Luke; by the
tradition of the neighbourhood, which extends in an unbroken and well-
assured line to the time of St. Eusebius himself; by the miracles that
have been worked here by its presence, and elsewhere by its
invocation, or even by indirect contact with it; by the miracles,
lastly, which are inherent in the image itself, {311} and which endure
to this day, such as is its immunity from all worm and from the decay
which would naturally have occurred in it through time and damp--more
especially in the feet, through the rubbing of religious objects
against them.
* * * * *
"The authenticity of this image is so certainly and clearly
established, that all supposition to the contrary becomes inexplicable
and absurd. Such, for example, is a hypothesis that it should not be
attributed to the Evangelist, but to another Luke, also called
'Saint,' and a Florentine by birth. This painter lived in the
eleventh century--that is to say, about seven centuries after the
image of Oropa had been known and venerated! This is indeed an
anachronism.
"Other difficulties drawn either from the ancient discipline of the
Church or from St. Luke the Evangelist's profession, which was that of
a physician, vanish at once when it is borne in mind--firstly, that
the cult of holy images, and especially of that of the most blessed
Virgin, is of extreme antiquity in the Church, and of apostolic
origin, as is proved by ecclesiastical writers and monuments found in
the catacombs which date, as far back as the first century (see among
other authorities, Nicolas, La Vergine vivente nella Chiesa, lib.
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