Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 2.djvu/81

of modesty and dignity. From without the angels kept her, and from within her wisdom and discretion directed her. Twenty-two psalms of David are appropriate to her. The 1st declares her perfection and purity; the 3rd, the persecutions which she underwent; the 4th, her quietness; the 5th, the malice which was borne towards her; the 15th, her righteousness; the 16th, the guard which was kept over her; the 17th her integrity; the 23rd, her good education; the 26th, her watchfulness against slipping; the 24th declares how the Lord blessed and supported her on the earth; the 46th, how she became an abode for the Lord the Sanctifier of all; the 48th also witnesses that she became a temple for the Son of the Highest; the 61st typifies her retiredness, and the psalm following, her success; in the 87th, it is said that the Son of the Highest dwelt in her; and in the 91st, that the angels kept watch over her body; in the 101st, that through her alone He appeared to the world; and the large psalm on perfection, containing in its alphabetical division the mystery of numerical perfection, is throughout applicable to Mary. Psalm 137th declares how she confessed the Lord with her mouth and mind; and Psalm 138th how the right hand of the Lord rested on her. If what is said in these psalms was said of the righteous, yet they are included as through her, and in her, and by her. This is she who was never known of man; she is the ground which the Lord only sowed. She is the door spoken of by the prophet Barbozi [Ezekiel] by the word of the Lord, which is shut, and which none can enter but the Lord only Who enters and goes out by it. She is the sealed fountain from which the whole world have quenched their thirst. She is the untouched treasure by which all men have been enriched. This is she in whom God dwelt, and from whom sprang the Son of God. This is she, the begotten of Eve, through whom the curse of Eve is loosed. This is she, the daughter of the earthly, who was saluted by the prince of the spiritual ones. This is she who bare Him Who is the Upholder of the height and depth, and in Whom both are comprehended. This is she who in a natural way brought forth a God-Man supernaturally. This is the Virgin from whom aged matrons may learn all piety. This is the poor girl who was reverently adored by kings. From her infancy she did not