Chapter 1 : On the title of the Mother of God, true source of all the great Dignities of the glorious Virgin
Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).
§ 2. That the title MOTHER OF GOD is the origin and the measure of all the Dignities of the Blessed Virgin
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020) |
1 The Evangelist Matthew uttered something very important when he said: Mary, of whom was born Jesus.[1] St Bernard,[2] says this is what astonishes men and angels alike, which makes them all lower their eyes and which is the source and the measure of all the perfections found in the Virgin. The same Jesus, Son of Mary, taught one day this divine lesson to St Catherine of Genoa,[3] telling her that when she recited the Ave Maria she should take the word Jesus, which is found in the prayer, as the one which ought to give her sentiments of honour, respect and love needed to speak as she should to such a Lady. St Thomas[4] remarks opportunely that the holy Evangelists knew the qualities of the most Blessed Virgin better than anybody. In their position as her Son’s record-keepers, they ordinarily gave her no other title than Mother of Jesus.
We are not unaware, says St Bernardine of Siena,[5] that it is a great advantage for our heavenly Mother to be our Lady and Mistress of all that God created. We nevertheless call her more readily MOTHER OF GOD, insomuch as this dignity is the root and source of the others. That which this Saint places before Lady of the universe can be applied to all her other titles and qualities, insomuch as there is not one that does not have this as its origin. In this way, after we have considered her as an immense ocean of graces, as a masterpiece of glory, as the honour of heaven and earth, the epitome of God’s handiwork, the chosen dwelling of the most holy Trinity, the foundation of our happiness, the gate of heaven, the wonder of the world and other titles that I cannot say or even think of, we always need to return to this starting point and acknowledge that all these titles and qualities depend on her being the MOTHER OF GOD.
Footnotes
[1] Matt. i. 16.
[2] Serm. in Signum magnum.
[3] Vitæ ipsius, c. 6.
[4] III p., q. 28, art. 3.
[5] T. I, serm. 52
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The excellence of Jesus Christ
2 To help us understand something about the great Dignities of Mary, who could gain access for us to the Holy of Holies, namely the Sanctuary of the sacred heart of Jesus[6]? Who will reveal to us the wonders of this mystery hidden from all eternity in the most secret thoughts of the Ancient of days[7] and in the very bosom of the Eternal Father? A mystery unravelled in the fulness of time so as to become the object of the law of peoples, an anchorage point for their hopes, the cause of their salvation and the accomplishment of God’s glory in the world? Who will represent for us the glory of the only-begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth,[8] shown to the beloved Disciple? Who will explain to us the words of the Son of thunder which the world hitherto has not understood? Who will teach us about this Word who was in the beginning with God and who was Himself God, by whom all things were made and without whom was made nothing that was made?
Who will help us understand what is meant by a God who supports a man; a man who subsists in God; a man who is God and a God who is man; the singular work God has accomplished and which alone has a perfect proportion to the excellence of the workman? A work which is a triumph of love, the treasure of wisdom and the miracle of power; a work which is between the created being and the uncreated; where God enclosed Himself to become part of His work and to raise it above all the works of His hands; the mysterious ladder joining earth to heaven and heaven to earth?[9] Who will help us scale the rungs of incomprehensible perfection found in each of His natures? Who will speak to us worthily of the divine filiation of Jesus, of His supreme power and the eternity of His rule? Who will tell us how we are to understand in Him His divine essence, the distinction of His persons and the depth of His counsels? How He is adorable wisdom, the ineffable word, the image of the Eternal father, His divine Word through whom He speaks both to Himself and to His creatures, and the idea of all created things? How He proceeds from Him without dependence and without losing anything; how He has in Himself the fulness of uncreated being; how with Him and through Him He is the point from which a divine person proceeds; how He is light eternal of light eternal, light in His essence and in His person proceeding as the light and splendour of the Father?
Who will tells us how to speak with very God Himself who, according to His humanity is the principle and exemplar of created Divinity, and who honours us by calling us Gods[10] and children of the Most High? How in this status He received a new essence in the womb of His Mother, by the temporal operation of the Holy Spirit; but how He is also the One to whom, in His status as God in the bosom of His Father, through an eternal operation He communicates the essence which is without beginning? How, alone out of all creatures, He enters the state of divine filiation, not by adoption but by nature; how He is Holy with the same holiness that renders God holy, and the Holy of Holies? How He is the centre, the circle and the circumference of all the emanations of God outside Himself, and the throne of glory and greatness where the divinity dwells uniquely and corporeally, as the great Apostle says?[11]
Who will open for us the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden within this Man-God? Who will bring us information on these sufferings of a God and these miracles of a man, of these actions divinely human and humanly divine which are found in Him alone? Who will make us sound the very depths of His grace, from which God’s elect will draw and will draw for ever? Who will enumerate all the effects this grace has produced in the heaven among the saints and on earth among the just and the sinners? Who will set out the wonders of this quality which in every way shows forth its sanctity? Who will enable us to see Him who is the most Beautiful of all, the Greatest of the great, the Spouse of chosen souls, the Sovereign Pontiff of the Church’s children, the King of glory and the Delight of the universe?
To anyone who opens up these secrets to me, I promise for my part to communicate marvels never before heard of concerning the MOTHER OF GOD. Mary is, after all, none other than the worthy Mother of Jesus, as Jesus is the adorable Son of Mary. But since we know only what may be discovered with the limited viewpoint of the Faith, we should not be surprised if all that we propose concerning this incomparable title is less than we should really like to know. Whether we want to or not, we are obliged to acknowledge these great Dignities and to accept with humility that they are in a sense beyond our ken. To which of the Angels did God ever say (it is St Paul who speaks): Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.[12] And whoever cannot respond to the first request will find it difficult to satisfy the second.
Footnotes
[6] Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back to at least the 11th century. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had multiple visions of the Sacred Heart between 1673 and 1675. However, it wasn’t until 90 years later in 1765, that the feast was officially celebrated in France. In 1856, Pope Pius IX made the feast of the Sacred Heart into a universal celebration.
[7] Daniel vii. 9-10.
[8] Damasc., lib. I Fidei, c. 8 ; Trismegist. in Pimandro, etc..
[9] Gen. xxviii. 12-16.
[10] Jesus answered them: Is it not written in your law: I said you are gods? [John 10:34]
[11] For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally; [Col. ii.9]
[12] Hebr. v. 5
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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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