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 Annunciation, early 1460s; by Willem Vrelant (Flemish, died 1481, active 1454 - 1481). The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
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 3
Part 4 : Lady
After all the things we have spoken of so far, we now we have to consider how Mary is interpreted as meaning “Lady.” Such a title well becometh so great an Empress, who is in very deed the Sovereign Lady of the inhabitants of Heaven, of those who dwell upon earth and of those consigned to hell. She is, I say, the Lady of Angels, of men and of the demons; the Lady sovereign in Heaven, on earth, and in hell.
First, consider that Mary is the Lady of the Angels; for it was she who was foreshadowed by the Lady and Queen Esther, of whom we read[1] that
she leaned on one of her handmaids as if out of delicateness and overmuch tenderness; and another maid followed her mistress, bearing up her train flowing on the ground.
By Lady Esther the Queen we understand Mary our Queen; by the two servants, all creatures, men and angels. Oh, what a joy for us miserable men that the Angels have their Lord and their Lady from among us men! For Mary is most truly Queen of the Angels. St. Augustine, addressing her, says[2]:
“If I call thee Heaven, thou art higher; if I call thee the Mother of nations, thou art above this praise; if I style thee Lady of Angels, thou art proved to be so in every way; if I call thee the type or form of God, thou art worthy of this title.”
The soul of man is in truth like the handmaid who in this world follows the Lady, Mary, bearing up the train of the Lady’s garment – that is, gathering up the virtues and the example of Mary. But the Angelic intelligences are the handmaids on whom Mary, their Lady, as it were, leans in Heaven. She leans upon them by familiarly associating herself with them; she leans upon them most delicately by taking her delight in them; she leans upon them most fully and entirely by communicating herself in her plenitude to the Angels; she leans upon them as one most powerful by commanding them. Mary leans upon all the Angels by her power. St. Augustine says:
“Michael, the prince and leader of the heavenly host, with all the ministering spirits obeyeth, O Virgin, thy commands, by defending in the body and by receiving from the body the souls of the faithful, especially by presenting to thee, O Lady, those who day and night commend themselves to thee.”
Thus we see how Mary is the Lady of the Angels in Heaven.
Secondly, consider how Mary is the Lady of men in this world. Of this Lady it is said in the Psalm[3]:
“As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.”
The handmaid of the Lady Mary is every human soul, yea, the universal Church. The eyes of this handmaid should be ever on the hands of her mistress, for the eyes of the Church, the eyes of every one of us, should always look upon the hands of Mary, so that by her hands we may receive some good, and that we may offer to the Lord, by those same hands, whatever good we do. For it is by the hands of this Lady we have whatever good we possess, as St. Bernard testifies, saying[4]:
“God would have us obtain nothing which did not pass through the hands of Mary.”
By the hands of this Lady we should also offer to God whatever good we do, as St. Bernard exhorts, saying:
“What little thou offerest, take care to commend it to those hands most pleasing and worthy of all acceptance, the hands of Mary, if thou wouldst not be repulsed.”
It is well for us, beloved, it is indeed well for us that we have such a Lady, who hath towards us such generous hands, and is so powerful for us with her Son, that every one of us may approach her with confidence.” The most devout Anselm saith[5]:
“O great Lady, to whom the joyful multitude of the just giveth thanks, to whom fleeth the terrified crowd of sinners, to thee, O all-powerful and merciful Lady, I, an anxious sinner, have recourse.”
Thus we see firstly how Mary is the Lady of the Angels in heaven ; and secondly, how Mary is the Lady of men in the world.
Thirdly, consider how Mary is the Lady of the demons in hell, so powerfully subjugating them that of her we may understand the words of the Psalm[6]:
“The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.”
The sceptre of power is the Virgin Mary. She is the rod of Aaron[7] flowering by her virginity and fruitful by her fecundity. She is that rod of which it is said in Isaias[8]:
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse.”
This rod is the Virgin Mary, a rod of power against the infernal enemies whom she dominates by her great power. So great a Lady, of such great power, deserves to be loved by us, to be praised by us, to be prayed to by us, that she may protect us against our enemies. St. Anselm gives us the example when, speaking to such a great Lady, he says[9]:
“O Lady so very great, my heart desireth to love thee, my mouth to praise thee, my mind longeth to venerate thee, my soul desireth to beseech thee, because the whole of my being commends itself to thy protection.”
Thus we have seen how Mary is the Lady of Angels in Heaven, of men in this world, and of the demons in hell;
We have seen in this chapter how Mary may most fittingly be interpreted as meaning a bitter sea, the Star of the Sea, Illuminatrix and Lady. Mary is a bitter sea for the fallen angels who became demons, Star of the sea for converted men; Illuminatrix for the faithful Angels and Sovereign Lady of all creatures.
Let us pray, therefore, let us pray most devoutly and let us pray to Mary, saying:
O Mary, Bitter Sea, help us so that we may be plunged into the bitter sea of penance! O Mary, Star of the Sea, help us, so that we may be guided safely over the seas of this world! O Mary, Illuminatrix, help us, so that we may be eternally illumined in glory! O Lady Mary, help us so that by thy ministry we may be filially governed : Through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Footnotes
[1] She took two maids with her, and upon one of them she leaned, as if for delicateness and overmuch tenderness she were not able to bear up her own body. And the other maid followed her lady, bearing up her train flowing on the ground. Esther. xv. 5-7.
[2] Serm. 208. append. (alias 35.) n. 5.
[3] Psalm. cxxii. 2.
[4] Serm. 3. in Vig. Nativ. Dom. n. 10.
[5] Orat. 51. (alias 50.) in principio.
[6] Psalm. cix. 2.
[7] Num. xvii. 8.
[8] Isaia. xi. 1.
[9] Orat. 52. (alias 51.) in principio.
End of Chapter 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.
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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