CHAPTER I.

Nun Converts the Iberians,243; Fourth-century Missionary,243; Sermon by St. Patrick,244; Monk Warding Off Locusts,244; First Planting the Cross in England,245; Pope Gregory and England,246; Impression on Saxon King,247; Methodius Preaching,247; Apostle of Switzerland,248; St. Eligius,248; Anschar the Apostle,249; St. Neot, Cornish Saint,250; Conversion of Russia,251; Bishop Otto,251; Norbert and Clerical Vices,252; Fulk,252; St. Dominic’s Zeal,253; St. Francis of Assisium,254; St. Francis tending the Lepers,254; The Stigmata of St. Francis,255; Biography of St. Francis,256; St. Antony of Padua,256; English Friars Disdained Shoes,257; Raimund Lull,258; St. Ignatius of Loyola,259; St. Vincent de Paul,260; Mediæval Missionaries,261; Friar Startling Judges,261; The Schoolmen,262; Friars on Useless Ornaments,262; Friar on Fashionable Vices,263; Denouncing Female Headdresses,263; Savonarola,264.

CHAPTER X.

FAMOUS MONKS AND MONASTERIES.

A Monk with a Genius for Monkery,266; St. Ninian, the Scottish Saint,267; St. Mungo,267; Monk Absenting Himself from Prayers,268; Death of St. Benedict,269; St. Columba of Iona,269; Death of St. Columba,270; The Monk Columban,271; St. Aidan of Lindisfarne,272; St. Chad,273; St. Hilda, Abbess,274; The Abbey and Monks of St. Gall,274; The Venerable Bede, Monk and Historian,275; St. Cuthbert Admitted Monk,275; The Body of St. Cuthbert,277; Deathbed of Venerable Bede,278; A Warrior Duke becomes Monk,280; The Swiss Abbey of Einsiedeln,281; St. Meinrad, a Monk of the Alps,282; Croyland Abbey Burnt,283; Nuns of Coldingham,283; Monks of Cluny,281; St. Dunstan, Archbishop,285; Monks of St. Bernard,285; Chancellor becomes Monk,286; Deathbed of Abbot Turketel,286; Monk Nilus,287; Monastery of Bec,289; Fire at Crowland Abbey,290; Monks of Vallombrosa,291; A Monk Transcriber of Holy Books,292; A Monk Musician,293; Training of Monk Bishop,293; Monk Abelard and Nun Heloïse,294; Abelard and St. Bernard,295; Abelard’s Last Days,295; Order of Carthusians,296; Order of Cistercians,297; St. Bernard as a Young Monk,297; St. Bernard as Abbot,298; St. Bernard’s Miracles,298; Bernard and his Sister,299; Bernard and Peter the Venerable,300; Schoolmen of Middle Ages,301; Deathbed of Abbot,302; Visions of Sister Hildegard,302; Travelling to Rome,303; Portrait of Abbot Sampson of St. Edmundsbury,304; Monks Rebuilding their Altar,305; Abbot Harassed with Cares,306; Annoyed at Visit of the Legate,307; Deathbed of Princess,308; Stealing St. Antony’s Psalm Book,308; Monk for a King,309; Elizabeth of Hungary,310; Panic among Saracens,310; Fancies of the Starved Monk,311; Monasteries of Mount Athos,312; Monks of La Trappe,312; Certosa Monastery,313;Catherine of Siena,314; Monks of Lucca,314; Thomas à Kempis,315; Peter of Alcantara,316; Visions of St. Theresa,317; The Emperor Monk,318; Emperor Monk’s Dress,319; His Apartments,319; Detestation of Heretics,320; Interest in Clock-making,321; His Confessor,321; His Choir,322; At Dinner-time,323; He Celebrates his own Funeral,323; Funeral Sermon on Emperor Monk,324.

CHAPTER XI.

SOME BISHOPS, KINGS, POPES, AND INQUISITORS.

Unity of the Clergy,326; Supremacy of Pope,326; Election of Popes,328; Dress of Cardinals,328; The Degraded Bishop,329; Emperor and the First Abdication,330; Bishop Building Workhouse,330; Bishops Striving for a Site,331; How Bishops were Made,331; Fifth-century Bishop,332; Putting Down Soothsayers,338; Bishop Releasing Prisoners,334; The King of the Gauls,334; Pope Getting Rid of Pestilence,335; Choosing Archbishop,335; Pope Gregory and the Emperor,336; John the Almsgiver,337; Giving a Bishop a Horse,338; A Christian’s Scruples,339; A Model Churchman,339; Why Pope’s Foot Kissed,340; Agobard of Lyons,340; St. Swithin,341; King Alfred,341; King Alfred’s Love of Reading,342; Bishop at Head of Troops,343; Two Scapegrace Popes,344; The Ugliest Archbishop,345; Bishop and Emperor’s Jokes,345; King Canute,346; Peasant Rebuking Bishop,347; St. Margaret of Scotland,348; Death of William the Conqueror,348; English King Marrying Nun,350; Awaking Bishop for Mass,351; Anselm, Archbishop,351; Saracen King by Divine Right,352; Archbishop Turstin,353; King John and the Bishop,354; St. Thomas à Becket,355; Monk Describes Papal Interdict,356; Pope Punishing Kings,357; Candid Friend to Pope,358; Excommunication of Emperor,359; Emperor Retaliating on Pope,360; Pope’s Clerks Extorting Money,360; Aerial Music at Bishop’s Death,362; Fool Posing Theologians,362; Hermit for Pope,363; Philip the Fair and the Pope,364; Pope of Fourteenth Century,365; Wicliff, the Reformer,365; The Popes at Avignon,366; The Rival Popes,367; Three Popes at one Time,368; Pope John XXIII.,370; Owl Attending a Council,370; Sale of Indulgences,371; Bishop Inviting his Old Master,372; Sultan who Abdicated,372; Pope Nicholas V.,373; Fop Elected Pope,374; Pope Leo X.,375; Turning Pagan into Christian Monuments,376; The Inquisition,377; Spanish Inquisition at Work,379; Torquemada,379; An Auto-da-Fè in Spain,380; Assassination of Inquisitor,380; Cardinal Ximenes,381; Irrepressible Heretics,382; Waldenses,382; Lawyer for Pope,383.

CHAPTER XII.

SACRED LEGENDS.

Lives of Saints,385; Christian Legends,385; How Legends Grow,386; Thundering Legion,387; The Theban Legion,387; The Divining Rod,387; St. George and the Dragon,388; St. Christina,389; St.Christopher,389; Hallelujah Victory,391; Prophecies of Merlin,391; Devil Showing a Book,392; Wandering Jew,392; St. Sabas,393; Theophilus and the Devil,393; Holy Grail,394; Seven Sleepers,394; Little Blind Herve,395; Supper of St. Gregory,395; St. Gregory Releasing Trajan,395; St. Bega,397; St. Fructuosus and the Doe,397; Pope Joan,398; Bishop Hatto,398; St. Conrad,399; The Piper of Hameln,399; Lady Godiva,399; Sacred Fire in Greek Church,400; Superstitions of the Greek Church,401; Prester John,401; Loretto,401; King Richard I.’s Story,402; St. Francis and his Love of Birds,403; Bonaventura, on St. Francis,405; St. Antony Preaching to the Fishes,406; St. Roch,407.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS.

Monk Historian on the Crusades,408; Crusades Beneficial,408; Practice of Pilgrimages,409; Early Travels in Palestine,410; Ways of Pilgrims,410; Peter the Hermit,411; Pope Urban II.,413; Hunger for Earth of Palestine,413; Getting Rid of Spies,414; Discovering the Holy Lance,415; Testing a Doubtful Point,417; First Sight of Jerusalem,417; Assaulting Jerusalem,418; Capturing Jerusalem,419; First Visit to the Holy Places,419; A Second Crusade,420; French Queen as Crusader,421; St. Bernard on his Crusade,422; Bringing Relics,422; Another Crusade,423; Emperor’s Crusadership,423; Fulk of Neuilly,424; Death of Richard I.,424; French Pillaging Constantinople,425; Crusaders against Heretics,425; The Albigenses,427; Children’s Crusade,428; Preaching of Crusade,428; Escaping the Crusader,429; Master of Hungary,430; Deathbed of St. Louis,430; Crusaders on their Way Home,431; Bequeathing a Heart as Crusader,432; Knights Templars,433; Faith in Providence,434; Columbus Crusader,435; Numbers of Crusaders,436; Greek Church,437.

CHAPTER XIV.

SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS.

Early Church Architecture,438; Coptic Church,439; Spires, Towers, and Dimensions of Cathedrals,440; Gothic Cathedrals,440; Altar,441; Incense and Holy Water,442; St. Peter’s at Rome,442; The Sistine Chapel,443; Genoa and Turin,444; Milan,445; Florence and Pisa,446; Naples,447; Santiago Compostella,448; Leon,449; Seville and Toledo,450; Cordova and Amalfi,451; Valencia and Oviedo,452; Paris, Marseilles, and Strasburg,453; Amiens,454; Rheims and Aix-la-Chapelle,455; Treves and Antwerp,456; Cologne and St. Petersburg,457; Vienna and Constantinople,458; Mosque of Omar and Jerusalem,459; Bethlehem,460; British Churches and St. Paul’s,461; Canterbury and York,463; Durham,465; Winchester and Oxford,466; Peterborough,467; Salisbury and Wells,468; Other English Cathedrals,469; Welsh Cathedrals,471.

CHAPTER XV.

THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS.

Pictures in Churches,472; Monk Painter,472; Pictures in Monasteries,473; Sacro Monte,473; Images in Spain,474; Cimabue,475; Bishop’s Ape Takes to Painting,475; Painter’s Critics,477; Nuns Criticising Artist,477; Brother Artists Rivals,478; Painter Affronting Angel,479; Angelico,479; Bronzes for the Gates of Paradise,480; Old Painters’ Perspective,481; Monks Overfeeding Artist,481; A Clumsy Crucifix,482; Killed by a Sight of Gold,482; Artist Deceiving Birds and Beasts,483; Finding a Model,483; A Divine Artist,484; Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper,485; Raphael’s Pictures,487; A Last Masterpiece,489; The Inquisition on Sacred Art,490; Painting Face of Christ,491; Assisting Artist with Prayers,492; Michael Angelo,492; Vargas’s Devotion to Sacred Art,496; Titian’s Head of Christ,496; Diffident Artist,496; Rubens’s Great Pictures,497; Monks Getting a Bargain of Picture,498; Velasquez’s Crucifixion,498; How Monks Got Pictures,499; The Divine Murillo,499; Cano’s Picture of the Virgin,500; A Painter Incautiously Watching Effects,501; Origin of Church Bells,501; Sanctity of Bells,502; Chimes on Church Bells,502; The Swiss Horns,402; Early Church Music,503; Singing in Church,503; Origin of Singing in Church Service,504; The Organ in Church Music,504; Augustine Converting the Britons with Music,506; The Earliest Hymns,506; Monk Musicians,506; Nicholas Peregrinus,507; Heresy Propagated by Music,507; The Pope Reforming Church Music,508; Singing the Miserere,508; Luther’s Church Music,509; Originator of Oratorios,509; The Heaven-born Composer of Anthems,510; First Impressions of Handel,511.

FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY.

THE VIRGIN MARY, HOLY FAMILY, CHRIST, AND THE CRUCIFIXION.

HEATHEN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE VIRGIN MARY.

According to an ancient legend, the Emperor Augustus Cæsar repaired to the sibyl Tiburtina to inquire whether he should consent to allow himself to be worshipped with Divine honours, which the Senate had decreed to him. The sibyl, after some days of meditation, took the Emperor apart, and showed him an altar; and above the altar, in the opening heavens, and in a glory of light, he beheld a beautiful Virgin, holding an Infant in her arms; and at the same time a voice was heard saying, “This is the altar of the Son of the Living God.” Whereupon Augustus caused an altar to be erected on the Capitoline Hill, with this inscription—“Ara primogeniti Dei”; and on the same spot in later times was built the church called theAra-Cœli, well known, with its flight of one hundred and twenty-four marble steps, to all who have visited Rome.

This particular prophecy of the Tibertine sibyl to Augustus rests on some very antique traditions, Pagan as well as Christian. It is supposed to have suggested the “Pollio” of Virgil, which suggested the “Messiah” of Pope. It is mentioned by writers of the third and fourth centuries, and our own divines have not wholly rejected it; for Bishop Taylor mentions the sibyl’s prophecy among “the great and glorious accidents” happening about the birth of Jesus.

LEGEND ABOUT SIMEON’S GREAT AGE.

It is related that when Ptolemy Philadelphus, about two hundred and sixty years before Christ, resolved to have the Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek, for the purpose of placing them in his far-famed library, he despatched messengers to Eleazar, the high priest of the Jews, requiring him to send scribes and interpreters learned in the Jewish law to his court at Alexandria.

Thereupon Eleazar selected six of the most learned rabbis from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, seventy-two persons in all, and sent them to Egypt, in obedience to the commands of King Ptolemy; and among these was Simeon, a priest and a man full of learning. And it fell to the lot of Simeon to translate the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. And when he came to that verse where it is written, “Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,” he began to misdoubt in his own mind how this could be possible; and after long meditation, fearing to give scandal and offence to the Greeks, he rendered the Hebrew wordVirginby a Greek word which signifies merely ayoung woman. But when he had written it down, behold, an angel effaced it, and substituted the right word. Thereupon he wrote it again and again; and the same thing happened three times; and he remained astonished and confounded. And while he wondered what this could mean, a ray of Divine light penetrated his soul. It was revealed to him that the miracle which in his human wisdom he had presumed to doubt was not only possible, but that he, Simeon, “should not see death till he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

Therefore he tarried on earth by the Divine will for nearly three centuries, till that which he had disbelieved had come to pass. He was led by the Spirit to the Temple on the very day when Mary came there to present her Son and to make her offering; and immediately taking the Child in his arms, he exclaimed, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word.”

PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

Nicephorus Callixtus says that the person of the Virgin Mary was described by Epiphanius, who lived in the fourth century, and who derived the particulars from his predecessors. He said: “She was of middle stature; her face oval; her eyes brilliant and of an olive tint; her eyebrows arched and black; her hair was of a pale brown; her complexion fair as wheat. She spoke little, but she spoke freely and affably; she was not troubled inher speech, but grave, courteous, tranquil. Her dress was without ornament, and in her deportment was nothing lax or feeble.”

Mrs. Jameson says that Raphael’s “Madonna di San Sista,” in the Dresden Gallery, comes nearest to her notion of the Virgin.

AN EXACT PORTRAIT OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

In the College of Jesuits at Valencia a picture of the Virgin by Juanes is looked upon with immense admiration. The tradition runs that Father Alberto was on the eve of the Assumption waited on by the Blessed Virgin herself, who required him to cause her portrait to be taken in the dress she then wore, which was a white frock or tunic, with a blue cloak; and Christ was to be represented also in the design as placing a crown on her head, while the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove hovered over the group. Alberto therefore gave the commission to Juanes, who, appreciating the honour, devoutly set himself to work, and put forth all his skill on the composition. The first sketch did not please Alberto; but the Father assisted the artist so effectually with his prayers, that at last the artist’s pencil seemed to succeed at every stroke; and in the end the Father, taking credit himself for much of the work, was highly pleased with the happy result. During the work Juanes was one day seated on his scaffold finishing the upper parts of the picture, when the structure gave way, and he was in the act of falling, when the Holy Virgin stepped suddenly out of the canvas, and, seizing his hand, preserved him from instant death. This being done, the Blessed Virgin returned to her canvas, and has continued there ever since, all the supplicants and worshippers who look on it devoutly believing in this being an exact counterpart of the original. This great artist died in 1579; and Valencia contains many of his masterpieces, for he ranks high in the school of Raphael.

THE MARRIAGE OF JOSEPH AND THE VIRGIN MARY.

The legend of the marriage of the Virgin Mary is thus given in the “Protevangelion” and the “History of Joseph the Carpenter”: “When Mary was fourteen years old, the priest Zacharias inquired of the Lord concerning her what was right to be done; and an angel came to him and said, ‘Go forth and call together all the widowers among the people, and let each bring his rod (or wand) in his hand; and he to whom the Lord shall show a sign, let him be the husband of Mary.’ And Zacharias did as the angel commanded, and made proclamation accordingly.And Joseph the carpenter, a righteous man, throwing down his axe and taking his staff in his hand, ran out with the rest. When he appeared before the priest and presented his rod, lo! a dove issued out of it—a dove dazzling white as the snow—and after settling on his head, flew towards heaven. Then the high priest said to him, ‘Thou art the person chosen to take the Virgin of the Lord and to keep her for Him.’ And Joseph was at first afraid, and drew back; but afterwards he took her home to his house, and said to her, ‘Behold, I have taken thee from the temple of the Lord, and now I will leave thee in my house, for I must go and follow my trade of building. I will return to thee, and meanwhile the Lord be with thee and watch over thee.’ So Joseph left her, and Mary remained in her house.”

THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS.

Milman says that the murder of the innocents by Herod’s orders is a curious instance of the reaction of legendary extravagance on the plain truth of the evangelic history. The Greek Church canonised the fourteen thousand innocents; and another notion, founded on a misinterpretation of Rev. xiv. 3, swelled the number to one hundred and forty-four thousand. The former, at least, was the common belief of the Church, though even in the English Liturgy the latter has in some degree been sanctioned by retaining the chapter of Revelation in the “epistle for the day.” Even Jeremy Taylor admits without scruple or thought the fourteen thousand. The error did not escape the notice of the acute adversaries of Christianity. Vossius was the first divine who pointed out the monstrous absurdity of supposing such a number of infant children under two years in so small a village.

THE ANGEL GUIDING THE VIRGIN TO EGYPT.

The journey of the Holy Family to Egypt, being about four hundred miles, must have occupied five or six weeks. It is related in the legend as follows: “We are told that, on descending from the mountains, they came upon a beautiful plain, enamelled with flowers, watered by murmuring streams, and shaded by fruit trees. In such a lovely landscape have painters delighted to place some of the scenes of the flight into Egypt. On another occasion, they entered a thick forest, a wilderness of trees, in which they must have lost their way had they not been guided by an angel. As the Holy Family entered this forest, all the trees bowedthemselves down in reverence to the Infant God; only the aspen, in her exceeding pride and arrogance, refused to acknowledge Him, and stood upright. Then the Infant Saviour pronounced a curse against her, as He afterwards cursed the barren fig tree; and at the sound of His words the aspen began to tremble through all her leaves, and has not ceased to tremble even to this day.”

HEROD HEARING OF THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT.

Another legend about the journey of the Holy Family to Egypt is this: “When it was discovered that the Holy Family had fled from Bethlehem, Herod sent his officers in pursuit of them. And it happened that when the Holy Family had travelled some distance, they came to a field where a man was sowing wheat. And the Virgin said to the husbandman, ‘If any shall ask you whether we have passed this way, ye shall answer, “Such persons passed this way when I was sowing this corn.”’ For the Holy Virgin was too wise and too good to save her Son by instructing the man to tell a falsehood. But, behold, a miracle! For, by the power of the Infant Saviour, in the space of a single night the seed sprang up into stalk, blade, and ear, fit for the sickle. And next morning the officers of Herod came up, and inquired of the husbandman, saying, ‘Have you seen an old man with a woman and a Child travelling this way?’ And the man who was reaping the wheat replied, ‘Yes.’ And they asked him again, ‘How long is it since?’ And he answered, ‘When I was sowing this wheat.’ Then the officers of Herod turned back and left off pursuing the Holy Family.”

THE PALM TREE AND THE HOLY FAMILY.

One of the most popular legends concerning the flight into Egypt is that of the palm or date tree which at the command of Jesus bowed down its branches to shade and refresh His mother; hence, in the scene of the flight, a palm tree became a usual accessory. In a picture by Antonello Mellone, the Child stretches out His little hand and lays hold of the branch; sometimes the branch is bent down by angel hands.

Sozomen, the historian, relates that, when the Holy Family reached the term of their journey and approached the city of Heliopolis, in Egypt, a tree which grew before the gates of the city, and was regarded with great veneration as the seat of a god, bowed down its branches at the approach of the Infant Christ. Likewise it is related (not in legends merely, but by graveecclesiastical authorities) that all the idols of the Egyptians fell with their faces to the earth.

THE HOLY FAMILY AND THE WILD BEASTS OF THE DESERT.

The “Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew” contains the following (chapter xix.): “In like manner lions and leopards adored the Child Jesus, and kept company with the Holy Family in the desert. Whithersoever Joseph and Blessed Mary went, they went before them, showing the way and bowing their heads; and showing subjection by wagging their tails, they adored Him with great reverence. Now, when Mary saw lions and leopards and various kinds of wild beasts coming round them, she was at first exceedingly afraid; and Jesus, with a glad countenance, looking into her face, said, ‘Fear not, mother, because they come not to thy hurt, but they hasten to come to thy service and Mine.’ By these sayings He removed fear from her heart. Now, the lions walked along with them, and with the oxen and asses and the beasts of burden which carried necessaries for them, and hurt no one, although they remained with them; but they were tame among the sheep and rams, which they had brought with them from Judæa, and had with them. They walked among wolves, and feared nothing, and no one was hurt by another. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet, ‘Wolves shall feed with lambs; lion and ox shall eat chaff together’ (Isa. xi. 6-9; lxv. 25). There were two oxen also with them, and a cart, wherein they carried necessaries; and the lions directed them in their way.”

THE HOLY FAMILY LEAVING EGYPT.

Jeremy Taylor says, as to the pagan idols, as follows: “The Holy Family, on their departure for Egypt, made, it is said, their first abode in Hermopolis, in the country of Thebais; whither, when they first arrived, the Child Jesus, being by design or providence carried into a temple, all the statues of the idol-gods fell down, like Dagon at the presence of the ark, and suffered their timely and just dissolution and dishonour, according to the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘Behold, the Lord shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence.’ And in the life of the prophet Jeremy, written by Epiphanius, it is reported that ‘he told the Egyptian priests that then their idols should be broken in pieces when a Holy Virgin with her Child should enter into their country.’ Which prophecy possibly might be the cause that the Egyptians did, besides their vanities, worship also an infant ina manger and a virgin. From Hermopolis to Maturia went these pilgrims in pursuance of their safety and provisions, where it is reported they dwelt in a garden of balsam till Joseph ascertained by an angel the death of Herod.”

THE BOY CHRIST ON LEAVING EGYPT.

St. Bonaventure, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who died 1274, wrote a Life of Christ, which is or was much read by all good Catholics, and which contains the following: “The next morning, when the Holy Family are ready to set out on their journey from Egypt, imagine you see some of the most respectable matrons of the city and the wiser part of the men come to accompany them out of the gates. When they were out of the gates, the Holy Joseph dismissed the company, not suffering them to go on any farther, when one of the wealthiest of them called the Child Jesus, and in compassion to the poverty of His parents bestowed a few pence upon Him; and the rest of the company, after the example of the first, did the same. Compassionate here the confusion of the Divine Child, who, blushing, holds His little hands out to receive what the love of poverty has reduced Him to want. Pity likewise His holy parents, who share with Him His confusion; and think on the great lesson here set you when you see Him who made the earth and all that is in it make choice of so rigorous a poverty and so penurious a life for His blessed parents and Himself. What lustre does not the virtue of poverty receive from their practice! And how can we behold it in them without being charmed to the love and imitation of the like perfection! After returning thanks to their company and taking their leave, they proceeded on their journey.”

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

It was usually believed that the Virgin Mary lived to a great age, and her death is unknown. It was a tradition that she was assumed to glory without dying. The practice of praying to her has been traced as far back as the second century. In the fourth century a sect called the adversaries of Mary rose up and affirmed that she had, after the birth of Christ, several children by Joseph. On the other hand, a sect honoured her as a divinity and offered cates to her.

THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

The legend of the death and assumption of the Virgin Marywas to this effect. One day an angel appeared to the Virgin, bringing her a branch of palm gathered in Paradise, and saying that it was to be carried before her bier, for in three days her soul should leave her body. The Virgin then asked that the Apostles might be reunited before she died, so as to witness her death, and she asked that no evil angel should harass her soul. The angel agreed, and returned to heaven; and Mary lighted the lamps, and prepared her bed, and waited for the hour. At that instant, John, who was preaching at Ephesus, Peter, at Antioch, and all the other Apostles dispersed throughout the world, were suddenly caught up as by a miraculous power and came into her chamber. The palm branch was put in John’s hand, and he wept bitterly. At the third hour of the night a mighty sound filled the house, and a delicious perfume filled the chamber. And Jesus appeared Himself, accompanied by an innumerable company of angels, patriarchs, and prophets, all surrounding the bed of the Virgin and singing hymns of joy. Jesus presented a crown to His mother; and as the angels sang and rejoiced, her soul left her body, and was received into the arms of her Son, and they ascended into heaven. The Apostles looked up, beseeching her to remember them when she came to glory. The body of the Virgin remained on earth; and when three of the virgins washed and clothed it in a shroud, such a glory of light surrounded it that though they touched they could not see it, and no human eye beheld those sacred limbs unclothed. The Apostles took up the body reverently, and placed it on a bier. John carried the celestial palm before the procession, and Peter sang the 114th Psalm, in which the angels joined. Her soul then rejoined the body, and she ascended to heaven as the angels were blowing their silver trumpets, singing as they touched their golden lutes, and rejoicing as she rose. One disciple, Thomas, was absent; and when he arrived soon after, he would not believe in the resurrection of the Virgin, as he would not formerly believe in that of Christ. He desired that the Virgin’s tomb should be opened before him; and when it was opened, it was found to be full of lilies and roses. Then Thomas, looking up to heaven, beheld the Virgin bodily in a glory of light, slowly mounting towards heaven. And she, for the assurance of his faith, flung down to him her girdle, the same which is to this day preserved in the cathedral at Prato. And there were present at the death of the Virgin Mary, besides the twelve Apostles, Dionysius the Areopagite, Timotheus, and Hierotheus; and of the women, Mary Salome, Mary Cleophas, and a faithful handmaid whose name was Savia. When Thomaswent as an apostle to the East, he entrusted the precious girdle to one of his disciples. After the lapse of a thousand years, one Michael, a crusader, fell in love with the daughter of a Greek priest, who had the custody of the girdle, and she got it as a dowry, and brought it with Michael, whom she married. It was thus that it came to be deposited in the cathedral at Prato, where it still remains.

CHRIST LEARNING THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET.

There is a legend in the “Gospel of the Infancy” to this effect. When the Holy Family had returned from Egypt, our Lord being then about seven or eight years old, Mary was exhorted to send her Son to school. And although she knew perfectly that He required no human teaching, she complied. She brought Him to a certain schoolmaster whose name was Zaccheus, and the schoolmaster wrote out the alphabet for Him, and began with the first Hebrew letter, saying, “Aleph.” And Jesus pronounced after him “Aleph.” Then the master went on to the second letter, saying, “Beth”; but Jesus said, “Tell me first what means this letter ‘Aleph,’ and then afterwards I will say ‘Beth.’” But the schoolmaster could not tell Him. And Jesus began to teach him and to explain the meaning and the use of all the letters—how they were distinguished, why some were crooked and some were straight—until Zaccheus the schoolmaster stood in astonishment, and exclaimed, “Was this Child born before Noah? for, behold, He is wiser than the wisest man, and needs no teaching.”

HOW JESUS RAISED A BOY TO LIFE.

The “Apocryphal Gospel of Thomas” has the following (chapter vii.): “One day, when Jesus went up on a certain housetop with some children, He began to play with them. But one of the boys fell through the back door, and immediately died. And when the children saw it, they all fled; but Jesus remained on the housetop. And when the parents of the boy that was dead had come, they said to Jesus, ‘Truly thou didst make him fall.’ And they laid wait for Him. But Jesus, going down from the housetop, stood over the dead child, and called with a loud voice the name of the child: ‘Sinoo, Sinoo! arise, and say if I made thee fall.’ And suddenly he arose and said, ‘No, Lord.’ Now, when his parents saw so great a miracle which Jesus did, they glorified God and adored Jesus.”

JOSEPH AND JESUS AS CARPENTERS.

The “Arabic Gospel of the Infancy” has the following (chapter xxxix.): “On a certain day the King of Jerusalem sent for him and said, ‘Joseph, I wish thee to make me a throne of the measure of the place where I have been used to sit.’ Joseph obeyed, and immediately after he put his hand to the work; he remained two years in the palace, until he had finished making the throne. But when he had it removed into its place, he perceived that on each side it was two spans shorter than the proper measure. On seeing this the king was angry with Joseph; and Joseph being greatly afraid of the king, passed the night supperless, and tasted nothing whatever. Then he was asked by the Lord Jesus why he was afraid. ‘Because,’ said Joseph, ‘I have lost all that I have done for two years.’ The Lord Jesus said to him, ‘Fear not, nor lose heart; but take thou one side of the throne, and I will take the other to set it right.’ And when Joseph had done as the Lord Jesus had said, and each had pulled on his own side, the throne was made right, and brought to the exact measure of the place. When this prodigy was seen, they who were present were amazed, and praised God. Now, the wood of the throne was of that kind which was celebrated in the time of Solomon the Son of David—that is, variegated and diversified.”

CHRIST’S PRAYER AT HIS BAPTISM.

The following is said by Jeremy Taylor to be a current version of this prayer: “O Father, according to the good pleasure of Thy will, I am made a man; and from the time in which I was born of a Virgin unto this day I have finished those things which are agreeable to the nature of man, and with due observance have performed all Thy commandments, the mysteries and types of the law; and now truly I am baptised; and so have I ordained baptism, that from thence, as from the place of spiritual birth, the regeneration of men may be accomplished. And as John was the last of the legal priests, so am I the first of the evangelical. Thou therefore, O Father, by the meditation of My prayer, open the heavens, and from thence send Thy Holy Spirit upon this womb of baptism; that as He did untie the womb of the Virgin and thence form Me, so also He would loose this baptismal womb, and so sanctify it unto men, that from thence new men may be begotten, who may become Thy sons, and My brethren, and heirs of Thy kingdom. And what the priests under the law, untilJohn, could not do, grant unto the priests of the New Testament (whose chief I am in the oblation of this prayer), that whensoever they shall celebrate baptism, or pour forth prayers unto Thee, as the Holy Spirit is seen with Me in open vision, so also it may be made manifest, that the same Spirit will adjoin Himself to their society in a more secret way, and I will by them perform the ministries of the New Testament, for which I am made a man; and as the high priest I do offer these prayers in Thy sight.”

This prayer was transcribed out of the “Syriac Catena” upon the third chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, and is by the author of that Catena reported to have been made by our Blessed Saviour immediately before the opening of the heavens at His baptism, and that the Holy Spirit did descend upon Him while He was thus praying; and for it he cites the authority of St. Philoxenus.

PORTRAITS OF CHRIST.

It is singular that there are no authentic portraits of Christ in existence. The evangelists do not think it necessary to make any statements as to Christ’s personal appearance. Origen, born 186, seems the earliest writer who notices that subject, and he says the Saviour had no external beauty. But the Fathers and the artists have all insisted that His countenance must have corresponded to His character. A letter supposed to have been written by Lentulus, a friend of Pilate, to the Roman Senate, professes to describe the personal appearance, but some doubt its authenticity. It was preserved, and first came to light among the writings of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, who lived in the eleventh century. Another description is contained in the writings of St. John of Damascus, who flourished in the eighth century, and he professes to have known from earlier writers that Jesus had “eyebrows that joined together, beautiful eyes, curly hair, black beard, a yellow complexion, and long fingers like His mother.” Others say that St. Luke was a painter, and Nicodemus was a sculptor, and thus that some portraits must have existed. It is also said that Pilate took secretly a portrait of Christ. There is also a legend that King Agbarus wrote a letter to Christ, asking for a visit to cure him of leprosy, and at all events for a portrait; and that Christ answered that He could not visit him, having other work to do, but He would send a disciple who would cure him. And St. Thomas did so. Others add that Christ sent His portrait on a handkerchief to Agbarus. Again, there is a legend about Veronica and her handkerchief, which had a portrait miraculously impressed, and which she preserved.

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