The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1883, Page 34

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34

The Lutheran Pioneer.

Rome and the Virgin Mary.

A Catholic Layman’”’ writes that he must
deny that in his church ‘‘any honor is given
to the Virgin Mary which is due to God alone.”’
“We,’’ he says, “simply honor her as the
mother of the Son of God. And by way of an
example of giving honor to a mother because
of her son, it will scarcely be necessary to re-
mind you of the manner in which the Ameri-
can nation lately honored the mother of Presi-
dent Garfield.”’

Can it be possible that our ‘‘Catholic Lay-
man” does not know the doctrine of his own
church in this matter? The Romish church
puts the Virgin Mary in the place of Jesus,
our only Saviour, and teaches the people to
give that honor to her which is due to God
alone. We could prove this by many passages
from Romish books, but we will quote only a
few passages from ‘The Glories of Mary”’—a
book recommended by the highest authorities
of the Romish church, also by the late Cardinal
McCloskey of New York. What does that
book teach?

On page 27 is the following: ‘‘The kingdom of
God consisting of Justice and Mercy, the Lord has
divided it: He has reserved the Kingdom of Justice
for Himself, and he has granted the Kingdom of
Mercy to Mary, ordaining that all the mercies
which are dispensed to men should pass through
the hands of Mary, and should be bestowed accord-
ing to her good pleasure.’’

With this view of Mary as the only source
of mercy, this teacher teaches his readers to
pray as follows:

Page 88, ‘‘Behold, O Mother of my God, Mary,
my only hope, behold at thy feet a miserable sinner
who implores thy mercy. Thou art proclaimed and
called by the whole church, and by all, the faithful
refuge of sinners; thou art my refuge; it is time to
save me.”

Page 1380, ‘‘O Mary, we poor sinners know no
refuge but thee. Thou art our only hope. To thce
we entrust our salvation.”’

Page 230, “I invoke then thy aid, O my great
advocate, my refuge, my hope, and my mother
Mary. To thy hands I commit the cause of my
eternal salvation. To thee I consign my soul. It
was lost, but thou must save it.”

Page 673, ‘‘Thou art the mother of God, the mis-
tress of the world, the queen of heayen. Thou art
the dispenser of all graces, the glory of the holy
Church. Thou art the example of the just, the con-
solation of the saints and the source of our salva-
tion. Thou art the joy of paradise, the gate of
heaven, the glory of God.”

Page 78, ‘Do not say that thou canst not aid me,
for I know that thou art omnipotent.”

But this will do. We hope our ‘Catholic
Layman” will see that he cannot deny that in
his church ‘any honor is given to the Virgin
Mary which is due to God alone.” And “tit
will scarcely be necessary to remind’’ him of
the far different “‘manner in which the Ame-
rican nation Jately honored the mother of Pre-
sident Garfield.”” 4

ao oe
To a heart that is full of joy, all it sees is
joyful; but toa sad heart all issad. Change
of heart is the greatest change.—Juther.

On Prayer.

By Dr. Martin LUTHER.

It is our duty as Christians to pray without
ceasing, if not aloud, which is sometimes im-
possible, at least in our hearts. It should at
all times be the earnest desire of all believing
hearts that God’s name be hallowed, that His
kingdom come and His will be‘done on earth,
also that He may grant peace to the country,
favorable weather, health, and the like. Every
true Christian wishes for such blessings every
day of his life, even if he does not always give
expression to his desires. Such prayer is true,
earnest, and spiritual; we stand constantly in
need of it on account of the great dangers
which ever surround the Christian on all sides,
so that we are never safe from the devil, from
our flesh and blood, from sin and shame.

How beautifully everything that we possibly
need is included in the Lord’s Prayer! Its
petitions contain nothing of which we do not
have need every day of our life. Wants we
have plenty; first those of a public nature,
then those which are private and pertain to
each one’s household and vocation. Therefore
we have reason enough to pray, and if we do
not, our negligence and unbelief is to blame.
We have the distinct command to pray, as
well as the promise that our prayer shall be
heard. Christ even gives us of His own accord
a proper form of expressing our wishes before
God. This form is the Lord’s Prayer, of which
we have just spoken.

We must confess that we are poor sinners,
unworthy to appear before God and to con-
verse with Him, and that we have no claim
whatever upon His kindness; this is most cer-
tainly true. But in order that this conviction
might not discourage us or prevent us from
praying, Christ says explicitly that we should
‘pray in His name,’ and adds: ‘‘Whatsoever
ye shall ask the Father in My name, He. will
give it you.” ; ;

Christians do not pray in their own name;
they are-ashamed to make use of their own
name when they pray unto God. But because
they know that God is merciful in Christ, and
because they have the command to pray in
Jesus’ name, therefore they are bold to come
to God and to make known their requests,
although they know themselves to be naught
but poor sinners. ‘hey venture to say: Our
Heavenly Father, we, Thy children, need now
this, now that; be merciful and remember not
against us our iniquities, but look upon Christ
Thy Son, our Savior; in His name we now
approach Thee; therefore hear our prayer.
When our supplication is thus made entirely
in the name of Christ, it is acceptable and will
be heard; it is yea and amen in Christ. This
knowledge ought to make us ready and quick
to pray, for we are told that what we pray in
the name of Jesus shall penetrate the heavens,
even to the throne of God, who will grant our
requests.

A Story which ought to be true.

‘The Italians have a proverb that ‘‘some
things, if not true, ought to be true.’”’ - Perhaps
the following dialogue between a Roman
Catholic priest and a little girl is one of them.
Being asked to attend the religious instruc-
tion of the priest, she said it was against her
father’s wishes. ‘‘You should obey me, not
your father,’ said the priest. ‘Oh, sir!’’
answered the girl, ‘we are taught in the
Bible, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother.’’’
‘You have no business to read the Bible,’’
said the priest. ‘‘The Lord said, ‘Search the
Scriptures,’’’ was the answer. ‘That was to
the Jews, and not to children, and you do not
understand it,’’ said the priest. ‘‘ But, sir,
replied the girl, ‘‘St. Paul said to Timothy,
‘From a child thou hast known the Holy Scrip-
tures.’’’ ‘‘Timothy,’’ said the priest, ‘‘ was
being trained to be a bishop, and was taught
by the authorities of the church.’’ ‘‘Oh, no!’

jsays the girl, ‘‘he was taught by his mother

and his grandmother.’’ Thereupon the priest
left her, saying, she knew enough of the Bible
to poison a parish; that is, according to his
ideas of poison. ‘

—- em

Every Ladder has Two Ends.

When a small boy, I was carrying a not very
large ladder, when there was a crash. An un-
lucky movement had brought the rear end of
my ladder against a window. Instead of scold-
ing me, my father made me stop, and said,
very quietly, ‘‘Look here, my son, there is
one thing I wish you to remember; that every
ladder has two ends.’’ I never have forgotten
that, though many, many years have gone.
Don’t we carry things besides ladders that
have two ends? When I see a young man
getting ‘‘fast’’ habits, I think he sees only
one end of the Jadder, the one pointed toward
pleasure, and that he does not know that the
other is wounding his parents’ hearts. Many
a young girl carries a ladder in the shape of a
love for.dress and finery; she sees the gratifica-
tion of a foolish pride at the forward end of
that ladder, while the end she does not see, is
crushing modesty and friendship as she goes
along thoughtlessly among the crowd. Ah!
yes, every ladder has two ends, and it is a thing
to be remembered in more ways than one.—
Selected.

How He Was a Lutheran.

The Margrave of Brandenburg, when re-
proached with being a Lutheran, said:—I was
not baptized in the name of Luther; he is not
my God and Saviour; I do not rest my faith
in him as my Lord; and s0, in this sense, I am
no Jnitheran. But, if I be asked whether, with
my heart and lips, I profess the doctrines which
God restored to light by the instrumentality
of His blessed servant, Dr. Luther, I do not
hesitate to call myself a Zutheran, and am not
ashamed of it. it this sense I am a Jaitheran,
and, as long as I liye, will remain a Lutheran.”