[493] According to an ancient tradition mentioned by Origen and Leo the Great the number of the Magi was three. In the mediæval miracle plays they are called three gipsy kings, and their names are given as Gaspar, Melchior, and Belshazzar.
The early Fathers all refer to the adoration of the Magi as a proof of the divinity of Our Lord, not as any homage to Mary. See Clem. Alex., Pæd., ii, 8; Origen, c. Cels., i, p. 46; Chrysos., in Matt.; Jus. Mar., Dial. cum Tryph.; Iren., c. Hær., iii, 2; Hieron., in Esaiam, vi, 19; Ambr., in Luc., ii; Aug., Epiph. Serm.
[494] Rom. Sott., p. 261.—One of these devout fictions, known as the Proto-Evangelium, and attributed to St. James, was the source of those legends of the early life of Mary which furnished so many subjects to Italian art. According to this tradition she was dedicated while yet an infant to a religious life, and remained till twelve years of age in the temple, where she was daily fed by angels. See an inscription in Provence: MARIA VIRGO MINISTER IN TEMPLO GEROSALE. Later legends assert the angelic pre-annunciation of her birth and her immaculate conception, which has at length become a formulated dogma of the church, though contrary to the opinion of the ancient Fathers. (Kayes’ Tertul., p. 386 and postea.) St. Joachim and St. Anne, her parents, are invoked in the Missal, which also asserts her freedom from original sin, an exemption shared only by Our Lord, John the Baptist, and Jeremiah.
In her youth, says the Proto-Evangelium, Mary was consigned to Joseph, not for marriage, but for parental guardianship. A number of suitors claimed her hand, but the apparition of a dove flying from the top of Joseph’s rod indicated the divinely chosen spouse. In course of time, in consequence of the growing superior regard for celibacy, the legends of her perpetual virginity were developed, although some, at least, of the Fathers held a contrary opinion. See Tertul., De Monogamia, c. 8, and De Carne Christi, c. 23; Neander’s Antignostikus, Whedon’s Commentary, Matt. xiii, 55. The word πρωτότοκον, first-born, applied to Jesus, Matt. i, 25, implies a second born afterward, as in Rom. viii, 29, “first born of many brethren;” otherwise the word μονογενής, only born, would be used, as in Luke vii, 12; ix, 38.
[495] De Rossi and some other writers call this figure Isaiah without any good reason.
[496] Rom. Sott., p. 260.
[497] Imagines Selectæ Deiparæ Virginis, pl. iv. This picture is thought to be of the sixth century.
[498] Test. of Catacombs, p. 27.
[499] One of these has a saffron-coloured robe, and soft brown eyes and hair. The other wears a deep crimson robe with purple stripes. Both are richly embroidered and bejeweled.
[500] Northcote’s Catacombs, p. 77.