CONTENTS. I. The Office and Dignity of the Mother of God, II. How the Fathers speak of the Dignity of the Mother of God, XVI. The Voice of the Liturgy and the Voice of the Faithful, XVII. The Voice of the Episcopacy, THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD. CHAPTER I. THE OFFICE AND DIGNITY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD. THE multitude that saw Jesus nailed to His Cross could have no doubts respecting His human nature. They saw His Mother standing by in sore distress, and had no doubts but that Jesus was her Son. Of what then were men ignorant? Alas! of everything. For they knew not that Jesus was God, and that Mary was the Mother of God. What the Apostles then had to prove, before they could make a Christian, was, that Jesus, whom Pontius Pilate crucified, was both the Son of Mary and the Son of God. And thus, when they began to preach, they had to tell how Mary was always a virgin, and how, in her state of virginity, an angel came and greeted her from heaven. They had to tell the whole history about her at full length, which is recorded briefly in the Sacred Scriptures. They told how, in her re tirement, the Archangel Gabriel came to her, and said: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women." And how Mary was troubled, and thought within herself about the meaning of this salutation. And how the angel said: "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God: behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David, His Father; and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of His kingdom there shall be no end." But Mary, pure as the Angel, and solicitous for that virginity which she had vowed and given unto God, asks of the heavenly messenger: "How shall this be done, for I know not man?" And Gabriel answered her: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore, also, the Holy, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." And Mary bowed herself down most meekly to the will of God, and said: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word." Such was the wonderful beginning of the Gospel of truth. And as Mary introduced Jesus into the world, so the preaching of Mary introduced the preaching of Jesus. Then the Apostles went on to tell the wonders of His nativity. How, whilst Mary was in the stable, the angels came out from heaven, and sang of the birth of the Saviour of the world; |