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the whole man (not the soul separated only) might receive public remission of sins, and a solemn acquittal in the judgment of that great day; and so obtain both a full escape from all the consequences of sin," the last enemy being now destroyed, and death swallowed up in victory," and a perfect consummation of bliss and happiness: all which are comprised in that short prayer of St. Paul for Onesiphorus, though made for him while he was alive; "The Lord grant unto him, that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day." Yea, divers prayers for the dead of this kind are still retained in the Roman offices: of which the great Spanish doctor Johannes Medina thus writeth, "Although I have read many prayers for the faithful deceased, which are contained in the Roman missal; yet have I read in none of them, that the Church doth petition, that they may more quickly be freed from pains: but I have read that in some of them petition is made, that they may be freed from everlasting pains." For beside the common prayer that is used in the mass for the commemoration of all the faithful deceased, that "Christ would free them from the mouth of the lion, that hell may not swallow them up, and that they may not fall into the place of darkness;" this prayer is prescribed for the day wherein the dead did depart out of this life. 66 Od God, whose property is always to have mercy and to spare; we most humbly beseech thee for the soul of thy servant N. which this day thou hast commanded to depart out of this world: that thou mayest not deliver it into the hands of the enemy, nor forget it finally; but command it

b2 Tim. chap. 1. ver. 18.

a 1 Cor. chap. 15. ver. 26, 27. c Etsi quamplures orationes fidelium defunctorum legerim, quæ in missali Romano continentur; in nulla tamen earum legi per Ecclesiam peti, ut citius a pœnis liberentur: legi tamen in nonnullis peti ut ab æternis pœnis liberentur. Jo. Medin. in codice de oratione, quæst. 6.

d Deus, cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere, te supplices exoramus pro anima famuli tui N. quam hodie de hoc seculo migrare jussisti : ut non tradas eam in manus inimici, neque obliviscaris in finem; sed jubeas eam a sanctis angelis suscipi, et ad patriam paradisi perduci: ut, quia in te speravit et credidit, non pœnas inferni sustineat, sed gaudia æterna possideat. Orat. in die obitus seu depositionis defuncti: in missali Romano reformato.

to be received by the holy angels, and brought unto the country of paradise; that, because he hath trusted and believed in thee, he may not sustain the pains of hell, but possess joys everlasting:" which is a direct prayer, that the soul of him which was then departed might immediately be received into heaven, and escape, not the temporary pains of purgatory, but the everlasting pains of hell. For, howsoever the new reformers of the Roman missal have put in here panas inferni, under the generality peradventure of the term of the pains of hell intending to shrowd their purgatory, which they would have men believe to be one of the lodges of hell, yet in the old missal, which Medina had respect unto, we read expressly pœnas æternas, everlasting pains; which by no construction can be referred unto the pains of purgatory: and to the same purpose, in the book of the ceremonies of the Church of Rome, at the exequies of a cardinal, a prayer is appointed to be read, that by the assistance of God's grace he might "escapef the judgment of everlasting revenge, who while he lived was marked with the seal of the holy Trinity."

Again, "there be other prayers," saith Medina, "where in petition is made, that God would raise the souls of the dead in their bodies unto bliss at the day of judgment." Such, for example, is that which is found in the Roman missal: "Absolve", we beseech thee, O Lord, the soul of thy servant from all the bond of his sins: that in the

e Missal. Rom. edit. Paris. ann. 1529.

f Gratia tua illi succurrente, mereatur judicium evadere ultionis æternæ, qui ̈ dum viveret insignitus est signaculo Sanctæ Trinitatis. lib. 1. sacr. ceremoniar. Rom. Eccles. sec. 15. cap. 1. fol.. 152. b. edit. Colon. ann. 1574.

Sunt aliæ orationes, in quibus petitur, ut Deus animas defunctorum in corporibus ad beatitudinem in die judicii suscitet. Jo. Medin. ut supra.

h Absolve quæsumus, Domine, animam famuli tui ab omni vinculo delictorum: ut in resurrectionis gloria inter sanctos et electos tuos resuscitatus respiret. Orat. pro defunct. in missali Romano, vetere et novo. nec non in Gregorii sacramentario, tom. 2. liturgic. Pamelii, pag. 386. et tom. 5. oper. Gregor. pag. 229, 230.edit. Paris. 1619. Similis etiam oratiuncula habeturin Gregorii Antiphonario, pag. 175. Pamelii, col. 62. edit. Paris. Erue, Domine, animas eorum ab omni vinculo delictorum: ut in resurrectionis gloria inter sanctos tuos resuscitari mereantur.

glory of the resurrection, being raised among thy saints and elect, he may breathe again," or be refreshed. And that other in that Roman pontifical; " O God, unto whom all things do live, and unto whom our bodies in dying do not perish, but are changed for the better; we humbly pray thee, that thou wouldest command the soul of thy servant N. to be received by the hands of thy holy angels, to be carried into the bosom of thy friend the patriarch Abraham, and to be raised up at the last day of the great judgment: and whatsoever faults, by the deceit of the devil, he hath incurred, do thou of thy pity and mercy wash away by forgiving them." Now forasmuch as it is most certain, that all such as depart in grace, as the adversaries acknowledge that all in purgatory do, are sure to escape hell, and to be raised up unto glory at the last day ; Medina perplexeth himself exceedingly in according these kind of prayers with the received grounds of purgatory; and, after much agitation of the business to and fro, at last resolveth upon one of these two desperate conclusions: that, touching these "prayersk which are made in the Church for the dead, it may first of all be said, that it is not necessary to excuse them all from all unfitness. For

Deus, cui omnia vivunt, et cui non pereunt moriendo corpora nostra, sed mutantur in melius; te supplices deprecamur, ut suscipi jubeas animam famuli tui N. per manus sanctorum angelorum tuorum deducendam in sinum amici tui Abrahæ patriarchæ, resuscitandamque in novissimo judicii magni die: et quicquid vitiorum, diabolo fallente, contraxit, tu pius et misericors abluas indulgendo. Pontifical. Roman. Clem. VIII. jussu edit. Romæ ann. 1595. pag. 685. et Venet. ann. 1572. fol. 226. col. 4. lib. 1. sacr. ceremon. Rom. eccles. sec. 15. cap. 1. fol. 153. b. edit. Colon. Oper. Gregorii, tom. 5. col. 329, 230. edit. Paris. 1619. Prec. ecclesiast. a G. Cassandro edit. pag. 384. operum.

* Respondetur, quantum ad orationes quæ pro defunctis in Ecclesia fiunt, posse primo dici, non esse necessarium omnes eas ab omni ineptitudine excusare. Multa enim in Ecclesia legi permittuntur, quæ, quamvis non omnino vera sint, vel omnino apta, conferunt tamen ad fidelium devotionem excitandam et augendam. Talia multa credendum est contineri in historiis non sacris, et in Legendis sanctorum, et in opinionibus doctorum et scripturis; quæ omnia tolerantur in Ecclesia interim, dum super illis nulla movetur quæstio, nullumque insurgit scandalum. Ac proinde non mirum, in orationibus prædictis aliquid minus aptum contineri, et ab Ecclesia tolerari: cum tales orationes factæ sint a personis privatis, non a conciliis, nec per concilia omnino sint approbatæ. Jo. Medin. u

supr.

we

many things are permitted to be read in the Church, which, although they be not altogether true, nor altogether fit, yet serve for the stirring up and encreasing the devotion of the faithful. Many such things," saith he, " believe are contained in the histories that be not sacred, and in the legends of the saints, and in the opinions and writings of the doctors: all which are tolerated by the Church in the mean time, while there is no question moved of them, and no scandal ariseth from them. And therefore it is no marvel, that somewhat not so fit should be contained in the foresaid prayers, and be tolerated in the Church: seeing such prayers were made by private persons, not by councils, neither were approved at all by councils."

And we easily do believe indeed, that their offices and legends are fraught not only with untrue and unfit, but also with far worse stuff: neither is this any news unto us. Agobardus, bishop of Lyons, complained about eight hundred years ago, that the antiphonary used in his Church, had "many' ridiculous and fantastical" things in it; and that he was fain tom cut off from thence such things as seemed to be "either superfluous, or light, or lying, or 'blasphemous." The like complaint was made not long since by Lindanus, of the Roman antiphonaries and missals: "wherein" not only apocryphal tales," saith he, "out of the Gospel of Nicodemus, and other toys are thrust in; but the very secret prayers themselves are defiled with most foul faults." But now that we have the "Roman missal restored according to the decree of the council of Trent, set out by the command of Pius V. and re

1 Multa ridiculosa et phantastica. Agobard. ad cantores Lugdunens. de correct. Antiphonarii, pag. 396. edit. Paris.

m Hac de causa et Antiphonarium pro viribus nostris magna ex parte correximus: amputatis his, quæ vel superflua, vel levia, vel mendacia, aut blasphema videbantur. Id. ibid. pag. 392.

n Ubi non Apocrypha modo ex evang. Nicodemi et aliis nugis sunt infarta; sed ipsæ adeo secretæ preces (imo ipse, pro pudor et dolor! canon et varians et

redundans) sunt mendis turpissimis conspurcatæ. Wil. Lindan. de opt. gen.

interpr. script. lib. 3. cap. 3.

• Missale Romanum ex decreto sacrosancti concilii Tridentini restitutum, Pii

vised again by the authority of Clemens VIII." I doubt much whether our Romanists will allow the censure which their Medina hath given, of the prayers contained therein. And therefore, if this will not please them, he hath another answer in store: of which though his countryman Mendoza hath given sentence, that it is indigna viro theologo, unworthy of any man that beareth the name of a divine; yet such as it is, you shall have it. Supposing then, that the Church hath no intention to pray for any other of the dead, but those that are detained in purgatory: this he delivereth for his second resolution. "The Church, knowing that God hath power to punish everlastingly those souls by which, when they lived, he was mortally offended; and that God hath not tied his power unto the Scriptures, and unto the promises that are contained in the Scripture (forasmuch as he is above all things, and as omnipotent after his promises, as if he had promised nothing at all): therefore the Church doth humbly pray God, that he would not use this his absolute omnipotency against the souls of the faithful, which are departed in grace; therefore she doth pray that he would vouchsafe to free them from everlasting pains, and from revenge and the judgment of condemnation, and that he would be pleased to raise them up again with his elect."

But leaving our popish doctors, with their profound speculations of the not limiting of God's power by the Scriptures, and the promises which he hath made unto us therein let us return to the ancient fathers, and consider

V. pont. max. jussu editum, et Clementis VIII. auctoritate recognitum. Rom. ann. 1604. Paris. 1605.

P Alphons. Mendoz. controvers. theolog. quæst. 6. scholastic. num. 5.

a Sciens Ecclesia, Deum potestatem habere puniendi æternaliter animas illas, per quas, cum viverent, fuerat mortaliter offensus; quodque Deus potestatem suam non alligaverit Scripturis, et promissis quæ in Scriptura continentur ; quandoquidem ipse super omnia est, et tam omnipotens post promissa, ac si nil promisisset ideo Ecclesia simpliciter Deum orat, ne illa absoluta omnipotentia contra animas fidelium, qui in gratia decesserunt, utatur; ideo orat, ut eas ab æternis pœnis, et a vindicta, et judicio condemnationis liberare, et ut eas cum suis electis resuscitare, dignetur. Jo. Medina, ut supr.

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