Son of God, have mercy on ns !
Holy Ghost, ha%'e mercy on us !
Jesus C'hrist, hear us !
Jesus Christ, graciously hear us !
God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us !
Gofljthe Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us !
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us !
Holy Trinitj', one God, have mercy on us!
Heart of Mary, conceived without the stain of sin ! "
Heart of Mary, full of grace I
Heart of Mary, sMUctnary of the Trinity !
Heart of Mary, tahfrMacie of the iucariiate Word !
Heart of Mary, after (Jod's own heart I
Heart of ]\Iary, illiistiious throne of glory !
Heart of !Mary, luTfect holocanst of divine love!
Heart of Mary, abyss of humility 1
H(^art of Mary, attached to the cross I
Heart of Mary, seat of mercy !
Heart of Mary, consolati(ni of the afflicted I
Heart of Mary, refuge of sinners !
Heart of Marv, advocate of the Church, and mother of all faithful!
Heart of Mary, after Jesus, the most assured hope of the agonizing !
Heart of Mary, queen of angels and of the saints ! J
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us !
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, hear us, O Lord !
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord !
O most sacred and amiable heart of Mary, Mother of God, ))ray for us ! That our hearts may be inflamed with divine love." ••
The following is an extract from the encyclical letter addressed by (iregory XVI to all patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops, bearing date Aug. 15, 1832, affording ample evidence that the same doctrine was approved by tlie highest authorities of the Komish Church even prior to the promulgation of the dogma of immaculate conception (q. v.) : " Having at length taken possession of our see in the Lateran Basilica, according to the custom and institution of our predecessors, we turn to you without delay, venerable brethren ; and, in testi- mony of our feelings towards you, we select for the date of our letter this most joyful day, on which we celebrate the solemn festival of the most Blessed Virgin's trium- phant assumption into heaven ; that she, who has been through every great calamity our patroness and pro- tectress, may watch over us writing to j'ou, and lead our mind by her heavenly influence to those counsels which may prove most salutarj' to Christ's flock. . . . But, that all may have a successful and happy issue, let us raise our ej'es to the most Blessed Virgin Slary, who alone destroys heresies, who is our greatest hope, yea, the entire ground of our hope." (Comp. here Kitto, Journal Sacred Lit. ix, 25; xv, 211; English Revierc, X, 350 sq. ; Christ. Remembrancer, 1855 [Oct.], p. 417 sq. ; especially p. 443 and 449.) In view of such a document emanating from the head of the Church, what account can we make of the declaration of the Romish vicars apostolic in Great Britain that " Catholics do solicit the intercession of the angels and saints reigning wuth Christ in heaven ; but in this, when done according to the principles and spirit of the Catholic Church, there is nothing of superstition, nothing which is not consist- ent with true pietj'. For the Catholic Church teaches her children not to pray to the saints as to the authors or givers of divine grace, but only to solicit the saints in heaven to pray for them in the same sense as St. Paul desired the faithful on earth to pray for him;" except to consider it as a document well calculated for a Protestant latitude, but liable to be looked upon in Rome as semi-heretical? "What ideas also are we to entertain of the candor or veracity of those liomanists who cease not, after Bossuet and others, to aflirm that ' they only pray to saints to intercede for them ?' Here is the head of their Church performing a solemn act of worship to the deitied jMary, on a day dedicated to her presumed assumption, invoking her, as his patroness and protectress, in a time of great calamity', entreating her to aid him by her heavenly influence to that -(vhicli would be salutary for the Church. Is this only to pray to her to undertake for us? The leader in this act of devotion is the supreme earthly oracle ; the visible, liv- ing, speaking guide of the Church. If this be not idol- atrj', then idolatry exists only in name" (Elliott, p. 754). Nor do we find in the present pontiif less devotion to the Virgin, if we may base our knowledge on the oflicial documents issued in his name. In the decree of Dec. 8, 1854, Pius IX urges all Catholics, colei'e, invocare, exo- rare beatissimam Dei (jenitricem, translated as follows by the Tablet (Jan. 27) : " Let all the children of the Cath- olic Church most dear to us hear these words; and, with a most ardent zeal of piety and love, pi-oceed to iroiship, incohe, and pray, to the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, conceived without original sin" —the head of the Roman Catholic Church urging on his subjects a greater zeal and ardor in the worship of Mary than that which St. Alfonso had displayed. In the same decree he states that " the true object of this devotion" is Mary's "conception." How that act can be an object of devotion, it is difficult intelligentlj' to imagine. But such is Mariolatry. Not oidy do we now lind the adoration of the IMother of God i)ermit- ted, but actually commanded. " The devout Roman Catholic," says Cramp (p. 400) justly, "pays Marv^ the most extravagant honor and veneration. The language adopted in addressing the '(.Jueen of heaven' cannot be acquitted of the charge of blasphemy, since prayers are offered directly to her as if to a divine being, and bless-