The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

"""Through182 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.whether reigningin heaven or sojourning on earth,there exists an intercommunion or spiritualcommunication by prayer; and, consequently, that ourfriends who have entered into their rest are mindfulof us in their petitionsto God.In the exposition of her Creed, the CatholicChurch weighs her words in the scales of the sanetuarywith as much precision as a banker weighsgold.With regard to the Invocation of Saints, theChurch simply declares that it is useful and salutaryto ask their prayers. There are expressionsaddressed to the saints, in some popular books ofdevotion, which,to critical readers, may seem extravagant. But they are only the warm languageof affection and poetry, and are to be regulated byour standard of faith ;and notice that all the prayersof the Church end with the formula our:Lord Jesus Christ," sufficiently indicating her beliefthat Christ is the Mediator of salvation. A hearttenderly attached to the saints will give vent to itsfeelings in the language of hyperbole, just as an enthusiastic lover will call his future bride his adorable queen, without any intention of worshippingher as a goddess.This reflection should be bornein mind while reading such passages.I might easily show, by voluminous quotationsfrom ecclesiastical writers of the first ages of theChurch, how conformable to the teaching of antiquity is the Catholic practice of invoking the intercession of the saints. But as you, dear reader, may