1576 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1541 
O Lord defend vs alway through the continuall succors of MarginaliaLet no man glory in any man, for all thynges are yours. &c. 2. Cor. 3.S. Iohn Baptist. For the more fraile we be, the more nede we haue to be relieued with necessary prayers. &c.
Marginalia1555. Iune.In which words note (good reader) not only the absurditie of doctrine, but also the stoliditie of the reason. For where their doctrine pretendeth that saint Iohn Baptist should pray for vs, here we pray to God for s. Iohn Baptist, that he wyl heare his prayer praying for vs. It foloweth furthermore in the name of Peter and Paul.MarginaliaWhat is Paule, What is Apollo, but the seruauntes of hym on vvhom you beleue? 2. Cor. 3.
[Back to Top]Heare vs mercyfully, and graunt that through the merites of them both we maye obtaine the glorye euerlastyng. &c
And of saint Andrewe.
So let hym (O Lord) be a continuall petitioner for vs to thee. &c.
Of saint Laurence thus.
S. Laurence the Deacon did worke a good worke. For by the vertue
For a detailed comparison of these passages see Freeman [2004]. But this example is too egregious a misquotation to pass over in silence. The passage reads 'by the signe of the holy Crosse' not 'by the virtue of the holy cross' (cf. The primer in Latin and English (after the use of Sarum)[London, 1555], STC 16064, sig. F1v). In other words, the primer was not mentioning the physical cross at all, rendering Foxe's objection that the True Cross had not been found in St Laurence's time meaningless.
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And how can this be true, when the holy Crosse was not yet found in the time of s. Laurence. For Helen
CloseThis is St Helena, the mother of Constantine; she was traditionally credited with discovering the True Cross.
To Tho. Becket Archbishop of Canterbury.
MarginaliaHorrible blasphemy and derogation to Christes bloud.By the bloud of Thomas, which he for thee did spend,
Make vs Christ to clime, whither Thomas did ascend.
Of saint Nicholas.
O God which hast glorified blessed Nicholas thy holy Bishop with innumerable myracles, graunt we besech thee, that by his MarginaliaFalse merites.merites and prayers we may be deliuered from the fire of hell.
Of Mary Magdalen.
Graunt wee beseeche thee, through thy mercy, to let her purchase for vs the blisse euerlasting. &c.
An other prayer of our Lady.
The dolorous compassion of Gods sweete mother,
Bring vs to the blisse of almighty God the father. &c.
An other prayer in the said Primer to our Lady.
MarginaliaThe office of Christ geuen to our Lady.Establish vs in peace and tranquilitie,
And chaunge the name of sinfull Eua:
Loose thy prisoners from captiuitie,
Vnto the blinde geue sight againe.
Deliuer vs from malignitie,
To the ende we may some grace attaine.
Shewe thy selfe to be a mother:
So that he accept our petition.
Deliuer vs from bondage of sinne. &c.
Item.
Holy mother succour the miserable, comfort the weake spirited, geue courage to the desperate, pray for the people, make intercession for the Clergie, and be a meane for the deuout womankind. &c.
An other blasphemous prayer.
MarginaliaBlasphemy.O thou meeke mother haue mercy therfore,
On wretches, for whom thou haddest these paines al,
Seeing thy sonne that vine cluster pressed sore,
And from the pestilence of death eternall,
Keepe vs by voyding the feend infernall,
And ioyne vs wyth them which rewarded be,
With eternall life, seeing the Deitie.
An other blasphemie in the said Primer.
MarginaliaIdolatrye.Haile Queene mother of mercye, our life, our sweetnes, our hope. Vnto thee do we crie and sigh, weeping and wailing. Come of therfore our Patronesse, cast vpon vs thy pitifull eyes, and after this our banishment shewe to vs the blessed fruite of thy wombe. O Gate of glorye be for vs a reconciliatiō vnto the father and the sonne. From the wretched their faultes expell: wipe the spottes of sinnes vncleane. &c.
[Back to Top]Item to our Lady.
The fruit of thy wombe euerlasting,
We may behold through thy deseruing. &c.
Item.
Graunt we besech thee, that by her MarginaliaIf Maryes merites might helpe vs, then Christ dyed in vayne.merites and prayers we may attaine to that vnspeakeable ioy, wher as she being assumpt, doth now enioy with thee in heauen for euer. &c.
And thus much hitherto of this catholike Primer, called our Ladies Mattens. Wherunto if it were not tedious for the Reader, we would also adioyne our Ladyes MarginaliaLike Primer, like Psalter.Psalter, to the intent that all indifferēt Readers, as they haue seene what bookes these Catholicke fathers haue condemned and do condemne for heretical:
CloseActually there is no logical reason why Foxe should be associating the contents of the Wayland primer with the Psalter of Our Lady. Foxe is doing so because he wants to discredit the relatively Christocentric Wayland primers by association with a work written centuries earlier.
ued, here therfore we wyll first produce the name of the author, who was Bonauēture a Seraphical doctor, bishop also & Cardinal, canonised moreouer by Pope Sixtus. 4. an. 1482. for a Saint in the Calendar,
CloseFoxe is trying to deflect the objection that this work did not represent the catholic church's official teaching on the Virgin Mary by arguing (incorrectly as it turns out) that it was written by Bonaventure and that, since Bonaventure was canonized by the catholic church, therefore his work represented the catholic church.
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CloseThe two volume work Foxe is citing is the Egregium opus ... doctoris seraphici sancti Bonaventure, published (as he notes) in Strausburg in 1495. The Psalter of Our Lady begins on fol. 84r of the second volume of that work. However, while this work was credited to Bonaventure in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it is now generally believed to have been written by Conrad of Saxony in the thirteenth century.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe title of the booke called our Ladyes Psalter.☞ Here beginneth the Psalter of the blessed Virgine, made by the Seraphicall Doctour saint Bonauenture, the Bishop of Albane, and Cardinall of the holy Church of Rome. &c.
CloseFoxe's quotations from this work are not always accurate. In particular, there are frequent ellisions of material, some of which distort the meaning of the text.
MarginaliaThe booke called our Ladyes Psalter. Ex. 2. parte operum S. Bonauenturaæ.1 BEatus vir, qui intelligit nomen tuum Maria virgo, gratia tua animam eius confortabit. Tanquam aquarum fontibus irrigatum vberrimum in eo fructum iusticiæ propagabis. &c. Vniuersas enim fœminas vincis pulchritudine carnis: superas Angelos & Archangelos excellentia sanctitatis. Misericordia tua & gratia vbique prædicatur. &c. Gloria patri. etc. That is to say.
[Back to Top]Blessed is the man which vnderstandeth thy name, O Virgine Mary: thy grace shall comfort his soule. Thou shalt bring forth in him þe most plētifull fruite of iustice, beyng watered as it were, with fountaines of water. Al women thou passest in MarginaliaOur Ladyes beautye.þe beautie of thy body, all Aungelles and Archaūgelles in þe excellencie of thy holynes. Thy mercye and thy grace is magnified euery where. &c. Glory be to the father. &c.
[Back to Top]2 Quare fremuerunt inimici nostri et aduersum nos meditati sunt inania? Protegat nos dextera tua Mater Dei vt acies terribiliter confundens & destruens eos. Venite ad eam, qui laboratis et tribulati estis, & dabit refrigerium animabus vestris. Accedite ad eam in tentationibus vestris, et stabiliet vos serenitas vultus eius. Benedicite illam in toto corde vestro, misericordia enim illius plena est terra. etc. Gloria patri. etc.
[Back to Top]Why do our enemies freat and imagine vaine thinges against vs? Let thy right hand defend vs O mother of god, terribly confounding & destroying them as a sword. MarginaliaTreason agaynst Christes person and dignitie.Come vnto her al ye that labor and are troubled, and she wyl geue rest vnto your soules. Come vnto her in your temptations, and her louing countenance shal stablishe and comfort you. Blesse her with all your harte: for the earth is full of her mercy. Glory be to the father.
[Back to Top]3 Domina quid multiplicati sunt qui tribulāt me? In tempestate tua persequeris et dissipabis eos. Dissolue colligationes impietatis nostræ: tolle fasciculos peccatorum nostrorū. Miserere mei Domina et sana infirmitatem meam: tolle dolorem et angustiam cordis mei. Ne tradas me manibus inimicorum meorum, et in die mortis meæ comforta animam meam. Deduc me ad portum salutis, et spiritum meum redde factori meo.
[Back to Top]Why are they so many O Ladye that trouble me? In thy furie thou shalt persecute & destroy thē. MarginaliaBlasphemous idolatrie.Loose þe bonds of our impietie, and take away the burthen of our sinnes. Haue mercy vppon me, O Lady, and heale my infirmitie. Take away my sorow & þe anguish of my hart. Deliuer me not into the handes of myne enemies, and in the day of my death comfort my soule. Bring me vnto the hauen of saluation, and restore my spirite vnto my maker and creator. Glory be to the father.
[Back to Top]4 Cum inuocarem, exaudisti me Domina & è sublimi solio tuo mei dignata es recordari. A rugientibus præparatis ad escam et de manibus quærentium me liberabit gratia tua. Quoniā benigna est misericordia & pietas tua in omnes, qui inuocant nomen sanctum tuum. Benedicta sis Domina in æternum, et maiestas tua in seculum. Glorificate eum omnes gentes etc.
[Back to Top]When I called to thee, thou heardest me, O my Lady, and out of thy high throne thou diddest vouchsafe to thinke vppon me.MarginaliaFalse fayth. From the roaryng of them that prepare them selues to deuoure me, and out of the hands of such as seeke after my life, thy grace shall deliuer me: Because thy mer-