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 Church If the Names of other Saints are distinguished with Miniature Her 's ought to shine with Gold Especially if we consider that She of all the Virgin-daughters of Israel had the honour to be chosen by the Holy Trinity for the Mother of God What shall be done to the Woman whom the King of Kings delighteth to honour Certainly if we should hold our peace and refuse to praise her among Women the stones of the Church would cry out the stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer it If what the woman did who poured forth a box of precious ointment upon the head of our Saviour was to be spoken of for a memorial of her wheresoever the Gospel should be preach'd throughout the whole world surely that most B. Virgin who had the honour to bring forth and breed up the Son of God ought to have a Festival and be mentioned with all due reverence and esteem in all the Churches of the Saints Wheresoever the Gospel is preach'd that which she hath done and suffered for our Lord ought to be spoken of for a memorial of her from whom he took that very body which was crucified and that precious blood which was shed for the remission of our sins 4. But then in the Fourth place though we ought to honour her and have honourable thoughts and make honourable mention of her yet we ought to take care that we do not honour her too much in thinking and speaking more highly of her than we ought to think and speak of an humane Creature Indeed there is a particular respect due unto her upon the account of her eminent Graces and as she is the Mother of God And so we find her Cousin Elizabeth treated her with a particular respect under that Character whence is this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come unto me But then we must not let our respect for her commence into Worship nor Romance her into a Deity because it was her Lot to be that Happy Virgin of whom Christ was Born We must not treat her upon the account of her singular Relation to Immanuel as if she were an Infinite Majesty or as if her graces were indeed Divine Attributes Epist Dedicat. to the Contemplations of the V. Mary and her prerogatives of Grace and Glory as a late book asserts one and the same with those of her Son We ought not to pay such Homage and Veneration to her under the Character of the Queen as is only due to the King of Heaven but we must carefully keep our respects to her Person and Memory within due bounds and limits lest transgressing herein we should fall into those unwarrantable excesses and abuses which a great part of Christendom is too justly chargeable with And that I may not be accused of charging so great and considerable a number of our Fellow-Christians wrongfully or of saying what I cannot prove I shall spend the remainder of my pains in shewing how extravagant the Votaries of the B. Virgin have been and still are in her Commendations and Praises and in the Honour which they pay and the Devotions which they offer up unto her And Secondly in making a short Application of the whole discourse 1. I shall shew how extravagant the Votaries of the Blessed Virgin are both in word and deed in the Honours which they pay unto her out of the Offices of the Latin Church and the Antient and Modern approved Authors of her Communion who speak such extravagant things of her as in reality are a Dishonour to her and a diminution of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ To begin with the Offices of the Latin Church in the form of Absolving a Penitent in the Ritual the Priest concludes with these words Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi merita B. Mariae Virginis omnium Sanctorum quicquid boni feceris mali sustinueris sint tibi in remissionâ—m peccatorum augmentum gratiae praemium vitae aeternae Amen The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ the merits of the B. Virgin Mary and all Saints all the good thou hast done and the evil thou hast suffered be unto thee for remission of sins increase of grace and the reward of Eternal Life Amen So in many of her Offices there are these following Prayers * Beata mater gloriosa Regina mundi intercede pro nobis ad Dominum Offic. B. M. in Sabbato Offic. parv B. Mariae O blessed mother and glorious Queen of the world intercede for us unto the Lord and ‖ Sub tuum praesidium confugimus sancta Dei Genetrix nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus sed à periculis cunctis libera nos semper Virgo gloriosa benedicta Offic. parv B. M. we fly unto thy protection and safeguard O holy mother of God despise not our Prayers in our necessities but always deliver us from all dangers O glorious and Blessed Virgin I think this is something more than to desire her to pray for us as we do the faithful upon earth through the merits of Jesus Christ And so is the Hymn Ave maris stella which I shall render in the following words Hail Star of the Sea Ave maris stella Dei Mater alma Atque semper Virgo Foelix coeli porta Sumens illud ave Gabrielis ore Funda nos in pace Mutans Hevae nomen Solve vincla reis Profer lumen caecis Mala nostra pelle Bona cuncta posce Monstra te esse Matrem Sumat per te preces Qui pro nobis natus Tulit esse tuus Virgo singularis Inter omnes mitis Nos culpis solutos Mites fac castos Vitam praesta puram Iter para tutum Vt videntes Jesum Semper collaetemur Sit laus Deo Patri Summo Christo decus Spiritui Sancto Tribus honor unus Amen Offic. B. M. in Sabbato alibi and nursing mother of God perpetual Virgin and blessed gate of Heaven Thou that receivest the Salutation which was spoken by the mouth of Gabriel and changest the name of Eve loose the bonds of guilty sinners enlighten the eyes of the blind drive away all evils from us and ask all good things for us Shew that thou art the Mother of Christ and let him who was born of thee for us and vouchsafed to be thy Son receive our prayers through Thee O most excellent and humble Virgin make us humble and chast and free from the bonds of our sins give us purity of life and grant us a safe passage into the next World that we attaining the Beatisick Vision of Jesus may rejoyce with everlasting joy Praise be given to God the Father glory to Christ the Sovereign Lord and to the Holy Ghost to all three be one honour Amen You see they pray unto her here as unto an Author and Donor of Spiritual Blessings and remind her of her power and influence
thee to be a Virgin all the earth doth worship thee the Spouse of the eternal Father all Angels and Archangels all Thrones and Powers do faithfully serve thee to thee all Angels cry aloud with a never-ceasing voice holy holy holy Mary mother of God the whole Court of heaven doth honour thee as Queen the holy Church throughout all the world doth invoke and praise thee the Mother of Divine Majesty c. Nay he hath also Transprosed the Athanasian Creed into a form of Confession to her honour and it begins thus Whosoever would be saved before all things it is necessary that he hold a firm Faith concerning Mary which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled without doubt he shall perish everlastingly and then though her Assumption into Heaven her sitting at the right hand of Christ and never ceasing to pray for us be made Articles of that Creed yet it concludes thus This is the true Faith concerning Mary which except a man believe firmly and faithfully he cannot be saved From C. Bonaventure I go on to Arnoldus Carnotensis who lived about Five hundred years ago and wrote an extravagant ‖ Inter opusc adscripta Cypriano Ed. Oxon. 1682. Tract in the praises of the blessed Virgin in which he saith that if he had the Tongues of Men and Angels he could not worthily set forth the glory of the holy and ever-blessed Virgin He saith She is exalted above all Creatures and that whoever bows his knee to Jesus must also fall prostrate before Mary he saith they have both one flesh one Spirit and one love and one glory that she cannot be separated from his dominion and power and that they both stand before the face of God to interceed for us and obtain remission of sins From Arnoldus I proceed to Bernard who flourished almost Six hundred years ago He was bred a Monk in a dark Age and his Sermons of the Virgin Mary's Assumption are full of very extravagant and unwarrantable expressions He calls her the Queen of Heaven and Queen of mercy and Lady of all things He saith When she ascended on high she also gave good gifts unto men seeing she neither wanted power nor will Not power because she was the Mother of God nor will because all her bowels were Charity He talks much about her Coronation and saith That no man can find out the length and breadth and heighth and depth of her mercy and that Christ bestows all his gifts and graces through her and exhorts us to give God thanks who in mercy provided us such a Mediatrice and in short what apprehensions he had for her may be seen from a prayer which begins thus We lift our hearts and eyes and hands unto thee O Queen of the World we kneel and bow before the glory of thy highness and send up our prayers with sighs unto thee to Heaven The rest of the prayer is like the beginning and towards the latter end of it he hath this expression Speak O Lady for thy Son hears and will grant whatsoever thou shalt ask There are also many such extravagant and unwarrantable things said of her and many prayers directed unto her in the Homilies de Tempore upon Christ's Nativity and the Homilies de Sanctis especially in that of the Assumption falsely ascribed to S. Augustin as the writers of the Latin Church are forced to acknowledge I have also omitted the extravagant sayings and notions about her in the School-men as that her ‖ Suarez 3. p. disp 18. S. 4. Grace was greater in the first moment of her Conception than the Grace of the highest Angel and that in the second it was doubled and so increased in Geometrical proportion unto her lives end and that she was dearer to God than the whole reasonable Creation and that he loved her more than the Universal Church I have also passed over the many Legendous stories that are told of her and to shew how dangerous it is for men to magnifie her above the condition of an humane Creature I think I may tell you of C. Scribanius Provincial of the Belgick Jesuits who in a rapture of Devotion to the blessed Virgin made a Copy of * Haereo lac inter meditans interque cruorem Inter delicias uberis lateris c. There is also such a Copy of Verses in Gazaeus his Pia Hilaria Latin Verses wherein he equals the benefits and merit of her milk to that of his bloud I have also omitted their Ancient Offices in which there are prayers to S. Joachim the Father and to S. Anne the Mother of the blessed Virgin wherein they put * Breviar Sar. July 26. O vas coelestis gratiae mater Reginae Virginum memento mater inclyta quà m potens es per filiam her in mind of the power she hath by her Daughter and tell him ‖ Brev. Rom. Antiqu. Mart. 20. O Pater summae Joachim puellae potes omne si vis nihil nepos Jesus meritò negabit nil tibi nata that his Nephew Jesus and his Daughter Mary will deny him nothing But you will perhaps say that the Latin Church hath laid aside these Devotions God be thanked for it and grant the happy time may come when she will lay aside all the rest that I have cited after the example of this truly Catholick and Apostolick Church of which we are members but then though she hath laid them aside yet since she formerly allowed and approved them she must as a learned * The Author of the R. Devotions Author observes be answerable for them till she acknowledges she was mistaken The rejecting and reforming of these and ‖ As of S. Julian in Miss secund usum Sarum Rothom Edit S. Batilde ibid. S. Scholastica ibid. S Potentiana ibid. S. Aldelmus ibid. S Martin B. and Conf. ibid. S. Sabina ibid. S. Andoenus ibid. other Offices cannot consist with her pretensions to Infallibility which I observe in answer to that Plea which saith it is most reasonable for men to be of the Infallible Church I confess a man were mad that would not rather be of an Infallible than a Fallible Church but then it is obvious to Reply That it is one thing for a Church to be Infallible and another for her or others to say she is so nay I desire to know if any Church is ever a jot the more Infallible for pretending to Infallibility or if those men do not act rationally who chuse to continue under the care of Learned and modest Physicians that own themselves Fallible rather than commit themselves to those who give out Bills of this or that Infallible Cure Thus have I shew'd you from the Ancient and Modern approved Authors of the Latin Communion how extravagant the Votaries of the blessed Virgin are in the honors they pay unto her and as I shewed before that there is no ground for them in Scripture So I am sure there is
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
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
cloathed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars After this short account of the manner of their praying to her and the history of her Assumption and Coronation I shall only re-mind you of the divine Titles by which they invoke her in their Offices as Queen of heaven Mother of grace sweet Parent of mercy the Gate of the great King the only hope of sinners to which I may add Queen of Angels p. 12.62 Adoptive mother Patroness of man Advocate of sinners and more of the same nature in this book of the Contemplations where the Author addresses himself unto her in these words I chuse thee O glorious Mother of Jesus Pag. 86. to be my Patroness Advocate and Adoptive Mother admit me O powerful Queen of Angels among thy Clients suppress my Enemies manage my cause in the Court of our Requests ah permit not my Soul to perish for which thy Son Jesus did shed those precious drops of bloud which he received from the rich fountain of thy loving heart Thus have I shewed you out of the Offices of the Latin Church how extravagant the Votaries of the B. Virgin are in the honour which they render unto her and for which I am sure there is no ground neither in my Text nor in any other place of the holy Scripture not in my Text in which I shewed that there is not one word but which the Angel might have used in saluting any other Righteous person as well as the V. Mary nor in any other place of Scripture where she is mentioned but on the contrary there are many places which teach us that we should not think of her above the condition of an humane Creature Thus at the marriage in Cana in Galilee when she told our Saviour there was no Wine Woman saith he what have I to do with thee When she said unto him Why hast thou dealt thus with us thy Father and I have sought thee sorrowing he said unto them How is it that ye sought me wist ye not that I must be about my Fathers business When a woman in admiration of him lift up her voice and said Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps which thou hast sucked he answered Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it Another time when some told him that his Mother and Brethren stood without desiring to speak with him he said 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 doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven the same is my Mother and Sister and Brother When he saw his Mother standing by the Cross and the Disciple whom he loved standing by her he said no more unto her but Woman behold thy Son and to him nothing else but Behold thy Mother And S. Paul having occasion to mention her upon the account of Christ's Incarnation saith no more than this When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a WOMAN made under the law Having now shewed out of the Latin Offices how extravagant the Votaries of the B. Virgin are in the honours which they pay unto her I proceed to shew the same out of the Ancient and Modern approved Authors of the Latin Communion But I shall begin with the Modern and particularly with the Contemplations on her life and glory where the Author calls her ‖ Ep. Dedicat. Queen of Seraphims and Queen of Heaven and saith that whatever can be said of her will be infinitely too narrow to fill the Orbs of her exuberant Sanctity Grace and Glory and that with trembling he attempted to explain the mystery of her Life and Glory lest searching into the holies of so great a Majesty he should be oppressed with its splendors He saith It is impossible for a pure Creature to unfold the immense attributes of her Maternity And truly they cannot but be immense if the prerogatives of Grace and Glory in her and Jesus are not distinct perfections but one and the same attribute as he proves out of one of their own Writers He saith that Whatever gifts are bestowed upon us by Jesus Pag. 7. we receive them by the mediation of Mary and that she hath full power as a Mother to obtain of her Son whatever he can ask of God the Father and that no one ever petitioned her who was refused by him or trusted in her who was abandoned by him and that Pag. 16. he blesseth those whom she blesseth and owns them for his Disciples whom she adopts for her Children This is a new sort of Divinity which the Apostles and their Scholars never taught the World They told us but of one Mediator in Heaven to whom we should immediately apply our selves but here we are told of two of Jesus who is a Mediator with God the Father and of Mary who is as powerful a Mediatrice with Jesus as he is with his Father and if this be true it is no matter to which of the two we pray or whether we pray to him or no since no one ever petitioned her who was refused by him He further saith Pag. 96. that Her sacred body is endowed with a superseraphical activity whereby she can render her self present in a moment to all her Votaries and aid them at any distance and upon these two suppositions of her full mediatory power and presence in all places we need not wonder at the following Devotions V. Open my lips O Mother of Jesus Pag. 23. R. And my Soul shall speak forth thy praise V Divine Lady be intent to my aid R. Graciously make hast to help me V. Glory be to Jesus and Mary R. As it was is and ever shall be * Pag. 24. Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us now and in the hour of death Bid us be blessed O holy Mary And ‖ Pag. 101. O sacred Virgin Mother of God Queen of Angels Empress of Saints Refuge of Sinners and my special Patroness and Advocate unto thy custody I commit and recommend my self with all the powers passions and motions of my body and mind and all living and dead especially those whom I would or should pray for humbly entreating thee through all thy mercies and merits thy priviledges and power and by whatever is dearest unto thee that we may be admitted to be thy Children Servants and Devotes that we may be protected directed assisted and comforted by thee and that by thee we may be presented to God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost with much more too long to be transcribed To which I shall add this blessing * Pag. 24. Through the merits and intercession of the Mother of Jesus may we come to the harbour of Eternal Salvation and this ‖ Pag. 103. Through the mediation of