The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 13 : § 3.6-8

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

§ 3. She is the true Mirror of divine perfections

Holiness

 6    I could say in truth that of all the links that the most sacred Virgin has with God and His divine attributes, the one that she is most readily able to assimilate is Holiness. Holiness is the property of God as supreme being, in as much as He is its source and origin, He is its object and there is no holiness whatsoever which does not link back to Him, in as much as He is its idea and model, He is the principle which produces it and preserves it in our souls. In short, there is no degree of holiness which is not found in Him to an infinite degree. Accordingly, it is with reason that the Seraphim in Isaiah sing by day and by night[1]: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts. The admirable Saint Dionysius, writing of holiness[2], teaches that it is nothing other than the most perfect purity, free from all stain of sin. After God Himself, the holy Virgin is uniquely and exclusively suited to this perfection. That is the teaching of Saint Augustine, as appears in the following words he wrote[3]:

I always exempt the most sacred Virgin Mary, who should never be implicated in or associated in any way with sin; inasmuch as we know she has received Grace in such abundance that she deserves to be the Mother of Him in whom sin has no place.

She alone excepted, if we had a way of seeing all the Saints in the state they once were in, and if they were asked if they were exempt from sin, which of the two replies would they give in your opinion: the one by Pelagius, or the one that we have learned from St John? I am speaking of those who occupied the highest place in merit and I am saying that if they were asked this question, they would reply unanimously: if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us[4]. The great Saints do not stop at that, however, but they speak of the holy Virgin in a way that emphasises that she is unquestionably more pure and sinless than the Cherubim and Seraphim. This is the teaching of Saint Epiphanius[5], Richard of Saint Victor[6] and others. Saint Gregory[7] makes the point very well when he compares her to the mountain which is located higher than all the other mountains, and he declares:

she carries the peak of her exceptional merits higher than all created spirits, even unto the throne of the Divinity.

The devout Abbott Rupert recognises her peerless qualities, saying that:

From the very creation of the world she has had no equal and will never have one, whether we consider the interior motions of her heart or whether we look at her actions and the fruits of sweetness and goodness that she has produced.

Such is the truth of this that we must consider her as a beautiful tree of Paradise, which has been transported down into our vale of tears.

Footnotes

[1] Isai. vi.3.

[2] Cap. 2 de Divin. nom.

[3] De Natura et Gratia, c. 31.

[4] I John i. 8.

[5] De Laudibus Mariæ.

[6] In Cant., c. 39.

[7] Lib. I Reg., c. 1.

Goodness

 7   The goodness of God follows closely upon His holiness, and His goodness is no less infinite in Him than His other perfections, obliging Him to find means of communicating Himself to His creatures. Out of all the material things visible in this world, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus found nothing which represented God’s goodness better than the Sun which sheds its rays everywhere, so that there is no place on earth untouched by its influence. There is, however, no need to develop this point now since I intend to cover it in Part III of this work where we shall consider the incomprehensibly great qualities of the goodness of the MOTHER OF GOD, which go to make her more lovable than all other creatures together.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. II Moral., c. 12.

[2] Apoc. v. 13.

Fruitful Virginity

 8   I have so far given no more than an introduction to the divine attributes and I shall leave readers to pursue the subject further for themselves. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus provides much food for thought when he says that[1]:

The first Virgin in the world is the most holy and most noble Trinity.

Now, what is altogether remarkable is that this same Trinity is Virginal and fruitful at the same time, the Father begetting the Son from all eternity, and the Father with the Son producing the glorious Holy Spirit. It is the adorable mystery that all creatures revere, that the Angels honour with a profound silence and the Cherubim contemplate with veiled gaze and in holy trembling. It is the mystery which has been so fully copied in the most immaculate MOTHER OF GOD that it has stopped with her, unable to be taken any further. The Christian Orator[2] speaks of this in a most discerning manner[3], incorporating an idea of the ancient Trismegistus[4], whereby God has no father or mother.

This attribute, he says, properly applies to the Eternal Father who is the first principle of the most holy Trinity; it was His wish, however, to communicate to His only-begotten Son this quality of His; in order to achieve this, since His son was already without a Mother in His eternal generation, He willed that His Son should be without a Father in His temporal generation. 

The Prophet could fittingly say that God would do a thing unheard of on earth, for, after God’s personal union with man, there is no miracle at all that is like unto that of a Virgin Mother.

If I felt a desire to praise the virginity of this Lady, said the pious Saint Bernard[5], I am aware that she is not the only one who has this honour, that there are many Virgins following after her and after the Lamb, her Son. If I wish to make known her humility, I know that there are at least some others who have learned from the holy teachings of the Saviour and who following His example have made themselves generous and humble of heart. If I were to speak of her charity, I can certainly find people of mercy among both men and women. But all these qualities aside, she has one which makes her completely exceptional: it is the pleasing title of Mother joined to the honour of virginity. This is properly speaking the truly excellent choice that she made, for although fruitfulness in marriage is a great good, and virginal purity is even better, nevertheless the two in combination infinitely surpass each other.

This harmonious combination, says Theodore[6], Bishop of Angora Galacia, the Noble work of Grace, for nature could never have achieved it.

There is nothing human here, for all is divine, says the great Chrysologus[7], and for this reason you must raise your thoughts and picture the womb of the Virgin no more or less than as a Temple consecrated by the Holy Spirit, where God is adored in person.

It is an ineffable mystery, says Saint Zenon[8], Bishop of Verona; it is a sign of the omnipotence of God, says Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem; it is a miracle that deserves to be dwell upon and pondered, say Saint Gregory of Nyssa; Simply consider what we see and let us wonder together at something so strange as a Bush which burns without being consumed.

For those who seek consolation from similar reflections, there are many others which will bring no less satisfaction and will serve to build up their idea of the Holy Virgin’s excellence. For my part, I prefer to leave readers with a desire to find out more than to burden them further at this point with what I could add. 

Footnotes

[1] In poemate de Laudibus Virginitatis.

[2] The Christian Orator is a reference to Lactantius, whose clear, pure, and elegant style caused some to call him the Christian Cicero.

[3] Lactant., lib. IV Divin. Instit., c. 13.

[4] Trismegistus: name meaning thrice-greatest and given to the supposed author/inspiration of the Hermetic Writings which included philosophical and theological texts. 

[5] Serm. 4 de Assumpt.

[6] Orat. de Nativit.

[7] Serm. 54.

[8] Serm. de Circumc.

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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