The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 6 : § 1.1

Chapter 6 : The Fifth 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 peerless in her rare qualities and natural attributes

The divine Spouse in the Canticles allows no limits when it comes to praising His Bride. He speaks of her wonders in the fourth chapter, after singing her praises several times, He adds that He has no intention of speaking of the beauty which lieth hid within[1]. The Septuagint says of this interior beauty that it calls for silence, forasmuch as it cannot be expressed in words. The pious Emperor of the East, Matthew Cantacuzino, takes this as a reference to the glorious title of motherhood:

This silence, he says, is none other than the unfathomable way thou didst conceive and give birth.

He concludes that there truly are no words to describe and explain the dignity of the MOTHER OF GOD; but that, putting this quality to one side, the Virgin would still be beyond compare by reason of her special prerogatives of nature, grace and glory. After publication of these three great prerogatives and declaring the links she has to the most holy Trinity, I found myself drawn by her glorious title MOTHER OF GOD. Reason prompted me to begin with nature, since that is the foundation and starting point for the other perfections, even though my aim is to cover this quickly and to focus on four excellent qualities of this Lady which serve as four foundations for all the other qualities: namely her Nobility, her Beauty, her superb Intelligence and her incomparable Nature. I think I shall have more to say concerning her supernatural qualities after I have laid down this foundation.

Footnotes

[1] Absque eo quod intrinsecus. Cant. iv. 1 & 3

§ 1. On the Nobility of the MOTHER OF GOD

 1   I have no doubt whatsoever that, when the holy Virgin declared that God had done great things to her, her thoughts were far removed from her own nobility and glorious lineage. Now, in this respect the Holy Ghost has marked out Mary’s nobility with great care in the Sacred Scriptures; it is moreover generally accepted among all nations that Nobility has a certain special quality and excellence which penetrates the soul itself, habitually infusing it with inclinations and thoughts more elevated than the norm. Taking these considerations into account, I fear lest I may be criticised for failing to give due prominence to Mary’s nobility. This is especially the case since she has received such a wondrous share of this quality that, were any other persons desirous of receiving it, their armorial bearings would be filled with thousands of signs of glory and honour.

To explain this in a few words, I will refer to what the following have said on the subject: St Ambrose[1], St Augustine[2], St Hilary[3], St Eucherius[4], Honorius Bishop of Autun[5], as well as the Holy Fathers and indeed the Sacred Scriptures themselves. They state that everything great and noble in the world, from creation to her conception, contributed to the elevation and ennoblement of Mary. The Annals of the Holy Ghost declare she took her origin from the first Nobility in the world, being the issue of nineteen ancient Fathers who were pillars and buttresses of the natural law before Abraham. The same Annals show how after these Fathers her nobility grew through the line of the Patriarchs who in their day were the honour and the support of the world. By means of their descendants, they produced the chosen people of God. This blood-line received new glory through the Prophets, the Judges and the Princes of the people of Israel, being united to the High Priests who were destined in their office to speak with God and discuss with Him the affairs of the universe. Finally, she could number fourteen Kings from whom she descended, some of whom were in their day marvels of the world, beloved of Heaven and mirrors of Holiness, Religion and of true greatness for posterity. 

What do you think of how she is robed, to speak, in such magnificence? Would not the least part of what I have just described be enough to make an ambitious heart swell up with inordinate pride and seek to scale the heavens? The Holy Virgin, however, does not compare herself to others in this matter and relies only on the virtues with which she is mysteriously invested. She nevertheless has the right to apply to herself what is said in Ecclesiasticus[6], that among the peoples and the nations she deserves to be in the first rank; that she has deep roots in a people replete with honour and glory; in short, she is like a cedar on Mount Lebanon or like a cyprus tree on the summit of Mount Sion[7].

 

Cardinal Hugh of Saint-Cher notes that just as these trees have long and deep roots, so too does the Nobility of Mary which is deeply rooted in the illustrious lineage of the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Kings, the Judges and the Princes of the people of God.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. III in Lucam, c. 1.

[2] Lib. II de Consensu Evang.

[3] Canone 2 in Matth. 

[4] Quæstionibus in Matth.

[5] In Cant. cant.

[6] Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 1-10.

[7] Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 17.

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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