The Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary : Chapter 12 : Mary as the stem which buds and flowers (Pt 2)

The Annunciation, early 1460s; by

Willem Vrelant.The Getty Museum, L.A.

The following posts contain the text of a work by St Bonaventure (1221-1274) known as Speculum Beatæ Mariæ Virginis : The Mirror of the Blessed Virgin.

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 12 : Mary as the stem which buds and flowers

Part 2

Let us now consider the flower of this rod and we shall find in the royal rod which is the Virgin

Mary a fourfold flower: a flower of precious virginity, a flower of virtuous reputation, of miraculous fecundity and of glorious immortality.

Let us consider firstly the flower of precious virginity in Mary. Of this it is said in Isaias[1]: 

“The wilderness shall rejoice and shall flower like the lily.” 

Mary can fittingly be said to be the wilderness[2] or desert, for she was so willing to be alone and was in her voluntary solitude visited by an Angel. Therefore St. Ambrose well says[3]: 

“Alone in her secret sanctuary where no man might see her, the Angel alone found her alone with no companion and alone with no witness.”  

In what manner this wilderness, meaning the Virgin Mary in her solitude, should rejoice, let her say in her own words and let us attend to them[4]: 

“And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” 

This desert flowered like a lily through her virginity. O angelical lily! O heavenly flower! O truly heavenly flower whom that supercelestial Bee hath so loved! For St. Bernard saith[5]: 

“That Bee who feedeth among the lilies[6], who dwelleth in the flowering homeland of the Angels, flew to Nazareth, which is interpreted as meaning flower; He came to the sweetly fragrant flower of thy perpetual virginity; He lighted upon it and cleaved to it.” 

The flower of virginity has as many petals as the conditions and praises of virginity. Oh, how greatly the crowns of this flower were multiplied by Mary! Whence St. Ambrose saith[7]: 

“Throughout the whole world, the virginal flower that is Mary weaves unfading crowns and preserves the sceptre-wielding court of purity with affection free from all stains. Her integrity hath persevered unto the palm of victory, enabling maidens to gain the trophy of sanctity and, following the footsteps of the Virgin Mother, to attain the heavenly bridal chamber.” 

Footnotes

[1] Isaias (Isaiah) xxxv. 1.

[2] wilderness: The Latin word in Isaias is solitudo in the Vulgate which is translated in Douay-Rheims as “wilderness”; the author repeats the word here with its other meaning of “solitude.” See solitudo at Logeion.

[3] II. in Luc. n. 8.

[4] Luc. i. 47.

[5] Serm. 2. de AdTentu Dom. n. 3.

[6] Cant. ii. 16.

[7] Serm. 48. de Sanct. (inter opera Ambros.) n. 1.

Secondly, consider in Mary the flower of virtuous reputation, (i.e., her manners and life), and let us hear what she herself says[1]: 

“My flowers are the fruits of honour and riches[2].” 

O how beautiful is this flower of a virtuous and honourable life, this flower of morality and discipline! We may note the plural is used, “My flowers,” and we can therefore say that there are as many flowers in morals as there are virtues; there are as many flowers in an honourable and honest life as there are virtues that make up such a life. Of these it is said[3]: “The flowers have appeared in our land;” it is also said[4]: “Our bed is flowering.” Behold, we find flowers in the earth and in the bed. The earth is the mind of active (souls); the bed is the mind of contemplatives. The earth, I am saying, is the mind bearing fruit in good actions; but the bed is the mind seeking quiet in contemplation. Whether the mind be active or contemplative, it should always be beautiful with flowers. Note also that the flower of honesty, of a good reputation – yea, the flower of any virtue – has as many petals as it has good and meritorious works. Oh, how flowering was that earth and how flowering was the bed of Mary who, in the flowering virtue of her life, flourished in the beauty of every virtue. St. Bernard testifies to this, saying[5]: 

“Thou art the bed of aromatical spices and perfumes[6], O Mary, planted by the heavenly Perfumer, blooming so delightfully with the beautiful flowers of every virtue. Amidst these beautiful flowers the excellence of three is to be wondered at: the violet of humility, the lily of chastity, and the rose of charity.”

Footnotes

[1] Ecclesus. xxiv. 23.

[2] In the Latin, “of [virtuous] reputation” and “of riches” are translations of the one Latin word honestatis.

[3] Cant. ii. 12.

[4] Cant. i. 16.

[5] Egbert., loc. cit. n. 4.

[6] Cant. v. 13.

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The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.

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. 

 

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.