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
§ 3. The Holy Virgin is uniquely blessed among the just and the friends of God
7 It would be remiss of me to forget the beautiful name given to the land of blessing in the Sacred Scriptures many times over[1], where it is called the land of milk and honey. This name reflects not only the abundance of its produce, but also the richness of its pastures and the variety of its flowers which attract so many bees that they are found everywhere nesting in hollows of trees and among rocks. The name also reflects the incredible succulence and sweetness of its fruit.
The Historians I cited above, namely Josephus and Brocard, support me with their eye-witness testimony. The first of these attests to the presence of palm trees so full of honey that those who collect it need to use their feet. The second describes a certain kind of fruit called apples of Paradise[2]. These fruits contain no seeds and hang in egg-shaped bunches. Large numbers of them grow together and their grape-like clusters are as large as hand-baskets. They are described, moreover, as being so sweet and delicious to the taste that it is credibly argued that they originated in the earthly Paradise.
What need is there for me to say more? The reference to this extraordinary sweetness should be enough to make you think of her who says in Ecclesiasticus[3] my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance (which she shares here from time to time by way of a foretaste) above honey and the honeycomb. Her heavenly Spouse offers the following words of praise to her[4]: Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue. Cardinal Peter Damian says[5] of her that she is sweetness itself, savoured by none more than by Him who loves her, and that the Spouse most sweet of our souls came down to her with all His sweetness.
This is something very easy to verify, since the only thing needed by way of test is to love her.
Footnotes
[1] Exod. 3 et 4 ; Deut. 8 et 32, etc.
[2] Possibly the banana. See OED: apple of paradise (b) the fruit of any of several plants of the genus Musa (bananas and plantains).
[3] Ecclesi. xxiv. 27.
[4] Cant. iv. 11.
[5] Serm. de Annuntiat.
8 But after all these considerations, I have to confess there is one which has won me over and which seems to me at least as convincing as any other. Moses refers to it in his Canticle when he says[1]: When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the children of Israel. But the Lord's portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his inheritance, and as such He established them in the land He had prepared for them and which was theirs to the exclusion of all others.
This is the inexplicable joy of the MOTHER OF GOD and the foremost source of all her blessings. It was the thousandfold happy lot falling to her when God in His ideas of eternal predestination worked out plans for His elect and the use He would make of His creatures. He chose her most particularly to be the Mother of His only-begotten Son; she was to be Heaven’s beloved, the object of His own tender affection, the subject of His great mercy and the second masterpiece He crafted out of His goodness.
May all those who love her bless and be thankful for her destiny a thousand times over; and a thousand million times over, may they bless Him who managed everything so felicitously for His own glory and for the benefit of the Mother of all blessings.
Footnotes
[1] Deut. xxxii. 8-9.
The tabernacle of the Covenant, second symbol of the way the Holy Virgin benefited from blessings to a higher level than all the rest of the just
9 I have learned from St Bernard that Tents, or Tabernacles as they are called in Scripture, are figures symbolizing the just and the friends of God who travel on earth. According to this Doctor,
Tents are for those who work or for those involved in combat : Do they not represent the works of the just during this mortal life? Unlike houses, Tents do not have foundations but are made to be transported from place to place. Does not St Paul say of the friends of God that they have not here a lasting city, but ... seek one that is to come[1]? The Tents’ covering protects those inside from the ill effects of the weather. Similarly, are not beautiful souls protected by God’s grace from all that could harm them?
Hugh of St Victor[2] considers, following his custom, what lessons may be learned from the commandment given to the people of Israel ordering them to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month for the space of seven days. According to this, they were to erect tents with branches on platforms or at the entrances to households and to offer sacrifices to God during this time. They also were expected to perform acts of public rejoicing through festivities, accompanied by the sound of bugles and trumpets. All this was intended to commemorate for ever their departure from Egypt and the forty years they spent dwelling in tents. He says that :
the same commandment is given by God to all the just : they are to erect Tents, or rather to make of themselves true, spiritual Tents through the example of their virtues and through their holy interactions; they are to do this for seven days every seventh year, which means throughout their lives and for as long as they are in the state of grace. In this way, they are to scale the mountain of holy contemplation and there to use boughs to build an exemplary and praiseworthy life, and to incorporate olive branches, myrtle, palm branches, weeping willow and branches from other deciduous trees. These represent the works of mercy, of temperance, of self-control and generally al the other virtues. These structures need to be placed high up or even at the entrances of houses – so as to show the contempt of the just for base things and to show forth the fruit of their holy works, with which they are to give joy to the angels and set an example to all who see them.
How uplifting it is to hear these sounds and voices of joy! How sweet is the fragrance of these perfumes and these sacrifices! How good it is to see these Tents so pleasingly arrayed in the holy City! How I feel the urge to cry out with him who once despite himself was obliged to bless the people of God[3]: How beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel! You would think that these are natural groves, tended and cultivated with great care on the slopes of the most beautiful of hills, or orchards growing by flowing waters, or at least that they have been made and fixed in place by the hand of God.
Footnotes
[1] Hebr. xiii. 14
[2] Serm. 31.
[3] Num. xxiv. 5.
[4] Cf. As woody valleys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as tabernacles which the Lord hath pitched, as cedars by the waterside. Num. xxiv. 6.
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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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