Absurdities of Popery, Pt. 4

7/30/2019 Absurdities of Popery, Pt. 4

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No. 429,

THE

ABSURDITIES OF POPERY.

PART IV.

LONDON:PUBLISHED BY JOHN MASON, 14, CITY-ROAD;

AND SOLD AT 66, PATERNOSTER.ROW.


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London: R. Ntcdham, Phnter, 1. Belle-Sauvaje-Vurd, Ludtau-Hill.429.

C. Richards, Printer, 100, St. Martln's-lanc, Charing Cr- w.


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THE ABSURDITIES OF POPERY.

To show that Popery is unchanged, and unchangeable,we present to the reader an extract from a work pub-lished in Paris, 1836, entitled " The Life and Miraclesof St. Philomene." This book is translated from theItalian, and is exceedingly curious ; and it shows thatthe religion of Rome is precisely the same, at thismoment, as it was in the very worst days of Papalidolatry ; and that the same means are resorted to bythe priesthood of these days to perpetuate ignorance andsuperstition, as were resorted to in the darkest ages ofdelusion and barbarism. The original work in theItalian language has, within a very few years, gonethrough fifteen editions. One of these editions has the" Imprimatur" of that execrable tribunal, the Inquisition,Dec. 12th, 1833. Another of them is addressed to theBishops, Archbishops, and Princes of the Church ; andthe French translation is recommended "to the faithful"by the exhortation of the Bishop of Stratsburg. To astranger, unacquainted with the absurdities and abomi-nations of Popery, the contents of this volume will appearunaccountable. Such a mass of blasphemy, ignorance,and childishness was hardly ever put together in onesmall book. The writer details the finding of the bodyof the saint after this wise :

** The body of Philomene was found May 25th, duringthe trenchings which are made yearly at Rome, in the429. A 2


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places consecrated for the burial of tlie martyrs. Duringthese preparations, the workmen struck against a tomb-stone of burnt^ earth, and on raising the stone, theremains of the saint appeared ; and those who werepresent, and among them were men of cultivated minds,were astonished at perceiving the sacred particles trans-formed into various precious and brilliant substances,presenting the brightness and colour of gold, silver,diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones."The following are the ways in which the revelation wasmade of the saintship of these newly-discovered bones :the first revelation was to an artisan in a vision ; thesecond to a Priest, who was walking into the country ;the third revelation was made to a religieuse at Naples,who, whilst one day prostrating herself before a littlestatue of St. Philomene, had her eyes forcibly shutagainst her will, so that no efforts of hers could openthem, whilst a sweet voice addressed her thus : ' Mydear sister, I am the daughter of a Prince in Greece ;my father and mother were idolaters, and a long timewithout children ; but a Physician promised them pos-terity if they would be baptized ; they did so ; in conse-quence I was born. Some business led my family toRome, when Diocletian fell in love with me ; but I hadmade a promise two years before to Jesus Christ, andwould not break my promise. Neither the threats norcaresses of Diocletian had any effect upon me. Findingme invincible, he ordered that I should be thrown intothe Tiber with an anchor round my neck ; but as it wasabout to be executed, two angels appeared, and cut therope, so that the anchor fell into the Tiber, and theycarried me away. But Diocletian ordered his archersto shoot me; but the arrows refused to second theirattempt. He then ordered the darts to be made red hot,and directed against me a second time ; but the dartshaving traversed a part of the distance towards me,took all at once a contrary direction, and struck thosewho had thrown them. At length the tyrant cut off myhead, and I was received into heaven.'

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" In 1 805 Don Francis went to Rome, and wantinga holy body for his domestic chapel, went to a roomwhere the sacred relics are deposited. In coming intothe presence of Philomene's bones, he was seized with asudden and extraordinary joy, which led him to ask forher bones. After some difficulty, they were given tohim ; and were deposited in a chest inside the carriage,on the outside of which the Bishop and Don Francis sat.But they had scarcely got out of town, when the Bishopperceived himself struck forcibly over the legs, and com-plained to the driver of the bad arrangement of thepackages. The Bishop resumed his seat, but the blowsbecame more violent than ever : in consequence, thechest was put into the fore -part of the carriage ; wheninstantly the prodigy ceased, and the Bishop and hisattendants begged pardon of the saint for not putting herbones in the most honourable part of the carriage."It is to be hoped that Popish Priests will in future bemore careful in what manner they stow away their relicswhen travelling. The shins of the Bishop were justlybattered for his unintentional want of respect for hisbetters. There is no telling what might be the punish-ment of a refractory omnibus driver, or an heretical cab-man, on a similar occasion. These Popish saint^, espe-cially female ones, are capricious and ticklish beings, aswill appear in the sequel of the volume. This ladyperforms all kinds of miracles, cures every disease inci-dent to the human frame, raises the dead, prolongs thelife of the living ; and actually does every thing that allthe quack medicines have ever promised to do.Don Francis very soon finds he has more on his handsthan he bargained for. The lady waxes wroth, and one

night tears up her old clothes, and insists on having anew suit ; which being supplied, she becomes peaceable.Her hair is bald upon one part of her head, but growsmost beautifully in a few hours, without any applicationof Macassar oil, or anything beyond the prayers of thefaithful. By and by she " sweats ; two streams rundown her face, which unite at her chin, and descend in a

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6thin thread to her breast : this melts the hearts of theobstinate, and converts them." By some means orother she gets into a ditch. Here she rescues a childwho tumbles in ; the child, however, has fortunately apiece of paper in its pocket that belongs to the saintherself, and acts as a passport through the mud and dirtin the trench.This is the sort of stuff which on theContinent, where the doctrines and discipline of Poperyare in their full vigour, has superseded the use of theholy Scriptures ; and the kind of commodity which inreligious instruction, to the poor of this country andIreland, the priesthood of Antichrist would willinglysubstitute for the Bible. The Bishop of Geneva hasgiven his authority for the publication of this volume,and has added, " He thinks, according to the example ofhis colleagues in the Popish Episcopacy, to further thedesigns of divine Providence by recommending to all hisDiocesans devotion to St. Philomene."Leo XII. blessed the saint. The present Pope

Gregory XVI. blessed one of her images destined to re-ceive public worship in the capital of the Popish world.In the last chapter is this form of prayer : " O faithfulvirgin and glorious martyr, have pity on me ; exerciseboth on my soul and body the office or ministry ofsalvation, of which God hath judged you worthy, betterthan I do. You know the multitude and diversity of mywants : behold me at your feet full of misery and of hope.I solicit your charity : O great saint, hear me favourablybless me ; vouchsafe to make acceptable to my God thehumble supplication which I present to you."One of the most absurd and anti-scriptural doctrines

of Popery is that of " indulgences." According to thisdogma, all the good works of the saints, over and abovethose which are necessary towards their own salvation, aredeposited together with the merits of Jesus Christ inone inexhaustible treasury. The keys of this, it is said,were committed to St. Peter, and to his successors thePopes, who may open it at pleasure, and by transferring

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a portion of this superabundant merit to any particularperson, for a sum of money, may convey to him eitherthe pardon of his own sins, or a release for any for whomhe is interested, from the pains of purgatory. Suchindulgences were first invented in the eleventh centuryby Urban II., as a recompence for those who went inperson upon the perilous enterprise of conquering theHoly Land. Pope Leo X., in order to carry on themagnificent structure of St. Peter's at Rome, publishedindulgences, and a plenary remission to all such asshould contribute money towards it. Finding the pro-ject take, he granted to Albert, Elector of Mentz, thebenefit of the indulgences of Saxony, and the neighbour-ing parts ; and farmed out those of other countries to thehighest bidders ; who, to make the best of their bargain,procured the alalest Preachers to cry up the value oftheir ware. A part of the form of these indulgences wasas follows :" I remit to you all punishment which youdeserve in purgatory ; and I restore you to the holysacraments of the Church, to the unity of the faithful,and to that innocence and purity which you possessed atbaptism ; so that when you die, the gates of punishmentshall be shut, and the gates of the paradise of delightshall be opened ; and if you should not die at present,this grace shall remain in full force when you are at thepoint of death. In the name of the Father, and of theSon, and of the Holy Ghost." Hence a book is pub-lished which contains the exact sura to be levied for thepardon of each particular sin ; such as, " Taking a falseoath, 9*. ; for burning a neighbour's house, 125. ; forrobbing, 12*. ; for murdering a layman, 7*. ; for layingviolent hands on a Clergyman, 10*. 6d" Various othersins are mentioned, some of which are of such anindelicate nature, that I will not defile my paper bymentioning them, nor make my readers blush whilereading them. The terms in which the retailers of in-dulgences described their benefits, and the necessity ofpurchasing them, were so extravagant, that they appearalmost incredible. "If any man," said they, "purchase

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letters of indulgence, his soul may rest secure withrespect to his salvation. The souls confined in purga-tory, for whose redemption indulgences are purchased,as soon as che money tinkles in the chest, instantlyescape from that place of torment, and ascend intoheaven. That the efficacy of indulgences is so great,that the most heinous sins, even if one should violate(which is impossible) the mother of God, would be re-mitted and expiated by them, and the person be freedboth from punishment and guilt. This is the unspeak-able gift of God to reconcile men to himself." *' Lo,"said they, " the heavens are opened : if you enter notnow, when will you enter ? For twelve-pence you mayredeem the soul of your father from purgatory. Andare you so ungrateful that you will not rescue the soulof your parent from torment ? If you had but one coat,you ought to strip yourself instantly, and sell it in orderto purchase such a benefit." During the reign of QueenElizabeth, the Pope excited Sir Thomas Stuckley toraise a rebellion in Ireland. Stuckley engaged to con-quer that kingdom for the Pope ; and the holy fatherfurnished him with a number of crucifixes, by selling ofwhich he was to make his own fortune. The followingare among the number of indulgences granted to thesecrucifixes :" Whoso beholdeth with reverence anddevotion one of these crosses, as oft as he doth it, gettethfifty days of indulgence.""And for the increase andexaltation of the holy Catholic faith, and for the extir-pation of heretics, he shall have fifty days of indulgence,and upon festival-days one hundred."" In going toany conflict or feat of arms against the enemies of ourholy faith, he shall obtain seven years of indulgence."*' As oft as he shall be confessed and houselcd, makinghis prayers by word or mind, before the most holycrucifix, and praying for the prosperous state of theholy Church, and for the chief Bishop, and for thereducing of the realms of England and Scotland, heshall obtain all the indulgences that are granted forvisiting all the holy places that are both within and

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9"without the gates of Rome."" Whoso shall use andaccustom to behold it with devotion to the cross, sayingfive paternosters, five aves, and some other prayers toour Saviour, or our Lady, &c., he shall obtain once inhis life full indulgence of all his sins, besides the otherindulgence of fifty days for each time that he prayeth." *' That every Friday that mass is said, or caused to besaid, upon any altar where one of these crucifixes is set,one soul shall be released out of purgatory."

Such are some of the figments of Popery; such theimpositions that are practised on the ignorant and thecredulous. But what man in his sober senses, with theScriptures in his hands, can imagine that these things formany part of Christianity ? Where is purgatory taughtin the Bible ? Where are we instructed to believe, thatthere is in the world ofspirits an intermediate state midwaybetween heaven and hell ; and that some are too bad forthe former, and too good for the latter ? The New Tes-tament teaches us, that at death, " he that is filthy shallbe filthy still," and " he that is righteous shall be right-eous still." But even supposing that there was such aplace as purgatory, and that unholy souls were sent thereto be purified from sin, what a monstrous absurdity thatthe possession of a little crucifix, or the offering of afew shillings to the Priest, could avail to rescue soulsfrom the punishment they are justly doomed to sufferAnd if money can procure the release of souls from pur-gatory, it can of course prevent them from going there ;and the marvel is, that Papists should not compromisematters with their Priests, and pay down in their life-time a few shillings, that when they die they may pass toparadise, without suffering the pains of purgatory. Andif the Pope's indulgences can release souls from pur-gatory, why does he not at once release them all ? Whereis his love for the souls of his fiock ? To keep men intorment, until money is paid for their release, is to makemerchandise of them ? And why does not the Popekeep himself out of purgatory ? For the many massesoffered for him after his death, which are never intended

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10for those in heaven or hell, proclaim that he himself,in the estimation of the Priests, is gone to the flames ofpurgatory. But, alas, " the god of this world hathblinded the minds of them that believe not." And menmore completely blinded by the devil, and his agentsthe Priests, than Papists, are not to be found upon theearth. We pity Pagans, we marvel at their ignorance,and are surprised at their superstitions, and the methodto which they resort for propitiating their idol-gods. Butthere is nothing in all the annals of Paganism more ridi-culous and absurd than many of the practices of Papists.Let the reader peruse the following account, and thenjudge for himself :

In the county of Down in Ireland, there are some cele-brated wells of St. Patrick ; and every Midsummer's-evethousands ofRoman Catholics, many from distant parts ofthe country, resort to these holy wells to cleanse their soulsfrom sin, and clear their mortal bodies of diseases. Theinflux ofpeople ofdifferent ranks for some nights before theone in which alone these wells possess this power, (for onall othet days and nights in the year they rank not abovecommon draw-wells,) is prodigious ; and their attend-ants, hordes of beggars, whose ragged garments if oncetaken off could not be put on again by the ingenuityof man, infest the streets and lanes, and choose theirlodgings in the highways and hedges. " Having," saysthe writer, " been previously informed of the approach ofthis miraculous night, and having made ourselves ac-quainted with the locality of the wells, early in theevening we repaired to the spot. We had been told thatwe should see something quite new to us ; and we metwith what was scarcely credible on ocular evidence.The spot on which this scene of superstitious folly wasexhibited, was admirably adapted to heighten everyattendant circumstance of it ; the wonderful wells, ofwhich there are four, being situated in a square or patchof grouud surrounded by steep rocks, which reverberatedevery sound, and redoubled all the confusion. Thecovp d'ceil of the square, on our approach, presented a

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11floating mass of various-coloured heads ; and our earswere astonished with confused and mingled sounds ofmirth and sorrow, of frantic enthusiastic joy, and deepdesponding ravings. On descending into the square,we found ourselves immediately in the midst of innu-merable groups of these lunatics, running in all direc-tions, confusedly in appearance, but methodically as weafterwards found in reality. The men and women werebarefooted ; and the heads of all were bound round withhandkerchiefs. Some were running in circles, somekneeling in groups, some were singing in wild concert,some were jumping about like maniacs, at the end of anold building, which we were told was the ruins of a chapelerected, with several adjacent buildings, in one miraculousMidsummer's night by the tutelar saint of the wells ; ofwhose talent as a mason they give, it must be confessed,no very exalted opinion. When we had somewhatrecovered from the first surprise, which the unaccountablyfantastic actions of the crowd had given us, we endea-voured to trace the progress of some of these deludedvotaries through all the mazes of their mystic penance.The first object of them all appeared to be, the ascent ofthe steepest and most rugged part of the rock, up whichboth men and women crawled their painful way on theirhands and bare knees. The men's clothes were allmade so as to accommodate their knees with all thesharpness of the pointed rock ; and the poor women,many of them young and beautiful, took incrediblepains to prevent their petticoats from affording anydefence against these torturing asperities. Covered withdust and perspiration and blood, they at last reachedthe summit of the rock, where in a rude sort of chair,hewn out of the stone, sat an old man, who seemed tobe the High Priest of this religious frenzy. In his hateach of the penitents deposited a halfpenny ; after which,he turned them round a certain number of times, lis-tened to the long catalogue of their offences, anddictated to them the penance they were to undergo orperform. They then descended the rock by another

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12path, but in the same manner and posture, equallycareful to be cut by the flints, and to suffer as much aspossible. This was perhaps more painful travelling thanthe ascent had been : the suffering knees were rubbedanother way ; every step threatened a tumble ; and ifany thing could have been lively there, the ridiculousattitudes of these descenders, would have made us so.When they gained the foot of the hill, they most ofthem bestowed a small donation of charity on somemiserable groups of supplicants, who were stationedthere. One beggar, a cripple, sat on the ground, at onemoment addressing the crowd behind him, and swearingthat all the Protestants ought to be burnt out of thecountry ; and in the same breath begging the penitentsto give him one halfpenny, for the love of ' swateblessed Jasus.' The penitents now returned to the useof their feet, and commenced a running sort of Irish-jiggish walk, round several cairns, or heaps of stones,erected at different spaces : this lasted for some time.Suddenly they would prostrate themselves before thecairn, and ejaculate some hasty prayers ; and assuddenly rise, and resume their mill-horse circumrota-tion. Their eyes were flxed ; their looks spoke anxiety,almost despair ; and the operations of their facultiesseemed totally suspended. They then proceeded to oneend of the old chapel, and seemed to believe that therewas a virtue unknown to us heretics in one particularstone of the building, which every one was careful totouch with the right hand : those who were tall did iteasily; those who were short, left no mode of jumpingunpractised to accomplish it. But the most remarkableand, doubtless, the most efficient of the ceremonies, wasreserved for the last ; and surely nothing that was everdevised by man, 'more forcibly evinced how low ournature can descend. Around the largest of the wells,which was in a building, very much, to common eyes,like a stable, all those who had performed their penanceswere assembled ; some dressing, some undressing, manifstark naked. A certain number of them were admitted

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13at a time into this holy well ; and there, men andwomen of every age bathed promiscuously, without anycovering. They undressed before bathing, and performedthe whole business of the toilet afterwards, in the open air,in the midst of the crowd, without appearing sensible ofthe observations of the lookers-on, perfectly regardlessof decency, and perfectly dead to all natural sensations.The penance having terminated, the penitents adjournedeither to booths or tents, to drink, or join their friends.The air then rang with musical monotonous singing,which became louder with every glass of whiskyfinishing in frolicsome debauch, and laying, in allprobability, the foundation for future penances, andmore thorough ablutions. No pen can describe all theconfusion ; no description can give a just idea of thenoise and disorder which filled this hallowed square,this theatre of fanaticism, this temple of superstition.The minor parts of the spectacle were filled up withcredulous mothers, half-drowning their poor children tocure their sore eyes ; with cripples who exhibited everything that has yet been discovered in deformity, ex-pecting to be washed straight, and to walk away nimbleand comely ; and though nobody was cured, nobodywent away doubting. Shouting, and howling, andswearing, and carousings, filled up every pause, andthrew over this spot the air of earth and hell. I wasnever more shocked and struck with horror. I perceivedmany of them intoxicated with religious fervour andall-potent whisky, and warming into violence beforemidnight, at which time the distraction was at its climax."

Such are the genuine fruits of Popery ; and such tliedebasement, superstition, and degradation to which itleads. What is there in Paganism more absurd orpreposterous than the adoration of holy wells, moth-eaten vestments, or rotten bones ? And how deeply tobe deplored, that men should be taught that this isreligion ; that this forms a part of their duty to GodAnd what can equal the guilt of those who take awaythe key of knowledge ; who enter not into the kingdom

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of God themselves, and those who would enter theyhinder ? That many Romish Priests know better, canscarcely be doubted. They are men of learning andscience, and they have access to numerous treatises ontheology; but alas! "by this craft" they have their"wealth;" and one of the distinctive marks of the lastdays is, that " men shall be lovers of themselves." Andwhat profound lovers of themselves Popish Priests are,the following facts sufficiently illustrate :

In Ireland there are what are called " Stations forConfessing." It was formerly the custom, at whateverhouse these stations were held, to require that a dinnerbe provided for the Priest : and as the host would notset down the Priest by himself, it was always thepractice to invite fifteen or twenty of the neighbouringfarmers, and their wives, who were expected to attendat confession, and who would ask them in return. '* AndI have frequently seen," says the writer, "purchased forthese occasions, meat, several gallons of whisky, &c.,and always a bottle of wine for the Priest's own drinking.This was not all : there was a tax of five shillings on thelandlord for saying the mass, who was made to believethat a temporal and spiritual blessing would follow.Besides this, it was expected that each confessed personwould pay something for absolution. For causes bestknown to themselves, these dinner-parties were, of lateyears, changed for breakfasts, which were more conve-nient for the Priest, as he had to return home, whenthese stations were held in the countrj', some miles, andhe might not so clearly see his way. As the Priest isseldom ready before twelve o'clock, fliese breakfastsusually commence about that time. The bill of fare isas follows:tea, a hot griddle-cake, butter, eggs, &c.,&c., with decanters of whisktj placed on the breakfast-table ; and as the Irish have a great affection for thenative, as they call whisky, these decanters arefrequently replenished, and the feast prolonged for theremainder of the day. The writer was present at thesettlement of an account with the spirit-dealer, for the

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15whisky drank at but one breakfast-station for confession,at his opposite neighbour's house, where the wholecompany, men, women, and children, could not haveexceeded twenty-four persons ; when the bill, admittedto be correct, and paid for, was seven half-gallons ofwhisky, at sixteen shillings per gallon,a liquor con-siderably stronger than either brandy or rum. It is thepractice of the Priest to publish from the altar, atcertain periods of the year, that he will hold stations forconfession, at certain houses, then and there named.These houses are selected, without previous libertyobtained from the owners, perhaps, lest they shouldmake objections ; which many of them would mostcertainly do, if not thus publicly given out from thealtar."

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The Papists believe, according to Mr. Gavin, that"purgatory is divided into eight apartments; that thelowest of these is occupied by- the souls of poor persons,and the highest, by the souls of Kings ; and that thedegree of torment which the souls in purgatory suffer,is in proportion to the dignity of the apartments whichthey occupy ; those in the lower vaults suffering less,and those in the higher ones suffering more, for no otherreason than that the friends of the latter are supposedable to pay large sums for relief, while the friends of theformer can pay little or nothing ; and it must be allowedto be equitable, at least in Popish reckoning, that if therich heirs of Kings and Princes do not pay liberally forthe repose of the souls of their deceased friends, thedeceased must pay the debt of suffering in their ownpersons; whereas the poor souls whose friends havelittle to pay, will get off after suffering a little." This arrangement is admirably calculated to enrichthe dealers in masses, which are understood to havesuch efficacy in procuring relief to the souls in purgatory.The more wicked they had been, the better for theChurch, provided they left plenty of money, as the moremasses were necessary for their relief ; and the price ofmasses is understoo


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16wealth of the person at whose request, and on whosebehalf, they are said. If a Priest or a man has onlydreamed that such a one's father or mother is sufferingdreadful torments in purgatory, this will be enough tocommand a thousand masses, and a thousand guineas topay for them, if the relations of the deceased be able topay so much : if not, the Priests will take what they cangive for the present, and more when they can get it."

Thus it may be seen how much the moral principle isdegraded by such a system, and even by the Priests ; asystem that holds out to its deluded followers a yearlyor half-yearly acquittal for sin. Well may that truth,applied by our Saviour to the Scribes and Pharisees, beapplied to them : " Ye compass sea and land to gainone proselyte ; and when ye have gained him, ye makehim twofold more a child of the devil."

Price 5s. 4rf. per 100. Considerable allowance will be made toTract- Societies, Sunday-Schools, and Booksellers.

London; R. Nctdhatn, Printer, 1, Belle-SauTage-Yard, Ladgte-HUl.429

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Absurdities of Popery, Pt. 4