until her death, leading a life of continual mortification and penance.'P. 216.

We shall refer to the moral tendency of this story by-andby. The sweetness of Mary's name is thus exhibited :

'It is narrated in the life of the Rev. Father Juvenal Ancina, Bishop of Saluzzo, that in pronouncing the name of Mary, he tasted so great and sensible a sweetness, that, after doing so, he licked his lips. We read, also, that a lady at Cologne told the Bishop Marsilius, that, as often as she uttered the name of Mary, she experienced a taste far sweeter than honey. The Bishop imitated her, and experienced the same thing.'-P. 220.

'One day, in the hearing of S. Bridget, Jesus Christ promised his most holy Mother, that he would grant three special graces to those who invoke that holy name (Mary) with confidence: first, that he would grant them perfect sorrow for their sins; second, that their crimes should be atoned for; and, thirdly, strength to attain perfection; and at length the glory of Paradise.-P. 226.

In two of the previous Examples we have seen how sinners were willing to deny God and Jesus Christ, but were saved by refusing to deny their beloved mother, Mary. In the following case we see how much more dear is the name of Mary than the sign of the Cross. There was a young woman, we are told, who was sent to market, and desired to sleep at her aunt's house in the town; but her aunt not giving her a bed, she was not able to get home while daylight continued :—

'Night came on whilst she was on the road, and, in a great passion, she called on the Devil with a loud voice to assist her. She had scarcely done so, when he appeared to her under the form of a man, and promised to help her, provided she would do one thing. "I will do anything," replied the unfortunate creature. "All that I require," said the enemy, "is, that you should no longer make the sign of the Cross, and that you should change your name. "As to the sign of the Cross," said the girl, "I will no more make it, but my name of Mary is too dear to me; I will never change it." "Then I will not help you," said the Devil. At length, after much disputing, it was agreed that she should be called by the first letter of the name of Mary; that is, M. On this arrangement, they started for Antwerp: and there the poor wretch remained with this wicked companion for seven years, leading a most shameful life, and a scandal to all.'-P. 229.

The conclusion of course is, that she is converted by 'having still preserved a spark of devotion towards the mother of God, and so became 'transformed into a happy slave of her benefactress.' Mr. Duffy, as usual, omits the readiness to give up the sign of the Cross, and he also makes the time spent with the Devil at Antwerp, six instead of seven years. The American edition explains the bearing of the story thus, 'A girl rescued from the Devil by one letter of the name of Mary' (p. 792.) There is a tenderness about the following prayer which might very beautiful:

be

--

'O great Mother of God, and my Mother Mary, it is true that I am unworthy to name thee: but thou who lovest me, and desirest my salvation, must, notwithstanding the impurity of my tongue, grant that I may always

invoke thy most holy and powerful name in my aid; for thy name is the succour of the living, and the salvation of the dying. Ah! most pure Mary, most sweet Mary, grant that from henceforth thy name may be the breath of my life. O Lady, delay not to aid me when I invoke thee, for in all the temptations which assail me, and in all my wants, I will never cease calling upon thee, and repeating again and again, Mary! Mary! Thus it is that I hope to act during my life, and more particularly at death, that, after the last struggle, I may eternally praise thy beloved name in heaven, O clement, O pious, O sweet Virgin Mary! Ah, Mary! most amiable Mary! with what consolation, what sweetness, what confidence, what tenderness, is my soul penetrated in only naming, in only thinking of thee!' &c. &c.-P. 231.

We have thus patiently led our readers through the First Part of the Glories of Mary-the Church of Rome's authorized manual, as it may be called, on the subject of the worship of S. Mary-and now we will pause for a few moments and look back on what we have learnt. There are several ways in which we might consider it. We might examine it theologically: Is it true? Or we might deal with it as a moral and religious question: Is it good? The first course would lead us to inquire, Is this really and indeed the Christian religion? The second, Is this teaching such as would produce holy lives and godly affections in those who are subject to it?

We will first make a short investigation into the truth of these statements. Are they part of the Christian faith, or are they that nouvelle foi which the Abbé Laborde exclaims against in the bitterness of his soul? This may be examined into simply as a matter of fact.

Our simple and natural course would be to compare Liguori's teaching with that of Scripture; but we are met on the threshold by the insurmountable difficulty that there is nothing in Scripture which we can take for the purpose of constituting our comparison-nothing positive, we mean, for we find numberless passages which directly and indirectly negative his doctrines. We learn from Liguori that S. Mary is Queen of Mercy (p. 13); that she is the Mother of all mankind (p. 23); that she offered her Son to the Father on Mount Calvary (p. 23); that she is especially the Mother of repentant sinners (p. 42); that she is our Life (p. 52); that God was reconciled with sinners by the humility and purity of Mary (p. 56); that she

1 We are far from using this word in an offensive sense. No Roman Catholic can feel hurt at the use of a word adopted by the Pope. In the decree of Dec. 8th, 1854, Pius IX. urges all Catholics colere, invocare, exorare beatissimam Dei genitri cem, translated as follows by the Tablet (Jan. 27th): ‘Let all the children of the 'Catholic Church most dear to us, hear these our words; and, with a most ardent zeal of piety and love, proceed to worship, invoke, and pray to the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, conceived without original sin.' The head of the Roman Catholic Church, therefore, now urges on his subjects a greater zeal and ardour in the worship of S. Mary than that which S. Alfonso has displayed in the above passages. In the same decree he states that 'the true object of this devotion' is S. Mary's 'Conception.' How that act can be an object of devotion, it passes our comprehension to imagine.

obtains us perseverance (p. 59); that she renders death sweet to her clients (p. 68); that she is our Protectress at the hour of death (p. 71); that she is the Hope of all (p. 79); that she is our only Refuge, Help, and Asylum (p. 81); that she is the Propitiatory of the whole world (p. 81); that she is the one City of Refuge (p. 89); that it is her office to withhold God's arm from chastising sinners until He is pacified (p. 93); that she is the Comfortress of the world, the Refuge of the unfortunate (p. 100); that we shall be heard more quickly if we call on the Name of Mary than if we call on the Name of Jesus (p. 106); that she is our Patroness (p. 106); that she is Queen of Heaven and Hell, of all saints, and all evil spirits, because she conquered the latter by her virtues, and the devil by her fair humility and holy life (p. 110); that she protects us from the Divine Justice and from the devil (p. 115); that at the name of Mary every knee bows and hell trembles (p. 116); that she is the Ladder of Paradise, the Gate of Heaven, the most true Mediatrix between God and man (p. 121); that her intercession is necessary for salvation (p. 122); that she is the Mediatrix of Grace (p. 124); that in her is all hope of life and virtue, all grace of the Way and Truth (p. 125); that in her we find eternal salvation (p. 125); that no one can enter heaven except by her (p. 127); that all graces of the spiritual life are transmitted by Mary (p. 127); that all gifts, virtues, graces, are dispensed by her, to whomsoever, when, and as she pleases (p. 128); that from her the world receives every good (p. 128); that she is the Helper of the Redemption (p. 133); that she and her Son redeemed the world (p. 133); that she is the Co-operator in our Justification (p. 133); that the way of salvation is open to none otherwise than through Mary (p. 135); that God says, 'Go to Mary,' when we seek for grace from Him (p. 136); that the salvation of all depends on the favour and protection of Mary (p. 136); that the other saints intercede with her (p. 138); that she is a tender Advocate; that all power is given unto her in heaven and earth (p. 145); that God obeys the command of Mary (p. 146); that Mary is omnipotent (p. 146); that the whole Church is under the dominion of Mary (p. 146); that what she wills is necessarily done (p. 147); that her prayers have something of a command in them (p. 151); that Jesus Christ is under an obligation to her to grant all she asks (p. 152); that she is the singular Refuge of the lost (p. 156); that she is the Advocate of the whole human race (p. 161); that her chief office in the world is to reconcile fallen souls with God (p. 167); that she is the great Peace-maker who obtains reconciliation, salvation, pardon, and mercy (p. 165); that she is the Throne prepared in mercy (p. 165); that in her is established the seat of God's government (p. 179); that she delivers her

clients from hell (p. 183); that her clients will necessarily be saved (p. 184); that she has sent back many from hell to earth who have died in mortal sins (p. 188); that she consoles, relieves, and succours her clients in Purgatory (p. 195); that she delivers her clients from Purgatory by applying her merits (p. 195); that she carries away from Purgatory all who wear the Carmelite Scapular on the Saturday after they die, provided they have been chaste and have said her office (p. 196); that she does not suffer those who die clothed in the Scapular to go to hell (p. 485); that Mary leads her servants to heaven (p. 198); that she has the key of the Gate of Paradise (p. 199); that she is the Way of our salvation (p. 200); that it is for love of Mary and on account of her merits that God is more merciful under the New than under the Old Dispensation (p. 214); that her powerful intercession sustains the world (p. 214); that she is the Throne of grace to which S. Paul bids us fly (p. 215); that Christ has promised that all who invoke the holy Name of Mary with confidence shall have perfect sorrow for their sins, atonement for their crimes, strength to attain perfection, and shall reach the glory of Paradise (p. 226).

These statements, it will be seen, are taken just as they come, and no attempt has been made to increase their force by anything like artistic arrangement. They are scarcely, if at all, more than average specimens of all the rest of the book. But now what have we in Holy Scripture to compare with them? Comparison, as distinct from contrast, requires the existence of some similitude; but take any passage in which S. Mary is mentioned, from the salutation down to the period after the Ascension, and there is nothing in any way similar. It only remains, therefore, to contrast instead of comparing. But our readers are as well acquainted with Holy Writ as ourselves, and we remit that task to them, only begging them to remember these four things:-1. That S. Mary is represented as she is, and not otherwise, in the Gospels. 2. That she is not mentioned at all in the Acts after the first chapter, or in the Epistles, although S. Paul has entered so minutely into the economy of the Christian scheme of salvation. 3. That Liguori transfers all that prophet and apostle has said of our Lord to S. Mary. 4. That all those passages which speak of the one Mediator between God and man not only ignore, but exclude the modern doctrine.

After Holy Scripture, we look to the testimony of the early Church. Do we find similar statements and a similar tone in the writings of the Fathers of the Church? Are we able to compare, or only to contrast? We will see. The expressions of the Catholic creeds, we need only remind our readers, are similar to those in Holy Scripture. We proceed to the Fathers

of the first century. They are S. Clement, S. Ignatius, and S. Polycarp, and, we may add, Barnabas and Hermas, though the writings attributed to the latter are not their own. S. Clement makes no mention of S. Mary at all, but he does speak of prayers addressed to Jesus Christ, and to God through Jesus Christ. S. Ignatius says nothing of S. Mary, except that there is 'one Physician born from Mary and from God, that the virginity of Mary' and the birth of her Son were mysteries concealed from Satan, that Christ was born of Mary.' He speaks of her in no more exalted terms than these, and his whole doctrine is, that there is but one God, one Mediator, and one Comforter. S. Polycarp makes no mention of S. Mary. Barnabas makes no mention of S. Mary. Hermas makes no mention of S. Mary. During the first century and a half, then, there is not a trace of any prayer or invocation to S. Mary, or of any belief that she is our mediatrix and inter

cessor.

4

3

6

The second century supplies us with the testimony of Justin Martyr, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, S. Irenæus, S. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian. Justin mentions S. Mary three times: Mary drew her origin from Abraham ;'5 'Mary the Virgin having received faith and joy, answered, "Be it unto me according to thy word;"' Joseph taking Him, together with Mary, went into Egypt.'' By his pupil Tatian, by Athenagoras the philosopher, and by Theophilus, her name is not mentioned. In the Latin translation of S. Irenæus, we find the first passage (forgeries apart) which is attempted to be wrested to the support of the modern system. We give it in a note below.8 He never speaks of her in higher terms than 'Mary,' or the 'Virgin Mary.' Clement of Alexandria speaks not a word in her honour. Tertullian represents her as guilty of unbelief.9

The third century gives us the names of Origen, Gregory Thaumaturgus, S. Cyprian, S. Firmilian, Methodius, and Lactantius. Origen never speaks of S. Mary in any higher terms

1

2

Cap. xxi. and xxxvi. Pp. 88 and 124. Ed. Jacobson. Ep. ad Eph. c. vii. p. 274. Ibid. c. xix. p. 290. 5 Trypho, sect. 100, p. 195. Ibid.

Ep. ad Trall. c. ix. p. 336. 'Sect. 102, p. 196.

Etsi ea inobedierat Deo, sed hæc suas a est obedire Deo, uti Virginis Evæ virgo Maria fieret advocata, et quemadmodum astrictum est morti genus humanum per virginem, solvatur per virginem æquâ lance disposita virginalis inobedientia per virginalem obedientiam.' S. Iren. adv. Her. lib. v. c. 19, p. 429. London, 1702. In order to make this applicable, the Dublin Review (June, 1844) writes 'salvatur per Virginem, æquâ,' &c. It is only the change of one letter and a comma. It should be said that this change was first suggested by Grabe in 1702. Bellarmin leaves out the words Virginis Eve, and declares that S. Irenæus represents S. Mary as an Advocate. In this untruth he is followed by the Rev. J. B. Pagani, in a book called 'The End of the World,' which he has just published. Adv. Marc. iv. 19, p. 433. Paris, 1695.