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
[The meanings of the name Mary; and why the Blessed Virgin's name is fittingly understood as meaning bitter sea, Star of the sea, Illuminatrix[1] and Lady]
Part 1 : A Bitter Sea
Ave Maria. As we have said above, the name Mary was inserted here not by the Angel, but by the devotion of the faithful. The Blessed Evangelist Luke makes clear that[2]: “. . . the name of the Virgin was Mary.” This most holy, sweet, and worthy name was eminently fitting to so holy, sweet, and worthy a virgin. For Mary means a bitter sea, star of the sea, illuminatrix and Lady. Mary is a bitter sea to the demons; to men she is the star of the sea ; to the angels she is illuminatrix, and to all creatures she is Lady. Mary, I say, is a bitter sea to the demons spiritually, star of the sea to men practically, illuminatrix to the Angels eternally, and Lady to all creatures universally.
Mary may be interpreted as: “a bitter sea” [mare amarum in Latin]; this is excellently suited to her power over the demons. Note in what way Mary is a sea, and in what way she is bitter, and how she is at once a sea and bitter. Mary is a sea by the abundant overflow of her graces; Mary is bitter through sharing in her Son’s Passion; and Mary is a bitter sea because she submerges and overwhelms the devil and his minions. Mary is indeed a sea through the inpouring of the Holy Spirit; she is bitter through the superabounding Passion of her Son; and she is a bitter sea by her power over the devil who is, as it were, submerged and drowned.
Consider, first, that Mary is called a sea because of the abundance of her graces. It is written in Ecclesiastes[3]: “All the rivers flow into the sea”. The rivers are the graces of the Holy Ghost, wherefore Jesus saith[4]:
“He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this he said of the Spirit which they should receive, who believed in him.”
All the rivers flow into the sea because all the graces of the saints flow into Mary. For the river of the grace of the Angels enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the Patriarchs enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the Apostles enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the Martyrs enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the Confessors enters into Mary; and the river of the grace of the Virgins enters into Mary. All rivers enter into the sea, that is, all graces enter into Mary. Therefore, she above all can say that word of Ecclesiasticus[5]:
“In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, and in me is all hope of life and of virtue.”
What wonder if all grace flowed into Mary, through whom such grace flowed forth upon all ! For St. Augustine says:
“Mary, thou art full of grace, which thou hast found with the Lord and hast merited to pour forth upon the whole world.”
Consider, secondly, that Mary in the Passion of her Son was filled with bitterness when her own soul a sword didst pierce[6]. Well could she say with Ruth[7]:
“Call me not Noemi, (that is, beautiful,) but call me Mara, (that is, bitter,) for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness.”
Noemi was bitter because of the death of her two sons. Noemi, who was at once beautiful and bitter, foreshadows Mary, beautiful indeed by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, but bitter by the Passion of her Son.
The two sons of Mary are the God-Man in His Divinity and the man in His humanity. Mary is
the Mother of one in the body, of the other in the spirit. Wherefore St. Bernard saith[8]:
“Thou art the Mother of the King, thou art the Mother of the exile; thou art the Mother of God, theJudge, and thou art the Mother of God and of man; as thou art the Mother of both, thou canst not bear discord between thy two sons.”
St. Anselm exclaims[9]:
“O blessed confidence, O safe refuge, Mother of God and our Mother!”
The two Sons of Mary were both slain in the Passion; the one in body, the other in mind; the one by the bitter death of the Cross, the other by infidelity of mind. And, therefore, Mary’s soul was filled with
exceeding bitterness, as St. Augustine testifies, saying[10]:
“That loving Mother crying out with intensity of pain, beating her enfeebled breast, had so fatigued her body and all its members that, tottering in her walk, she could scarcely drag herself to the obsequies of Christ.”
Thou seest now how Mary was a sea of the Holy Spirit; and in what manner she was a bitter sea in the death of her Son.
Thirdly, consider that Mary is a bitter sea to the devil and to his angels who are oppressed bitterly by her, just as the Red Sea was bitter to the Egyptians submerged in it, of whom we read in Exodus[11]:
“The Lord drew back upon them the waters of the sea.”
Oh, how bitter and dreadful is this sea to the Egyptians! Oh, how bitter and dreadful is Mary to the demons! Therefore, St. Bernard saith:
“Visible enemies fear not so greatly an immense multitude of hosts in battle array as the powers of the air fear the name, the patronage, and the example of Mary; they flow and melt like wax before the fire[12], wherever they find frequent recollection of this holy name, devout invocation of Mary, and diligent imitation of her.”
Thou seest now in what manner Mary is a sea by the abundance of her overflowing graces, how she is bitter through the vehemence of the Lord’s Passion, and how to the devils Mary is a bitter sea by the power she has of overwhelming them.
Footnotes
[1] Illuminatrix: she who enlightens, she who is spiritually enlightening.
[2] Luc.i. 27.
[3] Eccles. i. 7.
[4] John vii. 38-39. (cfr. Deut. 18, 15. et Joel. 2, 28.).
[5] Ecclesus. xxiv. 25.
[6] Luc. ii. 35.
[7] Ruth i. 20. See verse 5 for the deaths of her sons.
[8] Potius Adam. Porsen., Mariale, serm. 1. ante medium.
[9] Orat. 52. (alias 51.) post medium.
[10] Locum apud S. Augustinum non invenimus; cfr. tamen Bonav., Vitis myst., c. 9. n. 1.
[11] Exod. xv. 19.
[12] Psal,. lxvii. 3: As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
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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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