From
Nobility. It is always bittersweet for me to read about how much potential for being a great ruler Mary Tudor had. To quote from a contemporary report:
On [Good] Friday morning the offertory was performed according to
custom in the Church of the Franciscan Friars, which is contiguous to
the palace. After the Passion, the Queen came down from her oratory for
the adoration of the Cross, accompanied by my lord the right reverend
Legate, and kneeling at a short distance from the Cross moved towards It
on her knees, praying before It thrice, and then she drew nigh and
kissed It, performing this act with such devotion as greatly to edify
all those who were present.
Her Majesty next gave her benediction to the rings, the mode of doing so being as follows: An inclosure (un riparo) was
formed for her Majesty to the right of the high altar by means of four
benches placed so as to form a square, into the center of which she
again came down from her oratory, and placing herself on her knees
within this inclosure, two large covered basins were brought to her,
filled with rings of gold and silver, one of these basins containing
rings of her own, whilst the other held those of private individuals (particolari), labelled
with their owners’ names. On their being uncovered she commenced
reciting a certain prayer and psalms, and then taking them in her two
hands (pigliandoli a mano per mano), she passed them again and again from one hand to the other, saying another prayer, which commenced thus:—
“Sanctifica, Domine, annulos istos.”
This being terminated, her Majesty went to bless the scrofulous, but
she chose to perform this act privately in a gallery, where there were
not above 20 persons; and an altar being raised there she knelt and
recited the confession, on the conclusion of which her Majesty turned
towards my Right Reverend Lord the Legate, who gave her absolution;
whereupon a priest read from the Gospel according to St. Mark, and on
his coming to the words— “Super ægros manus imponet et bene habebunt,”
she caused one of those infirm women to be brought to her, and kneeling
the whole time she commenced pressing, with her hands in the form of a
cross, on the spot where the sore was, with such compassion and devotion
as to be a marvel, and whilst she continued doing this to a man and to
three women, the priest kept ever repeating these words:
“Super ægros manus imponet et bene habebunt.”
Then on terminating the Gospel, after the words—
“In principio erat verbum,”
and on coming to the following, namely,—
“Erat lux vera quæ illuminat omnem hominem in hunc mundum,”
then the Queen made the sick people again approach her, and taking a
golden coin called an angel, she touched the place where the evil showed
itself, and signed it with this coin in the form of the cross; and
having done this, she passed a ribbon through a hole which had been
pierced in the coin, and placed one of these round the neck of each of
the patients, making them promise never to part with that coin, which
was hallowed, save in case of extreme need; and then, having
washed her hands, the towel being presented to her by my Lord the Right
Reverend the Legate, she returned to her oratory. (Read entire article.)
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6 comments:
God's Blessing and Mercy be upon you and your family during these most solemn days.
If Mary I had lived for longer history would have been different. She may have achieved her goals.
That is very true. She would probably have lived longer if her health had not been compromised by her parents' divorce.
Helen, I have to ask you to stop posting on this blog. Your comments are abusive and harrassing. I have saved all of them. If you continue to harrass me on my blog or in email, I will have to contact the FBI.
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