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) |
§ 4. The contract of marriage between Jesus Christ the King of glory and the Blessed Virgin His Spouse
The consent of the parties (continued)
4 St Peter Chrysologus says this[1] using Words which are fewer in number but pregnant with meaning:
God sends His ambassador to the Virgin with the commission of giving her His royal word as evidence of His love, as well as presenting her with the plenitude of grace, offered like a gift of jewels to her. His commission also requires him to return with the Virgin’s consent and the pledge of her troth, matched on His side by the solemn promise and the dowry He is offering to her. The Angel promptly sets off and conveys this message to the future Spouse of his Lord so that she may renounce all thoughts of any other love, not with the purpose of taking her away from Joseph’s protection (for he was merely the guardian of her chastity), but to ensure her union with Jesus Christ, to whom she had been affianced since her conception.
The Angel Gabriel says St Gregory Thaumaturgus[2], was sent down from Heaven to make ready the nuptial couch for the heavenly Spouse, and to conduct the marriage which was to take place between the Creator and the creature. He was sent to the Virgin who was betrothed to Joseph but but who was in truth set aside for Jesus. The pure spirit was sent unto the most pure Virgin; and the servant who has not sinned was sent towards the Lady who is entirely free from sin: the lamp who goes before the sun of justice and the dawn who precedes the break of day. The soldier goes forward on behalf of his King, and the Herald reveals the mystery which must be believed with faith, not pried into with curiosity, adored rather than comprehended in the mind, and weighed in the light of eternal reason rather over with merely human considerations.
The Angel Gabriel was sent, says St Gregory the Great[3], because reason required that, in order to announce the union between the Sovereign Lord of all things and His creature, one of the foremost spirits in Heaven had to be chosen. In a most fitting manner, it fell to the lot of Gabriel, which means strength of God, forasmuch as he was bringing the news of the descent down to earth by the divine Word, (this being nothing other than the right arm[4] and the strength of the Father), dispatched here below to destroy the powers of the air[5].
Footnotes
[1] Serm. 140.
[2] Initio Serm. 3 de Annuntiat.
[3] In Evang. Lucæ, c. 3.
[4] See. e.g., Isaiah lix. 16; Ps. XCVII. 1; Wisdom v. 17.
[5] Ephes. ii. 2. & vi. 12.
5 King David foresaw this divine embassy in the spirit and, touched to the heart by the wretched state of our fallen race, he thought it would be fitting before his death to leave a message of advice to the girl who would one day appear amongst his successors, so that she would understand the importance of this and would realise how ardently all her ancestors had longed for this union. With this in mind, he addressed the following words to her[1]: Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear. The Blessed St Bruno[2], founder of the Carthusians, explained these words as follows:
My dearest daughter, thou art the honour, the glory and all that is noble in thy race; thy destiny is to raise this race to a height that thou canst not imagine. Now is the acceptable time, for the word that the Angel from heaven bringeth to thee is that which will cause us all to be uplifted; accordingly, do thou weigh most carefully what he shall say unto thee, and take care not to turn down the match that he will propose to thee.
To believe that she would do anything other than submit immediately to all the commandments from Heaven, you would need to think that the most sacred Virgin had no interest in men's salvation, that she was too poorly disposed to comply with God’s will, that she was too careless of her own interest, or too lacking in intelligence and feeling. If she decides to question what she has been told, then this should be regarded as a feature of her heavenly prudence rather than a reason for fearing that she may reject the happiness that has been proposed to her. For the Angel had scarcely finished delivering his message than she gave her consent in formal language, placing herself entirely in the hands of Him from whom she was receiving so much honour and promising that henceforth all her thoughts will be upon Him: My beloved to me, and I to him[3]. As soon as the words indicating her consent issued from her most sacred mouth, all the elements and the earth itself shook, the skies opened, the Fathers in Abraham’s bosom were seized by an altogether new feeling of happiness, the Angels set off fireworks of joy, and the Holy Trinity Showed signs attesting to a most extraordinary happiness. Over and above all these, the heavenly Spouse who was waiting only for this word, now showed His indescribable feelings of love and affection. Leaving the heavenly Empyrean in triumph, He was born along on His chariot of glory, drawn by his mighty steeds with such speed that in an instant He found himself by the side of His Spouse. Reason requires us to believe that the Holy Virgin, with her central role in this mystery, would have shared in the public rejoicing. Indeed she revealed one day to St Bridget that her heart was suffused at this point with such sweetness that it would not be possible to describe it.
Footnotes
[1] Ps. XLIV. 11.
[2] Serm. in Assump. Virg.
[3] Cant. ii. 16.
The contract
6 As for the terms of their contract of marriage, it would be most improper of me to pry into something so personal. These terms are secret and it is not for us to look into such private matters. I will only repeat the words which that pious emperor of the East, whom I have quoted several times already, placed in the mouth of the blessed Virgin, as if by way of summary[1]:
He hath taken flesh from me and I have received divinity from Him . What other thing could our earth have given and what greater thing could it have expected from Heaven?
Leaving aside the personal benefits to her who was the most chaste Spouse, it is clear that from this union comes all that we possess in terms of grace and glory, and this is why we pray: To the Spouse and His Bride be honour and thanks for ever and ever!
Footnotes
[1] Matthew Kantakouzenos, in ch. 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 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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