The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-05-03
Xxx V.

XIV.
You will bear in mind. James" re
marked John, on resuming the CONVEX
sation the next day, that you hav'
pledged yourself to prove that thu
Catholic church authorizes supersti
ton and idolatry."
And if l do not prove it. replied
James, Il will abandon the reformer:
and the reformation
Since you prefer the charge it de
wolves upon you to prove it.
That is not difficult. The fact is no
torious."
Assertions are easily made by the
INSCRIPTIONS, my brother; but L ask
for proofs"
Proofs. proofs? 1 have them il
abundance. What else are your pray
ers for the dead--your invocation OF
the saints-your worship of Mary-ad'
Grafton of crucifixes, pictures, images
relics of dead men and women What
is all this, but the most abomina BILE
idolatry and superstition? What else
is your alteration of the mass, and al
the vain and empty ceremonies of your
church? o, it is frightful to think to
what horrible lengths idOlatry and SUI
perStition are carried among you.
What more besotted, than full grown
man to believe that the priest can make
his God at will, to fall down and adore
| a bit of bread. or to imagine that he
is worshiping God by kissing the cruel
fix and telling his beads? l hope, John,
you lat least, avoid the superstitious
practice of telling your beads"
Il say my beads daily for your con-
version"
That is enough. My charge is
proved. When man like you can do
that, there is no need of other evidence
to prove that your church favors SUI
| perstition.
ut requires strong faith, no doubt,
! to be able to regard your conversion as
possible; but all things are possible
with God, and he has never been known
to deny his holy Mother any request.
for she can request nothing not in
accordance with his will. If she in
tercedes for you, your conversion is
certain"
| Worse and worse. You confess all
! need to prove my charge"
Did you ever read the record of the
| trial of our Lord?'
why do you ask that?"
Because you remind me of his ac-
cusers, who pretended to convict him
OF blasphemy out of his own mouth.
Yet it is nothing strange or uncommon
for children to resemble their parents.
You say the church is superstitious?
THE Romish church, yes; and l
prove it,
What is superstition?"
"A spurious religion or false worship;
false system of religion, credulity,
vain observance"
You would hardly be able to convict
the church, or to attempt to convict
her. of superstition. under that defini-
ton, without assuming that you have
authority TO determine, or by which
you can determine, what is true re-
ligion; which we have not seen is the
fact. Allow me to suggest definition
a little more to your purpose. Super
stition is a vice opposed to true re-
ligion as the schoOlmen say, by way
of excess, as religion is opposed to it
by way of defect, and consists in rem
dering worship to an object to which it
is not due, or an undue worship of
false gods, and, on the other, the false
worship of the true God. and includes
ali you mean by both superstition and
idolatry."
Very we'll; say the Romish. church
is guilty of superstition in the sense
in whichsyou have defined the term"
Superstition, in this sense, divides
itself into the worship of false gods,
and the false worship of the true God.
1t will be we'll to consider each di-
vision separately. Let us begin with
the first, that is, idolatry, or giving
worship due to God alone to that which
is not God; or, in other words, wor-
Shipping as God what is not Cod
THE Romish church worships as God
what is not God"
The proof?"
"she pays divine worship to the Vir-
gin Mary"
The proof?"
She authorizes prayers to her"
'Nonsensei prayer is nothing but a
request of a petition. and may without
sin or improperly be addressed by one
man to another. You might as well
say the constitution of the United
States authorizes idolatry. because it
recognizes the right of petition, and
forbids congress to make any law pro-
hibiting the peopl com peaceably as
sembling and PETITE ling for a redress
of grievances. AS well say, every sub
ject who petitions the king. or citizen
who petitions the court or the Iegisla-
ture, is an idolater. Try again, broth
err"
Your church honors her. a mere
woman, as the mother of God"
well. if she is the mother of God,
where is the harm in that, since it is
only honoring her for what she ISL
But she is not the mother of God"
THAT is for you to prove. You must
however, that you are to
convict the church of idolatry by the
light of nature. and you can in your
deny nothing the church
teaches, unless it is forbidden by the
natural law. Assuming the Blessed
Virgin to be the mother of God-as she
ct ha If CfbriCt iC GNnH--ClnnG the law
of nature forbid her from being hon
ored as such? This is the question"
The law of nature. which. as you
have agreed, forbids idolatry, forbids
her being honored as God"
"Unquestionably; but does it forbid |
her being honored for what she is?'
But Catholics worship her as divine, |
and pay her the worship which is due
to God alone"
THE proof?"
They call her our advocate, our |
and thus rob Christ of the |
glory which is his due; for he is the /
only media between God and man.
THE only mediator and advocate. in |
his own right: but, for aught the law
Of nature says, his mother may be an
advocate and a mediatrix under him,
by his will and appointment; for she
would then advocate or mediate only
by his authority, and he would still be
our only advocate and mediator-since
that which 1 do mediately by another
as my minister or delegate. do myself
as much as if I did it Immediately
These terms applied to the Blessed
Virgin, no doubt imply that she is ex-
llted above every other creature; but
as her exaltation is that of creature,
and an exaltation not by her own nat
lral right, but by grace, it by no means
places her in the same rank with her
son. who is exalted above every crea-
.ure, by his own right, the right OF
lis own proper divinity which assumed
But Catholics pray to her much