The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 3 : § 1. 4-6

Chapter 3 : The Second 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).

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

That from the beginning of the world she was announced by the Prophets and represented by ancient figures

In the previous chapter I presented the Holy Virgin as a trial design by God when considered in relation to the Saviour, who was Himself the first actual masterpiece in the world. In comparison with the rest of creation, however, it cannot be denied that Mary was the second masterpiece by God who produced a thousand preparatory sketches, as will be seen in the following discussion.

§ 1. That it pertains to the Greatness and Excellence of the MOTHER OF GOD that she was announced and prefigured a long time before her arrival in the world

 4   St Andrew of Crete and St Germain, Patriarch of Constantinople, give many more examples but cover them in less depth. Here is how St Andrew addresses the Blessed Virgin:

All the Interpreters of the Holy Spirit, i.e., the Prophets, have spoken of thee, Holy Lady! The first fine example is Moses who discovered the miraculous bush and called out, saying: I will go and see this great sight.[1] David was speaking of thee when he addressed the promised Messiah: Arise, O Lord, ... thou and the ark, which thou hast sanctified.[2] He had thee in mind when he said: All the glory of the king's daughter is hidden within; how lovely it is to see her in a rich robe of pure golden borders![3] We encounter thee in each line of the Canticle of Canticles when, for example, the Holy Angels watch in amazement as thou goest up by the desert like the smoke of precious perfume;[4] when the writer speaks of Solomon’s mystical bed, the seat of gold, the pillars of silver, the curtains of purple and the midst covered with charity;[5] when the daughters of Jerusalem are invited to visit King Solomon seated on his throne and wearing the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart.[6]

The Prophet Isaiah saw thee with eyes of the spirit when he cried out: Listen to the wonder I tell ye: Behold a virgin shall conceive,[7] and there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a beautiful flower shall rise up out of his root.[8] Ezechiel was thinking of thee when he spoke of the East gate as being shut to all except the God of Israel.[9] The holy Prophet Daniel, truly man of desires,[10] called thee the wondrous mountain whence came cut without hands hand the corner stone[11] of the Church, which overturned the statue of  Nabuchodonosor.[12] Thou art the true living book in which was written the divine Word by the pen of the Holy Ghost. Thou are mount Sion, a fruitful and fertile mountain, where the Lord hath made His dwelling. Thou art the land freed from the common curse and from thee was formed the second Adam. Thou art the jar of precious ointment, the oil of perfect joy, the flower that never fadeth, the robe of imperial purple, the throne of God. In a word, what thou art is beyond my ability to explain and beyond the understanding of the noblest minds.

That is how this Doctor speaks.

Footnotes

[1] And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. Exod. iii. 3.

[2] Ps. CXXXI. 8.

[3] All the glory of the king's daughter is within in golden borders; Clothed round about with varieties. Ps. XLIV. 14-15.

[4]Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer? Cant. iii. 6.

[5] King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus:  The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going up of purple: the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem. Cant. iii. 9-10.

[6] Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart. Cant. iii. 11.

[7] Isai. Vii. 14.

[8] And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. Isai. xi. 1..

[9] Ez. xliv.

[10] Dan. x. 11.

[11] Matt. xxi. 42.

[12] Dan. ii. 31-34.

 5   St Lawrence Justinian[1] gathers and collects from these Fathers the figures and ancient characters pointing to the MOTHER OF GOD. He calls her:

the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat of the Temple, the Throne of God, the Rod that flowered, the little Cloud like a foot,[2] the enclosed Garden, the sealed Fountain, the closed Gate,[3] the Dove without blemish, the fragrant Rose, the white Carnation,[4] the most delicate flower, the jar of aromatic perfumes, the fair Olive tree,[5] the fruitful Vine,[6] the tall Cyprus tree,[7] the Palm tree laden with fruit,[8] the Turpentine tree with stretched out branches,[9] the field covered with a rich harvest, the blessed Earth, the Dawning of the day,[10] the flaming Torch; he calls her more beautiful than the Moon and brighter than the Sun,[11] purer than refined gold, rarer than precious stones, more gentle than balm, more greatly prized than pearls, sweeter than honey,[12] more delightful than all music and every harmony.

 6   From what has been said so far, we are able to learn that the Holy Virgin is represented in Scripture by two sorts of figures: those that are dead, i.e., having neither soul nor reason, like the ones I have just mentioned; and those that have souls and reason. These are actual persons in whom God has traced various perfections and in whom He has made preliminary sketches of the unique qualities that would be brought together in Mary.  In this way He helps us to understand that in her He has brought together all the beauty, grace and excellence that He had previously scattered here and there. Reason requires us now to say something about these qualities, but because there are so  many, we shall make a selection of the most remarkable.

[1] Libro de Casto connubio Verbi et animæ, c. 9.

[2] 3 Kings xviii. 34.

[3] Ez. xliv.

[4] un œillet, plante utilisée pour soigner les yeux et appelée Oculus Christi au Moyen Âge. Elle est associée au salut donné par le Christ. Le détail. Le langage des fleurs. See also Elecampane (Inula helenium), sprung from Helen’s tears.

[5] Jer. xi. 16.

[6] Ps. CXXVII. 3.

[7] Eccus. xxiv. 17.

[8] Eccus. xxiv. 18. Cant. vii. 8.

[9] Eccus (Sirach) xxiv. 22

[10] Job xxxviii. 12

[11] Canticles (Solomon) vi. 9

[12] Ps. xviii. 11

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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