Chapter 10 : The Ninth 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) |
Mary is the Queen of virtues
We have spoken of grace and there is no better time to discuss the virtues of the Holy Virgin than now for virtues are, as it were, the daughters of grace. I have no intention of going too deeply into this subject or of discussing in detail each of her extraordinary virtues. It would in fact require an entire book to satisfy readers, not just by writing of what there is, nor of what can be said but passing beyond these. For the time being, I am happy to say a few general words about the excellence of her virtues. Those looking for greater detail will find them touched on in various discussions and, specifically, in the last Treatise where there is a Chapter on Imitation.
§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD has in truth been the Queen of Virtues
1 The Abbot Theodore, whom the ancients called the Studite because he was head of the Stoudios Monastery, lived at the beginning of the ninth century during the time of the iconoclast Emperors, by whom he was badly treated. He was, in my judgement, wonderfully inspired when he said that:
Anyone considering the barrenness of St Anne to have been a curse would be in serious error, granted that it was in fact the sign of an exceptional mystery.
Before this, St Peter Chrysologus had put forward the same idea using his customary eloquence. Here is what he said[1]:
This sterility was not a curse but was in fact mystical, since the fruit she was to bear was only delayed and this means that the sacred womb of St Ann was closed only for a time. Reason itself required that things would be arranged well in advance for all the virtues to be introduced and for them to have enough years to grow to maturity. This mother would have to equal, or rather surpass, the most fruitful of women since she was to have an altogether unique daughter, in whom and with whom were born all the virtues together.
This sterility was accordingly a thousand times felicitous since it was preparing for the world a fruit such as Mary, the glorious Virgin, destined by God from all eternity to be the Queen of the Virtues and, in the words of St John Damascene[2], the treasure-house of all holiness.
Footnotes
[1] Homil. 4 in Missus.
[2] Gen. xxii.
2 The Doctors make use of various images to illustrate this. The holy Pope Innocent III[1], following the lead of the Spouse in the Canticles, likens Mary to an army set in battle array and terrible in aspect to all the enemies of God. The General of this army is none other than God Himself, with charity as Second-in-command; faith and hope lead the cavalry, formed of infused habits. The moral virtues make up the infantry under the leadership of prudence and the gifts of the Holy Spirit form the reserve. St Epiphanius[2], Hesychius[3], St Jerome[4], Abbot Rupert[5], Honorius[6], Alanus[7] (known as the Universal Doctor in his day), the learned William (the Little) and many more authors were inspired by the same Spouse in the Canticles[8] to compare Mary to a beautiful and luxurious garden. Sophronius may speak for them all[9]:
All that could be found in her was purity, simplicity, grace, truth, mercy and justice. We would be fully justified in calling her a garden of delight wherein may be found all sorts of beautiful flowers and all the most pleasing plants of the virtues. A garden which is enclosed in such a way that it cannot be entered in attacks with scaling ladders nor s taken by surprise in stealthy attacks by enemies.
Venantius Fortunatus was the noble Bishop of Poitiers and also a most excellent Poet who lived in the sixth century. He wrote of Mary in the following verses[10]:
Thine honoured name all ages will declare;
Our voices too will gratefully confess
Their wonder at His work who did thee bless
With greatness, making thee beyond compare.
Thou art a precious treasure-store so rare,
A peerless beauty bathed in grace divine
Whose dazzling virtue truly doth outshine
All other souls – the fayrest of the fayre.
Of comely flow’rs thou art the flow’r most sweet,
More lily white, more red than reddest rose;
Thine earth-born shoot for Heaven blooms and grows,
Thus Heav’n and earth with thy scent are replete.
It now falls to the heavenly Spouse who opened this discussion to guide us around the plots and flowerbeds of the garden, pointing out the exquisite flowers of all the virtues that He Himself planted in these places specially set aside.
How pleasing it would be to see here the red and white roses symbolizing the fruitfulness and the virginity of the Holy Virgin! How satisfying to look upon the carnation of her charity, the peony of her constancy, the violet of her meekness, the lily of her innocence, the sunflower of her prayer, the tulip of her resignation! Then, continuing with the words of the divine Gardener[11]: the cypress of her purity, the spikenard of her love, the saffron of her heavenly wisdom, the sweet cane of her humility, the cinnamon of her contemplative spirit, the myrrh of her mortification, and the aloe of her life’s integrity and her good example – for this is how the learned Alcuin sums up everything : in short, all the angelic flowers and virtues growing in every season in this exquisite spot, thanks to the beneficence pouring down from Heaven.
Footnotes
[1] Serm. 2 de Assumpt.
[2] Serm. de Laudib. Virg.
[3] Orat. 2 de Deipara.
[4] Lib. II contra Jovin.
[5] Lib. IV in Cant.
[6] In locum citat. Cant.
[7] In locum citat. Cant.
[8] Cap. 4.
[9] Serm. de Assumpt.
[10] Lib. I de Part. Virg.
[11] Cant. 4.
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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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