it has long constituted, in the Church of Rome, one of the most ridiculous ceremonials of mummery, error, and vice, which ever disgraced religion. “On beholding,” says the late John Foster, “the pageants and tricks (of the Mass) some of them would appear a bad imitation of the opera; and others a humble rival of the puppet-show. The only wonder, being, how any human creatures could perform such ridiculous mummeries and antics, with such gravity of face. A vile and fantastical ceremonial of superstition must be founded on such notions as will infallibly coalesce with immoral principles, and issue in immoral results.”

We shall attempt to show the material character of Popish Devotion, as displayed in

1. The Sacrifice of the Mass.

As though conscious that its ministers have no spiritual—no internal worth to recommend them, Popery clothes them, in the sacrifice of the Mass, with gaudy trappings and costly ornaments. The Amice covers the priest’s head in the form of a hood, because “the priest’s head denotes the divinity which kept itself hidden at the Lord’s passion.” (Gab. Biel on the Canon of the Mass, Less. XI.) Upon this Amice, he puts the Alb, a white robe like a shirt; the reason of which is found in Eccles. ix. 8. “Let thy garments be always white”; and the red or green embroidery about it is derived from the xlv. Psalm, “At thy right hand is the queen with embroidered garments.” Upon this Alb is placed the Girdle which signifies chastity. Next comes the Stole which sets forth the yoke of Christ, (Matt. xi. 30.) Then the Maniple, something like a fetter, on the left hand, alluding to the cord with which Christ was bound to the pillar. Lastly, a rich vestment covers all the rest, containing, sometimes, various pictures worked upon it, sometimes merely the cross.

Thus pompously arrayed, the priest approaches the altar, which is covered with a white cloth and adorned with a lighted candle; ‘because Christ is the light of the world.’ He first makes a profound bow to the altar, crossing himself repeatedly from the head to the breast, and then commences the first part of the Mass.

A number of unconnected and incongruous passages of Scripture are first recited in Latin; as the whole of the Mass is. Then comes the Confiteor, as it is called—a confession of sins to God, to the Virgin Mary, to the archangel Michael, and to all the saints; in the midst of which the priest beats himself three times on the breast, to show his sense of guilt. Then he pronounces his own absolution, for all is in the singular number; and ascending to the altar makes a cross, reverently kisses it, and prays in a very low voice, for the pardon of his sins, through the merits of the saints whose relics are there deposited. After this the priest, if it is a solemn Mass, casts incense over the altar, recites sundry passages of Scripture, and repeats two Greek words, signifying Lord have mercy, nine times following. He then stretches out his hands, and afterwards joins them together and bows down his head. After this, on high days, comes the Gloria in excelsis, at the end of which, the priest turns round to the people and says to them in Latin, “The Lord be with you—and with thy spirit.” Then follow two or three prayers or collects, and lessons from Scripture, but all in Latin—interspersed with various crossings of things, and incensings. The priest then says “Through the evangelical sayings may our sins be blotted out.” The Nicene creed follows, concluding this part of the sacrifice of Mass.

The second part of the Mass is that in which “the bread and wine are prepared and sanctified for the use of the sacrifice.” The priest first takes the paten or plate in which the bread is placed, in the form of little wafers, stamped with a crucifix, and offers up the host to the Father, “for his own offenses and negligences, and those of all faithful Christians present, that it may avail them UNTO EVERLASTING LIFE.” He then puts the wine and water into the cup, and after a prayer, offers it up to God “as a sweet odor for our salvation and for that of the whole world.” He then bows himself, prays again and blesses the bread and wine, making a cross upon it, and washes his hands; saying in Latin, “I will wash my hands among the innocents, and will compass thy altar, O Lord.” (Psalm xxvi. 6, to end. Vulgate.) The deacon or boy, all this while, covers the priest with the smoke of the incense. After a prayer, the priest kisses the altar again, and making a turn with his body toward the people, stretches out and joins together his hands calling upon the people in Latin, “Pray, brethren, that this, mine, and your sacrifice may be made acceptable unto God—Father Almighty.” Then turning to the altar, he begins the secret prayers which none can hear; and at the close suddenly bursts out in a loud voice, “per omnia saecula saeculorum,” i. e., “for ever and ever, Amen.”

The Canon of the Mass, which is the principal part of it, being that in which the main action of the sacrifice occurs, follows next. The priest first stretches out his hands joined together, lifting up his eyes; and then looking down again, makes a low bow to the altar. He then commences several prayers, in the course of which occurs the first Memento for the living; when he names secretly those who have paid money to be remembered in the memento, and at whose instance the Mass is said. At the close he relates the fact of Christ having instituted the Eucharist, the day before he suffered, and in repeating our Lord’s words “FOR THIS IS MY BODY,” the consecration of the bread is performed. The priest then upon his knees adores the host—rises again—and with his back to the people, lifts the host over his head with both hands, to show it to them. At the ringing of a little bell every one prostrates himself and worships it. The priest then puts the host again upon the corporal, and worships it once more. The same consecration takes place with respect to the cup, which is also worshipped in a similar manner, both by priest and people. The priest then puts the cup upon the altar and covers it with the cloth, and kneeling down again to the bread and wine, with outspread arms, kisses the altar. All this is done with numerous crosses, “to drive away the evil spirit from the Lord and from the sacrifice.” After this, the second Memento or prayer for the dead, begins; in which they petition for all their friends, in a low voice, and especially those for whom money is paid for their release from the fire of purgatory. Lastly the priest knocks his breast once or thrice, and raising his voice a little, goes on with another prayer, concluding with “through whom, O Lord, thou always createst these good things, thou sanctifiest them, ✠ vivifiest them, ✠ blessest them, ✠ and affordest them unto us.” Here the priest uncovers the chalice, bows his knee, takes the host in his right hand, and the chalice in his left; and with the host makes three signs of the cross upon the chalice from one side to the other, adding the words “per ipsum et cum ipso et in ipso,” i.e., “through him, and with him, and in him.” Then he makes two signs of the cross between himself and the chalice, and says “is to thee God Father Almighty in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory.” Upon which, he lifts up the chalice a little, with the host, sets up the host again, covers the chalice, and sings “per omnia saecula saeculorum,” i. e., “for ever and ever, Amen.”

The next part of the Mass is called the Communion, or Sacramental part of the Canon. Here after the Pater-noster and another Latin prayer, the priest crosses himself with the paten from the forehead to the breast, uncovers the chalice, breaks the host into two pieces, and puts upon the paten the piece in his right hand, and breaks in two the remaining piece; he then puts one of these also on the paten, and with the third piece makes the sign of the cross thrice over the chalice, and naming the saints, touches the paten with the foot of the chalice, then the middle, then the brim, and lastly his eyes, singing “per omnia saecula saeculorum”—“for ever and ever, Amen.” After this, he throws this third piece of the host into the chalice, asking a blessing upon it: covers the chalice, kneels down, rises again, bows himself over the sacrament, joins his hands, knocks his breast three times, and addresses the Agnus three times to the host, “Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world pity us.” But in Masses for the dead, it runs “give them rest,” instead of “pity us.” A prayer follows, at the end of which, the pax—a kind of wooden crucifix—or sometimes a picture of the Virgin—is given to the people to kiss; other prayers are then recited; after which the priest kneels down, rises again, and says “I will receive the heavenly bread and call upon the name of the Lord.” Then having bowed his body, he takes the two pieces of the host between his thumb and forefinger of the left hand, and the paten between the same finger and the middle finger, and with the right hand smites his breast, crying out “Lord I am not worthy to come under thy roof, but speak in a word and my soul shall be healed.” He next crosses his body with the host and the paten:—says “The body of our Lord keep my soul unto everlasting life”—eats the two parts of the host in his hand, and remains silent awhile. Then uncovering the chalice, he kneels down, gathers the crumbs of the host, wipes the paten, and briefly returns thanks. He next crosses himself with the chalice, crying “The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep my soul unto eternal life. Amen.” Having thus asked the blessing of God, he drinks the contents of the chalice, swallowing down the piece of the host, and receives to the communion of the host those that desire to communicate, saying “what we have taken with our mouth O Lord, grant we may receive it with a pure mind and of a gift Temporal may it become to us a remedy ETERNAL.”[1] Upon this he holds out the empty chalice to him that serves, for more wine, with which he washes his mouth—this is called the wine of purification. After a brief prayer he washes his hands and wipes them, drinks some wine, wipes his mouth, holds up again the linen cloths; and after a few brief sentences, bowings, and crossings, the Mass is concluded with the words, Ite, missa est.

The above tedious, perhaps, but necessary description of the Romish Mass will convince every impartial reader, how much the worship of Rome is addressed to the senses. This pompous performance, it is well known, constitutes the sum and substance of the religion of Papists—yet how little does it tend to excite devotion or promote holiness! All the prayers of the Mass, as well as the lessons from Scripture which it contains, are in an unknown tongue, with which not one in five hundred is familiar. But were it otherwise the worshipper “would receive but little advantage”—as a celebrated Papist informs us, “For besides that, the greater part is said in so low a voice, that it is not possible he should hear it—the words do not belong to him, but to the priest’s office only.” [Gother’s Papist Misrepresented, &c.] The only benefits of the Mass then, according to their own writers, must be those which arise from the sacrifice offered up, and those produced by the mechanical character of the performance. The former, which are said to be the pacifying of the Divine wrath—the remission of sins—and the procuring of all blessings—wholly depend on Transubstantiation, or the actual presence of Christ, bodily and spiritually, in the bread and wine—a doctrine which has been too often convicted of gross absurdity and awful blasphemy to require any notice here. The only possible virtue of the Mass then, in the eyes of all but those who are under “a strong delusion that they should believe a lie” is its mechanical efficacy: the material representations of spiritual truths which it contains.

In the words of the Council of Trent, “The visible signs of religion and piety” in the Mass “excite the minds of the faithful to the contemplation of the great truths therein contained.” But how is it possible to meditate on spiritual truths, amid the endless pageants and tricks of the Popish Mass? The rapid succession of ceremonies, the constantly shifting movements, and the continued appeal to the senses which it presents, cannot but divert the attention, and render meditation or prayer quite impracticable.

In the Lord’s Supper, when celebrated according to Scripture, on the other hand, the material part of the ordinance is at once most simple and most expressive. It consists in merely partaking of bread and wine together, in memory of Christ. And whilst it strikingly sets forth the bruised body and shed blood of the Savior of sinners, and the oneness of his people with him and with each other; the attention is not diverted by a multiplicity of actions; and full scope is allowed for spiritual communion with the Lord.—Here as in all things else, the contrast is most striking between the work of man and that of God.

The truth of the foregoing remarks is proved by actual facts. In the language of the Author of “Natural History of Enthusiasm,” “Of what avail is all this sumptuous apparatus, in promoting either genuine piety, or purity of manners? History and existing facts leave no obscurity on the question; for the atrocity of crime and the foulness of licentiousness have ever kept pace with the perfection of the Romish service. Those nations upon whose manners it has worked its proper influence, with the fullest effect, have been the most irreligious and the most debauched. Splendid rites and odious vices have dwelt in peace under the same consecrated roof; and the actors and spectators of these sacred pantomimes have been wont to rush together to the chambers of filthy sin.” (Enthusiasm. Sec. II.)

2. The Worship of Relics.

The worship of relics affords another melancholy instance of the tendency of Popery, to substitute the material for the spiritual. The emotions which every renewed heart experiences at the sight or thought of “the excellent of the earth,” are transferred by the Papist to their mortal remains; and it forms a part of the creed of Popery, that miracles are wrought and blessings imparted, by the efficacy of the bones, the dust, and even the clothes of saints and martyrs!

The reverence for Relics may be traced back to the fourth century. It had not however reached anything like the height which it subsequently attained. The Epistles of Pope Gregory the Great, however, afford abundant evidence of the prevalence of this superstition in the 6th century. It appears that the Empress Constantia had applied to Gregory for the head of the Apostle Peter, or at least for some part of his body.

“The Pope begins his answer by a very polite expression of his sorrow ‘that he neither could nor dared to grant that favor; for the bodies of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul are so resplendent with miracles and terrific prodigies in their own churches, that no one can approach them without great awe, even for the purpose of adoring them. When my predecessor of happy memory, wished to change some silver ornament which was placed over the most holy body of St. Peter, though at the distance of almost fifteen feet, a warning of no small terror appeared to him. Even I myself wished to make some alteration near the holy body of Saint Paul, and it was necessary to dig rather deeply near his tomb. The Superior of the place found some bones which were not at all connected with that tomb; and having presumed to disturb and remove them to some other place, he was visited by certain fearful apparitions, and died suddenly. My predecessor of holy memory also undertook to make some repairs near the tomb of St. Lawrence; as they were digging, without knowing precisely where the venerable body was placed, they happened to open his sepulchre. The monks and guardians who were at the work, only because they had seen the body of that martyr, though they did not presume so much as to touch it, all died within ten days; to indicate that no man might remain in life, who had beheld the body of that just man. Be it then known to you, that it is the custom of the Romans, when they give any relic, not to venture to touch any portion of the body; only they put into a box a piece of linen called Brandium, which is placed near the holy bodies. Then it is withdrawn and shut up with due veneration, in the church which is to be dedicated; and as many prodigies are then wrought by it, as if the bodies themselves had been carried thither. Whence it happened that in the time of St. Leo, (as we learn from our ancestors) when some Greeks doubted the value of such relics, that the Pope called for a pair of scissors and cut the linen, and blood flowed from the incision. And not at Rome only, but throughout the whole of the West it is held sacrilegious to touch the bodies of the saints, nor does such temerity ever remain unpunished. For which reason we are much astonished at the custom of the Greeks, and we scarcely give credit to it. But what shall I say respecting the bodies of the Holy Apostles, when it is a known fact that at the same time of their martyrdom, a number of the faithful came from the east to claim them? But when they had carried them out of the city to the second milestone, to a place called ‘The Catacombs,’ the whole multitude was unable to move them further—such a tempest of thunder and lightning terrified and dispersed them. The napkin too which you wished to be sent at the same time, is with the body, and cannot be touched any more than the body can be approached. But that your religious desire may not be wholly frustrated, I will hasten to send you some part of those chains which St. Paul wore on his neck and hands; if indeed I shall succeed in getting off any from them. For since many continually solicit as a blessing, that they may carry off some small portion of their filings, a priest stands by with a file; and sometimes it happens that some portions fall off from the chains instantly and without delay; while at other times the file is long drawn over the chains, and yet nothing is at last scraped off” (Wadd. Hist. of the Ch.)

The lapse of time served only to render more general and more gross this disgusting and debasing superstition. In the ninth century, according to Mosheim,

“It was not enough to reverence departed saints and to confide in their intercession and succors; it was not enough to clothe them with an imaginary power of healing diseases, working miracles, and delivering from all sorts of calamities and dangers; their bones, their clothes, the apparel and furniture they had possessed during life, the very ground which they had touched or in which their putrified carcasses were laid, were treated with a stupid veneration, and supposed to retain the marvelous virtue of healing all disorders both of body and mind, and of defending such as possessed them against all the assaults and devices of Satan. The consequence of this wretched notion was, that every one was eager to provide himself with these salutary remedies; for which purpose great numbers undertook fatiguing and perilous voyages and subjected themselves to all sorts of hardships. Whilst others made use of this delusion to accumulate riches, and to impose upon the miserable multitude by the most impious and shocking inventions. Many traveled into the Eastern provinces and frequented the places which Christ and his disciples had honored with their presence; that with the bones and other secret remains of the first heralds of the gospel they might comfort dejected minds, calm the trembling conscience, save sinking states and defend their inhabitants from all sorts of calamities. Nor did these pious travelers return home empty. The craft, dexterity, and knavery of the Greeks found a rich prey in the stupid credulity of the Latin relic-hunter, and made profitable commerce of this new devotion. The latter paid large sums for legs and arms, skulls, and jaw-bones, (several of which were pagan and some not human,) and other things that were supposed to have belonged to the primitive worthies of the Christian church; and thus the Latin church came to the possession of those celebrated relics of St. Mark, St. James, St. Bartholomew, &c., which they show at this day with so much ostentation. But there were many who, unable to procure for themselves these spiritual treasures by voyages and prayers, had recourse to violence and theft; for all sorts of means and all sorts of attempts in a cause of this nature were considered, when successful, as pious and acceptable to the Supreme Being.” (Mosheim. Cent. IX. chapt. 3. §6.)

The foregoing extract plainly shows how far the Church of Rome had at this early period outstripped the Eastern Church in the race of superstition—and ever since that time, the worship of Relics has continued a main article in the creed and practice of Papists. In the work of the learned Chemnitius occurs the following summary of this odious superstition, as it prevailed up to the sixteenth century.

1. It is taught that the bodies, ashes or bones of the saints are to be dug up or raised from their graves, and to be placed in a prominent place—for example, over the high altar, or on some other conspicuous place, and to be adorned with gold, silver, silk, &c.
2. That these relics are to be carried about in procession and public supplication, and that they are to be exhibited and held out to be touched and kissed or only looked at by Christian people.
3. That such relics are to be approved by the Pope of Rome, &c.
4. That it is a great and meritorious worship of God, if the people (for the sake of obtaining blessings) touch, kiss, look at, and fall down with the posture and feeling of adoration to these relics when exhibited, and also worship them with candles, silk, chaplets, and similar ornaments.
5. That divine grace and virtue is to be sought from those relics, and they who touch or behold them become partakers of it.
6. That it is a sacrifice grateful to God to present valuable gifts to these relics.
7. They promise many indulgences of sins, to those who touch, kiss, or only behold these relics.
8. That prayer is rendered better, more worthy, and more acceptable to God, when offered up near or before the relics of the saints; that by their merits we may obtain help. And that consequently vows are to be made in dangers, and pilgrimages made to those places in which the relics of saints are thought to be; in order that we may there invoke them for the sake of obtaining help.
9. The holiness of the sacrament of the Eucharist is greatly increased, if the relics of saints are thought to be enclosed in the altar.
10. The Canonists teach that the relics of saints may be placed upon any person. Thomas Aquinas adds that they may lawfully be carried round the neck, through devotion, and trust towards God and the saints, whose relics they are.
11. Oaths are made amongst Romanists by touching the relics of saints, so that the religious part of an oath is divided between God and the saints.
12. All things are full of supposititious and false relics, to which nevertheless the same veneration and the same honor are shown without any difference. (Chem. Exam. Conc. Trid. p. 661.)

Such notoriously was the worship paid at the time of the Reformation, and for many centuries previous, to the relics of the saints of Rome. Thus did besotted man rob God of his glory, and deify a bone, a bit of wood or cloth, in his place. The reader however will possess a very imperfect notion of the relic-worship of the middle ages, and the gross impostures practiced by the priests, without some account of the number and character of those Popish idols. We shall therefore add the following list of the relics, belonging to the Church of St. John of Lateran, in the city of Rome, as we find it recorded in a manuscript written by Papists themselves, in the fourteenth century, and printed by the celebrated W. Crawshay, the Puritan, early in the seventeenth century. The original may be seen in this curious and rare work; the title of which is given in the note.[2]

“THE RELICS OF ST. JOHN OF THE LATERAN.”

“In this church of the Lateran there is a certain chapel which is called the Sacristy or the Vestry; in it there is St. John’s Altar, even that very altar which he had in the wilderness; and there is also that very table upon which Christ supped with his disciples at his last supper.”

“In the same place is the Old Testament, to wit, Moses’ rod and the ark of the covenant, all these did Titus and Vespasian bring thither from Jerusalem, together with those four great brazen pillars which now stand about the high altar, within which are the heads of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. And when these heads are shown to the people, there are as many indulgences at that church as at St. Peter’s Church when the ‘Veronica’ is shown.”

“Also there is the image or picture of our Lord, which was painted upon the wall, not with man’s hand, but by the divine work of God, before all the people of Rome. And this image thus appeared on the 5. day of the Ides of November, also there are the golden candlesticks that were in the first Tabernacle of the Old Testament. Also the Table wherein the Law was written with the finger of God.”

“Also some of the five barley loaves and two fishes with which five thousand were fed by Christ. Also the blood of St. Stephen, and of the oil of St. Catherine. The arm of St. Simeon. The image of the Blessed Virgin, drawn by St. Luke. The relics of St. Spes (or St. Hope). Some of the hair of the Blessed Virgin.” These and some others which I forbear to mention are yearly produced. But there are four relics besides, which they seem to account more sacred than the rest, being showed but once in seven years, viz. The Shift of the Blessed Virgin. The swathes of our Savior. The linen cloth upon which John the Baptist was beheaded, and the cloth with which our Savior was covered on the cross. When these are exhibited, there are these solemn proclamations made to the people (thus translated out of the French).

1. Proclamation. You shall have a sight of the Shift, that holy garment, which the Virgin Mary, the mother of God, had on upon the night of our Lord’s nativity; wherefore let us humbly pray to God to be able to behold such relics to his glory, to the end that we may partake of his grace for the attaining salvation.

2. Proclamation. You shall have a sight of the swathes, those holy clothes, in which our Savior Jesus Christ was wrapped on the night of his nativity; wherefore let us pray Almighty God to behold these relics to the increase of his honor, to the end that we may never be separated from Him.

3. Proclamation. You shall have a sight of the Holy Linen Cloth upon which St. John the Baptist was beheaded, with the marks of his blood spilt upon it; to whom God gave testimony that he was the most holy person that ever was born of a woman. Let us therefore pray our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may behold it to his honor, and that by his grace we may be saved.

4. Proclamation. You shall have a sight of that Holy Cloth, which was put before our Lord’s body and veiled it upon the tree of the Holy Cross, when he suffered death for our sins on Good Friday. Pray we therefore our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may behold it with much devotion, that we may be partakers of his death and passion and may be delivered from all evils and sins.”[3]

We need only refer to the Holy Coat at Treves, to prove that the worship of Relics still continues in the nineteenth century, to delude and destroy the adherents of the papacy were conducted on the continent, in the seventeenth century, will be found in “The Frauds of Romish Monks and Priests,” p. 143—154, and “Observations on a Journey to Naples,” by the same author, p. 118—132. The annual pilgrimages undertaken in the present day by the Irish Papists, will be more calculated to interest the English reader, and afford also an important idea of Popery.

St. Patrick’s Purgatory is situated on an island of a lake lying in the southern part of the county of Donegal, nearly three miles in length, and four in breadth. The whole island is a rocky piece of ground, in some places bare, and in the rest having but a very thin covering of earth. It is in length one hundred and twenty-four yards, in the broadest place forty-five, and the narrowest twenty-five over. There are several modern buildings upon it, fitted up for the most part as places of public worship, and each one dedicated to some particular saint; in the vicinity of these are a number of circular stone walls, from one to two feet in height, enclosing broken stone or wooden crosses, which are called saints’ beds; and around these, on the hard and pointed rocks, the penitents perform penance upon their bare knees, repeating a certain form of prayer at each.

They then visit the chapels, where they remain night and day, performing certain ceremonies, and saying a prescribed number of prayers, which are in proportion to the amount or degree of crime committed. The pilgrim while engaged in these rites, which generally occupy several days, is allowed to partake of but one meal of bread and water in the twenty-four hours; and while in the prison, in which the individual continues a day and night previous to quitting the island, food of every description is prohibited. Twenty-four priests are appointed, each officiating for one hour at a time. The pilgrims are kept awake at night by a man appointed for the purpose, who, with a small switch or rod, gently taps any one he may perceive disposed to slumber. On the spot upon which the little chapel dedicated to St. Patrick now stands, there is a rock in which was formerly a cave capable of holding six or eight persons, where it was believed the pains and torments which await the wicked in another world might be experienced by those who enter it. This was the last place visited by the penitents, and in this they had to remain all night. St. Bridget’s chair stands close to the water’s edge, in which, it is said, whoever once sits is ever after preserved from accident or sudden death.

The following account of the pilgrimage is by an eye-witness, and Mr. Hardy, the author to whom we are indebted for the foregoing narration, pledges himself for the authenticity of the facts detailed.[4]

“This island is about half a mile from the shore; on approaching it, we found all the people walking round one of the buildings, in the direction of the sun. There are two chapels, one for confession and another for general worship. In the former, no strangers are admitted; but on entering the latter by one of the galleries, a mighty multitude of the most apparently devout worshippers I ever beheld presented themselves. All were kneeling except the choir, and every one busy for himself, without the smallest interruption from his neighbor. The only instruments they used were their beads, crucifix, and manual. Their food is a small quantity of bread, which they bring into the island with them, and water, which by the priest’s blessing is supposed to be made equally nutritive as wine. They take this once a day, except when in the prison, where they remain twenty-four hours. During this period they are prohibited from tasting any food. Twenty-four priests are the regular number for officiating in this place, each one hour. The prison is a dungeon in which the light of day is not allowed to enter. A man with a switch is kept in regular exercise here, to keep the pilgrims in a wakeful state. Sleep is very dangerous, for a single nod may lose the soul forever, without the intervention of all the fathers and saints of the calendar, and a round sum of money.”

“I have after much difficulty obtained access to a publication chiefly intended for the direction of the pilgrims of Lough Derg, but was unable to purchase it—they are so very cautious about the person into whose hands they will allow it to come. I shall therefore give a few extracts from it in the English language.”

“THE PILGRIMAGE OF LOUGH DERGH.”[5]

“Christian reader, observe that it is very proper and profitable for a man conversant in the turbulent world, who having the care of a house and family, is necessarily involved in the affairs of this wicked world, and surrounded with infinite occasions and snares of offending God, to withdraw himself from these unavoidable snares of sin, either perpetually and during his life, or at least for some time, and to retire to some solitary place to look to the salvation of his soul, following herein the example of the royal prophet, ‘Behold I have retired and remained in the wilderness.’” (Ps. i.5.)

“The pilgrims are directed on entering this holy ground to approach it with all due reverence and awe, bare-headed and bare-footed, “For if the place wherein the angel spoke to Moses, concerning the Israelites’ delivery from the bondage of Pharaoh, was so holy, that he was commanded to tread upon it bare-footed, why should not this place be holy, where God commissioned and deputed our Apostolic Moses, St. Patrick, to enlarge us out of the spiritual slavery and captivity of our spiritual Pharaoh, the devil? And if Joshua was commanded to loose his shoes from off his feet, when he spoke to the prince of the host of the Lord, because the place whereon he stood was holy; why should not this place be holy, where we speak to God, and St. Patrick, prince and chief of the saints of our nation, and go thither bare-footed? Finally, if the prophet Isaiah was commanded to walk naked for the sins of others, why should not we enter the place of penance bare-footed and bare-headed, to expiate our enormous crimes?”

“Moreover, we pass into the island by water: that that saying of the royal prophet (Ps. lxv.) may be applied to us, ‘We have passed through fire and water, and thou leadest us into a place of refreshment’—that by the fire of devotion and waters of tribulation, God may lead us hence to the spiritual refreshment of our souls and consciences.”

“Having humbly received the Superior’s blessing, the pilgrims kneel before the altar of St. Patrick, signing themselves with the sign of the cross, saying ‘in whose name we begin our pilgrimage,’ and there they say one Ave, one Pater, and a Creed. The one Pater is to signify the unity of the divine nature, who, according to Isaiah and St. Paul, worketh all our works (Isaiah xxvi. 12; 1 Cor. xii. 11), especially our penance which we now begin. We say an Ave, that as we received our Savior and Redeemer by the Blessed Virgin Mary, so we would by her intercession obtain grace and remission of our sins from God, and perseverance in doing penance, and eternal bliss. We say a Creed, that by it we would make a profession of our faith toward God, for it is impossible to please God without faith (Heb. xi.). These same reasons may serve for all Paters, Aves, and Creeds, said hereafter. Rising from the altar we kiss its stone that we may be cleansed from our sins, like Isaiah, who was purged and cleansed when his lips were touched with a stone taken from the altar (Isaiah vi.). Afterwards, kneeling at the corner of the chapel, we repeat three Paters, three Aves, and one Creed, to obtain from the Holy Trinity three things necessary for penance, to wit—the fear of the Lord, whereby sin is banished away (Ecclus. xxi.)—humility, by which our prayers penetrate the clouds—and patience, by which we possess our souls (Luke xxi. 19). In our first going round the chapel we kiss the cross which standeth before the chapel door, to signify that we ought to embrace and lift up our cross and follow Christ, who spilt his precious blood seven times for us. And we touch it with our shoulders, by which we signify that we ought to persevere in it, in carrying our cross to the end.”

“We begin at the corner of the chapel, going round it and the altar seven times, in which we repeat seven decades, according to that of the royal prophet (Ps. xxvi.), ‘I have surrounded and sacrificed in his tabernacle,’ either in satisfaction of our seven capital sins, which we commit in the seven days of the week; or because ‘a just man falleth seven times a day and riseth again.’” (Prov. xxiv. 16.) p. 10.

“To avoid therefore the same doom with the wicked, we go round the stones standing in the water three times, to satisfy for the sins of our will, memory, and understanding: saying, in the meantime, five Paters, five Aves, and one Creed, to redeem the punishment due to the sins of our five outward senses; then humbly kneeling on the sharp stones, and fixing our confidence and hope in Jesus Christ the corner-stone, we say five other Paters, five Aves, and one Creed, that we may extract remedies from his five sacred wounds, against the transgression of our five sacred senses. From whence we advance to a round stone, at a distance out in the Lough, on which we stand, and say one Pater, one Ave, and one Creed, to signify that we beg one thing of God, to wit, life everlasting.” (Ps. xxvi.) p. 14.

“Leaving the water, we proceed forward to the altar of St. Patrick, where we say one Pater, one Ave, and one Creed, that the Lord who moved us, by his divine grace, to begin our penance, would give us strength to bring the same to a successful and prosperous end. Afterwards, we enter the chapel and repeat the Psalter or Rosary of the Blessed Virgin, first thanking God who is magnified, exceedingly pleased with penance, by whose power and divine assistance we triumphed victoriously; having thrown the horse and the rider (the devil and sin) into the sea.” (Exodus xv.) p. 16.

“As soon as we leave the grave or vault we immediately plunge ourselves into the water, washing our heads and bodies, to signify that we are washed and cleansed from the filth of our sin and have broken the dragon’s head in the water (Ps. lxxiv. 13). And as the children of Israel left their enemies drowned in the Red Sea, so should we leave our spiritual enemies drowned in this red lough, by which we are buried with Christ unto death, that with him we might rise again to eternal glory, which I earnestly beseech our most merciful God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to grant to both me and you. Amen.”

In reference to another station, at Holy Island, the author adds,

“there are many who visit this station, to make atonement for their sins, and among this class of the superstitious you generally find all the abandoned females of the country! When the penance is finished, the grossness of the language used is most disgusting. They tell you the demerit of sin cannot be more than the punishment—the penance will take away the guilt, and some whiskey will wash away the remembrance of it. When the work is finished, all repair to the tents, the drinking then commences, and in the evening the island is more like the ancient Cyprus when dedicated to Venus, than a place to which the frequenters of it ascribe holiness. It is polluted with drunken revels and the most gross debauchery.” p. 53.

Many other mechanical kinds of devotion might be mentioned. In fact the substitutes for spiritual worship are endless in the Church of Rome. The use of the Agnus Dei deserves notice. “An Agnus Dei,” says a modern Popish book, “so called from the image of the Lamb of God impressed on the face of it, is made of virgin wax, balsam, and chrism, blessed according to the form prescribed in the Roman ritual. The spiritual virtue or efficacy of it is gathered from the prayers that the church makes use of in the blessing of it, which is to preserve him who carries an Agnus Dei or any particle of it about him, from any attempts of his spiritual or temporal enemies; from the dangers of fire, of water, of storms and tempests, of thunder and lightning, and from a sudden and unprovided death. It puts the devils to flight, succors women in child-bed, takes away the stains of past sins, and furnishes us with new grace for the future, that we may be preserved from all adversities and perils, both in life and death, through the cross and merits of the Lamb who redeemed and washed us in his blood. The Pope consecrates the Agnus Deis the first year of his pontificate, and afterwards on every seventh year, on Saturday before Low Sunday, with many solemn ceremonies and devout prayers.” (Devotion and Office of the Sacred Heart, p. 323, Lon. 1837.)

The virtues and efficacy of the SCAPULAR are very extraordinary. This is a badge of peculiar veneration for the Virgin, and consists of a square piece of stuff, made out of the habit of a Carmelite Friar, marked with the initials I.H.S., and suspended from the neck by a ribbon. Simon Stock, a Carmelite Monk, is said to have invented this superstition in the thirteenth century: “The Virgin Mary appeared to him accompanied by a multitude of angels holding the Scapular in her hands, and said ‘This shall be a privilege to thee and to all Carmelites. Whosoever dies in this habit shall escape eternal fire; whosoever dies in this, shall be saved.’” (Colganus in Chron. S. S. Deiparae, p. 256.) There is also another famous privilege granted to the Scapular: that “whosoever shall be buried in this habit shall not be held in purgatory pains beyond the Saturday next after the day of his death.” (Colganus in notis ad vit. Maidoc ad num. 34.) The Roman Breviary sanctions the use of this garment of the Virgin, and the lessons on the 16th of July contain the substance of the legend which originated its use. In Ireland the Scapular is held in peculiar veneration among certain classes. (See O’Croly’s Inquiry.)

A similar mechanical virtue attaches amongst Papists to Monks’ Habits in general. “Such persons as were buried in their garments were thought to have wonderful advantages thereby. King John is said to have been buried at Worcester, in a monk’s cowl, and Mr. Dugdale makes mention of some of the honorable family of the Hastings that lie buried in the Grey Friars at Coventry, in the habits of Friars Minors.” (Rom. Horseleech, p. 187. Lond. 1769.) The same practice is still continued on the continent. “The Italians specify in their last wills, the religious habit in which they will be buried. One will be dressed up like a Benedictine, another like a Carmelite, and so for the rest. The monks tell us that it is an honor due to their habits, that nothing can interpose between them and heaven, because they have the virtue of immediately uniting to that state of bliss.” (Frauds, &c., p. 270.)

The use of the Cross, and that of Holy Water, are equally illustrative of the mechanical devotion of Rome. In a book of Private Devotions of the sixteenth century occurs the following prayer: “Aqua benedicta, sit mihi salus et vita!” (“Holy Water be thou unto me SALVATION AND LIFE!”)

Then, too, the use of the Rosary, and the daily recitation of the Breviary, come also under the head of mechanical devotion. The Rosary, it is well known, is a string of beads used to count prayers, recited in honor of the Virgin—one large bead, to denote the Pater-Noster, occurring between every ten smaller ones, denoting the Ave-Marias. “Everybody,” says a converted Priest of Rome, “takes care to have always the beads or Rosary in his pocket, as the characteristic of a Christian. But this devotion of the Rosary is made so common amongst bigots, that they are always with the beads in their hands, and at night round their neck.

There is nothing more usual in Spain and Portugal than to see people in the markets and in the shops praying with their beads, and selling and buying at the same time. Nay, the procurers, in the great Piazza, are praying with their beads, and at the same time contriving and agreeing with a man for all sorts of wicked intrigues. So all sorts of persons have it as a law to say the Rosary every day; some say it walking, others in company, (keeping silent for a while) but the rest talking or laughing. So great is their attention to this indispensable prayer of the Rosary.” (Gavin. i. p. 222.)

Of the Breviary, the same writer says, “The divine service, or seven canonical hours, every priest, friar, and nun, is to say every day, or else they commit a mortal sin by the statutes of the Church and Popes. This service which is to be said in private, and with Christian devotion, is as much profaned among ecclesiastics and nuns as the Rosary; for I have seen many of them (and I have done it myself) play at cards, and have the Breviary on the table, to say the divine service at the same time. Others walking in company, and others doing still worse things, have the Breviary in their hands and read the divine service, when they, at the same time, are in occasione proxima peccati; and notwithstanding, they believe they have performed exactly that part of the ecclesiastical duty.” (Gavin. i. p. 223.)

Lastly, the doctrine of opus operatum has caused the Sacraments of the Church to be regarded in the same mechanical light. The Council of Trent has decided that these—Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Extreme Unction, &c., confer grace by the mere operation itself (ex opere operato). Hence the elements or material substances employed in the sacraments are believed to be physical causes, which necessarily produce grace in the soul, whilst the mind has nothing to do with the work!

We have thus attempted to show in what way, and to what extent, Popery has inflicted upon Europe the fearful curse of Famine. Christianity, it will be allowed, contains the most abundant provision for the spiritual wants of man. Popery, on the other hand, wherever it prevails, robs a famishing world of the bread of life, and feeds it with husks and chaff.

This accusation, than which a heavier could hardly be brought against any system—has been fully substantiated in the foregoing pages. By the mouth of the apostle, God declares of the Scriptures “they are able to make us wise unto salvation;” and as constituting the revelation of Jesus Christ, they hold out to dying men, “the bread of life which came down from heaven; of which if a man eat, he shall never die.” The Romish church, however, as the true Antichrist of Scripture, at two several councils, positively prohibited the Bible to the laity, both in the original and in the vulgar tongue (Conc. Tolos. et Biterrense): and in Papal countries that blessed volume is still a proscribed book.

Then, too, the Lord has instituted PREACHING, as a further, and still more efficacious means of feeding a perishing world. The last command of him “who hath loved us and given himself for us,” when he left this earth was, “Go ye forth into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Accordingly, this has ever proved the most powerful means of awakening sinners from the day of Pentecost to the present period. Popery however, true to the commission given to it over the “fourth part of the earth, to kill by famine,” has virtually nullified this important means of grace. For many centuries, most of the priests were by their gross ignorance utterly incapable of preaching! The sermons that were delivered were full of absurd fables and idle superstitions, and afforded little or no nourishment for the immortal soul. Whilst at the sacred festivals of the year, when, least of all, we should have expected such conduct from the church—gross buffoonery and blasphemy were added to its other crimes; as in the case of the “Easter drolleries,” “The Feast of Asses,” &c. Since the Reformation, it is true, Papists have been compelled, by very shame, to revive preaching, especially in Protestant countries; but the life-giving truths of the gospel occupy no place in the sermons of priests; and what little truth is ever contained in Popish discourses, is either wholly neutralized by the presence of deadly error, or else swallowed up in the load of superstitious rubbish. Thus Romanism is guilty of famishing its votaries, by withholding the bread of life and feeding them with empty garbage.

Once more; the efficacy of PRAYER both public and private will be acknowledged by all believers. Not only does devotion exert a direct influence upon the heart, assimilating it to God; but it also brings down from God “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” But here again Popery meets us, blasting all good, and infusing the elements of moral poison. The prayers of the Romish church are, to a great extent, addressed to creatures, once sinful creatures like ourselves; and are full of their praises, and of vain invocations for their help and blessing! Those, too, which are addressed to God are often offered up in the name, not of Christ, but of some he or she saint; and the greatest of all blessings, even deliverance from hell, and the enjoyment of heaven, are solicited through their intercession and their merits. It is therefore wholly impossible that the prayers of such worshippers can be acceptable to God; whilst the language of the Romish service serves still further to show the utter inefficacy of Popish prayer.

Thus has Romanism, again, proved a Spiritual Famine to man, by nullifying this great, this all-important means of grace. In order to delude them, however, with “the form of godliness,” whilst it deprives them of the “power,” Popery provides its votaries with a vast and splendid system of MECHANICAL DEVOTION. In the Mass for instance, the church sets before them a gorgeous spectacle, more suited for the play-house than the sanctuary; whilst the people gaze on as mere spectators of the show. In the worship of RELICS, the presence of a martyr’s bone, or the garment of some celebrated saint, is substituted for holiness and faith, and all manner of virtues are ascribed to the possession of so much mere matter. The same mechanical or material character attaches to a vast deal more of Popish devotion. The PROCESSIONS AND PILGRIMAGES of the church of Rome are wholly of this nature. What has Christianity to do with these relics of Judaism? What influence can a procession of wooden images or musty relics have in appeasing the wrath of God? And what connection has a pilgrimage to a distant place with our being “made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light?” Every enlightened mind will at once see, that these material forms of devotion have no more connection with the state of our hearts, or the favor of God, than the color of a man’s coat, or the height of his stature. Nor do the AGNUS DEIS, the SCAPULARS, the HOLY WATER, &c. &c. of Popery possess any better fitness to nourish the soul. They must, one and all, be considered as so many spiritual nostrums and juggling inventions of the man of sin; the object of which is to delude mankind, and bring money to the church!

Let Popery then ever be regarded as a SPIRITUAL FAMINE, a dearth of all that which constitutes the food of the immortal soul! This is its essential, its unalterable character; it has belonged to the system in every age and in every country of its sway. Were it to alter, it would be no longer Popery. Wherever it goes, immediate famine is the result, not merely “a famine of the word of God” as Amos says; but a famine of all the means of grace. Every source of spiritual good to man is closed—every avenue through which the light of heaven would beam is at once shut up: and man is left to die, the victim of utter want!

How fearfully great a curse then is Popery to this sinful world! Famine! The very name strikes terror into the heart. We have had the subject, too, repeatedly forced upon our notice of late, and are all, alas! familiar with its fearful evils. Ireland is at present prostrate beneath the stroke of this terrible Destroyer. But how faint an image does that bleeding country present of the Spiritual Famine, which still rages in that and other Papal kingdoms! As the soul is greater than the body—as eternity outweighs time—as the bliss of heaven transcends the joys of this world, and the pains of hell exceed the fleeting sorrows of earth, so does the Famine with which the Papacy has cursed Europe, infinitely surpass in magnitude and importance, any mere temporal famine of “the bread which perisheth.”

It is not possible then, we think, to exaggerate the evils of that corrupt system of faith and practice which has ever proved to the world such a curse as this. And when we think during how many ages this awful Famine has raged; and how many fair kingdoms of earth it has desolated; and then on the other hand, view the abundant means of spiritual nourishment provided in the gospel, and reflect what with this ample provision, these kingdoms might have been, well may we ask, what evil that has ever befallen our sinful globe can for one moment, be compared with this?

Footnotes

1. “Et de munere temporali, fiat nobis remedium sempiternum.”

2. “Fiscus Papalis sive catalogus Indulg. et reliquiarum sept. princip. Eccles. urb. Romae, ex vetusto Manuscripto codice vere et fideliter descriptus.”

3. Reflections on the Devotions of the Romish Church, pref. London. 1686.

4. The Holy Wells of Ireland, by P. D. Hardy, M.R.I.A. Dublin. 1840.

5. In the address to the reader, the author says that ‘the honor of St. Patrick moved him to publish the little treatise.’

(To be continued.)