The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 5 : § 5. 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)

§ 5. How the whole Trinity found itself present in an ineffable manner at these divine espousals

 1   Just as there has never been a marriage comparable to the one we are discussing, in the same way there has never been a gathering comparable to this one, granted that it is impossible to imagine magnificence such as this, where God Himself is Spouse and also one taking a spouse, where He is a wedding-guest and the host who invites guests, the wedding-feast and the master of the feast, all at one and the same time. Now the Saviour promised to anyone who loves Him that we will come to him, and will make our abode with him[1], i.e., the Son together with the Father and the Holy Ghost; this is borne out by the effects of grace in the souls of the righteous and it is permissible for us to go no further than this in our thoughts. But when considering Mary’s marriage, we need to raise the level of our thinking so as to have a conception of the Holy Trinity’s presence and operation very different from this. This being so, who can believe that when St Epiphanius[2] named the Holy Virgin Spouse of the Holy Trinity he meant it only in the common and ordinary way of souls which are in a state of grace?  When we hear the two Angels of Theology (I mean the Angelic Doctor[3] and the Seraphic Doctor[4]) call Mary the triple-couch of the most noble Trinity, who would not imagine something on a far higher level than that found even in cases of the most eminent holiness? Listen to what St Bernard and St Bonaventure say about the words of the Gabriel, Heaven’s great Paranymph[5] : The Lord is with thee,

meaning the Father, Lord of all things, whose Son thou hast conceived; the Son, equally Lord of what has been created, whom thou hast conceived; the Holy Ghost, no less Lord than the Father and the Son, from whom thou hast conceived and by whom, as by the Father and the Son, thy sacred womb hath been sanctified.

In the light of these wonders, who will not fail to move beyond nature and grace so as to adore in a most particular way the infinite greatness of the Trinity in the womb of the blessed Virgin?

Footnotes

[1] John xiv. 23.

[2] Orat. de S. Deipara.

[3] Opusc. VIII.

[4] In laude rhytmica B. Virg. : Totius Trinitatis nobile triclinium.  Cf. Salve Mater pietatis et totius trinitatis nobile Triclinium, "Hail Mother of Piety and noble couch of the Trinity." This is a stanza from one of the hymns of Adam of St. Victor (died 1146) for the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin (Wrangham, II, 222). Cf. Deitatis triclinium, Bonaventura, Laus Beatae Virginis Mariae.

[5] 1 attendant at a wedding (also fig).b groomsman; c (fig.); d bridesman; [DMLB]. In Classical times, the bridegroom's friend who went beside him in his chariot to fetch his bride.

 2   Hesychius, Priest or (as some say) Patriarch of Jerusalem lived around twelve hundred years ago. He gave good minds cause to ponder when he stated Mary was the accomplishment or complete fulfilment of the most Holy Trinity. On first hearing this, some might ask whether this implies the most adorable Trinity had perhaps been less than perfect or characterized by some sort of failing. For is the Trinity not like a vast ocean of greatness, with unfathomable depths of perfection, the source and origin of all goodness, all holiness and all being? We should not be too hasty in seeing a problem here, for we need to understand what this ancient Doctor[1] actually meant. It is true that the level of perfection is infinitely greater than we could imagine, but the words of Hesychius can be understood by studying the meaning of what the Apostle meant when he said[2]: I . . . fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh. This is not to say that the Passion of Christ was not sufficient to redeem millions of worlds, but that it would remain without effect for us if not applied to each one of us personally through the Sacraments and through meritorious works of satisfaction. These serve, so to speak, as a seal for the fulfilment of the Saviour’s Passion. 

In the same way it can be said that although the most Holy Trinity may be infinite in all its perfections and in itself wanting in nothing, nevertheless if we consider it inasmuch as it is able to communicate outside of itself, it is in fact capable of receiving a perfection in the manner, as it were, of an unexpected visitor; but this does not derogate in any way from the greatness of God. Now if the authors quoted were pressed to say how exactly Mary was the accomplishment or fulfilment of the Holy Trinity, they would give you the following explanation: the Divinity possesses fruitfulness only in two Persons, in the Father and in the Son; it would seem that the Holy Ghost, through an act of His infinite goodness, willed a communication of Himself but, this not being possible within the Trinity, He sought it outside. Now, He was unable to communicate Himself infinitely inasmuch as all creatures outside the Trinity are finite and limited; but He chose to communicate Himself to a creature to the extent that she was found capable of receiving Him, and this creature was the blessed Virgin.

Footnotes

[1] Hieron. de Florentia apud Ferdinandum de Salazar in c. 8 Prov.

[2] Coloss. i. 24.

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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