Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	father_n	holy_a	jesus_n	13,652	5	5.8822	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23680	An Abridgment of the prerogatives of St. Ann, mother of the mother of God with the approbation of the doctors at Paris, and thence done into English to accompany The contemplations on the life and glory of Holy Mary, and the defence of the same, with some pieces of a like nature : to which a preface is added concerning the original of the story.	Cross, John, 1630-1689. Contemplations on the life and glory of Holy Mary the mother of Jesus.; Clagett, William, 1646-1688.	1688 (1688)	Wing A108; ESTC R6614	31,825	46

from Storms and Tempests she stops there and makes choice of the strongest Branch and the nearest to Heaven to feed there and breed her young ones Imagine now that God is this Eagle who running over with his Eyes as it were so many beautiful Trees all the Women who were to be from the first to the last perceiv'd not any one so worthy to receive the Glorious Virgin who was to be the little Nest of the Heavenly Eaglet who is the Word Incarnate as St. Ann in whom he rested himself as in the Tree of Paradice which he knew to be the tallest in Devotion the deepest in Humility the largest in Charity and of the most pleasant odour in Sanctity O Beautiful Tree and far other than that which was represented in a Picture at the triumphant entry of Mary de Medicis Queen Mother of Lewis 13. which bore Scepters for Boughs Crowns for Flowers Kings for the Stock and little Deities for the Fruits St. Ann was the fair Tree of the Genealogy of Jesus and Mary whose Stock is made up with the Davids the Solomons and other Kings whose Flowers are Diadems but the Holy Virgin the richest Crown as being the finest Flower of Heaven and Earth and her Fruit is the Incarnate Son of God. Certainly as the most glorious Diadem of the First of the uncreated Persons is the Production of his Word the second Person whom he begat in the splendor of Saints so if in one word you would know the price of that Crown which St. Ann bore both on Earth and in Heaven it must be said and this is to say all that her Treasure and her Crown was the giving being to her who gave it to a God which is to be Crown'd with the Merits of Mary like the Tree with its Flowers and Fruit. Whence it is to be concluded That the Dignity the Grace and the Holiness of this only and only Perfect Daughter ought to reflect back to her Mother even to a point That she render'd her incomparable in Sanctity as she was in her Dignity For of two things one must of necessity happen Either that this holy Virgin had not the Power or that having the Power she communicated to her whatever we can fancy greatest in Grace Her Paps have too much credit and access with the Word her Son not to have the Power who being in the terms of Clement of Alexandria the Pap of his Heavenly Father which gave foecundity to all Nature would also as he had been the Principle of the Universe by being Mamelle de son Pere the Virgin should be his and that from the Bosom of his Mother should proceed a Power but yet not without proportion and a Force to establish a World of Grace to make Saints and to make them worthy of Glory So that it is true in some sort and good Divinity to say That the Felicity of the Saints is deriv'd from Mary and that there is no body who is not oblig'd to her for the fortification of his Patience for the Victory over his Temptations for Preservation from Falls for Augmentation of his Merits for his final Grace and finally for his Glory This Principle suppos'd who will doubt that St. Ann was not the Masterpriece of Maries Workmanship and that the Power of this last was not the Measure of the Excellence of the former She could make a Prodigy of Virtue and a Miracle of Greatness therefore she did and not only from the time that She was her Daughter but ev'n before She was created we may say That She labour'd on this Masterpiece And it is one of the greatest Miracles of the Mysteries of our Religion that the Children give Life to their Parents and those who are not yet give admirable Advantages to those who already are Thus Jesus is the Son of Adam according to Nature and his Father according to Grace the Virgin is the Mother of the Saviour by the shadowing of the Holy Spirit and is likewise the eldest Daughter to the Redeemer Thus St. Ann is in the state of Grace the Daughter of her Daughter the Holy Virgin by a Plenitude of Grace which She from her received Which ought not to be thought strange by him who has tasted the Sense and universal Consent of the Fathers who assert that what was giv'n in Plenitude to Christ ought in Proportion to be attributed to the Holy Virgin that they both were busied in the cares of our Salvation with the same Courage tho not the same Power It 's then the Spirit of Christ is not only diffus'd in the new but has its extent over all the Old Testament and no Body was sav'd but by his Merits anticipated wherefore should one deny Jesus Christ to have in favour of the foreseen Merits of his Mother granted some Graces as well before as after his Conception to certain Souls especially to those most nearly alli'd to him Among these St. Ann in Consideration of the Merits of this Virgin was elevated to the Prerogatives and Crowns which ought to answer the degree of Alliance which she had to her which was no less than of a Mother to a Daughter an Alliance which establishes CHAP. III. The first Reason of the Prerogatives of St. ANN. SHE gave to the Virgin Being and Life which is the dearest Treasure of Man and the Foundation of other Perfections In exchange therefore it is reasonable the Virgin should impart to Her all the Noble Qualities which might make a Soul fill'd with Complacency to her God. For if our Lady had an extream Zeal to carry Jesus Christ into the House of her Cousin Elizabeth so to sanctify her Child while he was inclos'd in her Womb if this Zeal thought long and her Love gave her Wings to fly thither without fear of the Inconveniences and Fatigues of the Journey with design of procuring Holiness to her Relations and her Blood. God having put a perfect Order in her Affections and Loves must it not be said That that which She had for the rest of her Relations was but a spark in respect of the cares which She had for her which was her Mother And must it not be believ'd She gave her a better allotment in Jesus Christ and his Graces there being nothing so reasonable as to do all the good She could to her Parent Certainly one of the most powerful Arguments for convincing a generous Spirit is the fitness of the matter and this fitness is more prevalent with good Judgments than the strictness of Laws Whence St. Thomas speaking of the two highest Mysteries the Incarnation of the Word and the Reality of his Body the adorable Sacrament and Sacrifice of the Altar says they ought to be believ'd because it was fit that the Son of God for the perfect Vnion of himself with us should be alli'd by the Personal Vnion with our Nature and be really in the Eucharist to satisfy the Rules of Love which require a continual Presence of the beloved

scandal to Christianity and the Invention of the Father of Lies I know not what is But God be praised it has fell out very happily that these False Evangelists have notoriously given themselves the Lye having not either Learning or Wit enough to lay the Plan of their Story so as not to clash with the greatest Evidences of Time and Place Hence they bring upon the Stage such persons as Issachar Reuben c. who we are certain never were And who that is in the least acquainted with the Customs of the Jews can believe that a Girl of Three years old was ever put into the Sanctum Sanctorum and there liv'd alone without any body to take care of her for many years Certainly if only the High Priest entred there and he not above one day in the year and then neither not above once or twice and if he entred three or four times was to be put to death nothing can be grosser than to place there a young helpless Child And if we believe this it is not much if we believe she lived there without Meat Drink Bed and Conversation for Ten or a Dozen years Besides that there were no Nuns or Holy Women in the Temple as the Story supposes is at large proved against Baronius by * Exercit. ad Bar. App. Annal N. 21 22 23. Casaubon Having said so much of the Matter and Foundation I have but little to add of the following Book it self The Publisher tells you That it relates directly to the Glory of the Supream Creator of all things And the Approvers tell you that they find nothing in it but what is conformable to the Apostolical Roman Church and that it is very useful to maintain the Devotion to S. Ann. But how directly that Devotion relates to the Glory of the Supream Creator they may be better able to reconcile than I am I might easily compare some of the Doctrines with those of a Spanish Doctor lately condemn'd at Rome nay and parallel some of the very Expressions to shew that what is Heretical at one time may be Orthodox at another I might also shew how the Legend came to be patch'd up out of the History of Hannah Samuel's Mother and that of our ever Blessed Lord and might give a view of some other † Ave Maria Gratia plena c. benedicta sit Anna Mater sua de qua sine macula tua processit caro Virginea Devotions made to St. Ann But I am afraid I have too extravagantly already tired the Reader 's patience and therefore do conclude TO THE Queen Regent MADAM IT is Divine Providence and not Fortune or Humane Industry that bestows Scepters and Crowns and all France visibly discovers in the Regency of YOUR MAJESTY the Mild and Loving thoughts of the Divine Regent of the World in giving us the Best as well as the Greatest Princess of the Earth to Govern it But may YOUR MAJESTY be pleas'd to suffer us the poor Daughters of St. JOSEPH to declare That it is in You that we have not only observ'd but felt one of the most beautiful draughts of this Divine Providence which is That as it hath its Eye and Scepter over the least of the Worms that creep upon the Earth as well as over the most exalted of Monarchs who is lifted up on the Throne So Great Queen Your Regency bearing its Glory already beyond Admiration by so many Glorious Actions which seem to rob each other of their splendor in the Government of Your State You judged that it would have lost somewhat of its Lustre had not You shew'd Your self as well a Charitable Mother of the poor Orphans as a worthy Queen Regent of this great Monarchy You have said from the beginning what the Wisdom Incarnate said formerly in this World Suffer these little Souls to come to me I am pleas'd to assist the Designs of Preventing Grace which has drawn 'em out of the evil steps and perils of great Miseries to which an extreme Poverty would have reduc'd 'em Divine Providence has taken 'em into its care and it pleases Me to make My self its Agent or Lieutenant in the means of Loving and Helping them I receive them under my Protection and into My Bosom Truly it is an Action so much the more Powerful and Meritorious before God as it has the less of Interest and as he alone could be its motive But 't is an Action which perfectly resembles and worthily honours the steps of Divine Providence of whose Favours and Succours the Little as well as the Great the Shorn as well as the Crowned heads partake The most sublime cares in which YOUR MAJESTY is constantly to Admiration taken up for the Glory and Felicity of this State are it must be confess'd the lively Colours of its Pourtraiture But Divine Providence was willing that the little destitute Maids whose Honour and Life You preserve should give the Shades That therefore all France may admire the wonders of Your Conduct Your poor Maids of St. Joseph will do nothing else in the World but publish to it the Miracles of Your Charity and declare in the condition wherein we mean Creatures are That as there is nothing too high for Your Regency so nothing is too low for Your Goodness which by too much meriting towards us puts us into an entire inability of being ever able to be sufficiently Thankful Behold nevertheless a small Testimony of our profound Acknowledgment which carries our Hearts to the Feet of Your Majesty by this little Work and Abridgment of the Prerogatives of St. Ann which we adjudged ought to be if not worthy at least not unworthy of Your Eyes for the dignity of the Subject which it treats And the motives which invited us to this Duty are That as it was the day of St. Ann when God inspir'd into us the first designs of Erecting an House after the Pattern of his where Maids should be bred and instructed till the time they be provided for in like manner as the Holy Virgin her Daughter was so carefully and so holily educated by her So is it this same Saint which we believe to have been among the second Causes that which procur'd us from the First this incomparable favour of the greatest Queen in the World who imitates her Virtues as well as worthily bears her Name Wherefore after having taken St. Ann for our Tutelar and the Governant in this House and Dedicated to her a Chappel in the Design of erecting thereto a Confrairy in her Honour who hath tied us to her self by Adoption and by Spirit and Grace to Jesus and Mary who compose her Family we have presum'd for the best return of Thanks which we have been able to present to Your Majesty to represent to You upon this little Paper as in a Map a World of Merits and Perfections which were in this Great Saint so to make yours acknowledg'd and admir'd and God prais'd by seeing your Majesties

Life a true Image and Abstract of Hers. For if St. Ann were of the Blood-Royal of David and consequently of the Race of Patriarchs and Prophets and so much honour'd by God all the World knows that Your Majesty is of a Royal Birth so exalted as the Sun always honours it with its Light having no Horizon or setting for its Realms If St. Ann were Great in Piety and Devotion and if imitating the ancient Ann Samuel's Mother she had frequent recourse to the Sanctuary by her Prayers and Vows the Piety which Your Majesty has from Your Ancestors Charles 5. and Philip 2. is so familiar to You as it may be call'd the Star which commands Your Inclinations the Spirit which gives Life to Your Actions and Success to all Your Designs If St. Ann be worthily nam'd by St. Damascene a Reasonable Turtle forasmuch as she past good part of her Life in solitude and sighing alas Madam how many years has your Majesty led a Life more like to a solitary Person than to the chiefest and the most virtuous Queen of the Universe If St. Ann were great in the Love which she bore to her God whom she could scarce ever suffer to be out of her sight and to her Neighbor by the assistance she gave to all who were any ways necessitous alas Great Queen it is at Your expence and by Your own experience that You have learnt like the Messias both to suffer for God and to suffer with the Miserable And a time was when the Divine Providence had taken away the use and disposal of Riches thereby to augment Your Charity towards God but which at this day has given You the means whereby You may exercise Charity towards Your Subjects with a Liberality as extensive as exceeds both hopes and desires If Prayer and Faith made St. Ann bear the Fruit of Benediction and the first fruits of our Redemption our Sacred Monarch who shall if it please God one day place the Flowerdeluces above the Crescent and the other fair flower of Your Majesties Crown are the Fruits as well of Your Prayers and of Your Royal Virtues as of your Womb. Have not so many reiterated Vows so many sighs of your Majesty sent toward Heaven made you the peaceable Dove of this State and the Calm of our Storms If St. Ann gave Lessons to her little Daughter the holy Virgin of living in Humility Charity and Holiness how many Blessings owe we to Heaven to see this Royal Spirit with which Your Majesty was born and so many excellent Virtues and Royal Qualities slide so admirably into the Eyes Ears and Spirit of our good young King How under so good a Government shall we not have a King of Wonders one Liberal Generous and Pious Lastly If Jesus and Mary were both the most excellent Masterpieces of the Divine Power both the Richest Treasures of Divine Wisdom both the Divinest Objects of its Goodness both the Worthiest Subjects of the Cares and the Government of St. Ann yet hinder'd her not from dayly adopting and associating to these two noble parts of her Family several confiding Souls So tho the Attention of Your Majesty more peculiarly regards the Education of the King and the second Hope of France his Brother both given by Heaven for the Rest of this Monarchy and for the Consolation of Your Majesty yet You disdain not to open Your Bosom and to tender the Arms of Your Mercy and Protection to the poor little Orphans the Maids of St. Joseph Behold MADAM the just resemblances of Your Glorious Pattern which have given us the Confidence of laying at Your Majesties Feet an Abridgment of the Wonders of this Holy Lady whom God chose from all Eternity to be the Principle of his Ways in the Salvation of Men thinking we could not better clear our selves of the Ingratitude which Your Majesties Lustre and excess of Goodness have made necessary than by a little Treatise that contains the Prerogatives of St. Ann to whom your Majesty gives and consecrates dayly Your Person Your Family Your Realm and Your Subjects and in consideration of whom we bring to the Feet of your Majesty the Vows which we make of living and dying MADAM YOVR MAJESTIES Most Humble and most Obedient and most Obliged Servants THE MAIDS OF S. JOSEPH The Epistle of the French Publisher to the Christian Reader It is about a year since a little Book intituled The Acts of Invocation of St. Joseph composed by the R. P. Chiflet of the Society of Jesus accidentally falling into my hands I Publish'd it and took the boldness to Dedicate it to the Queen Now in as much as I could not have the Honour of presenting it my self a Great Lady of the Court did me the favour to supply this defect and to present it in my name But it being but a week since I receiv'd the Copy of another Treatise Intitul'd The Prerogatives of St. Ann Dedicated in like manner to her Majesty by the Maids of St. Joseph it seem'd proper to me to Print this as a continuance of the former I therefore put it to the Press as soon as I could not to retard the Fruit that the Publick might thence reap and having otherwise propos'd to my self that in things which respect the Love of God together with Christian Piety as well towards St. Joseph as St. Ann as likewise the service of our Great Queen I ought to use Diligence and to give in the time prefixt as I have endeavoured to do this little Work so if by Praecipitation of the Impression there be any faults crept in I beseech you Reader that you would excuse them upon the assurance I give you that in the new Edition which I purpose suddenly to make I will endeavour to give you content and to make this Book as Correct as it shall be possible for me Receive it therefore Reader for a Testimony of mine Affection or rather for the Love of your self which I am assured will not fail of being agreeable seeing it relates directly to the Glory of the Supreme Creator of all things Farewell THE PREROGATIVES OF St. ANNE CHAP. I. The Silence of the Evangelists concerning the Merits of St. Ann. IT is Natures best Order to conceal from our eyes what her excellentest and chiefest Works contain of the utmost perfection and greatness as if in this she meant to reproach the Vanity of our minds which can hardly conceive a good desire in the heart without bringing it up immediately to the mouth and publishing it to the Rays of the Sun. Whereas Heaven the most wonderful part of the visible Creation shews not its powerful influences which govern all inferior things or the Fire that imperious quality which softens the most intractable Metals or the Earth its Gold which it forms within its entrails or the Sea its Treasures which it incloses within its Abysses An Order that might be stil'd Religious if Nature guided it with Judgment but is yet better observ'd