If, for example, through the
remains of the first three centuries we could have discovered no trace
of the doctrine or practice of holy Baptism and the Eucharist, we must
have concluded that the doctrine and the practice were the offspring of
later years. But when we read every where, in those remains,
exhortations to approach those holy mysteries with a pure heart and
faith unfeigned; when we find rules prescribed for the more orderly
administration of the rites; in a word, when we perceive throughout as
familiar references to these ordinances as could be now made by
Catholics either of Rome or of England, while this would not of itself
necessarily prove their divine origin, we should with equal plausibility
question the existence of Jerusalem or Constantinople, or of David or
Constantine, as we {72} should doubt the prevalence both of the doctrine
and practice of the Church in these particulars, even from the Apostles'
days.
With these principles present to our minds, I now invite you to
accompany me in a review of the testimonies of primitive Christian
antiquity with regard to supplications and invocations of saints and
angels, and of the blessed Virgin Mary.
* * * * *
SECTION II--CENTURY I.--THE EVIDENCE OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.
It will be necessary for the satisfaction of all parties, that we
examine, in the first place, those ancient writings which are ascribed
to an Apostle, or to fellow-labourers of the Apostles; familiarly known
as the writings of the Apostolic Fathers.
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