De nostra domina de pietate
The Compassion of the Mother
The text introduces the profound piety and interior suffering of the Virgin Mary as a model for all believers.
Beloved, we speak something in praise of the blessed Virgin, though whatever we say of her will be less than her dignity deserves; for the most perfect works of the Mother of God hold a prerogative of excellent holiness in the compassion of all holy works, of which the divine Jerome speaks, saying: if you look directly, there is nothing of virtue, nothing of grace, nothing of splendor that does not shine forth in the glorious Virgin. Furthermore, as Gregory testifies, a person is more perfect the more deeply their piety feels the sorrows of others. Therefore, the virtue of piety in her—who is the most pious of the pious—must not be passed over in silence, for in this she seems to have no superior or equal among the saints; for who knew how to express lamentations over the death of the Savior with a fuller knowledge of interior compassion and more prudently than his most learned Mother? Or who could weep with more intense sorrow than the most mournful Mary? Or who could weep with more intense sorrow than the most mournful Mary? She is rightly more than a martyr, for she was wounded by excessive love, stood as a witness to the Savior, and suffered an agony of soul because of her grief. Augustine says: Christ Jesus sustained the flesh, and the Virgin Mary offered her mind; therefore, at that time. Just as the solemnity of these days demands, the immense piety of the Mother of God, Mary—by which she suffered in spirit—is to be considered, admired, praised, and imitated.
Faith at the Foot of the Cross
Mary's steadfast faith during the Passion is contrasted with the disciples' failure, highlighting her role as the sole bearer of hope.
As John testifies, the Virgin Mary herself stood by. The Mother of Jesus stood by the cross, not out of numbness or indifference, but out of holiness; she stood firm, lifted up by faith rather than bowed down by sin, and perfectly aligned with the will of God. True faith, the foundation of all virtues, is the primary uprightness of the soul. During the Passion, all the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ—who had previously stood firm in their faith, believing Christ to be not only a true man but also the true God—had fallen away, just as Peter had spoken for them all. For when Christ, the Son of the living God, was crucified, everyone else was prostrate in their lack of faith; only the most blessed Mary stood firm, raised up by faith, waiting without doubt for his resurrection on the third day. As a sign of this, fifteen candles are lit during the office of the Lord's Passion. Before the altar, they are extinguished one by one until only one lit candle remains hidden, which is brought out after the service to provide light for everyone. Those fifteen candles signify the twelve apostles and the three Marys—Magdalene, Salome, and the wife of Alphaeus—who seemed more enlightened and strengthened in faith than the others. But during those three days, the light of faith regarding the divinity of Christ Jesus was extinguished in all of them; only in the blessed Virgin did the light of faith remain hidden, later to be revealed to everyone to enlighten them all by her example. Secondly, she stood not bowed by sin; she did not lie down, she did not sit, and she was not bent over. A person lies down in sin through wicked deeds, sits through the consent of the mind, and is bowed down through sensual desire. We have all fallen like a leaf, that is, from the perfection of virtues, at least regarding sensual complacency, where venial sin consists; for if we say that we have no sin, the truth is not in us. Thirdly, she stood firm in the will of God, confirming herself. Therefore she stood: she did not grumble that her most innocent Son was suffering; she did not curse the Jews for treating so cruelly the one to whom he had done so many favors; she did not ask God for vengeance so that they might be swallowed alive by the earth, as they deserved. She did not tear her hair or her face, because she remained a widow and without her son as a comforter, but she stood modest, humble, full of tears, and immersed in sorrows. Therefore Anselm says: 'O Lady, what fountains of tears should I say burst forth from your most chaste eyes when you looked upon your only Son?' To see the innocent one scourged, bound, and slaughtered before you, and his flesh torn cruelly from his body by the wicked, and yet to remain so conformed to the divine will that you were most eager for the salvation of the human race—you were truly conformed and fixed in the will of God.
The Sword of Sorrow
The prophecy of Simeon is fulfilled as Mary experiences the agony of her Son's death, inviting the faithful to share in her lamentation.
Although that prophecy of Simeon was fulfilled at that time, as Luke says: “A sword will pierce your own soul.” “O Lady,” that righteous Simeon said, “you were without pain in childbirth, but the time will come when you will stand by the cross of your Son and see Him dying; a sword will then pierce your heart.” For the Virgin Mary herself had a unique share in all the sorrows of her Son’s passion, because of her faith, her understanding, and her satisfaction. By the cross, indeed, stood the most sorrowful mother, and where she could not reach, she tried to stretch out her hands; she longed to embrace her Son hanging on high. But her hands, stretched out in vain, returned to her empty. But after she received the body of Christ Jesus taken down from the cross, she said with a tearful voice: “What have You done, O Jesus, my dearest Son? Why did the Jews crucify You? What is the cause of Your death, O Son?” How harsh and bitter is the redemption of the human race for You, for which I give thanks to God the Father and to You with the Holy Spirit. Hence the Church, most devoutly inviting us to the compassion of this day, sings: “May it help the minds of the faithful to ponder the sorrows and the sighing of the mother of Christ with a gift of thanks; the chaste heart of the parent is tormented by harsh pain while the perverse ones scourge with rods Him whom she had borne, bind Jesus, cruelly strike Him, and bitterly wound Him, and thus the sorrows of His greatest mother are increased. The Virgin who had borne the Son of God stands as a mother, groaning at the torture, seeing the cross in her misery. She suffers so much with Him that she almost dies with Him; no sorrow is more bitter, for no child is dearer.” Therefore, all you servants of Mary, worshippers of the true faith, honor the slain Jesus, and mourn Him with Mary, and accept devotion from now on. This is like a certain doctor of canon and civil law from the Parliament of Paris, who, hearing the preaching of a certain friar of the Order of Preachers who was speaking about the piety of the glorious Virgin, when he was sick unto death and had lost his speech for many days, called for the preacher through his wife to visit him. After the visit was made, the friar immediately sent word to the convent that the brothers should say a prayer before our Lady of Piety. Once that was said, the sick man opened his eyes, began to speak, and by the merits of the Virgin made his confession, although he had not truly confessed for ten years, and he lived for some days afterward.
Meditating on the Seven Sorrows
The chapter concludes with a devotional practice of reflecting on the seven sorrows of the Virgin to aid in the believer's own spiritual journey.
These are the sorrows the Virgin endured; learn, Savior, to remember the seven sorrows of the Virgin, so that these sorrows may benefit you every day. Simeon foretold that the Virgin's soul would be pierced by a sword and that she would bear the wounds of her Son; the second: when the crowd of innocent children was slaughtered, I carried my own through the flight to Egypt, not without difficulty; the third: I grieved while searching for my Son as he taught the divine word in the temple; the fourth: I saw him captured and bear the weight of his cross; the sixth: I saw him fixed to the wood and, once dead, taken down; the seventh, she says: leave the stone, the struggle is over, enjoy the rest; whoever meditates on these our sorrows will receive the help of the Son to bear the weight of salvation. May He deign to grant this. Amen.
Read the original Latin
In laudibus virginis benedictae aliquid loquimur dilectissimi, licet de ea, quidquid dixerimus, minoris sit laudis, quam dignitas ejus merealur, Nmn perfectissima Dei matris opera in operum sanctorum omnium compassione excellentis sanctitatis praerogativam babent, de qua loquitur divus Hieronymus dicens; si directe attendas, nihil est virtutis, nihil gratiae, nihil splendoris, quod totum non refulgeat in virgine gloriosa. Porro Gregorio teste lanto quis perfectior est, quanto pietas alienas perfectius sentit dolores. Non igitur ipsius, quae est piarum piissima, silenda est virtus pietalis, in qua non videtur sanclorum aliquem habere superiorem nec parem, Quis enim ampliori agnitione internae compassionis Jamentationes super mortem salvatoris scivit edicere prudentius matre ejus doctissima! ? aut quis intensiori dolore plangendo lugere potuit Maria moestissima? Jure enim plusquam martir est, quae nimio amore vulnerata testis exstitit salvatoris et prae moerore in anino crucialumn. sustinuit passionis, Angustinus: Christus Jesus carnem et Maria virgo imunolat mentem, Ad tempus igitur. prout colenda sollemnitas his diebus expostulat instituta Dei genitricis Mariae immensa pietas, qua in spiritu fuit passa, consideranda, admiranda, landandaque ac imitanda est.
Ipsa equidem virgo Maria, ut Johannes testatur cap. XIX, stabat juxta crucem mater Jesu, non insensibilitate vel iminutabilitate, sed sanctitate; stabat enim fide elevata, stabat peccato non inclinata, stabat Dei voluntate conformata, Prima equidem rectitudo mentis est vera fides fundamentum virtutum, Tempore etenim passionis omnes discipuli Christi Jesu domini nostri, qui prius stabant fide elevati ad Christum credendum non solum venun hominem, simul et verun Deum, Unde Petrus pro omnibus dixerat Maith. XVI: tn es Christus filius Dei vivi, Omnes prostrati sunt in infidelitatem, sola enim beatissima Maria stabat fide elevata, de ejus divinitate exspectans indubie suam tertia die resurrectionem, In hujus signum triduanc officio dominicae passionis cum quindecim candelae accensae firinentur. ante altare, paulatim omnes exstinguuntur, sola una accensa absconditur, quae post officium omnibus praefertur ad illuminandum. Illae quindecim candelae accensae significant XII apostolos et tres Marias, Magdalena, Saloine et Alphei, quae prae caeteris videbantur fide illustratae et firmatae, Sed in illo triduo omnes exstincti sunt umine fidei deitatis Christi Jesu, solum in virgine benedicta remansit humen fidei occultum, quod postmodum omnibus patefactum est ad omnes sno exemplo illuminandum. Stabat secundo a peccato non inclinata, non jacebat, non sedebat, non denique curva eral, sed stabat, Jacet quis in peccato per pravam operationem, sedet per mentis consensionem, inclinatur per sensualem dilectionem, omnes cecidimus quasi folium, scilicet a perfectione virtutum saltem quo ad complacentiam sensualem, ubi consistit veniale, quoniam, si dixerimus, quod peccatum non habemus, veritas in nobis non est, Etiam tertio stabat firma voluntate Dei confirmans se, Ideo stabat, non murmurabat, quod filius innocentissimus pateretur: non blasphemabat Judaeos, quod ab iis, quibus tot beneficia fecerat, tam crudeliter tractaretur, non vindictam a Deo petebat, quod illi a terra vivi absorberentur, ut merebantur, Non capillos vel vultum scindebat, quia vidua et sine filio consolatore remanebat, sed stabat verecunda, modesta, lacrymis plena, doloribus immersa. Ideo Ansehnus ait: o domina, quos fontes lacrymarum dicam erupisse dé pudicissimis ocnlis tnis, cuim attenderes unicum filium. tumn innocentem coram te flagellari, ligari, mactari et carnem de carne tua ab impiis crudeliter dissecari et tamen ita divinae voluntati conformis fuisti, nt salutis humani generis avidissima esses, ut conformis et fixa in Dei voluntate esses.
Quamvis tunc impleta esset illa prophetia Symeonis dicentis, Luc. lI: tuam ip animam pertransibit gladins. O domina, dicebat justus ille Symeon, vos fuistis sine dolore in partu, sed veniet tempus, quando eriti juxta crucem filii vestri et eum videbitis morientem, gladius tunc penetrabit cor vestrum, Ipsa enim virgo Maria habuit singularem communicationem omnium dolorüm passionis filii sui propter fidem, propter cognitionem et propter satisfactionem. Juxta crucem equidem erat moestissima mater et quo non potérat, tentabat exigere manus, cupiebat amplecti filium in alto pendentem. Sed quodammodo frustra tensae manus complexae redibant. Postquam vero suscepit corpus Christi Jesu a cruce depositum, quae lacrymabili voce dicebat: quid fecisti, o Jesu fili mi carissime, quare Judaei te crucifixermnti quaé causa 9 mortis tuae, O fili? quam dara et amara est tibi humani generis redemtio, pro qua tum Deo patri et tibi cun spiritu sancto gratias ago, Unde ecclesia devotissime nos invitando ad hujus diei coinpassionem cantat dicens: mentes juvet fidelium dolores et suspirium matris Christi revolvere cum gratiarum munere, casta parentis viscera poena torquentur aspera, dum illum, quem genuerat, virgis perversi verberant, Jesuin ligant, crudeliter caedunt, cruentant acriter et ejus matris maximae sic augenlur tristitiae, Quae virgo Dei filium genuerat, puerpera stat gemens ad supplicium cernendo crucem inisera, "Tantum sibi compatitur, quod fere secum moritur: nullus dolor amarior, nam nulla proles carior. Cuncti ergo Mariae servuli cultores verae fidei Jesum occisum colite et eum Maria plangite et devotionem de caetero accipite, sicnt quidam doctor in wiroque jure de parlamento Parisiensi, Qui audiens praedicationem cujusdam fratris ordinis praedicatorum concionantein de pietate virginis gloriosae, cum infirmus esset usque ad mortem, et loquelam per plures dies perdidisset, vocatus praedicator a sua uxore, ul eum visitaret, et facla visitatione frater illico ad conventum misit, ut fratres dicerent orationem ante dominam nostram de pietate, Qua dicta aperiens oculos infirmus loqui coepit meritisque virginis confessus est, quamvis infra spatium X annorum non fuisset vere confessus, et post per aliquos dies supervixit.
Hi sunt dolores, quos virgo habuit; disce, salvator, nostros meminisse dolores virginis septenos, ut tibi quaque die prosint dolores. Virginis praedixit Syincon animam inucrone feriri et matrem nati vnlmera ferre sui, Secundus: huic cum caesa fuit puerorum turba piorum, pertuli in Aegyptum non bene tula meum, Tertius: et dolui quaerens puerum divina docente in templo, Quartus: hunc captum hujus ferre pondera crucis cum vidi, Sextus: et ligno fixum ewn morte sopitun deponi, Septimus inquit: petra linquere pulsa frui; nos igitur nostros quisquis meditatur dolores, pereipiet natum ferre salutis opem. Quod ipse praestare dignetur. Amen.
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