Chapter 7 : The Sixth Star or Splendour in 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) |
That Mary is peerless in her graces and merits
§ 4. On the greatness of Mary’s merits
How the Holy Virgin merited to be Mother of God
9 We may regard condign merit (or merit in justice) as being brought forth not by virtuous or praiseworthy actions but by the elevated qualities of the person we say is worthy of some honour or of some duty. Following on from this, there are estimable authors who have no difficulty in arguing that the Holy Virgin was a worthy MOTHER OF GOD, that in this way she merited the glorious title and that she had every sort of quality necessary to discharge this office in a worthy manner. In short, this is the sense in which we must understand the Holy Fathers when they describe the wonders of the most glorious Virgin.
10 For my part, I see no way of stopping at this point because I feel the need to go further and say, along with reputed Theologians[1], that if the Holy Virgin did not deserve to be MOTHER OF GOD through condign merit (or merit in justice) this was not for want of actions proportionate to the sublimity of this title but only because God did not accept them for this purpose, as far as we understand. If God had wanted to place a value on this degree of honour, Mary would without any doubt have won this honour through the sheer heights of her merit. What gives me confidence in advancing this proposition is, first of all, what has been said so far about the incomprehensible greatness of Mary’s merits.
Secondly, even though the title MOTHER OF GOD is quite beyond our power of understanding, it is not absolutely infinite like the title Son of God. It has a limitation by reason of the term it encloses, in the same way as the glory of the Blessed, but proportionately much more. This leads me to say that there is nothing beyond the reach of a creature’s merits provided only they are ordained and accepted by God to this end.
Thirdly, it seems to me that the most holy Trinity loved the holy Virgin with an ineffable love and wanted to be generous to her in every possible way. For this reason, the Trinity had an obligation arising from propriety to give her this title in the noblest way possible, which is to say in the way we have been discussing, assuming the absence of any question of indecency or impossibility, which would be difficult to find here.
Fourthly, it is important for us to consult the opinion of at least several reputable Doctors on this point. We find that they actually go further and say without qualification that in strict justice Mary merited the title MOTHER OF GOD.
Finally, holy Church and the holy Fathers speak in such high terms of her dignity and her merit that it is not possible to add to what they say. For at the time of the Resurrection we tell her that He whom she did merit to bear hath arisen.[2] The beautiful thing about the Hymn from which these words are taken is that it was not a human but an angelic voice which was heard first in Heaven.[3] At another time we say to God that by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, He did prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin-Mother Mary to become a worthy dwelling for His Son[4].
St Basil promises that[5]:
the flesh she gave was worthy of being united to the divinity of the only-begotten Son of God.
St Epiphanius[6] could not tolerate the insolence of several heretics who had dared to attack this Virgin:
What! Are they so far gone as to take against her who was chosen from millions and found worthy to be the abode for the Son of God?
The great Pope St Gregory[7] declared emphatically that :
she raised the peak of her merits even unto the throne of the Divinity.
St Augustine[8] recognizes so much holiness in the Virgin that he proclaims that she deserved to be chosen among all other women. Blessed Cardinal Peter Damian[9] gives the same privilege to the grace found within her. I could produce countless quotations from valiant and irreproachable witnesses such as these, but I hesitate in over-extending my proofs and in making devout readers suspect that I doubt their affection for the MOTHER OF GOD. I will say only this : given that the Saints speak so highly and without qualification of the most sacred Virgin’s merits, it would be most imprudent not to give their words the widest possible interpretation in accordance with all right reason.
Footnotes
[1] Suarez, loco cit., concl. 3.
[2] Quia quem meruisti portare, resurrexit. From the Regina Caeli : O QUEEN of heaven rejoice! Alleluia: For He whom thou didst merit to bear, alleluia, Hath arisen as he said, alleluia.
[3] Perhaps a reference to the following: The legend has it that in the year 596, during Easter time, a pestilence was ravaging Rome. St. Gregory the Great requested a procession be held to pray that the pestilence be stopped. On the appointed day of the procession he assembled with his clergy at dawn at the church of Ara Coeli. Holding in his hand the icon of our Lady that was said to have been painted by St. Luke, he and his clergy started out in procession to St. Peter's. As he passed the Castle of Hadrian, as it was called in those days, voices were heard from above singing the Regina Caeli. The astonished Pope, enraptured with the angelic singing, replied in a loud voice: "Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia!" At that moment an angel appeared in a glorious light, sheathed the sword of pestilence in its scabbard, and from that day the pestilence ceased. In honour of this miraculous event, the name of the castle was then changed to Sant' Angelo and the words of the angelic hymn were inscribed upon the roof of the Church of Ara Coeli. [Taken from Treasury of Latin Prayers. ©copyrighted by Michael Martin]
[4] From the Salve Regina.
[5] Homil. de humana Christi generatione.
[6] Hæresi 78.
[7] I Reg. 1.
[8] Serm. 14 de Tempore.
[9] Serm. 2 de Assumpt.
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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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