The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 5 : § 4.1-2

Chapter 5 : The Fourth 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)

§ 4. The incomparable graces that the Holy Ghost released to His Bride in preparation for their Nuptials

 1   It must be acknowledged that significant improvement can take place only in a soul that is beautiful; similarly, heroic virtue can develop only in a heart which is strong and generous. There is, furthermore, nothing like abandoning oneself to God in good time. The Holy Virgin did exactly that at a time which was propitious for her, so much so as to be unable to describe what she was gaining thereby, as I showed earlier. St Epiphanius[1] gives it as his opinion that this same Virgin received in two gifts all the riches of Heaven. Here are his words:

She received as her rings and jewellery the Holy Spirit; and as her dowry Heaven along with Paradise, which is to say the august title of Lady and Empress of the world, with all associated rights and privileges.

I shall speak of this title at greater length in the second Treatise[2]. Concerning what the ancient Doctor says about the jewels Mary received, it is clear that what is signified here are the gifts and graces from the Holy Ghost, since the Holy Ghost Himself was her Spouse. I do not want to dwell here on what I shall cover more fully later on the specific subject of the abundance of graces she received and the accompanying gifts of the Holy Spirit. I shall just say that all the Minds in creation could not succeed in comprehending the grace bestowed on Mary in consideration of these divine nuptials. I shall refer in passing to what was said by three commentators: St Germanus of Constantinople, Sophronius of Jerusalem and St Bernardino of Siena. 

The first[3] makes use of a vivid comparison, saying:

God resolved to recover His precious gemstone that had fallen into the mud. He purified our earth, represented in the person of the Holy Virgin, by flooding her with the Holy Ghost.

The second professed[4] himself unaware of the extent of this grace but he nevertheless permitted conjecture about since:

the Holy Virgin was now pregnant not only with the Son of God but also with all the children of adoption, it was fitting that she should receive grace so as to be able to communicate it to all.

The words of the third seem to me worthy of recalling for posterity. Here is what he said, word for word:

For the Eternal Father to produce a Son who was God equal to Himself did not need thousands of preparatory steps – because He could do this through His own nature and He was capable of communicating Himself by means of the understanding to a Word who was consubstantial with Him and equal to Him in every way. But for a woman to conceive a God would need arrangements quite out of the ordinary, as would be the case with working a miracle. This is because Mary needed to be elevated to such a point that in some way she equalled God’s greatness through the dispositions of grace and through perfections which were not in themselves infinite. This being beyond anything ever experienced, it is also beyond the grasp of any created mind.

 2   This is what the Holy Angel Gabriel meant when in his reply he sought to answer the blessed Virgin’s question and to address her astonishment. It as though he were to have said:

Please do not ask me for more details since I have to confess that I do not have the information thou askest of me. All that I can say to thee on behalf of Him who is to accomplish this mystery is that He is not only great enough to give thee understanding but also powerful enough to bring it to pass within you and through you.

 

This what St Bernardino says.

[1] Serm. de Laudibus Mariæ.

[2] Cap. 13.

[3] Orat. de Nativit. B. Virg.

[4] Epist. de Assumpt. ad Paulam.

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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