Chapter 2: The First Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God
Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020) |
§ 3. The relationship between the Blessed Virgin and our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby it appears that she is the Firstborn of mere creatures
Third title whereby the Holy Virgin is the Firstborn of mere creatures
5 Thirdly, Mary is the Firstborn of mere creatures by right of her eternal predestination, inasmuch as God has from this starting point regarded her as the Redemptrix of every creature along with her Son, and she is consequently the glory and honour of all. In this sense, she can say with Him that God created her as the Beginning of His ways for His ways[1] In this sense too she can say that she was prepared from eternity,[2] or, according to the original text, she has been planted and raised[3] like a banner over the watchtower of this world, showing victory over Satan and the reconquest of the fortress he had seized. Listen to the words of St John Damascene and St Anselm. They explain briefly how it all happened, whilst waiting for a later opportunity to give more details.
God had made man, says St John Damascene,[4] as a cross between those creatures purely intellectual and those completely material; he was like a point of juncture between these two, where goodness and intelligence might be found. Man, through his sin, however, caused everything to fall into terrible disrepair and lamentable disorder. It was the Blessed Virgin’s intervention that reversed this, for the spiritual (or intellectual) and material were bought together within her womb by Him who had made them in the beginning. There, He resolved their differences and a treaty of peace was signed by each side.
St Anselm has presented the same narrative in beautiful language[5]:
The creatures below man, he says, owe him obedience only to the extent that he maintains himself in the submission and subordination he owes to God. If he separates himself from God, breaking his ties, then the creatures for their part desert man and no longer want to recognise him. In this way, the sin of the first man was followed by a rebellion and general uprising of every creature, determined to cast off the yoke whereby they owed him respect and to rebel against him. Now the Sun, indignant at serving a rebel, made plans to withdraw its light, the stars their influences[6], fire its heat; the air thought rather to suffocate than to refresh, and so it was with all the other elements of the universe which were inclining towards a general mutiny, were it not for the Author of nature, along with His Holy Mother, who brought this to a halt and in this way restored Man to his estates and honours.
The same St Anselm adds a third way of understanding this[7]:
From the beginning, God had loved man and had desired to be loved and acknowledged by him. Reason required this, considering that man’s entire well-being and happiness depended on God. Now, God did not wish to show His face openly to man but, in order that man might be drawn gently to a knowledge and love of his sovereign good, God placed before man’s gaze an infinity of creatures which would all serve as mirrors and ladders, enabling man to see God’s perfections and to lift up his heart in love.
Wretched man, however, lost his mind and his way; instead of keeping on the path leading up to his Creator, he tarried with creatures, finding in them his contentment and happiness. In this way, he both debased himself in an alien way and robbed them of their nobility whose role was to guide man on the path to God. Everything was therefore in a state of disorder and confusion until the Holy Virgin appeared on the scene like a beneficent Star, Man, who had gone astray so shamefully, was led back to the path leading to knowledge and love of God. In the same way, the creatures whom man had debased and dishonoured were recalled to their primary duties and restored to their former splendour. Which creatures will henceforth deny that they owe homage to Mary, and that they are duty-bound to acknowledge her as Firstborn? For through her they have the happiness of being restored to their former state and to experience in this way a new birth.
6 I am fully aware that these matters deserve fuller treatment but I am deferring this to a more suitable time after these discussions. The first title of Mary’s Birth-right comprises the Splendours and great Dignities of the Holy Virgin. The first three Treatises will concentrate on these. The second title represents her as the centre and culmination of God’s works. Apart from those occasions when the subject crops up from time to time, I shall use the whole of the following chapter to cover this. The third title shows her as the Redemptrix, restoring the work of God. I am saving the whole second Treatise to deal with this. Now these considerations have been dealt with, I propose we move on.
Footnotes
[1] The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works. Prov. viii. 22.
[2] I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made. Prov. viii. 23.
[3] Ab æterno vexillata sum. See DMLBS. vexillare [CL vexillum+-are] 1. to equip with banners. 2. to add the mark of the cross.
[4] Orat. 1 de Nativit. B. Virg.
[5] De Excellentia Virg., c. 10.
[6] Qualité, puissance, vertu qui decoule des astres sur les corps sublunaires. Bonne influence. maligne influence. les diverses influences des astres font la varieté du temps. Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 1re édition (1694).
[7] Cap. 12.
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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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