The festyuall

Sequit̄ sermo de natiuitate gloriosissime virginis marie.

WOrshypfull frendes suche a daye ye shal haue the Natiuite of oure lady / y^t is whan she was borne / & ye shall fast the euen & come to god & holy chirche in the worshyp of our lady saynt Mary. Ioachim was her fader / & Anne was her moder. There can no man tell y^e Ioye y^t Ioachym and Anne had in theyr hertes whan oure lady was borne / for they had prayed .xxx. yere to god nyghte and daye / & dealed moche almesse: & for the good dedes y^t they dyde they hadde reuelacyon of god y^t they sholde be holy and please god / & al¦so by y^e birthe of our lady y^e repreef y^t they had before of their bareynes sholde be put awaye / & so Anne wente forth amō¦ge other women. So y^t the byrthe of our lady gladded y^t fa∣der & the moder / wherfore god sente theym fruyte of theyr bodyes more by grace than by kynde. Then all y^e neyghbou¦res came & conforted Anne & called her doughter Mary as y^e aūgell bad or she was borne. Ye shall vnderstande y^e holy chirche worshippeth .iii. byrthes. One of our lorde / another of our lady / & the .iii. of saynt Iohan Baptist. Shewynge o∣penly y^t euery body y^t wyll be saued muste be thryes borne. Fyrst of his moder in this worlde / y^e .ii. from sȳne by water wasshynge / y^e .iii. out of this worlde to Ioye passynge. The

fyrst betokeneth by our lady / y^e .ii. by saȳt Iohan baptyst y^e thyrde by our lorde Ihesu cryste. For thyse thre byrthes is grete Ioye and myrthe seen & herde Though a woman ha∣ue grete payne in the byrthe of her childe. I may well byle∣ue saynt Anne then our ladyes moder hadde not so in her byrth of her childe our lady For she was halowed in her mo¦ders wombe holy borne / and holy euer after. So whan she was born & wened & was thre yere of age. Ioachym and Anne & other frendes brought Mary in to the cyte of Ieru¦salem tofore the Temple as they had made theyr a vowe tofore. Thenne the Temple stode on an hyll & was .xv. stey¦res vp to the dore and so they lefte Mary at the nethermest stayere whyle they made theym redy to doo theyr offrynge Thenne wente Mary to the vppermoost grece herself and knelynge downe made her prayers to god as she had be of a grete age / for the holy ghost was euer with her / & gaf her grace. Also god sente her an angell to kepe her and to teche her. And whan her fader & moder had offred / they went ho¦me & left her there / & she chaūged no cher•• but gaf herself all to spyrytuel occupacyon / & euery daye from morowe to vndern she was in her prayers / and from vnderen tyll no∣ne she occupyed her craft of weuynge of clothes in the Tem¦ple and at none the mete and the drynke that was brought to her she gaf to poore peple & was in her deuocyon tyll an angell brought her mete. Thus she lyued so clene & so ho∣nestly / that all her felawes called her quene of maydens. And whan ony man spake to her / mekely she lowted with her heed and sayd (Deo gracias) For that worde was co∣men in her mouth / and therfore she is lykened to a spycers shop for she smelleth swete / for the presence of the holy ghost was with her and habundaunce of vertues that she sholde bere the kyng of vertues. ¶And thus her byrth dayly is Ioye to all good crysten people. ¶How this daye

was fyrst founde a grete clerke Iohan bellet telleth / there was an holy man that prayed to god often by nyght / and on a nyght as he was in his deuocyons he herde a songe of an aungell / that oure lady was borne of her moder and no more of all the yere after. Soo in a nyght he herde this me¦lodye in the ayere wherfore this holy man prayed to god y^t he myght haue wyttynge what was the cause that he herd y^e melody that nyght and nomore of all the yere after. Then came an aungell to hȳ & sayd y^t nyght oure lady was borne of her moder and / therfore the melodye was made in heuē at that tyme. Thenne wente he to the pope and tolde hym how the aungell sayd / and thenne the pope commaunded that day sholde be halowed for euer more / thus came this feest fyrst into holy chyrche. Also oure lady is borne by wa∣ter wasshynge / that is by crystnynge. for whan our lorde Ihesu cryst was baptysed in y^e water of flom Iordan then our lady & the .xii. apostles in y^e tyme were crystned / therfor ryght as our lorde folowed the olde and the newe lawe both & all that felle to a mā of ryght / & so our lady fulfylled both lawes / & all felle to a woman at the same crystenynge / for there her sone toke his ryght name & she bothe / And as y^e gospel telleth whan our lorde Ihesus was crystned the fad of heuen spake & sayd (Hic est filius meus &c) Here is my welbeloued sone. But after he was called Iesus goddes sone / & fro y^e tyme our lady was called the wyf of Ioseph & after y^t she was called the mode of ihesu to moche worshyp¦pe of her. The thyrde tyme our lady was born to Ioye pas∣synge / for whan she sholde passe out of this worlde her sone came w^t grete multytude of angels & brought her to heuen with moche Ioye / & there crowned her quene of heuen Em¦presse of helle & lady of al y^e worlde so she is in euerlastynge blysse.

¶Narracio

We fynde of our lady how ther was a Iewe that was born

in Fraunce / and came in to Englonde for dyuers maters y^t he had to do with other people / and came to Gloucester and Brystowe / & so wolde go in to Wyltshyre / but he was take by the way with theues and ledde in to an olde hous & boū¦de to a post and his handes behynde hym / and so lete hym there all nyght / & at last he fell on slepe / & sawe a fayre wo∣man clothed all in whyte / he had neuer seen suche / and euen therwith he awoke and founde hym selfe lose. Thenne he sa¦we our lady so bryght that he thought she passed the sonne and sayd / what arte thou. And she sayd I am Mary that y^u and thy nacyon dyspysed and say y^t I neuer bare goddes so¦ne / but I am come now to brynge the out of thyn erroure and out of pryson that thou art in. And therfore come thou with me / & stande yonder at the stone & loke downewarde and so he dyde / & there he sawe the horryble paynes of hell that he was nye out of his mynde. Thenne sayd our lady to hym / these be the paynes that be ordeyned to all those that wyll not beleue in my sonnes passyon / and in the fayth of ho¦ly chyrche. And yet come forthe and se more / & she set hym on an hye hyll / & shewed hym a place of grete Ioye & myrth in so moche y^t he was rauysshed w^t that syght. Thenne sayd our lady. Lo these ben ordeyned for al those that beleueth in thyncarnacyon of Cryst / and y^t he was borne of me / & I cle¦ne mayden before and after / & that my sone shedde his blo∣de for all mankynde. Now hast thou seen bothe Ioye & pay¦ne / chose whiche thou hast leuer. Thenne went he moche of the nyght he wyst not what way / but walked forth. But on y^e morow he came to bathe there he was crystned & named Iohan / & after he was an holy man. And to come agayne to our purpose of our lady what tyme that Ioachym had of∣fred our lady in to the temple to the bysshop to kepe her safe in warde tyll she were .xii. yeres of aege and more / thenne must the bysshop ordeyne for her an husbande / and thenne

they lete crye all aboute in the countree that kynges lordes and other gentyles that were without wyues sholde come at a certayne daye for to knowe who were beste worthy for to wedde y^e fayre mayden that was floure of all maydens. For ryght as the lylye is whyte and fayre amonge the bre∣ers and other floures. Ryght so was our lady among other maydens. So whan they came to Iherusalem to se y^e may∣den that was of the best blood of the worlde / the bysshoppe ordeyned an olde staffe of asshe that he had kepte in y^e tem∣ple many yere and was all worme eten / and he sayd / he the whiche handeleth that staffe and burgeneth and bere flou¦res / he sholde haue the mayden / and she was brought forth in to the temple that all the people myght se her. Then bad the bysshop brynge forthe the staffe / & whan ony man han∣deled it he badde hym holde vp on hye that the people migh¦te se yf it burgened. So then wente to kynges / prynces / lor¦des / knyghtes / and squyres / and other gentylmen / but it wolde not be the fyrste daye nor the seconde daye / so the .iii. daye they sholde make an ende Thenne came there an olde man in to the temple and had herde of this / but he sawe it not and he thought to go se how the people dydde / and ca∣me theder & stode a ferre in a corner and loked on this may¦den. Thenne he thought in hymselfe he wolde not handle y^e staffe / for this mayde is not for me that is so passynge fayr and I so passynge olde. Thenne came there a whyte douue and satte vpon his heed with a golden bylle / & her fete sho∣ne lyke bryght burnysshed golde that all the people sawe it and some wolde haue caught her but they myght not. then was the bysshop ware and badde Ioseph come vp to hym anone. ¶And Ioseph sayd naye she is not for me / she is to yonge & I am to olde for to gouerne her estate. then sayd y^e bysshop handle this staffe / & anone as he had done so it flou¦rysshed and bare fruyte. Thenne was the bysshop gladde /

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and Ioseph sory for to haue her / for he was fully purposed neuer to haue wyfe. Then the bysshop wedded them wor∣shypfully / and badde Ioseph take her home with hym and so he dyde. Then soone after the holy ghost lyghted in her with gretynge of the aungell Gabryell / and so began for to ware grete with chylde. Then Ioseph loked vpon her and thought to haue gone awaye pryuely from her & leue her a∣lone. Then came an aūgell to Ioseph & badde he sholde ta∣ke Mary to his kepynge / & studye no more therupon / & le∣ue all suche thoughtes for that was goddes wyll / & god hȳ¦selfe wyll that it be so. Then he lefte al suche fantasyes and kepte her well as euery man sholde do his wyfe.: