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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 14 : Blessed art thou among women
Part 5
Again, Mary is not only blessed because through her the Lord has been appeased towards man, not only is she blessed because man through her becomes acceptable to God, but she is also blessed because through her the devil can be overcome by man. She is, therefore, represented by Judith of whom it is said[1] :
“The Lord hath blessed thee in his power, because by thee he hath brough our enemies to naught.”
Our enemies are the demons whom the Blessed Virgin brought to naught when she brought their wiles to naught in herself and in many others, as St. Bernard says[2]:
“Thou art an outstanding warrior; the horde of evil spirits has been put to flight before thy face.”
Let us, therefore, fly to the Mother of the Lord and seek her help and protection against all the wiles and attacks of the devil; for to the enemies of our souls, she is terrible as an army set in battle array[3]. Alas, how manifold is our misery, for which we truly need the blessings and kindness of Mary. Let us, therefore, invoke this mercy and this blessing with St. Bernard, when he says[4]:
“O blessed Virgin, through thy holy prayers may the grace of that piety thou didst merit from God, make known and available to the world pardon for sinners, healing for the sick, strength for the faint-hearted, help and deliverance for those in danger.”
We have seen, O most sweet Mary, that thou art truly blessed because of thy manifold acts of kindness. Blessed, I say, because by thee God is appeased towards man; blessed because by thee man is made pleasing to God; and blessed because through thee the devil is overcome by man. Alas, how far from this blessing of Mary are they who are not pleasing to God, they towards whom God’s wrath is not appeased, and they who are subject to the devil; souls such as these are accursed of God.
Footnotes
[1] Judith. xiii. 22.
[2] Egbert., loc. cit. n. 5.
[3] Cant. vi. 3.
[4] Serm. 4. in Assumt. B. M. V. n. 9.
Fourthly, consider how truly Mary is blessed because of the greatness of her glory, according to the words of Ezechiel[1]:
“Blessed be the glory of the Lord, from his place.”
The glory of the Lord is the glorious Mother of God who is truly blessed because of the glory which she possesses from two places. She is blessed, I am saying, from the place wherein her Son rested in her womb; and she is also blessed from the place where she rests with her Son in Heaven. Both these places are most worthy, as appears in the words of St. Bernard[2]:
“There was not in the world a more venerable place than the temple of virginal womb into which Mary received the Son of God; nor in Heaven, than the regal throne to which the Son of Mary elevated Mary.”
Blessed is Mary, therefore, because of her glory; blessed indeed because of her most sublime, most abundant and most enduring glory. Blessed, I say, because of her glory most sublime in dignity; blessed because of her glory most copious in immensity; and blessed because of her glory most enduring in stability.
I am saying that Mary is blessed because of her glory most excellent in dignity. Of this blessing can be understood those words of the Psalmist[3]:
“Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy goodness.”
Note that there is a year of equanimity, a year of severity, and a year of goodness. The first year is that of those still fighting in this world; the second is that of those weeping in the nether regions; and the third is that of those rejoicing in Heaven. The first year has days and nights; the second has nights, but no days; and the third has days, but no nights. I say that the first year has days and nights, that is, the good and the bad who are together in this world; for there are as many days and nights in this year as there are good and evil people in the world. The second year has nights only, that is, only sinners who are darker than night; for there are as many nights in this year as there are sinners in hell. The third year has only days, that is, the good, who are more resplendent than the day; there are as many days in this year as there are just souls in Heaven. In the first year, that of equanimity, the good and the evil are equally tolerated; in the second year, that of severity, the evil are most severely tormented; in the third year, that of goodness, the good are most benignantly crowned. The blessed crown of this year is the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is without doubt the crown of all the days in this year, for she is the crown of all the Saints in Heaven. Just as a crown is put on the head, so is Mary placed over the heads of all the Saints and she is exalted over all their heads. As St. Jerome says[4]:
“She deserved to be placed above the choirs of the angels; and she went beyond the lowliness of our nature.”
Without doubt the Son of Mary is the highest crown of the Saints; but Mary is the Crown beneath this Crown. It is manifest, therefore, how sublimely blessed is our crown, our Mother Mary. Let us all, therefore, follow her who is so sublimely blessed, so blessed indeed that St. Bernard says[5]:
“We have not here a lasting city, but we seek[6] the one which Mary has blessedly attained.”
Footnotes
[1] Isai. xix. 24-25.
[2] Psalm. lxxiii. 12.
[3] Serm. 2. in Pent. n. 4.
[4] Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxxvi. 18.
[5] Orat. 52. (alias 51.) circa medium.
[6] Orat. 52.
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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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