Ecclesiastical curiositis Author:William Andrews Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Cbappell of Šure By The Rev. J. H. Stamp. TH E sacred buildings designated by this title were dedicated to the service of God, in mediaeval times, in honou... more »r of the Mother of our Lord. The veneration of S. Mary, the Blessed Virgin, had been growing up in the Church from the fifth century, when the reality of the incarnation of the Son of God was first called into question by men who professed and called themselves Christians. The defence of the true doctrine brought clearly into view the high dignity which God had conferred on the humble maiden of Nazareth, and so reverence for her memory, as the most blessed among women, grew into veneration for her person as the Mother of God. The faithful of the Middle Ages were, therefore, not content with simply retaining her name at the head of the list of saints, but raised the human mother to a position which was almost, if not quite, equal to that of her Divine Son. They conferred on her the title of "Our Lady," and hailed her as "TheQueen of Heaven," just as they were accustomed to address the Saviour as " Our Lord" and worship Him as " The King of Heaven." This title still survives in the terms which are so familiar to us, namely, "Lady Day" and "Lady Chapel." We see evidences of this growth of the cultus of the Blessed Virgin in the erection and elaborate ornamentation of Lady Chapels throughout Christendom. It does not seem probable, however, that our pious forefathers in the ancient Church of England intended to encourage Mariolatry, by the introduction of these buildings into this country; for it is a singular and significant fact that in Spain, where this heretical and superstitious practice chiefly prevailed, Lady Chapels are very rare, because the church itself has been made to serve the purpose. English Churchmen, in the...« less