Page:MaryHelpOfChristians.djvu/30

 osition, to  judge  whether  Christ's  religion  be divine  or  human  from  its  effects,  result  in  its disfavor?"

But whilst  the  Catholic  Church  practises and recommends  the  veneration  and  invocation of the  saints,  she  does  not  teach  us  to  honor and invoke  them  as  we  do  God,  nor  to  pray  to them  as  we  do  to  Him. She makes  a  great  distinction.

The veneration  of  the  saints  differs  from  the worship of  God  in  the  following:

1. We  adore  God  as  our  supreme  Lord. We honor the  saints  as  His  faithful  servants  and friends.

2. We  adore  God  for  His  own  sake. We honor the  saints  for  the  gifts  and  prerogatives with which  God  endowed  them.

Therefore there  is  a  difference  between  the prayer to  God  and  the  invocation  of  the  saints. We pray  to  God  asking  Him  to  help  us  by  His omnipotence: we  pray  to  the  saints  to  help  us  by their  intercession  with  God.

Our veneration  of  the  saints  should  consist, primarily, in  the  imitation  of  their  virtues. It is truly  profitable  only  when  we  are  intent  upon following their  example;  for  only  by  imitating their virtues  shall  we  share  their  eternal  bliss  in heaven. A veneration  which  contents  itself  with honoring the  saints  without  imitating  their  vir-