PART III.-CHAPTER V.

SECTION I.

PRESENT WORSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN THE AU

THORIZED AND ENJOINED SERVICES OF THE CHURCH

OF ROME.

WHEN from examining the evidence of antiquity we turn to the present enjoined services of the Church of Rome, it is impossible not to be struck by the fact repeatedly forced upon our notice, that whereas the invocation of the Virgin seems to have been introduced at a period much later than those addresses to the martyrs which have already invited our attention, her worship now assumes so much higher a place, and claims so large a share in the public worship of the Roman Catholic portions of Christendom above martyrs, saints, and angels. The offices of the Virgin present instances of all those various and progressive stages of divine worship, which we have already exemplified in the case of the martyrs, from the first primitive and Christian practice of making the anniversary of the Saint a day either of especial praise and prayer to God for the mercies of redemption generally, or of returning thanks to God for the graces manifested in his holy servants now in peace, with prayers for light and strength to enable the worshippers to follow them, as they followed Christ-down to the last and worst stage, the consum

mation of all, namely, prayer directly to saints and angels for protection, succour, and spiritual benefits at their hands.

I. Of the first class is the following collect, retained almost word for word in our Anglican service.

On the day of the Purification.

"Almighty and everlasting God, we humbly beseech thy majesty, that as thy only begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in substance of our flesh, so Thou wouldest cause us to be presented unto Thee with purified minds. Through the same1."

Such a prayer is founded on the facts of revelation, and is primitive, catholic, apostolic, and evangelical.

II. Of the second progressive stage towards the adoration of the saints, the offices of the Virgin supply us with various instances; the case, namely, of the Christian orator being led by the flow of his eloquence to apostrophize the spirit of the Saint, and address him as though he were present, witnessing the celebration of his day, hearing the panegyrics uttered for his honour, and partaking with the congregation in their religious acts of worship.

"O holy and spotless virginhood; with what praises to extol thee I know not: because Him, whom the heavens could not contain, thou didst bear in thy bosom.

1 Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, majestatem tuam supplices exoramus, ut sicut unigenitus Filius tuus hodierna die cum nostræ carnis substantia est præsentatus, ita nos facias purificatis tibi mentibus præsentari. Per eundem Dominum.-H. 536.

2 Sancta et immaculata Virginitas! quibus te laudibus efferam, nescio, quia quem cœli capere non poterant, tuo gremio contulisti. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui.— Vern. cxlvii.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Thou art blessed, O Virgin Mary, who didst carry the Lord, the Creator of the world. Thou didst give birth to Him who made thee, and remainest a virgin for ever'. Hail, holy parent, who didst in child-birth bring forth the King who ruleth heaven and earth for ever and ever. Amen 2"

In apostrophes like these, the members of the Anglican Church see nothing in itself harmful, so long as they are kept within due bounds. Many of the passages cited from the ancient writers in proof of their having espoused the doctrine, and exemplified in themselves the practice of invoking saints, are nothing more than these glowing addresses. They have been responded to by one of the brightest ornaments, and sweetest minstrels of the Anglican Church, whose apostrophe at the same time by its own words would guard us against the abuses and excesses in which in the Roman Catholic Church this practice, followed without restraint and indulged in with less and less of caution and soberness, unhappily ended; abuses against which also we cannot ourselves now be too constantly and carefully on our guard.

"Ave Maria! Blessed maid,

Lily of Eden's fragrant shade,
Who can express the love,

That nurtured thee so pure and sweet;
Making thy heart a shelter meet

For Jesus' holy Dove?

1 Beata es Virgo Maria, quæ Dominum portasti Creatorem mundi : genuisti qui te fecit, et in æternum permanes virgo.-Vern. clxii.

2 Salve sacra parens enixa puerpera regem, qui coœlum terramque regit in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.-Introit. at the mass on the Nativity of the Virgin.

Ave Maria! mother blest,

To whom caressing and caress'd,

Clings the Eternal Child!

Favoured beyond archangels' dream,
When first on thee with tenderest gleam,
The newborn Saviour smiled.

Ave Maria! thou whose name,
ALL BUT ADORING love may claim,
Yet may we reach thy shrine,

For HE, thy Son and Saviour, vows,
To crown all lowly lofty brows

With love and joy like thine.

Bless'd is the womb that bare Him,-bless'd
The bosom where his lips were press'd;
But rather bless'd are they

Who hear his word and keep it well,

The living homes where Christ shall dwell,
And never pass away'."

Would that no branch of the Church Catholic had ever passed the boundary line drawn here so exquisitely by this Anglican Catholic, from whose lips or pen no syllable could ever fall in disparagement of the holy Virgin, as blessed among women, and the holy mother of our Lord. To bring about the re-union of Christians would in that case have been a far more hopeful task than it is now.

III. In the third stage, a prayer was offered to God, that He would permit the intercessions of the saints to help us; or the prayer contained the expression of a wish, a desire not addressed either to God or to the saint, merely words expressive of the hope of the individual. The following are some of the many instances now contained in the Roman Breviary:

1 1 J. Keble's Christian Year. "The Annunciation."

May the Virgin of virgins herself intercede for us to the Lord. Amen 1."

In the Post Communion, on the day of the Assumption, this prayer is offered :-" Partakers of the heavenly table, we implore thy clemency, O Lord our God, that we who celebrate the Assumption of the mother of God, may, by her intercession, be freed from all impending evils. Through 2," &c.

"We beseech thee, O Lord, let the glorious intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin protect us and bring us to life eternal".'

"Pardon, we beseech thee, O Lord, the offences of thy servants, that we, who cannot please Thee of our own act, may be saved by the intercession of the mother of thy Son, our Lord. Who liveth with Thee."

On the vigil of the Epiphany, this prayer is offered in the Post-communion at the mass,66 Let this communion, O Lord, purge us from guilt, and by the intercession of the blessed Virgin, mother of God, let it make us partakers of the heavenly cure. Through the same "." "Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, that we thy

1

5

Ipsa Virgo virginum intercedat pro nobis ad Dominum. Amen. -Vern. cxlviii.

1 Mensæ cœlestis participes effecti imploramus clementiam tuam, Domine Deus noster, ut qui Assumptionem Dei Genetricis colimus, a cunctis malis imminentibus ejus intercessione liberemur. Per.— Miss. Rom.

3 Beatæ et gloriosæ semper Virginis Mariæ, quæsumus, Domine, intercessio gloriosa nos protegat, et ad vitam producat æternam.— Vern. clv.

* Famulorum tuorum quæsumus, Domine, delictis ignosce, ut qui tibi placere de nostris actibus non valemus, Genetricis Filii tui, Domine nostri, intercessione salvemur, qui tecum vivit.-Vern. clxix.

5 Hæc nos communio, Domine, purget a crimine, et intercedente beata Virgine Dei genetrice cœlestis remedii faciat esse consortes. Per eundem.-Miss. Rom.