be fellow-citizens with the saints, and to form part of one and the same spiritual household.' We participate in one God, in one Christ, in one baptism ; and we are all sanctified by one Holy Ghost. As the foundation of this communion is spiritual, so it is not to be dissolved by death. Forming part, then, of the same society with the saints departed, we are bound to honor them, to imitate their virtues, to praise God for their examples. Hence we pray that we, with all those "who have departed in the true faith of God's holy name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in his eternal and everlasting glory.” We form but one body, though we differ in the state of our condition, and in the degree of our happiness. They are in the church triumphant, we in the church militant. They have "passed the waves of this troublesome world," we have yet to pass them. Of the nature and extent of the interest which the deceased are permitted to take in the welfare of surviving friends; and of any other tie, save those of honor, love, and imitation, by which we are bound to them, the Scriptures are altogether silent. Neither in the sacred writings nor in the Fathers, is there any warrant for the belief that our communion with them involves any satisfaction2 made in our behalf; so that the very idea must be rejected as a presumptuous and perverse

1

2

Eph. ii. 19, 22.

Eph. iv. 15, &c. 1 John i. 3. Rom. xii. 4, 5.

addition to the revealed word.' St. Paul, indeed, speaks of partaking with the saints in the heavenly inheritance, but not one word does he utter respecting any participation in satisfactions. To satisfy

3

for another is not merely the work of christian love, but that of a mediator. True it is, that the ancients sometimes went so far as to say, that the departed saints sympathized, and prayed for the church below; but not even Thomas Aquinas, in his exposition of the Creed, nor any of its more ancient expositors, ever asserted with Bellarmine, "that the church on earth not only communicates its advantages to all its members, but offers prayers for the church in Purgatory; and that the church in heaven communicates the benefits of its prayers and merits to the church on earth." If, indeed, the saints did rejoice with them that rejoice in this world, it is not unreasonable to suppose that they would also, in sympathy, weep with them that weep. Such grief, however, would be directly contrary to the assurance, that in that place sorrow and sighing shall be no more. And although the church on earth is called " a house of prayer," there is no scriptural text wherein the church in heaven is so denominated. The prayers offered by the angel upon the golden altar, mentioned in the Revelations," were not the prayers of the saints in heaven;

for they themselves were before the face of the Almighty, and needed not the offering: but they were the prayers of the saints upon earth. In heaven, praise, thanksgiving, and glory, are ascribed to God; and adoration and blessing are given unto the Lamb; but of prayer we hear nothing. Christ himself never prays; he only presents the prayers of the saints who are on earth.'

The Communion of Saints," therefore, consists in a membership of the same mystical body; in the participation, enjoyment, and sanctification of the same blessed Spirit; in having one God, one Christ, one baptism. It is a communion of love, of imitation, of hope, of the expectation of perfect bliss, when the body and soul shall be reunited in glory. But for any interchange of mutual good offices

1 Rev. v. 13; viii. 3. When it is said (Rom. viii. 26) that "the Spirit maketh intercession for us," the meaning is, that he assists, directs, and strengthens our minds, so that our prayers may prove fervent and effectual at the throne of God. And when Christ is said "to intercede" (ver. 34), or to be our "advocate," it is indicated that he became so by presenting his obedience and sufferings, by negotiating, as our merciful friend and agent, all the affairs of our salvation. For the original word (évrvyxávw) properly signifies to meet, and secondly to advocate a cause. See Rom. viii. 26, 34; xi. 2. Heb. vii. 25. Acts xxv. 24. It may be remarked, that "intercession," in the sense of supplication, does not appear from the Scriptures to have formed any part of the priest's duty under the Levitical law. The only authority which we possess for the fact of the priests interceding, in the sense of making supplications, is Philo, who, when enumerating their duties, says, "The High Priest, agreeably to the laws, makes daily supplications and sacrifices." Philo. Legat. ad Caium, ii. 77, p. 591. Edit. Mangey. See Outram on Sacrif. Dissert. ii. c. 7. See Note C, p. 307.

between the living and the dead, arising from this community of similar privileges and blessings, and from a fellowship in the same christian graces and heavenly promises, man has no authority, beyond his own anxious hopes, and no proof, beyond his own ardent desires.

To return, however, to the " great consolation"1 which is derived by members of the Romish communion from the belief that they "can render greater service to their friends after their death, in praying and giving alms for them, than they can in any other way during their lifetime." Such are the words of one of their prelates, who wrote a book, which appeared in his own eyes so powerful, so convincing, so conclusive, that it was to be "the End of Religious Controversy" between the two Churches of England and Rome.

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But when, and where, and to whom, is this great consolation" imparted? Is it at the grave? Can there be any consolation to the widow and the orphan, the relative and the friend, in the idea that the soul of the departed, at the very moment that they are committing his body to the tomb, is suffering excruciating tortures, which are not inferior to those of hell, except in duration? The consolation, surely, can only be enjoyed by one party at the dark vault,—and that is the Priesthood. And then it will only be enjoyed upon a graduated

1 Dr. Milner, pp. 374, 381. Dr. Wiseman, vol. ii. p. 67.

scale, according to the per-centage put upon the property of the deceased for the performance of public and private masses. If the individual desiring these services were rich, he may have endeavoured to secure twelve thousand masses;' but if he were poor, the " great consolation" must necessarily be diminished, and the unfortunate soul be deprived of the special, and consigned to the masses for general purposes.2

1 A certain rich proprietor at Alicant having died, left sufficient money to the Church for the purchase of twelve thousand masses for his soul; but after a few of them had been said, the masses were discontinued. A lawsuit was in consequence instituted by the heir, for the recovery of the sum left for the masses. The defence, however, was, that upon application being made to the Pope to be relieved from saying so great a number, he had granted a dispensation, at the same time declaring that twelve were as efficacious and beneficial to the soul of the deceased as twelve thousand. Inglis's Spain in 1820, vol. ii. p. 307.

Although this decision was directly against the Constitution of John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 1281, (see above, Note H, p. 18,) there is no difficulty in agreeing with his Holiness, that twelve masses are as effective as twelve thousand, or one as twelve, or even none as one.

mass,

Cardinal Albernotius was so infatuated with the power of the that to secure a deliverance, at any rate, from Purgatory, he ordered by his last Will that fifty thousand be said for his soul. Is it possible that he could have valued these masses more than the atonement of Christ? Apud Genes. Sepulvedam in Vita Egidii Albernotii Cardinal.

2 Dr. Challoner, in his republication of the Rev. John Gother's "Papist Misrepresented and Represented," (London, Keating and Brown, 1832, p. 53, Article "Purgatory,") for the words, "The charitable works performed upon their death-bed, and the alms disposed in their last will, are very available afterwards, in