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Full Description
During the Middle Ages, Mary was the most powerful of saints, and the combination of her humanity and her proximity to the divine captured the medieval imagination. Her importance is nowhere more clearly reflected than in the genre of "Miracles of the Virgin," short narrative accounts of Mary's miraculous intercessory powers. These stories tend to fit a basic narrative pattern in which Mary saves a devoted believer from spiritual or physical danger—but beneath this surface simplicity, the Miracles frequently evoke fine or revealing theological, social, and cultural distinctions. They are remarkably various in tone, ranging from the darkly serious to the comically scandalous, and many display anti-Semitism to a greater degree or with greater punch than do other medieval genres. Mary herself takes on a variety of characteristics, appearing as dominant and persuasive more often than she appears as gentle and maternal.
This volume offers a small but representative sampling of what survives of this literature in the English language. The Middle English has been helpfully glossed and annotated, and is lightly modernized for ease of reading; one particularly challenging story is translated in facing-page format. The "In Context" sections provide relevant biblical passages and medieval versions of the Christian prayers frequently evoked in the miracles; additional samples of Marian poetry and medieval illustrations of Marian miracles are also included.
Contents
Introduction
Miracles of the Virgin in Middle English
from The South English Legendary, "St Theophilus" (c. 1280)
from the Vernon Manuscript, "Miracles of Ure Lady" (c. 1390)
from John Mirk's Festial, Sermon for Candlemas (c. 1390)
from British Library MS 37049, Marian Praise and Miracles (c. 1460-70)
from a Late-Medieval Sermon Book, A Marian Incest Tale (c.1460-1500)
In Context
Mary in the Bible
The Gospel According to Matthew 1.18-25 and 2.7-21
The Gospel According to Luke 1.26-56 and 2.1-51
Prayers Evoked in the Miracles
Two Versions of the Ave Maria (Hail Mary)
Paternoster (Our Father)
Credo (I Believe, or the Creed)
Alma redemptoris mater (Kind Mother of the Redeemer)
Salve sancta parens (Hail Holy Parent)
Confiteor (I Confess)
Marian Prayer-Poems in Related Manuscripts
Three Poems from the Vernon Manuscript
Two Poems from British Library MS Additional 37049
Illustrations of Marian Miracles from Medieval English Books
