VIRGIN
402
VIRGIN
regarding the authorshi]) of these compositions. On
the other hand the dedication of many early churches
undoubtedly affords an indication of the authorita-
tive recognition at this period extended to the cultus
of the Blessed Virgin . Already at the beginning of the
fifth century St. Cyril wrote: "Hail to thee Mary,
Mother of God, to whom in towns and villages and in
island were founded churches of true behevers" (P. G.,
LXXVII, 1034). The Chiu-ch of Ephesus, in which
in 431 the (Ecumenical Council assembled, was itself
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Three churches
were founded in her honour in or near Constantinople
by the Empress Pulcheria in the course of the
fifth century, while at Rome the Church of Santa
Maria Antiqua and Santa Maria in Trastevere are
certainly older than the year 500. Not less remark-
able is the ever increasing prominence given to the
Blessed Virgin during the fourth and fifth centuries
in Christian art. In the paintings of the catacombs,
in the sculptures of sarcophagi, in the mosaics, and in
such minor objects as the oil flasks of Monza the
figure of Mary recurs more and more frequently,
while the veneration with which she is regarded is
indicated in various indirect ways, for example by the
large nimbus, such as may be seen in the pictures of
the Crucifixion in the Rabulas MS. of A. D. 586
(reproduced in The Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII,
773). As early as 540 we find a mosaic in which
she sits enthroned as Queen of Heaven in the centre
of the apex of the cathedra! of Parenzo in Austria,
which was constructed at that date by Bishop Euphra-
sius.
The Early Middle Ages. — With the Merovingian and Carlovingian developments of Christianity in the west came the more authoritative acceptance of Marian devotion as an integral part of the Church's life. It is difficult to give precise dates for the intro- duction of the various festivals, but it has already been pointed out in the article Calendar that the cele- bration of the Assumption, Annunciation, Nativity, and Purification of Our Lady may certainly be traced to this period. Three of these feasts appear in the Calendar of St. WiUibrord of the end of the seventh century, the Assumption being assigned both to 18 Jan., after the practice of the Galhcan Church, and to Aug. (which approximates to the present Roman date), while the absence of the Annunciation is prob- ably due only to accident. Again we may quite confidently affirm that the position of the Blessed Virgin in the liturgical formula? of the Church was by this time securely established. Even if we ignore the Canon of the Roman Mass which had taken very much the form it now retains before the close of the sixth century, the "prsfatio" for the January festival of the Assumption in the Galilean Rite, as well as other prayers which may safely be assigned to no later date than the seventh century, give proof of a fervent cultus of the Blessed Virgin. In poetic language Mary is declared not only "marvellous by the pledge which she conceived through faith but glorious in the translation by which she departed" (P. L., LXII, 244-46), the belief in her Assumption being clearly and repeatedly taken for granted, as it had been a century earher by Gregory of Tours. She is also described in the liturgy as "the beautiful chamber from which the worthy spouse comes forth, the light of the gentiles, the hope of the faithful, the spoiler of the demons, the confusion of the Jews, the vessel of life, the tabernacle of glory, the heavenly temple, whose merits, tender maiden as she was, are the more dearly displayed when they are set in con- (r;i.st with the example of ancient Eve" (ib., 245). .\t the .same period mimberiess eliurehes were erected umler Mary's dediealion, and many of thes(^ were among the most important in Christendom. The eatliedrals of Reims, Chart res, Rouen, Amiens, Nimea, Evreux, Paris, Uayeux, Scez, Toulon etc.,
though built at different dates, were all consecrated in
her honour. It is true that the origin of many of
these French shrines of Our Ladj' is impenetrably
shrouded in the mists of legends. For example no
one now seriously beheves that St.Trophimus at Aries
dedicated a chapel to the Blessed Virgin while she was
still Uving, but there is conclusive evidence that some
of these places of pilgrimage were venerated at a
very early date. We learn from Gregory of Tours
(Hist. Fr., IX, 42) that St. Rhadegund had built a
church in her honour at Poitiers, and he speaks
of others at Lyons, Toulouse, and Tours. We also
possess the dedication tablet of a church erected
by Bishop Frodomund in 677 "in honore almae Maria,
Genetricis Domini", and as the day named is the
middle of the month of August (mense Augusio medio),
there can be httle doubt that the consecration took
place upon the festival of the Assumption, which was
at that time beginning to supplant the January feast.
In Germany the shrines of Allotting and Lorch profess
to be able to trace their origin as places of pilgrimage
to remote antiquity, and though it would be rash to
pronounce too confidently, we may probably feel safe
in assigning them at least to the Carlovingian period.
In England and Ireland the evidence that from the
earliest period Christianity was strongly leavened
with devotion to Mary is very strong. Bede tells us
of the church consecrated to the honour of Our Lady
at Canterbury by St. Mellitus, the immediate suc-
cessor of Augustine; we also learn from the same
source of many other Mary churches, e. g. Weremouth
and Hexham (this last dedication being due to the
miraculous cure of St. Wilfrid after invoking the
Mother of God), and Lastingham near Whitby, while
St. Aldhelm, before the end of the same seventh
century, informs us how the Princess Bugga, daughter
of King Edwin, had a church dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin on the feast of her Nativity: —
Istam nempe diem, qua templi festa coruscant, Nativitate sua sacravit Virgo Maria.
And Our Lady's altar stood in the apse: —
Absidem conseerat Virginis ara.
Probably the earliest vernacular poetry in the West to celebrate the praise of Mary was the Anglo-Saxon; for CynewuH, slightly before the time of Alcuin and of Charlemagne, composed most glowing verses on this theme; for example to quote GoUancz's tnuislation of "the Christ" (ii, 274-80):—
Hail, thou glory of this middle-world! The purest woman throughout all the earth Of those that were from immemorial time How rightly art thou named by all endowed With gifts of speech! All mortals throughout
earth Declare full blithe of heart that thou art bride Of Him that ruleth the empyreal sphere.
To speak in detail of all that we find in the writings of Aldhelm, Bede, and Alcuin would be impossible; but it is well to note the testimony of an Anglican writer with regard to the whole period before the Nor- man Conquest. "The Saint , he says, "most persis- tently and frequently invoked, and to whom the most passionate epithets were applied, trenching upon the Divine prerogatives, was tlie Blessed Virgin. Mari- olatry is no very modern development of Romanism"; and he instances from a tenth-century English manu- script now at Salisbury, such invocation.^ as "Sancta Redemptrix Mundi, Sancta Salvatrix Mimdi, ora iiro nobis". The .same writer after referring to prayers and practices of devotion known in Anglo-Saxon times, for example I lie special Mass already a.ssigned to the Bli'.ssed \irgin on Satunlays in the l,eofri<- Mi.ssal, comments upon the strange delusion, as he regards it, of many Anglicans, who can look upon a Church which
