De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae
Mary's Modest Faith at Cana
The Mother of the Lord models a faith that is both great in its trust in Christ's power and modest in its manner of asking, as seen in her brief, reverent words at the wedding at Cana.
Learn, from the Mother of the Lord, to hold great faith in his wonderful works, and in that great faith to keep hold of modesty. Learn to adorn your faith with modesty, and to hold presumption in check. "They have no wine," she says.✦ How briefly, how reverently she made her suggestion — and from a heart that was anxiously devout!1 And so that you may learn, in such matters, to groan before God more devoutly than to ask presumptuously — tempering the heat of devotion with the shade of modesty — she held back the confidence she had conceived in prayer, and did so modestly.2 She didn't approach boldly; she didn't speak openly, as though she might say brazenly before everyone: "I beg you, Son — the wine has run out, the guests are embarrassed, the bridegroom is put to shame — show us what you can do."✦34 But even though her burning, feverish heart might have spoken these things and much more besides, the devout mother approached her powerful Son in private — not testing his power, but discerning his will: "They have no wine," she says.✦5 What could be more modest than that?
The Servant's Unworthiness Before the Mother
If even Mary, the Mother, did not dare to ask boldly for a miracle, how much more should a worthless servant tremble to presume before God.
What is more faithful than this? Faith didn't fail piety, gravity didn't fail the voice, and power didn't fail the prayer. So if she, since she is a mother, forgets herself as a mother and does not dare to ask for a miracle of wine — I, a worthless servant, for whom it is a very great thing to be at once the Son's own servant in the presence of the Mother — with what face do I presume to ask for the life of one dead four days?
Read the original Latin
Disce et in Matre Domini magnam in mirabilibus fidem habere, in magna fide verecundiam retinere. Disce verecundia decorare fidem, reprimere praesumptionem. Vinum, inquit, non habent. Quam breviter, quam reverenter suggessit, unde pie sollicita fuit! Et ut discas in huiusmodi magis pie gemere quam petere praesumptuose, pietatis aestum pudoris temperans umbra, conceptam precis fiduciam verecunde suppressit. Non frontose accessit, non palam locuta est, ut audacter coram omnibus diceret: "Obsecro, fili, deficit vinum, contristantus convivae, confunditur sponsus; ostende quid possis". Sed licet haec aut multo plura pectus aestuans, fervens loqueretur affectus, privatim tamen potentem pia Filium mater adivit, non potentiam tentans, sed voluntatem explorans: Vinum, inquit, non habent. Quid modestius?
Quid fidelius? Non defuit pietati fides, voci gravitas, efficacia voto. Si ergo illa, cum mater sit, matrem se oblita non audet petere miraculum vini, ego vile mancipium, cui permagnum est Filii simul ad Matris esse vernaculum, qua fronte praesumo pro vita petere quatriduani?
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.2.3 — And when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
- ↩John.2.3-John.2.4 — And when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." John.2.4 — And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come."
- ↩John.2.3 — And when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
Notes
- 1 ↩suggessit is a rare verb; rendered as 'made her suggestion' to capture the sense of a gentle, restrained prompting rather than a direct request.
- 2 ↩The image of devotion's 'heat' (aestus pietatis) tempered by modesty's 'shade' (umbra pudoris) is a deliberate rhetorical contrast: fervent love restrained by reverent restraint.
- 3 ↩The author supplies the fuller speech Mary might have made but didn't — a rhetorical contrast showing what her modesty restrained. The ut clause is result/purpose: she didn't speak openly, so as not to say these things brazenly.
- 4 ↩contristantus is a rare form; rendered as 'embarrassed' to capture the sense of the guests being put out by the lack of wine.
- 5 ↩The contrast non potentiam tentans, sed voluntatem explorans captures the distinction between putting God to the test and seeking to understand his disposition — a key devotional point.
De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae (On the Steps of Humility and Pride) companion
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