DR. PUSEY ON THE WORSHIP OF MARY IN THE CHURCH OF ROME

According to promise, we have summarized the detailed account of the idolatrous worship of Mary by the Papists as exposed in full by Dr. Pusey in his new work. As his statements are not made at random, but are supported by quotations from Romish writers of recognised authority, they will be valuable to those who are met by the crafty denials of Romanists whenever they expose the genuine doctrines of Popish faith. Amid all the mischief which Pusey has done, it is well to note and acknowledge whatever service he may in this case render to truth. The headings of the paragraphs are ours; the quotations are given as they stand.

—"So, then, it is taught in authorized books, that 'it is morally impossible for those to be saved who neglect the devotion to the Blessed Virgin;' that 'it is the will of God that all graces should pass through her hands;' that 'no creature obtained any grace from God, save according to the dispensation of His holy Mother;' that Jesus has, in fact, said, 'no one shall be partaker of My Blood, unless through the intercession of My Mother;' that 'we can only hope to obtain perseverance through her;' that 'God granted all the pardons in the Old Testament absolutely for the reverence and love of this Blessed Virgin;' that 'our salvation is in her hand;' that 'it is impossible for any to be saved, who turns away from her, or is disregarded by her; or to be lost, who turns to her, or is regarded by her;' that 'whom the justice of God saves not, the infinite mercy of Mary saves by her intercession;' that God is 'subject to the command of Mary;' that 'God has resigned into her hands (if one might say so) His omnipotence in the sphere of grace;' that 'it is safer to seek salvation through her than directly from Jesus.'"

—"F. Faber, in his popular books, is always bringing in the devotion to the Blessed Virgin.. He believes that the shortcomings of English Roman Catholics are owing to the inadequacy of their devotion to her. After instancing people's failures in overcoming their faults, want of devotion, unsubmission to God's special Providence for them, feeling domestic troubles almost-incompatible with salvation, and that 'for all these things prayer appears to bring so little remedy,' he asks, 'What is the remedy that is wanted? what is the remedy indicated by God himself? If we may rely on the disclosures of the saints, it is an immense increase of devotion to our Blessed Lady, but remember, nothing short of an immense one. Here, in England, Mary is not half enough preached. Devotion to her is low and thin and poor. It is frightened out of its wits by the sneers of heresy. It is always invoking human respect and carnal prudence, wishing to make Mary so little of a Mary, that Protestants may feel at ease about her. Its ignorance of theology makes it unsubstantial and unworthy. It is not the prominent characteristic of our religion which it ought to be. It has no faith in itself. Hence it is, that Jesus is not loved, that heretics are not converted, that the Church is not exalted; that souls, which might be saints, wither and dwindle; that the sacraments are not rightly frequented, or souls enthusiastically evangelized. Jesus is obscured, because Mary is kept in the background. Thousands of souls perish, because Mary is withheld from them. It is the miserable unworthy shadow which we call our devotion to the Blessed Virgin, that is the cause of all these wants and blights; these evils and omissions and declines. Yet, if we are to believe the revelations of the saints, God is pressing for a greater, wider, a stronger, quite another devotion to His Blessed Mother.'"

—In his Encyclical Letter of 1849, Pius IX wrote: "On this hope we chiefly rely, that the most Blessed Virgin—who raised the height of merits above all the choirs of Angels to the throne of the Deity, and by the foot of Virtue 'bruised the serpent's head,' and who, being constituted between Christ and His Church, and, being wholly sweet and full of graces, hath ever delivered the Christian people from calamities of all sorts and from the snares and assaults of all enemies and hath rescued them from destruction, and, commiserating our most sad and most sorrowful vicissitudes and our most severe straits, toils, necessities with that most large feeling of her motherly mind—will, by her most present and most powerful patronage with God, both turn away the scourges of Divine wrath wherewith we are afflicted for our sins, and will allay, dissipate the most turbulent storms of ills, wherewith, to the incredible sorrow of our mind, the Church everywhere is tossed, and will turn our sorrow into joy. For ye know very well, Ven. Brethren, that the whole of our confidence is placed in the most Holy Virgin, since God has placed in Mary the fullness of all good, that accordingly we may know that if there is any hope in us, if any grace, if any salvation, it redounds to us from her, because such is His will Who hath willed that we should have everything through Mary."

—"We had heard before, repeatedly, that she was the Mediatrix with the Redeemer; some of us, who do not read Marian books, have heard now for the first time, that she was ever our 'Co-Redemptress.' The evidence lies, not in any insulated passage of a devotional writer (which was alleged in plea for the language of M. Olier), but in formal answers from Archbishops and Bishops to the Pope as to what they desired in regard to the declaration of the Immaculate Conception as an Article of Faith. Thus the Archbishop of Syracuse wrote, 'Since we know certainly that she, in the fulness of time, was Co-redemptress of the human race, together with her Son Jesus Christ our Lord.' From North Italy the Bishop of Asti wrote of 'the dogma of the singular privilege granted by the Divine Redeemer to His pure mother, the Co-redemptress of the world.' In South Italy the Bishop of Gallipoli wrote, 'the human race, whom the Son of God, from her, redeemed; whom, together with Him, she herself co-redeemed.' The Bishop of Cariati prayed the Pope to 'command all the sons of Holy Mother Church and thy own, that no one of them should dare at any time hereafter to suspect as to the Immaculate Conception of their Co-redeemer.' From Sardinia, the Bishop of Alghero wrote, 'It is the common consent of all the faithful, and the common wish and desire of all, that our so beneficent Parent and Co-redeemer should be presented by the Apostolic See with the honour of this most illustrious mystery.' Spain, the Bishop of Almeria justified the attribute by appeal to the service of the Conception. The Church, adapting to the Mother of God in the Office of the Conception that text, 'Let Us make a help like unto Him,' assures us of it. and confirms those most ancient traditions, 'Companion of the Redeemer,' 'Co-Redemptress,' 'Authoress of everlasting salvation.' The Bishops refer to. these as ancient, well-known, traditionary titles, at least in their Churches in North and South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain."

—"As our Redemption gained its sufficiency and might from Jesus, so, they say, did it gain its beauty and loveliness from the aid of Mary. As we are clothed with the merits of Christ, so also, they say, with the merits of Mary. As Jesus rose again the third day without seeing corruption, so they speak of her Resurrection so as to anticipate corruption, in some three days;' as He was the first-fruits of them that slept, so is she; as He was taken up into heaven in the body so, they say, was she; as He sits at the Right Hand of God, so she at His Right Hand; as He is there our perpetual Intercessor with the Father, so she with Him; as 'no man cometh to the Father.' Jesus saith, 'but by Me;' so 'no man cometh to Jesus', they say, 'but by her;' as He is our High Priest, so she, they say, a Priestess; He, our High Priest, gave us the sacrament of His Body and Blood; so, they say, did she, 'her will conspiring with the will of her Son to the making of the Eucharist, and assenting to her Son so giving and offering Himself for food and drink, since we confess that the sacrifice and gifts, given, to us under the form of bread and wine, are truly hers and appertain unto her. As in the Eucharist He is present and we receive Him, so she, they say, is present an received in that same sacrament. The priest is 'minister of Christ,' and 'minister of Mary.' They seem to assign to her an office, like that of God the Holy Ghost, in dwelling in the soul. They speak of 'souls born not of blood, nor of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God and Mary;' that 'the Holy Ghost chose to make use of our Blessed Lady to bring His fruitfulness into action by producing in her and by her Jesus Christ in His members;' that 'according to that word, 'the kingdom of God is within you,' in like manner the kingdom of our Blessed Lady is principally in the interior of a man, his soul; that 'when Mary has struck her roots in the soul, she produces there marvels of grace, which she alone can produce, because she alone is the fruitful Virgin, who never has had, and never will have, her equal in purity and fruitfulness.'"

—(Oswald.) "'We maintain a (co-)presence of Mary in the Eucharist. This is a necessary inference from our Marian theory, and we shrink back from no consequence.' 'We are much inclined,' he says afterwards, 'to believe an essential co-presence of Mary in her whole person, with body and soul, under the sacred species. Certainly to such a presence in the Eucharist, 1. there is required a glorious mode of being of the Virgin body of the Holy Mother. We are not only justified in holding this as to Mary, but we have well-nigh proved it. 2. The assumption of a bodily presence of Mary in the Eucharist compels self-evidently the assumption of a multi-location (i.e. a contemporaneous presence in different portions of space) of Mary, according to her flesh too. 3. One who would receive this must be ready to admit a compenetration of the Body of Christ and of that of the Virgin in the same portion of space, i.e. under the sacred species.' The writer subsequently explains that 'the "lac virginale" must be looked upon as that of Mary, which is primarily present in the Eucharist, whereto, in further consequence, the whole Christ the Head, the Blessed Virgin is, as also her soul, would be joined.' 'The Blood of the Lord, and the lac of His Virgin Mother, are both present in the sacrament.'"

—"'Assuming that, in and under Christ the Head, the Blessed Virgin is, after her Assumption, as it were, the neck of the Church, so that all grace whatever flows to the Body through her, that is, through her prayers, it might be argued, that, for such as have this belief to ask anything of or through her, is identical in sense, but in point of form better, than to ask it directly of Christ, in like manner as to ask anything of or through Christ, is identical in sense, but clearer and fuller in point of form, than to ask it directly of the Father. And hence, it might seem that it would bean improvement, if, reserving only the use of the appointed forms for the making of the Sacraments, and an occasional use of the Lord's Prayer (and this rather from respect to the letter of their outward institution than from any inward.199 necessity or propriety), every prayer, both of individuals and of the Church, were addressed to or through Blessed Mary, a form beginning, 'Our Lady, which art in heaven,' etc., being preferred for general use to the original letter of the Lord's Prayer; and the Psalter, the Te Deum, and all the daily Offices, being used in preference with similar accommodation.'" Horrid ravings of Faber, whose writings are very popular among Papists.—"'There is some portion of the Precious Blood which once was Mary's own blood, and which remains still in our Blessed Lord, incredibly exalted by its union with His Divine Person, yet still the same. This portion of Himself, it is piously believed, has not been allowed to undergo the usual changes of human substance. At this moment, in heaven, He retains something which was once His Mother's, and which is, possibly, visible, as such, to the saints and angels. He vouchsafed at mass to show to S. Ignatius the very part of the Host which had once belonged to the substance of Mary. It may have a distinct and singular beauty in heaven, where, by His compassion, it may one day be our blessed lot to see it and adore it. But with the exception of this portion of it, the Precious Blood was a growing thing,' "&c.

Enough! enough! every one of our readers will cry out, and therefore we stay our hand. Surely "for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

I have never ever heard that at Mass. In fact, the only places I hear that are in quotes from the Marian Zealots that do not represent the whole of the Catholic Church.

The problem you have there is that zealots like this, unless officially rebuked, become part of the Tradition of the RCC. Much of what you believe today about Mary entered the mainstream of the RCC through those who were Marian Zealots of the past.

Just some American historical perspective on the word “Papists” and the anti-Catholic conspiracists.

The largest group of users of the word “Papist” as a derogitory comment was and still is the KKK (i.e. Klu Klux Klan).

“The early United States was colonized by religious zealots of various English religious Christian groups and not Catholics, so in comparative terms Catholicism was a relative new comer to the American shores.

With the rise of the Irish immigration came a great wave of Catholic believers and it must be remembered that at one time the Irish were looked down upon by the existing Americans as being less of value than the Afro-Americans.

So excluding all of the theological differences that existed between the Methodists, the Baptists (Southern and other various sects), the Lutherans, and the various Pentecostal and Reformed Christian sects, the primary reason was that all Catholics were suspect because as a religious methodology they held avowed allegiance to the Pope in Rome.

The KKK being primarily made up of Baptists and Lutherans merely carried their existing prejudices against the Catholics (and the Irish) into their organization with them and made it part and parcel of their system.”

Oh great, an article by a Baptist (Spurgeon) referring to an Anglican (Pusey) selectively quoting on what Catholics believe. So much more reliable than listening to the Catholics themselves. (So, Mr. Hitler, do the Jews really drink the blood of German babies?) When someone states a falsehood through ignorance it is a mistake; when he does so after being repeatedly corrected it is a lie. For you to claim, despite numerous corrections, that Catholics worship Mary IS A LIE!

As to the article itself, you will note that nowhere, contrary to its title, is there a statement by a Catholic that he worships Mary. For Catholics the act of worship is the holy sacrifice of the Mass. If you were to study the Mass you would find that it is addressed to the Father. Even in Masses on feasts of Mary the prayers are all addressed to God, not Mary. As an example, here is the Opening Prayer of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception:

FATHER, you prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy mother of your Son. You let her share beforehand in the salvation Christ would bring by his death, and kept her sinless form the first moment of her conception. Help us by her prayers to live in your presence without sin. We ask this THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Not a single word addressed to Mary. (Please do not quote other prayers from outside the Mass that are addressed to Mary, these are not acts of worship; only the Mass is.) Time and again the distinctions between latria (worship) and dulia (veneration) have been explained to you. There are enough real disputes between Catholics and Protestants that you do not need to invent false ones. In Catholic Bibles "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" is listed as one of the Commandments. Is it in yours?

>> St Barth’s Massacre itself was estimated by many at one hundred thousand. <<

1. Contemporaneous, protestant sources, such as “the Martyrologe de La Huegenots” estimate the death toll to be in the mere hundreds. What you are actually reporting is how certain Protestants will invent any fiction they can to sew hatred and paranoia. Thank God those Protestants are non-representative.

2. Although initially Rome responded with joy after hearing of a Protestant rebellion being soundly defeated, when the truth of St. Barth’s (sic) became known, the Pope was quick and fierce in his denunciation, refusing to meet French representatives, and calling the chief among them, “an assassin.”

Why do you post this anti- Catholic screed? You will not change the mind of a single faithful Catholic. It is merely an incitement to ruffle feathers. What do you care what we believe? Don’t pretend you are trying to ‘speak the truth in love.’ There is nothing loving about your posts. Try speaking the truth to Moslems about Mohammed’s pedophiliac, murderous ways. If you dare. The Blessed Mother never hurt anyone. ‘Hail, full of grace.’ That’s from Scripture. Concentrate on what unites, not what divides, the followers of Christ and let God sort out the rest.

The Immaculate Conception is just the belief that Mary, by God’s special grace, was preserved from carrying the taint of original sin in order to bring Christ into the world untainted. That God endowed special grace on her is fully evident from reading the Bible.

And where is that in the Bible??? To the contrary, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome:

"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." [Romans 5:20]

Therefore Mary had to have abounding sin before she could have received abounding grace.

Right???

please note the date of this article -- 1866.
Seems that very little has changed in over a century.

In fact, I was stunned to realize that "Mary as co-redeemer" is not a recent fiction, but has been around quite awhile, as the article states.

Great find !

baruch HaShem Yah'shua

"So in your particular flavor of Protestantism, you don't believe in life after death??? "

I believe in life after death. I just don't believe that past saints are omnipresent or omniscient. (I don't know that with certainty, but I would be surprised if they are.) Thus they can't hear you pray to them. And even if they happened to be present, they don't know your thoughts if you pray silently.

Thus, given my belief about the afterlife, it would require God's intervention and passing the prayer on, for the past saint to even know that you prayed to them.

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