Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/35

Rh Gospels. The histories of Joachim, Anna, Joseph, and Mary, as contained in the service books of the Romish Church, and in other authoritative works, are mainly founded on the Christian Apocrypha. Such facts show the importance of these documents, and the desirableness of an acquaintance with them. Books of this kind cannot become truly obsolete so long as they lie at the basis of the faith and practice of millions. The work of Maria d'Agreda even, owes no little of its actual vitality in Italy, France, etc., to the free use made in it of the more ancient Apocrypha. The absence of this element may explain the disappearance of such visions as those of Hildegard, Elizabeth, and Matilda, if not those of Huguetinus and Friar Robert, all of which have been printed for the benefit of the faithful. It must be owned with reference to the five last, that we find in them some of the most terrible exposures and denunciations of the crimes of popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, friars, and nuns, and that they would naturally be unpalatable on that account. Hildegard in particular is often simply disgusting, and we should find it hard to believe that a holy woman