Mirror Of The Blessed Virgin Mary by Saint Bonaventure

CHAPTER XIII

MARY COMPARED TO A QUEEN ENTERING INTO THE PALACE WITH THE

KING

The Lord is with thee, O Lady most dear to the Lord, most intimate with the 
Lord ! The Lord is with thee, O most well-fitted Lady, most worthy of the 
Lord ! The Lord is with thee: with thee most certainly, according to what 
has been said above, as the sun is with the dawn which precedes it, as the 
flower is with the stem which produces it, as the king is with the queen 
entering into his palace.

Having seen how Mary is as the dawn to the eternal Sun, preventing the Sun 
of justice; having seen also how Mary is as the stem or rod to the eternal 
flower, producing the flower of mercy; let us now consider in what manner 
Mary is the Queen of the Eternal King, entering into glory.

Mary is that Queen entering in, of whom it is said that the queen entered 
into Jerusalem with a great company and with riches (3 Kings, X, 1.) Truly 
Mary is a queen. St. Augustine says: "We truly confess her to be the Queen 
of Heaven, because she brought forth the King of angels." I have spoken of 
this Queen in my sermon, "The Queen stood, etc."; therefore, I will now 
speak of her entrance.

We are to consider, therefore, that we find Mary going in, going forth, 
going on, and going above. Her going forth was of nature, her progress was 
of grace, her entrance was into glory, her elevation was in abundance.

She went forth by being born, she progressed by advancing in grace and 
virtue, she entered in by attaining, she surpassed all by her sanctity. She 
went forth without sin, she made progress beyond all example, she entered 
in without obstacle, she surpassed all without limits.

First consider that we find Mary going forth into the world by her nativity 
without sin....

Secondly, consider that we find Mary advancing without equal by her grace. 
Therefore it is said in the Canticle: "Who is she that cometh forth as the 
rising dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?" (Cant. VI, 9.) To these 
three luminaries, that is, the dawn, the moon, and the sun, Mary is fitly 
compared, for three excellent perfections shine forth in her. Resplendent 
virginity was in her mind and heart in a superlative degree; in her 
virginity shone forth fecundity, and in her fecundity shone forth a 
singular pre-eminence. A refreshing dawn and one pleasing to the birds was 
Mary; for by her virginity she. cooled the ardor of the flesh, as St. 
Bernard says, speaking to her: "By the virtue of chastity thou didst 
extinguish in thy virginal flesh the ardor of the forbidden concupiscence, 
that He, in whose sight even the stars are not pure, judged thy flesh to be 
of such purity that He deigned to unite it to His own divine purity." She 
also by her virginity was pleasing to the birds of heaven, that is, to the 
angels of God, for, as St. Jerome says: "Virginity is always related to the 
angels." Therefore we read that the angel blessed Jacob in the dawn. Jacob 
may here signify a chaste spirit, because Jacob supplanted his brother, 
that is, the body, his body. He was blessed not only by the angel, but also 
by his father, in the dawn, or in the morning, that is, in the chaste 
Virgin Mary, to whom the angel said: "Blessed art thou among women." 
Likewise Mary was fair as the moon in the lightgiving fecundity of her 
virginity; for the beauty of the moon consists in the light it receives 
from the sun. Think, therefore, what a beautiful moon was Mary, when that 
Eternal Sun was wholly received and conceived in her. Mary, therefore, is 
that moon in whose fullness that Man returned to the Church of whom it is 
said: "In the day of the full moon he will return to his house" (Prov. VII, 
20.) The Blessed Virgin was the full moon, when it was said to her: "Hail, 
full of grace!" Again Mary was chosen as the sun in the illumining 
privilege of her fecundity, when not mere man alone, nor a real angel, but 
the Son of God Himself placed in her His tabernacle, when He was conceived 
in Mary. Without doubt it would have been most singular if the Virgin had 
conceived a mere man; but it would have been much more singular if the 
Virgin had conceived an angel. It was singular above all that a virgin 
conceived and brought forth God. Well, therefore, doth St. Augustine say: 
"Rightly is the Blessed Mary extolled by us with extraordinary praise, who 
has shown to the world so extraordinary a benefit, when she is raised to so 
sublime a height that, while the Word was from the beginning abiding with 
God, she should yet receive Him into her bosom from the highest heavens." 
The Blessed Virgin Mary, therefore, has advanced like the rising morning, 
in admirable virginity of mind and body; bright as the sun, in the adorable 
divinity of her virginal offspring.

Thirdly, consider that we find Mary entering into the glory of Heaven 
without obstacle. For what could have opposed such a great queen advancing 
with so great a retinue ? She was prefigured by the Queen of Saba, of whom 
it is said: "Entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and 
camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold and precious 
stones" (3 Kings X, 2.) Consider in these words the glory of Mary entering 
into the heavenly Jerusalem. Consider, I say, the excellence of her who 
enters, her power and her wealth. Consider the excellence of the primacy of 
our Queen Mary, insomuch as she is compared to the Queen of Saba, which 
signifies a cry. For Mary is the Queen of the world, where there is a cry 
of mourning. She is also the Queen of Heaven, where there is a cry of joy. 
For the dwellers in Heaven cry out, as it is said in the Apocalypse: "Holy, 
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" And this Queen of those who cry out, ceases 
not herself to cry out with the others, as St. Augustine says: "Thou, O 
Mary, fellow-citizen of the inhabitants of Heaven, being endlessly 
associated with the angels and archangels, ceasest not to cry out with 
untiring voice: "Holy, holy, holy!" She indeed is the queen whom the 
Psalmist describes, saying: "The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded 
clothing, surrounded with variety" (Ps. XLIV, 10.) All can follow this 
Queen with confidence into the kingdom who have faithfully served her in 
this world. St. Bernard says: "Our Queen has gone before us: she has gone 
before us and has been so gloriously received that her servants may 
confidently cry out: 'Draw me after thee.' " Likewise consider in the 
entering in of our Queen the power of the retinue accompanying her, for it 
says: "with a multitudinous retinue." Mary entered into the heavenly 
Jerusalem with a multitudinous retinue of angelic powers. St. Jerome says: 
"We read how the angels have come to the death and burial of some of the 
Saints, and how they have accompanied the souls of the elect to Heaven with 
hymns and praises." And he adds: "How much more should we believe that the 
heavenly army, with all its bands, came forth rejoicing in festive array, 
to meet the Mother of God, surrounded her with effulgent light, and led her 
with praises and canticles to the throne prepared for her from the 
beginning of the world."

Likewise, consider in Mary the wealth of her merits, as it were in a dower 
of precious gifts: for she brought with her infinite gold in her love of 
God and of her neighbor, the precious gems of virtues and gifts, the spices 
of good works and examples. What I say of the treasures of Mary is little 
compared with what St. Bernard says. "In thy hands," he says, speaking to 
Mary, "are all the treasures of the mercies of the Lord. God forbid that 
thy hand should cease to give; for thy glory is not diminished, but 
augmented, when sinners are pardoned and the justified are taken up into 
glory." The Mother of God, therefore, entered into glory, as the Queen of 
Heaven, accompanied by a vast retinue of angels, with innumerable riches of 
merit.

Fourthly, consider that we find her surpassing all the Saints in the 
superabundance of her merits and rewards without end, according to the 
saying: "Many daughters have gathered together riches, thou hast surpassed 
them all." Thou hast indeed surpassed them in nature, in grace, in glory; 
thou hast surpassed all the daughters of men, all souls, all angelical 
intelligences, O Mary. I say that Mary in nature has surpassed all the 
daughters of men, for what nature does not admit of, she, a virgin, 
conceived, and brought forth, according to that word: "Behold a virgin 
shall conceive and bring forth a son." And it was not this alone that is 
above all nature, that a virgin should bring forth a son, but that she 
should bring forth God. Therefore, St. Jerome says: "What nature does not 
possess, what custom wots not, what reason knows nothing of, what the human 
mind cannot grasp, what the heavens fear, what the earth is astonished at, 
all this was what was divinely announced by the Angel Gabriel to Mary, and 
was fulfilled in Christ." Likewise, Mary surpassed in grace all the souls 
of the Saints, for she was not only full of grace, but overfull 
(superplena), as Gabriel signified, who said at first, "full of grace," and 
afterwards added: "And the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee." If, therefore, 
she was full of grace, whatever the Holy Spirit brought her afterwards was 
more than full measure; she was then more than full, she was surpassingly 
full (superplena). St. Bernard says: "While the Holy Spirit was coming, she 
was full of grace for herself (plena sibi); but when the Holy Spirit had 
come upon her, she was overfull and overflowed with grace for our sakes 
(superplena nobis)." So Mary surpassed in glory all the angelical 
intelligences; for she is the sapphire throne which, as we read in 
Ezechiel, is raised above the angelic firmament. St. Bernard says: "Mary 
ascended above every heavenly creature; up to the angels and even above 
these." So, therefore, Mary went forth, and advanced, and entered in, and 
went beyond all. She went forth, I say, by coming into this mortal life; 
she advanced in grace and privileges; she entered in by attaining to the 
Heavenly Kingdom; she surpassed all by exceeding the glory of all the 
blessed. Behold, therefore, O most sweet Virgin Mary, the Lord is truly 
with thee, as the sun is with the dawn which goes before it, as the flower 
is with the flowering stem, as the King is with the Queen entering in. O 
most sweet aurora, grant that the Sun of justice may also be with us ! O 
most sublime Rod, grant that with us also may be the flower of grace! O 
most powerful Queen, grant that the King of glory, Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
may stay with us!