The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 6 : § 2.4-5

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)

§ 2. Concerning her Gracefulness and physical Beauty

 4   When I consider, moreover, that the Holy Virgin’s body was to be joined in an eternal union with the most beautiful soul God had created after that of His own Son, I have no difficulty in believing that her body would be given an extraordinary beauty to match that of her soul. St Ambrose shares this view when he says:

it is entirely fitting that a beautiful mansion should also have a beautiful entrance portal.[1]

St Thomas follows the same line when he declares that:

the body of the first man must have been most beautiful, with exquisite proportions : for in producing a human body, God has no little regard for the perfections it should have, taking due account of the soul which it will house and of what will be done through its agency[2].

The body of the MOTHER OF GOD was destined to be united with her beautiful soul in the most heroic and divine actions ever performed (after those of the Prince of glory Himself) so that we might call her actions divinely human or humanly divine. This being so, then her body must have been the very beauty of physical holiness, in the words of St Gregory of Neocaesarea; or, as St Basil puts it:  flesh composed entirely of holiness.[3]

Footnotes

[1] Lib. II de Virginibus.

[2] I p., q. 81, art. 3.

[3] Homil. de Humana Christi generatione.

Being chosen to be Mother of the Saviour, Mary must have been perfectly beautiful

 5   Let us now move on from these considerations and contemplate the loftiest designs of our God who made the Holy Virgin only with a view to her becoming the Mother of His only-begotten Son. The Church sings of Him thus, that He is the most handsome, the most pleasing and the most perfect of the children of men. In view of this, must we not admit that His Mother must have possessed a beauty that was more than human? For if anyone were to say that the Son did not resemble His Mother perfectly, this would be unacceptable to those who give Him the honour which is His due. This is all the more true considering that there have never been more reasons for a perfect resemblance than are found in this case; for the Holy Virgin is in a certain fashion both Father and Mother to her Son, seeing that she alone contributed what was necessary to form the body of her beloved Son. 

Now, according to the axiom of the Philosopher, in each order of creatures there must be one who is the first and who serves as a model for the others; in terms of beauty, there is no body that can be more perfect than that of our Lord Jesus Christ; we must therefore accept that the creature who came closest to the beauty of the Lord’s body was His Blessed Mother. St John Damascene examines this idea when he addresses the Blessed Virgin in the following marvellous words[1]:

Thou hast a life, and in consequence a beauty which transcendeth the ordinary laws of nature. This is no cause to be astonished since thou hast received it not for thine own sake but for God, for whom thou wast made with the aim of helping to bring about the salvation of all men and to co-operate in the accomplishment of God’s plans for the Incarnation of the eternal Word and our deification. Thine appetite knoweth nothing of sensuality but rather, in line with reason, is nourished by holy affection. Thou art the true tree of life and thou canst bear  only good fruits, namely the fruit of life thou didst give to the world, none other than the Word made flesh. Thine eyes are made to gaze continually towards heaven and to be fixed for ever on thy Lord and thy God. Thine ears are attuned to the music of the Angels and to the words of the Holy Spirit, through which came salvation into the world. Thy nose is made only to savour the sweet fragrance of the heavenly Spouse, whose name is like unto ointment that hath been poured out. Thy lips are made only to praise God and to respond with love to those of thy Beloved. Thy tongue poureth forth without ceasing the ambrosia of heavenly speech. Thy heart beateth only for God, seeketh only God and sigheth only after God. Thy womb is the abode for Him who containeth all things and who cannot Himself be contained. Thy breasts are founts of honey and sweetness which have given suck to the Father of the universe. Thy hands have served to bear God as in a carriage. Thy knees form the Cherubim throne on which His Majesty is seated. Thy feet have ever been led by the light of the Law of God and have never ceased in their quest for the Spouse of beautiful souls, so as to draw Him down to earth. Finally, thou art the nuptial couch of the Holy Ghost. Thou art an immense ocean of wondrous graces. Thou are perfectly beautiful and closer than any creature to God.

 

Thus speaketh St John Damascene.

Footnotes

[1] Orat. 1 de Nativit. B. Virg.

.

👑       👑       👑

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