66 OF PRAYER FOR THE DEAD. PRAYER for the Dead, as it is used in the Church of Rome, doth necessarily suppose purgatory; and therefore whatsoever hath been alleged out of the Scriptures and Fathers against the one, doth stand in full force against the other so that here we need not actum agere, and make a new work of overthrowing that which hath been sufficiently beaten down already. But on the other side, the admittal of purgatory doth not necessarily infer prayer for the dead: nay, if we shall suppose, with our adversaries, that purgatory is the 'prison from whence none shall come out until they have paid the utmost farthing, their own paying, and not other men's praying, must be the thing they are to trust unto, if ever they look to be delivered out of that jail. Our Romanists indeed do commonly take it for granted, that 2purgatory and prayer for the dead be so closely linked together, that the one doth necessarily follow the other;" but in so doing they reckon without their host, and greatly mistake the matter. For howsoever they may deal with their own devices as they please, and link their prayers with their purgatory as closely as they list; yet shall they never be able to shew, that the commemoration and prayers for the dead, used by the ancient Church, had any relation unto their purgatory; and therefore, whatsoever they were, Popish prayers we are sure they were not. I easily foresee, that the full opening of the judgment of the Fathers in this point will hardly stand with that brevity which I intended to use in treating of these questions; the particulars be so many, that necessarily do incur into the handling of this argument. But I suppose the reader will be content rather to dispense with me in that behalf, than be sent away unsatisfied in a matter wherein the adversary beareth himself confident beyond measure, that the whole stream of antiquity runneth clearly upon his side. * Matt. v. 26. Bishop against Perkins's Reformed Catholic, part 11. p. 149. That the truth, then, of things may the better appear, we are here prudently to distinguish the original institution of the Church from the private opinions of particular doctors, which waded further herein than the general intendment of the Church did give them warrant; and diligently to consider, that the memorials, oblations, and prayers made for the dead at the beginning had reference to such as rested from their labours, and not unto any souls which were thought to be tormented in that Utopian purgatory, whereof there was no news stirring in those days. This may be gathered, first, by the practice of the ancient Christians, laid down by the author of the Commentaries upon Job, which are wrongly ascribed unto Origen, in this manner: "We observe the memorials of the saints, and devoutly keep the remembrance of our parents or friends which die in the faith; as well rejoicing for their refreshing, as requesting also for ourselves a godly consummation in the faith. Thus therefore do we celebrate the death, not the day of the birth; because they which die shall live for ever. And we celebrate it, calling together religious persons with the priests, the faithful with the clergy; inviting moreover the needy and the poor, feeding the orphans and widows, that our festivity may be for a memorial of rest to the souls departed, whose remembrance we celebrate, and to us may become a sweet savour in the sight of the eternal God." Secondly, by that which St Cyprian writeth of Laurentius and Ignatius, whom he acknowledgeth to have received of the Lord palms and crowns for their famous martyrdom, and yet presently addeth: "We offer sacrifices always for them, when we celebrate the passions and days of the martyrs with an anniversary commemoration." Thirdly, by that which we read in the author of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, set out under the name of Dionysius the Areo 3 Propterea et memorias sanctorum facimus, et parentum nostrorum vel amicorum fide morientium devote memoriam agimus; tam illorum refrigerio gaudentes, quam etiam nobis piam consummationem in fide postulantes. Celebramus nimirum, religiosos cum sacerdotibus convocantes, fideles una cum clero; invitantes adhuc egenos et pauperes, pupillos et viduas saturantes, ut fiat festivitas nostra in memoriam requiei defunctis animabus, nobis autem efficiatur in odorem suavitatis in conspectu æterni Dei. Lib. iii. Comment. in Job. inter Opera Origenis. 4 Sacrificia pro eis semper, ut meministis, offerimus, quoties martyrum passiones et dies anniversaria commemoratione celebramus. Cyprian. Epist. XXXIV. pagite for where the party deceased is described by him to have departed out of this life, "replenished with divine joy, as now not fearing any change to worse," being come unto the end of all his labours, and to have been both privately acknowledged by his friends, and publickly pronounced by the ministers of the Church, to be a happy man, and to be verily admitted into the "society of the saints that have been from the beginning of the world;" yet doth he declare, that the Bishop made prayer for him, (upon what ground, we shall afterward hear), that "God would forgive him all the sins that he had committed through human infirmity, and bring him into the light and the land of the living, into the bosoms of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, into the place from whence pain and sorrow and sighing flieth." Fourthly, by the funeral ordinances of the Church related by St Chrysostom, which were appointed to admonish the living that the parties deceased were in a state of joy, and not of grief: "For tell me," saith he, "what do the bright lamps mean? do we not accompany them therewith as champions? What mean the hymns?" "Consider what thou dost sing at that time. Return, my soul, unto thy rest; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. And again I will fear no evil, because thou art with me. And again: Thou art my refuge from the affliction that compasseth me. Consider what these Psalms Fifthly, by the forms of prayers that are found in the ancient Liturgies. As in that of the churches of Syria, attributed unto St Basil: "10 Be mindful, O Lord, of them 5 Vide supra p. 153. * Ὡς κοινωνὸν ὄντως ὄντα τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος ἁγίων, ἱερῶς ἀνακηρυττόμενου. Dionys. Ecclesiast. Hierarch. cap. 7. 7 Ἡ μὲν οὖν εὐχὴ τῆς θεαρχικῆς ἀγαθότητος δεῖται πάντα μὲν ἀφεῖναι τὰ δι ̓ ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν ἡμαρτημένα τῷ κεκοιμημένῳ, κατατάξαι δὲ αὐτὸν ἐν φωτὶ καὶ χώρᾳ ζώντων, εἰς κόλπους Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, ἐν τόπῳ οὗ ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμός. Ibid. * Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι τί βούλονται αἱ λαμπάδες αἱ φαιδραί; οὐχ ὡς ἀθλητὰς αὐτοὺς προπέμπομεν, τί δὲ οἱ ὕμνοι ; Chrysost. in Epist. ad Hebr. Homil. 1v. 9 • Εννόησον τί ψάλλεις κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον. Ἐπίστρεψον, ψυχή μου, εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυσίν σου, ὅτι Κύριος εὐηργέτησέ σε. καὶ πάλιν, Οὐ φοβηθήσομαι κακά, ὅτι σὺ μετ ̓ ἐμοῦ εἶ, καὶ πάλιν, Σύ μου εἶ καταφυγὴ ἀπὸ θλίψεως τῆς περιεχούσης με. ἐννόησον τί βούλονται οὗτοι οἱ ψαλμοί. Id. ibid. 10 Memento etiam, Domine, eorum qui decesserunt migraruntque ex hac vita, et episcoporum orthodoxorum qui inde a Petro et Jacobo Apostolis ad hunc usque diem rectum fidei verbum clare sunt professi; et nominatim Ignatii, Dionysii, Julii, ac reliquorum divorum laudabilis which are dead, and are departed out of this life, and of the orthodox Bishops, which, from Peter and James the Apostles until this day, have clearly professed the right word of faith; and namely, of Ignatius, Dionysius, Julius, and the rest of the saints of worthy memory. Be mindful, O Lord, of them also which have stood unto blood for religion, and by righteousness and holiness have fed thy holy flock." And in the Liturgy fathered upon the Apostles: "We offer unto thee for all the saints which have pleased thee from the beginning of the world, patriarchs, prophets, just men, apostles, martyrs, confessors, bishops, priests, deacons," &c. And in the Liturgies of the churches of Egypt, which carry the title of St Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and Cyril of Alexandria: 12 Be mindful, O Lord, of thy saints; vouchsafe to remember all thy saints which have pleased thee from the beginning, our holy fathers, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, preachers, evangelists, and all the souls of the just which have died in the faith; and especially the holy, glorious, the evermore Virgin Mary, the Mother of God; and St John the forerunner, the Baptist and martyr; St Stephen, the first deacon and martyr; St Mark the apostle, evangelist, and martyr," &c. And in the Liturgy of the church of Constantinople, ascribed to St Chrysostom: "13 We offer unto thee this reasonable service for those who are memoriæ. Memento, Domine, eorum quoque qui usque ad sanguinem pro religione steterunt, et gregem tuum sacrum per justitiam et sanctitatem paverunt, &c. Basilii Anaphora, ab Andr. Masio ex Syriaco conversa. 11 Ετι προσφέρομέν σοι καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος εὐαρηστησάντων σοι ἁγίων, πατριαρχῶν, προφητῶν, δικαίων, ἀποστόλων, μαρτύρων, ὁμολογητῶν, ἐπισκόπων, πρεσβυτέρων, διακόνων, &c. Constitut. Apostolic. lib. viii. cap. 12. 12 Memento, Domine, sanctorum tuorum dignare ut recorderis omnium sanctorum tuorum qui tibi placuerunt ab initio, patrum nostrorum sanctorum, patriarcharum, prophetarum, apostolorum, martyrum, confessorum, evangelizantium, evangelistarum, et omnium spirituum justorum qui obierunt in fide; et imprimis sanctæ, gloriosa, semperque virginis Dei genitricis Mariæ, et Sancti Johannis præcursoris, baptista et martyris; Sancti Stephani protodiaconi et protomartyris ; Sancti Marci apostoli, evangelistæ et martyris, &c. Liturg. Ægyptiac. Basil. Greg. et Cyrilli, a Victorio Scialach ex Arabico convers. p. 22, 47, et 60, edit. August. ann. 1604. 18 Ετι προσφέρομέν σοι τὴν λογικὴν ταύτην λατρείαν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐν πίστει ἀναπαυσαμένων, προπατέρων, πατέρων, πατριαρχῶν, προφητῶν, καὶ ἀποστόλων, κηρύκων, εὐαγγελιστῶν, μαρτύρων, ὁμο λογητῶν, ἐγκρατευτῶν, καὶ παντὸς πνεύματος ἐν πίστει τετελειωμένου, ἐξαιρέτως τῆς παναγίας, ἀχράντου, ὑπερευλογημέ νης δεσποίνης ἡμῶν, θεοτόκου, καὶ ἀειTapoévov Mapías. Chrysost. Liturg. Græc. at rest in the faith, our forefathers, fathers, patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, religious persons, and every spirit perfected in the faith, but especially for our most holy, immaculate, most blessed Lady, the Mother of God and aye Virgin Mary." Which kind of oblation for the saints, sounding somewhat harshly in the ears of the Latins, Leo Thuscus, in his translation, thought best to express it to their better liking after this manner: 14 We offer unto thee this reasonable service for the faithfully deceased, for our fathers and forefathers, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and all the saints interceding" for them. As if the phrase of 15 offering for the martyrs" were not to be found in St Chrysostom's own works; and more universally 16 for the just, both the fathers and the patriarchs, the prophets and apostles, and evangelists, and martyrs, and confessors, the bishops, and such as led a solitary life, and the whole order," in the suffrages of the Church rehearsed by Epiphanius. Yea, and in the Western Church itself: "for the spirits of those that are at rest, Hilary, Athanasius, Martin, Ambrose, Augustine, Fulgentius, Leander, Isidorus," &c. As may be seen in the Muzarabical Office used in Spain. Sixthly, this may be confirmed out of the Funeral Orations of St Ambrose; in one whereof, touching the Emperor Valentinian and his brother Gratian, thus he speaketh: "18 Let us believe that Valentinian is ascended from the desert, that is to say, from this dry and unmanured place unto 14 Adhuc offerimus tibi rationabile hoc obsequium pro fideliter dormientibus, pro patribus et proavis nostris; intervenientibus patriarchis, prophetis, apostolis, martyribus, confessoribus, et omnibus sanctis. Chrysost. Liturg. Latin. 15 Τί οἴει τὸ ὑπὲρ μαρτύρων προσφέρε o0a; Chrysost. Homil. x x1. in Act. Tom. IV. edit. Savil. p. 736, et Tom. VII. p. 928. 16 Ὑπὲρ δὲ δικαίων, καὶ πατέρων καὶ πατριαρχῶν, προφητῶν καὶ ἀποστόλων, καὶ εὐαγγελιστῶν καὶ μαρτύρων καὶ ὁμολογητῶν, ἐπισκόπων τε καὶ ἀναχωρητῶν, καὶ παντὸς τοῦ τάγματος. Epiphan. Hæres. LXXV. 17 Pro spiritibus pausantium, Hilarii, Athanasii, Martini, Ambrosii, Augustini, 18 Credamus quia ascendit a deserto, hoc est, ex hoc arido et inculto loco, ad illas florulentas delectationes, ubi cum fratre conjunctus æternæ vitæ fruitur voluptate. Beati ambo: si quid meæ orationes valebunt, nulla dies vos silentio præteribit; nulla inhonoratos vos mea transibit oratio; nulla nox non donatos aliqua precum mearum contextione transcurret. Omnibus vos oblationibus frequentabo. Ambros. de Obitu Valentiniani Imp. |