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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 12 : Mary as the stem which buds and flowers
Part 1
“The Lord is with thee.” Having seen how the Lord was with Mary as the sun is with the dawn which goes before it, let us now see how the Lord is with Mary as the flower is with the budding stem. For Mary is that rod of which it is said in Isaias[1]:
“There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness, and He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.”
Let us focus our mind’s eye on these words, directing our consideration first to the rod (or stem) and then to the flower.
First let us consider how this rod, this royal rod, is the Virgin Mary, as St. Ambrose testifies when speaking to the Blessed Virgin[2]:
“Thou thyself, who didst bring forth the Lord, didst grow into a rod out of the people of Israel; thou, the rod out of the root of Jesse[3], didst rise up and flower; thou didst like the rod of Aaron put forth leaves and buds[4].”
Mary is a smoking rod, a wooden rod, a golden rod and an iron rod. She is a rod of smoke for those who are beginning, a rod of wood for those who are progressing, a rod of gold for those who have reached maturity, and a rod of iron for the intractable.
I am saying that the Virgin Mary is as a rod of smoke for beginners and penitents. Of this rod it is said in the Canticle of Canticles[5]:
“Who is she that cometh up from the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?”
The desert is the heart of the sinner, who has allowed his heart to be deserted by grace and virtue. The aromatical smoke, the sweet smoke for the soul, is the aspiration of hope for pardon. The Blessed Virgin Mary, therefore, cometh up from the desert like a pillar of smoke when, by her prayers, the heart of the sinner receives the smoking incense of hope for pardon. This smoke is generated from the aromatical myrrh of contrition, from incense in confession, and from all the powders of the perfumer in multitudinous satisfactions. There is no desert the Virgin Mary most merciful will ignore, meaning no sinner she will reject, but wheresoever she passes, she spreads the sweet incense of pardon. Excellently, therefore, does St. Bernard say[6]:
“O dearest Mary : thou dost not abhor or despise any sinner, however foul, provided he but sighs to thee and begs with a repentant heart for thy pardon; thou drawest him back from the abyss of despair with thy loving hand; thou breathest upon him the healing medecine of hope; embracing him who is outcast of all the world, thou doth cherish him with thy maternal affection and wilt not desert him until he is reconciled with the terrible and awe-inspiring Judge[7].”
Footnotes
[1] Isai. xi. 1-3.
[2] Potius Fulgent. Ruspens., Serm. in Purif. B. M. V. n. 4.
[3] Isai. xi. 1.
[4] Num. xvii. 8.
[5] Cant. iii. 6.
[6] Egbert., loc. cit. n. 2.
[7] Cfr. Hebr. x. 30-31.
Again, Mary is the rod of wood, the rod which is flowering for those who are advancing. Of this rod it is said in the Book of Wisdom[1] that the rod of Aaron, which was of wood, bore flowers and fruit at the same time. By the flowers are signified virtues which, after the passing of the devilish winter, rise up in hearts, as it is well said in the Canticle[2]:
“For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land.”
Let the winter therefore pass, let the torpor and languor in which charity grows cold pass, and then the flowers of the virtues will appear on earth. Oh, with what flowers the flowering Virgin hath abounded, as St. Bernard says, speaking to her[3]:
“Thou art like a garden bed of holy aromatical spices[4], planted by the heavenly Perfumer; blossoming delightfully with the flowers of all the virtues.”
As the virtues are symbolised by flowers, so the works of the virtues are represented by the fruits. Of these it is well said[5]: “By their fruits you shall know them.” When, therefore, we advance in virtues and in the works of the virtues through the example and merits of Mary, then the Virgin Mary is for us a rod of wood, flowering and fruitful.
Footnotes
[1] Num. xvii. 8.
[2] Cant. ii. 11 seq.
[3] Egbert., loc. cit. n. 4.
[4] Cant. v. 13.
[5] Matt. vii. 16.
Likewise, the Virgin Mary is a golden rod for the perfect and contemplative. We read[1] of this rod how Esther with two maidens went in to see King Assuerus; and when she was almost in a swoon from exceeding fear, the King held out to her the golden sceptre to comfort her. Esther means “raised up” or “hidden,” and is a figure of the contemplative soul, whom God raises up in contemplation and hides in the secret of [His] face, from the disturbance of men[2]. This soul by contemplation enters into the King Assuerus, meaning Christ the King. The two maidens by whose help she enters are the two powers of the soul, namely the intellect which proceeds by way of knowledge, and the affections which follow by love. The soul which has thus entered into Christ, sometimes faints away in a kind of swoon, when she recognises the light inaccessible of the divine glory, or the terrible severity of the divine justice. The golden rod and the royal sceptre represent that golden and royal Lady, the Virgin Mary: golden indeed by her charity, royal indeed by her nobility; golden too by her purity, royal indeed by her justice; golden by her incorruption and virginal integrity, royal by her domination and regal power. This is the happy rod which is offered with clemency to comfort the contemplative soul, when the happy Virgin Mary, by contemplation and devotion of this soul which is so loving and sweet, enters into it; so that from this the soul is strengthened against fear of the divine splendour and justice. The contemplative soul of St. Anselm desired this rod to be stretched forth to him when he called out[3]:
“O Virgin fair to behold, lovable to contemplate, delightful to love, how dost thou flee the capacity of the heart? Surrender thyself, O Lady, to the soul in need who followeth thee.”