The-papacy-its-history-dogmas-genius-and-prospects-wylie

ABSURDITY OF SAINT-WORSHIP.3G7They usually tell us that the saints acquire the knowledgeof these supplications through God. According to thistheory, the prayer ascends first to God, God tells it to thesaints, and the saints pray it back again to God. But whatbecomes of the boasted advantage of praying to the saints ?and why not address our prayers directly to God ? Whynot go to God at once, seeing it turns out that He alone canhear us in the first instance, and that, but for his subsequentrevelation of our prayers, they would be dissipated in emptyspace, and those pow-erful intercessors the saints would knownothing at all of the matter ?" You," said Mr Seymour, toa priest at Rome, who had favoured him with this notablesolution of the difficulty, " make the Virgin INIary and thesaints mediators of prayer.According to this system, Godis our mediator to the saints, and not the saints our mediatorsto God."* The path is strangely circuitous,—far toocircuitous to be the right one. Nothing could be happierthan the illustration of Coleridge, with special reference tothe Virn-in.It is that of an individual of whom we wish toobtain a favour, and whose mother we employ to intercede forus. The man hears well enough himself, but his mother isdeaf; so we tell him to tell her that we wish her to pray tohim to bestow on us the favour we desire.• Mornings among the Jesuits at Eome, pp. 116, 117.