IMPRIMATUR C. Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. à Sacris Martii 26. 1686. SPECULUM BEATAE VIRGINIS A DISCOURSE OF THE DUE PRAISE AND HONOUR OF THE Virgin Mary By a true CATHOLICK of the Church of ENGLAND LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by Randal Taylor near Stationers-Hall 1686. THE PREFACE THE chief End for which I undertook to make this following Discourse was to set before the English Reader a prospect of the Devotions which the Church of Rome pays and allows to be paid to the Blessed Virgin and to give him thereby an opportunity of judging Whether the R. Catholicks do indeed no more than pray to the Saints in Heaven as they do to their Brethren upon earth to pray for them in the Name and Mediation of Jesus Christ This is the Summ of the late Apologies for Worshipping of Saints and whether in reality it be so or no among them I leave the candid and honest Reader of what Religion soever to judg They have no reason to be offended at me for my Vndertaking for if their Devotions to the Virgin be good and Orthodox I have done them and their Church no dishonour but if they be not however I have done them no wrong for I have not misrepresented their Prayers and Hymns and Antiphones nor put any false Colours upon the use of them but have presented them as they are in themselves and treated those that use them without any provoking or reproachful Language and perhaps many that at first sight cannot read such offensive Devotions without Indignation will think I have treated the Virgins Votaries too gently and said rather too little than too much But what may perhaps justly move their Passions will not move mine who am used to read the Latin Offices and other allowed Books of Devotion among those of the Latin Communion and I think fit also to acquaint the Reader that I could have proved from their most Authentick Prayers to other Saints as well as to the Virgin that they do more than desire the Saints to pray for them Hymn Beate pastor Petre. in Brev. Rom. D. 28. Jan. alibi Hymn Tu natale solum protege Brev. Rom. in Festo S. Martinae Antiph Michael Archangele veni in adjutorium populo Dei Brev. Rom. in Fest S. Mich. Hymn Vt queant laxis Brev. Rom. in Nat. S. J. Bapt. Hymn Egregie Doctor Paule Br. Rom. Die 29. Jan. Orat. Deus cujus dexterâ Br. Rom. D. 6. Jul. Orat Omnipotens misericors Deus Br. Rom. D. 14. Jul. Hymn Regis superni nuntia Brev. Rom. in Festo S. Tiresiae Hymn Placarc Christe Servulis Br. Rom. in Festo omnium Sanctor Et Orat. Sempiterne Deus ibid. Et Hymn Salutis aeternae dator ibid. in tert Nocturn Orat. Sacrificium nostrum Missal in Fest S. Andraeae as sick men desire the Prayers of the Congregation as any indifferent person will be satisfied they do if he please to consult the Hymns and Prayers cited in the Margin Since I finished this Discourse I met with another Hymn made of the Te Deum to the Blessed Virgin which is a more exact Transprosal of it than that I have cited out of Cardinal Bonaventure I shall here set it down almost verbatim as I find it translated in a little * Entituled A Decree of our Holy Father Pope Innocent XI c. book Printed at Oxford 1678. We praise thee O Mary we acknowledge thee to be the Lady All the earth doth worship thee the Mother of the everlasting God To thee all Angels cry aloud the Heavens and all the powers therein To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry Holy venerable wonderful Mother of the Lord God of Sabbaoth Heaven and earth are full of the fruitfulness of thy Virginity The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee The goodly number of the Prophets praise thee The holy Church throughout the world doth acknowledge thee The Mother of infinite Majesty Thine honourable true and only Son Conceived by the Holy Ghost the Comforter Thou art the Queen of Glory O Mary Thou art the true Mother of the Son of the Everlasting Father When he took upon him to deliver man thou didst afford him thy Virgin-womb Thy Seed having overcome the sharpness of death the Kingdom of Heaven is open to all believers Thou sittest at the right hand of thy Son in the glory of the Mother We believe that thou shalt come with thy Son the Judg. We therefore pray thee help thy Votaries whom thy Son hath redeemed with the precious blood he had from thee Make them to be numbred with the Saints of God in eternal glory O Lady save thy people and bless thy Sons inheritance Day by day we magnifie thee And we worship thy name ever world without end Vouchsafe O Lady to keep us this day without sin O Lady have mercy upon us have mercy upon us O Lady let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in thee O Mary in thee have I trusted after God let me never be confounded The Publisher of the forecited Book took the Original of this Hymn out of a book written by Melchior Inchofer a Jesuit which that Father saith was sent to the Messeneses by the Blessed Virgin and he thinks it was the same or not much differing from that which Pope Paul the Fifth approved and which the present Pope hath prohibited and suppressed by a Decree It is a decree worthy of his holy Character and I wish for his honour he had prohibited it as Impious or Blasphemous or Idolatrous or contrary to the word of God However the bare prohibition of it ought to be acknowledged for a good work and I beseech Almighty God to pour out the Spirit of Reforming more and more upon the Bishop and Clergy of the Roman Church that instead of Expounding Palliating and Excusing they may set themselves in good earnest to Reform and amend whatever is amiss that so the Church wheresoever dispersed over the Vniversal World may be restored to the truly Ancient Catholick and Apostolical Doctrine Worship and Discipline and become one undivided Catholick Communion through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen SPECULUM BEATAE VIRGINIS S. LUKE I. 28. And the Angel came in unto Her and said Hail thou that art highly favoured the Lord is with Thee Blessed art thou among Women THE words of my Text are the Salutation of the Angel Gabriel unto the Virgin Mary when he came to tell her that God had chosen her to be the Mother of the Messias And that they are words of pure Salutation and not of Devotion is evident from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hail which is a form of Saluting as may be seen in those two mock-salutations of our Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hail Master Hail King of the Jews as likewise from the use of the Original word in Acts 15.23 where it is said that the Apostles and Elders wrote Letters and sent greeting to
the Brethren in Antioch Syria and Cilicia It is also evident that these are words of mere Salutation from what the Evangelist saith in the next Verse that upon hearing of them she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of SALVTATION this should be It seemed strange to her that an Angel should appear to her in an Age when Visions and Apparitions were grown so rare and that she should be accosted by him with a joyful and a gracious Salutation which was so much above the humble opinion she had of her self Her modesty encreased her wonder and in a mixture of fear and surprize together she began to think within her self what the meaning of the Salutation might be whither it would tend and what the Angel had to say unto her She was very solicitous betwixt hope and fear to know what message he had to deliver after his kind Salutation and while she was musing what it might be he said unto her Fear not Mary for thou hast found favour with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy Womb and bring forth a Son and shalt call his name Jesus He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest And the Lord shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David and he shall Reign over the house of David for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end These are the words of the Annunciation or Message of the Angel but I shall keep strictly to the words of his Salutation And in treating of them I shall shew 1. That there is nothing in their signification so peculiar to the B. Virgin but that they might have been used by the Angel in saluting any other Righteous and Holy person 2. That the B. Virgin to whom the Angel spake then was a very Holy person 3. That she ought to be honoured and celebrated and praised for her great Holiness and for being chosen to be the Mother of God 4. That in honouring her we must take care that we do not honour her too much or express the honour we have for her in such a manner as is not competible to a Creature 1. First then I shall shew that the words of the Salutation have nothing so peculiar in their signification but that they might have been used by the Angel in saluting any other Righteous person Thus for the Original word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Hail and the Vulgar Latin Ave it was as I have already shewn a common form of Saluting among the Jews and it farther appears to have been so from the second Epistle of S. John ver 10 11. where the Apostle forbidding to salute any man that denieth Christ to be come in the Flesh saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say not Hail unto him nec ave dixeritis saith the Vulgar Translation bid him not God speed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui enim dicit illi Ave for he that saith Hail unto him or he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds Thus God and Angels when they speak with men use the phrases and speak with the tongues of men And so for that expression The Lord is with thee or as it might be rendred the Lord be with thee it is the very form of speech in which Boaz saluted the Reapers Ruth 2.4 And Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the Reapers The Lord be with you and they answered him The Lord bless thee And so for that phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blessed art thou or blessed be thou among women we have the very same form of speech in Judges 5.24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blessed be Jael among women the wife of Heber blessed shall she be above women in the Tent. So Boaz said unto Ruth Ruth 3.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blessed be thou of the Lord my Daughter And so 1 Sam. 25.33 saith David unto Abigal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blessed art thou which hast kept me from shedding of bloud And so said Elizabeth unto the B. Virgin ver 42. of this Chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blessed art or blessed be thou among women and blessed is or blessed be the fruit of thy womb From all which I think it is plain that all these expressions Hail The Lord is with thee and blessed art thou amongst women are not peculiar but common forms of speech which were used in common conversation among the Jews And then for that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou that art highly favoured the Verb from whence this Participle doth come is used by S. Paul Eph. 1.6 where it is written to the praise and glory of his grace wherein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath made us accepted in the beloved The Vulgar Latin hath it in quâ gratificavit nos wherein he hath made us accepted And accordingly Theophylact saith that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my Text is explained by that expression ver 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou hast found favour with God or thou hast obtained favour of God Now in this sence of the word as it signifies favoured or accepted S. Paul doth in effect say in the forecited place that every true and faithful believer is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 favoured and accepted by God or dear and acceptable to him in Christ And this observation concerning the dearness and acceptableness of all true believers unto God is very agreeable to what our Lord replied to him who told him that his Mother and his Brethren stood without desiring to speak with him Our Saviour saith unto him Who is my Mother and who are my Brethren And then stretching forth his hands towards his Disciples he said Behold my Mother and my Brethren for whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in Heaven the same is highly favoured the same is my Brother and Sister and Mother Wherefore there is nothing in this signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that might hinder an Angel from using it in saluting any true Disciple of Christ especially if he were sent to give him notice of some particular favour that God intended to bestow upon him upon the special account whereof he might be said to have found favour with God Thus Noah was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we read Gen. 6.8 He above all mankind found grace or favour in the eyes of the Lord when he resolved to destroy the world It is in the Greek Translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the very phrase that Gabriel used to the Virgin ver 30. for thou hast found favour with God So Abraham was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or highly favoured of God because he of all mankind was chosen to be the Father of the faithful and was called the friend of God So Lot was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or highly favoured because God only spared him and his when he destroyed Sodom and therefore saith he unto God in this very phrase which Gabriel
used unto the B. Virgin Behold thy servant hath found grace in thy sight Gen. 19.19 So also Moses was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he of all the Hebrews was chosen to be the deliverer of Israel and the Mediator of the Old Testament and had the special priviledge of speaking to God as a man doth to his friend face to face Upon which account he said unto him in this very phrase in which his Angel spake unto the B. Virgin I know thee by Name and thou hast found grace in my sight Gen. 33.12 17. The like might be said of many other Saints as well as of the B. Virgin and accordingly S. Paul who of a Persecutor of the Church had the honour to be chosen the Apostle of the Gentiles said 1 Cor. 15.10 by the grace or favour of God I am that I am And therefore the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou that art highly favoured as it is explained by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hast found or obtained favour hath nothing in its signification so singular to the B. Virgin but that it may be applied to any other Saint who hath received any special favour or honour from God But then there is another acceptation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that signification wherein it is taken for Vertue or Grace and in this sence it may be rendred thou that art very gracious And so it is rendred by the Vulgar Latin Ave gratiâ plena Hail thou that art full of grace or vertue And in this signification also there is nothing peculiar and singular in it but what in equivalent terms hath been spoken of other Saints as well as of the B. Virgin Thus it was said of Noah that he was a just man and perfect in his generation Gen. 6.9 And when God called him into the Ark he said unto him Come thou and all thy house into the Ark for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation I suppose if the Angel had said to the B. Virgin Hail thou that art righteous before God and perfect in thy generation it would have been every jot as Emphatical as to say Ave gratiâ plena Hail thou that art full of grace and as good an Argument to the full to prove that she was free from sin So the Lord himself gave this testimony of Job chap. 2.3 That he was a perfect and an upright man one that feared God and eschewed evil and that there was none like him in the Earth which considering who it was that spake it I think implies as much innocence and perfection as Ave gratiâ plena out of the mouth of an Angel Hail thou that art very gracious or thou that art full of grace So it is said of Zacharias and Elizabeth that they were both righteous before God walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless ver 6. of this Chapter And so an Angel of the Lord gave this character of his Son John the Baptist that he should be great in the sight of the Lord and be filled with the Holy Ghost from his Mothers womb Ver. 15. So it is written of the Holy Martyr Stephen that he was full of Faith and of the Holy Ghost Acts 6.5 which I think is a phrase of as much importance as to be full of grace and might justifie the speaking as high things of these Saints as in reason can be said of the B. Virgin to whom the Angel said in common terms of Salutation among the Jews Hail thou that art highly favoured or full of grace the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou amongst women Having now shewed that there is nothing so peculiar in the Angels Salutation but that he might have said the like to any other righteous person I proceed to shew 2. That the B. Virgin whom he Saluted in the foregoing words was a very holy person as may be shewn First in general and Secondly in particular from the History of the Annunciation as it is set forth in this Chapter 1. First then it may be shewed in general that she was a very holy person from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether it be rendred Thou that art highly favoured or Thou that art full of grace It is not to be imagined that an Angel should be sent from God to give such a Title to any man or woman but who was a Saint of the first rank But it is much more evident that she was such an one from the matter of his Message or Annunciation which was to tell her that she should conceive and bring forth Jesus the Saviour of the World and that the Holy Ghost to that end should come upon her and the power of the Highest overshadow her and that the Holy Child which should be born of her should be the Son of God Certainly the Holy Ghost would come upon none but a pure Saint he that affects the Symbols of Innocence and Purity in all his appearances and cannot enter into a malicious Soul nor dwell in the Body that is subject unto sin would not have come in that manner and for that mighty purpose upon any Daughter of Adam but who had cleansed her self from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and perfected holiness in the fear of God Nay God the Father who was to prepare a body for his Eternal Son as it is written a Body hast thou prepared me would not form it of the substance of a sinful Woman but his own essential Holiness as well as the mysterious decency of the Dispensation would prompt him to form it of the substance of one that like the Kings Daughter in the Psalm was all glorious within and a pure and spotless Virgin both in Body and Mind We may be also assured from the holiness of God the Son the Eternal Word of the Father that he would not take upon him the Seed of Abraham but of one of the genuine Daughters of Abraham nor deign to be conceived in the womb of any Woman but of such an one who was a vessel of Honour in whom the Spirit of God did dwell and whose very Body was the Temple of the Holy Ghost She that was the Mother of God could not but be a very good Woman She that conceived and bare and brought forth the Holy Child Jesus the Virgin Mother of Immanuel of whom the Prophet wrote as he was inspired surely must have been pure as he was pure and holy as he was holy For to use the Apostles phrase in another sence the fulness of the Godhead could not dwell bodily in a wicked woman nor could she be deceived and led away by the Serpent whose Seed was to bruise the Serpent's head Nay to be chosen for the Mother of God was the greatest honour and favour that ever God conferred upon any humane creature None of the special honours and favours that he did
to any of the Saints before or since are equivalent to the honour of being the Mother of God And therefore we may be sure that God who said them that honour me I will honour would not have done so great an honour to any daughter of Abraham but to one who best deserved it to one of the holiest among the daughters of Israel to the most heavenly minded Virgin of the Tribe of Judah and the Royal house of David who had no superiour for holiness upon earth If we had no particular account of her graces we might rationally conclude all this of her from the history of our Lord's Incarnation for nothing less than Superlative holiness could receive such a Testimony of Divine honour from the Holy Trinity She was as it were the Spouse of God Co-Parent with him of the wonderful Immanuel who was God and man God of the substance of the Father begotten before the worlds and Man of the substance of his Holy Mother born in the world perfect God and perfect Man and yet not Two but one Christ 2. But then in the Second place we have a particular account of many of those eminent graces which adorned her in the Annunciation of the Angel as it is related by S. Luke As first of her Chastity she was a Virgin ver 27. one that knew not a man ver 34. Such a pure Virgin as was foretold by the Prophet who said a Virgin shall conceive a son Isa 7.14 a Virgin in mind as well as body such a Virgin as never looked upon a man to lust after him an entire Virgin who was all purity within as well as without who never cherished unclean thoughts nor let them grow into unchaste desires but stifled the beginnings of Lust in its first motions keeping her Body as the Sanctuary or holy place and her Soul as the holiest of holies and herself fit both in Body and Soul to be the habitation of the Holy Ghost and a Tabernacle for the Son of God Secondly we have an account of her great Modesty and Humility which put her into great disorder at the Salutation of the Angel when she saw him she was troubled at his saying and wondred what the meaning of his Salutation should be She had nothing of the Pharisee in her as doubtless many other Virgins had who would upon such an Address have presently concluded in favour of their holiness that it was so great and eminent above the holiness of other Virgins that they deserved that peculiar honour of God But she on the contrary was so very humble that she was all blush without and confusion within at the appearance and complement of the Angel She wondred what should move God to send one of the Seven Spirits that attend upon his Throne to visit her she wondred what should incline him to honour her so much and why the Angel should speak unto her as unto an holy person and the favourite of Heaven She had a greater sense of her humane imperfections and infirmities than of her vertues and in so mean and humble an opinion of herself could not imagine why she should be blessed and praised above those of her own Sex So also in her Magnificat which she delivered upon the Salutation of her Cousin Elizabeth she admires and adores the infinite condescension of God to her low Estate And truly the signal honour which God did her in chusing her for the Mother of his Son is an argument according to the Scriptures that she was lowly in Mind as well as low in Fortune For God resisteth the proud but he giveth grace which is an Hebrew phrase for shewing favour unto the lowly saith Solomon Prov. 3.34 And saith the Prophet Isaiah 57.15 Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is Holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the hearts of the contrite ones And this being the usual method of God's proceeding with the Sons of Men we may conclude that the Virgin Mary was a very meek and humble Maid because God exalted her above her fellows The Third eminent Grace which we find in the Blessed Virgin was her Faith which was every way as great as that of the Father of the Faithful who being not weak in Faith saith the Apostle Rom 4.17 c. considered not his own body now dead when he was about an hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarahs womb but against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations not staggering at the promise of God who can quicken the dead and call those things which be not as though they were In like manner the Blessed Virgin after the Angel had told her that the power of the Highest should come upon her staggered not at the Promise of God through unbelief but was strong in Faith being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able to perform She knew that he who formed Adam of the ground and Eve of one of the Ribs of Adam was also able to form the body of his Son of her Substance and therefore though she knew not a man she said unto the Angel Behold the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word She knew it was most reasonable to rely on the word of Omnipotence and essential truth and in this She is commended above Zacharias who did not believe the message of the Angel when he told him that his wife Elizabeth should bear him a Son He objected that he was an old man and his wife well stricken in years forgetting that Sarah her self received strength to conceive Isaac when she was past age and therefore the Lord struck him with dumbness because he believed not his words But though we read of no other Graces in her yet we may be sure she had all the rest that could render her righteous and acceptable in the sight of God There must needs have been a noble Structure erected upon such a foundation of Humility Purity and Faith when these led up the dance we may be sure the whole Chore of moral Virtues followed after And therefore in the Third place 3. It is our duty who have the benefit of her example to honour and celebrate her Name and commemorate her Virtues and set forth her praises in whom there was a concurrence of so many divine Virtues such a strong Faith such abasing Humility such pure Chastity and all other Graces in as much perfection as was consistent with humane frailty So Divine so Righteous a person ought to be had in everlasting remembrance and blessed among Women from generation to generation We ought not to mention her name without honour her Name which ought to be like precious ointment wheresoever the Gospel is preached and written in the biggest and most conspicuous character in the Diptychs of
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
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
type of Solomon's marriage prefigured the marriage of Christ to his Church In the Octave of her Nativity in the fourth Lesson of the first Nocturn it is said ‖ Laus gloria sit tibi Sancta Trinitas quae omnes nos ad hanc celebritatem convocasti Sit etiam tibi sancta Dei Mater laus Tu enim es pretiosa Margarita c. Ibid. Praise and glory be given to thee O Holy Trinity who hast called us unto this celebrity And praise be also unto thee O holy Mother of God for thou art the precious pearl of the world And then it follows in the fifth Lesson * Per te Trinitas sanctificatur per te Crux pretiosa celebratur adoratur in toto terrarum orbe Per te c. Ibid. By thee the holy Trinity is sanctified and the precious Cross celebrated and adored through the world by thee Heaven doth exult the Angels and Archangels rejoyce Devils are put to flight and man is called back to Heaven c. I have taken all this and might have taken more out of the reformed Missal and Breviary which a late small ‖ The Author of Popery anatomized Writer calls the Authentick Books of the Church of Rome And in some of these Devotions you see they pray unto her alone as unto a Deity to bless them and to bestow Spiritual and Temporal blessings upon them saying in effect unto her Have pity upon us hear our prayers c. which the late French Expositor of the Catholick Doctrine saith is the proper way of speaking unto God In others of them they pray unto God the Father through her Merits or Intercession and so make her a collateral Mediatrice with Christ In others they pray unto Christ for her sake and through her Intercession and so make her an under-Mediatrice unto him In others they desire her to interceed with God for them which also makes her a joynt Mediatrice with Christ In others they desire her to ‖ So they pray unto S. Ambr. Beate Ambrosi deprecare pro nobis filium Dei interceed with Christ for them which also makes her a subordinate Mediatrice to him In others they pray unto God through her Merits or Intercession by Christ Jesus which seems to joyn her with him in the Office of Mediator In others they joyn several of these Forms together contrary to the Scriptures which direct us to pray unto none but God and through no Mediator but Jesus Christ and which positively teach that as there is but one God so there is but one Mediator betwixt God and man the man Christ Jesus and that he ever liveth to make intercession for us Indeed they may well pray unto God and Christ through her merits who pray unto Christ through the merits of S. Joseph her reputed husband as they do on his Festival in the following Prayer We pray thee O Lord that we may be helped by the merits of the Spouse of thy holy Mother Sanctissimae genetricis tuae sponsi quaesumus Domine meritis adjuvemur ut quod possibilitas nostra non obtinet ejus nobis intercessione donetur Qui vivis regnas cum Deo Patre Brev. Rom. that what our weakness cannot obtain may be given unto us by his intercession who livest and reignest with the Father So they pray unto God through Christ and S. Nicolas together in the following words Deus qui Beatum Nicolaum innumeris decorasti miraculis tribue quaesumus ut ejus meritis precibus à gehennae incendiis liberemur per Dominum ibid. O God who hast graced S. Nicolas the Bishop with many Miracles grant we beseech thee that we may be delivered from hell fire by his merits and prayers through Christ our Lord. But to return to the B. Virgin I think it very agreeable to my present subject and undertaking to tell you the story of her Assumption out of the Office which I have so often cited Ex antiquâ accepimus traditione quod tempore gloriosae dormitionis c. Quartâ die infra Octavam Assumptionis B. Mariae Lect. 4. and which gives us this account thereof When she died all the Apostles wheresoever dispersed to preach the Gospel were suddenly caught up in the air and brought to Jerusalem Being met together a vision of Angels appeared to them and the Vision was attended with a sweet Psalmody of the heavenly powers in which the B. Virgin resigned her soul into the hands of God in a glorious manner and the Angels and Apostles continuing to sing together her body was carried out and put in a Coffin and buried at Gethsemane where the Angels continued to sing three days together At the end of three days Thomas who was not with the Apostles when she died came to Jerusalem and being desirous to worship the Body of the B. Virgin they went to Gethsemane to take it up but when they had opened the grave and the Coffin to their great astonishment there was no body there and they all agreed in this opinion that it had pleased the Word of God and the Lord of Glory who took his body out of the B. Virgin not to suffer hers to see corruption but to do her the honour to translate it into Heaven before the common and universal resurrection I cannot but observe here how that Thomas was absent at this meeting of the Apostles just as he was at that in which Jesus stood in the midst of them and shewed unto them his hands and his side Poor unfortunate Apostle that art always tardy and canst never come in time to meet the rest of thy Brethren But perhaps he was at the Indies and had a greater journey than the rest who were nearer to Jerusalem I am as content as any man to admit this excuse and if you further desire to know what death the B. Virgin died of the Author of the Contemplations will tell you p. 80. that she died of a spiritual Feaver into which she fell through a Seraphick vehemency of divine love which enflamed her blood and set her sacred heart on fire and that her assumption was on this manner Her glorious soul saith he p. 84. descended from her Imperial seat in Heaven accompanied with Seraphims and chiefest Saints and re-assumed her sacred body and ascended with it again and placed it above all the troops of the blessed p. 89.90 c. Being assumed in body and soul intâ—â—eaven she was seated on a Throne above all Seraphims next to the most Glorious Trinity and inaugurated proclaimed and acknowledged Queen of all pure creatures and at her Coronation she was cloathed with the Sun and had the Moon for her footstool and was Crowned with an Imperial Crown of twelve Stars And truly in some of her Offices the 1st verse of the 12th chap. of the Revelations is applyed to her where it is written And there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman
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'