The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 13 : § 2.1-2

Chapter 13 : The Eleventh 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).

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

How she is the honour of earth and of Heaven

§ 2. She is the pearl of beautiful souls and the gemstone beyond price

 1   In his discussion of precious stones, the learned Naturalist[1] declares there is nothing more worthy of admiration in nature, whether we consider their multitude and variety, the diversity of colours, the wondrous material from which they are made, or their unrivalled beauty. There are indeed some who have esteemed them so highly that they could not even bring themselves in conscience to cut or engrave them with a burin, for fear of diminishing their price. Others have given them a value equal to entire kingdoms and some have even gone so far as to say that one precious gemstone is sufficient to show the perfection of all nature’s works. 

This may be said with much greater justification of her whom Chrysippus, sometime priest of Jerusalem long ago, called the precious stone which is beyond all price[2], and Saint Epiphanius called Heaven's inestimable jewel[3]. It is true that she alone would be able to make known the excellence of the Craftsman who fashioned her and that, if He had produced no other creature apart from her, His infinite perfections would be found in this most artless mirror-image. In fact, it was His will to make countless others so that the Holy Virgin could be seen amongst them as His masterpiece and prototype, and there would be admirers of the design and panegyrists of her great qualities.

Footnotes

[1] Plin., lib. VII, c. 1.

[2] Orat. de S. Deipara.

[3] Ibid.

The Blessed Virgin is the world’s precious Pearl

 2   The blessed Saint Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, during a speech at the council of Ephesus gave to the MOTHER OF GOD the title of the world’s precious Pearl[1], which I have referred to in the heading. This was with good reason, whether he was considering her conception and her birth which were altogether celestial, or whether he was focusing on the gleaming whiteness and purity of her body and soul, or finally whether he had in mind the value of the supreme work of nature and of grace in all creatures, namely when she is paired with the Pearl beyond price, which is the Word incarnate. Amongst Oriental pearls, the ancients have always esteemed matching pairs, where each pearl has one that matches it in size, shape and beauty: these are called Union pearls. 

I demonstrated earlier in this work how the Holy Virgin was modelled on the Word incarnate and that she resembled Him as much as is feasible for a mere creature. As for the value of this divine Pearl that was sent down to us from Heaven, by which I mean the Word made flesh, I am not going to speak of this here since it is not strictly relevant to what we are discussing; but as far as the companion pearl is concerned, namely His blessed Mother, I do not under-estimate what Saint Basil of Seleucia said when he wrote that she is so precious, that she is worth all the rest of the world together[2]. 

These words call to mind the story of the Merchant in the Gospel who having come across a pearl of great price which pleased him greatly, sold all that he possessed in the world in order to buy it. Several Holy Fathers have taken this pearl to represent the Blessed Virgin whose power of attraction for the wise Lapidary in Heaven was such as to make Him, in a certain sense, leave everything He had on High in order to acquire her. 

Among other writers, the one who perhaps wrote most clearly on this was Saint Ildephonsus, who called her the sole fruit of the Redemption and the unique work of the Redeemer[3]. Now, whether he meant by this to say that it was for her alone that the Saviour of the world underwent death more willingly than for other creatures, or whether his meaning was that she alone is capable of making known the price paid for us, it remains true to say that she is the sole fruit of the Redemption and the unique work of the Redeemer. 

As for me, I am moved to quote the eloquent commentary of Saint Ambrose who, explaining the words of the Spouse in the Canticles[4]: Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me flee away, explains they are the loving complaints of the Saviour to His Spouse most chaste who is at the same time His blessed Mother: it is as though He were telling her that the perfections He has realised in her are so exceptional that when He considers them He concludes that the time spent in crafting her was well spent and He now wants to return to Heaven and to content Himself with her alone. To prevent that coming to pass, He asks her to turn her eyes from Him, for if she continually gazes up at Him as is her wont, He will not be able to stop Himself from gazing upon her, leading to a serious risk that He might forget those poor souls for whom He came down from Heaven. The feelings expressed in this interpretation are not only most worthy of this great Saint’s fine mind, but they also offer supreme honour to the MOTHER OF GOD who is judged capable of captivating all the love and affection of uncreated Wisdom, of being the sole focus of His thoughts and the unique reason for His descent from Heaven down to earth. What could be said, or even imagined, greater than that?

Footnotes

[1] Tu es pretiosa margarita orbis terrarum.

[2] Orat. de Annuntiatione.

[3] Lib. de Virginitate Mariæ : Procido ante te, solum opus Incarnationis.

[4] Cant. vi. 4 : Averte oculos tuos a me, quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt.

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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 2025