Chapter 5 : The Fourth Star or Splendour of the Crown of Power of the MOTHER OF GOD
She was the Spouse and the Companion of the Saviour
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) |
§ 2. The first reason which obliged the Saviour to take the glorious Virgin as His Spouse
Royalty : The first reason which obliged the Saviour to take the Holy Virgin as His Spouse
3 Both of the Saviour's kingdoms – namely the spiritual (which we have just been discussing) and the temporal (which I shall cover later) – are so truly excellent that it seems there would be something amiss if the greatness and magnificence of the Prince were to be lacking a worthy companion. The splendour of this kingdom would not be complete, and the court would be deficient, if such an estimable one were absent, particularly since all the subjects of this great King have the honour of being His children, from which it follows necessarily that there has to be a Queen who can be the Mother of these Princes and Princesses of Heaven. That has always been the feeling of all the nations in the world, and the common feeling of love on the part of those who, having a great esteem for their Kings, have wanted them to have Spouses, so as to be able to honour their memory in their posterity. Consequently, the Sovereign King, Father of this Prince of Glory, desired with reason that His Son should have a Spouse, and He provided Him with the most noble and the most excellent Spouse that could be imagined. This Spouse was chosen to the great satisfaction of the King His Son and was a source of public rejoicing and consolation for all His subjects: she was the most illustrious and most glorious Virgin Mother.
This is not simply my thinking but it is the judgement of St Andrew of Jerusalem[1], of the learned Rupert[2] and of a great number of commentators on the Canticle of love[3], who were convinced that this peerless Spouse who receives such an incomparable honour from the unique Spouse Jesus Christ, is the glorious Virgin. To her are most fittingly applied those words full of heavenly sweetness which state that[4] Solomon the peaceful had indeed threescore Queens as his lawful spouses, meaning a large number of beautiful souls endowed with exceptional and outstanding virtues speeding on their way to perfection; He also has four score concubines of a lower status than the first group, who nevertheless have the honour of being his wives: these are souls who less elevated than the others and who whilst not attaining such a level of holiness, are nevertheless most dear to him and exude a most pleasing fragrance of virtue. There are also other maidens, namely devout souls full of goodwill, who are still young and have not progressed far along the path of true virtue, and these are countless in number. Finally, however, there is but one dove, who alone is the perfect one, who alone is the Queen of Queens, the Lady over all the other Spouses, the Mother of the young maidens, the Spouse without companion, Virgin and at the same time Mother, the idea enshrining all holiness and the image of all perfection: and this is the Blessed MOTHER OF GOD.
It is she, says the Abbott Rupert[5], who is the only one of her Mother, uniquely chosen by her that bore her. Unique forasmuch as she has no peers whatsoever, even amongst the Queens; unique to her Mother, meaning to the heavenly Jerusalem, our shared Mother; uniquely chosen by her that bore her, namely the old Church of the Patriarchs, the Prophets and the ancient Kings, from whom she took her nature and whose blessing she inherited. She is truly unique to her Mother and singularly chosen by her that bore her forasmuch as neither in Heaven nor here on earth was there ever anyone to compare with her, nor will there ever be found in the future anyone who comes close to her. She is the chaste dove, because she is full of grace; she is uniquely chosen, forasmuch as she was not chosen simply to be saved, but to bring forth salvation.
The threescore Queens, says the pious emperor of the East, Matthew Kantakouzenos[6], are the souls of the martyrs of either sex who purchased with their own blood their celestial Spouse. The fourscore Ladies of lower status than the first group but nevertheless still Spouses, are the souls of all those who have renounced any hope of earthly things which quickly pass away in order to pledge themselves to their divine Spouse alone. The young maidens without number are the souls of those who, having received Holy Baptism, live pious lives under the laws of Christian discipline. Above all these, there is one only Spouse who is singularly loved just as she offers her love in a singular manner, with whom the others can never be compared, inasmuch as she is unique in the privileges she enjoys: this is Mary, Mother and Spouse of Jesus.
Footnotes
[1] Serm. de Dormit. Deiparæ.
[2] Passim in Cantica, potissimum initio, lib. IV.
[3] Guillelmus Parvus, Honorius Augustodunensis, Alanus Insulanus.
[4] Cant, vi. 7-8.
[5] Lib. VI in Cant.
[6] In c. 6 Cant.
4 Several other Doctors[1] have expressed the same thinking about this valiant Spouse and Queen, to whom the Prophet David offered a supreme honour in his sacred Epithalamium[2] where he places her at the right hand of her Beloved, and she is surrounded by the Ladies and Maids of honour in her retinue. With regard to the parable in the Gospel[3] about the ten Virgins who are waiting to be presented to the King and Queen – to the Groom and to His Bride – the majority of the Holy Fathers understand by this number of Virgins all the souls that are to appear before God. It follows that if the Groom is none other than Jesus Christ, then the Bride must necessarily be someone quite out of the ordinary who can be a fitting match for the Groom. The Bride can therefore be none other than this same Princess who is elevated so far above ordinary souls as the highest mountain is over the lowest valley.
Footnotes
[1] S. Athanas., Serm. de S. Deipara ; Arnoldus Car-not., Tract. de Laudibus Virg. ; Hugo de S. Victore, Erud. Theol., lib. II, c. 125 ; Petrus Damianus, Serm. de Assumpt. ; Hugo Cardinal, et S. Thomas, in Psal. 43.
[2] Psalm XLIV.
[3] Matt. xxv. 1-13.
5 Please allow me now, most Holy Lady, to borrow the words of one of thy faithful servants, the pious Abbot Guerric[1], and to rejoice with thee at the double honour thou hast received, not only providing an abode for the King of glory but also having Him for thy Spouse. Here are his words[2] which I address to thee:
Henceforth thou wilt be able to dispose freely of all the goods of thy beloved Son, both as Queen Mother and also as Queen Regnant and Spouse of this great Prince. Thy modesty might seek retirement and repose, but Royalty awaits thee. For He wishes to reign with thee who accomplished with thee in one same flesh and one same spirit the mystery of holiness and unity when, without violating the laws of nature, but only by intensifying and increasing the privileges of grace, He honoured thee by choosing thee for His Spouse. The time hath now come when He is to make thee enjoy His sacred embrace and when He will repay with interest the gentle caresses that He hath Received from thee.
Finally, please allow me to present thee with the humble feelings of all thy subjects who, from the bottom of their hearts, acknowledge thee as lawful Spouse of their Sovereign, and who rejoice to have thee for their Lady and their Queen, in which quality they offer to thee their best wishes, their most humble willingness to serve thee and their most ardent desire to praise thee in company with thy Spouse for ever and ever.
Footnotes
[1] Serm. 1 de Assumpt.
[2] Serm. 3.
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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 Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
© Peter Bloor 2025
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