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The Annunciation, early 1460s; by Willem Vrelant.The Getty Museum, L.A. |
It is referred to in the French work by Fr François Poiré called The Triple Crown of the Holy Mother of God (1630) which I translated on this blog starting on the 1st of May 2024.
I offer this annotated edition of St Bonaventure’s work as a small gift to our gentle Queen and Mother in gratitude for all her graces and favours, requesting her continued help and protection for the author and his family.
The Latin text and references are based upon Speculum Beatae Mariae Virginis (1904). The English text is based upon that attributed to Sr Mary Emmanuel O.S.B. (published by Herder in 1932). Amazon's various editions ackowledge that this text is in the Public Domain worldwide, attributing it to the text of a Dublin edition (author unknown) published in 1849.
Chapter 9 : “The Lord is with thee”
Part 1
We must now consider that this Lord, referred to in the words “The Lord is with thee,” is in a special manner the Lord of rational creatures, as that rational creature himself says in the eighth Psalm[1]: “O Lord, our Lord,” etc. He is the Lord of all men in general and He is especially our Lord, as it is said in Isaias[2]:
“The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king.”
The Lord is our lawgiver in this world; the Lord is our judge at the last judgment; and the Lord is our King who will crown us in Heaven. This special Lord of ours was with Mary in such a manner that He made her our special Lady. St. Bernard acknowledged this when he said[3]:
“Our Lady, our mediatrix, our advocate : do thou reconcile us to thy Son, commend us to thy Son and present us before thy Son.”
But behold, this special Lord of ours is a Lord most loving, a Lord most just, a Lord most trustworthy and a Lord most renowned; for a Lord who was not loving in His benefits, who was not just in His judgments, who was not true to His promises and who was not renowned among His people would not be esteemed very highly. Our Lord, however, is most loving in His liberality, most just in equity, most true in fidelity and most reputed in His renown.
Footnotes
[1] O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. Psalm. viii. 2.
[2] Isai. xxxiii. 22.
[3] Serm. 2. de Adventu Dom. n. 5.
Firstly, therefore, we must note that our dear and special Lord, who is with Mary, is a Lord most loving in His infinite mercy; for He is the Lord of whom the Prophet saith[1]:
“For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.”
He is a Lord of much mercy in the many benefits – whether temporal, spiritual or eternal ones – which out of His great mercy He has bestowed upon us and never ceases to bestow. Would that we were not ungrateful for so great mercies ! Would that to such a merciful Lord we were very grateful, as Isaias was who said[2]:
“I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us.”
Behold, Mary, what a Lord He is, how loving and how merciful, the Lord who is with thee! And because this most merciful Lord is so mercifully with thee, therefore thou art most merciful with Him, and truly of thee can it be said[3]:
“A throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth.”
The throne of divine mercy is Mary, the Mother of mercy, in whom all find the solace of mercy; for as we have a most merciful Lord, so have we a most merciful Lady. Our Lord is of much mercy to all who invoke Him, and our Lady is of much mercy to all who invoke her. Therefore St. Bernard excellently saith[4]:
“Let that person be silent on the subject of thy mercy, O blessed Virgin, who having invoked it in his necessities found it wanting.”
The Lord is with thee, therefore, O Mary most merciful.
Footnotes
[1] Psalm. lxxxv. 5.
[2] Isai. lxiii. 7.
[3] Isai. xvi. 5.
[4] Serm. 4. in Assumt. B. M. V. n. 8.
Secondly, note that our own special Lord, who is with Mary, is the Lord most just in equity, as it is well said in the Psalms[1]: “For the Lord is just, and hath loved justice;” and again[2]: “Thou art just, O Lord, and Thy judgment is right.” The Lord is most certainly just in all His judgments, in all His causes and in all His deeds – as again we see in the Psalms[3]: “The Lord is just in all His ways.” The Lord is so just in every path of justice that He will not depart from the way of justice for anyone; and therefore it is well said[4]:
“For God will not except any man’s person, neither will he stand in awe of any man's greatness: for he made the little and the great, and he hath equally care of all.”
Behold, O Mary, what kind of a Lord He is; what a Lord most just, the Lord who is with thee ! Now, because the Lord most just is with thee most justly, therefore art thou most just together with Him; for thou art the rod of Aaron[5], straight, flowering and fruitful : straight, indeed most straight, by justice and equity; flowering, by virginity; and fruitful, by fecundity. For what rod would be straight if not the rod of Aaron? What soul would be just if Mary were not just? This is why St. Bernard says[6]:
“Who is just, if not the just Mary, from whom sprang the Sun of Justice?[7]”
The Lord is with thee, therefore, O Mary most just.
Footnotes
[1] Psalm. x. 8.
[2] Psalm. cxviii. 37.
[3] Psalm. cxliv. 17.
[4] Wisdom vi. 8.
[5] Num. xvii. 8.
[6] Serm. in Natiy. B. M. V. n. 5.
[7] Mal. iv. 2.
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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.
He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.30-31.
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