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." The very same partition of the kingdom of heaven* between the Virgin and God himself is also asserted by one who was dignified by the name of the Venerable and most Christian Doctor, John Gerson, who died in 1429; excepting that, instead of justice and mercy, Gerson mentions power and mercy as the two parts of which God's kingdom consists, and states, that whilst "power remained with the Lord, the part of mercy was ceded to the Mother of Christ and the reigning spouse: hence by the whole Church she is saluted as Queen of Mercy."+ SECTION V. PETRUS DAMIANUS, BERNARDINUS DE BUSTIS, PETER DAMIANI, Cardinal and Bishop, lived four centuries before Biel, though his works received the papal sanction so late as the commencement of the seventeenth century. His writings were published at the command of Pope Clement VIII., who died in the year 1604, and were dedicated to his successor, * This idea of a partition of the kingdom of the Eternal Creator and Governor unhappily very widely pervades the works of those who have written on the worship and honours due to Mary; associated almost always with the idea of her being the King's spouse, and so the reigning queen of heaven; and, like Esther, the wife of Ahasuerus, pleasing her Royal husband by her grace and beauty, and so appeasing his anger and securing immunities for her own people. + Gerson, Paris, 1606, tract. iv. Super "Magnificat," part iii. p. 754. See Fabricius, vol. iii. p. 49; Patav. 1754. Paul V., who gave the copyright for fifteen years to the editor Constantine Cajetan, A.D. 1606. One quotation will suffice. In his sermon on the Nativity of the Virgin he thus addresses her : "Nothing is impossible with thee, to 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 the golden altar of human reconciliation, not ASKING ONLY, BUT COMMANDING; A MISTRESS, NOT A HANDMAID." Two writers now call for our attention whose partial identity of name has not unnaturally led to some confusion as to the writings belonging to each-Bernardinus de Bustis, and Bernardinus Sennensis.t BERNARDINUS DE BUSTIS (called from a place 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 IV., and has since been used on the 8th of December. He composed various works in honour of the Virgin, to one of which he gave the title "Mariale." In this work, in the midst of 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 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." Then, having specified and illustrated the three other * Non solum rogans, sed imperans; domina, non ancilla. Paris, 1743, vol. ii. p. 107, serm. 44. + Fabricius, vol. i. p. 215. 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 GOD. That empress Hester was therefore a figure of this Empress of the heavens, with whom God divided his kingdom. For whereas God 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 God's justice, let him appeal to the court of mercy of his mother."* If we calmly weigh the import of these words, is it anything 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 God 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 Bernardine thus exalts Mary : "Since the Virgin Mary is Mother of God, and God is her Son, and every son is naturally inferior to his 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 GOD, and GOD HIMSELF IS HER SUBJECT by reason of the humanity derived from her." And again, "O the unspeakable dignity of Mary, who was worthy to command the Commander of all!"‡ We must not pass on without making one more quotation from this famed Doctor: it appears to rob God of his justice and power, as well as of his mercy; * Cologne, 1607, part iii. serm. ii. p. 176. † Part ix. serm. ii. p. 605. Part xii. serm. ii. p. 816. and to turn our eyes to Mary for the possession of all we can desire, and for safety from all we can dread. Would that Bernardine stood alone in the propagation of these 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, combining 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 have been 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 are 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 their devotion, and to them she gives letters both of justice and of grace, by which she commands that grace be given unto them, and yet, on account of their negligence and sloth, some pain of purgatory be also inflicted on them."* BERNARDINUS SENNENSIS.-This Bernardine was a canonized Saint.† A full account of his life, and of his * Part xii. serm. i. on the 22nd excellence, p. 825. + Paris, 1636. enrolment by the Pope among the Saints of heaven, is found in the "Acta Sanctorum," vol. v. May 20, 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, as we are told, to the joy of all Italy. In 1461, Pius II. 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 removal 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 Eternal Father's; that all are her servants and subjects who are the servants and subjects of the most High; that all who adore the Son of God 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 are truly startling, but we have been assured they find an echo in the pulpits of many parts of the Continent at the present day. To multiply quotations on these several points is unnecessary and irksome; a few will suffice for all. "So many creatures do service to the glorious Mary as do service to the Trinity. For he who is the Son of God and of the Blessed Virgin, wishing (so to speak) to make the princedom of his Mother in a manner equal to his Father's, he who was God served his Mother on earth. Moreover, this is true, all things, even the Virgin, are servants of the |