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).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020) |
§ 3. On Mary's fine Mind
1 A fine mind, like the two previous qualities, is like a two-edged sword, or a tool that can be used in various ways. If it is once conjoined with an ill will, it serves to give effect to all manner of evil schemes. If it is well ruled, however, it has a very close interconnection with virtue and we find in most cases that eminent holiness is in fact accompanied by a fine mind. Whatever may be said of others, it must nevertheless be accepted that the MOTHER OF GOD has a fine mind and there are several powerful reasons for saying this. I do not however wish to have recourse again to the explanation I relied on earlier, namely that her body was so perfect and in a sense unique of its kind that it deserved to have a rare and sublime intelligence of the mind. Neither do I wish to rely on the argument that God was simply desirous of displaying His loving generosity towards her; and that if He was willing to show His favour in respect of something of so little importance as the beauty of her body, then He would scarcely hold back from equipping her and honouring her with a fine mind. I shall pass over in silence the fact that she did not suffer from any of those failings which dull the sharpness of our minds, such as diseases or weaknesses in the organs of the body, inclinations to sin, disturbances in the soul, vices and other failings. St Ildephonsus remarks most wisely[1] that:
the Holy Spirit had delivered her from every stain of imperfection, as gold is tried by fire[2].
The explanations I have in mind are in fact more cogent than those we have considered so far. They may be discerned deep in the mysteries of her election, and in the offices and work she was called upon to perform in accordance with God’s plan. She could not carry these to a conclusion without a mind up to the task: unless someone were to argue (without evidence and contrary to reason) that God worked a continual series of miracles in her, namely works of a high intelligence but which lacked an originating mind and had therefore no basis. The works of God are perfect, and when a person is appointed by God to perform His work, He grants that person pledges[3] to provide a stable basis and effectiveness for the time required: these are permanent and foundational habits and dispositions which will support a person in the discharge of his office and duties.
Footnotes
[1] Lib. de Virg. Deipara.
[2] Cf. more precious than gold which is tried by the fire, I Pet. v. 7.
[3] pledge: here, a thing given or taken as a sign or token of favour, loyalty, love, etc., or as a guarantee of something to come. Complete OED.
The Holy Virgin needed to have a fine mind for her sublime contemplations
2 First of all, no-one can deny that before she had herself chosen the best part like Mary Magdalene[1], namely recollected contemplation, Heaven had already chosen this part for her and had predestined her for works of the most sublime contemplation that any mind had ever practised. For apart from what the Saints tell us[2], to place this matter beyond any doubt, all that people need to do is believe that Mary is THE MOTHER OF GOD. From this, it is easy to reach the same conclusion as St Bernardino of Siena[3] and Albert the Great[4] did when they wrote most aptly as follows: at the very instant that Mary was made holy, God gave her all the interior dispositions and intellectual knowledge appropriate to her state which would help her rise to the this sublime degree of contemplation. These included a high level of self-knowledge, of intelligent beings in creation, of hidden mysteries and of moral actions. Some have said[5] her knowledge included things of nature, insofar as this was necessary for her, as well as a memory capable of retaining so much knowledge and an understanding which would yield fruits a hundredfold.
Let us not forget her almost continuous revelations which were, when judged according to reason, the most sublime there have ever been. For this reason, St Andrew of Candia[6] calls her a fount of divine revelation which cannot be exhausted. The blessed St Lawrence Justinian[7] says that she is to be regarded as so far surpassing the revelations of other Saints[8] that the favour she received was far in advance of the graces that had been communicated to them. Accordingly, there can be no doubt that revelations such as these would require a clear, piercing and fully-formed intelligence, operating at a far higher level than is found ordinarily in the human mind. Whilst on the subject of her contemplative life, I cannot omit to mention something else she possessed which helped her raise her heart and mind heavenwards: her reading. Apart from prayers, reading was an everyday habit of the sacred Virgin, so much so that she came to understand by this means the whole of Sacred Scripture, without taking account of the infused knowledge she received. She could never have attained such a level of knowledge without a mind that was sufficiently elevated in proportion to it.
Footnotes
[1] But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luc. x. 42..
[2] Eucher. Ludg., Serm. de
Assumpt.
[3] Tract. de Virg., serm. 4.
[4] S. Antonin., II p., lit. XV, c. 19 ; Albertus, etc.
[5] Serm. 2 de Assumpt.
[6] Serm. de Assumpt.
[7] Aug., Serm. 5 de Nativit.
[8] Ambr., Lib. II de Virginibus; Gregor. Nyss., Serm. de Nativit.; Sophron., Serm. de Assumpt., etc.
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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.
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
© Peter Bloor 2024
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