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APR Sb 1924 
 
 
 The Virgin Birt 
 
 Illumined 
 
 
 A Recension of Fundamentals 
 A. M. 4004—A. D. 1 
 
 By A Modernist. 
 
 Saint' Louis 
 
 The William Harvey Miner Co., Inc. 
 Nineteen Twenty-three 
 
Copyright September, 1923 
 
 The William Harvey Miner, Co., Inc., 
 
 All rights reserved, including that 
 of translation into foreign languages 
 including Scandinavian. 
 
“Before deductive interpretation of the general truths 
 there must be some inductive establishment of them.” 
 
 Herbert Spencer. 
 
 “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. 
 Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall 
 call His name Emanuel: Butter and honey shall He eat 
 that He shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good.” 
 
 Isaiah 7. 14:15. 
 
 “In Christianity scarcely any other single circumstance 
 has contributed so much to the attraction of the faith as the 
 ascription of virginity to its female ideal.”—Lecky, Euro¬ 
 pean Morals I. III. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/virginbirthillumOOunse 
 
Foreword 
 
 This defense of the Virgin Mother of Christ, suggested 
 by the shades of the Prophetess Anna, Thos. H. Huxley, 
 another Biologist, Dr. Samuel David Gross and three priests, 
 is not an apology but is necessitated by the heresy trials 
 and higher criticism, which, by spreading abroad half- 
 truths, makes a most difficult way for already handicapped 
 
 womankind by intimating a fraud that threatens to bring 
 into contempt all the “evidence” and casts a slur on Chris¬ 
 tianity that is not warranted. 
 
 For more than twenty years I have held my peace though 
 often sorely tried by the indignities offered the Virgin in the 
 rejection of her sacrifice. I feel that the time has come for 
 the truth to be told whether from a revelation or the logical 
 leading through deep research. The fact that my genealogy 
 traces in an unbroken line back to ninety years before the 
 Christian era may be of interest. A Saxon who lived in the 
 Mendip hills no doubt heard much of this Virgin birth 
 from Joseph of Arimathea who was a witness called by the 
 Prophetess Anna. 
 
“Where there is no vision the people perish.” 
 
THE VIRGIN BIRTH ILLUMINED 
 
 The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 All day the smoke of incense filled the air; 
 All day on Temple altar seethed the flesh 
 Of “firstlings of the flock,” and now outside 
 The Temple gate there tarried two. 
 
 Long had 
 
 They waited on the Lord for one was daughter 
 Of that Phanuel who was of tribe 
 
 Page Nine 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Of Aser. She was fourscore years and four 
 And she had vowed a vow when from her gaze 
 Had passed the husband of her youth. Now heavily 
 She leaned on staff and spake to Simeon. 
 
 “Didst see, oh Simeon, the blemished lamb 
 
 Was led away to baser use and how 
 
 The man who guided it was grieved? It was 
 
 The firstling of his flock and his a contrite 
 
 Heart. Oh! I am weary, Simeon, of these 
 
 Priests’ sacrifice! I could no longer stay 
 
 Did I not know that still God’s presence in 
 
 The Ark makes this my place; did I not know 
 
 Our Father Moses knew aright the first 
 
 Sad steps these people still must go. ‘Through weal 
 
 And woe’—God willed it so because He would. 
 
 But now I feel the time has come when He 
 Would lead His people up from this Red Sea 
 For yet a closer walk with Him and we 
 Are called, oh Simeon, to labor with our God.’’ 
 
 Page Ten 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 “What dost thou prate of, woman?” said the man, 
 Impatiently, though he drew back to hear 
 For this was Prophetess and she was old. 
 
 “Thou knowest, Simeon, how often and again 
 The visions trouble me—even as our 
 Great Daniel, and how I wrestle oft with deep 
 And mighty matters of the Law. But never 
 Yet till now have I beheld the palm-tree ^ 
 
 In my dreams and never yet till now 
 Hath ^ Jeremias come: but I beheld 
 Them both last night, and now I know Messias 
 Comes and we must gird us for our work 
 For we are called of God.” 
 
 “Ah, Mother Anna, 
 
 But thy years protect thee I’d bid thee hence 
 To rest. We are too old for this great work.” 
 
 * Tamar,—palm 
 
 ^ In Jewish tradition a vision of Jeremias meant “Messias comes.” 
 See note 35. 
 
 Page Eleven 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 “But, Simeon, to none but our years comes the lore 
 When ‘coming events cast their shadows before.’ 
 
 True, I am weary and the time grows short. But that 
 I learned from Egypt how I might renew 
 My strength, I would long since have slumbered with 
 The dead, and thou must know, oh Simeon, that after 
 The alloted span, the three score years 
 And ten are gone, are spent in duty and 
 In work, we may if further work remains 
 Take from what food we may, even we Essens, 
 
 Even as great King David ate the Temple 
 Shrewbread. And thou canst not escape, priest 
 As thou art. God bids me summon thee; also 
 Our kinship. 
 
 “Thou knowest that our strict sect 
 Hath no food that can gird my worn body for this work. 
 The little cruse of oil I brought from grove 
 Of far off Athens is now spent save a few 
 Drops; yesterday I feared that I must use 
 Them on mine own head, so worn was I with care 
 
 Pa^e T^welve 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 And so long had mine anointing failed. Those sacred 
 Drops must wait for greater head than thine 
 Or mine! 
 
 “But thou must leave me now and send 
 To me the Maiden that goes yonder; she will 
 Bring a cooling draught and guide me hence; 
 
 And thou, oh Simeon, must meet with me at Siloam 
 Tomorrow at the dawn and with thee food.” 
 
 And at the dawn came these two to the pool 
 Fast by great David’s gate. The man was stern 
 And sad, and often to the East he turned 
 And bowed him down, the while he gave unto 
 Her hand a leathern cruse. The woman stood 
 A moment gaunt and still beside cool Siloam 
 And then with trembling staff she touched a flower 
 That nestled there and said, 
 
 “See’st thou this flower, 
 Oh Simeon? This to thee a purple blossom 
 Is and nothing more: to me it is 
 The loosen-strife, and thou and I must eat 
 
 Pa^e Thirteen 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Of it ere we can draw in this stiff yoke 
 Confronts us now. Is’t but a symbol? Well, 
 
 I crush it now in this good juniper. 
 
 May it give strength and may God bless it to create 
 Good. Have patience, Simeon, for thou must know 
 
 That that great day draws near that we have longed 
 For; All signs and portents tell it is upon us. 
 
 “When in that dreadful vision Jeremias 
 
 Came, the words were ® Zachariah’s, ‘Not 
 
 By might or power but by my Spirit, sayeth 
 
 The Lord of Hosts,* and round about me shone 
 
 The light of seven lamps and I beheld 
 
 Two olive trees and near them a form all clothed 
 
 In white, and a voice said, ‘The hands of Zerrababel 
 
 Laid foundation of this house and who 
 
 Shall finish it? The Lord of Hosts hath sent 
 
 8 Zee. IV. 
 
 Paffe Fourteen 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Me unto thee for who hath despised the day 
 Of small things?’ 
 
 “And I lifted up mine eyes 
 And behold there came out two women and the wind 
 Was in their wings for they had wings like storks, 
 
 And they lifted up the * bath-kol between the Heaven 
 And earth and I said to the angel, ‘Where 
 Do these bear the bath-kol?’ and he said, ‘To build 
 It an house in the land of Shinar and it shall be 
 Established there on her own base.’ “ And what 
 So fit a place as Shinar, Simeon? The place 
 
 * bath-kol. A kind of oracular voice frequently referred to in the 
 Talmud, the later Targums, and rabbinical writers, as the fourth 
 grade of revelation, constituting an instrument of divine commu¬ 
 nication throughout the early history of the Israelites, and the 
 sole prophetic manisfestation which they possessed during the 
 period of the second temple. From the death of Haggai, Zecha- 
 riah and Malachi, the Holy Spirit (which, according to the Jewish 
 distinction, is only the second degree of the prophetical gift) 
 was withdrawn from Israel; but they nevertheless enjoyed the use 
 of the Bath Kol. 
 
 Century Dictionary. 
 
 »Zac. V. 
 
 Page Fifteen 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Our fathers called ‘God’s golden cup,’ wherein 
 Was gathered blood of kings and all that makes 
 For strength and power. 
 
 “Dost think so vain a thing, 
 That all so soon our yoke is fallen from us? 
 
 Dost think because the Groves are overthrown 
 And Baal’s sacrificing priests cut down that we 
 No more doth eat the accursed food? Behold! 
 
 The self-same wine thou servest on the altar 
 Doth set the people’s teeth on edge with thoughts 
 Drawn from a pagan source. Unless the stream 
 Be purified we perish. God grant that thou 
 And I have strength to our part in this! 
 
 Entreat him, Simeon, oh thou who art so near 
 The Ark, to hear our supplication! 
 
 “Nay, 
 
 Turn not thus away, for thou art chosen still 
 To help. By ancient sistrum Essen calls 
 
 Paffe Sixteen 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Unto the great Temple—‘Wake and Help!* ” 
 
 The man turned and beheld her there transformed; 
 
 The fever inspiration lent a robust 
 Glow to her gaunt form and as she drew 
 From folds of coarse white robe the ancient 
 Instrument, her voice grew strong, and mingled with 
 Its clash, “In Temple of Isis awaiting a crisis 
 My father’s mother served, and she was a Priestess* 
 Daughter, who ne’er from duty swerved!’’ 
 
 The Priest 
 
 Rose stern and cold as if to go. The woman 
 Cast the harp aside and cried, “Twas but 
 To strike a chord would lead our thoughts back to 
 The past for fleeting moments view. “ Thou knowest 
 
 ® Evidently here is a kind of intuitive realization of what scientists 
 in the years that followed co-related and established. Vide Prof. 
 Huxley, "It may be laid down as a rule that, if any two mental 
 states be called up together, or in succession with due frequency 
 and vividness, the subsequent production of the one of them will 
 suffice to call up the other—and that whether we desire it or not." 
 
 Paffe Seventeen 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Well my heart is with the Temple here 
 And ever has been. Strict as thyself I serve 
 The great Jehovah. This labor is for Him! 
 
 Our father Ezra there in Shinar, oft 
 Deep brooding over wondrous lore found that 
 Great Isis was our Mother Earth, the Ceres 
 Who doth nourish still in her great womb 
 The temple that we dwell in while we wait. 
 
 One day while I did ponder deep on this 
 And while I sat by western wall, outside 
 The gate a wandering minstrel sang,—‘He 
 From the gods this dreadful answer brought, 
 
 ‘Ol Grecians, when the Trojan shores you sought, 
 Your passage with Virgin’s blood was bought; 
 
 So must your safe return be bought again 
 And Grecian blood once more atone the main.’ ^ 
 
 '^Virgil—Aeneid 11. 115. 
 
 Page Eighteen 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 If for the heathen, Simeon, how much more true 
 For us who art called more to sacrifice.” 
 
 A moment yet the man stood still in awe. 
 
 The form before him trembled and sank down. 
 ‘‘Give me thy hand to yonder seat, oh Simeon. 
 Sometimes forgetting I grow old I stand 
 Too long. ’Tis well that not to-day is thine 
 Or mine to serve at other altar, for I 
 Have much that must be told to thee, for see’st 
 Thou not the times are all fulfilled? 
 
 ‘‘Nay, I 
 
 Am not mad nor heathen. Thou knowest well 
 My days are spent in serving near the Ark. 
 There is no priest nor prophet that doth stricter 
 Serve the God of Israel. Thou knowest, too, 
 That ever yet I came to Ark the seven 
 Years from my virginity were spent 
 
 Pape Nineteen 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 With one who taught me well the lore too oft 
 The husbands keep unto themselves. Thou knowest 
 How at Ramah I was schooled. Is’t strange 
 Then that I do summons thee, for I cannot 
 Alone prevail? For never yet was given 
 Great birth on earth to anything but that 
 Our God called two or more to act. 
 
 “But harken 
 
 Simeon, more than a score of years 
 Agone, one day I sat here worn and spent 
 With toil. There came a man who bent with years 
 Was leaning on this staff. He said, ‘I come 
 From Nebo’s mountain; from long fasting in 
 The cave where Jeremias hid the altar 
 Gifts, and some I now restore. For thou 
 Art daughter of a worthy tribe and being 
 Tribe of Aser, thine the task of writing 
 
 Pa^e T<wenty 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Down the lineage from Judah. The staff ^ 
 
 Is Judah’s that he sent to Tamar. Hosea 
 Sayeth ‘By a prophet brought the Lord 
 Our Israel out of Egypt and by a 
 Prophetess was he preserved.’ See thou 
 To it, daughter of that great tribe who dipped 
 Their feet in oil.’ And he was gone. 
 
 “About 
 
 The staff was tied a sleeve from a priest’s robe 
 
 And in it as within a bag three golden 
 
 Mice, some golden powder in a box 
 
 And seven small bones. Tied fast within the faded 
 
 Fringe a mitra shell and on a parchment. 
 
 This,—‘The dust is from the golden calf 
 That Moses ground and made all drink of it; 
 
 But this aside my father’s father kept. 
 
 ® This staff is probably the one referred to in the Roman Douay 
 Bible in Genesis XXXlll “and Jacob worshipped the staff.” 
 
 Page Twenty-one 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 The bones are Joseph’s found by one, Anna, 
 Who long sought them. These to a Joseph who 
 Comes now.’ 
 
 “I was astonished and fell down. 
 The staff still in my hand fast fixed, and while 
 I lay, there came with mighty force our father 
 Ezra’s words, ‘Haste to a field of flowers 
 Where no house is builded; there seven days 
 And eat but honey from the flowers and search 
 The scriptures.’ To the law and the testimony 
 The evidence is all in! 
 
 “And I went 
 
 Down to Egypt, to Nitra-Vallis. Remember 
 Tribe of Aser is most fit, oh Simeon, 
 
 For genealogies, and when I read, 
 
 ‘I will strengthen the house of Judah and I 
 Will save the house of Joseph, so sayeth 
 
 ® Jewish Encyclopedia. 
 
 Paffe T^venty-tvjo 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 The Lord to Isaiah and the remnant that 
 Is escaped of Judah shall again take root 
 Downward and bear fruit upward.’ I was afraid! 
 When I remembered our tradition of Seth 
 And a ‘seed that shall come from another place’ 
 
 I was afraid. 
 
 “I pondered long and find 
 There is but one man who is left of Judah’s 
 Loins and he an Essen who is like 
 To pass without descendant, so strict he keeps 
 The fasts of that strict sect. Behold in thy 
 Mind’s eye far back to Judah goes lineage 
 Of that strict carpenter to Tamar’s son, 
 
 And scarlet thread bound hand of his twin brother ” 
 Is cord that leadeth to a Virgin dwells 
 With us; And virgin she must be who bears 
 
 Pharez—Genesis XXXVIII. 
 
 Zarah—Genesis XXXVIII. 
 
 Page Tvjenty-three 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 The great Messiah! Up, Simeon, and harken 
 To “ Isaiah! ‘Behold a virgin shall 
 Conceive and bear a Son and He shall call 
 His name Immanuel. Such butter and 
 Such honey shall He eat that He shall know 
 To choose the good and let the evil go.’ 
 
 And I remembered this in Nitra-Vallis.” 
 
 The priest bowed low obeisance to sacred word 
 Then turned astonished gaze to her rapt face. 
 
 “Thou knowest that I dwelt there seven years. 
 Then I came straight to Anna, Joachim’s wife. 
 Because in my forecasting they stood next 
 In line. She pondered deeply in her heart 
 And lived accordingly. And oft to Nitra- 
 Vallis they both went and there, as I, 
 
 Ate but the honey from the flowers. 
 
 12 Isaiah VII. 14-15. 
 
 Pape Twenty-four 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 “The fasts 
 
 Of Essen make one child the mede. When I 
 Received it from the mid-wife I rejoiced 
 And I anointed it with sacred oil 
 From altar in the East! And if it be 
 Of Istar, so mote it be. Three times have seven 
 Years gone by since then and we have cherished 
 Her and guarded her with prayer, for well 
 We know a Virgin must be chosen soon, 
 
 And we have long born her before the Lord 
 In supplication and with prayer. While strict 
 Her fasts, her step is fine and free. Behold 
 The Maid; she comes from many lands and in 
 Her hands she holds the secret of a nation’s 
 Peace! ’’ 
 
 Before them on the path to David’s 
 
 Tradition says that our Lady at the age of three was presented 
 by her parents to God in the Temple.—Manual of Holy Catholic 
 Church. McGovern and Bishop Quigley Imprimature. 
 
 Paffe T^uenty -five 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Gate there came a band of women and one 
 Of them bore turtledove. 
 
 “Nay, she is Essen: 
 The dove is for Elizabeth who is 
 Her kinswoman, and who would sacrifice 
 Again, so fearful she that Zacharias 
 And herself have sinned, because he speechless 
 Goes since now these seven weeks. But softly, 
 Simeon! By my prophetic soul 
 The red meats of the altar make a potent 
 Feast when, filled with altar incense, a priest 
 Bears them home to wife who waits for him 
 Impatiently. And I have marked that she 
 Is tribe of Aaron. Ah, daughter of the Asur 
 Doth deep in Scripture delve! Nay, wonder not 
 That Essen comes with gift of sacrifice: 
 
 Too long have they been separate. Ah, some 
 Must enter in, and from this strict sect must 
 
 Page Twenty-six 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 A Joseph and this Maid, and, as the Mari 
 In great Caesar, there be many Judahs 
 And Tamars in these two!” 
 
 Now angrily 
 
 The old man rose, ‘‘What? Tamar! Harlot? Let not 
 The name—” 
 
 ‘‘What wilt thou, Simeon? Be yet glad 
 That Canaanitish woman was not this 
 Maid’s source. The Lord wouldst not a Canaanite 
 Who also was of Addullam! But harken, this 
 Same Tamar was by our great Judah justified; 
 
 For when he found aright that she did know. 
 
 When he came comforted from his wife’s death 
 His way lay back with Shuah to the Canaanites.— 
 
 Nay, Nay, oh Simeon, there was no wanton 
 Here. Doubt not long study in her father’s 
 House, where she dwelt strict when Judah’s sons 
 
 The cave of Add^ullam was a too congested refuge of the unfit. 
 
 Paffe T<iventy-seven 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Had failed, had made it plain that Israel’s hope 
 Was Judah! If she believed that she alone 
 Stood there between great Judah and this Shuah 
 And Canaanitish Addullam,—her’s the sacrifice! 
 
 Her name shall stand as fair as thine or mine 
 
 At that last day! And all the men testified 
 
 There was no harlot here, and though Rahab’s scarlet 
 
 Thread has run far down the ages, it 
 
 Shall yet be white as snow when this great Tamar’s 
 
 Daughter shall bring forth God’s Son, our King. 
 
 “Nay, hear me, I must speak or die! Return, 
 
 Oh Simeon, the sacrifice that she 
 Must make! The women of her tribe have ever 
 Been, while still most fair, of yet such good 
 Repute that even Ruth stood blameless in the 
 Line. Ah, this name shall be illustrious 
 
 “Is anything so astonishing,” etc. Self-Interpreting Bible, Gen. 
 VIll, Page 27. 
 
 Paffe Tiventy-eight 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 In Bethlehem.— 
 
 “Peace, peace! Oh, Simeon! 
 The time grows short and I am weary: but that 
 This hope gives life I could no longer serve. 
 
 Great Jacob sayeth, ‘The scepter shall not depart 
 From Judah; another lawgiver shall come 
 From between his feet when Shiloah comes.’ Mark 
 Siloam, the Virgin, that Joseph and another! 
 
 Oh father Ezra, oh Mighty God! What means 
 This thing? Oh thou and she and he, we all 
 Doth serve but God’s necessity, not me!’’ 
 
 Amazed, he gazed where she sank down, then stooped 
 To raise her and hurriedly drew forth from his robe 
 A draught that he had brought. 
 
 See etymology of "Nor”. 
 
 Edershein mentions two Josephs. 
 
 See definition of "necessity.” 
 
 Page Tnventy-nine 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 “Oh, woman, hath 
 
 _ / 
 
 Thy juniper or thy fasting made thee mad? 
 
 Or thy great years o’ercome thee? But drink again, 
 Revive thee and come hence.” 
 
 She drank it deep, 
 
 A moment rested and rose up, “Not hence. 
 
 Oh Simeon, until I charge thee: straight ' 
 
 From altar serve to that same carpenter 
 The reddest meats for seven times seven days, 
 
 A day for each his years. Take from the golden 
 Powder Caleb saved, yes, even pagan; 
 
 Mix with it powder from this box. ‘Tis lime 
 From bones of King of Edom who’s father 
 Burned them; a daring woman gathered some 
 In a small ivory box carving his name 
 Thereon; her children’s children treasured it; 
 
 The one who gave it me had never opened 
 iMsaiah XXVIII. 
 
 Pa^e Thirty 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Because the ivory box was sealed so close. 
 
 “One night when I searched in the dark for staff. 
 
 Had fallen by my couch, a glowing circle 
 
 Met mine eye; falling, the staff had loosed 
 
 The cover of the treasured box so that 
 
 A little scaped. Quick flashed some words that sage 
 
 Of Ramah said; I knew that I must burn 
 
 Some bones of Joseph and mingle with this. 
 
 Restoring thus birth-right of Esau against 
 A day of reckoning! 
 
 “Now half of this 
 
 Upon the meats and half in sacred oil,— 
 
 Peace! hear me!—at night annointing his 
 Right ear, his palms and his great toe, burning 
 The frankincense that be the prayers of saints 
 Close by his couch according to our Law. 
 
 Levitical. 
 
 Page Thirty-one 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Guard well the man and on that last great night 
 Contrive that he shall sleep near Siloam. 
 
 Nay, I am not mad! thy priestly training may well 
 Find way when thou shalt meditate on this. 
 
 Oh softly, as Ramalia’s son, go, Simeon, 
 
 But keep thy mind’s eye raised to God! He will 
 Support thee in this thy labor. There can 
 No evil enter here or this will fail. 
 
 “Make clean thy hands and all thy garments, too; 
 Bring a fair lamb’s-skin, that one thou offered up 
 For Joseph’s sin perchance.’’ half scornfully. 
 
 For she was Essen, 
 
 “But so thou cleanest it 
 
 Make dry and soft the skin; place where this Joseph 
 Lies that last great night with the clean inner side 
 Next his clean loins. Now God hath kept in our 
 Tradition clear for a great purpose and because 
 
 Paffe Thirty-tfivo 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 He would, the record still of Err’s sad brother. 
 
 Sometime our God brings good from ill when prayers 
 Of righteous much avail, and two or three 
 Are gathered and the cause is good! On that last night 
 When he is deep in sleep, dost thou, if hast 
 Not lost thy skill, bring from ‘lascivious lute’ 
 
 The sounds that David drew. His was the voice 
 That pleased our God! Bring all thy priestly skill 
 To this, but bend thy knee to the Most High; 
 
 Be ready there with clean altar spoon, a labis! 
 
 “Guard well this shell I give to thee, the same 
 That petrified with cunning skill was held 
 In Moses’ hand and Josuah’s when God 
 Carved out His law on Sinai. Only 
 
 21 Psalms XVIII, 50. ‘‘Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and 
 sheweth mercy to his annointed, to David, and to his seed for¬ 
 evermore.” 
 
 22 Tradition does not mention clearly that this was Terebra, but it 
 was undoubtedly a mitra shell. 
 
 Page Thirty-three 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 The point is worn, open and smooth; the parchment 
 That was round it in the sleeve told but 
 How it was used and given by Joshua 
 To one he loved, who placed it with the Altar 
 Gifts deeming it true that if ‘The stones 
 Had heard the word of God’ much more the shell 
 Had heard, and might also ‘be witness if they 
 Denied their God. ’ Ah! I have held it in 
 My hand and prayed at midnight when beneath 
 The stars I wept while I remembered Sion! 
 
 Beseeching God to show to me what my 
 Work was and let me finish it and go 
 To my long rest: ah, I am sorely spent 
 With this great search! and never ostra in 
 Great Athens did more banish men than this 
 Shell me from rest and peace. 
 
 Vide Joshua 24-27, also Bible Student and Teacher, October, 1907. 
 
 Index Page 2. 
 
 Paire Thirty-four 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 “And not the least 
 
 Of mine affliction is thou doubtest not 
 But I am mad and will not lend thine office 
 To this cause; yet cannot I alone 
 Prevail, for never yet was great birth given 
 To anything that God did not call two 
 Or more to act!“ 
 
 The old man rose with sad 
 Stern face hard set, “Thy speech, oh Prophetess, 
 Filled so with heathen lore would make my priestly 
 Ear turn stone but that thou temperest it 
 With God’s own holy word. But surely this 
 Were sinful seed could not be used for good 
 E’en in thy magic shell?’’ 
 
 “Nay, Nay, Simeon, 
 This is no ‘sinful seed!’ For seven times seven 
 Years the man has blameless lived; with strictest 
 
 Vide Egyptian research in 1910. 
 
 Page Thirty-five 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Sect here formed a body that is good. 
 
 The substance of the seed is made long e’re 
 The wine and feasting bring it forth; the lime 
 But makes him more of what he is. Ah, not 
 To youth could this for good be given for it 
 Would make such clamour in the blood, could not 
 Content to learn life’s lessons and its work: 
 
 And to great years like thine and mine ’twould bring 
 But sad confusion. He must not know—ah, thou 
 Wouldst have sore task to bring this Joseph to 
 Consent to this, for we know his sect holds 
 ’Twere sinful act for man to use the great 
 Jehova’s creative with only aim 
 To enjoy a fleeting pleasure without desire 
 
 That there be created another voice 
 To praise our God! And verily would God 
 
 Late research has found that the phosphorus in buried bones is 
 both a blessing and a curse to humanity, according as it is used 
 by ignorant or wise, good or bad. 
 
 Pa^e Thirty-six 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Punish it and it would bring e’en to the third 
 And fourth of any generation confusion. 
 
 And curse that fell on Addullum.—An this 
 Were true, so verily if with right purpose 
 He were used to further ‘greatest Birth’ 
 
 He shall go scathless up to meet his God! 
 
 More than the ‘thousand years’ have purified 
 The line from all the thoughts that Judah’s sons 
 Of Addullum had wrought. Perchance the last 
 Spark that remains may still be used for good 
 If blown by the right breath!—I leave it to 
 Thy priestly skill with David’s lute. From agnus 
 Castus, growing near, bring long clean stalk 
 And from the dove, thou offerest for Elizabeth, 
 
 The long clean channel where soft song comes forth. 
 
 Abram balsam. 
 
 There was some confusion in the vision as to whether this stalk 
 might not be Calamus instead of Agnus Castus. 
 
 Page Thirty-seven 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 May priestly ** lore and long meditation serve 
 Thee: I will not despise them if they but serve 
 Us now. 
 
 “My own task is far greater! God 
 Grant me strength if is announced unto the Maid 
 God’s ‘call’ ’’ 
 
 She gazed a moment where the priest 
 Fell down, then muttered, “Sisera! where he fell down 
 He fell down.’’ 
 
 And went her way, her labored way. 
 
 Her toilsome way back to her cell, both hands 
 Fast clasping Judah’s staff that had felt Tamar’s 
 Tears. Ah, who can tell but that the sacred 
 Oil in Anna’s hand oft left had mingled 
 With this salt, this strong great woman’s tears. 
 
 Hid by God’s hand in crevised oak of staff 
 
 Knowledge which even in those early days produced an Aescula- 
 pious that was so learned his name grew one to conjure with. 
 
 Paffe Thirty-eight 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 To be absorbed in years of patient toil 
 By the right woman’s hand who would not only 
 Justify for Tamar but would from long 
 Gleaning in great fields be the Creator’s 
 Instrument, to yet prepare the way for ‘Greatest 
 Birth of time;’ and if revived by this 
 
 From fingertips were sent electric touch 
 To well-stored brain, is this a miracle? 
 
 Is this the ‘Holy Ghost?’ 
 
 Her toilsome way 
 
 Lay back by David’s gate and there she sank 
 Down by the way-side where the Maid returning 
 Found her and ministered unto her, restoring 
 Her unto her widowed couch within 
 
 Herbert Spencer says justice is in the making. 
 
 2** Bacon. 
 
 Dr, Barety . . . has attempted to show that actual "neuric 
 
 rays” are emitted by eyes and fingers, which are susceptible of 
 reflection from mirrors, concentration by lenses, etc. Proc. Soc. 
 Psycho. Research, Oct. 1886, p 173. 
 
 Paffe Thirty-nine 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 The cloister’d wall; and she did watch beside. 
 
 Her there alone. Revived, the elder gazed 
 Upon the Maid with added awe, reminding 
 Her as mothers oft in Israel taught. 
 
 To keep all pure within and out, if so 
 
 Be that “the Lord should seek a Virgin for 
 
 The Messiah’s birth’’ she might be found among 
 
 Them. And oft she taught the Maid from that great Daniel®^ 
 
 That was read in schools of Ramah’s mountain 
 
 And oft read from the Scripture Isaiah’s prophecy. 
 
 So patiently the Maiden tended her 
 
 That her own cheek grew pale and Anna said, 
 
 “Return with thy neighbor women for three days 
 And tell them I am waiting still and keep 
 The fasts. Ah, woe is me that I must be 
 Both Essen and a Prophetess!’’ 
 
 *2 Daniel IX, 23, 29, etc. 
 
 »Msaiah XXVIll. 
 
 Paffe Forty 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 And when 
 
 The evening of the third day came, painfully 
 And leaning heavy on the staff, she met 
 Her where the setting sun with golden ray 
 Soft halo cast around the Virgin’s head. 
 
 The quick sense of the prophetess discerned 
 The Maiden was renewed and more; the vibrant 
 Voice saluting her spoke not of Eessn 
 Fasts and her lithe form was tense with bounding 
 Womanhood. A great fear fell upon 
 The Prophetess and silently she motioned 
 That the Maid support her to a stone 
 Where she sat down. The oaken staff fell sharp 
 Across a beam in western wall; soft echo 
 Caught the vibrant sound and Anna raised 
 Her head and said, 
 
 “O, God of Israel, 
 
 Here let Shecina bide! Now tell to me. 
 
 Pa^e Forty-one 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Oh daughter of a truthful tribe, where thou 
 Hast tarried and with whom thou spake.” 
 
 Now proudly 
 
 Turned the Maid with a new grace, ‘‘Thou knowest. 
 Mother Anna, that my feet have gone 
 But in the path that led back to my home: 
 
 That there with mine own mother have I kept. 
 
 Awhile I rested, then joined the women in 
 
 Their tasks. The woman I went down with staid. 
 
 But my own mother, to guard me well, came far 
 
 As Siloam and there this daughter of 
 
 The Saducees was waiting me and I 
 
 Did rest but for a moment and plucked this.” 
 
 Red rose she held lent glow to sun-browned cheek. 
 Where now dark lashes trembling gently, fell. 
 
 ‘‘And who was there that spake with thee, oh Maid?” 
 
 A moment and the cheek outvied the rose; 
 
 Page Forty-t^o 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 But she was Essen yet and brave she spake, 
 
 “It was a Councellor that comes and goes 
 By David’s gate.’’ 
 
 “What were his words?’’ compelled 
 The Prophetess, sternly, but the Maid was brave. 
 
 “The words, oh Mother Anna, were to me 
 A summons from the strict sect where I bide,— 
 
 ‘I have a feeling for thee I have for none 
 Other in all the world; begun when I 
 First saw thee, it hath grown but greater day 
 By day!’ ’’ The words came softly but she raised 
 Proud head. 
 
 “And thou?’’ sharply, the Prophetess. 
 
 “ ‘I am of Essen; thou must respect me well.’ 
 
 And I ran here,—but I repent me now.’’ 
 
 “Thou dost well!’’ so sternly misinterpreting 
 The elder rose, “But thou art not well suited 
 
 Pa^e Forty-three 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 To Essenic fasts: behold this day thou art 
 Bethrothed to Joseph of thine own sect, if they 
 Will have it so, and mine the task to reconcile 
 Them to it.” 
 
 ‘‘Nay, nay, oh Mother Anna, think not 
 That I would marriage seek, I was most mad 
 To speak, but thou compell’st me. Behold I am 
 Content and I am Essen and may not wed.” 
 
 Next day the Councellor sought out Anna. 
 
 ‘‘Peace! Councellor! she is of the Lord’s annointed. 
 Wouldst thou cheat the Almighty of His own 
 And this great race? Nay, verily, thou canst 
 Not. Behold she is this day bethrothed to Joseph 
 Who goes there!” Beyond them on the path 
 A carpenter. 
 
 Amazed and angry the man 
 Rose up, threw back proud head that crowned a manly 
 
 Page Forty-four 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Form. “What? woman! tis but her father’s brother 
 That goes there, staid now with two score years 
 And ten while she is not the half. Thou knowest 
 He’s not fit mate for this fair Maid.’’ 
 
 “Whatever 
 
 Hast thou from her, what word, Councellor?’’ 
 
 “Ah, well 
 
 Thou knowest the maid must needs be often sought 
 Before a word, and ’tis but thrice I have 
 Been blessed with vision of the Maid and each 
 Of these her mother or thyself attended.’’ 
 
 “Speak, son of old Abmelech of Ramah!’’ 
 
 “ ‘I am of Essen; my fasts are strict; respect me I’ ’’ 
 
 “True this were all, but the soft rose that bloomed 
 Belied her words. Nay, I must have it from her, 
 
 From her own lips, ere I go home or cease! 
 
 Paffe Forty-five 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 If thou so constant and she, too, canst wait 
 Awhile—the while we seek Jehovah’s will— 
 
 It may be she is called for His great work! 
 
 For three score days keep to thyself and parchments; 
 
 Seek not the Maid, for guarded close none toucheth 
 Her. 
 
 “Nay, nay, be still! Thou wouldst not call upon 
 Her God’s great wrath, and for a fleeting pleasure 
 Consign thee both to Gehenna? It is not strange 
 To me that thou didst meet the Maid beside 
 That Siloam where often and again great souls 
 Have met! The waters of Shiloah that go softly shall wait 
 No longer for the Lord’s annointed one! 
 
 Dimly the bath-kol in mine ear is sounding, 
 
 Dimly our great Isaiah, the call to Cyrus! 
 
 The two-leaved gate! our Hezekiah! Shiloah! 
 
 “I thank the sage that taught thee, oh Councellor; 
 
 Pa^e Forty-six 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Though few thy five and twenty years, thy training 
 With my long searching must truly bring us 
 To know the truth. And if the Maid be not 
 Afraid,—Oh, father Ezra, oh Mighty God 
 Sustain us all! But harken, Councellor, 
 
 The Maid knows well her part, and never dream 
 That she will falter in it. She promises 
 That she will never falter in it! If she 
 Be called of God for the Messiah’s birth. 
 
 Thou knowest, thou nor she nor I must fail: 
 
 And if she be not called, then she shall choose 
 Of these Josephs and I will into cloistered 
 Cell to die, frustrated of my hope. 
 
 And Israel waiting yet her King.” 
 
 “Oh, woman. 
 
 Thou art mad from thy long search, mad with 
 A Rashi vision that doth make me mad.” 
 
 Paffe Forty-seven 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 “Nay, Councellor, ’tis thou art mad if thou 
 Dost think that now the times are all fulfilled 
 That thou canst overthrow the Lord. The Maiden 
 Is the Lord’s for yet three months! To the law 
 And the testimony.—But I am spent; I go 
 To rest. Meet me at Siloam at dawn.” 
 
 At dawn he stood with haughty mien and eye 
 Demanding. The Prophetess came slowly, bent, 
 With both hands on the staff and spake unto him. 
 “Not I, but God calls thee as He calls her. 
 
 And if there be great sacrifice, so mote 
 It be! If from the compurgation she 
 Must face when she goes into Siloam, 
 
 She standeth clear and ordinate and seven 
 Witnesses, for seven is the light. 
 
 Can testify that never mortal man 
 
 Hath touched her, ‘she shall shine as shine the stars 
 
 An old Graeco-Roman observance. 
 
 Pape Forty-eight 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 In heaven and queens shall be her nursing mothers!’ 
 
 Verily our God sent thee, oh Councellor, 
 
 Just yesterday I was distraught—but now 
 
 That thy great love and hers and mine and Simeon’s, 
 
 A quadrature, another Joseph, a Roc, 
 
 A pentangle— 
 
 “Nay, not mad. Dost thou not know 
 How great must be the sacrifice that crowns 
 The ages and all other sacrifice and makes 
 This final? But Councellor, this Ordae Missi 
 Must come soon. Behold it nears the Ides 
 Of Mars. Nay, not all war; dost know in Ides 
 Of Mars so softly nature sends up in 
 The vine the great God’s impulse? I cannot tell 
 Thee all. Trust me, or trust the God who guideth 
 Me. 
 
 The birth of the Messiah is to take place when Jupiter and Saturn 
 meet in the constellation of Pisces, making resurrection name 
 Christos. Erythea. Egyptian Legend. 
 
 Pa^e Forty-nine 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 “This pool where thou didst meet her, turn 
 Aside from stream above it a small rivulet 
 Above among the rocks so it falls gently 
 To one side. If our great Hezekiah 
 Could contrive with force to turn a greater 
 Stream, it were not hard for thee to fashion 
 Fountain for the Maid. And if canst not 
 Alone, call Nicodemus, thy good friend. 
 
 Well versed in Archimedean lore. Dost thou 
 Recall when altar stones were cast aside 
 When a new altar builded ? Alas the day! 
 
 I’ve cried, for one of them was that which Moses 
 Did let fall. ‘Twas cherished long by Joshua 
 Because he knew the labor and the sweat 
 That went into it and it had also ‘heard 
 The word of God.’ The half was builded in 
 First altar by one he loved. When he the new 
 Altar builded, this rejected was but by 
 
 Page Fifty 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Another kept.—This rejected shall become 
 The center Roc of this compurgatory ordae. 
 
 If thou shouldst lift stone covering my father’s father 
 Made, thou wouldst behold the stains were made 
 By sacrifice. But lift not covering until 
 I bring the Maid, but place the stone where thou 
 Dost bring the rill.” 
 
 ‘‘O woman, truly thou 
 
 Art mad, mad and distraught: but that the Maid 
 Commands me I’d defy thee! For her I go 
 To do this thing, but remember, that never 
 Hawk watched keener than mine eye the Maiden’s safety.” 
 
 ‘‘Peace, Councellor, she shall be watched by seven,— 
 Three women and three men and God the Holy Ghost. 
 Haste to thy part in this, I go to rest.” 
 
 Pag/e Fifty-one 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 grTBMM>T>n»WfMTBJIIIBir»11TWggTffTrT*nT[TTTTi^rWMr*'*rriTrTTTrrM*MMirfTf~MMMr*ir»fBWTg*li^^BMt»MMWWT*iTMM**l~1 
 
 At night within the cloistered cell the Maid 
 Lay in a troubled sleep, when a strange singing 
 
 Sounded in her ear, “Hail! thou that art 
 Highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed 
 Art thou among women! At thy supplication 
 The command came forth and I am come to show 
 Thee for thou art greatly beloved, therefore 
 Shalt thou understand; consider the vision! 
 
 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring 
 Forth a Son! And He shall call His name Immanuel. 
 Such butter and such honey shall he eat 
 That He shall know to choose the good, letting 
 The evil go.’’ 
 
 And when the Maiden raised 
 Her eyes in awe, before her gainst the darkness 
 Rose a light, a pillar like unto the one 
 That Moses saw. Afraid, she cried, “How can 
 
 Ave. 
 
 Paffe Fifiy-tivo 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 This thing be seeing no man hath known me?” 
 
 And 
 
 A voice answered, ‘‘The Holy Ghost shall come 
 To thee therefore that holy thing which shall 
 Be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 
 
 With God nothing shall be impossible. Even 
 Elizabeth, thy cousin, hath conceived in her 
 Old age.” 
 
 The Maid came swiftly from the inner 
 Cloister out to Anna, trembling but brave. 
 
 And told her of this. The Prophetess did comfort 
 Her and gravely summoned her to go 
 With her to Siloam. 
 
 And there at midnight she lay 
 Her down on stones that formed a cross at one 
 Side of the pool, and east and west and north 
 And south it spaced dimensions. The coarse white robe 
 
 Page Fifty-three 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Of Essen was not more white than her face pale 
 With fasting and with prayer, for well knew Anna 
 
 That fasting women oftenest mother sons. 
 
 Her long dark hair enveloped her and where 
 Its two strands joined, below the virgin zone. 
 
 The Prophetess entwined a red, red rose. 
 
 About the Maiden’s strong line brow a filet 
 Held phylactery, and firm about one rounded 
 Arm an amulet and on the other 
 Like a shield, white fleece of goat that had 
 Been sacrificed for her, and held fast in 
 The hands who’s fingertips pressed fingertips 
 Its precious Bozear stone. 
 
 Then came that Anna 
 
 ¥ 
 
 Who had borne the Maid and placed seven lighted 
 Candles in the candlesticks that were 
 Around her. And silently came Simeon and warm 
 From his right hand to Prophetess the shell 
 
 Paffe Fifty-four 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Who’s tip he guarded with his palm. Behind 
 Him followed two who bore between them in golden 
 Censer from Temple altar live coals where smoked 
 The frankincense. These two who bore these prayers 
 Of saints were Josephs, and one seemed dazed and walked 
 As if from sleep just roused. The other, who’s 
 Gaze challenged all, yet bowed and knelt the while 
 That Simeon placed there the sacred fire. So for 
 Brief moment mingled ancient law and new. 
 
 The sarcedotal and the law of love. 
 
 Eyes for brief moment raised to Heaven, tense hands 
 Who’s fingertips pressed hard on fingertips: 
 
 While over all did brood the Sacred Seventh. 
 
 Raising the oaken staff, pointing above 
 The aged Prophetess sank to her knees. 
 
 On one side supported by Temple’s grave Priest 
 And heavily leaning on Chancellor’s arm 
 
 Page Fifty-five 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Where staff pointed upward went great Judah’s son. 
 Suspended from the oaken staff an ancient 
 Filfot hung, which sharply smote with sistrum 
 Now pealed like angelus bell. With strong voice that 
 Belied her years Anna, the Priestess, sang. 
 
 The while she knelt with gentle touch beside 
 The Maid. 
 
 “Oh longed for Maid of Judah’s house 
 Be not cast down, for great is Holy One 
 Of Israel in thy midst. Sing unto the Lord 
 For he hath done most excellent things. Behold 
 This shall be known in all the earth though for 
 A time and a half the secret dwells where no 
 One tells; It is our fight with hells.’’ 
 
 Rising, 
 
 The Prophetess held high great Judah’s staff 
 
 The bell supposed from earliest times to drive away evil spirits. 
 Vide Daniel. 
 
 Page Fifty-six 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 As if, like Moses, to strike a rock above. 
 Obedient, they who trusted her and with her, 
 
 God, gave signal to that Nicodemus, 
 
 Who thru clean brook’s bed had just before 
 Drawn living fire warming a living stream. 
 
 Led by the Priest with David’s harp, two Josephs 
 Joined their voices, 
 
 “Oh, come let us worship 
 And bow down. Oh all the works of the Lord 
 Bless the Lord. Praise and exalt Him above 
 All forever; bless the Lord in all his works 
 In all places. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul!’’ 
 
 # ^ 
 
 Oh rose the secret keep of where the fountain 
 Fell, till science bids thee clear the Virgin’s 
 Name, oh never tell. 
 
 The white fleece that 
 
 Was tossed as in a storm lay stilled like crested 
 
 Page Fifty-seven 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 Foam across the Virgin breast, half veiling 
 With its fringing edge the startled Virgin 
 Face, where trembling lashes held hot tears 
 That fell on staff which lay beside the altar 
 Stones. Fast in a priest’s sleeve reverently 
 The Prophetess encased a shell now deeper 
 Crimsoned o’er. Still held on agnus castiis 
 By singing tube, now silenced, of sacrificial dove. 
 
 Now leaning hard on Judah’s staff the Prophetess, 
 
 “Lo, Simeon, the Maid is to the Temple 
 Dedicate and in a priest’s house must dwell 
 Ordinate, with Zacharias and Elizabeth 
 For full three months. Lo I am spent and wait 
 Here. Call Nicodemus.” 
 
 And on a bier who’s covering 
 Two Josephs spread, on fleece from sacrificial 
 Lamb was borne that called “the Lord’s anointed 
 
 Paffe Fifty-eight 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 And Heaven’s Queen.” And when at Zacharias’ 
 
 Door they stood, the rosy dawn paled crescent 
 Istar where she hung dethroned forever 
 By this mortal ‘‘Queen of Heaven and Earth.” 
 
 And over her hands raised high, spake Simeon, 
 
 ‘‘Behold! Not in a corner was this done, 
 
 For we are witnesses of great Compurgatory Ordae! 
 
 The Lord make the woman that cometh to thy house 
 To be with Elizabeth, like Rachel and Leah 
 Which of old did build house of Israel! 
 
 The Lord is a God of knowledge, by Him are actions 
 Weighed. In Bethlehem this Virgin shall be 
 Illustrious and the shout of a King shall be heard 
 In the land.” 
 
 And Elizabeth spake out with a loud 
 Voice and said, ‘‘Blessed art thou among women, blessed 
 Fruit of thy womb. Whence to me that the Mother of 
 
 89 Ruth 2-15. 
 
 Page Fifty-nine 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 My Lord cometh for lo! on thy salutation the babe 
 In my womb leaps for joy! And blessed is she 
 That hath faith; there shall be performance of 
 Those things told her of the Lord.” “ 
 
 And the witnesses 
 
 Lifted up their voices and said, ‘‘My soul doth magnify 
 The Lord and rejoiceth in God, for he hath regarded 
 The low estate of His hand-maiden. Behold, 
 
 From henceforth all generations shall call her Blessed. 
 
 He that is mighty hath done to her great things. 
 
 And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation 
 Unto generation. He hath shown strength with His arm; 
 He hath scattered the proud in the imagination 
 Of their hearts; He hath put down the mighty 
 From their seats and exalted them of low degree.” 
 
 Luke 1. 
 
 Psalms 34.3, 35.9. 1 Samuel 1, Psalms 139.6, Matt. 3.12, Psalms 
 
 71.19, 126.23, 3.9, Genesis 17.7, Exodus 20.6, Psalms 118.15, 
 
 Isaiah 40.10, 52.10, Psalms 33.10, Job 5.11. 
 
 Page Sixty 
 
The Annunciation—The First Mass 
 
 Pale and sad the Councellor, worn from wandering 
 Far on rocky fastness of the hills. 
 
 When this great day was drawing to a close. 
 
 His sandled feet were bleeding but both hands 
 And lips were clenching when he found the aged Anna 
 Brooding and alone. 
 
 “Reproach me not, 
 
 Oh Councellor, I have bereft myself of one 
 Who’s gentle ministering soothed my too heavy years. 
 Thy happiness nor mine concerns us now. 
 
 Perchance in fields Elysian, when life is done. 
 
 It may be given thee where Rhadamanthus 
 Reigns to feel from out the depths a presence 
 Come and it shall be to thee or her 
 Or God, for all of these are Love. But now, 
 
 Oh gird thee for thy work, Councellor. 
 
 My searching out the Scripture now doth bring 
 
 Puf/e Sixty-one 
 
The Virgin Birth Illumined 
 
 A fear. Oh, woe is us if they reject 
 Their King.” 
 
 “Oh woman, mad and strange, how dost 
 Thou rave. How can a King come from such sorcery?” 
 
 “Trust me as I trust thee and thy great love 
 
 For the blessed Maid. The King will come, but now 
 
 By my prophetic soul the tyrant, Herod, 
 
 May contrive that Israel shall reject 
 
 Him! Isaiah sayeth, ‘He was led as a lamb 
 
 To the slaughter.’ But thou and I must work together 
 
 For this cause. Our Scripture sayeth, ‘Out 
 
 Of Egypt have I called my son!’ Be ready, 
 
 Councellor, to get thee to that Nitra-Vallis 
 
 And find a place where these three shall abide 
 
 In peace until this Herod’s rage is spent.” 
 
 Pa^e Sixty-Hvo 
 
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