follows, that it is therefore unlawful to have recourse to the intercession of the saints. If, because we have one mediator Christ Jesus, it were unlawful to ask the intercession of the saints, the Apostle would not have recommended himself with so much earnestness to the prayers of his brethren on earth. [1] In his capacity as Mediator, the prayers of the living should derogate from the glory and dignity of Christ not less than the intercession of the saints in heaven.
But what incredulity so obstinate but must yield to the evidence in support of the honour and invocation of the saints, which the wonders wrought at their tombs flash upon the mind? The blind see, the lame walk, the paralyzed are invigorated, the dead raised to life, and evil demons are expelled from the bodies of men! These are authentic facts, attested not, as frequently happens, by very grave persons who have heard them from others; they are facts which rest on the ocular attestation of witnesses, whose veracity is beyond all question, of an Ambrose, [2] and an Augustine. [3] But why multiply proofs on this head? If the clothes, the kerchiefs, [4] and even the very shadows of the saints, whilst yet on earth, banished disease and restored health and vigour, who will have the hardihood to deny that God can still work the same wonders by the holy ashes, the bones and other relics of his saints who are in glory? Of this we have a proof in the resuscitation of the dead body which was let down into the grave of Eliseus, and which, on touching the body of the prophet, was instantly restored to life. [5]
" THOU SHALT NOT MAKE TO THYSELF A GRAVEN THING, NOR
THE LIKENESS OF ANY THING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, OR IN
THE EARTH BENEATH, NOR OF THOSE THINGS THAT ARE IN THE
WATERS UNDER THE EARTH: THOU SHALT NOT ADORE THEM NOR
SERVE THEM." [6]
Some, supposing these words to constitute a distinct precept, reduce the ninth and tenth commandments into one. St. Augustine holds a different opinion: considering the two last to be precept. distinct, he refers these words to the first commandment; [7] and this division, because well known and much approved in the Catholic church, we willingly adopt. As a very strong argument in its favour, we may, however, add the propriety of annexing to the first commandment its sanction, the rewards or punishments attached to its observance or violation; a propriety which can be preserved in the arrangement alone which we have chosen.
This commandment does not prohibit the arts of painting or sculpture; the Scriptures inform us that God himself commanded images of Cherubim, [8] and also the brazen serpent [9] to be made;
- ↑ Rom. xv. 30. Heb, xiii. 18.
- ↑ Ambr. epist. 85. et serm. 95.
- ↑ Aug. de civit. Dei, lib. 22. c. 8. et epist, 137.
- ↑ Acts v. xk. 12et5. 15.
- ↑ 4 Kings xiii. 21.
- ↑ Exod. xx. 4.
- ↑ Vid. Aug. super Exod. quaest. 71. and in Ps. 32. serm. 2. Sententia D. Aug. de pnceeptorum dist inctione magis placet Ecclewae Vid. D. Thorn, i. 2. quasi. 100. art, 4.
- ↑ Exod. xxv. 18. 3 Kings vi. 27.
- ↑ Num. xxi. 8. 9.
