therefore she is placed immediately after the Trinity, which is uncreate, and second, because she is bound to Christ in a never-ending matrimony, and by the love of the Holy Spirit. And third, because, the Trinity being once acknowledged, it is proper that it should have her as a temple in which to dwell.[1] Therefore Augustine, as above [Enchiridion, 41] concludes: "That God dwells in his temple—not only the Holy Spirit, but the Father likewise, and also the Son. And of his body—by virtue of which he is made head of the church of God which is among men, in order that in all things he might have the pre-eminence—the Son said: 'Destroy this temple and in three days I will build it up again'" [John 2:21]. From these words of Augustine we deduce (1) that the universal church is one, praising God from the beginning of the world to the end; (2) that the holy angels are a part of the holy catholic church; (3) that the part of the church called pilgrim or militant is helped by the church triumphant; (4) that the church triumphant and the church militant are bound together by the bond of love; (5) that the whole church and every part of it are to worship God, and that neither she nor any part of it wishes to be worshipped as God.
From all this the conclusion follows, that the faithful ought not to believe in the church, for she is not God, but the
- ↑ The writers of the M. A. also made Mary the dwelling-place of the Trinity, especially the hymn-writers. So the great hymnist, Adam of St. Victor, in the lines
Salve mater pietatis
Et totius trinitatis
Nobile triclinium.
Hail, mother of piety;
And of the whole Trinity
Excellent refectory (monastic hall).As the church is the bride of Christ, so Mary was also represented as the spouse of the Holy Spirit. Alfonso da Liguori delights so to represent her, as for example, in the prayer: "I thank thee, O eternal Spirit, for the love given to Mary, thy spouse." In his encyclical to the French bishops, Jan. 15, 1907, Pius X spoke "of his full confidence in the Virgin Immaculate, daughter of our Father, mother of the Word and spouse of the Holy Ghost," etc.
