The Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary : Chapter 7 : The Nine Plenitudes of Mary (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 7 : The Nine Plenitudes of Mary

In which she surpasses the nine plenitudes of the Angelic orders in glory.

Part 2

Thirdly, let us consider that Mary is in very truth full of the riches of a good life. Of this plenitude we can truly say[1]: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” By the earth is signified Mary, of whom we read in Isaias[2]: “Let the earth be opened, and bud forth a saviour!” What more lowly than the earth? What more useful? We all tread the earth under our feet, and draw from it the nourishment of our life. Whence have we food and clothing, bread and wine, wool and thread, and all the necessaries of life except from the earth, and from the fullness of the earth? What, therefore, is more lowly, what more useful than the earth? In like manner, what is more humble, what more useful than Mary? She by her humility is the very least of all; by her fullness of grace, the most useful of all. For we have all that is needful for our spiritual life through Mary, who is most fully stocked like the earth. Well therefore doth St. Bernard say[3]: 

“Let us look more deeply and see with how great a depth of devotion He wishes Mary to be honoured by us for He hath placed the fullness of all good in Mary, so that if we have any ground for hope or for salvation we should know that it is from her that it springs.” 

But from whom and to whom is such great fulness of the earth? Hear now the Psalmist[4]: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.” Again it is written in the Psalms[5]: “The world is mine, and the fulness thereof.” The fullness of the earth consists in fruits and divers riches, according to the Psalmist[6]: “The earth is filled with Thy riches.” The fruits and the riches of this most full earth that is Mary are the works, the examples, and the divers merits of the most holy life of Mary. The Lord filled her with such riches and with so great gifts that it is said[7]:

 “The Lord looked upon the earth, and filled it with his goods.”  

St. Jerome, speaking of this fullness, says[8]: 

“It was fitting that the Virgin should be pledged with such gifts, that she should be full of grace, she who gave glory to the heavens, God to the earth, who restored peace, put an end to vices, brought back order to life, and discipline to manners.”

Footnotes

[1] Psalm. xxiii. 1.

[2] Isaias xlv. 8.

[3] Serm. in Nativ. B. M. V. n. 6.

[4] Psalm. xxiii. 1.

[5] Psalm. xlix. 12.

[6] Psalm. ciii. 24.

[7] Ecclesiasticus xvi. 30..

[8] Epist. cit. n. 5.

Fourthly, let us consider how Mary is full of the unction of mercy and the oil of piety. Therefore she may be signified by that woman who, having shut the door of her house and gathered inside all her vessels, they were miraculously filled with oil, according to what Eliseus had prophesied to her, saying[1]: “when they are full, take them away.” This woman is Mary, who was called “woman” by her Son in the Gospel of St. John, where we read[2]: “Woman, behold thy Son.” The vessels of this woman are her affections and her deeds, her desires and her benefits, which in Mary are all full of the oil of mercy. St. Bernard saith of this oil[3]: 

“No wonder, dearest Lady, if the sanctuary is so copiously anointed with the oil of the mercy of thy heart when that inestimable work of mercy, which God had predestined from all eternity in our redemption, was first of all introduced within thee by the Maker of the world.” 

Let us, therefore, say to Mary[4]: “Give us of your oil.” Let us beg for the oil of her mercy in this world, lest we should ask in vain at the judgment. That the house in which the vessels were filled should also have been closed, is admirably suited to Mary, of whose spiritual enclosure Ezechiel says[5]: 

“This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut.” 

The gate of Mary was closed by the lock of virginity; no man had passed through it in the conjugal embrace; the Lord God came forth through her by a singular manner of birth. Because – for the multiplication of the oil – many vessels were collected from the neighbours, therefore by these vessels we may understand all those who have been partakers of the mercies of Mary. , St. Bernard explains who these are when he says[6]: 

“Mary has opened the bosom of her mercy to all so that all may receive of her fullness: the captive, redemption; the sick, healing; the sorrowful, consolation; the sinner, pardon; the just, grace; the Angel, joy; the person of the Son, the substance of human flesh; and finally the whole Trinity, glory.”

Footnotes

[1] 4 Kings (2 Kings) iv. 4.

[2] Ioan. xix. 26.

[3] Egbert., Sermo paneg. ad B. M. V. n. 2.

[4] Matt. xxv. 8.

[5] Ezech. xliv. 2.

[6] Serm. in Dom. inf. Oct. Assumt. B. M. V. d. 2.

+       +        +

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. 

The Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary : Chapter 7 : The Nine Plenitudes of Mary (Pt 1)

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 7 : The Nine Plenitudes of Mary

In which she surpasses the nine plenitudes of the Angelic orders in glory.

Part 1

Ave, gratia plena. It was not enough for the Archangel simply to commend the grace of Mary; he wished also to insist emphatically on its fullness when he uttered the words: “full of grace.” O truly full, and fully full! Gabriel had not yet said: “Behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb.” He had not yet said: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.” If, therefore, before the coming upon her of the Holy Ghost and before the conception of the Son of God, Mary was full of grace, how much more so afterwards? Therefore Augustine aptly says of her fullness and of the fullness of her gratitude[1]: 

“She, having being saluted by the Angel and already a thousand times full (of grace), was filled with the Holy Ghost and perfused with the divine plenitude so that she was to cry out: My soul doth magnify the Lord[2].” 

Well, therefore, is Mary said to be full of grace; filled, I say, with the illumination of wisdom, filled with the infusion of grace, filled with a good life, filled with the unction of mercy, filled with the fecundity which was to bear fruit in a pious offspring, filled with the perfection of the Church, filled with the fragrance of fair fame, filled with the resplendence of divine glory and filled with the enjoyment of eternal gladness. Let us consider these nine plenitudes in Mary, which surpass the nine plenitudes of the Angelic orders in glory. 

Footnotes

[1] Serm. 208. append. (alias 53.) n. 6.

[2] Luc. i. 30-32.

First let us consider that Mary is full of the illumination of wisdom and understanding. She may aptly be symbolised by that full moon of which is said in the Book of Proverbs[1]: 

“My husband is not at home, he is gone on a very long journey. He took with him a bag of money: he will return home the day of the full moon.” 

This is that Man of whom Jeremias saith[2]: 

“The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth, a woman shall encompass a man.” 

The woman is Mary, a woman certainly not by corruption, but by sex, who encompassed the man of virtue, our Lord, within her womb, encompassing Him with our garment. This Man – if indeed, as Josephus saith[3], it be lawful to call Him a man – has three houses. It belongs to imperial majesty to have three mansions in the palace, namely, a reception or assembly room, a supper-room, and a bedchamber. The assembly chamber is the place for conversation and discussions; the supper-room, for food; and the bedchamber, for rest. So our Emperor, who commands the winds and the sea[4], has His assembly chamber which is the world; He has His refreshment-room which now is the Church and was, of old, the Synagogue; and He has His place of rest, namely, the rational soul of man. But alas! this Man, the Lord of hosts, had been very far distant from His house of the world, His house of the synagogue, and His house of the soul, for “salvation is far from sinners[5].” This Man was not in His house when Jeremias complained[6]: 

“I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance.” 

He took the bag of money with him when He hid the treasure of His mercies and His grace from the world. But lo! this Man came back on the day of the full moon – of that moon, I say, which is said in the Canticle of Canticles[7] to be: “Fair as the moon.” This moon, therefore, is Mary; the full moon is Mary full of grace. Well is Mary compared to the moon, because by the Eternal Sun she is fully illuminated with the light of wisdom and truth. Therefore, the name Mary is well interpreted illuminated or illuminatrix[8]. For she, who is our moon and our lamp, was illuminated by the Lord, and she was the illuminatrix of the world, according to that prophetic word[9]: “For thou lightest my lamp.” In the fullness of this moon, the Man came back to his house when Christ came into this world in the flesh. O truly wonderful fullness of this moon! Behold, if Mary was full of the light of wisdom which she received from the Eternal Sun before she conceived Him; how much more full was she after she so wonderfully conceived this Sun, and so entirely received Him within herself ! Well, therefore, saith St. Bernard when commending the fullness of the wisdom of Mary[10]: 

“Heavenly wisdom built for Himself a house in Mary: for He so filled her mind that from the very fullness of her mind her flesh became fecund, and the Virgin by a singular grace brought forth that same Wisdom, covered with a garb of flesh, whom she had first conceived in her pure mind.”

Footnotes

[1] Esth. 2, 16. seq.

[2] Commonly 

[3] Epist. cit. n. 13.

[4] Serm. 208. cit. n. 11.

[5] Esth. 2, 16. seq.

[6] Commonly 

[7] Epist. cit. n. 13.

[8] Serm. 208. cit. n. 11.

[9] Epist. cit. n. 13.

[10] Serm. 208. cit. n. 11.

Secondly, let us consider how Mary is full the inundation of grace in her affections, for in Mary this inundation was so great in its depth and magnitude  that she could well be called as full as the sea according to those words[1]: “Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof.” As in the sea there is a gathering together of waters, so in Mary is a gathering together of graces. Therefore it is written[2]: 

“The gathering together of the waters, he called Seas.”  

It is also said in Ecclesiastes[3]: “All the rivers run into the sea.” All the rivers are the gifts of the graces which entered into Mary, as is written[4]: 

“In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue.” 

How full is this sea, how full of grace is Mary, St. Jerome declares, saying[5]: 

“Truly full, because on others it is bestowed only in part whereas on Mary the whole plenitude of grace was poured at once.” 

Let us hear this sea in its fullness roar against vices. Let the sea roar, therefore, and the fullness thereof, let the full sea, let the full Mary, roar. Let it roar against luxury, preach chastity, and say[6]: 

“How shall this be done, for I know not man?” 

Let it also roar against pride, by humility, saying[7]: 

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” 

Let it roar against ingratitude, giving thanks and saying[8]: 

“My soul doth magnify the Lord.” 

Of the fullness of this sea it is likewise said in the Psalm[9]: “Let the sea be moved, and the fullness thereof.” Let the sea be moved, let Mary be moved, let her be moved by our sighs and mortifications, let her be moved by our tears and prayers, let her be moved by our alms and our other acts of veneration. Let her be moved fully, I say, that she may pour out on us of her fullness. Let us note what St. Bernard says in speaking of her: 

“If a vessel full of liquid is moved, its contents are easily spilt. So the Blessed Virgin Mary, if she is moved by our prayers, pours forth graces upon us.”

Footnotes

[1] 1 Paralipom. xvi. 32.

[2] Gen. i. 10.

[3] Ecclesiastes i. 7.

[4] Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 25.

[5] Epist. clt. n. 5.

[6] Luc. i. 34.

[7] Ibid. 38.

[8] Ibid. 46.

[9] Psalm. xcv. 11.

+       +        +

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. 

The Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary : Chapter 6 : The Fourfold Grace in Mary (Pt 3)

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 6 : The Fourfold Grace in Mary of Gifts, of Speech, of Privileges, and of Rewards

Part 3

We have seen, therefore, the seven glorious privileges of Mary by which we obtain the life of grace. We may therefore implore Mary, as Abraham implored Sara[1]: 

“Say, I beseech thee, that thou art my sister, that it may be well with me because of thee, and that my soul may live by thy grace.” 

O Mary, our Sara, say that thou art our sister, that because of thee it may be well for us with God, and that because of thy grace our souls may live in God. Say O Mary, our most beloved Sara, that thou art our sister, so that – just as for the sake of such a sister the Egyptians showed their reverence – so too in our case the evil spirits may shrink in reverence before us; that, because of such a sister, the Angels may fight for us; and that above all, for the sake of such a sister, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost may have mercy on us. 

Footnotes

[1] Luc. i. 30-32.

Fourthly, consider in Mary the grace of her rewards, which we have already mentioned in speaking of her seventh privilege. To this grace can be applied that word of Ecclesiasticus[1]: 

“Grace upon grace hath a chaste and holy woman.” 

The woman chaste above all women and holy above all women is Mary; she is the woman in whom is grace above grace[2], the grace of glory above the grace of the way, the grace of rewards in Heaven above the grace of merits in this world. This grace of the beatitude of Mary consists in seven gifts of body and of soul. Every glorified body has four glorious gifts: the gift of wondrous clarity, the gift of wondrous subtlety, the gift of wondrous agility, and the gift of wondrous impassibility. Now if God hath glorified the bodies of all the blessed with these four glorious gifts, how much more so will the body of her who brought forth Him who is the Glorifier of all bodies? What wonder if her gift of clarity is the brightest in Heaven, who by the gift of holiness was so resplendent in this world that St. Bernard says of her[3]: 

“While yet thou didst live among sinners, thou didst shine before God with such sanctity that thou alone didst merit to come close to the throne of the eternal King.” 

Again, what wonder if by the gift of subtlety she is most subtle in all of Heaven who by the gift of humility was most subtle in this world? Speaking to her, Blessed Bernard says[4]: 

“Thou wouldst never have ascended far above all the choirs of Angels, if on earth thou hadst not lowered thyself by humility below all men.” 

Again, what wonder if by the gift of agility she is swiftest in Heaven, who on earth was so swift to act through her gift of loving kindness? For in the offices of charity she went with haste into the hill country[5], of the swiftness of this haste St. Ambrose says[6]:

“Whither would she, who was now full of God, hasten – unless into the hill country with haste? For the grace of the Holy Spirit knoweth no tardiness in undertakings.” 

Again, what wonder if by the gift of impassibility she is impassible in Heaven who by the gift of patience and equanimity was so impassible in this world that she never felt the slightest impatience or hatred when her own soul was pierced by a sword[7]? For we neither read nor believe that the least sign of impatience ever appeared in Mary. St. Bernard says[8]: 

“Diligently go through the whole of the Gospel story, and if thou discoverest in Mary the least sign of rebuke, of harshness, or of indignation, then thou might have doubts about her and hesitate to approach her.”

Footnotes

[1] Ecclesiasticus xxvi. 19..

[2] Cfr. Ioan. i. 16.

[3] Potius Egbert., sermo panegyr. ad B. M. V. n. 1

[4] Ibid. n. 5.

[5] Luc.i. 39.

[6] II. in Luc. n. 19.

[7] Luc. ii. 35.

[8] Serm. de Dom. infra Oct. Assumt. B. M. V. n. 2.

If such is the glory of Mary’s most glorious body, what, thinkest thou is the glory of her most blessed soul? Every blessed soul has three gifts which render the soul blessed: the gift of wondrous knowledge, the gift of wondrous love and the gift of wondrous fruition, (or, to put it in a more modern way, vision, possession or enjoyment[1]). But in whatever manner the gifts of Mary are expressed, it is certain that these gifts surpass those of all other souls. For if all blessed souls are endowed with these gifts in Heaven, how much more the soul of her who brought forth in this world the soul of Him who beatifies of all souls? What wonder is it if Mary’s soul now shineth most brightly with knowledge, being already most profoundly united with eternal light? St. Bernard says[2]: 

“She penetrated the most profound abyss of divine Wisdom in ways unimaginable and, as far as the condition of a creature is capable, she was united to that Light inaccessible[3].” 

Again, what wonder if the soul of Mary is immersed in most fecund love? What wonder if she is loving above all, who is herself before all beloved? Truly, before and above all, for St. Augustine thus addresses her[4]: 

“Loving thee above all as His true Mother and Spouse, The King of kings is joined to thee in the embrace of love.” 

Again, what wonder if the soul of Mary, who was fed by the most blessed Fruit of her womb, is immersed in most delightful fruition? St. Augustine says[5]: 

“Mary in the brightness of of her soul enjoys Christ and His glorious embraces; He is always present and she is always beholding Him, always thirsting to see Him, being ineffably nourished by Him.” 

Footnotes

[1] “fruition” : The action of enjoying; enjoyment; spec. the pleasure arising from possession of something; (pleasurable or beneficial) possession. †in the fruition of: in the possession of. Now rare. Frequently (esp. in early and later use) in religious or spiritual contexts.  e.g., The nature of an Aungel, and also of a sowle is for to resten ioyefully in knowynge of his creatour, whiche the Aungel hath by very fruycion. 1483 (1413). OED 1.

[2] Ibid. n. 3.

[3] 1 Tim. vi. 16.

[4] Serm. 208. append. cit. n. 11.

[5] Auctor lib. de Assumt. B. M. V. (int. opera August.) c. 6.

Therefore, as the most glorious Mary exceeds all Saints in the grace of the way and in the grace of merits, so she exceeds all Saints in the grace of glory and in the grace of rewards. Therefore, she is well foreshadowed by Queen Esther[1], of whom we read that, being brought to the chamber of King Assuerus, she found favour and kindness before him above all women, and he placed the diadem of the kingdom upon her head.  Esther may be understood as meaning “elevated/raised above.”[2] This is eminently suited to Mary, of whom St. Jerome says[3]: 

“She is raised above the choirs of Angels, that she may behold the beauty and the countenance of the Saviour, whom she had loved and desired with all the desire of her heart.” 

Just as Queen Esther was led into the chamber of King Assuerus, the blessed Virgin Mary at her Assumption was led into the chamber of the Eternal King, of which incident St. Augustine, addressing Mary, says[4]: 

“Thou standest in the chamber of the King, adorned in blessedness with gems and pearls.”

Mary is Queen who, being led into the chamber of everlasting rest, possesses the favour and grace of King Assuerus, meaning the grace of the True King, above all women – that is, above all angelical intelligences, and above all beatified souls – so that in Mary there are found grace upon grace, above that of all the blessed. And in very truth the King of kings placed upon her head the diadem of the kingdom, a truly priceless diadem, so delightful, so wondrous, that no tongue can fitly speak of it and it is incomprehensible to every intellect. 

So, dearly beloved, you have seen with what great grace of gifts Mary is enriched, the great grace of the lips, the great grace of her privileges, and the great grace of her superabundant rewards. Let us, therefore, beseech her who found these graces that she may help us to find grace with God, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Footnotes

[1] Esth. 2, 16. seq.

[2] Commonly interpreted as “hidden”; vide Lyran. et De La Haye, Biblia Max. in hunc locum. Gfr. Bonav., tom. VIII. pag. 815 n. 16. seq. et tom. IX. pag. 711 a, ubi dicitur « Esther elevata in populis».

[3] Epist. cit. n. 13.

[4] Serm. 208. cit. n. 11.

[End of Chapter 6]

+       +        +

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.