Verba benediccionis Matris ad Filium, audiente sponsa, et qualiter Filius gloriosus figurat pulcherrime suam dulcissimam matrem per florem, natum in valle etcetera.
The Mother's Prayer
The Mother offers a prayer of praise and honor to the humanity and divinity of her Son.
The Mother spoke to her Son, saying, "Blessed be your name, my Son, Jesus Christ!" May honor be to your humanity above all created things! May glory be to your divinity above all good things, which is, with your humanity, one God."
The Flower in the Valley
The Son describes his Mother as a unique flower growing in a valley, surpassing five surrounding mountains.
The Son answered: "My Mother, you are like a flower that grew in a valley." Around that valley were five high mountains. And the flower itself grew from three roots with a straight stem that had no knots. This flower had five petals, filled with every sweetness. The valley, however, grew with its flower above those five mountains, and the petals of the flower spread out over the entire height of heaven and over all the choirs of angels. You, my beloved mother, are that valley because of the humility you possessed more than anyone else. This valley surpassed the five mountains.
Surpassing the Mountains
The Son explains how the Mother's virtues exceed the spiritual heights of Moses, Elijah, Samson, David, and Solomon.
The first mountain was Moses, because of his authority. He held authority in the law over my people, as if they were held fast in his own hand. But you, you held the Lord of all laws within your womb. Therefore, you are higher than that mountain. The second mountain was Elijah, who was so holy that he was taken up into a holy place, both soul and body. But you, my dearest mother, your soul was taken up above all the choirs of angels to the throne of God, and your most pure body is with it. Therefore, you are higher than Elijah. The third mountain was the strength of Samson, which he possessed beyond all other men. Yet the devil overcame him through deceit. You, however, overcame the devil with your own strength. Therefore, you are stronger than Samson. The fourth mountain was David, who was a man after my own heart and my own will, and yet he fell into sin. But you, my mother, followed my every will and never sinned. The fifth mountain was Solomon, who was full of wisdom. Yet he was led astray. But you, my mother, were full of all wisdom, and you were never foolish or deceived. Therefore, you are higher than Solomon.
The Five Petals of Grace
The Son details the three roots and five petals of the flower, representing the Mother's integrity, mercy, gentleness, beauty, and divine delight.
The flower, however, grew from three roots, because from your youth you possessed three things: obedience, charity, and divine understanding. From these three roots grew a perfectly straight stalk without a single knot—that is, your will, which never bent except to follow mine. For this flower had five petals that grew above all the choirs of angels. Truly, my mother, you are the flower of these five petals. The first petal is your integrity, to such a degree that my angels—who are themselves upright before me—when they considered your integrity, saw that it was above their own and more eminent than their holiness and integrity. Therefore, you are higher than the angels. The second leaf is your mercy, which was so great that when you saw the misery of all souls, you felt compassion for them and suffered pain in my death. The angels are full of mercy. Yet they never suffer pain; but you, most loving Mother, had mercy on the miserable when you felt every pain of my death, and out of mercy you chose to suffer pain rather than be exempt from it.1 Therefore, your mercy has surpassed the mercy of all the angels. The third leaf is your gentleness. Angels are certainly gentle and desire what is good for everyone, but you, my dearest mother, even before your death, held in your soul and body a will like an angel's, and you did good to everyone. And you still don't refuse anyone who reasonably asks for what is for their own good. That is why your gentleness is greater than the angels'. The fourth leaf is your beauty. Angels look at one another's beauty and marvel at the beauty of all souls and all bodies; but they see that the beauty of your soul is above everything created, and that the grace of your body surpasses all human beings who have been created.2 And so, your beauty has surpassed all the angels and all created things. The fifth leaf was your divine delight, because nothing delighted you except God. In the same way, nothing delights the angels except God, and each of them feels—and has always felt—their own delight within themselves. But when they saw your delight in yourself directed toward God, it seemed to them in their own conscience that their own delight was burning within them like a light in divine charity. They saw your delight as a blazing pyre, burning with the most fervent fire and rising so high that its flame reached my divinity. And for that reason, most sweet Mother, your divine delight burned brightly above all the choirs of angels. This flower, which had these five petals—integrity, mercy, gentleness, beauty, and supreme delight—was full of every sweetness.3
The Sweetness of the Divine Union
The Son concludes by inviting the faithful to taste the sweetness of the Mother and reflecting on the mystery of the Incarnation.
If you want to taste this sweetness, you must draw near and receive it into yourself. You did the same, good Mother. For you were so sweet to my Father that He received you entirely into His Spirit, and your sweetness pleased Him above all others. A flower also carries seed from the heat and power of the sun, from which fruit grows. But blessed is that Sun—my own Deity—who took on humanity from your virginal womb! Just as a seed, wherever it is sown, brings forth flowers of the same kind as the seed itself, so my members were made to conform to your members in form and appearance. Yet I was a man, and you were a virgin woman. This valley is exalted above all the mountains with its flower, just as your body was exalted above all the choirs of angels with your most holy soul.
Read the original Latin
Mater loquebatur ad filium dicens: "Benedictum sit nomen tuum, fili mi Iesu Christe! Honor sit humanitati tue super omnia, que creata sunt! Gloria sit deitati tue super omina bona, que est cum humanitate tua unus Deus."
Filius respondit: "Mater mea, tu es similis flori, qui creuit in una valle. Circa quam vallem erant quinque alti montes. Et flos ipse creuit de tribus radicibus cum recto hastili, quod nullos habebat nodos.
Hic flos habebat quinque folia, plena omni suauitate. Vallis autem excreuit cum flore suo super istos quinque montes et folia floris dilatauerunt se super omnem altitudinem celi et super omnes choros angelorum.
Tu, dilecta mater mea, tu es vallis illa propter humilitatem tuam, quam pre aliis habuisti. Hec excessit quinque montes.
Primus mons erat Moyses propter potestatem. Ipse enim habuit in lege potestatem super populum meum, ac si fuisset conclusus in pugno suo. Tu autem conclusisti omnium legum dominum in utero tuo. Ideo tu alcior illo monte.
Secundus mons erat Helias, qui sic sanctus fuit, quod cum anima et corpore fuit assumptus in sanctum locum. Tu autem, carissima mater mea, anima tua assumpta fuit super omnes choros angelorum ad thronum Dei et cum ea est mundissimum corpus tuum. Ideo tu alcior Helia.
Tercius mons erat fortitudo Sampsonis, quam habuit super omnes homines. Tamen vicit eum diabolus fallacia sua. Tu autem vicisti diabolum fortitudine tua. Ideo tu forcior Sampsone.
Quartus mons erat Dauid, qui fuit vir secundum cor meum et voluntatem meam et tamen cecidit in peccatum. Tu autem, mater mea, sequebaris omnem voluntatem meam et numquam peccasti.
Quintus mons erat Salomon, qui fuit plenus sapiencia. Tamen fuit infatuatus. Tu vero, mater mea, plena fuisti omni sapiencia et numquam fuisti insipiens nec decepta. Ideo alcior Salomone.
Flos autem prodiit de tribus radicibus, quia tu a iuuentute tua habuisti tria, scilicet obedienciam, caritatem et diuinam intelligenciam.
De hiis enim tribus radicibus creuit hastile rectissimum sine omni nodo, idest voluntas tua, que numquam flectebatur nisi ad velle meum.
Flos enim iste habuit quinque folia, que excreuerunt super omnes choros angelorum. Vere tu, mater mea, flos istorum quinque foliorum es.
Primum folium est honestas tua in tantum, quod angeli mei, qui sunt honesti ante me, considerantes honestatem tuam viderunt eam supra se esse et eminenciorem illorum sanctitate et honestate. Ideo tu alcior es angelis.
Secundum folium est misericordia tua, que tanta fuit, quod, cum videres omnium animarum miseriam, compaciebaris eis et passa es penam in morte mea.
Angeli pleni sunt misericordia. Tamen numquam paciuntur dolorem, sed tu, piissima mater, miserta es miseris, quando senciebas omnem dolorem de morte mea et propter misericordiam voluisti magis pati dolorem quam exempta esse ab eo. Ideo misericordia tua excessit omnium angelorem misericordiam.
Tercium folium est mititas tua. Angeli quippe mites sunt et cupiunt omnibus bonum, sed tu, mater mea carissima, ante mortem tuam habuisti in anima tua et corpore voluntatem quasi angelus et fecisti omnibus bonum. Et nulli adhuc negas, qui racionabiliter petit suam utilitatem. Et ideo mititas tua excellencior est angelis.
Quartum folium est pulchritudo tua. Angeli enim considerant alter alterius pulchritudinem et pulchritudinem omnium animarum et omnium corporum admirantur, sed anime tue pulchritudinem vident esse super omnia, que creata sunt, et corporis tui honestatem excellere omnes homines, qui creati sunt. Et sic omnes angelos et omnia, que creata sunt, excessit pulchritudo tua.
Quintum folium erat diuina delectacio tua, quia nichil delectabat te nisi Deus. Sic nec delectat aliud angelos nisi Deus, et quilibet eorum sentit et senciebat delectacionem suam in se. Cum autem viderunt delectacionem tuam in te ad Deum, videbatur eis in consciencia sua, quod delectacio eorum arderet in eis quasi lumen in diuina caritate.
Videntes autem tuam delectacionem esse tamquam ardentissimum rogum, ardentem feruentissimo igne et sic alto, quod flamma eius appropinquabat deitati mee. Et ideo, mater dulcissima, bene ardebat delectacio tua diuina super omnes choros angelorum.
Hic flos, qui habuit hec quinque folia, honestatem scilicet et misericordiam, mititatem et pulchritudinem et summam delectacionem, erat plenus omni dulcedine.
Quicumque autem voluerit gustare suauitatem, debet appropinquare suauitati et recipere eam in se. Sic et fecisti tu, bona mater. Tu enim fuisti sic dulcis patri meo, quod ipse recepit te totam in spiritum suum, et dulcedo tua super omnes placuit ei.
Flos eciam portat semen ex calore et ex virtute solis, ex quo crescit fructus. Sed benedictus ille sol, scilicet deitas mea, que suscepit humanitatem de virgineis tuis visceribus! Nam sicut semen, ubicumque seminatur, tales flores germinat, quale semen fuerit, sic membra mea conformia fuerunt membris tuis in forma et facie. Tamen ego fui vir et tu virgo femina.
Hec vallis exaltata est super omnes montes cum flore suo, quando corpus tuum exaltatum est super omnes choros angelorum cum sanctissima anima tua."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'piissima' is rendered as 'most loving' to capture the intensity of the superlative while maintaining a natural, devotional tone.
- 2 ↩The term 'honestatem' is rendered here as 'grace' to capture the sense of dignity, beauty, and moral excellence in a contemporary register, as 'honesty' would be misleading.
- 3 ↩The Latin 'mititatem' is a variant spelling of 'mansuetudinem' or 'militatem' (gentleness/mildness).
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