The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 8 : § 1. 58-60

Chapter 8 : The Seventh 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).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

Mary’s soul was unique in being totally free of any sin

§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD was exempt from original sin

RESPONSE TO THE FIRST OBJECTION AGAINST THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE GLORIOUS VIRGIN

 58   In the third place, if we accept the opinion of those who exempt Mary not only from original sin but also from any sort of obligation to contract it, then it might be said that the general statements must be understood as applying to those who were included in the covenant God made with the first man before he sinned. This does not apply in any way to the Blessed Virgin for she was not introduced until after Adam sinned as part of the remedy for this sin. 

 59   Finally, I should point out that the holy Doctors have good reason to say that the Saviour’s exemption is unique – for He is the only one for whom this is required by virtue of His birth-right. His birth entitles Him to exemption for two reasons : firstly, because His flesh is joined to His Divinity; and secondly, because He was born in an extraordinary manner since His Mother was a Virgin. Now, His holy Mother is not able to claim this twofold title to exemption, but that takes nothing away from the privilege to which she owes her exemption. The eloquent words of St Eucherius take note formally of this distinction[1] when he addresses the Virgin :

He took from thy body the precious blood which He is to shed for the life of the world, and even for thee, most holy Lady! For the very Mother of the Redeemer is herself not exempt from the ancient debt of sin.

The same response should be given to the words of the holy Doctors who sometimes refer to Our Lady’s flesh as sinful flesh or flesh of sin. Here are the most striking examples of such usage:

St Fulgentius says[2] : The flesh of Mary, conceived in sin after the ordinary manner, was in truth flesh of sin; from her was born the Son of God but with only the appearance of coming from sin.

St Ildephonsus, in the book where he assiduously defended the virginity of the MOTHER OF GOD and her immaculate Conception, writes as follows:

Although the Blessed Virgin Mary was born of sinful flesh, indeed she was flesh of sin, etc.

Now, these two men speak elsewhere without ambiguity concerning the privilege and exemption enjoyed by the MOTHER OF GOD. Accordingly, when they feel obliged to refer to our Lady’s flesh as flesh of sin, it is because of the general condition of her birth and her race. She was however herself free from sin by virtue of the exemption and the right order bestowed upon her by Him who would one day join Himself to her flesh.

 

Footnotes

[1] Serm. de Nativit.

[2] Lib. de Incarn. et Gratia Christi, c. 7.

RESPONSE TO THE SECOND OBJECTION

 60   In the second place, they bring into play those Holy Fathers who say that Our Lady was subject to the common law of bodily death for she was one of the descendants of Adam. They conclude from this that she must have had some part in sin because she suffered death which is the consequence of sin. My response to this is that she did indeed die as a daughter of Adam, forasmuch as death is natural to man by reason of the elements of which he is composed. Now, the holy Doctors[1] sometimes go further and say that she died as a result of Adam’s sin. By this, they do not wish to say more than that she was deprived by Adam’s disobedience, no more nor less than others, of the gift of immortality and access to the fruit of life, as these were not man’s by nature. They are not saying, however, that the Holy Virgin was stained with sin through Adam’s disobedience. There is in fact no difficulty here since it is clear that the Saviour Himself underwent all the unpleasantness of death without having had anything whatsoever to do with Adam and his sin or being under any suspicion of having sinned.

Footnotes

[1] Aug., in Psal. 34.

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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