Defense of the Discourse Concerning Idolatry in the Church of Rome, Part 2 · Chapter 2 (3 of 3)

Defense of the Discourse Concerning Idolatry in the Church of Rome · Part 2 · Chapter 2 (3 of 3)

p. 612Card. Cajetan saith,Cajet. in Aq. 3. p. q. 25. art. 3. that the act of worship towards the Image of Christ, is truly and properly terminated on the Image; not in regard either of its matter or Form, but as it performs the Office of an Image. So that Christ himself is the Reason of the worship of the Image, and his being in the Image, is the condition, by which the Reason of worship doth excite men to worship and terminate it. But since Christ is not asserted to be really and Personally in the Image, but only by representation, Cajetan ought to have shewn, that an union by meer Imagination between Christ and the Image, is a sufficient condition for performing those acts of worship to the Image which properly belong to God alone which he hath not undertaken; but he shews against Durandus, that if the Image of Christ were only worshipped, as it puts us in mind of Christ, then any other thing which p. 613puts us in mind of him might be worshipped as well as an Image. And the Practice of the Church shews, that it doth not worship the Cross as a memorative sign, but because the Image of Christ is to be worshipped with Latria, therefore it worships it. Thus we see what the judgement of the most eminent and learned Divines of the Roman Church was, concerning giving the worship of Latria to Images before the Council of Trent, and upon what, that judgement was founded, viz. the practice of the Roman Church, in the worship of the Cross.

Let us now see whether this matter hath been otherwise determined by the Council of Trent, §. 13.and whether the contrary opinion hath obtained since. That wary Council knowing very well the practice of their Church and the opinion of Divines, Concil. Trident. sess. 25.only determines due honour and veneration to be given to Images; not for the sake of any Divinity, or power inherent in them, for which they are to be worshipped, or that any thing is to be asked of them, or that Trust is to be put in the Images, as it was of old by the Heathens, who placed their hope in Idols; but because the honour which is done to them, is referred to the Prototypes p. 614which they represent, so that by the Images which we kiss, and before which we uncover our heads, and fall down, we adore Christ and worship the Saints which they represent. Which hath been already decreed by Councils against the opposers of Images, especially the second Nicene Synod. Where we observe these things, 1. That all external Acts of Adoration are allowed to be done to Images; even the very same which were to be done to the Person of Christ, if he were actually present, are to be done to his Image to adore him thereby. 2. That there is not the least intimation against giving the same kind and degree of worship to the Image, which is given to Christ himself. And since the Council allows no proper vertue in the Image for which it should be worshipped ▪ but takes all from the representation, and supposes the honour to pass to the Prototype, Vasquez thinks it is very evident,Vasq. in 3. p. disp. 108. c. 4. that the sense of the Council was, that the Image and the Exemplar were to be worshipped with the same Act of adoration, which as to the Image of Christ must be no less than Latria. 3. After the Council of Trent, many of their most Eminent Divines have asserted the worship of Latria to be given to Images. Dominicus Soto a Divine of p. 615the Council of Trent determines, that every Image is to be worshipped with the same worship, Soto de justit. & jure. l. 2. q. 3. art. 2. in fin.that belongs to the thing represented; as the Image of God and Christ with Latria, and of the B. Virgin and other Saints with Dulia. Turrianus, Turrian. pro Canon. Apost. l. 1. c. 25.another of the Trent Divines saith, that the same adoration belongs to the Image, and the Prototype; as that which is called Latria to Christ and his Image, but to Christ properly, and to the Image equivocally. Naclantus a third Divine of that Council saith,Naclant. in Rom. 1.p. 171.Rom 1 that if the object represented ought to be worshipped with Latria, so ought the Image too. And what more reasonable way can we have to understand the sense of the Council, than from the Divines who were present and managed the debates of it? Gretser hath a whole Chapter to prove,Gretser. de Cruce l. 1. c. 49. that the Cross is to be worshipped with Latria. Card. Palaeotus saith,Palaeot. de sacr. & prof. Imag. l. 1. c. 32. that the same worship which is given to the Prototype may be given to the Image, but with the different degrees of Latria and Dulia, &c. When, saith he, the Person of Christ is worshipped without an Image, that adoration is terminated upon his essence and Person as in themselves; but when he is worshipped in an Image, then his essence and Person is worshipped as represented p. 616and being in that Image; although he be not really there, but according to his figure and similitude. Gregory de Valentia confesses it to be the same Divine worship they give to the Image of Christ that they do to the Prototype, Greg. de Valent. de Idolol. l. 2. c. 7.because the Image is worshipped in the stead of Christ, but, he saith, it is given in a different respect to them both: but besides this, he allows an inferiour worship to the Image which is terminated on it self. And in both these Petrus Thyraeus agrees with him.Pet. Thyrae. apud Possev. biblioth. l. 8. c. 17. Cornelius Curtius an Augustinian, Cornel. Curtius de Clavis Domin. c. 12.contends for Latria to be due to the very Nails of Christs Cross, by reason of their Contact of the Person of Christ, which worship, he saith, was approved by the Church, when Innocent 6. appointed the Festival of the Souldiers Launce and the Nails of the Cross. Ludovicus de Paramo the Inquisitour of Sicily determines,Lud. de Paramo de Orig. S. Inquis. l. 2. tit. 3. c. 8. n. 9. that the Cross is to be worshipped with no other worship than that of Latria: and if it be taken as joyned with Christ in the mind, it is to be worshipped with a perfect act of absolute Latria: which belongs to Christ perse and to the Cross concomitanter & per accidens: but if it be taken as the material object of adoration, then it is only a Relative Latria for the sake of Christ. And p. 617he adds, that an Image is truly and properly to be adored or coadored with the exemplar: which he proves from the Council of Trent. n. 19.To which he subjoyns a remarkable story, viz. of one Ioh. Aegidius Canon of Savil, who was forced to make a publick retractation for denying the adoration of the Cross, which was judged to be contrary to the practice of the Church, when it saith, O Crux ave spes unica, and in another place Crucem tuam adoramus; and for saying that God was to be worshipped with Latria and the Cross with Dulia: which propositions he rejected as heretical; and asserted that the Cross was to be worshipped with the same worship of Latria that Christ himself is. From whence Lud. de Paramo concludes, that this opinion is the most agreeable to the Catholick Faith. Paulus Maria Quarti a Clericus Regularis, in his late Commentaries on the Rubricks of the Missal agrees exactly with Ludovicus à Paramo in the manner of adoration of the Cross: Rubrice Missal. Rom. Comment. illustr. p. 2. tit. 4. de Introit. sect. 2. dub. 2. & 4.and for Images of Christ, he saith, that their opinion is more probable who make it to be absolute Latria, and not reductive and Analogical. Greg. Valent. in Hymnod. Eccles. tr. 2. Hymn. 13. p. 268.Gregorius Valentianus in his Commentaries on the Hymns declares his consent with S. Thomas about worshipping p. 618the Cross with Latria. Layman saith,Paul. Layman. Theol. Moral. l. 4. tr. 7. c. 5. n. 10. that we do not worship the Images of Christ with an absolute Latria, because they have no Divinity or rational excellency in them; but with a relative worship whereby we worship the Image and Exemplar together, we ought to acknowledge that the Cross and Images of Christ are worshipped with Latria. Eligius Bassaeus a Capuchine agrees with Layman, Elig. Bassae. Flores Theol. Practi…. tit. Ador. suppl. n. 6, 7.that this is not absolute, but a relative Latria, but he determines that the Cross whatever matter it be made of, ought to be worshipped with Latria as a sign; but that very Cross on which Christ did hang, not only as a sign, but in regard of contact of his body; and so the Nail and Thorns, and Sponge, and other things which touched his body, except only Iudas his Lips, and the Ass he rode on to Hierusalem, because they did not partake of his sanctity, as no doubt the Nails and the Wood of the Cross did. But he hath yet a farther subtilty about this Latria, for, he saith, that when the Image of Christ is the material object of worship, and Christ as represented the Reason of that worship, that is not absolute, but relative Latria; but when Christ and the Image together make up the same material object of adoration, then it is p. 619properly Latria; which he endeavours to prove both from the Councils of Nice and Trent▪ Phil. Gamachaeus a late Professour of Divinity of the Sorbon determins,Ph. Gamachae. in 3. p. Th. q. 25. con. 2. that the Cross and Image of Christ as they represent him, and as they are conceived together with Christ, ought to be worshipped with the supreme worship of Latria: because Christ himself is the Reason of the adoration, and because the Church doth so worship the Cross. O Crux ave spes unica. The same is asserted as to Relative Latria by N. Ysambertus another late Professour of the Sorbon, Ysambert. ad q. 25. disp. 4. art. 1. & disp. 5. art. 1.(whom I the rather mention, that this might not be thought the particular opinion of any Orders among them, as of the Dominicans or Iesuits) who asserts, that both the Cross and Images of Christ are to be worshipped therewith, because the Image and the Exemplar make up one complex object, whose soul, as it were, is the exemplar, and whose body is the Image, to which object the adoration is directed, so, as that the worship to the Person of Christ is absolute, and to the Image respective: but yet so, as that the Image is at least the partial terminative object of such adoration. I might produce many more Testimonies not only of Schoolmen, but of Casuists, as Filliucius, Iacobus à p. 620Graffiis, Azorius and others; but I need not do it, since Azorius affirms,Azor. I… …lit. Moral. l. 9. c. 6. that this is the common opinion of their Divine….

§ 14.All the difficulty is how to reconcile this doctrine with the Definition of the Council of Nice: and about this they have fallen into parties and made a pleasant Counter-scuffle among themselves. Catharinus saith,Cathaer. de cultu Imagin. p. 137. that none of the Ancients did ever allow Images to be worshipped with Latria; and if this proposition be true, that an Image as an Image is to be worshipped with Latria, that likewise is true, that an Image is to be worshipped with Latria, for all wise men understand an Image as an Image; but this is so far from being in any ancient Writer that the contrary is expresly there, and especially in the Decree of the Council of Nice; and therefore, he hath no way to excuse the doctrine of Thomas, but by saying he had never seen that Decree. But it is plain Thomas Aq. had more regard to the practice of the Church, than to the Definition of that Synod, which he thought could not otherwise be defended. The main argument of Catharinus against this opinion, is, Latria is due to none but God; but an Image however considered as an Image is not God. p. 621And whatever the Imagination of the Person passeth to upon the sight of an Image, that can never make that to be God which is not God. If a man takes the Image for God, that is an abominable errour: if he saith, it is not God and yet worships it with Latria; this is plainly giving Latria to something else besides God. If it be said, that it is the same act of the mind which passeth from the Image to the Prototype, and consequently the same adoration of both; this, he saith, will not hold, for if the Image be worshipped, that must be the object of adoration, and the worship of the Image must be terminated on the Image, otherwise it is not the worship of the Image, but of the thing represented; neither can it be understood how there should be two objects and but one adoration. Some answer that the Image and Prototype make one total object of adoration, and so it is but one Act and that of Latria; but this, saith he, makes strange confusion that the act of worship should be equally terminated on both. If they say it begins at the Image, and is terminated on the Prototype, that is not, saith he, proper worship of an Image which is not terminated on it; and how can that be a partial object of adoration, if the worship be no wayes terminated on it? p. 622Others say, there is a twofold Latria per se & per accidens, the former is only due to God, the latter may be given to an Image: this, saith he, contradicts the former, for then the same act of worship would be both per se and per accidens, which is ridiculous; and that which is per accidens ought not to be looked on as worship, for any thing may be said to be worshipped with Latria per accidens. Others say, that the worship of the Image is not terminated on the Image, but on the thing represented, and yet say it is the worship of the Image as an Image, which as such is distinct from the thing represented, which, saith he, is not intelligible. To say the Image is worshipped improperly, is a saying not fit for Philosophers or Divines, but for Poets and Orators. For it is no more properly said the Image is worshipped with Latria, than that the Image is the thing represented; which no man in his senses would say properly. To Cajetans saying, that an Image as performing the office of an Image is under that notion, the same with the thing represented, he answers, that such a Metamorphosis is impossible by any act of the Image, or of Imagination: but to defend, saith he, that the Image as an Image, or as representing is p. 623the same with the thing represented, and so as that the Latria is any wayes terminated on the Image, is to be mad ones self, and to endeavour to make others so. Therefore others say, that the Images are not truly and properly worshipped, but the things represented at them, before them, or in them; but this, saith he, destroyes the worship of Images, and is against the practice of the Church, which directs the posture, words, and signs of adoration, (even incense) to the Images, as when we say to the Cross, O Crux ave spes unica. This we see is the Burden of the Song, among them all; the Church practises thus, and thus; this practice must be defended one way or other, and happy the man that doth it best; but still the practice must be continued, for Catharinus inveighs bitterly against Erasmus, for saying, he thought it safer and easier to take Images out of Churches than to fix the just bounds of Worship and to prevent Superstition. And he grants at last,p. 136. that by a fiction of the mind, supposing the Image to be the Person represented, it may be said, that the Image is to be worshipped with Latria, yet he concludes, that no one ancient Writer, that he could ever see, did allow, that Images might any way be worshipped with p. 624Latria, but all of them did abominate such an expression. And he adds, that the doctrine of Thomas doth rather take off from Images, that true and real worship, which, he saith, from the Nicene Council ought to be given to them, and terminated on themselves though for the sake of the things represented by them. Martinus Peresius Ayala saith,Martin. Peres. Ayal. de tradit. 3. p. de imagin. p. 119.121. that the doctrine of giving Latria to Images is repugnant to Fathers and Councils, especially to the Definition of the Council of Nice; and he adds, that there is no more connexion between a sign and the thing signified, than between two relatives, as between Father and Son, and although the Son represent the Father, yet no man will say, that by the same act of knowledge, whereby I know the Son as a Son, I do know his Father, for then the Relative opposition would be taken away, and the different definitions of correlatives; so, saith he, although by the Image a conception doth arise of the thing represented, yet it is not the same act of knowledge whereby I apprehend the Image and the thing represented: but suppose it were so, there is not the same reason for worship as for knowledge. For it is not repugnant to an Image as an Image to be apprehended by the same act with the thing represented: p. 625but it seems repugnant to an Image as an Image to be worshipped with the same worship with the thing represented; because an Image, however considered, is an insensible Creature, to which they all grant no worship is due; and although it represent never so much, it doth not change its nature, but a block remains a block still, and a Stone doth not become rational by it. But, say they, Is not the Kings Robe worshipped with the same worship that his Person is? I confess, saith he, the whole Person as clothed is worshipped, and his clothes are no more separated, than any other habits or dispositions he hath about him. But, if the Kings Robe be separated from his Person, what reason is there to worship that as the King himself is worshipped? and the Princes Image is neither substantially nor accidentally the same with the Prince, and therefore is not to be compared with his Robe; and although some honour be due to the Kings Image, yet no man ever saw, unless by the compulsion of some Tyrant, a Princes Image worshipped after the same manner that his Person is. And S. Augustin gives no other reason for the worship of the humanity of Christ (which he compares with the Princes Robe) but because it is united to the Divinity; which p. 626reason cannot hold for such an Imaginary Union, between the Image and the thing represented, and therefore it ought not to be worshipped with the same adoration. Besides, saith he, if this were allowed, we might sacrifice to an Image, as well as do other acts of Latria to it, which cannot be said without blasphemy; but he concludes, that he defines nothing, and submits all to the judgement of the Church. Estius declares,Est. in sentent. l. 3. dist. 9. sect. 3. that although almost all the Schoolmen were for Latria to be given to the Cross, yet that it is point-blank against the definition of the Council of Nice; and it is an unsatisfactory answer to say, they only were against Latria to be given to Images for themselves or absolute Latria; for no man ever doubted of that, that they were not to have divine worship for themselves; and the Council puts a distinction between the worship of the Image and the Exemplar; and joyns Images with the Gospels and Vessels, which no man ever thought were to be worshipped with any kind of Latria: and that, when S. Basil saith, the honour of the Image passes to the Prototype, he means no more than that the Image is honoured for the sake of the thing represented: and that, if an Image may be worshipped with Latria, then sacrifice may p. 627be offered to it, which was condemned in Carpocrates and the Collyridians: and then those things which have a nearer conjunction than an Image may be better worshipped so, as the B. Virgin which bore him in her womb. Neither is it enough to say, they have proper excellencies of their own; for they might receive a double honour, the one proper, the other relative; and supposing no danger of errour, then it might be done, and Medina, he saith, yields it of the B. Virgin not absolutely, but by reason of the conjunction between Christ and her while he was in her womb. Thus far in the opinion of these men, the case seems desperate as to the reconciling the doctrine of giving Latria to Images with Reason, or the Council of Nice.

But we must not imagine a doctrine so generally allowed and so suitable to the practice of their Church should be thus given up.§. 15. Therefore Vasquez undertakes the business,Vasquez disp. …08. c. 3. and like a generous Adversary, not only proves that this may be the sense of the Councils, but that they could have no other; because, an Image cannot be lawfully worshipped any other way, than as in and by that the exemplar is made the term and next material object p. 628of adoration. This he shews, not only from the common consent of their Divines, c. 4.but from the Council of Trent it self, where it sayes, 1. That no worship is to be given to Images for the sake of any Vertue inherent in them; but if Images be worshipped as separated from the exemplar, they must be worshipped for some virtue inherent in themselves; and whatever impression of Sanctity is supposed to be in them, it is only an inanimate sign of such a sanctity as doth not make it an object of adoration: and if the excellency of the thing represented be the reason moving to adoration, that excellency cannot be conceived as distinct from the exemplar when it makes the Image capable of adoration. If they say the excellency is derived from the exemplar to the Image, then it follows, that there is an inherent vertue in the Images for which they are worshipped, which is contrary to the Council of Trent. 2. That Council makes this to be the only reason of worshipping Images, because the honour passeth to the exemplar, which shews plainly that according to the sense of it, they are to be worshipped only as joyned with the exemplar, and by no means as separated from it. And the same he proves,c. 3. by expressions to the like purpose, from the Council of Nice; p. 629and from the former Testimony of Basil, which, he saith, cannot be otherwise understood than of the same adoration of the Image and exemplar, or else S. Basils Testimony was very impertinently alledged in the Council of Nice,c. 6. and doth not serve the purpose for which he used those words himself; many other Testimonies he produces, and at last concludes that the other opinion is no older than Catharinus and Ayala, and that all those who were for the worship of Images before, viz. Fathers and Schoolmen, were of his opinion. And he proves his opinion from this reason because no inanimate thing is of it self capable of worship;c. 9. but an Image considered as an Image, but without the exemplar, is an inanimate thing: the Major he proves, because worship is a token of submission to something on the account of its excellency, and superiority; but to use such to an inanimate thing, is to make our selves slaves to Images, which would be Idolatry: and on the same account a man uses such a mark of submission, he may as well pray to Images, or beg something of them, as a servant doth of his master, He saith, that Alexander and Thomas, although they never saw the seventh Synod, yet did speak the sense of it, as well as if they had seen it: c. 13.and when that Council p. 630denies Latria to Images, it is to be underderstood only of the inward submission of the Soul, and not of the external acts of adoration; and so he answers all the arguments from the Councils and Fathers: and he saith,Disp. 109. c. 1. that it may be delivered absolutely, that Images are to be worshipped with Latria, if by that be meant the same worship which is given to the exemplar; and that the doctrine of inferiour worship tends to folly and superstition, c. 2.and that his own opinion is the most useful to be preached to the People. Suarez is by no means satisfied with this way,Suarez disp. 54. sect. 4. saying, the Author of it must necessarily fall into the abusive and improper way of worship which is condemned in Durandus and Holcot, for he takes away all proper worship of Images, and makes them only seem to be worshipped; for the external acts of adoration, without the internal is but an appearance of worship, and no real worship. Therefore he proceeds after another method, which is this: 1. The Prototype may be worshipped in the Image, and the Image for the sake of the Prototype, with one and the same act of adoration, both internal and external: to explain this he distinguishes between the esse reale, and the esse repraesentativum of the Prototype; and although p. 631the Image doth not contain the Prototype in the first, it does in the latter sense, i. e. in plain terms, although the Person of Christ be not in the Image, yet we may fancy him to be there; which being supposed, the mind of him that worships is carried primarily to the exemplar, and by way of concomitancy to the Image; not believing the Image to be Christ, (for that were a dangerous thing) but that it doth represent him as if he were there: and consequently this Imagination is a sufficient ground to perform all acts of adoration to the Image, as if the Person of Christ were actually present. Which is just like a Schoolmaster, whom I knew, who being to come into an unusual presence, he goes into a pit, where there were many Trees, and although every one of them had the esse reale of a Tree, yet he supposed them to have a distinct esse repraesentativum of the several Persons he was to make his Congies too; and having thus fastned the esse repraesentativum of the Person to the proper Tree, he makes all his approaches and with the same complements he intended to use to the Persons themselves. If one should have surprised him in this act of civil worship to the Trees, and asked him, whether he believed p. 632the Trees to be the Persons whose names he called them by, he would no doubt, (if he had been versed in School Divinity) have answered to this very subtilly with Suarez, that he was not such an Ass, not to distinguish the esse reale of the Tree, from the esse repraesentativum of the Persons; and although he bowed and made Leggs to the Trees, he did not consider them in so doing as Trees, but as representing those Persons to whom he was bound to shew all that Reverence, which he shewed to the Trees upon the Imagination that they were those very Persons; so that the Reverence was primarily and per se shewn to those Persons, and but concomitanter & per accidens, and after an inferiour manner, to the Trees. But saith Suarez, the Image is not so properly adored, as co-adored, as the Kings Robe is with his Person; and although the Image be really different from the Person of Christ, yet he is worshipped in his true Being as represented by the Image, and as it were vested with it, and so they both become one object, and that Person is worshipped, and the Image together with him with the very same act of adoration. I am glad to hear that, saith the Schoolmaster, for I hope by this means, I may do my Reverences to the p. 633Persons themselves, by performing them to them as represented in their true Beings in these Trees; and I pray Sir do not think me such a Fop that I would do all this to them considered as Trees, in actu signato, for I consider them as Images in actu exercito; and although you may think I do it to the Trees, you are mistaken; my mind all that while unites the Person represented and the Tree together; and although my Reverence be primarily designed to the Person for his own sake, and to the Tree only for the sake of the person represented, yet this is only a co-reverence, such as a man shews to the Person of another, by kissing the hem of his garment, only there the Person is really Vested, and here it is only by Imagination. 2. Suarez saith,Disp. 54. sect. 5. since it is agreed among Catholicks; that the Reason of the worship of the Image is the excellency of the exemplar; that may be considered two wayes. 1. As the objectum quod or the thing it self worshipped in and by the Image as before. 2. As the objectum quo, i. e. as the Reason of giving worship to the Image it self: and this is that worship which Vasquez charges with folly and superstition; but Suarez undertakes to prove this to be a possible and lawful Worship, when p. 634the Image is truly and properly worshipped non adorato directè ut quod ipso exemplari; i. e. the worship not fixing immediately on the thing represented but on the Image it self, although on the account of the exemplar: for which he makes use of this notable argument; because in this act of worship there is nothing omitted but a directing the intention to the exemplar, but there is no precept that requires, that as often as we worship the Image, we ought to direct our intention farther than the Image it self; and therefore that worship is lawful. And although, an inanimate thing be not, as Vasquez urges, adorabile propter se, yet it may, saith Suarez, with wonderful subtilty, be adorable in se propter aliud: and this second kind of worship he endeavours to prove was established by the Councils of Nice and Trent, as well as the first.

Bellar. undertakes to clear the whole matter by these propositions.Bellarm. de cultu Imag. l. 2, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. 1. That the Images of Christ and the Saints are to be worshipped not only per accidens or impropriè, but per se & propriè, so as they terminate the worship, as considered in themselves, and not meerly as they represent the exemplar: which he proves, from the definition of the Nicene Council, which decreed Images to be worshipped and not with Latria: but if p. 635the Image were to be worshipped with a respect only to the exemplar, then it could not be denyed that an Image of Christ was to be worshipped with Latria. 2. He would not have it said before the people that Images are to be worshipped with Latria, but rather the contrary, because the distinctions necessary to defend it are too subtle for their noddles, and the truth is, the men that make them do hardly understand them themselves. 3. But if we speak among our selves and of the plain Truth of the case, Images may be worshipped with Latria, but then it is improperly and per accidens: as it is represented in the Image. 4. If we speak of worship per se & propriè, so no Image is to be worshipped with Latria; because this was condemned by the Nicene Council. 5. Yet, he saith, that the worship which ought to be given to Images per se & propriè, is analogically and reductively the same that is given to the exemplar, i. e. the worship of an Image of Christ is analogical Latria: So that it is, and it is not Latria; it is so, but we must not say so; yet if we speak of the proper worship of Images, that is not so and yet it is so, i. e. analogically and improperly; but if we speak of the proper worship of Latria, then it is not so. But doth not the p. 636proper worship of Latria belong to Christs Person? therefore if Christs Person be worshipped in the Image, it ought to be worshipped with Latria. True, saith Bellarmin, when he is worshipped in his own Person, but not as he is in an Image by participation; but he that is worshipped in the Image is supposed to be the true object of Latria, and therefore Christ as in the Image must be worshipped with Latria. If representation be a sufficient ground of worship, then his presence being supposed in the Image doth require the same worship, as they say is due to him under the Sacramental species: and the manner of his being represented in the Image would take no more off from the nature of the worship, than the Princes Robe doth from the worship due to his Person. And Bernardus Pujol from thence proves,Pujol de cultu ador. disp. 3. sect. 7. assert. 5. that it is lawful to worship the Image and exemplar with the same act of adoration as one complex object, because the Church doth worship the Sacrament of the Eucharist with Latria, as it is one complex object made up of the Species and Christ himself as there present. The same Author proves against Bellarmin, assert. 7.that the proper worship given to Images is not meerly analogically and reductively Latria, but properly, p. 637although more imperfect, like that which is given to the humanity of Christ, and therefore, he saith, the meaning of the Council was only to exclude absolute Latria, and not relative; with whom Ysambertus agrees,Ysambert. ad q. 25. disp. 4. art. 2. who likewise saith, that when the Image and Prototype are worshipped with Latria, the Image is a terminative object of that adoration, at least as a part to make one entire object of the exemplar and the Image. Card. Lugo saith,Lugo de Myst. Incarn. disp. 36. sect. 3. that Vasquez hath not spoken clearly to this point, about the aggregate object, made up of the Image and the exemplar; for, saith he, if internal adoration were allowed to the Image as a partial object, it would go a great way to the proving that the Image it self may be so worshipped in recto, i. e. without the worship of the exemplar: and he thinks, that the same act of adoration may be terminated in recto, both on the Image and the exemplar: and that this aggregate object hath a sufficient excellency to terminate inward worship upon the Image as a part of that object. Arriaga disputes at large against the opinion of Vasquez; Arriag. de Incarn. disp. 56. sect. 6. subs. 2. n. 68.but after all he concludes, that we may say absolutely, that Latria is due to the Image of Christ, and he makes it the same case as to Images and the humanity of p. 638Christ; and to the Nicene Council, he saith, that they spake not of the Images of God, but of Angels and Saints, to which no doubt Latria is not due; and he stretches the words of Epiphanius the Deacon, to this sense, that no Images of Creatures are to be worshipped with Latria; therefore, saith he,l. 70. they did worship the Image of God with Latria. Very subtle I confess! and like Epiphanius his own self, who argues in that Council, much after that rate, and with equal probability. Petavius concludes with the generality of their Divines, Petav. de Incarn. l. 15. c. 15. n. 6.that the design of the Council of Nice was only to exclude absolute Latria, and not relative: for which he quotes the Greek excerpta, wherein it is said, that the Image doth not differ in Hypostasis from the Prototype but only in nature: from whence he inferrs, that it is the same act of adoration to the Image and the thing represented. But if all the danger lay in supposing Images to be distinct hypostates; the Heathens in that Council declared, that they did not look on them as such, but only as representations, and therefore in that respect they were no more to blame than the Nicene Fathers in the Worship of them.

From all this discourse we see, (1.) That some great Divines in the Roman Church p. 639do assert proper and absolute Latria to be given to the Images of Christ, as those who assert, the Image and Christ to make up one entire object of adoration. (2.) That the doctrine of a Relative Latria to be given to Images, and such as is given to the humanity of Christ, hath almost universally obtained in the Roman Church. (3.) That they all agree in this, that the external acts of adoration are to be performed to Images, such as genuflections, prostrations, burning of Lights and Incense, &c. (4.) That those who assert an inferiour adoration to be given to Images, do suppose that adoration to terminate in the Images themselves, although it be given on the account of the thing represented. (5.) That those who differ from each other in this matter, do in effect charge one another with Idolatry: but of that afterwards.

Nothing now remains to the full stating of this Controversie, §. 16.but to consider the practice of the Roman Church in the worship of Images, which may be gathered very much from the former discourse, but will receive somewhat more light by these observations. 1. That the Church of Rome hath determined in her publick Offices, that Latria is due to the Cross of p. 640Christ, viz. in the Pontificale, where the Rubrick determines the manner of procession at the reception of the Emperour; Pontificale Rom. Ordo ad recip. Imperat. Rubr. 1.and there it is said, that the Cross of the Legat ought to have the right hand, quia debetur ei Latria, because Latria is due to it; not only that it may lawfully be given to it, but that it is due to it, without any mention of the exemplar, or any distinctions, or limitations about the nature of this Latria. 2. That solemn prayers are made for the consecration of the Images set up for worship and for virtue to be given to them.Pontific. in Benedict. Novae Crucis. In the Office of benediction of a new Cross there is this prayer, Rogamus te Domine Sancte, Pater omnipotens, sempiterne Deus, ut digneris bene ✚ dicere hoc lignum Crucis tue, ut sit remedium Salutare generi humano; sit soliditas fidei, profectus honorum operum, redemptio animarum; sit solamen, & protectio ac tutela contra seba jacula inimicorum. Per Dominum Nostrum, &c.

Is this prayer made in faith or no? whereby they pray for such mighty benefits p. 641by a new Cross; and to take away any suspicions of Metonymies and Prosopopoeia's it is said expresly hoc lignum Crucis tuae, this Wood of thy Cross, may be a wholsome remedy to mankind, a strengthener of faith, an increaser of good works, the redemption of Souls, a Comfort, protection and Defence against the cruelty of our enemies. And after such prayers, allowed and used by publick Authority in the Roman Church, with what conscience could the Council of Trent say, that they believed no vertue in Images, nor hoped for any thing from them? After this, the Bishop consecrates the incense, and prays for many good things to come by that too, then the Cross is sprinkled with Holy Water, and then he incenseth it, saying, Sanctificetur lignum istud, in nomine Pa✚tris & Fi✚lii, & Spiritus ✚ Sancti; & benedictio illius ligni in quo membra sancta salvatoris suspensa sunt, sit in isto ligno; ut orantes inclinanresque se propter Deum ante istam cru…em inveniant corporis & anime sanitatem. Per eundem, &c.

Then the Bishop kneels before the Cross, p. 642and devoutly adores, and kisses it; and as many besides as please: after this follows a long prayer for the sanctification of that new sign of the Cross; then the Bishop kneels, adores and kisses again, and as many as will. Then follow particular Offices for the consecration of an Image of the B. Virgin, and of other Images. In the Ceremoniale Romanum, we find very strange prayers upon the Consecration of the Agnus Dei's, Sacrar. Cerem. l. 1. c. de consecr. Agnus Dei.which if there were any ground to hope for any of the advantages there prayed for, by the worship and honour of them, no one that loved either his Soul or Body would be without them. For the Pope himself, good man, prays thus, Tu eos bene✚dicere, sanctifi✚care, & consecr✚are digneris, ut tua larga benedictione sanctificati eandem virtutem accipiant contra omnes diabolicas versutias & fraudes maligni spiritus; ut illos devote super se ferentibus, nulla tempestas eisdem prevaleat, nulla adversitas dominetur, nulla aura pestilens, neque aeris corruptio, nullusque morbus caducus, nulla maris procella & tempestas, nullum incendium, p. 643neque ulla iniquitas dominetur eis, neque prebaleat: homo partus cum matre incolumis conservetur per intercessionem unigeniti, &c.

What admirable vertue have these Agnus Dei's in them! they are, good against the Devil, good against Storms, pestilence, falling-sickness, and Sin; and what could a man wish for more? But then it is to be observed that these vertues do not depend meerly on the carrying of these about one, but the worship of them is required too: So in another prayer there extant, Bene ✚ dicas, & benedicta sancti✚fices, quatenus ipsorum veneratione & honore nobis famulis tuis crimina diluantur, &c.

And there we find the Verses of Urban 5. which he sent to the Greek Emperour with three Agnus Dei's. No Mountebank ever set forth the power of his Medicines with more advantage, than the Pope doth the vertue of his Agnus Dei's.

p. 644Balsamus, & munda cera cum Chrismatis unda,

Conficiunt Agnum; quod munus do tibi magnum:

Fonte velut natum per mystica sanctificatum.

Fulgura de sursum depellit, omne malignum

Peccatum frangit, ut Christi sanguis: & angit.

Pregnans servatur; simul & partus liberatur.

Dona defert dignis; virtutem destruit ignis,

Portatus munde de fluctibus eripi… unde.

Quarant. in Sum. Bullar. p. 7.Stephanus Quaranta having met with a more perfect Copy, adds some more verses of the vertues of these little Images of Wax; and it is great pity any of them should be lost.

Morte repentina servat, Sataneque ruina.

Si quis honoret eum, retinet super hoste Cropheum,

Parsque minor tantum tota valet integra quantum.

p. 645Agnus Dei, miserere mei,

Qui crimnia tollis, miserere nobis.

It is not to be questioned, saith Azorius, but, the Pope himself having made these prayers over them (to whom alone it belongs to consecrate them the first year of his Popedom, Azor. Instit. Mor. l. 9. c. 9.and every seventh year after) they will have the effects prayed for, if they be used with that due reverence and devotion which is required. I find nothing more ingenuously confessed to have been taken from Heathenism, than the wearing of Agnus Dei's for such uses, by Cardinal Baronius, Baron. ad A. D. 58. n. 76, 77.and Rasponi. Baronius saith, the newly baptized used to have them hanged about their Necks, instead of the little Amulets the Gentiles put upon their Childrens necks against fascination. For, saith he, it being impossible to break off all the Gentile Customes, in those who were become Christians, they were allowed the continuance of them, so they were turned to the worship of the True God. And Card. Rasponi saith,Raspon. de Basil. Lateran. l. 2. c. 8. p. 144. that instead of the little Images of false Gods, these were invented to be worn for the same purposes, viz. the driving away the mischiefs both of body and soul. These were called Bullae, which were worn by Boys, and Pupae, by Girles, p. 646being little round Images, that were first hung upon Children, and after used by the greatest Persons, as by those that Triumphed, as Rasponi observes, to prevent the power of enchantment. (Those that consider this and the saliva lustralis, used upon the dies lustricus among the Heathens,

Pers. Satyr. 2.Frontem que at que uda labella

Infami digito, & lustralibus ante salivis

Expiat—

with the great vertues attributed by them to salt, and oile, and holy Water, may easily understand that part of the Roman Rituale, which concerns the ceremonies they have added to Baptism.) But besides the Bullae, which the Heathens used for Amulets, they had little Images, which they carried about with them; in which they supposed there were great vertues, and to which they gave divine worship. So Dio saith,Dio l. 43. Caesar carried a little Image of Venus; and Suetonius of Nero, Sueton. in Neron. c. 56.that he had Icunculam puellarem, and which he secretly worshipped three times a day; and Asclepiades did carry alwayes about with him a little Image of the Dea Coelestis, saith Ammianus Marcellinus; Ammian. Marcell. l. 22.as Apuleius saith,Apulei. Apolog. he p. 647did himself, a little Mercury which he worshipped, which, he said, ought not to be touched but with pure hands, being a consecrated thing; Azor. l. 9. c. 9. q. 3.just as Azorius determines, that no Laymen ought to touch an Agnus Dei, for the very same reason, because they are consecrated: and the Council of Milan under Carolus Borromaeus (since Canonized) declares,Acta Ecclesiae Mediolan. sub S. Carolo Borrom. l. 2. n. 41, 42. that when any Artificer makes a golden or Crystal case to put an Agnus Dei in, he must not presume to touch it either with his Gloves, or with any instrument; but he must send for one in holy Orders to put it into the case. And after all this, is it possible for any to suppose, that the Heathens did attribute virtue to their Images, and that they in the Church of Rome do not? when they pray for virtues to be given to them; and believe great efficacy to be in them, and use them with as much superstition as the Heathens did. Whatever then the Council of Trent hath determined to avoid calumny, the solemn Prayers, and Offices, and Practice of their Church, do sufficiently manifest that they believe virtue to be in Images, and consequently do trust in them for those effects which were pray'd to be given by their means.

p. 648(3.) We ought to compare the practice of the worship of Images in Heathen and Christian Rome together; and if either exceed the other, the latter hath done it in some parts of folly and superstition. The solemn rites which concerned the worship of Images in Heathen Rome lay in these things, 1. Consecration. 2. Supplication. 3. Pompous Procession.

1. Consecration of Images for publick worship; which was to be performed by the Pontifices or Priests. Before Consecration, Quintil. declam. 323.saith Quintilian; they are only the Works of Mens hands, it is that which brings God into them, and makes them fit to be set up for worship; this therefore is not to be permitted to all, but only to those whose hands are pure, and devoted to sacred things. This consecration was generally performed with a certain form of Words, which is now lost with the old Pontifical Books; but perhaps, saith Gutherius, Guth. de Vet. jure Pontific. l. 4. c. 22.they had none at all; no more than they had in the Consecration of Emperours; which was done only by the solemnity of the action it self. Minucius Felix makes the adorning, Minuc. p. 26.consecration, and prayers, to be the necessary things, which make an Image to become a God; i. e. when it is solemnly dedicated to divine worship. p. 649But they had two sorts of consecrated Images, some that were only ornamental, which they called foreign; and others that were the proper Images of the Temple, which were set up over the middle Altar, and to that God, whom that Image represented, the Temple was dedicated, and the rest, as Servius tells us,Serv. in Georg. 3. were only to beautifie the Temple. Vitruvius saith,Vitruv. l. 4. c. 8. the Images were to be above the Altars, that they who came to pray and sacrifice at the Altar, might look on the Divinity; as it is fully expressed in one of the Coyns of Domitian mentioned by Gutherius and Gevartius. Guther. de Vet. jure Pontif. l. 3. c. 6. Gevart. Numis. Tab. 32. n. 4.This was the High Altar, besides which, there were generally two other at least; the one near the entrance, where the Beasts were sacrificed and burnt; the other held the Vessels and Utensils and was called Anclabris saith Festus: Fest. v. Auclabris.but the chief Altar was that, over which the Image was placed, and was called altare ab altitudine, i. e. the high Altar. And it is very observable, although it hath been little taken notice of, that the Sacrifices were burnt at the lower Altar; which the Priests having done, they then went up to the High Altar, and there did adolere, i.e. offer incense and prayers; for as Arnobius saith,Arnob. l. 7. p. 232. they did cast their incense into the p. 650Fire, ante ipsa Numinum signa, before the Images of the Gods, which, he there saith, they believed to be the chief part of worship, and to have the greatest influence on propitiating the Gods. From whence I observe, how unreasonably those of the Church of Rome, meerly to excuse themselves, have made Sacrifice the only external act of Latria, and excluded Incense and Supplication from being peculiar to God; when among both Iews and Gentiles, these were looked on as the more solemn and diviner parts of Worship.

2. Supplication: which properly relates to the prayers made in great distresses; but I take it as comprehending all their solemn prayers; which were wont to be made among the old Romans, with great expressions of devotion, before the Images of their Gods; which in Arnobius is expressed by Deorum ante ora prostrati; Arnobl. 1. p. 29.by Lucretius, Pandere palmas— Ante Deum delubra; by Caesar, Lucret. l. 5. Caesar de bellociv. l. 2ante simulachra projecti victoriam à Diis exposcerent; by Lucan, Lucan. l. 2.moestaeque tenent delubra catervae; by Ovid, Ovid. Fast. l. 4.Summisso que genu vultus in imagine Divae Fixit. p. 651which, with many other expressions to the same purpose in Latin Authors, do imply, that they made their prayers before the Images of their Gods; and not that they took the Images themselves for Gods, any otherwise than those do who suppose some extraordinary presence after consecration; or by the power of Imagination represented them as present to them in their Images; which the Romans properly called Adoration: which was orare ad to pray to them as present; or ad os orare, as Gutherius interprets it; thence Arnobius, Guth. de Vet. jure Pontif. l. 4. c. 17. Arnob. l. 1.quotidianis supplicationibus adorare. And this on great occasions, was performed through all the Temples for two or three days, as the Senate thought fit, as we find it often in Livy, with solemn processions of the People.

3. Another part of the Divine Honour they gave to Images, was the carrying them in Pomp upon solemn Festivals (which is largely described by Dionysius: Dionys. Halic. l. 7. p. 475.) For then they carried their Gods from the Capitol through the Forum into the great Cirque; and after the several Orders of men in the Procession, at last came the Images of the Gods carried upon mens backs; and when this procession was over, the prayers and sacrifices began. This p. 652was looked on as so peculiar to the Gods, that Suetonius reckons it as one of the great instances of Caesars affecting Divine Honours, Suet. in Iul. l. 26.that he would have his Image carried in this sacred Procession.

§ 17.Let us now see what the Practice of Rome Christian hath been in these particulars. 1. For consecration, we have already seen the set Forms appointed for it in the Roman Pontifical; although the Nicene Council thought no other consecration necessary, than the setting up the Images for publick worship; yet the Roman Church would not let People imagine them defective in any thing which the Heathens did towards the more solemn worship of Images. 2. For supplication before them; let the Images set up for worship over the high Altar speak for them, whether in this point of adoration they come behind Heathen Rome. By the Rubrick of the Missal, in every solemn Mass, the Priest is to go up to the middle of the Altar, Missal. de Intr. Part. 2. tit. 4. n. 4.and there having kissed the Altar, he puts the incense into the Thuribulum, which he is to do three times with his right hand, and his left hand on his breast; having done this, he makes a profound Reverence to the Crucifix over the Altar (as appears by the picture of the p. 653Altar in Gavantus) and three times incenseth that;Gavant. in Miss. p. 103. then bowing again to the Crucifix he incenseth the Altar; which is to be done with so much niceness and ceremony, that Gavantus reckons up twenty nine times, with their exact order, wherein the several parts of the Altar and Crucifix are to be incensed by the Priest who celebrates Mass. If there be any Reliques or Images of Saints about the Altar, after the incensing and adoration of the Crucifix, before the Priest goes from the middle of the Altar, he first incenseth those on the righthand, and then making his Reverence to the Cross, he doth the same to those on the lefthand. Philander in his Notes on Vitruvius, Philand. in Vitr. l. 4. c. 8.in his Discourse to Paul 3. about the right placing of Images, saith, That the due placing of Images is over the Altars, as the Image of the Madonna at Loreto, hath a holy Altar before it of square stone, saith Tursellinus;Tursel. hist. Lauren. l. 1. and accordingly Matthaeus Riccius saith,Trigaud. de Christian. Exped. apud Sinas l. 4. c. 11. p. 403. That in China they placed the Image of the B. Virgin on the Altar, where they every day did offer their Devotions. Aloysius Novarinus glories in the invention of a new sort of worship, Novar. Elect. sanc. l. 4. c. 54.viz. of the B. Virgin big-bellied, with Christ in her Womb; which was called, LA MADONNA DELL' ALLEGREZZA, p. 654and he saith, That he caused an Altar to be erected, and an Image to be set up for this worship, first at Verona; and desires it may be generally received, as the most excellent way of her worship, to promote which, he saith, he had written, (no doubt, an admirable Book) Of the Life of Christ in the Womb of the Virgin.

And for praying to Images, it is done with as much ceremony and formality as it ever was among the Heathens; with prostrations, genuflections, looking as devoutly upon the Images, approaching to them, and touching them with as much shew of Reverence as ever was used among them; insomuch that if an old Roman were revived and saw the modern practices of worship of Images at Rome, he would say they had done by worship as the Stoicks did by Philosophy, viz. only changed the Names, when the things were the same. Nay scarce any superstition can be mentioned so barbarous among the Heathen Idolaters towards Images, but it is practised in the Roman Church; witness the binding the Image of S. Anthony to get a good Wind, which Peter Della Valle saith,Della Valle Lett. 9. p. 6. Boulay Voyage l. 2. c. 25. it much used, and not without success among the Portugals; and Boulaye le Gouz mentions their putting the Images of S. Anthony p. 655and the B. Virgin, with their Heads forward into Wells, drawing them up and down there, to procure rain, and for other very useful purposes. But setting aside such barbarous superstition of the People (which is not condemned by their spiritual Governours that we find) we need insist on no more than what is either required, or commonly allowed and practised with Approbation. We have already seen by the confession of their best Writers, That their Church does allow praying to the Cross in the most express and formal terms of Prayer, O Crux Ave spes unica, Hymn. ad Vesper. Dom. Passion. Pujol de ad orat. disp. 3. Sect. 6. p. 281.Hoc passionis tempore, Piis adauge Gratiam, Reisque dele Crimina. Wherein Bernardus Pujol confesses that not only the common people, but the Church it self doth speak to the Cross, as the Image of Christ; and what is this then, but praying to the Image? Upon the third of May we find this Antiphona to the Cross, O Crux splendidior cunctis astris, mundo celebris,Brev. Rom. Fest. Maii 30. invent. S. Crucis. hominibus multùm amabilis, sanctior universis, quae sola fuisti digna portare talentum mundi, dulce lignum, dulces clavos, dulcia ferens pondera; Salva praesentem catervam in tuis hodie laudibus congregatam.

p. 656But the most solemn adoration of the Cross is performed upon Good-Friday, which according to the Rubricks of the Roman Missal is after this manner,Rubr. Missal. de feria sextâ in Parasceue. Prayers being ended, the Priest goes to the Epistle side of the Altar, and there takes the Cross from the Deacon; and then turns to the People, and by degrees uncovers a little of it from the top, and begins the Antiphona, Ecce lignum Crucis, in qua salus mundi pependit, Then the Choire sings, Venite Adoremus; at which they all prostrate themselves (not to the earth saith Gavantus, but with kneeling, and a very lowly Reverence) Then he goes forward to the Corner of the Altar, and opening the right-hand of the Crucifix, and lifting it up a little, he sings louder, Ecce lignum, &c. and the rest sing and adore again; then he goes to the middle of the Altar, and uncovers the whole Crucifix, and lifts it up and sings yet louder, and they adore, as before. When this is done, the Priest carries it to a place prepared before the Altar, and there kneeling he places it; then he pulls off his Shooes, and goes to worship the Cross, three times kneeling, before he kisses it: and after him, the rest do it in their Order. And the Pope himself on that day, p. 657laies aside his Mitre, hath his Shooes pull'd off, Cerem. Sacr. l. 2. de sexta Feriâ, &c.and goes between two Cardinals ad adorandum, to worship the Cross, before which he kneels three times at a convenient distance, and prays, and then kisses it: and so all the Cardinals two and two, and the rest after them. Several other Ceremonies there are in the Missals of York and Salisbury; but those which are in the Roman Missal are sufficient to prove that they in the Roman Church are bound to give as solemn adoration to the Cross, as ever any Heathens gave to any Images whatsoever. Besides this, they make solemn supplication to other Images of Christ; as to that of the Veronica at Rome, in those known Verses, Salve sancta Facies nostri Redemptoris, &c. wherein they pray to the Image, to purge them from sin and bring them to heaven; which are pretty reasonable requests to be made to an Image, especially so authentick a one as that is▪ of which Bzovius saith,Bzov. A. 1216. n. 16. That it hath supreme honour among Christians, and hath an Altar on purpose for it, which is called Altare sanctissimi sudarii, (as he shews from Grimaldus) in S. Peter's Church at Rome, & was in the Oratory of Pope John 7. and the Monuments of the consecration of that Altar are still preserved among other p. 658Records of that Church: which had Priests belonging to it. This Image is shewed at solemn times, and then the people fall down and worship it; the manner whereof is described by Pope Pius 2. relating the procession of the Pope at the translation of the Head of S. Andrew;Aen. Sylv. Comment. l. 8. The Pope coming in Romp with the Cardinals and Clergy to that part of the Church where the Veronica was, commanded it to be shewn. Forthwith the Cardinal of S. Mark goes up the steps, and shews the venerable and sacred Image, the people three times crying out Mercy. It was, saith he, a wonderful thing at one time to see our B. Saviour (in this Image) and the Reliques of the Apostle; and the Pope and Cardinals and Clergy kneeling and praying with their heads uncovered, viz. to this Image of Veronica? Gretser saith,Gretser de Imag. non manufactis c. 17. That in some Missals there was a Missa de Veronica, with an Indulgence granted by Innocent 4. to those who said that Mass, or but the Collect there mentioned; after which follows the Sequence, viz. Salve sancta facies, &c. full of devout affections, saith Gretser; which Bollandus supposes to be the Psalm made by Innocent 3. for the honour of the Veronica,Bolland. in 4. Febr. Sect. 3. n. 13 of which Matth. Paris speaks. But we are not to imagine the Veronica to p. 659be only thus worshipped at Rome; for the very same is pretended to be in Spain too, in the Cathedral Church of Iaen in Boetica, where it is likewise shewed and worshipped with mighty Reverence and a kind of Sacred horrour, saith Bollandus, twice a year. Lucius Marinaeus saith,Luc. Marinae. Sic. de reb. Hispan. l. 5. There is so much Divinity in it, that no man can tell what colour it is of; and that the worship of it hath mightily enriched the place; to which Clement 7. and Iulius 3. granted large Indulgences, and Litanies are appointed to be used by the people at the shewing of it. There are others of them shewed, and worshipped in other places as both Bollandus and Gretser confess; at which they seem a little troubled, but think to salve all by saying, that the rest are copies, or that Veronica's handkerchief had three foldings, and every one had a distinct Image, whereof one was kept at Rome, another at Ierusalem, and a third in Spain; but whether Originals or Copies, whether true or false, they are all worshipped, where ever they are, with mighty devotion, and miracles are said to be done by them. Lucius Marinaeus mentions another Image of Christ which was solemnly worshipped in Spain, Luc. Marin, ib.viz. one made by Nicodemus, and p. 660was found by a Merchant in an Ark floating on the Sea; Cujus Imaginis invocato Numine, saith he, The Divinity of which Image being pray'd to, abundance of infirm persons were healed. And he saith of Ferdinand King of Spain, That he did most devoutly worship a certain Image of God, which he carried about with him. Ab eâ itaque quicquid & necessario & honestè petebat, facile semper assequebatur; he obtained easily and alwaies, what ever he duely prayed for to the Image. Another Divine Image of Christ which hath solemn supplications made to it is that imprinted on the sacred Sindon, or Shroud at Besancon, which is shewed twice a year upon a Mountain near the City, where vast numbers of people meet to adore it; and the Devils roar at the opening of it, and the Skies of a sudden clear, although it rained before, when it is shewed, and doth such mighty wonders, that Chiffletius saith,Chifflet. de linteis sepulchr. Christi. c. 11, 15. Presenti Divin… Numine semper affulget; it hath alwaies a Divine Presence with it; forty hours prayers, he saith, are often made to it, and in extraordinary necessities it is carried in procession like the Ark, (but more holy than the Ark) and in a time of general Pestilence, c. 14.he saith, they finding no other p. 661remedy did fly in S. Sudarii asylum & clientelam, into the Sanctuary and protection of this Divine Image, and thereupon the City instituted a society and solemn procession to the honour of it every year, on the third of May, to which other Cities of Burgundy, as Dole and Salines, joyned themselves; and Gregory 13. granted an Indulgence to the Altar erected for the honour of this Image: which is called Altare S Sindonis. The like might be shewed concerning other Images, but these are sufficient to my purpose, to prove the common and allowed practice of the worship of Images in the Roman Church, as to the Rites of Supplication and adoration, to be as extravagant, as ever were among the Heathens.

3. For Solemn Processions with Images, we have as great Instances as ever were among them; witness the Procession with the Image of S. Roch by the grave Fathers of the Council of Constance, Which was done, saith Baronius, Baron. Martyrol. Aug. 16.by a decree of that Council; when upon the Plague raging there, his Image was carried through the City in solemn Pomp, upon which the Plague stayed: from this example, saith he, his Images were every where set up, and Altars, Chappels, and Temples erected to p. 662him. Witness, The Procession at Rome by Paul 2. wherein the Pope and Cardinals went barefoot, the Image of S. Maria de Populo, and the Image of our Saviour in the Lateran being solemnly carried to gain a victory over the Turks. Cardinal Rasponi saith,Claccon. in Paulo. 2. Bzov. A. 1216. n. 16. Rasponi de Basil. Later. l. 4. c. 19. That is thought to be the most effectual way to obtain favour and mercy of God, to carry the Image of our Saviour from the Lateran Church in a solemn Procession to S. Maria Major; for then they think their prayers are most sure to be heard, when the Image of Christ stands by that of the B. Virgin, whose Authority and Favour is so great with her Son. So Stephen 3. found when he carried the Image on his own shoulders barefoot, the people following him, when he was much distressed by Aistulphus. Upon the Feast of the Assumption of the B. Virgin, the Pope and Cardinals keep the Vespers at S. Maria Major (as Rasponi describes it from Benedictus Canon of S. Peters) those being ended, the Pope returns to the Lateran; the Cardinals take from the Chappel of S. Laurence the Image of our Saviour, but first, the Pope and Cardinals, barefoot, make seven bowings, and then open the Image and kiss the feet of it, then this Image is carried with great p. 663Pomp and Devotion, with Torches burning, and the People singing through those Streets of the City that have been most troubled with Serpents and Devils; for which cause Pope Sergius appointed this Procession. But it seems so great wickedness was committed in this nocturnal Procession, (although Rasponi saith, That a miracle happened of not consuming the wax of the Torches,) that Pius 5. forbad this Procession. Every year in Rogation Week for three daies the Image of the B. Virgin is carried in a solemn Procession from Mount Gardia near Bononia, Gonon. Chronic. Deip. p. 346. A.D. 1433.with publick supplications; because one, in a time of great Rain, when no other means would help them, Cardinal Albergati appointed such a Procession against Rain for four daies together, after which it seems the Rain ceased. Upon Tuesday in Easter Week, Sedulius describes a most solemn Procession carrying the Image of the B. Virgin, Sedul. de Virgine Mosae Traject. c. 2 1.at Maestricht. First, The Image is taken out of the Chappel, and placed in the middle of the Church for more solemn adoration; where the People continue at their prayers all night, before the Image; at which times, he saith, the officers of the Church have given away seventeen thousand little Images of the B. Virgin with Indulgences: p. 664where, saith he, it is a pleasant sight to behold children, Boys, Virgins, Matrons, Men, only covered with linnen or flannen shirts, and barefooted to approach, to worship, to kneel, and even to creep about the Image of the B. Virgin; and watering the very ground with their Tears: Many from the head to the knees having iron Armour next to their bodies; going upon their bare knees the whole Procession; and drawing heavy chains of Iron fastened to their Feet. The manner of which procession is thus set down, After Mass performed to the honour of the B. Virgin, Marian. l. 2. c. 14.and the chords of S. Francis are distributed among the great Persons, (which they carry upon their garments that day like shoulder belts) the Procession begins; first a Crucifix is carried by one of the Friers, whom a great number follows of men, women, and Children; all barefoot, with only linnen or flanen shifts, with Torches in their hands, in the habit of penitents with great silence praying and weeping as they go. In the year 1608. there were about a thousand in this dress, among whom were not a few men who covered their Heads with Iron Headpieces that they might not be known. Many women drew their Children after them that could hardly go; and others carried p. 665them sucking at their breasts; and an old Woman that could not go, was carried in her bed. After these followed the Whippers under the peculiar care of the Iesuits, with their faces covered and barefoot. Then followed another Cross; after them the Franciscans singing to the Praise of the B. Virgin; then the chief Citizens, then the Officers of her Chappel, then the Torch bearers immediately before the sacred Image, which the choicest Virgins carried on their shoulders: then followed a Company of armed men, who had vowed this service to the Virgin for several years. In that year 1608. there were 86 persons stark naked (only where nature would not allow it) that had iron armour on their bodies from head to foot; and most of them drawing a heavy chain fastened to their right foot, that they might go more uneasily; their linnen drawers did shew how the blood dropt from their flesh by the pinching of the Armour; and the very way was sprinkled with blood; after these, the Magistrates of the City followed, and the Consuls and Senatours all bearing torches before the Host, which was carried under a silken Canopy, with a most profound Reverence; then came in the last place, the Governour, the Nobility, and a vast multitude p. 666of all sorts of people; and for eight dayes together many people walked the same round out of great devotion. I do not think this Procession can be matched, by the supplications and the Pompa Circensis of old Rome; or by any of the Processions with their Idols, which Peter della Valle describes among the Heathen Indians, Pet. della Valle lett. 5. n. 3.18.25.which, he confesses, to be very like those used among Christians, when the Images of Saints are carried in procession, when any Body or Fraternity go in Pilgrimage to Loreto or Rome, in the Holy Year.

The Iesuits boast very much of their zeal in setting up the worship of the Images of the B. Virgin in Flanders, and especially of these solemn processions with her Images; Imago primisaec. soc. Iesu l. 6. p. 775, &c.particularly at Courtray for nine dayes together, wherein there have been nine thousand persons: In the year 1636. the plague raging there, a solemn supplication was appointed with a Procession of the Image through the City, with wonderful devotion; and at Bruges, A. D. 1633. with an incredible number of people; and a thousand torches of Virgin wax; and the like solemnities were set up by their means at Brussels, Antwerp, Mechlin and other places. Otho Zylius a Iesuite sets down the order of the Procession, Otho Zyl. histor. B. Mar. Sylvaeduc. l. 4. c. 28.wherein the Image p. 667of the B. Virgin that was before worshipped at Boisleduc was carried to Brussels, upon the shoulders of four Capucins, the Infanta Isabella following it with all the Nobility, and infinite number of people, with the highest expressions of Pomp and Devotion, and at last it was placed in the middle of a Chappel just over the Altar, where it hath solemn worship given to it, and wonderful cures are said to be wrought by it. I cannot conclude this Discourse, without giving some account of another notable Procession at Brussels of an Image of the B. Virgin, the occasion whereof was this; a new confraternity was instituted in Spain of the Slaves of the B. Virgin, by one Simon Rojas;Barth. de los Rios hierarch. Marian. l. 2. c. 7. whose custome was to salute one another with those words, Ave Maria, instead of Your humble Servant, and this Sodality was established with large Indulgences by Paul 5. and afterwards was begun in Bruges, A. D. 1626. having fetters as the badge of this Slavery, and new Indulgences from Urban 8.;c. 19. for the establishing this Society it happened luckily, that an officer of the King of Spain's Fleet being sick at Dunkirk, pretended to discover a great Secret to Barth. de los Rios then Preacher to Isabella Clara Eugenia,c. 10. viz. that he had a most admirable Image p. 668of the B. Virgin, which had been worshipped for 600 years in the Cathedral Church of Aberdene, and had spoken to the last Catholick Bishop, and had miraculously escaped the Hereticks hands; and was designed for a present to Isabella; but he, (wretch that he was) upon a promise made by the Franciscans of his own Countrey in Spain, of praying for his Soul and his Families, had intended to have carried it thither, which he found was displeasing to the B. Virgin by his dangerous sickness; and he hoped upon this confession she would have mercy upon him; and therefore he desired him to present this Image to her Highness in the name of the Catholicks of Aberdene; which was received by her with wonderful devotion, c. 11.and she said her prayers before it morning and evening; but this did not satisfie her, for she resolved to have this Image carried to Brussels with a solemn procession, and for that purpose obtained an Indulgence from Urban 8. for all those who should attend it; and a rich and magnificent Altar was erected, over which the Image was to be placed: c. 13.and banners were made with this inscription, In Nomine Mariae omne genu flectatur, &c. after which on May 3. the Procession was performed with all imaginable Pomp, and p. 699kept for eight dayes together: c. 14.and yet after all this, one Maxwel, a learned Scotchman shewed in a Discourse presented to Isabella, that upon the best enquiry he could make, this famous Image was a meer imposture, c. 16.and a trick of a crafty merchant to procure some advantage to himself by it; but the poor man was imprisoned for this discovery, and forced to make a publick Recantation: and the Worship of this Image was advanced, and a solemn supplication, and procession with it observed every year; as the same Author informs us, and the Confraternity of the slaves of the B. Virgin highly promoted by it. Several other solemn processions are related by him, as of B. Maria de Remediis, c. 19.B. Maria de Victoriâ, with the Popes Bulls for establishing the Society of slaves of the B. Virgin; but these are enough to shew, that the Roman Church in its constant, and allowed practises, doth not come behind old Heathen Rome, in this part of the Worship given to Images.