Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A43675
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Speculum beatae virginis a discourse of the due praise and honour of the Virgin Mary / by a true Catholick of the Church of England.
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Hickes, George, 1642-1715.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing H1869; ESTC R10946
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41,343
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46
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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