The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 3 : § 2. 1-2

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.

§ 2. On three inanimate figures used to represent the MOTHER OF GOD, namely the burning bush of Moses, Aaron’s rod and Gedeon’s Fleece

 1   I shall cover other figures such as these in later chapters,[1] without counting those occurring from time time in various contexts. For the time being, I have chosen six examples.

First Figure : the burning Bush

The first is the burning Bush of Moses. Scripture says[2] that Moses, after leading his father-in-law’s flock to the inner parts of the desert, looked up and saw a bush on Mt Horeb. The bush was on fire with flames but it was not being burnt and Moses said to himself: I will go and see this great sight.  St Theodotus,[3] Bishop of Ancyra or Angora in Galatia; Chrysippus,[4] Priest of Jerusalem; St Gregory Thaumaturgus,[5] St Gregory of Nyssa,[6] Theodoret, Fr Rupert, St Bonaventure and several other Doctors, without mentioning the writers already cited above,[7] have all seen in this miraculous Bush a sketch or type for the MOTHER OF GOD. 

It is pleasing to read the account by St Gregory of Neocaesarea[8] describing a conversation between God and the Angel Gabriel where the divine Ambassador, having received his Master’s order concerning the good news that he was to announce to the world, expressed with due humility his reservations:

 

But how will it be possible for the Virgin to survive the fire of Divinity? Your Majesty’s Throne is all burning with fire and light; how will she be able to prevent herself from being burned?

God replies to this objection with these few words:

What!  Have you forgotten, Gabriel, the fire of the burning Bush in the desert? Know then that if the Bush had been damaged by that fire, then Mary too would be harmed by my presence. But this very fire, prefiguring the descent of my divine fire on earth, served rather to refresh the Bush rather than to reduce it to ashes. What then can you not expect from my divinity which will be for Mary a refreshing shower rather than a fire that burns and consumes?

This is the heart of the miracle, says St Gregory of Nyssa:[9]

The Bush feeds the fire but without being consumed, and the Virgin gives birth to fire and light but without suffering any harm whatsoever.

 2   The holy Bishop of Ancyra whom I quoted a little earlier was one of those who were so courageous at the Council of Ephesus [A.D. 431] in defending the honour of the MOTHER OF GOD. He writes on the same subject in a similar vein: 

Please tell me which of the two you prize more: the burning Bush of Moses or the sacred womb of Mary? I should like you to know that the former is actually a figure for the latter. What then is meant by saying that, although the flames swept over the Bush, the fire set aside its nature : it gave off light but it did not burn; it cleansed but did no damage? Are you still so slow that you do not grasp the mystery and do not see beneath the appearance of this figure the one who is herself fully Virgin and Mother? If God, dwelling in a Bush, was the cause of so much splendour and glory, preserving it in its entirety, then with what light and purity do you think he would have filled the glorious Virgin? How much effort do you think He would have made to preserve, or even to increase, the honour and integrity of her body and soul?

This holy Doctor is right in his judgement that the flame of the Saviour’s Divinity not only caused no harm but was actually altogether honourable and most beneficial to the Holy Virgin. We shall see this amply demonstrated in the discussions that follow.

Footnotes

[1] Cap. 9 et 15.

[2] Exod. iii..

[3] Homil. de Christi Nativit. ad Synodum Ephesinam.

[4] Serm. de Sanct. Deipara.

[5] Orat. 3 in Anuntiat.

[6] Orat. 1 de Nativit.

[7] Superiore §.

[8] Loco cit.

[9] Orat. de Christi Nativit.

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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