The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 4 : § 2. 3-5

Chapter 4 : The Third 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).

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

§ 2. The Holy Virgin is called the Daughter of the Eternal Father. Her second title:

The close relationship she has with the Eternal father as Daughter of His Son

 3   If you choose to consider Mary as being the firstborn or eldest Daughter of Jesus, then you could call her the Eternal Father’s Grand-daughter.

The close relationship she has as Spouse of His Son

 4   In looking at her as Spouse of the Saviour (which is my main focus here), we must bear in mind her title as beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father. Perhaps this may be what she herself meant in words already quoted from Solomon’s Book of Proverbs: The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways[1]. In Sacred Scripture, to possess can mean quite specifically to have a son or a daughter. We find this in the case of Eve; she was the first of all mothers and after giving birth to a firstborn son (Cain) who was the first to be born of a woman, she cried out: I have gotten a man through God.[2] It seems to me that the Holy Virgin expresses this more clearly further on in Proverbs. We find in our version the following translation: I was with him forming all things[3]; the author of the Chaldee Paraphrase writes: I was at his side, nourished by him, no more nor less than His dearest daughter. From that point on, He regarded me as the woman who was to have the honour of marriage by virtue of being the future Spouse of His only-begotten Son. I was destined to keep company with Him, to assist Him, serve Him and to make Him the father of a countless multitude of children. The Patriarch Abraham saw this in an enigmatic similitude, in terms of a line of descendants surpassing in number the stars of Heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore.[4] This explains why Mary could with justice address to God the words of Jeremiah: Thou art my father, the guide of my virginity,[5] for henceforth she was already promised, or at least prepared for His only-begotten Son.

Footnotes

[1] Prov. viii. 22.

[2] Gen. iv. 1.

[3] Prov. viii. 30.

[4] I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore: Gen. xxii. 17

[5] Jer. iii. iv.

 5   This union is beyond our comprehension and so elevates the Holy Virgin as to make her Daughter of God not only through adoption (as I stated above) but in a certain sense by nature. The law[1] confers this benefit on her since it states that a son’s wife becomes the daughter of his father, calling this a natural union. As a consequence, the law forbids marriage between collateral relatives within this degree of affinity. The admirable St Augustine sums this up, saying all that needs to be said:[2]

Since if the husband and his wife are as one flesh, you cannot and must not consider your son’s wife to be anything other than your own daughter.

This undoubtedly explains why in the Canticle of Canticles the Spouse calls His Bride His sister and she calls Him her brother, as both belonging to the same father, indeed as both being as one body. The pious Emperor Matthew Kantakouzenos wrote a tender Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, one product of his retirement from the world and his devotion towards the MOTHER OF GOD. In this commentary[3], while speaking in the person of the Eternal Father, he calls her His beloved Daughter, born of His own substance.

[1] Nurus, et privigna filiæ loco sunt. [a daughter-in-law and a step-daughter are to be regarded as daughters, with whom there can be no conubium] § Affinitatis, instit. de Nuptiis, § Solut. matrim., l. Quia 2, et l. Rei. § finali.

[2] Lib. II contra Pelagium, c. 61..

[3] In illud, Equitatui meo assimilavi te, etc.

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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

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 4 : § 2. 1-2

Chapter 4 : The Third 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).

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

§ 2. The Holy Virgin is called the Daughter of the Eternal Father. Her second title:

The close relationship the Holy Virgin has with the Eternal Father as Mother of His Son

 1   Let us now set our sights higher and look into the loving designs of our God for a level of filiation even more elevated than the first and one closer to what we call natural. To identify it, we need to take into account three connections the Holy Virgin has with our Lord Jesus Christ. Firstly, she is His Mother, as we discussed at some length in the first chapter. Secondly, she is His titular Daughter through redemption and this why St Bernardino of Siena[1] calls her Daughter of the Redeemer. Thirdly, she is His Spouse in a very special way which cannot be communicated to any other person. This will be addressed in the second Treatise[2] and may well be the reason the great Martyr St Ignatius of Antioch was wont to call her Mary of Jesus in his Epistles, she being totally for Jesus and of Jesus in her capacity of Mother, Daughter and Spouse all at once.

 2   This threefold cord[3] that links her and unites her indissolubly with Jesus produces the threefold tie she has to God, Father of this same Saviour and Redeemer. Concerning Mary’s first title as Mother of her only Son, Blessed Cardinal Peter Damian[4] shows there are three ways God is found in His creatures:, namely through His essence, through His action and (in a few who receive what is not normally granted to others) through the manifestation of things to come. He adds a fourth way for the Blessed Mother of His Son: through identity. St Bernard explains this as follows[5]:

God is joined to all the Saints through union with His will; but in the case of the Blessed Virgin He is also united with her flesh. This means that His own substance and Mary’s substance make one Jesus Christ who, whilst taking one of His natures from the Father and the other from His Mother, does not cease to belong entirely to the Father and entirely to the Mother.  

This conjoining is so tight that St Basil has no hesitation in saying of it that[6]:

the Virgin’s flesh was found worthy to be united to the Divinity of God’s only-begotten Son.

What infinite goodness and what an unlimited source of wonders! The Mother’s flesh is the same as that of her Son; the Son’s flesh is united to the Son’s Divinity, which is itself the Divinity of the Father. What language can now be found to explain the close relationship the Virgin Mother has with the Eternal Father? Would you call it family kinship? Or should it be called affinity[7], following St Thomas[8] and several other Doctors? What word would you choose? I think it would be wise to avoid rushing too quickly into this question and the concomitant risk of foundering.

Footnotes

[1] T. II, serm. 51, art. 3, c. 2.

[2] Cap. 5.

[3] Cf. a threefold cord is not easily broken. Eccles. iv. 12.

[4] Serm. de Nativit. B. Virg.

[5] Homil. 3 in Missus.

[6] Homil. de humana Christi generatione.

[7] affinitas: kinship, relationship (esp. by marriage), alliance [DMLBS]. affinité: Alliance par mariage. Il a espousé ma sœur. Il y a affinité entre luy & moy, les divers degrez d’affinité. Affinité spirituelle, Est celle qui se contracte par le Baptesme. Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 1re édition (1694).

[8] II-II, q.103, art. 4 ad 2, et ibid. Cajet. affinitatem cum Deo vocant.

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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

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 4 : § 1. 10

Chapter 4 : The Third 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).

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

§ 1. The first title, whereby the Holy Virgin is called the Daughter of the Eternal Father

The Holy Virgin possesses this grace of filiation in a unique way.

 10   On the basis of what we have discussed thus far, it might be possible to find someone who takes a more limited view of the state of grace given to the Blessed Virgin, arguing that it is in fact available to all. The holy Virgin, however, possesses this grace in a unique way. This is the case, firstly, because she is the firstborn, being the one on whom God fixed his gaze before anyone else when He decided to use His only-begotten Son as a preparatory sketch or model for creatures who would become His children by grace and by adoption. Mary was the first creature to whom God applied this remarkable idea, as I showed earlier.[1] The traits of the divine exemplar were followed more perfectly in her alone than in all other persons combined. 

She is, moreover, the only person who from the moment of her conception became part of God’s family without ever having set foot in the house of Adam, the sinner. This means she has always been God’s adoptive daughter and chief heiress to the goods of her Father and Creator. In my view, this is why God gave her the name MARY before she was even conceived. St Gregory of Nyssa[2], St Jerome[3], and several others have commented on this. God did this to show that henceforth she was His exclusively, that she belonged to His house and that He recognized her as His beloved Daughter. The golden pen of Ravenna[4] writes that boundary stones are engraved with titles and coats of arms showing who are the landowners. Similarly, I have no hesitation in saying that the name MARY, which the Archangel brought from heaven before she was even conceived, showed clearly that she belonged to God and that He had received her into His family through an act of adoption the like of which will never be seen again. 

But perhaps the main feature of Mary’s filiation is the following: she received the grace of this adoption to a far higher degree than all others, in that she not only acquired the purest and most beautiful portion of God her Father’s inheritance, but she was also made the Mother for all her brothers, giving them their share, for she was charged with administering their portion of the estate and with safeguarding the inheritance which fell to their lot by a heavenly rebirth.[5] Accordingly, all children of adoption find themselves taking part in Mary’s choice: since she is not only their elder sister insofar as she is God’s firstborn or eldest daughter, but she acts moreover as mother, governess, teacher and guide in all their affairs.

Footnotes

[1] Cap. 2.

[2] Homil. de Christi Nativit.

[3] Historia de ortu Mariæ.

[4] St Peter Chrysologus. Serm. 154.

[5] Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Ioh. iii. v.

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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

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 4 : § 1. 7-9

Chapter 4 : The Third 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).

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

§ 1. The first title, whereby the Holy Virgin is called the Daughter of the Eternal Father

How we are truly children of God

 7   Fifthly, to the previous favours should be added the protection God provides for His children which is so special that it is hard to understand it in holy Scripture. This protection is rooted in such painstaking care and unceasing effort on His part that His will is for us to trust Him absolutely for all our needs[1]; for our good Father knows what they are and is fully aware of everything we might need.

 8   Sixthly, from this a sweet feeling of trust spreads in our hearts. This can be felt more readily than put into words. It enables us to approach without fear Him who does so many good things for us and who could not bring Himself to turn us down when we ask Him for something. Indeed, says St Augustine[2], it gives us a powerful reason to feel trust when we see how, even before we have summoned the confidence to open our mouth with a request, we already enjoy the favour of being able to call God our Father. For what, pray tell, will this kind-hearted Father deny to those who have the honour of being called His children?

 9   Finally, all this leads towards extreme happiness for the children of grace, arising from nothing less than a right given to them by God to Paradise and to their true inheritance. This right is assured for them by letters patent from our Lord Jesus Christ, endorsed in the Parliament of His Church which is the pillar and ground of the truth.[3] The enjoyment of this happiness is reserved for them until they attain the age of perfection[4], and leave behind their childhood where they are still under the elements of the visible world, to borrow the words of St Paul.[5] The beloved Disciple is not mistaken when he writes that we have in truth the honour of being children of God[6], but the time has not yet arrived for us to take possession of this right in full. For the time being, it should be enough for us that we have a faithful Father who will help us benefit in things good for us and who will not be found wanting (if we do not let Him down first) when it comes to taking us in hand and helping us to take full account of our interests and reap all the fruits available to us.

Footnotes

[1] Matt. vi. 25-34.

[2] Lib. II de Serm. Dom. in monte, c. 8.

[3] I Tim. iii. 15.

[4] Until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ; Ephes.iv. 13.

[5] So we also, when we were children, were serving under the elements of the world. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law:  That he might redeem them who were under the law: that we might receive the adoption of sons. Gal. iv. 3-5.

[6] Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God. I Iohan. iii.1.

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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

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 4 : § 1. 5-6

Chapter 4 : The Third 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).

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

§ 1. The first title, whereby the Holy Virgin is called the Daughter of the Eternal Father

How we are truly children of God

 5   Thirdly, it is apparent that the Holy Books and Doctors refer to this filiation as adoption because of the strong similarity evident between the two ideas. It must not be thought, however, that it is effected merely through a few external ceremonies and with the simple acceptance by someone who acknowledges and takes on another for his son, as is the case with adoptions amongst men. No, there are other mysteries at work here which speak highly in honour of the great Father of mercy. The whole act of adoption involves a true and real enrichment of the soul which is entered by the Holy Ghost who brings His gifts most rare and precious. According to his mercy, he saved us, says St Paul the Apostle, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost.[1] Elsewhere, the same Apostle writes: He shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit that dwelleth in you.[2]

 6   Fourthly, it is easy to see the resemblance we have to God by virtue of being His children for He has, through His extraordinary goodness, made us sharers of His nature[3]. Now, apart from nature which is the same for father and son, there are in most cases certain other traits, such as facial features, demeanour and mood, which mean that children resemble their fathers more closely than other men. The heavenly Father has willed that we too should share comparable marks but these will depend in part upon our co-operation. God frequently exhorts us to spare no effort in acquiring these marks so as to be true children of our Father. St Bernard believes this resemblance consists of a state of perseverance in practising virtue. By this means, within its limits the soul represents in itself the immutability and eternity of God. St Augustine[4] locates this resemblance in the union of our will with God’s will so as to seek only what God loves and to hate only what is displeasing to Him. It seems that our Lord Himself places it in charity, saying: That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad.[5]

Footnotes

[1] Tit. iii. 5.

[2] Rom. viii. 11.

[3] By whom he hath given us most great and precious promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature: II Petr. i. 4.

[4] n Psal. 75.

[5] Matt. v. 45.

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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

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

Chapter 4 : The Third 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).

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

§ 1. The first title, whereby the Holy Virgin is called the Daughter of the Eternal Father

How our Lord acquired adoptive children for His Father 

 3   For a better understanding of this singular favour, we must appreciate firstly that God could have only one son, properly speaking, to whom He might communicate His nature and His substance with perfect identity. His goodness has an infinite inclination to communicate itself and it found a wonderful way to have a line of descendants surpassing in number the stars of Heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore.[1] To this end, He sent down His only-begotten Son with an order to produce spiritual children who might become by adoption what He Himself is by nature. This is what St John Damascene says.[2] The Son fulfilled this commission so perfectly that we can only bless Him and thank Him for ever. Among the other sources of grace that He bestowed on His Church, He instituted a sacrament which has the particular effect of pouring faith into our souls, along with God’s grace, charity and other heavenly virtues, together with the Holy Spirit Himself by whom we are sealed with God’s mark or character, being received and formally accepted as His children. St John, speaking of the Saviour, says that His Father sealed Him with His seal[3] and made Him His Son, communicating His being to Him from all eternity, so that He is God like Him, omnipotent like Him, eternal like Him, and in everything and in every way equal and consubstantial with Him. In the same way, but in proportion to our status as His creatures, by imprinting in our souls this royal seal He has made an authoritative declaration that for as long as we bear this mark, He will unfailingly recognize us His own.

Footnotes

[1] I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore: Gen. xxii. 17

[2] Fidei Orthodoxæ, lib. IV, c. 14.

[3] For him hath God, the Father, sealed. John. vi. 27.

How we are truly children of God

 4   Secondly, we must remember that, having being honoured with such a singular favour from Heaven, it is with very good reason that we are called children of God. This is because the divine substance of the Holy Spirit unites itself to our souls (as the Apostle says) by means of nourishment when by way of regeneration we receive the Saviour in Holy Communion. It is no wonder that we are called children of God for He regenerates us in this way and shares His own substance with us. The glorious St Denis[1] says that we receive this state and attain this degree through birth, or rather through divine generation. I am speaking here about what happens in holy Baptism and what is accepted by all the Fathers. The sacred Writers and the Holy Doctors are rightly carried away when they reflect upon the sheer immensity of this favour. Heaven, says the Prince of the Apostles[2], hath given us most great and precious promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature.

I beseech ye to consider carefully the grace we receive from God the Father, says the beloved Disciple, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God.[3] 

Is there anything in the world so excellent as this, asks the great Pope St Gregory[4], that a created man should be made the son of his Creator?

It is a wondrous secret, says St Leo[5], and a gift surpassing all others, that a man should be able to call God his father, and that God should recognize him as His son.

Footnotes

[1] Cap. 2 Eccles. Hierarch.

[2] 2 Pet. i. 4.

[3] 1 Iohan. iii. 1.

[4] Homil. 6 in Ezech.

[5] Serm. 4 de 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

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 4 : § 1. 1-2

Chapter 4 : The Third 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).

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

That she is the beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father

Diodorus of Sicily recounts in his History[1] that the mother of Simandius, King of Egypt, was represented on her own tomb with a triple crown on her head. This signified she had been a King’s daughter, wife and mother. The praises written about St Pulcheria include the fact that she was an Emperor’s daughter, sister and wife. Gallia Placida went one better in being also an Emperor’s mother. She was in fact the daughter of Theodosius the Great, sister of Honorius, wife of Constantius and mother of Valentinian. But there has never been anyone, apart from her whom we are discussing, who has borne at the same time all the titles: Daughter of God, MOTHER OF GOD and Spouse of God. She receives the honour of this praise at various points in the writings of St Ildephonsus, St Bernard, St Bonaventure and several other Holy Fathers. They call her the daughter of the Eternal Father, the Mother of the Son and the Spouse of the Holy Ghost. This reflects, perhaps, the opinion of the devout Prelate from Ptolemaïda, Synesius[2], when he said of uncreated Wisdom that she is at the same time Daughter, Mother and Sister of the divinity. As these privileges of the Queen of Angels are unrivalled, they deserve to be placed before all the others after her eternal election and before these ancient figures that we have just discussed. I feel duty-bound to say more on this later but as regards the title MOTHER OF GOD, what was said at the beginning[3] will suffice, together with some additional material in the second Treatise.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. II, c. 1.

[2] Hymno 4.

[3] Cap. 3.

§ 1. The first title, whereby the Holy Virgin is called the Daughter of the Eternal Father

 1   Jurists distinguish between two sorts of filiation: the first is true and original filiation (which serves as model for the second) and which may be called natural filiation. The second sort derives only from its imitation of and resemblance to the first and is what they call legal or civil filiation. We commonly call this adoption. Let us start with this idea.

Three reasons our Lord came down from heaven to earth

 2   St Cyril[1] remarks on this very point that there were three principal motives which drew the Son of God to earth. The first was to eliminate sin; the second was to vanquish death; the third was to make children of adoption, whom St John calls children of God, saying:[2] But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God.[3] This reflection is full of sweetness and should melt our hearts for the love of Him from whom and through whom we have received this singular favour.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. IX in Joann., c. 47.

[2] Cap. 1.

[3] John i. 12.

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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

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 3 : § 7.4-5

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 François 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 hundreds of preparatory sketches for her, as will be seen in the following discussions.

§ 7. On Abigail, Martha and Mary Magdalen

Second and third Figures : Martha and Mary Magdalen

 4   If Mary Magdalen chose the better part, compared to her sister Martha, then who will speak of the superabundant sweetness of this chosen soul when the Holy Ghost came down and overshadowed her for the conception of the divine Word?

What savouring of God must there have been in the womb of her whom Wisdom incarnate chose for His incarnation? She had the honour, whenever she wished, not only to be seated at His feet but to speak with Him face to face and to place her ear close to His sacred mouth. She kept in her heart, as in a place of safe-keeping, the words of the Angels, the Shepherds and the Magi; but with how much more care did she keep those of her most honoured Son. Never will any person savour as she did the sweetness of her God. But what a wonder this was, since she bore within her womb the source of all sweetness and the perfection of the active and the contemplative life! She did chores but if she did not busy herself all the time like Martha, it was because she well understood how uniquely necessary it was to listen to her Son like Mary Magdalen. She was conscientious in her work like Martha and matchless in her contemplation like Mary Magdalen. Now she is no longer busy like Martha;  she has no more practical duties towards her Son in His mortal and passible state and Angels now serve Him as their immortal and impassible Lord. There is no longer any question of fleeing Herod’s persecution, nor of suffering the hatred and disloyalty of the Jews. So, Martha’s worrying is over for her, but Mary Magdalen’s contemplation has not ended; in fact, it has improved because her wishes could not be fully satisfied down here where we dwell in a valley of tears. 

These are the words of St Anselm and this little extract will suffice for now since we shall see the points he makes illustrated in many other examples[1] of the active and contemplative life. 

 5   How true it is that Mary chose the better part, whichever way this is considered. She chose the better part in her immaculate conception, in her privileged birth, at the Annunciation, in her angelic life, in her death, down here on earth, on high in heaven; and the better part in relation to grace and to glory, as will be seen in the following discussion where she will appear unique in her excellence and peerless in her greatness.

Footnotes

[1] Cap. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ; Tract. II, c. 4.

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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

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 3 : § 7.3

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 François 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 hundreds of preparatory sketches for her, as will be seen in the following discussions.

§ 7. On Abigail, Martha and Mary Magdalen

Second and third Figures : Martha and Mary Magdalen

 3   Martha and Mary Magdalen bring to an end our discussion of figures showing parallels to the MOTHER OF GOD. Since they are so tightly united through blood and through love, they will be dealt with together in this Treatise. St Eucherius, Archbishop of Lyon,[1] St Ildephonsus,[2] St Bernard[3] and St Bernardino of Siena,[4] honour them as being two of the noblest portraits of the MOTHER OF GOD. The Church, moreover, respects them and presents them as examples to her dear children.

It was after most careful consideration, says the Blessed St Ildephonsus[5], that our Fathers commemorated the glorious Virgin by instituting the reading of the Gospel about these two sisters. The very person for whom the Holy Virgin had prepared her body as a temple, consecrated by the Holy Ghost and dedicated to perpetual virginity, was received at the home of these Holy Ladies and treated with every mark of affection. They stood out so much and so commended themselves to posterity that they have deserved to be given a place of honour by the first men of our religion. They deserved to give the faithful two perfect ideas of the two lives through which Holy Church carries out her mission, following the model which her Spouse bequeathed to her. Martha was the elder and, as she was responsible for the care of the household, she took care of welcoming guests according to their dignity. She embodied the consecration of the active life. Mary Magdalen was a model of the contemplative life, being seated at the feet of the Saviour and paying attention to His every word.

St Eucherius says[6], however, that it is with good reason that the Holy Fathers on the day of the solemnity of the MOTHER OF GOD, have placed before us these two noble Ladies as types richly prefiguring her. Never has there been anyone comparable who combines the works of the one with the feelings of the other. Like Martha, she received the Saviour but in a way incomparably better. She received the Saviour not only in her house but, what is much more, in her womb. She conceived Him, bore Him and suckled Him with love and care going far beyond Martha’s. Like Mary Magdalen, she listened to His word but she did more, for she kept His words in her heart and saved them so that we might read and study them later. She merited to see the Saviour not only in His humanity but also to contemplate His divinity more clearly than any other. In a word, she hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.[7]

Be sure to remember, says St Anselm[8], that the MOTHER OF GOD is in all things and everywhere unique. She showed this in the way she combined the lives that Martha and Mary Magdalen hinted at. Never did Martha go about her duties as worthily as did the Holy Virgin. Never were Mary Magdalen’s contemplations so lofty as those of the MOTHER OF GOD. The two sisters received visitors into their house; Mary gave lodging in her womb to the true Pilgrim from Heaven and the only-begotten Heir of God. Whilst others clothed the naked with spare garments, she clothed the Saviour with the flesh of her substance.

There is more to say on this but I shall save it for the second Treatise.[9]

Footnotes

[1] Homil. in Assumpt. B. Virg.

[2] Serm. 5 de Assumpt. B. Virg.

[3] Serm. de Assumpt. B. Virg..

[4] Serm. 1 de Assumpt.

[5] Loco cit.

[6] Loco cit.

[7] Luc. x. 42.

[8] Serm. de Assumpt. B. Virg.

[9] Cap. 4.

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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

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 3 : § 7.2

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 François 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 hundreds of preparatory sketches, as will be seen in the following discussions.

§ 7. On Abigail, Martha and Mary Magdalen

First Figure : Abigail

The extraordinary humility of Abigail and the Mother of God.

 2  The conclusion of this story is that David was so won over by Abigail’s wisdom and virtue that, with the death of her husband, he wanted to take her for his wife. There then appeared for the second time this Lady’s great skill, together with her deep humility. When she was told of David’s interest in her and that he wanted her to come to him, she replied with extraordinary modesty. She said she was not so ignorant of herself as not to see that this honour did not belong to her. Nevertheless, she said that she would willingly follow his messengers and become one of the least of David’s servants and wash the feet of the Lord’s servants. What lady ever resembled humility more innocently than the peerless Virgin in her humility? She receives the foremost message in the world with the news that God has chosen her to be His Spouse, the Mother of His Son and the Lady of all His empires. The reply she gave is nothing other than that she considers herself good enough only to be the handmaid of her Lord.

 

What sort of humility is this, asks St Bernard[1], that Mary has no notion of the honour she is being paid, and does not become puffed up with the glory she is receiving? She is chosen to be the MOTHER OF GOD and she calls herself His handmaid. Believe me this no small mark of humility on her part. Just as it is no great wonder to see a humble person scorned, so is it extraordinary to see humility in a person who has received the greatest praises and the benefit of honours.

 

Wondrous humility in Mary, declares St Bonaventure[2]: the Archangel greets her, he calls her full of grace; he says the Holy Ghost shall come upon her; he presents her with letters patent from the King of Heaven by which she is declared to be MOTHER OF GOD, and gives her the foremost place among creatures; he gives her the title of Lady and Queen of Heaven and earth. By way of response, he receives the following, that she is the handmaid of the Lord.

 

St Ambrose[3] speaks eloquently of how Mary’s opinion of herself is not inflated after such great promises. Her reaction to being honoured so highly is that she happily says she can do nothing but obey her Lord and her God.

Indeed it was altogether reasonable for her, who was to bear and bring forth Him who was before all others humble and kind, to be robed in such garments and to have His qualities. This is what makes St Antoninus[4] raise Mary’s humility so that, in comparison, he does not rate that of Abraham who called himself dust and ashes[5]; nor that of Job, who said his life was just a whirlwind; nor that of David who wanted to be viewed as a dead dog or a useless flea[6]; or that of St John the Baptist, who wished to be taken only for a week and feeble voice in the wilderness.

However, warns St Ildephonsus[7], do not conclude from this that when she says the Lord hath regarded the humility of his handmaid, that she wants to attribute this virtue to herself. She wishes only to say that the Lord granted her all that it pleased Him so as to make use of her.

As for me, after reading these Fathers, I am ready to agree with what the Holy Priest Rupert stated:[8]

the Virgin’s humility was such that all her other virtues, all her graces and even the gifts of the Holy Ghost with which she was adorned like a Queen on the day of her triumph, owed homage and tribute to her humility as all had been ennobled by this same humility.

Footnotes

[1] Homil. 4 in Missus.

[2] Speculi, c. 4.

[3] Lib. I in Lucam.

[4] III parte, tit. XXXI, c. 3, § 2.

[5] Gen. xviii. 27.

[6] 1 Kings (1 Samuel) xxiv. 15.

[7] Serm. 2 de Assumpt.

[8] Lib. I in Cantic.

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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