saint-worship of the Nicene church materially differed, or differed in its religious tendency, from that of the modern church of Rome-this worship having been formally and solemnly sanctioned by the principal persons of the Nicene age, and attested by innumerable miracles (alleged), and even by many resurrections from the dead! Dici non potest quibus illa pia femina AMICUM Dei flebilibus vocibus fuerit aggressa, et quanta cum miseratione ante limina GLORIOSI MARTYRIS prostrata, effusos sui cordis dolores expresserit, in hæc verba prorumpens. - Let me interrupt this christian lady at her devotions, just to remind the reader that, while the revivers of catholic practices express their disapproval of the popish invocation of saints, they tell us they see nothing in the practices of the first six centuries, which should offend those who have subscribed the twenty-second of the Thirty-nine Articles!-But our primitive Carthaginian catholic lady shall speak for herself, and for her times, and for her admirers of the present day. Thus then she prays DOMINE STEPHANE, Christi amice, subveni matri miseræ, AD TE CONFUGIENTI pro salute periclitantis filiæ! Hic TE ergo planctibus ORO, illic TE ancilla tua præsentem medicum sentiat IMPLORO. Scis ipse qualibus caussis laboret Megetia (the daughter) et in quo vitæ discrimine sit constituta. . . . . ... Ego quæ ad Christum et te Amicum ejus confugi, credo quia talis luctus de filia non imponetur capiti meo. Peto autem et rogo, ut cum hinc a corona tua (the throne or shrine) revertens festinanter ad ancillam tuam proficisci cœpero, recreetur anima mea de filia aliquo nuntio bono. The lady did not fail to bear with her some holy oil and a napkin (orarium) to apply to her daughter; and who can doubt what was the happy issue? Life was prolonged. A further act of mercy was however needed; and the christian mother and daughter repair together to the oratory of the Friend of God;' and thus does the mother propitiate his favour-pleading the hostile incredulity of the father, who was yet a pagan, as a reason why the favour solicited should be granted. Domine Stephane, ecce adduxi Megetiam tuam ad te, quam TU IPSE liberasti de morte. . . . . Fac, rogo, fac iterum erubescere VOL. II. .... os (qui detrahunt et desperant de Christo) de tota et de plena Megetiæ tuæ salute, sicut jam fecisti erubescere eos de ejus uteri periculosissimo labore. Non omnino deficies ad minora, qui præstitisti majora.... Non confundatur mater in filia, quæ presumpsit IN TE, quæ confugit AD TE. . . . . The young lady, whose disorder was an unsightly affection of the face-resolute in her endeavours to obtain a cure, actually thrust her head within the enclosure of the shrine, so as to bathe the sacred coffer with her tears.-While doing so, she felt the hand of the martyr stroking her face :-ecce ILLO DESUPER MISERANTE qui appropinquat contritis corde! This narrative, which occupies five closely printed folio columns, includes two or three bright appearances of the Young Deacon'-the Friend of God, and Potent Physician, to these ladies! Strange that it should have become necessary to drag from their fit obscurity, the revolting inanities of this pernicious superstition! To be compelled to spend hours upon such materials, is indeed a humiliation. But we must do our part. A wine-merchant discovers, to his dismay, that two hundred casks of his best wine-his entire vintage, have gone sick in a desperate manner :- -quis tunc ibidem fuerit possessoris animus, quis ipsius apothecarii luctus puto quod ignorare non possit omnis compatiens animus humanus! The liquor could not be sold, even for vinegar. But relief was at hand-the desponding proprietor, by a divine instigation, resolves to have recourse-ad Amicum Dei Stephanum Sanctum, primum martyrum Christi! Nor was he left to be ashamed of his hope!-The wine is restored, and the writer becomes eloquent in describing the happy change-nitor in colore conspicitur, sapor in gustu approbatur, tristitia in gaudium commutatur, et quid quantumque fides in Christo, ejusque Gloriosissimo Amico valeat reperitur! . . . . Surely we ought to admire the skill and discretion of the compiler of this narrative of wonders, who, in his selection of instances, contrives to meet the wants and woes of all conditions of men, and to open to every rank and every profession-a door of hope in the time of trouble! On a certain day, says the writer, during the market hours, in our town, the heavens were suddenly overcast, and there appeared immediately above us, a fiery serpent of immense magnitude :an occurrence which the writer thinks consonant with certain Scriptures, which he cites. It was no wonder that, while this monster continued to contort his sparkling length, as if in preparation for a descent upon the devoted town, terror should reign beneath, or that a general sauve qui peut should drive the people to make their escape in all directions! The stalls are deserted— business comes to an end, and many of the people rush to the bosom of mother church-ad gremium ecclesiæ matris, for safety. Now let us observe the style of the times, thoroughly heathenish as it is one set of names having been substituted for another. The people, in the first instance, we are told, betake themselves to the mercy of God the Father:-and then, ad ipsam AMICI DEI sacratam memoriam in facie prostrata jacebat diversa ætas, dispar quoque sexus. To the sacred oratory of the FRIEND OF GOD they also go, and there the old and the young-men and women, lie prostrate! Prayer was however offered to Christ-the Christ of THE LORD STEPHEN-ad Christum Domini Stephani. Forthwith the said monster curled up his horrid length among the retiring clouds, and the people once more were glad, and returned abundant thanks, as in duty bound-Deo et AMICO EJUS! But this is not the end of the story.-To a subdeacon of the church was delivered, by a mysterious stranger, a vail on which was an emblematic painting in many colours, indicating to the grateful people of Uzali the celestial rationale of their late deliverance from the aerial dragon; and in doing so, their devotion to their illustrious patron was confirmed. This pictured vail was hung up before the shrine-TANTI PATRONI! It represented St. Stephen triumphing over the monster, whom he crushed with his foot! It was, says the writer, as if God, by this picture, were holding converse with the people, and showing them to whose intercession they were indebted for their deliverance from so terrible a danger. Wherefore-such is the import of the pictorial admonition-Deo vestro, per AMICUM MEUM, gratias agite. . . . . The writer having, as he thinks, by this time adduced instances enough of the healing and saving powers of the LORD STEPHEN -the patron of the people, he proceeds to an example of another kind :—and it is an instance demonstrating, if further proof were needed, what was the real drift of all these wonders, and showing too the way in which they were managed, and how the strings were pulled. A certain functionary in the fiscal department, at Carthage, had incurred the high displeasure of his superior, before whom he stood trembling in expectation of some merciless infliction, even to the forfeiture of his life. The by-standers gaze upon him in pity and terror; or glance at the menacing visage of his infuriated principal! In this moment of suspense the trembling man receives a touch on the shoulder from an executioner in attendance, who whispers to him this timely advice-'Invoca S. Stephanum...!' The friendly hint was thankfully received-and the already comforted Florentius-that was his name-ceased not inwardly to pray to, and invoke THE GLORIOUS STEPHEN. At length, raising his eyes toward his judge, he sees, instead of his vindictive master, whose stern features, deformed by age, were wont to inspire disgust, a bright and youthful form! It was none other than THE GLORIOUS STEPHEN, whom he recognised as thus personally present to his aid, and as presiding in the place of his austere judge. -Quid multa? The judge softens-the spectators are amazed; and Florentius is restored within a few seconds to the favour of the proconsul! The Glorious Martyr, not willing to forego the grateful acknowledgments of his client, appears to him in a vision of the night, and the next day Florentius hastens to the oratory. But, ignorant of the road, he prayed for guidance from the same potent and gracious being; nor was even this suit denied ;-he reaches the church at Uzali, and there-beati martyris limina humili pietate ingressus, et pavimento prostratus, omnipotento Domino Jesu Christo, ejusque BEATISSIMO AMICO, gratias egit! Such is that 'invocation of saints, and veneration of relics,' which, according to the new interpretation of her formularies, the Church of England allows, or does not forbid, and which its conscientious members may themselves practise without blame or inconsistency! The instances we have had before us come not, we are told, under the censure that is attached to popish superstitions, and to Romish doctrines. On the contrary, fully sanctioned as they are by catholic antiquity,' and universally prevalent as they were long before the expiration of the period the decisions of which are authoritative, we should reverently walk in the same path, and look to the same benign powers for the same benefits! Whether or not the Two Books above cited be genuine, which there is no reason to doubt, the most ample and circumstantial evidence attests the fact that the practices therein described prevailed in all quarters of christendom, during the fourth and fifth centuries. Let it however be supposed, for a moment, that these practices did not become prevalent until a later time—say, the seventh or eighth century. We have then to inquire whether at all, or in what degree if at all, they were (when they did prevail) the proper consequences of the doctrine taught, and of the worship allowed and promoted, by the Nicene authorities. This is therefore now our question; and let the reader, as we enter upon it, remember the formal and solemn assertion lately advanced by the admirers of antiquity— -That the popish invocation of saints-or such invocation as these divines consider to be reprehensible, received no sort of encouragement, or sanction, from the great writers and bishops of the Nicene age. We turn therefore from the 'Two Books,' to the unquestioned writings of Augustine, only premising that he, even while promoting the superstitions of his times, laboured hard, within certain limits, to give them a better direction. In these instances the little finger of some of his illustrious contemporaries was thicker and heavier than the bishop of Hippo's body. I cannot allow my inference to be evaded by a substitution of one question for another in this case. We are not asking whether the good Augustine was not a little too credulous; or whether he is to be understood as pledging himself in an explicit manner to the truth of whatever he relates. What we ask is this Whether the practice of addressing petitions in the most direct manner, to Dead Men (and in the same way that is allowed by the church of Rome) received, or did not receive, a solemn sanction from the great writers of the Nicene church; and in this case, from Augustine, one of the best of them? I respectfully protest against any endeavour to elude the point of this present inquiry. |