profit us;" which prayer indeed was to be found heretofore in modernioribus sacramentariis, as pope Innocent speaketh, and in the Roman missals that were published before the council of Trent, as namely in that which was printed at Paris, in the year one thousand five hundred and twenty-nine; but in the new reformed missal, wherewith, it seemeth, Mendoza was not so well acquainted as with his scholastical controversies, it is put out again, and another prayer for Leo put in; that by the celebration of those "officesP of atonement, a blessed retribution might accompany him." Neither is there any more wrong done unto St. Leo, in praying for him after this manner, than unto all the rest of his fellows in that other prayer of the Roman liturgy: "We have received, O Lord, the divine mysteries; which as they do profit thy saints unto glory, so we do beseech thee that they may profit us for our healing;" and nothing so much as is done unto all the faithful deceased, when in their masses for the dead they say daily, "Lord' Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful that are departed, from the pains of hell, and from the deep lake; deliver them from the mouth of the lion, that hell do not swallow them up, that they fall not into darkness." So that, whatsoever commodious expositions our adversaries can bring for the justifying of the Roman service, the same may we make use of, to shew that the ancient Church might pray for the dead, and yet in so doing have no relation at all unto purgatory; yea, and pray for the martyrs and other saints P Ut per hæc piæ placationis officia, et illum beata retributio comitetur, et nobis gratiæ tuæ dona conciliet. Missal. Roman. in decreto concil. Tridentin. restitut. in fest. S. Leonis. 9 Sumpsimus, Domine, divina mysteria: quæ, sicut sanctis tuis prosunt ad gloriam, ita nobis, quæsumus, proficiant ad medelam. Bellarm. de purgator. lib. 2. cap. 18. Sixt. Senens. lib. 6. biblioth. sanct. annotat. 47. ex Gregorii sacramentario. r Domine Jesu Christe, rex gloriæ, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de pœnis inferni, et de profundo lacu: libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas Tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum. Missa in commemorat. omnium fidelium defunctorum, et in missis quotidianis defunctorum, in offertorio. that were in the state of bliss, without offering unto them any injury thereby. For the clearing of the meaning of those prayers which are made for Leo, and the other saints, to the two expositions brought in by pope Innocent, cardinal Bellarmine addeth this for a third: "that" peradventure therein the glory of the body is petitioned for, which they shall have in the day of the resurrection. For although (saith he) they shall certainly obtain that glory, and it be due unto their merits; yet it is not absurd to desire and ask this for them, that by more means it may be due unto them." Where, laying aside those unsavoury terms of debt and merits, whereof we shall have occasion to treat in their proper place, the answer is otherwise true in part; but not full enough to give satisfaction unto that which was objected. For the primary intention of the Church indeed, in her prayers for the dead, had reference unto the day of the resurrection: which also in divers places we find to have been expressly prayed for: as in the Egyptian liturgy, attributed unto St. Cyril, bishop of Alexandria; "Raise up their bodies, in the day which thou hast appointed, according to thy promises, which are true and cannot lie: grant unto them, according to thy promises, that which eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and which hath not ascended into the heart of man, which thou hast prepared, O Lord, for them that love thy holy name: that thy servants may not remain in death, but may get out from thence; although slothfulness and negligence have followed them:" and in that which is used by the Christians of St. Thomas, as they are commonly called, Adde tertio, fortasse peti gloriam corporis, quam habebunt in die resurrectionis. Nam etiamsi gloriam illam certo consequentur, et debetur eorum meritis; tamen non est absurdum hoc illis desiderare et petere, ut pluribus modis debeatur. Bellarmin. de purgator. lib. 2. cap. 18. Resuscita corpora eorum, in die quem constituisti, secundum promissiones tuas veras et mendacii expertes: concede eis, secundum promissa tua, id quod non vidit oculus, et auris non audivit, et quod in cor hominis non ascendit, quod præparasti, Domine, amatoribus nominis tui sancti ; ut famuli tui non permaneant in morte, sed ut inde emigrent, etiamsi persecuta sit eos pigritia aut negligentia, &c. Cyrill. liturg. a Victorio Scialach ex Arabico convers. pag. 62. in the East Indies: "Let" the Holy Ghost give resurrec- But yet the cardinal's answer, that the glory of the "Resurrectionem faciat defunctis vestris in die novissimo; et dignos faciat illos regno incorruptibili Spiritus Sanctus. Missa Angamallensis, ex Syriaco convers. in Itinerar. Alexii Mensii. Te quæso, summe Deus, ut charissimos juvenes matura resurrectione suscites et resuscites; ut immaturum hunc vitæ istius cursum matura resurrectione compenses. Ambros. de obit. Valentiniani: in ipso fine. * Nullam læsionem sustineant animæ eorum; sed cum magnus ille dies resurrectionis ac remunerationis advenerit, resuscitare eos digneris, Domine, una cum sanctis et electis tuis. Alcuin. Offic. per ferias; oper. col. 228. Preces ecclesiast. a Georg. Cassandro collect. pag. 384. oper. y Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, collocare dignare corpus et animam et spiritum famuli tui N. in sinibus Abrahæ, Isaac, et Jacob; ut, cum dies agnitionis tuæ venerit, inter sanctos et electos tuos eum resuscitari præcipias. Grimold. sacramentar. tom. 2. liturgic. Pamel. pag. 456, 457. Habetur eadem oratio in missali Romano nondum reformato (nam in novo ex decreto concilii Tridentini restituto nusquam comparet), corporis tantum mentione omissa : et, tomo 3. oper. Gregorii, corporis simul et spiritus nominibus prætermissis. אניח מריא אלהא נפשתהון ורוחתהון ופגריהון ורום טאלא * -Orat. pro defunctis, in Syriace lingua primis elemen דרחמא על גרמיהון tis, ab Alb. Widmanstadio edit. Vienna, ann. 1555. body may be prayed for, which the saints shall have at the day of the resurrection, cometh somewhat short of that which the Church used to request in the behalf of St. Leo. For in that prayer express mention is made of his soul and to it is wished, that profit may redound by the present oblation. And therefore this defect must be supplied out of his answer unto that other prayer, which is made for the souls of the faithful departed, that they may be delivered out of the mouth of the lion, and that hell may not swallow them up. To this he saith; that "the church doth pray for these souls, that they may not be condemned unto the everlasting pains of hell: not as if it were not certain, that they should not be condemned unto those pains, but because it is God's pleasure that we should pray, even for those things which we are certainly to receive." The same answer did Alphonsus de Castro give before him: that "very often those things are prayed for, which are certainly known shall come to pass as they are prayed for; and that of this there be very many testimonies:" and Johannes Medina, that "Godd delighteth to be prayed unto, even for those things, which a Ecclesiaorat pro animabus, quæ in purgatorio degunt, ne damnentur ad pœnas Gehennæ sempiternas; non quidem quod certum non sit, eas non damnandas ad eas pœnas, sed quia vult Deus, nos orare etiam pro iis rebus, quas certo accepturi sumus. Bellarm. de purgator. lib. 2. cap. 5. b Sæpissime petuntur illa, quæ certo sciuntur eventura ut petuntur: et hujus rei plurima sunt testimonia. Alphons. Castr. contr. hæres. lib. 12, de purgator. hær. 3. c One whereof may be that prayer of the prophet, in the 9th of Daniel : whereupon S. Hierome writeth thus: In cinere et sacco postulat impleri quod promiserat Deus: non quo esset incredulus futurorum; sed ne securitas negligentiam, et negligentia pareret offensam. Op. tom. 3. pag. 1107. d Gaudet Deus orari, etiam pro his, quæ alioqui facturus esset. Decreverat enim Deus, post peccatum Adæ, carnem sumere; decrevitque tempus, quo venturus erat: et gratæ illi fuerunt orationes sanctorum pro sua incarnatione et adventu orantium. Decrevit etiam Deus omni peccatori pœnitenti veniam dare: et tamen grata est illi oratio, qua vel ipse pœnitens pro se, vel alius pro illo orat, ut ejus pœnitentiam Deus acceptare dignetur. Decrevit etiam Deus, et promisit, Ecclesiam suam non deserere, et conciliis legitime congregatis adesse: et tamen grata est Deo oratio, et hymni, quibus ejus præsentia, et favor et gratia, ipsi concilio et Ecclesiæ imploratur. Jo. Medin. de pœnit, tract. 6. quæst. 6. codicis de oratione. otherwise he purposed to do. For God had decreed (saith he) after the sin of Adam, to take our flesh, and he decreed the time wherein he meant to come: and yet the prayers of the saints, that prayed for his incarnation and for his coming, were acceptable unto him. God hath also decreed to grant pardon unto every repentant sinner; and yet the prayer is grateful unto him, wherein either the penitent doth pray for himself, or another for him, that God would be pleased to accept his repentance. God hath decreed also and promised, not to forsake his Church, and to be present with councils lawfully assembled: yet the prayer notwithstanding is grateful unto God, and the hymns, whereby his presence, and favour and grace, is implored both for the council and the Church." And whereas it might be objected, that, howsoever the Church may sometimes pray for those things which she shall certainly receive, yet she doth not pray for those things which she hath already received; and this she hath received, that those souls shall not be damned, seeing they have received their sentence, and are most secure from damnation: the cardinal replieth, that this objection may easily be avoided. "For although those souls," saith he, "have received already their first sentence in the particular judgment, and by that sentence are freed from hell: yet doth there yet remain the general judgment, in which they are to receive the second sentence. Wherefore the Church, praying that those souls in the last judgment may not fall into darkness, nor be swallowed up of hell, doth not pray for the thing which the soul hath, but which it shall receive." Thus these men, labouring to shew how the prayers for the dead used in their Church may stand with their conceits of purgatory, do thereby inform us how the prayers for the dead, used by the ancient Church, may stand well enough without the supposal of any pur e Nam etsi animæ purgatorii jam acceperint primam sententiam in judicio particulari, eaque sententia liberæ sint a Gehenna: tamen adhuc superest judicium generale, in quo secundam sententiam accepturæ sunt. Quocirca Ecclesia orans, ne in judicio extremo animæ illæ cadant in obscurum, neve absorbeantur a tartaro, non orat pro ea re quam accepit, sed pro ea quam acceptura est anima. Bellarm. ut supr. |