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The Virgin Mother

of Jesus

MARY IN FAITH
MARY IN SCRIPTURE
MARY IN ART

MARY IN SONG

3ntprna!tonal (Ealtjulu uJruttj g’nritlg

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BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY

Price 5 cents each

A



\



THE VIRGIN MOTHER
OF JESUS

MARY IN FAITH
JAMES C. BYRNE

MARY IN SCRIPTURE
W. H. COLOGAN

MARY IN ART
ELIZA ALLEN STARR

MARY IN SONG
SELECTED

“And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost
;
and she cried out with

a loud voice, and said : Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is
the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the Mother of
my Lord should come to me ? * * * And Mary said : My soul doth
magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Be-
cause He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid : for behold
from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed—Luke I • 41 42
43, 46. 47, 48.

’ ’

Unternational Glatljolir ulrutff gwtrtg

407 Bergen Street

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY

Price 5 cents each



THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF JESUS.

MARY, IN FAITH.

N
O more worthy object of honor among mere creatures

can be conceived than Mary, the mother of our dear

Bedeemer, and no more appropriate time can be set

aside for revering her transcendent excellence than the

month of May. This long wished for month invariably

comes cheery with azure skies, balmy with southern winds,

fragrant with myriads of flowers. We inhale new life and
live in sympathy with all nature renewed around us.

Then, too, our higher nature undergoes a new birth—

a

new awakening. It as if the chains of old habits had

been snapped asunder and the native goodness of the

soul had burst forth to begin once more the struggle with

sin. What happier time for the contemplation of inno-
cence, virginity, charity as personified in the Blessed

Mother? At this season of the year the presence of the

Divinity is felt beneath the sprouting grass and the un-

folding flower and the gladsome sunbeams, and arouses

the religious sentiment in man as at no other time.

Hence this month was always sacred. Ere yet Christian-

ity had taken possession of the world the smoke of sacri-

fice on May-Day arose to the skies. It is to Christianity’s

credit that it has not suppressed but directed these out-

bursts of the human heart and changed rites which ended

in degradation into a worship most purifying and elevat-

ing. Such is the honor given in May to Mary. Let, then,

all Christians praise, honor, venerate and rapturously

love the Queen of May. The keenest perception of ab-

stract loveliness when turned to her will not be disap-

pointed, and the most enthusiastic appreciation of all

that is ideally beautiful in womanhood in her will find

repose.

This invitation will be heeded by those whose experience

ever has been that the more they honored Mary all the



3

more did they honor God by Christian lives and Christian

deeds. But there are Christians who have never experi-

enced this genuine devotion to Mary nor its happy results,

nay who abhor it as something ethically wrong in itself

and outrageous to God. And thus happens that most in-

credible anomaly that Christians have to explain to Chris-

tians why and how they honor Christ in His mother. I

call this an anomaly because were there question of any

great leader or of any great sage other than Christ, his

followers without exception, as the facts of history teach,

would readily comprehend that honor to his mother was

honor to himself. How strange would it be in this case
were honor to the mother dishonor to the son. But we do

not honor Mary merely because she was Christ’s mother,

but we honor, venerate and love her as devoted children,

because she is likewise our mother. To make clear her

right to this title, is to make clear her right to the honor

that it implies.

The last and consequently the most touching legacy of

Christ to the world was the gift of His mother. To Mary

and John—His most ardent follower, standing at the foot
of the cross, He said alternately, “Son, behold thy moth-

er,” “Mother, behold thy son,” and the understanding of

Christians has been from the first that John was, in this

solemn bequest, but the representative of all Christ’s fol-

lowers. Christian Faith teaches, moreover, that the great

title that Christ redeemed for us at the price of His blood

was that of “sons of God.” Hence, on His first appear-

ance after His resurrection He announces this title like a
victorious leader after the battle, pointing out the spoils

He has taken from the enemy. “I ascend,” He says, “to
My Father and to your Father, to My God and to your
God.” The sacred writings again and again call atten-

tion to this title and to its high significance. “Behold,”

says St. John, “what manner of charity the Father hath

bestowed upon us, that we should be called and should be

the sons of God.”* St. Paul is equally explicit. “For

whosoever are lead by the Spirit of God,” he says, “they

are the sons of God. . . . You have received the spirit

of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: “Abba (Father) .”f
*1 Ep. St. John, 3, 1. tRom. 8 ; 14, 15. Gal. 4 ; 5, 6. Eph. 1 ; 5.



4

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be
made conformable to the image of His Son that He might
be the first-born amongst many brethren.’’^ Thus adopted

by the Father as His children we become through the

pouring out of His spirit “partakers of the divine na-

ture’^ and brethren of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus

Christ. But if we are the brethren of Christ then His

mother is also our mother. She is His mother because

He exalted her to the dignity of maternity; she is our
mother because He exalted us to the dignity of brother-
hood with Him. She is His mother by nature through

the work of the Holy Spirit, and she is our mother by

aggregation to Him in one mystic body through the work
of the same Holy Spirit. -Now as the effect of this adop-

tion of the spirit is the making of us conformable to the

image of Christ, it follows, that, allowance being made for

the lowliness of our nature, when we are baptized in the

spirit of Christ we see supernatural truths as He sees
them. We love our Father in Heaven and His justice as
Christ loves Him, and we have the instincts of children

toward Mary as He has them. The Christian’s love of
Mary, consequently, is nothing more, although it is sure

to be less, than the love of Jesus for Mary. In our great-

est outbursts of rapturous love for Mary, Our Mother, we

are but feebly taking up, moved by the same Spirit, that

joyous exultation and profound complacency in her ma-

jestic worth which holds full sway in the Sacred Heart of

Jesus.

But if anyone imagines that Jesus allows His heart to

rest in Mary as the ultimate object of His complacency,

he imagines a most absurd not to say blasphemous thing.

Jesus beholds all the gifts of Mary as but so many re-

flections of the goodness of God. Accordingly His com-

placency in her is not that of adoration but of recognition

of God’s work in her exalted sanctity and of congratula-

tion with her that she has been so perfectly responsive to

and impressed by the workings of His spirit. And we,

Christ’s brethren, honor Mary in precisely the same man-

ner referring all the greatness which our words fail to

express to the glory of Him who gave it and congratulat-

ing her on its possession. Our veneration of her is but

$Rom. 8; 29. §11 Peter, 1; 4.



5

another way of honoring God and is as little a defrauding
God of the honor due him as was Mary's own tribute to
her excellence and to its author, when she said : “My
spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour, because He that
is mighty had done great things to me.”

But if this is but another way of honoring God it is
none the less a way which Mary’s position demands that
we employ. No doubt it is a signal honor to her that the
saints of all times should recognize her bv the title of
mother. But it was by the death of her Son that they
obtained brotherhood with Him and a right to this title,
and Mary had to consent to that death, although like a
sword of sorrow it pierced her heart. It was in the hour
of this supreme sorrow that she became our mother and
the words of Jesus on the cross but announced the event.
As Abraham hoping against hope sacrificed in spirit his
only son Isaac and thus became the father of the faithful,
so likewise Mary offering her only Son in faith became
the mother of those who have faith in Him. Since there-
fore she has the dignity of mother by a travail in spirit
that words cannot describe, it is our filial duty to acknowl-
edge that dignity with all outward marks of respect and
love. To consider Mary apart as some inanimate being
in the great drama of the redemption, to look upon her as
it she had no part in it, not even that of giving a heart-
rending consent to it, is an ignoring of Christ’s mother
utterly unworthy of anyone calling himself Christian, and
besides it is an utter disregard for the facts. If Mary
had been unaware of the tragic death in store for her
Son and if she had been gathered to the just before that
death was accomplished instead of being a witness to
it at the foot of His cross, we could then see some excuse
for this want of gratitude to her. And even then it would
only be an excuse. For, even in the supposition that she
was unaware of the Redemption, the blessings which her
Son brought us are so great that it is impossible that our
gratitude will not overflow to her who brought Him. In
a word, to appreciate the mother we must appreciate the
Son and it is impossible to have a genuine love for the
Sou without having also a genuine love for the mother.



6

Every tribute of praise to her is a hosannah to Him and

every crown placed on her head is laid at His feet.

The sneers of prejudice, which ridicules the strong

terms with which at times Christians have honored their

heavenly mother, are scarcely deserving of notice. These

strong terms indicate great love and they can be sneered

at by those only whose hearts are cold. Love’s effusions

never bear the strict analysis of the intellect and he who

gives utterance to them never dreams that the words are

to be taken with the same precision as if he were talking

science or theology. Whatever may be their meaning

elsewhere, when applied to Mary, as is indicated by the

whole spirit of this devotion, they simply indicate
the

highest love and appreciation for such high created ex-

cellence. If they are poured forth with all the effusive-

ness of children this only proves that the doctrine
here

taught is written not merely in books but on the hearts
of

the faithful.

But not all Christians at all times obey the movements

of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. St. Paul teaches

that we can sadden and even extinguish this Holy Spirit.

In this case by sin we have withdrawn ourselves from His

Spirit and have become aliens to Christ. If now we rec-

ognize our state, what is more natural than that we

should have recourse to Mary to intercede for us with her

Son that He would once more send His Spirit into our

hearts? It was at Mary’s word that the Holy Spirit

formed the natural body of Christ. It cannot be adverse

to his Holy Spirit to reform His mystic body at
Mary’s

prayer. If at her request her Son performed prodigies

while on earth, there is no reason to believe that He will

do less for her now. If this intercessory power
implies

that there is a court in Heaven we must remember that

Christ Himself claimed the name of King with all that

it implies. If, finally, again and again in miseries we

turn to her, it is because we have the sure confidence that

a mother’s solicitude never wearies.

In the following pages the exalted position which
Mary

holds in the plan of Redemption will be shown from the

records of scripture itself; that she was the inspiration



7

of art and song from the very beginning of the Christian

era will be shown from the impression which she has left

on both. As for most of us, if we cannot deftly use the

chisel, or ply the brush, or pour forth sound in sweet ac-

cents, or mingle lofty words with sweet rhythm to portray

the lofty conception we have of Mary’s excellence, we can

give what is dearer to her still, namely, a child’s confi

deuce and love. Let the devotion, then, begun in the

month of May, never grow cold but in new ways find re

newed fervor.

O Mary, all months

and all days are thine own,

In thee lasts their joyousness

when they are gone;
And we give to thee May,

not because it is best

But because it comes first

and is pledge of the rest.*

James C. Byrne.
*“The Queen of Seasons.”

—

Newman.

MARY, IN SCRIPTURE.

The Immaculate Conception foretold.

Genesis ii: 13—15

The Lord God said to the woman (Eve), Why hast thou
done -this? And she answered, The serpent deceived me,

and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the serpent (the

devil) ... I will put enmities between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; she shall

crush thy head; but thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

By the Immaculate Conception is meant that Mary, by a special

favor, through the merits of her Divine Son, was conceived with-

out the stain of original sin; or, in other words, that the soul of

Mary was created in a state of grace and justice. We, at our cre-

ation, are not in a state of grace; we have lost it, and with it the



8

Mary’s Virginity foretold.

Isaias vii: 14.

A Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and His
name

shall be called Emmanuel (God with us).

right to heaven, and all favor with God,
through the sin of Adam;

and we have therefore God’s displeasure
upon our souls. This we

call original sin. We are sanctified at our baptism;
Mary was

holy at her creation. Christ redeemed
her as He has redeemed

us; but us He has cleansed from original
sin, Mary He preserved

from being stained by it. .

This privilege of Mary is foretold in the text
cited above. For t

is foretold that there shall be
enmities between the woman and

Satan. These “enmities” relate to
sin. St. John sajsjM that

committeth sin is of the devil. ... In this the
children of God

are manifest and the children of the
devil.”* Now, thei enmities

here referred to, are something special,
above the ordinary enmi

ties;” greater than could exist between
any other of Gods saints

and Satan; nay, the “enmities” between
the woman and Sata

were to be the same as those between
her seed and Satan. He

seed” is clearly Christ our Lord,
Who crushed the serpent s head

bv redeeming us. Who, then, is the woman?Y
“The woman” is, in the first instance,

probably the Eve who

was actually present when the words were
spoken and who had

herself just been crushed by the
serpent-when she committed the

sin. But the prophecy of the future
enmities— 1 will

ties between thee and the woman —could
only appiy to her a

she represented another ‘‘woman,”
between whom and Satan

Sere were
8

To be *uU, and perfect “enmities.”
This “woman,” the

“second Eve” as the Fathers often call
her, was\ Mary.

“Every one,” says Bishop Bull, a
Protestant, now knows that

the seed there spoken of is Christ;
and consequentiy that the m-

dividual woman, whose immediate seed
He was to be, is tn

The Immaculate Conception is
expressly taught by the early

Fathers St. James of Sarug, m Syria, who lived in the
ea y

part of the sixth century, says that
“if there had been any spot or

defect in her soul He would have looked
Him out some other

mother with no spot in her.”** St.
Ambrose (A. D. J597) calls

Marv “a Virgin by grace entirely free
from every stain of sin,

and St Augustine (A. D. 430)
proving against Pelagians

that

original sin has passed to all men,
expressly declared that he did

not intend to speak of the Holy
Virgin Mary, of

'T^fThTLord t
ing of sins no question is to be

moved for the honor of the Lord.

T

A Virgin shall conceive. In the time of
Achaz King of Ju .

the King of Syria and the King of
Israel came together to fight

*1 St. John, iii : 8. ...

.» Carmen I. in B. V. M„ v. 193. tin Psalm
csviu. Serm.xxn.

Nat. et Qratiai c, 3Q,



9

The Annunciation.

St. Luke i: 26—38.

Ill the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from

God into a city of Gallilee, called Nazareth, to a Virgin

espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house

of David; and the Virgin’s name was Mary. And the

Angel being come in, said to her: Hail full of grace, the

Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. Who
having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought

within herself what manner of salutation this should be.

And the Angel said to her : Fear not, Mary, for thou hast

against Jerusalem, and God sent the Prophet Isaias to comfort

King Achaz. And Isaias at God’s command chose a sign—the
Incarnation; as surely as the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son

Who shall be both God and Man, so surely shall the land of Juda
be freed from the two kings. Mary appears in this great prophecy

as a virgin, or more properly the virgin. Many writers § think
that by the article the is meant that particular virgin, the one

well known, namely, the one spoken of in Genesis ii: 15. St. Am-
brose tells us that when Mary was saluted by the Angel and was

told that she was to be the Mother of God, she believed that that

Mother was to be a Virgin, for she had read this passage of Isaias,

but she had not read how it was to be, therefore she asked the
Angel,

“How shall this be done?”|| The Protestant Bishop Pear-
son writes: “That she was a Virgin, not only when she was with
child but after she had brought forth, is evident out of the appli-

cation of the prophecy, ‘Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bring

forth a Son.’ . . . We believe the Mother of our Lord to have
been not only before and after His Nativity, but forever the most

Immaculate and Blessed Virgin.”^

The virginity of Mary is also foretold, figuratively, by the

Prophet Ezechiel: “The Lord said to vie
,
this gate shall be shut

;

it shall not be opened
,
and no man shall pass through it; because

the Lord God of Israel hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be

shut.”**

St. Ambrose says that Isaias spoke of Mary by those words,
“Behold the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud and will enter

into Egypt,”ft and he says that by the light cloud is meant Mary

the Virgin, who carried our Lord into Egypt when Herod sought
to kill Him.Jt

The parents of the Blessed Virgin were Joachim and Anna, who
probably lived at Nazareth. At a very early age Mary was taken

§ Amongst others, the Protestant Bishop Bloomfield, in St. Matt, i: 23,
who quotes Dr. Owen and Bishop Middleton.

\\Expo8it in Luc. c. ii. n. 17. fiOn the Greed, Art. iii.
Ezech. xliv : 2. tflsaias, xix : 12. %%Exhort . Virgin, c. v.



10

found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy

womb, and shalt bring forth a Son; and thou shalt call

His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called
the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give

unto Him the throne of David His father; and He shall
reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His Kingdom

there shall be no end. And Mary said to the Angel, How

by her parents to the Temple at Jerusalem, and presented there

to God. It was not uncommon among the Jews for parents to pre-
sent their children in this way, and there were special apartments

in the buildings of the Temple for such children. Mary, then, re-

mained there several years, spending her time in learning, read-

ing the Holy Scriptures, working in the service of the House of

God, and in prayer. At the age of fourteen, as many writers
think—for in the East women marry very young—she was
espoused to her near kinsman, Joseph. Both she and St. Joseph

were “of the house and family of David.” The Church keeps the

feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin on the 21st of No-

vember, and of the, Espousals on the 23d of January.

In the sixth month—frdm the time that the Angel appeared
to Zachary, telling him that his wife was to have a son, St. John

the Baptist.

Hail full of grace. The Protestant Testament has: “Hail

thou that are highly favored;” the Revised Version (in margin),

“Hail thou that art endued with grace” But all the Latin Fa-

thers have gratia plena—“full of grace.” In St. Luke xvi; 21, a
word of similar form is translated, “full of sores” Our Lord’s

saying of Lazarus that he was “full of sores,” is explained by St.

Chrysostom to mean that his whole body was one great sore. In

the same way when the Angel said to Mary that she was “graced”

or “full of grace,” he meant that her soul was “all grace.” Origen

(A. D. 254) says on this text: “I do not remember to have read

elsewhere in Scripture what he (the Angel) said, ‘full of grace,
1

which in Greek is expressed by kexaritomena

;

nor is there any

such word addressed to any man. Hail full of grace is a saluta-

tion addressed to Mary alone.”* St. Ambrose says: “This saluta-

tion was kept for Mary alone. Rightly is she alone said to be full

of grace, for she alone obtained that grace, which no one else had

merited, that she should be filled with the Author of grace.”f

Blessed art tiiou among women, that is, “blessed al)ove, or

more than, other women.” The same words were used to Jahel,

who killed Sisara, but they are used in a more excellent way to

Mary, as the reason of her being blessed is the greater. “Not

only blessed among women,” says the Venerable Bede (A. D. 735),

“but with an eminent blessing among all blessed women.”|

“Truly blessed,” says St. Peter Chrysologus (A. D. 454), “for she

*Expo sit. in Luc. c. ii : n. 9. f Horn. iii. in Luc. %Orat. v.



11

shall this be done, because I know not man? And the

Angel answering said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come

upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall over-

shadow thee. And therefore also the Holy (One) which

shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And

behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a

son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her

bore Him Who carries the world, she brought forth Him Who cre-
ated her, she nourished Him Who gives food to all living beings.”*
“Therefore do we say to her,” exclaims St. Proclus at Ephesus
(A. D. 431), “Blessed art thou among women , who alone hast
brought relief to the sorrow of Eve; and alone has wiped away

the tears of her who was groaning; and alone hast borne the
price of the world’s redemption.”!

1

Thou hast found grace with God. The grace of favor which
Mary had found with God was that she should “conceive and
bring forth a Son,” Who should be the “Son of God,” and that
Mary should be the mother of God. But how was it that she found
such grace or favor with God? It was through her great holiness,

particularly through her humility and chastity, and her great love

for God, for “charity is the bond of perfection.” On account of
her excellence in these virtues, Mary was chosen out of the whole

human race to be the Mother of our Saviour. How great, then,
must have been her holiness? “If,” says Dr. Hickes, a Protestant,

“we had no particular account of her graces, we might rationally
conclude all this of her from the history of our Lord’s Incarna-

tion; for nothing less than superlative holiness could receive such

a testimony of Divine honor from the Holy Trinity;” and he de-

clares that Mary “ought to be honored and celebrated and praised

for her great holiness and for being chosen to be the Mother of

God.”$

How shall this be done? Mary here lays before the Angel her
vow of virginity. “She would certainly not have said these

words,” says St. Augustine (A. D. 430), “had she not already

vowed herself to God. But as this was at that time unusual

among the Jews, she was espoused to a just man who should be
her guardian.” The same Doctor says that the Virgin Mary “had

resolved to keep virginity and her husband was its guardian;

rather, not its guardian, for God Himself protected her, but the

witness of her virginal modesty.” Again: “A Virgin she con-

ceived, a Virgin she brought forth, a Virgin she remained.” He
states that “the dignity of virgins began from Mary;”§ and the

Venerable Bede says: “She was the first woman to offer her vir-
ginity to God.

”||

*Serm. 143. tHomily on the Visitation.
tOn Due Praise and Honor of the Blessed Virgin.
§De Sancta Virginitate, c. 4 ; Serm. 225 and 51, c. xi. et xvi. ( alias

De diversis 53 and 63). ||De Annunt, Virginis.



12

that is called barren; because no word shall be impossible

with God. And Mary said : Behold the handmaid of the
Lord, be it done to me according to thy word. And the
Angel departed from her.

Shall be called. This means according to the way of speak-
ing of the Jews: The Holy One that shall be born of thee shall be
the Son of God.

Behold the handmaid. Wonderful humility of our Lady, who,

though now become Mother of God, yet called herself His hand-
maid or servant!

Be it done to me according to thy word. Mary here gives
her consent that the Redeemer should be born of her. Without

doubt God could have taken flesh of Mary without asking her
consent; but this is not His way. As the first Eve did with free

will and consent induce Adam to sin, and thus was a willing in-
strument of our fall; so Mary, the second Eve, was, with free will

and consent, to bring our Saviour into the world, and thus be the

willing instrument of our salvation. Hence St. Augustine says:

“By a woman (Eve) death came, and by a woman (Mary) came
life.”* This likeness between the part taken by Eve in our fall,

and that taken by Mary in our salvation, and the free will and

consent of each, is drawn out by several of the Fathers. Tertul-

lian (A. D. 220): “Eve had believed the serpent; Mary believed

Gabriel
;
the fault which the one committed by believing, the other

by believing has blotted out.” St. Irenaeus (A. D. 202) : “Though

the one (Eve) had disobeyed God, yet the other (Mary) was

drawn to obey God; that of the virgin Eve the virgin Mary might

become the advocate (or comforter). And as by a virgin the hu-
man race had been bound to death, by a virgin it is saved, the bal-
ance being preserved, a virgin’s disobedience by a virgin’s obedi-

ence.”!

Mary, as Origen tells us,$ and as we' may gather from her hav-
ing spent so many years in the Temple, “had the science of the
Law, and was holy, and knew by daily meditation all that the
prophets had foretold.” She knew, therefore, that the Redeemer

was to be “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows;” that
He was to be “wounded for our iniquities and led like a lamb to
the slaughter.” She must therefore have known that His Mother
would have a part in all these sorrows; so when she gave her con-
sent she must have been aware that it was not a mere title or dig-

nity that she was taking, but an office that called for the endur-

ance of great suffering; she must have known even then, what
holy Simeon told her a little later: “Thine own soul a sword
shall pierce.” With all this knowledge she gave full consent

—

through earnest desire to do, in all things, God’s will, and through

love of mankind. Who then, after Jesus, has such a claim upon
*Serm. 232.

tSee these and other passages in Cardinal Newman’s Letter to Dr.
Fusey. JHom. m, in Luc.



13

The Visitation.

St. Luke i: 39—56.
Mary risiug up in those days, went into the hill country

with haste into a' city of Juda. And she entered into the

house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to

pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary,

the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled

our love and gratitude? She- is truly “the Mother of all living/'

for whereas Eve in giving us a temporal life gave us eternal spir-

itual death, Mary by consenting to be the Mother of the Redeem-

er has given us eternal life.*

Thus was the “Word made flesh," in the womb of the Virgin
Mary, and Mary became the Mother of God. She is truly the

Mother of God and not merely the Mother of Christ's humanity,

because she is the Mother of the Person, and the Person Who be-
came her Son receiving His human nature from her, is truly God.
The Council of Ephesus, which was held in 431 and is admitted by

all Christians defined that “the Holy Virgin is Mother of God,

for she bore according to the flesh, the Word of God (the Second
Person of the Blessed Trinity) made flesh." “Run through in thy
mind all created things," says St. Proclus at that council, “and

see if there is anything equal to or perhaps greater than the Holy

Virgin Mary Mother of God. . . . Count up all new and won-
derful things, and see how the Virgin surpasses them all; for she
alone, in an unspeakable way, bore in her womb Him Whom
every creature praises in fear and trembling."

It is a pious Catholic custom to recall, thrice daily, the great

mystery of the Incarnation, by which the Son of God was con-

ceived of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This
is done by saying devoutly the Angelus—a prayer so called from
the words by which it begins: “The Angel of the Lord declared

unto Mary." The “Hail Mary," so frequently used by Catholics,

also brings to our minds the Incarnation; and when we say with
the Angel and St. Elizabeth: “Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb," we are praising our Blessed
Lord Himself, for Mary was “blessed among women," because she
was the Mother of God, and “the fruit of her womb," Whom we
bless in the Hail Mary, is Jesus her Son. Thus this beautiful
prayer, of which the first part is made up entirely from the Gos-
pel, is not only a prayer in honor of our Blessed Lady, but also a

direct praise and worship of her Divine Son.

Mary went into the hill country. It was a journey of one
hundred miles and more. Mary went that she might take Jesus
to John and convey the grace of the Saviour to His Forerunner;

also that she might help her cousin St. Elizabeth at the birth of

St. John. The superior goes to the inferior! Admire the humil-

ity and charity of Mary.

*St. Epiphanius, Haeres, 78, 18



14

with the Holy Ghost, and she cried out with a loud voice

and said : Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is

the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the
Mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as
soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art
thou that hast believed, because those things shall be ac-

complished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. And

Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my

City of Juda, probably Hebron.

The infant leaped in her womb. Mary is made by her Divine
Son the channel of grace

;
her salutation is the instrument

through which St. John is sanctified while yet in the womb, and

his mother is filled with the Holy Ghost. Grace passes from Jesus

to Mary, from Mary to John, from John to Elizabeth. St. Am-
brose says: “Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice, but John

the first to feel the grace. The infant rejoiced and the mother

was filled with the Holy Ghost; the mother was not filled before

the child; but when the child was filled with the Holy Ghost, he
filled the mother also.” What the Angel had foretold to Zachary*
is now fulfilled; the child “shall be filled with the Holy Ghost
even from his mother’s womb.”

Blessed art thou. Elizabeth was inspired to know what had
happened to Mary, and she greets her with the same words as the

Angel had used, adding a special praise of Mary’s Son: “Blessed

is the fruit of thy womb.”

Whence is this to me? Words of humility and reverence. Eliz-
abeth, though herself the mother of him who was to be “great

before the Lord,” yet is astonished at receiving a visit from one

of still greater dignity; for as Christ was greater than St. John,

so the Mother of Christ had a far higher dignity than the mother

of St. John.

The Mother of my Lord. He Whom Elizabeth called her Lord
was foretold by Isaias as “God the Mighty, Father of the world

to come, Prince of Peace ;”f St. Paul, later on, calls Him “the
Lord of Glory” Whom the Gentiles crucified, Who is “over all
things, God blessed forever,” “the Great God and our Saviour

Jesus Christ Who gave Himself for us.”$ He also is the “King
of kings and Lord of lords ;”§ “the beginnfng and the end, Who is
and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty;” for “the Word
(the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, 'Who was made flesh

and dwelt amongst us’) was God,” and “all things were made by

Him, and without Him was made nothing that was made.”|| He

is God the Creator, and Sovereign Lord of all. He, the true God,

became Man for us, and died for us upon the Cross, and Mary is

St. Luke, i : 15 fC ix : 6. $1 Cor. ii : 8, Rom. ix : 5, Titus, ii : 13.

§Rev. xix : 16, i- 8. ||St. John, i: 1—3.



15

spirit bath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because He hath

regarded the humility of His handmaid; for behold from

henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because

He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy

is His Name. And His mercy is from generation unto

generations, to them that fear Him. He hath showed

might in His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the

conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from

their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled

the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent

empty away, lie hath received Israel His servant, being

mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers, to
Abraham and his seed for ever. And Mary abode with

her about three months, and she returned to her own

house.

His Mother, the Mother of God. Elizabeth must have known this
when she addressed Mary “as the Mother of my Lord/' for she
was acquainted with the prophecies, especially that of Isaias,

which spoke of the Christ as God; and, moreover, from what the

Holy Ghost had revealed to her, and from the leaping of her son

with joy at his Saviour’s presence, she must have known that
“the Holy One” that should be born of Mary, was the Son of

God.

In God my Saviour. Jesus is Mary’s Saviour as He is ours; He
died for her as for us, and she was saved through His Precious

Blood as we are. But as Venerable Bede says on this text, Mary
“had a special right above all other saints to rejoice in her Jesus,

that is her Saviour;” for the graces and privileges she received

from Him were greater than those given to other saints.
For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me

blessed. Because God has looked down upon His servant, so poor

and vile compared to the Majesty of God, and has raised her to

the high honor and office of being Mother of God, therefore shall,

not Elizabeth only, but all people from this time forth “call me
Blessed.” How well is this prophecy fulfilled in the Catholic
Church, in which, day by day, Mary is blessed and praised and

venerated! And though Catholics give supreme honor to God
alone, yet Mary is exalted and honored above all other creatures

—

because of her relation to God, because she is His Mother; and

thus all honor that is paid to her is, indirectly, paid to God. Dr.

Ellicott, Protestant Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, says on this

text: “What a vision of the future these words must have implied
on the part of the village maiden who uttered them! Not her
own kinswomen only, but all generations should join in that
beatitude.”



1G

The Revelation of St. Joseph.

St. Matthew i: 18—25.

When Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and

not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her

away privately. But while he thought on these things,

behold the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep,

saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee

Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the

Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a Son; and thou
shall call his name Jesus. For He shall save His people
from their sins. And Joseph, rising up from sleep, did as

the Angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto

him his wife. And he knew her not till she had brought

forth her first-born Son; and he called His name Jesus.

The Birth of our Lord.

St. Luke ii: 4—19.

Joseph went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth

into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethle-

hem
;
because he was of the house and family of David to

be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife who was with

child. And it came to pass, that when they were there,

her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered.

He knew her not till she brought forth her first-born.
St. Jerome* (A. D. 420) remarks on this passage that we are not

to conclude from it that Joseph lived with Mary as his wife after

the Birth of our Lord. “Joseph,” he says, “was himself a virgin

through Mary,” and in Scripture, where the word till or until is

used, we are only told what happened up to that time, not further.

So in the book of Isaias,f God says: “Even to (until) your old

age I am the same,” in Psalm cix: “The Lord said to my Lord, sit
Thou at My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy foot-
stool.” But surely God exists the same for ever, and Christ will

be at the right hand of God for ever, even after His enemie^ have

been subdued. Nor because our Lord is called first-born are we

to conclude that there were other children. The first, even if the

only, male child was called the first-born
,
and the ceremonies con-

cerning the first-born had to be observed without waiting to see

whether others should be born or not.

*Contra Helvid. fcxlvi : 4.



17

And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped

Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn. And

there were in the same country shepherds watching and

keeping the night watches over their flock. And behold

an Angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness

of God shone round about them, and they feared with a

great fear. And the Angel of the Lord said to them

:

Fear not
;
for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy,

that shall be to all the people; for this day is born to you

a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.
And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the In-

fant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of

the heavenly army, praising God and saying: Glory tp

God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good

will. And it came to pass, after the angels departed from

them into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another : Let

us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is

come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us. And

they came with haste, and they found Mary and Joseph,

and the Infant lying in the manger. And seeing they un-

derstood the word that had been spoken concerning this

Child. And all that heard wondered; and at those things

that were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all

these words pondering them in her heart.

The Purification.

St. Luke ii: 22—35.

After the days of her purification, according to the law

of Moses were accomplished, they carried Him to Jerusa-
lem, to present Him to the Lord. As it is written in the
law of the Lord .Every male opening the icomh shall he

called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice accord-

Her Purification. There was no need for Mary to go through

the ceremony of purification, for she had, in a most pure manner,

given birth to the Holy of Holies. But she was purified as an act

of humility and obedience and to avoid singularity. Our Lord

Himself, though the only-begotten Son of God, was presented in

the Temple, and later on was baptized by St. John the Baptist,
with the baptism of penitent sinners.



18

ing as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle

doves or two young pigeons. And behold there was a man
in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy

Ghost was in him. And he received an answer from the
Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had

seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the spirit
into the Temple. And when His parents brought in the
Child Jesus to do for Him according to the custom of the
Law, he also took Him into his arms and blessed God,
and said: Now dost Thou dismiss Thy servant, O Lord,
according to Thy Word in peace. Because mine eyes have
seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the

face of all peoples. A light to the enlightening of the
Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel. And his

father and Mother were wondering at those things which

were spoken concerning Him. And Simeon blessed them

and said to Mary His Mother: Behold this Child is set for

the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and

for a sign which shall be contradicted
;
and thine own soul

a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts

may be revealed.

The Adoration of the Wise Men.

St. Matt, ii: 1—11.

When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda,
in the days of King Herod, there came Wise Men from the

East to Jerusalem, saying: Where is He that is born King

of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and

are come to adore Him. And King Herod hearing this

was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assem-

Thine own soul a sword shall pierce. Simeon here fortells

the bitter sorrow that Mary was to suffer through her Son. This

prophecy was fulfilled more particularly on Mount Calvary, when

Mary stood by the Cross and saw Him Whom she loved so ten-
derly as her God and her Son, dying in such pain and disgrace.

“Great as the sea was her sorrow." For this reason the Church

calls her Queen of Martyrs.



19

bling together all the Chief Priests and the Scribes of the

people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born.

But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda, for so it is

written by the prophet (Micheas) : And thou Bethlehem

the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of

Juda; for out of thee shall come forth the captain that

shall rule My people Israel. Then Herod privately calling
the Wise Men, learned diligently of them the time of the

star which appeared to them
;
and sending them into Beth-

lehem, said : Go and inquire diligently after the Child, and

when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I

also may come and adore Him. Who having heard the
King went their way; and behold the star which they

had seen in the East, went before them, and it came and

stood over where the Child was. And seeing the star they

rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the

house they found the Child with Mary His Mother, and

falling down they adored Him; and opening their treas-

ures, they offered Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and

myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that

they should not return to Herod, they went back another

way into their own country.

The Plight into Egypt.

St. Matt, i: 13—15, and 19—23.

After the Wise Men were departed, behold an Angel of

the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise and

take the Child and His Mother and fly into Egypt; and be

there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that

Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him. Who arose

They found the Child with Mary, His Mother, and falling
down they adored Him. A beautiful figure of Catholic devotion
to our Blessed Lady. We, like the shepherds, find Jesus with

Mary His Mother. The worship of Jesus leads to reverence for

Mary; the love of Jesus leads to love of Mary. Yet, however

much, for His sake and for her own, we may love her, reverence
her, exalt her—we adore Him. To Him we give the supreme wor-
ship which is due to God alone; to Him we offer the Holy Sacri-
fice of the Mass, which is offered to God alone; Him we ask for
grace and salvation. The devotion to Mary, however great it

may be, is just that kind which cannot be given to God; it is a
relative devotion—given to Mary on account of her relation to
God; it is devotion of intercession, by which we ask Mary to pray
for us to her Son, for we know that while of herself she cannot
do anything towards our salvation, yet by prayer she can obtain

all from Him Who is Lord of all and still her Son.



20

and took the Child and His Mother bj night and retired

into Egypt; and he was there until the death of Herod;

that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the

prophet (Osee) : Saying: Out of Egypt have I called My
Son.

But when Herod was dead, behold an Angel of the Lord
appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying: Arise, and

take the Child and His Mother, and go into the land of

Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the

Child. Who arose, and took the Child and His Mother
and came into the land of Israel. But hearing that

Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his

father, he was afraid to go thither
;
and being warned in

sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming
he dwelt in a city called Nazareth.

The Finding of our Lord in the Temple.

St. Luke |i: 41—51.

And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the
solemn day of the Pasch. And when He was twelve years
old, they going up into Jerusalem according to the cus-

tom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they

returned, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and His

parents knew it not. And thinking that He was in the
company, they came a day’s journey, and sought Him
among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not find-
ing Him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking Him. And

it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in
the Temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing

them and asking them questions. And all that heard

Him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers.

And seeing Him, they wondered. And His Mother said

to Him, Son, why hast Thou done so to us? behold Thy

father and I have sought Thee sorrowing. And He said

to them, How is it that you sought Me? did you not
know that I must be about My Father’s business. And

Son, why hast Thou done so to us? Here Mary made a ten-
der complaint to her Son. His answer contained some mystery

which even His parents did not fully understand.

He was subject to them. Jesus, as the true Son of Mary and
foster-Son of Joseph, gave to them on all occasions the obedience,

reverence, and love due from a child to his parents. He Who came



21

they understood not the word that He spoke unto them.
And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth;
and was subject to them.

Mary’s Power with her Son.

St. John ii: 1—11.

There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the

Mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited,
and His disciples, to the marriage. And the wine failing,
the Mother of Jesus said to Him, they have no wine.

to be our Pattern in all, gave a most perfect example of filial

piety and observance of the commandment: Honor thy father and
thy mother. St. Bernard (A. D. 1153) says: “He was subject to

them. Who? To whom? God, to men; God, to Whom the
Angels are subject, Whom the principalities and powers obey, was
subject to Mary.”*

From this time till the commencement of our Lord's Public
Life, we hear nothing more of the Holy Family. Eighteen years

were passed in retirement; we call them the Hidden Life of our
Lord. It was probably during this period that St. Joseph died,

and Jesus and Mary were then left alone, Jesus working at His

trade as a carpenter, and Mary looking to the household duties of

their little home and waiting upon her Divine Son. What a
blessed home and what happiness for Mary! What heavenly les-
sons she must have learnt from Him, what graces she must have

received! And if a cup of cold water given in His Name to the
least of His is not to go without reward, what must Mary have

merited by so many years of unstinted service given so gener-
ously and lovingly to the Lord Himself?

They have no wine. Mary, seeing that the supply of wine

had failed, and wishing to spare her hosts the shame of having

apparently neglected to provide for their guests, tells her Son of

their need, implying a request that He would supply the want.
She asked something very difficult—a miracle before the appoint-
ed time. And when He answered her, she knew that her re-

quest, hard as it was and almost doing violence to her Son, was

granted, for she went to the waiters at once and told them to be

sure and do whatever He should say; and then our Lord did what
she had asked by changing the water into wine. And this begin-

ning of miracles did Jesus at Cana, at His Mother's prayer. And

if her prayer was heard then while she was still in the world,

and in a matter of so great difficulty, still more will her prayers

have power now that she has entered into the joy of her Lord.

Woman, what is it to Me and to thee? Dr. Ellicott, Protest-
ant Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, says on these words: “It

may be hoped that the day is now passed when anything other
than thoughts of reverence and love is to be connected with the

Horn. i. super Missus est.



And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is it to Me and to
thee? My hour is not yet come. His Mother said to the
waiters: Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye. Now
there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to

the manner of purifying of the Jews, containing two or

three measures a piece, Jesus saith to them : Fill the

water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the

brim. And Jesus saith to them: Draw out now, and

carry to the chief steward of the feast; and they carried

it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water

made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters

knew who had drawn the water
;
the chief steward calleth

the bridegroom, and saith to him: Every man at first

setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drank,

then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good

wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in

Cana of Galilee; and manifested His glory, and His dis-

ciples believed in Him.

title of Woman
,
least of all in the words of One Who claimed as

His own highest dignity of Sonship of, identity with, Humanity;
and Who was here addressing the Mother to whom He had been
subject and from whom His own Humanity had been derived.”
Doctor Trench, late Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, says: "It

is quite true that jn the address Woman there is nothing of sever-
ity or harshness, however much it may have some such sound to
our English ear. In those last and tenderest words which our

Lord addressed to His Mother, He used the same Language,
'Woman, behold thy son/ So far from any harshness, the com-

pellation has something solemn in it, and cannot but have such

where the dignity of woman is truly felt. But it is otherwise with
the words, 'What have I to do with thee? (What is to Me and
thee?) . . . Any severity which these words may seem to have
in the reading, we cannot doubt was mitigated in the manner of
its speaking; suffering as it did a near compliance with her re-

quest to look through an apparent refusal. For when 'she saith
unto the servants: Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it/ it is evi-
dent she read a Yes, and as the sequel shows rightly read it, in
His apparent No.”* Sr. Cyril says of this miracle: "Especially by
this does Christ show that the honor which is owed to parents is
worthy of account, undertaking as He did to do what He had no
mind to do, out of reverence for His Mother.”f St. Augustine:
"Did He then come to a marriage to dishonor a Mother, when
marriages are celebrated, and wives taken in order to have chil-
dren, whom God bids to honor their parents? Beyond a doubt,
brethren, there is some hidden meaning here.”$

*On the MiracleSj Serm. i. tin loc. tin Joan. tr. viii



23

Mary is Praised.

St. Luke xi: 27, 28.

And it came to pass, as He (Jesus) spoke these things,
a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said
to liinii Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the
breasts that gave Thee suck. But He said: Yea rather,

blessed are they who hear the Word of God, and keep it.

“His Mother and His Brethren.”

St. Matt, xii: 46—50.

As He was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold His

Mother and His brethren stood without, seeking to speak

to Him. And one said unto Him : Behold Thy Mother and

Blessed is the womb that bore Thee. The first public fulfil-
ment of Mary’s prophecy: All generations shall call me blessed.
Somewhat similar to this is the praise of Mary uttered by St.

Cyril in the Council of Ephesus. “Hail, Mary, the most precious

thing of the whole world; hail, Mary, incorrupt dove; hail, Mary,

inextinguishable lamp; for from thee was born the Sun of Jus-

tice.”*

Yea rather. St. Augustine says: “Mary was more blessed in

receiving the faith of Christ than in receiving the flesh of Christ.

For to some one who said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore
Thee;’ He (Christ) answered, ‘Rather blessed are they who hear
the Word of God and keep it.’ ”t Our Lord “assents to the testi-
mony of the woman”—these are the words of the Venerable Bede$
—but declares that Mary is even more blessed on account of her
holiness, than on account of her relationship to Him.

His brethren. These were James (afterwards Bishop of Jeru-

salem), Judas (not the traitor), Joseph, and Simon. They were

not “own brothers” to our Lord, for the Blessed Virgin had no
children besides Him Who was the Son of God, but either His
half-brothers, being sons of St. Joseph by a former marriage, or

His cousins and sons of another Mary, sister, or sister-in-law to

our Blessed Lady, and wife of Cleophas§ (also called Alpheus).

This is the opinion of St. Jerome, and is followed by most Catho-

lic, and many Protestant, writers. We often find in the Scriptures
near relations called “brothers.” Abram speaking to Lot, his
nephew, said, “We are brethren,” and Laban called Jacob, his
nephew, “My brother.”

||

Our Blessed Lord when dying, left His
Mother to St. John, passing over “His brethren,” which He could
not have done had these been her own sons; and this, as the
learned Dr. Lightfoot, Protestant Bishop of Durham, observes,'If
is fatal to the view that Mary had other children than Jesus.

*Orat. contr. Nestor. fDe Virgin, c. 4. fHom. 19.
§A’Lapide in h.l. ||Gen. xiii. 8, xix. 15 .flOn Galat. i. 19 Dissertation ii.



24

Thy brethren stand without, seeking Thee. But He an-
swering him that told Him said: Who is My Mother, and
who are My brethren? And stretching forth His hand
towards His disciples, He said: Behold My Mother and
My brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of My
Father that is in Heaven, He is My brother, and sister,
and mother.

Mary at the Foot of the Cross.

St. John xix: 25—27.

There stood by the Cross of Jesus, His Mother, and

His Mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Mag-

There stood by the cross of Jesus, His Mother. The sword

of sorrow, foretold by Simeon, was now piercing Mary’s heart, as
with heroic bravery she stood at the foot of the Cross and wit-

nessed the death agony of her beloved Son (see note p. 18.)

Woman, behold thy soif. There is something very solemn in
these words, almost the last of the dying Saviour. Mary is now

established as “the Mother of all living,” as she is styled by many
of the Fathers. St. Augustine says: “She was clearly the Mother

of His members, which we are, for she took part in causing that
the faithful should be born in the Church, and they are members

of that head (Christ);”* and Origen declares that “no one can

arrive at the true meaning of the Gospels, without reclining on

the breast of Jesus (that is, being like St. John) and receiving

from Jesus Mary to be his Mother also.”f Truly as we call Jesus
our Elder Brother, for He is “the First-born among many breth-
ren,” in the same way may we call Mary our Mother.
The Disciple took her to his own. From that time Mary

dwelt with St. John, and was to him as a Mother, and he took

care of her like a son. We do not read in the Gospels that our
Lord ever appeared to His Mother after His Resurrection; but, as

St. John tells us,J “there are also many other things winch Jesus
did, that are not written,” and we cannot think that He Who
commanded us to “honor our father and our mother,” would Him-

self leave His widowed Mother, who for His sake had been so

sorely afflicted, without consolation. He showed Himself to Mary
Magdalen twice, and also to other women, and it is only natural

to believe that on His Resurrection He went at once to His
Mother, that she who had borne a chief part in the sorrows of

His Passion, should be gladdened by the sight of His glory. And,

how great must have been Mary’s joy that Easter morning, when

“according to the multitude of sorrows in her heart, His con-

solations brought joy to her soul!Ӥ

*De Virgin n. 6. f In Joan . i.
|St. John xxi. 25. § Psalm xciii.



id

dalen. When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and

the disciple, standing, whom He loved, He said to His

Mother, Woman, behold thy son. After that, He said to

the disciple, Behold thy Mother. And from that hour the

disciple took her to his own.

Mary Praying with the Apostles at Pentacost.

Acts i: .i4.

The Apostles were persevering with one mind in prayer

with the women and with Mary the Mother of Jesus and

with His brethren.

Mary’s Glory.

A great sign appeared in Heaven; a woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her

The death of Mary took place twelve or, some think, eighteen
years after our Lord’s Ascension, probably at Jerusalem. It is the

common belief of Catholics, though not expressly defined by the
Church as an article of faith that soon after death Mary’s body

was raised to life and assumed—that is, taken up—into Heaven.
This opinion is very ancient, and the feast of the Assumption has

been kept in the Church since at least as early as the sixth cen-

tury.

The bodies of all men shall be raised to life on the last day, but
there are good reasons why Mary’s body should be raised with-
out waiting for the General Resurrection; for it does not seem

fitting that that body from which the human nature of the Son of
God had been formed, should see corruption; it is also reasonable

to suppose that our Lord would honor His Mother in some special

way after death.
A woman clothed with the sun. Here at the end of the Bible,

as at the beginning, we have a woman, a man, and the serpent or

dragon. The serpent is the devil; the “man-child who was to
rule all nations with a rod of iron,” and Who has His throne in
Heaven, is our Blessed Lord; then the woman “clothed with the
sun, and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of
twelve stars,” who “brought forth a man-child,” must be Mary
His Mother.*

W. H. Cologan.

Cardinal Newman says of this vision : “Of course it has a further
sense also,” besides the one given above, “which is the scope of the im-

age ; doubtless the Child represents the children of the Church, and

duobtless the Woman represents the Church ; this, I grant, is the real
or direct sense, but what is the sense of the symbol? Who are the
Woman and the Child?” And: “The holy Apostle (St. John) would
not have spoken of the Church under this particular image, unless there
had existed a Blessed Virgin Mary, who was exalted on high, and the
object of veneration to all the faithful.” ( Letter to Dr. Pusey, p. 62.)



26

head a crown of twelve stars; and being with child she

cried travailing in birth and was in pain to be delivered.

And there was seen another sign in Heaven; and behold

a great red dragon having seven heads, and ten horns,

and on his head seven diadems, and his tail drew the third

part of the stars in Heaven, and cast them to the earth;

and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready

to be delivered, that he might devour her son. And she

brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations

with a rod of iron, and her son was taken up to God and

to His throne.

HAT the Incarnation is to Christianity, that is
Mary to Christian Art; the germ, not only of its

marvelous tenderness and superhuman beauty,

but of that sublimity of conception which brings heaven

to earth
;
gives us the companionship of saints, of angels

and archangels; brings us even to the Beatific Vision,

where our humanity united to the divinity, makes us, in

the very words of the canon of the Mass, “partakers of

His Divinity who vouchsafed to become partaker of our

humanity, Jesus Christ our Lord.” This lifting up of

the body, mortal, perishing, under its earthly conditions,

to its immortal and glorified destiny, immortal like the

soul—has made it possible for Christian art to take a

flight inconceivable to the noblest genius of pagan Greece.

It has been said, that a palliation of their idolatrous wor-

ship is found in the expectation, universal among men, of

an incarnation of the divine nature in the human, and

that under the influence of this tradition, their heroes

and gods, actually rose above the human ideal.

The significance of this thought once realized, its con-

sequences are instantly apparent; while the infinite su-

periority of the motives underlying Christian art over

any which could influence pagan art, must be traced to

her, who said : “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it

done unto me according to thy word.” It is not, there-

fore, without reason that we said : “What the Incarnation

is to Christianity, that is Mary to Christian Art.”

MARY, IN ART.



27

As a proof that Christian artists have worked, from the

beginning, instinctively under the influence of the fact of

Mary's part in the Incarnation, we go back to the first

age, before the year one hundred, to find, on the walls of

the most ancient chamber in the catacomb of Saint Pris-

cilla, a veritable Madonna, painted, according to the au-

thority of Chevalier de Rossi, the greatest of our Roman
archaeologists, before the martyrdom of Ss. Peter and

Paul, under whose benediction Saint Priscilla had been

taken from her home on the Way of the Patricians to her
catacomb chamber on the Salarian Way. In this picture

we see the Blessed Virgin with her Divine Son on her lap,

nourishing Him at her breast, from which He turns as
if to listen to the prophet Isaiah standing before them and

pointing above to a star, typifying the star which Balaam

had predicted should rise out of Jacob, and now reposing

in His Virgin Mother's arms. Not only does this Ma-

donna embody and show forth the theology concerning

the Incarnation from the Annunciation to the present

time, but it has the grace and infantine simplicity so

characteristic of Raphael’s Madonnas. Yet this Madonna,

remarkable as it is, we must remember is only one of many

in this subterranean cemetery, which is said to contain

more Madonnas than all the other catacombs of Rome to-
gether; for all the catacombs give testimony to the love

of the early Christians for Mary under her divine ma-

ternity. Especially do we find this charming subject

treated not only frequently but with great beauty in the

catacomb of Saint Domitilla of the second century. In

both these cemeteries the Mother and Child are some-

times alone, but very often, as if repetition were no

fault, they are represented as receiving the Visit of the

Magi, a subject rich in ideas growing out of the Incarna-

tion. Rev. Thomas J. Shahan, D. D., of the Catholic

University at Washington, in his admirable little book

entitled, “The Blessed Virgin in the Catacombs,” tells us

that “more than sixty representations of this last subject

have been found in the cemeteries belonging to the first

four centuries.”

One of the Madonnas in the cemetery of Saint Priscilla

makes a part of what Dr. Shahan calls a Liturgical fresco,



28

representing the giving of the consecrated veil to Saint

Pudentiana, the grand daughter of Saint Priscilla, and

who has her burial place in the tomb belonging to her

family. The Orante, or praying figure, occupies the center

of the picture. To the right hand a venerable man in full

vestments is seated in a chair
;
before him stands a maiden

holding a white veil in both hands, and behind her a

young man, acting as assistant at the ceremony, while the

venerable priest seems to point toward the group at the

left hand, representing the Blessed Virgin, seated, and

holding her Babe to her breast
;
the gesture of the priest

seeming to indicate Mary as a model to the maiden be-

fore him.

On the ceiling of a chamber in this same catacomb of

Saint Priscilla, is the earliest representation of the An-

nunciation as yet discovered. The virgin of Nazareth is

seated in a chair, her eyes cast modestly down, as if listen-

ing to the angel standing before her, who is clothed in a

girded tunic, the index finger raised while delivering to

her the message sent by God Himself—that in her should
be accomplished the promise of a Messiah. Everything

about this picture confirms the opinion of Chevalier de

Rossi, that it cannot date long after the year one hun-

dred. It is in an ancient part of the cemetery, and the

style is. beautifully classic, not only in the figures, but

in the decorative garlands of the ceiling and the doves

that flutter at the corners as symbols of the Holy Spirit.

The Nativity, which has been declared to have had no

place in art before the fifth century, is found today on

an arco-solium in the catacomb of Saint Sebastian, with

the spcial marks of a Nativity, viz. : the Babe wrapped in

swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, and the presence

of the two traditional animals, the ox and the ass. This

picture is assigned to about the year 350, and has been

lithographed for the Annals of the Archaeological Society

of Rome; while the sarcophagi of the catacombs laid hold

of the Nativity as well as of the Visit of the Magi. Some

of these sarcophagi groups of the last subject are remark-

able for their elegance, while others are charming by the

grace of the Infant, who, in one instance, puts out His

arms to embrace the donor of the gifts, as if he were more



29

precious than even his precious offering. There was, in-

deed, no end to the fervor with which these early Chris-

tian artists set before the faithful what, we must believe,

they asked for.

The actual Maternity of Mary seems to have seized,

tirst of all, upon their imaginations, although she is often

seen with other saints as their patroness, especially with

Saint Agnes in the bottoms of those glass cups found in

the catacombs, the figures being in gold between the glass;

in fact, there has been no use of the prerogatives of the

Klessed Virgin in later times or in middle age or modern

art, which has not a precedent in the first four—we may
say in the third, second or even first age of the Christian

Church.

From this catacomb period we emerge with the Church

herself, into the light of day; and with the coming forth

of our Lord from the subterranean shadows, conies forth

His Blessed Mother.

In 431, Celestine I., called the Council at Ephesus,

known as the Third Council, which convened June 22, of

that year. At this council it was declared, as a dogma of

faith, that Mary is the Mother of God; in as much as

Jesus Christ being of two natures, God and man, and still

but one person, and Mary having given Him her human-
ity to be united to His divinity, she is, in the same man-

ner and as truly the Mother of the God-man, as our moth-

ers, who have formed not our souls but our bodies only,

are still the mothers of our souls and of our bodies.

The enthusiasm with which this decree was received,

not only by Ephesus “the city of the Virgin Mother/’ but

by entire Christendom, was deemed worthy by Pope Celes-

tine of special commemoration. Not content with hav-

ing ordered a fresco representing this council to be paint-

ed in that most ancient sanctuary of Mary, the catacomb

of Saint Priscilla, where he had prepared a tomb for him-

self, he planned a trophy which, to this day, attests the

dignity of Mary as declared by the council of Ephesus.

This was no less than an Arch of Triumph, to be erected

in that beautiful basilica on the Esquiline Hill, called, by

pre-eminence, Santa Maria Maggiore or Saint Mary the

Greater. This was not accomplished during Celestine’s



30

life-time, as he died in 432, but his intentions were car-

ried out fully by his successor, Sixtus III. This arch

represents, in exquisitely tinted mosaics on a gold ground,

'the principal events establishing the Divine Maternity of

Mary. To the extreme left hand and upper corner as we

face the arch, is given the Annunciation. The Virgin of

Nazareth is seated on a throne. In the air above we see

an angel flying towards her and pointing to the Dove of

The Holy Spirit descending upon her, while the angel ap-

pears in the second scene of the same act, as standing be-

fore her and delivering his message with the same majes-

tic gesture as on the ceiling of the chamber in Saint Pris-

cilla’s cemetery but winged; as are his five companions

who stand near the Virgin’s throne.

Directly on a line with this, occupying the right corner

of the arch, we have the Presentation of our Lord in the

Temple; the Blessed Virgin with her Babe; Saint Joseph;

the aged Simeon and devout Anna; the attending angels

and those “waiting for the redemption of Israel,” who

came at the call of the prophetess.

Below this we have the Finding in the temple, and still

below, a little out of chronological order, we should say,

the first £cene in the Visit of the Magi, viz.: Their ap-

pearance before Herod, who is consulting the chief priests

and scribes as to where the Messiah would be born, be-

side him the guard in full armor and the priests and

scribes with their open rolls.

On the left, directly below the Annunciation, is given,

after a magnificent conception, the Visit of the Magi.

Our Lord, as an infant, sits on a jeweled throne with a

dais, above Him the star. On the right side of this throne
is a lower one, on which is seated His Virgin Mother,

richly attired. At the left side, on a simple chair, is

seated Saint Joseph in a brown habit and he seems to

present the Magi, who advance with their gifts, clothed

in rich costumes. Below this picture is represented the

Murder of the Holy Innocents, the minions of Herod

wresting the infants from their mothers’ arms. The beau-

tiful accessories to these mosaic pictures we must not at-

tempt to describe, enhancing however much the value of

the arch as a work of beauty; because we are now con-



31

sidering it as a monument to the place which Mary had

in art with the pontiffs of the fifth age of Christianity.*

The honor given to Mary in the glorious apse of Santa

Maria Maggiore and of Santa Maria in Trastevere still

do not fill out the measure of Mary’s worth in the eyes

of the Roman pontiffs or the Roman people. It is de-
manded from age to age with a never failing fidelity, and

when mosaic gives place to fresco, Mary is still there in

all her majesty and beauty and significance. Cimabue left

in his parish church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, the

grand Madonna on which rests his fame above all others,

and to which Ruskin has paid such a noble tribute in his

Mornings in Florence. “There is not such an elaborate

piece of ornamentation in the first page of any Gothic

king’s missal, as you will find in that Madonna’s throne;

the Madonna herself is meant to be grave and noble only;

and to be attended by angels.” While in contrast to this

enthroned Madonna, with her beautiful Child on her lap,

held as a queen-mother would hold it, is another by Cima-

bue to which Ruskin pays a tribute even more touching.

This is in the lower church at Assisi, and few read it

aright. The Madonna is holding her Son on her arm who

seems to have caught sight of some person behind His

mother, pointing to it with a strange gladness, as if say-

ing: “See, My mother, see!” and she has turned and seen

—

what? Saint Francis pierced as this Son will be on the

cross! Her look of anguish is not to be put into words,

while her thumb is still turned towards the dreadful

vision and her eyes are fascinated by the eyes of the Babe

who explains the vision to her. It is of this picture that

Ruskin says: “Among all the Mater Dolorosas of Chris-

tianity, Cimabue’s at Assisi is the noblest; nor did any

painter after him add one link to the chain of thought

with which he summed up the creation of the earth and
preached its redemption;” i. e the Incarnation and Re-

demption are both set forth in this Mater Dolorosa by

Cimabue. The picture which gives the most wondrous art

and noblest inspiration of Giotto, moreover, is a Corona-

tion of this same Mary, Virgin and Mother, in the chapel

We could not attempt to describe this arch from memory, but
do so from a fac-simile put out by Spithover of Rome under the direct
supervision of Chevalier de Rossi.



32

of the Baroncelli family, in Santa Croce, Florence;

crowned by the Son she brought forth in a stable and

saw crucified and entombed.

But it was not Florence alone whose Madonnas gave

Mary a place in art which may well inspire our devotion
as well as our pens. Siena, in that public palace which

we overlook from the height crowned by her cathedral,

has an enthroned Madonna by Simone Memmi, surround-

ed by thirty-nine saints all adoring and praising Jesus,

the blessed fruit of her womb, and honoring the Mother

whom all generations will call “Blessed;” while Duccio
and Ansano of Siena, have given Madonnas that are un-

rivalled in their tenderness and pathetic grace.

From these masters, trained in schools of piety, which

made not only painters of saints but saints of painters,

we come to the year 1400, which saw Fra Angelico paint-

ing in the Dominican convent of Fiesole, overlooking

Florence, and whose Annunciation in the convent of Saint

Mark, and that most blissful of all his Coronations with

its charming groups of angels weaving in and out to heav-

enly measures, illumined by the almost dazzling scintilla-

tions of the Beatific Vision, give us the beginning and

consummation of Mary’s assent to the Incarnation. And

yet that year 1400 saw the birth of that Luca della Rob-

bia, whose conceptions, wrought out in terra-cotta, have a

mystical beauty which rivals that of the Angelical

Brother himself. Convent and monastery, the doors of

sacristy closets, the tabernacles of altars, missal and anti-

phonal, fonts for baptistries, panels for bronze gates, all

belonging to this chaste age of holy aspirations after the

beautiful as an emanation from the Divinity, prove to the

eye as no asseverations could prove to the ear, where the

artists of those days found their inspirations; and when

we attempt to study the details of a shrine like that of

the Madonna in Or San Michele

,

Florence, telling how a

city of merchants sanctified their money getting; or that

“Gate of the Mandorla,” of the cathedral of Florence, in

the apex of which Jacopo della Quercia sculptered the

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in relief, with a

graciousness of beauty which seemed to inspire those who

worked on the columns and pilasters supporting it, as well



33

as the lintel—enriched as these are by sculptures so ex-
pressive of joy in bird and animal life, with the stories of

trumpeters and buglers and their musical instruments, in

a lavishness of invention which puts to shame our mod-

ern economy of time and skill—we seem to catch a glimpse
of the powerful motives supplied by the Incarnation and

by Mary as its exponent.

And all this before what people are pleased to call the

Madonna period! All this before Leonardo da Vinci or

Luini or Perugino painted their entrancing Madonnas,

and before the youthful Raphael, following in the heaven-

ly path of his father, Giovanni Sanzio, or the instructions

of his master Perugino, conceived those lovely types of

Virginal Maternity which charmed the Florentines and

won him a call from that keen discerner of spirits, Julius

II, to the chambers of the Vatican! What becomes of

the charges made against Catholics as Madonna worship-

pers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when we find

these charges equally deserved in the fifth and even the

first century? The historical facts concerning “Mary, in

Art” cannot be dwelt upon too much in detail, because

this monumental testimony, as it may be called, is worth
all that a title deed is worth to the possessor of lands and

homestead. We are now proving our birthright, and

—

God grant! it may not only become an intellectual verity
but a possession of the heart. With the public of today,

there is a growing disposition to ask for new types of Ma-

donnas, new types of the Divine Child, new types of the

boy, Jesus. People ask for a national type, and the one

preferred is the Hebrew for Mother and Child. We have
nothing to say about this. Nearly every great artist has

had what we call a type; i. e., a certain cast or mould of

features which, to him, expressed his ideas of the Ma-

donna. Sometimes we see this type, especially in Peru-

gino’s pictures, adhered to almost through life, and we

may say nearly the same of Leonardo da Vinci, of Luini.

But these artists were not thinking of nationalities; they

were trying to express in outward forms the character-

istics of the Mother, virgin as well as mother, and they

varied, not so much their general type as their individual

expression. Sometimes, also, we see a marked improve-



34

ment in the perfection of this type, as if with the intention

of eliminating from it every trace of individuality or

personality. This is the highest praise which can be given

to any artist; that his Madonnas are not Hebrew or

Italian or Spanish or German, but impersonal embodi-

ments of supernatural grace. No artist in the world suc-
ceeded in doing this so completely as Raphael. He began
with Perugino’s type, and this was succeeded by one after

another, less and less individual. We can even see within
a few months, a wonderful dropping away of personality

until a universal type seems to have been developed, in

which womanly beauty and loveliness is united to exquis-

ite sentiment and Virginal Maternity; until as Raphael

approached his zenith, to which he attained so early, we

see, what we have called the universal type in his Madon-

nas. The one to which we would first call attention as

proof of this, is Raphael’s “II Spasimo,” or, the meeting

of the Mother and Son on the way to Calvary. No one,

looking at this picture, whether the original, copy, en-

graving or photograph, ever thinks of Mary as to her na-

tionality. She is above and beyond all nationalities; and,

for all nationalities the Mother of Sorrows, and the spasm

which wrings her heart wrings ours. The kneeling figure,

the long, outstretched arms, the imploring hands, the face

in its agony of maternal sympathy, are taken into the soul

to remain there impressed forever.

But above all is this true of that hitherto unrivaled

Madonna, called the Sistine. This glorious, altogether

majestic Madonna, has not the last trace of a type cling-

ing to its contours. The broad intellectual brow, thor-

oughly feminine, the hair drawn from it, the wonderful

eyes scanning creation as she floats out of heaven, having

legions of angels for her background; the feet not even

skimming the round world beneath her; the veil blown

back like a sail before the wind, and bearing in her arms,

enthroned as no seat of ivory or gold or jewels could en-

throne Him, the Son of her womb, we see her simply as

the Mother of God, as the Council of Ephesus declared

her in the year 431 . It is useless, irrelevant, we may also

say profane, to talk of models for such Madonnas. No

woman, good or bad, ever served as a model for those



35

masterpieces of supernatural conceptions which Raphael

put forth. They soar above individualities as well as na-

tionalities, and the realism which admires, or arrogantly

demands either, has never sat at the feet of Mary or

learned her characteristics.

It is with a sigh that we turn from the work of our own

countrymen and countrywomen, Catholics though they

may be, without giving even an attempt to paint or in any

way formulate an idea of the Blessed Virgin whom they
are supposed to love and venerate precisely like the Cath-

olics of other times and of other countries. It is in vain

to plead what “the picture market demands;” or that

“there are, already, so many Madonnas.” Every Catho-

lic country has its native Madonnas, so to speak; and

Madonnas specially honored and beloved as such. We
may count up our churches, our religious orders, our col-

leges, our population by millions, but we can never claim

to be a Catholic country, so long as no artist is inspired

to produce, on panel or canvas or wall, from his or her

own sanctified heart and sanctified imagination, the im-

age of Mary, Virgin and Mother; and there must be, with

all our growing opportunities for art, something ladling

in the home influence, not to bring this subject before the

young aspirant for artistic honors. We must not look to
art academies or institutes for this. They give only the

machinery of art; the inspiration to production comes

from sources deep hidden in the human heart and soul.

We do remember, not a Madonna, but a veritable Virgin
Mary, which might be called an Immaculate Conception,

although we believe it is called “Our Lady of Lourdes.”

It is in a chapel miles and miles from any railroad or

school of art, but the household itself was a school of art,

not merely of technical but of religious art; of devout, if

you will, of mystical art; and the fruit of this is the

ecstatic figure, with a face not only turned heavenward,

but illuminated therefrom; the hands, the very flesh

etherealized, and the movement upward more of the soul

than of the body. One cannot say with truth that this

resembles or reminds one of any other picture, although

it may have the resemblance which all similar subjects

must have; but while the artist had seen many Immacu-

late Conceptions at home and abroad, this one came from



36

his own imaginings, his own ideal of Mary. To see it in
its wonderful beauty over the altar in that chapel of “Our
Lady of the Pines,” is to recall some visit to a shrine in
Catholic Europe and to realize what influences were
around all those painters, who, from the last half of the

first century, have given Mary her place in art; the same
place which the Incarnation has had in our theology from

the first century to the nineteenth.

Eliza Allen Starr.
This picture was painted by the late Charles Durward, who died with-

in sight of Our Lady of the Pines shortly after he had reached his
thirtieth year.

MARY IN SONG.
—Selected.*

Now, the holy Maiden calls me,

Bids 'me sing her wondrous story.

Son Divine, be thou my helper,
With Thy gifts my harp enriching,
So that I may sing Thy Mother,
Paint her picture full of beauty.

See, the Maiden womb conceiveth;
See, the Maiden breast is fruitful;

Wonder far surpassing nature

—

Mother’s milk, and Maiden brightness,

All at once in one pure body.

—St. Ephrem the Syrian, IV Century.
O Mary, Mother of all Grace
And Mercy to our sinful race,
Drive back the foe; and to thy Son

Lead thou our souls when life is done.

—Venantius Fortunatus: VI Century.
O thou strong in deed and blessing,

Thou, whom angels come confessing,
Mary, full of heavenly grace;

Thee we laud, with supplication

That thy mighty mediation

May our many stains* erase.
—Adam of St. Victor: XII Century.

Now, raise thy view

Unto the visage most resembling Christ:

For, in her splendor only shalt thou win

The power to look on Him.

—Dante, 1265 -1321 .
All-Potent Queen, whose mercies never cease,

From whom the world seeks at its darkest hour
For balm in sorrow, and from sin release.

—Chaucer, 1340-1400 .



37

And thou, O Virgin, Daughter, Mother, Bride
Of the same Lord, who gave to you each key

Of heaven and hell, and everything beside,

The day thy Gabriel said ‘All hair to thee,

Since to thy servants pity’s ne’er denied.

With flowing rhymes, a pleasant style and free

—

Be to my verses, then, benignly kind,
And to the end illuminate my mind.

—Luigi Pulci, 1431-1487.
Virgin most Pure, who never knewest night,
Living within the true Sun’s deathless day,

The golden gleam of which, through all thy way,

Made glad thy beauteous eyes, with joyous light;
With thee the God-Man dwelt, when angels bright
Lit up His lowly home with lustrous ray,
And filled with awe, pleased homage sought to pay,
Yearning His will to work, be what it might.

Thou, the Eterne, veiled by our human screen,
As Lord didst fear; didst cherish as thy Son;
Didst love as Spouse; as Father didst adore.

Pray that my troubled stream of life may run
Back to its happy Source; and, Heaven’s great Queen,

Thy Mother-love show me too, ever more.
—

V

ittoria Colonna, 1490-1547.

O Child of beauty rare

—

O Mother, chaste and fair

—

How happy seem they both, so far beyond compare.
—Goethe, 1749-1832.

Ave, Maria; ’tis the hour of prayer;

Ave, Maria; ’tis the hour of love;

Ave, Maria; may our spirits dare
Look up to thine and to thy Son’s above;

Ave, Maria; Oh, that face so fair;

Those down-cast eyes beneath the Almighty Dove

—

What though ’tis but a pictured image strike,
That painting is no idol

—
’tis too like.

*—Byron, 1788-1824.
Sweet Benediction in the eternal curse;

Veiled Glory of this lampless universe.

—Shelley, 1792-1822.

So, Mary, they who justly feel the weight
Of Heaven’s offended Majesty, implore

Thy reconciling aid, with suppliant knee:

Of sinful man, O sinless Advocate,
To thee they turn, nor Him they less adore;
’Tis still His light they love, less dreadful seen in tjiee.

—Gerald Griffin.



38

They served a Maid more beautiful than tongue
Could tell, or heart conceive. Of human race,
All heavenly as that Virgin was, she sprung;

But, for her beauty and celestial grace.

Being one in whose pure elements no trace
Had e'er inhered of sin, or mortal stain,
The highest heaven was now her dwelling place;
There as a Queen divine she held her reign,

And there, in endless joy, for ever would remain.
—Robert Southey, 1774-1843.

Mother, whose virgin bosom was uncrost

With the least shade of thought to sin allied;

Woman, above all women glorified.
Our tainted nature's solitary boast;

Purer than foam on central ocean tost.

—Wordsworth, 1770-1850.
Lowliest of Women, and most glorified;
In thy still beauty, sitting calm and lone,

A brightness round thee grew; and by thy side.
Kindling the air, a Form ethereal shone,
Solemn, yet, breathing gladness. From her throne

A Queen had risen with more imperial eye;
A stately Prophetess of victory,
From her proud lyre had struck a tempest's tone,

For such high tidings as to thee were brought,

Chosen of heaven, that hour; but thou, O thou,

E'en as a flower with gracious rains o’erfraught.

Thy Virgin-head beneath its crown didst bow,
And take to thy meek breast the All-holy Word,
And own thyself the Handmaid of the Lord.

—Felicia D. Hemans, 1733-1835.
Ave Maria! thou whose name
All but adoring love can 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.

—John Keble, 1792-1866.
This is indeed the Blessed Mary's land,

Virgin and Mother of our dear Redeemer,

All hearts are touched and softened at her name;

Alike the bandit, with the bloody hand,

The priest, the prince, the scholar and the peasant,
The man of deeds, the visionary dreamer,
Pay homage to her as one ever present

And even as children, who have much offended
A too indulgent father, in great shame,
Penitent, and yet, not daring unattended

To go into his presence, at the gate

Speak with their sister, and confiding wait



39

Till she goes in before and intercedes;

So, men, repenting of their evil deeds,

And yet, not venturing rashly to draw near

With their requests an angry father’s ear,

Offer to her their prayers and their confession,

And she for them in heaven makes intercession.

And, if our faith had given us nothing more

Than this Example of all Womanhood,

So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good.

So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure

—

This were enough to prove it higher and truer

Than all the creeds the world had known before.
—Longfellow, 1807-1882.

At morn, at noon, at twilight dim,

Maria, thou hast heard my hymn;
In joy and woe, in good and ill.

Mother of God, be with me still.
*—Edgar Allan Poe, 1811-1849.

And here, the priceless Pearl, the Mother-Maid,
Lily and Rose of earth, of heaven the Gem,

Goddess and Queen of gods and mortals made.

And these beside, as round the central stem
Clusters the petalled flower, in scent and hue

Flawless, complete, a self-crowned diadem;

So, those great spirits divine, faithful and true,

In many fanes enshrined, by many a tongue
Invoked, who, to blind men the labyrinth clue,
That heavenward leads, ’mid scorn and worst of wrongs

Have freely placed in hand, together blent,
Here tuned of renovate love the nuptial song.

As in a dream I heard and saw.
-—W. G. Palgrave, 1826-1888.

Blest Mother of my Lord, I fly to thee,
Who ever hast a mother’s love for me,
Who prayest ceaselessly to God for me.

No love of Jesus is flamed-winged like thine.
For all His overflowing heart is thine;

My Mother Mary, make thy Jesus mine.

Thou chosen Daughter of the Living One;

Thou sun-clothed Mother of the Living One;

Thou Bride, star-crowned, of the Living One;

Thou helpest souls on earh who know not thee,
The souls who trust with childlike love to thee,
The souls who look in pain and grief to thee.

My mother thou are dearest to the King,
Touching the golden sceptre of the King,

Thy sinless hands uplifting to the King,

My Mother, evermore the Queen of Heaven,
The risen stars are round thy throne in heaven;

Thy Son, the Saint’s Desire, is King of Heaven.



40

Bring me to Him who sought on earth for me,
Who lived, divinely sorrowful, for me

—

Thy Jesus, Son of God, who died for me.
—H. A. Rawes; 1826-1885.

Mother of the Fair Delight,

Thou Handmaid perfect in God's sight,
Now sitting fourth beside the Three,
Thyself a Woman trinity

—

Being a Daughter born to God,

Mother of Christ from stall to rood,

And Wife unto the Holy Ghost

—

Oh, when our need is uttermost,
Think that to such as death may strike
Thou once wert Sister sister-like;

Thou Headstone of humanity,

Groundstone of the great mystery,

Fashioned like us, yet more than we.

—Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1828-1882.
And "yet, to some the name of Mary bears
No special meaning, and no gracious power;

In that dear word they seek for hidden snares,

As wasps find poison in the sweetest flower.

But, faithful hearts can see, o’er doubts and fears,

The Virgin-link that binds the Lord to earth;

Which, to the upturned trusting face, appears

Greater than angel, though of human birth.
—John Boyle O’Reilly, 1844-1890.

Not all thy purity, although

the whitest moon that ever lit
the peaks of Lebanonian snow

Shone dusk and dim compared with it

—

Not that great love of thine, whose beams

Transcended, in their virtuous heat,

Those suns which melt the ice-bound streams,

And make earth’s pulses newly beat

—

It was not these that from the sky

Drew down to thee the Eternal Word;
He looked on thy humility;
He knew thee, ‘Handmaid of thy Lord.’

—Audrey DeVere, 1889.
If, as time wanes, my spirit sinks oppressed,
Crushed under cares that know not change, nor measure,

Thou soothe my sorrows on thy mother-breast;
And oh, when near my time for homeward passing,
And my frail vessel almost sights the land,
And my tired eyes their last of earth are glassing,
Thou gently close them with thy holy hand;

Then, as I tread the vale with staff and rod,

Commend my spirit to the hands of God.
—Pope Leo XIII., 1891.

*In his “Carmina Mariana,” Orby Shipley, the eminent English con-

vert, has, in a volume of over 450 pages, comprising more than 360
subjects, brought together most, if not all, of the best verse written in

honor of the Blessed Virgin from the earliest times to our own.

Benziger Bros, New York and Chicago are the American Agents