Meditation 80
An Abode of the Trinity
In
the ark of the covenant God instructed Moses to place the prefigure of
the Most Holy Trinity, “In this were kept the gold jar with the manna(The Son), Aaron's branch that grew the buds (The Holy Spirit), and the
tables of the covenant (The Father)” (Heb 9. 4). And when Moses got his
instructions on the Mount God said,
By the divine illumination of the celestial hierarchies God raises the soul “to the sublime and unknown methods of interior speech” [1] of the heart in its silence – the lost mother tongue of the Royal Image – and thus the soul learns to speak and understand the common language of men and angels (see 1 Cor 13. 1). Thus the soul is illuminated when God “shows the heart His hidden and invisible things by His enlightenment” [2] as Thomas Aquinas stated.
The Blessed Virgin understood this heavenly tongue of the celestial hierarchies as soon as the Archangel Gabriel began his speech and she persevered his words in the purity of her hearts,
The Blessed Virgin is thus a beneficial pattern for all virgin souls in the live of grace – the most profitable for created beings beside her Son. This the hierarchy of the Seraphim, the highest order of the choir of the blessed white nation of everlasting joy – know as they stand closest to God. By their burning and vehement love they restore the pristine beauty of a virgin soul in this Sanctuary of their Living God by their radiant illumination. The golden plate or lid of the ark or kapporeth as they called the mercy seat in Hebrew, is an exact representation of the purity of the heart. And it is only in this lucid clarity where God reveals His immanence, this Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Lord of Hosts, the Omnipotent and Almighty. This is the God whom St. Augustine called the “Most highest,” “incomprehensible;” “unchangeable,“ yet in spite of that “all-changing.” It is He who transforms a virgin soul exactly here and nowhere else into a Living Ark of the New Covenant. Such virgin souls becomes involuntarily Living arks of God’s glory and follow the only movement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: to abolish all sins and lead the souls to His Father,
It is mournful to think how numerous nominal Catholics have forgotten this precious truth in contemporary times as they have become victims of the whirlwinds of intellectualism and disbelief. And behind this dark mist of cunnings Satan sits and grins. These poor souls have lost sight of the holy tradition of the Church as applies also to Post Lutheranism.
On spiritual retreats I have noticed how relieved many Protestants really are when they hear the teaching of Luther regarding the role of the Blessed Virgin in the live of grace. We have thus to distinguish between Lutheranism and Post Lutheranism. Thus it is not a bad idea at all to revise here something of what Martin Luther wrote of the role he ascribed to the Blessed Virgin in the live of grace as many Protestants have become far more Protestants than Luther ever was. This applies also to numerous nominal Catholics who are actually “protestants” in their hearts and repute the words of the Blessed Virgin in their daily life, “Let it happen to me as you have said” (Lk 1. 38).
Luther honored the Blessed Virgin and her “unique place in all of [humankind].” He insisted “the festivals of the Purification and Annunciation of Mary may be continued, as well as her Assumption and Nativity.” He could even imagine her as a heavenly intercessor. Luther wrote a most beautiful Commentary on the Magnificat and in an introductory letter he wrote, “May the tender Mother of God herself procure for me the spirit of wisdom profitably and thoroughly to expound this song of hers.” Luther was as a matter of fact of the same opinion as the holy fathers when he wrote,
And he did not hesitate either to remind his followers to call upon the Blessed Virgin, “We ought to call upon her, that for her sake God may grant and do what we request.” His biographer, Martin Brecht, revealed Luther's inmost thoughts saying, “Mary is the model for believers, and, above all, the example of God's action. It is God's grace that we are to admire in Mary, nothing else.” In his Commentary on the Magnificat he wrote,
In the resolutions of the 95 Theses Luther “rejects every blasphemy against the Virgin, and thinks that one should ask for pardon for any evil said or thought against her.” [5]
Most interesting of all, perhaps, is the realization that his burial chamber in the Wittenberg church, on whose door he had posted his 95 theses, was adorned with the 1521 Peter Vischer sculpture of the Coronation of the Virgin, with the inscription containing these lines: “Ad summum Regina thronum defertur in altum: Angelicis praelata choris, cui festus et ipse Filius occurrens Matrem super aethera ponit.” [6]
The Blessed Virgin is thus more than anything else a token of the unity of the Church, but not a matter of schism and dispute among Christians who believe in the sacraments, as many Lutherans certainly do. She is a sparkling jewel for the Church as exemplar, like a fiery flame filling the whole world with love. In the radiant glory of the Uncreated Light shining above the golden plate of the ark – the mercy Seat – the soul sees in the purity of her heart what “the unbelievers whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world don't see . . . the glory of of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor 4. 5) and it “is God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' that has shone into our hearts to enlighten then with the knowledge of God's glory, the glory on the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4. 6).
It was this light that shone in the Immaculate heart of the Blessed Virgin at the announcement and will shine in the hearts of all virgin souls who give birth to the Eternal Word of God. On Fig. 80 we see the staff of Aaron and token of eternal priesthood referring to the Holy Spirit and the growth of the soul in the live of grace in order to become a true high priest in the Royal Priesthood of the New Covenant. The tables of the covenant refers to the Book of Life which the soul reads here in the Sanctuary of her Living God as a Recycling Plant of the Holy Spirit. The golden bowl containing the manna refers to the Eucharist, the Son as the super mundane nourishment of the soul. Meister Eckhart said,
The Blessed Virgin was such a vessel of honor sprouting out of the Son’s nature as the arms of the lamp stand sprang out of the stem. The Coronation of the Virgin as displayed in the iconography reveals thus the victorious one,
Let us scrutinize this mystery still further in next meditation.
You will also make a mercy seat of
pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide,
and you will mold two winged creatures of beaten gold, you will make
them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Model one of the winged
creatures at one end and the other winged creature at the other end;
you will model the winged creatures of a piece with the mercy seat at
either end. The winged creatures must have their wings upwards,
protecting the mercy seat with their wings and facing each other, their
faces being towards the mercy seat (Ex 25. 17-20).
By the divine illumination of the celestial hierarchies God raises the soul “to the sublime and unknown methods of interior speech” [1] of the heart in its silence – the lost mother tongue of the Royal Image – and thus the soul learns to speak and understand the common language of men and angels (see 1 Cor 13. 1). Thus the soul is illuminated when God “shows the heart His hidden and invisible things by His enlightenment” [2] as Thomas Aquinas stated.
The Blessed Virgin understood this heavenly tongue of the celestial hierarchies as soon as the Archangel Gabriel began his speech and she persevered his words in the purity of her hearts,
She confessed that she could not
worthily praise God; therefore she desired that He would praise and
magnify Himself in her. She was so conformed to God from the very
bottom of her heart, that if any one could have looked into it, he
would have seen God in all His glory, and would have actually seen the
procession of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; for her heart never turned
away from God. [3]
The Blessed Virgin is thus a beneficial pattern for all virgin souls in the live of grace – the most profitable for created beings beside her Son. This the hierarchy of the Seraphim, the highest order of the choir of the blessed white nation of everlasting joy – know as they stand closest to God. By their burning and vehement love they restore the pristine beauty of a virgin soul in this Sanctuary of their Living God by their radiant illumination. The golden plate or lid of the ark or kapporeth as they called the mercy seat in Hebrew, is an exact representation of the purity of the heart. And it is only in this lucid clarity where God reveals His immanence, this Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Lord of Hosts, the Omnipotent and Almighty. This is the God whom St. Augustine called the “Most highest,” “incomprehensible;” “unchangeable,“ yet in spite of that “all-changing.” It is He who transforms a virgin soul exactly here and nowhere else into a Living Ark of the New Covenant. Such virgin souls becomes involuntarily Living arks of God’s glory and follow the only movement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: to abolish all sins and lead the souls to His Father,
It is the nature of all good
virgins to spend the whole of their lives in work, both outwardly and
inwardly, for the glory of God; to pray for the salvation of all men;
and to offer themselves up for the infirmities of the common people,
both the evil and the good. [4]
It is mournful to think how numerous nominal Catholics have forgotten this precious truth in contemporary times as they have become victims of the whirlwinds of intellectualism and disbelief. And behind this dark mist of cunnings Satan sits and grins. These poor souls have lost sight of the holy tradition of the Church as applies also to Post Lutheranism.
On spiritual retreats I have noticed how relieved many Protestants really are when they hear the teaching of Luther regarding the role of the Blessed Virgin in the live of grace. We have thus to distinguish between Lutheranism and Post Lutheranism. Thus it is not a bad idea at all to revise here something of what Martin Luther wrote of the role he ascribed to the Blessed Virgin in the live of grace as many Protestants have become far more Protestants than Luther ever was. This applies also to numerous nominal Catholics who are actually “protestants” in their hearts and repute the words of the Blessed Virgin in their daily life, “Let it happen to me as you have said” (Lk 1. 38).
Luther honored the Blessed Virgin and her “unique place in all of [humankind].” He insisted “the festivals of the Purification and Annunciation of Mary may be continued, as well as her Assumption and Nativity.” He could even imagine her as a heavenly intercessor. Luther wrote a most beautiful Commentary on the Magnificat and in an introductory letter he wrote, “May the tender Mother of God herself procure for me the spirit of wisdom profitably and thoroughly to expound this song of hers.” Luther was as a matter of fact of the same opinion as the holy fathers when he wrote,
O Blessed Virgin, Mother of God,
what great comfort God has shown us in you, by so graciously regarding
your unworthiness and low estate. This encourages us to believe that
henceforth He will not despise us poor and lowly ones, but graciously
regard us also, according to your example.
And he did not hesitate either to remind his followers to call upon the Blessed Virgin, “We ought to call upon her, that for her sake God may grant and do what we request.” His biographer, Martin Brecht, revealed Luther's inmost thoughts saying, “Mary is the model for believers, and, above all, the example of God's action. It is God's grace that we are to admire in Mary, nothing else.” In his Commentary on the Magnificat he wrote,
Men have crowded all her glory
into a single phrase: The Mother of God. No one can say anything
greater of her, though he had as many tongues as there are leaves on
the trees.
In the resolutions of the 95 Theses Luther “rejects every blasphemy against the Virgin, and thinks that one should ask for pardon for any evil said or thought against her.” [5]
Most interesting of all, perhaps, is the realization that his burial chamber in the Wittenberg church, on whose door he had posted his 95 theses, was adorned with the 1521 Peter Vischer sculpture of the Coronation of the Virgin, with the inscription containing these lines: “Ad summum Regina thronum defertur in altum: Angelicis praelata choris, cui festus et ipse Filius occurrens Matrem super aethera ponit.” [6]
The Blessed Virgin is thus more than anything else a token of the unity of the Church, but not a matter of schism and dispute among Christians who believe in the sacraments, as many Lutherans certainly do. She is a sparkling jewel for the Church as exemplar, like a fiery flame filling the whole world with love. In the radiant glory of the Uncreated Light shining above the golden plate of the ark – the mercy Seat – the soul sees in the purity of her heart what “the unbelievers whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world don't see . . . the glory of of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor 4. 5) and it “is God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' that has shone into our hearts to enlighten then with the knowledge of God's glory, the glory on the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4. 6).
It was this light that shone in the Immaculate heart of the Blessed Virgin at the announcement and will shine in the hearts of all virgin souls who give birth to the Eternal Word of God. On Fig. 80 we see the staff of Aaron and token of eternal priesthood referring to the Holy Spirit and the growth of the soul in the live of grace in order to become a true high priest in the Royal Priesthood of the New Covenant. The tables of the covenant refers to the Book of Life which the soul reads here in the Sanctuary of her Living God as a Recycling Plant of the Holy Spirit. The golden bowl containing the manna refers to the Eucharist, the Son as the super mundane nourishment of the soul. Meister Eckhart said,
Every cup has two things: it
receives and holds. The spiritual vessel differs from the physical. The
wine is in the cup, not the cup in the wine . . . It is different with
the spiritual vessel. Everything received in this is in the cup and the
cup in it and is the cup itself. All this spiritual cup revives is its
own nature. It is God’s nature to give himself to every virtuous soul,
and it is the soul’s nature to receive God, and this we say of the soul
in its loftiest capacity. There the soul bears the image of God and is
godlike. No image can be without a likeness, but likeness can be
without an image. Two eggs may be both alike white, but on is not the
image of the other: for one to be image of the other it must proceed
out of its nature and be born of it and be like it. An image has two
properties. First it receives its being from the thing whose image it
is, immediately and above will, for it is a natural product, sprouting
out of its nature as a branch does out of the tree. (P. 50-51). [7]
The Blessed Virgin was such a vessel of honor sprouting out of the Son’s nature as the arms of the lamp stand sprang out of the stem. The Coronation of the Virgin as displayed in the iconography reveals thus the victorious one,
I will give you the crown of life
for your prize (Rv 2. 11).
Let us scrutinize this mystery still further in next meditation.
[1]. Gregory the Great, Moralia on Job, c. II.
[2]. Summa theologiea, I. 107, 2.
[3[. Tauler, The Inner Way, “Sermon VII, Our Lady’s Candle-Mass.”
[4]. The Inner Way, “Sermon VIII, On the Feast of St. Agatha, or the Holy Virgins.”
[5]. J. Cole, Was Luther a Devotee of Mary? in Marian Studies 1970, p. 116.
[6]. P. Stravinskas in Faith & Camp; Reason, Spring, 1994, p. 8.
[7]. Meister Eckhart (Pfeiffer), pp. 50-51.
[2]. Summa theologiea, I. 107, 2.
[3[. Tauler, The Inner Way, “Sermon VII, Our Lady’s Candle-Mass.”
[4]. The Inner Way, “Sermon VIII, On the Feast of St. Agatha, or the Holy Virgins.”
[5]. J. Cole, Was Luther a Devotee of Mary? in Marian Studies 1970, p. 116.
[6]. P. Stravinskas in Faith & Camp; Reason, Spring, 1994, p. 8.
[7]. Meister Eckhart (Pfeiffer), pp. 50-51.