Verba filie ad Dominam de virtute et laude sue pulchritudinis; et de responsione virginis sui laudem confirmante; et qualiter Filius virginem Matrem comparat aurifabro.
The Radiance of Mary's Beauty
The daughter praises the transformative beauty of Mary, describing how it purifies the mind and heart while offering comfort to the weak.
O sweet Mary, new beauty, most radiant beauty! Come to my aid, so that my deformity may be cleansed and my charity set on fire!1 For your beauty bestows three things upon the mind.2 First, it purifies the memory so that the words of God may enter in gently; second, so that what is heard may be held onto with delight; third, so that it may be poured out ardently toward one's neighbor. Your beauty also provides three things for the heart. First, it takes away the heavy burden of spiritual apathy if your love and humility are considered; second, it brings tears to the eyes if your poverty and patience are kept in mind; third, it gives the heart an inner warmth of sweetness if the memory of your mercy is sincerely cherished. Truly, Lady, you are the most precious and desired beauty, because you were given to the weak as a help, to the troubled as a comfort, and to everyone as a mediator. Therefore, everyone who heard you were to be born, and everyone who knows you have already been born, can rightly cry out: 'Come, most radiant beauty, and light up our darkness; come, most precious beauty, and take away our disgrace.' Come, sweetest beauty, and soften our bitterness; come, most powerful beauty, and break our captivity; come, most honorable beauty, and wipe away our filth! Therefore, blessed and worthy of all honor be such a great and beautiful presence—the one whom all the patriarchs longed to see, of whom all the prophets sang, and in whom all the elect rejoice!
The Mother's Response and Divine Promise
Mary responds by blessing God and promising that the eternal beauty of the Creator will bring comfort and fire to the soul.
The Mother answered, "Blessed be God, my beauty, who gave you such words to speak!" So I tell you that the most ancient, eternal, and most beautiful beauty, who made and created me, will comfort you. That beauty—most ancient and yet new, renewing all things, which was in me and came forth from me—will teach you wonders; that most desirable beauty, which delights and gladdens all things, will set your soul on fire with its love. Therefore, trust in God. For when heavenly beauty appears, all earthly beauty will be put to shame and considered nothing but refuse.3
The Goldsmith and the Lifeblood of God
The Son of God compares his mother to a goldsmith who perfects the work of grace in others, acting as the lifeblood that strengthens the faithful.
Then the Son of God said to his mother, "O blessed mother, you are like a goldsmith crafting a beautiful work." Everyone who sees the work rejoices, and then they offer either precious stones or gold so that the work may be completed. In the same way, beloved Mother, you offer help to everyone who tries to rise toward God, and you don't leave anyone empty of your consolation. That's why you may rightly be called the lifeblood of God’s heart. Just as every part of the body is brought to life and strengthened by blood, so through you are all brought to life from sin and become more fruitful toward God.
Read the original Latin
"O, dulcis Maria, pulchritudo noua, pulchritudo clarissima! Veni in adiutorium michi tu, ut deformitas mea depuretur caritasque accendatur! Tria enim dat pulchritudo tua capiti.
Purgat primo memoriam, ut verba Dei suauiter ingrediantur; secundo, ut audita delectabiliter teneantur; tercio ut ad proximum ardenter diffundantur. Tria eciam pulchritudo tua prestat cordi.
Primo aufert onus durissimum accidie, si tua consideretur caritas et humilitas; secundo dat oculis lacrimas, si tua attenditur paupertas et paciencia; tercio dat cordi internum feruorem dulcedinis, si sinceriter recolitur memoria tue pietatis.
Vere, Domina, tu es pulchritudo preciosissima, pulchritudo desiderantissima, quia infirmis data es in auxilium, tribulatis in solacium, omnibus in mediatricem.
Ergo omnes qui audierunt te nascituram, et quicumque sciunt te iam natam, bene clamare possunt: 'Veni, pulchritudo clarissima, et illumina tenebras nostras; veni, pulchritudo preciosissima, et aufer obprobrium nostrum;
veni, pulchritudo suauissima, et mitiga amaritudinem nostram; veni, pulchritudo potentissima, et dissolue captiuitatem nostram; veni, pulchritudo honestissima, et dele feditatem nostram!'
Ergo benedicta et venerabilis sit talis et tanta pulchritudo, quam omnes videre optabant patriarche, de qua omnes cecinerunt prophete, de qua omnes electi gaudent!"
Respondit Mater: "Benedictus sit Deus, pulchritudo mea, qui dedit tibi talia verba loqui! Propterea dico tibi, quod pulchritudo antiquissima, eterna et pulcherrima, que fecit et creauit me, comfortabit te;
pulchritudo vetustissima et noua innouans omnia, que fuit in me et processit de me, docebit te mirabilia; pulchritudo desiderantissima delectans et letificans omnia inflammabit animam tuam caritate sua.
Propterea confide in Deo. Cum enim pulchritudo celestis apparuerit, omnis pulchritudo terrena confundetur et reputabitur quasi stercus."
Deinde ait filius Dei ad matrem: "O, benedicta mater, tu es similis aurifabro, qui preparat opus pulchrum. Omnes qui viderint opus congratulantur et tunc vel lapides preciosos aut aurum offerunt, ut opus perficiatur.
Sic tu, dilecta mater, omni conanti surgere ad Deum tribuis auxilium, et neminem relinquis vacuum a consolacione tua. Propterea bene vocari poteris sanguis cordis Dei.
Sicut enim sanguine viuificantur et roborantur omnia membra corporis, sic per te omnes viuificantur a peccato et fructuosiores fiunt ad Deum."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'caritasque' is rendered as 'charity' to maintain the theological weight of the virtue, though 'love' is also acceptable in this context.
- 2 ↩The Latin 'capiti' (head) is rendered as 'mind' here, as it refers to the intellectual and spiritual faculties in this context.
- 3 ↩The Latin 'stercus' is a strong term, often translated as 'dung' or 'refuse' in biblical contexts (cf. Philippians 3:8). 'Refuse' is chosen here to maintain the gravity of the comparison without being unnecessarily jarring in a modern register.
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