Part 27 (2/2)
”Therefore, all the angelic spirits are the ministers and servants of this glorious Virgin.” [Serm. iii. c. iii. p. 104.]
”To comprise all in a brief sentence, I do not doubt that G.o.d made all the liberations and pardons in the Old Testament on account of the reverence and love of this blessed maid, by which G.o.d preordained from eternity, that she should be, by predestination, honoured above all his works. On account of the immense love of the Virgin, as well Christ himself, as the whole most blessed Trinity, frequently grants pardon to the most wicked sinners.” [Serm. v. c. ii. p. 116.]
”By the law of succession, and the right of inheritance, the primacy and kingdom of the whole universe is due to the blessed Virgin. Nay, when her only Son died on the cross, since He had no one on earth to succeed Him of right, his mother, by the laws of all, succeeded, and by this acquired the princ.i.p.ality of all. [Serm. v. c. vii. p. 118.] ... But, of the monarchy of the universe, Christ never made any testamentary bequest, because that could never be done without prejudice to his mother. Moreover, HE KNEW THAT A MOTHER CAN ANNUL THE {377} WILL OF HER SON, IF IT BE MADE TO THE PREJUDICE OF HERSELF.” [Insuper noverat quod potest mater irritare Filii testamentum si in sui praejudicium sit confectum.--P. 118.]
”The Virgin Mother[138], from the time she conceived G.o.d, obtained a certain jurisdiction and authority in every temporal procession of the Holy Spirit, so that no creature could obtain any grace of virtue from G.o.d except according to the dispensation of his Virgin mother[139]. As through the neck the vital breathings descend from the head into the body, so the vital graces are transfused from the head Christ into his mystical body, through the Virgin. I fear not to say, that this Virgin has a certain jurisdiction over the flowing of all graces. And, because she is the mother of such a Son of G.o.d, who produces the Holy Spirit; THEREFORE, ALL THE GIFTS, VIRTUES, AND GRACES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE ADMINISTERED BY THE HANDS OF HERSELF, TO WHOM SHE WILL, WHEN SHE WILL, HOW SHE WILL, AND IN WHAT QUANt.i.tY SHE WILL.” [Serm. v. p. 119.]
[Footnote 138: Serm. v. c. viii. and Serm. vi. c. ii. p. 120 and 122. There is an omission (probably by an error of the press) in the first pa.s.sage, which the second enables us to supply.]
[Footnote 139: This writer is constantly referring to St.
Bernard's doctrine, ”No grace comes from heaven upon the earth, but what pa.s.ses through the hands of Mary.”]
”She is the queen of mercy, the temple of G.o.d, the habitation of the Holy Spirit, always sitting at the right hand of Christ in eternal glory. Therefore she is to be venerated, to be saluted, and to be adored with the adoration of hyperdulia. And therefore she sits at the right hand of the King, that as often as you adore Christ the king you may adore also the mother of Christ.” [Serm. vi. p. 121.]
”The blessed Virgin Mary alone has done more for {378} G.o.d; or as much (so to speak) as G.o.d hath done for the whole human race. For I verily believe that G.o.d will grant me indulgence if I now speak for the Virgin.
Let us gather together into one what things G.o.d hath done for man, and let us consider what satisfaction the Virgin Mary hath rendered to the Lord.” Bernardine here enumerates many particulars, placing one against the other, which for many reasons I cannot induce myself to transfer into these pages, and then he sums up the whole thus: ”Therefore, setting each individual thing one against another, namely, what things G.o.d had done for man, and what things the blessed Virgin has done for G.o.d, you will see that Mary has done more for G.o.d, than G.o.d has for man; so that thus, on account of the blessed Virgin, (whom, nevertheless, He himself made,) G.o.d is in a certain manner under greater obligations to us than we are to Him.” [Serm. vi. p. 120.]
The whole treatise he finishes with this address to the Virgin:--
”Truly by mere babbling are we uttering these thy praises and excellences; but we suppliantly pray thy immense sweetness. Do thou, by thy benignity, supply our insufficiencies, that we may worthily praise thee through the endless ages of ages. Amen.”
In closing these brief extracts I would observe, that by almost every writer in support of the wors.h.i.+p of the Virgin, an appeal is made to St.
Bernard[140] as their chief authority. Especially is the following pa.s.sage quoted by many, either whole or in part, at almost every turn of their argument:--
[Footnote 140: The present Pope, in the same manner, refers to him in his Encyclical Letter.--A.D. 1840.]
”If thou art disturbed by the heinousness of thy crimes, and confounded by the foulness of thy conscience, {379} if terrified by the horror of judgment thou begin to be swallowed up in the gulf of despair, think of Mary, invoke Mary; let her not depart from thy heart, let her not depart from thy mouth. For whilst thinking of her, thou dost not err; imploring her, thou dost not despair; following her, thou dost not lose thy way; whilst she holds thee, thou dost not fall; whilst she protects thee, thou dost not fear; whilst she is thy leader, thou art not wearied; whilst she is favourable, thou reachest thy end[141].”
[Footnote 141: See Bern. Sen. vol. iv. p. 124. The pa.s.sage is found in Bernard, Paris, 1640. p. 25.]
If the Virgin Mary is thus regarded as the source and well-head of all safety and blessing, we cannot wonder, that glory and praise are ascribed in the selfsame terms to her as to the Almighty. Cardinal Bellarmin closes the several portions of his writings with ”Praise to G.o.d and the blessed Virgin Mary[142].” It is painful to reflect, that either the highest glory, due to that G.o.d who will not share his glory with another, is here ascribed to one of the creatures of his hand (however highly favoured and full of grace), or else that to the most high G.o.d is ascribed an inferior glory and praise, such as it is lawful for us to address to an exalted fellow-creature. Surely the only ascription fitting the lips and the heart of those who have been enlightened by the bright beams of Gospel truth, is Glory to G.o.d alone through Christ his Son.
[Footnote 142: Such ascriptions are very common. Joannes de Carthagena, a most voluminous writer of homilies, adopts this as the close of his sections: ”Praise and glory to the Triune G.o.d, to the Humanity of Christ, to the Blessed Virgin Mary his mother, and to St. Joseph her dearest spouse.”--Catholic Homilies on the Sacred Secrets of the Mother of G.o.d, and Joseph, p. 921. Paris, 1615.] {380}
SECTION V.--MODERN WORKS OF DEVOTION AMONG ROMAN CATHOLICS.
It may perhaps be surmised, that the authors referred to in the last section lived many years ago, and that the sentiments of the faithful members of the Church of Rome have undergone material changes on these points. a.s.surances are given on every side, that the invocation of the saints and of the Virgin is nothing more than a request, that they would intercede with G.o.d, and implore his mercy for the suppliants. But whatever implicit reliance we may place on the good faith with which these declarations are made, we can discover no new key by which to interpret the forms of prayer and praise satisfactorily. Confessedly there are no changes in the authorized services. We discover no traces of change in the wors.h.i.+p of private devotion. The Breviary and Missal contain the same offices of the Virgin Mary as in former days. The same sentiments are expressed towards her in public; the same forms of devotion[143], both in prayer and praise, are prepared for the use of individuals in their daily exercises. Whatever meaning is to be attached to the expressions employed, the prevailing expressions themselves remain the same as we found them to have been in past ages.
[Footnote 143: Works of this character abound in every place, where Catholic books may be purchased.]
Since I made these extracts from the learned and celebrated doctors and canonized saints of former ages, my attention has been invited to the language now {381} used in forms of devotion, the spirit of which implies similar views of the power and love of the Virgin Mary, as the fountain of mercies to mankind, and the dispenser of every heavenly blessing.
At the head of these modern works, I was led to read over again the encyclical letter of the present sovereign pontiff, from the closing sentences of which I have already made extracts. And referring his words to a test which we have more than once applied in a similar case--that of changing the name of the person, and subst.i.tuting the name of G.o.d, or his blessed Son, I cannot see how the spirit of his sentiments falls in the least below the highest degree of religious wors.h.i.+p. His words, in the third paragraph of his letter, as they appear in the Laity's Directory for 1833, are these:--
”But having at length taken possession of our see in the Lateran Basilic according to the custom and inst.i.tution of our predecessors, we turn to you without delay, venerable brethren, and in testimony of our feelings towards you, we select for the date of our letter this most joyful day on which we celebrate the solemn festival of the most blessed Virgin's triumphant a.s.sumption into heaven, that she who has been through every great calamity our patroness and protectress, may WATCH OVER US WRITING TO YOU, AND LEAD OUR MIND BY HER HEAVENLY INFLUENCE to those counsels which may prove most salutary to Christ's flock.”
Let us subst.i.tute for the name of Mary, the holiest of all, The Eternal Spirit of Jehovah Himself; and will not these words be a proper vehicle of the sentiments of a Christian pastor? Let us fix upon Christmas-day, or Easter, or Holy Thursday, and what word expressive {382} of grat.i.tude for past mercies to the supreme Giver of all good things, or of hope and trust in the guidance of the Spirit of counsel, and wisdom, and strength--of the most High G.o.d, who alone can order the wills and ways of men--might not a bishop of Christ's flock take from this declaration of the Sovereign Pontiff, and use in its first and natural sense, when speaking of the Lord Jehovah Himself? ”We select for the date of our letter this most joyful day on which we celebrate the solemn festival of the most blessed Redeemer's nativity, (or glorious resurrection, or ascension,) that He who has been through every great calamity our patron and protector, may watch over us writing to you, and lead our mind by his heavenly influence to those counsels which may prove most salutary to Christ's flock.”
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