c. 2. citante Novarino a great Author with them who lived above Four hundred Years ago makes this Observation That at least three times this Question is asked in the Canticles in the Person of the Angels Qua est ista Who is this And he imagines the Reason to be That they are desirous that the sweet Name of Mary may be answered to that Question For says he Angels desire that her Name should be mentioned and discovered and that it should not only be renowned in Heaven And if this Concern of theirs does not move us yet Gratitude to her when she her self is also concerned in it will not fail to do it To which Purpose they tell us That her beloved Hermannus whom she married m Barthol de los Rios Hierarch Marian. l. 5. c. 40. ex Surio vit Hermanni Apr. 5. Gononi Chron. Deip. p. 242. being distracted and hindred by Business and Cares of his Monastery grow more negligent and remisâ— in reciting her Offices and Hours that formerly to whom she appeared in the Shape of an old wither'd wrinkled Woman chiding him that now her Memory was grown old with him whereas formerly he named saluted and praised her a Thousand times Upon this Rebuke he resolved by commemorating her Joys and reciting her Ave's to make her young again which he did The Name of Mary says another n Barthol de los Rios ib. l. 6. c. 11. 20. is the best Image of her and more venerable than all her Reliques and Images He that does invoke her by this sweet Name attending to the Etymology thereof thou recite compendiously great Litanies of extraordinary Merit and Efficacy Poza o Elucidar l. 2. trac 17. c. 5. and others think that the Name of Mary as far as is expedient for our own and others Salvation does confer the Effect â—n opere operato by the Work done just as the Churches Exorcisms do and as many say the same of the Sign of the Cross and of the Name of Jesus From such Principles as these they fall into those heathenish Battologies and vain Repetitions which our Saviour condemns Matt 6.7 and their Prayers become in the Phrase of the Son of Syrach p Ecclus 7.14 much babling consisting of a nauseous Repetition of one and the same Name over and over again Of this the Reader may take a shameful Instance how they abuse in this manner the blessed Name of Jesus in that which they call Jesus Psalter q See Manual of godly Prayers at the end which consists of Fifteen Petitions with the Name of Jesus ten times or rather Thirty times reiterated before every one of the Petitions The Manner of reciting the Psalter of Jesus is as follows The First Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu 3. Jesu Jesu Jesu 4. Jesu Jesu Jesu 5. Jesu Jesu Jesu 6. Jesu Jesu Jesu 7. Jesu Jesu Jesu 8. Jesu Jesu Jesu 9. Jesu Jesu Jesu 10. Jesu Jesu Jesu Mercy The Second Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu 3. Jesu Jesu Jesu 4. Jesu Jesu Jesu 5. Jesu Jesu Jesu 6. Jesu Jesu Jesu 7. Jesu Jesu Jesu 8. Jesu Jesu Jesu 9. Jesu Jesu Jesu 10. Jesu Jesu Jesu Help me Third Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu And so on as before Strengthen me Fourth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Comfort me Fifth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Make me constant stable Sixth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Lighten me Seventh Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Grant me Grace to dread thee Eighth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Grant me Grace to love thee Ninth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Give me Grace to remember my death Tenth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Send me here my Purgatory Eleventh Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Grant me Grace to fly evil Company Twelfth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Give me Grace to call for Help to thee Thirteenth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Make me to persevere in Vertue Fourteenth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. Give me Grace to fix my Mind on thee Fifteenth Petition 1. Jesu Jesu Jesu 2. Jesu Jesu Jesu 3. Jesu Jesu Jesu 4. Jesu Jesu Jesu c. As many times as the First Give me Grace to order my Life to thee Here you see an Hundred and Fifty Rows of the Name of Jesus which being Three in a Row make up Four hundred and Fifty which must be all pattered over before those few Words that make up the Fifteen Petitions are concluded There is no Atheist or Infidel who if he had a Design to turn Prayers into 〈◊〉 could more effectually do it than by such a Prescription as 〈◊〉 But we have not the worst of it yet For you must know that it is not the Petition and the Sence following this oft repâ—…ted Name that is necessary but the Nâ—… 〈◊〉 oft used without any thing else adjoined is that which they lay much Stress upon and which makes acceptable Devotion with them For thus I find in that Book of the Jesuit P. Barry r Le paradise Ouvert p. 166. The Author of 〈◊〉 is so fond of the Virgin 's Name that instead of Paul Barry he desired to be called Paul of S. Mary which contains an hundred Devotions to the blessed Virgin and is bought up for common Use as our Practise of Piety or the Whole Duty of Man for I observe Seventeen Editions of it in less than Thirty Years he gives this for one Often to pronounce the Name of Mary in imitation of a Japan Woman Concerning whom the Annals of the Jesuits report That in honour of a Deity which that Country worships called Amida she used to repeat that Name an Hundred and forty thousand times daily rising very early every Morning as she had need to perform this Task and being assisted by a familiar Spirit that awaked her This Woman was baptized An. 1621. And after she was a Christian changed this Superstition into Devotion and obliged herself in gratitude for her Conversion to pronounce every day as many times viz. a Hundred and forty thousand the sacred Names of Jesus and Mary and because now the Devil would come no more to awake her in the morning her Angel Guardian succeeded in that Office so pleasing to God says the Author was her Simplicity and Devotion This Worship so Japan and unparallell'd cannot he says be practised the Number is so great unless God give some special Grace However he advises his Philagie so he calls the devout Person he instructs to chuse a good round Number of Maries to repeat as a way to get Comfort
carried out to Christ thus far we are of his mind and wish that they also had made him their scope more and her less but he being known and his Faith enough established her Excellencies could not be unknown or hid Or as Sherlog the Jesuit expresses it h Anteloq 3. in Cantic n. 142. It was necessary for us to know that Mary was the Mother of Christ this the Evangelists sufficiently declared and this her Honour being manifested the rest might be collected there-from though they said no more The force of this reasoning will appear if you only change the name of Jesus for Mary and put it thus It was requisite for us to know that Jesus was the Son of God as necessary as that Mary was his Mother this the Evangelists sufficiently declared and this Dignity of his being manifested the rest might be collected though they said no more We should have had an admirable Gospel if this had been the way of writing it much what I suppose like the History of the Seven Champions for that Writer did not feign the Men their worth and excellency was abundantly declared to the World before he only collected as every Writer of Romances does what was proper for such worth to accomplish and his Fancy ran much upon inchanted Castles and Gyants with huge Maces in their Hands which he makes his Hero's to dissolve and overcome However we have discovered by what these Authors have told us a secret which they had better have kept so still that now we know what way has been taken in writing the History of the B. Virgin and the Lives of other Saints Two or Three Truths have been given like a Ground to a skilful Musician upon these they have run what Division they best fansied and according to the skill of the writer the Descant has been agreeable or otherwise and it is remarkable that commonly where any faithful and certain Records have said the least there they have given the World the most large and compleat Story Which we are beholden to the aforesaid Greg. Gallicanus i Marial p. 3. for confessing the most plainly and without any disguise as the sence of some in this very case of the Scriptures silence concerning the B. Virgin Dicunt aliqui immensum esse laudum B. Virginis campum ideoque liberum unicuique relinquere voluisse sc Deum ut de eâ dicerent quod vellent i. e. The field of her Praises is wide and immense and therefore God would leave every Man at liberty to say of her what he pleased CHAP. I. An account of the Currant Faith of the Roman Church concerning the B. Virgin and of the Worship they pay to her suitable to that Belief Beginning with her Predestination to her Nativity WHatsoever I have asserted in the foregoing Introduction will appear more clearly in that Romantick History this Church has given us of the B. Virgin 's Life Wherein we shall see both what the Church believes concerning her and after that what Worship they pay to her agreeable to that Belief And in doing this I hope I shall not incur any Readers censure no not so much as of the Romanist for taking this Method since they themselves have given it me in their own Offices upon the Feasts that are appointed to her honour wherein we find these two are interwoven her History and her Worship To have set down only the last viz. her Worship would have been to present a naked Image of strange Devotion enough to have frighted any Christian The flattery of her being so fulsome k She infinitely surpasseth all the Excellencies of Men and Angels Contemplations of the Life and Glory of H. Mary p. 18. As it is not possible for the Tongue of a Seraphim to explain to our comprehension the Shapes and Liveries of the heavenly Spirits their Quires and Hierarchies to blazon the Glories of the Saints and to expound the Plenty Pastimes and Language of the Divine Courtiers so much rather is it impossible for a pure Creature to unfold the immense Attributes of the Maternity of Holy Mary the Mother of Jesus which gives to her an inherent right to all the perfections so copiously by Providence dispersed amongst Creatures here beneath the Stars in the Firmament and the Angels in Heaven Ibid. Ep. Dedic the veneration of a meer Creature so submiss and lowly l Whatsoever can be said of her will be only an essay infinitely too narrow to fill the orbs of her exuberant Sanctity Grace and Glory I do with trembling attempt this great work of explaining the Mysteries of her Life and immortal Glory left searching into the Holies of so great a Majesty I be oppressed with its brightness and splendors Ibid. Epist Dedic Entring a solemn covenant with Holy Mary to to be for ever her servant Ibid. p. 12. All Christians vow Obedience Fealty and Homage to her as to their supreme Governess Leige-Lady and Advocate Ibid. p. 21. She justly claims a servitude from all pure creatures Ibid. p. 8. the expectations of receiving Blessings from her so high and excessive m Almighty God hath by a solemn Covenant pronounced her to be the Treasury of Wisdom Grace and Sanctity under Jesus so that whatsoever Gifts are bestowed upon us by Jesus we receive them by the Mediation of Mary no one being gracious to Jesus who is not devoted to Mary Nor hath any one been specially confident of the Patronage of Mary who hath not through her received a special blessing from Jesus Whence it's one great Mark of the Predestination of the Elect to be singularly devoted to Mary since she hath a full power as a Mother to obtain of Jesus whatsoever he can ask of God the Father Neither hath any one petitioned Mary who was refused by Jesus or trusted in Mary and was abandoned by Jesus Ibid. p. 7. Our Saviour speaks of many who shall say to him Lord Lord and yet he would not know them but it should seem by this if they had but known the secret of saying Lady Lady they would not have miscarried that if there had been nothing said to give a rise to such Courtship it could not escape the censure of extravagant Madness whereas the History cloaths the Image with an advantageous dress and gives some colour at least to those applications while it represents her not only in her self a subject of Excellencies and Perfections far above those of Men and Angels and nearly bordering upon the Divinity but also one who in the Intention of God was designed to have a great Hand in the conducting us to Happiness a helper and co-worker with our Saviour himself in the work of our Redemption and thereby fairly challenging a great share in our Veneration So that if the things they say of her were but evidently true the things they say to her in their Devotions might be the better born withal and justified To prepare us for what we may expect
to hear of her when they bring her upon the stage of the World give me leave only to premise how they consider her in the Divine Decree before she was conceived and born into the World. SECT I. Of the B. Virgin 's Predestination Lectio Prov. 8. Missal Rom. ad Sept. 8. 8. Decemb. Dominus possedit me in initio viarum suarum antequam quicquam faceret ab initio Ab aeterno ordinata sum ab antiquis antequam terra fieret Nondum erant abyssi ego concepta eram necdum montes gravi mole constiterant ante colles parturiebar c. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways from the beginning before he 〈◊〉 any thing I was ordâ—…ed from everlasting and of old before the Earth was made When there was no Abyss I was already conceived the heavy Mountains were not yet settled I was brought forth before the Hills Capitulum Ecclus 24. Brev. Rom. ad 8. Sept. 8. Decemb. Ab initio ante secula creata sum usque ad futurum non desinam in habitatione sanctâ coram ipso ministravi From the beginning and before all Ages I was created and I shall never fail and I ministred before him in the holy habitation The late Contemplations of the Life and Glory of H. Mary have given us a formal Office for the Eternal Predestination of the Mother of Jesus which runs thus The Praise P. 22. Hail Mary full of Grace our Lord is with thee Blessed art thou amongst Women and blessed is the Fruit of thy Womb Jesus Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us Sinners now and in the hour of our Death Vers Open my lips O Mother of Jesus Resp And my Soul shall speak forth thy praise V. Divine Lady be intent to mine aid R. Graciously make hast to help me V. Glory be to Jesus and Mary R. As it was iâ— and ever shall be The Hymn All hail most high most holy one Above the Angels beneath the Son c. Sad Rhimes Anthiem I was pre-ordained from the beginning before the Creation of the World my Habitation was in the highest and my Throne was seated on a Pillar of Light. Psalm 8. Mary Mother of Jesus how wonderful is thy Name even to the ends of the Earth All magnificence be given to Mary and let her be exalted above the Stars and Angels Reign on high as Queen of Seraphims and Saints and be thou Crowned with Honour and Glory Innocency and Mercy hath exalted my Name above the 〈…〉 Exceeding glorious is Mary the Mother of Jesus thy Name is wonderful above the Clouds Glory be to Jesus and Mary as it was is and ever shall be Amen Anth. I was Pre-ordained V. Holy Mary Mother of God R. Pray for us Sinners now and in the hour of our Death The Blessing Through the Merits and Intercession of the Mother of Jesus may we come safe to the harbour of eternal Salvation V. Bid us be blessed O Holy Mary R. Bless us O Mary the Mother of Jesus The Lesson I Issued forth out of the Bosom of God on High the first conceived before all Creatures my Abode is in the Depths and my Throne in a Pillar of Light. He who made me took his rest in my Tabernacle my Inâ—…ence is in the choisest Blessings of my God and my Possessiâ—… in the fulness of the Saints For I am the Mother of 〈…〉 of holy Fear Knowledge and Hope In me is all grace of Truth and righteous Ways and all hope of Life and Vertue Vers Be thou O Mary merciful to us R. And by thee be all Glory to Jesus The Cantique Let us Praise thee O Mother of Jesus let us acknowledge thee our Sovereign Lady Let Angels and Men give Honour to thee the first conceived of all pure Creatures To thee the morning Stars and highest Seraphims sing Glory for thy magnificence Make Intercession for us O powerful Mother of Jesus for God will not refuse thee our Petitions Then shall we rejoice in the fulness of thy Glory and shall sing the Praises of Jesus for ever REMARKS IT were easie if it were as needful to give the Reader a large Catalogue of the Ancients who have made use of the forenamed places in the Proverbs to prove the Divinity of our Saviour against the Arians understanding Wisdom there of him who is the Increated Wisdom of God. But just as they have betrayed the Christian cause against the Heathens in the case of Images since the same Distinctions and Answers this Church makes me of to defend their Worship of them may all be pleaded for the Justifying the Heathen Idolatry in that particular So by their Application of these places of scripture to the B. Virgin whiâ—… the Fathers generallâ— thouâ—ht did belong only to Christ and proved his existence before all Ages of the World they have plainly put Answeâ— into the mouths of those Hereticks to evacuaâ—… the 〈◊〉 of all those Arguments for those places may then be applied to Christ though supposed a Crâ—… 〈…〉 â—eer Man as well as to la◠〈◊〉 must be 〈…〉 a meer Woman Carthaâ—…na a L. 1. de arc Deip. ho. 2. p. 9. is so 〈…〉 that not being able to deny what by the Authority of his Church he is forced to own nor yet to disown the other he thus agrees the matter Since those things which are spoken of the infinite Wisdom of God are verified also of the B. Virgin it is necessary that from the infinity of the Son she borrow a kind of infinite Dignity and from thence those Words may agree to both though in a different Sence And another b Carre Sweet thoughts of Jesus and Mary p. 293. thus What was said of the eternal Wisdom by eternal Birthright and property is applied to her by the wisdom of the Church guided by the H. Ghost by attribution and participation Our Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways This therefore is now their business to advance her as high as is possible and to give her Prerogatives above all other Creatures of which many of their Authors c Cited by Raynaudus Pipt Mar. p. 130. make this to be one That after Christ she was elected the first of all others So our Contemplator d Contemplat I. and Gl. of Mary p. 21. Thou wast the first and most delicious Object of God's Love towards pure Creatures from the beginning of Eternity Which they Illustrate thus e Carthagena Ibid. p. 7. As God decreed to constitute our first Parent Adam to be the Head of Mankind and gave him Eve for his Companion taken out of his side while he was a sleep so for the Reparation of Mankind he predestinated Christ to be the Head of another spiritual Off-spring and out of his side whilst he slept upon the Cross he brought out this second Eve the Mother of all Living by Grace And to this purpose they cite Prov. 8.25 Before the
thee that as by the foreseen Death of that Son of thine thou didst preserve her from all Stain so grant that we being cleansed may come to thee by her Intercession Through the same Lord. This Prayer is still owned by the Church for it is in the Missal of Clement VIII Paris 1625. among the proper Offices granted to the Franciscans where the first Office is for the Feast of the immaculate Conception and there we meet with Deus qui per immaculatam c. We are told in a Rubrick Litan variae p. 230. that the foregoing Antiphona and Prayer were approved by Pope Paul V. who granted to those that should recite them Indulgences of an Hundred Days They remain also among the proper Offices for the Order of the Holy Trinity printed at Lisbon 1621. called Officium immaculatae Conceptionis Virg. Mariae in Sabbato where I meet with several Strains worth the noting of which take these following Invitatorium Immaculatam conceptionem Virginis Mariae celebremus Christum ejus praeservatorem adoremus Dominum Let us celebrate the immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and adore the Lord Christ her Preserver Anaph Fortitudo decor indumentum ejus byssus purpura vestis illius Anaph Strength and Beauty are her Cloathing her Garment is fine Linen and Purple Vers Liberâsti me Domine ex ore Leonis Resp Et à cornibus Unicornium humilitatem meam Vers Thou hast deliver'd me from the Lyons mouth Resp And my only Mother from the Horns of the Vnicorns To these they compare original Sin. Anaph Aquae multae non potuerunt extinguere charitatem nec flumina peccatorum obruent Mariam Anaph Many Waters could not quench Charity nor Floods of Sin overwhelm Mary Vers Eruisti à frameâ Deus animam meam Resp Et de manu canis unicam matrem meam Vers Thou hast delivered my Soul from the Sword. Resp And my only Mother from the Power of the Dog. After the 5th Lesson Resp Fac tibi arcam de lignis levigatis ruptaeque sunt abyssi magnae factum est diluvium peccati super omnem terram Vers Arca vero deifera elevata est in sublime ferebatur super aquas opertique sunt omnes montes excelsi Sanctorum Resp Make thee an Ark of plained Boards and the great Abysses were broken up and there was a Deluge of Sin upon all the Earth Vers But the Ark in which God was carried was lifted up on high and born upon the Waters and all the high Mountains of the Saints were covered After the 6th Lesson Resp Fiat mihi sanctuarium habitabo in medio eorum Arcam de lignis Sethim compingite deaurabis eam auro mundissimo intus foris c. Vers Inspice fac secundum exemplar quod tibi in monte monstratum est Resp Make me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in the midst of them Make an Ark of Shittim Wood and thou shalt gild it within and without with pure Gold c. Vers Behold it and make it after the Pattern that was shewed thee in the Mount. Ad Laudes Anaph Domum tuam decet sanctitudo Domine in longitudine dierum Anaph Holiness O Lord becometh thine House for ever Anaph Haec est domus domini firmiter aedificata benè fundata est super firmam petram Anaph This is the firm-built House of the Lord and it is well founded upon a sure Rock Anaph Fundavit eam Altissimus qui super maria fundavit eam super flumina praeparavit illam Anaph The most high hath founded her who hath founded her upon the Seas and prepared her upon the Floods Anaph Dominus custodit te ab omni malo Maria custodivit animam tuam introitum tuum exitum tuum in saeculum Vers Non accedet ad te malum Resp Neque flagellum appropinquabit tabernaculo tuo Anaph O Mary the Lord keepeth thee from all Evil he hath kept thy Soul thy going in and thy coming out for ever Vers No Evil shall approach thee Resp Nor any Scourge come nigh to thy Tabernacle Anaph Quam pulchra es amica mea columba mea odor vestimentorum tuorum super omnia aromata Vers Dominus est in loco sancto isto ego nesciebam Resp Non est hic aliud nisi domus Dei porta coeli Anaph How fair art thou my Love my Dove my undefiled one the smell of thy Vestments is above all Spices Vers The Lord is in that holy place and I knew it not Resp This is nothing else but the House of God and the Gate of Heaven I find a Prayer in the Hours of Sarum wherein her Freedom from Original Sin is exprest and a most incouraging Indulgence annexed in the Rubrick before it which is this Alexander the VIth Pope of Rome hath granted to all them that say this Prayer devoutly in the Worshyp of S. Anna and our Lady and her Son Iesus Ten thousand Yeres of Pardon for deadly Sinnes and Twenty Yeres for venial Sinnes rottens quotiens Oratio Ave Maria gratia plena dominus tecum tua gratia sit mecum Benedicta tu in mulieribus benedicta sit sancta Anna Mater tua ex qua sine macula peccato processisti Virgo Maria ex te autem natus est Jesus Christus Filius Dei vivi Amen The Prayer Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with thee and let thâ— Grace be with me Blessed all thou among Women and Blessed be S. Anne thy Mother from whom thou Virgin Mary didst proceed without Spot and Sin and of thee was born Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. Amen Many Instances of the like kind may be seen in Balengem's Parnassus Marianus where several Hymns are collected out of divers Missals and Breviaries She is called Ibid. p. 4. Cella plena vino mero Granum sine palea A Cellar fill'd with unmix'd Wine Pure Grain without Chaff P. 24 25. Virgo non inficitur Cum à matre concipitur Originali crimine Tu à Deo fabricaâ— In conceptu praeservata Nulla trahis scelera The Virgin was not infected with original Sin when her Mother conceived her Thou â—…stâ—s◠〈◊〉 by God preserved in thy Conception contracting no Sin. P. 377. De mulierum numero haec sola praeservata Fuit Matris in utero sancta absque labe nata 'Mong Women none but she the Favour gain'd To be conceived pure and born unstain'd Oratio Horae sec usum Hieros de concept Hortulus animae p. 81. Deus ineffabilis Misericordiae qui primae piacula mulieris per Virginem expianda sanxisti da nobis quaesumus ejus mernoriam digne venerari quae unigenitum tuum Virgo concepit Virgo peperit Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum filium tuum The Prayer O God of unspeakable Mercy who hast ordained that the First Transgression of the Woman should be expiated by a Virgin grant us we pray thee worthily
veniam delictorum in te beatissima nostrorum est expectatio praemiorum Sancta Maria succurre miseris juva pusillanimes refove flebiles ora pro populo interveni pro clero c. By the let every thing be excused easily which we being in by thee and easily obtained which we request with a faithfull Mind Accept what we offer give us what we ask excuse what we fear for thou art the only Hope of Sinners By then we hope for the Pardon of our Offenses and in thy blessed Self is our Expectation of being rewarded O holy Mary succour the Miserable help the Faint-hearted refresh those that mourn pray for the People intercede for the Clergy c. The late Contemplator has invited us to celebrate her Nativity in this manner p. 50. The Praise Hail Mary full of Grace our Lord is with thee c. The Hymn The morning Star doth spread its Ray The Sun e'er long will make clear Day Welcome great Mary Herald of Peace Rich Spring of Grace which never cease This new-born Light which chears our Earth Sums the Worlds Blessings in her Birth God's Mother is this Day reveal'd Heav'ns Treasures are in her unseal'd Glory be to Jesus and Mary As it was is and ever shall be Amen Anaph Who is she that cometh forth as the Dawning of the Day beautiful as the Moon chosen as the Sun Psalm 44. My Heart shall power forth Words of Joy because Mary the Mother of Jesus is born Above all Women beautiful is Mary Grace is spread through her Soul. Rejoice triumph and Advance for thou art amiable and acceptable to God our King. Justice Truth and Meekness are thy Ornaments the Hand of God hath wrought them in thee Every Creature shall bless the Hour of thy Birth because Jesus covets thy Beauty Anth. Who is she Vers Mary the Mother of Jesus is born Resp Let Heavens and Earth sing forth her Praise Let us Pray Grant unto us thy Servants O Lord thy Gifts of heavenly Grace that the Birth of holy Mary may increase our Acceptableness unto thee since thy Son Jesus who was born of her is the Beginning of our Salvation through the same Jesus Christ our Lord Amen This is but an ill and disguised Translation of the former Collect Famulis tuis quaeiumus Domine c. SECT II. Concerning the blessed Virgin 's Nativity and the Circumstances of her Birth with Remarks thereupon AS we have hitherto found a great many bold Assertions obtruded on us without any cogent Proof so the Reader must expect the same Entertainment still and it cannot well be otherwise where both Scripture and ancient genuine Authorities are wholly silent as they are in the Things that concern her Nativity There are indeed Prophecies in the holy Bible concerning her but not as she is the Daughter of Anne but the Mother of Jesus not to tell us how she was conceived and born but that a Virgin should conceive and the Holy one should be born of her Even the Verses we now have of the pretended Sibylls say very little more than that of her But the Men of this Church cannot be contented and at rest till they have filled every Stage of her Life with Wonder and Miracle So they have done here in her Birth the Circumstances whereof they make as glorious as possible may be and to run parallel in most things with those that are related of our Saviour The oft-cited bold Jesuit a Pozae Elucidar l. 2. trac 6. p. 494. thinks it not enough to call her what the Scripture calls the Messiah The Desire of all Nations but he adds That this Woman was in their Wishes before her Son though he was much more noble and necessary for Mankind Abraham rejoiced to see the Day of Christ he saw it and was glad but long before Abraham Adam and Eve rejoiced to see the Day of Mary they saw it and were glad Wherein he is seconded by another of his Society b J. Bonifacius de vit mirac B. Virginis l. 1. c. 5. saying We ought to believe that Adam foresaw this Nativity to the rejoicing of his Heart So did Seth too if you will believe the Relation of J. Gerbrandus c Chronic. Belgic l. 31. c. 26. who tells us that in the Year 1374. Sibylla Queen of Hungary causing Workmen to dig in the Valey of Jehosaphat they found a Tomb made of Brick with a Body in it entire over whose Head was a Tablet with this Inscription in Hebrew Characters I Seth the Third born Son of Adam believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God and in the Virgin Mary his Mother who shall come from my Loins A very likely Story Much of the same Nature and Credit with that which is mentioned by Aquinas d Summa Theol. in 2. secundae qu. 2. art 7. of an Inscription upon a Plate of Gold found in a Tomb which prophesied thus Christ shall be born of a Virgin and I believe in him O Suâ— thou shalt see me again about the time of Irene and Constantine Or like that Table which J. Boniface e Lib. citat 2. p. 137. relates out of Cassinaeus That in the Sepulchre of Plato was a Plate of Gold found with this written on it I believe in Christ who shall be born of a Virgin suffer for Mankind and rise again the Third Day Neither will these Prophecies suffice unless Miracles also prepare her Way and accompany her into the World. Baroxius f Apparat. ad Annal. n. 40. is contented to tell us in general That great Things and altogether admirable such as cannot worthily be express'd did precede the Birth of Mary the Mother of God And every one that questions this he brands for a Man of a narrow Soul and for one out of his Wits And his Reason for it is very admirable Because we know that great and strange Things went before the Birth of Sampson and Samuel Jeremiah and John the Baptist and who can think so abjectly and meanly of God or be so mad as to affirm That he did greater Things and was more liberal to his Servants than to his Mother to the Friends of the Bridegroom than to his Spouse Or if you will to the Handmaid rather than to the Lady for in the Language of another Cardinal g Bonaventure in Speculo c. 1. Every faithful Soul is a Handmaid of the Virgin nay more even the Vniversal Church it self If the Cardinal had been speaking of the Graces that were necessary to make her beloved of God or necessary to her Salvation his Reasoning might have been allowed but speaking of Gifts the gratiae gratis datae as the Schools speak which are measured by no Rule but only the Pleasure of God who gives them as he thinks fit being at perfect Liberty herein both as to the Kind and the Degree it is great Presumption to argue and reason from what has been done for one to what will be done
1250. ordered it upon this Occasion That after the Death of Pope Celestine IV. the Cardinals in their Convention not agreeing in their Suffrages the See was void Eighteen Months Whereupon a certain Cardinal made a Motion That whosoever should be chosen Pope should appoint the Day of the Virgin 's Nativity for a Festival to all Christian and 〈◊〉 they should spend Eight Days which they call the Octaves in rejoicing to try if by this Means they might finish the Business They all agreed hereto and immediately they agreed in their Suffrages for Innocent IV. to be Pope who gave that Solemnity to the Festival Was not this a weighty Affair and a necessary Point for the Heathens to be instructed in to make them good Christians This that I have said is enough to show That our Church has no Blame lies upon it for letting this Festival fall which the ancient Christians never kept and where it is observed stands upon such a weak and tottering Foundation as we have seen But we abhor and justly reprove the Calumny which Sanders would fasten on us m De Schismate Anglic. f. 175. That the English for the greater Conteâ—e of the blessed Virgin do solemnly celebrate Queen Elizabeth 's Birth-day September 7. on the very Eve of the Virgin 's Nativity the day of whose Birth they set down in their Kalendar in small and black Letters but Queen Elizabeth 's in great and red Letters Which Story of his I presume gave occasion to the spawning of more impudent Lyes still by the Jesuit Raynaudus n Dipt Mar. p. 233. who reports That Queen Elizabeth unused the Nativity of the blessed virgin to be blâ—…ted out of the 〈◊〉 and substituted in the room of it her own Birth-day which fâ—ll 〈◊〉 the sâ—e they viz. September the 8th As to the latter part of which every one may know it to be false and it is so too as to the former For the Festival blotted out was a Religious one but I suppose neither he nor any else ever heard of an Office of our Church composed for that day which he says was put in the room of it Only it might occasion some Bonefiâ—es and Testifications of Joy such as were usual in London upon the Seventeenth of November which was the day of her coming to the Crown and yet it is not in the Kalendar either in black Letters or red But if nothing were to be objected against observing this Feast of the Virgin 's Nativity yet I am sure we have reason to be offended with those Devotions such as those I have already set down which those of the Roâ— Communion on this Day offer up to her And also with those scandalous and profane Meditations upon her Nativity which we find in their Authors a few Instances of which I shall here subioin for a Conclusion Our late Contemplator o Contemplat p. 45 46 48 49. finds a large Scope here for his Languishings and Sallies Vnions and Absorptions Divine Mary says he replenished with Grace and absorpt in the Abyss of supernatural Perfection wonderfully encreased the Languishings of the Angels Souls in Limbo and of her holy Parents for the Hour of her Birth She was 〈◊〉 â—ably more Glorious in being designed to be the Mother of Jesus and that her rich Blood in Jesus should be the 〈◊〉 of the World the Laver of Sinners and the Purchâ— of the Saints and should be so pleasing to God as to 〈◊〉 â—table for the Insurance of the Purpose of the P◠〈…〉 of Men and Angels for the raising and unexhaustible 〈◊〉 of Grace in the Sacraments and for the propagating 〈…〉 of Heaven Partakers in God's Councels and Parâ— in his Glory Therefore did all Men and Angels with 〈◊〉 Desires thirst after her Birth as an approaching 〈◊〉 to all these inestimable Blessings of Grace and Glory From the first Instant wherein the World was bless'd with the Birth of the Mother of Jesus Heaven and Earth seemed to put off Mourning and to be cloathed with Joy For now the Gates of Paradise seem again to be set open an eternal Jubile proclaimed a general Peace published a free Entercourse decreed between Men and Angels and the Throne of God's Mercy erected on Earth and made accessible to the most enormous Criminals This Mother of Jesus now born in the Mother of Christians because she ever hath the â—owels of a Mothers Compassion opened to us by Mercy to us in our sinful State by Mediation for us for the Graâ— of 〈◊〉 and by Protection over us amidst the Temptations 〈…〉 set to entrap us Behold with what Glory the Son this Day ariseth to beautify Mary's entry amongst 〈…〉 and Offerings the Angels make before the Cradle of their illustrious Queen what Acclamations of Joy resâ— from the Souls in Limbo for the Birth of the Mother of Jesus With what Alacrity all Sinners salute her their â—ness Refuge and Advocate and with what Ec◠〈◊〉 spiritual Joy God's People are replenished for this comfortable Birth of the Mother of Jesus the Spouse of the holy Church of the Empress of the World the Gate of Heaven the Throne of Mercy the Ladder of Jacob the Morning Star of Grace Peace and Salvation of her who shall bring forth Jesus the Author and finisher of our blessed Hope Resolv I do from this Moment acknowledge thee O diâ—ine Infant to be the Adoptive Mother of my Heart the Queen of my Affections and the Empress of all the Powers of my Soul and therefore I will daily pay unto Thee the most cordial Homages of my Love Congratulations and eminent Servitude Observance and Supplication and will in all my spiritual Combats Afflictions and Distresses have a confident Recourse unto thy Bowels of Mercy as a Child to his Mother as a Sinner to the Mother of Jesus and as an Outcast banished the House of my eternal Father unto his Patroness Refuge and Advocate c. Another of their Contemplators p T. Carre Sweet Thoughts of Jesus and Mary p. 300 301. breaks out as if he were in a Rapture thus O my Soul let us mark this Day with a better Stone with a mark of Joy for ever which gave at once a Queen to Men and Angels nay a dearly beloved Child to God the Father a design'd Mother to God the Son and a best beloved Spouse to the holy Ghost O let my Soul praise love and magnify her for ever who hath so singular near and dear Relations to all the Persons of the Trinity Let us join in Admiration with Angels in Heaven and say Who is this that our Desart brings out Who and what do we think this Child shall prove to be A Prophetess Nay more than a Prophetess more than an Angel more than an Archangel more than a Cherubin or Seraphin Another q Gr. Gallicanus in Marial p. 70. cries out Her Nativity is the Pledge and Pawn of our spiritual Nativity and Redemption because for this End she was born