Chapter 9 : The Eighth 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) |
She is singularly blessed
§ 2. The Holy Virgin was singularly blessed among women
Fruitfulness, the second blessing of the Mother of God
10 The pious St Bernard has an excellent discussion of this subject[1] which is included in what he wrote about the Mission of the Angel Gabriel. This is what he writes:
The condition of the daughters of Eve is truly distressing and they bear a most heavy burden for they suffer a multitude of troubles if they have children, or they are cursed if they have none. They are caught between two afflictions : on one side the pains of childbirth and on the other being regarded as cursed. Now which of these two dost thou choose, O Virgin most prudent and most chaste? The pains of labour, or dost thou prefer to incur the curse?
I am beset with worry about both, she replies, but I prefer to incur the curse of the law and remain chaste, rather than to conceive in pleasure and then give birth in pain. For although I am aware of the curse, it carries no risk of sin; but with the other choice there is both sin and pain. In the end, the curse is the result of the law but signifies only reproach and dishonour in the eyes of men, who will consider me to be useless and like a tree that bears no fruit. The condemnation of men, however, matters little to me provided that I keep faith with my God.
Most holy Virgin, how wise thou art, and yet thou art none the less happy! Thou hast chosen to serve God as a Virgin and thou art unaware thou wilt be chosen to be His Mother. Thou dost accept the curse of the law in order to honour Him alone whom thou desirest to please; in so doing, the curse is transformed into a blessing and barrenness into fruitfulness. Accordingly, prepare thyself to receive Him who hath done great things to thee, Him who in place of Israel’s curse will so honour thee that all generations shall call thee blessed. Thou hast no need to fear bearing fruit for it will not compromise thy purity in any way whatsoever. Thou wilt indeed conceive but without sin; thou wilt be heavy with child but feel no burden; thou wilt give birth but without any pain; thou wilt be Mother of Him who verily hath God for His Father and this pledge of paternal love will be the crown of thy chastity. In short, thou wilt deliver a God as thou wilt conceive of God.
There we have an excerpt from St Bernard’s discussion and it would be hard to find anything better expressed.
How perfectly the Virgin understood this mystery, declares St Anselm[2], how well she knew that the more diligently she protected her chastity, the higher she would ascend towards Him who is most chaste, to Him who is chastity itself! When she resolved to embrace what she judged as being most pleasing to her Creator, at the same time she resolved to rise above the law and see it as low in priority compared to the love of Him whom she knew was filled with so much goodness and wisdom that He would never allow her to suffer for wanting to obey His most perfect will. In this, she was not mistaken, for who ever regretted placing his confidence in God?
Heysichius, a priest in Jerusalem, speaks of this ineffable mystery like a man transported in ecstasy.
Who ever saw or heard the like of this? He asks[3]. Where is the labourer who harvests without ploughing the earth or sowing seed? Where is the owner of the vineyard who harvests the grapes without having planted or cultivated the vine? Where have you seen a brook flowing that had no spring or source?
This is in fact the wonder we see before us, the privilege for which the Holy Fathers offer praise and thanksgiving to Heaven, but when they have finished they admit they they have said nothing that can do justice to it.
Footnotes
[1] Homil. 4 in Missus.
[2] De Excellentia Virg., c. 4.
[3] Serm. 2 de S. Deipara.
11 Now if there are any who seek to diminish the value of the Holy Virgin’s fruitfulness because she gave birth only to one son, I would happily refer them to St Epiphanius[1] and to the discussion where he deals specifically with this thought.
The lioness has only one litter and she delivers one cub[2], which will be the King of animals. She carries him for twenty-six whole months within her and he is delivered ready to chase his prey, armed with teeth and claws, fearsome in his roaring, knowing already that he is master and that all tremble in fear before him. So why should I find it hard, asks this Saint, to call the Virgin a lioness, since the Sacred Scriptures call her Son a lion, likening Him to a lion following its prey and displaying Royalty in its bearing, its demeanour, its roaring and in every way? You may say that Our Lady had only one son. This is true, but He is a lion, and a God, with whom there is none that may be compared, for He is unique in a unique manner. Once upon a time, the Byzantine Empresses were delivered of their babies in a chamber called the Porphyra, because it was lined throughout with purple marble. The little one thus brought into the world was immediately born to the purple so that with his birth he might have the soul of an Emperor. Now, as for the Virgin, let us be clear that were God to have had regard only for what she merited, then she would have given birth in Heaven, and the fruit of her womb would forthwith have been placed on God’s throne. This is a measure of how this fruitfulness was altogether extraordinary and unique of its kind.
Indeed, the same St Epiphanius[3], when speaking of the peerless Mother’s sacred womb, calls it a second throne of the Cherubim, whereon God reposes in His Majesty; if He who is there on high is called first, it is only in the order of time; for according to the order of merit, this Lady has no difficulty in gaining it, as I shall demonstrate later.[4] This Holy Doctor would fain say much more, but finds himself lost for words. He does explain, however, that this womb is higher than the heavens where the planets roam, brighter than the very firmament, mightier than the empyrean, since it encloses Him who cannot be compassed even by this most exalted sphere, almost infinite in its extent. St Gregory has only one word to say, but it gives us much food for thought :
For all others, it is a miracle that a spirit could be found so pure and noble that God is happy to make His abode in her; but for the Virgin, it is a miracle that everything in her was found so holy that her body itself was made the most worthy dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost.
Footnotes
[1] Lib. III contra Hæreses.
[2] Herodotus, Hist. Bk. III.
[3] Serm. de Laudib. Mariæ.
[4] Cap. 15.
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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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