The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 3 : § 2. 3-4

Chapter 3 : The Second 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)

That from the beginning of the world she was announced by the Prophets and represented by ancient figures

In the previous chapter, I presented the Holy Virgin as a trial design by God when considered in relation to the Saviour, who was Himself the first actual masterpiece in the world. In comparison with the rest of creation, however, it cannot be denied that Mary was the second masterpiece by God who produced a thousand preparatory sketches, as will be seen in the following discussion.

§ 2. On three inanimate figures used to represent the MOTHER OF GOD, namely the burning bush of Moses, Aaron’s rod and Gedeon’s Fleece

[The burning Bush continued]

 3   Going beyond this, you will see that Moses calls it a great sight[1] because in effect this was an unheard of prodigy – that a woman should have conceived, but not without benefit, by which I mean a growth in her virginity. Moses saw this wonder on the mountain in the desert, prefiguring that the MOTHER OF GOD is on the highest place in the desert of this world. As Scripture says, God was in the midst of the Bush when He spoke to Moses; and the divine Word was in the midst of virginal body. There in the Bush, God made His plans for the deliverance of His people, as is seen when He straightway called to Moses and sent him to Pharao.[2] In the same way, the Saviour set in motion our redemption from His little refuge [in the womb] and, as David says, He hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.[3]  According to St Bernard,[4] this means in the immaculate womb of the most holy Virgin. It was God Himself who sanctified this spot, calling it holy ground and forbidding Moses to come not nigh except with all reverence.[5] We shall see later the honour He rendered unto the Holy Virgin and how high He lifted her up to shower her with glory and majesty.

Finally, as St Theodorus remarks, this fire caught hold in a bramble which he calls a lowly shrub. It normally grows close to the ground and, according to the great Naturalist,[6] when in flower it is a great deterrent to serpents, especially to those we call the Horseshoe snake[7] and the Dipsa.[8] The first of these, after biting someone, causes him to lose all his blood because the wound cannot be staunched. The other one sucks out all the body’s fluid causing an indescribable change to its parts. The excellent and rare humility of the MOTHER OF GOD is here seen symbolically in the lowliness of the shrub and in the unrivalled antipathy she has towards the infernal serpent and towards every sort of vice, especially original sin. All this is well symbolised by the two venomous snakes inasmuch as by sin’s poison we are no less paralysed than a person who loses all his blood; and we are changed so as to burn with bestial concupiscence. Among all the pure creatures, the Virgin alone has been spared these pernicious effects.

Footnotes

[1] Exod. iii. 3.

[2] Exod. iii. 10.

[3] Psal. LXXIV. 12.

[4] Serm. 1 Pentec.

[5] Exod. iii. 5.

[6] Plin. I, XXIV, c. 33.

[7] Possibly Hemorrhois hippocrepis (LINNAEUS, 1758)..

[8] See the Medieval Bestiary. https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast275.htm  

The Second Figure : Aaron’s Rod

 4   From Moses, we now move on to his brother Aaron, and from the burning Bush of Moses to Aaron’s Rod, which similarly is a figure of the MOTHER OF GOD. This has been recognised by the above-mentioned Doctors:[1] St Ephrem[2], St Ambrose[3], St Jerome[4], blessed Peter Damian[5], St Bernard[6], and others[7]. The story is recounted in Chapter xvii of the Book of Numbers which tells how God wished to halt the murmurings of the headstrong people. He also wanted to give an authentic testimony that He and no other had chosen Aaron and the tribe of Levi to offer Him sacrifices. Through His servant Moses, He ordered that the following day the Princes of the twelve tribes should each bring their rods, that Moses’ brother Aaron should do the same, that the name of each Prince should be engraved on the rods and that they should be placed in the Tabernacle. This being done, Moses goes to the Tabernacle on the following day, accompanied by the Princes of the people and his brother Aaron. He takes the rods that he had consigned into the hands of God and everyone sees the new buds on Aaron’s rod, which suddenly open in their presence and turn into leaves and flowers, along with fruit. 

That is the story and here is the interpretation given to it by the Holy Fathers. Aaron’s Rod is the MOTHER OF GOD, given this name by the Prophet Isaiah[8] when he said: a Virgin shall come forth, a rod out of the root of Jesse. She bears flowers and fruits which, according to St Ephrem[9] and St Jerome,[10] are none other than our Lord Jesus Christ, the true flower of the field and the fruit of life.

This rod, says the devout St Bernard[11], puts forth buds without being watered and planted in the earth to obtain moisture and goodness; in the same way, the flower of Nazareth was conceived without any sort of corruption or alteration.[12] The rod is filled with sap and is covered in buds, all the others remaining dry, because this rod alone receives grace in the midst of the common desolation and general dysphoria of the world.

 

The Rod is pure white, without bark or knot, says St Ambrose, representing the innocence and chaste integrity of the Holy Virgin; for in her is found neither the knot of original sin nor the bark of actual sin.

He has indeed good reason to compare original sin to a knot. It is through knots that trees put out their branches; just as the first sin brings forth other sins. Again, even if a branch is cut away, it leaves a hard and misshapen area on the trunk where the knot was; similarly, we cannot help feeling the pernicious effects of the sin we are born with, even though washed away in Baptism.

Peter Damien puts it well when he says that the rod of Jesse comes forth from the twisted root of the Patriarchs and Prophets, even though it is tall and straight like a reed but without the knot and offshoot of sin.

St Jerome cries out[13]  that the Church is the blessed earth from which Jesus Christ the King sprang, from the most noble race and the most illustrious stem of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, men upright and noble by reason of their integrity and virtue. But much more noble and incomparably more free is the glorious Virgin. She comes forth from this trunk straight as a rod, having no buds about her but only at the crown the pleasing flower of the Canticles.

This rod has no germ or shoot, says St Bernard[14], not letting itself bear flowers. In the same way, Mary remains a virgin, not letting herself conceive. If the beauty of the former is not tarnished by the flower that emerges, then similarly the integrity of the latter is not affected by the fruit of live that she bears.

Footnotes

[1] § 2..

[2] Serm. de Beat. Mariæ laudib.

[3] Loco proxime citando.

[4] In c. 13 Osee.

[5] Serm. de Annuntiat.

[6] Homil. 2 in Missus.

[7] S. Bonavent. in Laude B. Mariæ Virg., etc.

[8] Cap. 11.

[9] Loco cit.

[10] Loco cit.

[11] Loco cit.

[12] Corruption: Il se dit aussi dans le Dogmatique, de l’Alteration qui arrive dans un Corps physique pour la generation & la production d’un autre. Les Philosophes disent que la corruption d’une chose est la generation d’une autre. l’espi ne se forme que par la corruption du grain.

[13] In c. 9 Eccles.

[14] Serm. 2 in Missus.

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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 3 : § 2. 1-2

Chapter 3 : The Second 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)

That from the beginning of the world she was announced by the Prophets and represented by ancient figures

In the previous chapter, I presented the Holy Virgin as a trial design by God when considered in relation to the Saviour, who was Himself the first actual masterpiece in the world. In comparison with the rest of creation, however, it cannot be denied that Mary was the second masterpiece by God who produced a thousand preparatory sketches, as will be seen in the following discussion.

§ 2. On three inanimate figures used to represent the MOTHER OF GOD, namely the burning bush of Moses, Aaron’s rod and Gedeon’s Fleece

 1   I shall cover other figures such as these in later chapters,[1] without counting those occurring from time time in various contexts. For the time being, I have chosen six examples.

First Figure : the burning Bush

The first is the burning Bush of Moses. Scripture says[2] that Moses, after leading his father-in-law’s flock to the inner parts of the desert, looked up and saw a bush on Mt Horeb. The bush was on fire with flames but it was not being burnt and Moses said to himself: I will go and see this great sight.  St Theodotus,[3] Bishop of Ancyra or Angora in Galatia; Chrysippus,[4] Priest of Jerusalem; St Gregory Thaumaturgus,[5] St Gregory of Nyssa,[6] Theodoret, Fr Rupert, St Bonaventure and several other Doctors, without mentioning the writers already cited above,[7] have all seen in this miraculous Bush a sketch or type for the MOTHER OF GOD. 

It is pleasing to read the account by St Gregory of Neocaesarea[8] describing a conversation between God and the Angel Gabriel where the divine Ambassador, having received his Master’s order concerning the good news that he was to announce to the world, expressed with due humility his reservations:

 

But how will it be possible for the Virgin to survive the fire of Divinity? Your Majesty’s Throne is all burning with fire and light; how will she be able to prevent herself from being burned?

God replies to this objection with these few words:

What!  Have you forgotten, Gabriel, the fire of the burning Bush in the desert? Know then that if the Bush had been damaged by that fire, then Mary too would be harmed by my presence. But this very fire, prefiguring the descent of my divine fire on earth, served rather to refresh the Bush rather than to reduce it to ashes. What then can you not expect from my divinity which will be for Mary a refreshing shower rather than a fire that burns and consumes?

This is the heart of the miracle, says St Gregory of Nyssa:[9]

The Bush feeds the fire but without being consumed, and the Virgin gives birth to fire and light but without suffering any harm whatsoever.

 2   The holy Bishop of Ancyra whom I quoted a little earlier was one of those who were so courageous at the Council of Ephesus [A.D. 431] in defending the honour of the MOTHER OF GOD. He writes on the same subject in a similar vein: 

Please tell me which of the two you prize more: the burning Bush of Moses or the sacred womb of Mary? I should like you to know that the former is actually a figure for the latter. What then is meant by saying that, although the flames swept over the Bush, the fire set aside its nature : it gave off light but it did not burn; it cleansed but did no damage? Are you still so slow that you do not grasp the mystery and do not see beneath the appearance of this figure the one who is herself fully Virgin and Mother? If God, dwelling in a Bush, was the cause of so much splendour and glory, preserving it in its entirety, then with what light and purity do you think he would have filled the glorious Virgin? How much effort do you think He would have made to preserve, or even to increase, the honour and integrity of her body and soul?

This holy Doctor is right in his judgement that the flame of the Saviour’s Divinity not only caused no harm but was actually altogether honourable and most beneficial to the Holy Virgin. We shall see this amply demonstrated in the discussions that follow.

Footnotes

[1] Cap. 9 et 15.

[2] Exod. iii..

[3] Homil. de Christi Nativit. ad Synodum Ephesinam.

[4] Serm. de Sanct. Deipara.

[5] Orat. 3 in Anuntiat.

[6] Orat. 1 de Nativit.

[7] Superiore §.

[8] Loco cit.

[9] Orat. de Christi Nativit.

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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 3 : § 1. 4-6

Chapter 3 : The Second 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)

That from the beginning of the world she was announced by the Prophets and represented by ancient figures

In the previous chapter I presented the Holy Virgin as a trial design by God when considered in relation to the Saviour, who was Himself the first actual masterpiece in the world. In comparison with the rest of creation, however, it cannot be denied that Mary was the second masterpiece by God who produced a thousand preparatory sketches, as will be seen in the following discussion.

§ 1. That it pertains to the Greatness and Excellence of the MOTHER OF GOD that she was announced and prefigured a long time before her arrival in the world

 4   St Andrew of Crete and St Germain, Patriarch of Constantinople, give many more examples but cover them in less depth. Here is how St Andrew addresses the Blessed Virgin:

All the Interpreters of the Holy Spirit, i.e., the Prophets, have spoken of thee, Holy Lady! The first fine example is Moses who discovered the miraculous bush and called out, saying: I will go and see this great sight.[1] David was speaking of thee when he addressed the promised Messiah: Arise, O Lord, ... thou and the ark, which thou hast sanctified.[2] He had thee in mind when he said: All the glory of the king's daughter is hidden within; how lovely it is to see her in a rich robe of pure golden borders![3] We encounter thee in each line of the Canticle of Canticles when, for example, the Holy Angels watch in amazement as thou goest up by the desert like the smoke of precious perfume;[4] when the writer speaks of Solomon’s mystical bed, the seat of gold, the pillars of silver, the curtains of purple and the midst covered with charity;[5] when the daughters of Jerusalem are invited to visit King Solomon seated on his throne and wearing the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart.[6]

The Prophet Isaiah saw thee with eyes of the spirit when he cried out: Listen to the wonder I tell ye: Behold a virgin shall conceive,[7] and there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a beautiful flower shall rise up out of his root.[8] Ezechiel was thinking of thee when he spoke of the East gate as being shut to all except the God of Israel.[9] The holy Prophet Daniel, truly man of desires,[10] called thee the wondrous mountain whence came cut without hands hand the corner stone[11] of the Church, which overturned the statue of  Nabuchodonosor.[12] Thou art the true living book in which was written the divine Word by the pen of the Holy Ghost. Thou are mount Sion, a fruitful and fertile mountain, where the Lord hath made His dwelling. Thou art the land freed from the common curse and from thee was formed the second Adam. Thou art the jar of precious ointment, the oil of perfect joy, the flower that never fadeth, the robe of imperial purple, the throne of God. In a word, what thou art is beyond my ability to explain and beyond the understanding of the noblest minds.

That is how this Doctor speaks.

Footnotes

[1] And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. Exod. iii. 3.

[2] Ps. CXXXI. 8.

[3] All the glory of the king's daughter is within in golden borders; Clothed round about with varieties. Ps. XLIV. 14-15.

[4]Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer? Cant. iii. 6.

[5] King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus:  The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going up of purple: the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem. Cant. iii. 9-10.

[6] Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart. Cant. iii. 11.

[7] Isai. Vii. 14.

[8] And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. Isai. xi. 1..

[9] Ez. xliv.

[10] Dan. x. 11.

[11] Matt. xxi. 42.

[12] Dan. ii. 31-34.

 5   St Lawrence Justinian[1] gathers and collects from these Fathers the figures and ancient characters pointing to the MOTHER OF GOD. He calls her:

the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat of the Temple, the Throne of God, the Rod that flowered, the little Cloud like a foot,[2] the enclosed Garden, the sealed Fountain, the closed Gate,[3] the Dove without blemish, the fragrant Rose, the white Carnation,[4] the most delicate flower, the jar of aromatic perfumes, the fair Olive tree,[5] the fruitful Vine,[6] the tall Cyprus tree,[7] the Palm tree laden with fruit,[8] the Turpentine tree with stretched out branches,[9] the field covered with a rich harvest, the blessed Earth, the Dawning of the day,[10] the flaming Torch; he calls her more beautiful than the Moon and brighter than the Sun,[11] purer than refined gold, rarer than precious stones, more gentle than balm, more greatly prized than pearls, sweeter than honey,[12] more delightful than all music and every harmony.

 6   From what has been said so far, we are able to learn that the Holy Virgin is represented in Scripture by two sorts of figures: those that are dead, i.e., having neither soul nor reason, like the ones I have just mentioned; and those that have souls and reason. These are actual persons in whom God has traced various perfections and in whom He has made preliminary sketches of the unique qualities that would be brought together in Mary.  In this way He helps us to understand that in her He has brought together all the beauty, grace and excellence that He had previously scattered here and there. Reason requires us now to say something about these qualities, but because there are so  many, we shall make a selection of the most remarkable.

[1] Libro de Casto connubio Verbi et animæ, c. 9.

[2] 3 Kings xviii. 34.

[3] Ez. xliv.

[4] un œillet, plante utilisée pour soigner les yeux et appelée Oculus Christi au Moyen Âge. Elle est associée au salut donné par le Christ. Le détail. Le langage des fleurs. See also Elecampane (Inula helenium), sprung from Helen’s tears.

[5] Jer. xi. 16.

[6] Ps. CXXVII. 3.

[7] Eccus. xxiv. 17.

[8] Eccus. xxiv. 18. Cant. vii. 8.

[9] Eccus (Sirach) xxiv. 22

[10] Job xxxviii. 12

[11] Canticles (Solomon) vi. 9

[12] Ps. xviii. 11

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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 3 : § 1. 1-3

Chapter 3 : The Second 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)

That from the beginning of the world she was announced by the Prophets and represented by ancient figures

In the previous chapter I presented the Holy Virgin as a trial design by God when considered in relation to the Saviour, who was Himself the first actual masterpiece in the world. In comparison with the rest of creation, however, it cannot be denied that Mary was the second masterpiece by God who produced a thousand preparatory sketches, as will be seen in the following discussion.

§ 1. That it pertains to the Greatness and Excellence of the MOTHER OF GOD that she was announced and prefigured a long time before her arrival in the world

 1   I say once more that everything excellent needs time, study and testing. Things which do not really matter are produced in a hurry and on the first whim of the craftsman. The earth produces certain flowers that last only for one day, as though in a spirit of playfulness: they germinate, they shoot, they put forth buds and they open in one night. The great trees, on the contrary, that need to withstand wind and frost, proceed very slowly and thrust deep roots into the earth.

Imperfect animals may result from a single, chance encounter between different kinds; but the more perfect they are, the more they need time and application. That which is made as a fleeting fantasy comes from an impetuous spirit; but that which is made for eternity is frequently revised and subject to criticism before it receives a full and favourable reception. I fully understand that God needs neither time nor the use of trial and error, but it is important for our sake that He shows gentleness in governing our unruly spirits; in accommodating Himself to them, that He presents things to us a little bit at a time; that He shows us sketches before the works are completed, using physical matter perceptible to the senses; that He helps us to apprehend things spiritual and invisible. Much of this will depend on the excellence and rarity of things, and on their being promised a long time in advance before their accomplishment. Without God's help, we are so badly constituted that we would regard things unfavourably.

The majesty of the King of glory, says St Jerome[1], required that He be announced and foretold several centuries before His coming. The Prophetic Oracles, with all the authority of the Old Testament, owed Him this respect and this honour.

 2   Are you astonished, asks Sophronius[2], that so many minds apply themselves to making known the Dignities and Splendours of the MOTHER OF GOD? Remember that all the earth can do to honour her is less than the praise she receives in heaven, where no effort is spared in honouring her merits and making them more visible. Divine and angelic voices have been employed to this end, as well as the predictions of the Prophets and the mysterious figures of the Patriarchs. The Evangelists have made her known, blessed Spirits have greeted her, in fact the whole world has been involved.

The Holy Spirit made Predictions of her through the Prophets, says St Ildephonsus[3], revealed her through oracles, made her known through figures, promised her by what preceded her and fulfilled her by what followed. 

        In a Sermon for the Assumption[4], he affirms that all the predictions of the Prophets and the enigmas in scripture have their culmination in her. 

Do not imagine, says St Bernard[5], this Lady is a work resulting from mere chance, or that she was chosen fortuitously. She was chosen from eternity and prepared by God alone; since then, she was kept safe by Angels, pre-figured by the ancient Fathers and promised by the Prophets.

Elsewhere[6], he maintains that:

one of the principal favours God granted to His people was that the Holy Virgin was promised to them a long time before her birth and that her descent was from Him.

St Andrew of Crete[7] agrees with this great servant of the Virgin, calling her the Adornment of the Prophets and the infallible subject of God’s sacred Oracles. In the Revelations of St Bridget[8], the Angel calls Mary the joy and consolation of the Prophets, to whom God very frequently presented her as a desirable object to mitigate the distress and suffering of their spirits when faced with the continual evils menacing the people to whom they were preaching. George, Archbishop of Nicomedia, was a very precise and careful writer who said this about what he had learned of the MOTHER OF GOD[9]:

These three score valiant ones who guard the bed of Solomon[10] are none other than the Patriarchs, the Prophets and the rest of the great personages of antiquity. Through all time, they have their gaze fixed on the Holy Virgin, who is the true nuptial couch of the Word incarnate.

 3   For a third time, St Bernard considers carefully this valiant woman, whom Solomon sought so ardently. He remarks[11] that when this great and wise Prince asked where she might be found[12], he did not speak from despair of ever meeting her, for he had before his eyes. He spoke in this way to make people feel a sense of great expectancy for this Lady, and to make them understand that she must of necessity come from afar and from the uttermost ends of the earth. This means that she would have to be a premeditated work, prepared and expected over a long period of time.

Do you not see, says this great Saint, how Mary comes from afar, since Moses the great Lawgiver of the Hebrews, saw her such a long time before she came into the world? For he saw her in the burning bush[13] which was on fire but not burned to ashes. He understood how it was the duty of this Holy Virgin to be in the midst of the flames of Divinity without suffering offence or injury; and to conceive without burning with concupiscence. Notice nearby his brother Aaron whose rod puts forth buds and then soon after bears leaves, flowers and then fruits, with no preceding corruption. This is a true symbol of Her who, suffering no change to her chastity, bore the unique flower of the field and the true living fruit. Admire Gedeon’s fleece drenched with a miraculous dew and at the same time picture Him of whom David said He would come down with no noise like rain upon the fleece, and as showers falling gently upon the changing earth.[14] Consider the marvellous news which stunned the Prophet Jeremias as he contemplated a woman compassing a man,[15] because of the fulness of wisdom with which he was filled from then on.

This holy Doctor proceeds to cast much more light on these ideas; for my purposes, it is enough to have touched on them since I must shortly discuss the majority of them again.

Footnotes

[1] In c. 29 Isaiæ.

[2] Serm. de Assumpt.

[3] Lib. de Virginitate Mariæ.

[4] Serm. 1..

[5] Serm. 2 in Missus.

[6] Serm. in Signum magnum.

[7] Serm. de Annuntiat.

[8] In Serm. Angel., c. 9.

[9] Orat. de Oblatione Deiparæ in templo.

[10] Cant. iii. 7-8.

[11] Homil. 2 in Missus.

[12] Prov. 31.

[13] Exod. 3.

[14] Ps. LXXI. 6

[15] For the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN. Jerem xxxi. 22.

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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 : § 3. 5-6

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)

§ 3. The relationship between the Blessed Virgin and our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby it appears that she is the Firstborn of mere creatures

Third title whereby the Holy Virgin is the Firstborn of mere creatures

 5   Thirdly, Mary is the  Firstborn of mere creatures by right of her eternal predestination, inasmuch as God has from this starting point regarded her as the Redemptrix of every creature along with her Son, and she is consequently the glory and honour of all. In this sense, she can say with Him that God created her as the Beginning of His ways for His ways[1] In this sense too she can say that she was prepared from eternity,[2] or, according to the original text, she has been planted and raised[3] like a banner over the watchtower of this world, showing victory over Satan and the reconquest of the fortress he had seized. Listen to the words of St John Damascene and St Anselm. They explain briefly how it all happened, whilst waiting for a later opportunity to give more details.

God had made man, says St John Damascene,[4] as a cross between those creatures purely intellectual and those completely material; he was like a point of juncture between these two, where goodness and intelligence might be found. Man, through his sin, however, caused everything to fall into terrible disrepair and lamentable disorder. It was the Blessed Virgin’s intervention that reversed this, for the spiritual (or intellectual) and material were bought together within her womb by Him who had made them in the beginning. There, He resolved their differences and a treaty of peace was signed by each side.  

St Anselm has presented the same narrative in beautiful language[5]:

The creatures below man, he says, owe him obedience only to the extent that he maintains himself in the submission and subordination he owes to God. If he separates himself from God, breaking his ties, then the creatures for their part desert man and no longer want to recognise him. In this way, the sin of the first man was followed by a rebellion and general uprising of every creature, determined to cast off the yoke whereby they owed him respect and to rebel against him. Now the Sun, indignant at serving a rebel, made plans to withdraw its light, the stars their influences[6], fire its heat; the air thought rather to suffocate than to refresh, and so it was with all the other elements of the universe which were inclining towards a general mutiny, were it not for the Author of nature, along with His Holy Mother, who brought this to a halt and in this way restored Man to his estates and honours.

 The same St Anselm adds a third way of understanding this[7]:

From the beginning, God had loved man and had desired to be loved and acknowledged by him. Reason required this, considering that man’s entire well-being and happiness depended on God. Now, God did not wish to show His face openly to man but, in order that man might be drawn gently to a knowledge and love of his sovereign good, God placed before man’s gaze an infinity of creatures which would all serve as mirrors and ladders, enabling man to see God’s perfections and to lift up his heart in love. 

Wretched man, however, lost his mind and his way; instead of keeping on the path leading up to his Creator, he tarried with creatures, finding in them his contentment and happiness. In this way, he both debased himself in an alien way and robbed them of their nobility whose role was to guide man on the path to God. Everything was therefore in a state of disorder and confusion until the Holy Virgin appeared on the scene like a beneficent Star, Man, who had gone astray so shamefully, was led back to the path leading to knowledge and love of God. In the same way, the creatures whom man had debased and dishonoured were recalled to their primary duties and restored to their former splendour. Which creatures will henceforth deny that they owe homage to Mary, and that they are duty-bound to acknowledge her as Firstborn? For through her they have the happiness of being restored to their former state and to experience in this way a new birth.

 6   I am fully aware that these matters deserve fuller treatment but I am deferring this to a more suitable time after these discussions. The first title of Mary’s Birth-right comprises the Splendours and great Dignities of the Holy Virgin. The first three Treatises will concentrate on these. The second title represents her as the centre and culmination of God’s works. Apart from those occasions when the subject crops up from time to time, I shall use the whole of the following chapter to cover this. The third title shows her as the Redemptrix, restoring the work of God. I am saving the whole second Treatise to deal with this. Now these considerations have been dealt with, I propose we move on.

Footnotes

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

[2] I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made.   Prov. viii. 23.

[3] Ab æterno vexillata sum. See DMLBS. vexillare [CL vexillum+-are] 1. to equip with banners.  2. to add the mark of the cross.

[4] Orat. 1 de Nativit. B. Virg.

[5] De Excellentia Virg., c. 10.

[6] Qualité, puissance, vertu qui decoule des astres sur les corps sublunaires. Bonne influence. maligne influence. les diverses influences des astres font la varieté du temps. Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 1re édition (1694).

[7] Cap. 12.

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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 : § 3. 3-4

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)

§ 3. The relationship between the Blessed Virgin and our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby it appears that she is the Firstborn of mere creatures

First title whereby the Holy Virgin is the Firstborn of mere creatures

 3   I say therefore that she is the Firstborn of mere creatures by virtue of the same titles which oblige us to acknowledge the Saviour as Firstborn of every creature. I say this recognizing the inequality and dependence which must be understood proportionately between them both. Mary has this title because she surpasses them all in dignity, excellence and perfection. St Bernard, little child of Mary that he is, having considered the Son as I said previously, sets himself to contemplate the Mother and to say, altogether transported with joy and happiness:

Holy Lady, thou art chosen like the Sun. I am not talking here of the physical Sun which giveth light to us, but of Him who didst create it. He is chosen among millions of men and thou among millions of women. He is chosen among all who have been created, and thou among all He hath created.

 

This caused St Bonaventure to say:

Were all the Saints to grow as much as is possible for each of them according to their rank and in order, they would never equal the perfections of the MOTHER OF GOD.[1]

The reason is that forasmuch as holiness, grace and greatness have been divided among the Saints, each one of them has taken a share, some more and some less. The Blessed Virgin’s lot must be viewed as separate for she does not share these with anyone; for with her Son, and by means of her Son, she enters into the fulness of the holiness, grace and greatness of God. This provides me with the chance to make heard a great thought of St Augustine[2] who, with admirable emphasis, calls this the Work of an eternal design. By this he means, in my opinion, that if God were to have needed time like us in order to form in His mind the idea of such a noble and perfect creature, then He would have needed no less than an eternity.

Second title whereby the Holy Virgin is the Firstborn of mere creatures

 4   In the second place, she can be called the Firstborn of (mere) creatures because along with her Son she is their centre. They all regard her as the target they aim for. Listen to the words of the blessed Archbishop of Crete[3] and take note of how the great Saints speak of this Lady:

I do not consider her as being anything less than the declaration uttered from the depths of divine incomprehensibility as God’s aim from before time began.

     

He means to say that God is like an abyss where the depths of His Greatness are unfathomable to our crude understanding. He has made a creature in whom we can contemplate all His perfections more easily since they are more in proportion to our weakness. In this connection, He has had her in His mind's eye from the beginning, alongside His incarnate Son, as the aim and objective of His works and the fulfilment of the ancient prophecies and figures.

Do not take my word for it, says St Bernard, believe the Sacred Scriptures. Take the trouble to go though them and see if it it is not true that just as they speak of Mary from beginning to end, in the same way they have been written to make her known to us.[4]

Whoever wants to gain the satisfaction of following the advice of this great Saint and to explore his Holy Writings, will find that if the new and heavenly Adam is formed, He is formed from the virgin soil that is none other than Virgin Mary; that if He dwelt in an earthly Paradise, then this Paradise is the same Virgin; that the Spouse given to him is Mary, who justly bears the title of Mother of the living, which the ancient Eve abused, making herself mother of the dead; if the just man Noe is carried away from the waves and impetuous floods of suffering, it is with the Ark, that is to say with His blessed Mother who keeps Him faithful company; if innocent Isaac bears the wood for the sacrifice and proceeds courageously towards his death, Sara his mother is present and gives her assent to God’s will in its entirety; if Jacob crosses the Jordan, his beautiful Rachel is never far away. In short, we must conclude with Blessed Andrew of Jerusalem:[5] 

Mary is the mysterious Tabernacle whose design was given by God; in her the ancient prophecies have been accomplished and the figurative characters cast into the fire on the arrival of the Truth; she is the true Mercy Seat that the two Cherubim look towards unceasingly;[6] she is the expectation of all past centuries, the desired of nations,[7] the desire of the everlasting hills,[8] the fulfilment of the promises made to the Patriarchs and the accomplishment of the immutable designs of God.

Footnotes

[1] In I, dist. 44.

[2] Serm. de Annuntiat.

[3] S. Andræas Cretensis, Orat. 1 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[4] Serm. 1 in Salve.

[5] Orat. 1 de Dormit. B. Virg.

[6] Exod. xxv. 17-20.

[7] And I will move all nations: AND THE DESIRED OF ALL NATIONS SHALL COME: and I will fill this house with glory: saith the Lord of hosts. Aggeus ii. 8.

[8] The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; Gen. xxv. 26

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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 : § 3.1-2

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).

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

§ 3. The relationship between the Blessed Virgin and our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby it appears that she is the Firstborn of mere creatures

 1   No, it pertains neither to nature, nor to art nor even to grace (as it normally operates) to produce a masterpiece from scratch; they need to try their hand firstly with something less advanced. The masterpiece of trees, for example, is their fruit. Before producing fruit, however, they must serve an apprenticeship in making flowers,  causing them to bloom and turn into fruit. Air practises with shaping ice before producing rock crystal. The earth does not produce diamonds, rubies and sapphires without first studying how to make Alençon diamonds and German gemstones. The sun brings forth dawn before the fullness of day; nature tries a thousand different experiments before gold is produced. The goldsmith, before crafting a piece of work for display, prepares sketches, moulds and reworks the material several times. God did not make the world such as it is now all at once; He began with a mass that was void and without form which He then brought to completion according to His plan. Before giving us the law of grace, He broke that given to Moses as though consigning it to history. 

This makes me hope that no-one will be offended if I say that God acted as follows. In order to create that masterpiece which will captivate created spirits for so long as there is a God and an eternity to contemplate Him, none other than our Lord Jesus Christ, God began with various sketches and models of ancient figures. Based on the idea He had of a God-Man, He produced His first Master stroke, namely the Mother of this same God incarnate. She came as close to His plan as would be possible for a mere creature.

 2   A kindly spirit from antiquity[1] has commented perceptively on the flower we call bindweed or campanula. He says it was a trial attempt by nature seeking a prototype for the Lily. If nature had attached the tiny filaments or golden buttons which are found in the centre of the Lily, and had made the flower firmer and more open, it could have passed for a Lily. Dare I suggest, following this learned writer, that the Blessed Virgin was God’s trial attempt at working with nature to make a Man-God? But why should I not dare to say this, since there are so many interconnections between one and the other? 

I declare before heaven and earth that I am not in any way claiming to depart from the respect I owe to the Majesty of the Word Incarnate; in this question I wish only to follow the teaching of the Catholic Church. I call upon His goodness to witness that my intention is not to reduce His Greatness so as  to elevate that of His Mother; I acknowledge no sort of subsistent Divinity in her and I see her infinitely lower than Him. I know only too well that I would never be regarded favourably by her if I tried to raise her up to the disadvantage of the King of glory, her most honoured Son, compared to whom she takes herself to be as a tiny atom, the picture of a nothing. My intention is simply to show that, except for the disproportion in everything and in every way caused by the divine person of the Saviour and what arises from this personal union, which always puts an infinite distance between Him and other creatures, the most Blessed Virgin comes as close as it is possible for a mere creature to His Greatness. She was drawn from Him as from a model and as a second idea from the plan God had through all eternity. I do not know of a better way of showing this than by presenting the parallels between her own predestination and that of her Son; in showing line by line that her Birth-right over all creatures is nothing less than a participation in and imitation of her Son’s. By doing this, I believe I am without doubt acknowledging the Majesty of Him from whom comes the first Masterpiece; I am aiming to render service to the Prince of whom she is the Mother and to the Holy Spirit whose Spouse she is. Finally, I am very encouraged to have on my side the authority of the Church which has no difficulty in honouring the Virgin with the words of Solomon[2], cited above in connection with the eternal predestination of the King of glory, Mary’s Son most dear. 

Footnotes

[1] Plin., lib. XXI, c. 6.

[2] The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning.[Prov. viii. 22]

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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