The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 11 : § 3.1-2

Chapter 11 : The Tenth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr François Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

§ 3. The admirable privileges of her sacred body

 1   Whilst the members of the Church triumphant, in keeping with the privilege of that name, are feasting and rejoicing, 

the little flock of disciples in Jerusalem continue with their mourning and grief, finding what consolation they can, says St John Damascene[1], with the mortal remains of their beloved Mother.

It is as though they are vying with each other as to who will be able to embrace her feet the longest, who will weep more tears, who will kiss her hands the most dutifully and who will be fortunate enough to take away a relic that has touched her sacred body. 

In the end, however, these little consolations need to give way to the requirements of the law for the performance of her funeral obsequies.

Footnotes

[1] Orat. 2 de Dormitione Virg.; Metaphrast., Orat. de Vita et Dormit. B. Virg.; Niceph., lib. II Hist., c. 22.

The first privilege

 2   We shall begin our discussion of her privileges with one of the most remarkable funeral processions ever seen. I shall try to follow closely the account of St John Damascene[1].  After all the Fathers I have cited earlier[2], he says:

After this holy body had been washed and duly laid out in the coffin, blessed candles were lit and people began to chant the sacred Canticles, following the order that the Saviour had given, whilst Angels filled the air above[3] with their heavenly music. 

King David of old wanted to transfer the ark of the covenant[4] to the home he had built for it and he summoned the Priests, the Princes of the people and the most notable men of Jerusalem. The Priests bore the ark on their shoulders and, with all the people following and with sacrifices being offered, the ark was carried to the Temple and placed in the midst of the Tabernacle which David had prepared. In the same way, the first Princes of the Church and the foremost men amongst the laity, bowing their heads, carried the mystical ark of the new Testament to the place prepared for it. The blessed cortege made its way through the middle of the city towards the Mount of Olives with beautiful reverence and in a manner truly modest, dignified and simple. This was also reflected in the way they chanted the Psalms whilst the Holy Angels, above and around them but invisible, paid their respects and showed honour in all sorts of ways to the mortal remains entrusted to them. I read in St Gregory of Tours[5] that:

near the town of Clermont in the Auvergne there was once a maiden of exceptional virtue called Georgia. She died and on the day of her funeral they were lifting up her body so as to carry it into the town’s Church when a flock of doves appeared, flying around the cortege and following it to the Church. There, they perched on the roof and did not leave until the body had been interred and then, as though they had been given permission, they returned whence they had come.

The same Saint also recounts something even more wondrous that took place in the life of St Eulalia[6]:

Around her grave there are three trees and every year in December when her feast is celebrated these trees shed blossoms in the form of doves, white as snow, which fil the air with the fragrance of Paradise. Their appearance is a promise of a good year ahead for all the locals, but their failure to appear is a certain presage of misfortune. 

Now if doves are destined to honour purity and innocence, no creature ever deserved them more than the Virgin of Virgins who, in the words of St John Damascene[7], was that Dove most chaste and most innocent that on this day left her mortal prison and flew up to breathe the pure air of eternal joy and from there to bring us the good news of the peace we shall enjoy when we are reunited with God. 

Footnotes

[1] Orat. 2 de Dormitione Virg.

[2] S. Dionys., lib. III de Divinis nomin. ; Juvenal. Archiep. Hier., in Hist. Euthymiaca, lib. III, c. 40 ; Andr. Cretens., Orat. 2 de Dormit. Deiparæ, etc.

[3] Sophron., Serm. de Assumpt. ; S. Ildefons., Serm. 3 de Assumpt. ; S. Joann. Damasc., Orat. 2 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[4] II Reg. vi.

[5] De Gloria Conf., c. 34.

[6] De Gloria Martyrum, c. 91.

[7] footsOrat. 2 de Assumpt.tool:

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

© Peter Bloor 2024