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the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. This at least is the common opinion among scholars, though it would perhaps be dangerous to speak too positively. Evidence regarding the popular practice of the early centuries is almost entirely lacking, and while on the one hand the faith of Christians no doubt took shape from above downwards (i. e. the Apostles and teachers of the Church dehvered a message which the laity accepted from them with all docihty),stiU indications are not lacking that in matters of sentiment and devo- tion the reverse process sometimes obtained. Hence, it is not impossible that the practice of invoking the aid of the Mother of Christ had become more famihar to the more simple faithful some time before we discover any plain expression of it in the vvTitings of the Fathers. Some such hypothesis would help to explain the fact that the evidence afforded by the catacombs and by the apocryphal literature of the early centuries seems chronologically in advance of that which is preserved in the conternporaneous writings of those who were the authoritative mouth- pieces of Christian tradition.

Be this however as it may, the firm theological basis, upon which was aftera'ards reared the edifice of Marian devotion, began to be laid in the first century of our era. It is not without significance that we are told of the Apostles after the Ascension of Christ, that "all these were persevering with one mind in prayer with thewomen, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren" (Acts, i, 14). Also attention has rightly been called to the fact that St. Mark, though he tells us nothing of our Christ's childhood, nevertheless describes Him as "the son of Mary" (Mark, vi, 3; cf. McNabb m "Journ. Theol. Stud.", VIII, 448), a circumstance which, in view of certain known peculiarities of the Second EvangeHst, greatly emphasizes his belief in the Virgin Birtli. The same mystery is insisted upon by St. Ignatius of Antioch, who, after describing Jesus as "Son of Mary and Son of God", goes on to tell the Ephesians (cc. 7, 18, and 19) that "our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived in the womb of Mary according to a dispensation of the seed of David but also of the Holy Ghost", and he adds: "Hidden from the prince of this world were the virginity of Mary and her child-bearing and likewise also the death of the Lord — three mysteries to be cried aloud". Aristides and St. Justin also use exphcit language concerning the Virgin Birth, but it is St. Irenffius more especially who has deserved to be called the first theologian of the Virgin Mother. Thus he has drawn out the parallel between Eve and Mary, urging that, "as the former was led astray by an angel's discourse to fly from God after transgressing His word, so the latter by an angel's discourse had the Gospel preached unto her that she might bear God, obeying His word. And if the former had disobeyed God, yet the other was persuaded to obey God : that the Virgin Mary might become an advocate for the virgin Eve. And as mankind was bound unto death through a virgin, it is saved through a virgin; by the obedience of a virgin the disobedience of a virgin is compen- sated" (Iren., V, 19; cf. Durand, "L'Enfance de Jesus Christ", 29 sq.). No one again disputes that the clause "born of the Virgin Mary" formed part of the primitive redaction of the Creed, and the lan- guage of TertulUan, Hippolytus, Origen etc. is in thorough conformity with that of Irensus; further, though writers like 'TertuUian, Hevidius, and possibly Hegesippus disputed the perpettial virginity of Mary, their more orthodox contemporaries affirmed it. It was natural then that in this atmosphere we should find a continually developing veneration for the .sanc- tity and exalted privileges of Mary. In the paintings of the catacombs more particularly, we begin to appreciate the exceptional position that she began, from an early period, to occupy in the thoughts of the faithful. Some of those frescoes, representing

the prophecy of Isaias, are believed to date from the first half of the second century (Wilpert, "Die Maler- eien der Katakomben ", pi. 21 and 22). Three others which represent the adoration of the Magi are a century later. There is also a remarkable but very much mutilated bas-rehef, found of late years at Carthage, which may be probably assigned to the time of Constantine (Delattre, "CultedelaS. Vierge", 10-13). More starthng is the evidence of certain apocryphal writings, notably tiiat of the so-ca.lled Gospel of St. James, or "Protevangelion". The earlier portion of this, which evinces a deep veneration for the purity and sanctity of the Blessed Virgin, and which affirms her virginity in partu el post parlum, is generally considered to be a work of the second century. Similarly, certain interpolated passages found in the SibylUne Oracles, passages which proba- bly date from the third century, show an equal pre- occupation with the dominant role played by the Blessed Virgin in the work of redemption (see espe- ciaUy II, 311-12, and VIII, 357-479). The first of these passages apparently assigns to the intercession "of the Holy Virgin" the obtaining of the boon of seven days of eternity that men may find time for repentance (cf. the Fourth Book of Esdras, vii, 28- 33). Further, it is quite hkely that the mention of the Blessed Virgin in the intercessions or the diptychs of the hturgy goes back to the days before the Council of Nicsea, but we have no definite evidence upon the point, and the same must be said of any form of direct invocation, even for purposes of private devotion.

The Age of the Falhers. — The existence of the obscure sect of the CoUyridians, whom St. Epiphanius (d. 403) denounces for their sacrificial offering of cakes to Mary, may fairly be held to prove that even before the Council of Ephesus there was a popular veneration for the Virgin Mother which threatened to run extravagant lengths. Hence Epiphanius laid down the rule: "Let Mary be held in honour. Let the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be adored, but let no one adore Mary" (ttji/ Maplav /xT/Sels irpoaKmelru). None the less the same Epiphanius abounds in the praises of the Virgin Mother (see Lehner, pp. 197- 201), and he beheved that there was some mj'sterious dispensation with regard to her death imphed in the words of the Apocalypse (xii, 14): "And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place". Certain it is, in any case, that such Fathers as St. Ambrose and St. Jerome, partly inspired with admiration for the ascetic ideals of a life of virginity and partly grop- ing their way to a clearer understanding of all that was involved in the mystery of the Incarnation, began to speak of the Blessed Vugin as the model of all virtue and the ideal of sinlessness. Several striking passages of tMs kind have been collected by Khsch (1. c, 237-42). "In heaven", St. Ambro.se tells us, "she leads the choirs of virgin souls; with her the con- secrated virgins will one day bo numbered", while St. Jerome (Ep. xx.xix, Migne, P. L., XXII, 472) already foreshadows that conception of Mary as mother of the human race which was to animate so powerfully the devotion of a later age. St. Augustine in a famous passage (De nat. et gratis, 36) proclaims Mary's unique privilege of sinlessness, and in St. Gregory of Nazianzus's sermon on the martyr St. Cyprian (P. G., XXXV, 1181) we have an account of the maiden Justina, who invoked the Blessed Virgin to preserve her virginity. But in this, as in some other devotional aspects of early Christian beliefs, the most glowing language seems to be found in the East, and particularly in the S\ri:ui writings of St. Ephraem. It is true that we cannot entirely trust the authenticity of many of tlie poems atlriliuted to him; for example, the hynms "De beata Virgine Maria" are not included in the list of genuine writings compiled by Prof. Burkitt (Texts and Studies, VII),