mother of God, let
it make us partakers of the heavenly cure. Through the same." [Haec nos
communio, Domine, purget a crimine, et intercedente beata Virgine Dei
genetrice coelestis remedii faciat esse consortes. Per eundem.--Miss.
Rom.]

"Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord God, that we thy {335} servants may
enjoy perpetual health of body and mind, and be freed from present
sorrow, and enjoy eternal gladness, by the glorious intercession of the
blessed Mary, ever Virgin. Through." [Concede nos famulos tuos,
quaesumus, Domine Deus, perpetua mentis et corporis sanitate gaudere, et
gloriosa beatae Mariae semper Virginis intercessione a praesenti liberari
tristitia, et aeterna perfrui laetitia. Per Dominum.--Vern. cxlvi.]

On the second Sunday after Easter, we find a further and more sad
departure from the simplicity of Christian worship, in which the Church
of Rome declares that the offerings made to God at the Lord's Supper
were made for the honour of the Virgin.--"Having received, O Lord, the
helps of our salvation, grant, we beseech Thee, that by the patronage of
Mary, ever Virgin, we may be every where protected; in veneration of
whom we make these offerings to thy Majesty." [Sumptis, Domine, salutis
nostrae subsidiis, da, quaesumus, beatae Mariae semper Virginis patrociniis
ubique protegi, _in cujus veneratione_ haec tuae obtulimus
Majestati.--Post Commun. Mis. Rom.]

On the octave of Easter, at the celebration of mass, in the Secret, the
intercession of the Virgin is made to appear as essential a cause of our
peace and blessedness as the propitiation of Christ; or rather, the two
are represented as joint concurrent causes; as though the office of the
Saviour was confined to propitiation, exclusive altogether of
intercession, whilst the office of intercession was assigned to the
Virgin.--"By thy propitiation, O Lord, and by the intercession of the
blessed Mary, ever Virgin, may this offering be profitable to us for
perpetual and present prosperity and peace." [Tua, Domine, propitiatione
et beatae Marisae semper Virginis intercessione ad perpetuam atque
prsesentem haec oblatio nobis profecerit prosperitatem et pacem.] {336}

IV. A fourth station in this lamentable progress was evidenced when
Christians at the tombs of martyrs implored, yet still in prayer to God,
that He would, for the sake of the martyrs, and by their merits and good
offices, grant to the petitioner some benefit temporal or spiritual. Of
that practice