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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 13 : How Blessed Mary may be compared to the Queen entering the palace with the King
Part 1
The Lord is with thee, O Lady most dear to the Lord and most intimate with the Lord! The Lord is with thee, O Lady most suited and most worthy of the Lord! The Lord is with thee: with thee most certainly, according to what has been said above, as the Sun is with the dawn which precedes it, as the flower is with the stem which produces it, and as the King is with the Queen entering into His palace. We have seen how Mary is as the dawn to the eternal Sun, how she heralds the Sun of justice; we have seen too how Mary is as the stem or rod bringing forth the eternal flower which is the flower of mercy. Let us now consider how Mary is the Queen of the Eternal King and enters into His eternal glory. Mary is that Queen of whom it is written[1] : the Queen of Saba entered into Jerusalem with a great train and with riches. Truly Mary is Queen, for as St. Augustine says[2]:
“We truly confess her to be the Queen of Heaven, because she brought forth the King of angels.”
I have spoken of this Queen previously in my sermon, “The Queen stood on thy right hand, etc.”[3]; we shall now speak of her entrance, considering how we find we find Mary coming forth, going forward, entering in, and going above. Her coming forth was of nature, her going forward was of grace, her entering in was of glory, her going above was of superabundance. She came forth by being born, she went forward by advancing, she entered in by attaining and she went above by surpassing all the Saints. She came forth without sin, she made progress beyond compare, she entered in without obstacle and she surpassed all without limits.
Footnotes
[1] 3 Kings (1 Kings) x. 1-2.
[2] Serm. 208. append. (alias 35. de Sanct.) n. 2.
[3] Psalm. xliv. 10. See Preface.
First, consider how we find Mary coming forth into the world by her nativity without sin.…
[Editor’s note: The following paragraph in square brackets is frequently omitted in translations because it is seen as contradicting or qualifying the Church’s magisterium concerning Mary’s Immaculate Conception. I have included it for the benefit of any readers who might wish to explore the author’s thinking on this matter. For one summary of the issue, see “The Controversy” in the Catholic Encyclopedia’s entry Immaculate Conception.]
[For she can be that vessel, of which it is said in Proverbs[1]:
“Take away the rust from the silver, and a most pure vessel will come forth.”
The rust was taken away from the silver when Mary was sanctified from original sin in the womb and certainly she came forth as a most pure vessel. Here we must distinguish between a vessel which is pure, one that is more pure and one that is most pure. A pure vessel in coming forth was whosoever proceeded from the womb thus sanctified, but in whom the fomes[2] of both mortal and venial sin remained, as some say[3] with reference to Jeremiah[4]. But a purer vessel was whosoever came forth from the womb thus sanctified where the fomes of mortal sin was extinguished but remained for venial sin, as in blessed John the Baptist, of whom the Church sings[5]: “So that he cannot stain his life even with a slight word.”[6] The most pure vessel in the matter of coming forth was the blessed Virgin, who emerged from the womb so sanctified that in her, as is believed, the fomes of neither mortal nor venial sin remained. Blessed Bernard rightly says[7]:
“I think that a more abundant blessing of sanctification descended upon her which not only sanctified her origin but also kept her life from then on free from all sin.”
Therefore, the rust of original sin having been removed, a pure vessel came forth from the womb in Jeremiah, a purer vessel in John the Baptist and a most pure vessel in Mary.]
Footnotes
[1] Prov. xxv. 4.
[2] fomes (singular in Latin and in Eglish): "the fomes, consisting in the rebellion of the lower powers against the reason, is a punishment of original sin:" See Aquinas: S.T. III, Q.27, A.3.
[3] Vide Bonav., III. Sent. d. 3. p. I, a. 1. q. 3.
[4] Vide: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying : Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee. Jerem. i. 4.
[5] Breviar. in festo S. loan. Bapt., Hymn. ad Matut. ante emendationem ; nunc legitur : c Ne levi posses maculare vitam CrinHne linguae». — Hymnus iste attribuitur Paulo Diacono.
[6] Forcellini, Lexicou etc. : Famen, verbale a for, faris; verbum, sermo.
[7] Epist. 174. n. 5.
Secondly, let us consider how we find Mary advancing by her grace without equal, whence it is written in the Canticle[1]:
“Who is she that cometh forth as the rising dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?”
Mary is fittingly compared to these three luminaries – that is, the dawn, the moon and the sun – on account of the three excellent perfections that shine forth in her. The brightness of virginity shone forth outstandingly in her mind and body; the brightness of fecundity shone forth outstandingly in her virginity; and the brightness of her singular qualities shone forth outstandingly in her fecundity. The Blessed Virgin was a refreshing dawn and one pleasing to the birds of the air. Through her virginity, she cooled the ardour of the flesh, as St. Bernard says in words he addressed to her[2]:
“By the virtue of chastity thou didst extinguish in thy virginal flesh the ardour of forbidden concupiscence; and He (in whose sight even the stars are not pure) judged thy flesh to be of such purity that He deigned to unite it to His own divine purity.”
She also by her virginity was pleasing to the birds of heaven, that is, to the Angels of God, for as St. Jerome says[3]:
“Virginity is always known to be an attribute of the angels.”
Thus we read that the Angel blessed Jacob in the dawn[4]. Jacob may here signify a chaste spirit, because Jacob was to supplant his brother, that is, his body[5]. He was blessed not only by his Father, but also by the Angel in the dawn, that is, in the Virgin Mary most chaste, to whom the Angel said[6]:
“Blessed art thou among women.”