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64 OP THE AVORSHIPPING OF SAINTS.Trent* teaches that we may pray to the saints to pity us;and if we join this with the " assistance and help"" on whichwe are encouraged to cast ourselves, and if we add the groundson which we are taught to look forsuch help, namely, thatthe saints occupy stations of dignity and influence in heaven,we will feel perfectly satisfied that the Church of Rome isvery willing that her people should believe that the functionof the saints goes a very considerable way beyond simple iviiercession,and that the worship of which they are the objectsshould be regulated accordingly. This idea is strengthenedby the fact, that the Roman Missal teaches that there areblessings bestovved upon us for the merits of the saints. Ofsuch sort is the following prayer :— "God, who, to recommendto us innocence of life,wast pleased to let the soul ofthy blessed Virgin Scholastica ascend to heaven in the shapeof a dove, grant by her merits and prayers that we may leadinnocent lives here, and ascend to eternal joys hereafter .'"-f*We add another example from the Missal :— " May the intercession,Lord, of Bishop Peter thy apostle render theprayers and offerings of thy Church acceptable to Thee, thatthe mysteries we celebrate in his honour may obtain for usthe pardon of our sins ! "";]:But it matters little what is the exact amount of influenceand power attributed to the saints by Roman Catholics, orwhat the refinements and distinctions by which they attemptto justify the worship they pay to them. Their practice isundeniable. In the same place where God is worshipped,and with the same forms, do Roman Catholics pray to thesaints to pray to God in their behalf.says that the saints, on the ground of theirthe just objects of religious worship ;sacrifices, vows, and temples toM. Perrone distinctlyexcellence, areand that if we reserveGod, we may approach thesaints with prostration and prayer. Images and relics, he* Cat. Rom. pars iv. cap. vi. s. iii.+ Roman Missal for the Laity, ji. 557 ; Lond. 1815.J Ibid. p. 539.