DO CATHOLICS PRAY TO SAINTS?
By M. C. W.
"THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS" by the Most Rev. James Gibbons, D.D., archbishop of Baltimore, now cardinal, says on page 182:— "In the exposition of her creed, the Catholic Church weighs her words in the scales of the sanctuary with as much precision as a banker weighs gold. With regard to the invocation of saints, the church simply declares that it is 'useful and salutary' to ask their prayers. There are expressions addressed to the saints in some popular books of devotion, which, to critical readers, may seem extravagant. But they are only the warm language of affection and poetry, and are to be regulated by our standard of faith; and notice that all the prayers of the church end with the formula, 'Through our Lord Jesus Christ,' sufficiently indicating her belief that Christ is the Mediator of salvation." The "Catholic Christian Instructed," by the Most Rev. Dr. Challoner, approved by the Rev. John McCloskey, D.D., late archbishop of New York, says (page 236):— "We hold it to be pious and profitable to apply ourselves to them [angels and saints], in the way of desiring them to pray to God for us; but not so as to address ourselves to them as if they were the authors or dispensers of pardon, grace, or salvation." Compare with the above quotations, the following prayer sent out by Leo XIII., as printed in the Catholic News, of September 1, 1889:— [Translated for the Catholic News.]
We fly to thee, O blessed Joseph, in our tribulations, and imploring the aid of thy most holy spouse, confidently invoke thy patronage also. By that charity which united thee with the immaculate Virgin, mother of God, and by the fatherly love with which thou didst embrace the infant Jesus, we humbly beseech thee to look benignly on the inheritance which Jesus Christ acquired by his blood, and help us in our necessity by thy power and aid. "Protect, O most provident guardian of the holy family, the elect children of Jesus Christ; ward off from us, O most loving Father, all pestilence of errors and depravity; be propitious to us from heaven, O most powerful protector, in this our struggle with the power of darkness; and as thou didst once rescue the child Jesus from the greatest peril to his life, so now defend the holy church of God from the snares of the enemy and all adversity; and shield each one of us with thy perpetual patronage, that imitating thy example, and supported by thy aid, we may be enabled to live a holy life, die piously, and attain everlasting bliss in heaven. Amen." This prayer is to be recited throughout the month of October in connection with the rosary, henceforth and forever. Mark, that St. Joseph's prayer to, or intercession with, Christ in behalf of the pope and church is not asked, but his (St. Joseph's) "help," and "power and aid." The encyclical letter of the pope places him on a level with the Virgin Mary. The pope says that Joseph the patriarch, as one in whose hands Pharaoh had placed the affairs of his kingdom, was the type of Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of our Lord. "Then, again [says Leo XIII.], there is perhaps a more remarkable coincidence, when at the king's order Joseph is invested with the most absolute control of the entire kingdom; and when at the time of the famine, the dearth of corn and of all means of supporting life were so sharply felt, so admirable was his management of the affairs of the Egyptians and their allies that the king decreed that he should be called the Saviour of the world. Thus in the life of the elder patriarch, we can trace the image of the latter. As the one was first the successful and skillful manager of his master's domestic affairs, and afterwards the admirable director of the entire kingdom, so the other, destined to be the guardian of the Christian name, must be considered the defender and protector of the church, which is the house of God and God's kingdom on earth." To Mariolatry the Catholic Church adds Josepholatry. Because he was the husband of the Virgin, therefore equal. Because she was the mother of599Christ, therefore can exact obedience of our Lord. Here is another man-made god of Rome, a deified mortal. The act is worthy of its origin—paganism. We have naught of disrespect toward Joseph or his highly-honored virgin wife. The thought of this Roman Catholic exaltation of them would have been most abhorrent to their souls. Oh, no, Roman Catholics do not worship or pray to saints; but if this prayer, if these statements of the position of St. Joseph,—“absolute control of the entire kingdom,” the church,—be not worship and adoration, and intercession, such as ought to be paid to God alone, we know not what could be called worship. What words could be used in prayer to God or Christ which would express more. “Most Provident Guardian,” “Most Loving Father,” “Most Powerful Protector,” are terms which belong alone to God, if words mean anything. “So that, sustained by thy example, and thy help, we may live in holiness and die in piety, and reach the everlasting blessedness of heaven.” (Catholic Review translation.) What more can Christ do? To those who will devoutly recite the prayer, is granted “an indulgence of seven years, and seven quarantines.” Wonderfully efficacious! And note that this prayer does not end with, “Through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Another thought. During October, devout Catholics will be uttering this prayer at all hours all over the world. Take two cases, one in Rome, Italy, one in San Francisco, Cal., two places 7,000 miles apart. Does St. Joseph hear both of these prayers?—Then he is omnipresent, clothed with an attribute of Deity. If he hears only one, then the other petitioner is deceived. The Catholic can accept either horn of the dilemma he chooses. Pope Leo XIII. either makes St. Joseph a god, or he deceives his people. “Most loving,” “most provident,” and “most powerful,” are superlative terms; omniscience belongs only to Deity. But the Catholic Church has clothed mortal man with all. How much better the Bible truth. “The dead know not anything,” the righteous sleep in Jesus; and when He who is our life shall appear, then shall we appear with the good of all ages, with Christ in glory. Col. 3:4. In Christ alone is our “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Cor. 1:30. “He that glorieth, let him glory in the LORD.”