ANTIQUITY OF DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume X, Issue 510, 19 January 1883, Page 9

ANTIQUITY OF DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

Dbyotion to the Mother of God is as old as the Church itself. la Borne— the heart and centre of Catholic unity, — it has been uninterruptedly practised from the time of < the Apostles till the present day, and numberless are the monuments of this perennial cultut which exist to-day to console the devout child of Mary, and to confound those who sneer at the honour shown by Catholics to the exalted handmaid of the Lord.

A stranger even on a passing visit to the Eternal City cannot fail to notice that its most ancient churches were raised in honour of Mary, and that many of her images exposed to public veneration date back to the primitive ages of Christianity. His visit to the catacombs will give him a still more striking illustration of what the Mother of God was to the persecuted members of the infant Church. In every one of these ancient cemeteries and places of refuge, he will see numberless pictures representing her surrounded by all that can symbolise her great power and dignity. # In the Catacombs of St. Priscilla (near the Salaria Nuova), which date from the dawn of the second century, there is a wellpreserved picture of the Virgin Mother with her Divine Son, while near them stands a prophet pointing to the Star of Bethlehem. la another crypt of the same catacombs is the Virgin and Child, with the three Magi reverentially approaching to offer their gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the Catacombs of St. Domitilla, of St. Calixtus, of those ad duos lavras, all of the tbiid century, there are many images of the B essed Virgin, surrounded by various attributes indicative of her great power. In the Cimiterio Ostriano, near St. Agnes, our Lady is again represented with the Divine Child, between monograms of the adorable name of Christ. On the sarcophagi, tablets, etc., she appears with great frequency. In the Catacombs of S. Ponziana she is represented in the act of prayer, while her outstretched arms are supported by BS. Peter and Paul, as were those of Moses by Aaron and Hur when his powerful mediation with God put to flight the army of the Amalecites. Numberless examples of a similar kind may be seen in all the catacombs, and serve to show the reverence of the early Christians for the august Mother of God, as well as their belief in her powerful intercession. — Are Maria.