ROMAN CATHOLICISM 287 



He was even born. Like the Archangel Gabriel and Saint 

 Elizabeth, we say : "Hail Mary, full of grace ; the Lord is 

 with thee; blessed art thou among women (Luke, i, 28) and 

 blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus" (Luke, i, 42), in 

 humble acknowledgment of the mystery of God made mani- 

 fest in the flesh. You have heard of the Angelus — Millet's 

 celebrated picture is enough to impress the idea upon every 

 one. The Angelus is the prayer ordained by the Church to 

 be said three times a day, morning, noon and night, to bring 

 home to every Christian the incarnation of our Blessed Re- 

 deemer. The Angelus, which is almost wholly extracted from 

 the Gospels, is said as follows : 



"The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary : and she con- 

 ceived by the Holy Ghost. Hail Mary, &c." 



"Behold the handmaid of the Lord : be it done unto me 

 according to Thy word. Hail Mary, &c." 



"And the Word was made flesh : and dwelt amongst us. 

 Hail Mary, &c." 



And then this prayer follows : 



"Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our 

 hearts that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ Thy Son 

 was made known by the message of an angel, may by His 

 passion and cross be brought to the glory of His resurrec- 

 tion. Through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen." 



These are the prayers which the peasants in Millet's pic- 

 ture are saying, as they stand with bared heads at even-tide. 



Therefore, the teaching of the Church is not merely the 

 divinity of Girist, as that might mean merely a human mask 

 instead of a real humanity. It is more than that — it is God 

 Himself taking on our poor humanity, and thereby raising 

 our weak human nature and frailty up to the splendid heights 

 of God Himself. He became our brother and one of us, 

 human as we are, in all except sin, and His mother is our 

 mother, even as He commended her to be our mother to the 

 sole apostle at the foot of the cross when He was dying; 

 His brethren are our brethren ; His friends are our friends — 

 and we, without abating one jot or tittle of our worship, love 

 or adoration of God the Son, ask His mother and His saints 

 to intercede and pray for us, just as we would in the human 

 family of whom He is the elder brother and head, turn to 

 them to help us in our straits and needs. He is forever God 



