Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. I.djvu/175

Rh This explanation was very good, and may, it seems to me, be not without its truth. But the worthy father forgot that the prayers of the people are actually addressed directly to the saint himself, besides that, they have concern to outward things and donatives. I noticed this to him, as well as that the comprehension of the prayer, and the soul's connection with God, by means of it, are done away with.

They conceded this, said that “the people ought properly to be enlightened, but, but—the church had, in all ages, believed in the mediatorial prayers of the saints.”

“We have,” said Father Gallmorell, “proof in the catacombs, that the early Christian church believed on this subject as we do.” My last questions had reference to the worship of the Virgin. “Did the Catholics,” I asked, “found this upon any passage in the Holy Scriptures?”

The abbot looked quite nonplussed; but the acute Father Gallmorell, who was never at a loss for an answer, interposed:

“Not precisely in the Scriptures, but in the catacombs, it is evident that from the earliest times, the first Christians prayed to the Virgin Mary, as the Queen of Heaven.”

I now observed that Father Gallmorell must be particularly conversant with the catacombs, but that I could not follow him, as I had never been there, and knew but little about them. But I said, “something ought to have appeared in the Gospels regarding the high dignity of the Virgin, if it had its foundation there. But our Lord Christ had always appeared