John Barclay his vindication of the intercession of saints, the veneration of relicks and miracles, against the sectaries of the times Book II. Chap. VII. Englished by a person of quality. With allowance. Parænesis ad sectarios. Book 2, Chapter 7. English. Barclay, John, 1582-1621. 1688 Approx. 40 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 12 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-12 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A30890 Wing B716 ESTC R215790 99827559 99827559 31981 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A30890) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 31981) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1922:14) John Barclay his vindication of the intercession of saints, the veneration of relicks and miracles, against the sectaries of the times Book II. Chap. VII. Englished by a person of quality. With allowance. Parænesis ad sectarios. Book 2, Chapter 7. English. Barclay, John, 1582-1621. [2], 20, [2] p. printed by Mary Thompson at the entrance into Old-Spring-Garden near Charing-Cross: and sold by Matthew Turner at the Holy-Lamb in Holbourn; and John Lane at the corner of Wild-street, London : 1688. A translation of Book 2, chapter 7 of: Barclay, John. Parænesis ad sectarios. Final leaf is blank. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. 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Miracles -- Early works to 1800. 2005-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2005-05 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-08 Simon Charles Sampled and proofread 2005-08 Simon Charles Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion JOHN BARCLAY HIS VINDICATION Of the Intercession of SAINTS , The Veneration of RELICKS AND MIRACLES , AGAINST THE Sectaries of the Times , BOOK II. CHAP. VII . Englished by a Person of Quality . With Allowance . Printed by Mary Thompson at the Entrance into Old-Spring-Garden near Charing-Cross : And Sold by Matthew Turner at the Holy-Lamb in Holbourn : And John Lane at the Corner of Wild-street , 1688. CONCERNING THE Intercession of SAINTS , The Veneration of RELICKS AND MIRACLES . BOOK II. CHAP. VII . T IS one and the same Church of GOD , which , Triumphing in Heaven , enjoys the Fruits of its Victory ; which , Militant on Earth , is expos'd to the Assaults of its Enemies ; and which , freed from Danger , tho' not yet from Punishment , is cleansing by Purgatory Pains . And this whole Church is in Charity , because it is in GOD. Now 't is the Office of Charity , that the Inferiors rejoyce at the Prosperity of their Superiors ; and that the Superiors , as far as in them lies , be assistant to their Inferiors . We therefore give our Brethren , who are now in Heaven , what Honour we lawfully may , and in return desire the Assistance of their Prayers , of which we often find the Effects . And as for those , who , being shut up in the Prison of Purgatory , cannot help themselves , we give them , what succour we can , by pouring forth our Prayers for them to the common Father of us all , who is well pleas'd with this Brotherly Affection , we mutually bear one another in him . But these Bonds of Love the Sectaries would have broken asunder . They say , that the Saints mind only their own Happiness , neither Hearing nor being any ways mov'd by our Prayers : To which they farther add ; that , whatever help we expect from their Suffrages , we so much derogate from the Honour of CHRIST : They moreover affirm , that there are not ( contrary to what we with the most Antient Fathers believe ) any Punishments , by which such of the Elect , as are not yet perfectly clean , are Purify'd after Death . All these things are briefly to be asserted against them . It has ever from the most Antient Times , been the Custom of the Orthodox Church , to request of the Blessed Spirits , the Holy Martyrs , and all others , whom the Majesty of Miracles manifested to be in the Fruition of GOD and Heavenly Joyes , that they would Pray for us to our Lord. What do ye , O Sectaries , dislike in this ? The Scriptures , you say , teach it not . If I should answer , That neither do the Scriptures forbid it , what could you farther reply ? Why , shall I not rather believe a thing to be lawful , which , not being prohibited by the Scriptures , is practis'd by the Church ; than to be unlawful , because it is not expresly commanded in Scripture ? But we seek not to shelter our selves under this Excuse . For we rely on the Scriptures , by which the Faithful are frequently commanded mutually to Pray for each other ; and in which we often find Holy Men requesting the Prayers of their Brethren ? 'T is so , thou wilt say ; but these were living Men , and desir'd the Prayers of the Living . Shew me , Sectary , this difference in Scripture , that 't is lawful to desire GODS Favour by the Prayers of Holy Men yet Living , and unlawful so to do by the Prayers of the Deceased , and I will yeild up the Cause . Certainly Moses was Dead , and so was Samuel , when GOD declar'd , That they were wont to Pray for the Jews , Jer. 15. v. 1. Jeremiah also was dead , when 't was reveal'd to Judas Maccabeus , That he Pray'd for the People and the Temple , 2 Maccab. 5. But thou wilt say ; There is one Mediator between GOD and Men , which is CHRIST JESUS ; Why then do ye make so many Mediators , so many Intercessors for us ? There can scarce be a more stupid Argument : So that t is to be wondred , you should so often press to have it heard . There is indeed one CHRIST , by whose Mediation Salvation is granted ; but Mediators of Intercession ( such as we affirm the Saints to be ) you your selves do not deny , that there are as many , as there are Believers . For do not you desire the Prayers of one another ? And is not he , whose Prayers are desir'd , as much a Mediator for you , as the Saints are for us ? Why therefore do you cry out , that we injure CHRIST : Why do you accuse us of esteeming his Merits insufficient ? The Controversy lyes in this Point ; whether we may desire the Prayers of that Person now triumphing in Heaven , whose Intercession we might lawfully have requested , when living here on Earth . This is , to wit , the great Injury , we do to CHRIST ; this is our Impiety , this is our Forgetfulness of CHRIST's Passion . But thou wilt reply , The Saints neither see , nor hear their Suppliants ; that 't is a very vain thing to Address our Discourse to these , who are so far off . Were it so , O Sectary , We Catholicks might indeed be accus'd of Folly , in taking such unnecessary pains to offer up our Petitions to those , who are , though not unworthy ; yet wholly ignorant of the Addresses , made to them ; yet this would not render us guilty of Impiety . But we are by Scriptures , Fathers , and the practice of the Church assur'd the contrary . If Moses , ( says our Lord by the Prophet Jeremiah , Chap. 15. v. 1. ) and Samuel shall stand before me , my Soul is not towards this People . Now how vain would this have been , had not Moses and Samuel then often stood before him , and been accustom'd according to the exigency of Affairs and Times , to intercede for the Jews . I omit its being most clearly said in the Maccabees , Chap. 15. That Hieremias and Onias , who were then departed out of this World , Pray'd for all the People of the Jews . And throughout the whole Apocalypse 't is said , That the Angels and Saints , do by the Power of God , behold these Earthly things . Moreover the Angel Raphael , ( as we find it in Tobias , Chap - 12. ) when he was standing before Almighty GOD , Offer'd up to our Lord the Prayers of Tobias ; 't is not therefore to be question'd , but he heard them . Finally , dost thou believe , that thou art wiser in this matter , than the much to be Venerated Primitive Church ? Whose Custom and Doctrine in the time of St. Augustine and St. Ambrose , I shall in their words set before thee : The Angels , ( says St. Ambrose in his Book , De viduis ) are to be Supplicated , who are given us for a Guard , of whom we may seem to challenge some sort of Patronage , from the Pledge of their Bodies . They can Pray for our Sins , who have with their own Blood wash'd away , what Sins themselves have had . For they are GOD 's Martyrs , our Prelates , the Beholders of our Lives and Actions . Let us not be asham'd to use them , as Intercessors for our Infirmities ; because they themselves well knew the Infirmity of the Body , even when they overcame it . St. Augustine in his Book , De cura pro Mortuis , Chap. 4. has these words , When ever therefore the Mind reflects on the Place , where the Body of a most dear Friend is Buried , if this Place be more over Venerable for the Name of some Martyr , the Affection of the Rememberer recommends by its Prayers the beloved Soul to the same Martyr , which Affection , shewn to the Deceased by their most dear and faithful Friends , undoubtedly profits those , who , whilst they were living in the Body , deserv'd , that such things should after this Life be profitable to them . There is in this no Exclamation ; no Apostrophe . These Fathers sincerely and plainly declare their own and the Churches sense . I would here ( says my Author ) willingly Address my Discourse to the Almoner of the most Serene King of Great Britain . Him does the King ; him do many others believe ; and he is so often in fault , as he causes others to offend . Let him therefore consider , how great his Error is in denying it to be St. Augustin's Opinion , that the Martyrs should be Invocated . In his answer to the Apology of the most Illustrious Cardinal Bellarmine , he speaks thus . Now we consent to St. Augustine , that the Body of the Protomartyr should be conveniently Honour'd , since Almighty GOD was pleas'd to work some Miracles by it : But that he wrought those Miracles by the Invocation of Saints , is an Addition of the Cardinals own : For the Martyrs are not Invocated by St. Augustine . Nay , the Martyrs are Invocated by St. Augustine , unless we refuse to believe Augustine himself : For what can be plainer than that Sentence , 'T is not to be doubted , but the Affection of the Faithful profits the Deceased , when they recommend their Souls to the Martyrs . Why do you persuade the King , why do you persuade your self otherwise ? I call upon the Martyrs , whom you will not have call'd upon ; I willingly with Reverence beseech them , that they would obtain for you from our Lord this Faith , which you reject , and that the last Night may not close your Eyes , before you have abjur'd the darkness of Heresy in the Light of the Church . But we are commanded in the Scriptures to have recourse to GOD. Why then should we Address our selves to Saints ? O brave new Wisdom ! Was the Church Ignorant of this ? Did not the Fathers know it ? Nay , we are admonish'd , that we may very much be assisted by the Prayers of good Men ; and when we repair to the Saints , we go to GOD. For far be it from us to expect any thing from the Saints , but what they shall obtain for us of our Lord. They can do nothing of themselves . We desire nothing from them but their Prayers . And why should St. Peter and St. Paul , famous for the Purity of their Lives , and their triumphant Constancy at their Death , be less prevalent Advocates with Almighty GOD , than such contemptible Wretches , as you , or I , who are daily guilty of new Offences ? What shall I say of the Angel , whom GOD has plac'd as a Guardian over every one of us ? Would'st thou have an Assistant of so great Power , and , so great Splendour , be Unsaluted ? Wouldst not thou of thy own accord recommend thy self to him , to whom thou art committed by Almighty GOD. But some of you indeed deny , others are ignorant , that there are any such Spirits present with us . I have seen an Aged Sectary , who , though fierce , and daily disputing against us , yet deny'd , he had ever before heard it to be the Papists Opinion , that there was an Angel Assign'd for the keeping of every particular Person . Nor is to be doubted , said he , but this Fiction had its Original from the Domestick and Familiar Gods of the Gentils . Forbear , Sectary , thy ill Language . We have this Belief from the Holy Scriptures , and not from the Fooleries of the Heathen . For that People and Provinces have their Angels , who take care of their Affairs , thou findst in Daniel , Chap. 10. Where Michael is said to be Prince of the Jews , another of the Persians , and another of the Grecians . And that such Spirits are given to every particular Person , we are Taught in St. Matthew Chap. 18. ver . 10. Where our Saviour says , See , that he despise not one of these little ones , for I say to you , that their Angels in Heaven do always see the Face of my Father , which is in Heaven . Upon which place St. Hierom in his Commentary on St. Matthew has these Words , Great is the Dignity of Souls , that every one of them from its first Being should have an Angel appointed for its Guardian . The same Father on the Death of Paula says , I take to witness our Lord JESVS , and his Saints , and the very Angel himself , who was Keeper and Assistant of this admirable Woman , that I speak nothing Partially , after the custom of Flatterers . But you complain of the Veneration and Respect , we give the Saints : Because GOD alone , say you , is to be Worshiped . And St. Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians , chap. 11. v. 18. Forbids Christians to be seduc'd in the Humility and Religion of Angels . In fine , the Angel which shew'd St. John the Vision of the Apocalypse , suffer'd not himself to be Worship'd by him . These Objections , O Sectaries , are frequently in your Mouths , and as often and as often answer'd by Us. To Worship , is a Word of dubious signification . Some Worship is due to GOD alone : Whoever bestows this on Man , Angel , or Saint , can never avoid being guilty of Idolatry . There is another Worship , or Reverence , Pay'd by the Inferior to the Superior , without either believing him to be GOD , or Venerating him as such . With this all Princes , Kings , Angels , and Saints are to be respected according to their Degrees and Dignities : The one , as the Images of GOD on Earth ; the other , as the Domesticks of GOD in Heaven . And that thou mayst not doubt , but the Word Worship is in the Scriptures apply'd to those Honours , which may be Lawfully given to Creatures , thou findest in written of Abraham , Gen. 23. v. 7. And Abraham Arose , and Worshipped ( Adoravit ) the People of the Land , to wit , the Children of Heth. And of Nathan the Prophet 't is said , 3 Kings ch . 1. v. 23. And when he was come in before the King , and had Worship'd ( adorasset ) him , with his Face to the Ground . To the Words of the Apostle , forbiding the Humility and Religion of Angels , St. Chrysostom has long since answer'd in his seventh Homily on the Epistle to the Colossians , telling us , That by these words is forbidden the Heresie , which reputed Angels for Inferior Gods , as if by them , and not by CHRIST , we must be reconcil'd ; and have Access to the Father . Which Heresie was by the Antients attributed to Simon Magus . Nor has St. Augustin more slightly answer'd the Argument , you bring out of the Apocalypse , who in his 51st . Question on Genesis , says , that from the Majesty of the Expressions , which the Angel us'd ( for he had before ch . 1. v. 11. said , in the Person of our Lord , I am the first and the last , &c. St. John thought , 't was Christ , and not an Angel , that spake to him . And that the Angel therefore forbad St. John to give him the Honour , which was due to Christ. Others , and those very great men , thus expound it , that St. John err'd not in Worshipping the Angel ; but that the Angel refus'd to receive this Honour from St. John , who was an Apostle , a Prophet , and most dearly Beloved by JESUS CHRIST : So that there was on both sides an Holy Humility , both in the Giver and in the Refuser of this Worship . Now this indeed is both easie to Prove , and not hard to Believe . For can we imagine , St. John to have been Ignorant , that GOD alone , and no Angel , is to be Worship'd with Latria , or Divine Honour ? Or can it be thought , that he understood not , with what sort of Respect Angels were to be Venerated , who was not only CHRIST's Apostle , but his Beloved , who , leaning on the Breast of our Lord at his last Supper , was there taught the Mysteries of his Divinity , to whom our Saviours Mother was recommended as his own ; and who at that very time , when the Mysteries of the Apocalypse were reveal'd to him in the Island of Pathmos , had been above threescore years Preaching the Gospel through the World ? Canst thou conceit , that the Christians were till that time Ignorant , whether , or after what manner Angels are to be Reverenc'd ; or that the very Apostle knew not this , who , Teaching , Preaching , and writing the Gospel , was believ'd by all Christians ? If therefore St. John offer'd the Worship of Latria to the Angel , undoubtedly he believ'd him not to be an Angel , but our Lord. But if he knew him to be an Angel , 't is certain , both that he gave him not Divine Honour , and that 't is lawful in such Manner to Worship the Angels , as he then did . For 't were ridiculous to say , that our Lord had not till then reveal'd to Christians , what sort of Respect should be given to Angels , whom before that time all the Apostles , except St. John alone , were by Martyrdom taken out of the World. But let us suppose , what is most absurd , that St. John the Apostle knew not , what no Christian ought at that time to have been ignorant of , to wit , what Reverence was to be shewn to Angels ; 't was yet at least sufficient for him to have been once instructed in it by the Angel. But we find him notwithstanding , again attempting the same . For when ( as we have it Chap. 19. ) St. John fell down to worship , the Angel refus'd it with these words : See thou do it not , for I am thy fellow Servant . Nevertheless , we find St. John again ( chap. 21 ) falling down to worship him , and again hearing the same words from the Angel. Was St. John so ignorant of CHRIST's Laws ? Dost thou think he had so soon forgot , what he had but a little before learnt of the Angel ? Nay , this repeated falling down of St. John at the Angels feet sufficiently shews , that this pious veneration of his Friends and Messengers is not unacceptable to Almighty GOD. We therefore together with the Church , and the Psalmist , sing ; But to me , O GOD , thy Friends are become honourable exceedingly . We admine their happiness , we desire their help . But thou , O Sectary , shouldst thou meet some Holy Martyr , or some one of the Order of Prophets , or of the Choirs of the Angels , shouldst thou see him , shouldst thou speak to him , what Countenance wouldst thou put on , what Words , what Gesture wouldst thou use ? For however thou deny'st , that they dst now appear in this manner , yet wilt thou never deny , but that they may so do , if Almighty GOD shall see it fit ? Wouldst thou act with such a Spirit , as if he were thy equal ? Or wouldst thou not rather shew him Honour , that is , in the sense , of which we here speak , worship him ? For certainly thou , who art often mov'd with human Greatness , couldst not forbear venerating that Dignity , which is far more Yublime than all Earthly Honour . Why therefore may we not honour them , whom wa see not , yet we know them to be , and to be happy , united to GOD , the Friends of GOD , triumphing in a most secure Immortality ? Why should it be unlawful to have the same Respect for those we see not , which we may lawfully have for those we see ? Nor are you contented only to take away all Honour from the Souls of the Blessed , but you make war also on their Bodies . I tremble to relate how many Reliques of Saints you have scatter'd in the wind , thrown into the water , consum'd with Fire ; how often you have in scorn pluckt their sacred Limbs out of the Gold , and Gems , in which they were inclos'd , to expose them to Contempt . Posterity will lament their loss , we are asham'd for the Infamy of our Age. For what caus'd all this Impiety , but that the Devils who set up Heresie , no less hate the Sanctity of Reliques , by which they have been often tormented , than the Antiochian Appollo did the Bones of the Martyr Babilas , near which he was prohibited to give his Oracles . I know what you would say ; to wit , that our Idolatry could not be restrain'd but by the Destruction of those things , which we worshipt . Let us see , what Idolatry this was , which must be cur'd by so desperate a Remedy , or how we have in the Veneration of Reliques exceeded the Custom of the most Primitive Church . If any Reliques of Saints are removed from one place to another , we make the Streets ring with Hymns and Psalms ; the action is performed with a great Conflux of People , who come to see and reverence these holy Remains . We diligently and devoutly apply our Handkerchiefs and Garments to the Coffin , or Bier , in or on which these Sacred Bones are laid , that secret Blessings may flow upon us . We divide their Bodies and Bones into Parts , that more may be partakers of their Happiness and Help . We lay up these Reliques in the Churches , and under the Altars , from whence the most holy Sacrifice is dispens'd , or enchase them in the richest Metals and Jewels . We often repair to them , supplicating Almighty GOD by these Pledges of his Friends , and sometimes also craving the Intercession of them , whose Remains we behold . We prostrate our selves , and kiss this venerable Dust , which heretofore serv'd Almighty GOD , and shall hereafter rise again , be chang'd and reign with CHRIST . We believe that the Devils tremble , and are perplext at these holy Bodies , and that GOD is sometimes pleas'd to assert by Miracles as well this our Piety , as the Honour of Reliques . I have the more at large declar'd this kind of Worship , that thou . O Sectary , mightst know , Christians are not asham'd of their Profession . We publickly own , that these things are done , and carefully observ'd by us . All which if we shall demonstrate to have exactly practis'd in the first Ages of the Church , what remains , but that thou shouldst wonder at thy having been so bewitcht by Heresie , as to account this pious Custom of thy Ancestors for monstrous . How great Honour was by the Antients given to Reliques , thou mayst learn from Socrates lib. 3. cap. 16. from Theodoret lib. 3. cap. 9. and from Sozomen lib. 5. cap. 18. There thou wilt read , what a concourse of Christians there was , when in the Reign of Julian the Apostate the Bones of St. Babilas were to be remov'd from the Suburb Daphne to Antioch ; and that together with the Women and Children , rejoycing and singing Psalms they carried the Coffin . Yea , that Every one of them going before began to dance ; and that there were present at the Solemnity Men and Women , young Men and Maids , Old Men and Children , Evagrius , ( lib. 1. cap. 16. ) writes , that the Bones of St. Ignatius were at the Command of Theodosius the Great , Translated with exceeding Honour to Antioch : For which cause , says he , there is even to our Age kept a Solemn Feast of common Joy. See , how great , and how much approv'd this Veneration was , of which 't was thought fit to keep an Annual Commemoration . Thou findst in St. Hierom against Vigilantius , that the Bones of the Prophet Samuel were in his time brought from Palastine to Constantinople by the Command of Arcadius . All the Bishops , says he , carried in a golden Vessel those Reliques , wrapt in Silk . He adds , That the People of all the Churches , went to meet the Holy Reliques , which they received with as much Joy , as if they had seen the Prophet present and alive : So that from Palastine even to Chalcedon the Swarms of People were joyn'd together , sounding forth with one voice the Praises of CHRIST . With what Reverence also the Bones of St. Chrysostom were receiv'd , when they were thirty five years after his Decease Translated to Constantinople , thou hast related by Theodoret , a Writer of that Age ; who in his Ecclesiastical History ( lib. 5. cap. 36. ) says thus , The Faithful Assembly of Men , making the Sea as it were a Continent by the Multitude of their Ships , cover'd with the Lights the mouth of the Bosphorus , lying near Propontis . Nor mayst thou say , that these were as Funural Honours , which were in this manner given to the Saints ; and that Reliques were not in that Age remov'd , unless it were from one Monument to another . Nay , Sectary , these Sacred Pledges were for the avoiding of danger , and the more Solemn Invocating of Almighty GOD , brought forth of the Churches , and sometimes carried even into the Camp. Evagrius ( lib. 1. cap. 13. ) relates , That he saw the Head of St. Simeon the Monk , sent to Philippicus the Emperors Son-in-Law , who desir'd , that some Reliques of Saints should be sent him , To the end he might more successfully perform his Military Expeditions in the East . And hence you see , that 't is neither new , nor any way Injurious to the Saints , if their Reliques are divided into parts , that they may be distributed to many . For that Simeon was not Beheaded ; but having dy'd a Natural Death , his Body was by the Christians not Disrespectfully torn in Pieces , but Reverently and Piously divided . Thou readest moreover in St. Augustin ( de Civit. Dei , lib. 22. cap. 8. ) that the Reliques of St. Stephen were dispers'd in several places up and down Africk , as at the Tibilitan Waters , in the Castle of Synes , at Calama , Audituras , Vzali , and Hippo : That they were Reverenc'd , that Miracles were every where wrought at them , By the Martyr , by the Martyrs help , at the Martyrs Request . These are the Words of St. Augustin . A person of very great Quality , but ( alas ! ) a Sectary , in whose Presence there was accidentally some Discourse concerning this so great Consent of our Ancestors in Venerating Reliques ; desirous not to dissolve , but captiously to elude this Argument , said , that these were some Remains of the Idolatry , then newly Abolish'd ; at which the Bishops of those times conniv'd , that they might not seem altogether to oppose the Peoples Inclination . O , whoever thou art , acknowledge the Vitiousness of Heresie , which forces her Patrons on these Absurdities . For if this had its Original from the Evil of Idolatry , and not from Christian Vertue , why did the Bishops themselves not only suffer it in the People , but Instruct them in it , as a part of Religious Piety ? Why did they refer the Rites and Solemnities of this Veneration to Almighty GOD , as their Author ? Why also did GOD assert these things by Miracles ? For thou mayst hear no Unlearned , nor Ignorant Person , but the great St. Augustin , who in his Confessions , ( lib. 9. cap. 7. ) says thus : Then didst thou in a Vision discover to thy aforemention'd Prelate ( St. Ambrose ) in what place lay conceal'd the Bodies of thy Holy Mortyrs , St. Protasius and St. Gervasius , which thou hadst for so many years reserv'd uncorrupted in Secret , that thou mightst seasonably bring them forth to restrain a Feminine ; but Royal Fury ( to wit , of Justina Augusta , Mother to Valentinian , who was an Arian , and a great Enemy to the Catholicks . ) For when these Bodies being digg'd up , and brought forth , were with fitting Honour Translated to Ambrose 's Cathedral , not only those , who were tormented with unclean Spirits , as the same Devils confess'd , were Cur'd ; but a certain Citizen also , well known in the City , who had ben many years blind , having enquir'd , and being told the Cause of the Multitudes rejoycing , started up on a sudden , and desir'd his Guide to lead him thither : Whether being brought , he besought Admission to touch with an Hankerchief the Bier of thy Saints , whose Death was Precious in thy Sight . Which he had no sooner done , and put it to his Eyes , but they were presently opened . The same St. Augustin in his Treatise of the City of GOD , ( lib. 22. cap. 8. ) has these words , When Bishop Projectus brought the Reliques of the most glorious Martyr St. Stephen to the Tibilitan Waters , there was a great Meeting and Flocking of the People to that place in Honour and Memory of the Saint . There it happen'd , that a certain Blind-woman begg'd , she might be led to the Bishop , as he was carrying those Holy Pledges : She gave him some Flowers , which she had brought along with her : They were again return'd to her : She put them to her Eyes , and immediatly saw . All the Company being in a maze , she joyfully led the way alone , having now no need of any one to guide her . In the same place he relates many very great Miracles ; and , as he says , well known to himself , wrought in several places at the Reliques of St. Stephen : Amongst the rest , five rais'd from the Dead , some of which carri'd to the Reliques , whilst to others their Garments , having first touch'd the Reliques , were apply'd to them after their Deaths . How would ye , O Sectaries , hiss at these Stories , related in the same stile , and after the same manner , were they Penn'd by any Writer of these Times ; when as now , through Veneration to so great an Author , ye Blush at them ? Recollect thy self , O Sectary , and thou wilt see , that the Bones of the Martyrs were taken up , not through any Idolatrous Custom , but by the Command of Almighty GOD. Thou wilt see , that 't is not only a lawful , but also a Pious Action , to apply Clothes and Handkerchiefs to their Bodies ; and from such an Application both to expect Help , and desire it . Thou wilt see in fine , that all these things are , as right and sincere , approv'd by Miracles . These Reliques we either deposite under the Altars , or lay up in Beautified Coffers : And both these according to Antient Custom . St. Hierom against Vigilantius has these words . Is it therefore ill done of the Roman Bishop , to offer Sacrifices to our Lord over the Venerable Bones , as we esteem them , of St. Peter and St. Paul , who are Dead ; though in thy Opinion 't is only useless Dust ? And in the same place he says of the same Vigilantius ; He grieves , that the Reliques of the Martyrs are cover'd with costly Vails , and not rather bound up in Rags , or Hair-cloth . We go also to the places , where these Reliques are kept , there to Pray to GOD , or speak to the Saints , and falling down , we Kiss their Sepulchres . These things also we have from Antient Institution . For St. Hierom calls Vigilantius a Moster , deserving to be Banish'd to the farthest parts of the Earth , for daring to write these words : The Souls of the Martyrs therefore love their Bodies , and hover about them ; and are always present , lest , if an Orator should perhaps come , they , being absent , might not hear him . Now who can believe , either that Vigilantius would have written those things , had it not been at that time usual with the Christians to crave the Martyrs Intercession at the Places , where their Reliques were reserv'd ; or that the most Learned St. Hierom would have been so highly offended with Vigilantius for scoffing at this Practice , had not he , who was educated in the Church , and throughly vers'd in Antiquity , well known , that this was Piously to GOD's Honour , and with the Churches Approbation , perform'd by Christians . The same St. Hierom in the Life of St. Hilarion writes thus of one Constantia , whom he calls , A most Holy Woman : She was wont to watch whole Nights at his ( St. Hilarion's ) Sepulchre , and there to Discourse with him , as if he were present to hear her Prayers . And St. Augustine in his Treatise of the City of GOD , ( lib. 22. ch . 8. ) relates , that one Pauladia was by a very great Miracles Cur'd of a most dreadful Disease , who , says he , Went to make her Prayers to the Holy Martyr St. Stephen . We believe in fine , That at the presence of such Reliques , the Devils are vex'd and tormented . Nor mayst thou therefore call us simple and credulous Coxcombs . For in this we have the Church for our Mistress , and the most Antient Fathers for our Authors . Was the Emperor Constantine , says St. Hierom against Vigilantius , guilty of Sacriledge in Translating to Constantinople the Holy Reliques of St. Andrew , St. Luke , and St. Timothy , in whose presence the Devils roar ? There is a remarkable Passage in St. Augustin's 137 Epistle to the Clergy and People of Hippo , which I will for thy sake , O Sectary , here transcribe . GOD indeed , who created all things , is every where , being contain'd or included in no place , and he must by all true Worshipers be Worship'd in Spirit and Truth ; that hearing in Secret , he may also Justify and Crown in Secret. Nevertheless as to those things , which are visibly known to men , who can search into his Counsel , why these Miracles are Wrought in some places , and not in others ? For the Sanctity of the place where the Body of Blessed Felix of Nola is Buried , is known to many , whether I desir'd , that they ( to wit , Boniface the Priest , accus'd of an hainous Crime , together with his Accuser ) should go , because from hence it may more easily and Faithfully be written to us , what shall be manifested in either of them . For we know , that in Milain at the Sepulchres of the Saints , where the Devils wonderfully and Terribly Confess ; acertain Thief , who came to that place with a full intent to deceive by Swearing a Falshood ; was forc'd to confess his Theft , and restore what he had stoln . The Matter being sufficiently asserted by such eminent Persons , by so Antient a Practice and Belief : I shall conclude with the Opinion of Gennadius of Marseilles , which he himself thus delivers among the Ecclesiastical Decrees ( Lib. de Ecclesiast . Dogmat. cap. 73. ) We believe , that the Bodies of the Saints , and especially the Reliques of the Blessed Martyrs , are most sincerely to be Honour'd , as Members of CHRIST ; and that the Churches call'd by their Names , are with most Pious Affection and Faithful Devotion to be frequented , as Holy Places , Dedicated to Divine Worship . Whosoever shall oppose this Sentence , is not to be thought a Christian , but an Eunomian and Vigilantian . Tell me , Sectary , if Gennadius had liv'd in this Age , would he not have added you to Eunomians and Vigilantians , and said : He is not to be thought a Christian , but a Puritan or Protestant ? Matters are so connex'd , that , whilst we assert one thing , we at the same time Plead for another . For you deny all Belief to Miracles , which you say to have seen frequent in the Churches Infancy ; but that now , the Christian Faith being Establish'd , they are ceas'd . But consider , O Sectary , that this Faith was in St. Augustin's time receiv'd and settled throughout the World : And that the frequency of Miracles was then ceas'd , by which the Foundations of the Church in the Apostles time Encreas'd ; and yet He , as thou seest , acknowledges , that Miracles were wrought in his Age , especially at the Reliques of the Saints , nor that only in these Places , we have already cited ; but in many others also . Likewise , ( says he , Lib. 1. Retract . cap. 13. ) Whereas I said in my Book concerning true Religion : That these Miracles were not permitted to continue to our Times , lest the Soul should always seek visible things , and Mankind now grow cold by their frequency , which was heretofore inflam'd by their Novelty : This indeed is true ; for they do not now when Hands are laid on the Baptiz'd , so receive the Holy Ghost , as to speak with the Tongues of all Nations : Nor are the Sick now Cur'd by the Shaddow CHRIST's Preachers , as they pass along : The same may be said of such other things , as were then done , and have since manifestly ceas'd . But what I said , is not so to be understood , that no Miracles should be now believ'd to be done in the Name of CHRIST . For I my self , when I writ that very Book , well knew , that a Blind-man in the City of Millain receiv'd his Sight at the Bodies of certain Martyrs there ; with several other Miracles , of which there are even in our Times so many wrought , that we can neither know them all , nor reckon those , which we know . In the same Book ( ch . 14. ) he says : In another place , having related the Miracles which our Lord JESVS did , when he was here in the Flesh , I added these words . You will say , why are not these things done now ? And answered , Because they would not move , if they were not wonders ; and they would not be wonders , if they were frequent . Now this I said , because neither all those , nor yet so great Miracles are now wrought ; and not , because there are now none at all . He has related also at large the Miracles of his Age in his Tract of the City of GOD , ( lib. 22. cap. 8. ) What , how great , and how many are the Miracles there recited ! And those indeed certain , clear , done in his own Memory , and of which he himself was for the most part also a Witness . Nor did he commit to Writing all , that he then knew to have happen'd , being in a manner overcome with their Multitude . For he says , The desire , I have of finishing , according to my Promise , this my Treatise , permits me not to mention all , I know of this kind ; and without doubt most of my Friends , who shall happen to read , what I have here set down , will be sorry that I have omitted so many , which they know , as well as I. Whose pardon I now beg , desiring them to reflect , what a Toil it would be for me to do that , which the Work , I have here undertaken , will by no means allow . For to say nothing of others , should I but set down the Miraculous Cures , wrought by 〈◊〉 Martyr , the most glorious St. Stephen , in the Town of Calama , as also in our own , it would require the Writing of many Books , and yet they would not all be collected . Why therefore should our Age be thought destitute of Miracles ? What use was there then for them , which may not happen now ? What Scripture , what word of GOD banishes from us these VVorks of the Almighty ? If thou have regard to those frequent , and , as I may say , daily Miracles , by which the Church was in her beginning asserted , they were already , as St. Augustin confesses , ceas'd in his time ; but as for such , as are more seldom , though no less certain , neither was that Age , nor is ours , without them . But 't is no wonder , you would have those Miracles remov'd from the Minds and Eyes of Men , by which your Cause is overthrown : since there are none wrought amongst you , but such , by which you may learn that you are in Error ; since you are Enemies to Holy Relicks , at which CHRIST often does these Supernatural Works ; since lastly as many Miracles , as are wrought amongst us , are so many Thunderbolts of Almighty GOD , by which he confounds your Heresy . The End of the Seventh Chapter . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A30890-e180 James Stuart the 1st .