My desire, most dear
brother, is that you may always prosper." [Epist. 57. Benedict, p.
96.--Memores nostri invicem simus concordes atque unanimes: utrobique
pro nobis semper oremus, pressuras et angustias mutua caritate
relevemus, et si quis istinc nostrum prior divinae dignationis celeritate
praecesserit, perseveret apud Dominum nostra dilectio; pro fratribus et
sororibus nostris apud misericordiam Patris non cesset oratio. Opto te,
frater carissime, semper bene valere.--This epistle is by some editors
numbered as the 60th, by others as the 61st, the 7th, and the 69th, &c.]
Whether the above view of this passage be founded in reason or not, it
matters little to the point at issue. Let both these passages be
accepted in the sense assigned to them by some Roman Catholic writers,
yet there is not a shadow of analogy between the language and conduct of
Cyprian, and the language and conduct of those who now invoke saints
departed. In each case Cyprian, still in the body, was addressing
fellow-creatures still sojourning on earth. The very utmost which these
passages could be forced to countenance would be, that the righteous,
when in heaven, may be mindful in their prayers of their friends, who
are still exposed to the dangers from which they have themselves finally
escaped, and who, when both were on earth, requested them to remember
the survivors in their prayers.
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