Mary is honored under many titles, often compared to flowers for her beauty, purity, and grace. In this meditation, St. Ildephonsus of Toledo offers the Blessed Virgin an aromatic crocus, reflecting on how this magnificent flower symbolizes her virtues.
If I had the tongues of all peoples and the melodic voices of all the angels at my command, it would never suffice—O most holy Virgin—to express worthily your praise; for it should still remain insufficient in power and inadequate in subtlety. For the Holy Spirit gathers in you such miracles of virtues and such abundance of grace that the mind of neither humans nor angels is capable of expressing your honor in the world, your glory in the heavens, nor the opulence of the Crown which you possess as your rightful reward! As much as you deserve to be praised by all, I—a wretched sinner—desire to place in the eighth position in your magnificent crown an aromatic crocus flower. This flower is a gift most apt for you. For the crocus is golden in hue, delightful in its fragrance, wondrous in its healing powers, and most truly the source of joy to those who behold it. You likewise are golden, O Virgin Queen, with the precious gold of sanctity. For as the gold exceeds all metals in nobility and value, thus the dignity of your sanctity exceeds the merits of the saints and the prerogatives of all the angels. Therefore you are rightly exalted above all beings in heaven and on earth.
Just as on the earth there was no place of greater dignity and honor than your blessed womb, which became the temple in which you received the Son of God—even so, God has elevated you to a royal throne in heaven, towering far above all the saints! You indeed are like the aromatic crocus flower, emitting before God and humankind a most sublime fragrance. And your scent is like “the smell of a fruitful field, which the Lord has blessed.” Indeed, your sacred womb was such a fertile field, bringing forth a blessed harvest— our Saviour—by which the entire human race and all the angelic hosts are nourished and sustained. The perfume of your humility delights God. The fragrance of your purity entrances the angels. The aroma of your mercy refreshes the human race! Yet the scent of your sanctity also terrifies demons and fills with horror the fierce legions of hell.
You were, and you are, miraculous in virtuousness: for the virtue proceeding from you enlightens the vision, purifies the taste, refashions hearing, comforts the heart, and illumines the intellect. Often indeed—O Virgin most merciful—have you consoled the sorrowful, softened the hardened heart, strengthened the weak, revived the dead, and healed and liberated those afflicted with illness. For these, O Mistress, we rejoice in your honor and glory; we exult in your wonderful praise; we share the perfect happiness of your celestial majesty!
Hence, a certain saint has said of the joy and sweetness which you pour forth into the heart which adores you: that the holy and glorious name of MARY is verily a fragrant oil poured forth, a life-giving anointment, a balm of the heart. Let the alabaster jar be broken! Descend, O exquisite Queen, into my own garden! Light there the golden fire of love; pour forth the oil of your beauty; release the perfume of your fragrance!
Prayer
Let Mary abide always in my memory; let the sweetness of Mary and her grace be the constant subject of my meditation; let me be ever mindful of her untiring benefits and inexhaustible charity.
O Lady, kindly accept these verses which I offer to you in honor of your glory:
Hail, O river of mercy,
Crystal brook of peace,
Pellucid stream of grace,
Limpid dew of the valley,
Delicate blossom of modesty,
Mother of God—
And Mother of Mercy!
Hail, O true salvation of the faithful,
Throne of the Divine Majesty,
Temple of Christ,
House of the Spirit,
Abode of the Incarnate Word,
Road leading unto life,
And lily of chastity.
Hail, bloom of perfect beauty,
Bride of Christ, Handmaid of the Most High.
In perfection of loveliness,
None there is who rivals thee!
We proclaim thee most venerable,
Holy of mind, and innocent of heart;
Immaculate in body,
Meek and gracious,
Pleasing to the Most High,
Beloved by God!
Those who taste thee continue yet to desire
you more,
To thirst more fervently for your incomparable,
sacred sweetness.
They long to love thee yet ever more
ardently, ever more devoutly,
To laud thee in song without end!
And yet for this, the human heart, mind
and tongue,
And ever all the choirs of the heavens,
Never could truly suffice.
Holy Mother of him who was both God and Man—
the glory and honor of the human race, transcending
all saints in holiness, and surpassing in radiance all the
celestial power—who could ever extol thee worthily?
Who could offer you fitting praises?
Because thou alone were worthy to bear God in
your womb, and to suckle him as a tender infant at
thy breast, our salvation lies entirely in thy hands, O
glorious Lady.
Therefore look upon us with mercy, that we may securely serve
God the eternal King, and thee, his blessed Mother.
O Queen of glory!
Thou indeed live and reign with God upon the throne of
supernal majesty through endless eternities!
Amen.
ooo
This article is taken from a chapter in Crown of the Virgin: An Ancient Meditation on Mary’s Beauty, Virtue, and Sanctity by St. Ildephonsus of Toledo which is available from TAN Books.
