CHAP. I. The Silence of the Evangelists concerning the Merits of St. Ann.

IT is Natures best Order to conceal from our eyes what her excel­lentest and chiefest Works contain of the utmost perfection and greatness, as if in this she meant to reproach the Vanity of our minds, which can hardly conceive a good desire in the heart, without bringing it up immediately to the mouth, and publishing it to the Rays of the Sun. Whereas Heaven, the most wonderful part of the visible Creation, shews not its powerful influences which govern all inferior things; or the Fire, that imperious quality which softens the most intractable Metals; or the Earth its Gold, which it forms within its entrails; or the Sea its Treasures, which it incloses within its Abysses.

An Order that might be stil'd Religious, if Nature guided it with Judgment: but is yet better observ'd in Grace, which is pleas'd to cover and drown in Ignorance and Silence the greatest perfections of the most holy and most elevated Souls, with the design, that being afterward reveal'd, they may more attract our admirations and re­spects. And when I consider how God shewed not himself to Moses, but in the transient glimps of a burning bush, and how he says that his habitations are in darkness, and his thrones in the clouds, and that he never abases himself so low as to make our senses or our reason ca­pable [Page 2]of his sight, or of the knowledg of his perfections; I discover presently, in my Opinion, the reason for which certain Souls, the most eminent in sanctity, and the most approaching to the Deity, are a Treasure as ineffable as God, who conceals it from human eyes. The Athenians offer'd more Incense to that God they knew not, than to those who were fastned to their Shrines, or inclosed in their Temples: So we owe more reverence and honour to those heroical and glorious Souls who are happily hidden to the World, and lost in God, to be known by him alone, than to those whose Virtue has been Preach'd, and who have had an immortal glory among Mortals. These have had their share in the rewards of the World; those have been despised; These have united the honours of the Earth with the merit of those of Heaven; those have renounc'd their own Glory to procure that of God. And St. Paul having said, that there are certain Souls who are willing to go beyond the first Lessons, who learn by the observance of God's Commandments, and the Churches Laws, to study the most ex­alted maxims of Christianity, and surpass the obligations common to all Christians, even so far as to the renouncing, hating, and annihila­ting themselves, to be sacrific'd on every trial and occasion to the Empire of Divine Love, which transforms them all into God, and makes them enter into the Powers of the Lord, (saith the Prophet) that is, into an adora­ble Communication, and as it were into the rights of the same Attributes of Purity, Holiness and Charity of this God, to whose Ʋnion this kind of Perfect Life has exalted 'em; this heavenly Doctor call'd such Souls dead, and hidden in God with Jesus Christ, because the spiritual work of inward Abnegations, and Abandonings of all their proper In­terest, and their own self into that of God, falling not under the sense and reason of men, it must also thence be, that men are not capable of the Perfections which this Labour acquires them: which makes him say, That he esteems them greater for the perfections which they have and discover not, than for those which would carry their Reputation and Name over the Universe, and acquire 'em the Acclamations and Honours of the World. Words which seem to have been read by that Ancient, when he said, That Virtue is hidden within her self, that our eyes were too feeble to support her lustre; and that she hid for those who were most assiduous at her Sacrifices, Beauties which would obscure those of the Sun, if the generality of men were ca­pable of observing 'em.

Hence I draw this advantagious Conclusion for the Honour of St. Ann, That had men looked on her perfection with a steddy eye, and [Page 3]a constant view, she had not appear'd greater to their eyes than Sa­turn to ours, which tho the vastest in extent of all our Planets, the most perfect too and most beautiful, seems the smallest, because he is the farthest removed from our sight. St. Ann was a Mystery hidden from Eternity in God, who was pleased to make use of her for the pro­ductions of his first Designs, and for giving by her the first at­tacks to death, which had introduc'd into the World; demonstrating how, if the weakness of one Woman had given beginning to its Con­quests, the Virtue and Generosity of another should beat down its Tro­phies, and overturn its Empire; since in the ordinary course of Gene­ration she conceiv'd and gave to the World a Daughter, who ac­knowledg'd neither its Way nor Dominion. If then in this misera­ble case of our race, our Impotence be such, as not to be able to re­sist the power, and to oppose our selves to the violence of Death, a St. Ann be found alone in Nature, who has done that which none could tell how to do, taken from Death the first Pretensions and Rights which it had usurped over human births; Who can have thoughts capable to form an Idea of her merit? or words to express what is not beneath both what she was, and what we owe to her? Add, how this Saint having studied nothing but continual Annihila­tions of her self, and Glorifications of her God, she retain'd nothing of the Earth, but made her self wholly Celestial, whose merit was there­fore remov'd from all human knowledg, and reserv'd for the Divine alone. And as Alexander the Great said, That the Scepter and Crown of the World were not, but for the Virtues of him who admitted nothing worthy to bound his Ambition, but what was not known to the rest of men, and what the greatest of the Gods kept conceal'd in his brain; She also whom Jesus Christ had design'd for the Regency and Govern­ment of his Family, to command there as the Virgins Mother, who was His, required far other qualifications than common Morality, and ought to have far different Virtues from those, which ordinary holiness teaches all men: which therefore have been kept unknown, by reason of the greatness and excess of this merit. But God alone, who is able to give the just praises of holy Actions to every one according to the weight and excellence of their value, has been pleased to draw them out of silence in this Age, by an Annual Commemoration and solemn Feast in his Church, to shew them unto all the World in the Glory of their Tri­umphs; and has discover'd to us two sorts, some External, which she borrows elsewhere; others Internal, with which she adorns her Soul. For

CHAP. II. The External Perfections of St. ANN.

I Advance them from the consideration of her Daughter; for if the goodness of the Fruit necessarily proves that of the Tree, this fair Plant of Eternity, St. Ann, can't be better known than by her Daughter the Holy Virgin; and tho one should write in her honour as many Volumes as are in the World, there could not hence be given us so perfect a knowledg of her Prerogatives, as is in simply saying, that she was the Mother of the Mother of God, and the Grand­mother of God himself.

It is this Tree that the Angels shewed to St. Bridgid, saying to her, Figure to your self, chast Spouse of Jesus Christ, a Royal Eagle, who going to make her Nest, and prepare a Lodging for her young Ea­gles, goes from Forest to Forest, flies from Mountain to Mountain, to chuse a Tree which may serve her design, and having met with that wich surpasses all others in heighth and beauty, which has the deepest and strongest Roots, and the best defended from Storms and Tempests, she stops there, and makes choice of the strongest Branch, and the nearest to Heaven, to feed there, and breed her young ones.

Imagine now that God is this Eagle, who running over with his Eyes, as it were, so many beautiful Trees, all the Women who were to be from the first to the last, perceiv'd not any one so worthy to receive the Glorious Virgin, who was to be the little Nest of the Hea­venly Eaglet, who is the Word Incarnate, as St. Ann, in whom he rested himself, as in the Tree of Paradice, which he knew to be the tallest in Devotion, the deepest in Humility, the largest in Charity, and of the most pleasant odour in Sanctity.

O Beautiful Tree! and far other than that which was represented in a Picture at the triumphant entry of Mary de Medicis, Queen Mo­ther of Lewis 13. which bore Scepters for Boughs, Crowns for Flowers, Kings for the Stock, and little Deities for the Fruits. St. Ann was the fair Tree of the Genealogy of Jesus and Mary, whose Stock is made up with the Davids, the Solomons, and other Kings whose Flowers are Diadems; but the Holy Virgin, the richest Crown, as being the finest Flower of Heaven and Earth, and her Fruit is the Incarnate Son of God. Certainly as the most glorious Diadem of the First of the uncreated Persons, is the Production of his Word the second Person, whom he begat in the splendor of Saints; so, if, in one word, you [Page 5]would know the price of that Crown which St. Ann bore both on Earth and in Heaven, it must be said, and this is to say all, that her Treasure and her Crown, was the giving being to her who gave it to a God, which is to be Crown'd with the Merits of Mary, like the Tree with its Flowers and Fruit.

Whence it is to be concluded, That the Dignity, the Grace, and the Holiness of this only, and only Perfect Daughter, ought to reflect back to her Mother, even to a point, That she render'd her incom­parable in Sanctity, as she was in her Dignity. For of two things, one must of necessity happen, Either that this holy Virgin had not the Power, or that having the Power, she communicated to her whate­ver we can fancy greatest in Grace. Her Paps have too much credit and access with the Word, her Son, not to have the Power, who be­ing in the terms of Clement of Alexandria, the Pap of his Heavenly Father, which gave foecundity to all Nature, would also, as he had been the Principle of the Universe, by being Mamelle de son Pere, the Virgin should be his; and that from the Bosom of his Mother should proceed a Power, (but yet not without proportion) and a Force to establish a World of Grace to make Saints, and to make them wor­thy of Glory. So that it is true in some sort, and good Divinity to say, That the Felicity of the Saints is deriv'd from Mary, and that there is no body who is not oblig'd to her for the fortification of his Patience, for the Victory over his Temptations, for Preservation from Falls, for Augmentation of his Merits, for his final Grace, and finally, for his Glory.

This Principle suppos'd, who will doubt that St. Ann was not the Masterpriece of Maries Workmanship, and that the Power of this last, was not the Measure of the Excellence of the former? She could make a Prodigy of Virtue, and a Miracle of Greatness, therefore she did; and not only from the time that She was her Daughter, but ev'n before She was created, we may say, That She labour'd on this Masterpiece. And it is one of the greatest Miracles of the Mysteries of our Religion, that the Children give Life to their Parents; and those who are not yet, give admirable Advantages to those who al­ready are.

Thus Jesus is the Son of Adam, according to Nature, and his Fa­ther according to Grace; the Virgin is the Mother of the Saviour, by the shadowing of the Holy Spirit, and is likewise the eldest Daughter to the Redeemer. Thus St. Ann is in the state of Grace, the Daughter of her Daughter, the Holy Virgin, by a Plenitude of Grace, which She from her received.

Which ought not to be thought strange by him, who has tasted the Sense, and universal Consent of the Fathers, who assert, that what was giv'n in Plenitude to Christ, ought in Proportion to be attri­buted to the Holy Virgin; that they both were busied in the cares of our Salvation with the same Courage, tho not the same Power: It's then the Spirit of Christ is not only diffus'd in the new, but has its extent over all the Old Testament; and no Body was sav'd, but by his Merits anticipated; wherefore should one deny Jesus Christ to have in favour of the foreseen Merits of his Mother, granted some Graces as well before, as after his Conception, to certain Souls, especially to those most near­ly alli'd to him.

Among these, St. Ann, in Consideration of the Merits of this Vir­gin, was elevated to the Prerogatives and Crowns, which ought to an­swer the degree of Alliance which she had to her, which was no less than of a Mother to a Daughter, an Alliance which establishes.

CHAP. III. The first Reason of the Prerogatives of St. ANN.

SHE gave to the Virgin Being and Life, which is the dearest Treasure of Man, and the Foundation of other Perfections. In exchange, therefore, it is reasonable the Virgin should impart to Her all the Noble Qualities, which might make a Soul fill'd with Com­placency to her God.

For if our Lady had an extream Zeal to carry Jesus Christ into the House of her Cousin Elizabeth, so to sanctify her Child, while he was inclos'd in her Womb; if this Zeal thought long, and her Love gave her Wings to fly thither without fear of the Inconveniences and Fa­tigues of the Journey, with design of procuring Holiness to her Rela­tions, and her Blood. God having put a perfect Order in her Affe­ctions and Loves; must it not be said, That that which She had for the rest of her Relations, was but a spark in respect of the cares which She had for her which was her Mother? And must it not be believ'd She gave her a better allotment in Jesus Christ and his Graces; there being nothing so reasonable as to do all the good She could to her Parent?

Certainly one of the most powerful Arguments for convincing a generous Spirit, is the fitness of the matter; and this fitness is more prevalent with good Judgments, than the strictness of Laws.

Whence St. Thomas speaking of the two highest Mysteries, the Incarnation of the Word, and the Reality of his Body, the adorable Sacrament and Sacrifice of the Altar, says they ought to be believ'd, because it was fit that the Son of God for the perfect Ʋnion of him­self with us, should be alli'd by the Personal Ʋnion with our Nature, and be really in the Eucharist, to satisfy the Rules of Love, which re­quire a continual Presence of the beloved Object. Lastly, saies this Saint, to shew that these Mysteries have fitness, is sufficient to shew, that they are so in Truth.

Now there is nothing more reasonable, than to say, That the Virgin lov'd her Mother with a generous and noble Love, that is never without Liberalities and Graces; and that she imparted to her the richest Presents of Heav'n, since She had 'em in her Power, and her Hands; and that in doing so, She satisfi'd the most just Senti­ments of Nature, and obey'd the Holy Laws of her God, which com­manded the Honour of her Father and Mother. And as there was in this the greatest Fitness, we proceed to shew, that there was also the greatest

CHAP. IV. JUSTICE. The second Reason of the Prerogatives of St. ANN.

GOD's Justice would not have less Satisfaction for the Sins of Men, than the Death of a God. Now 'tis wonderful in the Holy Virgin, that to conform her self to this Justice, She forgot (if I may so say) how She was the Mother of God; and She offer'd her self, like a bloody Victim on the Altar of the Cross. For as the Son of God ought not to pass from the Bosom of his Father, into that of a Virgin Mother, and to make himself Man without her Consent; so neither ought he, neither would he be destin'd to the Death, which was to make us Immortal, but by the Consent of this his Mother.

If then She generously executes the thing in the World, which is the most difficult to her, the depriving her self of the Object of all her Delights, consenting to the Death of her only Son, an Action na­turally contrary to the Love of such a Mother: If She quits the part of a Lover, to become a Believer; and a Mothers Affections, to perform Obedience to God; if lastly, Justice carries her beyond Love; how [Page 8]can it be, that the Virgin obliged by Divine and Humane Laws, to Honour her Mother, should not employ all the Artifices of her Love, and all the efforts of her Power, to make of St. Ann a true Sanctuary of all Graces?

The Grace to consult the Judgment of St. Peter, is a Participation of Divine Nature; the Virgin therefore having the Plenitude of this in her Bosom, for the Communication of it to Souls, and being not only blessed among all Women, but the very Spring of all Blessings; what part ought She to give to her Mother? A Duty which further pro­ceeds from

CHAP. V. The Obedience of the Virgin to St. ANN. The third Reason of her Prerogatives.

IF from this, that the Son of God was well pleased to submit his impeccable Will, to that of the Virgin; a good Consequence is drawn, how Innocent and Straight ought that Rule to be, which gave Law to the Son of God?

So to see this little Virgin impeccable by Grace, as her Son was by Nature, at the Feet of St. Ann, to take the Instructions and Exercises of her Mother, has one not a just Motive to believe the Innocence, and the Rectitude of the Affections and Passions of this Holy Mo­ther, who ought to regulate those of her Daugther, who was the most perfect of all Creatures? The Personal Union set a part, is as much remov'd from the least spot of Sin, as the Sun from Darkness and Obscurity; and St. Austin took so high a flight in the Praises of the Virgin, that he got out of Sight, saying, That he advanc'd nothing that exceeded her Merit, by calling her the Form of God; that is, tho there be no Miracle in the World like to the Mercies of Jesus Christ, and those of his Mother be but little Rays in Comparison of this Sun; he was pleas'd to frame as it were an Idea, on which he cast his Eyes, to mark upon his Soul the beautiful Lines of the excellent Practices of Virtue, which he saw in his Mother, to the end one might see in the Son, as it were a lively Image, and Expression of the rare Virtues of the Mother; or else, and rather this brave Title of Form of God, means that Jesus Christ had a design, that as in the Looking-Glass, the Image of his Face is seen, who locks into it, and as Wax receives the Form and Figure of the Seal, which is imprinted on it; ev'n so, the Holy Virgin was marked [Page 9]with the Seal of the Divine Perfections of Jesus; and She has repre­sented them in her self after a very excellent manner.

So nothing is advanc'd concerning the Merits of St. Ann, which ac­crues not to the Honour and Glory of her Daughter, by calling her the true Form of the Virgin, and by saying She had such Accumulation of Perfections, that to see the Holy Virgin practice those Virtues, which came so near those of her Mother, one would reasonably judg that St. Ann might serve as an Original and Model to the holy Actions of the Vir­gin, if they had not been otherwise more Holy in proportion to the Grace of the Mother of God, which heightned them.

To what degree of Sanctity ought St. Ann to be exalted, who so lively expressed, and so perfectly represented in her self, the Virtues of the Virgin; and whose rare Qualities might be the Idea's and Patterns of those of this her so worthy a Daughter. But

CHAP. VI. The Glory of JESUS CHRIST. The fourth Reason of the Prerogatives of St. ANN

REquires that St. Ann should be such, to be his worthy Grand-mo­ther. For if the Messias from the time that he prepar'd his Birth for the World, and put his first disposals and designs in Abraham, de­sir'd Innocence and Sanctity from him to merit this favour; must he not desire those incomparably greater in St. Ann, according to the measure that She more nearly approach'd his Blood. The Holy Virgin then seeing the Glory of her Son engag'd, and the Sanctity of her Mother to enter into the Interests of the Incarnate Word her Son, must [...]he not have made St. Ann a Work of Grace worthy of the Admiration of Angels, and of the Adoration of Men?

And if elsewhere, in the designs of the eternal Providence, and in the Language of Scripture, Names serve for a mark of Offices, and Offices are the measures of Merits; St. Ann having been chosen in the Idea's of eternal Predestination to be the Grand-Mother of Jesus Christ; ought not this step to comprehend as many Excellencies as demonstrate the Sublimeness of this Saints Perfections? There need be us'd only the Dignity of her Name of Grandmother of Jesus Christ. An Argument which the Apostle uses to prove the Pre-eminences of Jesus Christ above the Angelical Natures; for that he was the Son of God. The Dignity there­fore in St. Ann, that having enter'd by the Conception and Nativity of the [Page 10] Virgin, into the Oeconomy of the Incarnation, and into the state of the Hypostatical Ʋnion, She was by this her Daughter, exalted into so daz­ling a Throne of Glory, that there is only above it, the Trinity of un­created Persons, the Humanity of Jesus Christ, and the Holiness of her Daughter, Mother of God; leaving below her Greatness all other cre­ated Eminencies; without doubt St. Ann ought to expect such a Pre­eminence from the Queen of Virtues, and the worthy Mother of the King of Virtues, the Virgin. It remains now to see

CHAP. VII. The Internal Perfections of St. ANN

WIth Relation to which we must Sacrifice closed Eyes, like those who ador'd the Fortune of the Romans, and in the Extasis of our Hearts, and in the humble Sentiments that carry our Souls to con­fess our Impotencies, to acknowledg the Merits and Virtues of her, who bore in her barren Womb the first fruits of our Redemption, and who nourish'd with her Milk the Fruit of all Benediction; let us be content to say, That as the fairest Flower of the Virgins Crown was the Meriting her exalted Dignity of Mother of God; so that of St. Ann is, that God gave to her Merits, this glorious Advantage of conceiving in her Bowels a Daughter, whose Conception without Sin, and Birth full of Honour; effected the Re-establishment of the Universe. Merits which were

CHAP. VIII. Her Prayers.

FOR tho God in the Decrees of his Providence be resolv'd to bestow certain Graces on some Persons; he nevertheless determin'd before the World not to grant them but to those who ask for them; and in the everlasting Preparation of such Favours, their Prayers are included either as Causes or Means of obtaining.

Hence he would have us ask the very things which he is resolv'd to give us, as we must open our Eyes to receive the light of the Sun, and observe some Formalities to obtain the Graces of a Prince. Thus God having in his eternal Predestination prepar'd this incomparable Benefit for St. Ann, to be Mother of the Mother of the Word Incarnate; he would that She should acquire this ineffable Treasure by her Tears and Vows; [Page 11]that so her Merit might enter into the Execution of this everlasting Counsel. St. Ann therefore having been above twenty years in a State of Barrenness with him whom God had given her for a Husband, St. Joachim, was in Affliction to see her self without a Child, who might blot out the Reproach which She met with in the Company of other Ladies; requested daily from Heaven, with a Countenance of Grief, a Remedy for her Disgrace.

But there is nothing which so much contracted her Heart, as the Confusion and Shame which the High-Priest Issachar one day put her in­to, as She went according to her Custom to Jerusalem, at the Solemnity of one of the great Feasts of the year, where in face of all the World, he reproach'd her of Rashness and Boldness, to appear with the rest, She who bore the marks of Gods Malediction, with which being troubled to­the quick, and not knowing from whom to receive Consolation, She had recourse to God with Supplication to take from her this Reproach, and with Promise to Consecrate to him the Fruit which he should please to give her; and not daring to present her self any more openly to the World, She threw her self into a Solitude and Retreat, which shut up all Avenues to Company, having no other Companions but her Thoughts, and her Affections for Heaven. In this lonesome place, where She was wholly attentive to her God, wholly fixed and bent in Spirit and Will to him, to consider his Greatness, and admire his Perfections, and where She did every day noble and heroical Acts of Love, and of Conformity to the Divine Pleasure, of Faith and Hope, of Adoration and Glorification, and other Virtues; not to speak of the Sublime Operations of the Mystical Life, to which God had exalted her, and which all the Words of Men are [...]ot able to explicate.

But where in recompence of her Introversions and Recollections, there was happily fulfill'd in her the Prophecy in Isa. 35. in favour of the Souls that retire from their Commerce with the World, to be busied only with God; for as much as She receiv'd unspeakable Joys in her Desert; and that her Retreat was to her a Spring of living Delights. For the heavenly Angel came to visit her on the beginning of Decem­ber, and brought to her the happy, and the fortunate News from God, of a Daughter, which should be named Mary, which should not only cause Joy to her, but should likewise be the happiness of infinite others, since she was to be the Mother of the Messias promised in the Law; and to collect in her self the Riches of Libanus and Carmel, which are the Fruitfulness of a Mother, and the Integrity of the Vir­gin in the same Spirit.

And, as has been said, so God repair'd with an exceeding advan­tage by himself, and by the abundance of his Graces, all the Losses which this Soul suffer'd, retired from the Contentments and Recrea­tions of all Creatures, and made her Solitude like Paradise. Mirth and Joy are found here, and Praises are here retain'd; for having seen her. Barrenness follow'd with the Birth of a Daughter, who is the Treasure of Heaven and Earth, and who gave her a God for Grand­son: O the Noble Fruit of the Prayer of St. Ann! Mary, who is the Wonder of Nature, the Prodigy of Grace, and the Miracle of Glory. After her Prayer comes

CHAP. IX. Her Humility.

IF Prayer be in the Opinion of the Fathers, an Elevation of the Soul to God, as of a Vapour from the Earth to Heaven; it is necessary First, That as the Vapour is elevated from the Earth by the Rays of the Sun, attracting it with its heat, and subtilizing it by taking away its gravitating Quality derived from the Earth, the place of its Origine; just so the Prayer of St. Ann, that it might be elevated as high as Gods Throne, was directed thitherward in little Fumes which the heat of Divine Love excited in her, purifying whatever she had of Earth, that her Soul might have only the Affections and Sentiments of Heaven.

Secondly, That as the Vapour being in the Middle Region of the Air, melts and falls back towards the Earth, as if the Sun by its Rays would constrain it to return to, and know its first Principle; just so the Prayer which the Tongue and Heart of St. Ann had sent up into the Bosom of God, ought by the Divine Ray to be abased and reflected into the Consideration of one's Nothing, and to return to the Earth by Sentiments of Humility; but such as should bring along with them the Showers and the Dews of Jesus and Mary, and which should fer­tilize the Human Nature with a God Man, and with the Mother of God: An excellent Rule of Prayer in the Approaches and Fervours, the Ʋnions and Exaltations of one Being to descend back into Meanness, and the Meditation that one is Nothing, that one is worth Nothing, that one can do Nothing, that one merits nothing from God.

Which is the Reason perhaps why the High Priest sprinkled those who offered Sacrifices, with Ashes mixt with Water, to advertise them that they were nothing but dead Earth, uncapable of Consistence [Page 13]and Motion without the Favours of Heaven; and that they ought to be of Abrahams mind, who said, I will appear before my Lord, dust and ashes as I am. Hence it follows that we ought to hope for the Grace of God, and Supernatural Powers.

It is in these Valleys of mean esteem of ones self, says David, that God makes the Fountains of his Favours, and the Waters of his Grace to flow; and not upon the Mountains and Spirits of Presumption, that approach the Temples and the Altars, with Head and Face lifted up before him, in whose Presence the Angels tremble, and the Seraphims sink down into the lowest depths with Reverence; and before whom; says St. Austin, if thou wilt humble thy self, the bait of thy Humility attracts him, and he is constrain'd to descend from his Father's Bosom into thine; thou possessest him, and dost with him after the Inclination of thy will: But if vain glory accompany thy Prayer, thou findest a God who has Thunder in his hand to destroy thee. 'Twas in these vallies of mean esteem of her self, the Prayer of St. Ann found Forces, and the grant of her Requests. Her Third Merit was

CHAP X. Her Generous Confidence in God's Providence.

THE Earth, in my Opinion, is the Noblest, tho the last of the Ele­ments, because being not able to act of its self, this state gives it so much Sympathy with the Sun, that it becomes fruitful through the favour of his Beams in all kinds of Production: So it is a very glorious Weakness, and powerful Impotence, for an humble Soul to acknowledg her Miseries and her Nothing: Since God beholding this Void, he immediately replenishes it with his Grace; for where the Creature is not, there is the Creator presently found; and where Man­hood leaves us, there the Godhead enters by a Consequence as necessa­ry in the Order of Grace, as in that of Nature, the Air immediately fills those places which it finds void.

Now as God has extraordinary Graces that reward Humility, and exalt it from its meanness into which it seems plunged; among others there is a generousness of Heart which the humble Soul draws from the great Confidence she puts in this, that an Infinite Wisdom both knows, and is able; and will help her; triumphing over her Miseries and Weaknesses; and being to her what her Soul is to her Body, or the Heaven to the Earth.

Confidence in God, which comprehends all the most distant degrees of nature in a most simple Unity, unites these two Contrarieties, to believe that we can do nothing, and that we can do every thing. That we are able to do nothing of our own strength, and that we can do eve­ry thing in virtue of the Divine Arm on which we relye. Thus when Humility has made us diffident of our selves, we ought to raise our Courages by an holy and invincible Faith, that may make us brave all the Disgraces and Difficulties of the World, looking to this all-seeing eye, and all-powerful Arm, who has a heart readier to give to us, than ours to ask or receive.

Such was the Prayer of S. Ann, animated with a lively Faith, not only a general one, which made her believe that God to whom she pray'd was all-powerful, and all-good, and had a Paternal Providence, and an infinite love for her; but a particular faith that this gracious God would grant her the desir'd Grace, according to the Pattern of another Ann the Mother of Samuel, 1 King. 1. Concerning whom the Sacred Ora­cle pronounces that after the Prayer which she made to obtain a Son, she was no more agitated by any waves of Inquietude; but was left in a constant evenness, and a perfect tranquility of mind, as if she already had the thing she pray'd for, says St. Chrysostom of the first Anna, and felt the Babe form'd and stirring in her womb, inasmuch as she had beg'd it with a spirit not wavering, undoubtful of success, but with an entire confidence, and an unshaken perswasion that she should obtain. 'Tis thus, says St. Thomas 2a. 2ae. Q. 83. that as Charity makes our Prayer meritorious, Confidence makes it impetratorious, or effectual. Thus it is that those great Courages who fully confide in God, glorifie him more by the Noble and high Sentiments that they have of him, than a Million of narrow hearts, to whom all seems lost as soon as they see any thing fail 'em, and themselves left by some one of these broken reeds, the Creatures on which they rely'd.

Thus it is that St. Basil in his 20th. Orat. de Principatu exalts Confi­dence as much as Sacrifice, and says, It's no more lawful to place it any where else than in God, than to present the Cult which the Sa­crifice contains, to any other than him. To this I add, that as the Ho­nour we give to God in Sacrifice is very great by reason of the Prote­station we there make of acknowledging him for our Soveraign: So that which he receives from us by Confidence, is wonderful, inasmuch as it is like an Oath of Fealty, and an Homage whereby we oblige our selves to be willing to depend on him alone, avowing his infinite boun­ty and infallible verity, and renouncing every other hold which we [Page 15]might have but him, which is very honourable to him; and it is thus that our Saint by the vigour and firmness of her Faith merited the greatest Grace in the World next to the Personal Ʋnion, and Di­vine Maternity, that is, to bear in her Womb the Virgin, who was to be the Mother of God, and to have for Grandson, and embrace in her Arms no less than him who has God for his Father.

After these Preeminences of this great Saint, we have nothing to do but to contribute our Homages by Invocation of her Powers, and the imitation of her Vertues. As for,

CHAP. XI. Her Credit and Power in Heaven.

IF St. Ann next to the Virgin be the nearest to Jesus Christ, and has a greater share of him than any of all the Saints in the Incarnation, which is the cause of the Crowns they wear; it is easie to conclude, that this Proximity has given her the most eminent of Paradice, as wa­ter partakes more of the qualities of its Spring, the nearer it is to it; and that her Credit is parallel to her Greatness, which the better to comprehend, it is necessary to remember how all Gods creatures be­ing the productions of his Goodness, by the Being which he gave them as an extract of his own, he would have them to rejoyn again to him as to their final, as well as efficient cause, placing this Perfection in this Reunion and Return to their Principle.

Now according to the Doctrine of St. Thomas, in his Book of the Humility of Christ, his Will was to recall to himself middle things by the high, and low ones by the middle; and he makes use of Jesus Christ, to gather together, and reunite by him whatever is in Heaven or in Earth; and this Jesus Christ makes use in the first place of the Holy Virgin as the nearest ally'd, then of some Persons of Election and near approach to the Incarnation, the Principle of all Sanctification; upon this account therefore St. Ann was to have the next rank to her Daughter, and must approach nearest after her in the Sanctity of Je­sus Christ, and in Grace, which is with St. James a quality wholly Divine, defending from the Father of Lights into our Souls, and must come there first by Christ, then by the Virgin, and after that by St. Ann; consequently in our Indigencies and Needs we must address our selves by St. ANN to the Virgin, and by the Virgin to Jesus Christ, and by Jesus Christ to God his Father, who can refuse nothing to his Son, [Page 16]no more than he can to his Mother, or she to hers who is St. Ann. And as St. Gertrude, a Virgin of an incomparable Piety and Glory of the French Scepter, saw one day in an extacy Angels who descended from Heaven, and who in the midst of the Quire where the singing was, brought a most resplendent Throne of Glory, in the which the H. Virgin being seated, like a Queen full of Majesty, received the Prayers of all the Nuns who approacht this Throne, and fulfilled their re­quest.

It must be said that this Throne was the Glorious St. Ann, in which Jesus and Mary are set down; and if we would obtain any Grace whatever, we must prostrate our selves before this Throne of Grace, Ann being rightly interpreted Grace, and go thither with Confidence and Fervour. But above all, with

CHAP. XII. The Imitation of her Virtues,

BY which we revere her Sanctity, as by our Prayers we humbly acknowledg her Power.

And this the whole end and fruit that God would have by Invoca­tions and Cults toward this Saint, and the sole means which those Souls who carry this fair Name of Ann, have to possess it with advantage.

For as God seeing that we are but impotent and wretched Crea­tures, having no Present worthy to approach his Throne, and to be offered to him, desires from our Weakness only the sanctification of his Name, which is perform'd by Holiness in our Manners, and Innocence in our Lives.

It is also this his Grandmother desires from the Souls who carry her Name, signifying a Spring of Grace, that their hearts be always replenish'd with it, for that else they would possess it but by injustice and violence; and this would be to have a splendid name in appear­ance, accompanied with very ill circumstances; and to fall into the reproach of a Judas, a word which signifies Confession, but who was notwithstanding the perfidious Traytor of his Master; or of an Absolom, That is to say, the Peace of his Father, and who was yet his torment and his scourge; or of a Solomon, amabilis Deo, the beloved of God, by whom he was nevertheless hated for his impurities. This, lastly, would be to be a Capernaum, Ager penitentiae, the Field of penitence, a Town which was yet so obstinate, and which car'd so little to do [Page 17]Penance, that Jesus Christ in St. Luke swore its destruction.

A Name then so favourable, and so full of Grace as Ann, ought to furnish continual matters of Virtue to the Souls who have the honour to bear it, if they but never so little permit their thoughts to medi­tate on it; and this obliges them particularly, as it generally obliges all Christians,

To have always holy Alliances and Sacred ties with God the Prin­ciple of Grace, to follow always the guidances and motives of Grace, but especially to practice such of her Virtues as Jesus Christ knows to be most convenient for our condition; as among other, her solitudes and her retreats, so to make you often seen to God and to your self: For it is in the Hives that the Bees make secretly their Honey, and the Silk­worms make their Silk within their Cells; Nature forms the King of Metals in silence, in the Caverns of the Earth, out of the noise and sight of Men: The Manna fell during the rest and calm of the night, not with Storm or Tempest, but gently and without tumult, as the dew which is softly and without shew transpir'd into the bosom of the Earth.

It is not in the hurry of the World, in the noise of House-keeping, in the Inquietude of Cares, in the turmoils of an active and a di­vided Life, but in the separation from every thing in the bottom of the Soul, in Tranquility, the disengagement and liberty of the Spirit in the recollection and solitude of the Heart, where the Holy Spirit sheds abun­dantly its Graces, to prepare a Soul, of whom he designs to make an instrument of his Wonders, as he did of St. Ann.

It is in this Sanctuary that this hidden Manna is found, Rev. 2. that is given to the Souls Triumphant over the World, which is no other thing but an ineffable Consolation begot from a very inward and con­tinual Inclination towards God, with a sense and relish of his Truths and Greatness, better apprehended by Experience than by Knowledg.

It is in the Quietude of this Divine Genter and Fund, that there is tasted this kind of Prayer which you desire, Holy Souls, which con­sists not so much in that which is ours in functions and uses of our Powers, but in that which is God's, and in the infusion of his Graces, where through a full silence of the Soul, which is a denudation of Thoughts in the Understanding, and of Affections in the Will; the sole Master of Hearts speaks and brings nothing thither but that sole disposition of Respect and Submission to the most pure, most sim­ple, and most inward action of the Ʋncreated Spirit in ours.

It is here you shall not only be able to carry your Hopes beyond the [Page 18]Forces, and to cast your filial and amorous Confidences into the Prote­ction of God's Arm, and into the Sweetness of the Love which he hath for you; but shall also adjust you to your Rule, which can't fail, that after the request of some Grace from God, you may have your Spirit at rest, and deposited in that of God, to wait for, with Patience and Silence, as Jeremy says, the Salvation of God.

It is here, That after the Pattern of St. Ann, you give up your self to the entire Consummation of the most holy Will, and most adorable Designs, which God has had from Eternity upon you, and upon each moment of your Life. And it is here, that your Soul appearing quite naked before him, submits her self to him with absolute Resignation of Spirit, of Sense, of Tast, and of all manner of Satifaction, desiring nought but God's only Good, and the Interest of his Glory; breathing forth these Words from all your Heart, I cast my self at the Mercy of the Love which you have for me, O my God. I am the Object of the Vigilance and the Affection of a God. It's enough for me that thou takest the Title of my Father, to make me see that thy Power is inseparable from thy Goodness, that I ought to expect thence all the good that shall be to thy Glory, and my Salvation, which is whatever I must; that all the present desires of God be accom­plisht on me: I am content and indifferent to all, for Scarcity or Abundance, to Act or to Suffer, for Obtaining or Refusing, Consola­tion or Desolation, Calvary or Thabor. I offer my self to all as a pure Capacity of God to his designs.

It is here, lastly, That you must supplicate him to lead you into Devoti­on, and all other Exercises of Life; either retired or secular, by the way he has ordained for you, whether of Conformity, which is a total Subjection, and resolute Dependance of your Will on the Divine Will in all Events and Occurrences, however displeasing and irksom, comforting your self in your very misfortune, or disgrace, of seeing you an Object of the Divine Severity, if it tend to his Glory. Or

Of Ʋniformity, which adds to the other an Ʋnion of your Will with the Divine, which takes away all repugnance and difficulty, and brings an appetite and longing desire of what God Wills, and carries the Soul to will it, for this reason only, that God is therewith contented, and desires it; and which causes that in all our internal and external Operations, the Soul be in a moment united to God, to know in these his good pleasure, and to put the same immediately into Practice: Or lastly,

Of Deformity, which unites the Will by such an efficacy of Love to the Divine, that the Soul no longer feels or perceives her self, than as if She [Page 19]were really no more in being; and in her Manners and Actions, only feels in her self the uncreated Will, by an intire Transformation made her own, as we see a little drop of Water presently take the Colour, Tast, and Nature of Wine; and a piece of Iron thrown into the Fire, quit in some manner, the Form and Appearance of Iron, to take that of Fire; and as the Air, which is penetrated by the Rays of the Sun, seems not so much to be enlightned, as to be light it self.

By these three ways, or even any one of these, you'l worthily Honour the Greatness and Prerogatives, and certainly implore the Favours of the Great St. ANN.