Southwell: The Conception of our Ladie

Our second Eve putts on her mortall shrowde
Earth breedes a heaven for gods new dwelling place
Now ryseth up Elias little cloude
That growing shall distill the shoure of grace
Her being now begins who ere she ende
Shall bringe the good that shall our evill amende.

Both grace and nature did their force unite
To make this babe the summe of all their best
Our most her lest, our million but her mite
She was at easyest rate worth all the reste
What grace to men or Angells god did part
Was all united in this infants hart.

Fower only wightes bredd without fault sre nam'd
And all the rest conceived were in synne
Without both man and wife was Adam fram'd
Of man but not of wife did Eve beginne.
Wife without touch of man Christ's mother was
Of man and wife this babe was bred in grace.

Notes

[l1] Our second Eve: The parallels and contrasts between the first Eve and Mary, the 'second Eve', have been the subject of commentaries from the earliest times of Christianity. One of the first examples comes from St  Justin Martyr, born about AD 100 and converted to Christianity about A.D. 130. He taught and defended the Christian religion in Asia Minor and at Rome, where he suffered martyrdom about the year 165. Two 'Apologies' bearing his name and his "Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon" have come down to us. Here is an excerpt from his Dialogue:

He (Christ) became man by the Virgin, in order that the disobedience which proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God; and she replied, 'Be it unto me according to thy word.' And by her has He been born, to whom we have proved so many Scriptures refer, and by whom God destroys both the serpent and those angels and men who are like him; but works deliverance from death to those who repent of their wickedness and believe upon Him. [Chapter C]

[l1] mortall shrowde: words with connotations for the modern mind of death, winding sheets, funerals etc. 'shrowde' had a broader meaning in Elizabethan English of a 'covering' (preserved today when used in expressions such as 'shrouded in mystery'). Her 'being now begins' when God creates her soul and her body, the latter 'covering' or 'clothing' the former. 'Mortall' perhaps means 'human' rather than destined to die, because although Mary was human she never died, being free from the mortality that was one of the consequences of Eve's sin of disobedience.

[l2] Earth breedes a heaven...: A creature, Mary, provides in her womb a dwelling place for her Creator. A human being, in the order of nature, provides a home in her flesh for a supernatural being, God the Son. Mary, a woman bred of earthly parents but conceived without sin, will provide an immaculate dwelling place, a heavenly home for her Son.

[l3-4] Elias little cloud/distill the shoure of grace: This is a reference to Chapter 18 of the Third Book of Kings (1 Kings). Achab, King of Israel, had married Jezabel and together they had promoted the worship of the demon Baal throughout the land. The Lord God punished this idolatry with a drought. Elias, a prophet of the lord, challenged the priests of Baal to a trial by fire on Mount Carmel. The idolaters were unable to call down fire from their demon but Elias' prayer to the one, true God was answered.  The priests of the demon Baal were all slain and Elias told Achab that rain would come. Eventually, Elias servant reported that a little cloud had appeared in the cloudless sky, coming from the direction of the sea and shaped like a foot. The cloud grew and the rain they had prayed for
arrived,  showered down upon the people of Israel to save them from death and suffering through the hunger and thirst caused by the drought.

Mary appears amidst a humanity suffering from the terrible consequences of the sin committed by their first parents. People were hungry and thirsty for faith, hope and love in a world dominated by Satan and his minions.  many of them praying for the coming of the reign of the promised Messiah.   Small in her humility, like a little cloud, she is to become a conduit through which the reign arrives and  divine grace will be showered upon a suffering mankind.

The little cloud shaped like a foot recalls the following prophecy in Genesis:

[14] And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. [15] I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. [Genesis 3]

The 'woman' is Mary; the serpent's seed are his human minions;* 'her seed' is the Messiah, Jesus; Christian art traditionally shows Our Lady crushing the head of a serpent beneath her feet.

*[44] You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. [John 8]

According to a tradition of the Carmelite Order, a group of holy men formed a religious community on Mount Carmel during the lifetime of Elias, leading strict lives of fasting, penance and prayer. Their descendants were rescued by the Crusaders from the Saracen Muslims sweeping across the Holy Land. These refugees from persecution formed the first Carmelite community in England. See the Flos Carmeli tab for more details due to be published shortly.

[l9] her lest...her mite: her lest = her least. 'mite': a. Any small coin of low value; originally applied to a Flemish copper coin, but in English used mainly as a proverbial expression for an extremely small unit of monetary value. b. In proverbial phrases (esp. based on Biblical reference), as the type of a small or insignificant amount.

Mary is the 'summe' of all that is best in grace and nature (l8). In one sense, therefore, she is the summit or high-point. As a representative of mankind fallen low after Adam's sin, she is the highest, in other words 'our most'. Mary, having perfect humility, in her own eyes regards herself as the least.

My soul doth magnify the Lord. [47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [48] Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. [49] Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.[Luke I]

In another sense, Mary is the 'sum' resulting from the 'addition' of all that's best in grace and nature. This 'sum' would naturally be regarded by us as a huge figure or quantity: 'our best', 'our million'. Mary, however, magnifies the Lord not herself and contemplates the might of He that is mighty and the great things that He has done for her, despite her unworthiness and lowliness. He must increase, but I must decrease, says John the Baptist (John 3:30). Our Lord Himself says to us: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. [4] Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 18]. St Therese of Lisieux, the 'little flower',  placed this at the heart of her little life in Carmel.

[l1]: fower: four.
[ll 13-18]: wight: a human being, man, woman or person.  wife: historically, 'wife' could mean simply a woman or a married woman considered in relation to her spouse.

This verse refers to the only four people named in all human history who were not conceived in sin, ie who were sinless from the instant of their conception (or coming into being).

• Adam: specially created by God with no human parents, male or female.
• Eve: created by God from a man (Adam) and having in a certain sense a male parentage  but with no female parentage.
• Mary: 'of man and wife this babe was bred in grace'. Mary's parents were St Anne and St Joachim, names coming through unbroken tradition from Apostolic times. 'bred 'in grace' means that Mary was from the first instant of her conception in her mother's womb free from all sin. This is what is meant by her 'immaculate conception'. For more details, see Ineffabilis Deus, 1854.
• Jesus: 'Wife without touch of man Christ's mother was'. Jesus' father is God the Father; He was conceived by the Holy Ghost; He was born of the Virgin Mary, His mother.