MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
By Editor
SOME criticism was directed toward The Christian Advocate for admitting from Dr. William Burt an article on "Mariolatry." In a recent article Dr. Burt furnished his justification for what he had written. Pope Leo XIII., conscious of his approaching death, has issued his last prayer, of which The Independent, with commendable enterprise, gave the first translation to the people of this country. It is as follows:— "Leo, now sets thy sun; pale is its dying ray;
Black night succeeds thy day.
"Black night for thee; wasted thy frame; life's flood sustains
No more thy shrunken veins.
"Death casts his fatal dart; robed for the grave, thy bones
Lie under the cold stones.
"But my freed soul escapes her chains, and longs in flight
To reach the realms of light.
"That is the goal she seeks; thither her journey fares;
Grant, Lord, my anxious prayers,
"That, with the citizens of Heaven, God's face and light
May ever thrill my sight;
"That I may see thy face, Heaven's Queen, whose mother-love
Has brought me home above.
"To thee, saved through the tangles of a perilous way,
I lift my grateful lay." There is but slight reference, if any, in this poem to the Redeemer, and while the aspiration of the pope is that God's face and light may ever thrill his sight, it will be observed that the principal credit is given for his salvation to the Virgin Mary, and his chief aspiration is to behold her face. It is certain that the spirit of the Roman Catholic Church attaches much more importance to the mother of Jesus than appears to have been attached to her by the writers of the New Testament. We attended a service in one of the chief Roman Catholic churches of England, and, taking up a volume in the pew which we occupied, saw that it was entitled, "The Ursuline Manual," duly authorized for the use of this teaching order, so widely known throughout the world, and represented on this continent in Quebec. Turning over its pages, we saw one stanza that surprised, and another that pleased us. The one that surprised was this:— "Heart of Mary, I implore thee;
Heart of Jesus, I adore Thee;
Heart of Joseph, pure and just,
In these three hearts I put my trust." That which pleased was found in the Appendix. It was Charles Wesley's hymn:— "Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly," with only a slight modification.—Christian Advocate.