Mary, Help of Christians Part 1

Mary, Help of Christians.

by Various.

PREFACE

THE contents of the following pages are based on the Catholic doctrine of the veneration and invocation of the saints, and of the efficacy of the prayer of intercession. The legends of the individual "Holy Helpers"

were compiled from authors whose writings have the approval of the Church.

In compliance with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII of 1625, 1631, and 1634, the compiler formally declares that he submits everything contained in this little book to the infallible judgment of the Church, and that he claims no other than human credibility for the facts, legends, and miracles related, except where the Church has otherwise decided.

THE COMPILER.

PART I

The Veneration and Invocation of Saints, and the Efficacy of Prayer

"Remember your prelates who have spoken the word of G.o.d to you; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation" (_Heb._ xiii.

7).

"Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me, as I am also of Christ"

(_1 Cor._ iv. 16).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Presentation of Mary in the temple.]

CHAPTER I

The Veneration and Invocation of Saints

IN THE Creed of the Council of Trent, which the Catholic Church places before the faithful as the Rule of Faith, we read: "I firmly believe that the saints reigning with Christ are to be venerated and invoked."

The Church therefore teaches, first, that it is right and pleasing to G.o.d to venerate the saints and to invoke their intercession; and second, that it is useful and profitable to eternal salvation for us to do so.

The veneration of the saints is useful and profitable to us. Men conspicuous in life for knowledge, bravery, or other n.o.ble qualities and unusual merits are honored after death. Why, then, should Catholics not be permitted to honor the heroes of their faith, who excelled in the practice of supernatural virtue and are in special grace and favor with G.o.d? That this veneration is profitable to us is evident from the fact that the example of the saints incites us to imitate them to the best of our ability.

The veneration of the saints is not only in full accord with the demands of reason, but we are, moreover, enjoined explicitly by Holy Scripture to venerate the memory of the holy patriarchs and prophets: "Let us now praise men of renown, and our fathers in their generation" (_Ecclus_.

xliv. 1). "And their names continue for ever, the glory of the holy men remaining unto their children" (_Ecclus_. xlvi. 15).

Reason and Holy Scripture, then, are in favor of the veneration of the saints. We find it practised, therefore, also in the early Church. She was convinced from the very beginning of its propriety and utility. As early as the first century the memorial day of the martyrs' death was observed by the Christians. They a.s.sembled at the tombs of the sainted victims of pagan cruelty and celebrated their memory by offering up the Holy Sacrifice over their relics. We know this not only from the testimony of the earliest ecclesiastical writers, as Origen, Tertullian, and St. Cyprian, but also from the history of St. Ignatius the Martyr (d. 107), and of St. Polycarp of Smyrna (d. 166). Over one hundred panegyrics of various saints written by St. Augustine are still extant.

And why should it not be right and useful to invoke the _intercession_ of the saints? Everybody deems it proper to ask a pious friend for his prayers. St. Paul the Apostle recommended himself to the prayers of the faithful (_Rom._ xv. 30), and G.o.d Himself commanded the friends of Job to ask Him for His intercession that their sin might not be imputed to them (_Job_ xlii. 8). How, then, can it be wrong or superfluous to invoke the intercession of the saints in heaven? The saints are _willing_ to invoke G.o.d's bounty in our favor, for they love us. They are _able_ to obtain it for us, because G.o.d always accepts their prayer with complacency. That they really hear our prayer and intercede with G.o.d for us is clearly shown by many examples in Holy Scripture. And if, according to the testimony of St. James (v. 16), the prayer of the just man here on earth availeth much with G.o.d, how much more powerful, then, must be the prayer of the saints, who are united with G.o.d in heaven in perfect love and are, so to say, partakers of His infinite goodness and omnipotence?

A most striking proof of the efficacy of the prayers of the saints is the numerous miracles wrought and the many favors obtained at all times through their intercession. Among these miracles are a great number whose authenticity was declared by the Church after the most scrupulous and strict investigation, as the acts of canonization prove.

That the invocation of the saints was a practice of the early Church is proved by the numerous inscriptions on the tombs of the Roman catacombs preserved to this day. We read there, for instance, on the tomb of Sabbatius, a martyr, "Sabbatius, O pious soul, pray and intercede for your brethren and a.s.sociates!" On another tomb is inscribed, "Allicius, thy spirit is blessed; pray for thy parents!" And again, "Jovia.n.u.s, live in G.o.d, and pray for us!"

We have also the testimony of one of the greatest thinkers and Protestant philosophers, Leibnitz, for the claim that the veneration and invocation of the saints is founded in reason, on Holy Scripture, and on the tradition of the Church. He writes: "Because we justly expect great advantage by uniting our prayers with those of our brethren here on earth, I can not understand how it can be called a crime if a person invokes the intercession of a glorified soul, or an angel. If it be really idolatry or a detestable cult to invoke the saints and the angels to intercede for us with G.o.d, I do not comprehend how Basil, Gregory n.a.z.ianzen, Ambrose, and others, who were hitherto considered saints, can be absolved from idolatry or superst.i.tion. To continue in such a practice would indeed not be a small defect in the Fathers, such as is inherent in human nature--it would be an enormous public crime. For if the Church, even in those early times, was infected with such abominable errors, let any one judge for himself what the Christian faith would eventually come to. Would not Gamaliel's proposition, to judge whether Christ's religion be divine or human from its effects, result in its disfavor?"

But whilst the Catholic Church practises and recommends the veneration and invocation of the saints, she does not teach us to honor and invoke them as we do G.o.d, nor to pray to them as we do to Him. She makes a great distinction.

The veneration of the saints differs from the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d in the following:

1. We _adore_ G.o.d as our supreme Lord. We _honor_ the saints as His faithful servants and friends.

2. We _adore_ G.o.d for His own sake. We _honor_ the saints for the gifts and prerogatives with which G.o.d endowed them.

Therefore there is a difference between the prayer to G.o.d and the invocation of the saints. We pray to G.o.d asking Him to help us by His omnipotence: we pray to the saints to help us by their intercession with G.o.d.

Our veneration of the saints should consist, primarily, in the imitation of their virtues. It is truly profitable only when we are intent upon following their example; for only by imitating their virtues shall we share their eternal bliss in heaven. A veneration which contents itself with honoring the saints without imitating their virtues is similar to a tree that produces leaves and blossoms but bears no fruit.

The saints themselves desire that we should follow their example. Each of them, so to say, exhorts us with St. Paul, "Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ" (_1 Cor._ iv. 16). There is no age, no s.e.x, no station in life for which the Catholic Church has not saints, whose example teaches us to avoid sin and to observe faithfully the commandments of G.o.d and the Church at this or that age, or in this or that station. Therefore the princ.i.p.al object of our invocation of the saints ought to be the obtaining of their help in following their example. Thus we shall move them to come to our aid all the more readily.

CHAPTER II

Efficacy of the Intercession of the Saints

NOTHING is more consoling and comforting than the a.s.surance that in the saints of heaven we have powerful protectors and advocates with G.o.d.

Through their intercession they obtain for us from Him the grace to lead a virtuous life and to gain heaven.

However, is there any reasonable doubt that the saints are able to render us such a service? In virtue of the communion of saints, which comprises the Church militant on earth, the Church suffering in purgatory, and the Church triumphant in heaven, all members of the Church are members of one body, whose head is Christ. Hence the saints are united with us in spirit, though separated from us in body. United with Christ, they are imbued with a superior knowledge, and through Him, the All-Knowing, they know everything that concerns us, and for which we have recourse to them in prayer.

Our confidence in the intercessory power of the saints is founded on their relation to G.o.d and to us. As friends of G.o.d they have influence with Him now, even more than during their sojourn on earth, because their intercessory power is one of their glorious prerogatives in heaven. Their love of G.o.d and their charity for their fellow-men, and the zeal for the salvation of souls resulting therefrom, together with their conformity with Christ, induces them to use their influence readily in our favor. Because G.o.d dispenses His gifts according to His own adorable will, it may please Him to grant a certain favor at the particular intercession of a certain saint; hence it is not superst.i.tion to invoke His aid in such cases. Moreover, we justly place our confidence in saints whom we have selected to be our special patrons, or who were given us as such by ecclesiastical authority.

By the intercession of the saints the mediators.h.i.+p of Christ is not set aside or restricted. The power of intercession, the intercession itself, and its invocation are an effect of the grace of Christ; therefore He remains our only mediator. G.o.d remains Our Lord and Father, although men share in His lords.h.i.+p and paternity; for all power and authority comes from G.o.d, who is pleased to operate in His creatures through other creatures. Hence, only a dependent mediators.h.i.+p can be ascribed to the saints. Whoever admits that the living can pray for each other can not denounce the intercession of the saints as an usurpation of the mediators.h.i.+p of Christ. The saints are not the authors and dispensers of grace and heavenly gifts, but they are able to obtain them for us from G.o.d.

The saints, moreover, do not only pray for mankind in general, but for their clients in particular. As co-reigners with Christ, the denizens of heaven have knowledge of the conditions and events of His kingdom; hence the saints may pray for us individually; therefore it is permissible and profitable for us to invoke them. It is obvious that the knowledge of individual occurrences does not mar the bliss of the saints. How they gain this knowledge is not clear to the spiritual authors; but most of them incline to the view that they attain it by direct divine mediation.

G.o.d reveals our condition and our invocation to the saints.

Can we doubt the willingness of the saints to aid us by their intercession? According to St. Paul, charity is the greatest of all virtues. If, then, the saints, whilst on earth loved their fellow-men, cared for and prayed for them, how much more will they do so now, when their charity is perfected? They, too, were pilgrims on earth, who had to suffer the adversities and miseries of life and therefore know by experience how sorely in need of divine a.s.sistance we poor mortals are.

Persons who have themselves experienced trials have more compa.s.sion for the adversities of others. Therefore it is certain that the saints have compa.s.sion on us, that they wish our prayers to be heard and bring them before the throne of G.o.d. "The saints," says St. Augustine, "being secure of their eternal welfare, are intent upon ours." Holy Scripture establishes this beyond doubt, saying that the saints bring the prayers of the faithful before the throne of G.o.d (_Apoc._ v. 8).

Or is there any one that doubts the _efficacy_ of the saints' prayer with G.o.d? At any rate, we must concede that their prayer is more effectual than ours; for they are confirmed in justice, and therefore friends and favorites of G.o.d, whilst we are sinners, of whom Holy Scripture says, "The Lord is far from the wicked, and He will hear the prayers of the just" (_Prov._ xv. 29). On this subject, let us hear St.

Basil in his panegyric on the Forty Martyrs: "You often wanted to find an intercessor: here you have forty who intercede unanimously for you.

Are you in distress? Have recourse to the holy martyrs. Rejoicing, do the same. The former that you may find relief, the latter that you may continue to prosper. These saints hear the mother praying for her children, the wife invoking aid for her sick or absent husband. O brave and victorious band, protectors of mankind, generous intercessors when invoked, be our advocates with G.o.d!"

There is no doubt, then, that during our earthly pilgrimage the saints are our intercessors with G.o.d. True, we know that there is One who guides our destinies and whose providence watches over all; but who would not choose, also, to have a friend already abiding with G.o.d, sharing His bliss and confirmed for ever in His grace, and who therefore is in a position to aid us, and certainly will do so if we invoke Him?

The following is an example ill.u.s.trating the power of the saints'

intercession with G.o.d: