The glories of MaryLiguori, Alfonso Maria de', Saint
Religion
The glories of Mary
Liguori, Alfonso Maria de', Saint
Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint -- Early works to 1800
In a word, to conclude this point, Hugo of St. Victor says, the tree is
known by its fruit. If the Lamb was always immaculate, always immaculate
must the mother also have been.[938] Hence this same doctor saluted Mary
by calling her: The worthy mother of a worthy Son: “O digna digni.” By
which he meant to say, that none but Mary was the worthy mother of such
a Son, and that none but Jesus was the worthy Son of such a mother.[939]
Therefore let us say with St. Ildephonsus: Give suck, then, oh Mary, give
suck to thy Creator; give suck to him who created thee, and hath made
thee so pure and perfect that thou hast merited that he should receive
from thee the human nature.[940]
_Third Point._—If, then, it became the Father to preserve Mary as his
daughter from sin, and the Son because she was his mother, it also became
the Holy Spirit to preserve her as his spouse. Mary, says St. Augustine,
was the only one who merited to be called the mother and spouse of
God.[941] For, as St. Anselm affirms, the Holy Spirit came bodily upon
Mary and rested in her, enriching her with grace beyond all creatures,
dwelt in her, and made his spouse queen of heaven and of earth.[942]
As the saint expresses it: He was with her really, as to the effect,
since he came to form from her immaculate body the immaculate body of
Jesus Christ, as the archangel predicted: The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee.[943] For this reason, says St. Thomas, Mary is called the temple of
the Lord, the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, because, by the operation of
the Holy Spirit, she was made mother of the incarnate Word.[944]
Now, if an excellent painter were allowed to choose a bride as beautiful
or as deformed as he himself might paint her, how great would be his
solicitude to make her as beautiful as possible! Who, then, will say that
the Holy Spirit has not dealt thus with Mary, and that, having it in his
power to make this his spouse as beautiful as it became her to be, he has
not done so? Yes, thus it was fitting he should do, and thus he did, as
the Lord himself attested when praising Mary; he said to her: “Thou art
all fair, oh my love; and there is not a spot in thee;”[945] which words,
as we learn from à Lapide, St. Ildephonsus, and St. Thomas, explain as
properly to be understood of Mary. St. Bernardine of Sienna,[946] and
St. Lawrence Justinian,[947] also declare that the passage above quoted
is precisely to be understood of her immaculate conception; hence the
Idiot says: Thou art all fair, oh most glorious Virgin, not in part, but
wholly; and the stain of sin, whether mortal, or venial, or original, is
not upon thee.[948]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account