Works › The Mariale: Questions on “Missus est”
Volume 37 · pp. 204–206
Question 145. Whether it belongs to her to be mother of all?
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QUAESTIO CXLV. Utrum ei conveniat esse matrem omnium?
Nunc restat videre de illo privilegio, secundum quod beatissima Virgo dicitur mater omnium. Quaeritur, utrum illud ei conveniat?
Et videtur, quod non:
1. Filii enim tempore non praecedunt matrem: sed multi tempore praecedebant Virginem Mariam: ergo non est mater omnium.
2. Item, Cum generatio sit ingressus in esse, et cum tantum triplex sit esse, scilicet naturae, gratiae, et gloriae, beata Virgo non est mater omnium secundum esse naturae: quia plurimi praecesserunt.
QUESTION 145. Whether it belongs to her to be mother of all?
Now it remains to see about that privilege according to which the most blessed Virgin is called mother of all. It is asked whether that belongs to her.
And it seems that it does not:
1. For sons do not precede their mother in time. But many preceded the Virgin Mary in time. Therefore she is not mother of all.
2. Likewise, since generation is an entrance into being, and since being is only threefold, namely of nature, of grace, and of glory, the blessed Virgin is not mother of all according to the being of nature, because very many preceded her.
eam secundum esse naturae. Item, Nec secundum esse gratiae: quia multi habuerunt gratiam antequam ipsa. Item, Eadem ratione nec secundum esse gloriae: quia multi Angeli et homines habuerunt esse gloriae antequam ipsa. Item, Si ipsa est mater per fidem: sed sunt multi qui numquam habuerunt vel habebunt fidem: ergo non mater omnium hominum. Item, Videtur quod non sit mater corporalium: quia corporalia non habent esse gratiae: ergo non potest esse mater illorum in esse gratiae. Et sic constat, quod nec in esse gratiae, gloriae, vel naturae. Item, Animatum non proprie generat inanimatum. Item, Corporalia non habent fidem: ergo non est mater omnium istorum.
3. Item, Videtur quod nec mater omnium Angelorum: illi enim semper fuerunt in gloria: ergo nihil receperunt ab ipsa. Item, Angeli non sunt recreati: ipsa autem est mater per recreationem: ergo non est mater eorum. Item, Ipsa est mater per fidem: sed in Angelis non est fides: ergo non est mater Angelorum. Item, Quorumcumque ipsa est mater, illorum Christus est frater: sed Angelorum Christus non est frater: ergo ipsa non est Angelorum mater.
In contrarium objicitur:
1. Quod sit mater omnium: nam, Luc. II, 7: Peperit filium suum primogenitum. Ergo habuit secundo genitum: et constat, quod non corporaliter: ergo spiritualiter: sed generatio spiritualis una est omnium: ergo ipsa est mater omnium spiritualiter.
2. Item, Ad Hebr. II, 11: Filius ejus non confunditur fratres eos vocare, sicut dicitur, ad Roman. VIII, 29: Ut sit ipse primogenitus in multis fratribus. Genes. XXXVII, 27: Frater enim et caro nostra est. Sed ipsa est mater omnium suorum fratrum. Ergo ipsa est mater omnium hominum.
3. Item, Isa. LXVI, 8: Numquid parturiet terra in die una, aut parietur gens simul? Constat autem quod non quaerit de terra secundum litteram: quia stulta esset quaestio: ergo intelligitur de terra secundum figuram: sed terra secundum figuram est beatissima Virgo: ergo ipsa pariet simul omnem gentem: ergo ipsa est mater omnium hominum.
4. Item, Marci, XI, 9: Et qui praeibant et qui sequebantur clamabant, dicentes: Hosanna, scilicet filio David. Dicit Augustinus, quod omnes sive praecederent, sive sequerentur incarnationem, salvabantur per fidem mediatoris Dei et hominum 1: sed ad illam fidem necessario exigitur explicite vel implicite credere Deum incarnatum de Virgine: ergo per hoc regeneratio universalis: ergo fides incarnati de Virgine est, per quod est regeneratio facta in esse gloriae omnium hominum.
5. Item, Quod ipsa sit mater corporalium, sic probatur: Ipsa est mater innovationis corporalium juxta illud Apostoli, ad Roman. VIII, 22: Omnis creatura ingemiscit et parturit usque adhuc, quia revelationem filiorum Dei exspectat 2: ergo ipsa est mater in esse innovationis omnium corporalium: quoniam omnis creatura renovabitur per ipsam, et liberabitur a servitute corruptionis in libertatem filiorum.
6. Item, Quod sit mater omnium, videtur: quoniam omnium bonorum mater est 3.
7. Item, Ipsa est mater gratiae: sed per gratiam datur esse gratuitum et gloriosum: ergo ipsa est mater omnium bonorum bonitate gratiae et gloriae.
her according to the being of nature. Likewise, not according to the being of grace, because many had grace before she did. Likewise, by the same reasoning not according to the being of glory, because many Angels and human beings had the being of glory before she did. Likewise, if she is mother through faith, but there are many who never have had or will have faith, therefore she is not the mother of all human beings. Likewise, it seems that she is not mother of bodily things, because bodily things do not have the being of grace; therefore she cannot be mother of them in the being of grace. And thus it is clear that she is not so either in the being of grace, of glory, or of nature. Likewise, what is animate does not properly generate what is inanimate. Likewise, bodily things do not have faith; therefore she is not mother of all these things.
3. Likewise, it seems that she is not mother of all Angels either, for they have always been in glory; therefore they received nothing from her. Likewise, Angels have not been recreated; but she is mother through recreation; therefore she is not their mother. Likewise, she is mother through faith; but in Angels there is not faith; therefore she is not mother of Angels. Likewise, of whomever she is mother, Christ is their brother; but Christ is not brother of Angels; therefore she is not mother of Angels.
To the contrary it is objected:
1. That she is mother of all: for Luke 2:7 says, She brought forth her firstborn son. Therefore she had a second-born; and it is clear that not corporally; therefore spiritually. But spiritual generation is one generation of all; therefore she is spiritually mother of all.
2. Likewise, Hebrews 2:11 says: His Son is not ashamed to call them brothers, as is said in Romans 8:29: That he himself might be firstborn among many brothers. Genesis 37:27: For he is our brother and our flesh. But she is mother of all his brothers. Therefore she is mother of all human beings.
3. Likewise, Isaiah 66:8: Shall the earth bring forth in one day, or shall a nation be born at once? Now it is clear that he does not ask about earth according to the letter, because the question would be foolish; therefore it is understood of earth according to figure. But earth according to figure is the most blessed Virgin. Therefore she will bring forth the whole nation at once; therefore she is mother of all human beings.
4. Likewise, Mark 11:9: And those who went before and those who followed were crying out, saying: Hosanna, namely to the son of David. Augustine says that all, whether they preceded or followed the incarnation, were saved through faith in the mediator of God and human beings 1. But for that faith it is necessarily required, explicitly or implicitly, to believe God incarnate from the Virgin. Therefore through this there is universal regeneration; therefore faith in the one incarnate from the Virgin is that through which regeneration in the being of glory of all human beings has been made.
5. Likewise, that she is mother of bodily things is proved thus: she is mother of the renewal of bodily things according to that saying of the Apostle, Romans 8:22: Every creature groans and is in labor even until now, because it awaits the revelation of the sons of God 2. Therefore she is mother in the being of renewal of all bodily things, since every creature will be renewed through her and will be freed from the servitude of corruption into the freedom of the sons.
6. Likewise, that she is mother of all seems so, since she is mother of all good things 3.
7. Likewise, she is mother of grace; but through grace gracious and glorious being is given; therefore she is mother of all goods by the goodness of grace and glory.
8. Item, De ipsa appropriate legitur: Cum eo eram cuncta componens 4. Et tunc Dominus possedit me in initio viarum suarum 5. Item, Eccli. XXIV, 5: Primogenita ante omnem creaturam. Ex his videtur, quod ipsa est mater omnium, et prior omnibus, et origo omnium.
9. Item, Bernardus: « Merito, o Domina, in te respiciunt oculi universae creaturae, in qua et ex qua benignissima manus Dei quidquid creaverat, recreavit. »
10. Item, Ipsa est mater omnium, et Deus Pater est origo omnium: quidquid autem per se origo et causa causae est, per se est origo et causa, causati: sed ipsa est mater ejus qui est causa et origo omnium: ergo ipsa per se est mater omnium.
11. Item, Angeli accipiunt a Domino Jesu illuminationem, perfectionem, beatitudinem: ipse enim est in quem desiderant prospicere 6, et per quem omnia restaurantur in caelo et in terra 7. Ergo et Angeli recipiunt quoddam esse gloriae a beatissima Virgine: ergo ipsorum est mater in esse gloriae.
12. Item, Ipsa est gratiae mater: sed gratia generat gloriam: ergo ipsa est mater gloriae: ergo ipsa est mater omnium quae sunt in caelo secundum esse gloriae: ergo ipsa est mater Angelorum.
Solutio. Ad haec dicimus respondendo, quod beatissima Virgo omnium bonorum mater est. Sed mater respectu filii quatuor habet proprietates, quae sunt genitura, cura, prioritas, dignitas. Respectu alicujus habet omnes istas proprietates, et respectu alicujus aliquas et non omnes, et secundum magis et minus dicitur proprie omnium hominum mater. Item, Mater est secundum omnes proprietates maternitatis. Genitura: quia unum hominem genuit, in quo omnes regeneravit: et hoc est quod peperit filium suum primogenitum. Item, Mater nostra est cura: quia in uno nobis genuit quidquid ad hanc vitam vel futuram necessarium nobis fuit: unde dicit: A generationibus meis implemini 8. Item, Quae proprio Filio suo non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum, quomodo non etiam cum illo omnia nobis donavit 9? Item Ipsa est mater nostra prioritate: quia ipsa est primogenita ante omnem creaturam 10. Ipsa est mater dignitate praedestinationis: ipsa enim ante saecula praedestinata est, ut esset principium ex quo recreandum fuit omne creatum. Et secundum hoc loquuntur istae auctoritates. Proverb. VIII, 15: Dominus possedit me, etc., secundum quod de ipsa exponuntur.
Angelorum quoque mater dici potest genitura: quia generavit patrem Angelorum et restauratorem eorum. Similiter et corporalium mater genitura: quia genuit ipsorum innovatorem. Est etiam prior ipsis prioritate praedestinationis et dignitate praelationis. Item, universaliter: quia mater est creatoris omnium: ergo mater omnium creaturarum est. Et imo etiam, ut patet consideranti, mater est omnium dignitate.
Et sic patet qualiter proprium privilegium est beatissimae Virginis, quoniam omnium bonorum mater est.
8. Likewise, of her appropriately is read: I was with him arranging all things 4. And then, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways 5. Likewise, Ecclesiasticus 24:5: Firstborn before every creature. From these things it seems that she is mother of all, prior to all, and origin of all.
9. Likewise, Bernard says: “Deservedly, O Lady, the eyes of the whole creature look toward you, in whom and from whom the most kindly hand of God recreated whatever it had created.”
10. Likewise, she is mother of all, and God the Father is the origin of all. But whatever is through itself the origin and cause of a cause is through itself the origin and cause of the thing caused. But she is mother of him who is the cause and origin of all. Therefore she through herself is mother of all.
11. Likewise, Angels receive illumination, perfection, and beatitude from the Lord Jesus; for he is the one into whom they desire to look 6, and through whom all things are restored in heaven and on earth 7. Therefore Angels too receive a certain being of glory from the most blessed Virgin; therefore she is their mother in the being of glory.
12. Likewise, she is mother of grace; but grace generates glory. Therefore she is mother of glory; therefore she is mother of all things which are in heaven according to the being of glory; therefore she is mother of Angels.
Solution. To these things we say in response that the most blessed Virgin is mother of all good things. But a mother with respect to a son has four properties, which are begetting, care, priority, and dignity. With respect to someone she has all these properties, and with respect to someone she has some and not all, and according to more and less she is properly called mother of all human beings. Likewise, she is Mother according to all the properties of motherhood. By begetting: because she begot one man in whom she regenerated all, and this is what it means that she brought forth her firstborn son. Likewise, she is our Mother by care, because in the one she begot for us whatever was necessary for this life or the future one; whence she says, Be filled from my generations 8. Likewise, She who did not spare her own Son, but handed him over for us all, how did she not also with him give all things to us 9? Likewise, she is our mother by priority, because she is firstborn before every creature 10. She is mother by the dignity of predestination, for before the ages she was predestined to be the principle from which everything created was to be recreated. And according to this those authorities speak. Proverbs 8:15: The Lord possessed me, etc., according as they are expounded of her.
She can also be called mother of Angels by begetting, because she generated the father of Angels and their restorer. Similarly she is also mother of bodily things by begetting, because she generated their renewer. She is also prior to them by the priority of predestination and by the dignity of prelation. Likewise, universally, because she is mother of the creator of all; therefore she is mother of all creatures. And indeed also, as is clear to one considering it, she is mother of all by dignity.
And thus it is clear in what way it is a proper privilege of the most blessed Virgin that she is mother of all good things.
Notes
- St. Augustine, book On Rebuke and Grace, chapter 7. (S. Augustinus, Lib. de Correptione et Gratia, cap. 7.) ↩
- Romans 8:19. (Ad Roman. VIII, 19.) ↩
- Wisdom 7:11. (Sapient. VII, 11.) ↩
- Proverbs 8:30. (Proverb. VIII, 30.) ↩
- Ibid., verse 22. (Ibid. v. 22.) ↩
- 1 Peter 1:12. (I Petri I, 12.) ↩
- Cf. Ephesians 1:10: To restore all things in Christ, the things which are in heaven and the things which are on earth, in him. (Cf. ad Ephes. I, 10: Instaurare omnia in Christo, quae in caelis, et quae in terra sunt, in ipso.) ↩
- Ecclesiasticus 24:26. (Eccli. XXIV, 26.) ↩
- Romans 8:32. (Ad Roman. VIII, 32.) ↩
- Ecclesiasticus 24:5. (Eccli. XXIV, 5.) ↩
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