Revelation 13:13,14

"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which be had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by. sword, and did live."--13:13-14.

The means by which this dominion over the souls of men was obtained and maintained is next pointed out. The second beast did great wonders, pretended to perform miracles, and thus "deceived them that dwell upon the earth." Rome has claimed the possession of miraculous power in all ages, and no fact of history is better established than that she has continually resorted to lying miracles. The Romish traditions are full of wonders; the lives of the saints placed in the hands of the Romish laity for their religious reading, are. tissue of miracles. The Breviary is the religious book which is used as. substitute for the Bible.. give. specimen of some of its legends. St. Francis Xavier turned enough of salt water into fresh to save the lives of five hundred travelers who were perishing with thirst. The surplus was sent over the world and performed miraculous cures. St. Raymond laid his cloak upon the sea and sailed upon it, as. boat, 150 miles in six hours. The dying St. Juliana could not swallow when the priest came to offer her the consecrated wafer. He laid it on her stomach and it immediately disappeared from view. Upon such stuff the Catholic masses are fed. These false miracles are no less common in our own time than in earlier ages. In Italy the statue of the Virgin Mary was made to weep by. trick of the priests; at Naples, yearly,. reddish solid in. vial, said to be the blood of St. Januarius, liquefies in the presence of the awe-struck throng, and another conjurer's trick is pronounced. miracle. At the grotto of Lourdes, the Virgin Mary is said to have frequently appeared within. few years, and. whole budget of miracles is reported. Hardly. month passes that the Catholic papers do not record Romish miracles.

The object of these false miracles is indicated in the latter part of the fourteenth verse. It said "to those who dwell upon the earth, that they should make an image to the beast that had the wound by. sword and did live."