Mater Dei dicit, quod ipsa similis est alueario apum, quia illa benedicta apis celestis, scilicet filius Dei, repleuit eam melle dulcissimo, quando descendit in vtero eius, sic copiose, quod ex illa dulcedine omnis sapor venenatus a nobis sublatus est.
The Beehive of the Virgin
Mary explains the metaphor of the beehive, describing her own body as the vessel prepared for the Incarnation.
The blessed Virgin spoke to the bride, saying: "Bride of my Son, you were greeting me and comparing me to a beehive." I certainly was a beehive. For my body was like a piece of wood, alone in my mother's womb, before my soul was joined to it. After my death, my body was like a piece of wood separated from its soul, until God raised my soul and body together into the Godhead. This wood became a hive when that blessed bee, the Son of God, drew himself down from the heavens and the living God descended into my body.1 In me, finally, there was a honeycomb, most sweet and delicate, which had been prepared in every way and with every refinement to receive the most sweet honey of the grace of the Holy Spirit.2
The Sweetness of the Incarnation
The Son of God enters the Virgin's womb with power, love, and purity, establishing the nature of His coming.
This honeycomb was filled when the Son of God came into me with power, love, and purity. He came with power because He was my Lord and my God. He came with love, because it was out of the love He had for souls that He took on flesh and the cross. He came with purity, because all of Adam's sin had been set apart from me. And so, the most pure Son of God took on a most pure human nature.
Justice and the Passion
Mary contrasts the Son's justice with the suffering He endured, ultimately highlighting the healing sweetness of His grace.
But just as a bee has a stinger, yet doesn't use it to sting unless it's forced to, so my Son has the severity of justice, which he doesn't exercise unless he's provoked by sins. This bee was repaid with evil. For in place of his power, he was handed over to the hands of the wicked; in place of his love, he was given into the hands of the cruel; and in place of his honor, he was stripped and mercilessly scourged. Blessed, then, is that bee who made a hive for herself out of my wood, and filled it so abundantly with her honey that, because of the sweetness given to me, that poisonous taste will be taken away from the mouths of all.
Read the original Latin
Beata virgo loquebatur ad sponsam dicens: "Sponsa filii mei, tu salutabas me et comparabas alueario apum. Ego certe fui apiarium. Nam corpus meum fuit quasi lignum solum in vtero matris, antequam anima coniungeretur.
Fuit eciam corpus meum post mortem meam quasi lignum separata anima, vsquequo meam animam Deus cum corpore ad deitatem sublimauit.
Hoc lignum factum est aluearium, quando illa benedicta apis, filius Dei, traxit se de celis et Deus viuus descendit in corpus meum.
In me denique fuit quidam dulcissimus et subtilissimus fauus, qui preparatus erat omnibus modis et accessionibus ad suscipiendum dulcissimum mel gracie Spiritus Sancti.
Hic fauus tunc impletus est, quando filius Dei venit in me cum potencia et caritate et honestate. Venit cum potencia, quia Dominus et Deus meus erat.
Venit cum caritate, quia pro caritate, quam ad animas habuit, carnem assumpsit et crucem. Venit cum honestate, quia omne peccatum Ade segregatum fuit a me. Vnde filius Dei honestissimus honestissimam carnem assumpsit.
Sed sicut apis habet aculeum, cum quo tamen non pungit nisi inuita, sic filius meus habet seueritatem iusticie, quam tamen non exercet, nisi quando est a peccatis prouocatus.
Huic api male retributum est. Nam pro potencia traditus est in manus iniquorum, pro caritate datus est in manus crudelium, pro honestate nudatus est et immisericorditer flagellatus.
Benedicta ergo sit apis illa, que de ligno meo fecit sibi apiarium et impleuit eum melle suo sic copiose, vt de dulcedine michi data sapor ille venenatus de ore omnium auferetur."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'lignum' (wood) here refers to the speaker's body, previously described as a vessel or structure prepared for the divine presence.
- 2 ↩The Latin 'fauus' (honeycomb) and 'accessionibus' (refinements/additions) are used here to describe the soul's preparation for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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