The Crown of Excellence : Chapter 8 : § 1. 13-14

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour in the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

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

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

Mary’s soul was unique in being totally free of any sin

§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD was exempt from original sin

The third proof, drawn from the nature of original sin

 13   We have made many references to original sin and there is a proof arising from its nature which bears further consideration. I wish I were able to take up a brush and confidently paint this sin in all its garish colours; I would bring into the light of day a monster capable of filling with terror anyone who looked upon it. In the absence of such a skill, however, I will at least try to provide a sketch which may give an idea of its horror.

I seem to see a monster which is horrible in every aspect, propelled out of hell so as to infect the whole world with its noisome toxicity. All the demons have helped to produce this monstrosity with its fearful face, its raging hatred and its merciless schemes. It has a hundred heads, all of them different but equally hideous. Its eyes are globes of fire, its teeth are sharpened razors, its throats are stinking pits and its claws are like fangs of steel. Fumes spew out of its throats and they are so overpowering as to spread darkness and poison through the air. Deep within its bowels burns Greek fire which destroys everything coming near it. The monster’s screams and howls fill everybody with a dread panic. They are driven before it into a grim cavern to be tormented. No-one can escape its fury. 

Now, once the monster has thrown these victims into its dungeons, it attacks them with its teeth and claws. It starts by violently disfiguring their faces,  reshaping them in the image and likeness of Satan. It pulls them and drags them, it carries them off and mutilates them, leaving nothing intact. It puts out the eyes and drives spikes into the ears, it sucks out the brains and rips out their hearts. But this is just the hellish beginning and it is not permitted to go any further in depicting its cruelty.

Footnotes

[1] Gen. iii. 15.

[2] Tract. II, c. 9, § 7.

 14   There you have strange picture, even though it is no more than a sketch and does not show the ugliness in all its reality. Lest you think, however, that I have been conjuring up monsters as we do in fairy tales to frighten children, I am going to present some of the details one by one so that you will see nothing I have said deviates from the truth. I said right at the beginning that this monster was conceived in hell and was then sent out to infect the world. Solomon spoke of this before me[1], saying that it was the Devil’s envy that spewed this horror into the world like a deadly poison. This was the first explosion of his fury when he began to lash out against God and to do everything he could to spite Him. Through this, in one fell swoop he brought death into the souls of Adam and all his posterity. You saw him as a monster with a hundred heads : these are all the types of actual sin that he conceived and propagated. Now it is true that this sin is one in its nature, as the Theologians teach, yet in its potentiality and in its seed are to be found all sins whatsoever. For once the root has been infested, it is inevitable that the whole tree will be affected : the fruit, the flowers, the leaves, the branches and the trunk. The monster’s heads are frightful to behold and their breath is hellish : for in truth the devil himself is not so hideous to behold and the cesspits of hell are not so foul  as one solitary sin is to the eyes and senses of God. The Greek fire that burns within him is nothing other than accursed concupiscence[2], the foremost effect of sin.  In the words of St James[3], it inflameth the wheel of our nativity, being set on fire by hell. This means that concupiscence relentlessly lays hold of the brute part of man, making him feel its fires of desire and blinding him with its smoke for as long as this miserable life continues. This monster forces everyone before him, inasmuch as he takes us away from God’s presence, he makes us lose God’s friendship and the grace of His adoption along with any claims we might have to His inheritance; he makes us fall away from our privileged status, losing its benefits and the honour which is ours of being the children of God. This den of darkness where he confines us is on the outskirts of hell; we are obliged to stay here for as long as we remain in the misfortune arising from our birth.

As for his cruelty that I referred to above, please God we have not had to discover what it truly is through our personal experience.  Alas! We bear the marks of it from head to toe, as is evidenced by our darkened understanding, our will inclined to pleasure, our altered senses, our appetites in revolt against reason, and our reason rebelling against God’s will. Note especially the beautiful human face which has been disfigured, signifying that we who were made in the image of God have been altered so as to be the likeness of Satan[4]. This is how the Aeropagite defines original sin when he calls it a habit of dissimilarity with God attached to man from the moment of  his conception.

Footnotes

[1] But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world: And they follow him that are of his side. Sap. ii. 24-26.

[2] For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world. Ioan. ii. 16.

[3] And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is placed among our members, which defileth the whole body, and inflameth the wheel of our nativity, being set on fire by hell. Cap. iii. 6.  

[4] Cap. 2 Eccles. hier.

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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 8 : § 1. 10-12

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour in the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

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

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

Mary’s soul was unique in being totally free of any sin

§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD was exempt from original sin

Second proof : drawn from the person of the Holy Virgin

 10   Now, Hesychius said that Mary’s destiny was to take down Satan’s pride and smash his horns. It is in fact true that all the Holy Fathers also teach this, as I will show more fully in the second Treatise. In the meantime, consider the words spoken of old to the serpent, which are commonly understood by the Doctors as referring to the glorious Virgin: I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.[1] 

     If you study these words carefully, you will notice three important things. Firstly, as observed by St Cyprian, God uses the word enmities, which is in the plural. This points most strongly to every sort of disunity and estrangement, with no agreement, no peace and truce whatsoever. We are given to understand that she was unique in never having had any truck with Satan and his works; and from the very beginning, she declared a war to the death against him.

Secondly, God says she shall crush his head, which means nothing other than original sin. St Gregory of Nazianzus says of this : 

If a serpent is able to insert his head into a hole, however little it may be, the rest of his body is able to slide in quite easily – well, in exactly the same way, once the evil spirit has been able to to insert original sin into a soul, then it means actual sins can follow and enter in quite easily.

Or try to picture how the body of a snake still twists and struggles for a while even after you have crushed its head. This is what happens with original sin which we inherit from our parents; for though it is vanquished in the holy sacrament of Baptism,  we still suffer from its after-effects : the spirit of rebellion and dissension we feel within ourselves, and the assaults of concupiscence, which are consequences of original sin.

You may ask why Mary uses her foot to crush Satan’s head. Could this not be taken as meaning she performed this act right at the beginning of her life, for which the foot is here a symbol? There is another interpretation : God says the serpent’s head will be crushed by her heel and Satan will lay ambushes against her; this is as though God had said that the Serpent would not have the honour of meeting her at the beginning of her life, nor even of attacking her in person, as I shall show elsewhere[2]; but he will launch his surprise attacks against the persons of her descendants, namely her spiritual children who are represented here by her heel.

Footnotes

[1] Gen. iii. 15.

[2] Tract. II, c. 9, § 7.

 11   Imagine someone who has been imprisoned and whose life under lock and key is controlled by a gaoler; imagine this prisoner, feet and hands shackled, passing through the prison-gate with a halter around the neck, to be branded[1] and then banished from the kingdom in perpetuity. Imagine now this same person just one hour later receiving a Royal pardon and being sent immediately back to the Conciergerie[2] where he had been imprisoned so as to set free his fellow-prisoners and lead them out of the prison. Imagine the welcome he would be given and the friendly treatment he would receive from the keeper, in whose power he was formerly held.

I have to say that I find it difficult to believe that if the Holy Virgin had ever been for a single instant subject to Satan’s tyranny, this proud and insolent spirit would not have used this against her a thousand times. In fact, Satan would not have stopped at that but would used it against the Saviour of our souls, referring to as the Son of one of his former prisoners. Who cannot see, without needing me to point this out, that it would not have been expedient to give Satan this advantage over them?

Footnotes

[1] The French text reads: to receive the fleur du lis. This is a reference to a mark with which cutpurses and other criminals were once branded. Il a esté condamné à avoir le foüet & la fleur de lis. on luy a donné le foüet & la fleur de lis sur l’espaule. il a eu deux fois la fleur de lis. Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 1694.  

[2] Conciergerie can mean a prison, such as the prison within the Palais de Justice in Paris.

 

 12   Let everyone who has the time examine the other titles of the Blessed Virgin which I shall discuss in the following pages and consider how incompatible they are with any sort of sin. For my part, allow me to quote a single example of praise proclaimed by the Blessed Peter Damian, which is also one of the plans God has for Mary which makes us realize that she was exempt from sin. He makes the following subtle observation :

 

God had prepared the Holy Virgin as a couch where He might rest and recover from that day of crisis which saw the fall of Angels and men, a time which had caused Him more difficulties and problems, as we might say, than anything else.

Now please tell me what sort of couch would this have been were it like the others, bristling with the spikes and thorns of original sin? Would that have been just fine for a sweet and pleasing sleep? 

Let us set the matter straight by stating that Mary was the true couch prefigured by Solomon’s bed, festooned with thorn-free roses and fragrant with heavenly scents; where nothing whatsoever might be found displeasing in any way to His sovereign Majesty.

👑       👑       👑

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 8 : § 1. 8-9

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour in the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

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

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

Mary’s soul was unique in being totally free of any sin

§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD was exempt from original sin

Second proof : drawn from the person of the Holy Virgin

 8   Let us now consider Mary in her capacity as Redemptrix, Companion and Coadjutrix of the Saviour in the work of our redemption. I will discuss this at greater length in the second Treatise. 

You may have noticed already that God gave Adam a woman as helper who was made like unto himself[1] and that both possessed original justice. This woman was a preparatory sketch for Mary. Now, Adam and Eve were to be the progenitors of our race in a physical sense but the Creator in His infinite goodness could not allow them to be created other than in a state of innocence and holiness. If this was true for them, then what do we think would be the case with the Saviour and His Holy Mother who came to bring redemption for the sin which Adam and Eve had committed and which at the same time affected us? St Bernardine of Siena[2] considers this is a very powerful argument according to reason. It was put forward by the eldest of the Saviour’s Apostles, Blessed St Andrew, according to Abdias of Babylon[3] who quotes him as saying:

Just as the first Adam was formed from the virgin earth which had not yet been cursed as a result of sin, so too the second Adam was born from the Virgin mother who had never been under such a curse. 

Footnotes

[1] Gen. ii. 18.

[2] T. IV, Serm. 49...

[3] Lib. IV Hist.

 9   But what could be said in response to the Holy Doctors who teach she was chosen with her Son to deliver us from the evils caused to us by original sin; and to bring this about, would it not have been better if she herself had experienced the stain of this sin? 

The ancient poet Sedulius wrote lines so highly prized by the Church that some of his work was included in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Here is an example of what he wrote about Mary[1]:

For Mary purest flower from Eve did spring,

From rotten stem came forth a rose of grace,

A Virgin new ennobled all our race

But Eve through sin she death to us did bring.

In this regard, Hesychius calls Mary[2]:

most excellent adornment of our nature, glory of the earth, destined to cover over the shame of our first mother, to clean away the stain of our first father and to take down the pride which had led to the downfall of them both.

I shall say no more now for I aim to cover this specifically in the second Treatise[3]. What response can there be to the teaching of St John Damascene who says that :

the Blessed Virgin began this wondrous work at the very instant of her conception and at this blessed moment she raised our fallen nature and restored it fully?

After this, how could anyone say that Mary suffered from the same illness that she came to cure in us? Now, the Holy Fathers (whom I shall quote later) advance a conclusive argument that Mary was free from all actual sin because it was her destiny and that of her Son to fight against and conquer this very kind of sin. This being admitted, why would find any difficulty in saying the same thing about original sin? St Ildephonsus, a devout Chaplain of the Virgin, understood the power of this argument which he included in the excellent Treatise he wrote to defend our Lady’s honour :

Let the matter be considered settled beyond doubt : Mary was free and unencumbered by any original sin; she not only protects us from the curse but also brings us the blessing.

Footnotes

[1] Lib. II.

[2] Orat. 2 de B. Virg.

[3] Cap. 6.

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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 8 : § 1. 6-7

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour in the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

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

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

Mary’s soul was unique in being totally free of any sin

§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD was exempt from original sin

First proof, taken from the person of the Saviour

 6   Let us therefore consider this point has now been resolved to the glory of the Saviour of our souls. Let everyone accept He was so holy that He could not tolerate any sin in His flesh and He was such a good son that He could not permit any sin in His Mother. Remember how the virtuous Bethsabee once spoke to King David, her Lord and husband : my lord O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldst tell them, who shall sit on thy throne, my lord the king, after thee. Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king sleepeth with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders[1]. These words had such an impact upon David, the best King the world had seen, that he commanded the Prophet Nathan and the High Priest Abiathar to proceed immediately with the anointing and crowning of Solomon. Is it really to be believed that the Eternal Father would have been less sensitive to the dishonour of His only-begotten Son and His Blessed Mother than David was to the reproach that would fall upon Bethsabee his dear wife and his good son Solomon? 

Once again, how could anyone imagine that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, could have been a sinner and that the stain of sin at her conception could not fail to be shameful for Jesus the Son of Mary! Let this be spoken of no more since the very thought is odious.

Footnotes

[1] III Reg. i. 20-21.

[2] Lib. III de Libero Arb., c. 5..

[3] For the glory of a man is from the honour of his father, and a father without honour is the disgrace of the son. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) iii. 13.

Second proof : drawn from the person of the Holy Virgin

 7   Let us move now from the Son to the Mother. It seems we only have to study the plans and destiny God had in mind for her in order to realize she would be free of all sin. I have no intention of revisiting the title MOTHER OF GOD which we have already considered. Perhaps we should be happy with the words of St Augustine[1] which though few in number speak most forcefully on this point: as is the Son, so is the Mother. This is to be understood in terms of the relationship between the one and the other : just as the Son is separated from all sin because of His own divinity, in the same way the Mother is free from sin through the grace of her beloved Son. Note too how Mary's cousin St Elizabeth joins them together in blessings from Heaven when she says[2] : Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 

Footnotes

[1] Serm. 10 ad Fratres in eremo. .

[2] Luc. i. 42...

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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 8 : § 1. 4-5

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour in the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

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

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

Mary’s soul was unique in being totally free of any sin

§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD was exempt from original sin

First proof, taken from the person of the Saviour

 4   I can already hear people arguing that by the time the King entered His Palace, grace had already been in possession of it for a long time and had cleansed it of everything malodorous. If this is allowed to be the case, this means I have to imagine a situation where a woman could become the immaculate and worthy Mother of the most worthy and immaculate Son of God, to use the words of Origen, even though she could be reproached for having once been so filthy and stained with sin .[1] 

You who are reading this discussion, you are nowhere near God’s purity and holiness which give Him an infinite aversion to sin – is that not true? Now, according to St Augustine[2], God never fails to do what right reason tells us is the best thing to do. So if God were to have asked your advice on whether it was proper for Him to unite His divinity to flesh which had previously been damaged and infected by sin (because the flesh of the Son is that of the Mother), would you honestly have answered in the affirmative? Taking this idea further, if it had been possible for you to create a mother according to your own wishes, would you have shown her so little respect and so little affection on your part? Remember the wise words of Solomon[3] : the glory and the dishonour of the father and the mother redound unto their children. Do you really think God in His infinite wisdom and incomparable goodness would have done something which you with your tiny spark of reason would have rejected? This would mean either that He showed less honour to His mother than you would to yours or that He paid less attention to what was fitting for Him than you did in relation to yourself. This would be contrary to reason.

Footnotes

[1] Homil. 1 ex Variis.

[2] Lib. III de Libero Arb., c. 5..

[3] For the glory of a man is from the honour of his father, and a father without honour is the disgrace of the son. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) iii. 13.

 5   Be so good as to read what the Saints say on this question:

When I speak of sin, says the incomparable St Augustine[1], do not for one moment imagine that the Virgin Mary had any involvement whatsoever with sin; for we know that she received graces   proportionate to the honour she had of conceiving and bearing Him whom we know to have been without sin and by these she was able to overcome every kind of sin.

Note the serious declaration of St Cyprian : 

 

No, no… God’s justice would not allow this chosen vessel to be tarnished with common insults - this says it all and there is nothing more to add. There was a most remarkable difference between Mary and all others, for although she shared the same nature she had nothing whatsoever in common when it came to sin. The fulness of grace was due to the Mother, producing in a superabundant glory which rendered her peerless in regard to the purity of her body and her mind.

St Anselm said no less[2] : 

It was entirely reasonable for the Virgin to have a purity so excellent that it is impossible to conceive of any greater beneath God.

Now, who could claim this purity for the MOTHER OF GOD whilst accepting she had been tarnished by the repulsive stain of original sin (which I shall cover shortly)? I do not really see how there could be any doubt about this, in view of the principle[3] accepted by all the Holy Fathers and Theologians on this question. As soon as they come across anything improper attributed to the MOTHER OF GOD, they will not hear it spoken of in any manner. Now, supposing we wish to show that Mary did not suffer from concupiscence in any way whatsoever, that her body was not subject to ordinary laws, was exempt from corruption and that she never experienced the labour-pains and mess of child-birth – the above principle comes into play straight away and there is no argument more convincing than the simple statement that this would have been most unbefitting for the Mother of the divine Word and unworthy of the flesh most pure with which eternal Wisdom was to be clothed. This consideration alone makes any well-constituted mind pause, for the conclusion cannot be rebutted. The opprobrium of original sin is vastly more shameful and repugnant than all the imperfections mentioned above which subsist without sin; so who would not believe that there is less impropriety in burning away original sin? If Mary were given a choice between freedom from sin and freedom from being reduced to dust after death, there can be no doubt that Mary would have preferred the common lot suffered by human bodies to sin, and that the saintly and innocent Mary[4] would have chosen to plunge in the flames of all natural failings rather than to be stained by sin and become even for a single instant the enemy of her creator.

Footnotes

[1] De Natura et Gratia, c. 36.

[2] Lib. de Conceptu Virginali, c. 18...

[3] That Mary was exempt from sin.

[3] Poiré’s text uses the word hermine (ermine or stoat) which I have translated as Mary. The ermine featured as a symbol in various ways during the Middle Ages. Here is one example: Pureté morale, agilité, intelligence et innocence sont associées à ce petit animal au pelage blanc… selon l’une des légendes les plus célèbres, c’est lors d’une partie de chasse qu’Anne de Bretagne (1477 – 1514) aurait gracié l’animal prêt à se laisser tuer par des chiens plutôt que de traverser une étendue boueuse. La devise de la Bretagne serait ainsi née : “Kentoc’h mervel eget bezan saotret” (”Plutôt la mort que la souillure”). Moral purity, agility, intelligence and innocence are associated with this little animal with white fur... According to one of the most famous legends, Anne of Brittany (1477-1514) is said to have spared this animal in the course of a hunt because it preferred to be killed by her hunting dogs rather than cross an expanse of mud. This is said to be the origin of the Brittany motto : Death before dishonour. Taken from Les symboles de la Bretagne. 

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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 8 : § 1. 2-3

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour in the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

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

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

Mary’s soul was unique in being totally free of any sin

§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD was exempt from original sin

First proof, taken from the person of the Saviour

 2   I am going to link the first proof to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, for any stain on the Conception of the Virgin would unquestionably redound to the dishonour of Christ Himself. When speaking of men’s Redeemer, the Apostle Paul says[1] it was fitting that we should have such a High Priest who so plentifully endowed with qualities that He was holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners. This idea must be carefully pondered, for there is nothing that this spotless Lamb omitted to do in order to separate Himself from the general contagion suffered among sinners. Note how from the very beginning He chose out of all the nations a particular people to whom He gave His livery and sign lest with the passage of time they would intermingle with the rest. Within this people, He sifted out certain persons of outstanding virtue so that He would be born from their posterity. He left to His people thousands of symbols and figures representing the purity (both exterior and interior) which would be realized in Him. 

He left the imprint of His purity in every part of the Temple, in the persons of His ministers, in the sacrifices, in the vessels and in everything pertaining to His worship. Now, what man of any intelligence could believe that He would take so much care of shadows and figures only to be neglectful of their true fulfilment in reality? Who could accept that having created so many wonders to adorn His royal city, having guided crystal-clear spring waters to flow through its streets and having watched over it so carefully to keep it safe – that after preparing from all eternity the city where He would be received, that He would permit His Mother to remain unrefreshed by a single drop of grace, that He would have fallen asleep at the very moment of His Blessed Mother’s Conception when the enemy was at the gates with scaling ladders in a surprise attack?

 3   Who would say that He chose a physical throne more dazzling than the Sun only to accept a living throne stained and filthy with sin? Who would imagine that He would cause His corruptible temple to be covered with purest gold and built without a single hammer-blow being heard, making it all holy and divine just to house the golden Ark of the covenant – whereas the living temple where He would be received in person would be caked with mud and dirt, built with all the hurly-burly and disorder of sin? The great St Cyril fought in defence of this divine Temple at the Council of Ephesus and asked:

Who has ever heard of an architect who builds a dwelling for his own use but then is stopped from taking up residence and has to surrender this right to his enemy?

Could any reasonable mind admit the idea that God forbade under pain of death any person other than the High Priest to set foot in the Sanctuary of a Temple which was only figurative – but that He would willingly yield His true and unique Sanctuary to the spirit of filth and corruption? If he could not prevent it, how can He be omnipotent? If He could have prevented it, why did He fail to do so? Especially in view of what St Jerome says[2], all honour given to the mother redounds to the son, no more nor less than is the case with dishonour. Finally, what would be the point of requiring so much purity for the earthenware and wooden vessels meant only for the use of servants whilst allowing filth and muck in the golden vessel destined for use by the King?  It is just as if there were a great prince who built a palace for his future use and to display his magnificence; and with a view to taking up possession, he caused the streets in the town to be paved well in advance with white marble, the walls to be hung with rich tapestries and the route he would take to be decorated right royally; but at the very entrance of the Palace he left a stinking quagmire which he would be obliged to cross, sinking to his armpits.

Footnotes

[1] For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Hebr. vii. 26.

[2] Ad Eustoch.

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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 8 : § 1. 1

Chapter 8 : The Seventh Star or Splendour in the Crown of Excellence of the Mother of God

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

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

Mary’s soul was unique in being totally free of any sin

My desire to discuss the privilege of the MOTHER OF GOD whereby she was exempt from every sort of sin gives me more cause to be fearful than the pious St Bernard[1]. Granted that what I am considering for discussion relates to a purity which surpasses anything in creation, I could indeed say with greater reason than St Anselm[2] that this makes me painfully aware of my shortcomings and the enormity of my faults. I am with good reason afraid that I will be rejected as being unworthy of seeing God’s glory which shows itself in an extraordinary manner through Mary’s exemption from all sin. On the other hand, I feel encouraged by the words of St Bonaventure[3] who says that in a certain sense we have a duty to speak of Mary’s excellence lest our silence renders us guilty of ingratitude. If indeed it were permissible for someone such as myself to handle such a subject, then there is no better time to do so than now after I have just covered the graces of the Holy Virgin. This is because of the close relationship between these two privileges and because it is difficult to have a good understanding of one without the other. 

Now, there are two sorts of sin, namely original sin and actual sin; in order to avoid confusing these, I shall begin by showing how Mary was exempt from the first and then do the same in regard to the second. Finally, I shall conclude the discussion by considering the source from which this blessing of Mary is derived.

Footnotes

[1] Homil. 3 in Missus.

[2] De Excellentia Virg., c.1.

[3] Prolog. ad Speculum B. Virg.

§ 1. The MOTHER OF GOD was exempt from original sin

 1   You may think that I have a particular reason, along with David[1], for holding dear to my heart the spotless beauty of God’s house and for loving to defend this prerogative. The Holy Virgin was pleased to make a revelation to one of her faithful servants named Alphonse Rodriguez. He was a lay brother in our Company[2] who died on the island of Majorca in 1617 aged eighty-seven years. She revealed to him that one of the main reasons her beloved Son had for launching the little Company and honouring His Name had been to defend her immaculate Conception. In view of this, would I not have to die of shame if I remained silent on this subject when I had undertaken in terms to cover Mary’s Splendours and her Great Dignities? 

In fact, the courageous efforts of a large number of brave soldiers have done much to establish the truth of this revelation. God has lent His support to more than a hundred Writers in this same Company who have fought in defence of this truth, without mentioning countless others who have added their voices to the discussion. As a result, this privilege has been so firmly established that there are few now who doubt its truth and I do not therefore believe I will be criticized if I deal with this matter briefly. I shall therefore content myself with adducing several good and powerful proofs to establish the truth, drawing from the not inconsiderable Arsenal that the Church possesses.

Footnotes

[1] I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house. Psal. xxv. 8.

[2] La Compagnie de Jésus (Latin : Societas Jesu, S.J.) : The Society of Jesus.

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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