The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-02-20

never realized that we are taking part
in this alteration! How strange it is
that there is no mention of it in the
writings of Catholics for nineteen cen
! turtles! But our critics care little for
what Catholic authors may say,
"Romanists adore the saints'-and
that settles it.
What does the Catholic Church be-
lieve and teach and practice concern
ing the saints?
That Church has been in existence
nearly nineteen hundred years. 1t has
on it's list of known saints many
thousands of names-men and women
whom it honors, and to whom, indeed,
it gives real religious homage. But
never in its history has it adored any
one but God. 1t does not adore and
never can or will adore the Blessed
Virgin, for it recognizes and has al
ways taught that she is a creature of
God, and nothing more than a crea-
| ture; she is glorified human soul,
more perfect and more lovable than
any other; she is worthy of the high
est place and theRmost exalted honor
that creature can attain to in heaven,
! for through Gods choosing of her to
be His earthly mother, through the
abundance of grace which He bestow-
ed upon her. and through her fidelity
in corresponding to these graces she
has reached a degree of glory which
places her higher than Gods angels
or His other saints-but she remains
| creature. She is not divine; she is
not in any sense a goddess; she is
infinitely inferior to God Himself
The homage which the Catholic
Church pays to her is altogether of a
different nature from that which is
rendered to God He is adored as the
Supreme Ruler of all things; she is
venerated as saint of God and the
greatest Of saints-as our most power
| full intercessor before His throne.
| And what the Church holds and
teaches concerning her is precisely
what she holds and teaches of the
saints of lesser degree. They. are
chosen friends of God. They are souls
which have served Him well and have
thereby won their homage because of
their holiness, and as they are still
members of Gods Church they are
united to us in what we call the com
munion of saints We honor them,
and they pray for us. but neither they
nor the Blessed Virgin Mary can give
us any grace, can show any mercy to
us of themselves. They can simply
present our prayers to the Almighty
united to their OWn,s and as they
are far more deserving of favors at
His hands than we sinners are, their
intercession will avail more before His
throne than would our own unaided
petitions.
The Catholic Church, then, makes a
complete and clear distinction be-
tween the supreme worship which we
give to God alone and the relative and
inferior homage which we pay to the
saints. Some of the confusion in the
minds of non-Catholics may arise from
the fact that the Catholic authorities
who wrote in Latin used the word
"cultuS' to denote both kinds of re-
li9ious homage, and that We have no
one word in English which will ey-
press the meaning of this word except
Worship" But. these Catholic writer's
always distinguished emphatically be-
tween the "cultus duliae," Which we
may translate "the homage of yenera-
tion," and the "cultus latriae," which
| c,io ifinc ohio Ivnrchip of odNrofin y
Veneration is paid to the saints; a
higher form Of it, called ''hyperdulia,'
is given to the Queen of Saints, but
alteration is offered to none but God.
Any attempt to give it to a creature
would certainly be false worship--but
the Catholic Church has never given
it. She adores God, and God only.
She venerates His saints with relig.
ious homage.
Is it reasonable, to suppose that the
saints can benefit us? Why not? We
are told that we should go to God
with the wants of others as well as
i with our own. Now, it is hard to
imagine a reason why souls that are
with God, that are enjoying everlast
ing happiness, should cease to eXer
else Christian charity-that they
should be unable or unwilling to in
tercede for their brethren.
I, What do the Scriptures teach us
the sacred Word of God to which our
separated brethren appeal so con
stantly as the one rule of faith?" In
ST. Johns Apocalyptic vision he saw
the elders PROSTATE before the Lamb
I. having each golden walls
which are the prayers of the saints
1t does not matter whether tho
saints were on earth or in heaven
in either case their prayers are offer
ed to God by those who are before
His throne.
The belief in the microscopy power
of the saints is as old as the Church
: 1t is to be found in authentic writings
such as the acts of the Martyrs" il
the second and third centuries. They
are represented as interceding after
death for the faithful upon earth. 'Ir
: heaven" said the martyr Theodotus
: before his torments began, Il vii
t pray for you to Cod And this Cath
{ Ollie doctrine is clearly set forth in the
t writings of the earlier fathers of the
: Church. Origen among others, tells
, us that call the saints who have de
t parted this life care for the salvation
) of those who are in the world, ant