Chapter IV — On the adoration owed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Angels, and the Saints

I. God alone is to be adored by us with the religious worship of latria. This does not prevent us, however, from venerating other created persons with another, interior worship, on account of their special union with God himself, and on account of the heavenly gifts which God has communicated to them. The Blessed Virgin Mary shines above all creatures; she is therefore to be adored with a special worship, which we call the worship of hyperdulia. Countless Catholic theologians, against the modern innovators, bring forward the monuments of sacred antiquity by which they prove the most ancient tradition of devotion to Mary. Natalis Alexander adduces the testimonies of the Fathers of every age in his history [of the Church]. Splendid are the encomiums by which Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen extol her excellence and dignity. St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, in Homily III on the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, expresses in these words the worship owed to her: "To you every nature — heavenly, earthly, and of the world below — offers, with trembling, its tribute, and venerates you. For you have truly been made a throne..." etc. St. Ephrem the Syrian, in his sermon on the praises of the Blessed Virgin, invokes her in this manner: "Under your protection... have mercy on us, who are defiled by crimes and by the filth of very many sins, who have offended our God and the judge of all..." Wondrous are the praises which Epiphanius composes for her in many places, above all in his treatise on the praises of the same Blessed Virgin. And what of the fact that even the heretics themselves...

II. There is, then, no doubt on this point: that it has been the practice of the Catholic Church to hold the Virgin, Mother of God, worthy of a worship set apart in this way [reading uncertain at this point in the scan] in prayer, as is likewise held by the Council of Trent, session 25, on the invocation of the Saints. Beyond the countless texts of Sacred Scripture confirming this truth — texts encountered throughout innumerable polemical theologians — natural reason too stands ready to hand. For the ground of adoration is the dignity and excellence of the person adored. On this ground, because God is of infinite majesty and dignity, we venerate him with the highest worship. Now the Angels, the Blessed, and the Saints reigning in heaven shine with a singular grace and dignity. Why, then, should worship be denied them? Is it because worship is owed to God alone? To God alone, indeed, is owed the worship of latria — that is, God alone is to be adored as God, and therefore with latria. This worship can be offered to no creature without the crime of idolatry. But why should a lesser worship be denied the Saints — the worship we call dulia, a worship proportioned to their created dignity and limited excellence, and which is ultimately referred to, and rests in, God himself? Why do heretics charge this worship with the stain of idolatry, when we testify, both by word and in writing, that we venerate and honor the Saints on account of the friendship they have with God, and on account of the gifts he has communicated to them — when we testify that we venerate the Saints with a worship distinct from, and vastly inferior to, that with which we worship God?

III. The heterodox object: the Angel in Apocalypse 22 forbade that he be worshipped, as did St. Paul, and St. Peter. That these and similar texts may be more fully understood, it is worth transcribing what St. Thomas teaches, II-II, q. 84, art. 1, ad 1: "Those [who were worshipped in the Old Testament] were worshipped so far as it pertains to latria in one sense; in the other veneration, by which creatures are venerated, which pertains to dulia... According to the reverence owed to an excellent creature, David worshipped [Saul, or Jonathan]; but according to the reverence owed to God, Mordecai refused to worship Haman, fearing lest he transfer the honor of God to a man, as is said in Esther 13. Likewise, according to the reverence owed to an excellent creature, Abraham worshipped the Angels, as did Joshua also, as is read in Joshua 5. It cannot, however, be understood that they worshipped with the worship of latria the God who appeared and spoke in the person of the Angel; rather, it was according to the reverence owed to man — so as to show the dignity which man has obtained through Christ, whereby he is made equal to the Angels; whence it is added there: 'I am your fellow-servant, and the fellow-servant of your brethren.' John, however, was forbidden to worship the Angel, in part also to remove any occasion of idolatry; whence it is added: 'Worship God.'"

By this angelic teaching all the heretics' sophistries on this matter are overthrown.

IV. From this it likewise follows that the adoration by which we worship the Saints differs from that owed to God not merely in its object, but in the very virtue [habit] it exercises. The Angelic Doctor gives the reason for this diversity: where the ground of what is owed differs, a different virtue is required to render it. Adoration is owed to God because he is the Creator of all things, and on account of his uncreated and eminent majesty; it is owed to the Saints on another ground, on account of a created, finite dignity received from God — and these two grounds are wholly different. Distinct virtues must therefore correspond to them. Let us cite the Angelic Doctor's own words: "Dominion belongs to man on one ground, and dominion belongs to God on another... for God has dominion in the principal sense, since every creature is wholly subject to his power; man, however, participates in a certain likeness of this, according as he has some particular power over another man, or over some other creature. And therefore dulia, which renders the service owed to a man who holds lordship, is a different virtue from latria, which renders the service owed to the divine Lord" (II-II, q. 103, art. 3). Much else bearing on this may be read in the same Angelic Doctor, where he shows that, although God and one's neighbor are loved with the same charity — since the ground of loving is the same, namely goodness — God is nonetheless worshipped by a different virtue from that by which the Saints are worshipped, on account of the different ground of the worship.

V. The worship owed to any creature whatsoever, then, is not latria but dulia. But because the Blessed Virgin Mary surpasses all creatures — Angels and Saints alike — in glory, grace, and dignity, she is worshipped with the most perfect form of dulia, which we call hyperdulia. This too is taught by the Angelic Doctor, III Part, q. 25, art. 5: "Although the Blessed Virgin is a mere rational creature, the worship of latria is not owed to her, but the worship of dulia — yet in a more eminent manner than to other creatures, inasmuch as she is the Mother of God. And so it is said that not just any dulia, but hyperdulia, is owed to her."

VI. The heretics object that this distinction between the worship of latria and of dulia is a fabrication, unknown in the earliest ages of the Church and nowhere indicated in Scripture; and indeed the following proposition was proscribed by Alexander VIII: "The praise that is paid to Mary, as Mary, is empty." It is true, indeed, that this verbal distinction is not found in Scripture; but the reality itself is found there — namely, that worship is to be rendered both to God and to the Saints. What, then, does it matter to wrangle over words, so long as we hold fast to the realities themselves? Scripture and the ancient Fathers approve the worship shown to God, and to the holy Angels and men. The distinction — which teaching usage introduced for the sake of greater clarity — is therefore not to be condemned, but praised. Nor is it true, as the Lutherans and Calvinists allege, that this distinction was recently invented by the Popes. Augustine mentions it in Book X of the City of God, chapter 1, and in Book XX Against Faustus, chapter 21, where he says:

VII. Augustine repels a second calumny in the same Book XX Against Faustus, chapter 21 — namely, that Faustus also slanders us on this point, saying that we have turned the memorials of the Martyrs into idols: "This does not so much move me to answer the calumny," [Augustine says] "as it moves me to show that Faustus, out of his zeal for slander, was willing to depart even from the follies of Manichaeus himself... The Christian people, however, celebrate the memorials of the Martyrs with religious solemnity, both to arouse imitation, and that they may be joined to their merits and aided by their prayers; yet in such a way that we set up altars to none of the Martyrs, but to God alone — even though it be at the memorials of the Martyrs. For which of the bishops, standing at the places of the holy bodies, ever said: 'We offer to you, Peter, or Paul, or Cyprian'? Rather, what is offered is offered to God, who crowned the Martyrs, at the memorials of those whom he crowned — so that, from the reminder of those very places, a greater affection may be kindled to sharpen our love, both toward those whom we can imitate, and toward him by whose help we can do so. We honor the Martyrs, therefore, with that worship of love and fellowship with which holy men of God are honored even in this life... I could transcribe a great deal more to this effect from the other Fathers."

VIII. It remains now to explain to which Saints the worship of dulia is to be rendered. To this question we answer briefly: first, that the worship of dulia is owed to Saints canonized by the Church. For canonization is the Church's public testimony to the true sanctity of some person already deceased. As soon as certain Saints have been entered in the catalogue of the Saints, they are invoked in the public prayers of the Church; churches and altars are dedicated to God in their memory; prayers or offices are recited for them; their images and relics are exposed to public worship — all of which may be done, not because a precept requires it, but because the law permits and approves it.

IX. That the Church's judgment, or that of the Supreme Pontiff, in the canonization of Saints is subject to no error, all Catholics teach, against the more recent heretics who are the bitterest enemies of papal infallibility. Setting aside the many arguments theologians heap up on this point, I will cite the most prudent judgment of St. Thomas: "The canonization of Saints is a mean between the Pope's judgment defining matters of faith and his judgment on particular facts... Yet because the honor we show the Saints is a kind of profession of faith, whereby we believe in the glory of the Saints, it is to be piously believed that the Church's judgment cannot err even in these matters" (Quodlibet IX, art. 16). The opposite is claimed by the heterodox on the authority of Augustine, who says: "The bodies of many are venerated on earth, whose souls are tormented in hell" — a text which, even if it were found in Augustine, would not at all tell against our position, but would rather fit the Lutherans and Calvinists, whose bodies are honored on earth with great sculpted stones and proud tombs, while their souls, having died in the Lutheran faith, are tormented in hell. Augustine is not speaking of souls who, by the judgment of the Catholic Church, reign in heaven, but of others who are worshipped merely in popular opinion. Theologians dispute many further points about the canonization of Saints, which, as foreign to our present purpose, I pass over. They likewise dispute at length about the beatification of Saints, its distinction from canonization, and the worship to be shown a beatified Saint. I will set all this out briefly.

X. Beatification is commonly held to be distinguished from canonization only accidentally, as an imperfect thing from a perfect one — for beatification is the proximate road to canonization. It is not the Church's final judgment, by which she definitively settles the worship of the Blessed; she only approves it provisionally. The Church, and the Pope, are illumined by the same heavenly light in beatification as in the canonization of Saints. Nothing prevents one declared "Blessed" by the Church from also being called "Saint," as common usage allows. The worship to be shown the Blessed is expressed in the Bull of beatification, and no other is to be rendered. Just as sacrifice is offered to God under the name of the Blessed, so churches and altars may likewise be erected in their memory. Whether it is lawful, in processions in honor of the Blessed, to carry their relics, or to invoke them in the public litanies, one must consult the custom of the Roman Church, and whatever common usage permits in these and similar matters.

XI. Theologians also carry on a lengthy dispute about the worship that may be offered to men or women who have died with a reputation for sanctity. On this point, while it is certain that no public worship can be offered to anyone not yet entered by the Church into the roll of Saints or Blessed, it is equally certain that private worship may lawfully be offered to them; and this is established by the universal and most ancient custom of the Christian people. Indeed, the very first door, so to speak, opening the way to beatification and canonization is the devotion of the people, their resort to the tombs of such deceased persons, and their invocation of them in sickness. And if, while such persons were still living, it was lawful to ask them privately to intercede for us, why should it not be lawful to do the same after their death for one who has been so declared by decree of the Church? Only public worship cannot be rendered to those who have not been designated Saints or Blessed by any authority of the Church. Hence, for such persons, the divine offices may not be recited, nor altars erected, nor sacrifices offered under their name, nor may their images be painted with rays and haloes of glory — because such worship requires the Church's authority, by which persons are designated Saints or Blessed. To such persons, then, neither publicly nor privately can the aforesaid worship be offered, for all of it is forbidden. Neither in churches nor in private oratories, therefore, may such images, painted with rays and haloes, be kept; nor may lamps or candles be lit at their tombs — as is laid down in the Decree of Urban VIII, which forbids these and many other things. As for practice, however, in the matter of hanging up votive tablets depicting favors and wonders obtained through some deceased person's intercession, the local Ordinaries are to be consulted, to whose care is committed the duty of watching against abuses that may creep in. It is likewise forbidden to call "Saints" or "Blessed" those not yet entered on the roll of Saints or Blessed. It is not forbidden, however, to say, with due qualification, that such a one "was a holy man" — a phrase indicating nothing more than that his life was upright and unblemished. To call someone "Saint" or "Blessed" absolutely, without qualification, is forbidden. It is, however, lawful to keep the garments, hair, and other similar relics of deceased persons of piety, to venerate them privately, and to kiss their feet and hands. The Church's custom confirms this: for when the Saints and Martyrs were put to death, even in the earliest ages of the Church their relics were seized upon by the faithful and honored, although the Martyrs had not yet been granted public worship by the bishops, as was then the custom. It is lawful, therefore, to venerate them, even in the sight of others, so long as scandal is avoided. It is likewise lawful to lay the bodies of those who have died with a reputation for public sanctity in a more honorable place, even raised above the ground; but it is forbidden to place those same bodies beneath an altar, or on its steps. The Church's practice also shows it lawful to keep the bodies of such deceased persons unburied for some days, so that the devotion of the faithful may be satisfied; and history records that many miracles have been worked by God to manifest the sanctity of some deceased person. Likewise, the faithful may lawfully fast, or offer private vows to God, in memory of such deceased persons, because these are private acts of worship, as Bellarmine teaches (De Reliquiis, Bk. I, ch. 10), along with other theologians.

This scattered material, however, has been ordered, illustrated, and every difficulty in it thoroughly resolved, in a manner surpassing all others, by the most learned Cardinal Lambertini, in his immortal work — comprised in four volumes of vast bulk, and first published while he held the office of Archbishop of Bologna — who now, under the name of Benedict XIV, most wisely governs the universal Church. Consult that work, worthy of cedar and gold, for anything that gives you difficulty.

[A few short phrases above are flagged as uncertain readings owing to the degraded scan/OCR — chiefly the opening clause of §II and one or two single words elsewhere. These are worth checking against the original when you have it to hand; everything else has been read directly off the page images.]