To avoid quibbling and evasion on the part
of the editor of the Register, I will use the
Douay translation of the Latin Vulgate.
The passages relied on by the Register are
to be found in the first and second chapters
of the Acts.
The first chapter relates to the meeting in
the upper chamber, and states that Mary was
present, together with her surviving children,
who according to modern Mary worshippers
were Christ's cousins, and not “his brethren,”
as the Testament positively asserts.
The second chapter contains a short speech
by Peter, who was in no way abashed by any
remembrance of his cowardice and denials of
Christ, when Christ was under arrest.
After mentioning the baptism of 3,000 souls,
comes this statement in Verse 42:
“And they were persevering in the doctrine
of the apostles, and in the communication of
the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
In this second chapter, where the.apostles
are at a different place, at a later day, not
one word is said of Mary, and to assert that
she partook of the communion bread is noth
ing more than a surmise.
Bear in mind that Peter and the other
disciples were “all together in one place”
(apparently not the same upper chamber, else
the text would have indicated the fact) when
a mighty wind arose, and a great multitude
assembled (outside the house, necessarily)
“devout men out of every nation under
heaven.
This text has always been a puzzle to me,
for at that time the scraggy little nook of
earth, called Judea, Palestine, the Holy Land,
&c., was unknown to Europe, unknown to
Asia, unknown to Oceanica, unknown to
America, and not widely known even in
Africa.
