THE VIRGIN MARY Misrepresented by the Roman Church.  
●…RT I.   

Imprimatur, Liber cui titulus [The Virgin Mary misrepresented by the Roman Church.]  
Guil. Needham, R R. in Christo P. ac D. Wilhelmo Archiepisc. Cant. a Sacr. Domest. Nou. 23. 1687.   

THE VIRGIN MARY Misrepresented by the Roman Church. In the TRADITIONS of that CHURCH, Concerning her Life and Glory; And in the DEVOTIONS paid to her, As the Mother of God. Both showed out of the Offices of that Church, the Lessons on her Festivals, and from their allowed Authors.  
PART I. Wherein Two of her Feasts, her Conception and Nativity, are considered.  
Valde honoranda est, inquis, Mater Domini. Bene admones; sed Honor Reginae justitiam diligit. Virgo regia falso non eget honore, veris cumulata honorum titulis. Bernard. Epist. 174.  
Securitas laudis in laude Dei est; ibi laudator securus est, ubi non timet ne de Laudato erubescat. S. August. Enar. in Psal. 94.  
Restat ut homo mendaciter non fingat apertum, quod Deus voluit manere occultum. Author Serm. 35. de Assumpt. apud Augustinum.  
LONDON, Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard, MDCLXXXVIII.   

CONTE●… OF THE PRINCIPAL MAT●…RS  

INfallibility vainly pretended, unless it be as secure a 〈…〉 Worship, as of our Faith. 〈…〉  
This pretended in Canonising Saints, though certainly 〈…〉  
Devotions in the Roman Church conducted by Interest. ●  
Strange Worship given to the Virgin in that Church, and to what height they have advanced her. Ibid.  
False Charges against Protestants, that they cast Contempt upon her 4  
Who say all that is fitting, and all that the Scripture teaches of her. 5, 6  
This Church has made a new Gospel about her Life and Excellencies. 6, 7  
What Rules and Measures they take in describing her. Ibid.  
What Privileges they confer on her, whose Numbers still increase. 8, 9  
What they plead for the large Account they give of her, when the Scriptures and Antiquity say so little. 10, 11, etc.  
Their fulsome Flatteries of her; Submissions to her, and Expectations from her. Marg. p. 15  
Of her Predestination, and their applying Scriptures to her that belong only to Christ. 17, 18  
The Arians excused by what they do herein. 19  
They give her the Privilege of being first elected, and all others predestinated for her sake. 20  
The late Contemplator's new Logic, in referring all to her as the Means and the Conveyance of all to us. 21  
The Jesuit Salazar's blasphemous Conceits, applying all in Prov. viij. to her. 21, 22, etc.  
Of the blessed Virgin's Parent's and Conception, out of their Offices. 27  
Their Legend more at large, out of the English Festival. 28  
All taken out of Two Apocryphal Authors especially. 30, 31, etc.  
Of the Riches and Barrenness of her Parents. 34  
How they cry up their Faith above that of Abraham. Ibid.  
The Fable of Joachim's being rebuked for Barrenness by the Highpriest, and comforted by an Angel. 35, 36  
How they will have the B. Virgin to have been conceived. 38  
Their singular Conceits about the Formation of her Body. 39  
Wherein they aim at making her in all like to Christ. 40  
They give her the use of Reason in the first moment of her Conception. 41  
What Contemplations they say she had in her Mother's Womb. 42  
Her Charity then also exercised, and what Measures of Grace and Merits she then attained to. 43  
It was once by them accounted Christ's Privilege to have the use of  in his Mother's Womb, now granted to her. 44  
Her immaculate Conception asserted in allowed Offices. 46, etc.  
This Privilege of hers never thought of by the Ancient Fathers. 56  
How ridiculous the Controversy about it is, considering the small Difference betwixt the Opinion of the Maculists and Immaculists. 57  
The Maculists have the old and great Schoolmen on their Side. 59  
St. Austin is expressly theirs. 60  
Their Adversaries would have it a Secret in former Ages, and why kept so. 61  
The Scriptures clear and full for the Maculists. 62  
Redemption and Salvation there as general as Sin and Death. Ibid.  
Her preservative Redemption an absurd Shift. Ibid.  
Two former Popes against it. 63  
Other Arguments of the Maculists. Ibid.  
What the Immaculists plead for themselves. 64  
Scotus, the first Assertor of their Opinion, and doubtful in it. Ibid.  
It has now got the Name and Credit of the Pious Opinion. Ibid.  
The Woment engage stiffly on this side. 65  
Their Proofs from Scripture all Allegorical. 65, 66  
Proofs from Reason. 1. Arg. That otherwise she had not been a fit Mother of God. 67  
2. Arg. From the Virulency of Original Sin. 68  
3. Arg. That Christ had not been a good Son, unless he had preserved her. 69  
4. Arg. That the Maculists Opinion must needs offend the Blessed Virgin. 70  
5. Arg. That if Christ had not preserved her from Original Sin, she must needs be guilty of Actual Sin. Ibid.  
How coursely Salmeron has used the Fathers and slighted them. 71  
The Immaculists urge Miracles, and some of them set down. 72, 73.  
The remarkable Story of Thomas de Bohemia's Leg restored. 74  
Visions and Revelations urged by the Immaculists. Ibid  
The advantages we receive by these Proofs. 1. That we are excused from believing the Miracles they urge us withal. 75, etc.  
2. That they themselves regard not this Proof, but turn it off as that which produces no certainty of Faith. 77  
We may be excused by the Pope's sullenness, who dare not determine the Point upon the Evidence of Miracles, etc. 78  
The History of the Embassy of Two Kings of Spain to Two Popes, urging in vain the Decision of this Controversy. 80, 81, etc.  
What Comfort the Immaculists have above their Adversaries, though it be not decided 93  
How the Virgin was preserved from Original Sin, according to some of their Authors. 95  
Concerning the Feast of her Conception, that its Institution is Novel. 96  
Revelations of no Authority, the ground of it; and when first kept. 96, 97, etc.  
This Feast pretended by S. Oringas Revelation to be kept in Heaven. 99  
S. Bernard questions the Revelations for this Feast. Ibid.  
This Feast interrupted in England, where it first was observed. 100  
This Feast opposed by many great Men of their Church. Ibid.  
Of the blessed Virgin's Nativity, and the Devotions relating to it. 102, etc.  
Their bold asserting that her Birth was the Desire and Expectation of the Patriarches. 109  
We are to believe that Wonders preceded her Birth. 110  
Baronius will not allow us to be in our Wits if we deny this, though he produces none in particular. Ibid.  
Those that are produced are without colour of Truth. 111  
The time of her Birth, how exactly they calculate it. 112  
They urge Motives of Congruity for the time. 113  
They differ about the Place of her Birth, but most say at Nazareth. 114  
Poza's great doubt whether she came the common way into the World. 115  
They will not allow her to cry, or make her Mother cry out when she was born. Ibid.  
That her Body shone with Brightness, and breathed a Perfume from her Birth. Ibid. and 116  
A great Question whether she had a Guardian-Angel assigned, and who he was. 116, 117  
Their Harangues about the Nobleness of her Birth. Ibid.  
The Devotions of the Church of Rome to the blessed Virgin's Parents. 118, etc.  
Many Authors assert their Sanctification from the Womb. 123  
S. Anne made the Mother of more Children besides the Virgin. 124  
Devotions to the Virgin and her two Sisters, whose Names were Mary. Ibid.  
Concerning the Feast of her Nativity; this confessed to be Novel. 125  
France contends for the Glory of first observing this Festival. 126  
The Jesuit Inchofer would give it to the City of Messina, ingratitude for a Letter the blessed Virgin wrote to them. 127  
The Virgin's Letter (being a Rarity) set down out of him. 128  
The Foundation of this Feast was a private Revelation to a Man without a Name. 129  
Mel. Canus censures such Revelations, 〈…〉. Ibid.  
The Calumny of Saunders and Th●… 〈◊〉 that this Feast was blotted out of our Calendar to make room for Queen Elizabeth's Birthday. 130  
Several scandalous and profane Meditations upon the blessed Virgin's Nativity, set down out of their Authors. 131, etc.  
An Office of the Name of the blessed Virgin. 134, etc.  
Nothing extraordinary in the Name of Mary, it being the same with Miriam. 140  
How many significations they give of it, and pitch upon that which has least probability. viz. Stella Maris, Star of the Sea. 141  
Chrysologus his admirable Conceit about Maria. 142  
Saints pretend to have found sweetness in her Name, both as to their Smell and Taste. Ibid.  
Bonaventure's Reason why she is called a bitter Sea. 143  
The Mysteries they find in every Letter of her Name. 143, 144  
Mysteries in this Name as consisting of Five Letters. Ibid.  
So there is also supposing it to consist only of Four Letters. 145  
S. Gerard taught the Hungarians not to pronounce it, or with great Reverence, uncovering the Head, etc. Ibid.  
In Poland a Crime to name any Woman Mary. Ibid.  
Their Fancy that Angels admire this Name and love to hear it procounced. 146  
And that the blessed Virgin herself delights to hear it also. Ibid.  
The manner of reciting Jesus Psalter. 147  
They lay great stress upon the repeating merely the Name of Mary, without any other sense adjoined. 148  
The extravagant story of a converted Japan Woman. 149  
Saying an Ave Maria seventy two times with Genuflections, a prescribed Exercise of Devotion. Ibid.  
Another Exercise of repeating Five Psalms that begin with the Five Letters of her Name. 150  
Brussels Charity in Honour of her Name. 151  
Beggars in the Mogul's Country ask Alms in her Name. Ibid.  
They conclude her Name to be more sweet than that of Jesus. 152  
And in some respects more powerful and prevalent. 153  
The great Effects that follow the use of her Name. 154, 155.    

ERRATA.  
PAge 10. line 30. read their. p. 26. l. 28. r. Salute. p. 32. l. 1. r. which. p. 34. l. 4. r. division. p. 36. marg. r. quiliae. p. 38. l. 16. r. Hic. p. 134. deal Sect. I. p. 140. l. 8. r. make.   

THE INTRODUCTION. Giving an account whence the Roman Church has so much to say concerning the B. Virgin, when the Scriptures and the Ancient Writers of the Church say so little of Herald  
THAT Infallibility which the Church of Rome only challenges, and so much boasts of, can signify no less than this, That she expects that all Christians should securely commit, not only their Faith, but also their Devotions to be conducted by her. For it is not so necessary in Religion, to be instructed in all its Articles, and to believe aright, as it is duly to obey and serve God: nor is every wrong Opinion so dangerous, as false and mistaken Worship. If a Physician should proclaim himself for infallible, the reputation of his skill would quickly sink, if he failed ordinarily in the Regiment of Health, and made more Distempers than he cured. And no wise Traveller would choose him for the Guide of his way, who though he perfectly knew every step of it, yet was wont to lead those whom he conducted, to repose themselves under Tree of unhealthful shade and influence; and to bring them, for the quenching their thirst, to those Springs whose Waters were neither clear nor wholesome. A learned person 
a Serarius in Litaneut. 2. Quest. 11. 〈…〉  of this Church, is so sensible of this truth, that he is fain to defend, that their Infallibility extends as far as to the Canonization of Saints; and that there can be no mistake committed herein; for, says he, If in this matter the Church can be deceived and deceive, the pillar and ground of T●…th would tatter and fall; the Lord Christ would forsake his Spouse; the Holy Ghost would not teach those that are his all necessary Truth; Peter would not in his Successors feed the Flock of Christ with the necessary food of Religion; no nor Jesus Christ himself the Prince of Shepherds: For he to whom the Pope gives his Testimony, and pronounces, that he is authentically to be venerated with Religious Worship, and to be invoked with public Prayers; if such a one may prove to be no Saint, is it not plain, that a false Testimony is given, deadly poison, lying worship, & c.? Another great Spanish Preacher says, 
b Carthagena de arcan. Deip. l. 14. Hom. 13. Nihil. re ipsa falsum Ecclesia Catholica quae spiritu veritatis regitur, colendum potest praecipere fidelibus.  The Catholic Church which is governed by the Spirit of Truth, cannot require the Faithful to Worship any thing really False. And Cardinal Bellarmine 
c De Sarct. Beat. l. 1. c. 9  gives us a great many reasons to prove that the Church cannot err in Canonization of Saints.  
But how false this Assertion is, has been shown them in numerous instances, 
d V Reflections on the Devotions of the Roman Church.  not long since. That a great many of the Saints they venerate are Fabulous, and no evidence that such were ever in being; some Canonised for Saints that were ●o●tesens and Traitors, ●eady and highminded, such as spoke evil of Dignities, and ●njustly opposed the Powers ordained of God. The Reader will see false Miracles and false Tales advanced to give them reputation and credit; and, which is worse still, the Falsity so apparent, that those who make use of them to abuse the simple thereby, must needs, if they be but tolerably knowing in History, be self-condemned. In ●…e, he will see so clearly that the interests of the World, and not those of true Piety, both makes many of their Saints and warms their Devotions to them, that he may well suspect, that in this Church Faith has not been well preserved, when he sees so little regard had to the keeping of a good Conscience. Yes I must show you far greater a●…es than these, I 〈◊〉 such as are committed in their Devotions to the B. Virgin Mary.  
Here we have a new scene opened, and a very strange one. They have put a Sceptre into the hands of this Handmaid of the Lord, as she calls herself 
e Luk. 1. 3● ; they have advanced her into a Throne by God himself; and, without ask his ●ea●e, call her the Queen of Heaven. Some of them give her the name of a Goddess, and if we may judge of them by the Worship they pay to her (which is the way the Scripture takes in the description of Idolater) 
f Esa. 44. ●… & ca●●…, ●…, 16, etc.  she is the Goddess of this Church. They  so much upon her 〈◊〉 Excellencies, that they ●adly God himself to fall in Love with her, as his Spouse: And a late bold Jesuit 
h In. ●… Convelt. Theatr. excellent, 〈◊〉 p. 20.  da●es to g●…e this for a Reason, why she is not a Goddess, because there can be but Three persons in the Deity, otherwise, Deus Deam ve●et, si posset; God has kindness enough to make her one, if he could.  
Who can forbear, when he considers the madness of this Worship, from crying out, Lord! into what extravagant folly and heights of impiety does that Superstition 〈◊〉, where the wisdom of Men prescribes the way of their Religion, without once consulting their Maker? For we may as well 〈◊〉 the Question to this Church, as Epiphanius of old 〈…〉 Collyridians', 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. What Scripture hath told us any thing of this? What Prophet has 〈◊〉 leave to worship any Man; much less a Woman? The great silence of the Scripture in this matter is acknowledged by themselves (as we shall see by and by) and the Reader will meet with admirable Reasons; why this Church is so copious in giving an account of her, when the Scripture says nothing of it. In the mean time, I cannot but mention a Complaint that Pet. Cla●iacensis once made (as Espencan● 
k In 2. Ep. ad Timoth. c. 4. §. 21.  relates it) of the Service of St. Benet. That among the false Canticles in the Church of God, and among the loud trifles that were odious to him, on the Feast of the great Father 〈◊〉 he heard a Hymn sung, and was compelled to bear a 〈…〉 it, in which Song he found at least Four and twenty Ly●…. This Trade you see went pretty forward in this Church 〈◊〉 Five hundred Years ago; but since that time it is va●…ty improved, and in the case of the B. Virgin, above all other 〈◊〉 the fictions are far more numerous and bold; because 〈◊〉 bear proportion to that height to which their fanci●… 〈◊〉 advanced her. This plain dealing our Adversaries 〈◊〉 bear, and no wonder, since nothing can more vex a 〈◊〉 than to be discovered. All that have remarkably com● to this, have been loaded with their Calumnies, alive or dead▪ no matter which. Thus they have told the World, that ●…ther 
l Cochlaeus in acts Intheri.  like a jolly Glutton, having made a large meal at ●upper, the Devil, the same night, strangled him in his 〈◊〉 That Calvin 
m Hier. Bolsec in vit. Calv.  rotten alive, and died of the Lousy Disease: And a Cretian Liar 
n Andr. Eudaemon Johan.  forces the Learned Casa●bon to prove, in almost half a Chapter of his Book 
p Exercit. 1. Sect. 4.  that his Father was not hanged, as the Jesuit had reported of him. But the most spiteful charge against us, and, if it were true, not to be answered, is, That Protestants cast contempt upon the B. Virgin herself. Bellarmine says 
q De Sanct. Beat. c. 13.  The Heretics now give no honour to the Virgin. And Coster the Jesuit 
r Praef. ad Med. de vit. & Laud. B. Virg.  accuses us, That we reduce the Mother of God into the rank of ordinary Women; and with impure Tongues fear not to blaspheme her, as one obnoxious to sin, to vicious perturbations of soul, and to the wrath of God. Wherein they deal with us, as they did with the Opposers of their Superstition heretofore; for thus Th. Raynaudus 
s Diptycha Marian. p. 233.  reports of the Albigenses, That they called the B. Virgin Monoculam & meretricem. But our Adversaries themselves in another mood will be our Compurgators in this matter. Carthagena 
t Lib. 6. de Arcan. Deip. Homil. 17. §. 3.  has mustered up the say of many of the first Reformers, giving large Encomiums to the B. Virgin, such as any Catholic might repeat after them; and particularly citys this saying of Calvin, I trust in God it shall never be said of me, that I have an aversion to Mary, towards whom not to be well affected, I esteem it a certain sign of a reprobate mind. And Canisius 
u Citante eod. ibid.  gives singular thanks to immortal God, who not only out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings, but even of Adversaries, has perfected his Mother's praise. There needs but a little Charity to make any one believe, that it is no ways likely, while we profess to adore the Son, that we should think meanly, much less speak contemptuously or blasphemously of the Mother. No, we are so far from it, that we are always ready to own her as a most blessed person; and that she was endued with Excellencies far above the common size of her Sex: And though we cannot determine the measures of her Virtue and Sanctity, yet we are sure they were such as deserve always to be admired by us, and imitated: We admire particularly her singular privilege in being chosen to be the Mother of our Lord; and acknowledge, that she wanted no Gifts nor Graces that might qualify her thereunto. But as we are persuaded, that we come not short in giving her all due praises; so we think it both possible and dangerous, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to advance her above what is meet, as Epiphanius speaks 
x In Haeres. 79.  and we bewail the sad instances of this in the Roman Church, and are not to be blamed if we avoid this rock, as well as that other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of those that undervalue the Holy Virgin. The same Father has cautioned us, That we are not to honour the Saints above what is befitting, but to honour him that is their Lord 
y Epiph. ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. : and we unfeignedly consent to what he says, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Let Mary be honoured; adding withal, Let the Father, Son and Holy Ghost be adored, but let no Man adore or worship Mary. 
z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  In a word, we hearty subscribe to what one of their one Poets says of her. 
a Mantuan. Fast. l. 12. de Concept. Virg.  
Non est laudis inops Virgo, tot floribus Hybla  
Non redolet— segetes non tot spicantur aristis  
Per Libyam, quot sancta parens praeconia laudum  
Verarum si quaeris habet; figmenta relinque,  
Et quod scire nequis, ne divinare labora,  
Incassum—  That is, 
The Virgin lacks no praise, not Hybla yields  
More Flowers, nor Ears of Corn in Libyan Fields,  
So fair and thick, as her true Virtues rise:  
Think not to grace her then with specious Lies;  
Nor give her those perfections, by fond guess,  
Thou ne'er canst find, and only make her less.   
Herein indeed lies one great difference betwixt us and them, That we, observing that it is the plain design of the Holy Writers, in the particular account they give of the wondrous Birth and Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, to engage all Men to believe, That he is the Christ 
b Joh. 20.31.  the Son of God; that our eternal Life depends upon our knowing him who is the only true God, 
c Joh. 17.3.  and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent; that there is no Salvation in any other, nor no other name 
d Act. 4.12.  under Heaven given among Men but his, whereby we must be saved; and that having the power of Judging all the World committed to him, all Men are bound 
e Joh. 5.22,23.  to honour the Son, even as they honour the Father; we, I say, finding this to be the great concern and scope of the Gospel, are well satisfied with those few words of Truth and soberness, we meet with there, that relate to the B. Virgin his Mother; and are not needlessly curious to inquire any farther. It's plain it was him they designed to advance and not her: Even the Holy Spirit's over-shadowing her Virgin Womb, was rather intended to proclaim the Glory and Majesty of his Incarnation, than of her Conception. The Scripture mentions some other instances of her Faith and Piety, wherein it places her chief Happiness, as St. Austin's known saying expresses it; 
f Tom. 6. lib. de Sanct. Virgin. Beatior ergo Maria percipiendo fidem Christi, quam concipiendo carnem Christi.  Mary was more blessed in receiving the Faith of Christ, than by Conceiving the Flesh of Christ: For Materna prop●nquitas nihil Mariae profuisset, nisi felicius Christum corde quam carne gestasset: Her nearness to him as a Mother had not profited her, if she had not been more happy in bearing Christ in her Heart, than in her Womb. Which also our Saviour confirms in that saying of his, 
g Luc. 11.28.  Yea rather blessed are they which hear the Word of God and keep it. As for other matters concerning her, where the Scriptures have not gone before us, we are contented to remain in the dark; concluding that we are not one way or other much concerned in them; for if we had, God would no doubt have declared them to us. We think it necessary for the honour of our Lord, to believe, that his Mother remained a Virgin till she bore him and brought him forth: We think it highly probable too that the Honour of our Lord preserved her a Virgin ever after; and we detest the bad Spirit of Helvidius, that made a contest of it, and brought it into dispute in the Church. But yet we are of the great S. Basil's mind 
h Homil. de humana Christi generatione.  that if she had not remained a Virgin afterwards, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Doctrine according to Godliness would not have suffered by it; and therefore we lay not such stress upon it, as upon the former, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, We leave it without anxious inquiry about it. But 〈◊〉 this Church, having as much business with the Virgin as with Christ himself, and making indeed more stir about her; the modesty of the first Faith, and the silence of the Scripture, give them but little comfort; if they cannot find in the old Gospel enough to proclaim her a fit object of men's worship, and to engage their Religious addresses to her, rather than fail of this, which they are resolved upon, they will make a new Gospel, which the Apostles never Preached; and venture the Curse that is threatened to them that do so, Gal. 1.8. First indeed the words of the Scripture must be Wiredrawn, and Every Syllable of it that relates to her stretched and set upon the Tenters; but still they find, that the Bed is shorter than that a Man can stretch himself on it, and the Covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it 
i Esa. 28 20.  They are therefore resolved to add where that is defective, and to feign those privileges for her which they cannot find there. To show a little their fine way of proceeding in this Matter.  
They have laid down this for an undoubted Rule, as any Aphorism in Hypocrates, that Mensura perfectionum B. Verginis est maternitas Dei. Her being the Mother of God, is the measure of the Perfections of the Blessed Virgin. Not to dispute at present the Truth of it, which may be granted in a sober Sense, let us see what Conclusions they draw from it. Aquinas 
k P. 1. qu. 25. art. 6. ad 4tum.  infers, That the Blessed Virgin, because she is the Mother of God, has a kind of infinite Dignity belonging to her, from that infinite good which is God; and that in this respect, nothing better than she could be created, as there can be nothing better than God. Ant. Spi●…lus the Jesuit says: 
l Maria Deip. thronus Dei c. 5. s. 4.  From this Motherhood of God, that Maxim owned by all Divines is drawn; viz. That there is no gift of Grace that was ever granted to any pure Creature, which was not bestowed upon the Virgin in a like or more perfect manner, unless it were repugnant to her Sex. Wherefore all the Graces, Virtues, and Privileges divided among other Saints are found collected in her alone. And they are very fond of that saying of S. Bernard, 
m Epist. ad Can. Lugdun. Quod itaque vel paucis mortalium constat fuisse collatum, fas certe non est suspicari tantae Virgini esse negatum.  Whatsoever has been granted to other Saints, though but to a few, we are not to suspect that it has been denied to so glorious a Virgin. Aquinas 
n Part. 3. qu. 27. art. 1. 4, 5.  in another place from these principles has deduced her Sanctification before she was Born; the Privilege never to have committed any Sin mortal or venial, and a fullness of all Graces above all others. This, one would judge, is pretty fair; but a daring Jesuit 
o J. Baptista Poza. Elucidar. l. 3. tr. 16. p. 1050.  resolving to enlarge the Charter of her Privileges, has advanced this position, That all true Theology does require, That in those things that belong to the greater glory of Jesus and his Mother, if the Church does not prohibit it, (and they are sure it will not interpose to the hindrance of the Mother at least) we are not to look what Two or Three, Five or Ten Doctors have said in the Case, but what will best defend and secure the Honour of Mary and Jesus. Here now the door is set wide open to give admittance to all the throng of Fables, that any one will invent, under pretence to advance her Honour: The Evangelists have said Truth enough to make Jesus glorious; and they are resolved to try what may be done for Mary in the other way: And every Monk or Nun of a busy Fancy, is perpetually teeming forth some new privilege to grace the B. Virgin withal. Albertus Magnus 
p De Land. Virg. super missus est.  had got them up to Fourteen. Vinc. Bandelis 
q De Concept. Virg. Part. 2. p. 183.  reckons Twelve Privileges bestowed on her from the Fourteenth Year of her Age and afterwards, which considering this date of them is an increase: But Spinellus has made them up above a Score, 
r Mariae Thronus Dei. c. 20. p. 252, 253.  which I will set down out of him, that the Reader may try how many of them he could have Collected by perusing the Four Gospels, without the help of those forenamed Principles. They are these. 1. She was not only elected by God, but pre-elected before all others, Cantic. 6.8,9. There are Sixty Queens, and Eighty Concubines, and Virgins without number: My Beloved, my undefiled is but one, the only one of her Mother, the choice one of her that bore her. 2. That she was promised by Heaven to the Fathers, prefigured by mystical Miracles, foretold by Prophetic Oracles, and by the Sibyls was honourably predicted. 3. That she sprang by the kindness of God from barren Parents, that vowed to give to God the Offspring he should bestow on them; that an Angel foretold her Nativity to her Parents, which we do not read in the Scriptures concerning any other Woman, (no nor of her neither there.) 4. That she only of all the Children of Adam, that descended from him by the ordinary way of Propagation (per seminalem rationem) was free from Original Sin. 5. That in the very beginning of her immaculate Conception, she was so confirmed in Grace, that ever after she was without stain of actual, though but venial, Sin. 6. That the Foams peccati, that which like Tinder so soon kindles in us, was extinct in her; so that she never was sensible of that Tyrannous Law of the Members, or the Rebellion of the lower Part. 7. That in her very Conception she had the use of Reason, and made a Vow of Virginity to God; from which instant also she began to merit, and that the merit of her Works was never interrupted, no not so much as in her sleep. 8. That in the same Conception of hers she was adorned with all Theological and Cardinal Virtues; and that in that Heroic Degree, as well as with all the gratiae gratis datae, graces freely given. 9 That at the Age of Three Years she was in the Temple, according to her Parents Vow, consecrated to God, and there was most holily Educated. 10. That this Blessed Person among Women, escaped all that Curse to which mankind, by reason of Adam's Sin, was obnoxious. 11. That she alone, that had conceived without any lustful Pleasure, did not undergo the Irksomeness that other Women with Child are subject to. 12. That by a Virgin Birth she brought forth God without pain. 13. That the Lord's Body exhibited in the H. Eucharist, is form of her Blood in her Virgin Womb, which therefore is compared, Cant. 7. to a heap of Wheat set about with Lilies. 14. That she in a singular manner did many ways cooperate to our Salvation. 15. That the Fruit of Christ's Passion was in a singular manner communicated to her, and standing courageously by the Cross of her Son, was pierced through with the Sword of grief, and therefore she first of all saw Christ when he arose from the Dead. 16. That she was the Instructor and Mistress of the Apostles and Teachers. 17. That her Body did not see Corruption; but being assumed and taken up to Heaven in Body and Soul before the common Resurrection, she was placed above the Choires of Angels and Orders of Saints, at the Right-hand of her Son, where she makes a distinct Order (Chorus) above them all, and she alone obtained more glory than all the rest of the Saints and Angels put together. 18. That her presence brought a great deal of accidental Joy to the Blessed in Heaven. 19 That she is the Queen of Heaven, and Lady of all the Angels and Saints. 20. That she is the common Advocate of Sinners, the Mother of Mercy, the Mediatrix to intercede for them; and that she is also the Mother of the Living, and promotes the Salvation of all Men. 21. That she is so formidable and terrible to the Devils, that they presently fly away at the mention of her Name, and much more at her Command; and that she hath powerfully broken their Head. 22. That all the Graces and Privileges that are dispersed among other Saints, are found united in her, after a far more perfect manner. Thus far he. But others 
* Paul Comitolus reckons up 130. Privileges. Alegambe Bibl. p. 363.  have enlarged her Privileges to above an Hundred.  
These are a few Instances, among many, which will afterwards occur, that give the Reader a taste of the New Faith and Gospel, concerning the Virgin Mary, which is taught in this Church. With such particulars as these, the Hymns, and Lessons of their Breviaries are stuffed: For to establish the believe of them, many of their Festivals are Instituted; and to the Scandal of Christianity, as well as the eternal reproach of their Missions, Hierome Xaveri●s a Jesuit, in the History of Christ, which he published in the Persian Tongue, An. Dom. 1602. being commanded to give an account of the Life and Actions of our Saviour by the Great Mogul; he, not contenting himself with an Impartial delivery of that Faith which the Apostles taught, and was once delivered to the Saints, has, together with the Gospel Story, interwoven idle Tales, and fabulous Legends, derived from Gossipping Tradition, or taken out of Books confessed by themselves to be Apocryphal, and the Fictions of ancient Heretics, especially what refers to the Bl. Virgin; which I suppose he intended for this end, that all his Converts should set her up for an Object of their Religious Veneration; otherwise that first Faith might have been sufficient for them, which served those first Christians, and made them wise to Salvation, who only worshipped God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  
From all that has been said it cannot but appear, that this Church has made a very bold attempt, for which they must answer one day to God, among the, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the many that have Adulterated the Word of God, and corrupted it by their bad mixtures: And there shame will still more appear, when their sorry pretences for doing all this are laid down and examined, which I shall now give a further account of.  
They confess 
s Carthagena de S. arcan. Deip. l. 13. hom. 1.  that it has been the complaint of many, and who have taken it very ill (aegre forentium) that the Canonical Scriptures have given us no History of the Nativity, Gests, and Death of the B. Virgin. Strange! say they, that they should be silent in matters of so great moment: For, says Pelbartus 
t Stellar. Coron. l. 7. p. 1. art. 1.  Matthew (Cap. 1.) writing the Genealogy of Christ, says only, Jacob begat Joseph the Husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. I thought he ought to have said, the Husband of Mary, who was the Daughter of Joachim, whom he miraculously begat of Anne his Wife, an Angel being employed to foretell it, and who was a most chaste Virgin, etc. Which complaint seems the more reasonable, because the Evangelists in the case of his Forerunner John the Baptist, have described his Birth, and the Dignity of his Parents, the Holiness of his Life, and the difficult and famous Passages of it, unto the end of his Life and Martyrdom; therefore much more ought they to have done thus of the Mother of God, etc.  
It's very easy for us to assoil this Objection, by telling these bold men, that it is not needful for us to know any thing further in this matter, when God thinks fit to say nothing to us: And let them prove, if they can, concerning John the Baptist, whose Story the Scripture has told, that it was unnecessary for us to know that. We may also add (if we had a mind to be guessing) What if the cause of the Scriptures silence about her Birth, etc. be the same, which one of their own Jesuits 
u Bonfrerius in Deut. 34.6.  gives about the place of Moses' Burial, which God would let no Man know of, lest the Israelites, who were prone to Idolatry, should take so admirable and almost divine a Man, for a God, and Worship him? Who also adds, That this in all probability was the subject of the Contest betwixt Michael the Archangel and the Devil (which S. Judas mentions v. 9) about the Body of Moses, that the Devil would have had the Sepulchre in which his Body lay, to be discovered, that thereby he might draw the Israelites to Idolatry; and Michael would have it hid, to prevent it.  
But they who must have the matters that concern the B. Virgin discovered, will find the solution of it a harder task. Yet something they will say, though little to the purpose, to unfold them Mystery of this spiritual Omission, as Pelbartus phrases it 
x Loc. Citat. . The Author of the Pomaerium says, That this Omission was, to excite the Devotion of the Faithful more towards her, that they might more greedily inquire after her Actions, her Life and Death. So indeed we see foolish Children cry the loudest after that which cannot be had: But I think those Devotions had better go out than flame, where God affords not his holy Fires to kindle them, nor any fuel to maintain them. Otherwise, as a Sorbon Doctor 
y Claud. Joly. Traditio antiqua adv. Jac Gaudinum. p. 178.  wisely notes, When Devotion only governs the Church, though it be the best (i. e. in the fervency and degree of it) yet it may sometimes speciously deceive. Gregorius Gallicanus 
z Mariale, p. 4.  would bring off the matter thus; Many, says he, are of this Opinion, That Christ resolved that he himself, and no other Pen or Tongue besides, would explain the Praises of his Mother: Therefore in the Canticles he has elegantly drawn her from head to foot, when he put the Pencil into Solomon 's hand to describe her. Which indeed is a good reason to prove that a Thousand of their Books concerning her might be burnt, since theirs must needs be superfluous, after that Draught of her to the Life in the Canticles of Christ's own doing. Aloys. Novarinus 
a Umbra Virg. p. 58. n. 187.  thought himself no doubt very Witty, when he gave this Answer to the Objection: Credo rei magnitudine pressos, etc. I believe the Evangelists, says he, being oppressed with the greatness and difficulty of the thing, abstained from meddling with that, which by no labour or skill of theirs they could perform, wherefore, like skilful Painters, they drew a veil, that under the covering and shade of silence, we might conjecture the more concerning her, because they had expressed nothing. To which reasoning I shall only make these two demands. 1. How come they to have the presumption to undertake that, which the inspired Writers found too heavy for their Shoulders, and would not meddle with? 2. Whence should arise this difficulty of describing her to them who had drawn the lines of our Saviour's Life, and finished it; unless he imagine greater Glories and Excellencies in the Mother, than in the Son of God? Canisius is very angry with us 
b Lib. 4. de Deip. c. 22. p. 478  and charges us with a heinous Error, for denying at this time so many things concerning Mary and her Dignity, which though not taken notice of in the Scriptures, nor presently delivered in the time of the Apostles, yet have been revealed by God to the later Ages as certain, and at length recommended for such by the Church. This indeed is somewhat to the purpose; for no Man can reasonably require, that God should manifest a thing sooner than he has a mind to, nor complain that that was not known in a former, which he reserved for a latter Age: Only that we may avoid being cheated, we expect as good evidence for the later that they are Divine, as God has given for the former; but without this the Church's recommendation will not create Faith in us, especially not that of their Church; which has played so many tricks in Religion. Poza 
c Elucidar. lib. 2. tract. 7. c. 1.  has this farther fetch, By this silence we are told, that there is nothing written in the Gospels, nothing in the Law and Prophets, which does not, after a sort, appertain to Mary. And in another place 
d Ibid. tract. 6. c. 1. , If you would comprise in short, what is more largely diffused in the Scriptures, know that Mary is the sum and brief of them all. Carthagena 
e De arcan. Deip. l. 2. hom. 2.  thinks, that this is a contrivance of the Divine Wisdom; because this silence does commend her Excellencies more fully, than the most eloquent Tongue can do; since her Dignity and Sanctity, supposing her to be the Mother of Jesus, is a first Principle, of which there need be nothing said. And so too the Author of the first Reason 
f Author Pomaerii loc. citat.  says, Whatsoever belongs to her Dignity, etc. is per se notum, known of itself by those who have an entire Faith in Jesus. This I see is the solution they most insist on. So Suarez, 
g Praefat. ad Tom. 2. in 3. partem.  Few things are said in the Gospels of her, because the intention of the Evangelists was wholly carried out to Christ, (thus far we are of his mind, and wish that they also had made him their scope more, and her less;) but he being known, and his Faith enough established, her Excellencies could not be unknown or hid. Or as Sherlog the Jesuit expresses it, 
h Anteloq. 3. in Cantic. n. 142.  It was necessary for us to know that Mary was the Mother of Christ; this the Evangelists sufficiently declared, and this her Honour being manifested, the rest might be collected therefrom, though they said no more. The force of this reasoning will appear, if you only change the name of Jesus for Mary, and put it thus: It was requisite for us to know that Jesus was the Son of God; (as necessary as that Mary was his Mother) this the Evangelists sufficiently declared, and this Dignity of his being manifested, the rest might be collected, though they said no more. We should have had an admirable Gospel, if this had been the way of writing it; much what I suppose like the History of the Seven Champions; for that Writer did not feign the Men; their worth and excellency was abundantly declared to the World before; he only collected, as every Writer of Romances does, what was proper for such worth to accomplish; and his Fancy ran much upon enchanted Castles and Giants with huge Maces in their Hands, which he makes his Hero's to dissolve and overcome. However, we have discovered, by what these Authors have told us, a secret which they had better have kept so still; that now we know what way has been taken in writing the History of the B. Virgin, and the Lives of other Saints; Two or Three Truths have been given, like a Ground to a skilful Musician; upon these they have run what Division they best fancied, and according to the skill of the writer, the Descant has been agreeable or otherwise; and it is remarkable, that commonly where any faithful and certain Records have said the least, there they have given the World the most large and complete Story. Which we are beholden to the aforesaid Greg. Gallicanus 
i Marial. p. 3.  for confessing the most plainly, and without any disguise, as the sense of some in this very case of the Scriptures silence concerning the B. Virgin; Dicunt aliqui, immensum esse laudum B. Virgins campum, ideoque liberum unicuique relinquere voluisse (sc. Deum) ut de eâ dicerent quod vellent: i. e. The field of her Praises is wide and immense, and therefore God would leave every Man at liberty, to say of her what he pleased.   

CHAP. I. An account of the Currant Faith of the Roman Church concerning the B. Virgin, and of the Worship they pay to her suitable to that Belief. Beginning with her Predestination, to her Nativity.  

WHatsoever I have asserted in the foregoing Introduction, will appear more clearly in that Romantic History this Church has given us of the B. Virgin's Life. Wherein we shall see both what the Church believes concerning her; and after that, what Worship they pay to her, agreeable to that Belief. And in doing this, I hope I shall not incur any Readers censure, no not so much as of the Romanist for taking this Method, since they themselves have given it me, in their own Offices upon the Feasts that are appointed to her honour; wherein we find these two are interwoven, her History and her Worship. To have set down only the last, viz. her Worship, would have been to present a naked Image of strange Devotion, enough to have frighted any Christian. The flattery of her being so fulsome 
k 
She infinitely surpasseth all the Excellencies of Men and Angels. Contemplations of the Life and Glory of H. Marry, p. 18. As it is not possible for the Tongue of a Seraphim, to explain to our comprehension the Shapes and Liveries of the heavenly Spirits, their Quires and Hierarchies, to blazon the Glories of the Saints, and to expound the Plenty, Pastimes and Language of the Divine Courtiers; so much rather is it impossible for a pure Creature to unfold the immense Attributes of the Maternity of Holy Mary, the Mother of Jesus; which gives to her an inherent right to all the perfections, so copiously by Providence dispersed amongst Creatures here beneath, the Stars in the Firmament, and the Angels in Heaven. Ibid. Ep. Dedic.  ; the veneration of a mere Creature so submiss and lowly 
l 
Whatsoever can be said of her, will be only an essay, infinitely too narrow to fill the orbs of her exuberant Sanctity, Grace and Glory.— I do with trembling attempt this great work (of explaining the Mysteries of her Life and immortal Glory) left searching into the Holies of so great a Majesty, I be oppressed with its brightness and splendours. Ibid. Epist. Dedic.— Entering a solemn covenant with Holy Mary to to be for ever her servant, Ibid. p. 12.— All Christians vow Obedience, Fealty and Homage to her, as to their supreme Governess, Leige-Lady and Advocate, Ibid. p. 21.— She justly claims a servitude from all pure creatures, Ibid. p. 8.  ; the expectations of receiving Blessings from her so high and excessive 
m 
Almighty God hath, by a solemn Covenant, pronounced her to be the Treasury of Wisdom, Grace and Sanctity, under Jesus; so that whatsoever Gifts are bestowed upon us by Jesus, we receive them by the Mediation of Mary; no one being gracious to Jesus, who is not devoted to Mary: Nor hath any one been specially confident of the Patronage of Mary, who hath not through her received a special blessing from Jesus: Whence its one great Mark of the Predestination of the Elect, to be singularly devoted to Mary: since she hath a full power, as a Mother, to obtain of Jesus, whatsoever he can ask of God the Father.— Neither hath any one petitioned Mary, who was refused by Jesus; or trusted in Mary, and was abandoned by Jesus. Ibid. p. 7.  
(Our Saviour speaks of many who shall say to him Lord, Lord, and yet he would not know them; but it should seem by this, if they had but known the secret of saying Lady, Lady, they would not have miscarried.)  ; that if there had been nothing said to give a rise to such Courtship, it could not escape the censure of extravagant Madness; whereas the History clothes the Image with an advantageous dress, and gives some colour at least to those applications, while it represents her not only in herself a subject of Excellencies and Perfections, far above those of Men and Angels, and nearly bordering upon the Divinity; but also one, who in the Intention of God was designed to have a great Hand in the conducting us to Happiness, a helper and co-worker with our Saviour himself in the work of our Redemption, and thereby fairly challenging a great share in our Veneration. So that if the things they say of her were but evidently true, the things they say to her in their Devotions might be the better born withal and justified.  
To prepare us for what we may expect to hear of her, when they bring her upon the stage of the World, give me leave only to premise, how they consider her in the Divine Decree, before she was conceived and born into the World.   

SECT. I. Of the B. Virgin's Predestination.  



Lectio. Prov. 8.  

Missal. Rom. ad Sept. 8. & 8. Decemb.  Dominus possedit me in initio viarum suarum, antequam quicquam faceret ab initio. Ab aeterno ordinata sum, ab antiquis antequam terra fieret. Nondum erant abyssi & ego concepta eram; necdum montes gravi mole constiterant, ante colles parturiebar, etc.   

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, from the beginning before he 〈◊〉 any thing. I was ord●…ed from everlasting, and of old before the Earth was made. When there was no Abyss I was already conceived; the heavy Mountains were not yet settled, I was brought forth before the Hills.    


Capitulum Ecclus. 24.  

Brev. Rom. ad 8. Sept. & 8. Decemb.  Ab initio & ante secula creata sum, & usque ad futurum non desinam, & in habitatione sanctâ coram ipso ministravi.   

From the beginning and before all Ages I was created, and I shall never fail; and I ministered before him in the holy habitation.    
The late Contemplations of the Life and Glory of H. Mary have given us a formal Office, for the Eternal Predestination of the Mother of Jesus; which runs thus.  

The Praise.  

P. 22.  Hail Mary full of Grace, our Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou amongst Women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy Womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us Sinners, now, and in the hour of our Death.  
Verse. Open my lips, O Mother of Jesus;  
Resp. And my Soul shall speak forth thy praise.  
V Divine Lady, be intent to mine aid;  
R. Graciously make haste to help me.  
V Glory be to Jesus and Mary;  
R. As it was, i●, and ever shall be.   

The Hymn.  
All hail, most high, most holy one,  
Above the Angels, beneath the Son, etc.  
Sad Rhimes.   

Anthiem.  
I was preordained from the beginning, before the Creation of the World; my Habitation was in the highest, and my Throne was seated on a Pillar of Light.   

Psalm. 8.  
Marry, Mother of Jesus, how wonderful is thy Name, even to the ends of the Earth.  
All magnificence be given to Mary; and let her be exalted above the Stars and Angels.  
Reign on high as Queen of Seraphims and Saints; and be thou Crowned with Honour and Glory.  
Innocency and Mercy hath exalted my Name above the 〈…〉.  
Exceeding glorious is Mary, the Mother of Jesus; thy Name is wonderful above the Clouds.  
Glory be to Jesus and Mary, as it was, is, and ever shall be.  
Amen.   

Anth. I was Preordained.  
V Holy Mary, Mother of God;  
R. Pray for us, Sinners, now, and in the hour of our Death.   

The Blessing.  
Through the Merits and Intercession of the Mother of Jesus may we come safe to the harbour of eternal Salvation.  
V Bid us be blessed, O Holy Mary;  
R. Bless us, O Marry, the Mother of Jesus.   

The Lesson.  
I Issued forth out of the Bosom of God on High, the first conceived before all Creatures; my Abode is in the Depths, and my Throne in a Pillar of Light. He who made me, took his rest in my Tabernacle; my In●…ence is in the choicest Blessings of my God, and my Possessi●… in the fullness of the Saints. For I am the Mother of 〈…〉, of holy Fear, Knowledge and Hope. In me is all grace of Truth, and righteous Ways, and all hope of Life and Virtue.  
Verse. Be thou, O Marry, merciful to us.  
R. And by thee be all Glory to Jesus.   

The Cantique.  
Let us Praise thee, O Mother of Jesus, let us acknowledge thee our Sovereign Lady.  
Let Angels and Men give Honour to thee, the first conceived of all pure Creatures.  
To thee the morning Stars, and highest Seraphims, sing Glory for thy magnificence.  
Make Intercession for us, O powerful Mother of Jesus: for God will not refuse thee our Petitions.  
Then shall we rejoice in the fullness of thy Glory: and shall sing the Praises of Jesus for ever.    

REMARKS.  
IT were easy, if it were as needful, to give the Reader a large Catalogue of the Ancients, who have made use of the forenamed places in the Proverbs, to prove the Divinity of our Saviour against the Arians, understanding Wisdom there, of him who is the Increated Wisdom of God. But just as they have betrayed the Christian cause against the Heathens, in the case of Images, since the same Distinctions, and Answers this Church makes me of to defend their Worship of them, may all be pleaded for the Justifying the Heathen Idolatry in that particular: So by their Application of these places of scripture to the B. Virgin, whi●… the Fathers generally thou●ht did belong only to Christ, and proved his existence before all Ages of the World; they have plainly put Answer into the mouths of those Heretics, to evacua●… the 〈◊〉 of all those Arguments; for those places may then be applied to Christ, though supposed a Cr●… 〈…〉 ●eer: Man, as well as to la●, 〈◊〉 must, be 〈…〉 a mere Woman. Cartha●…na 
a L. 1. de arc. Deip. ho. 2. p. 9  is so 〈…〉 that not being able to deny what by the Authority of his Church he is forced to own, nor yet to disown the other, he thus agrees the matter: Since those things which are spoken of the infinite Wisdom of God, are verified also of the B. Virgin, it is necessary that from the infinity of the Son, she borrow a kind of infinite Dignity; and from thence those Words may agree to both, though in a different Sense. And another 
b Car. Sweet thoughts of Jesus and Mary, p. 293.  thus, What was said of the eternal Wisdom, by eternal Birthright and property, is applied to her by the wisdom of the Church, guided by the H. Ghost, by attribution and participation: Our Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways.  
This therefore is now their business, to advance her as high as is possible, and to give her Prerogatives above all other Creatures; of which many of their Authors 
c Cited by Raynaudus, Pipped. Mar. p. 130.  make this to be one, That after Christ, she was elected the first of all others. So our Contemplator 
d Contemplate. I. and Gl. of Mary, p. 21.  Thou wast the first and most delicious Object of God's Love towards pure Creatures, from the beginning of Eternity. Which they Illustrate thus 
e Carthagena. Ibid. p. 7. : As God decreed to constitute our first Parent Adam to be the Head of Mankind, and gave him Eve for his Companion, taken out of his side while he was a sleep; so for the Reparation of Mankind, he predestinated Christ to be the Head of another spiritual Offspring, and out of his side whilst he slept upon the Cross, he brought out this second Eve the Mother of all Living by Grace. And to this purpose they cite Prov. 8.25. Before the Mountains were settled, before the Hills I was brought forth; that is, 
f Spinellus, Ibid. c. 14. p. 198.  I was brought forth before all Angels by predestination (for they are the high Hills by reason of the sublimity of their Nature and Glory.) When there was to Depths I was 〈…〉 ●hen Original Sin, which is like 〈…〉 ●s not yet considered as foreseen by God. One has dared 
* Nierembergiu●, L'aimable Mere de Jesus. cap. 8. p. 59  to address thus to God, You yourself, O great God, took pleasure to entertain yourself before all time, in this sweet and agreeable cogitation, that Mary would be a most perfect and accomplished Creature; and that she alone would give you more glory than all Angels, Saints, and Men together: And that God comforted himself, by considering her, for the loss and ruin that would be caused by the insolent Rebellion of the third part of the Angels, by the disobedience of the First Man, and by the horrible ●…inge that would make the World a frightful Solitude in the days of Noe. Nay, they go so far as to say, 
g Raynaudus. Ibid. p. 131.  That all the 〈◊〉 are predestinated for her sake. And therefore she is called 〈◊〉 such Fathers as Germanus, 
h Orat. de Present. Deip.  The Business of all Age●, the Scope and End of all God's Counsels. And the 〈…〉 S. Bernard 
i Serm. 3. supper salve Regina.  De hac, & ob hanc, & propter hanc ●…is Scriptura facta est, propter hanc totus mundus factus est, etc. The Scriptures were intended for her, and the World made for her sake. And not only made, says another, 
k Galatinus de arcanis. l. 7. c. 2.  out of Love to the Virgin, but sustained also; for the World, by reason of our wicked Deeds, could 〈…〉 consist, unless the Glorious Virgin, praying for us, with her Mercy and Clemency did sustain it. This was Christ's Prerogative, if we believe the Apostle, Col. 1.16,17. All things were created by him and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist: Now, if we believe these men, she comes in for a share in these peculiarities, by which Christ was once distinguished from all Creatures. For thus Alca●…r 
l Lib. 4. in Apoc. c 2. v. 1. not. 2.  maintains, That by reason of the Union of the B. Virgin 〈◊〉 Christ, the H. Ghost, in a secondary Sense intended by him, has expressed the Virgin in those very places of Scripture which are spoken of Christ in the first and primary 〈◊〉 And now we may the less wonder to hear another 
m Contempl. L. and Cl. of Mary, p. 10.  referring all the wonderful effects of our Predestination as Glory, Elect●… by 〈◊〉 and Redemption from Sin through the Blood of Jesus, to the excellent perfection of Mary, a● a most effect●… means of all acknowledging all these Bless●… to 〈…〉 to all through Mary, and may therefore justly refer them all to her, as the ●ost effectual instrument, channel and conveyance of 〈◊〉. Though I must say, this is new Logic, as well as new Divinity, to refer all to the Means and to the Conveyance, instead of the End and original Spring; just as if a man should refer all the Light in his Room to his Window, (not to the Sun the Fountain of it) because the Light shines through it. But none has so copiously and audaciously discoursed this matter as the Jesuit Salazar 
n Comment. in Prov. 8.22, etc. num. 260, etc. , beginning at those words, Prov. 8.22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before his works of Old. When God, says he, began to create the World, be possessed me, [Mary] that is, he conceived in his mind, and contemplated me as present. And the end of it was, 1. Because he went more cheerfully about his work, foreseeing th●… Mary would at length be brought into being, under whose Empire all things, which he then created, should come into Subjection. 2. God carefully searched out what were the Excellencies of every Crea●… 〈…〉 might heap those perfections upon her, that 〈…〉 become a new and no fabulous Pandora, made up of all their Perfections. 3. Because as God foresaw that Man would fall from his Obedience and ruin the Creation, so Mary was the cause why he did not upon this desist from his purpose of creating the World, and alter his mind, foreseeing that by her all the Ruins of the Creation would be restored and repaired. 4. He 〈◊〉 too that the World he intended to make would decay and wax old, and presently Mary came into his mind, who would bring freshness and youth to it when it was aged. 5. Because, as God by the word Fiat (Let it be) rep●aced several times, did produce all things, and bestowed on them all 〈◊〉 Powers; so by the same wor●●…ed but once (by Mary) ●e should renew them all. [Which is a great mistake, 〈◊〉 he thinks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Sept●ng. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Luke to be the same. But of this Fi●s we shall hear him Blaspheming farther upon another occasion.]  
Upon v. 23. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the Earth was;] These are 〈◊〉 of his Admirable Contemplations. 
o Ibid. n. 295, etc.  1. That if we 〈…〉 suppose this impossibility, that all things were not ob●… at once to the mind of God, but that he needed counsel and deliberation, and to know one thing from and after another; verily Mary is so excellent a Work, that to make and 〈◊〉 her in time, it is requisite to use even the Eternal premo●…tion and fore-counsel of God. 2. If we should suppose another impossibility, That God should not see some things that are very inconsiderable or very distant, yet such i● the magnitude of Mary, such the height and vastness of her 〈◊〉, that he could not but reach her, and foreknow her at the distance of infinite Ages. 3. He is much pleased with the doting conceit of Andreas Hierosolymitanus (Serm. de Anmunc.) who salutes her by the name of Dioptra (which is the Radius of an Astrolabe with two sights, through which Astronomers look, and measure the magnitude of distant things) which he thus applies. God foresees and foreknows all that are predestinated, but Marry more especially, because through her (tanquam per Dioptram) he views and measures the greatness, height and degrees of their Sanctity. So that as it is true, that all are elected and predestinated through Mary (not chosen in him it seems, as the Apostle speaks, Eph. 1.4. but in her.) So also it is true. That in that vast space of Eternity, his sight reached all other just Persons, because before them all he foreknew Mary.— Through Mary he viewed and measured the magnitude of Peter, 
p So the Contemplations of H. Marry, p. 19 All Saints and Angels have their measures of Glory set forth through a redundancy of her, and in a subordinate proportion to hers.  the height of Paul, etc. Because by the Prayers of Mary, they attained to the greatness of Sanctity, which God bestowed on them.  
Upon v. 25. Before the Mountains were settled, before the Hills I was brought forth, thus he descants, (Ibid. n. 317.) We may imagine the divine mind big with Mary and with all other Creatures, yet they did not urge God to a Birth, since their Creation might have been deferred to many Ages: But Marry she pricked forward and urged, so the Divine Mind, that being as it were Impatient of such a Conception, and that he might bring her forth in due time, he did anticipate many Ages the Creation of the World.  
Upon v. 30. I was by him, as one brought up with him. V Lat. Cum eo eram, cuncta componens. Thus he Discourses (n. 380, 381.) We may proclaim of the H. Mother of God, that all Creatures are as it were in her— and they may all be glad that they are better in her than in themselves: For in themselves they are frail, and weak, and unstable; in Mary they are without all Fault; and in short, though in themselves they cannot differ from themselves, yet being translated into her, than they are Mary, who is the noblest and highest under Heaven. Therefore when God would confer great Honour and Comeliness on his Creatures, he would have her to consist of them all,  quemadmodum in ipso cuncta Deus erant, sic etiam in Mariâ cuncta Maria forent; that, as in him all things were God, so also in Mary all things might be Mary. And a little after ●e calls, her Mundus Archetypus, the the Archetype and original Model, according to which the Elements, consisting of contrary qualities, were fitted and married together, 〈◊〉, as all Passions and Appetites were all at perfect accord, and made no Rebellion in her.  
Vers. 30. I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. Vulg. Lat. Lud●… cor●…. Here we have such stuff as this, speaking in the Person of Mary; 
q Ibid. n. 41●.  When God made the World, and the things contained in it, and rejoicing, and, as it were, smiling, determined that they were good; then I also pleased him, and he smiled on me. For therefore he signified his approbation of them, because he knew they would be profitable and commodious to me; for preferring me before all other men, he had respect chief to my profit and benefit. To which he adds again what he had before, being hugely pleased with the conceit. That contemplating all things in Mary, they pleased him better in her (being then all Mary) than in themselves. Then he goes on to tell us of several Figures and Shadows, such as the formatum of Eve, the Ark of Noah, etc. which were preludes and sportful works of God, that went before that serious work of making her; 
r Ibid. n. 418.  for when God earnestly desired to make Marry, and the disposition of his eternal Counsel, required the deferring it some while, by such ways, Longas moras ludendo fefellit, God did sportfully drive away the time.  
He adds another Conceit as derogatory to the Work of our Redemption, as the foregoing were to his Creation. 
s Ibid. n. 419.  Whatsoever Christ did whilst he lived, whatsoever things he suffered whilst he looked upon other men, for whose sakes he laid out himself, they seemed to him difficult and hard; because he knew, that despising so great a benefit, they would be unthankful, and not use those Blessings aright: But when he looked upon the Virgin, and beheld her grateful mind, and her diligence to make use of his merits, so as to reap abundantly the Fruit of them; hence it was that Christ did as it were play with all that he did and suffered in the World; that is, he undertook them cheerfully and without difficulty.  
We have seen how much they make us behold 〈…〉 Virgin; for had it not been for her, Christ's 〈…〉 might have stopped in the way for want of 〈…〉 ragement, and have come to nothing. But 〈…〉 small matter in compare with the last Instance, 〈…〉 give of this Blasphemer's boldness, who makes ev● 〈…〉 Trinity to be beholden to her● for upon these 〈…〉 23d. verse, I was set ●… fr●… everlasting (Vulg. 〈…〉 ordinata sum) he endeavours to make this plain, 〈…〉 needs be so ordained, for, says he, There 〈…〉 ●…cial reason, why, as soon as ever the divine Pe● 〈◊〉 eternally exist, they should have the Virgin in readiness 〈…〉 according to Hesychius, 
t 〈…〉  the Virgin Mary was the completion the whole Trinity: For thus he says, comp●…ing her 〈◊〉 Noah's Ark) Arca No 〈◊〉 ●…tigna● 〈…〉 (sc. Maria) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: That had 〈…〉 ●ries, and she complementum totius Trinitatis▪ (which 〈…〉 would Translate thus, She had (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the word which 〈◊〉 before) the whole fullness of the Trinity, that is, when 〈◊〉 was in her Womb; not as ●e would have it. She was the C●…pletion of the Trinity, for the explication immediately follo●… in Hesychius, The H. Ghost was her Guest, 〈◊〉 Father over sh●…ed her, and the Son dwelled in her, being 〈◊〉 ●… her Womb▪ 〈◊〉 the Jesuit is resolved to speak Blasphemy when no occasion was given him, and thus he proceeds) If the Virgin Mary does in some regards belong to the completion of the Trinity, it could not be that the Trinity should sooner exist, than think of that which should complete it. He confesses its difficult to conceive, how the Trinity, which is 〈◊〉 complete and absolute, should ●…ive any fullness from 〈◊〉 stir: Yet this undertaker will try what he can ma● 〈…〉 and among his Three ways of explaining it, the Reader I dare say, will have enough of the second, which therefore I shall only set down. 
u Ibid. n. 302.  It runs thus, The eternal Father does generate the Son, and communicates his essence to him; the Father and the Son breath forth the H. Ghost, and together with the essence communicate to him all its attributes: But now the H. Ghost neither generates nor breathes another person: Wherefore seeing the goodness of the H. Ghost is equal to that of the Father and the Son, and the property of goodness is to let forth and communicate itself, thence it follows, according to our imperfect manner of conceiving, that something seems to be wanting in the H. Ghost; for the other Persons do fill up the measure of goodness, but to the Spirit there wants a fourth Person, into which it may pour out itself without measure: For though he does communicate himself, yet he does it very sparingly to the Creatures and Saints (and he quite forgot him to whom God gave the Spirit without measure, Joh. 3.34.) This therefore one would desire, that he might communicate himself so largely to some one person, that if he cannot satiate his infinite longing perfectly, yet he may give it ease and relaxation. That this might not be wanting to the Trinity, and that the H. Ghost might stay that Longing, Mary is of set purpose ordered and committed to him, that so he might come upon her, with a wonderful affluence of all his Gifts, etc. And another Blasphemer adds, 
x Phil. de Convelt. Theatr. Excellent. p. 67.  Tanto ergo impetu spiritus sanctus super 〈◊〉 in Virginem, ut quantum ipse valeat ostenderet. Which I shall forbear to Translate.  
These are some of their lewd conceits for the advancement of the Honour of the Bl. Virgin. High Ithaeus velit, & magno mercentur Atridae. The Socinians make good Markets of such passages, by representing and reproaching them; as Crellius 
y De uno vero Deo, lib. 2. Sec. 2. cap. 5.  takes notice of Corn. à Lapide's Dedication of his Commentaries on the Minor Prophets, To the Holy increated Trinity, and created in Christ Jesus. And an Epistle attributed to And. Dudithius at the end of Socinus his Epistles 
z in Biblioth. fratr. Polon. p. 512. , citys the Pages of the Polonian Missal, where they thus salute the B. Virgin, Ave, universae Trinitatis mater: Hail, O Mother of the whole Trinity. And Dudithius adds, Now nothing hinders, but that leaving the Trinity, we fly to Mary herself, and impore her aid.    


SECT. II. The Legend of the Blessed Virgin's Parents, and of her Conception.  


Anaph.  

Portifor. Sec. usum sarum, Jul. 26.  PAter praecelsae Virginis Joachim erat nomine;  
Mater Anna nobilis, quae regali fulsit semine:  
In tres partes dividunt sic rerum substantiam,  
Dant Templo, dant pauperibus, servant sibi tertiam.   

THat Joachim begat the Virgin, 'tis agreed;  
Anne was her Mother's Name, derived from kingly Seed:  
When into Portions three their Riches parted were,  
The Temple, Poor, and they had all an equal share.    


In 2do Nocturn. Anaph.  
Annos quoque plurimos ducunt in conjugio  
Steriles & tristes, sub legis opprobrio;  
Exprobravit hunc pontifex, Joachim quod sisteret  
Infoecundus cum foecundis, seque eis jungeret.  
Joachim ex opprobrio in Templo tristis exiit,  
Nec ad domum vel uxorem, sed ad pastores transiit.   

These two in married state full many years did pass  
Barren and Comfortless, under the Laws disgrace;  
The Priest with scorn rejects his Offerings as defiled,  
Who with the Fruitful dared t'appear and had no Child.  
With foul reproach dismayed, and from the Temple sent,  
He left his Wife and Home, and to his Shipherds went.    


In 3tio. Nocturn. Anaph.  
Joachim & conjugi Angelus apparuit,  
Dolentesque nimium dulciter compescuit;  
Preces vestrae sunt acceptae, habebitisque filiam,  
Per quam Deus magnificè praestabit sanctis gratiam.   

To this afflicted pair an Angel than appears,  
Who bade them grieve no more, but dry up all their Tears;  
God does accept your Prayers, and you shall have a Daughter,  
Trough whom the Saints shall gain abundant Grace hereafter.    

Hymn.  


Horae sec. usum Hierosol. Lugd. 1516.  Fletus longaevi Rex regum misertus,  
Angelum mittit, gaudium pro luctu,  
Ut dicat Annae tempore senili, Prolem habebis.  
— Joachim magno gaudio repletur,  
Vocem dum audivit Angeli dicentis,  
Rariet tibi Anna matrem Dei Grandem prae cunctis.   

Their griefs prolonged made Heaven at length relent,  
Which first to Anne this joyful message sent,  
Thou shalt conceive a Child, though thou art Old,  
An Angel this foretold.  
Her Husband Joachim greatly did rejoice,  
When after this he heard the Angel's voice,  
Which said, that Anne God's. Mother should bring forth.  
Excelling all in worth.    
Their English Festivale (Printed 1511.) has given an account of this matter more at large, thus, 
a De Concept. Mariae, Fol. 62.  The Virgin had a Fader that was called Jochym, that was so holy a Man, that when he was but 15, year of Age, he departed all his Goods in 3. parties; and one party he dealed to Widows and Faderless Children; the second party he gave to them that were poor and needy; (here he left out the Temple and made two of one) the third party he kept to himself and to his Household. And when that he was 32. year of of Aege, for the great goodness of Anne he Wedded her, and when they were Wedded they were together 22. year: in which time Anne never displeased him with no manner thing neither night nor day; for she was so gentle to him, and they both good and holy: Yet God sent them no Fruit of their Bodies, but were Baraynes. Wherefore they made a Vow to God, That if he would send them a Child, they would offer it up to him into the Temple for to serve God both night and day. Than on a day as Jochym went with his Neighbours to the Temple for to do his offerings, the Bishop, that height Ysachar, rebuked him openly before all the People and said, Jochym, it falleth not for thee that is Barren and hast no Fruit to do offerings with other People, that God hath sent Fruit in Jherusalem. Than was Jochym fore dismayed and ●…yed with this rebuke▪ Than he went home weeping 〈◊〉 his Shepeherdes' pryvely with his Sheep, and were forth into a far Country among Mountains and ●ynes, and purposed to have be there all his Life, and never more to come home to Anne his Wife. Than when Jochym was gone, Anne was right sorry and prayed to God and said, Lord, that I am woe and full of sorrow, I am Barren and I may have no Fruit; and now moreover my Husband is gone away from me, and I know not whiter he is gone. Lord have mercy on me, poor desolate Creature. Than as she prayed thus, an Angel came down and comforted her and said, Anne be of good comfort, for thou shalt have a Child in thine old Aege, there was never none like ne never shall be. Than was Anne afeard of this angels Words and of the sight of him; and lay alway in her Prayers as she had been deed. Than went the same Angel to Jochym and said these words, and bad Jochym take a Lamb and offer it in Sacrifice to God, and so he did. And when he had done so, from Mydday till Evensonge time he lay on the ground in his Prayers, thanking God with all his heart. Than on the morrow as the Angel bad he went homeward to Anne his Wife with his Sheep. And when he came nigh home, the Angel came to Anne and bad her goo to the Gate that was called the Golden-Gate, and abide her Husbands till he came. Than was she glad and took her Maidens with her and went to the Gate, and there she met with Jochym and said: Lord I thank thee, for I was a Widow and now I am a Wife; I was Barren and now I shall bear a Child; I was Woe and Weeping, and now I shall be in Joy and Liking: And soon after Anne conceived our Lady, and when she was borne she was called Maria as the Angel bad before.   

REMARKS.  
ALthough the Salisbury Portuise, has given us, in the foregoing Hymns, a short account of the Parents and Conception of the Virgin in the Legendary way; yet it is so ingenuous as to confess in another place, 
b In fest. concept. Mar. Dec. 8. Lect. 2.  that the Book that trea●… of these is numbered by the Fathers among Apocryphal Writings, and therefore forbears to set down the Lessons out of it. But what this has omitted, the old Roman Breviary (on the Twentieth of March, and Six and Twentieth of July) has inserted; whose Lessons are taken out of Two spurious Authors, viz. the Protevangelium of S. James, and the Epistle to Chromatius and Heli●dorus, concerning the Nativity of the B. Virgin, falsely fathered upon S. Jerome, whom it citys 
c Brev. Rom. Antiq. ad 26. Jul. Lec. 3, & 6. . And because these Two are the Shops from whence they fetch a great deal of their false Wares, I shall have say ●… little concerning them. The Learned Bishop Montague 
d Acts and Monu. c. 8. sec. 35.  says, not without great reason, That both these Books came 〈…〉 from the ●…sticks, but interlaced after them and new vnbis●… by the Manichees; ●…ing whom Seleucus was a great deal● in this Trade. Conce●…ing the first of them, (viz. 〈…〉 in the Monumenta Pat●um 〈…〉 of Ecclesiastical Writers says, There is 〈…〉 under the name of James, but was never re●…d by the Church. If by the Church we understand that which in taught Devotions, it must needs receive it, when the Lesson taken out of it were publicly read to them to instruct them, as we find them in the Roman Breviary before cited: But if he means that part of the Church which censures Authors, than indeed he says true that they never received it; but then the more horrid shame to suffer, nay obtrude that upon the People which they censure and know to be false. Pope Innocent the First 
e V Council. Labbe. Tom. 2. p. 1256.  about the Year 402, condemned this Gospel of James the less, in his Third Epistle ad Exuperium. So does Gelasius after him in the first Roman Council 
f Ibid. Tom. 4. p. 1264. : The Gospel under the name of James the Less is Apocryphal. And Baronius 
g Appar. ad Annal. n. 39  has taken such distaste at him, that he has banished all consideration of him from his Writings; and indeed every one that will vouchsafe to peruse him, will justify his Censure and abhor the Cheat. Neither need he be moved by what he finds cited out of this Author, in the Hexaëmeron set forth by Leo Allatius, Anno 1629. under the name of Eustathius Bishop of Antioch, that great Father in the Council of Nice; or by what Allatius adds in his Notes upon him, to gain him some credit; for the Testimonies of the Ancients he produces, mention no work of his under the name of Hexaëmeron; though S. Jerome in Catal. Scriptorum tells us of his Book De anima & de Engastrimutho against Origen and his Epistles. And though Anastatius, Sinaita (Anagog. Contempl. in Hexaëm. lib. 9 if they are his, which is doubted) citys Words of Eustathius about the creation of Birds and Beasts, yet there are no such to be found in this which Allatius published: Who also in his Notes confesses, That this Book has the very same Sentences and Words that S. Basil uses upon the same Argument, and that there was an Eustathius who did Translate Basil's Hexaëmeron into Latin, which its probable might give occasion to fix the name of the famous Eustathius to this work; who sure was a greater man, than to believe such stuff as his Jacobus and ours relates, of the Dove coming out of Joseph's Rod at the Espousals of the B. Virgin, and of a Mountain cleaving to receive and hid John the Baptist and his Mother when Herod sought to kill him among the Infants; so far was he (as Allatius thinks) from leaving out and sifting the Heretical and fabulous Additions which our Protevangeli●…s does abound with; and could not all of them be set down by him in that short account of the B. Virgin's Nativity, which he has extracted out of him.  
As for the other, viz. the Epistle, under the Mask of S. Jerome, there is not one Learned Man of that Church that offers to defend it for his; and but one Jesuit 
h Christoph. a Castro Hist. Deiparae in Catal. Auctor. p. 701.  that I meet with, that is concerned to vindicate him for an Author to be relied upon; and I do not blame him for bearing him a kindness, because he has been beholden to him for a great deal that makes up his History of the B. Virgin. He calls him a pious and ancient Author: We may guests at his Piety, by endeavouring to impose upon the World under those great names, and by pretending that this account of the B. Virgin was written 〈…〉 as a great secret, which 〈…〉 ●ate. As for his 〈…〉 as 〈◊〉 Se●…sis says 
i Bibl. Saect. L. 2. tit. Matth. Evang.  〈…〉 and G●estiens, which 〈…〉 do 〈◊〉. Even he that is vo●… 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 not vouch for the Truth 〈…〉 that it may be read 〈…〉 find per●… 〈…〉 or ●…gned: Neit●… 〈◊〉 he pretend 〈◊〉 to 〈…〉 that he will set down ●ither what is there written 〈◊〉 cons●…ter scribi pot●…, or might be written in con●…nce. So that the Learned 〈◊〉. V●…sius 
k Dissert. de genere J. Christ●i. p. 34.  might we●… 〈…〉 Impostor would seem to have made a Tr●… 〈…〉 the Hebrew, I fear he understood not Hebrew, and that 〈◊〉 took his Story either out of the Book of the Gnostics, called 〈…〉, or out of Selencus his Book of the Nativity of Mary; and only passed over those things which patronised the Manichean Doctrine: for he commen●… Selencus that he had spoken truly of the Virtues and Miracles of the Apostles, though he had told many falsi●ies of their Doctrine, etc. He thinks it also pro●…ble, That 〈◊〉 th●se Writing under the 〈…〉 Matthew, m●…ed and condemned by Innocent, in his 〈…〉 Epistle to Exuperius, are those which this counterfeit Jerome says he Translated out of Matthew in Hebrew. And it is also likely, that he is comprehended in that censure of 〈◊〉 
l Loc. ante citat. : 〈…〉 Books which L●ncl●… 〈◊〉 Disciple of the Devil made, are Apocryphal 〈…〉 is the same with Selencus, as 〈◊〉 Men have shown:) 
m See Casaub. Exercit. 1. sec. 16. Bp. Mountague's Apparat. 8. sec. 31.  And, Liber de Nativitate salvatoris & de Maria & obstetrice, Apoc. The Book of the Nativity of our Saviour, and of Mary, and the Midwife, Apocryphal. Melch. Canus 
n Lib. 11. loc. come. c. 6.  calls this Epistle Fabulam insulsam aequè ac barbaram; An unsavoury and barbarous Fable. Baronius 
o Apparat. ad Annal. n. 44.  condemns him for an Author unknown and unskilful, that knew not how to avoid manifest Lies, as he instances in his making Isachar High-Priests; whereas he shows out of Josephus, that there was none of that name about that time. And, to name no more, Bishop Montague 
p Acts and Monum. c. 8. p. 524.  after he has told the Story of Joachim's Oblation at the Temple, and Isachar's disgraceful rebuking of him for his being Childless (which we heard before) out of this Author, he calls him Impudent, blasphemous Impostor thus 〈◊〉, and gives many Reason's for th● sharp censure 
* 〈…〉 . Yet this is he whom Xaverius in his New 〈◊〉 as well as the Old Breviary, chooses to follow in 〈…〉 concerning the B. Virgin. But enough of these 〈…〉 ●thors. To return now to our Remarks upon the 〈…〉 History.  
I will not make any dispute of it, that the names of the Parents' of the B. Virgin were Joachim and Anna: Neither will I urge that of S. Austin, 
q L. 23. cont. Fau●…. c. 9 ad 〈◊〉.  That her Father was a Priest of the Tribe of Levi named Joachim, because it is not Canonical, it does not bind me; because he seems rather to oppose his being of the Tribe of Levi, as Faustus the Manichee held, than to doubt of his Name; especially since Epiphanius 
r Haeres. 78, & 79.  takes it for granted. There is no mention of them in Scripture, unless 〈…〉 S. Luke, c. 3.23. be the same with Joachim. Galatinus 
s De arcan. l. 7. c. 12.  citys his famous Rabbi Haccadoes, that he had two Names Heli and Joachim: But that Author has been discarded by Baronius 
t Appar. n. 39  for a forged one, who pretends to write Prophetically, in answer to several Questions proposed by Antonius, a Roman Consul, whereas no such name is to be found among the Fasti of Consuls at that time. Sanctius 
u in Jerem. ●. v. 3. n. 10.  thinks that the Virgin's Father was called Helia●…, or, which is the same, Helijoacim; and sometimes Heli, sometimes Joachim▪ Ger. Vossius 
x Ubi supra, p. 31.  that it is a contraction of Eliakim, and that Eliakim and Joakim are the same, as appears by 2 Kings 23.34. and that the Highpriest who is called Eliakim, Judith 4.5,11. (so it is in the vulgar Latin and Syriack) is called Joakim, Judith 15.9. However this be their own Authors are not backward to grant that the Scripture is silent concerning them. Pet. Damianus 
y Lib. 3. de Nativ. Virg.  calls it a needless inquiry to ask who was the Father or Mother of the B. Virgin, and a superfluous curiosity to seek after that, which the Evangelist had not thought fit to tell us. Nay several 
z Catharinus in c. 3. Genes. Novarinus umbr. Virg. p. 349. Carthagena de arc. Deip. l. 2. hom. 2.  of them draw a great mystery from it; such as the Apostle does from Melchizedeck's being without Father and Mother, and without descent, (Heb. 7.3.) to signify that immortal Priest that should come after: So here, in her case, it denotes her freedom from Original Sin. Who was her Father and Mother, says Novarinus, is not told us in Scripture, as if she, the Virgin, had no Parents; and in this regard she had none, because she derived no spot or slain from them.  
The Legend makes her Parents to be Rich; Joachim was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, very Wealthy, says the Protevangelium; and Laverius 
a Histor. Christ. p. 14.  mentions their Riches after him, and how they expended them by a threefold diversion, which Mantuan 
b Parthen. Ma●. l. 1.  has thus expressed. 
Sic nostras partimur opes, pars optima Templo,  
Altera sors inopi, servit pars tertia nobis.  That is, 
Into Three parts our Substance we divide,  
The first and best we to the Temple give;  
The Poor is by a second share supplied,  
On the Remainder we ourselves do live.   
All which they borrowed from the Counterfeit Jerome. And if they had told us of their low Estate (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,) as the Scripture does of their Daughters, we had had as much reason to believe them. But since they also inform us how they laid it out, and into how many Portions they divided it, I wonder they did not give us the particulars of Joachim's Last Will, which I do not find in any of them; for it had been as easy to have done the one as the other.  
The same Counterfeit has also told the Story of their Barrenness, and determines it to Twenty Years, in which time they Fasted and Prayed for a Child with many Tears, and vowed to consecrate it to God, if he would bestow one upon them. Poza 
c Elucid. l. 2. tr. 8. c. 1.  enlarges the time to about Fifty Years from their Marriage; and yet their Prayers and Fast must be continued, yea and Pilgrimages too many times, and that barefoot (if we believe Vinc. Ferrerius) 
d Serm. 2. de Nativ. B. Virg.  from Nazareth to Jerusalem, which the Breviary 
e ad Matt. 20. Lec. 5.  says, was Thirty two Miles. But fasting and Prayers to obtain a Child at this Age seems to be not over-wise a Business: Poza 
f Ibid. tract. ●. c. 2. p. 499.  therefore, to free this from the Imputation of Folly, is fain to grant that it was a Miracle they desired, but says they were put upon it by divine Inspiration; or perhaps they had the Promise of a Child by an Angel's Message. Having now bestowed this Faith and Patience upon them, the next Work is to cry it up: As Poza and others 
g Novatinus, umbr. virg. n. 1230.  do, preferring Joachim's Faith before that of Abraham, whom the Scripture calls the Father of the Faithful. Behold here, says one, a greater Faith than in the Conception of Isaac. But what talk we of Isaac, when that bold Jesuit 
h Poza ib. l. 2. tract. 4. c. 1.  will have this Conception of the B. Virgin by Two Parents both barren, to be equally a rare Thing in Nature, as the Conception of Christ himself of a Woman without a Man. Nay he goes farther, 
i Ibid. c 2.  that it was more wonderful than this, abstracting from Christ's Divinity; for only parts viri were supplied in her conceiving Christ; but Two barren Persons were supplied with Strength in her Conception. But no Faith will be great enough to make the next Passage to go for currant with any intelligent Reader, where both the Fablers bring in Joachim rebuked and reproached by the Highpriest, and his Oblation rejected: And what wots you was his Crime? A new and strange one; that he had hitherto begot no Child, taking it for granted, it seems, that it was his Fault, which was a little severe; especially if Poza 
k Ibid. l. 2. tr. 2. c. 2, 3.  has guessed right, That Anne laboured under a preternatural Impotency, and that the Marriage between her and Joachim was never consummated, nor her Virginity lost, till the B. Virgin was conceived; which, he says, is favoured by Germanus' Words, 
l Encom. de Virg. Praesent.  Immediately at God's Command Nature received Seed, which it durst not do before the Divine Grace was bestowed.  
Xaverius 
m Ibid. p. 17.  adds, that the Priest when he removed him in Indignation, told him for certain, That he was guilty of some secret Pollution, which was the Cause of his Barrenness. One may well be tempted to inquire the Name of this surly Highpriest, for he never had his Fellow in Story: But here the forenamed Cheats are not agreed; for St. James his Man calls him Reuben, and St. Jerom's Isachar; the old Roman Breviary 
n Ad Mart. 20. Lec. 5.  had so great a Respect for them both, that it takes them both in, Isachar for the Highpriest, and Reuben for a Scribe that assisted him: And they have also put a Text in his Mouth to confound poor Joachim withal. Maledictus omnis qui non genuisset masculum in Israel, Cursed is he that hath not begot a Malechild in Israel. But to see the good Luck of it, both the Curse, and he that pronounces it are only of their own making, for there is no such Highpriest to be found at this time among the Jews; nor no such Scripture to be found in all the Bible. One would imagine that this Bolt should have done no Execution: But they make Joachim just like one of their meek Devoto's at Confession, trembling at the Priest's Anger and not daring to dispute any of his ●…yings. He goes away confounded, and you find him presently at his Penance, separating himself from his Wife, and running into a Desert, where he fasts Forty Days and Forty Nights 
o Protevang. Jacobi. : or if you will believe the Breviary 
p Ibid. L●c. 6.  spending almost Five Months in watching and fasting: 
— 
q Mantuan. Parth. Mar. l. 2.  patriam fugiens ob dedecus urbem,  
Rus coluit, pluresque latens inglorius annos  
Duxerat in luctu tristem sine conjuge vitam.  That is, 
— Disgraced he flies his native Seat,  
Choosing a Country and obscure Retreat;  
Where many Years he leads a pensive Life,  
As far removed from Joy as from his Wife.   
And you may well think that Anne must have her share too in this Affliction; she gives herself over to Sorrow, and could hardly be persuaded by her Maid Judith 
r Protevang. Ibid.  (for they know the Names of all the Family) to put on her best Clothes upon a Gaudy Day. She cannot look upon a Sparrow's Nest, but it works upon her melancholy Fancy, and she sighs and says, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Alas! what Womb bore me, these Birds are Fruitful whilst I am Barren, etc. Nay such Prayers this false Gospel and the later Greeks 
* Bp. Montague deservedly calls Cedrenus, Metaphrastes, Nicephorus, Germanus, Andreas (Cretensis vel Hierosol.) Scriptores stramentitii & quisquillae qu●dem Antiquitatis. Apparat. 8. Sect. 30. p. 299.  (such as Germanus 
s In Encom. de Virg. praesentat.  of Constantinople, who seems to have licked up his very Drivel) have put into her Mouth, as do not become a modest Woman, and yet they bring her in praying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the Holy of Holies (as the History in Greg. Nyssen, 
t Orat. in Natal. Domini.  which he calls Apocryphal, does) whither never any such Prayers, no nor any Woman ever came.  
But now it is high time to think of comforting them; and they have Two Angels ready if need be, 
u Protevang. Jac.  though the Epistles is contented with One; but if we believe Pantalion, the Deacon in Metaphrastes 
x In fest. Mic. Archang. , he is no ordinary one, but Gabriel the Archangel: with whom agrees S. Bridget 
y Orat. 1. a deo revelat.  who gives glory to the B. Virgin for having her birth foretold by the same Angel that brought the Message to her concerning the Birth of Christ. And that the Mother and the Son may be as like as may be, Ludolfus de Saxonia 
z De Vita Christ. Part. 1. c. 2.  brings him in speaking just such words to Joachim as Gabriel did at the Annunciation, Ecce uxor tua pariet tibi filiam, etc. Behold thy Wife shall bear a Daughter, and thou shalt call her Name Mary. They add also this farther Prophecy of her by the Angel 
a See also Xaverius. Hist. Christ. p. 17.  That she should be consecrated to the Lord, according as they had vowed, and should be filled with the H. Ghost from her Mother's Womb, and her conversation should be in the Temple of the Lord. The same Message, says Xaverius 
b Ibid. p. 18.  was carried by the Angel to Anne; only he added those Words to it, Of this Daughter of thine, Christ the Restorer of the World shall be born. But now, to show how these Liars contradict themselves, this Angel encourages him by the Examples of Sarah and Rachel, of the other Anna, and the Mother of Samson, who were all a long time Childless, and tells him, that Peccati non naturae ultor est Deus 
c Epist. ad Heliod. & Chromat. Xaverius. Ibid. , God is the Avenger of Sin, not of natural Defects, whom yet before this, the Highpriest had cursed out of the Law for being Barren. Here again one might be apt to wonder, how such glorious and admirable Passages concerning the Parents of the B. Virgin, came to be passed over in Silence by the Evangelists, which yet are now so particularly made known to the World: The Answer is ready, 
d Novarini umbr. Virg. n. 1201.  It was partly, lest the Eyes of Believers should be too much dazzled by so great a Light; and partly, that something might always remain to recreate the declining World, and that the Faithful by these, as by so many fresh Dishes, might feed and nourish their Devotion. So that now any Tales will serve to refresh and entertain the old doting World; and if they be cloyed with the old Gospel, these Cooks are ready at hand to serve up these new Dishes, which no doubt will abundantly gratify and please them. But if this will not satisfy, there is another will 
e Bernardin de Bust. Marial. p. 2. Ser. 3.  show you, that all this was mystically foretold in the very first Words of the Bible. In the Beginning God created the Heaven and Earth. That is, Joachim the Father, and Arm the Mother of the B. Virgin, for all things happened to them in a Figure. The Earth was empty and void, (i. e.) Anne was Barren and unfruitful. And Darkness was upon the Face of the Deep, (i. e.) the Darkness of Affliction and Confusion was upon the Face of Anne. And the Spirit of the Lord moved upon the Waters, that is, upon the Waters of her Tears to comfort her, And he said, Let there be Light, (i. e.) the Blessed Virgin.  
Before the Angel departed, the Legend says he gave them this Sign that his Message was true, viz. That they should meet one another at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. There, says the false gospeler 
f Protevang. Jacob. p. 73.  Anna met Joachim, and hung about his Neck, blessing God, that she now was no longer a Widow, but should conceive: Molanus 
g Lib. 3. de Imag. c. 55.  tells us of a Picture in which was exhibited Joachim and Anna kissing one another, at the golden Gate, with this Inscription, Taliter concepta est B. Maria; Thus was the B. Virgin conceived. The like I have met with in the Hora of the Carmelites, printed at Lions 1516. with a Motto little different: His Joachim dato osculo Virginem Mariam ex Anna concepit: Here Joachim by a Kiss conceived the B. Virgin of Anne. And Pelbartus 
h Lib. 4. Stellar. p. 2. art. 1.  affirms, that this was the Sense of some of the common People in his time. If the Jesuit Poza's forenamed Rule were true, seeing it makes so apparently for the Honour of the B. Virgin, methinks this Opinion should prevail; but since the Fathers have overruled it (especially Epiphanius 
i Haeres. 79. , calling it an Error of unhappy Men; for Mary is not God, says he, nor received a Body from Heaven, but was begot of a Man and Woman,) however they will consult her Honour as far as they can in this matter, and yet avoid too that Heresy, as Gononus 
k Chronic. Deip. p. 2.  calls it. The forenamed Jesuit 
l Poza Elucid. l. 3. tr. 2. c. 1.  finds a comfortable Mystery in it; for ask the Question, why the B. Virgin was generated by a Man and Woman, and did not come of a Virgin? one of his Answers is, That God took care hereby that Mary might be most dear to us, and therefore she was begotten of a Man and Woman, that she might more fully agree with us in the same Nature, (by which Reason, if God intended that Jesus should have been most dear to us, he should not have been born of the Virgin Mary.) Others that will grant her Conception to have been after the Conjugal Commerce, yet assert that it was without any Motions of Concupiscence: So another Jesuit 
m Jac. Granado de immac. concep. B. Virg. p. 111. , It is not to be said of the B. Virgin, that she was begotten by Concupiscence, which signifies somewhat Inordinate; for the use of Matrimony, by which she was begotten, was most pure, and altogether without Sin. So also S. Bridget 
n Revel. l. 1. c. 19 (vel 9) , When it was foretold them by the Angel, that they should beget a Virgin from whom the Saviour of the World should proceed, they would have chosen to die rather than join in Carnal Love, and all pleasure was dead in them: and afterwards, contra voluptatem suam ex semine eorum per divinam charitatem caro mea compaginata est; By the Divine Love my Flesh was compacted of their Seed, contrary to their pleasure. This Galatinus 
o De Arcan. l. 7. c. 8.  has explained more fully, I confess, says he, that S. Joachim and S. Anne, did couple as Man and Wife, yet their ardent Devotion, and vehement Contemplation (their Minds being upon better things) did extinguish all Bodily pleasure, all Lust and Concupiscence. Which a Jesuit 
p Spinellus Mar. Deip. c. 18. p. 240.  has thus illustrated, As Lot being drunk with Wine, did not perceive when he lay with his Daughters; so the Parents of the most sacred Virgin, being inebriated with Spiritual Love, yet knowing well what they did (which makes it a special parallel) by a special privilege of God, they did not feel any unbridled pleasure of Concupiscence, but begat her, just as our first Parents, if they had not sinned, would have procreated Children in Paradise; (for they know exactly how this matter would have been ordered there.)  
If these have hit the mark, they must grant that S. Bernard was much mistaken, when he says, 
q Epist. 174. ad Canon. Lugd.  Quomodo peccatum non fuit, ubi libido non defuit, etc. How could her Conception be without Sin, when it was not without Lust, unless we say that she was Conceived by the Holy Ghost, and not by Man? The secret of this fancy, is only to avoid a saying or two of S. Austin's 
r Or Fulgentius lib de fide ad Petrum. p. 1. qu. 24. so also l. 1. de Nupt. & Concupis. c. 24. Ex concupiscentia carnis qu●…cunque nescitur p●…le● originali est obligata pecato.  Believe firmly and in no wise doubt, that every one that is conceived by the commixture of Man and Woman, is born with Original Sin, subject to death, etc. Which because he was unwilling to grant of the Blessed Virgin, Galatinus restrains it thus, He that is generated Per concubitum, cum corporis libidine & voluptate, where the Parents have bad pleasure; which is as wise a reasoning, as if when one had made this a Rule, That whatsoever is nourished will at length be corrupted and die; another should put in this exception Yes, if it eats its meat with pleasure, otherwise it is not necessary. But we have not yet done with their Conceits about her Formation. Many will have her Body to be form and animated differently from other Conceptions, which they say ordinarily in Females is eighty days after the Man has known his Wife. S. Amideus his Revelations 
s Apud Th. Raymud. Dipped. Marian. p. 22.  say, That the Soul was infused into the Body of the B. Virgin six hours after the use of Matrimony by her Parents, her Flesh (which was unusual) being in that short space of time form and figured. Bapt. Poza 
t Elucidar. l. 3. tract. 3. c. 1, etc.  is peremptory, That she had no part of her Body, which was not completely perfect on the first day of her Conception, so that she might have been fed at the Mouth, and have beheld the common light: Only he is put to it, to resolve without a Miracle (since she might have been born the same day she was Conceived) how she could have been suckled, if she had then been born: since according to Fienus, a humane Body, when it is first quickened in the Womb, does not much exceed the bigness of a Barley-Corn, or as others, of a young Bee; and it is hard in such a small Body to imagine how the Mouth can receive and draw the Mother's Breasts; and it would be to no purpose to trouble you with his foolish Resolution. But if you ask again, what End this invention of her momentaneous formation serves? Though he conceals, I think, one Reason, which is a thing mainly intended by them, to make every thing almost in her to answer what was done in our Saviour, whose Body the Schoolmen 
u See Aquinas 3 part. qu. 33. art. 1, 2. Durandus l. 3. dist. 2. qu. 2: Becanus Sum. Theol. part 3. tract. 1. c. 5. qu. 2. Estius in 3 lib. sent. dift. 2. sect. 6. Greg. de Valentia Tom. 4. disp. 1. qu. 6 punc. 1. Greg. Gallicanus says the same after them, Corpus Christi in instanti fult formatum perfect in ●arra quantitate sicut una apis. Marial. p. 165.  generally make to have been form in its several parts at once, and at the same instant animated and united to the Divinity; yet he discovers another Mystery; and he will quickly resolve you 
x Elucid. l. 2. tract. 5. c. 2. , That this did that for her, which Christ's being born of a Virgin did for him, viz. made her not guilty of Original Sin, because not included in the Covenant with Adam, her Conception not being ordinary, but Miraculous. Nay he goes so far as to Assert, that by reason of this Miraculous formation, she was excused à debito originalis peccati, from being liable to Original Sin, as well as from the sin itself. As wisely also, in another place, 
y Ibid. tract. 7. c. 1.  he concludes, that although no violence was done to the B. Virgin, when she was made of the Female Sex, yet considering the perfection of her Soul and Body, it was a Miracle that she was not a Man rather than a Woman, since all the wonderful productions mentioned in the Scripture that sprang of barren and effete Parents, were all Males.  
We are told by Aegid. Gelenius 
z De Colon. Magnit. p. 266.  of a great rarity shown at Colen, viz. some remains of the place (I suppose of the Dust or Earth) where the Blessed Virgin was Conceived. And Xaverius has given us another Discovery, 
a Hist. Christi, p. 18.  and I think none has prevented him herein, that S. Anne conceived the Blessed Virgin upon a Thursday.  
But all this refers to her Body, and if there should be nothing Rare and Extraordinary said of her Soul, this better part would bear no Proportion with the other: But they have taken care that it shall have no reason to complain; though we have, for obtruding upon us such raw and indigested Fancies.  
We all know that our Reason comes very slowly upon us, and that the first Life we live is merely animal: Our Understanding gins to dawn a little like the first Peep of Day, some while after we are born, and so proceeds by an imperceptible Progress, as Light does, till we arrive at our Noon, which is very late. But in her, they tell us, it was quite otherwise; Nescit tarda molimina, etc. Her Understanding is anticipated 
b Vinc. Bruni Med. de B. Virg. p. 74. , and they give her the use of her Reason in the first Moment of her Being; 
c Raynaudus, ibid. p. 158.  she had the Use of  and perfect Light in her Mind, says S. Bernardine, 
d De concep. Virg. Serm. 4. Art 1. c. 2.  even in her Mother's Womb; so that she could from the first Moment exercise supernatural Acts both of Knowledge and Faith; 
e Raynaud. ib. p. 159.  and by this Use of her Reason she disposed herself to all that Grace that she received in her first Sanctification; just as the Schoolmen say, That the Angels disposed themselves to all that Grace in which they were created: For her Sanctification was not in the way that other Infants are sanctified 
f Vasquez in 3 part. tom. 2. qu. 27. art. 6. c. 3, 4. , only by the Infusion and Reception of habitual Grace, but instar adulti, like one of age, by her own proper Act of Conversion to God, proceeding from the Assistance of Divine Grace. Only here is a great Doubt, whether this use of Reason was granted as a Privilege to the Blessed Virgin, only for that Moment of her first Justification and Conception, as Vasquez speaks, 
g Ibid. c. 4.  and then ceased till she came at the ordinary time to find it again, as some Infants have by a Wonder spoke once and no more, in their Infancy: This he says indeed was Cajetan's Opinion; but it seems more probable, That the Blessed Virgin, from the instant of her Conception, and so forward, all the time of her Infancy (without Interruption) had the full use of her Reason, at least in those things that appertained to God and Virtue: Having an uninterrupted Influence (says our late Contemplator) 
h Contempl. L. & Gl. of H. Marry, p. 20.  of actual Graces so quickening her great Soul, that no one Moment of her Life, from the first Conception of her Soul, was vacant from divine Contemplations, heavenly Affections and Ecstasies of supernatural Love; or as he more fantastically expresses it elsewhere 
i Ibid. p. 45. , She, from the first positive Instant of the Infusion of her Soul, ever exercised the most sublime Operations of the contemplative and unitive Life, without Recourse to the Images of Imagination or Dependence on Sense.— Her great Soul was so completely actuated, even in the Womb of her Mother, that her Contemplations, Sallies of Love, and Unions with God were restless; ever increasing in their Vigour, and still expatiating through the vast Motives and Methods of mystical Love. Nay She was, says another 
k Novarini Umbr. Virg. n. 1323. , in such perpetual Contemplation of God and divine Things, that she was never so busied or so fast asleep, but she directed her Mind towards God, and thought of him, so that in this Respect she was in the State of the Blessed (par beatis.) If you have a mind to understand this still more particularly, the Contemplator 
l Ibid. p. 45.  tells us, That by the Help of abstractive Lights divinely infused, were represented, 1. The several Essences, Attributes and Motions of the whole Body of the Creation, in their several Degrees and Stations. 2. The Divinity of God, with its manifold Emanations, Operations and inexplicable Comprehensions. And, 3. The Humanity of Jesus, with all the Orders of Grace, Mysteries of Salvation, and extatick Loves of the Saints. But S. Bernardine 
m Loc. ante citat.  informs us of Seven things, that according to some, she understood perfectly in her first Sanctification (viz. in her Mother's Womb.) 1. Irrational created Nature. 2. Rational created Nature. 3. Spiritual created Nature. 4. Divine increated Nature. 5. All things that were to be avoided. 6. All things to be followed and embraced. 7. After what manner and to what degree all things were to be hated or loved. He that could believe all this, might well add, That she was (when imprisoned in the Womb) in a more sublime State of Contemplation, than any humane Creature ever was in its perfect Age; and though she slept in her Mother's Womb as other Infants do, yet Sleep did not effect that in her it does in us, for in us it buries the Acts of Reason and , and by Consequence Acts of Merit; but I believe her Soul by free and meritorious acting did then tend unto God, so that she did more perfectly contemplate when she slept, than any others ever did when they were awake. The Jesuit Poza 
n Elucidar. lib. 2. trac. 15. cap. 4.  tells us of Fr. Ximenes, a Patriarch of Jerusalem, who has given an account of some of her sorrowful Thoughts, and also joyful Reflections she made in her Mother's Womb. S. Bernardine 
o Loc. citat.  seems to have been almost as skilful as the other, for he says, the impetus (force) of her first Sanctification did impel the Mind of the Blessed Virgin to desire the Incarnation of the Son of God, out of fervent Charity for the Salvation of all the Elect. Her Charity they also equalise in this State to her Knowledge; for thus they sing of her in the Hours 
p Litaniae variae. Colen. 1643. p. 226.  of her immaculate Conception. 
In conceptione, charitate ignita,  
Draconis potestas est à te contrita.  
When first conceived, with Love inflamed,  
By thee the Dragon's Power was maimed.   
She began to love God, says another, 
q Novarinus ibid. p. 89. n. 296.  from the very first Instant of her Conception, and never ceased to do so afterwards, never intermitted (as he explains it) the most fervent Act of Charity. If he had said this of the Habit that it never ceased, it might have better passed; but understanding it of the Act, as he does, it is impossible to be true of any one that lives in Flesh. But what we think impossible, they say no body need doubt of, as in this that follows, which concerns the measure of that Grace, she had in the first moment again of her Conception; which we are told 
r Raynaudus, ibid. p. 159. & Illeph. Giron in promptuar. conc. p. 60.  was more copious and intense, than that which Angels and Men attain to in their Consummation; which is admirably proved by that of the Psalmist (Ps. 87.) The Lord loveth the Gates of Zion 
s Spinellus, ib. c. 7. p. 115. , that is, the Conception of the Virgin, more than all the Dwellings of Jacob; that is, more than other Saints.  
The Reader, I dare say, by this time, is past all Hopes of guessing, to what Pitch his Faith is to be screwed up, in matters that concern the Blessed Virgin. When I met with a Jesuit 
t Sherlog Anteloq. 8. in Cantic. Sec. 1.  asserting, That the oldest Saint in this Life, never attained so great a Measure of Grace, as was infused into her when she first began to live, I was ready to think that he would make a bold Attempt that would carry the Matter higher: For though another 
u Max. Sandaeus in Luna mystic. p. 52.  indeed was so great a Lunatic, as to call her, Antiqua dierum, the Ancient of Days, a Title given, by the Prophet Daniel, to God himself; yet his Reason for it was but the same; Because she in her Mother's Womb was filled with Wisdom, Prudence, Understanding, and the rest of the Gifts of the Divine Spirit, above all the most aged. But to tell us, that then her Grace exceeded the Measures of Angels and of Saints consummate in Bliss, is such wild Divinity, as one would scarce look to meet with any where, unless from him that for half an Hour together cries Glory, Glory in Bethlem.  
One would wonder whence this Fancy concerning her, of reasoning in her Mother's Womb, and having such Contemplations there, should arise. The only acknowledged Reason of it is, That many Authors 
x See Vasquez loc. citat. qu. 27. art. 6. c. 3.  have attributed this to John the Baptist, when he leapt in his Mother's Womb; which they would have to proceed from the Use of his Reason, and a gift of Prophecy, conferred on him at the Presence of our Saviour (which I will not now debate, because we shall have Occasion to consider it under another Head, when we speak of her Visitation of Elizabeth) and it is not fit that any Saint should outgo her in any Privilege.  
Another Reason they reserve as a Secret, though I doubt not but it is intended in all these Assertions, viz. The making her in every thing that is possible like unto Christ himself; that so, when their Lines run so parallel, they may the more plausibly call her, a Helper, a Co-worker, a Co-redeemer, or what ever other Name they use, to signify how much we are engaged to her in promoting our Salvation.  
This therefore being the common. Opinion of the Schoolmen, (as Estius 
y In lib. 3. Sent. dist. 18. sec. 1. See also Aquinas p. 3. qu. 34. art. 2, 3.  attests) That Christ merited from the Beginning (i. e. from his first Conception) by the actual Use of , which supposes the Use of his Reason; they have given the same to her: Though there was a time when this was denied her, even by him who is not sparing in his Grants to her; I mean Aquinas 
z Part. 3. qu. 27. artic. 3. : Non statim habuit usum liberi arbitrii adhuc in ventre matris existens, hoc enim est speciale privilegium Christi: He held it to be a special Privilege of Christ to have the Use of  in the Womb, and not to be affirmed of her: But now Christ must be contented to part with some of this Prerogative, as they make him resign a share in many a Privilege, for the pleasing and honouring of his Mother, as we shall find it in the very next thing that follows.    


SECT. III. Of the Blessed Virgins Conception being Immaculate.  
THough the pretended Infallible Chair has not thought fit as yet to determine the Controversy about the Immaculate Conception, for Reasons we shall after give, (which have no relation at all to Piety, but to Craft and Cunning, lest the breach about it in their own Church should be made wider) yet however it has given them leave to pray that, which it dare not command them to believe as an Article of Faith. Almost every Church is furnished with Offices to that purpose; some of which I shall here set down, beginning with our own Church.  
I find in an Old Primar of Salisbury (fol. 127.) The Hours of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, wherein this is plainly asserted against all Opposers.  


Ad Matutinum. Hymnus.  
BEnedicta conceptio Virginis Matris Mariae  
Festivetur cum gaudio, assit dies laetitiae:  
Laetetur tota regio serviens regi gloriae,  
Non obstante objurgio detrahentis invidiae.   

LET every place that serves the King of Glory,  
Observe a Feast and keep an Holiday  
For the Conception of the Virgin Mary,  
However detracting Envy may gainsay.    


Oremus.  
Deus, qui pro salute humani generis Carnem gloriosae Virginis Mariae assumere dignatus es, & ipsam sine Macula concipiendam ante saecula in Matrem praeeligisti; concede propitius, ut qui de ejus conceptione (quae fuit nostrae redemptionis, necnon temporum plenitudinis exordium) laetamur, ejus piis intercessionibus ab instantibus periculis & à morte perpetua liberemur, etc.   

Let us Pray.  
God, who for the Salvation of Mankind didst vouchsafe to assume the Flesh of the glorious Virgin Mary, and before all Ages didst pre-elect Her for thy Mother to be conceived without Spot; mercifully grant, that we who rejoice in her Conception (which was the beginning of our Redemption, and also of the fullness of Times) by her pious Intercessions, may be delivered from present dangers, and from everlasting death, etc.    


Ad primam. Hymnus.  
Erubescant insensati qui respuunt celebrare  
Mysteria tam sacrati diei & festivare;  
Quo anno fuerunt copulati vir cum sua muliere,  
Pessimè sunt advisati sic volentes deviare.   

Hymn.  
Shame on those senseless Persons that refuse  
This high days Mysteries to celebrate;  
When she conceived was by Marriage use,  
They're ill advised that thus will deviate.    


Vers. In conspectu Altissimi immaculata permansisti.  
Resp. Dei genetrix, intercede pro nobis.   

Verse. Thou didst remain immaculate in the sight of the most High.  
Ans. O Mother of God, Intercede for us.    


Ad Tertiam. Hymn.  
Conceptio mirabilis ab Angelo nunciata,  
Maria tam laudabilis in conceptu praeservata,  
Est unde venerabilis Ecclesia illustrata,  
Et in suis miraculis & laudibus honorata.   

An Angel brings the News of her Conception,  
So wondrously secured from sins Infection;  
The Church that hence derives illustrious Rays,  
Strives to proclaim her Miracles and Praise.    


Ad Sextam. Hymn.  
Ave Regina coelorum, inter omnes mitissima;  
Ave decus Angelorum, inter omnes pulcherrima,  
Simul & Archangelorum omni laude dignissima,  
Quae concepta vitiorum sine labe purissima.   

Hail Queen of Heaven, yet mild beyond compare;  
Hail ornament of Angels, none so fair:  
Worthy the Praise of an Archangels strain,  
Whose pure Conception was without all stain.    


Ad Nonam. Hymn.  
Quum corpus & viscera quae dominum portaverunt,  
Virginalia ubera quae ipsummet lactaverunt  
Beata sunt & opera tua, & qui crediderunt  
Quod sine labe concepta post & ante remanserunt.   

Since that the Womb that bore our Lord, the Breast  
That gave him suck, and all thy Works are blest;  
They're blest too, that believe thee without stain  
Conceived, an Ever-Virgin to remain.    


Ad Vesperas. Hymn.  
Salve Mater salutaris, quae es soror insignita,  
Salve quia Deum paris Angelorum spes & vita,  
Salve Virgo singularis verè sacra Margarita,  
Salve quia stella maris es sine labe concepta.   

Hail saving Mother and our Sister too,  
God's Mother, Angel's Life, and Hope art thou;  
Hail sacred Pearl, thou Virgin singular,  
Conceived without all Spot, the Seas bright Star.    


Ad Completorium. Hymn.  
Matris Dei conceptio est nostrae redemptionis  
Potissima inceptio atque reparationis,  
Et non mirum: Exemptio antitiquae contagionis  
Fuit & in principio ipsius creationis.   

When first God's Mother was Conceived, began  
The reparation of lost Man;  
Sins old Contagion first escaped our Nature,  
When she began to be a Creature.    
Before these Hours is a Picture of God the Father, speaking these words to the Blessed Virgin; Tota pulchra es, amica mea, & non est macula in te. Thou art wholly fair, my Love, and there is no Spot in thee.  
I find another Office of her Immaculate Conception in several Books 
a Litaniae variae Colon. 1643. p. 221. L' Office Divin. Paris. 1658. Heures dedices au Roy. Paris. 1662.  out of which I shall set down a few Passages.  


Ad Matutinum. Hymn.  
AB aeterno Dominus te praeordinavit  
Matrem unigeniti Verbi, quo creavit  
Terram, pontum, aethera: Te pulchram ornavit  
Sibi sponsam, in qua Adam non peccavit.   

BEfore the World thou wast designed to be  
The Mother of that Word, by whom the Sea,  
The Earth and Heavens were made: He beautified  
Thee for his Spouse, and in this fairest Bride  
Adam ne'er sinned, altho' in all beside.    


Oremus.  
Sancta Maria, regina coelorum, mater Domini nostri Jesu Christi & mundi Domina, quae nullum derelinquis & nullum despicis; respice me Domina clementer oculo pietatis, & impetra mihi apud tuum dilectum filium cunctorum veniam peccatorum: Ut qui nunc sanctam tuam conceptionem devoto affectu recolo, aeternae in futurum beatitudinis bravium capiam, ipso quem Virgo peperisti donante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, qui cum patre, etc.   

Let us Pray.  
O Holy Mary, the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Lady of the World, who neither forsakest nor despisest any one; look upon me, gracious Lady, with an Eye of Pity, and obtain for me, of thy beloved Son, Pardon of all my Sins: That so I, who now remember thy holy Conception with devout Affection, may hereafter receive the Reward of eternal Felicity, by the Donation of him, whom thou, remaining a Virgin, didst bring Forth, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father, etc.    


Ad primam. Hymn.  
Salve Virgo sapiens, domus Deo dicata,  
Columna septemplici mensaque exornata;  
Ab omni contagio mundi praeservata,  
Ante sancta in utero parentis quàm nata.   

Wise Virgin hail, God's holy House thou art,  
Seven Pillars and a Table, thee adorn;  
The World's Contagion ne'er defiled thy Heart,  
Cleansed in thy Mother's Womb, whilst yet unborn.    


Ad Tertiam. Hymn.  
Salve Arca foederis, thronus Salomonis,  
Arcus pulcher aetheris, rubus visionis:  
Virga frondens germinis, vellus Gideonis,  
Porta clausa numinis, favusque Samsonis.  
Decebat tam nobilem Natum praecavere  
Ab originali labe Matris Evae  
Almans, quam elegerat, genetricem verè  
Nulli prorsus sinens culpae subjucere.   

Hail saving Ark, and Throne of Solomon,  
Hail Heaven's fair Rainbow, Bush of Vision,  
Thou budding Rod and Fleece of Gideon,  
God's Gate ne'er opened, Sampson's Honeycomb.  
'Twas fit a Son so noble should obtain  
Freedom from Mother Eve's original Stain,  
For her whom we God's Mother truly call,  
Nor leave her under any Sin to fall.    


Ad Sextam. Hymn.  
Salve Virgo puerpera, templum Trinitatie,  
Angelorum gaudium, cella puritatis,  
Solamen moerentium, hortus voluptatis,  
Palma patientiae, cedrus castitatis,  
Terra es benedicta & sacerdotalis,  
Sancta & immunis Culpae Originalis.   

Hail Virgin Mother, House o'th' Trinity,  
Delight of Angels, Cell of Purity,  
The Mourners Joy, Cedar of Continence,  
Garden of Pleasure, Palm of Patience,  
Blessed Ground, like that which to the Priests did fall,  
Holy and free from Sin Original.    


Antiph. Haec est virga in qua nec nodus originalis, nec cortex actualis culpae fuit.   

Antiph. This is the Rod, in which was neither the Knot of Original, nor Bark of actual Sin.    


Vers. In conceptione tua, Virgo, immaculata fuisti.  
Resp. Ora pro nobis patrem cujus filium peperisti.   

Verse. O Virgin, in thy Conception thou wast immaculate.  
Resp. Pray for us to the Father, whose Son thou broughtest forth.    


Oratio.  
Deus qui per immaculatam Virginis Conceptionem, dignum filio tuo habitaculum praeparasti, quaesumus, ut sicut ex morte ejusdem filii tui praevisâ eam ab omni labe praeservasti, ita nos quoque mundos ejus intercessione ad te pervenire concedas,  
Per eundem Dominum.   

A Prayer.  
O God, who by the immaculate Conception of the Virgin didst prepare a fitting Lodging for thy Son, we pray thee, that as by the foreseen Death of that Son of thine, thou didst preserve her from all Stain, so grant, that we being cleansed, may come to thee by her Intercession,  
Through the same Lord.    
This Prayer is still owned by the Church, for it is in the Missal of Clement VIII. (Paris. 1625.) among the proper Offices granted to the Franciscans; where the first Office, is for the Feast of the immaculate Conception, and there we meet with Deus qui per immaculatam, etc. We are told in a Rubric (Litan. variae p. 230.) that the foregoing Antiphona and Prayer were approved by Pope Paul V. who granted to those that should recite them, Indulgences of an Hundred Days. They remain also among the proper Offices for the Order of the Holy Trinity, printed at Lisbon 1621. called Officium immaculatae Conceptionis Virg. Mariae in Sabbato, where I meet with several Strains worth the noting, of which take these following.  


Invitatorium.  
Immaculatam conceptionem Virginis Mariae celebremus: Christum ejus praeservatorem adoremus Dominum.   

Let us celebrate the immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, and adore the Lord Christ her Preserver.    


Anaph. Fortitudo & decor indumentum ejus; byssus & purpura vestis illius.   

Anaph. Strength and Beauty are her Clothing; her Garment is fine Linen and Purple.    


Vers. Liberâsti me Domine ex ore Leonis.  
Resp. Et à cornibus Unicornium humilitatem meam.   

Verse. Thou hast delivered me from the Lion's mouth.  
Resp. And my only Mother from the Horns of the unicorns.  
(To these they compare original Sin.)    


Anaph.  
Aquae multae non potuerunt extinguere charitatem; nec flumina peccatorum obruent Mariam.   

Anaph.  
Many Waters could not quench Charity; nor Floods of Sin overwhelm Mary.    


Vers. Eruisti à frameâ, Deus, animam meam.  
Resp. Et de manu canis unicam matrem meam.   

Verse. Thou hast delivered my Soul from the Sword.  
Resp. And my only Mother from the Power of the Dog.    

After the 5th. Lesson.  

Resp. Fac tibi arcam de lignis levigatis, ruptaeque sunt abyssi magnae, & factum est diluvium peccati super omnem terram.  
Vers. Arca vero deifera elevata est in sublime, & ferebatur super aquas; opertique sunt omnes montes excelsi Sanctorum.   

Resp. Make thee an Ark of plained Board's, and the great Abysses were broken up, and there was a Deluge of Sin upon all the Earth.  
Verse. But the Ark in which God was carried was lifted up on high, and born upon the Waters, and all the high Mountains of the Saints were covered.    

After the 6th. Lesson.  

Resp. Fiat mihi sanctuarium & habitabo in medio eorum. Arcam de lignis Sethim compingite, & deaurabis eam auro mundissimo intus & foris, etc.  
Vers. Inspice, & fac secundum exemplar quod tibi in monte monstratum est.   

Resp. Make me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in the midst of them. Make an Ark of Shittim Wood, and thou shalt gild it within and without with pure Gold, etc.  
Verse. Behold it, and make it after the Pattern that was showed thee in the Mount.    


Ad Laudes. Anaph.  
Domum tuam decet sanctitudo, Domine, in longitudine dierum.   

Anaph.  
Holiness, O Lord, becometh thine House for ever.    


Anaph.  
Haec est domus domini firmiter aedificata, benè fundata est super firmam petram.   

Anaph.  
This is the firm-built House of the Lord, and it is well founded upon a sure Rock.    


Anaph.  
Fundavit eam Altissimus, qui super maria fundavit eam, & super flumina praeparavit illam.   

Anaph.  
The most high hath founded her, who hath founded her upon the Seas, and prepared her upon the Floods.    


Anaph.  
Dominus custodit te ab omni malo, Maria, custodivit animam tuam, introitum tuum & exitum tuum in saeculum.  
Vers. Non accedet ad te malum.  
Resp. Neque flagellum appropinquabit tabernaculo tuo.   

Anaph.  
O Mary, the Lord keepeth thee from all Evil, he hath kept thy Soul, thy going in and thy coming out for ever.  
Verse. No Evil shall approach thee.  
Resp. Nor any Scourge come nigh to thy Tabernacle.    


Anaph.  
Quam pulchra es, amica mea, columba mea, & odor vestimentorum tuorum super omnia aromata.  
Vers. Dominus est in loco sancto isto, & ego nesciebam.  
Resp. Non est hic aliud, nisi domus Dei & porta coeli.   

Anaph.  
How fair art thou, my Love, my Dove, my undefiled one, the smell of thy Vestments is above all Spices.  
Verse. The Lord is in that holy place and I knew it not.  
Resp. This is nothing else but the House of God and the Gate of Heaven.    
I find a Prayer in the Hours of Sarum, wherein her Freedom from Original Sin is expressed, and a most encouraging Indulgence annexed in the Rubric before it; which is this.  Alexander the VIth. Pope of Rome hath granted to all them that say this Prayer devoutly in the Worship of S. Anna and our Lady and her Son jesus, Ten thousand Years of Pardon for deadly Sins, and Twenty Years for venial Sins rottens quotiens. 


Oratio.  
Ave Maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum, tua gratia sit mecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus; & benedicta sit sancta Anna Mater tua, ex qua sine macula & peccato processisti Virgo Maria; ex te autem natus est Jesus Christus Filius Dei vivi.  
Amen.   

The Prayer.  
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, and let th● Grace be with me: Blessed all thou among Women; and Blessed be S. Anne thy Mother, from whom thou Virgin Mary didst proceed without Spot and Sin; and of thee was born Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.  
Amen.    
Many Instances of the like kind may be seen in Balengem's Parnassus Marianus, where several Hymns are collected out of divers Missals and Breviaries.  
She is called,  



Ibid. p. 4.  Cella plena vino mero,  
Granum sine palea.   

A Cellar filled with unmixed Wine,  
Pure Grain without Chaff.    



P. 24, 25.  Virgo non inficitur,  
Cum à matre concipitur,  
Originali crimine.  
Tu à Deo fabrica●  
In conceptu praeservata  
Nulla trahis scelera.   

The Virgin was not infected with original Sin, when her Mother conceived her.  
Thou ●…st●s● 〈◊〉 by God, preserved in thy Conception, contracting no Sin.    



P. 377.  De mulierum numero haec sola praeservata  
Fuit Matris in utero sancta absque labe nata.   

'Mong Women, none but she the Favour gained,  
To be conceived pure, and born unstained.    


Oratio.  

Horae sec. usum Hieros. de concept. & Hortulus animae p. 81.  Deus ineffabilis Misericordiae, qui primae piacula mulieris per Virginem expianda sanxisti, da nobis quaesumus ejus mernoriam digne venerari, quae unigenitum tuum Virgo concepit, & Virgo peperit Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum filium tuum.   

The Prayer.  
O God of unspeakable Mercy, who hast ordained that the First Transgression of the Woman should be expiated by a Virgin; grant us, we pray thee, worthily to venerate her Memory; who, being a virgin, did conceive thy only begotten Son, and remaining a Virgin did bring forth our Lord Jesus Christ.    
There also you find the Blessed Virgin included in a Gloria Patri.  


Gloria Patri genitaeque proli,  
Flamini Sancto, Virginique Matri,  
Quae Dei natum genuit hominem,  
Sit laus perennis.  
Amen.   

Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and perpetual Praise to the Virgin Mother, of whom the Son of God was born a Man.  
Amen.    
The present Roman Breviaries, though they are not so express in the Point of Immaculateness, yet are full of other unwarrantable Applications.  


Oratio.  

Brev. Rom. Reform. ad 8 Decemb.  Famulis tuis quaesumus Domine coelestis gratiae munus impartire; ut quibus Beatae Virginis partus extitit salutis exordium, conceptionis ejus votiva solemnitas pacis tribuat incrementum,  
Per Dominum, etc.   

A Prayer.  
Lord we beseech thee bestow upon thy Servants the Gift of heavenly Grace, that they to whom the Birth of the Virgin was the Beginning of Salvation, the vowed Solemnity of her Conception may contribute to the increase of their Peace,  
Through our Lord, etc.    


Lect. 1. Ecclus. 24.  
Ex Ore Altissimi prodivi, primogenita ante omnem creaturam, ego feci, etc.   

Lesson 1.  
I came out of the Mouth of the most High, the Firstborn of every Creature, etc.    


Lect. 2.  
Ab initio & ante saecula creata sum, & usque ad futurum saeculum non desinam, & in habitatione sancta coram ipso ministravi, etc.   

Lesle. 2.  
From the Beginning, and before all Ages I was created, and I shall never fail; in the holy Habitation I ministered before him, etc.    


Lect. 3.  
Ego mater pulchrae dilectionis & timoris & agnitionis & sanctae Spei. In me gratia omnis viae & veritatis; in me omnis spes vitae & virtutis. Transite ad me omnes qui concupiscitis me, & à generationibus meis implemini.  
Qui audit me non confundetur, & qui operantur in me non peccabunt, qui elucidant me, vitam aeternam habebunt.   

Lesle. 3.  
I am the Mother of fair Love and Fear and Knowledge and holy Hope. In me is the Grace of every Way and Truth; in me is all the Hope of Life and Virtue. Come unto me all ye that are desirous of me, and from my Offspring ye shall be filled.  
He that heareth me shall not be confounded, and they that work by me shall not do amiss; they that brighten me shall have eternal Life.     

REMARKS.  
THere is no Controversy ever was started, that has more busied the Wits of those of the Roman Communion, nor any that ever was managed with greater Heats and Animosities in their Schools, than this of the Immaculate Conception. A Question that never entered into the Heads of any of the Ancient Fathers, for as Vasquez 
a Part. 3. disp. 117. c. 1.  confesses, it is manifest, that before the times of S. Bernard there was no Dispute among the ancient Fathers concerning the Blessed Virgins Preservation from Original Sin, since none of them so much as mention it: Though in his time it appears, by his 174 Epistle to the Canons of Lions, there was some Debate about it among Divines. I shall make bold to add, that this Controversy betwixt the Two Parties (they who assert her Conception in Original Sin, whom we shall call (to avoid Circumlocution) Maculists, and those who deny it the Immaculists) is not only Late and Novel, but also extremely foolish and ridiculous, when you consider where the Difference lies betwixt them. They themselves confess 
b Vasquez ibid. qu. 27. disp. 114. c. 1. & Bellarm. de amiss. gratiae, l. 4. c. 15.  that it is agreed on all Hands in their Church, that she was sanctified in her Mother's Womb before she was born; so that the only Question (and it is a very wise one) is, Whether in the first Moment of her Conception 
c Th. Raynaudus Dipped. Mar. p. 132.  she was immaculate, yea or no? Both Parties agreeing, that she had the Use of her Reason (as we heard before) in the first Moment of her Conception; one might have been tempted to think, considering the Zeal of the opposite Side, that the Maculists had brought her in loaded and labouring for some Months together in her Mother's Womb, under a sense of God's heavy Displeasure for Adam's Sin, which the other side could not endure to suppose, and that this made them so very angry. But there is no such matter I assure you; they are as civil to the Blessed Virgin in this Respect as one can possibly desire▪ For one of their Adversaries 
d Franciscus a Christo. praelect. de Incarnate. fol. 189.  has given us an account of Three Opinions among them, and all of them very favourable to her. The Severest is that of S. Thomas, who thinks that she was in Sin for a time (but so short a time that none can measure it) to wit, so much time as intervenes between two Moment's (inter duo instantia;) for in the first Instant of her Conception, she contracted the Original Stain; in the next Moment after it, she was purged from it; so that she was obnoxious to Sin only the time that must come between those Two Moment's. Others think that the Blessed Virgin was a whole Moment of Time in Sin (integro temporis instanti,) but all the time that is coupled with that Instant, was in Grace, and so grant that her Son delivered his Mother from Gild, as soon as it was possible for Divine Omnipotency to effect it. This will not please the Immaculists; for this Reason, because if they say that the first Instant she was in Sin, though they grant that in the next Instant Grace was infused to take it away; yet because two Instants (according to the Philosopher, 6 Physic.) cannot immediately cohere (no more than Two Atoms in continued Quantity) without a middle Time between them, therefore the Blessed Virgin must be in Sin according to this Opinion, not only the first Instant, but also the time between that and the second. But he says there are a third Sort (and they are the very Pinks of Courtesy) who come thus far as to say, That in the first Instant in which she contracted Gild, she was also delivered from the same by God: Only they crave Leave to divide an Instant into Three (in tria Signa): In the first of which she contracted Sin; in the second sanctifying Grace was infused into her Soul, but more incomplete and transient, abiding with Sin, but ready to expel it: In the third the same Grace is understood as permanent, and actually to have expelled Sin. This indeed is too subtle to be Intelligible, yet however one would think, it should be kindly taken by those of the other Opinion; since, if they will but allow them the third Part of a Moment for her stay under the Original Gild, they then declare her to be as immaculate as the other can imagine her to be: And if the one Party apprehends a Wound to be given to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin, by the Supposition of her being under that Sin, it is healed, you see, by the other in far less time, than the twinkling of an Eye, or the quickness of the swiftest Thought. And yet after all, I assure you, it is morally certain that these Two Parties will never be pieced together, but eternally quarrel. Fresh Combatants appear every day upon the Stage, and they charge one another so furiously, and engage the People in such Numbers in the Quarrel, that neither General Council nor Pope (whom both sides acknowledge only capable of doing it) dare decide this doughty Matter, for fear of worse Consequences to ensue thereupon. So that all things considered, never was a juster Censure, than that severe one, which a Poet of their own 
e Mantuan. in S. Fest. Decembr.  has passed upon them both, 
— Duae veniunt ista in certamina S●ctae  
Non unquam magno implentes subsellia risu.  
Aequanimes autem, volamus si vera fateri,  
Vanus uterque labour, pieras temeraria, praeceps  
Religio, levitas velata scientiae amictu.  
Nec Natura potest illuc extendere visum,  
Nec Deus hoc docuit, nec re dependet ab ista  
Nostra salu●: Quae nos igitur dementia torquet,  
 studeamus in his consumere litibus annos?  That is, 
Whilst these Two Sects in furious Combats chafe,  
Their pleased Spectators only louder laugh:  
For if we'll freely say the Truth, 'tis plain  
Their Piety is rash, both strive in vain:  
All the Religious Zeal they seem t'express,  
Is only Folly clothed in skilful Dress.  
Nature's short Sight cannot so far extend,  
What God ne'er taught, on that can ne'er depend  
Our Happiness: What Madness then t'engage,  
Or in such Fruitless Quarrels spend our Age?   
Since therefore we are made Spectators of this Combat, and need not, as they have stated the Question, trouble ourselves much about it; it may not be amiss to take a View, how they have listed themselves, and with what Weapons Offensive and Defensive they come appointed into the Field.  
The Maculists, though their Infantry be not so numerous, yet they are no ways daunted, as having, they judge, a better Cause, and more experienced Leaders 
f 260 Famous Doctors are named and their Words cited by Vinc. de Bandelis in tract. de sing. purit. & praerog. concept. J. Christi.  and Old Commanders on their Side: The Fathers (though you take S. Bernard into the Number) are wholly theirs 
g M. Canus Loc. The. l. 7. c. 1. Sancti omnes uno ore asseverant, etc. So Pet. Cellensis, Sententiae omnium retro Sanctorum. lib. 6. Epist. 23. ; so are also the most ancient Schoolmen and those of greatest Note. They think they are sure of the Master of the Sentences 
h Estius l. 3. dist. 3. Sect. 3. , and their Claim is not questioned to the Great Albertus, and Alexander Alensis, to Bonaventure, Durandus, S. Antoninus, and a little Army of other Chieftanes mentioned by Vasquez 
i Ibid. disp. 117. c. 1. . But there are Two especially whom they glory in, and who spirit the whole Party, the one a School-man, and the other a Father. Aquinas 
k Part. 3. qu. 27. art. 2. in corp. & add 2. 3 & 4.  of the first sort, with his vast Train of Thomists, must needs make a formidable Appearance to the Enemy, when they cannot deny that Christ gave Approbation to his Writings, in that famed saying. Bene de me scripsisti, Thoma: Thomas, thou hast written well of me. And that Evasion is only to be laughed at, which a Jesuit, 
l Barth. de Scobar. conc. 1. de concept. B. Virg. p. 27.  being sensible of the Force of it, has given; Forte dixit de me, etc. Perhaps he said on purpose those Words, Of me, by way of Restriction and Limitation, lest any one should take Occasion to think, that Christ approved whatsoever he wrote of Mary. The Father I mentioned is S. Austin, 
m 14 Places are cited out of him by Bandelis lib. citat. part. 1. c. 9  who may well stand for a great many, because in his Writings against the Pelagians, he had Occasion particularly to take Notice of it, and always resolves it the same way, making it the Privilege of Christ only to have no Original Sin, but involving his Mother by Name in it. To mention a few of the Places. In his 5th. Book against Julianus 
n C 9  thus he says, Quod si dementis est dicere & sine dubio caro christi non est caro peccati, sed facilis carni peccati, etc. If it be undoubted and madness to affirm the Contrary, that Christ's Flesh is not sinful Flesh, but like to sinful Flesh, what can we conceive further, but that, excepting this, all other human Flesh is of Sin? And hence it appears, that that Concupiscence by which Christ would not be conceived, did cause in Mankind an evil Offspring; and although the Body of Mary came from thence, yet she did not transmit it into the Body which did not conceive from thence. Now from hence it is that the Body of Christ is said to be in the Likeness of sinful Flesh, because all other Flesh of Men is sinful: Whoso denies this, and so compares the Flesh of Christ with the Flesh of other Men that are born, as to assert that both are of equal Purity, he is found to be a detestable Heretic. And elsewhere, 
o De genes. ad lit. l. 10. c. 18.  Virgins caro etiamsi de peccati propagatione venit, etc. The Flesh of the Virgin, though it came of a sinful Stock, yet she did not conceive (Christ) from the Stock of Sin.— Therefore the Body of Christ, though it was assumed from the Flesh of a Woman, who was conceived of that Stock of sinful Flesh, yet because his Body was not conceived in her, as she was conceived, neither was his Flesh sinful Flesh, but the likeness of sinful Flesh. In another place, 
p De peccat. merit. & remis. l. 2. c. 24.  Solus ergo ille homo factus manens Deus, peccatum nullum habuit unquam, nec sumpsit carnem peccati, quamvis de natura carnis peccati (alia Lect. Quamvis de materna carne peccati) i. e. Therefore he alone, who remaining God was made Man, had never any Sin, nor did he take sinful Flesh, though it was of the nature of sinful Flesh (or, though it was of his Mother's sinful Flesh.) And again 
q In Psal. 34. conc. 2. , Maria ex Adam mortua, etc. Mary deriving from Adam died because of Sin: Adam died because of Sin, and the Flesh of our Lord, derived from Mary, died to take away Sin.  
Saint Bernard also speaks the same Sense, in his Words which were cited before, p. 37. If their Adversaries were not convinced that the ancient Church knew no such Doctrine, they need not trouble themselves to give an Account, as they do, 
r Carthagena de arcan. deip. l. 1. hom. 4.  why this was kept as a Secret in former Ages, and why God did hid the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception from them. The reason of this is worth setting down, as well as the Confession of the Novelty of the Opinion. Non pauci homines rudes, etc. The rude and vulgar sort of People, if they had found for certain that the Blessed Virgin had never contracted Original Sin, would have been apt to have committed a Mistake, and thought her to have been a Goddess. For if the Inhabitants of Melita, when they saw the Viper fastening on S. Paul's Hand, and yet neither biting him nor vomiting any Poison upon him, cried out that he was a God; how much more easily would unlearned Men, when they saw that the Viper of Original Sin had envenomed all the Children of Adam, and that it had not touched her, have concluded that she was a Goddess? By which admirable Reason, God must be supposed to keep it as a Secret still, for there are rude and unlearned People still, in as much Danger as ever of this, or rather more; for even in the Days of Epiphanius, when the Collyridians' venerated her, she was not magnified, nor her Privileges manifested near so much as now.  
From all which it appears, that the Maculists Opinion has the Advantage of Prescription and immemorial Possession, if they are sufficiently provided to keep and maintain it. And here too they question not their Furniture, 
— habent quo se tueantur, & olim  
Ista hominum communis erat sententia. 
s Mantuan. parthen: Mar. 1.   That is, 
They plead the ancient Churches common Sense,  
And store of Arguments for its defence.   
The sacred Writings secure their Title, and they produce them with more Advantage than their Adversaries; they can flourish sometimes with a Scripture Allegory indeed, and tell the Immaculists, that tenebra erant super faciem abyssi; 
t Rich. a S. Laurentio.  Darkness was upon the Face of the Abyss, to signify that she was conceived in Sin; yet this is needless, when so many Places in their plain and literal Sense offer themselves to their Service: Such as these; All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God 
u Rom. 3. . As by one Man Sin entered into the World and Death by Sin, and so Death passed over all Men, for that all have sinned 
x Rom. 5. . The Scripture hath concluded 
y Gal. 3.  all under Sin. He gave himself a Ransom 
z 1 Tim. 2.  for all. If Christ died for all 
a 2 Cor. 5.  than are all dead, etc. Where the Antecedent being universal, the Consequent must be so too. From these and such like Texts, they have raised several strong Arguments: As 1. That it is a bold Presumption, when the Scripture so plainly involves all under Sin that derived from Adam in the way of ordinary Generation, to make an Exception in her Case, who so derives, without the least Countenance from it. Besides, 2. Redemption and Salvation by Christ is declared there to be as general and universal, as Sin and Death by Adam; and the Blessed Virgin rejoices in God her Saviour, but all these suppose Sin: And therefore Christ is called our Saviour and hers, because he saves his People from their Sins. And in her case it must be from Original Sin, because the Maculists, as well as their Adversaries, grant, that she was guilty of no actual Sin: And there are few of them that will assert with Card. Cusanus, 
b Exercit. l. 8.  That the Virgin needed no Redeemer to absolve her from the Sentence against Adam and his Posterity, to which she was never subject. That she alone, after the Fall of Adam, never stood in want, but was created full of Original Righteousness, as Eve was, and much more; just as Christ, according to his Human Nature, was created in all Fullness of Righteousness much more than Adam. To talk of a preservative Redemption 
c Scotus in 3. dist. 3. qu. 1.  from the Sin she might have incurred, is to say that Christ was the Redeemer of Angels: And if Bellarmine's Answer be allowed 
d De Amiss. great. l 4. c. 16.  Dicimus ei remissa fuisse peccata, non in quae inciderat, sed in quae incidisset, nisi gratia Dei per merita Christi praeventa fuisset. Her Sins were remitted, not those which she had committed, but which she might have committed, if not prevented by God's Grace through Christ's Merits. You may as well say of the Blessed Angels (which yet was never heard of) That they had their Sins forgiven, for if it had not been for God's Grace, they also might have fallen into Sin. And Christ might be said to shed his Blood for them too, if the Jesuit Coster 
e Medit. de B. Virg. p. 76.  says right, That Christ did not purge her Soul from Sin by his Blood, sed mundam praeservavit, but preserved it clean.  
Antiquity never understood these Distinctions, and the former Popes were against them. So Zosimus 
f Apud Augustin. Epist. 157. ad Optatum.  Nullus nisi qui peccati servus est, liber efficitur, nec redemptus dici potest, nisi qui verê per peccatum fuerit ante captivus, etc. No Person is made free by Christ who was not before a Servant of Sin, nor can be said to be redeemed, unless he were a Captive. So also Pope Leo 
g Sicut nullum a reatu liberum reperit, ita pro liberandis omnibus venit. Serm. 1. de Nat. Christ.  says, As he found none free from Gild, so he came to free all Men from it. 3. They urge also, that according to the Sentence upon all that derived from Adam, she suffered the Punishments which were the Effect of it, and was subject to Calamities and Death, therefore it must be granted, that the Cause of these must have place in her, to wit, Original Sin: Especially since the Second Council of Aurange against the Pelagians (Can. 2.) defined it to be affixing Injustice to God, to say that by one Man Death passed upon all Mankind and not Sin. 4. Lastly, They think they have an Advantage over their Adversaries by this Question, What if the Blessed Virgin had died before our Saviour's Passion? (for it is apparently foolish to say, as Galatinus 
h L. 7. de arcan. c. 10.  does, That it was impossible that the Mother of the Messiah should die before her Son:) Now if she had died before him▪ and had had no Sin, she could not have gone to Purgatory, but must have been received into Heaven; and then this Absurdity would follow, That the Kingdom of Heaven was opened, before Christ had overcome the sharpness of Death.  
Thus I have given an Account, in some particulars, what the Maculists have to plead for themselves. And I shall pass over and not urge the Revelations of S. Catharine, since they do not seem to need them; nor the Argument from Miracles, since though they have tried them (to be even with their Opponents) yet they are not so skilful in this Trade, but have come off very ill in the Attempt, as appears by the History of the Friars at Bern, An. Dom. 1509.  
And now it is time to turn our Discourse to their Adversaries, and to take a View also of their Strengths.  
The whole Stream of Antiquity running so clearly in the former Channel, and the Scriptures also so plainly making way for it; it cannot well be thought, that any one Man should boldly undertake to stem this Tide. And indeed he that first appeared of any Note, to give a Stop to the former prevailing Opinion, was Scotus 
i In 3 lib. Sent. distinc. 3.  the subtle Schoolman: But you may plainly perceive that he had no assurance of the Cause he had undertaken, by his timorous proceeding: For he acknowledges that the Maculists Opinion was the common one; and having added Three other possible ones, he adds, Quod horum trium sit factum, Deus novit: God knows which of these had place in the Case of the Blessed Virgin. And again, If it be not repugnant to the Authority of the Church or of the Scripture, it seems probable that what is most excellent may be attributed to Mary. His Scholars have taken more Heart, and are more positive than their Master, especially since the Franciscans and the Jesuits have both entirely espoused this Opinion, and stand up stiffly in maintenance of it: And the Pretence of the Excellency and Honour of the Virgin Mary, has so far charmed the Body of this Church, that now all the People almost are devoted to it, who would be accounted pious; and though one might have expected some Concern for our Saviour, who once had no Compeer in this Privilege of immaculate Conception, but was accounted the only Holy one of God in this respect; yet now the Case is altered, and Piety is measured more by the Honour given to the Mother, than to this Son of God himself; insomuch as now in all their Books, this has the name of the Pious Opinion (though the Impiety of it was demonstrated sufficiently in Six Arguments by a sturdy Champion on the opposite Side. 
k Bandelis, loc. citat. p. 1. c. 34, 35, etc.  Nay they fancy strongly that Christ himself is pleased when she, in this or any other way is advanced: as their Mantuan 
l Ibid. lib. 1. , speaking of the Immaculist's Opinion, has expressed it. 
Sed prior, ut nobis aequum sentire videtur,  
Dignior est, & grata magis Nato atque Parenti.  That is, 
This speaks her Worth and Honour more than tother,  
And better pleases both the Son and Mother.   
Even the other Sex is engaged on this side, being made to believe that the contrary injures the Mother of God: And in a revengeful Zeal we are told 
m Bernardinus de busto. Marial. Serm. 9 p. 103.  that the Women of Mantua refused to give a piece of Bread or any Alms to the Maculists, unless they asked it in honour of the immaculate Conception, or renounced the contrary Opinion (which was as troublesome an Objection as a begging Friar could well meet with) so that now this Novelty gets Ground every day of the other Opinion, which as the same Poet says 
n Mantuan. ibid. ; 
Jam Senio exsangui frigens, sua robora sensim  
Perdit, & amissa jam Majestate recedit  
Sponte sua—  That is, 
Now chilled with Age, its Strength and Beauty lost,  
It Lies as if 'twere giving up the Ghost.   
The Wonder is the greater when we find that their Arms, by which these Feats are done, are all Bulrushes, and their Arguments above Measure trifling and childish.  
There is not one place of Scripture (as was observed before) which in the literal Sense can be produced to countenance it. Bellarmine himself tells us, 
o De amiss. great. l. 4. c. 15.  we must not look for an express Text in this matter: For it is resolved that this Case must never be determined, but, like a Tennis-ball, must be tossed up and down, and bandied from one side to the other, to the World's End, as if that Church wanted some Toy to entertain it, and to play withal. And indeed it's pretty to observe how sportfully Figures and Allegories and Texts out of the Canticles, are applied to her by way of Accommodation (such as those the Office of the Immaculate Conception abounds with, of her Soul being delivered from the Lion, and the Power of the Dog, and the Horns of the Unicorn, etc.) Here now by the Help of a little Fancy, any place almost will be made to chime to this Tune. The Formation of Adam 
p Bellarm. ib.  out of the Earth that was not yet cursed, shows that the Blessed Virgin, of whom the Second Adam was form, was not under the Curse, because without all Sin. Paradise 
q Gr. de Valentia Tom. 4. disp. 2. qu. 1. punc. 2.  is a Type of it, which in its first Plantation had nothing that grew there hurtful or deadly. Eve, that was given to Adam, and made an Helpmeet for him (Vulg. Lat. adjutorium simile sibi) denoted that the Blessed Virgin, whom God gave to Christ to be adjutorium nostrae salutis, 
r Bernard de busto. serm. 5. p. 58.  the Helper of our Salvation, was to be similis ei, like to him, without Sin. The Ark of Noah carried above the Waters, tells you, that she was preserved from the Deluge of Original Sin that overflowed the rest of Mankind. The Ark of the Testament, made of Shittim wood, which was imputribilis, had no Worm or Rottenness in it, and in which the Pot of Manna was laid up; how plainly does it show 
s Greg. de Valentia, ibid.  that she that in her Womb was to receive Christ the Heavenly Manna, was not obnoxious to the Corruption of any Sin. The Ivory Throne of Solomon (1 Kings 10.) overlaid with the best Gold, was a Figure 
t Coster. Medit. 1. p. 19  of her bright and pure Soul not sullied with any Sin. Who also was like his Temple in the building of it (1 Kings 6.) neither smitten with the Hammer of Original, nor wounded 
u Bern. de bust ib. serm. 6. p. 64.  with the Axe, or any other Tool of Actual Sin. The Gate that Ezekiel saw (Cap. 44.2.) That was shut and never should be opened, it's agreed, 
x Id. ib. p. 66.  prefigured her, and tells us that all Sin was barred out; and no Man should enter in by it; therefore Original Sin was prevented, else the Devil, which is worse, would have entered in: But the Psalmist says (Ps. 147.) That God hath strengthened the Bars of thy Gates. And thou art that City of which the Prophet says (Esa. 37.) He shall not come into it, nor shoot an Arrow there 
y Spinellus de throne. dei, c. 7. p. 115. , that is, God did not permit him to wound thee with the Dart of Original Sin. The Characters which Solomon gives of the Spouse, their Church has applied to her, and they argue the same. For She is among the Daughters as the Lily among the Thorns 
z See Delrio's Florida Mariana. orat. 1. applying this to her.  Cant. 2. Thou art all fair my Love, there is no Spot in thee, 
* Bellarm. & Greg. Valentia ubi supra.  Cant. 4. Which we are told 
a Pelbartus l. 4. Stellar. p. 1. art. 3.  were the Words of Alex. Alice, which he spoke, when dying, to the Virgin, commending by her his Soul to God. Tota pulchra es amica mea, & nulla macula neque originalis neque actualis est in te. Thou art Beautiful, Comely as Jerusalem, Terrible as an Army with Banners, c. 6. My Dove, my undefiled is but one. The Daughters saw her and blessed her, ibid. Who is she that looketh forth as the Morning, fair as the Moon, clear as the Sun, etc.  
Their Adversaries perhaps will say, that these Texts rather agreed to her after-Sanctification than to her first Conception: But Jac. de Valentia has one place in Reserve, which he thinks comes home to the Point; (Psal. 46.5.) Adjuvabit eam deus manè diluculo: God shall help her and that right early. It had not been early enough, if she had sinned in Adam before she was sanctified.  
Thus we have seen as remarkable a Verification, as can any where be met with, of that usual Reproach they cast upon the Scriptures, that it may be made a Nose of Wax to bend and stand any way. I suppose they would not think it safe to use the Laws of the Land in this manner; but according to their Principles, they may make bolder with God Almighty and his Oracles; for this is but a small matter, for their Patroness to obtain Pardon for an Abuse of Scripture, when one that sealed a Writing, giving his Soul to the Devil to enjoy a Wench 
b Tursellinus in Hist. Lauret. lib. 3. c. 33. , and another that denied Christ himself in such another Bargain with the Devil to get an Estate 
c Caesarius l. 2. exempl. c. 12. & Vinc. Belluac. spec. Hist. l. 7. c. 105, 106. , yet both of them were secured and forgiven, by applying themselves to the Blessed Virgin.  
As for their Arguments from Reason, they are of the same Strain with the former, very witty and very ridiculous. The chief Argument that Bellarmine 
d Loc. ante citat.  and most of the Schoolmen insist on, is this; That it being certain that God could have preserved her from this Gild, the only Reason why he should not, must be because he would not do it. And here they undertake a pretty hard Task, as well as a very saucy one, to determine what is decent and fitting for God to will in this Case, when he has not declared one Syllable concerning it. God be thanked, that he has told us, what he himself thought was fitting with Reference to our Saviour, otherwise these Reasoners would undoubtedly have concluded, That it was no decent Preparation for the coming of the Son of God into the World to lie in a Cratch, nor for his going out of it, to hang upon a Cross. But God's Thoughts are not like ours, nor his Ways like our Ways, Esa. 55.  
But let us hear their Proofs such as they are.  
1. Some urge 
e Francisc. a Christo, ubi supra.  that it was most fitting God should do this in respect of the Mother, for if she had been obnoxious to Sin she had not been idonea Mater Dei, a fit Mother of God. Rupertus has been so bold before them to assert, That it was requisite that she should be sanctified, that is, cleansed from all Sin both actual and original, that so Christ that was born of her might be altogether Holy (though I find one Jesuit 
f Raynaudus ibid. p. 215. says, Quamvis Mater Christi sorduisset peccato, Christus ex ea nasci potuisset neque tamen minus sanctus fuisset quam nunc sit, quique sanctifica●to orta ex unione ad verbum, & fons secundariae sanctitatis Christo communicatae, fuit independens à sanctitate Matris.  so Ingenuous as to profess that His Sanctity did not at all depend upon Hers.) Here again their Fancies work amain. It's altogether fitting and becoming God's Wisdom, says Gab. Biel 
g In Fest. Concept. Serm. 3. , that the Immaculate Lamb of God should proceed from one that was immaculate; and if so in Body, why not rather so in Soul? Christ would sit, says another, 
h Bernar. de buft. Serm. 8. p. 86.  upon the Foal of an Ass on which no Man had sat before, and would lie in a Sepulchre in which no Man had lain; so also take Flesh of a Virgin, where the Devil had never sat, and in whose Soul Sin had never dwelled. If the Host 
i Idem Serm. 9 p. 99 Si in aliquo calice semel stercorizatum fuisset, licet postea purificatus esset, non tamen honestum esset in eo consecrare SS. sanguinem Domini nost●i J. Christi; sic indecens fuisset in muliere in qua semel Diabolus, peccati stercora projecisset dei filium, procreari.— Christus noluit acceptare in matrem, nec Deus pater in Conjugem.  should fall into stinking Mire, or into the Mouth of a Mad Dog, or a Swine, who would consecrate it into the Body of Christ? So absurd would it be, if of her that had rolled in the Filth of Sin, and been worried in the Mouth of a stinking Devil (foetentis Diaboli) the most pure Body of our Saviour should have been formed.  
A Maculist may easily with one Breath, blow away all these pretty Similitudes like so many Bubbles: For it's to be hoped, that in spite of original Sin and the Devil, one that is guilty of it, if no other Sin intervenes, may still be a true and pure Virgin; and then the Sanctification of her Soul being supposed, the Son of God resolving to be made Flesh, need no more abhor this Virgin's Womb, than the Holy Ghost does the Bodies of those that have been very Impure, after they are washed and sanctified; so far from it, that he vouchsafes to dwell there, and they become his Temple.  
2. Others insist much upon the Virulency of original Sin 
k Raynaud. ibid. p. 145. & plerique alii.  (which Raynaudus says always seemed to him to be the strongest Argument: For this is a mortal Sin, and makes a Man a Child of Wrath, and the Devil's Slave; by reason of this an Infant is a Monster, in that Rank of Being's, that is destinated to a supernatural End. It seems clear therefore, that original Sin, which has so frightful and horrid a Form, had no Place in her; for so the Throne of God would have become the Seat of the Devil. If she had been conceived under this Gild, says another, 
l Bernar. de bust. ib. Serm. 7. p. 74.  she had been more punished in that Instant, than all the Creatures in the World; for all of them put together could not have attained to her Merits and Reward, all which spiritual good things by this means she must lose, though she only was disposed to receive them: So that considering how great this Punishment would be to her, one may say that she must be more hated of God for that time than Cain or Judas, or any other of the Damned: Nay, says another, 
m Novarinus umbr. virg. p. 65. n. 207.  it would have more displeased her to have been sullied and defiled with this Stain, than to have been damned or annihilated.  
3. But if all this will not do, they have the Reserve of a bold Charge against the Son of God himself. 
n Greg. de Valent. ib. Arg. 8. Bern. de busto. Marial. ser. 1. p. 16.  For since Christ could easily have preserved her Immaculate; if he would not do it, says Bernardine, it must needs be confessed, that he was not a good Son to his Mother. Or, as a Nephew of the Sultan urged it, 
o Idem, ibis' ser. 6. p. 65.  Christ loved his Mother more, and did more for her than my Father did for me; but my Father on my Birthday made me free, as much as was in his Power: But if Christ, who foresaw the Damage and Evils which by original Sin would befall his Mother, would not prevent it, he had sinned against the Command of the Law of honouring Father and Mother, and had been impius Filius & ingratus, a wicked and ungrateful Son 
* See late Contemplations p. 30. harping upon this, That Christ would honour his divine Mother even for Example sake, in doing that he requires of all, etc. . This, besides the Blasphemy of it, is a very foolish Assertion: For, by the same Reason of honouring his Parents, they might have required that none of his Race and Genealogy should ever have been stained with any Crime: That no Blot should have lain upon Judah for Incest, nor upon Rahab for being an Harlot, and especially not upon David, whose Son he is called, for being an Adulterer. But these saucy Prescribers of what is becoming to our Saviour, would do well to remember how he turned upon Peter, with a Get thee behind me Satan, for Words of his, that favoured more of God and less of Men, than these of theirs do.  
4. That no Blot may be left unhit; a Jesuit 
p Greg. de Valentia, ib.  conceives he has spied a weak place, an easiness and tenderness of Nature in his Adversaries, in Matters that concern the Honour of the Blessed Virgin, and he resolves to work upon it. He tells them, That though their Opinion be not heretical, nor contains mortal Sin in the holding of it; yet it gives just Occasion of Offence to the Blessed Virgin, so that they may well expect she should be less favourable and propitious to them, which, says he, they ought extremely to dread. Now that so it is, is plain by this Instance: Suppose a Controversy depended before a Judge concerning the Nobility of a Person, which though the Judge did not absolutely define, yet if he declared that it was very probable that he was a noble Person, and he should take it more kindly, if he were accounted and treated as such; would it not be sufficient Cause of Distaste, if he to whom the Judge had been so favourable, could not obtain that Honour which is so encouraged? This is the Blessed Virgins Case exactly; every one has Liberty given him by the Church to think thus honourably of her; and the Church has encouraged the paying of it, by spiritual Indulgences; and has not the Blessed Virgin reason then to be somewhat displeased and angry with those that still deny it?  
5. I shall add but one Argument more, which another Jesuit 
q Raynaudus Diptyc. Mar. p. 144.  has advanced upon the Principles owned by the Maculists themselves; and let them look to it how they will answer it, for it need trouble none else besides, viz. She must be free from original Sin, otherwise she was guilty of actual Sin; which he thus proves. It is, de Fide, an Article of Faith, that the Blessed Virgin had no actual Sin, no not the lightest and most venial. 
r Aquinas in Opusc. 60. Art 3. & 3 Part. qu. 27 art. 4.  The Adversaries also grant that she had the use of her Reason the first Moment of her Being, and that whosoever is endued with it, is obliged in the first dawning of Reason to subject himself to God by an Act of Love towards him above all, or else he contracts a grievous Gild: Wherefore unless the Blessed Virgin in the first Moment of the use of her Reason (that is, of her Being) had offered herself to God by a perfect Act of Love, she had incurred actual Sin. If she did exert such a perfect Act of Love to God, it is plain by that Act sanctifying Grace was conveyed. Therefore she was freed from original Sin. I leave them to squabble it out, for I am afraid it will not be answered in haste.  
But if the Maculists seem to have lost any Ground, by their own unwary Concessions; in the next thing I am sure they will recover a great deal more, and put their Opponents so hard to it 
* Pelbartus was hard put to it, when in Answer to that place of S. Austin (ad Petrum. Firmissime tene omnem hominem qui per concubitum concipitur, cum peccato originali nasci) he says it is, qui per concubitum, Maria autem non fuit qui sed quae. Aurei Rosar. Tom. 5. pag. 101. , that they must quit one of their strongest Holds, and it's well if they can any way save their Honour. I mean in the Point of Antiquity, and the Judgement of the Fathers. I know the Immaculists are not wanting to bring in their Lists, and make a show of Fathers, as Salazar has done in his Book of the Immaculate Conception: Yet every one that will take the Pains to examine them, may see with half an Eye, that most of those they produce speak nothing to the Purpose, and those that seem to do so, are Testimonies out of false and spurious Writings. This the Jesuit Salmeron 
s In Epist. ad Rom. c. 5. disp. 51.  being ware of, has taken another course, which is indeed more ingenuous, but I doubt they will con him no thanks for it; seeing he has discoursed in this tender Point, more like an Enthusiast (not to say a Protestant) than a good Catholic. For, among other things, he asserts, that the Argument from Authority is weak and infirm: That the strength and efficacy of the Reasons he has urged is to be preferred before it: That God does not reveal all Truths to all, but every Age glories in its proper Verities, which the former Age was unacquainted with (which he would never have mentioned, if he had not known this to be a Novelty) that the Doctors the younger they are, they are so much the more quicksighted. This is pretty course Usage, methinks, of old Friends, especially, knowing how much they fawn on them and flatter them upon other Occasions; and Fathers are the only things they are fond of, and they talk of nothing else; but in this case, you see, where they cannot persuade them to speak on their side, they take snuff and are sullen, and any Youngster or upstart Doctor shall be preferred before them.  
But leaving this, and all other little Arguments urged by the Immaculists, such as those of our Late Contemplator, 
t Contemplate. of H. Mary p. 31.  That Jesus had not perfectly appeased God's Wrath against Men, had he not preserved one Soul from Sin and Gods Anger incurred by it.— And again, That Innocency is much more honourable and valuable than Sanctification; and therefore it becomes a most perfect Mediator, much rather to preserve the Innocency of some one, than only to purchase the Sanctification of all. Passing over these, I say, and such like,  
I now come to that wherein the Immaculists glory most, viz. The Proof from Miracles and Revelations; which indeed gives great Spirit to them, and wherein their Adversaries cannot compare with them, no not so much as in pretence.  
This made one of them say, 
u Born. de buft. serm. 9 ●. 115.  If we are deceived in this Particular, none has deceived us has God, seeing such Wonders are done under the Name of the Blessed Virgins Conception, which could be performed only by the Power of God. And Catharinus says 
x Lib. 4. contra Cajetanum.  That by interposing (in their Prayers) the immaculate Conception, healing the Sick and other admirable Gifts were obtained in his time. To give a few of their Instances. That of Alexander Alice is recorded by many, 
y Raynaudus ibid. p. 139.  who upon the Eighth of December, having taught publicly that the Blessed Virgins Conception was maculate, he was presently seized with a grievous Disease, which had a yearly Return upon that Day; who finding the true Cause of his Distemper, he made a Vow that he would change his Opinion for the future, and write a Book to prove it; upon the making of which Vow, a sudden Cure followed. This Carthagena 
z De arcan. deip. l. 1. hom. 19  says, is told by himself in his Book of her Conception, remaining in the Cathedral of Tholouse.  
A Friar of Mantua 
a Bern. de buft. serm. 6. de conc. Virg. p. 80.  having prepared himself for a public Disputation to prove that she was conceived in Sin; when he came to arg●e, the Blessed Virgin changed the Words in his Mouth, s●… he sp●… thus to his Auditors; I propose to you this true Coc●…s●n, Th●t the Blessed Virgin was conceived without Original Sin; and tho' he was told of his Mistake, and said he would 〈◊〉 in, yet he still ass●…ted her Purity a second and a third th●…. A● 〈…〉 
b Spondani Continnat. ad an. 1350.  one Paul a Monk, declaiming against the immaculate Conception in a Sermon, before he had ended it, he fell down dead in the Pulpit by the just Judgement of God. A Schoolmaster at Mantefa 
c Raynaudus ibid. ex Noromberg. in vita S. Ignatii.  in Spain, having ●…ly the feized a Youth under his Care, was killed by a Ki●…man of 〈◊〉 Youth: 〈◊〉 body was preparing for, the F●…rel, and ●ad upon the E●er, suddenly the dead Man star us up, and spoke to the amazed Company, telling them, That by the Favour of God he was brought to Life, that he might make a public Retractation of a false Opinion he in his Life-time had embraced, concerning the Blessed Virgin's being conceived in Original Sin; he did what God commanded him, and after this laid himself down again on the Bier and died. This Narration was drawn in the Cloister of the Collegiate Church at Mantesa, which when some would have had it obliterated, the Inquisition of Barcelona discussing the Matter, determined it should remain.  
At Rome 
d Raynaudus ibid.  in the Ideses of November 1652. a Virgin being in great Torment by the Stone, a Confessor of hers gave her a piece of Paper to be applied to the grieved Part, with this Inscription, Conceptio Immaculata S. Dei Genetricis Mariae. The Nun, instead of applying it, swallowed the Paper, and immediately voided Two Stones, upon which one added, 
Conceptionem Labis expertem negas?  
Lapides loquuntur, lapidis hoc verbum, sat est.  That is, 
Dost thou deny that her Conception's pure?  
When Stones proclaim it, thou'lt believe it sure.   
In Italy, a Nun of the Order of S. Francis 
e Bernardin. de buft. ibid. serm. 6. p. 82.  contending with another Nun who opposed the Immaculate Conception, said to her, Let a great Fire be kindled, and let us both enter into it, and she that is burnt will be proved to hold a false Opinion: They both agreed, and went into the Fire; the Franciscan Nun escaping, the other was presently consumed.  
The like Miracle he tells 
f Ibid. p 94.  of a Laic and another Person; the Laic believed the Immaculate Conception, and entered into the Fire; and challenged the other that disputed against it to do the like, but he durst not try, and the other remained untouched.  
The same Bernardine 
g Ibid p. 11.  assures us, that many of the Friars that were subject to his own Court at Milan, importuned him earnestly, that in defence of the Blessed Virgin's Innocency, he would suffer them to make that Trial with their Adversaries by entering into the Fire; he did not think there was any canonical Prohibition of such Experiments, because (as his words are) They that are acted by the Spirit of God are not under the Law, Gal. 5. Yet he would not give his Consent; partly because the Blessed Virgin could other ways defend her Purity; and partly believing that the Impugners would not accept the Proposal; or if they should, that they would have been suddenly burnt (concluding so, I suppose, by what had happened before in the like case.)  
Another Miracle he mentions, 
h Id. ib. p. 82.  a very remarkable one, and how he came to be acquainted with it, of one Friar Thomas de Bohemia, that had one of his Legs dried up, and utterly enfeebled (omni vigore destituta) so that he despaired of a Cure, and was advised by the Physicians to have it cut off: But in this Distress he betook himself to the Blessed Virgin and prayed, That she would restore Soundness to him for the Praise of her immaculate Conception: In honour of which he celebrated a Mass, standing in great Torment upon one Foot: When the Mass was ended he was perfectly cured and freed from his old Infirmity; so that he who before could not go, came without Help to Rome on foot, and this Morning, says Bernardine, told me this Miracle.  
Revelations they have also many to boast of, 
i Raynaudus ibid. p. 139.  those that are most cried up, and the most express, are those of S. Bridget (lib. 1. c. 9 & lib. 9 c. 49.) and their Authors 
k Catharinus adv. Cajetanum lib. 4. Delrio disqu. Magic. l. 4. c. 1. qu. 3, etc.  take a great deal of Pains to prove, that the Revelations of S. Catharine on the other side, are feigned on purpose to oppose hers. Gonsalvus had the like Revelation, who was taught by the Blessed Virgin herself, That her first Animation was not only without Sin, but brightened with wonderful Splendours of Grace: And Pelbartus 
l Stellarii lib. 4. part. 1. art. 3.  says the same was revealed to S. Elizabeth.  
Visions also they relate, such whose Signification is not doubtful, but which clearly and punctually express it and determine for it. Thus we are told, 
m Bernar. de Buft. Marial. serm. 6. p. 70.  That a Master of Divinity in Paris, being to preach on the Day of the Blessed Virgin's Conception, had prepared to discourse against it: The Night before as he was in his Study, there appeared a Company of Doctors and Angels, and a Seat was made ready, upon which sat down a noble Queen, who called for this Master, and said thus to him: What Harm, I pray, have I ever done to thee, That this Morning thou shouldest design to preach against mine Honour; and saying this, she commanded him to be scourged: Whereupon he fell upon his Knees and begged her Pardon. Then the Blessed Virgin said to the Angel Gabriel; Go and teach this Man a Sermon for this Morning before the University: Then Gabriel said to him, Open thy Mouth and I will fill it; whereupon he perceived an admirable Sermon in his Heart, in which it was demonstrated that the Queen of Heaven was conceived without original Sin, and he preached it the Morning following to the People of Paris. The same Author 
n Ibid. p. 79.  tells us, that a Bishop of Milan, as he was reading S. Thomas his Sums, wondered that he determined against the Virgin's immaculate Conception; To whom S. Thomas appeared and said, Know Sir, that when I laid down that Opinion, I only had respect to the divine Decree, whereby the Blessed Virgin ought to have contracted original Sin, unless she should be preserved from it by her Son; but the Son of God did preserve his Mother from it, and so he disappeared. S. Bernard also, who was another stiff opposer of her Immaculateness, is reported 
o Novarini umbr. Virgin. p. 65. n. 207.  to have appeared to a certain Monk after his Death, having a Spot upon his Breast, signifying that he was now of another Mind, and did Penance, as it were, for what he had written before against it.  
The Reader, I hope, has had some Pleasure (and that was all that I intended him) in viewing the foregoing odd and fantastic Arguments used by the Immaculists in this Debate. But from this latter Proof by Miracles and Revelations, every Protestant may reap ●uch Benefit and Advantage, considering what Service they have done our Cause hereby, before they are ware. For,  
1. We think ourselves excused from all Obligations to believe, upon the Account of Miracles and Revelations they urge us withal, and bring as a Demonstration for any Article of their Faith that is not one of ours. One Frederick Fornerus, a Bishop of their Church, has wrote a whole Book about this Argument, called Palma Triumphalis Miraculorum Catholicae Ecclesiae, & imprimis gloriosissimae Virginis Mariae, Ingolst. 1622, and in the 39th. Chapter of the first Book, he insults over the Calvinists and Lutherans for want of Miracles: But alas! he and a Hundred others that have made Collections of this nature might have spared their Pains, for they themselves have taught us how to deal with this Argument: For do any of the Immaculists value a Farthing all the Stories that their Adversaries have told them of this kind? Do not they account them all as Cheats, and tell the World so? And if the Dominicans do not make the same Reckoning of all that these pretend, why are they not converted to their Opinion? Here are Two Parties that divide their whole Church, and both of them urge each other as they do us with Miracles, and each hold the Opinion they did before notwithstanding this, and pray why may not we do so too? I am sure I have produced as substantial Miracles for the kind, as any they object to us. For what can be greater than to continue in the Fire unhurt, when it consumes another to Ashes? (which was the Miracle of the Three Children) or for a dead Man to start up and proclaim the Blessed Virgin to be free from original Sin, and when he has told his Errand immediately to die again? What Wonders of the Lady of Loretta, or the Diva Halensis or Aspricollis, which are so often rung in our Ears, can outvie these? How many of their Authors have told us, and Father Godden 
p Catholics no Idolaters p 424.  among the rest, the Miracles of John Damascens Hand cut off by the Command of the Emperor, and restored by praying before an Image of the Virgin? Recorded in his Life by John a Patriarch of Jerusalem. I will not question whether it was his Hand or his Finger (as the Author of his Conversation relates 
q Apud Cent. Magdeb. Sec. 8.  which might easily in that Age improve into a Hand. Nor will I insist upon another Story of the same kind, concerning the Hand of Pope Leo I. which is said also to have been restored by the Blessed Virgin, after it was cut off by himself, and is related in a Manuscript Life of S. Leo, says Bollandus 
r De S. Leone Apr. 11. ; in the Lombardica Historia, in Pet. de Natalibus, Dionys. Carthusianus, Nauclerus 
s Chronog. generat. 15. , the Historia Pontifical in Spanish by Gonzalo de Illescas (who says he would not have set it down, but that he found it in grave Authors) was commonly represented in Pictures, which is an Argument of currant Tradition: Yet after all Baronius 
t Annal. to. 6. in Leone Papa ad An. 461.  condemns it for a Fable, and Pope Clement VIII. commanded the Pictures of it to be razed out: The Reason, I suppose, of smothering this Miracle was, because of the Occasion of it, which seemed to reflect scandalously upon so holy a Pope, who, as Nauclerus says, was vehemently tempted (with lustful Inclination) by a Woman's kissing his Hand, when she made her Oblation at the Mass on an Easter-Day. Though it seems to be better attested than that of Damascens Hand, which has only one Witness produced for it; and those libidinous Motions might have been excused, from what has befallen other great Saints; for to overcome such Temptations S. Benet 
u Greg. Dial. l. 2. c. 2.  rolled himself in Thorns and Nettles; and S. Bernard was fain to use the Remedy 
x In vit. ejus per Gulielmum, l. 1. c. 3.  of leaping into cold Water. Not to invalidate this Miracle, I say, but to let it pass, I shall only oppose the foregoing Story of the Leg of Thomas de Bohemia (which also may be opposed against that other famed Miracle of restoring the Leg to the Youth of Zaragosa) and yet not one Thomist does believe upon it that immaculate Conception to which the Cure is owing; though we shall be as bad as Infidels, if that Hand and Leg do not make us fall down and worship the Blessed Virgin; or if we do not almost adore Virginity, when we read of S. Euphemia 
y Speculum exempl. dist. 9 exempl. 20. , that she to avoid Marriage cut off her Nose and Lips, and had them restored afterwards by the Blessed Virgin. Methinks therefore we should have a little better Quarter notwithstanding this Argument, especially when we see how kind they are to themselves, in not pressing it too hard where they are themselves concerned. For Gr. de Valentia 
z Analys. fidei l. 1. c. 6.  tells you, That Miracles of themselves (i. e. without the Church) do not cause infallible Certainty of the truth of a Doctrine; and therefore he calls them afterwards a prudent Motive: And Bellarmine says 
a De Eccles. l. 4. c. 14. , Before the Approbation of the Church, it is not evident or certain with a certainty of Faith, of any Miracle, that it is a true Miracle. And another Jesuit 
b Raynaudus Diptych. Mar. p. 139.  more fully, Neither Miracles nor Revelations are a Motive sufficient of themselves, to oblige all the Faithful to believe a thing with a Divine Catholic Faith (as he calls it) though a Relation may oblige him to whom it is made to believe with a Divine private Faith: (And so a Miracle, I suppose, may oblige his private Faith upon whom it is wrought) yet it is not to be denied that both of them are very fit Motives, and may be looked upon to have a kind of Sprinkling of divine Authority upon them (Divina authoritate aliquatenus perfusum.) The plain Meaning of which is, That God cannot deliver his Mind fully to us, so as to engage us peremptorily to believe him, though it may be prudent to do so, unless he deliver his Mind by the Pope. And that there may be no Mistake of his Sense, we have it all out in another Place 
c Raynaudus in defence. scapular. Marian. p. 291. : I say that the Argument fetched from Miracles does not clearly and unquestionably (ineluctabiliter) convince that Truth to be confirmed by the Testimony of God, speaking by a Miracle as it were by his own Mouth: Which is strange, that when the Miracle speaks such a thing and nothing else, and is acknowledged to be such a Miracle as God only can Work, that it should not confirm that thing to be true as if he spoke it. A Man might swear that he is not urging us with this Argument of Miracles, but intends this as a Favour somewhere else, as the Words following do inform us: For, says he, if it were so, than it must be granted that the Proposition affirming the Blessed Virgin's Conception to have been Immaculate, has the Certainty of Faith for it, which its plain cannot be we affirmed, because of the Silence of the Church (that is, with a Jesuit, of the Pope) in this matter. And he adds, That he does very piously, who from hence gives a from Assent to it, sed infra certitudinem divinae fidei, but short of the Certainty of Divine Faith. Those Words then of pious Assent and prudential Motives, and such like, are Tricks and only Words of Course; for one of the Church may believe in this Case either way, and has free Leave to do it, without being condemned: So that God may do what Miracles he pleases on one side, and yet a Man may safely be on the other side, till the Pope contradicts it: So that it is He plainly that can only oblige him to believe to Purpose. Which gives me occasion to reflect upon a Second good Use that the former Considerations of Miracles and Revelations will afford us, viz. A plain Discovery of the Restiveness of their unerring Guide, infallible Judge, and Determiner of Controversies in some Cases. For those Miracles, etc. have but little to say to any but him, and he, when he pleases, has nothing to say notwithstanding them. If one should be so bold to question the Pope after S. Paul's manner: Dost thou believe Miracles and Revelations in this Affair of the Blessed Virgin? I doubt the Answer could not be returned so easily, I know thou believest. He is not so quickly understood I assure you, nor his Mind so easily known: He has often put on several Faces, and by his various Appearances given Occasion to complain, Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo? Yet methinks we have some good hold of him, and shall not easily let it go.  
Here slippery Proteus thou art caught at last,  
Change all thy Shapes, this Knot will hold thee fast.  
For either the Pope believes those Miracles, Visions and Revelations for the Proof of the Immaculate Conception (to instance only in those) or he does not. If he does not believe them, surely we are fairly excused from being concerned about them, since he has greater Opportunities than we can have, to find out their Cheat if they be forged; and if they were true, his Faith should be the forwardest: But if he does believe them, than the Matter is worse, considering the Place he sits in; for he pretends to be the unerring Guide (as I said) of Faith, the Judge and Determiner of Controversies. It is boasted as a Privilege of his Church, that its Differences can never be endless (though those of other Churches may) for here is one appointed to decide them, and his Decision liable to no Mistake. Very good: And why is not this Controversy then determined? It has been a Controversy in his Church of Four hundred Years standing, and yet every Judge in Succession that has sat in this Chair has been dumb, and his Infallibility lain by, and no Body has been the better for it. It cannot be pleaded on his behalf, That the thing is not weighty enough to be determined, and to become an Article of Catholic Faith; for whatsoever we may think of it, yet he dares not own that he thinks so, when it is about a glorious Privilege of the Blessed Virgin; and when he is now supposed to believe the Revelations and Miracles to be Divine that do attest it; for God surely does not use to interpose in that manner about Trifles. He cannot be excused neither for hiding this precious Talon of his, and not employing it for want of a sufficient Call thereto: For besides that loud one of Miracles, etc. which he is quick enough of hearing when he has a mind to canonize a Saint, or institute a Festival; he has been loudly summoned to exercise his judging Faculty, by the Cries and Beseeching of all sorts both high and low, to pity the divided Church and heal its Breaches, to becalm the boisterous Tempest, that has threatened to sink the Ship of the Church, by one powerful Word of his; but all in vain: He lies as one in a dead Sleep, and nothing can awaken him. What Applications have been made to him the following Story shows.    

SECT. iv The History of the Embassy from Two Kings of Spain to Rome, to obtain a Decision of the Controversy about the Immaculate Conception.  
UPON occasion of what I said last, how the Pope has been loudly importuned, to put an End to Controversies, I cannot well pass over that famous History of the Embassy from Philip III. and IV. Kings of Spain, to Pope Paul V and Pope Gregory XV. for deciding this Controversy about the Conception of the Virgin, which is given us by Luc. Wadding, a Franciscan 
a Legatio Philippi 3. & Ph. 4. ad paul. 5. & Greg. 15. Lovan. 1624. per Luc. Waddingum. , out of whom I shall give the sum of it.  
At the beginning almost of his Story he acknowledges that though heretofore the Maculists might freely and without Offence have declared their Opinion; 
P. 3.  yet now adays the contrary Opinion has so possessed men's Minds, that neither the Rabble nor the sober People, the noted Doctors or grave Bishops can endure to hear it. This Devotion to the Virgin, he says, prevailed wonderfully in Spain about Eight Years before, and was chief excited by one Francis à san Jago, a Franciscan, who was fore-admonished by the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupa (a Place in Spain, where she has a famous Image) of the Increase of the Veneration and Worship of her immaculate Conception within a few Years, though not without Contradiction and Tumult; and for a Sign of the Truth of this, she bestowed upon him a Ring. 
P. 4.  Upon this he became a zealous Promoter of this Mystery, and the People, especially of Boetica, applauded it, setting up Trophies of the Virgin's Victory over original Sin, causing this Inscription to be fixed on the Corners of Streets, Highways, and on the Fronts of Churches, Mary was conceived without original Sin.  
But the Maculists were not idle in promoting their own, 
P. 6.  and opposing and exposing the received and common Doctrine; calling it heterodox and abominable, reviling those that dissented from them, and following them with unsufferable Injuries; who being thus provoked prepare Revenge and War; so that with this Dissension all Spain was on a Flame, which occasioned Pope Paul V to send forth his Apostolic Letters, dated July 6. 1616. 
P. 7.  wherein he renewed the Constitution of Sixtus IU. which forbade the condemning the Opinion of the immaculate Conception for Heresy, as also the 〈◊〉 of Trent and Pius V had done, prohibiting any to preach about this Controversy before a promiscuous Mu●…, or to write concerning it in the vulgar Tongue either way: Although permitting learned Men in public Disputations of the Universities, and of general or provincial Chapters, where they were present that could understand the Matter, and no occasion of Scandal likely to be given, to discuss that Question, and by Arguments to assert or oppose either Part, so that neither were asserted to be Erroneous, etc. Threatening Penalties against the Transgressor's, till the Controversy were decided by the Pope. After this the Catholic King, moved by the Complaints of the People, consults with the Pope's Legate and other learned Prelates, whether these Constitutions of the Pope did sufficiently extinguish this Flame; who gave in their Judgement in the Negative.  
The Catholic King resolves therefore to petition the Pope for a more effectual Remedy, and sends Placidus de Tosantes, sometimes General of the Benedictines in Spain, with Two others, to Rome about it. 
P. 14.  These obtained this Decree of the Inquisition, confirmed by his Holiness Aug. 31. 1617. That the Opinion of the Maculists, which occasioned so much Scandal, Strife and Dissension among Christian People, should, in no wise, be any longer asserted in public Sermons, Lectures, Conclusions, or any other public Acts, affirming that the Blessed Virgin was conceived in original Sin: Notwithstanding it was strictly and severely cautioned also, That their Opinion should not be impugned by others, no, nor so much as named or mentioned in the aforesaid public Acts; because his Holiness did not intent hereby to reprobate that Opinion, or to do it any Prejudice, but left it in the same State and Terms that he found it.  
This was received with great Joy in Spain by the People, who favoured the immaculate Conception; they feasted and entertained themselves with Plays and Shows, judging that their Business was sufficiently do●…. But others that were wiser foretold the contrary, and that it would give Occasion to greater Scandals: And so it proved; for the Maculists raised new Tumults, and the Disorders were increased, and both Parties broke out into cruel and ●ailing Invectives against each other. The King therefore, by the Advice of his Council, determined to send a new Embassy to the Pope, to move him that he would command the Maculists wholly to be silent, till he had decided the Controversy. 
P. 22.  Whilst he was preparing and consulting about the Person that should carry this Embassy, the King receives a Letter from the Pope, wherein he desires him to forbear urging him farther for a Decision of the Controversy, subscribing with his own hand, That he had done what was expedient in the last Decree, and all that he could do (totum quod pot●it) in this matter.  
The King thereupon thinking to desist, he is so alarmed afresh with the News of Tumults from divers Cities and Kingdoms, that he resolved upon a new Embassy, and chooses for it Amonius de Treio, sometimes General of the Franciscans, whom he chose to be Bishop of Sosa, who came with the King's Letters to Rome, dated 24 Sept. 1618. 
P. 30.  Together with which he delivered several other Pacquets of the same Import with the Kings, folliciting the Decision, viz. A Packet from the Kingdom of Portugal, another of Spain; Letters of the Archbishop of Tokicum and his suffragan Bishops; Letters of the Archbishop of Composta●… and his Suffragans: Another Bundle of Letters from all the Universities of Spain; another from the Father's Confessors to the King and Prince, and other learned Doctors of the Order of the Pr●cticants; with other Three Bundles of Letters from the Praefects and Provincials of all the Orders except one. To all which the Pope, after he had commended the Piety of the King, and the Devotion of the Kingdoms to the Blessed Virgin, answered, 
P. 31.  That he could do no more than he had done in this Controversy, and that the Matter required more nature Consideration than he could afford it.  
On the same Day he visited and delivered the King's Letters to several Cardinals and Ambassadors of Princes, declaring the King's Desires, and begging their Assistance in this Matter, that concerned the Honour of the Blessed Virgin: And gave an Account of all to his Master in a Letter dated Decemb. 23. 1618. Wherein he informs him what he had done, and the Difficulties of the Affair; telling him, among other things, 
P. 41.  that the Pope's Answer was, That God had not ●…red, nor his Conscience as yet dictated any 〈◊〉 him, besides that which was before comm●… in his late Decree, and then was asked on his Majesty's Behalf. The Ambassador could do no more that Month, because of the approaching Feast of the Nativity of our Lord. After the Festival was over the Ambassador offers to the Pope an Oration, 
P. 44.  containing an humble Petition and a sad Complaint against the Actions and Interpretations of the Maculists, who wrested the last Decree, and made it to favour themselves. He complained also, That since the Decree they taught their Opinion more eagerly, that no body offered to repress their Excesses, that in Desks and Pulpits they detracted from the Credit of their Adversaries, calling them Ignorant, Idiots, Simple, Fools, etc. 
P. 51.  He represented the Scandals also that must needs arise from the different Observations of her Feast, whilst instead of celebrating her Conception without Sin, some celebrated her Sanctification from Sin. To all this, and more, which the Ambassador urged, the Pope, after he had commended the pious Affection of the King, told him, by way of Answer, 
P. 54.  That Popes could not always satisfy the Desires of Kings and Princes, especially in those things which are determined not by an humane, but by a divine Sentence, such as require not Man's Judgement, but the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and an inward Impulse; and the Spirit breathes when and where it lifteth: (By which Answer we may perceive, what Opinion the Pope would have the People have of his Determinations.) The Ambassador also offered an Apology for his Master, 
P. 56.  whom some had reflected upon as too busy about Ecclesiastical Affairs, as if he would constrain the Pope against his Mind: He offered also a Second Oration to the Pope, 
P. 79.  in which he complained of the Scandals in Spain, and represented the Advantages of a Definition, and concluded with this Speech to the Pope. 
P. 89.  Consider the Loss of many Souls, the Discord of the Church, the Dissensions of Cities, and the great Dangers that hang over Kingdoms, all which you only are able to obviate and prevent. The Pope still persisted in his Denial, that he could not then define the Controversy. In the Interim the King gives his Ambassador notice of the Continuation of the Scandals, and sent him Three Sermons, preached at 〈◊〉 and elsewhere, in which the Adversaries urged their 〈…〉 the Decree. 
P. 91.  He complained also of the Theses 〈◊〉 at Douai, and of a Book of Fr. Silvius, in which he disputes against the immaculate Conception. The Pope answered, That these Abuses should be punished.  
After this the Ambassador gave in a Third Paper, 
P. 92.  wherein he sets forth the weightiness of the Matter, and after he had given large Encomiums of the Virgin out of divers Authors, he complained that her Sanctity was called in Question, and the Controversy managed irreligiously and irreverently; and one declared, that she was conceived just as other Women, and that Mary's Conception was not more pure than that of Mahomet. He added, it was a vain thing to dissemble the Difference, and not to take away the Cause of it, which otherwise would end in Contempt of Mary, the Grief and Horror of the People, and a Decay of Devotion towards the Mother of God.  
He represented what Advantage the Heretics made of these Contentions, 
P. 103.  to deride the Unity of the Church so much boasted of. He said it was horrible, 
P. 106.  That while the Priests offered the Body of Christ in honour of the immaculate Conception, there should be found those among themselves, that should deride and insult, saying, That it was to be rejected, and that all was Figments and Chimaeras, etc. At the Conclusion of his Oration, 
P. 113  among other things, he urged the Pope withal to make a Decision, he mentioned this, That hereby the Truth of those many Miracles wrought by God and the Saints in testimony of the immaculate Conception, would be more apparent, and the Certainty of many Revelations confirmed. (Which was well urged, since any one would think they themselves did not give Credit to what they would have us believe, when the Pope knows not what to say to the Matter after all.)  
The Pope replied, That he stood well affected to the immaculate Conception, but intimated that his Definition would not remove the Disturbances, since the Maculists insisted, 
P. 116.  That theirs was the unanimous Doctrine of all the Fathers, and in particular produced the Testimonies for it of S. Austin, Lombard and Bonaventure. The Ambassador or understanding that the Adversaries had collected the Sentences of the Fathers, and offered them to the Pope, ke●p● in a Fourth Pope's wherein ●s showed, that the Authority of the holy Fathers indeed was great, especially in establishing weak Opinions; but to counterfeit it was dangerous: That the Doctors were falsely cited by the Adversaries, and Three only truly. That every Doctor might err, which S. Austin confesses of himself, and if S. Thomas had lived now, he would have been of another Mind; and he concluded, 
P. 129.  That there was none after the Apostles who were not Popes that might not err: And then turning to the Pope, In thee alone, and the Bishops in thy Chair, no Error has Place, in thee Truth is established, and in thy Seat has set up her venerable and perpetual Throne; from that Throne no Lie can ever arise. After he had thus flattered the Pope, he obtained of him a Book of P. de Vincentia a Dominican, in which the Say of the Fathers were collected for the Maculist's Opinion, which were taken out of Two Books of Vinc. Bandellus, which fiercely opposed the immaculate Conception. And the Orator endeavoured in a Fifth Paper to show, that these Books contained such things as were condemned by the Bull of Sixtus IU. Particularly he gave in the Heads of Bandellus his Books, which contained the severest Charges against the Opinion of the Immaculists; as that it was a mortal Error, full of Falsity, Impious and Pernicious; that it was injurious to the Blood of Christ, making her neither to be reconciled nor justified by it; that an Opinion founded in the holy Scriptures, was to be preferred before the Determinations of Pope and Council; That the Immaculists did contradict Scripture, and perniciously depraved them, and defended the Heresy of Pelagius and Julianus, in their Expositions: He affirms, 
P. 134.  That the Persons to whom Revelations are said to be made, concerning the Virgin's immaculate Conception, were suspected Persons, addicted to carnal Vices, and discovering that they had nothing of Spirituality in them: 
P. 140.  That the Miracles brought to confirm it, were wrought by the Devil, who, by God's Permission, healed some Infirmities upon invoking the immaculate Conception; that so he that was Filthy might be Filthy still. After many such Charges (which may be seen in the History) he produced the Testimonies of Two hundred and sixty famous Doctors who were against it: This Work of Bandelis, which was in many Hands that made ill use of it, the Ambassador urged, that it might by an Edict be put among the Catalogue of prohibited Books. But the Pope made answer, That the Constitution of Sixtus iv (which gins Grave nimis, etc.) was sufficient.  
After this the Ambassador put in a Sixth Paper, 
P. 149.  to prove, that the Difference of the Adversaries in celebrating the Feast of the Conception, was not to be tolerated, and that it was fit they should be commanded to celebrate it unanimously with the universal Church. The Pope returned that he had often dealt about it, and desired that this Mystery might be equally celebrated by all; but it was always answered by the Maculists, That they did the same with others under the Name of Her Sanctification (not Conception) which comprehended all. Whereupon in a Seventh Speech, 
P. 172.  the Orator endeavoured to show, That the Catholic Church in the Feast of the Blessed Virgin's Conception, did now, and always, intent nothing else thereby, than to celebrate her Preservation from original Sin, so that in no Instant she was actually subject to it. The Pope said he did not doubt of this, that the Church intended by their Worship of the Conception to profess that Mary was preserved from original Sin; but it was better in this turbulent and cala●…tions State of the Emp●re, to study and endeavour Peace at Home, than by ini●…ing to beget intestine Broils. Notwithstanding this Answer, ●he Ambassador offered an Eighth Paper, 
P. 201.  to show how great the I●…ity was between the Opinions; and that an Opinion which 〈◊〉 time was probable, at another time might 〈…〉 improbable; That Truths do not appear all at 〈…〉, but some are reserved for every Age: That many 〈◊〉 ●…nted dubious by the Ancients, are now looked upon as certain and unquestionable; such as the Validity of the baptism of Heretics; the seeing the divine Essence before the 〈◊〉 of Judgement; That Angels are incorpor●…; and 〈…〉 ●…ned lately created by God, and such like: 〈…〉 applied to this Matter of the Conception, which, though it was not so clear in the Ages before, yet after the Appearance of Scotus (about the Year 1300.) who opened the Controversy with all Accuteness, the Maculist's Opinion did 〈◊〉, and the Contrary ever after got Ground of it: After this he endeavoured to prove his own Opinion about the immaculate Conception, by various Reasons, too large to be repeated. The Pope made Answer, 
P. 234.  That he acknowledged the great Probability of the Immaculist's Opinion, and that its State and Terms were better; but the Adversaries still maintained, That theirs still kept its Place, and had not lost all Probability, nor that the pious Opinion was so undoubted and irrefragable, that for its Sake the Contrary should be exploded: Nay they further added, That if it should come to a Definition (which some say is impossible) that the Sentence must needs go on their Side, because of the Authority of the Scripture, the Doctors, and S. Thomas; nor that it could, at least ought not, be carried for the Pious one.  
The Ambassador not being yet satisfied, he adds a Ninth Treatise, 
P. 236.  to prove that the Controversy concerning the Virgin Mary's Conception might be ended by a definitive Sentence of the Church, and that no other Sentence, but for her immaculate Conception, could be propounded by the Church with certainty of Faith; and gave many Reasons to show the Expediency of doing it as soon as might be. The Pope replied, 
P. 289.  That there was no need of Arguments to prove that the Controversy was capable of Decision; he knew well how much he was able to do in it; neither did he doubt of his Power, but of the Conveniency and Necessity of defining it; That this was by no means a fit Season for the Examination and exact Determination of this Matter.  
Thus things stood whilst this Ambassador managed them: 
P. 291.  But, when by reason of this Delay of the Pope in defining (to which he could not be brought by all these repeated Urge) the Differences in Spain increased daily; the King chose a more illustrious Ambassador, the Duke Abuquerquius, and sent him to Rome. Where the first thing he met with was a Complaint, 
P. 295.  That the Master of the Sacred Palace, had prohibited the making any more Medals of the Conception, and confiscated those which he found made. These Medals had been coined for the Spaniards, and on one side had the Image of the Body of Christ and of the Chalice, with this Inscription, Alabado fia el santissimo Sacramento: That is, Let the most holy Sacrament be praised. On the other side was an Hieroglyphic Image of the immaculate Conception 〈…〉 F●…s's Cord, 
a This is 〈…〉 the Indulgences, at 〈…〉 holy Bull of the Cra●…o 〈◊〉 by Gregory XIII. and approved by the Inquisition, dated a Lis●on 1588. Apr. 6. viz. The Image of the Virgin in Metal, clothed with the Sunbeams, e●…ed with Stars, with the Moon at her Fec●, and the Cord of S. Francis round about.  〈…〉 peccato original 〈…〉 original Sin. This th● 〈◊〉 com●…ed of to the Pope and his Duchess humbly begged, that there might be Leave granted to 〈◊〉 and disperse them as formerly. He referred to Matter to Cardinal Gobellatius, who, after often 〈◊〉, told them, That he thought their Desire could be granted together with Indulgences, if these Words piè creditur (it is piously believed) 
P. 30●  were allowed to the former Inscription, to prevent the Mistake of the People, and the Fear of the Adversaries, that it might not 〈…〉 that the Matter was define for the 〈…〉. Opinion exploded. This the Ambassador upon 〈…〉 would not consent to, but insisted, that in Favour of the Duchess the Medals might be allowed without Exception: But nothing was further done in it.  
The former Ambassador having received Letters from the King for his Return, before he departed he presented two or three Tractates to the Pope. 
P. 335.  The one was about Revelations, especially those of S. Bridget, which he des●…ded against the Adversaries, and endeavoured to lessen the Authority of those of S. Catharine of Sena: And then applied himself to the Pope, exhorting him to make an End of the Difference; urging him with the Def●…ons of other. Pope, which relied upon Revelation, 〈◊〉 A● for Instance, Pope Pius I. defined the Controversy on what Day Easter was to be kept, moved by a Revelation made to Friar Hermes: urban iv instituted the Festival of Corpus Christi Day, upon an Instinct and Revelation read to a certain Woman: Who also decreed Paul the Hermit to be a Saint, and to be invoc●…●…ly because Anthony the Abbot reported (as S. Jerome say●) that he saw his Soul fly up to Heaven, and 〈◊〉 Sanctity was revealed to him. The Feast also of Michael the Archangel was instituted upon the Testimony of the Bishop of Sipo●…es and certain rude Neatherds, concerning an Apportion 〈…〉 Mount Garganus; and then concludes pathetically; 
P. 373.  O blessed Father, speaking to the Pope, pity the Calamities, and remove the Contentions of Christian People: Be at length overcome by the Catholic King's Prayers for the pacifying of his Kingdoms: Remember how much better it is, That the Orthodox should contest with the insulting Heretics when they are united, than oppose and rend one another: Take away this troublesome Doubt by one Word, and compose this dangerous Controversy by thy last Sentence. But he might as well have said all this to the Winds, and had as good an Answer.  
Another Paper he put in, 
P. 375.  to show that the Pope was bound by his Office, to provide a timely Remedy for these great and growing Scandals, arising from the Liberty of opining in this Controversy of the Blessed Virgin's Conception, and the tolerating the Maculist's Opinion. In which he shown, out of approved Authors and authentic proceed of Courts, how these Scandals had been notorious and continued, notwithstanding all that had been yet done to hinder them, in France, in Italy, in Germany, and especially in the Kingdom of Spain, in all Places of it; which Scandals he proved to continue still after his Decree, so that there was no Remedy remaining but that of a Peremptory Definition.  
The History further tells us, That in Spain the Scandals still increasing, and Cities and People being divided into Factions, some Academies, and rich Cities, and whole Kingdoms did bind themselves by Oaths and Vows, to defend the Opinion of the immaculate Conception; and we are told by others 
b Vid. August. Barbosae Remissiones in Conc. Trident. Sess. 5.  of particular Universities that thus bound themselves, those of Mentz, Colen, Paris, and that in all the Universities of Spain it was established by a special Decree, That none should be admitted to the Degree of Doctor, till first he had promised upon Oath never to oppose this Truth.  
After all this Stir and doing nothing; the former Ambassador took his Leave of the Pope; who told him that he was sorry that he could not satisfy the King's pious Wishes in this Matter: But, he said, 
P. 424.  that which was desired, was not of that sort of things, which is within the Limits of humane Diligence, or which by reason of Necessity, or worldly Instances, or the Power of Kings may presently be granted, until the Spirit from on high shall infuse, what in such a weighty Controversy ought to be gravely and maturely deliberated. Now shame on this vile Hypocrisy; who when every one may see this Matter wholly conducted by Interest, and cowardly fear of disobliging a powerful Party, dares to talk of the Spirit from on high, and imitate the fulsome Language of a canting Enthusiast.  
When this Ambassador was gone, Albuquerque, upon whom the whole Care of this Affair was devolved, insists upon it afresh, and receives the same delatory Answers from Pope Paul V. 
P. 431.  who, upon the fourth Calends of February 1621. departed this Life, and was succeeded by Gregory XV. to whom this Duke applies himself in the Name of his Master; who commending, as his Predecessor had done, the Piety of the King, told him, he would comply with him, when time and circumstances of Things, after a foregoing grave Examination of the Matter, would give him leave.  
But presently after Philip III. of Spain dies, and chose to do it in the Habit of a Franciscan, and left the care of this Embassy to his Son Philip IU. his Successor, who confirmed Albuquerque therein.  
About this time, not only the old Contests and Scandals which troubled Spain, but a new Occasion of an extraordinary Ambassador to Rome, made the King to ply the former Business: He writes therefore to Albuquerque, to urge the Business, and give the Letter to the Pope which he sent. The Queen also, the Infanta of Spain, and Margaret the Daughter of Maximilian the Emperor, all wrote to the Pope. The Ambassador had a Hearing, and a general Answer of good Hope was given him, That the Pope thought of nothing now, but to remove those Scandals that continued, etc. A while after a new Ambassador (Comes Montis Regij) arrives at Rome: He was sent thither to assist at the Canonization of Five new Saints (Four of which were Spaniards) Isadore of Madrid, Ignatius Loyola, Fran. Xaverius, Teresia à Jesus; and one Italian, Philip Nereus. This Count was brought in to the Pope in great State and Magnifice, 
P. 443.  and begged in Favour to him, that the Pope would put his last Hand to this Business; who promised that something should be done in it before his Departure. And in order to it several Cardinals were appointed, to whom their Desires should be proposed. Two things they offered to them. First, That it was more desirable that the Controversy might be determined. Secondly, If by the straitness of Time that could not be done, then in the Interim, that whatsoever did seem to contradict the immaculate Conception, might be removed and banished from Discourses and Worship, in all Acts both public and private, otherwise Matters would never be pacified in Spain.  
The Cardinals approved of what they desired, and represented it to the Pope; who, in a full Congregation of the Senate of the Inquisition, approved the Cardinal's Thoughts about prohibiting in all Acts the maintaining of tha● Opinion, which gave the People Offence, and taking away the Word Sanctification out of the Office of the Church. And upon May 24. 1622. came forth a Decree, 
P. 447.  which repeating those of Sixtus IU. and Paul V and confirming them, farther commanded, That for the future, till this Article should be determined by the Apostolic Chair, neither in private Discourses, or in Writings, any one should dare to assert that the Blessed Virgin was conceived in original Sin; nor handle any thing concerning this Opinion, excepting only those, who were specially privileged herein by the Pope. Also his Holiness commanded, That since the Holy Roman Church celebrates solemnly the Feast and Office of the Conception of the Virgin Mary, That all Persons Ecclesiastical and Secular, and those of every Order, in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass and other divine Offices both public and private, should use no other Word but that of Conception, instead of Sanctification, etc.  
Now again the Immaculists, after this Decree, 
P. 450.  are trepanned into new Rejoicing; the Franciscans, in their Convent on the Top of the Capitol, for Three Nights together had Fireworks and Signs of great Triumph, as if they had got the Victory.  
On the Fourth of June 1622. 
P. 451.  a Brief of the Popes was dated and sent to the King, signifying, after the Commendation of his Piety, how far he had proceeded in this Affair, out of a Desire to bring some Comfort to him and his Kingdoms. But then he adds, in the former canting Strain, That the Reason why he did not determine any thing new at present, was the weightiness of the Affair, and the Example of the Popes his Predecessors: For we, who are placed by God over the Christian World, in the Chair of Christian Wisdom, aught to hearken to the Voice of the holy Spirit, and not examine the Matter by the Poises of humane Reasons: Wherefore, seeing the eternal Wisdom has not yet discovered to the Church the Recesses of so great a Mystery, the faithful People ought to rest satisfied in the Authority of God and the Roman Popes, etc.  
The King sent his Letters of Thanks to the Pope, dated July 14. 1622. 
P. 453.  and in like manner to the Cardinal Inquisitors; entreating them to use the same Endeavours in what remained, till his Holiness would vouchsafe to define the Controversy. And now all Spain sounded their Gladness and erected their Trophies, and nothing but Expressions of Joy were seen or heard for several Months together.  
But all this Joy was interrupted at Barcenona, Caesar-Augusta, and other Parts of the Kingdom, 
P. 455.  by reason of a Grant the Pope made and which was publicly affixed, according to the Clause of the foregoing Constitution (excepting those to whom the Pope should give a special Indulgence) wherein he gave this Privilege to the Dominicans notwithstanding the former Decree, That in any of their private Conferences among themselves, and none else, they might freely and lawfully handle the Matter of the Blessed Virgins Conception, without incurring the Penalties contained in the said Decrees. Which was dated 22 July 1622. This Grant, says the Author of the History, troubled many who would have had the pious Opinion secured and put beyond all Doubt; but he hopes, that those to whom the Pope gave this last Indulgence, will not abuse it, nor break out into open Scandals, when the Permission reaches no further, than to private Colloquies.  
Thus we have seen the busy Management of a Four Years Embassy, ending just where it began; and made a pleasant Piece of formal Pageantry: Great Charity and Piety pretended by Two Kings, answered with Deceit and pious Frauds, apparently intended by Two Popes. We have seen pretended Infallibility sitting in a Chair of State, and saying nothing: A fierce Controversy brought before an unerring Judge, who will let no body determine such Matters without or besides himself; and when all earnestly expect how he will end it, he tires them with Delays, or deceives them with doubtful Answers. In a Word, I verily believe that this Judge of Controversies, has set a foot Ten, for one he has ever decided: For though he calls this last his Office, yet he is as hardly brought to this Work, as a Bear is to the Stake; and when he is, he is either fearful of the Consequents, and dares not speak out, or sullen and will not, or crafty and puts it off, and says he cannot do it yet, (as in the Case before us, which I suppose he will leave for the day of Judgement to decide) or if it happens that once in an Age he gives us a Cast of his Office, as he hath done in this Age, in the Case of Jansenius, the contending Parties might have done as wisely to have referred the Matter to a Lottery, or the Chance of a Die, as bound themselves to stand to this blind Award; for after his Decision they find such manifest Defects either of Skill or Honesty, That those who are condemned, see no reason to retract or alter their Opinion, and oftentimes are so bold as to declare and prove him to have been mistaken.  
But though the Popes are resolved not to define the Opinion of the Immaculists to be de fide, yet it is a great Comfort to them, that the Church has showed a greater Propension and Inclination to this than the contrary. The Fathers of the Council of Basil 
c Sess. 36.  spoke all their Mind, when they determined plainly for it, That she was free from all Sin original and actual, and declared that this Opinion ought to be approved, held and embraced of all Catholics as pious and agreeable to the Church's Worship, to the Catholic Faith, right Reason and Holy Scripture, and that it shall be lawful for none to preach and teach the contrary. What an unlucky Chance was it, that this Decree was not anticipated Three Sessions; for than their Work might have been effectually done? Whereas having in the Thirty fourth Session deposed the lawful Pope Eugenius IU. the Council when it held this Session which decreed the immaculate Conception was itself Schismatical, and so it became invalid, not having the Pope's Confirmation herein. It is a great Comfort to them, That though (as a Jesuit 
d Jo. Bonifa c. de vit. & mirac. Mar. Virg. l. 1. c. 4.  says) our Mother the Church of Rome is dumb (he means the Pope especially, who is the Church's Mouth) in this Question, yet with Zachary she sometimes takes the Writing-Tables into her Hands, and does even as good (tantum non) as subscribe to the Opinion of Divines that contend for it. Even those dumb Popes have made very broad Signs of their  towards it. Witness their Approbation of the Feast of the Conception, which if it had not been without Sin, we are told, 
e Raynaudus Dyptic. Mar. p. 135.  had not deserved to be celebrated, being not worthy of Veneration for itself, yea hated by Job and Jeremy, because of the original Slain annexed to it. Bernardinus de Busto composed an Office of the Conception, which the Pope approved, and gave Indulgences to those that celebrated that Office, as he himself tells us, 
f Marial. ser. 3. p. 40.  and citys several Passages out of it 
g Ibid. p. 51. . Pope Sixtus iv (as appears by his extravagant Cum praexcelsa) commanded and approved another Office of the immaculate Conception composed by Leonard de Nogarolis, to be seen in the old Roman Breviary; and though Pius V ordered this Office to be the same with that of the Nativity, yet even there in the eighth Responsorio 
h Raynaud. ibid. p. 136.  it is said, Let all perceive thy Help, who celebrate thy holy Conception. There was also a religious Order erected by S. Beatrix in Spain, under the Title of the immaculate Conception, and approved by Innocent VIII. And in the time of P. Alexander VI many Fraternities 
i Wadding. Legatio de Concept. p. 219.  were instituted and Temples erected in honour of the immaculate Conception, especially in Portugal and Catalonia. Also a Rule of Nuns 
k Raynaud. ibid. p. 154.  under the same Title, approved by Julius II. in divers Chapters of which Rule the immaculate Conception is asserted; as Cap. 2. Where a Form of Profession is proposed, and said that it is made for the Love of God, and in Honour of the immaculate Conception of the blessed Virgin. And Cap. 3. a Garment (pallium) of a blue Colour is decreed to be used, to signify that the Soul of the Virgin, from her first Creation, was altogether Holy and Celestial. This Pope also granted great Indulgences 
l Wadding. ibid. p. 220. , as Leo X. did the like after him, to Persons of both Sexes, that in Devotion carried the Image of the Conception on their Breast. Temples and Altars are erected to the Memory of the same; and Pope Julius II. Pope Adrian VI Pope Gregory XIII. and other Popes have granted plenary Indulgences in favour of the immaculate Conception; and Pius V. 
m Id. ibid. p. 222.  when he reform the Breviary, and took away some Feasts, yet required that of the Conception to be kept by the whole Church, and moreover gave Liberty to the Franciscans to recite the proper and old Office of the Conception. So that although they have not got of their Father what they have so long desired, yet he has done something for them, and they are very jocund upon it, and full of Consolation; as the Language of one of them proclaims it, 
n Sherlog. Anteloquium in Cantic. Sec. 2. p. 114.  who thus breaks out: O blessed Virgin, I give immortal Thanks to thy Son, That the Days are come, in which none dare so much as mutter that thou wast conceived in original Sin. Oh! how many Friends of thine have cried to Heaven with Groans unutterable, to see that Day and could not see it; but thy poor Servant has seen it, seen it indeed, and it has greatly gladded him: But who has so steelly a Breast that will not be softened, (none, doubtless, unless it be the hardhearted Pope, who cannot relent) when all the World conspires to assert the Innocency of the Virgin's Soul, for as to the Integrity of her Body none of the Orthodox ever doubted it?  
If after all this Stir about the immaculate Conception, any one be so curious as to ask, in what manner we are to conceive the blessed Virgin's Preservation from original Sin to have been effected? They have Answers ready.  
The last named Jesuit 
o Idem in Cantic. c. 1. v. 8. p. 347.  is of Opinion, That when God made the Covenant with Adam, he made him the Head of all Mankind, and wrapped up their Fates and Wills in his, only with a particular Exception of one Creature, and that only in one Case, viz. If his Son should require such a Creature for his Mother; for than it was not his Intention that the Will of that Creature, in order to sinful Actions, or the loss of Grace, should be included in the Will of Adam.  
Others, who as Bernardine 
p Marial. ser. 9 p. 105. See also Galatinus de arcan. lib. 7. c. 3.  says, speculate the Matter more devoutly, think that the Seed out of which the blessed Virgin was to be conceived, was virtually preserved by God in the Loins of Adam from all Infection, and transmitted through all Generations to her without any Stain, of which immaculate Seed she was conceived most pure and immaculate: And he says, this is touched upon by the Psalmist (Psal. 89.) where God says (according to the vulgar Latin) I have sworn to David my Servant, That I will prepare thy Seed for ever, and build thy Seat from Generation to Generation.   

SECT. V Concerning the Feast of the Virgin Mary's Conception.  
THere is nothing remains to be considered under this Head of the Blessed Virgin's Conception, save only the Institution of the Feast on Decemb. 8. in Memory and Honour of it. Bellarmine 
q De cultu Sanctor. l. 3. c. 16.  confesses ingenuously, That some of the Feasts of the blessed Virgin are new and of a late Institution: For the Feast of her Nativity begun, says he, in the time of S. Bernard, but was not publicly received by the whole Church, till after the Decree of Sixtus iv in Extravaganti cum praeexcelsa, that is Anno 1476. Petrus de Natalibus 
r Catalogue. Sanctor. lib. 1. c. 41.  when he wrote (which was in the same Age) says, That this Feast was not kept by a general Institution of the Church, but by the special Devotion of some Persons.  
It is a ridiculous Story that is told us by Galatinus 
s De arcan. l. 7. c. 5.  out of I know not what Martyrology of J. Damascen, That the blessed Virgin is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pure before her Conception: Though Canisius 
t L. 1. de deip. c. 7.  is not ashamed to mention it after him. Baronius 
u Ad Martyr. Rom. Dec. 8.  and Bozius 
x De sign. Eccles. l. 9 c. 8.  would give it the Credit of some Antiquity a Greek Oration of Leo VI Emperor (about the Year 886.) upon the Solemnity of the Virgin's Conception, extant in Manuscript in the Sfortian Library. But J. Bapt. Thiers 
y De Fest dierum imminutione c. 17▪ 18. p. 90, 96.  who has throughly examined this matter of Festivals, can find no mention of it among the Greeks, before the Constitution of the Emperor Eman. Comnenus, Ann. 1166. In some particular Churches of the West, it began to be observed a little earlier; and the forwardest we meet with in celebrating of it, were in England, though upon very slight grounds, and such as give it no Authority: For the Institution of it there depended upon very questionable Revelations; such as agree not well among themselves, and some of them so ridiculous, as to spoil their own Credit together with that which depends on them.  
The Story which is most generally received, as that which gave Rise to this Feast, is told us by Pet. de Natalibus 
z Catal. Sanctorum ubi supra. , concerning S. Anselm whilst he was Prior in Normandy, before he was Archbishop of Canterbury, That he sailing to the Parts of Britain, as he was returning, a great Tempest put the Ship in extremest Danger, so that despairing of Safety, they betook themselves to the Help of God and the blessed Virgin, and on the sudden one clothed in the Habit of a Bishop came towards the Ship, walking upon the Waters, and calling for Anselm, told him, that if he would escape the Danger, he must promise him before God, that he would yearly keep the Feast of the blessed Virgin's Conception, and persuade all he could to do the same, informing him that ●s Day of her Conception was the Sixth of the Ideses of December, and that the Office to be said on that Day should be the same with the Office of the Nativity, only changing the Name of Nativity into Conception. When Anselm enquired who he was that brought this Message, he told him he was Nicholas the Bishop, and that he was sent by the Mother of God 〈◊〉 reveal this to them, and to deliver them. Ansa●… 〈…〉 to do as he was commanded, and confirmed it 〈…〉 upon which the Tempest immediately ce●sing 〈…〉 Wind blowing, they came safe to Shore. Thus the 〈…〉 was first begun to be kept in S. Anselm's Monastery, 〈◊〉 ●…terwards in the Church of Canterbury when he was 〈…〉 thither.  
That Anselm was the First that instituted this Feast i● England, is acknowledged by Simon Mepham 
a Vid. Thiers loc. citat. p. 323. ▪ who▪ 〈◊〉 provincial Synod at London Am. 1328. made a Constitution to observe it, treading in the Steps of his Predecessor Venerable Anselm, who, says he, superadded this Feast to those of blessed Mary that were more ancient.  
Jacobus de Voragine 
b Lombard. Hist. c. 188. Which the old, Roman Missal shows was the current Tradition (cited by Balingham. Peruas'. Mar. p 27.) Triforme prodigium odoce●●…fficium probat hoc 〈◊〉 justum esse, Do● 〈◊〉 afragium, Sacer●…a 〈◊〉, Levita refugium 〈…〉 his Notes upon it.  mentions Three other Revelations requiring this Feast to be observed. The First of which, is the very same for Substance with the former, only it is dated somewhat before it, and the Names are different: For he makes it to be in the time of William the Conqueror, about the Year 1070. and the Person to whom the Apparition was, when the Tempest threatened Shipwreck, to be one Helsinus (others call him Elpinus) the Abbot of Ramsey, the rest agrees with what was set down before.  
The Second Revelation or Apparition is this. In the Days of Charles (no body knows which) King of France, there was a Clerk, a Kinsman of his, a great lover of the blessed Virgin, and one who daily read her Hours devoutly, who, by the Advice of his Parents, consenting to marry with a fair and noble maid, and receiving the nuptial Benediction from a Priest, after Mass was ended, he remembered that he had not read that Day the Lady's Hours; wherefore making all go out of the Church, and sending his Spouse home, he read the Lady's Hours hard by the Altar; and when he repeated that Antiphona, Thou art fair and comely, O daughter of Jerusalem, suddenly the blessed Virgin appeared between Two Angels, with Christ in her Arms, saying to him; If I be so fair and comely, wherefore is it that thou leavest me, and takest another Spouse? Am not I fairer than she is? Hast thou seen any so fair? He made Answer, O my Lady, thy Brightness excels all the Beauty of the World, thou art elevated above the Qu●… of Angels, what wouldst thou have me to do? She a●…ed, if thou wilt forgo thy carnal Spouse for my Love, 〈◊〉 shalt ●…ve me for thy Spouse in the celestial Kingdom; and if thou wilt solemnly celebrate the Feast of my Conception yearly, upon the Sixth of the Ideses of December, and preach the Celebration of it, thou shalt be crowned with 〈…〉 of my Son; after which Words, the 〈…〉 of Christ vanished. The Clerk refusing to return 〈…〉 in another Country, and after a short 〈…〉, he was made the Patriarch of Aquilegia, and carefully celebrated the Feast of her Conception, and ordained it to be kept yearly.  
The Third Revelation, is a scandalous Story of a Priest, a devout Worshipper of the Virgin, that used to sing her Hours, who, after he had been committing Adultery with another Man's Wife, entered into a Vessel to pass over the River S●…e, and as he sailed, sung the Virgin's Hours, and when he came to these Words, Ave Maria, gratia plena, being in the midst of the River, a company of Devils overturned the Vessel and drowned him, carrying his Soul to Torments. On the Third Day, the blessed Virgin with a company of Saints, came to the place where the Devils tormented him, and said to them, Why do you so unjustly punish the Soul of my Servant? They answered, W● 〈…〉 ●…ve him, for he was taken doing our Work. The Virgin replied, If they ought to have him, whose Wo●…●e was employed in, than he is mine; for when you drowned him, he was seeing my Matins, so that you are guilty of Injustice to me. When she had said this, the Devils fled away, and she restored his Soul to his Body, and taking him by the Arm, commanded the Waters to stand as a Wall on the right hand and left, and so brought him from the Bottom safe to his Harbours▪ Who falling down at her Feet, and ask her what Return he should make for her Kindness? She desired him for the future to have a care of committing Adultery, and both to keep himself, and exhort others to keep the Feast of her Conception upon the eighth of December. Upon the saying which, he saw her as●…d into Heaven, and he led ever after a Hermit's Life, telling what had befell him, and doing as he was commanded.  
We are also told, 
c Raynaudus ubi supra p. 135.  out of the Acts of S. Oringa (alias Christiana) who died in Etruria An. 1310. how this Feast was celebrated in Heaven, being made known to her by a Revelation: For she was rapt up in an Ecstasy into Heaven, and saw the blessed Virgin sitting on a bright Throne by her Son, clothed in a most precious Garment, with all the Saints rejoicing about her and keeping a solemn Feast. Oringa admiring the Cause of all this, and the whiteness of the Garment wherein the mother of God shone, Christ himself gave her an account of it, That on that Day they kept in Heaven the Feast of her immaculate Conception, who remaining a Virgin conceived and bore him who is the true God and Man, and that the whiteness of her Garment denoted the Prerogative of her singular Innocency.  
Now what slender Credit is to be given to these Stories of Apparitions and Revelations, S. Bernard will tell us; who, it seems, himself had met with them, and treats them very coarsely in his Epistle to the Canons of Lions 
d Epist. 174. . They produce a Writing of heavenly Revelation, as they call it: As if any one might not, in like manner produce a Writing, in which the Virgin seemed to command the same thing (sc. the observing a Feast) for her Parents, according to Gods Command saying, Honour thy Father and thy Mother. (Little did he imagine that Joachim and Anne should have had a Festival appointed for them, when he wrote this, which was not then thought of) I am not apt to be moved by such Writings, which are neither backed with Reason nor favoured by certain Authority. And it's very observable that the Credit of this Feast decayed in a little time, even here in England, where it was first observed: For in a Council held by Stephen Langton, Archbishop, at Oxford An. 1222. it was ordered 
e Concil. Labbetom. 11. part. 1. p. 274.  That all the Feasts of blessed Mary should be kept, except the Feast of the Conception, for the celebrating of which no Necessity is imposed. In this Council it is left at Liberty; and in another Synod, a while after, at Worcester An. 1240. under Walter de Cantilupo the Bishop there, where the Feasts of his Diocese are mentioned, this is left out 
f Thiers. ibid. c. 20. p. 105. , and the same Synod reckoning the Feasts of the Church of Salisbury, does also again omit this.  
The earliest time in any other Church, is the Observation of it in France, An. 1215. in a Decree of Galo and Simon, Legates of Pope Innocent III. related by Bochellus 
g Lib. 4. decret. Eccl. Gallic. tit. 9 c. 13.  in these Words. This Day the Conception of blessed Mary is celebrated by the Command of the Apostolic Chair. Which, as Thiers observes 
h Ibid. p. 323. , argues that it was not observed in France before that Synod, for than it would have only been recited, as other Feasts there are, without adjoining this special Admonition.  
But all this reaches only to some particular Churches, not to the universal Observation of it; for it was opposed as an Innovation by many, and great Men. S. Bernard is very sharp against it (in the forecited Epistle to the Canons of Lions.) We wonder, says he, what some of you mean, to bring in a new Solemnity, which the Custom of the Church is ignorant of, which Reason does not prove, nor ancient Tradition commend. What are we more learned or Devout than the Fathers? We dangerously presume whatsoever in such things their Prudence did pass by. And if so, what reason for the Feast of the Conception? How, I say, can her Conception be asserted to be Holy, which was not of the Holy Ghost, not to say that it is of Sin; and can it have a Festival when it is not Holy? The glorious Virgin will willingly be without this Honour, where either Sin is honoured, or Sanctity seems to be falsely brought in. This presumed Novity will no ways please her against the Custom of the Church; it is the Mother of Temerity, the Sister of Superstition, the Daughter of Levity, etc. Petrus Cellensis 
i Lib. 9 Epist. 10.  defends this Censure of S. Bernard against. Nicholas a Monk of S. Albon, who had objected to him that S. Bernard had recanted what the had written concerning the blessed Virgin's Conception in a Vision to one of his College of Clervaux (which I before recited) when he appeared with a black Spot upon his Breast, arrayed in snowwhite Garments. To whom Petr. Cellensis answers; I believe the Gospel, not Dreams, concerning the blessed Virgin, and if I be otherwise minded than I ought, God will reveal this also, when and how he pleases: In the mean time, while the Voice is above the Firmament, and does not descend so low as to us, I beg that the Darkness of our Ignorance may be enlightened, not by thee, but by the Father of Lights.  
The same is the Opinion of Jo. Beleth 
k De divin. Offic. c. 146. , a Paris Divine, who says, Some have at some times celebrated the Feast of the Conception, and perhaps yet observe it; but it is not authentical nor approved, but rather seems to deserve to be prohibited, for she was conceived in Sin.  
With whom agrees also Durandus Mimatensis, 
l Rational. divin. offic. l. 7. cap. 7.  who, showing that only Four Feasts of the Virgin were observed by the Church, adds; Some indeed make a Fifth Feast, viz. of the Conception of blessed Mary, saying, That as we celebrate the Death of the Saints, not because of their Death, but because they are eternally happy; so in like manner the Feast of the Conception may be kept, not because she was conceived, or conceived in Sin; but because she was conceived the Mother of our Lord, affirming that this was revealed to a certain Abbot in danger of Shipwreck, which Story is not Authentic: So that this Feast is not to be approved, seeing she was conceived in Sin, to wit, by the Commixture of Male and Female.  
Thus I have largely considered the Matters that relate to the blessed Virgin's Conception; and upon the whole may well conclude and say, From that Church where her Conception without Sin passes for a pious Opinion; and which suffers this Petition to be put up in her Litanies, 
m S. Litaniae variae. Coloniae 1643. p 63.  Per immaculatam conceptionem tuam, libera nos mediatrix nostra: O our Mediatress, deliver us by thy immaculate Conception, Good Lord deliver us!    

CHAP. II. Of the blessed Virgin's Nativity.  

SECT. I. Devotions to her, with Relation to her Birth.  
THE Devotions for her Nativity being, for the most part, the same with those upon the Feast of her Conception, there remains not much to be added under this Head.  
The old Roman Missal, and Missal Cluniac. gins thus.  


Nativitas Mariae Virginis  
Qu●e nos lavit à labe criminis  
Ce●…bretur hodiè,  
Dies est laetitiae.   

Let's celebrate the Virgin's Birth to Day  
With Joy, who washed our sinful Stains away.    
The Missal of Sarum thus gins on the Nativity of blessed Mary.  


Gaudeamus omnes in Domino, diem Festum celebrantes sub honore Mariae Virginis, de cujus nativitate gaudent Angeli, & collaudant filium Dei.   

Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a Festival in honour of the Virgin Mary, for whose Nativity Angels rejoice, and praise together the Son of God.    



Psal. 45.  Audi filia & vide, inclina aurem tuam, quia concupivit Rex speciem tuam.  
Specie tua & pulchritudine tua intende prosperè, procede & regna.   

Hear O Daughter, and see, and incline thine Ear, for the King hath desired thy Beauty.  
In thy Beauty and Comeliness advance prosperously, proceed and reign.    


Vers. Per te, Dei genitrix, nobis est vita perdita data, quae de coelo suscipisti prolem, & mundo genuisti salvatorem.   

Verse. By thee, O Mother of God, the Life that we had lost is given to us again, who didst receive, an Offs-spring from Heaven and beg●t is Saviour to the World.    
In a following Sequence we have these Expressions.  


O Virgo fola, matter casta  
Nostra crimina solvens, da regna,  
Queis beata regnant agmina.  
Potes enim cuncta ut 
* Coeli in Mis. Attreb.  mundi regina  
Et jura cum Nato omnia  
Decernis in saecula.   

Blessed Virgin, and chaste Mother too,  
The Bands of all our Crimes undo,  
That by thy Gift we may attain,  
That Kingdom where the Saints do reign;  
To every thing thy Power extends,  
To thee, as Queen of Heaven, it bends:  
Nothing to thee can ever be denied,  
Who, with thy Son all Titles dost divide.    
In the Reformed Roman Breviary, on the Feast of her Nativity, September 8.  


Capitulum. Ecclus. 24.  
Ab initio & ante saecula creata sum, & usque ad futurum saeculum non desivam, & in habitatione sancta coram ipso ministravi.   

From the Beginning, and before Ages I was created, and shall never fail, and I 〈◊〉 before him in the holy 〈…〉.  
(Thus translated by themselves in the Office of the Virgin. Luc. & Eng. p. 47.)    


Hymnus.  
Ave Maris stella,  
Del Mater alma,  
Atque semper Virgo,  
Felix coeli porta.  
Sumens illud Ave,  
Gabrielis ore,  
Funda nos in pace,  
Mutans Evae nomen.  
Solve vincla reis,  
Profer lumen caecis,  
Mala nostra pelle,  
Bona cuncta posce.  
Monstra te esse matrem,  
Sumat per te preces,  
Qui pro nobis natus,  
Tulit esse tuus.  
Virgo singularis,  
Inter omnes mitis,  
Nos culpis solutos,  
Mites fac & castos.  
Vitam praesta puram,  
Iter para tutum,  
Ut videntes Jesum,  
Semper collaetemur.  
Sit laus Deo patri,  
Summo christo decus,  
Spiritui sancto,  
Tribus honor unus.  
Amen.   

All hail Star of the Sea,  
God's Mother clear and bright,  
The happy Gate of Bliss,  
And still in Virgin's plight.  
Receiving that all hail (Ave)  
Which Gabriel's Mouth did give,  
Establish us in Peace,  
Changing the Name of Eve.  
The Guiltless Bands unbind,  
Blind Men their Sight assure,  
Ill things from us expel,  
All Good for us procure.  
A Mother show thyself,  
He take our Plaints by thee,  
Who being for us born,  
Vouchsafed thy Son to be.  
O rarest Virgin pure,  
Meekest of all that waist,  
Discharged of our Sin,  
Make thou us meek and chaste.  
Grant that our Life be pure,  
Make safe for us the way,  
That while we Jesus see,  
Our Joy may last for ay.  
To God the Father Praise,  
To Christ high Worship be,  
And to the Holy Ghost,  
One Honour unto three.  
Amen.    


Oratio.  
Famulis tuis quaesumus Domine coelestis gratiae munus impertire; ut quibus beatae virgins partus, extitit salutis exordium, Nativitatis ejus votive solemnitas pacis tribuat incrementum.  
Per Dominum.   

A Prayer.  
O Lord, we pray thee bestow upon thy Servants the Gift of heavenly Grace; that as the blessed Virgin's Birth has been to us the beginning of Salvation, so the vowed Solemnity of her Nativity may afford to us increase of Peace.  
Through our Lord.    


Lect. 1. Cantic. Canticor.  
Osculetur me osculo oris sui, quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino, etc.  
Resp. Hodie nata est beata virgo maria ex progenie David, per quam salus mundi credentibus apparuit, cujus vita gloriosa lucem dedit saeculo.   

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his Mouth; for thy Breasts are better than Wine, etc.  
R. To day was born the blessed Virgin Mary of the Progeny of David, by whom the Saviour of the World appeared to Believers, whose glorious Life gave Light to the World.    


Resp. Beatissimae virginis Mariae Nativitatem devotissimè celebremus, ut ipsa pro nobis intercedat ad Dominum Jesum Christum.   

After the Second Lesson.  
Resp. Let us most devoutly celebrate the Nativity of the most blessed Virgin Mary, that she may intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.    


Resp. Ora pro populo, interveni pro clero, intercede pro devoto foemineo sexu: Sentiant omnes tuum juvamen, quicunque celebrant tuam sanctam nativitatem.   

After the Eighth Lesson.  
Resp. Pray for the People, intervene for the Clergy, intercede for the devout Female Sex; let all those perceive thy Help, whosoever celebrate thy holy Nativity.    


Ad Laudes. Anaph.  
Regali ex progenie maria exorta refulget; cujus precibus nos adjuvari ment & spiritu devotissimè poscimus.   

Marry arising from a royal Stock shines brightly; we beg with the greatest Devotion of Mind and Spirit to be helped by her Prayers.  
(Thus translated in the Latin and English Office forenamed.)    


Hymnus.  
O Gloriosa Virginum,  
Sublimis inter sidera  
Qui te creavit, parvulum  
Lactante nutris ubere.  
Quod Heva tristis abstulit,  
Tu reddis almo germine;  
Intrent ut astra flebiles,  
Coeli recludis cardines.  
Tu regis alti janua  
Et aula lucis fulgida;  
Vitam datam per Virginem  
Gentes redemptte plaudite.   

O Virgin set in Glory great,  
Among the Stars in high degree;  
Whose Breasts, when he was yet a Child,  
Gave Suck to him that form thee.  
By thy fair Blossom thou restor'dst  
That which sad Eve away had given;  
That wailing Wights might mount the Stars,  
Thou hast set  the Gates of Heaven;  
The Gate thou art of the high King,  
The Port of Light that glisters clear;  
Since Life was given by a Maid,  
Let freed Men show joyful cheer.    
On the Ninth of September, the Second Day after the Octave of blessed Mary 's Nativity, we have these Three Lessons taken out of the 18. Sermo de Sunctis, attributed to S. Austin (though certainly none of his.)  


Lect. 4.  
Exultat Maria, & matrem se laeta miratur, & de spiritu sancto se peperisse gaudet: Nec quin pepetit innupta terrecur, sed quia genuerit cum exultatione miratur. O foemina super foeminas benedicta, quae vi●…m m●i●o non novit, & virum ●uo 〈◊〉 dirc●…dedit! 〈◊〉 ●…am Maria Ang●… 〈◊〉 ●ando, quin H●va per●…dit virum, serp●…i con●…. to 〈◊〉 ●…entia, O 〈…〉: q●e dum fidem 〈…〉 dedit, coeli in fe opi●co●…●ncorpotavit: Hinc prome● vit gl●…m, quam ipsa postmodum hausit. Ecce ait, 〈◊〉 hoc bea●… me dicent omnes generationes.   

Marry c●…ults, and joyfully admires to see herself a Mother, and is glad she was with Child by the Holy Spirit: Neither was she frighted that she was with Child being unmarried, but she wondered with Exultation that she had begot a Child. O woman, blessed above all Women, who never knew a Man, and yet encompassed a Man in her Womb! Marry compassed a Man by giving credit to the Angel, as Eve destroyed Man by consenting to the Serpent. O happy Obedience, O remarkable Grace! Who, while she humbly consented, did incorporate the Maker of Heaven within herself. Hence she merited the Glory, which she afterwards gained. Behold, says she, from henceforth all Generations shall call me blessed.    


Lect. 5.  
O beata Maria, quis tibi dignè valeat jura gratiarum, ac laudum praeconia rependere, quae singulari tuo assensu Mundo succurristi perdito? Quas tibi laudes fragilitas humani generis persolvat, quae solo tuo commercio recuperandi aditum inventi? Accipe itaque quascunque exiles, quafcunque Meritis tuis impares gratiarum actiones. Et cùm susceperis vota, culpas nostras orando excusa. Admitte preces nostras intra Sacrarium exauditionis, & reporta nobis antidotum reconciliationis.   

O blessed Mary, who is able to make worthy Returns of Thanks and Praises to thee, who by thy singular Consent didst secure the lost World? What Praises can the Frailty of humane Nature pay to thee, who, only by thy commerce hast found a Passage to our Recovery? Accept therefore our Thanksgivings, though never so poor and unsuitable to your Merits: And when you shall receive our Devotions, by your Prayers excuse our Faults: Admit our Prayers within the holy Place of your Audience, and bring back to us the Antidote of Reconciliation.    


Lect. 6.  
Sit per te excusabile, quod per te ingerimus; fiat impetrabile, quod fida ment poscimus. Accipe quod offerimus, redona quod rogamus, excusa quod timemus; quia tu es spes unica peccatorum. Per te speramus veniam delictorum, & in te beatissima nostrorum est expectatio praemiorum. Sancta Maria, succurre miseris, juva pusillanimes, refove flebiles, ora pro populo, interveni pro clero, etc.   

By the let every thing be excused easily, which we being in by thee, and easily obtained, which we request with a faithful Mind. Accept what we offer, give us what we ask, excuse what we fear; for thou art the only Hope of Sinners: By then we hope for the Pardon of our Offences, and in thy blessed Self is our Expectation of being rewarded: O holy Mary, secure the Miserable, help the Faint-hearted, refresh those that mourn, pray for the People, intercede for the Clergy, etc.    
The late Contemplator has invited us to celebrate her Nativity in this manner, p. 50.  

The Praise.  
Hail Mary, full of Grace, our Lord is with thee, etc.   

The Hymn.  
The morning Star doth spread its Ray,  
The Sun e'er long will make clear Day:  
Welcome great Mary, Herald of Peace,  
Rich Spring of Grace, which never cease.  
This newborn Light, which cheers our Earth,  
Sums the World's Blessings in her Birth;  
God's Mother is this Day revealed,  
heavens Treasures are in her unsealed.  

Glory be to Jesus and Mary;  
As it was, is, and ever shall be, Amen.    

Anaph. Who is she that cometh forth, as the Dawning of the Day, beautiful as the Moon, chosen as the Sun?   

Psalm 44.  
My Heart shall power forth Words of Joy, because Mary the Mother of Jesus is born.  
Above all Women beautiful is Mary; Grace is spread through her Soul.  
Rejoice, triumph and Advance, for thou art amiable and acceptable to God our King.  
Justice, Truth and Meekness are thy Ornaments; the Hand of God hath wrought them in thee.  
Every Creature shall bless the Hour of thy Birth, because Jesus covets thy Beauty.   

Anth. Who is she?  
Verse. Marry the Mother of Jesus is born.  
Resp. Let Heavens and Earth sing forth her Praise.   

Let us Pray.  
Grant unto us thy Servants, O Lord, thy Gifts of heavenly Grace, that the Birth of holy Mary may increase our Acceptableness unto thee; since thy Son Jesus, who was born of her, is the Beginning of our Salvation; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. (This is but an ill and disguised Translation of the former Collect: Famulis tuis quaeiumus, Domine, etc.)    

SECT. II. Concerning the blessed Virgin's Nativity, and the Circumstances of her Birth; with Remarks thereupon.  
AS we have hitherto found a great many bold Assertions obtruded on us without any cogent Proof; so the Reader must expect the same Entertainment still; and it cannot well be otherwise, where both Scripture and ancient genuine Authorities are wholly silent, as they are in the Things that concern her Nativity. There are indeed Prophecies in the holy Bible concerning her, but not as she is the Daughter of Anne, but the Mother of Jesus; not to tell us how she was conceived and born, but that a Virgin should conceive, and the Holy one should be born of her: Even the Verses we now have of the pretended Sibylls, say very little more than that of her.  
But the Men of this Church cannot be contented and at rest, till they have filled every Stage of her Life with Wonder and Miracle. So they have done here in her Birth; the Circumstances whereof they make as glorious as possible may be, and to run parallel in most things with those that are related of our Saviour. The oft-cited bold Jesuit 
a Pozae Elucidar. l. 2. trac. 6. p. 494.  thinks it not enough to call her (what the Scripture calls the Messiah) The Desire of all Nations; but, he adds, That this Woman was in their Wishes before her Son, though he was much more noble and necessary for Mankind. Abraham rejoiced to see the Day of Christ, he saw it and was glad; but long before Abraham, Adam and Eve rejoiced to see the Day of Mary, they saw it and were glad. Wherein he is seconded by another of his Society, 
b J. Bonifacius de vit. & mirac. B. Virgins l. 1. c. 5.  saying, We ought to believe that Adam foresaw this Nativity to the rejoicing of his Heart. So did Seth too, if you will believe the Relation of J. Gerbrandus 
c Chronic. Belgic. l. 31. c. 26. , who tells us, that in the Year 1374. Sibylla Queen of Hungary, causing Workmen to dig in the Valley of Jehosaphat, they found a Tomb made of Brick, with a Body in it entire, over whose Head was a Tablet with this Inscription in Hebrew Characters, I Seth, the Third born Son of Adam, believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God, and in the Virgin Mary his Mother, who shall come from my Loins. A very likely Story! Much of the same Nature and Credit with that which is mentioned by Aquinas 
d Summa Theol. in 2. secundae qu. 2. art. 7. , of an Inscription upon a Plate of Gold found in a Tomb, which prophesied thus, Christ shall be born of a Virgin, and I believe in him; O Su●, thou shalt see me again about the time of Irene and Constantine. Or like that Table which J. Boniface 
e Lib. citat. 2. p. 137.  relates out of Cassinaeus, That in the Sepulchre of Plato, was a Plate of Gold found with this written on it: I believe in Christ who shall be born of a Virgin, suffer for Mankind, and rise again the Third Day.  
Neither will these Prophecies suffice, unless Miracles also prepare her Way, and accompany her into the World. Baroxius 
f Apparat. ad Annal. n. 40.  is contented to tell us in general, That great Things, and altogether admirable, such as cannot worthily be expressed, did precede the Birth of Mary the Mother of God: And every one that questions this, he brands for a Man of a narrow Soul, and for one out of his Wits. And his Reason for it is very admirable: Because we know that great and strange Things went before the Birth of Samson and Samuel, Jeremiah and John the Baptist; and who can think so abjectly and meanly of God, or be so mad as to affirm, That he did greater Things, and was more liberal to his Servants than to his Mother, to the Friends of the Bridegroom than to his Spouse? (Or, if you will, to the Handmaid rather than to the Lady, for in the Language of another Cardinal 
g Bonaventure in Speculo. c. 1. , Every faithful Soul is a Handmaid of the Virgin; nay more, even the Universal Church itself.) If the Cardinal had been speaking of the Graces that were necessary to make her beloved of God, or necessary to her Salvation, his Reasoning might have been allowed; but speaking of Gifts (the gratiae gratis datae, as the Schools speak) which are measured by no Rule, but only the Pleasure of God, who gives them as he thinks fit, being at perfect Liberty herein, both as to the Kind and the Degree; it is great Presumption to argue and reason from what has been done for one, to what will be done for another: Because God may deny that, for secret Reasons of his own, to one, which he may bestow upon another: And thus, for Instance, he may resolve to make Sampson's Birth Conspicuous by a Miracle, and to conceal that of the blessed Virgin, and therefore work none when she was born. Not that I affirm that he did not, but that he not having told us that he did, no Man can reason (unless he were as Wise as God, or a Privy-councillor of Heaven) that God must do it, or if he does not, that he is too sparing where he ought to be more liberal in his Donations. And I am afraid, upon these Principles and Arguings, we shall have but a sorry Account, why the Apostles, that were but Servants, had the Power given, not only of doing the same Works that the Son of God did, but greater than those; which we are sure is true, because Christ foretold it; or why this blessed Mother did not work greater Miracles than any of the Apostles, which we are sure she did not, but aught to have had such a Power given her, by the said Reasoning of the Cardinal. However he was so wise, as not to mention in particular any Miracle at her Birth, as well knowing, that none could be produced, unless he made use of those fabulous Authors to vouch for them, which he had before discarded.  
But we have a Jesuit 
h Poza ib. l. 2. tract. 7. c. 1.  to help him out even here also, who seldom fails at a dead Lift, whose Fancy and Invention is so pregnant, that he can accommodate any wonderful Story to his Purpose: For Josephus 
i Antiq. 15. cap. 14.  mentioning a Tradition, That all the time Herod's Temple was a building (which he makes to be about Eight Years) it never reigned on the daytime, but all Showers fell by Night, that the Work might not be Interrupted; he takes the Story for granted; only what Josephus thought was ordered for the Service of the Temple, he forsooth will have these Nights-showers to fall in honour of the Virgin, whom he would have to be born at this time; and to give it some Colour, heaps up a deal of forced and metaphorical Stuff concerning her, not deserving to be mentioned. He also 
k Id. ib. c. 2.  hooks in that Miracle S. John mentions (Chap. 5.) of healing at the Pool of Bethesda: This Wonder he will have, no body knows why, to happen in the Month of September, when the blessed Virgin was born; and having found in some Authors that Joachim had a House by that Pool, and that she was born there, he presently concludes that this Miracle was yearly iterated in honour of her Birth, and he thinks it first began at the time when she was born, and that the Virtue that was in it to cure the Sick and Impotent that were let down into it, was contracted, ex vicinia hujus domus, by its Neighbourhood to this House: He finds also a Mystery in it 
l Ibid. c. 7.  That she washes away our Filth, like that Pool, and was born there to show how tender her Care is of Sinners.  
We are further informed 
m Barnard. de Bust. Maria l. p. 2. ser. 3.  That a numerous Multitude of Blessed Angels, at the time of her Birth, out of every Order did descend from Heaven, and with ravishing Music of all sorts, played the Spouse of the eternal King into the World, singing sweet Songs of ineffable Melody. For thus, because we read that Angels with their Songs of Praise ushered our Saviour into the World, we must believe that they performed the same Office to his Mother also at her Birth. Nay, Poza 
n Ib. l. 2. tract. 5. c. 3.  would have us think that not only Angels Songs and Harmony were then heard, but that all other Creatures testified their Joys, Because they were all renewed by Mary to their pristine State and Condition; I suppose he means before the Fall. Pelbartus 
o Stellar. l. 5. p. 2. art. 2. c. 9  tells us out of one Theophilus (no doubt, an ancient and authentic Historian) That on the Day of Mary's Nativity the Sun shone twice as bright as he was wont; and on that Night the Moon shone almost as bright as the Sun, and that cloudiness that darkens her Face for a time, did not appear from the Day of her Birth (I suppose he means to the next new Moon) but it shown like one great bright Star about the middle of the lunar Globe. This Miracle had been better calculated for the Day of her Conception, especially that of the Moon having no Spots, for than it would have admirably declared, that the blessed Virgin, whom they call the Queen of Heaven and the mystical Moon 
p Max. Sandaeus Entitles his Book of the Virgin, Luna Mystica.  had no Spot or Stain of original Sin in her Conception.  
As for the Year when she was born, they give us a formal Account of that too, for thus Chr. à Castro 
q Hist. deip. c. 2. p. 85.  has summed it up: She was born September 8. on the Fourteenth day of the Moon, on a Saturday, because the Dominical Letter on that Year was G. Fifteen Years before Christ was born, on the Fourth Year of the 190 Olympiad; 738 Years from the building of Rome; L. Domitius and P. Corn. Scipio being Consuls; 27. Years from the first Consulship of Augustus; from the Victory at Actium 15. in the Eighteenth Year of Herod the King; from the beginning of the World 4073, etc. Baronius sets it 
r Apparat ad Annal. n. 48.  one Year sooner. If you ask how they came to know this so exactly? I answer, it depends chief upon this Supposition, That the Virgin was Fifteen Years of Age when Christ was born. And how know they that? I am sure, not by Baronius' Reason 
s Ibid. n. 47.  That it was the Custom of the Jews to marry their Daughters when they were adult; for that concludes no more for her being Fifteen, than Fourteen or Sixteen Years of Age: Nor by the Testimonies of any of the Ancients of undoubted Authority; for all that he produces for it, is only a Fragment in Nicephorus 
t Eccles. hist. l. 2. c. 3.  of Euodius Bishop of Antioch and Successor to the Apostles, in an Epistle of his called Lumen, though the Cardinal confesses that he never met with any ancient Writer that took notice of such a Work of his; and if any one examine it (as we may have occasion afterwards) he will find it plainly to be a Counterfeit; or as Bishop Montague 
u Acts & Monum. c. 8. p. 535.  censures it, That it was never the Issue of any of the Children of Light, but the misbegotten and misborn Changeling of an heretical Father.  
But still if all this were granted about the Year, it makes nothing for the Month and Day of her Nativity, which still remains as uncertain as before. In this they must be beholden to Ecclesiastical Tradition and its teaching, 
x Raynaud. Dipped. Mar. p. 24.  from whence they have learned many other great Secrets, and that determines it on the Eighth of September; only they have an admirable Art to back it with Motives of Congruity, as here in this Case. Congruum fuit, etc. Says Carthagena, 
y De arc, Deip. l. 2. hom. 2.  That she who was to be for ever a Virgin, should be born in the Month of September, was very congruous, because in that Month the Sun going out of the Sign of Leo, enters into the Sign of Virgo; which plainly enough foresignified, That God, who otherwise roared like a Lion, according to that, Vengeance is mine and I will repay, should now be born like a Lamb of the meek Ewe Mary, and like an Unicorn, should lay aside all his Fierceness in the Lap of the Virgin. Another 
z Gononus Chron. Deip. p. 3.  says, This was a very convenient Season for her Birth, that as the World, according to the commonest Opinion, was created in the Month of September, so the new Creation of it should begin at the same time: Besides, we know that this Month does commonly abound with Diseases, and therefore it is no wonder, if at that time in which Dangers appear, the Medicine and Remedy against every Sickness should be sent. (Though these Reasons seem to conclude stronglier for the Birth of our Saviour in that Month, than for hers.) Nay, in this way of Congruity, they can tell us the very time of the Day when she was born, that it was in the dawning of the Morning before Sun-rise, 
a Raynaudus ibid.  that so this Circumstance of Time might answer to the Mystery, who in the Hymns is called, Solis justitiae aurora, The Morning of the Son of Righteousness. As for the Place where she was born, they are not so well agreed. Poza, as we heard before, will have her to be born at Jerusalem, and he brings 
b Ib. tract. 8. c. 3.  S. Briget's Revelations 
c L. 5. c. 13.  and others to countenance it. But the most common Opinion is that which Baronius 
d Apparat. n. 48.  mentions, That she was born at Nazareth: So says also the Counterfeit Epistle of S. Jerome; and the Table that hangs up in holy House at Loretta, makes that Church to be a Chamber of the House at the blessed Virgin at Nazareth, in which she was born and educated, and afterwards received in it the Salutation of the Angel Gabriel. This Chamber was taken from Nazareth by Angels, and carried over-Sea, and after some Removes, was at last placed by them where it now stands in Italy, by a Highway side. Chr. de Castro 
e Hist. deip. c. 1. p. 60.  says that she was born at Nazareth, Inter●ovium balatus, pastorumque hilares concentus, among the bleat of Sheep, and the joyful Consorts of Shepherds: And afterwards in his Notes adds, It is probable that S. Anne came over to Joachim, while he lived with his Shepherds, and there brought forth the holy Child; adding in the Margin, That Mary was born in the House of a Shepherd: For which he citys J. Damascen. Lib. 4. fid. Orthod. c. 15. Editur partu in ovili● i●sius Joachim domo. Wherein Castro commits a gross Mistake; for the Words of Damascen in the Greek are these, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (Sc. Virgo) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not a Shepherd's Dwelling, but signifies the Place in S. John c. v. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. In the Sheep-Market we translate it, or Gate, there was a Pool called Bethesda: And he means, no doubt, that House of S. Anne at Jerusalem, which Adricomius 
f Theatr. terrae sanct. Jerusalem, n. 37. p. 153.  mentions, and places hard by the Pool of Bethesda, and where, he says, Joachim and Anne often lived, and where blessed Mary was conceived (for he makes her also to be born at Nazareth.) This appears by another place in Damascen 
g Orat. 1. de Nativ. Virg. , where he wishes all good Luck to this Probatica, calling it Patrium Regina domicilium; and after mentions how once a Year is of old received the Angel that troubled the Waters, and restored one Person to Health: This by the way. However it be, whether as to the Place Damascen be in the Right or no, we need not much trouble ourselves, but it concerns them much, who are resolved to believe the Fable of the House at Loretta, which this plainly contradicts.  
These curious Inquirers into her Birth, that nothing may escape them, consider whether she came into the World the common way; and one of them 
h Poza ib. l. 2. tract. 15. c. 3. , after all his Search professes, That he cannot yet resolve, whether she came out of S. Anne's Womb with her Head or Feet foremost: Only he has discovered to us thus much, That she might, if she pleased, have come with her Feet foremost: For, says he, she having in the Womb the use of her Reason; she might have contracted her Arms and other Parts close together, and then there would have been no more Difficulty in this, than in the other common Way.  
It would be a great Mistake to think, That when she came into the World, she cried as other Children do. No, says one 
i Bernard. de Bust. part. 2. serm. 1. p. 133. , She neither sighed nor cried, but expressed great Joy in her Face, smiling upon those that looked on her, and rejoiced with a multitude of Angels that sang sweet Songs at her Birth: Which the former Virtuoso 
k Poza ib. c. 2.  ascribes to that perfect Wisdom wherewith she was endued from her Conception, and her grave Constancy, not to be altered by this new Sight of the Fabric of this World. Nay, so far was she from crying herself, when she was born, That she did not so much as make her cry out that bore her. Those that think that S. Anne conceived her without Pleasure, conclude from thence, that she brought her forth without Pain; besides the Congruity of it 
l Raynaudus lib. citat. p. 29. , That she, who by her Birth, brought Joy to all the World, should not tear her Mother with grievous Pangs. But the skilful Poza 
m Ib. l. 2. trac. 15. c. 7.  goes further (as he commonly ●ly● at all) and says, That by a Miracle, and God's Kindness, S. Anne, when she went with Child of her, felt no Burden▪ and in her Childbed she had no Sorrows, for it was without Pain▪ without the Help of Midwives, without fainting of Spirits, or consequent Uncleanness; so that excepting the Miracle of the Virginity of the Mother of God, before and after her bringing forth, all the other Wonders are alike in the Birth of Mary and Jesus. He also concludes, 
n Ibid. c. 3.  That the Body of the blessed Virgin did shine at her Birth with exceeding Brightness; for so, he says, we read it happened in the Nativity of S. Herebert, S. Avitus, and S. Suibert, etc. And we know it is a first Principle, that no other Saint must outdo her, which I suppose their Poet 
o Mantuan. Parthan. Mar. l. 1.  intended, who speaking of her when she sucked, says, 
Stringere complexu natam, far oscula fronti  
Non erat ausa parens, nec enim mortalis in illa  
Humanusve decor, sed erat coelestis Imago.  That is, 
Anne durst not with her circling Arms embrace  
This Babe, nor give fond Kisses to her Face;  
Amazed to see such Majesty combine,  
With heavenly Graces and a Form divine.   
As confidently does another 
p Gononus in Chron. deip. p. 3.  assert, That from her Birth and so forward, the Virgin's sacred Body breathed a Perfume and fragrant Smell, that so, as he adds, she might not be excelled by any illustrious Person: Plutarch having reported the same of Alexander, and God having granted it to several dead Bodies of his Servants, it can in no wise be thought that he would not bestow this Honour upon her Body, in which God intended to take up his dwelling afterwards.  
There remains a great Question, much debated among them, concerning her Guardian Angel: For it is generally resolved among the Schoolmen 
q See Aquinas sum. Th. p. 1. qu. 113. art. 4, 5.  that every Man from his Nativity has such an Angel appointed to keep and defend him; even Adam in Innocency had one 
r Id. ib. art. 4. ad 1, 2. Fr. Albertinus de Ang. Custod. c 4. p. 24, 29, 30. Becanus Theol. Sch●…. ●ac. 3. c. 6. : Only our Saviour, though he had Angels ministering to him, yet he needed none to counsel or defend him. Poza 
s Elucid. l. ●. ●rac. 16. c. ●. , who would fain make the blessed Virgin in every Privilege as like to her Son as may be, will allow her one or more, ad samulatum, for Attendance and State, though not as a Guardian, for that, forsooth, would suppose something of Superiority, which must not be allowed over her: She had, he says, an Angel just as she had the Habit of Penitence, which yet conferred nothing to the Work and Exercise of it, because she had no Sin; only it was profitable to adorn her, and keep company with her other Virtues. God would deny her nothing that he had bestowed upon others, therefore she should rather have Angelum otiosum, an Angel that was Idle, and had nothing to do, than seem to be wanting in Liberality to his dear Daughter. But Raynaudus 
t Ibid. p. 26.  assures us, that the common Opinion is, That she had a Guardian Angel, and that this Angel was Gabriel, according to that of P. Damianus 
u Serm. 1. de Nativ. Mar. , who compares Gabriel and John the Evangelist, to Two Lions, the one of which was deputed to be a Keeper on her right Hand, the other on her Left; Gabriel watchfully preserved her her Soul, and John her Body. But neither can this so easily obtain, but meets with great Opposition. Aquinas 
x Ib. qu. 113. art. 3.  is of Opinion, That the Custody of single Persons, belongs only to Angels of the lowest Form and Order: And another says 
y Gononus ib. p. 4.  It is certain that none of the Order of Archangels (such as Gabriel is made to be) is taken to this Office of being Guardians of Men. Besides, we know, says he, that remarkable Embassies are wont to be made by some Prince, who does not familiarly converse with the Person to whom he is sent: such was the Embassy of the Annunciation, which therefore had not been so fit to be committed to Gabriel, if he had been her Angel Guardian: He thinks therefore, that it was not he, but the chief of the Order of mere Angels, to whom this Charge was committed. But others 
z Castro Hist. deip. c. 2. p. 86.  are not content with one alone (no not if it were Gabriel himself) but that more besides were in Commission to minister to her. Pelbartus 
a Stellar. lib. 10. par. 5. art. 2.  says, many Angels, according to that of the Canticles (cap. iii. 7.) Behold Salomon's Bed, Three score valiant Men are about it. Albertinus 
b Loc. citat. p. 28.  thinks that almost an infinite Multitude of Angels did concur to her Protection; which is plain enough out of Cant. vi. ult. What will ye see in the Shunamite? as it were the Company of Two Armies. Vulg. Lat. Choros Castrorum, which signify her guardian Angels.  
Their Authors also make very large Harangues, to declare the Nobleness of her Birth. S. Bernardine asserts 
c De Nativ. Virg. serm. 5. art. 1. c. 1.  That the blessed Virgin was the most noble Creature that ever was in humane Nature, or ever can be begotten; for she derived in her Birth from Forty Patriarches, Fourteen Kings, and Eleven Dukes. And we ought, says he, to prefer her before all Princesses, Kings and Queens, Emperors and Empresses, and before all Powers, Tribes and Languages of the whole Universe. Whither will not the Folly of superstitious Men carry them? And where will it stop? What naeuseous, as well as insignificant, Flattery is this? How would it have graced in her Ears, if this Story had been told her whilst she lived? We may easily guests at it by her own Song, which magnifies God, for exulting them of low Degree; and for regarding the low Estate of his Handmaiden. But it is worse still, when we hear her very Sanctity flattered, and the Merit of it proclaimed by another 
d Poza ubi prius. l. 2 tract. 15. c 8.  to be so great, as to be the Cause, That after her Birth all her Kindred were holy Persons: Though this plainly contradicts the Gospel 
e John seven. 5. , which says, That neither did his Brethren believe in him. Unless Christ's Brethren were nothing akin to his Mother.  
But the worst of all is still behind; I mean, the abominable Flattery of their Devotions; their lowly addresses to S. Anne and her Husband in their Prayers, upon the Account of being her Parents, and bringing such a Daughter into the World.   

SECT. III. Devotions to the Parents of the blessed Virgin.  

A Noted Jesuit 
f Spinellus Deip. thr●…us Dei. c. 18. p. 241.  exhorts Men, To worship the most holy Parents of the Virgin with a peculiar Reverence, for this Reason, because they begat such a Daughter for us, that they should give them Joy of her, earnestly praying that they would commend them to the Mother of God. For, says he, we may easily collect that their Intercession with the Virgin must needs avail much, because the Authority of Parents weighs much with good Children. Which he seems to have learned from the Breviary, which in a Hymn 
g Breviar. Rom. antiq. ad 20 Martii.  declares the same. 
Qui optat S. Virgins' juvari piis precibus,  
Devotus sit Charissimis illius genitoribus:  
Nam illis, dum impendimus honoris reverentiam,  
Devotam; ei red●imus & nato ejus gratiam.  That is, 
He that would have the Virgin's Ear,  
And by her Prayers be helped out;  
In Worship of her Parent's 〈◊〉  
Let him express himself devout:  
For whilst on them our Honour we bestow,  
To her and to her Son we Kindness show.    

Devotions to S. Joachim.  
IN the old Roman Missal, on the Feast of S. Joachim (March 20.) they make this Address to him.  


Vers. O Joachim sanctae conjux Annae, Pater almae virginis, hinc famulis confer salutis opem.   

O Joachim, Husband of S. Anne, and Father of the blessed Virgin, from hence bestow saving Help on thy Servants.    
A long Prosa that follows, concludes thus:  


Vale, Pater inclyte,  
Placa Regem gloriae  
In hac valle miseriae:  
Clarâ Dei facie  
Da frui in ●…quie  
Sanctorum sanctae curiae.  
O pater Reginus coeli nos adjuva.  
Amen.   

Farewell great Father, Heaven's blessed King appease,  
In this sad Vale of Tears and Misery,  
Grant God's bright Face hereafter we may see,  
In Heaven, where happy Saints have Rest and Ease.  
O Father of the Queen of Heaven help us.  
Amen.    
In the old Roman Breviary, March 20. They pray thus:  



O pater summe Joachim puellae,  
Q●… Deum clauso genuit pudore,  
Promove nostras Domino querelas Castaque vota.   

Scis quot hic saevis agitemur undis,  
Triste quos mundi mare defatigat:  
Scis quot adnectat Satanas caroque  
Praeli nobis.   

Jam sacris junctus superum catervis,  
I●uo praecedens, potes omne, si vis;  
Nil Nepos Jesus merito negabit,  
Nil tibi nata.    


Joachim, Father of that blessed Maid,  
Who brought forth God, yet Virgin did remain;  
See our chaste Vows we make to God, be paid,  
And all our Prayers promote, when we complain.   

Tossed in this Sea with many a cruel Wave,  
Thou knowst we weak and weatherbeaten are;  
Thou knowst what combats we are like to have,  
Which Flesh and Satan, our sworn Foes, prepare.   

And now thou'rt placed among the blessed so high,  
Thou canst do every thing thou art inclined to;  
Thy Nephew Jesus sure will not deny,  
Much less thy Daughter, what thou hast a mind to.      

Devotions to S. Anne, as Mother of the B. Virgin.  


Anaph.  

Portifor. Sec. us. Sarum ad Jul. 26.  Faelix, Anna cella munditiae,  
Lumen mundi, vena clementiae,  
Spes salutis, porta laetitiae,  
Nos divinae commenda gratiae.   

O Blessed Anne, the Cell of Purity,  
Light of the World; the Vein of Clemency,  
Our saving Hope and Gate of Consolation,  
Commend us to God's gracious Acceptation.    


Hymn.  

Ave mater Anna,  
Plenna melle Canna,  
Cui matrem passa,  
Nulla coequanda.   

Ergo te rogamus,  
Rogantes supplicamus,  
Ut quod potes velis,  
Prece nos da coelis.  
Placans nobis natam,  
Per te mundo datam,  
Illa natum suum,  
Tu nepotem tuum.    


All hail we wish to thee S. Anne,  
Who art the B. Virgin's Mother;  
Brim full of Honey is thy Cann,  
There's none can show me such another.   

Therefore still ask we remain,  
And thy unwearied Suitors are,  
That what thou canst, thou wouldst obtain,  
And give us Heaven by thy Prayer.  
Do thou appease the Daughter  
thou didst bear,  
She her own Son, and thou thy  
Nephew dear.     
Another Hymn speaks thus to her.  


Quicquid hic deliquimus  
Vitae per immunditiam,  
Abstergas illud petimus  
Per divinam clementiam.   

All those impurities of Sin,  
We heretofore have lived in,  
Thorough the Grace of God we pray  
Cleanse and wipe them quite away.    
Another Hymn calls her Happy.  


Quae medelam vitiorum matrem gessit gratiae.   

Who bore the Mother of Grace, the Medicine of our Vices.    
The Second Lesson says thus of her;  


Haec est illa supernae benedictionis terra, de qua coelestis figulus ollam spei nostrae composuit, quae ex divini roris imbre conceptum verbum, humano generi protulit incarnatum.   

This she is that Earth blest from above, out of which the heavenly Potter form that Vessel of our Hope, who when the Word was conceived by a Shower of divine Dew, brought him forth to Mankind incarnate.    
In the Sixth Lesson thus;  


O quàm gloriosa est mater ista, & quàm digna solenni attollenda praeconio, quae nobis Matrem nostrae redemptionis attulit, & in illa Testamentum haereditatis supernae inclusit.   

O how glorious is that Mother, and how worthy to be advanced by solemn Praises, who brought to us the Mother of our Redemption, and enclosed in her the Testament of the Inheritance above.    

Hymn.  

O vas coelestis gratiae,  
Mater reginae virginum,  
Per te precamur anxiè  
Remissionem criminum.  
Memento Mater inclyta  
Quàm potens es per filiam,  
Et nobis prece solitâ  
Procura Dei gratiam.   

O Vessel of celestial Grace,  
Blessed Mother to the Virgin's Queen,  
By thee we beg in the first place  
Forgiveness of all former Sin.  
Great Mother always keep in mind  
The Power thou hast by thy sweet Daughter,  
And by thy wont Prayer let's find  
Gods Grace procured to us hereafter.    
The Missal of Sarum speaks in the same Strain.  


Tua proles est regina  
In coelesti patria;  
Ipsa cunctis jam praelata  
Nostra fiat advocata  
In Dei praesentia.   

Thine Offspring is a Queen  
I'th' Regions unseen;  
May she that's thus advanced prove  
Our Advocate with God above.    


Postcommunio.  
Beatae Annae Matris Mariae gloriosâ intercessione nos protege, de qua virgo puerpera ad salutem humanae Nativitatis prodiit.   

Protect us by the glorious Intercession of S. Anne, the Mother of Mary, out of whom the Virgin Mother came forth for the Salvation of humane Birth.    
These Expressions of her being the Medicine of our Vices, the Mother of our Redemption, and being born for the Salvation of Mankind; if they be not of blasphemous, yet I am sure they are of doubtful Signification, and such as ought not to be in any Prayer. I find like Expressions to these in the old Roman Breviary, on July 26. Lesson 1. which says thus of S. Anne:  


Ex hac clavis David (Sc. Maria) est fabricata, per quam paradisi porta cunctis iterum est patefacta. Ex hac est plenitudo gratiae nata gloriosa semper Virgo Maria, quae dedit coelis gloriam, terris contulit Deum & pacem refudit, fidem Gentibus dilatavit, finem vitiis posuit, vitae ordinem, moribus disciplinam donavit.   

Out of her the Key of David (viz. Marry) was framed, by which the Gate of Paradise is again opened to all. Of her was born the fullness of Grace the ever-Virgin Mary, who gave to the Heaven's Glory, bestowed God on Earth and poured out Peace, spread the Faith among the Gentiles, put an end to Vices, gave Order to our Life, and discipline to our Manners.    
It is a strange hard Figure, that can make these many things, which the Scripture attributes to Christ, and by which it sets forth his glorious Power in the Work of our Redemption and Salvation, become fit to be applied to the blessed Virgin. One might conclude these Men think it no dangerous Error, if a Man in Devotion should mistake Mary for Christ, whatsoever it is in Belief.  
As for S. Anne, all these Encomiums already mentioned are not thought enough to set her out; but many of their Authors 
h Cited by Raynaudus ib. p. 19  go so far as to affirm, that both She and Joachim were holy from the Womb and sanctified in it; thinking it not fit to deny this to them, which is affirmed of John the Baptist. The venturous Poza 
i Elucidar. l. 2. trac. 8. c. 3.  goes a Step or Two further, who besides this early cleansing in their mother's Womb from original Sin, will have them also never to have committed any mortal Sin, and, if any among mankind, no venial ones neither. There was also a kind Motion made heretofore by Fulbertus Carnotensis 
k Serm. 3. de Nativitat. Virg.  to make S. Anne the Mother only of this Child, and to have had no more, as the blessed Virgin bore no other but our Saviour. For, says he, it was not fitting, that the most holy Parents of this singular Virgin, should be defiled with the Propagations of more Children, who were to provide for and educate her, that was to be the alone Mother of our Lord. Yet here I observe a strange Oversight (and the only one, I think, that can be named, wherein they seem to have forgot a Privilege to grace the Virgin withal) that even in their Devotions, S. Anne is made to be a Mother of more Children: For thus in the Breviary of Bruges 
l V Balinghem parnass. Marian. p. 396.  they sing,  


Anna radix uberrima,  
Arborque salutifera  
Virgas producens triplices.   

Health springs from thee,  
Thou blessed Tree:  
From thy fair Root  
Three Rods did sprout.    
So also Mantuan 
m Faftor. l. 7. de S. Anna. , 
Anna puerperio fortunatissima Sancto,  
Tres habuisse viros, & tres genuisse puellas  
Dicitur—  That is, 
None had more lucky Births than she,  
Nor holier, for it's said,  
She did Three Husbands wed;  
By whom she brought forth Daughters Three.   
The Revelations of S. Coleta 
n Apud Raynaud. ib. p. 27.  explain this, telling us the Names of her Three Daughters, viz. The Virgin Mary, Marry the Mother of James, and Maria Salome. They also bring in S. Anne speaking to Coleta thus, Though I was married to Three Husbands, yet both the triumphant and militant Church was wonderfully beautified by my Offspring, etc.  
But perhaps they have made some Amends for this Oversight, by their devout Addresses to these Sisters, which I find thus 
o Balinghem ubi supra p. 406. ex horis Sec. usum Roman. antiq. ,  


De sororibus B. Virginis.  

O nobile ternarium  
Sanctarum sororum trium,  
Quibus nomen est Maria;  
Vestrum sacrum collegium  
Imploro ad praesidium  
In omni angustia.   

Quae erit Christo gratior,  
Aut quae sit acceptior,  
Quam vestra sit oratio?  
Nulla sibi conjunctior,  
Nulla sibi proximior  
Quam sit vestra cognatio.   

Tu virgo filii mater es,  
Ind sibi quod imperes  
Naturae donat ratio; 
p This every whit as bad as Jure Matris impera Redemptori.   
Vos vero duae caeterae,  
Estis ejus materterae,  
O quam ingens acceptio!    


O sacred Ternary  
Of holy Sisters Three,  
Called by the Name of Mary.  
In all my Misery  
To your joint Aid I fly,  
That I may not miscarry.   

Who can pretend their Prayer  
With Christ can stand so fair  
As yours for Acceptation?  
None may with you compare,  
Or say so near they are  
Akin, as your Relation.   

Virgin, to thee alone,  
The power to rule thy Son  
As Mother, Nature grants.  
You Two that are behind,  
Will great Acceptance find,  
Because you are his Aunts.     
One would hope that the ordinary Reason of every Man that will make use of it, should prevent his falling into such gross Imaginations, and such childish Conceits as these Strains of Devotion do betray: But after our blessed Saviour discovered, more than once 
q See Luc. two. 49. Luc. viij. 21. John two. 4.  whilst he was here upon Earth, That in Matters that related to the Exercise of his Office, when he was about his Father's Business, the Interposing of Mother and Brethren was unseasonable and unacceptable, and rather repressed by him than encouraged; 
* Christus non agnoscit viscera humana, operaturus facta divina. S. Augustin. Tract. 8. in Johan.  to think by these Considerations to move him in Heaven, seems to argue such Men forsaken of Reason, and to have too little Regard to the Honour of God.    

SECT. iv Concerning the Feast of her Nativity.  
THere now remains under this Head only one thing more to be considered, viz. The Feast of the blessed Virgin's Nativity: Concerning which Mantuan 
r Faftor. l. 9 Septemb. de Nativ. Mariae.  has told us truly, 
Huc antiqua Diem Fastis non intulit aetas.  That is, 
This Day of old was not a Feast to her,  
Nor placed i'th' ancient Church's Calendar.   
St. Austin has 
s Serm 20. & 21. de Sanctis.  asserted it for his own Age, That in the whole World, only Two Nativities were celebrated, That of our Lord, and of S. John Baptist. Baronius 
t In Martyr. Rom. ad 8. Septemb.  cannot tell the time when to fix the first Institution of it. J. Baptista Thiers 
u De Fest. dierum imminut. p. 332, 333.  speaks in the same Language, That he neither can nor dare affirm when it first began in the Church. And he confesses, That it is not to be found in the ancient Catalogues of Feast-days, being omitted in these following, viz. of Chrodogangus' Regulae Canonicorum, cap. 74. Concilium 1. Moguntinum in Can. 36. Carolus Mag. lib. 1. capitul. c. 164. & in lib. 6. c. 186. Haito Basiliens. Episc. in capit. 8. Ludovicus pius in lib. 2. capitul. c. 35. Concilium Aquisgran. 2. c. 46. Herardus Turonensis in capitul. c. 61. Nicolaus P. 1. respons. ad consult. Bulgar. cap. 5. & 11. Thiers 
x Ib. cap. 9 p. 47, 48.  indeed opposes Baronius for asserting 
y In Martyr. ubi prius. , That it is plain that the Gallican Church were ignorant of this Feast in the times of Carolus Magnus and Ludovicus Pius: And he produces against the Cardinal the Council of Rheims, Can. 20. Wherein both the Feast of the Assumption and Nativity of the blessed Virgin are set down; which Council was held long before Charles the Great's time, about the Year 630. But this learned Man might have remembered, that there is no mention of Festivals in the Canons recited by Fl●doardus 
z Lib. 2. Hist. Eccles. Rhem. c. 5.  And though they are found in the Canons published under the Name of Sonnatius 
a Concil. Labbe. Tom. 5. p. 1693. , yet Labbe adds in the Margin by Sonnatius as some would have it, for they seem to savour of a later Age. And Binius in his Notes says, There are some things in these Canons, which seem not to carry so much Antiquity; and he instances in the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, which, says he, seems not to be ancient in these Parts, since it is first said to be celebrated in France by Fulbertus Carnotensis, who lived in the Year 1017. But since France seems to contend for the Glory of beginning this Feast (as England for that of her Conception) the fairest Pretence of its Original, is that which Thiers mentions out of the Capitula of Walter Bishop of Orleans, cap. 18. about the Year 868. under Carolus Calvus, where the blessed Virgin's Nativity has a Place among other Feasts. L●d. Cellotius in his Notes upon it 
b Concil. Labbe Tom. 8. p 648.  judges the Praise due to this Church of Orleans for first celebrating it there, but he encloses it in this Diocese, since neither Herardus Turon. Hincmarus Rhem. Isaac Lingonens. nor Theodolphus, though of Orleans too, make any mention of it: And Thiers acknowledges 
c Loc. citat. cap. 18. etc. 51. p. 334.  that in the Synod of Galo and Simon the Pope's Legates, An. 1215. it was antiquated and out of use again in France, for it mentions only Three solemn Feasts of the Virgin, viz. The Annunciation, Purification, and Assumption, leaving out the Nativity (besides the Conception than first ordered to be kept.) These things, though they seem to prejudice this Instance of Walter of Orleans, yet we shall let it pass and fix here; since it is as good a time as can be to allow an Innovation in this Case for the blessed Virgin's Honour, forasmuch as just about this time another more considerable Innovation was made by Paschasius Radbert in the days of Carolus Calvus, in the matter of Transubstantiation. The Jesuit Inchofer, who could believe that the City of Messana in Sicily, received a Letter sent to them by the blessed Virgin, and has wrote a Folio 
d Entitled Epistolae B. Virg. Mar. ad Messanenses conjectatio.  to make it probable, could not choose but give this Honour to that City, to be before the rest of the World in celebrating this Feast of her Birth 
e Inchofer ibid. p. 110.  and that it is beyond all Memory, how anciently they have kept it: But since he has not dated the time when they began to pay this Honour to her Birth, we are not concerned in it; but let it pass. Only because I have mentioned the blessed Virgin's Letter, though any one that reads the Superscription and Subscription, need look no further, to know it is forged; yet because it is a Rarity, I will set it down as the said Jesuit 
f Inchofer ibid. p. 115.  has given it us in Latin, more correct than ordinary: Which, according to the common Story, is a Translation made by Constantine Lascaris (of the last Age) out of the Greek, which was a Translation of S. Paul's out of the Hebrew, in which Language the Letter is pretended to have been wrote by the Virgin herself. Thus it runs.  


Maria Virgo, Joachim filia, humillima Dei ancilla, Christi Jesu crucifixi mater, ex Tribu Juda, stirpe David, Messanensibus omnibus salutem, & Dei Patris omnipotentis benedictionem.  
VOS omnes, fide magna legatos ac nuncios per publicum Documentum ad nos misisse constat. Filium nostrum, Dei genitum, Deum & hominem esse fatemini; & in coelum post suam resurrectionem ascendisse; Pauli Apostoli Electi praedicatione mediante, viam veritatis agnoscentes. Ob quod, vos & ipsam civitatem benedicimus, cujus perpetuam Protectricem nos esse volumus.  
Anno filii nostri 42. Indictione 1. 3 Nonas Junii. Luna 27. Feria 5. ex Hierosolymis. Maria Virgo quae supra hoc Chirographum approbavit.   

The Virgin Mary, Daughter of Joachim, the humblest Handmaid of God, the Mother of Jesus Christ crucified, of the Tribe of Juda, of the Stock of David, wishes Health, and the Blessing of God the Father Almighty, to all the People of Messana.  
IT appears that you all, with great Faith, have sent Ambassadors and Messengers by a public Decree to us. You confess our Son, the begotten of God, to be God and Man; and that he ascended into Heaven after his Resurrection; acknowledging the Way of Truth, by means of the preaching of Paul the Elect Apostle. For which Cause, we give our Blessing to you, and also to your City, whose perpetual Protectress we resolve to be.  
In the 42. year of our Son; Indiction the First; 3d. of the Nones of June; 27th. of the Moon; 5th. day of the Week, from Jerusalem. The abovesaid Virgin Mary approved this Handwriting.    
But to return from whence we have digressed. Whatsoever was the Time of the first Celebration of this Feast of her Nativity, yet all acknowledge the Occasion and Foundation of its Institution, to be no other than a private Revelation to a Man of no Name, who lived God knows when and where: (unless Mantuan's 
g Loc. cit. l. 9 Septemb.  Authority determine it for one that lived on the top of a Mountain in Cyprus,— 
— Super alto vertice montis  
Idalii—  And he might have said as well, on a Mountain of the Moon, for any Evidence in History.) This pious Man, says J. Beleth 
h De Divin. officiis, c. 149. , praying in the Night, heard the Angels sing in Heaven; which happened to him many Years on the same Night. Therefore he desired God to reveal to him the meaning of it; and he was told, That their Joys were occasioned, because on that Night the blessed Virgin was born, and they kept it as a Festival. This Man relates the Matter to the Pope (no body knows which) who understanding that he was a grave and holy Man, and believing what he said, did institute the Celebration of this Feast over all the Christian World.  
Melch. Canus 
i Loc. Theol. l. 11. c. 6. fol. 334.  has given a good Caution out of P. Gelasius, not to receive those Histories which are produced, without the certain Name of the Author; for they smell of the Tricks of Impostors that seek Gain, or are the Products of Heretics. The same sharp Censure he passes upon novel Revelations, showing how much they prejudice the Church, who seek to adorn the Stories of Saints with feigned Revelations and Miracles, wherein men's Impudence has not spared the blessed Virgin, nor our Lord Christ himself.  
This great Bishop, and Jer. Xaverius, their Missionary, were of very different Persuasions in this Matter, for this latter thought these things of so great Importance for the Salvation of the Indians, that in his History of Christ, 
k Pag 18. 21.  they must be acquainted, not only with the foresaid blind and senseless Revelation, but also with another additional idle Story, which the Legend 
l Jac. de Vorag. Legend. aur. c. 126.  had furnished him withal; how for the greater Honour of the Feast the Octaves came to be added to it; telling his Indians, That Pope Innocent IU. An. 1250. ordered it upon this Occasion; That after the Death of Pope Celestine IU. the Cardinals in their Convention not agreeing in their Suffrages, the See was void Eighteen Months: Whereupon a certain Cardinal made a Motion, That whosoever should be chosen Pope, should appoint the Day of the Virgin's Nativity for a Festival to all Christian, and 〈◊〉 they should spend Eight Days (which they call the Octaves) in rejoicing, to try if by this Means they might finish the Business: They all agreed hereto, and immediately they agreed in their Suffrages for Innocent iv to be Pope; who gave that Solemnity to the Festival. Was not this a weighty Affair, and a necessary Point for the Heathens to be instructed in, to make them good Christians?  
This that I have said, is enough to show, That our Church has no Blame lies upon it for letting this Festival fall, which the ancient Christians never kept, and where it is observed, stands upon such a weak and tottering Foundation, as we have seen.  
But we abhor; and justly reprove the Calumny, which  would fasten on us 
m De Schismate Anglic. f. 175. : That the English, for the greater Contene of the blessed Virgin, do solemnly celebrate Queen Elizabeth 's Birthday September 7. on the very Eve of the Virgin's Nativity; the day of whose Birth they set down in their Calendar in small and black Letters, but Queen Elizabeth 's in great and red Letters.  
Which Story of his, I presume, gave occasion to the spawning of more impudent Lies still, by the Jesuit Raynaudus 
n Dipped. Mar. p. 233. , who reports, That Queen Elizabeth unused the Nativity of the blessed virgin to be bl●…ted out of the 〈◊〉, and substituted in the room of it her own Birthday, which f●ll 〈◊〉 the s●e they, viz. September the 8th. As to the latter part of which every one may know it to be false; and it is so too as to the former: For the Festival blotted out was a Religious one; but, I suppose, neither he nor any else, ever heard of an Office of our Church composed for that day, which, he says, was put in the room of it: Only it might occasion some Bonfires and Testifications of Joy, such as were usual in London upon the Seventeenth of November, which was the day of her coming to the Crown, and yet it is not in the Calendar either in black Letters or red.  
But if nothing were to be objected against observing this Feast of the Virgin's Nativity; yet I am sure we have reason to be offended with those Devotions (such as those I have already set down) which those of the Ro● Communion on this Day offer up to her: And also with those scandalous and profane Meditations upon her Nativity, which we find in their Authors; a few Instances of which I shall here subjoin for a Conclusion.  
Our late Contemplator 
o Contemplate p. 45, 46, 48, 49.  finds a large Scope here, for his Languish and Sallies, Unions and Absorptions. Divine Mary, says he, replenished with Grace, and absorbed in the Abyss of supernatural Perfection, wonderfully increased the Languish of the Angels, Souls in Limbo, and of her holy Parents, for the Hour of her Birth.—" She was 〈◊〉 sably more Glorious, in being designed to be the Mother of Jesus, and that her rich Blood in Jesus, should be the 〈◊〉 of the World, the Laver of Sinners, and the Purch● of the Saints; and should be so pleasing to God, as to 〈◊〉 stable for the Insurance of the Purpose of the P● 〈…〉 of Men and Angels; for the raising and unexhaustible 〈◊〉 of Grace, in the Sacraments; and for the propagating 〈…〉 of Heaven, Partakers in God's Counsels, and Par● in his Glory. Therefore did all Men and Angels, with 〈◊〉 Desires thirst after her Birth, as an approaching 〈◊〉 to all these inestimable Blessings of Grace and Glory.— From the first Instant wherein the World was blessed with the Birth of the Mother of Jesus, Heaven and Earth seemed to put off Mourning, and to be clothed with Joy: For now the Gates of Paradise seem again to be set open, an eternal Jubilee proclaimed, a general Peace published, a free Intercourse decreed between Men and Angels; and the Throne of God's Mercy erected on Earth, and made accessible to the most enormous Criminals.—" This Mother of Jesus now born, in the Mother of Christians, because she ever hath the ●owels of a Mother's Compassion opened to us; by Mercy to us in our sinful State; by Mediation for us, for the Gra● of 〈◊〉; and by Protection over us, amidst the Temptations 〈…〉 set to entrap us. Behold, with what Glory the Son this Day ariseth, to beautify Mary's entry amongst 〈…〉 and Offerings the Angels make before the Cradle of their illustrious Queen; what Acclamations of Joy res● from the Souls in Limbo, for the Birth of the Mother of Jesus.— With what Alacrity all Sinners salute her, their knesses, Refuge and Advocate; and with what Ec● 〈◊〉 spiritual Joy God's People are replenished, for this comfortable Birth of the Mother of Jesus, the Spouse of the holy Church; of the Empress of the World, the Gate of Heaven, the Throne of Mercy, the Ladder of Jacob, the Morning Star of Grace, Peace and Salvation; of her who shall bring forth Jesus, the Author and finisher of our blessed Hope.  
Resolve. I do from this Moment, acknowledge thee, O di●ine Infant! to be the Adoptive Mother of my Heart, the Queen of my Affections, and the Empress of all the Powers of my Soul; and therefore I will daily pay unto Thee, the most cordial Homages of my Love, Congratulations and eminent Servitude, Observance and Supplication; and will in all my spiritual Combats, Afflictions and Distresses, have a confident Recourse unto thy Bowels of Mercy, as a Child to his Mother, as a Sinner to the Mother of Jesus, and as an Outcast, banished the House of my eternal Father, unto his Patroness, Refuge and Advocate, etc.  
Another of their Contemplators 
p T. Car. Sweet Thoughts of Jesus and Mary, p. 300, 301.  breaks out as if he were in a Rapture, thus; O my Soul, let us mark this Day with a better Stone, with a mark of Joy for ever, which gave at once a Queen to Men and Angels; nay, a dearly beloved Child to God the Father, a designed Mother to God the Son; and a best beloved Spouse to the holy Ghost. O let my Soul praise, love and magnify her for ever, who hath so singular near and dear Relations to all the Persons of the Trinity.—" Let us join in Admiration with Angels in Heaven, and say, Who is this that our Desert brings out? Who and what, do we think this Child shall prove to be? A Prophetess? Nay, more than a Prophetess, more than an Angel, more than an Archangel, more than a Cherubin or Seraphin.  
Another 
q Gr. Gallicanus in Marial. p. 70.  cries out, Her Nativity is the Pledge and Pawn of our spiritual Nativity and Redemption, because for this End she was born, that she might abolish the Debt of Adam's Transgression, repair our Innocency, appease the Anger of the strict Judge, open the Gate of Heaven, and bestow Liberty on the Captives. (And I wonder what Christ himself can do more for us.)  
Another 
r Fr. Coster. Medit. 2. de Nativ. Virg. p. 22, 23, 24, 26.  speaking of the Joy her Nativity does occasion, gives this as one Reason, Because She is born among Men, whose Authority is as great with Almighty God, as that of a Mother uses to be with her only and best beloved Son. Let us rejoice, because our Sister can do so much with God, That if she be propitious to us (which is the great thing they court) we may dare to promise ourselves all things from God.—" Those Brothers would have Cause of rejoi●ing, whose Sister a King should marry, and count he● 〈◊〉 ●…r to him; much more hath mankind 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉, whose Daughter is advanced to 〈◊〉 Dignity 〈…〉 himself deferrs that Honour to her, that is 〈◊〉 from a Son to his Mother. Not to ●…re the 〈◊〉 with this Jesuits Blasph●es, I'll add but one of his Meditations more. She was 〈◊〉 ●der the same Princes of 〈◊〉 World and of Judas, Augustus and Herod, in whose ti● 〈…〉, in all probability, many more were ●hat thou may'st know, that this Virgin was born for the same cause, for which Christ was born, viz. That the Devil, the Prince of the World, who now had possessed the Hearts of Men, might be cast out▪ Our Lord broke 〈◊〉 Power, and cast him out by his Passion; but our Lady, gave her So●… Body (which, it seem●, is the meaning of, a Body hast thou prepared me) of her 〈◊〉 Body, by which he overcame the 〈◊〉; and 〈◊〉 this 〈…〉 most, rightly said, That this Mother did break the 〈◊〉 Hand, and slew all Here● 〈…〉 ●hole World, beca●… 〈◊〉 clothed the divine Word 〈◊〉 humane Flesh, that by this Flesh the Devil and all Heresies might be beaten down and destroyed. And by the same Reason he might have added, if he had pleased, That she cured all Diseases, wrought all Miracles, raised the Dead, and shall come at last to judge both the Quick and Dead.   

SECT. V Of the blessed Virgin's Name.  

AFter her Birth, the next thing to be considered is her 〈…〉 given here presently after. Castro 
a Hist. deip. c. 2. p. 87.  〈…〉 supposed it: Not that 〈…〉 mistake;) for 〈…〉 our Saviour was 〈…〉 required; 
b De ortu Mariae.  so 〈…〉 an Angels 〈…〉 
c Contemplate. de Virg. Mar. cap. 5. , 〈…〉 That Marry, 〈…〉 Name, that 〈…〉, as it 〈◊〉 appears, 〈…〉 on Earth, and 〈◊〉 under the 〈…〉, Glory and 〈…〉 〈…〉 be 〈…〉 with Superst●▪ 〈…〉 that is given to such E● and 〈◊〉, even by the 〈◊〉 of this Church, which I ●east here produce.   

SECT. I: An Office of the Name of the blessed Virgin.  
I Find an Office printed at Lisbon 1627. with this Title. An 〈◊〉 of the most holy Name of the blessed Virgin Mary, to be re●i● by the Friars of the Order of the most holy Trinity, on the Seventeenth of September, by the Concession of our holy Lord Gregory XV. with Leave to use it in all their Monasteries and Convents throughout Spain. In which you may find such admirable Strains as these.  


Anaph.  
A folis ort●●s●ue ad occasum 〈◊〉 nomen domini, & Mariae ma●ris ejus.   

From the rising of the 〈◊〉 to its going down, the 〈◊〉 Name is Praiseworthy, and the Name of Mary his Mother.    


Anaph.  
Lauda Jerusalem Dominum, lauda incrytum nomen Mariae.   

Praise the 〈◊〉. O Jerusalem, praise 〈…〉 Name of Mary.  
(〈◊〉, Praise thy God O Zion, which the Psalmist adds.)    


Oratio.  
Deus qui gloriosam matrem tuam nomin●ri Mariam volustri, concede quae●…tis, in qui ●…i●e nomen Mariae implorant, perpetuum sentiant tuae benedictionis effectum.  
Qui vivis, etc.   

O God, who 〈…〉 glorious Mother to be 〈◊〉 Mary, gr●, 〈…〉 they 〈…〉 of Marry, 〈…〉 ●petual Effect of the 〈…〉.  
〈…〉    


In 1. Noct. Anaph.  
In universa terra admirabile est nomen tuum, Maria.  
In omnem terram diffusa est laus nominis Mariae.   

Thy Name, O Marry, 〈◊〉 wonderful in 〈◊〉 the Earth.  
The Praise of the Name of Mary is diffused into every Land.    


Vers. Magnificate Mariam virginem mecum.  
Resp. Et exaltemus nomen ejus in aeternum   

Verse. Magnify ye with me the name of Mary.  
Resp. And 〈…〉 her Name for ever.    


Post 2. Lect.  
Resp. Benedictum sit nomen Mariae cujus manus tornatiles plenae hyacinthis.  
Vers. Implorantibus Mariae nomen, Maria praefto adest.   

After the 2d. Lesson.  
Resp. Blessed be the Name of Mary, whose well turned Hands are full of Jacinths.  
Verse. Mary is rea●y at hand, to those that 〈◊〉 the Name of Mary.    


Post 3. Lect.  
Verse. Haec est Gideonis vellus, quae levissima orationis compressione, larga exhibet gratiarum stillicida.   

After the Third Lesson.  
Verse. She is Gideon's Fleece, which by the easiest Pressure of Prayer, does afford large drops of Graces.    


In 2. Nocturn. Anaph.  
Refugium est in tribulatione Mariae nomen, omnibus illud invocantibus.   

The Name of Mary is a Refuge in Tribulation, to all that call upon it.    


Post 5. Lect.  
Resp. Melius est bonum nomen quam divitiae multae. Turris fortissima Mariae nomen.  
Vers. Propugnaculum est omnibus qui ad illud confugiunt.   

After the Fifth Lesson.  
Resp. A good Name is better than much Riches. The Name of Mary is a most strong Tower.  
Verse. It is a Fortress to all that fly unto it.    


Post 6. Lect.  
Resp. Nomen sanctum meum notum faciam in medio populi mei, & scient, quia ego Maria.   

After the Sixth Lesson.  
Resp. I will make known my holy Name in the midst of my People, and they shall know that I am Mary. (Instead of, I am the Lord.)    


In 3. Nocturn. Anaph.  
Nunciate inter gentes gloriam Mariae, in omnibus populis mirabilia nominis ejus.   

Declare among the Gentiles the Glory of Mary, and the Wonders of her Name among all People.    


Anaph.  
Annunciaverunt Coeli nomen Mariae, & viderunt omnes populi gloriam ejus.   

The Heavens have declared the Name of Mary, and all People have seen her Glory.    


Anaph.  
Notum fecit Dominus sacrum Mariae nomen, & in conspectu gentium revelavit virtutem nominis ejus.   

The Lord hath made known the sacred Name of Mary, and hath revealed the Power of her Name in the Sight of the Heathen.    
The Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Lessons are taken ●ot of the Homilies, falsely ascribed to S. Bernard, super 〈…〉. Where commenting upon the Name of Mary, and calling ●er Maris stella, the Star of the Sea, you have these following Directions.  


Lect. 8.  
O qui te intelligis in hujus saeculi profluvio, magis inter procellas & tempestates fluctuare, quàm per terram ambulare, ne avertas oculos à fulgore hujus sideris, si non vis obrui procellis. Si insurgant venti tentationum, si incurras scopulos tribulationum, respice stellam; voca Mariam: Si jactaris superbiae undis, si ambitionis, si detractionis, si aemulationis, respice stellam, voca Mariam: Si iracundia aut avaritia, aut carnis illecebra naviculam concusserit mentis, respice ad Mariam: Si criminum immanitate turbatus, conscientiae foeditate confusus, judicis horrore perterritus, barathro incipias absorberi tristitiae, desperationis abysso, cogita Mariam.   

Lesson 8.  
O thou that in this World's Sea, knowest that thou rather art tossed among Storms and Tempests, than that thou walkest upon firm Land; turn not away thine Eyes from the brightness of this Star, if thou wouldst not be overwhelmed with the Storms: If the Winds of Temptation do arise, if thou fallest foul on the Rocks of Tribulation, look towards the Star, call upon Mary. If thou art tossed with the Waves of Pride, of Ambition, of Detraction, of Emulation, look towards the Star, call upon Mary. If Anger or Avarice, or the entice of the Flesh shake the Vessel of thy Maid, look towards Mary; if being troubled with the greatness of thy Crimes, confounded with the foulness of thy Conscience, affrighted with the Horror of thy Judge; thou beginnest to be swalled up in the Gulf of Sadness and the Abyss of Despair, think on Mary.;    


Lect. 9  
In periculis, in angustiis, in rebus dubiis Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca: Non recedat ab ore, non recedat à corde: Et ut impetres ejus orationis suff●ium, non d●s●ras conver● 〈◊〉. Ipsam s●on d●y●a●; ipsam rog●…s non desperas; ipsam cogitans non erras; ipsa tenente non corruis; ipsa protegente non metuis; ipsa duce non fatiga●is▪ etc.   

Lesson 9  
In Dangers and Straits, when thy Affairs are doubtful, think on Mary, call upon Mary: Let her not departed from thy Mouth nor from thy Heart; and that thou may'st obtain the Suffrage of her Prayer, do not forsake the Example of her Conversation. By following her thou shalt not wander, by ask her thou wilt not despair, by thinking on her thou shalt not err; whilst she has hold of thee, thou wilt not fall; whilst she protects thee, thou wilt not fear; when she goes before thee, thou wilt not be weary, etc.    


Anaph.  
〈…〉 D●…s qui Mariae 〈…〉 d●…vit, ut 〈…〉 in tenebris 〈…〉 ut stella Mari● er● 〈…〉 in port●m su●.   

Blessed be God, who has bestowed on the virgin Mary a Name of Light, that she might enlighten those that sit in Darkness, and as the Star of the Sea, direct those that wander, into a safe Port.    
〈◊〉 this Office follow a Mass of the most holy Name of the 〈◊〉 Mary.  
〈…〉 Breviary▪ upon the Nativity of the blessed 〈…〉 8. Sixth di● infra Octavas) you may find Three 〈◊〉 that are a Descant upon her Name: As follows.  


Lect. 1.  
Haec electa & insignis inter 〈…〉 quidem aut 〈…〉 ut ple● 〈…〉 dispensatio● 〈…〉, ita ut ipsâ qu●que vocabuli sui figurâ magnum quoddam innueret, interpret● enim Maris stella.   

Lesson 1.  
This elect Virgin and renowned among the Daughters, did not receive here Name by chance, or as most do, by the sole Pleasure of her Parents, but by divine Dispensation; so that the very Figure of her Name might intimate some great thing, for it is, being interpreted, the Star of the Sea.    


Lect. 2.  
Quid ergo mysticum interpretatio gerat per similitudinem ostendamus. Nautis quippe per mare transeuntibus notare opus est stellam, non longè à summo coeli cardine corruscantem, & ex respectu illius aestimare atque dirigere cursum suum, ut portum destinatum apprehendere possint.   

Lesson 2.  
Let us show by the Similitude what Mystery the Interpretation carries. Mariners, when they pass through the Sea, & 〈◊〉 them to observe a bright Star not far from the Zenith, and with respect to it to ●sti●…e and direct their Course, that they may come to their designed Haven.    


Lect. 3.  
Simili modo, fratrus, oportet universus Christicolas inter fluctus hujus saeculi remigantes, attendere maris stellam hanc, id est, Mariam, quae summo rerum Ca●dini Deo proxima est, respectu exempli ejus cursam dirigere. Quod qui fecerit, non ●…ctubitur va●ae gloriae vent●, non fra●getur scopulis adversorum, nec absorbebitur Scyllea vor●gine voluptatum, sed prosp●r● veniet ad portum quietsi eternae.   

Lesson 3.  
In like manner, Brethren, it behoves all Christians that ply through the Wa●…s of this World, to a●…ed to this Star of the Sea, that is, Marry, who is next to God, who is at the Top of all things, and to direct their Course regarding her Example. Whosoever does thus, shall not be tossed with the W●…d of Vainglory, no● by 〈◊〉 upon the Rocks of Adversity, nor swallowed up in the dangerous Gulf of Pleasures, but shall safely 〈◊〉 the Harbour of 〈…〉▪      

SECT. VI Remarks on what their Offices and Authors say concerning the blessed Virgin's Name.  
THE whole Discourse of their Authors upon this Subject is made up of Two things, Folly and Profaneness. Folly, by childish toying with the several Significations of the Virgin's Name, and finding great Mysteries in every Letter of it. Profaneness, by attributing those Effects to the pronouncing and using of it, which makes it look like a Charm; and applying such things to her Name, which can only be given to God and our Saviour; as we have seen in the foregoing Offices, and will further appear in the Sequel of our Discourse.  
That there was a Mystery in our Saivour's Name, and that it was intended to be significative to us, when he was called Jesus, we are sure, because the Scripture tells us so: And a learned Man 
a Rivet. Apolog. pro S. virg. Maria l. 1. c 9  has well observed, That as there is no mention there of any Message of an Angel to impose this Name of Mary on her; so if there had been any Mystery in it, the Scripture would not have been silent, in all likelihood, to have declared it. The Name of Mary was a common Name at that time among the Jews, and many Maries are mentioned in the Gospels; and as now the Names of the Apostles and other holy Persons are given to Children, so it is probable that the Name of Mary was given to many of their Daughters in memory of Moses his Sister Miriam, (for that is the same with Mary.)  
But though there need be no further Inquiry into that, for the imposing of which we read of no extraordinary Reason; yet this will not satisfy her Devoto's: They examine all the Significations of Hebrew Words from whence it can be derived, and commonly pitch upon that which is most improbable. Jerome Xaverius 
b Hist. Christi persic. p. 18.  will not let his Indians be ignorant that her Name has several Significations; Maria is as much as Alta, high, (and that indeed is the most likely, from the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to exalt) Maris amaritudo, (or as others amarum mare) a bitter Sea; Magister seu Dominus maris, a Master or Lord of the Sea, (he should have said Lady.) S. Jerome 
c De nomin. Hebraic.  mentions several others; as, Illuminatrix mea, She that enlightens me; or, Smyrna maris, The Myrrh of the Sea. But in another place 
d De nomin. super Matthaeum.  he pitches rather upon amarum Mare, or Stella maris, bitter Sea, or Star of the Sea. Which latter, some learned Men 
e Rivet. ibid. Drusius comment. post. ad voc. Nou. Test. c. 15.  think should rather be read Stilla maris, a Drop of the Sea, because the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Stilla, but no Word in Hebrew like it answers to Stella. The pretended Epiphanius 
f Orat. de laud. Virg.  says, That Mary is wont to be interpreted Domina and Spes, Lady and Hope, for she brought forth our Lord, who is the Hope of the whole World.  
These are all far fetched and must be so strained by Fancy to make them suit to her, that it is pity to insist farther on them. S. Ambrose 
g De Instit. virg. c. 5.  has a Signification of the Word that is somewhat to the purpose, viz. Deus ex genere meo, God of my Offspring; which Poza 
h Elucid. l. 2. tr. 17. c. 11.  approves; but adds, That he cannot see from what Hebrew Root it can be made out: But Castro 
i Hist. deip. c. 2. p. 93.  has made a Conjecture, and thinks it may be compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Preposition, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the Womb, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Name of God, which put together must then sound Merehemjah, and by Contraction Meriah: But all learned Men almost agree that the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mirjam, is dissyllabum, a Word of Two Syllables, not compounded but simple, and therefore excludes all this fooling. Now amongst all this Variety of Significations which they produce, it is pretty to observe, that the most unlikely of them all, viz. Stella maris, the Star of the Sea, is that which they generally make choice of, and declaim upon. You have seen before the Explication of it out of the Breviary of Sarum: That noted Hymn, Ave maris Stella, gives her this Title, Hail Star of the Sea; and some have made whole Books 
k Fr. Bonaldus' Stella Mystica; a Book to explain this Hymn.  to explain it, and apply it to her. Erasmus 
l Colloq. de Naufragio.  in his Colloquies brings in the Mariners in a Storm imploring the Help of the blessed Virgin, and giving her the sweet Titles of Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Lady of the World, Port of Safety, and many more which are never to be found in the Scriptures; and he wonders, What she has to do with the Sea, since, as he supposes, she never sailed. He gives a probable Account of it, That of old the Goddess Venus had the Care of Mariners, who was believed to spring from the Sea (and was called also Stella matutina, the morning Star) but since she was discharged of that Office, The Virgin Mother is substituted in the Room of her, that was a Mother and no Virgin. But alas! this is a poor Conceit compared with that of Pet. Chrysologus 
m Serm. 140. if it be his, for Bellarmine de Ser. Eccles. 〈◊〉 only 122. 〈◊〉 of his.  who may fully satisfy any that questions what she has to do with the Sea: For says he, Quomodo non Maria ●…re? Congregationes inquit aquarum vocavis Maria. Marry 〈◊〉 needs be the Sea, for the gathering together of the Water's c● he (Maria) Seas: To signify, says Novarinus 
n Umbr. virg. n. 1153.  that Mary was to be the Place where all Graces should be collected. Carthagena 
o Lib. 2. de arc. deip. Hom. 6.  adds, That God was so much in love with this Name of Mary, that he would not let slip this slight Occasion, but therefore called the Collection of Water's Seas, (Maria);  sic primus omnium Mariam pro●…ciaret, That he might be the first that should pronounce the Name of Mary. This indeed supposes that the Language God sp●ke in at the first Creation was Latin; which if you will but grant (and what pity is it not to grant it rather than lose so precious a Conceit,) they can 〈…〉 another Objection, taken from the different Pronunciation and Quantity of the middle Syllable of the Two, M●, that which signifies Seas being short, and Maria, that 〈…〉 Virgin, being long. There is a Mystery in that, say● 〈…〉 
p Ib. p. 167.  last named, to signify the del●ting and extending her 〈◊〉 from Sea to Sea, and to the World's End; the 〈◊〉 God would have it pronounced long, not short. Or you may have another Reason from Nov●… 
q Umbr. virg. p. 338. n. 1153. , that by 〈…〉 in the pronouncing this Name, we may find the 〈…〉 and sweetness in it, which their ●…ts have 〈…〉 Experience. For he tells ●s 
r Ib. n. 1124. ex Surio ad Apr. 7.  of S. 〈…〉 when he heard Mary named, he used to 〈…〉 with his Face, and stay some while bes● he arose; and being asked the Reason, he said, That when upon the naming of her he cast himself on the Ground, th●re 〈…〉 Flowers and Perfumes came from the 〈…〉 that he could have been content to ●ix always the●, if he might; and therefore he used to call the Virgin Mary his Rose. C●sarius 
s Lib. 7. Mirac. cap. 50.  also tells us of a Ma●an that could not pronounce the Name of our Lady, without a sensible and 〈◊〉 Sweetness, (not to her Smell, but to her Taste) for by rep●…ting Fifty Ave Maria's daily, in the time of her Prayers, all the Spittle in her Mouth seemed to be turned into Honey: The same was tried by Marsilius (to whom she confessed this) for 〈◊〉 Weeks with the same Effect, and also by 〈◊〉 Third Monk. And we are told of B. Ida of 〈◊〉 
t Novarin. ib. n. ●337.  that 〈◊〉 began an A●… Mary on a certain Day, but by reason of the exceeding abundant Delight she found, she scarce finished the saying of it in Two Days time. This, I hope, is a Reason sufficient why her Name should not have a short Pronunciation, and methinks may serve to prove that every Syllable (not the middle one only) of Maria should be long.  
If all this be not enough to show how properly she is called the Sea, you may hear it further made out by the consideration of a kind of Immensity 
u Novarinus ib. n. 1154.  in her Liberality, which can no more be exhausted than the Sea, and the multitude of her Mercies which cannot be numbered (no more than the Sand upon its Shore.) But though she be a Sea, and the Star of the Sea, yet why is she a bitter Sea, amarum mare, (which was one of the Significations we heard before of her Name.) Can ●…at Name which we just now heard, has been as sweet as Honey to the Taste, be bitter too? Yes, very well, in the Sense of S. Boneventure 
x In speculo virg. c. 1. , a bitter Sea, Diabolum sub●gendo, by drowning the Devil, as the red Sea was bitter to the Egyptians when they were drowned therein. But enough of the Signification of her Name. Let us now see a little how childlishly they endeavour to find great Mysteries in every Letter of it.  
One that was employed by the Pope to make an Office for the Feast of her Conception 
y Bernard. de Bus●o, who citys often this Office in his Maria●….  (and therefore to be looked upon as a man of Note, and one that had examined throughly all things relating to the blessed Virgin) has observed 〈…〉 not how many fine things, in the Word Maria 
z M. Maria l. part. 3. ser. 1. See also Carthagena lib. 2. hom. 6. , which make for her Honour. The Five Letters of her 〈◊〉 signify Five precious Stones with their Properties. M. 〈◊〉, (a Pearl) (I never knew that was a Stone befor●;) A. 〈◊〉, (a Diamond;) R. ●ubinus, (a Ruby;) I. J●spi●, (a Jasp●…;) M. 〈…〉, (a●…methist.) He finds also in those Five Letters the Five 〈…〉 confers on the World; as Mediatrix, Auxiliatrix, Reparatrix, Reconciliatrix, Illuminatrix & Advocata. That is, She that Mediates on our behalf, is the helper of our Salvation, a repairer and reconciler of us to God; she that enlightens us and is our Advocate. Or as others will have it 
a V Rivet. Apol. pro Mar. virg. p. 65. , M. Mater misericordiae, A. Advo●ata afflictorum, R. Refugium redeuntium, I. Inventrix Justitiae, A. Amica Angelorum. That is, The Mother of Mercy, the Advocate of the Afflicted, the Refuge of those that repent and return, the Inventor of Justice, and the Friend of Angels. Another 
b Ambro. Servita apud Bernard. de Bust. ib. p. 235.  finds in them her Five principal Virtues. By M. is shown her Faith; for that Letter is made up of three I's bound together, to show that she had the perfect Knowledge and Faith in the Trinity: For as Three I's joined together make one Letter M; so the Three divine Persons, joined by Generation and Procession, make but one God: (And it may be this is it which the Salisbury Breviary means in the forecited Expression, That ipsa vocabuli sui figura, etc. The very Figure of her Name does intimate some great Matter.) By the Second Letter A. is signified her Hope: By R. her Charity: By I. her Humility; and by A. her Bounty. And I'll forfeit my Credit, if any Man can imagine how these Four last should be made out of those Letters, without consulting his Words, which yet I do not think worth setting down, nor a great deal more of the same kind you may find there: For indeed in this way any Man may find any thing he pleases: It being merely such Fooling as Schoolboys use with, I love my Love with an A, etc. I could fancy nothing else but this, when I saw him running her Excellencies through all the Letters of the Alphabet 
c Id. Marial. part 12. ser. 2. p. 994. , and making a Prayer to her upon every one of them, ex. gr. A. Advocate of Mankind (Advocata humani generis) do thou defend our Cause and pray for us. B. Blessed above all Women; make us to be blessed by thy Son. And so he proceeds with the rest, (only is sadly put to it, as the Boys use to be, with the Two Letters K. and Q. for which he puts Karismatum dei dispensatrix, & Qua●e Hierarchiae praesidens.) Pelbartus 
d Stellarii l. 6. p. 1. art. 2.  not only runs such Descant upon the Five Letters of her Name, but he adds this further Conceit, That it was very fit that her Name should consist of Five Letters (though the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 has but Four:) For thus it admirably corresponds to several Mysteries: As First, To the Mystery of the divine Conception, For, says he, she conceived Christ by Five Words (Luc. 1.) Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. (i. e.) Be it according to thy Word. Second, To the Mystery of the Eucharist, in Five Words again, Hoc est enim corpus meum: For this is my Body. Third. To the Mystery of our Redemption, for the accomplishment of which Christ received Five Wounds. But there is a Jesuit 
e Spinellus de throno Dei, c. 4.  finds as great a Mystery in it, or greater, supposing it to consist but of Four Letters; for he would have it to be Tetragrammation, a Name like that of God with Four Letters (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) which the Jews refuse to pronounce; and he tells us that S. Gerard 
f In vit. ejus apud Surium. Octob. 24.  in like manner taught the Hungarians not to pronounce the Name Mary, but that they should call her Lady (Dominam,) and if any did name her, they should do it with great Reverence, bending their Knees and bowing their Heads, and uncovering it, which was practised also by Fr. Binans 
g Paul Barry paradis. ouvert. p. 265.  Yea to testify the great Worthiness they apprehended to be contained therein, some great Kings have denied it to be fitting that any mortal Woman should bear that Name 
h Raynaud. Dypt. Mar. p. 28. . Therefore Alphonsus VI King of Castille, being to marry a Wife that was a baptised Moor, would not have her called Mary, though she desired it: And Casimire I. King of Poland, changed his Wives Name which was Mary, into Dobrogneva: Whence the Custom is thought to have risen, that in Poland it is a Crime to name any Woman Mary 
i P. Barry ib. .  
But I'll conclude these Mysteries of her Name, with one that Spinellus 
k Ubi supra.  mentions, consisting in Numbers that may be made out of it. That as the Number of the Beast is 666, and the Number of the Name of Jesus 888, so the Number of Mary's Name is 999. (How he makes this good he does not tell us, but) he infers from hence her Dignity; For, says he, the Number Nine consists of the Number Three (which is a most perfect Number agreeing to the divine Persons) thrice repeated, and is attributed to the Orders of Angels; wherefore it shows, That the Mother of God is wholly celestial and Angelical; and then this Number Nine being thrice repeated, shows that this her Excellency and Dignity is both eminent and solid.  
Having thus found a great many fantastical Mysteries in that where none was ever intended, the next Work is to cry up this Name, and make it as venerable as possible; not only by the Ways now named, but by others which now shall follow. They endeavour to persuade us, That not only Men but Angels admire this Name, and are in love with its Pronunciation.  
Richardus de S. Laurentio 
l Lib. 1. de laud. Virg. c. 2. citante Novarino.  (a great Author with them, who lived above Four hundred Years ago) makes this Observation. That at least three times this Question is asked in the Canticles in the Person of the Angels, Qua est ista? Who is this? And he imagines the Reason to be, That they are desirous that the sweet Name of Mary may be answered to that Question: For, says he, Angels desire that her Name should be mentioned and discovered; and that it should not only be renowned in Heaven. And if this Concern of theirs does not move us, yet Gratitude to her, when she herself is also concerned in it, will not fail to do it. To which Purpose they tell us▪ That her beloved Hermannus, whom she married 
m Barthol. de los Rios. Hierarch. Marian. l. 5. c. 40. ex Surio vit. Hermanni. Apr. 5. Gononi Chron. Deip. p. 242. , being distracted and hindered by Business, and Cares of his Monastery, grow more negligent and remis● in reciting her Offices and Hours, that formerly; to whom she appeared in the Shape of an old withered wrinkled Woman, chiding him that now her Memory was grown old with him, whereas formerly he named; saluted and praised her a Thousand times: Upon this Rebuke, he resolved, by commemorating her Joys, and reciting her Aves, to make her young again, which he did. The Name of Mary, says another, 
n Barthol. de los Rios ib. l. 6. c. 11. & 20.  is the best Image of her, and more venerable than all her Relics and Images: He that does invoke her by this sweet Name, attending to the Etymology thereof, thou recite compendiously great Litanies of extraordinary Merit and Efficacy.  
Poza 
o Elucidar. l. 2. trac 17. c. 5.  and others, think that the Name of Mary, as far as is expedient for our own and others Salvation, does confer the Effect ●n opere operato (by the Work done) just as the Church's Exorcisms do, and as many say the same of the Sign of the Cross, and of the Name of Jesus▪ From such Principles as these, they fall into those heathenish Battologies and vain Repetitions, which our Saviour condemns (Matt▪ 6.7.) and their Prayers become, in the Phrase of the Son of Syrach 
p Ecclus. 7.14. , much babbling: consisting of a nauseous Repetition of one and the same Name over and over again. Of this the Reader may take a shameful Instance, how they abuse in this manner, the blessed Name of Jesus, in that which they call Jesus Psalter, 
q See Manual of godly Prayers, at the end.  which consists of Fifteen Petitions, with the Name of Jesus ten times (or rather Thirty times) reiterated before every one of the Petitions.  

The Manner of reciting the Psalter of Jesus, is as follows.  

The First Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
3. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
4. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
5. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
6. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
7. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
8. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
9 Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
10. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.   Mercy.   

The Second Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
3. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
4. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
5. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
6. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
7. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
8. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
9 Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
10. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.   Help me.   

Third Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
And so on, as before.   Strengthen me.   

Fourth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Comfort me.   

Fifth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Make me constant & stable.   

Sixth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Lighten me.   

Seventh Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Grant me Grace to dread thee.   

Eighth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Grant me Grace to love thee.   

Ninth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Give me Grace to remember my death.   

Tenth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Send me here my Purgatory   

Eleventh Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Grant me Grace to fly evil Company.   

Twelfth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Give me Grace to call for Help to thee.   

Thirteenth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Make me to persevere in Virtue.   

Fourteenth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc.   Give me Grace to fix my Mind on thee.   

Fifteenth Petition.  


1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
2. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
3. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
4. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,  
etc. As many times as the First.   Give me Grace to order my Life to thee.    
Here you see an Hundred and Fifty Rows of the Name of Jesus, (which being Three in a Row make up Four hundred and Fifty) which must be all pattered over, before those few Words that make up the Fifteen Petitions are concluded. There is no Atheist or Infidel, who, if he had a Design to turn Prayers into 〈◊〉, could more effectually do it, than by such a Prescription as 〈◊〉. But we have not the worst of it yet: For you must know, that it is not the Petition and the Sense, following this oft rep●…ted Name that is necessary, but the N●… 〈◊〉 oft used without any thing else adjoined is that which they lay much Stress upon, and which makes acceptable Devotion with them. For thus I find in that Book of the Jesuit P. Barry 
r Le paradise Ouvert. p. 166. The Author of 〈◊〉 is so fond of the Virgin's Name, that instead of Paul Barry he desired to be called Paul of S. Mary.  which contains an hundred Devotions to the blessed Virgin (and is bought up for common Use as our Practice of Piety, or the Whole Duty of Man; for I observe Seventeen Editions of it in less than Thirty Years) he gives this for one. Often to pronounce the Name of Mary, in imitation of a Japan Woman. Concerning whom the Annals of the Jesuits report, That in honour of a Deity which that Country worships, called Amida, she used to repeat that Name an Hundred and forty thousand times daily, rising very early every Morning (as she had need to perform this Task) and being assisted by a familiar Spirit that awaked her: This Woman was baptised An. 1621. And after she was a Christian, changed this Superstition into Devotion, and obliged herself, in gratitude for her Conversion, to pronounce every day as many times (viz. a Hundred and forty thousand) the sacred Names of Jesus and Mary; and because now the Devil would come no more to awake her in the morning, her Angel Guardian succeeded in that Office; so pleasing to God, says the Author, was her Simplicity and Devotion. This Worship, so Japan and unparallelled, cannot, he says, be practised, the Number is so great, unless God give some special Grace: However he advises his Philagie (so he calls the devout Person he instructs) to choose a good round Number of Maries to repeat, as a way to get Comfort, and to testify the Tenderness of his Affections to the Mother of God. Another great Sticker 
s Barthol. de los Rios ib. l. 5. cap. 40.  for the Advancement of her Devotion, prescribes this Exercise as very pleasing to her, viz. The repeating only these Two Words, Ave Maria (Hail Mary) Seventy two times, in memory of the Seventy two Years of her Life; to which if you adjoin as many Honours and Genuflections, the Devotion will, he believes, be increased, and both Soul and Body be exercised in the Service of the blessed Virgin. And lest any one should scruple these Reverences at the naming of her, which are usually paid at the mention of Jesus, a famed Devoto 
t Rich. a S. Laurentio l. 4. de laud. virg.  of the Virgins tells us, That she made herself of no Reputation, after the Example of her Son, taking upon her the form of an Handmaid; wherefore God also hath highly exalted her, and given her a Name that is above every Name, that in her Name every Knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in Earth, and things under the Earth, etc. Which very Text thus applied (In the Name of Mary every Knee shall bow) another Jesuit 
u Vincentius Brunus Medit. 2. de B. Virg. p. 62.  thus comments upon; After the sweet Name of Jesus, there is no other Name under Heaven given unto Men, whence such Salvation and Security comes to Mankind. He might have spared his Compliment (after the Name of Jesus) since he adds a little after, 
x Ib. p. 64.  In all Temptations and Infirmities of the Soul, and in all Necessities of the Body, this holy Name of Mary is our only Remedy and Refuge; neither was there ever any one in any such Tribulation, that upon devout Invocation of her, did not find present Help.  

The Sense of all which Blasphemies is contained in the Words of that Hymn.  


In Antidoto animae & Hist. sec. chorum Augustini in commemor. B. Virginis.  Gande Matrona coelica,  
Tu ancillam Jesu Christi  
Te vocare voluisti,  
Sed ut docet Lex divina  
Tu illius es Domina:  
Nam Lex jubet & ratio  
Matrem prae●sse filio:  
Ergo ora suppliciter,  
Et praecipe sublimiter  
Ut nos in mundi vespera  
Ad regna ducat superna.   

All Joys attend thee, heavenly Dame,  
Tho' humbly thou didst choose the Name  
Of Handmaid unto Christ; yet we,  
Taught by the Law Divine, may see  
Thou art (unless we would degrade thee)  
Rather his Governness and Lady:  
Reason and Law back one another,  
Before the Son to set the Mother.  
Pray for us then, and if need be,  
Exert thy high Authority,  
That when the World's Joys set and leave us  
His heavenly Kingdom may receive us.    
In Honour of the Name Maria some have culled out Five Psalms that begin with the Letters of her Name, and chosen it as an Exercise daily to recite them. The Psalms are, Magnificat (Luc. 1.) Ad D●…i●um (Ps. 11●.) Retribue (Ps. 118.) In Conver●endo (Ps. 125.) Ad te Lev●vi (Ps. 122.) This was practised, says Vincentius Bellovacensis 
y Specul. Hist. lib 8. cap. 116.  by one Joscio A Monk of S. Omers; and you may guests how acceptable this Devotion was by the Miracle that followed; for as he 〈◊〉 dead in his Chamber, they found Five Roses growing upon his Face; one coming out of his Mouth, other Two out of each Nostril, and Two more out of each Ear, which in Letters of Gold had severally these Five Letters of her Name, and those Words of the Psalms written plainly upon them. Though the very same Story is told by Tho. Cantipratanus 
z De mirac. sui temp. l. 2. c. 29. sec. 15.  concerning one Josbertus of the Monastery of Dole, and one, no doubt, as true as the other. But any thing will do Wonders, when the Name of the blessed Virgin is glorified thereby; for so we hear 
a Barthol. de los Rios ubi supra p. 628. , that a Plague was immediately stopped in a Convent, An. 1470. only by reciting Five Psalms taken, not out of the Bible; but, out of Bonaventure's Psalter (as blasphemous as in is) which begin with the Letters of her Name, being these that follow: Magna es Domina, Ad te Domina clamabo, Refugium tu es Domina, In Domina confido; Ad Dominam cum●ribu●arer.  
There is no foolish Lover that plays more childishly with the Name of his Mistress, than their ridiculous Superstition does with the Name of this their Lady, as they call her. They think their very Charity is more acceptable when it honours her. For thus they advise 
b Id. ib. p. 629. , and thus her Slaves (Mancipia at Brussels practise, to relieve Five poor People on Saturday (which is dedicated to the Virgin) in memory of the Five Letters of her Name: And to do it more effectually, such Five poor People may be chosen to bestow the Alms upon, who, by the capital Letters of their Name do express and make up the Name of blessed Mary, that so the Remembrance of it may be the more lively. Nay some in honour of it, deny nothing that is asked of them in the Name of the Virgin; being mindful (as the Author wisely adds) of that saying, Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my Name he will give it you. Thus Alex. Ales. 
c Antoninus' 3. part. Hist. tit. 24. c. 8.  was trepanned to list himself in the Order of the Franciscans, at that time famous for Severity and Poverty, being suddenly requested by one to enter into it for Love of the Mother of God, which, as irrefragable a Doctor as he was, made him yield, though otherwise very unwilling and loath at the first. The Beggars in the Country of the Great Mogul understand the Efficacy of this; who, we are told 
d Purchas pilgrims. part. 1. l. 4. c. 17. p. 600.  ask Alms of Christians in the Name of Bibee Maria (i e. Lady Mary,) not in the Name of Hazanet (or Hazareth) Eesa (i. e. Lord Jesus) which shows that the Jesuits have preached to them Mary more than Christ. How can it choose but that her Name must be very prevailing, when we read 
e Vincent. Bellov. spec. Hist. l. 7. c. 102, 103.  of a Soldier, an old practitioner in the fornicating Trade, who having hired of a poor Man a Nights-lodging with his Daughter, and was just preparing to deflower the Virgin, who hung back and made lamentable Moan; when he asked her Name, and understood that it was Mary, and remembered it was Saturday Night, (devoted to the Virgin ●he desisted from his Purpose, and placed her in a Nunnery; and immediately after being slain in a Tournement, it was revealed by the blessed Virgin to te Nun in a Vision, That for the Kindness he had showed to her for her Sake, she had brought his Soul to Heaven; and as a Sign of the Truth of it, they should find a fresh Rose upon his Grave springing out of his Mouth, which upon Examination proved so. Not unlike to this is another encouraging Story, which Pelbartus 
f Stellarii l. 5. p. 2. art. 3.  gives us out of a Book of Miracles, which he attributes to S. Anselm: How a Beggar came to a covetous rich Man greatly devoted to the Virgin, and asked an Alms of him for God's sake, and he denied him with Reproaches; he asked again of him, for the Love of his own Soul and his Salvation, but that Argument moved him not at all: He begged a Third time, for the Love of the blessed Virgin; at which the covetous Man angrily threw a Loaf of Bread to him, charging him to beg no more in that Name. When this Miser died, and his Works came to be weighed, it was found that his good Works were less, and so was adjudged to the Devils to be tormented: But the blessed Virgin immediately appeared and brought a Loaf of Bread he had given for her sake, and put it in the Balance, and immediately by her Merits the Scale was turned. She entreated her Son for him, who said, I was hungry and he gave me no Meat, etc. He shown no Mercy, therefore deserves to find none; to whom she replied, I am the Mother of Mercy and he had me in great Devotion: And so he was released and sent into the Body again to repent and lead a better Life. Such Stories as these have given such Spirit to the Worshippers of the Virgin, that they are not afraid to dispute and put it to the Question, Whether the Name of Mary be not more powerful than that of Jesus. That it is a sweeter Name is a concluded Case. For they compare 
g Barthol. de los Rios ubi supra l. 6. c. 32.  the Two names of Jesus and Mary to Salt and Honey: Salt (which answers to Christ's Name) is more wholesome, and in respect of its Preservative Virtue, of itself more efficacious; yet for all that it seems to be more sharp and pungent; and so the Name Jesus, howsoever you take it, sounds something of a judging Majesty, by reason of his Divinity; but now the Name of Mary, quantum quantum est, is every way all Sweetness; it is Honey, preserving from Corruption, yet not biting; and he concludes, That the Name of Mary to us affords a sweeter Taste than that of her Son.  
If you ask about the Power and Prevalency of the Two Names, we are told 
h Id. ib. c. 38.  That it is not improbably said, That her Name, at , quo ad nos, is more efficacious than his: For which he citys the Words of the spurious S. Anselm, Velocior est nonnunquam salus, etc. 
i De excel. Virgins' c. 6.  Salvation comes more speedily by invoking Mary's Name than that of Jesus.— Christ being called upon in his own Name, he does but what is just if he does not presently hear; but when his Mother's Name is invoked, though he that prays does not deserve to be heard for his own Merits, yet the Merits of his Mother intercede that he should be heard. So that he concludes, That the Name of Mary affords more gentle and humane, more frequent and speedy Arguments of Pity and Mercy, than the Name of her Son. Which another Blasphemer 
k Rich. a S. Laurentio de laud. Virg. l. 1. c. 2.  thus expresses, Jesus is as it were a proud name (quasi superbum nomen) and too potent, but Affection become hers that is a name more humble; so that if any one dreads the Austerity of the Deity or Male-sex (Sexus virilis) in Jesus, let him have Recourse to Mary, in whom nothing of these is to be suspected; for Mary is a Woman's name, commending and carrying before it Gentleness.  
Francis Mendoza 
l Veridar. l. 2. probl. 2. p. 70.  the Jesuit, has spoke his Mind out, in answer to the former Question. I say, though Christ stands in greater Authority with God than the Virgin, yet the blessed Virgin sometimes is more easily moved by our Prayers than Christ, and therefore the Patronage of the Mother is sometimes more present to us, than that of the Son: The Reason is, That Christ is a Judge, and the blessed Virgin only a Patroness, and a Patroness is only Mercy. And for a further Proof of this, he gives Examples of this greater Prevalency of the Virgin in several Plagues at Rome and Constantinople, etc. Where after the Invocation of Saints, and of Christ himself without Success, upon flying to this sacred Anchor (as he calls her) upon carrying about her Image, or celebrating her Festival, the Plague his immediately ceased; for as it is a common thing to break the Force of Cannon Bullets by opposing Woolsacks to them, 
m Ib. p. 73.  so the Anger of the Deity thundering and raging against miserable Offenders, the Force of it is broken and dulled by the Interposition of Mary's Fleece. We read, says another 
n Novarinus umbr. Virgin. num. 1195. , Prov. 18.10. That the Name of the Lord is a strong Tower, the righteous Man runs unto it and is safe. Turn but, nomen Domini into Domina (a small matter, only the change of a Letter) the name of Lord into that of Lady, and you may say the same of Mary. Nay you may say more of her name, for though Solomon indeed (says the foresaid Richardus 
o Rich. a S. Laurent. ubi prius. ) who knew but little of Mary, bids the Righteous fly to the name of the Lord as to a strong Tower; yet we (to whom blessed Revelations have been made since his days) may says, The Name of our Lady is a strong Tower, the Sinner flies unto it and is safe. It seems a just Man may fly to God, if he pleases, but a Sinner had better betake himself to Mary. And thus, says Novarinus 
p Ibidem.  some explain that in Luc. 13. concerning the Tower of Siloans that fell and slew Eighteen Persons; That Tower is Christ, who was sent by the Father into the World, and broke in pieces all those on whom he fell: The Virgin Mary is our Tower, but for Safety, who withdraws and fetches off Sinners (subducit) from the deserved Anger of her Son.  
So that according to this Doctrine, though it be a common thing in Exclamations (Jesus Maria) and in Prayers (Laus Deo & Virgini Mariae) to join the Two names of Jesus and Mary, and to put Jesus first, just as Philip and Mary stand in our Coins, yet this must be interpreted as done rather in Civility to the Relation of Son and Mother, than that Sinners have an equal Expectation from them, or Encouragement in Addresses to them, for in this Mary has the Preference and Precedency.  
To conclude this, the Jesuit Poza 
q Elucidar. l. 2. tr. 17. c. 6.  reckons up several admirable Effects, that follows the use of the Virgin's name; That the name of Mary frees from the Fear of Death and injury of Devils; that it makes the Mind ; that it refreshes a Soul that is fainting and sorrowful; that it gives Security and Safeguard to the Body: And in a Word, That her name receives all Virtue from herself, and does the same things that she does.  
The Words also of S. Bridget 
r Revelat. l. 1. cap. 9  must not be forgotten; Upon the hearing Mary named, those that are in Purgatory rejoice beyond measure, as a sick Man lying in his Bed, when he hears a word of Comfort. The good Angels hearing this name, presently approach nearer to those just Men who are committed to their Guardianship, and rejoice in their Proficiency (as if, forsooth, they were more negligence in their Office, till she was invoked) The Devils also all of them dread and fear it; so that upon hearing the name of Mary, they presently let go and leave the the Soul that was detained in their Clutches.  
All that I shall further add is, That upon Instigation of Lewis IX. King of France, Pope Clement iv 
s Raynaud. Dipped. Marian. p. 28.  bestowed a Three years' Indulgence upon all that should repeat these following Words, viz. Benedictum sit dulce nomen Domini nostri Jesu Christi, & gloriosissimae virginis Mariae matris ejus, in aternum & ubra. Nos cum prole pia benedicat virgo Maria. That is, Blessed be the sweet Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the most glorious Virgin Marry his Mother for evermore. 
Afford to us thy Benediction,  
O Virgin Mary with thy gracious Son.   
The name of Mary has its Feast 
t Idem. ib.  also among the Conchenses in Spain, confirmed from the Year 1513. by the Pope's Brief; and though taken away for a time by Pope Pius V yet it was restored by Pope Sixtus V.    
The End of the First Part.  


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Dr. CAve's Lives of the Primitive Fathers, in 2. Vol. Folio.  
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Sir John Burlace's History of the Irish Rebellion. fol.  
The Laws of this Realm concerning Jesuits, Seminary Priests, Recusants, the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance, explained by divers Judgements and Resolutions of the Judges; with other Observations thereupon. By William Cawley, Esq fol.  
Dr. Towersons Explication of the Creed, the Commandments, and Lords Prayer, in 3 Vol. fol.  
Bishop Nicholson on the Church-Catechism.  
Mr. John Cave's Seven occasional Sermons. 4 to.  
Bishop Wilkins Natural Religion. 8o.  
— His Fifteen Sermons. 8 o.  
Mr. Tanners Primordia: Or the Rise and Growth of the first Church of God described. 8 o.  
Spaniard's Conspiracy against the State of Venice. 8 o.  
Dr. Caves Primitive Christianity in three Parts. 8 o.  
Certain genuine Remains of the Lord Bacon, in Arguments Civil, Moral, Natural, etc. with a large Account of all his Works. By Dr. Tho. Tenison. 8 o.  
Dr. Henry bagshaw's Discourses on select Texts. 8 o.  
Mr. Sellers State of the Church in the Three first Centuries.  
Dr. Burnet's Account of the Life and Death of the Earl of Rochester. 8 o.  
— Hisotry of the Rights of Princes in the disposing of Ecclesiastical Benefices and Church-lands. 8 o.  
— Relation of the present State of the Difference between the French King and the Court of Rome; to which is added, the Pope's Brief to the Assembly of the Clergy, and their Protestation, published by Dr. Burnet. 8 o.  
Dr. Combers Companion to the Altar. 8 o.  
Dr. sherlock's Practical Discourse of Religious Assemblies. 8 o.  
— Defence of Dr. Stillingfleets Unreasonableness of Separation. 8 o.  
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Sir Rob. filmer's Patriarcha, or natural Power of Kings. 8 o.  
Bishop Wettenhalls Method and Order for private Devotion. 24 o.  
Valentine's private devotions. 4 o.  
Dr. Spencer de Legibus Hebraeorum Ritualibus & earum Rationibus. fol.  
Dr. John Lightfoots Works in English, in 2 Vol fol.  
Sir Tho. Brown's Vulgar Errors, with all the rest of his Works. fol.  
Partis Simonii Disquisitiones Criticae de Variis per diversa Loca & Tempora Bibliorum Editionibus. Accedunt Castig. Opusc. Is. Vossii de Sybil. Orac. 4 o.  
The Case of Lay-Communion with the Church of England considered, 4 o.  
Two Letters betwixt Mr. R. Smith, and Dr. Hen. Hammond about Christ's descent into Hell. 8 o.  
Dean Stratfords' Dissuasive from Revenge. 8 o.  
Dr. Hez. Burtons' First Volume of Discourses, of Purity and Charity; of Repentance, and of seeking the Kingdom of God. Published by Dean Tillotson. 8 o.  
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Sir Thomas Mores Utopia, newly made English by Dr. Burnet. 8 o.  
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Dr. Towerson of the Sacraments in general.  
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The History of the COUNCIL of TRENT; in which, besides the ordinary Acts of the Council, are declared many notable Occurrences which happened in Christendom for 40 Years, and particularly the Practices of the COURT of ROME to hinder the Reformation of their Errors, and to maintain Their Greatness; Written by Father Paul of the Servi. To which is added, the Life of the Author and the History of the Inquisition.  
Dr. Burnet's History of the Reformation of the Church of Eng. in 2 Vol. Fol.  
A Collection of Sixteen several Tracts and Discourses, written in the Years, from 1678, to 1685. inclusive; by Gilbert Burnet, D.D. To which is added, A Letter written to Dr. Burnet, giving an Account of Cardinal Pools secret Powers. The History of the Powder-Treason, with a Vindication of the Proceed thereupon. An Impartial Consideration of the Five Jesuits dying Speeches, who were Executed for the Popish Plot, 1679. 4 o.  
A Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient Church; more particularly of the Encroachments of the Bishops of Rome upon other Sees, By William Cave D.D. 8vo.  
An Answer to Mr. Serjeant's [Sure Footing in Christianity] concerning the Rule of Faith. With some other Discourses. By WILLIAM FALKNER, D.D. 4 o.  
A Vindication of the Ordinations of the Church of England; in Answer to a Paper written by one of the Church of Rome, to prove the Nullity of our Orders. By GILBERT BURNET, D.D.  
An Abridgement of the History of the Reformation of the Church of England. By GILB. BURNET, D.D. 8vo.  
The APOLOGY of the Church of England; and an Epistle to one Signior Scipio, a Venetian Gentleman, concerning the Council of Trent. Written both in Latin, by the Right Reverend Father in God, JOHN JEWEL Lord Bishop of Salisbury; Made English by a Person of Quality. To which is added, The Life of the said Bishop; Collected and written by the same Hand. 8vo.  
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The Decree made at ROME the Second of March, 1679. condemning some Opinions of the Jesuits, and other Casuits. 4 o.  
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A Discourse concerning the Celebration of divine Service in an Unknown Tongue. 4 o.  
A Papist not Misrepresented by Protestants. Being a Reply to the Reflections upon the Answer to [A Papist Misrepresented and Represented] 4 o.  
An Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England, in the several Articles proposed by the late BISHOP of CONDOM, [in his Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholic Church] 4 o.  
Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England; against the Exception of Mons. de Meaux, late Bishop of Condom, and his Vindicator. 4 o.  
A CATECHISM explaining the Doctrine and Practices of the Church of Rome. With an Answer thereunto. By a Protestant of the Church of England. 8vo.  
A Papist Represented and not Misrepresented 〈…〉 Answer to the First, Fifth and Sixth 〈◊〉 of the Second Part of the [Papist Misrepresented and not Represented]; and for a further Vindication of the CATECHISM, truly Representing the Doctrine and Practices of the Church of Rome. 4 o.  
The Lay-Christian's Obligation to read the Holy Scriptures. 4 o.  
The Pl●… Man's Reply to the Catholic Missionaries. 24 o.  
An Answer to THREE PAPERS lately printed, concerning the Authority of the Catholic Church in matters of Faith, and the Reformation of the Church of England. 4 o.  
A Vindication of the Answer to the said THREE PAPERS, 4 o.  
Mr. Chillingworths' Book, called [The Religion of Protestants a safe way to Salvation] made more generally 〈◊〉 by omitting personal Contests, but inserting whatsoever 〈◊〉 the common Cause of Protestants, or defends the Church of England; with an exact Table of Contents, and an Addition of some genuine Pi●… of Mr. Chilling●…'s, 〈◊〉 before Pri●…d, viz. against the Infallibility of the R●… Ch●…, 〈◊〉, Tradition, etc. And an Account of what moved the Author to turn Papist, with his Confutation of the said motives.  
An Historical Treatise written by an Author of the Communion of the Church of Rome, 〈…〉. Wherein is made appear, That according to the Princ●… of 〈◊〉 Church, this D●… cannot be an Article of Faith. 4 o.  
The Protestants 〈◊〉, and Comparison of the Protestant Religion 〈◊〉 by Law 〈…〉 of Popery. Wherein is shown that 〈…〉 Father's and Councils; and that proved from Holy Writ, the W●… of the ancient Fathers, for several hundred Years, 〈…〉 of the 〈…〉 Papists themselves. 4 o.  
The Pillar and 〈◊〉 of Truth. A Treatise showing that the Roman Church 〈…〉 to be 〈…〉, and the Pillar of that Truth mentioned by S. Paul in his first Epistle to T●…y, chap. 3. ver. 15. 4 o.  
The People's Right 〈◊〉 read the holy Scriptures Asserted. 4 o.  
A short Summary of 〈◊〉 principal Controversies between the Church of England and the Church of 〈◊〉, being a Vindication of several Protestant Doctrines, in Answer to a late Pamphlet, entitled, [Protestancy destitute of Scripture Proofs] 4 o.  
An Answer to a late Pamphlet, entitled, [The Judgement and Doctrine of the Clergy of the Church of England, concerning one special Branch of the King's Prerogative, viz. [In dispensing with the Pe●…l Laws.] 4 o.   

Books lately Printed for Richard Chiswell.  
A Discourse of the Holy Eucharist in the two great Points of the Real Presence, and the Ad●…tion of the Host; in Answer to the Two Discourses lately Printed at Oxford on this Subject: To which is prefixed a large Historical Preface relating to the same Argument.  
Two Discourses; of Purgatory, and Prayers for the Dead.  
The Fifteen Notes of the Church, as laid down by Cardinal Bellarmin examined and confuted 4 o. With a Table to the Whole.  
Preparation for Death: Being a Letter sent to a young Gentlewoman in France, in a dangerous Distemper of which she died. By W. W●… M.A. ●… o.  
The Difference between the Church of England and the Church of Rome, in opposition to a late Book, Entitled, An Agreement between the Church of England and Church of Rome.  
A Private Prayer to be used in difficult Times.  
A True Account of a Conference held about Religion at Lond. Sept. 29. 1687. between A. Pulton, Jesuit, and Th. Tenison, D.D. as also of that which led to it, and followed after it. 4 o.  
The Vindication of A. Cr●ssener, Schoolmaster in Long-Acre, from the Aspersions of A. Pulton, Jesuit, Schoolmaster in the Savoy, together with some Account of his Discourse with Mr. Meredith.  
A Discourse showing that Protestants are on the safer Side, notwithstanding the uncharitable Judgement of Adversaries; and that Their Religion is the surest Way to Heaven. 4 o.  
Six Conferences concerning the Eucharist, wherein is showed, that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation overthrows the Proofs of Christian Religion.  
A Discourse concerning the pretended Sacrament of Extreme Unction; with an Account of the Occasions and Beginnings of 〈…〉 the Western Church. In Three Parts. With a Letter to the Vindicator of the Bishop of Condom.  
A Second Letter from the Author of the Dis●…●…ing Extreme Unction, to the Vindicator of the Bishop of Condom.  
The Pamphlet entitled, Speculum Ecclesiasti●…, or 〈◊〉 Ecclesiastical Prospective-Glass, considered, in its false Reasonings and 〈◊〉. There are added by way of Preface, Two further Answers, the First, 〈…〉 ●…fender of the Speculum; the Second to the Half-sheet against the Six 〈◊〉.  
A Second Defence of the Exposition of the D●… 〈…〉 of England, against the new Exceptions of Mons. de Meaux, late Bishop of 〈◊〉, and his Vindicator. The FIRST PART. In which the 〈…〉 been given of the Bishop of Meauxes Exposition, is fully vindicated; the D●…tion of Old and New Popery ●…ically asserted, and the Doctrine 〈…〉 of Rome, in Point of Image-worship, more particularly consid●…●…  
A Second Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrines of the Ch●… 〈◊〉 England against the New Exceptions of Mons. de Meaux, late Bishop of 〈◊〉, and his Vindicator. The SECOND PART. In which the Romish ●…ines concerning the Nature and Object of Religious Worship, of the Invocation of Saints, and Worship of Images and Relics, are considered, and the Charge of Idolatry against the Church of Rome, upon the account of them, made good, 4 o.  
The Incurable Scepticism of the Church of Rome. By the Author of the [Six Conferences concerning the Eucharist] 4 o.  
Mr. Pulton Considered in his Sincerity, Reasonings, Authorities: Or a just Answer to what he hath hitherto published in his True Account, his True and Full Account of a Conference, etc. His Remarks; and in them his pretended Confutation of what he calls Dr. T's Rule of Faith. By Th. Tenison, D.D.  
A Full View of the Doctrines and Practices of the Ancient Church relating to the Eucharist, wholly different from those of the Present Roman Church, and inconsistent with the belief of Transubstantiation. Being a sufficient Confutation of Consensus Veter●…, 〈◊〉 Testium and other late C●… of the Father's pret●…ding to the contrary. 4 o.  
An Answer to the Representer's Reflections upon the State and View of the Controversy; With a Reply to the Vindicator's Full Answer, showing that the Vindicator has utterly ruined the New Design of Expounding and Representing Popery. 4 o.   

An Answer to the Popish Address presented to the Ministers of the Church of England. 4 o.  
An Abridgement of the Prerogatives of St. Ann, Mother of the Mother of God, with the Approbations of the Doctors of Paris, thence done into English, with a PREFACE concerning the Original of the Story.  
The Primitive Fathers no Papists, in answer to the Vindication of the Nubes Testium; to which is added a Discourse concerning Invocation of Saints, in Answer to the Challenge of F. Sabran the Jesuit; wherein is shown, That Invocation of Saints was so far from being the Practice, that it was expressly against the Doctrine of the Primitive Fathers. 4 o.  
An Answer to a Discourse concerning the Coelibacy of the Clergy, lately Printed at Oxford. 4 o.  
The Virgin Mary Misrepresented by the Roman Church, in the Traditions of that Church concerning her Life and Glory, and in the Devotions paid to her as the Mother of God. Both showed out of the Offices of that Church, the Lessons on her Festivals, and from their allowed Authors.  
Dr. Tenisons Sermon of Discretion in giving Alms. 12 o.  
A Discourse concerning the Merits of Good Works.  
The ●…sm of the Church of Rome, demonstrated in some Observations upon the Life of 〈◊〉 Loyala, (Founder of the Order of Jesus).  
A Vindication of the Answer to the Popish Address presented to the Ministers of the Church of England. 4 o.  
Reflections upon the Books of the Holy Scripture, in order to establish the Truth of the Christian Religion, in 3 Parts. 8 vo. In the Press.  
The Texts which the Papists cite out of the Bible for Proof of the Points of their Religion Examined, and showed to be alleged without Ground. In several distinct Discourses. Five whereof are published. viz. 

Popery not founded in Scripture. The Introduction.  
Texts concerning the Obscurity of Holy Scriptures.  
— Of the Insufficiency of Scripture, and Necessity of Tradition.  
— Of the Supremacy of St. Peter, and the Pope, over the whole Church. In Two Parts.  
— Of Infallibility     
The Rest will follow Weekly, in their Order.  
FINIS.