Chapter 3: The Sacred Heart of Jesus Has Endowed: His Blessed Mother with Wondrous

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Has Endowed

His Blessed Mother with Wondrous

Authority and Power in Heaven

LET US ADD to the foregoing privileges still another prerogative, the greatest of all. It is this: the Mother of God is eternally associated in heaven not only with the highest authority of the Eternal Father, His adorable paternity, but likewise she possesses the authority of the Mother of the Divine Son as on earth: Et erat subditus illis. (1)This is a greater glory for her than if she exercised power over a million worlds. Her Son infinitely surpasses her in glory, power and majesty; yet He will eternally look upon her and honor her as His real Mother. His place as Son of God, says St. Ambrose, did not dispense Him while on earth from the divine and natural obligation which He had like all other children of obeying His Mother, according to the words: Et erat subditus illis. This submission was to Him not a matter of shame but rather of honor and glory; it was voluntary and proceeded not from weakness but from filial devotion: Non utique infirmitatis, as this holy Father declares, est ista subjectio, sed pietatis.

Several eminent theologians are agreed that the Mother of the Saviour had actual authority over the person of her Son, whether it was by a right of nature or by virtue of His goodness and humility. The greatest of all names that one can bestow upon the Blessed Virgin, says the devout Gerson, is that of Mother of God, all the more because that character gives her authority and natural dominion over the Lord of the whole world: Quoniam per hoc habet veluti auctoritatem, et naturale dominium ad totius mundi Dominum.( 2 ) One must not (1). Luke 2, 51. (2). Serm. de Annunt.

His Blessed Mother's Power in Heaven 1 1

imagine that her Son, having given her this power on earth, would take it away from her now that she is reigning in heaven. His respect and love for her now are just as great as when He was on earth.

It is only right, therefore, to believe that she is as powerful in heaven as she was on earth and that she still maintains there a measure of authority over her Divine Son. Eadem potestas est Matris et Filii, says Arnold Of Chartres; or as Richard of St. Lawrence puts it: Quae ab omnipotente Filio omnipotens facta est. The Son and the Mother, having but one and the same flesh, but one and the same heart and will, have also, in a certain way, but one and the same power.

Let us listen to the words of a worthy and learned prelate, George, Archbishop of Nicomedia. Addressing the glorious Virgin he says: "Nothing resists thy might, everything obeys thy imperium; He who is born of thee hath raised thee above all things; thy Creator makes thy glory His and deems Himself honored by those who honor thee; thy Son rejoices beholding the honor that we give thee, and as if He were paying off the obligations He hath to thee, He gladly grants thee whatsoever thou dost ask Him: Nihil, 0 Virgo, tuae resistit potentiae; tuam gloriam Filius putat esse propriam, et quasi exsolvens debitum, implet petitiones tuas."( 3 )

We know for certain, says St. Anselm, that the Blessed Virgin is so filled with grace and merit that she always obtains the fruition of her desires: Scimus beatam Virginem tanti esse meriti et gratiae apud Deum, ut nihil eorum, quae velit efficere, possit aliquatenus effectu carere. (4) It i s impossible, says St. Germanus, Archbishop of Constantinople, that her prayers should not be heard, everywhere and in all things, because her Divine Son is always submissive to her behests: Non potest non exaudiri, cum Deus ut verae Matri; suae, quoad omnia, et per omnia, et in omnibus morem gerat. (5)

Utrinque stupor, says St. Bernard, utrinque miraculum; miracles on both sides. Quod Deus feminae obtemperet, humilitas absque exemplo; et quod Deo femina principetur, sublimitas sine socio: "That God (3). Orat. de Oblat. Deiparae. (4). De Excel, Virg.. cap. 12. (5). Serm. 2 in B. Mar. dormit.

should obey a woman is humility unexampled, and that a woman should command God is an, authority which has no like." Hence it is that St. Peter Damian is not afraid to say that our Blessed Lady appears in heaven, before the sacred altar of our reconciliation, non solum rogans sed imperans, "not only as a servant but as a mother who commands." (6) Roga Patrem, jube nato, jure Matris impera, sings the Church of Paris in one of its sequences: "When thou hast aught to ask of the Eternal Father, 0 holy Virgin, resort to prayer and supplication; but when it is :a question of the Son, then thy maternal authority gives thee the right to utter a command." If anyone should claim that here the creature is being put above the Creator, I would ask him whether Sacred Scripture raises Josue above God when it says that the sun stood still and God obeyed the voice of a man.(7) No, this is Hot putting the creature above the Creator; the fact is that the Son of God has such love and respect for His holy Mother that her prayer to Him is equal to a command.

The Blessed Virgin, says St. Albertus Magnus, (8) is able to entreat her Son for the salvation of her servants, and she is able to command Him with the authority of a Mother. This is the favor we ask of her, he adds, when we use the words: Monstra te esse Matrem. It is a frequent prayer of the Church, a prayer that is most pleasing to her and most profitable to our souls. It is as if we said to her: Most holy Mother of God, let us see the incomparable mercies with which thy motherly heart i s filled on behalf of thy most unworthy children; show us the mighty power that thy most benign heart hath upon the most merciful Heart of thy beloved Son: Monstra te esse Matrem, sumat per te preces, qui pro nobis natus tulit esse tuus. (6). Serm de Nativ. B. Mariae

(7). Josue 10, 74

(8). De Laud. Virg., Jib. 2. 13-