(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
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On the Nobility of the Blessed Virgin Mary
by St.
Bernardino of Siena
That the Blessed Virgin is the
noblest Woman in the whole world according to the flesh. The first star, or
grace, is called nobility. For the Blessed Virgin was the noblest individual
and noblest creature of all the individuals or creatures which have been, could
be, or could have been begotten with human nature. Indeed, Matthew (1:17), in
outlining the three groups of fourteen generations from Abraham to Christ,
describes Her as born of fourteen patriarchs, of fourteen kings, of fourteen
leaders. The first group from Abraham to David inclusive, fourteen patriarchs;
the second from David to the Babylonian Exile, fourteen kings; the third, from
the Babylonian Exile to Christ inclusive, fourteen leaders. Luke also
(3:23-38), describing the nobility of Her origin beginning with Adam and Eve,
extends his genealogy to God the Christ. Here it is demonstrated that the Lord
Jesus Christ, who in heaven was without mother and on earth without father,
received His entire humanity from the Virgin; and the dignities attached to
this humanity -- namely, familial so as to be called a son of David, and
consanguinal so as to have brethren of a noble line -- all these He received
from His Blessed Mother. And whence came it that He is the final Leader, the
final King, the final Patriarch of the entire people of Israel, if not from the
glorious Virgin? Thus, it is quite evident that every bodily perfection granted
the human race in Adam by the Lord was principally given so as to descend
through many generations to the Virgin, and through the Virgin Mother to
terminate in Christ. Hence, God commanded such cleanliness to the letter in His
Law, not only in human bodies, but also in vessels, homes, camping places, and
all things belonging to God's people, so that the people might preserve that
nobility and cleanliness for the sake of the Christ...After Christ, that people
had no other patriarch or king or leader...so that what Christ says of Himself
(Apoc. 2:8) might be verified: the First and the Last says this. The First,
namely, whom God principally intended in His people; and the Last, namely,
patriarch, king, or leader in that people. Because, therefore, the Evangelists
describe in this Maiden every distinction, gift, power, nobility, and dignity
which might be in any human individual born according to the flesh, it is
incumbent upon us, following their witness, to prefer Her to all princes and
princesses, queens and kings, emperors and empresses, and all powers, tribes,
and tongues of the whole universe. That the whole world, after the fall of our
first parents, was kept in being by God out of love of the Blessed Virgin. The
second star (or grace) is called conservation. For Mary alone, for many
thousands of years before She was born, primarily and principally preserved
Adam and his posterity in being. Indeed, in virtue of their transgression, Adam
and Eve merited not only the penalty of death, but extermination. Divine
Justice, which knows no respect of persons, should not have left the sin of man
(just as It did not leave the angelic sin) uncondemned in hell. But for the
sake of that special reverence and unique love which He had for the Virgin,
God kept the world in existence. Because God loved Her above all
creatures...the first human beings were preserved from extermination and not
returned to nothing, as they deserved. The explanation of this is as follows:
The blessed Maiden was in the loins of Adam, and his seed, and the power of
producing the Maiden was inherent in our first parents, until it should be
realized in the act. For of this Maiden was to be born the Son of God, Jesus,
who, existing in Adam only in respect to His corporal substance, was only to be
brought forth from the Virgin and from no other person. The merciful God
pardoned our first parents and did not annihilate them because, in so doing,
the Virgin would not have arisen and, consequently, neither would Christ have
been clothed with human flesh...To recapitulate everything in a few words: I do
not hesitate to affirm that God effected every liberation and granted every
pardon in the Old Testament solely out of reverence and love for the blessed
Maiden. In virtue of this reverence and love, God predestined Her,
foreordaining from all eternity that She be honored before all His other works.