"Let us embrace the footsteps of Mary, my "brethren, and with the devoutest supplication "let us fling ourselves before her blessed feet. "Let us hold her fast; let us not suffer her to "" go, till she hath blessed us; for she is powerShe is the Fleece of Wool between "the dew and the threshing-floor' (Judges vi. "ful. 66 37); but perhaps your wonder is rather given "to (her other symbol) the Woman clothed "with the Sun.' For great indeed is this 66 connexion, wonderful is the nearness of the "Sun and the Woman. How is it, that in "so intense a fire, so frail a nature subsists? Verily, with reason, thou, O holy Moses, "wonderest and longest with curious eye to "look into it. But put thy shoes from off 'thy feet,' and cast a vail over thy fleshly "cogitations, if thou desirest to draw nigh." 66 6 But to Protestant ears the most offensive instance of profaneness is the repeated, the constant application to her of verses of the 24th chapter of Ecclesiasticus, which were meant to refer to the divine Wisdom; particularly the 9th and 10th verses:-"He created me from "the beginning, before the world, and I shall never fail in the holy tabernacle I minis"tered before him;"-and again,* though more * Missal. in Nativ. B. M. V. et in Concept. B. M. V. rarely, of the 8th chapter of Proverbs, from the 22d to the 35th verses, a passage often used to prove the eternal generation of the Son of God:-"The Lord possessed me in the begin'ning of his way, before his works of old. I 66 66 was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was: &c. &c. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. "Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors: for whoso findeth me, findeth life, " and shall obtain favour of the Lord." In some degree of accordance with these representations of her dignity are the hymns and prayers addressed to her. "Do thou protect us from the enemy, "And at the hour of death take us to thyself."* "Loose the bonds of the guilty, "Hold forth light to the blind, "Drive all evil from us, Ask all good things for us. "Shew thyself to be a Mother, "Let him through thee receive our prayers, "Who for our sakes submitted "To be born thy son.' It is worth remarking that, in this latter instance, an important change has been wrought in transferring the original hymn into your English book of devotion, in order to accommodate it to the feelings of those who live among Protestants. The turn given to it in the "" Garden of the soul," p. 254, is as follows, "Exert the Mother's care, "And us thy children own, "To him convey our prayer, thus ingeniously avoiding the awkward request implied in the original, that she will exercise In Off. B. M. et passim― Solve vincla reis, Bona cuncta posce. Sumat per te preces, Qui pro nobis natus, Tulit esse tuus. the influence of a Mother over her blessed Son, and so secure his acceptance of our prayers. But all this, it will be said, is poetry; and the language of poetry, even in hymns, is not to be taken literally. Let us see, then, in one or two brief instances, what is the tone of your prayers in prose. "Vouchsafe to allow me to praise thee, O "Sacred Virgin : give me strength against thy "enemies."* "To thy protection we fly, O holy mother "of God.. Despise not our prayers in the "time of our necessities; but from all dangers alway deliver us, O Virgin glorious and "blessed."t It is perfectly true, that in general she is addressed to help her worshippers by her intercession; but this is accompanied by such acknowledgment of the efficacy of her intercession, as seems but little suitable to any mediator less than divine. Such is the following: "Admit "our prayers within the sanctuary of hearing, "and bring back to us the antidote of recon"ciliation." Through thee, may that be par"donable which through thee we urge: may "that be able to be obtained, which with a 66 * Off. parv. B. Mariæ. E Off. pary. B, Mariæ, "faithful mind we pray; Because thou art the only hope of sinners :* Through thee we hope for pardon of our offences, and in thee, O most blessed, is the expectation of our rewards. Holy Mary, succour the miserable, assist the humble-minded, cherish the afflicted, pray for the people, interpose for the clergy, intercede "for the devout women: Let all feel thy help "who celebrate thy nativity.". And now permit me to ask you, Sir, whether you think that the Church which has prescribed such services, as I have here quoted, in its authorized liturgy, its most formal book of public devotion, is indeed so innocent as you have represented? Can it be truly averred, that "from saying to God Have mercy on us,' the "descent is infinite † to addresses such as these "to the Virgin Mary?" Will you press for an answer to your questions, "Whether the au"thorities which you have cited do not give " a true and clear exposition of the doctrine of your Church upon this important, subject? "Whether the doctrine be idolatrous or super 46 * Tu es spes unica peccatorum. Per te speramus delictorum veniam; et in te, beatissima, nostrorum est expectatio præ: miorum, &c.-Sect. v. & vi, in Die ix Septembris, 2da infra Oct. Nativ. B. M. V. + Book of the Ronran-Catholic Church, p. 101. |