(8.) O holy Mary; our sovereign queen, as God the Father, by his omnipotence, has made thee most powerful; so assist us, at the hour of death, by defending us against all power that is contrary to thine. _Hail_, _Mary_! O holy Mary, our sovereign queen, as God the Son has endowed thee with so much knowledge and charity that it enlightens all heaven; so, in the hour of death, illustrate and strengthen our souls with the knowledge of the true faith, that they may not be perverted by error or pernicious ignorance. _Hail_, _Mary_! O holy Virgin, our sovereign queen, as the Holy Ghost has plentifully poured forth into thee the love of God; so instil into us, at the hour of death, the sweetness of divine love, that all bitterness at that time may become acceptable and pleasant to us. _Hail_, _Mary_! {49a} (9.) Hail Mary, lady and mistress of the world, to whom all power has been given both in heaven and in earth! {49b} II. After this ample statement of the doctrine and practice of the Roman Church, it will be useful for us to observe, both _negatively_ what the Bible _does not_ say, and _positively_ what the Bible _does_ say, on the subject now before us. 1. In the first place, then, so far as respects the _negative_ part of the question, the Bible is TOTALLY SILENT, as to the Trent-inculcated duty, of invoking Saints, venerating Relics, and kissing and uncovering the head and falling prostrate before Images either in nitches or upon crucifixes. It NO WHERE recognises or recommends any such practices and notions: as those, of invoking dead Saints, to aid us by their prayers, or to grant us purity of life, or to unloose the bands of the guilty, or to make us mild and chaste, or to defend us in life, or to assist us in the hour of death; of celebrating their memories, for the avowed purpose of obtaining their help and protection; of much benefit being derived, from God to man by the veneration of Relics; of worshipping Christ and venerating the Saints, through the medium of worship and veneration paid relatively to Images; of beseeching the cross, a mere dumb piece of wood even if any of its remains should now be actually in existence, to increase righteousness to the pious and to grant pardon to the guilty. From beginning to end, NOT A SYLLABLE of sanction or approbation, in regard to any such phantasies can we discover in the Holy Scriptures. Hence, even to say the very least of the matter, the doctrine, avowedly taught and liturgically introduced by the Church of Rome, has not the slightest support or warrant from the Written Word of God. Whatever be the ground, upon which it rests: at all events, it clearly rests _not_ upon the Bible.