Page:Beautifulpearlso00oreirich.djvu/180

 our task — that  of  condensing  into  a  few  pages  the  Life  of  her  who is the  Second  Eve,  the  Mother  of  the  True  Life,  most  dear  to  every one who  holds  Christ  to  be  the  Second  Adam,  the  Messiah,  the Restorer and  Saviour  of  our  race.

The birth-place  of  Mary  was  that  same  town  of  Nazareth,  in Lower  Galilee,  where  was  also  the  home  of  Joseph,  and  where, during the  first  thirty  years  of  His  life,  the  Word  Incarnate  was  to live  in  obscurity  and  toil. S. Justin  Martyr,  himself  a  native  of Palestine,  who  defended  the  faith  by  his  writings  and  died  for  it, within fifty  years  after  the  death  of  S.  John  the  Evangelist,  says, that Mary  was  descended  in  a  direct  line  from  King  David. Her father's name  was  Joachim. The Jewish  writers  give  him  also  the name of  Heli;  the  Arabic  traditions  of  Palestine  and  the  early commentators of  the  Koran  call  him  Imram  or  Amram. His wife's name  was  Anna  or  Hanna,  according  to  these  same  authorities. She was  of  the  tribe  of  Levi.

Of these  two  venerable  personages  S.  John  Damascene  writes  as one  who  is  only  giving  utterance  to  the  living,  uninterrupted  testimony of  the  populations  of  Lower  Galilee,  when  he  eulogizes  their virtues. This universal  veneration,  as  soon  as  the  Christian  Religion was  allowed  to  be  professed  openly,  found  its  expression  in the  churches  erected  in  the  East  under  the  invocation  of  S.  Joachim and S.  Anna. The Emperor  Justinian,  in  550,  had  one  built  in Constantinople,  which  bore  the  name  of  S.  Anna  down  to  the  conquest of  the  city  by  the  Turks. The reverence  thus  paid  from  the beginning of  Christianity  to  the  immediate  ancestors  of  our  Lord, is founded  both  on  their  own  recorded  holiness  of  life  and  on  the  exquisite jealousy  with  which  the  Christian  conscience  watched  over everything nearly  related  to  the  great  fact  of  the  Incarnation. The early heretics  denied  its  reality;  asserted  that  the  body  born  of  the Virgin and  nailed  to  the  cross  was  only  a  shadowy  body,  but  no  substantial human  flesh;  in  a  word,  that  Christ  was  no  true  man,  and only had  the  outward  appearance  of  one. Hence the  scrupulousness with which  every  circumstance  was  examined  that  bore  on  the  all-important  fact  of  His  being  in  very  deed,  "  bone  of  our  bone,  and flesh  of  our  flesh,"  as  well  as  "  True  God  of  True  God."

The veneration  paid  to  His  Mother  and  her  parents  was  reflected on Christ  Himself,  while  it  strengthened  in  the  mind  of  the  believer the faith  in  the  God  made  Man. Hence the  piety,  borne  witness to by  Justinian  at  Constantinople  and  by  S.  John  Chrysostom  at Antioch,  was  the  same  that  inspired  the  youthful  Martin  Luther, long ages  afterward,  to  vow  to  S.  Ann  to  embrace  a  monastic  life. It was  that  which  prompted  the  populations  of  Brittany  to  pay  such devout homage  to  Sainte  Anne  d'Auray,  and  the  first  Canadian colonists to  build,  on  the  shore  of  the  S.  Lawrence,  that  famous chapel before  which,  departing  and  returning,  every  vessel  cast  anchor, in  order  that  the  crew  might  go  thither  to  worship  Jesus,  born of the  Virgin  Mary,  to  beseech,  on  their  journey  across  the  deep, the protection  of  Mary's  sainted  mother,  or  to  thank  her  for  their delivery from  storm  and  shipwreck. All this  was  natural  to  true believers.

It is  said  that  the  child  Mary  was  se.n,  like  Samuel  to  the  pious Anna of  the  Old  Testament,  as  a  reward  to  ardent  prayer  after  long sterility. The Moslem  traditions,  echoing  those  of  the  Galilean populations, affirm  that  the  mother  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  when she first  knew  that  her  prayer  was  heard,  knelt  in  thanksgiving,  and said: "O  Lord,  I  vow  to  consecrate  to  Thee  the  child  which  Thou hast  given  me:  accept  graciously  my  offering,  O  Thou  to  whom everything  is  known." And this  same  voice  of  Arab  tradition, echoing the  constant  belief  of  the  early  Christians  of  Palestine, attests also  the  privilege  claimed  for  Mary  oy  the  Church,  and  solemnly  decreed  as  an  article  of  faith  on  December  8,  1854 — that  of having  been,  by  a  special  application  of  the  saving  grace  of  her Son, preserved  from  the  stain  of  original  sin. This is  what  is  called her "Immaculate  Conception." It was  most  fitting  that  the Second Eve,  the  humble  and  self-sacrificing  parent  of  our  redeemed humanity, should  have  been,  at  the  very  instant  when  soul  and  body were united,  as  free  from  every  stain  of  moral  evil  as  the  first  Eve, when the  Almighty  hand  formed  her  body  from  out  the  substance of sinless  Adam,  and  poured  the  breath  of  life  into  it. Even the Jewish traditions,  long  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  affirmed  the current belief  from  the  days  of  the  Patriarchs  and  from  the  beginning, that  the  stain  of  Adam's  sin  was  not  to  touch  the  Messiah or His  Mother. Mohammed himself  bore  witness  to  the  universal existence of  this  belief  among  the  nations  descended  from  Abraham, whether  Christian  or  not.

Anna's blessed  child  was  born  on  September  8,  in  the  year  of Rome  734,  that  is,  twenty  years  before  the  Christian  era. In the Koran (chapter  iii.),  it  is  said  that  when  the  babe  was  born,  her mother said:  "  O  God,  I  have  brought  into  the  world  a  daughter, and  have  named  her  Miriam  (Mary).  I  place  both  her  and  her posterity  under  Thy  protection;  preserve  them  from  the  designs  of Satan."

The solemn  ceremony  of  naming  a  new-born  babe  was  performed by  the  Jews  on  the  eighth  day  after  the  birth. Hence it  is  that the solemnity  of  the  Holy  Name  of  Mary  is  celebrated  by  the  Church on the  Sunday  within  the  Octave  of  the  Nativity,  or  that  following the 8th  of  September. When the  child  had  attained  her  third  year, her parents,  in  fulfilment  of  their  vow  to  consecrate  her  to  God,  took her from  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem,  and  gave  her  up  to  the  priests  to  be educated  within  the  vast  precincts  of  the  temple,  where  other  children, similarly  dedicated  by  vow  to  the  life  of  Nazarites,  were brought up  together.

From the  first  age  of  Christianity  a  house  was  pointed  out  to  pilgrims and  visitors  as  the  house  of  S.  Ann. Over this  spot,  as  over every other  made  sacred  by  memories  connected  with  our  Lord  and His Mother,  the  faithful  kept  loving  watch  throughout  the  evil  days of Moslem  domination. And we  should  not  forget  that,  inasmuch as S.  Ann  herself  was  held  in  great  reverence  by  the  followers  of the  Koran,  so  when  Jerusalem  fell  into  their  hands,  they  hastened to change  into  a  mosque  or  place  of  Mohammedan  worship,  the  oratory built  on  the  site  by  the  Christians. So did  they  manifest  their veneration for  all  other  places  held  most  dear  by  Christians;  their special regard  for  burial-places  forbidding  them  from  appropriating to their  own  religious  uses  the  church  raised  over  the  Holy  Sepulchre by  S.  Helena. When the  Crusaders  conquered  Jerusalem  and established a  kingdom  in  Palestine,  their  piety  led  them  to  build churches and  monasteries  at  all  spots  in  the  Holy  City  and  throughout the  kingdom  hallowed  by  the  memory  of  our  Lord,  His  Mother, and His  ancestors. Thus they  erected  a  monastery  with  a  church on the  traditional  sit«  of  the  house  of  S.  Ann;  when  Jerusalem fell afterward  into  the  hands  of  Saladin,  the  church  and  monastery became a  mosque,  held  in  very  great  respect  by  its  new  masters.

Even so  near  the  splendid  mosque  of  Omar  (El-Aksa),  which  a this  day  occupies  the  site  of  the  temple,  is  a  smaller  one,  Es-Sakhra ("the   Rock"),    built    on    the   spot  where    Mary  and    the   other maidens, bound  by  Nazarite    vows,   lived  during  their  seclusion. Thus, we  have  monumental   records  recalling  the  childhood  and girlhood of  our  Lady.

The Crusaders  converted  the  humble  chapel  which  stood  on  this " Rock,"  into  a  splendid  church,  surmounted  by  a  gilt  cupola  and  a lofty  cross. Here, then,  was  spent  the  life  of  the  Blessed  Virgin