The Virgin Mary Misrepresented by the Roman Church, Chapter 1 · Section 5
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 qDe 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 publickly received by the whole Church, till after the Decree of Sixtus IV. in Extravaganti cum praeexcelſa, that is Anno 1476. Petrus de Natalibus rCatalog. 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 sDe arcan. l. 7. c. 5.out of I know not what Martyrology of J. Damaſcen, That the bleſſed Virgin is ſaid to be foreign Pure before her Conception: Though Caniſius tL. 1. de deip. c. 7.is not aſhamed to mention it after him. Baronius uAd Martyr. Rom. Dec. 8.and Bozius xDe 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 yDe 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 zCatal. Sanctorum ubi ſupra., concerning S. Anſelm whilſt he was Prior in Normandy, before he was Arch-Biſhop of Canterbury, That he ſailing to the Parts of Britany, as he was returning, a great Tempeſt put the Ship in extreameſt Danger, ſo that deſpairing of Safety, they betook themſelves to the Help of God and the bleſſed Virgin, and on the ſuddain one cloathed 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 perſwade all he could to do the ſame, informing him that …s Day of her Conception was the Sixth of the Ides 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 aVid. 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 bLombard. 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 threatned Shipwrack, 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 remembred that he had not read that Day the Ladies 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 wouldeſt 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 Ides 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 Mans 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 imployed in, then he is mine; for when you drowned him, he was ſeing my Mattins, 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 Harbour… ▪ Who falling down at her Feet, and asking 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 befel him, and doing as he was commanded.
We are alſo told, cRaynaudus 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, cloathed 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 courſly in his Epiſtle to the Canons of Lyons dEpiſt. 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 ſeem'd 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 hewrote this, which was not then thought of) I am not apt to be moved by ſuch Writings, which are neither back'd 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, Arch-Biſhop, at Oxford An. 1222. it was ordered eConcil. 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 Dioceſs are mentioned, this is left out fThiers. 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 gLib. 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 Apoſtolick Chair. Which, as Thiers obſerves hIbid. p. 323., argues that it was not obſerved in France before that Synod, for then 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 Lyons.) 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 falſly 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, &c. Petrus Cellenſis iLib. 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, array'd in ſnow-white 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 enlightned, not by thee, but by the Father of Lights.
The ſame is the Opinion of Jo. Beleth kDe 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, lRational. divin. offic. l. 7. cap. 7.who, ſhewing 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 Shipwrack, which Story is not Authentick: 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, mS. 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!