Since, therefore, some have
formed incorrect notions, we have necessarily brought in the plain sense
of the passage as to the letter, saying, Noah, Daniel, and Job will not
rescue sons or daughters; they only will be saved. Let no {149} one of
us put his trust in a just father, a holy mother, chaste brethren.
Blessed is the man who hath his hope in himself, and in the right way.
But to those who place confident trust in the saints, we bring forward
no improper example,--'Cursed is the man whose hope is in man;' and
again, 'Trust ye not in man.' And this also, 'It is good to trust in the
Lord rather than in princes[53].' If we must hope in some object,
leaving all others, let us hope in the Lord, saying, 'Though a host of
men were set against me, yet shall not my heart be afraid.'"
[Footnote 53: These observations may perhaps refer more
especially to the saints still on earth; but they apply to all
helpers, save God alone.]
He finishes the homily thus: "The righteous see three periods; the
present, the period of change when the Lord will judge, and that which
will be after the resurrection,--that is, the eternity of life in heaven
in Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
Can this confessor of the Christian faith have ever taught his
fellow-believers to plead the merits of the saints, or to pray for their
intercessions? How strongly are the above sentiments contrasted with a
passage in the third of the spurious homilies called In Diversos; the
first clause of which is referred to by Bellarmin, as containing
Origen's approbation of giving honour to the saints[54].
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