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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 6 : The Fourfold Grace in Mary of Gifts, of Speech, of Privileges, and of Rewards
Part 3
We have seen, therefore, the seven glorious privileges of Mary by which we obtain the life of grace. We may therefore implore Mary, as Abraham implored Sara[1]:
“Say, I beseech thee, that thou art my sister, that it may be well with me because of thee, and that my soul may live by thy grace.”
O Mary, our Sara, say that thou art our sister, that because of thee it may be well for us with God, and that because of thy grace our souls may live in God. Say O Mary, our most beloved Sara, that thou art our sister, so that – just as for the sake of such a sister the Egyptians showed their reverence – so too in our case the evil spirits may shrink in reverence before us; that, because of such a sister, the Angels may fight for us; and that above all, for the sake of such a sister, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost may have mercy on us.
Footnotes
[1] Luc. i. 30-32.
Fourthly, consider in Mary the grace of her rewards, which we have already mentioned in speaking of her seventh privilege. To this grace can be applied that word of Ecclesiasticus[1]:
“Grace upon grace hath a chaste and holy woman.”
The woman chaste above all women and holy above all women is Mary; she is the woman in whom is grace above grace[2], the grace of glory above the grace of the way, the grace of rewards in Heaven above the grace of merits in this world. This grace of the beatitude of Mary consists in seven gifts of body and of soul. Every glorified body has four glorious gifts: the gift of wondrous clarity, the gift of wondrous subtlety, the gift of wondrous agility, and the gift of wondrous impassibility. Now if God hath glorified the bodies of all the blessed with these four glorious gifts, how much more so will the body of her who brought forth Him who is the Glorifier of all bodies? What wonder if her gift of clarity is the brightest in Heaven, who by the gift of holiness was so resplendent in this world that St. Bernard says of her[3]:
“While yet thou didst live among sinners, thou didst shine before God with such sanctity that thou alone didst merit to come close to the throne of the eternal King.”
Again, what wonder if by the gift of subtlety she is most subtle in all of Heaven who by the gift of humility was most subtle in this world? Speaking to her, Blessed Bernard says[4]:
“Thou wouldst never have ascended far above all the choirs of Angels, if on earth thou hadst not lowered thyself by humility below all men.”
Again, what wonder if by the gift of agility she is swiftest in Heaven, who on earth was so swift to act through her gift of loving kindness? For in the offices of charity she went with haste into the hill country[5], of the swiftness of this haste St. Ambrose says[6]:
“Whither would she, who was now full of God, hasten – unless into the hill country with haste? For the grace of the Holy Spirit knoweth no tardiness in undertakings.”
Again, what wonder if by the gift of impassibility she is impassible in Heaven who by the gift of patience and equanimity was so impassible in this world that she never felt the slightest impatience or hatred when her own soul was pierced by a sword[7]? For we neither read nor believe that the least sign of impatience ever appeared in Mary. St. Bernard says[8]:
“Diligently go through the whole of the Gospel story, and if thou discoverest in Mary the least sign of rebuke, of harshness, or of indignation, then thou might have doubts about her and hesitate to approach her.”
Footnotes
[1] Ecclesiasticus xxvi. 19..
[2] Cfr. Ioan. i. 16.
[3] Potius Egbert., sermo panegyr. ad B. M. V. n. 1
[4] Ibid. n. 5.
[5] Luc.i. 39.
[6] II. in Luc. n. 19.
[7] Luc. ii. 35.
[8] Serm. de Dom. infra Oct. Assumt. B. M. V. n. 2.
If such is the glory of Mary’s most glorious body, what, thinkest thou is the glory of her most blessed soul? Every blessed soul has three gifts which render the soul blessed: the gift of wondrous knowledge, the gift of wondrous love and the gift of wondrous fruition, (or, to put it in a more modern way, vision, possession or enjoyment[1]). But in whatever manner the gifts of Mary are expressed, it is certain that these gifts surpass those of all other souls. For if all blessed souls are endowed with these gifts in Heaven, how much more the soul of her who brought forth in this world the soul of Him who beatifies of all souls? What wonder is it if Mary’s soul now shineth most brightly with knowledge, being already most profoundly united with eternal light? St. Bernard says[2]:
“She penetrated the most profound abyss of divine Wisdom in ways unimaginable and, as far as the condition of a creature is capable, she was united to that Light inaccessible[3].”
Again, what wonder if the soul of Mary is immersed in most fecund love? What wonder if she is loving above all, who is herself before all beloved? Truly, before and above all, for St. Augustine thus addresses her[4]:
“Loving thee above all as His true Mother and Spouse, The King of kings is joined to thee in the embrace of love.”
Again, what wonder if the soul of Mary, who was fed by the most blessed Fruit of her womb, is immersed in most delightful fruition? St. Augustine says[5]:
“Mary in the brightness of of her soul enjoys Christ and His glorious embraces; He is always present and she is always beholding Him, always thirsting to see Him, being ineffably nourished by Him.”
Footnotes
[1] “fruition” : The action of enjoying; enjoyment; spec. the pleasure arising from possession of something; (pleasurable or beneficial) possession. †in the fruition of: in the possession of. Now rare. Frequently (esp. in early and later use) in religious or spiritual contexts. e.g., The nature of an Aungel, and also of a sowle is for to resten ioyefully in knowynge of his creatour, whiche the Aungel hath by very fruycion. 1483 (1413). OED 1.
[2] Ibid. n. 3.
[3] 1 Tim. vi. 16.
[4] Serm. 208. append. cit. n. 11.
[5] Auctor lib. de Assumt. B. M. V. (int. opera August.) c. 6.
Therefore, as the most glorious Mary exceeds all Saints in the grace of the way and in the grace of merits, so she exceeds all Saints in the grace of glory and in the grace of rewards. Therefore, she is well foreshadowed by Queen Esther[1], of whom we read that, being brought to the chamber of King Assuerus, she found favour and kindness before him above all women, and he placed the diadem of the kingdom upon her head. Esther may be understood as meaning “elevated/raised above.”[2] This is eminently suited to Mary, of whom St. Jerome says[3]:
“She is raised above the choirs of Angels, that she may behold the beauty and the countenance of the Saviour, whom she had loved and desired with all the desire of her heart.”
Just as Queen Esther was led into the chamber of King Assuerus, the blessed Virgin Mary at her Assumption was led into the chamber of the Eternal King, of which incident St. Augustine, addressing Mary, says[4]:
“Thou standest in the chamber of the King, adorned in blessedness with gems and pearls.”
Mary is Queen who, being led into the chamber of everlasting rest, possesses the favour and grace of King Assuerus, meaning the grace of the True King, above all women – that is, above all angelical intelligences, and above all beatified souls – so that in Mary there are found grace upon grace, above that of all the blessed. And in very truth the King of kings placed upon her head the diadem of the kingdom, a truly priceless diadem, so delightful, so wondrous, that no tongue can fitly speak of it and it is incomprehensible to every intellect.
So, dearly beloved, you have seen with what great grace of gifts Mary is enriched, the great grace of the lips, the great grace of her privileges, and the great grace of her superabundant rewards. Let us, therefore, beseech her who found these graces that she may help us to find grace with God, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Footnotes
[1] Esth. 2, 16. seq.
[2] Commonly interpreted as “hidden”; vide Lyran. et De La Haye, Biblia Max. in hunc locum. Gfr. Bonav., tom. VIII. pag. 815 n. 16. seq. et tom. IX. pag. 711 a, ubi dicitur « Esther elevata in populis».
[3] Epist. cit. n. 13.
[4] Serm. 208. cit. n. 11.
[End of Chapter 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.
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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