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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 acknowledge that this text is in the Public Domain worldwide, attributing it to the text of a Dublin edition (author unknown) published in 1849.
Chapter 17 : To whom the fruit of the womb of the Blessed Mary belongs, and to whom it is due
Part 1
Benedictus fructus ventris tui. After we have seen, in some small measure, of what kind and how great the Fruit of the womb of Mary is and is believed to be, let us now see to whom it belongs and to whom it is due. This Fruit is not only the fruit of the womb, but also of the mind. It is the fruit of the womb of Mary alone but it is the fruit of the mind of any faithful soul – the fruit of the womb according to the flesh and the fruit of the mind by faith. Therefore St. Ambrose says[1]:
“If according to the flesh there is only one Mother of Christ, nevertheless according to faith, Christ is the fruit for all; for every soul conceives the Word of God, if only it is immaculate and free from vices.”
Therefore, according to St. Ambrose, anyone who wishes to have this fruit of the mind should be free from vices; for Christ is not the fruit of a vicious mind infected by the seven capital vices but of the virtuous mind which combats these seven deadly sins. This fruit is therefore the fruit of the humble in rejection of pride, the fruit of those with fraternal love in rejection of envy, the fruit of the meek in rejection of anger, the fruit of the diligent in rejection of sloth, the fruit of the generous in rejection of avarice, the fruit of the temperate in rejection of gluttony and the fruit of the chaste in rejection of lust.
Footnotes
[1] II. in Luc. n. 26.
First, let us see how this blessed fruit is that of the humble in rejection of pride. On this we may understand what is said in the Book of Kings[1]:
“Whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda, shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary was of the house of Juda, and every faithful soul is of the house of Juda: the former physically, the latter spiritually; the former according to the flesh, the latter through faith. Accordingly, not only Mary but every faithful soul wishing to bear fruit upward, should take root downward. Taking root downward is humility; which, after the manner of roots, always tends to the lowest. The higher the tree of this blessed root, the deeper should be its root, as is written in Ecclesiasticus[2]:
“The greater thou art, the more thou shouldst humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God.”
Otherwise, the taller a tree is, the more danger there is of its being uprooted by the winds of elation if the roots are not firmly fixed in great and deep humility. Let us, therefore, ponder how deeply the root of this rod was established (in humility) which was to grow to so sublime a height that it deserved to bear a fruit higher than the Angels, that fruit indeed of which St. Ambrose says[3]:
“This fruit of the womb is the flower of the root, of whom Isaias says[4]: ‘There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of its root.’”
Whatever soul shall send downward this root of humility shall bear fruit upward; upward, I am saying, in elevated understanding and affection; upward in contemplation and upward in love. This blessed fruit is therefore that of the humble. Mary, above all human beings, was most worthy of this fruit because she surpassed everyone in being most deeply rooted in humility. Accordingly, St. Bernard proclaims most fittingly[5]:
“O Virgin, thou rod sublime, to what heights dost thou raise thy holy crown! Even unto the throne of Majesty, because thou takest root downward in thy humility.”