Second sign: ancient liturgies prayed for all the dead, even apostles and the Virgin
Second, the oldest surviving liturgies show that those early Christians offered prayers and supplications to God for absolutely all the dead, even for the holiest, for the martyrs, for the apostles, and even for the Virgin Mother of God herself. In those liturgies they ask God to give them rest in the land of the living, to grant them the good things he has promised, and to give them rest and a good remembrance. They are not simply offering thanks for them, as Bellarmine vainly argues.
But ever since the religious worship and invocation of the saints was publicly received, Augustine's saying has been treated almost as an oracle: "He wrongs a martyr who prays for a martyr." And no one will ever bring himself to use the solemn invocation that the Roman Church teaches is owed to the saints reigning with Christ toward people who need to be commended to God by our prayers.
Latin
LXII. Deinde ex vetustissimis quae supersunt Liturgiis constat, veteres illos Christianos obtulisse Deo preces & supplicationes pro omnibus omnino mortuis, etiam pro Sanctissimis, pro Martyribus, pro Apostolis, adeoque pro ipsa Deipara Virgine. Pro quibus a Deo petunt in Liturgiis illis ut eos requiescere faciat in regione viventium, & largiatur iis promissionum suarum bona, & praestet requiem bonamque memoriam: non vero, simpliciter, ut frustra contendit Bellarminus, pro iis gratiarum actiones offerunt. Jam vero ex quo publice receptus est Religiosus Sanctorum cultus & invocatio, tanquam oraculum illud Augustini habitum est, Injuriam facere Martyri qui orat pro Martyre. Nec unquam aliquis in animum inducet ut utatur solenni illa invocatione, quam Sanctis cum Christo regnantibus deberi docet Ecclesia Romana, apud eos quos opus sit precibus nostris Deo commendari.