In the liturgy ascribed to St. James, Mary is commemorated as "our most holy, immaculate and most glorious Lady, Mother of G.o.d and ever Virgin Mary."(238)
In the Maronite Ritual she is invoked as "our holy, praiseworthy and immaculate Lady."(239)
In the Alexandrian liturgy of St. Basil, she is addressed as "most holy, most glorious, immaculate."(240)
The Feast of Mary"s Conception commenced to be celebrated in the East in the fifth, and in the West in the seventh centuries. It was not introduced into Rome till probably towards the end of the fourteenth century. Though Rome is always the first that is called on to sanction a new festival, she is often the last to take part in it. She is the first that is expected to give the key-note, but frequently the last to join in the festive song.
While she is silent, the notes are faint and uncertain; when her voice joins in the chant, the song of praise becomes constant and universal.
It is scarcely necessary for me to add that the introduction of the festival of the Conception after the lapse of so many centuries from the foundation of Christianity no more implies a novelty of doctrine than the erection of a monument in 1875 to Arminius, the German hero who flourished in the first century, would be an evidence of his recent exploits. The Feast of the Blessed Trinity was not introduced till the fifth century, though it commemorates a fundamental mystery of the Christian religion.
It is interesting to us to know that the Immaculate Conception of Mary has been interwoven in the earliest history of our own country. The ship that first bore Columbus to America was named Mary of the Conception. This celebrated navigator gave the same name to the second island which he discovered. The first chapel erected in Quebec, when that city was founded in the early part of the seventeenth century was dedicated to G.o.d under the invocation of Mary Immaculate.
In view of these three great prerogatives of Mary-her divine maternity, her perpetual virginity and her Immaculate Conception-we are prepared to find her blessedness often and expressly declared in Holy Scripture.
The Archangel Gabriel is sent to her from heaven to announce to her the happy tidings that she was destined to be the mother of the world"s Redeemer. No greater favor was ever before or since conferred on woman, whether we consider the dignity of the messenger, or the momentous character of the message, or the terms of respect in which it is conveyed.
"The Angel Gabriel was sent from G.o.d into a city of Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin ... and the virgin"s name was Mary. And the Angel being come in said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. Who, having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.
And the Angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with G.o.d. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.... 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 G.o.d."(241) The Almighty does not send to Mary, a prophet or priest, or any other earthly amba.s.sador, nor even one of the lower choirs of angels, but He commissions an Archangel to confer with her.
_"__Hail full of grace!__"_ Gabriel does not congratulate her on her personal charms, though she is the fairest daughter of Israel. He does not praise her for her exalted ancestry, though she is descended from the Kings of Juda. But he commends her because she is the chosen child of benediction. He admires the hidden virtues of her soul, brighter than the sun, fairer than the moon, purer than angels, he sees before him,
"Our tainted nature"s solitary boast,"
one that alone escaped the taint of Adam"s disobedience.
As the precious diamond reflects various colors according as it is exposed to the sun"s rays, so did the soul of Mary, from the moment that the "Sun of Justice" shone upon her, exhibit every grace that was prompted by the occasion.
St. Stephen and the Apostles were also said to be full of the Spirit of G.o.d. By this, however, we are not to understand that the same measure of grace was imparted to them which was given to Mary. On each one it is bestowed according to his merits and needs. "One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars, for star differeth from star in glory;"(242) and as Mary"s office of Mother of G.o.d immeasurably surpa.s.sed in dignity that of the proto-martyr and of the Apostles, so did her grace superabound over theirs.
_"__The Lord is with thee.__"_ "He exists in His creatures in different ways; in those that are endowed with reason in one way, in irrational creatures in another. His irrational creatures have no means of apprehending or possessing Him. All rational creatures may indeed apprehend Him by knowledge, but only the good by love. Only in the good does He so exist as to be with them as well as in them; with them by a certain harmony and agreement of will, and in this way G.o.d is with all His Saints. But He is with Mary in a yet more special manner, for in her there was so great an agreement and union with G.o.d that not her will only, but her very flesh was to be united to him."(243)
_"__Blessed art Thou among women.__"_ The same expression is applied to two other women in the Holy Scripture-viz., to Jahel and Judith. The former was called blessed after she had slain Sisara,(244) and the latter after she had slain Holofernes,(245) both of whom had been enemies of G.o.d"s people. In this respect these two women are true types of Mary, who was chosen by G.o.d to crush the head of the serpent, the infernal enemy of mankind. And if they deserved the t.i.tle of blessed for being the instruments of G.o.d in rescuing Israel from temporal calamities, how much more does Mary merit that appellation, who co-operated so actively in the salvation of the human race!
The Evangelist proceeds: "And Mary, rising up in those days, went ... into a city of Juda; and she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pa.s.s that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary the infant leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord."(246)
There is joy in Mary"s heart in being chosen to become the mother of the world"s Redeemer. She wishes by her visit to communicate that joy to her cousin. The Sun of Justice is shining within her. She desires to diffuse His rays through Elizabeth"s household. She is laden with spiritual treasures. She must share them with her kinswoman, especially as she is none the poorer in making others richer.
The usual order of salutation is here reversed. Age pays reverence to youth. A lady who is revered by the whole community honors a lowly maiden.
An inspired matron expresses her astonishment that her young kinswoman should deign to visit her. She extols Mary"s faith and calls her blessed.
She blends the praise of Mary with the praise of Mary"s Son, and even the infant John testifies his reverential joy by leaping in his mother"s womb.
And we are informed that during this interview Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, to remind us that the veneration she paid to her cousin was not prompted by her own feelings, but was dictated by the Spirit of G.o.d.
Then Mary breaks out into that sublime canticle, the Magnificat: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in G.o.d my Savior, because He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid, for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."(247) On these words I shall pause to make one reflection.
The Holy Ghost, through the organ of Mary"s chaste lips, prophesies that all generations shall call her blessed, with evident approval of the praise she should receive.
What a daring prophecy is this! Among the wonderful predictions recorded in Holy Scripture, I can recall none that more strongly commands my admiration. Here is a modest, retiring maiden, living in an obscure village in a remote quarter of the civilized world, openly announcing that every age till the end of time, should p.r.o.nounce her hallowed. We have no reason to question this prophecy, for it is recorded in the inspired pages of the Gospel. And we know also without the shadow of a doubt that the prophecy has been literally fulfilled. For, in every epoch, and in every Christian land from the rising to the setting sun, her _Magnificat_ has daily resounded.
Now the Catholic is the only Church whose children, generation after generation, from the first to the present century, have p.r.o.nounced her blessed; of all Christians in this land, they alone contribute to the fulfilment of the prophecy.
Therefore, it is only Catholics that earn the approval of Heaven by fulfilling the prediction of the Holy Ghost.
Protestants not only concede that we bless the name of Mary, but they even reproach us with being too lavish in our praises of her.
On the other hand, they are careful to exclude themselves from the "generations" that were destined to call her blessed, for, in speaking of her, they almost invariably withhold from her the t.i.tle of _blessed_, prefering to call her _the Virgin_, or _Mary the Virgin_, or _the Mother of Jesus_. And while Protestant churches will resound with the praises of Sarah and Rebecca and Rachel, of Miriam and Ruth, of Esther and Judith of the Old Testament, and of Elizabeth and Anna, of Magdalen and Martha of the New, the name of Mary the Mother of Jesus is uttered with bated breath, lest the sound of her name should make the preacher liable to the charge of superst.i.tion.
The piety of a mother usually sheds additional l.u.s.tre on the son, and the halo that encircles her brow is reflected upon his. The more the mother is extolled, the greater honor redounds to the son. And if this is true of all men who do not choose their mothers, how much more strictly may it be affirmed of Him who chose His own Mother, and made her Himself such as He would have her, so that all the glories of His Mother are essentially His own. And yet we daily see ministers of the Gospel ignoring Mary"s exalted virtues and unexampled privileges and parading her alleged imperfections; nay, sinfulness, as if her Son were dishonored by the piety, and took delight in the defamation of His Mother.
Such defamers might learn a lesson from one who made little profession of Christianity.
"Is thy name Mary, maiden fair?
Such should, methinks, its music be.
The sweetest name that mortals bear, Were best befitting thee.
And she to whom it once was given _Was half of earth and half of heaven_."(248)
Once more the t.i.tle of _blessed_, is given to Mary. On one occasion a certain woman, lifting up her voice, said to Jesus: "Blessed is the womb that bore thee and the paps that gave thee suck."(249) It is true that our Lord replied: "Yea, rather (or yea, likewise), blessed are they who hear the word of G.o.d and keep it." It would be an unwarrantable perversion of the sacred text to infer from this reply that Jesus intended to detract from the praise bestowed on His Mother. His words may be thus correctly paraphrased: She is blessed indeed in being the chosen instrument of My incarnation, but more blessed in keeping My word. Let others be comforted in knowing that though they cannot share with My Mother in the privilege of her maternity, they can partic.i.p.ate with her in the blessed reward of them who hear My word and keep it.
In the preceding pa.s.sages we have seen Mary declared blessed on four different occasions, and hence, in proclaiming her blessedness, far from paying her unmerited honor, we are but re-echoing the Gospel verdict of saint and angel and of the Spirit of G.o.d Himself.
Wordsworth, though not nurtured within the bosom of the Catholic Church, conceives a true appreciation of Mary"s incomparable holiness in the following beautiful lines:
"Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrossed With the least shade of thought to sin allied; Woman! above all women glorified, Our tainted nature"s solitary boast; Purer than foam on central ocean tost, Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon Before her wane begins on heaven"s blue coast, Thy image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween, Not unforgiven, the suppliant knee might bend As to a visible power, in which did blend All that was mixed and reconciled in thee Of mother"s love with maiden purity, Of high with low, celestial with serene."
To honor one who has been the subject of divine, angelic and saintly panegyric is to use a privilege, and the privilege is heightened into a sacred duty when we remember that the spirit of prophecy foretold that she should ever be the unceasing theme of Christian eulogy as long as Christianity itself would exist.
"Honor he is worthy of, whom the king hath a mind to honor."(250) The King of kings hath honored Mary; His divine Son did not disdain to be subject to her, therefore should we honor her, especially as the honor we pay to her redounds to G.o.d, the source of all glory. The Royal Prophet, than whom no man paid higher praise to G.o.d, esteemed the friends of G.o.d worthy of all honor: "To me Thy friends, O G.o.d, are made exceedingly honorable."(251) Now the dearest friends of G.o.d are they who most faithfully keep His precepts: "You are My friends, if you do the things that I command you."(252) Who fulfilled the divine precepts better than Mary, who kept all the words of her Son, pondering them in her heart? "If any man minister to me," says our Savior, "him will My Father honor."(253) Who ministered more constantly to Jesus than Mary, who discharged towards Him all the offices of a tender mother?
Heroes and statesmen may receive the highest military and civic honors which a nation can bestow without being suspected of invading the domain of the glory which is due to G.o.d. Now is not heroic sanct.i.ty more worthy of admiration than civil service and military exploits, inasmuch as religion ranks higher than patriotism and valor? And yet the admirers of Mary"s exalted virtues can scarcely celebrate her praises without being accused in certain quarters of Mariolatry.
When a nation wishes to celebrate the memory of its distinguished men its admiration is not confined to words, but vents itself in a thousand different shapes. See in how many ways we honor the memory of Washington.
Monuments on which his good deeds are recorded are erected to his name.
The grounds in which his remains repose on the banks of the Potomac are kept in order by a volunteer band of devoted ladies, who adorn the place with flowers. And this cherished spot is annually visited by thousands of pilgrims from the most remote sections of the country. These visitors will eagerly s.n.a.t.c.h a flower or a leaf from a shrub growing near Washington"s tomb, or will strive even to clip off a little shred from one of his garments, still preserved in the old mansion, to bear home with them as precious relics.
I have always observed when traveling on the missions up and down the Potomac, that whenever the steamer came to the point opposite Mount Vernon the bell was tolled, and every eye was directed toward Washington"s grave.
The 22nd of February, Washington"s birthday, is kept as a national holiday, at least in certain portions of the country. I well remember that formerly military and fire companies paraded the streets, and that patriotic speeches recounting the heroic deeds of the first President were delivered, the festivities of the day closing with a social banquet.
As the citizens of the United States manifest in divers ways their admiration for Washington, so do the citizens of the republic of the Church love to exhibit in corresponding forms their veneration for the Mother of Jesus.
Monuments and statues are erected to her. Thrice each day-at morn, noon and even-the Angelus bells are rung, to recall to our mind the Incarnation of our Lord, and the partic.i.p.ation of Mary in this great mystery of love.
Her shrines are tastefully adorned by pious hands and visited by devoted children, who wear her relics or any object which bears her image, or which is a.s.sociated with her name.