Lest the charge should be brought to our door that we have attributed to the Church of Rome the doctrines held by only a part of her communicants, or even only one of her priests, we continue our quotations from some of her most eminent writers, aflbrding amjile proof of the manner in which the Roman Catholic is taught to look upon the Virgin : " O thou, our Governor and most benignant Lady, in right of being his Mother, command your most beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that he deign to raise our minds from longing after earthly things to the contemplation of heavenly things" (from the Croivn of the Blessed Virrjin, Psalter of Bonaven- tura). " We praise thee, Mother of God; we acknowl- edge thee to be a virgin. All the earth doth worship thee, the Spouse of the eternal Father. All the angels and archangels, all thrones and powers, do faithfidly serve thee. To thee all angels cry aloud, with a never- ceasing voice. Holy, holy, holy, Mary, ]\Iother of God. . . . The whole court of heaven doth honor thee as queen. The holy Church throughout all the world doth invoke and praise thee, the Mother of divine Majesty. . . . Thou sittest with thy Son on the right hand of the Father. ... In thee, sweet Mary, is our hope ; defend us forever more. Praise becometh thee ; empire becom- eth thee; virtue and glory be unto thee forever and ever" (from a Parody on the Te Ileum, by the same writer). "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the right faith concerning Marj' ; which faith, except one do keep whole and un- defiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. . . . He (Jesus Christ) sent the Holy Spirit upon his disci- ples, and upon his Mother, and at last took her up into heaven, where she sitteth on the right hand of her Son, and never ceaseth to make intercession with him for us, This is the faith concerning the Virgin Mary, which, except every one do believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved" (from a Parody on the Athanasian Creed,\)y the same writer). "During the pontificate of Gregory the Great, the people of Rome experienced in a most striking manner the protection of the Blessed Virgin. A frightfid pestilence raged in the city to such an extent that thousands were carried off, and so sud- denly that they had no time to make the least prepara- tion. It could not be arrested by the vows and prayers which the holy pope caused to be offered in all quar- ters, until he resolved on having recourse to the INIother of God. Having commanded the clergy and people to go in procession to the church of our Lady, called St. Mary Major, carrying the picture of the Holy Virgin, painted by St. Luke, the miraculous effects of her inter- cession were soon experienced : in every street as they passed the plague ceased, and before the end of the pro- cession an angel in human form was seen on the Tower of Adrian, named ever since the Castle of St. Aiilgelo, sheathing a bloody sabre. At the same moment the angels were heard singing the anthem, ' Regina Coeli,' ' Triumph, O Queen,' Hallelujah. The holy pope add- ed, ' Ora pro nobis Deum,' ' Pray for us,' etc. The Church has since used this anthem to salute the Blessed Virgin in Easter time" (from Alphonsus Liguori's The Glories of Mary). Gabriel Biel, Sujier Canonem Missa, says " that our heavenly Father gave the half of his king- dom to the most Blessed Virgin, Queen of heaven ; which is signified in the case of Esther, to whom Ahas- uerus promised the half of his kingdom. So that our heavenly Father, who jiossessed justice and mercy, re- tained the former, and conceded to the Virgin ]Mary the exercise of the latter." Antoniiuis, archbishop of Flor-
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ence, goes further yet than Gabriel Bid. We hesitate to record the profane blasphemies -which are found in the writings of various popes, prelates, and divines on tliis subject. Stories of the Jliddle Ages, many ludi- crous, many trivial, one or two sublime, are all penetrated with this single thought, that from Mary, and Mary alone, could heart worship, and repentance, and prayer, in the very second of death, in the very act of sin, with- out the Eucharist, without the priest, at sea, in the des- ert, in the very home of vice, obtain instant and full re- mission; but, with Elliott {Delineation of Rumnnism, p. 7o4), '• we refuse even to name the vulgar preaching and rude discourses of friars and priests who induct the multitude into this worship, as being too indelicate for the ears of even an intelligent Komanist." The foDow- ing we take from a Prayer of St. Bernard: " Remember, O most Holy Virgin Mary, that no one ever had recourse to your protection, implored your help, or sought your mediation without obtaining relief. Confiding, there- fore, in your goodness, behold me, a penitent sinner, sigh- ing out my sins before you, beseeching you to adopt me for your son, and to take upon you the care of my eter- nal salvation. Despise not, O Mother of Jesus, the pe- tition of j'our humble client, but hear and grant my prayer." ■' Prayer. — O God of goodness, who hast tilled the holy and immaculate heart of ]\Iary with the same sentiments of mercy and tenderness for us with which the heart of Jesus Christ, thy Son and her Son, was al- ways overflowing; grant that all who honor this vir- ginal heart may preserve until death a perfect conform- ity of sentiments and inclinations with the sacred heart of Jesus Christ, who, with thee and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns one God, forever and ever. Amen.'' "Aspiration. — O Mary! Thou art light in our doubts, consolation in our sorrows, and protection in our dan- gers! After thy Son, thou art the certain hope of faith- ful souls! Hail, hope of the desponding and refuge of the destitute, to whom thj' Son has given such power that whatever thou wiliest is immediately done !" From the Breviary: "O Holy Mary, succor the miserable, help the faint-hearted, comfort the afHicted, prav for the peo- ple, intercede for the clergy, make supplication for the devout female sex ; let all be sensible of thy help who celebrate thy holy commemoration." ..." Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, that we, thy servants, may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body, and, by the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary, ever virgin, may be delivered from present sorrows, and come to eternal joy, through our Lord Jesus Christ." The Litany of the Sacred Heart of Mary deserves to be added: "Lord have mercy on us !