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THE CORONATION 487
ised him her protection for all the rest of his life. Such
were the beginnings of the sacred Gospels, all of them
having been commenced with the assistance and by the
intervention of the most blessed Mary, giving the Church
to understand, that all these benefits have been vouch
safed at her hands. After having thus anticipated the his
tory of the Evangelists, in order to account for the begin
nings of the Gospels, we shall now return to our narrative.
565. In proportion as the most blessed Lady after the
council of the Apostles was exalted by her divine knowl
edge and the abstractive vision of God, so her care and
solicitude for the welfare of the Church increased ;
for
the faith was now spreading out over the earth day by
day. As a true Mother and Teacher, She lavished her
special attention upon the Apostles, whose names and
whose welfare She bore written in her heart. All of them,
except saint John and saint James the less, immediately
after the termination of the council, left Jerusalem for
the field of their labors, and the kindest Mother was
deeply concerned at the thought of the hardships and
difficulties connected with their preaching. She looked
upon them with tender pity in their peregrinations, and
held them in highest veneration on account of their
holiness and dignity as priests, as Apostles of her divine
Son, founders of the Church, preachers of his doctrine,
and as the elect .of the divine Wisdom chosen for such
high ministries to the glory of the Most High. It was
truly necessary that the most blessed Lady and Mistress,
in order to attend to and take care of so many matters
throughout the holy Church, should be raised to the state
which She now held: for in any lower condition She
could not have so easily and properly attended to so many
duties and at the same time maintain that interior tran
quillity and peace, which her soul enjoyed.
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