OF CERTAIN SPECIAL FAVOURS EXERCISED BY THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IN THE REDEMPTION OF MAN.
GOD indeed shows to admiration the incomprehensible riches of
his power in this great variety of things which we see in nature,
yet he makes the infinite treasures of his goodness still more
magnificently appear in the incomparable variety of the goods
which we acknowledge in grace. For, Theotimus, he was not
content, in the holy excess of his mercy, with sending to his
And thus he first of all destined for his most holy Mother a
favour worthy of the love of a Son who, being all wise, all
mighty, and all good, wished to prepare a mother to his liking;
and therefore he willed his redemption to be applied to her after
the manner of a preserving remedy, that the sin which was
spreading from generation to generation should not reach her.
She then was so excellently redeemed, that though when the
time came, the torrent of original iniquity rushed to pour its
unhappy waves over her conception, with as much impetuosity
as it had done on that of the other daughters of Adam; yet
when it reached there it passed not beyond, but stopped, as did
anciently the Jordan in the time of Josue, and for the same
respect: for this river held its stream in reverence for the passage of the Ark of Alliance; and original sin drew back its
waters, revering and dreading the presence of the true Tabernacle of the eternal alliance. In this way then God turned away all captivity from his glorious Mother, giving her the blessing of
both the states of human nature; since she had the innocence
which the first Adam had lost, and enjoyed in an excellent sort
the redemption acquired for her. Whence as a garden of election which was to bring forth the fruit of life, she was made to
flourish in all sorts of perfections; this son of eternal love having thus clothed his mother in gilded clothing, surrounded with
variety,1
that she might be the queen of his right hand, that is
to say, the first of all the elect to enjoy the delights of God's right
hand:2
so that this sacred mother as being altogether reserved
for her son, was by him redeemed not only from damnation but
also from all peril of damnation, he giving her grace and the
perfection of grace, so that she went like a lovely dawn, which,
beginning to break, increases continually in brightness till perfect daylight. Admirable redemption! master-piece of the redeemer! and first of all redemptions! by which the son with a
God also appointed other favours for a small number of rare creatures whom he would preserve from the peril of damnation, as is certain of S. John Baptist and very probable of Jeremias and some others, whom the Divine providence seized upon in their mother's womb, and thereupon established them in the perpetuity of his grace, that they might remain firm in his love, though subject to checks and venial sins, which are contrary to the perfection of love though not to love itself. And these souls in comparison with others, are as queens, ever crowned with charity, holding the principal place in the love of their Saviour next to his mother, who is queen of queens, a queen crowned not only with love but with the perfection of love, yea, what is yet more, crowned with her own Son, the sovereign object of love, since children are the crown of their father and mother.
There are yet other souls whom God determined for a time to
leave exposed to the danger, not of losing their salvation, but
yet of losing his love; yea he permitted them actually to lose it,
not assuring them love for the whole time of their life, but only
for the end of it and for a certain time preceding. Such were
the Apostles, David, Magdalen and many others, who for a time
remained out of God's grace, but in the end being once for all
converted were confirmed in grace until death; so that though
from that time they continued subject to some imperfections,
yet were they exempt from all mortal sin, and consequently from
danger of losing the divine love, and were sacred spouses of the
heavenly bridegroom. And they were indeed adorned with a
wedding garment of his most holy love, yet they were not
crowned because a crown is an ornament of the head, that is, of
the chief part of a person; now the first part of the life of this
rank of souls having been subject to earthly love, they were not
to be adorned with the crown of heavenly loves but it is sufficient