" [Luke ii. 28.] In this
incident it is worthy of remark, that Joseph and Mary are both mentioned
by name, that they are both called the parents of the young child; that
both are equally blessed by Simeon; and that the good old Israelite,
illumined by the spirit of prophecy, when he addresses himself
immediately to Mary, speaks only of her future sorrow, and does not even
most remotely or faintly allude to any exaltation of her above the other
daughters of Abraham. "A sword shall pass through thine own soul also,"
a prophecy, as St. Augustine interprets it, accomplished when she
witnessed the sufferings and death of her Son. (See De Sacy, vol. xxxii.
p. 138.)
The next occasion on which the name of the Virgin Mary is found in
Scripture, is the memorable visit of herself, her husband, and her Son,
to Jerusalem, when he was twelve years old. And the manner in which this
incident is related by the inspired Evangelist, so far from intimating
that Mary was destined to be an object of worship to the believers in
her Son, affords {278} evidence which exhibits strongly a bearing the
direct contrary. Here again Joseph and Mary are both called his parents:
Joseph is once mentioned by name, and so is Mary. If the language had
been so framed as on purpose to take away all distinction of preference
or superiority, it could not more successfully have effected its
purpose.
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