Part 27 (1/2)
The first author, whose sentiments I would request you to weigh, is Gabriel Biel, a schoolman of great celebrity[135]. {370} In his thirty-second lecture, on the Canon of the Ma.s.s, he thus expresses himself, referring to a sermon of St. Bernard, ”The will of G.o.d was, that we should have all through Mary.... You were afraid to approach the Father, frightened by only hearing of Him.... He gave you Jesus for a Mediator. What could not such a Son obtain with such a Father? He will surely be heard for his own reverence-sake; for the Father loveth the Son. But, are you afraid to approach even Him? He is your brother and your flesh; tempted through all, that He might become merciful. THIS BROTHER MARY GAVE TO YOU. But, perhaps, even in Him you fear the divine Majesty, because, although He was made man, yet He remained G.o.d. You wish to have an advocate even to Him. Betake yourself to Mary. For, in Mary is pure humanity, not only pure from all contamination, but pure also by the singleness of her nature[136]. Nor should I, with any doubt say, she too will be heard for her own reverence-sake. The Son, surely, will hear the Mother, and the Father will hear the Son.”
[Footnote 135: Tubingen, 1499. Gabriel Biel, born at Spires about A.D. 1425, was in A.D. 1484 appointed the first Professor of Theology in the then newly founded University of Tubingen. He afterwards retired to a monastery, and died A.D. 1495.]
[Footnote 136: This is a very favourite argument in the present day, often heard in the pulpits on the Continent.]
In his 80th lecture, the same author comments on this prayer, which is still offered in the service of the Ma.s.s:
”Deliver us, we beseech thee, O Lord, from all evils past, present, and future; and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever-virgin mother of G.o.d, Mary, with thy blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and Andrew, and all saints, mercifully grant peace in our days, that, aided by the help of thy mercy, we may be both ever {371} free from sin, and free from all disquietude. Through the same our Lord, &c.”
On this prayer Biel observes, ”Again we ask, in this prayer, the defence of peace; and since we cannot, nor do we presume to obtain this by our own merit, ... therefore, in order to obtain this, we have recourse, in the second part of this prayer, to the suffrages of all his saints, whom He hath const.i.tuted, in the court of his kingdom, as our mediators, most acceptable to himself, whose prayers his love does not reject. But, of them, we fly, in the first place, to the most blessed Virgin, the Queen of Heaven, to whom the King of kings, the heavenly Father, has given the half of his kingdom; which was signified in Hester, the queen, to whom, when she approached to appease king Asuerus, the king said to her, Even if thou shalt ask the half of my kingdom, it shall be given thee. So the heavenly Father, inasmuch as He has justice and mercy as the more valued possessions of his kingdom, RETAINING JUSTICE TO HIMSELF, GRANTED MERCY to the Virgin Mother. We, therefore, ask for peace, by the intercession of the blessed and glorious Virgin.” [c.u.m habeat just.i.tiam et misericordiam tanquam potiora regni sui bona, just.i.tia sibi retenta, misericordiam Matri Virgini concessit.]
The very same part.i.tion of the kingdom of heaven, is declared to have been made between G.o.d himself and the Virgin by one who was dignified by the name of the ”venerable and most Christian Doctor,” John Gerson[137], who died in 1429; excepting that, instead of justice and mercy, Gerson mentions power and mercy as the two parts of which G.o.d's kingdom consists, and that, whilst power remained with the Lord, the part of mercy ceded ”to the mother of Christ, and the reigning {372} spouse; hence, by the whole Church, she is saluted as Queen of Mercy.”
[Footnote 137: Paris, 1606. Tract iv. Super ”Magnificat,” part iii. p. 754. See Fabricius, vol. iii. p. 49. Patav. 1754.]
I would next refer to a writer who lived four centuries before Biel, but whose works received the papal sanction so late as the commencement of the seventeenth century, Petrus Damia.n.u.s, Cardinal and Bishop. His works were published at the command of Pope Clement VIII., who died A.D. 1604, and were dedicated to his successor, Paul V., who gave the copyright for fifteen years to the Editor, Constantine Cajetan, A.D. 1606. I will quote only one pa.s.sage from this author. It is found in his sermon on the nativity of the Virgin, whom he thus addresses: ”Nothing is impossible with thee, with whom it is possible to restore those in despair to the hope of blessedness. For how could that authority, which derived its flesh from thy flesh, oppose thy power? For thou approachest before that golden altar of human reconciliation not only asking, but commanding; a mistress, not a handmaid.” [Accedis enim ante illud aureum humanae reconciliationis altare, non solum rogans, sed imperans; Domina, non ancilla. Paris, 1743. vol. ii. p. 107. Serm. 44.]
I must now solicit your attention to the sentiments of two writers, whose partial ident.i.ty of name has naturally led, in some instances, to the one being mistaken for the other, Bernardinus de Bustis, and Bernardinus Senensis. Bernardinus de Bustis, [Fabricius, vol. i. 215.]
in the country of Milan, was the celebrated author of the ”Office of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin,” which was confirmed by the bull of Sixtus the Fourth, and has since been celebrated on the 8th of December.
He composed different works in honour of the Virgin, {373} to one of which he gave the t.i.tle ”Mariale.” In this work, with a great variety of sentiments of a similar tendency, he thus expresses himself:--
”Of so great authority in the heavenly palace is that empress, that, omitting all other intermediate saints, we may appeal to her from every grievance.... With confidence, then, let every one appeal to her, whether he be aggrieved by the devil, or by any tyrant, or by his own body, or by divine justice;” [Cologne, 1607. Part iii. Serm. ii. p.
176.] and then, having specified and ill.u.s.trated the three other sources of grievance, he thus proceeds: ”In the fourth place, he may APPEAL TO HER, if any one feels himself AGGRIEVED BY THE JUSTICE OF G.o.d [Licet ad ipsam appellare, si quis a Dei just.i.tia se gravari sent.i.t.] ... That empress, therefore, Hester, was a figure of this empress of the heavens, with whom G.o.d divided his kingdom. For, whereas G.o.d has justice and mercy, He retained justice to himself to be exercised in this world, and granted mercy to his mother; and thus, if any one feels himself to be aggrieved in the court of G.o.d's justice, let him appeal to the court of mercy of his mother.” [Ideo si quis sent.i.t se gravari in foro just.i.tiae Dei, appellet ad forum misericordiae matris ejus.]
For one moment, let us calmly weigh the import of these words:--Is it any thing short of robbing the Eternal Father of the brightest jewel in his crown, and sharing his glory with another? Is it not encouraging us to turn our eyes from the G.o.d of mercy as a stern and ruthless judge, and habitually to fix them upon Mary as the dispenser of all we want for the comfort and happiness of our souls?
In another place, this same author thus exalts Mary:
”Since the Virgin Mary is mother of G.o.d, and G.o.d is her Son; and every son is naturally inferior to his {374} mother, and subject to her; and the mother is preferred above, and is superior to her son, it follows that the blessed Virgin is herself superior to G.o.d, and G.o.d himself is her subject, by reason of the humanity derived from her;” [Part ix.
Serm. ii. p. 605.] and again. ”O the unspeakable dignity of Mary, who was worthy to command the Commander of all.” [Part xii. Serm, ii. p.
816.]
I will detain you by only one more quotation from this famed Doctor. It appears to rob G.o.d of his justice and power, as well as of his mercy; and to turn our eyes to Mary for the enjoyment of all we can desire, and for safety from all we can dread. Would that Bernardine stood alone in the propagation of such doctrines. ”We may say, that the blessed Virgin is chancellor in the court of heaven. For we see, that in the chancery of our lord the pope, three kinds of letters are granted: some are of simple justice, others are of pure grace, and the third mixed, containing justice and grace.... The third chancellor is he to whom it appertains to give letters of pure grace and mercy. And this office hath the blessed Virgin; and therefore she is called the mother of grace and mercy: but those letters of mercy she gives only in the present life.
For, to some souls, as they are departing, she gives letters of pure grace; to others, of simple justice; and to others, mixed, namely, of justice and grace. For some were very much devoted to her, and to them she gives letters of pure grace, by which she COMMANDS, that glory be given to them without any pain of purgatory: others were miserable sinners, and not devoted to her, and to them she gives letters of simple justice, by which she COMMANDS that condign vengeance be done upon them; others were lukewarm and remiss in devotion, and to them she gives letters of justice and grace, by which {375} she COMMANDS that grace be given to them, and yet, on account of their negligence and sloth, some pain of purgatory be also inflicted on them.” [Part xii. Serm. ii. On the twenty-second excellence, p. 825.]
The only remaining author, to whom I will at present refer you, is a canonized saint, Bernardinus Senensis. A full account of his life, his miracles, and his enrolment among the saints in heaven, is found in the Acta Sanctorum, vol. v. under the 20th of May, the day especially dedicated to his honour. Eugenius IV. died before the canonization of Bernardine could be completed: the next pope, Nicholas V. on Whitsunday 1450, in full conclave, enrolled him among the saints, to the joy, we are told, of all Italy. In 1461, Pius the Second said that Bernardine was taken for a saint even in his lifetime; and, in 1472, Sixtus IV.
issued a bull, in which he extols the saint, and authorizes the translation of his body into a new church, dedicated, as others had been, to his honour.
This Bernardine is equally explicit with others, in maintaining, that all the blessings which Christians can receive on earth are dispensed by Mary; that her princedom equals the princedom of the Eternal Father; that all are her servants and subjects, who are the subjects and servants of the Most High; that all who adore the Son of G.o.d should adore his virgin-mother, and that the Virgin has repaid the Almighty for all that He has done for the human race. Some of these doctrines were to me quite startling; I was not prepared for them; but I have been a.s.sured they find an echo in the pulpits in many parts of the continent. Very few quotations will suffice. [Opera, per John de la Haye. Paris, 1636.
Five volumes bound in two.] {376}
”As many creatures do service to the glorious Mary, as do service to the Trinity.... For he who is the Son of G.o.d, and of the blessed Virgin, wis.h.i.+ng (so to speak) to make, in a manner, the princedom of his mother equal to the princedom of his father, he who was G.o.d, served his mother on earth. Moreover, this is true, all things, even the Virgin, are servants of the divine empire; and again, this is true, all things, even G.o.d, are servants of the empire of the Virgin.” [Vol. iv. Serm. v. c.
vi. p. 118.]