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).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020) |
§ 4. The peerless qualities of her holy soul
The second peerless quality
3 The second splendour of her glory is more tailored to our capacities inasmuch as it concerns those effects which, having their origin in God as the first cause and sovereign idea of all things, are the ordinary steps by which we make our way to Him.
For a better understanding of this, we need to remember what we learn from the teachers of Theology[1] that the blessed who enjoy the presence of God see not only His interior perfections since – as He is a like a clear mirror that shows all that which has been, which is now and which shall come to be – they also discover through the fertile essence of God things which happen outside of Him. There is truly a big difference between this divine mirror and the sort of mirror we use here on earth. What we see in the latter is like a still-life, inanimate and without freedom, necessarily reflecting with due proportion everything placed in front of the glass. Things are very different however with God where the divine mirror includes intellect, will and liberty of choice in the representations He provides. Because of this, He makes visible to those who are admitted into the joyful vision of His glorious face whatever He pleases and conceals things when it seems good to Him to do so. Now this may all seem like a closed book to us and when we speak of these hidden mysteries we are like the blind when they discuss colours.
Nevertheless, we are permitted to try and penetrate the meaning of these secrets with the help of Sacred Scriptures, the magisterium of the Church and the power of reason. On that basis, we can say that the fulfilment of happiness for each of the blessed requires God, as a matter of what is right and fitting (particularly on high where He distributes the treasures of His glory to His faithful servants), to ensure that they know everything that pertains to their state. If this were not so, then they would still have a reasonable desire that had not been satisfied and, consequently, their happiness would be defective. Now this is done in such a way that in order to give a blessed Prince, for example, satisfaction in all things pertaining to him, God shows him everything going on in his state. Similarly, in the case of the Founder of a Religious Order, He reveals everything pertaining to his Order; and to a father, things touching his family, and to all in particular the prayers that are addressed to them, and any successes in undertakings which He wishes to bring about by their means. Now, if we consider how the extent of their charity is increased in ways we are unable to describe, together with the power they have to do good for us, then reason requires them to have knowledge of what is happening around us so that by this means they will be encouraged and enabled to bring us the support we need in our trials here on earth. They will be able, moreover, to receive the satisfaction which comes to them from successful outcomes to their intercessions and interventions.
In saying this, I have no intention of downplaying the part played by God’s magnificence which does indeed touch the condition of everyone. I wish only to let it be known that there is no-one among the blessed to whom He does not grant this increase in satisfaction and contentment.
Footnotes
[1] S. Th., I p., q. 12, etc.
4 This opens the way for us to say with confidence that the Holy Virgin discovers more things in God than any of the Saints in Heaven, and that she sees more than all of them together. In short, she sees everything[1] that God Himself sees with the knowledge that we call vision. This is the knowledge that God has of what has been, what is now and what is to come, whatever the time difference may be. The reason for this lies in what I have just said – everything that has been, that is now and that is to come, is interconnected with the eventual fulfilment of what was predestined for the chosen. All of this falls within the domain of the MOTHER OF GOD who, as I shall explain more fully in the second Part[2], was chosen as Mediatrix of salvation for all men, as an instrument of their predestination, and as Queen and Sovereign Lady for all in God’s domain. I am honour and duty bound to except from this the interior actions of the Saviour because, since He is incomparably superior to His Mother in glory and perfection, it would not be reasonable for her to proceed so far into the secrets of the Prince’s privy chamber without His permission. This alone excepted, I say once again that all which is present to the immutable eternity of God is known to the glorious Virgin but with a slight time difference, inasmuch as she absorbs it through gazing on the sovereign essence of God. This is what I think must have been expressly meant by St Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, when he said to Mary[3]:
Most holy Lady, thy spirit liveth in all eternity; to thee all is revealed and in thy knowledge thou seest all things.
Let us not leave this subject without considering the happy consequences of all this for ourselves, for it cannot be a matter of indifference to us knowing that we are seen by our loving Mother who is aware of what is happening around us. She knows all our needs and understands the effects her merciful interventions have on us. Since she will always watch over us with a Mother’s heart, we should pray on the one hand that she will be ever favourable to us in our needs, whilst by the same token that we will never in her presence do anything that could offend her.
Footnotes
[1] Suarez, t. II, in III p., dist. 21, sect. 3, etc.
[2] The author uses the word Traité or Treatise for the four major divisions of his work. Depending on the method of publication, a more suitable translation would be Part or, if printed separately, Volume.
[3] Serm. de Assumpt.
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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.
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
© Peter Bloor 2024
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