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

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.

§ 4. On certain living and animated figures that have represented the MOTHER OF GOD, beginning with Eve, Sara and Rebecca.

Second Figure : Sara

 4   The third parallel concerns a barren womb bearing fruit. St John Damascene[1] maintains that it was not unreasonable for a barren woman to conceive and bring forth offspring before a virgin did likewise[2], for the greatest of all miracles had to be preceded by other miracles. St John Chrysostom (in the text cited above) writes triumphantly that it was not by chance that God made it possible for a barren woman such as Sara to conceive and bring forth a son. He did this so as to accustom our minds to a virginal conception by means of a similar display of His power. 

He says that if a Jew asks you how a Virgin could bring forth a child into the world, then you should present him with the case of Sara who was barren and advanced in years. Tell him that despite these two great obstacles she was nevertheless permitted to become a mother; but in the case of the Virgin, there was only one obstacle, namely that she knew not man. In this way you will persuade him that infertility prepared the way for virginity.

God permitted the barren Sara to conceive so as to prepare for, to ennoble and to add lustre to the  conception by the Virgin. Lest you have any reason to doubt this, remember how St Gabriel made use of a similar example, reporting to the Holy Virgin what had happened to her cousin Elizabeth, as though he had said:

Thou seekest to know how what I have announced to thee shall be accomplished; I say that the  Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. Thou shouldst not look for a natural order or arrangement there where all is supernatural and divine. 

The pregnant state of the barren woman, says St Ambrose, is brought up so that there can be no doubt about the Virgin’s pregnancy. St Gregory of Nyssa[3] says that the former was like a trial and preparation for the latter. The golden eloquence of the prelate from Ravenna[4] is worth citing in this context:

In order to give more lustre and splendour to the Virgin’s pregnancy, God willed to provide a prior example with an instance of hopeless infertility resulting from old age which nevertheless bore fruit. Anyone seeing a body dried and worn out with age grow young and vigorous again, rejuvenated in favour of the servant, could not doubt that the flower of virginity might be preserved along with its fruit. No-one thereafter could doubt that the title and honour of chastity, together with the seal of the Virgin’s perfect integrity, could not remain whole and intact after the entrance and exit of the Author of nature.

St Cyril of Jerusalem, in his twelfth Catechism, convinces the Gentiles using their own writings and then confronts the Jews, putting before them the same example:

You have no doubts about Sara’s pregnancy, but she was old and barren; so what reason can you have for doubting the Virgin’s pregnancy? Either reject both of them equally, or accept without question both of them because one is not more difficult for God than the other. Look at the rod Moses holds in his hand and then at the one Aaron holds; the former is changed into a serpent and the latter, from being dry, puts forth flowers and fruit. When you have considered these, and how Adam’s body was made of bones, nerves, muscles, flesh and so many different parts but was formed from a piece of clay, with what boldness do you dare to deny that God, who worked all these miracles, could cause a Virgin to conceive?

Footnotes

[1] Homil. 49 in Gen.

[2] Speculi B. Virg., c. 6 et 13.

[3] Cap. 13.

[4] Speculi, c. 6.

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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