The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 2 : § 2.4

Chapter 2: The First Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

§ 2. That our Lord Jesus Christ is, by His eternal predestination, the First-born of every creature

Third title by which the Saviour is the Firstborn of every creature

 4   In the third place, He is called the Firstborn of every creature, inasmuch as He has re-established all of them, restoring the lustre and honour they had lost, and He has been made head and king of a new people whom He acquired at the price of His blood. He is called the Beginning of the ways and works of God, inasmuch as He has restored to them their first splendour and even to a higher degree than before.  This is the reason we read in the Septuagint: the Lord created me the Beginning of His ways for His ways; that is, for the restoration of His works ruined by sin. This is how it is explained by St Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria[1], St Basil[2], St Ambrose[3], St Augustine[4], St Fulgentius[5] and others.  Did St Athanasius receive special grace when he said: 

It’s exactly as if the servants of a prince were taken prisoner through their own fault; then the prince sends his own son to save them from the hands of their enemy. On the way he puts on the garb of a slave and, when interrogated about this, he replies that his father gave him this disguise to carry out his service and to bring back the prince’s servants.

Do you not already see this Father of the world to come, whom Isaiah mentions[6]? Can you not see how Zara, before emerging from his mother’s womb[7], put forth a hand and in this, says St Augustine, bore witness that the Saviour, although the head and redeemer of mankind, would come into the world only after members of His own body who would themselves still, however, receive life and movement from Him?

Do you see how Jacob, having taken the birth right from his brother Esau, and having suffered in Mesopotamia all that a man of his condition might suffer, returns home in the midst of two companies that guide him?[8] This is to show, says St Augustine[9], that He is not only the Firstborn and the head of those before Him, but also of the angelic host, so that there is only one King and only one Head in this great kingdom of the universe. Do you not recognise that brave Eliacim, son of Helcias, promised in Isaiah[10]? God calls him His servant par excellence and clothes him with his sacred robe; He strengthens him with the girdle of war; He lays the key of the house of David on his shoulder; He gives him the power to open that which none shall shut, and to shut that which none shall open; He hangs upon him glory and honour, loading him like the trunk of a sacred trophy with all the spoils of the enemies he has subjugated, or like a rack with the arms and armour of the Royal household. Do you not contemplate from afar the  Conqueror in the Apocalypse[11], crowned before going to conquer, who goes forth on the white horse of His humanity to crush the rebels and bring freedom to His own?  Forward! So that all who come before Him sing with David:[12] To the Conqueror, who grants His favour towards those who change their way of life and who will be rescued from bondage. May all sing with St Gregory of Nazianzus canticles of praise to the King of Glory, who with the point of His sword has conquered the Universe, who has gathered unto Himself all things and who has placed them all according to their rank, inasmuch as He is the King of glory and worthy of all honour.

Footnotes

[1] Locis cit

[2] Locis cit

[3] Lib. I de Fide, c. 7.

[4] Lib. I de Trinit., c. 12

[5] Lib. adversus Objectiones Arianorum.

[6] Cap. ix.

[7] Gen. xxxviii. 27-30.

[8] Gen. xxxii.

[9] Serm. 3 in Psal. xxxvi.

[10] Cap. xxii.

[11] Cap. vi.

[12] Psal. xliv.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >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. 

© Peter Bloor 2024

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 2 : § 2. 3

Chapter 2: The First Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

§ 2. That our Lord Jesus Christ is, by His eternal predestination, the First-born of every creature

Second title by which the Saviour is the Firstborn of every creature

 3   In the second place, He is called the Firstborn of every creature because God has subjected them all to the one known[1] to the Eldest of the house, to whom properly belongs the inheritance and power of command over His brethren. He is called the Beginning of the ways and the works of God, because they all depend on Him and culminate in Him, as the point which is at once the beginning and end of the circle. St Hilary gave me this idea at the end of his 12th book on the Trinity, where he says:

The Word incarnate is rightly called the Beginning of the ways and works of God (which is to say, the end, for this is the interpretation of the great Father. This follows because all the steps taken by God before the Incarnation were directed uniquely to Him: when He cam to meet Adam, when He expelled Adam from Paradise, when He was received by Abraham, when He came down to examine the crimes of the sinful cities, when He appeared to Moses in the burning bush, when he gave the Law on Mount Sinai and so on. All these steps or actions taken by God had a particular significance in the hidden mystery of the Word incarnate.

Take careful note, St Theodoret[2] says in a beautiful simile, that all paths lead in the end to the royal route; you may judge from this that it is neither more nor less the case with all the ancient prophecies and figures for all lead to Jesus Christ.

Tertullian[3] explains this is why He is called the Alpha and the Omega. St John Chrysostom[4] notes this is the reason St Paul[5] gives for God’s making of Him the recapitulation and sum of all things. It is the reason , according to St Cyprian[6], that Isaiah[7] calls Him the abridgement that God promised to make in the midst of all the land. In your view, was it not for this reason that He cried out on the bed of the Cross: It is consummated.[8] It is just as if He had wanted to say: All the shadows past and passing have been fulfilled. The second Adam has been formed from virgin soil; the articles of His marriage with the Church have been granted, the death of innocent Abel is concluded, Noah now floats on the waters of the flood, Abraham has already put forth his hand and taken the sword, Isaac is on the pile of wood, Jacob is going to cross the Jordan, Joseph is sold to infidels, the Serpent of Moses is lifted up, Samson is made a laughing stock to his enemies, Gedeon is going to break the jar with his soldiers, Job is delivered into the power of Satan, Jonas is cast into the sea. All that remains is by my death to place the seal on these prophecies and the last brush-stroke on these paintings. Do thou receive, my dear spouse, the spirit I communicate to give thee life.

Footnotes

[1] connue. Fem. Suggesting the Blessed Virgin?

[2] Lib. de Curandis Græcorum affectionibus.

[3] Lib. de Monomagia.

[4] Ephes. i.

[5] And he is before all, and by him all things consist. Coloss. i. 17.

[6] Lib. II contra Judæos, art. 3.

[7] Cap. x. 23 For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridgment in the midst of all the land.

[8] Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost.  [John xix. 30]

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >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. 

© Peter Bloor 2024

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 2 : § 2. 2

Chapter 2: The First Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

§ 2. That our Lord Jesus Christ is, by His eternal predestination, the First-born of every creature

First title by which the Saviour is Firstborn of every creature

 2   I want to say in the first place that He is called the Firstborn of every creature and the Beginning of the ways of God, that is to say of the actions or plans of God, inasmuch as He is the masterpiece and the rarest, most excellent and accomplished of anything produced by His divine handiwork. I am persuaded of this by the words used in Hebrew as well as in Greek at this point in Scripture. Thus, Job[1] calls Him Behemoth, the beginning of the works of God. Whether he means by Behemoth the Elephant, as some think, or the Whale as others prefer, or in fact the first Angel as St Gregory[2] interprets the word, he actually means to say that the Elephant is greater than all the animals on earth, the Whale greater than all those who swim in the water, and Lucifer is the most excellent of God’s works according to nature. It is in this same sense that St Ambrose[3] recognises the Saviour as the Firstborn of every creature and the Beginning of the ways of God, for He is the noblest and most elevated of His designs.

Here is what St Anselm says:

He is called the Firstborn of every creature because, just as the Firstborn is the first and most considerable among several brothers, in the same way the Saviour occupies the first rank in terms of dignity among all the works of God, as being destined to sit on the throne of glory in the midst of the Principalities.[4]

St Paul made this plain when he said that the Saviour had within Him the fulness of the divinity[5]: for at this word every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.[6] This Firstborn of every creature is He who, according to St Paul[7], in all things and everywhere has primacy. He is the Holy of Holies, says St Jerome[8] following the King-Prophet[9], whom God has magnified over all things. He is the high mountain raised in the midst of a myriad of others, says the same author;[10] the mountain to which the Prophet Isaiah summons all the nations, the mountain where David shed tears seeking help from on high. It is the sea as source for all the rivers, says St Bernard[11], and a source for all the Blessings we enjoy: health for the body, purity of soul,  righteousness of the will, knowledge, eloquence, everything. This is the one whom God has anointed, says David[12], above all the Prophets and all the Priests in the world. He is the most perfectly beautiful, beauty itself, the object of rapture in heaven and on earth.  Ask the chaste Spouse and she will speak of miracles, She finds Him so perfect and so handsome from head to foot. She likens Him to the cedar in the woods of Lebanon, the orange tree among the fruit trees, the roe deer amidst the wild animals of the countryside, the lily among flowers, the Cyprus grape among fruits, gold among metals, the sun among stars – in short, He is everything that is most pleasing, chosen before thousands. St Bernard was contemplating Him one day and could not contain his joy, speaking the following words:

Around the Beloved you will see thousands of thousands and millions of millions; but ultimately none of them can come even near to His perfections : there is only one Beloved in the world, a first who has no second, the Phoenix who is unique in his kind.[13]

Consider the myriad of all God’s works: how many stars you will see in the sky, how many plants on earth, how many birds in the air, how many fishes in the sea, how many animals in the forests, how many thousands of men, how many millions of Angels! How many Patriarchs, Prophets, Martyrs, Confessors and Virgins! But in the order of hypostatic union, there is only one Jesus Christ, unique in the bosom of His Mother and unique in the bosom of His Father, the Angel of great counsel[14], the singular Prophet[16], the one Master[16], the Apostle par excellence[17], the Martyr without paragon[18], the peerless Lamb[19], exemplar and guide for Virgins.

Footnotes

[1] Cap.10.

[2] Lib. XXXIII Moral., c. 28.

[3] Lib. de Interpellatione Job.

[4] In c. 1 ad Coloss.  And you are filled in him, who is the head of all principality and power: Coloss. ii. 10.

[5] For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally; Coloss. ii. 9.

[6] That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: Philipp. ii. 10.

[7] And he is before all, and by him all things consist. Coloss. I. 17.

[8] Epist. ad Suniam et Fretellam.

[9] Psal. CXXXVII.  2. I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to thy name. For thy mercy, and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all. 

[10] Lib. XII in Ezech., c. 14. Cf. the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared in the top of mountains, and high above the hills: Micah iv. 1.

[11] Serm. 13 in Cant.

[12] Psal. XLIV. God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

[13] Serm. 21 in Cant.

[14] καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελoς /and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel. SEPTUAGINT Isai. ix. 6 (Septuagint).    

[15] Deuter. xxviii..

[16] Matth. xxiii.  10 Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ.

[17] Hebr. iii. 1. the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus:

[18] Tim. vi.

[19] Apoc. xiv.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >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. 

© Peter Bloor 2024

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 2 : § 2. 1

Chapter 2: The First Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

§ 2. That our Lord Jesus Christ is, by His eternal predestination, the First-born of every creature

 1   The Apostle Paul says this explicitly in the first chapter of his epistle to the Colossians.[1] Several Doctors understand by these words the Eternal Word as God. Our interpretation of them as applying to God made man by temporal generation is, however, supported by all the Fathers of the Holy Council of Serdica[2], by St Athanasius[3], St Anselm[4] and by the writer[5] who under the name of St Jerome made a commentary on this passage of St Paul. The Saviour applies this title of honour to Himself in chapter viii of the Proverbs where, according to the Septuagint, generally followed by all the ancient Fathers, He is called the Beginning of the ways of God.[6] Pope St Clement[7], St Gregory of Nazianzus[8], St Athanasius[9], St Basil[10], St Augustine[11], St Cyril[12], St Jerome[13] and many other of the most highly qualified of the Doctors all acknowledge that this title belongs to Wisdom Incarnate.

Not that I want to say He should be called the Firstborn of every creature or (what is equivalent) the Beginning of the ways of God, forasmuch as He was the first in God’s plan when He formed the resolution to create the world. I am already committed to showing, at the start of the next Treatise, that God did not think of Him until after foreseeing the general ruin of our race resulting from sin. Much less do I want to say that this title applies to Him through having been created the the first among men according to the order of time. All the ancient writings would contradict me for He was promised only in the middle of history, that is to say after several centuries had elapsed. This information would prove me to be in error.

 

Footnotes

[1] Coloss. i. 15.

[2] Epist. ad omnes fideles.

[3] Serm.3 contra Arianos.

[4] In hunc locum.

[5] In hunc locum.

[6] The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works. Prov. Viii. 22..

[7] Lib.V Const. Apost., c. 19.

[8] Orat.4 de Theologia.

[9] Serm.2, 3, 4 contra Arianos.

[10] Lib. IV contra Eunomium.

[11] Lib. I de Trinit., c. 12.

[12] Lib. V Thesauri, c. 4, 7 et 8.

[13] In c.4 Micheæ, lib. II.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >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. 

© Peter Bloor 2024

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 2 : § 1. 1-2

Chapter 2: The First Star or Splendour of the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

That she is First or Eldest of mere creatures by virtue of her eternal predestination.

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

A little earlier, we considered the title MOTHER OF GOD as being like the trunk or crown of a great tree, from which emerge the branches representing the great Splendours of the glorious Virgin. Now we need to go further and discover the root from which the trunk and the branches spring. We find this is the eternal predestination of this same Virgin. For this reason, the Church, according to St Cyprian, calls her a vessel of election, that is, a creature uniquely chosen by God to be the chosen instrument for wonders He wills to work on earth and in heaven.

§ 1. That our Lord Jesus Christ has been the true model for the Blessed Virgin

 1   To clarify the birth-right of the MOTHER OF GOD, it needs to be said firstly that she does not subsist in God’s plan and the order of creatures other than by virtue of being Mother of the Saviour, (as I shall demonstrate with greater detail in the opening discussion of the second Treatise). In the same way, our Lord Jesus Christ’s predestination, which St Paul addresses at the start of his Epistle to the Romans, includes the Blessed Virgin to such an extent that without her it becomes impossible for Him. This means that Jesus and Mary are inseparably joined together by virtue of predestination. Just as Mary is none other than Virgin and MOTHER OF GOD in the immutable plan of eternity, so Jesus is not found otherwise than as the Son of man, that is to say the Son of the Virgin. Because the predestined status of the Saviour appears to us only through the sacred oracles of the Holy Spirit, we must say with St Augustine:

Whosoever denies that the Son of God is predestined denies at the same time that He is Son of man; consequently, whosoever says with St Paul that He is predestined must admit that He is the Son of man, i.e., that He is the Son of Mary and descended from Abraham and David, to whom the promise of the Messiah was made.[1]

The same assurances we have of the one we also have of the other, with the same witnesses, the same places, from the same Spirit of truth. The sober and ancient Doctor Tertullian wrote of it long ago in these terms:

Whichever way you look at it, you have to accept that He who was the seed of David took flesh from Mary and that He who took flesh from Mary is of the seed of David.[2]

This teaching is echoed by St Justin Martyr,[3] St Ambrose,[4] St Epiphanius,[5] St Jerome,[6] St Andrew of Jerusalem,[7] the venerable Bede,[8] Peter Damien[9] and the generality of holy Fathers, Greek as well as Latin. It is also echoed in the songs of all the Prophets and it is the culminating point for all the ancient figures, as I intend to show in the following chapter.

Footnotes

[1] Tract. CV in Joann.

[2] Lib. de Carne Christi, c. 22.

[3]Apolog. 2 pro Christianis.

[4] Lib. II de Spiritu Sancto, c. 5.

[5] Serm. de Laudibus Virg.

[6] In c. 11 Isaiæ.

[7] Serm. 2 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[8] Lib. IV, cap. 49 in Luc.

[9] Serm. 3 de Nativit. B. Virg.

 2   In the second place, we must presuppose that the Blessed Virgin’s predestination is included in that of her Son and that the latter is the model for the former. This is established on the authority of the Church and several learned Doctors who apply to the Mother the same words that the Holy Spirit used to represent the eternal election of the Son, as will be seen shortly. It is further based on reason that Mary must resemble Him, as far as is permitted to a mere creature. Her status demands this, for she is Daughter, Mother and Spouse of God, Companion and Collaborator of the Saviour in the work of our redemption, Governess, Mediatrix, general Advocate and Protector of the Church, Queen of the universe, Mother of all the elect. She enjoys other titles which I will cover later. 

God’s plan required Him to make two masterpieces of nature, grace and glory. Apart from this, what most convinces me of this truth is my firm opinion (which I will explain fully at the start of the second Treatise) that Mary would never have been if God were not to have become man. She is, therefore, a work made expressly for the Word incarnate and for no other reason subordinate to that. Once this understanding has been accepted, it follows that Mary’s case is different from other men and women whose production was determined, according to our way of thinking, before God foresaw the fall of Adam and the remedy He willed to supply. They are not in the least dependent on God made man for those things which are of nature, even though they are must acknowledge Him as the principle of grace and glory. The creation of Mary was resolved upon only after the decision was made to redeem the world and with the sole aim that she serve the Redeemer as Mother, Spouse and Companion. It must be said that not only does she owe everything to Him in terms of nature, grace and glory, but that she is drawn from Him as a copy from an original. She bears the greatest resemblance to Him that any mere creature could possibly have. This explains why so frequently in the Canticles He calls her His sister, His perfection and His beloved. This is the reason He reveals that He felt deepest sorrow in His heart for her alone, out of a world of others; she alone drew Him down here on earth. It is the reason why He filled her with so many perfections and great dignities that there was amazement in heaven and earth. We shall find this much easier to understand after we have made a comparison with her prototype, which is what I now propose to do.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >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. 

© Peter Bloor 2024

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 1 : § 2. 3

Chapter 1 : On the title of the Mother of God, true source of all the great Dignities of the glorious Virgin

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

 § 2.  That the title MOTHER OF GOD is the origin and the measure of all the Dignities of the Blessed Virgin

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

 3   The same yardstick used to measure the great Dignities and Splendours of Jesus should also be used to measure those of Mary, His Mother. St Paul argues that He who gave us His only-begotten Son will never have the heart to refuse us anything. If this powerful teaching applies to each of one of us, consider how much more it applies in the case of Mary, to whom He gave His Son in a unique way not shared by any other human being. If the Father must show Himself to be generous with His daughter, the Son should be no less so towards His Mother. This is reflected in the rule of interpretation proposed more than fourteen centuries ago by St Hippolytus, Bishop (of the Port near Rome) and Martyr, when he wrote: 

He who commanded us to honour father and mother in order to keep the law He published did not Himself omit to do anything He reasonably could to shower honour on His own Mother.[1]

This is also the approach adopted by the devout Saint Bernard. Writing to the canons of the Cathedral of Saint John in Lyon, he argues that:

Denying to the MOTHER OF GOD any of prerogatives granted to the other Saints shows  a great weakness of intellect no less than a great temerity.[2]

It is the same understanding as that shown by the great Archbishop of Crete (writing between the dates of the previous authors). He places a striking emphasis which he goes on to repeat in his discussions highly favourable to the MOTHER OF GOD, as when he writes:

If God has done something in this Lady which we cannot understand, then we should not be surprised; rather we should plunge ourselves into the incomprehensible mystery accomplished in her, a mystery surpassing infinitely any sort of infinity.[3] 

This will be the rule I will follow from now on in my research into the Splendours and great Dignities of the MOTHER OF GOD. This will help me to grant her all that is fitting to the majesty of this title and will be fully in keeping with the faith and right reason we need to follow as our guide. Finally, I ask the devout reader to adopt this rule when he seeks to judge what is said on the prerogatives of the Queen of Heaven. He should not show himself reluctant to give his assent to pious belief when he sees it supported by Doctors who are named and worthy of faith. I recall what St Bernard once said:

The MOTHER OF GOD has no need to be honoured with titles and with praises that do not belong to her, seeing that she has more than enough to provide true material for panegyrics by those who wish to praise her.[4]

I understand well enough that a heart which is loving in its service will take joy from any fitting honour  received, as in the case of a well-born son who will delight in honour shown to his mother. With these preliminary thoughts in mind, I shall now begin the discussion of the Excellent Dignities of the MOTHER OF GOD, with the anticipation that the reader will never have explored them in this way before. It is my hope that he will come to love Her with all his heart for She has so many reasons to love Her, and if he already loves Her, then he will redouble the affection he has for her.

Footnotes

[1] Orat. de Sanctificat.

[2] Epist. 174.

[3] Orat. 1 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[4] Epist. 174 cit.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >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. 

© Peter Bloor 2024

The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 1 : § 2. 1-2

Chapter 1 : On the title of the Mother of God, true source of all the great Dignities of the glorious Virgin

Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr Poiré's Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).

 § 2.  That the title MOTHER OF GOD is the origin and the measure of all the Dignities of the Blessed Virgin

Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac.(Poggi, 2020)

 1   The Evangelist Matthew uttered something very important when he said: Mary, of whom was born Jesus.[1] St Bernard,[2] says this is what astonishes men and angels alike,  which makes them all lower their eyes and which is the source and the measure of all the perfections found in the Virgin. The same Jesus, Son of Mary, taught one day this divine lesson to St Catherine of Genoa,[3] telling her that when she recited the Ave Maria she should take the word Jesus, which is found in the prayer, as the one which ought to give her sentiments of honour, respect and love needed to speak as she should to such a Lady. St Thomas[4] remarks opportunely that the holy Evangelists knew the qualities of the most Blessed Virgin better than anybody.  In their position as her Son’s record-keepers, they ordinarily gave her no other title than Mother of Jesus. 

We are not unaware, says St Bernardine of Siena,[5] that it is a great advantage for our heavenly Mother to be our Lady and Mistress of all that God created. We nevertheless call her more readily MOTHER OF GOD, insomuch as this dignity is the root and source of the others. That which this Saint places before Lady of the universe can be applied to all her other titles and qualities, insomuch as there is not one that does not have this as its origin. In this way, after we have considered her as an immense ocean of graces, as a masterpiece of glory, as the honour of heaven and earth, the epitome of God’s handiwork, the chosen dwelling of the most holy Trinity, the foundation of our happiness, the gate of heaven, the wonder of the world and other titles that I cannot say or even think of, we always need to return to this starting point and acknowledge that all these titles and qualities depend on her being the MOTHER OF GOD.

Footnotes

[1] Matt. i. 16.

[2] Serm. in Signum magnum.

[3] Vitæ ipsius, c. 6.

[4] III p., q. 28, art. 3.

[5] T. I, serm. 52

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The excellence of Jesus Christ

 2   To help us understand something about the great Dignities of Mary, who could gain access for us to the Holy of Holies, namely the Sanctuary of the sacred heart of Jesus[6]? Who will reveal to us the wonders of this mystery hidden from all eternity in the most secret thoughts of the Ancient of days[7] and in the very bosom of the Eternal Father?  A mystery unravelled in the fulness of time so as to become the object of the law of peoples, an anchorage point for their hopes, the cause of their salvation and the accomplishment of God’s glory in the world? Who will represent for us the glory of the only-begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth,[8] shown to the beloved Disciple? Who will explain to us the words of the Son of thunder which the world hitherto has not understood? Who will teach us about this Word who was in the beginning with God and who was Himself God, by whom all things were made and without whom was made nothing that was made? 

Who will help us understand what is meant by a God who supports a man; a man who subsists in God; a man who is God and a God who is man; the singular work God has accomplished and which alone has a perfect proportion to the excellence of the workman? A work which is a triumph of love, the treasure of wisdom and the miracle of power; a work which is between the created being and the uncreated; where God enclosed Himself to become part of His work and to raise it above all the works of His hands; the mysterious ladder joining earth to heaven and heaven to earth?[9] Who will help us scale the rungs of incomprehensible perfection found in each of His natures? Who will speak to us worthily of the divine filiation of Jesus, of His supreme power and the eternity of His rule? Who will tell us how we are to understand in Him His divine essence, the distinction of His persons and the depth of His counsels? How He is adorable wisdom, the ineffable word, the image of the Eternal father, His divine Word through whom He speaks both to Himself and to His creatures, and the idea of all created things? How He proceeds from Him without dependence and without losing anything; how He has in Himself the fulness of uncreated being; how with Him and through Him He is the point from which a divine person proceeds; how He is light eternal of light eternal, light in His essence and in His person proceeding as the light and splendour of the Father? 

Who will tells us how to speak with very God Himself who, according to His humanity is the principle and exemplar of created Divinity, and who honours us by calling us Gods[10] and children of the Most High? How in this status He received a new essence in the womb of His Mother, by the temporal operation of the Holy Spirit; but how He is also the One to whom, in His status as God in the bosom of His Father, through an eternal operation He communicates the essence which is without beginning? How, alone out of all creatures, He enters the state of divine filiation, not by adoption but by nature; how He is Holy with the same holiness that renders God holy, and the Holy of Holies? How He is the centre, the circle and the circumference of all the emanations of God outside Himself, and the throne of glory and greatness where the divinity dwells uniquely and corporeally, as the great Apostle says?[11]

Who will open for us the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden within this Man-God? Who will bring us information on these sufferings of a God and these miracles of a man, of these actions divinely human and humanly divine which are found in Him alone? Who will make us sound the very depths of His grace, from which God’s elect will draw and will draw for ever? Who will enumerate all the effects this grace has produced in the heaven among the saints and on earth among the just and the sinners? Who will set out the wonders of this quality which in every way shows forth its sanctity? Who will enable us to see Him who is the most Beautiful of all, the Greatest of the great, the Spouse of chosen souls, the Sovereign Pontiff of the Church’s children, the King of glory and the Delight of the universe? 

To anyone who opens up these secrets to me, I promise for my part to communicate marvels never before heard of concerning the MOTHER OF GOD. Mary is, after all, none other than the worthy Mother of Jesus, as Jesus is the adorable Son of Mary. But since we know only what may be discovered with the limited viewpoint of the Faith, we should not be surprised if all that we propose concerning this incomparable title is less than we should really like to know. Whether we want to or not, we are obliged to acknowledge these great Dignities and to accept with humility that they are in a sense beyond our ken. To which of the Angels did God ever say (it is St Paul who speaks): Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.[12] And whoever cannot respond to the first request will find it difficult to satisfy the second.

Footnotes

[6] Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back to at least the 11th century. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had multiple visions of the Sacred Heart between 1673 and 1675. However, it wasn’t until 90 years later in 1765, that the feast was officially celebrated in France. In 1856, Pope Pius IX made the feast of the Sacred Heart into a universal celebration.

[7] Daniel vii. 9-10.

[8] Damasc., lib. I Fidei, c. 8 ; Trismegist. in Pimandro, etc..

[9] Gen. xxviii. 12-16.

[10] Jesus answered them: Is it not written in your law: I said you are gods? [John 10:34]

[11] For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally; [Col. ii.9]

[12]  Hebr. v. 5

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >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. 

© Peter Bloor 2024