Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

354 OUR LADY AND
The image of our Lady near the Tower, that is, our
Lady of Barking, is alluded to by Blessed Thomas
More as seeming to the citizens' wives to smile
upon them,1 true simile of her influence upon human
life.
To induce her to smile upon them our forefathers
had recourse to practices which the Englishmen of
to-day would deem degrading to their proverbial
good sense, simply because the man of mature years
has disowned the mother of his youth. Old wills
contain numerous bequests of silk and satin " of my
best," and of jewels, to particular statues of our
Lady.2 This is how the shrines of our Lady Undercroft,
Canterbury, and of Walsingham sparkled with
precious stones. They had been fed by the faith and
love of generations. The inscription " 0 Mater
Dei memento mei" was a favourite one on bells
and tombs.3 The practice of the Angelus is founded
on the use of the Curfew Bell.4 Archbishop - Arun-
del ordered the same bell to be rung in the morning
(1399).5 It was called the Gabriel Bell, and became
a reminder, thrice repeated daily, of the Incarnation.
These practices belong in more or less degree to
all lands where our Lady is loved, but the devotion
1 Bridget!, Our Lady's Dowry, p. 313.
- Testamenta Eboracensia, p. 240.
3 Our Lady's Dowry, p. 216.
ef., 216.
5 Wilkins, Concilia, iii. 246.