Part II : The Crown of Power : Chapter 2 : § 4.1-2

Chapter 2 : The First Star or Splendour of the Crown of Power 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).

She alone had the power of drawing down to earth the divine Word

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

§ 4. The third quality of the Holy Virgin which drew down the divine Word: Humility

 1   The blessed Patriarch of Venice, Saint Lawrence Justinian, maintains with very good reason that among the qualities of the Holy Virgin which had a great impact on the divine Word, humility was by no means the least.

Through the merit of her humility, he says[1], and through her ardent charity, the most sacred Virgin was beloved of the Father, chosen of the Son, filled with the Holy Spirit, ennobled by a divine conception, prefigured from ancient times, proclaimed by the Prophets, and esteemed above all others by the Archangels and by all the Blessed spirits as a whole.

We should not be surprised at this, granted that God, according to the words of the Psalmist[2], distances himself from haughty and presumptuous hearts, looking upon them with scorn and disdain. His Majesty is happy, however, to stoop in His greatness before little ones who are humble in heart. We do not really need to look for other proof and testimonies since the humble handmaid herself confesses in her simplicity that the Prince of Heaven hath regarded the humility of His handmaid; and she says in the Canticles that while the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof[3]. Saint Bernard[4] and the Abbot Rupert[5] have written wonderful words on the truth of this confession by the humblest of creatures. The latter writes as follows:

What do you think she might mean by the words at his repose[6], other than in the heart or the bosom of the Eternal Father? Accordingly, it is just as if she were saying: When in the beginning the Word was close to God, with God and within God Himself, as in the bosom of His Father, the fragrant odour of my humility rose up to Him, and He was so enraptured that He sent His only-begotten Son into my womb. In this way, He who had previously been greatly offended by the smell of the first woman’s pride, as by the stench of a purulent sore, and who for this reason had been estranged from men, found Himself once more drawn to earth by the pleasing fragrance of my humility. It is for this reason that I compare it to spikenard or to lavender, for just as this small aromatic plant with its little spike, with its sweet smelling florets and with its scented root, can be put to various uses; in the same way my humility, small in appearance and smaller still in the estimation I have of myself, was found in the equitable judgement of the King of Heaven to be more precious than all the works of the law, of which several are held in the highest esteem, and preferred before the smoke rising from all the sacrifices in the world. I can go further and tell you that there is nothing that so pleased Him than to see humility in our female sex – which was first to have been ruined and infected with pride. Now, for a long time humility had already been found amongst men: as witnessed by Abraham who esteemed himself no more than we would dust and ashes; as witnessed by David, who had no compunction in calling himself a flea and a dead dog[7]. In the end, however, humility was no less remarkable among women: and I can say in all truth that God, after a long period of searching, found someone who would carry off the prize for this virtue as well as for all the others.

This is an extract from the speech of this pious Abbot.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. de Casto connubio, c. 9.

[2] See, e.g. : For thou wilt save the humble people; but wilt bring down the eyes of the proud: Ps. XVII.28. See also  Ps. XI. 4, Ps. C. 5, & Ps. CXVIII. 21. 

[3] Cant. i. 11.

[4] Serm. 4 de Assumpt., et Serm. 42 in Cant.

[5] Lib. I in Cant.

[6] The French text has lit de repos, meaning literally the bed or couch of repose; the Vulgate (Cant. i. 11) has (in) accubitu suo, which the Douay-Rheims translates as at his repose. The commentary in the Fillion Bible (1895) states: in accubitu suo - The Hebrew word for this refers to the lectus tricliniaris on which guests reclined during meals. The Spouse is saying that she is applying fragrant perfume to the royal Spouse while He is reclined for a meal. Mary Magdalen was later to do the same thing in a similar situation: see John xii. 3.

[7] 1 Kings (1 Samuel); xxiv. 15.

 2   The gentle and pious nature of Saint Bonaventure shows itself in all his works, but especially when it comes to the MOTHER OF GOD. Here are two remarkable examples in support of what we have been saying about her humility. In the Mirror[1], he writes about the virtues of the Virgin and skilfully applies to her what is written in the second book of Paralipomenon[2], where it tells us how the pious King Josaphat, having won a signal victory over the Moabites and the Ammonites, and having grown rich from the spoils of their defeat, named the place of their defeat the Valley of Blessing.

This valley, says the seraphic Doctor[3], where the King of Heaven struck down Josaphat’s enemies, is nothing other than the heart of the Blessed Virgin. If every humble soul is, as it were, a valley of God according to that word of Isaiah, Every valley shall be filled[4], how much more was Mary a valley, who is so deep in her humility! What wonder if she were the Valley of Valleys, who was the most humble of the humble? How how truly she is the Valley of Blessing, inasmuch as she has drawn down upon the earth all the blessings of Heaven.

It seems to me, however, that he expresses this more strikingly still in another place[5], where he applies to her the words of the Prophet Isaiah when speaking to King Ezechias so as to console him regarding his fear of the terrible threats coming from the wicked king Rabsaces. Ezechias, he says to him, fear not, and this shall be a sign: sow and reap as normal, forasmuch as I say to thee whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda shall take root downward and bear fruit upward[6].

Who represents what is left of the house of Juda, says Saint Bonaventure, if not the glorious Virgin who takes root downward: meaning that she takes no heed of herself and humbles herself as much as she can within herself; and yet the more she hides herself from the world, the more she becomes known in Heaven, and the more suited she becomes to bring forth the beautiful flower which will give joy to the universe[7].

Footnotes

[1] The Mirror Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

[2] 2 Paralipomenon (2 Chronicles) Ch. xx.

[3] The Mirror: Ch. 15.

[4] Every valley shall be filled; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: Luke iii. 5, citing Isai. xl. 4.

[5] The Mirror: Ch. 17.

[6] 4 Kings (2 Kings) xix. 29-30.

[7] Isai. xi. 1.

👑       👑       👑

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