the execution of his Sons Incarnation to her acceptance and thereby admitted her to a consultive and decisive suffrage in his Counsels But to proceed the next lesson is a Prayer of the same strain in the following words * Sit per te excusibile quod per te ingerimus fiat impetrabile quod fidâ mente poscimus Accipe quod offerimus redona quod rogamus excusa quod timemus quia tu es spes unica peccatorum Per te speramus veniam delictorum in te beatissima nostrorum est expoctatio praemiorum Sancta Maria succurre miseris c. Brev. Rom. Let every thing be excused which we bring unto God by thee and let us obtain whatsoever we ask with a faithful mind Accept that we offer give that we ask and pardon that we fear because thou art the only hope of sinners We hope for the pardon of our offences by thee and in thee is the most blessed expectation of our reward O holy Mary succour those that are miserable uphold those that are faint-hearted comfort those that weep pray for the people and so forth as above recited And if this be not to derogate from the merits and mediation of our Lord I know not what is In the Advent Sundays this is a common Collect ‖ Deus qui de B. Mariae Virginis utero Verbum tuum Angelo nunciante carnom suscipere voluisti praesta supplicibus tuis ut qui verè eam genetricem Dei credimus ejus apud to intercessionibus adjuvemur Missal Rom. O God who by the Annunciation of an Angel wouldst have thy eternal Son assume flesh of the substance of the blessed Virgin Mary grant to us thy supplicants that we who truly believe her to be the Mother of God may be helped by her intercession with thee In the second Sunday after the Epiphany there is this Prayer * Haec nos Communio Domine purget a crimine intercedente B Virgine Dei genetrice Mariâ coelestis remedii faciat ejus consories ibid. O Lord let this Communion cleanse us from sin and make us partakers of the heavenly remedy by the intercession of the B. Virgin Mary the Mother of God In the Mass of her Assumption there is this Prayer * Subveniat Domine plebi tuae Dei genetricis oratio quam etsi pro conditione carnis migrasse cognoscimus in coelesti gloria apud te pro nobis intercedere sentiamus per eundem c. ibid. O Lord let the Prayer of the Mother of God help thy people and although we know she died and was carried hence yet let us perceive that she intercedes for us in heaven by the same our Lord Jesus Christ In the proper Mass of her Seven Sorrows she is called * Coeli Regina mater mundi ibid. The Queen of heaven and Lady of the world and what that signifies you shall have from a late Author who saith that ‖ Epist Dedicat to the Contemplations Kings are the most noble Images of God's Majesty in the visible world and Christian Queens the Representatives of the mother of Jesus according to which comparison it follows that as the Queen is in priviledge power authority greatness and prerogative to the King of an earthly Kingdom so the B. Virgin is to God the King of Heaven and Soveraign Lord of the world And therefore it is no wonder that in the solemn Hymn which begins * In missâ propria de 7. doloribus Eja Mater fons amoris Me sentire vim doloris Fac ut tecum lugeam Fac ut ardeat cor meum In amando Christum Deum Vt sibi complaccam Fac me vâ—re tecum flere Crucifixo condolâ—re Don â—ego vixero Fac me plagis vulnerari Cruce hac inebriari Ob amorem Filii Inflammatus accensus Per te V. sim defensus In die judicii Fac me crùce custodiri Morte Christi praemuniri Confoveri gratiâ Quando corpus morietur Fac ut animae donetur Paradisi gloria Amen Stabat Mater dolorosa they as solemnly pray unto her to make them sensible of her sorrows to make their hearts burn with the love of Christ and to imprint his wounds upon them to enable them to weep with her and condole the crucified Jesus to be wounded with his wounds and inebriated with the love of him and to defend them in the day of judgment They also pray her to keep them by the Cross to fortifie them by the death of Christ to cherish them with her favour and to grant that when their Souls depart from their Bodies they may go into the glory of Paradise And then solemnly say Amen In another Mass they have this prayer ‖ Deus qui per gloriosissimam Filii tui Matrem ad liberandos Christi sideles à potestate Paganorum novâ Ecclesiam tuam prole amplificare dignatus es Praesta quaesumus ut quam pie veneramur tanti operis institutricem ejus pariter meritis intercessione à peccatis omnibus captivitate Daemonis liberemur Per cundem Dominum Missa B. V. M. de Mercede O Lord who by the glorious Mother of thy Son hast vouchsafed to enlarge thy Church with a new off-spring to free the faithful in Christ from the power of Pagans grant we beseech thee that we who worship the Foundress of so great a work may be delivered as well by her merits as her intercession from all our sins and the captivity of the Devil by the same our Lord. In the Mass of her Name there is this Collect * Deus qui gloriosam Matrem tuam Mariam nominari voluisti concede quaesumus ut qui dulce Maria nomen implorant perpetuum sentiant tuae benedictionis effectum Qui vivis regnas Missa de Nomine B. V. M. O God who wouldst have thy glorious Mother named Mary grant we pray thee that those who implore her sweet name may find the perpetual effect of thy benediction who livest and reignest c. In the sixth of the Octave of her Nativity one Lesson begins thus ‖ De Maria accipitur liccat mihi dicere quod scriptum est de Ecclesiâ Relinquet homo Patrem suum Matrem suum adhaerebit uxori suae erunt duo in carne unâ Lect. 6. in secundo Nocturno Brev. Roman I may say that that which is written of the Church may be understood of Mary A man shall leave his Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife and they shall be two in one flesh And accordingly in the Lesson for the Festival of her Assumption and the Octaves thereof they apply all that is said of the Church in the Song of Solomon to her as if she were indeed the Spouse of Christ and likewise those expressions of the King's Bride in the 45th Psalm * Astitit regina à dextris tuis in vestitu deaurato circundata varietate Ibid. which under the
over her Son And so in another Hymn they remind him of whom he took his Body Memento rerum Conditor Nostri quod olim corporis Sacrata ab alvo Virginis Nascendo sormam sumpsti Maria Mater gratiae Dulcis parens clementiae Tu nos ab hoste protege Et mortis horâ suscipe Jesu tibi sit gloria Qui natus es de Virgine Cum Patre almo Spiritu In sempiterna secula Amen Off. parv B. M. and then pray unto her in the following manner Remember O Creator of all things that thou formerly tookest the shape of our Body by being born of the holy womb of the Virgin O Mary Mother of Grace and sweet parent of mercy protect us from the Enemy and receive us in the hour of Death Glory be to thee O Jesus who wast born of the Virgin with the Father and the Holy Spirit Amen So in another Hymn they invoke her thus * O Gloriosa Virginum Sublimis inter sydera Qui te creavit parvulum Lactente nutris ubere Quod Heva tristis abstulit Tu reddis almo germine Intrent ut astra flebiles Coeli recludis cardines Tu Regis alti janua Et aula lucis fulgida Vitam datam per Vioginem Gentes redempta plaudito Jesu sit tibi gloria c. Ibid. O Glorious Virgin who art aloft among the Stars thou nursedst thy Creator with the milk of thy Dugs thou restorest unto us by the holy Branch what Eve took from us thou openest the Gates of Heaven that penitents might enter in thou art the Gate of the great King the bright Palace of light O redeemed Nations express your joy for the life that is given by the Blessed Virgin Glory be to thee O Jesus c. One of the Lessons for the Saturday-Office of the B. Virgin begins thus * Amplectamur Mariae vestigia fratres mei devotissimâ supplicatione beatis illius pedibus provolvamur Teneamus eam nec dimittamus donce benedixerit nobis Potens est enim c. Mense Oct. Serm. Bernardi Abbatis My Brethren let us embrace the footsteps of Mary let us throw our selves at her feet with most devout supplication let us hold her fast and not let her go till she bless us for she is powerful c. And in another Office there is this Prayer * Precibus meritis B. Mariae semper Virginis omnium sanctorum parducat nos Dominus ad regnum coelorum Amen Offic. parv The Lord bring us all unto the Kingdom of Heaven by the merits and prayers of the perpetual Virgin Mary and all the Saints Amen In the Saturday-Office there is also this solemn prayer of Intercession to her ‖ O Beata Dei Genetrix Maria virgo perpetua templum Domini sacrarium Spiritus Sancti sola sine exemplo placuisti Domino nostro Jesu Christo Ora pro populo iâ—erveni pro Clero intercede pro devoto foemineo sexu O Mary Blessed Mother of God perpetual Virgin Temple of the Lord sanctuary of the Holy Ghost Thou only without example wast pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ Pray for the people mediate for the Clergy and interceed for the devout female Sex And then follows this prayer unto God * Concedo nos famulos tuos quaesumus Domine Deus perpetua mentis corporis sanitate gaudere gloriosâ B. Mariae semper Virginis intercessione à praesenti liberari tristitiâ aterna perfrui latitiâ Per Dominum We beseech thee O Lord God grant that we thy servants may enjoy perpetual soundness of body and mind and by the glorious intercession of the blessed and perpetual Virgin may be delivered from our present sorrow and enjoy everlasting comfort Through our Lord. In the Office for the Festival of her Conception there is this Antiphone ‖ Cum jucunditate conceptionem B. Mariae celebremus ut ipsa pro nobis intercedat ad Dominum Jâ—sum Christum Breviar Rom. Let us celebrate the Conception of the B. Virgin with joy that she may interceed for us with Jesus Christ And this address in Versicle and Answer * Foelix namque es sacra V. Maria omni lande dignissima Quia ex te ortus est sol justitiae Christus Deus noster Ora pro Populo interveni pro Clero intercede pro devoto foemineo sexus sentiant omnes tuum juvamen quicunque celebrant tuam sanctam conceptionem ibid. For thou art blessed O holy Virgin and worthy of all praise because Christ our God the Son of righteousness rose out of thee O pray for the People mediate for the Clergy intercede for the devout female sex and let all those who celebrate thy holy conception feel thy help In the Office of S. Mary ad Nives there is this versicle and answer Vers * Dignare me lauda â—â—tesacrata Virgo Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos Fest S. Mar ad Nives make me worthy to praise thee O holy Virgin R. And give me power against thy enemies And then follows this Antiphone ‖ Sancta Maria succurre miseris juva pusillanimes refove flebiles ora pro populo sentiant omnes tuum juvamâ—n quicunque celebrant tuam sanctam festivitatem Ibid O holy Mary succour them that are miserable help them that are weak hearted comfort those that are sorrowful pray for the people and let those who celebrate thy holy Festival become sensible of thy help In the second day of the Octave of her Nativity there is this Prayer or Lesson * O B Maria quis tibi digne valeat jura gratiarum ac laudum praeconia rependere quae singulari tuo assensu mundo succurris perdito Quas tibi laudes fragilitas humani generis persolvat quae solo tuo commercio recuperandi aditum invenit Accipe itaque quascunque exiles quascunque meritis tuis impares gratiarum ictiones Et cum susceperis vota culpas nostras orando excusa Admitte nostras preces intra sacrarium exauditionis reporta nobis antidotum reconciliationis ibid. O B. Mary who can sufficiently give thee praise and thanks who by thy singular assent didst succour the world when it was undone what praises sufficient can frail mankind pay unto thee who hast found a way of recovery only by thy commerce with God We therefore pray thee receive our Thanksgivings how mean soever they be and unequal to thy merits and when thou shalt receive our Devotions excuse our faults by praying O admit our prayers within the Sanctuary of thy audience and bring back unto us the antidote of reconciliation What is meant in this Prayer by her succouring the world when it was undone by her assent I cannot tell unless her acceptance of God's offer to be the Mother of Jesus be to be understood by it as a late * The Contemplations p. 60 64 66. Book makes me think it is which saith that God referred
reach the honouring of her by Prayer and external Adoration as well as by offering unto her and that those who only practise the former according to the direction of the Latin Offices intrench upon the divine Prerogatives and transgress the bounds and limits which the Church in his days put to the honour of the blessed Virgin ‖ Haeres 69. S. 4. After a short account of the Original of Idolatry which he ascribes to the Devil and to the adulterous mind of man which runs from the worship of the one God as common Strumpets do from the chaste estate of Matrimony under one Husband he saith indeed The body of Mary was holy but she was not a deity and she was truly a Virgin and an (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honourable Virgin but she was not proposed to us for (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be worshipped but did (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 her self worship him that was born of her own flesh and descended from Heaven and the Fathers bosom And then adds that the Scripture did for this cause forewarn us by the mouth of our Lord who said unto her woman what have I to do with thee and he called her woman lest any should (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Aug. saith Christ admonished her and bid her fear her Son De Symb. l. 2. c. 5. Athanas saith he checkt her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qrat 4. advers Arr. Chrysost saith he was angry at her Ireneus that he repelled her unseasonable hastiness l. 3. c. 18. and Theophyl that he chid her not without cause In Joh. 2.4 think too highly of her thereby as it were prophesying of the Schisms and Heresies that would arise about her that none by too much admiring the Holy Virgin might fall into this folly of Heresie In the fifth Sect. he puts this smart question Which of the Prophets saith he permitted any man much less a woman to be (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worshipped Indeed she is a chosen vessel but nevertheless a woman who hath not changed her nature though she is much honoured as the bodies of Saints are or to speak more to her praise as Elias who was a perpetual Virgin from the womb and taken up into heaven without seeing death or as S. John who lay in the bosom of our Lord or as the holy Thecla But Mary is more to be honoured than her upon the account of the dispensation of which she was vouchsafed worthy But neither is Elias to be ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worshipped tho' he never died nor John tho' he departed in such a wonderful manner nor is Thecla or any other Saint worshipped For we are not under the dominion of the old error to leave the living God and ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worship his creatures as it is written they served and worshipped the creature besides or with the Creator and became fools For if he will not let the Angels be ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worshipped much less will he permit the daughter of Anne to be worshipped who was begotten and born as all other mortals were In the seventh Sect. saith he Christ as the Contriver and Lord of the affair formed himself of the Virgin as of the ground but not that she should be worshipped or that he intended to make a Deity of her or that we should bring offerings to her he gave her not so much as power to baptize or to bless his Disciples nor to rule upon the earth but only to be an ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holy creature and to be worthy of his kingdom From whence then is the Dragon come again unto us how comes it to pass that he renews his devices against us let Mary be ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honoured but let the Father Son and Holy Ghost be worshipped Let no man worship Mary This Mystery is due to no man nor woman nor ought the Holy Angels to share in this Glory therefore tho' Mary be most excellent and holy and honoured yet she is not to be worshipped and at last concludes thus that I may not seem too tedious let it suffice to have said ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ambros l. 3. de Spir. S. c. 12. Maria erat templum Dei non Deus templi ideo ille solus adorandus qui operabatur in templo Augustinus ait Hoc etiam ipsos optimos Angelos excellentissima Dei ministeria velle credamus ut unum cum ipsis colamus Deum cujus contemplatione beati sunt quare honoramus eos charitate non servitute religet nos Religio uni omnipotenti Deo Lib. de verâ relig cap. 55. let Mary be honoured and our Lord worshipped I appeal to the Conscience of any Learned Votary of the Blessed Virgin whether the Christians of the Latin Communion do not give her such Worship as the Greeks express by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the very word that Epiphanius uses throughout this whole discourse when he speaks of Worshipping in opposition to honouring of the Holy Virgin and I appeal to the Conscience of every unprejudiced Learned man whether going in Pilgrimage to her and praying to her in places of Divine Worship with all the circumstances of external Adoration with bended knees and hands and eyes lifted up to Heaven and before her Images deserve not the name of Worship as it is signified by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay let them tell me if praying unto her in a posture of worship for Temporal or Spiritual blessings and carrying her Image about in Solemn Procession while they chant forth Hymns unto her do not answer the full import of that word and whether the holy Father in all probability would not have made the same distinction betwixt honouring and worshipping the Blessed Virgin against these practices that he did against the Collyridians Our Saviour thought the very falling down before the Devil without Temple Priest Altar or Offering would have been a worshipping of him in his esteem the bare external act of Adoration was both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Latria for when the Devil said unto him all these things I will give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me He answered him Get the gon Satan for it is written thou shalt * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worship the Lord thy God and him only thou shalt ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 serve Wherefore this full and ample testimony of S. Epiphanius is an evident proof that as yet the honour of the B. Virgin was at least generally speaking confined within just bounds and limits and that the Church hitherto did not allow the Worship Service of Prayer and Invocation to be given unto her As yet she had not commenced Queen of Heaven nor Mediatrice between Man God nor received any Prayers or Addresses as a Service due unto her nor sat in the Temple of God tho'
shortly after men began to think too highly of her ‖ August Tom. 7. de nat grat Contra Pelag. Edit Paris p. 161 B. but in his Book de perfections justitiae contra Celest he exempts none from sin but Christ alone and to magnifie her holiness so much as to doubt whether she ever sinned While men were thus disposed by Superstition to exalt her above the rank and condition of an humane creature it happened that Nestorius Patriarch of Constantinople taught the world that it was not lawful to call her the ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mother of God This alarum'd the Christian world and made good men afraid that Nestorius under this pretence was setting up for another Arius or Sabellius to undermine the Deity of Christ Upon this a General Council was called at Ephesus in the year 431. in which Nestorius was deposed and his opinion condemned as Heretical and then in opposition to him and his followers men as it is natural for them to do began to run into the other extream and let their inventions and fancies take an unlimited scope in magnifying the Blessed Virgin Then they began to call her Lady to talk of her immaculate Conception and afterwards to assert it which seems contrary to the testimony and opinion of Epiphanius * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Haeres 69.5 S. who saith she was begotten as all other men were of the Seed of man and the Womb of a Woman Then they came to assert that she did not bring forth our Lord after the common custom of women contrary to the testimony of ‖ De carne Christi Tertullian and the Holy Scripture which saith that when the days of her purification were accomplished they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the Law of the Lord every male that openeth the womb shall be holy to the Lord. Then also they began to tell Superstitious stories of her appearing and of her ‖ Apud Evagr. Statues turning away in indignation from some that prayed unto her and to assert without any ground in Scripture or pure Antiquity that she had vowed her Virginity to God before the Angel Gabriel came unto her and then came in the story of her Assumption which seems to me to have been the last improvement of her immaculate Conception and innocence contrary to the testimony of Epiphanius who in Haeresy 68. observes several times that the Scriptures were silent and said nothing of her death and that he could not tell whether she was dead and buried or no or were yet alive and remained immortal according to what is written Rev. 12.14 or whether she died a Martyr because Simeon told her a Sword should pierce thro' her Soul He could not determine what was become of her which manifestly proves that her Assumption was not then the Tradition of the Church To be short then they began to make such extravagant Sermons in her praise as that is which is falsly ascribed to ‖ Vol. 1. p. 1028. Athanasius under the title of a Sermon upon the Annunciation of the most Holy Virgin the mother of God There the Author of it saith that as the Son of the Virgin is King and Lord so she by him is Queen and Lady and that she stands at his right hand in a Vesture of Gold in a Golden Vesture of incorruption and immortality and then he invokes her in this religious manner O daughter of Abraham and David incline thine ears unto our Prayers and forget not thy people nor us who are of thy Father's house c. Thus by degrees from over-admiring men came to worshipping the Blessed Virgin and the bounds being once broken down which the Scripture sets to the Praise and Honour of Creatures Superstition never stopt till the Church came to have a Queen as well as a King of Heaven a mother as well as a Father of mercy and a Mediatrice as well as a Mediator betwixt sinful men and God The Devotions and Assertions which I have cited out of the Offices of the Latin Church and her Ancient and Modern approved Writers are a sufficient proof of this Charge and I was the more willing to set them before you because some late Authors have done all they can to palliate and disguise the Latin worship and turn the best side of it outwards though God knows it hath a very strange appearance as it is misrepresented in the best dress that Art and Wit can put upon it They tell us they pray to the Saints and by consequence to the Virgin ‖ Advertisement to the Exposition c. p. 12. as we pray to our Brethren who are upon Earth to pray with us and for us in the name of Jesus Christ but do we pray to our absent Brethren does any man in England pray to his Friend in the Indies to pray with him and for him to God in the name of Christ or doth he carry his absent Brother's Image and place it in a Temple or over an Altar and then pray to his Brother before that Image in the most humble posture of External Adoration Or when men pray to any of their Brethren upon Earth that are present with them do they properly speaking offer up prayers unto them as a Spiritual Service with hands and eyes lifted up to Heaven or do they give them such Titles as the Latin Offices give the Virgin or tell them of their Merits ‖ Per Virginem Matrem concedat nobis Dominus salutem pacem Officium B.M. in Sabb. or pray unto God in any of their names and together with their prayers offer up Praises and Thanksgivings to them I desire the late Apologists to Answer these Questions and then to tell me whether indeed they only pray to her to pray for them to our common Master in the name of our common Mediator or whether they do no more than desire her Intercession to God with the same mind that we desire one anothers prayers If this be really so how dare they as I have shewn pray unto her to bless them and to bestow Temporal and Spiritual blessings upon them and to present their prayers to God which the Scripture tells us is the proper office of Christ How dare they pray unto God conjunctly through her and Christ's merits and joyn his passion and her merits in the Absolution of Penitents How dare they call her the only hope of Sinners ‖ Doth any man pray unto God through the merits or intercession of any of his Brethren upon Earth and pray unto God through her merits and intercession and without mentioning the merits and intercession of Christ Nay how dare they pray formally and absolutely unto her alone as unto a Deity and offer Candles and Incense and solemn Praises and Thanksgivings unto her which they desire her to receive how mean soever they be and unequal to her merits ‖