Exposition of the Festival Epistles and Gospels, Explication of epistles and gospels 2 · Part 4

Exposition of the Festival Epistles and Gospels · Explication of epistles and gospels 2 · Part 4

The Gospell.

Lvk. 1.26.

And in the sixth monethmonth, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God, vntounto a City of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a Virgin, &c.

ALmighty God in the twelfth chapter of Exodus, enioyned his people to eate the pascall lambes head and feet and purtenance. Christ is our Pascal lamb, 1. Cor. 5.7. Wherefore wee must as Mary did, anoint Christs zzMat. 26.7.Matt 26:7head & aaIob. 12.3.Job 12:3feet, that is, meditate on his birth and death, on his ingresse into the world, and egresse out of the world. This scripture principally speakes of his birth, and of the purtenance thereof, an euangelicall and angelicall annunciation of his admirable conception.

In which obserue these 4. circumstances especially.

When, In the sixth monethmonth.

Where, In a City of Galilee, named Nazareth.

Who, saluting, Gabriel an Angel sent from God.

Who, saluted, A Virgin espoused, &c.

What, Haile full of grace, &c.

In the sixth monethmonth] That is (as Gabriel expounds himselfe, vers. 36.) in the sixth monethmonth, bbTheophylact. Euthym. in loc.from the conception of Elizabeth. And it is an ccLuther. Melanct. … ost. in loc.argument to perswade Mary that shee may hauehave a sonne, for that her consin Elizabeth had conceiued a child in her old age, by her old husband. Iohn the Baptist ddAretius.(as it is thought) was conceiued about the latter end of September, and Christ according to the Churches account, about the latter end of March. In the very same monethmonth (as eeVide Io. Thom. friegium lib de cosmopaeia.some coniecture) the world was created, and so the second Adam was conceiued, about the time the first Adam was deceiued. For ff1 Cor. 15.22.1 Cor 15:22as in Adam all die: euen so in Christ shall all bee made aliue. The ggQuid lib. 1. sasti.Poet saith of the spring which alwaies beginneth in this monethmonth,

Omnia tune florent, tune est noua temporis atas, & noua de grauido palmite gemma tumet.

And so Christ incarnate making a hhEsa. 65.17.Isa 65:17new heauen and a new earth, ecce ego facio noua, Behold saith the Lord, I make new things, Esay 43.19. See Tho. Caten. & m. Moller in loc. Ludolph. de vita Christi part. 1. cap. 5. Giron. ser. 1. Raulin. ser. 3. Ferus ser. 5. in annun.

The iiTremellius in Exod. 12.Exod 12Iewes for religious vses, and festiuall times counted Nisan the first monethmonth, (kk…atahlus in Exod. 12.Exod 12 which for the most part answereth our March) and so forward; but for ciuill they counted the seuenth the first. It is worth obseruing therefore that the Annunciation vntounto Zacharie was in the beginning of the Ciuill, and this Annunciation vntounto Mary in the beginning of the religious or ecclesiasticall yeere, Teaching vsus hereby that our whole life is onelyonly ciuill, and not truly religious, vntill Christ be conceiued and llGalat 4.19.Gal 4:19formed in vsus, vntill hee mmEphel 3.17.dwels in our heart who nnPsal. 51.10.Ps 51:10reneweth a right spirit within vsus.

The Angel Gabriel was sent from God Gabriel in Hebrew signifies the power of God, a fit ambassadour for such an errand, because the conception of Christ, and through it the redemption of the world is called expresly the strength of Gods arme, Luk. 1.51. ooLuther past. in loc.EueryEvery Preacher of the Gospell ought to follow this example, for his commission, he must bee sent from God: and in execution of it, hee must bee Gabriel that is, a man of good courage, powerfull in doctrine and exhortation. An Angel was sent about this businesse, and not a man for sundry reasons, especially thice.

1. ppThom. pert. 3. …. 3. …. 2.That our humane nature might bee repaired after the manner it was ruinated, as a serpent was sent by the diuell vntounto Eua to worke our woe: so Gabriel an Angel was sent from God vntounto Mary, to bring glad tidings of our weale. qqPulgeatius de …. Christ.Ad Euam angelus malus accessit vt per eam homo separaretur … Deo, ad Asariam angelus banus venit vt in ea Deus vmretur homini.

2. An Angell sent vntounto a Virgin, rr…because Virgins are as Angels, according to that of ss… 10.…. C…elibatus qua i c…lobeatus. And ttMat. 22.30.Matt 22:30Christ also saith, in the resurrection when there shall be no more marrying, that we shal be then as the Angels of God in heauen.

3. To uuGiron con. 1. ….shew that Angels are ministring spirits sent forth to minister for their sakes who shall bee heires of saluation, Heb. 1.14: and therfore seeing we hauehave such a guard attending vsus on eueryevery side. we xx…. Angels.should do whatsoeuer we doe, in a reuerent and seemely fashion, alway remembring that wee are made a spectacle to men and Angels, 1. Cor. 4.9.

VntoUnto acity of Galilee, named Nazaret] The Iewes held this country and city so yy….contemptible, that the zzIob. 7.51.Job 7:51Pharisies said of the one, out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet. And aaIoh. 1.46.John 1:46Nathaniel of the other, Can there any good thing come out of Nazaret? Heere then obserue that euen Pharisies and learned men may be deceiued, as also that God is not tied vntounto any place, but his spirit bbIoh. 3.8.John 3:8bloweth where it listeth. And therefore we may not iudge of men either by then countrie or county; Ioseph and Mary liued in Nazaret a city of Galilee: good people though they dwell in bad parishes and places, are the same. Mytically Nazaret is by interpretation a ccLudolphus de vita Christ. part. 1 cap. 5. & Beauxam…s har. ful 22.flower; it was fit therefore that he (which is the ddCant. 2.1.Song 2:1lilie of the vallies, and the rose of the wild) should be conceiued in flore. i. in Nazaret: de flore. i. de beata virgine: cum floribus, i. tempore florum, in the spring or flower time. Galilee was the marches of the Iewes, abutting and adioyning neere to the countrie of the Gentiles, and so eeBonauent. Beauixamis.Christs conception in Galilee doth insinuate, that in him all the nations of the world shall be blessed, Gen. 22.18. And that hee should breake downe the stop of the partition wall, and to make the Iewes and the Gentiles both one, Ephes. 2.14: or Galilee signifieth an end or confine; so Christ a Galilean is the end of the law, Rom. 10.4. See this and many moe like this, apud pont. in sed. annun.

To a Virgin espoused to a man whose name was Ioseph] Mary though a Virgin was affianced to Ioseph of the house of Dauid for sundry causes: … left her selfe should be iudged an ffHieron. aduers. Helind. & Aret. in loc.adulteresse, and so stoned to death according to Moses law.

2. Left her sonne should be reputed a ggAmbros lib 2. in Luc. cap. 1.Luke 1bastard, and so consequently not admitted for the Messias. He who came into the world not to hhMat. 5.17.Matt 5:17destroy the law, but to fulfill all righteousnesse, Matth. 3.15: would not himselfe be borne vnlawfully.

3. iiBasil. hom. de … Christi ….That Christ heereby might honour both estates, of maiden head, and marriage; of maiden head, in that shee was a Virgin; of marriage, because she was espoused.

4. That Ioseph might be to her selfe and her sonne a kkTheophylact. Eathym.curator and a guardian in the time of trouble; for so we reade in the second chapter of S. Matthew, that the Angell of the Lord appeared to Ioseph in a dreame, saying, Arise, and take the babe and his mother, and flee into Egypt, &c. Againe, arise, and take the babe and his mother, and goe into the land of Israel, &c.

5. That her husband might llBasil. … Cap.witnesse her virginity. mmBernard, Rom. 2. … Angelus.Rom 2Sicut Thomas dubitando, palpando, constantissimus factus est Dominicae confessor resurrectionis: Ita & Ioseph Mariam sibi desponsando, eiusi… conuersationem in temp…re cuiodie sindiosius comprebando. factus est pudicitiae fidelissimus testos. Pulchra viriusque rei conuenientut & dubitatio Thomae, & desponsa…ia Mariae. See Bernard vbi in marg. Beauxam. har. Tom. 1. fol. 22. Maldonat. in Mat. 1. Sixt. seuen. Bib. lib. 6. annot 64.

Of the house of Dauid S. Luke sets downe the names of so many places and persons exactly, that wee might attend his relation more diligently. nn….Noluit nos negligenter audire, quod tam diligenter sinduit enarrare. Because Christ is the promised seed and sonne of Dauid, Mary was espoused to Ioseph of the house of Dauid. ooHieron …. & Aret. ….Hereby shewing her owne petegree by her husbands genealogie; for the Iewes according to pp…. 36.Gods law were to take wiues out of their owne tribes. Dauid is …iled a man according to Gods owne heart, Act. 13.22. And so Ioseph, a man of Dauids house was a man according to Gods owne hart, to whom he did reueale qq…. & ….Secret… … atque sacratisimum sui cordis arcanum, a mysterie which rr1. Cor. 2.7.1 Cor 2:7none of the Princes of this world vnderstood. And Mary being thus affianced to Ioseph she proue in good housewife, being in this respect like the Snaile which this …. She was not of the tribe of … ss…. 5.13.busy gossip …ing about from house to house, pro…ing and speaking things which are not comely: …; (as almost all … vponupon the words of our text, … thee was within, either at her holy deuotion, or at her daily worke.

I come now to the salutation it selfe. Haile Mary, &c. the which (as Luther said of the Pater noster) is made by the Papists a very great Martyr. I purpose therefore to demonstrate these two points especially: First, their foule abuse: secondly, the true vse of Aue Maria. The Papists iniurie this angelicall salutation

in Groce, by misconstruing the whole sentence ioyntly.

in Parcell, abusing eueryevery particular word seuerally.

For the first they patch it vp together by fetching in other stitches out of other places, as ttLuk 1.42.Luke 1:42blessed is the fruit of thy wombe, and adding the name, Maria, Iesus, amen. And all this that it may be repeated often vponupon their beades, as a maine point of holy deuotion, and why so? uuRhom. in loc.because forsooth it was vsed by the Greeke Church in their Masse daily, for so they find it recorded in the Liturgies of S. Iames, and Chrysostome. xxD^r. Fulke in loc. & Mornaeus de sac. Eucharist. lib. 1. cap. 2.Our answere is, that those Liturgies are counterfeit, the one being a sufficient consutation of the other. For if the Greeke Church had a Liturgie written by S. Iames the blessed Apostle, who would imagine that Chrysostome would hauehave made a new; and if Chrysostome had penned a Liturgie, he would not hauehave made a prayer for Pope Nicholas, who liued almost fiue hundred yeeres after him, and for the Emperour Alexius, who liued seuen hundred yeeres after him. It were very much (as B. yyArt. priuate Masse diuis. 5.Iewell obiected against D. Harding) to say Chrysostome prayed for men by name so many hundred yeeres before they were borne.

But to trace the Papists a little neerer euen from step to step, if Aue Maria bee a prayer, it must either bee a prayer for Mary, or to Mary. It cannot be a prayer for Mary, whether wee consider the words as vttered by Gabriel while shee liued: or as babled by them now shee is dead. If in her life shee was full of grace, and zz….free from all sinne as they teach impiously; then assuredly she did not need any prayer of man or Angell, as abounding with all mercy, and abandoning all misery, much lesse now being a Saint in heauen, and (as they would hauehave vsus to beleeue) a queen of heauen, ouerruling and commanding Christ himselfe to shew mercy on such as she will hauehave mercy.

As Aue maria could not be a prayer for Mary, so it should not be a prayer to Mary, because praying to Saints hath in Gods holy bible aa…neither precept, nor praise, nor paterne. Not to dispute this point, Eckius a …ancke pay…st acknowledgeth in his bb…Enchiridon that innocation of Saints is not inioyned in the Scriptures expresly, not in the old Testament, because the Patriarkes and the Prophets afore the comming of Christ (as the Church of Rome beleeues) were not in heauen but in limbo. Not in the new testament, least happily the Gentiles lately conuerted vntounto the faith of one God, should instantly returne to the worshipping of many Gods; as the men of Lycaonia would hauehave sacrificed vntounto Paul and Barrabas, Acts 14 cc… 190Petrus Asoto likewise, and other Romanists of most eminent note for learning confesse, that praying vntounto Saints is not taught in Gods booke plainly, but insinuated only. So that (as ddApol… consist. Aug. l. 1 con …. sol. 102.Melancthon obserues) the Papists are saine to ride post vntounto the Court for an example. We cannot come to the Princes presence, but by the mediation of some fauourite: in like sort (say they) we must exhibite our petitions vntounto Peter, or Paul, especially to Mary; that she may commend them vntounto Christ her sonne: God himselfe hath answered this idle conceit for vsus, Osea 11.9 I am God, and not man, the holy one in the mids of thee: and Esay 55.8. My wayes are not as your wayes, &c. Earthly princes out of necessity must employ many mediatours and officers about them, as tongues and eares and eyes vntounto them: but the King of heauen is all eye, and all eare, seeing, hearing, vnderstanding all things, euen the very secrets of our hearts afore we speake: your heauenly father (saith our eeMat. 6.8.Matt 6:8Sauiour) knoweth whereof ye hauehave need, before ye aske of him. Againe ffMelanct. & Clementius vli ….p.if a King appoint a master of Requests, he wil not ordinarily receiue petitions from other: and therefore seeing the King of Kings is pleased to make Christ our only gg1 Tim. 2.5.1 Tim 2:5mediatour and hh1. Ioh. 2.1.1 John 2:1aduocate, the sole master of the requests in heauen iiHeb. 7.25.Heb 7:25euer liuing to make intercession for vsus; it cannot bee but dishonourable to Gods choice, and Christs office, to substitute any other halfe mediatours either of redemption or intercession, as Saint Ambrose, com. in Rom. 1. Misera vtantur excusatione, dicentes per istos posse ire ad Deum, sicut per comites peruenitur adregem. Yea but although Aue Maria bee not a supplication, it may be taken as a thankesgiuing, and that is a kind of prayer, according to that of kk1. Tim. 2.1.1 Tim 2:1Paul, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giuing of thanks bee made for all men, &c. Answere is made that it is not a thankesgiuing and if it were, yet should it not bee babled vntounto Mary, but vttered vntounto God, as llLuther post. in loc.conteining his praise to whom all honour is due, king dome, power and glory. Well, Aue Maria notwithstanding all this may be vsed as a salutation: our answere is noe for that a salutation is ciuil, whereas the Papists appoint this to be said as a religious office. 2. Salutations are to persons present, but the vergine is absent, and therefore the Papists may not, nay the Papists indeed cannot vse these words in the same sense they were deliuered by Gabriel and Elizabet; that there should bee ten Anemaries to one Pater noster, and that 150. Auemaries with fifteene Pater nosters make a Ladies psalter, and that after the Pater noster which Christ himselfe taught vsus by his owne mouth, mmBellermin. …at. exposit. Aue Maria.Aue Maria is the most excellent prayer, and that in nnIedesina. cat. cap. ….it we speake with the mother of God as the Queene of heauen and our aduocate; is now knowen in the world to be such intollerable soppery, that (as ooEpist. ad …usepho. aduersai Pelagianos.Hierome said of … heresies) a repetition of it is a sufficient refutation.

I know that reuerend Foxe in his Calender of Saints annexed to his Martyrology cals the blessed Virgin our Lady, and the Church of England also tenneth vsually this present feast our Ladies day: but herein we doe not (as the Papists) ascribe to the Virgin pp…. Fulk. in Mat. 1.Matt 1any diuine honour, making her our Lady as God is our Lord. It is a ciuill vse not a religious office, for in a holy seufe to speake properly there is but one Lord, and neuer a Ladye, qq… 4.5.one Lord, one faith, one baptisme: or the Virgine is stiled our Lady, because she was (as Elizabet cals her) the mother of our Lord, Luke 1.43.

Hitherto concerning the wrong done by the Papists in grosse to the haile Mary, let vsus examine now their iniuting of eueryevery word in particular, the first is foreign, which they transtate Aue, turning vpside downe the letters of Eua, the woman who did occasion the worldes woe, was named Eua, rrAugustin de … …er. 4. ….therefore it was fit that Mary who bare Christ, the worlds ioy, should be saluted with Aue; being opposite in name so well as in nature, this playing vponupon the word is pretie, but not pithie, because Aue is latine, whereas Eua is Hebrew, and foreign greeke, so that the Fryars wit hath out runne the holy spirits wisedome in this exposition and transposition of Eua and Aue. The Greeke predicant ssCor. 2. insesio. … vide & ride.Illephonso Giron obserues in the three letters of Aue the three persons in holy Trinity. A, altitudo patris: V, veritas filty: E, aeternitas spiritus sancti. ttDicz. Pet. de …Some Fryers hauehave profoundly deriued Aue of (A) priuatiuely taken, and ve, quasi sine va, that is without woe: now there is a threefold woe denounced. Apocalips 8.13. Vae, vae, vae ix colis terrae, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, and this woe is for sinne in the world, as the uu1. Iohn. 12.16.lust of the flesh, the lust of the e…es, and pride of life. Woe to the couetous, woe to the luxurious, woe to the proud: all which Esay sets downe in his 5. Chapter expresly. Woe to them that ioyne house to house, and field to field, till there be no more place for other in the mids of the land, &c. that is a woe to the couetous: Woe to them that rise vp early to follow drunkennesse, &c. that is a woe to the luxurious: woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, &c. that is a woe to the proud, xxRaulin. ser. 1… in annun. do….now the Virgin as being poore, chast, and humble, was exempted from all these woes; & therefore worthily saluted by Gabriel with an Aue: or as yyAugustin. de 1. conissa. ser 2. de Aue Maria.other popish expositors, inhabitants of the earth hauehave deserued a woe for their originall sin, and that is the woe which is in Limbus: a woe for their venial sin, and that is the woe which is in Purgatory: a woe for their mortall sinne, and that is the woe which is in hell: but Mary the Virgine (say they) was free from all these kindes of sinne, and so consequently free from all these kindes of woe; the which assertion is contradictory to the text of holy scripture concluding all vnderunder sinne, Rom. 3.9. Galat. 3.22. Yea but say zzTom. 2. in 3. Thom. disp. 2. sect. 4.Suarez and aaDe amiss. grat. & stat. per. l. b. 4. cap. 15.Bellarmine, Mary was exempted ex speciali Dei priuilegio: let them if they can shew her patent, and wee will instantly beleeue it, otherwise, Gods word is a lanterne to our feet, and a guide to our pathes: if either man or Angell preach a new Gospell, let him be bbGalat. 1.8.Gal 1:8accursed. That Mary was a blessed Virgine, and the mother of the worlds Sauiour; we beleeue, because we read so: but that she was impeccabilis, conceiued without sinne, borne without sinne, liuing without sinne, dying without sinne, we doe not beleeue, because we do not read it in the Bible, nay we reade the contrary, for Mary saith in her hymne, my spirit reioyceth in God my Sauiour, &c. If she needed a Sauior, vndoubtedly she was a sinner, for the whole need not a physitiā, Mat. 9.12. and therefore the popish annotation of Aue thus applied vntounto the virgin is both vnlearned and vntrue.

The next word is Maria, the which is so magnified and extolled by the Romanists as that King ccDiez. con. 1. in incarnat.Alphonso the sixt would not hauehave his wife called by that high and venerable name. ddDom. ser. de annun. B. Maria.Petrus de Palude (whose wit as it should seeme dwelt in a sen) hath this muddy conceit the fiue letters of Maria, designe the fiue singular priuiledges almightie God granted vntounto the Virgine (M) mater omnia sanctorum, (A) aduocata omnium peccatorum, (R) regula omnium morum & virtutuos, (I) interfectrix omnium vitiorum, (A) harmonia spiritus sancti donorum. The Portugal Frier and flower Philip Diez, approued by Didacus Caro, Dominicus Bannes, and other great Clearkes of Spaine for an exquisite preacher, ee…word.…affirmes that Maria is compounded of the first letters in the names of fiue most illustrious and holy women in all the Scripture, Michel, Abigail, Rachel, Iudith, Abishag. Hauing all their eminent qualities in her nature, and all their prime letters in her name, taking (M) from Michol, (A) from Abigail, (R) from Rachel, (I) from Iudith, (A) from Abishag. I must here quit Philip Diez with an olde time which vndoeth his name with a great deale more wit.

Phi not a fetoris, Lippus malus omnibus horis,

Phi malus & Lippus, t…tus malus ergo Philippus.

Saint ff… 1….Ambrose faith of the Diuel, that hee is nox, and gg… 66. in …word.…Bernard of bad diuines that they be tenebrae munde, I am vnwilling to lay the nox vponupon Diez, but his obscure foppery deserues I thinke verily Bernards tenebrae.

Well, as the Friers hauehave taught vsus how to spell Maria, so let them informe likewise what it signifieth, hhSer. 5. de Aue Maria.A… g… …in. de Leoni …a faith acutely, Maria quasi Maria, for as in the sea there is a iiGe…. 1.10.gathering together of all waters: euen so in the Vergine a congregation of all vertues. Againe, as kkDeclessiaster 1.7.all riuers come from the seas and returne to the seas againe: so likewise all grace is deriued from Mary, and ought to be returned againe to Mary, for she for sooth (if you will beleeue the Church of Rome in our publique deuotions) is ll…mater grat…e & wisericor… the mother of mercies, and goddesse of all grace, Christ is the head, but Mary (saith mm… 4. …Ozorius the Iesuit) is the necke. Now whatsoeuer descendeth into the whole body from the head is conueled by the necke, so whatsoeuer blessing or fauour is conserred vponupon other is conueied thorow the hands of the Virgin. nnAitemstair. …. Theolog. in verb. Maria.Vi si quid gratiae, si quid spei, si quid salut is in alias redundauerit, non nisiper mamus Mariae transierit, &c. And therefore most of their schollers vsually begin their sermons and writings with an Aue Maria, and end them with Iaus Virgini. Their voluminous Historiographer Cardinall Baronius, concludeth his 1. Tom. of Annales imprinted at Antwerp, an. 1597. Sanctissimae Virgini Mariae vt hae omnia accepta fecimus, it a pariter & osserimus: That is, as I hauehave receiued al from the most holy Virgin Mary, so likewise I returne all to her againe. Cardinall Bellarmine also doth annex this postscript vntounto the 1. Tom. of his Controuersies imprinted Lugdun. an. 1587. and vntounto Tom. 2. Ingol…tad. 1591. laus deo, virginique matri Mariae. And ooApud Dr. Morton Apolog. cat. part. 1. pag. 321.other setting the cart before the horse, laus beatae Virgini & Iesu Christo. It is well if Christ hauehave the second place, if any place, when his mother Mary commeth in place. These are the positions, in some respects as blasphemous as the worst in the Turks Alcoran. And these their practises, as idolatrous as any we find in the Pagans schoole.

The third word is, foreign, which they translate gratia plena, full of grace. And hence ppAugustin. de leonissa ser. 8. de Aue Maria.they collect a threefold plenitude of grace in Mary, to wit, a fulnesse in regard of

Multitude, abounding with all kinds of grace.

Magnitude, as hauing the greatest in the greatest measure.

Latitude, exercising them in earth, heauen, hell.

All which is to shew, that whereas other holy Saints and seruants of God had grace by measure: Mary like to Christ was endued with grace beyond measure, being medium & causa gratiae, as qqApud Chemnit. part. 3. examin. Tit. de sanct. inuocat. pag. 147.Antoninus and Albertus impiously teach.

Yet some rr…aictan. Iansen. Giron.popish interpretors as well as Protestants obserue that foreign, signifieth gratificata, ssBezagratis ditect. 1.freely beloued as the Geneua translation. Or as our new, highly fauoured, or much graced, one which hath ttMunster. Caluin.obtained, and is uuA…etias.adorned with grace. xxCul…n. con. 1. in …word.… annun.Not one that giues grace, but receiues; yyTheophylact.as Gabriel in the 30. verse construeth himselfe, thou hast found fauour with God. And so Saint Paul expounds this word, Ephes. 1.6. God hath predestinated vsus to be adopted through Iesus Christ vntounto himselfe, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, foreign, wherewith he hath made vsus accepted in his beloued. And gratiosus in Latine doth import a fauorite which is graced out of his friends abundant louelove, rather then one who merits fauour out of his owne worth, as Caluin and Erasmus in their annotations vponupon this text accurately.

But suppose the translation be good, and that we may reade as indeed our ttMalegit. Ambros. …word.… & Augustin … chirid. cap. 36. & ser. 13.14.15. de tempore.Communion booke doth here, full of grace. Yet the popish annotation is false; for it is recorded in this present chapter, that Iohn the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zacharie were ful of the holy Ghost, and aaAct. 6.8.Acts 6:8elsewhere that S. Stephen was full of faith and of power, and the seuen Deacons full of wisedome, Act. 6.3. and that the blessed Apostles were filled with the holy Ghost, Act. 2.4. All these were full of grace, yet they receiued it by measure. So that as their owne bbMa…on…t. in … idem Ianst …. con. cap. 3.Iesuite obserues truly, Maria suit gratia plena in se, non à se, Mary was full of grace in her selfe, but not of her selfe. Fountaines are full of water, and riuers are full of water, and brookes are full of water: Christ is full of grace as the fountaine, but Mary full of grace as a riuer issuing from the fountaine of grace. Shee was a vertuous woman, yet a woman; a sinner, not a sauiour; one that was endued with excellent grace, not by her owne merit, but by Gods especiall mercy. ccMarlorat. in. loc. Cul…an. …word.… 2. isset. annun.Therefore full of grace, because the Lord is with thee.

The dd….Papists abuse likewise dominus tecum, in making it an extraordinary salutation vnheard in the world before. Whereas Boaz vsed the same to the reapers, the Lord be with you, Ruth. 2.4. And a glorious Angell to Gedeon. Iudg. 6.12. The Lord is with thee thou valiant man. And the Psalmographer insinuates the commonnesse of this phrase among Gods people, Psal. 129.8. They which goe bye, say not so much as the Lord prosper you. But why should I fish any longer in the popish puddle; you may see by that which I hauehave deliuered already, that the Friers and Iesuites hauehave made ee2. Cor. 2.17.2 Cor 2:17merchandise of Aue Maria, both in parcell, and in groce. Let vsus now come out of Babell into Gods city, from their foule abusing of this Scripture to the true construction of the same. Note then in Gabriels saluting of Mary two things especially, to wit, his

Formes, Hale, the Lord with thee.

Titles, full of grace, blessed among women.

And because both are double, wee may learne that these Christian complements are not to be neglected or omitted. A glorious Angell saluted a poore Virgin; superiours ought to salute inferiours, and inferiours to reuerence superiours, and all out of louelove to respect one another. See Gosp. Sund. 6. after Trinity.

2. This angelicall Aue teacheth vsus to vse good formes in saluting, not such as are idle, prophane, vnsauourie. Not a pox, instead of haile: nor the diuell take you, for the Lord be with you; not a curse, but a blessing; Haile, full of grace, blessed art thou among women.

3. We must vse salutations as sent from God, and not according to the worlds fashion only. For some ffPsal. 38.3.Ps 38:3speake friendly to their neighbors, but imagine mischiefe in their hearts. ggMat. 16.49.Matt 16:49Iudas had an hade master, as well as Gabriel an haile Mary. Christians in their complements ought to be hearty, not hollow. See Gospell Sund. 4. after Trinity.

Haile, the Greeke, foreign signifieth (as hhAnnot. in loc.Erasmus obserues) gaudere, saluere, valere. If wee take it in the first acception, it is Gabriels giuing of the ioy to Mary. Teaching vsus to wish much ioy to the good, and to labour for true ioyes in our selues, alway reioycing in the Lord, Philip. 4.4. If in the two latter, health is a good blessing of the Lord, to bee desired in our owne selues, and for our other selues in this world, without which all our whole life is but a lingring death. O Lord grant thy seruant health and heauen. It was good for iiPsal. 19.71.Ps 19:71Dauid that he was in trouble: so likewise it is good for the health of our soule that our body bee sometime sicke. kk…Affliction is the true purgatorie of the flesh; ll…infirmit as carnus vigoremmentis exacuit. VponUpon this ground mm…word.… de legenias lib. …word.…Plato scared his Academie at Athens in an vnhealthy place. We must especially wish haile to the soule, praying alwaies, Vi sit mens s…na in corpore sano.

The Lord with thee] nn…span.…Some construe this clause by way of enunciation affirmatiuely, the Lord is with thee. oo…span.…Other imprecator…e, by way of a good wish or salutation, the Lord be with thee. They who take this affirmatiuely, make it a reason of Maries haile, reioyce Mary, because full of grace, because the Lord is with thee, because blessed among women. God is ppBeau…amis in loc.in beat is per gloriam in electis per gratiam, in assumpta carne per vnionem, in omnibus per prouidentiam: sed in virgine per supereminentem quandam op…ratiouem. As if Gabriel should hauehave said, I am sent from God, and so the Lord is with me: but he is with thee much more. The Lord is in mee, because hee made mee: but with thee, because within thee, because he shall bee borne by thee. qq4. …word.… sec. 18. de temp…e.Is a domenies est secum …t is in corde tuo, sit in vtero tuo, adempleat mentem tuam, adempleat car…m …. God the son is with thee, for thou shalt conceiue him in thy wombe: God the holy Ghost is with thee, for the holy Ghost shall come vponupon thee, and the power of the most highest all ouershadow thee. God the father is with thee, making his sonne thy sonne. rr…span.…Demmus silim tecum, quem c…t ne tua indu… dominus spiritus sanctus, de quo concipis: & dominus pater, qui genuit quem concipis. But I follow their iudgement which vnderstand this imprecatorie, because the blessed Virgin her selfe tooke it so, vers. 29. She cast in her mind what manner of salutation that should bee, ergo, all the words spoken by Gabriel vntounto her hitherto were ssCaietan.salutatorie.

Blessed art thou among women] In comparison, or ttAretius.aboue other women happie. The like phrase is vsed, Iudg. 5.24. Iael the wife of Heber the Kenite shall be blessed aboue other women. It doth insinuate that Mary was highly fauoured of God, as also that she shall be praised of men throughout all generations. Elizabeth expounds Gabriel in this present chapter, at the 4…. verse, Blessed art thou among women, because the fruit of thy wombe is blessed: and uuWbisupra.Bernard expounds Elizabeth, Non quia tu benedicta, ideo benedictus fructus ventris …i: sed…y…tia ille te praeuenit in benedictionibus dulcedinis, ideo …ubened…cta. Mary was blessed of God, in that she was chosen to bee the mother of God. Other women hauehave bin and are the daughters of God, but Mary was both a daughter and a mother. The one is a speciall fauour, the other a singular honour, and Mary was blessed in respect of both. Albeit we doe not beare Christ bodily, yet if wee spiritually beare him in our heart by faith, it is a great mercy, which wee must acknowledge both in our selues and others. xxMat. 12.50.Matt 12:50For he that doth the will of God is a brother, and a sister, and a mother vntounto Christ. As Mary was highly graced of God, so she was, and is, and shall bee magnified of men. And from hence we may learne that there is a time to commend, so well as to condemne, namely, 1. when the party praised needeth encouragement: 2. when his gifts extolled are most excellent and eminent, as in Mary fulnesse of grace. 3. When he that is commended hath the grace to giuegive the glory to God, acknowledging himselfe to be freely beloued, & therfore blessed. 4. When the party praising doth it as Gabriel heere, not to flatter men, but to magnifie God.

I hauehave spoken of three remarkeable persons in this Gospell, of the party sending, God: of the party sent, Gabriel and Angel of the party to whom he was sent, A Virgin whose name was Mary, full of grace, blessed among women. It remaineth I should now treate of the partie to whom all this annunciation was, and that is man. For all this was said, and all that followeth in our text was done for vsus men and our saluation. I will heere briefly glosse this Gospell in the words of yyApud Do… misec. ser. de annun. B. MariaBernard, Felix est qui mittiter, felix à quo mittitur, felix ad quam mittitur, vt home fiat felix pro quo mittitur.

Wee beseech thee Lord, powre thy grace into our hearts, that as we hauehave knowne Christ thy sonnes incarnation by the message of an Angel; so by his Crosse and passion wee may bee brought vntounto the glory of his resurrection through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.