Mary, All Beautiful
Fr. A. Raymond, SMM
“Thou art all beautiful, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee” (Cant. 5 : 7).
Mary, All Beautiful
IN order to understand how the Blessed Virgin surpasses all the other saints in beauty, we must go back to God, the source of all beauty, diffusing Himself over all creatures, particularly over the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It is related that Appelles, regarded as the greatest painter of antiquity, had one day undertaken to paint the dawn. He had so well begun the work that Mother Nature was jealous at seeing man’s art become its equal. Fearing lest it should even surpass her in beauty, she forthwith sent Fate to sever the thread of the artist’s life. Thus stunting the perfection of a work that was to render him immortal to the memory of man.
Everyone was angry at Mother Nature for thus depriving the world of such a beautiful masterpiece. In vain was someone sought who might be able to put the finishing touches to it. No one dared undertake such a task; for it was said that if the sketch only had cost the life of the one who had begun the work, its completion might well be as fatal to any other artist.
All this may well be but poetic imagination; but such imagination becomes a reality, a truth, when we speak of Mary.
God: The Source of All Beauty
In Holy Scripture, she is often called the dawn and her beauty is such that we can truly say that nature has only sketched, so to speak, the base outlines of her whom grace has embellished with its vivid colors. These colors were to receive their finishing touches when they were enlightened by the bright rays of glory, on the day of her Assumption into heaven, body and soul. Who would dare attempt to describe such beauty to us? Neither human science nor angelic eloquence could ever hope to do it justice. But what is impossible to a creature is not impossible to the Holy Spirit. Here is how, in a few words, He has described Mary to us. ”Thou art all beautiful, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee” (Cant. 5 :7).
The word ”all, ” says St. Thomas, implies the idea of infinitude, since it sets no limits. When the Holy Spirit, therefore, tells us that Mary is ”all beautiful” it seems that He wishes us to understand that she is, among all pure creatures, the paragon of beauty. But what does this beauty consist in? As we have already noted, if one seeks beauty in its origin, one must necessarily go back to God, since God is Beauty Itself as well as Goodness Itself. His eternal ”occupation” is to contemplate His own infinite beauty and to love His own infinite goodness.
Virgin and Child: early Renaissance and Italian Sculptor: Desiderio da Settignano: 1455-1460
With this article, Father A. Raymond, a Montfort Father and seasoned Missionary of Our Lady, continues a series of sermonettes. He is leading up to Fr. de Montfort’s Total Consecration. We recommend reading these articles in order. The prior articles may be found (The Immaculate – Article #1) here and (Mary, Above All Others – Article #2) here. The next article (#4) may be found here: Mary, Above the Angels
Doubtless, it is Jesus’ love that produces Mary’s beauty; but it is also Mary’s beauty that captivates His love. Mary is beautiful in the eyes of the Eternal Word solely because He loves her; but the beauty He communicates to her by His love is in proportion to the love He bears her. If we knew how much He loves her, we would then have a faint idea of how beautiful He has made her.
The Holy Spirit Describes Mary’s Beauty
The contemplation of His own beauty so enraptures God the Father that He forms a perfect image of it; and this image (in all things like Himself) is none other than His Only Begotten Son, Whom Holy Scripture calls, ”the splendor of the glory of the Father.” This is but another way of saying that the Son is the infinite beauty of the Father.
Such is beauty in its origin and, so to speak, on its throne of glory, in-comprehensible to us because it is infinite.
But it was not the wish of Infinite Beauty to remain unknown to us. Quite the contrary, He wished to scatter throughout the universe an infinitude of beautiful things that forever fascinate us. And all this beauty that we see around us, on this earth of ours, is but a spark of that primal beauty that springs from the Eternal Word as from its source.
Having established this principle, I now deduce a logical consequence, namely, that the Blessed Virgin is more beautiful in herself than all other creatures put together. Here is how I reason.
The most beautiful of all creatures is certainly that one to whom the Infinite Beauty of God the Father (that is, His Son) has communicated Himself most perfectly. This is certain since it is only through the communication of the Primal Beauty that all other creatures have any beauty.
Mary, Most Beautiful
But who is this creature, if not the Blessed Virgin Mary, His own Mother? Is there any other creature who was more intimately united with His infinite beauty or in whom the traits of resemblance to Him have been more profoundly engraved? In fact, what are all creatures to Him in comparison with His Mother? Is she not the one He preferred and selected among all other creatures for His Mother?
From all this we must conclude that Mary’s beauty must be great since she has enchanted – I would even say captivated and stolen away – the Heart of the Son of God. Think of it! The Son of God contemplates, in an eternal ecstacy, if we may so speak, infinite beauty in the bosom of His Eternal Father; nevertheless, He sees in Mary other beauty that wins Him over and leads Him to imprison Himself in her virginal womb!
Doubtless, it is Jesus’ love that produces Mary’s beauty; but it is also Mary’s beauty that captivates His love. Mary is beautiful in the eyes of the Eternal Word solely because He loves her; but the beauty He communicates to her by His love is in proportion to the love He bears her. If we knew how much He loves her, we would then have a faint idea of how beautiful He has made her.
The beauty He has communicated to her, therefore, is not infinite beauty which is essential to the Father, but she possesses all the beauty befitting a worthy Mother of God. One cannot say any more. But isn’t this saying enough!
It Is Impossible to See Beauty and Not Love It
St. Catherine of Siena used to say that if we could see with our bodily eyes the beauty of a soul free from sin and adorned with only one degree of divine grace, we would find it more beautiful than all the flowers of earth, nay, than all nature put together and that no one would refuse to die if necessary to preserve such charm and beauty.
Now if the soul with the least degree of sanctifying grace is so beautiful that it outshines the sun in brilliancy; and if we keep climbing as many degrees as there are human souls surpassing one another in grace, and consequently in beauty (for grace and beauty in a soul are both one and the same thing); when we will have reached the hundredth, we will find that it has one hundred times more grace than the first. Can you imagine such beauty?
The Church States: Mary Alone Possesses More Grace and Beauty Than All the Saints Put Together
Yet, this is nothing, for if you continue to ascend in giant strides until you have reached the thousandth and the one hundred thousandth, where you will see one hundred thousand times more beauty than in the first soul, what idea will you then have of this beauty! Again, this is still very little. For you know very well that there are billions of holy souls all surpassing one another in grace and beauty.
Continue your search until you have found the most beautiful of them all. Surely you will avow that it is impossible for you to appreciate such beauty; yet, you must frankly confess that this is but a shadow and a very imperfect beauty in comparison with the beauty of Mary’s soul. You need not be afraid to admit this since it is the common opinion of the Holy Fathers of the Church that Mary alone possesses more grace and beauty than all the saints put together.
Aristotle once said that it is impossible to see beauty and not love it. When asked one day why it is that everyone loves beauty, the philosopher answered: ”My friend, only a blind man could ask such a question. Whoever has eyes to see beauty must necessarily have a heart to love it.”
Fr. de Montfort: Love Mary Because She Is Worthy of Love
Almost unbelievable things have been written concerning the influence of beauty. The beauty of certain creatures has exercised over the hearts of princes. Under its spell they have waged wars and overthrown entire kingdoms. And all for the sake of mere creatures of fragile and imperfect beauty.
Countless generous souls, one may add, have waged relentless wars against self. War against the world and sin, at the sight of divine Beauty Itself that they might render themselves agreeable in its eyes, by imitating Its purity and charity, and have thus merited to contemplate It eternally.
Finally, how many valiant hearts have been so inflamed with love. Love for this most pure beauty of the Virgin Mary that they would have gladly sacrificed their lives for her!
St. Louis De Montfort tells us that we must ”not love Mary just because she obtains favors” for us, but “solely because she is so worthy of love” (T.D. No. 110) .
It is related that Jacopone da Todi, the reputed author of the Stabat Mater, was forever weeping. When asked one day why he so wept, he answered. ”I am sad because God Who is infinite Love is not loved by all men!”
Each true slave of Mary might well say the following. I am disconsolate because the Blessed Virgin Mary, being so beautiful and so lovable, is not appreciated, is not loved!
