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) |
§ 5. On the other graces of the Holy Virgin, especially the free graces
On the discerning of spirits
3 Mary was supremely gifted in the matter of discerning spirits. Several writers have said this gift may be compared to a ray of heavenly light that can penetrate even the most secret thoughts and reveal the feelings in people’s hearts. The consensus among the Fathers and Theologians is that this gift is never found habitually and possessed in a stable and permanent manner in any other person except the Son of God. Considering that so many Saints have been so frequently and generously favoured by God with such insights, we may be sure that the Blessed Virgin’s own soul received such illuminations on multiple occasions.
Some prefer to understand this gift as referring to an interior illumination which enlightens the soul so that it can discern whether particular thoughts, desires and movements of the heart come from a good or a bad spirit. We would indeed need to have lost our senses to deny this grace to the MOTHER OF GOD. We may note in her case that no spirit ever entered into her heart apart from the Holy Ghost. Her questions and lively responses to the Angel Gabriel caused St John Damascene[1] to observe :
All her words were taken from the treasury of Wisdom and were dictated by the Holy Ghost.
As for others, we may note that since Mary was to be the Mistress and Teacher of the Church as well as the Queen of the Apostles, it is entirely reasonable that she enjoyed this gift in abundance. The holy Archbishop of Florence recalls what was spoken to St Anthony when he saw the air filled with a cloud of demons and was told only the truly humble could escape their snares. He then goes on to say :
if we had no other proof than her incomparable humility, we would have to say that she had received from God an altogether perfect discernment of spirits and a truly excellent light enabling her to see the traps and ambushes of the enemy.
Footnotes
[1] Orat. 1 de Assumpt.
The gifts of Faith, Wisdom and Knowledge
4 There can be no doubt that Mary was most liberally provided for when it comes to all the graces which make it possible to explain in words the hidden mysteries of our Religion, including the gifts of Faith, Knowledge, Wisdom and others related to these. By the gift of Faith, I mean the adamantine quality of holding and embracing everything the Church proposes for us to believe, conjoined to the ability and skill of proclaiming it to others and accommodating it to their understanding in a way that shows them that the witness God has given, namely the mysteries of our Faith authorized by divine revelation, are entirely worthy of belief. This is a favour that we must grant to Mary who, after her dear Son, has been the principal buttress of our Faith. I would say as much concerning the grace of Knowledge and Wisdom since there is little difference between them and the gift of Faith that I have just explained.
The gift of tongues
5 The same holds true with regard to the gift of tongues. Mary was present with the Apostles and the Disciples on the day of Pentecost and there seems little probability that the Holy Ghost would have passed her over when He was distributing gifts to the others. At the birth of the Church this gift was communicated quite frequently with the Holy Ghost coming down visibly, even to those who were not destined by office to be Doctors or Preachers. Consider too that various people came to Mary from all parts, not only for the honour of seeing the Mother of Him who was the object of their belief and about whom they had heard so many wondrous things, but also to have their faith confirmed by her. There would be little point in this unless she had been gifted by all kinds of grace and extraordinary favours.
The gift of miracles
6 I cannot say less concerning the power granted to Saints enabling them to perform wondrous works which provoke astonishment in the souls of those who see or hear them and which we call the gift of miracles. In fact, for the reasons already given earlier, I agree with Fr Rupert[1], with Albert the Great, with St Antoninus[2] and with several others that God granted this gift to her. This is apparent after the Ascension of her Son, and God made use of her as well as the Apostles and Disciples to spread the fame of the Church by such actions. It is not possible to contradict this in view of the fact that this power was made available so widely to the faithful servants of God that few among them will be found who did not perform miracles. St John Damascene[3], for example, calls her a deep well of miracles and St Andrew of Candia (Crete)[4] gives her the name of Miracle-Worker, by virtue of a power which cannot be disputed. I shall discuss this at greater length elsewhere[5].
7 Finally, I conclude along with St Athanasius[6] that she possessed all the graces that God’s generosity could bestow on a soul to adorn and enrich it. As such, I echo the Paranymph’s[7] angelic salutation of Mary as being full of grace, since she was the mother of grace and, by a miracle of grace, she gave life to the author of grace.
Footnotes
[1] Lib. III in Cant.
[2] IV p., tit. XV. c. 19 § 5 et 6.
[3] Serm. 1 de Nativit.
[4] Serm. 1 de Assumpt.
[5] Tract. II, c. 13.
[6] Serm. de Deipara, c. 7.
[7] Eng. paranymph: 1. perhaps: a person who ‘gives away’ a bride. 1602 Our blessed Ladies paranimphe Saint Gabriell. 2. a spokesperson or orator who speaks on behalf of someone else. Now historical and rare. Complete OED.
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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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